Although the day started off with a bit of a reprieve on the culinary end of things, that still didn't change the fact that I had to report to barracks later on. In fact, my sudden dismissal by Princess Celestia had drawn some concern from several of my superiors not named 'Prince/Princess Insert-Name-Here'. I guess some of the generals were a bit miffed that I was given a special permission to leave my guard duties so early, especially when I was given the task to personally escort Celestia that day.

Ironic thing is that I did just that... all day and night.

I got a little bit of a tanning over it, but they didn't hold me for long. So I left there and made my way over to the barracks for the daily routine of standing in one spot while tiredly giving orders to others. And when I finished my usual tasks, I reported back to barracks and clocked myself out for the day. I strongly considered paying a visit to the back end of the mountain, but that didn't seem ideal considering how mentally tired I was. Coffee and tea can only do so much on a forty-eight hour crawl.

But before I retired for the day, I decided to pay a visit to Celestia. She seemed in high spirits as she started to highlight a few points about her day. Of course the parliament session went about as expected, the bill was signed and the few senators who advocated for that little tidbit within the bill celebrated their victory. Thankfully, Shining or Cadance wasn't there to watch them rub it in, but Blueblood played out his part in showing immense anger over the bill being subbed in without any evaluations.

Though Celestia may have previously felt nearly indifferent to things like this, this one did hit her in a place where she could no longer sit quietly. She did manage to provide a good ten minute rant on how inequine and selfish those politicians were in celebrating their win. But after those ten minutes were up, she came back to the dining hall to speak with me alone. From there she happily discussed the possibility of what she would do as soon as the law was abolished.

She suggested that dating would be something she'd keep on the back burner in the times when she felt like she deserved more intimate company, but highlighted the fact that she would probably be very slow on getting the fun-ball rolling. Apparently, she felt that she had to learn how to trust again, and obviously she didn't know who exactly to start off with. But other than us talking over that subject for a good two hours, we just said our goodbyes and I was well on my way to my room.

Or so I thought.

Twilight ran into me while I was in the halls, urging me to tell her more about what all we discussed during our all-nighter. She seemed very curious about her former mentor's emotional state, citing that it was unusual for her to be happy in spite of all that she suffered. Unfortunately, I couldn't appease her curiosity so easily, as it was something personal she shared with me. I told her if there was anything she wanted to know, all she had to do was ask. It staved her off for as long as I could finally get inside of my room, lock my door, and shut my eyes for some much-needed shuteye.

Wednesday morning came around and the breakfast was back to the usual dietary affair. Celestia tipped her cup at me to say good morning, though she was just as delightful as she was yesterday. It was almost as if the energy she had just yesterday morning when she walked in was still radiating all over her. When I said good morning, she asked me how I slept and what I would be scheduled for. Not really her typical thing to do, but I suppose I'm thinking on small things like that too deeply.

My day wasn't really planned out to be long, but it was going to be that way due to the fact that I was assigning myself magic lessons this afternoon. I just got a grasp on the basics, I couldn't just be satisfied with just that otherwise I wouldn't be able to protect myself whenever I go out into the seedy parts of the city. And I definitely needed to be able to handle more than one transformation in a day. I needed to be able to pull off at least three, one for going pony, another to turn back, and one in the back pocket just in case.

My day dragged on for a bit until it was time to head over to the backside of the mountain.

"CONCENTRATE HARDER!"

And then my day came to a grinding halt.

The only thing I managed to get after the headache of dealing with all those checkpoints again was the mental strain of trying to sustain my magic for longer periods of time. But today's exercise was a bit different. Instead of lifting up books and the like, I was lifting his servant with my levitation. Needless to say that my levitation training did nothing but terrify me due to the solitary fact that this guy was going to be in pain if I dropped him.

And believe me when I say that he was a lot more animated than ever. Poor guy went from as cool as the other side of the pillow when I met him, to being as frantic as a terrified schizophreniac. And I couldn't blame him, would you trust your well-being in the hands of a brand new nurse fresh in training school? You'd sooner die than let them dig around in your arm looking for a vein to plug into with those thick butterfly needles. Ouch.

Either way, my control of levitation needed some serious work. Instead of sitting right-side-up, Handy was floating head-first above the ground. My magic flickered on and off around him as I tried to keep him afloat. But my keeping him above the ground could only last so long at this rate. I was looking at around five seconds starting off, and now after two hours of strenuous practice, I managed to get to a fair minute and thirty.

Supposedly, the purpose of this exercise is to practice sustained magic use on larger objects instead of playing around with books. Alabaster said that I should start off with using a pony first, and then start to work on levitating myself in my spare time to get a feel of what it feels like to hold a human's weight. He also encouraged me to fail as many times as it takes to get it right, but my only problem with that is if I fall like this guy is going to in the next ten seconds, I'm going to be in some serious pain.

Handy looked at me with sweat growing all over his face, the aura around my hand started to flicker, indicating that my time had run out. And with the last of my strength, I tried flipping him over. It didn't work out too well, so instead of landing on his head, he landed on his side, still somewhat upside down. I managed to rotate him a bit too much, causing him to stand up, holding his left side, wincing in pain.

Alabaster stood beside me and clopped his hooves. "Good job. That's a farcry from the two to five seconds you tried to pass off as viable."

"Is there any way I can NOT drop the guy I'm subjecting to torture?" I questioned, panting from the strain I had been relieved of, starting to rub my head a bit.

"Not levitating me would be a start, hmmyes." Handy replied with anguish.

"But he is getting there, you have to admit. I never seen one drive themselves so far to learn the basics, but you're practically working your way up to an intermediate lesson or two. We might have to change our regiment tomorrow to give you more of a fighter's edge."

"So it's safe to say that tomorrow's training will be more combat-centered?" I asked.

"As much as you'd like me to say yes, that would be a no." He said, subverting my expectations. "Instead you will be learning some intermediate skills like magic equations and theory. I know, boring stuff, but you'd be surprised how the boring stuff translates into even greater abilities that can astound many onlookers." That I could see. I can see what he's talking about, and I know that there's a staggering difference. A good example of learning boring stuff to make something awesome can be explained using two prime characters for examples.

Cliff and I do music, I do it as a hobby, he does it as a profession. But there's something about Cliff that takes him to the next level when it comes to his field. Unlike me, he can differentiate pitches, so he has a natural ear for knowing where he is and where he wants to go when he sings. If I ever accompany him, he may keep it simplistic, but if he plays behind himself, he can go several places before coming back home to where the music began. And I understand a little bit of what he does. Just don't ask him to read sheet music, he can't stand going by the chart unless it pays him to do so.

He and I in our first semester took Music Theory I, an elective for a guy like me and a prerequisite for him. We both learned the basic scales, the difference between major and minor, took ear training and the like. I can play this stuff back when I look at it, but I can't improvise on what I learn as easily. But Cliff also took Music Theory II, Music Theory III, Music Theory IV, so on and so forth. And the end result is him being able to write out these complex melodies and harmonies that almost don't make sense, that break the basic rules of the theory behind them, and it sounds pleasing to the ear.

Another two examples I could better explain given the current topic: Twilight and Starlight.

Starlight is a gifted unicorn who dabbles in the arcane, researched enough to be able to try certain spells, and grew curious enough to start mixing things together to come up with bombastic results. However, her research was limited due to her lack of access to certain texts and also being one who learned on her own. So it takes her some time to put together something different. Twilight on the other hand is a well-learned and well-practiced unicorn who achieved her status through hard work and dedication to her craft. She has a tendency to stick to the script at times, but she's very proficient in learning on the fly, figuring out the alterations to those equations as she goes along. But don't confuse her willingness to stay on the safe side as what she normally does, as she's very eager to test her knowledge and go beyond the boundaries of what's known to be the standard. And as a result of her going beyond the book, seeking experiences from life, she learns a myriad of ways to save others.

I can't exactly compare myself to Starlight, but I can compare Cliff to Twilight.

Twilight and Cliff are both examples of individuals who learn the boring stuff to make things look and sound amazing. Starlight dug a small tunnel, looking to go deeper in. Meanwhile I'm just scratching the surface. I might not get to the point where I'm able to go on grand adventures and save an entire nation from some ancient evil that's been housed away for a thousand years with my friends. But if the most I can do is help absolve some political evil that's been festering for a thousand years, then I'm all for it.

What the hell, I need the training anyways. "Sounds good to me."

The Next Day...

I woke up in the morning and ran through with my usual early-riser routine. Get up, take a jog, shower, eat, report to barracks, stand on guard. And when it finally came time to clock out, I started gathering my mind to get ready for the next bit of training.

Unfortunately for me, the checkpoints were shut down today.

Apparently, there was some dispute among some of the residents that a guard was, and I quote, 'violating the sanctity of their quiet living and bringing about a questionable presence.' It was basically the neighborhood association putting their hoof down on frequent visitations of those of the lower class, much less a simple guard trying to learn some magic. And I can understand their logic... somewhat.

So I decided an alternate lesson was in order. Instead of paying a visit to someplace I was CLEARLY unwelcome, I dropped the appointment and made my way through the portals to Twilight's castle. When I arrived, I could already see Starlight working through her lessons with her, explaining a lot of advanced equations and spells with her and how they could be combined to create a variety of status buffs.

I popped in the room and watched quietly as Twilight went about her lesson-giving. "So instead of the simple teleportation of the physical state, one can actually transcend that and allow a mental presence to coexist within another's mind. This gives the caster the ability to see even what is considered to be, what many would call, lost truths or the final testimonials of a victim to ill happenstance."

"So what you're saying is that as long as the mind is in fairly good condition, you can recount the very last moments of somepony's life?" Starlight questioned inquisitively.

"More than, you can even delve into the subconscious thoughts of an individual leading up to the moment where they finally expire."

"Twilight, I don't know if you know this, but this completely revolutionizes the practices of forensics and law enforcement. I'll even say that it could even acquit many innocents wrongfully convicted." Starlight said, praising her mentor.

"But it all comes at a cost, using this spell can possibly alter the psyche of the caster for a substantial amount of time if they aren't strong enough in mind, it may even cause post-traumatic stress. And even if they are strong enough, the question remains if the one using the spell is unbiased and honest. There are plenty of judges that have been bought over for many cases involving issues in the infamous 'Canterrot' district, and they will do whatever it takes to keep their vices." Twilight concluded.

"Greed and corruption. That's the hallmark of those high in power..." Starlight said before trailing off to silence.

Twilight walked up to the unicorn and placed a hoof on her back. "That does not apply to you anymore. You're making the change for the better, and you will show yourself to be higher than that."

"I don't know how I'll even face them again, especially after all that I've done."

"The first step on the road to recovery is confession, acknowledging the problem and where it went wrong. You've already done much better than many would ever try to. It isn't easy looking in the mirror to see your flaws, but you have to face the truth eventually. Sooner or later, you'll have the strength to one day return, and then you'll judge for yourself how you can take the next step."

I understand that Twilight was also rehabilitating her, but it still felt more like a therapy session towards the end as opposed to a magic lesson. I suppose that is the reason why Twilight took her on as a student. I decided to not interfere.

But it seemed that my presence couldn't be ignored by the two for very long. "Nondis, you're here." Twilight said cheerfully.

"Yup, back on the front porch where it all went down. How's it been?"

Twilight walked up to me, hugging me as I knelt down to embrace her. "I've been thinking a lot about you since I had my talk with Celestia. And apparently, she's been talking a lot about you also."

Interesting. "Really, so what's she been saying?"

"That you have serious violation of personal space issues."

Sounds about right. "Well you're closer to her than I am, so you can send her my apologies."

"No can do." She replied. "She wants to hear the apology from you in person, you should probably stop by and talk about it to her."

"Was she really upset?" I questioned.

"More of flustered and confused. She thinks you're trying to get at her."

"Never once said that I had any intention of that." I replied, slowly scratching my neck. "Buuut okay. I guess I'll clarify the issue that I didn't even know that existed."

Next, she dragged me by my ear as she angrily questioned me. "Next up for business, what is going on between you and Luna?"

"Nothing other than a one-off for a trade deal that happened a few days ago. We didn't do anything and we aren't anything to each other."

She muttered in a low voice, low enough where Starlight couldn't clearly make out what was being said to me. "Oh, well I'm more surprised that you didn't consider walking around the castle with her scent as 'anything' because that is a HUGE thing."

"Luna threatened to not give me a thing if I didn't give her a thing, she really insisted that I gave her that thing. So I did a thing, to get a thing, and now I'm able to do the thing that makes me into a something."

Twilight stared at me blank-faced. "What are you talking about."

"Well would you rather me show you or would you rather me make an example?" I questioned.

"Well whatever it was, I sure hope that thing was worth it." She said as she pushed off of me, understandably upset.

"Example it is." I called out, reaching my arm for the princess.

Starlight quickly teleported over to me and tried to grab my hand, but not before I had completed the spell. The lavender unicorn angrily scowled at me with her horn searing with magic, as her mentor was then covered in smoke. "What did you do!? Do you know what you've just done!?"

Twilight coughed for a second, waving off the smoke to reveal a hand clearing away the smoke from her eyes. She gagged as she spoke. "Nondis *cough* what the hell is wrong with you!?"

"It ain't easy looking in the mirror to see your flaws, but you have to face the truth eventually." I quoted to her as she slowly started to see that she had hands instead of hooves. She also had a significant height advantage over her pupil while she stared at her own hands.

"Tell me you didn't." She said.

"And that's the thing that I picked up on while I was away."

Twilight tried to hide her enthusiasm as she made the attempt to chastise me. "And you could've spent more time learning other things or doing for the community as opposed to learning this spell."

"Two spells, actually." I corrected her. "I learned the spell that turns you into a human, and then I learned the one that turns you back. Problem is that I can't use the spell more than once in a twelve hour period. My calling abilities aren't quite up to where I can change you back so quickly."

"Calling, did you say calling?" Twilight asked, finally unable to hide her excitement.

"Transformation spells? You're practicing transformation spells when you couldn't even pick up a tiny children's book just over a week ago?" Starlight inquired with shock.

"The spells were modified for me to use on myself whenever I needed to go incognito for a few investigations into some matters that required a more measured approach."

"A measured approach?" Twilight asked, starting to giggle at the thought, crossing her arms. "Since when did you ever consider a 'measured approach' an option?"

"Considering that I'm going to be doing some investigative work on a few key individuals, I quickly learned that my ass could be outmaneuvered at any given moment. My life would be at risk in the middle of a well-lit street and no one would even notice until the guys have long-since disappeared and I would be well-past dead. So I've pretty much dedicated myself to an accelerated course whenever I get off shift."

My explanation put a dead halt to Twilight's giggling, even stifling her excitement and exchanging it with genuine concern for my well-being. Starlight looked at me and asked. "So how bad is it? Can you tell us what happened?"

"I was on my way to a meeting when I was approached by a group of mercenaries, all of them unarmed unicorns. But you couldn't tell me they were unarmed after they formed weapons out of their own magic, the auras themselves. And then they used a spacial disruption spell to prevent others from seeing what they were going to do to me. Even when I reached for my gun, they used the spell to make it as if it wasn't even on me. If they can do that with physical weapons, then that's their way of saying that I couldn't even get close to getting started with my investigations. I would either have to commence an open-book investigation, which takes months to clear the red tape, or an under-the-table operation that requires me to learn combat magic for my own defense. You pretty much know what direction I'm prone to taking."

Starlight sat on her haunches and started thinking aloud. "Altering the properties of manipulation and applying it to create a weapon from absolutely nothing. No... that can't be it."

"Spacial disruption." Twilight began to ponder. "That's an awfully high level spell to be used without formal magic training, it would even be considered to be impossible to cast without knowing what you're doing. Most guards are only capable of level four or lower." She then looked at me with quite possibly the most bitter scowl I've ever seen her give me. "Nondis, you better not be digging your nose into places you have no business in being."

"I've gotta do what I've gotta do." I simply answered.

Twilight seemed to forget that in her changed mode, she was completely naked. So my eyes were lingering towards certain parts of her exposed body as she quickly walked over to chide me. "Absolutely not! What requires you to involve yourself with the underground? Nothing, that's what! Even for you that's a boneheaded move that could get you killed... or worse!"

"What's worse than getting killed, last I checked that's as bad as one can get it." I said, still distracted by various features of her human body.

Twilight still wasn't quite aware of herself while she spoke. "Enslaved is one, maimed for body parts for exotic collectors is another, live the rest of your days as a talking head in a jar is probably one you'd like to avoid."

I shook my head as I subconsciously bit my lip. "Twilight, it is not that bad." I said, getting closer to her.

She looked down for a brief moment to see where my eyes had wandered to other than her face, finally realizing her nude state. She planted her hand over my eyes as she spoke. "You think these things are fake, but they're real. Magic is a very dangerous area of expertise, one that required countless sacrifices of lives to master. You don't think the status buffs we put on ourselves didn't come at a cost of one's life or well-being, then you'd be better off stopping yourself before you become a danger to others or yourself."

I couldn't see much past her hand, but I could see her eyes through a small opening her fingers gave to my right eye. The only thing I could see was her head tilted at me. "I know that focus is a primary objective I'm trying to achieve right now that will allow me to further my use of the transformation spell, and my ability to cast magic in combat. But I'm doing pretty well right now, the only thing I came here for was a few hints and pointers for learning how to hone my focus where I can better control my levitation abilities."

"Don't you have a professor for that already?" Starlight questioned behind me. "I mean you learned all of this stuff without Twilight's help, and you know she's going to be a lot slower with you than whoever you have drilling you. So why break rank and come here?"

"Because a certain neighborhood association took my visitation as a threat to their peaceful habitat." I replied.

"And what homeowner's association would bar you from dropping by for some magic lessons?" Starlight questioned.

"One involving at least four checkpoints, a long ass journey around the the mountain, to a neighborhood filled with villas the size of miniature castles."

"THE BACK END!?" Twilight screeched. "Nondis. I haven't even been able to go there! CELESTIA isn't even allowed over there without visitation rights and a reservation placed three months in advance! How are you even able to get past one checkpoint, much less four!?"

"And how did you meet this pony, they live on the back end of the mountain. That should be where all the wealthiest ponies of Equestria reside. Who over on that end would even think to give you the time of day?" Starlight questioned.

"I managed to get by on the word of saying that I was sent by a client, can't disclose the name right now. But they referred me to a resident. And it also happens that I met the guy at a party, more specifically the Canterlot Centennial."

"Again, I'm questioning how'd you even managed to get the time of day." Starlight said, hanging her head in disbelief.

Twilight sighed before opening her fingers a little for me to see her face, just her face, a little better. "So it's pretty obvious you're deep in it now. But what do you want me to teach you? I can't do much for you if you've already taken an instructor."

"I'm simply asking you to show me everything you know." I replied, grabbing her hand. "Preferably in this form, so that it can translate a little better to me and what little I can do right now."

Twilight pulled her hand away from me and covered her exposed breasts with her forearm. "I can't do anything for you. And I'm not gonna entertain you while I'm sitting here naked."

"No funny business, I promise." I pleaded.

Twilight shoved her face up towards mine, angrily pointing at me with a free hand. "You know, you could just go to Luna and she'll teach you what you want to know."

"Luna is too much of a distraction."

"And I'm not. You can't seem to keep your eyes above shoulder-level with me in this form."

"Twilight, don't be like this."

The humanized princess scowled at me but not without thumping me on the forehead. "...Who else are you sleeping with?"

"No one." I answered.

"Who else are you planning to sleep with, other than Rarity?"

"The client I can't name." I answered, earning me yet another thump on my forehead.

Twilight's eyes narrowed. "So it's a she, really?"

"She also happens to be really fucking rich, and she's providing me with several other things to get me the leg up on what I'm trying to accomplish. In short, my foot's in the door."

"And you're losing me, quickly." She said, readying her middle finger for yet another thump.

"Okay, whatever you want from me, you got it."

Twilight tightened her thumb over her middle finger, preventing her from letting it batter against my forehead again. "...I want three things."

"Whatever you want."

"I want to meet your new teacher."

"I could probably arrange something, no promises."

"At his house." Twilight urged. "If he's involved with you, then I should be able to see where your magic development takes place and how he does it."

"That's even harder for me to arrange." I responded, reminding her of the situation with the checkpoints.

Meantime, the transformed princess took the liberty of taking advantage of my negotiable mood and offered to play a little hardball, but not in the way I least expected for the time being. "You will meet my demands, Mr. Haines... or else I'll share with the world your most intimate secrets."

I paused for a moment, realizing that would probably get a ton of media attention here in this world. I glared back at the princess and muttered. "You wouldn't dare."

Twilight looked past me, to her student. "Starlight, how interested are you on the topic of human endurance in the bedroom?"

The mare's mane and tail damn-near stood up like a frightened cat as she whispered back. "Seriously, you two did the thing!?"

She then looked at me with a proud smirk. "Oh yes, tell her Nondis. Tell her about the night you had to lay back and let me do all the work."

"My shoulder was fucked up, you know I couldn't give it to you like that." I replied defensively, before suddenly realizing I had given myself away. I cursed at myself and admitted defeat. "...I'll see what I can do, little miss blackmail."

"Lastly..." She leaned in to whisper in my ear. "I want you to tell me everything you did with Luna."

"...In detail?"

She licked the canines of her teeth, exaggerating her lips and tongue on each word. "Every. Last. Bit."

I whispered back at her. "You must have a lot of stock in 'sexual tension' because you're getting me to buy into it."

"I'm just curious as to how you managed to get to where you start smelling like some other mare aside from me, much less like Princess Luna. Because no one won't go around offending the maids in the halls like that unless they really got in the grove of things."

"...So is this your way of saying 'I'll have what she's having?' Interesting way of putting it."

She then gave me what could've been the most fiendish smug-face she could ever put on. "Well you want a thing, and I can do a thing for you, but I really want this thing because all I could think about was you and me doing some things together."

"Just like we used to?"

"I can't just let Luna outdo me here. I'm the only princess you're allowed to dream about. She can walk around your dreams as much as she likes, but I'm the one you wake up to. Got it?"

"Just as possessive as ever."

"You like being my toy. Always have."

"Careful, princess. This toy bites."

"I see your tongue isn't as busy as I envisioned it would be."

"My bed or MY bed?"

The two of us turned around to see Starlight blushing, standing quietly as she gritted her teeth, looking in any other direction that didn't have us two debating with each other in close quarters.

"I supposed today's lesson is dismissed." Starlight announced before crossing her hind legs.

Twilight blushed profusely as she realized her student was watching her teacher essentially catch a case of sexual withdrawal. Even when I looked down, I could see the hand she once tried to cover herself with was planted against my chest, tugging lightly at my shirt. She was looking to get a good grasp of my shirt before dragging me off to wherever she wanted to go. She didn't seem to stop as she addressed her student, only tightening her grasp. "Right. We'll carry on with your next application tomorrow."

"Yeah... I'm gonna... go read a book or something."

Twilight didn't even say anything after that, just waving at her student as she left the room out of one doorway before pointing to the other that was closest to the portal room. "So..."

"My place?"

Twilight finally grabs a fistful of my shirt and pulls me close to her, almost close enough where I could feel her breathing. "Don't think our argument is over."

"I get it, but you still want my tongue to go to work, don't you?"

"You distract me enough, maybe I'll forget what we were arguing about."

"Hey, you said it, not me."

Meanwhile...

Starlight Glimmer paced back and forth with a blush on her face as she took deep breaths. As she walked herself in circles, Spike came walking down the halls with a bunch of scrolls in tow. He tilted his head to where he could see the mare pacing outside of the throne room.

"So did Twilight postpone your lesson for today?"

Starlight replied. "Yeah, on the account that she caught the vapors. She's just going to take a breather."

Spike shrugged as he answered the mare. "Figures, she's always panicking over small things. At times it gets so bad where it practically causes her to explode."

Starlight groaned as she started to think more about what she just saw. "So Spike, quick question about her and Nondis."

"Oh, them." The young drake replied with a deadpan.

"Yeah, is she always so... aggressive with him?"

Spike rolled his eyes. "You mean how she just locks herself in the room with him for hours at a time─"

The mare squeaked as she crossed her hind legs. "Hours!?" She squealed through clenched teeth.

"Oh yeah, it was pretty bad when he first announced his decision to stay. It was awkward watching the two of them do nothing but make out in the halls whenever she had the chance. She was always pouncing on him, almost eating his face off."

"HOLY FUCK." Starlight said closing her eyes. "Okay, new question─"

"Erotica is on the top shelf of the far right in the library, right next to the 'fantasy' section. I'll also get the deodorizer from the bathroom as well as a few towels so you can clean up after."

Starlight's cheeks were shot red as she glanced at the young dragon. "How often do you─"

"Twilight's a nympho, it's been like this since she got her chastity rings put on. If I didn't do all of this, can you imagine the smell her room would have?"

Starlight's eyes expanded as she whispered to herself. "Oh Faust, my teacher's a freak."

"With a dragon's greed."

We made our way into the portal room before Twilight slammed the door shut with her magic. I stared right at her, absorbing all of her human features before she could turn around and censor herself. But it didn't stop her from getting any closer to me, pulling me in with her magic. It seemed that she took my request to teach me the humanized method of levitation to heart, letting only a single finger dictate my entire body's direction. We couldn't even get to the portal, instead she laid herself on a table and curled a finger at me, summoning me to come for her.

It wasn't like I had much of a choice, she demanded it. I was more surprised that she could control her magic so well. While I was using my entire hand, sometimes my entire arm for controlling someone else's body, she only had one finger cranking me in like a torque ratchet, yanking me several steps in with each curl.

As soon as I was in front of her, the next thing she did was point to the ground. My knees buckled and my legs sank to the floor. I was sitting directly in front of her, her human body sitting on the table with her thighs partially separated but another hand hiding the issue she wanted me to address.

By the time I finally had free reign of myself again, I climbed over her and cupped my hand over her tender breasts, running my fingers against her stiffened nipples. A small moan came from the princess as she saw her world flash before her eyes. I didn't stop at trying to get her off, not yet. I wanted to make her want that moment, badly. So I teased her with her breasts in my hand and my tongue flicking off the tip of her hardened peaks. The soft mounds she apparently perceived to have no sexual value had suddenly become a highlight in our discussion.

Her body writhed while she giggled through a bit lip. Her eyes clenched shut as her head fell back. Her chest fell and rose as a rolling wave in slow rhythm. Her hands were quickly finding themselves busy, strumming through my hair and rubbing against my back. I could even feel her hand try to guide my head down towards her intended purpose, but I resisted and instead shoved my way up to her lips.

From there, we finished off from the moment we were in my hallway, sitting on the floor as we rediscovered the lust we had for one another. And it was beyond satisfying, to feel her human lips collapse onto mine, for my hands to register the sensation of smooth flesh. I had even started to work my pants off as I let my free hand unburden myself from my belt and jeans. The metal figures clacked quietly as they fell primitively to the ground with a soft thud against the denim.

It was so beyond me, the thrill of having the quick rush of sexual frustration being built up through means of an argument. I always felt it was so different as opposed to a long wind-up following a tiresome day filled with dealing with a bunch of people you don't like. Instead it was like the person who got on your nerves decided to have a little competition with you on how long you can last. And since this was a human girl in my arms, I had a lot more to put on the line.

It's what I waited for my entire life.

There was no panties to mask the dampness between her thighs, it was more apparent since I was brushing against her with my own lust. She glanced down to see myself brushing against the tip of her hidden pearl. I reached down and placed inside of her two of my fingers, stimulating the base of her pearl from underneath. Using my thumb, I circled around until I found what started to harden against it. I finally found what I had been looking for and gently pressed my thumb against it, pushing upwards to reveal the small nub that was the source of her frustration.

I wanted to do nothing more than plunge myself in, but I instead teased her with the idea of it, trying to coax her into wanting it. I rubbed myself against her, tapping her exposed self against my much larger sex. All the while pinching one of her nipples slightly. The young princess seemed lost within her transformed body, doing whatever she could to get to her high point. But I knew better than to immediately give her what she wanted.

And she despised that I knew how she was. It didn't matter if she was a woman or a mare, I knew how easily she would try to avert continuation when she finished. It was why she was always so methodically slow in toying with me when we first started our steamy relationship. Sex was almost a drug to her, something that gave her a whole new feeling of being in the clouds. That's why she had to control the dosage, she had to be the one to dictate the pace because she wanted the both of us to feel good.

Today was one of the days where she just wanted it for herself.

It wasn't unusual to see her try to grind herself into me, planting seeds of want in my system for the next time she sought to cultivate her desires. She would normally stop herself short of reaching her climax, but that all changed from the night we finally broke ranks and committed the royal taboo. That night we had our argument in the throne room, she didn't stop with her first, or her second, or her third, her forth, fifth, sixth, or seventh. She kept going, teasing me with the thought of being inside of her, teasing herself with the potential of having me for herself again.

Even if she was half my size, she dictated the tempo of our engagements. She called the shots, I just laid there and was content. But now that the ball was more on my court, I had total control. And it was more than exhilarating for me. The thought of it alone was enough to find myself prodding at her entrance with vested interest. And this time, there were no chastity rings to stop me from going any further. It all waited on her say-so.

I pressed the tip within, withdrawing immediately to provide her with enough motivation to meet with me halfway. She didn't want anything else more than my presence at that moment. She was absolutely drunk with lust, completely caught up with her human body sending her brain an incredible amount of signals. But I mistimed my entrance at one point, falling just above the desired entrance and slipping over her exposed pearl. At that moment, I could see the lights brighten up in her eyes.

Both of her hands started to glow as she mimicked grabbing on to a pair of handlebars. She adjusted herself and parted her legs further as she pulled her hands in, directing my waist into her. She would not give me time to readjust myself to give her what she wanted, but she was thoroughly directing me to break ranks again. Within seconds, she finally stopped to let me get aligned before she shoved her hips into mine with complete abandon.

That first moment I sank into her, I felt myself hunch over with awe over how angelic she felt to me. I surrendered a moan from deep within my chest. The woman beneath me clenched her teeth, giggling through them while her toes curled behind me. She tilted her head just enough for me to see the longing in her face. Her legs clenched around me, crossing her ankles across my backside. Her fingers dug into my back, her nails dragging down with each and every inch. My arms anchored themselves to either side of her while she looked at me with shock written across her face. "Did we just seriously do this again?"

"Wanna keep going?" I asked with one deep thrust.

Twilight winced as she didn't show any intention of her wanting to stop, her magic still active on my hips. "Holy hell, you humans are so sensitive."

"You think so?" I replied, giving her another.

The princess gasped as she threw a hand on my shoulder. "You're such a bully, what has gotten into you?"

"Hmm, I remember you distinctively saying 'Tell her about the night you had to lay back and let me do all the work'."

"I was just teasing!" Twilight said before I started to asset myself further inside of her.

"You know you were talking real pretty up until you realized you weren't an alicorn anymore."

"And I'm still remembering a certain argument you're supposed to make me forget. So what does that say about you?"

I didn't say anything, I just proceeded to continue driving myself within her, reaching as far as I could until I couldn't go any further. As she looked down, she noticed my length slowly becoming enveloped with her juices, getting creamier and creamier with each pump. She grew interested until a surge of pleasure had broke her concentration. Her magic broke off and I was once again given free reign over my own body.

For her, it was the worst thing that could happen given the fact that I was more motivated to get her to become nothing more than a babbling mess. For me, it was justice. I started increasing the pace of my thrusts, completely free from her control. I wanted her to forget her own name. And I vied to do just that with every push.

It seemed that she wasn't too lost to her human urges, still finding some way to rebound from the surprising jolt of pleasure that sent shivers up her spine. The young princess wasn't set on letting me have the claim of doing everything this time. She refused to relinquish that crown to me, instead she wanted to show me that she could still do something in spite of her unfamiliarity of the human sex drive.

But with each attempt she made to supplant me for dominance, I found new ways to break her. I would suck her nipples, I'd pinch them and kiss against the nape of her neck. Whenever she felt like she had a grasp on my hips again, I changed the position, placing her leg over my shoulder while leaning into her. Each little change made her unaware of what I was going to do next. But I saved one trick for last.

I pulled her off the table, laying her on the floor, pulling her voluptuous derriere upwards to me while I crouched over her. Next, I grabbed a handful of her hair and tugged against her while I entered once more. Each thrust was made where gravity would take over, while I had to put the effort in pulling out. Manhood pulsing through her depths, my knees braced as I broke into her repeatedly. Her stifled moans were my fuel to keep going. But soon, they got louder, more primitive, unapologetically noisy before I could feel her grip me tightly, constricting herself in waves.

Her eyes couldn't see anything I was doing to her, the only thing she could do was enjoy the experience as I did. But the difference was that I could see her arching her back the more I delved deep inside. Twilight lost balance in one of her arms, causing her to readjust to keep herself up. It was a beautiful display of her being unable to take control, a perfect victory to my cause.

But it came at a cost. In the process of my getting too far into conquering her, I ended up losing track of my own self. Before I knew it I was hunched over her with my knee on the ground, driving insatiably within for my impending release. Twilight had managed to successfully milk me into submission. A few more pushes was all it took before I couldn't even bring myself to withdraw. Instead, I forced myself over her, roughly driving myself against the entrance of her womb. With each drive, I unleashed several helpings of my own fruit, her arms finally gave in and she flopped to the ground. I slowly crawled off of her, seeing the mess I made on the way out, satisfied with my work. Sweating and milked for every last ounce, I flipped her over and then gave her what she wanted from the start.

Twilight's chest rose and fell as the sweat all over her body cooled her from the heat she suffered through. Her eyes was mostly locked to the ceiling before I pulled her up closer to me. "Hey Twily, look at me."

She obliged for a second to see me run my tongue against her throbbing clit, still feeling the residue from her previous orgasm quickly feeding into her next. Her eyes locked onto mine while I made every intention to give her the experience that no other had. The princess shuddered as she grabbed the back of my head, pushing me into her, riding out her final waves of orgasm before falling limp. The only thing I felt define me for the time being was the feeling of my hair being curled and tangled between her slender fingers, calmly massaging the back of my head. A few seconds after, she recovered enough to speak. "Holy fuck... yes."

"That's a new one I never heard you say." I muttered, my lips still buried against her reddened folds.

She tilted her head up to where she could barely see me past her own breasts. "I never came that hard in my life. Not even with the first time we did it."

I lapped my tongue against her one last time before I rose from between her thighs. "So, who did all the work this time?" I asked, covered completely in sweat.

"Fuck you." She squeaked, still trying to work past her dying orgasm.

I sat up, wiping my face as I still had the taste of sex in my mouth. "So you don't wanna talk about this one, huh?"

"Can you just lay down next to me and be quiet for a good ten minutes?" She asked.

"I can do that." I replied as I started to lay down, when I suddenly noticed that the door was still wide open, with Starlight and Spike sitting there.

Both of them staring with their jaws slacked open.

"Shit!" I immediately reached for my pants to cover myself. "Sorry about that, probably should've closed the door all the way..."

Twilight got up and quickly hid her face as soon as she saw Spike. "I am so sorry, I swore the door was closed!"

Spike walked up to the door and picked up a small chunk of wood. He then looked to the door frame and noticed the issue. "Apparently something must've broke the door open." He replied sarcastically, shifting his eyes to a certain lavender unicorn.

Starlight rubbed her forelegs as she timidly looked away. "Yeah... I just heard Twilight screaming, and I had to check in on her. As soon as Spike said that he heard an unusual noise, I just kinda sprang into action. So I bust the door in, only to find you two... going at it."

Twilight quickly grabbed my boxers and hid her face. "Oh God, how much did you see?"

"Humans mounting one another like ravaging animals, sweat falling off his head while he has you tied up. Pretty damn kinky for my tastes. I don't think I've ever seen that position before."

Spike nodded slowly. "Yeah, I had to pretty much jot that one down."

"Spike, I am SO sorry." Twilight replied sheepishly, still hiding in my boxers.

Starlight turned her attention to me, tilting her head as she eyed the jeans crumpled up against my crotch. "Hmm... so what does the human sexual organ look like? Must be pretty potent to do something like that to a mare─"

Twilight slammed her hand against the ground as she threw my boxers back in my face. "MAGIC LESSONS! LET'S GET STARTED!"

She quickly grabbed my hand and the two of us teleported out of the room, leaving only Starlight and Spike alone.

"Hey, Spike."

"Yeah." The drake replied.

"How much of that did you jot down?"

"Just that last bit."

"...Now which shelf was the erotica section again?"

After finding out how easily Twilight can teleport herself between DIMENSIONS and cycling between laughter and nervous embarrassment, we settled down and started working on a few other methods I could use to transpose many other methods of levitation to the human method. Control was a subject that was greatly exaggerated on.

Figures that would be the one thing we'd do after losing just that with one another.

As far as I was concerned, I was more or less ready to take my magic up a notch. But as I started to hype myself up for my next lessons, Twilight seemed concerned with the story I told her earlier. I wasn't really looking at it from her standpoint, but if I had to guess, she was already looking at what I needed to do to play catch-up quickly.

She also realized that her involvement with me in the matter was practically non-existent, and would remain that way until I am done. So a lot had been running through her mind ever since we finished. The one thing she stressed on was that she'd schedule a meet-up with my other mentor to view my method of training. I didn't really understand her insistence on it, but I was willing to oblige as long as we could find a neutral zone to work with.

I had to make my way back to Mel's apartment to get back to Canterlot. As soon as I arrived, I ran out to drop a line in the Alabaster's office mailbox. I had notified him that I would be paying a visit to the Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns for a few days to, quote-unquote, research the facility for investigative purposes. I also heavily implied that he show up to drop a few knowledge bombs on me while I was visiting.

The truth was that Twilight had pulled a few strings with her alum status and also had me send in a request to 'reserve and isolate' one of the lecture halls for the evening after school. And being that it was Celestia's school, it was more than likely to be approved because of their status to one another. Also, I'm sure that Celestia wouldn't mind me training after-hours in her own facility, especially since she was the one to give me the jump start on magic.

Though all of that stuff was likely to be a go, it wouldn't mean anything unless we conveyed that to Celestia.

Twilight had written a formal letter of request, citing her desire to use Lecture Hall C in Tower A for tomorrow evening. And since I was already back on my way to the dining hall this evening to see what the cook had stirred up for me, I decided to approach her with the letter then.

Just like clockwork, she arrived at approximately 5:59 while leaving her assistant and all her day's paperwork at the door. And seeing the massive stacks of scrolls and files her assistant levitated, I could only imagine how much of a headache she would have in seeing one more piece of paper during dinner. But I had to make sure that this was given to her before she sat down, so I gave her a casual greeting just as any guard would do. "Good evening, your highness. How was your day today?"

She gave a truly frustrated groan. "Meetings tomorrow morning for my 8, 9, 10:30, and 11. Meetings in the afternoon at my 12, 1, 2:30, and 4, so no lunch for me. Parliament appearance at 5 in the evening to hear more about how badly we need a eight percent tax hike on parties and festive gatherings nationwide."

"Let me guess, they say there's too many parties?" I joked.

"It appears to me that it's really more of a bunch of old stallions who can't handle their own bodily functions, much less a drink, complaining about 'those noisy kids' and how they want things to be quieter." She replied before mumbling to me under her breath. "Seriously, I'm leagues older than they are and I just can't think on anything but going to a morgue instead of attending one of their gatherings."

"Oh no, don't let it be like that." I answered with a chuckle.

"You can ask my assistant, I was cramming up on the material for all these meetings before I have to go to them tomorrow. I know I don't want to appear to be a disinterested ruler, but there are times where I feel like after a thousand years that I would be better off sitting on a beach instead. At least I can make the excuse of having sand in my eyes to not have to look at another piece of parchment."

I sighed with misfortune as I pulled out the sealed letter Twilight asked me to give to her. "Ssssss-oooh... tragic."

She looked at the letter and sighed quietly. "So what's this one all about?"

"It's a letter from Twilight." I said, causing the princess' demeanor to change slightly.

"Hmm, I haven't had a letter from her in ages. Must be a request."

"It is." I answered while she opened the letter and read the contents.

The princess started to giggle as she looked at me. "So, here after all that rigmarole, you're going to my school for magic lessons. That's some irony I haven't seen before."

"You'd think you'd see something similar after a thousand years." I said with a shrug.

"But involving a non-magical being trying to learn how to operate on unicorn magic theory, do I even need to say more?"

"Touché." I muttered.

She reviewed the letter again and questioned me. "So, do you know the significance of her request?"

"Not really. I haven't seen the campus so I wouldn't know anything about it."

"Tower A, Lecture Hall C. I think it would be better for Twilight to tell you the significance of that place. It's not a moment I'm going to spoil for you."

"But if you did spoil it for me, what hint would you give?" I asked.

"Nothing, because I want her to share that moment with you." She replied with a smug grin. "Now when you finish, come back and tell me the significance of that place, then I will tell it to you from my perspective."

I do remember many months ago about how Twilight told me that she felt like her former mentor was a bit of a tease, I probably took it a completely different way thinking on the sexual side of things, now I understand that what she meant was that Celestia was more of a troll than anything. Go figure.

"Now I won't be there to unlock the doors for you, but I will send for a pony to give you a brief tour of the place before you get settled in for your lessons. So keep your eyes open for her when you arrive."

"Won't that be Twilight?" I asked.

"Not likely, that would bring too much attention to the two of you. Just one of you is enough to get the students rambling. But I believe the one I intend to send for is my best choice for keeping things under wraps for the time being. Don't need them to go mouthing off that you went over there to take a magic lesson. Though I'm sure she'll find some way to participate."

The servers finally entered into the room with a quiet nod to the princess, offering the two of us a menu. He also informed us of the status of the other royals. Shining and Cadance had went to the Crystal Empire for the day, Blueblood and his wives went into town again, and Luna was visiting the human world again... probably to watch TV and burn some more popcorn. Twilight was an automatic scratch being in Ponyville, so it was just me and her tonight.

Upon a quick glance at my menu, I saw a lot of plant-based options that would still be overseen by none other than the royal head chef Zesty Gourmand. You can already imagine my excitement, or rather my lack thereof. Celestia glanced down to her menu and sighed with apparent frustration. She summoned the chef immediately. And within a minute, the head chef came walking through the doors, a slender elderly gray unicorn mare with masculine facial features walked in with a proud stride before bowing to the princess. "Your highness, I take that you have a special request for me today."

The princess didn't even seem to show any bit of annoyance as she gently smiled at the chef. "Zesty, I am so glad you're well. And yes, I do happen to have a special request for you. You should be more than willing to allow a few more chefs some creative input in the meal options for this evening, correct?"

The mare lowered her head further, in what appears to be a show of apology. "Your highness, I cannot allow their input. Many of the staff are too heavy-hoofed with the preparation processes to be allowed the freedoms of less oversight. But I can assure you that the quality of your meals shall be most exceptional. I shall ensure that the tastes of your meal is subtle and that it awakens the tongue with a hit of sensation, with the intention that it does not overwhelm the senses."

Showing a lot more patience than I would, the princess calmly replied. "I can understand your desire for the simple palate, but I shall insist that there be a tad bit more spices invested into the meal tonight."

The mare started to ponder, placing a hoof on her chin before responding. "I suppose I could increase the grains by a small amount."

I then blurted out to her. "Lady, she means for you to season the food, not just simply dipping it in hot water and calling it an artistic experience."

She took exception to my interruption. "I do believe your level of expertise is something akin to that of a babbling foal fresh from the womb. Please consider your profession before you provide your input."

Though Celestia raised a hoof to politely infer that I stop, I kept going. "Look, it sucks, that's just the bottom line. You don't do enough to make a diet enjoyable, you force your tastes on everyone else thinking that you're setting the standard, but you're ignoring the common theme of the phrase 'the customer is always right' here. In case you haven't noticed, you don't need to ration the spices like we're in some old-age famine period. The art of food is visual, but where's the variance, the life it represents, the smells?"

The chef then levitated the menu from where I was seated and strongly declared. "Well if you have a problem with the dishes I provide, then you may dine elsewhere."

I looked at the princess and politely offered my apology. "Your highness, I'm sorry. But it appears that I'm gonna have to head across the portal for dinner tonight."

Celestia sighed as she watched the chef walk into the kitchen with my menu. She stopped me before I could even look to the doors to leave. She walked from her chair and whispered to me. "I know the food is terrible, but you didn't have to insult her like that."

"I'm sorry, it seemed to me that she was more beating around the bush than anything. 'Increasing the grains' is another way of saying that she won't change the formula by even a small percent. That was her way of saying 'I'll take your advice and shove it'. And she's obviously aware that every chef in that kitchen can grill her under, that's why she won't let anyone else provide input. She didn't care about your tastes, she cares about what she think is right, even if it's wrong to many others."

"But that's still no way to talk to her."

"I admit I was a bit heavy-handed, but I'm from the south, and we eat good cooking. You can cook your ass off, I was honestly tempted to say that both of us could just walk in that kitchen and do it ourselves."

Celestia once again stressed her point. "Again, I understand your logic. But I still need you to walk in there and apologize to Zesty Gourmand before anything else."

It wasn't like I was going to have much of a choice in that regard. She still called the shots and I did act out of term. It was only right, even if I still believed that she was going to end up being rebellious to Celestia's advice. But to keep the peace of the castle, I had to clock out on my pride and do as she asked me to.

When I was released, I walked into the kitchen and saw a group of chefs staring at one another. The tension in the air was pretty thick for them, and considering that I just pissed off their boss, who was to say that they wouldn't feel the wrath of their scorned head of staff. I suppose I should've also taken that into consideration. "You, what are you doing in my kitchen!?" Zesty shouted as I raised a hand for acknowledgement.

"I just want to bury a hatchet here." I replied quietly and calmly. "And I know things are pretty tense right now, but I think it would be better if I came correct instead of coming for personal gripes. So I want to say that I'm sorry for my earlier outburst. You wouldn't be here if you didn't know what you were doing, and obviously you do. So yeah... I just came to apologize."

The mare rolled her eyes. "Well if that's all then, get out of my kitchen."

As I turned around to do as she instructed, I saw Celestia walking in. She didn't seem to drop a beat off of her elegant demeanor as she spoke to the chef. "Zesty, why don't you and your staff take a night off?"

The mare looked back with surprise written across her face, trying to make sense of what was going on. "Your highness─"

"The captain will apologize for his transgression by now realizing how difficult it is to prepare a four-course meal for himself. As for me, I will satisfy my own hunger with a visit to one of the downtown bistros. I've been summoned last minute for a meeting, so I am afraid that I will have to send you all home early."

The other chefs didn't seem to have a problem with that idea, quickly ditching their hats and hairnets. Zesty seemed completely lost on the idea of her having a night off. But she acknowledged that command and dismissed herself as the last chef in the kitchen for the night.

As soon as the doors closed, I heard the fridge open in the back part of the room. As she pulled out an onion and a tomato, Celestia walked over to a nearby counter with a smile on her face. She looked back, levitating a knife for me to grab. "You honestly didn't think I was going to leave you in this kitchen unsupervised."

"I take it you're just getting all the things I need to prep for myself?" I questioned.

"Not entirely, you're prepping for two tonight." She replied while pulling out two plates.

"Two?"

"Well who else am I going to talk to for dinner? I don't have anypony else since my sister seems to be visiting your world, and with everypony else gone, I'm going to be by myself. My getting summoned was merely an excuse to get Zesty out of the kitchen."

"And since I'm the only one who's here, I'm gonna help you cook?"

Celestia smiled as she tossed me a potato. "Well your mother's culinary talents has to go somewhere, poor thing doesn't have a daughter to help take the heat."

I started peeling the skin off of the potato while I spoke. "I think that part goes to Alex. He's always the one who's helping mom around the holidays. Though I think both he and Vanessa are gonna do Christmas this year."

"You said that it falls on the same day as Hearth's Warming, correct?"

"You sure do keep up with small details." I replied.

"Only with the things I'm either interested in or that I have to pretend to be interested in."

"A princess PRETENDING to enjoy something, say it isn't so." I said sarcastically.

"Better question, do I pretend that I like cooking in my spare time?"

"All I can say is that you'd be one hell of a mother if you were a human woman. Four kids, because let's be honest, you in human form is just trouble for a man wanting to settle down. Though I can see you having husband who loves you for what you are and every part of you, it'll just so happen to get to where he'll forget to control himself around you. I can even see you guys having a pet dog."

Celestia looked down at the food she prepped, cutting the onions as she thought more on the idea of motherhood. "...You know, I could've been a mother."

I stopped peeling to think about the part of her past I ended up reading on. Immediately, my heart sank for her. "I know. I just wish you could find happiness and find that someone who'd give you another shot."

"I know I brought up dating once before, but I already said that love stuff is for the birds." She replied.

"Yeah, but don't you fly too?"

She glanced back at her wings, letting them shuffle a little bit before bringing her attention back to her prep work. "Peccavi."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Peccavi. It's another way of admitting fault or culpability, a synonym of the old and worn interjection 'touché'."

I slowly nodded. "Huh, that's a new one."

"It's quite old, actually. But if you say so."

As I finished peeling the skin off the potato, I started to think to myself, not even realizing that I was speaking out loud. "Lady, you are interesting."

"Interesting as in how?" She asked, causing me to jump a little bit. She started to giggle as she spoke. "You also said that out loud."

I started to just think off the top of my head. "Well, you have access to a whole vocabulary of words that are so rarely used and would often be searched for linguistic research purposes."

"A product of my age, I suppose." She answered, pulling out a pan and a small bottle of olive oil.

"I'm trying not to focus so much on that. It's not fun pointing out the obvious."

"What do you mean OBVIOUS?" She questioned emphatically. "I'll have you know that I don't look a day over thirty-two."

"Oh no, I never said that." I said before a cruel joke came to my lips. "I wouldn't dare mention the possible years, stacked on top of decades, resting on top of centuries added on to that millennium."

Celestia didn't like my joke too much. "I think the moon is a nice place, you should pay a visit sometime."

I shook my head rapidly while laughing. "Oh no thanks. Not an ounce of air in that vacuum. I'd die in two minutes or less."

"Luna lived a thousand years up there, you should be fine." She said as the magic around her horn stirred to a bright-golden color.

"Not everyone is damn-near immortal like the two of you. And we actually sent humans to the moon a few times before. But they had on thick protective suits that kept them safe from things like the deep vacuum of space, the infrared radiation, even shielding for their eyes against the brightness of the sun."

Celestia stared at me for a few seconds. "...So you said two minutes, right? I can have you back in sixty seconds."

"No, quit playing!" I said, backing away quickly as she seemed to like the idea of sending me up into space.

"I'll even go with you!" She said while giggling, using her magic to scoot me even closer to her.

"My eyes will boil out." I warned her.

"Not quite boil..." She simply replied by shoving me to the counter with the half-way cut onion. Immediately being right next to the fresh vegetable caused my eyes to water significantly. "See, more than enough water in them to keep it going."

...She is such a troll.

The pungent odor caused me to close my eyes as I turned my head away, even sniffling my nose before sneezing. "Ugh, so this is the moon you banished me to?"

"I had thoughts of throwing you on the real one, but since I'm a merciful ruler, I've elected to let you live." She said as she stood next to me, cutting up a few bell peppers. "Maybe next time, you'll refrain from joking about my age."

"Well noted." I said, coughing and sneezing past the powerful scent the onion. "We need to run this under some water."

"Just cut it already, you big baby."

"To hell with that, where's my milk, mom!?" I joked before realizing I might have crossed a line.

To my surprise, she was laughing at me as she pointed to the fridge. "You're old enough to get your own. Don't go asking me for some, I don't have any to give right now."

After I finished cutting the onion, she started throwing the bell peppers in the pan and started pulling out some spices from the spice rack. She carefully observed the bottle before sighing with disbelief. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Judging from the expiration date, they had to have purchased this about a month ago."

"And?"

"A month would warrant the purchase of a whole new bottle considering how many mouths they feed on a daily basis. This looks as if it's barely been opened."

"That bad, huh?" I said, walking over to to the spice cabinet for myself. As soon as I saw with my own eyes how full the bottles were on the spice rack, I broke out laughing. "Holy shit, no wonder my food tasted like boiled water!"

"She's been monopolizing the spices! Apparently a bottle of garlic powder is supposed to last an entire year!"

"Nah, considering how many mouths they feed on the daily, that shit is supposed to be gone within the week."

Celestia looked at me and started giggling and holding a hoof over her lips. "I'm sorry, but she's fired! I have an entire weekly budget gone unspent while spices sit around and build a shelf life faster than I can build a relationship under a ten year multiplier."

I couldn't help but to crouch down, holding my stomach from how hard I started to laugh at both the situation and her joke. It was the very first time she ever made me go all-out laughing. "Wait... W-wait,─"

"I'd probably find a marriage and kids in these spices the way she's letting this stuff grow old. But I suppose she was just waiting eighteen years before getting introduced. I suppose I'm nothing short of crib robbing today."

"Holy fuck!" I couldn't even support my own weight, I had to sit on the ground, writhing with laughter. The sensation was positively astral. I was essentially having an outer-body experience where I couldn't even control my body for a few seconds. But when I came to, I was more astounded that she actually went that far. "Holy hell, Celly!"

Meanwhile, she wiped away a tear. "Gracious, I don't think I've had an out like that that in centuries."

"Said the spices in the cupboard." I said, trying to recover. "Holy hell, I did not know you were that raw."

The princess took a few deep breaths to try and recompose. "It's not everyday where I can find someone who wouldn't think less of me for a bit of dark humor. I feel comforted in knowing I have someone who will laugh with me. I can hardly joke around with anyone."

I got back on my own two feet and stood up to watch the pan full of peppers sizzling. "Honestly, ponies just need to put their barriers down a moment and just laugh instead of being so caught up in shock and awe."

"Right! I can't even tell Twilight a joke without her thinking genuine concern. This morning, I tossed out a joke saying that I felt you were coming on to me, she took it like a genuine concern. Poor girl, I could never get her to laugh at anything I say without explaining that it was a joke."

"Yeah, she came to me earlier today saying that." I confirmed. "I was confused as hell because I always thought we were just being friendly to one another. I mean if I did come off like that, then sorry, but I don't think I was putting any effort to that."

Celestia went to the fridge to pull out some cheese while she spoke. "I think the problem with you is that you're so easy to talk to at times, so much that you don't do anything but just spill and spill until you're good and dry. What makes it worse is that you follow up with doing these really incredible things to help, even disregarding your own safety. It's almost what you'd read in a romance novel, typical and cliché, but endearing. Things like that are dangerous to mares, we see it as a weakness to be able to vent so openly to guys like you, especially if you're involved with others. Secrets get out, rumors spread, relationships are damaged, the whole nine."

"And with your status, you find yourself being so guarded with your words." I added.

"That and the image I produce. I hate being a princess at times, I can never be truly happy unless I find a good cake to bite into."

"You should try a chocolate ice-cream cake then, the best of both worlds." I suggested.

"Oh no, don't do that to me. I'll never leave this kitchen."

"You'll have to eventually."

She glanced at me with a smirk and leaned against the counter. "Is that a challenge?"

"Well there's sleeping, bathing, meetings you got tomorrow, raising the sun."

She stared at me for a second before mouthing the word she was going to use. "Pec─"

"Peccavi." I said, beating her to the punch. "I'm gonna take that one from you."

Before I knew it, there was a plate of food lifted in front of my face, surrounded by her magic. I had to double take as I glanced over to her, realizing that she had cooked our meals the entire time we were talking. I couldn't believe that she had completed my meal so discreetly. She politely pointed at the plate she gave me. "Perhaps you should take this also. An empty stomach won't help you learn."

I took a fork and tasted the food for myself, becoming pleasantly delighted in the wonderful sensation of my taste buds waking up for the first time today. I could feel the tang of the cheese complimenting the sweetness of the peppers, the onions popping out just enough kick to accent the feeling of... rice? "What is this?"

"Stuffed peppers, a bit rich on dairy but it is a fairly decent take on dietary foods if you can moderate how much richness you implement to the dish."

"You do everything." I said, still wolfing down my food.

"I don't act, but I always wanted to try out. Ever since the invention of motion pictures, I wanted to see myself on the big screen. But time and schedule was something that could never agree for me. For now that just sits on the list of things I won't get a chance to have, like having a family or a tragedy-free relationship. Who knows if I'll ever start dating in this modern age of instant gratification."

"I think a few guards would be willing to put up with it." I announced, causing the princess to chuckle at the thought.

"They'd put up with me just to say that they're dating me. I'd be some sort of claim if that were to happen, I'd much rather somepony I can learn to trust with my past."

I stopped eating and looked back up at her, staring with dead silence.

The princess stared back, realizing what she just said and cleared her throat. "Oh, I did share that with you, didn't I?"

"Feeling curious?" I asked. "If you are, please don't cut my head off."

An unimpressed smirk showed on her face, she even pointed at it to further illustrate that she wasn't amused with my joke. "Keep talking, this might be your last supper."

I chuckled. "So violent."

She started eating from her plate as well, tasting her own work but not enjoying it as much as I did, she was quite used to her own cooking. "...Love stuff is for the birds, yet I'm the one with the wings here."

"Time to fly from the coop, a swan living among chickens."

"Hence why I'm off the menu."

"For many, but there are some willing to give it a shot."

"No thanks. Romance is mush stifling those who strive."

...Those are some familiar words. "I'll live a lush life in some small dive. And there I'll be, while I rot with the rest of those whose lives are lonely too."

Celestia hummed with inquisition. "That's new. Where did that one come from?"

"An old jazz record sung by a lady called Nancy Wilson. My grandparents used to slow dance to her record every Saturday night... Then my grandfather decided to cry to it every Saturday night since she died. His favorite one was 'Someone to Watch Over Me' sometime after."

"You miss your grandfather, don't you?" She asked.

"It's not too often, but I wake up with memories of him and what we did when I was kids. It puts me in a bright mood."

"I'm like that with my mother, sometimes with Luna." She said, picking on her plate. "I get up in the morning with the anticipation of spending time with her, getting angry with her, fussing, fighting, pulling pranks on her, getting fed up with her... If there's anything I tell anyone, no amount of wealth or length of life can ever rob you of the desire to be with someone after they've gone. Even when they aren't, you just can't imagine waking up to their not being among you."

"It's always a scary thought to know that when you get married to that special someone, you know it won't be forever. So you just make the best of each moment. For me it feels like the moment we argue─"

"Everything goes wrong and tragedy ensues."

I didn't quite keep track of how long we sat looking at each other quietly, but I know it had to have been a while. Our food had started to grow cold while we were just looking. She averted her eyes and I did the same, realizing that time had marched on while we were just quiet with one another, as if something had clicked.

"It's getting late. I should go back to cramming the parchment."

"The food was wonderful."

"Thank you."

I pulled out my phone and looked at the time. "Damn, we've been in here for almost two hours. I know the staff has got to be worried about you."

"And I've got to get some sleep. Busy day tomorrow."

"Well you have a good one." I replied.

She stopped herself for a moment and thought to herself before finally speaking again. "When you report in for your training tomorrow, you tell me what you've learned about that room."

"Sure."

She walked out the room and left her unfinished plate on the counter. I merely chugged mine down, regardless of how congealed it may have been, threw hers away, washed the dishes, and cut the lights out along the way. When I went back to my room, I laid on my bed, staring at the ceiling for a while before turning over to my side with quiet thoughts swimming through my head about the day.

"...I really hope this ain't what I think this is."

Meanwhile in Celestia's Room...

The princess laid on her bed, reviewing several papers and tossing the ones she felt done with to the floor below. Frustrations mounting, she simply allowed the mess around her bed grow and grow until the papers almost became as useful as a bedside rug. Her tired eyes hung low as she yawned, stretching her forelegs out before her eyes snapped open. Almost out of instinct, she yanked her forelegs back in, feeling some remnant of pain from the hell she once endured. There was no physical pain that affected her, but the mental stigma remained.

The high ruler shook off her past and realized that her working so tiredly caused her mind to wander, drifting to places she'd prefer locked away. Celestia rose from her bed, wading through the paper rug she made herself and stared at the mirror. She still wore her regalia, but the mental scars showed all over her. The princess stared back at herself while she braved the thought of taking off her chest plate again. As she did, the demon of her past started whispering into her ear the many selfish desires she longed for, harping the vengeance she failed to claim, and the very idea of violence came to the forefront of her mind while she recounted the sight of politicians celebrating their victories before her.

But one thought put a quiet end to the dark thoughts that plagued her mind.

She would not admit it, nor would she dare to entertain the possibility of it being true, but she felt like what was once lost to her had found it's way back in her life. Just the thoughts of her laughing so freely, the image of the satisfaction she gave to him, the fondness that grew over the few days she allowed him to get closer to her, to know her in a way where few others would even receive the privilege, it warmed her heart and soothed her mind. The way he carefully fumbled his way through her mane, giving close attention to every inch of her hair, the small things he did like scratching her ears, rubbing her side. He may not have intended to stir emotions through his actions, but they did intensify as her stories got progressively sadder. As he listened, she felt his compassion and care. Absence of those things made her grow fond of the moment she had, the conversations that ensued. But she knew it was impossible to ever come closer to him, they were too different, and he was far too busy intimately.

However, she was not unknown to desire busyness. And that's what she truly hated about herself.

She looked to the balcony and started wandering to the outside, feeling the cold winter breeze lash against her. The high princess held herself, shivering as she gazed from over her balcony to see the city lights below. Her eyes closed so she could focus her body on conditioning to the weather.

She initially felt a warmth against her head she thought was her magic manifesting itself on a stray thought. So she placed a hoof to her horn in hopes that whatever magic that lost control, she'd quench. But she thought more about what had just taken place in the kitchen, the moment his head leaned on hers, and the warmth began to grow. Soon, her body felt that same warmth, radiating to the cold air around her. She appeared almost as if she was breathing out of every ounce of her, visible vapors snaked from her body as she became completely impervious to the cold. She walked to the edge of the balcony and spread her wings wide. She took a step towards the railing of her balcony, leaping over it to embrace free-fall.

As she fell, her body twisted gracefully and her eyes closed to the world, imagining what had caused her the greatest feeling for that moment. Upon realizing it, she allowed her wings to take the wind and move her to wherever she so desired. Her eyes remained closed as she navigated the tall towers, the standing spires of the city she called home for several centuries. With ease she navigated each and every building, weaving her way through her city, every last turn and dive to avoid each arch, buttress, rotunda, and bell tower until she closed her wings to embrace free-fall once more. Diving in backwards and head-first, she fell past the outer battlements and down past the strengthened and enchanted stone that served as the city's foundation.

She counted to herself quietly. "Seven, six, five, four, three, two..." Only then did her eyes open as her wings spread back open to catch the wind, in just enough time to snap from terminal velocity to a much more controlled glide, gently circling around a singular white stone. Upon landing, she stumbled forward to control her momentum, at last bringing herself to a creeping walk.

She looked up high to see a few clouds moving shy of the mountain, glancing at the city above them. Her eyes trailed back down to the beautifully decorated white stone at her hooves. Her horn started to glow a pale white before an image was projected before her. The white stone glowed dimly, and before her very eyes, she saw the faces of two friends she hadn't embraced in centuries. Each of them wearing a soft smile as Celestia sat between them. To the right of her sat a beautiful mare with a long flowing mane, her coat showing signs of past scars well hidden beneath pristine fur. To the left of her was a proud pegasus stallion with a thick braid traveling down his neck and past his chest, dangling just inches from the ground. Each of their eyes did not blink, nor did their heads move to acknowledge the presence of the Princess between them, they stood as dolls while Celestia sat quietly, grabbing at the scar her chest plate would so often hide.

"Please tell me I'm wrong when I say this..."

My room was oddly warm this morning. There was no shaking how unusually warm it was, considering that the windows leading to the outside were a bit thin as a repercussion to the artistic choice of stained glass. I could see through the prismatic panes the snow falling to the ground. It was oddly beautiful to see the different hues of snow falling past my window, but it was still incredibly warm in here.

When I walked out into the hall, I felt a noticeable drop of temperature. Even in the dining hall, the heat had some trouble circulating around the room. Of course, the ponies of the castle didn't mind it too much because of their coats of fur, but my not having that made me more aware of the difference. And it wasn't like I was going to be able to walk around in this mess without a single care like the ponies could. I had to reinforce my winter wardrobe today before doing anything else.

I noticed that the dining hall was incredibly barren today. Luna hadn't showed up, Shining and Cadance were still away, Blueblood was probably in town again, Twilight's in Ponyville, and Celestia was being dragged around all creation today, so it was safe to say I had the hall to myself. It was a pretty boring experience, and the chef didn't even bother to cook me anything because of what I said last night. Instead, I was offered a few fruits from some of the other underlings who understood my frustration from last night and appreciated my attempt to do right by the head chef. So either way, my breakfast was a lot more flavorful from past days.

It's sad that nature was proven as the better cook.

I paid a brief visit to my world, grabbed a few coats and sweaters from the outlet store, and got back on the grind. Lunch was no different, just fruits and veggies over the reaction of a scorned head chef who didn't want to serve me anything. But when the late afternoon came, I was finally released from lookout duty and given my dismissal for the day.

Interestingly, when I asked for directions to the Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns, I was greeted with excitement and pointed towards the outside edge of the inner ring, just where the middle-class citizens and high class citizens intersected. But some others pointed towards the area where the castle was closest to the mountain. Eventually, I was told that the campus of the school had actually spanned the distance between the inner ring and the castle in a singular strip. What I also didn't know is how much of the city's skyline was influenced by the school. It was actually quite interesting to see more of the grand spires that helped give the city it's image. And it was also made out of the same exact material as the castle itself, instead of the imitation brand goods they used on the other buildings in the city.

When I arrived, I could see foals and ponies, all of varying ages, mostly girls, and mostly smiling, walking to various parts of the campus. It almost reminded me of the first day I came to UT-Austin, freshman orientation day. Classes were still in session, but there were many who had gotten out for the day, especially the younger ones. But the teenage mares going into the young adult ages were still toting their books around, that or sitting on benches discussing their various courses and how difficult their tests were.

It was insane to know that an ecosystem like this existed without my knowing it for so long.

But if there wasn't a sudden avalanche of interest that rolled my way as soon as a group of teenage mares pointed out my existence, I would've gone mostly unnoticed. Before I knew it, I was being swarmed by mares of different ages. Many of the younger ones wanted to express their admiration and show me their science experiments, truly wholesome. The preteens, from what I gathered, had kept asking me questions about my relationship with Twilight, arguments with Cadance, how I felt about certain royal family members, just outright gossip but nothing too out of pocket.

The older ones... yeah, the were trying to keep it cool while heavily implying sexual favors or short-term relationships, even prom requests for the upcoming Hearth's Warming Eve Extravaganza. I even received a few herding requests from groups of friends what wanted to see what a human could do to a mare, while stating that it was for 'research purposes'.

I quickly found my way into the administration building as soon as I asked, at least they were hospitable in that sense.

When I walked through the door, there stood a cream-colored mare with dark purple sweater and thick-framed glasses reading a book, almost invested completely in the story. I swear she was so immersion in that story that she had almost ignored who or what just walked in... or so she made me think. She placed the book down and said with a friendly smile. "Good afternoon, Captain! I was told you'd be visiting the campus today."

I shrugged as I glanced back outside to see the windows fogged up from all the mares pressing themselves against the glass. "If I hadn't come here first, I'm sure someone else would've been trying to show me a tour of the more secluded parts of it."

The mare looked past me and scoffed. "I swear the mares around here act like estrus is a year-round affair. I mean I get that outside of reading books and waiting for off-campus permits, there's not much else to do to relieve stress or entertain ourselves, especially during puberty. But at least act like a civilized student outside of, you know, the actual estrus period. I'd feel sorry for being raised around that kind of environment where focused study happens to add to the tension, but I only feel sorry for the boys on campus who fall victim to overherding."

"Overherding?" I inquired.

"When your herd gets to around ten or more, you overherd. It's not always fun being in a herd, much less one that has several girls going for the one guy's attention. Many guys who find themselves doing it wind up burning themselves out trying to satisfy everypony and end up losing all desire to mate for a while. I heard one guy got herded so hard that he dropped out and ran north. Had a herd of seventeen girls just trying to see how much he can take, supposedly for science. From what I recall, he never left his room without wearing a cape or coat of some sort since then."

"If I recall, don't wearing clothes make it worse?" I asked.

"And here you are walking around with ample amounts of it." She replied with a slight giggle. "I still don't get how you humans just walk around with all that stuff on. You have to be burning up!"

"You're wearing a sweater yourself." I pointed out. "That cold?"

"No, not yet. It's just a sweater my late mother owned. It's a bit itchy, but I don't leave home without it. It's pretty lucky actually."

Talking a closer look, I could see a few strands of wool plucked out into the open and even a few holes in the material. ...Does she even wash that thing? "Oh, well that's nice that you'd hold on to your mother's sweater like that, how long ago did she pass?"

"Four years back after the changeling invasion, I had grown into this sweater. I hoof-wash it every day, if that's something you wanted to know."

Answered my question, so I'm satisfied. "Well I didn't ask, but that's good. So if you don't mind, who is this young mare giving me a proper tour of the campus?"

She extended a hoof with a kind grin, almost bowing as she did. "Moondancer, but please don't call me Moony. I got harassed by boys calling me that every estrus period for years... And don't ask."

"I won't ask about what makes you uncomfortable. You do well enough in spite of it."

"Thank you."

Along the tour of the campus, Moondancer questioned me if I'd mind about her telling me some personal experiences with some of the various locations I was shown. One such instance was the open courtyard that lead to the main administration building. And from within there, you can find a few portals that lead to various access points into the castle or the mines below.

For her, the courtyard was where she once tried to throw a surprise bash for a friend of hers, only for that friend not to come. She went more into detail of how she became reclusive, not wanting to talk with anyone until they came back to throw a similar party for her instead. She didn't tell me the names of anyone involved until she finished.

That was pretty much how I found out how reclusive Twilight actually once was, denying all engagements and meetups if it interrupted her work flow and study habits. She even showed me an old photo of the six of them all gathered at a table outside of a cafe, with Twilight being the only one appearing grumpy, her head too far buried in a book to take in the fun around her.

My first reaction... "Wow, she was so short then."

"Yeah, she wasn't exactly the towering figure she is now. For the longest, she was shorter than all of us until the final year we had with her."

I even brought up a striking resemblance that took place in the photo. "I see your mane was also done the same way as hers."

"That was a thing we had between us six. We'd drag Twilight along at the behest of Princess Celestia to get her to socialize. So to promote our unity with one another, we decided to have three different manestyles between us, two per choice. Of course, Twilight saw nothing wrong with her mane and elected not to change it, so I changed mine to hers and we've been rocking the look since we were tiny little foals."

"That long ago? How did you put up with Twilight being so cold for so long?" I asked.

"Well, have you heard of the phrase 'birds of a feather flock together?' Well I was just as quiet as Twilight was, even more so in certain situations. Both of us were book nerds who just loved studying, so I guess you can say we were closer to each other than anypony else. We all tried our best to be friends with her, knowing if we didn't she was going to be even lonelier, especially since her brother went off to be a guard. Trust me, you haven't seen silent Twilight unless you've seen her in those days. She wouldn't talk to anypony other than Celestia at that point. Me personally, I just felt like I had done very little to help, I started feeling more and more worthless to anyone."

"I'm sorry to hear that happened with you as well. Did it ever improve?" I questioned.

"Well, she inevitably started shadowing us with her nose in a book, just going through the motions of not wanting to be disturbed by anyone else, so we just called our little outings 'study gatherings'. And you wouldn't believe how often she got engaged with those little meetups. But after a while, she gradually opened up a little, greeting us by name and giving us study tips when we felt frustrated with our studies. I felt we got closer then, like we were true-to-goodness friends."

"Seems like she had a solid group of friends prior to moving to Ponyville." I stated.

"We were getting there, but then something happened with her family, and she just stopped talking to us for a while until she came back from visiting home. And that's where she started to invest herself more in books and magic studies. Her schedule got so packed that we were worried that she didn't have any time left for us. Half her classes were so advanced that we could barely sneak in lunch with her, much less having a few classes with her like usual. I was taking intermediate courses so I didn't see her or the others that often either, but my schedule was a little more lax. She started to disappear from us, we started to miss her, me especially. And then Lyra dropped out for anxiety of her parents finding out about a girl she liked, so we never saw her again and I started feeling even worse. My friends saw that I was feeling terrible for my not being able to stay close to Twilight. So the four of us had a meeting, They decided we should have a party and that I should be the one to throw it since I was closest to her out of anyone. That's when I threw together the plans for that party, to get her to see that we were there for her."

"And you being the one who put up with Twilight the most, going so far as to change your mane up and everything, got upset when she didn't come around." I concluded.

"Yeah, I was hurt pretty bad, and I didn't get a word from her since then until recently in the summer. I felt like she went on with a whole different group of friends, I felt abandoned because she didn't even say goodbye, it was so sudden. So I decided to study up, keep myself busy to the point where I didn't have to see anyone else. Now I'm studying until I can get as good as she is with my magic, still going for my masters even now."

"I thought you worked here." I said before I started thinking about the book I saw her reading at the front desk.

"I do." She verified. "I'm an R.A. for the Fair Share Memorial Dormitory, as well as a masters student. Though I don't live in the dorm, I do have a shift to help pay for my classes."

Figures Celestia would name a dorm after the guy who in part influenced her to build her own school. "Oh, well that clears up a lot. But how do you have a key to the facility we're headed to?"

"I was given one today. I got a letter from the head of administration saying that I should report to the front desk, wait for a special guest and show him around campus."

When we arrived at the designated building, she opened the door to see a white stallion sitting against the wall. He held a few folders in his possession, all of them with the city's official seal on them. He waved at me eagerly. "Ah, so there you are."

Moondancer, who didn't exactly know the stallion, was surprised to see a city official waiting inside. "Oh, I didn't know we were getting a municipal visit."

"Not on official hours, anyhow. But I did notice that the door was left open." Alabaster replied before directing his attention back to me. "I had gotten your letter this morning, letting me know this was where you were going to set up today's appointment. I trust you've had enough practice between now and our last session. I'm sorry if we couldn't touch on the topic I wanted to do, but what did you brush up on since we last convened?"

"Lots of control exercises, but nothing too out there." I replied as we started making our way down the hall towards the stairs.

Moondancer seemed interested in our conversation. "Control exercises? Control, like magic control?"

Alabaster took a quick glance at the mare and hummed to himself. "It's not quite magic control─"

The mare then replied. "You do realize that our head of administration happens to be Princess Celestia herself, right?"

The stallion became a bit guarded at her statement. "I'm just saying that it's better not to assume anything as opposed to perceiving things to be as they are."

Moondancer then replied. "She has me opening up a room for an unsanctioned magic lesson, I can safely say were all in this together, especially since I have a friend who'll soon join us."

The stallion turned to me and whispered as we came to the top of the stairs, entering the third floor. "This friend, do you know who it is?"

"Probably Twilight."

"The Princess!?" He exclaimed.

"Not just the princess."

The three of us turned around quickly, almost getting our guards up as the other voice startled us. Starlight came walking from around the corner, almost like she was hiding in the shadows. Alabaster didn't flare up his magic when he saw her, but he had his horn at the ready. Moondancer was already ready to sent a bunch of magic bolts at her direction. Meanwhile I sighed and stepped forward, hoping the other two unicorns lower their guard. "Alabaster, Moondancer, meet Starlight Glimmer. She's Twilight's newest pupil."

"Pupil?" Alabaster questioned. "She sent her pupil to follow up on an appointment."

The next thing that startled us was the sound of one of the the doors behind us unlocking. Twilight and Spike came walking through one of the doors, the young dragon munching down a carrot dog while Twilight spoke up. "I'm here also, and I've been looking forward to meeting with the one who's been giving Nondis his hints and tips while he's stationed here."

Alabaster walked up to the princess and then bowed his head. "Your majesty, I shall consider this the highest honor to meet you in person."

"Alabaster Charm, Canterlot City Council member representing District 4, I am grateful for the time you set aside to help us today." Twilight said, shaking his hoof then turning her attention to her old friend. "Moondancer, I didn't know you'd be here today!"

"I thought I was the only one opening up!" The mare's magic quenched itself as the cream-colored mare embraced her old friend. "I'm so happy you came back to visit. The lecture you gave out on friendship and it's relativity on magic almost two weeks ago was absolutely wonderful. It was a brilliant thesis with so much research and thought put into the mix. Very impressive."

The purple princess shrugged off her work. "I was just telling the same old speech I usually give every go around."

"EVERY. Go around." Starlight emphasized with an eye roll.

Twilight looked at me and finally asked. "So, where are you in your lessons right now?"

I scratched my chin as I quietly requested. "Well, since there's multiple magic users in the room today, I guess I can try my hand at some combat. Maybe the collective experience will help me learn everything a little quicker."

"Combat magic... shooting for the moon today, aren't you?" Starlight replied.

"If I miss, I land amongst the stars." I rebutted. "I'd learn quicker if I was getting it beat into me like so many other of my lessons."

"Beat into you?" Starlight questioned.

Alabaster cleared his throat to clarify on my reply. "Well, we considered that there was very little time before he would eventually find himself in the thick of things, so he came by to see if I would be willing to get him on the fast track of learning magic. I agreed under the pretenses that he'd accept a more dated approach, which was to apply intense training regiments that required hastened reflexes and forced adaptation."

Starlight nodded with pursed lips. "Well if you put it that way, it makes plenty of sense. That's how I taught myself how to use magic."

Moondancer quickly showed her dissent. "But learning like that doesn't teach you the finer aspects of magic, it doesn't teach you the risks of certain castings and callings, the numerous incantations that could provide harm for self if they aren't applied correctly."

Alabaster then replied. "To counter your argument, it can be said that not very many unicorns have or had the opportunity to be selected at a prestigious magic institution. For many, levitation and casting a few bolts is as good as they can get. And to make another point, the training method I've researched had been written by a former instructor here at the school."

"What professor?" Moondancer inquired. "What professor had clearance for this institution that would apply such a barbaric approach?"

The stallion crossed his forelegs and shifted his eyes to the side. "Well, that's the part you lot aren't going to like. Though to clarify, the method is strictly for jump-starting a unicorn's development, especially for those seeing clearance for the mandatory intermediate courses that this school has to offer. Those who could not would be forced into remedial courses... also infamously known to be─"

"Magic kindergarten." Twilight finished. "That's a punishment for those who are forced to start from the beginning of magic aptitude and application, usually allowed for applicants who elect to take two years of remedial courses before reapplying for entry."

My eyes were widened at the thought of my getting accepted into a college while having to take two years of zero-cred courses. And for this situation, that's just to APPLY. "Two more years on top of a demanding curriculum, that's harsh."

Starlight closed her eyes and whispered to herself. "...Is that what you had to go through to get in?" It seemed I was the only one who caught her saying that.

Meanwhile, Moondancer wasn't satisfied with the incomplete answer Alabaster gave. "So you still haven't given me a name of a single accredited instructor to this institution."

The stallion took a deep breath and finally revealed the name of the aforementioned instructor. "The instructor's name at the time was Count Penance."

"Count Penance?" Moondancer repeated. "My homeroom teacher back in our introductory courses Count Penance!? No way! He was as gentle as any teacher could be! How could he be the one to implement such cruel methods to promote magic advancement?"

Spike looked at me silently for a moment before looking towards Twilight, who seemed just as excited as Moondancer. The purple princess started to speak highly of him. "Oh my gosh! I haven't seen him since he retired way back when, and it was so sudden. We were still fillies at the time, I wonder what happened to him."

The young drake sighed heavily as he tapped against Twilight's side. "Shouldn't we get back to what we came here for?"

Alabaster was quick to side in with Spike. "Agreed. Now let's get into this room and get started with your lesson, Nondis."

Twilight still chattered with Moondancer until Spike tapped the side of both of the former classmates. From there, he pointed to a corner where they could speak. Starlight originally sought to follow her mentor, but the young drake pointed her towards the room, requesting that she'd watch over me for a bit.

When we entered into the room, seeing a relatively small lecture hall capable of sitting around thirty viewers, I walked to the front of the chalkboard and giggled to myself. "Oh man, I haven't seen one of these since I was a kid. We used to be a mess drawing on this thing"

"Do your schools not have blackboards when you came around?" Starlight asked.

"Used to, but I stopped seeing them in middle school. Nowadays, we have whiteboards that use dry erase markers. It's a lot easier to clean up after."

The stallion called out to me. "Nondis, time to work."

I broke off my trip down memory lane to see Alabaster standing at a readied stance, his horn lowered slightly. Starlight promptly stood out of the way before getting involved. I took a few quick breaths before I put myself into a widened stance, bracing for whatever came my way.

"Good. Now since we're going to be doing magic combat today, I'm going to be throwing a few bolts your way. You're going to have to counter them aside and come back with an attack of your own. There will be no close quarter involvement, as any magic user will prioritize distance to promote better reaction time between spells."

"Why not close quarters?" I asked.

"Because there are a variety of deflection spells, area-of-effect stuns, incantation circles, defense spheres, and recoil blasts that can cause you harm." Starlight added. "There is a way to fight in close quarters to your opponent, but it's not often fun to be in. When dealing with magic, you usually need space to operate. Let them close the distance, and that could mean something sharp getting ran through you."

"Well it's a good thing humans nowadays specialize in range." I replied.

"Just keep your eyes on your opponent." Alabaster warned sternly. "Any distraction will open you up for a painful follow-up."

I didn't even get a chance to reply or confirm his command. Instead there was a bolt of orange energy directed at me. But because I was already in stance, I could counter his attack fairly quickly. After casting the bolt aside, I reached out with my hand and tossed a bit of my own magic at him, causing him to counter my own blast in return. The stallion nodded with approval.

"Good. But you can react to my attack much faster than that."

Starlight stepped beside me, placing a hoof on my side, urging me to move for a bit. "Can I show him what you mean?"

"Sure, no better example than visualized instruction."

Starlight stood in front of me, just a few feet away as she readied herself. Alabaster did the same and cast a bolt at her. She didn't even seem to notice that something was coming at her, just simply turning her head away from the blast. Almost in a natural motion, she dropped her head back forward and sent a blast of teal magic barreling at the stallion, who's eyes grew before he leaped to his right, avoiding the blast and countering off a secondary blast coming from Starlight while in mid-air. The stallion slid as he regained his balance and stood back up to acknowledge the mare before him.

"A pupil deserving of her opportunity."

"Oh, you should've seen me and Twilight go at it when we were enemies. Now THAT was a fight." She replied before looking back at me. "Now do you see why distance is important? Because without it, there is no reacting to what I just did."

The stallion then added. "Not only that, but she also left me wide open for another blow. Countering with aggression can be dangerous for those who don't have control over their magic usage, but those who do can counter-cast almost relentlessly. It's why distance is so important in dueling. She could've sent me into a wall with one more blow, but she held back."

Starlight nodded at the stallion before stepping aside to let me try again. She didn't leave my side, however, giving me an additional tip before I readied myself. "Okay, now this time when you counter, try to redirect the energy you ward off back towards your opponent. This might be a bit of an advanced technique, but it's not too terribly difficult to learn. Even using a fraction of that energy will mitigate how much magic you use in your own casting."

The moment I readied myself, he cast another bolt at me. I batted it away and tried to sling it back at him, to virtually no success. He casually stepped out of the way, almost as if he had avoided a kid running past him in an empty hallway. I initially felt proud because I felt like there was hardly anything I did to put out that much magic. "Holy hell, that felt like I was throwing back a dodge ball."

"A good analogy, but not quite the execution you should go for." Alabaster replied. "A counter-cast like that is easily avoided because of your exaggerated movement. I don't know if that's because of your anatomy being so different or if you brought it away from your body so much that I had time to recover from my own casting."

Starlight walked in front of me, facing me as she motioned with her head the exact movements she made in countering him. "Exaggerating your movements only alerts your opponents to what move you're making. I know it's magic and all, but you still have to treat this like a fight. Haymakers are powerful, but have large openings in using them. Feints and jabs are small hits that don't do much, but they throw your opponent off once you throw in a medium hit every so often."

I started to look down at my own hand. "Yeah, it's all about timing. If I can't throw up a good feint, I can't be anything but predictable. If I try going all-out, I'm gonna wear myself out. If I can't jab, then I can't hit you with anything."

"Precisely." Starlight confirmed cheerfully, moving out of my way to let me get ready for another blast. "Now minimize your movements when you counter, make it as simple as a jab."

I immediately snapped up to being ready again, getting another magic bolt sent my way. This time, I minimized my arm slinging away from my body and slapped it back at him. Instead of casually side-stepping the blast, he strafed out of the way. He sent another blast to me, allowing me to counter it back with various methods of redirecting the energy until he started to grow fatigued from casting so often without rest. The stallion shook his head and muttered to himself. "Ugh, you'll have to forgive me, I'm not much of a magic user myself. I guess you could call me something of a glass cannon."

Starlight, acknowledging his need to take a breather, stepped up to the plate and continued off from where he left off. She stood in his place and continued to cast bolts at me, critiquing every last attempt I made to counter off her attacks. "Your arm leaves me with too much time to recover, try shortening your movements some more." Again, she sent another bolt at me, telling me what I did wrong. "Use less of your arm."

And again.

"Keep control, you're losing your accuracy."

And again.

"Minimize your arm, I keep telling you this."

And again. But instead of using my forearm so much, I thought about using more of my wrist.

"That's a lot better, but mind your control of it. You're casting into the seats."

And it started to improve over the hour. It almost seemed like she could go on for hours, but the reality of it was that she was just as tired as Alabaster after his few attempts. Over that course of time, Twilight, Moondancer, and Spike just watched us silently from the top of the classroom, sitting in the back row of seats overlooking the floor.

Starlight turned to her mentor. "Well wouldn't you guess it, he's getting better."

Alabaster, who had more than enough time to renew his energy, vouched to step in for her. "Well, I guess I can toss out a few more. I'm usually better the second time around."

Twilight then teleported from the top of the classroom to standing in front of me, holding a hoof to Alabaster's chest. She gave me a stern look as she spoke to her exhausted pupil. "Why don't you take a break, let me handle this one."

"Sure thing." Starlight agreed as she started to take her seat in the front row. As she sat down, Moondancer stood right beside her and observed carefully with her horn illuminated.

Alabaster took notice of the cream-colored unicorn and questioned her. "I take it you're going to be helping her in this exercise?"

"No. I'm actually helping him." She answered with her horn shimmering with magic, pointing to me.

While I was taking notice of Moondancer's statement, Twilight yelled at me. "NONDIS!"

"Right!" I snapped back to my eyes being on her, readying myself for another blast.

She gave one quick look to my arm and said to me. "You should reconsider, a moment to get yourself back in shape."

Even though my arm tingled a bit from the magic that surged through it for the past hour, I had a lot more aching in my shoulder from flailing around earlier. However, since I knew I could relegate my movements to counter in my wrist, I felt confident that I could keep going. "Nah, let's keep at it. I wanna get better as quickly as possible."

The princess stressed to me one more time. "You need to rest before we continue."

"Twilight, I got it. Let's keep─"

Without warning or any movement indicating she was casting, without even so much as her horn glowing, she sent a magic blast barreling my way. I braved myself forward and took the blow, trying to counter what she gave me. I felt confident in knowing that I was able to redirect that magic right back to her.

I. Was. Wrong.

One singular blast and I was sent sliding across the floor as if I had taken the brunt of the attack head-on, or at least I thought so until she spoke. "If you hadn't tried to counter that, you'd be in a lot more pain."

She started walking up to me, closing the distance between me and her. I jumped back on my feet as quick as I could until I saw that she wasn't even in front of me anymore. The only thing that alerted me to her presence was the sound of a bolt of magic being discharged from her horn. I had to pivot quickly to catch it, batting it away before I was hit with yet another blast to follow up on the first. My entire arm stung to numbness as I flew through the air, only to be caught by some unseen force field that gently floated me towards the ground again.

I looked over to Moondancer, about to thank her until... "Keep your eyes on your opponent!"

The sound of Twilight's voice boomed at me while I was recovering. While I raised my right arm to ready myself, I was reintroduced to the static feeling of pins poking and prodding throughout my arm. I couldn't defend myself properly with my right arm, so I deferred to my left, hoping to meet with some success.

She sent another bolt at me, expecting me to dodge it. I did as such, leaping to my left to avoid the blast. But as soon as I was cleared from that, I felt something stun my entire left arm. Looking over, I could see Twilight to the left of me, holding my arm before teleporting away. When I landed back on the ground, being unable to brace myself for the fall, I felt a hoof in my back as her voice whispered in my ear. "You're dead."

I grimaced, still feeling the imaginary pins poking at both of my arms. "Nobody told me there would be teleportation involved."

"Well in the world out there, there will be. And you are obviously not ready to face a world like that." She harshly declared while keeping her hoof pinned to my back. "I wanted to give you a rest so that I could show you what you would go up against, at least a fraction of it. You can't just keep acting like you can keep getting back up after each hardship you run into. You know this for yourself, an assassin came for you while you were on assignment. You flat-lined, you were lost to me for a while. Don't you know that VERY FEW get the medicinal treatment and attention you had? You would be sleeping in your grave right now... No, you would be sitting on a display table for every student in this facility to study. Your family wouldn't even have the luxury of bringing the body back, and you wouldn't have a say because it wouldn't be your body anymore."

"Don't you think I know that?" I argued back. "Why do you think I'm learning how to use magic now?"

"You're using it to protect yourself. How noble of you to be able to learn how to fend for yourself, again. How great it is to seek power for your own gain. But what do you get when you have all the power you desire to have, what else is there, what will drive you forward?"

"Protecting the ones I care about, what else is there!?" I quickly answered.

"And how long will it be before you lose sight of that? How much longer are you going to pretend everything is easy, that all you need to do is just stick it through and it just comes to you?"

"You don't have to preach to me how hard it is to live. You know exactly why I'm doing this." I said as I struggled to push myself up, falling to the ground again.

"But what are you learning magic for? It's clear you can do without, you can be able to do whatever you want, you've proven that you can overcome the odds and do it alone. So why magic? Why do you insist to learn something that is so dangerous when you already have the solution?"

"Because I want to win, for all of us." I replied, turning my head to look at her as best as I could.

"Then what are you willing to lose?"

"Everything! You know that!" I said, starting to get frustrated with the combination of her keeping me pinned down and constantly questioning me.

"Then you can lose your friends and it won't be a problem then? Your home, you'd lose that? You'd lose everything for this power, for the potential to walk away with it all?"

"Everyone deserves to be free."

"But not at the cost of your life." She replied quietly. "I'd sooner lose my magic, my very purpose in life, to keep what I have now. Do you know why?"

"Twilight, you're contradicting yourself." I said, pointing to her statement.

She flipped me over using her magic to get a good look at my face while she spoke. "Because I've done it once before! I had to make that choice once and I made it knowing what it would cost me." She sat down next to me, her eyes appearing saddened as her horn started to softly illuminate. "At one point, I was given the power of three alicorn princesses, while possessing my own. I was arguably the most powerful being in existence, capable of raising both the sun and the moon, and I was able to take on a creature who held all of Equestria's magic at his disposal. We went blow for blow, destroying land forms for the fate of the world itself. I had it all and I was more than capable to keep going. It was the only time where I used spontaneous hatred to persecute, violence to seek vengeance."

She started to clasp at her own foreleg, looking past me with shame. "So what else happened?" I asked.

"...It would be better if I showed you." She responded, tapping her horn against my head, between my eyes.

The world around me suddenly shifted as I was suddenly transported to the center of Ponyville. The sky above was reddened with a thick plume of smoke. Surrounding my feet were the scorching ashes of papers and burned rock. Looking ahead I could see an open valley where houses once stood. Some ponies looking at where their homes once were fell to their knees while grieving the loss of their shelters, others sobbing over valued possessions. Each of their eyes as glossy as a victim long dead. Foals crying while they scavenged their homes for anything to remember, any of the toys they once played with, or even their own parents.

I got up and turned around to assess the damage further, seeing more houses scarred in the path of the gullet I stood in. But in seconds, I was greeted with the final destination of that blast. A destroyed building that appeared to be made through a tree, several burning books and papers raining from above as a single owl flapped it's wings to free itself from the carnage. And from where the owl fled was a singular pony, reaching out with a hoof to bid farewell to the bird.

Twilight stopped reaching out, trying her best to choke back tears. But the one thing she couldn't hide was the pure anger she felt over seeing her own home devastated in such a manner, while watching others suffer around her. Her eyes sharpened ahead, the feathers of her wings even appeared as blades as she extended them. Her horn quickly burned with a sparking magenta hue.

I reached out, hoping that she wouldn't explode from the sound of her magic cycling up. Her eyes were vastly different from the ones I was used to seeing, even when she was angry with me. They were cold, focused, and hungry for blood. In the instant she disappeared, I was taken with her to an empty field. She came flying in from above, her magic showing four different colors as electricity surrounded the air around her. And with a snap of her head at the large adversary she faced, the fifty-foot tall centaur that terrified me with his strength, he was pushed back with a beam the size of a tunnel boring machine.

As I stood in place, I could see the vivid colors above me congregating into one focused beam, all producing a light so bright that I thought that I would be blinded by it. I looked back to see an unspeakable expression on Twilight's face. I could see the veins in her neck, her forehead, and her chest. Her mane moved as freely as Celestia's. But her teeth bared, showing canines just seconds before her attack followed up with a second wind. The beam that once bashed away at Tirek's own defenses, the one that already dwarfed Twilight like a moon, had grown considerably. Her eyes initially had tears, but quickly evaporated from the heat all the magic produced.

The beam she sent forward had even driven the centaur several yards out, an entire football field's length before it pushed through him hit a mountain behind him. He dusted himself off as the mushroom cloud in the distance rose high into the air. The explosion had produced the same amount of yield as a tactical usage nuclear warhead, all of the deadly blast surrounded by a rainbow of beautiful colors. As she landed on the ground, I looked down to see myself in an even larger trench, one larger than the one that ran through the town. I glanced back, only to see a huge crater appear from nowhere.

A blast was sent from the centaur into the air, hitting what appeared to be a small purple speck from my distance. The next second was a deadly blast of colorful lightning stunning the face of the centaur, blinding him for a few seconds before he could pick her up and send her flying into a mountain. He lept after her, driving his horns ahead, and smashing her tiny frame into the mountain from one side, and out the other. She replied by teleporting above and sending something akin to a spirit bomb into his back. She sent another beam for good measure to bury him in the ground, but he responded to his burial by cutting the soil and rock beneath her, tossing away her and a land mass the size of a small island. She flew out, blood flowing freely from her nose and mouth while she blasted several stalagmites he erected to impede her forward progress. Nothing seemed to stop her, she was hellbent on putting him away, so much that she reproduced the same beam she started off with. He answered in kind with a ray of his own. And as the two clashed in the center, sound had ceased to exist for the fraction of a second of their contact before producing a cataclysmic kaboom, rumbling and even unearthing a few mountains in the surrounding area.

What remained as a large pile of rubble for the centaur before he climbed out, facing a tired and bloodied Twilight running on magic, hatred, and adrenaline. Even when she walked, the ground broke around her hooves. The centaur smirked before snapping his fingers to stop her from walking forward.

"How about a trade, Princess Twilight." His voice boomed over the sound of the rocks settling back into place, moreover the sounds of several landslides in the distance. But to her, there was no louder sound than the voices of her friends screaming from inside of the bubbles he summoned. "Their release, for ALL THE ALICORN MAGIC IN EQUESTRIA!" Their screams then turned to pleas, each of them begging her to keep fighting, not to concede. The purple princess stared on with grief and horror as the magnificent display of strength she gave was nothing more than a light show for him. He happily egged her on. "What's it going to be... Princess?"

While her friends continued to try to persuade her that their lives weren't worth the astronomical cost, Twilight stared in silence, not truly knowing what to decide. And her lack of an answer infuriated the impatient centaur.

"ENOUGH!" He shouted to everyone in the bubbles. "I want an answer, AND I WANT IT NOW!"

She looked on for a while longer before pondering with herself, looking to her heart for the answer. And eventually she was given one. "...I will give you my magic, in exchange for my friends."

The centaur graciously complied with his offer. "As you wish." Lowering the bubbles from as high as a hundred feet in the air to about three before dropping them, every last one of them with the exception of Discord.

"ALL of my friends." She emphasized with a stern look to the final bubble.

"After the way he's betrayed you, you still call him a 'friend'?" The centaur questioned.

"Release him!" She shouted.

"If that's what you want..." He said, dropping the final bubble a lot harsher than the others. The draconequus looked over to the yellow pegasus, mouthing an apology. She looked away, visibly upset while Tirek started to receive his payment for his end of the bargain. With a sickly grumble and a demonic smile, he said to her. "Your turn."

His mouth opened and I could hear Twilight screaming in terrible pain, unlike any other. She produced a dismal bloodcurdling scream as the last of her magic was siphoned from her body. I finally felt compelled to move on my own, running after her before she suddenly reappeared before me, stopping me from moving forward any more. She placed a hoof on my chest and kindly reassured me. "I'm fine now. What you are seeing now is the past."

As the vision dissipated, I now saw myself standing directly in front of the chalkboard. I looked at the chalk-drawn image of Twilight sitting in front of me as the actual pony herself held me off with her horn finally fizzling out. But instead of a normal magenta glow, it was a crackle enveloped with black lightening. I tried to shake off my shock, taking a step back. "That happened to you?"

She smiled as she answered. "Yeah, pulled a 'you' there. Did all that fighting, come away with a few injuries, five broken ribs, punctured lung, skull fracture, cracked horn, and internal bleeding. I couldn't move for a week after the adrenaline wore off, collapsed in my new castle shortly after singing and taking pictures."

"I don't understand." I replied. "You were whopping his ass and he didn't have answer the first for you, you could've kept fighting."

"I chose my friends over my own power, because they were my power. It may not be like that in your world, but here there isn't anything more powerful than friendship. I know, sounds corny to you, but it's undeniable truth. Even when Tirek had won it all, he had all the power of Equestria in his hands, we still came together and defeated him because of the bond we share and the power we have as a collective. We had the elements to give us a boost, that's also true, but there's no better strength than unity and oneness. Harmony is what drives us, what gives life to magic, not ambition and the desire to overcome the odds. Without harmony, magic is just some dangerous flame to be played with. In your case, it is a gun without a safety mechanism."

While the vision of Twilight's fight with Tirek had completely showed me how insignificant my accomplishments were in comparison, I was more amazed of the fact that she was still standing here after everything she just told me. She had a lethal cocktail of injuries that should've killed her. Even judging from the hit she took getting thrown onto that mountain, I was surprised that she didn't immediately die from blunt force trauma. But seeing her that angry was probably the main thing that took me out of it the most. "You were so... powerful."

"And even if I fought on, I wouldn't have been able to save my friends. If I chose to do that, I would've lost anyhow. The adrenaline would wear out sometime, and he would've devoured my magic without hesitation. Then we would live in a world ruled by Tirek, which wouldn't exactly be a very peaceful world."

"You don't have to remind me." I said, thinking back to the centaur giant planting a huge claw under my chin while acknowledging exactly what species I was. But I did gain some insight to Twilight's reason for questioning me so vehemently. She wanted to see where my head was at while I was learning magic, whether I would be in pursuit of power or if I would be willing to put that aside for a greater cause. Admittedly, much of that part still eludes me as to how something like friendship can surpass raw output. But if it was coming from Twilight of all ponies, then it had to really be something.

Twilight took another look at my arms and sighed. "I guess that'll be all for today."

I tried to vouch for more time. "You know, we could just take a thirty minute break and I'll be good to go again."

"Have you looked at your arms lately?" She questioned.

I looked down to see nothing wrong. "I don't see anything wrong with them."

Moondancer cosigned with Twilight as she got out of her seat. "You're using them to cast your magic, countering and casting for hours on end is dangerous without any form of rest. If you keep going, you'll burn yourself out. And if you don't think anything's wrong, just put your hand on any one of these desks."

I shrugged as I flexed my hands, but I did as she told me. I placed one finger on the top of a desk, only for the wood to start smoldering under my touch. I gawked as I saw a small trail of smoke coming from where my finger met with the wood. I quickly pulled off to see an ashen crater where my finger once stood. I grabbed at my hand, not really feeling the same temperature my arms apparently gave off. "What the hell..."

"Yeah. It's better not to try and pull a me." Twilight warned. "I tried to force my magic out when I was younger, doing my best to pass my entrance exam. And just like you, I was startled into my magic."

I looked at the mare with disbelief before questioning her. "So you almost burned yourself?" I concluded, my mind recounting the world where Shining and Twilight fought as grunts against a great evil.

She appeared genuinely impressed with my knowledge. "I guess I don't have to go into detail."

I took a glance around the room and asked her. "So... I take it this is the place you had your exam?"

The purple princess giggled. "What gave it away?"

"Well, Celestia did mention that this place was of some importance, noting that she didn't want to spoil it for me until you clued me in to the purpose of this specific room."

"Then you understand that I wanted to train you in the very place it all began for me." Twilight said while flying up to me. "I wanted to show you the key of mastering control over your magic. Your mind is a medium where all things are centered, emotions, memories, thoughts, your ambitions, hopes, dreams, even the way you move. But that alone doesn't make a good spell." She then placed a hoof to my chest, directly over my heart. "Control all of that with this. Be ready to factor this into every equation you look at, every spell you weave. Don't be so hasty to sacrifice everything for ideals, embrace what's around you and draw from that well instead of what's going on up there. This is how you master magic, put everything on this and let your bonds guide you to the right path."

Twilight moved her hoof from my chest as she fluttered to the ground.

"Now, your homework for today is to get some rest. When you wake up, start practicing your magic circulation without using any magic. Deep breaths, meditate, find your harmony, speak among yourself and know what gives you peace. From there, we will continue."

After a pretty eye-opening experience in my magic lessons, we departed the campus and went about our separate ways. Moondancer took off from the dorm and headed out to her place. Alabaster departed for his own home as well. Twilight and I walked to the train station and I saw her off before going back to the castle.

When I had gotten back, I could see a disgruntled Zesty Gourmand walking the opposite way. I offered to speak, but she didn't reply to me at all. In her possession was a small book and a cooking apron draped over her back. She walked with her head held high and her nose even higher, not even bothering to speak to anyone. I stopped for a moment to watch what she did next, seeing as she approached the checkpoint into the city. She handed them a black badge and walked through the gates.

I never did see her again.

As soon as I approached the dining hall, I could already smell the difference. In fact, the entire castle was brimming with life as the halls leading to the general cafeteria was jam packed with ponies lining up for a plate. The ponies were all chattering so lively about the food that I started to become curious as to what the fuss was all about. I walked in and glanced around the cafeteria, seeing a myriad of mares and stallions all conversing with one another so happily. I could even see a group of mares joking and pointing at a few of the guards that walked by. Guards who just got off shift had nudged with one another, pointing at maids who caught their eyes. It was possibly the most animated I've seen the grounds be in a while outside of social gatherings.

I crept up to the line, seeing what was being offered. And when my eyes met with the choices, I was more than pleased to participate in the waiting game. Grilled veggies, sauteed mushrooms, fresh salads with a garden variety of toppings, a myriad of dressings, cheesy spinach, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes with gravy, any side you'd love with a meat dish. I peered over the counter and spoke with the worker behind the glass. "Excuse me, what's the occasion?"

"Well there's been a change in the head, hun." She replied sweetly. "I know that most everypony in here has been dog tired of Zesty Gourmand dictating the menu across the board."

I looked down and whispered to the lady. "You think you could do me a favor?"

The mare laughed and pointed past me. "Sorry, sweetie. I know you're the captain, but you'll have to wait in back like the rest."

"Ah figures." I said, snapping my fingers and stomping a foot out of feigned frustration.

I walked out of the cafeteria and joined the others in the back of the line, hoping to get a bit of conversation with the others as I waited around. But many were too busy talking about me being in line to actually talk to me directly. Though I didn't initially catch why. If anything, I was told that Celestia was going to have a very busy day and that everyone else's dinner plans had revolved around visiting the city proper for some good eating. So I honestly expected to be here instead of the exclusive dining hall that I was so used to frequenting.

The next thing I felt was a hoof on my side, tapping me. I turned around to see that it was a white mare with black hair and glasses holding a stack of papers. "Excuse me sir."

I stepped back to allow her to take my spot in line. "Oh, you must be her assistant, go on ahead. I know you've been ripping and running all day."

"Not what I'm here for completely." She announced. "Actually, the princess is expecting you in the dining hall. You should attend to her majesty at once."

The other guards and maids just watched silently as I was pointed in the direction of the more exclusive dining hall. I shrugged and moved on to the designated room and entered to see the high princess sitting in her chair, holding her menu while a chef stood next to her. The chef had a yellow coat and turquoise mane, looking at the princess with attentive burgundy eyes. Upon entering, the princess hailed me down. "Ah, Nondis, come on in!"

The mare looked at me and blushed for a second while looking at me nervously, fidgeting with her hooves. I walked up to the table as Celestia magically guided me to stand in front of the nervous mare.

"Nondis, this is Lemon Hearts, she is our interim chef for the week. Usually I'd have her in charge of the more formal affairs, state dinners, those sorts of things. But with the dismissal of Zesty earlier today, I allowed for her to personally serve us tonight. The others will not be joining us again, so it's just us birds."

"I see." I replied, extending a hand to the mare subconsciously. But a thought came up and I had to retract my invitation to place my hand on the table, just to see if anything was different from earlier. Not much had changed on the table, so I could safely say that any contact was permissible. I reintroduced my hand to the mare. "Sorry about that, long day at work, didn't want your first impression of me to be that much of a lasting one."

The mare nodded as she took my hand with both hooves. "Uh, no problem. Lemon Hearts, I'll be your chef for the evening."

"Well if my run-in with the crowd around the mess earlier was any indication, then I'm most certainly going to enjoy your food tonight."

The mare giggled bashfully. "Oh thank you. You're so much taller than I imagined you to be."

Celestia then spoke up. "Did you know that Lemon Hearts here was a classmate to Twilight Sparkle? Of course she was originally in her small circle of associated classmates."

I thought about the picture that Moondancer had shown me... "Oh shit, I forgot!" I cried out to myself, realizing that I still had it. I took it out to look at it and there she was sitting dead center. "Hey, I know this is sudden as hell, but when you see Moondancer again, can you drop this by her. I forgot to give this back."

"Oh, must've been a busy day to be visiting Moondancer at the school." She replied.

"Yeah, I pretty much got curious after my shift and decided to tour around the place that Twilight talked about so often. I wanted to see the campus for myself."

"Well we're humbled that you would pay our old Alma Mater a visit." The mare said while summoning a menu. "Here you go, I will be with you two shortly."

Celestia hummed delightfully as she watched the mare disappear into the kitchen. "It's wonderful to see my students being proactive in so many different ways. It's not often you would see them stick by me in so many different arenas."

"One of them being a employee, the other a student at your school." I stated.

"You forgot the one that rules right beside me as a princess." She added.

"Of course, I couldn't forget your prized pupil, now could I?"

"I wouldn't expect you to." She said, placing the menu down. "So how was your day?"

"Well..." I began. "I learned about friendship being a potent characteristic of magic."

The princess clopped her hooves eagerly. "Ah, I see you lessons have come with a lot of weight today. I do hope you took away something from it."

I chuckled at the princess while I looked at my arms. "Yeah, I learned that using a lot of magic in one setting can cause your fingers to burn through wood."

"Well that's not healthy." Celestia pointed out. "You must've been training really hard."

"Yeah, got my ass torn out the frame by Twilight. I didn't even think she'd beat-rush me in a magic lesson."

The princess giggled at my expense. "Well you were challenged by a princess of Equestria, so that's par for the course. Fighting wise, she's the weaker of us. She's strong for the average unicorn as she once was, no mistake about it. But when it comes to a true contest of power, in singles, she can't beat anypony other than her brother."

"Oh no. Poor Shining." I muttered.

"Well let's be legitimate, going against Cadance, Twilight has probably won five out of the seventeen times the two sparred. And again, it's mainly because Cadance was her foalsitter, so she knows Twilight's tendencies in combat because they treated hide-go-seek like it was some fight to the death."

"Oh gosh, I bet the house was a mess." I said with a chortle.

"No, but when it came to combat training, Cadance taught Twilight everything she knew. They even turned it into a game where whoever won got to spend more time with Shining Armor for the day."

"Twilight really seems to love her brother." I said, thinking about how close the two actually are.

"Well they've also been competing since they were foals. The Sparkle family household promoted a competition between the two for weekly rights with the score coming up as Shining being the long-term victor for a while."

"You must've been around the family so much." I said.

"Well when your captain of the guard happens to be Crescent, and your head of Royal Librarian staff happens to be Velvet, you tend to see them a lot. It was interesting watching them grow from being teenage foals who knew nothing of castle decorum, to blatantly disregarding those rules as young adults, growing mature while raising a family, retiring to focusing on their development, and then watching the kids grow up to be even more involved. It's almost like they were as family as anyone."

Just the thought that she actually got to watch two generations of Sparkles grow is far too much for me to even process on my own. She must feel like such a grandparent. "Is that why you were so attentive when it came to Shining marrying Cadance?"

"Well his father was an incredibly active, fertile fellow, I deemed his son too rich of a breed on that end. I could only assume that he was going to be as adventurous with Cadance as his father was with Velvet. So I had little choice but to keep my eye on him."

"Much like how you have to keep your eye on me." I joked.

She didn't speak for a while as she just looked at me. Without much of warning, she broke apart from our conversation to bring up another topic. "...Last night."

"What about─" Before I could finish my question, my brain immediately flashed back to the moment we stood in the kitchen talking for almost two whole hours. And as we stared at each other, something had just clicked and we quickly departed from one another. "Oh... right."

The princess slid her menu to the side and whispered in a low voice. "I want to talk about it."

"Just friends?" I said, jumping to conclusions.

"Let me finish, please." She urged, standing up from her chair, pacing back and forth. She started to move around the room quietly for a minute before finally expanding on her thoughts. "You know, last night was wonderful, and I did enjoy myself. It's not often I'd get the experience of a home dinner date... Not saying it was a date per se, but it was... different... for me. It was a first for me. For a thousand years, I don't think I've had anyone who wouldn't joke with me so casually, even laughing at my most crude moments instead of reacting with horrified shock. I got to feel natural with you, and that's so wonderful to think about."

I damn near bit my tongue as I sat there, thinking for a moment about what was on my mind as I went to sleep last night. "But the aspect of it scares you because of my tendencies."

"Not even that." She clarified. "It's the fact that I'm rediscovering that feeling after centuries of not being able to open up so casually. And you said it yourself, love is for the birds and I happen to have wings of my own. So..."

"So, what?" I inquired, being held on suspense.

The mare shook her head and scoffed. "I know I should start looking for who makes me happy, especially since you're working to put me back on the market in two months. But what I do know is that I'm not quite ready for the world of dating as far as the modern logistics of it, I feel it's much too fast for me. And of course, I can't ask that of you since you belong to someone else..."

She looked away as soon as she said that. Meanwhile I was sitting there, thinking to myself how I could quietly come to a more peaceful resolution. "Is that what makes you happy, the thought of possibly finding someone to fill that gap? I mean you don't need to do that."

The high princess closed her eyes and whispered to herself. "Just get it over with, Celeste." She then looked at me and walked towards me. "I am in need of trust. And really... you should deem it to be unfair after my nearly shoving you away so callously, but..." The princess froze as she tried to think more on her hooves, coming to a way to say what was on her mind, fumbling her thoughts while she expressed herself. "As you know, I have a history."

I glanced around and whispered back to her. "I thought that you said that you were off the menu."

"I am." The princess instantly replied, trying to still vent her thoughts. "I don't need new wounds where the old ones haven't scarred yet. But I do need to be able to confide in somepony, someone. We aren't going to be a thing... ever, but I want to be able to talk with you more. I find myself wanting to talk to you, even trying to ignore that fact is annoying. But last night had me where all I could do was think about you and the night we talked until morning. I haven't did anything like that in a long time. But I haven't painted a room for somepony before, given up my bed for someone, changed my menu, shared my bath, being looked after so emphatically, altered my appearance so drastically, caused someone so much grief out of my being unable to deal with the customs of certain clothing options, see a whole new world with you. Gracious, when you were waking up with Luna in your bed, I don't think I could've been more incensed." The princess took a deep breath before she could continue. "Just the thought of you doing so much in the little time I've seen you, the way you move, the way you speak to me so informally just makes me so happy that I could want this for myself everyday. You have these moments when you taste my food, you clench your eyes shut and lurch your head forward just to catch your own tongue... it warms me. Even the little greetings you give me in the mornings now carry much more weight than I thought it would. It's so nice to have such a friend that I can have many a long-winded conversation with. But..."

"It hurts." I concluded, not wanting to concede to the reality of the situation.

"Just a little." She said, grabbing at her chest plate. "It's not quite at that point, I haven't grown to trust you to that extent where I can't bear to see you anywhere else other than by me. It wouldn't be fair if I felt like that to you. But... I'm willing to learn how to trust in you."

By that point, I had to stress to her why I was not the choice to lean in on so heavily. I didn't want her to have expectations, only to come up empty. It's just too much of that around me. Even if I did enjoy our talks and would keep doing it for hours, I wouldn't feel right placing her in that zone where others wouldn't be satisfied with, while be right there just happily feeling miserable at every advancement I made. Pinkie and Mel are hard enough as it is to do that to, but not her, please not her too. "But how do you even trust someone who's so involved with others? Lady, I'm practically selling myself off to see you free, prostituting even, just for the slim chance that I can get my relationship back, and that's not even a promise I can make. Why do you want to trust me when there's several guards who'd sacrifice their lives for you?"

The princess closed her eyes and sat herself down in front of me. "Because you told me all of that. It's not everyday you have someone tell me exactly what they're involved with. I'm not asking for you to be some clandestine lover to appease hundreds of years of my not having the intimate affection... But I am asking you to dote on me, just a little. I can't give you anything physical nor will I entertain the thought, but just having that bit of emotional support, the close friendship, that's all I need."

A long time ago, I had researched a common trait in old play writing, something from an English class my freshman year. I believe the term was called courtly love. It was where the knight in the courts of a noblewoman would fawn over her but would do so under the pretenses that their actions would be unpaid in the long run, unrequited love with no means of payoff. I initially thought the practice as completely unnecessary, why fall for someone so damn hard knowing they were locked up in a marriage? There were even cases of it being shown to those of noble blood who were also unmarried, but because the knight was considered a low-born citizen, a close relationship could never be. Again, why even try to realize emotional investment in someone you can't even touch, it hurts to be standing on the outside looking in.

And then a year later, I ran into Melanie. I fell right in that same pattern, doing for her without much of a thank you. I stayed up with her when she wasn't feeling too great about a breakup, talking on the phone for hours. I reached out to get her to come to my side, but she rejected me each time. Now it's on the other foot, she's arguing that I should go home and just be normal with her. She helped save my life, but I couldn't feel the way she felt about me because my emotions were dedicated to someone else. To this day in the back recesses of my mind, I continue to ask that question.

Now I had to ask it to Celestia, in the most direct way possible. "You say you want that close of a friendship, knowing it will hurt sometime later. Is that what you think you need, or is it something you want?"

The princess looked up to me, her horn glowing brightly with her magic. "No, that is what I need... My want is something entirely different now."

"So what─" I wouldn't even get the chance to ask, a powerful force shoves me forward, leaning down to the princess who seized at my jaw with her hooves, pulling me in to a most surprising gift.

My eyes were shocked wide open while hers were lost, halfway closed. I looked down to see if what I was experiencing was real, and sure enough, it was her lips colliding with mine. She didn't move, just embraced the moment for what it was, fleeting as it may have been to the millennium of sunsets she cast. She wouldn't take it further, exercising her own brand of discipline as she held herself. But I could tell in the two seconds our lips melded, she was very skilled in the art of sharing her lips with another. And as the sunrise brought light to the horizon, so did our parting bring light to separate our briefly connected shadows.

Her royal majesty broke a smile closely against my face. "My want brings about bad omens, so I'll stick to my needs." My entire body was frozen in place as she walked away, going back to her seat and picking back up her menu. The princess giggled while touching her lips. "Though I won't lie, I want to be quite the entrée. But we need to maintain distance. So I am willing to share a courtly appreciation for one another. That is all I desire, this will satisfy me."

I nervously shook before standing on my own two feet, looking at my own shoes before feeling my face flush red. The momentum of the fact that the highest being in this land, my employer no less, just took the initiative and opened herself up to me. This wasn't anything like Luna, who eagerly expressed her desire for a physical encounter. When it came to her, I had a certain line I designated myself never to cross. We just allowed one thing to turn into another, and it just came short of that bold red line. Celestia on the other hand, had a giant red wall between me and her just a few days ago, now I'm sitting right where I've always been while the wall crumbles before me, her lips pressed into mine. If the line I had established with her happened to be the Walls of Jericho itself, they tumbled into dust tonight.

I didn't say anything as I sat down in my chair, only picked up my menu and waited quietly for the chef to come by and ask us for our orders. I know a simple kiss shouldn't petrify me at this point, but the weight of who it was done with had broken me.

My collapse hadn't gone completely unnoticed. Celestia, who probably savored the fleeting moment as a triumph over her own self, started to realize what she had done. Her confidence waned, celebration ceased while her eyes shifted in any other direction to avoid looking at me. The sun princess then buried her face into her menu, her ears reddening with each second while she quietly whispered to me. "...I'm sorry that I acted on impulse that once. I can assure you that it will never happen again."

I nodded slowly and silently, not knowing exactly what to say or where to begin.

Meanwhile, standing in the kitchen was a small group of chefs awaiting their instructions from Lemon Hearts. She stood by the doorway, quietly petrified over what she had just witnessed through the cracked door. A hoof firmly planted over her mouth as she stared at her former mentor nervously fiddling with her menu while the human sat motionless in his chair.

"Princess..."

The Next Morning...

I woke up with the ever constant taste of mint and ginger on my lips, an inexplicable yet pleasurable reminder of my sudden clash with the Princess of the Sun. I felt like my entire day was going to be off to an awkward start. My room was so chilly that I had to wrap myself in a blanket until I could get dressed. I even took an alternate route on my jog, took a bath instead of my usual quick-timed shower, and wore my hair in a clean ponytail instead of letting the locks flow. When I arrived, Celestia, Luna, Blueblood, and Shining all sat at the table. The three who didn't get the chance to enjoy the food yesterday were more than compelled to demand seconds of their meals.

When I walked in, Luna greeted me with her usual flirtatious banter. Shining and Blueblood cracked jokes at my expense, quietly implying the moment I was turned to a stallion and had no idea of how to control my own body. The moment lingered amongst the three while Celestia remained ignorant to the story. I just felt more embarrassed and awkward for her not knowing it while everyone else chuckled at me.

Celestia, on the other hand, was very quiet. Instead of being her usual chatty self to many of the guards and maids, she was quiet, even to those out in the halls, who murmured of her unusual silence today. She tried to get a quick peek at me, but quickly averted her eyes as soon as she noticed I was looking at her the entire time.

The head chef stepped into the room and grabbed a few empty plates before quietly handing me a menu. When I sat down, I started going through my potential options, each of them far more preferential to the gruel Zesty Gourmand had put out on a daily basis. But I wouldn't get a moment's rest from the chef, who insisted that there was something wrong with my menu. She offered to change it out, to give me a corrected one, even though I denied that there was anything wrong with it.

She didn't give up either, she instead grabbed a menu of teas and coffees and placed it in front of me. Personally, I was in love with coffee, so I took her up on that offer. The only caveat was that I was, for some odd reason, advised to enter the kitchen and pick out the specific roast I desired. I looked down at the bottom of the menu to see a yellow post-it with a small note.

I started to get curious as to why I was given the sudden invitation to go to the kitchen, but I noticed that she was very insistent that I follow up on her request. And considering that she was the head chef cooking the amazing food, I didn't want to upset her in any way. Learned my lesson the hard way on not upsetting the castle chef, especially when there are so many dietary restrictions levied against me city-wide. So I obliged and excused myself to make my coffee selection.

As soon as I entered the kitchen, I took notice that there were hardly any chefs around. It was just her and her alone. She continued to work on her dishes, doing the work of the usual staffing of a combined ten ponies, as she took notice of my being in the room. "Good morning, captain."

"Top of the morning to you, ma'am." I said with a heavily exaggerated southern twang before reverting to my normal manner of speaking. "Hey, what's the deal?"

"Well, I was calling you in here to talk about a few things, but first I should ask you about the food last night. Did you enjoy it?"

"A whole lot." I replied, kissing my fingers to imitate an explosion of flavor. "Magnificent."

"None of the food was too salty, too spicy, too greasy, too bitter, too sweet, nothing?" She asked.

"Food was great. Thank you so much for cooking." I complimented, placing my hands together with a bow.

She glanced around before going to the door and peeking out to see her mentor quietly sitting in place, staring at her cup of morning tea. "You know, it's highly unusual to see the princess just stare at her tea. She's so specific that it's almost hard to please her accurately. I mean wouldn't that be the case after a thousand years of tasting everything?"

"Yeah, she's kinda quiet this morning." I noted. "I'm apparently not the only one who noticed."

"So you see it too?" She asked.

"How can't I? She's usually talking about what they got her doing for the day. Instead, she's just staring at her cup of tea like she did something wrong." While I was speaking that sentence, I felt a tinge of guilt shadowing over me.

"...Something she did wrong, or something she did to make you feel uneasy." The mare said, looking at me.

"What are you on about?" I asked, growing suspicious.

"Oh you know what I'm on about." She stressed, pointing to her lips. "The big smooch, you got lip-bombed by not just anypony, but the friggin' highest princess in all the land."

I looked back through the door and quickly turned to the mare. "Okay, who told you that stupid lie?" I asked, trying to deny it.

"Not told, I saw the whole thing. From her pulling you down to the stupid look on your face ever since you sat back down. You said nothing to her after that and she just started breaking down over time. Now she doesn't speak to anypony because you didn't even give her a single response. How cruel!"

Thankfully, there were no other chefs in the room, otherwise the rumors would spread like radioactive byproducts at Chernobyl. That's the last thing I needed to deal with right now. "How cruel, I told her that I wasn't able to give her that─"

"I know you did, but it's not about that." She interrupted, stepping up to me with a criticizing glare. "You got hit by the pitch, told to go to first base, and you're not even moving from home plate. You can't just freeze her out like that. Even if you don't like her─she honestly deserves some attention─you have to make things not awkward for her. She put herself out there and you left her on stage not knowing what to do. You have to address this immediately."

"But─" She wouldn't even give me a chance to reply.

"Either you make good with her or I'll have to stand I have to exercise my pride as a mare." She opened the cabinet full of the different blends of coffee and pulled out one small glass jar of whole coffee beans. "In other words, for the amorously dense, I'll make sure that not a single mare in Equestria cooks for you."

I shook my head as I grumbled in response. "I'm not dense, I'm just overwhelmed."

"So I take it that I should grab my menu back then?" She answered, shaking the jar of coffee beans.

Yeah, even if I could just simply jump back to my world and eat, I didn't feel like spending any money today. And there was no need to go into detail about the amount of drama that would stir up from my getting blacklisted from several commercial establishments. So I conceded to her 'death' threats and complied. "You really like twisting my arm. Fine, I'll go out there and break the ice a bit. It's won't be like last night when she shattered an entire glacier, so don't expect nothing grandiose."

"Good." She said while opening the door, whispering to me before she kicked me out the kitchen. "Now you go and get my favorite princess talking like she's used to."

"Yes ma'am." I said, pointing to the glass jar she was holding. "Now what blend are you holding now?"

"Arabica, freshly imported from Zebrabwe."

"I'll try that then."

I left the kitchen and walked over to my seat, grabbed my menu and looked towards next available seat closest to the high princess. I was still a bit nervous on how she was feeling and what she would even say to me at this point. So I took a gulp of air and marched quietly to where Cadance would normally be seated. Celestia glanced at me before turning her attention back to her no-longer steaming tea.

"You seem pretty quiet today." I said to her, trying to pretend as if nothing had shocked me yesterday. "So did they throw you in the gauntlet today too?"

She didn't reply openly like she's used to, just humming an empty confirmation.

"So what kind of tea are you drinking this morning?" I asked.

She didn't give me an answer.

I gave an exasperated sigh and whispered to her. "Mint and ginger tea, I might order that this morning."

Initially, she froze and placed a hoof over her muzzle while her cheeks warmed with color. But she snapped out of it and tapped me on the shoulder, leaning into my ear. "You know that combination is for sore throat and headaches, right?" She said to me with a damaged voice and smiled, tapping on her throat.

I nodded with acknowledgement as she continued to stare at her own cup of cooled tea. She obviously couldn't talk from the sound of the raspiness in her voice. Even earlier, she obviously tried her best to speak normally but had to reign me in just for me to hear her. I couldn't make her talk on that, so I had an idea. Instead of saying something in front of the others while she couldn't respond clearly, I simplified my thoughts to a notepad app on my phone. I tapped away at my screen for a minute or two before showing it to her.

"I tasted that when you kissed me yesterday. You're pretty good at kissing, so good that I had to give myself time to process that. I'm sorry about saying nothing last night, I just didn't know how to respond to it. But now that I had some time to simmer on it, I can say that it was wrong of me to just leave you out in the cold like I did. To make up for it, I'll see if I have some time to brush your mane again."

Celestia's eyes widened while looking at the message, she tapped the center of her chest as she read the message I gave her. She gave me back the phone and illuminated her horn. She didn't manipulate anything, but I could hear her voice as clear as day. "...Nine tonight, I'll be in the bath. You can brush my mane clean, preen my feathers, and I'll tell you about my busy little day."

I picked at my screen and gave her another message to read. "So you aren't mad from my not saying anything yesterday?"

She shook her head. "The only thing I'm mad about is that you're just now complimenting me on my kissing. Granted it was two years since I last locked lips with anyone, but small things like that I do worry about. Though I don't have a right to be upset in any capacity, I forced myself on you. So I should really be the one to apologize. You told me what you couldn't do while I jumped on impulse. You deserve better from your princess.

"I'm just happy you're expressing yourself. Everyone has been wanting you to do that for a while now." I texted back.

"Well, I'll just start off small by keeping that circle between you and me." She said as she finally started to guzzle down her tea.

"Fair enough." I replied back.

She looked at me while anchoring her head against her hoof. "My throat hurts like hell itself, it hurts to swallow. Maybe I'll have you look after me today in place of your shift. I can't believe I fell ill twice this decade, let alone this year."

"Well just as long as you don't sneeze on me like last time. I had my mouth open and I tasted alicorn snot for a whole hour."

The princess stifled a laugh, though winced at the pain while grabbing at her throat. The others looked at her as she struggled to laugh through the pain. Most of them just stared at me while I explained to them. "She's got a sore throat today, coming down with a bug again! So she'll clear her schedule and resume operations tomorrow!" I loudly announced, trying to throw a hint to any assistants waiting outside. The others hummed and oh'd with understanding. The princess tapped my shoulder while smiling at me.

Well it's been some time since I last put out a chapter, unfortunately life tends to give me a pretty rough hand while I'm doing these. One such example is while I was typing, my screen flickers and then there's this one random bar at the bottom of my screen... Then it grows to two, to three, to five, and then my screen flickers and jumps until all of a sudden, it doesn't stop flickering and jumping. Still doing it as I'm typing this. What's worse, I can't see the top of my screen.

If you were to maximize your windows and try to change a tab or click to exit a program, you would be having trouble trying to see it because the top half of my screen is jumping like a barefooted tourist on hot sand. If it wasn't for the fact that I have my laptop hooked in via an HDMI cable, you probably wouldn't hear back from me any sooner. But yeah, need a new screen, tried replacing the wires and making sure the connections are all valid. It ain't the mother board because it would still register that same problem on the TV I'm using. But here we are, back again.

Celestia might be a little interested in a few things and theories, but as of now she's... curious. One can imagine what would be the case if a certain younger sibling were to find out. And it sure seems Twilight and Nondis got into a bit of trouble again, but what else do you expect out of some casual bedroom banter with a certain someone you've been separated from while still meeting with them on the frequent tip? It's not like the stress of dealing with several outside problems and influences start to mount some frustrations, frustrations that also stem from pent up engagements with one's legally proclaimed ex.

Nah, it's not like there's anything else to worry about... oh wait.