Life tends to go a lot faster when you're in a rush to do almost everything at once. Whether you're juggling two jobs to try to make ends meet, cramming like hell to send in that online assignment that's due in the next hour, picking up your kids from school and going grocery shopping, or even hanging out with your friends at that one place you all love going. It's as if time flies right by you and you're left wondering where it all went. But taking care of someone who fell ill, that can drag your day a bit.

Wanna know what helps speed that up? How about looking after the most important individual who also happens to run an entire country.

The first half of my day was spent running in and out of her room, telling any of Celestia's assistants that came by for an appointment to go talk to the one in charge for the day. As for who that was, that's a pretty funny thing to talk about. Since many of her daily appointments and meetings were cancelled so abruptly for the sake of her personal health, she had to delegate someone to take the brunt of her duties. Both Cadance and Twilight were away for the day, so that originally left Luna to pick up the slack. But there was a tiny bit of a problem with that, it was the fact that Luna had pulled an all-nighter and was too tired to do anything but drift off to sleep doing whatever she was doing. Blueblood just outright rejected the assignment and ventured north to Manehattan for whatever reason he refused to discuss.

So for the first time... Shining Armor had the royal throne to himself.

And since he was large and in charge, he took the opportunity to challenge the parliament on their ideas when it came to military spending. He made the proposal to improve crossbow technology and enhancing the standard issue armor to ward off projectiles instead of having them sit on trying to keep the budget cut short. He also strongly advocated a backpay system in the eventual case that guards were to not receive payment in the case of a funding shutdown, registering those particular shifts as standard hourly pay with added overtime. Another thing he brought to the table was a ten percent raise across the board for the guard as many would complain that their work wasn't being rewarded enough, while some even had to take up a second job just to make ends meet.

And then there was the big proposal, a protection plan for guards who have been in terrible circumstances that had caused any damage to their psyche. All counseling and medications would be paid for upon the registration of a diagnosis. He went further to tell his story of how he was given the special privilege to attend counseling on the pretenses that he was engaged to royalty, meanwhile citing how his fellow guards only got a hospital checkup prior to being released without any followup or monitoring, a move that proved to further enhance the chance of any possible suicide attempts. In short, Shining was on the ball for his guys, and when he got out, the entire guard roared with applause as soon as he left the parliament chamber.

Celestia had a visualization sphere on standby in case she needed to check up on anything, but she was thoroughly impressed with his agenda. I was more surprised that this stuff wasn't already implemented into the guard, considering that military work would prove to be a great contributor to stress and depression. But either way, she gave the young prince a nod of approval while discussing it with me. "If only you and Twilight didn't separate, I'd be looking forward to the proposals you'd be putting in place as a fellow royal."

I humbly dismissed her praise. "I'm no one to be called a prince, just keep me in the box with all the other recruits."

The mare groaned, stressing through her damaged voice. "Now now, you know why I can't keep you there."

"Is it because I'm different?" I said, trying to play off her intended response.

The princess rolled over in her bed, facing me instead of the sphere. "I think you sell yourself short on what you're capable of."

"Honestly, shouldn't that be a practice of mine, especially considering all of the achievements of you royals?" I asked. "I've seen what Twilight had to fight, what Cadance had to fight, what Shining Armor went through, what Blueblood does, what you and Luna have to do. I don't have a place here."

The mare reached out with a hoof, placing it on my chin to turn my head to her. "You have one, just give it some time and keep going where you're going."

I scoffed at the idea. "I'm no Fair Charity."

"Oh no you aren't." Giggled the princess. "In contrast, he was a lot more active in his nightly wanderings into the maids quarters."

"So is that why you have no problems with me goofing around?" I asked.

"If there was anything I could've done to ease the situation for any suitors, it was the saving grace clause I advocated for sometime before Fair Charity's death. The only problem is that it didn't see much use outside of Shining Armor, and even he was limited on his use because of Cadance's desire to keep him for herself."

"Any reason why she's like that?" I asked. "You'd think the princess of love would be into the herding thing like Blueblood is."

"Actually, it's because of a very specific reason. With a given title comes a specified promotion of that title over time." She said, no longer lying down in her bed, but sitting up to look at me directly. "I am the princess of the day itself, because I am the princess of the sun. Luna is the princess of the night because she is the princess of the moon. Blueblood is the prince of order, because he is the prince of justice."

"Now that I think about it, he is a bit avaricious to be considered to be the prince of order." I muttered under my breath.

"His greed is rewarded in consequence, always has been and will be. In seeking a bride to share a bed, he gained everything but what he originally sought to obtain. That's how it is for him." She added before continuing. "Shining is the prince of valor, because he is the prince of courage. And Twilight is the princess of friendship, because she is the princess of magic. Magic is amplified through friendship and thus gives her the power you see she possesses. Now having all of what I've told you, where does that leave Cadance?"

"The princess of love." I answered.

Celestia nodded. "Now what amplifies that love?"

"I guess relationships."

The princess then shook her head. "Not quite the whole answer. To know love, it has to begin somewhere. What is the first instance of love you experience in your young years of development, the nurturing you receive, the protection that is offered?"

I lightly knocked my palm against my forehead for ignoring such an obvious answer. "Duh, family."

Celestia got out of her bed as she started to walk towards her vault. "I'm sure you remember that Cadance was Twilight's foalsitter at one point. But I should also tell you that I was not the only one who watched the Sparkle family grow from a quiet librarian and a rowdy guard."

"You aren't?" I questioned.

"Cadance had her eye on them also. She also spoke with Velvet many a times when they were much younger. The two would have conversations spanning hours about their favorite romance novels and who deserved to be with who, expressing anger over who was killed off, and ranting about who didn't deserve to have a happy ending. Then the two grew into three when Crescent showed up."

"Let me guess, there was some romance drama between the three of them?" I asked.

"Hardly." She answered bluntly, opening the safe to pull out a small sepia photo of the three sitting at a table together. Velvet and Cadance both had an open book in front of them, happily chatting away while Crescent tried to balance a book on his horn out of boredom. "If anything, Cadance was slow to embrace others because of her past. In her ascension, she grew to lose everyone she loved, so she distanced herself for well over a century. But she did find that the love these two would share eventually became far more compelling than anything she'd read in some novel. It was much different than what she was used to seeing."

She then handed me another photo, this one of young Twilight and Cadance sitting at a similar table, with Shining doing the same balancing act on his horn. The only difference was that she was looking at him with a slight grin. But I couldn't help but to bring up one glaring discrepancy. "It looks like Cadance is a teenager here, just like she was in the other photo."

"Cadance refused to age out of her early teens, in part by her stubbornness to keep everyone at a distance. She wanted no one to get close to her. But when Velvet became friends with her, she started to see the value in letting the years go by. She rediscovered a different aspect of love that she once lost, knowing how to start over."

"That's a pretty important lesson." I noted. "But how did she and Shining ever considered getting together, wouldn't it be awkward to date the son of your best friend after growing up with them?"

"Velvet offered her the opportunity for her to get to know Shining. So she opened the door by simply making her a foalsitter for Twilight. She figured the familiarity would cause them to grow closer. They did, almost getting into a young adolescent relationship of him being the colt and her being the filly next door. But in the years to pass, she only got to know the love of the family that she watched grow from a mare she spent lunch reading books with. And in time, she wanted that for herself. She even wanted to grow with him, trying to match his every step. And so her desires manifested itself, she grew up to a few inches shy of Luna, dwarfing poor Shining in high school."

"High school?" I asked a bit confused. "Didn't she live for centuries?"

"Just one and some time." She corrected me. "As I said, she wanted to match his every step. Had some hiccups along the way like some stallions trying to play themselves as a suitor. But none of them ever had a chance, she knew what she wanted and she went with her safest bet."

"So how about Shining, wasn't he forced into conscription?"

The princess handed me yet another photo, this one of a baby Shining Armor being held in his father's hooves, Crescent still donned a guard uniform with several medals decorating him. "Not entirely. Shining wanted to be a guard. He just didn't know that his being so close to Cadance was going to make it harder for him. But he stuck it through, and he was placed on the fast-track due to his being a suitor."

I handed her back the pictures while I spoke. "Honestly, I don't even know how to think of any of this. There's so much between the royals and the Sparkle family. Is there some more historical reference that guides you guys together?"

"No. Just a diligent captain who did what he could to defend his country and a humble little librarian who longed for adventure outside of the boring life of sorting books. I could tell you more about them, probably for next time. My voice is starting to sore again."

I covered my face with my hand, shaking my head. "Then why didn't you do what you did at breakfast?"

"Because I wanted to talk to you." She replied. "I feel more natural speaking to you as opposed to doing that all the time. Besides, it takes a lot of mental concentration to convey my thoughts to you remotely."

She walked back to the safe and placed the photos inside before closing it. I pointed to the bed while I removed the sheets for her to get under. "Well I tell you what, since you're so mentally drained, how about you get some shuteye? Don't want you pushing yourself too much."

The princess took a quick breath, conceding any argument to do otherwise. "I guess. What's your schedule today?"

"Well, today is usually my short day, but I guess my superiors will call it time and a half if I stick around to take care of you."

"I suppose it will be a lot more fun than sitting in a hallway watching the shadows stretch over the hours." She said, getting back into the bed.

"Yeah, even when you go to sleep, I'll find some ways to entertain myself. I'll get too bored if I start counting ponies walking down the halls. Maybe I'll just play on my phone for a while."

The white alicorn hummed as she turned herself over and closed her eyes. "Just remember to stay in or around the room until I am finished. Can't lose sight of me if I'm nearby."

"Well I don't have a choice."

It didn't take long to see her body stop shifting around, trying to get in a comfortable position. But it also didn't take me long to realize how breezy her room was with the balcony being wide open. I was just glad that the wind wasn't blowing into the room. Still, I couldn't believe she could sleep like this, how the hell does any one pony deal with a draft this bad?

I walked over to the balcony and looked at the curtains to cover the doorway. From what I could tell, there was a rope that allowed the drapes to cascade down to cover the opening. There also seemed to be weights at the bottom to disallow wind from blowing them open. So I adjusted the curtains, closing off the balcony to give the princess a chance to warm herself up instead of suffering in silence like she usually would.

But when I turned around, I was greeted with something quite different.

I could see the princess' face resting peacefully, a single foreleg draped off the side of her bed while her lips separated just slightly. Her chest rose and fell slowly while her eyeslids were just shy of closing all the way. Even her mane had gone from it's usual hues of blue, green, teal, and lavender into different shades of the sunset spectrum. Beautiful glows of the dying sun anointed her mane and tail, rich orange streaks fading into red, red to pink, pink to purple. As her mane shimmered, it almost appeared as stars trying to shine their way through like they would at that moment of the twilight hour.

If I could be honest for a moment, I would say that I had never seen anything so incredibly beautiful. Even as a few strands of her mane started to drift over her face, I was more than compelled to send them back to join with the rest, just so I could quietly enjoy the beautiful ruler in all her majesty. I wasn't quite sure if anyone had seen her like this, but the honor and privilege belonged to me now. I wanted to horde this for myself.

I would have problems coming to terms with the fact that this was all for me.

She adjusted herself, shifting her weight a bit to where she felt more comfortable, a heartwarming smile appeared on her lips as she nudged forward. She whispered to the dream she had, softly calling out. "My darling."

I froze in place, my heart skipping a few beats while she resumed her rest. I had to take a few steps back because I was so enraptured by that beauty, so much that I would've forgotten that I was supposed to be guarding her instead of being a creep and watching her sleep. I figured that I would punch myself in the chest to focus up, snap out of the trance and actually do my job instead of hearing the lyrics to Every Breath You Take in my head. And it wasn't like I could take a picture, despite the fact that it would last longer. She's asleep for fuck's sake.

...And I had other ends to tie up, too many now. The fuck am I doing?

I shouldn't be fawning over her, I shouldn't be looking at her like I got a chance to be with her, or even like I might have the remote possibility of entertaining a relationship with a thousand year-old demigod. I shouldn't even entertain these thoughts at all when I consider the fact that I have two other girls trying to keep me and another two who's just in it for the sex. I haven't even began to take into consideration the other two that I denied and placed in my 'friend' corner. My whole love life is a mess because I tried too hard to make others happy. And when I try to assert myself, I only break hearts while racking up a kill count. Hell, I just had Twilight holding my head between her thighs two days ago. Sooner or later, I'm gonna be buried in some other girl's haunches in exchange for a political favor.

This is my life now. Can't say that I didn't get what I've been begging for way back when in high school. I just didn't want it to be so damn difficult. Back then I felt like the vagina was the best part of the girl, that everything else is just too much to deal with. The drama, the baggage, the emotional draw, the attachment, all of it felt so unnecessary and I believed it would be better if we just reverted to being like animals and mating for survival, no additional strings needed.

I never want to go back to thinking like that.

Hours passed as I just sat in the bathroom, quietly going through my phone's internet browser. I pulled up a youtube video on... everything really. I just started going through the trending section, finding some stuff I liked, stuff I didn't, a few gaming videos of people raging out and tossing their controllers at the TV. Much of it I had a sensible chuckle, but there were a few moments I had to laugh and repeat a certain part. And then I started going through Vines, losing myself in twenty minute compilations of people trying to make the most of six seconds.

Honestly, I was distracting myself from life.

It was a fun little venture back into the world of humans, seeing everything that we did to make ourselves laugh and feel good. It was cute, funny, crude, and even awesome to see those moments. It made me think of the times I had in high school, the ones that were actually good. Like the one year I spent in Upward Bound, while we were staying in the dorms, some classmates had a stupid idea of putting some tube socks inside of another tube sock, grabbing the lids off of our hampers and swinging at each other like we were gladiators, fighting for the glory of having the last box of honey buns. I can imagine we would've recorded shit like that.

But the world changed, there was no way of seeing all of what was going to happen to me. I went from being a dumb adolescent boy with nothing but sex, food, and games on my mind, to being a guard for a princess, fighting a myriad of magical creatures, learning magic myself, and advocating for the rights of a select few against the machine of several fossilized politicians seeking to further their own agendas.

And then there's the romance part.

"There you are."

I glanced back up, seeing the sun princess standing before me in all of her usual glory, her mane showing as it does whenever she's awake. It appeared from the sound of her voice that she was back to normal. "And I'm still amazed over how quick you alicorns can heal."

The mare sighed as she placed her chestplate on the counter across the room. "You'd think that time heals all wounds, and then you see this ugly scar from a thousand years ago."

"I told you it's a sign of your triumph. You keep downplaying it as a moment of weakness when in fact it was your strength to endure and not capitulate to the desires of a bunch of pasty horndogs."

"They got what they wanted anyways." She replied sadly, looking back at herself in the mirror. "It's sad to know that my count with consent in mind is only one, while the actuality is that many more have known me just as deeply."

"You weren't even awake, so it doesn't count." I replied quickly before pulling myself back on that comment, thinking a little more on what the possible implications were on that statement. Worst came to mind and I started to feel incredibly stupid for even blurting that out. "I'm─"

"You're fine." She said so casually. "I'm just glad I have someone I can begin to trust. Having friends like you eases my memories of that day."

I started to say something in response to that before another blunt thought came to my lips. "At least that ugly bastard who claimed he loved you didn't get what he wanted."

Suddenly, I heard the sound of the waters of the bathing pool shift. I turned around to see Celestia sinking herself in while having a towel over her head. "That I can say is the only victory I can take away. Though the cost of it..."

I quickly tried to change the subject, not wanting her mind to linger too long on it. "Hey, so how about that mane brushing I promised?"

The princess summoned a brush from her magic and levitated it towards me. "Well since you know what to do this time, I guess you can get through it a little quicker."

I had a moment to look to the ceiling while taking a sigh of appreciation. "I'm sorry to put you in that kind of mood so soon after your sleep. So let's talk about something else."

"Like what?" She asked as I started to sit myself behind her, grabbing a long lock of her ethereal mane.

"Your dreams." I answered as I got started with brushing her hair. "I was closing off your balcony to stop a draft from getting you even more sick, and you said something about a 'darling'."

The princess chuckled as she rolled her eyes. "Oh that, it's just some random dream full of mush."

"What kind of mush?" I asked.

"None that pertains to you." She replied.

"Was it of a lover?" I questioned. "Good King Sombra, Prince Fair Charity, some other guy I might not know about?"

"If I say that it was you, would you leave me alone?"

I gave an audible chuckle. "Now you know that ain't real because I would've had to stop brushing your mane to ask you why I'm even worth dreaming about, not that I'm even anything to write home about at all."

"And why do you think that?" Celestia inquired.

"Well..." I began, starting to go down a laundry list of what I felt were my personal flaws. "I help others to a fault, I jump into fights, I do a lot of ass-kissing and white-knighting, I'm awkward, I can't dance very well, I'm shortsighted on my future because I don't know where I wanna be in five years, I'm financially unstable, sometimes I rush into sex, I don't like delayed gratification too much because I can be impatient too often, I get into trouble with women, I like to lie on the spot about small stuff, I fawn over beauty too easily, I sometimes talk to myself, I like eating too much, I lose track of time too easily, I fantasize about some things I run into over the course of a day and find myself trying to relieve the tension, I like doing that relieving process a whole fucking lot, and sometimes I regret my decisions."

The princess hummed at the idea as she raised her head to look at me directly. "...You're not any kind of fun, add that one to the list."

"How so?" I asked.

"Because you just told me everything bad about you without giving me the chance to be able to discover that for myself. What's the fun in trying to poke and prod into your psyche when you're such an open book!?"

"Again, why am I even a topic worth reading on?" I emphasized once more.

The princess readjusted herself back into comfort as she gave her response. "Because you're worth more than the dusty and garish cover you try to hide behind. So you gave me the synopsis for the first five chapters."

"I don't know how bad advertising is helping me sell you on that idea." I said with a groan.

"Because bad publicity is good publicity." She answered, levitating a luffa above her body, getting ready to clean herself. She started off by tending to her hooves. "Anything that brings up the topic is sure to bring up intrigue. So instead of the question being 'just how good or bad can it be', it ends up being 'so is it really that bad'. Now you have the intrigue of a small niche audience who are looking to either be amused with the terrible quality or if they'll be disgusted enough to spread the word."

You know, I honestly forgot there are internet reviewers who sit through the worst movies just to tear it apart for their audience. So her explanation shouldn't be much of a surprise. "I guess that counts for something."

"But instead of dissecting the bad, I'm going to investigate the good that I do keep hearing about." She said she finished one foreleg, moving to the other. "Now to ask, do you have any experience with pegasi wings?"

"I've helped Twilight preen a few times... But the experience wasn't exactly wholesome." I confessed.

The princess blushed as I continued to brush through her mane. "Oh, then you must be really good at that."

"She says it's my fingers, the finer attention to detail that they offer as they reach down into places most teeth can't."

The princess took a deep breath. "Okay, then don't preen me today. I really don't want too much to happen all at once. Just you brushing my mane is giving me a beautiful sensation of nostalgia."

"Let me guess, your parents?" I asked.

Celestia hummed happily. "My mother always said that I had her coat, while Luna had her mane. Not exactly her mane color, but more of it shimmer and glow."

"Do you dream of your mother every now and then?" I asked.

"Sometimes. I feel so peaceful when she visits me in my dreams, though it's sad that I can no longer remember her voice."

"Time does that a lot." I agreed. "I can't even remember the distinct sound of my grandmother's voice, I was too young to recall it accurately."

The princess started to gush on about her. "Oh Nondis, you should've seen her. She was almost as tall as I am now. But her coat was so pristine that it almost appeared blinding when the sun shone on her. Her mane was so beautiful, it flowed like water, even felt so much like it. I can easily remember the sunset blend of colors she always had in her mane, it's colors would change so effortlessly, orange to red, red to pink, pink to purple."

I stopped brushing her mane and thought about the image still freshly planted in my memory. I started to mutter to myself. "It looked even better on you."

The princess quickly turned around, almost yanking her mane out of my hands as she stared at me with shock.

I suppose I had forgotten about her sensitive hearing. "What I mean was..." I started, seeing the princess somewhat taken aback from my comment. "I should... I guess I caught a glimpse of something while you were sleeping. Your mane and tail changes when you're asleep."

She started grabbing at her mane with her own hooves, looking at it. "It does?"

"You had those exact colors in your mane when you were sleeping. It looked beautiful on you..."

The princess closed her eyes as she held her mane to her face, covering her mouth with her hoof while her mane was still embraced by it. "Did it really do that? I mean I know it changes, but I only thought it happened when I got angry or when I was suffering."

"I know, a bit creepy to watch you sleep." I said, coughing and standing up for an attempt of a quick withdrawal. "Yeah, I'm just gonna give you some distance while you─"

Before I could even step in any other direction, I felt my feet become glued to the ground. While I stressed to my legs to overcome whatever ensnared them, I heard Celestia walking out of her bathing pool and slowly approach me. She circled around to glare at me with eyes filled with incredible disbelief. "My mane changed to those colors? Did they truly do that or did you see something else?"

Instead of being able to answer her quickly, I felt some strange gravitational force yank me down to my knees, becoming face to face with the high princess. I was already feeling nervous as she approached me. "I'm sorry if I invaded your privacy by any chance, but I just happened to see it. I can understand if that's something you didn't want to get out."

The next thing I felt was the warm sensation of magic touching my forehead. The princess' horn tapped against my forehead just once before it started glowing a pale white. She whispered to me. "Forgive me for doing this. I need to see it for myself."

As her eyes started to glow the same color of her magic, I started to become frightened over the abnormal sight. "I'm sorry. If you wanna purge my memory, please make sure it's just for however long I've been awake for today. As long as I don't end up reverting back a few years, I should be fine with─"

Her eyes stopped glowing as her spells fell dormant. I was even able to move myself, being free to back away from her. But she collapsed her hooves around me before I got the chance to regain my balance. The princess glanced up to me giggling, with an unusual collection of tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry. I just didn't believe you... But... Now I don't know whether to cry or smile."

Admittedly, I was relieved that she didn't proceed to bleach my mind after taking a gander at my thoughts and memories. For the strangest reason, I felt like she was so secretive that she didn't want anyone to know about her sleeping habits, anyone would be embarrassed have that revealed to themselves. But it seemed like that was the least of her concerns. "I can give you some time to think it over. Maybe you can have a good ugly cry like you've been holding in for so many years."

I started to suddenly feel a little bit of resistance again. Instead of being a magic spell, it was like her hooves had immense strength. She hugged me even tighter, her body shaking a bit while she buried her face into my chest. "Don't ask me to do that, we'll be here for a long time."

"We'll?" I questioned.

The princess nuzzled into my chest. I was already starting to feel the warm droplets filter through my shirt as she held me even closer. "Yes, we as in us. You got me like this, now take responsibility and be the soft thing I cry into."

"Okay... If that's what you want."

She didn't even take a breath before breaking down, stammering over any words that would've came from her mouth and falling into a sequence of sobs. Each time she breathed, I felt her horn prod into my chin before she unleashed a longing wail into my chest.

Looking at her weep, I couldn't possibly imagine the agonizing pain she had to deal with in the course of a thousand years. It seemed like she was a lost child who was told that she couldn't see her parents again. I wasn't even going to think about the torture she endured up to this point, all the lives that were lost or drastically altered because of her. I can only guess at the guilt and shame she feels, the humiliation she endured over centuries of fighting and losing. A being so powerful to move the sun itself and maintain the order of an entire nation for a millennium, forced to hide her feelings and desires for, what was told to her to be, the greater good... I can bet this feels absolutely cathartic.

Lord knows losing my grandfather taught me to hug whoever I could reach out to, for as long as possible, because it feels better to let it all out. I don't think I ever thought about letting go because it was so raw for me. I was probably a mess, my tears pooling against my cousin's shirt, his into mine. It's a bittersweet feeling to know that love, to have lost a pillar in your life and still find something to support you in that moment. I've lost pillars, but Celestia has lost cities in comparison. So to hug her just as tightly as she did to me, it did everything for her.

I have not heard such a painful moan, nor will I ever forget the tears that fell into my shirt, the warmth and moisture of her breath, each shriek, each moment her hoof dragged against my back, every last breath, or the names she called out in pain.

The names... There were so many names.

Hours have passed on and I was waiting on my shirt to dry. While my shirt sat on the very same post where her golden chest plate sat, I laid in the bed as Celestia wrapped me in her wings, her forelegs curled around my chest. We were quiet, not ever finding the words to speak. I just remained that way because I didn't want to disturb her. She was at peace, as serene as a young foal who was comforted after a time of sadness. Her eyes were reddened from the many tears she shed. But her muzzle wore a smile, a wonderful smile that signaled the parting of clouds after an intense thunderstorm. The damage had been done, calamity had struck, but this was the time to rebuild for her. I didn't dare move. I wouldn't want to deprive her of that peace.

But eventually, it did have to come to an end.

I said nothing as Celestia called out past my ear. "Who calls?"

"Your majesty, I was just about to inform you that dinner will be done momentarily if you were feeling any better. Maybe I could arrange a visitation for room service."

Celestia sighed as she looked over me, calling back out to the door. "I will attend shortly. Please give me some time to make myself presentable."

"But your majesty, you're feeling ill and I think─"

"I said that I will attend." She said once more. "If I can attend the meal when I feel even worse than now, then I should be able to now that I'm feeling my best."

"Are you sure you don't want me to arrange a server to drop by the room with your meal?"

"Lemon Drops, I am certain. I desire the company of my fellow royals. I wish not to be parted from the additional time I will spend with my sister as well. Please see to it that my chair is waiting for me."

"At once, your highness." The chef confirmed before trotting down the hall.

The high princess rose over me and stretched herself out before looking down to speak with me. "I can't believe you stayed with me this entire time. I would've thought you had some sort of escape plan in mind."

"Well you were the one to say that you needed me to take responsibility, so I did just what you asked." I said, starting to sit up.

The princess hugged me from behind, letting her hooves sink into my bare skin. "You humans are so incredibly soft for not having hair."

"If you think this is soft, then you should've tried hugging me when I first got here. I was chubby then, so I had more than enough 'soft' to go around."

"You were a bit pudgy." She said, poking at my stomach. "Now I can trace your features, your real features that used to hide under all of that. It's wonderful, honestly."

"Yeah, I got a few female associates that would easily say the same in my world."

"The difference is that they don't get to experience it like I do." She said, burying her muzzle into my neck. "If only they know what you've been through, what you suffered to get here. I can say with pride that I am a witness to what you have become."

I chuckled to myself. "You know, you keep doing this and I might not know the difference between a courting affair and a physical one." I said, glancing back at her while placing a hand on her cheek.

"Courtly love is hard when you don't have a husband. It just thins the line enough to make one simple touch the breaking point between the two."

"Like how we're situated now?" I asked as the princess sniffed my hair.

"We even smell the same." She added. "But this I'll allow. We can be this close without crossing the line."

"So what's the line?" I asked.

"Should I define that now, I don't have a problem with that either. Just so long as I don't do it again."

"You mean last night." I concluded.

"And there goes my chance." Celestia announced, nuzzling my cheek. "Just to think that everything was right for it too. I guess I'll have to settle for something like this then."

"Whatever happened to your 'needs not wants' policy?"

"Still in effect, unless you want me to dip into my 'wants' a bit."

"Can't say that I'm not interested in how good of a kisser you are." I admitted. "But I know that will cause more trouble for the both of us."

Celestia then cradled both of her forelegs over my shoulder, yanking me down to her bed as she smiled. "Then I guess I'll have to define that line again."

"Moving the goalposts, you mean?" I joked.

She leaned into me, getting as close as I could feel the heat radiating off of her lips before she used one of her wings to mask some separation between us. Instead of our kissing one another, she had the both of us kissing the feathers of her wing. Beyond the pristine white feathers, I could see her eyes cutting towards me with malice in mind. "That's the line I'll define for us. If I ever need you to show me that level of affection, you'll kiss either my hoof or my wing, whichever I extend first."

"Now that's just mean." I muttered through her feathers.

"Not necessarily, it's how they used to show fealty to me back in the olden days. Now it's more bowing and distance maintaining. Being that you're assigned to my personal protection, you shall show this level of fealty to me while we are in public."

"How about in private?" I asked.

"We'll address that when the time comes." She said, rising off of her bed and stepping towards her regalia stand. She quickly placed on all of her royal jewelry before tossing me my shirt. "Now you are going to have to leave with this on, it would be too much of a controversy to have you walking around the halls without that."

"It's cold out there anyways. I'll gladly put it on."

The Next Day...

After leaving the bedroom, I quietly escorted the princess to dinner. Even as we shared a considerable distance between one another, I was already getting the vibe that she wanted to close in a bit. When we sat down for dinner, I sat in my usual seat while she sat in hers. Cadance had returned from the Crystal Empire to claim her seat for tonight, something that Celestia saw as unfortunate. And as dinner went along, Cadance started to inquire about the elder princess' physical state, noticing the side effects of crying for an extended period of time. She simply explained that she had a moment in the bath and decided to get it all out there.

It was no secret that I was looking after he while she was sick, but we did manage to keep quiet the moments we shared.

When it came time for bed, I had to escort the princess to her bedroom again. She didn't like the fact that I was acting so distant to sell the idea that everything between us was just the traditional guard and princess tandem others are so used to doing. Instead of walking inside her bedroom like she would with anyone else, she turned around and kept her door open, looking at me while I stood in the doorway. She wouldn't leave me without her saying goodnight, talking about how great her day was. But I did have to remind her that I was supposed to be parting by this point, as most guards would've been dismissed by now. She acknowledged my reasoning and closed the door with a final goodnight.

After I finished with that, I reported to the barracks to log in my hours. But that didn't matter to my bull-headed and prideful superiors, who stated that my hours were going to be logged towards the day I was prematurely dismissed from shift earlier this week. It didn't matter if I stayed by the princess for a total of fourteen hours today, or the fact that I actually stayed with her another nine the night she dismissed me early. To me, it was more of the superiors not wanting a fresh recruit like me logging serious time and getting compensated for the hours, just to spite my current rank. I understand they felt more qualified to take my job, but this is getting annoying.

No matter what world you're in, that part of life never changes.

When I went to sleep, I remember having this dream. I had a dream where I was first swimming in an ocean while watching the sun set beyond the waters. The sun never moved from halfway, producing beautiful shades of red, orange, and yellow. Looking back in the opposite direction I could see shades of pink, purple, and dark blue. I submerged my head under the water's surface, seeing clearly the beauty of the ocean below and the foamy bubbles that rolled in from the shore. The next thing I remember was being yanked down to the sandy floor below, warmly being held by two hooves that crossed over my shoulders. I looked back to see a beautiful mare holding me.

She leaned against me, holding me closer to her and burying her head in the crook of my neck. From there we stayed, looking into a drastically changing sky. Her mane reflected those wondrous colors, my body warmed as we embraced. She did not speak, but nuzzled me while we looked to the horizon.

When I woke up with that memory fresh on my mind, I was more compelled to run. I had practically skipped putting on my clothes to walk outside of my room up until I felt a cool blast of air remind me of the time of year we were in. I closed the door and took notice of the incredible warmth I had experienced in this place. It was like Friday morning all over again. But I couldn't enjoy it for very long, I had to get back to my regiment.

After throwing on some protection from the winter air, I ran outside and went about my jog to the outer battlements. I jogged happily until I had gotten back to the castle checkpoint, where Celestia had flew past me. She casually wished me a good morning, prior to my getting past the inspection. It seemed like she was well on her way to a morning flight around the city.

I got back in, took my shower and found myself sitting in my usual spot for breakfast. It appeared that Cadance had returned from the trip up north with some interesting news. The reason for her trip was to see her personal doctor for a checkup. Everything seemed normal to the doctors up till there was one pronounced issue, the foal's development had quickly jumped ahead, setting it on a path of being fully developed and born about two months earlier than the usual gestation period.

As anyone can imagine, both Cadance and Shining were on edge about the situation. Two first-time expecting parents coming to terms with the fact that their baby ending up being premature will startle just about anyone. I don't blame them for being concerned. But it does put a whip to my brain, giving me more drive to put aside any other leisure activities for this particular Sunday. I had to get on the ball with my magic, and I had to get back running today.

But it wasn't going to be by conventional means.

Right after breakfast, I took to one of the secret passageways that led to a random street out in town. Transformed myself before I walked out and placed my clothes in a corner to be left undisturbed. When I walked outside, I could barely feel the cold that would nip me in the worst way as a human. Instead of hoping that a strong mountain breeze doesn't come bashing against my face, I was quite comfortable in trotting around the city.

The experience was peaceful, incredible even. As my usual self, I would have to deal with paparazzi trying to ask me questions about my personal life or relationships, just so they can get some scoop to sell to whatever magazine would print the story, which was all of them. I didn't have to deal with that, or the feeling of being pointed out as the only thing standing on two legs in a twenty block radius. I was completely anonymous, the usual regular that could roam the crowded streets alone in yesterday's outfit and cologne.

Oh I will not be ashamed. What they don't know won't matter.

I started to make a turn towards where I thought the city library was located, but ended up turning into a coffee shop instead. I initially thought I could pull out my phone until I had realized that I left it inside of my pants in the secret passageway. My reasoning for it was that I had to make sure that I had no absolutely no clues of who I actually was, and a phone would've been a dead giveaway. But the bad news was that my map of Canterlot was on that phone. In other words, I was quite literally walking the city blind.

I tried a series of turns that I felt would inevitably get me back on track, but instead I managed to get myself walking into the gates of an old public school building. It seemed like the campus was closed off, so I wouldn't be able to ask around for any information that way. I tried asking around for directions, but ponies took one gander at my cutie mark before deciding I was bad news. I looked back at my own mark and saw nothing particularly ominous about my mark, shrugged, and kept asking around for directions.

But that's when I walked into a pretty empty looking neighborhood. It seemed like there had to have been a lot of activity around here judging from how worn the cobblestones were. There was the dying scents of a thousand odors, some reminiscent of death. I turned a corner to see an empty fountain sitting at the center of the quiet development. The houses and shacks around it seemed a bit ran down. It was apparent that I was in the low-class area of the city.

I wanted to look past the buildings to see exactly how far I wandered off from the castle, but I couldn't see anything past the copious amounts of gray towels and linens that lined the streets from above. I continued to look around the place, hoping to find some clue on where I could go. But after a minute, I happened to approach an empty fruit stand. It seemed to be still wet with a variety of fluids... including blood.

"Well... time to get the fuck out of here."

While I walked away, I could see a pony lurched over in an alleyway, just sitting there. I called out to him quietly, trying not to grab any attention to myself. I got a little closer and thought they couldn't hear me, tapping them on the shoulder. But I quickly found that the very pony I tried to talk to was missing something very important... a head.

I jumped back and shifted my eyes towards every corner like a paranoid criminal. My eyes rapidly darted back and forth before I caught a glimpse of a hairy lump way further down the alley. When I made out the shape, I could definitely confirm that I had found what the victim was missing. My heart was pounding while I tried to keep my cool. Though the sounds of crows cawing overhead wasn't exactly a warm and friendly reminder.

"Yeah. We're gonna fucking go." I murmured to myself as I turned around to make my way back to the fountain.

I started to levitate a few empty boxes to some of the more structurally-sound shacks and try to climb my way out. As I looked around, I saw no one walking around at all. So I felt safe in knowing that I would be able to find my escape on the top of these roofs. I climbed on top of the box I used, making sure as to not be heard by anyone, and then made my way on top of the first shack. I made my way across a second and third, reaching another building that only had a single story. I looked around once more to see if anyone was coming or had seen me, no one appeared to. So I started carefully making my way up the rooftop.

That was probably the worst moment my sense of security could falter.

Without warning I felt a powerful tug against my left hindleg, dragging me down like a ragdoll, pulling me off of the house and directly hitting the cobblestones of the courtyard below. The pain I felt in my side made me writhe with agony, all four of my legs tried to regain stance, before that same leg was pulled in towards one of the shacks I quietly crept across. There was a pony with an eyepatch and scars all over his right side tugging me along. The earth pony tossed my leg aside while flipping me over to my back and smashed his legs into the cobblestone on either side of me.

"Fuck ya doin', draggan ya sorry arse 'round the top of my home. I ou'ta fuckin' stuff you for jumping my shack!" The pony had a thick accent similar to an Australian.

I looked down to the stallion, seeing he was already halfway at mast. I IMMEDIATELY tried backing away. "Hey, I don't want any trouble. I'm just trying to mind my own and get back home."

He grabbed my leg again, dragging me closer to him. "Tryin' to get 'ome, up that way? Oh I can tell your lot ain't from 'round these brushes." He whispered. "If there ain't one thing ya do, it's break the curtain."

"Break the curtain?" I questioned back.

He crouched over me, pointing to the sheets and towels that hid the sky. "You ever heard of a pegasus flyin' up high round here in the good ol' Rotty? 'Course ya haven't, you'd be fuckin wing meat for the feeding. You don't go where the regs be singin' all high praises for some thousand-year cunt who ain't did a damn thing for ya but shake her fanny. Can't even root the slag, might as well stop advertising."

'Rotty', calling the princess one of the most profane insults you could ever say like it's a casual greeting, and obviously the 'curtain' is supposed to keep any onlookers from above out of being able to see down here. Not to mention the headless corpse just out in the shadows. "...I'm in Canterrot, aren't I?"

"Fucksakes, ya ain't never been 'round here." He said, shaking his head. "Who else but the fuckin' turds up in high skies call this place 'Canterrot?' Down here it's the Canty, the CanCan, Rotty, Rottsburg, or the official municipal name, the Corrotto District."

Well that's a good lesson to take in while I'm here, never call this place Canterrot. Now if only I can find my way out. "Corrotto District, huh? Honestly I'm from a whole other town away from here. Small little village out in the middle of the plains called Austin."

The stallion still stood over me, for some odd reason in a perpetual state of being at half-mast. I was still trying to back myself out from underneath him. He quickly adjusted to keep me there. "Well you accent has enough drain on it, I'm sold. But what brings you here? Don't tell me ya got lost and made a few wrong turns like that dipshit in the alley over there."

So... do I break cover and start fighting now or later. "What happened with him, just curious?"

"Came 'round in the crook of night. Saw some shit out on display and thought he could break his clackers moseying outta here. Promptly got stuffed, fucked, and kicked around like a good game of kickball."

"When you say stuffed─"

"Done in. Good warm corpse, he was. But if there's one thing he should've know 'bout us before goin' in, we don't like talkers too good. He's a talker, so we made him one of us, good for a doori and a kickaround."

...This guy fucked a dead person. Processing... processing failed. "Well I ain't no talking-ass bitch. So you can sort me out of that bargain bin. I'm good to come back sometime soon, this place looks a little dead for me to hear the things I hear about."

"Well ya ain't got nothin' to contribute, then you're just fucking spiders. Could set you up where you could make a friend with that guy over there."

By this point, I'm thinking of some ways to keep my head on my shoulders. Thankfully, I was notorious for spinning up stories with my parents, so I had no qualms with telling lies to strangers. "Well honestly, I was coming around because I had managed to travel with a changeling."

"We got plenty of changelings 'round these parts. Go try the brothel down 6th Street."

"Not quite like that, though." I got up on my hooves and quickly grabbed the stallion by the shoulders, draping over like we were friends... still trying to hold my vomit in. "See, with that mess that was caused by the changelings trying to escape, one of them managed to sneak their way into a portal leading to, get this, the human world."

The stallion looked at me with genuine curiosity. "You gotta be hanging a shit."

I continued to play buddy with the guy, not trying to think about the fact that he's at half-mast with every last ounce of remnants of some dead guy's shit and possibly some other guy's sloppy seconds all over himself. "Look, my guy managed to get in league with that guy, and now I can get my hooves on some human tech. Might be a little unicorn centric, but I heard you snap a feather off a pegasus and it works just fine."

"Human tech, eh?" He questioned, getting in closer with me. His breath reeked with alcohol and rotten food. "So they got some of them sword snappers I've been reading the papers on? You know, a good crack of thunder and the tips of some guard's sword gone in an instant. Gotta have me one of those."

He wants a gun, not gonna happen. "I heard my guy's working on it. Apparently you have to get licensed to own one over on that end. And then you gotta wait some time, then there's the whole background check bullshit, and then they give it to you. But it sure as hell ain't cheap over on that end, it's kinda pricey for those who ain't got a run-in with some serious bits. I wanna say it runs around a good thousand bits for a small peashooter."

He muttered under his breath, moving directly in front of me. "Now I may not look it, but I definitely can... acquire the funds to pull off a deal. Just how long can I be on the waiting list for?"

"A month." I lied. "Sale ain't final until both sides sees and counts the goods. If you ain't got the bits, then you bust."

"Oh I'm good for it, mate." He answered insistently. "Round here in the Rotty, we have a saying. If you ain't got bits or bollies, you'll get blood. If I ain't got a bit or a single bolly with your name on it, then I got a rare treat to sell you in exchange. A zebra unicorn, best of both worlds in magic. Fluent in both tribal conjuring and unicorn theory, a bit sickly but she's a beaut in bed."

The more I talk to this guy, the more I feel like vomiting in his face. Then again, he might be into that too. "What's her value?"

"Tried to sell her before, but she's been sickly ever since the first deal started getting made. She's always been sickly. Even in her current health, she's a good eight thousand. She'd be a solid fifty had she'd been healthy."

At this point, I wondered if I was convincing enough to play my way out of this courtyard. "Eight thousand, huh. Might be able to get you a little something that could dent a sword or two. But it'll be a month."

"Are you kiddin'?" The stallion asked elated. "I just 'bout spoofed myself thinkin' bout it. How normal is it you see six two-leggers walk up to an army of four hundred changelings and stuff a good half of 'em? If those things was what they were using, then I'll trade you the bitch for it."

Honestly, there was no possibility that I would even see this guy after two weeks, much less in a month. He has no name to call me by or reference me to. The only thing I needed to do was stay out of sight after this month and I can walk my human ass anywhere with the paparazzi chasing me, just as long as I don't have to deal with this sick-ass motherfucker again. "Sounds green to me. I'll keep you updated when the deal pulls through. I know my way around after the first go of getting in, so I'll look for you."

The stallion chuckled loudly, giving me a shove. "You old bastard, I could kiss you! How about a good ol' sample of the girl down in the shack, she'll keep you warm for an hour or two."

"As much as I'd like the invitation..." Like hell I did. "...I'll have to keep on my dealings. I still got a little bit of a market out on the main street. A clean facade to sell the city on to not look nearly as suspect."

"Well you're in the wrong market, mate." He said, hugging me while giving me a kiss on the cheek. "If I ain't tellin' you the truth, then I'm tellin' you off. Stick around here, you'll make ten times as much over your shitty day market."

Don't vomit... don't vomit. "Well, I'll be sure to keep that into consideration. Now, how the fuck to get back to main."

"Take the alleyway with the droggo over there, make a left turn at the severed head, keep straight until the curtain clears." He instructed before walking ahead. "Now don't go talking off to anypony what you see here, sure hate to stuff you in the worst way."

"Noted." I said as we started to walk up to the decapitated body.

He stopped just behind it and shoving it over. "Hey, mate." He called out. I didn't dare look at what he was about to do. "He's got a hole up front if you're feelin' it. I'll just be taking what's back here."

"Nah, I like mine kicking and screaming." I can't believe I just said that. "You go ahead." Or that.

"Suit yourself." He said before resuming with his act. "Hard and stiff, ain't ya? Just like pounding a vice grip."

Nope. Nope. And a third time for good measure, nope.

As soon as I found the main street of Canterlot, I found myself a nice dark alleyway and proceeded to rid myself of today's breakfast. Immediately after that, I ran back towards the direction of the street where I could recognize the landmarks to indicate I was close to the secret passageway back into the castle. Upon entering, I transformed myself, threw on my clothes, and ran straight into the castle.

I didn't even stop to say hello to any of the guards that saluted me, I just beelined for the portal to Mel's place and continued my barfing over her toilet. Mel, who was in the living room watching TV, had to come check on who was waltzing into her house sick. She quickly discovered it was me and placed a hand on my back. "Let me guess, the cook was terrible again?"

"No..." I said between gags. "Not... Oh God."

"You okay bud?"

"That bastard was fucking the body..." I replied before gagging on my emptied stomach trying to pump out anything else.

Mel stared at me before becoming wide-eyed. "Oh you saw some shit for real. What happened?"

I shook my head, still retching at the thought of his suggestion. "He said 'There's a hole up front, if you're feeling it'."

"If you're feeling what?" She inquired.

"Mel, the poor guy had no damn head, there's a hole in the neck." I explained, collapsing to lean against the wall. "He wanted to spitroast the guy!"

Mel cringed at the though and became thoroughly disgusted. "Oh God! That's some Jeffrey Dahmer shit, the fuck did you run into!?"

"Wrong turn at Corrotto Boulevard." I replied, holding my hand over my mouth. "He was gonna try to fuck me before fucking the corpse, which he fucked last night."

Mel gagged at my explanation, pushing my legs out of the way in case she needed to offer her own prayer to the porcelain alter. "Oh God. Please stop."

Another voice chimed in from the hallway. "So what's going on in here with you two?" Princess Luna asked casually walking by.

"Made a wrong turn at the Corrotto District." I answered, taking several deep breaths to manage my own disgust.

The princess sighed heavily and sat down. "Ugh, so that's two dreams I'll be scrubbing tonight."

"Just one." Mel corrected her. "His. He somehow found his way there."

The princess scoffed either way. "My main concern is why did you visit Canterrot without any reference guide or anything? Did you even go disguised?"

"I went there as a pony, then got disgusted as the same guy tried to offer me a trade deal."

"What was the trade deal." Luna asked.

"A unicorn-zebra hybrid, possibly for an AR-15. Apparently, she's a sex slave who's good on magic, but I ain't buying."

Luna groaned with her own variety of disgust. "Of course. I'm more surprised that Blueblood visits that place more than twice a month."

"TWICE A MONTH!?" Both Mel and I screamed.

"Shining went around five times to that place, still sensitive over some of the stuff they do. Twilight fell on the outskirts of it with her friends and immediately turned back after a group of riled stallions tried to talk them into drinks. I had a guard sneak in on reconnaissance, he never came out. Celestia flies over it every evening, but even she can't see what's below. It's said that it looks like a lively night market from above, but I can only imagine the filth that goes on below."

My mind jumped straight to the pictures inside that manila envelope. The final image of the disguised politician kissing the hooves of a mare, with a dead corpse in the background. And then the sight from today flashed before my eyes once more. "I don't need to." I said before standing up. "Hey Mel, what church do you know holds afternoon services?"

"After what you saw, I don't blame you for trying to find Jesus." She said with a cough, trying to suppress her own gag reflex. "To answer your question, I think there's the one your parents go to."

"Mel, I'm not going for a scene, alright. If I go there, I'll get pointed out immediately."

Melanie sat next to the toilet, managing to hold down her lunch. "After your disappearance, that would be any church you go to. Just be ready to testify on spot."

"With a lie, on the alter?"

Mel cleared her throat as she lightly kicked me with her foot. "I thought you didn't care too much about church after you left high school. Now you're worried about lying at the alter?"

"I know some pastors can do it, but I don't think I can. Gramps would haunt my dreams if I did that."

"Look Nondis, you're about to swan dive into hell itself as soon as you get back. You might as well go for some spiritual reinforcement. Not only that, but it will be a good way for you to talk with your mom again."

"You think that's such a good idea?" I questioned. "Especially now with my being able to use magic?"

"Simple, don't use magic in church." Mel replied, standing to her feet. "But if you're going to get involved with the ugly scene of the world, then it would be better to have that potential last moment with your folks. Being honest here, what you just described has some seriously ominous vibes. Better to be sure."

"And who's to say that mom won't be willing to accept me?"

Mel smirked. "Mama Haines can't pull that one off in church."

A good forty minutes passed as we rode out to the place of worship my parents attended on the weekly. It was already a pretty big church so they had a few services throughout the week. This Sunday happened to be one where they threw together a Christmas program for the afternoon. We came in just as the church's praise team started singing classics such as 'O Holy Night' and 'Oh Come Let Us Adore Him', the slow variations per usual.

I never did like the music here, it was always slow and lifeless. I sometimes wondered why we couldn't be Catholic instead.

As soon as we entered, I could see the orange and red lighting providing the ambiance for the congregation while the singers raised their hands to the sky, singing their hearts to the black ceiling. It was a moment like that I remembered why I thought stuff like this was so superficial. You keep singing to the reason of 'bringing blessings to the most high' while scratchy pitches and sheet music on the stage wouldn't exactly please anyone. The colors are a nice touch, if it was a pop concert. The screen behind them giving us the words to sing along is helpful, but not for anyone sitting next to someone who's either tone-deaf or has no rhythm. But not so long ago, I used to be one of the bunch.

I was the one in the middle sections, raising my hands to the sky with tears running down my face, singing along with the praise team like my voice was so pleasing to the ears of God. I made the spontaneous decision after my grandfather's death to be as Christian as possible. And I was even separating myself from my family then because I didn't want them to see me being vulnerable to the atmosphere. But I was just as 'spiritually hungry' as the rest of the crowd. I kept asking God to make my life different, to make me more of something to be desired, to give me the vision of beauty and splendor I felt my grandparents was experiencing.

Time passed before I started to see the routine I did was for nothing.

Months passed and my eyes slowly opened to the fact that everyone around me was still just as empty as before. Nothing changed for them, they didn't get rich, they didn't happily declare their freedom from whatever plagued them. They just came in with MORE problems. And I didn't get a single thing I asked for. Make my life different, I went to college and got ignored by most others. Make me more of something to be desired, I gained forty pounds and my arms jiggled as I threw them into the air. Give me the vision of beauty and splendor I felt my grandparents was experiencing, I just felt myself being emotionally challenged and emotionally drained.

After so long, a year and some change, I started wading towards the back wall, closer and closer to where the doors were. But what good was it in being close to the door when you could just walk out of it? How much time was I going to waste being drained of my tears for no logical reason? Why should I keep pushing for things I would never get no matter how hard I prayed for it? So I left the church, and my parents didn't agree to why I made the decision. However, my sophomore year felt like I had much more freedom. I moved out of the expensive dorms and lived in an apartment not too far from school. I got a car to get myself on and off campus, and got me anywhere I wanted to. My Sundays were for me now, and I enjoyed every hour being able to shitpost on internet forums, jacking off to porn, watching movies on TV, and shooting people online.

The strange thing is that even when I had the time to do all of that, I eventually went back to feeling miserable shortly after. I just stayed in that rut for years, until a fraternity saw fit to recruit me. I signed on, paid my dues, suffered humiliation to get the opportunity to feel like I'm finally living the normal life of a basic college male, but lost my best friend in the process because of an argument. Went from feeling like trash to feeling like total shit right after this time of the year last year. So I tried to push myself further in taking drugs to feeling faded like the others.

The rest, as some would say, is pretty academic.

You wanna know what the funny thing is? Everything up to this point, everything I prayed for had came right back to me in the strangest ways. I live in a world with talking equines, that's a hell of a life change. I weigh LESS than I did in high school, I have more attachments than a suspension bridge, my love live has had more twists and turns than a soap opera, and I have more friends in my corner than a collection of pictures in a scrapbook. As far as the splendor I felt my grandparents possessed, they're dead in the ground. I don't even remember the moment my brain was running on a collection of memories, counting down the seconds before calling it a life and shutting down, but that's clearly not the splendor I want for myself for the time being. That day will come in the future.

And here I am again, back where all my prayers were sent from. I didn't have a desire to recant any sins or something of that sort, not here to find my way back to Christ, not trying to raise my hands in the air to wave them like I just don't care. I just came to readjust mentally.

As for my time with God... we'll have that conversation later.

Mel and I sat through about two hours of the yearly 'Christ was born in a manger, conceived to this world of sin, so that he would die for us, while we may yet live'. It's not really anything different other than the fact that even Mel had her own demons sitting on the front row with my parents. It appeared that her mom made the ever-so elusive public appearance, but she didn't seem so forced to do so.

Instead, she looked considerably cleaner, like she took a lot of time to mask the imperfections of her face, the imperfections caused by the gradual wear drugs has on the body. She looked passable instead of half-assed like she would whenever she was paid to show up for Mel's birthday or her graduation. Instead of looking like she could go back into the relapse, she tried her best to function like an average person. But that didn't stop Mel from pulling my arm when the service ended.

Along the way, we ran into a few old friends she knew in high school. I ran into a few other 'acquaintances' she had during the time. Each of them offering well-wishes and asking what she was doing with life. It seemed that they had come back to town for the holidays. But both of our attendance records in church wasn't exactly stellar, more like us leaving a piece of metal outside for months, watching the rust form.

If I was the believer that I once was way back when, I'd ask you 'Wanna know how God works?'

"Melanise!" Her mother called out from the other side of the lobby.

Yeah, interesting how that works. Mel tried to quickly dismiss the conversation so she could leave, but it seemed her father had found us even sooner than she could say goodbye to the group of people from our past. Her dad quickly tried to explain to her. "Melanie, I know what you're feeling right now─"

"Dad, why is she even here!?" Mel questioned, appearing very frustrated with her dad.

Meanwhile, my own parents appeared right beside him. Dad patted the man on his back. "Well Jason, I guess you can take this here. We'll be having a quick chat with our son."

I saw mom standing behind him, looking at me with a quiet judging expression. Dad didn't even pay her any mind while he hugged me. "Hey dad." I said, returning the gesture.

"Son, what are you doing here?" He asked.

As we broke apart, I started to keep my reason simplified. "I know what you're thinking. But I didn't really come for all of that. I didn't come to recant some sin or reconnect to the church for whatever reason. I just wanted to... reconfigure a bit."

Dad looked around before talking in a low volume, easily reading through my words. "You must've ran into something that got you worked up recently."

"Literally hours ago." I admitted.

"Hard stuff on the job?"

"Do you even have to ask?

Mom walked up beside dad and looked at me, still trying to figure me out in some way. "Who are you and where is my real son?"

"Hi mom." I replied with a dry tone.

Dad looked towards the Brewer family, seeing Melanie urging her father to talk with her someplace else. "Well since your friend seems busy, I guess we can go talk in the car. Care to walk with us there?"

"Sure." I answered.

We walked out the front doors and entered into the parking lot. When we got by the car, dad unlocked the doors, turned the engine over, and turned the heater on. Mom sat in the front seat while I sat behind dad. "Close the door." He urged. I complied and he went on ahead. "So... that bad?"

"It's pretty grisly." I answered, thinking about what I saw earlier.

"Well that's what you get for sticking your nose in business you ain't got stock in." Mom said angrily. "So when are you coming home for good?"

"Martha..." Dad called out, slamming his bible on the dashboard. "You damn-well know you've been crying over this boy, you know you've been missing him, now stop it!"

Mom huffed a breath of air through her lips while shaking her head. "I just want him to come home and not be tainted by all this pony business." She said pointing back at me.

"You were the one that told me that I should accept his choices in life, no matter how I felt personally. Now you deal with the same." He commanded with a low growl. His tone softened once he got back to me. "Is it dangerous?"

"To safely put it, I'm not a human while I'm doing it."

"So you're one of them now!?" Mom shouted, turning around in her seat, earning yet another rebuke from dad.

"I have to be. I can't just walk in and not be identified on the spot. I have to be anonymous so that if things go south, I can just leave and move on. So yeah, I'm a pony during the assignment."

"And you came here to tell us because what you saw today had you on edge." Dad concluded. "What exactly did you see that─"

"Don't ask, I won't say it." I replied strongly, holding the back of his chair.

Dad nodded. "So in turn of that, you're also here to let us know what you're getting involved with so that we can be aware of what could possibly happen to you."

I then moved my hand from the back of dad's chair to mom's shoulder. "Mom, I know you're not happy about what's going on with me─"

"And I should be?" She asked, smacking her hands together. "Nondis, you're practicing magic. Humans don't practice any kind of witchcraft around here, not sane ones."

I stared for a moment before dad raised a hand to interject. "Now I did have to let your mother in on your changes. I told you this was going to happen. Personally, I thought it was funny how my fork started floating off of the table that one day we had dinner over at the Golden Corral."

"Dad..." I wanted to speak against it, but he did warn me about it anyhow. He explicitly said that she was going to know by the end of the night whether I made the decision to call her. And instead of calling her, I was painting the walls with my newfound ability. So I couldn't be mad at him for taking the initiative. "...Okay, that's fair."

"So how's that coming along?" Dad asked.

I looked ahead to see a few quarters sitting in the cup holder and opted to use one of them as an example. I levitated the quarter from there to the top of the dashboard. Mom sat there startled as the quarter moved without any physical presence moving it. The white aura faded from around the quarter as my hand stopped glowing. "I can do loose change, silverware, plates, books, cans of paint, and even ponies for a short amount of time. Also, I can shoot magic lasers, redirect those, and turn myself into a pony."

Dad turned between me and the quarter that was lifted to the top of the dashboard. "Gotta admit, that's some shit that impresses me son. Can you use it in a fight?"

"Remember the 'magic lasers' part? Apparently you can be strong enough to blast an entire mountain to dust. I can't do it, but just take my word for it."

Mom just buried her face in the palm of her hands while dad turned forward, trying to see if anyone was coming close to the car. "Well son, I have to admit that I'm not comfortable with these recent developments, especially the getting involved with the more dangerous missions, but if you're happy..."

Mom started to speak again. "How about we do something as parents and come to the consensus that you need to come back home."

"Mom, I'm sorry. I can't." I said, thinking once more of the guy who could've killed me earlier. Honestly, that was beyond enough to make me consider a lot of choices.

"All it takes is for you to tell us to drive you home. The room is ready for you, we'll knock on the door, we'll respect your privacy, whatever it is. If you really love us enough to come clean with this today, then you should be able to love us enough to realize that you've gone too deep."

"I know."

"Then are you going to buckle your seat belt and let us drive you home?" She asked, looking at me through the rearview mirror. "I really want my baby boy back home safe."

Truthfully, it could be the end of all of this. I wouldn't have to go back to that place haunting my dreams, the possibility of getting lopped down to size and humiliated post-mortem. I shouldn't have that thought crawling up my neck like a venemous tarantula. I shouldn't wait for the bite to paralyze me. I should just say yes and let the story end here. I should just let the demons of my decisions haunt me like they did gramps. He might've had some heart problems, many bad dreams, and a serious case of PTSD, but he made the best of it and produced a beautiful family with his high school sweetheart. I think Mel and I would be a great pair of misfits, hoping the world doesn't take what we carefully created too soon. Maybe I won't die in some car accident or some other unfortunate tragedy. We'd live a normal life and live happily ever after... question mark.

Or I could think of the amazing strength of an abuse victim who still kept smiling for everyone around her. Perhaps I'm forgetting the one who lost everything to her name in one fell swoop. Maybe even the one that took a chance on me, foregoing massive losses in what could've been more commissions for her business, throwing it all in the red to make me clothes for free. I guess I should forget about the girl who financially vouched for my purpose. I guess I could ignore the one who cleanses me of my worst nightmares and offers me some semblance of mental stability. Or the one who dared to hope after endlessly getting a bad hand from fate, who also chose to fly instead of staying quietly perched, terrified behind her heavy golden cage.

To hell with the former guard, forever getting the blind eye from justice. The guard who went through hell and back for his wife could simply just go back there, and stay there. Maybe the princess who had her worst fears realized will see the fruits of her foal undergoing many inspections by a corrupted cabinet of medical officials. Who's to stop them from trying to mask their crimes when that foal becomes of age, while possibly being underage? Maybe grandpa will find my cowardice relatable and comes to forgive me for it while I fill Mel or whatever woman full of kids. Or maybe even God would turn his back on me if I did that.

What place is there for me in heaven after that? None.

"Mom... I love you. You don't have to love me back for my saying this─"

"You honestly believe I don't love you?" She asked.

My hand started to glow as I thought about many things, the magic in my arms starting to get a little out of control. "Mom, I know I'm not human anymore."

"And I know no matter what I say to you, you want to be able to make good to your promise to your grandfather."

I looked up to her though the mirror to see she had started wearing her mascara down her cheeks. My mother had me pinned to the truth and she started to open the glove box for some tissues.

"Nondis. Son. I hate that you made the decision to follow after him. All he wanted out of you was not to go where he went. But even he knew that you'd be here eventually, no matter how hard we tried to fight it. We tried to stop a generational curse dead in it's tracks. Now look at us, who would've even thought that I would've had to be the one to fight against you on this?"

My mother tried her best to keep it together, but she was struggling to keep her emotions subdued. Meanwhile my dad had placed his elbow on the door, leaning his head against his hand. "I wanted you to defend yourself, I never saw you going this far. To think that my intuition about you getting into trouble was spot-on."

My mom then unfolded the sun blinder to look at the mirror, going back to clean her face. "Nondis, I don't want you fighting anymore. I don't think I can handle losing you a second time. And I'd like to think Mel wouldn't like doing that a third or fourth."

Dad turned off the air, feeling a bit warm from the air hitting his face. He turned back to me as best as he could over his left shoulder, speaking from his heart. "Son... You're in a place only God could've put you in. If it was his will for you to be taken, then it would've been someone else summoned to that world. And yeah, He works in mysterious ways, but it worked for your good. We prayed to have you back, so he sent you someplace where you could live. I don't think what I'm saying will ever be condoned by any member in this church or by the pastor himself, but His works and His will shall see you through your circumstances."

Mom just finished wiping her eyes and cheeks clean before pulling out her purse. "Nondis, you might think this is some religious talk nonsense, but I couldn't come to argue that what you prayed for way back when had come to pass. And I know somewhere in your mind you entertained the thought of quitting. But I truly believe your grandfather guided you on every decision you made. If not, then would you really be alive right now?"

For some odd reason, I closed my eyes to recall the moment where I thought I could see his face, looking back down to me as he stayed the hand of an arimaspi from crushing my bones. I swore I heard his voice telling me to get up and move. If anything, I would've been so lost to shock that the creature would've shook off the pain and finished me then. I would've been another statistic if it had not been for him watching over me. Who's to even say that he could've helped bring me back from the brink?

"Your grandfather would want you to keep fighting, especially for what's right." Mom concluded. "We don't like watching you go, but sometimes we have to operate on faith and prayer. That's something your grandmother always preached to me when I was younger."

"And you have your trials and tests, the fact that you didn't say 'Let's go home' is a testament to how far you've come." Dad said, clearing his throat. It appears that he was chocking up himself. "And I said once before, so I'll say it again. I am so honored to call you my son."

If I could count the seconds it took for me to register all of that from my parents, it would've taken me several lifetimes for some creatures. If I could recall the reaction, I think I raised my head to the ceiling and took a deep breath, trying my best to keep my face clean. It worked, but the sides of my head were not so dry after. My tears were nothing short of perpetually kinetic. I had to clench my eyes shut to stop them from welling too badly. I buried my eyes into my arm, wiping my face before I felt a warm presence hug me from the front seat.

It was mom.

My mom held me, gently rocking from side to side before she could speak again. "My boy's all grown up and strong now. I can't help but to be scared for you, because I'm your mother. And momma don't like it when her baby boy gets hurt. But I understand that you are grown. And as much as I wanna hold and hug you tight, I have to learn how to let you fly."

We separated, but she was starting to giggle over the fact that my face had reddened as much as my eyes did. My face, I tried my damnedest to keep my cheeks dry, was overran with free-flowing emotions. My dad was the next to hug me. "You just make sure you fight hard enough to come back to us, you hear?"

"Yes sir." I weakly replied, trying my best to speak through my unstable voice.

"Come back to the church if you feel ready. But if you don't, then come by the house and I'll whip you up something nice. Your brothers miss having you around for our Sunday dinners." My mother said with a voice that seemed so warm and soothing to my soul. I couldn't help but to latch on to the both of them at the same time. Even if what I had seen earlier had destroyed my mind, the warmth and presence of my family made it better. I had another reason to keep fighting, but this time I had more of a reason to stay alive.

I came for a recharge, I was rejuvenated instead.

After arriving at the apartment where Mel stayed, she walked through the doors to see Princess Luna quietly engaged on the PS4, running through the campaign of Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare. But it didn't take very long after our arrival before Celestia came marching through the portal, taking her younger sister by the ear and forcing her across to raise the moon.

Mel and I both laughed for a while, while she cited that she needed the laugh more than ever due to her situation with her parents. She made the decision to not run away from the problem, but rather confront it. Instead of denying herself the visit, she took some time to get her mother in a car and aptly scream at her for twenty or more minutes about how much of a failure she was for being a mother. She then opened the suggestion of trying to work things through, but offering the trade of not being bothered by both her and Mr. Brewer for a few days to simmer on the thought.

She sought her own inner peace.

Meantime, I had a lot of my own to dwell on. And instead of thinking so much on it, I just lived it. I walked back through and enjoyed my chewing out by the princess for getting lost in the Corrotto district. Celestia didn't like the fact that I had snuck over there without her notice or anyone's guidance, so she offered to keep a closer eye on me by placing me under courtyard restriction for two days, meaning I couldn't leave past the checkpoint exiting the keep.

I went to bed, suffering the expected nightmares before being rescued by Princess Luna again. And I was awakened by a knock on my door, the knocker being none other than Princess Celestia herself. She understood that I was going to miss my usual route, but instead offered me the chance to take a jog around the castle grounds to get more acclimated to the surroundings.

The interesting thing was that she elected to join me instead of watching me from the vantage of her balcony. We jogged around, and she herself logged my hour with her as additional guardianship, basically overtime with the princess. After we finished, I showered and got back to the dining hall to see her going through her paperwork again. Cadance was looking over some of the proposed bills her husband drafted, while Blueblood ruthlessly pointed out any flaws and potential loopholes that could be exploited.

I was given a good amount of books, all graciously supplied by Celestia herself from her own school, for me to study with instead of wandering about like yesterday. She also added a number of city maps to have me study so that I would know my way around instead of running into any red zones. And since Celestia was in a mood to keep me around, she had me escort her to every meeting she had for the day.

Admittedly, this day was pretty uneventful other than the fact that I had broke tremendous ground with my magic studies ever since I came back from visiting my parents. And I had gotten a nice sparring partner in Celestia, who proceeded to mercilessly decimate my every attempt to defend myself. And every failure resulted in my having to adjust to some weird magic combination she used in combat. She could teleport while firing a bolt of magic at me, and even read every move I made to counter. She went on further to teach me the feints used in magic combat. I also learned that she too has a spacial distortion spell in her repertoire, otherwise my sparing sessions with her would be the topic of discussion for a lot of the guards and press.

In the later evening hours, I was so tired that I walked in the room, star-dived my bed, and passed out from exhaustion.

Later...

The darkness of the room was interrupted with the sight of a light breaking past the door. A soft and slow creak sounded as the door was slowly opened. The human who occupied the room was still in the same position he passed out in. As he snored with complete abandon with a slight trail of droll down his chin, an alicorn loomed over his sleeping form. He snorted once, surprising the alicorn before he carried on with his slumber. The figured stood over him, her mane and tail glowing softly in the darkness.

Celestia watched as he had no regard for himself, but felt the temperature of the room to be a bit cool. She knew that the human would easily perceive this to be colder than what would be preferred. So instead of allowing him to sleep completely undisturbed, she levitated him off of the bed and removed some of the covers underneath him. While he shifted, she allowed her magic to accommodate his movements while leaving his state of slumber intact. Next, she placed him on the mattress and laid the sheets over him, keeping him warm instead of allowing him to catch a cold.

Her horn gave off a warm heat along with it's glow. She sat in place with her eyes fixated on him, not saying a single word as she pondered whether to leave him be or to impart her usual motherly habits onto him. She knew doing too much would probably seem unusual to him, but her desire was to touch him. She convinced herself that her reasoning was to check his temperature. So she freed herself from her golden slipper and placed a hoof to his forehead, feeling his warmth. She smiled in secret, rubbing her hoof to his face as she leaned in closer to him.

Her heart started to throb while she was a mere two inches away from nuzzling him.

"He is quite peaceful when he sleeps, isn't he?"

The princess shot up from over him and instead of directing her magic to warming the room, she readied it for a more serious measure. She turned around to see a slinking mass hiding in the shadows. Her magic intensified until the figure pulled out a cloth and wiped his face, revealing himself to be none other than Discord. The princess grew disgusted at his presence and quickly reverted back to a more conservative demeanor. "And lo, for I see a flamboyant serpent who seeks to stir malcontent."

"Malcontent, or just reveling in the midst of it?" He quipped back.

"Why are you even here?" She asked coldly.

The draconequus snickered as he slithered in the air, wrapping himself around the princess' body. "Well I'm usually around whenever there's a phone or another piece of human technology nearby. Ever since I started jumping in on the internet, I've been through many human networks and forums, some filled with senseless fun... others with quite horrific hidings."

The princess' horn seared to a scalding flame while her eyes turned from their usual lavender to gold and crimson. "Then why were you not there to aid him earlier in his venture into town." She asked with a fierce but low growl.

"First, let's do a bit of a climate adjustment." The unique creature felt the heat radiating off of her mane and tail, teleporting off of her body and standing next to her with a firefighter uniform on, holding a hose aimed for the princess. He flicked the nozzle, shooting out flames that ended up dousing the princess in water. The princess was far from amused as he put a towel on her to dry her off, only for her to end up more drenched in water. "There. Now to answer your question, I was not even aware of where he went exactly. He took one of the secret passageways out into the middle of the city, from there he left his clothes, transformed himself into a pony, and left."

"Transformed?" The princess questioned, levitating the wet towel off of her. Her mind was left with the riddle until she reminded herself of the spell she once cast on Alex. "He knows the spell?" She asked herself.

"Last I remember, it was Luna who gave him the spell." The draconequus replied as he summoned the original copy of the spell, along with a hazmat suit to cover himself with and a pair of salad tongs to grab the parchment with. "Though I should inform you of the fact that it did come with a generous helping of your sister's scent. Apparently she commenced the act with Nondis and forgot to remove it from the couch, hence why he and this is covered in such a strong, unforgiving odor."

The elder princess grew disgusted, and knocked the parchment away, then promptly shook her hoof with discomfort. "Get that thing out of my face."

The creature then cast the parchment and his hazmat suit into the void before poking fun at the older sister. "O woe for thee, for thine own blood has claimed herself what was to be the desire of thine heart."

"Shut. Up." The princess ordered as her mane and tail started to turn into living flames.

"But I suppose that no other stallion has ever come so close to claiming both you and her. I guess it's a good thing that her desires are but only skin-deep. Perhaps your desires are no different."

The sound of metal scraping against his neck was all it took to get him to stop talking. He looked on with surprise as the mare before him had completely transformed into a fearsome creature in her own right. Her mane and tail completely engulfed by fire while she held a fearsome halberd in her possession. She hissed silently, being careful as not to wake the sleeping human. "I know it won't kill you, but I will take great pleasure in seeing your head roll."

The draconequus didn't fear the enraged princess, but was in awe of her instead. "So this is what you've been hiding for a thousand years, your rage and hatred?"

The blade scraped against the side of his neck as she corrected him. "You're a good four-hundred years off on your guess."

Discord shrugged off her threat, slicing his own neck through the blade and reconnecting it as soon as it passed through. "Save your violence for the ones that actually call for it. Maybe unleashing that side of you would do more than to have a certain law or two removed." The creature then slithered over to the side of the human, pointing at the sweat beading over him. "After all, you wouldn't want to cook your new special somepony in his sleep, would you?"

The princess quickly gasped. "No." That reason was more than enough for her to quickly calm herself. She dismissed her weapon and watched in horror as he laid in his bed sweating profusely. The human stirred, tossing the covers off of himself before rolling over and falling back into rest. She stood away from him, looking at her own hooves in terror while she questioned herself. "...Have I... Again?"

The creature sat quietly as he chided her. "Again, I don't know what he got into when he was away. All I know is that he came back sickly and very disgusted over what he experienced. Safe to say that he was traumatized by what he saw."

The princess closed her eyes as she sank to the ground. "I did it again. How could I?"

The draconequus looked at her through one opened eye and muttered to her. "Maybe you could use that same energy in protecting him yourself. You're more than capable. If your sister can harness Nightmare Moon to come to his rescue, then surely you should do the same. Now THAT would be a good way of making up for this... minor misstep on your part."

The creature disappeared into thin air with a snap of his fingers, the human stirred once more as a result. The man started to sit up from his bed while Celestia quickly teleported herself outside into the winter air, staring from the stained glass window at the human walking through the room, making his way into the bathroom to relieve himself, and trudge back to the bed, taking off more of his clothes before jumping back in.

Celestia closed her eyes as she flew off, speeding back to her own balcony to raise the sun.

Later That Morning...

I woke up to my room being unusually warm. Then again, it was hotter than this when I woke up to use the bathroom. It almost felt like a sauna had been installed in my room, but it was better than being in the shivering cold that was the outside. Even more so, I don't remember putting myself under a blanket to cap off my night, or being in the position I woke into. If there was a midnight visitor, they are looking out for me in a good way.

But seriously, I thought my door was locked.

I took the time to go on my morning jog, sans the visitation this go around. When I finished, I hopped in the shower and got ready to take on the day. When I arrived to the dining hall, I saw the usual parties doing what they usually do on a weekday morning. The head chef had been cheerfully creating dishes and providing me with ideas on how to spice up my diet.

However, there was one significant difference in today. Celestia was nowhere to be seen this morning. Apparently she had hopped in, grabbed something à la carte, and bounced before anyone could get a word in. Even Luna was left clueless on the whims of her own sister. Even as I went to work standing guard outside of the throne room today, there was no sign of her. Usually there would be a line of ponies trying to get a meeting or discussion with the princess on whatever matter. Today, there was no line, no call for attention as she approached. Even as I asked around, no one seemed to know what happened with her.

I decided to take my job a little more serious.

I quickly called a search party for the princess, urging for anyone to report to me their findings. Since it was uncharacteristic of her to dismiss herself without any notice to anyone, I had to assume something had gone wrong. I even called my brothers and asked if they had seen her anywhere. They confirmed on their end that she was nowhere to be seen or heard from. Parliament had to be taken over by Blueblood because she was a no-show. I went and asked all of her assistants to see if they knew anything. Apparently only one of them was given the instruction to cancel her entire day with the exception of controlling the sun.

Since this was a called search, I was allowed the authority to frequently leave my post for the sake of concluding the search to whatever end. So I looked through every avenue in the castle, even knocking on her door to see if she had been here. No desired results came up, and I was forced to commence to searching other places throughout the grounds. But I felt that she had to have stayed here, just hiding somewhere. I went back to my room during lunch break to see about going to the outside parts of the castle grounds and even the inner-perimeter walls of the city. So I went to get dressed in preparation for that.

Never did I think that my search would end in my room.

The princess sat quietly, holding onto a pillow while she stared at the wall. I didn't think she even noticed my coming in. So when I tapped her on the shoulder, she quickly turned around and grabbed at me in an attempt to slam me into the floor. She would've shattered my back if she hadn't seen my face immediately. She quickly let me go and trotted away towards the other side of the room, again to avoid looking at me.

"Leave me be." She said softly, not wanting to look in my direction.

Instead of going for my coat, I decided to go for her. That time she was very much on-guard, throwing a pillow at me if she heard me walking in her direction. I managed to ward off the pillow with my magic and stood beside her. "Your highness, the world is looking for you."

"My day is cancelled, my schedule is clear, I have no visitors and neither shall I see any. Leave me be." She stressed.

"Cella, what's wrong?" I asked while walking to speak with her.

"Leave me alone, Nondis." She begged, teleporting herself to the other side of the room. "I can't see you today."

I started to go after her, but instead decided to sit on my bed. "Is it something I did─"

"Stop with it." She demanded. "I merely made the decision to be alone today. I need to be alone."

"For what exactly? Is it a personal issue?" I questioned. "I mean I would think that you'd be in your room if it was a personal issue. You being in my room feels more like you want to talk to me."

"I came in here to hide from you!" She replied, flaring out her wings in frustration. She spent a few seconds to calm herself as a part of her mane had turned yellow. "I almost hurt you today."

I laid out on my bed as I asked her. "How did you do that, by not telling me good morning?"

The princess folded her wings back to her sides and quietly explained herself. "For the past few days or so, after I told you my past, I felt partial to you. So I thought that maybe I could do some small things to make you feel more comfortable here, just things that I know would make a difference for you."

"Like painting my wall and replacing the bed you burned with your old mattress and whatnot?" I asked.

"No, not that." She argued. "I owed those things to you because of what I did. I acted out in anger and caused you an inconvenience. So I had to make that up to you."

"Then what are you talking about?" I asked casually.

"I know you felt the warmth almost every morning you woke." She started to confess. "So I thought that I could pop in every once in a while and warm your room to make you more comfortable. This morning I saw you just laid out without any sheets or covers and it was cold, I knew it was cold to me so it had to be worse for you."

So that's why my room was so warm in comparison to the hallway. "Well, I have to say that I didn't see that coming. I just thought there was always some timed heater installed in here. But the way I woke up this morning might have showed me that I might have been showed some favor to by someone. I never suspected it would be you, but I do appreciate it."

"No! I almost cooked you this morning!" She said, lowering her head. "I was angry with Discord, we had an altercation, and I let my rage get the better of me. I didn't want to unleash that in front of you, nor did I want to see that demon again. But it came out, and I almost caused you grievous harm."

I got off of the bed and started walking towards her, leaning beside her as I started to find a way to ease her nerves. "Celly, I was a little warm this morning."

"You were sweating!" She argued.

"So what's a little night sweat? It happens to humans all the time. Heat flashes, so what? If I ain't covered in first-degree burns, then why are you making a fuss of it?"

"You don't know my history with that side of me!"

I quietly replied to her statement. "I can guess you probably turned into that thing when you were fighting that war. But you don't have to let one bad moment hurt your day. I'm still here."

The princess snapped back at me. "I will not see you again. Not now or ever. I refuse to allow my desire of becoming close to you jinx you into getting hurt... or worse."

I don't recall thinking too much about what I was going to say to her, just acting on impulse. So I knelt down to her, turned her head towards me and butted my forehead against hers, avoiding her horn all the while speaking. "Hey, get over here." I replied with a more serious tone. "You and I both got hard heads, neither of us learn from past mistakes too well on the first try. I need you to stay that way cause your head feels a little soft right now. I know what you've been through, not all of it but just enough. I need you to stay strong with me, no falling out on me now."

"But I─" She started before I interrupted her.

"But nothing. Your intent was kindhearted. I had assassins try and take me out, people who didn't like me trying to set me up for the okeydoke. You just tried to keep me warm for the morning and Discord pulled a few of your feathers the wrong way. You think that hurts me any, hell no. What hurts me is the fact that you would quarantine yourself because of one bad experience that resurfaced for a minute or two." I leaned in closer, not trying to kiss her but to drive my point home with my head. "You are the ruler of a nation, you are Celeste Delanise Valkyrie, Princess of the Day and Sun. You are FUCKING. STRONG. And I am your biggest fan. Now keep me ringside so I can see how you fight this to the end. Got it?"

The mare pushed back angrily, trying to emphasize her rank. "And just who do you think you are to utter my full name!?"

"I'm your friend in the blue corner, I even be your coach if you need it. But under no circumstances will I be considered as anything less than what you need. And if I need to step out of my role in command to kick you in your ass to make sure you stay in line, bet I fucking will."

"You'd dare talk to me like this?" She questioned.

I separated myself from her, pulling her chin up and patting her on her chest plate. "No different than anyone else I want to see succeed. So keep your head up, stick that chest out, scar and all. You want them to see it, let them see your wounds and how fucking strong you've been till now. Broken wings, you fly on those. Broken leg, you run on that. You die, just walk it off and bring hell right along with you. Whatever you do, you make me proud to be your friend, confidant, courtly lover, whatever the hell you see me as. But you keep marching like that bad thing ain't shit to all the good you bring."

The princess hopped up and allowed her wings to give her flight as she poked a hoof into my chest. "You listen here, Nondis. I don't care how weak I may feel, you do not under any circumstances disrespect me like you have today." She followed up with her battering her head against mine, of course with hers hurting a little more. I winced from the aching her tough skull had brought against mine. But she held me in place as she whispered her following response. "But under no circumstance do you not stay as my friend. Now YOU toughen up, a real hard head wouldn't flinch at the slightest impact."

I tried not to acknowledge the headache I had, powering through it. "Good, cause I ain't feel shit."

"That's my captain of the royal guard." She said with a prideful smile. "Keep me in check while I keep you in line. Power me through and I give you strength. Push me forward and I'll cover your back."

"I like this friend thing we got going. Just don't be so quick to drop it based on past experiences though." I said while the princess backed off and gave me a playful hit on my shoulder.

"Oh no, you're a far cry different from any I've ever met. Might have to be careful around you." She said before walking up to the door to rejoin the ranks of society.

"Why is that?" I asked.

"Because if I court you for too long, I may have expectations."

"Might not want those." I warned. "I'm just a bundle of disappointment."

"And I'm a barrel of bad omens." She replied. "I think we might cancel each other out."

"The real question is do you really wanna find that out?" I asked sarcastically.

Her magic enveloped the entirety of the handle as she turned back to look at me. "I'll let you run around for a bit, have your fun, break as many hearts as you'd like, make as many broken promises as you can afford. But when I call for you after you get your stuff done in the next two months..." She turned around and hid her face as her voice sounded through my head. "You belong. To. Me."

"Um... your highness..." I began sheepishly. "D-did you really mean─"

She opened the door, walked out the room, and closed the door behind her. The room was silent to me for the longest collection of seconds before her voice boomed in my head. "Mine and mine alone, Nondie my dear."

...I think I might have found something to fear more than Canterrot itself.

Well, it seems someone might be a tiny bit feisty. Now of course, this chapter is a tad bit slow, but for a good reason. I know that time skips aren't always a fan-favorite, but I want to at least implement a few. So I decided to expand on what was accomplished throughout the course of the day as opposed to just bringing something out of the blue.

So... how's all of you. I hope you're all healthy and safe. Do any of you have any interesting stories of how something of yours might have changed in response to the madness that's out there? I know I was looking forward to my first gig in Texas. It was at least going to be intermingling with the Spring Break crowd, that was going to be so much fun for me. Now the sports are gone, the casinos are closed, and all my gigs are canned. So you can only imagine how I'm feeling being stuck in my room for an ample amount of days.

Would you believe me if I told you that the next chapter would require a bit of reading back? This one may be a little smaller than the past two, but I hope it's something to go over for the time being. I promise to put the next one out as soon as I'm done with it.

Spread the word, don't spread the germs. Stay safe. You already know what to do.