“I demand a demonstration.”

Princess Luna’s tone was icy, demanding, and left no room for argument. Bucky bowed his head, cast a glance at Derpy, who was still eyeing him angrily, and then at Berry, who had a look of confused understanding, and then at Bon Bon, whose expression was blank and unreadable.

“I wanna see this, this is gonna be great,” Lyra gushed, bouncing in place, and she skillfully dodged Bon Bon’s incoming swipe at her ribs. Lyra stuck out her tongue in defiance towards Bon Bon and then grinned at Bucky.

“I’m exhausted,” Bucky said in a soft voice.

“It matters not. I desire to see what this is capable of. What you described is thaumakinetic energy, raw magic, something that very few unicorns are capable of generating and potentially one of the most destructive forces of energy there is. All it is good for is destruction. It does nothing else. It is raw magical energy with a force component with unbelievable destructive capacity,” Luna replied, explaining her position.

“You don’t trust me?” Bucky questioned, looking at Luna with a hurt expression.

Luna physically withdrew, recoiling away from Bucky, looking rather hurt, her eyes narrowing and her ears splaying out to the sides. Her wings drooped from her sides slightly and her feathers ruffled. “I trust you… it is not a matter of trust. I trust the very lives of my subjects to you.”

“The raw magical discharge effect was unintentional. I made this, I crafted this, I laboured to create this to give me back what I lost when I killed the crystal lich,” Bucky responded, raising his talons and flexing them.

“Buckminster… with the proper application of thaumakinetic energy, you could blast my physical body into ash. It would take me time to reform again. I do not think you understand just how dangerous raw magic is,” Luna said in a chilly whisper. “This is a threat that cannot be ignored,” she added.

“Am I to understand that I am allowed terrible destructive magics that are a threat to other ponies, free to explore and expand my destructive potential, but the moment that I stumble across something that you perceive as a threat to yourself, I am to be restrained?” Bucky inquired, looking Luna in the eye as he spoke.

Her mouth open and gaping, Princess Luna stared at Bucky for what had to be a full minute for regaining her composure. “Nothing of the sort,” she hissed angrily. “You forget your place and you will obey me when I give commands.”

“You forget that you are my houseguest,” Bucky retorted, bringing himself to his full height in defiance. He stared up at Luna, glaring at her, resenting her for being so tall.

Suddenly choking on her reply, the night blue alicorn was unable to respond. She let out a wordless snarl, her ears folding back against her skull, and her teal eyes flashed white for a moment with anger as her mana reserves bubbled over from her raw emotion.

And then, like a cloud passing over the sun, her anger faded and she slowly regained her composure. The moment of darkness and rage passed, causing her expression to soften, her eyes becoming apologetic and sad.

“I am your most devoted and dutiful servant. I gave my soul to you in exchange for a chance to continue to be with my family. I will do anything that you ask of me. I have given you an oath of fealty that swears loyalty to you, even above the loyalty I offer your sister. I willingly gave up the only bargaining chip I had so that my whole family could live here and be happy, and not face exile or being shipped off to the Hinterlands for things I’ve done… do you believe for even one second that I would ever be a threat to you and risk everything I’ve struggled to keep?” Bucky demanded, the room growing cold as he spoke.

“Is this true?” Bon Bon demanded, looking at Luna, her eyes flashing with anger.

“Did you make him do this?” Berry Punch asked, taking a step towards Luna, her muscles quivering with visible anger.

“Bucky, why didn’t you tell me this?” Derpy asked, her eyes sad as she looked at Bucky and then angry when she looked at Luna.

“Leave her be,” Bucky commanded in a flat monotone. “This was my choice to make and I made it. We’ve all benefited from it in some way and we can continue to be happy with one another.”

“I don’t think I like you very much right now,” Bon Bon said in a voice dripping with acidic venom, glaring at Luna. The irate earth pony turned around and stomped out of the room, making everything rattle with each thudding hooffall.

“I may have made a mistake,” Luna admitted in a strained voice, her gaze dropping to the floor. “And I apologise. Loyalty such as yours should be rewarded.”

“My husband has served you faithfully. From the sounds of it, he’s given you the same sort of loyalty that he offers to us, his wives, which is a lot of damn loyalty, considering that he would do anything for us, including this bone headed stunt… don’t you think for one moment Bucky that there won’t be words later you shite headed arsehole… and you… you stand in front of him and we his wives and you insult him to his face,” Berry Punch said, her nostrils flaring and her muscles still quivering as she struggled to keep her anger in check. “Bitch!” Berry spat and then followed after Bon Bon, stomping out of the kitchen.

Derpy walked forward, her amber eyes glittering, and with one swift and smooth motion, whipped out her wing and struck Luna across the face, delivering a stinging slap that actually made Luna cry out. “Welcome to our inner circle. When you screw up, prepare to be treated just like any of us,” she snarled, glaring at Luna. She whirled and and flounced off after Berry, her nose held high in the air.

“You deserved that,” Bucky remarked as Luna’s mouth hung open, her lips moving and trying to say something. “I believe you owe them an apology, but I’d let them cool off. And you probably owe your sister an apology as well… don’t you dare interrupt me when I’m speaking in my own house Luna… there will be an exchange of apologies between the two of you,” Bucky said, glaring at Luna when she had started to say something.

“You made a mistake,” Lyra said. “I can’t fault you for that, mistakes happen, but if you make the same mistake twice, I’ll give you an earful that you will never forget,” the unicorn promised.

Thistle, looking disgusted, waddled out of the kitchen, saying nothing, but casting a baleful glance at Luna as she passed. As she neared the archway, she lifted her tail, she then farted loudly, then she snorted, and then the fat with foal kelpie continued with her exit.

“I do not know what to make of you,” Belisama said from her seat on the bay window bench. “But you have offended my entire pride.”

“Yes I have,” Luna admitted, looking pained as she spoke. She heaved a sigh, turned around, and then sat down on a wooden chair. She slumped at the table, looking miserable and depressed. She squirmed in her chair, her wings twitching, her ears spasming as she tried to regain control of her feelings.

“I’m going to bed… if I can,” Bucky announced. He yawned, looked at Belisama, then Lyra, and then at Luna. “I’m exhausted. It was a long painful night for me. I hope I can sleep but if I can’t expect me to return in a half an hour or so. I guess we’ll talk if I can’t sleep.”

“Go and rest. We will talk later,” Luna said in a soft meek sounding voice. “I am sorry, by the way, for whatever that is worth.”

“She’s asleep… in our bed… what’s the deal Flash?” Rainbow Dash whispered.

“Our bed was the only bed big enough for her,” Flash Sentry replied in a guttural whisper, his voice still recovering.

“Do you think she’s actually gonna live with us?” Rainbow Dash questioned in a low voice, giving Flash Sentry a nudge.

Flash, unsure of how to answer, shrugged.

“I triple diamond dog dare you to go up and tickle her snoot with your wing,” Rainbow Dash whispered, casting a sideways glance at Flash Sentry.

“I can’t do that!” Flash retorted in a strained grunt.

“There’s a princess in our bed,” Scootaloo said, peering at the slumbering alicorn with wide eyes.

“This is our bed, you have your own bed, Squirt,” Rainbow Dash whispered in reply, giving Scootaloo a nudge. “Did you make your bed this morning?”

“Do I have to?” Scootaloo whined. “You were a lot more fun when you were my sister… now you’re all weird and stuff.”

“Scoots, go make your bed,” Rainbow Dash said, feeling about twenty percent less cool as she spoke. Her ears drooping, she made the mistake of looking down into Scootaloo’s pleading eyes. Just as she was about to say something, she felt Flash Sentry’s wing under chin, raising her head, breaking the spell of the heart broken foal and Scootaloo’s sorrowful sorcery. “Parenting is hard,” the sky blue pegasus whimpered.

All three pegasi jumped and their feathers fluffed out in alarm when the big white alicorn let go a trumpeting blast, a loud pealing note of flatulence ringing out and echoing off of the walls, the trio responding very much like startled birds.

“I didn’t know she did that,” Scootaloo said innocently, her nostrils crinkling.

“She ate several tubs of ice cream… of course she’s gonna fart,” Rainbow Dash stated, fanning her nose as she spoke. “Ugh, that’s worse than Fluttershy.”

Saying nothing, Flash Sentry nodded in agreement.

“There goes the sheets,” Rainbow Dash grumbled. “You know Flash, we should totally split and go and stay in my house… we just need some way to keep Spike from falling through the floor.”

“Maybe when Twilight gets back,” Flash Sentry remarked in a scratchy voice.

“If princesses fart, what else do they do?” Scootaloo questioned.

“Squirt, you’ve walked in on Twilight Sparkle when she was pinching a loaf,” Rainbow Dash quipped, raising her eyebrow.

“That’s different. She was born a unicorn and she isn’t immortal,” Scootaloo said, trying to formulate a thought that was well beyond her realm of understanding. “And why did Twilight holler at me to get out the bathroom when I went in there?”

“Twi is shy about body functions,” Rainbow Dash said, shrugging as she spoke. “She doesn’t like it when other ponies watch her peeing or pooping and she gets all uptight.”

“That’s silly,” Scootaloo remarked, shaking her head in confusion. “Does Princess Celestia poop?”

“Kiddo, all that ice cream went in, it’s gotta come out some time,” Rainbow Dash replied, looking down at Scootaloo.

“She certainly farts. Wait till I tell Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. They’re never going to believe me,” Scootaloo said in a low voice that was filled with excitement.

Flash Sentry, attempting to be responsible, whickered and let out an equine sound of disapproval, which was thoroughly ignored by both Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. He rolled his eyes and scowled in disapproval.

“She’s not all that different than us,” Scootaloo whispered, looking thoughtful. “She cries when she’s hurt, she wants hugs just like we do, she pigs out on ice cream when she’s depressed just like you do Rainbow, she farts, and she pees and poops… other than living for a very long time, she’s exactly like us.”

“I suppose she is,” Rainbow Dash agreed, nodding her head as she looked at the slumbering snoring and drooling alicorn in the bed.

“Why did Luna hurt her?” Scootaloo questioned, looking up at Flash Sentry and then at Rainbow Dash, hoping for some sort of answer.

“Just like any other sisters, these two squabble and get into fights. They’ve lived for a very, very long time and they know how to hurt one another. They know all of the right things to say, to do, they know each other’s weaknesses,” Flash Sentry explained in a sad sounding croak.

“So we need to make them apologise to one another?” Scootaloo inquired, her expression one of thoughtful curiousity. “Sometimes Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom and I get into a scuffle. Usually somepony has to pull us apart and make us apologise.”

“You know, I think Squirt is onto something,” Rainbow Dash whispered, looking over at Flash, and she was pleased to see him nod in agreement. “She might be the princess at home in Canterlot, but this is our home, our library, our turf. She’s in our roost.”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo said in an overly excited voice that caused Celestia to snort in her sleep. The little orange pegasus fell silent and stared wide eyed, hoping the sleeping giant would not awaken.

Author's Notes:

I had a lot of trouble breathing when I wrote this chapter.

I might have missed a typo or two.