[Monday Morning]

[Teala’s POV]

I groggily woke up, and found myself looking at the familiar ceiling of my room. Though the curtains were still closed, the sun was bright enough to light the room. I sat up, rubbed my eyes, and flexed my wings before I yawned and stretched.

That was certainly a strange dream last night. So much different compared to the others I had before. Misty was certainly a unique pony, but seemed nice enough nonetheless. Wonder why she wanted me to look through my parents’ private library? I mean I was curious to what mother and father were reading to have them stashed away like that instead of putting them in our regular library, and once I had the opportunity to see what they had, it was certainly… Unique, as far as romance novels go. I only go back from time to time to see what else was in store, but it has been a while since I last did so.

I looked over to Roxxie at my side who still slept the same way as the object of her name does. I still didn’t know why she or anyone else thought she wasn’t pretty or attractive, but if I had to point out one of her moments that make her so, it would be how she sleeps.

It seems early enough still. Perhaps I’ll take the opportunity to check out what Misty was talking about before anyone else wakes up.

I quietly got out of bed without waking Roxxie up, put on my fuzzy white slippers, and walked out of my room without making a sound.

I got to my parents’ office a few minutes later, and opened the door. When I walked inside, I see a desk with a few chairs, one behind, and two to the side for guests. The one that stood out to me however was the safe with a combination lock tucked away in the corner of the room. I walked over to it and started to turn the dials to the correct combination before I opened it, revealing a small bookshelf full of books, not one speck of dust due to the airlock tightness of the safe.

Let’s see here, what was the first title I’ve read in this collection? Hmm… Oh here we go.

I pulled out a book with red leather covering it, and opened the cover to the title page inside.

Ah yes, even with the other’s I’ve read, this was the first of many that would always be my favorite out of all the rest. My Faithful Prince, by Inkwell… Lustre… Wait a minute… Lustre… Isn’t that…

I gasped while my eyes widened as I remembered the full name of Nil’s acquaintance he mentioned Saturday evening.

“Luminescent Lustre… Is a relative to one of my favorite authors… Hold on, I think there’s also…” I put the book back, and sifted through the shelf to find a couple more I remembered before I pulled them out. “How I Love my Servant, by Redquill Lustre, A Forbidden Romance, by Scribbles Lustre, What it means to be a Queen, by Golden Lustre… Sweet Celestia, Lumina is from a line of erotica novelists!” I exclaimed with a whisper before I quickly put the books back to where they were like no one was here, closed the safe, and spun the dial to lock it up. As I fast walked out of the office, I went around the mansion aimlessly while grabbing my arms tightly as I tried to comprehend what I had just ran into.

“Okay, let’s try to calm down and not jump to any conclusions Teala. So Lumina’s relatives are well known novelists that I’ve somehow liked their works. That doesn’t say anything about who Lumina REALLY is right? I mean from Nil’s description on her cutie mark, there isn’t ANY relevance to what her relatives have done. Then again, there are some whose cutie marks, and goddess forbid, their NAMES wouldn’t match their career choices. Ohhh, why do some things in this world have to be so contradictive and vague? Even Lumina’s cutie mark, three hot pink hearts with a white shining light around them? Besides her specialty in Light Magic, what does that even IMPLY?! It could mean ANYTHING that revolves around love, romance, and dare I say it… Sex, and the light could mean how much she’s an EXPERT on such things! How could there even be cutie marks that could even PORTRAY something so… So… Something that should be kept within one’s household?!

“What if she’s like those authors, but does them DIFFERENTLY than writing them down?! What if her travelling with my sweet Cyan brings up some wrong ideas?! What if—“

“You know you’re going to grow wrinkles if you over think things like that.”

“AAAAAGK!” I screamed as I sprang up to the ceiling, and hung onto one of the lamps attached to it for dear life as I trembled in place.

“Sheesh, I didn’t think you of all ponies would get this tense princess. I was just trying to bring up something to counter your arguments. Sorry for scaring ya,” a familiar stallion voice said.

I looked down, and saw that it was Nil standing below me in his daily attire. “O-Oh… It’s fine. I was a little wound up,” I said before some loud hoof steps ran quickly to our location, and saw that it was Roxxie who slid to a halt.

“I heard screaming! What happened?!” She asked as she looked around her surroundings quickly.

“Everything’s fine Roxxie, a bug just scared the life out of me,” I said, trying not to put the blame on Nil when it wasn’t his intentions of scaring me.

Roxxie was confused to where the voice was coming from before she looked up and saw me. “Shit Teala! I thought something bad happened to you. You sure you’re feeling alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Now could you please make some room while I try to lower myself down? And don’t look up under my gown Nil,” I ordered.

Nil shrugged before he and Roxxie stepped back to give me some space. The former turned around to the opposite direction, and covered his eyes to ensure he wasn’t looking before I relaxed my wings from the tight clinging, and started to slowly descend to the ground. I landed softly on the floor, and sighed a breath of relief before I tried to straighten my night gown and mane from its unkempt bedhead. “Okay, you can turn around Nil,” I said.

He turned around afterwards, cleared his throat, and tipped his hat to us. “First off, good morning to you girls despite the scare. Secondly, I see you’ve stumbled across a little of Lumina’s backstory judging by how you were talking to yourself earlier Teala.”

My face heated after hearing him say that, embarrassed that I was caught doing something so, but tried to ignore it to bring around an important question. “So you know some of Lumina’s family history then?”

“Just a generalized version, yes,” he answered. “I had no idea what it was her relatives did at the time until she explained it to me, but now I’m kind of curious to what’s inside them if some of those titles have even someone like yourself found interesting.”

He didn’t know what erotica was? Did he somehow not knew what porn in general was either? I’d think Nil would be smart enough to know that already. What kind of education did he went through?

“Hey, what’s Nil talking about Teala? I’m kind of lost,” Roxxie said while scratching her head in confusion.

I laughed nervously before I looked around to make sure no one else was around, and I beckoned her to come close. I whispered what I found earlier, and Roxxie’s face reddened badly afterwards. “R-Really?” She asked, and I nodded sheepishly in response.

“To put your minds at ease, I’ll answer some of the concerns princess had rambled earlier,” Nil said, to which both of our attention was turned to him. “Yes, not only are some of Lumina’s relatives are such novelists, there are others who’ve been involved with the adult entertainment industry one way or another, but not all of them worked in such a career. From what she has told me about her cutie mark, three hearts with a white light flashing behind them, resembles the shining great love she has for her older sister, mother, and possibly other relatives in her family she cares for deeply. I don’t know what kind of history she has with her past relationships, but she has shown some promiscuous, yet teasing behaviors with some of the trainees back at the academy once she was starting to get comfortable enough; however, she’s considerate enough to hold back when they tell her to stop.

“As for her coming up with any ‘ideas’ being with your friend? Come on, what is Cyan? Like fourteen? Lumina’s nineteen going on twenty this upcoming August. I doubt she would even go THAT far with anyone around his age whether she had the consent to or not. If the kid’s really this great, and Lumina would want to have a relationship with him, the best he could really get out of her at this time would be a kiss.”

Roxxie and I glanced at each other with concerned expressions. Though the both of us had the same idea that such an age gap would make a relationship unlikely, BOTH of us knew how much of a great guy Cyan was, and we got worried from how he might catch Lumina's interest, and how much he may like her already. We looked back to Nil who had a stoic expression on his face. “Just curious of thought… But how hot would Lumina be in your own words?” Teala asked.

“Actually, I just remembered that I have a picture of us with the entire squad with me, plus another I found in Lumina’s old room as she might have forgotten it during the rush to get out of here,” he said. “I think it’s better if I showed you, if you’ll come along please?” He asked before he led us to the room Sigmund prepared for his stay.

Roxxie and I were sitting on his temporary bed while Nil sifted through his belonging in the suitcase he brought. “Let’s see, where did I put it? I really need to get this stuff organized,” he said to himself. “Ah ha! Here we go,” he stood up, walked over to us, kneeled down, and presented the photo. It was a large group photo with Marine standing to the side of his squad, while everyone else was in three rows. Everyone had smiles on their faces, including Nil while holding a peace sign in the back row. What stood out though was the buttercream coated mare with the violet mane in front of him who had a sour look on her face, showing that she wasn’t as much of a good mood as the rest as they took the picture that day. Despite that, she looked very attractive. “The mare in front of me is Lumina, and the white and blue unicorn on the right is the other top cadet in our squad, Shining Armor,” he explained as we took the photo for the both of us to look at. “Lumina wasn’t happy to be there the first few weeks in the academy, but her mood got lighter as the three of us became good friends later on, even after all the times she punched and tossed me to the wall.” He chuckled at the last comment, which got the two of us looking up to him with mixtures of surprise and concern.

“Why did she do that?” Roxxie asked.

“There were times I accidentally caught her and the other mares in our squad only in their undergarments, others where Lumina was in an innuendo with another pony, and let’s just say with her unique brand of tough love, she tries to teach me how to respect other mares and their privacy.”

“How come you didn’t know that before?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“… Let’s just say I went through some tough shit where things like that were tough for me to grasp for a while. I’d rather not get into it for now,” he then pulled up a chair to where he was sitting in front of us. “Anyway, that aside, Lumina was pretty rough with me during the first week, but as time went by, I’ve gotten better in learning about mares, gained tolerance to physical pain, and the two of us came to become good acquaintances. I don’t know much about her dating history however, so besides the one crush she had back at the academy, I’m not sure what she looks for in a stallion or mare.”

Stallion or mare? Is Lumina a bisexual? Well that will certainly give her more points. Anyway, if she had a crush, maybe if we can figure out what kind of stallion he was, then we can see whether there’s a chance of her having interest in Cyan or not.

“So what kind of stallion was Lumina’s crush?” I asked.

“Well you pretty much can see him next to her in the picture,” Nil replied. “Shining Armor was not only one of the top cadets, but I’ve come to know him as hard-working, loyal, high on morals, and an expert on shield magic. Quite frankly, there’s not much else I know besides him having a little sister, and a secret marefriend he sees during his year at the academy.”

“Whoa wait, so Lumina had a crush on him, but he was already taken?” Roxxie asked.

“Yep, and from what I can see, those two must have quite a history,” Nil replied. “Quite a shocker too, considering it was Princess Mi Amor Cadenza, or ‘Cadance’ as he calls her.”

Suddenly my eye twitched at the mention of the name that I DEFINITELY didn’t want to hear up to now. “… Cadance?” I hissed. Roxxie had the same idea as her brow furrowed as well.

“I… Take it you girls don’t like her?” Nil asked with a raised eyebrow.

“That’s only the HALF of it,” I replied. “For some nights when Cyan’s parents are gone for extended periods, SHE was his foalsitter, and APPARENTLY he had a young crush on her.”

“Huh, so she does foalsit,” Nil said. “Shining Armor told me she looked over his little sister for a while, which was how they got to know each other before they became an item. I was skeptical that a princess would be holding a foalsitting service. Even if I don’t know why if your friend had been under her care, I guess that confirms it. Anyway, that was a while ago since he was last looked after by her right? How old was he?”

“Like around six or seven I think,” Roxxie answered.

“Then that’s in the past. He’s probably more mature and has a better idea on what he likes in a filly other than what I could only assume was ‘looking pretty’ by Cyan’s standards,” Nil theorized.

“Oh no, that’s only the tip of the iceberg on why he liked her,” I rebutted while rolling my eyes. “I could just tell how bad he had on her when he talked about how sweet, smart, kind, fun, and pretty much a bunch others while getting googly eyed over her. Ugh, I know she’s one heck of a princess, but he didn’t have to egg on about her.”

“Well you gotta give the kid some slack,” Nil defended. “He was young back then right? He probably didn’t know how much he loved and cared for you two as friends until he wrote those letters right?”

Roxxie and I widened our eyes in shock from that statement. “H-how did—“

“I might have took an accidental glance at the letters back at his house,” Nil interrupted Roxxie. “Anyway, he must have grown out of his crush once he knew he didn’t had a chance with her, and with how she’s the same age as Lumina, I’m sure he still has that same mindset, and only wishes to be close friends with her. I should probably let you girls know, but Lumina was PISSED that she found out Shining Armor was taken by Cadance. She and I didn’t know because he kept his relationship a secret to not get special attention, and has only told us he wasn’t seeing anyone.”

“… I’m sure she must have been heartbroken too, finding out someone she loved didn’t return those feelings,” I commented with my ears folded, and looking down on the floor.

“She was very emotional that night, I’ll say that much,” Nil said while scratching his head under his hat. “Because of it, it’s going to take some time before she starts seeing other ponies again. I’m not sure what you two see in her right now, but I think you two will come to like her in time. From what I could see, she certainly has some things in common with you two. Like how all three of you have a distaste for Cadance.”

“Yeah, can we not bring that up again?” Roxxie asked. “I think my taste buds are getting bad just speaking her name now.”

“Done,” Nil said before he motioned himself zipping his lips shut. “Well I think that’s probably the best I can tell you about Lumina for now. If your friend speaks of you two highly with her, I’m sure she’d love to meet you two. In the end, she can be a pretty cool mare once you get to know her.”

“We’ll keep that in mind,” Roxxie said before her expression suddenly changed to guilt. “And uh, Nil…?”

“Yeah?”

“Sorry for threatening ya on the first day we met,” Roxxie apologized. “I was so riled up with what was happening that morning, and I had to take it out on something. You didn’t need to go through that.”

“Same goes for me,” I added in with a guilty expression of my own. “I forced you against your will to explain to us about our magic, and even after all of that, not only have you done so, but you’re even helping us reconnect with Cyan again. I don’t think we can thank you enough, and we’re truly sorry for all that we’ve done.”

“It’s in the past,” Nil said with a small smile while waving his hand out front. “I’m not one who holds a grudge for very long, especially for interesting young mares such as yourselves. What do you say we let bygones be bygones, and start things fresh between us, alright?” Roxxie and I then suddenly jumped from our beds, and gave him a tight hug from both sides, which caught him off guard.

“I think we’d like that very much… Thank you Nil,” I said before Nil returned the gesture with his wings blanketing over us.

“Still though, even after all of those beatings from Lumina, you still have those habits with mares?” Roxxie asked.

“I’m a slow learner when it comes to ponies. Science and magic are more my forte compared to that. I’m getting better though,” Nil defended before we pulled back.

“Well what do you say we grab breakfast, and get ready for the big night tonight? We’ve got a lot to do,” I said.

“Sure thing. I’ll meet you girls down there in a bit. Gotta pack my things,” Nil replied before Roxxie and I nodded, and we left his room while shutting the door behind us.

[Nil’s POV]

Once the girls left my room, I picked up the photo on my bed, and put it back in my suitcase. While I was there, I picked up another photo that consisted of me; Booksmart, the old, bluish gray pegasus with a silver white mane tied to a bun and glasses; and Clarity, a pale pink unicorn filly with a short, pale blue mane, and glasses who should be around sixteen by now. The three of us were smiling warmly in the photo, and though I wasn't blood related with these two, we still had a certain glow that I sometimes see good families have. I chuckled a little from recalling how my good-byes with Booksmart and Clarity went before I left to the academy.

[One year ago, Baltimare]

“Now I know there will be some ponies out there who may drive you crazy now and then, but I can guarantee that at least one of those will become good friends of yours, if not all. Just remember that no matter where you go, or what you’ll find out about yourself, you’re always welcome to come home, because in families, nobody gets left behind,” Booksmart said with a smile while we were in a tight hug.

“Yes yes, I understand Booksmart,” I replied before I pulled back with a smile, and gave my stepsister Clarity an embrace.

“And if you don’t find a mare when you get back, then I’ll snag you up and be your special somepony, because I love ya that much big bro,” Clarity kid which I chuckled.

“I’ll keep that in mind Clarity,” I said once I pulled back and looked at her in the eyes. “But don’t wait for me alright? I want you to focus on becoming an eye doctor like you’ve always wanted to be. I know you’ll do great in it.”

“Of course! Once I do, all of my future patients will be seeing with great ‘Clarity.’” The three of us laughed at the terrible pun she made before the whistle from the train caught our attention.

“Well, it’s time for me to go. Thanks for everything you two,” I said with a smile as I picked up my suitcase.

“It’s our pleasure Nil,” Booksmart said with a sad smile before a small tear welled up in her eye. “Now run along before the train leaves ya behind. We love you Nil.”

“I love you too. Take care,” I bid before I walked into the car, and in a few short moments, the train started moving out of station while the three of us waved each other good-bye. Once they were out of sight, I sat down on my seat, covered my face with my trusted hat, and started to choke up from tears rolling down my own face.

[Present Time]

Tears started to well up in my eyes after finishing my trip to memory lane, and sniffled while I chuckled a little. “You were certainly right Booksmart. These new friends of mine are crazy, but they’re quite a riot to be around. I’m curious to see where this will go.” I placed the photo back in my suitcase, locked it up, and left my room to join my new friends for breakfast. Next Chapter: Chapter 23: Shopping for Wedding Dresses, and Lumina's Concerns Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 42 Minutes