SteelEagle

Twilight laughed. Oh, was she always this pretty? Was she even pretty? She surmised that she was rather regal to some extent, but attractive? She would be the wrong pony to ask. She certainly would never have imagined herself as being anything special. She didn't think she was ugly by any stretch but pretty? Cute? Beautiful? Maybe she just lacked that natural talent for developing her own self-esteem in terms of appearance, but she just thought she was rather plain. She dismissed a lot of the reactions she got as the effect of her royalty blinding others. It wasn't Twilight Sparkle they were attracted to or found in any fashion special, it was just her title. The splendor, the royal bearing, the power and grace that came to an Alicorn? Easy enough to slot such flirtations under that banner, even if she tried to forget that many of those flirtations came before that time...and from unusual sources. "I don't know. That's a question for my mom, I guess. I do know that pretty or not, I'm happy being me, and being happy with who you are is the best way to make you feel as pretty on the outside as you are on the inside."

Applejack was very, very proud as she watched her little daughter go to work. She was always very proud and always pleased at her progress, but...well, it was hard to not feel that extra surge whenever Ambrosia did something new and special. And today, she was doing something special. She leaned down and gave her daughter a hug. "Yer gonna eat real good tonight, sugarcube," she said with a kiss before standing back up, her back creaking. Already tired, she hitched the wagon back up and smiled back to the two of them. "Alright, sugarcube. We'll talk later- Ah know you wanna learn yerself some pretty magic with a pretty purple Princess," she stuck her tongue out, while Twilight shot back quickly. "You think I'm cute, do you?" She asked with excess smarm, eyebrows raised. Applejack walked away with a roll of the eyes while Twilight finished writing in her notebook. After a few more seconds she stood up and smiled, waving a hoof to follow. "Well, want to continue our walk and talk, or would you rather do something else?"

"Wait, you're not an expert on spas? And here I thought all those plumbing books were so you could open up a private spa that was school-adjacent," Gallus said with feigned shock, relaxing into the wooden seats that made the spa feel a bit cool to the touch before it would inevitably heat up hotter than the sun. It started to rise pretty quickly, a lot faster than it would naturally. "Yeah, I bet it will. What's the right temperature for you?" Gallus asked. His own comfort level was somewhere along the lines of a soft warmth with a cool breeze and a cool day with a warm breeze. Once she found the knob that controlled it, he realized he would have his answer soon enough. "Yeah, looks like it. I mean I guess its kind of cool they allow it to be customer controlled. Probably makes their lives easier," he said with a quick thought piercing through his mind. "The professor probably drove them mad," he said before straightening out his back with one claw to his chest. "'Oooh, darlings, one up- no, no, one down!- hmm, no, I've changed my mind. One up!'" he said with a smirk, his best Rarity impression to date on full display.

After what seemed like a bit too long for her liking, the young mare behind the counter finally summoned her. Applejack trotted up and took the tray. "Thank ya kindly-" she said as she looked it over, and noticed something was wrong. She needed it just right for her youngins. Still smiling she returned to the counter. "Hey, uhh, Ah don't mean ta be a problem, but this ain't what Ah ordered. Ah ordered one double hayburger, two foal's meal hayburger and hayfries with waters, an' a grilled haybacon ranch salad with an apple par-fay," she said as she put the tray down. The young mare behind the counter looked her up and down and got the sassiest little raised eyebrow of all time up. "Ya sure 'bout that?" she asked. She wasn't chewing gum but she should have been with how she looked at Applejack. "Yes, Ah'm sure. Ah didn't order one double hayburger, one foal's hayburger meal with milk, an a small ranch burger," Applejack responded, trying to keep her cool. The young mare rolled her eyes. "...Okay, whatever. We'll make it again, thank you," she said, taking the trays in her magic and sassing off to sassland or wherever the heck it was young ponies like her got all that sass. Applejack felt an urgent desire to talk to somepony's mother, but reeled it in before got too far. No reason to get a manager involved just yet. Applejack trotted back to her seat, muttering to herself all the way. "Ah swear when Ah was a teen nopony talked ta adults that way..." she said as she sat down, absent-mindedly giving her daughter a hug. Her natural motion was disrupted by the absence of Zap Apple however. "Where's yer brother?"

Sunny spared a few thoughts for the goggles. How were they made? How did they work? She hadn't seen anything quite like them before, but to be honest she hadn't looked into it very hard. She just chalked it up to a mix of unicorn magic and her unique unicycling abilities. And so the real question is less how did she make it, and more so did they really want to learn how she had done it? Some mysteries are best left unsolved, Detective Zipp, but far be it from her to dissuade the detective from detectin'. "I bet it involves crystal. What does it feel like when it starts to do its work?" She asked as she followed the good detective, though it wasn't long before Zipp was far ahead of her. Keeping up with a pegasus was hard work! Still, she didn't think it was going to be a problem until Zipp yelled out for her. Sunny didn't know whether to be excited or worried, but she followed all the same. "Oh, coming! What is it? Something wrong?" Sunny asked as she wheeled down the stairs towards the Zippster.

Sunny had to bury an excited neigh that tried to escape her as they made their way to the outskirts of town. She liked to plan things. Big planner- always trying to make a big impact with moves made to the largest number of ponies. But, well, she wasn't very good at it. It turned out that when she just followed her gut and flew by her fetlocks that she was much more successful, and she had all the evidence in the world of that staring at her with her bright, big, beautiful purple eyes. "I just have so many questions! How is it powered, how is it run, the traditions- I'm just so excited to learn all about a new city. It's just so-" she stopped in place and quickly tapped her hooves, "eeee, so exciting!"

Rara took her cut and got back to it. "Discord opened up his case and he said, "I'll start this show," she said as the background musicians for the next part signaled they were ready, with Rara taking a pre-arranged fiddle. "And lightning flew from his fingertips as he rosined up his bow. And he pulled the bow across the strings It made a chaotic screech-" she said as she pulled the bow across and a terrifying screech echoed out. "Then a band of fools joined in, and it sounded something like this-" she finished before she start playing the violin. Well, play was a strong choice of words. She did her best but the real play came from the backup musicians who made this rocking element of the song play well. Her own violin playing was mediocre and not up to the necessary standards of the song, though she had plans to rectify that before they took this act on the road. Soon the instrumental section ended with flair, the rocking and off-putting display of musical prowess giving way to Jackie's Made in Equestria pride and swagger!

Gallus had to be careful. If he wasn't, he would soon learn the entire history of the plumbing of various Equestrian spa outfits. The dates and types of pipes and how the system was run efficiently through a combination of...well, all it meant to him was a pile of tubes, but he was sure there was a dramatically more in depth answer awaiting him if he dared to ask. Of course he made fun, but he knew it was tied to her known attention to detail. She was awfully observant for a griff that so commonly seemed to have pushed her heart in front of her brain, but that was why other creatures were dumb and Gallus was great. He recognized quality. "Really?" He said as he sat down, getting as comfortable as he could allow himself to feel in a sauna. Which, well, it was more comfortable than he thought it would be, if he were being honest. "I just thought they used magic to do it. I know I would. Do they have spa related spells?" He pondered. "But really, how do you think they automate it without it going haywire and drowning the system? Do they wait to hear the clients complain about flooding?" He thought some more. "That would cut the costs a bit..."

Sunny nodded. She didn't feel particularly in need at the moment in town. Years and years of trying to push the ponies of this town to do the right thing had worked, and she wanted to revel in the spring and warmth of her new friendships. The Canterlogic materials and clean-up were their own responsibility, and the town's efficient public sanitation department (probably the only such department anypony considered efficient, sorry Hitch) would handle it. The same could be held for much of the city proper as well. If there was one thing that this city was highly effective at doing, it was cleaning up the messes it had made while panicking for no reason. The only real new development was her home. The light house had suffered tremendous damage when Sprout had run his stupid robot into it. It was very, very, very dangerous to be around now. Thanks to the news of what happened spreading like wildfire however, more than a few construction companies had offered to help repair the place with funds generously donated by a group of ponies led by Sugar Moonlight. And once that was done, she had very big plans for that lighthouse- something a bit more crystally and brighter than before! "Oh, I think we should do it right now. Like right now right now!"

Apple Chord went and started the song well and true. Discord Went Down to Ponyville was an old favorite of the country circuit, with dozens of covers over the years. Even Apple Chord had released a very popular version years ago! The title of the town changed from time to time, but the meat of the song stayed the same. Rara herself was a fan of the song even as a filly. It was an exciting song- good theme and storytelling and balling out on the violin that made the song so well known. And luckily, Rara just happened to know one of Equestria's finest violin players even if she was often too modest to really admit it! Rara allowed the song to play for a while as the musicians got into their role. When the song's first verse came back around, Rara stood up and took the microphone. "Discord went down to Ponyville, he was lookin' for a heart to steal," she started, her voice deeper and more conversational than normal. "He was in a bind 'cause he was way behind, and he was willin' to make a deal. When he came across this young mare sawin' on a fiddle and playin' it hot! And Discord jumped up on a tree stump and said, "filly, let me tell you what!" She said as she pulled back for a moment to put on her best Cheshire grin. "I guess you didn't know it but I'm a fiddle player too. And if you'd care to take a dare, I'll make a bet with you! Now you play a pretty good fiddle, filly, but give Discord his due- I'll bet a fiddle of gold against your love 'Cause I think I'm better than you!" She said as she waited for Apples to take the heroine's part.

Twilight took the seed in her own magic and gently held it in front of her as she beckoned the filly to approach. The next step would be easy enough for Ambrosia to do with what she had learned so far magically, but Twilight was here to help direct it. And now Ambrosia would have her very own tradition, and maybe future unicorn members could follow! Or not. It was up to history. When Ambrosia was close enough, Twilight started to slowly lean the seed towards Ambrosia. "Ambrosia, you are a very special pony, and a very special Apple. And you will help everypony to remember that, starting now," Twilight said with a smile, bringing the filly closer. "I want you to take the seed in your magic and lower it into the hole you have dug. When you do so, try to imagine writing your name on the seed itself. And make sure you give it a kiss while you do so, because love and friendship is the greatest magic of all!" She said as she waited for Ambrosia to take the seed in her very own magic.

Applejack was ever proud of her little filly. She was very different from her mouth, her brother, her uncle- most Apples throughout time. But that difference made her unique and special and this Day would go a long way to making sure that her legacy would endure. She watched Ambrosia dig at the ground and try to make her whole suitable for the seed. As Applejack watched Ambrosia work, she leaned on the cart and got the rest of it ready. "Seedling Day is one of tha most important moments of a young Apple's life," Applejack started, too excited to talk about it to remember she had brought Twilight into this already. "This apple tree will be her apple tree, a tree that will be a reminder for future generations. It's one of the best traditions in all the land, if I say so myself. And I do!" She ended with a less than dignified giggle. She was just too dang excited. Twilight rolled her eyes playfully before looking at Ambrosia as she finished the hole. Twilight knew well the power of the affection that familial traditions could provide and the Apples took that to a new level. It was why she was shocked but pleased that Applejack had offered her a role in the Seedling Day, and why she was happy to see Amby ready to move on. Applejack opened the bag and took out a single seed meant to grow an Ambrosia apple tree. "Ambrosia, take one of these here seeds an' go over ta Twilight," Applejack said. "And when you do, we have one thing we'll do together before you plant it," Twilight added, her horn lighting up lightly.

Gallus was more than happy to call in Silverstream for the assist. For all of his faux arrogance he wasn't somegriff who could easily talk up his legitimate accomplishments. He never felt he earned them or did anything all that special, or anything that somegriff shouldn't have done if they were in his position. Why be treated like a hero when you were as bag average as he was? Much easier to talk up the small things he knew he was good at. Nogriff could really call him out, nor would they, because who really cared if Gallus got a small win. Besides, it wasn't just his story. He was only one part. Silverstream played just as big a role, and she was amongst her own kind. Why not give her the time to be the heroine? She deserved it. "To Friendship!" He said as he joined in the toast, drinking down the relatively disgusting drink and drowning it with te sweet taste of shrimp. At least this was going pretty well so far! He nodded along to Silverstream. "Yeah, that's the one. Or maybe the time I tried to get us out of our homework assignment with Rockhoof..." he said with a winking smile, before looking out over the bar. "I helped rally the Griffons back 'home' when the trio of villains were trying to take us all down. Same with the rest of the group- we all pitched in. To friendship indeed!"

Sunny started off very confused when Zipp started hovering about, acting as if there was a grand conspiracy that Sunny was part of. She saw purple mane hair and just assumed it was her! Of course, Zipp started dismantling that reality piece by piece above her. The scent was different- Sunny gave a sniff and couldn't really detect anything. Maybe something, but...well, she'd have to trust Zipp on that. But when she examined the hair visually, she could see that Zipp was right. It certainly looked a bit more sparkly and glow-uppity than what she would normally do, and the shade of purple was different. And it was certainly more wavey (she guessed) than her curlier texture (she guessed)...okay, that one was beyond her. She couldn't feel that much of a difference...but maybe the water just dulled it down enough, and only Zipp's crazy good eye for detail won out. She smiled as she watched Zipp take care of the mess. "Oooh, you got me, Detective Zipp," Sunny said with a smile as she approached with a coy smile. "Our evil mane-hair clogging operation was as tight a ship as this criminal mare has ever seen, but your-" she said as she put her hoof on the detective's chest, "-persistence saw through our plan. Darn you, Detective Zipp!" She said with an impish laugh as she fell back. "But really, that was pretty impressive. I can't even tell the color difference all that well when the manehair is like this, not until I get really close. You have such great attention to details, Zipp!"

Sunny wasn't as sold on the idea that the whole horn-chopping a tree down like a jackhammer experience was as thoroughly passé as Izzy was suggesting with her response, but she didn't press it. Clearly the art of horn-carving and horn-chopping and other horn-as-tools moments in Bridlewood would need a further examination, because as excitable and amazing as Izzy Moonbow was, a pony's neck was still their neck and Sunny was convinced that if she tied that she'd end up in the hospital for a while. Izzy seemed to want to move on from it though, so she'd simply note the answer and allow for it. "Noted! One question more for the book," Sunny said with a smile as she set the chair down. She then took her food mess to the trash along with Izzy's, and in short order the satisfied mares exited the pizza parlor without a primary goal in mind. As they did, Sunny thought about the unicycling-ception that was in play. "So if you uniclyed before her or she did it before you, were you the teacher or the student? If you unicycle a unicycle, is it in an infinitely repeating loop of unicycling? Or is time itself a construct of pony perception? Is unicycling even real...woah..." She paused. "Oaklee sounds really fun. It also explains why you live so far away from the rest of the unicorns in Bridlewood, too, which leads me to our next stop...Bridlewood! I want to spend some time there with you, to get a feel for the place."

Lotus beamed with excitement at the prospect of two new customers! Of course, she could sell them on everything. A couples massage, a couples steam, couples facials, even couples hotstones! Hmm...couples. Oh, and they were so young! It dawned on her that it would probably be best if she didn't start upselling them too hard. She didn't want too ruin the clearly very romantic mood. "Oh, vhat a good mare she is! You two will simply adore the luxury and relaxation, yes. Indeed, I suggest you start with a private steam!" Lotus said as she led the way. Gallus for his part was just happy to know that somecreature knew what to expect here. He had never had another creature give him a massage or a spa facial or whatever it was that happened here. He thought stones might be involved, and that seemed scary. Still, he was confident that Silverstream at least knew they were not doomed to die in the sauna and she was not slowly leading him to his doom. That would be an unfortunate development and very greatly cramp his already cramped style. He followed the two mares to the sauna, looking around and expecting everything to just shoot flames. "Is this the one where we burn to death?"

Sunny wasn't shocked in the slightest that Zipp figured it out. First off, she was a pretty smart pony on her own account and she never seemed to be caught off-hoof. Or if she was, she was good at keeping her balance! Must be a pegasus thing. Secondly, well, it could only be a few things. She would have been shocked if the culprit was some half-sentient ooze instead of something domestic. So when a disgusting but not very unusual clump of purple mane hair was pulled out and revealed as the cause of their misfortune, all she could do was act a little mebarassed. "Oh, huh. I guess that does explain it, then. Sorry, I guess the new manecare products I'm using were a little more effective than I thought," she said as she found a wastebasket and started to clean up the mess, never really considering the fact that there were now two mares with purple manes in the house! "Fast and efficient as always, Zipp! Thank you so much."

Rarity felt some relief. Not a lot of relief. She reserved that for Applejack's eventual recovery, which now she was well assured of. Instead, she felt small relief as she opened up the suitcase containing the stressed but relieved fashions. It was a mess. A beautiful mess, like her, but a mess nonetheless. She swiftly changed into a black and grey number with a more subdued hat with a delicious trim. She gave one to Amby well, though it was much too large. She found a couch to fall on, and did so dramatically next to Amby and Zap. Twilight kept her eyes closed for a few moments longer when Rainbow dash spoke to her. She had to process a lot, namely the desire to turn the entire sport of rugby into a pastime time in the past tense. In time, she did respond. "No, it would not be right. Not for her. The magical healing spells I could use solve individual problems she faces, but without proper healing they would come back...uneven. Wrong. We can help fortify her natural healing powers, but...well, she would need to consent to that. And she is no position to say anything at the moment," she sighed, then slowly pet Rainbow's head with a wing, "I'm sorry you are going through this, Rainbow. But she will need your love," she looked at the children, "and theirs, to fully recover."

Applejack nodded along with a smile. "A hayburger? Well, that ain't a bad idea, is it? Think Ah'll get somethin' similar," she said winking, as she leaned in and gave her son a kiss on his forehead. She then looked over at Ambrosia and pondered for a minute. "How about a grilled haybacon ranch salad?" She asked, trying to remember just what was the least Haydonalds item could be on the Haydonalds menu. she liked the older, simpler Haydonalds menu. Just Hayburgers and fries for her, thank. Now everything was getting to be so health conscious but this was Haydonalds! Why the heck did they have to make it so weird and complicated? She was becoming an older mare. Maybe Rainbow could russle up some clouds for her to yell at. She stood up. "Amby, be careful with your dress. We don't want to get it too messy," she said as she looked at the line- thankfully, not too long. They came at the right time, right before the lunch rush. Timing! She trotted into line and ran through the order while her delightfully well-behaved and amazing children did well to not burn the place down. When the time was right, Applejack put her front hooves on the counter. "Howdy! Ah'll take one double hayburger, two foal's meal hayburger and hayfries with waters, an' a grilled haybacon ranch salad with an apple par-fay. Uhh, please," she ordered with a belated smile, taking her hat off to toss her mane. The younger mare behind the counter nodded and gave her the total, her receipt magiccally zapping onto the counter. Applejack fished out the bits- since when was everything so dang expensive?- and trotted to the side to wait for her family's food.

Rarity did not need Ice Storm to tell him of what the snow meant. He had seen the pirate's opening moves more than a few times, and he also knew something that this off-universe version of the pirate did not. By the time you saw the snow, it was already too late. He gave the other universe's Ice Storm a wearied, worried smile. "My dear, it is already too late. We're already in her sights and she has our position. Once we drop you off, we're going to be attacked," Rarity rolled his eyes. "Uggh. What a determined hassle Ice Storms can be. Err, no offense intended of course," he said, patting her on the head anxiously. He then turned to his crew and started yelling orders- raising an aetheric shield and activating certain enchantments to keep them aloft regardless of what happened- or so they hoped. They picked up speed as they approached the landing, with the snowfall increasing in tempo and maliciousness. The crew stayed calm, but the tension was rising- it could be felt like a tingle running from tail to neck, each new lap coming with more dread. Rarity's tail flicked about in increasing nervousness until they reached the landing. The vessel did not come to a complete stop, however- they were going to be making a moving drop, and then see if they could outpace the pirate. That was unlikely. The ship could not be seen but the aetheric waves it was sending could easily be felt, and through the folds of the air one could see the arches of the ship as it cut through the spaces between vision. It would be a rough go, regardless. Rarity used his magic to lower the boarding plank and turned to Ice Storm. He took his hat off and gave it to the smaller mare. "I believe this is your final stop, Miss Storm."

Her mind wandered a bit, deciding just what it was they should eat. The responsible mother in her suggested some nice, healthy salads and fruits. Something healthy and kind to the body that would see the Apples through to the end of the day the right way. Of course, she wasn't always the most *responsible* mother of all time, simply the *best*, and being the best meant sometimes you shirked responsibility in favor of doing something everypony would like instead. And it was with that solid piece of parenting in her mind that she decided to instead take them to someplace they would like to eat, instead of someplace they should eat. "How about Haydonald Diner?" Applejack asked, her voice edging in excitement. Everypony who wasn't ashamed of eating some darn fine hayburgers and fries despite how sloppy they could get loved themselves some Haydonald Diner! The diner was one of the busiest places in town. Applejack knew that it wasn't the fanciest places a pony could eat and that was probably the single greatest qualities you could ask for when you were eating with little fillies and colts. That, and she reckoned they would like hayburgers and fries more than the dainty stuff. Applejack hitched her cart to the outside and helped anypony out who needed it, making sure to inspect her colt in public for any more damage. Once inside she took a deep breath of the warm, warm air and nodded to a table nearby. "Take a seat and get comfortable. Whatcha wantin?" Shew asked, her own mind already settled on some old favorites of hers. She used to save it for aftr a rodeo or something else exhausting...but now it qualified as 'two kids in town' fare as far as she concerned, and she thought of it fairly.

Sunny was knew for a fact that she had problems with the Brighthouse. Ever since Sprout crashed into it, there were so many plumbing and structural issues that she was surprised there hadn't been more problems. Yeah, the town pitched in for a restoration that made it secure but that didn't mean all the problems were fixed. Now four young mares lived in her house and while she enjoyed that a lot, it also meant the plumbing had taken a turn for the worse. She should have just hired somepony and was about to when Zipp chimed in. Zipp wanted to fix it, so now Zipp was fixing it and Sunny was helping her. Well, if by help you meant she handed tools that she mostly knew to a mare who knew them much better, then she was helping. She hoofed over some pliers and went back to leaning on the counter, tapping her hooves lightly as she spent half her time looking at her face. Did she have zits? No, she didn't. She checked her teeth- yep, looking good. Okay, she was bored, but being bored with a friend trumped excitement without one. "Thanks for this, Zipp. Certainly saving us some bits on professional help," Sunny said as she looked around. She was thirsty and if she was thirsty doing little, then Zipp had to be thirsty as the working mare. She probably needed to get Zipp something to drink, and she trotted out of the bathroom momentarily to get some juice. "Want some orange juice?" Sunny asked as she opened the fridge and ignored a slight drip in the back, investigating its too barren contents. She lived with two Princesses, why wasn't there more food? There should be more food. Sunny brought out the juice and poured herself a glass and Zipp a glass, if she wanted. "Made fresh from Aunty Orange's All Natural Hoof-Grown Oranges!" She asked as she trotted back in and sat on the counter. "The pipe isn't about to burst and send me flying, is it?"

He made Silverstream laugh, points scored. Yes, he needed to think of this like a game. Helped calm the nerves. He was feeling less nervous every day around her, but that only told himself just how nervy he was base. If anycreature knew just how much of a coward he really was, they'd hate him. Or maybe that was just the imposter syndrome talking because how else could he get hippogriff like Silverstream to even give him the time of day? She was just so damn excited all the time about everything. One time, he could swear she nearly exploded when she learned about hydrothermal dynamic generation of Cloudsdale weather factories. That bird loved new things, so maybe burning alive in a Sauna would be a cool new experience that she would remember forever- or however long fried birdbrains like them would last. "The whole day?" He asked incredulously. "Wow. Well, she'd know. I think Professor Rarity keeps this place afloat. What else is there to do at a spa other than...I dunno, burn to death, drown to death, or get coddled to death?" He asked as they entered the spa. When Silverstream went to the service counter, the first spa sister responded quickly as she trotted out of an adjacent room. "Hello! Ah yes, ze Silverstream pahrty of two?" Lotus asked as she trotted up to the counter. She looked at the two students and smiled wide. "Oh! You are students from ze school yes? How exciting! Have you ever been to ze spa before? Experienced such luxury, no?"

Over the hours, ponies had filtered in and out. Close friends had come by and more than a few tears had been shed, but it was then that more arrived to try and help. Rarity had been the first to arrive, and had to be sent home after having a total freakout. She had gone home indeed, made some beautiful fashions indeed, and came in wearing her insurmountable stress on her head. A manic disaster of a hat that perfectly reflected her underlying emotions and her tear-stained dress were countered by a suitcase full of clothes. One was marked 'intense mourning fashion' and the other was 'relieved but terribly stressed fashion'. She found Rainbow Dash first off. "Rainbow! Rainbow Dash, please!" She said as she lifted both suitcases up, her eyes twitching in deep anxiety and terror as she waited for Rainbow to tell which was more appropriate. Soarin' was on his way to Ponyville anyway to deliver some good news to RD, that the Wonderbolts were on the verge of naming her Captain of the Reserves- third-in line for control of not just the Wonderbolts team, but the whole organization. He was proud and jealous. Ever since his semi-retirement from the team he had been in charge of the training squadrons and had applied for that role himself. Too bad nopony told him that competing against Rainbow Dash was like competing against the very wind and skies itself. Oh wait somepony had...she had. Still, he was happy for her and was flying into town when he heard what had happened and went to go find her at the hospital, his heart in his throat. Once there he saw that she was busy with Rarity, but he did see Big Mac and Zap Apple and went to see the little colt himself... Fluttershy had cried herself to a short rest after being sent home. She then steeled herself as best she could for whatever news would come. Nothing could really prepare you for this, but Fluttershy knew that she had to be strong- if not for herself, than for the kids and for Rainbow Dash. They were all too important. And so she marched her way to the hospital. For once, Angel Bunny clung to her neck in a hug and not as a total...something impolite. When she arrived, she took a deep breath and approached Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow, what do you need me to do?" Pinkie Pie had arrived. Pinkie Pie left. Pinkie Pie ate all the sugar in Sugarcube Corner as she stress ate. She then baked more, ate more, and then baked some more to bring with her to the hospital when she returned. She pronked her way there, though her face wore conflicting emotions. When she did enter, a sense of calm did in some way come over her as she watched the emotions of others being what they were. She stopped pronking, wore the right face, and trotted in with a sympathetic face. "Hey, everypony. Does anypony want something to eat?" A bright, *angry* flash of purple lit the world outside of the hospital as Twilight Sparkle popped into existence. The doors flew open as the ruler of Equestria trotted in. Hers was the countenance of fury and sorrow, and no small amount of concern. She marched her way towards the back silently, giving a weary and apologetic nod to Ambrosia and Rainbow Dash, with the doctors who tried to stop her gently pushed aside and then pulled along with her as she entered Applejack's room.

"It is your name! Your beautiful name!" Applejack burst out, her heart unable to contain itself as she picked up her daughter, kissed her like she needed to be kissed, then put her down as she felt a twinge in her back. "And yer lil' apple tree will be just as special as you," she said as she started looking for Ambrosia seeds. "Alright sugarcube, while I do this I want you to dig yerself tha right hole like we taught ya," Applejack said, her heart trembling with excitement. Soon her daughter would leave a mark on these fields that would last generations, that would be known by future Apples as Ambrosia Apple's Ambrosia Apple tree. The love she put into it would reflect in the quality of the apple, and if tended well and proper, would be making ponies happy for a century or more. Twilight sat down, making herself comfortable. She had her own role to play but not at this moment. She could not help but smile. She loved many things about the Apples, but their adherence to their cherished traditions was an invaluable part of both their familial and personal legacies. Some ponies considered it old fashioned, but Twilight considered it an undeniably vital part of Equestrian history. It was also very cute. "Ambrosia, what can you tell me about...Seedling day?" Twilight asked, ready to be educated by her student.