Alrighty, let's get this underway. No preface for this chapter because I only have one thing to say right now…

I don't own My Little Pony.

Suited for Success or Invisible Fractures

The crystal hummed gently. Thrumming in time with the smaller crystals as Myles sat down and let out a sigh of contentment. The sounds were beautiful, forming a three-part harmony amidst a cacophony of tones out of unison. A wave of peace washed over the stallion as he tuned out the other crystals and enjoyed his work.

"It must sound amazing," Luna said quietly, causing Myles to turn around and bow his head briefly before turning back to the crystals and smiling.

"Only if you tune out the others," Myles shrugged, "And when I get around to getting them all in harmony, then it will sound truly amazing. Unless you have a reason why I shouldn't…?" He glanced back at Luna with an eyebrow raised, "Because I can't think of many other reasons why you'd be here, in my not-really-a-dream, except to tell me about it." He frowned, "This isn't about Princess Celestia, is it? Because she told me she hadn't taken offense after our last talk…"

"Nay, Shardsole," Luna smiled, "Your spirit has not offended either our sister or us of late." Her expression hardened, "What makes you say this is no dream?"

"It flummoxed you," Myles frowned and looked away, "You have the power to walk into pony's dreams as though they were real and change them from anywhere. You know more about the subject than anyone and in all this time you've not given me any information willingly. Since you, the supreme authority on dreams here, are either unable to tell what this is or feel for some reason that I don't need to know what it is, this is not only unusual, it's quite possibly a first for you. You, the thousand and something year old ruler of the night itself. No offense meant, you've kept well."

Luna briefly smiled before returning to her somber expression, "Though your deduction is sound, for once you may be wrong in your hypothesis. My very presence here is proof of that."

"Doesn't mean it's a dream," Myles' brow furrowed in frustrated thought, "Just near enough for you to be here and not know the difference until you looked closer. But there are other clues as well."

"Truly? Please enlighten us with your findings, Shardsole."

"It's not much, but given our prior conversations it seems like a bad idea to ignore anything. Recently I was under a significant amount of stress due to some information I was given and I had some nightmares related to it. They appeared to start here, but as the dream progressed, the environment changed and became more…nightmareish. After that was taken care of I realized something else. The nightmare I had only vaguely resembled this place to begin with. This place on the other hand," he tapped one of the crystals in front of him on a jagged point, "Exactly the same, every time, to the last detail. Which means the nightmare was my subconscious memory of this place coming back in another dream, warped by the limits of my ability to recall it, and this …" He gestured with his front hooves to the cave around them, "IS the same place, every time. Not only that, but its consistency and your inability to drive it away make me suspect that… well, it's always here."

"In your mind?"

"Maybe not even there. The nightmare proves I don't have the ability to recall this place with as much clarity as it reappears. If I can't do that subconsciously, maybe I can't do it in any capacity. I think… I think this place might exist somewhere else entirely, all the time, and I just visit it on some nights… somehow." He shakes his head and shrugs, "That last part is a bit of a leap, but honestly, this feels different from my dreams in a way I can't put my hoof on."

"We understand exactly what you mean and that is precisely why we must ask you to ignore this dream."

"What?"

"If you ever find yourself in this dream again, you must close your senses to it. Your eyes and ears. You must ignore this place."

"Why," Myles asks flatly as his eyes narrow.

"Wh- because it is unnatural and dangerous-"

"Because it frightens you, correct?"

"Excuse me?"

"This place, whatever it is, scares you. You can't control it and you can't identify it. So you want me to leave it alone. And why, I wonder. I'm here for a reason and I'm also quite possibly your best hope of figuring this out, so why not let me figure it out?"

"I cannot allow you to endanger yourself on what could possibly be a trap or other danger of some sort-"

"So you don't know anything, right? Because otherwise you'd have told me by now."

"Shardsole, I must insist that you listen to reason-"

"We."

"What?"

"It would be: 'We must insist.' You dropped the royal third person, again. Possibly because this place troubles you so much that you forget. You begin to speak like you are accustomed to, like Nightmare Moon spoke for a thousand years and like you only normally speak with your sister when you are discussing things that aren't for the ears of anypony else but royalty."

"I- we cannot believe our ears! You grow too bold, Shardsole!" Luna's eyes glimmered with purple light and her hair flapped as though blown by an invisible wind. "We command you to leave this place alone!"

"No!" Myles rounded on her and stalked forwards. Luna's eyes faded to their normal appearance and she took a step back as Myles advanced towards her with a stern expression. "No order, command or royal decree is keeping me from this place. No more secrets. You and your sister keep all your subjects in the dark because you think it's best for some reason. You say it's for our protection, but is it? Or is there only one thing that scares you more than not knowing something? Maybe the only thing that frightens you more than this place is the idea that somepony else might discover its power and keep it from you. And that's the funny part, actually," Myles stopped advancing and snorted, hot air billowing Luna's hair and stopping its magically windswept effect, "Because if you or your sister had divulged anything, if you had even admitted to me that you found out nothing about this place, I wouldn't hesitate to tell you as soon as I figured it out. But now?" Myles laughed harshly, "Now I'll have to give it some thought."

Luna's eyes shimmered brighter and her hair billowed as before, her voice resounding off the walls of the cave as she shouted, "YOU DARE! YOU DARE DEFY THE RULE OF THE MY SISTER AND I?! YOU DARE ACCUSE US OF DECEPTION OUT OF SELFISH DESIRE?!"

"Yes! Actually I do. The first one anyways, the second one only in a technical sens-"

"YOU MUST LEARN YOUR PLACE! YOU MUST-"

"Then again, it wouldn't be the first time you acted out of selfish desire, would it?"

"What." Luna spoke dangerously, as though daring him to answer.

"You told me you'd wear it with humility, as a reminder."

"What?" Luna's eyes widened as her memory stopped her display of power. Myles pointed to her left flank. Her eyes widened further as she gazed upon the scar he'd left on her.

"Maybe I am being too bold, but you need to remember what happened the last time you kept someone in the dark, so to speak."

Luna began to breathe heavily, attempting to calm herself enough to speak, but Myles kept going.

"You all say I have strength, but like I told you and your sister, it comes at a cost. Your sister assigned me the task of keeping the Everfree Forest in line. I didn't ask why it was important, I just do it. Twilight and my friends ask for my help and I help them when I can even though I can't ask them the same or tell them what's going on. I have these … well not dreams, but I end up here and I ask you to help me figure it out and all I get is more dismissals and told that I don't need to know. The crystals are going nowhere, my friendships might be failing and watching the forest was a dead end to begin with. I need something to hold onto. Something that I can do to make any kind of progress and not return to… the failure I was." Myles' head drooped for a moment before he glared at her in defiance again. "This is one thing I can accomplish myself and nopony, royalty or not, is standing in my way!" Myles' voice echoed through the chamber and for a moment every last crystal in the cave harmonized with him. His ears perked up and he glanced around nervously as the crystals resumed their previous tones and timing. Luna looked frustrated.

"Dreams are my jurisdiction, Shardsole, even if you are right to demand answers in this situation, you cannot hope to keep me ignorant of your findings."

"Really? Because I have a theory about that, if you'd been paying attention. If you recall, I hypothesized that this isn't a dream at all because you don't have power over it."

"And if you are correct, you have even less control over this place!"

"Wrong! I just thought of a way to test my theory, because I recall one important fact about this place. I woke up here. You, on the other hoof, followed me into what you thought was a dream. That means I'm supposed to be here. And you. Are. Not." Myles stared Luna down as she looked nervous.

Myles blinked.

Luna had vanished.

"Thought so…," Myles said with satisfaction, "Now that harmony a few moments ago, let's find out what that was abo-" He was interrupted by a dull tone.

"No. No! NO!" Myles shouted as the world around him faded and he woke up.

He slammed a hoof onto the detection crystal, shutting it off and displaying the origin of the alert. He slipped the bracer on and galloped to the tree line. He ground a hoof into the dirt as he waited. After a minute or so the bushes rustled and a pack of timberwolves bounded through the underbrush and skidded to a stop in front of him, their glowing yellow eyes widening in surprise. The timberwolf in front was missing an ear and began to growl at Myles before he reeled backwards and yelped as a hoof cracked the wood of his snout.

"I'm not in a very magical mood right now so… hey!" He smacked the creature's advancing snout, smiling with satisfaction as he heard it crack like its leader's had. "Unless you want to get stomped into splinters I suggest you go back where you came from." The wolves hesitated. "Now," Myles said sternly as his eyes narrowed. The pack kept its eyes on him as they retreated back into the darkness, then turned tail and ran. He sighed as he turned back to his home and nearly ran into Rarity.

"Oh! Dreadfully sorry, dear. I've been trying to get a hold of you and when I saw you outside I thought- Myles!" She called after him as he stalked back towards his home. Myles growled as his door glowed blue and shut in front of him. "Myles! You can't keep avoiding us!"

"Believe it or not I've reached my limit of tolerance for ponies telling me what I can't do," Myles scowled, "What do you want?"

"Well," Rarity looked haughtily at him, "for now I want to ask if you'd like me to make you a suit for the Gala, which I hope you are still going to, despite the fact that you have let this disagreement between Twilight and yourself get out of hand and stopped speaking to your friends. And I suppose if there's time I'd like to handle that second part."

Myles stopped scowling out of shock, "…You still want me to come to the Gala?"

"Of course! Why ever would you think I- we wouldn't want you to come anymore?"

Myles' expression hardened as he took note of her slip-up, "The same reason I get the feeling that sentiment isn't unanimous among your friends."

"Our friends, Myles," Rarity looked stern, "They are still just as much your friends as mine."

"Yeah well I'm not sure I want them to be!" Myles growled angrily.

"You don't mean that. Applejack told me about how you were before and you've been considerably happier since you opened up to the rest of us. You can't go back to the way you were, you'd go mad! I know we have our eccentricities, but-"

"THAT'S NOT-" Myles stopped himself as Rarity recoiled, "Sorry. That… You… and the others… are not the issue…" Myles voice faded as he continued and he hastily looked away.

"And I suppose you won't tell me what the issue is then?" Rarity huffed before continuing, "Well at least come by the shop so I can fit you for a suit for the Gala."

Myles frowned and attempted to open his front door with his magic when his horn fizzled and sparked. He sighed heavily and turned back to Rarity, "After you then…"

Myles stood awkwardly on the platform Rarity had led him to as she levitated the measuring tape around him. Occasionally he jumped in surprise as the tape brushed against him out of sight and every time he did this Rarity crossly instructed him to keep still.

"You sure you're not measuring me for a straight-jacket? What kind of suit goes down that far?" Myles asked skeptically as Rarity measured from the tip of his hoof to the inside of his front leg, poking him in the chest as she did so.

"The one designed by me might."

"Might? You mean you don't know yet?" Myles asked indignantly, turning his head to her briefly before she placed a hoof on his cheek and moved his head back into a neutral position.

"Stay still, dear. It's still in the planning stages, but rest assured it'll look smashing on you."

Myles glanced around at the other clothing forms, which were all adorned with dresses clearly themed to be worn by their friends. "Shouldn't you finish everypony else's outfits first?" He kept as still as possible, but his lip twitched involuntarily as he spotted a star covered dress he couldn't help imagining on a certain mare. Rarity didn't seem to notice as she sucked in a breath through clenched teeth.

"The girls' dresses are awaiting… approval by their owners before I finish them up."

"Something wrong?"

"I… it's nothing, dear."

"Certainly doesn't sound like nothing."

"Well it is, dear, so just keep still," Rarity answered irritably, poking him hard in the belly as she continued measuring him. The tape fell to the ground as Rarity was surprised by a knock on the door that continued rapidly and eagerly in a way Myles recognized instantly with a smirk.

"Pinkie Pie's here," Myles glanced towards the door and raised his eyebrows at Rarity, who frowned as she moved to answer the door.

"Now dear, that's a tad presumptuous, Rainbow Dash is also prone to hammering on my door at … Hello… Pinkie Pie," Rarity pursed her lips and deliberately ignored Myles triumphant expression as she stepped aside, "Do come in. I'll be with you in a minute."

"Okay! Is Rainbow Dash coming too? Can we have a dress-fitting party? Why were you guessing who was at the door? The only pony I know who does that is- Oh hey Myles!" Pinkie bounced eagerly over to where he stood and grinned widely at him, "Long time, no see! Well not really long, but it feels like forever! You missed Rainbow's new routine unveiling party and the Apple family's three months until harvest party!"

"The Apple family celebrates three months before harvest?"

"They didn't used to, but then they mentioned how busy they always were during the harvest so I threw them one in advance! They were so surprised! It was great!"

Myles chuckled a bit and shook his head, which Rarity pushed back into place with a hoof and another "Keep still."

"Ooooh, Rarity's making you a dress too, huh?"

"Ye- wait what? No!" Myles turned to Pinkie in shock as she laughed and Rarity pushed him back into place.

"I'm making him a suit, dear," Rarity pursed her lips as she continued measuring, "But even he won't look as handsome as he should if he won't stay still!"

Myles furrowed his eyebrows and tried not to look around at Rarity as Pinkie giggled.

"He looks antsy," She giggled again, "Maybe you should let him sit down for a bit."

Rarity sighed, "Very well, sit down, Myles." Myles exhaled deeply in relief and stepped off the platform, sitting against the wall. Pinkie and Rarity made their way over to an overly pink dress that could only belong to Pinkie. Pinkie was exuberant as always, though she seemed more stubborn as she finished up. "Streamers!"

"Streamers?" Rarity asked with barely hidden exasperation.

"Who's dress is it?"

"Streamers…" Rarity sighed.

"Pinkie, don't you think you should let Rarity decide what to put on the dress? If she doesn't like the idea of streamers there's probably a good reason to leave them off." Myles frowned a bit at the jovial pony as he watched Rarity gather strands of colored paper and began attaching them to Pinkie's dress.

"But she asked us what we thought of her dresses and insisted we tell her what we wanted!"

"That does sound like her, but c'mon Pinkie, streamers?" Myles chuckled, "I may not know anything about fashion but it seems like you'd be tripping over them all night."

"Rarity will make it work! I know she can!" Pinkie Pie bounced happily out the door as Rarity sighed.

"That doesn't mean you have to make her," Myles grumbled with a frown.

"Back on the platform, darling," Rarity lilted sadly.

"Rarity," Myles asked cautiously, "How long have you been working on those dresses?"

"What?" Rarity looked thoughtful for a few moments, "A week and a half tomorrow, why?"

"When did you first finish them?"

"A little over a week ago. What are you getting at, Myles?"

"Why not just say 'no?'"

"Sorry?"

Myles turned to her and looked stern, "Tell them you know what you are doing and to accept what you give them."

Rarity appeared shocked, "But the customer must be satisfied. Not to mention they're my friends! I wouldn't want to let them down in a million years!"

"Even if it was for their own good?"

"What?"

"Pinkie might hurt herself tripping over those streamers."

Rarity suddenly looked furious, "Really? Well since you are such an expert on dresses, perhaps you should finish hers while I take care of the others."

"I didn't say I was an expert, I just want Pinkie… all of you to be safe."

"Pinkie has faith in my dressmaking ability. She and the rest of the girls trust me not to make something they'll be strangled in. I'd say the same for the suit I was making you, but perhaps you'd feel better if it was examined for booby traps first."

"Rarity, liste-"

"No, you listen!" Rarity was suddenly inches from his face and he recoiled in surprise, "I am honored to be making dresses for my friends and I will not accept anything other than complete satisfaction. You may leave, your suit will be ready within the week."

"I thought you weren't done measuring."

"I have the basic measurements, dear," Rarity stated huffily, "Your suit will fit you and look splendid, though I cannot guarantee your comfort. Please leave, I need space to work."

"I'm sorry, Rarity," Myles lip twitched, "I didn't mean to-"

"HMPH!" Rarity huffed and ignored him as he sighed and left the shop. He gingerly closed the door and had a sudden sense of déjà vu as he turned around and nearly ran into Twilight Sparkle.

"What did you do to Rarity now?" Twilight demanded with a scowl.

"She asked me to come in for a fitting," Myles replied, immediately on the defensive, "In fact she kind of forced me to come along."

"And you managed to offend her again. I must admit you have a knack for that."

"I'm not the one working her to death with ridiculous dresses."

"Rarity's dresses are amazing," Twilight scowled deeper.

"I'm sure they were before you all changed them."

Myles' head whipped back and to the side as a hoof connected with it.

"How dare-! Hey! Get back here!" Twilight shouted after him as he walked calmly to his house.

"Sorry," he called over his shoulder, "Got more pressing business to attend to. Maybe another time."

Myles glanced around and his eyes widened in shock.

"No," he breathed.

He looked around rapidly for the exit he knew should be there. It was a door he used as often as he could and relished the times when he had ability to do so. Yet the exit to his childhood home was nowhere to be found in the short amount of time he had to search before a deafening voice echoed through the tiny hall.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"

Myles clapped his front hooves over his ears and sank to the ground, gritting his teeth in pain and ignoring the ponies approaching him.

"I AM TALKING TO YOU, MYLON SHARDSOLE!"

Myles' pupils narrowed to pinpoints and his eyes went wide as he was consumed by rage he thought he'd left behind. He stood up and confronted the two shadowy shapes that had stopped behind him.

"NO! WE TRIED THAT! DOZENS OF TIMES WE TRIED TALKING, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT?!" Hot air swept the shadows away, both the figures and the home banished by the rage that whirled forth from Myles' nostrils as he stepped forwards, "Talking does jack all when the other pony only pretends to listen."

From the empty void behind him, Myles heard a soft clapping as an alicorn beat her hooves against the non-existent ground in feigned applause. Instead of turning around, he sat down on the invisible surface he previously stood upon.

"Yes," Luna continued clapping, "See how the protector of Ponyville handles his troubles with such … decorum."

"Don't," Myles breathed, "If you won't listen, then don't interfere. I have to do this and you aren't stopping me."

"You do not command US! You overestimate your ability!"

"DON'T YOU GET IT?! THAT DOESN'T MATTER!"

"Myles?!"

Myles gasped as his eyes snapped open and he rolled to his side, quickly tucking his feet underneath him and coming to a standing position. His breathing slows to a normal pace as he looks around and sees his home, quiet and vacant save for one blue pegasus.

"What do you want?"

"Okay Mr. Snippy, I just wanted to let you know you need to be in the town square to show off the suit Rarity made you."

"To who?" Myles blinked in confusion.

"Some bigwig fashion designer that Spike somehow knew organized a fashion show for our outfits for the Gala. So we need somepony to wear the suit since it's a part of the collection." Rainbow frowned at him and he frowned right back before trudging down the stairs and out his front door.

"I'll be there for Rarity," He said quietly.

"Whatever," Rainbow rolled her eyes as she flew towards the town square. He followed at a steady pace, approaching the quickly built stage in a few short minutes. He glared at the crowd, which seemed to consist of the entire town and one pony who was either wearing a wig or had actually cemented his hair into shape. As Myles watched, a brown earth pony slid a cushion behind the wig pony and his eyes bulged as the pony sat on his nose. The earth pony struggled and then freed himself, shaking his head. He turned and looked directly at Myles, his expression broadening to a grin. Myles' troubled look was interrupted by a large black cloth suddenly covering his face. He struggled for a bit before he realized it was his suit and pushed his front hooves through the sleeves so he could see who had assaulted him. Twilight Sparkle left without saying a word to him and he followed her backstage. He looked around desperately for Rarity and couldn't find her before music started and Spike began introducing the event.

He felt himself being pushed on stage first, a sharp pain coming from his thigh as a horn poked him. Evidently Twilight didn't trust him to follow behind them. He walked on stage first and the crowd mildly applauded but soon stopped abruptly. He made it to the end of the runway and turned back to see the other girls suddenly looking nervous as the crowd muttered and gasped. Spike said something else and he heard the music come to a stop as the crowd dispersed. He tried to pay attention but was constantly distracted by his suit tightening in an uncomfortable place when he stopped moving. He stalked into the back again and gingerly stepped out of his suit, then galloped off towards Rarity's shop.

He had only been a few seconds behind her, but regardless when he arrived she was locked into her house, leaving the shop open. He heard sobs coming from Rarity's room and started pulling things out of her garbage can and setting them aside.

"What are you doing?"

Myles ignored the voice behind him and the mumbling of a few others as he finally spotted six crinkled papers at the bottom of the bin. He lifted them out with magic and spread them as flat as he could on the floor. Rarity's original designs lay before him and he let out a frustrated sigh as he felt a hoof on his shoulder.

"Hey! I aske-"

Myles rounded on Twilight as his eyelid twitched, "I'm trying to help a friend. However I can. Stay out of my way." He pushed her aside gently as he grabbed some fabric and levitated some scissors over to cut it. The cut ended up being uneven, but he placed it over the dress form regardless and cut another piece before grabbing thread and attempting to attach it to the first piece. He growled out loud as the thread split and tugged its way out of the fabric.

"Um, you'll need to knot the end for starters and you should be using a cross stich for that section."

Myles raised an eyebrow as he looked up at Fluttershy with confusion. The others stared at her with similar expressions.

"You know," she mumbled, "if you want to, I mean."

Myles gestured to the designs on the floor, "You can read those?" Fluttershy nodded ever so slightly. "Good, you can stay and help. The rest of you, out."

"Excuse me?!" Twilight cried indignantly.

"Out. Now."

"We're here to help Rari-"

"Haven't you done enough already?" Myles demanded as he turned to her again. She quickly looked away in shame. Myles groaned, "Sorry, that was uncalled for, but I don't have time to go through all this with you, if we're lucky that smug jerk won't leave until morning, so we have at least that long to get these done."

The others filed past him and each picked up a design, bringing it to a workspace and spreading it out. They began to gather materials.

"I told you to-"

"Sorry, but we don't have time to go through all this with you. We have work to get done." Twilight smiled at him.

He smiled back warmly and laughed, relishing the first positive interaction he'd had with Twilight in over a month until she coughed and went to a workstation. He thought he heard a soft snickering coming from the direction of a certain blue pegasus, but he was briefly distracted by a faint noise of metal on wire. When the noise faded, he shook his head and began to work.

Myles sat at a familiar table with his head supported by his front legs, which were crossed over the table.

"I'm not trying to be ungrateful. I AM grateful! I know how much you've done and that's why I feel awful about not getting anywhere because I haven't just DONE SOMETHING!"

"You can't handle it, honey. You know why. We want you to try but we don't want you-"

"-to get hurt? You still aren't listening. THIS hurts more. I know what I should do but I can't do it because of… because I…"

Myles scowled and shook his head, dispersing the environment around him.

"Luna."

"Ohhhhhhhh," Luna mocked sympathy, "Is this one not to your liking? You could have fooled us." She appeared in front of him with a burst of smoke colored like the night sky. "You had this dream so many times while I was imprisoned. The memory is so vivid in your mind."

"Luna you have to stop-"

"YOU DO NOT COMMAND US!"

"Somepony else does, though."

Luna and Myles look around wildly for the source of the echoing voice.

"Who… what? Myles Shardsole?" Luna blinks in confusion, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, but Myles has some more pressing business to attend to. This will have to wait for another time."

"Myles! Wake up!"

Myles blinks as he takes in his surroundings. The girls stare at him worriedly, Twilight with a hoof on his shoulder and the rest as though they have just looked up from their work. He spots a brief flash of color from Rarity's door as her eye retreats from the keyhole. "What?"

"You were… well… you fell asleep and I thought… for a minute I thought I heard you crying… like you were in pain." Twilight's expression of concern caused Myles to quickly look away.

"Just a bad dream, that's all," He shook his head and wiped his eyes in case any moisture remained. "How are we doing?" Twilight frowned at him and stalked back to her workstation.

Looking around, Myles saw that some progress was made, though it had been slowed every time they had to interrupt Fluttershy and ask her advice. The dresses were nearly finished and Rainbow Dash pulled him aside despite his protests.

"Rainbow, we need to finish those dresses."

"Rarity designed your suit too," Rainbow pointed out, "And if we want that pompous jerk to like her designs, they all have to be perfect. So we gotta fix that suit so you can wear it without squirming around like it's filled with parasprites." She snickers to herself as Myles' expression sinks.

"Was it that obvious?" Myles sighed as he stepped onto the platform and Rainbow began taking his measurements.

"Dunno about the audience, but we noticed," Rainbow snickered again, "But Rarity told me what she'd done to your suit before…" She trailed off, looking troubled.

"Before you told her about the fashion show, right?"

"Yeah," Rainbow admitted, going back to the measurements, "Well it was Spike's idea, but we were all onboard with it. So this is just as much our fault as well…"

"You didn't know, you thought you were helping," Myles said consolingly.

"Yeah, I guess," Rainbow sighed and kept working for a bit, then glanced over her shoulder into the other room before turning back and speaking again in a hushed tone, "So when are you gonna pony up and start talking to us again? I mean, I get why you aren't talking to Twilight, but what did we do?"

"You didn't do anything," Myles said with quiet frustration, "I… I don't want to disappoint any of you…"

"Pfft," Rainbow suppressed her laugh, "Okay, I'll buy that reason for Twilight, but why do you care what the rest of us think?"

"Why wouldn't I care? Wait…" Myles hesitated, "Why does that reason work for Twilight?"

"Because you like her," Rainbow said casually.

"I like all of you," Myles feigned equal nonchalance with considerably less success, "You're my friends."

"But you like her more," Rainbow snickered again as he squirmed.

"I like you all equally," Myles insisted though his breathing sped up a bit due to his nerves, earning him a poke from Rainbow's hoof as she measured him.

"Really?" Rainbow walked around and stood face to face with Myles, "Because if I'd caught you staring at me like that I'd have already beat some sense into you. No offense, Myles, you're just not my type."

"Huh?" Myles looked genuinely confused as Rainbow held a photo in front of his nose. He blinked as his eyes adjusted and allowed him to see a clear picture of Twilight embracing him outside his house and an unmistakable red coloration spreading across his face.

"Don't get me wrong, you're awesome," Rainbow tucked away the picture and went back to work, nudging Myles back into place when he tried to move, "It's a blast to watch you kick a monster ten times your size in the side, but then you go all egghead as soon as the adrenaline wears off. I mean, not all the time… but enough. Twilight probably always knows what you're talking about though and that's probably why you like her. Well…," she snickers again, "that's one reason anyways."

Myles began to let out a sigh before Rainbow placed a hoof on his chin and pushed him back into position so she could measure his neck. When she finished he relaxed his jaw and then continued, "Was it that obvious?"

She snickered again, "Dunno about the other girls, but I noticed. But as far as I know, I'm the only one who tried to get a picture because I thought you'd blown up your house less than a day after it was done. I thought I spotted it other times too, but the photo was the last bit of proof I needed."

"You were gonna take a photo of my blown-up house? What if I had died?" Myles hissed.

"Please," Rainbow rolled her eyes, "You had two houses fall on you before and that didn't kill you, there was no way just one would've done the job. I thought it'd be a funny house-warming gift for your next house. Course then I got an even better picture. I thought about trying to use it to get you to do stuff for me, but that seemed a little too mean. To both you and Twilight. All done with the measurements," she stopped him as he began to step off the platform, "But you still haven't told me what you're so worried about. The reason you think we'd be disappointed in you?" She continued when he looked at her questioningly.

"Oh," he looked away nervously, rubbing the back of his neck with a hoof, "Look, can we talk about that another … another time?" Myles stumbled a bit as something clicked in his mind, then continued as though nothing had happened, "It's still kind of… fresh…"

"Fine," Rainbow narrowed her eyebrows, "But you have to start talking to us again."

"Right, sorry," He coughed, "And you aren't going to tell the others?"

"I won't tell Twilight," Rainbow grinned mischievously, "But I'll only avoid telling the others unless it comes up."

"That's… not very reassuring…"

"Well I don't want the others to ruin the fun. I'm betting the moment you have to tell Twilight yourself will be priceless."

Myles' face went pale as she laughed and patted him on the back, "Back to work, Myles," she said as she went back to the workstations in the other room. He steadied his breathing and made his way back to finish up the dress he had been working on.

"Is this really necessary?" Myles muttered while Rainbow struggled to keep Rarity's cat, Opal under control as she placed it in the tree next to the second floor window.

"We hafta get her outside," Applejack whispered out of the corner of her mouth, "Wish it'd been so easy to talk to you, sugarcube."

"Sorry," he mumbled as Rarity came to her window to check on the commotion, "I don't really think I can talk about it though, it'll-"

"-Hafta wait fur another time, ah know, sugarcube."

Myles stayed silent as he watched the others present her dress to her and apologize for their mistake. He smiled as Rarity turned to him.

"Myles, I should have-"

"Rarity, you went above and beyond for the sake of your friends and I tried to get you to stop. I'm sorry. And I'm sorry for shutting all of you out these past few weeks," Myles frowned. Rarity rushed forward and hugged Myles, then backed away and looked hopeful.

"Does that mean you'll tell us what's wrong?"

"Another time," Myles said with a smirk, "Right now, we have a fashion show to put on."

"Wha-huh?" Rarity did a double take and Myles laughed as he brought her around the side of the dress shop where the other dresses and his suit were displayed on the mannequins.

"You didn't think we'd let whats-his-name go back to Canterlot and tell people you couldn't make dresses, did you?"

Later on the fashion show went off as beautifully as one of Rarity's dresses. Myles even felt comfortable in his new suit, at first he thought it had looked a little raggedy, but now he saw that it was part of Rarity's design. It appeared as though he'd just come back from fighting monsters in the forest and was still ready to fit in at a high society party. It occurred to Myles that she may have designed the suit to be durable enough for that exact situation, but he decided he'd never put it through that if he could help it.

Myles was nervous about sharing his insecurities over his action in the Everfree Forest and his latest interactions with Princess Luna. However, the worries were driven from his mind as he heard the fashion designer demand a dozen of each outfit from Rarity. He glared at the designer and began to approach angrily when an idea occurred to him.

He returned to a panicky Rarity with his saddlebags full.

"Myles!" Rarity called to him as he approached, "I need to make a dozen of those dresses before the weekend!"

"So I heard," Myles smirked as he leaned over and let his saddlebag hit the ground, spilling out some of the crystals inside, "So this time, we're gonna streamline the process."

Bout three and a half times.

That's how many times I'd say I restarted this chapter from scratch. The half is because I managed to salvage some from the last time but still ended up writing a whole bunch of new stuff. Almost went with the second one, except I couldn't figure out why it made me so mad. Then I realized I'd blown the entire story arc in one chapter. So I set about remaking the chapter to only have a little bit of that and much more of the actual episode. Now there's almost none of the story arc in there, but I still kinda want to take half of it out. See I was struck with some inspiration and figured out mostly where I'm going with this now and I'm still worried I'm not taking it slow enough.

On the other hand, I still have so much of season 1 to get through and now I have a better idea of where to take it. I took so long to get this chapter out and I've still got so much to do. And now I've got a major upheaval coming up in real life to make things slower, so I'm glad I kinda have a direction to march towards.

But enough about me. What the hay is going on in this story, huh? Lunas going a little nuts… again. Good thing somepony intervened. Betcha that's gonna be important. It's kinda weird to be dancing around this like you guys don't already know whats going on. I get the feeling a lot of you figured it out the first time and are just polite enough not to say anything. Thanks for that.

At least I know you don't know the other part yet, since it just came to me the other day and only one thing in this chapter could possibly be a reference to it, which is partly where it came from. Even then it's a bit of a stretch right now without all the information.

Don't worry, I'll try and update more to keep things moving so you wont have to wait as long. Some chapters may end up shorter because of this, but I'll do my best to keep them interesting. Of course the next chapter is something I've been looking forwards to as well as another one that I'm pretty sure many of you will be able to predict.

My own fault for making reference to it several chapters ago, I know. At least I can take solace in the fact that I got some information wrong and that may help keep it secret for a few seconds more.

Another time. (Okay okay. Sorry.)

-Dr. Spacewizard Esq.