2: Moon, Sun, Rain and Dew

Twilight's four new students would arrive soon. She was ready. She was. Or was she? She didn't know.

Twilight and her friends waited anxiously for the chariot to arrive with the princes and princesses of Kiang. Everybody was quiet, even Pinkie Pie. All that could be heard was her little boings as she jumped up and down impatiently.

Rainbow Dash flew down from a cloud. "I see them!" She landed next to Fluttershy. "They're coming!"

Sure enough, two pegasi landed, pulling a dark red chariot with white trim. "Introducing the royal heirs of King Brimstone Thunderheart and Queen Snowdrop Wish." One of the two large, dark-furred pegasi announced. The other cleared his throat to introduce each pony by name.

"Prince Sundrop Flame!"

Out of the chariot stepped a unicorn with dark red fur that almost matched the chariot and a black mane that was long for a colt. He wasn't much younger than they were, Twilight noticed, maybe 16 or so. His cutie mark was strange as well. It was moving! Twilight had never seen a cutie mark that moved before. It was a bright orange flame that stood out brilliantly against his dark coat and flickered as he walked. He held his head high as he walked out but gave a polite bow to the six mares before him, before standing aside so his brother could be introduced.

"Prince Raindrop Storm!"

A pegasus with a white coat and a dark blue mane followed. The feathers on the tips of his wings where a gradient of colour, from white to blue to black. He held his wings high with pride to show off his cutie mark, which also moved, a thunder cloud that changed and rolled, with the sun peaking out from behind it and every so often a lightning bolt strike, but gave the same courteous bow to Twilight and her friends before standing next to his brother. The two appeared to be the same age. Maybe they were twins?

"Princess Moondrop Shadow!"

Twilight didn't know what she expected about Moondrop Shadow, but it wasn't that her mane and tail had the same flowing magical property of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. The young alicorn was clearly a year or two older than her brothers, and was a dark blue. Her mane and tail were pure black and didn't flow in one direction but kept swirling and changing. It almost seemed to move with the light in a delicate dance. Her cutie mark was blotches of blacks and dark greys, somehow standing out against the princess's already dark coat and danced and swirled with her mane. She carried herself with the same pride and authority as her brothers, and bowed before Twilight just as they had done.

"Princess Dewdrop!"

The fourth pony was clearly the youngest. Unlike her siblings, she did not hold her head up with pride. She reminded Twilight strongly of Fluttershy in the way she tried to hold a stance of authority, even though her shoulders were hunched. Her coat was a pale blue, and her mane was sky blue. She had no horn and no wings, at least as far as Twilight could tell. The youngest princess had her bangs hanging full and lustrous over her forehead, as though to try and hide whether or not a unicorn horn was there. She also wore a blue blanket over her entire body, covering up everything down to her knees, as though she was trying to hide her lack of wings as well. The blanket had a heart-shaped sapphire gem in the front and had a family crest over the flank where her cutie mark was. Dewdrop bowed a bit lower than her siblings did, and stood next to her sister, accentuating that she was also the shortest of the group.

The two pegasi pulling the chariot gave a long, low bow before flying off again. Twilight turned to her new pupils. "Welcome everypony! I am Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends." She introduced each pony by name, "Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rarity." Her friends each smiled as they were introduced. "We're very excited to have you all here!"

"Thank you, Princess Twilight Sparkle." Moondrop Shadow responded in a very formal voice. "We're honoured to learn from you and help the ponies of Ponyville."

Twilight smiled, feeling a weight start to lift off her shoulders. Of course the young ponies would be polite and courteous. What was she expecting?

"Why don't we show you around before y'all get started?" Applejack offered.

Raindrop Storm dropped his formal attitude at that and hopped up into the air in excitement. "Yes! I can't wait to go sight-seeing!" He caught Moondrop Shadow's eye, who was staring at him, warning. The prince dropped back down onto the ground and cleared his throat, attempting to rectify his momentary excitement. "I-I mean, we would be thrilled to see your town."

"Don't be so formal, sillies!" Pinkie Pie laughed, bouncing around the four ponies in excitement. "We're gonna have so much fun! A party! I should plan a party!"

"A party?" Sundrop Flame perked up, dropping his own air of authority. "I'd love to go to a party!" He earned a strict, "ahem" from his older sister. "I mean... a party would be lovely, Miss Pie."

"Call me Pinkie!" Pinkie giggled.

"I think some sight-seeing while Pinkie Pie sets up a welcome party would be a wonderful idea." Twilight nodded. At that, Pinkie Pie zoomed off, headed straight for Sugarcube Corner. "Why don't we start at Sweet Apple Acres farm?"

"We would be honoured, Princess Twilight Sparkle." Moondrop Shadow replied.

"You can just call me Twilight." Twilight smiled sheepishly. She still wasn't entirely used to the whole 'Princess' thing.

Dewdrop frowned, tilting her head. "You wouldn't prefer to be called Sparkle?" Moondrop Shadow's wing lightly clipped Dewdrop's ear. The smaller pony glared at her older sister, rubbing the back of her now-sore ear.

"Oh, no, I- ohhh of course, Princess Celestia mentioned the culture around names in Kiang. You all chose your second names as you gained your cutie marks." Twilight remembered. She noticed Dewdrop absentmindedly paw at the ground. "Well, in Equestria, most ponies that I know are given their full names when they're born. Some of our cutie marks happen to match that just by coincidence. Some ponies might change their names to match their cutie mark, but it's not as common." She explained.

Dewdrop nodded quietly.

"Well, y'all, let's get started." Applejack announced. "Sweet Apple Acres is this way."

Raindrop Storm and Moondrop Shadow folded their wings as they walked. Rainbow Dash was the only pegasus in the air, as usual.

Curiosity got the better of Rainbow Dash, and she flew down next to Raindrop Storm, staring at his cutie mark. "I've never seen a cutie mark move before! How does it do that?"

Raindrop Storm grinned, opening his wings again to show his mark off proudly. "It's a special cutie mark. Our family are the only ponies to have them. It's passed down from our father."

"What's his cutie mark?" Fluttershy asked curiously.

"It looks kinda like mine. Rolling thunder. Except Father doesn't have lightning bolts or the sun on his." Raindrop Storm responded proudly. "But I like yours, too, Rainbow Dash. I wish mine had a rainbow."

Rainbow Dash grinned. She was proud of her cutie mark, and still firmly believed it was the coolest mark of all. After all, she was the coolest pegasus of all, so why wouldn't her mark be? It would be cooler if it moved, but it was awesome enough as it was for Rainbow Dash.

"Your cutie mark is simply fascinating, darling." Rarity told Moondrop Shadow.

Moondrop Shadow blushed a little and gave a small smile. "Thank you, Miss Rarity. Yours is rather pretty."

"Oh thank you darling, but please, you can just call me Rarity."

"What does yours mean?" Sundrop Flame asked curiously.

"Oh, I would love to show you my special talent darling! It will have to wait, we need to be up in the mountains to use it properly." Rarity gushed.

"We'd love to see some o' yer special talents too!" Applejack smiled as they arrived at the gate to Sweet Apple Acres. "And maybe some of that earth pony magic Princess Celestia was talkin' about in her letter."

The two princes grinned at each other. "We'd love to!" They said together.

As the tour went on, Twilight was happy to see her new students relaxing a little and having fun. Even Moondrop Shadow, the most serious of the group, had burst out laughing when Rainbow Dash had flown right into a tree when she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. The princes had both gotten very excited at their new surroundings, and Raindrop Storm had taken to flying after the group alongside Rainbow Dash. Sundrop Flame had gotten nervous around Fluttershy's animals, but had managed to warm up to a baby bunny. Dewdrop had also been smiling and laughing throughout the tour, but would go quiet whenever anybody started talking about earth pony magic, the magic of her home kingdom of Kiang, or cutie marks and destinies. Twilight Sparkle assumed that was due to her lack of horn or wings, and that Dewdrop was just a little self-conscious about being behind her brothers and sister. Twilight could understand that.

Soon the tour brought them back to Sugarcube Corner, where Pinkie Pie had decorated the entire place in balloons and streamers, and as usual had helped Mrs. Cake bake some of the sweetest treats.

Everybody was relaxing and enjoying the party. Moondrop Shadow was surrounded by foals that were curious about her mane and tail, and had started showing off with her magic. Dark shadows made a little puppet show for the foals, and even some of the older ponies. Sundrop Flame piled his plate high with goodies, and Raindrop Storm was talking to Rainbow Dash about some of their cooler tricks in the air.

Well... everybody except Dewdrop, who was standing in a corner, quietly munching on a cupcake. Perhaps she was shy?

"Pssst. Spike." Twilight trotted over to where her little dragon friend sat, watching Moondrop Shadow's show. "I need you to do me a favour."

"Twi, can it wait?" Spike didn't take his eyes off Moondrop Shadow.

"No. Come here." Twilight insisted. Spike groaned, and followed Twilight. "Do you see that pony over there? With the blue blanket standing next to the cupcake table?"

"Yeah? What about her?"

"She's one of our guests, but she's shy. I want you to go over there and introduce yourself. Maybe she'll find a baby dragon fascinating, like Fluttershy did when we first met her." Twilight requested.

Spike sighed. "Alright, fine." He glanced back at Moondrop Shadow, who's shadows were dancing around a couple foals in the front seat. It looked so cool...

But he supposed every guest should feel welcome. But why did it have to be his job to make them feel welcome?

He tried not to look like he was dragging his feet too much as he walked over to the pale blue pony in the corner by the cupcake table. "Hello! I'm Spike!"

"I saw you watching my sister's shadows. And I saw you talking to Twilight. I know she asked you to come over and say hi." The pony responded, without batting an eye. "Cool that you're a dragon though."

"You're good." Spike replied. "But why are you hanging out over here? You should come enjoy the party!"

"I'm more of an introvert." She replied, biting into her cupcake. "Besides, all anybody asks about at parties is my kingdom or my siblings or how my father and mother are. It gets boring."

"Okay, well, how about I ask your name?" Spike didn't know what else to talk about with her.

"Dewdrop."

"Okay... what about the blanket?" It had a brilliant sapphire heart on the front, which looked very tasty. "And the gem?"

"Oh, uh... the blanket... it's a comfort thing." Dewdrop suddenly looked uncomfortable. "And the gem is the buckle. It holds it on... why are you drooling?"

Spike snapped out of his hypnotism, and wiped his mouth. "What? Oh... um... I-I wasn't-"

"Oh, right, dragons eat gems, don't they?" Dewdrop giggled. "Well, I'm sorry but this one is special. It's from the farthest mountain South of Kiang. It's... handed down from my mother's family."

"It looks tasty- I mean pretty! It looks very pretty!"

"Sure, bud." Dewdrop giggled again, taking another cupcake. "Here, take this and go watch Moondrop Shadow's shadows. She likes showing them off."

Spike took the cupcake, thanked Dewdrop and returned to his seat watching the shadow show. Twilight sighed and shook her head at him. She supposed as the Princess of Friendship, it would be up to her to make Dewdrop feel welcome.

"Hello." Twilight smiled as she trotted up to Dewdrop. "Are you enjoying the party?"

"Yeah, it's nice." Dewdrop responded. "These cupcakes are pretty good. Want one?"

Twilight accepted the cupcake Dewdrop offered her. "Thank you. So, what do you think of Ponyville so far?"

Dewdrop gave her a small smile. At least her questions weren't focused on her blanket. "It's a nice town. You're lucky to live here."

Twilight beamed. She was very proud of her hometown. "Is it anything like Kiang?"

"Well... I suppose." Dewdrop did not like talking about this. "There aren't as many fruit, vegetable and flower varieties, because earth ponies don't have magic here, and aren't creating new forms of plant life all the time... And there are a lot more hills than at home, where the land is so flat that you can see the border mountains on all sides even though they're all far away."

"I see." Twilight noted the princess's discomfort. What was something better to talk about? Maybe her blanket? "That's a very pretty sapphire."

"Thank you." Dewdrop replied. "It's from far South of our kingdom. My mother's family has had it for generations. She had it placed on this blanket for me when I was younger."

Finally, something that was getting her to open up a little! "Your blanket matches your mane beautifully! Does it also match your cutie mark?"

Or, at least Twilight thought she was onto something. Until Dewdrop stared at her hoof that pawed the ground. "Uh... I guess? I dunno..."

"Well, what is your cutie mark?"

Dewdrop went quiet, blushing a little. "I um... I'm not f-feeling very well..." She took a step back. "I think I need some fresh air..." Dewdrop turned and hurried out of Sugarcube Corner.

"Wait!" Twilight called, but she was already gone.

Maybe this wouldn't be as easy as Twilight had hoped...