Hippo

Zap went. His focus was on maintaining a straight stance while not moving too much, but his facial expression could have been mistaken for a blank stare that seemed rude, especially when someone else was sharing the bathroom. Zap looked down underneath him to see the end of his relief and given a few grace seconds, stood straight up and pull the flush cord above him that would pour water into the hole to sanitize the waste surfaces. He then walked to the sink and started washing his hooves.

This whole experience in the bathroom will later make Zap feel embarrassed. Not necessarily because he felt bad about his innocence lacking full context of this situation, but rather that he let a stranger griffon watch him urinate at all. No mental scaring would prevail, but it would serve as a deep secret he would only tell his best friends. And maybe not even them. Zap finished rinsing his hooves of the suds he lathered on them, and then dried them off with a hanging towel. He then showed his almost-reflecting hooves, soles point upwards, to Gallus.

"Confused. A little scared. But still relieved, knowing this is all a dream," Twilight began before she approached Luna. The elder Alicorn looked...not scared or concerned, but maybe a little surprised? Twilight tried to calm herself. Maybe that would help. "Thank you for doing this. I'm sorry that I'm making this so hard on you."

Luna grimaced at the strain of her magic. She rarely enjoyed using this much of her own power to manipulate the illusions around her. "It's alright. I typically will not embrace using such force against a dreamer's psyche. I know that interrupting it may close the door for finding a solution the problem. But this time it seemed overbearing and you haven't woken up yet." Princess Luna began casting a spell with her horn. As she wound up the magic, she seemed to be searching for something, almost as if her horn was a metal detector of sorts. "Give me a moment while I try to bring us back to a familiar, yet peaceful realm." Luna cast her magic into random directions in the void, attempting to hit something that would give her the feedback she needed. She looked back at Twilight Sparkle. "Are you hurt?" Anypony older than a filly would know dreams can't hurt you, but in this moment Luna felt it necessary to establish the all-too-important mood of the dream caster.

"I'm fine. I know this is a dream, and dreams cannot hurt me. Physically, at least. And emotionally- well, you've been a lifesaver tonight, even if I don't feel like I'm shaken of my worries," Twilight said as she came and sat down next to Luna. The mare was using a great deal of her power. Twilight knew she couldn't help....well, actually. That wasn't true. This was a dream. "Mind if I help?" Twilight asked innocently as her horn lit, and her magical aura started to wisp itself into Luna's horn. She was bleeding-apart of her aetheric energy into Luna, shoring up her compatriot's magical reserves and hopefully allowing her to feel less strain.

Luna was not immediately welcoming of Twilight's assistance. But just like most things Luna didn't initially approve of, she got over her pride and smiled back at the alicorn for her willingness to share the burden. "I just need to get us to a familiar part of your memory. Have you ever experienced lucidity in your dreams? Have you ever found that you can consciously change the way the dream unfolds, or do you always lack control of it?" Princess Luna's lack of proper communicable inflection could have been mistaken as poor attitude. But with all things dreamscape, Luna took it very seriously and wondered if dream manipulation was ever the topic of a book Twilight Sparkle ever came upon during her many years of non-essential magical study.

"I've often had lucid dreams. In fact, of the dreams I can remember, I'd say that I used to have them more commonly than any other type," she smiled, not taking offense at Luna's tone. How could she? The mare had done so much for the troubled Princess' psyche tonight and was clearly uncomfortable. It would be silly to take it out on her. "I read about in a book right after I joined Celestia's school. I used to love the lucidity, how everything and anything felt possible. Only in the past few years has it seemingly slipped away from me. Once in a while sure, but not as often. And recently? Recently...never. Especially once they became nightmares."

Luna perked at Twilight's positivity in her ability to have lucid dreams. However, the lack of recent experience made Luna feel like tonight would be extra challenging. "Is there anyway you can try to do it now? All you need to do is try and think of a memory or place you were during a time of low stress. Think of a party, or a loving moment." Princess Luna ceased her magic, and returned her magical aura to her horn, and offered Twilight's her's as well. Luna pointed in a specific region of the void in which Twilight should concentrate her energy. It wasn't obvious to even Luna herself that it made much of a difference which direction they aimed.

Twilight nodded. She'd try if nothing else. Her mind raced, trying to relive a recent happy memory and directing her magical power to where she was told to. She didn't know if it would really matter if she shot her magic straight up, but why risk it? After a few moments, her eyes lit up. Something recent. Something loving. Something low stress. And a party, all to boot! The magic shot from her horn and started to form the region into something quaint. A mid-sized living room in a house of upper-middle Canterlot make and design. The room was dark, though several figures were hiding...

-------
Crescent Sparkle opened the door to his home, yawning and stretching his back as he did so. This moment of blindness meant he did not see a cake, hidden poorly in the darkness, in the middle of his living room. Nor the poorly hidden figures of his wife and children, before the Prince of the Crystal Empire broke the surprise a moment too soon and yelled, "Surprise!" This caused the elder Sparkle to stumble in a panic ad nearly fall, being caught in his daughter's magical aura as his wife turned the lights on to his surprise party.

A fissure in the void opened and Luna stepped in, motioning for Twilight to follow. "A family party?" Luna asked with a straight face, appearing unamused. "It'll work. But be vigilant. The nightmare we experienced could still be around." Luna became entertained with Crescent's stumble. A royal family celebration of some sort gave Luna a flashback of her own far distance memories that would share this setting. "When and where was this?"

"A few months ago. A surprise party to celebrate my father's birthday," she smiled. It had been a great day. "We hadn't seen each other in a while, and certainly not as a whole family. I felt kind of bad about that. His birthday and Shining and I both took a chunk out of it," she said as she walked around, observing the small details. And slicing two pieces of cake, one of which she sent over to Luna. "Not that he minded, I think."

Luna used her magic to hold the imaginary cake and attempted to cut into it with a fork. But when she did so, the cake melted into dry sand and fell off the plate. Luna gave a smirking shrug. "There is something familiar about this place even to me." Luna looked at Twilight as if she had some kind of prior knowledge to the method of bringing them here. Luna stomped her hoof and time began warping backwards, first slowly but accelerated over time. As time in the vision moved backwards in the room, the Sparkles could all be seen getting younger. Glimpses of Twilight and Shining as foals.

But eventually, the Sparkles were gone. Or rather they had yet appeared to be there. Several unknown ponies began scattering in the environment showing themselves through time as the two alicorns reversed. Luna looked at Twilight. "It seems this is not just a projection of your memory. But maybe mine as well." Eventually, the warp came to a sudden halt, freezing to a moment in time in which a pony was looking out of a window looking at the moonlit sky. The moon had no mare in it.

Twilight had a grasp of time magic and an understanding that this was a dream, both of which were honed to sharper and finer points than most other ponies could dream of. But she had a moment of panic at first as she saw everything start to reverse, wondering if this was once again some manner of mirage that was about to cruelly reveal itself. After all, this had started off as a nightmare and what was lurking in the shadows of powerful minds were powerful fears indeed.

But she calmed herself quickly and allowed herself to get closer to Luna as time continued to reverse in increasing speed. It felt like just scant moments before everything stopped itself. The moon was high and with no Nightmare Moon scarring, and the stillness of the scene was almost poetic. Yet what got her attention the most was the pony who was taking in the moonlit sky, the pony for whom this small stretch of reality had focused on.

"I know this pony. I remember this moment." Luna started to remember the fullness of the memory. It was her memory. "This pony would pray to me every night, pray that I would protect her in her dreams. But this was the last time I ever noticed her."

The pony looked at the wall in her home. A clock was hung at it read that it would be dawn. But no sun rose. The pony became worried. Luna looked at Twilight. "It's finding us. We cannot stay here." She stomped the ground to return to the dreamer's intended memory, but the stomps did nothing.

Outside in the distance, a horrifying gackle could be heard.

Roleplay Type: WoE Cast

Name:  First Base 
Sex: Male
Age: Young Stallion
Species: Earth Pony
Eye colour: Dark Teal
Coat: Orange
Mane/Tail: Dark Teal
Physique: Average athletic
Residence: Ponyville
Occupation: Student at the School of Friendship
Cutie Mark: A baseball bat and a baseball

Unique Traits: First Base is gifted with good hoof-eye coordination, especially when it pertains to playing sports. First Base has become infatuated with a new sport new to ponies in which you hit a ball with a stick and run around bases to score points. He is really good at starting new projects. He has good ideas and knows how to execute them. Because of how forward thinking he is, he is often one step ahead of others in conversation. As he grew up, his talent has allowed him to have confidence to talk to others, more than average ponies. He is socially attractive.

History: First Base grew up in Ponyville and was classmates with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. He was often a follower in the class, echoing the majority rule in the circle of friends. He got his cutie mark one day when teasing a friend. They were playing a friendly game of keep-away. When the ball was thrown towards him, he picked up a tree branch and hit the ball far into the other direction. The friend attempting to get the ball was so playfully furious that he started chasing after him. First Base ran as fast as he could and without looking tripped over a sandbag. His leg was hurt but when he inspected his sprain, he noticed his cutie mark had appeared.

When he finished foal academy, his parents decided he should attend the School of Friendship. There, he would attempt to excel at sports and apply himself for the hoofball teams and other athletic activities. He does not have a fillyfriend, but feels he could get one at any time because of his confidence.

Character Personality: First Base is an excellent pony to meet on first impression. He is quick to please and has an infectious attitude. He motivates others when he is trying to help them to succeed. When given a task, even one that is non-sport related, he has a knack for getting a good start on what needs to be done. However, he has a hard time finishing things. Where he lacks mostly is long-term motivation and discipline. He can concentrate on a single task for only so long before he loses productivity, loses interest, and attempts to jump start another new venture to his musing. His fleeting attitude in the end game of certain tasks can sometimes be off-putting to others trying to finish what he started. He is very firm in his initial decisions, but can sometimes be fickle in his future contemplation. He has horrible follow-through and is sometimes hard to rely on for projects that last longer than a few days.

Character Summary: First Base is a young stallion trying to learn about friendship as he continues to age in the town he was born in. He is easy to make friends with, but is not very good at keeping those friends. He is average intelligence but makes up for his basic mentality with strong determination and motivation that can infect others around him. He can gallop a quick 40 meter dash, but has never completed a running of the leaves. He is attractive for his age, but does not often hold a deep, meaningful conversation very well.

Foal

Young Stallion, student at Frienship School

 Full grown stallion

Applejack was teaching her class today the importance of honest hard work. There were many ways to teach this. This time, she would offer the concept of a wooden shop lesson to invigorate the students to use integrity in their crafting skills. Some students would have templates to make clocks and tables, but the students could make anything they wanted. Applejack didn't care if the students did not have an affinity to shaping wood. All she cared about was that her class focus on their tasks and put a good effort into their projects. In the end, she would prove that with hard work and determination, integrity in your work can result in good things, regardless of your skill level.

Remington was not even thinking about his skill level. He was thinking about Moonlight, this glamorous unicorn filly he met on the first day of school seemed very friendly to him, more friendly than others had been. He didn't understand why she liked him, but he was content with the idea that this relationship had the potential to be something more. Unfortunately, Remington had no idea what any of this meant, and while he had the basic understanding of what a fillyfriend-coltfriend relationship looked like, he could have to make his next moves based on instinct. He knew right off the bat that what he really valued was quality time, and so in order to try and spend some of that time with Moonlight, he would ask her if she would like to be in a private study session. The details and implication of such a study session were not known, probably not even to Remington himself. He has no idea what he is doing.

Thread: Uneasy Hearts Neigh the Most

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Silverstream and Smolder are seen together walking and talking. Smolder seems to be in the mood for one of her many tea drinkings. Silverstream would join her, but for more than just tea. The two will share some bonds in the coming minutes. Though they are friends, the hippogriff-dragon combo does not have as rich of a friendship as some of the other students have. Without seeking to improve their relationship, they attempt to find common ground not necessarily in order to better their friendship, but perhaps to help them with more personal matters. No boys allowed.

Thread: Expert Teas

Midday classes had finished and the campus halls and courtyards were now flooded with creature students of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Some students who lived off campus but in Ponyville would elect to trek through the market before going home to enjoy the rest of their evening. The ones who lived on campus generally did their own version of collective society within the school's venues. The headmare did a good job acknowledging that you can't properly teach friendship to a young population without giving them time and space in order to exercise what a friendly society should look and function like. It was never perfect, but through the trials and tribulations, students would learn in their own ways how to better themselves and others through the lens of imparting the magic of friendship around them.

Two particular creatures who have become veteran students of friendship could be seen together exiting the main hall to the main courtyard. This courtyard was centered by the iconic fountain and was surrounded by many students having conversations and sharing laughs about their day and their life. One of these creatures was Silverstream, who had just gotten out of a class with Professor Pinkie Pie. Today's lesson had been about knowing when to use a joke to lighten the mood of a damp situation. Well, is started that way. Somehow the session ended with the class being show a visual lesson on the proper way to store items in your mane, assuming you were the kind of creature that had a mane. The hippogriff was wearing a wide smile, which was par for the course. "What a blast today. I can't wait to see the second part of Davenport's lecture on friendly customer service. How were your classes today, Smolder?"

"But I'm not one creature." Silverstream engaged her pearl shard with a soft touch of her claw and she transformed into a seapony. "I'm two." Silverstream giggle-snorted. She wished Gallus and the others were here to see her joke. She quickly changed back into a hippogriff and beamed with excitement. "Thank you so much, Counselor Starlight! I can't wait to try and help others in these ways. I'm gonna go start getting ready for the plunge. I'm gonna help make this place better than it already is!" Silverstream fluttered her way towards the door and gave Starlight a wave goodbye.

After she slipped through the door, she could be heard engaging with a student just outside the counselor's office, possibly in a way that would startle them. "Hey! Do you need help with anything? Can I carry your books? Are you new here?" The presence of the pink hippogriff faded into the distance as she drifted away from the office, but she would leave behind the remains of her bubbly personality and a positive inflection on those who were lucky enough to cross her energetic path. For the next few days and weeks, she would increase her capacity to connect with everycreature around her in an attempt to help give others the best example of what she loved so much about the School of Friendship.

Remington wings reacted with a quick flap that revealed his inner excitement, but he folded his front hooves down in covering his wooden masterpiece. "Nothing." Remington strangely uttered. "Um, I mean, its a box. A box of nothing." Remington was so worried about accidentally revealing the true nature of his object that he forgot to respond to an answer to his own questions with mindfulness and kindness. Fortunately for him he was able to keep the blunder to a small immaturity. He looked down at his box and folded the hinged lid on and then off again to show it's basic function. "Maybe I can put my pencils in it or something." Remington looked back up at Moonlight to glance again at her cute face. He chuckled, hoping the practicality of his device was so basic it would be considered humorous.

Remington took a piece of sandpaper and started rubbing down the edges of the box in order to give it a reasonable texture. Every few seconds he would spy in the corner of his eye at Moonlight's fastenings. He couldn't help but notice how she did every little mannerism, the way she flipped the chair she was working on, the way she dipped her brush into the glue jar, even the way she exhaled an emotionless sigh was interesting. Every few minutes, her left ear would twitch involuntarily. What was that about? Do other ponies do that? And if so, why did he never notice until now?

Remington couldn't stand the pressure to wait any longer for the question he wanted to ask her since class started. He flipped his box to the other side that was already sanded properly and started sanding it again just so his hooves were doing something while he talked. He figured acting nonchalantly was the best bet in this situation. "Moonlight. I was wondering if you could help me with Professor Rarity's class. She's probably going to have a pop quiz tomorrow and I just don't get it." Rarity never announced her pop quizzes, but a student could always tell when it was coming because she would use the words 'venturesome' and 'enterprising' when teasing the next day's agenda. Generosity was a first year class required to be completed by all students for continuing the friendship school's track. This year, there were multiple entry classes because of enrollment increases and for the purpose of diversity of the class body, Remington and Moonlight did not share the same classroom for Rarity's lessons. But they shared others. "You're really good at the whole fashion thing, and even though I know there's more to generosity than making dresses, you seem to speak Professor Rarity's language and understand her perspective more. I was wondering if you could help me study the text material from the class." Remington didn't want to come off too needy, so he threw in a way out. "It's not a big deal if you can't, I was just wondering if you had some free time." The last thing Remington said was the truest thing he had said all day.

Apple Chord stopped singing but continued to pedal with her hooves the upbeat melody. Coloratura wanted to reflect on what just happened. And from Apple's prospective, she was excited but trying to maintain composure. The mare picked up an electric guitar and to Apple Chord's amazement started to play it effectively. After a short while, she stopped and asked for Apple Chord's opinion on her melody.

Apple Chord chuckled a high-pitched hoot. "It ain't about style, Missy, it' about creating the music that's already inside of you. Don't try to play an instrument and just act on instinct. Here's lets try something." Applejack took a break from her constant strumming and pulled up a small saddlebag that looked like it was made custom from Appleloosa. It matched the pattern and colors of the rest of her attire. She opened it and pulled out a few pieces of paper. She trotted over towards her partner and put the sheets of paper onto a music stand and placed it in front of her. "Let's try this one. This is a song I wrote many a time ago. When I wrote the song I was feeling slightly used and underappreciated, but I also knew at the time that I was worth more than what the devil was whisperin' in mah ear. So I started playing music from my heart and this came out. You can play A minor and D right?"

Apple Chord went back to her place and grabbed a bass guitar which was stashed among the instruments stored in a corner of the room. She plugged it into a local amp and adjusted the volume so that it would be loud enough to make an effect without dominating the room. Once she felt comfortable with the guitar in her possession she started playing the song. "Let the music come from inside, Ra-, I mean, Missy!"

After climbing through a classroom window, she could tell which classroom this was. Even in the darkness, the shiny instruments and lined music sheets indicated to her this was the music room. Sometimes it was Instructor Octavia's space to do her lessons, but mostly it was just Professor Pinkie Pie's tuba-playing designation. Even though the earth pony's spontaneity was vital to the lessons on Laughter, the headmare had designed the school's many rooms so that some of the more loud teachings would be concentrated away from other classrooms that demanded a more subtle quieter tone. Silverstream made sure she carefully traversed the room without knocking over any equipment and walked to the door to the hallway. It was unlocked.

The hallway was dark as well, and fortunately for Silverstream, not a peep could be heard. No sign of janitors, and no baby dragons trying to find their misplaced comics. The hippogriff then decided to ditch her four-legged effort of mobility and started a light hover. She flew gently through the halls of the school looking for a particular room. It was easy for her to find her bearings normally, but the darkness of the halls made the school look like a much different place. It even looked haunted if one's imagination could rest on that idea.

She found the door she was looking for. It was a bigger door than the others, because this door led to a very important part of the school, the library. Here, she hoped to find the correct information that would guide the rest of her evening. And no creature had to know about but her.

Applejack smiled as Moonlight gave her the compliment and the truth Applejack always knew. "Yeehaw, that's right! I'm the rockinest pony ya ever gonna meet!" Applejack looked around. "Alright then. How 'bout you rake them leaves here. I don't need to do them right now, but if they are raked now, it saves me having to do it later this week." Scattered around the apple trees that shaded the two ponies, were small oval-shaped green leaves that were shed from their fruit-bearing trees. Occasionally during apple extraction, weak leaves would fall off and become yardwork. "There's a rake just inside the barn and an empty barrel I used for leaf and grass clippings. Just rake them up and shovel them into the barrel. Later you can deliver the barrel to Fluttershy's sanctuary where the leaves become snacks for all the critters she has that like them."

Applejack stepped up to another apple tree and gave it a strong kick. Apples fell into baskets, a few did not. She bent over to pick up the stray apples. When her mouth wasn't holding an apple, she continued the conversation. "So what's this colt's name? Do I know him? Have you talked to him yet?" Applejack had never had to have this conversation before. Apple Bloom undoubtedly experienced crushes already but Applejack hasn't talk to her little sister about it yet. Discussing Moonlight's feelings and how to manage them would be good practice for how best to approach Apple Bloom once she inevitably gets to her rebellious phase.

Zap's attention was successfully being pulled away from the calamity happening along his spine. The tender loving care of an earth pony mother who was really good at wrapping bandages began to show its advantages. It's a good thing Applejack read those fourteen books on pegasus foal-rearing. "My favorite part." Zap winced involuntarily. "My favorite part was the streak I made when I flew fast. It was like Dashie's a little. Except it was colored like you." Zap reached out with a hoof and touched her mane, noticing the contrast between the orange earthy hues with the golden sunshine of her locks. Just then when she moved his wings dramatically to make sure they were positioned correctly, Zap Apple began to wail for a short few seconds.

Once Applejack stepped away from her work, she asked him how his wing felt. He stood up slowly and looked back at his wings. One of them was completely wrapped and splinted. The wing that was broken swelled up slightly and made him feel uncomfortable. Zap clenched his teeth, looked at his mothers and then looked back at his wings. "It feels awful! This is the worst!" Among the residual pain Zap was feeling, he began to lament on the ordeal he knew he would be under. How long would he be grounded? "Flight camp?" Zap could hear the attempt at signalling joy. "When's that going to be!?" Zap teared up as his coltish angst began to overtake his emotions. "It'll be forever from now." Zap yelled. He felt anxiety from what he was going to be doing for the next weeks or months or years. Everything about his life was changing and it was not pleasant.

Zap put his hoof in Gallus' offered claw. It wasn't really necessary but Gallus seemed insistent. "Over here." Zap led Gallus to the door for the bathroom.

Every pegasus home was fitted with a water closet of some sort. Usually there was a large tub either made of wood or ceramic material. All of them had a sink, but also a compartment through a hole in the floor to collect all of the business. Equestrian taxes help pay for the service and removal of pony waste on a regular basis. Rainbow Dash's cloudominium wasn't the fanciest facility in the skies, but she was no filthy pegasus. Her bathroom was fitted with a standard sanitary flushing device that could be used by mares and stallions. Of course, the features used by male ponies hadn't been used for their purpose until recently. For Zap, all he needed to do was stand over the hole with his legs extended slightly and aim in a general area beneath him.

The little colt was practically done with his potty-training, however, his mothers still expected he be supervised. Recently, Zap had an accident where he made quite the mess in the bathroom after failing to position himself properly. Until he perfected it, he felt as if supervision was required. Whenever he had to go, he would inform one of his mothers so they can prepare for the drill. Zap walked into the bathroom and trotted towards the toilet and backed up into it to prepare. He stared at Gallus for his approval.

Though Silverstream was confident she was able to leave her room without anycreature noticing, she failed to keep the sounds of her talons and hooves from making any noise. A simple glide would have solve that problem, but maybe her wing flapping would be detectable as well. She walked down the hallway to leave the building. From there, she would trek towards the main part of the campus where she would find the window that was always left cracked open by one of the professors. Before she was able to do this, however, she left the door of the student's quarters cracked open indicating that someone had used the door recently.

It was a clear night and the breeze was wispy. Luna's moon was brightening up the ground where shadows would allow it, which painted the campus in various hues of darkness. Silverstream normally flew when outdoors anyway, so she unfolded her wings and quickly flew to the window she discerned would be left unlocked. And she was right, a quick pull and the window would hinge outwards. She made the window wide enough so that she could climb through, but only just. When she squeezed herself through, a lock of her tail hair was cut by the sharp edges of the window. Whoops! Though she could have closed the window, she left it hanging open.

Granola's pupils grew to the size of saucers as Applejack detailed her method of planting new and experimental trees and plants. She did not know of this location and would have to investigate it, with the land owner's permission, of course. She gave Applejack her entire saddlebag which had the 3 remaining apples she had brought. Granola's fascination with the explanation was interrupted by her eagerness to name a tree. "Oh! Can I name the tree!?" Granola shouted loudly. She quickly held her hoof over her mouth and regretted her outburst. Hopefully she didn't wake anypony who was sleeping.

She relaxed her aggressive stance, pulling her hooves out of the soil they were digging themselves into. Applejack was relieved that Moonlight was not being picked on. Having such a strange transformation as she had would only exponentially increase the rate of peer pressure and anxiety ponies feel at her current age. It would be challenging enough to deal with the regular amount of teasing and bullying, let alone making her recent past socially acceptable around creatures from all different kinds of cultures from every part of Equestria and beyond, including the ones that don't use magic. Especially the ones that don't use magic.

Moonlight gave her a little speal about her words describing her classmate diversity being inappropriate. Applejack crossed her eyes when her little cousin gave her a loving boop on the nose. Applejack rubbed her nose in slight frustration. "What are you talkin' 'bout? I wake up early in the morning ev'ry day before the sun comes up. I ain't never been woker. And anyways, I'm not makin' any falsities about the students. I'm sure plenty of them are great kids with aspirations as noble as yours. But kirin do have anger issues, hippogriffs do eat fish, and griffons often act poorly because for so long they've been treated poorly, too. It's not all their fault, but it is the reality." Applejack could see her negative honesty pouring out and how obscene it could appear out of context. Sunlight was the best disinfectant, right? "Look, I would never say it in front of them, I know it would hurt their feelings. But, sometimes you gotta hide the truth in order to make good relationships with ponies and creatures who are different from you, because maybe they just aren't ready for the truth yet."

Getting back to the last thing Moonlight had mentioned. "An old friend from Manehatten. Oh!" Applejack gasped entertained by the gossip-worthy story. But as her gears started grinding, she realized the maturity aspect of this situation, and she began to assume hormones would be involved and it triggered a funny thought. "Ohhhh...." She smirked, giving her little pretty cousin a sly look. But as her thoughts continued to race, she realized obvious awkward nature of this situation, Moonlight having feelings for a old friend who knew her as an orange colt. Applejack looked away momentarily and let out yet another reaction. "Oh."

The little burnt sienna pegasus sat patiently as the film started playing. The projector was clicking and the speaker mounted on the wall began playing a soundtrack associated with the movie. The first few minutes seemed kind of boring, several words Zap didn't understand or could read easily and nothing exciting was happening. But eventually, he became stimulated by the pegasus protagonist that occasionally would flap her wings on screen. It wasn't much of anything, but Zap could relate to that more than anything else in the film.

As characters started dialogue, Zap grew bored of the film and began to let his mind wander. He looked around the room, and in the opening to the kitchen, he could see his glass of milk still on the table where he had left it. It was only half empty. He got up, scampered to the kitchen, climbed onto a chair and reached for the glass. Carefully with both hooves, he tilted the cup to take a drink and upon successfully utilizing gravity, continued to empty the rest of the glass of its contents. He finished and set the cup back. He wore a milk mustache for about two seconds before wiping it off with a heavy swipe of a front hoof. He then jumped off the chair and made his way back to the living room having not said a word to Gallus who was busy cleaning. Why was Gallus doing the things Rainbow Dash's cleaning lady typically does? He wondered.

Zap Apple calmly continued watching the film with medium amounts of enjoyment. He wondered if the cool parts of the story were later, but so far everything was about archaeology and investigating things with scientific means. Zap yawned. While waiting for things to pick up speed, he began to notice something inside of him that began to develop its own level of urgency. Hoping it would pass, only a minute later would he realize that something might have to be done about it. He always had his mothers Rainbow Dash and Applejack to help him in times like these, and he became overly nervous about what he should do. Of course, Gallus was in charge, so what choice did he have? He quickly stood up and walked back to the kitchen. "Gally? I need to go pee-pee."

"Hey, wanna go to my place and do some... studying?" Remington swaggered a trot towards his fillyfriend and looked cool doing it. "You know, just a private gig. You and me. Us only. Alone, armed with our text books and pencils." Remington's eyes fell half lid.

"Like, of course, Remmy, I'd love to!!!!" A pink unicorn smooches Remington on his lips and gives him a long hug. Ah yes, this was the life. Having such a close fillyfriend made everything right in the world. Tonight was going to be perfect. Nothing could possibly ruin it.

Remington felt a little flustered because of his broken eyewear, but at the same time he was slightly enamored at talking to the hero Rainbow Dash for the first time. He coughed to clear his throat. "Um, yeah I think I'll be fine." Remington couldn't make out the specifics of details around him, but he could see a rainbow colored pegasus in front of him with the iconic voice he heard at the beginning of class. "I just want to say, Rainbow Dash. Um. Professor Rainbow Dash. It's an honor to learn from you. You're the best pegasus in Equestria." Remington blushed, less in a romantic way and more in a nerdy fangasm way.

Remington turned to the pinkish blob next to him. "I guess we'll just follow the class outside. I should be fine for the rest of the day, just don't give me any instructions written on a small piece of paper."

"Let's head towards the shore then. I guess you'd rather sleep above the water, huh?" Silverstream teased the seagriffon, knowing now that his anxiety was released a little in the form of getting out of this magnificent fish body he was granted by the pearl shard. She swam in a direction opposite Seaquestria proper. It was hard to tell where she was going, but she had swam these waters for so many years, she had a good sense of where she was going. Eventually, she spotted evidence of shallower waters and beach boulders that fell of the island bluff and into the deep blue waters. Though the water was a very dark blue, the ocean was now dimly lit by the bright moon that glowed above them. There were no clouds in the sky.

She popped her head up and looked at the island. Indeed, it was Mount Aris, but she was puzzled a little bit before realizing where she was in respect to the docks and the train station they arrived in. But then it clicked. "Oh, I remember this place! My friends and I used to hang out here all the time when I was a little fingerling." Silverstream swam towards the blunt ends of the island and into a sea cave. There we no beaches for several meters on each side, and the sea cave had no discernible depth from the mouth of the ridge.

She swam in and kept herself looking above water to inspect the dry parts of the cave. The cave had flat dry land spots but every part of it was accessible by water. The cave was only a few meters deep once you went inside of it, and the water was practically see-through. "Sometimes we spent the night here, even without permission. Me and my friends would tell stories and sing songs and talk about boys." Silverstream blushed.

She activated her pearl shard and breached the water and flew to a dry spot in the cave. After looking around at the walls around the area she looked back at Gallus with an idea. "Would you like to sleep here?"

Zap looked like he was thinking hard about what he wanted to say, but he was just trying to swallow his gummies. "Okay, yeah sure!" Dashie had never shown him these 'shows' but he always thought they were for big ponies only. But then again, he was a big pony, right? Zap tried to carry the rest of his gummies in his hooves as he tried to hover himself to the living room where Gallus was setting up the projector. Some of them fell out of his hooves and like a normal colt, he ignored the mess he made. He sat in the middle of the room looking at Gallus setting up the reel. "Do you like Daring Do, too!? I thought griffons didn't like pony stuff."

Zap was emotionally miserable. He did not like the situation he was in. This was probably the most traumatic he's ever felt, even more than the time he was inches away from being a timberwolf snack. Though as a consolation, his emotional pain was suppressing his attention away from the inflammation that was forming around his broken bone.

As Zap laid down he allowed his mother to inspect her and feel around his wings. He trusted her, but it didn't keep him from wincing every time he felt pain either because of her hoof pressure or because he tried to move his wing in a direction that was now anatomically forbidden. Through all of this, he was well enough to respond to Applejack's small talk. "Yes, I like them," he said frowning. If he had the gusto and maturity he could crack a smile, but all he could do is pretend to be a big pony in his voice. "Yeah Dashie got it for me. We went somewhere, I don't know. We were having fun."

He was being discreet. Zap did not want to get Dashie in trouble. His mothers seemed to be primed for a big fight, and he saw through it easily. He was no expert on parental relationships, how they formed, why they formed, and big pony things they talked about. But he was smart enough to know that they were not happy, and that particularly when Zap was taken care of, his earth pony mom would be extremely angry at Rainbow Dash. And though Zap could admit to himself and anyone that this situation was not ideal, he did not want to fault Dashie for doing what she did. Because up until the accident, it truly was a pegasus colt's dream.

Apple Chord started strumming her guitar happily, not having to look at her hooves for coordination and speaking joyously as she did so. Her hooves were more accurate and consistent than the heart she had that made this whole exposure possible. "Oh, I had to see a mare about a dog. But we don' gotta worry about the past, right now its all about the present. What we're doin' now, and what we can do in the future." She looked down at her guitar briefly as she changed her keys positions but then looked back up. "You don't need help learning how to strum, Missy, because learning how to play music doesn't come from the hooves, it comes from the heart. All you gotta do is love the things around you and let your heart sing out your loves of life, and the best thing about it is ain't no pony can take that from you!"

Apple Chord stood on her hind legs while strumming her guitar and walked over to a place where she could get comfortable making music. "Like take this here song for an example. Some ponies got the good life, like you and me. You get to arrange your own hours, plan your whole day, and never worry about a thang, but many of the ponies who love your music, some of them you see at the market, they got to work a normal job, and many of them are happy doing it. And that inspires me to deep heavens. After all, these are the ones that love your music, right? I take that inspiration and hold it tight and it helps me to sing a song about truth. If it comes from the heart, the music practically plays itself!" Apple Chord started stomping her hooves to give herself a beat and then continued to play a song. She sung the lyrics with precision and conviction in what she was saying.

"Tumble outta bed and I stumble to the kitchen
Pour myself a cup of ambition
And yawn and stretch and try to come to life

Jump in the shower and the blood starts pumpin'
Out on the street the ponies starts trottin'
With folks like me on the job from 9 to 5

Workin' 9 to 5, what a way to make a livin'
Barely gettin' by, it's all takin' and no givin'
They just use your mind and they never give you credit
It's enough to drive you crazy if you let it

9 to 5, for service and devotion
You would think that I would deserve a fat promotion
Want to move ahead but the boss won't seem to let me
I swear sometimes that mare is out to get me!..."

Applejack never feared talking to fillies and colts these days with the vernacular they were using. Any cool new words that a generation adopts and considers socially acceptable even though it may have been previously were fine by her. Applejack could take it. But she knew Granny Smith would not be able to withstand the urge to preach to younger ponies about what she thought was right and wrong in the times she was growing up as a filly. Up until that confrontation would ever happen, Applejack had her cousin's back. But if Granny Smith started ranting to her relative she possibly couldn't remember the name of, Moonlight was on her own. Granny Smith was about the only pony in all of Equestria who could tell her what's what.

It was amazing to her how much of a valley accent Moonlight had picked up from what all accounts suggest is a freak magical accident. Part of her was convinced that Moonlight was just pretending she had inherited this accent and that eventually she would end the gag with a punch line. However, how hypocritical would Applejack be if she even suggested to her cousin she says funny words in a funny way. Maybe in time, she would teach Moonlight how to diversify her vocabulary instead of using the same two or three inflects on literally everything she says. Applejack sighed. Moonlight was such a silly pony.

Applejack looked puzzled when Moonlight said she was right about ponies being on her mind. "But, I never said you had other ponies on your mind." She gave the unicorn a protective stink eye. "Are there other fillies at school makin' fun of you!? Who are they, what's their name? There ain't no bullying going on at that school on my watch. And are you sure its just ponies? None of the griffins are giving you problems? What about the kirins? I know they might look nice, but some of them have some serious anger issues. I know it's not the hippogriffs. All the hippogriffs are super nice." Applejack looked away ashamed of her profiling of other species. "Like, really really nice. Besides their fish breath, I ain't had any problems with any of them."

"A bushel!?" Granola thought out loud. All she had was a bushel. She tried rationing them, but she also realized that the apples would only survive off their stems for so long. She thought it would only take a few seeds, but Applejack was attempting to get things ramped up larger than Granola had expected. Perhaps she'll need to wait for the psychological experiments she planned on doing with the rest of the apples she had procured. "Um, okay. Yeah I guess I can do that. I'll need to go back to my shack and get the rest of the ones I had. All of them together should be close to a bushel." She was reluctant to rid herself of her supply of apples, but knowing how hard Applejack was willing to progress them into a bigger supply made Granola willing to agree with the fullness of the transaction she was preparing for.

Granola waited patiently as Applejack was writing up some legal papers. Her anxiety filled slightly at Applejack's diligence coupled with a slight hesitation from the farmer. But she smiled when the papers were smacked onto the table in front of her. She picked up a pen on the table with her mouth and commenced signing her cursive name with her best gritting of her teeth. When she finished, she dropped the pen on the table gracefully. "Do you think I can cut the apples up and just give you the seeds? Or do you need the pulps and skin, too?" She smiled eagerly.

Silverstream was amazed at the speed and force Gallus was able to carry her through the water. Also, highly illegal. Seaponies frowned upon dangerous stunts that involve leaving the hypercurrent, but even Silverstream knew...    ...they would get over it. After they splashed into the air dimension, Gallus seemed to be able to use his fully functioning wings just fine over the water and she was hung with him in the air for a moment. Silverstream could fly and swim, but she couldn't fly-swim. Gallus' unique anatomy gifted to him by the pearl gave him capabilities seaponies were unable to obtain. Silverstream was taken aback by his gusto. Silverstream always liked adventureous attitudes, but coming from him it was attractive to see since he was basically acting on instinct. Her impression of him and his moves would only last a short moment.

Along with the large pair of wings that did not shrink to the size of small pectoral fins, he was also given a generous tailfin that rivaled that of large sharks. Unfortunately for Gallus, using it for balance like he did his feathery cat tail was a much for difficult calculation and would end up slapping Silverstream around so that both of them would lose their aerial energy and fall straight back to the sea. Silverstream was able to quickly adjust in the air and with a healthy amount of grace and she cut the water smoothly like a hot knife through butter. Gallus might not be as fortunate.

As soon as they both were under the waves and the bubbles from the residual splashes returned to the surface, Silverstream could see Gallus and their distance from the rest of Seaquestia's surroundings. Terramar was no where in sight. "Yeah so, it's actually against the rules to leave the hypercurrent like that, but I don't think they will be too mad at us. I'll just explain to them you didn't know what you were doing." She giggled.

While they were both above the water, Silverstream remarked on how late the evening had gotten. "It's actually pretty late and I want us to have a good amount of rest for tomorrows events on Mount Aris. So is there anything else you thought about seeing down here before we leave it?"