"You sure about this, Drak?" Dux asked, concern in his eyes.

It has been a couple of months since that major fight in the mountains, already the troops (or what was left of them) were calling that place 'In Valle Mortis' or the Valley of Death due to the massacre that happened with our own soldiers. Since then, our respect took a hit, the higher ups blaming Dux on any number of reasons from lax in attention to just straight up disobedience. Of course it was all made up and just a way for them to cover themselves from this humiliation to the public, but the main thing was that Dux lost his rank, title, everything. Not only that, but the entire legion had only one year to disband and move to other legions of the Order. Most of the soldiers did that, while others decided to quit outright and either abandon the Order or look for work elsewhere. As it stands, it was just Dux and I left, having been spending the last few days on the outskirts of the main city.

For me, it was painful. Everywhere I went, no matter where it was, reminded me of Aryas. It was painful every time I walked around, seeing her face on nearly every pony and just everywhere in general. I couldn't take the sight of it for much longer, so that morning I made my choice.

I was leaving the Order.

Dux was still against it as he had family who lived in the main city. In fact it was the only reason he was really with the Order, cause his mother was a higher up with lots of respect. While they didn't get along very well, he still loves hers and helps her whenever he can due to her old age making things difficult for her.

I shook my head as I looked firmly back at my former commanding officer. "I'm sure Dux. I just can't sit still in this city any longer." I take a deep breath as I look over at the city in the distance, letting out a small sigh as I lower my head. "I just...I can't get her out of my mind. I've tried everything, from more training to even drinking. Nothing works." I then wince as I recall the first attempt with said drinking. "Especially the drinking."

Dux remains silent as he looks at me, staying like this for a few minutes before he decides to speak up. "Listen, there was always a chance of this happening, and while I am very sorry that it did happen, you do need to move on." I jerk my head over and start to glare at him. "Relax Drak, I'm not saying that it doesn't suck, cause it does. I've been where you are several times. It's the price we pay for being in an army. Hell it's just the price we pay living in this world. People and ponies die every day, and not all of them are from old age." He sighs as he looks away from the city and over the road that leads away from it. "Somedays I just wonder if this war is really even worth it."

I look across the road as well as I feel myself relax a bit more, knowing that he doesn't mean anything harmful with his words. "Still, I can't...I can't stay here." I say a bit shakily, slowly taking a deep breath and then exhaling before I continue. "I need to go out and just wander for a bit, see where my feet take me. I'm sure I can find plenty of things to do to keep my mind busy. And maybe...maybe find someone else, but even then I won't ever stop loving Aryas."

The stallion turns to face me with a sad smile. "That's the thing with real love, you never stop loving them, no matter what. You can fall in love with many different beings, but that doesn't mean you love the others any less." He says. I give a small nod of understanding as he stands up and steps a bit closer, reaching a hoof out to me. "Well, if you are ever around, at least stop by and say hi to me."

I give a small smile and nod, taking his hoof and giving it a firm shake. "I promise Dux."

I held his hoof for a good few moments before letting it go and with a small nod, I double check to make sure I have all my bags of supplies and my weapons, staff in hand and Sais in my belt, I take my first steps down the road.

As I walk, I feel a bit heavier and heavier, my legs suddenly getting more weighted, as if something was holding me back. I grunt as I try to push onwards, but all I get is more force back at me, shaking me. I start to hear Aryas's voice, shouting, calling my name. I push on harder...

"Drak, wake the buck up!"

I gasp as I sit upright suddenly, blinking the sleep from my eyes as I sat up, wide awake. Quickly looking around, I see Trixie standing over me from the small sleeping spot that we made in her small room.

"Drak, what in Tarturus was going on? You were shaking and stirring so much that I thought you were having a seizure." She asks with narrowed eyes. I stare blankly at her, trying to figure out just what I was doing in her room before my dream suddenly came back.

It's been a couple of days since the sleep over at the library, as well as that silly incident via the group hug and I was wanting to spend some time out of the treehouse. That is when Trixie offered for me to stay with her for a night or two, most likely to show off her new apartment. Ever since she started fixing her wagon, Twilight and I, along with the rest of the girls, were spreading the word about how the New and Improved Trixie was wanting to dazzle and entertain every pony with her magic, promising a fun night for all ages. I was a bit skeptical that it would work, but the girls seemed to think that it would, and to my surprise they were spot on with it, once we convinced Trixie to put on another show. Sure there were one or two who seemed to not care and just ignore our small show by the town hall, but overall Trixie was able to get a good amount of the towns ponies to watch the show.

Thanks to this and the future shows, she was starting to amass a fair amount of bits, more so than I expected. It was during her down times now that she was using said bits to either fix her wagon or to improve her own living conditions. Right now she had moved into a new apartment, one with a working bathroom and even a small kitchen. It even had an actual bed. Of course it was a one pony room so I ended up sleeping on the floor, which was fine with me since the bed, let alone the couch, was too small for me.

I groan a bit as I sit upright, rubbing my eyes as I look at her, her form a bit blurry through my tired gaze. "What are you talking about?"

She gives a small huff at this. "I mean you just weren't responding to me at all, no matter how hard I tried to wake you. Then you suddenly started shaking and twitching like crazy. I thought you might break something with how much you were jerking around." She says. I frown as I look myself over, but of course I don't see anything different. "Drak...what were you dreaming?"

I glance up at her as she says this, unsure if I should mention what I saw in my dream. However, the longer I thought it over, the more silly it sounded. Trixie, as well as the others, have only helped me and did what they could to make my current life so much better, so to keep my problems, at least these issues away from them would just be more harmful than good.

Sighing, I slump over a bit as I rub my eyes to try and clear them a bit better. "It was...it was another memory." I say, looking back up at her. I expect her to respond with some sort of witty remark like usual, but instead she remains silent as she lets me continue, so I keep talking, telling her how I was having a last talk with Dux and how I was leaving the Order.

It only takes a few minutes as the memory wasn't that long or complicated and once I finished, she is quick to speak up. "It seems that you are getting more and more memories coming back to you, if at a slower rate." She says. "I'm not a mind mage, but perhaps when they fixed your memories, it let out the first few memories of that time period, nearly in one go with how you said he did it. I think the rest of the memories are still coming out, just slower."

I give her a thoughtful look as I rub my chin. "I mean...that does make sense." I say slowly, to which she nods. "But I just...I wish it wouldn't take so damn long."

She just shrugs at this. "Again, from what you said, there isn't much we can do about it, unless you want to go and talk to that mind mage again, and I doubt he will be able to do much more to help you at the moment." She says, to which I give a small, sad nod. She then gives my arm a light punch with her hoof as she smiles. "Besides, we don't got time to be all morose about the past, we have our trip to the museum today." She says.

I can't help but to smile at this, giving a nod of understanding. "True, and I did say I would get a gift for you at the end as well." I say.

She just laughs as I say this. "With what money?" She asks, to which I fall silent. It is true, I do have no bits to my name at all. In fact what little amount I do have is as a generous gift from Twilight herself, just to help me out with basic needs. The thought that I've been just taking money from my hostess without any payment in return makes my stomach turn a bit, frowning as I let that feeling roll over me. It reminded me that I really needed to find some other way to make some bits.

Realizing that I was starting to feel bad again, Trixie quickly grabs my attention with a wave of her hoof. "Regardless, I doubt they will have anything I really want, so you don't need to worry about it." She says.

I smile at this, seeing just what she is trying to do as I give a small nod. "If you say so." I say. Seeing how we are now awake, I stand up and give a stretch of my limbs, getting a few cracks of my neck and back as well for my efforts. As I stretch, I notice that she was somewhat staring at me, almost strangely so. Before I could bring it up to her attention though, she is quickly looking away and walking to the small kitchen area.

As she goes to most likely get some breakfast, I just go ahead and grab my spare shirt that I brought with me. I've found that recently, whenever I try to go to sleep, I find it rather difficult to get said sleep. Strange enough it was made easier whenever I took my clothes off, so more often than not I started to sleep naked. Of course I wasn't naked in Trixie's apartment, that wasn't going to happen! But I did sleep shirtless and that at least helped me out a bit.

As I pulled my shirt on, I walked over to Trixie as I looked over and saw that she was hovering a couple bowls of cereal, placing them both on the table as she raises a spoon over to me. "Hope you don't mind some simple cereal." She says as she sits at the table, looking at it with a forlorn sigh.

I just smile as I sit down with her. "It's more than fine." I tell her, to which she just raises an eyebrow. I know she has been missing on eating more than just simple foods like cereal and apples, but with how she is budgeting her bits it is difficult for her to eat much of anything fancy besides cheap foods. She also knows that it's useless to argue over it so she just dives in as well.

We both remain silent as we eat the cereal, a rather comforting silence as we munched. Nothing much else happened as we ate and, before we knew it, we were almost done. I was just getting up and about to offer to take her bowl to the sink when...to both of our surprise...we hear a knock on the door.

I blink as we glance over at the door before looking at each other in confusion. "Were you expecting anyone?" I ask her.

She shakes her head. "No, unless it's those two colts again..." She sighs, giving a groan at the thought of it.

I just give a confused look, not knowing what she meant by that, but with a shrug I take the bowls and bring them to the sink to wash them as she goes to open the door. As I start washing, I hear a rather small gasp before Trixie's voice calls out a familiar name.

"P-Princess Luna?!"

I stop my washing as I quickly place the dishes down, glancing up as I see that it is indeed Luna, looking over Trixie and in her room, having not seen me yet. "Indeed, we have heard that Drakalian might be here, and-" She starts to say only to quickly fall silent as her eyes fall upon me.

I just look at her for a few moments before I managed to finally snap out of my surprise and give her a small smile and a nod of greeting. "Hey Luna, I wasn't expecting to see you here today." I say, walking over to the door to properly greet her.

The Alicorn nods to the comment, her cheeks seeming to be a bit more rosy than normal. "Indeed. We were just around the neighborhood when we recalled that you were here, so we...um...we came by to...visit..."

I raised an eyebrow at such a weak fib, both Trixie and I glancing at one another before looking back at the night princess. "Really? Just in town all the way from Canterlot?" I question, to which I see her cheeks darken even more.

"And how did you know that he was staying with me? It wasn't like I told anyone else about it." Trixie adds, giving a surprisingly stern look. It made me nearly do a double take with how stern it was, not expecting such firmness sent to Luna of all ponies. Twilight sure, but not Luna.

Said pony takes a few moments to clear her head before she says, "W-Well...we went to Twilight's first, but she mentioned that he would be with you for a couple of nights." She says, which causes the unicorn mare to turn and glare at me.

I just shrug in defense. "What? I had to tell her where I was going." I say.

She just sighs as she shakes her head, and it's at this point that she realizes that the princess is still standing outside of the door, to which she steps aside and motions her to come in. As the taller pony steps in, Trixie closes the door behind her and walks a few steps away before sitting down on the floor.

Luna stops in front of me...a bit too close in front of me in fact. I nearly take a step back to make some more space, but a quick look at said princess causes me to freeze in place. For some reason, she seems a bit more aware of how close she is to me, and the way she was gently pawing at the ground showed that she is very much nervous, a fact that concerned me greatly. As the silence ticks on, I finally decide to speak up, waving a hand in front of her as it seemed that she zoned out a moment. "Luna? You ok?"

She blinks before looking back up at me, giving a curt nod and a smile full of anxiety. "Oh, yes we...we're fine." She says. Slowly, she takes a few deep breaths to calm herself down, though it seems to not really work for the most part.

Taking a deep breath myself, I slowly exhale and then extend my hand, reaching over and gently placing it on her shoulder, getting her to look back at me. As she looks up, my eyes connect with hers, and instead of feeling my own insecurities of keeping eye contact, I felt...relaxed. I just stare at her, feeling myself looking deeper into her own blue orbs, feeling the anxiety that is deep in her. Slowly, somehow, I started to push that anxiety out, seeming to absorb it into myself as I pushed my own relaxation into her.

Slowly, I felt that anxiety building up in me, but thanks to my own deep breathing, I was able to properly dissipate it, leaving us both relaxed after a couple of minutes of staring. Once I sensed no more nervous energy coming from her, I gently release her shoulder, causing her to blink in confusion before realization dawns on her eyes.

She smiles a bit as she realized what happened, giving a small nod of thanks as well. "I see you manage to figure out how to work your empathic abilities again." She states.

I can't help but to give a sheepish smile and a shrug. "Something like that. Just a lot of talking with Twilight and thinking things over myself made me quickly catch back to how it works...or at least how I think it works." I pause for a few moments before I continue. "Honestly, I still think I have yet to really be able to use it other than how I did when I first learned about it, and for some reason no memory comes to me on practicing it at all."

"Perhaps it's cause it's just natural for you." She suggests, to which I just shrug. Once again silence overcomes us, and this time we just keep looking into each others eyes, her trying to catch my gaze and me just trying to hold on, but always glancing away before I could properly lock onto her eyes.

At this point Trixie clears her throat, getting both of us to look at her. "Don't mind me, but Trixie would still like to know why the Princess is in her room."

This gets Luna to snap out of her slight stupor as we look back at each other, her cheeks gaining more color once again. "Oh yes! W-we mean without doubt, we...certainly do have a reason...to come with thee! To thy home!" She says, her nervous energy once again seemingly returning nearly in full force. I just nod, motioning her to continue, knowing that trying to calm her again will just take too long, plus it wouldn't really be worth it if she just got nervous so easily. She takes a deep breath and slowly exhales before, after taking a few moments to calm herself yet again, she looks up and says, "Drakalian, we was...we was pondering if...perhaps...um..."

Again she falls silent to which I remain quiet as I patiently wait for her to continue, which she does a few moments later. "We...um...we was mulling...perhaps myself and thou...or thou and we? We mean...we both merry could...uh..." Again she pauses as she tries to find her words, which I take this moment to glance over at Trixie. For some reason her eyes are wide in surprise, her mouth partially open as if she knows what is happening, yet to me I just can't figure it out. It seems like she wishes to ask a favor of me, but other than that I don't really know.

Once again she continues. "What we mean to say is...um...t-there...there's a museum visited on the town...that we've longed to attend since we first returned as...Nightmare Moon. We were...we were wondering if...thou were unfettered...and ONLY if there is truly no bother...that thou might...be so kind as...to accompany us."

I blink as I hear just what she was asking for, a bit more confused than anything else. After a waiting a few moments to see if she had finished her question, and seeing that she did indeed, I finally give a small nod. "Well, I would love to, but...I already had plans to take Trixie to that same museum actually...so..." I say a bit awkwardly. The fact that she wants to go to the same place is a bit of a coincidence, but still I already made plans, and I wasn't going to ditch Trixie just on the eve of our trip, even for Luna, as much as it pained me and, from the looks of it, her.

She frowns, her ears folding back as she lowers her head sadly. For some reason I feel more than just sadness coming from her, but also...disappointment? Before I could ask, she is speaking up again, "O-oh, of course, right. W-we...I'm sorry Drakalian, for bothering you." She says. The force of her words, despite them being soft spoken, hit me like a wall of bricks, causing me to fall silent as I just stare at her in both confusion and sadness. I really wish I could join her, to spend some more time with her, for I really did enjoy the time we spent during my time in Canterlot. But like I said, I had already made plans with Trixie, and it would be unfair to just drop that and go hang out with Luna.

As the silence went on for what feels like forever, we both hear a small cough as we turn and face Trixie, who was clearing her throat. Once she had our attention, she finally speaks up. "Drak, if...if Luna wishes, she could...you know...accompany us." She offers.

I almost do a double take from hearing this, not expecting to hear Trixie offer for another to join us, even if it is Luna. The fact that she did makes me realize just how much more open she has gotten around others, something that put a small smile on my face. Seeing how she is ok with it, I quickly turn to the Alicorn and ask, "Well, how about it? We can make it a group outing if that works?"

I think I heard Trixie snort at my words, but it was so soft and quick that I couldn't even tell.

Luna just looks not at me, but at the azure mare in shock, her mouth hanging open as she looks at her. "Are...are you sure Trixie? We...I'm allowed to join?" She asks.

For some reason the sight of PRINCESS Luna asking one of her subjects to join us makes me want to chuckle, but I hold it in, not wanting to interrupt this somewhat intimate moment. As I look between them both, I could see them looking at each other, Luna with a huge amount of hope in her eyes, and Trixie with an almost...judging look? I can't really tell, unable to get a clear view of her eyes, but after a few moments of staring each other down, the unicorn finally gives a small nod and a sigh.

This shocks Luna out of her surprise as she grins. "Oh, joyous day! Thank you so much!" She says rushing over to the unicorn and wrapping her forelegs around her in a big hug, one that catches the other mare by surprise.

"Ach! H-Hey, no hugs! T-To...too much..." She says, getting a bit choked from the very tight hug.

Realizing she was holding her too tight, Luna quickly releases her and gives a small, sheepish giggle. "Oh, my apologies, I'm just...I'm so excited! Thank you so much again!" She tells her. At this the taller mare trots over to me and, to my surprise, gives me a nuzzle on the cheek...a much more affectionate nuzzle then normal.

I blink as I wrap an arm around her and hug her in return, smiling a bit as I am glad to see she is so happy. "Well, I'm glad you are so happy. I've never been to this place, obviously, so I do hope that it's as good as I've heard." I say.

Luna nods and is about to say something when Trixie suddenly bumps between us, splitting us up a bit as she says, "Well then let's hurry up! The longer we stay here the less time we got exploring the museum." She states, to which she quickly walks past us and out the door, looking back at us to see if we were following. For some reason, I got a sense of intensity behind her gaze, and it felt like it was almost directed at...Luna?

Curious, I glance back at Luna, but I only see an eager mare as she nods and quickly follows after her, and with a sharp tug from her magic, I'm soon following suit as well.

Why does it feel like I'm missing something here?

(POV: Trixie)

Of all the nerve wrecking, poorly timed...just why in Equestria does it have to happen to me!

Ok fine, perhaps I didn't really plan on this to be an actual date with Drak, or even think that it would ever end up going to be something between us, but the fact that Luna of all ponies suddenly walks in and nearly demands to take Drak for herself to go on not only a date, but the very same one to the very same place that we were going?! I just can't...

I take a deep breath mentally as I lead us down the road, most certainly getting a few glances and shocked expression from others at my amazingness. Certainly not cause there is a princess walking with us talking animatedly with the human, no not at all cause of that.

Focus Trixie, focus! Just cause she is also interested doesn't mean she wishes to interfere with my own date with him. It's just poor timing, that's all. I think to myself in a more logical manner. As I slowly calm myself down, I begin to think back to how this whole damn thing even began. How the hell did I end up realizing my feelings for this stupid human? If they are still accurate.

I think...I think it was right after the mail house went up in flames and I saw him dive in to save another's life. It reminded me of when he saved me from the basilisk. Sure I jumped on him first and even ended up distracting the snake long enough for him to stab it, but still. As much as I wish I could, I could never subdue such a large creature, let alone...kill it...

It was by then that I realized that I might be liking him a bit more than normal. I mean, he isn't that great! Sure he is a bit funny and silly acting, and sure he has some amazing skill with that staff of his when I have watched him practice it. And maybe he is one of the few kind hearted beings I have ever met before, besides that yellow mare near the forest. And yea he is also very...very well toned and exotic...and...has a very...supple...

I once again shake my head as I realized I was getting distracted, giving a small snort as I quickly turn to see if I was noticed by the others, but they were distracted by each other thankfully. Letting out a soft sigh of relief, I continue focusing on leading us to the museum as I went back into my thoughts.

I guess...I just was tired of being alone with more than just friends. And yes I have managed to make a few more friends among others here, including a few of Twilight's friends. Well, sort of. But Drak was always the one I felt the closest too, let alone one of the very first to fully trust me ever since the...incidents. And he's just very nice and kind. Tarturus, he gave me a chance when almost no pony else would give me one! True he still doesn't know about my first visit here...or my second, but still! He's been able to put up with me for the entire time he hangs out with me, that has to count for something!

I nod to myself as I feel my resolve strengthen. I had, right after the sleepover at the library, decide to have this be a sort of test, a makeshift date as it were, to see if my feelings really stay strong with him or if it's just a one time thing.

Perhaps I should have told him of what I was thinking about, changing the idea behind this to be a bit more romantic, but I didn't want to tell him in case something went wrong. Besides, it's still just an outing between friends...just with a bit of a possible romantic twist behind it. Plus, with Winter Wrap up being so close, I didn't know if it was really my emotions being true, or some more natural base instinct, seeing how my...

I shake my head again, not wanting to think about that just yet. Feeling more confident, I nod to myself as I glance back over at them. I know that Luna and Drak used to be friends way back when...way, WAY back when, but I never thought that Luna would be having similar feelings for him as well! As much as I hate to admit it, it could still be worse.

It could be Twilight instead of Luna.

I shiver before shaking that thought out of my head. I promised Luna that she could join us, and make this "date" become a possible "double date" of sorts, so now I was having to share my time with Drak with another mare, and while she may be a princess, I intend on letting her know who the top mare here is, if it ever does get that far.

As I finally settle my thoughts down, I look up and notice that we have arrived at the building, smiling as I feel myself get excited for what we would soon be seeing in there, letting the stress of having another mare with us fade to the background for now. "Ok, we're here." I tell the others, causing Luna to (finally) stop talking and look over at the museum with the same amount of excitement as I felt.

The museum itself isn't that special looking from the rest of the buildings. Of course it's bigger than most of the others and has a sign and everything, along with a bit of an elaborate double door entrance, but other than that it still had a similar style to the rest of the building around it. In any case, Luna smiled as she sees that we have arrived.

"Oh, this is going to be so much fun Drak!" She exclaims, getting the human to just smile back. I just rolled my eyes unseen to them both as we walked over to the ticket booth to buy our tickets.

The clerk pony there, a white unicorn mare, seemed to be reading a magazine, not noticing us until we were right in front of her. Realizing she had company, she quickly places the magazine to the side as she clears her throat. "Oh, sorry about that, just not a lot of visitors these days, what with Winter Wrap up being so-" She starts to say, only to freeze and nearly gawk at the fact that I was standing before her, and certainly not cause we had Princess Luna with us. "Oh my, Princess Luna! It's an honor to have you here at our museum!"

Ok, maybe it was cause of the Alicorn, but still!

Said princess just smiled lightly and a bit nervously as she gives a nod to the clerk pony. "Oh yes, it's a pleasure to finally be here thyself. We've heard about this place and we...I have been very eager to come and see just how well our teachings of magic have gone through the centuries." She says.

The white mare just nods in delight at this. "Of course! I'm proud to say that our museum is one of, if not the largest one on magic, spells, tomes, and other magical trinkets on this side of Equestria!" She states, flourishing her hooves around for effect. I just nearly roll my eyes again at that, knowing that there were most certainly other museums that would most certainly have not only more but better things in them. Then again those places normally cost a hoof and a tail to get in, such as the one in Canterlot or the one in Manehattan. Still, I know that it's just the general speech that they are all told to give to the visitors.

I glance over at Drak and, to my surprise, I see him pulling out his small bag of bits, to which I quickly stop with a spurt of magic. "Drak, what are you doing?" I asked sternly.

He looks surprised as he looks back down at me. "I just thought I was paying for our fee in, so-"

Luna, having heard this, just looks onwards with a gasp of equal shock to what I was feeling. "Pay for us? Drak, you don't need to pay for our fee, I'm sure Trixie has already planned on paying for you two, yes?" She says glancing at me, but not even giving me a moment to respond before she continues. "And I'm more than willing to pay for my own ticket too, after all you two invited me for this."

Drak is about to respond but this time I shush him with a wave of my hoof. "She's right Drak." I tell him, pushing his bag of bits back into his pocket with my magic. "You already agreed to join me-US, so it's only fair that I at least pay for your ticket."

The human blinks at us, glancing between us two as he gives a slow nod and allows for his bag of bits to be placed back into his pocket. Smiling, I bring out my own bag and, walking to the counter, I count out a few of the coins before placing them down. "Here, two tickets please."

The white mare looks over the coins quickly, to make sure it was the right amount, and with a nod, she takes the coins and pulls out a couple of tickets, hoofing them over to me. As I take the tickets, she speaks up, saying, "Here you go! I hope you three have a lovely time on your date here!"

This causes me to freeze up, my cheeks warming up a bit as I refuse to look back. I could hear Luna's slightly flustered sounds as well, but from Drak I only heard confusion. "Wait, date? I mean I guess it is kind of a date but..." He says to himself, though I have the feeling he was thinking about a friendly date and not the romantic kind, like we were thinking.

I wave a hoof to shush the counter mare. "Shhh! It's not really that kind of...date." I tell her, not wanting to let it spill that I was indeed wishing it was that kind of date.

She blinks in confusion. "Wait, but then why..." She starts to say, looking at our small group for a few moments before the realization dawns on her face. "Oooh..." She gives a small giggle as she shakes her head. "You young mares and dating. You should really just go out with how you feel and not do all this silly sneaky stuff." She says. I'm about to retort when she waves her hoof to silence me. "Nono, it's fine. I'm assuming this is your first time doing this 'date' together?" I remain silent, not wanting to say anything, but seeing how she had seemingly already figured it out, I just give a weak nod. "Well, I know it's not my place, but I suggest you at least show him that you are interested in some way."

I remain silent as I just give her a deadpanned look that says more than what really needs to be said, to which she thankfully caught on. "Oh, it's a spur of the moment thing?" Again I gave a small nod. "I see. Well, best of luck and I do hope the date goes well." She smiles as she glances back at my two "dates". "And I really do hope it does go well, to be with not only a princess, but with some pony so exotic..." She sighs as she looks at them both dreamily a bit. "If only I was a decade younger."

I raise my eyebrows at this. She can't be much older then Drak and I by the looks of it. Then again, with what they can do with magical surgery these days, I won't be surprised if she was several decades older than us. Clearing my throat to get her attention back, she snaps out of her dreamy stare as she looks back at me. "Oh, silly me, there I go again." She says, giggling. "Anyways, I do hope you enjoy your time at our museum." She says with a sincere smile.

I just give a small nod as I take the tickets and walk over to Drak as Luna goes to buy her own ticket. It was then that I realized that my annoyance made me forget that, even if she did join at the last moment, proper manners dictate that I should buy her ticket too, since I'm the one who set this up in the first place. At the same time, I'm not going to push myself to buy a third ticket for her. She's a princess, she can manage to buy her own ticket at least this one time.

Maybe not the nicest thing to think of, but hey I'm still miffed!

I give Drak his ticket as he takes it and looks it over. "Ok, so what do we do with this?" He asks.

I can't help but to smile at his cluelessness at a simple ticket. Surely they had tickets back then thousands of years ago? Regardless I point over to the small crystal next to the door. "Just show it to that gem scanner and then make sure to keep the ticket on you for the duration of our time here." I tell him.

He looks at the gem and after a few moment nods in understanding. At this point Luna comes back to us, her own ticket floating next to her as she smiles. "Oh I'm so excited! You two ready?" We both nod. "Then let's go!" She says, quickly rushing up the steps to the door.

I just roll my eyes again as I follow her to the entrance, Drak right behind me. Once at the gem scanner, we hold our tickets to it one at a time, at which it carefully scans each ticket one by one, giving a small green glow when it finished one. Once the last one was scanned and accepted, we finally went through the large doors and into the museum itself.

Once inside I couldn't help but to look in awe at the place. Sure it might not be the best or biggest magical museum around, but it was certainly a good looking one. The main room was large, larger than what seemed to be possible in fact. I had a feeling that I knew what it was though, and glancing over at Luna it seemed that she did as well. Drak of course, noticed too, but had no idea why it was like that, so naturally he spoke up.

"Guys, why does this seem a bit off?" He asked.

Luna looked at him curiously. "Off? What do you mean?"

"I mean the whole inside of this place. It seems almost like it can't even fit in the museum in the first place, and yet..." He trails off, looking around the place, clearly confused.

I smile as I respond this time, eager to see his reaction. "Well, this museum is in fact the first of its kind to use spatial widening magic." I tell him.

Even Luna seems surprised as she looks around in awe. "Really? I assumed it was just an illusion. But to use spatial magic of any kind is a tricky endeavor. How did they-"

"It was from Canterlot I think. They got one of the magicians there skilled in it and paid for him to place a few of those spells to help give them more room for their space, seeing how they didn't have a lot of space to begin with." I explain, to which I get a nod from both of them. I also couldn't help but to feel a bit of smugness from the fact that I knew something that Luna didn't. With that done, I walk over to the large standing map near the front of the room and start looking it over. "So, where do you guys want to check out first? Personally I want to see the Grand Illusions of Today, they said they have some of the same tools that Hoofdini used in his shows!" I couldn't help but to grin at the thought of seeing the very same items that my star hero used. I started to let out an "Eee-!" when I remembered I wasn't alone, and quickly cut it off with a bit of a coughing fit. "But yea, that's just my opinion." I said casually, hoping they didn't notice my slight blunder.

I watched as they glanced at each other, both of them thinking it over. Drak looks over the map a bit as Luna says, "Well, I did wish to see the Relics of the Past, I was told they had artifacts that were before our time as princesses." She says. I take a quick glance at the map and, to my annoyance, it was on the opposite side of the museum from where I wanted to go.

Drak then speaks up. "What about here? Gems of Divine Implements." He said, pointing at the spot that was just a few paces over, past a couple of other exhibits. Thankfully this one wasn't as far as Luna's, but at the same time it was also nearly the same distance from Luna's as it was from mine, making it smack dab between our choices.

I think over the options before deciding to just go with what I wanted to do, looking over at them as I said, "I think we should go for the Grand Illusions first, then we can walk over checking the rest of the exhibits before reaching Luna's Relics of the Past." I stated.

Ok, perhaps I was a bit harsh with how I said it, but so what!

To my surprise, the Alicorn nodded her consent to this. "That sounds fair. I only wish for us to see it during our tour here." She says, to which Drak nods in understanding.

Having been expecting to argue about it, I nearly stumble over my words as I recover as best as I can. "Oh, well...good." I simply said. With that out of the way I quickly lead them to the first exhibit, just glancing over once to make sure that Drak was following.

(POV Luna)

This is the most fun I've had in years! No, centuries! The most fun I've had ever since I came back to Equis! Walking around and looking at all the ancient yet familiar artifacts that were used back in the day was so much fun, made even more fun cause I was with Drak! I thought I was going to be nervous and on edge the entire time, but thankfully after a few minutes it just all melted away. it was like any other time I spent with him, just us two enjoying each other's presence. It was all around perfect!

Well...almost perfect.

I could almost always feel Trixie's intense stare at me whenever I seemed to get the human to laugh at something I said, or whenever I reached with a wing and brushed his side lightly. I know I was pushing my limit a bit with how forward I was being, especially with how I was technically the second mare in this date. But it was just so hard to resist. I want to just nuzzle up to Drak and feel his warm skin against my fur, to feel his fingers sliding along my-

Ahem. Anyways, I knew that despite what the unicorn was saying before, she was very much not happy that I was here. it was clear that she was expecting this to be a simple one-on-one date with Drak before I showed up. Honestly it made me feel a bit bad for joining them. I just wished to tell Drak how I feel and for a chance to be with him closer than as a friend, not to interrupt him when he was going on another date. Still, what happened, happened, and I made sure to make the most out of it. And I was certainly enjoying our time here in the museum.

The Hall of Grand Illusions was very much interesting, even if it wasn't my favorite exhibit I could see that Trixie very much enjoyed every bit of it. Seeing all the different tricks and trinkets that were used in so many tricks was amazing, and they did indeed have a few of the tools the Hoofdini used himself. Trixie nearly went into fan mood from just seeing them, not even having to read the small signs placed by the items in order to tell us what they did and what grand tricks he used them for.

While I tried to look interested, it was a bit hard for me to follow along, mostly cause some of the tricks seemed a bit different than what I was used to, from both here and before my banishment. Drak seemed to be following along well enough, and after about ten more minutes of looking, we finally left that exhibit, glancing at the other ones as we passed by, sometimes stopping for a minute to examine a cool trinket here or a magical example there. We both laughed when we saw the human's face when he first saw the examples of levitation in the ages, which consisted of three objects that had three different levitation spells, all of them from different ages. He just looked between all of them with a look of confusion, reading and rereading the sign cards explaining how they are different. Finally he just gave up with a sigh and a shrug before looking at us for help, to which we both explained how the different methods had different magical energy usages, the more current ones being the ones with the least amount of magic used.

"But then, why can't all unicorns just us it then?" He asks after we explained it to him.

"It's not as simple as waving a horn and letting somepony fly." Trixie says. "You could cast it on somepony else easy enough, but to cast it on yourself is a lot harder."

"But-"

"We need something or some pony to focus our spell on, and only stronger or specialized unicorns can cast it on themselves, like Twilight for example." I add, causing the azure mare to give me another one of her glares. "If I recall correctly, she made the connection that our normal, every day magic is in fact related to a variation of the levitation spell, allowing all unicorns able to grab and lift things without the need of their mouths or hooves."

This caused him to blink in surprise. "Really?"

I nod. "Yes she did. You could say that it's the best levitation spell off them all, the only downside is that it requires more magical power the larger and heavier the object is, as well as constant concentration in order to keep it floating."

"Of course, for amazing magicians such as I, we can concentrate on many different objects at once. " Trixie says, before adding with a grin, "Observe!"

As her horn lit up so to did Drak's hood, which was currently over his head, as well as his shoes. Before the human could react, the hood was pulled further down over his face, while his shoes were raised up, lifting him in the air by a few inches. As she wasn't lifting his whole body, Drak started to fall over, his arms pinwheeling for a moment before the magic was released, causing him to fall on his back in a heap.

Trixie, realizing her mistake, looked wide eyed in shock at what she did. "Um...oops..." She says silently, though loud enough for me to hear. Before I could rush over to help him, Drak was already sitting up, rubbing the back of his head as he readjusted his hood.

"Ow..." He groans, wincing at the pain. "Did you have to use me as an example?"

During his recovery, Trixie managed to recover herself as she smiles smugly. "Of course! You wanted an example so I gave it to you."

"But I didn't ask for an example!"

Deciding to interrupt things, I say, "I didn't know you could lift him up Trixie. Even just by his shoes that's rather impressive."

This causes the unicorn mare to pause, her cheeks even tinging red just a bit. "Well...I have been practicing ever since the basilisk incident, at least in strengthen my magic, just in case something like that happens." She explains. I can't help but to feel impressed by hearing this, and by the looks of things it seems Drak was impressed too. Of course it was then nearly ruined when she adds, "I will say, I thought you were heavier then that, it was much harder to lift you before with all you-"

"Anyways!" Drak suddenly says, getting up and dusting his backside and legs. "How about we move on to the next exhibit?" He asks, and before either of us could say anything, he quickly turns and starts heading there himself, leaving us to just giggle lightly as we follow him.

(POV Drakalian)

I had to admit, this was indeed a fun time, spending it with both Trixie and Luna. Even with the small teasing from the azure mare thanks to her silly trick, I was having the most fun I've had since I've first woke up. It did help that I had two magical experts to explain everything that I didn't understand, which sadly was a lot of it.

In any case, we soon reached the Gems of Divine Implements, which they said is just a fancy name and not really indicative that they were divine gems of any sort. As we walked by the cases, I couldn't help but to look in some awe at the many different gems, jewels, and jewelry. They even had jeweled items such as staffs and wands, and even simple rocks of quartz and limestone that were no different from any other building material. Some of them we were even allowed to touch, feeling regular rocks before having to pull back as the heat magic from it nearly scorches us, and then shivering at the cold touch of other stones.

As we walked through them, I couldn't help but to think over how a lot of these items seemed to be so similar to my necklace. A few of them were nearly like mine even, if a lot more fancy than mine. As I was thinking this, we pass by another necklace, this one causing me to pause as I took a closer look at it.

It was a near similar size, perhaps a bit smaller for a pony, that much was clear. What really got my attention though was the design. It was silver, the same as mine, but the pendent itself was the shape of an hourglass, the top and bottom pieces that would be of sand were instead made of amber.

I stared at it closer, something in the back of my mind stirring. I..I've seem this before. But where? Where did I-

"Drak? You ok?" I blinked and looked up from the case, seeing both Luna and Trixie staring at me with worry in their eyes. It was at this point that I realized I had been staring at the necklace for a good few minutes without moving a muscle.

I shake my head and give them a half hearted smile. "Yea I'm fine, sorry just a bit...distracted." I say.

Sadly this didn't get by Trixie, who stomped her hoof in frustration. "Distracted my hoof! You were recalling something, weren't you!?" She nearly demands.

"No, I..." I start to say, only to have her raise an eyebrow and make me pause. I quickly realized that it would just be better to say what it is then to just try and hide it. "Well, not exactly."

This caused the unicorn to look at me with confusion, the Alicorn not looking any better herself. "I just...I can't shake the feeling that I've seen that necklace before." I said, pointing at the hourglass necklace.

As I said this, Luna stepped closer to take a look at it, her eyes narrowing as I see she was getting the same feeling as me. "Yes, there is something oddly familiar about this one." She agrees.

At this point Trixie just rolls her eyes as she pushes between us, causing us to look at her with slight confusion, but she ignores this as she reads the small sign card that was tapped to the case.

"Found in an ancient tomb, this necklace is thought to hold incredible power, yet what it actual does is a current mystery. What we do know is that not only does it hold a large amount of magical energy, but it seems to also be designed to contain a similar kind of power inside of it." She reads.

For some reason hearing her say that causes a shiver down my spine, making me look at her with worry. Trixie notices this as she glances back at me, Luna looks at us both with the same worry. "For some reason, I have a feeling that this might be connected to me in some way." I finally say, after what felt like an eternity of silence.

Trixie gives a shake of her head at this. "Really Drak? Just cause it's as old as you doesn't mean-"

"I have a feeling that he might be right." We both look at Luna with surprise as she spoke, which only grew as she adds, "Though I think this might be closer to both of us than to just him. I shall call one of the guards here and-"

Before we could wonder what she was going to do, one of the guards was already next to us, clearing his throat as we all looked at him. He is a tall earth pony, one might even say lanky, but the confident stance in his brown that he took showed that he is a guard through and through. "I'm sorry to be interrupting, but I'm gonna have to ask for you to give back that necklace." He says to me.

I blink in confusion, wondering what he was talking about, only to realize that my necklace, which I normally kept under my hoodie and shirt, had slipped out and was now hanging in the open air. I quickly pulled myself upright and looked back at the guard. "I believe you are mistaken sir. This necklace is mine." I simply say. Perhaps not the most diplomatic approach, but I wasn't going to hand my necklace over to him.

The guard narrows his eyes as he raises a walkie talkie to his face and says, "I've got a code 7 here at the Gems of Divine Implements, will need backup, I re-" He starts to say before Luna finally steps in.

"He speaks the truth." She says, which causes the guard to stop in mid speech, mouth open in surprise as if this is the first time he noticed she was here with me.

He remains silent for a good while, during this the other side of his walkie was speaking back to him, saying, "Julius? Is backup needed? You there, over?"

Shaking his head, he realizes that the guard over the walkie was still waiting for his response, and quickly says, "False alarm Gourd, seems to be a misunderstanding, over." He says, and then he puts the walkie back to his holster next to his pouch he was also wearing. Giving a small bow to Luna, he says, "I'm sorry for that, Your Majesty, but I do need to at least check it just to make sure it isn't part of our collection here, just in case." He looks back at me as he adds, "I'm just trying to do my job, again I'm sorry."

Luna nods in understanding and motions me to hand my necklace over to him. I hesitate, still unsure about giving him such a precious thing to someone who thought it was there's moments ago, but a nudge from Trixie gets me to sigh and nod in return. I take off the necklace and hand it over to Julius, who takes it from me.

To my surprise, he just sits down as he digs in his pouch before pulling out what seemed to be a small card. He then moves it over the necklace and after a few moments a low tone beep sounds from the card, to which the guard just looks at it with slight surprise. With a small nod to himself, he places the card back and hands my necklace back to me.

"Looks like it isn't part of the collection. Again, very sorry for bothering you during your date." He says nodding to the two mares, both who gave a nod of thanks in return.

I narrowed my eyes when he said date, but before I could correct him, Luna is speaking up, "I would think that the guards here wouldn't be so stern with seeing someone else have a jewel necklace, especially when it clearly belongs to them." She says with a bit of heat.

The guard shrinks lightly from her tone, but he doesn't back down. "Apologies Your Highness, but we have been on a higher alert ever since the thefts happened." He adds, to which causes us to look in shock.

"Thefts? Who in Tartarus would try and steal from here?" I asked, to which I get a surprised look from both Luna and Trixie, to which I just shrug. "What?, I kind of like saying Tartarus more than hell, ok? It sounds a bit more fancy." I admit.

Trixie just shakes her head before answering me. "Regardless, do you realize how many magical items are here, and that a lot of them have not only strong, but dangerous effects? Not only that, but ponies can sell them for a lot on the black market."

I narrow my eyes at this. "I thought there wasn't much if any crime in the country?" I asked.

"There isn't, but even we can't snuff out every bad thing." Luna admits with a sigh. "And as small as that black market is, it is still there and somehow profiting." She then turns to the guard and asks, "But I have yet to hear anything related to thievery here."

Julius nods. "That is true, they were more like attempted thefts, and it has only been one pony, as far as we can tell." He admits. "Still, we have been told to keep a lookout for any pony, or any creature that may have similar items as the ones we have." He looks at me and gives me an apologetic nod. "Again, I'm sorry for the aggression."

I just wave his apology away. "I know, just doing your job like you already said." I say, to which he at least has the humility to give a sheepish smile as he realizes just how often he was apologizing for.

"Even so, just remember for next time to ask nicer, if you could." Luna asks, to which Julius nods.

"Of course, Your Majesty, sorry again sir." He says, back to me, to which I nearly roll my eyes at yet another apology. He gives a nod to all of us before he heads on out, most likely back to his patrol duty around the exhibit.

I give a small sigh as I place my necklace back and, after looking it over in my hand, tuck it back under my hoodie. "Well...I think that confirms it for me that the necklace is indeed related to me in some way...or at least to my past." I say.

"Really? Cause I think it's just more of a coincidence than anything." Trixie adds.

"Maybe, but I would like to take it with me if possible."

Luna shakes her head. "Coincidence or not, I can't simply ask the museum to just give us one of their not only expensive, but potentially dangerous item just cause you have a hunch." She says, her voice heavy with sadness. I look up and open my mouth to protest, but she waves a hoof to silence me. "Drak, I know that as Princess I could just order them to give it to us, or even to you, but that would be an unfair use of our power. Not only are they guarding it with their own power and able to protect it, but in all accounts it is theirs by rights. I can't just ask for them to hand it over just cause we both have a feeling that it is important to our past. It needs to be something more substantial."

I look at her, annoyed and frustrated before sighing and nodding in agreement. "Yea...you're right." I finally admit. We all remain silent for a good while, a bit of an awkward silence really, with me just looking at the necklace, before I feel Luna place her wing around me, causing me to look over at her.

She smiles as she says, "Listen, I know it's important, and if you, or me, can remember what it is important for, and if it is important enough, then I will ask to at least buy it off of them." She says.

I smile as I lean over and rest my head against her shoulder, to which it gets her to blush a bit and make me chuckle. "Thanks Luna, I know you will do what you can. I'm sure I'll remember it sooner or later. After all, I'm getting better at remembering things of my past now." I add, to which gets a giggle from her.

As we stood together, I couldn't help but to glance at Trixie and notice that she wasn't looking at us, in fact she was making an obvious effort to not look at us as she stared at the hourglass necklace. Realizing that she might be feeling left out, and before I could really think on it, I reach over and pull the unicorn over, which gets a small "Eep!" from the mare.

"Come on Trixie, you're part of this too." I tell her...to which I get a firm elbow in my belly, making me grunt.

"Don't go grabbing Trixie like that in public you idiot!" She says firmly. However, she does stay in the hug for a couple seconds longer before she pulls back, shaking herself off of me. Suddenly, she turns to Luna and says, "Anyways, shall we head to the last exhibit? Or can we pause and get some food? I am getting rather hungry."

At this Luna looks up in alarm, glancing at the clock as she quickly pulls off of me. "Oh no! I forgot I have a lunch meeting with Mr. Rich in less than ten minutes!" She exclaims. "I didn't realize how much time we spent here already!" She turns to look at us with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry but I need to go now, I do hope we can do something like this again soon." She says.

Then she does something that I was not expecting at all.

After a moment of hesitation, looking into her eyes I noticed that something seemed to click in her mind as she leaned in and...kissed me. Right on the left cheek. Her lips were soft and smooth, the sensation sending a small shiver up my spine. Giving a blush and a nod once again, she quickly turns and trots on out of the exhibit and of the museum.

I just stare at her, partially open mouthed as I place a hand on the spot that she just kissed. I...I have no idea how to react to that. I mean sure we are friends and all, but do friends do...do that?

I finally get snapped out of it by Trixie clearing her throat, making me shake my head as I give her a sheepish smile. "Oh right, sorry for that. So, you want to go and get something to eat then or-"

"Trixie thinks that she will be eating by herself at the moment." She says, making me blink in surprise at the sudden coldness of her voice.

"Wait, you sure that-"

"TRIXIE SAYS-" She starts to say, before she pauses to take a few deep breaths. I just stare at her, very much confused as to why she suddenly got so angry at me. Was it cause of the kiss? It couldn't be, could it? Finally she speaks up again. "I'm sorry Drak, Trixie just...I need a bit of space right now, ok? Perhaps we can have lunch together some other time, but right now I..." She falls silent at that, shaking her head as if to clear it. Without another word, she turns and starts to head for the exit herself.

"Trixie wait!" I call out, and thankfully she stops walking as I quickly catch up. "Would like to at least leave with you if that's ok."

She looks up at me for a moment and then seems to relax a bit before nodding. "Ok." She simply says and soon we are both walking out of the exhibit.

As we reach the front entrance, I spy the gift shop just next to the doors, and recall my promise that I made to her. "Just give me a moment please." I tell her, to which she looks at me curiously, but thankfully doesn't argue about it.

Soon I'm inside the gift shop, looking around for something to get for her. I knew I had only the bits that Twilight gave me, and technically this would be bought with her money, but still, I said I was going to get her a gift, and I still plan on sticking with that promise, especially after whatever it was that seemed to have darkened her mood.

Looking through the items, I saw a lot of simple necklaces like the ones at the exhibit, though these ones had very simple spells and enchantments on them. Likewise, there were plenty of spell books and other such tomes, none of which really pulled me in as a proper gift for her. After a few moments I finally came across something that caught my interest: a snow globe. Inside of said globe was a grayscale pony in a straight jacket, surrounded by a crowd and looking as if he was trying to escape. On the bottom of it said that "The Great Hoofdini!" In bold, fancy lettering. Recalling how much she loved Hoofdini, I picked that one up, debating on shaking it, and then deciding to let Trixie do the honor for it. As I took it along with me, I did end up pausing at one of the tomes that said, "Enchantments for the Higher Mind". Deciding to get Twilight something as a thank you too, I picked that one up as well before heading to the counter.

"I'll be buying these two things please." I say to the pony cashier, who is a tall brownish pegasus mare with black and blue highlights in her mane.

She takes a quick glance over it all before nodding, "Ok, that will be fifty bits total sir." She says. I reach in and grab my bit bag as I count out the coins, to which she suddenly asks, "So, is one of those for the mare out there?"

I blink as I look up at her, to which she was motioning over to the entrance, where Trixie was waiting, looking idly around and thankfully not at me at the moment. I nod my head. "Yea, I promised I would get her something after our trip here, so-"

At this the mare gives a small squee of delight. "OOHH, so romantic! I wish I had a coltfriend like you, willing to get gifts for his marefriend." She says, to which I stare at her in confusion. It takes her a second to realize she was still working, and giving a sheepish smile she says, "Oh sorry, my bad." before taking the bits and placing them in the register. She then also takes the tome and snow globe and says, "Would you like a bag sir?"

I think it over for a moment and then nod. "Might as well." I say, to which she nods and grabs a bag from under the counter. She quickly bags the items and hands it to me, to which I take and head out of the gift shop. As I leave, I could have sworn I heard, "Wish I had a stallion like that." from behind me, to which I just shake my head. Something told me it was best to just leave that one be for now.

As I reached back to Trixie, she looks curiously at the bag and ask, "What did you end up getting?"

I motion for the door as I reach her. "Let's go outside, then I can show you." I tell her. She shrugs and we are soon outside, giving a wave to the clerk pony that was still there from when we first entered.

Once out, we walked a few paces away before she stops in front of me. "Ok, so what did you get? Trixie demands it!"

Seeing that she wouldn't take no for an answer, and happy to see that whatever black mood she was in seems to be gone, I reach into the bag and pull out the snow globe, holding it out for her. "I seem to recall that a certain pony really liked the Hoofdini section so..." I fall silent as I let her examine the globe.

At first her expression was blank, tinged with confusion as she stared at the globe. Then her eyes slowly widen as she realizes what it is. "Wait...this is his first performance. I mean THE first performance that he made." She says, staring in awe at the snow globe.

I do my best not to shrug. "Well, I thought it was a pretty snow globe, and I recalled how much of a great pony he was, so I thought why not get it." I say, feeling stupid with how I phrased it.

However it didn't seem like the mare noticed, just nodding in agreement as she continues to stare at it. "It's a very good gift Drak, you should make sure to take care of it." She says.

Seeing how she didn't realize it's a gift for her, I say, "Oh it's not for me, it's for you."

This causes her to look up and away from the globe and at me, eyes wide with shock once again. "For me?! But...but-"

"I told you, before we got here, that I was going to get a gift for you afterwards. I made that promise and I'm keeping it. Plus..." I hesitate for a moment before I continued. "I also hoped that it would make you feel better, after whatever it was that made you suddenly upset."

This seems to cause a reaction, as she almost balks at my words, staring back at me. I look back and this time I lock eyes with her. What I see was a mixture of confusion, some shame, and...something more? Before I could figure out what it was, she suddenly rushes me, wrapping her hooves around my back as she pulls me in for a tight hug. I nearly stumble from the sudden hug, making sure the globe isn't crushed between us as I hesitate, then gently pull her in and hug her back.

"Nopony has...ever gotten me a gift before." She says softly. I just continue to hold her close, just doing my best to keep her close as we stood there, a bit awkwardly on my part. During this I couldn't help but to notice that the clerk pony was watching us, a knowing smile on her face as she leans on her hooves and leans over her counter.

Finally the unicorn mare pulls away, and once I hold it out for her again, she takes the globe from my hands, floating it to her face first as she looks it over in detail. Smiling, she holds it to the side for the moment as she looks up at me. "Drak, I-"

I just wave a hand to silence her. "None of that, it's what friends do for each other." I simply say with a smile, glad to see she was feeling better.

She falls silent from that, looking deep at the globe as if thinking something. "Yea..." She simple says, almost as if that dark mood was about to come back. However, she suddenly gains a determined look and, looking up at me, she smiles. "Drak, I do need a bit of time, but perhaps in a few days, we can have lunch together, or...or dinner?" She asks me.

I nod. "Dinner sounds fine with me, or lunch, either is good." I say.

That seems to do it for her and, her smile widening just a bit, I suddenly get my second surprise of the day. Leaning up, she gives my cheek a nuzzle and then, suddenly, I feel her warm lips against my right cheek, the opposite of where Luna kissed me. She holds it there for a second before pulling back, her cheeks very dark and warm looking.

"I'll...I'll let you know when I'm free, ok?" She asks, to which all I could do is nod. Smiling, she gives me one more nuzzle before turning and walking off, giving a quick glance back as she waves her tail at me, to which I wave back.

I just stand there, very much confused with all of this. I wasn't sure what had happened, first Luna kissed me, then Trixie. I did feel for both of them, I cared for them a lot, but was it possible that...that they want...

I shook my head as I finally snapped out of it. I have no idea how I felt about this whole thing, nor was I sure I felt ready for it. Sure I did like them, perhaps more so then as friends, but I wasn't sure I felt ready to go to such a level of asking them out...unless...

I suddenly had an inkling that, everything we just did today might have been some sort of dating ritual for these ponies, or that we did indeed go on some sort of date. But I quickly shook my head from that. There was no way it was something like that, I swear I would have noticed if they were doing something as asking me on a date.

In any case, there was one thing that was on my mind above all else. I need to head back to the library and give Twilight her gift before grabbing some lunch. As I started walking, I thought through all the things that happened today and all the strange things that I saw, and I could really only come up with one conclusion.

"Ponies are fucking weird." I whispered to myself, my feet crunching through the snow.

Welp, this was a long time coming...again. Yea, lots of things happening, ups and downs and life being life. It would have come out sooner if I was better in the right state of mind. Also...for the life of me I forgot that different sections of a museum are called exhibits...so that made it take at least twice as long. Anyways...

I was able to get some help from some close friends on how to better write Luna's Royal Speech (without the yelling) and I think it turned out rather good. Last time I used this site on Shakespearean Speech to get her speech somewhat right. So...as a bonus, here's what it would have been using that instead.

This gets Luna to snap out of her slight stupor as we look back at each other, her cheeks gaining more color once again. ""oh aye! W-we cullionly of course, we...we has't a reasoneth to cometh...ov'r! to cometh ov'r we cullionly!" She says. I just nod, motioning her to continue. She takes a deep breath and slowly exhales before, after taking a few moments to calm herself yet again, she looks up and says, "Drakalian, we wast...we wast wond'ring if 't be true...p'rhaps...um"

Again she falls silent to which I remain quiet as I patiently wait for her to continue, which she does a few moments later. "We...um...we wast wond'ring if 't be true...p'rhaps me and thee...'r thee and we? We cullionly...us two couldst...uh" Again she pauses as she tries to find her words, which I take this moment to glance over at Trixie. For some reason her eyes are wide in surprise, her mouth partially open as if she knows what is happening, yet to me I just can't figure it out. It seems like she wishes to ask a favor of me, but other than that I don't really know.

Once again she continues, "What we cullionly to sayeth is...um...t-th're...th're's a museum in town yond...yond we've been wanting to wend f'r some timeth since i first cameth backeth as...Nightmare moon...I wast...I wast wond'ring if 't be true...thou art free...and ONLY if 't be true thou art free...yond thee might...beest willing to...accompany me"

So yea...that's a thing that happened. Also, life is a big pain, but thankfully I'm managing...even if it takes me almost a year to post a damn chapter, I'm not gonna give up on this!