Everen woke to the sound crying as Tsui fell out of the bed. Everen got up and picked up Tsui with his hooves, comforting her in a fatherly manner.
"Shh, shh. You're okay, I've got you now." Everen whispered softly to the dragon.
Tsunami quieted down, and relaxed in Everen's hold. Everen got dressed and went downstairs, he galloped to the kitchen when he smelled something burning. He saw a large plume of smoke coming up from a skillet on the stove. He ran over to the window and opened it, using wind magic to blow the smoke out through it.
"Thanks Everen." coughed Milo, who was shown to have been completely enveloped in the smoke.
"Sure thing. You don't seem to be very good at cooking. No offence." Everen said, looking at the charred remnants of who knows what left in the skillet.
"None taken, I know I'm a bad cook." he scratched the back of his head nervously.
"Have you ever thought about asking for help from Kari?" Everen asked, pulling out ingredients to make breakfast.
"I have, but I don't want to trouble her with it." Milo looked to the stairs hoping Karilyn wouldn't come down for a little while. "What're you making?"
"It would be no trouble for me. Just not on Monday mornings, I work then." Everen started, continuing to prepare the food. "I'm making orange tarts, and apple juice."
"Sounds good." Milo closed his eyes, imagining how the food will taste. Then he opened his eyes in realization. "You can cook?"
"Well enough I'd say. I've had to make a lot of my own meals growing up. I had two working parents and I'm an only child." he explained, putting the tarts in the oven, and set a timer. "There, they'll be ready soon."
"Cool. What do we do in the meantime?" the earth pony asked, bored.
"I'm going to keep an eye on the food. I don't know what you're going to do." Everen said, looking into Milo's jade-green eyes. "You're not supposed to leave cooking food unattended."
"Oh, that's good to know." Milo chuckled, nervously.
Everen waited in kitchen while Milo moved to the table to have a seat and wait for the food. Karilyn came down a few minutes later, taking a seat across from Milo.
"If you're sitting right here, is Everen making breakfast?" she asked, smelling the orange tarts.
"That's right. I had no idea he could cook too." Milo sounded pleased.
Karilyn merely smiled and shrugged, too tired to say anything just yet.
"Coffee?" Milo offered, a knowing tone to his nodded placing her forehead gently on the table.
Milo went over to a small table in one corner of the room, with a coffee pot and some creamer and mugs sitting next to it. Milo poured a cup of coffee and cantered back over to the dining table, setting the mug down in front of Kari. She raised her head and saw the hot beverage on the table. She blew on it and took a sip, savouring the hot liquid as it went down her throat, the caffeine giving her a bit more energy.
"Dreams again?" Milo asked concernedly, putting a hoof on her shoulder.
"Yeah." Karilyn answered shortly.
"Wanna talk about it?" Milo continued, lowering his head a bit.
"Not this time, too weird." Karilyn stated, taking another sip of coffee.
"Okay." Milo took his previous seat across from the pegasus.
"Food's ready." Everen said, coming out of the kitchen with a tray of orange tarts.
"Smells great Everen." Milo complimented, smelling the air.
"Are you alright Kari?" Everen asked softly, seeing the worn out look on her face.
"Yeah, I just had a weird dream last night." she answered, sipping her coffee.
"What about?" Everen setting the tray down on the table and levitating a tart.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it." the pegasus grabbed a tart and took a bite of it.
"It must be something if it's keeping you up. And I can't help but worry when my friends are troubled." Everen lifted her face so that they were looking into each others' eyes.
Karilyn hesitated, staring into those bright green eyes. "O-okay, but I'll only tell you in my room. I want it to be between you and me."
"Alright, after breakfast then." Everen took a seat and started eating one of the orange tarts.
When they had finished their meal, Karilyn led the way up to her room and opened the door. Everen followed her in and sh closed and locked the door behind them. The room looked exactly the same as Everen's does, but replace the desk with a vanity. Kari sat down on her bed and patted the spot next to her with a hoof, signaling Everen to sit next to her.
"Ever since I was little, I've had odd dreams about different ponies past." she began, when the unicorn plopped down on the bed. "And when I asked about the ponies past, more often than not, they said that what had happened in my dream more or less happened in real life."
"So what happened in this dream?" Everen questioned, mind racing.
"Well, it was about you. And I saw you save the life of three alicorns, fighting one of our best soldiers in the offensive force. Did that REALLY happen?" Karilyn explained, hardly able to look at Everen.
"Yes, it did." Everen said honestly, pain engulfing all other emotion. "I saved their lives. Afterwards I asked who those ponies who attacked them were. They wouldn't tell me the full story, but I managed to find out where they came from from one of the alicorns." Everen continued, the mare hanging on every word. "And so I set off, to find out the rest of the story, I came here to figure out everything the alicorns had left out. Don't think for a second that my friendship towards you or anypony else in this town is fake though. All my feelings have been sincere and wholehearted."
"I-I believe you, I just don't know if I can trust you anymore." Karilyn suddenly found something interesting to look at on the floor.
"I know, trust is something that must be earned. And I intend to do just that, earn your trust." Everen said, standing up and turning to face her.
She looked up into his face again, at the warm wholesome smile, the beautiful green eyes, the messy light brown mane and the streak of green in it. She lunged forward and pressed her lips against his, making Everen go wide-eyed. He soon relaxed into the kiss though, pressing back in turn. Karilyn pulled away, and looked up at the stallion.
"Please don't leave me." her eyes were wet with tears, her voice shaky.
Everen simply nodded, the pain in his chest nearly unbearable. The two moved back downstairs, leaning into each other.
"Oh, I just remembered that I promised to be somewhere today." Everen said, thinking about the garden.
"Really, where?" Kari inquired, curiously.
"Pine Needles' garden. I should get going." Everen trotted to the door.
"What? the mare exclaimed.
"Hmm? Right! I met Pine yesterday, she's really not so bad once you know her." Everen stated, smiling back at Kari, but not slowing down.
"Seriously?" the pegasus asked, bewildered.
"Yes, she's sweet, if a little off. She's been through alot of pain." Everen elucidated, opening the front door.
"I'm coming with you then. I want to see this for myself." Karilyn trotted quickly to catch up to the stallion.
Everen chuckled a bit as Karilyn came astride him. They cantered through the alleys to the garden, leaning into each other as they went. When they made it to the edge of the garden, Kari paused, uncomfortable. Everen put a hoof on her shoulder to comfort her, she calmed down and continued on. About halfway through the garden, there came a rustling from behind them.
"So, who do I have in my garden today?" came that familiar hissy voice from a tree close by.
Everen turned around and stared at the tree. "I think you know." he said, grinning.
"Everen!" the bat pony screeched, flying from her perch in the tree and tackling Everen with a hug. "You actually came back."
"Of course I did. I even came with a friend." Everen said, surprised by the tackle hug.
Pine looked up, suddenly aware that she was not alone with Everen.
"Oh, hi." she started, timidly. "I'm Pine."
"Karilyn, nice to meet you." the pegasus replied, surprised by the actions of the pony before her.
"Likewise." Pine said, embarrassed by her show of emotion in front of somepony who she doesn't know.
The silence that followed was broken only when Everen spoke up. "Have you ever seen a baby dragon before Piney?" he got up, and revealed Tsunami.
"Woah, that's a rare dragon too! I've only ever seen one adult of that type." Pine exclaimed ecstatically, glad for the change of subject.
"Her name is Tsunami." Everen stated, looking at the infant to make sure she wasn't frightened by this new pony species. She didn't seem at all bothered ny Pine.
"I'll call her Nami for short then." Pine said. "Can I hold hold her?"
"I guess so, but the nickname I've already given her is Tsui." Everen offered over the small dragon.
"I'm still going to call her Nami." Pine grabbed Tsunami, holding her close. Tsui seemed quite content in the bat pony's hooves.
"She likes you, means you're worth trusting." Everen smiled, happy to have another trustworthy friend.
"Oh, really? Hold her for a second please." Pine handed Karilyn the dragon, who took Tsui in her grasp. "Well then, trust this." she tackled Everen again squeezing him tightly.
Everen's hooves were pinned to his sides so he couldn't move, and Pine had a very strong grip. Everen's horn began glowing as he prepared to use a spell. He lifted himself and Pine off the ground and flew them into the nearest tree. Pine loosened her grip enough for Everen to free his hooves, and he began tickling her sides. Pine started laughing in fits and let go of the unicorn with her hooves, but wrapped her wings around him. When Everen started tickling Pine's wings she gasped and let go. They stared at each other for a few seconds, not entirely aware of what had just occurred.
"What was that?" Everen asked curiously, lowering them from the tree.
"My wings are," Pine paused looking for the appropriate word. "Sensitive."
"My apologies for that, I had no idea." Everen said, setting them both on the ground again and trying not to blush.
"I-it's not your fault, I tackled you first after all." Pine responded, blushing.
"You were just having some fun." Everen smiled, comforting her.
"Um, do you have any plans on Friday?" Pine asked, kicking a hoof through the dirt nervously.
"Actually, I was going to go on a date with Kari." Everen answered, coming up with an idea.
"Oh, okay." Pine's voice sounded much more toned down and brooding.
"Were you going to ask me out on a date?" the stallion questioned, stepping closer. "You can tell me, I'll understand." he continued, noticing her hesitation.
"Y-yes, I was going to ask if you'd go on a date with me." the yellow-green mare looked away, scared of what Everen would say next.
Everen looked to Karilyn. "What do think Kari? Would you mind making our date a two-on-one date?"
Pine looked up, beyond stunned, then looked hopefully to the pegasus.
"Hmm, okay, I guess that would be fine." Karilyn said.
"Yay, thank you so much!" Pine screeched, giving the pink mare a hug.
"Okay, okay. Calm down already." Kari managed to keep her balance.
"Sorry, I'm just so happy." the bat pony let go and backed up, blushing once again.
"Am I interrupting something?" came a voice from a short distance away.
The ponies all turned to see Raindrop Sky, walking up to them.
"No you're fine." Everen spoke first. "What're you here for Sky?"
"To get Pine's help for your birthday party." she explained, looking between the two.
"Oh, I remember now, Kane asked you to get Pines help at the bakery." Everen thought back to last sunday. "Why do we need Piney to help with my party though?"
"Because she has," Raindrop trailed off, trying to find an accurate word. "Special, talents. The kind that help out with Kane's parties. Piney?"
"When we met yesterday, she requested that I call her Piney, so I am." Everen elucidated, looking back to the bat pony.
"Huh, first time for everything I guess." the yellow mare shrugged it off, moving closer to the group. "Will you help out Pine? Usual payment."
"Of course I'll help, ong as the party's not on friday." she looked at Everen affectionately. "But I want a different kind of payment."
"Hmm? What kind of payment?" Sky asked, surprised. Pine always takes the same payment, what's different this time?
"Oh it won't cost you or Kane anything. Don't you worry about the pay this time. I'll work it out though." Pine giggled, still looking at Everen. "When is the party?"
"It's next saturday. More details later." Raindrop said, following Pine's gaze.
"Keep me posted, I don't want to miss this party." the yellow-green mare finally took her eyes off of Everen, looking back to Raindrop.
"Of course. See you there." the pegasus took off flying.
"So, did you have anything planned for us today, Piney?" Everen asked when Raindrop had left.
"I've prepared a picnic, but I only packed for two. I wasn't expecting you to bring company." she flew up to the tree she was perched in and came back down with a picnic basket.
"That's not your fault. I wasn't expecting her to come with me either." Everen laughed, lighting up his horn.
"Oh, what, so this is my fault?" Karilyn asked in mock offence.
"Pretty much." the stallion smiled at her, he summoned some food from their house, levitating it in front of him. "That should be enough to fill the gap."
"Cool, you seem very adept with magic. What's your special talent anyways?" Pine asked, looking at the three-pointed green shield imprinted on his flank.
"Well, it's, complicated. Can you keep a secret?" Everen questioned.
"Of course Everen." Pine stared deep into emerald green eyes.
"Have a seat then." the stallion laid the picnic blanket on the ground.
Everen recounted the story of how he saved the life of Beatrice and got his cutie mark. When he had finished his story, Pine stared at him in amazement, and even Kari seemed surprised.
"You seriously did that when you were just a little colt?" Pine questioned, mouth agape.
"I knew you'd saved alicorns before, but I didn't know you did that at such a young age." Karilyn astonished by the sceptical that is Everen Shamrock yet again.
"It wasn't me, it was the necklace." Everen stuck out his chest, showing off the accessessory he always wears. "It made the shield, and gave me the heroic impulse."
"Incredible! That's some necklace you have." Pine poked the shield, expecting it to do something. "Can I see the shield?"
Everen looked all around, making sure they were alone. He then created the shield, to the awe of the two mares in his presence. The unicorn let the forcefield dissipate a short while later, not wanting anypony else to see it. Pine and Kari kissed Everen on either cheek, pleased with his display of trust. Pine opened the picnic basket and pulled out the food within.
"Let's dig in." she said, picking up a tulip sandwich.
They ate sandwiches, muffins, and the mares ate a few whole flowers, and Everen summoned some lemonade for them to drink. After they had finished the lunch, Everen and Karilyn helped Pine clean up. And they spent some of the afternoon gardening and tending to the plants, after which Everen and Kari went home so they could start dinner soon.
"That was fun. Are you sure you're fine sharing me on our date friday?" Everen said, looking to the pegasus as they were walking home.
"Yeah, Pine's cool. And, to be honest, you know what, nevermind." Karilyn turned away, blushing profusely.
"Come on what were you going to say. I'll get it out of you one way or another." Everen stated determinedly.
"Oh fine! I, don't just like stallions, okay!" the already pink mare blushed even redder.
"Really? Hmm, never would've guessed." Everen began, a little surprised. "I don't think it matters who you like."
Karilyn's head shot up at the last part. She looked at Everen for a second, and then threw a hug at him, pressing her lips full against his. He kissed back, accepting the embrace, and returning it. They entered the house, and went to the kitchen to start on dinner. Not long after there came a knocking at the door. Everen opened the door to see Barley, Wheat, and Sandy from the farm.
Barley had a huge grin on her face. "Hey cousin!"
Author's Note (in reply to Thundershock Pony):
First of all, let me thank you for letting me know that you found the breakup emotional. I only have a detailed map of my story up to chapter fifteen, after that I'll just go with the flow, making it up as I go along. But then, that's exactly what I did with Everen's childhood and adolescence, so you already know what me winging it is like. As for this being the best fanfiction you've read so far, it makes me question how many fanfics you've read before, as well as it makes me proud of my own work. And I don't plan to stop any time soon.
My sincere thanks to you, and all my other faithful readers.