Chapter 13

Aquashine was promptly thrown over the town border by the residents, landing squarely in the dirt.

"And stay out," the sheriff said with finality.

"I didn't care about your stupid hayseed tumbleweed mud pit anyway," she shot back. "I hope you're the first to die once the Cursed Trossels' corruption spreads." she spit on the ground indignantly and trotted off. She wandered on and on before finally coming across a blue painted wagon. A pony with a long silvery mane in a purple cape and hat covered in stars trotted out. Aquashine quickly dashed over to the pony who looked over at her with a bit of distaste.

"Who approaches the Great and Powerful Trixie," she demanded. Is she seriously for real, Aquashine thought.

"Look," she said bluntly. "My name's Aquashine, and I'm a Trossel of Water and Light. I'm not looking for any trouble but if you give me any, I won't hesitate to show you exactly why nopony wants to mess with me." Trixie smirked, nodding approvingly to herself. Aquashine wished she'd been born from Thought Trossel roots so she'd be able to tell just what Trixie was thinking.

"Trixie likes you, Aquashine," she said. "You have a certain tenacity and moral strength that reminds her of herself. How would you like to join Trixie as her assistant?"

"That depends," Aquashine said. "Do you always talk like that?"

"Trixie has no idea what you're talking about," she said. "Do we have a deal or not?" Aquashine didn't see any alternatives, and if she did go with Trixie, there's a chance she might be able to track down somepony even better than Infernalo do they could fight over her. Finally, Aquashine nodded.

"Of course Aquashine will go," she said mockingly. Trixie narrowed her eyes.

"Don't do that," the navy blue pony warned. "It's unwise to mock the Great and Powerful Trixie." Aquashine scoffed and entered, the wagon rolling along slowly.

Leafwind and her friends were sitting in Apple Bloom's clubhouse, conversation not as lively as usual due to last night.

"Why did you guys come looking for me," Leafwind asked, breaking the silence. They all stared at her in surprise and confusion as though she'd turned into a dragon right in front of them.

"Well, it's pretty obvious," Sweetie Belle said. "You're our friend, and we didn't want anything to happen to you."

"You were gone an awful long time and we thought something mighta happened," Apple Bloom added. Scootaloo remained silent, drifting off into space. Leafwind gazed at her curiously before turning back to the others.

"What's wrong with Scootaloo," the Trossel asked. The little orange Pegasus seemed almost completely unaware of her surroundings and was very deep in thought. She had the same dazed and blank look in her eyes that Leafwind noticed Sweetie had whenever Steelmind was around, and she sighed. "Scootaloo? Scootaloo?"

"I think I know how to snap her back," Sweetie Belle said. The little white unicorn turned to follow Scootaloo's blank gaze. "Look, it's Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo snapped back, just as Sweetie said, looking around eagerly.

"Where, where," she asked excitedly before realizing it was a trick. "That was not funny!"

"Well we had ta do somethin'," Apple Bloom said. "You were gettin' all spaced out."

"What were you thinking about," Leafwind asked. Scootaloo's eyes darted back and forth quickly, trying hard to keep her cool.

"Nopony," she said quickly. "I mean nothing. I-I wasn't thinking about anypony, anything. I gotta go." she rushed out of the clubhouse in a hurry as the other three were left shrugging about what that was all about.

"I don't really know Scootaloo that much," Leafwind inquired. "but I think she must really like somepony, like Sweetie Belle does with Steelmind." Sweetie blushed and glared at her.

"I told you I don't like Steelmind," she said, only to be met with sarcastic looks from the two.

Infernalo had just finished organizing together all the fabrics and clutter around the boutique before finally resting for a bit.

"Darling, you really didn't have to go to all that trouble," Rarity assured him, pouring him a cup of tea, which he accepted. "Saving Sweetie Belle and returning her in one piece was more than enough." Infernalo sipped from the cup, before Rarity refilled it.

"It's not that," he replied. "I'd have done that anyway. I know what it's like to have a baby sister; hay, I got two of them. Frostburn was actually a lot like Sweetie Belle at that age. I would've even done it if she wasn't even a friend of Leafwind's. I'm just doing this to be a good pony; you're one of Twilight's friends, and Steelmind and Zephyroak seem to enjoy your company." he took another long, slow sip of tea. "I probably should take my leave, lest I wear out my welcome."

"No, no, it's no trouble," she assured him as he was about to get up. "Tell me. How did you meet Zephyroak and Steelmind?" he chuckled a bit.

"I didn't know Zephyroak for a long while," he said. "Stonebolt knew her ever since they were foals. Of course it was only after Stonebolt had beat up some filly who was pushing Zephyroak around that the two actually became friends and that's when Stonebolt introduced me and Frostburn to her. Since then, she's almost been like another Stonebolt in my life, something I've never minded."

"What about Steelmind," Rarity asked. Infernalo realized just how enthralled she was in what he was saying. It was old memories like that he thought were so trivial and meaningless that seemed almost like the word of Celestia to the mare. Infernalo thought back, recalling the time he first met the Thought Trossel.

"I suppose that I can't really say how I met Zephyroak without saying how I met Steelmind," he said. "Well, Zephyroak had known Steelmind her entire life and they'd practically have the exact same body if they were any closer. I personally met him when I went to see Zeph and he was sitting around with her. I sparked up a conversation; found that I had an intellectual equal in him. Frostburn had just came home one day very upset about one of her relationship falling apart and so I decided that maybe Stone and Zeph should help her find somepony. The rest is history." Rarity seemed a bit taken aback near the end.

"S-Steelmind has a girlfriend," she said, sounding a bit choked up. "He's dating Frostburn?" Infernalo put a reassuring hoof around her shoulder.

"Is everything okay," he asked, his ice blue eyes looking at her with concern.

"I-it's fine, really," she said. Infernalo drank the rest of his tea, before starting off on his way. "Thank you again for all this." He nodded and vanished into a dark portal at his hooves.