"What happened? Rarity, are you...crying?"

"Go away, silly Pegasus! I'm fine..." Rarity sobbed, her head pressed up against the wall, her back to Rainbow Dash. "Fine..."

"Look, Rarity, we're the Elements of Harmony. Tell me what's wrong." Rainbow Dash put a wing over the Unicorn's back, turning her head away from the wall with one hoof.

"Before Twilight Sparkle came and stirred everything up, on one of Celestia's visits, one of her guards came into the shop. I was up in my room, and wanting to be a good owner, went down to greet him. But he was coming up the stairs, armour on and everything. He pushed me back into my room, and on my bed. I was forced on my back, and-" Rarity paused. "Later, in the Everfree Forest while I was looking for mint leaves, I gave birth to a stillborn filly. I named her Light Wings, in hope that it would make it easier for her to find heaven, and I buried her in the forest. A mare just came in that knew about her, but I've never told anyone until now..."

"Oh Rarity..." Rainbow Dash ran a hoof over her friend's back. "You could have told somepony..."

"No I couldn't! That filly was the result of a rape! He molested me... I'm known for being strong... I couldn't tell anyone I was forced into that..."

"I'm so sorry..." Rainbow's voice trailed off. Her voice tone changed as she continued. "Was it painful? When he... you know..."

"UGH! This is why I never told anyone!" Rarity jumped to her feet, meeting Rainbow's jaw with one diamond-studded horseshoe. "Because they always find some way to make fun of me about it!" With a final scream of rage, she cantered up the stairs to her room.

Rainbow Dash looked up as a colt entered the shop. He blushed. "Did I interrupt something?"

Coronus kicked at the air, growling. "They don't have to be so stupid!" He dropped low to the ground, clawing pebbles across the path. "It's not like I'm a Griffon or anything! I'm a Celestia-d@mn pony too!!"

"There is no need for such language." A shadow fell over Coronus, and he froze.

"C-Celestia?" She was the tallest mare he knew. "Sorry if that insulted you..."

The mare laughed, jumping over him so she was visible. "Trust me, kid. I'm no Princess."

He eyed her impressive Mark, embarrassed at his own pointless star. "Sorry. I thought you were somepony else."

"No problem." She streched out her ebony wings, the bones cracking softly, before folding them more comfortably. "My name is Raven. I came from... no... you shouldn't know. I am here to take care of you."

She bend her graceful neck to put her chin on Coronus's forehead. With the touch, he felt a weird crackle. Magic. Her blue mane brushed his face as she drew back again.

"It seems you have already come into your powers." Raven added. "Fly with me."

She extended her wings to their full extent. Coronus felt small again, and opened his tiny wings, slightly embarrassed. As she shot into the sky, Coronus followed slowly. Every downstroke felt like it was weighted in stones, every movement moving like clouds over the Everfree Forest.

He loved flying.

He followed her closely, little wings thrumming, body filled with blood on fire. He shot ahead, tail streaming, yelling happily as he changed his angle, shooting straight up. He felt the air bending into a teardrop around him, forced into form by his speed. As he reached the clouds, he closed one wing, spinning back towards the ground. The air around him crackled with power. Just before his spinning impact, he flared his wings, the air around him flying by and hitting the ground, blowing a large ring of plants down in all directions.

Much slower, he soared back up to meet Raven, who hadn't stopped to wait, but had watched. "You should teach that to Rainbow Dash when we return."

"I like it!" Coronus chirped, doing a few barrel rolls. He flew in the zig-zagging, childish way he normally did as Raven broke the cloud cover he attempted to attack.

"Have you seen Coronus?" Pinkie Pie asked as she pushed open the door to the library. "I was going to see if he could light the candles on my biggest cake ever!"

"He can't breathe fire..." Twilight Sparkle responded. "Yet."

"Well, maybe he knows now. I don't want to light all those candles with a tiny little lighter, and the blowtorch would melt the icing. Coronus would be better at it." Pinkie countered. "Maybe you could magic them alight for me?"

"The way my magic has been going, I'd probably set Ponyville on fire."

"Well, as long as my cake didn't melt, that be okay."

Twilight looked at Pinkie, who was still smiling inoccently. "I can't respond to that sentence sanely, so I'm not going to say anything."

"But you did!"

Suddenly, Pinkie's mane and tail went flat, and her pupils went small. She gasped once, and she returned to herself.

"Another episode?" Twilight asked, putting a book back on the shelf.

"Twilight." Pinkie commanded, her tone more serious than had been. Than it had EVER been. "Do you have a book on dragon magic?"

"Yes. Here." Twilight lauched it across the room. Pinkie caught it in her mouth, dropping it on the ground and scanning the pages faster than Twilight had though possible.

She spun the book so it was facing Twilight, with her hoof on a paragraph. "Read."

"Young dragons come into their magic at a young age. It is very powerful, and when still uncontrolled, can be dark and dangerous. Half-dragons, although rare, have special triats to their magic." Twilight read. There was a chart beneath. "Griffon - healing. Unicorn - ice. Earth pony - air. Manticore - poison." There was an inky scratch crossing out one entire bar. Twilight squinted through the messy scribble, managing to thin it with her magic. "Pegasus..." She swallowed, looking up at Pinkie. "Pegasus - DANGER! Do not breed Pegasus with Dragons!"

"More." Pinkie ordered. Twilight looked back at the book.

"Pegasus and dragon offspring will have mild control of their powers from a very early age. Careful - if a halfling of these two isn't raised with the gentlest care, their magic will become stronger than they are, and will be dark. It is very difficult to raise a half-Pegasus without later having to destroy it."

Pinkie's face was a war mask. "Where is Coronus."