Seasons pass...

//

pat reon.com/blacklares

So close to the Wedding! only a bit more! Are you excited!? I'm excited! and nervous!...Nervouscited?...

Well. all in all, what I wanted to say is-

Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down! Never gonna run around and dessert you. Never gonna make you cry. Never gonna say Goodbye. Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.

So anyway hope you like it and like always EEEENJOY!!!

//

The white, winter snow slowly melted, as the rays of the sun passed through the holes in the clouds promptly opened by the pegasi.

Twilight stood beside Starfall as they watched the spectacle, that is the Winter Wrap-up of Ponyville.

Everything worked in order, organised by non other but the purple mare, a duty she took upon herself ever since that faithful winter when she grasped the reins under the persuasion of Starfall.

Said stallion, standing right by her side, couldn't help but feel the same puzzlement he did every single winter...What was the point of helping winter pass? couldn't it be left alone?...

The answer was quite simple to be honest. It could be left alone, yes. But not only was it a tradition of Ponies, and an efficient way of starting the new season, but was also a part of the seasonal cycle, magically indoctrinated into the environment and nature of the Pony territories.

Starfall found it quite funny. To think nature itself had to change under the influence of ponies, because enough of them believed that they needed to take care of it, and magic responded. It was both amazing and scary...

At least the other seasons worked relatively autonomously...

And let's not talk about the day-night cycle. He felt sorry for the races that lived on the opposite side of the planet. Who knows what they thought whenever the sun or moon decided to go on a random trip leaving them in total darkness or perpetual sunlight...

He could almost see the destroyed civilizations whenever something like this happened...

___________

Starfall walked down the walkway of the park, looking around relaxed with a hint of a smile on his face.

The spring was slowly spreading its branches over Equestria, and everything looked more and more green and lush by the day.

His relaxing trot got interrupted though, as he discovered a peculiar sign, advertising some kind of confidence seminary, with a large muscled minotaur posing in the picture, Instantly alighting his scientific curiosity. A new sentient race! What magic could it wield, if any?!

He remembered that Fluttershy originally joined this whole confidence lesson but instead of gaining confidence, she began to act as a bully...

'Huh...Maybe I should do something about it...' He thought, finding the idea quite good for both taking care of a potential problem and satisfying his interest. In the end, Iron Will, the minotaur organising the seminary, wasn't really a bad guy, just a slightly misguided fella, that wasn't exactly correct about what confidence really is...

His steps took him towards the tent where Iron Will did his confidence lessons, but he didn't get far before his ears caught the sound of a familiar, delicate voice... currently giving Iron Will a very thorough earful...

"-I hope you understood Mr Will! I approve of what you're trying to accomplish in your lessons, but if I ever hear you teaching ponies that being forceful and mean is what confidence is about, I'm going to be very disappointed in you!..." Her loud voice could be heard from afar, despite Fluttershy, well... whispering...

He then saw the owner of the voice walk out of the tent with a huff, and stopping in her tracks the moment she noticed Starfall looking straight at her, her cheeks dyeing crimson and her expression shy to the extremes.

"I....uhhh...you didn't hear that...did you?...' She asked, and Starfall chuckled.

"You mean how you talked down that misguided minotaur? Don't worry. I didn't hear anything." He winked at her, as Fluttershy tried to hide herself underground in shame.

Starfall laughed and embraced the girl in a tight hug.

"Oh, quit it Fluttershy. That was awesome! I'm very proud of you." He said, causing Fluttershy to look up at him, her chin pressed to his chest in an extremely cute manner.

"You mean it?" She asked in surprise, receiving a chaste kiss on her muzzle from Starfall and making her squeak in a happy and embarrassed way...

"Eeeyup." He once again winked at her, and she giggled at his bad imitation of Big Mac...

Starfall looked at the tent with a hint of disappointment. He was hoping to meet another sentient race and see it's magic up close, but with the cute Pegasus in his embrace, this idea would have to wait for another occasion.

"Hmm...Do you want to go for a snack?" He asked her after a moment of hesitation, and it didn't take her long to agree. So, before long, they were on their way towards a familiar restaurant, the entire incident with Iron Will forgotten as they chatted with eachother about anything and everything under the sun, the mare showing him her own kind of confidence culminated through hard work and trust in those she cared about.

___________

In a shady corner, behind an inconspicuous house, a pair of ponies stood beside eachother, one of them wearing a dark hood and a black spy outfit covering her coat colour, while the other being covered by a spell that made him cisivle only by the other party.

"What's the situation?" Asked the Stallion under the spell, his purple sparkling eyes easily seeing through the disguise of the mare.

"My Prince, I've located the impostor...But... according to my research, he didn't actually impersonate anypony..." She said a bit unsure, surprising Starfall.

"Really? How so?" He asked and the agent explained.

"I believe the time of his appearance as a Pony in the Town had been the same as his actual arrival. I've done a bit of observation, and confirmed that the target only occasionally absorbs meager amounts of "love" from the ponies in Ponyville, to the point that Nopony ever noticed." She explained and Starfall nodded.

"I've also confirmed that the target is in regular contact with Cranky Doodle..." She revealed, greatly surprising the Stallion.

She then put her muzzle into her saddle bag and took out a folder that the Stallion promptly hid in his own bag, and nodded.

"Thank you Special Agent Sweetie Drops. Your work has been invaluable. If you ever need something from me, please don't refrain from asking." He patted her shoulder in thanks and he could see the happy expression of the mare under her hood as she nodded at him.

"I'll keep that in mind. But you're already paying me generously. So..."

"None of that Bon Bon. You did great. And I really appreciate your hard work." Starfall interrupted her.

"I told you not to call me that when I'm in the field!" She said with a huff making the Stallion smirk.

"Do we have an accord?" He asked and she rolled her eyes.

"Yes, yes. Now go my Prince. Or someone might see us together." She pushed him away making Starfall chuckle.

"You know that's impossible." He turned back towards her but she wasn't there anymore.

"I know that." She said with a wave from the top of the house, having climbed the wall when he was turned around.

Then she turned around and disappeared from view leaving an amused Starfall alone in the dark corner.

He looked at his saddlebag and took out the folder she gave him.

The folder wasn't thick, maybe a dozen or so pages. His interest was piqued.

With only a second of hesitation, he opened it and his eyes instantly feel on a familiar picture...A dark coated Pony with a constellation Cutie Mark...Star Hunter...

"Huh...I should have expected that..." He mused, realising that it was the same pony he saw that day, and...the same one that people in his previous life theorised to be the Changeling at Cranky's future wedding...

But if that's the case...Then he wouldn't be hunting Chrysalis' spy changeling, but most likely a lone changeling that just wanted to live his life and was a friend of Cranky...

Starfall groaned thinking of the additional complication, and swiped through the pages of the folder.

He found a few pictures where Star Hunter was an earth Pony, and a few where the same pony was a Pegasus...Yeah, no wonder he got caught... He might have been pretty good at hiding his identity and all, but that was one clue that would have easily revealed the hoax if anypony noticed...

Starfall was about to go towards his house, but a surprising scream of a familiar Pegasus, followed by a loud crash from the direction of the Library, turned his focus towards the newest situation...

___________

"I'm sorry miss Dash. You'll have to stay in here for at least a week until your wing mends completely." Said a doctor while looking at a picture of the broken wing. Rainbow dash groaned in helplessness.

"Don't worry Dashie, we'll make sure to visit you and I'll give you something I know you'd like, to pass the time."Starfall said while caressing her hoof.

Rainbow looked at Starfall, feeling warmth in her chest. It was easy to tell how much he cared about her ad for a moment, it broke through her tough persona.

"Is...is my wing going to be alright?" She asked, trusting Starfall much more than the doctor.

He smirked, leaned towards her and whispered conspiratorially.

"I'm pretty sure you're going to get better much faster than the doctor expects. After all, you're my Awesome magical prodigy." He winked at her shocking Rainbow, who thought he had no idea about her recent improvements in magical control.

"Ha...I see...I mean, of course! I'm Rainbow Dash! The fastest flier in Equestria! This little accident is nothing for me!" She said self righteously and everypony laughed at her antics.

"You'll be fine. Here. This is for you." Starfall put a parcel on her bed and rainbow looked at it in suspicion.

"I hope it's not a book..." She looked at him suspiciously and Starfall grinned.

"Don't refuse until you tried it. I told you, I'm confident that you're going to love it." He assured her and she harrumphed but didn't argue.

When everypony left and Rainbow Dash was left alone in the room she looked at the package and opened it reluctantly, finding to her disappointed that it really was a book.

"Huh..."Daring Do"...Ugh... Whatever, I'm not gonna read some... ... ...Ehh who am I kidding..." She sighed to herself and opened the book, trusting that Starfall wasn't one to deceive her. If he said she's going to like it then she might as well try...

__________

Starfall looked at a bandaged Rainbow Dash one last time and left the room feeling slightly shaken. It had never occurred to him how horrible it is to see somepony you love get hurt. He might have known that she was going to be completely fine, but the sight of the mare laying there after a flying accident really made him realise how fragile life was. It wasn't a kids show. If he did something wrong, everypony he loved might die or get terribly hurt...

Now it was just a small accident. One that actually happened in the show, albeit there with Rainbow Dash getting slightly more damaged, which might have been the same here, had she not been practicing magic that reinforced her body.

But what if next time something worse happened. A stray spell, an unexpected falling boulder, An attack of a monster or a villain...

Starfall steeled his heart. He was never going to let anything happen to them...Never...

___________