Rumors of my epic rear-ending at the hooves of the high princess got around the castle like an untamed inferno devouring a rain forest in drought. It was without question the very topic of the day when it came to the guard. Our briefing and introduction of new security measures didn't matter as much as the princess giving my eardrums a Friday night halftime solo. The whole castle heard every word of her rant, and that included the senators, enlisted, and officers who ultimately didn't like me. Even the maids found it easy to paraphrase.

What they didn't know or see was the fact that Celestia was quietly condoning my actions, rooting me on and trying her best to seem impartial in my treatment. In fact, she seemed more excited of the fact that she was doing something that was considered against the rules. If there was anyone that Blueblood's whole 'Princess Troublemaker' moniker could go to, Celestia was the very one who deserved it the most.

No one would suspect their highly-praised princess to be such a provocateur.

My getting publicly humiliated didn't stave away any other guards looking to get some insight on what happened and my opinions. After all, as far as they're concerned, I was the most casual of the officers around the royal family. And since I still had that exclusivity, it was certain that I was going to find some time to vent on my extended shift of touring the castle grounds.

Of course, playing my role still applied on the outside of the Canterlot underworld. And since Celestia's whole gambit was to 'give me more ammunition', it was my job to fire away. Guards who ultimately found my life interesting, particularly those I came out with and the younger recruits, gathered around me and we all broke silence together.

After all, it's what the guards normally do when I'm not around.

I was outside of the castle garden entry, around four other guards wanted to ask me about the epic tearing down and how I felt about the whole situation. I fed them what they wanted me to, and it drew them in like moths around a bug zapper. Two fresh recruits and two of my peers, Private Fairweather, Private Snowblind, Private First Class Iron Sight, and Private First Class Blackout, all five of us conversed with one another over the matter.

"And then she dragged me to the meeting where we continued our debriefing."

Iron Sight chuckled. "Wow, how'd you manage to get past the princess' Royal Canterlot Voice? Don't that usually cause permanent hearing loss at point-blank range?"

I shrugged at his inquiry. "Just plug your ears. Meaning that you're getting a good talking to doesn't also entitle you to lose your hearing. Just do what you gotta do to make sure you live to hear more orders some other day."

Blackout smirked. "You've always been causing trouble for the royals. I remember when Shining Armor was trying to get you to quit basic training."

"How is it that you get to keep your job?" Fairweather questioned.

Of course, even if I had appearances to keep, I couldn't give a new guy some terrible advice. "It's not about keeping the job, it's about doing what's necessary to protect the citizens. There's a lot of those guys who do mean well and are good people, I just do what I can to protect them. Yeah sure, I'm supposed to look after the well-being of the royal family, but they want to protect the citizens too. Meaning that I've got bad blood with them on a personal level doesn't mean I can't do my job. Fucking assholes, the lot of them, but you do what you need to do to protect the ponies that make up this nation."

"It also helps that you has some insane technology that can cut down anyone that stands in your way." Snowblind added.

"Yeah, but they're not toys. That's why I don't let anyone from here tote them around." I replied.

"Yeah, so what about that weird bike you have stashed in the barracks?" Blackout asked. "That looks like something someone can learn how to use."

"That's true, but even I had my fuck-ups trying to ride one of those things when I was younger. I got cocky and tried to pull a wheelie, broke my left wrist. Haven't dared to touch another one until recently. But yeah, it's better to start slow before you end up crashing into something and dying."

The four guards all gulped at the idea of somehow meeting their end on the motorcycle. "That's a scary thought." Fairweather mumbled.

"That's why I ordered that no one else touches it but me." I explained. "Can't have your blood on my hands for an incident that could've been avoided."

"Yeah that would've been a fun report to write. 'Moron gets himself killed for running into a wall.' That would've been a hell of a headline." Iron Sight laughed for a moment before he suddenly stopped and caught sight of someone walking towards us. "Oh fuck, guys. We gotta straighten up."

I looked over to see a mare donning silver armor and a scowl the size of Dallas. I remembered seeing her a few days ago, seeming like she didn't have much love for me. But I looked over to see the other guards trying their best to stay stationary. I also pretended to be inspecting the four as she started to get closer to us.

When she came up to us, she stopped and stared at the two new recruits. She also looked at the other two and clicked her tongue. "Sloppy."

I continued to operate like I was giving the small squad a once-over. But it was soon made known to me that her insult wasn't directed towards them. She stared me down as she repeated the insult, along with a few others.

"Sloppy. Senile. Corrupt."

Well at least she had two of them down. "Hey, I'm not exactly old, you know. I'm only going to be twenty-two in a few days."

The mare stood by her insult. "And you have the competence of a old coot who's past his prime. I don't think I've ever seen such a flash-in-the-pan career like yours. You don't even deserve the honor of being an officer in this guard."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, if this is about the meeting earlier today, I made my apology in front of everyone, I accepted the pay cut, and I'm working the unpaid overtime today. So chill a bit and keep it civil."

"Civility, much like the princess' words, are wasted on you." She scowled at me and quickly turned her attention to the other four guards. "And you four are just as sloppy as this 'captain' here. I am your commanding officer and none of you have even so much called for attention, much less a salute of the rank!"

The four guys started to sweat bullets as the mare started to chew them down. But I simply shook my head as I calmly called out to the four. "Squad, fall-in." The four quickly lined up, each a foreleg apart. I quickly drilled them on a few commands. "Squad, attention." Each of their hooves snapped as they stood proudly in place. "Dress right, dress." Three of the stallions aligned themselves to the stallion to the far right of the formation. "As you were." The three who put their forelegs up for measurement snapped back to attention. I walked in front of the four. "It appears that our officer here feels that her presence has been disrespected. So let's correct that so she shuts the fuck up and keep moving. Present arms!" Each of the stallions gave the mare a salute, who felt even more disrespected with my quip.

The mare hollered out to the four. "And you can stay like that for a whole twenty minutes, until you learn to show some proper respect to your commanding officer!"

I pulled out a golden pocket watch, namely the one my dad passed on to me, and counted down her punishment for her. "One, two, twenty! Time's up. ORDER ARMS!"

The mare turned to me, almost as if she had more than words to give me. "Excuse you, I am an officer! You dare to walk over my authori─"

I quickly put a stop to that. "Present. Arms." She froze in place for a moment before I leaned down to get in her face. "Are you malfunctioning, Lieutenant? Pre. Sent. Arms." The mare slowly lifted her hoof and stood motionless as I called her out in front of the four stallions. "See now, I don't like being an asshole. I don't, not to any of the guys in the guard because we all try our best to follow our orders and make it back home safe and sound. But the one thing I will not tolerate is a blatant show of disrespect in my guard. Missus here wants us to respect the rank, but will disrespect me in spite of my holding a higher position than her. Now, do any of you think that is fair?"

"SIR, NO SIR!" The four called out.

I walked around the mare slowly, leaning into her ears with each pass. "That's right. That would be like if I tried to issue a command over Princess Celestia herself, not gonna happen. And even if I was reprimanded for my miscues and inactions, so long as I hold my rank, I will not tolerate such blatant disrespect. Even if we can be civil with one another, the rank still stands. You can choose to not like me, and I can choose to not like you, but as long as we serve together, we will work together." I stopped circling around her and leaned in enough to where the bridge of my nose ticked with the closeness of our faces. "And as long as I am captain, you will obey my command or I will have you shot dead. Do you understand me, or do I need to personally fix your malfunction in front of these four recruits by putting a bullet in your ass?"

I could see the veins in her neck popping out as she started to seethe with anger over the display she was put on. "Sir, yes sir." She mumbled, unenthusiastic about her circumstances.

I pursed my lips for a second, nodded, tilted my head, and peeled one of her ears open. I then proceeded to go to work on her. "DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?"

"YES SIR!" She called out as we went back and forth.

"ARE YOU DEAF, LIEUTENANT!?"

"NO SIR!"

"ARE YOU MAD, ARE YOU ANGRY!?"

"NO SIR!"

"DO YOU WANT TO MAKE A FOOL OF ME!?"

"NO SIR!"

"I GOT YELLED AT TODAY, DO YOU THINK THAT'S FUNNY!?"

"NO SIR!"

"YOU TIRED OF ME YELLING AT YOU!?"

"NO SIR!"

"YOU LIKE ME DRILLING YOUR ASS LIKE THIS!?"

"YES SIR!"

"ARE YOU A MASOCHIST!?"

"NO SIR!"

"WRONG FUCKING ANSWER! YOU ARE A MASOCHIST TODAY! YOU WILL SIT THERE, I WILL SCREAM, AND YOU WILL FUCKING LOVE IT! DO YOU LOVE IT!?"

"YES SIR!"

"TELL ME YOU FUCKING LOVE IT!"

"I LOVE IT SIR!"

"YOU'RE NOT SCREAMING! I NEED YOU SCREAMING!"

"YES SIR!"

"I LOVE SCREAMING! YOU'RE NOT SCREAMING LOUD ENOUGH FOR ME! LOUDER!"

"YES SIR!"

"LOOOUUUDEEERRR!!"

"YES SIR!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"YES SIR!"

I ran in front of her, pointing at my ears. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU! I'M STILL DEAF! LOUDER!"

"YES SIR!"

"HELP ME OUT, LIEUTENANT! SCREAM!"

"YES SIR!"

I then pointed to myself. "YOU LOVE MY RANK!?"

"YES SIR!"

"YOU LOVE MY RANK!?"

"YES SIR!"

"DO YOU FUCKING LOVE MY RANK!?"

"YES SIR!"

"YOU'LL DO AS I SAY!?"

"YES SIR!"

"SIT YOUR ASS THERE FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES IN PRESENT ARMS!"

"YES SIR!"

"DON'T YOU FUCKING MOVE!"

"YES SIR!"

"WHEN YOU FINISH, YOU WILL TELL ME YOU LOVE EVERY FUCKING SECOND OF IT!"

"YES SIR!"

After releasing a lot of pent-up energy and anger at the massive shouting session, as well as enduring a bit of damage to my voice, I turned to the others with a significantly raspier voice. "Now you four were in the position of attention, right?"

"Yes sir!" The four guards called out.

I took a moment to cough out a frog or two before continuing. "Good. Fall out."

I stared at the name on my phone's screen, trying to gain some confidence and enthusiasm over calling the number under Flash's name. I waited for a moment before I made the decision, to make sure that I had my speech together on how I was going to ask him this question. Besides me was a trash bin filled with crumpled up notes, all of which covered in ink scribbles from where my frustration had urged me to toss it away. Each of those notes had different variations of how I was going to converse with him. And of course, with each approach, I found some flaw in my logic that made me either come off as weird or needy. And with each disposal came a criticism, too formal, too flirty, too many innuendos, too many words, too many syllables in some of the words, too simple, too desperate, too romantic, too much of anything.

The only thing I could do was sit at my desk and groan over how I took an entire day to not even come up with a reasonable approach. If it wasn't for the fact that I had something to do today, I wouldn't have even assigned this a deadline. Then it would've never gotten done cause I'm too busy thinking in circles. So I sat at this table in the middle of the throne room and concluded with something that I'd never thought I'd do.

I, Twilight Sparkle, am going to wing it.

No books, no obsessive note taking, no compulsive throwaways, no more excuses. I set a deadline and it had to be met. And if I had to go with the most uncomfortable approach that I have at my disposal, then I was going to have to just make do with whatever I say. I had five minutes, forty-eight seconds, and my conversation would have to be less than that for me to stay on schedule.

So I closed my eyes, swiped the number on the screen, and started the call.

While the dial tone rang out in dissonant sequences, I was already feeling a tremendous amount of guilt over what I was doing and how I was doing it. Somewhere in my mind was screaming at me to hang up the phone and try again when I had my mind right. I mean, why not? He was taking forever to pick up the phone, might as well just leave him be and try this again sometime later.

"Hello?"

My eyes jumped open, my magic sparked as I nearly knocked over every chair around the table. I took a few breaths before I answered nervously. "Heh heh, hey Flash?"

"Who is this?" He asked, probably confused as to who was talking to him so weirdly and casual.

"Well... It's... I..." I couldn't even say my name. I was already screwing up. I decided to hang up the phone. "Sorry, wrong number!"

"Wait, Twilight!?" Before I could even send a feather to the call end icon, the human on the other end correctly guessed at who I was. "Twilight, is this you?"

I was mortified, already knowing that I made a huge mistake, I couldn't afford to keep the call going for long. "Flash... how do you know who this is?"

"You have a distinctively dynamic voice that ranges from monotone, to sarcastic, to dorky."

Great... now he thinks I a dork. "Well, I guess that's me then. Heh heh heh. Yeah..." I'm so terrible at this. "So...."

"So how's it been ruling the world over there?"

"Ruling the world?" I asked. "Oh no, I could never rule a country on my own. It's hard enough being responsible for a town. And I even have the mayor working with me on that."

"Well it's nice to have a support network."

"Yeah... You know it's funny, I mean we're talking, you're doing human things like playing guitar, doings shows, enjoying the life of a bridge student."

"Yup, and you're out there fighting mystical beasts, magic creatures, and saving the world. You're doing all of that and I'm so ordinary."

"No, I mean you're special too."

"You mean short yellow bus special? I mean I still run into walls when I see you. Guess that makes me a little bit of the dork here."

I shook my head, as if he was actually able to see all of what I was doing. "Not at all." I answered as I summoned my calendar. "Soooooo..."

"Soooo, what's up?" He asked.

"I'm taking a gander at my calendar, seeing a few free blocks for two weeks from now. I know it's crazy, but at least there's something to do together, right?"

"I, uh... I guess..."

Something about his answer felt like he was unsure. "Something wrong? I mean I could set a better day. How about next month on the fourteenth? I'm pretty wide open that day, the whole day even."

From the other side, I could hear a dispirited sigh. And it already foretold of bad news. "...Twilight... can we, like, reason for a bit?"

I started to slump in my chair, bracing for the bad news. "Sure."

"Aren't you kinda already in something serious?" He asked.

"I mean, not anymore. I've been kinda roaming around, being my own being for a month or two."

"Really? Both Rarity and Sunset told me that you were in a really deep relationship with this guy, almost like the two of you were gonna get locked up."

"Locked up?" I inquired.

"I mean the two of you possibly getting married."

"Oh yeah, that... ended a month ago." I answered quietly, not really trying to admit that it ended for me just a few days ago. "I've been pretty much on my own."

"Well, I guess that's... something."

"Yeah." I was already regretting the fact that this call was still going. "So, any plans for the fourteenth of next month then?"

"...I can't."

"Then some other day, maybe?"

I can tell that he was sitting himself down somewhere. "Twilight... It's hard to keep something that's distant. You know?"

"Yeah... It's really hard to try and change someone's mind when you're not even there to talk with them in person."

"It's not just that." He continued. "...Did you know that there's another you running around?"

"Oh yeah, the other Twilight Sparkle in your world. We've met once, kinda on accident and I was terrified that the world was gonna start crashing all around us. But yeah, she's... she's there." While the situation was more than familiar, I couldn't bring myself to say anything to him as I felt a cold piercing sensation in my chest.

"Yeah... It's not like I haven't thought about it. I've even stayed up at night thinking about what would've happened if I had followed you through that portal the day you left us again. We almost kissed each other... I really did want to spend time with you, but... it's just the distance and... a little bit of something else."

"...Is it my being different from you?" I asked.

"Kinda... sorta... a lot of it."

"I see..." I should've hung up the moment he called my name.

"It's not exactly because of what you are, I mean that contributes. But who am I to you? I'm just a strange creature that walks on two legs and don't have magic. I'm not special. I'm just a human... who also happened to have dated a horse girl at one point, but the thing about then is that I didn't know and I wasn't thinking about it then. But after some recent stuff that happened, it made me realized that I wasn't ready for any of that, no matter how often it happens in school. For you, I'm just too different."

"Do you wanna know the truth about me?" My mind was screaming at me to hang up the phone, and yet I was still going. "Flash, I've been dating a human boy the entire time. We got into something a little serious, some things were said and done between us two, and I had to break it off a month ago. As of now, he's still here doing his thing. But we're not together."

"A human guy?"

"Yeah, he was a human."

"That's crazy. I thought humans didn't exist where you lived."

"But he lives in a world similar to yours, no magic, uses phones and internet, his world is why I'm talking to you on a phone to begin with. His best friend gave it to me as a gift on my birthday. I could send you a picture of him if you're curious." Twilight, shut up.

"Sorry. Not interested."

See, he's angry now. Just hang up and pretend this call never happened. "Yeah... so it's not like I'm not willing to accept you for what you are. I at least know what to look out for─"

"Twilight..." He was livid, his voice didn't show it, but I could tell from the awkward pause in his response. He was already trying to find the words to say, the ones that would put me away for good. "You were close to marrying the guy, and he was a human too. That meant that he had to be something insanely special to even get that chance. I probably don't even compare to him."

"I mean he has his faults." Shut. Up. Twilight.

"But you know what he also had that I didn't? He had time, all the time in the world. And you chose to spend that time with him. You could've had time to reach out to me somehow, the portal to my world is in your place. And you only came through when there was some weird magic emergency. That's not really enough to close the distance. It can't work with you showing up every blue moon."

"But it can now!" Just hang up the phone and stop this before you make it worse. Flash, please hang up on me, or something.

"It won't." He somberly replied. "I'm not sitting by some portal to an alternate dimension when I can start fresh with the you that's here. I mean, you've already made that decision with me."

And there it is, the reason why Twily should've hung up before it had even got to this point. "Flash... I'm sorry."

"Life happens, Twilight. But I'm not waiting mine out for you to show up so little, and especially while you had someone to talk sweet to, another human no less."

"Flash, I was drunk." SHUT UP!

"Twilight... I'm sorry. But we're not doing this. It's nice to know you called me. I've got your number. Maybe I'll hit you up some other time, as friends."

Twilight Sparkle, thy name is IDIOT. "...I... sure."

"Well I gotta go. Boys are trying to have a quick rehearsal before tonight's show. Sure wish you could've come."

"Good luck tonight."

"Bye."

I couldn't even say goodbye before hearing the three tones that notified me of the call ending. Good going, doofus. You talked too much and now you get nothing.

I stayed in the throne room, looking at the time that was spent on the call. Twenty minutes.

I quickly went through my contacts and immediately jumped to the one that I wanted to see, the name of the man I really wanted to see right now. As soon as the ringer came in, I was already trying to formulate some apology for something that he wouldn't even know about. The only disadvantage was that he answered me even quicker than Flash did. "Yo."

I need to put this damn thing down. "Nondis, what are you doing right now?"

I could hear him pressing his phone closely against himself, whispering into the receiver. "I'm sneaking away from my shift to answer my phone because you called. Why?"

Again, I couldn't work up enough discipline to dismiss the call. "...I need to talk to you. Where are you right now?"

"I'm on shift, so just tell me what it is real quick and I'll call you back later."

"Can you just come see me later? I really want to talk." I don't know how to shut up sometimes.

"...Twi, I might have an idea on what you're trying to do. It's not gonna happen."

"Nondis, please talk to me. I need you right now"

"Twilight, I gotta go. Just call me later, don't try to pop in unannounced."

And still, I insisted on speaking. "I wanna talk to you, I've made a terrible mistake."

Thankfully before I could get any worse, he ended the call. "Superior's coming. I've gotta go. Bye."

The same three tones sounded on my phone, his name grayed out as the time showed on the call, less than a minute. It took him less than that long to call me out on what I wanted to do with him. It somewhat made me angry that he could see through me like that, but I understood why he had to turn me down. I was the one who didn't want to accept it. I laid my head on the table, closing my eyes and mourning over my inability to stop when needed to.

"...Me and my dumb mouth."

A knock sounded in the distance, very much from my front door. Realizing I had little to no time to pity myself, I stood from the table and made my way to the castle foyer. The knock sounded yet again, I slightly increased my pace, opening the door to reveal Zecora standing at my front porch.

"Twilight Sparkle, it has been long since we talked. Would you care to join me for a brisk walk?"

At least the open air would distract me for a while longer. I called up to the other floors above. "Spike! I'm going for a walk, keep an eye on Starlight for me!"

"No magic experiments, got it!" My number one assistant replied.

"It's not magic, it's magic science!" Starlight rebutted as I walked out the castle, closing the door behind me.

The zebra smiled gently. "I trust that your new mentorship has gone well. But you seemed disturbed emotionally, that I can tell."

We started to stroll along slowly. "It's nothing to worry about, just me and my big dumb mouth sometimes."

"Is there ever a moment where we don't think that for ourselves? Instances where our minds plan a certain thing, but our mouth rebels. It is only natural to have that be, it's part of the growing process, you see."

I shuffled my wings, thinking about the awkwardness I've inflicted myself. "Sometimes I just don't wanna look back at my own mistakes. I just want to keep moving forward."

"But those same truths is from were we often learn. How will we gain the wisdom we all seek to earn? You are still young, Twilight Sparkle, there is no running from that. A brief derail is the best way to find ourselves back on track."

"So you're saying that I should be more open to messing up?" I asked the zebra shaman.

"It is fine to step back and see the flaws of your own approach. That way when there are others, you know in what ways to coach. I've had many mistakes in my youth, that I can admit. So trust me when I say in seeking a partner, for now, you should quit."

"WHAT!?" I shouted at Zecora.

"By diving back in, you learn very little. From there every future relationship grows the more brittle."

"How is that fair!?" I asked, thinking about how Nondis managed to jump from me and right into a relationship with Celestia. "So I have to step back and look at myself, while he gets to do whatever to whomever!?"

"Twilight Sparkle, I've thought it would be clear, what do you think he did when he first got here? Months away from his home in a unknown world, it offered the time for his mind to become unfurled. The decisions he made, he's learning from too. So it's only natural that the same should happen to you."

"Don't know if you remember, Zecora, but there's a certain law that essentially bans ponies from even getting interested in me. So remind me how that's fair to me." I argued back to her.

"No matter the status we hold in life, we are all prone to some manner of strife. But I assure you that these moments will also pass. For there is nothing in this world that forever lasts."

I squinted upwards to the sky. "Celestia's sun."

She then countered my argument. "Will become someone else's burden. Even after a thousand years, her fate is also certain. There comes a time where one's power will wane, and the future will be decided by those who will remain. So in the event that the balance becomes unsteady, it will be you and your friends who will stand at the ready. But I digress, where were we? I believe we were talking about why you were so unhappy."

While we were walking, I couldn't help but notice that Zecora had already gathered a small bag of herbs and flowers. Sometimes when we talk like this, I don't even notice that she goes shopping for her supplies. She just makes it all seem so natural. Still, I couldn't shake the fact that she was telling me to put my pursuit of a personal relationship to the side. "So what do I do then? Where do I start?"

"You begin from what's already in your heart." She answered, rhyming off of my question. "You already have an outlet, she's in your castle now. But when she makes the jump to advance, there is where you'll decide what and how."

I looked at the clock tower overlooking some of the town, as I looked forward, I noticed that we were getting closer to Fluttershy's cottage. Her house was down the path, taking the fork to the right. But taking the left lead us straight into the Everfree Forest. While the shade started to overcome the sun's light, I continued to walk with the zebra along her journey, instinctively looking out for her safety. "Thanks for the advice. I hope you don't mind the company for a short while. I kinda need it."

"Twilight Sparkle, it is always a pleasure. To walk home with you is always a treasure."

I took another look at the contents of her bag, seeing a few unusual ingredients for her potions. "I see you're also brewing up a little something different."

"Actually, I am doing an ancient brew, it is a remedy from home, so nothing too new."

As we approached the outside of her treehouse, I looked around the place and saw no immediate threats. "Well, I guess you're safe and sound for now."

The zebra reached a hoof around my shoulder and spoke quietly. "Actually, I may have another concern. You see, my situation this morning had took quite the turn."

I grew to be more cautious after she made her statement. "Any danger to you?"

"I do not think so, but it is most unusual. When I first saw it, I felt like I was quite delusional."

"Perhaps a run in with some poison joke?" I asked.

"Oh no, I have that remedy set aside. But it is an issue from you I cannot hide."

"A grievance?" I inquired. "Did I do something wrong.

"Come inside and see." She answered while opening the door slowly. "And you will soon know what I mean."

I did as she instructed, entering the hut.

When I walked in, I saw another zebra laying on her bed. She seemed to be resting peacefully, not paying any mind to who just walked in or anything going around her. Zecora walked beside her and gently rubbed her head. "This poor thing came to me earlier today. As soon as she laid down, she started slumbering away. She's quite a beautiful one, but deeply scarred. Something tells me her life had been exceptionally hard." She wasn't lying, as she moved, I started to see a myriad of scars and bruises all over her body. Zecora took the sheets from her and quietly urged her to move. "Amka, kijana. Tunayo mgeni. (Wake up, young one. We have a guest.)"

The mare rose from the bed, with her head bowed to the wall. As she got up slowly, I started to see many lashes and scars all over her back. Bruises dressed her sides and some parts of her chin. Her body was so slender that I started to see the ribs under her skin, though not by much. But what surprised me more was what she revealed to me as soon as she turned around. On the center of her forehead was a horn adorned by a single gold ring. As she yawned and stretched, it was made apparent that her coat was a different shade of gray. It was a strange periwinkle color, her stripes a lighter shade of gray than that of Zecora's. Her eyes fluttered open, revealing the shades of crimson red.

Her eyes locked on to me, breaking wide open as she started to stumble back in disbelief. As I reached out to her, I watched her retract herself even more towards the wall. "Come now, there is nothing to fear. We are the only three that are here."

"She's a... unicorn?" I pointed out, questioning her unusual blend of features.

"That is not all." Zecora warned, walking up to the mare, pointing out her flank.

"No cutie mark either? How old is she?" I questioned. Apparently my inquiry had upset the mare as she retracted herself even more.

The mare looked away from the both of us and hid her face, using her tail to hide the side that exposed her flank. "I should have never come here. Everywhere I go, I am always de queer." Her accent was a lot heavier than Zecora's, her voice even deeper.

I backed away, offering her the space to grow some comfort. I then asked nervously. "So, what brings you over to this neck of the woods? Heh heh heh." She looked at me, not even so much cracking a smile. "Okay, that was a pretty bad joke. I'm sorry."

"De alleys of Corrotto, from where I was sent. On behalf of my owner, whom I represent. He seeks to free me, but keep me trained, he said to call on him, from dere he would explain."

Zecora frowned at the idea of her representing herself as property. "Who is it that claims ownership of you. Such disrespect, I'd run him through."

It didn't take me any time to connect the dots. I pulled out my phone and quickly called up the man responsible. After a few rings, he picked up the phone in a whisper. "Okay, what's wrong now?"

I placed him on speaker so that Zecora could also hear what he had to say. "There is a zebra here that says you own her."

"Oh, right. That... I'll pay you guys a visit after my shift."

I started to chide back at him. "Your shift doesn't even last this long, you should be off by now!"

"I've got an overtime today. I'll ride by there tonight and I'll explain everything about it. For now, just take good care of her until I get there. Warm bath, good meal, soft bed, that kind of stuff."

Zecora also joined in, with some very apparent anger in her voice. "Nondis, I hope you you have a good reason for this. As you can tell from my tone, I am quite pissed."

"You sound like it. I'll come by with a more in-depth explanation. Anything else, Kalimba can tell you more." He said before turning his attention to the unusual zebra. "Kalimba, you there?"

"I am." She replied.

"These two will take care of you and get you started on what you need to know. I'll slide by there tonight and all of us will hash it out from there. I'll even bring Cliff on by so he can whoop my ass for everyone else there. Deal?"

"Even if what you say is true, I am going to have some strong words for you." Zecora added vehemently.

"Yeah I know. Save 'em for when I get there. Nondis out."

Canterlot Castle,
Later That Night...
***Point of Perspective: NONDIS***

After asserting myself a little more than I wanted to, dealing with a raspy voice for a few hours, one ten-hour shift and a couple cups of tea later, I finally managed to get my free time back, albeit much later than what I would've liked it to be. Instead of getting off at my usual 4 p.m. slot, I had finally gotten free for dinner at 9... long after the mess hall closed shop.

The royal dining hall wasn't any different, when I walked it, there was no one there. Servants, cooks, maids, they were all around the other parts of the castle. I peeked into the kitchen and saw no one inside, not a soul to man the stoves. I contemplated a quick sandwich, but found that the fridge in the kitchen was under lock and key. But then I shortly discovered that everything in the kitchen was under lock and key, I guess it was to ensure that there wasn't any assassin to try and taint the food with poison. It's a fair trade to say the least, but I was still without a meal for the evening.

I walked out of the kitchen and started to make my way back out of the dining hall, but an awfully-frowned princess barreled into the room. Before I could exit, she was already dragging me by my shirt back into the kitchen. I wasn't any more fortunate in an escape as she shut the doors to the kitchen behind us, locking them shut. As soon as she turned around, she continued to frown at me. "You know, this wouldn't be happening if you had showed tot he meeting on time."

I folded my arms as I looked around the kitchen. "Yeah, kinda weird with it being this quiet around the halls. It's like 9 at night is a call for lights out around here."

The princess walked towards me slowly. "It's to give my guards the best rest that they could possibly have for an early shift. Those on dawn detail awake at 4 and be ready for their shifts at 5."

"Well thank goodness I'm not much of an early-morning person. My 5 a.m. is not the prettiest presentation." I joked.

"You wake up at six anyhow. I'd think you'd have no problems waking a few hours earlier." She added, using her magic to drag me down to her eye level. "You will get the pleasure of seeing me rise my sun, especially if I assign you to my morning wake-up detail."

"Is that what you're gonna have me do tomorrow?" I asked.

"The day after."

"Yikes, that's a way to celebrate my birthday."

She kissed me on the cheek, still wearing that frown on her face. "I want you to wake up on time. Can you do that?"

I sighed as I pulled out my phone. "I can try. Just let me set my alarm for that and I'll be good to go."

"4 a.m.. Not a minute later. I want you by my room at 4:55, you'll start your shift at 5 with me. You'll do your twelve-hour, be finished at 5 p.m., and we'll have a small get together for you at dinner. From there, the night is all yours to do what you will."

I found it pretty interesting that she had planned out my entire birthday schedule. "Gotta admit, you plan my day better than I do."

"You're talking to the one who taught Twilight how to manage her schedule. You better believe I'm good at what I do." She replied, cracking a smile.

As she made her way to the fridge, she summoned a master key to unlock everything in the kitchen. And just like it would on some other day, the kitchen was open for business. I leaned against the counter, awaiting my next set of instructions. "So, what's on the menu?"

"I'm thinking of something light. Your birthday is coming up and I don't want you to have to put too much on your body before then. I'm thinking of a veggie cacciatore, onions, peppers, herbs, olives, mushrooms, topped with a pinch of Parmesan cheese, cooked in olive oil and red wine... for a bit of a twist."

"In my world, they usually have chicken as the main ingredient." I stated.

"And they also use white wine for something like this. But as you can tell, I'm not like other ponies." She said proudly, reaching in the cabinet for the seasonings she was going to use. She levitated a few vegetables to me. "Cut these for me so that I can get your stuff ready."

I did as she instructed, but not before heading over to the sink to rinse down the vegetables. "Don't mind me asking, but what had you frowned up when you came in?"

"I had a complaint about you, something about earlier today."

"Oh that." I said with a groan. "I had to break down a first lieutenant today because she thought she could insult me in front of the regulars."

"Your voice does sound a bit worn." She pointed out. "Solemn Oath's voice was just as scratchy as well. She was quite angry with you."

"I don't think she likes me very much." I replied. "Especially now."

"She's a hardcore loyalist, what else is there to say?" The princess stated. "Most loyalists are the ones that try too hard to put me on a pedestal. And they try to overachieve in what they do to gain favor with me, it's almost an obsession."

"At least you know they're on your side." I said with a shrug.

"But when one gains too much favor with me, the others are far too willing to break them down for the sake of taking their place. When one goes down, another tries to fit the bill. And don't even get me started for when there's an outsider like you being so close to me. They start to feign their superiority by flaunting their years of service and seniority. Never fails."

"Yeah, that's kinda what happened earlier today." I admitted.

"It's good that you did what you did. But I do want you to dial it back, just a smidget next time. But if she ever steps out again, you let me know."

"Sure thing." I said as I placed the vegetables on the counter. I walked over to the knife rack to grab me one to cut the ingredients, but Celestia stopped me before I'd get started.

"I want you to use your magic for this one. Let me see how well you control your cuts without your hands."

"Didn't think this would turn into a magic lesson." I mumbled playfully, obeying her suggestion. While I started to prep the ingredients with my magic, I mimicked the motion of my holding the knife and cutting the food. Celestia giggled at my approach. "What's wrong now?"

She walked behind me, holding my wrist still in her magic as she instructed me. "Less motion, more finesse. Use more of your fingers instead of your wrists."

Immediately, I noticed that the knife was much harder to control without the aid of my trying to imitate the motions alongside the action I was trying to achieve. "You know, this was much easier when I had control of my wrist."

"And just like every young student at my school, I have to tell them that it's all in the mental more than the physical. If you have to strain yourself physically, then the task is either very demanding or you're using your body's movement as a crutch. I can go on and on with how many fillies and colts I had to instruct to stop rolling their necks, arching their backs, planting their hooves in wide stance to be able to lift something like a flower pot."

"But this is how you taught me, remember?" I pointed out to the princess. "The paintbrush?"

"That was to get you started." She replied, still holding my wrist still. "You're past that stage now, especially if you can transform yourself into a pony and back. Now try to limit your movements, focus your flow and achieve the task that's been given to you."

"Okay." I answered, slowly trying to grasp the lesson she was giving to me.

"The reason why I'm having you do this is to make your intention appear a little more vague. You're easily countered when they know what you're trying to do. Telegraphing your moves can be as detrimental in a magic duel as it would be in a close-quarter combat situation."

"Is that how you managed to beat me at every turn?" I asked.

"I do give you some obvious openings, but only to see if you would take it at every chance. You often do." She said with a light nudge against my back. "Now cut those quickly, I don't want my pan to heat up too much waiting on you."

While she walked away, I noticed that the magic she used to hold my wrist still was still locked on me. She continued to levitate a number of spices from the cabinet, grabbing a number of items as she effortlessly glided around the kitchen. Meanwhile I had to learn how to control my cuts quickly using only my fingers.

After I finished with the prep work, Celestia took what I gave her and started to work her culinary magic on the unassuming items. But it wouldn't take long for what she threw in the pan to become something that piqued my stomach's interest. While we waited for the food to get done, she sat herself down.

I then asked the princess a simple, curious question. "You'd think that a pony who has to lord over an entire country have so little time for themselves. But I gotta know, how did you start getting into cooking?"

"Well, I did hang around the kitchen a lot when I was younger. It was quite often that I'd got a taste of the chefs' cooking before my family did. If anything, I was almost an advanced taste tester. And when I expressed a desire to learn, I just stood by and watched closely. Really, it was something I learned to do before I was thrust into power. And the chefs were very accommodating with their knowledge. Every now and then, I would be given an opportunity to stand by a chef or two, pick up a few tips, and apply them for later."

"A jack of all trades is what you are." I said with a chuckle.

"I'd rather be that than the Plain Jane my sister is." She joked. "I was never into just simply barking out orders, fighting, and moving the sun twice a day."

"If only you knew the irony of that last third of your statement."

The princess grinned as she got up, leaped on my back and hugged me from behind. The sudden weight shift made me lose balance a bit, but I stabilized as she spoke. "I'm also good at taking down creatures larger than me too. But..."

"Can't play Superwoman forever." I concluded, earning some confusion from the princess. I explained to her the reference. "A superwoman is basically a woman capable of extraordinary feats like flying faster than a speeding bullet, being more powerful than a train, leaping tall skyscrapers in a single hop. You just want to feel like you have something close to normal in your life."

The mare shifted her weight, draping off of my chest and shoulders like she were my cape. "Well I know this one Average Joe looking to make a Superman of himself. Perhaps I should teach him how to fly sometime."

"I don't have wings, as you can tell. So that's not gonna happen."

She clenched her hind legs around my sides as best as she could, climbing over my back as if she were climbing the mountain, finally getting her head to level with mine. She used her magic to turn my head to hers. "You know, my wings have felt amazing these past two days. If I would've tried to do that with you a week ago, then I would've not been too certain."

"I'm just glad you can trust me enough to preen you." I replied.

She blushed lightly as she looked off to the side, a thought came across her mind. Possibly our bout of extracurricular activity. Her ears soon turned red to match the color of the sauce in her dish. She didn't let that get out from between her lips as she used my cheek as a plug. The princess then nuzzled me. "Can you get me to the stove?"

I smirked as I obeyed her request. "Eeeehhh, this is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard the Nondis Express, we ask that you please keep all hands, legs, hooves, wings, as well as personal belongings on the ride at all times. We will be making a descent to the stove very shortly. As we come in for landing, we want to ask that you please keep your tray table up and place you seat in the upright position to better assure your safety. If you have any questions or concerns, a flight attendant will be there to assist you. We want to also emphasize that this is a non-smoking flight, so please do not smoke in the cabin. Thank you for flying with us, we hope to you see you again on Nondis Express."

The princess barked out a laugh as I walked over to the stove, carrying her on my back as smoothly as I could. She glanced over at the stove and turned the fire off under the pan. She called out to me. "It appears that we have a light fog issue ahead on the landing strip. Please sit tight while we try to get a hold of control to better navigate you to the ground safely."

"You catch on quick." Seeing that she wanted another pass or two, around the spacious I obliged. She giggled as I carried her around for a pass, meanwhile grabbing a plate and some silverware for my food. As soon as we came up to the stove again, she started to dress the plate almost as if a five-star chef would present their dish.

She picked up a fork and levitated the food to my mouth. I blew on the food for a moment to not burn my mouth. As soon as most of the steam subsided, I took a bite of her tangy, savory dish. The princess leaned forward to see my face a little better. While I chewed, I expressed my pleasure over her food. "So what do you think? That'll do it for you?" She asked.

"It's wonderful." I answered, not really paying attention to the fact that I leaned in for a kiss. The princess didn't move, but appeared surprised that I had actually moved in on her. She remained motionless while I pecked her on the lips to praise her for the meal.

She whispered in my ear. "Did you just move the goal post?"

I smirked as I looked off. "Kinda, sorta."

She used her wings to turn my cheek, leaning my head into hers. Her lips parted against mine, her tongue lightly dancing against mine while she pressed more of her weight against me. For a brief moment, I could feel her retract her weight, only to press it against me. That was the moment she quickly broke off, licking her lips and biting them. "I'm getting off this ride before it gets exciting."

"You're welcome to stay." I added.

"Don't tempt me, boy. I still owe you for what you did. And it's three months on back-order."

"Can't wait." I said, giving the princess another peck on the lips.

The princess climbed off of my back, but using her magic to pull me away from the food and towards her face, kissing me as we separated. "Now eat up. You can at least get some rest tomorrow to get ready for your big day."

"The way we're acting, my birthday gift might come in early." I joked.

"Don't you play with me." She warned, moving herself away from me and walking towards the door. "Eat your food now."

I rolled my eyes playfully at her. "Yes, mom."

The Next Morning...

After spending some time in the kitchen and locking everything back up. I briefly took a trip to Celestia's doorstep and slid the key under the door. Finished with that little errand, I made a brief phone call to Twilight, asking if she still wanted me to come by to explain things. She merely noted that the Everfree Forest was far too dangerous at night for me to wander about looking for Zecora's hut. She also offered to explain my absence to the zebra shaman come morning, at least alleviating the amount of blow-back I'd be getting from her.

So I settled on just going to bed, at least to recover from the strenuous day.

When I woke up, I was more than thankful for the heat in my room. I looked at my phone, seeing the time, 7:35. I hopped up, jumped in the shower, ran straight to the dining hall, had me a good breakfast, headed back in the room to make a few phone calls. I checked in with Twilight to see how Zecora and Kalimba were doing. As soon as I verified their status, I asked for a quick meeting with the two of them in Ponyville.

After confirming that, I got on the phone with both Cliff and Rickey, seeing if they would come by to at least get some insight on what I was doing. It was better for me to let them know what was going on instead of finding out the hard way. Not only would it offer them some ability to question me about this whole situation, but also allow me to quietly explain to them what's going on with me and Celestia. They agreed, but under the condition that I'd find some time to cross back over tomorrow, possibly birthday related.

I crossed over and waited in my apartment so that I could get over to Ponyville. A few minutes later, both Cliff and Rickey showed up and we made our way to Twilight's Castle. As soon as we sat down in the throne room, the only thing we waited for at the moment was Zecora.

Twilight showed up with a small tray of cookies, which the guys were more than willing to partake in. "Here you go, boys. Straight from the oven just for you."

"Thank you much." Cliff said as he started chomping on a few cookies on his own. "They a bit crunchy but it's all good."

Rickey had no problems either way. "You just picky man. I bet your mama had to cut the crust off your sandwiches too."

"No, I'm just not a texture eater. People who like that shit eat a bunch of razor blades in their cereal bowl every morning."

I also took a bite, noticing that the cookies were incredibly sweet. "Hey Twilight, do you use white sugar or brown sugar for the cookies?"

"I just grabbed whatever sugar I found on the aisle. The recipe in the book didn't quite specify what kind of sugar I'd use." She replied, confirming that she drew her recipe from the book I tossed away.

For a quick moment, I had my baking experiences with Pinkie Pie and the Cakes come to the front of my mind. "If you use brown sugar, they'll come out a little softer. Something about the composition of the two sugars starts changing the texture, that's just some other stuff Pinkie told me when I was rooming at Sugarcube Corner."

Twilight rubbed her chin. "Hmm, maybe if I could look into the various chemical compositions that make up the sugar and research the differences in their effects, I may find a perfect mix of ingredients to make my cookies a little lest harder to chew."

As the two of us were having that conversation, I noticed that Rickey was paying close attention to our interactions. He took another cookie and commented on our friendliness towards one another. "You two seem pretty chill for a bunch of exes."

Right then I knew exactly what conversation he was queuing up. Twilight didn't see it that much. "Well, it's... It's fine, really. I mean I'm still hurt, but I know that I still have a lot to work on."

Rickey didn't mince any words, jumping right into it. "So... like the two of you broke up. And now he's talking to someone else, possibly someone he really shouldn't be talking to."

The princess shifted her eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about." She followed up her comment by laughing skittishly.

Rickey wasn't fooled. "I mean your ex here is chopping it up with your math teacher."

Twilight tried to hide her shock, but her jaw fell far enough to break her ruse. "What are you talking about?"

Cliff then joined in. "So we might've caught her getting REALLY acquainted with Nondis."

"I get the point already." Twilight finally stopped trying to hide her disappointment. She sat at the table, grabbing a cookie for herself to sweeten her now soured mood. "The only thing I can say is that it never leaves this room."

The two of them looked at one another before going back to the princess. "So you know about it?" Rickey questioned.

"How can I not? Nondis was the first to tell me." She stated with a grumble. "I don't really like talking about this, can we go on to something a little more important?"

Rickey continued. "I mean, I just wanted to know how you felt about it."

"Nondis is courting Celestia, conversation done." Twilight firmly stated.

"And you didn't get a chance to talk to her about it?" Rickey continued to grill the purple alicorn.

"Rickey, chill. All three of us already talked about it. No need for an interrogation today." I jumped in, trying to understand why Rickey was so aggressive.

"I mean I'm just asking for a friend." He explained. "She said she wasn't gonna talk about it anymore and she said she was done with you."

"You mean Mel?" I asked.

"Hey, she's just upset about the way she found out. Like you could've been a little more upfront with her."

Twilight then added. "Celestia doesn't want anypony talking about it. So can we please acknowledge her request and not talk about it?"

Rickey threw his hands in the air. "Hey, I'm just making sure you were aware, unlike the three of us who found out when the clock struck twelve on New Year's."

"Three!?" Twilight asked.

"Mel was there too." Cliff said to stop Rickey from escalating the conversation any further. "And she was a little upset when we saw it. I mean it is what it is, she wanna keep shit locked up so Nondis ain't gotta catch no heat."

"What I want to know is why the both of you would keep it from us though." Rickey interjected.

"It was to stop us from talking about it when we got here." I explained briefly. "Say if someone was overhearing this conversation from the outside, then what would happen? Not even to me, but to her? I'm sure it would be absolutely apocalyptic for her to deal with that."

Rickey stood up from his seat, raising his voice. "Then don't you think that's because of what you're doing here? You're the one fueling the problem in all of this. If you just took yourself out of the equation sooner, she wouldn't be in this mess."

"So you're speaking for Mel now?" I asked.

"Someone has to, you obviously don't give a damn that she gave up a year of her life trying to make sure you're still in the world of the living."

"Rickey, I know you have a soft spot for Mel."

"My guy, if I wasn't in love with her, I'd smack the shit out of you for the way you make her feel sometimes. All this extra shit, you ain't gotta do that. Imma say this, and we gonna squash it. If you would've came clean to us about it earlier that day, to hell with the princess and her theories, we'd be a lot better off. But she's hurting right now because you didn't trust us enough to come clean. You know we got your back, bro. We ain't out to hurt nobody. Just keep it real, say you two were talking, you need it to stay wrapped up, we won't say shit, we move on. But now you gotta have this same talk with your brothers because I'm sure Mel's gonna tell them too, as well as your folks."

Rickey took a moment to breathe as Cliff then added. "I mean we ain't tryin' to rain on nobody's parade. But you could've kept it a hundred with us. We're upset because you didn't. We're disappointed that you still flaked on us, but we understand. You ain't gotta do all that, I swear. Just come to us, we got you. Now... we still brothers in this, so let's grill it and eat."

I stood from my seat walking up to Rickey. "Rick, I'm sorry to put you and Mel through that. I just wanted to make sure Celestia was fine with it all before I told anyone else. I know that it was a bit slimy, but I gotta respect her boundaries too. Not trying to stir no shit, man. Just trying to keep people happy, still learning how to juggle that between two worlds. You have a right to be upset with me. Having that said, I hope we're good."

"I'm pissed, but it's all love bro." Rickey replied, giving me a handshake and a brotherly hug. "Just try not to do stupid shit anymore."

I laughed as I shook my head. "...Yeah, about that."

Without warning, there was a knock on the doors of the throne room. Twilight perked up and walked to answer, seeing Spike standing next to Zecora. Twilight praised her assistant. "Thank you for bringing her here on short notice, Spike."

"No problem." The dragon said as he eyed another figure standing off to the side somewhere.

Zecora turned to the side and commanded in her native tongue. "Ndani. Haraka. (Inside. Quick.)" The zebra shaman entered into the room, accompanied by a cloaked figure. As soon as the doors closed behind them, the cloak came off to reveal it was Kalimba standing as mysterious as she often would. The shaman turned her attention to me and growled. "Now that you are here today, I have more than a few questions directed your way."

Cliff and Rickey didn't seem as surprised as I would've took them to be, especially seeing a unicorn-zebra hybrid standing before them. The mare walked up to me, examining my height as she got closer. Realizing how short she was compared to me, she tilted her head. "Seeing you in pony form makes you seem so small, in comparison to what you really are, I see you are quite tall. Tis much different den seeing you in dose stories, to hear of such endeavors and tales of glory."

"Oh, so she's seen you in pony form." Cliff started, while Rickey snickered behind me. "Did you have any problems like the last time?"

Rickey started snickering a little louder, trying his best to suppress it. "It gets everywhere."

Cliff bent over trying to not to crack up, but failed after a short while. Kalimba, despite my wishing she didn't, fed their laughing fits with a jab at my expense. "Dere is no need for you to be hostile. Dey are merely pointing out dat you are quite fertile."

I swear Rickey just bent over and stopped breathing. Cliff simply fell to the ground and pounded his fist at the floor as he continued to laugh. He looked up and me and screamed into another fit of laughter. He crawled over to Rickey and lightly nudged him. The two looked at each other while Cliff whimpered breathlessly. "Milk."

The two shared a high five before Cliff rolled over and Rickey found himself caught between panting and cackling. While the two continued to go on and on, I finally told them the truth about the mysterious zebra standing in the room with us. "You know, she used to be a slave."

Cliff and Rickey soon found the ability to sober up as they heard what I said. Cliff especially did not find my commentary to be very funny. "Nondis, my guy, you did not just go there."

I just pursed my lips and stood there with a hapless shrug.

Cliff, who was laughing earlier, wasn't doing so much of it now. "Alright man, I know what you just said was a joke. But I─"

"That wasn't a joke." I clarified before Cliff could say anything else. "A guy who'd fuck headless corpses in broad daylight owned her, and he would abuse her every day. Cold water shower in the open air, a measly boiled carrot for breakfast and dinner, sell her off for prostitution at night, sleeping on a box, verbal abuse, just name something that could be done and I assure you that bastard did it."

Zecora, in hearing the home environment she came from, softened her tone but still showed resentment to me. "But she claims you to be her owner now. Why would you indulge in a thing so foul?

I then explained to the zebra shaman. "She's my partner in crime. She's also my guide to the alleyways of the Corrotto District. We struck a deal, she and I, on the grounds that she'd fulfill one of her aspirations. And on the side end of things, I'd make sure she'd get payment to help sustain her new living habits. She's homegrown in Canterlot, but we can't let her stay there in those conditions."

"That's so tragic." Twilight mumbled softly. "Kalimba, we'll do our best to make sure you get the attention and warmth you deserve. Do you need anything right now?"

The slender zebra rolled her eyes. "With all due respect to your highness so pretty, I am in no dire need for your pity. Mine is a common tale in de Rot, especially dose unfortunate to live in Canterlot."

Twilight argued in defense of her hometown. "Well I can assure you that most of Canterlot isn't as dismal and dreary as the blight that is the section known as Canterrot."

"Many cruel lies and prying eyes mocked my family, my parents of differing species being de reason especially."

"I'm not saying your life wasn't hard. I'm just saying that not everypony is as harsh and corrupt as you make it."

Kalimba looked away from the princess. "Do you know how many would come to dat place? The sight of dose crowds would put a shock on your face. All walks of life, they often dwell there, to unload deir worries and strife, to lay their sins bare. While you do not think dey do dose things, you merely believe a lie. For dere are many curious visitors who wandered in what ways a pony could die."

"But that is not the life you will live from this day on." Zecora chimed in. "Those days of living in fear and misery are long gone. Ponyville is where you will stay, and there won't be a single pony who would take that away." She turned her attention to me. "That would also mean that you would have to find some other way, to have another guide to help you through that dismay."

Kalimba quickly argued against Zecora's suggestion. "But fighting is all I know how to do. Forgive me for saying, but dat decision is not up to you."

Zecora didn't take too kindly to being overruled on that matter. "You are young and naïve, that most certainly is true. It does not matter what all you have been through. To live a life mired in hurt, shame, and defeat, that is not some desirable treat."

The other zebra quickly ran beside me. She grabbed at my arm and adamantly defied the zebra shaman. "I owe dis one my life and pride. If death awaits me, den it will be by his side."

Twilight didn't like that idea too much, teleporting between the two of us and spacing us apart. "I understand that you may want to follow him around, but trust me when I say that he's no good."

"My intentions are not for romance's sake. Tis merely a choice I have decided to make. He has helped me see my wishes through, so it is him whom I owe my life to."

While I had to admit that her way of displaying gratitude was pretty atypical, I was appreciative of her support. Meanwhile Cliff and Rickey were looking at each other as if to imply some criticism of the circumstance. I verified her position in my own defense. "Guys, it's what she said. She wanted to learn magic and whatnot as a nod to her departed mother, I offered the ideal situation. I merely suggested that she'd learn what she could from both Zecora and Twilight. Nothing else is going on."

And then Kalimba unwittingly added in an unfavorable detail. "I would learn to use magic not just for his sake, as dere are often times where my life would be at stake."

Everyone in the room practically stared holes into my chest. I offered to say something as an addendum, but Twilight zipped my lips shut with a spell and calmly walked beside the young zebra. "Oh don't mind him, he wasn't interrupting. Please continue."

"Tis merely a custom in that part of town, where one's own champion would hold de crown. Dose who fight and win for deir owner's accord, would receive a most exceptional reward. And as one continues to clear de hurdle, gains their owner a chance to join de Inner Circle."

I quickly unzipped my lips and jumped into the conversation. "Wait a minute, you're telling me that you know how to get into the Inner Circle outside of pulling favors and kissing ass?"

"I thought dat you already knew. I guess I assumed too much of you." The mare said, sharing her moderate disappointment. "But if you desire dat to be, den a way in is what you will see."

Twilight shouted her disapproval. "ABSOLUTELY NOT! You are not betting anyone's life on some underground fight club just so you can gain a leg-up on your investigation!"

Zecora was rightfully angry with the two of us, so much that she forgot to rhyme. "That is unacceptable! You cannot wager a life on some mere chance! And you two are not going to participate in that club any longer. Kalimba, we are leaving!"

Twilight displayed her frustration with me. "I told you once already not to get involved with this kind of stuff! Now here you are making it even worse! It's like I broke up with you to save your skin, only for you to find your way into a wood chipper! It was almost as if our magic lesson didn't show you enough of what you'd be going against! But here you are doing Nondis things, playing Nondis games, and winning Nondis prizes!"

Rickey shrugged. "I can't help but to think you're using Nondis' name as a substitution for the word 'stupid'."

"That's the whole point!" Twilight replied, groaning with disbelief. "What do I even do with you!? Does Celestia know what you're up to, or is she just as clueless as we all were about fifteen minutes ago?"

"I'll take 'clueless' for five hundred." Cliff sarcastically answered.

Zecora continued to pull against the young zebra. "Come! This is not your place any longer!"

Kalimba argued with the shaman. "It is my decision to serve him, you cannot make that for me!"

"It is my decision to teach you what you desire. It is your decision to decide whether you want that or not!" Zecora said, offering the ultimatum as a deterrent for her to make the choice that would allow her to learn what she sought after.

Twilight angrily shouted towards me. "And you want me to teach her magic, only for a chance to throw her life away? I have a student that I'm teaching now, and you want me to add someone that could die within the next month to the list? I know I can be a bit reckless at times, but you're just irresponsible! I'm not going to teach her anything if that's what you're trying to do! As much as you run in and get yourself hurt all the time, I think you'd be better off teaching her yourself!"

Zecora added. "If your life is your owner's to decide, perhaps there is a home that he would provide!"

"Den why do I even bother to come here, ah!? All of dis was a waste of my time!"

The shaman shook her head. "You are beyond lost, little one. I cannot teach those who cannot find the way for themselves. I wish you the best, good day."

And just like that, Zecora walked out of the room and disappeared into the town. Twilight wasn't any better, she just glared at me. "I know I'm terrible for some things, but I can't begin to understand why you do the things you do. I'm disappointed in the choices you've made, Nondis. Maybe one day I'll understand, but not now."

I looked at the fuming Kalimba and back to Twilight. "Twilight please─"

"That worked when you were kissing on me once upon a time, that chapter's closed now. You're on your own with this."

As Twilight stormed out of the room, Kalimba was left feeling disappointed with the results of our meeting. She appeared dispirited. "I suppose I should've known that not much would ever change. I should've stayed home."

"Back in that place, are you kidding me!?" Cliff questioned. "How the hell are you supposed to live in some place that ain't got no food, no beds, no hot water, nothing?"

"She could stay at your place, but she'd have to be a human." Rickey suggested.

"That's not what I'm trying to do here." I replied, sitting down while rubbing the bridge of my nose. "I promised her that I could get someone to teach her magic, both zebra and unicorn. I thought this was my best option, it was all lined up for me right here. Both Twilight and Zecora are close, this was our best shot."

"It seems to me that you thought you could've relied on the both of them just going along with it while keeping a few details under the table. I hate to say it, but that's kinda on you." Rickey stated. "It's just like I told you, you gotta learn to trust in people, even when you don't want to. You knew they would've said no, but you didn't discuss this with them sooner."

"Rickey, today's Sunday. We met Friday night. Yesterday morning I told her to leave, and I couldn't do or say much yesterday because I was running a double shift. When they called me about this, I said we'd have a meeting. Called Twilight last night as soon as I finished dinner saying that I was gonna try to have this meeting today. I couldn't have been any more upfront outside of getting my ass dug into a second time yesterday."

Rickey then changed his approach. "Oh, well that's pretty good of you to at least make it known this quick then, I should commend you for that. But you still held out on the whole fight club thing."

"Bruh, I'm just saying that you should put her in our world like you did with ol' dude." Cliff suggested.

"It's not that easy, guys." I stressed once more. "Single File was a special case because of how quick he adapted, plus the guy's life was in danger and he needed to be preserved for the investigation. I left him there because there's nothing that could happen outside of human error, the assassins can't reach him, and the bastard did his homework on what not to do and say."

"And you're saying she can't?" Rickey questioned.

"Not as quick as Single File. She doesn't have a bounty on her head, she can guide me through the roughest part of town easily, and she knows only two things from what she's told me: fighting and prostitution." I lowered my voice as I made another argument why she couldn't be left to our world. "I've seen what happens when you leave a princess in an apartment, I lost a whole box of popcorn because she did it by trial and error. I still need a new microwave that doesn't smell like burnt popcorn."

"Twilight did that?" Cliff asked.

"Luna." I corrected. "And she was stuck staring at a channel with a popcorn signal for four hours."

Both Cliff and Rickey took a quick glance at the zebra standing by the door and then huddled around me as we all whispered. "Okay, I get it. You don't want a noise complaint and I'm sure you don't want to have to replace the stove. Not only that, but I'm pretty certain she wouldn't get the whole clothes thing, so that's an indecent exposure charge waiting to happen." Rickey said.

Cliff then added. "And we kept Single File over at our place, he already don't like wearing anything outside of boxer briefs while walking around."

"And Celestia doesn't like wearing underwear worth a damn." I stated. "She didn't wear any on Thursday night." The two of them looked at me slowly, getting ideas in their mind. "Nothing happened anyways. Back to the topic, we can't leave her there."

"Then where are you going to leave her?" Cliff questioned. "You can't just take her back to Canterlot, she's gonna end right back up in the same shit you got her out of."

"She could stay here in the castle." Rickey suggested. "But... that would probably rely on you being able to coax Twilight into letting her stay here."

While I started to think of where to place her, I started to think about the places I stayed at throughout my tenure here in Equestria. Sugarcube Corner was already going to bring more attention to her than anywhere else. Rarity wouldn't mind it, but she's got a younger sister who is easily impressionable. But one place came to mind, my apartment, the one I stopped favoring since Counter Bell's death.... I wonder how his old lady's hanging in, I should check in with that. "I have an idea."

"You got a place?" Asked Cliff.

"You know that motel that's in the castle's shadow, the one I stayed at for a while until I got sent off to Arimaspi Mountain?"

"Yeah." Rickey answered

"Warm water, a bed, rent isn't too terrible."

Cliff then brought up a good question. "Yeah, but she's here. How you gonna get her from here to Canterlot when you need to?"

"Train station, just pop in with a cheap prepaid phone for her to use, lock my number in, and we good to go."

"Yeah but you promised her magic lessons." Rickey reminded me. "So you gonna try to pull in a favor with your new friend?"

I folded my arms, thinking to myself on Celestia's schedule. I instinctively shook my head as I started to stew the fact that we wouldn't be able to have another date for the next three months. And then it would be hard to get Alabaster to dedicate his time to two different students while running city council, it would be even harder to catch him while he's home because of that damn neighborhood watch cracking down on my visits. Blue's already pulling favors for me so that's out of my realm of negotiations.

That only left me with one desperate option.

I sent both Cliff and Rickey to grab me a cheap phone and a stylus from a nearby Family Dollar. Afterwards, they had to activate it and call me to give me the number. Once they finished with that, they dropped it off in the throne room and left me with an upset and considerably disappointed Kalimba, who was too upset to pay attention to what I was doing with a brown paper bag.

When I tried to get her to move, she would angrily express how it would've been better if she was left in Canterlot. I then used that disappointment and offered her a return by the next available train. However, I also stated that I needed to run a quick errand before we'd move along. So I played on that false expectation and proceeded to drag her along to the motel in the castle's shadow.

When we arrived, I saw a mature mare staring at a portrait of herself, smiling next to her son who was wearing a graduation gown. She sat at the front desk, sniffling as she went about her quiet job. As per usual, there were no additional customers so the lobby was empty. Just us walking was more than enough to startle her, but she seemed warm to our walking in. "Captain Nondis, it's been a good while."

"How ya hanging in, ma'am?"

The mare stepped from behind her desk, greeting me with a hug. "It's been quiet, lot of time to reflect on some things. It's just me hanging on to the idea that I should've got little ol' Counter more of a push to leave Ponyville."

"I told you it's not your fault." I replied, hugging the mare back. "It was a changeling that did that to him, he was a victim to a criminal who was punished for what they did."

"So I've heard." She said with a weak smile. "A headline from up north came around to say that you cleaned the dungeons a good amount. I can find some peace in knowing the ones who did those things were brought to justice. But it still doesn't bring me back my son."

"Yeah, life is pretty unfair sometimes." I whispered.

She peeled off of me, giving me a tap against my chest. "I told you that you'll have to be the closest thing to a son now, so I do have a question about what happened some time back with your folks."

"We've reconciled." I simply answered.

"That's good to hear. I would've surely hate to feel some sort of disdain for the one to give birth to you, especially for disowning you like that. I know I'm not familiar your family's dynamics, but as a mother who's lost her own I couldn't help but to be furious in hearing about that."

"It's all good. But there is some good news, I brought you a tenant."

She looked past me to see the hooded mare quietly standing behind me. The mare walked up to her and removed her hood. She observed the mare as Kalimba nervously turned her away from her. "Oh, such a beautifully unique thing you are. I can tell your parents must've loved each other so much to give birth to such a masterpiece." She also noticed some of the bruises and scars on her face and neck. "But you've been through a lot in your short life, so much. You're much too beautiful and young to have such a hard upbringing. You haven't been dealt a fair play, you poor thing."

"She's good people." I suggested to the young zebra mare. "I promise you're in good hooves while you're here."

The zebra quietly replied. "I thought I was going back home."

The older mare continued to compliment the younger. "Ah, a voice drenched in rich molasses. And such cold hooves. That tells me you have a warm heart, and a sweet loving embrace to whoever makes you smile. But very protective over what she loves and cares for. Oh, my son would've been so wonderful with you."

Kalimba backed away, quietly responding. "I am not worth your praise."

The older mare realized how sensitive the younger was to the idea of being adorned so much by a normal pony. She promptly withdrew and turned her attention to me. "No you'll have to be careful with this one. She's not foreign to love, but it has been some time."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean she's very receptive of kindness. And I can tell that she's been robbed of that at a young age. If you're not going to give her that kind of attention, I suggest limiting your distance."

"I'm just getting her out of a toxic environment. That's all." I replied, trying to put away any ideas of some development taking place.

The older mare sighed while directing her comment to Kalimba. "Oh you poor thing. But don't worry, this place can be a home unlike any other. I may not know you today, but I can take some time to learn. You can even consider me as a distant aunt, if you'd like."

"I'm gonna have her set up in my old room, is that alright with you?" I asked the manager.

"I'd prefer if I had both of my adoptive offspring under one roof, but a tenant for a tenant is fine. I'll keep the water nice and warm for you, if you ever find it upon yourself to return for a night or two."

I looked around the place, seeing a few moderate upgrades to the lighting. "I guess business is doing pretty well."

"Oh there's never a day where we're not in the red. But there's been a bittersweet occurrence with the passing of my son. The Equestrian Government offered me a consolatory stimulus with his being a victim to the recent changeling invasions. But it still hurts me to know he's not around to see it. He always wanted to make this place look a little livelier."

Kalimba quietly followed me as I walked down the hall, taking notice of the vastly improved lighting to make the place look a little more modernized. It appeared that there was some renovation taking place while I was away. It also appeared that the doors have been swapped out for some more sturdier designs. Even the locks were all different, many of them requiring one of those enchanted key cards to gain access. However, my door remained unchanged, the lock still requiring a simple metal key.

I unlocked the door and held it open to flick the lights on. "Here's your new place." I said pointing to the room I used to stay in. The mare walked in slowly, looking around at the mediocre decor. "The bed's okay, not anything special. Hot water still runs. You just have to keep up with your payments and that's it."

"What about food?" She asked.

"Carry out or delivery, I guess. I already paid you ten grand for Friday night. Rent's only eleven-hundred, food can be six hundred, at least for me because I'm a pretty big guy compared to you ponies. A hundred for a month in a train pass for unlimited travel to wherever in the country, leaves you with a good two hundred in whatever you want to add to the room. That's a budget of two thousand a month, should cover you for five starting now."

The mare glanced around a moment before coming to a quiet conclusion. "Five months is a lot of time to establish myself. Dat's only if I was a normal pony."

"I pay you the same for each time I call you up. Sounds like a fair deal?" I questioned, closing the door behind us.

"Unfair to you. Another two nights and I'd be established for a year." She stated.

"Good. At least you'd have a little something to fall back on." She walked up to the MOTIF I had sitting in the corner, she marveled at the strange instrument. I walked over to turn it on and started playing around with the keys. Upon realizing that it was some sort of piano, she backed away a little overwhelmed. "Oh yeah, I might wanna have this shipped up north, it'll be kinda fun to have this stashed in the room when I'm bored."

I started to unplug the instrument and the amp it was hooked into. As I did that, she placed her hoof on the bed, feeling how soft it was compared to what she was used to. A frown showed on her face. "...I cannot accept this."

I finished unplugging my setup and turned to her. "Why not?"

"It does not feel right to be used, even if de offer make me feel a bit enthused. You have done so much for me as is, I am not used to all of this."

I shrugged at her comment. "Well, you better get used to living like a normal pony because that's what you are. You're not beneath me or anyone else."

"I cannot accept this." She murmured, seemingly to convince herself that what she said was true.

I rolled my eyes and walked across the room, thinking of some way to improve her disposition. The only way I could think of was to make her feel excited about something, anything about the current situation taking place. I looked around the room, noticing that there wasn't much to draw from. That was until I had come up with a solution, I saw a ball-point pen resting on the night stand by the bed.

"Hey, toss me that pen over there by you." She looked over, grabbed the pen with her teeth, and started walking over as if to drop it in my hand. "I said toss, not give it." I repeated, hoping that she would oblige. Seemingly a bit miffed that I was so anal about the set of instructions I gave her, she flung the pin at me with the intent of throwing it at my face. But before it could reach it's mark, it stopped dead in mid-air, surrounded by a white aura. She looked down to see my hand glowing the same color. I glanced down to my glowing hand and muttered in a low voice to the zebracorn. "I think I'd have your word in saying that this never leaves the room."

The mare backed away in awe, but also perplexed over what I was showing her. "But... you are... how did you─"

"You didn't think I had someone else turn me into a pony, did you?" The pen I held in my grasp started to spin above my palm. I started to make some observations about her magic. "I may not know all of what you're seeking, but I do know that your flow is unfocused. You're using a lot of your mind but not much else when you try to levitate things. It took me the better part of a month to get a hang of this stuff, especially being a creature who originally didn't have magic."

The mare stared at the pen that swirled endlessly above my glowing hand. Her eyes widened as she saw my smirking at her. She started to turn away, not wanting to fully display how giddy she was in the moment. "Do not say it, please do not."

I sat on the bed next to her, and leaned back to rest as I held the pin physically this time, twirling it between my fingers. "It's just a suggestion. I can teach you what I know, and you can branch out from there. It's basic unicorn stuff, nothing that will completely turn a fight in your favor, but it's a good place to start. You up for it?"

"You set me free, pay me, give me a home, and offer to teach me magic on your own?" The mare questioned, still trying to hide her excitement. "Why do I feel like there is a marriage proposal to come next?"

"Now that I can tell was a joke." I said, glancing over to see the mare trying to hide her face. But I could tell from corner of her cheeks that she was more than happy with what I offered, even if she didn't want to show it. The mare caught me looking at her and slightly turned her head to the other direction where I couldn't see it. "And that I can tell was a smile." I pointed out.

"I do not smile." She replied sternly, still trying to hide her feelings.

"But you will be learning magic very soon. May not have been what I was looking to give you, but it's something."

After a moment of trying to suppress her emotions, she finally looked at me with her trademark stone expression. "What do I owe you in return?"

"I mean it is a job, you just come in when I call you." I said, leaning back up to pull out the brown paper bag from earlier. I pulled out the phone and stylus and placed them on the nightstand where she could see it. She stared at it for a moment, seeing a black reflective rectangle. I pulled out my phone and called the number. Without question, the phone began to vibrate and jingle. The mare gasped as the item before her glowed brightly, showing my name and number on the screen. "This is a device from my world, a cell phone. It ain't fancy, but you can use it to talk to me while we're miles apart. I can call you from Canterlot, have you come off the train, and drop by the usual place."

"The old shack?" She questioned while still uncertain of what to do with the human gift she was given.

"It's a place to meet, that's all I can say about it." I noted, confessing that I didn't know much of the area outside of getting into the arena and finding my way back to that shack.

The mare hummed quietly and looked at the vibrating phone that jingled away on the nightstand. She saw the prompts, the green and red circles to either take the call or reject it. She tried to press the green button with her hooves, but found it difficult to operate without the finer touch of a finger. I picked up the stylus and pressed it against the screen, showing her what to use when trying to use the phone. She grabbed it with her teeth and plucked at the green icon, accepting the call. She looked as the phone's screen changed. As the speaker phone option became available, I pressed it for her and spoke into my phone.

"So what's it gonna be?" Her new phone echoed my question back to her.

She didn't even try to hide her excitement over what was being shown to her. But she did take a moment to take a breath, clear her throat, and speak as if she had an appearance to keep up. "...We have a deal."

I hung up my phone and the call ended for her. I tapped her against the horn with a smirk on my face. "Great. So let's get you started with a few basics I can still digest."

The mare nodded. "Yes. Let's."

After another three hours of getting her used to controlling her magic a little better, she soon found that levitating items wasn't as hard as she made it out to be for herself. I explained to her that she was using too much of her mind instead of using the many other aspects of her circulation. And in due time, she started to gain more of a perspective of how to manipulate an item with not so much concentration being required. After our lengthy lesson on the basics, I assigned her a quick challenge of levitating four books in a stack and seeing how long she can go without dropping them to teach her sustained control. I followed that up with another lesson on how to use her phone to answer calls.

When we finished, I grabbed my music equipment and started setting off to the portal for a quick crossover back into Canterlot. While I had to make a few trips to and from the motel, it started to feel like a quick workout lugging that sixty-pound instrument up the hill to the castle lobby, coming back down, bringing a sixty-pound amplifier up the hill, run back down, and getting a twenty-pound keyboard stand up the hill. When I finished with that, I had to get that stuff up, a combined weight of 143 pounds up the stairs, down the hall, and into the portal room, to be dragged out of my apartment, through the other portal, and into my room.

Even for an in-shape guy, this was WORK.

After all of that lugging to the portal room, I looked at the items, pondering if I was wanting to continue doing this. But I came to the conclusion that I had to finish it since I already got this far. So I started to move my stuff from one side to the other, starting with the stand, then the speaker. When I finally got to the instrument, Twilight walked into the room. "You look busy." She said dryly.

"Just a little." I replied, wiping some sweat off my brow.

She stayed at the door, propping it open with her own body as she spoke. "You know, I really don't think this is a good investment you're making. There are other ways to do this."

"Let me guess, by doing everything by the book?" I questioned tiredly. "So we try to place nice and fair, I keep pretending I hate you guys, and we let the courts settle it. But what happens when the judge, jury, and executioner happens to be the very same one who writes the laws?"

"There are systems in place to prevent that, you know."

"And how has that helped Cadance and Shining recently?" I replied.

Twilight shook her head. "I get it, they're having a foal sooner than expected and you want to get it done before that comes to fruition. But isn't there a better way than trying to get into this so-called Inner Circle?"

"You mean the players that run the business of keeping you royals suppressed? So you have a better way of dealing with that?"

The purple pony groaned. "I don't want you getting hurt. And I certainly don't want you risking someone else's life for this."

"She's the one who advises me on how to stay alive myself. I drop her, I don't have a guide. Next thing that happens is that I'm on the chopping block. What else for me other than that?"

"You know that I'll do what I can to protect you, but I won't do it for someone who won't even protect themselves." She said firmly.

"And I haven't stopped learning combat magic yet, so that's a moot point."

"And what about her!? Kalimba shouldn't be there!"

"She's my guide for this. You can ask her yourself, she thinks the deal is unfair for me because I'm apparently doing too much for her."

"That's because she doesn't know any better! You're taking advantage of that!"

"So you're insulting her intelligence now?" I asked. Twilight backed away quietly as I continued. "As much as I don't want to have to walk this route, here we are. Am I sane, hell no, not anymore, not since they stuffed me on a train and told me to go fight arimaspi, just for the chance that they'd dissect my corpse when I die! I had to learn how to walk again. I had to keep fighting changelings. And now that I've made a promise to you and others, I have to get myself a little dirty to clean up some bullshit that should've been repealed some two-hundred years ago, at the very least, fifty! You know what you went through, what your brother went through, what Celestia went through, you know damn-well what your niece or nephew faces! Why are you fighting me, I'M ON YOUR SIDE!?"

Twilight stared at me, shocked that I snapped at her again. She shied away from me as I tried to call back to her, remorseful for my sudden jolt of anger.

"I'm not right anymore. A lot of things has happened, and I know that I shouldn't take it out on you. I'm sorry." I looked back to see the princess, staring at me worriedly, reaching a hoof out. "Don't worry about me. I've got a doctor's appointment on Wednesday for the next three months on the house. I'm talking things through. I'll be alright."

The mare questioned me. "Does Celestia know about what you're doing?"

"Know about it? She kept me employed because she knew how much it benefits our plans. Both she and Luna advised that I'd have a counselor throughout all of this. Safe to say she's aware, and that she want's me to stay as close to being rational as I can possibly be."

Twilight eased her hoof back down slowly, not wanting to address the issue any further. She walked out of the room, but not before popping her head through the door one last time. "I know you're trying your hardest. You're walking a road that I can't walk. I just have to learn that some things require a little more than magic and friendship. Some things require money, some things require hurting ponies, I'm just not capable of it."

"So you understand?" I asked.

"No. I don't. My role is different from yours. You work in the shadows, I work in light. I may dabble with a few things, but I have friends who are more capable than I am on certain topics. They are my strength, so I use them."

"Am I any different than you?"

Twilight looked away. "No. No you're not."

I walked back over to the keyboard and started carefully lugging it through the portal as I heard Twilight say one last thing.

"Please stay safe... for me."

The Next Day...

After transferring my items over to my room, I barely had the will to even leave for dinner. When I finished with that, I was given a quick reminder about my shift and instructed to a lights-out protocol for 9. I obeyed my assigned regiment, more or less by a good fifteen minutes. I placed a YouTube video on my phone, had it set for an eight hour track, plugged it into the charger, and let the music run uninterrupted. After that, it was time for some sleep.

The first hour or so took a while, all I could do was toss and turn, lay with my eyes open, thinking about what I was going tot do over the next month or so. It was a lot of things that ran through my mind, many of them had me up past 11 at night. It wasn't until well after midnight where my sleepiness finally took over.

It wasn't a very sound sleep.

My dream was chaotic. I felt like I was running down a hallway, and there was an axe murderer trying to stalk me down. And the more I ran, the closer he got to me. Each time I turned a corner, I started to break away from him. But when those hallways got long, it was only a matter of time before I could feel his breath on my shoulders. One time I had gotten tired of it and swiped back at him. Wrong thing to do.

He sliced off my arms and they just ran off without me. The murder then turned into a creepy smiling face with decaying skin. The halls turned red, with the buried faces of the dead all moaning and crying out. I turned around to run, only to find my leg had been taken from underneath me, cut clean off. The zombie-like murder pounced on me, twitching his head until it turned upside down, it's eyes disappeared, and he hollered at me with the voice of a thousand damned souls.

He then turned me over and started shoving himself over me, repeatedly. His body crouched over me, his broken neck turning his head right side up where it should've been upside down, he continued to laugh as his body humped against mine. I started to try and squirm myself away, but found that he had somehow attached my arms to his body. And in rapid succession, they summoned sharp axes and hacked away at my back while he went to town on me. I tried to scream for help, but one of the hands covered my mouth before I could even get a breath out. He laughed erratically, raping me until I heard a bell tingling.

The dream subsided, my eyes locked open, and yet... my body couldn't move. I felt like it was a dream, like whatever it was had gotten to me, this was the end result. But I knew I was awake, or at least I thought I was. That was definitely my cell phone alarm telling me to get up.

My limbs were frozen stiff, my eyes were locked forward, my arms non-complaint. A shadowy figure wandered right through my door, easing itself on in, faceless. It appeared to glide over to me, staring at me as it haunted my bedside. I swore it leaned over to whisper something, but I couldn't hear a thing other than the alarm ringing in my ears. My mind quickly filled with fear, and with every ounce of my being, I drew myself into my instincts to fight. And at long last, my arms moved, swiping at the shadow.

But nothing was there.

It was just the darkness in my room, slightly illuminated by the phone's screen brightly displaying my alarm. I glanced at the time, seeing it was three minutes after the assigned time for it's notification. I groaned as the fatigue from my lack of sleep drove me to put my head back into my pillow, pressing the snooze option.

Five minutes later, I had the same alarm ringing into my ear. I then ordered for it to be dismissed instead. I laid my head back down. Next, there was a knock on my door. "Who is it?" I tiredly called out. The knocking continued, even as I called out to them a second time. "What do you want!?" The knocking got even louder, growing ever more persistent. I couldn't help but to hop out of my bed with every ambition to stab whoever the fuck was bashing my damn door in this early in the morning. I yanked the door open, already in a mood to kill the maid at my door. "The fuck you want?" I hissed.

The mare calmly notified me of the time. "Good morning, sir. I was told that you would be on the wake-up detail and was hence instructed to wake you for your shift. It's currently 4:15, and I have been given orders to stand by until you leave the room."

"You guys are fucking Nazis." I whispered into a yawn. "I'll be with you in a bit." I said, closing the door.

The knocking started once again and I immediately swung the door open to the mare smiling back at me. "I was also given special instruction to be as persistent with you. So I am to knock until you open the door. Princess' orders."

"You wanna fucking die, lady?" I grumbled as I threatened to close the door on her again.

But instead of letting me go peacefully, she knocked on the door even as I didn't even close it. I abandoned the idea of even stopping her, just getting back to my bed to sit down. But without warning, my sheets were removed and my pillows were confiscated by the mare. She simply smiled at me while torturing me. "I am used to all manner of treatment. So it is fine to assume that I am being unfair to you. It is only to force your attention."

You know, it wasn't even the fact that she was knocking on my door, it wasn't even the idea that she was walking in my room, taking my pillows, yanking my sheets, but it was her doing it with the brightest fucking Hollywood smile on her face like the sun was shining outside. I genuinely wanted to commit cold-blooded murder and leave her body hanging outside my window as a warning with that damn smile she had on her fucking face. But instead, I opted for a shower.

She knocked on my door for that too.

There was no peace, I had to get drilled in the most detestable way I could possibly imagine. The only thing I could hear for the next thirty minutes was her knocking on some various wooden surfaces. When I got out the room, she wished me a good day while I wished she'd burn in hell.

As soon as I got to my post, there was three other guards standing quietly by the door. One of them greeted me with the same energy that bitch of a maid had. "Morning, Captain. It's soon to be a beautiful day."

I groaned openly, about to find something to choke myself. "Oh God, I forgot you bastards are morning people."

"But don't you wake up pretty early yourself, sir?" He said with a glowing smile.

"I get up, I run, I wash my ass, and then I'm barely even fucking functioning before breakfast. If I ain't got coffee in me, you're fucking better off dying to my morning breath." I hissed back at the guard, who's smiled made me want to punch him in the face.

"Well I suppose it is an hour or two before your usual time. But I trust you will grow to like it eventually."

In what fucking dimension? "What time you go to bed?"

"I fell asleep at exactly 9 last night. I wake up at 3:30, I shower, I have a cup of tea, and I'm good to go." He stated proudly with his preppy-sounding voice.

"Morning people, I swear." I rolled my eyes.

"You know, tea has a higher caffeine content than your regular cup of coffee." He said, his fucking cheeks having the strength of the Greek God Atlas to hold that fucking smile up.

"What time are we supposed to be waking the princess?" I asked with a yawn.

"Well, those duties are usually assigned to me and another maid. I thought you would know that since you've been around us before."

I grumbled and leaned my head against the wall, giving my eyes a moment to close. "That was once. I snuck away from a group of drunken Wonderbolts hoping to keep my pants on."

"Well it will soon be time." He said.

I mumbled to myself. "Can I please go back to sleep?"

I started to hear the sounds of hooves clopping against the marble floors. I propped one eye open to see that same smiling bitch walking up to me, nudging me against my leg incessantly. "Captain, it's time."

"Ugh, get the fuck away from me." I grumbled.

The mare handed me a silver bell on a red velvet pillow. "Knock gently. Enter into the room, and then ring this bell twice in slow intervals."

"I could've gave her a phone, she'd be up already without all of this shit." I said as I cracked the door open, seeing the slumbering princess. While I walked into the room, I could see the entire early morning cheer squad standing at the door.

"Do not worry for us, we are just merely checking in to see if the princess will awaken." The mare replied.

"Bunch of fucking buzzards is what you guys are." I muttered before I unceremoniously grabbed the bell and shook it repeatedly. The maids and stallions in the hall all gasped at my lack of following their protocol. "Yeah, you know who it is, wakey wakey, eggs and bakie."

The mare's eyes popped open, her mane that was slightly pinkish had suddenly faded into it's usual four colors. She glanced up to see me standing by her bed. "Captain?"

"Morning, your highness." I said flatly, earning a facehoof from one of the guards at the doorway.

The princess yawned. "Okay, I know you are not a morning personality."

"No shit." I replied, glaring back at the maid, who was covering her mouth over the fact that I cussed in front of the princess.

Celestia took a look at me, and closed her still-tired eyes. "Guards, maids, you all are dismissed." The others cringed as they looked at me and dispersed like a group of grade-school children who got caught doing something they had no business doing. Meanwhile, she tabbed me and groggily called me out. "Not you, captain. You stay right where you are."

I sighed in defeat as I stopped making my move to the door. "Always gotta make me look like I'm getting in trouble."

She parted the curtains to her balcony. Down below was a view of the city, barely a light to grace the skyline. The streets were cold and empty, showing a barren town devoid of life in the dark morning hour. She peered to the eastern horizon and sat herself to her haunches, her head raised high. "Come." She ordered as she patted an area next to her. "Stand right here." I yawned as I obeyed her command. I looked over the balcony to see a nerve-jolting drop to the courtyards below. But the next thing I felt was her magic shift my head towards the east. "Now, sit and watch."

The princess stamped her hoof onto the floor, her horn proceeded to glow with a rich golden hue. Her head lowered as she reached deep within her to call upon the celestial body hiding beyond the eastern horizon. Her head then slowly raised, causing the very sky above to turn a beautiful golden orange. The shadows beyond our reach stretched to unimaginable lengths as the incandescent body crept into view. The clouds themselves turned silver as the dawn of the new day unveiled itself before me. The princess opened her eyes to take pride in the very sight of her work.

But even then, I could tell that something was different than many of the other sunrises I've witnessed. The sun wasn't as high as it usually would be. It appeared much lower, allowing much of the western sky to appear pink in comparison. I pointed it out to her. "It looks like it's stuck."

The princess placed a hoof over her muzzle as she turned to me. "Oh dear, she seems a little shy to having company to see her this early on. Would you care to say hello to her?"

I stared back at the princess, a bit skeptical about her suggestion. "The sun's a female?"

"And she is timid at this time of year. She doesn't get to shine as often so she feels a bit discouraged. So if you say hello, maybe she'll speak back."

I looked at the princess with a deadpan expression before turning to the sun and giving a sarcastic greeting. "Good morning, missus sun. There's a lovely day waiting for your face."

The sun jumped up above just slightly. The princess giggled. "Aww, she's excited to see you. Maybe you could sing a song to make her dance above the horizon."

"What kind of song?" I asked flatly, trying to go along with the princess' joke.

"Something delightful, she's a pretty vain thing. Maybe if you sing about what she could bring, she'll appreciate it."

I pursed my lips for a moment, admitting to how ridiculous this all was for me. But to amuse the princess, I decided to continue playing along. I started humming the first song that came to mind before I started finally singing the lyrics out loud where I was most comfortable.

The princess smiled and clopped her hooves together. "Ooh! That's one I haven't heard before! Keep going!" I sighed and went along with her ruse.

The princess expressed some shock as the sun seemingly jumped a little more over the horizon, but bouncing up and down for a split second. "Oh my, she really wants to meet this Mr. Blue Sky. Okay, she's ready to come out now." The princess started to lift her head some more before something interrupted her. She hummed as if she was acknowledging a question and then turned to me with a nervous smile. "Um, could you reach your hand to her and close your eyes?"

I appeared confused before the alabaster princess. "Why?"

She clasped my hands between her hooves as she whispered in a low voice. "She wants to meet you."

"What do you mean 'meet me'?" I asked.

The princess giggled "Just reach out and focus. It's like a basic levitation spell, but a little bit different."

I shook my head, just thinking of how ridiculous all of this was again. I closed my eyes and stretched my hand out. "Okay."

She started to adjust my hand for me while my arm remained stretched to the sun. "You might want to turn your hand over, palm facing upward."

I cracked an eye open, glaring at the princess while she had the biggest snicker held between her hooves. "You're not gonna have me do what I think you're gonna do, are you?" I asked worriedly.

As I had my hand stretched out to the sun, I started to notice a vague sensation. My fingers started to tingle with my magic running significantly warmer. I started to feel a sense of wonder, pure childish awe as my hand began to heat up. "Do you feel it?" The princess asked.

The sensation started to spread from my hand to my entire body. It felt like my legs, my arms, my very core tingled with this unknown excitable source. "I feel warm, my hand feels pretty hot though."

Celestia backed away from me slowly, her horn still glowing. "Okay. She's gonna give you quite the greeting in three... two... one..."

Her horn's magic fell dormant. I looked at the horizon as the sun started to hold still. But after a second, it started to sink back down the horizon just slightly. As it did, my entire arm just felt crushed downward. And it went from my arm, to my entire body being dragged to the ground. Just my staying there with my magic outreached made me feel the overwhelming gravitational force that sun had stored within it. It was so great that I could barely move, barely breathe, barely even speak. "FUCKING HELL, LADY!"

The princess giggled eagerly as she stood there watching me take on the weight of her sun. "She's a bit conscious about her weight. Please try be nice about it."

I grunted and fell flat to the ground, my hand still outstretched as the only thing I could do was pretend I was a pancake in the face of this thing. "HI.... HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU?... LADY YOU ARE FUCKING STRONG..."

Celestia finished laughing, realizing that I wasn't exactly sun-raising material. Her horn started back glowing it's usual aura and all the weight was lifted from me as she took back over her daily errand. "Okay, you two. Enough playtime. Now we get back to work."

I stood up, finally embracing the freedom my body once had. My hand still ran warm as my fingers tingled. I held my still-heated hand in front of me. "You do that, every single fucking day!?"

The princess smirked as she finished placing the sun into the air, locking it in place to carry out it's daily rotation. "At least you know how much of a snooze she is now. You two have a lot in common."

"I guess." I said while flicking my hand back and forth to shake off the residual heat.

While I did so, I noticed my hand becoming warmer, it's usual magic glow activating without my consent. I licked my left hand and quenched the magic manually, but not before an unknown voice, akin to that of a much more mature woman rang in my ears.

I froze for a moment, thinking about whether or not that was something I had heard clearly. But upon a second thought, I simply deduced that it was the princess complementing me on my voice. I nudged the princess. "Nice try, you."

"What?" Celestia questioned, acting innocent.

"You used the telepathy thing again."

She looked to me with initial surprise, but then looked back to the sun. "That wasn't me. My magic isn't on you."

"You're the only one that can talk in my head." I pointed out.

She levitated my hand up to reach for the sun once more. "Not just me. Call out to her again."

"You expect me to believe that this isn't you." I said as I walked beside her, getting a much better view of her horn.

The high princess smirked at my disbelief and walked before the rising sun, seating herself at the middle of it's light. Her horn faintly glowed while she lowered her head. "Happy Birthday, Captain." She quenched her magic and stood quietly. "That was me just then." She said just before a second voice boomed in my ears, the same unfamiliar voice from before.

The magic around my hand glowed as it pulled my hand towards the sun, almost as if there was a warm pair of hooves clasping around it. I looked directly into the sun's crepuscular rays reaching across the horizon. And it was appeared to me, a larger than life mare smiling from the distance as she donned an ever-flowing mane the colors of the sunrise. Her towering eye were a beautiful sky blue. Her forelegs retracted from mine as she then ran her hoof through the princess' mane. And as suddenly as she appeared, she faded into the glowing horizon. I stood stunned to silence for a long time, not even able to move until a few minutes later when Celestia walked me back into her bedroom. She stood patiently, waiting for me to say something.

The only thing that came to my mind. "...I'm awake now."

The mare giggled. "She really likes your voice."

I slowly turned to her, still in a state of shock. "Can we not talk about the fact that the sun SPOKE?"

"I told you she's shy." Celestia repeated.

I felt nearly numb, completely dumbfounded for a proper reaction. It was far too much for my mind to contemplate. So much in fact that I was already looking for a morning glass of vodka, whiskey, bourbon, whatever could take the edge off of me. "Can I get an Irish coffee this morning. I need a drink."

"Wait." She said, planting a hoof against my lips. She hovered into the air and gave me a quick peck on the lips. "Now that's what I need waking up."

"I'll take that as a 'yes' then." I said optimistically.

The princess laughed. "You'll take that as a sweet 'no' instead. Now let's get moving."

Hi... It's been a while. A very trying time for all of us, huh? A lot has happened since the release of the previous chapter. And a metric fuckton went down on my end. Allow me to explain.

I had this chapter ready to be released sometime mid September. Unfortunately, my laptop had no future plans and decided that the weekend before an important event was the perfect time to permanently retire. Motherboard's gone. I've been trying to find a replacement with the specific CPU slot assigned to it, but I couldn't find one. So my only hope was to get another laptop that matched the model of the one I previously had. That was a success, and it was ordered to drop by that following Tuesday.

Sally paid us a visit instead.

So instead of a laptop in the mail, I got a cat-2 hurricane moving at 2 mph (3.2 Km per hour) over us. We got the western eye wall, snapping trees left and right until numerous powerlines had been destroyed. So we had no power for four days. Here was two of the issues the workers had to deal with on our block.

This tree fell on a powerline, severing it and pulling several poles down the street to the point of near collapse.

And then there was this beauty. A street down from were I live and a neighbor's tree fell on the line itself. The line didn't snap, but something had to give. So yeah, this was danging above one of our streets.

Four days later, we get power again. But I'm still waiting for a laptop. That didn't come in until a week after it's scheduled drop-off. So I hop on, look on the device and see something I wasn't pleased with, CPU was way worse than the one I originally had. And there's no slot to upgrade or replace it, it's soldered into the motherboard. So I can't do music worth a damn until I get another laptop, or perhaps get my motherboard replaced. But the hurricane left us in a bad spot, I spent most of my money recovering from Sally. Then Delta threatened to pay us a visit, cancelling a good-paying engagement that would've paid for said motherboard. She veered off elsewhere, but the gig was still canceled. Pain.

I finally got around to finishing the chapter to follow this one, I was about to start my edits, but then life got in the way again. Next was some home stuff. Bills had to be paid because my uncle got into a drinking binge. I had to hunker down for most of October. And a few low-paying gigs came through the pipe. I was pretty set, we were doing okay and I was getting back into the writing groove. Damn near finished the chapter to follow the one I just finished instead of going back to edit this one.

Zeta had other plans.

She went from murdering New Orleans, passing over Gulfport, and giving us the northeast quadrant. Didn't stop there. We got our asses handed to by the eastern eye wall of that storm as it passed west of us, tip-toed five miles above us, and went on to hit more of the country. I had to put some more money out to get us through another blackout, which was thankfully only 24 hours this time. Problem was this time, we lost a bit of our groceries.

Of course, there was no national emergency for us in either case, so any damages we had as a result got worse with no foreseeable compensation to alleviate the pain. I had to fight depression for most of this month because of a lot of other things that happened in the home. There's a hole in my living room the size of half of the room itself, my roof needs fixing, my uncle's a drunk in denial who'll drink the day away instead of addressing the problems around us, and the bills are piling up because his unemployment went to catering to people who don't pay him (he's a cook). I'm doing my best to keep in my brain the fact that if something happens to me, we're all done for. Honestly, it's the only thing that's kept me going, that and keeping my mother alive and well by making sure that COVID-19 has no place in our home. This year has been a terrible struggle, and I don't know whether or not something else may happen that might have me thinking that I won't be able to make it to next month.

So there it is, that's my absence in a nutshell: Depression.

I'm trying. I'm trying to keep fighting. I'll keep writing this story, it's my only escape from all of this. If anything else, my venting about this does make me feel a little better. I'm sorry I had to lay this all out, but I can't keep always keep it in. I'll admit that I had a problem with my mental health over the past few months, there was one day were I couldn't even leave my room, constantly telling myself to keep fighting the monster lurking over my shoulder.

Again, sorry for the laundry. And thanks for stopping by.

Next chapter will be released in a week, maybe even a few days. I've tried spacing them out in two-week intervals to get you guys a chance to read up. But I feel like I've sat on these a bit too long. It's time I stop letting my depression hinder my confidence.