All good things come to an end. Standing among the balloons and the streamers, Sentinel looked around the room. There were very few dancers on their hooves now. As it approached the hour of six, it was clear that the dance was over.

Tired, more than a little sweaty, and wanting to get out of his clothing, Sentinel smiled, feeling good about this whole experience. Apple Bloom was gone, off to the after coronation gala party being hosted by Rarity. Sentinel hoped that as a charity fundraiser, it would go well. Princess Celestia had left, taking with her Apple Bloom, Rumble, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.

Diamond Tiara’s mane had fallen out of its bun and had spilled around her neck. Sentinel thought she looked fabulous, but when her mane had been in a flux state, with part of it still in a bun but with strands falling out, Diamond Tiara had become a powerful, beautiful distraction. Sentinel hoped that she would put her mane up in a bun again and that parts of it would slip out once more.

Sighing, Sentinel gave a gentle kick to a balloon. Diamond Tiara was gone, off to the after coronation gala party. Feeling a little melancholy and not knowing why, Sentinel turned his attention to Piña, Larch, and Babs. The trio were still sitting at a table, playing some sort of game, and an indulging in a little bit of innocent kissy-face. All three of them looked so very happy with one another.

The coronation gala had been a fertile field, and young love had blossomed.

Feeling Lugus’ stare, Boadicea had trouble meeting his gaze. She turned away, staring down at the floor, her eyes looking at everything but Lugus, even at Peekaboo, who was dancing with herself in front of a mirror.

“I hope you had a nice time, dear,” Yew Wood said as she watched Peekaboo playing.

“You seem out of sorts.” Lugus’ eyes narrowed. “And you refuse to look me in the eye. Did something happen?”

“Oh, Sentinel was a perfect gentlecolt,” Boadicea replied, hoping that Lugus would not get the wrong idea. “He does drool a bit when he gets excited, but he was on his very best behaviour.”

Nervous, Boadicea began to preen her wings. They were full of confetti. Her tail swished from side to side and she could feel Lugus’ burning stare upon her, making her feel self conscious and weird. She wished Lugus would stop staring.

“Something happened.” Lugus’ words were not a question, but a statement.

“Lugus, honey, don’t start interrogating her after her dance.” Yew Wood’s feathers fluffed out, adding bulk to her profile.

Holding up his claws, Lugus made a gesture for Yew Wood’s silence. “Something has happened that has hurt her, and I intend to find out what it is.”

“Oh… wait, what?” Yew, whose mother-mode was now engaged, walked over to Boadicea and began to try and study the griffoness’ face as Boadicea tried to preen her wings. “Did somepony hurt your feelings?”

“No.” Boadicea lifted her head. She looked Yew in the eye, finding it much easier than looking Lugus in the eye. “It is Sentinel… I… he… I don’t know how to put it.”

“Sentinel did not hurt you… but Sentinel is the cause of this condition?” Lugus asked in a patient sounding voice.

“Yes… no… I don’t know!” Boadicea’s wings flapped in frustration. “We griffons have this code of honour we hold to. We have these oaths and these measures and all of these solemn, serious things we recite that make us behave and do what we do and we strive to live up to these ideals and Sentinel… he… he… simply is.” Boadicea, who worked up her courage, stared Lugus dead in the eye. “I don’t know how else to put it. We griffons practice honour, but Sentinel is honour. We practice it, he lives it. And it leaves me feeling very out of sorts and insecure. I could spend my entire life chasing after my honourable ideals and I’ll never have his character or his conviction.”

“There has to be quite a story here,” Yew Wood said as she looked Boadicea over. Reaching out her wing, she stroked the griffoness on the neck, trying to calm her.

“Would I make a good queen?” Boadicea asked.

“Is that what this is about—”

“Lugus, so help me, if you break my little girl’s heart after her first real grown up dance, I will dance upon your bloodied skull!”

Jerking his head back as all of his feather’s fluffed out, Lugus said, “Shetlanders.”

“Sentinel has his whole life planned out. He has given himself over entirely to duty. He talks of servitude. His is a head worthy of a crown. He ordered his own troops to use his body as a shield.” Boadicea began to pick confetti out of her feathers with her talons. “I don’t know what I want just yet, but I have a lot to think about. I don’t know if I am strong enough to serve at his side.”

“Come here,” Lugus said as he tried to wrap his wing around Boadicea.

The griffoness, being sulky, tried to squirm away, but Lugus was a large powerful creature who could not be denied when he wanted something. Reaching out his talons, he grabbed her around her middle, hauled her in, wrapped a foreleg around her, and then his wings as he sat down upon the floor.

“Boadicea, the fact that you doubt, the fact that you worry, the fact that you question is a good sign. Feeling entitled, feeling as though you deserved to be a queen, feeling as though it was owed to you, or that life was obligated to give you this position would prove that you are unfit. So you have already dealt with the biggest obstacle.” Lugus gave Boadicea a squeeze and saw that Yew was giving him an approving smile.

“I’m not even sure what I want… I just want the chance to get to know Sentinel… but even getting to know him means that I have to be in a position to meet his standards… I have to be ready to chase after his unattainable ideals. He doesn’t have time to engage in playful courting or common dating. Anybirdy getting involved with him has to be prepared to deal with the future that Sentinel has planned. But there is a part of me that really wants to get to know him. He’s got this strength to him… and when I felt it, it made me want to be a better griffoness.” Exhausted, Boadicea went limp in Lugus’ embrace and allowed herself to be held without resistance.

It felt good to be out of the gown. Piña, now freed, wiggled and pronked about, glad to be naked again. It didn’t feel natural to wear clothing, but clothing did cover things up. Funny that there was even a need to cover things up. Peering back from between her front legs, Piña examined her teats. Standing up on her hind legs, she always felt that they were too noticeable. Other ponies did it, and other ponies paid them no attention, but Piña felt self conscious about that part of her body. She closed her legs when she sat down, felt awkward when standing up, and prefered to remain on all fours where at least things were more or less out of sight and therefore, out of mind.

Minotaurs, like Tuli, wore clothes and had a concept of modesty, while other minotaurs were nudists. Tuli had explained it to Piña in a very awkward conversation that standing upright, by being bipedal, there was a bit of social responsibility for not making others feel self conscious or out of sorts. Hence, civilised, responsible, modest minotaurs wore clothing.

Down on all fours, most parts of pony anatomy weren’t too visible. Males were a bit more visible than others, and Piña had found herself looking on more than one occasion, trying to get a good view of pendulous, swinging scrotums on some of the young colts, and trying not to look at pendulous, swinging scrotums on certain other colts. Like her brother. Noticing it or seeing it was just too awkward, and Piña understood why some species wore clothing. It was so you didn’t see your sibling's private bits and then want to tear your own eyes out.

Piña had once spent half a day thinking about how certain parts of Sentinel would flop around, slapping up against Diamond Tiara and had given herself a headache from banging her head into her desk to make the disturbing thoughts go away.

The pink filly waggled her backside in front of the mirror and lifted her tail to have a look back there, craning her head around and stretching out her neck as much as possible. With her legs together in a relaxed position, nothing was too visible. Everything remained tucked down inside of her plot furrow and only became visible when she spread her hind legs out.

“Piña, what are you doing?” Dinky asked. The unicorn filly raised an eyebrow.

“Checking out my plot to see how visible it is,” Piña replied. The earth pony filly squinted to get a better look. She kicked out her hind legs and flexed back there. “You know, fillies have it much easier to hide everything away than little colts do.”

Shuddering, Dinky squeezed her eyes shut. “Piña… ew… just… ew. Go into the bathroom if you are going to keep checking out your filly bits. I’m trying to study teleportation essentials.”

“You know Dinky… everywhere that little colts have sat have been touched by scrotums—”

“GAH! Piña! How could you?” Dinky cried, placing both front hooves against her ears and pressing them in to try and block out the sound of Piña’s voice. “I’m not listening, tra-la-la-la-la!”

“I’m going to go take a shower… have fun not thinking about scrotums, Dinky…”

There was good wine in the royal wine cellar. Bucky had left the well-protected dusty stuff alone, but he had pulled up a few bottles of wine older than he was. He was deep in his cups, slumped over a table, thinking about his pregnant wives, his not pregnant wives, and his foals.

Lifting the bottle in his talons, Bucky guzzled some of it down and then set it back down upon the table with a thump. There were several empty bottles on the table scattered around him. Much to his dismay, Bucky was alone. Tannis was with his wife, looking after his newborn.

Somehow, Bucky had gone from being in the mood to celebrate to feeling melancholy.

Beauregard was still wet from being born and already his life was being planned out for him. Bucky thought of Bandua… he wasn’t keen on prearranged marriage but he had agreed that he would consider the option with the understanding that the end decision would be Bandua’s. Sentinel seemed happy enough with his own prearranged marriage with Moonbow and in general, Bucky did not know how he felt about the issue.

His own marriage to Belisama had been somewhat coerced, but Bucky could not deny that he loved her. Given a fair chance, they had become friends, then close friends, and over time, lovers. Bucky emptied out the bottle, belched, and thought about Bandua’s happiness.

“Bucky?”

The sound of Shining Armor’s voice jolted Bucky from his thoughts and he turned to look at Shining Armor’s projection.

“Bucky, we have a situation.” Shining Armor’s expression became one of concern. “Mirror traveler incoming. He’s on a train heading northwards and he is currently in the badlands. Something isn’t right though Bucky… I’ve detected him, and he’s not as hostile as he should be, but make no mistake, he has some hostility. Something just doesn’t feel right though. I’m stretched thin Bucky, and I cannot deal with him. I’ve been keeping an unseen shield up over Apple Bloom just as you’ve requested.”

“Oh bugger.” Bucky shoved his empty wine bottle away from him. “Time to go kill somepony... and I was having such a lovely day. Oh, sod it all.”

“He is on a train with many other passengers. He’s sitting by himself, just muttering under his breath. Something seems off about him. He appears to be in pain—”

“Oh, he’s not in pain yet, but he will be,” Bucky said. His words held a faint drunken slur. He held up his talons to Shining Armor. “Do you know how sharp these things are?”

“Bucky, be careful. Something feels off about this. He’s a unicorn, I’m thinking a type three, and he has a burning sun cutie mark. He could be quite dangerous and there are other passengers to think about.”

His horn flashing, Bucky became sober in an instant. He shuddered, blinked; then he was gone, leaving behind a cloud of snowflakes and a sheet of ice upon the table.

Author's Notes:

Begin your speculation engines! Vroom vroom!

I wish typos would be modest, but thye keep exposing themselves in pubic.