1190 Overlook Boulevard
High Class Row, Uptown Canterlot
The Next Morning...

The young lady snored with complete abandon as her mouth hung agape, drool falling from the side of her lips. The mare's eyes were almost glued shut as motionless as she was. Her foreleg slung over the side of the bed while the covers jumbled over her posterior. As opposed to the saddened pony she was the night prior, she was very serene in her current state. The only thing that seemed to break that spell was the sound of the alarm next to her bed.

With a rhythmic blaring pulse, the high pitched buzz attacked her dreams and caused her to jump up out of her bed. Her first words to the day were an annoyed groan. "I'm awake!" Though despite her cry, she was far from her declared state of being. She shifted for a second and soon found herself tumbling to the ground, meeting with the carpet beneath. Her eyes parted slowly as the crust on her eyes lengthened the simple process. She promptly wiped her eyes and deactivated her alarm.

The sound of the alarm ceased to be, giving her a moment of silence while she snuck back into the comfort of her bed. But her silence soon found a usurper. The door bell rang brightly through her condo, adding to her agitation. The mare screamed in anguish as she threw the covers off of her and made her way out of her room. As she walked down the stairs, she summoned a brush and a moistened face rag to clean the sleep off of her face. When she arrived at the door, she yanked it open to greet a smiling face at her doorstep.

"Good morning!" The stallion declared so cheerfully.

The mare gave him a deathly glare with a single equine snort. "Alabaster, do you know what time it is?"

"7:31 in the morning, as per usual?" He answered with an unchanged cheerful demeanor.

"Good. Now tell me what day of the week it is."

"Saturday, of course." He answered.

The mare became more incensed that his smile seemed to be the only thing from stopping her from having a peaceful morning, almost as if he was mocking her. "Well if it is 7:31 on a Saturday morning, don't you think common sense would tell you to find another route to jog on that DOESN'T INVOLVE VISITING ME EVERY DAMN MORNING!?"

The stallion walked up to the mare and hugged her. "Of course not! It tells me to stop you from crawling back under your covers every time your alarm goes off after you have a night of drinking. Your businesses don't run themselves."

"Again. SATURDAY." She stressed.

"Good habits are an indicator of a healthy lifestyle."

The mare begrudgingly hugged the stallion back. "Don't you have some city work to be tending to? The city runs twenty-four hours a day."

"Again, Saturday." He replied, mocking her earlier statement. "And I got a message from my head butler that you wanted to inform me of something."

The mare yawned. "Did I... Oh yeah. The Captain of the Royal Guard will be paying you a visit this morning."

The stallion's smile weakened for a moment. "Oh my, is it something serious?"

"No, just magic related. I'm not good at the whole teaching thing as much as I am at the doing."

"And you pointed him towards me." The stallion muttered placing a hoof at his forehead.

"Because you're my go-to guy." Blue added with a forced smile.

The white stallion grimaced. "Me teaching a human magic, you're doing the most to me here."

"Pretty please?" She asked with her best imitation of puppy dog eyes.

The stallion rolled his eyes with a stifled chuckle. "Okay, you get this one out of me."

"I knew you couldn't resist the opportunity." The mare replied with a smirk.

"As if there ever was one." The stallion replied with a forlorn sigh. "I'll notify Handy Dandy immediately upon my return."

"I also told him you wanted your weekends free. So he'll probably try to work a schedule around that."

"My girl!" He replied with a grateful nudge. "You know me too well."

"We've known each other for years. What do you expect?"

"You to know that I'm coming to make sure you're up bright and early every morning." The stallion replied with a sinister smile directed to his best friend.

She did not reciprocate the show of affection. "That there, that needs to stop."

"Of all the pieces of real estate you own, you can never come to own my habits."

"Alabastard, get the hell off my lawn." She said as her next door neighbor walked out their front door. The mare passed by to grab the newspaper at the front of the house neatly wrapped in plastic. The mare looked back up to see the two ponies at the front porch and waved good morning.

"You know you have some nice neighbors. You should greet them more often."

The mare scoffed. "What are you, my─"

"Uncle. I'm more like your uncle." The stallion quickly replied. "But try to keep yourself out of too much trouble."

The mare shrugged nonchalantly. "If I ever did get in trouble, you'd know where to find me."

"Of course."

The stallion started up his pace and started trotting down the road, leaving the tired Blue Royal to lean against the door frame. She shook her head and yawned. The next door neighbor then called out to her. "Honey, you look tired."

"You have no idea, lady."

"Perhaps a cup of coffee will set you off then?" The mare offered.

"No thank you. But good morning to you." Blue replied, promptly walking back in her condo and shutting the front door.

She walked up the stairs and stared at the portrait of her standing next to the human. The little bit of energy she had within her swelled a bit before something popped up in her mind. An audible bell went off in her head as her eyes bucked open for a second, causing her to gallop up the stairs into her bedroom. She stared at the picture of the plainly-looking mare surrounded by roses and smiled her usual smile. But this time, her eyes were brimming with innocence and youth as she stared at the picture.

"Good morning, mom. Thanks for the good dreams again."

Meanwhile at Canterlot Castle...

As I stared at the stalks of celery and the helping of bland oatmeal, I felt my stomach rumble. Celestia looked at her newspaper and read up on the headlines. Shining was accompanied by Cadance, who pretty much stared daggers at me the entire time. Luna sipped her tea, glancing at me on occasion before going back to her beverage. Blueblood was nowhere to be seen, but all seven of his wives made a rare appearance.

All of them bore witness to my defiance against the chef. My stomach rumbled on and off, again and again. But instead of eating the food placed in front of me, I just guzzled down three glasses of water. Whenever a server asked me if my food was satisfactory, I told them that the chef needed to add a certain ingredient or two, they would then inform her of my complaint, and she would send them out with a small note letting me know that my food was meant to be subtle in taste and sensitive in texture.

I didn't think I would have to resort to a hunger strike to get my point across.

Celestia slammed the newspaper on the table and chided me. "Captain, you hunger. Eat your food."

Shining continued to sit quietly while his wife spoke. "You know, there are guards on deployment who'd wish they could get the treatment you're getting right now. I'll even go as far as to say that they deserve more than you, but here you are taking their privileges away from them, acting like a spoiled filly."

I grabbed my spoon and lightly dipped it in the oatmeal to gather a small amount. I stared at it for a few seconds before I held my breath and ate the mess on my spoon. As soon as the underwhelming taste of oat and hot water laced my tongue, I pushed the bowl away. "I don't understand. The food here used to be so wonderful, so full of flavor and memories. Now it's just prison gruel."

One of Blueblood's wives snickered as she muttered to the others. "And here I thought Blueblood was the one who was strict about his food."

I placed the spoon next to the bowl. "Celestia, is there any way I can get a meat dish sometime between now and this afternoon?"

"Not likely if you waste your food like this." She answered coldly. "Now please eat something, I cannot have you starving yourself."

I went back to staring at my food again, this time with the intention to motivate myself to eat. I never really had to do this in my life, considering mom's cooking. And even when I was younger, my eating veggies was always a problem until my dad threatened to beat my ass. And all of that was an easier process as opposed to this.

Not wanting to drag things along, I shoveled a large wad of unseasoned oatmeal into my mouth and soldiered through it. After I was done, I went through the celery stalks, got up from my seat and made my way out. Celestia stopped me before I walked out of the room. "Where are you going now?"

"I have an appointment with an acquaintance downtown. I'm headed over that way."

"For what purpose?" Celestia asked.

"Learning more about myself. I can assure you none of it is food-related, if that was your concern."

Cadance muttered under her breath. "It's about time you got counseling for your attitude."

I looked over to the princess who made the comment and took a deep breath, turned my head forward, and walked away. When I closed the door, I could hear Celestia immediately turn her attention to her niece. "I do not know what has come between the two of you, but I want it to end. I do not need my captain to harbor personal hostilities towards us. That goes to Blueblood as well."

"Well it's not my fault he decides to act like a child!"

On that note, I started to briskly walk down the hall to make my way to the exit. The last thing I needed to hear was Cadance's mouth dragging me with every chance she gets. Even if I'm trying to be adversarial to her for the sake of a performance, it was starting to become hard to cope with her legitimately disliking me with every passing day. So when I stepped outside of the castle grounds, I left all of my frustrations at the checkpoint, took a few breaths, and marched forward with a smile knowing that I was in for some new developments in my life.

After all, I didn't need the bad juju to throw off my magic lessons today.

I spent most of my time walking around, asking for directions to Canterlot Heights. But what had surprised me is that the name 'Canterlot Heights' didn't just come about because of some snob wanting to live in exclusive luxury. It was named as such because it was at an elevation higher than most of Canterlot's buildings. The streets themselves were at a higher altitude.

I should probably explain.

Canterlot isn't just a city on the side of the mountain. It was founded because of the rich trove of jewels and gems hidden within the mountain, much of it still being mined out today. And as easily as those mines tunnel about the mountain, Canterlot is as much as those mines and the low-mid section of Mt. Faust itself. So to shorten the explanation, Canterlot actually goes around and through the mountain. And on the side where only the eyes of Celestia can see from the edge of her balcony, there was this unspoken part of the city. And it was the hidden jewel of the elite.

Top floors of the city's highest buildings, exclusive spas where one would expect to meet royals, the grocery comprised of the freshest ingredients set at the most exorbitant prices, all of that was just the gold set on display at the local jeweler. The real stuff that's locked behind a safe, or equivalently what would be clenched behind the greedy fingers of a self-absorbed billionaire, this is the world they want you to see from magazine pictures, the life that many impressionable bodies will seek to have for themselves. This is the fantasy that gives breath to ambition, to greed, to violence.

This is a place that took damn near three hours to get access to, for what was considered to be an hour's length running.

Each time I came across a checkpoint before a certain passage or tunnel, I had to explain who I was sent by and who I was being sent to. Even by guard standards, security was far more strict. They even had a toll you had to pay to access the exit of the final tunnel that lead to the exclusive suburb. And it took more time for me to walk down the street, across massive yards of grass with almost a small castle plotted to each estate.

Many of them were of a Victorian style, complete with gated entrances and massive walls too high to climb and too thorny to even get close to. The greenery that the walls were enshrouded with was all a ruse for the thorns and prickly things underneath, a natural barrier to deter any trespassers from entering. And if a house was surrounded by a metal fence, be aware that there were electrical currents running along them.

These houses alone had better security systems than the royal palace itself, and that was depressing.

After half an hour of walking down a long and winding road, I came across a brick-walled barrier with a black iron gate. At the left column of the entrance was a small speaker with a red button underneath. I looked to the numbers lining the right-side column, finally matching the address on the card I was given. I pressed the button, producing a low-pitch buzz. I released it and waited until a voice started to announce themselves through the speaker.

"Hmmyes, hello. To whom may I be addressing?" Asked what I assumed to be a butler with an accent similar to the one used by Rarity.

"Captain Nondis P. Haines of the Royal Guard. I was asked to pay a visit to sir Alabaster Charm." I answered loudly.

"Hmmyes, I suppose that you would be coming with a warrant, good sire?"

"No sir, just a friendly visit." I declared.

"With all due respect, sire, it is unlawful to present one's self to a stated residence without any warrant for search or seizure. I'm sure you can understand my position to disallow your presence on the grounds, hmmyes?"

Admittedly, today had me feeling like I was completely inadequate at my job. There's so much security here that it would make any dictator blush with arousal. "I was told that I was to be expected. A young lady by the name of Blue Royal said that I could come around this time."

The voice didn't reply. But instead of an announced confirmation of my statement, I was then greeted with another method. The iron gates of the entrance creaked and groaned while they slowly swung wide to allow passage into the verdant walkway. Thick oak trees lined each side with bark, branches and a canopy of leaves. Even if it was growing out of season, the greenery remained present.

As soon as the iron gate came to a halt, the voice sounded through the loudspeaker. "Please do approach the porch, good sire."

I walked carefully, not daring to venture off the path that was provided. It was a good ten minutes before I was greeted with the sights of a large Victorian stone manor, complete with dark wooden accents and black iron trimmings. My eyes were glued to the front porch, seeing the majesty that was this mansion, complete with several chimneys and stained-glass windows. When I finally reached the porch after about sixty seconds of walking, I was greeted by a middle-aged light gray stallion with a stiff upper lip and a chin held high.

"I trust you are the dependable aid to the owner of this residence." I said, greeting the stallion.

"Hmmyes, I am the help. I was given instruction to offer no quarter to you unless there was a mention of the lady's name. Please do come in."

When he opened the door, I was greeted by the inviting scent of pumpkin spice and vanilla. It smelled so enticing that I swore there was a pie waiting for me at the end of my journey. The estate was well-warmed and ventilated as opposed to the slightly chilly air outside. I felt the home-like presence embrace me as the lighting provided a warm glow to much of the decor. My feet creating soft thuds with every step I took on the hardwood floor. Crystal decorations hung from the ceiling as the lights were hidden well behind them. The massive foyer that could easily serve as a miniature dance hall, provided a grand winding staircase that broke in two parts midways, circling back to the front wall.

While the smell of pumpkin pie waltzed around my nose, I complimented the estate. "This place is quite an eye-opener. I trust you are well-taken care of." I said, then looking to the butler, who's face remained unchanged from his earlier presentation.

"Hmmyes, my wages are indeed... acceptable."

He must be trying to be modest. "I didn't really mean that, but I suppose you should be pretty happy with your pay."

"My happiness is only due to his satisfaction. It must be that he is satisfied with his accommodations and nothing more." He declared before opening a door to a room with a small chair sitting next to a grandfather clock and across the way from an old piano. The butler pointed at the chair and announced. "Please do wait here, good sire. The master shall be with you shortly."

The butler left the room, leaving me to linger about on my own. I didn't really find a desire to sit and wait, no matter how much my legs were burning. I just wanted to explore the place. Much of it made me feel like I was in a old-age romantic setting. And even though I was so used to life in the castle, I wasn't quite used to higher living. This was my true first experience of this kind of society as opposed to the more political variation of it.

I was wandering about the room for a few minutes until I came across the portrait of a brown unicorn mare with curly brown and beige hair, brown eyes, dark brown spots, and a subdued expression. I spoke to myself. "She doesn't seem to like portraits too much."

"Do not confuse her muted smile for dissatisfaction." A voice chimed out from behind me, causing me to turn around quickly, greeting the face of a familiar white unicorn with a peach and yellow mane. "I assure you, she is quite warm here."

"Good to know." I answered before walking up to the unicorn, bowing out of respect. "It's been a while. I know we haven't spoken the last time we saw each other, but I remember seeing you at the mausoleum we buried the late senator Count DuMoneé in."

The stallion laughed. "Ah yes, a true leech to everything, he was. Good to see him where he belongs."

"I trust you and he were not the best of company." I inquired.

"His was a blight on my friend's life. He deserved what he went through, though I'm sure you'll agree." He said with an extended hoof.

"Yeah, he was a bit of an asshole. A lot of asshole, actually." I said unapologetically.

The stallion smiled and held another hoof to the hallway. "Would you like to tour my humble little castle? I know it is not near the marvel of Her Royal Majesty's own dwelling."

"I'm a simple guy, I'm just marveled by the front gate." I replied, taking up Alabaster's invitation.

"There is no need to be modest." He said kindly.

"No seriously, the castle has a garden, a huge wall surrounding it, huge halls and whatnot, but it's too confined in those stone walls. Here, I actually get to enjoy the warm sound of an old-fashioned hardwood floor." As I said that, I ran across a spot that squeaked rather loudly as I walked across. "Ooh, creaky too."

We managed to walk back through the foyer and towards the other side, introducing me to a tall room reaching as high as the top of the rafters. Each of the four walls were line with nothing but books. It looked almost like a small library was built into this room. "This estate is quite old. It's been passed down for generations until the former owner was discovered in one of the studies. Namely this one here."

"Discovered... Like they died in there?" I asked.

"Indeed. Suicide by hanging." The stallion confessed, completely nonchalant.

At that moment, every bit of warmth I felt when entering this place had quickly evaporated. I was then left with a sense of dread, one that caused me to have an untimely shiver down my spine. "You say what now?"

Seeing the growing horror on my face, the stallion decided to play to the chills I was having. "It was said in the reports that she had levitated herself and merely applied the rope around her neck before subjugating herself to strangulation. They say that if you listen well enough, you can still hear the rafters creaking from the sound of her rope weighing heavily on them."

I smiled nervously, not wanting to take any more steps inside. "Well that's not creepy─"

"She was found with her hind legs dangling from above, her eyes lifeless while looking down below at the door, waiting for the next visitor to greet her absent face as she swayed. Her only words of greeting were the sounds of the rafters creaking from the rope hanging off of them."

Almost with miraculous timing, I heard something wooden creak from above. Even if it was just the house settling after years of being in place, I was unnerved just enough to where I wanted to change the subject by any means. "...I'm here to learn some magic." I blurted out.

The stallion chuckled as he walked beside me, pushing me along. "Well aren't you in a peculiar place, step inside!"

I was guided to a large wooden work desk sitting in front of a massive stained-glass window. My eyes wandered about the room as my morbid curiosity got the better of me. "Hey, that story about that one lady killing herself isn't true, is it?"

He answered me with a smirk while he sat at the desk. "Oh quite. In fact, three of your steps through the door and she would've kicked you in the face."

Another shiver crawled up my spine, almost grabbing at the back of my head. "Is there a better room we could do this in?"

The stallion shrugged. "Afraid not. All the magic books I use are in here."

"Well I'm sure I can help you carry a few. How many do you need?" I asked, starting to reach my hand out to whatever book I could grab.

"This entire wall." He answered, causing my arm to drop, knowing damn well I couldn't even begin to carry that many books on my own. "Lots of tomes and forbidden arts galore. There's even some instructionals and theoreticals here that could do the trick to unlocking a special brand of magic. If anything, you as a non-magical being seeking to learn more about it would greatly benefit from the information there is within these four walls."

"Yeah. But does it have to be in a room where someone died? It kinda feels like bad karma."

"Ah, she wouldn't mind us here. I heard she was quite friendly and forgiving to everypony." Alabaster announced lightly.

"But doesn't it distract from the fact that she killed herself in this room?" I asked.

Alabaster leaned back in his chair, looking up to the ceiling and started to express his thoughts. "Ponies of high society or certain social circles will do these kinds of things. Sometimes it's out of spite for an adulterous spouse, a bout with depression, a love for money so deep that they couldn't fathom the idea of losing it, or even the sadness of never being loved. Sometimes it can even be a move of desperation, for when the walls start to close in around them."

"I don't know, the idea of it is still disturbing." I rebutted, still feeling uncertain.

He looked at me for a second and then quirked a eyebrow. "I forgot to take into account that you were present for the moment Count DuMoneé took his own life."

"He almost fell on top of me." I quietly recalled.

"So was there a look of despair on his face? Do you know?"

I was completely thrown off by the question he asked. Not very many would ask me what a dying person's face looked like, much less someone who took their own life. It was a pretty dark question to be asking. "I uh..."

The stallion shook his head. "Sorry, just... It was personal between him and I. I had watched one of my military friends go on assignment, only to come back in pieces because of a deployment he and his colleagues signed off on. It's one of the main reasons why there were so many holding the rotten tomatoes in the crowd, waiting for him to pass by."

Something in me wanted to know the real reason why he asked that particular question in the manner he asked it. It was so out of left field that I didn't even think it was still in the ballpark. And it wasn't like his face was pretty to begin with after hitting the ground like that. Instead of inquiring about it, I elected to quietly distract myself from it. "I see that Count left a lot of pain in his wake."

"Well he surely deserved his fate. I know that he's far from the resting place he so desired. His son requested that he be buried right next to his wife."

"Seems pretty peaceful to me." I said, feeling unimpressed.

"It was a forced marriage. He hated his wife."

Well that's new. "Ah, explains a lot there." I said, thinking more about words Blue Royal muttered during the funeral. And the longer I thought about it, the more it started to make sense of what she was saying. I was also brought back to the moment at the funeral when I was introduced to a young, tear-stricken stallion. "You know, I saw his son the day of the funeral. I think he was the only one crying over that casket."

"He loved his father, also loved his mother. So he set aside a plan to have him buried with his mother so that he could talk to both of them at the same time."

I stared at Alabaster blankly before saying. "Dead ponies can't hear."

"But our spirits can listen." He promptly replied. "It makes you think on what the old lady would say if she saw us in here right now. She'd probably tell us to play nice right about now."

The rafters creaked once more, I was too scared to stay on this subject. "Okay, morbid shit aside, where do we start?"

Five Hours Later...

If I ever had a complaint about magic training with Twilight, I could simply write those off as minor grievances. The training with Alabaster was MUCH more demanding. It was so demanding that I started having intense migraines, sore arms, burning hands, and shortness of breath. Yet I couldn't deny the effectiveness of his training.

He was very proficient as an instructor. With each levitation spell I was ordered to cast, I was given a certain set of instructions to guide my magic flow in various ways. He noted that it would teach me magical dexterity and agility. It also gave me more of a chance to be able to redirect some of the more hazardous items out of my way like knives, daggers, rocks, sticks, and other smaller projectiles. Now I couldn't quite cast a shield like Shining or Twilight, but I was learning the stepping stones to doing so.

That book exercise Twilight had me doing where I ended up being able to carry six books at once, he had me manipulating double that amount to start off. And if I couldn't get off the ground running, his butler would pelt spoons and forks at me to get me to stop each of those while carrying the six books I could only carry for the time being. Goes without saying I had my fair share of cutlery digging into my arms and chest before I eventually learned to manipulate more than six items. And whatever cutlery I caught, that item was then replaced by a book. Also, because of that little caveat, I ended up dropping all of the books I held a few times over.

Then there was the punishment of having to learn how to pick up that seventh book on top of having more insults pelted at me like I was getting yelled at by my dad over some bad grades. And there was no kind words of encouragement, it was just a straightforward 'do it again' while I was getting books thrown at me instead. And if I managed to levitate more books than what I was comfortable with at the time, the process would repeat itself. That was a total of three hours of getting books thrown at me until I somehow found myself at the center of seventeen floating books.

And none of those books were being manipulated outside of my influence.

That part of training initially felt crude to me, almost like I was being made a mockery of. And I wasn't too happy to be around the house any longer than that until he told me at the end of that exercise a tidbit of information. Apparently magic is a stressful transition of power that can weigh on your physical state quite heavily when not properly applied. If I had any chance to improve, I had to quickly adapt to the load given. It was like lifting weights, but on a smaller and more metaphorical scale. But unlike my actual muscles that needed time and patience to develop, magic was based more on my mental fortitude, reflexes, and endurance. It's entirely on the ability to process things quickly and reacting to those things in a more timely manner.

One wrong move or one moment of distraction can be crucial to life or death. So I had to be thrown into a situation that required me to adjust to many variables quickly while chipping away at any mental barriers that prevented me from pushing myself forward. It was the primary reason why he told me to start off with double the number of books I was capable of handling all at once, establishing a goal and throwing me into the line of fire. It also helps that those books were hardback covers, so pain was also a dominant motivator. So after that round of dodgeball, I was introduced into a new segment I didn't think I would run into so early on.

The next segment was called 'Counter'.

The method required two steps. The first step was to use your magic to stop any incoming projectiles, clearing your view of any obstruction, keeping your eyes on your assailant, and reading for their next move. My having combat experience made much of that part an easier walk-through. However, the next phase was a more challenging one called 'Counter' or being able to redirect your magic into a specified point before allowing the energy dispersed in that area to gain enough potential to knock back an assailant.

To clarify, Counter is different from another method known in unicorn combat as 'Casting'. In casting, it's exactly what you'd imagine it being. You're channeling an optimal amount of magic to send the same power your counter has, but using more of it to send a ray of energy at your opponent. Often times, it will only be a minute or two before either unicorn wears themselves empty of their magic fighting like this, because it is dispelling more magic than what is being replenished in your cycle. And as such, counter is used more often in self-defense as it requires close-quarter-combat conditions to be met. Meanwhile casting requires more accuracy and prediction based on it's projectile state.

There's also another method by the name of 'Calling', which is something Twilight practices on the regular. Using this kind of magic requires a lot of energy that can leave you drained, a lot of focus that can leave you wide open, and some harmful risks should a spell be cast incorrectly. For calling spells, you're required to learn equations and incantations, basically a bunch of stuff with most of it being way out of my league for the current time. There are simplified incantations, though they are not always as powerful or effective. Some unicorns can use this skill easily, quickly, and effectively without any repercussions. Others will sometimes experience symptoms like migraines, burnout, fatigue, dehydration, and even various degrees of burns. Explains a lot about what I saw in that first parallel universe.

As for how I learned all of this, I was forced to read some of the books that were thrown my way as well.

So when I had finished, my brain was throbbing from the intense workout it was given for the day. Unfortunately for me, it would be my legs to experience the throbbing next considering the fact that I was going to be traveling from one quadrant of the mountain to the other. The only pluses I walked away with was my parting with a pair of new skills and having the comfort of knowing that the checkpoints aren't nearly as brutal on the way out as they were on the way in.

When I got close to the castle grounds, I saw a small gathering of guards stationed at the front gate. Upon my arrival, the group saluted and dispersed before one of them came galloping towards me. "Captain, you didn't report your whereabouts."

I was already tired from the day, so my mood wasn't quite the brightest to be dealing with micromanagement issues. "My head hurts, what's going on?"

The guard then gave me a greeting salute. "Well sir, after seeing reports of your disappearance from the city, we were issued orders for a search."

"Let me guess, another summons?" I asked.

"Not exactly one for the parliament. Princess Celestia has placed the entire city on lockdown for you."

"For what!?" I asked completely incredulous.

"She said it was something that pertains to a personal matter, one she wishes to address with you effective immediately."

She sent the whole guard, not just one or two squads, not even a fucking battalion, the entire royal guard on a manhunt. The fact that she did all of that just to sit me down for a one-on-one gives me terrors. The only thing that could go through my mind was the possibility of her finding out about what happened between me and Luna. And honestly, that was more than reason enough to damn near come close to razing the city to bring little old me back to her again.

I quietly glanced around before whispering to the guard. "Did she ever specify her reasoning?"

"No sir."

I started to fake like I was going to go the opposite direction. "Well in that case, I guess I can run a few more errands before I get back in─"

Almost in miraculous unison, a pair of pegasi guards dove down and hit the ground with a power-stance before the other guard informed me worriedly. "I'm afraid she noted that your return to the castle took priority over anything else. You have to answer her, no further permissions to be granted or privileges allowed."

I grimaced with a bit of fear. "So... Royal decree?"

"Royal decree." He simply replied.

Me and my painful everything was quickly escorted back to the grounds, inside of the castle, and shown the way to the dining hall. The door opened to show a silently sitting Celestia seemingly serene with her cup of tea. She didn't wear a smile, she didn't wear any emotion on her face at all, which did nothing but make me not want to enter inside. The guards nodded as they pointed into the dining hall, non-verbally telling me to get inside.

If I got chewed out yesterday, then this had to be her signing my death certificate or something.

The door closed behind me, leaving me in the dead silent room. Naturally the room has a lot of ambiance coming from the halls around it, but I wasn't even offered that bit of luxury. There was no reason to call this unsettling silence comfort. And what made it worse was the fact that Celestia didn't even acknowledge when I walked in. She just stayed in her chair, sipping her tea, probably thinking about what she's going to do to me. I looked back at the door just out of curiosity, only to find a set of golden runes surrounding the doors.

At that point, there was no trying to avoid the subject. I could only walk up to the only seat left at the table, sending my heart rate into the triple digits. And even as I sat in my seat, the only thing that happened was Celestia sitting with her tea, her eyes closed as she quietly enjoyed her cup. But upon her next sip, she used her hooves instead of her magic, an unusual development for her. I looked around awkwardly, waiting for her to say something, But the only sound I heard next was her sighing with enjoyment.

I gave a single nod and a nervous chuckle before I started to speak. Yet I couldn't even get a word out before Celestia broke the silence. "Chamomile and honey, good for the soul and throat. I do enjoy tea, don't you?"

I waited a few seconds before speaking. "Well, I'm more of an... uncultured peasant when it comes to tea. I do like sweet tea, tea mixed with lemonade, of course some green tea is okay."

"Have you had chamomile tea?" She asked gently.

"I can't say that I have." I confessed.

The high princess stood from her seat and walked over to a nearby tray, pouring me a cup before returning to me. She quietly walked beside me, placed the cup before me, and returned to her seat. I stared at the tea and felt my nerves screaming at me to not drink this tea. The princess noticed my insecurity and spoke. "They say that a different cup will give each tea a different flavor. If you look at the bottom, you will see something special." I looked inside to see a thin wooden ring around the half-way mark. "I know this may be interesting to know about me, but I find that some porcelain is too corrupt for the taste. Years, sometimes generations of being passed down, and you end up tasting the experience of others as opposed to that of your own."

"So why not a brand new cup?" I asked.

"If it's too new, then you would taste the manufacturers work as opposed to the beverage. Personally I recommend the cups to be boiled five times before I am able to enjoy them, it brings about a certain purity to the taste. But then there was this one place I visited on a venture for diplomatic relations. When I went there to visit, they served us tea in these wooden cups. Funny thing is the guards that accompanied me felt like there was sacrilege afoot, as if I was being insulted, so I had my accompanying guard to taste it for me. But he didn't appreciate the flavor, more testing for poison. But when I smelled the steam, it started to feel nostalgic. Visions of my mother, my running through the halls with Luna, my avoiding my magic lessons with Starswirl to play in the forest, all of those things came back to me."

"All of that over the smell?" I asked.

"When you taste your tea, you're not so much using your tongue as you are your sense of smell." She answered before continuing. "So when I placed my lips on the cup and took my first sip, I found myself wanting to see my sister again, looking at the moon in the sky, praying that I'd be able to hold her again. The dignitaries asked why I had started to cry, but I didn't tell them the longing I had at that moment, just telling them that the tea was wonderful."

"All of this over a wooden cup?" I asked.

"Well long ago, far before the time you were born, cups were much harder to come by. Many of them were made of potters clay, but far too delicate to break or muddy to be used. But since Luna and I were frequent to many attempts of courting by nobles, we would be offered many cups to drink from. I am sure you can assess the reason."

"Drugging or poison." I concluded.

"Exactly. So our mother devised a plan to prevent us from drinking after others. She designated two cups for me and my sister, made of wood to never shatter if they were to drop, enchanted to notify us if something was added, and strong enough to be used as weapons for our own defense."

"Those politicians must've been a different kind of thirsty to be going after you two being so young." I said with disgust.

"That was the practice at the time. For colts, if one could labor at a young age, then one was considered to be ready. For fillies, some were arranged to be married the month before their first estrus. Luna and I were subject to no difference." She replied before pointing to my cup. "Hurry and drink, your tea is getting cold."

I looked inside the cup and took a sip, smacking my tongue against the roof of my mouth to help me understand the flavor. "I don't really taste the difference."

"It's an acquired taste, but an appreciated one. I for one love the homely taste of alder with my chamomile." She said with a polite tone. "But smell the tea before drinking this time."

This time, I did as she instructed. I smelled the light scented aroma and slowly sipped on the tea, starting to appreciate the taste as it warmly embraced me on the way down. I started to feel a little more relaxed, letting the world around me becoming less significant. Before I knew it I had started sipping in silence, the room being just as calm and serene as ever. And in very little time, my cup was empty. "Yeah, that really hit me in a good place. I like it."

"More?" She questioned.

"Please." I answered.

She got up and paused for a moment, looking back at her own cup before filling a new one up. She looked to me and kindly asked. "Can you finish this cup for me, I feel the cup might be a tad too corrupt."

I started giggling, realizing that some of Twilight's traits was a prime reflection of her teacher's habits. I shrugged and took the cup. "If it's so corrupt, then why did you drink out of it?" I asked, taking a sip of the cooled tea. That's when I realized something had come up in the tea that shouldn't have been there. I halted my drinking and spat back in the cup, feeling something metallic fall into my mouth. I looked down and saw something at the bottom of the cup.

It was the pendant she gave me.

The calm I once felt had subsided to terror while I tried to play off the situation. "Oh, I've been looking for this for a while now!" I said, digging the pendant out with a tea spoon. "I can't believe I left it inside of a dumb place like a drinking cup."

The princess sat across from me, slowly as she spoke. "Of course you didn't leave it there. I found it in Luna's room."

The pendant fell to the table as my spoon fell with a clatter inside of the tea cup. My eyes locked onto the small piece of enchanted jewelry. "Really, because I could've sworn I didn't go to Luna's room outside of an inspection that two other guards were present for."

"Ah yes, the guards..." The high princess then summoned a small folder with papers neatly clipped together. The princess smiled with a gentle demeanor. "I should also notify you that there were a few reports on your personal hygiene a few noted being as being indicative of 'some involvement of lecherous activity'. And this was on your way out of the castle."

In other words, I was musky, and not in the usual way. "I'm sorry if something was amiss. I had a close encounter with a girl over in my world. I realized I had something to check in on really quickly so I didn't really give myself a chance to clean up."

She slid the reports across the table for me to read on. "It's set on the very day I had problems locating Luna, she was scheduled to raise the moon that night at around 5:57 in the evening. I had to raise the moon instead at approximately 6:17 because she was nowhere to be seen. You were seen entering the portal room at 5:15 and leaving at exactly 6:41. From there you were reported at the checkpoint at the time of 6:48."

I stared at the written complaints and shook my head in disbelief. "This is an insane amount of detail."

"And that's not all." She continued. "Luna was reported entering the portal room at around 3:26 in the afternoon. She was not seen by any of the guards or maids since. I saw her in the bath and reprimanded her for not being able to fulfill her duties on time, which she wrote me off as being anal-retentive. That was 6:43 in the evening, just two minutes after your return."

I leaned back in my chair staring at the reports before one of the pages started to cinder. I immediately tossed the papers onto the ground to avoid being burned. I looked up to see Celestia calmly staring at me, but with one significant detail...

The lock of her mane running up the side of her neck had gone from it's usual four colors into a literal flame. "So... I am going to ask you discreetly. Did you. Touch. My sister?"

Right then, it was as if the moment that nearly drove me to insanity started to haunt the back of my mind. I wasn't just terrified, I was about an inch away from literally shitting myself. "Um... what do you mean by touch, exactly?"

Another lock of her mane started to combust as she slowly answered. "Touch. Verb. To come so close to an object or being as to be or come into contact with it. Id est: Did you touch my sister in any inappropriate manner that would result in your wearing her scent as a cologne signifying your conquest?"

Out of habit, I started to formulate a story to explain myself. "Your highness─"

In a single blink, she disappeared from in front of me to directly beside me, holding a hoof firmly against the bottom of my jaw, rendering me unable to speak. She turned my head to face her as she quietly took off her chest plate, openly revealing the scar I caught a glimpse of. "Before you start, I should inform you of something. And I don't want you to disclose this to anypony, anyhuman, anycreature, anyone. Do I have your commitment to that?"

"Mmhmmm." I confirmed, nervously swallowing the heart trying to jump from out of my throat.

"Now then, dear friend..." She said, gently caressing my chin. "The scar on my chest was a brand, a crudely forged iron T to mark me a traitor to Equestria. The reason being: I simply gave my all to a stallion whom I was to never see again. You know this story, don't you?"

I nodded to the best of my ability.

"Very good. And on top of branding me the way they did, they tortured me... slowly. I was destroyed beyond what was deemed appropriate because the envy of several nobles seeking to be my suitor. Some even wished for me to die, seeking to go even further than what was needed or warranted. But many argued that if I was executed, there would be no one strong enough to raise the sun and moon, a feat that originally took six unicorns to perform once before losing their powers for at least a week. So they spared me, but elected to subjugate me to the hell I went through, the cruelty of ponies was shown to me all for a month, the sadness and loss that followed me for more than a hundred lifetimes. Do you know what it is like to suffer that pain for that long?"

I shook my head to the best of my capability.

"I surely didn't think you would. But I know my sister won't find out about what happened to me, neither will I tell her. And most importantly, neither will I allow for her to experience that pain. Because if it ever comes to pass, I will know who to look to as the one responsible. I will know who to come after. And most importantly, I WILL KNOW what to do. With. YOU."

She removed her hoof from my jaw, using her magic to slowly pull me towards her as she spoke in a low rumbling voice.

"Now I am giving you a fair confession. If you lie to me, I will give you not a single breath for air as I eviscerate you. And this is not me speaking from a royal's perspective. I speak for my own desire, my own indignation, for my family." As she asked me for the final time, her eyes started to cinder and turn a dark shade of crimson brown while her irises transitioned from the normal violet she had to a more menacing gold. Her teeth even sharpened to fangs. The magic that held me faded from gold to red. "Did. You. Touch. Luna?"

I felt my knees give way, her magic being the only thing to keep me standing in place. There was no possible way I could lie, judging from the approach she took, it was obvious that she knew everything that happened. So I closed my eyes and silently confessed. "I did."

"What did you do to her." She questioned vehemently.

"I kissed her." I replied, not daring to look the princess in the eye. "Then she kissed me, and we made out."

"Was that all?" She asked, seething.

"No." I answered, unable to say anything but the truth. "She... wanted me to claim her."

"Did you?" She turned my head to her face, forcing my eyelids open as she stared back at me with those sun-burnt eyes.

"I could not, even if I felt that I wanted to in the moment. I knew the trouble she would face, the problems that would come up. I just couldn't put you two through that." I finished confessing. "But if you don't believe me, if you don't have a single word to say to me after all of this, then I can understand your not wanting to see me in your presence, or even in your service. I am sorry."

The princess glared at me for a while longer before the flaming visage cascaded away to her more normalized appearance. The red aura that engulfed my body then turned to gold again, setting me gently onto the ground. Finally after a moment of silence, she spoke with her eyes closed. "I think you missed a few details, more specifically how you promised Luna that what you two did was going to be a one-time affair."

My jaw fell agape. "Uh, are you reading my mind again?"

Shaking her head, she replied softly. "No. Luna told me what happened between the two of you when I discovered the pendant in her possession."

Wait... SHE TOLD ON ME FROM THE JUMP!? "Oh, so you knew?"

"Just earlier today when I went around in her room. I thought I would find her there resting, but I saw the pendant on her nightstand and the rest is academic." She then cracked open one eye to glint at me. "However, she made me promise that I wouldn't hurt you if she told me the truth."

"So it wouldn't have mattered if I told the truth or not then." I stated meekly. "You already knew the story so it didn't matter what I said."

"Oh it mattered quite a large amount." She corrected. "If you would've lied on my sisters word, I would've forgone on the promise I made her and banished you to the moon for a good hundred years."

Well that's so reassuring. "Well it's a good thing I fessed up."

That tiny glint of her evolved into a full stare. "But that doesn't change the fact that I am quite upset with the both of you. It appears that your rivalry with us nobles is only directed to key individuals as opposed to the overall conglomerate. I can take relief in that as opposed to what I started to assume just yesterday. At least our relations are not entirely severed."

"I'm sorry if it ever appeared that way." I said with a bow.

"But now that we've come to an understanding..." She said, placing the pendant on my neck with a stoic expression. "I don't want you getting too close to Luna. She's just as off-limits as I am. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

"Yes, your highness." I answered with a salute.

The princess smile for a second... "Good." ...Before erupting into a scowl again. "Now get out of my face and do something constructive with your time, captain. I don't need you harming my sister's reputation like you could've already."

"Noted." I acknowledged.

Out of nowhere, the ambiance of the room returned. My eyes bucked open as it was damn-near identical to what happened with Blue Royal yesterday evening. It seemed as if Celestia was using the same spell. The more interesting thing was that I didn't even see her horn ignite once except to pick me up or move around cups of tea.

I knew she was powerful, but I didn't think you could cast spells without any visible auras.

So I stepped outside of the room and took a sigh of relief, leaning my back against the door while clasping at my chest, thanking God that I didn't have to meet with him today. I looked at my phone and checked the time, seeing it was almost time to set the sun.

I mumbled to myself. "Hey wait a minute, wasn't I supposed to be eating dinner at this hour?"

The Next Day...

My morning was unusually quiet today. The birds that I'd often hear outside had completely gotten silent. The sun didn't quite beam in my eyes like it usually did. When I got up to look out the window, I saw a small group of pegasi wearing blue vests shifting several clouds over in the sky. Even sitting at the window sill, I could feel the cool air permeating the glass into the room.

Surely enough, it was the first sign that winter was soon approaching.

I ran about my morning rituals and headed straight to the dining hall. When I stepped inside, I saw Blueblood sitting with a disinterested stare into nothing while playing with his food, Shining sticking his tongue out with disgust at the oatmeal sitting before him, and Luna holding a small bag of apples freshly imported from Ponyville. No Cadance or Celestia making any appearances today.

I walked in and sat at my seat. "Morning, y'all." I said, putting on my thickest Texan accent. "Getting kinda chilly now, ain't it?"

Shining pushed the bowl of oatmeal away from him. "Ugh, they're supposed to be getting ready for the crop of snow clouds to come in tomorrow. It's gonna get cool today, just enough for the snow to stick."

Last I checked, that was more than 'cool' in the human sense of temperature. "Yikes. Guess it's time for me to start looking for some coats again. Guess I'll run by the store tomorrow and nab me a few that'll fit me pretty well."

Luna smirked. "So you humans don't like the cold too much, do you?"

"I forget that you lot are always wrapped up in something. I guess it wouldn't surprise me that you'd think about putting on even more clothes than you'd need." Blueblood added.

"That's the thing, humans don't have fur." I reiterated while smacking my arm.

"Do you want some?" Luna joked, igniting her horn with a lively blue glow.

"Not right now." I answered as a server provided me with a small tray of breakfast items. My meal consisted of a glass of milk, a bowl of oatmeal, and a small cup of whey powder. "Ugh... this again."

Shining groaned as well. "Tell me about it. Cadance gets the advantage of using the Crystal Empire's cooking staff for whenever she wants something."

Figures since she's the pregnant ruler of a satellite state. "I wish we could all hire our own chefs."

"As much as I would enjoy that, I would have to argue against the proposition. It's too financially straining on the royal budget. The riches would deplete slowly, but a slow bleeding only leads to a slow death." Blueblood replied. "But you know what's more cost effective?"

"What?" I asked.

"Ordering food from your world and eating it here." Shining answered. "I want some food that'll have me on a weight-watchers program for a week."

"Careful. You'll end up on the same bullshit I'm on." I warned, pointing my spoon at the young prince. "One day of Thanksgiving dinner and I'm now wondering if meat is going to be an absent part of my diet for the next three months."

Luna smirked while she muttered with a sarcastic tone. "It's not like Celestia is partial to breaking her own regiment to stuff a slice of cake in her mouth with every given opportunity."

I dipped my spoon into the oatmeal, seeing how watery today's batch was. "So is there any plans for today other than us having to suffer with this really shitty chef until the next possible business day?"

Luna's horn once again glowed with a bright blue aura while she spoke. "Well I heard you complain about the dropping temperatures. So I wanted to see if I could rectify that by giving you some fur."

"I'm not your guinea pig, Luna." I said pretty quickly, not realizing what she was alluding to.

"Last I checked, you were the one trying to negotiate for this spell. Now that it's there for you to implement, you want to hold off on it?" She said, pointing back to me.

By then, I was made aware of her intention. "Oh... wait, today?"

Blueblood started to grow a devilish smile. "Ooh goody, that means we'll get to have a bit of fun at your expense."

Shining also started to show his enthusiasm. "I know this is going to be a fun day."

Luna then turned to the two stallions and cut their smiles short. "But to make this a fair exchange of humor, both of you will be transformed into humans, a complete exercise in walking in each others shoes."

I promptly fired back at the two royal princes. "Ha, a fair game for all."

Blueblood turned his attention to Luna. "So I'll take it that you will be participating in this exercise as well?"

"It would not be to the preference of Nondis. When ponies are transformed into humans, clothes aren't exactly an automatic provision. And I'm sure his pony self would still find attraction in my anatomical redirection. And equine arousal is a lot harder to conceal."

She wasn't lying, Celestia and Twilight transforming gave me the opportunity to see the two of their assets transition to more favorable attributes. I even caught a glimpse of what they both had offered in their human state and it made me into a horndog damn-near busting a nut in my apartment complex's shared laundromat. "Fair enough. So when do we start?"

"Upon your acquiring some clothes for our two princes to temporarily appropriate."

About an hour after breakfast, I made my way to the portal room. But instead of making my way into Mel's apartment, I went into the one that directed me to Cliff's closet in the frathouse. When I arrived, I asked him if he had two pairs of anything to spare. He promptly asked why and I explained to him that there were two other candidates for pony-to-human transformation. And as giddy as Shining was about the affair, Cliff found himself trying to find Rickey to join in on the fun.

The situation worked out for the better. Cliff was more on the five-foot nine end of things, but wore his clothes baggy. Rickey was closer to six feet, but wore his clothes a little more fitted. My old clothes would've either fell off from being too big, and my newer clothes would've been too long for them to wear. And to add the cherry on top, they ordered two pizzas to take over for our enjoyment.

We got back over and Luna was already grabbing the clothes for the two. Rickey and Cliff both sat in silence as they watched the midnight princess ignite her horn to weave the spell. In what was a successful casting, she simultaneously transformed the two princes into a pair of stark naked humans. The two were dormant for all of two seconds before cracking their eyes open to see their hooves being nothing more than balled-up fists. Luna turned around an instructed us to clothe the two princes, to which we obliged. We had them both lean against the wall as a means to not let them fall over. By then, we came to a more defined conclusion of how the two stacked up to us.

Shining Armor was six-foot even. His hair was a conglomeration of three different shades of blue, flowing locks reaching down to the bottom of his shoulders and the top of his back. His chin and upper lip was barren, giving him a more clean look. His eyes were a deep blue. He had wide broad shoulders, well-toned arms, an impressively shaped physique with large hands. And as far as Rickey's outfit being on him, he didn't like how confined his clothes were. If I had to grade him to what he'd look like in my unbiased eyes, it would be certain that Cadance would have severe marital issues. He's almost as anime as you'd can get in real life, and that goes a mighty long way in the eyes of several college girls.

Blueblood was five-foot ten. His hair was a true light blond, locks flowing down to his pectorals. He had a small mustache with limited stubble, giving him a slightly rugged look. His shoulders were not too impressive and neither were his arms, he seemed to have a more average build with a small amount of muscle definition. His eyes were as blue as the sky. He preferred a different outfit as opposed to the baggy-looking urban apparel he donned. Grading him, he'd be that guy you'd see at a distinguished ivy league institution with an expensive Rolex on his wrist, holding a golf-club in one hand and a visor in the other. He'd probably have some material chick shooting for his wallet in less than five seconds.

Luna then turned to me with her horn glowing. She warned me quietly. "Now to warn you, you're going to feel a slight tingling sensation and you're going to be a bit disoriented as soon as you open your eyes again."

I clenched my eyes and my jaw, already kissing my hands goodbye for the time being. Especially my right hand, gonna miss jacking off with that one. For a second, it almost felt like I was facing a death sentence. "Okay, I'm ready."

I heard a loud zap as everything on my person suddenly started aching and burning, my joints growing tighter with the passing seconds, my chest condensed to where it was hard for me to breathe. My body felt like it couldn't get enough air, so I passed out.

***Point of Perspective: Equus Nondis***

My eyes slowly opened to the world around me. I was left with a pretty unusual headache, completely dazed for a while as Luna stood over my body. I looked to her and saw her tilting her head, biting her lip, and tapping her chin with a hoof. The princess hummed with satisfaction. Voices behind me started to speak out.

"Damn, that spell is legit freaky." I head Rickey say.

"Nope, that can't be me." Cliff cosigned with a scoff. "I love being able to slap some dumbass motherfucker with the same hand I bust a nut with."

"How about using a phone?" Rickey replied.

I reached for my head, only seeing a hoof attached to my arm... which was now a leg... attached to my chest... without any opposable thumbs to go with my fingers... or the not-having-fingers thing. Lot to process there. What I also had to process was how warm it was now, how the world look so significantly LARGER. And when I tried to stand up, I placed my arms on the ground and tried to use them as leverage. But the only result I had was completely falling to the ground like I had done something completely wrong.

Luna chuckled as she held a hoof out for me to grab a hold of. I tried to grab at her, only realizing the ghost of my human self couldn't grab things like I wanted to or what I was so used to doing.

Also... Note to self: Arms are now legs.

"So are you going to just sit there and look like a timid foal or are you going to grab onto me?" Luna whispered, still extending her hoof towards me.

For a moment, I had to reconfigure how I was going to operate since I was in an equine state. I glanced over to Shining and Blueblood, noticing their hands were still balled up like fists and their wrists curled in. It gave me a great indication of how I could translate the movement from one form to the other. So I imagined my hand being in a fist, curling my wrist and reaching out.

Grabbing the princess even felt different. Our forelegs were warm to the touch, and Luna's strength was more than enough to yank me to all fours. But as soon as she let go of my foreleg, I felt my balance completely give way to the hoof I had yet to put on the ground, my body swaying uncontrollably back and forth. The lunar princess stepped beside me, leaning her body against mine. The insane amount of warmth I felt would've been enough to make me start sweating if I was human, but it didn't. For a few seconds, I started to slowly stabilize myself and stand on my own. The princess leaned off of me as I looked to her to thank her... and that's when I noticed it.

The smell she gave off was more than enticing. The eyes she looked at me with were set higher than mine, In fact, she was actually taller than me by at least six inches. The smell she gave off was amazing. Her hooves were almost my size, but a tiny bit larger. Her wings could totally engulf me if she wanted to. That scent she had, the musk, I had to have her. Why do I feel a breeze?

And then... the laughs started to ensue.

Behind me, I could hear Cliff and Rickey destroying their sides with how badly they were in rapture with laughter. In front of me, I could see both Blueblood and Shining slide to the ground while laughing uncontrollably. Even Princess Luna had to try and stifle her own laugh before she could speak. I looked to everyone in the room and asked. "What's wrong? What's so funny?"

Luna used her wing and pointed to the growing issue. "Perhaps it is a situation that many young colts acquire once they reach a certain age. I suppose it's time we had... the talk."

I looked down, not really able to see what was the issue until I had to look in between my forelegs. And just as I stared at the issue, it stared right back at me. There I was completely exposed and open for business. I tried to hide myself, chanting to the strange looking phallus. "Okay, nice to meet you too. Now go the fuck away─" In a instinctive reflex, I accidentally made the engorged stallionhood slap against my belly. Something right then registered a massive shipment of dopamine to my brain, causing my eyes to roll a bit. "♪Oo-ooo-ooh-ooh Okay, that feels good─OKAY WAIT A MINUTE!" I sharply turned my head to the transformed stallions, begging them to help me. "Guys, GUYS! Please tell me how to stop this before it gets worse!"

Shining took a break from laughing as looked to his partner in crime and asked. "Should we tell him or nah?

Blueblood's face turned red as he wheezed so hard that it sounded like a car engine turning over. By that point, Cliff and Rickey completely abandoned all decorum and just fell to the ground holding themselves. "I can't breathe." The prince said while wheezing. "Pain... laughing..."

"Wait is he gonna bust a nut?" Cliff asked.

"Almost!" Shining shrieked before succumbing to laughter again.

Luna whispered in my ear as she leaned in closer to me. "You know, you're at the point where you might as well release yourself so you can progress about your day."

I stared at the princess while growling at her. "Lady, this is you. This is all your fault. If you didn't come smelling like you do, I wouldn't be in this mess."

The princess blushed with a stifled giggle. "Just the smell? Really? That's all it takes for you?"

"Apparently equine scent is a lot stronger to you equines than it is for us humans." I reiterated, flinching yet again from the sensation of my uncontrolled arousal slapping against my belly. "All that aside, can we PLEASE work on a solution that doesn't require a cleanup?"

Luna pointed her feathers at my muzzle, looking at me with one eye closed. "So you say this is because of me?"

"All of it." I answered out of frustration.

She retracted her wing and stepped in closer, using her magic to lift my chin to look up to her. "So you are confessing that I am the cause of your lust, that my merely being present is what drives you? You acknowledge that you want it to stop, but are refusing the only solution that is deemed plausible. Are you really in need of such assistance over something so trivial?" She leaned in, nearly inching her lips towards mine. "Something so... natural."

Another throb sent my equine staff bulging against my belly, and it also sent me into a frenzy fueled out of desperation. "Okay, fine! Just help me get rid of this thing!"

Cliff slapped the floor while laughing. "Oh my God, he's really gon' get off?"

"Ain't no other way!" Shining called out.

I quietly whispered to Luna. "Is there any way we can make this not a show for the others to laugh at?"

The princess smiled evilly as she blew on my hyper-sensitive ears. "But I thought 'what we had was a one-time thing' was your whole selling point."

Rickey stopped laughing for a moment to notice what the princess had actually said. "Hey, uh, did anyone else hear that?"

I groaned and sulked in defeat. "One more for the road?"

Luna horn started to ignite as she forced me down on my haunches, allowing me to reveal myself to her. The princess bit her lip while she watched me throb in mid-air. Seemingly, the smell she gave off had gotten even stronger, making me even more uncontrolled to my sexual urge. My hind legs twitched with anticipation as my shaft hung far from me. My cheeks flushed red as she stared me in my eyes. "Now what did I tell you the last time when we were like this?"

"The last time we what?" I tried to ask innocently.

She inched even closer, pressing her muzzle against mine, our lips just an inch away from each other. "I sat with my wings, displaying a very precious item to you. Do you not recall the order I gave?"

How could I, the smell she had then was incredible then, it would've been ground zero for me at this current moment. But just the thought of her in that position, her eyes looking at me with such greed, I couldn't help myself as I grew the more turgid. "Claim your princess."

"Now what do you have to say in retaliation?" She whispered.

"Your knight comes." I said as even the slightest breeze made me want to engorge.

The princess looked down and whispered once more. "After that performance, you were dissatisfied. I said that I would make amends..." Her foreleg bumped against me, causing me to throb with the added gift of dripping want. Her eyes expanded as she hummed. "So eager to your reward."

Her wings journeyed forth, one prominent feather tickled against the base of my shaft, slowly inching up and down while she sat on the ground before me. Her jaw fell slightly agape as she watched me completely give in to her. My eyes looked at her with longing while her feathers brushed against me. My breaths grew heavier while her eyes started to trail back to me.

"Shameless. To advertise yourself in front of a viewing audience. I'm starting to believe you have a innate desire to exhibit your wares. So juvenile, so immature, so indecent..." She wrapped a foreleg around the back of my neck. "So... primitive... beastly... organic... chaotic..."

A sharp moan was all I could get out, signifying how close I was. She stopped smiling and grew more lustfully focused. I leaned my pelvis towards her, letting her feel more of me. As she felt my cue, she swiped her feather loosely at the bottom of my length, tickling me all the way to the engorged flare. And there I sat for a second before it became too much for me to withstand. It was over, I was too far over the edge, I was going to come down regardless of what my desires or personal feelings were. It was only a matter of time.

"Arrive, my knight." And then it hit me. Just as her lips enclosed on mine, I moaned into her mouth, shaking and shuddering with wanton release. "That's right. Ride it out for me." She whispered, using her magic to usher the next few spurts from within me. As far as I could see beside her, I could already see a long line of seed cast from me to the ground next to her. I felt myself lose more and more of the little balance I had and topple over into a small dribbling puddle of my own offering.

For several seconds, I felt like there were an innumerable amount of stars in my eyes, my world significantly more sparkly than usual. My breaths grew short before I was given a chance to return to normalcy. Panting up to the princess, I felt more embarrassed. "Ugh... I know this shit was beyond humiliating, but I needed to break that one out so bad."

The princess sat down beside me, patting me on the back. "Who's a good little colt?"

"Lady... Stop. I can't take it no more. That one was beyond explanation."

The room was deathly silent. I looked around with a reddened face, knowing that they all just watched me ride six white horses on the way back. Even Cliff and Rickey had to sit themselves in Indian style with their arms crossed over their laps. Rickey was the first to say something. "I gotta admit, I'm not into the whole pony thing... But goddamn that was something."

Cliff nodded as he pulled out his phone. "Lemmie check on what Sunset's got going on later this evening."

I looked over to see Shining and Blueblood imitating the other two men in their posture. Shining shrugged with pursed lips. "You know, now I'm just upset." Shining said. "Cadance is pregnant, so all of that shit is like off the menu for me."

"My wives won't even give me the time of day." Blueblood replied, shaking his head. "I think I married the wrong one... times seven."

"Yeah... I'm gonna have to ask what I walked in on."

My head turned to the direction of the voice, seeing Melanie standing next to her portal. By then my face completely turned red. "Mel! How long have you been here!?"

"Since 'primitive, beastly, organic, and chaotic'. And by the way, you're a pony now?" She asked, aware of who I was by my voice.

I immediately got up and tried to cover myself, not realizing that I had a puddle of cum still dripping off my coat. I sighed with disbelief and disgust. "Oh... I've gotta wash that out, don't I?"

Mel scratched her head. "Uh, shower's open but you're gonna need some help cleaning up."

I tried to walk over to her, only falling flat on my face into a puddle of my own mess. Almost everyone in the room turned their head either in disgust or embarrassment. Luna quickly grabbed me off of the ground and gave me a quick walking lesson. "Left foreleg forward, right hindleg up." I did as she instructed. "Now right hindleg down, right foreleg forward." By that point, I felt like I was learning a really difficult dance step that required four legs to do.

Mel quickly called out to me. "Just crawl!"

Almost like instant magic, I was completely walking on my own. I looked back at an astounded Princess Luna before I was politely guided through Mel's portal. As I seeped through, Shining looked at the mess that was left behind. "We should probably clean this up before he gets back. Don't want him falling in it again."

"Not it." The three other men called out in unison.

Luna just shook her head and summoned a towel and started wiping the floor. Shining sighed as he offered to help the princess with the clean-up effort. "Thank's Princess Luna."

The night princess scoffed as she replied. "I'm not cleaning up after him. I'm cleaning up the mess I made dealing with him." She then threw Cliff and Rickey some more towels she summoned. "You two, you will clean."

Cliff waved his hands frantically. "Look, I ain't a fan of cleaning up horse nut. Did it before, not trying to do it again."

Rickey looked at the dreaded man with genuine interest. "Since when did you ever had to clean up horse cum?"

"...Long story."

After about thirty minutes of trying to figure out how a shower works with hooves, I elected to just sit in the shower and let Mel bathe me like a dog. It worked out pretty well, considering that she openly volunteered herself to the task. But knowing my stubborn ass, I decided to take matter into my own hands... hooves. I was thinking on the parameters of my being in pony world might have me adjust to life around me a bit faster. But it didn't do anything but overcomplicate the situation even further. So I conceded the fact that I had no fucking clue on what I was doing, swallowed my pride, and accepted my loss.

As soon as I finished, I actually took a moment to stand in front of the portal, since it was effectively through a mirror anyways. My appearance was completely similar in some regards to my human form. I had a build similar but not exact to Shining Armor, a square muzzle, a long mane tied back like a ponytail. My coat was a creamy color, my eyes were green. However, my mane and tail were a totally different color from what they would usually be. Instead of having brown hair like I normally do, I had a crimson red mane. I was also a unicorn, which could prove to be convenient. I had a cutie mark of a red-and-white target circle, complete with a single arrow lodged in the bullseye. My hooves had a more subdued crimson color to them, accenting both my mane and tail.

I also noticed certain things about the world around me, and not just the obvious fact that the world seemed a lot bigger than usual. I could hear whoever was coming up the stairs from all the way in the back of the apartment if I really tried to listen. My ears could flick at even the slightest sudden breeze, which annoyed me a bit. And if I was annoyed, my tail would sooner show it than my face, flicking once before settling back in place. I also tried the puppy-dog look Rarity gave to me whenever she wanted me to do something with her that required physical labor combined with travel. I even shot the look at Mel.

Finally, a weapon to surpass metal gear... or at least get Mel to do whatever I wanted for the time being.

Since I didn't need clothes, I just walked right through to Equestria again. And when I walked through, I could see Shining Armor and Blueblood engorging themselves on several slices of pizza. They didn't even seem to care over the fact that the pizzas were meat-lovers. In their minds, it smelled good, it tasted good, and it made the duo quite happy. Cliff and Rickey were busy chowing down as well, seeming completely relaxed that they didn't visit to a sudden invasion or deployment preparation.

Luna waited by the door, keeping many curious guards at bay. Mel followed closely behind me when we arrived and also helped herself to a slice of pizza. Glancing around, I walked over to the pizza box and stared at Mel, giving a taste of my newfound weapon. It worked in my favor as I was given a slice to hold in my mouth.

However, I found out that holding things in my mouth wouldn't always be a great idea when I was trying to eat that very same thing. And instead of trying to hold on to it with my mouth, I opted to use my hooves. But that was too difficult, it just wasn't as stable as it would be holding it with four fingers and an opposable thumb.

The two transformed princes took notice. "Hey Nondis, you know you have a horn. Why not use that one sometime instead of fumbling with the other?" Blueblood called out.

Cliff and Rickey giggled as Shining added. "Eh, it'll be a while before he learns how to use that thing. It might even take him years."

"Or days." Mel rebutted while pointing to me. "I do know he has something inside of him."

It did give me a good opportunity to practice on how to utilize my recent training sessions to more of an approximation instead of relying on a substitution method. So I started to chant to myself. "Magic is the extension of one's own mind. Focus is the cause to achieve manipulation..."

While Blueblood shrugged off my mumbling, Shining was at least listening to the words I was saying. He then tapped his fellow royal and pointed back at me.

"To use it's power, one must learn to channel their inner peace. Channel those things that make you tranquil and concentrate on your desired goal. Observe the object you seek, borrow from the well of the harmony within." I sat on my haunches, pointing to my horn and outlining an imaginary current going from my mind to my stomach. "Drink from that well and know your ambition." I then traced my hoof to my heart. "From your ambition, find the summit of your reach." I traced back to my horn and my eyes closed. My head lowered and I started to visualize the moment I first started using magic. "Reach for your desire and achieve your newfound reality."

Almost stunned to silence, the two princes stared in amazement as the slice of pizza was levitated before my face in a white aura. My eyes opened and I was happily clopping my hooves together.

"Baby steps, giant leaps." I said with a proud bite of my slice of pizza.

Blueblood shook himself out of his amazement to put on a stoic face. "Well I see that you've managed to learn how to manipulate one tiny little object. However, there are many other applications to be achieved─"

"Counter, casting, calling, yeah I'm learning that too." I replied.

Shining seemed genuinely impressed by my limited knowledge. He crawled over to me with interest, quietly yelping in pain as he did so. He stopped about midway before he just gave up. "Okay, can you just make your way over here instead?"

I snickered before walking over as quickly as I could, still losing my balance in certain places. I extended a hoof, thinking I could help him up, but he only ended up pulling me down to where he was. The two of us looked at each other and laughed at the hilarity of being each other's species for the time. "Okay, I may have gotten some of the magic basics down, but I can't do the other pony stuff."

"My legs are killing me. I can't walk like you guys can. The thing with the hands, the clothes, the world feeling a lot colder without my fur, it's just too much."

I tried my best to instead use my magic to give the transformed stallion a helping hand up. Though I struggled to do it, it helped that he tried a bit on his end as well. Finally on his own two feet, I began to coach him forward. "Well if you wanna learn how to walk like a human, you've got one hell of a coach in someone who's had to learn how to walk twice in his life."

"Yeah. As soon as Luna started explaining how to walk to you, I just felt like you were going to have problems. It's a good thing I had you training on your hands and knees in basic training." Shining joked.

I also gave him a bit of a dig. "Yeah, not too great having to do that without knee pads, huh? Try doing that on gravel, I had blisters for weeks behind that."

"No kidding. I'm doing that on a marble floor." He said, giving some thought to what he just experienced. "Sorry about that."

"We're both a cavalcade of fuck-ups. But when we work together, we leave some big damage." I spurted back before getting back to the main topic. "Now, first step─no pun intended─is to literally pick up your right foot and plant that one ahead of you." As he did as I instructed, I did my best to hold him with my magic. I walked over to his right side and pointed at the round bulge at the back of his foot. "You want to land your foot on that part there."

After he did that, he almost fell off balance as he used his arms to maintain equilibrium. "Okay, well that's unusual. It's just awkward feeling. And then it's hard to keep the other foot in place."

I looked down to see his left foot completely flat on the ground. I pointed it out to him and explained further. "Try to not keep the heel of your foot on the ground when you step forward. When you do that, you're anchoring yourself to that leg and you'll never move the way you want to."

"So how do I do that?" Shining asked.

"That same part I told you to land on with your right foot, you take that same part off of your left. What you're doing now is you're pivoting your toes to propel yourself forward. Now lay that right foot flat and see where that takes you."

He placed his foot on the ground flat, leaving him with his left foot touching the ground by only his toes. He looked down as he felt the momentum change legs. "Okay, now what?"

"You do the same with your left foot. But when you step out, let your knee bend naturally, don't try to overbend or lock it stiff. Now when you step forward with your left foot, your right foot becomes your pivot and your left foot is carrying the momentum."

Shining did as I advised and found himself two steps forward of where he was standing. He started to giggle as he wiggled his toes, taking amusement in the smaller appendages moving independently. "So now what?"

"Do it again. Over and over. Heel-toe all the way."

Shining stepped forward of his own accord without my assistance. And he did so once again, and again, and again, until he started getting used to the sensation of his feet propelling him forward. He smiled and laughed while I looked on like a proud parent. But he had one last question before I could officially send him off walking into the sunset. "So uh... how do you stop again?"

"Anchor the foot you use to take your next step forward. Then let your other foot meet with that one beside it. From that point on, you've officially taken your first steps as a man." I concluded, allowing him to take those final steps before coming to a stand still.

The young prince marveled at his achievement. "YES!" He shouted, pulling off a janky fist pump but elbowing himself in the solar plexus. From that moment, he keeled over and landed on his knees again. "Oh... okay... So that doesn't feel too great."

"Try getting stabbed there." I replied.

A few more hours had gone by with very little trouble. I had started getting accustomed to my equine body while Shining was getting the hang of being a human. Blueblood was a bit slow to come along, but even he started to pick it up better. While the three of us were exchanging tips and pointers, Luna was studying the two princes with the intent of absorbing information. Mel even sat by with her laptop, jotting down notes and taking interest in the conversations Shining and I had about our experience.

Before we knew it, it was time for dinner. One of the guards approached the door and informed Luna that our food, as well as Celestia herself, was awaiting us in the dining hall. We all looked around at each other, wondering what we would do. Luna didn't even shy away from the idea of changing us back to normal. But Shining, Blueblood, and I were all tired of eating the stuff that chef puts out.

I took a moment to figure something out and asked Mel if there was any place around the campus that had some good food. It didn't have to be a four-star restaurant, just a simple place that had some of the most delicious food, food so good that you'd wish you could stay fat for a day and just pig out. It also had to have a vegan option in case the two were not exactly open to the thought of eating meat.

But then came a surprise. Blueblood and Shining agreed without a second thought to the prospect of eating like a human for the evening. I tried to stress to Blueblood that the food choice could be a pretty messy affair, he then stated that he wanted to try meat for several months but couldn't out of the peer pressure of his wives. He also stressed the suggestion that we'd dive into the deep end of human dining. I tried to warn Shining not telling Cadance anything would only result in a massive headache. He didn't care, stating that she'd have him for the rest of his life and that this opportunity was possibly a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

***Point of Perspective: NONDIS***

Luna, to her own chagrin, elected not to join us out of the obligation to her royal duties. However, she did transform me back to my human self while providing me with a copy of the scroll, thankfully not stained in surprise bodily fluids. She did tell me to give the scroll a good going over before I went about my way, just to make sure that the details she had written down were easy enough for me to understand. After all, it was a spell I was going to have to use later on.

With everything concluded, we settled on a visit to Moonshine.

Mel rode in on her own while all the guys rode together. She made her way from her apartment while we made our way out from the frat house. The ride from the frat to the downtown business district was pretty amusing. To see both of their faces while looking at the town was nothing short of watching two preteen boys go from acting like nothing was cool to them to acting like they were five. Even riding in the back seat of Rickey's malibu was so much of an experience. From the heater getting cut on, the revving of the engine, the sight of the world gliding right by them, even the multitude of cars passing right by them, it was so great having to watch them both point through the windows what they saw.

But when we finally hit downtown, their eyes grew huge and their chatter became like two kids talking about an awesome amusement park they're walking into for the first time. Tall buildings everywhere, humans of several colors, creeds, shapes, and sizes wearing colorful coats, sweaters, jackets, shirts, scarves, and the like. Christmas lights adorning every tree with propped up snowmen lining some of the business.

It was Christmas time celebration at it's finest.

When we pulled up, we started to make our reservations. But to our surprise, Mel called in ahead of time to set up a table for eight. And since it was called in, we didn't have to wait for very long before getting shown a table. Shining looked around to see some people operating on their phones, others with friends taking pictures, and a bunch of families out having a good time. On the speakers was some typical Christmas music to celebrate the festivities. Mel showed up a few minutes after, and both my brothers made an appearance another ten minutes after.

The six of us humans took the time to watch our two transplants glance over the menu. They didn't seem to have a clue on where to start, so we all ordered ribs to keep things casual. But you couldn't tell these two that they couldn't drink. They were going to get a bottle of wine whether I had the money for it or not, which I thankfully did. Stanton, in the meantime, ordered a shitton of food. And even if you wagered he wouldn't be able to eat it, you'd might as well pay his tab.

The food arrived hot and fresh from the grill, the waiters politely provided us with several napkins and the many sides we ordered collectively. Shining pointed at the rib and asked Stanton sitting next to him. "Hey, what's this made from?"

"Pig." Stanton answered without hesitation.

Both the humanized ponies stared at their plates with uncertainty while Alex pointed at their plates. "Hey, if you don't feel comfortable, you can order something else. They do have a salad line."

I smiled when Shining replied. "I'm not gonna chicken out now. I'm here as a human, I might as well eat like one."

Shining grew hesitant to eat, opting to use his fork to politely hold the meat in place as he grabbed a knife to use. Stanton nudged him. "Nah man, we don't do that pussy shit for man food. Here, do what I do."

Stanton grabbed the rib and held it in front of his mouth. Shining and Blueblood did the same. From there, Stanton a huge bite of the rib and pulled the meat right off the bone. Blueblood just stopped short of it while Shining lightly bit to taste the food. But the moment that taste hit his taste buds, his eyes shut and his head shook from the influx of flavor. The young prince then took a healthy bite and moaned with appeasement. Nudging Blueblood, he waved the partially exposed bone, grunting for him to join in. Blueblood followed suit and ooh'd happily before the conversation between them suddenly turned into a display of cavemen discovering the modern age implementation of herbs and spices, followed by rapid communal nodding.

While the princes had their first experience with pigging out, we started having our own little discussion. Mel asked me. "So how's the lessons coming along?"

"Great." I began. "I've been going over some of the basics and I think I've got some of those down pat."

Alex then asked. "So, what's the deal with these two? How'd you come to the conclusion of bringing these guys here?"

"Chef at the castle was being a bit of a knob. Or as what mom would like to call it 'a woman with no want for a man's heart.' Have you ever had flavorless oatmeal?"

Stanton shuddered. "Oh, that bad then."

"Oh you have no idea." Shining cosigned. "The dungeon mess hall got better cooking staff than us."

Blueblood then added. "That's actually true. I went down there and ran about for some behind the scenes action, and apparently their food, no matter the messy gruel of a paste they create, it tastes... better."

"Not as good as those ribs, huh?" Cliff said with a snicker.

"Hell no!" Shining replied before finishing his second rib.

Alex continued on his question. "So you brought them here to escape the royal chef for dinner? That's the only reason you brought them here?"

"Well let's just say I know how it feels to walk on fours today." I answered, getting a subtle nod from my older brother.

"You too, huh? So what was it like for you?"

Right then, Rickey, Cliff, and Mel started laughing. Blueblood hid his face from trying not to laugh. Shining almost dropped his third rib trying not to laugh. The entire table just looked at me while I answered. "It was... it was interesting."

My face started to show red while everyone at the table started giggling. Rickey whispered under his breath before the entire table lost their collective shit. "Boner."

I shook my head and groaned. "Okay, guys. It's over, it's in the past."

Alex sighed with disbelief. "Huh... you too? I guess that's a theme for these transformations."

I couldn't help but to tilt my head. "Wait, it happened to you too?"

Alex covered his face with his palm as he spoke. "I don't know what it is about smells to ponies, but there's just this thing they give off that just makes you wanna think bad thoughts."

"So who transformed you?" I asked.

"Celestia. Who transformed you?"

"Luna." I replied. "How did your situation come up?"

"Well..." Alex started off slowly. "Celestia was teaching me how to walk. And then I noticed how freakishly tall she was from my perspective, like she could completely stand over me like a mother standing up for her kid. And then she started to guide me into walking. And as we were moving along, I caught a hint of whatever it was."

"And it made you go nuts?" I asked.

"Dude." Alex stopped before taking a drink from his beer. "I was not happy having cold water poured on me like that after."

"Wait, she poured cold water on you?" I asked, completely astounded.

"Yeah. I mean she was blushing pretty hard over the situation but we resolved it and pretty much agreed to never talk about it again."

I looked to Blueblood and Shining with disappointment. "That would've been nice, to at least be a bro about it."

"So what happened with you and your situation?" Alex inquired.

Mel jumped in. "Better question, what's between you and Luna?"

Rickey stopped laughing and started joining in on the topic. "Yeah. From what you guys were talking about, it's like the two of you got some history."

Stanton stopped eating. "Wait, what?"

"Yo, I'm not gonna lie forreal, but y'all two had some shit goin' on like y'all been seein' each other on the low." Cliff stated. "Cause what I saw earlier today, she got you bad. Like, she ain't even with you, but she know the things to get you right."

"But it's not like that." I answered. "She just did me a favor and not let me suffer."

"Well it's not like Celestia had the entire guard on post looking for you yesterday." Shining added with a smirk. "And when I mean the entire guard, I mean whatever member of the E.U.P. in the city limits got an advanced notice to look for you. I haven't seen a hunt so widespread since the disappearance of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."

"Wait, that happened?" I asked.

"I was away in the Crystal Empire at the time. Gotta say that was some convenient timing. The strange thing about it is that it was the only day where you saw both the day and night hogging the sky all at once."

"Nevermind that shit. So what's the deal between you and Luna?" Mel questioned, leaning over her plate.

"Nothing's between us romantically, I swear."

"So y'all just buddy-buddy but on the freak side of shit." Cliff said.

"No." I emphasized. "In fact, Celestia had a long conversation with me about that since she found my breakaway pendant in Luna's room."

"Y'all ain't have that conversation today." Cliff pointed out.

Shining continued to disregard his side dishes while holding his fifth rib. "Being that the hunt ended sometime yesterday evening, I can assume that she spoke with you around that time. What exactly did she talk with you over?"

"Because Luna told her what happened on Thursday."

"You mean when she came here to your world?" Blueblood asked.

"Then what exactly happened between the two of you that ended with THAT result?" Alex questioned.

"It was some stuff for a scroll containing a transformation spell. It was stashed in Celestia's room, but Luna had took it before I could. The negotiations went through and I managed to coerce her into giving me the scroll on the account of a trade." I turned to Mel. "In speaking of which, I think she has your 'Lucy'."

The others looked at me like it was the dildo that I traded with her. Meanwhile Melanie pursed her lips while looking to the ceiling. "Lucy is with me."

"Blue vibrator, rotating beads at the center of the shaft, dolphin clit stimulator?" I specified.

"Lucy is purple. I did manage to buy her and Rainbow one off of Amazon." She replied shamelessly.

The two princes dropped their food, completely astounded of what they heard. I was more perplexed. "You bought Rainbow Dash and PRINCESS FUCKING LUNA a vibrator? Why?"

The woman shrugged. "Well Rainbow had always asked me for one, so I just gave her one. What I didn't know would happen is that she'd tell Princess Luna about it at the royal spa. So Luna came rolling through my mirror requesting that I'd get her one. Two days later, I give her the goods, she tosses out the manual and everything else, and walks away a happy princess." She then leaned back in her chair as she asked. "Now how do YOU know she has a toy?"

"Changeling inspection on Thursday. I had to check the rooms and ended up finding it under her bed. Though now that I think about it, I should actually be thanking you." I then turned my attention to Alex. "That toy Mel bought her saved my ass from having to do the dirty work myself."

"Can't get busted for drilling if the drill ain't yours." Shining started to think aloud. "Still get busted anyhow, but at least you're not going to trial for actually breaking the law. Good loophole."

"Think she'll say anything about what happened earlier this morning?" Blueblood questioned quietly.

"I hope like hell getting feather teased ain't a prerequisite." I replied.

Alex's jaw fell and he started downing his beer quickly before shifting his eyes somewhere where he couldn't see me. "Damn, you lucky bastard. When it happens to me, I can't even get the time of day."

Stanton looked around the table at the rest of us. "Okay, so the next time one of them wants to transform a human into a pony, can you tell them that I'd want next?"

"Not a chance." I replied sternly.

"Aw, c'mon! You got the spell, right? You ain't fuck the princess for nothing. And you got magic, hit me up!"

Both Blueblood and Shining shifted their eyes towards me. "You have magic?" Both of them asked in perfect unison.

I rolled my eyes as I explained to my younger brother. "The spell she gave me was a simplified spell for me to use whenever I needed to use it. And then I can only use it every eighteen hours before I'm able to cast the return spell. And to be honest, I don't even know why she even gave me the damn spell like I'm gonna cast it."

"Probably to turn one of them back." Mel suggested while pointing to Blueblood and Shining. "Should be a good way to up your magic game."

"Mel, this is a calling spell. I use this once and I'm gonna be dog-shit tired for the rest of the evening."

"Well don't use it now, we got a whole evening to explore the human world. Why shorten the visit?" Shining said as he started back on his food.

"I'm sure having a good time being around this place full of shiny towers and culinary discoveries. I might be a bit cold dealing with the lack of fur, but I can bear with for much longer." Blueblood added while he also started to slowly catch up to Shining's rib count.

Stanton, however, had already done away with his food and looked to the side of baked beans sitting neglected to Shining's side. "Hey, if you ain't gonna eat that─"

Before Stanton could reach his hand over the bowl of beans, I pointed the bowl to the other side of Shining. The entire table stared as the white aura that surrounded the bowl was also wrapped around my finger. As soon as I finished, Shining looked at me, impressed with my progress. "So when did you start finding out about your magic?"

"A week ago." Alex replied. "He started to unknowingly lift the plates off of our table when we ate with dad. Luckily he wasn't around to see it."

"Cool, so your magic is white now?" Mel asked. "I thought it didn't have a color."

"Bad magic circulation means no stability. You can lift some stuff, but it's not gonna hold without reapplication." I promptly responded. "Magic is all in the mind, know your limits and slowly push past them."

"Fast learner." Shining said, finishing off his final rib and going to the bowl of beans. "Twily must be teaching you a bit."

"I guess my seeing it for several months had me conditioned to want to practice it in my spare time. Naturally, I'm a human so I couldn't do anything. But as far as my influences, Celestia started me off on how to levitate, Twilight got me to where I could be more ambidextrous with it, and I'm also seeing a mentor over at the back end for self-defense."

"The back end of Canterlot?" Blueblood inquired as he started on his fifth rib. "Who's got you going out that way? There's checkpoints so strict that I can't even pay a visit to one of my in-laws without my first wife being present."

"I had a referral." I answered.

"Well whoever has you working on self-defense is going to have a hard time." Shining said with a smirk. "Offensive magic ain't exactly a cakewalk to learn."

Blueblood looked at his hand and flicked his fingers like I did, finding little to no result. "Hmm, it's different trying to use magic as a human, I'm so used to my horn being here."

"Celestia got that down in the first hour of day one." Alex recalled. "I think she just shifted her output to her hand and she got it just fine."

"She still can't get the concept of panties though." Mel muttered, grabbing every human male's attention in a ten foot radius. "I get it's feels liberating to go free and all, but it's just... you know. And I get she's got the goods to flaunt and don't even know all too much how good she's got it for now but ignoring the back problems she's going to have later."

Blueblood appeared confused. "You're still taking about Celestia, right?"

"Have you seen her naked?" Stanton began. "I'm talking about prime real estate, like she'll make you wanna see her with some of that baby fat after that first pregnancy. I'm telling you if she has kids, it's over cause she will never stop having them."

"And she cooks too." Mel added, trying to quickly stave off the subject of her ascetic features. "She's pretty much got everything a guy could ask for."

"Minus a hair-trigger temper." Blueblood refuted.

"She's ultra-protective. She wanted to almost castrate me the moment I suggested to Cadance that we could experiment with some ways to get around my not enacting my clause. I suggested a few things, she went to Celestia for advice, and I'm getting grilled for two hours straight about how I should be a more respectable suitor, and I quote, 'who's not attached to lecherous deeds and immoral tendencies'." The young prince testified. "Though she does consider Cadance as a niece, so there's that."

"Oh she is a prude about the whole sex thing." The older prince confirmed. "I thought I'd be funny and tell her to find a suitor to tame her for a good twenty years... Did not end well, I swear the summer sun was at record temperatures for a good decade behind that. I'm just glad she didn't completely unleash on me."

"Flames for hair, crimson and gold eyes?" I asked.

"The low growl she has and how softly she speaks. Every T she enunciates sounds like the crack of a whip." Shining said with a small shudder.

"Or worse, and I've only seen this once. When she sits you down for tea." Blueblood finished, adding to the trifecta of shudders the three of us shared.

Mel appeared completely unimpressed, appearing to judge the three of us harshly as she spoke. "All three of you decided to be assholes for that to happen. And Miss Celly isn't a prude, she's just conservative. She doesn't like it when conversations are heavily implied to be sexual, or even an open conversation about the details. She basically likes patient guys who are more into intimacy and love with very little focus on sex."

"We call those prudes, Mel. No matter how you splice it, it's still prudish." Rickey replied brashly.

"And you're what I would call an 'asshole'." Mel replied.

"I'm an asshole who's realistic."

After leaving the restaurant, we made our way across the river for a stroll down the boardwalk. Both of our visiting princes appeared quite satisfied with their food and needed some walking off, so we decided it would be better to enjoy the view of the downtown metropolis. They managed to catch a great view of the skyline as the night consumed the sky. The lights of the buildings gave the place a lively look, exciting both of the transplants.

The rest of us just took in the sight what four of us had been calling home for years. It didn't impress us too much because we were here watching some of the distant skyscrapers come up slowly while growing up. Rickey, who was from San Antonio, stared out across the river and thought about home. Cliff was more-or-less used to it, but still marveled with appreciation while citing comparisons to his home in New Orleans.

But Shining's description was a lot more vivid. His family, being residents of Canterlot and more than acquainted with everything it had to offer, was complacent with the big-city vibes the place had, offering many activities and attractions for young foals to do. But the way it was built, there was no real way to enjoy the view of the city skyline, as it was always on the side of a mountain.

He was right. You can look from Ponyville and see the city off in the distance, but not close enough to casually enjoy the view. And riding on the train, you manage to catch glimpses before the next boulder or tunnel blocked your view. You could look at it from across the causeway, but you'd really be seeing the outer wall surrounding the city. In order to get a really good view, you'd have to fly out a certain distance and look at the city from the southeast. And even then, the architecture was mostly enclosed, offering very few openings for lights to display the brilliance places like Austin would show. We might not have a fancy gateway bridge and all the LED-driven skylights like Dallas has, but it's still a pretty sight once the sun goes down.

I often compare my return to this place to somewhere quiet like Ponyville. I know it's not much to look at and the night life there only consists of a comedy club, a movie theater, a few eateries, and even fewer bars, but the air is much cleaner and it's a lot quieter for anyone wanting a good night's sleep.

The two of us continued our hometown exchange, that was until Cliff had answered his phone. As soon as he picked it up, I could hear someone yelling at him from the other line. They said something to him, his eyes jumped open, and right then he grabbed me to tell that we had a situation. That pretty much ended our day out in the city, we rushed back to the frat house and we were greeted by at least twelve guys standing on the front lawn, all frat members.

We walked inside and saw at least three other of our frat brothers holding a rake, a broom, and a makeshift lasso out of a heavy-duty extension cord. All three of them were trying to come up with a plan on how they were going to find a way to capture something. Cliff walked up to the three and asked. "Bruh, what the hell is going on?"

"I think someone pranked the shit out of you man." Terrance stated holding the rake.

"Yo, who did you piss off in the AKA's?" Rodney asked, holding the broom.

Both Cliff and Rickey looked at each other, appearing confused. "We don't even talk to them. What makes you say we did something to them?"

"Ain't their whole color scheme pink and green?" Hunter questioned, slinging the improvised lasso over his shoulder.

"Yeah, what about it?" Cliff replied.

"Somebody left a small horse in your room and spray-painted it pink."

Cliff, Rickey, Shining, Blueblood, and I all looked back at each other, realizing that someone had come through Cliff's portal. There was an unsaid 'Oh shit!' between the five of us while Terrance mumbled. "I still wanna say that thing just talked to me, that or it's got some speakers hidden in those wings they put on it."

"That thing had something pointy on top of it's head, so we ain't really trying to get too close to that." Rodney said, causing all five of us to immediately jump into action.

All five of us scurried up the stairs, while Hunter and Terrance closely followed behind us. I looked back and asked. "Did anyone call animal control?"

"They said they'll be here in like ten minutes, but ten minutes had pretty much already came and went." Hunter said. "Also, the door is locked so it can't get it's way out."

"Who locked the door?" Cliff asked angrily.

"I thought that some horses were smart enough to get out of their stalls, so I just improvised and locked the door until animal control arrived." Terrence explained.

I looked at Rickey and sighed. Immediately catching my hint, he threw both of his arms around the two younger students and ushered them to the stairs. "Boys, tell me everything you know while we think of a way to get this situation rectified. So start from the beginning."

We waited until the three completely fell out of view before I banged my head against the wall, cursing at myself for somehow letting this happen. But then I looked back at Shining and facepalmed while I spoke. "Dude, come get your wife."

Shining then knocked on the door, receiving no response initially. This time, he knocked again while addressing her. "Cadie, you in there?"

Instantly she replied. "Oh well how nice it is to hear from you after I send a search for you throughout the castle!"

Shining rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Cadance, why? Why go this far?"

"Because my husband decided to not talk with me during dinner like you promised we would! I'm tired of doing this by myself, going through it all by myself, and having to be scared all by myself!"

"Cadance, unlock the door." I called though to her.

"No!" She answered defiantly. "You need to calm the rest of your little groupies down so that my husband and I can talk in peace!"

"How about you open this door before the people that aren't my 'groupies' come by to scoop you up and lock you away in a world you have no fucking clue how to escape from. Can you do that instead?"

"Who are you issuing orders to!?" The princess shouted back to me. "I'm a princess, that makes me your superior."

"And you're in my world, about to find yourself in a world of trouble, ignoring the captain trying to guide you to safety. I think that's about as fair game as anything else!"

Completely blowing me off, she directed her commentary back to her husband. "Shining, you need to poof yourself in here and talk to me. Now."

Shining looked at his hands and tried to explain himself. "Cadie, it's not that easy─"

"NOW!"

I decided I had enough of being patient. I slapped my hand on the door knob, using my magic to unlock the door and stormed my way into the room. The pink pony princess stood angrily while I entered into the room with Shining following closely behind. I was going to say something, but Shining stopped me from saying anything further. He slowly walked up to her. "Cadance, can we go back over to our end of things? I think you really caused a bit of commotion over here."

The princess scoffed angrily, not even noticing her husband's appearance. "So I'm in the wrong then?"

The young prince walked up to her, finally getting her attention. She went through her initial shock rather quickly before finding herself somewhat disgusted. Shining tried to pull his wife's hoof as a means to guide her, but she retracted herself fiercely and backed away from him. I stepped in and picked up the pink pony and walked towards the portal. She writhed and wriggled intensely, making it very difficult for me to move her without dropping her. She started to ignite her horn before we found ourselves back in Equestria.

She started to angrily lash out me as I placed her down, even allowing her magic to get a bit rowdy. Thankfully, my newfound experience with a counter spell gave me enough protection to wart off a blast that could've sent me to a nearby wall. The princess gawked while her husband walked in to see her being confrontational. He quickly ran in front of his wife to further explain himself. "Cadance, it's still me, and I think you're in the wrong for not asking anypony else what was going on."

"Luna told me where you went!" She screamed vehemently.

"I thought you sent a search for me." Shining recalled.

"Only after I sent the order twenty minutes before! Now I don't see you all day, you run off to another world to avoid being here with me! Is it really that bad, do I really irk your nerves that much!?"

Shining could barely get a word in before he could give a reply. "Sometimes yes, but─"

"So I'm annoying you?" She jumped in, growing all the more aggressive.

"Cadance─"

"So I guess my voice is irritating now! Apparently my husband isn't so loving anymore!"

"That's not what I was trying to─"

"You know what, I've seen you around him too much!" Cadance said, pointing her hoof to me angrily. "I think you're starting to pick up where he left off with your sister, which is fucking amazing!"

I proceeded to pretend I didn't get caught under a shady tree while Shining argued with his wife. "How about you take one goddamn second to listen to a voice not belonging to Mi Amore Cadenza! Just one second."

"One." She answered defiantly. "Now you listen to me for a change!"

As much as I wanted to intervene for his sake, I decided that it was better for them to talk things through. But even Shining started to grow vocal towards his wife. "I didn't had much of a damn choice, you give me fucking headaches every single fucking time you get like this! Just shut up for a fucking while, okay!?"

"Shut up!?" She said, starting to ignite her horn again. I quickly stepped in between the two and placed my hand where I was ready to deflect whatever dared to come Shining's way. She angrily took a step towards me. "Stay out of our business, Nondis."

"How about you chill for a minute." I began. "Shining and Blueblood wanted some food, we had a little experiment today, here's the result, and now your husband is back home. I know you're pissed, but give him a second to set himself straight before you start blasting the entire room away."

She didn't back down as she growled at me. "Move out. Of. My way."

"My job is to protect the members of the royal family from any aggressor. And you're looking mighty aggressive right now." I stated sternly. "Now deactivate your magic and raise your head before we have an issue. Are we clear, your highness?"

The standoff between the two of us lasted for a few seconds before Cadance started to tear up. Her eyes watered while her magic continued to swirl around her horn. My hands started to get warm as she called out to her husband behind me. "So you really don't give a damn about the foal I'm carrying, do you? Our child, our first unborn, and you're hiding away like a coward!"

Blueblood and Cliff walked through to see the situation unfolding before them. The two remained motionless, uncertain of what to think for the time being. Shining started to look to Blueblood for a second while replying to his wife. "Cadance, do you have any idea what I feel when you accuse me of being like that?"

"That's exactly what you act like!" She shouted with her voice breaking. "I try to get your help fighting for our foal, you walk away. I try to talk to you for comfort, you're not there. I try to even be your wife for a few minutes, but it's like my not giving you the instant gratification you always wanted makes you feel so distant to me. Chrysalis is out there again, she could come for us or worse, and you still don't think about anything other than what you want to put into your stomach." The pink princess dispersed her spell in the form of a small areal blast. Her forelegs shook as she started to break down. "My heart hurts, everything hurts, I'm trying to protect what little I've shared with you but you just keep shoving me away."

"Cadance..." Shining started, but failed to find much of anything to say for the time being.

Meanwhile, his wife had much to say. "I get it. A lot of the pain you experienced in your career is because of me. If I hadn't pushed you so far, maybe I would've had something even better with you. If I wasn't so hard on you, then maybe I would have more of you now. I'll be the first to admit that us being together was hell because I was watching you suffer! I tried to be strong for the both of us. Even when I knew you were devastated because of her..." Cadance started to let the tears flow more freely as her voice completely destabilized, her legs giving way as she laid on the ground. "I wasn't first, and it hurts me... I was never the first for you at anything... I couldn't even hold the idea that you were my first because it was never true... It's as if everything we have, something comes along to sabotage what little moments we share. And I hate it."

I backed off, allowing Shining to see his wife. He appeared almost mortified as she continued to speak.

"Yeah, I'm vindictive for what happened at our wedding, because I know I wasn't the first to meet you at that alter. I hurt so bad thinking about who you tried to save and what regret you had for her... I hate not being able to comfort you without being angry for that. I hate suffering in silence because I want to make you happy. I didn't want this foal... but I tried my best to pretend that I wanted it because I wanted to be the first to give you a family. I didn't want to take that away from you. But now that I have it, I'm so scared. I'm terrified, Shining Armor. I don't know what's in store for us anymore, I don't like not being able to fight like I want to because I'm managing stress for two... Three now."

The princess seemed shaken enough to allow her husband to walk up to her. Cadance shivered as her husband wrapped his human arms around her. She lightly shoved herself away as she held him off.

"I don't want to see you like this... I don't want to be touched by anything other than you, the real you, the you I know and love so much."

I watched as Shining sat in vain, trying his best to approach his wife. After a while, I couldn't bear seeing the distance between them and pulled out the transformation spell scroll from my pocket. I started going over the carefully simplified details a few times before I reached my hand out to the young prince trying to comfort his wife.

Disregarding my warnings about calling spells, I gave it my best shot. My hand started glowing white, a similar aura surrounded Shining's entire body. I closed my eyes and imagined the form I wanted him to take, the method of channeling I needed to perform before I was able to send my magic forth. And when my eyes opened, my arm grew drastically heavy as the spell started to manifest. Instead of my hand alone, it was my entire right arm that glowed. My weight shifted forward, greatly favoring the arm that sent the magic forward. A sudden rush of fatigue started to cause me to fall over, but I kept my focus as best as I could on Shining.

A solid white flash appeared, knocking me on my backside while Shining faded into an orb of light. I glanced up while shielding my eyes to see the orb dissipate into a pony with a two-toned blue mane and a blue shield on his flank. Shining looked back to me completely astounded. I looked down to see that my arm had completely fallen asleep for a short while before I had the sudden rush of blood filling it, a sensation almost like ants running through my veins. Before too long, I had slowly received the ability to use my fingers again.

I gave him a quick thumbs up before pointing to his wife, urging him to speak with her. She continued to sob as the husband she knew finally embraced her. She just sat in his hooves, nuzzling him while she wept. Blueblood walked over to me and tapped me on my shoulder. "So... The animal patrol thing was called off. What now?"

I looked at the couple and folded my arms. "We'll come to that bridge when we get back to it. Right now, let's leave them alone for a moment. I think they have some talking to do."

The blond prince agreed. "Fair enough."

The Next Day...

After we allowed the two to air their grievances, we finally had to address the situation back at the frat house. I simply told the house that it was a prank I orchestrated to give Cliff a quick scare. I had to make up a pretty lengthy story about animatronics and having someone to record the voice. I also notified them that it was more for a YouTube video than anything else. In terms of footage, I simply claimed that the camera had ran out of battery during the time it was supposed to record. I then feigned anger and made my apologies to the house. My punishment was twenty-four hours of community service and a fine of five-hundred bucks.

Unfortunately, it didn't quite shake off Hunter or Terrance, they knew exactly what they saw.

Getting back to Cadance, I had to give her a good talking to and report the situation to Celestia, who then issued a small punishment consisting of a week on desk duty. Shining was given a stern warning to not disappear without Cadance's knowledge. Blueblood didn't get much other than an earful from his seven wives. I wasn't even called out for anything, Celestia was still pretty upset with me dealing with Luna and opted not to address me in any way.

But when that last bit of discussion went through, I got in my bed and passed out on the mattress, completely stone tired and didn't open my eyes until nine hours later. The sun had a subdued glow about it while it crept through the window. My room was much colder than usual, I looked over to see that I had left the window ajar from yesterday, allowing the snowy breeze to flow in.

I practically walked around in my comforter until I had gotten dressed and made my way through to the dining hall. When I walked in, I was greeted by the familiar scent of flapjacks and fruit, a far cry from what the morning consisted of for the past week. When I sat down, I was already eagerly drumming my fingers against the table before a silver plate was bestowed upon me. When I took off the lid, however, I was sent back into melancholy while I saw the cup of water with a bowl of unseasoned oatmeal.

Celestia then informed me that I would be escorting her to the parliament chambers today, serving as a bailiff. I asked why I had been assigned the low-end job, she simply argued that I would stay out of trouble this way. Luna was then given an assignment to tend to the dungeons below. Shining was pretty much sentenced to be his wife's escort for the day, not a punishment he would have minded in any capacity.

After breakfast, we made our way straight to the chamber of the parliament. And for several hours I was pretty much standing on my own two feet doing absolutely nothing but hearing a bunch of old snowbirds talk about issues specific for various locations across Equestria. Nothing really grabbed at my attention for most of the time.

That was until I heard the word 'summons.'

Instead of my being the topic of discussion like usual, it was actually Princess Cadance who was called in. And as instructed, Shining accompanied his wife to the summons. So the two entered into the room, Blueblood read off the list of proceedings, and the whole bullshit process began like it normally would.

"Princess Cadance, do you know why you have been summoned here today?" One of the politicians asked from the left side of the room.

"No sir, I do not." She replied as graciously as she tried to be.

"Well it has come to our attention that you have been calling for various searches as of recent. And in those searches, there was a significant amount of disturbance levied to our proud guard. Do you wish to take the moment to refute these claims?"

"No sir." She responded quietly. "They are as they are written. I summoned the guards to locate my husband, who I felt had gone missing for many hours in the day."

"Missing as in how?" The politician questioned.

"Unreported. I grew fearful for his state of being."

"And you allowed yourself to abuse those executive privileges to appease your state of mind? Are you or are you not aware of the possible ramifications involved with abusing the call to search? Your actions could cause the breakdown of several security measures used to keep the palace grounds a safe and secure place. You assessed these risks when you made the decision to frequent the use of search parties, did you not?"

"Yes I did. And I do apologize. I shall take measures to ensure that these events do not continue."

Another politician from the center of the room stood as he made his own address. "Your highness, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. It is also noted that you caused a disturbance in the human world upon your visit." The politician then turned to me. "Captain, if I may inquire for the parliament, how significant was the disturbance for your kind?"

"Minor." I replied. "Equines are not known for sapience in my world, so it surprised another two humans when they heard her talk. I simply dismissed their assertions for reasons that my species would sooner find logical as opposed to bringing about more unwanted attention. The incident in question was an isolated one with controlled parameters that requires little maintenance to regulate. The situation is under control."

"Do you believe the situation would become anything more significant over the course of time?" They asked.

"Unless they were to find the access points leading to Equestria, then no. On that notice, the particular access point involved in the incident is being deactivated for several days until the situation stabilizes back into normalcy. No true cause for concern."

The politician returned his attention to the princess in question. "Your highness, Mi Amore Cadenza, I trust you will take the sensitive nature of these engagements more into consideration from here on forth."

"I shall." The princess confirmed quietly.

As the second politician sat himself, a third approached the center of the floor with a folder in tow. As he started to organize his materials, I felt his face to appear somewhat familiar to me. The stallion finished gathering his paperwork and started to address to Cadance. "Your excellency, your beautiful highness, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, it is a fortune to see you in good health."

Thrown off by his unusual approach, the princess maintained a motionless expression. "Thank you for your complements." As she said that, Shining started eyeing the politician while he continued.

"And of course..." He brought his attention to the multitude of ponies in the room. "Before I am to begin with any of my statements and proposals, I wish to start off a different way as opposed to my more partisan colleagues. I wish not to attack your character, but rather I wish to congratulate you. For many of you have either known or not, I shall reiterate my congratulations." He then bowed before Cadance with a humble smile. "Your majesty, I wish to congratulate you and wish you well on your new family. May your unborn foal come to be a healthy and successful heir."

Gasps around the room sounded as applause started to fill the room. Cadance, who was once stoic, had completely become shaken with his praise. Even looking from behind, I could tell she was uncomfortable. "...Thank you. Your praise is appreciated."

The politician then continued with a warm smile on his face. "For the very first time in recorded Equestrian history, we are to be anointed with a true bloodline heir to the throne. And as such, they will carry with them the hopes and dreams of Equestria's future. And I honestly believe that is the best for the future of this country, to have a true-blooded Equestrian hold the reigns of power."

He took a very quick glance over to me as he said his statement, possibly to tell me in a not-so-subtle way that I was not welcome.

He then proceeded. "I fervently believe that such a future is to be protected by all means necessary. And I do want what is best for our country to remain at the forefront of this proposal. Our beautiful world is in need of it's ruler, and if something were to happen to our chain of command, they would be the ideal choice to lead Equestria and her citizens to a truly prosperous future." He then glanced at me again. "But there will be others who will try to usurp those visions. I understand that not everypony is open to the idea of change quite soon, but I do believe that a gradual change is good for the country as opposed to a more radical one."

Shining looked at his wife, seeing how irregular her breathing had become as she stood there. He quickly went to her side as he called out. "Can you please make your case?"

The stallion nodded sagely before passing Blueblood his folder. "And for such an event, I do have a protection plan in place. It is to our benefit that we enact this protection plan as soon as possible. I can only assume that we are now months away from the birth of Equestria's first true heir. And what better time to plan for our little one's protection than now?"

Blueblood started to quietly read the contents of the folder as he asked. "This appears to be an amendment."

"Of course, this is for the future of our country. We only want what is best for the ponies of this proud nation. And what else would they deserve than to have an heir who is looked after in every way, shape, and form? Equestria deserves an heir that is perfect for her."

Blueblood continued to read through the pages until he came across something that he had to read through again. The room had grown ghostly quiet while the prince viewed the documents for a second and third time. With pages still left to read, he closed the folder and slammed it on the table.

"I am going to have to ask you... what is this atrocity you seek to implement?" Blueblood questioned, showing a very rare instance of unbridled anger. "And do not lie."

The politician smiled as brightly as he did the entire time. "Why it is a measure of security for our future, a protection plan for our upcoming heir to the throne."

Blueblood pursed his lips and muttered to the young prince comforting his wife. "Shining, I want you to read this aloud. Page ten, second paragraph."

Cadance, already feeling terrified had clung onto her husband's foreleg, almost not wanting him to do what Blueblood had ordered. The young husband quietly whispered to his wife before walking towards the angered stallion. Shining started to read off some of the things he saw. "In this new accordance there are to be more protections implemented against the violation of code thirteen, section eight, subsection six. To further protect..."

Shining stopped reading out loud to go back to what he had just read. The face he had pretty much gave it away to everyone in the room. The young prince then shouted out slowly.

"Inspections of virtue!" He then slammed the folder onto the desk, crumpling some of the pages within. "Selections of doctors via private council!" He followed up with tossing the folder back at the politician's smiling face. "And if I'm reading this shit correctly, the penalties for a violation are EVEN STRICTER than what's already in place!"

The politician looked on with the same smile, but his intention completely revealed. Suddenly, the smile he wore had become menacing. "I told you, this is for our country's future. I thought that you would understand, surely you would see the benefit of having your daughter secured for her future, protected from any usurpers who might have the ambition to lustfully engage with her."

"You are having my daughter looked at by some random stallions with Faust knows what intentions!"

Cadance immediately collapsed. Shining ran over to his wife as he stared back to the smiling politician. "They'll be screened and will have several years of field practice. I don't see the problem, it's just a gynecological check-up set to every Tuesday."

"STARTING FROM THE YEAR LEADING TO HER FIRST ESTRUS!?"

I watched silently, trying to show very little emotion as Cadance started to clutch at herself, whimpering while she leaned on her husband. But instead of Shining yelling at the politician, it was Blueblood himself who broke character. "This proposal is completely inequine! How dare you envision something so primordial!"

"Some modern problems require a more dated approach to curb." He said, giving me a side eye again. "Instead of suitors looking to pop in and make themselves available at the first advantage of some royal looking to bypass a few loopholes, this will instead certify that all future means of attracting a suitor are specifically quarantined to what is already established. Of course, this will eliminate any future suitors from being naturalized and make it mandatory that they'd be Equestrian-born and Equestrian-bred." He then scoffed and gave me a polite bow. "My apologies captain, some of these guidelines were drafted by the late Count DuMoneé. It's only out of respect that we added this clause. Nothing against you as you have performed remarkably. Do keep up the good work."

By that point, the smile on his face was not only etched into my memory, but very much recalled to a certain set of photos I was shown just Friday night. Taking a number from Cadance, I attempted to wear an adamant expression while speaking. "None taken." I lied. "I do appreciate your praise."

Without warning, I heard the entire room rattle with the sound of one voice screaming across to the politician. I looked to the source, a very angry Princess Cadance almost lunging out of her husband's hooves. "YOU BASTARD! YOUR BILL WILL FAIL THE MOMENT IT'S VOTED ON! I SWEAR IT! AND WHEN IT'S DONE I'LL─"

The older stallion chuckled loudly, weakening after a few seconds before his smile broke into a full-on demonic grin. "Ohh you royals. The vote was already cast just last night. We held an emergency meeting for funding of certain auxiliaries. Princess Celestia was present for the affair but this just so happened to get mixed into the budget for the next six months." He looked back to the high princess with a smug sneer. "Oops. I suppose one of my colleagues should've read the bill in full so there would be an understanding. But what's done is done, everything is funded under a unanimous vote." He then looked back to Blueblood. "Helps to read the fine print within a two-hundred page document." He then walked off the floor and back towards his seat before looking to Celestia one final time. "The royal family will have seven days to sign, lest the security of Equestria herself be compromised. I do believe guards don't work unless they're paid. And even if they do... it's only a matter of time."

He then looked to me with that same smile he started off with, dripping with poison as he spoke.

"I pray this does not come to affect you, dear captain. Your performance is worth every bit spent."

The room was silent, looking around I could see several crestfallen faces throughout the room. The majority of the politicians seemed completely shocked at what was revealed to them. And for many, their hooves were completely tied because they knew what was at stake. Some politicians even gathered their belongings, files, and proposals, and walked out of the room.

Shining spent several minutes holding his wife, Cadance shaking violently while Blueblood clenched his eyes away from the scene. Celestia looked down sadly while she called to the room. "Parliament shall now call for a two hour recess." She walked out of the room, collecting the massive financing bill placed before her. I quickly followed after her into the hallway.

I followed her silently, the sounds of her golden slippers echoing through the great marble halls. I followed her into a small office filled with several papers, likely to be signed by Cadance later on. The elder princess walked up to the mahogany desk and slammed the massive pile of papers on, screaming simultaneously.

Her voice blared so loudly that it shattered the window leading into the room, causing the cold air to blow inside. She held her head down as she sat on her haunches, staring at the paperwork. She gave me a brief look and turned back to her paperwork.

"Captain, you are dismissed for the day."

Thanks for reading. Pretty busy lately. Get back to you guys soon... hopefully.