I was the first awake of the three of us, and I spent a short while simply enjoying their company before I slowly dragged myself up and out of bed. I took extra care to keep from waking either of them up, but it was in vain as Rarity tightened her grip on me as I started to rise. “No. Stay.”

I grabbed her hands in my own, gently pulling them off of me. “Sorry, Rarity, but someone has to make some breakfast.” She cracked an eye open, doing everything she could to glare at me. I just leaned down and gave her a quick kiss before sitting all the way up. “Don’t glare like that, Rarity. You look no less beautiful when you do, but I find you to be limitlessly more attractive when you look happy.” She flushed a bit at that remark, and during that brief lull in her attentiveness to where I was I slipped out of bed, and into some clothes. “Come down in a bit, Rarity. And bring Pinkie with you. We both know that she’s awake.”

“No I’m not, Icarus... Um, I mean, I’m... Yeah, I got nothing.” Pinkie rolled onto her back, quickly sitting up, uncaringly allowing the blanket to fall down her form, exposing her. Not that she seemed to mind. “Could you make some waffles? With sugar? And syrup? And butter? And whipped cream? Oh, and ice cream?”

I rolled my eyes at her. “It’s eight in the morning, Pinkie.” She shot me a stare that could make the famously serious Royal Guards break their silence. “I didn’t say no, Pinkie. We’ll just save the ice cream for tonight.”

Her expression rapidly shifted to a wide smile and she started bouncing and laughing, exclaiming to Rarity just how excited she was, all of a sudden, for dinner tonight. I only smiled as I turned from the door, ignoring Rarity’s pleas for me to come back. “Breakfast waits for no one, Rarity. And it’s up to me to get started.” The door behind me closed with a satisfying sound, and I slowly made my way down the hall and towards the kitchen. Just a few minutes later, and I had a couple bowls out, my ingredients at the ready. As I worked, I found myself humming a tune to a song that was eerily familiar, and when I finally started the actual cooking the words to a song jumped, unbidden, to my lips. Before I could really get into it, though, I stopped myself. “By the Creator, magic sucks sometimes.”

“Only when you don’t know the how and why, Icarus.”

I turned around, momentarily, to see Twilight sitting on one of the stools at the small island in the middle of the kitchen. She had a cup of coffee in her hands, and I just shook my head as I turned back to my cooking. “Was I really distracted so much that I didn’t notice you come in? Or were you just taking pains to be extra quiet?”

“Both. Well, sort of. You were fairly distracted, and I was being neither loud nor quiet. That tune you were humming was pretty nice. I wish I could’ve been there for it.” She took a quick sip of her coffee before she continued. “I know you don’t like the music, but I find it exhilarating. A real chance to express how I feel.”

“Yeah.” I turned around again, pointing at her with the spoon I used to stir the waffle batter. “But you don’t have things you’d rather not share, do you? I still have stuff that I don’t want to talk about, and those songs have a nasty habit of sometimes going too far with feelings and stuff.” Her horn flared for a moment, and I found the spoon pulled from my grip. “I’m using that, Twi.”

She stood as the spoon reached her, and with a few steps she was beside me. “And now I’m using it. Besides, you cook all the time, allow me to help you out some. It’s the least I can do.” She shrugged. “It’s the least any of us can do.” I made a few attempts at getting the spoon back from her, to no avail, before she finally let out an irritated huff. “If you don’t stop trying, Icarus, I will teleport you up to the roof. Again.”

“We’re not at the library, Twi, and I didn’t do anything to your books. You can’t threaten me with that.” She flushed for only a moment before she made her horn glow with a menacing purple aura. I took an instinctive half step back, before I remembered a single interesting aspect of the unicorn, and all unicorns, before me. “I know how to stop you, Twi.” She only smirked before the glow intensified, prompting me to latch one hand onto her horn, right at the base, softly pinching the skin just above her horn, painlessly dissipating the magic, and preventing her from charging her horn again. “Like I said, I know how to stop you. The griffin people may be bad at a lot of things, but figuring out ways to win on the battlefield is one of the things that they are phenomenal at.” I quickly released her horn, and took the spoon from her so that I could continue my cooking, nudging her gently aside while she continued to stare at me with wide eyes, and a growing blush.

“Icarus, you... I... You remember that talk we had about unicorn erog --”

“Yes.” I stopped her before she could start the lecture that her tone threatened. “And I also know that the hold I just used prompts, er, arousal, in less than five percent of the unicorn population. It’s designed to stop a unicorn, not let them get their rocks off.” I paused for a moment. “In a manner of speaking, of course. You’re a girl, so the release...” Twilight’s cheeks were a deep shade of crimson, and she was nervously playing with her hands, doing everything she could to avoid looking at me. “O... Oh. Yeah, I think I’ll stop now.” The remainder of the breakfast preparation was done in silence, my own thoughts occupied with what had just happened, while Twilight just stared at the floor, clearly engrossed with her own ruminations.

Applejack was the first of the other girls to come down, and she clearly noticed the strain between Twilight and I, since she started a conversation right away, trying to force us out of our funks. “Morning, Twi. And good morning to you, too, Icarus. I trust things went well with Rarity last night?” I gave a nod, barely glancing at Applejack as I continued my work on the food. “Icarus, I’ve known you for some time now, and while I never got a real good handle on your past, or the way you think, I can read your emotions like a book. So, that being the case, spill it. And don’t try any of that hogwash about how nothing’s wrong.”

“I did something really stupid a short while ago.” My voice and Twilight’s flowed together as we both spoke, and my blush nearly rivaled that of Twilight’s. Luckily, I had the food to distract me, and I whirled around to attend to the already done waffles. Twilight continued, though. “It was my fault, really. Icarus was cooking, and I tried to take that over for him. He wasn’t interested, and I just kept going. I, also, might’ve made a not so subtle threat indicating that he should really stop.”

“Not so subtle? Twi, that’s an understatement.”

Applejack shot me a glare. “I swear to-- Not so subtle is what it takes to get through to you, Icarus.” I was about to retort when she held up a hand. “Rainbow Dash.” She raised one finger. “Pinkie Pie.” Another digit went up. “Rarity Belle.” A third finger came up. “Do I have to keep going, or have I proved my point?” I only grumbled a response, and I felt as much as heard Applejack’s approach. “I asked you a question, Icarus.”

“Yeah, you’ve made your point. It’s not really my fault that Twilight falls into a three percent bracket of the unicorn population. And, no, unless Twilight explains the context for that, I certainly won’t.”

“You won’t explain what, Icarus?” Both Rarity and Pinkie came down the stairs, each with a smile on their face.

“Nope. No, not going to continue this. Twilight and I have to talk about some stuff, and there’s nothing else to it.” I looked sharply at Twilight. “Isn’t that right, Twi? Unless you want to explain to them just what it is that we were talking about?” She flushed, and looked away. “So, if you’ll all let this go, we can see about having some breakfast.” Much to my satisfaction, the topic between Twilight and I wasn’t brought up again, and we were able to enjoy breakfast just a few minutes after the arrival of Rarity and Pinkie when Fluttershy and Dash both came down. Over the course of the meal we discussed our plans for the day, and after some discussion we concluded that we’d split up, since not all of us could agree on something to do.

Rarity, to no ones surprise, wanted to head into town for some shopping. Through some work of literary magic, she convinced both Applejack and Fluttershy to accompany her. Pinkie, Dash, and Twilight all decided to head to the beach. That left me with tagging along with either group, or heading off to do some stuff on my own. After some time in thought, I decided to tag along with Pinkie and company, if only for a bit. I did want to take some time to explore more of the island, so I settled on spending a couple of hours at the beach before heading off to wander the island. So, with our plans settled, we went about making them reality, and within a half hour Rarity, AJ, and Fluttershy were heading down the road towards town, while the rest of us made for the beach.

I was saddled with carrying the cooler and the chairs, while the girls made their way down the path towards the beach. I quickly set everything up, and once I had the chairs laid out, and the cooler buried a bit to keep it colder longer, I stripped down to my swim trunks, and I charged for the sea, heedless of the cool spray, and colder water. Once the water reached my thigh, I dove in, holding my breath as long as I could to swim beneath the surf. When I finally emerged from the depths of the sea I took a deep breath of air before submerging myself once again, hoping that the spell Twilight had weaved on my necklace earlier was working properly. She claimed it would keep the water away from my eyes, acting just like goggles, and that it would allow me to see without worrying about getting salt water in my eyes.

To my immense satisfaction the spell worked flawlessly, and I could see for hundreds of feet in all directions through the crystal clear water. The bottom, a couple dozen feet below, was swarming with countless colorful fish as they lived their lives amongst the rocks and coral. As I swam through the sea, I enjoyed the vast array of colors laid out before me, and for a time I could simply enjoy seeing the simple lives of the fish. Several times I took a deep breath before spending as long as I could amongst the denizens of the reef, each time swimming deeper amongst them, reveling in the freedom of movement. After more than a dozen dives I began swimmingly, lazily, back towards the shore. I was scared senseless, though, when I was suddenly shifted upwards, and out of the water, by an immense shell. When I looked down at what I was riding, I saw that it was Chelone.

“Oh, hey Chelone. Nice of you to pop in. Or out. Whatever the terminology, it’s nice to see you again.” She just raised her head to look at me through one eye before she set her attention back on the shore. “Wait a moment, what are you doing out in the ocean, aren’t tortoises land animals?” With all the eagerness of a young child going to the dentist for the first time, Chelone raised a flipper above the surface of the water long enough for me to get a good look. “Magic?” For a moment the tortoise’s eyes twinkled with amusement, and I just settled down on her back, enjoying the ride. Before long the shore was just a stone’s throw away, and I inelegantly rolled off Chelone’s back and into the shallow surf. Chelone, undaunted by the disembarkation of her passenger, continued on into the shallows, her flippers transforming seamlessly into webbed feet as she made it to land.

I moved beside Chelone as she exited the surf, and after just a few steps she simply laid down, her shell slowly drying in the sun. “Have.” I looked at her in amazement as she looked up at me. “A nice.” She continued to look up at me for several long minutes. “Day, Guard of Dawn and Dusk.”

“Guard of Dawn and Dusk? I’m not... Wait you can talk? I thought Garett was just full of it.”

“Yes.”

I worked my mouth for a moment, without words being formed before I finally got my speech centers working again. “Yes? Yes to what?”

“Yes.” The word carried a sense of finality, ending that line of discussion.

I sighed, and dropped down in front of her, not minding the sand that now covered my legs. “And what was that you called me?”

“You will.” Her head tilted just a bit as she spoke, and then she just laid it back down, her eyes closing slowly. “Become the third.” As I was about to speak, she cut me off, which is no small feat for her. “I know this shall come to pass. Mine sister Cassiopeia was not the only one gifted with foresight.” As she finished her head dropped down to the sand, and she let out a long yawn. “Go, Icarus, and be merry. I am tired, now, and I shan’t speak again for nearly six hundred years. I do hope you can be there for it.”

As a gentle snore escaped the tortoise, I stared at her for several long moments before I finally stood, shaking some of the sand off my legs. “She’s right, you know.” I whirled around to see Garett approaching. “But that’s not the point, you should probably head back to the others. They’re a bit worried. I don’t know why, though, seeing as how you’re alive and well.” He tilted his head to look at Chelone. “As for you, Chelone, I can’t believe you. I wait almost seven hundred years for you to talk, and I miss it?”

“It was kind of personal. Not really something that I’d want you to hear.” Garett looked at me for a moment, before he shrugged. “Anyway, I’m probably going to head back to my friends, now. Maybe even explore some of this paradise while I’m at it.”

“Sounds good to me. Not that I could, or would, stop you. Now, off you go.” He raised a hand to point along the beach, and I looked down that way for a moment before looking back at Garett and Chelone, only to find them now absent.

“I swear to the Creator, magic’s just not fair.” After uttering a few more choice expletives I started off along the beach, stopping occasionally to pick up some of the interesting shells and stones that I found. Most ended up being tossed back into the vast sea from whence they came, but I did end up holding onto some of them.

My walk along the beach was eerily silent, save for the waves, and I found my mind wandering from topic to topic as I walked. The only theme that kept forcing itself upon my thoughts, though, was in regards to what Chelone had said to me. As I thought about it, I also recalled some of the great disasters that had been brought about due to the misinterpretation of prophetic discourse. One of the most notable instances was the fall of the Crystal Kingdom. With a small sigh, I pushed the thoughts of Chelone’s words from my mind. “What happens, happens. Knowing the future is the fastest way to guarantee it doesn’t happen that way.”

After a bit more than half an hour of walking I finally made it back to where the girls were lounging in the sun. I only glanced at Pinkie’s impressive sand sculpture before I planted myself in my seat, and closed my eyes.

“Icarus, you’re back!” Pinkie’s voice cut through the air, prompting me to open my eyes and look over at the bubbly girl as she and Rainbow Dash jogged over to me. Twilight was just a short distance behind them, her horn glowing softly as she levitated several dozen shells around her. I offered a small wave in response, and soon after Pinkie threw herself atop me, her arms wrapping around me as she quickly planted a kiss on my lips. After breaking the kiss, she shifted herself in my lap so that she was leaning against me, and I had an arm around her shoulders. “We found some good stuff while we were walking. I even found a huge sea shell! Twi’s got it!”

“Yeah, and I found three sand dollars. That’s better than you usually do on such a short walk, Icarus.” Dash was standing just a few steps away, her eyes focused on me, deliberately avoiding looking at Pinkie.

“But Dashie, we were walking for nearly an hour, and you only found two --”

“That’s not the point, Pinkie!” Dash’s cheeks were a shade of crimson that matched the lock of red hair atop her head. “What’s important is that I found some!”

“Oh, yeah, that reminds me.” I reached over, with my free hand, for my own small pile of findings. “I have some nice stuff I found too.” Pinkie reached over to my pile as well, and she quickly climbed off of me, and started laying out everything that I had found. Twilight added her, and the others’ collections, to my own. She and Pinkie quickly sorted them out into separate groups, and within just a few minutes we had piles of shells and other sea based goodies, lined up and sorted.

“Well, this is a pretty good haul. Eight sand dollars between all of us, and a large collection of intact, and nearly intact, sea shells.”

I looked at the various piles as Twilight spoke, and then I stood, moving to the cooler. “Any of you want something to drink?” After getting an affirmative response from each of them, I dug around to get their drinks of choice. We spent some time just enjoying our ice cold beverages before I finally stood up and stretched, enjoying the faint pull of my muscles. “I’m going to go out and explore some of the forest. Any of you care to join me in my glorious expedition?” From Pinkie I got a quick shake of a head, and Dash looked away after blushing. “You don’t want to go and explore some, Dash? Think of what magical sights we might see!” She only blushed more fiercely as she stood up and walked a few steps away before sitting down once again. Pinkie looked between Rainbow Dash and I for a moment before she gave me a harsh glare, and stood to go to Dash. I let out a sigh as I set my head in my hands. “What about you, Twi?”

“That was mean Icarus.”

“I know.”

“She’s already --”

“I know, Twi. I’m already trying to figure out what I’m going to do, but belaboring it endlessly will not make me better at figuring it out.”

“And snapping at me won’t do it either.” I looked up at her, and she gave me a tiny smile. “It’s okay, though. I can see your side as well as hers. Now, you wanted to go exploring?” I nodded, and Twi quickly stood, taking my hand in hers. “Then let’s go. Maybe the serenity of the forest can give you the clarity to figure out what you want to do about Dash.” After I stood Twilight released my hand before heading to Pinkie and Dash. After speaking, in hushed tones, for a few moments, she stood again, and walked over to me. She didn’t take my hand this time, but she did start leading me towards the house so we could put on some attire better suited to exploring the depths of the jungle on the island.

After a brief time spent at the house Twilight and I stood at the beginning of a small path that led into the depths of the jungle. It wasn’t the one that Dash and I had taken earlier, so I wasn’t too worried about coming across the same isolated pool of water as before. Wordlessly, Twilight took the initiative and started down the path, her confident strides leading her into the chaotic underbrush. I followed just behind her, taking in the sounds and sights of the jungle. More than once the two of us stopped simply to enjoy the majestic beauty of the strange flora and fauna that dotted the jungle. After about half an hour we came across a massive tree that had hundreds of vines hanging from it, and I felt a spark of childlike energy as I took one in my hand. After bouncing on it a few times I figured that it would hold my weight, and I started climbing up it.

“Icarus! What are you doing? What if you fall?”

Twilight’s voice cut through the quiet of the jungle like a hot knife through room temperature butter, and I just gave her a wide smile as I looked down at her. “I’m having fun, Twilight. Ponyville is distinctly lacking in vines, so now is probably the only chance I’ll have to relive that one scene from Daring Do.”

“That’s fiction, Icarus! You can’t really intend to swing from vine to vine!” I only laughed as I continued my climb up the vine, the exertion of the task sending a spike of adrenaline to my blood, and making me feel more alive than I had since... Well, since last night with Rarity. As I got higher and higher in the tree, I started finding myself amongst more and more vines. When I felt I was high enough, about forty or fifty feet, I reached out and took another vine in my hands, while keeping my legs firmly wound around the vine I had climbed. The vine I had in my hands seemed strong enough to support my weight, and with incredible gentleness I shifted my weight from the one I was on to the new vine, and after a bit of groaning from the vine above me, it seemed to support my weight perfectly. “By Celestia’s horn, Icarus, come down here this instant! You might fall, or... Well... You might fall! So come back down before you hurt yourself!”

I laughed for a moment. “I’ll come down when I’m done, Twi. There’s no way I’m going to pass up a chance like this!” With a quick shift in my center of gravity, I started gently swinging back and forth, my target vine already in sight. I had to get a rather large swing started to make the leap, but I was confident that I could make it if I tried. As my swings grew in intensity, the groaning of the vine grew a bit more pronounced. With a mighty cry I threw all my weight into my swing, and I soared through the air, alone for the first time since the accident, with all the grace of a one winged flamingo. I latched onto the vine as it came into reach, and I quickly shifted my weight again, turning my landing into yet another takeoff. After a few swings, though, my hands were starting to hurt from the roughness of the vines, and I stopped my swinging when I had landed on the fourth vine.

Despite the slight throbbing in my hands I was laughing like an idiot from the exhilaration of the moment. Twilight, I noticed, was looking at me with a mixture of anger and concern, and I gave her a small wave from my lofty perch. “Twilight, by the gods, that was the most fun I’ve had in months. I’m going to head to the top of the tree and look around. Feel free to come up, too. I’m sure that the view will be great.” Before the unicorn could offer a protest, I began climbing the vine once again, each handhold sending a brief spike of irritation along my arms. Twilight’s cries of protest grew less energetic as I continued up the tree, and soon I was making my way through branches, rather than vines. As the branches grew thinner and thinner, I was forced to drastically slow my pace.

It didn’t take me long, though, to reach the point where the foliage was beginning to thin, and the view I was afforded was majestic, like a sea of green rippling gently in the breeze. I heard the faint popping sound of teleportation come from below, and I looked down to see an irate unicorn looking up at me from about a dozen feet below. Her glare would’ve made a hydra back down, but it just made me smile wider still. “Ah, so you decided to join me up here? Good thing, too. This view is amazing.”

“I couldn’t care less about the view, Icarus! Do you have any idea how dangerous what you were doing was...” She trailed off as she looked at the sight I had already taken in. I pulled her up to the branch I was sitting on, and she let me, nearly limp in my hold. “I’ve seen this kind of sight before, when I’ve been traveling by chariot, or my hot air balloon, but...”

“It’s different when you earn it through hard work. Or, in your case, magical work.” I leaned back against the thin trunk of the tree for a moment, breathing deeply and closing my eyes. “Ten minutes of beauty and success are worth all the hard work in the world.” I opened my eyes to gaze once again at the treetops. “Just be sure you enjoy what you do, or it’s a hollow victory.” Twilight looked back over at me. “My father. Just before he revealed an invention when I was six or seven. He worked on it for days and weeks and months. The presentation lasted ten minutes. The smile on his face as he talked about that little doohickey said more than he ever could with words. It was moments like those when he was at his happiest. It wasn’t even like he was showing off, or anything. He was just displaying the fruits of his labor, and that made him happy.”

“And what makes you happy?”

“Much the same thing, really. I want to earn my rewards, not have them handed to me.” I looked back down at the ground for a moment. “Care to make the descent with me? It’ll make the trip up pale in comparison.” She looked down for a moment, and a shiver ran through her. “Afraid of heights, Twi?” She only nodded, and I grabbed her hand for a moment, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I’ll be right beside you the whole way, Twi. Don’t worry.” She squeezed my hand back, much more strongly than I had hers, and she nodded.

Climbing down the branches was easy work, and we moved through them fairly quickly. When we reached the vines, though, Twilight hesitated. I demonstrated how I moved up them, explaining how I was going to work my way back down, and she gave me a small smile as I went through the steps. It only took a few minutes to find two vines that went down to the ground side by side, and after a bit of coaxing the nervous unicorn finally latched onto the vine, her knuckles turning white under the pressure. “Twi, ease up a bit. Too hard, and you’ll start to hurt your hands.” She didn’t say a word, but the color of her knuckles did lighten just a bit. “It’s a start, at least.” With a measured pace, the two of us began descending, myself a bit quicker than Twilight. Once I was about halfway down, I wrapped my legs around the vines several times, making sure that it would support my weight without my hands as I rested for a moment.

I looked up to watch Twilight’s progress, and despite her initial timidness towards the whole notion, her progress wasn’t terrible. I rubbed my hands together for a moment and flexed my fingers. A quick vibration ran along the vine I was on, and then it stopped, prompting me to look up again, away from my hands. Twilight, too, was looking up. After a moment of silence, the vine that Twilight was on dropped a couple feet, and then stopped. She looked down at me for a moment, her eyes wide with fright. Before I could say that she should just teleport to the ground the vine she was on snapped, sending her plummeting to the ground. Without a thought I swiveled around the vine I was on, stretching an arm out towards Twi as she was falling. Her hand landed in mine, and I latched onto her as firmly as I could, my other hand coming down on her arm and solidifying my grip on her. The vine continued it’s trip to the ground, though, and it was soon a rather large pile sitting on the ground looking as innocent as could be.

I looked from the pile to Twilight as she clenched, painfully tight, to my arm. I was upside down on my vine, and I couldn’t fight back the laughter as it burst out of me. Twilight’s angry glare only prompted me to laugh more as I, between bouts of laughter, got her to cling to the vine, rather than me. After several more minutes of climbing, the two of us were safely on the ground, and I was still chuckling.

“What are you laughing about, Icarus? I could’ve died! Or, at least, been seriously hurt. This isn’t something that you just laugh about!”

I wiped a few tears from my eyes after another bout of giggles before I looked at Twi. “I know, Twi, I know. But, just, the whole thing.” I stopped speaking as I started laughing again. “It was either laugh at the absurdity, Twi, or cry over something that didn’t happen. Also, it’s just a nervous reaction.”

Twilight glared at me for a moment before she sat down atop the massive vine she had been climbing down. “I chased you up a tree, enjoyed a beautiful view with you, and then nearly died while climbing down.”

I pointed up at the massive tree that we had just navigated both up and down. “And there, Twilight, stands a monument to what you did. That tree, succumbed to your wits, strength, and agility. No matter what happens, you beat that tree.” A smile tugged at her lips for a moment. “There it is! That satisfaction of doing something with your bare hands!”

Her smile grew for a moment, and then she, too, laughed some. Not as much as I did, but she still laughed a little. “I think I see what you mean, Icarus. There is some satisfaction that comes with looking up at that tree, and knowing that I climbed it.” She looked at me. “And I get why you laughed, too. The exhilaration when I looked back up at what we climbed. It made sense, even if it was only for a moment.” She let out a few more laughs before she finally stood, and looked at the vine that had failed to hold her up. I brought a hand to my mouth to stifle another laugh, and Twilight glared at me. “Go ahead, Icarus. Make a joke.” She leaned towards me, her horn flaring. “I dare you.”

“I don’t need to make a joke, all I’d have to do is grab your horn, and that’d be the end of that.” She flushed deeply at that, and I let out another laugh. After I got over yet another bout of laughter, I stood up, and stood beside Twilight. “Come on, Twi. It’s a joke. I like you, you like me, we’ll have to get used to these kinds of things. Especially if anything is going to come out of what’s between us.” Her blush, which had faded mostly, returned in full force as she averted her gaze. “I’m not blind, Twi, I pick up on these things. At least, I do when I get them pointed out to me, and I’m not running around with my head up my ass feeling sorry for myself.”

After a few moments of silence between us, I started walking again, the unicorn following just behind me. After my quick adventure in the tree my desire for thrills had been sated, so we just enjoyed the more peaceful aspects of the jungle, examining some of the more exotic flowers and plants that we spotted. Eventually we came across a small clearing, and after just a few moments of looking around Twilight let out a cry. I ran over to her after hearing her shout, and when I made it over she was looking at an entrance to a rather impressive looking cave. She pointed at it, and her smile grew wider. “We found it.” I raised an eyebrow, and she just shook her head. “And you said that you read some of the books about the island.”

“Well, I did.”

“Clearly not the more important ones. Like, for instance, the one that outlines how the island got its name.” I only shrugged before Twilight groaned and pointed at the cave. “That cave is where the island gets its name from.” I opened my mouth to speak, but Twilight cut me off. “It’s not called cave island for a reason, and that joke would’ve been awful. This cave is home to several hundred thousand, or perhaps more, fireflies. The whole island chain gets all of its fireflies from this cave. And the emergence day is coming in just two days.”

“Several hundred thousand?” I looked around. “This place will be lit up like it’s the middle of the day.”

She nodded. “During the first hour, yes. After that they quickly disperse, and fly out over the whole island chain. I want to be here when it happens. I’ve read about it before, and even Princess Celestia has spoken of it. From what she says, it’s amazingly beautiful.” She looked at me for a moment as she said that.

“Not tomorrow, but the day after? That’s the day it happens, right?” She nodded. “Then we’ll be here. Do you think any of the others --”

“No. I mean, I was kind of hoping that it could be just the two of us. I know that pretty much nothing about your courting process has been, well, normal, but I still want to have something that’s just between us.” She flushed as she realized what she said, and I just walked over to her before giving her a quick hug. “I didn’t want to assume anything, but it all just came out before I even realized what I was saying, or if you’re even interested in someone like me.”

“Twi, stop rambling, it’s fine. I know, all too well, what it means to speak faster than you think. Hell, I do it more often than I like. It’s just a matter of recovering. As for being interested in you, I am. You’re beautiful, smart, and you’ve got a level of wit that puts most people to shame. I had yet to meet someone who could keep up in a verbal spar, let alone beat me, until I met you. I’d be elated to have someone like you interested in me.” She flushed a deeper shade of crimson than I’d yet seen in her, and she quickly averted her gaze. “Now, we were talking about this big hole in the ground.”

She took several minutes to recover, and I just stood aside and waited while her blush faded, and she looked back at me. “Yes, as I was saying...” She trailed off for a moment as she looked at the entrance to the cave. “It doesn’t happen every year, just once a decade, on average. It’s famous across the entire chain of islands, and everyone tries to see it at least once in their life. I was hoping that just you and I could enjoy it, this time. It does take several days for all the fireflies to get out, so it could just be you and I for the first day.”

“That sounds fine to me, Twi.” I looked around for a moment before I sighed. “This place doesn’t have much else going for it, though, so what do you say we continue our explorations? Or would you rather start heading back? Either way is fine with me, so I’ll let you make the call.”

She looked around once more before simply starting off towards the jungle on the far side of the clearing, continuing our exploration. I looked around for a second, memorizing the location, before I hurried to catch up with the receding form of Twilight. As we continued through the jungle it was much as it had been before, but the conversation between us flowed in a different fashion than it had just before the clearing. While there was no longer a tension between us, as there had been before, there was now something else entirely that made things seem so much more interesting. Eventually, not too long after we passed the cave, we stumbled across a ravine that cut through the jungle and carved a deep trench that ran out of sight in both directions. I leaned out over the edge for a moment to get a look down, but Twilight grabbed my arm and gave me a stare that could put a cockatrice to shame.

After teleporting across the ravine, which I stated was blatantly cheating, we continued on our walk in companionable silence. After walking for nearly an hour after crossing the ravine we found ourselves standing on an isolated stretch of beach, two massive rocky outcroppings separating this section of beach from the rest of the island. The sea seemed to echo strangely in the cove, and each wave seemed to break a dozen times, each repetition warped slightly to create a soothing perpetual sound of the sea.

After just a few minutes of silence between the two of us I just sat down, and let a smile come to my face. Twilight looked at me for only a moment before her horn began to glow, and a large pile of sand swelled up behind me, affording me a pleasant place to lean against. Without a word, Twilight sat down beside me, and leaned into me. I wrapped an arm around, her, pulling her closer, and together we just sat and enjoyed the natural rhythmic disorder of the crashing waves. I lost track of how long we just sat there, but I do know that when I finally decided that we’d been there long enough Twilight had fallen asleep against me. With as much care as I could muster I picked her up, making sure not to wake her if I could help it. Sadly, only a couple of minutes later she woke up, her eyes cracking open when I happened to look down at her. Her cheeks flushed as she looked up at me, and the heat in my own cheeks was indication enough that I was competing with her to see who could turn a deeper shade of red.

We stayed that way in awkward silence for several long minutes until Twilight finally spoke up. “Are you going to, uh, put me down?”

“Oh, yeah. Um, one second.” With just the slightest level of awkwardness I allowed Twilight to regain her feet, and I quickly turned away to give the two of us time to regain our respective composure. It only took a few minutes, and soon we had turned back to look at each other. However, as soon as we looked at each other the strangeness and uncomfortableness of the situation returned.

“Do you, uh... Do you want to head back to the house, now?” She looked up at the sky for a moment, and then back at me. “We’ve been out for quite some time, now, and the others might start to get concerned. Or, worse, they might start creating fictitious happenings to account for our extended leave!” I let out a chuckle at that, and turned to start walking back towards the house, the general direction we had to travel in coming to me with ease. Twilight, though, remained rooted to the spot, her cheeks flushing and hurt flashing across her features. “It’s not really funny, Icarus. Back when I was in school, before I came to Ponyville, I had to deal with a ton of rumors regarding the herd I was in.”

That stopped me in my tracks, and I slowly turned to look back at the unicorn. “You’re going to have to say that again, since I’m pretty sure that I misheard you completely.” She repeated herself, a bit softer than the first time, and I walked back beside her before wrapping an arm around her, gently easing her into a walk as we started home. “Twi, think about who we’re talking about. Pinkie, Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack? None of them would ever do that.”

She smiled just a bit, and raised an eyebrow. “And Rarity?”

“Rarity is Rarity. She’s not happy unless she’s got some bit of gossip to spread. But we also have to consider that she’s a part of my herd already, and I doubt she’s going to spread rumors and gossip about herself. She may be a bit self absorbed, but not even she’s that hungry for rumors.”

Twilight let out a small sigh as we plunged back into the murky half light of the jungle. “I suppose that you’re right. I just...” She trailed off, her brow furrowing.

“Take your time, Twi. Words are hard, sometimes. Even for you.” Our progress back towards the house was much more rapid than our trip out, and we only rarely paused to look at the astonishing variety of interesting sights. After nearly an hour of bushwhacking we finally found a usable path through the jungle that would take us to the main town, and from there we could head back to the house. As we wound through the miles of our walk, Twilight remained stubbornly silent, not even acknowledging the glances I shot at her. After the tenth attempt at breaking into her silent ruminations, I gave up, deciding to sink into my own brooding.

While I was beside the unicorn, my thoughts refused to linger anywhere else but on her, and I wasn’t at all disappointed with the many thoughts that I had about her. Her situation with her last herd troubled me, though, and I knew that was probably a big part of why she turned out the way she had in Ponyville. She’d probably never admit to it, but her reclusive behavior, at times, is a defense mechanism. Even just before we left, after getting the letter from Princess Celestia, she secluded herself for a time just to, as she phrased it, make sure that everything was in order for her extended leave. Spike, in adherence with the unspoken tenets of bro-code, informed me that she was freaking out over an extended stay in relatively secluded company with me and the other Elements.

When the town finally came into sight, I began guiding Twilight towards the market where I was already establishing myself. The manager, as boisterous as ever, swept me into a bear hug, barraging me with questions about, ‘that fine looking woman’ that I was wooing. I quickly mollified him, and his curiosity, and then I went through the store doing some shopping for dinner. Twilight still followed me, silent as before, often trailing several steps behind me and only catching up when I mentioned it. By the time we finished the shopping, I had accumulated a fairly large load of groceries, and our checkout was expedited thanks both to the great cashier, and the assistance of the manager with bagging our goods.

Twilight took a few of the lighter bags, leaving me with the greater load. I said nothing, though, as we started on the final stretch back towards the house. When the house came into sight, at last, I felt a small smile come to my face. Not only did it spell relief from the load I was carrying, and a chance to wash the filth from my body, but it would also allow me to have a moment away from Twilight so that she could think without my distractions. Not only that, though, I was growing a bit concerned with her extended silence.

She went up to her room, and I went to my own room in order to shower and change. When I walked into my room Pinkie was sprawled out, gently napping, and I made sure to stay quiet so as to keep from waking her. After I finished in the shower, though, I noticed that Pinkie was no longer on my bed. I only shrugged as I quickly put on some comfortable clothes that would last me the rest of the evening. While I had been in the shower the girls had started putting away the items that needed to be kept cold, and I quickly marshaled the assistance of Applejack and Fluttershy with the preparation for the meal to come.

Once everything was prepared, and the cooking process started, I rummaged through the fridge looking for a drink that would go well with the meal. It didn’t take long for me to find a suitable beer, and as I put it on the counter Dash entered the kitchen, her nose twitching as she sniffed at the air.

“What’s for dinner, Icarus? Something fancy, like you made for Rarity?”

“Not really. Takes a bit longer than I have to make that. I went, instead, with a fairly simple meal. Or, at least, all the parts are simple. The whole meal is a bunch of smaller parts, so it takes some time to make.” Dash, as I spoke, peered into the pots atop the stove. “Checking to see if I’m doing it right?”

“Yeah, have to make sure you aren’t trying to poison us, or anything.” Both Dash and I laughed at her poor joke, and as we both calmed down I hopped up onto the counter so I could keep an eye on the clock and the many pots. “So, what’d you say to Twilight? I haven’t seen her like this in months.”

My small smile vanished in an instant, and my gaze dropped to the floor. “She was telling me about the herd she was in.”

Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped. “Twi was in a herd? I never knew anything about that.”

“Yeah, I don’t think she really wants it publicized. Seems it didn’t turn out well, or something to that effect.” I gave a feeble shrug. “She didn’t really gush about it to me. I told her to take her time, though. I don’t want her to say something that isn’t true just so that she can feel like she’s getting closer to me.” Dash didn’t respond to that, instead averting her gaze to the floor.

She looked at me for a moment, her mouth opening, but whatever she was going to say died before she could give it life. “Just give me a call when dinner’s ready, okay?” I nodded, and she went right to the stairs to head on up.

Pinkie came down after her Dash went up, and she immediately bounded over to me, hopping up next to me and wrapping me in a big hug. I only gave a halfhearted hug in return, and Pinkie only held me tighter. “What’s wrong, Icarus?”

“I think I upset both Dash and Twilight today, and it’s bothering me. It pains me to see them like this, but I know that I’m a part of the problem. And, because of that, I can’t really do anything to help them.”

“Just be around. When they’re ready, they’ll come to you. Dashie will probably take some convincing, though, and she’ll definitely try to pin it on you. Not because she really thinks it’s your fault, though. Twi is different, though. Probably try to talk to her tonight. Don’t let this one sit too long.”

“Pinkie sense?”

“No, just the basics of being a good friend.”

“But I should let it sit with Dash?”

“Yeah. I know it doesn’t make sense to you, but trust me. It’s kinda a girly thing. Heck, even I don’t understand it some of the time.”

“That’s just you being you, though.” She only giggled before giving me a peck on the cheek and bounding off to the living room to sit with Applejack and Fluttershy. After waiting for the silly grin to fade from my face, I checked on my cooking food, making sure that everything was still going well, and that I didn’t have to worry about ruining anything in the last few minutes of cook time.

When the food was finally done, and I had it all set out on the table, I called for the girls, and we quickly got down to eating what I had prepared. They were all sufficiently pleased with it, and they undertook all the cleaning on their own, ignoring my less than enthusiastic, and unneeded, complaints. I still had plenty of beer left after the meal, so I repeated what I had done a few days ago, and I took my glass out onto the small patio to watch as the final rays of sunlight faded beyond the horizon. Unlike last time, though, I had no company with which to share the view.

As the sky finally faded from crimson to the deep blue of the night, I let out a small sigh just as the door opened. Rarity stepped out onto the patio, a glass of wine in her hand, and she gave me a warm smile before motioning towards the chair beside me. I pulled it out for her, motioning in a sweeping gesture, and she gladly took the proffered seat. She, quite conspicuously, scootched the seat over beside me, and I quickly wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She let out a soft almost-purr of contentment at my touch. We stayed like that until, half an hour later, we had both finished our drinks.

Rarity stood first, taking my empty glass from me, and looking at me as she did so. “Go talk to her, Icarus. Despite the difficulty of the words, Twilight has managed to articulate her thoughts. Or, at least, she claims to have done so.” A look of concern flashed across her face for only a moment before it vanished. “Be gentle, and don’t rush her. She’s having trouble with her emotions. Give it a few minutes, and then head up to her room.” She leaned down at my gesture, and I gave her a kiss. Despite her probing tongue, I ended the kiss before it could go any further. Her pout nearly crumbled my resolve. “Spoilsport.”

“We have all night, Rarity. Now, though, isn’t really appropriate.”

“I’m glad to see that you’re learning something about romance through all of this.” She turned away to move to the door, her hips swaying more so than normal. “Oh, and I’m holding you to what you said. We do have all night. And I’m certain that tonight Pinkie will be joining in.”

Considering how I think this little talk with Twilight’s going to go, I don’t know if I’ll even be up for sex. It just feels... wrong, somehow.

With a small groan I stood up from the chair, a few joints popping in muted protest. I paid them no heed as I walked through the door back into the house, quickly noting that the living room was vacant, and that the whole house seemed oddly subdued. I made my way over to the stairs without any real delay, and as I looked up the stairs I swallowed nervously, squaring my shoulders and starting the short climb. Moments later and I stood before the door to Twilight’s room, one hand poised to knock while the other hung limply at my side. I knocked three times in quick succession before my hand fell to my side, mirroring it’s twin on my left.

A muffled sniffle came from the other side, and then Twilight’s voice followed. “Who’s there?”

When I opened my mouth to respond I found my throat suddenly dry, and I had coughed lightly before I could rasp out my response. “It’s me. Icarus. I was hoping that we could just talk some.”

A brief glow surrounded the doorknob for a moment. “It’s open.” I grasped the handle for a moment before I gave it a turn, pushing the door open and walking into Twilight’s room. She was lying, facedown, on her bed deliberately facing her head in the direction I wasn’t. Awkwardly, I closed the door behind myself. Without waiting for a word from the unicorn, I approached her bed, and sat down at the foot of it. “Icarus...”

“Okay, Twilight, I know that words are hard, but you’ve got to talk to me if you want this relationship to go anywhere.” When no response was forthcoming, I rotated in place so that I was looking towards her. “Twi, come on. You don’t need to use fancy words to explain it. Pretend that you’re back in kindergarten, and just talk to me. Sometimes simple words will do the job as well, if not better, than complex ones.”

“I’m worried. A lot.” She rolled over to look at me, and her eyes were just a bit bloodshot. “I don’t want to get in the middle of what you’ve already got, and I’m afraid that I won’t be able to contribute anything.” She paused for a moment. “The last herd I was a part of ended for several reasons, but most of them came back to me. They wanted me to be a part of the group so that I would help them study for tests, and because I could do their work for them. I mean, I was, and still am, Celestia’s personal protege, so there’s some merit to working alongside me.”

“We’re not going to use you, Twilight.” I opened my mouth to continue, but I quickly closed it, a frown taking its place. “Honestly, I’m almost offended that you would think something about me, or any of the girls.”

Her eyes welled with tears. “Not even an official member of your herd and I’m insulting you.”

I moved up the bed some, so that I was more directly beside her. “Twi, come on. You’re not like this. Where’s the rational part of you? Think it through. I’ve already made it clear that I like you, and you’ve said that you like me. I know what I said is true, so you need to look in yourself to see if you really meant what you said.”

“It’s true.”

“Good, so we’ve got the solid foundation for us to actually go somewhere with the relationship. Now, I’m no expert at this -- We all know that -- but it probably helps that we have a lot of common interests. Books, mathematics, quantum fluid thermodynamics. The list is nearly endless, Twi.”

“But that’s not enough!” She sat up and looked at me, her eyes filled with tears. “That’s what they said in the last herd, too! I really did care for them, and they for me! But then they just wound up using me for what I had, and the rumors started that I was... That I just used my body to get good grades at school, and everything went downhill from there.” Her words took all the wind out of my metaphorical sails, and I just stared at her dumbly. “Eventually Princess Celestia stepped in, since she saw the effect it had on me, and that just made the rumors worse. After that she pulled me out of the school, and started me on my private lessons. And that’s where I was for almost five years before I wound up in Ponyville, still bitter and hurt from what happened.”

“I didn’t... None of the girls ever said anything.”

“None of them know. What was I going to tell them, Icarus?” She looked at me helplessly. “What could I have said? It was bad enough for the people at school to know, I wasn’t going to bring it with me to Ponyville.”

“You could’ve said something, Twi. We’re your friends. We... I would understand.”

“I know. And I know that I know, but at the same time I didn’t. Ask me about magical theory, and I’ll ramble for hours. Ask me about something I can read up in a book, and I’ll lecture till I can’t stay awake. But you ask me about emotions, and I curl up and hide like a little girl who’s done something shameful.”

“Twi, look at me.” She continued to look down at her hands, her frame shaking with small sobs. “Twi.” I took her chin in my hand, gently guiding her face to look at mine. “Twilight Sparkle, dealing with things like that are more important than you know. I hid from you, and the others, for two long years what happened to me. And, for two years, I felt like shit. I’m not saying it has to be so sudden, like it was for me, but you need to tell the others.” She gave a gentle nod, her hands coming up to hold mine. “Promise me that you’ll at least start talking to them.” She nodded hesitantly. “Say the words, Twi. For me.”

“I promise, Icarus.” A small smile came to her face, and I returned it with one of my own. Her smile faltered for a moment, and she looked down again, sliding her chin out of my hand. “Does this... Does what I said change what you think about me?”

I chuckled softly before I darted in and gave her a quick peck on the lips. “You could become the next Princess of Equestria and I’d still love you, Twi. It’ll take more than a bunch of old rumors to get me to stop chasing you. And while I can’t say for sure, I think that the others all think much the same as I do. Now, go wash up some, and then go to bed. Tomorrow’s another big day, and in the morning, I’m making waffles. Again. With ice cream, though, since Pinkie missed out this evening.”

She raised an eyebrow, her smile widening. “Pinkie being Pinkie,” we said at the same time.

“Thank you for coming to talk to me. I’m going to try to talk to the others tomorrow.”

“No need to rush, Twi. Now, I’m heading to bed. It’s been a long day, and I feel more than ready to catch some sleep. Night, Twi.” I stood from her bed, heading over to the door. Just as I closed it, Twi called out to me, and I poked my head back in.

“Good night, Icarus. I...”

“Don’t rush it, Twi. You’ve already admitted it. The words will come when they’re ready.” I closed her door with a gentle pull, and then I ambled down the hall to my own room.

When I entered my room I wasn’t surprised to see both Rarity and Pinkie lying on my bed. What did surprise me, though, was the attire they were in. Both of them wearing some fairly risque attire, and there were candles spread about the room, giving it a very alluring light and scent. Rarity smiled broadly at my appearance, and her horn flared for a moment as she pulled me over. “Come, now, Icarus, you made a promise and I intend to hold you to it.”

“Rarity, while nearly any man would kill to have women as beautiful as the two of you so eager for sex, I just can’t right now. Not after what Twilight and I talked about.” Rarity only frowned as she deposited me at the end of the bed, her lusty expression shifting to concern. “She’s just... I don’t want to talk about it. Suffice to say that she’s dealing with some emotional baggage.”

“The rumors from her classmates?” My eyes widened in shock, and Pinkie just looked between Rarity and I with confusion apparent on her face. “Given how much time I spend dealing with the people of Canterlot, can you really say you’re shocked that I know, Icarus? Those kinds of rumors spread like wildfire. The personal student of Princess Celestia isn’t exactly a low-key position, Icarus. Once the rumor mill started on her, she’s lucky that her reputation is still as good as it is. Were it not for Princess Celestia’s direct intervention I think that our little librarian would be off much worse than she is.”

I moved between Pinkie and Rarity, quickly removing my clothes until I was just in my boxers. “Just wait for her to talk to you, Rarity. I don’t want her to think that I told you, since that would go over quite poorly, I think.”

“Is she still going to join the herd?”

Pinkie’s voice was unusually subdued, and I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. “Yeah, she is. She just needs time to think about what’s happened, and what will happen. Her insecurities are holding her back, and until she deals with them she’ll be too unsure to do anything.” I laid down, enjoying the shared warmth as both girls pulled themselves tight against me. “In a couple of days Twilight and I are going on a date. I think she’s going to finally join then.”

“I’m looking forward to it, love.” Rarity gave me a quick kiss after she spoke, and then she snuggled herself as close to my side as she could manage. Pinkie mirrored Rarity’s actions, and within minutes the two of them were comfortably asleep, leaving me alone with my thoughts until, after far too long, I too fell into the blissful embrace of sleep.

Author's Notes:

Not edited much(At all, really). Feel free to comment, and let me know what you think. And, for fun, feel free to make suggestions for an activity for the next day in the story. I've got some ideas, but I'm willing to sport some suggestions.