The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Breezy Shy found themselves in the Princesses' private chambers. They weren't sure whose, though the lunar themed decor gave them something of a hint. At the moment their attention was on other things. All nine princesses--- Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Cadence, Luna and Celestia--- were in the room, and most of them seemed preoccupied with yelling, fussing, and demanding explanations and answers from the foals.

The CMC couldn't be said to be feeling very cooperative. They were bruised, rumpled, splashed with food and sticky from slowly drying punch, still feeling tummy twinges from the unfortunate food, strung out from the adrenaline crash, and now all the grownups who were supposed to be on their side were shouting at them.

It was when Rarity, for the fifth time, started demanding of Sweetiebelle "What were you thinking?" that they reached the breaking point. Sweetiebelle stood on her chair and glared right in her sister's eye. "Well we'd tell you if you'd JUST STOP YELLING AT US!!" the unicorn filly bellowed.

Stunned by the sheer volume coming out of the tiny filly, the alicorns all fell silent. Cadence took advantage of her authority as an ex-babysitter and took charge of the interrogation. She cleared her throat. Good set of lungs on that one, sakes. "Very well, Sweetie Belle. Tell us what happened. From the beginning."

Sweetiebelle heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you."  With interjections and expansions of detail from the others, she told the Princesses everything, starting from Applebloom's unfortunate run-in with exotic cuisine--

"Really, Princess Luna. Fish eggs and mud bugs??" Applebloom said bitterly.

---to the moment the concussed bullies had flipped the table. "And then the sound system exploded and the lights went out, aaand that's pretty much it," Sweetiebelle concluded meekly, all her steam spent. "We're sorry, Princess Luna..."

Applejack stood there, scowling in anger. She hadn't said a word for several minutes."Is this really what happened, Applebloom?" she demanded, her voice dangerously level.

Applebloom looked up at her big sister woefully. She felt like she was withering under her sister's piercing glare. Applejack and Macintosh had given her scoldings and switchings for getting in fights before. This was worse.  "It's true! We're sorry, Applejack," she said. "We're so so sorry. We didn't want to ruin your party..."

Applejack didn't say a word. She spun about and left the room, her face livid. Applebloom's chin crumpled, but she held her tears in.

For a moment, the alicorn princesses were struck speechless. "They were going to make you do what?" Rarity finally said.

"They call it the Diaper Dance," Babs said, flinching. A rather painful description of the 'punishment' was repeated.

Rarity gaped in horror, her wings flared. "Why--wh-- those horrible little hooligans!" She swept up Sweetiebelle in her wings.... and backed away a moment later with her muzzle scrunched in distaste. "Euh, you are simply covered in punch and muck, Sweetie," she said. "here--" a tub of wet-naps floated into the room and Rarity began cleaning her squirming sister's face and and hooves off.  Cadence helped chip in; between the two and their telekinesis they had wet-naps assaulting all five of them. "You poor dears, what a wretched thing to have happen..."

"But still... fighting..." Fluttershy shook her head sadly at Bishi. Bishi ducked his head and looked away.

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash said reluctantly. "I mean, jeez, Scootaloo... getting in a brawl with a buncha colts in the middle of a fancy ball. What am I supposed to say to your folks?" she leaned over when she thought the others' attention was away. "Didja knock him out?" she muttered.

"Dash...!" Fluttershy exclaimed.

"Well hey--"

"Lemme put it this way: what has two green eyes and one black one?" Scootaloo smirked.

"Scootaloo..." Fluttershy said, almost pleading.

"Fluttershy, what ever is the matter with you?" Rarity said, still cradling her little sister in her wings. "Those little monsters assaulted your little brother and our little sisters! Didn't you hear what they were going to do to them if they hadn't fought back?"

"But they should have gone to a grownup and let them handle it," Fluttershy protested.

"Oh yeah, like that ever works," Twilight Sparkle snorted cynically. At the other princesses' surprised looks, she said, "Come on. Why do you think I was so terrified of going back to Magic Kindergarten?" She shook her head. "The Diaper Dance, huh? They still call it that...?"

Princess Celestia looked absolutely stricken as she realized the implications of what her former pupil was saying. She set her teacup down and started to get to her feet. "Oh, Twilight..."

        Cadence moved in from the other side and nuzzled her former charge consolingly. "I'm so sorry, Twily. I never had any idea--"

Twilight waved her off with a wing. "It was long ago," she said dismissively. "Before I was even Celestia's pupil. I'm over it now. Really. No, really." She was careful not to look anypony in the eye. "Anyway, what I was saying... even when I was a filly, 'telling the grownups' never works. "Teachers don't have time for tattletales," Miss Gaskin always said. And even when they did do something it's always just a slap on the fetlock, and it just earns you some petty act of revenge, oh, another swirly or your bookbags in a tree or... the Diaper Dance," she finished, one eyelid twitching. "I'm over it, really--" Cadence just nodded and threw a wing over Twilight's shoulder.

"Yeah, what she said," Babs said. "Doesn't anypony realize that if that 'tell a grownup' stuff really worked, there'd be no bullies in the first place?" she slapped her forehooves on her seat cushion in frustration.  "Bullies aren't stupid. They wait until there are no grownups around. Or till no grownups are looking. Or till no grownups are around who care. And they know how to deal with squealers." She looked ashamed. "How d'ya think I got away with bullying Applebloom right under Cousin Applejack's nose?"

"You seem to regret that now, at least," Celestia noted as an aside. "Why did you ever do it in the first place?"

It was surprising how such a tough little pony could look so forlorn. Babs shrugged. " 'Cause why not? They were so nice and eager to see me, I thought the girls were setting me up-- tricking me. It scared me. Then Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon showed up and everything was back to normal. Kids were getting bullied and nopony was doing anything about it. Except this time I was on the winning side for once."

The mares in the room all looked at one another. Everything was back to normal. what an indictment of the way things were.

"We didn't start anything," Applebloom insisted unhappily. "They ganged up on us!"

Luna spread her wings for attention. "Enough, sisters," she said. "It is apparent the foals here were not to blame."

"Going by their version of events, yes," Celestia said tactfully.

Luna's eyebrows tabled. "Fair enough... suffice it that the Princess of Honesty believed them."

"No she didn't," Applebloom whimpered. "Not a word."

Celestia cocked an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?" she said, taking a sip from her teacup.

"Ah know that look in her eye. It's her 'Ah'm gonna go find out the truth' look," Applebloom said bitterly, making quote marks in the air with her hooves. "She gits it whenever she thinks I'm lying. Why can't she ever believe me?"

Celestia looked at her sympathetically. "She does, my little pony," she said.

"How would you know?" Applebloom said a trifle belligerently, wiping her eye on her foreleg.

Up to this point Pinkie had remained quiet. "Silly filly," she piped up. "Have you ever known Applejack to not call a liar-pants a liar-pants?" Applebloom shook her head. "Well there you go, silly!"

""If she did not believe you," Cadence said matter-of-factly, "then wouldn't she have said so?"

Applejack marched through the hallways of Castle Canterlot, snorting. She made no hesitation, swerving neither to the right nor the left, taking each intersection with confidence and determination as if her horn were leading the way.

In a manner of speaking, it was. Applejack was the Element of Honesty. More importantly she was the alicorn of Honesty. Truth was her Element in the way that water was to a fish and her relationship to that Element had only grown with her ascendance. She could follow the currents of fact and truth and information like a bloodhound, in a way that would make Sherlock Holmes rapturous or any hardboiled gumshoe weep with envy. A huge, awful story had been plunked down in front of her just now, and her Element wouldn't let her rest till she saw the whole of it. That was no problem, for she could sniff out the other huge chunk of the story like she was sniffing out the rest of a wheel of stinky cheese.

Meanwhile, in the Canterlot infirmary, PennyWorth and his friends were all nursing their wounds and their grievances. Marzipan was bewailing her fate, despite being the least injured of the group (she had landed on her hairdo wrong. (1)) Ivy was wincing and cursing as the longsuffering nurse dabbed ointment on her cuts and scrapes and on the bald spots on her mane. Ruby Drop was still sneezing up fruit punch. PennyWorth's two testosterone laden goons were the worse for the wear as well; the pegasus was groaning and clutching an ice bag someplace unpleasant while his unicorn friend lay back and waited for the world to stop spinning.

PennyWorth himself was pretty badly off. Unicorn magic had reduced most of the swelling in his lip and eyes and cheeks and nose and-- well, let it suffice that it was only thanks to the nurses that he didn't look like a cross between a prize fighter and a potato. He was clutching an icepack to half his face and seething, plotting their revenge. "Baby Babs has had it!" he snarled. "She's gotta come back to school someday, and the minute she does we're gonna make her life hell. Her and her friends--"

"Da ones already dere, or da ones at da dance?" the pegasus thug managed to groan.

"Both, you plothead!" PennyWorth snapped. He paused and gave a curt laugh. "I got friends and money, I can find a way to make their lives miserable even if they lived north of the Crystal Empire." He sneered as best he could with a busted lip. "Little twerps, trying to pass themselves off as related to nobility.  Man, even that little redhaired corn pone tried to pull that. "Ah'm gonna tell my sister Princess Applejack,' " he mimicked. His sycophants all laughed. "I'm gonna have fun coming up with a way to put her in her--"

He was too busy gloating over his planned revenge to notice that his compatriots had all fallen silent with looks of dread on their faces. He got the message a moment later when an orange hoof planted itself on the gurney next to him and spun it around, leaving him facing somepony very large, royal, and angry looking.

Applejack had been an earth pony a long time; it was only natural that her magic first and foremost worked through the earth. Her ire spread out through her hooves and into the stone floor. There was a loud rumble; the entire castle trembled, briefly. "Me an' the other Princesses understand you have a little problem with our kinfolk," she said ominously. "Rarity's little sister Sweetiebelle? Fluttershy's baby brother Breezy? My little sister Applebloom? Our cousin Babs?"

She edged forward till she was almost nose to nose with the spoiled colt. "Care ta explain yourselves?"

PennyWorth sat there, frozen, his jaw hanging loose. All that came out of his mouth was a strangled, high pitched "eeeeeeeeeee." It was the squee of the damned.

Celestia sighed and set aside her cup. "Please understand, children, we do not blame you for what happened. Once all of us calm down and think this over--" here she shot a look at Fluttershy, who stuck out her lip in an uncharacteristic gesture of defiance-- " I'm sure we'll agree. But there are going to be consequences."

"Consequences?" Scootaloo said apprehensively.

Luna rolled her eyes. "The families of the foals whose flanks thou most righteously kicked--"

"Luna--"

"Well, they did-- ahem. Their families are wealthy, powerful and influential. They are already causing a ruckus over what happened which shall only grow louder o'er the coming weeks, both in the royal court and in the press." Luna looked sympathetic. "They are a petty lot, like their foals, and they will strive to make trouble for thy families-- to take petty vengeance--  if we go about as if nought had happened."

"So you're gonna haveta punish us, t' keep them from causin' trouble," Applebloom said unhappily.

The other princesses were about to raise a fuss when Celestia interjected. She smacked one hoof on her velvet cushion. "Certainly not!" she said, miffed. "I won't hear of it. But we will have to... put you someplace away from their immediate attention. The advantage of dealing with petty individuals is that they are petty in every way; they will forget the incident soon enough if given the chance."

"We gotta lay low till da heat's off," Babs translated.

"Youse gots it," Celestia shot back, giving the Manehattan filly a wink. Babs giggled.

"Well, I suppose that it all works out with the plan I had," Twilight said. The foals looked curious as the princesses nodded to each other.

"Indeed, Twilight," Rarity said. "It just gives us another excuse to go through with it."

"What plan?" Scootaloo asked.

At that moment Applejack reentered the room. She had the air of somepony who had confirmed something to her unhappy satisfaction. "Well?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Applejack blew a tuft of her mane out of her face. "Yup," she said. "Just like we was told. Little weasels tried ta tell me they were 'just jokin' around'. When that didn't work they tried to say that this lot jumped 'em." She grimaced in disgust. "They might as well had 'LIAR' lit up on their flanks in neon." She snorted.

"Hey, we're not that puny," Scootaloo muttered.

"Anyway, story confirmed," Applejack concluded.

"You coulda just believed us," Applebloom muttered, pouting. Applejack winced a little.

"Annnnnyway," Twilight said. "I think we were all concluding that this might be a good reason to go ahead with that little plan we spoke about earlier?"

Applejack seemed to think a minute then nodded. "Yep. All things considered it might be for the best."

"Okay, what plan?" Sweetiebelle said.

Rarity tsked. "You see dear, as you know, the girls and I are going to be going on an... extended trip," she said.

"Huntin' for other alicorns," Applejack said.

"...And well, we've been concerned about leaving you three... er, well, four, er, five now... all alone."

"Up to your own devices," Twilight said dryly. "Running amuck in Ponyville without any-- oof!" she rubbed her side where Applejack had elbowed her.

"And now with current events... oh I'll just cut to the chase, dears," Rarity said. "You're going with us."

The foals looked up in surprise. "You mean it?" Sweetiebelle asked, excitement and hope bubbling up. All she'd been looking forward to at this point was going back home after the coronation.

Twilight nodded, smiling in spite of herself. "Yes, you'll each be going with your sisters," she said. At this Sweetie, Applebloom and Bishi brightened considerably.

Scootaloo and Babs deflated a little. "Oh, um. Well... have fun, I guess," Scootaloo said.

Babs grinned awkwardly and scratched the back of her head. "Yeah... write me, Applebloom?"

"Now hold on a minute," Rainbow Dash said with a cocky grin. "Dontcha think honorary sisters count?" She threw a wing over Scootaloo's shoulders. "No way I'm leaving my number one fan behind. Already talked to your folks-- they gave it the go."

Scootaloo's face could have lit up a lighthouse. "Really??"

"Absotively posilutely," Rainbow Dash said. Scootaloo squealed with glee.

"Ayep," Applejack said. "And I don't think I could get away with leavin' Applebloom's favorite cousin behind either. We'll make enough room for ya, Babs." She scowled briefly. "Sides, I don't think I wanna be sending you back to Manehattan so long as those uppity brats have their dander up," she muttered.

"This is awesome!" Sweetiebelle squealed. "We're all gonna tour Equestria together!!" The four fillies leapt at each other in a group hug, jumping up and down and squealing. Breezy Shy, to his mortification, got caught up in the melee as well.

"Girls.. GIRLS!" Twilight shouted for their attention. They stopped hopping up and down. "Not... not exactly together, I'm afraid."  The CMC started looking apprehensive. "You see, we're all going in different directions," the purple alicorn said, sharing a look with her friends. "We have to, to cover more ground. We're going to be gone at least a year as it is. So no... you all won't be traveling together."

The girls all sat down on the floor with a thump. "We're not?" Applebloom said. "We're... splitting up?"

"For a whole year?" Sweetie said in dismay.

"Oh, not the whole time," Twilight said, lowering her head to them and smiling. She flicked her horn and a map of the world appeared next to her. It was covered with multicolored lines and dots and circles. "We're all going to be flying different itineraries, but we'll be stopping, oh, every couple of weeks or so to meet up together. see?" She traced the routes on the map with her hoof. "Besides, think of all the things you'll have to talk about whenever we get back together!"

"Um, yeah, I guess so," Scootaloo said. "But still..." she gnawed at her lip.

Twilight chuckled. "Don't worry, I have a few other things that will make it not so bad," she said. "But for right now, why don't you take a little while, talk it over with your sisters. And your honorary sisters. And cousins. Whatever." She waved a wing.

"Yeah, c'mon kid," Rainbow Dash said, leading Scootaloo to the door. "Lemme fill you in on all the details." The foals and princesses paired off and filed out of the room. As soon as the door closed behind them, Twilight Sparkle sagged in relief.

"Whew!" she said to Celestia and Luna. "I was afraid that was going to be a much harder sell."

"Tis fortunate that the young ones are more or less enthusiastic," Luna agreed. "Methinks they will be, ah, 'all on board' once they know all the details."

"Well I didn't want to look like I was bribing them," Twilight said. "I'd rather they choose to go along because they want to be with their families, not because I stacked up more goodies for them."

"As if a free world tour with six princesses wasn't a bribe in and of itself," Celestia said drolly.

"Yeah, that's a pretty high pile of icing on the cupcake, there, Twi," Pinkie Pie added with a giggle. "I can't wait for all the fun adventures I'll have with MY travel buddy!"

Twilight cocked an eyebrow. "Pinkie, the foals are all going with their families, and 'honorary sister'," she said. "Who are you going with?"

"Nawwwwwwt telling," the pink party alicorn giggled. "Not until everypony comes back. I want it to be a surprise!"

Rainbow led Scootaloo back to her suite. "Sit here, kiddo, I gotta go change out of this monkey suit," she said, ducking behind a privacy screen. "So whaddya think, huh? Pretty exciting, right?" she called out behind the screen.

"Yeah!" Scootaloo agreed. Then she rethought it. "Well..."

"Oh, do I hear hesitation?" Rainbow Dash teased. A garter came flying over the screen, followed by a stocking.

"Well..." Scootaloo looked for the words. "I mean, there's the whole one year away from each other thing--"

"Pfft. That? Don't worry about that," Dash said. The ball gown came over the screen to land in a heap on the floor. "Jeez, there's more layers to this outfit than a wedding cake--- what was I saying? Oh yeah, don't worry about that. Twilight's got that all figured out. Ol' Egghead's come up with for all of us to stay in touch."

"What, dragonfire messages?" Scootaloo guessed.

"Hah! Nah, something way cooler than that," Dash said. "Trust me, you're gonna love it. Grr. Argh!" There was a ripping noise followed by a twang. "Whoo." A somewhat savaged elastic girdle sailed over the screen to join the rest of the discarded clothes. "Never let anypony talk you into wearing one of those things, kid."

"Aren't you disappointed?" Scootaloo asked.

"Come again?"

"Well, you were gonna be a Wonderbolt. And an awesome one," Scootaloo said. "Now you're gonna be a Princess and just sit on a throne all day and stuff..." the disappointment was thick in her own voice.

Dash's head appeared. "Hah! You're gonna love this, kid! I got somethin' better." She disappeared again.

"Better than being a Wonderbolt?" Scootaloo said cynically.

"Check it out. Okay, you know that we're hunting for more alicorns, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Well. we're kinda doin' it undercover." Scootaloo 'ooohed' in approval. "Yeah. Already twenty percent cooler. So get this, my cover is that I'm gonna be traveling around doing fundraisers... for hospitals and schools and orphans and stuff like that. Right?"

"Okay..." Fundraising didn't sound all that cool to Scootaloo. It painted a picture of ponies giving boring speeches and selling tickets and stuff.

"Well check out the fundraiser program." A rolled-up poster came sailing over the screen, hitting the filly in the nose. She picked it up and unrolled it... and nearly had a heart attack. WONDERBOLTS CHARITY AIRSHOW, the lettering shouted. "You're touring with the Wonderbolts?" she shrieked.

"I'm headlining with the Wonderbolts," Dash said. "I'm gonna be in the show."

"See it's like this," Dash explained. "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna say that since I'm a Princess now, I gotta have some hardcore bad dude ponies to be my personal Guard. And what other bunch of hardcore bad dude ponies would even be able to keep up with me but the Wonderbolts?  The show is their cover too."

Scootaloo started to hyperventilate. "But wait," she said. "I thought you-- you couldn't because--"

"Because I'm so awesome now that I'd fly their wings off?" Dash chuckled. "Yeah, that's right. So I'm not flying with them. I'm gonna be flying solo, as the show opener.

"The story's gonna be that I'm the new top level... we're gonna be looking for fliers so awesome that they can keep up with an alicorn princess to fill out the new super top slot. I figure we put out the challenge like that, anyone with some alicorn blood in their veins will come out of the woodwork just to try out." Dash stepped out from behind the curtain. "Course I'm gonna need somepony to be my assistant-- fetch towels and water, help me train, sort my fan mail, that sorta thing..."

"Me?" Scootaloo squeaked.

"You got it." Dash stepped out in the middle of the floor. She was dressed in a Wonderbolts leotard... no, not quite. Instead of the blue-and-yellow lightning unitard of the Wonderbolts,  hers was midnight blue and golden flame. Her face was exposed like in the cadet uniforms, with a headband going just under her horn and a high collar that came up to her cheeks. The head was metallic gold, as were the boots up to the knee on all four legs, and split into golden flames and sparkles that trailed down her shoulders and back, fading to red and indigo. Around her neck was the gold torc of the Element of Loyalty; it blended perfectly with the metallic gold cloth around her face and off her shoulders. She struck a pose.

"Well, kid-- say hello to the world's first FIREBOLT!"

Scootaloo squeed and toppled out of her chair.

Fluttershy sat and looked at her baby brother.

Breezy Shy sat and looked at his big sister.

For a wonder, Fluttershy was the first to break eye contact. She sighed and lowered her eyes. "Bishi,"she said. "I know you meant well. And you thought you were doing the right thing..."

"I was doing the right thing," Bishi said. He looked down and rubbed one hoof over the other. "I wish you could see that."

"But," Fluttershy pleaded, "Couldn't you have tried something other than fighting...?"

Now it was Breezy Shy's turn to stand up. "No we couldn't!" he said, scowling angrily at his sister. He immediately flushed and withdrew a little from his defiant stance, but he stood his ground. He pulled his training booties out of his jacket and dropped them at Fluttershy's feet. "Why did you and Mother get these for me, then?" he demanded. "Why did you pay for my martial arts lessons?"

"Not for this!" Fluttershy said angrily, glaring and dangerously close to using the Stare.

Bishi was unphased. "Yes it was," he said softly, stamping his hoof. "I asked Sensei why I had to take the lessons. Sensei told me 'because sometimes there are bad ponies who aren't going to stop because you give them a stern talking to.'" His big blue eyes were tender and remorseless. "They were bad ponies, and they were going to do awful things to my friends. Awful things. I protected them. Wouldn't you do the same?"

Fluttershy sighed. "Bishi...." Fluttershy bit her lip. "I.." she broke down. "Yes, you did the right thing. But it still scares me."

"Why?" Breezy asked.

Fluttershy's face crumpled. "Because I know you're just trying to stand up for yourself. I know that you're so much like I am. And I could be an awful pony if I let myself." Her memory flashed back to her first Grand Galloping Gala, to the dragon migration, to Iron Will... " I tried to be assertive too, once. And I hated what I became. I became an awful pony who hurt other ponies and who hurt her friends and who drove everypony away and I don't want that to happen to...." her voice ended in a tearful squeak.

Bishi rested one hoof on her shoulder. "But you didn't stay that way did you?" he asked.

Fluttershy smiled and sniffled, shaking her head no. Bishi smiled. "There, you see? You learned better. I learned better too. Sensei made sure of it. He always tells us 'You don't have to step on somepony else to stand up for yourself.' It sounds like you learned that too. And if you could learn that, I could learn that. I promise, sister, I'll never ever step on somepony else."

Fluttershy pulled her not-so-little brother into a warm hug, wings and forelegs. "When did my baby brother get so all grown up?" She said. "I've missed so much that's happened with you since I left Cloudsdale."

Bishi grinned. "I guess it's good that we're going to spend some time together now, huh?"

Babs and Applebloom trotted into Applejack's suite, Applejack right behind them. Applebloom was still nursing a bit of a pout. Couldn't Applejack have believed her, just this one---

The door had barely closed behind Applejack before she swept forward, sweeping the two fillies into a hug, startling them both. "I'm so sorry, you two," she said. "What happened to you was downright awful. I'm sorry I yelled at you. I'm sorry I made you feel guilty when you didn't do nuthin' wrong..."

Applebloom squirmed a little. She didn't want to feel better yet. "Then why didn't you believe us?" she said. "Why'd you go runnin' off to get some other pony to tell you, like you couldn't..." like you couldn't trust me, went unsaid.

Applejack groaned and let them go. "I was afraid o' that," she said. She sighed and settled down on the floor next to the two fillies. "Applebloom, you gotta understand somethin'." Applejack ruminated over what to say next. "You know I'm an element of Harmony, right?"

Applebloom looked a bit offended. "Well duh."

"And what element am I?"

"The element of Honesty, DUH."

"Well I'm more than that. I'm also the alicorn of Honesty."

Both fillies cocked their heads in puzzlement. "So how's that different?" Babs said.

"It means that I don't just wear the element anymore," Applejack said, tapping the apple gem on her torc. "It means that Honesty is a part of me now, part of my magic. It's like wearin' the Element all the time, on the inside. And, well, it means I gotta do things a certain way. Like... like a bird's gotta fly because it has wings. Or a fish has to swim because it has fins. Like an itch you just gotta scratch.  If I don't, my Element bugs the fire out of me till I do.

"Y'see, girls, another word for Honesty is Truth. An' a part of Truth is Facts. And to get the Facts, you gotta Get the Whole Story." Applebloom and Babs could hear the capital letters in the words. "When you all told me what happened, I knew right away you weren't lyin', my Element told me that right away. But I also knew I hadn't heard the whole story."

"But I told you everything--" Applebloom protested.

"You told me everything you all knew," Applejack corrected. "But just what you knew, from your perspective. From your side. And Y' cain't see the backside of the barn from the front. My Element wouldn't let up buggin' me till I'd got all the sides of the story. Even if none of 'em told me nuthin' new. I had to go hear them bullies' stories-- lies an' all-- just to be fair. Because honesty is about bein' fair, too-- to everypony. Even the ponies that don't deserve it."

"If I go askin' questions after y'all, it don't mean I don't trust you anymore, darlin'," she said, running a hoof over Applebloom's mane. "It just means I gotta do what I gotta do. Understand?"

Applebloom nodded and threw her forelimbs around her sister's neck. All was forgiven, just that easy. It was hard to keep two Apples apart. Applejack chuckled and pulled Babs in for a hug as well. "C'mere, you. All that goes for you too, little cousin."

Applebloom and Babs let go after a minute and sat back. "So we're really gonna do dis?" Babs asked.

"Ayup." Applejack grinned. "You two an' me, roamin' the countryside beatin' the bushes for more alicorns. Us and a few other ponies too, o' course."

"But what about the farm?" Applebloom asked, suddenly worried.

Applejack gave a hoot of laughter. "That's all taken care of," she said. "The princess--- Uh, Princess Celestia, that is-- picked out some farm workers to go to Sweet Apple Acres and lend a hoof. She's even sendin' some house servants and... um.. a whaddyacallum, a physical there-summeruther..."

"A physical therapist?" Babs said.

"That's the jasper. A physical therapist to look after Granny, give her hoof-rubs and what not." Applejack chuckled. "Best birthday present ever, I bet."

"Oh, brings me to mind--" Applejack flicked her horn; it glowed fitfully, and something wrapped in an amber aura came floating across the room. "Durn, I need more practice," she grunted, as it flopped to the ground at her hooves. "Babs, I hope y'don't mind, but this li'l memento is somethin' I want to keep in the immediate family." Babs shook her head. "Alright then. Applebloom, your grandpaw passed this down to your paw. Your paw wanted to pass it down to Macintosh, but Big Mac already had paw's horsecollar, so he passed it over to me. And now I'm passin' it down to you." With that ceremony she plopped her stetson down on Applebloom's head. It promptly sank down over the filly's ears, engulfing her head.

Applebloom struggled to push the stetson up while Babs giggled fit to bust. "But why?" Applebloom asked.

Applejack smiled wistfully. "Cause I'm a princess now, Applebloom," she said. "All this... these wings, this horn, this journey... they're just the start of all the changes I'm gonna have to go through. I can't just be a farmpony no more; I gotta be a proper princess now, and a proper princess don't wear no cowpony hat."

Applebloom promptly took the hat off and glared at her. "Horseapples."

"Applebloom!" her sister said, shocked. "Such language!"

"And if you say that again, I'll say it again," Applebloom said emphatically. She got up on her back hooves, hat in her forehooves, and reached up to set it on Applejack's head. "You're a princess now, aintcha?" she said as she pushed the hat back in place.

"Yes! That's what I'm tryin'--"

"And that means you get to decide what bein' a proper princess IS," Applebloom said firmly. "Not nopony else. You kin walk around with flapjacks on your head and an apple stuck on your horn and nopony can say boo to ya."

"Well I wouldn't go that far," Babs giggled.

Applebloom gave the hat a final poke. "There." She sat down and put her hoof to her sister's nose. "And don't you dare let nopony tell you to be anypony but yourself, y'hear?"

Applejack chuckled and pulled her sister in for another hug. "Don't you ever change neither, sweet pea," she said. So young, so confident and so alive... I am not going to bury my little sister, Applejack swore. She's going to  see as many years as I do and more, I swear it. Alicorns, you better be ready!

"I can't believe we're really going to do this," Sweetiebelle said, hopping almost like Pinkie Pie. "I'm so excited I could burst!"

Rarity laughed. "Well try not to, dear, we don't want to make a mess," she teased. She smiled to herself in amusement. Then her smile faltered. "Sweetiebelle..."

"Yah huh?" Sweetie said, still hopping about.

Doubt crept into Rarity's voice. "Sweetiebelle... are you sure that you want to do this? Travel-- with me?"

Sweetiebelle stopped in her tracks. "Sure I do!" she said confidently. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Because...all the things you'd miss," Rarity said. "And there's all that travel, and you know how your tummy gets on long trips, and..." and because I will be busier than ever before--- and I neglect you when I'm preoccupied. I can be an insufferable big sister sometimes... could you really bear being stuck with me for such a long time? She thought with a terrible pang of guilt.

Sweetie promptly picked up the wrong hint. Her face fell. "You... you do want me to come along, don't you?" Her ears drooped and her eyes got watery. "...You don't, do you. I know I'm a pain..."

"Oh no no no," Rarity said, turning around and nuzzling her. "Don't ever think that, Sweetiebelle. It's just..." she sighed. "Let's be honest, dear. We really can get on each other's nerves."

"Well yeah," Sweetie said unhappily. "But how is staying away from each other gonna make that any better?"

"Touche'," Rarity said.

"Gesundheit."

Rarity stifled a snicker. "Okay, so maybe it wouldn't hurt spend some time learning to get along," she said. "But are you sure? I mean, you'll get awfully homesick. Heaven knows I'm getting homesick and we haven't even left. Won't you miss Mother and Father?"

Sweetiebelle's eyebrows tabled. "Come on, Rarity," she said. "You know Mom and Dad would be off on another trip sometime soon, and I'd just end up being babysat by somepony. And then I'd just be sitting there all alone in Ponyville missing everybody."

Rarity grimaced. She really needed to take her parents to task about all their little trips. Would it kill them to take Sweetie with them once or twice? "We really don't come from ideal circumstances, do we, dear," she said.

Sweetiebelle shrugged. "Probably not."

"If you're really really certain you want to come on this voyage with me..." Rarity said.

"I'm really really really REALLY certain," Sweetiebelle said firmly.

"Then it's settled." Rarity sauntered over to her wardrobe to change out of her ball gown. Magic made it the work of a few moments. "Uff, heavens. As fabulous as it is, this thing is simply smothering. I must look into more breathable fabrics." She donned a robe and sat down at her vanity to touch up her makeup a bit. "Well now there is one thing you might miss out on at Ponyville," she said, teasing a bit. "Meeting a nice colt. Won't that nice boy, what was his name, Button, miss you?"

"Rariteeee..." Sweetiebelle rolled her eyes. "Button's just a friend--"

Rarity tittered. "That's what they all say, dear."

"Besides, I've met a nice boy here," Sweetie continued. Rarity could see her blush in the mirror. "Bishi."

"Oh. Well." Rarity thought carefully about how to approach this. "I did notice that the other girls seemed rather... fond... of Breezy Shy too. You might want to be careful that he doesn't come between you four."

"Why would he?" Sweetiebelle said, curious.

"Well dear, when two.. or more... fillies like the same colt, they tend to fight over him. That does tend to break up a friendship." Rarity carefully applied a touch of lipstick.

Sweetiebelle shrugged. "We could share him," she said.

Rarity's lipstick promptly graphed a jagged line from her lower lip to her left ear. "Wha--?" She turned and stared at her sister, her carefully groomed eyebrows nearly flying off the top of her head. It took a moment to recuperate. "--Oh very funny, Sweetiebelle," she said. "Now stop being silly--"

"Who's being silly?" Sweetiebelle said. "Lotsa ponies used to have herds."

"That was a long time ago, Sweetie," Rarity said, blinking rapidly.

"Nuh uh," Sweetiebelle said. "Miss Cheerilee says that half the married ponies in Equestria were in herds just fifty years ago."

Rarity sputtered. "Oh balderdash! Besides it's... it's against the law today."

"Nuh uh," Sweetiebelle said. "I asked. It's perfectly fine and legal for a stallion to marry more than one mare, if he so wishes," she recited.

"Who told you that nonsense?"

"...Princess Celestia."

Rarity felt the conversation getting away from her rapidly. "Well that was then and this is now," she said, desperately trying to round up things before they went over the cliff. "We're more civilized these days--"

Sweetiebelle scowled at this. "But there are still lots of ponies who marry in herds, even in Equestria..." she said. " Mom and Dad talk all the time about their friends out in Magic Valley and Salt Lick City. And there's Saddle Arabia....Shoot, even the Zebras--"

"You're not a Zebra!" Rarity half shrieked.

There was a long pause. "Are you saying there's something wrong with marrying a Zebra?" Sweetiebelle said dangerously. "My penpal Jorge is half zebra, and he--"

"No, I'm not saying-- ARGH!" Rarity buried her face in her hooves. What had her half-mad parents been dropping in her little sister's ear?

She felt a tiny hoof on her shoulder. "You really do need this trip, Rarity," Sweetiebelle said soberly. "Travel really broadens your perspective."

Rarity groaned.

"Um, you got some lipstick on your cheek, right there..."

1)There had been a plethora of fancy and rather pointy combs hidden in her bouffant.

Next Chapter: Chapter 10 Estimated time remaining: 6 Hours, 44 Minutes