Protecting Harmony

by ScrambledCrackers

First published 9th of June, 2014

A man is pulled across the dimensional rift to Equestria by a powerful artifact created by the royal sisters. What had been fiction became reality, where humans were just myth and fiction to ponies. Celestia has only said it was for a reason.

May contain embarrassing situations, dirty jokes and heavily charged moments, but no blunt clop.
Spoilers may be in comments. Read at own risk. I have major surprises building.

A man is pulled across the dimensional rift to Equestria by a powerful artifact created by the royal sisters. What had been fiction became reality, where humans were just myth and fiction to ponies.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have only suggested it had to be for a reason.

But even they don't realize the full scope of what is to come.

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Book 1: Pathfinding

A man went out in the forest to enjoy some solitary immersion with his favorite passions like he'd done before. Upon finding a small orb on the forest floor that couldn't be natural in the middle of nowhere, an attempt to pick it up caused him to black out.

He awoke near blind, recovering in a hospital to strange voices and goings on. The return of his sight brought endless questions when he discovered he was in Equestria, answering questions from Princess Celestia herself, with Twilight Sparkle recovering in the same room from some sort of magical backlash when she had saved him falling from the sky.

Now in a world where he's supposed to be just a myth to the ponies, he has to make sense of reality in a new one, with no safe way home. There's a lot to sort through in a world he thought was just fiction.

And this journey has hardly begun.

(Working on major rewrite for B1. Redone Chapters: 1, next - Prologue)

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Book 2: Rising Effort
Protect the Bearers or all is lost.

The strange, powerful voice that spoke through the image of the Tree of Harmony had so commanded him in the vision he isn't quite sure was just a vision. With glimpses of the possible dangers to come, a man out of place has his work cut out for him.

With innumerable questions about his life on Earth and how he arrived in their world, external threats are not his only troubles. His romance and soul link with Princess Twilight Sparkle bears questioning when he seems almost perfect for her desires and her bodyguard. Even to the point of wondering if he was somehow built for where he has found himself.

Drafted into the Guard by Celestia & Luna alongside the Bearers during the Royal Summit, he now awaits a special team being assembled that will arrive in Ponyville in another week. They are coming to help him protect the girls, and train both them and himself for the coming storm that threatens to consume not just Equestria, but Equus itself.

None of them know just how close to their doorstep danger already is.

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Book 3: Taking Damage

Beginning summary presented when reached.

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Book 4: Conflagration

Beginning summary presented when reached.

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Book 5: Final Safeguard

Beginning summary presented when reached.

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Author comments from here:

This story will be finished.

It's a long road though, and due to the free-form nature of how I'm writing this story, updates are made when finished. Breaks can been days or months, but this story will be finished.

This is a long-term personal project for me. Particularly with the first book, which I am gradually doing extensive editing and revision on. It has been a process of me learning how to write.

Also, there will not be any blunt clop in this story, but this gets kind of complicated in later books and operates in context of the verse of this story. Outright clop just feels distasteful when it's not the intention of the story. Sexual situations will be present, but generally, I am trying to keep the sex itself alluded to or otherwise bypassed if there isn't a specific reason to involve it. Of course, later books will have more complex dynamics going on with these things. Sexually charged situations can have powerful story value, depending on how they are done.

~Could always use another proofreader/editor, drop me a line~

This story is predominately told from the perspective of my primary OC. Some otherwise indicated chapters will also do this. I try not to have a chapter change perspectives in the middle unless it's for a specific story reason in a scene. It should be easy to tell, as perspective shifts to third person perspective for any other characters.

This is initially set somewhere between S4E24 Equestria Games and S4E25/26 Twilight's Kingdom. I am largely ignoring the MLP movie, Equestria Girls, and the various comics because I have little exposure to them.

There will be cheese and cliche here, but those are merely tools. Not everything is as it appears at first, and small details or random name drops are sometimes laden with meaning or importance to reveal later. An ordinary earth pony stallion (or mare) could be tremendously important, despite living thousands of years ago. Small hint: The preceding sentence references to specific characters of the verse. Simple statements might actually a pony cultural saying with history. I'm not doing things without purpose or reasoning despite my free-form writing approach, even for things that are a bit out there.

I borrow from and reference other fics at random in various ways. Only people that happened to know them will ever notice, if at all, as I am not making them stand out for the most part. And above all, I believe a story is read NOT for fancy, 'original' things on every page but for the unique adventure found in any given story. Why the bloody hell would we all keep looking at stories in all their forms when we know 99% of them have a happy ending if not for the adventure of the journey?

The cover art I found was rather fortuitous, resembling the Tree of Harmony on a kite shield and all. Until I've decided on something more customized, it will be the PH verse placeholder.
Cover art found here: http://imgkid.com/sword-and-shield-tattoos.shtml

Foreword thingy (Can skip, not part of story)

Don't know why it took me so long to put this in a separate place, considering how long it is. Now it's not bogging down the Prologue.

There is a great deal under the surface of this story of mine. It's not for everyone, especially in the beginning, and there is a long way to go until it's over. The smallest things can be huge hints. Obvious things may not turn out to be very important. Things that appear may be false first impressions and greater or lesser after things settle again. This will have moments of rapidity and times of slowness. In a sense, the story is only just getting started with the events of chapter 15.

This isn't a story focused on only some human randomly appearing, there to save the day or something like that. He is only one piece of a greater puzzle and NOT capable of surviving alone. Legends will rise, history will be revealed. For fans of Rainbow Dash, know she will become a legend in her own right before this is over. Chapter 23 is the first direct sign of her destiny. The chapter is also very low on spoilers as it's mostly new information to the story at the time, if you want to have a peek into what the story, and quality of writing, is heading towards. In truth, I'll be trying to give each of the girls something substantial, even if not always dramatic. Perhaps with the intention of the song Iron by Within Temptation being thematic to where I'll take things.

I started this story with the intent to use some ideas I never see in other stories and asking a 'what if...' question I can't say until the chapter after the main antagonist of the story is revealed, though there is a second antagonist and archnemesis for my human OC to worry about as well. This first book is also where I taught myself how to write largely through force of experience. As such, I made a lot of blunders for quite a few chapters as I started figuring out a larger plan, but rather than take on a massive rewrite, I chose to take it as a challenge to fix the story into something better while still using the blunders as part of the story. I like to think this has made for some interesting reading, and it's certainly proving fun for me to re-read once in a while, which was my goal, considering I'm really just writing this story for myself, first and foremost. Heck, the human is patterned after my personality and interests as it is, but I'm kind of a kook, so don't think you know what to expect from that alone. Although, I am sure at least a few will facepalm as he adapts to being trapped in Equestria.

Forcing myself to adapt ideas I placed has resulted in something that has grown far larger than I originally intended. I also like to think the story will be rewarding for those that push through the awkwardness and Gary Stu-isms in the beginning to reach points where they start getting altered into new perspectives and take on very different meanings. I am not kidding when I said I took my mistakes and worked to make them something better later on. This first book has been a learning process and calling it 'Pathfinding' is as much about the story as it is about my writing skills.

Now, I'm developing history and unique perspectives on technology and social topics. I've already gotten in some Pegasi cultural sayings. Reasons will be given for things like how Pegasi ever matched the Unicorns and their magic in battle before the Unification. Same with the underlying purposes of Ponyville, Equestria, and why the Princesses weren't around when the nation was born. What the Tree of Harmony is truly for. After certain events take place, characters in the story will even begin playing music from both planets, though for obvious reasons I'm limited on music from Equus.

This is the story of how there can be times in history we face a terrible trial that costs us much in order to avert something unimaginably worse. What will eventually be revealed is something massive, with a lot of inspiration from comic books and epic storylines sometimes found there.

There is at least four more books to be added after this one is over. It may eventually add up to around a million words, but we'll have to see. At the very least, it will be several hundred thousand words by the end, telling a tale that spans across about two and a half years of time. Most of the story is told from my main OC's perspective and mind, with occasional breaks for things he wouldn't see or know. Despite early appearances and his in-head perspective, my OC isn't the primary focus of this story overall.

This is going to be a long journey.

Prologue 1: Stars & Embers

Author's Notes:

For those that don't know what it is, here is a Contralto voice sample:
https://youtu.be/s9Em80GzksQ?t=14s

Thematic music to the chapter that I listened to as I wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD0J4GfQeGY

Edited by StupidHand14
Revised version posted 6/13/2016
Original posting date before merge: 10/17/2015

A lot is going to happen in this book. Some of it will be wild and crazy. Some will be dark and/or disturbing. There shall be moments of triumph and sadness as every player involved really begins to move with greater intent.

Welcome to Rising Effort.

Around 2000 years ago…

“Sombra, I truly think you should wait.”

The group of four was standing beside the main doors of the Crystal Palace, saying their goodbyes. One of their number would soon depart and not return for some time.

King Sombra let out an exasperated sigh, still quite unconvinced. He met his most stalwart friend’s eye with a frown, his deep voice rumbling out his words, “And We say each day of delay is one less day to share the potential boon they could be, based on the readings we have taken so far. The energies bear such promise.”

The blue-robed gray-coated unicorn shook his head, the bells on the brim of his broad blue wizard’s hat making a soft jingle, his voice mild and unassuming. “Would it matter if the oddities I also found prove more dangerous than any benefit we might gain? There are simply too many unknowns at present for us to be so careless. To say nothing of my gut telling me something is wrong with them. All I ask is you delay further study until I can return. Then we can watch out for each other as we move forward.”

Though Sombra frowned even deeper, he had never called even one pony his friend without a very good reason. After a pause, he snorted with mild annoyance. “We do not promise… but,We will take your counsel into serious consideration, Starswirl.”

Stepping towards his oldest male friend, Starswirl touched a fetlock to Sombra’s cheek before he touched his own cheek against Sombra’s open one, taking a moment to savor the presence of the friend he would not see again while off on his coming journey. “You are as close to me as a brother, Sombra. There have even been times we have been more. I fear for you because my I have the currently unexplainable sense that something is seriously wrong with those crystals, regardless of the potential boon. Wait, and we can deal with them together upon my return. Perhaps you could even spend more time with Celestia. The Crystal Empire is more than strong enough to allow you time away.”

Sombra leaned into the touch for a long moment before pulling back. “As We said, We will take your counsel into serious consideration. Our trust in you has never once been undeserved.”

“That is all I can ask of you, my brother. I wish I could tell you and the Sisters why I must make this journey but the time is not right.” Starswirl turned to the other two royals present and gave them a small smile. “Celestia, Luna, please keep an eye on him for me. You know how he likes to get into mischief when I’m not around to keep him out of it.”

“Starswirl, We shall try to visit often. We know well how sharp your portents of trouble can be. Are you truly unable to tell Us the reasons for this journey?” Celestia asked in a gentle tone, moving to stand close to Sombra, nudging him with a wing and giving a faint grin before returning her gaze to Starswirl.

Starswirl only gave another soft shake of his head, the bells on his hat jingling again and his white-bearded face giving her a smirk. “Not until the time is right for you to learn, Celestia. Same with Luna. All I can tell you is I must go make preparations for something to come. Worry not, though, for I will not be working alone on this task I must undertake.”

Luna moved close and ducked her head under the brim of his hat to give an affectionate, familiar nuzzle to Starswirl. “We dislike seeing you depart, Starswirl. Promise to visit Equestria upon your return? We will miss your company.”

Returning the nuzzle in kind, his mouth turning into a sly smile as his enchanted hat hid the glow of his horn and what he attached to her peytral before Luna stepped back. “I will look forward to seeing you again upon my return. I should have some time to spend, Luna.”

Celestia and Sombra both caught his eye with hidden smiles, though Starswirl kept his face clear of anything to give him away when Luna could see his face.

Luna smiled, starting to think she succeeded until she noticed one of the bells on his hat was missing. One of the three she had enchanted in secret as he slept beside her last night, having intended to track him after he left. She pouted, realizing her ploy may not have worked after all, but there were still the other two to hope for. As she shifted she found herself surprised as a jingle coming from the peytral on her chest led her to look down to see the missing bell hanging from it.

“Luna, my dear, did you truly believe I wouldn’t notice your enchantments on that bell?” Starswirl gave a warm chuckle at her expression, deciding not to hold her in suspense. “I share your bed a few times and now I have you trying to claim me. Even your sister knows not to try, though I have spent time with her on occasion as well. From any other mare it wouldn’t be so endearing. And yet you somehow just make it seem so adorable.”

Luna grew flustered as her face heated, now quite thankful there were only two guards anywhere near their group to witness goings on, spluttering even as she tried not to call attention to the other two bells she’d enchanted, hoping he had somehow missed them as she stamped her hoof in emphasis, “Silence! We are not adorable! P-perhaps you just mistake Our fondness as claiming, you philandering knave!”

Starswirl grinned a little wider. “Still adorable.”

Celestia and Sombra leaned against each other a little as they shared a quiet snicker at the Lunar Princess’ embarrassment.

“And don’t think I didn’t notice the other two bells either, Luna. I already removed the enchantments. Although, the one I gave you does have a particular enchantment of my own design on it. I know how you worry, so once you figure out how I locked it you will be able to know if I am healthy and alive. This is the only concession I can give you, however. You must not try to come after me. I will be fine, but this must be done a certain way,” Starswirl said in a warm but stern tone.

Putting her embarrassment aside, Luna moved in to nuzzle him again and sighed in resignation. “You do worry Us, Starswirl. We know how you go seeking trouble on your mysterious journeys. May We at least know who shall be with you?”

After returning the nuzzle, he gave her a sly smirk, aware none of them knew the full story behind his traveling companion as he did. “Her name is Embertouch. I’m sure you’ve all heard of the mare. Very driven and strong-willed? Loves hunting down corrupted mages and wild demons? Blew up the entire Order of Belinus tower last year because the archmage there was trying to sacrifice ponies to some denizens of Tartarus?”

The three of them looked at him like he had suddenly grown a second head, somewhat alarmed at the name they were so familiar with. And how often the mare was at odds with Starswirl.

It was Celestia that spoke first, giving him a calculating look. “You mean to tell Us you are going to travel with Embertouch the Deathwalker? The same mare you have been known to get into fights with as often as talk when you meet?”

Starswirl gave her another sly, knowing smile. “You listen to too many rumors, Celestia. We don’t argue that often.”

Sombra snorted and shook his head before giving his friend a flat stare. “So says the same stallion that once battled with her and the two of you alone destroyed an area nearly half a mile across by the time you were done. Without using any widely dispersing spells, no less. Still, assuming the two of you are not trying to attack each other while together, We suppose there are few better to go with you into whatever danger you are neglecting to mention. You are always keeping secrets in whatever you do, so even if you say you will be safe, We do not entirely believe you.”

“I will have you know we weren’t actually fighting that day. It was merely calculated testing, even if it was rather dramatic. Embertouch asked for help with some abnormally dangerous ranged combat spell applications she was working on, and I’m one of the few that could safely assist with her in a full power effort. Besides, we only argue because we’re passionate about how best to use our talents. We just tend to make some…powerful arguments towards each other…that happen to make things explode now and then… You worry too much.” Starswirl gave a somewhat sheepish grin as he twirled a hoof in the air, knowing his obvious dodge of Sombra’s insinuation of hiding the complete truth would both be noticed yet also unchallenged.

He wouldn’t try to hide the fact he was hiding things from the three before him, knowing they knew his games too well.

Beyond that, he also knew they trusted him to be upfront if he was truly going to place others at risk. The fact he wasn’t going to be traveling alone and still claimed little danger ahead was the main reason his friends were not putting up much of a fight over him being more secretive than usual in his plans.

The four of them looked over when the main door of the Crystal Palace opened unbidden just then.

A tall, black-robed unicorn mare entered, her coat a rich magenta and her good right eye the color of red metal. She stood almost as tall as Sombra, who himself stood a head taller than most ponies on his own. Her exposed mane and tail were wild masses that spoke of living fire in their reds, yellows, and oranges. Among other things, the faint magical radiance from long exposure to powerful spells had left her almost humming with magic, the ambient effect giving a few wisps of her mane and tail a life of their own in a way vaguely reminiscent of the Royal Sisters. It was something Starswirl used an enchantment in his robes to suppress. It was primarily a side effect of the secret magical charge they’d both had imbued inside themselves, left to develop over the course of unnaturally long lives.

Embertouch moved with a different stride than most unicorns, carrying herself with the easy, confident stride of a veteran. She had fought more battles in her time than many legions had seen in a century of history. The Royal Sisters alone were more experienced in combat than she, and only by weight of time lived, with her own age hidden by her youthful look of a mare in her late twenties.

The only other living pony that shared a similar state and not truly immortal was Starswirl himself.

As Embertouch approached the group, her milky left eye had a soft glow as a faint bit of white mist made a lazy trail off to the side before fading. The eye was a gift of sorts designed by Starswirl, after a sword had nearly taken her life instead. The otherwise useless enchanted orb allowed her to see living auras and energy fields, leaving her immune to most deceptions as a result.

Her chiseled face was deceptive in it’s lack of marks or scars, having removed any lingering evidence of her countless battles. Most beings didn’t know how to remove scars, let alone had the magical skill required, and it left many failing to recognize her level of experience because of what they saw. It was a ploy that let her end a number of battles quicker against opponents that failed to give their all at the start.

She stopped when she stood next to Starswirl, his average stature looking small beside her. Giving a respectful bow to the three royals before turning her gaze to her traveling companion, her gravelly contralto was steady and strong. “Starswirl, we can delay no longer. It is time to go.”

Starswirl sighed and gave her a nod, turning his gaze back to his royal friends, “I suppose that will be it then. We may return in a little more than a year, but it may be as long as two. Please take care of yourselves. Luna, try not to worry so much. Celestia, look after my brother in spirit. Sombra, stay out of trouble for once.” Starswirl resisted his temptation to speak of what he really knew, hating the timing of events and doubting he would ever see Sombra again.“Farewell.”

After the three royals had given their own parting statements, the two wizards left without another word.

The two of them wasted no time and headed out of the Crystal Empire to the southwest, intending to turn north once they were well beyond sight. They could have no witnesses to their journey, heading beyond the protective field and into the blinding snow that surrounded the Empire in silence. They both knew the tasks ahead and did not feel like talking.

Once they had traveled a fair distance, certain they were not being followed by friends, or others, the pair made their turn north.

Most would have found it difficult to travel through chest deep snow and blasting wind, but Starswirl and Embertouch were not most ponies. The protective field enchantment they both placed over themselves kept them warm, kept snow from melting from their body heat and soaking in, and kept the wind from affecting more than Embertouch’s whipping tail. Even their flowing robes were protected. It was only the slightest layer of magic, thinner than a hair against their skin and fur. It also prevented them from sinking into the windswept white they traversed, their weight dispersed over the snow as each step pressed a radius three feet in size into the snow and lifted none.

Though far away from any roads or other signs of civilization, they knew where they were going.

A few minutes after they made their turn north, a glance to her right made Embertouch finally speak up over the wind in her steady voice, a note of understanding behind it, “I can see the tears you weep as they freeze and blow away, Bastard. They are for Sombra?”

Closing his eyes for a moment, allowing a faint smile to show at the name she called him before he made a sad frown. As he marched forward over the snow, his voice sounded tired for reasons that had nothing to do travel. “They are. I very nearly failed to maintain my composure before we left. With the corruption of the crystals already working on him, he has less than eight months at most before he falls to the darkness if he doesn’t leave with Celestia, which I very much doubt will happen. It causes me such pain to know I could stop it, yet I know it must come to pass in order for us to make this journey and prevent something far worse. The timing is painful, but our patrons have commanded us to act and we cannot refuse them. We have not lived these ageless hundred years just to falter now. Not for personal anguish. Not for an empire. Nor for anything else, Touchy.”

Embertouch snorted, a faint smirk on her face. “Still calling me that, are you?”

Giving her a cheeky grin as he pushed his darker thoughts aside, Starswirl replied, “My dear Touchy, I shall never forget that rather explosive-to-the-surroundings argument we had a week after we first met. Nor how prickly you were about a stallion that wouldn’t just bow to your skills at the time, to say nothing of matching them. You might be a better battlemage, and I a better enchanter, but we remain close enough to ensure a good challenge, even after so many years. Now if I could just get you to admit researching the improvement of spells and protections has more long term benefits than your own shortsighted notions of hunting dark ones directly…”

Embertouch made a dramatic roll of her eyes at the reminder of their old argument that gave them a false reputation for often fighting each other. With a sigh, she wore another ghost of a smile at all the times they’d shared. “Ah yes, there it is. Considering our task, I suppose I am little able to argue this time. Still planning to travel with me for a time when we are done?”

“That I am. After so long in their service, I am still a little uncertain what to do with myself after we are released and begin to age again. Have you considered my suggestion yet?” Starswirl inquired.

Embertouch hummed to herself, the quiet sound lost in the wind. “I have, but I am unsure of the full merits still. Considering this final set of tasks they have us undertaking before releasing us to less intensive service and only calling for our assistance once a year or less thereafter, I believe I wish to make my final decision after we are done. I shall not deny it is tempting, but creating an Order would place some binds upon my calling. That is not something I am very comfortable with. There are times I must be gone to places far removed and away more than a year. I am not certain how much I would gain or lose by having students of battle with me to aid in my hunts. Or the other view, those that would be less capable being something for me to worry over. It could be a weakness to cause me hinderance, were I needing to watch over other ponies when I fight against rogue demons of Tartarus and mages with dark intent.”

They marched onward in silence for another hour through the evergreen forest they traversed, the wind dying down and the brilliance of Luna’s winter night sky appearing from behind the wild northern storm. The snow-covered forest looked quite lovely in the moonlight.

The only sound was the faint crunch of their steps, leaving little evidence of their passing over the snow left behind them. A few more hours of steady travel, they could rest in the veritable fortress that would be their home for at least a year. Starswirl lamented the fact they would be sealed away from the world and unable to see the night sky until they were done.

Without an outward sign, Embertouch stopped and scowled, her ears perked forward as she scanned the area with a slow pan of her gaze.

Starswirl froze in place and waited, knowing her skills were second to none.

A full minute passed before she began walking again, returning to the same ground-eating pace they had been keeping as she put her hood up, her steady voice low and eager in the silent night air, “Prepare. My favorite eye informs me of a detection field for noting passage, but no trap or sensing capacity. Our path was not planned. No road or settlement is near.” Embertouch seemed to perk up, ears alert. “We should have fun soon. I did hope to get one more battle before our seclusion. We shall continue in silence from now. Perhaps they may assume us ignorant when they come.”

As she spoke, her black robes began drawing tight against her to become more like a bodysuit that left her free to move, revealing a physique of lithe, solid muscle. The carefully enchanted fabric made for a very deceptive armor. Her heavily enchanted steel hoof and leg guards coming into view as her personal armor choice completed the transformation, still exposed around her eyes as the mask formed over her face. The robes had even melted into her mane and tail to shield her skin underneath, leaving them both wild and free.

No other wizard had yet figured out how to replicate her creation, though she did entrust the secret to Starswirl. All those that attempted to replicate it were unable to fathom what she had done to turn a partial liquid into such flexible armor only magic-imbued weapons could pierce, nor how it hardened only when and where a strike managed to catch her.

Starswirl made no response, knowing she was aware he was paying attention, but inside he smiled at the thought.

Although he wasn’t as interested in fighting as she was, he had to admit the long isolation was going to be dreadful. A good fight side by side to begin it with would be welcome. He started spinning more powerful, shorter-life enchantments and defensive wards into place within his robes and in the air around himself for several minutes.

He knew Embertouch had a rather different approach from most mages, the enchantments on her robe armor often getting some amount of reinforcing whenever she was silent or idle so she could always be ready for battle. She lived for her calling as a hunter of beings with dark intentions.

It was another half hour before Embertouch made a quiet click with her tongue, signaling Starswirl she had spotted an incoming presence.

As the two unicorns entered the clearing, their pursuers were stopped in the middle and stood waiting for them. Starswirl noted they were at least smart enough not to fight wizards in an enclosed environment with lots of potential projectiles in easy reach. Unless the group had their own mage as they suspected, it didn’t make that much of a difference either way. He was already forming numerous darts of hardened ice under the surface of the snow, his hat hiding both his magical aura and any magical emission that would warn another caster he was using a spell at all.

By the look of things they were mercenaries with experience, at least according to the look of their gear and winterized armoring. Their uniformity said they were all from the same mercenary company. Three griffons, a minotaur and two earth ponies. In the end, they were standard fare and not likely to give them much trouble in the present situation.

What really caught Starswirl’s attention, revealed by a true sight spell that let his eyes pierce the illusion when he drew closer, was the winged demon trying to hide as the second minotaur.

He knew Embertouch was already aware of this discovery, lacking a distance limit on her eye. It functioned with her sight and allowed her to know the difference as far as her eyes could have seen the illusion to begin with.

The two wizards met the demon’s eyes, each knowing the other wasn’t fooled.

Embertouch and Starswirl dropped their original plan of acting like lost travellers, smiling dark smiles, though Embertouch’s was hidden behind her mask. Both their eyes narrowed as they took on a new approach. Things had gotten interesting.

Taking a step forward as Embertouch held a fierce stance, her gaze alone sometimes enough to shake stronger minds free of minor compulsions and control with the extra push. She spoke clear and firm, white puffs of breath slipping through her mask like it was not there at all. “You, mercenaries. I know you shall not listen, but you may depart unharmed. I wager it is one of your minotaurs paying you. They are a demon of Tartarus and I shall not suffer such foulness to walk upon Equus wherever I find it. Stand aside in this fight and live. Meet me in battle and your remains shall bleed out and freeze upon the snow. I am Embertouch. The Deathwalker. Battlemage and hunter of demons. I shall show no mercy.”

One of the griffons and one of the earth ponies started blinking before the demon was engulfed in black flames for a moment, then stretched his now unhindered leathery wings and grinned as his eyes gave a red flash, strengthening his control. The griffon and earth pony stopped blinking as their own eyes flashed with red, their surprised expressions hardening once more.

The winged demon that looked much like a minotaur with leathery wings growled as he spoke, a feral grin on his face. “Hah! I had heard you could shield some minds with only a look. Pity that my will is stronger than these pawns. Those two are more disgustingly honorable than most soldiers and one even has a youngling at home. Will you deprive a youngling of their parent when they aren’t in control of themselves?”

Embertouch only narrowed her eyes further, her horn aglow as her let her magic charge for the battle ahead, now knowing it wouldn’t take them long but still kept herself aware for any surprises. “You are almost not even worth the effort, and yet you chose face two of us, weakling. Your betters amongst your kind know such words have no meaning for me. Better a quick death for them than to suffer a demon’s control. It is clear your master seems to have guessed wrong on what you face in us.” Her eyes flicked to Starswirl. “Anything you wish to say, Bastard?”

Beside her, Starswirl grinned wider and gave a soft shake of his head as he responded in negative, the pleasant chiming of the bells on his hat calling out, then continuing to ring even as he went still. “Nothing you do not already know, Touchy. Fascinating sword though. Appears enchanted to shield the wielder against ranged attack spells. Likely to go right through your robe’s defenses, too. I am sure it will not bother you much, or slow you down.”

Starswirl’s chiming bells kept going, the sound echoing against itself and drilling into unprotected minds, making them grow as hazy and slow as if feeling the effects of a night of heavy drinking, or severe motion sickness. As a result of playing with sound and stimulus, rather than more direct influence, most mind control spells did not account for it.

The mercenaries were already starting to sway. Maybe the unlucky group would survive to see the dawn, assuming none of them were in league with the demon of their own free will. Some creatures were just that foolish.

Just over twenty feet separated them as the now stumbling mercenaries began to move forward, drawing weapons while having no apparent defense against the disorientation and causing Starswirl to smirk even as he grew more cautious. The demon stood back, watching his group that seemed to have no idea who they were coming after, despite knowing enough to be in the area to detect them. Either they were careless, which was unlikely, or a certain winged biped from Tartarus was trying to be sneaky and thought he had a hidden advantage.

In the back of his mind, Starswirl groused at how smart most demons liked to think they were around ordinary mortals. Always thinking they were better than they were. Still, that arrogance only played in their favor here.

Starswirl and Embertouch were far from ordinary.

Embertouch made a sudden tss-tss sound heard only by her companion, causing Starswirl’s focus to shift away from the immediate vicinity as he started looking for what was missing in the group, once Embertouch had gotten enough of an idea to suggest the missing one was pretty far off and not hidden nearby with illusions or invisibility. Focusing on a spell for detecting disturbances in ambient magical presence within a few hundred feet told him the rest.

The missing mage was a little more than two hundred feet away, hidden amongst the trees.

“Set,” Starswirl replied, his own magic charging as he waited. A remote area scan telling him where there was enough open space.

The two wizards held their ground as the nearly incapacitated regular fighters approached, the bells of Starswirl’s hat still ringing, the echoing chimes giving the air a strange background against the silence of the winter night. A sound Embertouch was about to lose the advantage of. Starswirl mused to himself over whether or not she would finish the fight before the mercenaries even recovered.

Embertouch then made another clicking sound with her tongue three times.

The first for attention.

The second to set timing.

And the third to engage.

At the same time, both wizards made a teleport to two very different locations with a flash of light and sound. A simple burst of force threw up the snow at the same time, helping slow the response of the mercenaries just that much more.

Embertouch appeared right beside the demon, already sending armored hooves in a strike to shatter or stun her opponent’s sword arm. As the demon reacted, his off hand spawned flames that indicated he was capable of combat casting in addition to carrying a blade. Though it put him a step higher than she thought, it did not worry her.

Landing near his more distant target, Starswirl found it was a rare Basalt Bear wizard, much to his actual surprise. Large bodied with black fur and standing half again taller on all fours alone, the bear was wearing red and gray robes with symbols that suggested he hailed from a far off clan to the west. Following a disruption spell from Starswirl canceling whatever ranged effects the bear had been using or preparing, the bear raised a shield spell with decent reflexes and turned towards the unicorn that had appeared so close without warning.

Starswirl’s blue robes whipped about as the enchantments within grew more active in the rush of power. He began sending his prepared ice darts crashing at random against the bear’s shield while building up more magic, the teleport having taken most of his immediate preparatory charge. His own shield began to ripple as the bear started peppering him with ice and stones, their swift response speaking of a decent level of skill as the duel began in earnest.

Embertouch danced and wove around the demon’s sword again as she deflected it with an armored hoof. It clanged off her blocking foreleg, the injured arm that wielded the blade now weaker, slower. She had been surprised how resistant he had been to a charge of force, for his bones did not shatter. No matter, she had already noticed his worried look. Perhaps wondering why his mage had not begun to help. She had at least ten seconds before the mercenaries would be able to recover their stability enough to be more than shambling distractions.

With a savage grin behind the mask of her robe armor, Embertouch whipped around as she formed a small shield wall without even looking to deflect the blast of hellfire from the demon’s off hand. Though her robe armor could withstand such things, she really didn’t want to waste time regrowing her mane and tail if such could be avoided. A forehoof planted itself in the snow as she slipped past the demon’s guard to drive an armored hind hoof charged with lightning up into his chin, causing a sharp crack of thunder and flash of lightning to accompany the impact of her armored hoof with bone, the mass of the demon toppling backwards and much slower to get back up as she surged forward for the next blow.

Pity it would be over so soon, but she wished to be ready to attempt to incapacitate the mercenaries if they chose to engage. She would not spare them if it became a necessary choice, but neither were they required to die.

Starswirl, more out of amusement than anything else with his gaze blocked by a stream of flames dancing over his own shield, gestured with his right forehoof as he deflected the flames to the side, his shield holding with ease against a spear of stone from the left. A boulder flew forward to shatter against the back side of the bear wizard’s shield a moment before it was followed at a straight down angle by a brilliant beam of moonlight he had picked up from Luna. Right behind that, a blade of solidified shadow cracked the bear’s shield open and cut into him. Not enough true dynamic adaptivity in the shield, Starswirl noted.

It was more of a chance to experiment than a real duel of wizards to Starswirl. He watched the bear raise a paw and put up another shield, only for another blade of shadow to form and cut through it again, severing the raised paw.

The bear’s head rolled a little as Starswirl ended the fight an instant later. The mercenaries could be dealt with, but a mind controlled mage of any kind was too dangerous. The least he could do for the bear wizard was a quick death. Though fighting out of his league, the bear had been reasonably creative in the wild seconds of a wizard’s duel.

Embertouch crushed the winged demon’s skull beneath her hoof, just to ensure he would
remain dead long enough for her to perform a proper banishment and leave him imprisoned once more. Shards of dark metal in a rough shape of what they once formed lay nearby, the now shattered sword too dangerous to leave unattended on the chance he could command it from afar, a dispel against fel energies revealing it’s attunement as a blade forged in Tartarus itself.

She was half relieved and half disappointed the mercenaries had kept their distance, all of them watching with wide eyes, weapons held but not raised. Keeping an eye on the demon’s carcass and the mercenaries, she stretched her limbs in the light of the full moon. It was very intentional for the mercenaries’ sake that she made a show of inspecting the bloody steel-covered hoof that had crushed the demon’s head. So long as they did not do anything foolish, they might be allowed to live.

Starswirl appeared nearby with a flash of light and sound, teleporting back over with the body of the bear wizard and dropping it in the snow.

A quick once over for his own peace of mind confirmed Embertouch was as fit as she had been hardly more than half a minute ago. He caught her eye after, knowing she had just done the same to him, though they had never admitted to it out loud.

One of the griffons took a single step forward as the fighters put their weapons away, but he made no aggressive moves as he spoke in a gruff tone, a lilting accent in his Equestrian, “She is Embertouch, the Deathwalker herself. You are Starswirl the Bearded. Both of you are peerless. I know our lives are at your whim, so I ask this for my companions. Will you allow us to see the morning? That bear wizard is not one of ours.”

Turning to the mercenaries as he called forth what looked like a ball of white fire and a ball of light, Starswirl approached them. There was some relief that they all looked nervous in some way, but he had to be certain.

Stopping a few feet away as he looked them over, Starswirl’s voice was stern, “Your lives depend on if you cooperate. Each of you hold out a limb. The orb of light will tell me if any of you still suffer mind altering magics and ensure you are cleansed of such. It will not harm you. The orb of fire will tell me if you have been...behaving badly with demons. While the orb will not harm you for it, such means your life is forfeit. We are on a tight schedule, so we do not have time to argue when we still have to perform a proper banishment on the demon. Now please present as asked, if you do not mind.”

The lead griffon glanced at his companions before looking back at Starswirl and raising one of his talons, holding it out as asked. The others followed his example and held up a limb.

Moving the orb of light to touch each raised limb, Starswirl was pleased to see they had only been under rather minor compulsions after all. Perhaps following a vague yet plausible story for a job or other reason they might have accepted the trip, allowing a window for greater control if needed. He had not expected any issues, and the orb of light had a dispelling effect that removed anything that lingered within them. It only took a few seconds per mercenary.

He made no outward reaction, but the griffon on the end had been under no compulsion and the discovery made him sigh inside.

The orb of white fire was something Celestia had refined quite well. Appearances aside, it was only responsive to demons, their magics, or those that spent a lot of time working with them. A quick pass was all it took, as the harmless flames were a only marker that stuck to the magics and residual energies it sought.

The mercenaries were all fine until Starswirl passed the second orb over the limb of the griffon on the end. The flames stuck as the orb of white fire moved away.

Starswirl already had the spell charged, stunning the griffon before he had more than an instant to react to being discovered. Instead, the griffon fell over on his side, helpless on the cold ground.

“That is a pity. I fear I have to take him from you. He has a trace of demon magic years old,” Starswirl stated in a calm, cold voice.

The lead griffon hissed, bowing his head and starting to shake, then wide-eyed as he whirled on the betrayer that lay stunned on the ground. “You vile, insufferable piece of filth! Your treachery this night could have killed us all! My daughter adores you and you willingly work with denizens of Tartarus?!” His eyes shot to Starswirl, flexing his talons as he took heaving breaths, “Sir, this dishonorable coward is my cousin. For my family’s honor, and that of Talon Company, I ask for the right to end him for his crimes. I know your reputation and your honor, Starswirl the Bearded. Enough that I would stake my own life on the truth of your words. I know you speak no lies in such matters.”

Starswirl gestured with a hoof at the griffon he was keeping incapacitated. “He is yours to do away with as you wish. He is carrying no items of magical power, so you are free to claim any equipment or trophies, short of major body parts. We will send the corpse to Tartarus with the demon. The amount of magic that lingers in his flesh is enough it might be found and abused.”

The lead griffon gave a sharp nod and drew his sword, stripping the stunned griffon’s helm from his head as his eyes bulged in fear, unable to speak or move in his final moments. “The only mercy I do you this day is a quick death in memory of all the times you gave my daughter laughter. May the part of you that treasured her help you find atonement in another life someday.”

The lead griffon drove his sword through the betrayer’s skull, a soft muted crunch sounded as it passed through bone, and he gave it a sharp twist to be sure it was done.

After wiping the blade clean of blood and putting it away, he yanked out a few primary feathers before turning back to Starswirl, his words causing white mist to drift from his beak as he resettled his wings. “I want nothing to do with tainted equipment such as his. The primaries are to give my family something to grieve over when I tell those that could not bear the truth that he died in battle instead. Our camp should not be very far. Once we have rested, we shall depart for the nearest town. May we have your leave, Wizard Starswirl?”

There was a brief pause before he responded. Two clicks of the tongue from Embertouch, only audible to him, said her own check on the unfortunate group was clear.

Starswirl nodded to the lead griffon. “You are free to go. Consider some manner of mind protecting charms in the future, expensive as they can be. This night should demonstrate the worth of such investment, regardless of how rare you may need it.”

The lead griffon gave another sharp nod, turned to his companions and made a short whistle, meeting Starswirl’s eye once more before leading the group into the forest.

Both wizards watched the mercenaries depart in silence, waiting until the sound of their passage over the snow had vanished before they turned back to what they still had to do.

As Embertouch cleared an area of snow and began laying out the first parts of a banishing circle, Starswirl gave a pass of the white fire against the dead bear wizard. He only frowned when the flames stuck, turning his attention to a more thorough look for magics he should dispel before he would place the body with the dead griffon and demon.

When he found what appeared to be a demon-made amplifier for area spells in the form of a small translucent glass pyramid, Starswirl’s face darkened. Such a thing would have changed the fight if they hadn’t located the bear at the start. A corrupting charm like it appeared, it might even be the reason the ursine wizard had met the fate he did.

Forming a scoop of ice out of the snow, Starswirl took care not to touch it with direct magic that might give the foul creation a conduit back to him. It also meant he could not study the thing as much as he would like. A quick glance between himself and Embertouch was all that was needed as she gave him a short nod before returning to her work preparing the banishing circle, the body of the bear wizard joining the other two.

A short application of levitation a short distance away, Starswirl had another area of ground clear of snow. Needing a much cleaner surface to perform the dispel on the corrupting amplifier, he cleared away debris before applying heat enough to liquify some of the rocks and soil. In short order, he was cooling the circle of glass-smooth stone, guiding the heat high into the air so it would not melt the surrounding snow and risk the water interfering.

Once he had the polished slab cooled, he began to etch intricate designs and runes into the surface. Layer upon layer, he built out the complex spell circles involved. Here and there, a short spire of stone pushed up from the surface of the slab as locations were prepared, with each short spire gaining it’s own etchings.

By the time he was done some time later, the five foot slab of polished stone was covered in intricate carvings of power.

Not long after a hum of power and a few seconds of light nearby as the banishment on the bodies was performed, Embertouch came to stand beside him, looking over the slab of stone. “I see you are using several substantial overlapping shield layers in the circle. And...an isolated empowerment point for activation? You could not perform a proper study of the trinket?”

“No. Passive appearance is corruptive. Without a crystal isolation array available, I don’t like the possible risks of direct contact of any kind. I am just going to remove all the enchantments and render it inert,” Starswirl replied as he lifted the ice scoop holding the corrupting charm and deposited it in the center of the dispelling array he had constructed.

After looking over the array once more, Starswirl began to empower it.

Carved lines and runes began to glow with light, flowing along from the specific feed point he had designated. Upon reaching the point of activation, the corrupting charm started pulsing and the lines nearest to the center of the slab began to turn black, different energies battling for dominance.

Once the process of stripping away the enchantments began, the corrupted charm simply detonated without warning in a tremendous explosion of hellfire that swirled around behind the numerous shielding wards Starswirl had placed. Strong enough it penetrated multiple layers before the fury of it all was contained, leaving only the distant wails of suffering the flames carried as all that could escape the containment of the array.

All Starswirl did was snort in disgust as he watched the energies slowly being bled off by the dispelling array, continuing to feed magic into the conversion process. “Always thinking they’re sneaky… I would wager that was the real purpose of this whole encounter. Far more power than that lesser demon could have wielded. There was a greater demon involved, if not a lord. It makes me wonder just what is driving the battle to come, if this much effort was put into stopping us reaching our destination. I am tempted to think some in Tartarus are going to be directly involved. They certainly have enough awareness if they thought to attempt something of this scale.”

Taking a moment to release her activation on her robe armor, Embertouch lowered her hood as the black robes once again took on a flowing appearance, hiding her armored hooves from view as she watched the swirling storm of fire growing ever smaller, the energies converted into harmless ambient mana released back into the surrounding area. It would have taken a great deal of effort for such a thing to be either created on Equus, or sent here. Had Starswirl not been so methodical and careful, they could easily have met their end by it.

Several minutes passed before the fires had all faded away and the only remaining magic involved was Starswirl’s own in the dispelling array, allowing him to let it all fade. The corrupting charm’s physical form had crumbled to dust.

Once he had a moment to do some detection and ensure it was all safe, he began to shatter the stone slab into gravel before returning the displaced pile of snow. Embertouch was already finished with her own site, leaving them to return to their journey.

A couple more hours of walking saw them arrive at the base of a stone cliff at the base of a mountain. Part of the range near the Crystal Empire.

Without pausing, both Starswirl and Embertouch let their magic envelop themselves as they phased into the rock wall.

Even a momentary slip of focus during such an action would cause them to become part of the stone and simply cease to be, dead without a trace. It made even reaching the magical doorway within the rock all the harder, the door itself being physically no larger than a pinhead. Size became irrelevant when phasing through a solid material, allowing them to pass right through the door that they knew would only recognize the two of them, then seal itself behind them.

As they stepped through the doorway and out of the wall of the sanctum they would remain within for at least a year, both wizards took a moment of quiet for themselves. The door would not reopen until their work was completed. Until then, they were sealed within this partial pocket dimension of disproportionate space. All they needed lay within the gray stone walls around them, glowing glass orbs sat on holders attached to the walls to provide light. Even the air around them was a pleasant temperature, despite the deep winter cold outside.

They took a quick tour of the place, passing through smooth stone hallways as they passed various rooms. There was a sizeable library, an extensive laboratory well stocked with equipment and supplies, a cavernous room that had powerful protections in the walls where they could go to exercise and let loose with their magic in both experiments and friendly duels. Each room was spacious for it’s purposes, despite being underground. Furnishings were all simple and made of wood, the walls bare. If either of them grew inclined for the distraction, they could conjure up decorations later.

Embertouch and Starswirl finished their short exploration and headed to their shared bedchambers to relax and rest before they would get started with their work after sleeping off their travel fatigue.

Starswirl looked over the bedding that lay in one corner of the room, halfway between a bed and just being a pile of pillows and bedding. It looked quite comfortable. If his assumptions were correct, it would keep itself clean like the entire sanctum would, leaving them free to focus on their research.

He blinked when he felt a touch of magic settle over him moments before both his hat and robes were teleported off to land in a heap on the far side of the room, along with Embertouch’s own black robes and leg armor. It took him only a few moments more to realize what happened. “Oh dear… You’re in one of your moods aren’t you?”

As if in response, he felt a foreleg slip under his body and heave him bodily into the air, causing him to yelp as he was thrown onto the bedding to land on his back and giving Embertouch an unamused look as she hovered above him, “Is this really necessary, Touchy?”

Something a lot of ponies didn’t always appreciate or realize about Embertouch was she was as strong as a stallion her own size. Her powerful yet streamlined appearance hid just how much muscle lay beneath her pelt. And as she landed above him a mere moment after throwing him, a foreleg on either side of his head and staring down at him with a savage grin, he was reminded how fast she could move when she wanted to as well.

“You know how I am after a battle, Bastard. Do not tell me you are surprised. We have been through this enough in the past,” Embertouch said with her ears perked forward, her tail swishing in eager anticipation.

Starswirl huffed. “I remember well enough. I would tell you to go sit on some ice, but I know that doesn’t work on you.”

“Hah! You know even a phallus of ice cannot cool me down,” Embertouch said, bringing her belly against his and feeling him start to respond. “You should also take pride in the fact I shall lay claim to you as my stallion for the duration of our seclusion. You are the only one I have ever taken into my bed more than once. You should be thankful I desire you so, Bastard.”

Rolling his eyes, Starswirl gave her another stare. “I still can’t believe that you both let me try that on you that day, nor how it only served to make your fire burn hotter. I was sore for days, thanks to you. And you know how I feel about being claimed by you blasted lunatic mares. There is something wrong with me that I keep willingly sharing a bed with you.”

“You are mine alone for at least the next year, Bastard. You have never truly complained. And now that you have mentioned it, I do wish to be sore in the morning…” Embertouch narrowed her eyes as she gave him an ever more hungry look, her horn glowing as she cast a spell over him.

Starswirl’s eyes widened as he recognized the spell and heard her interest in being sore, already feeling his ears tingle as the spell settled, folding them back as he began to fear for his health. He was all too aware she now had an easy way to keep his stamina going for as many hours as she wanted. “Tartarus’s fire! You’re in that kind of mood?!”

Embertouch frowned a little, eyeing him as she moved herself into place over the stallion below her. “You complain as if you do not enjoy what I do to you, Bastard. Do you wish to deny you belong to me until we leave this place?”

Giving her a sour look that had a faint twinkle, Starswirl only made a dry response as he concealed his amusement. “Horny earth pony.”

Embertouch gave him another savage grin.

Despite over a century of mutual trust and reliance between them, all the challenges faced together or joys shared, they had never said it out loud.

***

Two years later…

Starswirl and Embertouch stood at the doorway of their hidden retreat, both relieved and hesitant now that it was time to leave.

They had been isolated together for a long time. Everything they had to accomplish in that time was done, along with time to make peace with what they had to do in order to prepare for the terrible battles to come far into the future. Each and every bit of their efforts had gone according to the plan, no matter how painful they might have been to put themselves through, or the questionable morality of what they had created in this place.

Both of them knew they would treasure what they had been through, but that also made them hesitate in their departure. The moment they left, this entire place would destroy itself and cease to be. Not even residual magic of their efforts would remain.

As much as it was possible, all traces of what they had done had to vanish, save what they carried away for other goals.

And they were both torn between a desire to forget and to remember what they had set in motion.

The suffering they had both instigated and prevented.

All for the sake of saving a future they would never know.

Lifting her head high as she eyed the wall that was in a way a final connection to be cut off, Embertouch spoke in the soft tone she had gained. “You know, I had always wished I could raise my own foal after our service ended. Your foal. While I know we have been barren for decades as we built up the required magic for our task, a part of me never gave up the foolish hope we might be able to share such a thing after our great task was done. Instead, we remain barren. I do not like the reality of knowing it is something I shall never get to share with you.”

Starswirl stood at her right side, staring at the wall that was also a door as well, his hat hovering in the air beside him, for him wearing it again was much like going through that door. “I must admit the thought grew on me after being stuck so close to you for this long. They needed our aid, so we gave all we had willingly. It is still surprising to me that we actually succeeded in completing both Clover’s and Athena’s works. I still cannot fathom how a low-power simplified version of the cloudwalking spell could be important to the future survival of Equus. Athena’s work on human casting variances and Spellweaver practices I can at least understand to a degree for the uniqueness of such things, though not why only some is to be shared with the world and all other parts must remain hidden.”

“Even though we were tasked with completing her work, I do not understand why the last of the dying immortals of Earth came to our world just to live out the remaining century of her life upon Equus; why they brought her here. I also cannot begin to imagine what I might have learned if she had not passed just before my birth,” Embertouch replied, remembering the unique spell book now tucked into her robes. “Whatever our patrons have planned for the first of the Guardians, at least I may take some solace in our contribution to his life. Perhaps they will tell him everything at some point.”

“They said he’ll get to know all that we have done for him, so I can’t imagine not. It is hard to believe there could be so much riding on one being,” Starswirl added with a sigh before moving on. “I am glad you decided to go through with creating an Order. They will be able to ensure that book reaches him without risking knowledge of it’s existence reaching the sisters. I just wish I knew why it was so important they remain unaware until he receives it… Hmm, well at least with you building an Order in or near the capital, we may see each other more often.”

“An Order they may be, but I shall pursue it my way. My disciples shall know no fear in our pursuit of dark ones. Though most unicorns do not have power to rival ours, they may still learn to accomplish in teams what I do alone. I believe it will be best to restrict them to one hundred at most, not counting apprentices. I shall need see how many have the strength of will to learn from me,” Embertouch replied, then let out a faint sigh and turned her eyes to Starswirl beside her. “And yes, I shall enjoy being around you more often. You remain certain of your offer?”

A small smirk appeared on his face, a warmth in his eyes as he met her gaze. “The past two years told me something I couldn’t deny, Touchy. With exception of the Royal Sisters, I shall share a bed with no other pony but you. Though we shall not wed, it will be like an oath to me. For the first time in my life, and last for that matter, I am a claimed stallion. I am yours.”

Embertouch smiled a warm smile, indulging in their final truly private moment before returning to the rest of the world that demanded a sternness of her, leaning close and touching her nose to Starswirl’s own. “And I swear myself as your claimed mare, Bastard. I shall remain yours alone.”

Even now they didn’t say it out loud, only sharing a soulful stare with their noses pressed together for a long moment before separating to stare at the stone door.

Starswirl settled his hat on his head and they took one more moment of quiet, remembering all they had accomplished, all they had done, all they had known within the hidden sanctum. How much they gained, and how much they sacrificed.

Knowing they had done their part in order to save the future, they were able to accept all that had taken place, regardless of the pain it brought.

They stepped through the door so all signs of their time here could vanish from history.

But they would not forget.

Prologue 2: Rise and Fall (edit: 3/26/2015)

Author's Notes:

Edit 7/8/2015: Moved the foreword stuff to a separate chapter so it's not bogging down the Prologue so badly. Much cleaner.

About one week ago...

"I know I say it every time, but you're crazy doing things like this, V. Crazy and weird. Still can't figure out why you love running off into the woods just for training and tooling around with your six stringer, or even just for reading. Remind me again why I haven't stopped agreeing to drive you out here?" His long-time friend said, looking just as exasperated as last time.

Try as he might to explain, his friend just couldn't see it the same as he did. V chuckled, giving him a slap on the shoulder, "Could it be you worry too much, Barry? Or maybe because you secretly love me and wish you could keep me all to yourself at your house?"

He groaned, rolling his eyes and fighting the smile, "Yeah, and Cassie would have my balls on a kebab for giving her a headache with the funny stuff you always toss at her. She’s still convinced you had something to do with the dog getting hold of that rather... unique chewtoy. Got everything?"

V took one more inventory of his gear, always being careful before making the trek away from civilization...well, just a back road in this case. He had agreed to always double and triple check things for safety, taking another check of his phone's battery as he finished.

"And I still say it was random chance the dog got in your closet and walked into the party with that thing. Maybe you forgot to wash it or something? Anyway, seems I have everything in order. I have a great feeling about this time, too. Should be extra special. I'll see you in a few days. Thanks again for driving me like always, Barry. And we'll have to do some more work on that tree house for Adam next weekend. Why you agreed to build the boy a three room one is beyond me." V said, getting another roll of Barry’s eyes.

"Don't remind me. Can't go back on the promise I made to him though. Be safe, V. I'll see you here in four days." Barry said with a sigh.

"Just be sure not to expose Cassie the gassy to anymore of your legendary chili. I'd probably hear that way out here. Take care, Barry." V commented with a devious smirk.

Barry hid his face behind a hand with another groan, "You ever tell her you heard that and I'll disown you. I can only imagine how embarrassed she’d be to find out you were outside the window for that earful. Not to mention I’d probably be banned from the kitchen forever. You remember which hill got the cell reception, right?”

V laughed a bit, nodding but a hint of seriousness creeping in, “Yeah, made sure it’s marked on my map too. And like always, keep an eye out for my little lady if anything goes wrong.”

“You know I would, V. Sure you don’t need a hand getting all that stuff on?,” Barry asked as they gave each other a warm embrace like brothers.

Just giving a brief shake of his head, V gave him another grin, “I can handle it. Maybe I’ll even catch sight of Zecora this time!”

With a chuckle, Barry just shook his head as he walked back to his truck, “You and that pony baloney... See you later, V. Try not to get lost after the first tree!”

“Hey, we were kids! How was I supposed to know what direction I was going that day?!” V exclaimed, it was one of the few jabs Barry always had on him and was an inside joke between them after V was so lost in a book that he walked off a park trail without noticing. At the start of the trail, no less.

V watched him drive off with a wave before getting his pack and other things on. He really did have a good feeling about this trip and couldn’t wait to find a campsite to start his training again. Once V took a moment to savor the quietness of the woods around himself, he began the hike into the wilds that made him feel so alive.

***

A couple days ago...

“Everything seems in order, Tia. The tests all appear as we expected.,” Luna said in subdued excitement.

“Indeed. It is almost hard to believe we are nearly done with this task. And I am so happy to be working on one of our projects together again, Luna. It was never the same in this room without you,” Celestia replied, giving her sister a smile. She was happy it was just the two of them in their magic lab, free to drop protocol and politics for a while.

They went back to the reams of notes they had accrued during the creation of the artifact, having taken several centuries of gradual progress and they were one test away from completion. It was easy to forget they had worked so hard for the safety of their subjects after so long, only ever mentioning it between one another in their lab.

Celestia hoped they could soon turn to working on that curious liquid-to-plate transforming armor concept Luna had devised months before her banishment. There had been little time to consider and experiment with that idea beforehoof, nor could Celestia bear opening the ream of notes on it while Luna was gone.

“Dear sister, must you keep on that? It has been almost four years since my return. I know you missed me dearly. It’s fine now, truly,” Luna gave her sister a warm smile, appreciating the habit Celestia had gained in their private moments together.

“Perhaps it is simply a habit I do not wish to break, Lulu. Are we ready for the full trial?” Celestia asked, returning her sister’s smile with her own.

“I do believe we are, Tia. So many years in such a small artifact and so much riding on it succeeding in it’s purpose. The rest is to fate for we have done all we can.” Luna said, moving into position beside the stone platform where the artifact rested in the center.

Celestia stepped over to her own position, the two of them nodding briefly before they turned their gaze to the artifact that had taken so much effort and time in hopes of averting an uncertain future.

Their horns glowed with their magic, the small artifact rising into the air as the six crystal spires resonated around it. The complex, powerful spells within spires and artifact charged and light danced in the room as they finally brought it to it’s greatest potential…

A small, soundless shockwave suddenly rippled the air as their artifact vanished before their eyes.

“NO! What happened? Tia, can you feel it’s presence?!” Luna exclaimed, the heartbreak of failure clear in her voice as she began searching out the tracking spell it carried.

Celestia felt stunned, all the hard won progress had just fallen apart before their eyes as she began the desperate search, trying to detect the artifact’s presence after it disappeared, “I am searching but nothing so far! It couldn’t have simply ceased to exist, Luna! Are you faring better?”

Try as they might, as far as they pressed their magical search, not a hint of the artifact could be found. The two of them searched as far as they could extend their magic for over half an hour, hoping they merely missed the beacon that should have made it easy to locate. It was clear the object was either stolen from existence and ceased to be or vanished from their world.

The princesses sat side by side feeling numb while leaning together, absorbing the loss of so much work. The isolation spells and shields and wards they had placed, none of it had contained the artifact. Now it was gone as if it never existed, not a trace of it found. The heartbreak was tremendous.

“Tia, do you think we will have time to try again?” Luna finally asked in a quiet tone after several silent minutes.

Celestia draped her neck over Luna’s form, equally quiet in her reply, “I do not know. You are well aware it was uncertain when that future arrives. I suppose we have no option but to make another effort. We must be as prepared as possible.”

“Shall we put it aside for today? It will cloud our judgement to attempt to press onward after this loss.” Luna gave a heavy sigh as she returned her sister’s comforting affection.

They slowly rose and cleaned up some of the notes they had spread around earlier. They would need them for the second attempt and hoped they could discover the detail that caused the artifact to vanish. They could not let the future they saw come to pass unchallenged, no matter what it took.

As they walked out of their magic lab, a scroll appeared in the air beside Celestia. Hoping a letter from her faithful former student would lighten their mood, she opened it with a small smile as Luna watched with interest. The smile vanished an instant later to be replaced with horror.

“Luna! Assemble a team of pegasi Guards to follow me to Ponyville at once! Twilight is in the middle of a severe flux! I must go! NOW!” Celestia exclaimed, teleporting to a balcony nearby without having time for a reply and taking flight, angling for the small town as she pushed her flight magic to it’s fullest.

Luna performed her own teleport moments later, landing near the Guard barracks as she raced attend her sister’s dire need.

***

Yesterday...

“Master…”

The one that answered was looking over some of the reports from afield, the only light in the sizeable room was the candelabra on the table. Things were progressing well and the sisters still remained unaware of his movements or presence.

“What do you have to report, watcher?” the ‘Master’ asked in a neutral tone, turning his gaze to one of his agents. The somewhat deformed, jagged chitinous body showing an unusual changeling, altered to suit his requirements and cut from the hive’s influence. One of many captured and turned into useful tools, observers that could defeat the changeling detection spells in use around Equestria ever since that fool Chrysalis failed in her assault.

“The town you ordered under close surveillance has had a disturbance as predicted,” the unusual changeling raised it’s featureless gray eyes to his master.

“Give me the report,” the ‘Master’ told him, granting permission to speak without being killed.

A large shadowy quadrupedal form of...something...by the table of the ‘Master’ silently withdrew with an almost inaudible deep rumbling growl, disappointed by the display obedience.

“Master, four days ago Celestia rushed to Twilight Sparkle’s aid. A deeper investigation is expected to arrive no later than tomorrow regarding the signatures of this magical disturbance. Twilight Sparkle appears to have been struck by a powerful magic flux that gives strong signs of connection to the appearance of an armed but unarmored human. Preliminary report by the investigating mage after the first night of studying the location made her believe the human was also affected by the flux. Celestia or Luna are at their side at all times day and night. They look ready to remain so for the duration,” the unusual changeling said in an even tone.

“Hmm...the humans are cut off for at least another two thousand years or more. They wouldn’t have used their one allowed interference just to bring a human here,” the ‘Master’ mused to himself before speaking to the changeling again, “Watcher, did the mage report any signs of artifacts?”

“Yes, Master. The readings indicated there was an expended orb that suggested great power. She said it was drained, but that it bears signs of pre-dating Nightmare Moon, carrying the signature of both royal sisters. Both from before and recent.”

“I see…,” the ‘Master’ frowned in thought, “They are involved somehow. I am told their plans stretch back just as far as His. Watcher, return to your post. Your group will send me a weekly report from now on. Leave.”

The unusual changeling bowed before making a sharp turn and a swift exit from the darkened room.

A different shadowy form, one that walked on two legs, stepped up beside the ‘Master’ as it watched the door, a feral glee sounding from a deep voice, “I look forward to the day we are done with these games. I crave pony flesh again after so long. Their screams were just as delicious all those millennia ago. This human marks our having perhaps another year before we begin the campaign, does it not?”

“Remember whom you serve. You’ll get plenty to fill you in due time. You still need surpass your kindred for the right of the last ones at the end. They are of no interest to me,” the ‘Master’ growled, “If it is ten years more, you will wait or I will break you and let one of your kindred have your place. You would not be the first I consumed.”

The shadowy form made a submissive gesture with disdain. Though he was a prized lieutenant, he knew the limits on his eagerness being tolerated.

The ‘Master’ turned his eyes to the table of reports again, returning to looking them over. Troop levels of different nations. Events of note. The progress of careful, concealed subversions of minds for later. He would not rush, not with the rewards so vast upon success.

He would have everything in the end. Everything. In. Creation!

His voice was neutral as he put the eagerness away, he had seen the vision of what happened if he stormed through Equestria on his strength alone like he’d once planned instead of the plans he now took care to orchestrate one piece at a time, “They set their plans in motion over two thousand years ago. Before Discord’s reign, wherever he is. We will wait. They are bound by the rules just as we are. My patron pays His debt of violation by only advising me, with a ban on influence beyond mild words. Not even able to teach me new secrets. They will not squander their one permitted direct involvement. Whatever it is they are doing with this human, we must wait and see...”

Bk 1 Ch 1: Answer The Call, Enter A Coma

Author's Notes:

Hard to believe I've been working on this story and attendant verse for two years now, after starting with a random lark idea for 'human arrives this way' and going from there. When I'd first started, I hadn't done much of any creative writing in ten years. For whatever reason, I wanted to write MLP fanfiction several months after coming into the fandom. Life is weird sometimes.

Fans of this verse should keep this first book on their tracking list, as verse-wide update blogs are going to be linked to this first book. This includes announcing additional side stories along the way.

And speaking of additional stories, the verse has two at present:
The Wonderbolts Initiative - Focused on the Wonderbolts (obviously) and what pegasi are capable of. There's a rundown of pegasus flight magic, as well as a few little hints about the verse in a battle that Spitfire was involved in.

To Earn Our Equality - Ongoing story (Mar 8, 2016) - This is a complex story with other factors, but in short, TEOE is the tale of how earth ponies rose above being seen as lesser ponies by unicorns and pegasi, as well as some of the cultural shifts that made it possible for the three tribes to eventually unite. Updated mostly in alternation with Protecting Harmony until the story is completed.

Editing provided by: stupidhand14
Major revision fix: Mar 9, 2016

“I see you have woken up again. Feeling a little stronger than last time, I presume?”

The first thing I noticed upon my return to the waking world was the now familiar feminine voice of one of my two mystery visitors, and the only other company I’ve had for my short waking moments, other than doctors or nurses. The second thing I noticed was how sluggish and weak I felt, which had become unpleasantly normal of late, when I attempted to shift around a little in hopes of reducing the stiffness in my body from being in one position for too long. I didn’t bother attempting to sit up.

My response, while steady, was a little slow and tired. “Somewhat… At least my arms don’t feel like they weigh as much as a house this time. Hope I actually stay awake longer, too. Each time does feel a little longer than before.” However small, I was glad I could discern some improvement, though there was still no change to the white blur of my vision. Troubling and unnerving as that was, I recalled being told it was temporary.

The biggest question hanging before me was how I had been injured or sickened in the first place. I couldn’t recall anything that could explain me getting hurt in some way, much less why I was in a hospital. Or the tremendous sense of exhaustion I felt whenever I did wake up for a time. It also didn’t help that I couldn’t recall more than bits and pieces of anything said from one conscious period to the next, though that too was steadily improving, if only by small steps each time. I had no idea who my two consistent visitors were, assuming they’d previously introduced themselves in the first place.

“Your recovery pattern suggests you should remain conscious for a reasonable length this time. You appear to be doing well enough, so perhaps you might tell me what happened before you found yourself here. Anything you might tell us of what you remember, no matter how inconsequential events may have seemed up to a few hours before you woke up here, would help us start figuring out what has taken place. Even the boring everyday details may help, so please do not hesitate to to share anything that comes to mind,” came the soothing tones of my mysterious visitor. Whomever she was, at least she was easy on the ears. Knowing my luck, that lovely voice of hers probably included her being older than me, hot enough to be a centerfold, and married.

Not like landing in a hospital was going to change my luck in love all of a sudden. At least my exes got to be happy together after the breakup five years ago, once they stopped feeling guilty for it. My end of things, I just never seemed to make any headway myself since, until I finally got fed up and took a break from trying last year. Wish I knew what kept making me feel like something was off or missing every time, but I stopped letting my mind wander and focused back on the present.

“Last few hours I can remember… I suppose you’ll be interested in the weird stuff too, even though I know it’s going to sound strange. I’m still questioning things myself, and the second part still doesn’t even make sense to me,” I said in the same tired voice, then took a deep breath before I began. “I was just starting my hike into some deep woods on a four-day weekend…”

As I breathed in the air of the undisturbed natural surroundings I was slowly making my way through, I let my mind wander to why I felt the need to take these trips so much. By most people’s standards, Barry was right; I am weird. Though that never did much to discourage me from the things I decided to do in anything else I did, either.

The forest air was comfortably cool beneath the shade of the trees, streaks of sunlight visible around me as it filtered through leaves and branches. The soft muffled crunching under my combat boots and the gentle rustle of my gear played against the chirping birds. A slight whispering breeze was blowing, causing strands of my long brown hair wander. My left hand was resting comfortably on the pommel of the broadsword hung at my side Though it was partly for protection in case I ran into anything that might actually want to harass me, it was primarily for practicing forms, drills, and cutting once I settled in at a place to camp. I also had a three-section staff holstered on my right thigh, and while it might have better reach I could never decide how much help it would be in an actual fight. The three-section staff might be fun, but the reliability of a sword in a practiced hand was as versatile as it was dangerous.

Rolling my shoulders, I shifted the weight of my pack and acoustic guitar case. With most of the weight attributed to the books in my pack, the guitar did little to offset my balance. Still hadn’t decided what kind of magic I wanted to practice on this trip, but at the very least I would take time for a few rituals to commune with nature. Though I had barely started and knew there was a couple hours of hiking ahead of me, the forest already felt happy and welcoming, like it was glad I had come. Perhaps some time in meditation after making camp would give me hints as to why that feeling kept slowly getting stronger.

High above the trees, the sky was clear. The forecast called for clear weather the whole trip, so I shouldn’t need to worry about rain or storms. The black with yellow highlights of the kung fu uniform I was wearing, my school’s cantonese emblem over my heart and across my back, was at odds with the combat boots and beat up old brown fedora I wore. Of course, I did have my kung fu shoes tucked away in my pack for later once I’d made camp, as they weren’t exactly well suited for hiking into forested mountain terrain.

My wandering thoughts shifted to a mental checklist for a moment, once more reviewing the rest of of my gear. I would try to gather some edible plants, but I had four MREs to provide a base for meals. The two extra uniforms, a small tent and sleeping bag, first aid kit and compass formed the basics. Aside from the books I brought, there was also a blank notepad and my smartphone with a solar charger so I had a GPS if necessary. While I wouldn’t have much real use for my phone out here, the onboard GPS was a safety for Barry to give to rescue services in case something happened and I didn’t show up at the scheduled pickup spot in a few days.

Everything I would have needed to bring was there. My mind then wandered into where I’d be making camp and…

A faint question from my mysterious visitor made me pause. If the oddity hadn’t caught my attention, I probably would have ignored it. A quick query for clarification made me more confused.

“Why no food or water? What is GPS or an MRE? What is a smartphone?” My sightless eyes blinked in her general direction.

“Huh… Well, I did have a canteen of water on me, I just neglected to mention it. Part of the challenge for myself was knowing where to obtain more water in the wild. MRE just stands for Meal Ready to Eat and was developed for the military. It’s a compact, easily portable meal that won’t spoil. Even has a special pouch you just add water to and it can even heat itself. Assuming I get all my gear back after this hospital stay finally ends, I can show you one if you want.”

“I would appreciate that.” She gave a soft hum and I imagined her nodding. “What about your ‘GPS’ and ‘smartphone’ things?”

I frowned at the lack of such basic awareness. “Kinda figured everyone knew about those by now. Explaining it all would take a while, so for now I’ll just say the GPS on my smartphone is an advanced tracking system able to pinpoint my location to within a few paces from anywhere in the world, so long as I was above ground. If I got hurt on the trip, a rescue team could find me pretty fast that way.”

After what I figured had been around three hours or so of hiking in the direction I felt interested in going, I began to ponder if I’d end up in a spot I’d camped before, or if I’d wander to a new spot. At the same time, I caught on to the earlier nagging sense of the forest around me, that it was aware and glad I had come, had now grown much stronger. Now, it held a distinct urge behind it, and I realized that I’d been following that whisper of guidance since I started my hike.

While part of my magical practice for the trip was listening carefully to my intuition, everything I felt from the forest and from within, the feel was growing easier to follow. Unlike what I’d usually felt before, it was an almost clear feeling of direction now. A smile came to my face as the realization grew; knowing this trip was looking better than ever now. In the past, the more clear my intuition got, the more fulfilling my time would be, and so I focused on it with even more direct intent than before, eager to start learning why I felt it.

The more I focused on the faint sense of direction I was getting, and the further I hiked along, the stronger it became. It wasn’t long before I could no longer say it was faint, or merely an urge. As time passed, it grew into a rising need that was making my curiosity dance to it’s tune, feeling almost compelled to follow where I was being led. Though I’d felt powerful moments of guidance in the past, this had far surpassed anything I’d ever felt before, and over the next few minutes, it only grew stronger and clearer than ever. It was almost like descriptions out of some of the fiction stories I liked to read, and I had to know what was calling to me now, even as I reminded myself to proceed with caution.

Remembering the general lay of the land from my map, I realized it was leading me towards a slope-sided ravine I hadn’t visited before. Without a reason to resist, I made my way down into the ravine with care, feeling a growing excitement over the still rising sensation. And if it was a strong feeling before, the moment I reached the bottom of the ravine, it was like a wave crashing into me. It was so intense, I could almost see a metaphorical line to follow in the air before me.

As I went around a curve in the ravine less than a hundred feet later, I was surprised to see a faint glow ahead. Part of me wanted to run towards it with how strong the urge had become, but my wariness was reaching new highs at the same time as I knew such an event had to have power behind it. I really wouldn’t want to deal with getting bespelled, or kidnapped by a faeries or something of a similar nature, unlikely as it was. And that was assuming mere mischief by the Seelie types. I didn’t think I was sensing any of their tricks, assuming what I understood of the legends held true, nor would their kind be so interested when I was wearing cold iron. Hmm, talking to a wood nymph or other friendly creature could be fun though. This whole experience had me running everything I knew of magical creatures and effects, trying to ascertain some idea of what I was experiencing.

When I finally came up to the source of the glow, I saw what looked to be a small crystalline orb of some kind. Kneeling down to take a closer look, I noticed it was unnaturally polished, smooth and clean. Around the size of a small orange, the perfectly smooth translucent surface appeared to drift almost imperceptibly between pale pastels, holding no pattern or form as the colors mingled and changed like watching clouds shift in the sky.

Pausing to inspect the surroundings as I mentally pushed the orb’s call aside for a minute, I noted there were no trails in sight. No evidence of any creature’s passing the spot where the orb rested upon the ground, save my own. Even the small dry leaf it was resting on looked undisturbed, as if the orb was placed with slow care. Barring any other reasons, the lack of any dust from the forest around me said it couldn’t have been present more than a few hours or so at most. All that was left was deciding to pick it up or not, kneeling there for a minute as I considered what was in front of me. The earlier sensation of guidance was still ringing through me, drawing me straight to the orb even from right beside it.

Though natural wariness of the unknown tempted me to simply get up and walk away, my curiosity was perhaps a bit louder. I stretched out a hand and held it close to the orb, but not yet touching it. Closing my eyes and focusing my inner senses, I tried to gather an impression. Sometimes such methods give me a good idea how to answer simple questions like I was now facing. I could pick it up, or leave it alone. A yes or no.

The sensation I got from the orb though… It was…

In a way, it was like the pull of a magnet. A distinct sense of an almost irresistible pull telling me to grab hold of the orb. Strong enough that it was unsettling the more I considered it. At the same time, the longer I spent trying to get a sense of the thing, the stronger the urge became, even as a separate nudge whispered beneath the first. It was like a soft pleading. Not too unlike the emotional sense you get when someone you know really needs help. And it was somehow seeking my specific help for whatever reason. It really didn’t make much sense at all to me.

Withdrawing my hand, I simply stared at the orb for a minute as I weighed what I knew in my head. It was in many ways the experience of a lifetime already. Even if I walked away, I would never forget this moment. The orb radiated magical energies with a strength I had never believed possible on Earth anymore, if stories, myths, and legends were to be believed. The urge to pick it up was yet another factor, and I had to ask why it felt like it wanted me, specifically, to put my hand on it.

I shook myself of that line of thinking after a moment, knowing it was just going to poke at the old wounds. Scanning my eyes carefully around the area once again for something to focus on, I took a few slow breaths. There was still the hanging question and choice before me.

Kneeling there, staring again at the orb, I realized I was trapped from the moment I saw it. It was just too interesting an item for me to leave behind. Nor did I want to look back and regret not taking a chance at what could start me on an interesting adventure as I attempted to figure out the properties of the orb. Having made up my mind, I reached down to pick it up.

It was just as my hand closed around the orb and I began to lift it from the ground, when a massive surge of energy slammed through me with all the force of a tidal wave.

“...and then I bloody blacked out.” I finished with the same sense of bewilderment I’d had since the experience in the woods. It should be an impossibility on Earth, yet that was what I recalled.

Taking moment between the parts I remembered before waking up here, I slowly reached a hand out to a cup of water I knew would be there on a tray beside my be from prior conscious periods. While I assumed the bulk of my body’s requirements were being taken care of by the IV in my arm, my throat was still feeling parched. Despite it just being a cup of water though, my hands were beginning to tremble by the time I set it back down. It was rather unsettling to feel so weak and exhaust so easily for however long it had been since I was hospitalized. I hate feeling powerless.

Blinking my sightless eyes that could only see the difference between light and dark, I was also limited to my sense of touch and hearing for the most part. The doctor did say I would regain my sight within the next day or two, if my sense of time was tracking things right. Still thought it odd that he claimed it was essentially a residual magic effect, the medical jargon he used already forgotten, but after the experiences I’d had before waking up here, I figured it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibilities until I could get a more concrete explanation. Add in trying to get my strength back, and I just lacked the energy to really question it.

Despite that acceptance, there was also something quite strange going on with the hospital I was in. One of the more notable oddities was my two regular visitors, clearly not medical staff themselves, being referred to by the staff as ‘your highness’ when addressed. I also didn’t know why my two visitors gave me the strong impression of being equally interested in the roommate I seemed to have. Was there some kind of accident behind all this and someone else involved? Nor could I figure out why one of them was present around the clock without fail, with a vague sense they were trading shifts with sunrise and sunset.

The strange cadence of footfalls I kept hearing, the faint clopping sounds as the staff moved about or whenever someone walked around the room, and always in odd pairs, such things were just background noise I hardly noticed now. By this point, I was just chalking up the weird events to the drugs I was sure to be on, or something of that nature. So long as they weren’t the freaky kind, having some hallucinations might even be kind of entertaining. Half of the weirdness was probably just that.

My two visitors themselves though, something about their voices rang a bell that I couldn’t seem to place. While I didn’t recognize their voices specifically, they seemed familiar in some way. I wish I could remember them introducing themselves or their names. They also seemed rather kindhearted and patient with me as I remembered just bits and pieces of previous conversations with them between periods of deep sleep.

We began to speak with some regularity once I started staying awake more than a minute at a time. It was only the conscious period I’d had this morning, the most recent time I’d been awake prior to the present, that I was told I’d gone into a coma six days ago. For the better part of the last two, I’d been in and out of consciousness, with gradual increases in the time I was awake, according to what I’d been told.

Since they had been very patient and polite, and it wasn’t like I had anything else to do, I readily agreed to answer their questions to the best of my ability. At least, so long as I didn’t pass out in the middle of a conversation like I suspect I’ve done a few times.

With the first part of what I recalled now conveyed, I gathered my memories ahead of relating the second, even stranger part of what came after blacking out in the forest.

Were it not for a lack of energy and motivation, I would have rubbed at my temple due to the very unusual sort of headache I’d had every time I woke up. Taking a slow, steadying breath against the encroaching weariness I felt, I let the words flow out again. “Next thing I can remember, I’m slowly coming around, though my mind felt like mud. Took me a bit just to realize it was a strong wind whipping my hair about…”

Why is the wind blowing so strong against my back? I wouldn’t be standing after being unconscious. Am I sleepwalking in a storm somehow? Angle is… Huh, back and head are lower than my legs. Falling? Hard to think right now. I wasn’t anywhere high. How did my hat not fall off?

Strange. Falling like this is really bad. Nothing wants to move. Eyes won’t open. Feel so groggy. Am I about to die? Maybe I already did and this is transition? Kind of scary, yet panic seems like so much work right now. Shouldn’t I feel more fear from falling?

Must have been real high up to fall this long. High altitude maybe? Don’t really feel hot or cold, just the rushing wind. Should I try to calculate the distance based on fall time? Nothing else to…

A sudden gasp reached my ears from not far away. It reminded me of a young woman by the sound it.

Moments later, I felt myself starting to slow down. At the same time, what was at first a gentle, soft pressure against my skin was quickly growing to an immense pressure from my own inner self as the pressure outside of me began to rush in, coupled with a swiftly growing scrambled sensation. In no time at all, I felt like my body and soul were made of dough or batter and things were being mixed together. Somehow, it all felt like the gathered parts didn’t want to mix together at first. While the strange sensations gave no pain, it was extremely uncomfortable and unsettling.

A short time later, I felt myself settle gently on the ground, limp form draped atop my guitar case and backpack. Had I been able to move, I would have rolled out of the uncomfortable position, yet it was trouble enough just keeping myself aware of my surroundings as much as I was without passing out the rest of the way again.

The sound of a young woman’s voice rang out in distress, possibly the same as the gasp I’d heard. Her tone was fearful as she seemed to shuffle along the ground before a muffled thump suggested she had collapsed. At first, I would have sworn she was speaking a foreign language, but it was one I’d never heard anything like it before. All the while, the scrambled sensations continued to worsen.

By this point, I noticed I was starting to slip away towards unconsciousness again. A clear thud of something of at least modest size impacting the ground nearby was immediately followed by second young woman’s voice, much scratchier than the first and sounding full of worry. She asked someone named ‘Twilight’ what was wrong and why she’d collapsed. Why did both seem vaguely familiar?

As I sank further away into unconsciousness, I heard ‘Twilight’ quietly groan something I couldn’t make out. The second woman quickly replied she was on it, followed by the sudden sound of flapping wings quickly vanishing like my awareness.

“...and that’s everything I can recall before I started this bloody up and down here in this hospital. Probably wouldn’t have even been able to recall that much if I wasn’t used to meditative trances and knowing how to keep focused in that kind of mental state. If anything else comes to mind, I’ll let you know. Hope it helps, weird as it all seems to me. Could be hallucinations from whatever drugs are in my system.” My breath was a bit labored by now. “Please excuse me… Exhaustion is catching up again…”

Despite only talking for a few minutes, I felt drained and like I could sleep for a year by the time I was done. With the feel of my impending blackouts annoyingly familiar by now, I just shifted a little into a more comfortable position in the hospital bed and closed my sightless eyes.

“That is quite alright. We can speak more tomorrow, if needed. The remainder of the magical flux should hopefully be finished running it’s course by then, as well.” My mystery visitor responded in the same gentle tones as always. “I am actually rather surprised at how helpful this has been, to be honest. We were expecting far less information to help us understand what happened. For now though, please attend your rest.”

My only response was a weak nod. The further curious mention of magic just an afterthought to my mind for now, expecting some sort of more normal medical sciency explanations once I had recovered enough, like always happens on Earth.

As my mind began to fade, the strangeness of the situation made me think of my parents, the way they seemed to have vanished, which was still an unsolved mystery. The memory always seems to come to mind when something weird happens in my life. Their car had gone off a bridge, yet there was no sign of them. Though I was adopted at birth, I couldn’t have asked for better than they had been to me. With no proof either way, it still felt easier in a way to tell myself they died, rather than abandoned me at seventeen for whatever reason. Despite the years, I still felt the sting of loss.

When I added in the head games I went through after that by falling in with a bad crowd, not thinking clearly from the loss, it had been a very difficult time in my life.

Soon after that bit of memory flitted across my mind, the rising sleepiness ahead of deep slumber was quick to overtake me like a soothing blanket once more.

Bk1 Ch 2: Awake Enough To Be Startled (edit 3/27/2015)

Author's Notes:

Edit 3/27/2015: More thorough review and edit. A few tweaks.

Apart from a few brief moments of disturbed sleep, when I was able to be woken, from hospital staff checking in on my roommate and myself, I seemed to have woken somewhere around mid-afternoon the next day. The first thing I can say I noticed was a rather unexpected splitting headache.

With a groan, I stretched myself some and found my strength was, to my surprise, almost back to normal, though I did feel like I’d gone without food for a couple days. Before checking my eyesight, I went through various muscles and joints, loosening up after a few days of next to no strength to move at all. Giving my eyes a rub, I tried cracking them open. I was thankful to find I could see again as I looked at the bedsheet covering me, though I was sensitive to the brightness like stepping outside into the midday sun.

The same regular visitor that had asked what I could remember spoke up, “I see you have at last awoken. Your eyes are now clear, I presume?”

Turning towards my visitor, my mouth froze before I could speak. I instead managed a startled gasp as I experienced a rather unexpected sight and reflex. Springing backwards away from my visitor in shocked surprise and finding myself falling right off the hospital bed.

It would have been a most unpleasant meeting between the floor and my head but I inexplicably found myself stop mid-air before moving back to the bed with a soft landing. What thoughts I’d had before about being loopy were now questions of severe hallucinations and going crazy.

My visitor wasn’t human.

Not only that, but it was a pony. And as if that wasn’t enough already, it wasn’t a random pony but bloody hells, it was Princess Celestia herself!

Her long and flowing mane and tail looked just as impressive as I would have expected. The colors were clear in their definition, though they blurred from one to the next instead of sharp lines from one soft pastel ribbon to the next. It was so much like a living aurora borealis that carried on in it’s weaving and wafting on an unfelt breeze. There were more delicate details and engraving across her crown and other adornments than I’d ever known. Her entire being exuded more elegance and grace as a whole than any living being I’d ever seen. I could only stare dumbfounded as I tried to process the sight before me, only brought out of my stupor when she spoke again.

“You needn’t worry, strange and unknown as you are. You are safe and well cared for here. Allow me to give a proper introduction, now that you are all but fully recovered. I am…,” she paused with a look of confusion when I held up a hand.

“Princess Celestia, literal bringer of the sun. Your sister, Princess Luna controls the moon and the two of you rule Equestria. Your niece, Princess Cadence, rules the Crystal Empire and Princess...Twilight… Wait a second…”

Celestia took a turn at looking shocked as I now turned to my hospital roommate. My disbelief only growing when I saw just who was slumbering in the other bed. None other than Princess Twilight Sparkle lay on her back, her horn and wings visible despite the sheet laying over her as her forehooves rested over her barrel.

In utter disbelief, I laid back down and rubbed my eyes again, mumbling to myself about hallucinations or weird dreams from eating Thai food before bed or something. Celestia seemed to hear my confusion.

“I’m afraid that you are not hallucinating, nor are you dreaming. You will have to wait until you are released from the hospital before my sister or I will discuss what we have gathered so far about how you got here,” she said in a quiet tone, pausing a moment before continuing, “Perhaps then you can also tell us how you know of Equestria at all, let alone names and positions and whatever else you know already.”

Uneasy with the way things were going, I opened my eyes to gaze at her, “We are gonna have a ton of things to talk about, aren’t we?”

Celestia gave a graceful nod, unease was present on her features in turn.

After a pause, Celestia made a polite inquiry, “You seem rather calm, considering your initial reaction to the present situation. Might I ask why that is, considering you are not even in your own world right now?”

Giving her a nod, I attempted to give her a straightforward answer to such a deceptively complex question, “While I am extremely confused and worried I’m going nuts right now, I tend to be pretty calm in crazy situations. Partly due to my regular meditation efforts. As you just found out, I knew who you were and about Equestria already. What else I know says you are no danger to me and might even try to help me if you thought it appropriate. Just...trying to process everything right now and a panic isn’t going to help anything, if it didn’t just make it more difficult to begin with. And that’s before taking into account my going in and out of consciousness for a few days. I had a little time to at least take in the fact I’m in the hospital for something serious.”

Princess Celestia nodded, “That is fair enough. As you seem friendly so far, I will also let you know that once my former faithful student awakens, the doctor should be able to discharge you both. We can begin discussing the present situation after both of you can move to a more private location.”

“That’s fine with me, your highness. And for lack of knowing who did what, I thank you for whatever assistance you have provided since my sudden arrival and subsequent…,” I waved a hand around for a moment at my current state, “Um...medical needs.”

“You are most welcome. It was what was necessary, although when we talk later I will go into further detail about what happened while you were unconscious. I am glad you seem well-mannered,” the Princess gave me a small smile with an incline of her head.

Before anything else could be said, Princess Twilight began to stir with a groan in a fashion similar to my own awakening just minutes earlier. She gave a quiet whimper and I guessed she felt the same as I had.

Going off my gut feeling, I asked, “Let me guess...migraine?”

“...ugh. I feel like a hangover, so yes. Who are you though? And why am I in a hospital?” Twilight said after a long pause. She was holding a foreleg over her eyes, unaware of those in the room.

“Aside from the migraine, how are you feeling, my dear Twilight?” Princess Celestia inquired.

After a moment, Twilight sprang into a sitting position as her eyes popped open to look at Princess Celestia, then noticed me a moment before letting out a small cry of pain and folded over with her hooves held to her head, groaning in misery.

I winced in sympathy, “You should keep it slow until the headache fades. I still have one from when I woke up too. You should have some water nearby. Might help.”

Twilight gave a quiet grunt in acknowledgement. Moving slow and careful, she took a long drink of her water once her head calmed back down. My own headache was fading out at a steady rate, thinking perhaps it was just my imagination when it appeared to worsen a tiny bit when Twilight woke and sat up in such a hurry. With so many crazy occurrences already, I was a little uncertain what was related to what. For the most part, I was settling on approaching it all like it was just a really weird dream for the time being.

It was then I noticed the billowing golden aura around Princess Celestia’s horn. Considering it was past morning and still not that close to evening, she wouldn’t be dealing with the sun at all and it made me curious enough to ask, “Your highness, might I ask what you are working magic on? It’s nowhere near sunrise or sunset as far as I can tell.”

She stared at me in silence for a long moment, looking like she was caught off guard by the question. I would sear I saw mixed emotions on her face. Frustration, concern, joy, worry, relief...fear? After a pause, she spoke with a quiet sigh, “You will need to wait until after we have left the hospital. Much shall be explained then. You also have not introduced yourself yet. Might I have your name?”

Giving myself a mental kick for that little social flub, I cleared my throat and replied, “It has been a strange experience thus far, your highness. My apologies. My full name is Vojin Barloc Drayce. A bit unusual, I know. I had some creative parents. You are welcome to call me Vojin. It is an honor to meet you, Princess Celestia,” I inclined my head in respect to her as I finished introducing myself.

“Very well, Vojin. It is good to meet you as well. I have heard many names over the course of my long life. Even some human ones, in fact. That is an interesting one. Does it have any particular significance, by chance?”

After a moment of thought, feeling a little embarrassed at the meaning of my name according to what my parents had said of it years ago, I replied as I scratched at the back of my neck through my long hair, “Well...it means something along the lines of ‘peaceful warrior dragon of love and hope’ when I asked my parents years ago. As I said, they were creative. They never answered why before they passed. Just told me that I would discover it for myself someday.”

As I said the meaning of my name, the flash of emotion on Princess Celestia’s face was momentary, yet it seemed to show a clear sign of surprised elation, however brief it was. I had no idea why my name or it’s meaning would cause that response. Just one more question to ponder for a growing list.

“You are right, you did have rather creative parents. Now, while we wait for the doctor to arrive, how do you feel? Much better, headache aside I hope?” she inquired.

“Even the headache seems mostly muted now. Feels like I haven’t got much fuel in my system and need a good meal, but otherwise I appear to be at least feeling somewhat normal again, your highness.”

Princess Celestia turned her eyes to Twilight. As I looked over, she was sitting up again, eyes open now. Celestia had a note of genuine worry in her voice, “How are you doing now, Twilight?”

Twilight seemed to be much better off, giving a brief yawn, “I feel much better than the past few days, although I’m still feeling a bit tired. With how strong that flux was at first, I’m a little surprised how normal I’m feeling now, even though I woke up from that coma I think three days ago and couldn’t see anything for the few minutes I managed to stay awake each time since. I had been expecting more of an effect. I hope I didn’t worry you too much, Princess…” Twilight’s ears folded back as she gave her mentor a somewhat ashamed look.

“I admit I was quite fearful for your safety when I got that note from Spike, asking I get to Ponyville with all haste and that you had said something about severe magical flux. After some time studying the event though, Luna and I were both greatly relieved it was not a more dangerous one. While we remain uncertain as to why both you and Vojin were quick to worsen if separated by more than twenty feet. All my sister and I, or the doctors of this hospital, have been able to gather is this flux event appears to have linked the two of you in some way. We do not know how or why currently. I do know there appears to be some sort of feedback between the two of you. Before you both woke up, you would grow better or worse in unison, in addition to my detecting magical energy drifting between the two of you. We will discuss this in more detail later when we get to your library,” Princess Celestia said at a measured pace.

I could only listen to their conversation. I was confused already and now had still more to process. Why would Twilight and I have some sort of magical link between us? It was obvious enough that I wasn’t anywhere near as capable in magic as she was. I didn’t even know what a magic flux was in the first place. Nor could I see any reason she would want to cast a spell to do such a thing when we had never met. My train of thought paused as Twilight spoke again.

“Well Princess, all I can remember is being rather shocked to see a mythical human of all things falling out of the sky while I was on my way to visit Rainbow Dash for lunch at her house. It was immediately obvious he was asleep or otherwise incapacitated, let alone having no means to fly. I dove after him as I tried catching him with a simple levitation spell. I have no idea what happened but it didn’t feel right at all as my magic started to waver. At first, I ignored it and just tried to get him safely down to the ground but by the time I set him down, I was dizzy and almost unable to fly. It seemed like the moment I got on the ground, the strength to even stand seemed to be draining out of me but the levitation spell wouldn’t stop. For some reason, I couldn’t cancel my magic and continued to weaken until I collapsed. I realized it was some kind of magical flux but didn’t have time to evaluate anything. Rainbow Dash landed beside me seconds later asking what was wrong. She must have seen him falling or my collapsing on the ground. It was all I could do to tell her to have Spike send you an emergency message immediately. I could only tell her to tell you it was a severe magic flux and you needed to get to Ponyville as fast as you could. I barely heard her agree and take off before I passed out,” Twilight seemed to shudder a bit at the memory. She had been about to say more after a pause but Princess Celestia held up a hoof.

“Please wait until we reach the library before discussing this further, Twilight. There are parts of this that are quite sensitive and need to remain known only to those involved,” Celestia said in a soft tone. Twilight just nodded in response.

I didn’t know what was meant by magical flux, but from the sound of things it must be some sort of dangerous occurrence. What kind of danger I could only guess at, so I would have to wait until we arrived at Twilight’s home for answers.

It was quiet in the room for a minute, none of us having anything else to say in the moment. I noticed Princess Celestia’s horn wasn’t glowing anymore and still had no clue what she had been casting before. The silence was broken when the doctor, I assumed the one handling Twilight and myself, opened the door and strolled in. He gave a bow to Celestia before turning to us.

“I see you are both awake now. Aside from a bit of exhaustion, you both appear to be in good health. I expect you woke up with migraines but they should pass within the hour. Be sure to have a meal soon as well. We were unable to keep any IV or other medical tool connected to the two of you while you were comatose, though we observed no deterioration in your condition. It was a magical flux and unpredictable at the best of times but it seems to have kept both of you hydrated and nourished until the coma ended and we were able to hook you both up properly. Princess Celestia has already attended the necessary parts of discharging you both after informing us you would be healthy enough to leave upon waking, so we have no reason to delay you long. A nurse will be in shortly to tend to your IVs and monitors, as well as provide you with a small meal. After that, you’re free to go,” the unicorn doctor spoke in a mild voice, some amazement in his expression but otherwise appeared to view it as routine as he made his rounds. He gave another bow to Princess Celestia before heading out the door.

What happened to Twilight and myself was making me feel even more anxious. A different world, ponies, magic flux stuff, a coma for days and Equestria was supposed to be just fiction. The looming discussion was going to prove strange and revealing for all of us.

Bk 1 Ch 3: Explained Extractions, Unknown Reasons (edit 3/29/2015)

Author's Notes:

Edit 3/29/2015: Substantial revision and clean up of the entire chapter.

A nurse brought a small meal for us, some sort of dense veggie mush near as I could tell. It was rather bland. She took care of getting us out of the hospital within a couple minutes after we finished eating. I was thankful someone had brought my clothes back in and I tucked behind a curtain to get out of the oversized hospital gown that was I think meant for minotaurs. I donned my favorite hat once we got outside, just a simple old brown waxed cotton fedora.

The trip to the library was rather quiet and I spent most of the time looking around in bewilderment at everything around me. Taking in the views of Ponyville in a way far different from watching it was quite an experience. Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight Sparkle said little in that time, walking side by side just ahead of me as I followed behind.

There were half a dozen royal guards with us as well, keeping a buffer between us and the local residents. It seemed a little strange to have extra guards keeping others from approaching our little procession, but I assumed Princess Celestia had a reason for it. It might have even been because I was human, though I really had no idea either way.

I could see the various ponies in varying states of surprise and curiosity as they saw our group going by. Most seemed to stop what they were doing as we passed. if humans were supposed to be only myth here, I figured seeing one walking by without warning, escorted by guards and two of Equestria’s princesses no less, it would be quite a sight. Then again, it could just be the fact Princess Celestia was walking through town without any obvious reason.

When we reached the library, we wasted no time in slipping inside. I noticed my gear sitting in a corner of the main room to my pleasant surprise. My backpack, guitar and weapons all seemed to be there, safe and sound at a glance. I figured I’d check on them later. The guards took up posts outside around the door as Princess Celestia closed it once the three of us were inside.

Celestia seemed to close her eyes a moment, taking a slow breath before looking at both Twilight and myself before speaking in a gentle but firm tone, “What we discuss here cannot be repeated to anypony. Twilight, that includes your friends and Spike. Certain parts of what has transpired are have dangerous potential should it reach the wrong ears. It could also lead somepony into serious danger. As such, I ask you swear to secrecy on this matter.”

Twilight was quick to respond, looking back at Princess Celestia with a calm yet serious expression, “Of course, Princess Celestia. You know any secret you share with me is safe.”

Celestia turned to look at me for my response. I hesitated a moment, taking in the sense of what seemed to be a rather serious matter before us, though considering that I was taken from my own world not that long ago and rather literally dropped into Equestria, I could not imagine I had many choices on whom I might talk to anyway. Still, I placed a fist over my heart as I spoke, bowing my head to her, “I don’t know what’s going on but I swear to keep this between Princess Twilight Sparkle and myself unless you tell me otherwise. You have my word.”

With a nod, Celestia let out another small sigh, her eyes closing as she hung her head for a moment. When she opened her eyes again and looked up, she waved a hoof, “Please have a seat, both of you. I will tell you what Luna and I have learned so far about what brought about the magical flux even the two of you have experienced. Vojin, I can also tell you something about how you arrived here, though you must forgive me in not knowing exactly how it happened.”

I glanced at Twilight at the same time she glanced at me, both of us seeming to feel rather anxious about what we might here. There was a sense of quiet foreboding in the air as we settled on stools and let the Princess explain.

Celestia was quiet a moment, then speaking in a voice that seemed filled with conflicting emotions, she began, “As you both know, you were caught up in a most unusual magical flux event. The severity was most extreme and that tends to prove fatal for any affected individuals. It was fortunate that Spike informed me soon enough that I could rush down here to Ponyville in less than twenty minutes. I believe a few minutes longer and the flux would have destabilized you both beyond the point of survival as it was drawing close to physical manifestation. Had such happened, you would have been quick to succumb to the twisting effects of a physical flux state and...do forgive my bluntness, but it is best to be clear on this. It would have torn your bodies apart swiftly and left little recognizable substance behind.”

I was rather shocked to learn that. While I didn’t have much clue as to what this ‘magical flux’ even was, let alone it could be that terrifying, Twilight seemed to have a rather horrified look on her face. We remained silent as Celestia continued.

“Fortunately, I was able to direct the magic so it could move along the path it was trying to go. In all my many years, I have never once seen something of this particular nature take place. I do not know what kind of magic you carry within you, Vojin. All I can say is when Twilight used her levitation spell on you, your two magics were thrown out their normal balance upon meeting and initiated the flux. I do not yet know how such a thing could even take place.

“After I was certain you were stable enough that I no longer needed absolute focus, I sent two of my guards to get transportation to Ponyville Hospital. One was to remain and explain the situation so the hospital could best prepare. Due to the situation, I had to maintain my stabilizing spell in order to keep the fluctuating lines of magic from losing their position again. I hope that answers your earlier question, Vojin,” Celestia glanced at me as I gave her a nod.

“On the way to the hospital, it became apparent that you were both starting to deteriorate again. It was slight and slow, but it had appeared like the flux was worsening and the magical lines were losing their way entirely. If arriving at the hospital hadn’t happened so soon, again it might have proven too late, though this turned out to be tied to an odd discovery.

“It was soon after we got you to the hospital that I noticed by chance that when you were moved past each other that both of you appeared to return to a calmer state and as you were further separated, you both began to worsen. While I did not know why it happened, I had the hospital staff bring you closer again and gained a rough confirmation,” she looked back and forth between us, her eyes straying to Twilight more than they were directed at myself as she spoke. I could see the worry she had experienced written on her face and in her eyes despite trying to maintain a look of calm.

“We placed you in the same isolation room as a result and began various tests. Your energies were not unlike a river flowing in two opposing directions at once. We were thankful that everything indicated that so long as you were kept stable from my spell, you were both going to make a full recovery after an uncertain length of time. I did not expect it to last more than a week or so and it would be a matter of waiting it out. None of our various other treatments had any effect.

“We also discovered that no matter how much wrapping or binding was done, no needles or monitors would stay on either of you. Even when one nurse physically held an IV in your arm, Vojin, the needle seemed to shift back above your skin. In that instance, it did not even slide back but rather appeared to rise out of your skin lengthwise like a twig floating to the surface of a pool. A brief check found the same with you, Twilight. Even injections would pour right back out once the syringe was removed. We had no explanation for this almost unheard of phenomena and did not make further attempts until the two of you woke up at the exact same time with a shout like you had been startled. It was only a few seconds, but from that point on we saw the two of you were in a mere deep sleep and no longer comatose.

“It was clear by then you were reaching the end of the magical flux running it’s course. I expected another two or three days from there and it would be all but out of your systems. Luna and I needed only provide a little continuous assistance after that to keep your magics from straying off their paths.

“I am still concerned with how difficult it was to stabilize the two of you at first. Perhaps it was the uniqueness of your own magic, Vojin. Once I had sorted out how to balance the two of you, continuing to do so was not so difficult, though by no means was it a simple matter. The manner in which I had to balance the magical flux was in constant change, however slow it may have been, and shifted itself in an endless dance the entire time. Whatever has happened to both of you was tremendous and unprecedented,” Celestia paused, looking between Twilight and myself with a frown.

There was a lot for me to take in and we weren’t even done yet. I expected it was much the same for Twilight to a degree. Though the whole concept of this magical flux was foreign to me, it seemed to appear similar in some ways in my mind to getting one’s natural energy blocked or messed up. I knew from studying related subjects that chi energy, chakras, and one’s personal auric field could sometimes get scrambled or off the natural pathways and affect your health. If this situation was similar, I couldn’t even begin to imagine the level of power involved to induce physical manifestation that would damage and destroy the body. I found myself hoping to never learn about those effects beyond an explanation in a book.

I took a moment to look over at Twilight, seated a few feet from me. She was looking at the floor, a troubled expression on her face. With the amount of knowledge she had of magic, I could not even guess at what thoughts and explanations were going through her mind. She went through a couple expressions of deep thought before I looked back to Princess Celestia. She seemed ready to continue, letting out a quite exhale. From the corner of my eye, Twilight had looked up again.

Celestia seemed a bit weary but also more relaxed somehow. Her voice sounded a little more steady than before as she went on, “I am glad I can say that despite how serious the situation was at first, there seems to be little in the way of lasting ill effects to worry about. The tired feeling should pass with a good night’s sleep. As for the aforementioned link between the two of you however…,” she paused, looking like she was searching for the right words, “it...appears permanent. I do not yet know what that will mean for the two of you. Luna and I will be doing a bit of research within our private selection of spells known only to the two of us as we search for information of what this will mean. Twilight, as I am sure you are realizing, this is not in the realm of known unicorn magic, nor what you have already learned regarding alicorn magic either. Let Luna and myself sort it out as to it’s nature for now. You should focus on what you can learn about the connection you now share and what it is doing, rather than how it came to be. I believe you will find it plenty for you to explore.”

Twilight frowned at the idea of not getting to study something but trusted in Celestia’s guidance as she gave a nod, “I can do that, Princess Celestia. Right now there seems to be a sense of direction where...um,” she turned to me, waving a hoof in my direction and I realized we had yet to make proper introductions to each other. She turned back to Celestia, “Where Vojin is. And that observation is just part of my first impression. I’ll be sure to keep you informed with each new aspect I learn.”

I felt a need to speak up then, looking between them for a moment before keeping my eyes on Princess Celestia as I cleared my throat, “Uh...well… I am rather lost on everything that’s happening but Princess Twilight Sparkle is right. I have the distinct sense of direction, like knowing where she is without looking. I have nowhere near anything like the level of magic even the weakest unicorn might possess but from what I do know, it tells me this link is in part based in emotion as well as direction. From what I have studied back in my own world, we might be able to develop a capacity to read each other’s mood after time and practice. I will do what I can to assist Princess Twilight Sparkle in studying the link. Was there anything else about the magical flux and this link you need to tell us, your highness?” I noticed Twilight looking at me with open curiosity after I mentioned my own observations of the link and that I’d studied magic.

Celestia shook her head, “No. I believe that is all I need to say about it for now. I do however need to inform you of some things Vojin, in regards to how you have come to Equestria.”

Blinking a moment, I sat up a bit straighter, “Well I am quite interested, your highness.”

“Not long ago, on the same day you had gone into the forest when everything started...perhaps a few hours before you came to Equestria after discovering the orb you found, Luna and I had been trying some experiments relating to a safeguard we have been creating in secret for the future of Equestria,” she glanced at Twilight, “and before you ask, Twilight, this is something I am afraid I cannot share much about with you at this time.”

Twilight nodded with a faint pout, otherwise unmoving as Celestia continued.

“For lack of a better or more revealing description, we were trying to create an artifact that could summon somepony when they were needed and bring them to the royal palace in Canterlot upon my sister or myself directing it as such. We have been working on this particular artifact for well over a thousand years, though while Luna was banished it was on hold. Due to how it is meant to function and the requirements therein, it demands both of us to create despite only one of us to put it to use upon completion. We had been working on it again for a few months now and had thought we were all but finished with the task. All that remained was a bit of testing to confirm its viability,” she said in a soft tone, appearing to grow tense as she went on. Pausing for a long moment, her eyes turned to look onto me.

“After the first few small tests, everything appeared to perform as expected in our careful preparations. As I am sure you can guess, the final full test did not. Despite the isolation wards to prevent any extra influences upon or from the artifact as we ran it through it’s full capacity in a controlled process, it went beyond all our best efforts of containment. For reasons we are just starting to gather, the artifact vanished. It was not phased or teleported, for even the tracking spell we had imbued to make it’s location easy to trace...it vanished as it it never was. There was no sign of it in Equestria, the surrounding lands, nor anywhere upon Equus insofar as Luna or I could detect,” Celestia paused, her eyes still focused on mine as her voice grew softer, “It was less than an hour later that I received a message from Spike about Twilight experiencing a severe magical flux. So strong in fact, I could feel it radiating before I even entered Ponyville. And there I found you beside her, the artifact clutched in your hand.”

Celestia frowned, watching me in silence. I could only start at her in disbelief at what she just told me. I wanted to say something but felt at a loss for words. Celestia, along with Luna, were the cause of my appearing in Equestria. What was the reason for their creation of a powerful artifact meant to help protect their land? How could it have wound up on Earth right where I happened across it? What was she meaning by it would summon someone when needed? I hadn’t even had the chance to bring up how I knew about Equestria before I got here yet! My mind was racing as I struggled to keep my thoughts coherent.

Before I managed to get my thoughts in order enough to say something, Celestia spoke again, “I do not know how or why you found our artifact in your own world. Nor how it could have brought you to ours. As I already stated, it was intended to summon somepony when needed by my sister or myself in a time of danger. The spellwork is intricate and complex in addition to being of great power due to how it is meant to function. However, we did not envision it could manage to jump the dimensional rift between universes.”

I coudl only continue staring at her. At the same time, I heard Twilight trying to find words, guessing her level of shock was close to my own. I decided to just close my eyes, hands folding together with my extended index fingers against my chin in thought. I had been pulled not just to a different world, but a different dimension or universe. It was almost unfathomable to consider. Were the laws of physics even the same in this place?

I looked up at Princess Celestia as I cleared my throat again before asking, “Mind if I ask why you put that much power into that little orb?”

She turned back to me, staring into my eyes for long moments while wearing an unreadable expression before she said in a quiet tone, sounding almost regretful, “I am afraid I cannot tell you that, Vojin. There are reasons, but they are a necessary secret. I can tell you though, that for whatever reason you have been pulled here by the artifact we created, it was for a purpose. That is all I can say for now.”

“Not the answer I hoped for, though I’m sure you have good reasons. I understand, your highness,” I replied with a nod. Another period of silence carried before feeling it was a good time to change the subject of my prior knowledge, wondering how they would handle what I was about to say.

“Well, is now a good time to bring up how I knew of Equestria before I arrived, Princess Celestia?” I said, receiving a nod as she looked cautious but curious before I continued, “Would you believe it if I said that you and everything else here in Equestria are supposed to be fiction? A made-up story back on my world?”

Celestia looked a touch surprised, though had little reaction beyond her raising an eyebrow. A glance at Twilight told me she was caught off guard and rather confused. I didn’t pause too long as they seemed to have nothing to say right away.

“Back on Earth...Equestria is part of a cartoon show meant for kids. I was written by a human and put on TV for human entertainment. Everything about it...yourself Princess Celestia, Princess Twilight Sparkle becoming an alicorn and a princess, the Elements of Harmony, Ponyville, Canterlot, Manehatten, Princess Luna during her fall from grace and after you sent your personal protege to Ponyville just before the Summer Sun Celebration in anticipation of Nightmare Moon’s impending return, the attack of the Changelings at Shining Armor and Princess Cadence’s wedding, Discord’s return, defeat, and subsequent reformation thanks to Fluttershy, the friendship reports, everything. It’s supposed to be just a flight of fancy. A story someone wrote from their imagination about a place that doesn’t actually exist...,” I rubbed my temple for a moment, voice getting quieter as things started to sink in, “Yet here I am in Equestria. All but clear proof of the multiverse theory. Although I am honestly still not quite certain I haven’t just had a very severe bout of hallucinations or dementia. This isn’t supposed to be possible at all and… and… and here I am in Equestria. Fresh out of the Ponyville Hospital… Sitting here speaking with Princess Celestia herself about things like magical artifacts and some kind of magical connection between myself and Princess Twilight that I can somehow clearly feel is there. And having no idea if I can return to Earth… Cut off from everyone and everything I know… What I’m supposed to do… Or where I can even go…”

The last few words came out with quiet distress as I really started to feel subdued by the sheer weight of what everything. I was finding myself starting to accept this for reality, feeling no conflicting impressions about the world around me being anything other than what it appeared. Feeling a creeping fear that had begun to crawl through me, I looked at the two of them half in fear and half in pleading as I tried to keep myself together. I’d always tended to keep things held within, but now in this moment I was having a hard time knowing how to even start to express what it felt like as my vision blurred before my eyes shut as Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight watched. The sheer scale of how alone I now was pressed in on me and I didn’t know how to even start dealing with it..

After another few moments, I felt tears starting to run down my cheeks as I fought to keep myself under control. I gripped my upper arms, feeling overwhelmed. The weight of what I was in the middle of threatened to drown me in that moment as I felt at odds with myself over the unexpected surge of overwhelming worry in a place I’d have never imagined being in. Physically and mentally.

I heard and felt Twilight get up from her stool before she stepped over to me and placed a hoof on my knee, my eyes opening to meet hers as she looked at me, “I know I can’t send you back to your world, or if even the Princesses can, but I’m sure you can find a place here in Ponyville. For now, you can use my spare room while we get everything figured out. It will make it easier to study our link that way at least and I’m sure we can make things better with a little time. And please, just call me Twilight,” she said with a gentle smile, continuing to look up at me as she stood close by.

A small smile of gratitude worked it’s way onto my face as I placed a hand over the hoof she’d placed on my knee, taking a moment to sniffle as my free hand brushed away some of the tears as I pulled myself back together, “Thank you for that, Twilight. Just feeling the weight of starting to absorb everything all at once, I think. Trying to take in the scale of this is just...overwhelming.”

“It seems I will not need to ask that you permit Vojin to remain here in the library with you, Twilight,” Celestia gave a warm smile as she spoke, “Vojin, please do not worry yourself too much about the current situation. I see no reason you could not make a home here in Equestria, even if you happen to be a creature of ancient myth and fiction to us in turn. As your arrival is the fault of my sister and I, we will look after your well-being while we look into what has happened and if we can send you home.

“For now, however, I must return to Canterlot as we have covered what was necessary. Please remember not to speak a word of what we have discussed to anypony. The information has the potential to be far more dangerous than you could know, even though I cannot tell you why. Twilight will help you settle in for now, Vojin. It may be a week or two yet, or even as long as a few months, but I will send word for the two of you to come up to Canterlot when Luna and I have had time to look into what happened and have learned enough to merit a summons. We will discuss everything further at that time and I hope we will have some actual answers for us all.”

Taking a steadying breath, I bowed my head to Celestia, “Thank you, your highness. I may not have much to offer, but please call on me if I can be of use. I have a number of skills I could make use of. What I do know of Equestria informs me that I’ll want to do what I can to help out in this world in any manner I’m able.” Celestia gave a small nod with a faint smile in return.

Twilight stepped up to Celestia and gave her a warm embrace then, with Celestia wrapping a hoof around Twilight’s back. After stepping back, she looked up at Celestia, “Thank you for saving me, Princess Celestia. And Vojin, too. I’ll be looking forward to hearing word from you and getting to see you again in Canterlot.”

“I will be glad to see you again as well, Twilight. I might even be able to make some time away from my royal duties beyond discussing this event and just enjoy some private time with you. Once we have all had some time to study, I will be rather interested in what you can discover about this link. For now, I must depart. Be well, Vojin. Twilight, please take care of yourself and Vojin until we next meet,” Celestia said with another warm smile before giving Twilight a quick nuzzle, then heading out the door of the library.

I wondered what the future was going to bring as I watched Twilight follow Celestia out the door to see her off. As she didn’t return right away, she must have taken a chance to speak with Princess Celestia before she came through the door again, trotting over to me with a small smile.

“I guess I should first give you a tour and get your room set up,” she said before waving a hoof around at the main room we were in, “As I’m sure you know, this is a library and also my home. I hope you enjoy reading because I have plenty of books here. Please follow me up the stairs and I’ll show you the other floors, where my room is and show you the room you’ll be staying in as well.”

After Twilight gave me the tour and showed me the room I was to sleep in, a short distance from her own as it turned out, she set up the room for me in short order thanks to her magic as she removed a few boxes of books. It was a bit small for someone human-sized but I could stand up straight. Considering how little material possessions I really had at this point, I wouldn’t need much anyway. Everything else I owned was back on Earth.

“Now that you’ve had the tour and I have your room ready, would you care for a snack?” she asked as she smiled up at me while we stepped back into the main room.

“A snack would be nice, Twilight. I know the ponies of Equestria are vegetarian, so anything other than flowers or grasses should be fine with me,” I said, finding myself smiling a bit. I wondered in silence over why I was feeling as relaxed as I was now, despite so much weighing on me. Something about the library felt more familiar than my small house back on Earth. It struck me as a little strange but I could consider it later.

Settling myself on a stool as I waited, I looked around with more focus on the library’s main room. While looking over the books on the table beside me, I noticed Equestrian written language appeared similar to something from Earth. I pondered why our spoken language was so compatible while written words were not and figured I’d have some learning to do before I was going to be capable of reading any of the books here. Why it seemed so similar and familiar was escaping my mind just then, despite most of the shapes and forms were familiar to the point it felt like I shouldn’t have a problem reading them.

While I mused over pony writing, I started to notice a strange sensation. It was almost like a very faint tugging.

As I continued to observe the feeling, I tried to trace it and found it was from the same direction as my new capacity to sense Twilight’s location. It was clear it had something to do with the link between us. It wasn’t long before I heard Twilight’s hooves approaching again while the tugging sensation faded back out again.

“Here we are. Some carrots, cucumbers, broccoli and bell peppers. I hope they’re ok with you. I need to go the the market tomorrow since it seems Spike didn’t pick up a bunch of things I usually get myself. Probably because he didn’t know when I would be getting out of the hospital,” she said while setting down the small tray of veggies on the table and starting to munch.

Joining her in snacking on the healthy fare, a thought occurred to me, “Speaking of Spike...where did he go? And Owlowicious?”

“Oh, Princess Celestia told me outside before she left that she sent some of her guards to ask my friends to wait until tomorrow to visit and for Spike to stay out of the library for a couple hours so the three of us could speak in private once we got back. Owlowicious went along with him. They should be back soon since it is getting close to Spikes bedtime,” she said before taking another bite of carrot.

“I see. Well then, I wonder if you noticed any tugging sensations while you were getting the food together?” I asked, curious as I bit into some broccoli.

She frowned for a bit in thought before she looked back to me again, “Now that you mention it, I did notice something like that but it went away by the time I got back. Since you brought it up, you must have felt it too. And was it tugging you in my direction like mine was towards you…?” she seemed a little apprehensive as she asked, a hoof against her chin as she studied me a moment.

I gave her a nod, both of us choosing to think for a while as we ate. The tugging sensation had been too faint to discern all that much, only just noticing it’s presence really. I felt it would be worth trying a simple experiment and spoke up again, “Maybe we should try seeing how far apart we need to be in order for it to happen again?”

“Hmm...well, we do need to study the link. We better go outside though. You weren’t bothered by everypony staring at you, were you?” she asked.

“Not really. I hope it doesn’t last too long though. I know enough about Equestria that I’m not in any danger or something here. I suppose, to a certain point at least, it isn’t all that different if the situation were reversed and it was a pony on Earth. Please don’t ask me to go into it though. The way Earth is, the idea would be less inviting and more of a sad story I think would be best saved for later. I’m up to try a test if you are,” I replied, the veggie tray empty now.

“Alright then, let’s go outside,” Twilight said as she headed for the door.

We setpped out into the late afternoon sun. Nightfall was maybe an hour or so away.

Of course, the moment I stepped outside, I saw a number of the local residents staring at me as they laid their eyes on the first human they had ever seen. Some whispered to each other as they gawked but I had no idea what they might be saying to each other at a distance. After a little time passed, it appeared that being with Twilight put them a little more at ease as they began to return to their own business, casting only an occasional glance in my direction.

Twilight looked around before turning her eyes to me, “Why don’t you stay by the library. I’ll start moving down the street and see if that does anything, ok?”

“Sounds fine to me, Twilight.”

With a brief nod, she began to walk away from me. I saw her pause every ten feet or so to look back over her shoulder. I supposed she was expecting me to give her a sign if I felt something. When she had gotten about a hundred feet away, I began to feel the tugging again. It seemed that Twilight noticed it as well since she stopped and turned to look at me a moment before heading back over.

“I don’t know why I got so far away before the tugging sensation started. I didn’t go half that far when I was getting us a snack,” she said as she worked it through her mind.

After a few moments of thought, I spoke up, “Well, how about we try it when we don’t have line of sight? I think that’s the only thing that was different I will step back inside while you try walking again.”

“Hmm, that could work. I’ll try the same distance again so we can have some kind of baseline to work from,” she said before turning to talk away again. I slipped back inside and closed the door.

I did expect it would happen over less distance, but as the short time of Twilight walking about a hundred feet away from the library’s door progressed, I was feeling the tugging grow much faster. It wasn’t long before I started feeling an odd nervousness coupled with a distinct, faint emotional tone in the tugging as I felt like I needed to go get Twilight but did not know why. The feeling began to fade again and she opened the door before stepping inside.

“Well that was a bit unexpected. By the time I reached the hundred foot mark again, I was feeling unexpected anxiousness. I had a distinct sense of needing to come back and check on you, even though I knew you were perfectly fine. I assume you felt something similar?” Twilight said as she looked up at me.

Giving a nod, “That’s about what I felt too. This link is...strange. It also gives some confirmation to my earlier impression that it is linked to emotion in some way. I don’t know what the purpose is of feeling like we need to turn around and move closer again. Maybe after some time to think it over, we’ll come up with some reasons that might be.”

“We should test how far we can get. If there is a chance of negative side effects from us being separated, it would be smart to find out in a semi-controlled environment to minimize causing an unexpected problem. I’ll try going as far as I feel comfortable, ok?” Twilight said with an eager tone, her eyes twinkling over the process of learning and discovery.

I just gave another nod, “That’s probably a good idea. If nothing else, it’s a good place to start.”

“Ok then, we’ll try without line of sight again first, since that seems to shorten the distance so much,” she said as she headed back out the door.

After I closed the door behind her, I leaned against the wall to wait. It wasn’t long before the tugging sensation returned, then followed by the light nervousness and urge to go get her. As the seconds went by, it kept growing. Assuming Twilight was moving at the same pace, she would be well over a hundred feet away by now.

As I focused on my body, I noticed my heart rate starting to rise as the nervous feeling grew. I closed my eyes and let myself experience the sensations as they came as the urge to go after Twilight grew somewhat intense. I knew Ponyville was a safe place and she would be back in a minute after we tested the distance effect, yet part of me was experiencing an escalation in anxiousness even as my heart began beating faster. It was all a strange experience.

As I felt myself reaching the point where I felt the tugging sensation and associated effects approaching a near panic, my heart close to pounding, I realized I was struggling to keep myself from opening the door to rush over to her. Focusing myself more, I was glad I knew several tricks for calmness from meditation. The feeling kept growing, though with the slower advancement I thought Twilight might have slowed herself down for caution. As I began feeling myself sweat from nerves, I caught myself moving towards the door and stepped back when I realized I had moved away from the wall without realizing it. I had to assume Twilight was feeling something similar, based on what we already learned.

Underlying everything else going on, I also felt a curious and troubling sense of energy trembling. It gave me an impression that it was draining out trying to hold onto the link. That sense of fading was unsettling, but it couldn’t be accurate, could it?

Just as the tension of it all built up, it now began to fade and I expected Twilight was heading back. My heart rate didn’t recover as fast and the unsettling need to go after Twilight was fading slower than the tugging sensation. I gave her a troubled look when she came back in the door, shutting it behind herself. Her features mirrored my own worry.

“Let me guess… Heart rate increased for an unknown reason, nervous sweating, feeling like you were starting to panic on some level and difficulty in keeping yourself from rushing back here?” I said, my heart still slowing down.

Twilight nodded, worry in her tone as she spoke, “Yes, exactly that. I’m not sure it’s a good idea for us to try anything further for now. I only got about three hundred feet before I had to stop and head back. I think I could have pushed further but I think we’ve learned enough from this experiment for now.”

It was then that Twilight surprised me as she reared up on her hind legs and gave me a tight hug, her head laying against my shoulder. After a confused awkward pause, I moved my arms around her in return, minding her wings as I felt some surprise alongside more relief that I’d have expected from the embrace.

It was a lengthy pause before she let go again and returned to the all fours and looking up at me with a somewhat embarrassed, sheepish smile.

“Sorry about that. I just really needed a hug after feeling like that. It was really, really unsettling,” she said in a small voice, rubbing one foreleg against the other as she blushed a bit and averted her eyes a few times.

I gave a small cough before a sideways smirk found it’s way onto my face, “Don’t worry about it, Twilight. Can’t blame you for that since I felt pretty much the same way. And it’s alright to hug me if you want to. I really don’t mind and quite frankly, considering what I’m dealing with right now, it’s rather appreciated. I was just kind of surprised you hugged me all of a sudden like that. Since we appear to be stuck together for the time being, we’ll be better served by becoming friends anyway, even if just for the time it takes to figure this connection out. I have the feeling we could become good friends before long though.”

Twilight looked back up at me with a small smile, “I’m happy to hear that. It’s always nice to make another friend. Oh, and speaking of friends, I know you already know several things about Equestria, but do you know about me and my closest friends? The things we’ve done?”

I nodded, “A decent amount. Pinkie Pie will be eager to throw me a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party and probably another one to celebrate us getting out of the hospital. The six of you have been on some wild adventures, both by sheer luck and working to protect Equestria. Does that answer your question enough for now?”

“Yes,” Twilight said while she eyed me, looking unsure and unable to decide if she was more surprised or nervous that I knew things about her and her friends even though we’d never met before, “If you were a pony, I’d think it was something like Pinkie being famous for her parties or the rest of us for our being the Elements of Harmony, but you’re not even from our world. Just how did you learn so much about Equestria and us ponies in it? Was it really all in a supposedly made-up fiction a human wrote?”

Glancing to one side for a moment before I answered, I turned to look at her again, “It’s probably best if we sit on the couch. After answering that, I can tell you more about myself if you like. It might help you feel less anxious about me knowing so much about you already.”

Twilight nodded and walked over to the nearby couch. I took a seat on the other end from her before continuing, “As I said earlier, Equestria and everything I know about this world that was supposed to be mere fiction was produced for entertainment. I’m not sure you even have television here but it was kind of like watching a play that was projected onto a flat plane. Taking a shot in the dark, I’d wager it might be similar to an illusion spell of sorts, though it used no magic to create.

“I liked the show and watched every episode, I suppose you could compare that to an act in a longer play. There are a lot of stories about you and your friends becoming the Elements of Harmony and having adventures big and small. It might have been originally intended for kids, but to everyone’s surprise, millions of adult humans took a great liking to it as well.”

Taking some time to think on what I could share out of the various stories, I decided it might be easiest to start at the beginning. It would also let Twilight know the limit of how far back I knew.

“I think I should use the first episode of the show for an example. The farthest back I can go is when you were sent to Ponyville not long before the return of Nightmare Moon. That includes how you thought your soon to be best friends were all crazy that first day,” I glanced over to see Twilight wearing a bemused, somewhat sheepish expression as her ear gave flicked.

“You made your rounds to check on preparations and the morning when Nightmare Moon appeared, you were the only one that recognized who had appeared. After discovering a tucked away dusty tome hidden in the library, you headed into the Everfree Forest with five new friends in tow, each of whom went on to display a clear act of what would later be their Element.

“Once you finally made it to the ruined castle, they left you alone as you tried to figure out how to activate the five stone orbs that held the Elements of Harmony. Nightmare Moon dropped in and messed up that plan a bit. You were a little nuts for trying to charge at her, though considering you can teleport, it wasn’t that crazy.

“After failing to activate them and causing them to shatter, your newfound friends came looking for you and you realized how happy you were to hear them. A few words and you understood what each of them represented, their respective elements activating in their presence before your own appeared. A big magic rainbow later, Nightmare Moon was cleansed and restored to Princess Luna, albeit as a filly at first,” I had to smirk a bit as I watched Twilight’s expressions shifting, wondering a bit just how much was accurate and what was embellished or altered to fit the show better.

Twilight sat there looking anxious for a few moments, “It’s very strange for me to listen to you tell me all that. All of it was right, if simplified, and you shouldn’t even know some of the details when you only arrived in Equestria a week ago. To say nothing of the coma we were both in for most of that time. Maybe you could tell me something only I should know. I’m not entirely sure I want you to though. It’s kinda scary for me that you know so much about my friends and I while I know so little about you…”

“Well, Twilight, I can tell you something only you and Princess Celestia would know. After that, you can ask me anything, ok?” I said, understanding her apprehension as she gave me a nod, “Let’s see...I think something from when you completed Starswirl’s unfinished spell will be good.”

A mischievous grin found it’s way onto my face which garnered a rather uneasy look from Twilight as I cleared my throat. After a moment to prepare, a hand came up to my chest as I began to sing in a soft, almost rumbling baritone as her features made a slow change from unease to bewildered astonishment, “You’ve come such a long, long way… And I’ve watched you, from the very first day… To see how you might grow, to see what you might do, to see what you’ve been through… And all the ways you’ve made me proud of you...”

As I continued to sing the same song Celestia had once sung to her in another plane of reality, the look on Twilight’s face was priceless and I had to pause a moment to reign in the smirk it gave me before I went on, “It’s time now, for a new change to come… You’ve grown up, and your new life has begun… To go where you will go, to see what you will see, to find what you will be… For it’s time...for you… To fulfill your destiny…”

I looked at her once I finished the last note. The expression on her face was one to remember as I waited for her to say something. Twilight opened and closed her mouth a few times as she tried to grasp what just happened.

“How...you… But nopony could… It was only… There is no way you…,” Twilight seemed at a loss for words as I watched, looking stunned and in utter disbelief, “B-but how could...it was only myself and Princess Celestia there! Even though I told my friends about the song, I never sang it or told anypony else about the melody! How can you know this?!”

Leaning back, I gave my scruffy chin a scratch and looked at nothing in particular while answering her, “Like I said, in my world you, your friends and all of Equestria are supposed to be just fiction. Expressions of imagination that don’t actually exist. In your studies of magic, is there a theory about existence being a multiverse of different dimensions and universes?”

Glancing at Twilight, I saw her giving me a nod as she waited for me to continue.

“As far as I’ve been able to come up myself about existence and now this situation we’re in, I think that maybe the imaginary worlds in one place may just be reality in another. Princess Celestia said something about humans being myth and fiction here, right? Maybe this is all a rare convergence of our two worlds or something. Strong enough evidence for the multiverse theory, at any rate. I apologize if I made you feel even more uncomfortable than you were already. I thought the song would be a witty way to prove how much I know of Equestria for you,” I frowned and looked down at the floor, feeling like my timing was a glorious amount of awful despite trying to lighten the situation and things going in a way unplanned.

It was an awkward silence for a bit longer before Twilight spoke again in a hesitant tone, “It was...more the shock of you telling me something so personal like that. I think I’m more nervous now than I already was. Maybe after I get to know you better, things won’t feel so one-sided. Um, can I ask you some questions now?”

Giving her a nod as I looked up again, “You are quite welcome to do so, Twilight. Anything you want to know, feel free to ask. And considering things as they are, don’t hesitate to ask something you think might be personal either. It’s only fair at this point.”

Twilight nodded and seemed to take a moment to think before looking at me again, her tone curious, “Well, for starters...I’d like to know why were you carrying a sword and what I guess is some kind of weapon made of those three sticks on short chains. Are you some sort of warrior or guard in your world?”

I shook my head, “No, not a warrior, nor a guard of any kind. I have a hobby of training with a sword, and that odd looking weapon is called a ‘three-section staff.’ They’re just my two favorite weapons, though I only practice for my own enjoyment. Aside from my world not really using such tools beyond leisure these days, I don’t really like actual fighting. Sparring can be fun though and part of my training did include matches with others to learn practical application of techniques in a fight. Apart from just feeling alive when I train, I also like knowing I could help protect someone if I had to.”

“That’s kind of interesting, but what about that big box you had attached to your pack? It reminds me of something, though it isn’t coming to mind right now.”

“Big box?” I paused, looking over at my gear piled on the other side of the room before turning back to her, “Oh, you mean my guitar case. It has a guitar inside, of course. I can play it for you tomorrow if you like. It’s an old acoustic guitar that belonged to my grandfather.”

“I see. I think I’ll take you up on the offer tomorrow. Speaking of music, where did that singing come from? It sounds like you’ve had some practice,” Twilight was sounding calmer, her inquisitive nature helping her relax as I fed her curiosity.

“Well, I took a few voice classes at a local college in the past. Some of the lessons stuck with me and makes a good complement to strumming my guitar. Sometimes it’s also nice to just sing a tune when I’m alone.”

Nodding, Twilight paused to think again before coming up with another question, “Mentioning college makes me wonder what you’ve studied. Were you trying to be a scientist or a teacher? Something else you needed a degree for?”

“Nothing like that, no. I actually found myself working in IT as a network systems administrator. It’s...oh, do you happen to have computers here in Equestria?” Twilight gave me a nod, so I continued, “Well, from what I know of Equestria’s technology level, Earth is several decades ahead in most things. Since there’s no practical magic for the everyday stuff, it gets a lot of focus. Computers there can run massive programs for simulating physics and hold mountains of information, including potentially millions of books on storage media smaller than a slice of bread.”

“Whole libraries can fit on something that small?” Twilight said, her voice incredulous as her eyes glittered in fascination.

“Yep. You can also make copies of all the information as fast as the media can transfer, often seconds or less, and search through it for a specific book, assuming you know what you want, even faster. Of course, barring taking the time to actually print it out onto paper, you’d be reading it off of a computer screen. It’s about the same idea as I explained about television with a glowing projection on a flat plane. I think you have some basic analogs here, from what I remember,” I went on, pausing a second to consider how to explain the internet, “And to add to that, back on Earth they built something with all the computers around the world called the internet. Just about every computer on Earth is or can connect to a collective network with all the others to some degree. If you think one computer alone can hold a lot of information, think of what millions are capable of working together.”

Twilight looked flabbergasted at the idea and I guessed there were no real comparisons here. I figured I’d feel much the same in her position, really. No single person on Earth really grasps or understands the internet anymore as it was.

After a moment, I continued, “On of the most revolutionary parts of the internet that really changed the entire world was the fact it gave everyone that connected to it an equal voice. No matter if you were a prince or a pauper, you could potentially attract an audience as much as anyone else irrespective of social class or standing. If you had something others wanted to hear, you could find a place to be heard.”

“That sounds amazing. It makes me think your world must be very peaceful with so much communication with others available,” Twilight added, smiling and looking excited at the very thought.

Looking away for a moment, deciding right then I’d never cover anything up or lie to her, I met her eyes again. Twilight’s face made a slow shift into a frown at the expression I wore, voice soft as I tried to choose the right words, “I wish it was, Twilight. Honestly, my world is full of conflict. I have sometimes thought it could be different if people would just think more before acting, that if they considered the effects of their actions first then maybe there would not be so much fighting or so many problems entirely due to short-sighted behavior. There are a lot of unnecessary fights and I don’t know if there’s ever been a day on Earth where there wasn’t at least one war taking place somewhere, though that does come with the caveat of not knowing specific motivations.”

After another pause to think, I looked her in the eye again, “Don’t think it’s all bad though. Like any civilization, there are a great deal of good things at any given moment too. The way the media is it can be easy to forget that people do random acts of kindness for no reason. Dozens of people coming together and working for hours just to save an animal trapped in a well. Even people suddenly giving everything for someone they never met before. There are countless stories of both good and bad in my world. Although compared to what it used to be like, it is as drastic as night and day for how much things have improved compared to even a mere hundred years ago. If there was a way to turn them around from being so short-sighted, I imagine it would be so much better than it is today…”

Twilight hung her head for a long moment before looking up at me again, reaching out to place a hoof on my knee as her wings shifted in her discomfort, “You make it sound like a place in need of harmony. The Princesses Rule Equestria very well and do a lot to help guide nations beyond our borders towards peaceful resolutions. We rarely have to face such trials as we settle disputes long before they can escalate. Why do the rulers of your world allow so many problems to happen?”

Raising a brow at her question, it took me a moment before it dawned on me why she would ask such a thing, “Earth is made up of well more than two hundred different nations. Each with their own leaders, culture and ideologies. On top of that, it’s a sad reality that most of them seem to be corrupt to some degree just because of how messed up everything is there. On top of it, there are many that are just plain greedy for money and power, or worse, malicious with more nefarious motivations. Sometimes problems happen for absolutely no logical reason and in defiance of the very things they claim to believe in, like distorted religious ideologies used as an excuse for terrible violence and murder. I suppose I should mention I’m rather disillusioned though, so I have some bias. When you add in that no single leader or nation on Earth has the power to change very much of the world on their own, not to mention many are in power out of greed and don’t even want to, you can imagine why things keep going wrong.”

“That sounds like a few outlier nations and groups here on Equus that refuse. I’m glad Equestria isn’t like that,” Twilight said, “While I know it is an odd question when you’re just starting to adjust yourself to being here in our world, are you glad you came here?”

I turned my eyes away and looked at the floor, arms folding across my chest as I took time to think about that. It was a little unexpected and now that I was focused on the subject, I found uncertainty. If Equestria is what I hoped or even close to it, I had been dropped into a near paradise of a utopia by contrast with Earth, at least in my opinion. At the same time though, there were some people I would miss a great deal.

Raising my eyes to hers again, I shrugged a little as a sad, somewhat helpless expression found it’s way over my face, “To be honest, I am kind of in between. It helps that I know I’ve got a traveller’s itch inside and love seeing new places. Or the fact that back on Earth, I never could find a community where I could say I truly belonged. Everything I know about Equestria makes me think I could be very happy here, yet at the same time, I left behind family and friends. One of each stand out in particular, if I’m really honest. My best friend and…,” my eyes closed as my frown deepened, turning my head away as I gripped my upper arms with a bit of force from my frustration over what I may have lost forever, “I also left behind my young daughter. Thankfully, she lives with her mother, so I don’t have to worry she’ll be alone or uncared for.”

It was then that Twilight surprised me as I felt her forelegs hold me tight around the shoulders as she whispered, “I’m so sorry you’ve been taken away from her. I can’t say I know what that must feel like, but if I can do anything to help, please just ask.”

A hand moved over the hoof across my front as I sat in silence for a long moment. I could feel her chin on my shoulder as she held me as I let myself feel that particular pain before I spoke in a low voice, “Things are what they are, Twilight. She knows I love her and she’ll be well taken care of. Even if I turn out to be stuck here, I’d like to think we could figure out a way to contact her again someday. No way to tell what could happen here after I managed to get pulled from Earth all the way to Equestria. For now, it’s best to focus on what we can do, alright?”

My eyes opened and I turned my head to look at Twilight, her face now an inch from mine as we stared into each other’s eyes before I gave her a grateful smile and a gentle squeeze on her hoof. She released me with a comforting smile in turn and sat back down in her spot again.

Before we could figure out what to talk about next, the front door opened and Spike came in with Owlowicious. The owl darted over and flew a few circles around Twilight’s head, hooting his excitement before going to settle on his perch.

For his part, Spike seemed to hesitate for a second, then just dashed straight to Twilight and hugged her tight with no small amount of relief on his face and in his words, “Twilight! You have no idea how worried I was about you! The Princesses would only allow the doctors and nurses to see you in the hospital the whole time! I know they needed to keep everypony else away but it was still scary that I couldn’t even visit you at all! They kept telling me they had to keep you away by yourself because they couldn’t take chances somepony could catch whatever you had.”

Twilight hugged her dragon assistant just as tight, “It’s ok, Spike. I’m fine now, really. Princess Celestia said there were no dangerous side effects. I’m sorry I worried you so much.”

Neither of them said anything for a while. When they at last released each other again, Spike glanced over at me before giving a suspicious glare, perhaps blaming me to some degree, “What are you doing here?”

“Now Spike, you be nice to him. His name is Vojin and he’s going to be staying with us for a while. He and I have some research to do for Princess Celestia,” Twilight told him in a gentle tone.

Though he was still giving me the evil eye, he seemed to relax a bit despite the gruff tone, “You’re lucky she’s letting you stay here, but don’t try anything. I’m keeping my eye on you.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes a little at that, finding his behavior not all that unexpected. A thought occurred to me then and I gave him a sideways smirk, “Nice to meet you too, Spike. It wasn’t exactly in my plans to get thrown into a new world I’ve never been to before. I have a lot to learn about this place and I hope you’ll be willing to help me learn how things work around here in the coming days because I have a lot to learn right now.”

Spike seemed to brighten for a moment before he schooled himself again, giving me a wary-eyed look, “Huh, well I guess I could help you, but only because Twilight said to be nice to you. Don’t think I like you yet,” he turned back to Twilight as he gave a sudden yawn, “Ok Twilight, is there anything I can get you? Anything at all?”

Twilight gave him a gentle shake of her head and a warm smile, causing Spike to nod before he gave another yawn, “Ok then. It’s kinda late for me so I’m gonna go to bed. I’m really, really glad you’re back,” Spike gave her another hug before heading up the stairs.

Once he was gone, Twilight turned back to me with a sheepish smile, “Please don’t mind Spike. He gets a little overprotective sometimes and I’m sure my being in the hospital for several days while he wasn’t allowed to visit had him really worried. I’m sure he’ll come around.”

Giving a brief laugh and a smirk, I replied, “Well, I’d be lying if I wasn’t expecting a similar response. I might very well have done the same thing in his position. Are you feeling a little more at ease with me now?” I really did hope she was feeling better than earlier. Aside from being gracious enough to host me, the very idea of upsetting her didn’t sit well.

“I admit getting to hear some things about you has helped. Can I ask you more questions?” she said with an eager shine in her eyes.

I couldn’t help the smile that gave me and nodded, “Anything you want. Just try not to keep us up until the sun comes up, if you don’t mind. Considering we just got out of the hospital, it’s probably not the best time for an all night study session.”

Twilight giggled a little at that, waving a hoof, “Not all night, that’s for sure. I am very interested in what kind of magic you’ve studied though. What spells are you familiar with?”

“Ah...well, I suppose I should start by saying that the kind of magic I practiced is far more subtle than most of the kinds you usually work with. Back on Earth, the available energies for spells are very weak. I have considered that the legends and myths came from ancient times long forgotten where the ambient energy was much stronger. I have no knowledge of what happened or why it faded to being virtually nonexistent nowadays, but it has been that way for at least a few thousand years. Add in that human history has a few points I know of where knowledge has been kept too secret to the point of dying out with the few that knew, or the times where great collections of learning were destroyed for one reason or another. One of the biggest was the Great Library of Alexandria, which was burnt down during an attack on the city by the same name and on accident if I recall. Some speculate that single event more than a thousand years ago cost humanity as much as a hundred years or more of learning and advancement. Oh, I am getting off topic…,” I paused, intending to go back to my magic studies when Twilight spoke up.

“A hundred years of learning?! Who would do such a terrible thing?! Don’t humans keep more records?” she said in a rush, looking rather appalled at the idea of so much knowledge being lost, “Aren’t any of your rulers interested in preserving history? Surely at least some of them could’ve written down a little of the lost knowledge!”

It occurred to me that Twilight might be assuming some of Earth’s leaders were like the Princesses ruling Equestria, ageless and immortal, “You don’t think leaders on Earth are immortal like the Princesses, do you?” when she nodded, I continued, “I see...well, no human on Earth lives nearly so long. The ones that lead aren’t any different from the rest of us. The average human lifespan is seventy to eighty years, after all.”

She frowned, “Well, that explains how so much knowledge could have been lost like that, I guess. Has that been a common event?”

“No it hasn’t. It’s also unlikely to even be possible ever again, thanks to modern technology. Humanity has gained a vast capacity for storing knowledge in ways that it’s nearly impossible to destroy, even when it might be desired. That includes some of the rather ridiculous things that humans make records of, so it is doubtful it could ever happen again. Now we can continue with this or go back to magic. What would you like to do?”

Twilight seemed to think for a bit with a hoof to her chin, then gave a small grin, “I think I’d like to go back to magic. Could you tell me how you sensed the emotional aspect of the link the magic flux left behind?”

“Let me think for a second…,” the question was so much more complex than a quick comment could do, scratching my chin for a moment as I collected my thoughts, “Well, due to how weak the nature of magic on Earth was, the few humans that do explore spells and magic must rely heavily on intuition and subtle signs or nudges. There are various schools of thought on where those signs and nudges come from but the overall result is basically the same which leads me to feel as though there are some fundamental aspects or something still remaining undefined.”

I waved a hand around, catching myself drifting away from the main topic again, “Anyway, with practice I have developed a better sense of what my intuition tries to tell me. Where those signs and nudges are pointing and...hmmm…,” I looked at Twilight as a question sprang to mind, “Would you like to try another small experiment?”

She seemed to grow more curious, though also looked cautious at the same time, “What do you have in mind?”

“Well, I tend to channel my magic through my hands a lot. I was thinking about what we might learn if you put your hoof against my palm and see if we can read each other’s energy. I’m quite curious if you can sense things in a similar way. Would you like to give it a try?”

“Hmm, I don’t see see any harm in that. You seem to have a strange kind of magic compared to what I’m familiar with and it’s really intriguing. So all we have to do is put our hooves...er, my hoof against your hand?” Twilight looked eager for another experiment as she raised a hoof towards me. I was guessing the prospect of studying unfamiliar magic was fascinating to her.

Raising my hand and moving within an inch of her hoof, I looked into her eyes, my voice was quiet, “Ok, the way I do it is by letting my mind clear and waiting for impressions to come to my awareness. Trying to chase them down often just chases them off, if you follow what I mean. Here we go.”

Twilight and I pressed hoof and hand together. My eyes closed as I began to let my mind drift and allowing myself to feel the flow of things around me.

It was a moment later when impressions of various kinds swelled in my mind’s eye. I could swear there was a noticeable sense of fascination that wasn’t my own. I felt what appeared to be Twilight’s own magic brushing against mine with a growing clarity, as if I could almost see it happen in my mind and it somehow felt familiar.

A long but comfortable silence went by as we stayed hoof to hand. I had heard some descriptions of intuitive sensing, about it being colorful sometimes, though I had not had such an experience until that moment. The shifting ebb and flow of color in my mind seemed to just read ‘Twilight’ the whole time, like I could sense her mental presence and kept wondering why it all felt so familiar.

After what felt like ages and an instant at once, my eyes popped open at what seemed to be the same time Twilight’s did as we felt our foreheads touch. We were both quick to sit back up in an awkward fashion, both a little embarrassed as we looked at each other.

I coughed, “Ahem...well, uh...I guess that’s...more indication of the emotional aspect of the link. What did you get from the...experiment?”

Um...hehe...uh, well I guess a clear sense of your presence? I don’t think I’m anywhere near as well practiced at this method as you are. I also felt a really strange sort of curiosity and for some reason it appeared separate from my own. Was it your own curiosity, Vojin?” she gave a sheepish grin as she blushed a little, now appearing nervous for a whole different reason. It made her look rather adorable.

I nodded, though I averted my eyes as I wondered why that little test felt so embarrassing and...exposing somehow. Clearing my throat before I answered, “Yes, well...I think I felt your own sense of curiosity in turn. I could almost see my magic running up against yours and it felt odd...like it was familiar somehow. Like both our individual magics were aligned and complementing each other.”

“I don’t suppose you know what that means, do you?”

I could only shake my head, “I can’t say I really do. I can’t imagine that’s a bad thing, at least. Though it does occur to me that something about my energy feels different than before I came to Equestria. Maybe tomorrow we can write down a hypothesis or two and try to get some evidence together. What do you think?”

Twilight seemed to have relaxed again, taking a moment to think, “Well, I think it would be great to put some things down on paper so we have a better place to start. I also hope that Princess Celestia calls for us sooner rather than later so we can get a better idea of what this link is,” she yawned, “For now though, I think we should consider getting some sleep.”

Finding myself yawning in response, I nodded, “Thank you again for letting me stay in your home, Twilight. While this link is going to make it difficult to get very far away from each other when we have only just met, I really appreciate that you offered without hesitation.”

She smiled, “Don’t mention it. You’re welcome here for as long as needed. We have plenty of room and you’re proving to be both good company and rather fascinating. Can I give you a good night hug?”

Pulling herself from the couch, she gave her wings a stretch before turning to me with a hopeful look.

I had to smile at that as I got to my feet, “That’s fine with me, Twilight. You know I sometimes think I’m part stuffed animal, considering that despite my appearance seeming otherwise, I have a fondness for cuddles, as silly as that sounds.”

Twilight gave a soft giggle as she reared up to give me another hug that I was quick to return, putting my arms around her back. After comfortable pause, she dropped back down and started up the stairs with me following not far behind.

Just before she was about to close the door to her room, she paused and turned back to me, “Vojin, I’m curious...as you said Equestria was supposed to be a fictional show on Earth that you liked to watch, did you have a favorite character?”

I grinned in silence, thankful for the darkness in the hallway that should have hid the blush I caught heating my face, my voice a little tense and fading a little towards the end, “Well, I did say any question, didn’t I? Um...my favorite character was always... uh...you, Twilight.”

A faint gasp escaped her and I expected she was blushing at least a little herself now, though I couldn’t tell in the low light. Her voice seemed quieter than before as she stammered, “Um...m-me? I, uh...I’m flattered. Um, good night Vojin. I’ll see you in the morning.”

She slipped into her room and closed the door without waiting for a reply, causing me to smirk again as I stared at her door for a bit longer. Still feeling a little flushed, I went into my new room and shut the door.

After a quick shedding of my shirt and footwear, I laid down on a bed a little too small for my height, leaving me to curl up a little on my side. The faint tugging had returned but remained nothing more than background noise.

With sleep quick to find me as I settled in, my last thoughts were of wonder. I was trapped in another world, but what a world it is. I found myself looking forward to meeting Twilight’s friends in the morning and was certain it would make for a very interesting day.

Bk 1 Ch 4: Impactful Morning (edit 4/9/2015)

Author's Notes:

Edit 4/9/2015: Major revision and editing pass. Added some details here and there.

As I began to wake, the first thing I noticed was my bed felt different than I was used to and was somehow shorter than it should be. Taking a moment to have a lazy stretch, my eyes opened to a room I didn’t recognize. For several very long, nervous seconds, I struggled with why it looked like the inside of a tree before my brain caught up with itself. Taking a moment to pinch my arm in disbelief, I sighed as I started to accept I wasn’t in a dream. I could somehow read in dreams, but no feelings of pain worked.

I was still in Equestria.

Looking out the small window as I sat up, I noticed my typical waking time remained around that point where the sky just began to brighten. After being stuck in the hospital, waking up in a whole new world, recovering from stuff I couldn’t really understand, I was thankful for this small familiar part of my day.

In silence, I got up and dressed. Once my button-up kung fu top was on, the cuffs fastened and my footwear tied, I put my hair in a loose horsetail behind my neck before I began to warm up for some exercise. A week in the hospital and so much being over my head meant I needed to check my physical state and let myself work through some techniques and forms as I got a feel for where my body was. Light today, tomorrow would be anything but light.

Feeling the main room would be best, I made my way down the stairs with little noise so I wouldn’t disturb my unexpected host. A few longer ranging stretches later, I started on various strikes and kicking drills before switching into combined techniques and forms.

It was perhaps an hour later when I heard the clopping of hooves upstairs. From the corner of my eye, I saw Twilight making her way down. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, watching me moving through my Tai Chi form, adjusted a little for the smaller space.

“Good morning, Twilight. I hope you slept well,” I greeted her with a cheerful tone after she failed to say anything.

“Oh...uh, good morning, Vojin. I slept pretty well, actually. What is that you’re doing? Some sort of dance?” Twilight asked with a yawn as she was still waking up.

I gave a small chuckle, starting into the final segment of the form as I replied, “You could call it a type of dance. Almost done, please give me a minute.”

She waited nearby and I noticed her watching me with curiosity in her eyes whenever my head turned enough that I could see her. As I finished the last part and straightened, my arms lowering to my sides with palms facing the floor, I gave a quiet sigh of enjoyment at the feeling of a good bit of exercise. It had been too long since my last morning routine and my body relished getting to move again.

Turning to Twilight and giving her a satisfied smile, “I don’t know how it is for ponies, but I always feel the difference after missing my morning workout routine for several days in a row. And the ‘dance’ you saw was my Tai Chi form. Although I did change it a little to fit into the available space in here so I wasn’t running into walls.”

She nodded with a smile of her own, “You’ll have to tell me more about your Tai Chi forms later. It certainly looked graceful. How long have you been awake?”

“Just as the dawn began. I’m usually up early for my morning exercises. I hope I didn’t wake you by accident with the link,” I replied as I stepped over to her, my long hair showing visible signs of sweat as I brushed an errant strand from my face, “Also, mind if I hop in the shower? Tai Chi is also my cool down cycle from the more active exercises I did earlier and I need to clean up a bit.”

“No, you didn’t wake me. Go right ahead and clean up. I assume you remember where it is, right?” she said as she grinned, “Don’t take too long. I was going to ask Spike to whip up some pancakes for breakfast. I know we have everything from when I looked yesterday afternoon.”

“Yes, I remember where it was. I won’t take long. Pancakes also sound pretty good right now,” I told her as I paused at the bottom of the stairs before heading up to grab a change of clothes and a shower, “You know, it probably won’t be long until your friends drop by too. Considering nobody was allowed to visit while we were quarantined, I’m sure they’ll be anxious to see you again.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if at least Pinkie Pie appears out of nowhere any minute now and the rest of the girls wouldn’t be far behind. I’ll see you when you come back down,” Twilight returned.

A quick shower later, which was a somewhat interesting experience on it’s own with the showerhead at chest level and my doing a lot of kneeling, I could hear several voices downstairs as I left the bathroom. It didn’t take much effort to realize Twilight’s friends had already arrived. I gave my sweaty training clothes a rough quick fold, now dressed in an alternate set as I started tying on my kung fu shoes. The set I wore was black with yellow edging and the school’s logo on the left chest and across the back. Considering I had only three sets of the same packed for my weekend hike, I hoped Rarity wouldn’t mind making a trade so I could have something more to wear before long. The little I had would wear out with such constant use.

Tying my hair back in another horsetail, I headed for the main room of the library. As I got closer, I could hear the other girls talking with Twilight.

“...ure you’re absolutely positively totally ok?” Pinkie Pie’s squeaky tones rang out as I started down the stairs.

“Yes, Pinkie. I’m fine now. She said there were no dangerous side effects,” Twilight replied.

“You said no dangerous effects, but I get the feeling something happened. I know you promised Princess Celestia you wouldn’t tell anypony, not even us, but are you sure you can’t say anything at all?” Rainbow Dash’s scratchy voice rang out that time, her tone worried and a little frustrated.

I made a slight clearing of my throat as I stopped at the bottom of the stairs unnoticed.

When they all looked at me with different expressions, Twilight gave me a smile and spoke up, “Vojin, there you are. I’d like to introduce you to my closest friends. I suppose you’re already aware of who they are?”

Giving her a small nod, I smirked a bit lopsided as I stepped across the room to stand beside her, “Yes I am, Twilight. Before anything else though…,” I said as I turned to Pinkie.

“Pinkie Pie, please postpone your probable party planning posthaste prior to putting up a welcome party. Partially pertaining to previously being a patient at Ponyville hospital and to provide a proper period to process my perplexing position. Tomorrow is perfectly pleasing for prodigious party processes per your pervasive preferred predisposition to plan popular parties for newcomers to Ponyville,” I told her, the grin on my face hard to keep control of as the spiel I’d just delivered came out on a whim without stumbling.

The grin only got worse as I took in the surprised, dumbfounded looks on all their faces with exception of Pinkie Pie. She had the strangest gleam in her eyes, like she was going to burst with glee, surprise, adoration, and the most inexplicable, frosting. After a moment of surprise, she started springing in place much like she had on the show.

“WOW! That was super duper neat! I can save the party for tomorrow if you like. Did you have that written down and practiced already? Do you know any more stuff like that? How about jokes? You know I like to do stand up sometimes! I think I should do a show again! Oh! Maybe I could do it tomorrow for the cafe! I wonder if they have those tasty veggie pot pies again? Hmm, did I forget to clean that caramel pot in the kitchmmmfff?!” Pinkie just carried on until Applejack caught her mid-hop and covered Pinkie’s mouth with a hoof, an exasperated look on her face that spoke of familiarity with the situation.

The rest of the ponies laughed a little at Pinkie’s antics before looking back to me as Twilight gave a small giggle while waving a hoof in my direction before continuing the introduction, “Girls, I’d like you all to meet Mister Vojin Barloc Drayce. I know Rainbow already told you what happened just before myself and Vojin were taken to the hospital and this is the human I caught when he was falling out of the sky. As I already mentioned a little, he knows about us and Equestria from something on his world, though I haven’t had a chance to sort out how that’s possible yet. As you can see for yourselves, he is proving to be full of surprises.”

I had to smirk at that last part before giving a low bow to the ponies I knew a fair bit about already. Speaking in a much more normal fashion, “It is good to me you girls, truly. I know it’s more than a little weird to hear, but I’ve been a fan of all of you for a couple years now. I can explain more later but for now I will just say that I am thrilled to make your acquaintances. I look forward to getting to know each of you in due time and please, just call me Vojin.”

Rainbow laughed, “Hah! I’ve got a fan from a whole different world?! Ok, that’s just pure awesome!”

It then dawned on me I should refrain for as long as possible from telling her just how many humans think she’s best pony and hoped I didn’t spill the fact I had fanmade songs about her on my smartphone anytime soon. I wasn’t sure Equestria could handle the swelling of her head. It might even reach all the way back to Earth.

I was looking forward to learning more about them, beyond just the things I knew from the show, and I turned to each one at a time to greet them by starting with Pinkie, “Pinkie Pie, I do mean it about holding off the welcome party. Considering I was quite literally dropped into Equestria when I arrived, then stuck in the hospital for a week, I have a lot to take in and will very much appreciate a day to adjust some first.”

Turning to Applejack, who was still keeping a wary eye on Pinkie, an easy smile came to my face, “Applejack, I look forward to trying those famed apples from your farm, as well as that even more famous cider when the season comes around. I’m a bit of a country boy at heart and while there’s some things Twilight and I have to work on before I could, I wouldn’t mind helping you on the farm. I have a healthy appreciation of hard work and I’m sure I could put my hands to good use.”

Next I turned to Fluttershy, who looked unable to decide between hiding behind her mane or looking at me with open curiosity as a new creature, speaking a bit quieter, “Fluttershy, I tend to be quiet and gentle most of the time, so I hope you won’t be too nervous around me. If it helps, I like hugs and I hope in the near future you could introduce me to some of your animal friends.”

Moving to Rarity, I made the effort of clear enunciation, “Lady Rarity, I understand your talents as a seamstress are without equal. Due to my circumstances, I fear I am left with only three ensembles identical to the one I now wear. I hope we can sit down at some point soon and make a mutually beneficial arrangement of services so I might obtain some additional clothing. As humans are more environmentally sensitive for lack of a coat of fur, I fear what little I have will wear out sooner than would be desired through constant use.”

At last turning to Rainbow Dash, I gave her a challenging smirk, “And as for you, Rainbow Dash, I want to thank you for getting the message to Spike. Also, I know you’re a speedster and believe you have some martial arts training. As I reached the rank of a black sash in kung fu on my world, perhaps we could talk sometime about our different styles and techniques. I’m really interested in how you ponies fight. It might even be fun to have a sparring match with you at some point.”

The looks on each of their faces were different mixtures of surprise but I was relieved that they all appeared cautiously optimistic on some level, though Dash and Pinkie looked more amused than the others. It was weird for me to be meeting them face to face as they felt like old friends on some level, despite this being the first time we met. I supposed if I was stuck in Equestria for life somehow, getting to have them as friends would be a welcome blessing.

“I don’t know how much Twilight has told all of you so far but yes, I do know a fair bit about Equestria, Ponyville and each of you already. Twilight can share what I’ve already told her if you like, considering it might be a bit of a shock to hear. I’ll explain if you’d rather hear it straight from me,” I told them.

Applejack spoke up first with a bemused look with a raised brow, her drawl rang out, “Well pardner, ya sure do know how ta make an impression but at least yer bein’ honest, even if it is darn strange ta hear. Might as well tell that tale yerself since yer here.”

As the rest of the girls gave me an expectant look, I knew I had to explain once again.

“Well, to get straight to the main point...um, in my world, which is called Earth by the way, there is a work of what was supposed to be only fiction that tells of Equestria and the main story focuses on you girls as the Elements of Harmony and the adventures you have together, starting with defeating Nightmare Moon. Until I wound up here, it was just make believe and imaginary. Everything was part of a fictional story about this world that was supposed to just be an author’s imagination. A piece of entertainment written by a human for other humans,” I kept my eyes roaming around between their faces as I gauged their reactions, a touch apprehensive about telling so many at once, let alone these particular ponies, “Equestria is just a fictional place on Earth. At the same time though, I’ve already learned humans are a matter of myth and fiction here in Equestria. It’s admittedly a little overwhelming for me. Right now, I don’t even know if I’ll ever be able to get back to Earth.”

There was a pause as they took in what I just told them, though it was Fluttershy that spoke up first, “Oh my...you don’t know if you can go home again? That’s just terrible!” she said in a gentle voice as she looked up at me with open concern. My cliche senses tingled at her response, though I kept it internal.

“That is just tragic, darling! Simply dreadful! Nevermind the parts about your world thinking we are mere figments of imagination as we are clearly quite real. I insist you pay me a visit if you need somepony to talk to in this most difficult situation you are in. No pony, or human in your case, should have to face such terrible circumstances alone,” Rarity espoused, living up to her element so quick was a welcome sign.

Still, I had to jump in before any of them could say anything further and spoke up again, “Please don’t think any of you need to go out of your way on my behalf. Yes, it is a challenging situation I’m stuck in right now but I will take it as it comes. It’s all I can really do anyway. For now at least, I’ll be assisting Twilight with some research for Princess Celestia regarding this unique situation. By the time we finish, I should have had a good bit of time to adjust. I’ll just have to see where I’m at by that point.”

“My dear Vojin, you are of course welcome to choose what you feel you need for yourself but my offer will remain. Please, do not hesitate to pay me a visit should you desire company for any reason,” Rarity returned, offering me a kind smile.

Giving her a slight bow of appreciation, I returned the smile, “I suppose you leave me little choice, Lady of Generosity. I will have to see about visiting from time to time. Even if only for some friendly conversation as I learn about living in Ponyville and Equestria.”

“Oh my… Lady of Generosity… I rather like the sound of that. You are beginning to make me think you a gentlecolt, Vojin darling. I will be most intrigued to getting to know you better in the coming days,” Rarity smiled brighter as she looked at me with a more appraising eye. Something about her words seemed odd but I brushed it off, assuming it was just one of the things I’d be getting used to as I got the know her.

“Well pardner, if’n y’all wanna help out over at Sweet Apple Acres, we can always use another set of hooves. Aside from all the other things the farm provides, there ain’t no shortage of work ta be done,” Applejack gave me a playful grin, “Y’all better be strong an’ healthy if ya wanna keep up. Ya don’t seem ta be flabby or nothin’ but hoomans ain’t somethin’ familiar ta me. Think y’all can hold up with them skinny lookin’ limbs of yers?”

“Heh, I bet I could pick Big Mac up off the ground if I had to,” I returned, “I don’t know how I stack up against the strength of an earth pony yet, or for that matter ponies in general, but I’m sure I can at least carry bushels. Beyond that though, I might be able to help you with difficult fixes around the farm on account of my hands if you showed me what you needed.”

“Y’all better be careful there pardner, Ah just might put ya to the test,” Applejack said as her grin grew a little wider, “Ah’m a might curious though. Ah’m guessin’ yer a stallion? What do they call ya back home?”

“Human males are called ‘men.’ Man, for the singular expression. I will say though, you are quite welcome to just refer to me as a stallion anyway. Humans are known to use the term for ourselves on occasion from time to time and it’s fine with me. Heck, now that I think of it, I think I might actually prefer it just because it’s amusing to hear and easier for all of you,” I replied.

Applejack gave a shrug, “If that’s what ya prefer. Easy ta remember, Ah’ll give it that.”

It was about then I caught the sound of quiet steps that seemed to come from upstairs, guessing Spike would be down soon. Sure enough, lighter footsteps hitting the stairs were quick to follow.

Spike seemed to talk through a yawn at first as he gave one eye a lazy rub, “Morning, Twilight. Morning everypony. You’re visiting pretty early. Was there a special event today?”

“Good morning, Spike. No special events today. The girls just came over to visit since nopony was allowed to while Vojin and I were in the hospital,” Twilight gave him a warm smile, giving Spike a hug and nuzzle in greeting when he got close, “And now that you’re awake, could I talk you into making some pancakes for breakfast?”

“Sure thing, Twilight. Are the girls joining us too?” Spike asked as he looked at the gathered ponies and appearing oblivious to my presence on the other side of Twilight.

Twilight gazed around at her friends with a smile, “Well girls, would you like a few pancakes?”

“Ooh! I love pancakes! I hope you have lots of syrup!” Pinkie chimed as she made one of her springy hops.

Applejack nodded, “Well I reckon joinin’ ya sounds fine, Twi. Just a little fer me though, seein’ as we already had some grub over at the farm before gettin’ some early chores done.”

“I could go for a stack. Gotta fuel up for some more stunts I wanted to work on before lunch,” Rainbow added, taking to the air with a hop and hovering a body length from the floor.

“While a lady must of course mind her figure, a couple pancakes do sound delightful,” Rarity said.

Fluttershy spoke up in her quiet tone, “Um, if it isn’t too much trouble, I’d like some pancakes too please.”

“Well I guess everyone will be joining us, Spike. Would you like a hand with making breakfast?” I said as I looked down to him. There was a bit of amusement on my part when he seemed surprised to see me standing there.

“Oh, uh...no thanks. Pancakes are easy,” he said with a blank stare for a second before he shook it off, “Ok everypony. I’ll have breakfast ready soon.”

As Spike hurried off to the kitchen, I heard him mumbling to himself about swearing he only dreamed seeing a human. I suppose landing in a world where I was pretty much relegated to the status of a living myth would take some getting used to for more than just myself.

“Well, knowing that all of you must be curious, you girls are welcome to ask me questions while we wait for the food to be ready,” I announced, curious what they’d be interested in learning first.

Twilight was the first to think of a question and looked up at me with interest, “Speaking of breakfast, what do humans like to eat, Vojin? You mentioned knowing we ponies are vegetarian yesterday and said that was fine with you. What kind of diet do you have?”

Giving a small nod and a smile, “Humans have a fairly broad range. We’re an omnivorous species by nature and have our origins as hunter-gatherers before discovering farming.”

I heard a small gasp or two, Fluttershy just looked at me with curiosity while Applejack spoke with a wary eye in my direction, “Y’all mean ya eat meat?”

That gave me a small chuckle, “Well, while most humans on my world do eat meat on a regular basis, I haven’t done so personally for nearly a year. And considering I’m now in Equestria, it’s quite possible I never will again. Although now that I think of it, you ponies are omnivorous too. You’d have to be when you regularly eat things like eggs and milk, due to the animal proteins.”

“You know Vojin, it’s interesting to me that you noticed that. And you are right. While we do consider ourselves mostly herbivorous, there are some specific historical motivations for why. I’d love to tell you about it later, if you’re interested. But what did you mean by not eating meat for nearly a year?” Twilight commented with a thoughtful look as she queried me again.

Taking a moment to find the right words to explain it, I decided it would be better to keep it in simple terms, “That’s a bit tricky to answer and can explain more in-depth later if you would like, but it relates to my studies in magic on Earth. The simplest way I can put it is we all absorb some energy from the things we eat, in addition to taking in the basic nutrients. With that in mind, meat will also carry some of the animal’s experiences and connection to their home area, as well as some of their suffering. That essentially means it is better for me to abstain from meat unless I have a need for enhancing my connection to a particular area of nature, or as part of a specific holiday respecting death and the dead, which itself is part of nature that deserves to be honored as part of the cycle of life.”

Looking around at the mares before me, there were some expressions of thoughtful discomfort on Applejack and Rarity, Rainbow just looked bored, while Pinkie and Fluttershy were unfazed. I mused that was to be expected, though I realized I’d have to ask Applejack if, and then why, she raised pigs. Garbage disposals maybe.

Twilight looked to me with a twinkle of fascination in her eyes again, “So it was related to your magic studies? I definitely need to learn more later. Why don’t you think you’ll be eating meat again while you’re here though?”

“Ah, that’s easy. Ponies don’t eat meat, far as I know. I see no reason why I should go against that. For a few years now, I’ve only been eating meat once a year for the holiday I mentioned anyway. It’s not much of a change for me after that. As I will be in Equestria for the foreseeable future, maybe for life, it wouldn’t hurt for me to adapt accordingly. Does that answer your question?” I told her, receiving a contemplative nod in response.

Turning my eyes back to the rest of the girls, I decided to open the floodgates, “Anything you’re curious about, ladies?”

Rainbow Dash spoke up as she eyed me with a look between curiosity and mild annoyance, “You said you practice magic. You some sort of wizard or something? Or an egghead like Twi?”

That gave me a small chuckle as I shook my head, “No, nothing like that. As I already told Twilight, the kind of magic I studied is far more subtle than what you’re used to here in Equestria with unicorns and alicorns. Unless there is something I missed, I don’t even have the capacity for a levitation spell. Instead, my efforts on Earth were focused on the use of inner senses and methods for guidance towards the right path to take when I have a difficult choice to make. With a lot of preparation, it is also possible to have a small influence on events in favor of a particular outcome.”

“Not enough magic for even a simple levitation spell? I cannot even imagine what I would do without it,” Rarity gave a small wince at the thought, “Although I am quite curious. Whatever did you mean by influencing events?”

“Well, in some ways it is a lot like getting someone to agree with you on a given point of view about something. You have no control over their thoughts but you can nudge them to your side through conversation. Much like that can be easy or night impossible, my efforts through prepared magic could help push circumstances a certain way. It certainly can’t force something to happen, so things that need to be the way they are will still do just that.

“And to get a little further into the current subject, Equestria appears to have much more natural energy around. My world has almost nothing left, though legends and myths suggest a time long ago when everything was almost saturated with magic, much like it is here. No, I don’t have the slightest idea what happened or why,” I gave my chin an idle scratch as I mulled over Rarity’s question, noticing Twilight looking at me with that fascinated look again.

Rainbow spoke up then, her tomboyish voice jumping to a new subject, “Ok, enough about magic. You said you studied martial arts where you’re from and what you called it makes me think of hoof fu. What’s the name of your style?”

Her sudden question gave me a grin as I looked over at her hovering a little higher than I stood, “Patient as always, I see. Well, I studied a style called Ying Jow Pai, otherwise known as Northern Eagle Claw. Has a good mix of solid moves in addition to acrobatic ones. The style can be traced back 900 years and is attributed to a general of a country with a very long history on my world. It isn’t a good time for a demonstration right now, but I’m sure we’ll have time soon enough. What about your style, Rainbow?”

She puffed up a little, looking proud of herself with a smirk, “Swift Wing. I figured it was a good fit with a lot of focus on speed. It’s one of the fastest pegasi styles around.”

“Heh, that does sound like a good fit for you,” I said with another small chuckle, expecting it would be rather intriguing to learn about this ‘Swift Wing’ from her.

“Well before we find ourselves any further into this discussion of rather brutish activities, I would like to ask what sort of music you play, Vojin. Twilight mentioned you had an instrument not unlike our own guitars with you when she caught you falling out of the sky,” Rarity said.

A relaxed smile came to my face as I looked at her, “Well assuming nothing happened to my guitar from my arrival or while I was in the hospital, I could give you all a demonstration if you would like.”

Rarity looked delighted, but Rainbow jumped back in before she could reply, “Got any rock from your world? I could totally go for hearing what humans rock out with!”

“Rainbow Dash, honestly! It is much too early in the day for such uncouth, noisy music. You do not even know if Vojin is able to play such things yet,” Rarity retorted as she gave Rainbow a sharp look.

A faint chuckle escaped at that and I waved a dismissive hand as I headed for my guitar case nearby, “Easy there, ladies. Why don’t I just play something first and you can ask about what I can play after, alright?”

As I opened the case and lifted my guitar free for a short inspection, I heard Twilight giving them a quiet scolding for arguing so soon after meeting me. It made me smile in amusement as I slipped on the fingerpicks before moving to a stool. After getting comfortable with my guitar on my right thigh, I began checking the strings and happy to discover it was still in tune for the most part.

“I think for now I’ll just play something instrumental. As for a melody...I think something Celtic would be nice. This is one I really enjoy myself…,” I commented once tuning was done, then began to play with practiced ease.

(For more immersion, something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7PcMo3_qjw )

The six ponies all became transfixed as the melody began to flow out. It was a pleasant melody to hear and I had played it many times. Letting myself get lost in the music, I sank into the rhythm in short order. It was always a relaxing feeling, the music calming. I just listened to the strings fade at the end, looking at the guitar with half-lidded eyes and a small smile.

Once I finished, I looked up with a slight blush as they all gave applause of one form or another. “Now ladies, it was nothing too fancy. I’m just glad you enjoyed it.”

“Enjoyed it? I found it positively delightful! I have not heard anything quite like that before,” Rarity exclaimed with a bright smile, “Surely you must have performed many times. How many albums have you released?”

I had to blink a few times in confusion, eyeing Rarity with a blank look until my mind caught up and I had to chuckle with a bit more of a blush, “It’s just a hobby, Rarity. I haven’t released any albums or anything like that. Really, I’m not even in the same league as professionals considering I can do technical accuracy well enough but have a terrible time improvising anything. I just like making music for it’s own sake and it’s a nice bonus when it makes others happy.”

Judging by her astonished look, she appeared to have enjoyed it a great deal. Before she could say more, Rainbow Dash broke in.

“I gotta admit, that wasn’t bad even if it wasn’t as cool as rock ‘n roll. You know any rockin’ riffs, Vojin?” Rainbow Dash seemed intrigued as she started hovering again, having settled down while I played.

“I know a few. Most of them have a singing part to go with it though, so I’d rather save that for another day. Considering I have a broad taste in music, I tried to learn a number of different styles. I’ll bet you’ll get a kick out of some of the harder tunes I know. But for now, I think the pancakes are almost here,” I replied, turning my eyes and nose towards the kitchen, the smells wafting through the air were growing and the sound of Spike’s footfalls were approaching.

Not a moment later, Spike came back into the main room carrying a number of plates on one arm, a large container of syrup and some forks in the other and a sizeable platter of pancakes on his head. I gave the sight a curious stare, not quite sure how he was carrying it all without dropping anything. I was further perplexed when he set everything down somehow in a smooth few movements, starting to divvy up the pancakes at the central table. I wondered if that was going to be a common display I’d have to get used to.

“Alright everypony, I made a ton of pancakes, so dig right in!” Spike announced, waving a spatula I didn’t notice him carrying.

We all grabbed plates and got to eating. Noticing Twilight and Rarity levitated their plates to make room at the small table, I joined them and held mine in my off hand as I ate.

As I dug into the first bite, I found myself curious how pegasi and earth ponies went about things. Fluttershy was dainty and used a knife and fork pinched in her fetlocks, taking small bites. Pinkie, Rainbow, and Applejack were more engaged, slashing through chunks and enjoying larger bites. Applejack caught me looking and I realized I’d been staring more than I’d meant.

She raised a brow at me with a mild self-conscious look as she paused, “Y’all look like ya ain’t never seen somepony eatin’ pancakes before. Did Ah get some syrup on mah face or somethin’?”

Smirking at the thought, I shook my head before swallowing the bite I’d taken and responding, “No, there aren’t any rogue bits of syrup. To be quite honest, I actually haven’t seen a pony eating pancakes before. I suppose it’s one of those little details we all take for granted until worlds collide like this and someone like myself shows up that never has seen a pony eating pancakes. It’s kind of fascinating to me. I do apologize. I didn’t mean to be staring.”

Apart from Pinkie appearing oblivious to the world beyond syrup-laden pancakes, they were all looking at me a little strange at first while the idea worked through their heads, but they smiled a little after a moment and returned to enjoying breakfast again. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Twilight eyeing me in open curiosity again, eating her pancakes almost on autopilot as she looked at me.

“You know, Vojin, I have to admit it’s a little mutual. Watching you eat with a fork in your hand, I can see various differences when compared to how Spike uses it. With your longer fingers, you seem to handle the fork quite differently and make frequent position changes depending upon the manner in which you’re using it. I’m already noticing you seem to have more dexterity than a minotaur,” Twilight mused, a little lost in her own thoughts and observations.

Rainbow Dash spoke up, mild annoyance in her voice as she paused her eating, “Twi, you’re not gonna go into egghead mode during breakfast again, are you?”

She took a moment to blink, then Twilight turned a sheepish grin towards her friend, “I guess I can finish breakfast before trying to learn more about human physiology and eating practices.”

That gave me a small laugh, covering my mouth until I could swallow another bite, “We have time, Twilight. You can lock me in your lab downstairs later. We know I’m not likely to be going anywhere for a while.”

They carried on with light conversation here and there as breakfast went on. Aside from responding to the occasional question, I stayed quiet and just took in the presence of these ponies that I had been a fan of for some time. It was strange on so many levels, we’d just met and at the same time, I had a sense of them feeling like old friends.

Of course, if I am stuck in Equestria long term, I would certainly enjoy being able to call them friends. Knowing what I did about them, they could be some of the best friends anyone could ask for.

Coming out of my thoughts as we finished eating, breakfast devoured and everyone appearing satisfied, it was like a cue for something to happen and Spike made a sound like he was about to hurl.

When he made a hurried twist to face my direction and let out one of those ever impressive belches, I had to make a sharp dodge as I leaned back and bent my knees to duck like I was doing the limbo. It was rather warm for a moment as a burst of fire filled the air where I’d been standing. The anticipated scroll appeared as the flames vanished again.

Snatching the scroll out of the air and standing back up again, noticing some curious looks at my reaction for some reason, I gave a somewhat embarrassed Spike an exasperated look and, in spite of myself, trying not to laugh.

“You know, Spike,” I commented in a bemused tone as I held it out to him, “You really need to work on your aim with that.”

He took the scroll with care, looking mollified, “I’m sorry! I tried to turn away from everypony but I didn’t realize you were right there!”

Still resisting the urge to chuckle, I gave a quiet sigh and rolled my eyes, “I know, young one. I dodged easy enough. Just try to be more careful.”

Spike gave a slight guilty nod as he opened the scroll, scanning through it before reading aloud, “Ahem… ‘Twilight, my sister and I wished to inquire how the two of you fare this morning. As the present situation has proven quite unpredictable, we thought it best to check in on you both just in case further flux effects were to appear. Also, have you gained any new information about the link in this short span of time? Sincerely, Princess Celestia.’ Well, Twilight, should I get a scroll and quill for a reply?”

Twilight smiled and shook her head, “No thanks, Spike. I think I need to handle it myself. Since I don’t know exactly what parts Celestia wants to keep secret, I should write it privately.”

“Well since the Princess let it out, can you tell us what she meant by a link?” Rainbow asked with no small amount of curiosity on her face.

Twilight rubbed her chin with a hoof for a moment, thinking before she smiled, “Well, I guess I can at least tell you girls that Vojin and I have some sort of link left behind by the magic flux. We currently seem unable to get very far from each other for reasons we have yet to figure out. A few hundred feet when we tested it yesterday. Unfortunately, I think that’s all I can say for now. I really don’t know what Celestia needs to keep secret or why but she seemed really serious about it. If I learn more about what I can share, you girls will be the first to know.”

Rainbow Dash grumbled, rubbing a hoof behind her head, “Well I guess that’s alright. I’m just really curious about what happened after seeing you catch Vojin here, then barely make it to the ground and collapse like that. I don’t like thinking what could have happened if I hadn’t been trying to sneak up on you. I’d have never seen you from my house.”

The look on Twilight’s face became fearful for a moment as she closed her eyes and shuddered before turning her eyes back to her friends. She then spoke in a quiet tone and a little shaky, “I-If you hadn’t been there Rainbow, neither myself or Vojin would be here now. I wish I could explain why, but we almost didn’t survive the m-magic flux…”

She seemed to have more to say but sniffled as her voice failed. Kneeling down since I was standing beside her, I put an arm over her shoulders in a gentle hug. I figured the obvious, having a brush with death without warning like that was coming to the front of her mind and sinking in. After a hesitating second, Twilight leaned into the hug with another sniffle, prompting a light squeeze of comfort from me.

I turned to her friends, seeing the shocked look they all wore and spoke in a soft tone, “The important part is we seem safe and healthy now, near as anyone can tell. I wish we could say more than that, but considering the nature of what could have been, perhaps it’s for the best.”

Several quiet seconds passed before Twilight’s friends all rushed over to hug her, Spike clinging to her neck. As my arm was around Twilight as they moved in, I was caught in the middle, though after a moment I realized Fluttershy and Pinkie were hugging me just as much as they hugged Twilight. It was all a little strange for me, but a comfort just the same.

A long pause went by before they let go again. I did the same after giving Twilight another gentle squeeze prior to releasing her. She was a little teary-eyed, otherwise looking relieved. She gave me a grateful smile before turning back to her friends standing close by.

“Thanks, girls. I kinda needed that. There hasn’t been much time until today to really take in everything that happened so suddenly like that,” Twilight said as she dried her eyes with a fetlock, “Like Vojin said, as far as we can tell, we’re safe and healthy now.”

There was a comfortable quiet pause as the air seemed to relax again.

Rainbow Dash seemed fed up with serious matters though and broke the silence loud and proud, “Ok, that’s it! This is getting me down and I gotta be fired up for those moves I planned to work on today! You ready for some flight practice, Twilight? I bet some training will get you cheered right up, too!” Rainbow flashed her typical confident grin.

Twilight returned it with a weak smile and an apologetic look, “Sorry, Rainbow, but because of the link with Vojin, I can’t do very much flying yet. I don’t know how long things will stay this way but we are hoping to work out how to get farther away from each other without causing negative effects. Presently, we’re stuck with a firm limit that still needs to be tested properly.”

A small flash of inspiration crossed my mind and I looked at her, still kneeling on the floor, “Twilight, maybe you could give a bit of flying a try.”

Twilight gave me a confused look, “Why do you suggest that after the test we did yesterday?”

“Let me explain privately so we can respect Princess Celestia’s request for secrecy,” I replied, rising to my feet and heading for the door, motioning her to follow.

“Um, ok Vojin…,” Twilight followed after me, casting a glance back at her friends, “Give us a minute girls.”

Once we stepped outside and away from the door, I knelt down beside her, keeping my voice low, “Ok, since we need to test the link, I think it’s as good an opportunity as any. And before you say anything, I want to note that we only tested for distance without line of sight. I suspect that if you go flying where we can still see each other, the distance you can get from me will be much greater. Heck, if we’re lucky, this link is stretching or something.”

Twilight blinked as the idea worked through her thoughts and she grew surprised and more than a little intrigued before she grinned, “That’s a great observation. You’re right. Maybe I can’t fly far enough to do as much as Rainbow normally has me work through during practice, but I can at least do a few maneuvers she taught me. I think I’ll give it a try before replying to Celestia so I can include the results.”

I nodded and stood back up, “Alright then. I guess I should watch from the balcony. Just don’t push further than the tugging sensation in case that more unsettling tension starts again. I don’t want your flying ability getting messed with. Stay safe, ok?”

“Definitely. I need to stretch my wings as it is since I couldn’t exactly do much flying at the hospital. Well, maybe flying into making that migraine worse…,” Twilight grinned a bit wider at me as we shared a small laugh and headed back inside.

Twilight walked right over to Rainbow Dash, speaking with a bit more energy, “Ok, I need to stay a bit closer to the library than usual but I can go for a short flight. We’re not sure how far apart we can be, so I have to be very careful about distance this time. We’ll take off from my balcony.”

Rainbow Dash perked up and grinned, “It’s cool, Twi. That magic stuff you deal with is weird enough, so I’ll just take your word for it.”

Twilight turned to the rest of her friends with a smile, Well everypony, let’s head up to the balcony. I won’t fly too long since I was in the hospital yesterday, but you can see how my flying skills have been coming along.”

“That sounds fine ta me, Twilight,” Applejack said with a casual smile.

“Just be sure you don’t push yourself too much, Twilight. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt the day after getting out of the hospital,” Fluttershy commented in her quiet tone.

“I’m not planning on visiting the hospital again any time soon, Fluttershy. I won’t be doing any difficult moves today like the ones Rainbow has started teaching me recently. Just some easy things to see if I’m really back to normal. Follow me everypony,” Twilight said before starting up the stairs, Spike by her side.

I stood aside for the girls to go first, being raised on the chivalrous side. The girls had also stopped as the confusion grew, prompting Twilight to pause and look back.

The girls were looking at me with expectant looks to match mine towards them. Applejack broke the building awkward moment, “Uh...stallions first, pardner. Yer welcome ta go ahead of us.”

Blinking a moment, I quirked a brow in return, “That’s really a thing here? It’s always ladies first back on Earth.”

Now it was Applejack’s turn to blink and look confused, “Oh...well, it’s just the way Ah was raised and Ah try ta encourage the girls. It’s a might old fashioned, Ah admit, but y’all can go ahead.”

A strained smirk grew on my face as I let out a small chuckle, seeing the girls in varying states of awkwardness like my own, though Rainbow just looked more annoyed than anything else. After a moment more to think, I spoke up again, “You girls go ahead. I take longer strides and haven’t been to the balcony just yet. You can also consider it helping me feel a little more at ease for now. Little things like showing respect for ladies like I’m used to will make it easier for me to deal with my present circumstances. So...please?”

Rainbow Dash gave a long suffering sigh and a roll of her eyes before she just started to march up the stairs and settled the matter then and there. Applejack wore a bemused expression but gave me a nod as they all headed up. Twilight caught my eye for a moment with a glimmer of amusement in her expression before she started climbing again.

Trailing behind the rest of the girls, I caught Rarity looking at me from the corner of her eye with a small smile. Something about her was odd enough that I arched a brow as she went up last. Though she didn’t say anything, she had to notice me catch her eye. Following up the stairs behind them, I would have sworn Rarity was swaying her flanks more than necessary and it gave me the strangest sense of something escaping my awareness. I just gave a mental shrug, putting it out of my mind as I wondered what pegasi flight techniques were like and what I was going to see.

As we stepped out onto the balcony, Rainbow Dash was quick to jump into the air and hover just off the edge of the balcony, looking like she was doing some quick airborne warm-up exercises in preparation for the flight. I started to think she wasn’t going to be flying slow very often, even if Twilight would.

“C’mon Twilight! We got some clouds to kick!” Rainbow exclaimed as she started climbing into the sky, “I wanna see those moves!”

“Ugh...I guess Rainbow isn’t going to take it as easy as I’d hoped. She better not push me too much after telling her I need to be careful today,” Twilight grumbled before jumping from the balcony herself, hovering long enough to turn and look back at those of us still on the deck, “Like I said downstairs, just an easy flight while I run through a few techniques, I’ll be careful not to go too far, Vojin.”

She turned and started a more gradual ascent, circling over the library. I watched with interest, remembering portrayals of how well her first flying experiences went. I wasn’t sure how long it had been since she first became an alicorn, but Twilight seemed to handle herself well as she she rose into the air.

When she looked to have gotten around three hundred feet up from the balcony, I felt the tugging sensation begin. Twilight seemed to notice as well as she glanced down around the same time. Working off how it had functioned before, she should have a few hundred feet to go before it would be problematic. I hoped she wouldn’t push too much.

As we watched Twilight meet up with Rainbow a few hundred feet in the air, they began a sort of follow the leader approach, moving through a number of different aerial maneuvers that began basic and made a gradual shift towards more intricate ones. Lazy swooping turns drifted into corkscrews and ever tighter spirals. It was entertaining to watch, never having seen anything like it before.

After a couple minutes, Rainbow Dash seemed to fly next to Twilight for a time. I figured to chat about what else they could try. Being well out of earshot, I could only guess what they said but saw Twilight nod with a smile before Rainbow banked away prior to picking up speed.

Rainbow Dash switched into a complex flight pattern. Tight loops, an inverted dive turning into a spiraling loop and seeming to shoot up at a steep incline. It was fascinating to see maneuvers I’d never seen back on Earth. I wasn’t sure anyone there could even pull off such aerobatics with the aircraft available.

I was a bit surprised to see Twilight start to follow some of Rainbow’s tricks, though not taking turns as sharp or making moves as elaborate. Something in the way she followed an almost similar pattern looked different. There was a certain graceful fluidity in Twilight’s approach that I found I couldn’t look away from and realized I’d been smiling without noticing. A small part of my mind pondered why I was so enamoured.

It wasn’t until Twilight seemed to be pushing herself higher that I noticed the tugging sensation starting to accelerate without warning. I had no idea why, Twilight should have been well within the safe range, but something felt changed about the link. I didn’t have time to consider as the nervous sweating was surging forward after just a couple seconds. I was getting very concerned when I felt dizzy, swaying on my feet a bit as I pressed a hand to my temple at the sudden headache hitting me.

It could have only been moments later when I realized my eyes had closed. When I opened them again, the four ponies on the balcony were looking at me with worry, noticing after a moment I was also on my knees. They looked like they were saying something but I only heard a rushing sound in my ears.

I then noticed Spike point upwards as the girls all looked up. In that moment, I feared Twilight was in the same state I was. Forcing myself to look up, I saw Twilight was flailing with her hooves against her head, eyes squeezed shut as she grit her teeth with a look for pain.

She seemed unable to flap her wings very much, nor fast enough. A quick glance for Rainbow Dash showed she was much higher than before, already diving towards Twilight. A moment to gauge distance and I realized Rainbow was too far away, even with her speed.

Twilight was going to crash if she didn’t recover immediately.

I don’t know where the thought came from, but somehow I knew Rarity wouldn’t be able to use her magic and Fluttershy wasn’t strong enough to slow Twilight’s fall soon enough. Twilight was going to fall close to the balcony and I knew I had a chance to catch her. Without thinking on what drove me in that split second chance, I sprang forward.

“MOVE!” I yelled, the girls ducking out of the way in shock as I took the two accelerating steps before my foot raised onto the banister and I leapt off into the air, my body twisting to one side as my legs kicked out to level me off with my back to the ground as I aligned myself to Twilight.

Somehow, I met her midair and caught her from below when she collided with me. Only having a moment, I pulled her back against my chest with the back of her head just below my chin, staying between her and the ground. The sudden change in velocity as her inertia connected with me left me breathless.

It seemed like the longest moment of my life as I felt myself slam down through branches and leaves, only a vague registering of their presence as I held her tight. It all seemed to take minutes as I shielded Twilight with my own body against the branches before a thunderous impact with the ground.

When I realized with some shock that we had stopped falling, and I was still conscious, I cracked an eye open as I felt myself start to come off the adrenaline rush. I saw some broken branches above where we had crashed through and thought we’d landed just on the edge of the road beside the library. Turning my eyes to Twilight as she lay against me, her eyes squeezed shut with her jaw clenched, her hooves and wings wrapped tight around herself as she held her breath like I had been. She cracked her eyes open and looked up at me, albeit upside down due to our position.

“You ok?” I croaked in a weak voice.

Twilight opened her eyes a bit more as she started to calm down, whispering, “I think so. Are you alright, Vojin?”

I couldn’t quite tell if I was alright, feeling like I was buzzing all over. It wasn’t numbness, yet I wasn’t sure what I could compare the sensation to or why it felt a bit familiar. With slow motions, I moved my hands and fingers before giving a slow twist of my ankles and wiggling my toes before I made a hoarse reply, “I ain’t dead yet and my limbs work...so, probably?”

Releasing my hold on her as Twilight worked on putting herself back together, I heard what sounded like rushing hooves inside and out, followed by a door being slammed open. A second later, we were surrounded by Twilight’s friends with Rainbow landing next to us just before the others could run over.

“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Twilight! Vojin! Are you guys okay?! Are you hurt?! Anything broken?!” Rainbow spoke with understandable panic, rushing through questions without waiting for answers.

The buzzing sensation was fading away, slow as it was, and appeared to be countered by the almost buzzing sound of many voices talking in a rush at the same time.

With a gradual turn of my head to look around, I saw several of the townsfolk had rushed over as well, all of them jabbering in an incomprehensible mass of concern. My head was spinning even more as the adrenaline faded out. I closed my eyes and decided to give myself a minute to calm back down until someone said they could see blood, followed by what could only be a pony fainting somewhere nearby. My eyes sprang open again to check on Twilight only to find her look at me in shock for a moment before struggling to climb off me and stand in a hurry for some reason.

“Vojin! You’re bleeding! A lot! You have cuts all over you!” Twilight exclaimed, sounding more than a little frightened for me.

“Ugh...feel like hell and my head’s spinning, but I’ve felt worse Twilight. Calm down,” I said, letting myself start focusing more on my own injuries and making careful motions as I began to get up.

I had only lifted myself enough to turn to my right sight with a pained grimace as I propped myself up on my arm, which seemed to be protesting a lot more than a few cuts would cause. I ached something fierce and knew I’d feel that little stunt for days before a light caught caused an immediate gasp and I hissed in pain from what felt like being stabbed in the ribs in a several places.

It wasn’t difficult to figure out that I had a few broken, or at least bruised, ribs from how it felt and I focused on controlling my breathing so I wouldn’t try to breathe too deep. I was glad when I quick brush of fingers over my ribs said nothing was sticking out. My left shoulder felt like it was on fire and a glance revealed a nasty gash, but not enough blood leaking to be an immediate major problem.

“Vojin, we need to get you to the hospital!” Twilight said before turning towards the crowd and yelling, “Somepony get an emergency carriage over here! Now!”

Someone in the front of the crowd replied, “There’s one already on the way, Princess Twilight! They should be here any moment now!”

Rolling a little more, I started to pull my legs up and with slow movements to avoid aggravating my rather painful ribs, I sat up with care on my knees with another grimace. Twilight gasped and moved to try and make me lay back down before I stopped her.

“Vojin, you have a large chunk of wood stuck in your right arm! You need to lay down and wait for the emergency medics!” Twilight said with more than a little worry.

I gave a slow shake of my head before looking at her with a pained smirk, “I wasn’t kidding when I said I’ve felt worse. I’ve been through worse than this, even if that might be hard to believe. I know it isn’t pretty, but I’m sure I’ll live. I’m more…,” I was forced to pause from a few painful coughs, wincing before I could continue, “More concerned about you, Twilight. You hurt anywhere?”

“Vojin, you’re crazy for catching me like that! I...I feel a little bruised but I seem fine...be… because… because you… s-saved me…,” Twilight went from panicking about my injuries to teary-eyed as she took the time to process what happened with a bit more clarity.

In a slow motion, I reached out with my right hand and touched her shoulder, giving her a small smile, “I’m just glad you’re alright, Twilight. Yes, I need a bit of medical attention, but really, I’ll be fine. It’s not as bad as it looks. Doesn’t even...urf...hurt to much if I avoid coughing. Think I broke a rib or two when we landed.”

I heard Twilight’s friends getting the crowd to back off a little, catching someone yelling about making room for the emergency carriage to land.

Planting a foot, I pushed myself to my feet and stood. Twilight gave a small gasp, as did several others in the crowd. I took a moment to look myself over and really took in the state I was in. Multiple cuts and scrapes, a deeper gash in my left shoulder and a shard of wood sticking out of my upper right arm. Nothing major that I could see or feel on my legs beyond a bunch of smaller cuts. I was kind of glad I couldn’t see my own head and back, though I found it strange that it wasn’t hurting all that much like the rest of me was.

I was a mess but it still wasn’t the worse ever, not after I was caught in that rockslide while on a group camping trip five years earlier. That experience left me in the hospital for a solid four months. This was only going to be a matter of a day or two at the longest, if they didn’t just patch me up and let me go.

Then again, that was Earth…

“Vojin! How can you stand up after being hurt like that! You should lay back down and let the medics treat you!” Twilight exclaimed, starting to worry herself sick.

Giving her another small, pained grin, I had a had a decent grip on the pain thanks to all the kung fu training, rockslides and other ‘fun’ experiences, “Guh...gonna feel this in the morning. Like I already said, Twilight. I have been through worse, as difficult as that is to believe. After a month or so, you probably won’t even be able to tell. Gonna leave me with a lot of fresh scars though. Might as well get ourselves over to the ambulance. Come on, Twilight. You know you have to go with me anyway. I want you to get checked out too, just in case.”

She stared at me in amazement but gave a hesitant nod as she motioned for her friends to follow. I had to turn slow as I still felt a bit dizzy, but with a somewhat hobbling gait on my part, we headed towards the curious pegasi-drawn airborne ambulance that had just touched down. Applejack moved ahead of us to clear the way.

The gathered ponies made a path as we went to meet the medics. I was tuning it out but most of them were talking in quiet tones as they watched me, but I didn’t pay much attention. I figured I was a rough sight, all cut up and bleeding while also being a living myth they only first saw yesterday.

When we reached the ambulance, the medical ponies were ready with the doors open. I figured since I was walking towards them, they could see I was moving on my own and it would be faster to wait a minute rather than unload their equipment. A deep blue unicorn nurse with a pale gray mane and silver-gray eyes came up to me, scanning over my injuries. Seeing what looked like a riveted metal plate in the shape of a heart for a cutie mark, I wasn’t sure what to make of her at first glance.

“Sir, you should have waited for us to come to you with the condition you’re in. Can you at least climb onto the gurney in a safe manner without injuring yourself further?” the nurse asked in a stern voice as she gave me a look of mild exasperation, her magic unfolding an extension to the gurney I was about to set down on.

I gave her a simple nod, “It’s not as bad as it looks, miss. Been through worse.”

The nurse looked surprised for a moment, then shifted to aggravation as she glared and began to chastise me, “Not as bad as it looks?! I already see several places you need stitches. You’re going to need minor surgery to remove that piece of wood in your right arm and probably damaged the muscle in your left shoulder with how deep that gash looks. And as I heard it was a fall, you likely have several broken ribs with a head injury to top it off! Don’t tell me what it looks like, buster! Now get your flank on that gurney or I’ll have to put you there myself and strap you down!”

I could only grin as I tried not to laugh, “Yes ma’am!” was all I said in reply before doing as I was told. I winced as I bent over to climb into the vehicle and onto the gurney.

Once I’d managed to lay down, finding I fit well enough with the extension, the fiery nurse was quick as she tended to the major cuts after getting my ruined shirt off. She had gauze placed over the wounds before getting them wrapped in enough bandages to keep it in place and control bleeding while we headed for the hospital. I was quite hopeful all this medical treatment stuff wasn’t going to be a common experience for me in Equestria.

When I heard the second medic trying to dissuade Twilight from climbing into the ambulance, I looked up at the nurse tending me and caught her attention.

“I don’t mean to be a bother, Nurse Feisty, but if we try to leave without Princess Twilight Sparkle, both she and myself could die. Magic spell problem. Can’t get very far away from each other right now. And I did get hurt breaking her fall in the first place.”

To my surprise, she nodded without hesitation before sticking her head out of the vehicle, barking at what I guessed was her subordinate, “Swift Bandage! Let the Princess in the dang car already! She took a fall too and we best get her checked out!”

I heard ‘Swift Bandage’ stammer out a reply, “Y-yes, Nurse Tough Love!”

When Twilight climbed in, she found me caught between laughing and pained groaning as the nurse shushed and shooed her onto the second gurney. She stared at me like I’d lost my mind as I tried to wave off her concern with a hand, trying and failing to put her at ease as I got myself calmed down. It took a long, painful minute before I got back to just a wide grin.

“Heh, sorry Twilight...nnf… Just couldn’t help myself there,” I said, looking over to her, “It was just too much when I heard Nurse Feisty’s name. It’s entirely too fitting.”

“You walk that line too much buster, I’ll be using iodine on you,” Nurse Tough Love said with a hint of a smirk on her mock serious expression, prompting a wince from me.

“Understood, ma’am!” I exclaimed, seeing the nurse’s smirk grow a little bigger.

Twilight managed a small chuckle. After a moment longer, she made a sudden stop as she turned to look at me in disbelief, her voice was almost shaky, “Vo...Vojin… That mark on your chest…”

Quirking a brow, I gave her a curious look, “My tattoo? What about it?”

Twilight turned to Nurse Tough Love, “My apologies, nurse. I need to discuss something in private with him. I need to place a private discussion spell over the two of us. It won’t affect your work and I’ll drop it if you need to talk to one of us before we arrive at the hospital.”

Nurse Tough Love just nodded, “As you wish, Princess.”

Twilight’s horn flashed for a second before it went out again.

“Vojin, why do you have that mark?” Twilight’s expression became intense and serious when she turned back to me.

“Uh, I got it as a kind of reward for myself when I passed my test for earning my black sash in kung fu. Something wrong?” I returned, feeling some concern at her being so focused out of the blue over the thing. And a spell for a private discussion? Why was that necessary?

“Just answer the question, Vojin!” Twilight was more insistent.

“What do you mean? You asked why and I got the tattoo after passing my black sash test.”

Twilight growled a little, surprising me even more but at a loss for why she was getting so worked up over it, “Grrah...fine! Why did you get that mark specifically and how did you find it?!”

Taking a moment to blink in confusion, not at all expecting such focused agitation from her, “Uh...well, it’s kind of complicated. A few months before my test, I wanted to get a tattoo to commemorate reaching the rank of black sash and over the course of a month, I hadn’t decided. On a lark, I spent a full two days out in the forest trying to figure out what I wanted and what symbolism I should use. Most of my time was spent in deep meditation for hours. Then, when I was getting frustrated and starting to feel it was time for another approach, I was hit with one heck of a vision and knew what I had to get, clear as day. The dragon’s head for strength and determination, offset with the dove for always trying to live in love and peace with the world, the sword between for knowing I would have times I needed to fight for whatever reason. Beneath that is the shield for always trying to protect others whenever I am able. And all of it contained within the shining heart for the compassion I wanted to keep in mind for all I do so I never get lost in darkness.”

Though I was already confused, I was at a further loss when Twilight just laid herself down, looking at the wall of the ambulance in front of her as we flew towards the hospital. When I felt unable to resist any longer and opened my mouth to speak, Twilight glanced at me. I was worrying even more when I saw a troubled look in her eyes.

“Please don’t ask me right now, Vojin. It’s a complicated subject and yes, I do know that mark. We may even need to head to Canterlot before the Princesses send for us. Give me some time to get my thoughts in order and I’ll explain what I can,” Twilight said in a quiet voice.

“I have no idea what is so important about my tattoo, but it must be serious if you’re reacting like this. I can wait, but please talk to me when you’re ready,” I told her, drawing a half-hearted smile from her as she looked back at me in silence, her face unreadable.

I spent the rest of the ride to the hospital looking back at her as she watched me, wondering what had just happened and why the heck my tattoo would ever be recognized in Equestria.

Bk 1 Ch 5: Toughness and Bonding (edit 4/11/2015)

Author's Notes:

Edit 4/11/2015: Major revision pass. Some small adjustments and additions.

“No! You will NOT take our Princess off to a private room! There is an additional magic condition to consider that requires these two patients be kept in close proximity, just like I put on their charts while we were on the way here! Have I made myself clear enough this time?!” Nurse Tough Love challenged the doctor with a withering stare, whom was quick to back up and back down. The doctor cast a glance at Twilight and myself before just nodding to the bullish nurse, proceeding to go deal with a patient elsewhere in a hurried walk.

It hadn’t been more than a few minutes to reach the hospital, once the ambulance got airborne with patients on board, though as much as I’d have liked things to be different, it was difficult keeping my head together through constant pain in most of my chest from even shallow breaths and taxing to endure. Still, it did no good to dwell and decided to tempt fate a little more.

“Are you head nurse by chance, Nurse Feisty?” I asked, seeing her roll her eyes a little.

She gave me a brief glare that didn’t quite hide the amusement in her eyes, “Yes, I am. Emergency ward, anyway. Nurse Redheart is head nurse for the rest and technically my superior. I wasn’t tending you during your recent visit due to security and safety protocols that required the hospital to only permit specifically designated personnel. They were required to remain separated behind the quarantine for the duration of Princess Twilight’s and your treatment as a precaution against the risk of contagion in magic flux cases. I have a response team to lead and had to pick some of them for the duty. I went with the ambulance this time because we got word that Princess Twilight had taken a hard fall and I’m the best trauma nurse on staff here.”

“Well, you clearly have things under control for Twilight and myself. You seem a bit rough, but I’m glad you’re here to help heal us up this time...Nurse Feisty,” I couldn’t help the lopsided smirk, hearing Nurse Tough grumbling something about cheeky patients receiving iodine and having a reputation to maintain, though her tone remained amused. Twilight gave a quiet snicker.

Once we’d arrived, Twilight and I were settled into a room in short order. Head Nurse Tough Love left to get the cart she needed to clean up my open wounds and stitch them back together. The same unicorn doctor that had been in charge of Twilight and I just the day before walked in a minute later, giving both of us a look of exasperation.

“I suppose there is a story as to why the two of you are back the very next day after your last visit. If you don’t mind lad, I’ll tend to Princess Twilight Sparkle first. I can clearly see from here that you’re going to take quite a bit more time,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone and I just gave him a nod in reply.

He moved to the side of Twilight’s bed, “How are you feeling, Princess? I understand you were being shielded from the fall by your friend there. Anything in particular bothering you?”

She shook her head, “While I am feeling some aches, I feel pretty good considering what could have happened if Vojin hadn’t been able to break my fall.”

Nodding, the doctor gave her a polite smile, “That’s good to hear, Princess. Please allow me to do a basic checkup, just in case, alright?”

“Go right ahead doctor,” Twilight replied, adjusting her position a little for what I assumed was making it easier for him to examine her.

He checked her vitals again, seemed to use some sort of scanning spell on her ribcage and had her do a slow flex of her wings a couple times. The process only took a couple minutes since nothing seemed to catch his attention. I noticed Nurse Tough come back in with the suture cart, finding myself a little nervous that she might make good on her iodine threats.

The doctor checking on Twilight stepped back a little once he was done, a relaxed smile on his features, “Well Princess Twilight, everything seems to check out quite well. Aside from some mild bruising and a strained wing, I think you’ll be just fine in a couple of days. Make sure you get a good few nights of sleep, Princess.”

Twilight nodded, “It shouldn’t be a problem, doctor. Thanks for the check up, but please take care of my friend. I’m really worried about him.”

“Of course, Princess. I will give him the best of my ability,” he replied before coming over to my bed and began to evaluate my condition, “Well my mysterious human patient, or would you prefer that I call you Vojin? I am sorry I didn’t reintroduce myself in the brief visit yesterday. My name is Doctor Hoofmeister and I typically handle the more unusual cases that find their way to this hospital. I believe you qualify.”

He glanced at Nurse Tough, “Go right ahead with the smaller lacerations whilst I inspect the gash and embedded wood, Nurse Tough.”

Nurse Tough Love just nodded, making a bit of a show about what looked to be an iodine bottle before flashing me a smirk and leaving it alone as she prepared the supplies she needed. I couldn’t help but wonder how often her patients appreciated her bedside manner as I returned her smirk. As she began with uncovering, cleaning, local anesthesia and careful stitching, Doctor Hoofmeister returned his attention to me.

He started inspecting the wood lodged in my arm, mumbling medical terms before pointing his horn at it and made the wood shift a little before nodding to himself, turning to look at me, “Nurse Tough was right as usual. This is going to require a small surgery to remove safely due to the shape having somehow managed to hook itself in around a major blood vessel. I am a little amazed it didn’t tear it open just going in there. After we get your arm numbed properly, it should only take me a few minutes. I will let Nurse Tough finish the smaller lacerations while I evaluate your left shoulder.”

After moving to the other side of the bed, he removed the binding on my shoulder, shaking his head a little, “Do you generally heal well, Mister Vojin?”

Nice and reassuring way to start discussing an injury with a patient, I thought as I nodded, “Yes I do. I take it that gash was nasty then?”

“Unfortunately, I can see you’ve been injured sufficiently to cause some potential loss of mobility. I will have to do a little reconstruction before closing this gash to ensure that will not be the case as you heal,” he said with a firm expression, “In all, you are extremely lucky, Mister Vojin. The force of catching the Princess, and then hitting the ground as you did has caused remarkably little damage. Even more surprising is Princess Twilight’s near total lack of injury. You should be sure to thank the unicorn that helped. You could have been killed from the impact, not to mention should be far more seriously injured than you are.”

Frowning, I turned to look at Twilight only to find her face showing surprise, “Twilight, do you know who could have helped us like that?”

She shook her head, “Vojin, it’s not really possible. Unicorn magic generally has only minimal effect on alicorns without warning like that. There has to be a lot of preparation. In addition, nopony in Ponyville is a mage even close to the level I was when I first arrived here as a unicorn, let alone trained enough to cast a shield spell strong enough to protect us like that. And definitely not so suddenly as it all happened. And beyond that, most unicorns don’t even know more than a few spells beyond basic levitation and light unless it’s something specific to their special talent.”

“Well someone had to do it. Any ideas how it happened?” I replied with further confusion.

That could explain some of why I knew Rarity couldn’t save Twilight at the time, though not where the knowledge came from. And that magic had to come from somewhere, but was at a loss for now.

“I really don’t know. As sudden and unfocused to save us from worse injury as it was, it could have even been from you, Vojin,” Twilight said as she worked it through her mind.

“Well, I already said I don’t know how to use magic like unicorns at all, let alone have enough magic for something like that. Maybe your friends saw something. They’re probably on the way anyway, if they’re not already waiting to see you,” I said as I moved my right arm out of Nurse Tough’s way while she tended some cuts on my ribs.

Twilight looked at Doctor Hoofmeister, “Doctor, has anypony arrived trying to visit us yet?”

The doctor nodded as he waited for Nurse Tough Love to finish the last cuts that only needed stitches, “yes, Miss Rainbow Dash. That reminds me, she asked me to tell you the rest of your friends are on the way. I will let them in once we’re done treating Mister Vojin’s injuries.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Twilight said.

Once Nurse Tough was finished, she was quick to clean up extraneous suturing supplies before going straight to prepping my right arm for the doctor to remove the wood shard jammed in it. Doctor Hoofmeister got himself ready, though it seemed that only meant a mask and a small tray of tools. Nurse Tough Love gave a couple injections around the area to numb it all up.

“Unfortunately, there may be some discomfort as I get the wood out. We don’t know how humans would react to stronger anesthesia and don’t want to take that great a risk. Additionally, due to both your recent magic flux experience and what I understand initiated it, we also cannot risk something like a numbing or sleep spell. Please let me know if you need me to stop and we can reconsider,” he stated as he settled himself in place.

“Honestly doc, I walked myself to the ambulance and climbed onto the gurney without help. My ribs didn’t make it easy but I have been trained to manage pain rather well. I just want to get this over with,” I stated in a dry tone, prepared to just deal with more than a little discomfort.

“I understand. Please remember that I may have very sharp instruments in very delicate places at any time should you need to move, so warn me to back up to avoid any possible bad timing. Now let’s get this taken care of for you,” he said.

Doctor Hoofmeister went right to work with delicate incisions a few times as needed to remove the wood shard. Thanks to the anesthetic, I found it was more of an aching pain than sharp and well within my tolerance so long as I kept aware of it.

I turned my eyes to Nurse Tough, herself standing beside the doctor in case he needed something.

“How many stitches did I need, Nurse Tough?” I asked, seeing a bit of amusement in her eyes and some gratitude that I wasn’t teasing her in front of the doctor.

She gave a steady reply while remaining attentive to the doctor, “It took about eighty sutures total for your other injuries. Possibly another fifteen to twenty for these last two.”

“Huh, still doesn’t break my record then,” I said off hand.

Twilight spoke up in surprise, “You mean you’ve had more than that? What in Equestria happened?”

I gave her a lopsided smirk as I ignored the turn of phrase, giving only an occasional wince and decided it would help pass the time, “Might as well share the story. I was on a camping trip five years ago and we were in a fairly remote area during a hike on the third day. We don’t know what started it, but most of us were caught in a rockslide. Obviously, I survived but I was hurt pretty bad. Of the eight of us in our group, seven were caught in the slide and five didn’t even survive the slide in the first place. I couldn’t tell you how I lived, but to say I felt much worse than today is an understatement.”

“The saddest part…,” a heavy sigh escaped me as the memories played, “I was close enough to grab the twelve year old son of one of our group. I tried to run him clear of the slide’s path but couldn’t get down the trail fast enough and we got carried along. The rocks were mostly small in size, which I figure is part of the reason I was able to survive, but for all the strength we put into hanging onto each other, I was forced away from the kid. He didn’t make it.

“I somehow managed to mostly stay on top of the slide, but once the mass of rubble stopped, I had several broken bones and was bleeding bad. The only member of our group that wasn’t caught in the slide also happened to have a satellite phone and...uh, that’s a long range communication device...and he was able to call for rescue. We were airlifted in a few minutes because we got lucky that an airborne rescue team was training just a few miles away, so they were able to respond in record time. I should also add that I was unconscious for all this and heard the story from the guy that escaped the slide.

“I heard that the only other person to survive the initial injuries from the slide ended up with too much internal bleeding and didn’t make it to the hospital. I was lucky in a sense because I was bleeding externally and they managed to control it enough that I survived the flight.

“Once I got to the hospital, they found most of the bones in most of my limbs were broken, not to mention a number of others in my torso. Thankfully, my skull and spine managed to avoid anything serious. Took a lot of stitches to close all the gashes. Around a hundred thirty before the stitches from the surgeries I underwent to get me fixed back up. Was even in a body cast for a while. Took me four months in the hospital and another six in physical therapy to recover completely.

“And now you know how I could say I have felt worse, Twilight,” I said with a sigh, watching her speechless state.

The doctor was closing the hole where the wood shard used to be by the time my story finished. I hadn’t realized how much pressure my arm had been feeling before he got the thing out. Once he finished stitching it geother and Nurse Tough Love disposed of the tools, he walked around the other side of the bed and grabbed a different set as he got ready to repair my shoulder.

“I must say, Mister Vojin, I can certainly understand your ability to tolerate injury as you do having heard that story. Having such an experience and your aforementioned training, this second surgery to reconstruct part of the muscle in your shoulder won’t be quite as difficult for you. Regrettably, I cannot give you as much anesthesia like your arm received due to the proximity to your heart. This is going to hurt, even by your standards I’m afraid, Doctor Hoofmeister said in his calm voice, seeming to pause at a thought, “Hmm...under normal circumstances, I would never suggest this but your unique situation is not exactly standard. If you wish, I can see that you are brought some hard liquor to dull some of the experience. You need only say the word.”

It took a moment for me to register his suggestion. I arched a brow, looking at him and knowing that wasn’t quite a typical thing from a doctor anywhere. After a moment of consideration, I just shook my head with a strained smile.

“No thanks, doc. For very personal reasons, I don’t drink alcohol at all beyond some very specific circumstances. Important enough to me even to endure this experience. This is a one time thing, so I’ll make do. If you think it’s going to be that intense, just give me a bite stick and a place to lock my hand onto.”

The doctor gave me a long, steady look before he nodded, “If that is how you wish to approach this, I won’t stop you. However, unlike removing the wood from your arm, this is going to be highly delicate the whole procedure and there are several stages I need to have things held in place as I use another tool. If you move too much at all, and at some points even tense the muscle too much, you could tear even more tissue and make things much worse. Ordinarily, this is never a problem but your additional considerations with anesthesia and magic are difficult to work around.”

“I know, doc. Let’s just get this over with so I can get to healing,” I said with finality, adjusting my position a little as he needed for the procedure, nodding to Nurse Tough Love when she placed a suitable bite stick in my right hand that I was quick to place in my mouth so I wouldn’t get caught unprepared. She then gave the few anesthetic injections she could.

I looked away from the doctor when something touched my right hand. When I turned my eyes to see, I found Twilight standing beside my bed with her hoof resting on my hand and a very worried look on her face. I closed my fingers over her hoof in a gentle fashion and gave her a tight smile in hope of expressing my appreciation even as I began to prepare my mind for what a stellar experience this was going to be. Drawing on my training and practice, I started slipping my mind into a trance state as my left hand gripped a bar attached to the bed. My eyes found themselves drawn to Twilight’s and we stared at each other even as Doctor Hoofmeister asked for and received my permission to begin.

While the good doctor did work in the swiftest, most efficient manner he could, the procedure took just under an hour and time passed with an agonizing slowness. The first few minutes just hurt, but after that it went past feeling on fire until he was done and just working on closing the gash.

The entire time, Twilight and I stared into each other’s eyes. I grimaced, shed tears, ground down on the bite stick, squeezed the bar and her hoof, and aside from shallow, often shaky breaths, managed to endure in silence until the doctor was done and Nurse Tough wrapped large bandages all around my shoulder and across my chest.

As I worked to calm myself down and take normal breaths again for several minutes, I realized how drenched in sweat I had gotten. Twilight brushed some damp hair from my forehead with her free hoof, no words felt necessary between us just then. I was exhausted from the strain and trembling. The doctor hadn’t been exaggerating about the surgery hurting even by my level of tolerance. At least it was over now and I could just focus on recovering.

Without really thinking about it, my shaking hand brought Twilight’s hoof to my lips and I planted a soft kiss upon it in gratitude of her being there the whole time. She gave me a warm smile even as a blush lit her face before she looked up in surprise when the door burst open with a light bang and Princess Celestia rushed in.

“Twilight! Vojin! Are you alright?! After not receiving a reply for an hour, I asked Spike to report what was going on and why I had received no response only to learn both of you were back in the hospital after a hard fall! By the Sun, what happened to you two?!” Celestia said in a rush, hurrying to Twilight’s side and hugging her tight before she looked down at the sorry state I was in on the bed, drained and exhausted.

“Celestia, I’m so sorry! I was going to reply after a short experiment with flying but we were suddenly hit with a massive shift in the link without warning. Maybe I flew too high without realizing it, I don’t know! It just happened too fast to react. I’m a little bruised, but I am otherwise fine,” Twilight explained, hugging her mentor back just as strong.

Celestia didn’t let go of Twilight for longer than seemed usual. It wasn’t hard to see how afraid she had been for Twilight written across her features, watching it drain out of her before she released her long-time protege and now fellow princess, “We can discuss the details later, Twilight. I am just thankful you’re alright. I must ask though, how is it you are only bruised when Vojin has been injured so substantially?”

Twilight looked at me with a warm smile, staring into my eyes before turning back to her mentor, “Vojin jumped off my balcony to catch me in the air and broke my fall when I was too disoriented to fly or focus. He took most of the impact himself and I might not be here if he hadn’t.”

Princess Celestia looked shocked, glancing to me and back to Twilight a few times before turning a grateful look on me, “Vojin, you truly have my deepest thanks for protecting Twilight.”

Giving her a tired nod and a half-hearted smile as I replied, “I only did what was necessary, your highness. Still don’t know what happened or how I managed to come out with just the injuries I did receive, but I’d do it again if I had to.”

Celestia gave me a graceful nod, having recovered her usual composure, “I will certainly want to hear the circumstances of this, though I believe it can wait for the time being. Might I ask why you seem so particularly drained, Vojin?”

Before I could reply, Twilight answered instead as she looked to me with a small smile, “He just endured almost no anesthesia for a surgery to repair his shoulder. I can’t imagine how, but he never made a sound the whole time. I can’t stop thinking about how much of a risk he took to save me…”

I returned her smile with another one of my own as her hoof touched my hand again, meeting her gaze as she did. Princess Celestia seemed shocked by the news for a moment before she gave a warm smile at seeing the closeness Twilight and I had gained.

“It seems you will be fine now, Vojin. I am most grateful you were able to aid Twilight in a moment of great need. Once you have recovered for a few days, I would like both of you to come up to Canterlot. The research my sister and I have been doing is providing a number of valuable insights already. We still have much more to do of course, but it may be quite helpful to hear some of what we have already learned,” Celestia said before looking to the doctor, whom had been waiting in silence so as not to interrupt, giving him a deep frown, “I would like to know why you did not administer anesthetic to Vojin. I am aware of your skill and reputation, Doctor Hoofmeister, so please do not think I am angry with you in my query.”

He straightened up and bowed a moment, responding in the same calm tone he always had, “Your highness, due to human physiology being such an unknown, coupled with his recent case of magic flux, I felt it would be of great risk to administer very much of even our most universal drug options. No magical means were attempted. I even went so far as to offer him some hard liquor to help manage the pain, but he refused. As much pain as he must have felt, he endured it remarkably well and I was able to finish the manual surgery as efficiently as I could have managed even if he was under proper anesthesia.”

With a graceful nod, Princess Celestia thanked him and asked to have some time in private with Twilight and myself, then to send Twilight’s friends in after a few minutes and she would send for them when finished. Both he and Nurse Tough Love bowed and closed the door to the room behind them as they departed. Princess Celestia turned back to Twilight and I with a deeper frown.

“I fear I did not give you sufficient explanation relating to your link and do apologize. It was not so necessary with how it appeared at the time. I believe what you have experienced was related to being too far apart for too long. As you already knew, your link will not allow you to be separated very far. However, I neglected to mention it will also not allow even that much distance for very long just yet. From what has been uncovered so far, you may consider it not unlike a middle basin on a tiered fountain, always being filled and emptied in equal measure when placed at the correct height but could conceivably lack enough incoming water to match the draining flow if too far from the source. In your case, you are the magic source for each other, as well as the place you are draining into. I can thankfully tell you right now that Luna and I both believe the link is essentially bringing itself into balance over time and will eventually stop causing such issues. At that point, you may both travel separately as desired. We have not yet been able to ascertain how long this process will take, only that it will happen over time,” Celestia stated, her eyes then took on an odd unreadable expression, but she made no indication what was on her mind.

Twilight looked back at me with another smile, seeming relieved at the news. I gave her hoof another gentle squeeze with a small smile of my own. Celestia seemed rather intrigued to find the two of us acting so warmly with each other.

There was a minute or two of comfortable quiet before the door opened and Twilight’s friends came in. They bowed to Celestia before swarming Twilight for a group hug, whom was still standing beside me. They all gave me worried looks as they took in my stitches, large bandages and exhaustion. It was not all that improved over the cut up and bloodied state I left in.

“We were all dreadfully worried about the two of you. I simply must ask you Twilight. How on Equestria are you looking so unharmed and our new friend lies in such a dreadful state?” Rarity asked, looking back and forth between Twilight and myself.

“We were mighty worried until we got here ta the hospital and heard ya both would be alright. Sure was a big relief ta hear, Ah tell ya. And what in tarnation was all that glowin’ about when ya jumped off the balcony, Vojin? Ah thought ya said ya ain’t got much magic?” Applejack said with concern.

At the mention of glowing however, Princess Celestia, Twilight, and myself froze as we looked at Applejack in surprise while Celestia drew closer.

“Applejack, what do you mean by ‘glowing’ when Vojin leapt from the balcony?” Celestia asked in a guarded tone.

Before Applejack even had a chance, Pinkie started in as she began hopping in place and chattered away, “Oh! It was super duper neat! Vojin was on his knees one moment, then yelled for us to move and he ran right off the balcony into the air like he could fly away with this really pretty white glow all over his hands and eyes, then almost all over him when he caught Twilight right outta the air like a super duper stunt-pony action hero! It even covered Twilight so much I couldn’t see her anymore until they hit the ground! We were so busy worrying about them that we didn’t mention it until just now! Vojin, since you said you don’t have much magic, can you teach me how to turn all glowy like that? It’d be so wonderrific and I could be my own night light!”

The looks on Celestia and Twilight were of utter shock. Twilight kept opening and closing her mouth while Celestia just stared at me with a somewhat unreadable blank expression. I just kept looking back and forth between the two of them in confusion before I had to say something.

“Uh...don’t know about any glowing I did but are you two alright? You look like something impossible just happened…,” I said, feeling clueless.

Celestia at last let out a slow breath, “Vojin...if what I just heard is true, you are not simply capable of more magic than you thought or previously appeared, but among a very short list of unicorns that have accomplished such an expression of raw power without training or preparation. In my entire life, long as it has been, there have been less than ten. To use names I believe you are familiar with, two of them are Starswirl the Bearded and Twilight Sparkle.”

Now it was my turn to be shocked as I stared at Princess Celestia. There should be no possible way for me to be capable of such a thing. What I knew of magic and energy work had nothing of that magnitude by even the broadest measure. There was just no way I could have generated such levels of power. Someone must have misinterpreted something and I had a serious lucky break when I caught Twilight. I had no words to respond.

“From what you have told me and the things I learned about you while you recovered from the magic flux, I suspect the lower levels of magic on your own world combined with your magical practice resulted in a very unusual circumstance when you arrived here in Equestria. I will consider it further and we can discuss it when you and Twilight can come up to Canterlot after you recover from your current injuries,” Celestia said with interest in her voice.

I just gave an absent nod, feeling more than a little overwhelmed at how my second conscious day in Equestria had gone. Twilight gave my hand a squeeze in her fetlock, a look of delighted, gleeful excitement on her face as she giggled and grinned.

“Oh my gosh! If you have that much ability, I can’t wait to start showing you all kinds of spells! Of course, I’ll have to help you learn some basic control first but I just know you’ll do great as you start learning magic with me! It’ll be so much fun to compare our different styles of casting when you’re ready! I wonder how well you’ll handle teleportation the first time! We’ll even be able to research spells together! Oh, and mmmff!” Twilight was dragged out of her tangent rambling by a pink hoof over her mouth as Pinkie, of all ponies, gave a sly smirk. Realizing what she’d just done, Twilight blushed.

For my part, I couldn’t help but give a small chuckle even as I winced from the irritation to my injured ribs. The other girls and even Spike looked on with awkward, polite smiles.

Princess Celestia gave a soft, bell-like laugh before speaking, “Well Twilight, it would seem there is another aspect of this situation to take into consideration. I am glad you are so eager to help Vojin learn magic. At the very least, having some training to better control it will avoid any accidental bursts should certain situations arise. Knowing this new development also opens some avenues Luna and I had previously discounted.”

Twilight still had a faint blush, though her smile was undaunted. It was good to see her so excited even if I had little idea what to expect. At least it would be a great subject to explore while I recovered yet again.

Beaming in her excitement, Twilight was perhaps on the edge of running off on another tangent as ideas almost visibly flew across her mind, “Well Vojin, it’s going to be a lot of fun to each you about Equestrian magic. I still haven’t even had a chance to hear much about your own! I’m not sure I’ll be able to sleep tonight with all the books I want to look through and see what mental exercises will work best for you!”

“Twilight, as intrigued as I am, I fear I’m in no condition to keep up for a couple days. Go right ahead getting ready to your heart’s content though. It will be absolutely fascinating to learn magic like unicorns use. I’ve dreamed of that kind of ability,” I said with a tired smile.

She rubbed my hand with her hoof and still wearing a wide smile, she never once moved away from my side since the surgery. I was grateful she stayed there with me, my mind drifting as I found myself caught by her eyes again. It occurred to me I was doing that more with every passing look.

“Alright, everypony. I need all of you to listen now. I had you join us in this room for a reason,” Celestia intoned, her voice gentle but undeniable with an air of gravity that made everyone turn to her, “Now, because you are all uniquely connected in various ways, not the least of which that the you girls are the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony before they were returned to the Tree of Harmony, I need to share some things with you. And to be clear, this does include you as well, Spike.”

The girls and Spike looked at each other in confusion, having no idea what the Princess was about to say. I just looked on as I watched Princess Celestia, wondering what she had to say.

“As you know, Vojin appeared in Equestria quite suddenly and without warning. My sister and I, in the course of studying the unique circumstances surrounding his arrival, have come to realize not only are Vojin and Twilight involved in events to come, but the rest of you are also bound in what we have foreseen. Perhaps it was to be expected, considering all you have done together already. As I expressed to Twilight and Vojin yesterday after we left the hospital, what I am about to discuss must not be repeated to anypony under any circumstances. To do so could risk very grave consequences. Now just a moment…”

Princess Celestia turned her gaze to each of them before her horn began to glow in her billowing golden aura. I felt a wave of energy surrounding the room and realized she was casting some kind of spell over the room before she began to speak again with a far more serious expression, “I am afraid I cannot tell you everything, my most beloved little ponies. There are aspects that must yet remain secret, even though it will affect you directly. I can tell you it relates to events to come.

“A great trial approaches that will test us all as never before. As I explained to Twilight and Vojin yesterday, and why I had my guards ask that you wait until today to visit, Luna and I have been working on a safeguard for Equestria for well over a thousand years. While it was on hold during Luna’s banishment and it required us working together in order to create, we had been working on it again for several months. For reasons we have not been able to yet discern, Vojin somehow found it on his own world and was subsequently pulled here to Equestria, seemingly soon after Luna and I performed a final test and the artifact we were crafting disappeared.

“It was meant to summon somepony to the palace in a time of great need. Luna and I have been doing research into the matter and still have much to study but we have found strong indications that Vojin is going to be needed by Equestria for some key reason, though we have yet to answer why. We do know the Tree of Harmony itself will be involved and under threat, despite the fact it should be far beyond any mortal to cause it harm. Should the Tree ever fall, it would mean the end of our world.

“I hope to be able to share more soon, if our research continues to prove fruitful and we gain a clearer picture of what is taking place. I know you all have far more questions than answers now, but aside from the few things I have already shared with Twilight and Vojin that they may now share freely with you, I cannot say anything more.

“Again, do not discuss this with anypony under any circumstances other than between yourselves. Even then, please ensure you restrict such discussions to the library after Twilight can put up an active soundproofing spell like I am currently keeping over this room. Grave consequences could result if even this little bit of information somehow found the wrong ears.”

Celestia watched as everyone persent gave her either a salute or other confirmation of the importance. She gave a graceful nod with a faint smile as she lowered the soundproofing spell, speaking in a tone full of certainty, “I know you will all be able to see things through as you have done so many times in the past. All of you have more strength than I would have thought possible. For now though, having attended what I needed after checking upon Twilight’s and Vojin’s well-being, I must return to Canterlot once more as things are quite busy after spending last week away to protect them from the flux. I know you will triumph so long as you all remain true to yourselves and each other, as you always have.”

Twilight gave her mentor a hug before she departed while I gave her a tired nod. The rest gave a brief bow. No words were spoken for a few minutes after Celestia left. There were a few hugs or hooves touching shoulders in mutual support and comfort. Even Spike stood silent beside Twilight with one hand on her leg as he looked at the floor.

After a point, something pushed me to say something, “Hey girls...listen.”

Feeling a little better now that I’d had a while to rest, I spoke in a soft tone, “No matter what happens with what Princess Celestia said, you have each other to stand beside you...and now you have me to stand with you. Whatever my role is, I’ll be there to help protect you. If I’m truly stuck in Equestria and must make a life for myself here, I can think of no greater goal than protecting the ladies that embody the Elements of Harmony and those they hold dear.”

All but one of them was now looking at me with varying degrees of wonder, surprise, confusion, and appreciation. Twilight was the only one that wasn’t, staring at me with shock and sadness as her eyes filled with tears. Somehow, I had the impression it was connected to her reaction to my tattoo from before, but she could share the story with me later. Time seemed to vanish again as we stared into each other’s eyes.

We were snapped out of it when Fluttershy touched Twilight on the shoulder, her yellow wing brushing Twilight’s cheek in a tender fashion as she spoke in a concerned voice, “Twilight? What’s wrong? Why do you look like you’re about to cry?”

Twilight only brought a hoof up to cover her mouth as she looked like she was about to break down in tears, giving a soft shake of her head before she brought her head down to my chest to weep in silence. The others present kept asking her what was wrong, but she just stayed there half laying against me with her eyes closed as she wept for a while longer. I didn’t know what bothered her so much about saying I’d be there to protect them, but I let her stay there. With a rather careful motion of my left hand, not doing more than bend my arm at the elbow so as not to aggravate my shoulder, I began to brush my fingers against her mane. After a while longer, she seemed to calm, giving a soft sniffle before lifting herself back up.

“I’m sorry everypony, I...I guess everything that’s happened recently just kinda overwhelmed me all of a sudden. I’ll be ok,” she said as she wiped a fetlock over her eyes. I had the strange feeling she was being truthful but still dodging the full reason she was crying.

“That’s quite alright, darling. I’m sure any of us might feel very much the same had we endured all you have been through in just this past week,” Rarity said as she rubbed Twilight’s back.

“Yeah, Twi. Don’t worry about it. We all get overloaded at some point. Unless you’re me, of course! I can handle anything!” Rainbow Dash boasted, giving Twilight a gentle tap on the shoulder.

Twilight gave a faint smile to her friends, “Thanks, girls. I’ll be fine now.”

As the girls started some conversation amongst themselves, I gave Twilight’s hoof a soft squeeze to get her attention, “Come closer for a second, Twilight. I need to tell you something.”

When she had leaned down, I whispered, “I know it was my saying I’d protect you and your friends that got you upset. I won’t ask right now, but I hope you’ll be willing to tell me back at the library later, alright?”

Once she pulled back, her eyes threatened to fill with tears again before she got control of herself. There was a long pause before she gave a slight nod, drawing a soft smile from me in return. I gave her hoof another squeeze in thanks.

It was about then that I at last felt myself grow very tired as the day caught up with me. To my chagrin though, it took a while for me to even fall asleep, only to shift my body in my near-sleeping state and irritate something in a painful way which kicked me right back to being wide awake.

At some point after half an hour or so by my guess, the others headed off to let us both rest. Doctor Hoofmeister had been back to make sure everything checked out and nothing unexpected had happened with my injuries. He told us after some observation for a few more hours, we’d be free to leave the hospital since there was nothing left he could do for me without healing spells, leaving me with just a need for plenty of rest.

My now favorite nurse came back in to check how I was doing every thirty minutes, tending to threaten me with iodine whenever I called her ‘Nurse Feisty’ again. She also helped me clean up with a thorough sponge bath, during which Twilight was gracious enough to wait on the other side of the curtain for. I did get Twilight to laugh at one point though when I cracked a joke about getting a sponge bath by a hot nurse, though it earned me a magical swat upside the head from said nurse.

When Nurse Tough Love came to get us ready to leave and I mentioned appreciating her rougher approach, she grumbled about me spoiling her and making her want to be nice to me, despite smirking the whole time. Then she threatened to hide all other antiseptics and leave me with only iodine if I ‘got my flank hurt again’ enough to come back in under a month. That one somehow seemed more serious when she said it.

Twilight and I got a cart ride from Applejack when we left the hospital, since I wasn’t very ready for much walking. I was surprised to find a rather impressive arrangement of cushions and pillows had been prepared for us in the cart and sensed Rarity’s touch amongst the fancy pillows, for which I was thankful as it would prevent every little bump in the road from causing me substantial discomfort.

While we were making our way back to the library in the evening, Twilight and I sat in silence together as we rode along. I noticed she kept close to me or would rest her hoof on my right hand frequently.

It got to a point where I just had to ask, “Twilight, I keep noticing you’ve been staying a lot closer to me since we were in the hospital. Mind if I ask if there’s a reason why?”

Twilight seemed to blush a little, making me suspect I should already know the answer for some reason. She cleared her throat a bit, a rather self-conscious scooting away happened as she did, “I just...uh, well...I guess I’m just really grateful you caught me this morning. It made me feel kind of treasured somehow and I guess I’ve just kind of...liked staying near you. Makes me feel a little safer, if that makes sense?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I could swear I saw Applejack glance over her shoulder with a whimsical smirk. It left me starting to feel clueless again and decided not to think too hard on it.

“I did mean it, Twilight, what I said earlier about doing the same thing again. I still couldn’t tell you how I knew I could catch you at all or how the heck I knew rarity couldn’t just catch you with levitation. I just reacted. I suppose it’s a very good thing that I managed to cast that shield around us, too. I hardly scratched most of my back and didn’t hurt my head at all. With how much of a mess the rest of me is, it probably wouldn’t have been pretty.”

Twilight nodded with a small smile, “Well, now that I know you have the ability, I can help make sure you can cast a shield that actually covers you properly rather than one that leaves your arms exposed and lets you take most of the impact like that.”

“Maybe this is asking for trouble on my part, but how do you think I did with the shield, anyway? I didn’t even know I was doing it, just acting on instinct,” I said, curious about her response.

To my surprise, Twilight giggled a bit and gave me an amused look, “Vojin, it’s amazing that you protected anything at all. You were using so much magic that I’m surprised you weren’t simply floating to begin with! It was kind of silly that your instinctive reaction left part of you exposed and...wait…”

Her expression turned to amazement as her eyes widened, realizing something about whatever it was I had done as she spoke with excitement, “Vojin, I don’t think you were shielding yourself at all! The entire shield was around ME! You had me so heavily shielded that you just happened to be in part of the shield when we landed!”

I looked at her, not really getting what the difference was even as she continued, “Without proper training to direct it, there is no way you should have been able to put a shield around somepony else! How in Equestria did you even do that?! I have to write Princess Celestia as soon as we get back to the library so I can tell her! That’s amazing!”

As she kept going on in her excitement, spouting various bits of magical formulae well beyond my capacity to understand, I just cocked my head to one side with an eyebrow raised. I wasn’t really sure how to respond. It had been instinctive, not done on purpose. I knew about some techniques for aura shielding back on Earth, but this was…

Then it hit me, seeming so clear.

“Twilight, I think I have an idea what happened and how I was able to shield you,” I said, watching as it took her several seconds to realize what I’d just said.

She looked at me in surprise, “What? Without training, it shouldn’t even be possible. Have you had training?”

I gave her a grin, “Well, like I’ve already said, I did practice magic on Earth. It’s just a working hypothesis, but I think I was using a seriously amplified version of aura shielding on you. I have trained how to project a shield in that sense. It explains how it was so thickly layered around you, how I could direct it onto you, and how I was partly covered.”

“Auric shielding? I know about a few tricks with auras, but I’ve never heard of shielding one or using one as a shield. Is it more of an expression to describe the spell, or is it more literal?” she asked, rubbing her chin with a hoof.

“I think it’s more literal. Something that has crossed my mind is the low levels of magic available on Earth also caused some very energy efficient and creative approaches to the weaker forces available. Of course, on Earth we can really only use aura shielding for spiritual defenses for the most part. Most of the magic is in that arena, actually. There’s just not enough energy to manifest much, if any, physical effects anymore most of the time,” I went on as I followed my thoughts.

Twilight continued her pondering a moment longer, looking as fascinated as ever, “Well, do you think you could do it again on purpose, now that you have a possible explanation?”

“You know, I’m not really sure. I think I can try something else for now though. Let me see if I can make a light above my hand…” I offered as my right hand came up, palm towards the sky.

She watched with intense curiosity as I began to focus. I had done this little exercise many times for a different reason, but guessed a lot of my previous understanding and practices would find the energy involved to be amplified in a big way. I stared at my palm, trying to direct my internal energy flows towards my intended point, picturing a tiny marble of gathering magic hovering just above the middle of my hand.

To my surprise and Twilight’s, a tiny pinprick of light began to form as my hand was covered in a dim, billowing white mass. I fed more energy into it and it grew quite fast. After another second however, it began growing faster and brighter at a rapid rate. Before I had time to react, it had grown as large as a grapefruit before it pretty much exploded in a blinding flash of light that left spots in my eyes. Twilight’s yelp of surprise told me she experienced much the same.

“Would y’all mind tellin’ me what the hay yer up ta back there? That wa one mighty bright flash…,” Applejack said, sounding a little nervous.

“Sorry, Applejack. Just a little magic experiment. I wasn’t expecting it to go like that,” I replied, still trying to figure out what had just happened.

Twilight shook her head a bit to clear her head, looking at me with a bemused expression, her voice dry, “Vojin, I think the first lesson you’re getting is about power control.”

The two of us shared a quiet laugh, though Twilight laughed more than I did since my ribs hated my guts right now. Applejack just sighed and rolled her eyes, focused on pulling the cart.

“Really, Vojin, you put way too much power into that spell. It’s possibly a result of how little magic there was back in the world you came from. I think it’s a great sign that you did that so easily, though. The methods and techniques you already know might be a lot closer to what we use in Equestria than I’d hoped,” Twilight continued, giving me a bright smile as gears turned in her head in an almost visible way.

I just smirked as something came to mind, “I guess it’s a good thing I wasn’t trying to cast anything with fire, right?”

Twilight winced, “No kidding. If you did that with a similar fire spell, the three of us would probably be all singed right now. Actually, on that note, you’re banned from using fire magic in our house until further notice.”

We both shared another laugh at that until I registered what she just said and looked at her with a brow raised as I made a somewhat careful query, “Twilight...did you just say our house?”

Her eyes widened as a bright blush lit her face. While she stammered, I heard Applejack let out a snorting chuckle. Deciding to tease her a little, I leaned a bit closer.

“Why Twilight, if I had to guess, I would swear you like me,” I teased her with a sideways look. The cart wobbled a little as Applejack had trouble keeping herself from falling over with laughter even as Twilight seemed to outright change colors with how much she was blushing, beginning to play with her hooves as she looked down.

“I, uh, r-really Vojin, it’s...well, you see...I j-just…,” Twilight struggled to form a sentence while flustered to a remarkable degree. It made her look very cute and adorable.

Once I felt like she had endured enough, I made a cautious lean closer to her so I could whisper and not have Applejack overhear, my own face heating a bit as I committed myself to what I was going to say, even as a wide grin broke out on my face, “And you know something, Twilight...I always found smart girls like you to be the cutest.”

As I leaned back to a more comfortable position, I was a little boggled at the expression on Twilight’s face. Her eyes were wide as saucers and her face frozen in surprise with her mouth hanging open, seeming to almost glow from how much she was blushing. I could almost swear she even had steam coming out of her ears.

After a full minute passed without a change, I found myself getting a little worried about her and called out to Applejack to see if she was familiar with this state Twilight was in, “Uh, Applejack, I think I broke Twilight somehow. Is she ok?”

Applejack stopped pulling and looked over her shoulder at Twilight with a raised brow. I saw her frown, squinting a little as she scrutinized Twilight’s face before she smiled and went back to pulling the cart.

“She’ll be alright in a few. Ya told her y’all like her back, didn’t ya?” she said in a matter-of-fact tone, giving me a smirk. It soon grew into a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin when she saw me blush bright in response. She just snickered and carried on.

Sitting there watching Twilight for another minute, her rigid posture and expression remained unchanged. Since we were almost to the library by this point, I gave a soft poke to her shoulder and she looked at me from the corner of her eyes as her mouth closed, still blushing as she gave me a sheepish grin. Lacking any idea what I could say after that, I could only return it in kind.

By the time we pulled up in front of the library a couple minutes later, both Twilight and I had managed to calm ourselves for the most part. We flashed each other silly grins, but didn’t say anything about what had just happened.

Twilight hopped off the cart with ease. Stuck moving slow and careful, I had moved to the edge of the cart, that had no gate or dropping side, and steeled myself for the light jarring that would come from hopping the small distance to the ground.

When I found myself floating for a second and set on my feet with a gentle touch, I blinked in momentary confusion until shooting a look at Twilight, confirming she’d just used levitation on me as her horn ceased glowing with the end of the spell. When our eyes met, we both froze as the realization of what just happened caught up to us. I saw her eyes widen in worry and fear as she remembered what happened last time she’d tried levitation on me.

There was a long pause before Applejack spoke up in a cautious tone, “”Uh...y’all ok there? Ya both just up and froze before starin’ at each other with some mighty worried looks on yer faces.”

Applejack’s question seemed to do the trick for us as we realized nothing unexpected had happened this time around. It was with that realization that we could breathe again.

Twilight looked at her farmer friend and gave her a sheepish smile, “Sorry, AJ. I just realized I used the same levitation spell to help Vojin off the cart as the one I’d used to catch him falling out of the sky when he first appeared. That’s how the magic flux started and I think we were both worried for a second that something would go wrong again.”

Applejack looked surprised for a brief moment, then just nodded, “Well, Ah reckon that’s a good enough reason ta worry. Can’t say Ah know much about magic, but that bit makes sense. Ah’ll let ya be now. Vojin is sure ta be mighty tuckered out after a day like this. Me an’ the girls’ll be droppin’ by in close ta lunch tomorrow, Twi. We’ll see ya then, alright?”

“I’ll be looking forward to it, AJ. See you and the girls tomorrow,” Twilight waved as Applejack began to head back for her farm.

“Oh, an’ before Ah forget, remember. Vojin’s got a lot o’ healin’ ta do, Twi. Now that ya both know ya like each other, try not ta stay up all night,” Applejack teased with an amused laugh as she headed off.

Twilight and I looked back at each other, both of us seeing the blush on the other. Twilight gave a short laugh of embarrassment before she looked away, opening the door and heading inside after me.

Once the door shut, we stared at each other again for another awkward moment before Twilight found her voice again, “Well...uh...I guess I’ll see if there’s anything quick to eat since it’s after dinner and Spike should already be asleep. Can I get you anything, Vojin?”

“No thank you, Twilight. I really just want to rest and I hope I’ll be able to sleep without too much pain tonight. Back on Earth, they’d have given me some nice and strong pain relieving medication, though I understand why they were afraid to here. Never expected I’d be missing something like that as much as I am right now. I’ll have to rely on my survival medkit for however long it lasts,” I told her, starting to move for the stairs to go get the thing when Twilight spoke up again.

“Um, Vojin, you don’t remember, do you?” Twilight said.

Turning to look at her with a confused look, “Remember what?”

“Celestia mentioned it to me yesterday in case you didn’t remember. She said while we were recovering, during one of the periods you were awake, she asked if they could take your medical supplies because they weren’t familiar with them. You agreed since you were already in a hospital,” she replied, looking apologetic.

Groaning in annoyed defeat, I just turned and started over to the couch instead, “Geh… Well, it’s done. I’ll live.”

“Well, I can at least get you a glass of water. I know the healing process can sometimes dehydrate somepony when they have as much to recover from as you do. Same with a greater need for eating right,” Twilight said, giving me a sympathetic look before heading into the kitchen.

As I waited for her to return, I tried to shift myself around on the couch in hopes of finding a somewhat comfortable position. I was on my back with my legs hanging over one end when Twilight came back with a glass of water and a straw for me. I gave her a small smile of appreciation when she came up to the couch.

“not having much luck finding a comfortable place, are you?” Twilight asked as I took the glass in my right hand. I was thankful my right arm was still quite functional or this would have been so much worse to deal with.

With a shake of my head, I frowned, “Unfortunately not. It isn’t even the furniture really. Seems like I keep missing something to get properly comfy. Every position is irritating something. Might lay down in bed soon and just hope to get at least a little sleep tonight.”

Twilight rubbed her chin with a hoof with a thoughtful expression before she looked at me again, her voice cautious but hopeful, “Do you mind if I try another spell on you, Vojin? I have an idea.”

I raised a brow at her, a bit wary but she was the magic expert here, “I guess. What did you have in mind?”

“Just let me try this first and I’ll explain.”

She stepped back a couple paces and aimed her horn in my direction before it began to glow with her natural aura. I felt energy washing over me, but I couldn’t tell what was happening beyond that and nothing seemed to indicate what kind of spell she was casting. After she’d done this for several seconds, she looked up again with a smile and appearing much more relaxed.

“Well, from what I can tall, I can use my magic on you without any problems now. I just tried a mixture of different spell components on you. By themselves they’re inert, so you don’t have to worry about any weird effects. Nothing appeared to cause any change in your magic or mine, so I’d like to try something more specific, if you don’t mind,” Twilight said with a hopeful tone.

“I guess that’s good news then. Don’t see any reason not to, so go ahead, Twilight.”

She gave me a smile before taking on a more focused look. Aiming her horn at me again, the glow was a lot brighter this time.

As the spell’s magic washed over me, I began noticing a strange feeling in several places as I tried to figure out what she was doing. Within a few seconds, I noticed some of my pain was receding and it dawned on me that Twilight was either casting a healing or pain relieving spell of some kind. Either way, I was happy with getting to feel a little better.

While she focused on the spell, I noticed Twilight sweating and straining more and more. By the time almost a full minute had passed, she looked exhausted even as she kept going and a little bit more of my pain faded. Witnessing how hard she was struggling though, it began to worry me as she looked every more drained. The instant I noticed her starting to pale, I couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Twilight! Enough!” I almost shouted, startling her out of her focus as she looked up at me with fear and worry.

“What happened, Vojin? Did you notice some sign of our magic getting distorted again?” Twilight said as she started to panic.

I just shook my head as I gave her a level stare, “No, but I did see you straining yourself way too hard. I’m not going to let you cast whatever that was on me again without good reason. It looked like you were making yourself sick and might pass out.”

She frowned, stepping back up to the couch before moving onto the cushion beside my head, looking down at me with a sad expression as she sighed, “I just wanted to try and heal you a little. At least enough so you could get a decent night’s rest.”

“I’m not trading my health for yours. I appreciate the effort, but to borrow a little from you earlier, you’re banned from using healing spells on me until further notice.”

Twilight looked both sad and a little annoyed, tears starting to form in the corner of her eyes. Reaching up, I brushed my fingers across her cheek as I looked up at her with a small tender smile.

Speaking in a soft voice, “Come now, Twilight. What’s on your mind? Is it related to why you were shedding those tears at the hospital?”

She trembled a little as the tears began to slide down her cheeks, giving me a weak nod in response. Twilight seemed unable to speak while she worked on holding herself together against a coming breakdown, prompting me to start sitting up.

“Twilight, talk to me. You already said you’d tell me tell me what was wrong earlier,” I said as I got myself upright and scooted over next to her, pleased to find I wasn’t hurting quite as much after she cast the spell.

When Twilight didn’t say anything, I paused before reaching my arm around her back, hugging her against my side. I was a little surprised when she was quick to snuggle in against me this time. Deciding she’d talk when she was ready, I just sat in silence with her. It was comforting to sit with her like this, holding her close with her head leaning against my chest below my chin.

The comfortable silence went on for a few minutes before she gave a resigned sigh and spoke in a quiet voice, “When you said you’d be a protector for us Bearers of the Elements, you confirmed something related to the mark on your chest.”

That was something of a surprise, but why would there be a connection? Deciding to remain quiet and let her continue, I had little to say until I heard more of the story.

Twilight continued after another minute, her voice stronger, “I found a scroll by accident in a restricted Canterlot archive. It was a brief overview of the Guardian of the Bearers. I didn’t know what was meant by any of it until after I came to Ponyville and my friends and I obtained the Elements of Harmony. I talked about it with Celestia once after that happened and she again told me I wasn’t supposed to see the scroll, but that time she said if I found the being with the mark and then they offered to protect the Bearers, then I had to do everything I could to support the Guardian. More than the other Bearers, the Bearer of Magic would in turn help to protect the Guardian. From what, I don’t know. Celestia even said she couldn’t tell me because she didn’t know either. All she could tell me was the bond I forged with the Guardian could save them from something along the way, while the Guardian was to support us Bearers of the Elements through a great trial we wouldn’t be able to manage on our own. Princess Celestia has never lied to me or misguided me, even if I didn’t always understand right away. Now that I’ve met you and we’ve become friends and saw your mark and you offering to protect us and this link and…”

Touching a finger to her lips to quiet her, I leaned us apart so I could look in her eyes. We just looked at each other for a minute. She was still teary-eyed, seeming in a strange state of delicate presence and openly vulnerable. I felt like I wasn’t following with the scale of what she was talking about, lacking the context she had, but it didn’t matter so much to me in that moment.

I cupped her cheek with a soft touch as I brought my arm back around between us, thumb brushing against her soft purple fur through her trail of tears, just looking at her in silence for long moments before voicing my thoughts, “I may not know what this is all really about, Twilight, but I meant what I said about protecting you and your friends. I wouldn’t hesitate to jump off the balcony to catch you again, go through the same mess because of it again. I might not understand what brought me here, or why, but I have a deeper sense inside that is telling me I’m supposed to be here. That I’m supposed to be here beside you.”

Twilight stared at me for a long moment as worry and wonder traveled across her face before she started to blush for an unknown reason. I had just started to think of speaking when she darted forward and gave me a deep kiss. Her eyes fell closed as she made a soft sound in her throat, wrapping her forelegs around my neck, causing me a little discomfort but she was gentle in her embrace. It all caught me by surprise of course, but soon my right arm slipped around her to pull her closer as I returned the kiss. My heart fluttered as a storm of emotions rushed around within.

It could have been a minute, it could have been twenty before we pulled back a little and looked at each other again. We were both blushing again as we breathed in quiet pants, stunned little smiles on our faces as we looked in each other’s eyes.

“I.... Vojin, how can we be like this when we’ve only really had time to know each other for just two days? Part of me feels like this is so sudden and another part says nothing else matters beyond being here with you,” she said in a soft, wondering voice before moving to nuzzle into my neck as she adjusted her forelegs, leaving one stretched across my torso as she rested her head against my right shoulder.

When a soft chuckle escaped at that, I found it only a little uncomfortable now in contrast to what it had felt like before. The healing spell that Twilight had used might well have sped up my recovery by a week or two, at least. I turned my mind away from that side of things again though, making slow strokes of my hand against her mane as I kept most of my arm against her back.

“I don’t really know, but if I had to make my best guess, I’d say it’s the link most likely. If it’s really based partly in emotion, maybe we can understand each other better and more deeply. Have you felt like you can sometimes almost anticipate an action or mood or word from me before I go and do it?”

Twilight nodded against my neck, giving a faint sigh as her warm breath tickled across my skin, “I had thought I was just imagining it before. Now that you said that, maybe it wasn’t as much imagined as I thought. Do you mind just holding me for a while? The idea we’re all going to face some kind of dangerous trial is unsettling enough, but I’m even more worried about why I’m supposed to save you from something. I wish I knew from what.”

Giving a gentle nod in response, I pulled her a little closer and ignored the protest my aching ribs made, it felt closer to serious bruising at this point, and nuzzled her head before I spoke, “If you are supposed to be the one to save me from something, then it also means you can save me from whatever it is. We just have to face it when we get to it, ok?”

She sniffled and tried to nuzzle a little closer, otherwise just staying where she was. The warmth of her and the softness of her fur was an amazing feeling, soothing. My hand was still making slow gentle strokes against her mane as I thought about the situation we were in and what I was going to do with my life if I really was stuck in Equestria for life, this sudden romantic turn with Twilight, making friends with the other girls, the surprise discovery I had a lot of magic potential. There was so much to think about and sort through, stacking up before I’d even come to grips with stuff that already happened.

It all left me that much more grateful to be cuddled up with Twilight in this moment.

“I don’t know exactly what this change means between us, Twilight, but I know it feels really comforting right now. It also brings a question to mind. I hope you’re not embarrassed by it and it’s pretty forward of me and maybe something of a human thing, but I also can’t shake the feeling it’s right to ask,” I offered in a hesitant tone, feeling both tense and at ease about it.

Twilight nuzzled my neck again in response before speaking, “I think I can handle most any question from you at this point, Vojin. I get the sense it’s a yes or no sort of thing?”

“I see you’re paying closer attention to what our link is sharing. Well, uh…,” I cleared my throat, feeling embarrassed for asking, even if it still felt right, “I was just...um, wondering if you’d….well, like to sleep beside each other tonight is all. Nothing more than that. No, uh...extra stuff. I hardly think I’m healthy enough for such a thing right now anyway. I just thought it might be nice to cuddle up and fall asleep together.”

I felt Twilight shiver at my words, for a moment I thought she might have been offended, but soon relaxed as she hummed and nuzzled my neck again before surprising me with a brief yet obvious lick tracing against a small spot on my neck, earning her a shiver from me in turn.

She gave a soft giggle at my response, her voice almost a purr, “Now that you mention it, that does sound really, really nice. The thought of extra stuff at some later time also sounds intriguing, but I have to agree about your present health. I’d also like to explore having a relationship for a while before really considering that step. By Celestia though, the thought of it is more than a little enticing. It’s going to be in the back of my mind a lot now, I think. I also find it a little weird to find out your skin tastes kind of...exciting to me for some reason,” Twilight opened her mouth against my neck and made a slow drag of her tongue across my throat, being deliberate in her movements before nuzzling under my chin with a hum.

Blinking a few times with a blank expression, I shivered again and gave her a small squeeze before I could respond in a somewhat shaky voice, “Heh...er, yes….uh, I...I agree, Twilight. Just, uh...don’t do that much more. It’s a little, uh, too exciting…”

Twilight gave another soft giggle and just snuggled in a little more. I let out a tense sigh and let myself try to relax again. It seemed we were both rather tempted to throw caution aside and hold nothing back, but more than that, there was a greater amount of rightness just being close and taking our time. It felt like we had all the time in the world.

When I found myself yawning a short while later, I kissed the top of her head and realized we should head up to bed so we could sleep next to each other for the first time. I knew her bed was a little larger than the one in the spare room, so it might even be more comfortable for me as a bonus. After the exhausting experience that was this day, then Twilight using that healing spell that reduced the pain to a more manageable level, I found myself drowsing rather fast. To have her snuggled up against me, all soft and warm as she was, only served to enhance my need for sleep.

“Alright, I better get in a bed before I’m too tired to make it. While you’re not allowed to do it again, that healing spell really did help a lot. I think I can sleep at least halfway decent now. Thank you,” I told her, fighting back another yawn.

“You’re welcome. I promise not to use it again, but I really wasn’t able to heal nearly as much as I intended to. You were in rougher shape than it looked like. I’m glad I was able to do as much as I did for you,” she was quiet as she pulled back and slipped off the couch.

We climbed the stairs, finding my eyes drawn to her flanks swaying in front of me as she gave a faint giggle before swaying even more.

While she went about her bedtime routine, I paused in what was now going to be my old room. I took care of what I could with my own routine, now wearing my last clean pair of kung fu pants and having a moment to wonder if my clothing was going to last more than a day each, considering the rate of attrition.

Then we stood at the edge of the bed together as Twilight looked up at me, mirroring my own nervousness as we eyed each other for a time. She swallowed and climbed into bed, scooting over with her magic raising the covers for me to join her as she watched. Once I’d slipped in beside her, she drew the covers up over the two of us.

After we laid there together for a bit longer, I raised my right arm for her and she snuggled up against me. Her head raised to look at me before she leaned close and gave me another deep kiss. My hand found the back of her head and fingers sank into her mane as she made a soft sound in her throat, almost melting against me. The warmth of her fur against so much of my skin during the kiss made me shiver, even as the idea of what we might feel later from having no barriers played across my mind in tantalizing ways. An answering shudder from Twilight said she was feeling the same.

Once we felt satisfied by the kiss, she went back to snuggling against me and her head came to rest against my chest with my arm against her back. After she was settled, Twilight moved a wing over me as well and nuzzled me again with a happy sigh. We laid awake for a few minutes longer, occasional brushes, squeezes or nuzzles betraying the lingering desire to explore more than sleep before we settled.

We drifted off together at some point. Her steady breathing made me relax a little more with each breath she took, while she was lulled to sleep by the sound my my heartbeat.

Bk 1 Ch 6: Poingant and Playful (edit 4/21/2015)

Author's Notes:

Everything has a reason and not everything is what it seems, both in this chapter and the ones before.

Edit 4/21/2015: Major revision and editing pass. Extended by over 4200 words. Added some missing things, rewrote a couple moments, enhanced several others. A couple clues I forgot are now included. For the appropriate moments of them together, made things a lot naughtier, despite their still remaining innocent.

Though I will not put straight clop scenes into the main story, nothing says that intimate moments have to be PG only. There is a lot that can be done with suggestiveness and allusion, not to mention teasing. Besides, they're both mature adults. Well, mostly anyway, heh.

For those few that had read the former version, I'd love to hear opinions of the differences.

Beginning to return to the waking world, I noticed a warm, soft weight resting against me. After another moment longer, I noticed said weight was breathing in the slow rhythm of comfortable sleep. My mind next took notice of the substantial stiffness in my limbs, sore from healing as my aches began to make themselves known again and any interest in moving was quick to vacate my waking mind. Remembering the night before, I smiled at the sight that greeted me as I opened my eyes.

Twilight was snuggled against my side, a faint snore escaping as she breathed. Between her presence and needing time to recover, it was an easy choice to stay where I was and delay my usual workout for later in the morning. My current condition was going to be limiting as it was.

Instead, I placed a small kiss on the top of her head where I could reach, just behind her horn. While I was wide awake, I had no interest in moving for now. It seemed that we’d done little moving around in the night, with Twilight only further moulded against my side like she couldn’t get close enough, even her wing across my middle was tucked in a little tighter.

I rested my nose against her mane, wondering to myself about my present situation and how strange it was to feel so close in such a short time. Questions that deserved consideration, to be sure, but for now I was content to just lay there with her as I waited for her to wake.

It was some time later that she began to stir with soft mumbles about her pillow being so warm before she nuzzled my side brought a smile to my face.

She then paused and stiffened, letting out a small gasp as her head sprang up to look at me with wide eyes full of surprise, a cute blush spreading across her features as she whispered in mild disbelief, “Oh my gosh...we really did fall asleep together…”

Grinning, I opted for a more non-verbal reply as I hummed, then a gentle hand pulled her head back down for a good morning kiss. She gave her own hum at that, her eyes closing for the kiss before she pulled back again. For perhaps a minute after, we just stared at each other with warm smiles, not quite sure what to do.

A question bubbled out of my mouth with little thought, almost a whisper, “Do you think every morning will be like this?”

Twilight laid herself back down and nuzzled into my neck as her eyes slipped closed, “I don’t know. I’ve never really been in a serious romantic relationship before. This feels wonderful, but it’s also so new to me. I can say that if it keeps going like this, I’ll never want to get out of bed again… Hmm, I could always just levitate my books over to the bed…”

I gave a soft chuckle, dismissing the ache in my ribs, “If you did that, just how would you get any new books?”

She stiffened for a second, then relaxed again with a small annoyed groan, “I guess you have a point. I never anticipated how nice it would be to curl up in bed with my special somepony though. In a way, I can’t be close enough to you.”

As if in emphasis to her words, she shifted a little and tried to mould herself against my side even more than she was already. I gave her a small squeeze in return, thrilling in the feel of her fur as she cuddled with me. There really weren’t many words that could be said in the moment.

Of course time kept moving and the sound of Spike yawning was heard not far away as he began to wake. Twilight and I shared a look, having forgotten he was there at all until right then. Sharing a sheepish grin together, we saw the mirrored thought we had, hoping he wouldn’t be upset to find me cuddled up with her.

The little dragon gave another yawn as he stood and stretched before turning to look at the bed and Twilight, “I guess I’ll go get breakfast started. You awake yet, Twil-- Vojin?”

He stopped himself mid-sentence with a confused look. Twilight gave a soft giggle at his expression.

“I didn’t get a chance to talk to you last night, since you were already in bed when we got back. I know it’s rather sudden and I hope you don’t mind, but Vojin is my very special somepony now,” Twilight said, her voice a touch giddy as she glanced at me.

“I, uh...are you happy, Twilight?” Spike asked, looking thoughtful.

She gave him a small nod and a smile, giving me a tiny squeeze I wasn’t sure she even noticed herself doing, “I’m really happy, Spike. Sudden or not, it feels right in a way I can’t really explain right now.”

He gave a brief half-hearted shrug in response, “If he makes you happy, Twilight, I guess it’s fine with me. Hard to dislike him after he saved you like he did yesterday. Should I make some more pancakes today or just scramble some eggs?”

Twilight flashed me a small grin, an obvious question in her eyes alongside some hidden relief. I just gave her a simple shrug, careful of what I moved. She got the message that I didn’t mind either way and turned her eyes back to Spike.

“I think I’d like eggs and toast this morning, Spike. Thanks,” she said with a smile.

“No problem, Twilight. Breakfast will be ready soon!” Spike replied before he hurried down to the kitchen.

Twilight laid her head back down against me with a content sigh, looking like she intended to stay put until breakfast was ready. Taking the opportunity, I traced my fingertips up her back, brushing them through her fur as I explored. When my fingers drifted to the base of one of her wings, I let my curiosity focus on it. We had to get up soon enough, but we could delay for a while longer.

After I’d been exploring the base of her wing for a minute or so, I noticed Twilight was breathing deeper than before, tiny gasps starting to escape her lips as her body seemed to melt and tense all at once.

Growing curious, I pressed my fingertips into the muscles in the crook of her wing joint as though I were massaging the spot. I couldn’t stop the devious smirk that appeared on my face as she let out a soft moan and shuddered, revealing that I’d found one of her sensitive spots.

An almost teasing note in my voice, I stilled my hand and let it rest against her back, “Seems I found something interesting, haven’t I?”

When Twilight raised her head, gulping as she looked at me, the smouldering heat in her gaze was all the answer I needed. I was a bit surprised when she pressed a hoof to my chest as her eyes narrowed, licking her lips before she leaned down until her muzzle was just a breath away from touching my nose.

Her gaze locked on me, a smoky tone in her voice that made me shiver, “You rub my wings like that any longer and I may just keep you in my bed for a full month before I’ll even begin to consider the very vaguest concept of letting you get more than a foreleg’s length away from me again…”

I responded with a soft hum, an faint and whimsical smile spreading on my face, “We’re going to have a hard time restraining ourselves, aren’t we?”

She moved in to nuzzle under my chin before starting to nibble at my throat for a few delicious seconds, then just moved closer and nodded, her eyes shut as she tried to calm herself down again. While quite tempted to start playing with her wing muscles again, I just held her close. The thought alone of where things might lead if we tempted fate any further was getting to me.

With a great amount of reluctance, I made myself nudge her back and moved to sit up at the edge of the bed while she eyed me with a half-lidded gaze. I really needed a moment in cooler morning air in the room, away from her warmth. Before I could bring myself to stand, I had to turn towards her, leaning in for a deep kiss, intending to stand up after a second.

That second seemed to last as she pressed into the kiss in an instant, her forelegs slipping around my back to pull me down to her. The angle forced me to turn and move closer, ending up with my chest against hers as she seemed urgent in the kiss we shared, leaving me feeling powerless to resist her as my mind began to go blank.

I was left feeling a curious mixture of disappointment and relief when she pushed me away, both of us gasping for breath with our mouths only an inch apart as we stared into each other’s eyes.

Twilight swallowed before pushing me to the side before she rolled away, her hind hooves landing on the floor as she gave me a heated stare that spoke volumes, “Vojin, we better stop. I kiss you like that one more time and I’m going to teleport us to your former room and just lock the door. We’ve hardly done anything and I’m right on the edge with how much I’m craving you and I can’t handle even one more touch like this. I almost regret sharing my bed with you last night, but it was far too comforting. I can’t remember the last time I slept so well.”

For an agonizing moment, just about everything in me was screaming to kiss her again and give in, unable to move for fear I would capture her with the ease of the willing if I moved towards her and we’d be lost to this mutual craving. A need to claim each other that felt almost outside of myself in a way. Then with slow, careful motions, I made myself move back and stood up on the opposite side of the bed, trying to slow my heart as I gave her a weak smile, “You’re right about that, Twilight. About both things. I did wake up a number of times, but it was the feeling of you nuzzling me in your sleep and it was oddly soothing. Despite how I expected to sleep, I feel surprisingly rested.”

“I’m actually a little surprised you didn’t get up sooner. I was kind of expecting you would do your usual morning routine, with how dedicated to it you seemed yesterday. Mind if I ask what changed?” Twilight asked as she calmed herself back down, doing a little stretching a safe distance away.

“Short answer, I’m hurt and your comfy,” I replied with a soft laugh, seeing her cheeks bloom in a rather cute way as she glanced away with a bashful look, “I did wake up at the usual time. Still, even though you healed the worst of it last night, I need another day or two at least in this condition before I’ll be ready to do much. I can start thinking about exercises that use so much of my body and range of motion at once after that. At the very least, with my ribs and shoulder to deal with, I’d just hurt myself if I tried. I’ll do some careful stretching and light stuff later so I have an idea what I can do safely.”

Twilight nodded, looking almost relaxed again as she stepped up next to me with another smile, “That makes sense. You didn’t have to stay in bed though, if you wanted to get up.”

“Didn’t I just say you’re comfy?” I teased, earning another bashful look as she looked down and rubbed one foreleg against the other, a shy giggle escaping her.

“I’m not the only one that’s...comfy. It’s really, really nice, waking up to the sound of your heartbeat and breathing. And you felt so warm next to me,” Twilight said as she looked up into my eyes, blushing a little brighter as she smiled.

“Yeah…,” I added as I returned her smile.

She stretched her wings before refolding them against her sides, letting out a content sigh, “Well, we’ve probably been up here long enough for Spike to have finished breakfast or be almost done. Shall we go eat?”

“I just need to get my last good shirt first and I’ll meet you downstairs, ok?” I replied, wondering to myself once again about the state of my wardrobe. As I was about to turn away, Twilight rose up on her hind legs and gave me a tender embrace, pressing her face into my right shoulder. My right arm found it’s way around her a moment later.

Curious as to what she had on her mind, “Twilight? Something wrong?”

Twilight didn’t respond right away, silent as she stayed close for a while before whispering in a nervous, but hopeful tone, “Vojin...is...is this what it feels like? To be falling in love? I know so little about you but you’ve already shown that you’re smart, have a good sense of humor, know lots of interesting things, can make beautiful music, that you’ll risk your life for me and never ask for anything in return. I’ve never read any books on relationships that cover a situation like ours. How are you making me feel like this so fast? It’s like I don’t feel right unless I’m holding you or you’re holding me…”

Her words brought a new warmth to my heart, smiling one of those special smiles that is somehow small and immense at once, replying in a tender voice, “It really looks like that’s what’s happening, Twilight. You’re brilliant, know a lot of your own interesting things, fascinate me when you start chasing a train of thought, passionate about magic, and would trade everything to be there for those you care about when they needed you. You welcomed me into your home without a second thought, Twilight. I have next to nothing in this world and you gave me a place to call stay, of all things, just hours after we first spoke to each other. If the choice were suddenly presented to me, the daughter I left behind aside, I think I would already choose to stay here and let my life on Earth go so I could be here with you. You feel like my balance point. The one aspect of my life that I don’t think I could lose and really be whole again. Sappy and sudden as this all might be, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The two of us just held each other close, enjoying the feeling of the moment. With the swiftness that we were being drawn towards one another, I could not help but wonder if the emotional aspect of our link was letting us open up easier than would be typical for meeting someone new. Regardless of what the reasons were, the feeling was an undeniable kind of joy.

We were lost in the comfort of our embrace until Twilight’s stomach made a loud growl and caused us both to laugh. Releasing each other while wearing wide smiles, she headed down the stairs while I went to grab my shirt before I would follow.

Pausing, I gave my training shirt a bemused look. It wasn’t that I minded wearing the same black with yellow trim clothes, but rather the rate of attrition I was experiencing. With only two sets after yesterday’s fall left my third in tatters, I hoped Rarity would be willing to make me a few things in exchange for running errands for her or something. I’d be doing laundry daily until then, if I wanted fresh clothes in the morning. Here’s hoping she’d have time in the next day or two.

Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I took care as I slipped the shirt on. My left arm enjoyed being difficult, going back in the sling once the shirt was in place, before I headed downstairs barefoot.

The smells of breakfast got stronger as I found Spike finishing up to my surprise, having expected to find him wondering why we were still upstairs or something. Twilight was busy getting some plates and utensils, flashing me a bright smile. She then blushed as I walked past her and let my fingers trail down her back, giving a small tug at the base of her tail while flashing her a teasing smirk.

It felt right for us to wait, even if it was going to be difficult, considering how the morning had left us one errant touch away from giving in already. At least it was clear the wait would be worth it, once the time came.

***

A few hours later, it was getting close to lunchtime when the girls dropped by as they had planned yesterday. Twilight had a number of things she had to take care of after her time in the hospital, leaving me to my own devices. Much of my time was spent on careful physical checks and quiet meditation until company arrived.

Between the various apple-centric foods courtesy of Applejack, and the stash of desserts that Pinkie seemed to pull from nowhere, everyone was happy and full.

“Ahh...always have loved them fitters Granny makes. So, how are ya feelin’ today, Vojin? Able ta get much sleep last night?” Applejack said with a teasing wink and a smirk.

Just quirking a brow at her, her lack of subtlety made it obvious what she was trying. To an extent, I almost wished it was Rarity trying to pry. At least she should know how to be sneaky about it, though I suppose that was just the effect of Honesty. Choosing not to respond to her implication, “Well, after Twilight found she could use her magic on me without any unintended effects, she was gracious enough to attempt a healing spell on me. Although I had to stop her before she could do very much due to the strain she was putting herself through, it did ease the worst of it. Managed to sleep pretty well, all things considered.”

“That’s great ta hear. Ah know ya both got mighty worried when Twi got ya off the cart. The two of ya stay up long?” Applejack asked, trying to look innocent despite a smirk and drawing a raised brow from the resident fashionista, who was now paying close attention.

I knew what she was going for and wasn’t going to let her have this one. Instead, I gave her a knowing look and smile before leaning close to Twilight, seated to my right, and whispering in her ear, “I suppose we should tell them. Would you like to do it or shall I?”

Twilight’s cheeks bloomed, staying silent for a moment, then she cleared her throat as she put her hoof on my hand, which I took in a gentle grasp, and turned to look at her friends, “Girls, I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you. I know it’s really sudden and everything, but last night, Vojin and I… Well, he’s my special somepony now.”

The reactions around the table were all positive, much to our relief. Various congratulations were expressed, along with some comments. Rainbow Dash joked about dragging me along on their adventures in the future too, since I was proving to be useful if anyone needed something to break their fall. I was nonplussed, but a retort about her having the most frequent need of such assistance got her to quiet down with a smirk directed my way.

I couldn’t help noticing Rarity’s expression though, looking a little put out despite offering her support in turn. As she was sitting on my left, I leaned a touch closer to her to ask, “Is something wrong, Rarity? You have this air of disappointment around you.”

Rarity wore a relaxed smile and waved a dismissive hoof, “Not to worry, I was just thinking. To be quite honest darling, I found myself quite intrigued by our previous meeting. A rather fascinating individual you are, coming from another world and playing such beautiful music. Then you went rushing straight into danger for the sake of dear Twilight with no regard for your own safety. I must say, I was rather charmed by you. Twilight, I certainly never expected you might catch a stallion’s attention before myself. I am quite happy for you.”

Twilight let out a shy giggle and leaned against me as she wrapped her forelegs around my arm, “I guess we’re both surprised, Rarity. While I was never really avoiding stallions, I never met one that drew me in like Vojin has, and they certainly never made me feel like I do now. We even slept together last night…” Twilight gave a content sigh and nuzzled my shoulder.

There was a pause as eyebrows began to raise and smirks began to grow. Rainbow Dash had a devious grin as she leaned closer, “So tell me, Twi...was he any good?”

Twilight’s own words caught up to her after Rainbow’s comment, “I just meant sleep! All we did was sleep!”

While she turned as red as a tomato, most of the girls burst out laughing, though Rarity tittered and Fluttershy gave a soft giggle. Unable to resist, I gave a light chuckle myself as I slipped my arm out of her grasp so I could wrap it around her and pull her closer before giving her a nuzzle.

Their laughter ran it’s course and as it died back down, I kissed Twilight on the temple and looked around wearing a content smile, glancing back at her now and then, “Yeah, just sleep. I’m still surprised by how restful it was, despite my injuries. I was really expecting to have a terrible time all night, but being snuggled up together like that somehow kept me quite relaxed and content.”

Twilight and I both shared a small laugh at the collective ‘aww’ they gave. It was nice to find Equestria so accepting. I didn’t want to spend any thought on how our new relationship would have been received on Earth. The thought alone gave me a mental shudder.

Turning to happier things, I looked at Pinkie Pie. It was strange how quiet she’d been so far and had been eyeing Twilight and I as soon as she heard we were in a relationship. Working with what I knew, the probable thoughts in her head caused a lopsided smirk to grow on my face.

“Hey, Pinkie, you’re thinking about a party, right?” Pinkie looked surprised at the question, continuing before she could answer, “Like I already said, I knew a few things about you girls and you, Pinkie, will plan a party for just about everything. I know it’s your thing.”

“Wow! How’d you know I was thinking of throwing a party? Are you a mind reader too? Oh! What am I thinking of now?” Pinkie said as she stared at me with a strange look.

“Uh...tacos?” I replied at random with a blink, not sure what to think when her eyes widened as she got one of those Pinkie grins going, “I’m really not a mind reader at all. You just have some consistencies mixed in with your randomness. It’s endearing, to be honest. I was just wondering what you’re going to do, now that you have so many reasons at once I know you’d normally throw a party for individually. I mean, I’m new to Ponyville. Party. Twilight and I got out of the hospital after a coma. Party. I caught Twilight so she wouldn’t be seriously hurt. Party. We discovered I have the ability to do magic in the process. Party. We just got out of the hospital, again, yesterday evening. Party. And last but not least, Twilight and I just announced we’ve started into a romantic relationship. Party.”

We all watched in confusion as Pinkie Pie stared at me with a stunned, blank, almost glassy look. Her ears were folded back and her eye was twitching. She had us worrying as she began to let out a faint whine before she tipped backwards off her chair, hitting the floor with a thump as one leg twitched in syncopated rhythm with her eye.

Just as we all started to get concerned for her, she coughed, complete with a squeaky sound no less, as an unsettling, a large blast of confetti escaped her before she popped up. She was hopping in wild excitement and spoke faster than I’d ever seen her do, and judging by the looks I saw on the girls, I wasn’t the only one.

“Ohmygosh!Ohmygosh!Ohmygosh!Somanyreasonstoparty!I’mgonnaneedasuperpartyjustto
catchuptoeverything!Imean,justwow!We’llneedawelcomepartyanda’outofthehospital’partyand
a’VojinsavedTwilight’partyanda’Idiscoveredanewtalent’partyandasecond’outofthehospital’party
andaspecial’TwilightandVojinaredating’partyParty!!!SOMUCHPARTY!!!”

She stopped to inhale with a loud gasp, the whole dang thing coming out in one breath. Now grinning wide as ever, she looked around at everyone present. Most of us seemed to have gotten lost somewhere in the middle of her high-speed spiel.

Pinkie twitched a little again, looking around at everyone as she kept grinning, shouting every time she said the word ‘party,’ “Ok, everypony! Now I just gotta do a HUGE amount of PARTY preparation! Twilight, you might even wanna invite the Princesses down for this PARTY! There’s so much I need to do that it’s going to take me all day and tomorrow morning just to get ready for this PARTY! So much PARTY!! Oh gosh! I have so much to plan for the PARTY! I’ll have to talk to you girls later! PARTY!!!”

Without a moment’s hesitation or any sort of reply, she dashed out the door. We all just blinked for a few seconds before sharing a light laugh at her antics. Whatever Pinkie was going to come up with this time would be interesting and maybe even spectacular.

“Well Vojin, it looks like you gave Pinkie Pie some sort of Pinky party aneurysm with that,” Twilight joked, poking my stomach with a hoof as she grinned.

“Oh my yes. I must say, for all the times I have seen her get excited, this was certainly one of the strangest outbursts I have seen our Pinkie Pie display,” Rarity added, glancing a few times between the confetti debris and the door as though she had to check again that she just saw what she thought she did.

“I know she’s excitable and often random, but I didn’t quite expect that reaction. Although, now that I think of it, I’m not sure what I was expecting. I just laid out the multiple things that have happened in in the past two days that she’d normally throw a party for…” I said, doing much the same as Rarity in glancing between the door and the confetti detritus on the floor before I decided to give up making sense of Pinkie. I should know better already.

The rest of us enjoyed some casual conversation for a while longer, giving me a chance to really start getting to know the mares that were Twilight’s closest friends. I surmised Pinkie was going to be easy in comparison, considering she makes it a point of pride to be a friend to everyone in town. I need to remember to do something nice for her at some point in the future to thank Pinkie Pie for the party that was looking to take place tomorrow afternoon.

While to my mind it was a little miraculous in a way, nothing else crazy happened during the visit after Pinkie’s newly-minted reaction which earned the name ‘Pinkie Party Twitch’ and the girls all headed off.

As I helped clean up best I could with one useable arm, a question came to mind and I looked to Twilight, “When were you thinking of trying some magic practice? I know, power control first. I can’t imagine my present skills will be very useful unless we get Photo Finish dropping by and her camera flash breaks.”

Twilight gave a merry laugh, leaving me to think I was getting addicted to the sound, before she replied, “Well, however unlikely that is, it would be interesting. And already found a use for what you do know, hmm? Let’s finish cleaning up from lunch and see what we can start with, ok?”

It was a few minutes later that found us in the main room of the library while Twilight was selecting a couple magic books. Recalling what I’d noticed yesterday about about books here, I was about to speak up when she plopped a tome in my hands, already open to what I guessed was basic magic control. Looking at it again, I found that same feeling was still there. As though I were right on the edge of understanding the strange script in front of me even as any meaning continued to elude me. No getting around it.

“Um, Twilight...I haven’t had a chance to bring it up until now, but I noticed that first afternoon while you were getting that veggie platter that I couldn’t read any book titles that I could see. I don’t know why Equestrian script is a mystery to me when spoken language has been so easy like it has,” I told her, feeling a bit frustrated by this large barrier in front of me after reading so much on Earth.

She looked at me in surprise, “You can’t read in Equestrian? With how little difference, if any, we’ve had in conversation, I never even considered our writing might be different from what you knew on Earth. I guess it’s understandable that would be differences. Let me think…”

“Strangely enough, it still gives me this odd impression of feeling like I should be able to read it without any trouble. Which is very weird, considering I’ve never seen Equestrian script before. It’s like knowing the answer to a question and it’s on the tip of your tongue, but you keep being stumped on why exactly,” I said as I set the book down, making no progress in understanding.

Her brow furrowed more at my telling her it felt familiar when I was looking at it, a hoof touching her chin before she brightened, “Vojin, I have an idea. Could you show me one of your Earth books that were in your pack when you appeared and fell out of the sky?”

“Huh, not sure I’m ever going to get used to having done that… Just give me a moment,” I replied as I made my way up the stairs to grab one of my books from my pack. Needed to make sure I dropped my pack in her--our bedroom later.

I made my way back down with a thick paperback that was dog-eared from use and held it out to her, “One of my books on Earth-originated magic. As good a choice as any, I figure, since we’re working on magic anyway.”

Twilight’s horn lit up as she took the book from me and began flipping through the pages, studying it for a minute as her face took on a look of frustrated curiosity, “It seems you’re not the only one feeling like the written language from another world should be easy to read, despite not quite being able understand why it isn’t. The images and symbols in the book are fascinating though. The runic markings remind me of some very ancient Equestrian magic methods not in use anymore. Give me a minute…”

Upon her mentioning having the same feeling when looking at my book, something seemed to nudge me in the back of my mind as a vague concept began to coalesce before condensing into a clear idea, “Twilight, as you have the same sense looking at Earth writing as I do with Equestrian, it gives me an idea.”

She looked up from studying the pages with an intrigued expression, “Well, considering I seem stuck without translation work, what did you have in mind?”

“You remember how I said I channel my magic through my hands and we tried that energy sensing technique with my hand against your hoof?” When she nodded, I continued, “Well, there’s a lot more to work with than just sensing. We can give it a try on the couch, like last time. With the available energy here being so much stronger, I wanted to see if I could attempt something that would otherwise be impossible back on Earth. Should be risk free, too.”

She raised a brow at me with a small grin and headed towards the couch, “Should be, hmm? Well, I’m interested. Based on what I understand so far and what you’ve said, you’re thinking we could do something through our link that is more than just sharing emotions?”

That made me chuckle as she got herself settled, taking a seat next to her, “Well I said you were brilliant. That’s pretty close to the mark so I guess I’ll skip trying to explain and we can just give it a shot, ok?”

I held up my hand with palm towards her, seeing her grin a little wider as she pressed her hoof to my palm with no hesitation and closed her eyes, leaving me to smirk and do the same.

Letting myself sink into the feel of it again, I felt much as I had before. I could feel the touch of her magic tracing against mine, that external sense of curiosity separate from my own appeared again. Once the feeling settled in, I let myself sink deeper as my energy reached out to hers.

At first, little changed, then in a slow and gradual transition I caught the feeling of where energy was flowing. I followed the lines, beginning to see clearer distinction between her energy and mine. Drifting closer to her with a gentle presence, I let my energy take on a sense of asking permission to enter, pleased when her own responded by pulling my awareness further within her being. I noticed a meditative trance settle over my body as I did and my conscious mind separated.

With a smile within, I let myself be pulled along with her magic, feeling surrounded by her sense of self a bit more as my own sense of self faded further into the background. Expressing an intangible desire to trade and share learning, I felt an eagerness in her magic responding while a sense of flowing thoughts swirled around and past my awareness before her magic began to nudge me away again. I just let her need for my departure push me back towards my own energy again.

When it all felt done, not knowing how long it had been, I opened my eyes and looked at Twilight. Her eyes opened a moment later and stared at me in wonder before rising up to embrace me in a slow, yet undeniable way. My good arm moved around her back as she nuzzled into my neck with a happy sigh.

After holding each other in silence for a time, I spoke up, “What did you feel this time?”

“It was...strange, this time. It was like I had this feeling of you seeking permission, then I felt like a very real part of your inner self or your magic was resting within me. You traded something with me, I think,” Twilight returned in a quiet tone, staying close and after a second she added, “And somehow, it all felt so very...intimate. I just felt so close to you when you were doing that whatever-it-is kind of magic you do.”

“Hmm, yeah, I wasn’t even expecting it to work anywhere near that well, to be honest. I just wanted to see if it was possible first and meant to work from there. Anyway, since neither of us is interested in moving at the moment, could you please levitate the book I showed you over here?” I said, my hand moving up her back to sink my fingers into her mane, massaging the back of her neck a little in the process.

Twilight only moved enough to ensure she had the right book when she levitated it over, nuzzling back into me. I had to stretch a little around her, giving her an purposeful squeeze as I got hold of it, kissing her on the head as I did.

“Alright, you’re welcome to stay put if you like, but you’ll need to move a little if we’re going to continue this,” her momentary complaints made me laugh as she slid herself back enough to accommodate setting the book on my lap and opening it up for her to see, “I want you to try reading it again. Don’t try to force anything or go very fast at first. Assuming it worked like I think it did, we should have shared some learning.”

She looked a little dubious at that, but began to make a careful study of the book again. At first, she mumbled to herself wondering what she was supposed to look for. Her voice began to grow louder after a minute as she began to get excited, her wings raising a little as her ears perked forward. Taking enough time that she could have finished the page, she turned to look at me with wide eyes.

“Vojin, I can read your book! How did you know we could do that, and by Celestia, how did you DO that?!” Twilight exclaimed, disbelief and excitement written on her face as her eyes shifted between me and the book.

Feeling hopeful it was the same for myself, “Well if you get me that book you tried to show me before, I’ll see if it went both ways. I’m hopeful it worked for me too. I just got this feeling that it might work before giving it a try and it proved true.”

Her eyes shot to the book she tried to show me earlier, pretty much yanking it through the air and flipping it open to the same page as before, then all but slammed it into my lap. I was thankful she had the presence of mind and control to be gentle at the last second.

Taking a look at the book, I held to my own suggestion and didn’t try to force anything. At first, it felt like nothing had changed. Familiar, yet incomprehensible. A gradual change began to become apparent as I scanned around the page at different words. I started to recognize a word here, then another one there, moving around the text before me in a process not so unlike remembering something all but forgotten. A smile found it’s way to my face as my own excitement built until I read the chapter heading and section title aloud for Twilight.

“Introduction to the primary power control methods for the young unicorn. Basic tenets of regulating your magic.”

Twilight gave a loud squeal. Her sudden excitement was a touch overwhelming, though it was hard to focus on that when she threw her forelegs around my shoulders and hugged me tight, pressing her lips to mine while knocking me over on the couch. The wild embrace left her pressing into my shoulder rather close to the wound, though not right atop it. If it wasn’t for that, I’d have quite enjoyed her enthusiasm.

Instead, a small grunt of discomfort slipped out as I fell back, doing my best to keep it to myself both for her anticipated feelings of guilt that she might have hurt me and because it was still a rather intimate tackle, which I found quite fun in it’s own way. Timing could be better though. Returning the burst of affection the best I could, I only had to deal with my conflicting senses for a short while before she jumped back off of me in a hurry.

“Oh my gosh! Vojin, I’m so sorry! Are you ok? I got so excited that I forgot I could hurt you even more by jumping on you! I’m so sorry! Please tell me I didn’t hurt you or cause a wound to open or something! I’m sorry!” she rushed out in a panic, her eyes tearing up as she looked at me with no small amount of fearful worry, hooves covering her mouth.

After a second to breathe, I gave her a gentle smile, “It’s alright, Twilight. I’m fine. You just got a little close to the obvious problem in my shoulder. You’re also not too heavy, so my ribs didn’t have much to worry about. There’s nothing to forgive and I’m ok. No worries.”

She kept looking at me with the fear she may have hurt me in her eyes, seeming like she was one wrong word away from bursting into tears. It was a difficult sight for anyone to deal with in the features of someone they care about. I was no different now, shifting myself on the couch to lay on my back in a more comfortable manner.

Once settled with my right side towards the back of the couch and just enough space for her to snuggle in, I held up my arm and beckoned her closer with a smile, “Alright you, I want you to come snuggle with me for a bit. I can’t stand to see you looking like you’re about to cry. I’m really ok, Twilight. You didn’t hurt me any. Now you come over here so I won’t have to try and drag you over next to me, because that might be rather uncomfortable. If you really feel you did something wrong, I’ll take cuddles in compensation.”

It was hard not to laugh at how silly it sounded out loud, seeing Twilight give me a small nervous smile before making careful motions over me and settling in against my side with her back pressed against the back of the couch. She let out a faint sniffle as I laid my arm over her, my hand landing on the side of her ribs as I began stroking my fingers against her soft fur.

“That’s better. I’m fine, Twilight. You don’t need to worry. I’m made of tougher stuff and have to admit you tackling me was kind of fun in it’s own way, even if my present condition gave it a case of bad timing.”

She wiped at her eyes with a fetlock before her hoof traced little circles over my abdomen, speaking almost in a whisper, “I’m sorry, Vojin. I shouldn’t have gotten so carried away. I’ll make sure I don’t jmmmph…”

Her position making it easy enough to do, I pressed the fingertips of my left hand against her lips to shush her. When she looked up into my eyes, I just smiled and shook my head before nudging her head closer. She understood my intention and moved in for a brief tender kiss, then began to settle herself back into her previous position.

“What? That’s all the kiss I get now?” I teased, smirking at her surprised expression.

Twilight opened and closed her mouth a few times, then sighed with a simple relaxed smile. She moved closer again and brought her lips to mine, sinking into the kiss with ease this time.

We just enjoyed each other’s touch for a while, lazy strokes of her fur countered by her hoof doing the same over my stomach. Somewhere along the way, our tongues began to roam. Sometimes relaxing, sometimes pressing for more as we went back and forth in the kiss. We felt no urgency in the moment, feeling content together.

It felt like several minutes before we separated again, a light blush on both of us. Twilight looked into my eyes without saying a word, then shifted herself down a little to lay her head on my shoulder like last night as her eyes fell closed. Her hoof returned to tracing lazy designs over my stomach with a serene smile.

Something in the moment felt so calm. Neither of us felt in any desire to speak. After the experiment succeeded so well and we were able to share the knowledge of one another’s written language, our sense of closeness was running deep. How fast it took place was mattering less.

...

Feeling the touch of soft lips against my own, I made the slow return from a peaceful slumber. I had to smile into the kiss when I saw Twilight over me, her touch so light and delicate it left me wondering if she was trying not to wake me at first. The feel of her tongue slipping into my mouth soon suggested otherwise, encouraging me to respond as I pressed back into the kiss with a faint growl. She seemed to find it an invitation to grow more passionate.

Time was an afterthought as we found ourselves ever more engaged in our kiss, thrilling in the feel of each other. My fingers sank into her mane as I pulled her tighter into it, feeling her respond with energy. Both of us breathing harder as the kiss grew fevered, starting to press her into the back of the couch as she pulled me in.

Just as a subtle crescendo seemed to rise like a wave about to crest, we parted our lips as we panted, though staying close enough our noses were touching. Our eyes locked, the same question hanging in the scant distance between us. Just one more touch or motion out of need and it was clear we’d both surrender.

The pause ended as time seemed to restart, sharing a heated smile before our eyes closed for a nose rub that moved into a nuzzle. No less tempting, but we both felt it was too soon and we were more comfortable in that recognition now than we had been earlier in the morning. The craving was no less than it was earlier, but the certainty of choosing to focus on growing our relationship together first was stronger.

Twilight was slow to climb off me, her eyes locked on mine as she slipped over me and onto the floor. She made a deliberate movement with her tail that let it drag across my waist, throwing me a mischievous look and a toss of her mane as she levitated the books we’d left on the floor and moved them to the table nearby.

Sitting up after a moment longer, I had to chuckle at her cheeky, teasing behavior. I was already starting to expect there would be a lot of these little moments where we’d try and get each other worked up. While it would be new to me to be playing this game of teasing on a regular basis, I looked forward to it. It also suggested Twilight would be a passionate lover when we reached that point together. Although until then, I was expecting a teasing minx that delighted in seeing me flustered. However, it worked both ways, so she better be careful in her sensual efforts.

Once we both had a minute to cool off, we went back to working on magic again. Deciding the was no reason not to both read at the same time until one of us had a question, we opted to sit together on the couch, turned a little away from each other so we could lean back against one another as we read.

That little nap had lasted around an hour, maybe less. Our study session lasted much longer as we lost ourselves in our books. I found some basic unicorn techniques to have similar hallmarks to some of my Earth-originated knowledge and practices. From time to time, I would focus some magic over my left palm and work through an exercise I understood in the book.

At first, the most of the exercises were adaptable to my little ‘marble of light’ trick. Even had a couple things I could add from Earth methods here and there. At one point, I was even able to play with the shape, making the little orb of light shift around through some basic geometric forms.

Like I had been expecting after the first few minutes of reading, I reached a point where it was obvious that the exercises were based around use of levitation and I knew I needed more information, as well as how to cast that basic but versatile spell. The book had been straightforward in presenting information, but it still expected the reader to have an established foundation of simple spells first, so it didn’t tell me anything on the spells themselves.

Feeling a smirk on my face as I did, I leaned a little closer to Twilight and nuzzled the side of her neck. She didn’t react at first, but as I kept at it she let out a happy coo from my touch before lowering the book she was reading, the one on druidic magic I’d shown her earlier. With how engaged she had been, I figured she was enjoying it.

She turned and she nuzzled my head with a smile before looking at me, “Did you have a question?”

Giving her a nod, “This book seems pretty good, but from what I can tell, it is expecting a reader to know some basics first and I think I’m not going to be learning very effectively without that foundation. I think you’ll need to teach me basic levitation and such before I go further with it.”

Twilight’s eyes danced and her smile grew wider, looking delighted at getting to teach me a spell. She nudged me off the couch and hopped to the floor, moving one of the shelves to look over the books there. She danced in place for a second with a faint giggle as she pulled a smaller gray tome from the shelf, bringing it over to me.

She placed the book of basic spells in my hands, excitement in her voice even as a sly smile started to appear on her face, “I learned all I can from this book years ago, but I’ve always kept it for the memories and as a reminder of where I started. I’ve probably read it over a hundred times! I think you’ll be able to learn a lot from it, Vojin…,” she paused, that sly smile growing, “Of course, learning from just books can...sometimes make you miss certain aspects or functions of a spell. Or at least, that’s my vague excuse for not letting you use that book for today…”

Before I knew what happened, her horn was glowing and I was no longer touching the floor. I quirked a brow at her with a bemused look that melted into a grin. It was obvious she wanted to play a game of some kind, even as she taught me levitation. I found myself hoping this playing around would be a frequent thing for us.

“Feeling a little playful, I take it?” I said as I floated there, confident in her abilities and waiting for her next move as I noticed her lick her lips, beginning to suspect some directions over others.

“Mmhmm… Now then…with levitation, while it is one of the simplest, easiest spells to learn for practically any unicorn, or human in your case, there is a great deal of subtlety to discover with it and in many ways, nopony can truly master it because there is always more you can do with it…,” Twilight instructed as she moved me around in the air, turning me this way and that, “While I have had years to practice, you will be new to it’s use and should know poor focus or misunderstanding your attempted application can sometimes induce unusual effects. These can, of course, also be done at will, with proper training and practice…”

As she said ‘unusual effects’ with extra emphasis, I blinked, feeling a blatant squeeze on my backside. When I felt a light touch starting to drift down my chest, my eyes widened. I felt it run across my stomach, sweating a little as she moved it down near my waist with teasing movements, letting it vanish just before reaching my more sensitive anatomy. All this while held in the air by her magic, quite at her mercy to do with me as she wished.

Her sly smirk and mischievous eyes told me she wasn’t done yet either, her voice coming out a little heavier as she kept going, “With appropriate practice and training, mixed with some creative application...of additional spell components, you can accomplish some remarkable things while still remaining in full control…”

The entire time she spoke, different sensations and touches played across my body here and there. When she paused at ‘creative application,’ it felt like her tongue the night before when she licked at my neck, although this time around she seemed to be feeling extra mischievous when it passed over my neck once, then jumped over to the middle of my inner thigh, drawing a shiver out of me. Even that was nothing compared to the same phantom tongue licking a slow path across my stomach in a wide pattern, coming within an inch of making things really exciting, then vanishing again as she said ‘full control’ and set me back on my feet in front of the couch.

The state she had left me in forced me to sit down so I wouldn’t risk falling over, feeling overheated as I worked to stop panting. Raising a wary brow at her smug expression, it was a little challenging to get words out right away with a fried brain, “You...that was...how did…”

Twilight sauntered over and stopped, her nose just shy of brushing against mine, her half-lidded gaze and smug smirk fit right in with her air of satisfaction over her efforts, “While it was a little spur of the moment, I decided I wanted a little payback for this morning, my dear handsome Vojin. I don’t think you know just how aroused you rubbing my wings like that really got me, nor how hard it was to resist pinning you to the bed and having my way with you. To keep you there for hours...”

Feeling the need to gulp as I took in the way she was looking at me, almost forgetting to breathe and at a loss for how to respond. Her hoof came up under my chin, lifting my head as she moved closer as her head tilted, her lips threatening a kiss without touching as she blew a soft, warm exhale against my mouth. I could see it in her eyes that she knew she had me at her mercy.

Then she slipped back without warning, withdrawing her hoof from under my chin as she did and left my head to drop before I caught myself. She tossed her mane as she sauntered away a few feet, turning her head to look back over her shoulder with a teasing smirk, taking in the state she’d left me in.

Turning her eyes forward again, she made a casual stride over to the book she’d set on the floor before raising it in her magic again, turning just enough to watch me out of the corner of her eye as she went back to reading. I saw a wisp of a giddy grin threatening to break free even as she tried to maintain her aloof appearance.

I had to take a minute to recover my mental faculties, a wide smile spreading over my face as small chuckles escaped unbidden.

Once I felt my legs were under proper control, I got up and headed towards her as I watched her grin starting to widen the closer I got. Still chuckling, I knelt beside her and wrapped my good arm around her, hugging her close as I nuzzled into her mane before I spoke, “Twilight! Have mercy on this poor male! I can’t believe you just did that! Where...how...did someone teach you how to do that to a guy?”

She gave a soft giggle at that, leaning into the hug even as she began to blush, hiding her face against my chest, “Would you, um, believe it was...romance novels?”

That gave me a hearty laugh, enough that it even annoyed my ribs as I squeezed her against me, unable to respond at first. She giggled some more as one of her wings moved to hug me closer in kind.

Getting myself under control again, I grinned as I kissed her fur next to her ear before I found my voice, “Yes, I would believe it. Certainly never expected to have an experience like that though. Seriously, you amaze me when you come out of the blue like that. How you were still single when I got here, I will never understand.”

She chose not to reply to that, scooting a little closer as she breathed a contented sigh. I began to think the two of us were doomed to endless excuses to cuddle, or at least it felt that way. The idea did have a certain appeal.

A thought crossed my mind, “And while I’m thinking of it, when the time comes for us, if ever you wanted to try acting out one of those scenes, I’d probably be willing to try it, so you know.”

Twilight turned her head to look me in the eyes, a little surprised, with something else buried in her expression that I could only read as some level of hopeful interest as her ears perked up, an certain eager quality finding it’s way into her smile, “Would that, um, be a promise?”

I hummed, giving her a sly grin, “It is now.”

With another blush and a giggle, she gave me a kiss in return.

“Well, as fun, and maddening, as that experience was, I still didn’t learn anything about actually using the levitation spell myself. If I promise to be good, will you not use that trick on me a second time? Please?” I said in a pleading tone and still not done calming myself down.

A giggle escaped her as she leaned back a little and looked at me, “Only so long as you behave yourself in the morning from now on. I wake up like that too many times and I’ll...I’ll set fire to all your pants and lock you in my room...or maybe the dunge-- er, basement...for those extra special ideas in some of my novels,” she said with a small poke to my chest with her hoof, her eyes showing her own excitement.

“Uh...yes, Mistress!” I replied with a wry grin, causing her to burst out laughing.

…

It had been an hour or two, but I was now lifting books and turning their pages with ease. I tested myself with a few other objects, finding it simple and straightforward. I was quite thankful for the mental focus I’d developed through meditation and kung fu.

“You’ve done really well. I’m surprised you’re learning this so fast. It took Sweetie Belle many lessons and several weeks before getting this far, but you’ve done it in almost no time at all!” Twilight exclaimed in a pleased tone.

“Well, aside from being an adult with some applicable prior experience I could draw upon, you’re also a pretty good teacher when you’re not teasing me out of my mind,” I returned with a brief laugh.

Twilight smiled, a small blush showing on her cheeks for more than one reason, “I’m not that good a teacher, Vojin. Besides, with you already knowing a number of related or similar techniques, you came into this with a great starting point to work from. Just remember not to get too eager and try lifting too much with levitation just yet. If it starts to feel strenuous, stop. I don’t want you to accidentally overexert your magic at this stage. You’ll have plenty of time to explore limits when you have more knowledge to work with.”

As I stroked her mane, I did one more spell exercise without moving my right hand from her mane or gesturing with my left as a billowing white aura appeared over both. A book several feet away rose into the air, floating it close before I set it down on a stack of books I’d moved earlier, taking the time to ensure the corners were aligned for extra finesse.”

Once I finished with that, Twilight gave me another tender nuzzle and let out a happy sigh, “Mmm, if you keep learning this fast, I just might be able to teach you some more intermediate and advanced spells pretty soon. Some of the things I’ve been reading in your book and what we’ve talked about have me thinking you might even have some foundations in place for things like teleportation, which would normally require a year or two of study first. Not to mention all the mental focus you developed through meditation being really helpful.”

Returning the nuzzle, I made a quiet reply, “I’m actually looking forward to gravity spells. There’s something I always wished I could do with something like that.”

“Well you’re a little far from that level. There is a lot of foundation you need to establish before you can, or should, try manipulating gravity. I would be more than a little upset with you if you accidentally launched yourself straight up into the sky and couldn’t undo the spell,” Twilight teased as she made a casual display of her skill with levitation, reshelving the books far faster than I could ever hope to right now.

After cleaning up our mild magic lesson mess out of courtesy to Spike, we decided to go out for a walk. My earlier stretching and physical testing earlier informed me I was a few days away from doing much and needed to get out for a little exercise so I wouldn’t get a case of cabin fever or something. It was also a great time for Twilight to show me around Ponyville for the first time.

We just wandered around with no real destination in mind. Twilight telling me a few things about this building or that, adding a few bits of the town’s history on occasion. We shared a small laugh about the oddity of Quills & Sofas, but for all the strangeness of the place, it did well.

Both of us were also a bit surprised during all this as several of the local ponies watched us with interest, or even trotted up to us so they could thank me for saving their resident princess. It left me a bit at a loss for words really, just giving polite responses when it happened. It looked like the whole town was aware of yesterday’s events already.

At some point, we decided to take another short break on a bench, more for to let me rest as my injuries were causing me to tire faster than usual. Twilight rested her head on my right shoulder again with a thoughtful look on her face.

“Penny for your thoughts?” I asked.

Her head raised as she gave me a curious look, “What is a ‘penny’ and why would you give one for thoughts?”

Giving her a curious look of my own, it took me a second before I realized what happened, blinking before giving a reply, “Huh. It’s just an Earth saying. Need to remember you won’t recognize those most of the time. As for a penny, it’s a type of copper coin. Smallest denomination of currency from my home nation on Earth. I was just asking what you’re thinking about, since it looked like you had something on your mind.”

Leaning her head on my shoulder again, she nodded, “I was just wondering how our relationship would be taken in your world. Here in Equestria, it’s not unheard of to see interspecies couples, even if it’s almost non-existent here in Ponyville with the lack of other species living here outside of one zebra and two donkeys. I know you’ve only mentioned a few things about your world and I was just feeling curious.”

While I knew what she was hoping to hear, the reality of things was far from that hopeful perspective and I already decided not to try to hide anything from her about Earth that I didn’t really want to tell her. The thought had crossed my mind as well, but I was very glad it would never be an issue here. Still, I did expect her to be disappointed and let out a small sigh as I gathered my thoughts.

“I know you’re hoping to hear something happy, but the fact of the matter is not so pleasant and somewhat complicated. On Earth, humans are the only known intelligent, sapient species to be found. There are some intelligent animals present, but last I heard there was no way to have an actual conversation and the full depth of their intelligence is difficult to gauge, left mostly to speculation from observations.

“From there, since humans are the only available species to talk to or interact with, there is a kind of arrogant hubris present where humans feel more than a little self-important for lack of any other species to challenge established human dominance on Earth. If we were somehow on Earth, while there would be a few people that would be accepting and happy that the two of us were together, most people wouldn’t know how to deal with it.

“To be bluntly honest, the majority opinion would be disgust and condemnation. I’d be looked at as a horrible deviant and you would have a hard enough time just being recognized as intelligent, let alone anything else. The kind of honest open-mindedness it would require is, sadly, very rare…,” I told her, sinking into myself a little as I held back from the full range of things my mind was conjuring up, she didn’t need to know that much of it and I just nosed against the top of her head as my eyes closed.

Twilight didn’t reply. She might have caught the fact I didn’t quite tell her the whole story, even if I wasn’t hiding anything, and that she might not really want to know the rest. We were quiet for a while longer, taking comfort in one another and grateful for Equestria’s accepting culture.

After a few minutes, she spoke again, “All that matters is you’re happy with me and I am happy with you. That’s what’s important.”

She pulled my chin to a better angle and gave me a gentle kiss. What negative feelings still lingered were melted away to nothing by the time she drew back with a warm smile. She was right. The important part was in a good place.

“There is something else I wanted to ask about the subject, while we’re here,” she added after a moment, “You said it would be rare to find that kind of open-mindedness and I’m a little curious how you feel. You’ve shown no hesitation towards a relationship with me. Can I ask why?”

Letting out a faint laugh, I nuzzled her again as I felt a small bit of relief, “Thankfully, that much is actually easy to explain. It was the way I was raised. My parents tried really hard to drive home the point of seeing someone, be it a friend or otherwise, for what lies in their mind first. It doesn’t matter what someone looks like until you consider who they are first. Then and only then should you let yourself consider looks. In your case, you have a very attractive mind and personality. The fact you’re so cute, cuddly and adorable is a big ol’ bonus.”

I chuckled as she now wore a bright blush, a hoof covering her lips as a faint giggle slipped out, a shy smile on her face as she looked away. Her wing slipped around my back after a moment, matching me as we pulled each other close.

We enjoyed a few more quiet minutes before we went back to walking. Locals still came up to me from time to time to thank me for saving Twilight. Along the way, we found ourselves walking near Rarity’s shop. Twilight seemed to have the same thought I did and suggested we drop by the Carousel Boutique for a visit.

The bell over the door gave a pleasant chime as we stepped inside. I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes at the sheer level of fancy, feminine decor present in the main room, smirking to myself. I’d never been much for anything whatsoever in fashion or interior decorating. I was too practical and too pragmatic.

“Just a moment please! I’m getting some material out of the back and will be right with you!” Rarity called out in a pleasant voice from another room.

When she entered the main room, she was studying a fancy looking rich blue fabric with enough intensity that she didn’t even realize who we were at first, still speaking in a business-focused manner, “Now how can I help you today? Are you here to schedule an appointment or would you like to browse some of my...oh! Twilight, Vojin! Darlings, I am terribly sorry. I was studying this special silk I need to add to a commission. Lovely material really, although you would not believe how expensive it is. Still, it’s capacity for unusual positioning while still retaining both softness and shape is worth the expense. Now then, what brings you into my lovely little boutique this afternoon?”

Twilight and I glanced at each other at the same time, each of us flashing a grin before sharing a small laugh. Rarity appeared rather delighted all of of a sudden as she let out a squeal.

“Oh! You two are simply darling together! It’s like you both know what the other is thinking already! And the way you just looked at each other with the same expression and laugh? Marvelous!” Rarity gushed, trotting over after she’d set down the bundle of silk for later.

Both of us blushed a little when we looked at each other again without meaning to and blushing more. I decided not to question it for now.

“Well, Rarity, we noticed we were passing near the boutique, so I thought it might be nice to stop in for a short visit. We were just out for a walk after some magic studies. Have any famous clients this week?” Twilight asked with a smile.

“Famous clients, hm? Well, I did have Sapphire Shores pick up a delightful new gown for an upcoming award ceremony she’s to attend, but aside from having the pleasure of turning down a commission from Prince Blueblood of all stallions, it was quite satisfying, I must say, it has been a rather uneventful week so far,” Rarity replied, then looked up at me, “And Vojin, darling, are you feeling well? With how terribly injured you were, I must ask why you are not simply resting in bed as you recover? Surely you are not overworking yourself walking around, are you?”

Smirking a bit, I knew I’d start going out of my mind from boredom if I wasn’t keeping active, “Like I mentioned at lunch earlier, Twilight was able to do a healing spell that got some of the worst parts of it. I just really needed to go out for a walk and stretch my legs for a while after we finished up a magic lesson. I do need to stop and rest from time to time so I don’t overwork myself of course, but it’s good to get a chance to look around Ponyville, too. It was a little strange having so many locals watching me, or how many ponies came up to thank me for saving Twilight yesterday.”

“Well, I am glad you feel healthy enough for a walk. Please take care not to overwork yourself though. I’m sure Twilight doesn’t want you utterly exhausted come bedtime…,” Rarity added with a sly grin as she gave Twilight a look, who proceeded to blush as her eyes widened, her mouth falling open a little even as she failed to form words.

That gave me a small laugh, my hand giving a reassuring stroke along Twilight’s mane, “Well that particular matter is just going to stay a mystery to you. While I’m here though, mind if I inquire about getting some new clothes? Considering the fall yesterday shredded a full third of my wardrobe, there is a rather obvious discrepancy between my needs and my available options.”

Rarity’s face lit up in excitement as she started circling me, looking my form up and down, “Oh my, I would most certainly be thrilled to create you a new ensemble. Perhaps several even! Truly, the unique challenge of crafting for your particular form will be a lovely project for me. And let us not forget that you came to my dear friend Twilight’s rescue yesterday! I simply must create you something in gratitude for saving her! Oh, and you must certainly also look your best for your new beloved! I am simply delighted to accept the challenge, darling. I also refuse even one bit for doing you this service. I won’t accept a thing for these first ensembles.”

Even if you have a reasonable expectation someone will show you such generosity, there is still a big difference in anticipating it versus having it presented before you. It was also so very familiar as a memory flashed through my mind of someone I once knew that did this kind of thing all the time, too. A lifelong friend, lost a bit more than a year ago to alcohol and depression. I shook myself out of it before slipping into that end of things.

Taking a moment to gather my thoughts, I gazed at the floor as guilt filled me, even if her offer was unsolicited. After things worked through my mind, I knelt as I looked at her so I might better meet her eyes.

Before she could react very much, I caught her hoof in my right hand and leaned down as I brought it up, placing a light kiss there in gratitude before meeting her eyes again, “I really don’t know what to say, Lady of Generosity. I am very grateful, but rather than attempting to make a friendly argument born from the guilt of giving you nothing in return, how about this? I would consider it a favor to me if you would accept a standing offer to ask a favor of me. I simply cannot give you nothing in return, but someone I knew would often do things in a similar fashion and this proved the best way of returning favors given, so here we are.”

Rarity let out a shy titter, her cheeks pink as she replied, “By Celestia, you are certainly charming. The more I learn about you, the more I find myself jealous of Twilight. What I would give to find a stallion like yourself that I might call my own... And I suppose I can accept the offer of a favor. At present, I know of nothing I could ask of you, however. Perhaps some time where we might discuss the art of fashion from your world would be an option. I can only imagine what things you have seen.”

That gave me a brief laugh, scratching the back of my neck, “I’m not that special, Rarity. Just someone caught by crazy circumstances and trying to make sense of everything going on around me. Also don’t know what I could tell you about fashion from Earth as I don’t know the first thing about it, but I’d be happy to let you pick my brain another day. To be honest, as far as finding someone for yourself, I wonder if you’ve tried going after a stallion like Fancy Pants or something. From what I know, he seems to have that rare balance between great wealth and great character. If he’s single, I’m sure you could catch his eye.”

Upon mentioning Fancy Pants, I had to arch a brow at Rarity’s expression. She had begun to blush a fair bit, averting her eyes off to the side with a faint sigh, “I fear that while I am acquainted with him and happen to know he is single at present, I do not believe I have much chance of catching his eye romantically. I am just a simple mare frommmph…”

I wasn’t going to let her start that, placing a finger over her mouth to silence her. When her eyes turned back to me, I gave her a smirk, “Don’t even go there, Lady of Generosity. I am sure Twilight will agree with me that you are more than worthy of a man...er, stallion, of his calibre. I did not argue with you agreeing to make me some clothes without much in return, so you are not allowed to argue with me on this. From what I know of you thus far, I believe it is a safe assumption that he would be the luckier of the two, should you enter into a relationship with him.”

Twilight looked on with a soft smile as I withdrew my hand, letting Rarity have the freedom to respond, an appreciative look directed my way, “I am not quite sure how to respond to that, darling. Lord Fancy Pants is in so many ways just a dream, a stallion of such worth I am almost unable to imagine. You have no idea how thrilled I get when he comes to commission something from me or how much effort I...truly, Twilight is fortunate to have you, Vojin. I fear I just have no manner in which to catch his eye.”

“Have you tried just asking him on a date?” I knew, on some level, she wouldn’t go for the blunt approach but it was worth a shot, “I’m getting the sense you’ve got a pretty big crush on him, you know. Does he commission you often?”

Rarity gave a polite sigh, “He does stop in almost regularly to place a new commission every few weeks to once a month. And I certainly could not just ask him! I would die of embarrassment were I to do such a thing! Not to mention that it is hardly the most ladylike approach.”

Giving another small chuckle, I grinned, “Well, let me try a different way of putting it. Are there not times when a lady must make a bold move to achieve her desires? You might try something like offering a trade. Say, you could forego your usual fee in exchange for him taking you to dinner. I am sure you can come up with a suitably elegant way in which to approach it.”

She had another shy smile as she grew a bit redder with a faraway look in her eyes before making a quiet reply, “My word, Vojin, the way you say it, it sounds like such a simple matter. I must take some time to seriously consider your suggestion, but you have given me some hope.”

I grinned as I stood back up, “Just remember not to think about it too long. Since I figure he will have a number of mares interested in getting his attention, you won’t know how long you have until it’s too late. Heck, you catching him first could even be a way of preventing him from being stuck with an unpleasant, selfish lady. Just a thought.”

The flash in her eyes at that was interesting, starting to mumble something to herself about not letting such a stallion suffer so terrible a fate, turning to look at a table and levitating over her measuring tape and turning back to me, “I will take your words to heart. The very idea that a stallion of his quality might be bound by the yoke of a self-centered mare is unthinkable. I simply won’t have it, if it is within my power to prevent. For now, please shed your clothes, if you will be so kind. I need to take the appropriate measurements without their hinderance.”

“Alright, but only to my undergarments. I don’t want to have anything on display,” I returned, starting to undo the buttons of my shirt. A glance a Twilight was a little surprising though, seeing her wearing a faint blush as she bit her lip with a twinkle in her eyes, to which I flashed her a grin that made her blush even more.

“On...display? Are you, ah, medically unable to, shall we say, put things away?” Rarity asked as I started to slip off my shirt and the sling, her eyes widening a bit as she had her own faint blush.

“...Medically unable? I don’t quite know what that even means, but it’s just the way the human body is. No sheath or other means of hiding things, so things pretty much just...hang there. My undergarments are form-fitting anyway, so they will not interfere with any of your measurements. Oh, and you’ll have to levitate my left arm where you need it. Be gentle and it will be fine,” I said, trying to be a little sly as I used the levitation spell I just learned to loosen my shoes and slipping out of them before my pants were sent to the floor, leaving me in just my dark gray boxer briefs.

“I see…,” was all Rarity said as she looked me over with a new look of interest for an almost uncomfortable length of time, “Goodness, you are rather fit, aren’t you?”

That made me laugh, grinning as I looked between her and Twilight ogling the result of regular workouts and kung fu training that was a source of pride for me. I answered her in a playful tone, “Don’t you have measurements to take, Rarity?”

Rarity’s faint blush bloomed into something much brighter as she snapped out of it, looking embarrassed as she started to get her measurements done, “While I admit I was aware you were far from slothful, you are rather more fit than I expected. With the addition of being the first human stallion I have ever seen, you are quite an interesting sight. Similar to a minotaur in your upper body, but with less bulk and slimmer, though I have nothing to compare your lower half to. Your injuries also add a certain rough and rugged complement to your level of fitness.”

As Rarity made very careful movements of my left arm to get the necessary measurements, I turned my eyes to Twilight. Shooting a sly grin in her direction as my arm was held out for Rarity, I caught her eye and winked, earning an even brighter blush.

“This is hardly the first time you’ve seen me without a shirt on, Twilight. I hope you don’t mind all the stitches.”

“I…,” Twilight started and stopped, a bashful bite of her lip as she met my eyes, “You’re all mine, aren’t you…”

My grin softened, becoming a warm smile, “If you don’t mind the beat up alien that’s living with you, and just started dating you, yeah. I’m all yours if you stay all mine…”

I almost didn’t hear Rarity’s soft squeal and comment on how cute we were acting, but with my eyes on Twilight, part of the world disappeared for a time.

Before I knew it, Rarity tapped me with her measuring tape to get my attention, drawing my eyes away from Twilight, “I have all the measurements I need from you, Vojin. As much as I appreciate the view, you may get dressed. I think I will make a test garment or two first, so as to familiarize myself with your particular form.”

Nodding, I did just that, though as I got my pants back on, I had to contain a laugh at the small pout on Twilight’s face. Once I’d put my shoes on, gotten my shirt buttoned and my arm back in the sling, I gave Twilight a smile.

After I was done, Rarity spoke again as she levitated a sketch pad to herself, “Would you like any particular style as a preference?”

“Styles, geh...well, casual and practical are my primary preference. Most everything I own and actually wore were durable items that I could get dirty in. It’s just how I am. I’d really like it if you could just replicate what I’m wearing right now if you’re going to do a test run. If I ever need something formal, I’ll be happy to sit down with you and you can let your imagination run wild. When it comes to everyday though, I am very much about function first, with form as an afterthought,” I told her in a dry tone. My general opinion of fashion was rather low, but I would never let myself discourage those that did enjoy it as it is just a matter of opinion and something important to Rarity.

As she started sketching something that came to her mind, she glanced at me with a bemused but knowing smile and look, “You are horribly lost when it comes to fashion, aren’t you Vojin?”

“It’s not that I have anything against it so much as… Well, I suppose my perspective wouldn’t be too far from the way Applejack looks at it, if that helps. I just don’t see myself needing to worry about it. So yes, I suppose I am pretty lost when it comes to fashion,” I replied.

Rarity gave me a small, amused smile in return, “Well, even if you are lacking a good sense of fashion, I will do my very best to ensure you look positively dashing in your new attire. For now, I will be happy to create something similar to what you are presently wearing. Having something against which I can compare my results, it will give me a good way to measure my effort. After that, perhaps we can see what kinds of fabulous styles I can…”

She paused at the look on my face, somewhere between worry and dread that I didn’t hide in time when she looked my way. Rarity sighed and rolled her eyes before giving me a smirk, “Oh darling, you needn’t worry. I will come to consult you with some sketches before I begin to create anything. While I do hope you will allow me a little flair in a few places, I know the design must fit the wearer’s personality or it simply will not look right.”

Feeling relieved, I nodded to her, “I do appreciate it, Rarity. One somewhat less obvious reason for my preferences is having enough flexibility to move freely. If I were to practice my fighting techniques in something you made, I’d had to wind up tearing something or my movement being restricted. And yes, a little flair isn’t the end of the world.”

“I will see what I can come up with. Will you at least let me run free in my sketching? I am quite curious what you will think of the designs I might envision for you,” she said with a hopeful look, earning a smile from me in turn.

“I can look at as many designs as you want to share, Rarity. Not saying I’d want to wear anything in particular, but I would be happy to discuss the concepts and designs you create now and then. I figure it might even lead to some inspiration for other projects. And that, I can happily tell you, is something I wouldn’t dream of denying you, Lady of Generosity. Again, thank you for being willing to help me. And don’t even think about forgetting the favors I’ll owe you.”

Rarity beamed, “Excellent! I certainly look forward to hearing your perspectives then. I am very interested in how you might see things. Being from another world, I can only imagine what sorts of styles and ideas you have seen in garments, even if it isn’t something you focus on.”

“Heh, well you’ll probably get a real kick out of seeing some photos then. I haven’t even had a chance to show Twilight yet,” I noted, looking at Twilight and seeing her fascinated expression. I wondered how they’d react to seeing the pictures on my smartphone.

Rarity did a doubletake and stared at me with wide eyes, “You brought photographs from your world? I must say, that would be a grand opportunity! I can hardly wait for when I can stop by in a few days!”

After a few more minutes of conversation, Rarity needed to get back to work and we said our goodbyes.

Twilight and I walked in comfortable silence as we began to make our way back to the library. I found myself smiling when I realized perhaps I should start thinking of it as home. Just days since I arrived, and it felt so natural here somehow. Maybe I was stressed out of my mind to the point it transcended what I could process or something.

When we’d been walking for several minutes, Twilight looked up at me, her voice had a vague tension for some reason, “Vojin…I, um, want to ask you something. What do you see for yourself in the future here if you’re stuck for life? I mean, with us, and this link and...well, everything?”

Her question surprised me a bit, starting to think it over, though I had a question of my own to ask first, “You sound a little nervous, Twilight. What’s really on your mind?”

“I...I was just thinking. W-Would it be wrong for us to be...getting involved if the link was the only reason we feel so connected? I don’t mean I’m not happy with everything so far, because it’s been really nice feeling so close to somepony, but once I thought about that, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Do you think you would have...have felt the same about me? W-Without the link…?” Twilight said with obvious hesitation and sounding depressed.

It took me a bit, but once I had processed her words, I touched her mane and stopped her.

Turning and kneeling down beside her, I cupped her cheek with my good hand, “Twilight, I understand why you would feel nervous about a question like that. I won’t lie and say I really have a complete answer, but I can tell you I wasn’t kidding when I told you my favorite character of what I thought was fiction...I really liked your style, Twilight. And I’ve always been drawn to brainy girls. It’s not often I meet someone that can keep pace with me, or even shows herself to be smarter than I am like you do.

“It’s the combination of your personality, your engaging mind, the rather adorkable way you react to things a lot of the time… That’s what makes me feel drawn to you. I might not know how this link of ours works exactly, but everything I’ve experienced and felt so far tells me it isn’t making us feel something we wouldn’t have otherwise had on our own without it. Granted, it is a little weird how easily we seem to connect and how quick we’ve come to trust each other as much as we have, but those sorts of things have happened now and again between humans back on Earth, too. Without the slightest bit of magic or strange links to speak of.”

Twilight remained silent, leaning into my touch as her expression displayed worry and sadness, even as relief was growing while they shrank back. When it seemed she didn’t want to say anything, I chose to continue.

“What exactly the link is doing for us is something I suppose we’ll have to learn more about when we eventually go up to Canterlot. I can at least say with a fair bit of confidence though, you are very much my type. A sharp mind, fascinating thought processes, a great sense of humor, compassion to spare… And let’s not forget you’ve already shown some signs of being a delightful little tease,” I said with a soft chuckle, seeing her gain a furious blush even as she couldn’t look away, my thumb brushing across the soft fur of her cheek as a lopsided, yet tender smile came to me, “As far as I’m concerned, even without this link between us, I’d still have fallen for you.”

Twilight’s eyes widened after I finished speaking, beaming as she smiled, a soft gasp escaped as she stared at me, her mouth half open. She brought a hoof up to touch my cheek in kind.

I felt a little confused, however. I wasn’t sure what caused her swift change in demeanor in such a sharp way. It wasn’t until a long moment passed and she spoke that she gave me clarity to this moment that something important was taking place.

“Vojin...you…,” Twilight’s expression seemed to grow more joyous, “You’ve...really fallen in love with me?”

I blinked, my own words catching up with me as I registered what I had said, now feeling a bit stunned myself as a smile to match her own grew upon my face, “I...I guess I have. I don’t have the slightest idea how it’s happened so fast, but I can feel it inside me, warming me from within when I’m right next to you. That curious electric tingle I get when we touch wasn’t my mind playing tricks, it seems... I suppose I’ll just say it directly then. I love you, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

Her eyes began to fill with happy tears, leaning in close as she managed a giddy whisper, “I love you too, Vojin Barloc Drayce.”

As she moved in the rest of the way to kiss me, happy tears began to roll down her cheeks. Matching her movement with my own, I met her in equal measure, pulling her closer with my right arm as her wings wrapped themselves around me to do the same. The world falling away as we shared that singular kiss, no hurry or concern at all while we relished the feeling we had between us in that moment of first admittance. Minutes passed unnoticed as we were lost in each other’s embrace.

The passage of time brought the eventual completion of the moment, happy sighs escaping as he remained close, lips brushing but not kissing. Then drawing back, our eyes opened and we just stared at each other for another long minute, our foreheads touching as a few random bits of faint, joy-filled laughter made it’s way out from smiles that couldn’t be denied.

Twilight managed to find her voice first, rubbing her nose against mine, “I...I guess we should finish walking home now. Wouldn’t want Spike to think he could get away with eating all the ice cream or anything.”

I gave a brief laugh, nodding as I drew away to stand back up, taking a moment to run my fingers through her mane, needing to keep connected through touch with her, “Heh, yeah. Let’s head...home… I hope you know I’m going to want to cuddle you the rest of the time before we go to bed.”

Twilight gave a soft giggle in reply as we started walking, the two of us somewhere between sharing moments of conversation and not needing to say a thing in the quiet joy we were feeling.

...

Spike had prepared a nice pasta dish for dinner. Twilight and I were all but overflowing in happy feelings all through dinner, almost pressed right up against each other as we ate. The rest of the evening passed in much the same fashion, just enjoying each other’s company.

After Spike said his goodnights and went to bed, Twilight nuzzled my neck before she asked me a question, “Um, Vojin...would you, uh...join me this time?”

The vagueness of her question left me at a loss for what she meant, “Join you for what?”

She pulled back and touched my cheek with a delicate hoof, staring into my eyes with a bright blush as she pressed on, “I’d...I’d really like it if you...y-you’d join me. F-For a shower.”

“Oh,” was all I could manage, feeling my face heat up as I caught her hoof and gave it a soft kiss, just nodding in reply before we got up from the couch where we’d been looking over a few magic books together.

We entered the bathroom and I shut the door, nerves getting to me as I noticed a faint tremble in my hand. At first, we could only stare at each other for a long moment, then I was kneeling and we were sharing another embrace. We drew back at the same thought, both of us trying to talk at the same time before stopping again.

“Ladies first, Twilight.”

She smiled with another blush, shy as she avoided my eyes, speaking in a rather soft, delicate voice, “I...I should tell you I’ve...never been with a stallion before. We’re still waiting, aren’t we? That it still doesn’t feel like it’s quite the right time? I-I...if you really want to though… I...I wouldn’t mind sharing that with you...”

That caused me to smile, taking in all the implications of what she just said as I leaned forward and pulled her against my chest, feeling her come with no hesitation and realizing she really was mine if I said the word, nuzzling next to her ear as I spoke in a quiet voice, “Still waiting, Twilight. We have all the time in the world for it to feel perfect. Although you, uh, are about to see everything about my body, including my...reaction to you, but something does tell me we should wait a little longer.”

Letting out a relieved sigh at my words, Twilight’s blush deepened as we pulled back, her eyes glancing down at my waist as she chewed on her bottom lip with a nervous, yet eager look before forcing herself to turn her attention to the shower as she got the water running, leaving me to undress.

She was still facing the shower even after the water was ready, a visible tremble in her wings. I hesitated a moment, then slipped out of my boxer briefs, swallowing a lump in my throat as I moved to kneel on her left, noticing her wings trembling a little more when she knew I was close. With my left arm held against my chest to keep it from moving much, I made a gentle touch on her shoulder with my right, causing her to jump when I made contact.

Moving with deliberate slowness, she turned to face me and ran her eyes over me up close. I watched her eyes travel across my form, pausing at my waist the longest and seeing her gulp as her breathing picked up, not sure if I really saw her tail raise a little or not, before her eyes found mine again and she leaned in to kiss me with a delicate touch.

Neither of us seemed to have any words by that point. She smiled and kept her eyes on mine as she stepped into the shower. I stood just enough to step in next to her, the shower having just enough room for both of us to be comfortable if we stayed close, the warm water cascading over us as I embraced her. We nuzzled each other’s cheeks as her trembling wings came up to wrap around me, pulling us that much closer together.

For most of our shower, I was sitting to make it easier for Twilight to deal with me, although also to feel a little less awkward considering her head level when I stood up was enough to keep things interesting if I did. We washed each other with tender touches in between waterlogged kisses. At several points, we shared a tense questioning look, checking with each other that we were still wanting to wait, two such looks in particular were full of uncertainty and no shortage of desire when she cleaned my more sensitive places and when I cleaned hers under her tail.

We took our time through it all, reveling in the closeness we now felt. Time was inconsequential, but after enough time the water was turned off and we moved to dry off. Twilight levitated a towel around me first, rubbing me dry as my lack of fur made it a fast process for me. Watching me move beside her, she smiled with a half-lidded gaze as I began to rub the towel over her fur. I took the opportunity to massage her back and shoulders a little, one-handed as I was, earning a pleased groan from her.

Then she surprised me when she used a spell to finish drying us the rest of the way, not wanting to crawl into bed with a damp mane. She also watched with a bit of intensity as I slipped into a pair of kung fu pants again, her eyes betraying just where she was staring and blushing as she looked away when I smiled at her for it. I was glad Spike had been thoughtful enough to give my clothes a wash earlier in the day.

We settled into bed together soon after, moving to the same position as the previous night. There was a very tense moment at one point. Twilight had frozen in place when she realized she had straddled me, her face an inch from mine, when she had realized she couldn’t lay her head on my left shoulder, having both climbed into bed before we had realized the situation.

Staring into my eyes as she began to pant, she’d lost strength in her hind legs and found herself pressed to me, her body almost taking over as she had started to push herself down harder with growing urgency. Her eyes had all but glazed over and I had almost given in before I asked her to stop.

I saw her respond in an instant as she froze in place. After a second to gather herself, she forced herself to half roll, half fall to the side where she would sleep, panting and asking why the need for each other was so intense even though we still had the deeper sense of needing to wait. I had no answer to that, as I felt the same. We would wait until we could figure a few things out together.

It occurred to me we’d have lost the battle with that last surge of desire, had I climbed into bed with my usual nude preference. That last contact would have overwhelmed us both. I was only wearing pants to bed in recognition of choosing to wait.

Once we’d calmed our racing hearts down enough, Twilight rolled back over and snuggled in against me. She pulled the covers over us and I planted a kiss on the top of her head one last time for the night. A contented sigh slipped out from both of us when we felt ourselves at last settle, sleep starting to creep up over our minds as we listened to each other breathe.

Twilight nuzzled my chest just before we made it to slumber, her voice sleepy, yet at peace, “Goodnight, Vojin. I love you.”

The comforting warmth of her words seemed rivaled only by the warmth of her body curled up against me, nosing into her mane a little more as I made my sleepy reply, “Goodnight, Twilight. I love you too.”

Bk 1 Ch 7: Old Traditions, Trust Transitions (edit 5/2/2015)

Author's Notes:

Edit 5/2/2015: Major revision and edit pass complete. Extended by over 2600 words. Fixed some things so they are more sensible to my intention.

A smile spread over me when I woke, the feel of Twilight nuzzling against my chest in her sleep like the previous morning made it so very tempting to drift away again, despite my now being well awake and alert. I felt a small amount of exasperation at being unable to do any real exercise as I let time pass by, watching the sky brighten in the early dawn.

Instead of moving, I relished the soft and warm fuzzy purple body curled against me. There was a side benefit of being unable to put in a morning workout, considering it gave me a wonderful excuse to stay right where I was. Nosing into Twilight’s mane and inhaling her unique scent that somehow reminded me of lightning and learning, or maybe ozone and old books, I was content to enjoy her presence until she roused.

Twilight made a soft mumble in her sleep as she squirmed just a little closer. As I still had my right arm wrapped around her back, I helped her efforts as I heard her make what I thought sounded like some sort of cooing noise in her contentment. It boggled me how cute she was in her sleep.

Putting the quietness of the morning to use, I thought about what had happened before we got home early yesterday evening. Goosebumps rose along with a swelling in my heart as I recalled the look on her face when I stumbled into telling her I had fallen for her without even realizing it at first. And soon after, we shared the first saying of the most magic-filled and powerful simple three words that can be said. I love you.

So I continued to lay in bed in silence, smiling as I enjoyed her presence and warmth as time ticked by in the wait for her to wake up. In a way, it felt even more comforting than the previous morning, to which I attributed to deeper connections brought on from our admission. I lost myself as I focused on the sound of her breathing, each inhale and exhale, the gentle tickle of her breath over my skin.

The sun was well above the horizon by the time Twilight began to stir against me with little wiggling stretches and nuzzling into my chest as though searching for a way to get even closer, already as close as she could be. Her hind legs were wrapped around my leg, a wing tucked across my body. The warmth of her fur was felt the full length of my side.

Twilight let out a large yawn before a slow turn of her head with her chin still on my chest let her look at me, wearing a sleepy expression that transitioned to pleased contentment.

After we stared at each other for a minute, I hummed, “Good morning, my lovely Twilight.”

She gave me a lazy smile as a faint glint came to her eyes, “Good morning. Is there a reason I’m awake already?”

Quirking a brow at her with a smirk, “Hey, you woke yourself up. Am I to keep you under sleep enchantments or something until you’ve had your fill of using me for a pillow?”

Twilight giggled, “Mmm...that sounds like a wonderful idea… Of course, I might sleep forever like this if I had the choice. I’m really starting to enjoy waking up like this, but yes, you did wake me. I felt you breathing and heard your heart beating in your chest,” she teased, moving her face a little closer with a mischievous grin, “And I demand compensation for this terrible situation of waking me up before I wished to. I really didn’t want to stop in the middle of that dream I was having…”

The husky way she mentioned her dream made me tingle a little as she moved just enough to meet my lips with her own for a quiet, yet intense kiss. Bringing my hand to the back of her head, I let my fingers dig into her mane again as our tongues met. The kiss was slow and strong, leaving both of us to grow very awake before she drew back with a satisfied smile and a lick of her lips.

“Ahh...now that I’ve had what might be my new favorite coffee, I’ll take my compensation by way of a little punishment for you,” Twilight said in a playful tone, bringing her lips under my chin as she began to make delicate nibbles against my throat, her touch leaving a slight tingle on my skin.

It wasn’t long before she began adding her tongue into it, a slow transition from little licks into dragging it around my neck and back again until she could feel me start to twitch from her attentions. She wore a rather smug look when she drew back again, leaving me a bit frustrated and quite entertained as I was left to calm myself back down, wearing an annoyed yet playful smirk.

“My dear Twilight, am I to endure such teasing the entire time we feel like waiting until the day we find ourselves ready for that singular restraint to be over?”

Twilight grinned wider with a faint shiver, her eyes narrowing as she came closer again, her voice husky and teasing, “Mmmmaybe… Should I stop? Even restrict my attentions to chaste hugs and no more?”

A small laugh bubbled up, “Now, I didn’t say that. I just figured you should know that if this keeps up, you will reduce me to a quivering lump of male and I am already at your mercy. Must you torment me so? Or are you attempting to allude towards a desire for wing joint massaging, hmm?”

At the shiver that ran through her body and her look of surprise when I mentioned it was priceless, leaving me with a suspicion it was a more powerful erogenous zone than I already thought and she enjoyed it more than it appeared. She gave me an exaggerated pout and I wasn’t sure if it was more asking for it again or begging me not to, perhaps both. Either way, I had my answer in short order as I made a deliberate trace of fingertips down her back to drift up and down her spine, threatening to move over her wings. It was amusing to see her tremble just from that much.

“Nnf, you better not, Vojin. I don’t think I could take that for very long. I didn’t realize how sensitive my wing joints were until you touched them like that yesterday. Those fingers are like some kind of pleasure spell or something there,” she said with a faux stern glare that soon melted into a pleading look that didn’t hide the hunger within.

Nudging her head back to me, our lips met for another kiss before I answered, “I guess that just means once the time is right for us, you get to have the most relaxed wings in Equestria…”

A shudder ran through her body with a soft groan as she gave me a half-lidded look, “I’m going to hold you to that, Vojin.”

The fiery look she wore left me with a grin I couldn’t stop to save my life. The second morning was a little easier to manage.

***

We were well into magic studies after breakfast as Spike went around attending his chores. I’d managed to get a handle on levitating water rather well, despite the first couple of attempts causing a bit of a splash, so to speak. I found it curious, how solid objects required a different focus from liquids and something like sand fell in the middle somewhere. It was so subtle, but still necessary to be aware of, and it gave me more appreciation for the challenges of learning unicorn magic as I progressed.

“Now that you’ve managed levitation up to water manipulation, would you like to try a proper water spell?” Twilight asked as she flipped through the book of basic spells we were working from, finding the page she was after.

Rubbing my chin, I was of course curious what it would be like, “I’m game.”

“It’s very similar to levitating water, which is one of the reasons it makes for an excellent transition point into water spells. As basic as it is, it is limited to controlling the shape of the water, along with a little control over temperature. Few standard water spells have the capacity for freezing it. We’ll get into why after we start working with ice-based spells,” Twilight said, wearing a wide smile as she helped me learn.

She gave me some descriptions of the spell mechanics, having enough foundation to understand things easier. I’d come to realize much of it was not unlike mathematical processes at their core and how it helped a caster know how to shift their focus. I nodded when she was done, now having a reasonable grasp of it as I turned to the small bowl of water on the table in the main room, extending a hand towards it.

“Here goes…,” I said as my hands were once again covered in the billowing white aura we’d come to know as my natural magic coloration.

Twilight told me it was related to a pony’s coat or mane colors most of the time, with some exceptions mixing them, but all efforts to define the connection had remained unsuccessful and it was accepted due to evidence alone. Magic as a whole had a few things like that. Things that no regular logic had been able to define the reason why it was the way it was. Attempts to answer such questions always suffered fundamental contradictions somewhere. Scholars kept trying to figure it out anyway.

As I attempted to focus as Twilight instructed, I first tried to direct the water into a small pillar. With minimal effort, I began causing distortions in the surface and with careful changes in focus, the water rose up according to my direction. From there, I reshaped it between simple forms, seeing the water flow between shapes. Apart from occasional distortions, it was easy enough and I let the water sink back into the bowl.

“I’m still amazed you’re learning this fast, Vojin. From what I saw in the Earth book you showed me yesterday, the more fundamental aspects of spells aren’t close persay, but they aren’t as far off as I expected. To a certain extent, it could even be viewed as different intended approaches and applications. Once you have more spells covered, I think I’d like to try a few of the more subtle ones you brought with you,” Twilight commented before giving me a wink, raising the water out of the bowl and causing it to disappear in a hefty burst of steam that blasted upwards as if traveling through a large pipe.

I just gave her a smirk, “Showoff.”

She flashed me a cheeky smile as she organized the books on the table a little before looking at me, “Well, it’s getting near lunchtime. Do you think we should go check on Pinkie’s progress? I know she left a note telling us to arrive in town about one o’clock, but we’ll be passing through town anyway to get to Sweet Apple Acres for the meetup with AJ.”

Giving her a roll of my eyes at her demeanor, rather glad she seemed to feel an endless playfulness around me, “You know, I’m really curious what she’s planning, but I have this funny feeling telling me we aren’t going to find out even if we try. Still, won’t hurt to keep our eyes open while we walk through town. And before you even say it, I feel pretty good about making the walk. I feel better than yesterday so I shouldn’t need to stop if we’re going straight there.”

Once we were ready, we gave Spike a goodbye and headed off to our lunchtime visit with Applejack.

To our surprise, it wasn’t long before we found ourselves refused passage down a road by a smiling pony or two at every single street through the middle of town. Instead, we were directed along a circuitous path that skirted around what seemed to be some sort of exclusion zone.

As we left yet another smiling pony telling us we’d just have to go around, I questioned Twilight, “Um, you recall Pinkie blocking off this much space for one of her parties before? Or doing this much to keep the guests of honor in the dark?”

Twilight shook her head, looking a bit confused herself, “No, she hasn’t done anything quite like this before. Her goof off with Cheese Sandwich took up almost as much space, but that was a party battle. I think we’re stuck with the long way around.”

We had reached the other side of Ponyville by the time I needed to stop for a rest. It was frustrating to accept, but I had promised Twilight I would let her know at a reasonable level of exhaustion.

She’d extracted the promise just after breakfast while Spike was out on an errand, using a mix of interesting torture and utter bribery. I was still having a hard time believing how imaginative she could be. She got me so worked up with her levitation tricks that I was flopped against the couch for over a minute before I trusted my legs again. The way she’d moved about, performing a sensual dance as she teased with her wings as a cover, left me struggling to form words.

Twilight blushed so much afterward as she confessed she had always wanted to try that, having read a book on it a while ago and went so far as to make up a small routine for herself in hopes of getting to try it when she met a stallion she could get close to. When she’d asked if I enjoyed it, I dragged her onto the couch on her back against one arm and gave her a heated kiss, knowing she had no doubt regarding my opinion as I laid against her. It was another moment of almost giving in. The things we’d be up to when things felt right…

We stretched out on a small grassy hill under a shady tree not far from AJ’s farm, leaning up against each other, my arm around her as I got the annoying yet necessary rest I needed. Motion in the sky caught her attention and she looked up, spotting Rainbow Dash and some of the weather pegasi flying around.

While it was how things worked here, I was expecting to find it a strange sight for a while. Witnessing pegasi busting clouds or pushing them around was weird to me. As we sat, Twilight commented it was another thing in magic that simply was. How pegasi generated cloud manipulating magic was still not explained in full, nor if the natural atmospheric magic was involved. From what little I could tell from the ground, the clouds here appeared a little more dense around the edges, less wispy.

As we relaxed, we watching Rainbow leading her weather patrol around the sky for a time. Some clouds were collected and moved, while others were just given a good kick and dispersed.

I wasn’t disappointed by Rainbow’s tendency to show off, either. With her doing most of the cloud busting, she exercised a bit of style as she worked. It wasn’t extravagant like intentional trick flying, but it had it’s own interest.

When the weather patrol had completed cleanup of one section of the sky and headed for the next, they happened to fly not far from where Twilight and I were sitting. Rainbow saw us and waved before tapping a hoof against the ankle of her other foreleg, that ponies had that common gesture of time concerns was left for another time, letting us know she lacked the time to fly down for a hello, just pausing long enough to let us know she saw us before darting off after her team.

By then I was feeling ready for the rest of the walk, sneaking a quick kiss with Twilight before we got back on the dirt road to do some more walking. The quietness surrounding us was so relieving to me. It was free of any constant, droning sounds overlaying everything. No highways carrying traffic or jets in the sky. No distant sirens or construction. Just quiet all around. The gentle stirring of leaves and whispering wind through branches and grass was almost all that could be heard aside from the light crunch of our steps as we walked down the dirt road. It all added a certain extra calmness to the peaceful atmosphere that surrounded us on our way to the farm.

It wasn’t long before we were past the front gate and approaching the farmhouse. We spotted Applejack heading towards it from another direction and she spotted us in short order, breaking into a trot as she came over to us.

“howdy Twilight! Howdy Vojin! Good ta see ya made it! Still hard ta believe we planned ta have lunch here on the farm the day before ya were in the hospital, Twi. An’ before Ah forget, Pinkie made me promise not ta feed ya too much on account of the big party she’s gettin’ ready fer ya. If Ah had ta guess, she’s wantin’ ya ta have plenty of space for all them treats she’ll have lined up,” Applejack said as we walked towards the farmhouse, adjusting her had a bit as we went.

“I don’t know what Pinkie’s planning this time, but that’s a new request. I can’t imagine what she has set up that she wants us hungry too. I guess we’ll just have some light snacks?” Twiligh replied.

“Yup! Just a couple of apple treats and some good ol’ chattin’ between friends. Ah think Pinkie was wantin’ y’all headin’ inta town bout one, in case she somehow ain’t had a chance ta tell ya already,” Applejack added as she held open the farmhouse door for us as we walked in.

We settled in at the kitchen table and Applejack set out a few different apple treats and some cold apple juice. I’d already gotten to try some of the apples of Sweet Apple Acres and to my pleasant surprise, they were bursting with a distinct flavor that was everything an apple should be and so much better than any I’d ever had on Earth. The apple treats we now enjoyed benefitted from the quality of the apples, almost resonating with flavors that still managed to never become too much.

“I don’t suppose you could give us any clues on what Pinkie is planning, could you? Twilight and I had to take the long way around town on our way here. Every street we passed that could lead to the middle of town was closed off and smiling ponies kept blocking our way, saying we had to wait until the party was ready before we’d be allowed in,” I questioned Applejack, curious over what Pinkie was up to.

Applejack shook her head and winked at us with a smile, “Sorry pardner, but Ah’m sworn ta secrecy on this one. The two of ya will just hafta wait.”

“Pinkie won’t let you tell us anything about what she has planned at all?” Twilight gave her friend a bemused and somewhat worried look.

“That’s what Ah said, Twi. Well, Ah can tell y’all this much. Ya have no idea how big this one’s gonna be,” Applejack noted with a grin.

Twilight and I looked at each other, wondering what that could mean. As far as I could tell, Twilight had never seen a number of things ahead of a Pinkie party like this before. That in itself had me worrying a little in turn, but as Pinkie was doing it with the goal of making us happy, even if she was going over the top, we were going to enjoy it. It didn’t help the nagging curiosity any, however.

“You know, I had hoped to meet your family, Applejack. I’m guessing they’re in town?”

“Yup. They’re all over at the town square workin’ on the preparations. Somethin’ about Pinkie needin’ Big Mac’s strength for a fancy setup that Ah guess has some weight to it. Granny and Applebloom are helpin’ with the setup of the buffet...er, maybe Ah better not answer no more questions about it. Gave a Pinkie Promise an’ Ah don’t wanna bend or break one again,” Applejack said with a nervous look as she caught herself.

Raising a brow at her, I gave her a small smirk, “I assume you’re referring to your rodeo runaway experience a while back?”

Applejack blinked in surprise, looking at me in bewilderment before she caught herself again and shook her head, “Forgot ya know a lot of stuff bout us already. Ah ain’t sure Ah’ll ever quite get used to ya catchin’ things like that. An’ yeah, that’s right. It was mighty silly of me ta run off like Ah did. Sure am glad Ah have friends willin’ ta travel half of Equestra ta help me quit bein’ such a foal bout somethin’ like they did.”

I saw Twilight give her an amused smile before looking at me, “Alright, it’s about time for us to start heading back towards Ponyville. It’s probably going to be a little after one by the time we get there. It was great to chat, AJ. We have to plan lunch again soon. I guess we’ll see you at the party later this afternoon?”

Applejack gave her a nod and a grin, “Ya sure will! Ah still gotta run another wagonload of food inta town anyway, so maybe I’ll catch up to ya on the way.”

Twilight and I finished our goodbyes and started heading back to Ponyville not long after that, full of curiosity of what was waiting for us when we got back.

However, we were only on the road for a minute or two past the front gate when we heard wings approaching behind us, then hooves landing and prompting us to turn around to a sight we weren’t expecting.

Standing at attention before us was a pair of Royal Guard pegasi and a chariot, their golden armor and details of the chariot glinting in the sun. I looked at Twilight in hopes she knew what was going on, only to be greeted by her own look of confusion.

One of the guards spoke in a gruff voice, “Princess Twilight Sparkle, yourself and Mister Vojin Barloc Drayce have been requested to attend the Royal Sisters for an urgent matter. We are to escort the two of you directly to them. Please board the chariot so we may depart at once.”

There was a pause, then Twilight gave me a small shrug as she began to look worried, “I don’t know what’s going on, but this must be important. I just hope nothing bad happened. Come on, Vojin. At least you won’t need to walk.”

I answered with a nod, quite at a loss over whatever was going on. We were quick to board the chariot and the guards let us get settled before taking off with a surprising smoothness. While I did anyway, I didn’t think I would have needed to even keep a hand on the edge of the chariot apart from the wind, settled on one knee beside Twilight to reduce buffeting. All things considered, this at least afforded me some time to enjoy a bit of flight as I remembered all the times I’d enjoyed flying around ultralight aircraft.

The far better speed of flying brought us to Ponyville much faster. To our surprise, the center of town was full of vibrant decorations. Streamers and ribbons of various colors were strung between buildings in multiple directions. Many of which were blue or gold.

As we got closer, I could make out what appeared to be banners with some sort of insignia emblazoned across their surface. The first thing that came to mind that I could compare it with from Earth was major celebrations or a royal hosting an event in times of old. A glance at Twilight made me think she recognized something about it all, if her surprised look and hoof over her mouth were anything to to go on.

To our surprise, rather than going in to land somewhere right away, the guards were taking a slow turn and circling the center of town at altitude for a minute or two. When they began to descend, I figured they received some kind of signal or something.

As we neared the ground, I saw we were heading for an obvious landing spot at the end of what looked to be a center aisle through the large crowd of cheering ponies that spread beyond the town square, and if I had to guess, numbered more than the population of Ponyville. A fancy looking red rug edged in gold designs ran the length of the aisle and up the front of what I was guessing was the ‘fancy setup’ that Applejack had mentioned.

Standing side by side at the top of the stage were none other than Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, their manes and tails billowing with their wings spread wide. It was hard to say at a distance, but I would have sworn they were smiling at Twilight and I.

Our transportation brought us to a soft landing right where expected and trumpets began to blare as we touched down. Leaning close to Twilight so she could hear me better over the din surrounding us, “Uh...Twilight, do you have any idea what’s going on?”

“I don’t know! I forgot that Pinkie wanted me to invite the Princesses, so I don’t even know why they’re here or why we seem to be the center of attention in all this! It looks a lot like the ceremonies for service to Equestria or the Princesses themselves!” Twilight said with a nervous look, glancing around but most of her focus was the Princesses standing on top of the stage.

Before we had time to do much wondering, we heard a cough behind us and turned to find an earth pony Guard looking up at us, his voice a deep rumble as he spoke, “Princess Twilight Sparkle. Mister Vojin Barloc Drayce. Please follow me and I will escort you to stand before their highnesses, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.”

Twilight and I shared a meaningful look, glad we were at least in this together as we stepped off the chariot to follow the stallion towards the stage.

As we walked, the crowd seemed to cheer even more. I noticed what had to be reporters and photographers watching us with some intensity as I scanned our surroundings. It appeared we would have to wait things out before we learned what all the fuss was about as we followed the stallion leading us.

The steps leading to the top of the stage loomed larger as I held my tension in check. My old nervousness around large crowds was trying to make a comeback with a vengeance and stressing me out. A small nudge on my right from Twilight gave me a bit of needed reassurance and I glanced at her with a private smile, brushing my fingers across her mane a little, trying to be discreet as I didn’t know what any of the expectations were for the situation.

Once at the top of the stage, we followed the lead of our escort and stopped a short distance away from the Princesses. The stallion escorting us gave them a bow before speaking in a loud, clear voice that seemed to boom out from the stage, “Princess Celestia. Princess Luna. Your highnesses, I present to you Princess Twilight Sparkle, and her savior, Vojin Barloc Drayce.”

Celestia made a regal incline of her head in response and the stallion gave a short bow before moving off to the side of the stage. Somehow, in this setting, her billowing mane and tail seemed even more impressive as she looked at the two of us with a twinkle of amusement in her eyes alongside a comforting smile. Her gaze swept across the crowd around us and they began to quiet, her voice seemed louder than expected, though she was not shouting, “Fillies and Gentlecolts! Citizens of Equestria! In her moment of distress, Princess Twilight Sparkle was most fortunate to find rescue by the one that now stands before my sister and I. The events of which we have thus shared of two days ago, when she found herself in imminent danger and great risk of harm, could have taken far graver a path.

“As we have said, when Princess Twilight Sparkle experienced a magical event that left her unable to fly whilst high in the air, she was snatched from the jaws of tragedy by the one that stands before us and only by the risking of his own life that he might protect her from harm. Although he succeeded in his efforts, catching her in the air as she plummeted towards the unforgiving land below, thus preventing her suffering severe injury, it was at great cost to himself. Even then, after shielding her in so valiant an effort and enduring numerous severe injuries in her stead, he remained focused upon Princess Twilight Sparkle’s well-being before his own, even ignoring his own wounds to escort her personally to the ambulance when it arrived.”

Luna took over from there, speaking in a similar manner that felt just a little over the top, “I know not how it is that a living myth has come to walk amongst us, able to put himself in harm’s way in a time he was so needed to come to the aid of a Princess of Equestria. A creature of myth and legend though he may be, his selfless actions stand as proof of his honor and courage. It is this act of selfless heroism for our fellow Princess in her time of need that I and my sister, Princess Celestia, find him deserving of commendation!”

All I could do was stare at the Princesses as embarrassment settled over me even as I tried to straighten up a bit more. I had done what felt necessary, nothing more, and I expected the Princesses knew that on some level. Lacking a chance to get immediate answers for all the excessive pomp and circumstance over my breaking Twilight’s fall, I figured they had some sort of reason behind it.

I would just have to put up with it for now. They did save my life from the magic flux, after all. I didn’t really have any other options that made any sense available. So long as it wasn’t some long-winded thing, the tension shouldn’t exhaust me in my less-than-healthy state. It would be just fantastic if I passed out before I left.

Celestia looked at me wearing a regal mask, though I could swear there was amusement twinkling in her eyes, her voice ringing out over the crowd again, “Vojin Barloc Drayce. My friend. Come before my sister and I and kneel.”

Unable to help the nervous swallow, I managed to take calm steps forward and lower myself onto my knees, my right hand settling on my thigh while my left flattened against my abdomen, my left arm still in the sling for at least a few more days, depending on what the doctor said at tomorrow’s followup.

Both Princesses were looking at me with a twinkle in their eyes, only furthering my thought that this apparent award ceremony was more than just what it appeared. Whatever they were planning, I could only speculate.

Celestia looked to one side and gave a short nod, prompting another Guard, a unicorn, to come forward levitating a fancy wooden display box. Once Celestia took over the levitation, he gave her a small bow and retreated to his former position.

Upon opening the box, I saw it contained a golden medal and I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes in exasperation as I looked it over. It was shaped like a kite shield with a pony’s head across the front, a small ruby for an eye, hung from a ribbon of blue and gold. The engraving looked like it took plenty of skill and I wondered for a moment how it was made.

When I met her eye and arched a brow, she seemed to struggle with keeping a straight face for a moment. Maybe I was closer to the mark than I thought in the idea that this was more than it seemed.

As the medal was held up for display to the crowd, she took a moment while close to whisper to me, sounding a lot like she was rather amused at everything around her, “I’ll explain the reason for all this after we’re done here. Just some long standing traditions being put to use.”

Feeling a bit of humor at getting some confirmation of my suspicions, I gave her a faint nod in understanding and tried to restrain the little lopsided smirk that appeared.

She looked out over the crowd again before turning her official gaze upon me, “For your act of service to Equestria, coming to the aid of a Princess, I present you with this commendation. May the Sign of the Protector always remain at the center of your actions, as it was when you came to her aid.”

Celestia then levitated the medal from the display box, setting it around my neck before she and Luna touched their horns to the top of my head in unison. She whispered in a brief seconds she had, “Just rise, turn around and stand proudly before the crowd. You’ll be escorted back down the aisle to a carriage soon after.”

I let out a quiet, exasperated sigh as I whispered back before they slipped away again, “This all feels like a bit much, you know.”

Once they pulled back again, I did as instructed, rising to my feet before turning around and standing tall, able to feel exhaustion setting in, much to my frustration. The tension of being on a stage was not at all restful.

Finding it odd that the crowd was so quiet as I stood there for a second, it made sense that they were waiting as Celestia spoke up a moment later, a bit more flair in her voice this time, “As is so common when we present this particular commendation, we must now release him once again to attend his recovery. In gratitude for his aid in her time of need, Princess Twilight Sparkle will stay beside him and ensure he makes a swift return to good health... My little ponies, may this medal always represent his inner heart! Should you see him in his travels, greet him with a smile and open friendship! Now please, share with him your gratitude and joy!”

The crowd burst into loud cheers and stomping applause. Moments later, the same stallion that escorted us up here motioned for Twilight and I to follow him again. Twilight fell in next to me as we headed back down the steps and along the aisle. The crowd’s cheers continued unabated as we made our way past..

I felt no small amount of gratitude at seeing the enclosed carriage waiting for us where the chariot had been before. The stallion led us up to the door and stood to one side, a Guard unicorn opened the door for us and we slipped inside. The door closed as we sat down, cutting off a lot of the noise, and the carriage began to move soon after.

Free of needing to put on a show, I let myself sag against Twilight, leaning my head against hers as I closed my eyes.

I felt her drape a wing around my back as she let out a breath, cuddling me a little closer, “I take it being on stage and keeping up a strong appearance was a bit draining on you. Are you ok? You look a little pale.”

Taking a slow, steadying breath, I nodded, “I’ll be fine in a minute. I really don’t like crowds as it is, but recovering like I am and trying to hide it was exhausting. With how I feel right now, I’m a little tempted to let you use another healing spell. I do say just a little though, so don’t even ask. You already promised you wouldn’t.”

Twilight chewed on her bottom lip for a second before she sighed, “I know. I still would though, if you would let me. At least your part in the ceremony doesn’t take very long. Did Celestia say anything to you at all?”

“Still not changing my mind. She did whisper something about explaining later. I’m seriously wondering how much of all this was set up by Pinkie, at this point. And really, I don’t need some silly medal for catching you. That you are willing to love me is all I ever need in return…,” I said before giving her a gentle nuzzle and a smile.

She gave a soft giggle as she returned it, a faint blush on her cheeks, “Well, I don’t know yet. Pinkie has pulled off some very unexpected things on occasion, including bigger scale events, so I actually wouldn’t put even something like this past her. We’ll just have to wait and see for now.”

We snuggled close and didn’t feel much need for words, paying no attention to how much time passed in the carriage as we enjoyed our temporary seclusion. I was just leaning back with Twilight held to my chest, lost in each others eyes with noses touching and sensing each other through our link when we were startled out of our reverie by a knock on the carriage door.

It was followed by what sounded like the typical gruff voice of a Royal Guard, “Princess Twilight. Mister Vojin. The Royal Sisters would like to speak with you in the town hall.”

Twilight and I shared a brief nuzzle and a smile before I moved to open the door, “Thank you, sir.”

With the door opened, I saw we had stopped in front of the town hall as the guard gave me a curt nod, “You will find their highnesses in the main room. Please do not keep them waiting.”

After stepping out, I turned to assist Twilight as she left the carriage herself, earning a special little smile for the effort, and we headed into the building as the carriage departed.

Passing the doors, I noticed there were a couple Royal Guard present, but otherwise it was empty save for the Princesses. They gave us smiles as we walked over to them.

“There you two are. I do hope the ceremony was not too overwhelming. It might have gone unnoticed by those in the crowd, but I could not help noticing you seemed to exert some effort in maintaining your poise, Vojin. Thankfully, much of the ceremony is attended before the recipient arrives and the time you were needed only brief. As most given such honors are still recovering from injuries, it was designed to be short. In most circumstances, we wait a bit longer, but your unique circumstances made it prudent to act sooner,” Celestia said with a pleasant smile as she welcomed a hug from Twilight.

“I must admit it was quite a surprise, your highness. Both Twilight and myself were taken aback when as we came in to land in such a way. A flying chariot wasn’t exactly something we were expecting as we left Sweet Apple Acres on our way back to town, which was a surprise in itself. Everything that just happened was, well, a lot to take in. And yes, my present health meant I was quickly growing weary and quite thankful when we escaped into the carriage,” I replied, expecting to hear some of what it was all really for.

Celestia let out a soft tinkling laugh, “I am glad you were not overly drained by the experience, but enough of that. Vojin, I would like to officially introduce you to my sister, Princess Luna. While she has not had the opportunity to greet you until now, she spent just as much time at the hospital with the two of you during the flux as I did. She is already aware of all you have shared with me. She has been eager to finally meet you and has been quite interested in your circumstances since your awakening.”

Luna stepped forward and raised a hoof in what I thought was a pleasant, yet informal greeting as she smiled, “It is an honor to at last meet with you in proper fashion, Vojin Barloc Drayce.”

Flashing her a lopsided smirk that caused her to arch a brow at me, I did something I always fantasized I would do if I met Luna face to face. Never expected I would get to live it out.

I watched her face as I dropped to one knee before her as I caught her hoof in one hand, placing a light kiss upon it before looking up at her again, “Beautiful Lady Luna, it is a special treat for me to greet you this day. Back on my own world, though I am no astronomer, I always took pleasure in the night sky as one of the most awe-inspiring sights a person could bear witness to. For all that one might endure in life, the night sky was always a grand reminder that there is far more to life than we might encounter as individuals in our travels and it can always be relied upon to bring peace to those needing inspiration. Though by circumstances and time I have not yet had much opportunity to take in the fruits of your labors in the Equestrian night sky, I am looking forward to it. I am sure I will find much enjoyment in it here, as I had on Earth.”

She wore a look of shock as a faint blush began to grow on her features. Her expression made a slow shift as she took in my words, going from shock to wonder, then gained a look of elation before throwing her forelegs around me and pulling me tight to her chest. While she had grabbed me around the middle, rather than around the shoulders, as much as she was squeezing me tight, there was some discomfort in my shoulder and ribs. Still, if things were even halfway like it seemed before, she did not receive much appreciation for her devoted efforts in looking after the night and I could deal with discomfort so she could enjoy the hug however she needed it, wearing only a quiet smile. Faint though they were, the little tremors that ran through her suggested how much of an impact it had made on her.

After a good long hug, she released me with a tiny sniffle I only heard because she was so close, giving me a bright smile and sounding like her voice was tight with feeling, “Mister Vojin, I...I cannot tell you just how grateful I am to hear your words. The duty of guarding the night remains something I devote myself to tirelessly, and it is oft a lonely task that goes unnoticed. Though I know my work is appreciated, to receive such words, from a traveller from another world at that, like you have given me was almost more than I could bear. You have my deepest gratitude.”

“Lady Luna, I am just happy I could give you a smile with an honest statement. I also hope your sister will not mind the more preferential greeting,” I returned, sparing a glance at Celestia and noticing a glimmer of amusement in her eyes.

For her part, Luna scoffed at the idea and threw a smirk at her sister, “Nonsense! If my sister finds herself jealous that you have greeted me so much better than she, it is just her tough luck!”

Celestia let out a soft giggle, smiling, “Oh please, Luna. You know I’m happy for you. While I might normally be tempted to tease, it can wait for another time. And thank you, Vojin. Though Luna does not admit to it often, I know how much she yearns for the precious few words of appreciation she receives. It does not happen frequently enough.” She nuzzled her sister with a gentle touch as Luna made a weak huff.

I gave them a smile as I stood back up, “I only said the truth. On Earth, it was always calming to look up at a clear night sky and just observe as troubles slipped away for a short time. Reminds me of how big life is and how small most problems are. It really is one of the most beautiful natural wonders one can see anywhere. And Lady Luna, please just call me Vojin.”

Luna eyed me with a sly smile before glancing at Twilight, laughter in her voice, “Twilight Sparkle, do take care of your budding relationship with him. He has me most tempted to spend more time with him that I might learn more about him myself.”

That just made me blink at Luna, not quite sure how to respond to that. Twilight had her own response though, rearing up on her hind legs to embrace me and nuzzling my cheek as she flashed Luna a smirk, “Even though we’ve just gotten started, I can tell you he’s all mine, Luna. And I don’t see myself sharing any time soon.”

After giving Twilight a kiss on the cheek, I looked to Celestia again. While I felt I knew how she would answer, I still felt some apprehension, “Yes, well, um...there was something I wanted to ask regarding Twilight and I starting a relationship. I know there haven’t been any negative feelings expressed or anything, but considering how weird everything is for me, I wanted to be certain there wasn’t any displeasure over it.”

Celestia gave a soft chuckle in reply and shook her head, “You needn’t worry, Vojin. I am quite happy to see Twilight beginning this journey with you. I have worked hard to encourage the level of acceptance of diverse relations that Equestria enjoys today. It is also a good place to move onto why I wished to speak with the two of you. I don’t suppose you have figured out the full reason behind giving you that medal?”

Even though I’d had suspicions that there were ulterior motives involved, I still lacked any real idea what they were. Glancing at Twilight, her expression said she had no ideas either and I looked back to Celestia with curiosity in my voice, “I had a feeling something more was going on, but I haven’t come up with anything beyond the obvious of it is tradition when someone saves a princess or something like that.”

The royal sisters shared a brief laugh, Luna speaking up this time, “Although that was of course an important factor, it is actually not the main reason we gave you that award. Celestia and I both felt it would be an excellent way in which we might introduce you to the rest of Equestria, in as positive a light as might be achieved without appearing to favor you for no reason. I expect you understand the potential for difficulty, when something as unknown as yourself could potentially cause unpleasant reactions borne out of fear of the unknown. As with most intelligent beings, such encounters do not always bring out the best initial responses. Our little ponies are no different in this.”

Celestia continued, “While improbable, we took this action to preempt any potential issues. It is one of the many things we do, when unusual circumstances come up. All in the interest of reducing unknowns. If you can forgive our turning you into a minor celebrity that will be known across most of Equestria, you can take comfort in knowing the ponies you meet will be inclined to see you as a protector and feel safer around you as a result, regardless of being a seemingly mythical creature stepping out of ancient history.”

I could only stare at them in disbelief. That they had done so much just to help make my unusual presence seen in a positive light. It was overwhelming and humbling, leaving me feeling a deep sense of gratitude.

Looking at the two of them, I gave them a smile of thanks, “I am honored that you’ve gone to such lengths to help me find acceptance here. I don’t really know how to respond or what to say to it, to be honest. It’s just...humbling.”

Luna smiled with a small shake of her head, “Worry not. My sister and I agreed that unless something changes in the future, knowing you are presently unable to return to your own world, we will give you our blessing and accept you in full as one of our subjects. It is through that acceptance that we will endeavor to look after your well-being as much as that of anypony else.”

As she was still holding me, I tightened my arm around Twilight as I began to sway back and forth a little, burying my face in the side of her neck and mane as it just became too much. So many things had happened in such a short time these past few days and I still had yet to find time to settle it all in my head. Twilight just held me in a gentle embrace as I trembled, a moment away from needing to just sit straight down on the floor, silent as I rode out the emotion washing over me.

When I felt the moment had passed, I lifted my head with a wide smile, soaking in the idea that I was given such welcome in a place so different from where I came from. It filled me with a tremendous gratitude as I smiled at the Princesses, “There aren’t words enough to thank you, your highnesses. It’s...far beyond anything I would have expected.”

Celestia waved a dismissive hoof with a pleasant smile, “Think nothing of it, Vojin. You have done nothing but display good will and honorable intentions as you adjust to your circumstances of being stuck here in our world. In addition, your unusual connection with Twilight, to say nothing of beginning a relationship with her, gives me plenty of reason to take interest in you. Continue as you have and I am sure you will do well amongst us.”

“And to hear you appreciate the beauty of the night as you do gives me great joy. I have a new reason to look forward to your recovery so you may join Celestia and myself in Canterlot as we have arranged. I expect we will have much to tell you,” Luna added with a warm smile.

We were able to enjoy some light conversation for a bit longer. They were rather interested when I mentioned some of the things I brought with me from Earth, my smartphone in particular and asked if I might try writing down technology concepts when something came to mind. The idea that humans had created so much without magic, working within physical laws alone, could do much in Equestria. I agreed, thinking I could reference potential magical assists as I learned more in the course of my studies.

Celestia also said something to Twilight that left her blushing like mad as she gave a tiny nod with wide eyes, earning a rather devious grin from the Princess and leaving me a little worried about just what it could be about. I had to assume it was something regarding the intimate aspects of our budding romance.

Luna and I were able to trade a few words on how she approaches creating the night sky and that changes were a gradual process in most cases, even moving the stars on occasion when she felt it necessary. We arranged to do some stargazing when Twilight and I came up to Canterlot after I had recovered.

“Sadly, my friend, Celestia and I must now attend a meeting with the mayor before we depart for Canterlot once more. Our time spent aiding yourself and Twilight Sparkle as long as we did left us much to catch up on and we still have much to do. Do take care of yourself in your recovery. I would hate to think you might delay your coming to visit with me,” Luna said with a sly smirk as she moved in for a warm embrace, being gentle this time.

“You don’t have to worry about that, Luna. He already promised me that he’ll tell me if he needs to stop for rest, even if we’re just out for a walk,” Twilight commented, giving me a somewhat smug smile as her cheeks gained a bit of color, making me think she was remembering just how she got that promise.

Luna raised a brow at Twilight’s expression and the sheepish grin I was now wearing, “I have the distinct sense I should not ask how you procured such an oath.”

Celestia let out a warm chuckle, “Well, just remember what I said, Twilight. I will, of course, like to know either way if my guess is true or not.”

That made me quirk a brow, seeing Twilight’s eyes widen with a faint gasp and blushing again, giving her mentor a stiff nod, “Um, I-I...I will, Celestia.”

After looking between the two of them for a moment, I had to ask, “Uh...is this something I should be worrying about?”

Celestia let out a throaty laugh that only made me worry even more, “You will just have to wait and see when the time comes, Vojin.”

“Sister, just what in Equestria are you on about?” Luna asked as she eyed her sister.

Luna’s eyes widened as she began to blush when Celestia leaned over to whisper in her ear. I was expecting Twilight was under orders to keep it a secret. Even though I was certain it was a positive thing on some level, I still worried.

“Well it seems we will both be quite curious to know the result. I do think you could stand to behave yourself a little more, dear sister,” Luna said with a smirk at Celestia and giving me no further clues as she flashed me a mischievous look.

Twilight touched my leg with a hoof, giving me a sheepish smile, “Sorry, Vojin. Until these things happen, I’m not going to talk about it. You will have to trust me that you’ll be happy if most of them prove true. Maybe all of them will.”

Rolling my eyes, I gave her a dry look with a resigned sigh and shook my head. I had no idea what the three of them just conspired about and they gave no hints beyond it was something the blush about. It put a few vague, somewhat naughty ideas in my head, but I really didn’t have anything to go on.

With a light clearing of her throat, Celestia smiled, “Now then. Luna and I must be on our way. I hope you both enjoy the rest of the festivities that Miss Pie has put together. She was the one that alerted us to this party through Spike. It worked quite well with our plans to give you the commendation in a few days when we summoned you up to Canterlot, so we merely moved it up to today here in Ponyville. I continue to be impressed with the parties she manages to organize. For the time she had, it was remarkably swift.”

“Please take care of yourselves, both of you. We will look forward to seeing you in Canterlot in a few weeks,” Luna added.

“Thank you, your highnesses. I will certainly be interested in seeing Canterlot for the first time when we come up,” I replied, giving them a short bow.

Twilight gave her mentor a goodbye hug with a bright smile, “It’s always great to see you both. Hopefully, we can come up in a few weeks without anything else crazy happening.”

The Princesses left to attend their duties while Twilight and I started heading back towards the town square to find Pinkie or another of our friends. Leave it to Pinkie to pop up right when she was needed, seeing her approaching us as if out of nowhere wearing a wide grin.

“Hey you two! I bet you were super duper surprised by the ceremony, huh? When Princess Celestia wrote about it and asked if we could set it up here in Ponyville, I was really, really happy to tell her it would be great to have it here as part of the party! It wasn’t easy getting enough townsponies to help me keep you two from seeing the preparations, but they did it! And since I told Applejack not to feed you a full lunch, you’ll have plenty of room for lots of yummy things at the buffet! The Princesses even sent me some royal catering staff to help out! Isn’t that totally neato? I’m sure you’re a little hungry by now so lets head towards the buffet first!” Pinkie was hopping around in front of us in that springy way she has.

“Wow, Pinkie. It’s starting to sound like this is the biggest party you’ve ever thrown. How many ponies did you invite this time?” Twilight said.

“I invited EVERYPONY in Ponyville! Everypony in town is here and we have lots of reporters, too! There’s also lots of Royal Guards helping everything go smoothly and the catering staff making sure everypony has all the tasty treats they could want! I told you it was gonna be a super duper mega awesome giant party, right?!” Pinkie went on, her enthusiasm didn’t look like it was going to ebb anytime soon.

“Well it’s certainly impressive, Pinkie. Uh, I’m not going to be swarmed by paparazzi or something, am I?” I asked her, remembering how the press was on Earth.

“Nopey dopey lopey! The Princesses gave the reporters a simple edict for the duration of the party, saying you’ll spend some time talking to them and answering questions so long as they gave you and Twilight space. They knew you’re still doing lots of healing and wanted to be sure you could enjoy yourself at this party for you and Twilight. I hope it’s ok to talk with the press ponies later,” Pinkie replied, continuing to hop along as she guided us towards the buffet area.

“I suppose I don’t have much choice then. I wouldn’t want to disappoint the Princesses after they were gracious enough to plan such a thing for me. Twilight, do you want to put up with silly, intrusive questions and nosy reporters after we eat?” I said as I turned to her, sighing with resignation.

She seemed about as thrilled at the idea as I was, her voice flat, “We might as well get it out of the way, rather than making them wait. I hope they don’t ask anything too personal, but I’m not very optimistic about it.”

We reached the buffet section and were happy to find a small spot designated just for us, thankful it was a bit separated from the throngs milling around the buffet. We even had a server that would retrieve our food for us so we could relax and not brave the crowd for now.

As we were both hungry, we were all too happy to make our requests and settle in for a meal. The catering was delicious and the buffet area had relaxed yet festive music playing.

Pinkie was only able to sit with us for a couple minutes before she had to run off to keep the party on the right track. Before she left, she gave us the necessary instructions and directions on where we would be meeting with the press ponies in a short while. It wasn’t a fun prospect, but it was in part something that should be done out of respect for the Princesses after they were kind enough to ensure we would be left alone.

After a few minutes of enjoying our food, I gave Twilight a small smirk and nudge, “Is now a bad time to make it known I have a minor phobia of large crowds?”

Twilight gave me a sympathetic smile, “Yes, I suppose it’s a little late for that. How are you feeling? With everything just since leaving AJ’s farm, are you doing alright? You’re not feeling too drained? I’d be happy to just go home and throw a shield up and tell everypony to go away if you need the rest.”

Her desire to keep me from overworking myself was a little much, but reassuring all the same as I brushed her cheek with my fingertips and shook my head, “I can put up with the press in a bit. For the rest of the party, I can stop to rest when I need it. I’ll be fine, though I expect I’ll be sleeping quite deeply tonight.”

She leaned into my touch and gave a warm smile, “Alright. Just remember, you promised to rest when you need it. I don’t want you pushing yourself too much while you recover from being my hero.”

After we had finished our food, we enjoyed some time to just sit and relax before we felt ready to face the press and get the meeting out of the way. Remembering Pinkie’s instructions, we alerted one of the Guard that we were heading for the conference area. The stallion gave an acknowledgement and trotted off to alert the press ponies.

In a couple short minutes, we were approaching our side of the conference area, my fingers trailing against Twilight’s mane for reassurance against my nervousness. There were a lot of reporters and other press types waiting for us. I just steeled myself a bit as we were about to step out in front of them. It wasn’t going to take too long and Twilight would be right beside me.

The instant we stepped out onto the small stage where the table and chairs were waiting for us, cameras flashed in a flurry of blinding strobes that I suspected was going to remain near constant until we were done.

Once we were seated, Twilight took the lead as we planned. She had some training and practice at this due to her status as a princess. It didn’t take long for her to get the gathered press to quiet down for the most part and she called on one for the first question.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle, I’ve heard you were saved by the hooman sitting next to you, but what suddenly made you unable to fly? Did you experience a seizure or other medical issue?”

Twilight was unphased, “No, it was not medical in nature, but a magic-related issue. Due to the circumstances involved, I cannot explain further at this time.”

She indicated another reporter that stood before speaking, “Princess Sparkle, there are rumors going around that you were seen using magic during the most recent Equestria Games in the Crystal Empire. Were you possibly helping Ponyville in secret so your hometown could win the medal count?”

Twilight gave a dark growl and the reporter flinched, “I most certainly did not! Any reasonably trained unicorn could have cast a standard truth discovery spell at the stadium and get the answer directly! If you’re going to be that rude, I can always ask the guards to escort you to the train station.”

Seeing her handle that so well gave me a small feeling of pride, then being surprised when the next reporter Twilight called directed their question at me, “Mister...Vojin, is it? There is some information around saying you’re from another world but little on how you got here. Are you going to be safe around the common pony now that you’re here and will you be dining frequently on meat like some of the legends about humans say?”

I blinked as my hopes of simple questions were dashed, knowing that was not a simple yes or no, sensing this meeting would be longer than anticipated, “The world I came from is called Earth, so you all can have that accurate. I’m not really aware of how exactly I wound up here, but as I demonstrated through action already in the act of protecting Princess Twilight, I have only good intentions and the heart of a protector. I have no ill will towards any ponies and have been loving my time in Equestria so far. As for the second part, I rarely ate meat on Earth and now that I am here among ponies, I have no further interest in such. As humans are fully omnivorous and particularly flexible in our diet, I can eat most of the same things as a pony and enjoy good health with a balance of nutrition. So to be clear, I have neither need, nor desire, to eat meat and shall enjoy exploring Equestrian cuisine as I adjust to being here among you.”

Twilight nudged me with a small approving smile.

Aside from some occasional irritating and a couple off the wall questions, things were not too bad. There were some surprised expressions when I commented that Earth had no viable access to magic, but humans had done some impressive things with technology. They were also a bit surprised that humans were alone on Earth, for all practical purposes of interspecies interaction. Once the got warmed up with me, most of the questions directed at me.

With an occasional whisper to each other now and then, Twilight and I got to a point when we decided to bring things towards a close. The gathered press appeared satisfied for the most part, even if they had the potential to continue all week if given the chance. The intensity had waned as their most pressing stuff was dealt with. Compared to what I remembered seeing from press on Earth, it didn’t feel too bad. Still something I hoped would stay rare for me.

Of course, Murphy chose to visit as soon as we decided to begin wrapping things up, as the very next question threw us for a loop, “Princess, there’s a rumor floating around that yourself and Mister Vojin have started dating. Is this true?”

It was at that moment I remembered how people reacted to the British royals and their love lives, a sinking feeling settling in my stomach at the thought. Twilight got a short acknowledgement from me and made a response, “Yes, we have decided to start dating. As it is a matter between myself and Vojin, you will have to forgive me saying much about the subject.”

Another question came, “Mister Vojin, you just arrived from your world of Earth and now you’re dating one of our Princesses. Are you possibly trying to get special treatment from the diarchy? Favors and status, perhaps?”

I quirked a brow at the pony that asked the rather ludicrous question, “Well, considering the fact that before I arrived in Equestria, without warning, choice or intention, not to mention I never even knew your world was even here to find prior to my arrival, do you honestly think I could have been planning some elaborate scheme to get into the good graces of the Royal Sisters? While they have been very gracious because of my unusual circumstances, I am just trying to figure out which end is up in my life right now, nor do I even want any kind of status in the first place.”

Twilight let a faint laugh escape before she called for the next question, “Princess Twilight Sparkle, do you think it possible that Mister Vojin came to your rescue just so he could get close with a royal for personal gain?”

A feeling of unamused exasperation drifted through my mind at the turn the questions were making, touching Twilight’s hoof to draw her attention before she could respond, getting a nod when I asked to deal with this one, turning my bemused gaze to the reporter, “You do remember that I was severely injured, as well as required two separate surgeries, as a result of coming to her aid, don’t you? You should also know that due to the many unknowns of my unknown physiology, alongside a temporary restriction where magic being used on me was a very serious potential risk, they were unable to administer very much anesthesia prior to performing reconstructive surgery on the muscle in my left shoulder.

“I want you to think about that for a second. I was forced to undergo surgery while wide awake and had almost nothing to dull the experience. If you ever fully comprehend or experience something of that nature and still consider your question to contain any sort of reason, I believe most will think some part of your brain has malfunctioned.

“Saving Princess Twilight was the right thing to do and it was done in the heat of the moment in an emergency. Besides, who in their right mind, that can’t fly by the way, would jump off a treetop balcony, catch the full momentum of a falling pony straight to the chest, proceed to crash through multiple tree branches, and then enjoy a wonderfully hard landing on the stone roadway below if they were looking for personal gain?”

At least that particular journalist had the grace to wince and look apologetic at my response.

I was thankful we were just a few questions away from being done with this mess as Twilight selected the next one, a stallion, “Princess Twilight, is it possible you might have some ulterior motives in dating Mister Vojin? Is it possible you’re taking advantage of him when he has nothing and secretly manipulating his emotions to keep him dependent on you? Even a saddle blanket?”

Something came over me when I heard that as I directed a harsh glare at the stallion, watching him shrink back in fear as the gathered press went deathly silent. A fury ignited inside me as I somehow seemed to will a heavy, dangerous weight into the very air. My awareness of things around me dimmed as I locked onto the stallion, only a detached awareness catching Twilight trying to get my attention as the haze began to fade back out again.

Twilight was squeezing and even shaking my hand a little, speaking in urgent whispers as she tried to get my attention, “Vojin, calm down. It was just a rude question. You know how I feel about you. Please calm down.”

Turning my head to look at her with a slow blink, I saw no small amount of worry in her eyes. As she hadn’t seen me get angry yet, I supposed it was understandable. I let out a controlled exhale before leaning close to touch my forehead to hers, needing to forget the ponies watching us for a moment as I let her presence soothe me.

I whispered back to her, “I’m sorry, Twilight. I’ve always had something of a temper when someone insults my lady with such a blatant shot at her integrity or honor. It makes me...furiously protective, as you just saw.”

She gave me a sweet nuzzle and a small smile, “It’s alright. I’m honored you’re so willing to protect me at a moment’s notice. You know it was most likely just an attempt at getting an outburst for the gossip pages.”

Sitting back up and facing the press again, we kept hand and hoof under the table. A moment’s consideration, I whispered to Twilight that I better say something after my display of anger and she nodded, a gentle squeeze of my hand as part of her reply.

“Ahem. You will all have to forgive my getting so excited as I just did. I suppose this is a good point for me to point out that I am very protective of Princess Twilight. I have already risked my life to save her. Now, as you just found out, insinuating she would be conniving, manipulative, or other negative things will earn a rather...displeased...response from me. I will not stand aside when someone dares question her honor or integrity, and I will not be very nice about showing those that do the error of their ways. I will say it in no uncertain terms, I have fallen in love with Princess Twilight and will fiercely protect her in all ways. Please keep this in mind, should any more of you feel the need to ask bad questions again,” I stated in a low tone, the whole time keeping a small, very dark smile directed at the offending stallion, my eyes boring into him like I was hunting prey and seeing him gulp, looking like he was on the verge of bolting.

The energy from the press was much more subdued after that, noticing they were shying away from their offending colleague. Twilight asked for the next question.

“Princess, now that Mister Vojin has just openly stated that he is in love with you, I am...curious what your feelings towards him are. Is it mutual? If so, when is the wedding?”

The sudden, sharp jump in subject matter made my brain do flip flops. A glance at Twilight told me she was a bit thrown as well. At least it was jumping to happier things. Still, we had just started dating. And now we get a question about when we were getting married?

Twilight was now wearing a rather adorable blush along with a bashful smile that seemed to increase the number of flashbulbs going off just from that, “I suppose I can say it out loud at this point, Yes, I have found myself loving Vojin just as much as he loves me, irrespective of the rather short time we have had together. Maybe we’re just lucky enough to have a storybook kind of romance, I can’t really say just yet. It’s also way too soon for us to be thinking about getting married! Just the past few days have been full of crazy events and we really just want time to enjoy each other’s company for right now.”

Giving her hoof a supportive squeeze, I was unable to think of anything to say before she picked one more question, “Princess Twilight. Mister Vojin. Can you tell us how many foals you intend to have together and when?”

Both of us turned a bit red at that, glancing at each other in surprise while an even faster flurry of flashbulbs went off. Neither of us had any inclination to comment we were waiting on full intimacy while we enjoyed our time together and not quite sure how to respond. Twilight managed a halting suggestion to refer to the previous question and answer before we slipped away from the stage.

As we started walking away, my head was spinning from all the different things that happened. Part of me realized on some level that these things were sometimes going to be unavoidable part of being with Twilight, due to her royal status. I was glad we had the remainder of the afternoon to relax together now.

Twilight drew me over to a bench and we sat down together. My arm slipped around her back while she did the same with a wing around me, my voice a bit incredulous, “I can’t believe how that ended.”

Grumbling, she leaned closer as she snuggled into me, “At least it’s over with. Ever since I became a princess, dealing with the press has continued to be the single most frustrating part of my duties. It would be so nice if I could have just one press conference with only respectful, pleasant questions. I still haven’t quite figured out how Celestia manages it as elegantly as she does every time, no matter what they ask her.”

I smirked and barked a faint laugh, “Probably something to do with a few thousand years of practice. Let’s just forget about it now. We have the rest of the day to ourselves, though I do feel kinda drained right now. Do you mind if we sit here for a while?”

“Not at all.” Twilight replied, nuzzling against me some more.

The two of us watched the crowd passing us by. I noticed we drew some odd looks, but even more smiles. Ambient noise aside, it was a rather peaceful spot set back from the walking traffic and we relaxed from the mess we just put up with.

It was a few minutes of quiet together on the bench before Twilight nuzzled me, her voice calm and content, “Vojin, when you had that flash of protective anger, did you notice what your magic did?”

Having not expected the question, I blinked. I had no recollection of magic use at all, shaking my head as I met her eyes.

“I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Out of nowhere, you seemed to radiate a faint bit of magical power. It was really subtle and unless somepony with enough skill was specifically looking for it, I don’t think anypony would have noticed if they weren’t right next to you like I was. It was like you were creating more magical strength from within, somehow, as you caused that ominous, threatening feel in the air,” Twilight added, sounding intrigued and a little concerned, “As far as I know, there is no mention in any of my studies where a unicorn, or any other magic using creature, began creating magical strength inside themselves without pulling from some outside source in the immediate area. In a sense, it was like you were preparing for battle. If I hadn’t witnessed it myself, I think I would have brushed it off as impossible.”

“Is it a bad thing I should worry about?” I asked with an apprehensive look.

She shook her head with a warm smile, “No, not a bad thing at all. It’s just very unique. I’m sure the energy came from somewhere and we can study it more later. Maybe even figure out what it means for you.”

“At some point, sure, but let’s put that aside for a while. I have a lot to learn right now anyway and I’d like to keep it between us for now, if that’s alright? And, uh, you...you weren’t scared when I got angry, were you?” I said as I felt myself starting to tense from a long entrenched, deep-rooted fear.

For her part, rather than respond with words, Twilight gave me a very loving kiss that lasted several seconds before she pulled back to look at me, giving a small shake of her head and a tender smile.

The tension that had been building seemed to all but vanish again as I looked into her eyes, a weak smile creeping onto my face. Pulling her closer, I nuzzled along her cheek and over the side of her neck and mane, hiding my face as I breathed in her scent as we held each other.

My voice was a bit muffled from my position, though it didn’t cover the pain in my voice, “It’s...one of the things I’ve always feared most, Twilight. Becoming frightening to the lady I found love with. I used to have a hard time keeping calm whenever I saw someone being hurt or mistreated. Sometimes it got me into fights when someone wouldn’t back off when I stepped in.

“What came to bother me the most about it was when I got rid of the aggressor, I often found the person I tried to protect looking at me with some amount of fear in their eyes. The way it usually went, the more difficult it was to protect someone...the more frightened they were of me after I did.

“Somewhere along the way, it sank into my mind that I might fall in love with a girl and something would happen to cause her to wind up terrified of me. I tried dating after that, but eventually it grew into so big a worry in my head that I gave up. I hope you understand just how grateful I am that you saw me like that, even just a little, and didn’t start feeling afraid of me…”

Twilight was quiet as she listened, squeezing me tighter with her wing when she felt my tears wetting her fur. Something about her kept leaving me so open, kept driving me to lay myself bare before her with nothing held back. Yet as vulnerable as I felt, I also had a great deal of relief that she had no hesitation even though I’d shown some of that which made me afraid to get close to anyone in a romantic sense. Now I was being held as it came out of me, releasing much of the heartache I’d carried for years.

When she sensed I was calm again, she spoke with gentle words, “You don’t need to worry. Everything you do makes me want to put more faith in you, Vojin. Thank you for letting me know something that bothers you this much. While we haven’t had much time together yet, I have sometimes felt afraid for you, but I can’t see ever being afraid of you. I’m even more sure of that now. And to be honest, with how everything feels already, I really hope we do get married eventually. You’re filling a part of me I didn’t know was empty before and I don’t think I could ever be completely happy again without you here with me.”

That caused a small laugh to escape as I pulled back with a faint sniffle, giving her a grateful smile. Twilight leaned in and gave me a peck on the lips, looking into my eyes wearing a happy expression.

***

We went wandering when we were ready, running into Pinkie before long and she was happy to escort us around the massive party for a time. It was a sprawling affair, taking up all of town square and stretching a bit into some of the streets. Somehow, Pinkie even had arrangements with many of the businesses to include some of their services in some kind of complex trading system I couldn’t quite figure out when she explained it. After the large stage had been taken down, more parts of the party had sprung up into place.

To my surprise, Pinkie was also running some charity fundraising on the side and it had all turned into an impromptu festival day. She let us know we had the freedom to enjoy everything at our leisure.

Twilight and I enjoyed a number of carnival games, though I found my ability to be accurate was non-existent at present. We came across the girls a few times as we went around. Rainbow and Applejack often together, competing with each other at carnival games. We found Rarity and Fluttershy relaxing out of the way at one point, doing some pony watching, and had a nice conversation that gave me a some insights into pony society.

I almost couldn’t believe my eyes when I ran across Flim and Flam running a booth, somewhat boggled how they got involved on such short notice. Working with Twilight after I made the suggestion, we got them to give a Pinkie Promise to be honest before they realized it. Pinkie had appeared a moment later, giggling as she patted her party cannon as she promised to keep a close eye on them. It was funny to see the two of them blanch when they caught on to their predicament.

After a time, we headed back to the buffet for a longer rest with dinner. It was obvious by sunset that even with us stopping to sit for a while on a regular basis, I was still wearing down. Twilight prodded me with greater frequency about telling her when I needed to go home to get some proper rest. I waved her off a little longer, wanting to take in some of the evening atmosphere.

Overall, the day was fun, even if I was exhausted. There came a point that Twilight was no longer convinced I’d be fine if we just sat a little longer and declared it was time to go home before we headed back to the library. The simple act of stepping through the door somehow managed to cast off a portion of my weariness. Breathing in the scent of old books and older wood was relaxing deep down.

I was trying to avoid leaning against the wall as we headed up the stairs, refusing to admit how I felt after the day we’d had, “Did you want to spend some time reading this evening?”

Twilight looked over her shoulder with a mock glare, then a soft smile came out, “You’re completely exhausted. No matter how much you deny it, Vojin. The only thing we’re doing is getting ready for bed. I can always bring a book to bed if I want to do some reading.”

Giving a faint snort and a smirk, I didn’t argue.

It wasn’t long before we stepped into the shower together, reveling in the closeness we shared with a long embrace under the running water before going through the routine of cleaning. We still made a few teases and warmed each other up, but most of it was low key as we washed each other.

Once we settled ourselves under the covers, earlier than usual, Twilight snuggled against me like before. Sleep was far from our minds though, our minds were running on their own still.

Twilight nuzzled my chest before she spoke quiet enough it was almost a whisper, “Vojin, will you always be with me? Always be my protector?”

There was something that stood out in her words, telling me she had something more specific going through her mind as I replied, trying to be soothing, “Count on it. So long as I am capable, I will always be here for you. What’s on your mind?”

“I…,” she began, tracing random patterns on my stomach with her hoof, “I keep thinking about when you were telling me about how much afraid you are of making the one you love afraid of you. I can’t stop thinking about something I worry about sometimes.”

I gave her a gentle squeeze, “You listened to me when I opened up earlier. If you feel the need to share your thoughts with me, I can do the listening this time.”

She was silent for a while, sensing she was just trying to work herself up to it, so I was patient. I knew she would find her voice when she was ready to tell me whatever it was that was bothering her this much. I made gentle caresses with my hand along her side, keeping enough presence of mind to stay away from her wing.

Twilight took minutes before she at last sniffled and squeezed me tighter, her voice tight and trembling, “You already know how my friends and I have rescued Equestria several times in the past. I...I-I worry...the situations are becoming, well, more dangerous over time. I don’t know what I’d do if one of the girls ends up badly hurt or worse. For all the things we’ve managed to do, sometimes it just feels like we’re only playing around at being champions for Equestria. That we’re only scraping by on borrowed time that is just a moment from running out. Just the mere thought of losing one of my friends is...i-is…”

She then began to cry, faint and slow at first as her ability to speak vanished, clinging tighter to me as it rose within her. It wasn’t an unreasonable fear. Twilight and her friends had overcome so many trials, often with nary a scratch to show for it. The very clear and present reality of having their luck give way the next second to injury or worse wasn’t unfounded after all they had been through together.

One ill-timed stumble and one of them could have been eaten by the hydra they once outran. All of them could have been killed in that landslide when they were heading up the mountain to get a sleeping dragon to nap elsewhere. Their experiences with timber wolves, chimeras, ursas, cragodiles, manticores, cockatrices, and all the things they had gotten past could have gone horribly wrong in the blink of an eye.

Twilight cried for a while, quivering and trembling as she let out a long buildup of worry for the friends she treasured so much. At times, she grew into quiet heart-wrenching sobs and others she let out nothing more than small whimpers. The entire time, I held her close, feeling her flowing tears gather on my chest enough to run over my sides from time to time.

By the time she found the end of what she had to let out, even I had tears in my eyes for all the hurting she released. With how strong she always tried to be, adorable panic attacks aside, she seemed to have kept how deep this ran even from herself. Her chest hitching after she at last went quiet, Twilight didn’t move as she clung to me with the odd sniffle.

It was another few minutes before she found her voice again, her hoof rubbing my stomach with a tender touch, “Th-Thank you f-for listening. I didn’t know I-I needed t-to cry so m-much.”

I raised my head enough to place a kiss on top of her head, knowing words weren’t necessary in the moment we were sharing. It was a safe place to let go of her burden for a while, safe enough she could be vulnerable as she released something deep. Such a simple, precious thing to do for someone really, but so very difficult to be accepted as safe enough for someone to stop hiding.

So we lay there together in silence, content in knowing I was her safe place as much as she had become mine. I had to wonder again at how much was compatability and how much was the product of our link. I didn’t feel much need to question how Twilight and I had gotten this far so fast. It occurred to me that it didn’t really matter in the end, and before long it would be not at all, thanks to the inexorable passage of time.

Twilight raised herself up after a point, going through a round of tissues and nose blowing. When she looked at the wet state she’d left my chest in, she got teary-eyed again but otherwise seemed cried out. With a few more tissues floated over, she dried me off with a very gentle touch of her hoof.

Once my chest was dry and she was able to clean up her face again, she gave me a radiant smile of thanks that left me feeling like my chest couldn’t contain the swelling of my heart. Then she leaned in and gave me a very light, yet very powerful kiss with a hoof touching my cheek.

Her head drifted back down to my chest as she cuddled up close as she could be again, myself feeling the exhaustion of the day catching up to me at last. Perhaps part of me knew Twilight needed my attention before we went to sleep.

In the hazy minutes we shared before slipping into slumber, Spike had come in bidding us both goodnight before crawling into his own basket bed not far from us. At some point soon I realized, we’d have to get him moved into the spare room.

There was a new sense of warmth between Twilight and I. Something different from body heat or presence. Whatever it was that could define that particular warmth was irrelevant though as the two of us hovered at the edge of sleep.

With almost embarrassing synchronicity, we moved our heads at the same time and moved in for a deep but short kiss, whispering how much we loved each other. We settled back down and let sleep carry us away.

Bk 1 Ch 8: Of Souls and Secrets (edit 9/16/2015)

Author's Notes:

What a shift this chapter has gotten from the original version! Not only did it go from 13.4k words up to just under 18k words, I cleaned up the flow and cheese a great deal. Things that were glossed over or missed have been given their right spot now. Granted, some aspects can only be improved so far without me altering it to the point it would become a different story, but with that caveat I like to think it's vastly improved from what it once was. This chapter was a big step in the story, so this one was important to have in place when the second book finally began.

Edit 9/16/2015: Major revision complete. This one was a doozy.

As I moved through the motions of one of my simpler kung fu forms, I couldn’t stop myself from drifting in thought. I often let my mind wander while I had a spare mental moment, doing what I could to take in everything that had happened since arriving here. Arms and legs snapped out and in and around in blocks and strikes in the choreographed dance I had gone through so many times that it was second nature and all but automatic, mind unable to avoid the big bag of mixed feelings that had had turned into my idle thinking as I thought about the wild turn my life had taken.

It was already three and a half weeks since I caught Twilight as she fell, jumping off her balcony to save her and earning more than a few injuries in her stead. And just over a month since finding that orb in the forest and I appeared in the Equestrian sky over Ponyville without warning, mostly unconscious when Twilight caught me, which in turn somehow led us into experiencing a life-threatening magic flux.

Just the three days after those events had been an overwhelming rush of experiences, with how sudden everything had been. So much, so fast...and then it was like everything turned into a routine somehow, an almost hazy blur of calmer events that were all fuzzy for some reason when I thought of them. Everything was fuzzy, almost rosy and lighter feeling than I thought it should feel, when I thought back to something even seconds after experiencing it, but neither I nor Twilight had any reason for why just yet.

Granted, part of the calmness came from my also asking Twilight if we could keep out of sight for the most part to slow things down, to give me a chance to adjust. It worked well with the doctor recommending we minimize being in public, just to be sure the flux was gone in full. I had been surprised to hear younger ponies and those without their marks were especially vulnerable to catching a magic flux, if it was a transmissible kind, though oddly enough only for interaction lasting half an hour or so, or regular physical contact beyond a minute or two, with some instances of shorter durations according to past cases. I didn’t understand everything, but Twilight kept a special field around us whenever we were near other ponies, just to be safe. And lacking any way to tell if we were capable of transmission, it meant a good part of our hiding out was also out of precaution…and yet at the same time, life around us had also gotten calmer somehow. It all just...went quiet. Of course, my mind never did, unable to slow down, even as I kept a certain focus on the form I was performing.

Twilight and I had grown much closer over the past few weeks, finding ourselves past caring about exactly how much our link pushed us to be together at first. It had been long enough for us to grow a more normal foundation for a relationship, finding each other to be kindred spirits in many ways, and surprised at how often we balanced each other in even the small struggles. I’d joked maybe we were just made for each other, drawing a giggle from her at the thought. It was nice how often we felt like we couldn’t be closer, yet continue to find ourselves proven wrong once more. A high arcing kick moved into a dropped stance and block.

Her helping me get clean in the shower had given way to making a regular habit of shared bathing, even after I was long past any physical hindrances from injury. It was a nightly ritual before bed now, a relaxing end to our day. Granted, it was still far too much fun to get each other worked up with all the seducing and teasing, sometimes even being pretty brazen with it. Things had also grown easier over time as the strange intensity we had at first faded. Twilight hadn’t been able to explain it, even tried checking us for subtle magic effects, just to be safe, but found nothing. It did leave us feeling more confident in our choosing to wait, at least. I made a sweep into a low strike before springing up to reverse the stance.

My shirtless form was streaked with sweat as I kept moving. I was still stuck double-checking myself in the mirror at times, looking for scars of my recent injuries, but there were no marks remaining from all the cuts and gashes. The only signs of injuries I had healed from were things I’d picked up on Earth. As I understood it, it was due to the way Equestrian sutures and ointments were made, given enchantments to prevent scarring and infection while boosting healing. It wasn’t hard to figure out that the medical treatment capability here was well beyond that of Earth. I hadn’t had a chance to look into it yet, but there was supposed to be some kind of magic that could even manage things like regrowing amputated limbs and other severe, otherwise irrecoverable injuries. Real miracle healing was a thing, if very limited in availability.

For now I was working hard to physically recover the level I’d been at before taking a forced break due to injuries sustained. Twilight had made occasional protests that I change my mind, but had refrained from attempting any more healing spells, leaving me to recover naturally. My rate of recovery had also impressed Doctor Hoofmeister, himself just giving me a few suggestions on avoiding unintended injury during workouts as I finished healing. The strength of my left shoulder was still catching up, though range of motion was solid as I brought my arm through a sweeping strike.

My mind turned to the town, kind of at a loss how there was still a bit of confetti detritus left from the massive party and carnival Pinkie had put together in celebration of various things revolving around Twilight and I, while pulling off charity fundraising at the same time so we weren’t the sole focus of the event, as that would have left us uncomfortable as a result. It had also surpassed her previous party records. That train of thought led me to remember the one unpleasant part of the whole thing, the meeting with the press, and again thanking, well, Celestia and Luna, for specific laws preventing paparazzi issues around any royals, or national heroes like the girls were. Funny how waving a heavy financial axe at publishing companies that used wrongly gained media kept the system in check.

Leaping through a flip and following up with a few fast kicks, I attempted, and succeeded, to get the handspring correct, if struggling a touch to not tilt to one side. My shoulder had healed well, but the loss of strength was aggravating by the time I could return to more serious exercises. Testing myself at each step I had made, I only started on shoulder-heavy moves as of yesterday. Another week or two and I would be happy to leave it all as a memory.

Finishing up the form and giving it a proper close out, I flashed Twilight a smile. She had gotten into a habit of waking up with me and watching my workouts once I recovered enough. I’d gotten her to join me a few times for some of the exercises she was physically compatible with, discovering Equestrian ponies had a much better range of motion than I’d expected of a quadruped, though she tended to prefer watching. She had also asked that we still sleep in at least once per week, a request I was more than happy to oblige.

Starting into my cooldown cycle as I began my full Tai Chi form, I thought of when we had taken my exercise routines outside after most of a second week of healing. I was a little bothered the first couple days as I seemed to draw a small crowd of early risers, but by this point, it was only two or three ponies stopping to watch my workouts at most. There was only one pegasus onlooker this morning, though I didn’t know her name.

The careful motions of Tai Chi also helped to soothe away the storm of thoughts I couldn’t shake as the form absorbed me a bit more, my focus drawn into the slow and specific positions one after the other, giving me some time to cool my mind again for the long minutes it took to go through the form.

“It looks like your shoulder is almost as strong as it was before. How does it feel?” Twilight asked with a small smile after I closed out the form and started towards her.

Giving my left shoulder a wide rotation a few times in each direction first, I took a seat next to her at the base of the tree we called home and kissed her cheek, “A little off balance in the handsprings still, a lingering bit of soreness, but it should be gone in another week or so at most.”

Twilight made a face at me, her muzzle taking on an adorable wrinkling as she scrunched it up and gave me one of her looks when she didn’t want to repeat something yet again. Playful, yet enough to remind me as I gave her a smirk.

Holding my hands out in front and gathering some magic between my palms for a second before directing it over myself, I cast a simple spell. It was a rather practical little thing we had come up with together during a spell creation lesson. Twilight had planned to use something else, but I suggested trying something a little more pragmatic, considering I was capable of something more challenging than a unicorn colt would have been at my level of development.

While she did most of the assembling, demonstrating as she went, now I had a helpful post-workout aid that was quick to dry the sweat on my body and clearing some of the dust and bits of grass off me. It was more for casting practice really, and wouldn’t help with anything more than an hour old or too substantial for balancing reasons I was still learning, but Twilight had come to enjoy my quick cleanup, saying it made me clear for cuddles right after my workout when I was extra warm. She grinned once I was done, leaning close to snuggle against my side and planting a kiss on my cheek.

“Did you want to do more theory or practical application today?” Twilight asked as my arm pulled her a little closer.

Musing for a moment, “Practical applications, I think. I still want to work on the various preparations for the basic teleport spell... Yikes...I can hardly believe I’m getting ready to use actual teleportation magic and can learn to teleport myself soon after. This is cool and staggering at the same time… You’re still curious if I’ll singe myself, or even land upside down, aren’t you?”

Twilight gave me a sly smile, looking at me from the corner of her eye, “I’m sure you’ll do just as well as I did the first time.”

“Heh, yeah, and as I understand it, you managed both. And singed Spike along with yourself the first time you cast a rapid multi-target teleportation,” I teased, earning a little pout from her.

“Hey! That was a stressful situation. I didn’t even do it intentionally. Just trying to escape all the ponies begging to go to the Grand Galloping Gala. I’ve mastered it since, haven’t I?” Twilight said with a playful grumble.

With a soft chuckle, I nuzzled her cheek, “Just like you pointed out last time. I’m sure I’ll earn myself some good stories too, Purple Angel.”

She let out a soft giggle at that, looking bashful for a moment and enjoying the pet name I’d taken to calling her. Twilight scooted a little closer before hugging me, closing her eyes as she listened to my heart beating with her head against my chest and letting out a quiet sigh, “And I’m sure you’ll be studying gravity spells by next month. You sure you still won’t tell me why you’ve been looking forward to them specifically?”

I kissed the top of her head as my arms pulled her in closer, “Not a chance. I think it’ll be far more entertaining to see how you react with what I have in mind. I must keep some secret surprises! Shall we head in for breakfast soon? I’m sure Spike has something going inside. I think I can smell it already.”

“Mmm...just give me another minute. You know you’re extra warm after finishing your exercises and I don’t like to move for a bit,” Twilight mumbled, rubbing her head into my chest a little more.

A content smile on my face, I just sat with her as I leaned back against the trunk of the tree. It was how we wound up spending part of most mornings if we hadn’t slept in. I’d wake as the dawn began and, if she wasn’t already up herself, wake Twilight when I was ready to begin my exercises. I usually indulged my romantic notions by doing so with a kiss.

Then she would watch as I went through the myriad forms and techniques, changing day to day as there were a lot of them in Ying Jow Pai. For the first three weeks, she spent a lot of time taking notes and studying everything I did. By this point though, it was just occasional notes, her common quill and paper on the ground nearby, all but forgotten when my exercises were done. Once the little cleansing trick was cast, we would just snuggle up together and enjoy a quiet few minutes as we took in the morning, talking or just holding each other close until ready for breakfast.

So it was for this morning as well, though this was the day we planned to finally head up to Canterlot and meet with the Princesses, now that I was more or less done recovering.

Coincidentally, the Ponyville Weather Patrol had a nice sunny day planned. It still amused me to no end, knowing that weather was on an established schedule here. Twilight thought my tales of Earth weather patterns were a little unsettling, which just made me chuckle at different our perspectives.

Between the chirping of birds in the area and the gradual rise of the sounds of activity from town, it was another rather peaceful morning.

“I know it’ll change, but I wish it would be like this forever, Purple Angel,” my voice almost a whisper as I gave her a tender squeeze.

Twilight gave a soft hum in agreement before nuzzling my chest again.

The gentle breeze in the air teased at a few loose strands in her mane as I watched, feeling far more interested in her than anything else I could look at in the moment.

I felt fortunate to find myself in the place I was now, blessed even. Specifics to how I wound up in Equestria had stopped mattering so much, as had all the unknowns from when I’d woken up from the coma. It pierced through my mind like it seemed to for the past few days, how clear and pure all the feelings Twilight was drawing from me were. I mused to myself, hoping we’d have another pleasant surprise in how close we could feel again, though acknowledging maybe we just managed to keep the feeling of the first few times we felt the air of unity between us. All that really mattered to me was how we kept finding and feeling it again.

We were eventually alerted that breakfast was almost ready, having gotten lost in each other’s presence when Spike stepped out to let us know. Taking a moment for a warm kiss, we headed inside as I slipped back into my shirt as I followed behind Twilight and, unable to resist the opportunity as we got in the door, I gave her posterior a quick squeeze.

She let out an adorable ‘eep’ and tried to give me a rather unconvincing glare over her shoulder as she struggled to keep from laughing. After watching me with a wary eye for a moment, she turned and swatted me across the stomach with her tail, a sly smirk on her face as she headed for the food.

After enjoying a nice, simple breakfast of oatmeal with different things mixed in, a good helping of nuts to help meet my morning protein requirements as I was still trying to get used to their gritty version of protein powder, Twilight and I started on more magic studies until it was time to head for the station. She was splitting her time between her own studies and reviewing things I needed to learn. I was splitting my own studies a little as well, trying to reserve some time for more general learning about magic and the world I was now in.

It was all going to change sooner than we’d like, once our link was stabilized enough or something like that, and we could actually be apart by a reasonable distance. Due to our circumstances, along with the unknowns of what caused the magic flux, we were recommended to try and keep things restful and stay home for the most part, with the reasoning that avoiding straining our link might speed up the stabilization process. After we were in the clear, Twilight would have her full Princess of Friendship duties to get back to, even if they were limited. For now at least, we were milking our constant time together for all it was worth.

Before we left, the girls dropped by to wish us well in learning what Celestia and Luna had been able to find out about our situation. Since Spike had already planned to help Rarity with something at her shop when we’d figured out a day, he chose to stay behind.

With an earlier train to catch, we were at the station by mid-morning. The few things we needed were in a pair of saddlebags I’d slung over my shoulder.

As Twilight had discovered when we’d gone to visit Zecora a few days earlier, after three days of being cooped up, she had no leverage when trying to protest my carrying her things for her. This time, she didn’t do more than roll her eyes and smile with an exasperated look upon my interrupting her donning her saddlebags and throwing them onto my shoulder.

As we waited for the train to arrive, the two of us settled on a bench and leaning into each other, my arm around her, I got curious about her attempts to research our link, “Have you had any luck finding a spell that functions similarly to our link yet? I saw you looking again yesterday.”

Twilight shook her head and sighed with a frown, “No, I haven’t. At this point, I’ve gone through all my books on magic at least once for this, and some of them three times even, but still nothing! It doesn’t make any sense that there aren’t any mentions of similar magic that matches what little we’ve learned so far. I could find all manner of similar aspects in small amounts, but nothing inclusive. Like I mentioned last night, I’ll try looking in some of the Canterlot archives tomorrow morning before we need to catch our train back. Celestia might even have a suggestion on where to start.”

“Any thoughts on what you’ll do if they end up telling you directly that it’s never happened before and therefore entirely new?” I asked her as I ran my fingers through her mane a little, hoping to help her shed her building tension.

She took a deep breath and hesitated, her right hoof coming up to her chest after a moment, waving her hoof away from herself as she exhaled, leaning a little more against me now, “I don’t really know since it’s so similar, yet still so different to some spells. If it does turn out to be a formerly unencountered type of magic...well, at least I can catalogue it by analysis and start writing down what I can discover about it. The chance to study a new magic would be lots of fun, but proving it’s new isn’t exactly an enjoyable process in academic circles. It was bad enough getting my efforts with Friendship magic recognized. A second discovery would be scrutinized ten times worse.”

“Well, that’s just a matter of time in the end, or at least I think it is. And I suppose we have plenty of time to figure it out,” I said, looking up when I heard the train coming into the station.

Twilight smiled before giving me a peck on the cheek, nuzzling the spot, “Yeah, I guess we do.”

Within a couple more minutes, we were aboard the train and settled into our private luxury cabin, a surprise courtesy of the Princesses, even though Twilight and her princess status technically gave her a free pass for herself and any traveling with her. We were quick to snuggle up for the lengthy ride up to Canterlot. Both of us spent some time just looking out the window for a while, watching the landscape rushing past like a river of land flowing by.

After we were well into our actual ascent up the mountain, I got the distinct feeling that Twilight was thinking about something through our link.

With experimentation and practice, the two of us had gotten to a point we could now sense each other’s mood and general state of mind if we focused, though we were still working on reliability. From what I could figure out, she was in deep thought and rather nervous for some reason.

When I couldn’t stand to wait her out any longer, I nudged her, “What’s on your mind, Purple Angel?”

Twilight jumped a little, leaving me to suspect it was even more important to her than I suspected if she was that caught up in it. She took a bit to find her voice, seeming to radiate nervousness as she played with her hooves, “Um, I was just...just thinking about something. It’s nothing bad or anything, really. Just found myself thinking while we sat here. Not a big deal or anything, you know? Just--”

A finger touching her lips brought her to silence as I gave her a gentle smile, seeing the tension, hope, and even fear in her eyes, “Twilight, you’re babbling. What has you so worked up all of a sudden?”

“I…,” Twilight tried before losing her voice again, a few tears welling up as she moved closer and buried her face against my chest, clinging to me. Her voice carrying a disproportionate amount of nervous energy, even while near quiet enough for a whisper, “I-It’s...irrational f-for me to be nervous or s-scared about this. I know how you feel. Sometimes perfectly so because of our link. I-I...I just… Vojin, just hold me tight for a while?”

A small huff of a gentle laugh escaped as I pulled her in tighter and held her there, fingertips massaging the back of her head under her mane. If she thought it was irrational from the start, I was sure she’d get it out in a minute or so when ready. A warm smile on my face as I comforted her, holding her snug against me as I let her calm herself in the quiet embrace.

It turned into several minutes by the time she pushed herself back and raised her eyes to mine for a moment, then looked away with a growing blush and leaving me to suspect certain directions of what she was working herself up to tell me. She still took a minute, starting to play with her hooves again. When she finally did look up at me, she was bright red and looked a bit like a deer in headlights to me just then.

Twilight swallowed, her voice almost too quiet to hear as she turned her head to stare at the wall, “I… I-I… I think I’m...almost...r-ready, Vojin.”

I felt my mouth go dry at that, knowing all her build up left only one meaning to her words as I swallowed against a lump in my throat. Twilight and I had been waiting on any kind of consummation of our relationship beyond kisses and teasing, feeling the need to explore the other parts of our relationship first and not wanting to rush anything. While she had let me know she’d spent time with mares before, even if it had been a while, she’d never been with a stallion.

For myself, though I had a daughter on Earth it had been some time since I’d been intimate with anyone. I was nervous enough of course, but we had agreed she needed to make the decision of when for us, as I was much more prepared by personal experience.

Neither of us was quite sure why we felt the need to wait so much, only that it was a mutual desire and we had very much enjoyed taking time to learn more about each other as we laid a strong foundation for the two of us to build on. We both had a bit of worry about moving too fast.

But now…

Reaching out with the arm that wasn’t against her back, I brushed the back of my fingers across her cheek before cupping it in my palm, seeing her stiffen and tremble just a touch. Upon drawing her eyes to me with a nudge to her chin, I gave her a tender smile before nudging her back to my chest. Her motions remained stiff as she let herself fall into my arms again, sinking into my embrace as little tremors ran along her form.

Nuzzling into her mane, I couldn’t help the chuckle that bubbled up as I had a flash of mischief, “You know...you’re really cute when you’re all nervous and flustered, Purple Angel.”

I chuckled a little more at the adorable squeak she made as she tensed and scrunched herself up. While we had both felt the time was at last approaching us, how worked up she was acting was too cute for words.

Then almost out of the blue, she spoke in a bit of a rush as she locked up, pressing closer and squeezing her eyes shut, “C-Can we try something tonight? I want to explore first. That is, i-if you don’t mind. Maybe just h-hold me, without wearing anything t-to bed tonight? P-Please?”

A quiet, rumbling chuckle escaped at her words, the sound full of love as I replied to the utterly adorable mare I’d come to treasure so much in such a short time, “We can do that, Twilight. Anything you want to do, we’ll do that first, alright? Now, are you still feeling really nervous, or have you started drifting into anticipation mode?”

With another flash of mischief, I caught one of her ears with my mouth and began to nibble. The shudder that went through her body, and the quiet moan she let out, was just as expected. Continuing with the light nibbling along the edge of her ear, I coaxed a few more faint moans out of her as she began to tremble more.

For a brief moment, when she jerked herself back and left a hoof placed at the center of my chest, I thought maybe I’d been a little too playful in the moment. Then I caught the smouldering look in her eyes as she leaned closer without moving her hoof. Having seen her worked up a number of times by this point, I saw her eyes displaying more open hunger than I’d seen from her in a while now, leaving me to swallow out of nervous reflex.

Twilight leaned close and hovered her lips just above mine, her half-lidded eyes boring into mine like she was about to devour me, a faint growl coming from her for a moment. Even her voice came thicker than normal as her breath tickled against my lips, “Keep it up...and I’ll make you walk naked to the castle… And you won’t...be at rest, either…”

With how she had me on edge so fast, I wasn’t sure I’d be ‘resting’ for a while anyway. Although I didn’t think she’d actually follow through with her threat, if only just because she has told me she kind of likes having me ‘wrapped up’ around other ponies and getting to keep part of me all to herself. Despite this, I couldn’t help trembling a little, rather torn between diving into a heated kiss versus not risking her actually following through with it.

She pressed her form closer to me while keeping her lips hovering a hair away from mine, every deliberate breath escaped to tickle across my skin with the promise of more about to come but didn’t. As her other hoof began to drag back and forth just above my beltline, her tongue began to trace along my bottom lip.

A small, panting gasp escaped me and she gave a lazy sensual smile, making a languid motion to press the length of her body against me as she moved to nuzzle along my cheek until she could nibble at my ear. Before long, she let the tip of her tongue trace my jaw as she moved back again, leaning back with a sultry, smug look on her face upon seeing the state she’d put me in.

Panting, my heart was racing as I looked at her, feeling more than a little hot and rather dazed. I had seen her do things like this multiple times, yet still she kept surprising me with what she came up with in these private teasings.

“Mmm...behave yourself, my handsome Vojin… Or else… Maybe we’ll finally be ready tonight and I won’t want to stop until we’re both... a quivering... mess...,” Twilight whispered as she made a slow move with her hoof down my stomach and, for once very on purpose, pressed against my excitement for several agonizing moments before she withdrew.

It always seemed like she shifted into a whole different state of being when she got too aroused too fast and had no immediate outlet. It was moments like these that I would wonder if I was going to survive long enough for us to take that last step before she turned me to jelly.

It didn’t help that she was well aware that she had me wrapped around her hoof.

She also knew I enjoyed every second of it.

***

The train pulled into the station in Canterlot just past noon with the usual squeal of brakes and hiss of steam. Twilight and I chose to relax a bit longer and headed into the capital city once the departing crowd had thinned a little. Bags over my shoulder again, we took a relaxed walk towards the castle, not being in any kind of hurry by arriving early.

Twilight made a casual remark as we walked, “I hope we can stop by Donut Joe’s before we leave tomorrow.”

“Huh,” I blinked at that, “I’m still not used to things being a real experience after thinking it was all fiction. Can’t complain, but it never stops being kinda weird. Donuts do sound good though, weird feeling or not. Hey, has Princess Celestia ever eaten a Donutopia or the like by herself? You’ve mentioned some of her past indulgences for her sweet tooth,” I grinned with a look at Twilight, drawing a small giggle from her.

“I actually saw her doing just that once. I was tucked away in an out of the way room in the castle, settled in a quiet corner and she happened to come in and close the door behind her with an entire 7-layer cake. She didn’t just snack on it either, she devoured it. I still have a hard time believing she ate the whole thing, then looked so pleased with herself afterward, at least until the book I’d been reading slipped and hit the floor. She was so embarrassed when she realized I’d watched her eat the whole thing!

“After a little talk though, we ended up laughing about it before we left the room. Please don’t mention it to her though. She doesn’t want anypony to think, as she put it, ‘that a Princess would scarf down a cartful of sugar’ like she did,” Twilight said with a smile, keeping her voice down so passerby wouldn’t hear her little story.

My only response was a light chuckle as I ran my fingers through her mane.

As we walked, occasional stares would have been nice, but that was just wishful thinking for us right then. I had to shoo away a few ponies when they tried to strike up a conversation out of the blue.

Thanks to that award the Princesses gave me, which I still thought was over the top, and the way the press had spun my story, there were a number of ponies trying to meet the fearless mythical human that appeared out of nowhere to save their youngest Princess in the nick of time. Twilight just thought my exasperation was funny.

It remained annoying but tolerable until a particularly uptight pair of snooty ponies didn’t take the courteous hint. Or the direct request to leave us be. They just started babbling about some self-aggrandizing stuff and how I just had to join them at something or other. The stallion was a greenish gray with a dark gray mane, while the mare was a pale grayish olive with a pale grayish indigo mane streaked with light gray. The two of them were wearing some kind of casual fancy clothes. Part of me wanted to call them preppies.

They were so absorbed in themselves, they didn’t notice we weren’t really paying them any attention. Having joked about how we’d deal with any Canterlot residents that wouldn’t listen, I glanced at Twilight with a raised brow and didn’t bother to hide a little motion with my hand. She gave a small nod as she smirked, knowing I wouldn’t go too far to spook them a bit so we could be on our way, herself tuning them out entirely at this point.

It was hardly a week ago that Twilight and I had reached an understanding and I would start creating a public persona of a protective personal guard for her. I didn’t have to keep up as much of an easily approachable reputation that way, counterbalancing the openly friendly one she was known for. I had been told her brother, Prince Shining Armor, did the same for his wife, Princess Cadance, to a degree.

Enjoying the excuse to practice a couple spells on ‘unwilling’ live targets without preparation, I folded my arms and gave the somehow oblivious babbling snobs a steady look just short of a glare, hands enveloped in my billowing white magic aura as I caught them with levitation, their obliviousness letting me latch on in short order. Lifting them into the air as a simple silencing spell held their yammering mouths shut, simple in that it was just a very basic physical effect, I moved their faces up closer to mine.

Their eyes were wide now, and more than a bit fearful.

My own face impassive as I spoke in a calm, yet loud voice so it would carry a little, “I don’t know you two and have no desire to at this point. Your names and stations are meaningless to me. Since both a courteous hint and a direct request to leave us in peace wasn’t enough for you two, now I give you a warning. You will not bother us again, and I think you recall from the news how I may respond when Princess Twilight is being inconvenienced. When I set you back down, you will go about your business and bother us no further, understood?”

After their somewhat frantic nods, I levitated them higher and over our heads. Before I set them back down, I sent them through several backflips without warning, just to add a little more entertainment. In addition to being scared of what they had gotten themselves into, they were also a little dizzy as they stumbled to turn around as fast as they could before running away.

The scene playing out had attracted more than a few stares, but I noticed any close enough to hear my words seemed to be rather entertained, as opposed to the nervous looks of those farther away. I figured that was right on target for what I was going for, leaving Twilight and I to go back to walking.

Perhaps next time we came up to Canterlot, we should ask for a carriage to meet us at the station, just to avoid future hassles.

Managing to avoid any further incidents on route to the castle, we arrived not much later. Aside from a greeting to Twilight as we passed the various Royal Guards at their stations, we were left to ourselves as we headed for the hall before the throne room. I had to admit it was a little strange to see so many identical ponies. Even the pair of unicorns we were approaching were a uniform white to go with the gold-colored armor. Something about regulation enchantments that was escaping my memory at the moment.

Once we arrived at the doors of the throne room, Twilight went up to one of the two unicorn guards, “Excuse me, guardspony. Please let Princess Celestia and Princess Luna know Princess Twilight and Vojin Drayce have arrived.”

“Of course, Princess Twilight. Their Highnesses are presently mediating a dispute between some high-ranking citizens. Their Highnesses have been eagerly anticipating your arrival and may feel it necessary to interrupt their settling of a dispute over paint color, considering a fellow Princess has arrived,” the Guard said with a small smirk before giving Twilight a short bow, then turning to slip through the door as the other guard cracked it open.

That made me quirk a brow for a few reasons, leaning a close to Twilight before whispering, “He did not just tell us the Princesses are putting up with some uptight snobs having a snit fit over paint color, did he? And aren’t the guards supposed to be all stoic and serious? He seemed kind of informal with you.”

Twilight suppressed a giggle, giving me a small grin as she spoke in a quiet voice, “I don’t know what you mean. Only important matters are given arbitration by the Royal Sisters. And as for the informal manner, that was Flame Stride. I’ve known him almost since the first day I became Celestia’s student. I’ve pretty much ordered him to stop being quite as formal with me in most situations when it isn’t truly necessary.”

I just smirked in response.

It wasn’t long before the doors opened and said ponies exited with noticeable separation between them, noses high in the air as they went, not even noticing Twilight and I standing by the door as they passed.

Flame Stride returned and gave Twilight another short bow with a faint smile, “Princess Twilight. Mister Vojin. Their Royal Highnesses, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, are happy to receive you now. Please enter.”

Twilight favored him with a friendly smile and nodded, “Thank you, Stride.”

We entered the throne room to find Celestia and Luna watching us with smiles, their manes and tails as impressive as expected in the setting, the slow billowing of semi-ethereal masses almost aglow as they drifted on the perpetual unfelt breeze. I noted they had twin thrones, rather than one like I expected. Each stylized to their personal themes, but otherwise equal in size and grandeur.

The moment the door closed behind Twilight and I to leave the four of us alone, not even guards present inside the throne room, the two Princesses made a graceful descent down the steps and met us halfway through the large room. Twilight was quick to give her long-time mentor a warm hug, though I was surprised when Luna moved in and hugged me tight a moment later as well.

My initial surprise turned towards amusement when Luna spoke, “It is good to see you again, my friend. I trust the two of you had a pleasant ride up to Canterlot?”

Rolling with it and returning the embrace, I nodded as she released me, “That we did. It was relaxing, and we spent most of the trip watching the scenery. Thank you again for the private cabin, by the way.”

Luna smiled and waved a dismissive hoof, “It was but a simple thing. You are most welcome. We did ask that both of you visit us, after all. Not only that, but with Twilight Sparkle being a Princess, and yourself counted amongst my friends, it was something I felt was most necessary.”

“It’s still appreciated, Luna. I hope you have both been well since your last visit to Ponyville for the ceremony. I also don’t know how you deal with all the silly squabbles. Were those two you just met with really making a fuss over paint color?” Twilight asked, suppressing a small laugh at the end.

The Princesses smirked as they glanced at each other, Celestia’s voice seeming to carry a touch of amusement, “I will merely mention that there are times when my sister and I both wish certain protocol and good manners could be suspended so we might provide some, shall we say, more appropriate perspective and insight to some of our little ponies. But enough of that. You are here to learn what Luna and I have been able to discover about your link up till now. As we have a rare day of no actual appointments for a number of hours in anticipation of your visit, we have no need to remain in the throne room. Let us move to a more comfortable location and we can discuss what we have found.”

Departing the throne room, Twilight and I followed behind the Princesses through the elaborate halls of the castle. It wasn’t long before we reached a pleasant outdoor table and chairs that sat nearby the Royal Gardens, if my guess was right. A tray with an elegant tea set was waiting for us.

Once we had all taken our seats, Celestia began to serve the tea as she spoke, “I am not entirely sure where it would be best to begin, considering the volume of information we have learned. Even so, there is still a great deal we have yet to sort out regarding some aspects of your experiences with the magic flux and the link it has left you with. Many details also still remain unknown. As you have surmised and already informed us through letters after some trial and error, further efforts should see you reach a stage where you need only think about it in order to know how each other is feeling at any given time. It will be much the same with the sense of direction you have gained. There are also still several questions surrounding what appears to be a connection between your individual magics, which we hope to have clearer answers for later today, after some tests.”

Sipping at my tea, pleased by the rather robust flavor of whatever it was, I listened in interested silence. A glance at Twilight showed she was in a similar state.

Luna continued, “After we learned of your ability to properly use magic, we had a much wider scope of tomes within which to search. While what we know so far is somewhat vague, that which we have discovered has proven most remarkable. There are, as Tia mentioned, some tests we would like to perform with the two of you a bit later. It is suggested, though unconfirmed, that the two of you may have a capacity for some sort of magical amplification for each other. That is to say, you may have the capacity to direct your magic into the other and empower their magic to be much stronger than is otherwise normal. There is little documented information on this specific effect, in part due to it’s rarity and how tremendously difficult such a thing is through spells alone. The implications are such that, working together, the two of you may very well be capable of spells on a scale only Celestia or I would consider, should circumstances necessitate such a dramatic endeavor.

“It does come with a bit of a cost, however. From what we have gathered, while in the process of amplifying your partner, your own magic is subdued nearly to the point of absence, and you will not be able to stop the effect nearly as fast as you can initiate it. This would mean you are effectively without your own magic for as much as several minutes, from our current estimations. If you were to find yourselves in a dangerous situation, this would be an important aspect to keep in mind.”

Twilight and I shared a look of disbelief at what we had just heard. The idea that the two of us together could have enough potential power combined to rival the same ones responsible for raising and lowering the sun and moon was a difficult prospect to take in. The implications that started flying through my head were already threatening a headache, and I could only guess at what Twilight was thinking with her far more advanced knowledge.

That one point was a lot to absorb, but it was clear the Princesses weren’t done yet. Lacking any real response to make, we just let them continue.

Celestia spoke this time, “Another matter with your link that is perhaps more problematic… We believe that despite indications of your link slowly stabilizing, you will likely never be able to move farther away from each other than around two dozen miles or so. For reasons we do not yet know, this link is drawn and powered from within the two of you. Although it should not be life threatening by itself, so long as Vojin remains in our world, it does appear quite capable of rendering both of you unconscious if you remain apart for too long, get too far apart, or a sufficient combination of the two. One of the things we need to look at more closely is just how intrinsic this is to your life essence. You are tethered to each other in what seems to be a very permanent fashion, perhaps down to your souls.”

Luna took over, watching us taking in the things they shared, “We can provide you a better understanding after we have performed the aforementioned tests. We do not know for certain just how deeply this link has bound you. Only our suspicions formed through study.”

As they were telling us some of what they had learned, I had unknowingly caught Twilight’s hoof in my hand, now giving a small squeeze as I looked at her. Not even needing to sense our link, her eyes told me plenty about her anxiety. The magic amplification we appeared capable of was surprising, but nothing to really worry over. Instead, having experienced our link threatening to knock us both unconscious just before I caught her falling out of the sky a few weeks ago, the thought of how easily we might be rendered helpless was unsettling. The suggestion that there were still many unknowns did not help matters.

We leaned closer together and shared a hug, my arm and her wing around each other’s backs. The tension was slow to ebb, but at least it was something we would deal with together.

Once we had drawn back, still keeping a limb around each other, we looked at Celestia and Luna again as we searched for words. Twilight found her voice first, “That’s… That’s a lot to take in. I’m kind of nervous to find out more, even though I really want to know what exactly this link is and what it could do to us.”

“Definitely a lot to take in. When did you want to do those tests?” I asked.

Celestia gave us a comforting smile, “If you both feel ready, we can begin once we finish our tea. We have a laboratory with various magical apparatus that will help in discerning a much greater understanding of your present situation.”

Wearing a curious look that carried just the faintest hint of mischief, Luna inquired, “As there is no rush, let us move on to lighter subjects. Now if you don’t mind my asking, how are the both of you doing together? I trust your growing love is progressing well?”

“Hmm, it’s been going really well, Luna. At first, I had worried this link between us was the only reason we became so close, especially since it happened so fast. But now, even though it’s just been a few weeks…,” Twilight trailed off as she looked up to me with a smile that said more than just words could convey, continuing after a moment, “It’s just… I don’t even really know how to say it. We can spend hours just reading together. He keeps surprising me with how he looks at things, coming up with theories I never considered before even though he has so much more to learn. He’s been learning remarkably fast with every spell and method he’s tried so far. It’s hard to believe, but he’s already preparing himself for the first tier of teleportation spells! And I know I don’t need to tell you how protective he is of me, but he manages to do it without me feeling restrained or smothered. If I’m getting upset or tense, he often doesn’t even need our link if he’s in the room and finds a way to cheer me up or help me relax again. Several times a day, he’s making me laugh. Coming to understand Vojin so well, knowing he is understanding me just as much… I could quantify any experiment, but this… It’s, it’s more than I can really explain, if that makes sense.”

While she was talking about me, I felt my face heat up with something of a sheepish look as I ducked my head. Though I’d heard this from her before, having her telling the Princesses made me feel much more self-conscious, even as hearing it warmed me within a little more. Compliments were nice, but kind of embarrassing. Still, I gave her a little squeeze as she leaned closer, unable to stop the small smile her words gave me.

The Princesses both let out soft laughs, Celestia had a smile full of warmth as she spoke, “It is wonderful to see you happy like this, Twilight. You have certainly come such a long way since I first sent you to Ponyville. And how about yourself, Vojin? How have you been feeling in regards to finding love in our world so swiftly? And teleportation spells already? Goodness, you are learning fast.”

Still feeling embarrassed, I lifted my head as my free hand rubbed the back of my neck, “I’ve just been giving it my best effort with the things Twilight has me working on. My prior experience in magic from Earth seems to carry a number of similarities that are allowing me to pick things up really fast, even to the point that making the transition has been surprising, so that’s probably the biggest reason I’m learning so quick.

“As for finding love with Twilight though…it’s… Well, as she said it already, it’s more than I can really explain. Her mind fascinates me to no end, both in the way she sees things and how much knowledge she has. When I get struck with a moment of homesickness for the ones I left behind on Earth, somehow she just appears all of a sudden and helps me ride through it. She actually likes my jokes and fires back, even when it’s getting technical or nerdy. We’ve found we’re often on the same mental page when studying a given spell or technique. Somehow, she’s already become a safe place of sorts where I find myself letting my guard down without even trying. She doesn’t mind my being protective. Everything she’s become to me is… Well, words attempt to quantify what they are used to describe, and I honestly don’t know how I can convey how I’ve come to feel about Twilight. I suppose over-explaining is the best we can manage.”

As I finished speaking, Twilight and I looked at each other and had a moment of being lost in each other’s eyes as we shared a smile. What felt like a moment later, we looked back to find both Celestia and Luna wearing delighted, almost sly smiles.

Celestia had a twinkle in her eye as she took a calculated sip of her tea before commenting, “Will you wish to hold the wedding in Canterlot?”

That caused both Twilight and I to gain a bright blush, myself trying not to let out a nervous laugh as Twilight said all we needed to, “We…haven’t decided when we’ll be ready for that yet.”

***

Not long after finishing our tea, the four of us entered some kind of private laboratory belonging to the royal sisters. The number and strange variety of equipment and tools around the room was both a surprise in the low numbers, and how exceptionally rare they were, if I understood what I was looking at.

The collection they had also didn’t surprise me that much for what was present, considering some of the items and devices were even developed by Celestia, Luna, or the two of them together. Many were ancient to my perspective, with one or two rather recent ones made after Luna’s return.

The room itself was rather modest, with a rough guess at a twelve foot ceiling over the roundish room of plain fitted stone walls. There was too much visual distraction to be sure, but I figured it was at least fifty feet across.

Spread around, most of them against the wall, were various tables holding a myriad of things. Some looked covered in almost messy collections of papers, some stacks of books or piles of rolled parchments. One that caught my eye looked to have a tangled mass of glass spaghetti, with all the tubes and other features, and suggested a place for alchemy and chemistry.

The centerpiece of the room was a large platform in the center, the broad stone steps clear of obstructions. As I looked it over, I noticed the raised platform was covered in a webwork of intricate carvings that stood out as I recognized Equestria’s ancient runic language that I’d been learning in my magic studies. It had some indispensable, useful functions for more complex work within spell circles and arrays, so it still had it’s place even today.

What stood out most were the six crystal spires. Looking to be around eight feet tall, each looked to bear the specific colors associated with the Elements of Harmony.

Overall, the arrangement was beyond anything I had been able to study so far. I could at least grasp it was capable of a large number of uses, leaving me to suspect it was some sort of serious magical multi-tool. Whether it was just a focusing booster, or if it could do much more than that, I couldn’t really tell without more time learning from Twilight.

“Tia and I do not get to spend as much time in here as we would prefer. Should you be wondering, this is the room where we did much of the work in creating the artifact that brought you to our world, but that is a subject for later,” Luna said, glancing at me when she mentioned the artifact that had pulled me into all this.

As we approached the platform, the Princesses each stepped to one side and stood upon what looked like intricate carved circles on the floor, giving me the impression of designated control points.

Celestia gestured for us to step onto the platform, a note of curiosity in her voice, “If you would both please stand in the middle of the the crystal spires, Luna and I will see what we can learn. In this instance Vojin, you can think of this magical apparatus as a sort of improved scanning spell with a physical amplifier to boost our efforts in specific ways. I believe you will feel a sense of pressure, perhaps a tingling sensation at most. Please refrain from moving much as some functions lose focus against a subject in motion.”

Twilight and I shared a look as we moved to the center of the spires as requested. Once we were side by side on the middle of the platform, we watched as they grew focused, their horns beginning to glow with their magic.

Trying not to move, I watched as the spires in my field of view start to glow as well, and soon felt magic bathing the air around me as a tingling sensation began across my skin. The sensation got to a point it was similar to a limb falling asleep, almost like a vibration even, and assumed Twilight felt much the same.

To my surprise and silent amusement as a lopsided smirk appeared on my face, rainbows sprouted along the tops of the crystal spires and seemed to connect them in a ring. The glow had intensified and become rather brilliant, but not uncomfortable to the eye. A glance down revealed a dance of light flowing around some of the carved rune forms on the surface of the platform.

After perhaps a minute or so of all this, I felt my feet begin to lift from the ground. Trusting the Princesses knew what they were doing, I pushed down the growing nervous feeling and held still, unable to really tell what was being cast, until an unexpected surge of anxiety came from Twilight and I turned my head to look at her. When our eyes met, the tension seemed to grow muted, causing us to share a small smile and ignore the odd sensations playing over our floating bodies.

Another surprise came when softly glowing masses appeared at each of our chests and pulled away from us. Each was the color of our individual magic auras, seeming to dance around the other just above and between us, almost like the two masses were playing together. I had a sense of balance from the display, then it dawned on me we were watching a reflection of our souls dancing before us.

My eyes widened at the realization, and felt Twilight’s own surprise as she realized it as well. It made me wonder just what Celestia and Luna had to cast just to study the link between Twilight and I.

I knew by now that any spells that touched the soul were never used lightly, as even a botched reading of one could cause a disruption of varying consequences. The potential risks were higher than any other branch of magic as a result, and all such spells were at the same level of, or higher than things like age spells. Most unicorn mages never even touched the branch, for the ones that could even reach that level.

It left me wondering just what they saw in Twilight and I.

Once the masses of magic that reflected our souls had merged back into us, we settled back onto the platform again. The flow of magic around us faded seconds later and upon looking to Celestia and Luna, I noticed they wore expressions of wonderment as Celestia motioned with a wing for us to step down from the platform. The whole process had taken over ten minutes.

It was Luna that spoke first as she looked back and forth between Twilight and I, sounding both surprised and fascinated, “I find myself scarcely able to believe what we have witnessed. By the stars! Your link joins the two of you even down to your very souls! Not only shall your connection in fact permit knowing each other’s state, but all indications are such that you can truly share each other’s very magic! Despite our earlier findings making such a suggestion, it is so unprecedented that I did not anticipate it actually being true in full!”

Her own expression one of undisguised interest, Celestia added, “In all the many long years we have watched over and ruled Equestria, this is something we have never witnessed before. The very idea that you could gift each other your own magic to empower each other is something I would have never believed until now. Twilight, Vojin…there are just so few words to convey the potential importance of this. While a being’s magic can potentially be stolen via certain darker spells, there has never been a spell or balance between beings of sufficient strength to even consider sharing one’s magic with another without surrendering it yourself. A capacity for merging of magic in such fashion has only ever been considered by the most imaginative magical theories. The scale of spells it could permit you two are substantial.”

Lacking words in the moment, Twilight rose up on her hind legs and we shared a tight hug, both of us feeling a tense excitement over what it could all mean. From what I had already learned of unicorn magic, I understood such a capability would permit us to boost each other in a way not so unlike a controlled form of throwing fuel on a fire. Well, maybe touching a candle to a lake of fuel was more accurate.

“So...you’re telling us we may have the capacity to combine our magic and do something as dramatic as, say, levitate an entire lake and everything in it straight into the air?” I queried, trying to get a grasp on what it all meant, at least in terms of raw power.

“While it does sound rather stunning, you are not too far off the mark in your statement. Twilight has more than enough knowledge to explain it more fully to you later. You have so far demonstrated yourself as a respectful, good-hearted being since your arrival, Vojin. I hope yourself and Twilight will remember to approach this gift with tremendous care,” Celestia said as I had a brief sense something was off in her expression somehow, though it was just for a moment.

Glancing down for a second before looking at her again, I met Celestia’s gaze and spoke in a more solemn tone, “Well as I have said before, I have a fondness for Equestria. As I try to make a home here, if I can ever be of service, you need only ask and I will do what I can to help, Princess Celestia.”

Celestia gave me a small smile in return, “You have a good heart, Vojin, and the offer is quite appreciated. Though you must forgive me for hoping that I never need take you up on it.”

Luna added a few more points, “Lest we forget, we also want you both to refrain from attempting the sharing of your magic until you next return to Canterlot after a month or two from now. While it is unlikely to cause issue, we wish to avoid any potential risks until your link has stabilized further, and we are certain there will be no trace of the flux remaining. At that time, we will also test your magical strength and other aspects. Apart from that, attempting to explain the full amount of what we have learned from the spells we cast could take hours, and would largely be a matter of pouring through small details. Except for a few more interesting points, such would just elaborate on what we have already said. We will make a copy of the results for yourself and Twilight to review at your leisure. If neither of you have further immediate questions, we can make our way to a private study and converse for a time, before Celestia and I need to attend our royal schedule once more.”

Turning back to Twilight, she was still resting against me on her hind legs, I was going to ask if there was anything else when I noticed a shift in her, like something came to mind. Her expression grew troubled, prompting me to furrow my brow as a hand stroked her mane. In her eyes I saw worry, fear, even regret.

My concern only grew as her emotions kept rising across our link, starting to notice her feelings of apology and...duty?

Arching a brow as all of it happened in a moment, she then placed a hoof over my heart as she spoke in a tense voice, her eyes growing determined, “Vojin, I...I need you to show them your mark.”

Celestia and Luna were standing together, looking on in mild confusion when Twilight spoke about my tattoo. Remembering how Twilight had reacted upon seeing it, I frowned even as I gave her a short nod and she moved back to her hooves so I could unbutton my shirt.

“What mark does she speak of? Is something amiss with your body you have not mentioned?” Luna asked as she watched my fingers work at their task.

Twilight hadn’t really been able to tell me much, and I turned my eyes to Luna at her words, “While we were on the ambulance ride to the hospital after I caught Twilight when she fell, she saw the tattoo on my chest and got rather worked up about it. She said something about a scroll she found a while ago but wasn’t supposed to see. It’s still a working hypothesis, but when thinking about how events were timed on both worlds, I think I got the design in my head around the same time you and your sister were restarting your work on the artifact that brought me here.”

“A tattoo? I don’t see how such from your world would…,” Luna’s words died on her tongue the moment I moved my shirt aside. Both Princesses’ eyes widened by a fraction as their expressions transitioned into great worry, even some fear as they glanced at each other before looking again. Seeing such a reaction made me worry myself, wondering how the design was of such apparent importance here.

“Princess Celestia, Twilight said she couldn’t discuss it by your order unless she found the one with this design on them and that you could explain further. Why is a tattoo I got on a whim so startling here? What does it signify? And why did Twilight tell me she would have to save me from something, and that I’m somehow supposed to be this ‘Guardian of the Bearers’ thing?” I said in a wary tone. Twilight’s reaction was one thing, but seeing Celestia’s reaction when she was supposed to know the full story left me more than a little tense as I began to worry I might not want to know.

And then there was also the look Celestia was giving me now.

It was one I hadn’t seen on her before, and very much not like anything she had yet directed at me until this moment. Her eyes bored into me as though I were a dangerous foe, an imminent threat, as she studied me with intensity and almost seemed to be daring me to try something. A glance at Luna found her staring at me in a way not far off from her sister, though she had an almost torn expression at the same time.

After what may well have been the longest seconds of my life, Celestia closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh as she hung her head with a flutter of her wings like she were shaking herself off. Luna just looked off to one side with her face falling into a conflicted look.

Celestia sounded strained, even a little resigned as she opened her eyes to look at me again, “It seems we will need to remain in this room for a bit longer. Yes, we know the mark you bear. We also know it was to be borne by a being that would be a very serious potential threat to Equestria. I am glad we had a chance to spend some time with you and see how you act around our ponies before learning of this.”

I blinked at that, “Should I sit down, your Highness?”

“I believe that may be best, though we keep no chairs or stools in this room, with only the steps of our magical apparatus as all I can offer. Please make yourself comfortable and let me know when you are ready. I have a number of things to share and some shall be unpleasant,” Celestia said, raising her head again as she watched me with a firm expression that held a touch of sadness.

Taking a seat on one of the wide steps, I was worried about what my tattoo might mean here, if they were making such a big deal about it. And it would be on someone that would threaten Equestria? I really didn’t understand how a simple tattoo could have such importance.

Twilight settled at my side, leaning against me in support as I nodded to Celestia, “I suppose I’m as ready as I’ll ever be, Princess Celestia.”

Celestia only nodded, Luna remaining silent as her sister began to explain, “This matter goes back almost 1200 years. We saw that Equestria was on a strong path to ever greater peacefulness as we guided our subjects along, with the recovery after the end of the Reign of Discord largely long finished. The few potential threats left at the time were following a similar path, or at least heading in directions where they would be of no real concern to us, with many of them forging lasting treaties as we nurtured trust across borders. It was during this time that Luna and I found ourselves less concerned with what was visible, so we turned our attention to ways we might preempt dangers we could not yet perceive.

“To this end, we were able to create a new approach to divination spells, using our unique talents and power to perceive some of how the vast array of possibilities of life would play out. We had hoped such efforts would affirm the direction Equestria was taking, or at least provide us enough warning that we might be able to avert approaching threats before they could reach our gates. In this endeavor we were moderately successful, learning of several things we could work to diffuse or otherwise deal with before things could escalate and become severe. However, simple to deal with threats were not all we discovered.

“This process also revealed to us a time of unparalleled danger, and a war unlike anything we have ever faced approaching our world. What exactly is behind the threat we saw would come appears shrouded, as though it has been hidden from our sight by another. Some aspects also appear as yet undecided and vague, as to be expected in attempting to view future events. Some things need to take place before other things may come to pass. When this course of events was to begin was also waiting on certain signs. Your mark is one of the major ones we have been waiting for.”

Celestia paused to take a breath and continuing, “Your mark was to indicate a being that was rife with potential, and either be a catalyst to saving us all, or ultimately be the threat that destroys us following an act of the deepest agony and sorrow. I expect you even have a number of meanings for each part of your mark, such as the shining heart within which it is all held is for reminding and guiding you in times of darkness so you do not lose your way, yes?”

My eyes widened a little as I gave her a slow nod.

Celestia gave a nod in reply before speaking still further, “The sword for when you shall fight. The shield for your desire to protect. The dove is a wish for safe haven and peace. The dragon speaks to the strength you know you bring to bear for friend and foe alike when necessary. The whole of your mark is almost identical to what we saw in our divination. In addition, thanks to Twilight’s letters, I am aware you already fulfilled the confirmation by promising to protect the Bearers of the Elements at the hospital after catching Twilight.

“Vojin, I know you mean well and that the very idea of bringing harm to Equestria could not be further from your thoughts. It is tied to the shining heart of your mark. Something we have been unable to see will take place that possibly leads to you losing your light and becoming that threat. Whatever this event is, it will be the Element of Magic, and by extension, Twilight, that must save you from it. If she does not, you will be that force that would destroy us. As much as Luna and I have tried, we could not discern what this event would be.

“Before that even has a chance to take place, the war we have foreseen will begin. An unknown enemy is driving it forward that will fall before you if you become lost to us. Yet at the same time, this unknown enemy has the potential to overwhelm us without your aid, leading to something we cannot discern. This all leaves us with a difficult choice. If Luna and I feel you pose too great a risk, we may very well have already lost the coming war and Equestria. If we choose to keep you with us, we risk the chance of your possible fall leading to certain destruction we would not be able to stop and bring about the end of all life on Equus.

“This is not a simple choice for us to make, and not simply for what I have already told you. We knew we would need to make this choice, but recent events have made this even more complicated than it already was. Your link with Twilight will not break. After some time to evaluate matters, should we feel the risk is too high to keep you with us…,” Celestia grimaced, pausing before she could continue, “Your lives are bound together. Choosing to end your life would cost my most precious former student her life as well. Had you seen what we have in our visions, you would understand why we are struggling with which course we should take.”

The sheer scale of the choice that Celestia just laid out was difficult for me to grasp. How could I be so pivotal in a coming war? And beyond that…how could I be the cause behind all life on this world ending? I had a rising sense that my arrival was no accident, but I couldn’t understand what I was just told, nor how it could be connected to my tattoo. And how do you balance between keeping a friend and ally to survive a war, yet risk the world ending or sacrifice that friend to protect the world, yet face losing all you know to that war and an unknown future?

Turning to Twilight, I saw she was struggling with deep worry and what she should do, just falling into me without resistance when I pulled her into my arms and latched on like her life depended on it. Considering the circumstances, I supposed it kind of did in a rather literal sense. I felt her starting to tremble and held her that much closer.

Luna moved forward a step, sadness in her voice, “My friend, I am afraid Celestia and I agreed long ago not to wait when this choice arrived. We must decide before leaving this room. While the exact time the war will come is unknown, we also do not know what the reason is that could lead to your falling into darkness and become something beyond us to stop. My sister is right, I am glad we had time to know you some before discovering you bear that mark. It is no easier to decide but it does help us understand the whole of this better. Were we not facing such grave circumstances by keeping you with us, we would never even consider this choice at all.”

All I could do was nod in reply as my mind wandered through random moments of my life, both since my arrival and growing up on Earth, in a childish hope I could suddenly have all the answers. What did come to mind however, was a memory from when I was ten. All but forgotten until now, it became as clear as a cloudless blue sky in my mind.

My father had told me once, should I ever be staring death in the face, I should stand tall and face it on my terms. If you find yourself with no more options, you still retain the choice of how you choose to face your end. You still control the choice to stand bravely.

Reflecting on that thought let me strike a spark. Like an ember against tinder, each breath brought a little more strength to the flame. It continued to grow as I held Twilight, letting her presence help steel my resolve as well, the way I wanted to face this becoming clear in my mind.

Giving Twilight a kiss on her temple, my voice was soft and a little resigned, but steady, “Purple Angel, I need to stand up and ask them something.”

She gave me a squeeze, hesitating before she nodded and released me so we could both get up.

I looked at the Princesses for another pause, steeling myself a little more even as the tension grew inside, “I…I have not had any reason to doubt the care and wisdom with which you guide your subjects. I have no cause to doubt your ability in divination granting you the ability to see the things you have about future events. Considering the magnitude of the risks you have shared, I must admit I cannot see an honest reason for me to resent such a choice if you chose not to keep me around, despite my obvious feelings on the matter. My one life has little weight against an entire world. You have to do what is best for Equestria and Equus.

“I would like to know if you have a spell that would let you see all I am, both my better qualities and past mistakes. If there’s no other option but for you to make this choice, then I shouldn’t hold anything back and give you as much understanding about me as possible so you can approach this choice with everything you can possibly learn that would be relevant to this. If you really feel the risk is too high and I have to go, then perhaps it will help ease your minds afterward. And if you choose keep me around, you will know how much you can trust me in the days ahead.”

Celestia looked hesitant, but nodded after a moment, her tone calm but subdued, “We do have such a spell, though I have not needed to cast it in over a century. It was designed for looking into the lives of those that committed grave crimes, so I might determine whether or not they were deserving of life or not after whatever they had done. In most cases of recent times, those I might have cast it upon have little to suggest there was a chance for anything being left to save within them.

“The Judgement spell is capable of showing us everything of note about who you are and the things you have done. Your most defining characteristics and experiences. Everything of consequence that you have been, both good and bad. The spell is also designed to end the recipient if Luna or myself find you undeserving of life and forcibly removes your spirit upon completion. After we bear witness to all there is to see, the choice is made by our heart of hearts where one cannot lie to themselves. We will not need to debate.”

Luna watched me with sadness in her eyes, “Another situation, I would question your sanity for making such a request, but perhaps this is truly the best way. Once we have seen what lay within you, you are either released from the spell or from the realm of life. You would feel nothing and simply move on.”

By this point, Twilight was leaning against me, her wing around my waist as she pressed her head against my stomach, she trembled and sniffled while standing with me in silence. What I felt across our link was a mess of fear and anguish.

After a pause with my hands holding the side of her head and neck, I swallowed a lump in my throat as a thought I could not suppress came to mind, feeling it was for the best. I hoped she would understand my desire for her not having to suffer through this, regardless of the outcome.

I needed another moment before I was able to find my voice as I turned my eyes away from Twilight again, “Princess Celestia, I’d like you to place a sleep spell on my Purple Angel. We have to do this either way. There’s no reason for her to suffer through it.”

Celestia gave me a faint nod before looking at Twilight.

Twilight shifted and gave a quick nod to Celestia before meeting my eyes as tears started to roll down her cheeks. I knelt down before her and our noses touched as we gazed into each other’s eyes. I had the sense that if this was it, she knew what she wanted her last sight to be. I drank in her features and all I could see in her eyes in turn, feeling the same. Her eyelids drifted down as Celestia’s magic settled over her, and I held Twilight close for a couple more moments after she went limp.

Lifting her into my arms, I carried her sleeping form a short distance and laid her gently on the floor, kissing her cheek and touching my head to hers for a moment longer before I stood back up. The longer I was near her, the harder it was getting to move away as I stared at her now peaceful sleeping face, the wet trails still visible on her cheeks. I had to force myself to turn away and leave her side.

Moving to stand before the Princesses, I prepared myself to face what I had to, needing to clear my throat a little before I could speak, “There’s no reason to wait, I suppose. Do I just…stand here then?”

Celestia closed her eyes for a moment with a quiet sigh, then opened them again as she looked at me, “While I could cast the spell separately if necessary, it is from a time when that particular area of magic was far less refined than it is today. If you would please stand in the center of the platform of our apparatus again, it will make it simpler for Luna and I.”

“I understand. May I beg your indulgence for a couple requests, assuming you can allow me to remain?” I asked.

The two of them glanced at each other before Luna spoke, “Speak them.”

Nodding, rubbing my forearms a little out of nerves as I spoke, “Just some silly requests is all. If I can remain, could I have your permission to simply call you both by name without the honorifics and just call you my friends?” I gave a light cough, “And, uh…as silly as it sounds, share a hug with both of you after this?”

After a moment of surprise, despite the tension, both of them wore small smiles and nodded.

“My friend, I am happy to grant you such a simple request,” Luna said before she moved towards her place beside the stone platform.

“Vojin, you are welcome to call me by name without titles as well,” Celestia said as she inclined her head to me, “It will be best if we begin now.”

I ascended the steps and turned around once I was in the center, hands at my sides as I stood straight and tall, seeing their horns light to start casting the spell that would determine my fate.

As my feet lifted away from the platform and I began to float in place, a faint sensation of resonance starting to build, I let my eyes fall closed and resigned myself to let come what may. If I was meant to be here and be some sort of hero, it’d be a big emotional mess in the end and leave Celestia and Luna with a much better understanding of me. Twilight and I could take the scare and cherish each other that much more.

And if not, well…at least it’d be over without any ability to notice.

I occupied myself with thinking about how much I’d come to feel about Twilight in only a few short weeks. Even if our link helped us get started at first, fast as it was, it was how well we worked together that gave it strength. She kept me more on track, while I kept her from obsessing so much, giving each other a balance we were coming to rely on.

My mind then drifted to the daughter I’d left behind on Earth. I thought about her often since I woke up in Equestria. While I had no way to even send her a message, I hoped she wouldn’t forget about me, despite how young she is. My little lady was showing signs of a talent for singing, her voice sounding like she was years older than she was and was supposed to starting formal lessons once she was in first grade.

Guess I can let go of getting to teach her how to drive or terrifying prospective boyfriends with a sword in her later years. Between her mother and the will I left behind, everything was in place for her to have college paid for and a nest egg to start her adult life when the time came. Before that and after it, I knew my best friend would keep his promise to look after her in my stead.

Twilight came back to my mind then, remembering it was just earlier today she had told me she felt like she was ready for the last physical step between us. Taking our time as we had still felt like the right choice. The love we’d grown before including that form of intimacy already felt like it was able to last a lifetime… Well, however long that was going to be at this point.

Though we hadn’t looked into it or spoken on it much, I found myself wondering if having offspring was somehow an option for us. While I doubted we were compatible, being different species from whole different worlds, perhaps there was a spell for such things? There were so many questions about the life I had found with Twilight, some of them almost painful to consider in this moment of uncertainty. I felt glad she was sleeping through this. I could sense a bit of her peaceful, dreamless slumber through our link and the feel of it helped me retain my resolve to face things with dignity.

Maybe we’d be fortunate enough to meet again in the next world. I wondered if it would be whatever we hoped to see, or would it follow one of the various traditions I knew of. Heaven? The unifying Oneness of Bhuddism? Perhaps even the Elysian Fields of ancient Greece? I found myself really hoping it didn’t turn out to be Valhalla. Just the thought of being drunk for eternity was unpleasant.

Wait, isn’t this taking a little too long…?

Just a moment after that thought, I heard someone clearing their throat.

I cracked one eye open, my bowed head showing me my feet as I found I had settled onto the platform and was standing on my own without realizing it. Opening my eyes and raising my head, I saw the Princesses standing at the edge of the stone steps, watching me with patient, if faintly troubled looks and smiles.

All I could do was blink at them for a second, feeling the first bits of relief starting to trickle through me, though I remained hesitant in case I was just in some weird limbo between worlds somehow, needing to accept crossing over or something.

A rather odd, probably even somewhat manic closed-mouth smile spread over my face as I looked at the two of them, “So...this mean I’m…staying?”

Celestia spoke in a tone both relieved and troubled as her smile widened a little further, “Yes it does, Vojin. We were able to witness everything in your memory that defines who you are today in these past two hours. From how hard you have tried to practice kindness most of your life and into that dark period you endured in your late teens when your parents disappeared and your grandfather passed. Those things that truly define you carry a weight that Luna and myself cannot deny the value of. It is a manner different than we typically have undertaken for such things, but we now know we may trust you to an extent I admit is surprising, when the time comes where we will have need of you. Now come. You have hugs to claim.”

As I practically bounced on my feet towards them as the crazy mix of emotions steeped in relief, I saw Celestia and Luna smiling with more warmth. Luna caught me first and held me in a firm embrace to one side, with Celestia pressing in from the other. I wound up with an arm around each of their necks and held tight, trying to squeeze my own tension out in a way as I relished the moment.

“Celestia, Luna…I will do everything I can to help you avoid the future you’ve seen. I don’t have a clue what could happen to make me a threat, but if you ever get a clue towards it, by all means summon me immediately so we can go from there. The same goes if you can ever make use of my ability as a fighter or even a magic user, despite how little I know just yet. If I can help Equestria, you have only to ask and I will come. All other things aside, if I really am here for life and have to make a home in your world, I will protect this place with everything I’ve got,” I spoke quietly, pausing a few moments more before pulling back from the embrace.

Luna was still smiling, the troubles under the surface fading, “My friend, thank you for the offer. Although I fear we shall likely need to call upon you in due time, please focus on your time with Twilight Sparkle until then. Regardless of what is to come, there is time yet before it arrives.”

In a soft tone, Celestia added, “I also want to point out that knowing the deepest sides of you as we do, our artifact did indeed fulfill it’s purpose. To be quite honest, I had been expecting a fully-grown adult red dragon, based upon what we had seen in our divination. We will have to reevaluate what parts are literal and which is metaphor and allusion. You are the one we sought to summon, just not what, when, or from where we had expected.

“…I am also truly sorry you had to endure the loss of your parents like you did after that accident when you were seventeen. That period was quite hard on you, but remember you made it through that time. I hope you will listen when I tell you to try and let it go. You don’t need to hold onto it like you have for so many years.”

The unexpected mention of the loss of my parents and what happened made me hesitate. It was a time of so many strange questions I’d never found answers to, and the turmoil had led me into some bad choices. The buried feelings from that whole ordeal came back to me as I closed my eyes and swallowed against the rising sense of anguish that was always waiting for me, the fears about it all that I could never shake.

Celestia and Luna moved close again and pulled me into another embrace. At first I tried to fight it, but somehow I felt safer in their embrace in a way I couldn’t explain and coupled with the already frayed emotional state I was in, the urge to fight it back down was weak enough part of me finally gave in. Pulling them in tighter, I found myself weeping as I let the mess of it all wash over, knowing the two of them understood. It was like a poison inside I was starting to squeeze out as I let them help carry me through something I had always been afraid to face alone. I didn’t quite know how they made it easier to let go like they did, just that their presence somehow gave me something familiar that had felt missing for a long time.

It took me a minute, but I felt relieved and a bit steadier when I was done, voice a bit thick as I pulled back again, “Thank you for that, both of you. Maybe I should sit down and tell Twilight the story soon… How long will the sleep spell on her last...Celestia?”

“As I did not wish for her to waken by chance during our studying you, it will lift a few minutes after I allow it to. I will release it now,” Celestia replied, but paused when I held up a hand.

“If you don’t mind, I think I’d like to bring her to the room we were going to use tonight. Perhaps it’s a bit cliche, but I’d like her to wake up in my arms as we lay in bed together after this. And… It’s really been two hours since starting the Judgement spell?” I said, the mention of how much time had passed catching up in my brain.

With a faint smirk, Celestia nodded, “I can wait until you get her in bed if you like. Yes, it has been about two hours. The spell is a delicate process, but the conscious awareness of the recipient is shifted so they will know nothing of what happened either way. You were standing on the platform for a decent length of time before I tried to get your attention and you finally opened your eyes to see we had finished.”

“Seeking to have her waken in your embrace with joyous news after such a troubling moment, hmm? You are a romantic at heart, it seems,” Luna said with a sly little grin.

Giving a somewhat dry chuckle, I started moving towards Twilight, drinking in the lines and curves of her sleeping form, “I suppose I am, Luna.”

Kneeling down beside her, I carefully added a bit of levitation to keep her wings in place as I lifted Twilight off the ground and cradled her in my arms, her head nestled against my left shoulder. At first, all I could do was hold her close to me, swallowing against the lump in my throat as I took a few shaky breaths as relief crashed over me again. Just the feel of her slow breathing as she slept quietly in my arms was almost enough to drive me back down to my knees. I pressed my lips to her temple and held close for a long moment before lifting my head again with a slight sniffle

I turned back to Celestia and Luna, following them as we departed their laboratory with new questions and some new perspective.

The walk to the suite mostly went unnoticed by me. Both Celestia and Luna remained quiet, just guiding me through the halls in comfortable silence and seemed to know I wasn’t feeling very conversational.

While the walk and carrying Twilight was not difficult for me, by the time we reached the last hallway I was feeling drained. A heavy emotional drain that left me feeling exhausted and lethargic after everything that had just taken place. Facing such uncertainty over the potential of my life being brought to an end to prevent some dark future coming to this land was not exactly invigorating, now that the rush of relief had passed. The fact it put Twilight’s life on the line as well was weighing on me just as much. I had so many questions circling my head about what was happening in this world I was coming to see as my home a little more with each passing day.

After I’d set Twilight down on the bed and made sure she was settled comfortably for the moment, I turned back to the Princesses, “Thank you for giving me your acceptance as you have. I figure both of you know just what that means coming from me as well.”

Celestia gave a graceful nod, “I understand. Luna and I shall always be available to you, if you have need of an ear to listen for any reason. For now, I believe it will be best for yourself and Twilight to have some time for reflection and rest. I know it has been a trying experience and the two of you will have mutual comfort to seek in short order. I will release the sleep spell now.”

“My friend, as my sister has just said, you are free to come to us if you have need of an ear to listen or you seek counsel in something. Even if just to share in each other’s company, one or both of us shall make time for you whenever possible,” Luna said before pulling me into a firm embrace, with Celestia moving close and draping her neck over my shoulder as well.

Returning the hug in kind, I squeezed them both best I could, “Celestia, Luna… Thank you.”

They headed for the door when we all let go, Luna looking over her shoulder, “May your rest be deep tonight, my friend. We shall see you both in the morning.”

Pausing after the door closed to let out a slow breath, I turned to look at Twilight as she lay sleeping on the bed for a moment before approaching, slipping out of my shirt before sitting on the edge of the bed to get rid of shoes and socks the normal way. I sat there for a long moment, just watching her as her body rose and fell with each breath before joining her under the covers, kissing her nose and pulling her into my arms to wait as I watched her face.

Another minute passed and she began to stir, nuzzling a little closer into my embrace as if she was first waking up in the morning. A moment more passed before she went rigid, a nervous tremble passing through her body as her eyes opened to find mine staring back at her.

Her hoof moved in slow motion to cup my cheek as her eyes misted, her voice faint, “Vojin…? A-are you…”

My chest felt tight as a warm smile spread across my face, emotion making it difficult to talk, “Yeah, we’re both still here, Purple Angel…”

Twilight could only stare at me in wonder for several long seconds before moving close and latching onto me as tight as she could, her body trembling with increasing intensity until she began to hitch in quiet sobs, her face buried against my neck and shoulder. With a sniffle, I was soon weeping alongside her, both of us thankful we could still hold each other close.

All that mattered to us in that moment of intense relief was letting it flow through us and venting all the built up stress and fear because of me somehow having a mark tied to Equestria’s future. We were a bit of a mess by the time we calmed, clinging to each other as we recovered. We just stayed like that for several minutes, sharing gentle caresses and quite rubs as we kept needing to feel each other’s physical presence again.

When we pulled back to look at each other we both felt a bit embarrassed, knowing it was like looking in a mirror and feeling tears and snot on our own faces. I noticed some tissues on the nightstand behind Twilight and levitated it over to us. A round of curiously comforting nose-blowing and wiping away each other’s tears and other things followed. Every touch was done with loving tenderness.

“They felt you should stay… Oh stars… Even if my life wasn’t tied to yours, I don’t want to be without you now, Vojin. I can’t imagine life without you anymore. Just a month of knowing you and everything I hoped for with my future has changed,” Twilight said, hiding her face against me again, minding her horn as she snuggled up under my chin.

Slow strokes of my hand went along her mane as I all but whispered, “I know, Purple Angel. I couldn’t give you up anymore either. I love you too much for that.”

We took comfort in the closeness for a while, holding onto the shared moment as I kept stroking her mane and listened to the sound of her breathing. Every exhale felt like a caress across my skin as one of her wings was wrapped around me to hold me that much closer to her. Just being together as we let any remaining tension fade away.

After a time, Twilight wiggled herself a little closer, nuzzling at my throat for a moment before pulling back to look into my eyes, her own shining and asking. Both of us felt a need within, meeting in a kiss as our eyes fell closed a moment later.

Like water to a dry throat, we drank each other in, feeling like it wasn’t enough and pressing still closer for more. Every bit of passion she gave me, I matched and gave back as the kiss continued. My arm around her back pulling her closer, a wing holding me tight, our tongues dancing together and unable to decide which mouth to stay in.

Panting after a few minutes, Twilight drew back. She eyed me with a smouldering look, no question in her eyes as she had to return for another quick kiss, never quite separating our lips as she managed to get out words she had been so unsure of before, yet now sounded so certain it made me shiver, “Vojin, please. Tonight. Right now,” another lingering kiss, “I need you tonight. All of you…”

My only response was crushing my lips to hers as a hand found it’s way to her wing joints, now moving with singular purpose and no restraint. Such simple words to say, yet they carried so much meaning for us as we prepared for a transition to something new together. Even as I began to massage the muscles of her wings, I held to a deliberate pace to stoke her fire, drawing out little sounds from her as things grew more heated.

The two of us were past words, her body rolling against me as she seemed driven by passion. It barely registered when she used her magic to dispense of my remaining clothing and shuddering at the open contact, need meeting need. All thoughts of stopping nonexistent as our link seemed to come alive, somehow able to feel some of each other’s excitement and craving mingling with our own, whispers of sensations being shared tickling the edges of our perception. Moans, gasps, the sounds of passion were all we would have heard if we had been able to notice more than pure sensation.

Everything I had, she welcomed. Everything I needed, she provided. An act done in love that stood apart from anything I had known before. It all seemed to resonate through us, somehow feeling both perfectly timed and overdue. Time had no meaning as we were lost in each other’s presence and intimate touch, seeking, reaching. Minds washed away by the rush as we felt the world slip away with every breath of the one that became our whole focus, giving all we had to our other’s need.

Thought was slow to return as we began to catch our breath, her body giving an occasional squeezing pulse around me in a faint whispered request for more, even as we worked on recovering.

It was several minutes before Twilight found her voice, now sounding lethargic and pleasantly sated in the afterglow, “That… Oh wow, why was I so nervous about that for so long…? Anatomy books tell how things function and romance novels try to explain the feeling, but there just…aren’t any words that could convey just how you feel in me, how all that felt… By Celestia, I love you so much!”

Twilight buried her face against my neck as I gave a soft laugh, just staying close, “I love you too, Purple Angel. Never felt so…so… Hmm…yeah, words just seem to be lacking right now. You wouldn’t mind staying right where you are for eternity, would you?”

Nuzzling against my neck a little before nipping at the skin, she gave a contented sigh, “I don’t think I would mind in the slightest. Though if we are somehow unfairly forced to separate, I will not be letting you get away from me for long. I thought I was secretly possessive of you before, but now I don’t even want you out of my reach, let alone out of my sight… Maybe not even out of me…”

The last part came out as a sensual purr as she writhed against me with every intention of teasing out the shiver she caused, leaving me to give a low growl in response. It was like everything that had gone on earlier in the day was forgotten for now.

I hummed as I felt the tip of her tongue starting to trace against my neck, knowing she felt the stirring of my arousal still inside her begin to respond from the half-awake state it had been in, fingers finding their way to sensitive spots in her wings again, “Mmm…we aren’t going to be waking up early, are we Purple Angel?”

She let out a throaty laugh and rolled her hips with a growl, giving me a look that seared away any inkling of rest for the foreseeable future, both of us knowing sleep wasn’t happening any time soon tonight, “I’m glad that was a rhetorical question or I might have had to punish you with no sleep at all. It was more than worth the wait, but I’m never waiting again…”

Bk 1 Ch 9: A Good Match (edit 12/6/2014)

I grumbled a bit, the knocking just wouldn’t stop and I doubted I would be allowed to fall back to sleep until answering whomever was at the blasted door. Twilight gave her own grumble, nudging me to finally just deal with the interruption.

Slowly dragging myself off the bed, nearly falling off before my brain caught up to itself about what angle I was moving, and draping one of the blankets over myself as I shambled over to the door. Whatever they wanted, I’d just tell them to stop the knocking and come back later. It was too early in the morning. Twilight and I still needed sleep. Finally leaning against the wall by the handle, I slowly pulled the door open only as wide as my face and groggily looked to see who was being so bothersome so early.

“Nrrf...Luna? Why’re you here so early? S’mthin’ wrong…?” I half mumbled with a yawn.

Luna eyed me oddly as her brow arched, “Early? Vojin, it is almost noon. Are you and Twilight alright? We have been getting a little concerned that neither of you has left your room yet.”

“Hhhaahha...noon? That’s fff….,” I paused, eyes widening slightly as I finally registered what she just said, a bit more awake from the surprise as I noticed the bright sunlight outside across the hall, “It’s already noon? How did that happen?”

Luna rolled her eyes and gave me a bemused grin, “How did you not notice? And how in Equestria did your mane become such a mess? I have not seen a mane so disheveled since I saw a young unicorn miscast a lightning spell and fell twitching from the metal table upon which she stood. Again, are the two of you alright?”

Blinking a bit as my mind kept moving closer to actually waking up, “My hair? Why would it….oh... Heh, uh….”

After taking in my rising blush in confusion for several seconds, Luna’s eyes widened and some color filled her cheeks as she smiled with a bit of embarrassment, “Oh my...I believe I understand what has kept the two of you for so long. Well, Celestia and I had originally hoped to see the two of you at breakfast, though I suppose lunch will work just as well. When the two of you are…ah, finished in there, do come find us. And I apologize for any interruptions.”

Before I could even come up with a reply, Luna had turned and headed off. Closing the door, I stared at the floor for a bit before starting to chuckle softly and walked back over to the bed, slipping back in beside my delicious distraction of a mare. Twilight latched onto me as soon as I laid back down, her eyes were closed as she nuzzled under my chin, her voice sleepy, “So who was it and what did they want this early? And what is so funny, Vojin?”

“Purple Angel, I am afraid that was Luna coming by with an invite to join the two of them and to check on us...just before lunch.” I couldn’t stop the quiet laughter, as much the state we were in as it was the look on Luna’s face when she realized just what had kept us in bed so long.

Twilight moved back, looking at me incredulously, “Seriously? It’s almost lunch already? And here I was hoping to refresh my memory of last night with some reenactment…”

Her voice grew more sensual as she moved into take a slow lick across my neck as she pressed up against me like she had done so many times last night, eliciting a small shiver once again and threatening to make me forget anyone just came to the door or what time it actually was. Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate I couldn’t really say, but I was awake enough to know we actually did need to get up now.

I nudged Twilight back gently, giving the end of her nose a kiss, “Alas….much as I would rather forget there is a world outside this room, you know we shouldn’t keep Luna, or Celestia, waiting for us any longer. We will see what we can do with...’reenactments’ as you put it at some point tonight.”

She pouted adorably as she traced her hoof just below my belt line, “Are you really going to leave me wanting? Couldn’t we at least induldge ourselves again real quick?”

“And if we did, just how long would it take for you to feel it was enough, hmm?” I chuckled as I caught her hoof and slowly pulled away.

She finally gave an exasperated sigh and a lazy, sated grin, “After last night, I don’t think that the word ‘enough’ will ever be an acceptable term in my vocabulary with which to describe how I felt about it. Promise we’ll take a vacation or something soon somewhere we won’t have to be interrupted?”

A hand cupped her cheek, my thumb brushing across her wonderfully soft purple fur as I smiled, “A promise we won’t even need because that sounds like a grand idea, Purple Angel. We can look into it when we get back home, ok?”

“You better not forget...or I might use a binding spell and keep you stuck to the bed until I decide I’m ready to let you loose again.,” she said as she moved to nuzzle against my chest, prompting me to wrap my arms around her again and kiss the top of her head.

It actually took us at least twenty minutes before we were more than halfway ready to meet the princesses for lunch. Every time we touched, it threatened to drag us back to bed again. And just getting the unruly masses atop our heads, and her tail, back into something presentable ended up taking longer than usual. At last though, we stood by the door and shared one more passionate kiss before heading for lunch with Celestia and Luna.

After a few inquiries of the various Royal Guards we passed, we soon joined Celestia and Luna in a lovely little corner of the royal gardens. A good-sized spread of sandwiches was on the table and neither of them chose to even try hiding the knowing smirks on their faces. Considering the weighty events last night, it being the first time for Twilight and I, and how late we had woken up, I couldn’t really blame them. Particularly considering I couldn’t view them as anything less than dear friends now, since they had seen everything of note I had ever done or been in my life and accepted me fully thereafter. Although that didn’t stop the heating of my face any, as I gave them a sheepish look as Twilight did much the same.

“I see the two of you are still able to walk straight. I take it you….enjoyed your rest last night?” Celestia made no effort to hide her teasing, still wearing that knowing smirk and politely trying not to laugh.

“Luna seems to have told you what kept us, I see.” I said dryly, knowing there was no dodging things at this point.

Celestia finally couldn’t contain it and laughed softly with a warm smile, “You must forgive me and indulge my teasing, Vojin. I am quite happy for the two of you reaching this stage in your love, though I do hope you will mind what time it is in the future. I think the palace could have been on fire and you two wouldn’t have noticed.”

“I’m sorry Celestia! I got so lost the experience last night that time seemed to vanish!” Twilight seemed edging between exasperated helplessness and extreme embarrassment with her face showing a blush that practically glowed, my arm slipping around her comfortingly.

“Oh nonsense, my dear Twilight. Even if yesterday’s events were not so...challenging, I completely understand why you would be so enamoured as to lose all track of time. Even when I first sent you to Ponyville, I never imagined you would know love so strong. And I can safely say, now that Luna and I know the very depths of Vojin’s being, that he loves you dearly. You are very fortunate to hold his heart when he feels so strongly for you.” Celestia said, giving Twilight a look of warm-hearted approval.

Luna mused with a pleased smile, sounding like she was split between wanting to tease us and thrilled at what we found together, “I must agree with my sister. In our many years, we have seldom witnessed a couple reach such a level of feeling and devotion that was still so pure and accepting. Of course, it only makes me all the more curious of when you will be ready...and will you wish to have your wedding in Canterlot?”

“Are we going to hear that question every time we see either of you now?” I asked them with a sigh, a helpless grin on my face while Twilight silently blushed again.

In unison, they replied with amused grins, “Maybe.”

I covered my face with my free hand, groaning lightly as the smile I got wouldn’t stop, Twilight simply blushed more and hid her face in my shoulder.

Luna chuckled, “Oh come now. After understanding just how much the two of you have grown together, is it really such a surprise?”

After eyeing her in feigned annoyance, I finally gave in with a exasperated sigh, “A surprise? No, I can’t say it is. Doesn’t make the discomfort at such teasing any less. Although why exactly it’s embarrassing, I cannot really figure out. Maybe just the fact there is nothing I can make a retort with because the two of you are being so accurate. And no, ask all you want but we’ll figure out where we’d hold the wedding when we are actually ready for that.”

Twilight playfully bapped me in the head with a wing as she raised her eyes to look at me with mild aggravation and a faint smile, “Great...you know you’re just giving them encouragement, right Vojin?”

The royal sisters just laughed.

***

I warmly hugged Luna as Twilight did the same with Celestia, bidding them goodbye until the planned royal summit the following month. Even Princess Cadence and Shining Armor would be coming from the Crystal Empire for it. Twilight and I would return with the other Bearers of the Elements as well. Though the starting time of coming events was still unknown to all of us, we could begin some initial plans now that it was known to be approaching, considering I had come to Equestria as predicted and set things in motion.

Twilight and I would soon to take a carriage to the station for the train back to Ponyville. Apart from a few more playful jabs, it had been a very relaxed and pleasant lunch. Celestia and Luna both commented how much they valued a chance to put aside most of the protocol and other things of being the rulers of Equestria while it was just the four of us. Something Twilight and I both agreed with fully.

We learned a few more details about the link between Twilight and I. The one that stood out the most was learning that while the link couldn’t change our emotions, it did leave us far more sensitive to each other and after a little considering of how things had gone between us, I gathered it let us find mutual trust far faster. Twilight felt like she resonated with me, even without considering our link. It was a feeling I’d never felt before.

“I hope the two of you have a pleasant trip back to Ponyville. Try not to dwell on the coming challenges. We will have plenty of time to assess things at the summit. There is little either of you should worry over until then at least.” Celestia said softly.
“Indeed. The time will come as it must. Vojin, I fully expect to hear of your success with teleportation when next we meet. Be well, my friend.” Luna added, giving me a gentle smile.

“Thank you Celestia, thank you Luna. For everything, really. It’s hard to follow how much happened just since yesterday afternoon when we arrived in Canterlot. Whatever the future has in store for us all, at least we can all stand together.” I said seriously.

“Are you sure there is nothing more we can do to prepare, Celestia? Surely there are some books I could go through to help develop a better understanding.,” Twilight’s usual need to make her mentor proud slipping through.

Celestia merely shook her head gracefully, “I fear we have no great selection of books on the subject. War has been gone so long from Equestria that what stores of learning we did have are a sparing few. Luna and I will see what we can find before the summit. We did recognize the need to preserve knowledge but fear the ancient archives containing such things are poorly organized. We had only focused on preservation.”

One of the books I had brought with me floated to my awareness then, Twilight had purposefully neglected reading it herself, telling me if my world had so much war, perhaps it was one time a book was better off unread, “Actually, that reminds me of a book I happened to have when I came to Equestria. As you are quite aware, Earth is full of conflict at any given time and human history is even moreso. As much for the wisdom it contains for facing the challenges of life, it was made famous for it’s applications in war. The title is ‘The Art of War’ and is a few thousand years old itself. It was written by a scholar I believe, observing an ancient general that was a master of military matters, though it is written entirely in poems and it will take some review. I’ll bring it to the summit. Twilight and I can study it in the meantime.”

Celestia raised a brow, “It may prove useful. The Royal Guard have a fair amount of martial learning, but not very much involving the intricacies of a full-scale war. I will be interested to see what it could teach. And entirely in poems? Was there a reason for that?”

“So far as I know, it was just part of the culture of the ancient land it comes from. Not unlike another book I have with the title ‘Tao Te Ching’ that deals with spiritual matters and enlightenment. You read that one already, right Twilight?” I asked her, seeing Twilight roll her eyes a little.

“Oh I remember that one alright. I can see it has plenty of wisdom, but the deliberate contradictions trying to impart deeper understanding gave me a headache. I don’t know if I’m really meant to find enlightenment. Not when I have solid logic and scientific study. Reading it felt a lot like studying Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense.” Twilight replied, looking up at me a little bemused. I clearly remembered her spending a day trying to lay out the words in a logical fashion she could quantify a little more and the frustration it resulted in.

Celestia couldn’t help but smile a little at that, “My dear Twilight, there are times you need to just accept wisdom without being able to explain it very well. You can’t make everything follow a straight line, remember.”

“I know, Celestia. You’ve told me that many times already and I try, but logic and science are just so much more sensible.”

“Well Purple Angel, where is the sense in me getting dropped in Equestria all of a sudden? I can’t imagine where the logic is in me being from an entirely different dimension, yet the very one Equestria is supposed to need. I still think fate is having a laugh somewhere.” I chuckled softly, running my fingers through her mane.

"I believe if you delay yourselves much longer, you will miss the afternoon train. Be well, both of you. We will see you again soon for the summit." Celestia said.

Another round of goodbyes and we got into the carriage. I wasn't sure what to expect in the coming days, but I couldn't imagine Twilight and I failing to stop whatever was approaching so long as we were together.

Along the way as we descended the mountain, Twilight turned in my arms to look at me, her voice sounded troubled and subdued, "Vojin, did you ever have to fight in a war? Just wondering what I'm in for and how I should prepare myself."

I mumbled about needing a minute to think, my eyes both looking at the passing landscape and seeing none of it. It was a question with no simple or pleasant answers. I truly hoped Equestria doesn't lose the innocence that pervades it so deeply. Countless images crossed my mind and the myriad historical accounts I knew played, searching for something not quite as terrible.

Finally, I looked at Twilight sadly, "Words cannot really express what war is like, Twilight. There is also little outside of training for combat that I can say is going to prepare anyone. I never had to fight in a war, but Earth is so full of conflict that many absorb at least a general understanding of the horrible things that are possible. I will be able to teach you how to think in a fight but it's the first battles that we experience where we can really start to understand. I think details will only haunt your thoughts, so learn what you will from history for what you may encounter, I am sure you have several examples in mind already. And promise me you will stay close when we have to fight. We will both need someone to watch our backs when the time comes."

Twilight looked at me silently for a moment before also looking out the window. The pleasant mid-afternoon sun felt out of place in the moment. There was a great deal of trouble to be had in the uncertainties of the future and a lot of lives would never be the same after the war concluded.

By whatever fates watch over Equestria, let going back to the simple joys be possible for us all after it’s over.

"I promise I’ll stay close to you, Vojin. I kinda feel like I don't really want to know many details.," she said quietly, moving to rest her head against my chest, "By Celestia, I just want everypony I care about to get through this safely. Do you think they will be ok?"

I wrapped her in my arms, pulling Twilight snugly against me with a heavy sigh, "You know I can't really answer that truthfully, Purple Angel."

"I just don't want to lose anypony...," she finally said in a fearful whisper.

Nodding gently in reply, I hugged her a little closer in comfort. Earth had far too much knowledge about what war can be like, what war is. Whatever it took, I would give my all to protect Twilight, our friends and Equestria.

***

Slowly waking up the next morning, I took a slow deep breath as I soaked in the pleasant feeling of Twilight sound asleep against me. It was a good day to sleep in, awake with the dawn but relishing the warmth of my lover curled into me, her slow and steady exhales drifted across my skin like a caress.

We had agreed on the train not to talk much about the events we knew were coming, at least not until the summit next month. There was so much unknown still, and dwelling on it would be pointless worrying. Still, I had already decided to step up my training a little further into fighting techniques and less focus on forms. Perhaps it was getting about time to try sparring with Rainbow Dash even. I was largely done healing after all.

Without meaning to, my mind drifted to the loss of my parents. It had been so sudden, so strange, when I answered the door to find a pair of policemen standing there, telling me my parents had an accident. I remembered the numb feeling that took over me as I sat in the living room listening to them describe how it looked like they’d somehow driven off a bridge while on their anniversary vacation. They said it was still being investigated how the barrier failed on such a high bridge. How they were still searching for their bodies. That they had suspected my parents had been ejected from their convertible somewhere in the tumbling fall the car had taken.

It hadn’t really mattered how they were gone at the time. The shock of it, less than a year from turning eighteen, made me go a little mad for a few months. I was glad then that I only started kung fu lessons years later, considering how much worse I might have been with all the fights I got myself into trying to vent the rage and sorrow. And how my grandfather, having moved in to look after me until I graduated high school, was able to help me keep a level of stability through the worst days of my life. Again, I knew I probably would have been utterly lost if he hadn’t been there for me back then.

I felt Twilight nuzzle me in her sleep again, drawing a smile to my face as I let old hurt fade from my mind. The sense of peace that just laying in bed with her brought me was indescribable. It was something I’d never found in anyone before and just having her sleeping with her head laying on my chest was like a running faucet washing away the dirt of troubles from my mind in an endless stream.

As the early morning time slowly drifted forward, I began to wonder if we were compatible enough that Twilight could get pregnant. Even in my own head, I skirted some of the thoughts about what our offspring would even look like. Perhaps it was something we could ask Celestia and Luna privately when we went to the summit. Maybe Twilight could just write Celestia a letter asking about it later.

My thoughts eventually drifted to the point our relationship was at now, still feeling pleasantly satisfied from last night. I had no doubts we were going to have nights of little sleep and just the thought of it gave me a smile, a slow and delicate tracing began along Twilight’s spine, still sound asleep. Feeling an idea form and a mischievous smirk grow on my face, I began tracing her sensitive wing joints by her spine gently, just watching her reaction and wondering if she’d wake or sleep through it.

A few minutes of my attentions and Twilight was still asleep, though with a rather interesting look on her face. Her breathing had become quiet panting and I very gradually increased the pressure of my fingers in the muscles around her wing joint, occasional faint moans started soon after as her body trembled slightly. Being in no hurry, I kept watching her reactions as I carried on.

Nearly every breath she let out was soon a little shaky with a soft moan. Twilight had begun gripping me to herself more tightly, her hips starting to move in a sometimes syncopated rhythm. I was increasingly tempted to wake her up, feeling my own excitement growing.

Just as I was about to try waking her after deciding it was enough teasing, Twilight seemed to either wake up with one thought or her body was unable to take much more as she shifted over me and lay on my chest as she moved, her muzzle tucked up under my chin as she panted quietly.

It was a little maddening to have her there like that, so close but not joined. I just soaked in the sensations as Twilight seemed unable to stop, still unsure if she’d woken at first. After another minute went by with her getting more urgent but no other reactions, I suspected she was still managing to be asleep until she finally whispered my name, nudging the underside of my chin with her nose.

Twilight’s constant motions grew a little more frantic, pushing herself against me, seeming to tremble more than ever. It was making me a bit overheated, fingers digging into both her wing joints. A most wonderful entrapment.

With a sudden growl and an exaggerated swing of her hips, she moved back against me with a low groan as she went still, taking in the feeling again. I gave her a shuddery breath in response as I hugged her tight to my chest through it.

Slowly, she raised herself until her forelegs were stretched out with her hooves on my chest, breathing heavily as she looked down into my eyes heatedly. Slowly, she started into an almost languid movement, no rush or hurry, her eyes locked on mine as we enjoyed the sensations we gave each other.

Time seemed to stand still for us again. Holding no meaning to our awareness as we lost ourselves in each other for a while.

As we panted in the afterglow a while later, we just locked eyes with lazy, sated smiles. It was probably late enough that Spike might knock on the door soon to tell us breakfast was ready. Again, I was glad we had gotten him into his own room before the trip to Canterlot. At first he’d been against the idea but suggesting he could decorate it how he wanted, and a whisper of the idea about a poster of Rarity, he came around to it.

“We are going to wake up late for something important someday, I just know it.” I commented a bit breathlessly.

Twilight giggled quietly, her eyes dancing as her voice drifted into something between happy and sensual, “Name the time and we can just plan on making ourselves late. I’m tempted to make you delay your workouts until just before lunch, too. I really like waking up like that...really, really like it…”

“Mmmm….well sleep-in days sure. Maybe I’ll even surprise you sometime on a day you sleep in, rather than watch my exercises.”

Twilight hummed quietly, snuggling a little closer, “I just might hold you to that and start sleeping in more often.”

I gave her a lopsided smirk, “Oh no you’re not, Purple Angel. You’re not off the hook for exercising with me now and then. Wouldn’t want you getting tired easily or something. Might put a damper on other things…”

She gave me an adorable pout, trying not to smile, “I can’t win, can I?”

Chuckling lightly, I gave her a kiss for a long moment before drawing back again to look into her eyes again, still smirking, “The laws of physics and biology have yet to take pity upon those of us in love.”

“I still don’t have to like leaving our bed when you’re so comfortable and...enticing.” Twilight nuzzled my cheek and rested her head on my chest again.

After a few more minutes of delaying the inevitable, we dragged ourselves out of bed and got in a quick shower together, carrying on a casual conversation as we did. A glance at a clock when we finally made it downstairs said it was already past nine in the morning. Rather late to really get the day started when I wake so early, but well worth it. There would be many more interesting mornings to come.

Spike had cooked up some oatmeal this morning and went to heat up what he had prepared earlier, apparently assuming he shouldn’t disturb us without any serious reason. It made me wonder just what he was aware of and what he was oblivious to. Still, Twilight and I enjoyed breakfast together as Spike went about his daily chores.

“So any thoughts on what we should be doing today, Purple Angel?” I asked, taking another spoonful of oatmeal.

Twilight took a minute, thinking to herself, “Well, you still have a bit of spellwork to do before attempting a teleport but I think you should be able to give it a try today. You have been progressing really well.”

Grinning at the thought of teleportation again, I was really looking forward to that and gravity spells for things I could cast on myself, “You are the magic expert here. I keep being surprised how similar a lot of fundamental aspects have been between Earth magic I’ve studied and unicorn magic here in Equestria.”

“Still a little disappointed that almost all of it is just spiritual-based spells. I can’t imagine a world with so little magic available. It’s so useful.,” she said after she finished her bowl.

Having finished together, I took the bowls to the sink, and as Twilight put it after one interesting discussion on magic philosophy, ‘the old-fashioned way’ by carrying them myself rather than using levitation. Some things just didn’t feel quite right to use magic on.

Giving my left arm a good forward and back rotation, finding it only faintly sore now, I figured it was a good day to see when Rainbow Dash would like to spar. Probably be good to give her a day or more so she didn’t have conflicting plans.

As I thought, I realized magic would provide one particularly useful ability for sparring as I looked to Twilight as she browsed some books she had set aside to read soon, “Twilight...I was just thinking about seeing when Rainbow Dash might like to try some sparring and something occurred to me. Do you know of any spells that help reduce or negate physical impacts?”

She looked at me with a bit of worry in her face when I mentioned sparring, which then became a look of contemplation as I mentioned the spell idea, “Hmm...while I can’t say I like the thought of you and Rainbow fighting, I think I know of a couple spells like I think you’re looking for and I’ll make sure neither of you gets hurt. Let me see if I can find the right book.”

I wasn’t sure what she was looking for and it was an area I hadn’t studied yet, so I waited patiently as she looked around the library. After a couple minutes, she smiled and levitated a book from the shelf and opening it in front of herself, scanning pages as I moved next to her.

“Find the one you were looking for?” I asked.

“Yes I have. I’m not seeing any specific spells for what I think you want, but I can improvise. Really, I’ll feel a lot better about you and Rainbow Dash fighting each other with a protective spell on both of you. You sure you should fight her?” Twilight was looking worried again as she gazed up at me.

I just gave her a reassuring smile and stroked her mane, “Don’t worry, Purple Angel. Even without protective spells, sparring is about practice, not trying for harm. I thought of the spell because it would let us go closer to full on without worrying about anything serious going wrong. I’ll make sure we avoid anything too crazy anyway. It’s just a first try. Rainbow and I will probably go a bit slower initially whether she likes it or not, to get a feel for things. And we can always just stop if something happened.”

Twilight sighed a bit, “I’m still worried one of you might get hurt, or if one of you did, it might make you upset.”

I had to laugh lightly at that, smiling, “Oh come on, Twilight! Do you really think that Dash and I would be upset when we were intentionally putting ourselves in the situation? I see no way that could happen. Dash and I are both aware of the risks. We’ll be fine...even better with a small protective spell from you on both of us.”

“Ok, ok, it’s a little silly to worry like that. I just...don’t really like fighting. You know what I mean?” Twilight looked at me, seeming a little insecure.

My smile changed to one more heartfelt as I knelt beside her and pulled her close with her head on my chest, stroking her mane as I spoke softly, “Purple Angel, I do understand what you mean when you say you don’t like fighting. Honestly, I don’t like fighting either, and before you say anything, sparring isn’t the same as fighting. At least, not entirely. One way of looking at it is that it’s like having a workout partner for an intensive, unplanned routine. If something went wrong, you’re able to stop and take care of it. Fighting keeps going until there’s a victor. There are times fighting can have it’s values too, but even the most skilled fighters generally avoid meaningless fights. I’m no different. Does that help put you a little more at ease?”

She gave a quiet sigh, nuzzling against my chest before pulling back again to look at me, “It does help a little I guess. Maybe it’s just a bit different because I’m not as used to martial arts like you and Rainbow. And you did say you’ll teach me how to think in a fight.”

“Yes I did, but we’ll get to that. Although for us, that might eventually mean magic duels. Remember, no dwelling on what we can’t do anything about right now.”

Twilight gave me a small smile before returning her attention to the book she selected, “Well like I was saying before, it doesn’t seem like there’s a spell specifically but I can come up with something that will limit impacts past a specified level of force. I think I still have to let the kinetic force hit you but I should be able to disperse it across your entire body at once equally and make it so distributed that it won’t have much effect. Even magic doesn’t create or destroy energy, just transform it.”

As she reviewed the spells that had effects similar to what stopping a localized impact required, I looked over the book I had been working on for teleportation again. I still had a couple exercises to complete and I could try teleporting an object in front of me. Over the course of my studies in unicorn magic, I smirked once more at the thought that I was to Twilight what she is to Celestia in a way, and most of it had been fairly low key spells building upon one another. Teleportation was one of the first really dramatic spells I would learn. Over time, Twilight and I agreed on focusing on spells that worked with what I knew from Earth in both magic and kung fu. Judging by my rate of progress, it was working out well. Simpler spells with less flexibility, but working well.

As Twilight and I did our respective reading in comfortable quiet like we enjoyed so often, someone knocked on the door.

“I’ll get it, Purple Angel. Go ahead and read your heart out.” I said with a smirk, seeing her glance at me with one of her own and returning her attention to her book.

Upon opening the door, I was amused to find Rainbow Dash there and welcomed her inside with a grin, “Well that’s timing. Morning Rainbow! I was just talking about you.”

Rainbow Dash perked up with a sly smirk, looking pleased with herself, “Oh really? And just what side of my totally awesome pegasus self happened to be interesting today?”

I chuckled lightly, “Oh I just found myself thinking now that I’m mostly healed up and recovered my strength, it might be time to set up a sparring match.”

Her eyes widened for a moment before she narrowed them, giving me a darkly playful grin, “Still wanna get your flank whipped, huh? Well just name the time for it and I’ll show you the ground for a few rounds!”

“We’ll see about that, missy. Biggest challenge I see right now is just you being so much smaller and lower than I am. Technique I’m not so worried about. Feel up to it in a couple hours or are you too busy today?” I said, holding a fist out to her with a grin.

Rainbow bumped her hoof against my fist, smiling wide, “Today is perfect! I’ll be sure to finish the cloudbusting early today. This is gonna be so awesome! Sparring is fun when I get a chance but sparring with a human is gonna be a whole new challenge I can’t wait to beat!”

Twilight seemed finished with her review as she walked over, rolling her eyes, “Well Vojin, I think I have the spell figured out. We should test it first so we know it works as intended. And since you’re here Rainbow, I might as well test it on you too.”

Rainbow Dash blinked in surprise, eyeing Twilight warily, “What spell? And why do you gotta test it on me?”

“Actually, I asked her if there was an appropriate spell to minimize the impact force of you and I hitting each other while we’re sparring, Rainbow. In short, if the spell works like I’m hoping, you and I can hit each other full force without having to worry we’re going to seriously hurt each other. We’ll still feel every hit but I’m hoping we will just come away with soreness and mild bruising.” I said, feeling myself beginning to feel fired up for the sparring match.

“Not have to hold back and not be afraid of really hurting a friend? Man, I’m liking the chance to spar even more, Vojin! So what do you need me to do Twilight?” Rainbow Dash said, seeming as high octane as ever when something exciting was coming up.

“Nothing different than what you usually do. Stand still and let me cast it.” Twilight replied, giving her friend a bemused look.

“Then lay it on me! I wanna try it out so I can spank your stallion’s flank!” Rainbow Dash declared.

I chuckled lightly, smirking at her, “Sorry Dash, but the only spankings I’ll accept come from my Purple Angel. You’re just outta luck there.”

Twilight blushed a little and gave me an mildly annoyed look, but Rainbow Dash seemed strangely off guard as she blushed a fair bit and tried to backpedal her words suddenly, “Wait a second! I didn’t mean it like that! You’re with Twilight! I wouldn’t try to do that stuff with you while you’re dating one of my friends!”

I only laughed a bit harder, deciding to see if I could blow a fuse on poor Rainbow Dash as I caught her with levitation and stepped closer as I raised her into the air so I could be close to her ear, giving Twilight a wink of mischief when Rainbow couldn’t see my face as I spoke softly but loud enough that Twilight would hear if she wanted to, “What was that, Dash? While I’m dating Twilight? Are you saying you’d actually like to do something with me if I was single? Do you have the hots for me or something?”

At first, Twilight just did a facehoof with a small groan but it slowly grew into silent laughter as she covered her mouth, watching me torment Rainbow with amusement. For her part, Rainbow Dash was just stammering incoherently with a bright blazing blush and trembling slightly. I just let her drift back to the floor and set her down gently, though she sat on the floor immediately, looking stunned.

Twilight caught my eye with a smirk, looking like she wanted to join in as she walked next to Rainbow Dash and whispered in her ear, “You know Rainbow, some of my romance novels have scenes of two mares sharing a stallion…”

I nearly burst into laughter right then as Rainbow Dash’s eye started to twitch with her mouth frozen open, her wings flared out wide and swaying slightly in her seated position. By all appearances, we had successfully blown a fuse in poor Rainbow Dash.

Moving over to Twilight and kneeling beside her so I could give her a quick hug, my voice quiet but not trying to go unheard, “Would you say we successfully blew her mind?”

Twilight giggled a little, “I think so. I’m usually not interested in teasing my friends quite so much but after hearing what you told her and then that idea popped into my head...I just had to join in.”

After watching Rainbow Dash trying to reset her brain for a bit longer with no change, I knelt down in front of her and waved a hand in front of her face, “Hello, Equestria to Rainbow Dash. Time to come back for a landing.”

Rainbow didn’t even blink in response. Rolling my eyes, I gave her nose a firm pinch and held it. I saw her go cross-eyed looking at my hand for a second before pulling her head back and rubbing her offended appendage with a grumble, “What was that for?”

“I see you’re done pretending to be a statue.” I noted with a lopsided smirk.

She couldn’t hide the blush on her face, despite her putting on an annoyed expression. Before she could get any words out as her mouth opened, I cut her off as my smirk got bigger, “You know you’re still blushing, right?”

“What? I’m...I’m not blushing. I-I just got a...a little hot. The room’s too warm!” Rainbow tried to dodge but it was Twilight that teased her next, likely enjoying a rare opportunity to one-up her friend.

“What’s the matter Dash? Human got your tongue?” Twilight said with a small giggle.

Rainbow only blushed a little more, looking a little desperate, “Wait, I-I can explain...uh…”

I finally couldn’t resist and had to laugh a little just to keep from bursting, “Explain? How are you going to manage that, hmm?”

“I...uh…,” she finally sagged and looked at the floor with a small whimper, “I’m sorry. Yes, Twilight, I like your stallion...a lot. I hope you’re not upset.”

Twilight and I both stopped our laughing as she placed a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder, smiling and shaking her head a little, “I’m not upset, Dash. Not in the slightest. I’ll admit I’m surprised but I know you’d never do anything to try and upset things between myself and Vojin. You embody loyalty, after all. Not to mention Vojin and I also have that link. I’m sorry I was teasing you so much.”

She gave Rainbow a hug then, quickly returned by the humbled blue mare. Rainbow Dash looked at me a bit nervously, looking very unsure of herself. I met her eyes with a smile and welcomed her in for a hug. Giving Rainbow a firm squeeze, I let her hug me as long as she needed.

“Like Twilight said, we’re not worried you would try and get between us. While I can picture you trying to join us….er, well, maybe that’s a subject I’d best leave alone. I’m sorry I was messing with you so much. I hope you’re ok now.” I told her, though she seemed to quiver slightly when I mentioned picturing her joining us and left me fairly convinced she really would if given the opportunity, something that would never happen with my being very firmly monogamous. Women gave me enough headaches on Earth and I didn’t need multipliers involved.

She took a bit, but Rainbow finally pulled away again, “Thanks for not being upset. You’re a cool guy, Vojin. I hope I can find a stallion to match up someday.”

“Well have you ever considered dating Soarin’?” I commented.

The way her eyes widened and her face go back to a blush without a retort told me plenty.

I just chuckled softly at her new bout of embarrassment, shaking my head with a smile, “Relax RD. I can see you have certainly considered the idea more than once. I’ll always listen if you felt like talking about it, so you know. Still feeling up for a sparring match later?”

At the mention of our sparring plans, Rainbow Dash got a slightly unsettling evil grin as she eyed me, “No way am I gonna let you off the hook now! I gotta get some payback for making me get like that! It’s SO on!”

“Alright then. If the spell works out, you can work out those frustrations with me later.” I said with a grin, after a month of healing I was looking forward to finally getting in this sparring match.

Twilight spoke up, “Alright you two, hold still for a second while I place the spell over both of you.”

Her horn glowed, the billowing aura of active magic appearing. I saw the same billowing aura appear around me and Rainbow Dash, feeling a faint intangible shell of sorts almost slide across my form. Twilight’s horn stopped glowing much after a few seconds and she smiled.

“Ok, now you just need to test the protective qualities and I can make changes as needed. I should be able to adjust how much goes directly through the barrier and how much disperses with a decent amount of accuracy. The only real limitation is I need to keep feeding it a little magic.” Twilight said with a note of satisfaction she always gets from casting a new spell or new adjustment to one.

“Well, Twi, how should we test it?” Rainbow asked her.

I jumped in before Twilight could respond, “Why don’t you try giving my hand a whack first? We can try a few more things as we figure out how much effect it has.”

“I can do that. Which hand are you gonna sacrifice first?” Rainbow said with an innocent-looking smile.

“Ha ha, you’re funny. You may find I’m tougher than I look. Anyway…,” I said, still kneeling as I held out a hand out to the side with my palm towards her, “Just a straight strike first. Whenever you’re ready.”

Rainbow Dash smirked briefly and surprised me with the speed of her strike as she made an unexpected forward lunging punch squarely into my palm, she carried right past my hand before she stopped. I felt the impact clearly, accounting for my surprise though, my hand was just stinging a bit and not actually hurting. The match later was looking even more fun than before after that, grinning at the thought as I flexed my hand.

“Nice hit, Rainbow. Hard to tell, but the protective spell seems to have reduced it a little. Let’s try another. My stomach this time.” I told her as moved my knees a bit wider for what I asked.

Rainbow raised a brow cautiously, “You sure about that, Vojin? If the spell isn’t working right, I wouldn’t want you hurt when you finally finished healing.”

Hearing that gave me a chuckle, giving her a lopsided smirk, “Oh don’t you worry about me, Dash. I don’t know how it is for ponies taking a hit in the belly but when I can prepare first, it would take Big Macintosh kicking me to actually hurt anything. And that’s without any spells at all. Actually, you should give me your strongest hit. Let’s make sure the spell really works.”

Rainbow arched a suspicious brow and watched me pound a fist on my stomach a couple times a bit warily, but she nodded slightly, “Alright….but just remember you asked for it…”

As she got herself ready, so did I as my stomach muscles tightened into a brick wall, arms held a little out and bent at the elbows with tight fists. Some of my training was learning how to take and resist getting hit in various ways and when able to prepare for a blow to the stomach, provided you had the muscle and knowledge, you could take a lot of force with little worry. Maybe it also had something to do with my occasional tendency to focus extra on training to shrug off hits.

Rainbow fired off a powerful kick with her hind legs, her aim perfect as she caught the middle of my stomach. There was enough force to slide me back across the wood floor almost a foot. To my satisfaction though, I took the full impact but my stomach didn’t feel the full force of everything alone as I felt a tap of sorts across my body at the same time. Now I felt fairly sure the protective spell was working effectively. Plenty got through to possibly cause a little bruising, which was fine with me really. You can’t really fight effectively if you don’t feel the real weight of what your opponent lands on you or you land on them.

Rainbow looked over her shoulder a little nervously, her expression of worry was nice to see but I gave her a smirk, “Nice shot, Rainbow. Spell seems to be just right for what I would have hoped. It also let me know how much power you’ll be packing later.”

She returned the smirk after relief flashed over her face for a moment, “You better believe it! I’m just glad you took it like a champ. I was worried for a second when you didn’t say anything.”

“Heh, no worries there. I have trained to shrug off hits you know. The spell just improves on that. Did you want to test yourself too? I don’t know how much you’ve practiced absorbing hits.” I asked, raising a brow.

“I think I oughta try, just in case.” Rainbow returned with a nod.

“Ok then...shoulder or flank? I don’t know where else should be safe should the spell not be working right for you.”

Rainbow Dash nodded again and turned her side to me as she settled into a sturdier stance, though there was a suspicious twinkle in her eye I almost missed, “You’re right. Land one right on my cutie mark, Vojin. This is the only time you’re gonna land a hit anyway, so whenever you’re ready.”

“We’ll see about that, RD…,” I smirked as I got myself in a reasonable position to actually manage when she was so much shorter.

After a second to clear my mind, I focused on her cutie mark and struck. As though in answer to her test strike on my stomach, I delivered enough force to the side of Rainbow’s hindquarters that she slid a few inches, though her lighter weight helped. I could tell she packed a bit more power than my arms, wondering if she realized the difference my legs would have. Leaning back again, I noticed some surprise on her face as she slowly drifted into a devious smirk.

“I’m a little impressed, Vojin. I didn’t think you had that much in you. That spell seems to be working fine for me too. Kinda weird to feel the tap all over you at once but since we don’t have to worry about really hurting each other, I won’t feel as bad when I start pounding ya.” Rainbow said, smirking as she shook her left hind leg out.

“Well, since the spell is working properly, I’ll drop it now. I really hope you two don’t get too rough with each other.” Twilight said, unable to stop worrying herself even though she had to consciously realize any real injury was unlikely.

A thought occurred to me just then, looking at Rainbow curiously, “What brought you over anyway? We got into the whole spell and sparring match thing before you said anything about your dropping in.”

Rainbow blinked, looking at me with a bit of surprise before turning to Twilight, “Oh, I totally forgot why I came over! Pinkie was hoping you’d have some time later to help her create some special party decorations. Something about glowing sticks and other weird stuff. I forgot who she said it was for. I just offered to let you know when I stopped by Sugar Cube Corner earlier since she has a lot of orders to bake early today.”

Twilight gave her a nod, “I think I know what she wants. I can stop by in the afternoon later. Can you let Pinkie know when you have a chance?”

“I’ll head there before getting to weather duty.” Rainbow said before turning to back to me with an excited grin, “Oh man! Being able to go a few rounds with you is gonna be epic! Since we just have a clear day scheduled, I shouldn’t take very long cloudbusting. Wanna meet up in the park around eleven thirty so we can do this thing? The three of us can hit the cafe for lunch after you get tired, Vojin.”

“Confident as always I see. The time sounds fine so I guess we’ll see you then, Rainbow.” I said with a chuckle, putting a fist out towards her, which she promptly gave a brohoof bump.

“You better believe it, Vojin. I’ll see you later Twilight.” Rainbow said as she headed for the door.

“See you later, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight waved as the pegasus left the library, then looked at me, “I’m still a little nervous about you two sparring but at least with my protective spell, I can be confident neither of you is going to get seriously hurt.”

With a soft smile, I moved over to Twilight and pulled her in for a warm hug, “Not everyone understands the perspective, I know. Is there anything I can do to help you feel more at ease and thank you for the protection spell?”

She leaned into my arms a little more as she thought it over quietly. I knew I couldn’t do much to help her see through the fighter’s mindset but maybe she could find an understanding somewhere. Perhaps after some practice in defense methods and drills, she might understand why some feel more alive in the heat of battle. After the summit at least, I would likely enlist Rainbow’s help in training all the girls in basics. Even a little training goes a long way if done right and done repeatedly.

Twilight finally sighed quietly, keeping her head against my chest, “I really don’t know if you can help me feel less apprehensive about you and Rainbow actually hitting each other. I know you both would anyway, but promise you’ll stop immediately if one of you actually gets hurt?”

A short laugh came out, smiling at that, I gave her a soft squeeze and kissed the top of her head, “I promise I’ll stop the instant I think one of us actually got injured.”

“Thank you, Vojin. It’s silly that it’s obvious you’d stop but it still makes me feel a little better to hear it. Sometimes emotions are just weird and illogical.” Twilight drew back to look at me with a small smile, her eyes showing gratitude.

Standing back up as she went back to look at the book she had grabbed for the protective spell, she suddenly stopped and turned to me again with a strange smirk.

“Vojin, I think I know how you can thank me for the spell…,” she remarked in an unusual tone, stepping over to me with a sway in her motions.

Raising a brow at her sudden change, I watched her warily with a small grin, “Oh? And just what would that be, Purple Angel?”

Now being a little coy, she motioned for me to come closer and I knelt again, Twilight moving close to my ear, her breath caressing it as she spoke in a sultry whisper, “Tonight...I’m tying you down to the bed...and having my way with you…”

With a nibble on my earlobe to punctuate her words, I couldn’t help the shiver that ran through me, a hand sneaking up to momentarily squeeze one of her wing joints as our gaze met out of the corner of our eyes, “We hardly start such intimacy and already you want to do strange and wonderful things to me. Just remember turnabout is fair play.”

She gave a brief, quiet gasp at my hand on her wing joint and practically purred, “I’ll take that as a promise.” We shared a kiss after that, savoring the moment.

Before long we were back to studying side by side. Both of us were relaxing on the floor next to a small pile of books. Twilight had her legs tucked under her and I had my head resting against her shoulder as we read quietly like we had fallen into the habit of in the past week or so. We felt at peace being close, sometimes reading for hours without a word. Just happy and content with the companionship we’d found together.

Eventually, Twilight glanced at the clock and sighed in mild annoyance, “It’s getting close to when we need to meet Rainbow Dash at the park. I guess we should start heading that way soon.”

“Hmm? Already? It’s a good thing you were paying attention. I’d probably have kept reading for another hour before thinking I should check the clock.” I told her, setting a bookmark and putting the book down as I stretched a little before getting to my feet.

Twilight gave me a warm smile, “I know we always have to stop at some point but just reading with you always feels so calming.”

Returning her smile with my own, I nodded briefly, “I know. You also say that a lot when we haven’t had very long to read. Maybe after lunch we can do some reading at the park. Should we stop by Sugar Cube Corner and see when Pinkie wanted your help?”

“That sounds like a plan. Are you ready to go?” Twilight asked.

I was wearing one of the more durable outfits Rarity had made. A modest gray shirt and slacks similar to my training outfits with classic white cuffs, simple and comfortable with plenty of movement range, along with the footwear I’d brought with me to Equestria. Rarity seemed to delight in coming up with new ideas for my unusual body and was over at least every other day with new sketches. Although I’d flatly refused the idea of wearing anything weird or couture, which she would usually have a brief pout over for a moment at getting shot down but always brightened when I shared my thoughts otherwise. Always told me it gave her mountains of fresh inspiration to hear such a different perspective.

Considering martial arts are often empty handed, I was ready but an idea crossed my mind, “You know, I think I’ll grab my 3-section staff. Rainbow wanted to see me using it after I recovered.”

“Alright, Vojin. I’ll be by the door.” Twilight replied as I went to a storage cabinet where we kept my gear and weapons.

After strapping it in place on my right thigh with the simple holster I’d rigged up a few months after first starting to learn how to use the thing, I headed to the door, the short chains jingling faintly with each step. Twilight smiled and was about to open the door when I caught it with my magic, holding the door for my lady as usual and earning a sidelong glance of bemused appreciation from her. Twilight did appreciate my penchant for treating her like a lady but always said it felt odd, even if she was learning to like it a little more each time I did something simple for her. I only ever answered with a lopsided smile and told her it’s just what I liked to do.

As we made our way towards Sugar Cube Corner, we both noticed there were almost no townsponies in sight and the ones we did see appeared to be in a hurry to finish whatever they were doing. I was further confused when they’d see me and look excited, waving briefly before rushing onward in whatever they were doing.

“Twilight...is it just me or is it weird that there’s so few of the locals around and the few we have seen are all in a hurry for some reason?” I said, glancing at her walking beside me.

She looked around again and shook her head, “I really have no idea. There aren’t any special holidays or festivals or events today and that’s what it looks like everypony in town is acting like. Maybe a traveling show came in I didn’t hear about or something.”

We reached Sugar Cube Corner soon enough, though still mildly baffled at the locals’ behavior or absence. Then we saw the sign on the door of the bakery that read ‘Closed until one o’clock’ and left us even more confused.

“Do you think Pinkie is making deliveries or something?” I asked as I looked at Twilight.

She frowned in thought, “That could be, but why would the Cakes close the store in the middle of lunchtime? It’s usually one of their busiest times. I guess I’ll have to check with Pinkie later when we’re heading back.”

As we approached the park, nothing looked unusual despite hearing a crowd in the area but as we crested a hill, we suddenly saw where the townsfolk went. We stopped and stared at the scene before us.

There were two stands constructed, already packed with ponies and even some vendor stalls nearby. Laced overhead between the stands were a few strands of triangular little colored flags like a carnival or something. In front of the stands was unmistakably an arena of some sort. It was surrounded by a ring of hay bales resting on the grass close to forty feet across. I started to suspect the sparring match between Rainbow Dash and I wasn’t going to be a private affair in the slightest.

Twilight and I looked at each other anxiously as one name came out from both of us at the same time, “Pinkie.”

While I took a moment to debate if it was a good idea to get any closer, I noticed Rainbow Dash speeding through the air to us. She was wearing a very unhappy, strained expression as she came to hover in front of us, laughing nervously, “Hehe...uh...sorry about this Vojin. I mentioned to Pinkie that we were going to have a sparring match in the park to see if she wanted to watch. I only got to the park a minute ago myself and found all this! I’m really sorry, Vojin. I didn’t believe she’d do this when I said it should be ok to invite a couple ponies to watch and I think you know how overboard Pinkie can get if she thinks there’s a party to be had. You still want to have our match? I won’t mind if we put it off for tomorrow or something.”

All I could do was grumble a bit and shook my head, “No, it’s alright I guess. Though it appears I’ll need to chat with Pinkie later about asking first. Again. That mare could really use some self-control. Still, if you don’t mind the audience...feeling up for a few rounds, Rainbow?”

Rainbow Dash flashed me a grin as she brightened, throwing a few punches at empty air, “Well, if you don’t mind having so many witnesses to my showing you the ground...”

Chuckling, I gave her a challenging smirk, “Talk is cheap, my dear Rainbow Dash. Before I forget, I also brought my 3-section staff along. You want me to show you one of the forms before or after?”

“You know, it might be better if you show some moves first. Wouldn’t want you to end up too sore to do it after I’m done with you.” Rainbow Dash replied, seeming to get a little more smug in her expression every time she bragged.

Just before we started towards the impromptu arena, Pinkie Pie popped up from somewhere behind a tree nearby that was too small for her to hide behind. I doubted I was going to figure out how she seemed to bend the fabric of reality like a placemat but at least, as they say, she’s on our side.

“Hi, Rainbow Dash! Hi, Vojin! Hi, Twilight! I can’t wait to see how amazing you two look when you’re in the thick of things, duking it out like champions of the arena! It’s gonna be so much fun!” Pinkie blurted out, hopping in front of me like she does so often, a wide smile on her face.

“Pinkie, I did ask you to talk to me first about setting up parties I’m supposed to be involved in without telling me ahead of time, right?” I frowned, giving her a mild look of annoyance even though I wasn’t really surprised. It was the fourth or fifth sudden party-esque event she’d put together out of nowhere because of something I was doing in a public area. Last time, it was offering to play my guitar at the picnic Twilight and I were going to have with the other girls. Another big crowd and me somehow getting talked into going along with it. Though when Twilight asks me to go along with it, I have little resistance. At least it kept things interesting and the local residents always seemed to enjoy the shows I kept getting dragged into performing. Looks like I’ll be showing my fighting style now too.

Pinkie looked at me sheepishly as she stopped bouncing and gave a weak, nervous laugh, “Hehe...um, oops, oh yeah. I know...I’m supposed to ask first. I won’t know if something changed or if you will be upset and refuse to agree if I don’t ask first. I apologize for not asking first, Vojin. Please forgive me?”

Sighing in exasperation, I knelt down on one knee and held out my arms rolling my eyes with a small smile as she repeated the little speech I made her agree to say, not really expecting it to be a short process to her learning self-control, “Alright, Pinkie. I forgive you. You’ll get there eventually.”

“Whoohoo!,” was all she said as she jumped in for the hug, embracing me tightly.

Once Pinkie was done with her hug, she stepped back and started hopping again, her excitement evident, “This is gonna be super duper awesome! Everypony in town wanted to come so I made it into a great big party! I don’t think Ponyville has ever had a martial arts demonstration before! I can’t wait!”

All I could do was roll my eyes with a lopsided grin as the four of us walked down the hill to the ‘arena’ that Pinkie had set up. As we got close, the crowd of ponies started to notice and began cheering. At least once I got into motion, I’d forget all about the crowd.

The excited cheers kept on for a bit before starting to settle down somewhat. At least I wasn’t unfamiliar with demonstrations, having assisted my school at conventions and meets on occasion.

We stopped at the edge of the haybale ring and I leaned down to Rainbow Dash, having to talk a bit louder to be heard clearly, “Before we start, I’ll have to stretch out. Since you wanted to watch, you probably should at the same time. Pulled muscles aren’t a great way to end a sparring match, after all. The weapon form only takes about two minutes.”

“Oh! I’ll go get to my booth so I can get the crowd ready!” Pinkie chimed, running off before anyone had a chance to reply.

I looked between Twilight and Rainbow Dash in mild confusion, “What booth?”

“Pinkie is probably going to be acting as an announcer.” Twilight noted dryly.

Giving a quiet groan nobody would’ve heard over the noise, I just rolled with it. Unexpected things made life more interesting after all. And Pinkie Pie was nothing if not full of unexpected things. Motioning to Rainbow Dash, figuring it was now or never.

“I’m just going to stay here by the ring so I can cast the protective spell when you’re both ready. Don’t go overboard, either of you.” Twilight said, moving to sit on one of the hay bales of the arena.

I gave her a silent nod and a brief look of mild exasperation. Rainbow Dash was going through a routine and I began my own. We both looked up at each other and smirked when Pinkie’s voice came across a loudspeaker.

“Fillies and gentlecolts! Our very own Rainbow Dash and Vojin are getting warmed up as we speak! Before they show us their amazing moves in a match together, our resident human Vojin will be showing us a weapon demonstration! I don’t know about everypony here but I can hardly wait to see him use the exotic thing he calls a 3-section staff! You’ll know it when you see it everypony! If you wanted to grab some refreshments before the show begins, you better get going quick! The Cakes of Sugar Cube Corner have lots of yummy treats ready and waiting!” Pinkie declared, drawing a bit more excitement from the crowd.

With a smirk, I glanced at Twilight and as soon as our eyes met, we both knew why Sugar Cube Corner was closed. Getting close to finishing a proper warm up, I threw a few kicks straight up far enough my pant leg brushed my cheek before holding it up, shortly repeating the process with the other. Rainbow Dash seemed to be taking her time as I finished, knowing she had a couple minutes left.

I made my way to the ring of hay bales next to Twilight and kissed her cheek, “Time to show off, I guess.”

She smiled, her wing hugging me briefly before I stepped past the hay bales and into the arena. If I closed my eyes, it was really no different than any other exhibition or demonstration, although the crowd was a bit more excited this time.

Once I reached the center, I checked briefly to ensure I had enough room without worry and once satisfied, pulled my 3-section staff from my hip. The crowd quieted down for the most part as my weapon came up and I went into the ready position. My hands were holding the end segments near the chain, crossed in front of and slightly to one side in a guard position.

My eyes closed for a moment, then snapped open as I began to move through the form. Strikes and blocks, a kick there. A thrust to an imagined throat followed by a lateral strike to imagined ribs, my face a mask of focused concentration. Whirling around while spinning my weapon by the middle segment, catching an end before it flung out in it’s full range for a solid overhead strike several feet ahead of me. I forgot there was even a crowd watching as I thrilled in the feel of directed motion until finally reaching the end of the form and closing it out.

The crowd seemed to hesitate for a moment until my posture relaxed and began to walk back towards Twilight, then burst into cheers. While Twilight had seen it before and was simply smiling, it seemed Rainbow Dash was amazed.

“That was totally awesome, Vojin! I’ve never seen anypony moving like that before! And that staff thing is absolutely wicked cool! I doubt us ponies could even use it!” Rainbow Dash went on, mimicking some movements here and there for emphasis.

I only chuckled, shaking my head a little, “It’s not that impressive, Rainbow. I made mistakes in a few spots. Still need to practice it some more since healing enough to perform it again. Besides, you do something two or three hundred times and you’ll make it look natural enough anyway.”

“Three hundred times? How long have you been practicing that form?” Rainbow Dash asked with a little surprise.

Shrugging slightly, I took a second to recall how long I’d known it before answering, “A little over two years I think. Practiced it at least a couple times every week, same as most of the forms and techniques I studied.”

Rainbow gave me a grin, “Well you ready to learn new ways of falling down now?”

“We’ll see about that. Before we get started though, mind not flying right away? You start going airborne and my options get limited pretty fast, though I am intrigued enough to give it a try before we’re done. I do need to hold back a number of moves I can’t spar with though because their only purpose is breaking and serious damage. Also, we allowing any grappling and limb locking for this?” I said, figuring we needed a couple things mentioned.

“I’m cool with not flying right away, Vojin. I don’t know much about grappling though. Like I’ve said before, Swift Hoof is mostly fast moves and fast hits. How about no flying or grappling at first. After that, no holding back?” Rainbow replied, looking even more excited.

I nodded, feeling the building tension that comes before a match, “Sounds good to me, Rainbow. Shall we?”

Rainbow Dash gave me a confident smirk and jumped into the air to do a circuit before landing in the middle of the hay bale ring, waiting for me.

I turned to Twilight and leaned down to give her another kiss on the cheek, “Alright, my Purple Angel. Time for the protective spell. And thank you again for helping us do this more safely than it would have been otherwise. We can read together for the rest of the day later, if you like. Sound good?”

Twilight gave me a gentle, if somewhat tense smile, “I like the sound of that, Vojin. Please be careful, ok?”

With a short nod to her, I turned and headed to face off with Rainbow Dash. The crowd was getting noisy again as the excitement built around a spectacle that has probably never been seen in Equestria before. A human and a pony in a martial arts match.

Once I was in a decent place across from Rainbow Dash, I stopped and stood straight. With my left hand straight and fingers together, my right fist pressed into the palm as I bowed my head to my blue pegasus opponent. Rainbow Dash looked momentarily surprised before giving me a bow of her own.

We each took a fighting stance as the crowd became quiet, unmoving as we stared each other down. Some unspoken signal occurred and Rainbow Dash sprang at me with a yell, aiming for my chin. I rolled myself back from her hoof as she leapt, passing me by less than an inch, impressed by her speed and jumping ability even more than I’d anticipated.

Before I could make a response, another yell and she was kicking at my leg trying to trip me. She clipped my foot as I leapt into the air to avoid it as I tried to get a feel for her style. Rainbow Dash spun her other hind leg up for a kick as she shifted her weight in a surprising show of agility, forcing me to block with an arm to keep it from catching my ribs.

Following her momentum, I threw a strike of my own as my other hand aimed to catch her in the middle. She managed to adjust herself enough to deflect it, grinning as she threw another hoof in my direction as we traded strikes and blocks in rapid succession. While I was ducking lower to attempt another strike, she caught me by surprise with her speed again and finally landed a decent hit to my cheek. The protective spell did it’s job, though it still stung a bit. Both of us were grinning slightly as we jumped back and slowly circled each other.

“I’m impressed at how fast you can move, Rainbow. Guess you claim the first hit.” I said, studying her movements as she studied mine.

“You’re not too bad yourself, Vojin. Guess you can’t quite keep up with me though. You better get ready for more cause I’m just getting warmed up!” Rainbow Dash replied, smirking.

She gave another yell and took another shot at me but I slipped around her hoof again and brought a front thrust kick past her and caught her side, sending her tumbling away. Rainbow Dash rolled right back up and seemed to have a momentary look of surprise before she grinned even more and charged back at me.

On and on we went, circling each other and meeting for a flurry of strikes and blocks. Rainbow Dash caught me a number of times and sending me to the ground or leaving a lingering feel of impact. Often, each was answered by my catching her with something and knocking her back along the grass before we met each other again.

After a minute or two, we were both panting lightly and loving every second of it. It seemed we were fairly well matched against each other. Rainbow Dash was leading me in landing hits, though I had her on sending her tumbling over the ground. Her speed and my greater reach traded off advantages in fractions of a second.

While we circled each other again, I thought it was a good time to escalate the rest of the way, giving a short laugh before speaking, “Ha! This is fun, Rainbow. Ready for some grappling?”

“Heck yeah this is fun! Only if you’re ready for some airborne awesomeness!” Rainbow replied, suddenly jumping into the air at an angle not quite directly at me.

The sudden switch of her direction gave me little room to respond as she cut a different way in seemingly no distance, barely following her new movements off the ground. The second airborne move she pulled, I managed better as I tracked her momentum, though missing an attempt to snag one of her legs.

She seemed to get a bit cocky when I caught her with a high kick as she tried cutting across the air for my head. With what could almost be called a momentary ricochet off the ground, Rainbow Dash was back on her wings and dashing towards me again. With a sudden twist using her momentum and wings, she flipped upside down around a punch I threw at her and gave me a good hoof to the ribs. She caught her hoof against me slightly as she pushed into the hit to change her angle and slipped past me without touching the ground.

As she came back at me again, I dipped and caught one of her forelegs with a hand. Rolling her down with her forward momentum, I tossed her to the ground. Rainbow Dash managed to slip out of my grasp before I could get her into a grapple. She quickly sprang back up and came again.

Both of us were soon breathing heavily. Neither Rainbow Dash, nor myself had managed to gain any solid advantage over each other. The multiple hits we’d landed on each other were testament to how often we traded the advantage and it would leave us both sore in the morning.

Finally after minutes of few openings, Rainbow Dash pulled a fresh maneuver that caught me out of position with a feint and I landed roughly in the grass on my back. She followed up almost as fast and nearly landed on me with a hoof flying to catch me right in the eye before she paused an inch away. Instead, she put her hoof on my chest and gave me a wide grin, gasping for breath a bit as she spoke, “Ok Vojin...you ready to...say uncle yet?”

Before she was able to retreat, I managed to nab her and pull her into a limb lock. She had been able to avoid many and slip out of my attempts to catch her until then. Once we both knew I had her stuck, I released her and flopped to the side onto my back to catch my breath.

“No stopping without...subduing your...opponent, Rainbow… But I think...you got me...more than I...got you...so uncle. Really...good match...” I said, wanting to just lay there next to her while I recovered.

“Totally...awesome… Best fight...I’ve had in...months...” Rainbow Dash replied, in a similar state as I was.

Not long after, I smiled wearily when Twilight came into view and looked down at me. She gave me a slightly exasperated smile in return as she leaned down to nuzzle my cheek a little, though she sounded amused, “Are you two nuts done trying to crack each other open now?”

Rainbow Dash and I glanced at each other and laughed lightly. Looking back to Twilight, I grinned, mostly breathing normally again, “I think we’re done today… I’m probably gonna be sore in the morning...but it was really fun and informative. Talking about a fighting style is really different than experiencing it firsthand.”

“You aren’t going to make a habit of this, are you, Vojin?” Twilight eyed me, seeming to still be worried about me sparring with Rainbow Dash.

I only smiled more and shook my head, “Not going to be a habit, Purple Angel. Now and then, it’s good to have an opponent. Keeps your skills sharper. Though I think I wanna sleep in tomorrow…”

Twilight giggled faintly before nuzzling me as I lay on the grass, “I like that idea. Once you feel like you can get up, shall we head for the cafe and get some lunch? I’m sure you and Rainbow Dash worked up an appetite from all that.”

“Oh man, I could really go for some lunch after all that! I might even want a double order!” Rainbow Dash said, slowly rolling upright.

I grinned and motioned for Twilight to step back a little. Once she was far enough, I drew up my legs and kicked out, the momentum carrying me to my feet again. It took some extra effort after that match but nothing a good meal couldn’t fix. Taking some time to stretch myself to prevent any cramps, I looked at Twilight, “Think the other girls saw the match?”

“I guess you’re not so tired, after all. And I haven’t see the rest of the girls other than Pinkie. She actually spoke to me briefly while you were doing your weapon form and it sounded like she has a lot of orders to bake today. Pinkie probably doesn’t have that much time until mid-afternoon when I need to help her with some party decorations. It’s probably just the three of us today.” Twilight replied.

“I was just wondering if they got to watch. We can get going in a moment. Just let me use my morning spell.” I said, seeing Twilight look at me in pleased amusement as I held my hands up and gathered the magic for the cleansing spell, feeling the sweat and dirt falling away as it did it’s work.

Rainbow Dash watched and raised a brow, “What kind of spell was that, Vojin?”

“Just a little trick to clean up after my morning workouts. Twilight came up with most of it and it’s good practice for me. Doesn’t replace a shower though, since it’s very limited and only handles so much.” I replied.

She seemed to think for a second, her hoof rubbing her chin before looking up at me again, “That sounds pretty useful. Think you could use it on me before we go to lunch?”

I smirked at the request, glancing at Twilight briefly, “I don’t see why not. Twilight, it’s fine for casting it on her, right?”

Twilight smiled and gave me a nod, “There shouldn’t be any problem doing that. When I selected the different parts of the spell so it would help your practice despite being such a simple thing, I checked for any unusual mixes of components.”

Considering there were some very nuanced aspects to magic and I was still learning, I tried to be cautious until confirming I was expecting the right effects, going down to one knee close to Rainbow Dash as I looked at her, “Alright then, it should just take a moment.”

Raising my hands close to her, I gathered the magic into the spell and cast it over her. Everything seemed fine at first, but I noticed Rainbow Dash’s expression changing to one of surprise as her mouth slowly opened. The spell appeared to work like it was supposed to, but she had a strange look on her face, seeming very surprised by something at the same time.

Twilight noticed as well, looking at her friend a little anxiously, “Rainbow...did the spell have a side effect or something? You look...surprised somehow.”

After a moment, Rainbow Dash vigorously shook her head a few times and looked at Twilight with a strained smirk, “Not that I noticed. J-Just remembered something I need to take care of after lunch is all.”

“Are you sure that’s all, Rainbow? You seem a little off kilter all of a sudden.” I asked, a little concerned there was an adverse effect somehow despite her denying anything.

“Nope! Fine as can be! Man, I’m hungry too! We better hurry to the cafe before the crowd sets in!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed in a tense tone, though the moment she tried to start trotting forward she moved clumsily, then stumbled and fell over. She picked herself back up quickly and it seemed her legs immediately gave out as she laid on her belly.

“Ok, Rainbow. Now it’s obvious something is wrong. What happened? The spell is only supposed to feel like a sort of wave of water or something as it passes over you while cleaning up workout residue and such. No dodging now, just in case it’s a bigger problem by accident somehow.” I told her as I moved to her side again after she moved forward a bit before collapsing again.

My surprise took a jump when she gasped quietly as my hand touched her shoulder, causing me to jerk it back slightly and get more worried. Twilight quickly moved in front of her, starting to analyze Rainbow Dash’s face and trying to figure out what was wrong.

Much to our surprise, Rainbow Dash’s wings started to tremble as she gave us a forced smile, her breathing a bit faster now, “No, seriously guys! I’m just fine! I think I’ll just skip lunch today and enjoy the park! Yeah, I could really use some time to relax right where I am! No worries about me, go have lunch and I’ll catch up with you two later, ok?”

Twilight and I both reached out to her again, Twilight lifting Rainbow Dash’s chin with a hoof while my hand rested on Rainbow’s shoulder. We were further surprised when Rainbow Dash whined initially, before it grew into a moan she seemed desperate to contain as she started blushing. I didn’t know what to make of it, but Twilight apparently had an idea as she started giggling a little.

“Well, I think I know what happened, Dash. It’s not a very common reaction but you’ll be perfectly fine in a few minutes. We’ll, um...just sit with you until it passes, ok?” Twilight told her, trying to keep herself contained to small giggles while Rainbow Dash groaned in frustration.

“I take it you know what she’s experienced and that it’s not serious?” I said to Twilight, not really putting pieces together as I gave Rainbow Dash’s mane what was meant to be a comforting stroke, instead drawing a quiet throaty moan out of her that turned into a growl of frustration by the end of it, her face blushing a fair bit now as she tried to hide under her hooves.

Giggling a little more than before, Twilight looked at me while motioning me back from Rainbow Dash a little, “Vojin, it’s best if you don’t touch her right now. She’s fine, but it will take a couple minutes to go away.”

Glancing back at Twilight, I raised a brow curiously as I moved my hand away from Rainbow Dash, “So what’s going on then?”

She motioned for me to come closer, once I had gotten near enough for her to whisper, Twilight giggled again as she spoke quietly, “It’s a type of hypersensitivity. Basically, the slightest touch or sensation is going to make Rainbow increasingly aroused. It should pass soon.”

Blinking a bit, I quirked a brow at Rainbow Dash as I suppressed the urge to laugh, “I’m sorry Rainbow. I didn’t know that could happen.”

Rainbow Dash just grumbled quietly, trying not to move as she waited for her current situation to end. Her wings hadn’t stopped trembling since they started and I thought I could detect her body quivering a little. It was certainly a bit embarrassing but Twilight and I certainly couldn’t leave her alone in such a state. I needed to remember about that spell effect though and study it later. It could prove interesting in the right situation.

A couple minutes went by and Rainbow Dash eventually lifted her head, still blushing a decent amount, and looked at Twilight and I with a strained expression, “Ugh...I think it’s over. At least I kept my wings down.”

“Are you ok, Rainbow?” Twilight asked her.

“Kinda but I think I better go home for now. I...uh, well after that I think I need to be alone for a bit.,” Rainbow Dash replied, then whispered in case any nearby ponies might hear, “Oh man! Now I really wish I had a stallion right now. I’m not feeling hyper-whatever you called it but...I need to go calm down so I don’t...uh, attack anypony...or maybe even Vojin. Nnrg, sorry I have to bail like this.”

I simply kept my mouth shut and grinned, thinking it best to let Twilight handle it as she nodded to Rainbow Dash, “I understand, Rainbow. I’m sorry you had to experience that.”

Rainbow Dash nodded, looking between us, though her eyes were a bit smoky and lingered on me enough to make me feel a bit of tension, “I’ll catch you guys later. You’re really lucky, Twilight. See ya around.”

We watched Rainbow Dash take to the air and shoot through the sky towards her house of clouds without further delay. I had gotten used to the faint short-lived rainbow-colored contrail she left in the sky when flying fast enough.

I looked at Twilight to see her still giggling a little and giving me a sly look. A hand rubbed the back of my neck, still kneeling next to her, “Uh...how did that happen, Twilight? I didn’t do anything unusual…”

“I have to think about it for a bit, but it might have something to do with the uniqueness of your own magic. It should just be a fluke event though, so don’t worry about it too much. Rainbow will be fine.” Twilight said, still amused by the whole situation.

“Honestly, I’m glad it wasn’t Fluttershy or Rarity. They might have fainted from embarrassment or something.” I added, getting to my feet as we started heading for the cafe.

“Oh my gosh! If it was Fluttershy, she’d never come out of her cottage for at least a month!” Twilight exclaimed, giggling again but suddenly stopped walking, a hoof frozen mid-step.

Raising a brow as I stopped and looked at her, “Something pop into your mind, Purple Angel?”

The sly grin she got and the glance at me she made made me suspicious, also noticing a hidden gleeful sense of mischief through our link, her tone a bit more playful than before, “Oh nothing...just thought of something I need to remember later is all.”

With a small chuckle, I spoke quietly, “You weren’t thinking of a specific spell effect you wanted to try and cast on me secretly...were you?”

Twilight blushed slightly, but otherwise maintained her facade of calm, “Of course not. I just had an idea I wanted to experiment with at some point, that’s all. Why in Equestria would you think I’d be plotting something?”

“I see. Maybe I won’t talk about an idea I had a minute ago for possibly the same thing then. I also see you blushing and our link is giving you away, Purple Angel. We think too much alike sometimes…” I replied, chuckling a bit more as I stroked her mane with my fingers, seeing her blush deepen as she gave me a sheepish grin.

We got to the cafe without further interruption but saw it was packed as we got near. It was an easy choice to head to the local diner that Pinkie worked at as a second job instead for some veggie burgers. Thankfully, even though the diner was pretty full too, their service was swift and we just took our food back to the library, an extra order for Spike included.

After enjoying our meal in the comfort of our own home with Spike, we settled in for some more reading. There were lots of additional things we both wanted to read up on after how the morning had gone and had lots of hours in the day left to do just that. Twilight snuggled up with me on the couch, her back against my stomach. My right hand rested on her chest while I held my book with my left, turning pages with levitation and feeling content.

Author's Notes:

Pardon the delay. As I noted at the end of the chapter, writer's block decided to dance around me like Loki with a rubber band gatling gun, taunting me and flinging stuff at me at random. I need to move forward for now.

Hope y'all enjoy Rainbow Dash sparring with Vojin. I think I can improve upon it, but it feels alright for the most part.

As always, comments and critiques are welcome. Just use your damned brain. :P

Edit 12/6/2014: Reviewed, revised, refined a little more. Only small details tweaked and moved certain things further into suggestive than overt territory. Not sure when or if I'll come back to this like I thought I would.

Bk 1 Ch 10: Weirdness & Ancient Shadows

Groaning quietly as my capacity to process reality returned, my eyes didn’t stop rolling around in my head for several seconds and I felt things I was not expecting. Why exactly I felt like I had a large bar pressed against my stomach as if I were draped over something, I couldn’t say. My head just lolled around a little as I hung there, getting my dizziness back under control. I didn’t really even want to think about why I felt like I had a full body sunburn or got singed by a campfire flare up just yet. Fix dizzy brains first, then maybe aloe vera. Ugh.

I slowly opened my eyes as the world began spinning less. I was expecting things to look upside down with my current position, though I was not expecting to discover I was on a sturdy tree branch a fair distance from the ground. Deciding to wait for my head to stop spinning properly before trying to move, I just let myself hang there.

While my head gradually finished settling down, I heard Twilight yelling up at me, growing louder as she galloped towards my unusual perch. With care, and some wincing at how uncomfortable it was getting to be draped over a branch like I was, I repositioned into a more stable and comfortable position as I leaned back against the trunk.

“Vojin! Are you alright up there?! Please tell me you’re not hurt!” Twilight said, sounding a bit panicked.

I looked down at her, frowning as I waved and called back down to her, “I’m alright. No idea how that happened though. Can I trouble you to levitate me back down, Purple Angel?”

She quickly settled her spell over me and I smoothly descended from the tree to sit on the ground in front of her. The billowing aura of her magic fading from her horn as I let myself just lay back in the grass and stare up at the branch I was just on.

"Well, I guess I now have my own first time teleportation story, don't I?" I said with a quiet sigh, looking up at Twilight with a bemused expression.

Twilight smiled and gave a faint giggle as she lay down on her belly next to me, "I wasn't expecting you to land in a tree but I see you got the singed look just fine. How do you feel?"

Stretching up a hand, I tenderly brushed her cheek with the back of my fingers, chuckling lightly, "Other than knowing I just need to try again, I feel the phrase ‘extra crispy’ is quite fitting right now.”

“Extra crispy? What makes you say that?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Just another Earth saying. It came from a place that sold cooked chicken and one of the ways they prepared it was actually called extra crispy due to a crunchy coating it had. Although most anything overcooked or burnt around the outside could also qualify. Like me, for example…” I replied, smirking a little.

Twilight nuzzled my cheek, “Well, I’m just glad you weren’t really hurt. Often, when unicorns try teleporting themselves for the first time and wind up far off the ground, they get injured from the resulting fall. And you see why I refused to let you cast it until we were in a safe enough space in case you overdid it like this. I’m actually surprised you teleported yourself almost half a mile and landed in a tree.”

“Am I going to be allowed to forget this happened anytime soon?” I asked her, smirking as I looked into those lovely purple eyes of hers.

Twilight leaned down and gave me a peck on the lips, grinning, “Maybe you will, or maybe I’ll be sure to bring it up whenever I deem it amusing.”

I sighed dramatically, drawing another giggle from her. The way her eyes danced as she laughed always seemed to leave me unable to look away. Rolling to my side, I wrapped her in my arms and pulled her against my chest, the two of us nuzzling briefly before simply enjoying the cuddle.

Despite the rather inglorious landing and discovering the meaning behind a unicorn saying about teleportation being strange the first time, I felt myself slowly grin wide at having actually accomplished my first self-teleport. Plenty of room for improvement, but I had just stepped into a whole new world of spells and applications. For now though, maybe a bit more practice and only trying to teleport across several yards until I stopped missing my target or was left disoriented.

We relaxed together for a few minutes, intending to review soon and I’d make another attempt, when I began feeling a presence not far away. I had found my martial training in detecting the presence of others had been amplified a bit as I gained strength in unicorn magic. I was trying to teach Twilight, though I knew it was a process of years. Taking my time, I let my senses find the direction and anything else I could discern.

For whatever reason, the feeling I got was scrambled and constantly shifting. The direction seemed to be in the vicinity of Fluttershy’s cottage as well, which left me a little concerned. I kept trying to get a better sense of the presence, but only found it continuing to shift. Whatever it was, it was a strong entity to catch my attention from so far away. Finally deciding it wouldn’t hurt to check on Fluttershy on the off chance something was wrong, I disentangled myself from Twilight and started getting up.

She complained a little at being disturbed when she was so comfy, looking up at me after a moment with a small pout, “Can’t we cuddle for a bit longer?”

I chuckled softly at the adorable look she directed at me, grinning, “I’d love to, Purple Angel, but I sense something not far away. A very odd presence but a powerful one, in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage. Mind if we go check on her, just to be safe?”

Twilight got to her feet and stretched a little, nodding, “I was wondering why you got up so soon. If you think we better check on her though, then let’s get going. We can’t nap the whole day away, after all.”

“Well, we could but between my studies and your set of duties as a princess, things will need our attention eventually. Maybe we could come up with a time stop bubble spell of some kind that we can cast and just snuggle for a few hours whenever we want and not worry. Hmm...actually, we might be able to eventually with the two of us casting.” I grinned as we started walking across the large field towards Fluttershy’s cottage on the far side.

She laughed softly in amusement, grinning up at me as she fell into step beside me, “I think we’ll have to look into it. At least we could manage a time dilation effect. You’re still a lot of studying away from time spells though, so we’ll have to put it away for another time.”

The walk across the field took us a few minutes, transitioning into more of a meadow as we neared the cottage. Just as we crested a hill and laid eyes on it, I felt how strong the magic presence was. Nothing looked amiss as we neared Fluttershy’s place though and I was trying to figure out why I sensed something so scrambled and always shifting coming from there.

I slowed my walk a little as we crossed the small bridge in front of Fluttershy’s cottage, Twilight staying with me as she looked around cautiously. We reached the door shortly and still didn’t notice anything, so I knocked as I started to think I might be mistaken somehow.

Fluttershy called from inside, soon opening the door and looking at Twilight and I with a bit of surprise. She smiled softly after a moment though, voice quiet as ever, “Oh hello, Twilight. Hello, Vojin. What brings the two of you to my cottage?”

“I hope we’re not interrupting anything, Fluttershy. I just detected a strange presence coming from your cottage and thought it wouldn’t hurt to check on you, just to be sure nothing was wrong.” I replied.

She seemed further surprised and a little confused, “I haven’t noticed anything strange, or at least I don’t think anything strange has happened. Well, maybe nothing strange that wasn’t just Discord trying to make me laugh. He’s visiting today for a late lunch and conversation. Would the two of you like to come inside? We already finished eating but I can make you something. It’s no trouble, really.”

Twilight smiled and shook her head a little, “Oh no thank you, Fluttershy. We had lunch earlier, but since Discord is here, would it be ok if he meets Vojin?”

“I know a bit about Discord. Now there’s a character I’ve been wanting to meet for a while. Though we can come back later if you want to enjoy his visit between just the two of you, Fluttershy.” I said, quite curious how Discord would react to me or what sorts of tricks he’d try to pull. Him visiting Fluttershy also explained the unusual presence I was sensing.

Fluttershy just smiled a bit more brightly and stepped aside, waving us in with a hoof, “I think he’s going to love meeting you, Vojin. I don’t mind the extra company at all. Please come in, both of you. This is the first time he’s visited since you came to Equestria and I haven’t had a chance to tell him about you yet.”

We entered her cottage, our steps thumping quietly on the wood floor as we made our way inside. Once she shut the door, Fluttershy led us towards the dining table where she was having tea with Discord.

As I considered how he would react, I also wondered how I should react towards him myself. I figured with how off the wall he always seemed, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to mess with him a little but eventually dismissed the thought as it was Fluttershy’s home and Discord was her guest. Another time, it might be fun to see if I could trick him into letting me stretch him like taffy until he was thin enough to be rope to twirl around. Despite his often irritating social tendencies, he was always enjoyably kooky to me, after all.

“Discord, we have some visitors and you really should meet Vojin. He’s from another world.” Fluttershy called out to Discord softly, though somehow her voice carried well.

We heard Discord’s voice call back before we rounded the corner, “Another world? Fascinating! I do hope your visitors have a sense of humor. So many of you ponies are just so unappreciative of my wonderful comedic style. Though you get a pass my dear Fluttershy. I simply can’t bring myself to play tricks on you anymore. Have I mentioned again that I’m sorry for filling your fridge with tomato sauce and having it burp explosively when you opened it last month yet?”

That made Twilight and I glance at each other in surprise, though I couldn’t help the grin at the mental image that gave me. The sight that greeted me upon laying eyes on the self-styled master of chaos was not something anyone would forget for a lifetime.

Discord was juggling what seemed to be one of his legs, part of his tail, a wing, and his head. He suddenly froze, dropping himself on the floor as his eyes widened as he stared at me in surprise. His head landed on the floor upside down, then a flash of light and he was back to his version of normal.

“A human?! Why, I haven’t seen one of your kind in several thousand years! Has the rift expired so soon? Oh, I am just so excited!” Discord exclaimed, tying his neck in a knot for whatever reason.

“You’ve met humans before?” Fluttershy asked, looking quite surprised.

“Oh I certainly have! It was most entertaining to see their reactions to my lovely chaos realm. So confused! And to think they had as much magic as unicorns but not able to see how nice I had made things back then. Such a shame.” Discord went on, appearing next to me with several flashes as he blinked around to look at me from different angles.

Once he had stopped and stood in front of me, I held out a hand with a smirk, “So good to finally meet you, Discord. How has life been treating you now that you’ve reformed a little?”

The grin that appeared on his face was delighted as he grasped my head in his paws and shook it vigorously, “Quite well, my good human! How in Equestria are you familiar with me already? Has my wonderful self been made famous on Earth after all this time?”

After a second to regain my senses after having myself throttled a bit, I quirked a brow at him and chuckled slightly, “Not to disappoint you but nobody on Earth knows about you outside of a cartoon show. Long story. How exactly have you met humans before?”

Discord flashed back to his seat at the table and daintily picked up his tea, without the teacup, calmly drinking as if he were holding a cup despite it still sitting on the table in front of him as he flashed a grin, “Oh, it was quite a long time ago, even before I was imprisoned in stone all those years ago. Dreadful experience. So very boring. The humans I met though were such silly things. Calling me a trickster god most of the time. Rather accurate, of course! They all seemed to be magicians or wizards of some kind and now and then one would discover how to open a dimensional portal, finding themselves here. I traded some magic with a man at one point after I was most impressed by his wonderfully chaotic ideas. He was positively, delightfully insane! We discussed a few things and I learned that apparently, Earth was falling under a great mana rift that was sucking away most of the magic on Earth to I don’t know where! Such a rare event, they are... I always wondered how long it would be until another human appeared, though you seem to be a bit early. Has the rift already faded?”

Twilight and I glanced at each other, not knowing anything about a mana rift. I turned my eyes back to Discord, a little confused, “I didn’t come here intentionally. Kind of an unexpected event, really. Another long story. I also don’t have any idea what you’re talking about. What is a mana rift?”

The perplexed look on his face said a few things, though when one of his arms flashed above his head to scratch idly at the base of one of his horns, the whole thing seemed even more absurd, “No idea what a rift is and didn’t come to Equestria on purpose? Well those rifts usually last more than ten thousand years. But whatever! You simply must tell me what brings you by today while I am visiting with dear Fluttershy.”

“Twilight and I were not far away doing a bit of magic practice. I sensed a strong and unusual presence in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage and we decided to check on her just in case something was wrong. It would seem it was you that I sensed. You know, you give off a very scrambled presence.” I replied with a lopsided smirk, finding his behavior refreshing, though the jury was still out on how much one could take for an extended period.

“A scrambled presence you say? Oh, whatever has become of me?! There was a time I was told I seemed absolutely chaotic!,” he held the back of a paw to his forehead in a mock swoon.

“You’re more scrambled than eggs in a pan, I’ll give you that. Besides, isn’t chaos rather scrambled? Regardless of the words used, you’re still nuttier than a forest of walnut trees. And rather entertaining.” I said with a chuckle.

Discord grinned in delight, his eyebrows lifting up and continuing an inch over his head, "Oh goodness! Me rather entertaining? I do believe you have a sense of humor! And chaos IS fun when scrambled, or stirred up, heavily mixed, confusing, incomprehensible, totally bananas, and chock full of hiccuping pickles!"

Twilight, Fluttershy and I watched him emphasizing each word with increasingly exaggerated displays of them. He actually reached up and out of thin air, pulled down a pickle with a mouth that was the size of a large watermelon, which promptly began hiccuping for a couple seconds before it flashed away again. Glancing at both Twilight and Fluttershy, I could see they were a little lost. All I could do was chuckle quietly with a lopsided grin.

“Well, I suppose you have a point.” I replied, just taking it in stride best I could, knowing it was just how Discord was.

Fluttershy poured some tea for Twilight and I as we all sat down at the table and enjoyed some conversation. Occasionally, Discord and I even traded a bit of banter. Earth also had a lot of wildly strange things that I guessed gave me a small bit of preparation for dealing with the master of chaos. I enjoyed the chance to stop trying to be coherent and let some of my stranger thought trains have a run. It went on almost an hour.

“I suppose Twilight and I should get back to magic practice. It has been a rather bonkers sort of experience meeting you, Discord. Thank you for the tea, Fluttershy. Twilight and I will see you tomorrow for lunch as planned.” I said with a smile as Discord put his body back together after demonstrating something he called a ‘noodle dance’ that doesn’t really have words to describe accurately, though pasta was involved. Animated, colorful, plaid, paisley and polka-dot pasta.

Fluttershy smiled and got up with us, moving to give Twilight a hug first, then one to me as I kneeled to make it easier for her. Discord had one of his paws hop across the table and hover in the air, which I shook as if he were standing in front of me, mostly adjusted to his more simple quirks by now.

“I’ll be looking forward to seeing the two of you tomorrow. And I know you said you’re not ready for a pet just now, but I’m really excited to help you find one when you are, Vojin.” Fluttershy said, a little more enthusiastic since I mentioned I was thinking about possibly seeking a pet in the near future during the earlier conversations.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll have a little friend that will work well for me, Fluttershy. I’ll let you know when I think I’m ready.” I told her, almost tempted to indulge one of her great passions without waiting.

Twilight smiled, “It was really good to see you, Fluttershy. And I think you’re getting better, Discord.”

The master of chaos grinned, puffing up a little, though it was a somewhat uniform inflating like he was part balloon for a moment before deflating again, “You must thank dear Fluttershy for that. She somehow makes me want to be a better friend. Ta ta!”

Twilight and I finished our goodbyes and trekked back across the field to where we were practicing earlier, still having plenty of time in the day. I hoped to have mostly gotten a handle on self-teleportation by the time we finished.

“So what did you think of Discord?” Twilight asked, glancing at me as we walked.

I smirked, letting out a short laugh, “Very strange. Certainly a character I could appreciate having around, though maybe not too much. He seems to be a lot to take after a while.”

“Well, ever since Fluttershy helped him realize he could enjoy friendship, he has been doing better. He still likes to annoy and frustrate us a little much at times, but it’s not as bad as it used to be. Although Pinkie Pie seems to get under his skin, rather than the other way around. I still haven’t really figured that out yet.” Twilight noted, looking thoughtful.

“It sounds like he’s really trying to be a friend, at least in his own way. Pinkie probably frustrates him because she’s almost impossible to upset or get anything but enthusiasm out of.” I added, feeling the peacefulness of the open field seeping into me again after the past hour’s strange moments.

Once we got back to the area we had been practicing earlier, Twilight stopped and looked up at me with a smirk, “Are you ready to try teleporting without surprises this time?”

Grinning back at her, I chuckled slightly, “Willing to and ready to are different things, I fear. Any advice now that you’ve had time to think about what I was doing wrong?”

“Well for starters, you were thinking of two destinations at once, if I have it right. You know how subtle things can be sometimes, but you also overcharged the spell a little and gave yourself a little too much distance as a result. And don’t forget to include your intended orientation. Think you can adjust from that?” Twilight smiled, looking at me hopefully.

I nodded, returning her smile before turning a little and focusing on a spot in the grass a few yards ahead of myself as I gathered the magic I needed more carefully. The billowing white aura covering my hands as I held them a few inches apart in front of myself again, working to lock my mind into the spell.

A flash and momentary sound happened as I cast. My head was spinning a bit again, though I managed to stay standing. Once I had a moment to clear my head, I straightened and turned around to look at Twilight. She was a several yards away now and clearly looked proud, which told me I was fairly successful. After a moment, she walked over to me, smiling the whole time.

“You almost had that one right on target, Vojin. I’ll bet by next week, you’ll be capable of teleporting yourself almost on demand. Try it again a few more times and see if you can actually land on the spot you were aiming for.” Twilight said, beaming at me.

Leaning over, I kissed the top of her head and brushed my fingertips over her cheek before straightening again, “I’m just fortunate to have a good instructor. How much energy do you think I’ve burned?”

She giggled softly, showing me a sly smile, “Not too much. With some more practice, it should be fairly efficient like I cast it. I’m still wondering about what kind of reserves you actually carry though. Sometime soon, we should try to see what you’re capable of in more extended, strenuous casting. It’s always important to know how much you can really draw upon so you don’t cast something you suddenly have to undo, only to find you ran out of magic in that moment.”

“Think trying to levitate something massive or a lot of things at once would do it?” I asked her.

“I think it could, although with your magic being on a similar strength with mine, I’m not sure if we would have enough to levitate. We could always try the lightning spells you’re ready to start learning, now that you can teleport. They tend to draw a lot of magic until you master them enough. Now try teleporting again. I want to see you teleport back to me as soon as you can cast it again, ok?” Twilight said with a relaxed smile, looking eager to see my progress.

With a nod, I went through the process of casting teleport on myself again. Another flash and moment of sound, I was several yards away again, almost on target that time and turned around to look at Twilight. I was a little less disoriented but still let my head clear for a second before starting to cast again.

In a flash and moment of sound, I reappeared next to her again, though I promptly fell over both from being dizzy and landing a little tilted. Landing on my side with an ‘oof’ as she turned around, giving me a patient smile and rolling her eyes a little. I propped my head up on my hand, elbow on the grass as I gave her a sheepish grin. “I think I was forgetting orientation again…”

Twilight giggled warmly and kissed my cheek, “At least you were sweet enough not to land on me. A few more times and I think that’s enough for today. You’ve been doing really well.”

“Well, I guess a few more times it is. Is my teacher impressed with her student?” I gave her a cheeky grin.

She giggled a bit more, “Very impressed. You won’t get any reward if you don’t get it right though, so let’s see you do it again.”

I quirked a brow, a little curious as my grin slowly grew, “A reward, you say? Why teacher, whatever do you mean to reward me with if I pass your test?”

Her eyes danced as she gave me a look out of the corner of her eye as she turned to one side, “You won’t find out unless you pass my test. You wouldn’t want to disappoint me, would you?”

“Well then I will try harder! Please tell this humble student what he must do.” I said, trying not to chuckle at the impromptu game we fell into.

“I want you to teleport yourself to the top of that hill, then back here without moving your body. Quick as you can.” Twilight said as she pointed with her hoof, her eyes now half-lidded as she grinned, fighting a laugh of her own.

“Yes teacher!” I replied, already gathering magic again as I turned my eyes to the hill she indicated.

I teleported myself onto the grass on top of the hill, almost right where I intended as I remained stretched out on the grass. My eyes turned a bit to look at Twilight again, seeing her watching intently as I gathered my magic again for another move.

A flash and moment of sound once again, I was laying next to Twilight again. Almost smooth in my landing, only a moderate level of disorientation this time as I learned how to adjust my mind to the effects.

Twilight’s eyes danced even more as she turned to look at me more directly, leaning down a little and looking into my eyes with a sly grin, “Very good. I think you passed this time. Would you like your reward now?”

“Yes teacher.” I struggled not to laugh even as I started to feel pleasantly anxious, feeling I knew what she would reward me with.

She hummed as her grin widened before pressing her lips to mine, slowly leaning more into it as she started to make out with me. Her hoof pressed against my shoulder and she pushed me onto my back, following me down until she was partly laying on my chest, off to one side a little as she deepened the kiss.

My arms wrapped around her soon after, pulling her closer. A hand against the back of her head as we continued, occasionally letting our tongues dance together. Minutes passed as we enjoyed each other’s company. She stroked my cheek with a hoof as my other hand traced her spine, eventually pulling back again and smiling at each other, feeling relaxed.

Smirking a bit mischievously, I rubbed noses with her, “Is it a bad time to mention I’ve got a crush on my teacher?”

Twilight giggled faintly, “Only if my ‘student’ doesn’t mind me having a crush on him.”

“Shall we make up for lost cuddles from earlier, Purple Angel?” I asked her after we stared into each other’s eyes for a minute or two.

Her smile broadened and she quickly nuzzled into my neck and settled in a little closer, letting out a contented sigh. Her answer was obvious and I nosed into her mane a little, giving her a tender squeeze before taking a slow deep breath of her scent that still reminded me of lightning and learning.

***

The next day, as we were walking towards Zecora’s place after having lunch with Fluttershy to pick up some tea that Twilight loved, I found myself thinking about the looming shadows of the future again. Twilight and I tried not to worry about it too much, but it was hard not to think about sometimes It was going to be a trying time for this peaceful land. Again hoping Equestria could hold onto the tender innocence it was thriving in.

While I made one more mental cycle through different exercises and techniques I could practice in hope of being as prepared as I might be, I started to get a strange feeling. Like we were being watched as we strolled along the path in the Everfree Forest. It was faint though, and didn’t give much impression so I let it sit in the back of my thoughts.

The Everfree Forest had quite a reputation of being a scary place, though for myself, aside from creatures like cragodiles and timber wolves, not much different from Earth’s forests. Birds still chirped and leaves still rustled in a pleasantly natural backdrop as Twilight and I made our way under the forest canopy.

Eventually, we saw Zecora’s place come into view. The assortment of tribal masks she had decorating her place always gave me a quiet smile for the interesting look it gave her tree home. Once we reached the door, Twilight knocked lightly.

A brief moment after, Zecora opened her door with a smile, “Ah, now my friends have come to me, looking to obtain some special tea. I trust you are both well this day, nothing troubled you as you made your way?” Zecora beckoned us inside and closed her door.

“We had a nice walk along the path, Zecora. How are you doing today?” Twilight replied, watching as the zebra went to a shelf and picked up a small bag of what was likely the tea for Twilight.

“My days are relaxed as they usually are. Might I ask you both stay a bit, having come this far?” Zecora said, her rhyming speech was always pleasant to listen to.

Remembering the tea she shared last time, I smiled, “Do you have some of that minty soothing tea available, Zecora? It was very nice last time we stopped by.”

She gave a soft laugh, looking at me and then Twilight, “It will be easy to provide such brew. Is that same tea alright with you?”

“It sounds lovely. Were you able to find that darkthistle yet? I can still bring you some. I know it’s a bit rare, but Princess Celestia can always have some sent to me. It’s no trouble.” Twilight replied.

Unexpectedly, Zecora sighed quietly, sounding a bit unhappy, “I fear the herb that I sought, but it is not so easily caught. I found a large plant just the other day and discovered timber wolves bar my way.”

“They been giving you more trouble lately?” I asked, raising a brow.

Zecora set out the pleasant minty tea for us at the small table, frowning a bit, “Not so much as it might sound, but strangely there have been far more around.”

Twilight looked at her with concern, “Are you feeling safe out here? You know you’re always welcome to stay with me or the other girls if you needed to. Any idea why they’ve been so active?”

“I thank you for the offer you suggest, though hope I’ll not need to make such request. The wolves have seemed active of late, but a reason why I still debate.” Zecora said before sipping her tea calmly.

“Do you think they’re becoming a more pressing threat to Ponyville? We can always call in the Royal Guards to drive them off again if it’s getting bad enough.” I spoke quietly, taking a whiff of the tea’s aroma before having a sip myself.

“I cannot yet tell if they would depart the Everfree, though currently their number has begun to worry me. Usually they are only a sparing few, but now large packs could be after you.” Zecora intoned, genuine worry in her eyes.

Twilight thought for a bit, sipping her tea before frowning, “Zecora, do you have any ideas on why they’ve been more common? And have they been acting any differently than usual?”

She looked at her tea for a moment of thinking before looking at us again, “I fear they have been appearing more angry, and their tracking is starting to keep up with me. In my home, I am quite safe, but departing for supplies, my nerves now chafe.”

That made me frown deeply, staring into my tea for a long moment before leveling my eyes at her firmly, “Zecora, you’re coming back to Ponyville with us today. Something doesn’t feel right and you’re one of the stealthiest ponies I’ve met. If they’re starting to notice when you’re out and about when they are usually oblivious, along with seeming unusually agitated, I’ll not let you be out here alone. I won’t force you to come with us of course, but I feel like you need to come with us for the time being. It’ll be best to travel together anyway. We can help you pack your cart and bring what we can.”

Zecora seemed to sag, nodding slightly before looking back at me, “To be honest about this situation I am in, I confess it is an argument I could not win. Even though things started growing worse rather slow, the rate it has worsened has left me a tomorrow I do not know.”

Twilight touched my hand with her hoof, giving me a faint smile of appreciation before turning back to Zecora, “I’ll send a letter to Celestia and let her know about the timber wolf problem getting worse. Hopefully, we’ll be able to calm everything down fairly soon and figure out why they have been gathering so close to the edge of the Everfree Forest.”

The three of us were mostly quiet as we sipped our tea, glad it was a calming brew even more than before. I thought back to the presence I’d felt, like Twilight and I were being watched as we were on our way over. It seemed perhaps there was more going on than a passing sensation and may have been one of the wolves eyeing us from a distance.

We helped Zecora get her cart ready and loaded with the things she felt she needed to bring once we finished the tea. I was glad she understood and didn’t argue, as difficult as it is to be forced away from one’s own home. Twilight and I mostly just loaded the cart with whatever Zecora brought us just outside the door. The zebra gave a heavy sigh as she hooked herself into the cart, giving one more mournful look at her home before we started walking down the path back to Ponyville. I was now on high alert, keeping Twilight between me and the cart.

“Twilight, if you will kindly indulge me, I’d like you to teleport my sword to us. The tag spell should still be active, right?” I said quietly, not detecting anything but constantly scanning my eyes around, watching the trees around us. I had started placing a minor tag spell on my sword every few days as another method to practice with a different form of spell. It was intended for me to teleport it myself now and then once I had learned how to do so reliably to practice remote spell sensing, though now it was a helpful safeguard. My intuition was giving me some warning signs not long after we departed for Ponyville.

“Just give me a second…” Twilight replied cautiously, sounding just as troubled as I was.

Her horn glowed for a second as she searched out the tag spell and my broadsword flashed into view before us soon after. She levitated it over to me and I took it in hand, pulling it free of the scabbard. I slipped the scabbard into a free spot in Zecora’s cart and rested the flat of the blade on my shoulder as we walked, taking some comfort in being armed now.

A few minutes later, I began feeling like we were being watched again. This time, it felt like several sets of eyes were following us and my hope of being lucky enough to pass without trouble was looking increasingly unlikely.

As the sensation of eyes felt closer, I nudged Twilight with my free left hand, voice low, “We’re being watched, Twilight. If we do encounter timber wolves, I want you to focus on keeping Zecora and yourself defended. Do that so I won’t have to worry about the two of you. I’ll handle the rest, alright?”

Both of them glanced nervously at me and Twilight gulped, but nodded, her own voice as low as mine, “I will, Vojin. Should we run for it or stop?”

My eyes were back to scanning the trees, “Don’t try running unless I tell you to. They aren’t natural, but still might be encouraged to chase you if you start to run. I haven’t had a chance to study them yet. What do you know about them and their origins?”

Twilight’s voice was fearful, but she pushed through it, “N-not natural. Nopony is quite sure how long ago they appeared but it dates back to a time when necromantic magic was still getting some exploration by fringe unicorns. Who made them is unknown as far as I know, but they broke free of their enslavement spells and killed their creator. They have no known weaknesses and rebuild themselves within a few minutes of being smashed apart. Most spells tend to slide right off of them, even being able to break through most shield spells with a little time. Permanently stopping them requires entrapment and a high level banishing spell to disperse the magic that they’re made of. They….they feed on...living creatures. Drawing out life energy as they bite and tear, even though they don’t actually consume the bodies of their victims. M-maybe I should try to teleport us back to Ponyville.”

“We’re still too far away, Twilight. You know that. Alicorn strength or not, you could only manage it for yourself, but not all three of us. We’ll be back in Ponyville before you could charge up enough magic to do it at this range. What spells have been found not to bounce right off? Focus on counters, it helps fight the fear.” I told her, the feeling of being watched was starting to give way to detecting the unsettling presence I guessed was a pack approaching us from behind and to one side.

Twilight’s voice shook a little but steeled herself a bit more every time I spoke calmly, “W-well, you can hit them with kinetic force that isn’t purely made of magic. Like levitating a rock and hitting them with it. Fire magic works, but it causes an explosion most of the time and isn’t going to be good for us in close quarters. I-If you cut or break off part of them, it still takes a few minutes for them to pull it back to themselves. I only know two kinds of shield spells I could use that would keep them at bay indefinitely, but I can’t move while they’re active. The shields also don’t allow other spells to pass through them, so they’re only good for defense.”

“Take care when they have gotten near, even a scratch from them will make you fear. I once made a most narrow escape, when through a cut on my leg did my life they nearly take.” Zecora added.

“Alright. Twilight, gather magic to yourself either for a shield or other spell that can be useful, but focus on the shield first. I’m more prepared to fight than the two of you. The presence I feel nearby is numerous and close. I don’t think we’re going to reach the edge of the forest without trouble, so please remember to shield yourself and Zecora first. Be good to have some transmutation spells in my repertoire but I’ll make do. And don’t you dare argue with me about this Twilight, but if I tell you to, you will teleport yourself and Zecora to Fluttershy’s cottage. I can do some things easier without you here to distract me. You should have more than enough time to charge up the magic energy for that far with just the two of you. You can then teleport yourself to the library and send Celestia a message if necessary. Is that understood?” I stroked my fingers against her mane as I practically ordered her on what to do.

Twilight gasped faintly in fear, meeting my eyes briefly when I glanced at her before returning to scanning the trees. She looked terrified, with tears in her eyes but she didn’t argue. I could only take it as her acquiescence. My eyes narrowed as I detected the smell of timber wolf breath, guessing I’d hear them shortly.

It was faint, but I heard the sound of slow steps crunching leaves nearby, giving me a gauge to how far away the timber wolves were. They were at best only thirty feet away and clearly stalking us now. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw signs of movement and starting to pick out numbers, frowning as it looked like close to a dozen or so. Large packs indeed.

“Alright, I can see them now. Do not react until I do, then stop and shield immediately. Do not try to assist me if you have to drop the shield. I don’t think they know I spotted them yet so keep walking as if everything is normal. The closer we get to town, the safer all of us are. We will be alright. Let me do the fighting. I am your Guardian, after all.” I spoke calmly, forcing my voice to remain steady so Twilight and Zecora could stay calmer and not panic.

Inside, I was extremely nervous. Magic-resistant, highly dangerous, and several of the large aggregations of random bits of forest shaped like a wolf. Some things I could have lived without going through, but I’d be damned if they were going to so much as touch Twilight as I brought my sword down from my shoulder, holding it in a more ready position. I was also really glad I was wearing my combat boots today. If they were going to move on us, it was going to happen soon.

Then whatever held things back suddenly broke and the timber wolves launched into a rapid charge straight for us as they howled out their attack. I spun to face them as Twilight and Zecora huddled close as the dome-shaped shield of purple-pink light went up over them. I waited the brief moments it took for the pack to run forward, spreading out to surround us even as they rushed in to attack.

As the first came in range, my broadsword brought it’s power to bear as I half sliced, half smashed one’s head so hard it shattered the full body. Following my momentum, a steel-toed boot smashed another apart that was jumping at me right behind it’s fellow. I knew it was unlikely I’d escape unharmed against so many as I whirled, deciding to maintain my momentum as my sword slashed diagonally through another misshapen wooden torso, shattering a third and looking to cause as much damage as possible.

Thankfully, glimpses of them as I whirled gave me the assurance that Twilight’s shield spell was holding them back easily and told me they were safe enough for now. Freeing me to focus more on my attackers. One slipped a bit close for comfort and ripped a gash in my sleeve as I dodged and gave it a thrust kick to send it flying even though it didn’t break it. A sideways leap and spin landed a boot heavily on the back of a head and shattered another.

My blade flew up in an arc and hacked away two front legs, still trying to keep up the whirling momentum but remain close enough to the cart that they couldn’t fully surround me if I could prevent it. A stomp crushed the head of the one missing it’s front legs and took that one out of the fight. I had to throw one to the side as I brought up a hard kick in the opposite direction, unable to do much to either as I was pressed harder, not sure how much time I had before the five flailing against Twilight’s shield spell would be distracted from me.

The wolves were moving a little more together now as they found their prey wasn’t going down easily. Most of their lunges now came in pairs, driving a hammer fist laterally to knock one back as a kick shoved another on the other side. I clipped off a rear leg as I dodged one jumping at me.

I snarled in pain when one managed to graze me with it’s claws across my thigh before I could knock it away. Twilight gasped but didn’t call out, she knew enough not to distract me. The cold burning sensation hurt immensely, but the adrenaline rush kept it at bay for now. I could distantly sense there was a magic element to it, something dark that lingered in the wound. My sword split open another head and the wolf shattered, three legs not giving it enough speed to avoid my attack. I feared my leg wound would soon cause me to slow down as well. If I lost speed now, I was not going to win and the cold burning sensation was already getting stronger.

Dodge, cut, twist, another kick sending one away for a few moments. Despite the set of gashes across my thigh being shallow, the magic of these abominations was draining me. I managed to duck under one as it leapt and chopped both left legs away. It was dramatically less threatening with little mobility. Slamming another one down to the ground, I stomped it’s neck and it shattered.

The last three trying to force their way through Twilight’s shield came after me then. Five and a half left to get through but I could feel my physical strength fading and knew my speed was going down now. With a bit of desperation, I rapidly pulled up my magic and teleported a dozen feet away on the path, only halfway pulling it off as I was forced into a diving roll before getting back to my feet. The dark magic residue in the gashes on my thigh were furiously raging with pain now, apparently not reacting well with magic use even as I gathered more magic again. My sword cleaved through another head at the same time another wolf tore its claws roughly across the left side of my ribs, moments later making another teleport about twenty feet or so away this time.

My right leg threatened to buckle from the blazing pain that was overpowering the adrenaline in my system. Breathing was suddenly difficult as the fresh, much larger gashes in my ribs were burning nearly as bad. I didn’t have time to stop though, no time to lose focus as the remaining four raced after me, seeming to sense me getting weaker.

Again they leapt at me, giving me another manageable shot at another head as I crashed through a wolf with my sword and put it down. I cried out as I felt claws rake my chest and over my shoulder, still managing to avoid snapping jaws. Gathering my magic was difficult now as I managed another teleport back the other way again, crashing roughly on the ground and scrambling back to my feet as the remaining three whole wolves stalked towards me more cautiously now. They either saw I was getting weak or were looking for an opening now. I felt my blood leaking over my body, getting the sense they weren’t slowing naturally like they should have and hoping the dark magic residue in the gashes wasn’t preventing the bleeding from stopping.

It took great effort now, but I gathered magic enough for levitation and raised a decent-sized rock, then a few more, and began making them spin around in a circle together, getting them moving fast enough to be cannonballs in the air. I knew I wasn’t going to be fast enough to dodge multiple wolves again. Directing the ring of rapidly circling stones at the three starting to circle me.

I caught one timber wolf across the hindquarters and tore off its back half, shattering it and leaving the other two distracted just long enough to smash a second. The last one was able to dodge several of the stones and tried to rush at me again. The flying ring of stones caught it quickly though, smashing through a leg to stumble it long enough for another stone to smash through it’s head.

The last one was the wolf I’d lopped the left legs from, not taking chances as I began panting, smashing it with a flying rock to the head. As my magic dropped though so did I, my sword falling from my hand and collapsing to my knees. The cold burning sensation raged in most of my body now, seeing my three sets of gashes were bleeding a lot more than they should be.

Twilight yelled at me, her shield coming down as she raced to my side the instant the last wolf shattered, “Vojin! Talk to me! We have to get you to the hospital! Vojin, talk to me!”

I groaned, my strength was still leeching away. Whatever dark magic powered those timber wolves, it was doing a number on me. After giving a rather weak cough, I began falling to one side before Twilight caught me with levitation. My eyes looking back at her, voice unsettlingly quiet, “Are you...unhurt, Twilight?”

Tears were rolling down her face now, looking like she was trying not to start sobbing outright as she nodded, “I’m fine, Vojin! Both of us are fine! Stop getting hurt protecting me so damn much! We need to get you to Ponyville Hospital! You’re turning so pale...” She brushed my cheek with her hoof, yet I could barely feel it.

Zecora appeared beside us then, looking very troubled and holding up what seemed to be a potion in her ankle joint, “Please, my friend you need to drink, this potion of mine will make the dark magic shrink.”

“Twi...you’ll… have to… help me… strength… fading…” I gasped, discovering my arms were too heavy to lift now.

She quickly took the potion from Zecora and levitated it to me, ripping off the cap along the way and tipping it to my lips as she nudged my head back a little. The swirled blue liquid poured into my mouth, managing to swallow it slowly but unable to taste anything. It wasn’t a lot, just a few swallows and it was gone. I felt warmth starting to spread from my stomach, though my strength wasn’t returning.

“Please, Twilight, it takes some time though my potion works, but we must run before the rousing of those jerks.” Zecora said softly, glancing frequently towards the various scattered bits of timber wolf.

Twilight nodded and quickly got up, levitating me easily along with my sword which she slid into the scabbard stuck in Zecora’s wagon as the zebra got back in the harness of her cart. Moments later, they began moving quickly as they could down the path, Twilight keeping me levitating alongside her, a steady run as they raced to the edge of the forest.

I could feel the warmth still spreading through my body, noticing I stopped losing strength. It still seemed I would be a while before recovering, hoping Zecora’s potion would give me my strength back soon. It still felt like my gashes were bleeding a lot though. The thought of how close to dying I might be crossed my mind briefly but I pushed it away again. I didn’t want to think about it anymore, instead turning my mind to how I could apologize to Twilight for scaring her so much. My head was swimming as she kept me aloft while she ran.

Soon, they broke through the line of trees and ran towards Fluttershy’s cottage not far away. Twilight showed no signs of slowing down, yelling out to Fluttershy when she was close enough, hoping she was home just then.

Just as we got close, I heard the door open as Fluttershy rushed towards us, “Oh my gosh, Twilight! What happened?”

Gasping for breath, Twilight managed to get her words out, “Attacked by timber wolves, Vojin fought them all, must get ambulance fast.”

“Oh no! Keep heading for the hospital! I’ll fly there as fast as I can and try to meet you along the way with the ambulance!” Fluttershy then leapt into the air, flying fast as she could.

Zecora slipped out of her cart at that point, knowing it would be fine where it was until I was taken care of and she ran alongside Twilight. Racing along the road in Twilight’s magical grip, I could only stare at the passing blurs of scenery. I still felt the warmth of Zecora’s potion, but wondered why I wasn’t gaining any strength. Maybe it just stopped one from being drained by the magic residue of a timber wolf.

I saw the wood fencing beside the road that ran along one edge of Sweet Apple Acres around the same time I could hear Applejack yelling, seeing her running towards us from her orchard and leaping the fence before running alongside Twilight.

“Twi! What happened?! Vojin looks a fright! If y’all are trying ta get ta the hospital, ah’ll meetcha a little further up with mah cart! Ah can run a sight faster than ya, Twi!” Applejack said as smoothly as running allowed.

Twilight was firmly focused on not stopping, sounding almost unable to talk with how out of breath she was, “Hospital! Cart please!”

“Ah’ll be meetcha further up!” Applejack said, putting on her full speed as she rapidly powered beyond Twilight’s nearly exhausted pace.

Less than a minute later, the sound of a wooden cart could be heard thundering towards us and I was able to see Applejack heading our way. She stopped and turned the cart around just as Twilight reached her.

Wasting no time, Twilight hopped right into the back and levitated me with her. Zecora waved Applejack on, telling her to get going and not wait for her. Applejack dug her hooves into the ground and took off. Her speed was much better than Twilight’s even when Twilight wasn’t already exhausted, leaving the blur of things flying past the cart more pronounced.

My head was spinning a little more as Twilight gasped for breath while starting to work on slowing the flow of blood now that she didn’t have to run and levitate me at the same time. It would have been foolish to slow down with the chance of the timber wolves getting up and catching us again and she was nearly out of breath by the time we exited the forest. I thought about the amount of time I had been bleeding and how the dark magic residue had seemed to be making it worse before I took the potion. My whole body was feeling more like it was floating beyond just Twilight’s levitation keeping me from being bounced around in the cart.

“Vojin! Can you hear me? You’re going to be ok! You have to be ok!” Twilight was frantic, tearing shreds of cloth from my clothes and holding them firmly to three sets of gashes with her magic.

I found myself lacking the strength to turn my head or whisper, but nudged her with our link and rested my eyes on her, trying to let her know I was still with her. Everything felt so heavy at the same time it floated around, my entire body felt distant. All I seemed able to do was send her some comforting emotion through our link as even my eyes finally closed, too heavy to keep open.

“No, Vojin! Don’t sleep! You can’t fall asleep right now! Please wake up! Stay with me!” Twilight nearly screamed, struggling through fits of crying.

My eyes just wouldn’t open anymore but I kept nudging her, letting our link ground me even as I felt like I was trying to float away. She was my lifeline in that moment as even my sense of my own body wavered, sensing rather than feeling her hoof caress my cheek and moving towards her presence. I could feel her energy holding me, slowly surrounding me further as I let her pull me close and wrap herself around my awareness.

As even sound started to fade to a vague whisper before vanishing entirely, her voice yelling at me to stay, it was the feel of her energy wrapping me up, safe and welcoming, that became almost everything I knew right then. I even lost track of where my body went, feeling like my spirit was curled up with Twilight, safely held in her love and I didn’t want to go anywhere. She felt distraught but also seemed to know I was there and tightened herself around me, seeming to beg me to stay there and I shared her emotion, not wanting to leave.

I lost all sense of time as I stayed snuggled into the ethereal space I seemed to share with her, doing my best to comfort her fears. All I knew, all I could feel, was Twilight and her love for me keeping me safely secured, trying to comfort me even though I forgot why I was afraid or why I was held so snugly by her. Feeling equally like we were snuggled up together on a lazy morning or playfully chasing each other through the park, my spirit danced with hers.

***

Gradually, I started to become aware of sounds again. A distant noise, some sort of steady beeping made itself known. It wasn’t long before feeling began to return to my body and knew I was waking up. I felt sore and the places the timber wolves had raked me with their claws stung in quiet throbs.

After a minute or two, I felt mostly back in my own head and was able to open my eyes. My head was tilted a little to one side and the first thing that caught my attention was purple feathers and fur right next to me. A faint smile came to my lips at seeing Twilight right next to my bed, her head against my chest and having pulled my arm over her neck and shoulder as she breathed softly in slumber.

I carefully moved my arm to pull her a little closer, despite feeling so exhausted. It wasn’t hard to tell I was back in Ponyville Hospital again. It was dark outside the window and I had no idea what time it was. Taking a slow, deep breath to try to wake up my mind a little more before turning my eyes to Twilight again.

Whispering softly as my fingers began to stroke the fur on one of her forelegs, I tried to rouse her gently, “Purple Angel… Twilight… Can you please wake up for me…?”

She stirred slowly, nuzzling me faintly as she did. After several seconds, she froze before slowly lifting her head. Her mane was a mess and her eyes looked terribly bloodshot, heavy streaks ran along her cheeks after what must have been a heartwrenching amount of tears. In my eyes, she was as beautiful as I’d ever seen her just then, guessing she had stayed at my side the entire time.

Twilight looked into my eyes, starting to tremble as her hoof came up to my cheek, a shaky smile was all she could manage as she watched me quietly. My strength wasn’t much improved, but I slowly brought my other hand to the hoof at my cheek, holding it there as I looked back into her eyes. The emotions we shared through our link were a firestorm of relief and love.

It took a minute or two before she finally found her voice, “V-Vojin… You came back to me…”

The faint smile on my face grew a little more, my voice quiet still but stronger, “I always will, Purple Angel... Though I never left...”

She gave a weak laugh, visibly losing the worry and fear she probably had for however long I was out, her hoof caressing my cheek, “I...I could feel you… Even when the doctor said you wouldn’t make it, I could feel you. Only Celestia and Luna really believed me when I told everypony you were still alive…”

“I’m...sorry for… for scaring you so much, Purple Angel. Can you forgive me?” I pleaded quietly, tears beginning to blur my vision.

Twilight began to tear up herself, shaking her head slightly, “No...don’t you go apologizing. You protected me and Zecora and you still came back to me after you shouldn’t have been able to. T-They said that...y-you were...th-that...too much blood… Vojin, they said you were gone when we got to the hospital! I still felt you but they said you were gone! I screamed at them to put you in a room! To believe me when I said you were still with me! They didn’t believe me until Princess Celestia arrived and told them the same thing! Vojin, you...don’t ever do that to me again!”

Her voice shook, somehow ending in a screaming whisper before she buried her face against my chest again and began to cry. I could only wrap her in my arms and hold her close, having no words just then. It was obvious she had been through a lot while I was wrapped up in her love, not having any real idea how long I was unconscious. She cried against my chest quietly for at least several minutes, my own tears falling as I joined her after a while.

Once both of us were able to let out enough of the heartache to make it was manageable again, I nudged Twilight a little after I glanced at my hospital bed briefly, “Purple Angel, there’s just enough room to squeeze together. Come up onto the bed with me. Please?”

Twilight gave a weak smile as I shuffled against the bedrail on the other side, making space for her. It was a fairly tight fit, but not much different a position from how we usually slept and she quickly snuggled against me, though continued to keep her head up and her eyes on me, looking a little calmer.

“By Celestia, I missed you so much. You’ve been asleep for over three days…,” she said quietly.

My fingers stroked her mane softly, “And you stayed watching over me the whole time, didn’t you?”

She nodded a little, to which I gave her a tender smile before nudging her to lay her head down with my fingers in her mane. Without much resistance, she settled down again with a faint sniffle. Giving me a small squeeze and a nuzzle before settling.

“I’m still really tired and it’s late. Let’s just get some rest before proving the doctors wrong in the morning, ok?” I said softly, prompting her to plant a kiss on my skin briefly before snuggling a little closer and nodding.

Twilight was laying a little lower than usual because of the wounds on my upper chest, but that was fine with me. I brushed my fingers against her mane idly, hoping to soothe her to sleep first but I was exhausted myself. The two of us seemed to drift away at the same pace.

***

Morning came in it’s time and Twilight’s stirring brought me out of my sleep. She was still snuggled against me, slowly stretching a little before her head lifted to look into my eyes again. I could see the chance to rest had removed most of the bloodshot look from her eyes, telling me she actually slept rather well. I still felt weak, though not as bad as last night.

I brushed her cheek with the tips of my fingers as I met her eyes. There would be time to sort through things later, giving her a warm smile that drew out one of her own as she leaned into my touch. There was a glimmer of desperate relief still in her eyes, making me think I needed to ask what happened after I blacked out.

My voice had a morning roughness to it as I spoke softly, “You look much more rested, Purple Angel. Were you able to sleep much before I woke up?”

Twilight’s eyes flashed briefly with stress and worry, pausing before she replied, “...no… Not really. I probably passed out less than an hour before you woke up last night. I was so worried about you that I only slept when I passed out beside you. I’ve barely left your side, just a couple minutes at any time, and only when one of the Princesses or my friends could be here. I just… I-I just…”

As her eyes began filling with tears again, my fingertips touched her lips to hush her before stroking them delicately over her cheek again before cupping my palm there, giving her a faint smile, “We can talk about it after I get out of here or at least later today if I have to stay for a while. I’m sorry I worried you so much, Purple Angel.”

She turned her head and kissed my palm before pressing her cheek against it, nodding and taking a steadying breath. The tension in her body was slowly fading, though I sensed she still needed a decently-sized release of worried stress at some point.

We both looked towards the door as we heard it open and Nurse Tough Love came in, probably for a scheduled check as she made her rounds. She gave us a brief smile as she came to the side of my hospital bed, looking over the monitor and IV before reviewing my chart again.

“You’re very lucky, buster. I don’t know how, but you wouldn’t quit. Everypony on the staff thought you were a lost cause when you came in. Princess Twilight pulled every bit of clout she could on us to make us keep treating you before Princess Celestia arrived and clarified why we needed to keep trying. With as much blood as you lost...well, you’re very lucky. Miss Zecora’s remedy took care of the timber wolf magic before you arrived. It probably saved your life, alongside whatever kept you holding on. I don’t know what exactly humans can endure, but your vitals were undetectable for a few hours after you arrived. I’ve never seen anything like it in my whole career as a nurse.” Nurse Tough said gently as she looked at me, then turned to Twilight, “And I do apologize again for our lack of understanding about the magic link. Until Princess Celestia arrived, we couldn’t fathom anything other than what it initially appeared to be.”

Twilight nodded a bit, “I know, Nurse Tough. I already forgave you and the rest of the staff. It’s easy to see how it could come across as hysterical denial. Swift Bandage isn’t too traumatized, is he?”

That made me quirk a brow at her, starting to wonder just what she had to do before Celestia made it to the hospital. I didn’t wait long though, as Nurse Tough Love shook her head gently, “He’ll be alright. I gave him a few days of quiet duties and an extra day off to relax. I’m still impressed you had him embedded in the wall like that without hurting him. I know you said you mixed a shield with the force spell, but I don’t know how you pulled it off so fast. Either way, Dr Hoofmeister will be along in an hour or two. Maybe longer if the surgery he’s performing requires it. Unless you have some questions, I’ll let the two of you have some privacy. You know how to call me if necessary.”

“Thank you, Nurse Feisty. Sorry to visit under such circumstances.” I gave her a sheepish grin.

Nurse Tough rolled her eyes a bit, giving me a smirk, “Well if you’re feeling good enough to start making jokes, you’re certainly on the mend. Take care of yourself, buster. Don’t come back for at least six months this time or I’ll give you a damn bath in iodine!”

“Yes ma’am!” I quipped, seeing her smirk even more before bowing her head a bit and leaving the room.

Twilight tapped me on the nose with her hoof lightly, eyeing me with a slightly grateful smile, “I’m glad to see you making jokes too, Vojin. I really missed hearing them, even if they can be cheesy sometimes.”

I caught her hoof in my hand and raised it to my lips, giving it a kiss and smiling, “Ah, but cheesy jokes can sometimes get the biggest laughs! Surely you haven’t forgotten Pinkie’s standup routines. She could probably make an actual block of cheese groan with some of her jokes.”

She giggled slightly, music to my ears, “I know, I know. At least you have some really good intellectual jokes now and then. I like those ones the most. Do you mind if we just snuggle and maybe nap until the doctor arrives though? I’m honestly not feeling very talkative right now and just want to be close to you.”

“You know you have but to ask, Purple Angel. We can spend all day snuggling if you want. I’m still trying to get my strength back and you’ve had little sleep. Actually,I don’t care if it’s here or at home, but I’m snuggling with you for the rest of the day. I’ll ask you about what happened after I passed out at some point tomorrow, ok?” I returned, giving her a small squeeze and pulling her a little closer.

Twilight opened her mouth to say something for a moment, then closed it and nodded before laying her head back down on me. She sniffled faintly as she hugged me around my waist, even adding her wing into it, and getting settled. She was just as soothingly warm and soft as always.

It was easy to guess telling me what took place was going to make her cry again and would probably be best handled at home. Not to mention, I really did want to just spend the day curled up with her after the mess we went through. Smiling a little to myself at feeling drowsy rather swiftly from the feel of Twilight latched onto me, giving me a warmth that was more than physical.

Sleep didn’t come back right away for me, though Twilight’s breathing told me she was quickly getting there. I pushed away thoughts of wondering about the seriousness of things for later, her soft breathing and warm embrace soothing me away.

Author's Notes:

Had trouble feeling like writing for a time. Depression sucks.

Something is first revealed and proven here. Next chapter will have some explanation about it.

As always, comments and critiques are welcomed and encouraged. Just use yer damn brain. :P

Bk 1 Ch 11: Recovery

“You know, I am starting to worry you like landing yourself here, lad.” Dr Hoofmeister commented gently as he came in the room, “This time around, you really shouldn’t have survived. You’ve proven incredibly durable but it’s still a miracle that you ever woke up at all.”

Dr Hoofmeister had been delayed a few hours due to an emergency surgery, according to Nurse Tough. Twilight and I were cuddling quietly not long after finishing the lunch brought to us when the perpetually calm unicorn doctor arrived. He came over to the side of the bed, giving a momentary smile and nod to Twilight laying next to me before turning his eyes to me.

“I know you prefer a more direct approach, Mister Vojin, so I will not mince words. You lost most of the blood in your body due to that thrice cursed effect induced by timber wolf injuries. As unpleasant as the claw lacerations are, they were not life threatening by themselves. As you discovered by direct experience, the magical residue left in your wounds practically reverses the healing process, which is why you bled so severely. As I already informed Princess Twilight, until the dark magic was negated and pushed from your body, no amount of bandages would have helped. Be sure to thank Miss Zecora for that potion she gave you the next time you see her. Most of the dark magic was already gone when you were brought to us. However, by all accounts, you were clinically dead for more than six hours entirely due to blood loss. We could do little for you in that regard as we have no human blood stocked, for obvious reasons. As it is, I was not expecting you to wake up, provided you did survive once your vitals had reappeared, for at least a week longer. As I already stated, you are very fortunate to be alive.” Dr Hoofmeister explained in a steady voice.

My eyes simply closed as I absorbed the news, pulling Twilight a little closer. I felt her squeeze me in return while tenderly rubbing her hoof over my stomach. A brief rush of emotion went through me after a moment, feeling I could have done better. Despite Twilight and Zecora being safe behind Twilight’s shield spell, what would have happened if I’d been killed before finishing off the wolves?

Once that sounded off in my mind, I pushed the thought away again. The important part was I succeeded, regardless of how much it cost me. Not really wanting to think about being ‘clinically dead' for several hours, or how I could have come back, I turned my mind back to present concerns and recovery.

I opened my eyes and looked at Dr Hoofmeister again, “Not really sure how to take that in… What about recovery? Am I going to be back to normal once my blood has restored itself?”

“Surprisingly, that is one bit of good news I can provide you. Not only will you be back to normal, but based upon some contemplation and theory about your capacity for healing from your previous two visits, along with what little I know of the magic link with Princess Twilight being factored in, I am expecting you to recover fully in a matter of weeks. I do wish I knew why you seem able to bounce back so well from grievous injury. If we could replicate it, at least half of all current serious or fatal cases of all kinds each year would be cured, if not more. Should you ever learn even some of the cause behind your ability to heal your body, I implore you take that knowledge directly to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna without delay. It could save many lives.” Dr Hoofmeister said with more passion in his voice than usual.

“Dr Hoofmeister, I understand. I’ll certainly work on it over time and hopefully something will come to light eventually. How long am I in the hospital for, this time?”

He seemed to sigh a bit, appearing bothered by something, “Therein lies a bit of the rub, Mister Vojin. While I have apparently become your de facto physician for the foreseeable future, I ultimately still lack much knowledge about the nuances of human physiology. While I am fortunately well versed in attending all manner of the sentient races of the world, you being human makes you particularly full of unknowns. Musculature and other major anatomy is fairly consistent with other similar races, but trying to pin down more subtle specifics for you will be most challenging. In light of this most recent event, I would like to schedule some appointments so I might run a number of tests and studies on you in order to gain a better understanding about your physiology. It would be entirely voluntary of course, and you are under no obligations to oblige me. I only offer the option in hopes of being able to improve my capacity to care for you in all situations you might need to come see me. I fear I am lacking, at present.”

I hesitated, thinking it over. Though before I even had a chance to think of a response, Twilight somewhat roughly pressed her hoof to my chest, giving me a bit of a glare before looking at the doctor, “He’ll do it, Dr Hoofmeister. I want him given the best possible care and if I have to drag him over here so you can better understand what his health needs are, I will whether he likes it or not. I don’t ever want to...to see him like that again…”

She started off agitated, but her voice started to waver by the end of it. I caught her eye, nodding a little and earning a look of gratitude from her as a small shiver rippled through her, even her wings quivered. Again, I felt how much she must have gone through and how much worry and fear she must have endured. I pulled her a bit closer and hugged her tight for several seconds, feeling her do the same.

Turning my eyes back to the doctor, I nodded to him, “I am agreeable to that. Particularly because my Purple Angel wants me to. How I feel about putting up with tests is minor against making her happy. Do you have any idea how long I have to stay as things stand right now?”

He gave me a small smile of appreciation, “Thank you for your allowing me to further my knowledge, Mister Vojin. We can decide on appointments later. As for your time here, well all indications are such that the gashes you obtained having been tended, you only need time to recover from the blood loss. I am unable to do much of anything further for you here once again. If you can walk, you may leave at your discretion. You are also quite welcome to remain here until tomorrow morning if you feel it necessary as a ‘just in case’ precaution. I understand your intuition is quite developed and will well inform you of your health needs.”

“As much as I appreciate your efforts, I’m sure you understand my preference to recuperate at home. I am grateful for all you’ve done.” I said quietly, bowing my head a bit.

“Very well then, Mister Vojin. While I find it a pleasure to meet with you, I do hope it is not in the ICU again for a as long as possible. Nurse Tough Love should have you discharged within the hour or sooner. I will have my assistant get in touch with you for our upcoming appointments. Take care of yourself. And Princess Twilight, please remember what I told you about exertion and nutritional boosts. I bid you both a good day, until next we meet.”

“Thank you doctor. I’ll remember.” Twilight returned softly.

She snuggled against my chest again after Dr Hoofmeister left, heaving a sigh. I simply stroked my hand over her mane for a bit, struggling to process my going well beyond close to death and then managing to come back again. All I had felt was being safely held by Twilight at the time.

Twilight occasionally nuzzled or kissed my stomach, otherwise just gently stroking my abdomen with her hoof as she lay quietly with me. I could still sense the underlying stress she felt, the anguish that was slowly fading. For a few long agonizing moments, I felt the despair of having let her endure so much heartache and pain, blaming myself for not being better. My old spectre of self-destructive habits tried to rise in me, only to be quelled like a campfire in a rainstorm when she happened to squeeze me tightly again, the surge sputtering before dying away. I took a slow breath and let those thoughts go, squeezing her in kind as a tear managed to escape from my eye. She made me feel safe beside her, even with so simple a gesture.

***

We waved goodbye to Applejack as she headed back to her farm, having been gracious enough to give me a cart ride to the library again. I was able to walk, but could only remain upright for around a minute before needing to lay down to rest or risk falling over.

I laid down on the couch as soon as we got inside, the endless dizziness that came with standing slowly fading again. Twilight came up to me and nuzzled my cheek, her eyes closed as she stood beside me quietly with a hoof on my chest for a while. We had been talking little since the conversation with Dr Hoofmeister, not really feeling like doing more than being close and taking comfort together.

Thinking about my time in Equestria for a bit as I rested a hand on her shoulder, my mind wandered. I’d been here well over a month. Some things had been an absolute joy. Twilight and I had connected so well, both personally and intellectually, and now I loved her with all I was worth. It had been fairly easy to forge the first parts of strong bonds of friendship with the rest of the Elements, as well as a few other ponies in town. So many had compassionate, open hearts here that I was often lagging behind when getting close to another pony. Life on Earth would all too often backfire painfully if you trusted to fast, even though I always kept trying.

Celestia and Luna, they were interesting to talk to every time. I’d been trading letters with them almost once a day for the past week after Twilight and I visited them in Canterlot. Luna and I had rescheduled our stargazing for the week of the coming summit, having been unable to take the time when I was up there before. Celestia, on the other hand, had requested I bring all my books from Earth with me to the summit so she could have copies made, and translated, so she and Luna could study them, passing along the knowledge gained to appropriate parties. The Royal Guard in particular were intrigued at the idea of studying another world’s martial learning. We were also going to test my magic reserves during the summit. Something I was intensely curious to explore.

Even though I’d been outwardly adjusting well, Twilight had come to know how much frustration and difficulty I’d been going through with my entire life being so suddenly turned upside down and inside out by being pulled into Equestria. Our link was always open and we couldn’t hide anything from a direct look through it. The strain all the upheaval caused me was fading with time, but sometimes the longing for the two most precious people I left behind would take over for a bit, be it silent depression or quiet tears. Twilight held me close each time, helping me let it out as much as I needed, sometimes just listening until I ran out of words again and others I just needed her to listen while venting frustration or sorrow. She had come to understand how well I kept things buried and contained, far more than I should be doing in her eyes, and was slowly drawing me out of that private inner shell.

We found ourselves talking every other day or so about the looming future that seemed to be the whole reason I arrived here, despite trying not to dwell on it. Sometimes just to let out the buildup of worry, other times trying to devise some additional plans between us. It weighed on all the girls as well, though aside from one lunch at the library so far where they all came over, it was kept private amongst themselves. I guessed, based on Twilight’s own inexperience with war even though she was the most studied of all our friends, that the girls had trouble just grasping the true magnitude of what lay ahead. Knowing was not a boon to me lately, even flatly refusing to talk about some aspects of what might happen before the summit specifically because it wouldn’t do anything more than worry them. I still hadn’t mentioned the military friend I’d lost when he was in a battle overseas. It also didn’t help that I already knew how much Twilight feared losing one of her closest friends. The rest of the girls that represented the Elements likely had similar worries to some degree. They didn’t need to learn some things yet and I prayed they would learn as little about war as possible when it arrived.

I spent the remainder of the day resting on the couch, reading or lost in my head with Twilight sitting with me or otherwise close by. Her voice drew me out of my thoughts as she put away her book, “I suppose it’s late enough to just get ourselves ready for bed. I’ll help you in the shower, ok?”

“Thank you, Purple Angel. Think Spike will have the soup ready when we’re done?” I asked as I slowly sat up, knowing Twilight was going to let me make the effort first and probably have to levitate me up the stairs before I made it the whole way.

“I’m sure he’ll be close, at least. How much do you think you can manage to eat?”

I slowly pushed myself to my feet, immediately feeling the dizziness start its gradual rise as I started for the stairs, “I’ll try for two bowls, at least. Appetite isn’t saying much but I’m sure I have room. Never thought I’d be feeling intimidated by stairs before today…”

She followed close behind me as I managed each step, lifting me with her magic towards the end when I signaled her. I was under strict orders not to push myself for a couple days or she would make me stay in bed for a full week, if not more. And she refused to give up the option to reconsider doing it anyway.

Soon, I was seated on the floor of the shower, admittedly enjoying her pampering me a bit as she helped me get clean. She refused any assistance for herself and once she finished, she curled up against me under the spray of water for a couple minutes before we actually got out. Twilight simply used some quick spells to dry us off, letting me slide into some sleep shorts before making me get in bed. Spike brought up the soup not long after.

“This came out nice, Spike. The flavors are well balanced.” I commented between spoonfuls, the three of us having a quiet dinner together on the bed.

Spike smiled in pride, “Thanks, Vojin! I wasn’t sure if I did it right. Twilight told me to make some additions to help you get your strength back but it made something taste funny at first. I’m glad you like it.”

“You’re welcome, young one.” I said with a quiet grin.

“Spike, have you thought about what you wanted to do tomorrow with the day off?” Twilight asked him quietly, her usual demeanor was still gone, looking drawn and weary.

“I still say I’d like to help you looking after Vojin. I know you want to have the day together to try and sort out what happened, but I wish you’d let me help.” Spike sighed, looking into his soup, “The Cutie Mark Crusaders asked me to help them tomorrow. So I guess that’s what I’ll do most of the time. I just hope they don’t make me do anything too embarrassing.”

Twilight gave her young assistant a somber smile, “I’m grateful for the offer, Spike. You know that. This is just something I just really need to get through with Vojin. I don’t think anypony else can really do anything about this just yet...no matter how much they want to help...”

After a fairly straightforward conversation earlier in the day, Twilight and I agreed we really needed to talk some things out together. She admitted to needing it more than I did and said she would probably cry a lot when she told me everything that happened, particularly when I appeared to be dead. She’d never lost anyone before, let alone watched them dying right in front of her. I had the benefit of being totally unaware of anything happening for most of the time. The death of my parents gave me at least some sense of what she was going through and the very thought made my heart ache.

Aside from a few idle bits of conversation, not much was said as we finished dinner. Spike eventually took the leftover soup back to the kitchen before coming back and giving Twilight a tender hug. After shaking my hand, he took the empty bowls and left, closing the door behind himself.

Twilight was quiet and didn’t move for a few minutes as she stared at the bedspread she was laying on. Even her wings were sagging at her sides once Spike left us for the night. I could sense she wanted some time just then and simply watched her patiently. When she did finally turn her head and look at me, she was on the verge of crying again, though it felt like she was stuck in that state and unable to break down or find some calm. I beckoned her to come settle in beside me and she dragged herself over and slipped under the covers, clinging to me.

Several long minutes passed before she finally took a shuddering breath, letting it out slowly and sounding at least slightly calmer, her voice nearly a whisper, “I know we’re saving the whole story till tomorrow but I wish I had words to describe what it was like to see you fighting for your life, then watching your body give up. I-I don’t think I could have kept myself together if I hadn’t felt your spirit resting in me...c-comforting me…”

Her hoof traced faint patterns over my stomach as I lay there quietly with her, finding my voice after a minute, “I’m back now. That’s all that matters. Whatever you feel you need from me to get through this, just ask and I’ll do whatever I can, Purple Angel. I wish I knew what to do…”

She nodded softly, not really moving much otherwise, “I know... Do you think you can sleep tonight?”

“I’m more worried about you. I’m worn out enough though, so probably. Promise me you’ll wake me up if you start having nightmares or anything, ok? Please?” I said softly, not restraining the pleading tone of my voice.

Twilight sniffled faintly, hesitating before she spoke, “I don’t like the idea of waking you up. You need your rest so much right now…”

“And I need to know you’re alright even more. I mean, I know you need time to work through it but please, Twilight, wake me up if you need to talk in the middle of the night. We’ll have all day tomorrow to sleep in if we need it.” I told her, squeezing her gently.

I felt her body tremble for a second as her breathing sounded strained, then her body relaxed a little again as she sighed, “...I promise, Vojin. I don’t want to but I promise…can you try to sleep now?”

“Thank you, Purple Angel... I think I can sleep well enough. Is my heartbeat helping?”

“A bit...I just don’t know what I really need right now… Your skin is a little colder than it was before the wolves came after us.” Twilight gave another little sniffle, trying to press herself closer, “I hope you get your usual warmth back soon...”

“I can always try a fire spell like my first light spell, if you like…?” I ventured softly, hoping to ease her a little.

Her response nearly made me shed tears, sounding so drained and forlorn, “...it wouldn’t...be the same…”

“Twilight...do you think you can sleep…?” I finally asked her.

“I probably will, eventually. I…” Twilight started to tremble, hugging me tighter, “...could you...c-could you...hold me closer tonight…?”

Just hearing how she asked felt painful, easing onto my side and pulling her as close against me as she could get, feeling her mould herself as tightly to me as she could, her form was trembling now. My chin eventually came to rest against the top of her head, her face turned slightly upwards as she wiggled into my embrace, even wrapping her hind legs around my thigh and a wing against my back.

After several more minutes, my hand slowly stroking along her spine, her trembling slowly faded away again. Our link informed me she really was a little calmer than before as her tension reduced throughout her body. Twilight finally whispered a strained but grateful ‘thank you’ and nuzzled into my neck just a little further.

I felt my own tension unravelling somewhat as hers did, feeling my exhaustion creeping forward as a result and leaving me sleepy. Aside from her occasional shaky breaths or faint whimpers, the sound of her steady breathing was the last focus of my mind before I fell asleep.

***

Twilight only woke me up once during the night, shaking and trying not to cry as she told me about the brief dream that wasn’t really a nightmare itself but made her remember my being in a pale, lifeless state again. Something she had to endure for hours. Even without her waking me though, it was a difficult night for both of us. I slept well past dawn and still felt like I’d had little rest. Whether it was my recovering or simply bad sleep, I couldn’t tell. At least Twilight was still quietly sleeping next to me, though I could feel her tension through our link.

Drifting back and forth between dreams and wakefulness for a while, I noticed when Twilight began to rouse. For a blessed few moments, she was almost relaxed as she tried to snuggle closer. She then quickly tensed and hugged me tight. My fingers ran along her spine for a while, hoping to either let her drift off again or wake more relaxed. She trembled a little before I felt moisture against my neck, her hold on me tightening like I might suddenly vanish.

My voice was a bit rough, as much from the morning as it was from worry, “Morning, Twilight. Were you able to rest at least a little?”

She let out a tired sigh, her voice faint, “...I...woke up a lot. I kept needing to make sure you were still here. Just…listen to you breathing or your heartbeat for a minute again.”

I gave her a gentle squeeze and kissed the top of her head. We’d barely moved all night and were both likely more than a little stiff. Still, I didn’t want to move until she was ready to. I couldn’t.

Time dragged on for a while before Twilight finally moved her head enough to look at me. Her hoof found it’s way to my cheek as I looked back into her eyes, not knowing what to say right then. Another long minute passed before she found her voice again.

“Vojin...are you hungry yet? Need the bathroom? Anything I can get you?” Twilight spoke softly, her words slow and still sounding rushed somehow.

“I don’t need anything just yet. Do you want to try talking now or still need to wait a bit?”

Her eyes welled up for a moment before she blinked the fresh tears away, working her mouth a little before she could squeeze her words out, “I...we should but...it’s just…”

She stopped and squeezed her eyes shut, shaking a little as I pulled her back into my chest silently. After another moment, Twilight began to cry softly as she started letting some of it out. I held her without a word, some tears of my own falling away. I thought she was starting to slow a few times, only for her to whimper or nuzzle me and it began again.

Several minutes went by before she let enough out for her to stop for a while. Her head moved back slowly again, her eyes seeming to express nothing so much as being lost and desperately searching for direction.

I kissed her on the nose, giving her a soft squeeze of comfort, “Babble if you need to. I don’t care what words you use right now, it can start with anything that isn’t just a distraction, but you need to talk. Just start talking and let it out. It hurts seeing you in this much pain.”

Tears formed in her eyes again as she looked at me, her voice wavering, “I-I...what...how do I even s-say it?”

“I don’t know. I know words aren’t enough to get it all right. If there was a way to just...share our…” I said softly before trailing off and pausing, remembering something we didn’t work with very often as I recalled how we taught each other how to read each other’s books. Twilight and I had decided to focus on unicorn magic techniques almost entirely, as the few books I had on magic were very subtle and impractical. We had been so focused on it that I nearly forgot one of the few things my own magic knowledge did have advantages with.

Guarded relief filled me, kissing her nose again and giving her a soft smile before my hand came up between us, seeing her look confused before understanding began to show in her eyes, “We...don’t have to talk… You held me when I was...at the edge. Let me hold you this time, Twilight.”

She chewed her lip for a few moments as worry, hope, anguish, and love passed across her face as she looked between my eyes and hand. Her hoof came up to my palm and pressed against it as she turned her eyes to mine. She tried to speak but tears rose in her eyes again as she looked at me pleadingly, wordlessly begging me to help ease all the fear and pain she had gone through and now found she couldn't get out of her thoughts.

“Just close your eyes and feel for me. I don’t know if it will fix everything but it should help to really feel each other’s heart. Just let go if you feel me asking you to, ok?” I told her gently, seeing her nod before she tucked her head under my chin again.

I let myself slip into the beginnings of the trance, having a little trouble relaxing into the state of mind I needed. Years of practice soon carried me down within, starting to let myself drift among, rather than direct, my thoughts.

It wasn't long before I felt the first sense of Twilight's presence and let myself go towards her. There was a strong feeling of fear in her. At once feeling like a fear of death, of losing meaning, of intense loneliness, of being empty and dead inside. It was pervasive throughout her sense of being and I began to truly understand just how deeply standing at the edge of losing me had cut into her.

There was a strange contradiction in her that couldn't decide how to respond to my presence. Part of her was desperately pulling me closer while another was pushing away in fear of enduring all the pain again. So much confusion ran through her. She loved me just as strongly, yet was so afraid of accepting she wasn't dreaming out of desperation that if she let herself relax, I would still be gone and she would have to face the pain in full. And facing it was too much, part of her fully believing at least in delusion she could avoid being broken inside. At the same time, part of her couldn’t stand living such a lie, that it was a broken way to live that drained her of who she was.

If I had been feeling my physical self, I would be surely crying at how much pain my near death brought her. Even then, it left me staggering mentally. I pressed myself onward and brushed my sense of self against her, asking her deeper self to let me comfort her now that she needed it so greatly.

In a manner only raw emotion and thought could express, I helped her divide herself a little. Gently coaxing the part of her that desperately needed comfort forward, letting her find a place in my love for her to rest in tender safety. The aspect of her inner self that needed it was allowed to retreat while still seeing the invitation to approach. The whole of her cried as I shared her pain, enfolding her in my love where she needed it and staying at a distance where her fear was too great.

As I felt her own nudging to share my own sadness and fear with her, I simply let her in. I felt flooded with her love as it wrapped around me like a warm blanket on a brisk morning, soothing me in return. Letting her know what seeing her hurt so much felt like to me and the unsettling fears of coming so close to dying. My confusion over how I could be alive.

We resonated together. Spirits swirling around in tandem as we comforted each other. Time was nonexistent, even physical senses were a distant thing. All we could share just then came through. Fears were eased while joys were renewed, circling around the drift of shared need as we healed together. The beauty of it all was at once breathtaking and unfathomable. We even discovered a deep familiarity in one another's spirit that felt unusual, like two puzzles that had a piece swapped between and somehow still fit perfectly in their new places. Adding a shared uniqueness to the whole of each.

Eventually we felt ourselves grow back into a balanced state of self. We both still felt the fears and hurt, yet it had become manageable enough to handle now. Slowly, our spirits drew back to our own physical forms before the gradual return of the world around us came to the fore.

It was several minutes of silent weeping as we listened to each other breathe and felt each other’s embrace, before finally moving enough to look into each other’s eyes. Still full of tears but able to share small smiles of appreciation and love. Together, we bumped noses and closed our eyes as the tears faded, nuzzling each other faintly. Exhaustion crept over us as we shared our breaths and soon drifted into a dreamless, peaceful deep slumber.

***

The feel of something gently stroking my cheek helped carry me back to consciousness again. I opened my eyes with a faint smile as Twilight rubbed her cheek against mine. Something special was in the touch in a way I couldn’t put to words, simply sighing quietly in contentment and turning my head slightly to press into her touch a little more, the feel of her soft fur made my skin tingle. It was hard to grasp how soothing it felt.

After a short while, she drew back and we looked at each other with small smiles, still a bit troubled but much calmer than before. My hand found it’s way to cup her cheek and she tilted her head into my touch, eventually nudging her to me again and sharing a very faint, yet powerful kiss. Her smile grew a little more after as she laid her head back down again.

Her voice was faint and still tinged with worry, but much calmer, “...I love you.”

I gave her the simple, quiet reply that was all the words necessary, “I love you, too.”

We watched each other for a while longer before she snuggled back under my chin. Even the smallest notice of our link told me she was far more relieved now as we lay together. We still had to work on it, but it would be reasonable. Like anything else, time eventually pushed things along and we had to rouse ourselves.

“Mmm...I suppose it’s time I need to get up, Purple Angel.” I said softly, feeling her embrace tighten around me.

She grumbled weakly, “Can’t it wait a while longer?”

Chuckling softly, I began slipping out of her hold towards the edge of the bed, “You know I don’t want to move, but I’d rather not pretend we have a leaky waterbed or something.”

Twilight made a face and huffed, giving me a small shove, “Ugh...I guess I have to agree. Still going to follow you so I know you won’t fall over and hurt yourself, ok?”

Slowly sitting up and letting myself get a feel for my body again, I gave her a small smirk, “I am sure that would be an unpleasant sight...and probably a terrible mess.”

“What am I going to do with you, Vojin?” Twilight asked as she got herself up after a stretch, her wings quivering at full extension for a few moments.

I watched her body move around, relishing the view before slowly standing up, “Well...I suppose two options are roast me over a barbeque pit or cuddle me until I explode.”

Twilight hopped off the bed next to me, rolling her eyes a little with a warm smile, “You keep interrupting cuddle time and I just might go for the former at some point...wait, what exactly is a barbecue pit?”

Before I had a chance to reply further, I felt myself tipping forward in a rush of dizziness. Almost instantly though, I felt myself pause and lift from the ground as Twilight caught me in her magic with a concerned frown. Without waiting for me to react, she marched towards the bathroom as I floated behind her.

“Just regular dizziness?” Twilight asked me softly.

Grumbling a little before giving a sigh, I nodded, “Yeah...thought I took enough time getting up slowly... You’re not letting me walk again for now, are you?”

“No. If it happens too much, you’re going to be restricted to bed.,” she said softly, fresh worry in her voice.

She helped me through morning needs soon enough and we returned to bed since it was hardly mid-morning. After having some crackers and apples that had been set aside by our bed last night, we just lay together for a while. Her hoof traced lines and contours along my ribs and chest while I had a hand slowly ruffling the fur on her chest, quietly watching each other.

After a time, I saw her eyes begin to tear up, “Vojin...I think I...do you still want to hear what happened after you passed out?”

I gave her a slow nod, “I would like to know. Do you want to snuggle up against me like earlier or…?”

Twilight sniffled and shook her head, “No, I want to see your eyes right now. I might try to avoid it if I get that comfortable again.”

“Take your time. You have a captive audience after all…” I mused with a small smile, hoping to ease at least a little of the unpleasant story she was about to share.

She gave a long, slow sigh with her eyes closed as she steadied herself to tell me what happened before I woke up. After another deep breath, she looked at me again as she spoke softly, “After you finally went unconscious, we still had a minute or two before we reached the hospital. Somewhere between then and running in the hospital door, you had stopped breathing, but I didn’t realize it until they told me. You had been breathing so faintly…”

“There was a flurry of activity at first as I told them what happened and they did everything they could but after a few minutes, they just...j-just…,” she stopped and took another slow breath before continuing, “They...told me there were no signs of life left. That you’d lost too much blood. I could still feel your presence and I knew you weren’t gone. I was certain you were still with me, but the doctors and nurses didn’t understand why I told them that. I couldn’t come up with an explanation for how I knew in a way they could understand. I...I think at some point they began to assume I was just in denial and tried to tell me it w-was over…

“I started telling them to just put you in a room in the ICU and take care of you anyway. That I knew you could make it even though it seemed lost by the usual standards. A-After several minutes of trying to gently tell me you weren’t coming back, I began getting angry with them. AJ saw I was telling the truth and even though it was hard to believe, she stood by me the whole time and did her best to keep me calm and help explain. She didn’t have any understanding of the magic details and really just stood by me on trust. Fluttershy too.

“After a point, I started giving them blunt orders as a Princess of Equestria in every legal way I could think of. They didn’t really listen at first but the moment I saw a pony from the hospital morgue approaching you, I just snapped. There was no more playing nice or being polite for me after that. I didn’t do it very hard, but I pushed the pony from the morgue back several feet and screamed at him to not dare lay a hoof on you. Then at the doctors and nurses to get you into a room and start treating you for blood loss.

“They got you into a room after some more warnings and even a few threats. Fluttershy really put her Stare to use. Somehow, Rainbow Dash got wind of things and showed up too. I had her go talk to Spike and get a letter to Celestia about the situation. It couldn’t have been more than five minutes before Rainbow came back with a reply already in hoof that the Princess was on her way down. She really helped keep things going with getting you set up with monitors and other stuff.

“Around the time you were only missing an IV, that nurse we met before, Swift Bandage, thought he’d try to be direct and ‘make me face the truth’ as I heard it mentioned later. He tried arguing with me, trying to make me see what the hospital saw as reality. It wasn’t long before I was holding back Rainbow Dash while yelling at him about being an idiot. I still don’t know what he said, the girls didn’t hear it, but whatever it was he’d told me at one point...I-I snapped again and sent him crashing into the wall three feet off the ground with enough force he was embedded enough to actually be stuck until another nurse pulled him free. Thank Celestia I included a shield spell, the force I hit him with would have killed him and we both knew it. He could barely walk out of the room with how badly he was shaking.

“By the time Princess Celestia arrived about thirty minutes after she got word, none of the hospital staff would go near the room out of fear. Thankfully, she was able to sense what I was talking about with you still being with me and saw you were regenerating. She left the room for just a couple minutes, but she came back with a full medical team that quickly did everything once they understood what was going on. Celestia even had an old and very obscure healing spell to help you recover a little sooner.” Twilight paused, taking time to blow her nose before another few calming breaths with the hardest parts now explained.

Once she felt ready again, she continued, “As soon as everything had calmed down and the waiting was all that was left, I just cried against Celestia for at least two hours. Pinkie and Rarity showed up with Spike at some point in all that too. I-I...I’ve...never cried so hard or so long before. Not much else really happened after I finally stopped crying and we just waited.

“Princess Celestia was able to more clearly explain the situation to the girls and gave an estimate on how long before your body would start responding again. I will never find words to express how much relief I felt when the heart monitor started beeping hours later. Celestia couldn’t stay much longer after that, knowing there was little else she could do and the hardest part was over. She said it would be a couple days before you would likely wake up, but that I could trust that you would.”

Twilight closed her eyes and tried to calm herself a bit more, taking deliberately slow breaths. As her shaky exhalations smoothed out again, she opened her eyes. She looked exhausted but also somewhat relieved just from telling me what happened. After looking into my eyes for a minute, she snuggled in against me with another sniffle.

She sounded tired, but fairly calm as she finished the course of events, “It was pretty much a waiting game after that. Like I already said before, I never left your side for more than a few minutes at a time and only when one of my friends was present. They came up with a simple schedule so one of them could always be with me during the day for visiting hours. It really helped. You know the rest after you finally woke up…”

With no more than a sniffle or two, she became silent and still. An occasional nuzzle was all that told me she wasn’t asleep as I held her close. I simply held her, letting my fingertips trace along her spine.

It was somewhat strange to hear about the situation that took place while I was out. I had a feeling she only told me the more important pieces but it was enough to let me understand. I felt her slowly settle into a more relaxed state as she drifted into a light sleep, her faint cute little snore could be heard easily while she was so close to me.

I spent some time in quiet thought. She had gone through so much for my sake. I didn’t want to think much about how I might have reacted in her place, knowing for all the trouble she went through and caused, I would have been far worse. If it wasn’t for being able to commune together because of my magic knowledge, I could only guess at how hard it would have been for her to put herself back together. I had seen how deeply she had been hurt and how close she had been to breaking inside.

My eyes went to the window, watching the weather team shifting some clouds in the sky. Twilight and I had the whole day to ourselves if needed. After being able to find some balance together and hearing what happened though, we would likely have the girls visit in the afternoon. I was frustratingly weak and cautioned against trying too much magic for a few days as well, to prevent straining my body as it recovered. I surmised things were on the mend at least. The Royal Guard would hopefully finish their Everfree patrols after another week, once the timber wolves were dispersed or destroyed again.

As I let myself be lulled into a nap by Twilight’s presence, I promised myself that once I recovered, I would push myself to learn magic even more than before. I couldn’t let the situation ever repeat itself. Not for my sake, but so I never put Twilight through so much pain again. I knew I could have done better with more knowledge, more spells.

Having affirmed the promise in my mind, I took a slow deep breath and relaxed further as my eyes closed. Just listening to that cute little snore that left me feeling like the world made a little more sense somehow. The last thought that crossed my mind as sleep came over me again was wondering why the two of us seemed to have a piece of our spirits exchanged.

Author's Notes:

A more depressing chapter than usual but a few bits of info along the way. Some are more obvious than others.

Getting the emotional feel of this right in my eyes was a challenge. I think it came out alright though.

As always, comments and critiques are welcome and encouraged. Just use your damned brain...and preferably complete sentences. :P

Bk 1 Ch 12: Marvelously Moderate Mayhem

I listened to the soft scratching of the quill Twilight was using as I looked up from my growing book of special notes I kept on the nightstand beside our bed. Nearly a week had passed and she was still adamantly making me remain in bed or on the couch downstairs at least half the day. It was frustrating, but one look of worried eyes from her and I only ever sighed and gave her a small smile of playful exasperation before complying, just to see her own relieved little smile every time. I was safe from falling over but still found myself tiring very fast, even if every day saw me gaining noticeable strength over the one before.

As I quietly watched her working at her desk on some specific spell research for Celestia, though it was now more mutual research matters than lessons even though they both were happy to maintain much of their past interactions. As I took in her form with a soft smile, she was lost in her study of some sort of specific spell theory, well beyond my current level of experience, relating to some alternate approach to earth manipulation for improving cave modifications from what she said. I hadn’t asked what brought it up. Two books hovered in easy reading distance, three stacks of around a dozen tomes each nearby, as her eyes flicked between them and the parchment before her, quill working away rapidly with few pauses.

Now and then she would give a small huff of frustration or faint gasp of understanding. There was a difference in her wings with each to my eyes. The edges of her feathers quivered slightly when she was annoyed or challenged and often opened her wings slightly with a bit of fluffing up for a moment when she found something interesting or made a new connection. Her mane was still a little disheveled from sleep, being so eager to dive into her research this morning. I couldn’t help but smile a little more at the adorkable image of a devoted and enthusiastic scholar. Every little thing she did tended to bring me a smile, but seeing her so enthralled in her passions always made it that much better.

My eyes returned to the special notes I was working on, my smile fading again as I looked at the large journaling book already close to half full of words and rough diagrams despite being more than an inch thick. I would probably need one or two more before the summit if I kept going at such a rate. The second day of my current recovery, we had found ourselves discussing possible preparations for the upcoming royal summit. An idle comment about my unique exposure to ideas back on Earth while Twilight was thinking out loud had inspired me to begin working on this little project. Coming from a different world, I had vastly different experience with concepts and ideas Equestria had never encountered or conceived. Specifically, things I knew of human technology and wartime capabilities, though that was merely to be my initial focus leading up to the summit.

At my urging, Twilight had agreed not to read my notes before the summit and only if Celestia, Luna, and Shining Armor agreed she should know. She didn’t like not knowing, but she accepted how much I had come to treasure her lack of such knowledge...and how darkly unpleasant some of what I was now writing down was going to be. I only shared short, rough concept of a thermobaric rocket enough to express how dangerous they could be, if little on what they could actually do to living beings. She had given me such a mournful look after some time to think it over, asking if it hurt to know things much worse than that. It was an innocence I treasured and cherished in her. She admitted not really wanting to know about anything worse and even indulged me with a sealing spell on the journal so only I could open it, just in case curious youthful eyes tried to wander. While I was including such in my notes, I didn’t say a word to her about chemical weapons and other horrors. Humans had long been terrifyingly creative when coming up with ways to kill each other. It only got worse when looking at works of fiction. Fiction had ideas for magic applications in war.

Most of it was brainstorming for concepts and suggestions to present for consideration and fresh ideas, knowing full well many of them were quite possibly already known in some way. Celestia and I shared a few grim but hopeful letters on it, telling me she hoped we would not need such horrid things like the few weapon examples I mentioned but she was willing to review them for what they might inspire in defense of Equestria. We were both more hopeful regarding defensive concepts I had learned of. Some of which were sure to be entirely unprecedented to Equestria’s history.

But we both acknowledged most of the ideas could never go beyond the diarchy or head of Equestria’s military forces. They were as keen as I was to protect the special kind of peaceful unknowing Equestria had. Great ideas could transform entire worlds. Dangerously misunderstood ones could ruin them.

I was working on one of the more hopeful concepts this morning. Thanks to an interest in new technology, one of the things I saw from Earth was a rather fascinating concept that had used a special liquid polymer suspension that was quite flexible to normal movement speeds but could harden instantly in response to an impact to protect against penetration. It was something that could be fused into materials like kevlar for very flexible yet extremely tough armor far lighter than metal or ceramic plating. I wasn’t an engineer and couldn’t run the practical math to save my life, but my studies in magic were giving me insights into ways we might actually create some of the ideas I had, letting me suggest practical theories. Even things drawn from fiction on Earth could potentially be realized with magic, which expanded my potential list dramatically.

The work was often a little depressing, even when it was something like armor theories. Perhaps it was due to knowing full well that even successful implementation of this liquid polymer armor idea would be put to use keeping a member of the Royal Guard alive longer in battle but not one idea I had would protect against or prevent everything. Not even all of them combined into one. There would be many that would never be seen by their families again. Such feelings never lasted long though, instead soon stoking the fires of determination to do everything I could to help Equestria and these ponies survive. I had a massive amount of ideas to go through and put to paper for my princesses. They had accepted me openly and I found myself returning the sentiment more every day. I was gradually coming to terms that even if a way to go back was found, it would be an impossible trip because of my link with Twilight and I could never drag her with me to a world I knew would never accept her, let alone us being together.

Missing what I left behind was something I simply had to accept. Equestria was my home now, no matter how I looked at it.

And I had work to do.

***

A couple of hours passed as Twilight and I worked on our respective tasks. I raised a brow in bemused surprise when both our stomachs chose to growl noisily at the same time. Twilight and I turned to grin at each other with faint blushes and shared a chuckle.

“Well it seems we should look into lunch shortly, Purple Angel. Were the girls meeting us for lunch today or no? It slips my mind what time they were coming by.” I said as I closed my notes and stretched some, earning a few satisfying pops from my spine.

Twilight set her own efforts down, in a meticulously arranged way of course, and came over to me with a smile, “They should be by in another hour or so. I think Spike is still out so it’s just us for lunch today. Think those black bean burgers you got me hooked on would be good? I should be able to put a couple together for us.”

That gave me a smirk as I nodded and stood up to head down to the kitchen. She had initially been a little skeptical that something inspired by meat would be appealing but soon conceded it was a delicious idea when we put down a wager that she would like them. It took a little iteration on my part, but we had a tasty recipe now. And Twilight enjoyed them even more than the local diner’s veggie burgers. Although, considering that diner, I still hadn’t figured out why she had been skeptical in the first place.

As we sat down at the table to enjoy our meal, my mind drifted again, my eyes glancing through the window at the blue sky and the town quietly enjoying the day. Perhaps it was being so focused on my war and combat concepts project, I often found myself seeing mournful scenes in my mind's eye. After seeing so many devastated places on Earth played by the news, it wasn't difficult for my imagination to conjure unsettlingly vivid images of peaceful Ponyville after a battle of one sort or another. Twilight knew it was gradually worsening a little at a time as I worried over everything and told me she would be there whenever I needed a hug. I had always worried a bit excessively when myself or others were expecting serious trouble. Twilight and I both knew we were there for each other but it was always nice to hear it out loud when needed. It left me feeling a little blessed every time.

Twilight's voice brought me back out of my head and my eyes turned from the window, "What was that? I was drifting again."

She gave me a gentle look of concern, "I asked if you wanted some lemonade... Seeing the images again?"

"Lemonade would be nice and yes I was... I love this world. Knowing even vaguely that there will be some big war in the relatively near future brings so many memories of wars on Earth. I wish we could prevent it entirely..." I said softly, looking into her eyes.

"We all do, Vojin. The more time that passes, the more I worry about you though. Aside from the princesses, you're possibly the only living being in Equestria beyond a few old dragons that has seen real wars, even if you have never been in one yourself. Just seeing how much it troubles you is enough to tell me some of how difficult it will be. I will always be right here though. We can face it together." Twilight leaned against me as her wing settled against my back in a tender embrace.

After a brief pause to clear my head again, I kissed her cheek, sitting together left me close to eye level with her, "I know, Purple Angel. Hopefully, everything I have been writing down will eventually come to save a lot of lives. I just wish I could do more.”

“I know. Your protective nature is driving you hard with this. Put it out of your mind for now though. You have lunch to eat and an opinion to give because I wanted to try adding a little more spice this time.” Twilight nuzzled me before levitating my black bean burger to my mouth and teasing a little before jamming in with a faint giggle, forcing me to take a large bite. Although hearing that she had done any kind of experimentation in the kitchen left me suddenly apprehensive. I’d seen firsthand some of her...results.

She released the burger to me when I got my hand on it and I gave her a flat look before starting to chew. What quickly became apparent alongside the pleasant flavors was a rising heat. I’d come to learn Twilight enjoyed a spicier meal from time to time like I did and it seemed she was in the mood for one today. I was happy to share them with her, but her cooking attempts were often not exactly according to plan. Heat aside, at least the flavors came together well this time.

As I felt the spicy heat continue to rise the more I chewed, I knew I’d be sweating a lot soon and my face would turn red. I could handle it well enough, but I began to worry for Twilight as I saw her taking a large bite of her own burger. The burning tingle in my mouth was substantial yet tolerable to me. I was still learning how much Twilight could take but as I watched her expression changing from enjoying flavor to something I couldn’t quite place as her eye began to twitch...it only confused me further when she quickly devoured the rest of her burger.

She gave me a somewhat manic forced smile with bulging cheeks as her face began to flush ever brighter before levitating a large mixing bowl over, conjured a pile of crushed ice, and promptly buried her head in the bowl with her mouth wide open as her wing pulled me to her side with surprising strength, her whole body seemed tense. The sound of her devouring the ice kept me silently looking on as I absently took another bite of my burger, resolved to the experience as I began contemplating a tissue after a spice-induced sniffle.

Twilight kept her face buried in the ice for almost half a minute and cleared over half the bowl before she seemed to relax her wing holding me and sit back up. She had a sheepish grin as she met my curious expression, “Um...I think I might have added too much of those peppers…”

That brought a smirk to my flushed and sweating face, “You don’t say… What kind were they? And exactly how much did you add, anyway?”

“Do you want some ice, Vojin? You look a little uncomfortable.,” she asked, nudging the bowl closer to me and clearly trying to avoid the question.

“I can handle it. No dodging, my dear chef.” I chuckled softly before I finished my burger. Having been a fan of Mexican and Thai food on Earth, it wasn’t too severe to me, although the amount of heat was overwhelming the ability to still taste much of it.

Twilight grumbled a little and levitated a pepper from the counter I hadn’t noticed and set it on the table. It wasn’t hard to recognize the somewhat wrinkly, distinctive shape of the green pepper, apparently rather large for it’s kind to boot. I blinked and looked between the pepper and her a few times before giving her a peck on the cheek and a sympathetic look, “Twilight...you know what kind of pepper that is, right?”

“I didn’t know jalapenos could be so hot! I asked the mare at the pepper stall for a hotter jalapeno than last time and she suggested these! Since I was really in the mood for something extra spicy, I minced a whole one for each of our burgers! You sure you don’t need some ice?” Twilight said before growing quiet, staring at the offending pepper with a look somewhere between annoyance and spicy anguish.

I couldn’t help chuckling a bit more, “Twilight...it’s not a jalapeno, that’s a habanero and a big one at that… You are aware of them, right?”

The way she went to a look of surprise, then to a pitiful groan as she brought her hoof to her face as she leaned against me was interesting to see. My arm just slipping around her back as I continued to chuckle quietly.

“Most of the burning on my tongue is gone now. At least I don’t have to go through that again...” Twilight said with a sigh.

“Um...science question for you… What is the typical biological response to exceptionally spicy foods upon the digestive system and anticipated effects over the duration? Specifically, what those peppers will likely be causing you to feel… Try for a simplified answer.” I asked, giving her a small squeeze in sympathy for what she was about to realize for herself.

She took a moment before responding, restraining her urge to lecture, “Let me think...well, such foods can cause an abundance of microbial emissions, frequently resulting in cramping as a result of, ugh, pressure buildup. Hmm...the capsaicin that causes the body to interpret a signal for heat is also frequently still present in high concentrations upon completion of the digestive process and...evacuation…. Oh sweet Celestia have mercy!”

And...now I was just hoping to stop her from panicking in time for the little gathering soon.

By the time I managed to get Twilight to calm back down from panic mode, myself trying not to laugh too much the whole time, and stop her ransacking the library in a desperate search for a spell or remedy to stave off the inevitable, it was around the time set for the girls to arrive. She was somewhere between irritable and embarrassed now, hoping she wouldn’t have to excuse herself early.

As we relaxed on the couch, I smirked and gave her a nuzzle, “You’ll be fine, Purple Angel. Really, it won’t be too terrible and over soon enough. Although, a vapor shield for hydrogen sulfide and the like may be a good idea later. You’re lucky you can actually cast one. I probably won’t be ready for that level of selective shielding for at least a few years.”

“Hydrogen sulf….oh, right… Well, I guess you’re right. I’m still locking the bathroom door and putting up a sound shield…” Twilight complained, still flushed with embarrassment.

I rubbed her back gently, trying to help her relax the tension in her. The lunch error of spicy doom was a rather unusual way to march into the afternoon, to be sure, yet a strangely typical sort of event in my life since coming here. Within a minute, I was slowly kneading her neck and shoulder muscles, earning an increasingly relaxed string of sighs and little moans of contentment. I wore a soft, lopsided little smile at her melting from my touch. If it wasn’t for the planned visit, I would have started working on the special points of her oh so fun wings before long. Hmm, maybe that’s a good tease for later, noting to myself to call her Miss Fun-Wings when we’re in the right mood soon.

A few minutes later, we heard the knock at the door. I gently lifted her off my lap where she had settled down in the massage and got up from the couch. Giving her a quick peck behind her horn before I went to the door.

I opened the door to find Fluttershy and Applejack. I smiled as I welcomed them in, "Afternoon, ladies. Come in."

"Howdy Vojin. Good ta see ya again," Applejack said, "Hey there Twi."

Fluttershy was looking a little more unsettled, quieter among friends than usual, "Good afternoon Vojin. I hope we're not bothering the two of you."

"Not at all, Fluttershy. We did plan to meet together. No need to worry." I found Fluttershy's shyness endearing but it still left me a little confused with how she worried over so many inconsequential little things. Perhaps it was just intrinsic to her embodiment of Kindness in some way. I had been noticing it was beginning to show a pattern though, making extra sure everyone was extra comfortable when she had something she wanted to talk about. I figured she would get it out soon enough if that was the case today.

A smirk found it's way onto my face upon glancing out the door before closing it. I caught sight of Dash and Pinkie stalking someone with water balloons as they headed towards the library.

Glancing back inside, I caught the attention of the girls, "Looks like Dash and Pinkie are trying to get in a prank before dropping in. Any ideas who they're after this time?"

Twilight, Fluttershy and AJ looked out the window, trying to see what was likely to get interesting shortly.

"I see them. That seems to be a surprisingly small number of water balloons for them though. I mean, there’s only four," Twilight noted.

"I noticed that. Think they filled them with something unusual?" I asked, feeling a bit of sympathy for the pony they were after.

Applejack hummed to herself, "Ah wonder what they're plannin' this time. Never seen em use anything but water mahself."

We could see down an alley where the town's two biggest pranksters were stalking after their target, whom was on the street still out of sight. I gave a small chuckle as they came around the corner, revealing Spike and Rarity.

"Ah...so that's who they're after. Twilight, I think I could use a little spontaneous spell practice..." I said a little ominously, starting to grin with looming mischief.

Twilight raised her eyebrow at me, smirking a little herself, "Planning a little pranking the prankster, Vojin?"

I gave a short laugh, "Whatever do you mean, my dear? It's not like a spell or two at range because I needed a little bit of extra practice could possibly be related to catching them by surprise. Think I can manage a discrete remote teleport on, say, some mysteriously loaded water balloons moving at a moderate speed through the air and keeping their momentum while reversing the direction without sacrificing the structural integrity?"

Twilight gave me a soft giggle and rubbed her chin with a hoof, "Well I think you should be able to. I suggest a second tier physical transition plane with a kinetic absorption key. You were studying that version of teleportation key only yesterday, actually. I suppose you can use a bit more practice... Better start charging the magic now though, just to be sure you have it all lined up properly. Hmm...I think it even qualifies you for a special treat if you can get the spell right..."

"Special treat? What're ya talkin' bout Twi?" Applejack asked, catching both Twilight and I off guard.

"U-um...I..." Twilight began to fluster and turn red, looking at me nervously.

Before I could make a reply though, I was surprised when Fluttershy spoke up softly, "Um, it sounds like its one of those things between couples..."

"That's...about right... Where did that come from Fluttershy?" I blinked, looking at the shy little pegasus who gave a squeak as she realized what she said. With how astute her observation, despite her timid nature, I couldn’t help but wonder. Something for later though. I had impromptu spell practice to engage in for counter-pranking and Fluttershy seemed to be shrinking into herself while blushing so bad she might set her own feathers on fire. Best to let her calm down first anyway.

Letting the energy for my intended spell slowly build as I mentally lined up the spell components to establish the spell for proper casting, I couldn’t help the grin spreading across my face. I watched Dash and Pinkie sneaking closer to their target in complete ignorance they were about to be the target of their own prank. Being able to see over the bushes so easily helps. I still owed them for the last time they pranked me, after all. It was in good fun of course, but deep meditation with spell effects under Zecora’s direction was difficult enough on it’s own. Having those two simultaneously manage to drench me with my own water spheres, still hadn’t figured out how they did that, which were ice water no less from temperature manipulation, while also hitting me with a large bag of flour...well, it was an experience demanding some level of recompense and they’d been eyeing me warily, knowingly, for three days since. And now they seemed to forget that alley was visible from the library and I could see over most bushes rather well. Opportunity was knocking with a sledgehammer.

Just as Rarity and Spike stepped into the perfect position, interestingly they looked surprised, suddenly appearing unable to move their legs as if stuck fast while mystery balloons rose into the air for the attack. Recognition of what was coming was spreading across Rarity’s face as she caught sight of the balloons flying over the bush. A bit straight forward and rough for their usual style, but the invisible wall of vengeance was quickly placed in the flight path.

The looks of mischievous glee suddenly became startled shock as the balloons winked out briefly before reappearing and flying right back at them. Bursts of white dust exploded on impact. Seconds later, a pair of large water balloons flew in from a curious high angle like mortar fire and splattered squarely on each of their heads. I couldn’t be sure without being closer, but I would swear the water splash bent oddly around them while soaking in rapidly. It seemed they really liked the messy results of their last prank on me. A small shower of rainbow sprinkles finally rained down before a cherry landed perfectly on each of their heads to complete the mess of two stunned pranksters. Rather curious how that went, which left me with an extra suspicion.

“Kinda funny how that just played out. Almost like there was a little spellcraft in there. And knowing those two...Twilight, my dear...have you been, gasp, aiding the enemy…?” I said in mock disbelief before shooting her a playful smirk.

Twilight’s actual surprise and bit of embarrassment was evident on her face as a sheepish guilty smile creeped in, “Um...I think I’ll use one of your Earth sayings. I plead the fifth…”

I shook my head briefly, chuckling even as both Applejack and Fluttershy looked a little lost at her response. Stepping out the door, I waved them all over to the library. Rarity looked a bit smugly relieved, Spike was still laughing to himself, and the two piles of rainbow sprinkled dough followed along somewhat meekly despite the grins they had.

“I suppose Spike and I have you to thank for interrupting such a terribly messy prank, Vojin darling. I know they try to be unexpected but we are meeting together this afternoon! I would have needed to go back to the boutique had they succeeded in their endeavours. It’s always nice to be protected by a gentlecolt.” Rarity commented as she walked past me, earning a small bow of my head with a smile in turn. Spike just let out another chuckle and gave me a brofist as he passed.

As Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie approached though, I stepped in front of them with a smirk, “You two aren’t allowed inside until you hose off and dry off. No pitter patter of batter splatter in the library. Twilight will string me up if I let you get her books dirty.”

A glance at Twilight through the window revealed her secretive pleased smile as she turned back to Rarity. I just chuckled and tried a flexible light levitation spell on the hose to bring it over. Controlling the hose seemed easy enough as I snaked the noodle out of the coil.

Things quickly took a turn in favor of Murphy though, soon as I turned on the water. The hose, lacking normal physical constraints of even it’s own weight, began flipping wildly from the water pressure. The spray ran across Dash, Pinkie, and me before I could react. A nice line of water splashed across the door, wall, and window of the library before I managed to freeze the hose in the air and was fortunate enough to have it spraying me in the side of the head before I finally just dropped the levitation spell entirely. Once the hose flopped to the ground in a nice, normal manner, I glared at it as I picked it up by hand. One of these days, I needed to figure out a spell for Murphy repellent.

I rolled my eyes as Dash sniggered at my display, “I see you’ve been practicing, Vojin!”

In response, I just gave her a flat stare for two seconds before spraying her with water.

She just laughed and let me rinse her off after blocking her face with a wing. Once she was done, Pinkie simply jumped in front of her and bounced in place while turning, grinning madly the whole time. At least I had the sense to keep my distance, managing to avoid catching any of the mess.

“Alright, I guess that’s enough. You two can dry off easily enough on your own right?” I said, taking just long enough to levitate the hose back into a neat coil. Upon turning back around, I blinked at Pinkie just as Dash took off for her flight-induced drying while I was confused, “Pinkie...how...why are you already dry?”

“I just jogged through a volcano because I felt like toasting some marshmallows while drying off! Want one? They’re super duper tasty golden brown!” Pinkie beamed, holding up a small tray of perfectly toasted goodies.

Having firmly learned the lesson of ‘Pinkie being Pinkie’ in my first few days, I just swallowed my questions as I picked up a still-warm marshmallow and popped it in my mouth, thankful Pinkie Pie was a force for good, “I see... Well, thanks for the treat. I need to get myself dry now.”

“Oh, I can help with that!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed from behind me, her voice dripped with mischievous intent. Quickly catching me by surprise, she latched on to my torso and quickly dragged me into a somewhat more open spot and letting go moments later.

I had half a second to think about that before she began whirling around me in a mini-tornado, causing me to have a bit of a spin myself. Given how my days usually went in Ponyville, this was probably the middle of my standard ‘manic minute’ for today. Of course, it was usually Pinkie as the cause and at the center. Today, she had help. Lucky me.

Feeling the whirlwind dissipate, I took a second to recover my senses before marching straight for the library door, hearing Rainbow Dash snickering as I grumbled, “Lovely. Rain-blow dry. I need a brush…”

As I headed inside, trying not to think about the mess on my head, I heard Rarity gasp but went silently up the stairs to the bathroom for a mane brush. My thoughts paused briefly, realizing that little hiccup happened again, thinking about something with the Equestrian name equivalent instead of the Earth version I grew up with. I mused to myself about how long it would be until I started in with ‘everypony’ in regular conversation. After a couple long minutes of thought-filled detangling of the light brown clown wig Rainbow left me with, at least if said wig were run through a washing machine before getting attacked by a deranged pony, finally I got it under control again and headed back down.

The girls were all enjoying a light conversation until I came back and immediately flopped on my back, feet towards the wall, next to Twilight as she sat on a cushion in a circle with the rest of our friends, simply staring at the ceiling in a slight daze as Twilight nudged me with a hoof.

“Are you alright, Vojin?” she asked with a smile, “One of your ‘manic minute’ things again?”

“Purple Angel, I do believe with everything that just happened, this one wins the month.” I replied distantly, turning a bemused expression and somewhat exasperated eyes to meet her own.

“At first, I had a hard time believing you had at least one crazy minute almost every day at first. Now, I’m just trying to figure out how you seem to be such a magnet for something crazy happening most days. Hopefully, you can relax the rest of today now. Care to join me and the girls?” Twilight said softly with a sympathetic smile.

“Of course,” I replied before sitting up and settling in beside Twilight properly with my legs crossed, giving her a discreet but playful poke in a wingjoint and earning a slight blush out of her as I wrapped an arm over her shoulders, “This was my idea, after all.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes slightly and gave me a gentle bap on the back of the head with her wing before leaning against me. I simply smirked and kissed her temple before giving a nuzzle, then turned my eyes back to our gathering.

It was just a simple visit together, but primarily to give them all a specific safe time and place to express any worries that might come along because of the looming shadows of the future. A little silly perhaps, but I was trying to do everything I could to help them be open about anything the looming fight might bring up for them. And another excuse just to spend time together never hurts.

“Well, now that we’re all here, any of you had worries about or done something partly because of the ‘you-know-what’ this week?” I asked. After a pause, I noticed Fluttershy simultaneously trying to shrink and hold up her hoof at the same time, albeit slightly and slowly as she tried to avoid attention she was actually trying to get. “It’s alright Fluttershy. What’s on your mind?”

The expected squeak was adorable usual, but she seemed to steady herself a bit and straightened up a little, “U-um...w-well I...that is, I...um….if it’s alright with everypony...I-I would like t-to...a-announce s-s-somthing….”

Fluttershy paused, visibly trying to gather herself when Applejack spoke up, “It’s alright, sugarcube. Ya’ll are free ta say anythin’ here. Ain’t nopony gonna be teasin’ ya about anything ya say...ain’t that right, Rainbow Dash…” Applejack punctuated her statement with a glance at the chromatic pegasus, who grinned nervously while deflating a little.

“I-I know….j-just...um, can I just sh-show you?” Fluttershy asked softly, shaking enough her feathers were starting to tremble slightly.

Curious, I nodded, “Of course, Fluttershy. You know the guidelines I told everyone for this.”

“O-okay….e-excuse m-m-me…” Fluttershy said before slowly standing and stiffly making her way to the door. After she stuck her head out and made a motion with a hoof, she seemed to wait.

Not long after, I heard a set of hooves approaching from outside. Fluttershy seemed to be shaking more noticeably, even gulping silently before the door opened fully and she was pulled into a hug by a large red foreleg. Almost like a soothing spell was cast, the tension in her body seemed to drain away as Big Macintosh held her.

After she seemed to settle down again, Fluttershy stepped back and looked up at him with a soft, grateful smile before turning to walk back over to our little circle. She settled down on her cushion and Big Mac gave her a small nuzzle as he settled in beside her.

Fluttershy leaned into him and seemed a lot calmer, still very quiet but almost steady now, “I...um, I wanted to say...I-I was thinking about the future and the scary stuff we’re probably going to face. After some talking about it, Big Mac and I decided it was time. W-we’ve been seeing each other secretly for months now and wanted to stop hiding it from everypony...”

Rarity’s face lit up like she just won fashion week and began gushing, “Oh Fluttershy! Darling! This is wonderful news! And seeing each other secretly for months! I recently read a romance novel with the main characters did just the same thing! Oh, I do hope you didn’t plan it to be soon so I have time to do your dress justice! Oh Fluttershy, I’m simply ecstatic! When did you want to have the wedding?”

An open declaration regarding reading a romance novel from the same unicorn that was so meticulous in her social graces? Oh, I needed to remember that for another day! At least worth one major blush, probably two if I was careful, but I had other things to focus on for now.

Judging by the sudden blush on both Fluttershy and Big Mac, along with their lost expressions, I was guessing there was a false assumption going on but held my piece with a smirk. More entertaining to see things play out sometimes and Rarity was still gushing obliviously. The rest of the girls seemed at least somewhat clued in after a bit as well. Except Pinkie. I wasn’t even going to question the bucket of popcorn she was suddenly munching on as she looked on.

Once her fashionista flood tapered off, she still spoke excitedly, “Oh, tell me already Darling! I simply must know the date immediately so I may plan! I must also insist you come back to the boutique with me immediately upon our closing of this get together so I can retake your measurements to be absolutely certain I have everything right! Oh, I am simply ecstatic! When is the date?”

When Fluttershy seemed to sense Rarity was waiting for a response, her voice soft and a little apologetic, “Oh, I’m so sorry Rarity. We’re not getting married. We just wanted to tell everyone we’re seeing each other because we wanted to start having a few dates in town and visit the cafe together. We don’t know what will happen in the future and decided to stop keeping it a secret anymore. Please don’t be mad at me…”

“Oh my! I’m terribly sorry, Darling. I am afraid I jumped to conclusions once again. There is nothing wrong with taking all the time you feel is right for the two of you. After all, the better the foundation, the stronger the relationship! I am of course utterly delighted for the two of you. I daresay I might have to collaborate with Pinkie and throw a small event in celebration! Consider my previous statements as a promise to design your wedding dress someday. Oh, and Big Mac, we are friends, however…” Rarity waited till she had his full attention, then her face darkened in a way that even left me a little scared, her voice a low threatening tone as she gave Big Mac a death glare that could melt iron, “If you break her heart, I will personally flay the flesh from your bones! Do I make myself clear, colt!”

“E-eeyup…” Big Mac managed to get out, ears flat to his head and eyes wide, looking shaken.

Instantly, Rarity relaxed back to her usual demeanor as if nothing out of the ordinary took place and she smiled brightly, “Excellent! I am truly happy for the two of you. Might I ask how it began?”

We all were quick to voice our interest in the story right then. Perhaps it was just my own bias, but it made me smile inwardly at the way the glanced at each other with small private smiles for each other before Big Mac gave her a tender nuzzle. Fluttershy seemed to press herself against him a little more, turning back to the group with a more open smile than she usually wore. The two of them seemed very happy together.

“I think it might be nice to share the story now.” Fluttershy said softly, the gentle smile she wore was very much her version of beaming, “Well, I know Vojin has heard the story of my singing with the Ponytones briefly, so I won’t go into that part. It was a few days after that ended when Big Mac came by in the morning with one of the chickens feeling who wasn’t feeling well. I didn’t hear him coming and he caught me singing to some of my animal friends. He was so quiet, I didn’t notice he was nearby until he seemed to whisper to himself about wishing he could ask me out but he didn’t realize how loud it came out right when I finished the song I was singing. When we both looked at each other, knowing we both heard each other, well...we were really, really embarrassed…

“Once Big Mac found his voice, he seemed to try and forget everything as he started telling me about his ill chicken. He acted like nothing happened until I was digging through some of my supplies to help the poor dear get better again. It was about then, he mumbled how he couldn’t believe he was rambling, like butterflies in his stomach all of a sudden. When I asked him about it and if he was feeling sick too, he just got all shaky and started sweating that I thought he was getting really sick himself.” Fluttershy seemed to pause as she looked up at Big Mac, her smile growing as she nuzzled him, “Somehow, between me trying to make him lay down on the couch and Big Mac trying to not fall over his own hooves, we fell over together and I wound up being held by him as we just stared at each other, blushing. He had caught me before I fell under him.

“It was strange. For some reason I couldn’t lift a hoof to leave right then. He made me feel really safe somehow and before I really had time to think about getting back up, he finally asked if I would forgive him for being clumsy and if he could treat me to lunch to make up for it.” Fluttershy seemed to sigh and push herself against Big Mac again, “I agreed without really thinking about it just so I had some reason to get back up. He brought lunch over to my cottage that same day and we enjoyed each other’s company so much, we decided to do it again a few days later. We’ve been keeping it between us, but we’ve been seeing each other ever since. I hope I haven’t taken up too much time. I always feel more confident when he’s next to me.”

“Ah gotta say Big Mac...ya sure kept this one close ta the vest. Ya ain’t got a lot ta say most of the time but ah always thought ah’d have caught somethin’ like this. When are ya fixin’ ta tell Granny?” Applejack had a grin on her face, looking rather pleased about her brother dating, though one had to wonder at her thoughts on him dating one of her closest friends.

“Gonna be later today, AJ. We’ll have one more for dinner.” Big Mac said in response, a sleepy, proud smile was all his face really displayed even as he gave Fluttershy a faint nudge.

“Well I can’t say it’s the most surprising tale of he meets she. I will say I am rather tickled to hear even you suffer from stupid male syndrome, Big Mac. May our fates be sealed with those we love.” I laughed lightly as I glanced at Twilight, seeing him sport a small smirk as he glanced at Fluttershy again.

He simply gave a quiet smile with a soft rumble of reply, “Eeyup.”

“Ok, all this romantic stuff is fine and all, but I gotta ask you Fluttershy. Has he shown you his applebucking technique yet? I have a running bet with Cloud Kicker and I’m dying to know if he lives up to his name!” Rainbow Dash’s grin was terrible. Poor Fluttershy seemed to practically ignite with embarrassment.

Twilight was the first to respond, swiftly giving her a whap her upside the head with a purple wing. I hoped Rainbow felt at least a little terrible about it as she received a fairly appropriate response, “Rainbow! Do you really have to be that crude?”

Rainbow Dash only chuckled, “Wow Twilight. You sure catch on quick ever since you started bucking Vojin five times a day. You were so bad with innuendos, I was starting to think it was impossimmph!”

I sighed and let my magic drop after the solid application of a pillow to a certain blue pegasus mare’s face. She was still grinning ear to ear as she set down the pillow and rubbed her nose a bit but at least she wisely remained silent. Poor Twilight was attempting to impersonate a tomato again as I gave her a soft squeeze and kissed the top of her head as she calmed down, deciding it was best to move on, clearing my throat lightly, “Well, now that we have that behind us, do the rest of you girls have anything on your minds? And before you ask, Dash, big fat no on another word about that. Behave yourself or I’ll give you sticky hooves and a silence spell before leaving you stuck on the ceiling. And not a word about sticky hooves, either...”

Rainbow Dash caught my eye, somehow managing to contain herself to quiet sniggering behind a hoof. To date, I’d learned only Cloud Kicker had beaten Rainbow for crudest pony in town. They actually were both sweethearts, in all honesty, but they were sweethearts with malfunctioning senses of shame and very dirty minds. Cloud Kicker was worse because she took regular delight in trying to convince me to, as she put it, go back to her place and bang so she knew how good humans were. I knew she had her rules and never actually would, but at least she agreed to stop heckling me when I was with Twilight. Which was thankfully almost every time I was outside the library.

As often happens, it wasn’t long before my mind began to wander for lack of stimulation. Rarity had started talking about what few practical males really grasp. Something about the ideas and emotions of looming conflict inspiring her to mix modern styles with historical battles. I couldn’t follow with much of it and resigned myself to giving her enough of my attention to be respectful and otherwise admitted cognitive defeat. I was still happily offering her feedback on sketches, but she had surrendered trying to give me a more refined fashion sense. Of course, half the time it was only Fluttershy that kept up anyway.

To my surprise, as my mind was allowed to drift, I began to notice a faint magic presence beyond those gathered in the room. It wasn’t much at first, but awareness brings focus and it wasn’t long before I was narrowing the signature down. Still found it funny all spellcasters were capable of what amounted to magic radar when practiced at it alongside skill with deep meditation. The presence seemed familiar as I focused.

Finally, I smirked privately and made no attempt to hide levitating the dart over from across the room where Spike had been given permission to set up, provided he didn’t touch it unless Twilight or I were in the room. He was still off doing chores missed earlier so he could help Rarity. Pinkie caught my eye and gave me an inexplicable knowing smirk. I just quirked a brow at her as I began to twirl the dart between my fingers. Rarity was looking just about done with her fashion lecture. Twilight and Pinkie seemed to be the only ones that noticed me obtaining the dart.

After Rarity finished and the others had their comments heard, I smirked, “Well, may I offer my opinions when we can sit down over some sketches, Rarity? It sounds like an interesting line, but you know how bad I am at visualizing that stuff.”

“I still wish I could impress upon you the importance of fashion, darling. I have not lost hope!” Rarity gave a small, if dramatic, sigh, “But yes, I will finish the sketches and drop by in a day or two. You are more capable than you know, even if you do not recognize it.”

“Heh, maybe. And I still think you should try sketching for the sake of the art itself. I’ll have to pick out some tea for then.” I turned to the yellow pegasus leaning against Big Mac, still smirking, “Fluttershy, I think I remember you telling him it was ok to come with you, but Discord does know snooping and spying around me is going to get him in trouble, right? Or rather, again...”

She looked surprised and a touch confused, “Well I have told him he could come with me but he said he was wanting to try a new bakery in Canterlot today. At least I think that’s what he said. I still don’t know much of what he does when he isn’t visiting me. Princess Celestia even mentioned once he tends to cause mischief and pranks at the castle more than anything else. Why do you ask?”

My smirk grew a bit, levitating the dart for a second before it winked out. Moments later, a yelp rang out which was shortly followed by a thump. Everyone turned towards the basement stairs where Discord was getting to his mismatched feet, the dart stuck in his backside.

After a mixture of a sheepish grin and a grumble of frustration, he plucked the dart out, glared at it briefly, turned it into a turnip before tossing it behind himself, and went to sit near Fluttershy, grousing a bit as he gave me a scowl, “How in Equestria do you keep doing that, human? Not one pony ever knows when I’m around if I don’t announce my fabulous presence. I can even keep Celestia and Luna guessing when I try. And you keep catching me.”

I finally had to chuckle, give him an amused expression, “Well, Mister Mixup, you have a very unique magical signature and I’m well trained in following very subtle cues like you give off when you’re close by. Not to mention, you’re not exactly subtle in general. Enough of that though, I told you to stop sneaking around and just come out. Why do you keep trying to be sneaky when you were invited, anyway?”

Discord huffed, “I am not answering that. I mean, really, it’s so much less fun to simply join in and...Fluttershy, stop looking at me like that. No. Stop that! Don’t make meeeeee… Gah, fine... I remember what you said about friends and behaving myself so I won’t make everypony quite as nervous...”

All Fluttershy had done was turn her head and raise her brow. I grew a lopsided grin every time I saw her reign him in with just a look. For all his social failings and other issues, he did treasure her friendship. He returned Fluttershy’s small smile with one of his own as he sighed and she gave him a pat on the side in encouragement.

“Well, now that you’re actually here Discord, I’ve been curious what you think of things to come. I know you’re more aware of the future even though none of us have said anything to you because of your foresight skills, despite how little you use it for sake of surprises. And no, you know we were asked by the Princesses to remain silent so don’t ask.” I said, wondering both what he thinks of the shadows ahead as well as how much he actually knew.

It was then a strange look crossed his face for the briefest of moments. Given his odd approach to things, I couldn’t be sure but it looked like genuine worry. It vanished just as swiftly as he gave a soft grin and glanced at Fluttershy briefly, “I won’t say what I really know. A mighty master of chaos such as moi has to maintain some air of mystery, after all! I just intend to spend my time visiting Fluttershy as usual.”

Behind his dancing around any real answer, he had a flash of another emotion and firm conviction passed across his eyes as he met mine. He only said a little, but he said enough.

The last thirty minutes or so seemed to pass by in a hurry as conversation returned to more usual subjects. Before we all knew it, it was time for everyone to head off and for Twilight and I to get more studying done. Well, I had studying. She had a lecture to plan because I made the mild mistake of asking for a lesson in practical illusion applications now that I was stepping into that area of spells. She already said it would take most of the day tomorrow. At least I actually enjoyed them a fair bit, after helping her understand how to avoid being statistical and dry that is.

“Hey Vojin, before I go, there’s something I’ve been wondering about you!” Pinkie exclaimed, “You’ve been here almost two whole months and I still don’t know when your birthday is or how old you are! So c’mon! Tell me! I gotta know so I can plan you the bestest ‘first birthday in Equestria ever’ party!”

I couldn’t help but laugh briefly, but finally shook my head, “My lips are sealed on that information, Pinkie. Just something I decided to leave behind. I know it’s a little weird, wanting to forget your own birthday but for some reason, mine never went well. Something always went badly. I already made up my mind about it, so just consider my arrival in Equestria as my birthday from now on, ok? And no, I’m not telling you how old I am either. Uh...a lady never reveals their age?” I finally gave her a silly grin.

Pinkie hummed to herself, glancing to the side as she tapped her chin with a hoof before looking up at me with another grin, “I can work with that as your new birthday if you really want me to! But tell me how old you are! You’re not a lady! Twilight has proof!”

Now I was just staring at her blankly, unsure if she was being dirty-minded, innocent, or outright random. I honestly had no idea how to respond for several seconds and heard the groan of Twilight engaging hoof to face, before she stepped in herself.

“Pinkie! I’d expect that from Rainbow…thankfully she already took off...but to hear that from you?! By Celestia, I really don’t know what to do with you sometimes. Can you just forget about it for now? Please?” Twilight gave the party pony an exasperated look.

“Ok, I’ll ask again later! Don’t think you’re gonna get out of it though, Vojin!” Pinkie grinned wide as she bounced, catching Twilight and I in hugs before heading out the door, “I will find out eventually! Even if I have to apply transdimensional mechanics under StarSwirl’s seventh planar distinction through a polymorphic divination matrix empowering a discretionary visual induction plane with mutual sympathetic lines! No way you’re getting out of it!”

Both Twilight and I stood quietly as we watched her bounce away before slowly closing the door, myself feeling boggled and Twilight looking stunned. I only understood half of what Pinkie referenced, but Twilight looked somewhere between frustrated and flabbergasted.

“How...how could she...the hay with it how she knows about that obscure...why would anypony ever even consider a combination like that? The whole suggestion is at odds with several different proven magic theories! Gah!” Twilight’s eye twitched for a few seconds before she finally let out an exasperated sigh.

Deciding to follow the hunch of ‘Pinkie being Pinkie’ bits of information just to be safe, I looked at Twilight, “I don’t know much about what she just said, but can you write it down with a few book titles to reference for me, please? Even if it’s one of her crazy gibberish lines, it should at least give me an interesting project to research over time. I’d like to try looking into it out of curiosity. You could call it an excuse to flex my limits a little, I suppose. And it’s just a rough guess, but it’s a long-term project, isn’t it?”

Twilight looked at me with a frown, “Well, I guess I can help give you some direction for the extra learning. And yes, that is definitely a long term effort. It would probably take me a year of dedicated study to get it all set up based on a rough estimate of what she suggested. And that’s assuming Pinkie was actually completely on target. It would be several years for you right now, so please don’t worry about it too much, alright Vojin? I’ll help if it starts to actually go somewhere, ok?”

I brought one knee up to stand, but first pulled Twilight in for a hug, nuzzling her softly, “Thank you, Purple Angel. She confuses me just as badly but does come up with insightful things sometimes. I am aware of the parasprite incident, after all. Maybe it will pan out eventually.”

***

With an adorable squeal, Twilight clapped her hooves together repeatedly before bounding over and giving me a huge hug, “I give you an ‘A+’ today! I know I keep saying it but really I love it when you ask for lectures! And you only missed one of my questions on the oral exam too! I can hardly wait until you move into the really fun stuff like I work with! Soon we’ll be sharing theories and researching things together and developing entirely new experiments! The discoveries we’ll make together! Eeeee!”

For lack of any more reasonable or enjoyable options, I just matched her hug with a warm laugh. The hug was a little crushing and worth every second of seeing her happy like this. I was a little stiff after spending six hours almost non-stop on illusion applications and theory, followed by her impromptu oral exam, which really shouldn’t surprise me anymore, to help catch any misconceptions in some of the theories right away. Really though, it was as much about my own learning as it was seeing her so happy and energetic. Sometimes, it was entirely about working through it to see the happy delerium Twilight got herself into and the learning was just an afterthought in a way. Of course, it only happened when I took the learning seriously. She was good at catching on when my attention waned during drier parts that are unavoidable now and then. Such moments usually just meant taking a break for a few minutes.

“You know, I thought you’re supposed to get an ‘A+’ for a perfect score. Are you bumping my grade because we share a bed?” I chuckled softly, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Twilight instead looked a little aghast and slightly insulted, “What? I’d never give you a grade you didn’t deserve! You weren’t supposed to get the question right! It’s partly an illusion spell with no right answer!”

That made me quirk a brow in curiosity, “A fake question? Mind if I ask why you would do that?”

“Simple. It was very similar to a question I answered when I was first studying illusion spells. The point isn’t getting a right answer at all,” Twilight grinned, “It doesn’t have one. The construct of it gives a very good indication of how the one being tested perceives most illusion magic. That’s important to know both for advancing skills and what kinds of counterspells will benefit you most.”

“Huh...I take it you know how I perceive illusions now?” I mused, in part still adjusting to these little tricks in spellwork I had yet to see coming. Perhaps because I didn’t grow up around it.

Twilight’s grin widened a little, “Well, you are in a rather unusual group. Either it’s very easy to trick you or very difficult. I believe it comes from the subtle experiences you have with magic that let you catch tiny hints most ponies tend to miss. Of course, missing those hints can leave you missing the more overt ones but knowing you as I do, this isn’t very likely to be a problem. You pay too much attention to little things being out of place. I don’t know how good you’ll be at casting illusion spells yet, but you should be pretty good at spotting them.”

“Well it sounds neat.,” I said, then pausing as something came to mind, narrowing my eyes and giving her a playful glare and smirk, “You’re not going to be trying to play tricks on me with illusions now, are you?”

She just smiled and shook her head, “No, I have no plans for that. I’m not really practiced at illusions anyway. If you ever meet Trixie Lulamoon, she could show you some really good illusion spells. It was her specialty, after all. I know you mentioned there was a few stories with her in them that you saw before. And I still think it’s a little weird your world had basically a show highlighting many of the biggest moments between my friends and I.”

“Heh, well coming from a world where the only civilized, intelligent lifeform is humans and nothing else, then I get pulled to this world where brightly colored ponies I thought were just fiction are just one of a number of intelligent species, each with their own cultures… I do believe the weirdness points are in my favor here. And that is only inhabitants, just to start!” I laughed, sticking my tongue out at her.

Twilight giggled softly, sticking her tongue out right back at me before nuzzling into my chest with a quiet sigh, “I’m really glad you enjoy learning with me so much. It means a lot.”

My smile softened as I gave her a gentle squeeze, “I’m just glad you put up with me, Purple Angel. You’re a lot smarter than I am, after all. I’d have thought you’d be annoyed more often, when you seem to pick things up so much faster than I do.”

“You pick things up better than you realize, Vojin. If anything, you approach things less efficiently, but that’s not really accurate… You think differently.” Twilight said quietly, relaxing further into my arms as she kissed my throat before burying her face in my neck.

I simply held her for a bit, enjoying the warmth of her closeness. My eyes fell on the blackboard she was scribbling on earlier and began to trace across the various magical representations. I frowned again at the few formulae present. I’d been avoiding it to a degree but admitted I needed to learn advanced math if I was going to progress much further soon. Most of the current magic lessons were contained well within concepts and theory unhindered by calculation demands.

It wasn’t the worst thing in the world of course, but getting mathematical knowledge into my head always seemed more difficult than it should be. Well, it was either learn or quit studying more magic. At least math did ultimately make reliable sense once it sank in. Though I’m still waiting a couple days before I ask for the next lecture.

Author's Notes:

A bit delayed, yes. Already started on the next chapter.

Initially had trouble getting the meeting conversation feeling right. Scrapped over a thousand words just to start the section over at one point. Hope the whole shipping thing progresses smoothly and doesn't come across contrived. I have much to work on with my writing. :P

As always, comments and critiques are welcomed and encouraged. Just use your brain.

Bk 1 Ch 13: Wings & Other Things

It was a rather peculiar feeling, walking down the road alone as I was. Even after the long minutes I’d been strolling along already.

I’d gotten so used to having Twilight beside me or at least in the same room at almost every moment of the day that it left me feeling uncomfortable without her around. Still, we needed to test her calculations on how far apart we could get safely at some point. Her taking a trip to the market while I headed out to Fluttershy’s cottage seemed as good an opportunity as any.

From what Twilight could discern, we should be able to go close to a mile, maybe a mile and a half away now. The range between the tugging and escalation was also appearing to spread as well. Following any warning signs, I could easily head for town if anything more than the tugging happened, but I was almost there and it hadn’t happened yet. So long as Twilight only went to the market and back, we should be alright for a while.

Of course, after growing so accustomed to always being near her, I felt a sort of incomplete. A curious sense of nakedness without her around me. Being necessary didn’t mean I liked it.

For the hundredth time since we headed off in different directions, I wondered what she was up to. Thanks to our link, I knew she was feeling the same kind of unease, but she was otherwise comfortable. While it still took dedicated focus to read each other’s emotions and general state, we’d just automatically know with a thought by next year. I smirked to myself, realizing it was turning into a sort of security blanket in a way for my mind now. Always feeling her presence and general direction. Silly, and maybe a bit sappy in a way, but nice.

My eyes fell closed for a bit as I listened to the late-morning breeze fluttering amongst the leaves in the trees I passed, the complex rhythm held within the simple beat underneath from the quiet sounds my footsteps added. The world around me soaked into my being as birds sang alongside vague echoes from town coming out of the distance. All of it melding together in a discernible melody somehow. Even a bit of faint audible accenting appeared from the wind whispering through my long hair. These moments calmed the soul in ways almost nothing else could. It took focus to consciously notice it most of the time, yet clearly Equestria had a strange underlying music ever flowing. The pulse of nature and life in complete harmony.

And it was beautiful.

Opening my eyes again after several long and appreciative moments to avoid wandering from the road, I saw I was nearly to the last bend before the cottage would be in view. I felt light and energized, even if I was still recovering a little. There were only a few more days before summit left, but between a chat with Dr Hoofmeister on an examination visit and Twilight’s endless love of calculating probabilities, I was surprised to find I’d be entirely healthy again the week of our coming visit to Canterlot. I paused in my head again at that.

I’d bled out and managed to survive by transferring my spirit to Twilight’s body somehow. Then not only physically heal, but was nearly done regenerating almost my entire blood supply without any permanent issues anyone could find. If there was some greater purpose why I could heal like this, I was almost afraid to ever find out, considering what rapid healing might be needed for. Probably just me worrying about the looming future and whatever it was that made me the target of that orb.

As I rounded the bend and walked the remainder of the way to Fluttershy’s cottage, I pulled myself from heavy thoughts. I was here for happy reasons, after all. Hopefully, she wasn’t out somewhere since I was doing this somewhat spur of the moment.

Once I was fairly close, I caught the quiet sounds of voices in song. I couldn’t help the grin that came to me then, soon able to discern Fluttershy singing along with Big Mac. It was too muffled to catch the words but the interplay of their voices was certainly something special. And they sounded deeply happy in their song.

Stepping up to the door, I almost didn’t want to knock for knowing the lovely sound would cease, but I did not wish to listen in uninvited in on what was expected to be a private duet. A light knocking on the door garnered a murmured squeak of acknowledgement from within by a familiar voice.

It wasn’t long before the door opened a crack and a familiar pink-maned mare peeked out at me before opening the door wider, looking a little surprised even as she smiled, “Hello Vojin. Can I help you and Twilight with something? Is Owlowicious not feeling well?”

“No no, nothing like that. I’m actually here by myself, too.” I said, returning the smile.

“But I thought you and Twilight couldn’t get very far from each other without being hurt? Are you two in trouble? Are you feeling ok? You’re not feeling anything bad, are you?” Fluttershy started to work herself up, but I quickly allayed her worries with a gentle shake of my head.

“Nothing to worry about, Fluttershy. Twilight and I are just lightly testing our current allowable distance. She’s in town at the market right now and we should be fine at this range, if her calculations are right. Seems we are so far, at least. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” I told her before getting to why I dropped in, “I’m actually here to follow up with what I talked to you about a few weeks ago…”

“Big Mac is here early for our planned lunch, but we were just, um...talking,” There was a pause before her eyes slowly widened, along with her smile as she grew visibly excited, “Oh my goodness! You’re here to choose a pet today, aren’t you! Oh I just know you’ll find the perfect animal friend here! Come with me?”

She said it in such a way one might have thought it was optional. However, when said pegasus starts hovering with your hand clamped in her hooves and would probably just drag you bodily if you if you didn’t come willingly...well, I was walking a bit quickly to avoid any dragging, chuckling softly to myself.

“Oh, Big Mac! Vojin is here to pick out a pet today! I’m going to help him find a new friend out back and I’ll come back soon, ok?” Fluttershy said with surprising volume for her.

I gave a long-suffering roll of my eyes with a small wave and smile as I was swiftly dragged right past the big red stallion, practically jogging behind the mare and seeing him merely wave a hoof with a sleepy expression and smile as usual, his typical easy response was heard, “Eeyup.”

In short order, my hand was freed in the yard behind her home as Fluttershy began humming a tune for a moment, before catching herself and faced me, “Since you never did mention what kind of animal friends you like most, what did you have in mind? Would you like a new friend that’s more common like a dog or cat? Maybe one that’s more unusual, like a ferret or parrot? Possibly even something more exotic like some ponies go for? A reptile? Maybe an adorable little bunny like my Angel? Tell me!”

Although she was hovering, I would almost swear she was otherwise bouncing on her hooves. It was hard not to smile at her display of enthusiasm when she spent so much time quiet and reserved, even if the contrast was almost incompatible.

Still, I looked around at the various critters. A number of them had gathered around, it seemed, looking at me expectantly. Honestly, I knew what I hoped to find but wanted to let Fluttershy enjoy her excitement a little, rather than let myself be all businesslike about it. It was nice to see her acting so energetic and eager, after all.

“Well, I’ve got a fondness for birds…” I offered a bit teasingly.

Fluttershy smiled, gesturing at several feathered friends, “I have lots of different birds you can choose from. What kind of bird were you thinking of? I have parrots, pigeons, hummingbirds, kiwis, birds of prey, even an ostrich! I’m sure one of my avian friends will be right for you!”

Chuckling at some of the mental images, trying to catch an ostrich and instead being carried myself being foremost among them, I mused quietly a moment before replying again, “Something bigger but still small enough to sit on my shoulder would be nice. Larger than a pigeon, I think.”

There was a certain amount of utter adorableness in seeing many of the animals in Fluttershy’s care looking disappointed and wandering away when I mentioned more characteristics I was looking for. I decided not to question the ostrich wandering off and sticking it’s head in the ground while moping though, considering it was acting out a misconception like it was a normal behavior. I had the oddest impression that the ostrich was sulking. Some aspects of life in Equestria still left me no fathomable explanation.

“Well, that leaves us with raptors, parrots and a few other birds. Were you looking for something more social or more independent?” She said.

I couldn’t help an internal laugh as Fluttershy unknowingly followed my lead, though I still hadn’t seen what I was looking for. Considering the dwindling options, I was starting to worry she might not have what I was after. Still, I hope one or two last clues would bring out what I hoped to find, “I’m actually hoping for a bird that is both. Clever, too. Do you have one in black…?”

“Oh my...well, I do have one bird that might work, but he can be a kind of aloof and at others, he is just...different.” Fluttershy commented softly, turning her head and whistling something that seemed specific as the other birds slowly wandered off.

A new rustle of wings found my ears, like satin cloth brushing against itself, and a raven alighted on a nearby fence post, giving a cautious kraa and eyeing me curiously. I finally grinned wolfishly and slowly approached the large iridescent black bird.

Fluttershy watched me in quiet curiosity as I went to one knee by the post where the raven had perched. It leaned back a little, wary as it eyed me. We watched each other silently for long moments, gauging one another. Beyond the curious awareness most animals in Equestria seemed to have, the raven’s eyes gleamed with something a bit sharper, something more defined. It tilted it’s head this way and that infrequently, seeming to study me as much as I studied him.

As he relaxed and seemed more curious than wary, I slowly extended a hand until my fingertips touched the top edge of the post, giving the raven a small smirk, “Hello there, shining little shadow. I give you the name Solomon and I’d like you to become my companion. Would you like to join me?”

There was a curious sense in my mind that the raven, now Solomon, was smirking at me. He rustled his wings and after another long moment, made a curious set of sounds mixed among a couple kraas before he walked up my arm and onto my shoulder, sitting proudly like he owned me all of a sudden. It made me chuckle and I gently stroked his head before turning back to Fluttershy, who was smiling brightly.

“Oh that’s wonderful, Vojin! He’s never had anypony interested in adopting him and I think it was giving him a complex. It’ll be so nice for him to have a permanent home!” Fluttershy said, hovering next to Solomon and I, “If it’s not too much trouble, may I ask why you wanted a raven? Most ponies are a little nervous around them or don’t like them very much for some superstitious reason. It kind of seems like you knew what you wanted already.”

I looked back at her with a small, somewhat sheepish smirk, “I confess, I did. It’s just nice to see you get so excited once in a while and I kind of wanted you to enjoy it for as long as it lasted.”

Fluttershy just made a small squeak with a blush, giving me her own somewhat sheepish smile as she hid behind her mane and looked off to one side.

Solomon made some curious vocalizations and fluffed his wings briefly as I grinned, looking back to Fluttershy, “One of the reasons I wanted to wait on a pet was because I didn’t know what to choose. Yes, ravens do have a long association with death and evil things, but that’s really just a culturally-inferred thing. In some perspectives, they come from the Void where all things began when there was nothing. They are also symbols of intelligence and cleverness. Often messengers of some kind, though that is most frequently death in one way or another. There is even one about Ravens being a solar symbol, with one living in the sun. I’m not much for the superstitious silliness for the most part. Something else they can represent, surprisingly enough, is protectors of warriors. I think it’s pretty clear that I’ll have to be more than a friendly face dating Twilight, whatever is coming. Part of me felt like having my own symbolic protector might be nice. Well, something like that. A little cheesy or something, I’m sure…”

Fluttershy smiled, “I think that’s a perfectly good reason if it makes you happy. And I’m really happy for Solomon. He’s been here since I found him at the base of a tree when he was still a baby. I couldn’t find his nest anywhere nearby though, so I don’t know what happened. He deserves a nice home and I’m sure he’ll love you for being kind enough to take him in.”

My new raven friend gave a few quieter kraas before beginning to preen his wing and seemed content.

“Well my dear, I’ll let you get back to Big Mac. I have been feeling my link with Twilight tingling a little, so it’s best I start making my way back.” I said as I stepped up to her and pulled her in for a hug as she hovered, “Thank you for helping me find a new friend. We’ll have to plan lunch again soon, too.”

She moved back from the hug, smiling warmly, “You’re welcome, Vojin. Please stop by if you have any questions about Solomon.”

Waving to Big Mac at the back door as I headed around the side of the house, I began making my way back to the library. Solomon perched on my shoulder as he silently looked around.

***

Somewhere along the road back home, I began playing a vocalization game with Solomon.

It started when I had begun whistling to myself absently. I was surprised when Solomon broke his silence and mimicked the tune. A couple rounds and I tried to mimic a sound of his. Before I knew it, we were actually trading noises. Though if we were keeping score, he had me beat because of certain things I just couldn’t do, like his curious popping effect.

As we were in the thick of our little game and on the last stretch of road before the library, I was surprised when Solomon suddenly gave a cry of alarm and leapt from my shoulder in a flurry of feathers.

More reaction to his distress than anything, I cast a quick spell I’d been working on. A simple wide field sensing spell that responds to movement, inspired by things I’d seen a Tai Chi master do by sensing air pressure and chi fields. And in the span of a second, I felt the large object heading straight for me from behind. A second of time in which to react.

A heartbeat more said ‘pegasus’ alongside registering a shout of “Look out!” reaching my ears at the same time I noted an attempt to slow down.

My leading foot shifted my momentum and I moved into a spin, my sensing spell telling me more than eyes could have, and I tilted back as I faced the pony projectile with my arms coming up. Lacking time to even process colors, I caught the pony and reduced their momentum as much as I could, fearing they were, or were about to be, injured. The force easily threw me towards the ground, but with intentional direction of momentum, I was able to roll through it and disperse the impact enough to do little more than a dusting for us both as I came to a stop on my back with the pegasus hopefully safe in my arms.

With an annoyed groan as my eyes opened, I immediately recognized just who I caught when I saw the prismatic mane. This realization was quickly followed by planting my palm on the side of her head and unceremoniously shoving Rainbow Dash off of me before sitting up, eyeing her in mild annoyance, “What were you doing this time, Dash?”

She blinked at me with a sheepish grin for a moment, then it broadened to an impressed expression, “Hey Vojin! That was pretty wicked, catching me like that! How the hay did you react so fast? Nopony I’ve met has managed to dodge, much less catch me like before!”

I simply quirked a brow at her, “Sensing spell I based on my fighting techniques and experiences. Short answer is air pressure and motion detection. Now...why were you looking to pancake again this time…?”

Rainbow Dash blinked and went back to looking sheepish, sounding a bit apologetic, “New trick. You know how I am. Finished immediate cloud duties early as usual, so I was getting in a little more practice in. Whipped around a building and you were there. Was going for a ground skip when you caught me…”

“Dash...you do remember what I said about running low-altitude tricks in town don’t you…?” I told her a bit ominously, frowning.

A slow blink, then her eyes widened and she began to jump to her hooves, “Ohnoyoudon’t!”

Before she even separated from the ground, I had her by the tail and yanked her into my clutches, surreptitiously mixing a bit of levitation to avoid pulling too hard. Rainbow Dash quickly found herself in a headlock as I gave her a rough but affectionate noogie as I chastised her, “I told you, Dash! No crazy tricks in town! Ponies could get hurt like that you chromatic headache!”

“Ow ow ow ow ow! I’m sorry already! Ow!” Rainbow squirmed, trying to escape and falling on her flank when I released her, hissing as she rubbed the top of her head, scowling at me.

I just smirked, standing and dusting myself off, “Oh don’t give me that look. You know it’s a lot better than hurting anyone. Besides that, you probably scared Solomon.”

As she cocked her head in confusion, I looked around and quickly spotted my new raven friend perched on a rooftop. Extending an arm and calling out to him, he thankfully flew back over to me and quickly settled back on my shoulder, though keeping a wary eye on Rainbow Dash.

Still rubbing her head as she stood, she looked at Solomon curiously, glancing back to me, “You got a pet now?”

“Yes I did. This is Solomon, my new raven. I was just heading home after picking him up when you decided to drop in. It would have been nice to let him settle in for at least a day without anything crazy, but then again, I have you and Pinkie to help with that.” I smirked at her, reaching up to stroke Solomon’s feathers gently, “Aside from the trick trouble, how are you Dash? I haven’t seen you for a couple days. And let’s head towards the library since I was almost there already.”

Rainbow Dash fell in beside me after giving her wings a stretch, “Things are fine with me. Just some annual extra paperwork for Cloudsdale, so I was stuck at a desk longer than usual. Weather Captain isn’t always stacks of clouds, after all. It’s kinda cool you got a pet now. What made you choose a raven?”

“Well, without going in-depth, the myths about ravens in earth history I opted to go with was their representing intellect and cleverness, alongside protecting warriors. And they’re beautiful birds on top of it.” I said, giving Solomon another stroke of his feathers.

“Sounds kinda cool. Does the name Solomon mean anything?” Dash asked as we stopped in front of the door.

“Again, short answer...uh, basically a reference to wisdom. The name is also referencing an old magic user on earth named Merlyn that had a raven named Solomon as well, at least in one of the books I studied. Care to come in?” I said, pausing to looking back as I moved to go inside.

“Nah, I still have more moves to practice before I need to get back to weather work. I’ll keep the rest of the low altitude stuff out of town today. Tell Twilight I said hi.” Rainbow Dash said before taking off.

With a quiet sigh and a small smile, I opened the door to the place I called home. My smile grew as I saw Twilight relaxed on some pillows while she read a book. She smiled when she looked up from her reading, raising a brow curiously when she saw Solomon on my shoulder.

“I see you finally got yourself a pet.” Twilight commented as she stood and stretched after carefully placing a bookmark, two centimeters from the spine for simple place-keeping, she had a meticulous system for how she placed them, stepping over to me as I dropped to a knee to bring Solomon closer.

“Yep. His name is Solomon and funny enough, one of my reasons for choosing a raven has already paid off. Dash ran into me on the way here…” I said with a smirk, encouraging Solomon to switch to my hand before I set him on my knee for Twilight.

As she slowly brought a hoof up to stroke Solomon’s feathers, she gave me a look of curiousity, “What do you mean by that?”

“Oh just an old earth myth about ravens watching over warriors. Dash pulled a low-altitude move and was about to run right into me. Solomon saw her coming and I had enough time to react. I actually caught her and cushioned her fall, thinking she might have been an injured pegasus or a crashing one,” I said casually before getting a devious smirk, “And yes, noogies were given.”

Twilight giggled as she stroked Solomon a little more, “I’m glad neither of you got hurt. You are having an effect on Rainbow, though. She’s a little more careful in town than she used to be. Whether it’s because she is more aware of the importance of being careful or just trying to avoid your ‘punishments’, I can’t really say. And thank you, Solomon, for looking after my stallion. Keep up the good work, ok? I can’t keep him out of trouble all the time...”

I chuckled at her cheeky grin as Solomon gave a few soft sounds, seeming to agree with her, “I suppose we should introduce him to Owlowicious. Hopefully they’ll get along, despite the issues ravens have with owls in the wild.”

“Oh gosh...now that you mention it, I know what you mean. I guess we only have one way to find out.” Twilight said with a sigh before calling out to her owl, “Owlowicious! Could you come down here please?”

A flutter of wings was heard and the owl soon flew into the room. Though Owlowicious came to rest on Twilight’s back, Solomon swiftly hopped up onto my shoulder with a startled squawk. The way he was shying away and almost trying to put my head between him and Owlowicious said it was going to to take a little work to have them getting along.

Gently stroking Solomon’s feathers, I turned a little to let him have a little more cover away from the owl, “Come now, Solomon. You’re in good company. Owlowicious is nice.”

The owl in question seemed to shrink into himself a bit as he made himself look a little smaller, letting out some gentle calls. I gave Solomon a few more gentle strokes of his feathers, trying to reassure him. Solomon didn’t seem very reassured.

After another minute of encouragement, Solomon was just eyeing Owlowicious warily but not trying to hide. For his part, the friendly owl remained quiet and still.

Finally, Solomon seemed to let out an indignant kraa before seeming to turn his beak up and to the side in a huff, as if saying he would put up with an owl but it would be most inconvenient. I sighed a bit, hoping Solomon would warm up to Owlowicious over time, grumbling a little as I stroked him again, “You can keep your distance if you must, just play nice. As long as you behave, I’ll make sure you get a bit of fish soon, alright Solomon?”

That seemed to perk him up, proceeding to preen my hair a bit with a few vocalizations. I rolled my eyes, realizing food was going to be far too easy a way to get his attention.

Twilight gave her owl a nuzzle, “Ok Owlowicious, I guess you might as well go back to bed now. Keep being nice to Solomon. I’m sure he’ll settle in soon.”

With a soft affectionate sound, the owl nuzzled Twilight back before going back to his napping spot during the day. I rose and set Solomon on the perch in the main room before turning back to Twilight.

“Well, now that we’ve taken care of that...what did you think of the distance test?” I asked her quietly, starting to move towards the couch.

“It seems we’re safe enough for now. Not sure about longer times yet, we have to check longer times later, but aside from what was something like a magical equivalent of an itch after a while, it went perfectly.” Twilight replied, moving to join me on the couch before letting out a somewhat annoyed huff, “Which also means I have to stop putting off my duties any further. It’s been really nice to put almost all of it aside for a while but I can’t do that forever.”

I pulled her into my arms, nosing into her mane as we let ourselves relax, “You didn’t have to put things off for me, you know. I could have just followed you around. At least we had this time to ourselves, Purple Angel. And that there weren’t any crazy emergencies the whole time. That might have gotten interesting.”

She laughed softly to herself, “Mmm...well, Celestia asked me to hold off after the first incident. She wanted to be sure our link could stabilize safely first. On the bright side, you’ll finally meet the Cutie Mark Crusaders when they start coming over for lessons again. Think you can handle them…?”

Returning her mischievous grin with a smirk, “I’m sure I can. They’re too adorable, despite their uncanny capacity for innocent destruction. You know, I heard you joke about it before but is there really a CMC repair fund…?”

“Um, not exactly. Although a disproportionate amount of the town’s special Emergent Circumstance grant from the princesses does seem to cover them. Enough that Princess Luna was actually required to investigate their dreams to be sure there was no intentional destruction to public property going on. Nopony expected otherwise really, but for a while, Prince Blueblood was trying to drum up a fuss that somepony had to be embezzling and left the princesses no choice but to follow the law.” Twilight noted, snuggling into me a bit further.

“Hrmph...that’s one pony I knew about that should hope I don’t meet him. I know how he treated Rarity at the Gala and I suspect the show softened it. Oh, speaking of the Gala…” I levitated a mane brush over from a nearby shelf and began running it through her mane. Once I’d tried it on her a single time, I was under orders to do it frequently. “Do you think you and the girls be attending this spring? I’d pretty much have to join you, if you did.”

As Twilight settled into my lap more comfortably, her head and forelegs across my thighs, she gave a bemused smile, “Being a princess, I’m practically required to attend. Celestia and I already talked about it months ago and I am probably going every year from now on. The girls all wanted to try again, so they’ll be coming as well. Missing last year’s gala was probably the last time I’m not attending. On the bright side, at least Celestia, Luna, and myself can share welcoming duty. Last year was Luna’s first since she returned and it really helped Celestia to have time elsewhere to enjoy the party. Luna was actually so thrilled to be meeting so many ponies that she did it for most of the night.”

“That’s nice to hear. You know I’m not the fancy party type but I’ll stay by your side when you take a turn to welcome arrivals. Knowing you, it might be the most time I’d get with you during the party anyway, with how much time you’ll spend discussing magic theory with Celestia. Sometimes I wonder if I am but a distraction...” I smirked a bit, breaking into a grin when she grumbled playfully.

“Hmph, I’d tell you less talking, more brushing but you do both at the same time too well.” Twilight bapped my stomach lightly with a foreleg, “I’m looking forward to discussing advanced magic theory with you too, you know. Study faster and I’ll distract myself with you more…”

That got me a good chuckle, “You’ll distract yourself with me more? Is my sexy librarian making an innuendo…?”

The chuckle only grew when Twilight began blushing, her eyes widening, “Wait, I wasn’t...I mean, we do but...wait not like that! I love being distracted with...wait, no, I mean you’re not good with….ahh! No! I didn’t mean…”

Finally, I had mercy on her linguistic scrambling and caught her chin, tilting her head up and meeting her lips, feeling a shiver pass through her as she went breathless, one wing coming around to press against the back of my head and deepen the kiss. I welcomed her tongue in and returned with my own as she drank me in. Before I knew it, my fingertips had begun to trace the edge of her wing joints again even as she moved up more and planted her forehooves on my shoulders. When the kiss ended, both of us were a bit flushed and panting, smiling knowingly to each other.

Another chuckle escaped me at a thought, fingers kneading muscles in her back with no distinction from her wings, rewarding me with a few shivers passing through her form as I lost myself in those eyes of hers again, “You know...something just occurred to me. I’m pretty much the boy toy cuddle colt escort of a princess. Or was that consort?”

She hummed to herself, looking thoughtful with a mischievous smirk, “Consort. If that’s the case then shouldn’t you be at my beck and call to do whatever I desire?”

“Isn’t that how I am anyway?” I returned, fingertips of one hand traced up to one of her ears, drawing out a faint groan from her as I rubbed it.

A shudder passed through my frame when I felt one of her new tricks with her magic leaving a tracing tingle in sensitive places without warning, her expression grew a bit more smug when she saw my reaction, touching her nose to mine, “Well how about finishing what you started then and attend my desires right now, hmm?”

Giving up pretense, I slipped a hand under her flank and gave a squeeze, earning a breathless squeak as I stood up, still holding her to my chest as her hooves wrapped around me, starting for the stairs. The two of us distracted each other far too easily.

“As my lady wishes.”

Author's Notes:

Hopefully the next few chapters will go more easily. I've been thinking about them a ton. It's the main reason the last two have taken so long, really. I have 20 pages of notes about the story so far and most of that is parts beyond what I've written already. Trying to write rather amorphously like I have been is nice when your muse is with you but these periods of challenge seem to stretch out more than necessary. In part, it's entirely due to the fact imminent events with the royal summit are getting so much of my mental focus.

Next chapter is already named, if that says how much thought it's had thrown at it. "Test Results" and following couple of chapters will start advancing the story in big ways. Some allusions and hints will finally play out. As well as some wind being taken from sails.

Also, Ravens have some interesting vocalization capacity. A couple links I referenced: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_raven
http://www.druidry.org/library/library/animal-lore-raven

As always, comments and critiques are welcomed and encouraged. Just use your dang brain. :P

Bk 1 Ch 14: Test Results (edit 10/31/2014)

The squeal of brakes and hiss of steam rang through the air as our train came to a stop at the station in Canterlot. After dealing with the lingering anxiety of what the royal summit was really for amongst ourselves, we were finally here.

The public story was largely about the diarchy feeling a need to look over everything in search of new paths of prosperity. There was a touch of trepidation alongside relief of getting this over with after this week ended. In reality, the top ranking military leaders of Equestria and the Crystal Empire were meeting to learn about and prepare for what was to come.

Most of it was not directly or immediately involving the Bearers, Spike and myself but due to our own involvement later on, Twilight’s own status as a princess of Equestria notwithstanding, we needed to be present. Nothing was likely to happen right away, as this whole summit was meant as a preemptive strategic planning event at it’s core. A time to draw up some general plans and options. Get a firm grasp of forces, logistics, current and upcoming research that might be of note. I already knew a lot of it was going to be not unlike a board meeting of executives over paperwork with a militaristic bent.

As we made our way through the station, it wasn’t long before a certain fashionista had to let out her excitement yet again. She’d spent more than half the train ride either giggling quietly as she looked out the window or making comments to one of us about it. I suspected she’d actually talked more than Pinkie during the trip.

“Oh, I simply cannot wait to tour the city today!” Rarity chimed, she was the most eager to be in the city by far, “I do hope Fancy Pants will be free for lunch like he was hoping. I simply adore the little cafe he intends us to meet at. The idea he suggested regarding a fashion show to drum up additional funds to update and rebuild the Trottingham hospital was simply marvelous! And he asked me for input!”

As Rarity squee’d to herself, the rest of us just chuckled or shook our heads with a smile. It’d been all she talked about for days since she got the letter from Fancy Pants. I’d not had a chance to meet him yet, but the more I heard from Rarity about him, biased as she was, the more I had the impression the wealthy noble was spending more than merely coincidental time around her. Being one of the ponies I was familiar with from prior knowledge, I hoped it eventually went somewhere for the two of them.

“Just remember Rarity, we need to get to the palace first to meet with the princesses. They’re expecting us.” Twilight poked Rarity in the shoulder with a hoof teasingly, “You can run off to chase your favorite stallion afterwards.”

For her part, Rarity gasped with a dramatic, mortified look that barely contained her true excitement, “Oh heavens no, Twilight! A lady does not ‘chase’ a stallion. I merely wish to discuss some very important practical matters for the coming charity event. If for some reason he were to express interest in something more personal with me, I will approach it then…”

Twilight grinned slyly, waiting. It wouldn’t take long.

A brief moment longer, Rarity couldn’t hold it back and her glee bubbled out again, “Oh, I do hope he tries seeking some more specifically personal engagements. He is every bit the refined gentlecolt I could ever hope for.”

“Heh, and we’re all hopin’ it works out for ya, Rares. Ah know all of us think he’s a swell stallion for ya.” Applejack nudged her unicorn friend as she walked ahead towards the carriage with her luggage and saddlebags on her back.

“Tell me Rarity,” I began, catching her eye as she looked up at me as I adjusted Twilight’s and my own bags slung over my shoulder and against my back, Twilight had saddlebags full of books, “Did you ever try anything bold to get his attention as I suggested a while ago? You know I don’t like to pry much and I was just wondering if it helped.”

The beaming smile and look of satisfaction on her face went well with her words, “Oh I most certainly put your suggestion to good use! It took a bit of planning on my part, but during one of his visits to my boutique I essentially expressed to him in a very delicate and very refined manner that wouldn’t appear too forward that I was quite interested in spending a lot more time together than we had been at the time. Oh that smile he gave me just made me melt so badly I nearly dragged him straight up to my bedroom to….” Rarity froze as a massive blush spread across her features, her mouth working silently as she tried to recover herself.

With a chuckle, I gave her shoulder a light poke with my magic, “My dear Lady of Generosity, we’ll pretend we heard nothing.”

The rest of the girls shared a few giggles as Rarity tossed her head lightly and wore a sheepish grin as she opted to hold her tongue, instead giving a weak laugh as her blush continued. We arrived at the carriage and began loading our luggage before climbing inside shortly after.

Once we were all settled and seated, it was Fluttershy that first spoke up as the carriage departed for the palace, sounding unusually eager, “Vojin, I want to thank you again. I really do appreciate you asking Princess Celestia if I could spend time in the Royal Gardens to visit the animals there. It means so much to me that you went out of your way to ask. I do hope the animals there won’t run away this time.”

I smiled and shook my head gently, “Seriously Fluttershy, you don’t have to thank me so much. I just figured I’d ask since it’s a simple matter really. I know the city isn’t the most fun place for you. It’s just fortunate Celestia was happy to oblige. Remember what I told you to try this time?”

“Oh yes. I’ll try really, really hard to be extra quiet. I was so excited to meet them all before I completely forgot they might be scared. I got so carried away that I turned into such a scary meanie.” Fluttershy said softly, a mournful expression on her face, “I hope trying to meditate under a tree will work. I just know if they give me a chance we can be friends.”

With a slight nod, I smirked, “At the very least, you’ll be able to listen. You know how to handle frightened animals more than I do, but at least meditation will keep you calm and let you appreciate them a bit more from a distance until they do adjust to you. I’ll even see if Celestia or Luna will stop by the gardens after they finish talking to Twilight and I. The animals might be too adjusted to only seeing them and the groundskeepers.”

“Ok, sappy romantic stuff and cuddly animals aside, you still up for checking out that sports convention, AJ? I totally gotta check out that new wing training machine from Cloudsdale.” Rainbow Dash jumped in loud as ever and a smirk on her face.

“Heh, Ah’m with ya, Rainbow. Been a while since Ah checked out mah applebuckin’ power with those fancy machines for measurin’ yer strength. Think yer up fer some of the events?” Applejack returned.

“Oh hay yeah! We’re totally gonna rock em all!” Dash cheered, “Soon as you suggested competing in some of the mixed tribe contests together, I just knew we were gonna be unstoppable!”

As they settled into some, slightly, quieter conversation about the events they were going to sign up for, Twilight turned to Pinkie, “How about you, Pinkie? Did you have any plans in the city today?”

Pinkie grinned wide as usual, “Oh I’m all set to spend a little time with Joe and Gustave. Mulia wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t visit this time, but the three of us promised to make a copy of any ideas we come up with together. We still haven’t decided if we wanted to make a joint entry to the next baking competition, but meeting together has given all four of us lots of new ideas to try!”

The two of them settled into their own conversation about surprisingly deep confectionary science as my eyes slid closed, my arm still around Twilight since we settled in, thumb brushing through the short fur of her foreleg. I sighed inwardly in mild annoyance at the small headache I had. They happened once in a while for years now and it seemed today was one of those lucky days. My mind drifted along as the carriage made it’s way through the streets of the capitol, taking in the sounds in and around our vehicle, a small smile on my face at the atmosphere of close friends enjoying each other’s company.

***

With our various bags turned over to the castle staff to be delivered to our rooms, we made our way to the throne room. It still amused me to see the occasional looks of surprise on members of the Royal Guard or staff ponies that hadn’t seen me before. I had to wonder if that was something I’d always be dealing with. Not anything to worry about in the end when most ponies were too pleasant to be anything but polite after the initial surprise.

We stopped in front of the great doors of the throne room, one of the Guard on duty moving to announce us just inside the doors. It seemed they weren’t busy with important matters with local upper class ponies this time.

“Your highnesses. Princess Twilight has arrived with her friends and her stallion. Will you receive them now?”

Luna’s voice rang out, “Thank you, Guardspony. We will be most pleased to receive them now.”

Once the two Guards opened the doors for us, we entered the expansive throne room. I couldn’t stop the smirk from escaping when I felt Twilight’s resistance to just wanting to sprint up to the dias and hug her mentor tight, practically floating on her hooves already at the thought of getting to go into some advanced magic soon when the princesses shared what they had learned from studying the previous scans of Twilight and I.

Celestia and Luna were all smiles themselves as we approached, Celestia’s voice ringing clear as her day, “Welcome, all of you. Thank you for coming up for this important summit. I trust the train ride was pleasant?”

Being at the head of our group, Twilight was the one to answer in the slightly official setting we were currently in, “It was pleasantly uneventful, Princess. Have you and Princess Luna been well?”

Both rulers smiled a bit more at that, Celestia continuing with a nod of her head, “We have. Well girls, and you Spike, you are welcome to enjoy our fair city for the day. The Royal Summit will begin tomorrow. We would also like to invite all of you to join us for dinner this evening, so please remember return in time. Princess Twilight. Vojin. If the two you will please follow my sister and I, we can attend to our findings regarding the two of you and your present condition.”

After some short goodbyes, the girls headed out into the city with Fluttershy making her way towards the Royal Gardens. Spike headed for Twilight’s old room that all three of us would be staying in for the week. He had a few things to research for Twilight and things to unpack before enjoying a midday nap. Twilight and I waited briefly before the princesses began to lead us out of the throne room and off towards their private magic laboratory.

It wasn’t long before the four of us were once again in their lab. Once the door was shut, Twilight wasted no time in throwing away all pretence and threw her forelegs around Celestia’s neck, hugging her tight for a long moment, which Celestia readily returned with a faint giggle. Luna latched onto me about the same time and I shared a hug with her in kind.

“Now that we’ve had some more pleasant greetings, Celestia and I will get right to what we have learned in the past month. As we explain, might I ask the two of you to step upon the platform once more? We wish to take a few more readings to compare against, on the off chance of any drift.” Luna said softly, a hoof indicating the broad stone platform covered in ancient runes and surrounded by six colorful crystal spires.

As Twilight and I moved into place and the royals sisters did the same, Celestia began in a mild tone, “Much of what we have learned about your link has followed well with our initial impressions and theories. Twilight, you will be rather intrigued to hear you and Vojin finally answered the untestable Synchronous Souls postulation that Starswirl never answered. The two of you have in fact traded a piece of your souls. It is too soon to say for certain, but through careful study of what happened, we should finally have an answer. And a functional spell.”

Twilight effectively squee’d while dancing on her hooves, drawing a chuckle from me as she started gushing, “Oh gosh! Nopony has ever dared any meaningful tests before and now we can complete the theory with a practical development?! Oh I can’t wait to look at the data you and Luna have!”

She practically vibrated with excitement, even after I reminded her to hold still for the magical scans. There was no hope of slowing her words right away though, thinking out loud about the complex mechanics behind soul magic. I was pleasantly surprised at understanding even close to half of what she was saying. My studies had years to go but the overall concepts in most magical applications were making their way across my mind now.

After a several minutes, I was asked to step off the platform so they could review Twilight individually. Celestia giggled a couple times as the two of them enjoyed the chat, the spells currently being used were fairly straightforward and not strenuous.

Once they finished with the in-depth scans of Twilight a bit more than ten minutes later, the sisters needed a few more minutes to review everything, leaving Twilight and I to ourselves for a bit.

“So how big is the Synchronous Souls theory, anyway? As I haven’t gotten near soul magic yet, I haven’t heard about it.” I asked her quietly, nudging her lightly in amusement at how excited she was.

“Oh you have no idea how important and major a discovery it is to likely have a functional spell based on that theory! It has never been tested because nopony ever dared! Any meaningful understandings would have been too risky for any mage to attempt because it would have required risking the souls and lives of two ponies at the same time. Any and all options beside that have been tried and evaluated hundreds, if not thousands of times.” Twilight was all bright smiles, though her voice had an edge of seriousness, “The only real findings left to make would have required trial and error. That has always meant it was too risky to attempt and Celestia even made it law after one relatively minor close call that any unicorn making the attempt would not just face serious charges, but their research would be systematically destroyed and their magic permanently dampened to basic cantrips. It was widely accepted as an unsolvable hypothesis ever since. And now there’s an answer to be found and I get to be one of the first to learn all about it! Heehee!”

I could only laugh lightly at her enthusiasm.

The two of us soon fell into discussion about it and other aspects of soul magic. Twilight went easy on me, helping me keep up with additional explanations as required for the parts I needed it and the time passed quickly before the royal sisters finished their review.

Celestia smiled as she watched us briefly before speaking, Twilight and I giving her our attention, “Luna and I will likely spend months or even years in some more fringe details that seem promising. The link the two of you share is fascinating and potentially has some very interesting and unexpected influences beyond just your ability to share your magic with one another. Twilight, I am happy to tell you all indications are you will experience no long term problems from the link. Vojin, we’d like to do some other tests between the two of you before running the same scans on you. There are some anomalies from your unique human aspects we need to spend a bit more time on to read properly. First though, Twilight, if you would step back up on the platform. We’d like to have the two of you test your magic sharing with us first, just in case anything unexpected takes place.”

“Of course. Oh I can’t wait to see how the magic sharing functions! I’ve been dying to try it since you told us about it. I know why you told us not to attempt it until we returned to you but it was hard to keep from trying it and gathering data in my own lab. I’m ready when you are, Vojin.” Twilight said with a bright smile, immensely eager for more learning.

I nodded, having already heard the anticipated process and what I needed to do, “Alright, Twilight. Let’s see how getting you all powered up works…”

With a moment’s pause, my hands raised as they began to glow white with my natural aura. Carefully aligning the concepts in my mind, I began the transfer process, feeling my magic sort of attach to Twilight and begin flowing towards her. After several moments, I stumbled slightly at a burst of disorientation and saw Twilight experience much the same as the glow around my hands dimmed substantially.

It was supposed to be quick to initiate and that proved rather true. The lurching sensation of something somehow squeezing out of my whole body at the same time in a single direction was a very odd feeling.

“Well that should be it.” I said while glancing to one side and attempting to levitate a piece of paper, finding my aura refused to stretch out to it, let alone accomplish the simple action, “And apart from maintaining the flow to Twilight, my ability to lift a piece of paper appears greatly hindered. I am otherwise without magic right now.”

Celestia and Luna both smirked before Celestia turned to Twilight, levitating a small glass orb between them, “Alright Twilight, for now I want you to run the most basic test and try to move this orb while I hold it still. Don’t be afraid to use everything you can, just like I had you do as a filly when you were studying first studying with me.”

Twilight grinned, her horn igniting.

The golden aura of Celestia’s magic began to compete with Twilight’s deep pink. I watched with interest as the glow of both their horns slowly began to intensify. It wasn’t long before the billowing fields around their horns were three times larger and both of them seemed to be exceptionally focused.

A glance at Luna showed a wide-eyed, rather impressed expression as she maintained the monitoring spells to study the magics at work. Neither she nor I made a sound, not wanting to disturb the focus of either alicorn. My eyes widened as the orb began twitching in the air for several seconds before Twilight finally gave in, panting as her aura faded from her horn and the orb.

“Twilight, I must say I am very impressed.” Celestia began with a proud smile, she seemed as calmly serene as before, “Another time, we can experiment with other methods of evaluating power levels, but for now I can honestly say during empowerment from Vojin, your magic nearly rivals me for raw power. How do you feel?”

She was still panting slightly, giving her mentor a broad grin, “A little exhausted from the effort, but I don’t feel much real magical drain. I know you’re monitoring things, but I think it also enhanced my reserve capacity as well. Nothing feels unusual other than the increase in power.”

Celestia nodded, turning to me briefly, “Vojin, if you could please start pulling your magic back. Well my faithful student, provided Luna’s monitoring picked up nothing hidden, you are welcome to explore this new capacity to your heart’s content. I expect to hear all about it as you do your research into how exactly your magic is enhanced. You can step back down once Vojin’s magic returns to him.”

Twilight grinned brightly at me, not even needing our link to feel her excitement pouring off of her. I figured I might as well get into the discussion I expected would be coming immediately after we were done here, giving a short laugh and a lopsided grin, “Alright Twilight, you don’t even have to ask. Since I need magic far less day to day, I’ll be happy to let you borrow my magic whenever. Just don’t keep it all day, hmm?”

She gave me an adorable expression of glee again, “Thank you. Have I told you I love you today?”

That got a chuckle and a bigger grin, “A few times but I always like hearing it more. No need to butter me up now.”

Another cute giggle escaped her about the same time as I felt my magic stop flowing. The feeling of something being empty then fully restored coming to mind. Twilight spoke up before I did.

“It think that’s it. Vojin has his magic back again.”

Luna nodded, “Indeed. I no longer detect the flow of magic either. A most fascinating process to observe. I will be sure to provide you with a spell crystal with a copy of the results, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Alright then. Twilight, if you will step down from the platform so Vojin may take your place?” Celestia intoned, the two of us switching places, “I am quite interested to see the results upon you, Vojin. Several aspects of your magic have been rather unique. Twilight, please share your magic with Vojin once Luna is ready.”

It only took a few moments before she indicated for Twilight to begin, a bright and eager smile on her face, “Ok Vojin, here we go!”

Being on the other side of the magic transfer was intriguing, my eyes sliding shut to focus more on the sensations I was getting. I felt larger, even though I knew there would be no size changing effect. I did feel a curious sensation of pressure begin near my root chakra at the base of my spine and a momentary squeezing around my feet. Pony chakras were located quite differently and had only marginal practical effect from what I’d learned so I would have to ask Twilight later if she felt something similar.

Hearing Twilight gasp pulled me out of contemplation though, noting but otherwise ignoring the strange twitch at the top and to one side of my scalp, opening my eyes to look at her curiously, “Is something wrong Twilight?”

She had the strangest expression of shock on her face and when I noticed similar expressions on both Celestia and Luna, I grew confused. After reaching up to scratch the back of my head and feeling something very odd on the side of my head, I started to appreciate their expressions of shock as I gained one of my own.

Both hands began feeling around the top of my head. It was hard to process the fact I was feeling what could only be pony ears on top of my head, that apparently were just as mobile as might be expected, and my human ears nowhere to be found. That was before even trying to process what was probably a unicorn’s horn sticking out of my head now. As one hand came down to look at it, I noticed my skin was now covered in a rich, stormy light gray fur tinged with a slight bit of purple.

My voice finally working again, all I could manage was a blunt phrase, “Well that’s bloody different. I’ve become an anthropomorphic unicorn...”

Twilight giggled slightly, Luna simply wore an amused grin. Celestia was trying to school her face back to calmness and stop showing so much surprise.

I brought a hand to my face and suddenly went cross-eyed looking at the end of my very own muzzle. As I brought my gaze to my feet, I discovered where the squeezing feeling had come from. My feet had apparently become a pair of hooves with no shoes on, my leg structure adjusted to suit. A hand went to the small of my back at the other odd sensation and felt a bulge that could only be one thing. After making said assumption and fishing it out of the back of my pants, I found myself holding my own full tail of white. A quick check found my hair was now also white and growing quite naturally further down my neck than a human as well. Idly, I realized that explained some of why my magic aura was pure white, now that I’d seen my mane and tail.

Blinking, I turned my eyes back to the three ladies before me as another thought crossed my mind, “Um...excuse me a second. I need to do a guy thing…”

I faced away from them and pulled the waistband of my pants away, holding my shirt against my stomach as I checked a specific part of my anatomy, “Now that is really bloody different…”

As I turned back around, all three were blushing to varying degrees Luna was snickering quietly with only a faint blush. Celestia looked like her feathers were ruffled and she was trying to regain her composure while blushing the brightest. Twilight’s expression made me chuckle with her intrigued look and raised eyebrow.

“Hey now Twilight, I know that look. We can try for kinky later. Or do you not mind sharing that kind of subject with Celestia and Luna now?” I quipped at her with a devious smirk, watching her blush go from moderate to all the way past tomato impression in less than a second as she gave an adorably embarrassed squeak and hid behind her hooves as she sank to the floor in a puddle. Oh, the things that can fly out of your mouth when in the middle of a lack of knowing what was going on in the first place. My eyes turned to Celestia and Luna, “Ok...I’m not sure exactly what happened but I’m strangely comfortable with this. I might feel a bit weird later but I’m alright for now. Everything feels as natural and comfortable as it was before the magic boost. Any idea what just took place?”

It took another few long moments before voices were found. I was entertained to no end when the ever-composed Celestia tried to speak and her voice was much higher in pitch for a moment before she cleared her throat and spoke normally, “It...appears the effect on you of sharing magic is much more...dramatic than it is for Twilight. I honestly need to study the results to tell you how it could occur in much detail. If nothing feels uncomfortable though, it should be otherwise safe. It is just a general theory based upon what I already know, but I believe this is likely connected to part of your soul coming from Twilight. Beyond that, I could hardly hazard a guess without time to study Luna’s readings. I have never seen anything quite like this before.”

“I fear this is highly entertaining, my friend. We anticipated a few unpredictable effects when Twilight shared her magic with you but we hardly expected something so dramatic. Truly, if everything feels quite natural then all should be well as might be expected for such an unusual event.” Luna added, her voice laced with mirth.

“Ok then...uh…,” I paused, the question forming in my head and causing me burning curiosity as I grinned deviously again, “Well ladies, I’m not usually the type to do this but this is a rather unique opportunity... Do I make for an attractive stallion?”

Luna immediately burst into laughter, Celestia began blushing again as her wings seemed to sit uncomfortably, and Twilight was staring at me with a look halfway between ‘I can’t believe you just said that’ and ‘soon as we can, I’m locking us behind the bedroom door’ which only made my grin wider.

Once her laughter died down, Luna gave me a teasing smirk before looking at her sister, “You know, Tia, I haven’t seen you this flustered since Gentle Strength first returned your fancy…”

Celestia was quick to give her sister a sharp look that just screamed ‘don’t you dare’ before grinding out her words, “That was over 1500 years ago, Lulu. Is now really the right time to talk about that?”

Twilight just whined as she tried to hide further under her hooves while still staring intently at me. I had some sympathy for her, caught in the midst of a very strange situation, with her hearing about something secret and potentially image-changing about her lifelong mentor and seeming so caught by me she wanted to drag me off somewhere private. Luna seemed to just take it all in stride, not even interrupting her maintaining the monitoring spells she was holding up.

Another thought crossed my mind and I tried wiggling my ears. It took a little trial and error before I had them sorted out for the most part, finding myself able to move them around fairly easily. After a quick range of motion, a silly joke came to mind and I started moving them around in random patterns while wearing a stupid grin before schooling my expression. Just waiting for the obvious question.

Eventually, Celestia eyed me curiously and cleared her throat, my ears perking in her direction was a weird sensation, “Um, Vojin...what are you doing with your ears?”

“I don’t get cable here so I was trying to tune in NCIS.” I said almost deadpan.

Luna just looked confused. Celestia blinked before letting out a quiet sigh of slight exasperation but not quite catching it. Twilight groaned as she got the antennae reference reasonably well. I’d explained television, cable service and receiver antennae on Earth to her before.

“Alright, enough! I understand this is exceptionally fascinating and more than a little amusing but we do have something of a schedule today and only so much time before Luna and I must attend a special day court session later to help make up for the week of the Royal Summit where it shall be otherwise cancelled. I wish we had more time but there is still much to get done before lunch.” Celestia huffed a bit, giving a bit of needed levity to the situation.

I grinned back at her, “Alright, alright. Not exactly a normal experience for me and I guess not for any of you either. I assume you want to try the same basic strength test like you did with Twilight?”

The solar alicorn nodded, “That is correct. Let’s see how much raw strength you can exert.”

Celestia levitated the small glass orb between us and I called up my magic with my hands extended a little in front of myself with the palms forward. I watched my aura begin interacting against the gold of hers around the orb and began to push at it.

There was no give. Slowly drawing more magic up, I kept pushing harder. Still no give. I calmed my mind as I pushed myself to greater focus and the aura around my hands grew larger and brighter. I tried different directions with no effect on the orb’s position at all. There was a small hit to my pride that the aura of Celestia’s horn hardly changed in contrast to Twilight’s attempt.

Feeling a little frustration as I neared the end of what I felt was in my capacity to draw upon, a thought came to me and decided to try for two directions at once. In my mind, I bisected the orb evenly and began pulling the orb in half. A sudden crack and my magic faded in surprise as half the orb shot off to my right while the other half remained motionless. A flick of my eyes noticed the suddenly mobile half caught in a deep blue aura in a field of deep blue haze. Apparently it had been caught by Luna’s protective field.

I was shocked that I just seemingly outperformed Celestia. Something told me that couldn’t possibly be right. The look on her face was also not the kind of shock I’d have expected. In the back of my mind, I was also chastising myself for neglecting to include location intention on the directional force. Forgetting that and having a piece shoot off that way was such a rookie mistake when levitation, properly used, could negate inertia with ease.

After a long moment of stunned silence, Celestia looked to her sister, “Luna...did...did you get a reading on what just happened like I believe just happened...?”

Luna closed her eyes as her horn pulsed a bit brighter once, her eyes turned back to her sister after a moment, “I did.”

Twilight was finally standing again, looking at me in amazed wonder with her mouth hanging open.

Looking back at me after some contemplation, Celestia spoke again as she levitated a new glass orb between us, “Vojin, I want you to try again. We want to confirm something. I would like you to try pulling the orb in three directions this time. I will explain after that.”

Not knowing what to say, I simply called up my magic again as I pondered how she knew I pulled in different directions. Clearing my mind of the confusion about what happened, I matched Celestia’s magical hold on the orb again.

Once the two of us seemed to be close to the same output of magic as before the previous orb split, I changed my focus to pull the orb in three directions this time. Once I established the mental form of the intention, I pulled as hard as I could.

A loud crack ensued and two pieces of glass orb shot off to each side with the one I’d been trying to send straight up remaining frozen in place. The realization of making the same stupid rookie mistake twice in short succession hardly had time to register before other things overtook it.

There was another uncomfortable stunned silence as Celestia levitated the three pieces of glass off to a table with her eyes on the floor. Eventually, her eyes rose to mine, “Vojin, taking into account the ratio of magical empowerment in effect, you are not nearly as strong as we had thought. We had theorized in the interim that your remarkable surge when you leapt from the library balcony to catch Twilight was possibly a result of you being overcharged from arriving in our world and your body absorbing an unusually ready amount of magic rather suddenly. Luna and I keeping you and Twilight stable as the flux ran it’s course likely served to enhance the effect. It seems you are naturally carrying above average magical power but nowhere near the rare magical strength Twilight wielded as a unicorn.”

That was a bit disappointing to hear but did nothing to answer the stunned reactions. I quirked a brow at Celestia, “Ok, a bit of a let down but I can live with that. Still get to use magic. That’s hardly what has all three of you stunned, is it?”

Twilight was the one that spoke up this time, “No, it isn’t Vojin. Y-you...you shouldn’t be able to magically function… You just did something completely impossible for a single caster…”

“What Twilight means is you seem to have the ability to cast multiple spells simultaneously. Even the same spell. I am sure you are aware of the mechanics of spells that dictate each must be performed independently and separately. That not only is it impossible to cast two different spells at the same time due to constraints of power flow but no spell can be cast twice without ending the first attempt. And even for different spells cast in succession, the power required to succeed grows almost logarithmically with each additional spell cast. Effectively limiting even those as powerful as myself and Luna to only being able to go so far in multiple spells at once.” Celestia said, pausing for a moment of thought, “You seem to be naturally able to accomplish what an exceedingly few number of unicorns are only able to do in teams. Presently in all of Equestria, there are only eleven unicorns working in highly specialized teams that have trained over ten years at a minimum that would be able to do what you just did.”

I frowned, mulling that over as I scoured my mind why that stuck out at me. Then I blinked, my ears slowly lowering as I remembered what those eleven unicorns did and why their abilities were so rare, and so prized.

My voice was a little tense, starting to understand just how serious things were. It went against a LOT of extremely well tested magical principles and fundamental mechanics. Finally turning my eyes to Celestia again, my ears were flattened against my skull, “...You’re… Are you telling me I’m a natural spellweaver? That doesn’t even make sense...”

“I am, Vojin. I believe you understand for yourself how many fundamental laws of magic you are violating. This is going to cause an uproar once it is presented. In the entirety of my long life, nor in the time before, have I ever known or heard of a single instance where a being was naturally casting from three distinctly separate locations. It has always, always been one point of origin for a being’s magic. Even the various human mages that found their way to our world in the distant past were bound by this.” Celestia’s voice was both grave and awed, “Twilight related some of your world’s interpretations on fundamental physical laws in the past and how ingrained they are for you, so perhaps it is easiest to grasp by comparing it to disproving an established law of physics. It is not exactly a bad thing, but it will cause a great deal of upset. Not even Starswirl the Bearded, with his incredible penchant for questioning assumed ultimate truths ever even considered this being possible. Until this moment, no entity of any kind has had more than a single magical conduit.”

A lot of things had happened in a very short span already and here I was being floored to a whole new level. I went to rub my head and jammed a finger against my horn, feeling slightly reassured by the sudden mild pain and the disorienting sensation of bumping into my own head spike.

To be a naturally born spellweaver was far beyond just being unheard of. It was as impossible as things could get. Even my dimensional hop was explainable, despite the difficulty.

The four weaver teams that travelled Equestria had trained together for a bare minimum of a decade and had to remain incredibly tight groups that practically shared each other’s minds in order to mix their spells smoothly for the most complex effects, such as healing.

The various complexities of performing even modest healing spells required either vast amounts of power, something only the ruling princesses had and Twilight was fairly close to, or unicorns thinking closely enough together that they could mutually anticipate many subtle differences in the middle of a spellweave. The talent and capacity to do so was exceedingly rare. It was how some of the worst injuries became more than survivable but could be fully recovered from. Limbs regrown. Permanent conditions healed, even if from a family line or birth defect. They could even be cleared so utterly that it changed heredity ever after. And that was just the impossibilities of medical application like all four weaver teams presently active specialized in. It was why grievous medical issues were so rare in Equestria. There were no teams of four alive, only groups of three for more than a thousand years. Working only for the crown, not even nobles had any sway over weavers due to selfishness of any kind being incompatible with the demands of their talents. They were considered untouchable by status alone and the Princesses gave them what little they ever asked for in exchange for their prized services.

It wasn’t hard to understand naturally being able to multicast like I apparently could left me with the potential to surpass all other weavers throughout history because I wasn’t trying to think like or anticipate anyone but myself. There hadn’t been any in many centuries, but there was a time some weaver teams even numbered four members and created artifacts to rival the legendary Alicorn Amulet. I had no particular magical specialization, let alone anything deep. I was as generally acclimated to magic as Twilight was.

At one point, I’d learned the Princesses themselves were individually quite capable of crafting artifacts but it took so much intense preparation and left them so heavily drained of their magic that it was entirely untenable for them to do without extremely serious reasons. The limits of magic flow were directly at odds with spellweaving. It required true simultaneous casting that knew when and where to function over the course. And even the weaver teams, in groups of three, could usually handle only two spells at time while their remaining counterpart held a balancing connector spell to prevent the inevitable drift and keep them all safe from backlash. For healing, it worked quite well. Anatomy was well-documented.

A natural spellweaver with no particular constraints would be capable of untold miracles.

I took a slightly shaky breath and steadied myself, deciding I would just have to leave the rather mindbending topic alone for now, “Ok...so we had that happen. I think I’d like to just put it aside for right now and come back to it when we’re not all totally floored by the thought. It’s not like the ability is going to vanish overnight or anything. We need to finish what we came here for.”

Another pause, then finally Celestia nodded, “You are right. Come to think of it, I’m going to have to pass an edict or two because of you now, once the knowledge becomes openly known as I’d like it to be. There is time to worry over it later though. Twilight, can you withdraw your magic please? It should take approximately the same time as Vojin withdrawing his own.”

The weighty atmosphere left us all quiet as we waited the short amount of time it took.

Whatever guided fate seemed to be having a field day with me, however. I looked my arm, blinking in confusion at seeing the purple-tinged gray fur still present and still lacking toes when I looked down. The rest was assumed.

I raised a brow again, noting the feeling of my ears splayed sideways, “Uh...am I stuck like this?”

“Hmm...I am unsure just yet. Do your spells offer any insight, Luna?” Celestia asked her sister.

“One moment and I will check.” Luna returned, her eyes closing again to a pulse of her horn, opening them again after several long seconds, “My friend, I believe if you focus yourself you should be able to alter the magic involved to your usual human appearance and back as you see fit. Perhaps you will require some practice, but I believe you have had the capacity for this ever since experiencing the magical flux when you first arrived in our world.”

“Just need to focus, huh? I think I have an idea what you mean. Let’s give it a shot…” I said before a slow calming breath and closing my eyes. I focused on my human aspects that changed, my feet and ears in particular. There was a subtle sense of magic slightly different from what I was seeking in my mind and gradually I gained a sense of self, willfully reshaping the magic back to what said ‘human’ in my head. My success made itself known when I felt a slight breeze brush across my skin differently from how it was moments before with fur. It seemed to require somewhat intensive focus, but intentionally shifting back seemed to take little more than ten seconds for the magic to adapt under direction. I didn’t need to see the tatters I felt around my feet to understand I’d need to throw out my shoes though. Glad I also brought the pair that Rarity made me recently.

I almost laughed at the slight pout on Twilight’s face, managing to just give her a wide knowing grin and watching her avert her eyes as a blush crossed her features once again.

Strangely, Celestia seemed to sigh about something before she spoke, “It’s good to see you figured that out so readily. The last thing Luna and I need to do is run the same scanning spells we cast earlier on Twilight, in addition to a few extra. There are some anomalies we need to take a look at. Then review it all and how things compare with what we have already learned so we can share the results and what it means.”

“Whenever you’re ready then, Celestia.” I told her, glancing to Luna with a small grin, “I suppose we’ll have a chance to finally do some stargazing tonight after dinner Luna. I’ve intentionally been dodging Twilight giving me astronomy lessons so you can tell me anything you like and it’ll be the first time I learn it. I hope you appreciate how much it drove her crazy.”

There was a rather odd flash across her features at that but I couldn’t place it before it vanished.

“I look forward to teaching you much about my beloved night, my friend. Please relax, these spells will take some time to run their course.” Luna said quietly, even her voice carrying something that seemed off.

I didn’t ponder it much, considering the tremendous amount of stuff we’d already uncovered. Partly, I was almost assuming there was another crazy thing coming. They’d mentioned anomalies and after all the other stuff, I wondered what else could happen. Heck, I still needed to ask about why I was able to heal so quickly.

The two of them ran through the various spells they needed to cast. Twilight wore a small smile and held my gaze with a look of satisfaction and happiness. I could only return it in full, feeling no need to speak as I lost myself in her eyes for a while.

Eventually, the royal sisters finished and went over to a table to look over various papers and spell crystals full of their readings. Twilight and I eventually settled on one of the broad stone steps leading to the platform. It had taken almost thirty minutes and a surprise soul scanning spell I wasn’t expecting.

Giving Twilight a nuzzle as an arm slipped around her back, I spoke softly, “What did you want to do after lunch, Purple Angel? Tour the city a bit? Maybe even just go back to our room and look into where that look you were giving me came from?”

She blushed as I teased her, giggling faintly, “I think I’d like to spend some time in the city while we have a chance, as much fun as the second option sounds. We can make up for lost time when we go to bed tonight. Celestia said we won’t need to do much during the summit for most of it, just that there are lots of things we need to listen to and be aware of. I think we could get away with being a little tired...”

I chuckled and kissed her cheek, “We’ll have to avoid spoiling dinner, but I’d like to try Donut Joe’s while we can. Once you get back into full swing with your duties again, we probably won’t have time to come up here again for a while if it isn’t official. And I don’t mind being a bit tired. I don’t mind the thought one bit...”

Twilight and I chatted and snuggled each other for a while. After what seemed an unusually long time, Celestia and Luna came back over to us. Their somber expressions seemed to run counter to the way things had been going earlier.

Luna was first to speak, sounding almost hesitant to start talking for some reason, “My friend, we...have finished our review and comparison of the results. If you’re ready, we’ll tell you what we have learned.”

I nodded and the two of them began telling Twilight and I about what they had discovered from all the readings they had taken.

Celestia started talking about my capacity for healing was equal to an alicorn because of my carrying a piece of Twilight’s soul. It was also largely responsible for my unexpected unicorn form that appeared earlier.

My ability for natural ability for spellweaving was incredible, a still to be studied permanent effect of the magic flux. I somehow channeled magic equally through my hands, and when in that state, from my horn as well. That was something I’d certainly need time to get used to. They were expecting me to work hard to develop the ability, knowing it could be a great boon for Equestria. Understandably, they weren’t very enthusiastic right then.

Then they started explaining that despite everything indicating I was also unlikely to experience any long term side effects from the flux or link, there was one problem. The alicorn strength that came with Twilight’s soul piece was spreading because I lacked anything to keep it in check.

For her end, Twilight had already fully assimilated what I had shared with her. It wasn’t a problem and the only remaining effect was our link. It wasn’t the same for me.

Due to the sheer amount of magic an alicorn naturally channeled through their own body via their soul, the physical body needed the capacity to handle that much ambient internal magical power. Celestia explained the mechanics involved and how my own soul was slowly giving more space to the part of Twilight I had picked up. By itself it wouldn’t be an issue, but what came with it was.

The more of my soul that was adapted into the part from Twilight, the more alicorn-level energy was going to channel through naturally. The problem came from my body being a regular mortal one and while I seemed to have a higher than usual capacity for channeling magic, eventually it would be simply too much for me to handle. Somewhere along the way, Twilight gasped and started to shake as tears began to well up in her eyes. I simply listened.

They told me they couldn’t undo the problem. It was a lot like pouring a cup of water in a lake, then trying to get that cup of water back out two months later. The biggest problem wasn’t even dispersal, but directly resulting from the extreme risk that removing anything but that cup of water could destroy the lake. Twilight kept staring at me as she trembled silently, a hoof over her mouth. I kept listening, hearing every word even over the rushing noise.

Apparently, based on what happened after the Timber wolf attack, my spirit might remain tied to Twilight’s and stay with her. There was a small comfort in that, understanding on some level I wouldn’t leave her alone entirely.

Having calculated everything out to the best they were able, Luna said so long as I kept regularly draining my magical reserves, it would minimize the rate of progression. Thankfully, there would be no notable effects until the last few days when my limit was reached and the energy flow would start to overwhelm me. That was the point my body would effectively burn itself out of physical integrity and turn to uncontrolled energetic mist that would dissipate soon after. Made me think it was a lot like too much electricity through a gauge of wire too small for it. It was a lot of fancy words and jargon as I listened.

Finally, I spoke softly when they seemed done, “So how long do you think it will take?”

Luna’s voice sounded pained as she looked at me, “From today, assuming you keep draining a fair amount of magic every day? It will give you a little less than two years, my friend.”

I heaved a sigh, trying to deny it all on many levels, my eyes landing on Celestia, “I’m kinda denying it right now and what I know of dealing with stuff like this, that never works out well. I need to hear the simple words that sum it all up. I can’t start facing it until I hear it out loud, so please just say it.”

Twilight buried her face in my neck, drawing shuddery breaths just short of totally breaking down and clinging tightly to me, my arm around her pulling her closer in turn. Both of us dreading what we knew came next.

Celestia simply nodded, closing her eyes sadly as she turned her head to one side for a long moment before looking back to me again, her soft voice steady but full of sadness, “I am so very sorry it has turned out like this. Were anything else wrong, I could see at least a chance of figuring something out.” She paused again before taking a slow breath and letting it out.

“For all intents and purposes Vojin, you are dying.”

And with those words left my ability to deny it as Twilight finally fell apart against me.

My eyes drifted down to gaze blankly at the floor by my sock-covered feet as I felt the not-quite-perfect life and what little stability I’d been building suddenly shatter around me like so many pieces of glass.

Author's Notes:

I figure readers learned a few things from this.

That was just the first half of the day.

As always, comments and critiques welcomed and encouraged. Just use your damn brain. :P

Edit 10/31/2014: Thoughtstreaming writing, as I mentioned in the blog yesterday, can cause hiccups. I think I got most of it in order this time...

Bk 1 Ch 15: Revelation (edit 11/18/2014)

Author's Notes:

Some heavier stuff in this chapter. Some of it has been hinted once or twice ages ago. Hope it came across in an interesting way.

One of the problems I felt in this chapter is the cliche corny cheese I tried to minimize but feel like I more or less required including it to handle the different points I wanted to express. I'm sure there's a million ways to do a lot of this better and some of the struggles I have simply come from my 'write first, think later' tendency when I write.

I'm planning a lot more things out than when I started. Heck, my story notes are about 20 pages long now. Some things I am still unsure of including or not. Next chapter is shorter and, though important, a mild-mannered interim before finally reaching the Royal Summit I've been going on about.

I tend to avoid spoilers like the plague, but I will say Shining Armor gets to be a badass in my story.

As always, comments and critiques are welcomed and encouraged. Just use your damn brain. :P

Edit 11/18/2014: Ok, various changes. Primarily, the balcony jump spell changed. Chapter ending was completely altered when the idea finally percolated properly through the sieve of stupidity covering my brain. I had been feeling the strangest compulsion to post the chapter, despite things not feeling done. Lot less cheese now. And alicorns are ridiculously powerful when you really think about it.

I gazed quietly out the large window of Twilight’s old observatory, not really thinking about much of anything. Twilight was snuggled up against my chest as we both watched the world drift along outside as we lay stretched out on blankets and pillows we’d piled on the floor. Now and then finding myself counting how many clouds I could see in motion by pegasus instead of wind and looking over the distant landscape.

I am dying.

Every time the words flitted across my mind, I struggled to fathom the feelings it brought. What should you feel about knowing your own time limit?

Part of me worried about lashing out when the angry phase hit but I at least trusted myself around Twilight, if nothing else. She silently stayed with me as we both slowly dragged ourselves through the process of acceptance.

At first, I was rather numb to everything while Twilight cried herself out against me right on the stone steps in Celestia and Luna’s magic lab. When she calmed to quiet sniffles, I simply thanked the two rulers for being honest and that we’d probably just be in our room until dinner. It was no surprise they understood, though the gesture of posting guards outside the door with orders we were not to be disturbed was appreciated. Spike was still napping when we shut the world outside the door.

I’d asked Twilight some reluctant questions initially. Letting her lay out the objective facts for me so I at least understood more of what was going on and learned how little even the Princesses could safely do with healing souls. I was slightly relieved upon seeing her find a little peace in the magical science behind the problem, even if it was a small bit.

Eventually, we simply fell into a sorrowful but otherwise comfortable contemplative silence by the window. It was nearing sunset at this point, the sky beginning to come alive with color. Celestia seemed to be working extra today as the bands of shifting reds and golds practically danced like very slow moving aurora borealis. The spectacle was at least calming, despite visual beauty not reaching me enough to comfort right then. Part of me wondered if she was working out stress or sadness from the earlier reveal.

It must have been at least an hour since either of us last spoke. We’d spent three hours straight by the window now with barely a word. Even after Spike woke up, we gently asked him to hold off on questions about why we seemed so sad right then, promising to let him know what happened with the earlier tests soon enough. He initially panicked for a few moments until Twilight said she was fine, but I’d gotten some bad news for down the road. Before he left, the way he promised to help me in whatever way he could was heartfelt but only good as emotional support. I had to hold back a depressing remark about how useless a gesture it was right then, he didn’t deserve a bitter response. I was mostly just depressed and feeling rather lost.

“Are we still going to dinner?” Twilight finally broke the silence, her voice soft and comforting.

I inhaled deeply before I let out a puff of breath, pausing for a long moment, “...I guess. We already said we’d be there and I’m sure you’re hungry after skipping lunch. Still not that hungry myself though.”

She lifted her head, leaning in to kiss me gently before looking into my eyes as her mane fell to one side in a way that usually caught my eye, “We’ll tell the girls whenever you’re ready but you really shouldn’t spend too much time like this. It might help to be around more close friends. And you know they’ll do everything they can to help after we tell them.”

Brushing her cheek with my fingertips, I nodded faintly, “I know, Purple Angel. I know… Just a really….it’s hard to know what to do now. I know I’m supposed to make the most of my remaining time or some other platitude but....going through it myself now... and with some big war hanging over all of our heads I might not even see the end of? I can’t say I even know where to begin.”

Her wing came up and a feather teased against my neck, just below and behind my ear where she knew I reacted, giving me a tender smile, “I’d still like to spend some time together, just being tender and slow. Still want to wait until bed? It’s at least an hour before dinner still…”

Her eyes flashed a bit victoriously as I gave a weak smirk and captured her teasing pinion in my fingers and giving it a kiss before letting go, “I know, I know. Heck, I might even be afraid to fall asleep or something all night. Think you’ll be able to keep me from brooding that long?”

“Well I can’t say about the brooding, but I’m sure we can work on the breeding…” Twilight flashed me a playful little smirk, prompting a weak few chuckles to escape me.

I pulled her tight against my chest, sniffling faintly, my voice barely avoiding getting choked out, “I barely have any idea what the think right now. Thank you for being with me…”

She nuzzled up under my chin, her breath tickling across my skin with every exhale, wrapping hooves and wings around me, “You’re always ready to protect and shield me from trouble. I’ll never stop being a shield for you in return. Whenever you need me, I’ll be right here. We’ll go one day at a time. Together.”

***

“I simply must thank you again, Vojin.” Celestia said after finishing another bite of her food, “While I am sure there is much adjusting of ingredients and other details still to do, Equestria’s culinary circles are buzzing with excitement to see so many dishes from another world that...shall we say, dropped out of the sky?”

As she flashed me a small playful smirk, I gave her a slight smile for the effort, “Like I said before when I offered to transcribe them off my smartphone, it gives me a taste of the home I left behind. I’m just glad I had that big list of recipes sitting there. Never thought I’d use most of it. The gryphons that visit are certainly going to be in for some surprises, I’m sure.”

She gave me a comforting smile, her eyes betraying only the barest hint of sadness, otherwise the picture of a lighthearted princess sharing dinner with some of her more standout subjects, “Yes, humans certainly did come up with substantial variations that involved meat. The number of ways to substitute it though...that was quite a surprise. Our chefs are planning on preparing some...I believe it was called indian foods? That ‘curry’ dish sounds intriguing. I encouraged the kitchen staff to entertain me with one of the spicer versions.”

“Ah, well I hope you find it as delicious as it is interesting to you.” I returned, my shoulders sagging slightly as I did what I could to keep upbeat. Twilight had asked if I wanted to just lay it all out, reminding me I’d have their support. I didn’t doubt it but just wasn’t feeling quite ready. Instead, I’d played it off and did what I could to enjoy a mostly normal dinner, though the sad smile Pinkie gave me for a few seconds when she first caught my eyes was odd. Dinner was nearly ended when the long awaited comment finally came.

“Ya know Vojin, y’all have been mighty quiet this whole dinner. Usually ya get more words in but y’all been sittin’ there lookin’ tense and troubled. What’s eatin’ ya, sugarcube?” Applejack said gently, the concern of a friend etched on her features. A glance around the table at the rest of the girls said they were all looking at me expectantly in turn.

I let out a quiet sigh, Twilight knew I was just trying to find some peace with it first before talking about it, looking back at AJ, “It’s not anything immediate, AJ. Just one of the things Twilight and I learned this morning was not exactly good news. Something of a longer term thing with my health I’m not quite ready to go into just yet. Once I am feeling like talking about it I will sit down with all of you. You alright with that?”

Rarity spoke with tenderness, her eyes conveying support, “I’m certain that whatever it is, you will have a helping hoof from each of us, darling. Might I ask if you can give us a time limit by which you’ll speak of it, if you have not yet managed the words?”

My head tilted in a nod, hoping my eyes weren’t betraying the depth of it when she said ‘time limit’, “We have a lot of things to go through this week and I’d not want to distract from that without even considering I’m still trying to sort my feelings out, so at the very least I’ll let you girls know on the train back to Ponyville at the end of the week. We’ll have plenty of time to talk uninterrupted then. I’ll talk about some of the weird discoveries and abilities I wound up with too.”

“Whatever ya need, pardner. We’ll be waitin’ for ya.” AJ added with a hoof tipping her hat back slightly.

The cynical, cranky little voice in my head almost had me retort with something about it was going to be me doing the waiting in the end, but I quashed it. I merely gave her a small smile and a nod. Dinner was probably delicious. While it wasn’t really registering well on my tongue, the vegetarian enchiladas plate was comfortingly familiar.

Once everyone finished, we found ourselves all on a large balcony under the clear night sky for a bit of conversation and company. It occurred to me that Celestia and Luna had gradually opened themselves to the Bearers more than they used to and the girls were gradually getting closer to them in turn. I mused to myself about the royal sisters and social distances they are so restricted by, wondering if they wished to forget protocol as much as I guessed.

Fingertips once again rubbed my temple absently at the headache I’d had all day and was still slowly growing stronger. That it seemed to be worsening much more steadily since we got out onto the balcony was an afterthought to wondering if it might be best for me to just go to bed early.

After a short period of silence, Luna spoke again, “I have sometimes wondered if our heavens will hold other habitable worlds, much as your own race does. Your descriptions do seem to demonstrate great similarity between our dimensions. Though I still have difficulty believing your world sees many of our naming methods as laden with puns. It is merely our culture to do it so.”

Luna had been regaling me with a number of tales about her night sky. It turned out her primary duty with the sky was twofold and the moon was only half of it. She also monitored the void around their world for great stones that threatened to fall upon Equestria a couple times a year, pushing them safely away or turning them into shooting stars as they skipped through the atmosphere to burn up safely. She was effectively telling me she was meteor defense. My calling it that got a strange look from the Princess of the Night.

The girls were spread around, lost in conversation. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were telling Pinkie the story about the sports convention earlier. Spike was apparently getting a lesson in animal care from Fluttershy, with Rarity wishing to hear a few more ideas on keeping cat fur more under control. Twilight was lost in some advanced intention spell theorizing with Celestia.

“Still a bit hard to take in the fact you move rocks in space, Luna. It’s just not possible back on Earth like that.” I said quietly, stretched out on my back and gazing at the starlit sky.

“Yes, I imagine that without magic it would seem an impossibility. I am most grateful to have a willing audience to listen to stories about my beloved night sky. That your race built machinery with no magic to carry them to the moon of Earth seems equally unfathomable to me in turn.” Luna said quietly, glancing over at me before turning her eyes back to the stars again. “Perhaps I will have an opportunity to show you how I move the stars in the near future.”

“That right there is so much crazier than moving space rocks. The stars in the skies of Earth are millions of miles away. I know you said that is not so different to here but the sheer magnitude is difficult to fathom.” I said, garnering another soft smile from Luna.

When my fingertips again rubbed my temple, Luna finally commented on it.

“My friend, I have watched you rub at your head with an expression of discomfort numerous times now and you have said nothing. Now I ask. Are you feeling ill? It is quite alright if you need to retire early.” Luna said, her eyes focused on me directly now.

I grumbled a bit, relaxing my tight hold on the headache-induced grumpiness, “I appreciate the thought Luna, but it’s just a headache. Happens once in a while for a lot of humans, though I admit this one’s been making moves towards a nasty migraine. Still, it’s the end of the day and didn’t want to miss stargazing with you yet again.”

“As you wish, my friend. Your company has been most appreciated.” She returned softly, her eyes again going to the sky.

Not needing the pretense, I kept rubbing my temple and winced as the headache seemed to worsen suddenly, my head throbbing. Only a little more before our gathering is over and I’d just head for bed.

“You know Luna, there’s something I’ve been curious about.” I grimaced at how the pain was advancing strangely fast now, maybe just bid goodnight in a minute instead, seeing Luna turn her gaze to me again, “Everything that’s happened aside, it was still rather quick. Why have you and Celestia been so friendly with m-me?”

Luna nearly shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice, “WHAT DIDST THOU--?!”

The response I’d expected from Luna wasn’t the horrified shock that suddenly appeared after I stuttered the last words out from rising pain, nor did I have much time to register her words before they cut off from the sheer pain becoming the only thing I heard or sensed.

In an instant, I curled in on myself on my side with an agonized scream as I clutched my head. It felt like my mind was being crushed and blown apart at the same time. The pain was indescribable, but thankfully, blessedly, only momentary. It wasn’t a physical pain but it resonated through my nerves like I’d been burned all over as it gradually faded. My first piece of awareness of the world returning was feeling Twilight’s touch and presence, eventually getting her words into my awareness as I slowly found my way back to the world around me.

“--eak to me already! What happened?!” Twilight sounded panicked but resonated with focused concern.

A pained whimper actually slipped out of me in response as I tried to calm down from something so severe. Nothing could’ve prepared me for feeling like my mind was getting ripped apart like that. I’d have taken the reconstructive surgery on my shoulder daily for a year over that. One hand managing to find her hoof and hold onto it.

Gulping for air and slowly starting to sit up, I saw the girls and Spike were all close by with worried looks. I couldn’t make any sense of the expressions that Celestia and Luna both wore, but alongside the worry, I could make out traces of guilt? Lacking the mental faculties to even start processing that, I leaned against Twilight and she wrapped her hooves and wings around me, tight and comforting.

The aftereffect was exceptionally uncomfortable but I was mostly together again, my voice shaky, “Ugh...th-that h-h-hurt…”

Twilight nuzzled me gently, one hoof stroking my back now, “Are you still hurting? Do we need to get to the hospital? The Princesses are right here, so tell me if it’s magical first.”

I took a slow breath, still calming down but much better with my voice low enough only Twilight would likely hear, “Seems it...just hit once… It was a magic backlash... Never felt hurt like that before… Ask them if they know what happened...”

My eyes had closed again but I felt Twilight raise her head towards the Princesses, her voice full of concern for me, “Please tell me you know what happened and that Vojin is safe.”

“Vojin...Twilight...I must give you my most profound and sincere apologies.” Celestia began, regret laced through her voice, “Myself and Luna wanted to deal with this sooner and in safer confines, but the few opportunities we had were interrupted by other difficulties. I truly hoped to take care of this in a better way…”

“Wha...what...I don’t understand…” Twilight sounded confused.

“Twilight Sparkle, what do you know of the human legends? About their capacity for unpredictability?” Luna’s voice was steady but drained.

“Why does that matter right now? I know they talked about some humans doing some very scary things but the myths have been distorted so often through history that nopony really trusts any of them anymore and neither of you ever...wait...d-did you two do something to him?!” Twilight’s voice raised in alarm as her grip on me tightened possessively.

For my part, I could feel the sparks of anger inside, but tamped it down so I could listen to their response.

“The tales are not as mistaken as is believed. A small number of the human mages that visited us were...very foul beings. I will spare you the details, but suffice to say they would have been right at home with any of the worst in Tartarus.” Celestia intoned, drawing a couple gasps from the girls, whatever their responses meant. My mind was elsewhere.

After a long pause, Twilight seemed to hold me just a little tighter, her voice suddenly tearful and hurt, “Y-you...didn’t answer my question, Celestia…”

“No, I did not…” Celestia let out a defeated sigh, “Yes, I cast a spell on Vojin. I wanted to have time to evaluate his nature where he couldn’t question the actions of Luna and I. To see if he would be a danger to my little ponies. Luna and I both have wanted to remove the Rose Window enchantment since we cast the judgement spell. I am so sorry we hesitated in hopes of tending this privately and now Vojin has somehow broken free on his own. I know you are both likely deservedly upset…”

Twilight sounded incensed, “You placed a Rose Window on him?! That was the level you’d--”

Suddenly, I just broke. I cut her off as I moved to stand, pulling her off me as I growled at the rulers of Equestria, “Upset…? Upset?! You used some kind of mind control on my ass and you think I’d be UPSET?! After the judgement spell and knowing what I went through after my parents died?! You knew how I felt about manipulation! You saw it for yourselves directly and you think I’d be UPSET?!”

I tore my fuming glare away and walked to the stone bannister, not even seeing whatever expressions the girls were wearing at that moment as I stomped past them. I threw a fist down on the top of the bannister at the edge of the balcony with a meaty thump, distantly registering I probably just broke my hand but ignored it. Drawing on my magic, I neatly sliced off a section of the stone rail and levitated it aloft in front of me, beginning to just exert raw power on it as I crushed it to dust and kept squeezing and grinding at it, trying to vent some of the fury storming it’s way through me now.

My voice was a dark snarl, “I didn’t need this kind of shit today! Not after hearing just this morning that I’m gonna be dead in two years! I was ripped out of my life and everything I knew to show up here without any choice! I woke up in a damn hospital bed in a place that shouldn’t even exist! How much of the last two months were even ME?! How am I supposed to know what is even real now?!”

I kept crushing the grit in front of me, working it with my magic in a private, desperate battle of self, noting the lump was turning red and starting to radiate heat. They knew just how seriously I took keeping my head straight from outside influence. That the Princesses had seen what defined me and not just told me outright about the enchantment, even if it was a bad moment in time, it infuriated me.

Now I was threatening to lash out very, very badly at them and I couldn’t tell very well between rational and irrational things, keeping it all largely internal instead. I really hoped I didn’t run into any innocently protective Royal Guard, but so far none had rushed into the room by the balcony from my angry shouting. Too much to process already though.

I’d barely paused, finally lowering my voice, still speaking with a harsh growl through clenched teeth, “Twilight, come over here please…”

It was hardly a couple seconds by the time she stood beside me, but the mass of stone was already hot enough to start melting from the sheer force and friction I was working it with to keep myself occupied from anything truly bad. I didn’t look down at her.

She started to speak, sounding angry herself, “Vojin, I’m mad about this too but you need to calm down. We have a--”

“No! Twilight, I’m going to go for a while and you’re going to stay here to find out exactly what they did and how it affected me. DO NOT come to me until you sense I’ve cooled down some.” I hissed out at her, “Then you tell me everything they tell you.”

With hardly a nudge, I threw the lump of glowing rock at the basin of an unattended fountain, watching just long enough to see it cause a burst of steam before it more or less exploded from heat exchange. It was probably going to cause the Guard a headache until they learned what happened. I already saw some of them rushing towards the fountain far below.

A moment later, I took what little I knew about spellweaver practices and, snapping my arms out wide like I was running my hands over a wall, made a two layer shield dome from the edge of the balcony to back against the wall around it. It wouldn’t take the Princesses more than a second or two to undo if they wanted but I just cast it for an interrupt and making a point. It was set to only allow myself alone to pass through it. The spellwork was painfully inefficient for how much magic it took to place.

“You stay and talk to them Twilight. When you’re satisfied with their answers to you and the girls, you come find me. I’ll handle myself until then.” I growled, then jumped off the balcony, followed by a couple of shrieks. Couldn’t tell which of the girls it was, but it wasn’t Twilight.

As I sailed down through the air from what seemed like four stories up, my magic charged and dispersed into a shift of gravity as I began to roll myself into the side of the castle wall, turning the fall into a ride down an incline. A steep slide smoothly drifted into sliding on my hip as if across nearly level ground. Momentum carried me smoothly along the wall until briefly jumping from the wall to clear a window in my path. Nothing like live testing something new when angry.

Rolling my effective gravity was intended for more efficient power usage than self-levitation in freefall. Needed to practice more to improve how I handled velocity relative to terminus at the ground. Twilight thought it was an odd approach, but it worked for a lot less magic by letting the wall and simple friction be part of the effect. She’d even done something relatively similar in the Crystal Empire during the resurgence of Sombra and recovering the Crystal Heart.

I thumped onto the stone walkway at the bottom with a grunt, a little rougher than intended but hardly cared. I stood up and didn’t move for a second to make sure I had my bearings, then just started walking. Just picked a direction of forward and stormed off. A few guards I passed were eyeing me warily but didn’t say anything. Perhaps somehow grasping I was in the middle of cooling off. I didn’t know.

When I noticed some random little clump of trees after a time, I headed towards it.

It wasn’t long before I found myself stalking through one of the lesser gardens. Apparently done up somewhat like a temperate forest with the trees spaced for grass to grow. The darkness was held at bay via carefully placed light crystals that gave a soft glow just enough to easily prevent one from running into trees. Another time, it might have been pleasant to stroll through.

Glancing around, I headed over to a somewhat slimmer tree towards the middle of the garden. Without pretense, I simply started some training exercises as I made various strikes and kicks against the trunk. I’d not done it for a while and was sure I’d feel like hell afterward. It was a small price to pay in order to burn off the fury that just wanted any target.

That was how I stayed for however long it took before Twilight was approaching. I felt her heading my way off to my right as I hammered the tree again with another forearm block. I didn’t even register the parts of the trunk that had been slowly turning red. The fury was lower, that was all that mattered in my mind.

After having been so focused, I was caught completely off guard when Twilight tackled me to the ground, her face filled with worry and tears welled up in her eyes. I finally realized she had been trying to talk and get my attention.

“Vojin, enough already! Are you crazy?! Why in Equestria are you hitting a tree that hard?!” She was looking at me with intensity, the interruption letting my thoughts interrupt themselves as I realized how exhausted I felt. She was standing over me, looking down with a rather perturbed expression.

Lacking any other way to respond than simply, I irritably voiced my reply as I gave her a sharp look, “So I didn’t hurt anything with a brain.”

Twilight closed her eyes a moment and grimaced before giving me a look of frustrated concern, “You couldn’t include yourself in that? I’m surprised you could still stand. Do you even know what you look like right now? We need to take you to the hospital. Think you can walk?”

A growl escaped me, glaring up at her, “No bloody hospitals. You want me healed, you do it.”

Practically on cue, I regretted saying it. The strain she’d gone through from the time she had attempted healing my injuries earned from catching her came to my mind.

“I’m willing to try but we’re still going to get you to a doctor to make sure everything healed properly.” Twilight said simply, her horn igniting as she prepared.

Gritting my teeth, I tried to pull my head out of my own backside, “Dammit...Twilight wait…”

She paused, looking at me with a frown and sounding even more frustrated, “You just asked me to try healing you and now you don’t want me to? You going to make up your mind or am I just going to drag you to a hospital instead?”

Finally, a strained sigh escaped as I sagged, as much as one can laying down, the already fading adrenaline giving way to how much my legs and arms throbbed. I grimaced at the sight of slowly bleeding cuts, bruises, and scrapes across my forearm and hand when I raised it up to scrub my face in agitation, the word ‘hamburger’ floating across my thoughts, “Look, I’ll let you heal me but let me give you a boost so it won’t just drain you, alright?”

Her expression softened, a faint smile crossing her features before she leaned down to nuzzle me for a second, “Alright. Thank you for letting me.”

My hand touched her chest, needing to feel her fur, and let my magic flow to her. I noticed one of my fingers was sitting very oddly, probably very broken with how it hurt. The drained feeling seemed to worsen my throbbing limbs.

She wasted no time once I shared my magic with her, immediately igniting her horn with her eyes closed and getting to work. The strange feeling of a couple bones in my hands shifting back into place came and went. Throbbing limbs slowly eased and stinging skin cooled. It would have been interesting to discuss the details under different circumstances. How it compared to her previous healing attempt. That would wait for another day though.

I was still scowling as she opened her eyes but felt mostly in control again. We stared at each other for several long moments in silence, her face full of worry. My magic slowly flowing back to me as I withdrew it again.

Twilight finally couldn’t take the silence further, “Aside from being angry...are you alright?”

After a bit of hesitation, I replied, “The hell is a ‘Rose Window’ supposed to be?”

She bit her lip and sighed, settling down on top of me as I nudged her, feeling the need to have her lay on my chest. Her face seemed a little more sad at the question for just a moment, then gave me another small nuzzle.

“Powerful, in a word. I honestly don’t know how you managed to break it. The recipient doesn’t usually know it’s there. Sometimes not even when they are told directly.” Twilight began quietly, shifting her wings as she settled in against me, “It’s one of the strongest mind influencing spells known without being actual mind control, which is one of the foulest abuses of magic possible. I would never have expected Princess Celestia to walk that close to the line. Just casting it is risky because it can warp the recipient’s mind if done wrong, to say nothing about unpredictable side effects beyond the spell’s intended focus. The only fortunate part in all this is that once removed, everything forgotten or altered will slowly return over the course of a month or two. The biggest protection in the spell is preventing permanent mental harm.”

My mouth was a tight line, prepared to just listen to her explain and taking a bit of relief in her weight against me, fingers resting against her ribs just under her wings.

She sounded frustrated and hurt still, probably at Celestia if I had to guess, her wings shifting slightly to press against my sides in a comforting gesture she used rarely when laying on my chest, “Don’t be too surprised when you remember something ordinary suddenly or meeting somepony you suddenly realize you met before. I’ll help you through it. The hard part is just removing the Rose Window. The way the spell works is mostly a matter of changing how you perceive the world. Most become more passive to stressful situations. From what the Princesses told me, it was also to keep you from questioning them directly. They wanted to keep you calm and accepting…”

“Calm and accepting?” I interrupted, my face darkening again.

Her wings gave me a slight squeeze as she nodded a little, “Yes. I know we didn’t get into Equestrian human myths before, but it will help explain to tell you a little about them. Some of the tales went on about noble travelers in search of knowledge happy to give aid when needed. Most were reclusive, only dealing with any that furthered their knowledge. A few of the tales though are rather scary, now that I know there’s probably a lot more true than I ever expected. It was only a few out of all the tales, but some humans came here just lusting for more power. One of them was even a key part of the nearly forgotten Uprising of Tartarus that became the closest to an all-out war that Equestria has ever known before it was quelled. It was worse with that one human because he was supposedly very ingratiating and respectful until the treachery was found out. I don’t approve in the slightest, but can you at least understand a little of why the Princesses would be worried about the small chance you might be like one of them?”

My eyes closed as I sighed, then opened them and looking into hers, “I hope you’re not expecting me to...no, not going to be like that… I understand, Twilight. Really don’t like it though.”

“I know. Neither do I, like I said. At least it wasn’t entirely baseless. Humans that came here were not always nice creatures and Equestria has been so at peace for so long that a bad one like that coming now might make a lot of things go wrong. One of the things I’ve been learning as a Princess of Equestria is just how much balancing has to be done to help maintain our peaceful way of life. Sometimes, I’ve wondered how many of the things you’ve said about your world might be true here if the Princesses hadn’t been around to guide us for so long.” Twilight said softly, nuzzling me again for a moment.

“But going back to the Rose Window, I don’t know how the hay you broke free when you couldn’t have known it was there. Not only that, but breaking an enchantment that powerful could have killed you from the backlash. I am still not sure how you stayed conscious either. I experienced a backlash close to that once a few years ago when still living in Canterlot. It was two days before I woke up again. Maybe it was just because it was a single burst, rather than an extended backlash over several minutes like I endured.” Twilight continued, “The spell probably made your arriving in Equestria a lot easier. Probably made everything seem so much more inviting and interesting, rather than foreign and unsettling.”

A small dread started growing in me as my jaw clenched, “Just...how much of the last two months really happened like I remember?”

She gave me a mournful look, “I honestly can’t tell you. I don’t know what the spell changed and even you probably couldn’t tell without putting it all side by side somehow.”

If I hadn’t been laying down, I’d probably have been starting to shake, “How many friends are really friends then?”

“You don’t--”

“Yeah, the girls are all great but what level of that was just the spell?”

“Hey! You shou--”

“Oh bloody hell, Twilight! What about us?!”

“Vojin, wai--”

“If the spell is that strong, was it pushing us together somehow?!”

“Vojin! Don’t tal--”

“Is this whole thing between us somehow unreal?!”

“VOJIN! ENOU--”

“What if everything I feel for you was all just a lie inven--!”

...

I blinked, finding my head turned to one side. Another second and I felt the sting in my cheek as I turned my head back to look at Twilight, the fearful tears welled up in my eyes threatening to start falling. My brain still trying to get back to coherent after a mental reset as she brushed my cheek tenderly with the hoof I realized had slapped across it moments before. How exactly one could slap with a hoof, I did not know.

“I’m sorry Vojin. I won’t let you do that to yourself. Don’t you remember what the Princesses told us the first time we came up to Canterlot? About our link, the flux that caused it and it’s effect on trust?” Twilight said softly.

After a painfully long pause looking back at her, I finally found my voice, quiet as it was from the deep seated fear, “...no. I don’t remember anything about that.”

She stared down at me sadly for a few long seconds more, then leaned down to give me a loving peck on the lips, “That was the only real effect on our emotions from our link. We intuitively understood how much we could genuinely trust each other. For some reason, it gave us trust in each other and the rest came with time. Everything else that happened between us was our own doing. I fell in love with you because of you. No extra magic at all than the goofy, eager-to-learn human stallion you are deep down. We could have just as easily been nothing more than close friends if we didn’t like each other like that. And that’s not even considering being able to touch each other like we can when we traded knowledge of how to read each other’s books. That place we comforted each other in. That place beyond words we can meet each other in when my hoof is against your hand and I feel the very essence of you and your magic next to mine. Everything else beyond that initial understanding of trust has been us. Only us.”

My arms wrapped tight around her as I buried my face against her coat at the base of her neck, for a while just holding on for dear life as her unique scent filled my senses. I didn’t even feel any tears as I held her. We’d talked about a lot of things but never about the terrible fear I was now trying to push right through the middle of. I silently determined once she was done, I’d tell her about losing my parents and why I was so afraid of losing control of my own mind.

Her hooves found their way around the back of my head and neck, then her wings doing the same, holding me close as her chin rested in my hair. She held me quietly for a while, letting me to find the solace I needed in her.

It was probably several minutes before my grip on her finally began to relax. Slowly settling my head back on the grass beneath us as she moved her forelegs free. A hand came up to caress her cheek, cupping it a moment later and she tilted her head against my palm.

“After you’re done telling me about the spell, I need to tell you a story about why I reacted so strongly and got so mad.” I said softly, a lot calmer after that embrace.

“We can stay right here all night if necessary, Vojin. You’ve always made for a surprisingly comfy mattress…” Twilight smirked slightly before turning her head and kissing my palm, her eyes finding mine again with a faint twinkle.

I finally cracked a small lopsided grin, weak as it was.

Twilight nuzzled me then, seeming to relax somewhere deep inside, yet almost visibly at the same time, her words coming more calmly now, “There isn’t too much more to tell with the Rose Window without going into the math and functions that make it work. I don’t think you want me to do that right now. Princess Celestia said she cast the spell the day we left the hospital. When you had asked her what magic she was working, she said she almost panicked that you had somehow realized what she was doing. She was terrified, Vojin. She sensed some strange things and how much magic you’d been carrying at the time and she was terrified. Luna was too. The fact they let you stay with me freely wasn’t easy for them to permit. They admitted to nearly just dragging us both off to Canterlot and kept under a tight watch. I’ve seen a lot of things from her in the years she taught me but I’ve never seen her like that. I’m not sure the few tales from the Uprising of Tartarus are telling what really happened anymore.”

“Alright...any idea how I broke free of something I didn’t even know was there?” I asked her hesitantly, still scared and angry but no longer feeling any of the fury at the Princesses.

“I only have one theory so far. Vojin, did you have a hard time trusting before you arrived?” Twilight asked softly.

Letting out a slow breath, I nodded, “The way my life had gone, trust was hard to give. Really hard to give. I’ll save why for the story I’m going to tell you though.”

She nodded gently, “Then lacking a better explanation, that was why. You needed to ask certain questions and the demand for those answers kept building. Part of your magic was fueling the push against a wall you couldn’t detect. When you asked Princess Luna why she and her sister were so friendly, you also asked a question at odds with the Rose Window in place, causing it to collapse. I think your capacity to handle pain like you do is what let you stay conscious. Most simply pass out the moment after the pain of a backlash hits.”

After nodding in response, my eyes turned to the patch of sky I could see between the trees as I started getting my head together for the story I needed to tell. It had been years since I said a word about most of it now. Just a skeleton in the closet only a couple people I was friendly with even knew about, let alone any details. Only ever told even my best friend Barry about it a single time when his tour of duty ended, after everything was done and over already.

Watching the few stars I could see twinkling, the anger was seeping out of me as the sadness and guilt of that part of my life started to take over. The loss that started it in motion. The false hopes and misdirection. How warped everything got until one critical moment snapped me out of it. I closed my eyes at some things that flashed through my mind. Good and bad all mixed together from things I did or watched happen.

“I suppose it’s time I told you about my mom and dad’s passing and the mess it got me into. I haven’t talked about it in a long time now.” I said in a resigned tone, looking deep into her eyes now.

She nuzzled me softly, “You always refused to talk about them when I asked. Always put it off. Why?”

Fingers stroked through her fur for a few moments, palms exploring the curve of her ribs and up along her back, “I guess you’ll find out tonight… Mom was always a wonder. Crazy sense of humor and probably as wild as Rainbow Dash, but without so much athleticism. And probably laughed as much as Pinkie. She had this ability to come up with just the right thing to say about anything to anyone she ever met. It didn’t matter if she just met them either. It was like she somehow knew them their whole life and knew what words they needed most. Kind of freaked out some people but they always wound up happier after meeting her. I could never figure out how she did it, either. It was like she knew more about the world than the world did, at times.

“My dad was similar in a lot of ways. He always had sound advice and a helping hand when you landed on your backside from doing something stupid. He was a little sharper than mom. Never saw him fail to know the answer to any question or be unable to solve a problem in the most efficient way possible. You’d have loved to talk science with him, you know. He was an intellectual in a crowd of them. It also made his ability to scare off any would-be troublemakers that much weirder though. I don’t know how many times I saw him just give one hard look at someone making signs of giving him trouble and they turned around quickly to walk away. The way I saw him stop a brawl in a store once was the scariest though. Bunch of young guys, ten or eleven, seemed to get into a gang fight and dad just walked up to the group and shouted ‘ENOUGH!’ and suddenly they all froze in place, staring at him. He crossed his arms, told them to sit and wait for the police with a glare. I can’t fathom how he did it, but they did just that even as we finished paying for our things. None of them moved until the police came as we were leaving. I always thought it was weird that the police never came to the house over that since he would’ve been an important witness.

“I know I mentioned once or twice that I was adopted. From what they told me, they couldn’t have their own children and they got me when I was just born. Something about my birth mother not having family and not being healthy enough to take care of a kid much longer. When I was old enough and asked, they said she’d had terminal cancer and had refused to sacrifice her unborn baby for treatment. What I knew about her, she was a gentle person. I think she ran an animal shelter for a living.

“Growing up with mom and dad was great. I couldn’t get away with anything though, bad or just plain stupid. One or both of them always seemed to know exactly when to show up and catch me in the act of whatever ill-conceived ideas I tried to enact. Heck, one time I was pretending to be a mountain climber when I was a little too old to do it in the house and a large bookshelf started to fall over on me…” I smirked slightly at the shocked expression on Twilight’s face, “You didn’t think I was an angel growing up, did you?”

Twilight blinked at me, grinning weakly, “No, but hearing about it does change perspectives a little. Please continue.”

“Well as I said, the bookshelf started to fall. I was around eight at the time and it would have been bad, maybe even killed me if dad hadn’t shown up at the perfect time as always. I always knew he was big and strong, but he knocked the bookshelf to one side with his shoulder just enough that yanking me only a foot away the other direction made the whole shelf miss. A lot of parents I know would’ve been panicking after that and yelling at me or checking me over like crazy. Dad just looked at me with one of his weird gentle expressions that made you know exactly how dumb you just were. After asking me if I needed a hug, he just held me for a while.

“Mom was strange about saving me from myself. When I was fourteen, I fell out of the tree in the backyard and somehow, I don’t have a clue how she did it, but she bounced me with a big inflatable exercise ball far enough to have me land safely in the pool. When I came back up, she just grinned and asked if I was done trying to make an impression in front of her. I never figured out how she had the strength to do that or where the exercise ball came from all of a sudden when it’d been in the house all other times before that. When I asked her where the ball came from, she just laughed and told me to let her know when I figured it out.

“Growing up, they taught me tons of things. Some of the most unique was our secret family traditions in magic. I think they wouldn’t mind me talking about that with you now, Twilight. I’m only allowed to teach you after getting married though, so don’t get your hopes up yet.” I grinned a little more, seeing her give a small, playful pout, “Hey, you know it’s going to be all subtle techniques anyway. I don’t think you’ll find anything too surprising, if anything. The important part was the fact they had techniques and practices different from anything else on Earth I’ve ever seen. Some things were similar, but most of it was kinda unique. I know it’s normal here, but they approached magic with the knowledge that soul and spirit are two different things. Those are one and the same on Earth, according to every available spiritual practice I had found. Funny thing was, Earth used to separate the two but a very long time ago, people in power tried to simplify it, keep knowledge of things hidden from the public and eventually the knowledge of soul and spirit being separate was lost to the march of time.

“Mom and dad though, they never referred to them as the same. The body was always the vessel of the soul that housed the spirit of a person during their life. Kinda want to think of it like the kernel and shell of a computer and no don’t even ask as too long to explain and not important right now. They taught me a lot about a lot of things when making the distinction. I was strictly forbidden to discuss our family secrets, but what little comparisons I could get from other magic practitioners on Earth said ours were a lot more effective. Never did figure out any specific answers to why though. My parents were unusually adamant about keeping things a secret in that. Over the years, I kinda understood the philosophy better and kept it to myself. Most of it isn’t even allowed to be written down. It’s all memory.

“Now that you have a general idea about them...well…” I sighed, the joy of remembering the unique childhood I’d had giving way to loss, “There isn’t really much I understand about it myself, to be honest. My parents were taking an anniversary road trip vacation for the first time since I was seventeen and didn’t have any worries about me staying home. Planned it for two years ahead of time. It had been a clear day, no wind. The police said there were no signs of mechanical problems with their car and no telltale marks on the road of any loss of control. All anyone knew was they suddenly turned to the right, blew through the metal safety barrier like it was made of paper, and fell off the bridge over the canyon when no other cars or people were around to see. One camera that would’ve recorded the moment they left the bridge happened to stop working the day before. Nobody could explain it.

“What...made it worse was they couldn’t find their bodies. There was no trace they’d even been in the car that day. There wasn’t a single sign anywhere along the canyon river of them either. It was so absent of anything, they had to question if it was all set up. That was, to put it simply, a very difficult experience to go through. There were some government agents that showed up not long after the police told me their car had been found at the bottom of a canyon. You can imagine I wasn’t in a good state for answering questions, not that they cared about any of that. Even pulled rank on the police officers and made them leave. I’m glad I told them to get in touch with my grandfather. He was the only other family I had. The agents had been asking me weird questions I didn’t even understand, let alone knew the answers to and it wasn’t until my grandfather showed up with his shotgun all of a sudden that anything changed from confusing questions and my having no answers. He flipped the law on them with the same two police officers backing him up, almost literally throwing them out of my parent’s house or they’d be arrested on the spot for trespassing and a number of other things. My grandfather was a retired lawyer and never seemed to lose a legal argument.” I said quietly, some of the unpleasant memories making me pause.

Twilight nosed me a little, “Was your grandfather really the only family you had besides your parents?”

I took a moment to relax my shoulders, nodding, “Yeah he was. Wasn’t even related to my parents though. He was an old friend that helped them out when they were much younger and just starting out. Practically adopted them himself, would have if they were any younger. Strangely enough though, they advised him most of the time if it wasn’t a legal issue. He was a kind man and very down to earth with far more integrity than I’d seen in anyone but my parents. I only knew him after he’d long since retired, but from what I knew, he spent a lot of his earlier retirement years as a consultant for special cases where someone was in a bind and was getting steamrolled unfairly. Any of those he took up defending never lost.

“Anyway...after those agents left, they worked for some office I’d never heard of, things kinda settled down for a while. After the memorial services and a lot of unanswered questions, I was getting increasingly restless. I guess my grandfather saw the trouble coming because he officially moved in with me at my parents house by the time I turned eighteen. He’d stayed with me a couple months for guardianship reasons after my parents died, or vanished, but I’ve always assumed they passed. Easier than thinking they suddenly abandoned me for some reason, you know?

“After a time, I don’t even remember how anymore but I started spending time with some bad people. I was branching out more in magic studies and landed in a shady group looking to work together on group activity and mutual improvement by trading knowledge. I never did spill any secrets but when they saw a couple here and there, the leader of the group started ingratiating himself to me more.

“I won’t talk about how it all built up over the following year, it honestly doesn’t matter since it was just leading up to me being brainwashed into believing weirder lies and giving more trust to the group. It wasn’t until my grandfather sat me down one evening and said he learned he only had a few months left from a tumor in his brain that things went sideways with how upset I was.

“I’d been getting more involved in some dark stuff with that group of wannabe magicians. A couple of them started doing animal sacrifices. The simple fact I didn’t run like hell at that says a lot about how warped my head was at the time.

“Like I mentioned before, this was a defining period of my life. The last two weeks I spend in the group, things escalated fast. I never had interest in the dark stuff they eventually all got involved in, but somehow convinced myself I could learn a few things and make sure they didn’t go too far. It’s a funny thought now, since they’d crossed that line long before that. The last time I was anywhere near any of them was the night I helped get them all sent to prison. It was one of the singularly most defining moments of my life.

“I walked into the secluded little house the leader owned and they had been getting some sort of ritual ready. Honeyed words and subtle threats were whispered in my ears. They needed my help this time and were hopeful I’d finally be ready to really join them. When I walked down into the basement with them, I…” My voice failed for a moment, breathing a bit faster at the terrible memory.

Twilight shushed me gently, nuzzling my cheek as the tips of her feathers brushed against the other. She was quiet as she comforted me, knowing I’d finish.

I steeled myself, needing to finish now, my eyes meeting hers, “They had a girl tied to a table, Twilight. She was gagged and half naked. I saw a few fresh bruises on her and the most terrified eyes I had ever seen on anyone up to that point in my life.

“The leader of that group said he wanted me to start off the ritual with her. It was time to decide if I was going to stay with them or if I was now just in the way. Something in how he’d said it told me I wasn’t walking out if I didn’t go along with them completely this time. Made him think I was intrigued and talked about how long it had been since I’d been with someone as I stalked around the poor girl. She was in a panic as I traced my fingertips against her skin as part of the act. The whole time I walked around her, it was just evaluating how to get her out alive, and hopefully without any further injury.

“It’s strange how a single instant can change your life forever. One moment, I was making it look like I would join them in their sick games while desperately trying to figure out how to solve the mess I was in. The next moment, I had cracked my elbow across the leader’s cheek when his guard was down, grabbing a length of wood and, for another first in my life, risked my life for someone else as I fought the rest of that nasty little group and trying to keep them away from her.

“Dad had given me a few lessons in fighting, but nothing much. The moment I struck though, I’d almost swear I felt his reassuring hand on my shoulder, almost saying I could beat them and keep the girl safe. I know I mentioned being in fights to protect people before but it had always been one or two I had to face. That’s not even mentioning it was never anyone trying to do things like those lunatics were.

“I managed to keep them off of her, but I wound up getting stabbed twice in her place. A third time and a broken wrist while fighting them for the serious injuries. Just flesh wounds in the end. Most of the time, the poor girl was screaming in terror. Didn’t end up killing any of them but part of me was really enjoying tearing them apart, and I mean I really thrilled in snapping an elbow backwards after I knocked one down and the resulting scream from someone so vile. It wasn’t hot rage either, but cold, calculating fury. Some part of me relished in exacting payment for all the horrible things they had done before they kidnapped that girl and everything they did to her specifically. I understood that night what it was like to be lost in the lust for battle.

“After I left them all bloody and unconscious or restrained, I grabbed a blanket for the girl and went to get her free. She...she screamed in terror at me then. I was the one that repeatedly kept them from hurting her any further and she was terrified of me. I know she was in the middle of extreme stress and probably wasn’t the slightest bit rational but it touched me deeply. The second part of how important that night was came when I decided to just accept it. If saving others made them afraid of me, at least they could move on after I did what I had to do.

“It took a minute before she quit screaming after I laid the blanket over her and she realized I wasn’t going to hurt her. When I asked, she said she had a broken leg but begged me to get her out of that place even though the police were on their way. I made a quick splint and carried her out on my back. She said she was sorry but I was still terrifying to her and I just left her on a chair in the yard and stood several feet away until the police arrived.” I finally heaved a sigh, feeling a lot of things, “Long story short, after the investigations were done, I was cleared and given mandatory counseling. I growled at any police officer or other official that tried to thank or congratulate me. Only thing that mattered was that look of pride my grandfather gave me. If he hadn’t been there giving me a stable place the whole time that let me hold on inside, I’d probably have been lost to that group. He had me promise to keep my mind to myself, no matter what. Not to let anyone dictate my thoughts ever again. He passed away a couple days after my first therapy session.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat, drained and exhausted, “So yeah...now you know why mind control freaks me out so badly. Why I am so afraid you’ll start to fear me being protective. Even some of why I am so protective of you.”

Twilight smiled softly and gave my nose a kiss, “That was quite a story. Between what you went through and thinking you always scare others, I think I understand why you have a hard time trusting and how you broke the Rose Window. I know you’re probably still angry with them, but will you talk to the Princesses? You don’t have to forgive them yet, but I’d really like you to talk to them before we go to bed. The girls aren’t expecting to see us until breakfast. Please, for me?”

I growled wordlessly at that, even though I already knew I was going to give in. For a long pause, I just stared back at her grumpily. Eventually, I just gave up at the look in her eyes and the fact she asked me to, “...geh, alright. Can I at least get extra close snuggles or something tonight?”

Something inside me exhaled and relented at the adorable little giggle that slipped out of her then, her voice managing to be a little playful, “Oh I suppose. It’s not that late, so maybe I can try rubbing your shoulders again tonight to help you relax... You know, I just realized you never said what any of your family’s names were.”

A seemingly simple question that suddenly made me feel weak and scared again, my voice starting to tremble from one more source of stress added to my day, “Twilight...I-I don’t...that’s all a blank... You said everything comes back after the Rose Window is removed, right? Bloody hell...how can someone forget their own parent’s names...?”

She hushed me gently, “The effects are unpredictable sometimes. Give it time. Everything will come back before you know it.”

***

“Vojin, I am so terribly sorry for hesitating in dealing with the Rose Window. This all turned into a mess I very much wish we could undo.” Celestia said, deep regret in her voice.

“We are...I am also deeply regretful. It was not necessary to endure like this for any of us.” Luna added, looking away with shame on her features.

The private reception room was empty aside from Twilight standing a few feet away, looking on quietly. I was still very agitated but it was likely at least a good night’s sleep before I could really calm down properly.

“You two know exactly what I endured. The what and why of that part of my life.” I said in a low voice with a deep frown, levelling a steady glare at Celestia, “I think it’s time you tell me why you were so afraid of me when I first arrived. The real reason you cast that spell on me. And no fancy wording that doesn’t really say much. I want the truth or I can’t even start trusting you again.”

What looked back at me wasn’t the eyes of Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria in that moment. Her eyes were bringing nothing to mind so much as someone haunted by an old memory best left forgotten whenever possible. Her normally bright eyes were suddenly distant, seeming to look at things beyond sight carried within. I saw so much sorrow hidden there that even in my state of anger, I couldn’t help but feel some regret for bringing whatever it was to the front of her mind. A glance at Luna showed nothing so much as a mirror in darker colors.

Finally, Celestia’s eyes closed as she turned her head away, a visible tremble touched her before she composed herself again. When she managed to to speak, her words were uncharacteristically subdued and quiet, “We feared a human’s arrival because of one that came before. There are...events we went so far as erasing from recorded history that took place... In light of what we have done against you, we will speak of something forgotten by all but my sister and I. Vojin, have you had a chance to study the history of the Uprising of Tartarus?”

I raised a brow, “No, I have not. Twilight mentioned it while we were talking after I stormed off. Said it was partially caused by a human deceiver. For whatever reason, I’ve not felt very curious about the past regarding humans here.”

Luna looked up at me, meeting my eyes with a deep ache within her own, “His name is to remain forgotten, but his actions themselves were not what troubles us so. They were, however, heavily responsible for what came to pass. His vile lust for power a driving force that brought us to the brink of war against fel creatures. A desperate war Equestria would have fought just for survival, had things gone any further.”

There was a growing sense it wasn’t simply an event or series of them that troubled them so greatly. Before I found words to ask further, Celestia began to speak again with her head low, “Knowing the depths of yourself and Twilight, I will tell you the true reason why Luna and I fear what a human might cause. Please…both of you, please breathe not one word of what we are about to say to anypony. Though it has been more than three thousand years, not so long after the start of our guiding Equestria, it is best left forgotten in the time before even Discord’s reign...”

By this time, Twilight had moved to stand beside me, looking deeply troubled at the state her mentor was in. She leaned against me enough for me to know she was there and my fingers rested against her mane. Neither of us knew what was so grave that these two rulers, long-lived and experienced against all manner of trials, were now so haunted they could scarcely speak upon something from the past.

After what felt like ages, Celestia finally raised her head, her eyes somehow displaying a need for forgiveness that would never be found, “I...will not trouble you with the whole series of events. That human sorcerer attempted to gain power by working with the denizens of Tartarus. His own greed and lust for power eventually destroyed him in his own deal-making, but in the process, the gates were not completely shut and terrible beings slipped free with terrible inspiration from him before we could stop them. What they were does not matter and they were eventually forced back into Tartarus, forever bound in a manner not even gods would try to undo. It was what they created and the price Luna and I were forced to pay to stop it that troubles us. And will until the end of time itself. It was the last time we truly wielded the might of what we two alicorns possess.”

Celestia paused, visibly resigning herself to what she had to say as she stared into my eyes, “It is difficult to put it into mortal terms. Luna and I brought down fury from the heavens. Razed the land in the fires of sun and moon with both in the sky at once. Nearly forced an entire village of hundreds into a pocket dimension that would have eternally trapped even them in death. All to prevent a demon plague from escaping that would have distorted and wiped out more than half our world by the smallest, most conservative measure. It was beyond mere disease. Infecting not only our little ponies and all living things, but it also tainted the land, the dirt and stone as it ravaged all life and nature. It would have fed strength to many in Tartarus, but it was as much for tormenting the two of us and the world as it was a grab for more power. We even were forced to shred physical and magical aspects of our own subjects as they lived to strip the plague completely, to ensure absolute destruction and nothing passed into other realms with their very spirits when they died. There are no words to describe what breaking apart and reassembling a living being so utterly is like. No way to explain what we had to do to our little ponies to protect them from things far more horrifying than they could comprehend. Even our own power as it radiated from the area left long-lasting reminders, requiring evacuation of surrounding settlements in an entire region. The very land has taken all the time between just for healing. What Equestria knows as the Badlands today is all that remains. We have...made certain it could never be recreated…”

As she fell silent and simply began to weep, no longer able to speak, Luna finished for her even as her own eyes shed tears openly, “That was the day we vowed to never again wield the full might of our power, save to stop an apocalypse. Even when I fell into madness and became Nightmare Moon, I did not break this one vow. It took centuries of seeing fear in the eyes of our subjects every single day and almost total isolation from other nations too frightened to meet with us before the world forgot and we finally managed to leave it forgotten by all. To this day, we fear our effort to protect our world was a mistake and might have found a less terrible answer, had we known what we do now after so long to consider. That is why we feared you so when you first arrived.”

It was several minutes of silence then. Though I only heard about it in words, I could hardly begin to fathom the totality of what they had just shared. They had lived it and all the anguish it had clearly brought by personal experience. To a point, my earlier anger was even forgotten. It was something I wasn’t sure I really even wanted to understand all that well. One of Twilight’s wings curled around my hips both protectively and seeking comfort, her eyes showing uncertainty of what to do.

“I… There are...so few words for this. I will only say I understand your fears now. I’ll never repeat a word of this. And perhaps you both need to hear it aloud...I will not fear you.” I said quietly as I recognized similarities to one of my own fears, then moving with Twilight beside me, her voice echoing my own words, we embraced them both as I nudged them gently down to the floor. As the group embrace continued in a tangle of hooves, hands and wings, both princesses shook faintly in wordless sobs over the terrible things they alone were left to remember.

Eventually, the sisters calmed and withdrew before standing again. After some time to clean their faces and recover their composure, they both looked a little more at peace.

“...I...I thank you, Vojin.,” Celestia began, “Were we to ever demonstrate the extent of our power in this modern age now, our world might never recover. Ages past, we could readily guide our little ponies with little question and absolute authority. Leading in battle, displays of power and enacting harsh punishments upon those that disobeyed our law was almost expected of Luna and I. Before they learned the lessons that allow the peace we know today.”

I simply eyed her for a long moment then, frustrated and sympathetic at the same time. Finally, I just glanced to Twilight and traced my fingers against her mane, letting her presence push me to stay balanced. As much as it angered me, it didn’t feel worth losing their friendship over. They made a mistake, under reasonable concerns, and I realized I could let it go eventually.

My eyes returned to Celestia, not hiding the edge still in my voice, “Look...I need time to get back everything I have forgotten and to sort through things. I’m going to need a little time to forgive you completely, but I will. I don’t really have the time for holding a grudge anymore. Or to lose friends over a mistake.”

She nodded a bit, speaking as we all stood back up, “Vojin, you have every right to be angered. Even actions taken with the best of intentions are free of being entirely mistakes from the start. Take the time you need. I will not press you.”

Simply giving her a nod, I turned to Luna, “Before Twilight and I head off, I wanted to invite you personally to visit my dreams. For tonight, it will let us talk a little more. Beyond that, you’re welcome to visit and see what I remember from Earth. I’m sure you’ll have the discretion to avoid anything private.”

Luna raised a brow in curiosity, seeming much more relaxed, “I must say the idea of seeing images of Earth so freely is intriguing. We shall see, but perhaps you are right in spending time together for a bit more talking. Other days, I am unsure of how often I might visit. My friend, I think I shall join you in your dreams tonight. We may at least...ah, ‘talk things out’ as the saying is today.”

“My sister and I shall see the two of you at breakfast. And Twilight, Vojin, do mind the morning hours for this visit…” Celestia said with a small tease in her voice as the air seemed to become mostly comfortable again.

Twilight simply started blushing brightly. She just blinked and seemed utterly at a loss for words as I ran my fingers through her mane, taking a moment to rub her ears as I only smirked at Celestia in response.

This day was more than a little crazy. Discovered I was a walking impossibility in magic, was somehow part pony, found out I was to die in two years, broke free of a mind spell I didn’t know existed, caused a fountain to explode, jumped off another balcony, told Twilight something I had kept very secret for years and learned a major one about the royal sisters that went back thousands.

Regardless of everything that seemed to have gone wrong so suddenly, I realized it wasn’t going to simply fall apart because I wasn’t stuck dealing with it all mostly by myself like I would have on Earth. Different world or not, I had a lot of close friends to help now. Even if they stumble a little or a lot. And one more, important detail.

My time was palpably ticking down but Twilight was there for me when it mattered most.

Bk 1 Ch 16: Secret Reminders

Author's Notes:

Strongly recommend reading the ending scene of the previous chapter if you have not done so since the noted edit date. Major shift that will inform a lot of this chapter.

This chapter just sprang to mind a few days ago and almost poured out. There's a lot more behind even seemingly inconsequential moments.

I know it isn't the most original thing ever, nor is any of my story worthy of such a thing. I do hope readers see Celestia and Luna as trying to not let their particular status and existence separate them from connecting with the mortal lives around them. Living forever, with vast power at your command, is something that could easily put someone out of touch to the point understanding others is as difficult as speaking two different languages in hopes of conveying complex ideas clearly.

Also a short chapter that needed to stand alone. Next one is already done, also short, but I'll let this one stew for a little first.

As always, comments and critiques are welcomed and encouraged. Just use your damn brain. :P

She stared at the note with bemusement the only remaining response. The disbelief, incredulity, and even annoyance had all run their course and been forgotten. It was the exact same request from the exact same earth pony stallion seeking a private audience with herself and her sister. He had sent them weekly, all properly respectful and by protocol, for the past four years.

He was not of noble birth, nor high rank in their army. No exemplary events or actions complimenting his otherwise spotless record of dedicated service. No unique talents that made him stand out. Just a weekly request for a private meeting. Not one week missed, even when he was away from the capitol with the army.

And again here he was filing a formal request for private audience with the royal sisters themselves with a note that said only that he would not stop politely asking until he could meet with them personally for a private conversation and no mention of why. Luna had lost count how many times she had seen the hoofwritten request.

She turned her gaze to her sister sitting at the table with her for the evening meal, “Tia...he has sent us yet another request for audience.”

Celestia hardly reacted as she finished her bite of bread, “And why do you even mention it? He has given us no reason to see him, despite his persistent effort.”

“Because all else aside, we are tired of receiving this request. This not knowing what in Equestria he could be so determined to say. Had things continued as normal, we’d have given it no further thought but the cancelling of that ball so suddenly after we actually thought it would succeed has left us an opening in our schedules we have yet to fill. Perhaps granting the audience will offer us a fresh diversion different from our usual endeavors. What do you say?” Luna said a bit flatly, a touch of annoyance escaping her.

The reagent of the sun paused a moment, then shrugged her wings briefly, “We suppose there is nothing better to do with the time. At least we shall finally learn what has driven him so long.”

***

They watched the earth pony stallion as he approached their thrones in a manner that felt strange compared to the usual. The sisters even went so far as to glance at one another because of what practically rolled off him in absence of the usual. Neither could fathom seeing such depth of something they’d not seen from their subjects in what felt like ages.

Genuine reverence without any fear.

He was wearing the standard issue armor, complete with the usual enchantment upon his coat and mane and tail. A little taller than average, his body was firm from military life. His hoofsteps were muted by a softness in his step even with the crispness of a trained soldier guiding his motions.

The stallion bowed low as any servant when he reached the appropriate distance, the fur of his chin grazing the floor below with closed eyes and waited.

Curiosity and mild left the sisters momentarily distracted before Celestia spoke, “You may rise, my little pony. You have sought this audience for quite some time. Speak what you have come to say.”

He straightened but kept his head low as a hoof rose to the gem in the chestpiece of his armor. A moment of deactivating the enchantment revealed a rich green coat, and as he silently removed his helm and set it down, it revealed his yellow mane with a stripe of white. Something about it almost exuded fierce independence, complimenting his character overall.

After setting down his helm, his head still low and eyes still closed in his partial bow even after being told he could rise, he spoke in a voice full of conviction, “Your highnesses, though I am only a humble soldier, my family has served you with unquestioning devotion for seven generations. We have served and performed our duty with pride and dedication. I have come desiring to voice a concern and to make a humble request.”

Celestia and Luna glanced at each other again, each catching the faint irritation being felt. There had been occasional dedicated ponies that spent ages trying to get an audience with one or both of them to make requests of one kind or another. It had never gone well before, so they were less than optimistic at this point. Still, they had granted the audience and would at least hear him out politely.

“Very well, my little pony. We are listening.” Luna intoned evenly.

When he opened his brilliant hazel eyes that were filling with tears, the royal sisters were suddenly at a loss for what to expect.

The stallion’s head raised and he looked between the two of them equally, “My Princesses, I have watched the two of you the whole of my life. Heard the stories from those in my family before me. My father and his father, as with many others in my family feel great sorrow in what we have seen. For years, we served dutifully and ached to find an answer to the question of what to do. After so long and so much thought, none of us could come up with answers until I chose to undertake the bold course I have chosen this day.

“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, please forgive me as I know I speak out of place. My family has watched the sadness you both try so greatly to hide. The event we shall not name was unfathomably terrible, yes, but I cannot see any reason for you to receive the nervous fear in return for working so greatly to protect us ponies over which you rule.” Celestia and Luna watched as the tears simply began to flow freely down his cheeks, “Over the course of years and from what I can gather, even over generations, you have withdrawn ever further from us while you try your best to guide us as lovingly as possible. I know you hurt each and every time one of your subjects shows fear of you. That you bear it silently and carry forward is but testament to how much you love us all. My family is not alone, but one of many that has been able to understand you are our protectors. More devoted to us than we can really take in properly. Unlike when so often us ordinary and simple ponies fall prey to having ulterior motives when we express most forms of love for one another.”

He paused, closing his eyes briefly with a sniffle but made no move to wipe his eyes before looking up at them again, “Above all, I wished to remind you that you are loved dearly by many, even if we are unable to speak with you personally to tell you. Your highnesses, if I have not made myself too much an arrogant fool to speak with you in this manner, I have but one humble request, if you will hear it.”

Silence rang loudly as he finished speaking and gave them a faint smile of open devotion. Luna was struggling to catch her breath while Celestia had tears in her eyes. They had been forcing themselves through each day, feeling the weight a little bit more with each one that passed where one of their subjects could not control their fear. All too often, even the most devoted servants at the castle had moments of obvious fear even when the poor ponies had done nothing wrong and the royal sisters were never harsh with any of them.

Once they had a chance to calm themselves, Celestia spoke in a steady voice only a thread from turning shaky, “We have...heard your words, my little pony. What is your request?”

“My Princesses, I have no wives or foals. I wish to divest myself of all my worldly things, all titles and wealth of my family that I am proper owner of. I will not hesitate to accept gelding as further proof of my devotion to you both. Even sleep in the smallest, barest of rooms or upon the very grass outside beneath the beautiful stars. I will gladly even abandon my own name if you ask it of me, so I might live in obscurity with no chance at fame. It is my singular hope you will accept me as a humble bondservant so I might serve you directly for the rest of my days and ensure not one day goes by so long as I live, not one day more is allowed to pass without seeing and hearing one of your subjects tell you that they love you.“ The stallion spoke in a soft tone, lowering himself into another deep bow as tears continued to roll down his cheeks through his closed eyes.

He trembled softly when they stopped before him on each side. It had taken only moments behind a sound shield to agree.

Luna was barely able to maintain her silence as Celestia managed to force out the words, thick and heavy with feeling alongside a doubt that would not leave, “We have listened to your request, my little pony. If you are willing to prove your devotion, then here are our instructions. Tomorrow, you will sell everything you own except for one small sack. Whatever profit it brings will be donated to the Royal Orphanage, taking only a receipt of the transaction to be carried in that sack around your neck. After this is complete, shave your mane and tail. You will then go directly to your commanding officer and turn in your armor and the rest of your equipment. Once all this is done, you will come to us in the throne room and we will accept your service if we are thus satisfied. Speak not one more word to us and depart until tomorrow. You are officially dismissed from this audience.”

They watched him leave in silence. As soon as the great doors to the throne room were closed, both alicorns collapsed in emotional heaps. Neither of the royal sisters could quite believe there was such devotion among their subjects. Finding themselves unable to quite believe they would see the stallion again, nor quite decided if they really wanted to.

In many ways, it had meant the world to both of them just to hear his conviction.

***

“It is almost time for court to close for the day. We are not so sure he will be coming after all, sister...” Celestia sighed quietly behind a sound shield, feeling more disappointed than she anticipated.

Luna’s voice was a bit terse, “Perhaps we hoped for too much. We are unsure if it was even worth the audience yesterday.”

It was one of their last hooful of audiences for the day when they heard his name to their utter disbelief and saw the shaved head and tail of a green earth pony stallion with a small sack around his neck. No longer in armor, his cutie mark was shown to be what looked like a pillar made of clouds. They watched him stride forward no differently than the day before. Reverence without fear. Not even realizing they had begun to move, they were soon standing to either side of him as he bowed low with his eyes closed.

Turning to one of the throne room guards, Luna spoke firmly, “Guard! We are closing court for the day. Clear the throne room so we may speak with our subject in private.”

The guardspony saluted smartly and went about his duty with rapid movement, calling out directions to his fellows. Hardly any time passed and it was just the three of them left.

After a long silence, Celestia finally found her voice, “So...have you done as we asked of you?”

Still bowing as before, he replied readily, “Yes, your highness. The whole of what I own is now this small sack, within which is the receipt of my donation to the Royal Orphanage. I shaved myself as requested and immediately turned in my armor to my commanding officer. My sincerest apologies that I was so delayed in getting a reasonable price and best maximize what I could give to the orphanage. I felt you would be displeased if I did not give my best effort at making the most of aiding them and refused several low offers for my former home. In the end, I simply donated it directly to the orphanage instead of selling it and humbly apologize if the change is not to your liking.”

Celestia simply sat upon her haunches before the stallion, no longer able to contain the tears in her eyes. A glance at her sister showed she was in a similar state. After another pause, Celestia was able to speak, “Y-you may rise, my little pony. We accept your s-service and thank you for your devotion...”

***

They were quiet again when he coughed, a mournful wheeze from age-weak lungs. The grayed and wrinkled green stallion was in his last minutes. The two alicorns could sense it coming as they wept at either side of his bed. Their sad smiles belied the joy of memories crossing their minds.

It had been a wondrous journey. Not long after accepting him as a servant, they began accepting him as a friend. Weeks and months passed, bringing the depth of that friendship into levels they had all but forgotten apart from in each other. Almost two years of his service and, though it was kept only between the three of them in private, admissions of love had become more than just words as they had taken him as their consort. The first since they began their rule many centuries earlier.

Over seventy years had he been faithfully devoted to them. The royal sisters stopped feeling tormented at the fear saving their subjects had caused. It had become tolerable. Something they no longer felt weighed down by. He helped them remember parts of themselves that had felt like they were fading into oblivion. Gave them back the strength to carry the burdens of rule and still remain themselves.

And now they knew they had to say goodbye.

His smile was tired after the coughing stopped, but still full of the same reverence he first met them with, alongside the love that had grown in his time with them since, “Lulu, Tia...are you really going to do such a thing just for me?”

Luna’s voice was choked but still tender, “Yes, you foolish stallion. How many times must we say it before you accept it? Of all our little ponies, you have done more for Equestria than any other. Perhaps more than any ever will. Restoring us is no small feat.”

Another cough escaped for a moment before he could speak again, “Just remember you are loved. Even in my short life, I can see how things have changed a little more. Gotten a little better. They will remember how they truly feel in due time. I have not ever feared you and never needed to.”

“We are still grateful you chose to take such a chance and approach us so directly. You have made an impact that will last the length of our lifetimes.” Celestia nearly whispered, tears flowing more freely as the moment neared.

The Lunar and Solar diarchs each kissed the aged stallion on the cheeks and smiled through the tears for all he had given them. His wheezing breath was fading now as he closed his eyes and spoke softly, “Just remember they love you. I love you. You will always be loved even when other things get in the way.

“You are...loved…”

***

Once they watched Twilight and Vojin leave, Celestia and Luna walked out into the nearest gardens and settled themselves on the grass, eyes turning to the starry night sky. For a time they were silent, needing no words.

Eventually, Celestia spoke in a near whisper, “It has been a long while since I even thought of that time. Or felt glad that even we still can fall prey to things not so differently than our subjects. That we can still understand them on the same level and realize mistakes. Improve ourselves.”

“Indeed, Tia. I know I have not asked since my return, but could you still feel it while I was gone?” Luna asked.

A wisp of a smile crossed Celestia’s face, her eyes still on the sky, “I could. It carried me through the worst times. Losing you nearly undid me...”

A dark blue wing lifted and settled over a back of white as they leaned against each other.

“As it was for me. Though I lost my way so much I was beyond even it of all things, I fear I might not have been redeemable after so much time entrapped if it was not there. Giving me gradual solace even while on my moon. It is unfortunate these modern times would never permit things to take place the same again.” Luna added, remembering the stallion they alone truly knew about. Though they never gave less than the truth when scholars asked for confirmation if he had been their consort, they offered nothing not already known. If only they knew the whole story.

Another minute passed in silence. Celestia took a deep breath of the night air and hummed softly before getting to her hooves, “I suppose it is time to rest. We must to begin the summit tomorrow as it is. And you have a particular dream to visit.”

Luna rose with her sister, stretching her wings a moment before both of them looked at the special star they had forged together so long ago with some of the very essence of one who meant so much to them both. It was faint but it still radiated the same love he’d shared with them, for them alone, that was so much more than just a speck of light. A secret only the three of them knew about and one of them now partly a seemingly normal bright star in the sky. Something the two sisters always had to fall back on during hard moments.

Both murmured faintly to that special star before turning to leave.

“Goodnight, Gentle Strength.”

Bk 1 Ch 17: Things We Can Forget (edit 3/20/2015)

Author's Notes:

I love the things you can do with dreams. They quite literally have no limits. They don't have to make sense. They don't have to follow a theme of a story very closely if you have a decent implementation. At least, that's my opinion. Dream sequences in stories are free to be unique unto themselves within a story and still mesh neatly because it's expected to be a self-contained world. :D

Edit 3/20/2015: Enhanced the conversation a bit and some stuff on why Luna turned into Nightmare Moon. Also a little more of my slow, secret process of reducing my use of pronouns not in speech.

With a slow and steady drift of awareness, I found myself becoming aware in the dream as a familiar sight greeted my unmoving eyes. Spread out as far as I could take in was a vast wild. A dense forest of huge trees with faintly twisting dual and triple half-merged trunks that seemed almost elegant, somehow not quite like redwoods or sequoia despite their size. The view stretched from one side of my vision to the other, rocky hills gradually leveling further away just enough to notice. Under the broad expanse of crystal blue skies, verdant green of the forest mixed with stalwart grey from the occasional bits of stone visible around the various somewhat jagged hills.

It was a sight I had seen many times in my sleep. My only real recurring dream. Allowing me to visit this place every month or so for a night with no rhyme or reason, having begun months apart and growing more frequent ever since I experienced that terrible night I risked my life to save that girl from monsters that had lost their humanity. The deep peacefulness was remarkable and carried into my day afterward each time it happened.

I merely smiled inwardly as I settled myself into the calming experience. For reasons I did not know, I had never moved a single muscle in this dream. Not even my eyes ever twitched to view anything beyond what I already saw. In a sense, it was a dream about a moment frozen in time. Unchanging and undisturbed, even as a gentle wind wafted through the trees I looked over from the cliff I was always perched upon.

As always, I could make out the faint sound of falling water not too far from where I rested in silence. It always brought to mind a beautiful waterfall, though I’d never seen the source of the sound. This was where I developed what I could only describe as dream meditations for lack of anything more creative to call it. Passing the time as I practically froze it from my perspective, experiencing my surroundings and releasing the stresses of the world amid the stillness. And with the day I’d had, it was a fortunate time for this dream to appear, letting myself sink into the sense of peace.

A short while later, something felt changed and as a presence gradually became known to my mind, I remembered inviting Luna to join me tonight. Though it had been somewhat brief, already I felt more at ease and the prospect of talking to her a little more did not feel frustrating now.

There was a subtle, deep ripple through my awareness when I guessed she properly entered my dream. Realizing I could sense her presence, in a way quite similar to how I felt Twilight’s for whatever reason, I just let her approach. Not that I could move even my eyes anyway. Idly, I wondered why I never felt the wind in my hair, but always across my skin.

Luna’s voice rang out clear, though it was curiously disproportionate in some way, like she was lower down and she was speaking from a distance. The note of interest in her voice caught my attention, “Greetings, my friend. I was certainly not expecting a dream of this sort the first time I paid you a visit. Your form is most...surprising. It is strange how yet another aspect of our divination spoke of you so directly when we had thought it another metaphorical representation and not literal. How are you faring now?”

While I would’ve liked to respond, and still tried anyway for a moment, this dream had never changed. I never moved, never blinked. I was, in a sense, trapped in my own head in my own dream, unable to move or talk. I mused about whether Luna could sense my thoughts, for it seemed the only response I could provide her.

After a somewhat lengthy pause, she spoke again, “Hmm...I have begun to suspect this particular dream leaves you frozen, does it not? That is quite alright, however. I am the Mistress of Dreams and we should speak for a time, regardless of the limits of this dreamscape. I will ensure you are given your proper freedom and not forced to wake in the process. Please try to move in a moment.”

A strange sensation coursed through me after she spoke. Like tingles and pressing outward from within. As the sensation faded, I tried blinking. Once I did a couple times, I felt a rumble deep within my chest as the corner of my mouth, strange as it felt, curled a touch in amusement and slowly began to lift myself, now realizing I’d been laying on my chest. Things felt quite weird all over.

Suddenly, I froze in place as my eyes widened. My body felt very strange and trying to turn my head to look at Luna was quite off as I felt like my neck was far longer than it should be. Knowing it was a dream, I started wondering what my body was like out of curiosity, feeling little trepidation in the understanding this was all a mental expression and no physical matter.

Carefully and with growing interest, my eyes turned down to the arms I’d raised myself with and saw deep red scales covering my skin down the the red clawed handpaws. I felt my eyes widen, turning my head to look back at myself and seeing the form I’d thought was just imaginative fantasy all this time. Large leathery wings and a trail of spines along the middle of my back running down to the tail that seemed so normal to control.

My eyes turned to Luna, voice a bit wondering, noting my voice was unchanged, “Am I dreaming my form as I think I am? Shouldn’t I be in my human body?”

She gave me a small smirk in return, “In this type of dream, to purposefully change your form would snap you awake, lest I induce possible harm by forcing too much upon your mind. It would seem that you held onto something from a very long time ago. Something in this vista meant a great deal to you in another life. That it left you more or less paralyzed tells me it was likely centuries, even millennia ago when you lived this. If you believe you are in the body of a dragon, then you would be correct. Is this so surprising?”

Even the arching of my brow felt different as I gave her a bemused look, “How did this happen? Does it mean something?”

At that, Luna’s smirk grew a bit more, “Nay, it does not mean anything of much importance, though I believe your protective instincts may be more of a remnant than new in your current lifetime. Even dragons are yet mortal, in the end. As you are unlike any breed found in Equestria, I wonder what world you once lived in. The subtle tones of this dream vista tell me this was perhaps once your land, or something to that effect. I am afraid relics of your spirit will not have many answers. And in addition, we planned to speak on other matters this night.”

The deep rumble in my chest sounded again, like a steady thrumming sort of chuckle, so far as I could fathom it. My eyes looked down at Luna, her form much smaller in contrast to this dream body of mine. I flexed a paw in the air as I looked at it, fascinated, but decided it was a recurring dream and Luna could likely help me explore things another time.

The feel of scales, the sharpness of the whole experience really, was so vivid even though a dream that I privately noted to ask her more about dreams some other time. Again I noticed she was small enough to fit in one paw with room to spare. Simply turning my head to her properly and feeling a little cheeky, I addressed her, “A possible home I once had. Interesting. So where would you like to start, oh tiny pony…”

Her brow raised slowly as the smirk spread across her face, “Do not taunt the Mistress of Dreams, for this is my domain. Even with the sights provided by your own mind.”

While it was a move not unexpected, seeing her form grow equal in size to mine so readily was somewhat startling. She hadn’t even visibly used any magic I could see. Her domain, indeed. Perhaps, I realized, I should be glad she didn’t shrink me instead.

“My friend, this sight before us is a pleasant setting in which we might talk. Perhaps we shall do so again in the future.” Luna said as her eyes turned out across the vast forest below us, settling on her haunches upon the broad cliff with a bit of visible inner discomfort, “Though you said as much, and that you still need some time, can you truly forgive Tia and myself our transgression?”

Settling in a sitting position not too different from hers upon the cliff, my long tail seeming to curl itself around my legs from the left almost on it’s own. I stared at her for a moment longer before my eyes also turned out across the wild lands, voice somewhat quiet, “While I do need some time to actually work through it first, yes. In a sense, I suppose it means I have forgiven you both to an extent but am not yet ready to say it properly. Having cast the Judgement spell, why didn’t you tell me at lunch the next day before Twilight and I left Canterlot the first time?”

“You had just endured a most troubling event. Forced to stare straight at the possibility of your own death. After Tia and I realized how deeply it had impacted both yourself and Twilight, we felt it best to delay speaking on the spell and allow you both to enjoy the relief. Knowledge of the Rose Window would not have changed anything about it and waiting for your next visit to remove it would have changed nothing of importance, if anything, from our perspective. We only placed it to ease your arrival in Equestria while permitting us enough time to observe your nature. In truth, we had already almost decided to remove it even before the Judgement spell. You had been nothing but honorable. With exception of easing the panic and stress of arriving in our world, the spell had very little reason to influence you the entire time. Yes, we could read how it affected you. As things return to you, you may find it all feeling shrouded a bit as if by a haze. I am truly sorry for the effects upon your memory. Even with our skills, the spell has variances for each recipient. I am certain that Twilight Sparkle has told you it will all return in due time.” Luna said softly, the regret almost tangible.

A quiet sigh escaped me as my eyes closed a moment before opening again, “What about today? Of all times, why not in your magic lab while Twilight and I were alone with the two of you? Surely learning of it and having it removed then would have garnered far less trouble. I’d have still been rather angry, I admit, but it wouldn’t have been like this past evening.”

Luna scraped a hoof against the rocky cliff as her wings shifted from inner discomfort, more sadness in her voice now, “We knew with a fair degree of certainty of what we were going to have to tell you, my friend. It was intended to steal you away in the morning after you’d had a day to face that reality before needing to face another. Were you in Canterlot again sooner, we would have attended to the spell’s removal much earlier. I apologize again for the error we made.”

My eyes closed as my head lowered, the length of my neck in this dreamscape giving it a rather different feel. I was still upset with them, but at least I understood their thinking. I despised that they had toyed with my mental sanctity, but could see myself in their...er, hooves...and how it might seem like a sensible approach. It just added up to knowing after some time to accept it, I would move on.

On a lark, I tried moving one of my wings and after some hesitant figuring out of how, stretched it out and around Luna’s back. Not pulling, but just resting on her back as if it were my hand on her shoulder. I felt her tense for several seconds before she relaxed again, my words coming out smoothly to her, “Luna...I have tried hard to remember to make the effort of thinking about other perspectives. I despise it no less, but I do see how your past experience could make it seem like a good idea. And how you felt you had reason to delay telling me. As I said, give me some time to work through it, to get all my memories back properly. After that, I believe I can let it go and let it rest. I bloody well know I’ve made some serious mistakes in the past. You and Celestia are all too aware of the worst ones already as it is. Just let me have some time and we’ll let the Rose Window issue be forgotten too.”

She mumbled a quiet thanks and leaned against me, otherwise quietly watching the forgotten world I must have lived in a very long time and another life ago. There was an even deeper feeling of peace in it all now as we sat together silently. Just two friends making amends. The wind casually wafted around us as the living moment in time from somewhere in the memories of my spirit carried on as much as it remained unchanging.

At another thought flitting across my mind, I spoke gently after a minute, “Luna, you said that yourself and Celestia had to endure centuries of the world fearing you and how it was from the display of your full powers as alicorns. What happened after she was forced to send you away to your moon? Or your return? Wasn’t that another display of your power to the world?”

The Alicorn of Dreams was quiet for a while longer, though a faint note of relief was present as she began, “While it is true that attempting to throw the world into eternal night would have been a grand and terrifying display, it was something that happened in merely a single day each time. The common denizen of our world really only saw something not too unlike an eclipse. As it was the Elements of Harmony that brought me to task in my madness both times, there were no great visible events to mark the expression of power. Though of course It would not have remained so minor had it carried on longer. I cannot express just how thankful I am that I did not plan my attack upon my sister, that I suddenly flew into a rage irrationally. Had I done so, the cost would have been terrible and potentially led to breaking our vows not to wield our full power and brought about a second event. And before you ask, I am all but certain you are thinking it, my vow not to wield my full power was not broken, as I had cast a battery of specialized spells upon myself to enhance my power by fueling it with my own anger and distress. It is perhaps strange to hear for a mortal, even as understanding as you have shown yourself to be, but moving my moon is as simple as raising my own hoof. It is the same for my sister and her sun. To others, it is perhaps a great and grand task. For us, the task of guiding them is no more difficult than breathing and little of our real power required, such is our attunement to them.”

Letting her words sink into my head for a time, I merely sat with her. A glance to the side as the thought crossed my mind revealed there was indeed a rather impressive waterfall nearby. Soon I found my words again, “You once wielded the Element of Loyalty. What was in that battery of spells you cast on yourself that made you go so far astray? Did the two of you garner fear those times?”

Her head tilted down a bit, “Tis true. I lost myself entirely. The various spells I used to enhance my power were many and complex. After study and hindsight, both Tia and myself discovered there was an uncorrected overlap in the spells drawing power from my emotions, causing a regenerative feedback loop I believe is a manner you will understand, that left me unable to restrain my fury. I had only meant to rail at my beloved sister, to vent just how hurt I was that she had kept dismissing the depth of my anguish. However, left in a terrible fury from my error in casting, blind to what I was doing, I tried to tear her apart. It will always weigh heavy upon my heart that I once tried to slay her. I remember every moment of my actions.

“After our fight ended, Tia was given some praise after the initial panic passed of us two sisters engaging one another in battle. As I understand it, she endeavored to have the whole matter blamed upon an accident in powerful magic where she could, though she did not know the truth at the time. Tried to permit me to have an undeserved reason for compassion after allowing myself to fall so greatly. It was not enough, in the end. After a time, she merely let it fade during the intervening centuries so the very memory could be considered nothing more than an old pony’s tale. My return was treated not so dissimilarly. It has been sometimes difficult, overcoming the popular imagination of my darker self, though with help from the Bearers and my sister when needed, I have made progress. What fears and worries linger from the brief extension of night are otherwise mine to bear alone. Tia tried, but I refused her attempts to aid me in this. I require some form of penance.”

With a soft squeeze of my leathery wing in comfort, the two of us returned to watching the vast expanse again. The need for words felt done and settled. I wondered what else the future was going to bring, considering all that had taken place since my arrival. Most of all, I just felt more at peace with the reveal of the Rose Window and glad I did not do anything I’d have truly regretted once I was calmed. I really couldn’t afford to give up friends now. I didn’t have the time left anymore.

After a period of peaceful mutual silence, though it felt sooner than I’d have liked, Luna finally spoke up.

“My friend, I thank you for talking and sitting with me as you have. I will try to find other ways to offer recompense still. You will arise soon, as the dawn is growing near. Perhaps another night, I will even help you enjoy this relic of your own history as you seem rather intrigued by it.” Luna said in a soft tone, moving to her hooves again and stretching a little. I had to wonder how stretching worked for a dream form. If it was a mere mental holdover or something more, I could not say.

“I think I’d like to try this under more relaxed circumstances another time. Just goof off or something. I hope you feel a bit more at ease after our talk. It has certainly helped me.” I replied, looking to her again.

She nodded smoothly, “It has helped to ease the discomfort. Before I depart, was there anything else upon your mind?”

A moment passed and a thought came to mind, the corner of my mouth curling again before growing into a rather large, toothy grin, “With your assistance in this dream, I am basically a dragon, right?”

“You are, in your dream form at least. Why do you ask?” Luna inquired with a raised brow.

“Just a silly little wish I’ve had for years and I have a moment to try it out. My apologies if this is unpleasant…” I told her as I rose to my feet, all four of them, and drew in a deep breath.

I could only guess what Luna’s reaction was as I raised my head and let out a tremendous roar. It was an incredible feeling. The sound was still hanging in the air as the dream rapidly shifted and I flew towards the waking world.

My eyes cracked open and I looked to the window, seeing the sky slowly brightening. The vividness of the dream actually stuck with me. Perhaps it was being so aware. Perhaps it was Luna’s doing. It didn’t really matter too much. We had talked, put things a little more to rest and likely even grown a little closer as friends.

Realizing the giddiness of getting to roar was going to drive me nuts if I didn’t express some of it, in addition to talking about the dream chat with Luna, I began trying to make gentle nudges while I worked to rouse Twilight, her legs and wing clinging to me possessively in her sleep.

With groggy, half-aware mumbles, she slowly raised her head to look at me. She went through some odd expressions as I gave her a passionate kiss in hopes of helping her wake up.

She made a low growl in the back of her throat and started getting more forceful in returning my affection, her eyes narrowing even as they cleared. As she pushed back against me with force, I began to realize things were off. Twilight’s tongue didn’t just slip into my mouth, she stormed the shore with intent to conquer.

When she moved to straddle my hips and started to roll against me with clear intent, I realized she was in an infrequent but not at all unpleasant state we’d been through together a couple of times in the morning. A strange effect we sometimes had on each other when we tried waking each other with anything intimate. My giddiness soon transformed into something else as I matched her, fingertips sinking into her wing joints earning another growl. This time, I returned with one of my own. After the day before, we really needed this to let off steam.

Celestia and Luna both were going to so enjoy teasing us later. Hopefully we wouldn’t be too late to breakfast.

Bk 1 Ch 18: Forward Motion

Author's Notes:

Next chapter might take a while. I have a slew of new ponies to introduce and still working on their traits.

Fate was toying with me and Twilight. It had to be that. This stuff couldn’t possibly happen to us with so much frequency to be normal. At least I hoped our normal wasn’t normal.

A well and truly flabbergasted Celestia stammered, “B-but...said m-my name...t-to...c-come in…the d-door wasn’t l-locked...” The pupils of her wide eyes had shrunken to pinpricks as she stared, frozen and at an absolute loss. She was blushing to the tips of her ears, which were flattened to her head, and halfway down her neck while her mane and tail had practically gone limp. Her wings wouldn’t sit still. She’d made it all the way in the door and managed to close it before she realized what she’d walked in on.

I stared back at her with wide eyes, frozen in place with Twilight slumped over in front of me. Her head was half hanging off the bed and probably wearing one of her adorable satisfied and drooling expressions with her eyes closed. Had to have her eyes closed and not really hearing anything since she wasn’t already freaking out. It was the mother of all wrong context moments for a statement ever as I kept trying to restart my brain on how to respond.

When my brain finally got around to the word ‘FLEE!’ with something to do about it, I teleported Twilight and I into the large bathroom of our castle suite and out of sight behind the closed door. This proved to be a terrible choice of sorts, as the wash of magic reacted with our physical state quite curiously and introduced us to a mutual magic-enhanced euphoria we wouldn’t have expected.

Twilight’s wings snapped out to their fullest as she wailed out something relative to ‘Oh Celestia, YES!’ before her whole body shuddered. I only dimly heard an equally embarrassed Celestia half-shout an apology before the front door slammed shut in her retreat.

Twilight didn’t calm down for a while, quite oblivious as she spoke, “Oh my goodness...we need to do that again soon! Nnf...I’m still tingling! Wait, how did we wind up in the bathroom?”

She gave me a sated but hilariously confused look as I just broke down in laughter at the way our morning had started.

***

Poor Twilight was still blushing so furiously as we walked through the halls of the castle. She didn’t take the news very well. When she first heard my recounting of what she didn’t notice, what she said and who walked in on us as a result, and then heard her crying out in the throes of passion...well, she simply fainted on the spot after about three seconds to process it. At least she was quite relaxed when she got the news.

The two of us were still sporting a dual glow as we got to the dining room. We were both equally red for two reasons, though Twilight was far more on the embarrassment side by this point, with still-damp manes from a rapid cleanup so we could get to breakfast quickly. Although we were rather tempted to hide for the rest of the day, Twilight at least joined me in laughing at the absurdity for a bit.

As we walked into the room, she ducked her head and scurried off to have a private chat with her still blushing mentor. When she looked my way Luna had the biggest shit-eating grin I’d ever seen before she shooed her sister off towards her protege. Twilight begged me earlier to occupy the girls so she could talk to Celestia before anything else. I was still trying not to break into brief giggling fits at the whole thing, embarrassing as it was. Twilight slipped off to an unoccupied corner on the far side of the room with Celestia to have some private time.

When I finally focused on the girls though, I paused with a blink. They were all staring intently at me as I got closer. So intensely it was making me nervous before I caught the hints of worry they all bore.

I didn’t know what to make of things as I stopped and looked at them all, “Uh, why are you all looking at me like that?”

Whatever I might have been able to expect, it wasn’t seeing them all get misty eyed to varying degrees as they hopped out of chairs or otherwise rushed over as I knelt down, expecting some hugging but they practically tackled me. All of them were hugging me tight. I realized then I’d let the beans spill the night before and just sighed, hugging them back best I could in the midst of being swarmed and knocked on my rump, nearly all the way to my back.

After a time, the tight hugs mostly lessened and Rarity found her voice first, a dainty sniffle sounding, “Oh darling, I am at such a loss for words! Twilight shared a short explanation with us about the effects of the flux and what it’s done before she left to chase after you. I am so terribly sorry for the situation you have been placed in!”

“Rarity, it’s not--” I tried to respond as Dash cut me off.

“Holy hay, Vojin! I can’t believe this! It’s just totally unfair after you’ve been so awesome to hang with! I bet you’ll come up with some awesome way to beat it like you took on those Timber wolves! I know you will!” Dash rushed out.

“Dash, it doesn’t wor--” I tried again, only to find a yellow hoof touch my lips, blinking as I looked at Fluttershy.

She had a gentle smile on her face but her eyes shone with understanding even as she wordlessly conveyed it was best to just take things in for the moment. Curiously, she hardly had any sadness or tears in her eyes at all alongside the compassion.

The one that surprised me most right then was Applejack though. She was hugging the tightest with her eyes squeezed shut at visible tears moments away from falling. All that came to mind for why was that she must have lost someone, rather somepony, before. Honestly, her hug was strong enough I hoped she wouldn’t squeeze any tighter or I’d be struggling to breathe.

My own eyes misted a bit as I took in the emotion around me. I noticed Pinkie had what seemed to be the same sad smile as she briefly flashed at me last night at dinner. In all, the girls were trying to help in whatever way they could best think of. With all the wild swings of emotion in the past 24 hours I wasn’t sure how much more I could take before I blew up or broke down.

About the same time the other girls pulled back, Applejack’s tears began to fall as she still clung tightly to me. I sat up a bit more before I wrapped my arms around the farmer and held her just as tight. She only sniffled faintly in response.

Finding my voice, I spoke to AJ and the girls softly, “AJ...girls, I do appreciate the support. I really do. This is just the situation I’m in and yeah it stinks, but it doesn’t really change anything tangible. I want to keep enjoying life like I have been. We all have some accepting to do but beyond that, let’s just keep enjoying life. Two years is a pretty long time, really.”

Fluttershy’s gentle tones rang as clearly as they were quiet, “We’ll be here for you the whole way. I’ve had to help my animal friends accept being sick and knowing they wouldn’t get better a number of times. They’re always happier when they focus on living. I’m glad you already see that. I won’t let you face it by yourself. None of us will.”

I returned her gentle smile with my own as she rested a hoof on my shoulder, my hand rubbing AJ’s back a little, “I know you’ll all be there. It’s kinda weird for me since I only had one friend I could rely on back on Earth for this kind of thing. It’s a nice weird though.”

“Y’all don’t deserve ta have this happen.” Applejack said quietly, finally pulling back and looking me in the eye, her tears under control again, “Ah’ve been dreadin’ the day Granny ain’t around ever since Ma and Pa were taken away in the accident. Now with knowin’ how long ya got, Ah...well, Ah ain’t afraid ta admit Ah’m scared fer ya. Ain’t right when y’all are still young as ya are, Vojin. It just ain’t right.”

Picking her hat off the floor next to me where it had fallen and setting it on her head, “I know. The Princesses wouldn’t have said it if they weren’t sure though, so I’ll make the best of a difficult situation. I won’t get sick the whole time, at least. We’ll just make put a little more into living, alright ladies?”

My eyes looked around at each of them in turn, sharing a moment with them before I noticed Spike standing a short distance away with a look caught between sadness and frustration. I frowned when I noticed him fidgeting and wringing his hands a little.

After a moment, I decided to just get his direct attention, “How about you, Spike? I know it’s a tough thing to process…”

“Y-you...you said you wouldn’t leave. I believed you when you promised you wouldn’t leave. Why did this have to happen?” Spike replied, starting to look like he was about to run, if I was reading him right.

A moment later, he did start to run for the door even as I caught his eyes growing wet. Not hesitating, I caught him in a levitation field and pulled him to me and caught him with one arm as I shot Luna a sharp glance where she’d been observing from, seeing her grimacing slightly as regret flashed across her eyes. Luna and her sister both regretted it enough, I wagered.
It was not a good time to say I didn’t have any memory of promising something to Spike. Not something that important. Not with how he seemed to be taking it.

Giving Spike a squeeze as I held him close as he hid his face against my shoulder, I had a moment to consider before a memory stood out from years ago, “I know, young one. I know. Strong as you try to be, you’re still pretty young and I know it’s a tough thing to get your head around. I remember a time when my grandfather was in an accident when I was a kid. I almost bolted from the hospital because it hurt to see him hurt. My dad said something to me that day and I think you need to hear it yourself now.”

A deep breath, then blowing out a sigh before I spoke, “Life isn’t fair, but it’s all you get. Bad things happen and sometimes it’s out of your control, even when you make a promise. No matter what happens though, you always have the choice of how you take it. Stand and face the hardships. Stand together with those you value. Don’t ever simply run from the challenges of life. You don’t have to be perfect about it but running is never the right choice. If nothing else, stay for the sake of those you care about when they need you. You can try to make sense of it all later. After your loved ones know you’re there for them.”

He sniffled and hugged me tight as his small arms tried to wrap around me. After a few moments passed, he finally found his voice, “This just isn’t fair…”

“I know.” I said in response, giving him a squeeze as I looked around at the girls standing close by. The sadness and concern was plain as day on each of them. Even Rainbow Dash’s usual emotional aloofness was practically non-existent.

Once I gave Spike enough time, I cleared my throat and nudged him back as I moved to a knee, “Alright now, that’s enough moping from all of you. We have breakfast to eat and a long week ahead of us. As of right now, not one more word about it until we all take the train back to Ponyville. We have a lot to focus on and there’s not really anything more we can say or do at this moment beyond cry about it and that simply isn’t on my to do list today. Hurting is ok, but it’s going to take a while remember. Two years is a pretty long time and I’m not going anywhere just yet.”

Pinkie broke in then, “Okie dokie lokie! But I’m definitely gonna throw you a cheer up party when we get home though and I’m not taking no for an answer!”

Giving Pinkie an exaggerated frown, I playfully grumped about it, “You shouldn’t throw me a party over it, Pinkie. I’ll be just fine without one.”

She gave a small gasp as I tried to deny a party excuse, “No party?! Now I’m sure you’re not feeling well! Everypony needs a party to prep themselves for having fun at parties or they’ll get out of practice! No way I’m letting any of my friends get out of proper party practice! I’m stuffing you with cupcakes when we get home, just to be safe! This will have to tide you over until then…!”

She pulled a vanishing act and I blinked, suddenly feeling what could only be a party hat on my head. And a poofy pink pony giggling away as she dropped off my back before I stood up. Taking the hat off my head, I stared at the colorful cone for a moment before looking at her again in bewilderment. Finally, I let out an exasperated sigh as I still hadn’t gotten any closer to figuring out how the heck Pinkie does what she does or how she so often knows the right thing to do to lighten someone’s spirits like she just did mine. Strangely, I kept feeling like the answer was easy and straightforward, like it was right in front of me somehow.

It was so simple a gesture, yet it worked as some of the weight lifted. Giving an internal sigh, I felt my shoulders relax a bit and gave Pinkie a small smile of appreciation. She just winked with a grin.

All of us settled in at the table shortly after that. I noticed Twilight and Celestia standing together and whispering to each other as they watched us, coming to join us as everyone sat down.

Giving Twilight a nudge before we tucked into the food, I spoke softly into her ear, “Were you able to sort things out a little?”

She blushed slightly and nodded with a strained smile, voice low, “I think so. We...kind of...she asked that we put a soundproofing spell on the room whenever we stay at the castle from now on. She’s glad we love each other but said she’ll be unable to forget everything she saw and heard for a while. She even said she knew ponies used her name like that but hearing it from me was...well, she was tempted to ask me to only call her ‘Princess’ for the rest of the week, if that tells you anything. I also had to...to explain why I seemed to tell her to enter. It wasn’t an easy conversation…”

I smirked at that, “I can only imagine. Anything else to note before we dig in?”

Twilight thought for a moment, then hummed as she shot me a mischievous look, a hoof landing on my thigh under the table out of sight even as she blushed a little more, her expression turned slightly heated, “We’re definitely teleporting again sometime.”

Laughing quietly to myself, trying to hold it in as we settled into breakfast and wondering at the crazy stuff that happened this past day and a half. Part of me was hoping the summit would be a bit more quiet but I shied away from letting myself jinx anything. I had enough headaches.

Finally focusing on the food, I took note of the surprisingly varied spread. Eggs benedict, hard-boiled, soft-boiled, scrambled, omelettes and more. Quiches, breakfast pies, hash browns, what looked like mashed potatoes, a mound of daisies, and a multi-colored mound of rose petals I might actually try. Muffins, biscuits, donuts, croissants, special breads and over a dozen spreads. Various juices were mixed among teas, coffee and milk. Curiously, I noticed what had to be an attempt at vegan bacon, if my initial impression was right.

There was a lot of variety and far more than we’d eat. Twilight just elbowed me when I tried to serve her food for her, despite the small smile she gave me as she tended her plate. The sheer amount of food made me curious as I served up what interested me, and after a sampling of the vegan bacon only to find it was surprisingly close to the real thing, suggested all the girls try it while it was there. Dash seemed suddenly enamored with it after her first bite.

“This is a lot of food for just the lot of us, Celestia. Why such a massive spread?” I asked her after my plate was laden to my satisfaction.

She cleared her throat lightly, still faintly pinkened in the cheeks as she responded, “Well, I requested the kitchens go wild this morning and give us plenty of variety so we might get the week started well. In fact, this is not the only table being served in this manner. The visiting officials and dignitaries, both those attending the summit and those only for the civil review conference running concurrently, they all are enjoying something similar. Whenever Luna and I host important events it’s something of a tradition to do an exceptionally large breakfast. What we are unable to eat will swiftly be packed up and delivered to places that might benefit, such as the hooful of orphanages in the city. I intentionally have so much prepared because it usually gives them more than a week of big breakfasts, courtesy of some preservation spells. We both wish we didn’t need to have an excuse for it, as we’d like to do it more often. However, bureaucrats and testy nobles unfortunately find ways to use such things as vehicles for indulgence.”

I had the impression Celestia and I needed a minute to chat alone at some point too, but that could be handled later. What Luna was going to add to that grin she’d been sporting earlier though, I was almost afraid to find out. Still, I nodded to Celestia, “I understand. I think I’ve mentioned how bad bureaucrats and politicians are on Earth. Not sure how exactly they compare, but at least you’ve got far less of a problem by contrast.”

She took a sip of tea before giving me a sympathetic smile, “From what you have described, even accounting for bias from reasonable dislike, I must agree with you. One of the benefits of being long-lived is the tremendous experience that allows me catching the more aggravating ones early. It’s something of an open secret that Luna and I often disrupt their plans at the best points to throw them into disarray. The hubris they tend to express, thinking we will miss things or don’t even know is a touch entertaining and a bit of a balance against putting up with them. I wish more of the nobility were like Fancy Pants and his circle.”

I gave a brief chuckle, “Well, I don’t envy you the trials of all that. Not my arena. Speaking of Fancy Pants though, is he attending the civil review conference? I would like a chance to meet one of the nobility that deserves respect, as opposed to the asinine ones that try to demand it.”

She smiled with a nod, “Yes, he is attending. I’ll ask him to set some time aside to meet with you.” Celestia glanced slyly at Rarity, mischief in her eyes, “And I do believe you would also enjoy an opportunity to meet with him again, Lady Rarity?”

For her part, Rarity’s eyes widened as a rosy glow colored her cheeks as she stared at her plate, daintily finishing the food in her mouth and blushing brighter for being caught off guard so unexpectedly, giving a polite cough, “I...I must admit I would be thri...ahem, quite pleased to enjoy a cup of tea with a valued friend such as Lord Fancy Pants, your highness.”

Celestia gave a gentle laugh while I managed to hold a quip about just what she’d enjoy with him after all the dancing around. Yesterday morning’s almost blurted admission was enough on it’s own. A glance at Twilight told me she was eyeing me suspiciously with a sly smirk. I gave her a playful nudge, marveling at just how deeply she and I were learning to understand each other without actually hearing the other’s thoughts. As she saw I wasn’t going to cause Rarity any extra embarrassment, she gave me a small smile. The glimmer in her eyes told me she would’ve laughed in spite of herself anyway. I felt like I’d be even more grateful for her in the coming days.

Breakfast carried on pleasantly, the usual banter and conversations going around. As she said earlier, once everyone was finished, the staff was quick about clearing the table of everything but the tea and coffee. For sake of freshness, I imagined there must be a flurry of activity in the kitchens going on.

Once the staff were out of the way and food had settled with a little more conversation, we rose to do whatever for the half hour or so before the summit was set to begin. The Princesses had some things to attend to before then.

A thought came to mind and I caught Luna’s attention before they left, “Luna, it just occurred to me that the civil review conference is being headed by both yourself and Celestia, but you’re also heading the Royal Summit at the same time. Seems like that isn’t going to work. Some kind of trick or a lot of schedule balancing?”

Luna gave a soft laugh, “I can see how that might be somewhat confusing. As yourself and the Bearers are trusted, it would not hurt to spill something my sister and I tend to do in such conflicting situations. We are merely in both places at once. Specifically how that is, I will not divulge but I can tell you it is a kind of spell most mortals cannot use, let alone withstand. I believe it is easiest to call it a part of alicorn magic, though only my sister and I are capable.”

“Interesting. Makes me think of a certain area of science on Earth. I’ll have to talk to Twilight about it before it starts bugging me, see if there’s any equivalents in Equestria. So far, while most things have been named the same or similar enough to recognize, others have been called something entirely different.” I said, feeling thoughtful now.

“I have been following some of the things Twilight tells my sister and the letters we have shared with you also offer some glimpses of new ideas from your Earth-based sciences. I look forward to reviewing your journal of ideas. You did not bias too heavily towards weaponry and similar ideas from Earth, did you?” Luna inquired softly.

I shook my head briefly, “Not too much. Circumstances as they are, it was most of my focus but I still have a lot of things to write down. Even if the first volume is a bit biased, I have far more to go and dangerous things are easily less than half of them. I really hope it helps.”

Luna nodded, “Ideas from another world, even if seemingly familiar to something of this one, may potentially inspire the unexpected. I must depart now. I will see you again soon, my friend.”

After watching Luna and Celestia trot away, I turned to Twilight, fingers brushing through her mane absently, “As things are going to get started rather soon, shall we just go settle in? I’m starting to wonder if there’s ever a point I’ll stop feeling nervous, you know. All the other stuff and now I’m in a major meeting like this? I’m glad I have little to do but listen.”

Twilight nuzzled my hand reassuringly, looking at me with a smile, “You’ll be fine. We’ll probably have to wait until after the summit ends today for you to officially meet my brother and Cadence, but I’m so excited to introduce you! Oh, and when you meet Cadence, don’t be surprised if she tries to embarrass you. She’s always told me she couldn’t wait for me to find a stallion just so she could tease him and start squeezing him for something to tease me with. Which reminds me, please don’t encourage her…”

Giving her a grin that belied the deeper tension we both knew was there, I escorted Twilight through the halls towards the room that had seen countless military meetings for countless reasons. As I understood it, unlike the ancient one out in the Everfree ruins, the war room in Canterlot castle was finally getting it’s first actual meeting for it’s ultimate purpose.

We had to prepare for war.

Bk 1 Ch 19: The Summit Begins

Author's Notes:

There's a lot going on in this chapter. A lot of things are given their first hints and several things are set up for later. I really should plan things, considering the number of threads I'm pulling together. This chapter also makes the first real hints at the size of Equestria and the larger world I'm working in.

Chapter actually got broken in half because I'm tired of not updating and things need more work. Probably works better for suspense anyway.

As Twilight and I stepped into the room through the simple large double doors, we entered a rather modest place. My eyes were quick to begin drifting around, drinking in the details of a place I never expected to be.

The floor was a plush carpet with swirling designs of Equestrian gold and blue in equal measure. The walls were simple unadorned dark wooden paneling from floor to ceiling with one large bay window without a bench, made of a single large piece of curving glass, taking up most of the far wall. High-backed chairs that looked plush but lacked any adornments to the dark stained wood and black cushions.

The table that was the centerpiece of the room was a broad expanse of oak, a slab sliced from the middle of a huge tree trunk with the rings of wood that flowed with the large oval shape that pinched somewhat at the end furthest from the window and the other almost flat at the two large chairs sitting there. On the table itself were pitchers of water and glasses. Every seat but those for Twilight and I, or the rest of our little group, was filled, a folder set before each pony in their chair.

After a moment of confusion at seeing no torch or lamp crystals, I realized the light in the room seemed to radiate down and I looked up.

The high, domed ceiling was the most decorative part of the room, displaying an delicately detailed mural. The whole of Equestria and a portion of the surrounding lands were depicted. Equestria itself was detailed so finely I almost mistook it for a photograph taken at altitude from the south, not really a side angle but far from being top down. Aside from the most major points, such as Canterlot being marked with a stylized representation of the royal palace that seemed curiously similar to the show, it was a vast expanse of forests and grasslands and mountains that seemed to have been painted with such sharpness that I couldn’t see a limit of the detail from the floor. The not-map appeared to be radiating a gentle light that I somehow knew filled the room comfortably.

I was further surprised as I focused on the spot where Ponyville was supposed to be. As if in response to looking for it, there was a localized shimmer and the image seemed to distort and bulge as it appeared to zoom in. A moment of this and familiar sights were easily seen, as if flying among the clouds a mile away and looking down upon the town. I could clearly see both the town hall and the library tree, among other notable buildings. For a moment, I pondered if it was a way to grant an immediate reminder to those in the room of their homes and what they’re fighting for.

It was so surprising and distractingly beautiful that I didn’t realize I’d frozen in place until Twilight tapped me on the leg with a hoof, giving a soft giggle, “I know, it’s an incredible sight and pretty much everypony that sees it for the first time is stopped in their tracks. It’s a very old, very complex enchanted painting. It stopped me the first time, too. It’ll be better if you sit down though, so we don’t block the door.”

Blinking, I gave her a sheepish grin as I tore my eyes away from the impressive creation on the ceiling, my legs regaining their motion as she lead me over to our seats near the head of the table and noting mine was obvious with it being at a height better suited to my body, “I suppose I can admire it later.”

Taking a seat to Twilight’s right, herself closest to the head of the table, assuming it was her Princess status, and finding the plush chair was even more comfortable than it looked, I found my eyes looking around the table and now noticing the various ponies already seated around the table. The only empty chairs were for the rest of the girls and Spike, with the two at the head of the table clearly intended for Celestia and Luna.

I also noticed every other pony present was staring at me.

Some were amused, others looked somewhat bored. My eyes lingered on Captain Spitfire a bit longer, dressed in her blue button-up uniform jacket with shirt and tie, seeing her quirk a brow with a widening smirk to add to her amused look. Two that sat beside each other were subtly glaring and evaluating me. The rest simply curious and I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. The most interesting two though, were directly across from Twilight and I.

Princess Cadence and Prince Consort Shining Armor were watching me with interest. Cadence was wearing her royal regalia and seemed almost giddy. Shining Armor was dressed in what I supposed was his dress uniform red coat, giving me a shrewd look that didn’t take much to know he was studying me.

Deciding that I might as well break the ice with him at the same time I made a deliberate first impression to all the ponies present beyond me staring awestruck at the ceiling like an idiot, I leaned forward a little, meeting his stare for a long moment.

“You know, Prince Armor, it’ll last longer if you take a picture.”

One of his brows raised a bit at that, a small smirk working onto his face. Cadence started giggling softly, as did Twilight. A glance around the table told me most of the other ponies were more amused than before and even the two glaring ones didn’t look as suspicious with one of them even smirking faintly. I simply broke into a small grin for my part. The sound beyond the door told me the girls were soon to arrive. Another few minutes or so, the Princesses would likely arrive to start off the proceedings, whatever they were going to be.

When he still hadn’t responded, Twilight spoke up, “Shiny, Cadence. It’s great to see you again. Sorry we’ll have to put off a proper meet and greet until the summit ends for the day.”

Shining Armor gave his sister a smile as Cadence giggled again before she spoke, “Don’t worry about it, Twilight. We’ll have plenty of time later. As for you Mister Drayce, I’ll really be looking forward to having words with you later, heehee.”

Raising a brow as the girls took their seats, Spike settling in next to me, I wasn’t sure how to respond to her words, “Uh, sure, Princess Cadenza. Wrong setting?”

Her grin widened, now giggling into her hoof. Her eyes danced but she said nothing further. I was getting the feeling that talking to her later was going to be quite...interesting.

Shining Armor was still studying me, but he did seem a more relaxed in a way, “I want to have words with you later, Mister Drayce. Everypony at this table has read your file, so you are aware. That includes your prior knowledge of Equestria, passing the Judgement spell and that you have received the trust of our Princesses. In other words, you’re an interesting one that we are expecting much from, despite having just met and otherwise knowing little about you. I want to extend my thanks as well. Your protecting Twilight from the fall, then later her and Miss Zecora from the timber wolves was no small effort, nor the cost to yourself something to be brushed aside. Thank you for keeping my sister safe.”

Giving him a slow nod and restraining my surprise and discomfort, my words were brief for lack of knowing how to respond, “I...did what I had to. She’s worth it.”

Shining Armor smirked a bit once more, “As I said, we’ll talk later.”

“Hey Captain Spitfire, think you’ll have time to chat after the meeting’s over?” Rainbow Dash spoke up, looking across the table to the mare in question.

“Actually Rainbow Dash, depending on how this meeting goes, there’s a chance I’ll need to talk to you later as it is. Flap to a small cloud most likely.” Spitfire replied with surprising seriousness.

I noticed Dash’s ears perk rigidly forward all of a sudden as she sat up a little straighter, “No problem, Captain.”

For the most part, there was little said and I got a lot of eyes focused on me over most of it before the Princesses arrived. Having a lack of conversational options, in a weighty setting like this, and being scrutinized by so many eyes...I was grateful when Twilight brushed a hoof against my leg under the table and eased my nerves. I gave her a small lopsided smile of appreciation, catching her eyes and feeling myself steady again, still quite on edge after yesterday. The eyes of the room didn’t matter with her there, though I was sure they saw my tension.

Celestia and Luna soon appeared and made their way to their seats at the head of the table, settling in without a word as they gazed around the table at what I guessed were the highest ranking officers of the entire Equestrian military.

Celestia cleared her throat delicately before speaking in a tone that even felt more official than usual, “Guards, please seal the doors. Let none disturb us for anything but the gravest events.”

The two guardsponies snapped off salutes and exited the room, closing the doors behind them. A heavy thud from the other side said they really did just seal the doors against entry.

After they departed, Luna spoke, “Please give us a moment to set the wards and we may begin.”

Both of the Princesses’ horns became surrounded by their respective magical auras. I only caught bits and pieces of the spells they were using, most of it beyond my current studies. Wards for the blocking of scrying or listening appeared to be among the number of things they enchanted the very walls with. The walls and even the air seemed to shimmer a few times before they were done.

Celestia again spoke in the subtly commanding, official tone, “As you all know, it has been some time since we last needed to call a meeting in this manner. Thankfully, King Sombra remains sealed and is not a matter we need address today. However, it is with a heavy heart that this is not to be a time of assessing a potential threat, but acknowledgement of a looming one that has you all gathered here.”

Her eyes scanned around the room, looking more the ruler than I’d ever seen her as she continued, “Long ago, well before the first Nightmare Moon incident, my sister and I crafted a divination spell in hopes of preempting new threats to our land. Sadly, a threat was thus revealed. Though we discovered what we feared most, it was not until the arrival of our human friend Mister Drayce that the vague timeline was to begin. With his arrival, events have now demonstrated themselves fully in motion and the time of our greatest trial draws near.

“The focal point of everything to come is the Tree of Harmony. Why it appears under threat, we do not yet know, nor how that threat is to manifest. What we do know is if we fail to stop this threat the Tree of Harmony itself will be left broken and dead. Though it is supposed to be impossible to harm the Tree, something has gained that power. As you all know, should such a thing come to pass, Equus itself shall be left naught but a wasteland to all life as the great storms would be free to cover us all. Luna and I willl step into our full birthright to protect it at the end, knowing the cost would end most of Equestria itself...but our divination has shown no branch revealing us doing so. We fear that it means after a certain point should we have failed, it will be too late.

“My sister and I regretfully cannot offer as much information as we would like. Our divination is even now most difficult to read with any certainty beyond what has already presented itself. The spell we created provides us a vision mixed with both metaphorical and literal events. Separating the two is challenging at best so I will only present what we are confident will be of value to the efforts of all of you.

“I have asked the Bearers and Mister Drayce to attend this summit because of our divination. They have different eyes, different perspectives outside the well-honed skills of all of you. I believe they will have some insight over the course of this week and they need to take in certain things for later on as we prepare ourselves for what is to come.

“Luna and I are hereby activating wartime protocols. For the time being, this is strictly for internal matters so we may approach events with the proper mindset. For as long as we are able, it will be best to keep this from public knowledge to avoid panic. Until further notice, deviating as needed on a case by case basis, all of you will need to prepare yourselves for your enhanced positions. Wartime ranks will be activated in full once we cannot keep this silent any longer. You have all proven yourselves numerous times in your careers. I know you will not let us down.

“Our first challenge is finding our enemy. As we speak there is an army rising somewhere beyond our borders. What beings of Equus it is made of has yet to be revealed to us but it is my fervent hope that such things cannot remain hidden long, regardless of the vagaries of the divination. They must be discovered.”

She turned her gaze to Cadence, “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, ruler of the Crystal Empire. Through our treaties of alliance, I request we merge our strength in mutual defense. I would like your husband, Prince Consort Shining Armor, to lead our combined military. He is the best qualified to take on this difficult task, being familiar with both our nations, their needs, methods, and capabilities. This is to be in effect immediately.”

With an air of seriousness and her own regal mask, Cadence gave a slow nod, “The Crystal Empire hereby accepts the request of Equestria and the establishing of Prince Consort Shining Armor as the leader of our combined forces. All further requests are unilaterally granted to Equestria for the duration necessary.”

Celestia gave a small smirk as she relaxed her demeanor for a moment, “I wish all diplomacy was that easy. Thank you, Cadence.”

“No kidding. You’re welcome, Aunty.” Cadence returned softly.

A glance around the table at a few faces told me just how stunned the rest of the table was. Myself, Spike, and the girls were already informed of much of it, so we weren’t taken by surprise by the reveal of a looming threat.

The part about the Tree of Harmony and what sounds like the end of the world was not quite so easy, however.

The merging of militaries was a little unexpected, but honestly not so much with what Celestia and Luna see coming. The rest of the ponies attending weren’t even trying to hide their reactions at first.

Luna took over after a pause to take in the news, every bit the ruler as her sister, “As indicated in your summons, I know you have all brought with you today the first portion of necessary information with which, over the course of this week, we may all take stock of our available assets and resources, then review our plans of defense. We shall be as prepared as we can until more of the threat reveals itself.”

She turned to Shining Armor, “Prince Armor, at the conclusion of this meeting you will be provided with a copy of a journal that has been scribed by Mister Drayce. Consider the information within of the utmost importance and at the highest level of secrecy. He has been gracious enough to provide us with a multitude of new ideas and concepts, many of them related to his knowledge of advanced human weapon and defense technologies the likes of which we have never known. My sister and I will need your counsel in choosing the most useful to pass along for development in the coming days. Many things contained within must never be allowed into the light of my sister’s Sun. However, please consider everything you find and provide us with your insights in things we may otherwise fail to consider.”

Shining Armor’s eyes flicked to me for a long moment at the mention of human weapons but otherwise had no visible reaction, his voice level, “I understand, Princess Luna. Will the human book ‘Art of War’ and the rest also be ready?”

Luna nodded, “It will.” She turned to look across the table, “You will all receive copies. It is our hope ‘The Art of War’ in particular will prove a valuable additional resource for all of you. As you are all aware, the world of Earth from which Mister Drayce hails has, for a wide range of reasons both noble and vile, experienced numerous wars far beyond anything we have ever known in memory here upon Equus for more than three thousand years and before Equestria’s founding. It is understood this book has been prized for a few thousand years on a world with no immortals living to carry it consistently. Please use it well.”

Turning back to Shining Armor, “Prince Armor, if you would please start us off?”

Shining Armor gave Luna a nod and flipped open a folder before him before beginning to lay out necessary details. The less engaging aspects that make going to war function are a bit dry. It was difficult to follow due to my lacking much frame of reference.

As he was the sole military representative of the Crystal Empire, he seemed to cover everything. Every relevant area for a short yet thorough overview. The last assisting division of regular troops were already returned to Equestria a few weeks ago, leaving only a number of Equestrian trainers to help the Crystal Empire continue to modernize their own military forces. Briefly answering a few questions here and there from the Princesses on things they needed a bit more depth. It took a fair length of time.

When Shining Armor finished, Luna nodded to the next pony at the table.

Colonel Dauntless Mountain, the well-built deep blue pegasus with yellow and green striped mane that was Shining Armor’s replacement as Equestria’s Captain of the Guard, began working through things specific to the Solar Guard ground troops. He radiated an air of command to rival Shining Armor.

Colonel Willing Burden was Captain of the Lunar Guard divisions. A Lunar pegasus with a dark orange mane and midnight black coat, his rather striking bright silver slitted eyes were sharp with intelligence. He went through the Lunar Guard’s divisions, seeming mostly Lunar pegasi with a smaller number of ground forces. From what I had gathered up to then, like the Solar Guard did for Celestia, the Lunar Guard performed the usual protection duties for Luna but were otherwise reminding me of how the Marine Corps compared to the US Army in a way.

When he was done, Colonel Spitfire was next at the table. I found out she was not just Captain of the Wonderbolts, her usual rank address, and their training academy, but also head of all pegasi forces of the Solar Guard’s airborne wings. She didn’t take too long, quickly running through the readiness state and projected time to full active status of what she called her flock. What surprised me most was her comments about the Wonderbolts Initiative and estimated time to completion upon activation.

Next was the Head of Equestrian Intelligence, an earth pony named Sneaky Sunshine. She had an off white coat with a mane streaked with gold and tan in some sort of simple black suit and tie, which gave me a moment of wondering at that. Then, with a noticeable and rather odd cheeriness, she went through her part on the state of the intelligence service, though seemed lacking anything outside Equestria. She was one of the two that had been particularly intent on me with the earlier staring. I had the feeling she enjoyed her job a bit much.

Beside her was another member of intelligence. Chief Operative Rolling Shadow, head of external field operations. He was a unicorn, though he did not seem quite normal. The only thing I could sort out was he had to be some sort of Lunar unicorn because he resembled a thestral so much with his pale gold eyes having cat-like irises, fuzzy ears and shaggier coat. His coat was charcoal grey, almost black with a mane a midnight blue. He was the other pony that had been staring at me with such intensity before. Something about the look in his eyes said he was trusting of no one until I saw him look directly at Luna and caught a flash of devoted adoration.

I gathered Equestrian Intelligence was run equally by the two of them as he went over key points of field agents and how field operations were going. He added there were no current indications of a new army rising anywhere but would have the more specific goal sent out as soon as we were done for the day.

The earth pony stallion with a mottled cyan and white coat and a pale blue mane next to him was another surprise. Captain Cloudbreaker was the senior commanding officer in charge of the Equestrian Airship Navy. He spoke with confidence as he relayed the general status of his branch. I was a bit surprised when he included specifics about something called the Bastion-class. There were six vessels under the classification and important enough to mention separately. All under some sort of rotation with two active and four docked. The sixth, Treasured Moon, was just commissioned to active service only three months prior.

It carried on around the table to an aged unicorn mare with a silvery mane and indigo coat. The white-robed mare named Archmagus Hidden Tomes was the head of the Disciples. She didn’t take very long. Most of it was only between the Princesses and the Archmagus.

They were separate from the other more renowned mage circles because they focused on direct confrontation above all. A small group of never more than one hundred specially selected, talented unicorns that were very rarely tapped for action. Briefly, my mind compared them to the idea of Navy SEAL battlemages. In modern times, they to serve more as a deterrent against any rogue groups that thought using magic was a good vehicle to cause trouble with, as the Lunar Guard attended covert operations in most cases.

Over the centuries, their part in the military hadn’t evolved much in contrast to the rest and were famed for several practical magical developments inspired by their combat applications. They were also rumored to be just as famous for how unusual, even quirky, some of their number were, but they tended to be reclusive to the point of mystery.

As I had read a little about their group not long ago, I was glad I had not forgotten something this time. Though I supposed I would not be able to tell either way.

As the few remaining at the table went through necessary things, giving updates and present status, timelines for various topics with foreign peacekeeping matters in particular, I began to gather that Equestria was remarkably similar to the United States that I formerly called home on Earth.

More than ever, I realized some of just how much life in Ponyville was isolated from the rest of this world. Maybe I was just blinded by the spell over me, but I was feeling smaller than before in a way.

Quiet and pleasant. A simple peaceful way of life was the order of every day. It did not matter so much with the fact the town was arguably the world’s biggest magnet for random weird crap going on. Perhaps that was due to being the only town on the edge of the Everfree Forest, as even Pinkie had her limits. I wasn’t sure if I had learned about that side of things or not due to the Rose Window. I’d have to remember to read up on it more.

Either way, the first day of the Royal Summit was somewhat monotonous with detail work and I was expecting it was going to stay that way. What Celestia and Luna expected we needed to hear was a mystery. While listening to the other ponies trading questions between themselves and the Princesses, the remarks and suggestions about the divination and where adjustments could be made was interesting enough, it was ultimately somewhat boring.

We were nearing the end of hours of discussion and review that myself, Spike and the Bearers were merely silent witnesses to, occasional glances at Pinkie showing she had a small eye twitch going from needing to sit still and quiet so long. It was when Celestia turned to us that things started getting much more interesting.

“There is one last thing I wish to cover for this first day. Twilight, you and your friends will be assigned a squad of hoof-picked guards that will be charged with keeping you safe. Until this newest trial, you were all safe enough to continue as you have. I would have done this far sooner had I felt differently...” Celestia said in a gentle tone, almost like she was expecting resistance.

The why became apparent as she continued, “I anticipate a couple of weeks in which to find the right candidates and select the guardsponies you will need. Each of you will be required to begin military training in basic combat, as well as areas aligned to your unique skills. The things you must face in the future are no longer at a level you will be safe no matter how much training I give you and I will not allow you to go forward without seeing you as prepared as possible.

“Primarily, this will include self-defense and survival training. Luna and I will do everything in our power to keep you from the actual fighting, but nor will we take chances with your lives in this. I fear I must make this an order as your sovereign this time, so you understand just how important this truly is.

“As Twilight is a Princess, she will officially be recognized as your only superior in regards to the chain of command. While Rainbow Dash is technically a reservist of the Pegasi Forces, there are other plans in place. For the rest of you, I am not drafting you into service. However, this is your only option otherwise. I am sorry to drop this upon you so suddenly, but I want you safe as I can manage. There is no way to keep you out of danger this time, as there will be moments Luna or I must send you into harm’s way or where it will find you.

“As for yourself Mister Drayce...you are hereby drafted into Equestria’s armed services and given the title of Guardian, along with an equivalent in rank to a Colonel. The rank is in name only to help clarify hierarchy while in the field on assignment. You will take your orders from myself, Luna, Cadence or Shining Armor and give none outside of the squad assigned to the Bearers. We will also have an officer sent to Ponyville with the aforementioned squad we will assemble. They will give you the necessary training of the requirements and responsibilities of an Equestrian officer.

“Even more than the Bearers, you will be in harm's way as their shield. Your primary duty is their protection and safety. When the officer we will assign you feels you are ready, command of the squad will become yours for as long as necessary. I know you will treat them fairly.” Celestia held a troubled look in her eyes.

I could scarcely take in the tremendous jump all that was. I knew enough to expect I’d be protecting the Bearers, but this was something else, unsettling even. If the Princesses felt that was necessary, I worried that much more for what the girls and I were going to endure. Still...no matter what happened, I would defend them. The rest was unimportant by contrast to that.

Before I had much time to contemplate everything though, I noticed an odd look on Shining Armor’s face as he stared at me.

After meeting his gaze for several long seconds, he seemed to frown with resignation as he turned to Celestia and Luna, speaking in a way that sounded at first reluctant, then turning scripted, “Princess Celestia...Princess Luna… I...never expected to be the first in, what was it, 300 years to say these words…”

His face became a mask of determination, “My Princesses, thy humble servant seeks thine ear. If mine request is worthy, thou must answer.”

Celestia and Luna both went rigid, momentary surprise flashed across their faces before they hardened to stone as they stared back at Shining Armor. The room was dead silent as Celestia responded, “Speak servant, so that thy Princesses may consider it.”

Shining Armor met their gaze, voice tense but unwavering, “My Princesses, thy servant seeks the Trial of Proving be granted against yon stallion.”

Luna seemed almost angry now, her voice carrying a faint growl as she stared down Shining Armor, “Thy Princesses ask thee to name yon stallion, servant.”

Without any outward reaction, he replied in an even tone, “My Princesses, thy servant names Vojin Barloc Drayce, that he may be tested to his truth.”

Celestia closed her eyes for a moment, otherwise having no visible reaction I could see, then opened her eyes and turned to me. She stared at me for a long moment with a regal mask that I was getting used to seeing her without before she turned back to Shining Armor and gave a single slow nod, “Thy Princesses accept thy request, servant. Let us make our way to thy answer.”

With that, both Celestia and Luna rose to stand, swiftly disenchanting the room’s various wards before a chime sounded in the air.

Moments later, the sound of whatever bar blocking the door was heard as the room was unsealed. The doors opened shortly thereafter as each pony rose silently, looking grim. Once the Princesses moved to exit the War Room, the various military ponies proceeded after them.

Cadence gave her husband a brief glare, speaking quietly, “We’ll talk about this later, Shining. I trust you did this for a reason, but you will have a lot of explaining to do.”

As Cadence swiftly made her exit, Shining Armor looked at me with determination, though also looking like he was unhappy about a necessary action, “Come, Mister Drayce. I know you aren’t aware of what this ritual is or how it works but we need to get ourselves moving. This does not require silence so I will explain some of it on the way. Twilight, girls, please go with everypony else. We have to walk together to the appropriate courtyard separate from you.”

Speculations aside, I expected Shining Armor had a plan with whatever was going on and enough respect from others for me to trust this was not something done without a very good reason.

The emotions I felt coming off of Twilight were a strange mix of concern and anger. The girls only looked confused with some worry.

My fingers brushed through Twilight’s mane before I spoke, “Girls, Spike, go on. Twilight, that means you too. I might not have a clue what this is really about but I know you trust your brother and I trust your judgement of him. He must have a good reason. I’m sure Celestia and Luna would draw a line if necessary.”

Twilight looked at me for a long moment, worry in her eyes as she chewed on her bottom lip before she spoke, “Vojin, you can refuse. There is an exemption for foreign-born Equestrians receiving a challenge like this. Please consider refusing when you have the chance. You simply don’t have the training in magic yet.”

I knelt down so it was easier and kissed her nasal bridge as fingertips brushed across her cheeks, “I’ll consider it when I know what’s going on. Now you and the girls get going. Your brother’s not an evil mastermind or anything. I’ll hear him out first. Go on.”

She nuzzled my cheek before going with the girls and Spike, shooting me a look like she expected me to do something crazy.

Shining Armor moved next to me after I stood up again after watching Twilight leave and he motioned for me to follow as I wondered what I was getting drawn into.

Bk 1 Ch 20: The Trial

Author's Notes:

This was originally part of the previous chapter, but having to force myself through the writing and realizing it made for good suspense, it was broken off. This gave me the freedom to post chapter 19 and still do some work on the Trial of Proving.

Having had a few days to do some little tweaks, rewording and some corrections, here you go. Remember, some things I put into my story are what they don't say or do.

And I did say Shining Armor gets to be something of a badass.

Once we stepped out of the room into the hallway we found four guards, two Solar and two Lunar, were waiting for us. They took up positions on opposing corners around Shining and myself as we headed down the hallway towards wherever was were going.

As we passed through the halls, I noticed we were starting to pick up a procession of Guards following behind us. Judging by the relaxed nature of their formation, they were not involved in whatever this ritual was and were likely coming to watch. We were going to have an audience. Word travels fast, I guess.

After a period of silence as I waited for him to start explaining, Shining Armor spoke up, “As you are unfamiliar with our military traditions, I will try to explain. The Trial of Proving is complex in purpose, but rather simple for the one being challenged. There is a lot involved but most of it is my responsibility as the one testing you. That said, once we get to the courtyard, you may request the Princesses exempt you. I would be a bit disappointed if you do to be honest, but this isn’t anything you will be forced into. The simplest way to say it, this is going to be a trial by combat, if you hadn’t already guessed. Are you going to request exemption? There are other options if you choose not to agree to this.”

I couldn’t help a somewhat dry chuckle, “You should already know the answer after the fights I’ve been in, but no. What else?”

Shining gave a faint smirk at that, then continued with a nod, “If you don’t request exemption, neither of us will be allowed to leave until several things have taken place. In particular, physical combat, challenging each other by will alone which I will explain at the right time, magical combat, aerial combat neither of us has to worry about for obvious reasons, and an all-out open battle to test comprehensive skill and endurance in the final part until one of us collapses or the Princesses feel enough has been done. Usually, that means one of the participants has reached their limit and can no longer stand or use magic after even the partial healing no longer leaves enough energy. Each part we go through, you are being evaluated. Both by me as the one making the challenge and by the Princesses. Don’t hold back.”

“I see. Start with the rules governing the physical combat, I suppose.” I said in return, not very bothered by what was really sounding like a much more serious sparring match than anything else, so I was just curious about the whole thing for the most part.

As Shining Armor explained the fairly straightforward rules of the coming fight, I couldn’t help but notice some details about the guards escorting us that suddenly caught my eye, seeming different than they had been this morning, yet also felt like nothing had changed. Their armor seemed...more defined somehow.

The Solar Guard flanking Shining Armor and walking a little ahead of us was wearing golden-looking armor, but it was sharper and more complete in some way. After a moment, it dawned on me that the barding plate or whatever it was on the show was not even close to the solid looking plate armor I now saw on the stallion. It was a bit difficult to be certain, standing so much taller as I did, but it looked obvious now that it wasn’t draped across his back. Instead, it was wrapped around the stallion with a proper chestpiece and his belly appeared covered. There was some sort of segmented gorget-like piece around his neck as well, making a well-protected throat up to his jaw. Aside from some stronger looking plating in the hoofguards and jointed bits at the top of each leg, the guard’s legs were still exposed. The armored hoofsteps seemed faint, even muffled despite metal hoofguards on the stone of the hallway.

Another glance at the Lunar Guard walking a little forward as he flanked me on my right told a very similar story, just in cobalt blue with few differences beyond identifiers. Far better armored than I thought I saw before. I couldn’t help but give a perplexed stare at the Lunar Guard, my eyes already on him.

Shining Armor noticed.

“Something wrong with that stallion’s armor?” Shining Armor asked, causing me to look at him again before looking down the hall once more.

“Not wrong, just...different from what I thought I saw before.” I said before giving a small sigh, “Probably that backlash last night. I’m not really sure what I was supposed to expect but until just now, I would have sworn every guardspony I saw was wearing less protection, with exposed throats and no belly armor. Now I look and it reminds me of half-plate or something. I know it doesn’t really make much sense.”

I saw Shining Armor raise a brow out of the corner of my eye with a frown, “You broke a strong spell last night? Well, I’m glad you told me. I will need to keep it in mind for the magical combat if you go through with this. How powerful was the spell?”

With a small shrug, I simply said, “Don’t really know right now. Pretty powerful, from what I gathered.”

“Ok...how many thaumic measures then?” Shining Armor asked.

After a moment to blink, I raised a brow as I glanced at him, “I don’t even know what a thaumic measure is. I might just be lacking the memory right now. It was a strong mind spell, but that’s all I really know. I haven’t studied the branch yet, nor did Twilight get into most of the specific functions last night. Should take about two months to get my full memory back for the stuff I can’t remember. Does it matter?”

His brow furrowed as he considered what I said, “Yes it does matter. The strength of the backlash can potentially disrupt your magical resonance, both casting and receiving. Casting is going to be more draining for you. Defensively speaking, it won’t matter to a fireball or telekinesis, but some things like illusions and compulsions won’t perform normally against you, even fail or run out early until your reserves and mind balance again. That’s an odd timetable for a mind spell affecting memory though. Two months to get memories back...that sounds familiar…”

Giving another shrug, feeling a little frustrated for no real reason other than I suppose he was asking about something I was still angry about, I just brushed it aside knowing we’d work it out soon enough in the coming fight, “Back to the combat ritual. Tell me abou--”

I was cut off as he suddenly stopped, his head snapping to me with widened eyes, his raised voice sounded incredulous, “You broke out of a Rose Window?!”

A scowl crossed my features at that, now annoyed, “Yeah, what about it? I know, it’s a powerful mind spell. You want any details though, ask Celestia or Luna on account of it being a private matter. I won’t argue if they think you should know.”

There were murmurs amongst the guards around us. I was getting the impression that managing to break the spell was more of a feat than I thought. Brushing the thought away, I just wanted to work off some of yesterday’s stress with a good match and I wasn’t going to have real downtime until the end of the Summit and we all went back to Ponyville. This was not helping right now.

“Mister Drayce, why aren’t you in the hospital?”

That caught my attention.

Looking at him with a confused glare from yet another something going sideways, I spoke with an irritated tone, “Because I’m standing right here. Why?”

Shining Armor met my eyes, looking a bit worried behind the steel in his gaze, “That level of backlash could have been fatal and should have left you in a coma for a day or more. Not only that, but as a member of the Guard and a Prince on top of it, I need to be sure you report this. That spell is on the borderline of legality and abuses are not treated kindly. We need to know the details so the Guard can track down the unicorn responsible. How long were you under it’s effects?”

“I don’t know how I am supposed to feel about that, having not even lost consciousness when the spell broke, which really bloody hurt by the way, but I’m not talking about this, Prince Armor,” I told him, watching his expression harden, “Like I said, it’s a private matter. Celestia and Luna both know how long, when, and who. If they feel you should know, they alone can tell you. Otherwise, you’re bloody well out of luck on this.”

He tried to stare me down but slowly cooled, voice stern, “If the Princesses know, then that is good enough for me and I won’t question their approach. I’ll speak with them about it and not trouble you further, but know that if you’re lying I will have to sit you down for evaluation and scanning. This is a very serious matter.”

“Fine, whatever. Let’s just focus on the trial you challenged me to. Before you lay out the things I need to know about the stages or whatever they’re called, I have a question for you that’s been bugging me.” I said slowly, waiting for him to return to walking and start our procession again, “What was so important about this Trial of Proving that you were willing to piss off all four Princesses, including your own wife, to challenge me to it?”

He coughed a bit, looking a bit taken aback before a faint smirk began to appear, “You’re being given a command rank and a fast track to a squad to go with it in short order.”

As he started walking again, I followed for a moment before speaking again, “What does that have to do with us beating each other up?”

“We’re getting close, by the way.” Shining Armor said, his face turning more serious, “You’re being given a command rank rather suddenly, Mister Drayce. And you got drafted into the Guard only moments before that. I know the Guard I served with for years. I also know a little of how much trust and importance the Princesses are placing upon you. You are going to need a way to earn years’ worth of respect in short order. The Trial of Proving will help you do that, for your fighting abilities at least. If your life is going to be on the line with fellow members of the Guard, ponies I still consider family, they need to know they can rely on you and that you will be able to back them up in turn when in need. Perform like I’m thinking you will and you’ll be a lot closer to where you have to be at your new rank and position, regardless of your special considerations or having rank hoofed to you on a silver platter. Which I don’t agree with for the record, but I have never seen Princess Celestia make a move like this that didn’t prove to be right later. As for earning personal respect outside of combat situations, you’re on your own as that will only come with time.”

I quirked a brow, looking at Shining Armor in a different light, “So you’re just doing this to help me? And you thought it was important enough to piss off your wife?”

He nodded, glancing up at me for a moment with a small grimace, “Yes. She’ll understand when I have a chance to tell her why. I may not know you before today or much of anything about you beyond the file given to me and this current talk, but if the Princesses are willing to put so much faith in you...unless you demonstrate yourself as undeserving at some point, I’m willing to do the same and help where I can.”

“Then answer me some questions…,” I returned, “Are we risking death or anything permanent, even by accident? Are we fighting at that level? Do you know how to fight someone my size and height? Have you learned any fighting methods outside the Guard? And finally, will you call me Vojin if I can call you Shining? I’d rather be on a more familiar standing with the pony I’m about to go a few rounds with for reasons other than life and death. No offense to you personally, but I’m seriously in need of a good fight to let out some severe stress and am rather looking forward to hitting you repeatedly. I’m not telling you what I mean but...the Rose Window was only half of the trouble I dealt with yesterday.”

Shining’s eyes flashed with concern for a moment before he smirked, looking a little amused now, “Alright then, Vojin

“As far as fighting someone your size, that’s actually a part of basic Guard training. We have to be ready for things like minotaurs and diamond dogs, after all. And to touch on your earlier comment about belly armor, fighting bipedal creatures can often require rearing up on the hindlegs to effectively deal with or subdue them, which of course exposes a pony’s underside in a major way, hence the armored plates there. I’m more concerned about you fighting somepony lower to the ground like I am. Fighting a quadrupedal stance makes a notable difference to most bipeds. I understand that you’ve sparred with Rainbow Dash a bit but have no real training or practice in it otherwise, not to mention only being trained against other humans. I’ll make sure you get some real training when the squad being assigned to you arrives. And since you asked, as for knowing a fighting style beyond just Guard training…,” Shining said with a sly grin as we approached the entrance to the courtyard, “Unity of the Tribes.”

As I pondered the name of his style, we stepped out into the circular courtyard still flanked by the four guards that had been escorting us the entire time. The large gray stone bricks that made up the floor under the darkening late afternoon sky were fairly flat and smooth in a circular pattern, only having slight rounding along their edges. I wouldn’t have to worry about any tripping hazards on the floor at least.

The space was probably thirty or forty feet across and a glance around showed the ring of pillars around the edge with a second level of what I assumed was stadium seating or something as numerous members of the Guard branches were finding seats. The ground floor was full of guardsponies standing shoulder to shoulder in quiet observance between every pillar with more behind them.

In the area that stood out from the rest on the second level, Celestia and Luna sat upon gray stone thrones. Beside them, Twilight and Cadence had what seemed to be more temporary thrones of wood, leading me to believe this Trial really hadn’t been invoked in a very long time. In the space before them, Spike and the girls all sat quietly, looking uncomfortable and worried. The various high ranking officials from the meeting were off to one side.

The four guardsponies acting as our escort led us out to the middle of the courtyard and we faced the Princesses.

Luna spoke in a loud voice, though not the even-legendary-on-Earth Royal Voice, for which I was glad, “Thy Princesses await thy words, servant.”

Shining Armor returned, “My Princesses, thy servant has found no reason with which to retract the request of this Trial. Yon stallion has been found reasonable in his understanding of his requirements.”

Turning her eyes to me, Luna went on, “Thy Princesses ask you, one not native to our land or learned of our customs, dost thou wish to be exempt or to face this challenge of sanctioned battle? Thy Princesses, in thy lack of known skill, may test you in other ways to no shame.”

The heavy moment of silent anticipation was a little unsettling, still I had some things I needed to know, “My...Princesses… May I ask and say a few things before my acceptance of the challenge?”

Luna blinked, one brow raising in curiosity as excited murmurs could be heard whispered around the courtyard, “It is quite...unusual, but you may do so.”

I gave a nod and looked at the girls and Spike, “Fluttershy, Rarity, I want you to escort Spike elsewhere because he is still too young for this in my opinion and I don’t think you want to see what we’re about to do. This will not be a simple exhibition of skill like when I spar with Rainbow. It will not be for fun. We will be trying to hurt each other and there will be blood soon. I am told the Princesses will keep us safe from any true danger and tend us when it ends so you needn’t worry as much. AJ, Pinkie, you stay if you want but keep in mind it will be hard to watch. Rainbow, you should know what’s coming and you may see some of the techniques I couldn’t properly show because of the danger. And Twilight…”

I paused, all too aware of the members of the Guard watching intently and knowing anything I said would soon spread after this was over. Just looking into Twilight’s eyes for a long moment, sharing with her my troubled emotions because of what she was about to see me bring out, “Remember our conversation on the bench after we met with the press.”

Twilight looked back down at me with an expression of deep understanding, sharing emotions of comfort and love with me as she knew what I just said to her before taking a moment to encourage the girls to follow my words despite some protest from Spike. Both AJ and Pinkie remained where they were. Twilight’s gaze returned to me then, telling me with her eyes that nothing would change after this. Though the look was brief, we shared volumes.

Then turning to Celestia and Luna, feeling apprehensive, “My Princesses… Should certain facts from yesterday be...witheld for now? I am uncertain of how you wished to handle them.”

The two of them looked both surprised and pensive, then Celestia gave a small nod, “I believe that it would be prudent. Are you ready to make your acceptance now?”

I gave her a firm look as I began unbuttoning my shirt, noticing Shining choosing to slip off his dress uniform, “My Princesses, this servant accepts the challenge made.”

Luna had a flash of unhappiness move across her features as Shining levitated both our articles of clothing to a guard off to the side, leaving me barechested and him pony-nude, “Thy Princesses accept the proceeding of this Trial of Proving. Honor guards, you may depart. Prover and Unproven, you are now barred from leaving this courtyard until thy task is done. Demonstrate all thy strength so those present may see thy all.

“Thy first test is of pure martial skill and fitness of body. Thy Princesses wish to see honor in thy actions and conviction in thy hearts. Thou shalt not raise thy magic, lest thy honor be questioned. Thy Princesses shalt issue command to cease when satisfied. When ready, thou may begin.”

“Shall we respect each other as fighters? Stretch perhaps?” I said as I started taking slow steps away after facing Shining Armor.

He was mirroring my action until we were about ten feet apart, “Respect, definitely. We are expected to keep a certain pace though, so take your stance when ready.”

Pressing a fist to the palm of an open hand and a small bow of my head, I saw Shining make a motion of a similar gesture with his chin nearly touching the ground, “Very well then. All is forgiven after we’re done.”

Shining gave a grim smile at that, “Same.”

The ponies watching us were silent as the two of us settled into stances. I was surprised to see Shining set himself onto his hind legs, one forehoof turned up just to the side of his sight line with the other angled to the opposite elbow. If he didn’t look so practiced at it, I’d have been concerned because it didn’t look quite right in some way. He stood almost equal with me, just a little taller.

I opted for a looser, more flexible stance I’d found helpful against Rainbow and her speed, unsure how well it would work against Shining’s particular techniques I was about to see. I knew Rainbow was only a little less capable than I was in total raw strength, making us fairly equal with her speed against my reach. Shining Armor was well trained with a stallion’s muscle mass but I doubted he had Rainbow’s speed and there were no wings to deal with. I was expecting to rely more on agility than strength in this.

Both of us knew the other was ready.

Slowly starting to circle to the right, we tracked each other as we observed each other’s movement. Each looking for how much flexibility remained at every moment. Where we stepped, how it affected the stance or likely weakest direction of motion and how weight shifted. Each step brought us a little closer together. Our eyes were locked and watching intent hidden behind the focus present.

For several seconds, we only circled. I was taught patience, to see the intent in your opponent’s eyes and move as they make their attempt. I was unused to pony styles but knew Shining would be more adaptive to a bipedal style than Rainbow because of his hinted at training against minotaurs and diamond dogs. I could only guess at Shining using a bipedal stance.

Then the moment happened when the slow silent dance broke into rapid motion.

A flash of a leg, weaving around each other as I worked my much larger range while Shining attempted to close in. The moments we were close enough to take solid shots and the blocks turning them away. At least with him in a bipedal stance, I had additional familiarity working for me.

It was clear we were both being cautious at first, testing each other rather than diving in. I also found Shining was a not inconsiderable amount stronger, forcing me to work harder to turn his strikes aside and giving hint of the force he would carry should one land. While I appeared to surpass him for speed, it was a fool’s errand to assume he was all in yet. I wasn’t either.

Putting speed to my advantage, I let him step closer for a higher strike and made a sudden drop below my own waist height as I snaked my right leg behind his right with a large forward step. Slipping under his guard and blocking his leg, my right arm shot out at his gut as I drove into him at an upward angle to sent him off balance and tumble back.

Shining rolled with a smooth transition and back to four legs, flashing a slight smirk as he charged forward again before I could stand. Were it not for my practice bouts with Rainbow, I’d have been forced into hesitation for lack of experience.

Instead, I was able to adjust my torso as a hoof shot out. It was a poor in execution for a lack of practiced repetition, but I caught his foreleg as I rolled and twisted it into a lock before he could do much against me, despite taking a shot in the ribs as I did. He grunted as I pulled the limb to it’s limit and held, both of us pausing.

The rush of pumping blood had a chance to make itself known as everything came to a sudden halt, “Are you allowed to yield and release in this first part?”

A strained huff of a laugh escaped Shining, “We can do that for now if it’s really how you want to play. If you get lucky and it happens again in the last part of this, you better not hesitate to break my leg because I won’t if I have a chance at yours.”

I still wasn’t sure how to feel about the level of fighting we were going to undertake later.

I didn’t respond except to give him a firm couple of pats as I released the lock before we settled ourselves upright one more. The realization that he was an experienced combat veteran was starting to sink in.

I had a decent amount of practice from sparring, but there was a difference compared to real combat, fighting for survival. I tried not to even think very much about how outclassed I was magically in that sense.

In moments after we set our stances, we were back into the fray. Shining took advantage of his lower height on four legs, though it left his head more vulnerable. It was a bit hard to hit his head when he kept it low and out of reasonable range of my arms, however. He was able to land a lot more hits on my lower body in turn, leaving the muscles of my legs and hips a bit battered before long.

Then a hoof connected with the side of my knee as I was twisting into an elbow strike against the side of his face, both of us taking a harsh hit.

Having been in the middle of moving the same direction as his hoof, I didn’t completely blow out my knee but it was at least sprained as I went down. The solid crack to the side of his muzzle told me he wasn’t going to be any happier, though at least he’d be free to stand.

Lacking any indications of stopping, I grunted in pain as I put limited weight on my knee. I’d have been a lot more unhappy about the situation if I didn’t see the hazy look in Shining’s eyes right then, knowing I’d stunned him pretty good in return. Still left me at a terrible disadvantage.

Shining came at me again in a bipedal stance and though his motions were more clumsy, it was all I could do just to avoid the worst of it. A quick jab to his nose did send him reeling a little though, drawing a snarl of pain from him. I suspected he wasn’t in favorable condition either, but he was much more free to maneuver.

After being left unable to respond or block as well while his head cleared, I had bruised ribs, a sore stomach and a swollen cheek to share the list of hurting body parts.

Shining’s nose was bleeding heavily and several bruises were hinted beneath his white coat.

I was still standing but no longer able to get much past Shining’s defenses even as he found ever more openings in mine. It was clear I was fighting on stubbornness more than anything else, knowing without life or death motivation I was just done.

I was thankful to hear Luna’s voice ring out at this point, “Thy Princesses declare enough! Prover, what is thy result?”

Shining gave a small nod to me before turning and raising his eyes to Luna, “My Princesses, thy servant finds a need for further training but no shortage of willingness to fight or instincts to guide him. His physical potential has much merit.”

“Thy Princesses agree with such assessment, Prover. Upon thy healing, begin gauging of his will.”

“My Princesses, thy servant seeks to offer example and forego demonstration. Dost the breaking himself free of a Rose Window spell satisfy thy demand?” Shining said as the energy of healing washed over my body, focused at the worst places and driving things down to a dull ache like mundane sore muscles.

Luna seemed surprised for a brief moment, both her and Celestia both eyeing me from behind masks before turning to Shining again, “Thy Princesses are aware of his recent feat of spellbreaking. Thy example satisfies. Prover, thy task is now testing his magic. Begin when ready.”

Shining turned to me, nose no longer bleeding, the blood being left to dry and his eyes looking clear once more, “Alright Vojin, this will be a bit tricky due to your lack of knowledge and experience wielding standard magics. Combat-qualified mages in the Guard prior to the specializations have four months of dedicated training in addition to standard unicorn combat training, which you lack any of. I understand you currently have little in the way of offensive spells or shields, though your wards are a little ahead of your suggested level. I think the best way to test your casting ability right now is to sit ourselves down and make it more of a game of skill and creative use. If I went all out you’d never be able to get past my shield, let alone properly defend yourself. Go have a seat a bit further back and we’ll see what we can do.”

Giving a nod, I rolled my stiff shoulders as I moved away from him, seeing Shining settle himself down on his flank about twenty feet away as I knelt in a Japanese sitting style.

After another moment to think, Shining rolled his neck, “Show me what you can protect yourself with and adapt when I break through.”

Deciding I might as well start with things I’m halfway decent, I started placing wards around myself. Lacking a wide selection, I put extra focus on variations of a ward that forced an incoming spell to draw more energy to maintain stability or cohesion. I put the mixed wards on the ground around me, directly on my body and even set a number in the air. Despite pushing my knowledge to it’s limits, I knew it was not that much of a defense like I would really need. With only simpler shields, I was faced with relying on magical reserves to block more than allowing true interference as I created one in front of myself. It was frustrating, not even knowing just how outclassed I was.

“Hmm...have you also been studying spell circles? It wasn’t mentioned in your file,” Shining said, a calculating look on his face.

I shook my head, “Not a bit.”

“Interesting…,” was all he said before his horn lit up and I felt my wards getting probed from varying directions with increasing force.

There wasn’t time to consider what he meant by that as I had to start repairing wards to keep them in place as he picked at them in different ways. Sometimes he used subtle attacks, sometimes he shot small direct offensive spells like a fireball, shard of ice, or bolt of electricity.

The ways magic manifested from a caster was relative to the physical expression until much higher levels. Twilight could conjure a focusing point if she desired, letting her fling her direct spells from a remote point. She once mentioned if she practiced combat magic she could, in theory because of her magical strength, create such remote points rapidly enough to make it appear as if she were multiple casters at once so long as she kept the spells light. Her one-time comment about Shining Armor not having the necessary natural inclination to do much in that sense was a small reprieve now.

As he increased the force of his attacks, I had to work harder to keep the wards in place and tried to link them together more directly so they fed one another in a more adaptive way. Shining was already hitting the shield I had up with every attack, the wards not being enough to reduce the incoming energy by that much now.

Deciding to change my tactics, I cast a modified sensing spell around my immediate vicinity. Like I could sense motion, in theory it was easy enough to detect magical buildup or overt spells coming near. Drawing on my limited practice with the motion sensing spell, I tried to translate it into magic sensing and closed my eyes. I hoped I could make small moving shields or momentary fixed ones to reduce how much energy I was expending, or at least increase the strength of my defenses.

Had I not already known how to interpret the motion sensing spell, reading things in such a wide range and feeling the area around me, I would have been stunned by the sensory rush I experienced. The immense shift of trying to read magic was not something I expected and my eyes popped open in surprise at the level of awareness it granted. Shining only raised a brow at the odd look on my face as he continued his gradual increase of attacks.

Taking a different approach, I pushed the world out, for a moment ignoring my wards and letting my shield absorb the strikes that were starting to make it magically vibrate not unlike hitting a gong without sound. I used the focus to dive into the magic sensing, again reeling from the amount of information that rushed at me as I fought to adjust.

Though it felt longer, it was mere moments as I grasped I was reading something from every single pony nearby, a sort of brightness coming from each that dazzled. My mind’s eye was nearly overwhelmed by just four though, when I turned my attention to the sheer brilliance coming from each of the Princesses. Twilight and Cadence were similar in it, yet they were so different in feel. Celestia and Luna though, the feel of them was scorching, like a blast of fire against skin that brought no pain and somehow. I sensed the two of them saw me looking at them in such a fashion and the gentle amusement it gave them, like they found my act of looking to be funny. Twilight and Cadence had no discernible reaction.

Once I had a handle on what was washing over me with such intensity, it was a lot like adjusting a dimmer switch so I wasn’t overwhelmed. I felt everything being held at bay to a degree, but now focused in on Shining and the unique quality of his magic. It was all in mere moments, where time seemed to carry on even as it nearly froze.

I ran with what I sensed as I turned my focus back to the wards I had up. In this sensing spell, I had a clearer perspective of how they connected and set to strengthening them, even making small movements where they felt out of place. It was like seeing lines between them, a web of interconnections that seemed to grow stronger as I adjusted them. They were nearly at a point of restoring each other somehow as it grew easier to repair them as Shining’s attacks rained in.

Shining’s incoming spells were another fascinating experience. How some moved like clouds of gas or others that were individual balls of energy and everything in between. I could feel what the spells were now and what their path was, even when Shining was adjusting them as they approached. I had no time to consider if I was sensing his intention before he made a move.

Holding my hands up, palms forward in a physical encouragement to my mind, I started putting small shields in front of each attack Shining made.

It was an interesting effect, seeing his brightness and the brightness of his magic moving separately while still a single whole. I felt restraint and a faint sense of his affinity for shields mixed in. The growing brightness of his magic field as I started deflecting his spells more easily was interesting.

In the end though, I was feeling my reserves of energy dwindling as I exerted myself more and more to hold off his attacks. His spells were hitting hard and my shields cracking each time.

I wasn’t expecting to hold out and as a bolt of lightning at last connected with my chest and sent me sprawling, knocking me senseless for a second, I found my limit for what little I knew of magical combat.

Groaning, a hand gingerly touching my singed chest, I sat back up and looked at Shining, starting to put defenses back up when Celestia spoke, “Thy Princesses declare enough! Prover, what is thy finding?”

I gave a silent huff over taking so much abuse, healing washing over me as Shining replied, “My Princesses, thy servant finds him to be rich with potential. He requires a great deal of magical training but he displays great aptitude for flexibility and adaptive use of knowledge.”

Celestia nodded with an unreadable mask, “Thy Princesses agree. Though his need for training is great, he shows promise. Now prepare thyselves. Thy last task is the field of battle. Thy Princesses shalt protect thee from true harm. Destroy thy enemy until told to cease. Failure to give thy all is death.”

I swallowed at that as my eyes flicked to Shining, seeing him mentally preparing himself as he turned to me. If I went just on how that last part was worded, with how seriously this has been taken...

“This final part has no hesitation, Vojin. As a courtesy, I will wait for you to be ready, but once we begin you are my enemy on the field of battle. As your tester, I will vary my attacks and attempt to create a few scenarios but in the end, everything I do is with intent to kill. For the duration of this if it helps, assume I’m no different than the Timberwolves that tried to kill Twilight. When you fall, I will not wait to attack you again once we are released. Attack when ready.” Shining said calmly, neither of us having moved from the start of the magic portion of this mess.

My eyes glanced up at Twilight before returning to Shining, clenching my jaw as I pulled up the memory of the Timberwolf attack. Part of me wished I had my sword. A few precious moments to do so, I pulled up that feeling of survival, knowing it wasn’t quite the same but taking what I could until I was being attacked.

The observers around us were silent. My link with Twilight was full of apprehension and fear from her. My body was weary from fighting. My magic was reduced and sluggish from the prior effort. I was tense, knowing this was one-sided against me in my attempting to face a veteran warrior versus my having little live combat experience.

A charge of magic building in my hands was visible as I settled into the loose stance from earlier, a nervous bouncing on the balls of my feet the only visible expression of nerves.

Going for broke, I made a teleport a little behind and to one side of Shining Armor. I hoped to have some surprise, break a leg with a kick in hopes the sudden pain would disrupt his focus long enough for me to do more damage.

A shield snapped into being to block my kick before he slammed a hind hoof into my chest and sent me flying. Just after landing hard on the stone floor, I barely registered being struck by lightning before I felt myself be teleported back to where I’d been standing moments before, held for a couple seconds as I was healed.

Shining Armor had taken me down. Quick and with efficiency. I’d felt his magic being summoned before it became active spells, but realized I had no defense to counter it very well. I knew I was out of my league, but was starting to appreciate just how far.

It was frustrating, but I controlled it. As the restraint of healing dropped again I circled with him swiftly to close in. I stumbled as a foot stuck to the ground from a sudden spell, having no time to react as Shining’s hoof broke the leg and released the trap, followed by a quick shot to the body and doubling me over with a push of telekinesis on the upper back, right into a hoof to the side of the head, leading to another teleport back to our starting places.

The healing was enough to leave me tired, but capable. Pain seemed to all but vanish after Shining made a successful incapacitation. Knowing some of what it was all for, I let myself give in to the frustrated anger at Shining Armor and let myself forget that much more that it was only a test, however brutal. I knew I needed to want to kill him during all this.

It went on like that several times. I’d sometimes get in a strike or two, even broke one of his legs at one point. Each time though, I was the one that lost the attempt.

Each round, I found I was a little more exhausted, a little more magically drained. I had no false assumptions of matching Shining, even though he was breathing as hard as I was. I lacked the training I needed in magic, plain and simple. That much was driven home with every painful failed attack. At least I wasn’t afraid of taking a hit.

Somewhere along the way, the sense of it being a test was at last lost to me and I sank into the need to survive. All that registered in my mind was needing to bring him down.

Though not being on the same level magically, Shining and I were close physically, even if he was better. When I had the option, I hammered him the way I knew. It was crude and draining to do, but I started managing a few effective shields here and there as I fought him. I felt strange new instincts with magic coming out as I did, though I was focused on needing to fight back.

At one point, lost in the fight as I was, a small shield appeared over each hand, my capacity to weave spells together somehow mixing in lightning with it. With the building charge on the shield and not my body, it couldn’t bleed off or disperse. I only saw it as a tool to survive, pouring energy into the electrical charge held on the surface of each shield.

As I struck at Shining’s own shield, the first punch actually cracked it. The second broke through and connected with the side of his head and neck.

As the immense discharge of electricity sent him rocketing away to slam into one of the stone pillars at the edge of the courtyard in which we fought, I tried to chase after him to hit him again only to find us teleported once more.

Again held in the magic that had been binding us during healing, I relished having gotten in a real victory and readied myself to try for more, almost not even registering the voice of Celestia over the pounding rush of battle. By the look of things, Shining Armor was feeling something similar as our widened eyes remained locked on each other, both of us craving for the opportunity to take each other apart and end the threat.

“Enough!” Celestia called out, “Thy Princesses find this Trial of Proving satisfied! Calm thyselves of thy blood fury and stand down!”

It was several seconds of heavy breathing and deadly focus, the demand to survive by destroying the threat slow to wane. I knew what battlelust felt like from the few times my life and more was at stake, but the chance to sink into it like that was a rush different from anything I’d ever felt.

A logical part of my mind that was freed of the rush pondered if that was important to this Trial of Proving mess. Perhaps even a majority of the real purpose. What we become when we go into primal states of survival.

Time was almost stuttering forward for a while as everything calmed back down. I felt myself collapse to the ground, not knowing when the magic field had released me and finding myself without the strength left to stand. I saw Shining wasn’t too much better off, laying on his side, as both of us worked to catch our breath. It was a strange feeling to just crash in such a mundane way after such an ordeal, too weak to even lift a finger.

It wouldn’t have been safe to do so on a real battlefield.

After a few minutes had passed, I forced myself to sit up, not feeling safe to stand. Shining had already sat back up.

I had a moment of confusion though, when I saw Luna. She was somehow the same size as Celestia now. It was so unexpected, all I could do was blink as things carried on.

Celestia spoke after giving us some time to recover, “Thy Princesses find this Trial of Proving complete. Prover, what is thy mind?”

Still breathing heavier than normal, Shining replied, “My Princesses, thy servant believes yon Unproved has been found worthy. If thou art so pleased, may he be declared Proven. Though greatly in need of further training, his worth has been shown and so earns my blessing in his pursuit of thy service.”

“Thy Princesses find this acceptable proof of worth. Do any of the observers in attendance dispute this finding?” Celestia called out to the various Guard members that had been watching, her gaze sweeping the room before continuing, “Thy Princesses accept this Trial of Proving and the strength of the Proven.”

After a pause, Celestia spoke again with a deep frown as the gathered crowd began to disperse, “You’re still not off the hook, Shining Armor. Let us finish the healing…”

My eyes turned to Twilight, seeing compassion in her face and feeling support through our link.

Though I kept it internalized and only between us, I felt a rush of relief as I looked back at her. I hadn’t quite doubted her willingness to accept the sides of myself that made me wary, but still...receiving that acceptance after such a display was treasured. It wasn’t quite the same as when I was fighting to protect her, but still...it was close enough. Despite our being given a gift of intuitive trust between us, some things still needed to happen in their own time.

Somewhere inside myself, something towards her at last relaxed and began to grow warm.

Bk 1 Ch 21: With Eyes Opening

Author's Notes:

So many things taking place in this chapter. And I still can't help a small laugh almost every time I look over one moment with Cadence. Hopefully that means others will also find it hilarious.

As the crowd was drifting away, Shining Armor stepped over next to me and sat himself down, being slow and careful as he moved. Both of us were going to feel like crap until we had a meal and a good night’s rest. Magical healing fixed harmful things, not exhaustion or soreness from an extreme workout that was part of healthy development.

As we waited for the ladies to come down, he spoke in a low voice so only the two of us would hear, “Vojin, I underestimated you. I don’t know how you pulled that lightning burst so close to yourself, but that last spell you used wasn’t a typical lightning-charged shield, which should be out of your skill range anyway. At the level you are supposed to be with magic, you shouldn’t have been able to pierce that shield. Also, things usually go on a bit longer and I was surprised Celestia called it so soon. I’m going to take a guess that it had something to do with those ‘facts’ you mentioned before we started, aren’t they?”

I gave him a sidelong glance, smirking at his reasoning and wondering how many others caught at least the first one, “Considering you’re the one other pony outside of Celestia and Luna getting an unfiltered look at weapons technology concepts from Earth, including the ones even I think are terrifying, I’ll just say yes. Check with them though. I’m apparently three kinds of impossible. And that doesn’t include Twilight grouching about me carrying a bag for her.”

He gave a short laugh, “Very well, I’ll speak with them on it. I must admit, for lacking proper training and having little experience fighting anything other than humans, you managed to impress me. You really haven’t studied spell circles?”

“Aside from the overview in Quirky Cantrip’s Fundamentals of Magic Primer on structured spell forms and books like that, no. Why do you ask?” I replied.

“Because you were using them with most of your wards. Most unicorns don’t have a knack for them without a good bit of study first. Considering you were doing it without thinking or training like that means you probably sense the interconnections intuitively. Might be a good direction to take your studies when you finish the primary foundations of magic and combat lessons. Spell circles aren’t so great for most combat situations because of setup time but after a bit of study, you might be able to help Twily on those experiments of hers,” Shining mused.

Quirking a brow at him, a question came to mind as I replied, “When I had my eyes closed during the magic portion of the Trial, I was almost seeing the connections laid out, actually. I’ll keep it in mind. I’m curious about something though... I know you and Twilight are really close. Lacking any idea how to ask, I’ll just put it out there. How do you feel about me dating her, anyway? Part of me keeps expecting a protective big brother moment from you any second now.”

Shining Armor just chuckled, giving me a smirk, “Oh I think any urges I had for trying to rough you up are taken care of at this point and nopony will even complain. Well...apart from challenging you to the Trial, that is. Besides, all other things aside, you have risked your life to protect her not once, but twice already. Yes, I admit to being bothered by how sudden everything has been with your appearing out of nowhere, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t, but it’s hard to come up with an argument when you’re so clearly putting her well being before your own. I’ll just have to get used to it. From what I’ve seen so far though, I am starting to like you.”

Giving him a smirk in return, I hummed, “Well that’s good to know. After I’ve gotten trained properly though, I want a rematch.”

Shining blinked at me a few times before he grinned with devious intent, “Is that so? I guess you like getting your flank hoofed to you. Is it a human thing?”

“Yeah yeah, pick on the guy that hasn’t had enough training yet,” I said in retort, rolling my eyes.

“After you get some real experience, talk to me again. You will probably need a good two years or more before you can even hope to beat me in an actual match,” Shining said as he looked up as the ladies approached.

He didn’t know what two years meant to me of course, but it stung for it to come up like that, in a way that was just so...normal. I still had a lot of processing and acceptance of that situation to do. Still, with everything going on this week, it wouldn’t hurt to keep putting it out of my mind and focusing on other things. Even if I avoided it the whole two years, it might not even make a difference. Just save it for when Twilight and I go home, I guess.

I didn’t give Shining a response as Twilight trotted up and wrapped me up in an embrace, paying my present state no mind. For long moments, I just held her close as I let her presence wash over me again. I could feel her sense of relief. She could feel my exhausted satisfaction from accomplishment.

“Are you feeling alright, Vojin? Everything healed like it should be?” Twilight asked as she pulled back, nuzzling my cheek as she passed.

Giving her a tired smile, I nodded, “Yeah, I’m alright. Could really use some food though. I feel like even my muscles are empty husks right now. You feel ok after watching all that?”

She leaned close and gave me a gentle kiss before a second nuzzle, “I’m fine. We need to get you cleaned up and we’ll sit down for dinner right after, ok?”

I nodded, looking forward to cleaning off the dirt, sweat, and blood that was left from the fight with Shining, too exhausted magically to feel up for even my little cleanup trick, “Long as you help me wash my back, Purple Angel.”

She gave me a warm smile with a hint of mischief when a thought occurred to me and I turned my eyes to the other three princesses that were looking between Shining and I with varying levels of irritation and concern. After the chat I had with him on the way to the courtyard, I figured a word about my opinion of the whole mess was warranted.

Clearing my throat a moment, I spoke up, “Celestia, Luna and the rest of you… On the way over here for the Trial, Shining and I did some talking. I don’t know what it’s all about or if there’s subtexts where I don’t have a clue but he shared some of his reasoning for making the challenge and quite frankly, I find myself in agreement with it. If you’re still mad at him I certainly can’t do anything about it but far as I’m concerned, he and I are good. I daresay I made a new friend!” The last part came out with a tired chuckle.

The gathered ladies all looked at me for a moment with expressions of bewilderment before several of them rolled their eyes, one or two muttering about stallions or my getting hit too hard. Shining seemed to give a faint, resigned sigh. My grin only widened a little.

An overexcited, rainbow-maned peanut gallery decided it was a good time to chime in, hovering and flitting about, “That was totally awesome! That wicked fight was the craziest match I’ve ever seen! I mean, seeing Vojin duck so low and trip Shining like that? Or how about how fast Shining was able to change stances? Then there was all the insane stuff you two pulled off at the end! That knee Shining took under the chin looked like it hurt to Tartarus! Then there’s the way he caught Vojin with that ice patch and sent him sliding headfirst straight into those spi--”

A white hoof covered the mouth of the overexcited Rainbow Dash as Rarity sighed with a displeased look, “I am sorry, Rainbow darling, but I quite frankly do not want to hear about two friends of mine treating each other in such barbaric fashion. At least do me the courtesy of discussing it with them later. It makes me feel most uncomfortable to think of them assailing each other so harshly.”

Rainbow pouted just grumbled a reluctant agreement and Rarity lowered her hoof.

For her part, Fluttershy looked worried, her eyes going back and forth between Shining and I and looking over our bodies like she was going to see a gaping wound. Applejack was rubbing her shoulder but aside from giving the two of us a once over and a short nod, she was rather indifferent.

Pinkie just kept opening and closing her mouth and looking confused to the point I had to ask, “Having trouble with something, Pinkie?”

She blinked and focused on me, now thoughtful as she waved a hoof, “Oh, it’s just one of those weird rare times when I shouldn’t throw a party because the two of you were being big meanie heads to each other when you didn’t really need to, but at the same time I wanna help you celebrate successfully earning respect from the Guard and making friends with each other!”

I blinked. Semi-lucid Pinkie left me not quite knowing how to respond. And how did she know what Shining and I talked about in the hallway before we even got to the courtyard?

Celestia chose to move things along, “I believe for now it will be best if Vojin and Shining Armor to get themselves cleaned up. After that, we can have a late dinner together and relax the rest of the evening. I will speak with you then, Shining Armor. As for yourself, Vojin, it was… unnecessary to do all of that. Enduring the Trial of Proving was faster than other means of demonstrating your capabilities, but please try to take us up on alternative options in the future.”

***

Twilight allowed a stream of water pour out of the mass she had floating over my head, rinsing the suds from my hair. I’d already rinsed off the major stuff in the shower while she drew a hot bath for me to help relax my muscles as I cleaned up. Despite it being familiar by now, I still couldn’t get over how unique it felt to have your hair washed and scrubbed by telekinesis, broad and fine at once that left a rather neat tingle on the scalp.

“I still want to know why you went through with it. It wasn’t necessary,” Twilight said with a sigh.

My arm slipped around her shoulders and pulled her a little closer as we sat together in the bath, resting my forehead against the side of her head. My eyes fell closed as I enjoyed a minute to relax with her before we got ready for dinner, “Because I was, and am, really stressed out right now, Purple Angel. We won’t have any real downtime for me to get my head around what’s happened except in the evenings all week because of the Summit. Doesn’t really fix anything, but I needed the chance to vent. Yesterday was just...just…”

Twilight turned her head and nuzzled me before she shifted her body around and settled herself in my lap, pressing the length of her body against me and pushed me back against the edge of the large tub as she cradled my head against her cheek as she whispered in my ear, “I know. I’m here with you though. You know you just have to ask… Or... Maaaaybe I could…,” she nibbled at my ear as she traced her feathers along my legs under the water, “help you…,” light nips worked across my jaw as she began rubbing against my growing reaction, “relax more…?”

She didn’t let me respond much as she found my lips and dove in, rocking against me in a slow rhythm. I was lost to her attentions as she kept threatening to move just far enough that the next slide forward would get us started, each deliberate slow shift let me feel everything short of a warmth beyond just the bath. One hand sank into her rump next to her tail, with the other sinking into her wet mane and I sank further into the kiss. The whispery gasp she let out through the kiss on purpose made me push against her a little harder.

Then, she slipped off of me with teasing slowness. There was a smug smile on her face as she used her magic to push much of the water out of her fur before stepping out.

I narrowed my eyes and couldn’t stop the half-desperate pout as I gave an exasperated grumble, now all worked up and knowing far too well she was making me wait until later. After we had dinner.

“You enjoy doing this to me a little too much. This has to be unhealthy or something,” I told her in a flat tone as I let water run off my body as I stood, not even trying to hide my ogling.

Twilight just giggled as she looked over her shoulder at me with half-lidded eyes, giving her tail a swish as she kept that smug smile, “And I also know just how much you love me teasing you when you’re tense. Besides, it’ll help you stay more alert and attentive through dinner, even if you are trying to sort things out.”

“You’ve learned to read me far too well. You sure I won’t just toss you on the bed and ravish you instead of dinner?” I said in a half-threat.

She giggled again, giving a wink as she sauntered out of the bathroom to finish drying her mane, “Promises, promises... Which...hunger...is louder right now?” Her voice was low and enticing, turning into a sultry growl, knowing she had me wrapped around her hoof if she so desired and not about to let either of us miss dinner.

Really, neither of us would be very bothered about missing dinner or the fact everyone would know exactly what we were up to if we opted to call it a night right now and lock the door. I also knew there were important things to discuss at dinner, in addition to needing a solid meal. Times like this I almost despised being responsible. It would be even more difficult when we returned to Ponyville and she had to resume her regular duties as a princess. Then we might even be forced to schedule some of our intimate moments.

It wasn’t a fun thought, however honest the assessment.

Resigned to being patient through the teasing yet again, I grumbled and moved on to some of the other things on my mind, “You know, while we were walking to the courtyard for the trial thing, I noticed the armor on the guards looked a lot different than what I thought I’d been seeing. Their armor was far more complete and nothing like the barding-style armor I saw from images on Earth. Any idea how far my perceptions were shifted by the Rose Window?”

A hint of a smirk found my face as I caught the sound of a not quite controlled huff just outside the bathroom. It vexed her when I was able to shift my focus with casual ease if I wanted to, when she lacked time and hadn’t teased me enough to really get to me. I also knew she was just as tempted to skip dinner as I was.

Twilight replied after a moment of thought, “Hmm...that’s a fairly substantial alteration. It shouldn’t normally change what you see. At least, beyond only very small ways. Have you noticed anything else so far?”

I walked out of the bathroom and grabbed a fresh change of clothes, “Luna was supposed to be a fair bit shorter than Celestia. Now I see them standing equal all of a sudden. It’s kinda weird.”

She was doing some magic on her wings to dry them more thoroughly as she mused, “That’s strange. Taking a guess without really focusing on it with proper study, it sounds like the images you knew from Earth were established strongly enough that the Rose Window altered what your mind was registering from your eyes. Of all the more unusual side effects I have heard of taking place, that’s much stronger than average. I’m glad it’s just a result of the spell fading out.”

“What do you mean, fading out? Wasn’t it happening while it was up?” I asked, finishing up the buttons on my shirt before grabbing my shoes.

“Actually, while a visual effect like that could have been present and you just wouldn’t notice, many of the spell’s side effects only happen after it’s been broken. Had the Rose Window been lifted instead, there would have been only minimal issues. The memory loss didn’t actually happen until you broke free and the resulting burst of energy poked a bunch of holes in the time period it was active, though random things from outside of that range can also be affected, if unlikely,” Twilight said as she flexed her wings a few times before rising up to put her forelegs on my shoulders and nuzzle my chin and claim a hug.

I returned the hug and gave her a sudden smoldering kiss that left her dazed for a second before she narrowed her eyes at me with a bemused smirk, turning and heading for the door as I followed, “I guess we should hurry off to dinner. Been long enough.”

***

Twilight and I entered the private dining room and found everyone was already present. Cadence must have still been chastising her husband, judging by his folded back ears and the unhappy look on his face. I couldn’t help but wonder just what the big deal was when I was fine and had even somewhat enjoyed the chance to engage in that level of fighting.

Celestia noticed us enter and gave her polite, serene smile, though the twinkle in her eye and faint pink of her cheeks gave hint of what she was thinking as she spoke, “Twilight. Vojin. I had almost begun to think a messenger was in order.”

Cadence perked up and looked at us before nuzzling Shining and leading him towards us. Twilight and I continued towards the table and met them beside it. I didn’t recognize much of the food immediately beyond some of what was in them, so it looked like all Equestrian dishes tonight. At least one looked like a cheese-covered casserole or something.

Twilight greeted Cadence and Shining with a small smile, “I assume you gave my brother an appropriate talking to?”

I kept getting more intrigued as to just what happened. Also had to wonder why Twilight didn’t say much about it yet.

“I think the three of us princesses expressed ourselves enough. Shall we do a more official introduction now, Twilight?” Cadence shot her husband a brief scowl with a tail flick before turning a brief smile to me, then looking at Twilight again.

Twilight grinned before the two of them hopped closer and began the classic greeting they had, causing me to wear a wide grin at the extreme cuteness factor while they chanted and danced, “Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!”

A chuckle managed to escape me as my fingers brushed against Twilight’s cheek after she finished her hug with Cadence, “You two are too adorable for words. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Princess Cadenza.”

Cadence grinned before she jumped up and pulled me into a hug, squeezing hard enough to pop my spine and empty my lungs with a wheeze before she pulled back enough to look down at me, standing almost a head taller on her hind legs, “Just call me Cadence. Considering how much Twilight loves you, you’re practically family already anyway. So tell me...is our dear Twilight a silent wonder, a moaner, or a screamer? How about yourself?”

Needless to say, I wasn’t expecting such a thing out of the blue like that, not to mention being asked in such a casual way. I think I heard Shining groan and Twilight spluttering in disbelief as I worked my jaw, looking at the pink princess pony before me, trying to make my brain catch up.

Once my thoughts stopped misfiring after a few seconds, I couldn’t help the devious grin that appeared on my face as I leaned closer to Cadence, almost bumping my nose against hers but stopping short from an actual touch because of the rather intimate connotation it has to ponies and getting close is a big tease, “Then you can just call me Vojin. For your question...well, I think it best I keep that a secret. However, I can tell you that it’s never been my ears that feel sore…”

“Vojin! How could you say that!” Twilight whined, her face glowing red, looking mortified.

I heard Rainbow Dash, Pinkie and Applejack guffaw while Rarity tittered. Fluttershy just gave a faint ‘oh my’ and probably started blushing. Celestia and Luna gave quiet chuckles.

Cadence blinked for a second before she laughed and let go, returning to her hooves wearing a wide smile as she looked back and forth between Twilight and I, “Oh my gosh, and he’s naughty!? Ok, I’m sold. You picked a good one, Twilight. I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship, Vojin!” Cadence gave me a wink, looking rather pleased.

A thought crossed my mind and my sense of mischief refused to be denied, pushing me to speak before I had time to think about what I was saying, though I had no reason to be concerned anyway, “You know, with the awareness of Equestria back on Earth, it spawned a whole subculture you might like to hear about sometime. Cadence, I’m curious if you’re familiar with the concept of fanfiction? Humans came up with a lot of stories about the ponies known, that’s including yourself and Shining.”

Upon seeing the intense gleam in her eyes as her smile somehow grew to Pinkie proportions however, I thought perhaps I made an error. Cadence suddenly looked almost predatory as she spoke, “Fanfiction about me and Shiny?! Oh you are now my new best friend! Twilight, I’m borrowing your stallion at least one more evening this week!”

For his part, Shining Armor had the most horrified look on his face as he managed to look pale despite his white fur. Had I just encouraged some sort of catastrophe and didn’t know it yet?

Well, at least it will probably be funny, judging by reactions, which is always a plus.

A glance at Twilight showed her facehoofing with a groan, “Vojin...you don’t know what you just did or what you got yourself into.”

“Probably not. Uh, I guess I like to live dangerously?” I offered.

She just sighed, still blushing a fair amount as she looked up at me, “Can we just eat before you say another word? Please?”

Giving her an apologetic smile, my fingers brushed through her mane a moment before I looked to Shining, “Uh...nice to see you again Shining?”

He blinked as he looked at me, looking both accusatory and pleading, his voice sounded nervous and troubled, “Vojin, you are making me think I shouldn’t leave you alone with my wife for reasons I’d never have expected…” Just what was Cadence into?

“Vojin, please just sit down…” Twilight begged, leaving me wondering just what had her and her brother so worried. Cadence looked thoughtful and eager as I settled into my seat with Twilight next to me.

As it was a bit later than the usual dinner time, conversation was light as we all ate. After we were all taking a bit to relax and let the food settle, I grew curious as I kept feeling stuck in my thoughts.

Turning to Celestia and Luna, “You know, I still can’t figure out what the whole Trial thing was about. You said it’s a tradition going back to the start of your ruling Equestria to provide a way for top ranking military members to voice reasonable dissent and pretty much require you to allow certain processes to take place because you don’t know everything. What I don’t get is why you seemed to be angry with Shining about it. He was looking to help me out with something I’d never have considered. There has to be something I’m missing here.”

Once the sisters shared a glance, Luna gave a small sigh, giving Shining a frown before looking back to me, “My friend, as you have no awareness of all that took place, and what didn’t take place, I will give you a short summary. Should you wish to know the details, there are plenty of books on the subject you may read. Were I to expound upon all that went on, we would find ourselves still here talking with the rising sun.

“The Trial of Proving is part of a system of checks and balances. As you said, it is a way for our most trusted ponies to challenge my sister and I in a manner we encourage, should they perceive something we may have missed. However, there are a number of steps Shining Armor chose to skip. While I now understand his motivations and admit to seeing their wisdom, by circumventing those steps and moving immediately to laying out the challenge, he essentially made a vote of no confidence in our leadership.”

Raising a brow after a pause to think, “So Shining basically gave you a direct insult but, because of protocol, you had to agree to permit the Trial?”

Luna nodded, “That is correct. The usual process takes as much as a week before the Trial would be held. Shining Armor felt it necessary to invoke the Trial immediately given present circumstances. Having heard his explanation, I am reluctant but must agree with his assessment. You needed to make such demonstration. Even waiting until the last day of the Summit would have been far less effective. Now the Guard shall have quite a story to tell alongside mention of you, in addition to earning your status as a Proven combatant. I must say though, despite your minimal experience, few have stood hoof to hoof with Shining Armor and matched him enough to claim as many clean hits. To say nothing of your one victory over him when you broke through his shield. That action alone will make you something of a minor legend amongst the Guard as nopony but his teachers have ever done such.”

“Huh, well is it bad that I already made plans with him for a rematch after I’ve gotten more training and experience?” I asked, unable to control my grin from sneaking through a little.

Luna snorted, a small smirk on her face, “My friend, I find myself wondering if you enjoy such abuse. Should such a day come, however, do let me know for I would wish to bear witness to the match.”

Giving a small chuckle, I nodded, “I’ll be sure to let you know. Something else I wanted to mention though and it relates to breaking out of the Rose Window, if you don’t mind my asking?”

Luna frowned and looked to the side before meeting my eyes again, seeming to prepare herself a moment, “We have...informed Shining Armor and Cadence of the situation before you arrived. All now present are aware of what took place, so you may speak of it freely. What did you wish to ask of me?”

The more time I had to think, the more I was accepting it as over with. Seeing how much care Luna was approaching the subject with was starting to make me feel guilty. Still, what was done was done, so I asked the question that was on my mind, “When did you get to be the same size as Celestia?”

For her part, Celestia froze as she took a sip of tea, the twinkle in her eye looked mirthful as Luna blinked and appeared uncertain of how to respond.

Once I realized how the question sounded, I coughed and added, “I mean, back on Earth, images of you always had you shorter than Celestia. When I started the Trial, you were shorter than her but when it was over, you were the same height. Twilight said it had something to do with a perception shift from the Rose Window changing things to fit established expectations or something to that effect. I just wanted to know how much of that I should be expecting while the two months pass. I’ve also found a lot of memories were affected since I broke it.”

Celestia’s look transformed from mirth to sadness and guilt, her voice soft as she set down her teacup, “I fear you may be one of the unlucky few that receive the harsher side effects. We will need to run a few specialized scanning spells at the end of the week before you leave, it seems. Everything should return as expected, but on the small chance you are experiencing one of the rare long-term problems, we will wish to catch it before you leave. Do not worry if you are, though. It is a simple enough matter to correct and leave you no lasting effect. It would even reduce your recovery time by as much as a month if you are so affected and meet the conditions to receive the spell.”

Giving a frown, I looked at my cup of green tea for a long moment before looking back up at her and nodding, “Alright. Is this kinda like how I was pretty much allergic to the necromantic energy of the Timberwolves?”

“Yes. While it is fortunately nothing more than an inconvenience in this case, that is not a mistaken assessment. It is our duty to see you restored after such an error,” Celestia said as she studied me.

Giving her a nod, I took a sip of my own tea before meeting her eyes again, “I don’t suppose you could also get a read on other kinds of magic I’ll have a potentially unusual reaction with? I’d rather not be taken out of action because I had some unknown magic allergy. And bloody hell, that sounds so weird to say...”

“We will plan to work on that as well, my friend. You are right. If you are to act as a shield for the Bearers, it would be careless of us not to check such things now. Whether you are vulnerable just to the unique effects of Timberwolves or if it is necromantic energy in general, as well as any further magics that may have unusual resonance, we will learn of them. We must tell you now though, the spells will give us a great deal of information about your magical signature and how things will affect you, but it will take us quite time to review,” Luna said, then turned her eyes to Twilight, “Twilight Sparkle, might we task you with this review as well? It will be best if you took the lead on this as you will have Vojin present for any confirmations of what you find. We would have to either visit you in Ponyville or summon the two of you to Canterlot each time we needed to make certain of anything we might discover.”

Twilight nodded, “You know I’d be happy to help. I still remember studying my own magical signature while I was living in Canterlot, so I shouldn’t have any problems but I will want you to look over my findings to be sure I’m not missing anything. I don’t want to miss something that could end up hurting Vojin.”

“We will, Twilight. As we will retain a copy of the readings, you need only let us know the markers to look for and we will get back to you after taking a look for ourselves,” Celestia replied.

“You can tell a lot from magical signatures, I take it?”

When all the magic users, including even Rarity, looked at me strange, I expected that was something else I’d forgotten, something very basic even, as I sighed as I looked down, “Chalk up another thing to my missing memories, I guess. I’m...starting to think I better hold off on practicing magic until I remember everything again, on account of possibly being a risk to myself... It could go really bad if I unknowingly neglected safe practices during a teleport or something…”

Twilight’s hoof stroked my arm, drawing my attention away from playing with my teacup in discomfort to look at her wearing a comforting expression and a soft smile that brought me calm for the rest of our dinner gathering.

***

I sat on the edge of the bed, elbows on my knees with head in my hands, my thoughts running as Twilight jumped up to sit behind me and snuggled up against my back. She nuzzled into my hair behind my head as her hooves wrapped around my shoulders, ready for bed.

After holding me close for a while, she spoke a gentle inquiry, “What’s troubling you?”

At first I didn’t want to tell her, but the thought was dismissed a moment later as I leaned back against her, lifting one of her hooves to kiss it before pulling her a little closer and turning my head to one side to see her, “Now that you saw me pretty much turn into an enraged animal during the Trial, part of me is still waiting for some kind of fear response. I get that you’re not afraid of me. It’s just hard to shake it off after being afraid of scaring the one I found love with for so long. I probably just need some time to get it through my head is all.”

Twilight hummed softly and leaned closer to nuzzle my cheek, taking a deep sniff against my hair and skin with eyes closed. She didn’t reply right away, instead squeezing me with her forelegs before she exhaled in a contented sigh, a rather content smile on her face as she opened her eyes to look at me again, “I’ll say it as many times as you need me to, Vojin. I am not afraid of you. Not now and not ever. I love the fires of strength inside you just as much as the placid lakes of how gentle you can be. I know you will never, ever hurt me.”

Giving a short laugh at how sappy we were acting, I twisted a little and pulled her into a hug of my own, taking my own deep sniff of her mane and filling my lungs with the scent of her. Not letting go, I nuzzled a little deeper, “No worries at all? Were you worried you might be scared of me until you finally saw me at my most savage?”

Twilight pulled back and smiled, giving a soft shake of her head, “No worries left. I admit I was worried I might be scared because of how much you were afraid of me feeling that way. Now that I’ve seen that side of you, I can safely say there’s nothing for me to be afraid of. I could still feel you through our link. Of everything you were feeling and experiencing, you still had a thread of love towards me the whole time. I think even if you went crazy for some reason, so long as I still felt that, you will never try to harm me. I trust you,” and with that, Twilight pulled back with a now sly smile, her horn igniting.

Moments later, she levitated over some lengths of rope, a bar and a small bag.

She laid on her back as the rope bound her forelegs, the bar getting tied to her hind hooves so they remained spread, more rope bound her wings so they couldn’t open, and the little bag was now hovering near her head as she gave me a calm, but playful, smile, “I trust you, Vojin. Enough to put myself completely and utterly at your mercy even after watching you fight like that. In this bag is something I finished last week and I’ve been wondering when was a good time to show you. I think now is just right.”

The small bag untied itself and turned over as it floated over her head. Twilight lifted her head and bit her lip with a nervous look as she swallowed before the bag allowed a ring to drop straight onto her horn with a tiny click. A faint hum sounded for a moment before the bag suddenly fell, her spell cut off by what could only be a magic-disabling ring. What little I knew about them and the complex spellwork involved told me some of how much effort she’d put in for this. There was no way for her to remove it herself. It would remain stuck unless pulled away by someone else.

I looked at Twilight with a raised brow, “What exactly are you doing, Purple Angel?”

After some experimentation and trying a few things, I’d found Twilight was quite comfortable getting tied up. That in itself was nothing new.

What she had told me before though, was that she was very uncomfortable with the idea of having her magic blocked. It was something that scared her deep down and we hadn’t even gone near the idea before.

The small shivers I could see from her hooves and tense look on her face said just how on edge she was. The scared look in her eyes wasn’t because she was afraid of me, but rather a pleading, fearful look that begged me not to leave. The fact she was brave enough to tie herself up and then cut off her own magic, leaving her no possible way to get herself free said a great deal about how much she trusted me.

She was willing to render herself entirely helpless and put herself at my mercy. Just to show she wasn’t afraid of me, regardless of how clearly she was fighting off terror in front of me.

“Y-you can h-have me however you w-want me,” she whispered, swallowing again before she continued with tears at the edges of her eyes, “J-just p-please don’t l-l-leave the room, o-okay?”

“And what if...I wanted to...keep you like this...all night…?” I asked her slowly as I started to move closer, laying down beside her and staring into her eyes with a bit of wonder.

“H-h-however…..y-you want me… T-tonight, I am y-yours alone… In e-every way you desire,” she replied in another whisper, her eyes almost begging me to hold her.

My eyes closed as a faint smile crossed my lips, taking a moment to listen to her shuddering breaths and feel her body trembling as I ran a hand along her side, up to cup her cheek before meeting her eyes again. She went to this extreme just to prove she wasn’t afraid of me.

Something inside, a piece of ice that never seemed to go away, melted into oblivion as my heart swelled at witnessing her display. At seeing her so ready to surrender herself to me.

“Thank you, Purple Angel. This...means a lot to me,” I said before capturing her lips in a kiss that started delicate and grew fierce as I pulled her side against my chest, relishing the feel of her fur against my bare skin as much as the feel of her surrender filled my heart. Twilight whimpered into my lips as our tongues chased one another. My thumb brushed across her cheek fur, my exhaustion taking a back seat now.

It was a few minutes before I pulled back, panting a little and giving her a hungry look. Twilight was trying to catch her breath as well, looking more relaxed even as her trembling form showed no signs of going still. Slipping a hand down to her lower belly to tease her teats drew a powerful shudder and a groan from her as she squirmed, a testament to how sensitive she was right now. It gave me a smile as we stared at each other for a long silent moment.

Twilight was still panting a little as a hungry look began to fight the frightened one she already wore that was losing ground, “I think I...w-wouldn’t mind….a-all night...s-so you know…”

I gave a throaty chuckle, leaning in to press my nose to hers with a smirk, “Then I better show you just how grateful I am... But I should warn you now, I think I’m going to need longer than just one night...”

Bk 1 Ch 22: Oddball Evenings

Author's Notes:

To think I was just going to make a few comments on all this in passing, rather than lay it out in an independent chapter like this. Such is one of the lessons I've learned from working on other stories. Enjoy an excited Cadence, spicy things, and Rainbow Dash getting tormented for fun.

On the second evening of the Royal Summit, Twilight and I were walking down one of the lavish hallways not long after having dinner with Shining and Cadence, on our way to join our friends for some hangout time and idle relaxing. It’s almost funny how draining attentive boredom can be.

Our plans were diverted though, when I had a scant moment of warning before a pair of pink forelegs wearing gold slippers suddenly wrapped around my shoulders and a suppressed giggle rang in my ear. Then there was a flash of light and sound as I got teleported.

At the other side of the teleport, I found myself tossed back onto a plush couch in a small lounging room, blinking at a grinning Cadence and wondering what just happened.

“Heeheehee! I just had to run off with you to ask you some questions, Vojin! What do you know about fanfiction on Earth? Can you tell me about ones with Shiny and me? Tell me, tell me, tell me!” Cadence rushed out, almost bouncing on her hooves and wiggling around as she eyed me with almost unsettling intensity and interest in her excitement, a massive grin on her face.

I could only blink in confusion as I tried to catch up to what just happened, more boggled than anything and responding without really thinking about it as I tried to make sense of the situation, “I, uh, well...there’s a lot of romance stories about you two. Sometimes they were pretty tame, then there were others that were not tame at all. Lot of different ideas about what kind of love you stood for, ranging from almost platonic, sex-free love with you as a total prude, all the way to something you could define more as an excuse for raw lust, I suppose.”

“Hmm...I’ll bet some of them practically made me out to be a sex goddess! I don’t have a problem with that, since I’m quite proud to be a pervert, despite some of my image necessitating a partial appearance of misplaced chastity for the public. I’m a monogamous married mare. Seriously, I am so not chaste now that I bet I could make sailors blush to the tips of their ears if I started getting into exhibitionism! Nothing wrong with some good and wild, crazy consensual sex after all, considering how intrinsic it can be to healthy romance and trust between two ponies in love. To top it off, I’m horny by default,” she motioned to her horn with a smirk, “I’m sure you and Twilight know well enough by now from your own exploits, heehee! How about Shiny? What kinds of things did humans write about him?” Cadence asked as she moved a little closer, ears perked forward as her wings fluttered and shifted in her eagerness. Much closer, she’d have to put her forelegs on either side and be standing over me on the couch.

I was still trying to get a grip on what was happening as I leaned back a bit, blushing at her comments about Twilight and I at the same time I caught a surprising amount of anxiety from Twilight through our link and noted she seemed to be rushing in my direction, feeling like I should worry about just giving Cadence what she wants until Twilight could arrive. I had the distinct suspicion Cadence teleported us to the furthest away spot in the castle as I answered my inquisitor, hoping Shining wouldn’t be too bothered, “Uh, well, he tends to be a strong military guy. Devoted husband and protector. I’m sure you could guess that. Often gets the claim of being a pretty well-equipped stallion, too. I do remember seeing a somewhat common theme where he likes to be submissive behind closed doors and lets you have your way with him.”

“YES! I knew it!” Cadence pranced in place, letting out a squeal before giggling like a loon as her wings started to stiffen, then turned away and started pacing with a grumpy look, muttering under her breath low enough I wasn’t sure I was supposed to hear, “Now if I could just get him to play along and let me mount him more often…”

I decided to ignore that part in it’s entirety. I wasn’t even sure what made me say what I had to begin with.

Whipping back to me after a moment longer, Cadence pressed for more as she leaned in again, “Oh you have no idea how much I like fanfiction. It’s sometimes hard to manage, but I try to go to the fanfiction clubs and conventions whenever I get a chance. Usually have to go incognito of course, but it’s so much fun to see the ideas other ponies come up with and trade stories with them! They can get away with stuff that would never be printed mainstream. I love it!

“Now, before Twilight and Shining inevitably crash my party since you and Twilight always know where each other is, I want you to promise to write me a story! I promise I’ll do one about you and Twilight if you do one about me and Shiny! Please write me a story? Please? I’ll make sure Twilight has a copy of my favorite positions book! Pretty please?”

By this point, with Cadence now standing over me on the couch with what I’d call a somewhat crazy pout and puppy eyes, I was so off balance I just opted to surrender to her wishes, giving her an awkward smile and a nod, “Uh, sure, I guess? I think I can do a story, though it might take a while to complete.”

Cadence darted in to nuzzle my cheek before she hopped back to a relaxed posture and seemed to be wearing a smug, satisfied grin, the sudden disappearance of her seeming manic energy making me wonder what just happened even more, “Great! I know you’re busy with your studies and the upcoming preparations, so don’t worry about trying to rush or anything. It’ll take me a while too, but how about within a year, if not sooner? That should give us both enough time. Don’t let me down now! I hope you’ll try including stuff from Earth, too!”

“I...I can try,” I replied, blinking at the self-admitted pervert of a crazy pink pony princess as the door to the small lounge flew open and both Twilight and Shining rushed in.

Both of them stopped just inside the door and looked back and forth at Cadence and I for several seconds, taking in the bewildered expression I wore and the smug look on Cadence.

After a lengthy pause, Shining just groaned and put a hoof to his face, “We’re too late, Twily.”

Twilight gave her own groan, ears going flat to her head as she shuffled over to the couch and flopped down next to me, prodding me with a hoof as she spoke in a low voice, “Let’s just get it over with. What did she get out of you?”

I gave her a sheepish grin, Cadence and Shining having their own quiet conversation a short distance away as I answered, “Um, not too much, really. A little about how Shining and Cadence get represented in fanfiction on Earth. You two got here before we were able to talk that much. Is she always this crazy?”

“Only when she’s really excited about something, to be honest. This isn’t the first time she’s foalnapped somepony for similar reasons. I went with her to a fanfiction club meetup once and she nabbed one of her favorite writers for almost half an hour, pestering the poor mare with a ton of questions before she came back. I can only imagine what she’d have thought if she knew the Princess of Love was a big fan of her Daring Do and Spitfire romance series. She’s also really excited I’m finally in love with somepony after pestering me so long to get a coltfriend. Then there’s also her fanfiction fetish. Oh, um, you didn’t tell her anything about how Shining is written in Earth stories, did you?” Twilight said with a exasperated look.

“Heh, um...afraid so. That’s not bad, is it?”

She facehoofed and let out a deep sigh, “Should I even ask what you told her?”

Shining’s voice was still quiet, but easy enough to hear as he got louder without intending to, “Oh buck me…”

Cadence let out a husky laugh, catching my eye for a brief moment, eyes glinting with satisfaction, “That’s kinda the idea, honey. You made the bet, after all. You know you like it too, or we never would.”

Twilight went bright red with a horrified look as she glanced at the two of them, then back to me, one eye twitching as she hissed, “Anything else you told her?”

I gulped at her agitated, glowing red, exasperated face, “Uh...she somehow got me to agree to write her a fanfiction about her and Shining, and she’d write one about us?”

Then poor Twilight paled, “Oh please tell me she didn’t ask for something explicit… Oh no… You probably didn’t think to tell her not to write anything explicit either, did you?”

“I’m still just trying to figure out what all just happened. Should I have?”

And Twilight went back to bright red as she whimpered, hiding her face against my chest, a little muffled as she replied, “That’s it, I’m doomed. If you didn’t tell her not to, it’s pretty much guaranteed she’s going to write at least one sex scene between us in whatever she writes. Knowing how happy she is with me finding love, it might be nothing but sex scenes...,” her voice dropped to a whisper, “Oh buck me…”

Unable to help it, I chuckled a little, receiving a light sock in the shoulder as she lifted her head. Her face still afire as I leaned in a little closer as a thought crossed my mind, whispering in a low growl next to her ear, “Well, I might do just that if it’s something good. It might be fun to try and…act it out…”

Twilight gasped and leaned back with wide eyes and her mouth hung open, gaping like a fish before she shivered and leaned closer to whisper back, “That...that shouldn’t sound so hot…”

“Heh, well I can at least write something clean for her, since I didn’t promise anything explicit, ok?” I whispered back, earning a faint thank you in response.

After that, I just started chuckling and pulled her against my chest a bit more, looking over to see Cadence still wearing a smug smile and Shining with an obvious blush on his cheeks as he gave me a grumpy look.

Shining cleared his throat, eyeing me with a deadpan expression, “Once again, somehow my lovely wife has managed to get what she was after. I take it back. I don’t like you anymore, Vojin. You are a horrible creature. And I’ll make sure one of the trainers I pick knows just how much you deserve everything they can do to you. I think I have a great choice in mind already. She’s even taller than you are, to top it off.”

Rather than worry, I gave him a mischievous grin, “If you don’t give me your best, I’ll be disappointed, Shining. You have fun with Cadence.”

His eyes widened as his blush grew before narrowing his eyes, a ghost of a smirk present, “Yeah, you’re an absolutely horrible creature, alright… Still, I suppose it could have been worse, if Twilight didn’t always know where to find you.”

“Yeah, honey. I didn’t even get to ask if there were any stories about you and Twily getting it on!” Cadence added with a wicked grin as she looked back to me, “Vojin, you wouldn’t believe the massive crush Twilight had on her brother when she was a filly! It was so adorable!”

Both of the sibling’s ears drooped as their mouths fell open, then glanced at each other for a brief moment. Twilight squeaked in mortification before curling up into a ball, trying to hide behind her wings and my side. I think her entire head was glowing with embarrassment at this point as I put an arm over her. Shining just let out a faint whine before laying on the floor and covering his head and face with his forelegs, his white fur doing nothing to hide how bright his blush was now.

I just put my free hand to my face and started laughing at the sheer insanity of it all, having given up on making sense of anything else for the rest of the night. Cadence just giggled away with me.

***

On the third evening, we were sitting down to dinner in the dining hall after yet another day that dragged on, full of endless important details I had little to no reference for and boredom. It wasn’t quite so terrible to me, considering I was learning a number of things about Equestria and pony thought processes in a fair number of subjects. They really were quite similar to humans in that regard, minus any very prevalent self-interested motivations by contrast, from what I could tell so far.

When everyone present had gotten seated, a blue earth pony in a chef’s hat and coat approached the table near the Princesses and spoke in a professional tone, “Good evening, Your Highnesses, and guests. Tonight we have planned for you a treat of comparative eating. Some more dishes from Mr Drayce’s world, ‘Thai food’ I believe was the name, will be set against some Buffalo tribe entrees. Please be advised that both groups make substantial use of peppers and heat, so most dishes will be quite spicy.

“For those that do not wish to accidentally exceed their tolerance, please be aware of how many red marks are on the edge of any given dish. There will be anywhere from five red marks in a group, down to none at all, according to the heat of the entree. As you finish a selection, a server will provide your next request. I very much hope you all enjoy your meal this evening, everypony. Bon appetit.”

I was interested already, watching as the servers started bringing out a multitude of dishes on different carts covered in a wide array of spicy-looking delights, soon providing the table with the first round of some sort of sauce-covered leafy roll I didn’t recognize with no marks on the edge of the plate, leaving me to assume it was something from the Buffalo tribe list and not spicy. Most of the dishes nearby looked to have obvious peppers of various kinds visible in one form or another, even if just as accents on the plate. Most of the portions were pretty small, but that was fine with quantity behind it.

As I finished my second plate, four red marks on the edge, I heard Rainbow having a quiet argument with AJ about who could take the hottest foods. I knew where this was going already and grinned, quite happy to egg them on, “Rainbow, AJ, are you two going to start trying to outdo each other with who can eat the spiciest thing?”

Rainbow smirked at me, looking confident in herself, “Why? You think you could keep up or something?”

“I think I could do just fine. You game? How about you, AJ? And you, Pinkie?” I asked them, looking at each in turn. I already knew Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy wouldn’t.

Rainbow gave me an evil grin, “Oh, it’s on now! Five mark plates only from now until dinner’s over!”

Applejack spoke up with her own grin, “Heh, works for me! Y’all ain’t had Granny’s secret spicy apple salsa. That stuff’ll set yer mane on fire.”

Pinkie giggled, “I’m in!”

“How about you Celestia? Luna?” I said as I looked over at them.

Celestia looked smug and Luna wore a smirk as she looked at me, “I fear it would be unfair if my sister and I were to participate. We do not have quite the same response to spicy foods as our little ponies do.”

“Huh, oh well. Spike?” I asked, glancing over at him.

“No thanks. Besides, I’m a dragon. There’s only one pepper that has any effect on us and they didn’t use it tonight,” he replied.

I’d have to ask one of the servers or something, if not look it up myself, wondering why that was.

Shrugging, I looked back at my three fellow competitors and grinned, “Five marks it is.”

Over the course of seven more small plates, each had a boatload of flavor even over the spicy peppers involved, having the servers bring us ever hotter dishes in the five mark group, our four-way battle was running even. My face was sweating and I needed to blow my nose a couple times, but it wasn’t too bad. I watched AJ and Rainbow going through similar reactions, with sweating faces and runny noses.

Pinkie made me wonder though. She only had a decent blush and little sweat on her brow. She gave me a wink as she bit into what looked like a stuffed habanero. The Pink One continues to mystify.

I’d also asked Twilight if she knew the pepper that Spike mentioned and she was happy to tell me plenty about it as we ate, going over everything from appearance to growing conditions. Apparently, it was called Torment of Tartarus, created a couple decades ago for the express purpose to give dragons something with bite. A semi-magical pepper that naturally grew red with white stripes and was even known to glow in the dark a little, it also required special handling by chefs with appropriate training to prevent a visit to the hospital. It was obvious I’d never touch one. Fire-breathers called it spicy. I already knew not to touch Bhut Jolokia pods on Earth, so I felt quite comfortable adding to the list of peppers I’d never go near.

And after seven, a thought also struck me and I decided to admit defeat, regardless of tolerance, “Well, as much as I wouldn’t mind continuing this myself, girls, I think I’m going to throw in the towel. I do have to consider whom I sleep next to, after all.”

Rainbow was panting after slugging down another drink and looking smug as she asked for another plate, “Quitting already? Hah! Too bad, you just can’t keep up with us I guess.”

As I requested a plate with no marks next, Twilight nudged me with a knowing smirk as she whispered, “Thank you. I guess I won’t have to make you sleep on the floor tonight after all.”

I chuckled a little, leaning close to her, “I might be a little masochistic at times, but I know some things just aren’t worth it in the morning. Not to mention knowing it’d make you happy if I drew the line.”

Twilight let out a content sigh and nuzzled me in response, wearing a little smile for the rest of dinner.

Both of the Princesses and Spike had nothing but five mark plates the whole time like it was ice cream.

***

A short while later, Twilight and I were in a reading room with the Rainbow, AJ, and Rarity. Joining us was the one and only Captain Spitfire.

She wanted a chance to chat with me after dinner, so here we were. Introductions and initial pleasantries were made and we settled in for what I hoped would be a fun conversation.

Spitfire didn’t waste time as she smirked at me, “So tell me, Vojin. Am I right that you recognized me when you walked into the Royal Summit the first day?”

Returning her smirk with one of my own, I nodded, “Yes I did. Not too many Wonderbolts are known on Earth, with yourself and Soarin’ being the most famous. I’d also recognize Fleetfoot. How many Wonderbolts are there, anyway?”

“Heh, that’s pretty cool. As for how many of us there are...well, usually we keep it between 5-6 teams of eight pegasi each, with a couple in training or alternates, for active Wonderbolts. Varies a bit, depending if somepony retires, steps down, or chooses to join a different part of the service for whatever reason. Reserve force of pre-selected candidates is usually a little over five thousand,” Spitfire replied.

I blinked, curious about the disparity as Twilight laid her head on my lap, content to listen and let my fingers run through her mane, “That seems like a wide spread. There a particular reason behind it?”

Spitfire nodded after she took a sip of her drink, “Sure is. Basically, the Reserves are a sort of ‘just in case’ aspect of our full military role, there on the chance the Wonderbolts ever needed to go fully active. Not to bring the mood down, but what we’re getting prepared for might actually see us there for once. Anyway, while it’s true that most Reservists never become active Wonderbolts, a lot of ponies sign up just to be part of our crew. When we’re off doing shows or missions, it’s usually most or all Reservists acting as our support crew, helping move gear and supplies, that sort of stuff. As every Reservist meets a minimum standard, it’s also a lot easier on finding the right pegasi to call up to active status too, since we know a lot about everypony in the ranks,” her eyes made a surreptitious flick to Rainbow with a smirk, who was quite attentive and sitting next to her, “...when we think they’re old enough and ready for it.”

“You know, I couldn’t help noticing that you’re both Captain of the Wonderbolts, and in command of Equestria’s Pegasi Forces. I’d think those duties would conflict with each other,” I said, giving her a small smirk in response, “Got another one for me, first?”

She rubbed her chin with a fetlock before a curious expression appeared, “Yeah, I got one. I heard about your little encounter last night with Princess Cadence. Left me really curious how I get portrayed and who I get paired with and all that. And as far as potential conflicts, well, it’s not as big a challenge as you’d think. The Wonderbolts are technically still part of the Pegasi Forces, even if we’re autonomous. A lot of stuff lines up pretty well.”

That inquiry had me grinning in mischief, making sure I didn’t look at Rainbow and give anything away, “Oh, I could tell you a few things. Generally, you get presented as a confident, sexy firecracker of a mare. Often with some kind of famous temper, too. As for who you’d get paired with...well, I remember it usually was Soarin’ or certain adventurous mare that pretty much worships the clouds you walk on, with Fleetfoot also being on the list from time to time. You know the mare too, considering she’s sitting right next to you.”

I saw Rainbow’s eyes widen with a glimmer of worry at that, even as Spitfire’s eyebrows began to climb before she looked to the side, a devious smirk starting to form on the older mare’s face.

I could already see the fun coming.

At this point, both Rarity and AJ had gained a rather intense interest in goings on, instead of just relaxing and enjoying the company. Both of them were starting to grin.

Spitfire eyed Rainbow with that devious smirk, “Oh ho ho! I know you’re a big fan, Rainbow Dash, but can it be you’ve had your eyes on more than just my maneuvers?”

“I, uh…um...,” was all Rainbow could get out as her face started to flush, causing Spitfire’s smirk to grow into a full-blown mischievous grin.

“What’s this, Dash? You don’t happen to have a...a crush on me, do you?” Spitfire said in a voice that was getting lower and more sultry with every syllable.

All Rainbow could do was blush, only managing a squeak in response.

Looking smug, Spitfire turned back to me as her eyes danced, giving me the impression she was just getting warmed up, wanting to take her time messing with Rainbow and extract every single ounce of entertainment the imminent teasing was going to provide, “Heh. So tell me, Vojin. I understand you know about us ponies from a show of some sort, and since I apparently made an appearance, what did you get to see?”

Chuckling for a moment, I replied, “Well, there was the Best Young Fliers competition when Rainbow pulled her Sonic Rainboom, a bit from that Grand Galloping Gala that was a little more exciting than planned, Spike and his greed growth down in Ponyville, Rainbow’s initial time at the Wonderbolts Academy, and stuff with the Equestria Games, at least so far as Rainbow was involved. I don’t suppose you could share your side of one of those?”

As I talked, I noticed each time I said Rainbow’s name, Spitfire brushed her feathers against Rainbow’s wing, causing the boisterous mare’s eyes to widen a touch and her blush to deepen just a little further. Yeah, Spitfire was going to drag things out alright. Rarity and AJ were also enjoying the show, and by the time tonight ended, I was sure none of us were going to let Rainbow live this down anytime soon.

“Sure. I figure that run in with Spike is a good one for right now,” Spitfire said, her wing now making lazy traces around the contours of Rainbow’s wing as she acted like nothing was happening, leaving Rainbow Dash with a healthy blush as she tried not to react, “Now at the time, we didn’t know it was Spike. At least, Princess Celestia didn’t mention it when she sent us out. All we knew was a wingless dragon was stomping around nearby Ponyville and we needed to chase him out of town to minimize the damage, and that we were to only resort to direct attacks if the dragon became a threat to the townsfolk. Found out later that greed growth is always young dragons and Princess Celestia hoped it could be resolved peacefully.

“Thankfully, Spike was surprisingly well-behaved and trying to avoid damaging any buildings as he wandered around town. Only damage he caused was a result of just being too big in a space too small. We were worried at first when he nabbed Miss Rarity, but he wasn’t trying to harm her, and later learned that was just him and his greed for things he valued. Kinda helped a bit too, since it was ultimately Miss Rarity that was able to get Spike to return to his senses again,” Spitfire’s yellow wing kept tracing along Rainbow’s blue one, the slow strokes grew longer over time as Rarity chimed in.

“Oh, I didn’t do all that much, Captain Spitfire. My little Spikey-wikey didn’t need much convincing once he realized I was talking to him. That gem he’d given me helped catch his attention, but it was his own good heart that stopped him really. My words only made him pause long enough to realize what he was doing,” Rarity had a sly smile as she watched the display between the two pegasi.

“On the show, he also managed to catch the three Wonderbolts flying around with the Ponyville water tower he’d been sticking loot into. Caught them and jammed it into the mountain so you were trapped. How’d that go?” I asked.

Spitfire smirked at that, even as her wing started applying a little more pressure against Rainbow, feathers slipping under feathers a little now, leaving Rainbow struggling to sit still while wearing a furious blush, “Actually, there were four of us, and he tried just that with the water tower a few times, but didn’t catch any of us. We’re a little too fast to fall for that. I’m happy everypony involved came out of that safe and sound, even if we did struggle to catch Spike and Rarity falling out of the sky when the greed growth suddenly reversed like it did. Would’ve gone very different if he’d gotten dangerous, but thankfully, we don’t have to worry about it now. How popular are the Wonderbolts on your world, anyway?”

“How popular your team is...well, that’s a little hard to measure. I already know now that you’re a proper military group, combat duties and all that, alongside doing performances. A lot of the time, since there was little shown apart from the Wonderbolts being a performance team, that’s how you get perceived. Superstar performers in Equestria. Specifically to your fame among fans back on Earth though...it’s just hard to say. Very well known and people liked what they saw. Of the millions of fans of the show, I’d say most were probably fans of the Wonderbolts, too.” I told her, getting a kick out of the unusual entertainment this evening, “I understand you’re a little more involved than just Captain of the Wonderbolts though. What else do you do? I’m pretty sure you perform regularly.”

By this point, Spitfire’s feathers were sliding down along Rainbow’s side and under her wing, then tracing back across the outside before repeating the process, leaving Rainbow struggling not to react as her wings started to twitch from time to time. I was just waiting for her wings to escape her control and spread, leaving her open to even worse teasing, though she was making a valiant effort so far. Was it going to be a slow rise, or would they just snap open?

Spitfire looked thoughtful for a moment, her torment of Rainbow Dash continuing unabated like she wasn’t even aware of her own actions. It was the occasional glances and mischief in her eyes that said it was all very intentional. I had the distinct impression she loved to be a complete and utter tease.

“Well, I’m head of Team One of the Wonderbolts, and have been for just over ten years now, a bit longer than I’ve been Captain of the Wonderbolts. My team is the best of the best in the ranks. Soarin’ and Fleetfoot are on Team One as well, along with Misty Fly for our airshows, not counting our four alternates. We usually handle all domestic performances and missions, with the other teams taking duties abroad. Certainly keeps my flank nice and tight, doesn’t it Rainbow Dash?” Spitfire added with a wicked grin and a grip of her wing against Rainbow’s.

Poor Rainbow made a visible gulp as her wings twitched again, her blush was a lost cause and she was struggling to steady her voice, “Yes ma’am-I mean no! Wait, I mean you’re tight-I mean, you flank’s tight-I, uh, I mean--!”

I was fighting the urge to start laughing as Spitfire touched a feather to Rainbow’s lips to silence her stumbling, noticing Twilight, AJ, and Rarity were all shaking in silent laughter to some degree.

Spitfire leaned to the side to be closer to Rainbow, nuzzling her at the corner of her lips, speaking in a low voice but loud enough the rest of us could hear, “You seem tense. Is there something I can help you get off your wings, Dashie?” Spitfire ended her statement with a faint, yet brazen kiss to the corner of Rainbows mouth.

That proved to be her limit and Rainbow’s wings popped open with a snap after an initial slow rise, leaving her to shudder, “C-Captain, I-I-I…”

“Ssshhh…,” Spitfire hushed her as she put a hoof under Rainbow’s chin to turn her face to her, just a breath away from touching their muzzles together, her voice thick with temptation, “Naughty pegasus. Popping a full wingie in front of your Captain like this. And in front of some of your best friends, too. Do try to behave yourself, Dashie. If it wasn’t against protocol, I’d be inclined to take you straight back to my room and make sure to give you a very… intensive… reprimand.”

Rainbow Dash whimpered, panting as her head dipped when Spitfire’s hoof wasn’t holding up her chin, wings quivering as she couldn’t do anything but sit there with obvious desire in her eyes, shifting her position a bit in a certain discomfort. I could only guess how worked up poor Rainbow was at this point and not able to do a thing about it.

It was the kind of hilarious where you can control your urge to laugh enough to remain silent, but you’re still on the verge of crying from it.

Spitfire talked with us for a few more minutes before she had to depart to get back to work. The entire time, she wouldn’t let Rainbow’s wings go down as she kept brushing against her with wing or hoof, or sometimes even a strategic nuzzle. If it wasn’t so funny, one of us might have tried to help spare her a little at some point, though judging by the faint blushes on both AJ and Rarity, it was getting to more than just Rainbow. Twilight had even pawed at my leg with her hooves as she lay in my lap and shuffled closer.

“It’s been fun getting to chat with you, Vojin, but I gotta get a few more things done before I can call it a night,” Spitfire commented before moving close to Rainbow Dash’s ear, whispering something that made her eyes first appear a little disappointed and accepting, then widen and she panted harder, giving a restrained gasp as Spitfire nibbled on her ear before pulling away and standing up.

Twilight hopped off my lap to stand, stretching herself out and letting me get up as well, with me sharing a hoofbump with Spitfire, “It’s been great to talk with you too, Captain. I hope we can do it again at some point.”

She smirked and nodded, “I hope so too. Ha! Look at me, making friends with a living myth! See ya at the Summit in the morning, Vojin.”

That made me snort in amusement as I watched her say goodbye to the rest and head off, myself turning to Twilight and the girls and seeing them directing mischievous grins at Rainbow.

Rainbow looked like she was standing before the gallows as she hung her head. Her wings were still trembling slightly.

“Ya know, RD, Ah knew ya liked her, but ta see ya have it that bad sure was a surprise. Still, Ah figure there’ll be plenty of time ta tease ya bout this down the road. Ah still owe ya for that last prank ya pulled on me though, so don’t ya go thinkin’ Ah’m gonna forget anytime soon,” Applejack said with obvious amusement in her tone, poking her in the wing joint and getting a visible shudder in response from the overexcited pegasus.

Rainbow gave a half-hearted scowl at Applejack, turning to Rarity as she chimed in, “I find I must agree with Applejack. A little mercy now will give me time to think of the best ways to enjoy this rather marvelous opportunity. I still haven’t figured out how yourself and Pinkie Pie managed to make some of my materials randomly change color along the edges every time they were cut. I suppose I should be thankful you only did it to a few of my basic fabrics, and I found a way to make use of the odd properties. In any case, Rainbow Dash, darling...,” Rarity leaned in close to her ear, enough she had to be tickling the fuzz of it, “I shall enjoy teasing you over this evening a great deal for quite some time…”

I was a bit surprised to see Rarity give an obvious slow exhalation and a dainty nip to Rainbow Dash’s ear before pulling away, looking all the more smug as Rainbow whined and shuffled herself in her seat on the couch.

Twilight hummed to herself as she took her turn to approach Rainbow, “I think I’ll let this one go myself, Dash. Mostly, anyway,” Twilight added, nuzzling Rainbow before booping her on the nose, “I’m still going to tease you about it at least once at some point.”

Letting out a slow sigh after a pause, Rainbow looked up at me with a resigned look, “How about you, Vojin? How much teasing are you gonna give me about this?”

Chuckling, I mussed up her mane a bit and scritched her scalp just behind her ear for a couple seconds, earning a surprised gasp and another shudder, her wings quivering as she turned a somewhat annoyed, rather heated look on me once she shook herself, “Oh I think I had my fun just getting to instigate it. You give me plenty of opportunities anyway.”

Rainbow just gave a resigned grunt, looking unsure of what to do with her standing wings. I found myself pondering what the biological factors were behind the whole wing thing, and if it had any similarities to male arousal, or if the functions involved had no common connections beyond the stiff results. How would bones and muscles contribute?

I blinked as I realized what I was starting to nerd out over and smirked to myself.

Around then, Rarity turned to Twilight, “Oh, before I forget. Twilight, might I have a word with you about something alone?”

“Sure, Rarity,” Twilight replied, glancing at me, “Vojin, I’ll see you back at our room in a bit, ok?”

“I’ll see you in a bit then,” I told her, watching the two of them depart.

Applejack moved to leave as well, glancing at Rainbow with a teasing grin, “Ah’ll see ya a bit later RD. Try ta put them things away, will ya?”

“Yeah, yeah…,” Rainbow replied with a dismissive wave of her hoof as AJ left.

“You alright there, Rainbow?” I asked with a smirk, watching her stretch a little before hopping off the couch, seeming unable to flex her wings very much.

“I’m so turned on right now, I’m tempted to tackle you to the couch, Vojin,” she returned with a half-lidded, heated stare and a teasing grin, “I really should thank you though, even if I have to put up with some teasing over it.”

“Thank me for what?” I said, choosing to just ignore her comment.

Rainbow gained a faraway smile for a second as she glanced at the couch she’d shared with Spitfire, her cheeks starting to blush again, “I, uh...well, it was kinda a fantasy of mine to do all that with Captain Spitfire. She’s hot, and it doesn’t take long to learn she’s really open about sharing her bed, but all Wonderbolts and Reservists are off limits, save for a very short list she isn’t responsible for herself. Can’t let there be a conflict of interest and stuff. Only way I could get any further with her would be to give up on being a Wonderbolt, so you getting her to tease me like that, even as frustrating as it was... I’ve wanted to do that for a couple years now. It was awesome.”

I blinked and gave her an odd look, not really sure how I was supposed to respond to that, before I just gave an internal shrug and smirked, “Well… You’re welcome, I guess.”

“Heh, well I need to go back to my room and clop myself silly. Maybe even stop by the kitchen and grab a mango and some salt,” Rainbow mused.

Raising a brow in confusion, “Why a mango and salt?”

That made Rainbow turn back to me with a naughty grin, “Just something Spitfire said about herself… I don’t suppose I could talk you into coming back to my room and helping me out?”

The way she eyed me up and down and waggled her eyebrows was shameless and funny. I also had to wonder just what Spitfire had told her. I had an idea, but it was a question I’d never say out loud.

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen, blue wings. Not interested,” I said with a short laugh, watching her move into a stiff-winged hover.

She let out a throaty chuckle, gesturing at me with a hoof, “I don’t know about that, considering I can see how interested you are from here. But yeah, I know. You’re all about Twi and only Twi. I should tell you though...when you scratched behind my ear before, that’s one of my hottest spots when I’m already turned on. Those fingers of yours are a pretty nice kind of different and you got me rather interested to know what else they could be used for…”

Now she had me blushing as much as she was as she hovered a little closer, our eyes locked. I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about her suggestion, or my own reaction. I started to wonder if this situation was a repeat or new, since my recent memories were hit and miss.

After a few seconds, I shook myself out of it once an involuntary shiver ran down my spine, clearing my throat, “Rainbow, stop being a bad pony and go cool off in your room. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Heh, I could show you a bad pony,” Rainbow gave me one more heated look, hovering a little close before starting for the door with an almost inaudible sigh, “See you in the morning, Vojin.”

Watching Rainbow Dash depart, I knew there wasn’t anything for it and began to make my way back to the room Twilight and I were staying in. A few mixed feelings rose as old memories surfaced.

Even if Equestria seemed much more open to polyamory, it just wasn’t something I could do after what happened back then, before my daughter was born. Still fun to think about, at least.

My thoughts turned back to Twilight after letting myself reminisce for a few minutes, taking my time as I walked through the castle halls. When I walked into the room and saw her look up from a book with a warm smile, I couldn’t help but return it as I went to her.

Twilight would always be first in my mind, regardless of our link, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Bk 1 Ch 23: Make Us Proud (edit 7/8/2015)

Author's Notes:

A couple more pegasi expressions and some history of Equestria and pegasi in general, as well as some on the Wonderbolts. Wanted to give a real reason for the Wonderbolts to be world-famous heroes. And hints of stuff to come with Rainbow Dash and separately, the royal sisters.

Wrote this chapter almost entirely while listening to a repeat of Moonspell - Extinct I don't really know why. Just been enjoying the song a lot as images of later in the story play through my head.

This chapter also induced a more complete effort at exploring the Wonderbolts Initiative and the battle referenced in this chapter. You can find it marked as a sequel to this story.

Edit 7/8/2015: A bit of fixing, as well as a minor adjustment to recognize the odd transition of situations between Rainbow and Spitfire that happened between last chapter and this one. Equestrians are a lot less prone to prudishness than us humans. :P

It was the fourth evening of the Royal Summit. The days were long and pretty dull, even though it was all really important stuff. Then Captain Spitfire had wanted to talk with Rainbow Dash after the big dinner they all had after the meeting ended for the day.

Rainbow stepped out on the large balcony and stood next to Spitfire, wondering what she had wanted to talk about as ideas raced through her mind. It wasn’t every day the Captain of the Wonderbolts herself asked to flap to a small cloud. Rainbow’s mind swirled with the hopes and fears of what that phrase could mean for her right now, though she was pretty sure it wasn’t anything to do with last night’s teasing. As much of a risk taker she knew Spitfire was in all levels of her life that Rainbow was aware of, that side of things just wasn’t anything she could hope for.

The things they’d been hearing in the Royal Summit were kinda scary, when she really thought about what was coming. It hadn’t been said outright, but it was pretty obvious there were going to be a lot of ponies losing their lives no matter what anypony did, and that was just them winning. Rainbow Dash would never admit to it out loud, but the thought of seeing her fellow ponies getting killed in battle was scary. The idea it might be someone she knew, or even one of her closest friends, left her feeling a whole stormfront of worry.

As she stood there with a silent Captain Spitfire, an aura of presence around her not so different from when she was on duty at the academy, one of the ponies she’d looked up her whole life, Rainbow Dash knew to hold her tongue. She hated the wait, patience just wasn’t her deal, but she’d come to learn the value of it and when she shouldn’t interrupt. Even when nothing was being said.

It was a long several minutes of total silence, but Rainbow Dash waited.

After what felt like an eternity to a pegasus that lived for speed, Rainbow saw Spitfire look down and flex her wings before she lifted her head and looked at Rainbow, a wry smirk on her muzzle, “Dash, when do you think the Wonderbolts first knew of you?”

Rainbow blinked, not sure what that was leading to, “Uh...a couple years ago at the Best Young Flyers Competition? When my friend Rarity fell and I had to save the day? Maybe even the Grand Galloping Gala that my friends and I, uh...kinda wrecked?”

Spitfire chuckled and shook her head, “Not even close, no. Those events weren’t the first time we became aware of you,” Spitfire turned to look back out into the world around the balcony, eyeing the few clouds in the distance in the fading light, “We’ve been watching you for a lot longer than that. To be honest, we’d have been surprised if you hadn’t won the competition and worried your obvious nerves were going to be too much for ya.”

Rainbow swallowed, feeling her cheeks heat as she remembered just how nervous she’d been that day, until Rarity’s sudden fall made everything else fade away. She’d gotten much better at keeping her nerves under control since then. Now she was growing curious, wondering where Spitfire was going with this.

“After that, we watched you making gradual changes. Watched as your new friends brought out the parts of you we were always hoping for and needed you to have. We know about the whole Mare Do Well incident, ya know. In fact, that day at the Best Young Flyers event was an improvised ploy on our part. Granted, it was a little risky, and you better believe Princess Celestia gave us a rather serious private talking to, but we felt you needed the extra push. Do you really think Miss Rarity would have knocked us all out so fast with as much rescue training as we’ve had? We were testing you, even as we kept tight to her in case you weren’t going to make it. And you did not disappoint us that day.

“I was relieved when you passed the written test to join the Wonderbolts Reserves. We knew how you’d been about school and happy you found a way to do better, with the help of your friends again. The moment I knew it was just a matter of time before we could call you up was when you came to me in my office after Lightning Dust made a mess of herself and put your friends and her fellow recruits in jeopardy. When you were ready to give up on us because you thought we might not be worthy of your time sure as buck made me and the rest of us proud.

“Even that time I offered to give you Soarin’s spot on our Cloudsdale relay team while he pretended to play a sap, you came through the right way. He’s got a Masters in Ancient Pegasi History, by the way. So yeah, the Wonderbolts have been watching you, and we’ve been pleased by what we’ve seen. Even started planning when your reserve status was going to end. Less than a year was the intention, so you know.”

Rainbow Dash was struggling to process what she just heard, what it was leading up to. She struggled to swallow past the lump in her throat and unable to make a sound as her heart raced, eyes wide at what she was starting to suspect.

Then Spitfire frowned, her face darkening, “For all that though, now we’re in the middle of planning for the big crazy mess we’re gonna find ourselves mixed up in all too soon. After watching you grow up, several of us older vets feel a bit protective of you after all this time… I gotta admit, part of me wishes you hadn’t proven to be so capable. That I had some excuse for keeping you on the sidelines and not do what I have to do. I know you’re fully aware of what the Wonderbolts Initiative actually is, just like any Reserve Flight Team Leader. Including a few things the civvies don’t know.”

Rainbow then watched her biggest idol look...scared, for a moment...then she schooled her expression again.

Spitfire turned to face Rainbow Dash, her jaw set, “The Princesses gave me the order in private earlier today, Dash. We’re going fully active for the first time in history. The Wonderbolts are being called to arms, and we’ll be contacting the first round of Team Leaders for their training. As more trainers come up, we can call up more reservists. Instead of staying around forty to fifty, there will be over five thousand of us if we got the time to spare for training before everything goes to Tartarus when this looming war begins. We’ll be reducing how many shows we perform a little at a time until we can’t hide it from the public, at which point we’ll cut most or all of them entirely. Now to business...

“Reserve Flight Team Leader Rainbow Dash, you are hereby officially called to active duty with the Wonderbolts Initiative. In light of your experience, training, leadership, and demonstrated capability, we are promoting you straight to Lieutenant ahead of completion of training. Provided you are ready upon completion of said training, you will receive the rank of Captain. Due to your unique status and circumstances as the Bearer of Loyalty, you are not being made to report to the academy. You will be assigned and sent a trainer to provide you with the necessary skills for the coming fight. Serve our Princesses with honor, Lieutenant. Ponies will be depending on you with their lives.”

When Spitfire threw up her hoof in salute, Rainbow froze for only half a second before she went rigid and threw up her own salute in return, her training taking over as her eyes unfocused and she gave a sharp answer, “It’s an honor, Ma’am! I will not let you down, Ma’am!”

Lowering her hoof, Spitfire gave a smirk, voice quiet, “I know you won’t, Dash. I wish I could say you’re an official Wonderbolt under better circumstances though, and I’m sorry you won’t be able to join us for any performances. I know you have a hard time stopping yourself from doing it, but don’t ever try to stand alone with what’s coming. I’ve been in battle a few times over the course of my career and I’ve seen ponies taken down right next to me. It’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced. If you try to hold it in, it will drain you or even break you. Your friends helped you become better. I’m certain they’ll pull you back up to your cloud if your feathers drop, so long as you ask and let them. And now with you joining our flock in full, so will we.”

Rainbow Dash’s heart was still racing as she tried to work through the knowledge of being a full Wonderbolt. Unable to think of anything else to do with herself, she looked down and closed her eyes as she sank to her rump, taking a long slow breath, holding it for several seconds and letting out a long exhale before giving a faint smirk of her own, “Wow…”

Spitfire chuckled as she waited, having seen hundreds of pegasi over the many years she’d been their Captain that dreamed of making it just as much as the one she watched now, seen the moment they got the news they achieved what they dreamed of. She just kept up her smirk as she waited, glad to see how much Rainbow Dash had matured in just the past couple years.

Rainbow looked up, gave a weak chuckle as it all settled in her mind, “I finally made it... I made it and I’m not even gonna be doing any shows. Not really sure how I feel about that yet.”

Resting a hoof on her shoulder, Spitfire looked at Rainbow Dash a bit longer before turning her eyes out across the sprawl of Canterlot below them under the darkening starlit sky, then dropping her hoof and walking up to the edge of the balcony, “Dash, look out there at the city.”

Walking up next to Spitfire after a moment to shake herself off, Rainbow stood and looked at the capitol. She saw the different buildings hundreds of years old alongside various others of varying age built in the time since the city’s platform was made. The countless trails of faintly visible smoke from countless homes and businesses drifted into the air among countless windows lit up from activity within. She saw a great many ponies going about their evening, unaware of anyone watching.

“Equestria’s had a few wars, though most were in the first 800 years after the Unification and none ever even lasted a year at any time. Been a long time since the last real storm when we gave a bloodied beak to our gryphon neighbors over 1200 years ago, when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna personally commanded the army to stand aside while they took the gryphons on by themselves and single-hoofedly sent them all packing without even using much magic. I know it’s basic school stuff, but did you ever think about why we’ve had so few wars compared to most nations on Equus? Why the Princesses told their own forces not to engage that gryphon army after four months of fighting on the border all sudden like that? Why we have such a strong military even though we’ve pretty much been at peace for over a thousand years with only the occasional skirmish? And almost all of those not even within our own lands?”

Glancing at Spitfire before looking at the city again, Rainbow tried to think it through. She never gave this kind of stuff any real thought before. A cool breeze toyed with her mane as she ran it all through her mind, trying to put her elation at becoming a Wonderbolt aside and take this talk with Spitfire seriously.

“That’s a little too ‘big picture’ for me, I gotta admit. Fighting sucks? Every life matters? I’m not really seeing what you’re getting at, Captain.”

Spitfire just smirked a bit more, “If you have another option, don’t fight. When you run out of options and you must fight, hit like thunder from Tartarus. And if you have the strength to spare others from a fight they might not be enough for, take your stand so they don’t have to. It’s nothing miraculous, I know. I just want to help you keep on the right track. Maybe it’ll help give you the right perspective if I tell you what I meant when I saw somepony taken down right beside me.

“I was twenty-two when I was in my first battle. I’d been a Wonderbolt for just under two years at the time and we were on our way to do a foreign show in the Cerrios Republic when we got an emergency call from them about an invasion by a group of rogue dragons, members of a self-important dragon supremacy group called The Fires Of Glory. Problem was, Cerrios is a small country that only had a small military and nothing able to handle dragons attacking. And they struck when the nearest mid-sized fleet that could tackle em was a week out. We were getting passage with a small fleet of airships that were enroute to another mission to supply and support some groundies helping keep things calm on an invitation and help mediate a peaceful resolution between another two nations so no blood got shed. Good thing too, cause if we weren’t then this would’ve been a very different story for that fleet.

“The dragons were as vicious as you’d expect of those arrogant scaly bastards. Nine of em, too. We were only a day out when the first messenger reached us, but they were already razing a couple villages. They weren’t as big and mature as the titans we’re peaceable with here, big as a two-story house I’d say, but big enough to knock smaller airships like most of ours were out of the sky if they got close.

“The big updraft was having us Wonderbolts on the trip. Usual away set of four up and four reserve. You already know as a Team Leader that once you go active you get the combat training that forms the core of our more dramatic stunts at airshows. All of us realized if the fleet tried to engage, it’d be iffy at best if they could handle things, let alone delay them long enough for any help to arrive without getting thrown out of the sky. And they’d have done it without a second thought if we hadn’t been there. If we did nothing, there would’ve been a lot of dead Cerrios deer before a dragon-capable fleet arrived.

“Me and the rest of the team knew it was on our wings. While we had our combat flight armor, wing blades and other weapons as per standard when making a foreign trip like that, it was meaningless against dragons. It would only slow us down and the dragons could cut right through the armor. Our Captain let us choose to suit up when the time came instead. If we were forced to get involved and our armor wouldn’t be of any real use, we better put on one hay of a show to let the citizens of Cerrios know they had help.”

Rainbow Dash found herself wrapped up in the story. She knew a number of Wonderbolts had been in serious fights, but she’d never been able to look into it that much since the reports weren’t available to the public in most cases. All she could do was listen as Spitfire continued.

“While the fleet rushed towards the area so we’d be fresh to fight, didn’t want to risk slipstreaming without knowing the weather, we had more messengers come and go with worse and worse reports while our Captain ran us through plans on how to engage the bastards. We hardly slept from the things we’d been hearing and all the anticipation.

“It was just after dawn when we finally got close enough for us to see them on the horizon, looking like they were making strafing runs on the ground. We knew they were tearing up some innocent village and now that we were close enough, every minute was worth lives. Based on their direction, the dragons would hit a major city next. They had to be stopped before they got there. We’d been on the deck before the sun was up, knowing we were close.

“I still remember the exact sound of Captain Nimble Nimbus’s voice as she gave the order. ‘Wings up and get sky!’ The plan was pretty simple really. Get their attention and stay high, then try to keep them over empty fields while we wore them down with whatever means necessary. The fleet would work to get in position for support if possible, but had to stay back so they didn’t get in our way…,” Spitfire paused, her eyes flashing with the memories.

“When we reached them, they’d almost finished destroying the entire village they’d been attacking. Captain Nimble and Sky Streak shot forward to get their attention while the rest of us started spinning up thunderclouds. Those two threw off the air currents around the dragons and made them stumble mid-flight. Sure pissed em off, and just like we expected, they roared in fury and gave chase.

“By the time they were coming into the target area just under two minutes later, we had several large thunderclouds charged and waiting. The first dragon was a bit faster than the others. Caught enough lightning bolts to stun him and burn a serious gap in one wing. He fell out of the sky unable to recover and hit the ground, never to rise again.

“The other dragons were smarter and didn’t rush straight in. They were better than we initially thought since they moved in two formations. It was the first real indication we had of any training. The reports never mentioned more than a few words about it, but without giving the dragons a reason to care about caution it wasn’t such a surprise that got missed in the reports we’d gotten.

“They used their fire breath and wasted the clouds we had ready, only letting us get off a few bolts before we had to abandon them all. We realized right then we were fighting more than mere arrogant bastards. The dragons had combat training to add to their brute force and size. We weren’t able to rely on thunderclouds and lightning bolts because they’d destroy them before we could put them to use. It was a bad spot for us. Really bad when fighting against dragons without a numbers advantage.

“As a fallback, knowing there was always a chance of that, we already planned our teams and paired off as we scattered. We’d operate in pairs and fours from opposite sides of the engagement zone. The two formations of theirs each chased one of ours. We had superior speed and pegasi flight magic against their size and power...and we knew we were right on the edge of whether we’d still be alive by day’s end.

“At first, we focused on getting a sense of how good they were in the air, their reaction time and the like while we kept them from getting too close or any of us cornered. They weren’t highly trained, thankfully. At most, they were average warriors used to fighting other dragons in the air. That was good, since they wouldn’t know the right counters for our maneuvers.

“We started closing the distance like we had to and between claws and fire, we slipped around em and started throwing shockwaves where we could before trying to set up riskier stuff. When that seemed to have only marginal effect, we had to step it up and put our flight magic to real use as we pulled out our elemental strikes. Me and Cirrus Heat were fires, so we were at a big disadvantage against the dragons for most of our efforts. We’d have to pull off sonic firebooms in tandem almost in their faces if we couldn’t catch them in the wings. Saved us a few times though, when we had a choice between fire and claws, since we could wrap ourselves in fire for brief periods.

“Captain Nimble and Sky Streak had managed to drop one first, being wind types. Nearly took off the whole wing for how much they tore that one up and sent it to the ground, from what I read in the report. Our group though, with two of us being elementally limited against nearly fire-immune dragons, had it much worse. We could probably have dodged most of the day if we didn’t need to attack.

“The two of us tried to set up openings for Thunder Feather and Cold Breeze. Between us distracting and them making attacks, we were slowly wearing them down until they caught us in a feint. Cirrus Heat and I shot through another bath of fire and right into range of one very big set of teeth.

“He was just ahead of me and…,” Spitfire hesitated, gritting her teeth as she began to weep, tears starting to slide down her cheeks, “That was the first time somepony got taken down right next to me. Bit right through him so hard his wing came loose and brushed my cheek as I shot clear. One moment he was flying with me...then he wasn’t.

“The battle lasted just under an hour, with how much dancing around both sides had to do. By the end of it, not counting numerous injuries sustained like my broken hind leg and torn off tail, we’d lost four. Our team captain, Major Nimble Nimbus, Lieutenant Raincutter, Captain Thunder Feather, and my partner, Lieutenant Cirrus Heat. Their lives were paid for by nine dragons. The fleet finished off the two that managed to survive their fall to the ground.

“Cerrios was thrilled they were saved by the Wonderbolts themselves, of course. I heard later they even built a memorial at the site to honor those we lost, though I’ve never gone back. At the time, we were hurt and hurting, but despite how much it cost us, we had saved a lot of lives. Probably thousands. Just think what the cost might be if something like that happened to all the innocent ponies here in Canterlot.

“Between injuries and our fallen, acting captain Sky Streak was the only one to meet the public. Since he’d only ended up with a few serious burns and bruises, he handled interviews and everything to satisfy the Cerrios press clamoring to praise their new heroes. He refused to let the press swarm us in the aftermath. We simply went home as soon as a transport airship arrived to pick us up three days later, carrying what was left of our fallen,” Spitfire gave a faint sniffle as tears continued to fall from her eyes, standing tall as she had a moment of silence for the ones lost.

Rainbow Dash stood with her, taking in everything she heard. She knew there was no expectation of her in the moment even if she felt like something deserved to be said, not that she had any words to give. Instead, she stood with Spitfire in silence again as they looked out across the Canterlot nightscape.

After another minute went by, Spitfire gave a weak chuckle and dried her eyes with a wing, “Been a while since I went back to that day… I wanted you to hear the story, Dash. To help you understand a little bit better just what you’re being asked when you join us. We’re the living legacy of Commander Hurricane’s recognition of the need to both preserve and hide the power of us pegasi. When nopony else can, we can. The civvies don’t know we have the knowhow to team up to spin up a category five hurricane in one day and tell it where to hit. They don’t know a few of us are even strong in enough in pairs to drop a Bastion-class airship in one move if we caught them unshielded.

“Commander Hurricane herself saw lasting peace wouldn’t work if every pegasus knew how to put their flight magic to destructive use. It was even part of the treaties of the Unification because it scared the earth ponies and the unicorns so much. Eventually, after trying to keep it restricted in the military, the Princesses created the Wonderbolts Initiative to isolate the knowledge and still have a way to help it grow. Been that way since the Reign of Discord. You can never let yourself forget this stuff. We are the defenders of the sky, above even the airship fleets.”

Spitfire turned to Rainbow Dash and gave her a long look before speaking again, “Then we have you, Lieutenant. We have watched you grow up and kept testing you because of that self-same sonic rainboom that got our attention. Dash...more than most, you need to keep light on your hooves. The kind of flight magic you got isn’t like most pegasi, even among us Wonderbolts. It’s nothing like the rare special sort that practitioners of Cutting Feather are born with. What you got isn’t so much about the strength, but flexibility. One of the first things you’ll be learning about is your capability to change your Skyborne elemental. That crazy prismatic flight magic you got means you have em all. Wind, water, ice, lightning and fire. There isn’t a move we got you’ll incapable of and we’ll be teaching you how to do more than the simple pops you’ve figured out with your rainboom. The potential you’ve got would’ve probably given Commander Hurricane herself a flight for her bits, from what I know of the legends and what she could do. Celestia only knows for certain, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you were a direct descendant.

“It’s also going to be a potential curse if you don’t keep control. By yourself, you’ll be able to do a lot of things that most Wonderbolts have to run in pairs for. The more you understand how to shift the way your flight magic responds, the more destructive force you’ll be capable of. This is one of those things we’ve kept locked down tight from the civvies. We’ve had centuries to pass on knowledge securely within our ranks and push the limits of what it is to be a pegasus. Why we’re born warriors that fought every ancient unicorn kingdom as equals in battle. Except now, we never deal with losing knowhow like ancient times when masters got killed with secrets. Unicorns have their schools of magic and we have the Wonderbolts. Even a prodigy flier like you would never discover half of it. You’d die of old age before you made the steps necessary,” Spitfire said, giving Rainbow Dash a stern look, “And if you misjudge where you put that power in battle, you’ll kill without even trying. It won’t matter if it’s a friend you’re training with, or if you had to run close to one to protect them. They will die.”

At the look in Spitfire’s eyes, Rainbow Dash had a moment of deep fear. She’d always had a pretty easy time keeping her shockwaves under control, but she never realized she could control what elemental force she set off. It was only a few months ago she started discovering how to utilize her rainboom’s odd elemental aspect in other moves. That she was capable of lethal force entirely by accident was unnerving after all the times she’d done tricks closeby to her friends and other ponies. She started seeing that time she helped Applejack take down the old barn in a different way. Wondering if, had she done it wrong, could it have badly hurt somepony or worse?

She knew she was a powerful flier. That she had more than pride to back up her claim of being the fastest pegasus in Equestria. And how some of the wilder tricks of the Wonderbolts she tried to emulate were hints of combat techniques going back millennia. Spitfire was making her think about and question her past behavior in a light she’d never considered.

Nopony had ever told her much about how her flight magic functioned after flight camp when she was a filly. Advanced flight techniques were felt as much as taught. Pegasi in the Guard never used elemental moves. The Wonderbolts alone did. Aside from a general understanding that they had special training to maximize their flight magic, nopony knew how they did what they did.

After she had time to take in what she heard and her own thoughts, Rainbow Dash’s eyes hardened. She was being asked to be the wings upon which countless pony lives depended.

To be one of the those that goes where nopony else can. To defend against what others could not. To have the precision to pull it off in all situations and conditions. To exemplify what the Wonderbolts were created for and why they were masters of the sky known across Equus.

A living example of pegasi watching over the tribes on the ground and keeping them safe.

Her hoof rose in a salute before she was even aware her foreleg had begun to move, meeting Spitfire’s eyes with determination and conviction, even as her quiet words belied the strength with which they were delivered, “I stand ready to protect my fellow ponies, Captain.”

Spitfire returned the solemn salute without a word before she lowered her hoof and another small smirk appeared on her face, “I know, Dash. We’ll show you just how much you can really do. When the fighting starts, make your flock of fellow Wonderbolts proud.”

Bk 1 Ch 24: Worries & Beginnings

Author's Notes:

Oh look! Another chapter not too long after the last one already done! Yay!

As the last day of the Royal Summit got underway, I couldn’t help but think about what a week this had been. So much had happened on the first day, and despite the contrast being a lot more sedate afterwards, things had carried on for the rest of it with importance and surprises. Except for the obvious with Twilight, neither myself nor the girls still had any real idea what we had to be present for.

Expecting the same general important dullness today, I spent time in thought while I kept an ear open to the discussion at the table. There had been memorable moments this week, even in the meeting.

Rarity and Applejack had both caught a logistical error in different places that stood out once indicated, drawing appreciative nods and smirks. I was still impressed that there was so little selfish pride at the table. Every opinion was treated as equal, and sound reasoning was given more weight, while admitting to making a mistake was considered par for the course. I found it a very nice change from what I’d expected.

Even quiet, ever polite Fluttershy had laid out the beginnings of a reasonable way to improve military hospital operations outside of battlefields. It had the potential to reduce staff stress while providing some stable, self-mobile patients that had to remain in the hospital but didn’t require more than minor relative care, or those awaiting discharge for longer term recovery, something to focus on by putting in a system that tasked them with going around chatting and listening to fellow patients in worse shape to keep them company.

The biggest surprise though, which wasn’t at the same time, was Pinkie.

No less than ten times did she speak up after the first day. Two of which had to get confirmation after the meeting ended, but she was right each time. She’d noted things ranging from recent geographical changes in a defense plan, to a more efficient airship supply idea, to an unnoticed problem with a still developing linked-crystal communication system, similar to Earth radios in concept from what I understood of it, that was reducing range between command posts. She even made a strange comment to the pair from Intelligence that put a momentary stunned look on Sneaky Sunshine and Rolling Shadow before they looked at her with grudging respect.

Witnessing the gathered officials look bewildered almost every time was a treat, and Twilight just told them anything Pinkie suggested was worth taking time to check, despite having no idea how Pinkie knew any of it to begin with. Pinkie herself said she had just felt like looking certain things up because it seemed fun at the time.

Military heads learning about Pinkie being Pinkie. It was priceless.

Despite the days being long and dull, there had been some interesting moments during the these meetings.

As I sat through the last day of the Royal Summit, I tried to keep myself on task and aware of what was being said, no matter how often it dragged along through things I didn’t really have much of the needed reference or familiarity to really understand.

The current topic was a review of battlefield problems and the plans of dealing with them. The more I listened, the more things came to mind. I hadn’t needed to say anything as they kept being addressed in short order. It wasn’t until the specific aspect of battle fatigue came up that something felt off and stayed that way.

As the manner in which engagements had gone time and time again, Equestria had always had the capacity to pull a soldier off the front lines for a time when one of them became overwhelmed by the hardships of battle. They seemed to have good systems in place to counteract the negatives of shuffling troops in such fashion and it sounded like they had a good success rate of healing the mental strains before being able to return a soldier to their previous position, ready to stand once again and stronger for their challenges. Turning a farmer into a warrior wasn’t always a smooth process.

The more I listened though, the more apparent it was that they were not grasping the scale of what we had been told was heading our way. There wouldn’t be reserves to call on if everything went as crazy as it was looking to. Knowing the things I did about Earth’s two world wars, and how so many men were off fighting that women became a powerful manufacturing force, how the general populace was tapped to gather resources to help the war effort by doing things like collecting scrap metal and paper, I knew I had to add something this time.

Earth had been there when war became absolute and there were no more bystanders.

Equus had not, and could wind up underestimating what the costs would be.

Once Colonel Mountain had finished speaking, I spoke up with what I had on my mind, “I think this is a good spot for me to bring some knowledge from Earth to the table in regards to the scale we’re looking at and give you all a perspective drawn from experience on my world.”

I cleared my throat against the nervousness that rose when all eyes turned to me, “On Earth, we had two great wars that involved just about every single nation in the entire world in some capacity, whether by choice or by attack. By some measures, it could be said it was one war, considering the events and aftermath of the first had direct contributions to the second, and the whole period lasted something like thirty years, if I recall it right, not including recovery. It was several decades before my time, but Earth has never really forgotten how severe it was to this day. Many have called it the war to end all wars. I wish it had been.

“At that time, it was only men that did the fighting. Males, to be clear. For my home country, I know the sheer scale of how much fighting took place, coupled with the fact that males took on the vast majority of physically demanding work at home, left a drain of bodies to keep factories moving and needed things being made.

“Back then, it was pretty much unheard of for females to take those jobs, but they did so by the millions to make up for the lack of males. And they built needed parts and equipment, and thousands upon thousands of war machines. Regular civilians, some of those males undraftable from being too old or too young or otherwise unfit for fighting, were often asked to donate money or materials out of their everyday lives to help drive the war effort. There was never enough bodies to make parts or make war, and they worked with what they had.

“In addition, there was no place to put a soldier that was breaking under the strain of battle. They had no choice but to keep pushing until they won the campaign, or or a soldier broke completely. I admire the system you have in place here, and perhaps under the right conditions, it might even work on Earth, but...

“In this coming conflict, it is a luxury when faced with something so absolute and encompassing. There will be no reserves to call on. There will not be enough flexibility to help a soldier get back on their feet or hooves away from fighting. And there will be many, many more of them on top of it, too. The scale of fighting will weigh down on more at once. We will not have the time or resources to spare if they can still march at all, still defend themselves or their squadmates. They have to be allowed to break before we can pull them away, and even then, only when their fellows beside them cannot pull them through first.

“I am no soldier. I never joined a military force before now. You are all aware of this. Still, anyone that keeps their eyes open on Earth and pays attention to history will know these things without too much difficulty. Now, we must plan for pushing what we have to the absolute limits. Every mare and stallion that goes to fight must understand they are fighting to the death and there will be many lost. And that the alternative is letting their own homes and towns be turned into battlefields and ash.

“I haven’t gotten a very clear picture yet of how wars are fought here, but on Earth, for my home nation, I believe it has often been a matter of raining devastation upon the enemy positions that may level a village just to support an advancing ground force, softening up the enemy ahead of them to protect the fighting ability of the soldiers, as much as their lives. We have to be prepared to do things like call upon regular civilians with prior Guard service that are still young enough to fight. If it becomes bad enough, we may even need to hold a mass draft of civilians that never wanted to be involved. This has to be approached with plans of last resort. If this somehow becomes the first worldwide war upon Equus, comparable to what Earth went through, we need to plan for things like how to cede territory to an advancing army we cannot stop at the border as we retreat to preserve strength. We even have to make plans on how to control losing if it comes to that. We cannot afford any assumptions whatsoever in regards to the cost of survival or it will only throw away lives when we come to pay the price for it,” I said in a grim voice, hoping the military ponies all grasped what I was trying to express. If Twilight’s hoof wasn’t touching my leg, I would have been far more nervous after all that, and had no idea how they would react. I felt so far out of my pay grade it was absurd.

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room. A glance at the girls showed a mixture of almost innocent determination, alongside a new kind of fear. The military ponies looked grim as they took in what I was suggesting and how bad things could become. Celestia and Luna though, they only wore regal masks with the faintest hint of sad understanding in their eyes.

After a bit of time for it all to sink in, Celestia turned her gaze to sweep around the room, her voice strong and clear, “I want all of you to take Mister Drayce’s words into account as you make appropriate adjustments and work on additional plans. There are points we have seen in our divination, some branches that do show our losing ground at times. While signs of the path we are taking give hope, I fear I was too hesitant in fully accepting some of the more severe possibilities. There are some branches showing the fall of Canterlot in a last stand, prior to our failure, as unimaginable as it may seem. While I believe such things are unlikely on our present course, it is something we must not ignore.”

Shining Armor added, “Agreed. From what you have shared so far, this will be unparalleled in scale. Not even the the War of Five Talons that took place eighty-three years ago, dragging in fourteen other nations before it eventually united the gryphon enclaves in the far southeast was anywhere near as widespread as what has been suggested already, Princess Celestia,” then he turned to me, “Mister Drayce, were there any important lessons that spring to mind that were learned in hindsight after the great wars of Earth?”

Frowning, I looked at the table for a few moments before looking back to him again, “Many. I fear I’m no war historian, and find myself wishing I was for the first time in my life. One lesson does stand out in my mind right now. Never assume you know how bad it will become. Do not assume something unthinkable won’t pay you a visit. In the first great war, Earth saw around one and a half million of a single ethnic group murdered in genocide for reasons I do not know. In the second great war, it was more than six million of a different single group of humans murdered in death camps and other means. The average adult, the young and the old, male and female alike had no great distinction between them as slave labor until used up, without any logical reason more than something to point at as the propagandized root of an aggressor nation’s problems, despite it being nothing more than invented reasons for hate. And that was only one side of the world, not counting the atrocities that took place in the other major front by another power operating in a way not so dissimilar.

“Not one person ever thought any of the unequaled scale of horror was possible until it happened. Earth has seen multiple levels of attempted genocide over the years, not just during the great wars. Long standing rules of engagement, things mutual respect had given an unspoken truce during prior wars...even those things were shattered and nothing left sacred. If it made the enemy hesitate at all, it has been utilized. That includes civilians as living shields. Cities were levelled with endless bombing runs just to try and break the spirits of the general population. Weapons made of chemical poisons that killed with indiscriminate, unimaginable pain and spread over target areas as a cloud of death found use. Even my home nation, dragged into the second great war on two major fronts, used weapons that devastated two entire small cities in a single massive explosion each and left a particularly scary residual poison that could have ruined the whole area to anything living for decades. And that was just in hope of reducing losses on both sides before needing to invade a nation that refused to surrender, despite no remaining chance to win. It took even more attempts at forcing surrender before their ruler made it end in defiance of the military he was to some extent hostage to, if I recall.

“Again, if you think it unfathomable, that it could never happen, you better make a plan to respond for when it does. I cannot stress that enough. If it reaches such a scale to rival, or even surpass, what Earth went through, assume everything could potentially be lost.”

After a pause to absorb my words, Shining gave me a grim nod in return.

***

Twilight and I walked in comfortable, if somewhat tense, silence as we thought over the things we heard during the Royal Summit, this last day in particular. The level of conflict was unnerving, to say the least, and we were all hoping the gathering forces could be located soon so we had a better idea what to prepare ourselves for.

I couldn’t help but wonder how such had gone unnoticed, considering the masses of troops the Princesses had suggested we were going up against. No single nation on Equus should have been capable of the numbers involved. The few that could even be called potential threats were small nations, and all the larger ones valued the economic benefits of trade with Equestria and had no interest in fighting a nation that was both more powerful and never started a single fight without just cause in over three thousand years of history.

Was there a secret alliance of foreign powers hidden in the shadows somewhere or something like World War I had on Earth?

All we had at present was nothing had been found so far.

The unknowns were terrifying in what it could all mean.

Still, now was a time to let it more or less digest and settle in the mind. We were heading to a nice, semi-informal dinner meetup with Fancy Pants, who had been too swamped with work to take care of until the conference ended to sit down with us sooner. Rarity would be meeting us there, though the rest of the girls had wanted to go out into the city on the last night to unwind after the long week. I was surprised and not when Fluttershy wanted to see Canterlot a little more with friends, as long as they weren’t going to end up at a club right away. Rainbow had even promised to stay with her and escort her back if she felt the need.

From what I’d heard, the rather busy civil review conference had gone well. For reasons I did not know the whole story to, it was sometimes referred to as the ‘Cleanup Crew’ due to the frequent uncovering of laws with poor wording or underhanded-- underhoofed?-- attempts to exploit loopholes, locating unintended consequences of otherwise good laws, and keeping a cohesive picture that made it difficult to move any funds of even moderate size without proper explanation, even over time, thus heading off bad behavior. This time around, one of the main victories was when they’d caught a problem early with a trial run program that was being spread wider for helping ponies relocate to a place with a job they could do. Something about unexpected expenses they could work around that might have otherwise ballooned out of control.

I kept being surprised at how Equestria functioned. Things took more attentive effort short term, but paid great dividends in the long run.

Turning my thoughts back to meeting Fancy Pants, I wasn’t really sure what I should be expecting. I had a general idea, yet it was overall still a mystery. If nothing else, I was looking forward to watching how Rarity was with him in hopes of getting something to tease her with at a later date.

Twilight led us to the door of a small dining room and indulging in a hope of surprising a certain fashionista in a manner that was perhaps a little too eager, I shoved the door open in a quick fashion, rather than open it slow.

I was rewarded when I caught Rarity making a sharp move away from what could only be Fancy Pants himself. The faint blush on her cheeks and somewhat forced disinterest on her face only added to my entertainment, which only grew when I saw the knowing smirk on Fancy Pants as he looked at her before turning his eyes towards me with a pleasant smile. Ask and ye shall receive, it would seem.

Keeping my eyes on Rarity, I watched her starting to grow nervous the longer I stared at her and the closer I got. Her eyes widened a little, giving me a wary look when I grinned with mischief.

As we got closer, Fancy Pants called out to us, “Greetings, Princess Twilight! And greetings to you whom I have heard a great many things about! I say, I was quite surprised that you requested to meet with me, good sir! To think, I of all ponies would be recognized by a visitor from another world! It is my great pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Lord Fancy Pants, but I encourage you to simply refer to me as Fancy.”

When he extended a hoof to me after bowing to Twilight, earning a look of amused exasperation from her, I reached out and bumped my fist against his hoof, sending Rarity a quick sly wink before giving Fancy Pants a smile, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Fancy. Vojin Barloc Drayce at your service, but please just call me Vojin.”

Twilight gave him a smile of her own, “I really wish you’d stop calling me that, Fancy. You know you’re welcome to simply call me Twilight.”

“Ah, but that simply will not do for initial greetings with a Princess, my dear Twilight! It is wonderful to see you again,” Fancy Pants said with a polite smile before turning back to me, “I must say, my good Vojin, it is not every day I learn one such as yourself has made a request to meet with me. How have you been enjoying Equestria since your most unexpected arrival? I can only imagine the strength of character you must have, dealing with such trying circumstances!”

I gave a small shrug, playing it off despite how hard it’s been to make the transition, and how much more I had to face, “It has been difficult, yes. I have been fortunate enough to have Twilight to help me through the more challenging moments. The rest of the girls, Rarity included, have also been instrumental in helping me to adjust. Outside of the obvious transition, I have truly been enjoying my time. Twilight has me reading a substantial amount of books, which does a lot to keep me occupied.”

He gave a polite laugh, “That most certainly sounds like something Twilight would do. If I might ask, did you truly learn of me from a…particular episodic play in your world? And it was enough that you desired to meet me face to face?”

“Yes, I did. While the things were presented in a generally more simplified manner, I saw a number of important events, as well as some of the day to day moments in the lives of the Bearers. One instance that I recall you were present, it was an excellent demonstration of character where you displayed respect that flew in the face of some other high society ponies’ behavior at the time. It was a garden party on the castle grounds I believe. If you’ll forgive my being embarrassing, I admit I did wish to meet you partly out of...well, I suppose calling it fanboyism is not too far off the mark. It is something I’ve been finding a guilty pleasure over time since my arrival, each time I get to meet a pony I knew from the show,” I replied, rubbing the back of my neck, a bit red in the face even as I gave him a grin. I caught Twilight giving me a sly little grin.

For her part, I caught a flash of guilt cross Rarity’s face. She frowned when she saw my knowing look. I’d have to talk to her another time, just so we could clear the air and she didn’t think I was bothered by it or anything. I didn’t know if she’d told Twilight or the rest of the girls the entire story of that day or not. Now that I was thinking of that side of things, I hoped she had.

Fancy blinked for a second with eyebrows raising, then he started chuckling, “I say, that is most amusing to hear, if you will forgive my saying so. As I believe you are much more comfortable with more familiar interactions as is often found in charmingly rustic Ponyville, I must tell you I am flattered and delighted to hear that what you did see of me was a pleasant display of good manners. Before we carry on though, shall we have a seat? Though the conference has ended, this last day proved quite intense and left me most famished.”

I gave him a nod, “Fine by me. Speaking food though, have you had a chance to try some of the Earth dishes I’ve been sharing with the chefs here at the castle?”

As Fancy settled into his seat, he gave another smile, “I most certainly have. I must say, the similarities to dishes we have here in Equestria have been fascinating to compare. Many items have been almost identical, while others all but unheard of! It has been a true delight upon the palette, and I find myself becoming quite fond of this ‘tofu’ creation you have shared. The flexibility of it is proving quite astounding. Though this evening’s fare is all Equestrian in origin, it would seem. I look forward to seeing how the world of fine dining transforms as what you have granted us moves through the culinary circles.”

We made small talk as we enjoyed the meal. I had a hard time understanding why fine dining had such tiny portions, though I suppose that was wrapped up in the desire to experience the taste and texture, and even look, of the food as part of the intent. It was good, either way, but I still much preferred the home cooking kind of approach.

Giving the food time to settle, I decided to ask something that had been tickling my brain for a few minutes, “Fancy, I’m curious… I was somewhat expecting a Miss Fleur de Lis to be with you, after what I saw from the show. I hope it’s not rude of me to ask about her.”

Fancy smiled as he waved a dismissive hoof, “You needn’t worry. As for my dear Fleury, I suppose I can share with you just why she and I are so often seen together. To be quite honest, my rank and wealth attract a great number of hangers on. As I learned quite early, even before my time with the Solar Guard, even a simple impression of being spoken for does wonders to reduce admirers seeking my favor and attention.

“Fleur helps deter most suitors at the same time I am able to assist her in meeting important ponies and deter suitors pursuing her in turn. Fleur is a foalhood friend I treasure a great deal, and her modeling career requires a fair bit of exposure in certain crowds. It has been quite the beneficial arrangement for us both, I must say. Publically, we do not say we are together and Fleury is actually rather uninterested in stallions, but doing nothing to deter such rumors has allowed me freedom from the many mares that might otherwise not allow me my space.”

Nodding, I had to admit the benefits of that sort of logic, even if it made me feel a little weird overall, “How long have you been putting up that illusion, if I can ask?”

“It has been perhaps six years now, if memory serves.” Fancy replied.

Before I really had time to realize what I was saying, I blurted out, “You going to date Rarity soon, Fancy?”

There was sudden silence as Rarity flashed brilliant red as she gave me a horrified look, frozen in shock. Twilight sighed and poked me with a hoof. I wanted to facepalm, a sheepish look on my face from knowing that was a bit much.

Fancy, however, surprised me as he began to chuckle.

“My good Vojin, you are certainly quite direct!” he said, casting a fond glance at Rarity before turning back to me, “I fear it is a matter where I must decline to answer in a similar fashion, but I suppose there is something to be said for such a blunt approach. Instead, perhaps I shall throw aside my discretion in this instance and do something I have been allowing myself to put off for far too long.”

He turned to face Rarity with a warm smile as she blinked, looking at him with wide eyes and looking at a loss for how to respond to anything.

“Rarity, it has been a few years now that I have known you. I have commissioned a number of fine formalwear from you, and we have partnered our business interests a few times in these past two years to much success. In that time, you have continued to prove yourself to be a most excellent example of a refined, elegant mare. So much in fact, I have often found myself wondering how you were not already attached, or at least surrounded by suitors of your own.

“Now, in this moment with two of your friends to witness, I would very much appreciate the chance to rectify that situation. I know much in our lives will make such difficult, but I do not believe there is another mare on Equus worth as much as yourself, my dear. We have been dancing around the matter for quite some time now, and it is time we stop allowing ourselves such silliness. Rarity, I would very much like to treat you to a romantic dinner in the near future. I hope it will be the first of many, if you will be so kind as to accept,” Fancy said, looking into Rarity’s eyes as he spoke.

Twilight clutched my arm with a faint squee as we watched Rarity open and close her mouth a few times as her face filled with delight.

It took Rarity some time before she could respond, a slow smile spreading over her face, then giving Fancy a coy look, “I do believe that would be wonderful, darling, though might I ask your indulgence for a moment, that I might also be forward on something I wished to tell you some time ago?”

“You are quite welcome to. What is it, my dear?” Fancy replied.

“This…,” Rarity leaned close in a smooth motion, capturing his lips with her own in a fierce kiss as a hoof found his cheek, her eyes falling closed as Fancy Pants’ eyes widened and his ears twitched in random directions.

She held the kiss for several seconds before she pulled away, a bright blush now on her face for a whole new reason as she gave him another smile, “I know there is much that shall be keeping us apart right now, but we will find ways around them in due time, my darling. I also must confess that I was intending to ask you myself tonight, lest the opportunity pass us by once again.”

“I...I say…,” Fancy blinked with a lopsided smile before he shook himself and gave her a warm smile, “Rarity, my dear, if you keep kissing me in such fashion, I may be inclined to damn the consequences and follow you to the ends of the world on a whim if necessary!”

Rarity tittered, giving him another coy look, “Now now, my darling. It won’t do for us to rush ourselves that much, now that we have at last done away with that bothersome first step. While I am unfortunately going to be attending something in Ponyville for the foreseeable future at the request of the Princesses, I do hope you will be able to free up some time to visit soon. I would very much like to begin our courtship with a first date as soon as you are able to come down.”

While it was understandable, it did feel like Twilight and I weren’t even in the room all of a sudden. She was still clutching my arm and showing a bright smile as we watched the pair move in for a much more refined nuzzle.

“I shall see about moving some things around in my schedule. Will you be available Thursday evening in two weeks? I am certain I can finish the deal with one of my financial partners ahead of schedule and be free through that weekend,” Fancy said.

“That would be lovely, my darling. I shall be expecting you,” Rarity returned, her eyes glittering in her delight.

I made a quiet clearing of my throat and smirked at the two of them, drawing their attention away from each other for a moment, “You know, I think I shall have to catch you another time, Fancy. While it has been a pleasure talking to you, I do believe a certain mare deserves all of your remaining attention this evening. Be sure to say hello next time you make it down to Ponyville.”

Twilight gave another squeeze to my arm and followed my lead, giving Rarity a teasing smirk after a moment, “I think I have to agree, Fancy. It was great seeing you again. And Rarity, I’ll see you at breakfast. Don’t stay up too late with him now, ok?”

Rarity’s cheeks flushed pink as she blinked at Twilight, “Twilight, darling, I don’t believe I shall ever quite get used to you using innuendo… Ahem, yes, I suppose I shall see the two of you at breakfast. A good night to both of you.”

Fancy Pants gave a good natured smile and nodded, “It has been quite the pleasure getting to meet with you, Vojin. I shall endeavor to at least stop by to say hello when next I am in Ponyville to see Rarity. Twilight, my dear, it was good to see you again, as always.”

“It was good to see you too, Fancy. Until next time,” Twilight said with a smile before we went on our way.

***

Once we were tucked away in our room again, we got ready for bed, even though it was a little early still. We just felt like being close for a while and didn’t feel very talkative, content to just cuddle under the covers, her back pressed into my chest as a thumb made slow strokes against her foreleg.

After an unknown amount of time had passed and feeling little desire for sleep, I heard Twilight speak up, “Vojin...I...I know you’re not a soldier, and you’ve never fought a war before either, but do you know what...what I should be expecting? I don’t really know what I’m even asking, I just...I’m scared. All the other things I’ve been through with the girls don’t feel like it was so bad, but I can’t stop thinking this is going to be different.”

Twilight shuffled around and turned over to face me, worry etched on her face as she snuggled in close with her nose pressing into my neck, “Equestria has only had one serious skirmish in the past decade. This big war is going to be everywhere when it starts. I keep trying to figure out how much it’s going to change everypony’s lives, but all I managed to do is feel more and more scared about how somepony I love is probably going to die, and I’ll lose one of my friends, and Ponyville will be destroyed, and I’ll fail to save the day this time, and--!”

I silenced her with fingertips to her lips, moving so I could meet her eyes and seeing the tears threatening to escape as little trembles were starting to build in her as her lower lip quivered. My hand moved to cup her cheek, thumb brushing against her soft coat as I gave her a long look, taking in both her expression and the turmoil of her emotions through our link. A faint bit of desperation was evident in her, looking for answers from me that I was pretty sure she knew I wouldn’t have.

Once I had a chance to collect my thoughts, I spoke in a gentle tone, “Twilight, all I really know about war is mostly just after the fact lessons from conflicts I wasn’t around to see. War is horrible, it’s true. We’re going to have to face who knows how much sadness and pain. We may very well find ourselves in a moment someone, somepony, that we know personally, becomes a victim of this looming conflict. I won’t sugarcoat what I know because it won’t help you if I do.

“What I can tell you though, is one of the constants I saw in humans that endured this stuff. Treasure those you care about and don’t let yourself take your time with them for granted for even a second. We won’t be able to save everyone. Maybe not even the ones we know and love directly, but it just means we should remind ourselves to enjoy the moment we’re in and try to face problems when they come, not worry about the unknowns.

“We already know how long I have, Twilight. But that’s how long I get if nothing gets me sooner. I don’t want to say it like that, but it’s still the reality we’re facing. I am your protector. I will say it out loud right now and make it very clear. I will give my life for you if it comes down to it. Despite knowing a time limit hovering over my head, it doesn’t make anything else any more predictable. I’m just as scared as you are, Purple Angel. And we are not stuck facing this alone.”

Twilight trembled in my arms as she wrapped me tight in a hug and I held her back just as much, knowing she was hovering at the edge of crying and keeping quiet, only soft sniffles being heard for a few minutes.

When she found some calm again, Twilight pulled back to stare into my eyes, swallowing before she found her words, one hoof caressing my cheek as her voice shook with both worry and need, “I-I want to treasure my time with you, Vojin. Make love to me. Right now. Make love to me until I tell you to stop, my stallion…”

My only response was capturing her lips as I met her need with mine, our eyes falling closed as we worked to forget all the worries of the world for a time.

Bk 1 Ch 25: The Secrets We Hold

Author's Notes:

Now at last we get to strong indications of what kinds of events will be taking place later on, as well as some of the intricate designs going on from multiple parties. Name drops or odd statements are not just because.

To an extent, this is also the start of a bit of fun. There's a lot of hints and allusions here, ranging from pretty obvious and into the extremely subtle. Some things to come are meant to be easy to see coming. There is also a spread of things not so easy to see coming, and a few deceptive points that won't be as simple to figure out as they appear. Some of them also tie into the last chapter of the book, so expect a number of new hints and allusions there.

For the record though, try not to put spoilers in the comments. PM me if you want to ask if you figured something out correctly. I won't do more than tease if you're off base, however.

One of the big meta questions I asked when really getting the story planned out and fixing some of my cliches in the beginning as the book progressed came down to this.

What might actually be severe enough to require a hero to come from another dimension?

Twilight and I followed Celestia and Luna into their lab again not long after we had finished breakfast on this last day in Canterlot. Now that the Royal Summit had ended, we’d be heading back to Ponyville in the afternoon. The girls had a week to make arrangements and changes prior to the arrival of the special squad that was being assembled. Then we could all start training for a few hours almost every day for the coming months, and perhaps until the whole mess broke open.

It would also bring the first time Twilight and I would be apart for long. She had a lot of work ahead to catch up on her postponed princess duties and figuring out the most efficient manner of delegating things she didn’t really need to remain involved in.

While she would just be spending most of the day at the town hall and back by dinner, it still felt a little disappointing for both of us. After getting to be together so much, we were kind of spoiled, now that the reality of more a normalized day to day came to reassert itself.

Celestia moved to her place beside the stone platform and the colorful crystal spires of their multi-purpose magic device, nodding her head towards the platform, “We may as well begin immediately, Vojin. The full process of reading your deepest fundamental nature, both mundane and magical, will take almost an hour to complete. Then we have to repeat it all again to scan your unicorn form, if we are to have the most comprehensive picture of you and the many curiosities that surround you for study. Please place yourself in the center again.”

Pausing for a moment, I cupped Twilight’s cheek and brushed my thumb through her fur, sharing a small, private smile with each other before I moved into the aforementioned position, while Twilight stopped at the base of the broad stone steps, “Am I needing to stay still for this again, ladies?”

Luna flexed one of her wings as she got herself situated at her own designated place, “So long as you do not move often, or away from the center of the platform, you are free to stretch if you find it necessary, my friend. The spells we shall be using are rather straightforward, and rely more upon time to attune with you than anything else, though it will take a bit longer if you are moving about. Truly, we are only in our laboratory to enhance them with our apparatus, so we might gain the sharpest possible detail in the scans. It causes no difference in the time to gather the readings, but Tia and I both felt the unique talents you possess deserve the extra care. Also, as much as it saddens me to say, while we are taking these extra steps we will include a capacity to read the state of your soul with greater accuracy than before, in the hope we may help you have the most time.”

I let out a quiet sigh, bowing my head as I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, held it, then let it out again and looked back at Luna. For the time being I was just trying not to think about that whole issue and didn’t know how long it would be before I got to the acceptance stage, “I…appreciate that, Luna.”

Their horns lit up and initiated the process as I stood there, trading a few comments here and there, but none of us seemed to feel very conversational after that reminder. I didn’t do any funny floating about this time, though there was a vague tingling pulse now and then.

Once I saw they were done, I took a moment to stretch myself a bit more than the little I’d allowed during the scan.

My brief moving about done, I lifted a foot and began using my magic to slip off my shoes and socks, very against repeating the footwear destruction I experienced when we first discovered my second form. As I did this, I spoke in a casual tone, “You know, Twilight and I did a little experimenting in our room this week with my unicorn form. We found out when she shares her magic with me, I have no control over the shift and am stuck as a bipedal unicorn until she takes her magic back. I also figured out how to change back and forth independently of that, but far as we can tell, I have no choice with the shift when doing magic sharing in my direction.”

“Intriguing,” Celestia returned, watching as I started making myself shift into the rather unique form I had gained, “On a first guess, it may have something to do with how you function magically, with three independent points of expression. Your human form lacks a horn, so it is a fair chance that such is a contributing factor.”

“That’s what Twilight and I were thinking,” I said, pausing to give my changing mane a shake and fish my lengthening tail out of my pants so it would sit in comfortable freedom for the length of the scan. I was already aware the damned thing had a partial mind of it’s own, like the ears now sticking up off the top of my head. I gave them a quick wiggle for my own amusement and rolled my shoulders to settle the thin coat of fur I now had under my clothes.

I was also glad I had no noticeable size change over most of my body, which would have been annoying to need a whole second set of clothes if I ripped free every time I changed, footwear notwithstanding, or had shrunk, “Also can’t get over how comfortable I feel like this… I mean, I know it’s my body, changed though it is, but it feels quite natural. I figure it’s a weird trick of my brain adapting, but it feels as natural as my human form does. Even the fur doesn’t feel too strange or anything really, though the ears seem more sensitive to touch than I’d expected, even a little uncomfortably so. Tail’s annoying when I sit on it wrong and pull the hairs of this stupid butt blanket. It also twitches and moves around too much if I don’t make it stay still.

“I suppose I also understand a bit better why even stallions don’t worry about clothes at all. It’s weird after having the human version so long, then having all my bits become completely internal when not in use. Part of me wants to say something had to go in for the tail to pop out.”

Twilight snickered, still rather amused by my initial confusion about how anything worked, when we had explored the differences in my change. The ponies of Equus have all internal equipment, apart from a mare’s teats. It was an experience in itself when trying to figure out where all my stuff was. Even a stallion’s balls are tucked away, with the sheath having little to no visible exposure unless allowing excitement in the obvious way.

While in my unicorn form, I also found I could control whether or not I got physically aroused, regardless of how turned on I was. It was some kind of simple muscle control, not unlike human pelvic floor muscles. However, once I let it out there was no reversing things until matters were tended or negated in the usual ways.

Twilight had rather enjoyed testing how much control I had, much to my own temporary frustration. After having her fun teasing me, she also enjoyed testing the change in my equipment in every way she could think of, which had it’s own new discoveries.

We were both quite surprised at how much more productive the factory was, so to speak, considering the disparities between the human average and the stallion average were not something we’d thought of until that moment. Her only actual experience with a male was with me, after all.

The rather different and internal reproductive biology also served as another reminder to me that, although there were uncanny similarities with creatures on Earth, this was still an alien world. I had come to understand there were very few species of Equus that had external genitalia of any kind, after discussing the subject with Twilight. She was surprised by what basic biology I knew from Earth.

I saw both Celestia and Luna giving me amused smirks, to which I just shrugged, arms bent at the elbow holding my hands out to the sides with a sheepish grin, “What? It’s weird to go through after a lifetime of everything, uh, hanging out.”

Noting my change was complete, Celestia flashed another smirk, “I can only imagine. If you’re ready, we will begin the second scan.”

So began almost another hour of pretty much standing in place, though this time I had to put up with Twilight teasing me from time to time, both verbal prods about how I’d acted, and suggestive motions that really only had one goal.

For the past few days now, she was trying all sorts of ways to pester me just right, and enjoying her growing power to tempt me a little much, but as much as I tried to, I couldn’t keep up the attempt at a flat stare and kept cracking a smile.

“Geh, you’re asking for it later, little miss playful,” I said as I narrowed my eyes at Twilight after she made another suggestive move just before Celestia and Luna finished.

Then came a surprise for Twilight after trying to get me riled up when Celestia spoke in a calm tone, her posture staying calm and relaxed, giving no visible cues to match the gleam in her eye as she caught mine, “You know, Twilight, my peripheral vision is better than I think you anticipated. I saw every single thing you were doing during the scan. You attempt to entice your stallion so brazenly now. I find myself a little impressed at how you’ve grown so forward around him. Are you starting to explore the waters of exhibitionism? Perhaps testing if Luna and I would be interested in voyeurism?”

Celestia delivered the whole thing in the most casual, nonchalant voice I had ever heard.

Poor Twilight went straight from playful tease to wide-eyed tomato impression as her mouth fell open with a horrified look. She sank to her haunches and covered her face with her hooves and wings, looking ready to sink into the floor.

Luna let out a soft chuckle, having nothing to add after that.

“Twilight, you walked right into this one,” I teased her as I moved off the platform to kneel in front of her and pull her into my arms, prompting her to hide against my chest in her fresh dose of embarrassment.

Celestia and Luna moved to one of the tables without another word to finish preparing the spell crystals that held the scan results, leaving me to comfort Twilight in her newest moment. I chose to stay in unicorn mode for now and just focused on Twilight.

They studied the results for a few minutes while preparing the copies for Twilight and I, then walked back over to us as we sat on one of the broad steps. Celestia and Luna both had mixed expressions that seemed out of place somehow, like they were thinking about something and the right way to say it.

Celestia had a look of discomfort as she met my eyes, “Vojin, now that I have had a chance to take a look at the lingering effects of the Rose Window as part of the scans we just completed, I have have both good and bad news. You had a very unusual reaction. To be honest, the way the spell reacted to you should have been impossible. It is almost like you are physically made of magic at a very basic level, rather than normal flesh and blood. Such a thing is a fundamental impossibility for a living being like yourself, so I am expecting we will discover a more appropriate explanation for this oddity in due time after studying your magical signature. Even Luna and I, for all our power, are flesh and blood beings in our physical bodies.

“As for how the spell affected you, I must confess it is one of the least desirable ways it could have happened. Not only will the additional spell we mentioned not be able to function on you, but not all of your memories in the past two months were able to settle past the Rose Window as they should have and will likely not return over time. You shall otherwise recover your displaced memories over the next month or two. Even casting it in fear as we did, had we known this was possible, we would have used a different approach. I am so very sorry for what we have done to you,” Celestia lowered her head, ears back as she closed her eyes in shame, “Though there is nothing we may offer to truly make up for this, know that anything you feel you require that Luna and I can provide within reason, you have only to ask, and it is yours.”

I scowled and grit my teeth as I closed my eyes, not wanting to look at either of them in that moment. Twilight moved to hug me close without a word, nuzzling me, and I just let her soothe my frustration and anger.

It was one more thing going wrong. One more weird discovery about myself. One more thing that couldn’t have been predicted. I had a moment of just wishing this kind of stuff would stop happening, even as it was starting to feel almost normal with how frequent it was.

Taking a while to let myself feel it for a time, I also let the frustration bleed out of me and allowed Twilight’s presence run through me, cooling and soothing me within.

Once I felt calm enough, I let out a heavy sigh and looked up at Celestia with a scowl, “What’s done is done. I’m going to be kind of upset with both of you for a while, but after learning why you cast the Rose Window and everything else, I’m stuck either dwelling on it to the point of spewing vitriol, or moving on. There isn’t anything I could ask for right now that I don’t already have, so I’ll just put that aside for another time. Like I said before...just...let me get my missing memories back, as much as I can anyway, and we’ll forget it happened. I don’t even want any cheap temporary gratification from yelling at you about it. That’ll just make me feel more bitter in the end.”

Celestia met my gaze with a pained look and nodded. We just put it aside after a moment more and moved on as Luna took over.

“We also took the opportunity to look over some of the major markers of your magical signature while we prepared your copies of the results. There are some rather curious aberrations that we will have to look further into. While this is not so unusual to see by itself, as even the most seemingly ordinary of creatures can have rather unusual traits buried within, I do not know why some of the aberrations are different between your forms. I had expected some of course, but not the ones I noticed. Perhaps it is the mixture of your unusual magical capabilities and the fact you are a human, which we are not very familiar with for obvious reasons,” Luna said, looking more thoughtful for a few moments.

“Alright. I guess that could be some of the first stuff I focus on when I start studying my own signatures… Oh, before I forget, I wanted to know your opinions on what point I could start letting it be known I can do this two-legger pony thing. I realized that if Twilight needs to share her magic with me in a critical situation, it would be wise to be as prepared as possible for those critical situations. That means training under anticipatable conditions, which in turn means at least a little training in this form. On it’s own, walking on these hooves I got isn’t difficult, but I wouldn’t say I’m ready to jump into a fight like this without some time to adapt to the changes of just the shape of my legs alone. I don’t even know how much grip my hooves have compared to my feet yet, not to mention the brief experiments Twilight and I did this week seem to suggest the presence of less obvious physical differences. Things like what appears to be denser muscle mass that leaves me a little stronger, despite being physically the same size. Assuming you don’t think I should keep hiding it, I might even talk with Doctor Hoofmeister about running a medical baseline or something,” I said, hoping they would understand I would have to make this form public in order to train for what was to come.

Celestia gave me a slow nod, “I can see the merits in that. There is no great reason to keep this aspect of yourself hidden that I can think of. Share it as you see fit. However, I recommend keeping your Spellweaving ability hidden. While you lack the training to make much use of it, it is not an unfounded concern that your unique potential to create true artifacts of power unaided will be rather desirable for exploitation. More nefarious parties would most likely not know or account for your present inability to use your gifts, were they to become aware of you and attempt your capture.

“Had you several years to progress in your magical studies and hone your skills like a proper mage, you have the potential to go beyond most others, assuming you were not caught by surprise. You would be able to move beyond many of the standard limitations of spells and counterspells. The shields alone that you could potentially learn to create will bypass the various choices of balance others must work around, such as merging absorption and transference of power. Perhaps even energy capture and transformation in various applications.

“Luna and I have talked about this a great deal. We expect you are capable of previously impossible things with this gift. That includes being the first Spellweaver capable of engaging in live combat. The teams we have always had before require a minimum of distractions to make the most of their skills, due to the delicate nature of merging conflicting spells. You lack such hinderance. Though you have much to learn, even the basics of combat magic should allow you to do wonders. One of your trainers will be a well trusted, high level battlemage for this reason.”

As if I didn’t have enough to worry about, I had to keep all that in the back of my mind now.

Taking a second to let even more stuff sink in, I rubbed the bridge of my muzzle with a purple-tinged gray furred hand, then gave a small huff as my sense of constant overload grew a bit further and left me wondering at what point I would have an anxiety attack or something, as even trying to go with the flow was leaving me more nervous over time, my tone was bemused, “Ok, I’m free to share pony mode, have to hide the fact I’m a magically delicious noob, and need to try and figure out how to be the Batman of wizards in record time. On top of everything else. Yeah, no pressure.”

Luna gave me a sympathetic, if somewhat confused smile, “I am unsure of the meaning to some of what you just said, but I believe you will do just fine, my friend. Do you have any further questions on these things?”

I glanced at Twilight and she gave a small shake of her head, so I looked back to Luna and shrugged, “I guess that’s it for now. It should be fun to see how the girls and Spike react to...yeah, I think I’m going to stick with calling it pony mode from now on. You two aren’t about to spring anything else on Twilight and I just before we leave the lab again, are you?”

There was a pause where I couldn’t help but groan when I noticed both of them show a moment of surprised guilt.

Of course they did.

“Ok, so you’ve got something to share. It’s not bad, is it?” I said with a resigned tone.

Celestia spoke in a gentle tone, “It is more complicated than such a simple definition, but there are positive aspects to share along with the unpleasant ones,” she paused before continuing, “It is time for us to tell the complete picture of the Guardian of the Bearers. We could not share the rest until the Royal Summit was complete, as some of that needed to preempt our sharing more on the matter.”

My ears perked forward at that, noticing out of the corner of my eye when Twilight’s did the same as we both blinked. I had a moment of wondering if I’d ever grow used to the ear stuff. And as if in counterpoint, I found the odd moments of synchronicity with Twilight rather fun.

Celestia looked at Twilight and gave a quiet sigh, “I apologize for being deceptive, Twilight, but you finding that scroll about the Guardian of the Bearers was not accidental. I had placed an advanced Notice Me compulsion on it that ensured you would find it, but only thought it pure chance. It was a spell you could never have detected without actively trying to locate subtle enchantments. You had to find it and approach me about it in a certain way, just as it would nudge you to react to discovering Vojin was to be your Guardian in a certain way.

“This is part of the unique challenge to guiding future events. I knew of various ways to ensure you learned how to find your Guardian, but how events led you to him would help shape your actions along the way. And I will admit that, yes, even this present conversation is planned for certain reasons. You already know about the web of influence I utilize across Equestria and Equus. Both by my own efforts, and those of ponies and others I entrust certain tasks to.”

Twilight frowned, I could feel frustration bubbling inside her, but there was a note of acceptance mixed in as well, her voice remained even as she spoke, “So what else can you tell us about the Guardian of the Bearers?”

Celestia gave us both a small smile, “The most important part is actually a relatively happy thing,” she looked at me then, “Vojin, you will not be fighting alone. There will be five others joining you in due time. One Guardian for each Bearer. To act as their personal protector and help you keep them safe. While there are still many unknowns, Luna and I are certain three of them will be stallions. The other two Guardians have yet to settle between stallion or mare, leaving them more of a mystery in this regard at present.”

I felt a great deal of relief flowing through Twilight when she heard her friends would have their own Guardians, and that I would not be standing alone against what challenges we might face all too soon. She wrapped her forelegs around me in a tight hug and I held her in kind as she sniffled.

Once she saw Twilight was ready for her to continue, Celestia did so, “Vojin, you were drafted into the Guard because of this. It is the reason why you now hold the title of Guardian and were made equivalent to a Colonel in rank. While we are assigning a squad to yourself and the Bearers for their protection, to be under your command when you are ready for such, it is your fellow Guardians yet to be found that truly brought about the decision. The squad we are sending you is not just for training, but a precursor and stopgap of sorts to help keep the girls safe, while giving you time for finding and confirming your fellow Guardians. I can tell you that at least one member of the coming squad appears set to be a Guardian themselves, but I do not know anything more specific than this, as there is much haze around them in our foresight.”

Luna took over, a warning look on her face, “We must also impress upon you both the extreme necessity of keeping this knowledge to yourselves. There is a very high chance, should you tell the rest of the Bearers, or attempt to name a Guardian before they have been confirmed, that such will lead to the death of either Guardian or Bearer. All of your positions are precarious in events to come as it is. We have tried to guide events in favor of the Guardians, in addition to the Bearers, but the balance is fragile. Please, heed us and breathe not one word of this to your friends. If somepony makes a wrong assumption or guess before the time comes, we fear they will take action and lead themselves into further danger. After all five have been confirmed, you are welcome to tell them everything we share with you today.”

Twilight and I both felt nervous from what Luna just said. We looked each other in the eye for a long moment, confirming to each other we wouldn’t say a thing to the others.

Turning back to Celestia and Luna, I had a question, “Ok, so you mentioned the need to confirm each Guardian. What do you mean by that?”

Celestia gave me an unreadable look, “This is where I fear we must be more secretive again. While you can discuss what we are about to show you with her afterwards, Twilight cannot bear direct witness to what else we have to share,” she looked at Twilight, “I am sorry for keeping you in the dark over this side of things, but I do not do it without good reason.”

Twilight frowned, frustrated again, but accepting, “I don’t like it, but I understand. Shall I meet you back at our room when you’re done, Vojin?”

Before I had a chance to respond, Celestia shook her head and spoke again, “You do not need to leave, Twilight. We must take Vojin to our viewing plane. He will be one of the few mortals we show it to. I am sure you remember your own rare visits well from your time as my student, and more recent times since your ascension. We will not be long from this plane’s perspective, so just give us a few minutes and we should be done. You and I can discuss other things while I show him what is necessary there.”

I blinked up at her with a tilt of my head, one ear splayed sideways with the other perked, now a bit at a loss over what was happening, “Viewing plane?”

Celestia nodded, “Yes. Luna and I will also need to temporarily separate you from your physical form and carry you there, as your mortal body cannot properly withstand the journey, due to the amount of mana that flows through and around the space we shall be talking. Let us know when you’re ready and we will begin.”

Turning back to Twilight, I gave her a nuzzle as my tail twitched, giving her a squeezing hug, “I guess I’ll be right back, or something.”

“Alright. I’ll be waiting,” Twilight replied after returning the nuzzle.

Looking back to Celestia and Luna, I nodded, “I guess we should get to it. I’m assuming that I’m just going for a ride, so to speak?”

Celestia gave a small smile, “Just relax. You will not really notice the journey, and I expect it will appear rather sudden to you as I carry you there.”

Not knowing what else to do, I just settled myself in Twilight’s embrace and waited for whatever it was going to be like.

Then Celestia’s horn began to glow, and a moment later the world flashed around me into an incomprehensible burst of random colors before snapping back into focus in a sea of soft glowing nothing and stars, a layer of almost-yet-not clouds meeting me as I fell over without Twilight next to me all of a sudden. I wasn’t even going to question why at this point. Everything felt different, and somehow I knew time itself moved a different way here.

And the floor seemed rather soft, having thumped into it upon arrival. So there was that, too.

After picking myself up to stand again, Luna motioned with a wing for me to stand between herself and Celestia, in front of what looked to be something resembling a vast wall of TV screens, all displaying images that changed faster than I could follow. I could only tell it was various scenes containing ponies of all kinds and colors, but I had no idea what it was for yet.

Celestia spoke in a now more determined voice, beginning to wave a hoof at different points amongst the screens, seeming to direct the chaos into a new form as scenes began to solidify into things I could keep up with, “In this place, we are free of all possible spying or intrusion, so I will not mince words with you, nor will I hint around things, Vojin. I feel you will appreciate it, given the gravity of what Luna and I are about to tell you. I will also not hide the fact we will be withholding secrets about the full scope of all we know, but please allow us to guide you. Luna and I admit we made a serious error with the Rose Window spell, yet it is done and unable to be changed, and now we are hoping we have not damaged your trust in us too far. We need you to trust in us for the days ahead, though we cannot tell you exactly why.

“You are here on Equus because things have not gone as they were meant to. I must confess that we have no true knowledge of you beyond knowing you would come, considering our misinterpretations of what to expect. Even the meaning of your name was part of a series of key markers for us to recognize you, should we miss other indications. It has been surprising for us to discover what we had thought would be multiple beings has turned out to be all contained within you alone. We had been expecting a much more literal dragon for one example, despite the contrast you have turned out to be, based upon what we had seen. A peace-loving warrior dragon with red scales that would bring love and hope for the days ahead. I had even thought perhaps we would see a friend of old Styx himself. It has been an admittedly humbling reminder that despite our experience in discerning the difference between metaphor and literal in the visions we see of the future, we will always misinterpret things at times and make mistakes.

“I do not presently know how or why, but at some point in the past, around two thousand years from what Luna and I can gather, the events we now face were first set in motion. We understand enough to know that with your arrival, we have begun the long awaited divergence away from the intended course of Fate in this time period. The Bearers did not originally need their own protectors in order to defend our world. They had been fated to always endure, to be the ones that could save the day, but the danger has grown too severe and that push of Fate is being negated by unknown means. I have tried to strengthen it, but due to whatever forces are now at work, this effort has had no effect at all. Nor do we know what has changed Fate in order to bring about yourself and the other Guardians coming to defend them.”

All I could do was blink at what she just said. With all that had happened during the week, I was to a point where it was getting difficult to process much else. Focusing on just listening and going with the flow, I tried to take it all in for later, if not able to deal with it right away.

She kept moving screens into new places, her probable centuries of experience with such things had her moving with speed and fluidity in her hoof gestures, all the while more and more images became clear to my eyes, at least as much as unknown faces and places could, “We know that Fate will move to push itself back on course, but the manner in which Fate corrects itself is a very severe and brutal process to those living through it.

“The Event we told you of, the one that led us to use our spell on you out of fear, the demonic plague and the circumstances surrounding it…that was the last time Fate moved to correct itself from tampering. Luna and I both fear it possible that the immense shift that has taken place will lead us into a cataclysm before this ends, as the forces at work are greater than what came before. The Event saw us wielding much of our true birthright, and it was enough to cause a great deal of harm before Equus settled itself once more. Though we succeeded in containing the consequences of The Event to the the region in which it took place, that will not be possible this time. I will show you some of the visions Luna and I have seen. Vojin, you must understand these events as much as possible, if you are to succeed in protecting Twilight and the rest of the Bearers.”

If I wasn’t worried enough before, I was certain I couldn’t be far off by now. The two of them seemed to be laying a lot out in the open. To make it all the more difficult, I couldn’t shake a certain amount of wariness because of the spell they’d cast on me for a while, maybe I would stay wary forever. Mistake or not, it was something I could not just forget had happened, even if I could forgive. For now, I would keep trying to give them the benefit of the doubt. I really did want to believe in their better intentions, even as I made sure I only gave them intentional trust. A position I detested being stuck in.

With the crazy idea of Fate going wrong as they suggested, and the rest of it, I attempted to just take it in stride because I didn’t know how else to react, feeling overwhelmed again. I knew I needed time to think to really take it all in, yet no idea how much more would happen before I got the chance. I watched screens align and freeze on still images, seeing only hints here and there of anything I could recognize. There was a glimpse of Spike in one or two of them, and I noticed the one in the center right in front of me was frozen with an image of the Tree of Harmony.

Whatever I needed to learn and do, I sensed the Tree was pivotal in some way.

Luna interrupted my introspection as she watched Celestia finishing the task of preparing the visions, “My friend, what do you remember of the serial play that allowed you to learn of us while on Earth? I know you were familiar with some events, up to the Equestria Games that were held in the Crystal Empire, so you knew of fairly recent happenings.”

Taking a moment to think as I folded my arms, feeling somehow compelled to keep staring at the Tree of Harmony, I replied, “The only thing about the show that seems to stand out as relevant right now is a strange crystal chest at the base of the Tree of Harmony that I never learned the purpose of. Blue thing, had six keyholes around the outside, about the size of a large pumpkin, I think. It grew after the Elements were returned to the Tree of Harmony in order for the Tree to fight off the plunder seeds that Discord planted prior to his defeat after his long reign.”

Luna tilted her head with a frown, “Hmm...no such thing appeared by the Tree when the Elements were returned. Have you any knowledge of what it was for?”

I shook my head, “No. I’m pretty sure it was some deus ex machina thing for the heroes to have a way to save the day for the season finale, but whatever it was, I didn’t find out before coming here.”

Celestia spoke up then, “I understand your meaning. Every world, every reality, tends to have innumerable alternates following what are often very similar paths of Fate in most cases. They are at different points in the same greater common timeline, but they tend to stay similar until their unique divergences, regardless of possible reconvergences, except when influenced by those with enough power to alter the plans of Fate. Perhaps we were meant to have a similar crystal chest appear that day, if what you saw was keeping close to the intended path, but that is no more than speculation. It could have easily just been one of the arbitrary additions we have noted. There have been a number of differences between our world and what you had known, from what you have said and shared in your letters.

“However, with the state of things now, almost everything has become an unknown from what we once saw laid out in our foresight. One example, if you will forgive my using it, is that we cannot even perceive your own anticipated end, relying instead on calculations for your available time. You are shrouded after a point from our ability to see. It is the same with the Bearers. Even winning or losing the coming war, we are unable to look beyond a point in time and all becomes haze and mist. Every matter and event we have tried to perceive becomes shrouded at various points, with nothing discernible beyond around just over two years or less from your arrival. The coming war is not over by then. And the shrouding effect is growing worse, cutting off increasing amounts of what we can still perceive. At the current rate the shrouding grows, we will have no more divination or similar tools of foresight in a matter of months. Not even something as simple as looking into the next day. For the first time in our long lives since we first learned how to look into the future, we cannot see the path ahead.”

It was then I realized just how nervous both Celestia and Luna were. That I saw the little twitches in their ears and faces, the way they tensed certain muscles. After so long being able to look ahead, whether in divination or scrying or other methods, to find themselves cut off from foreknowledge must be a daunting prospect.

There was still the possibility they were playing an act, but I had a sense that even if there were any hidden designs I couldn’t fathom, the little cues of tension I noticed were real. And the idea that something was powerful enough to shut them down in such a way troubled me more than what they had said.

While they could be just that good at acting, as I stared at the hovering image of the Tree of Harmony, I felt a sense of knowing they were being blunt and honest in this.

Once I had a moment for it to sink in, I frowned, “Then show me what I need to know and help me prepare.”

Celestia waved a hoof again and five screens with indeterminable masses of shadow with a rough pony shape moved into prominence beneath the one displaying the Tree of Harmony, “These scenes are nearly all that is left of the still accessible visions of the Guardians you must find. Luna and I discovered their presence too late into the progressing loss of foresight and these are what we found.

“At present, we know two shall be earth pony stallions, one is a unicorn stallion, and one is a pegasus of unrevealed gender. The last continues dancing between a pegasus and a unicorn, gender unknown, and dependent upon future events. Four are current or former members of the Guard. Four them have proven themselves in combat. We know there are cues to help you confirm them upon their protecting their Bearer in a certain way when you are unable to. We believe you will feel the truth in the moment you witness the act of protection suggested.”

I glanced at her as my ear flicked in her direction, “What are the cues? Will I have anything solid, or just things I could potentially misinterpret?”

She nodded, “In these visions, you will get some impressions as a scene plays out. I cannot tell anything of the Bearer represented in any of them, only that one of the ponies present is the Bearer and another is their Guardian protecting them from harm. The vision of the Tree of Harmony is also critical, but I do not know what it means. In a sense, it seems to reference the Bearers in that there are six entities referenced in bursts of impression, but there is so little to go on that I cannot ascertain what it truly means.

“When you are ready to learn, you need only reach out and touch them.”

My tail lashed behind me as my ears twitched between aggressive and nervous, arms unfolding as I stared at the image of the Tree of Harmony for a long moment, not knowing why it kept holding my attention so much. I would save it for last, reaching out to touch the first vision of one of the Guardians I needed to find.

The moment my fingertips touched the image, the world around me flashed.

***

I was running down an indeterminable street, surrounded by shadowy masses that had to be buildings, but after about seven feet it just faded into the shadowy haze over my head, leaving not even height for me to help identify what I was witnessing. At best, a town-style setting was my guess.

For an unknown reason, I was carrying a staff and wearing something I couldn’t see, in pony mode from the feel of my ears and hooves as I charged down the street towards a vague unmoving mass I knew was a Bearer that had several dark and deadly shadows racing towards it.

A heartbeat later, I knew I wouldn’t make it in time and I felt tears begin to form in my eyes at what would happen to the unknown Bearer I was racing toward at a dead sprint.

Just before the shadows reached the Bearer, another larger mass surged from around a blind corner and knocked away the first shadow with an act of raw physical power, causing it to explode into bits of dark that faded away, even as another shadow landed on the unknown Guardian and somehow I knew bit into their back before the Guardian could toss the attacker away.

As I cleared the last bit of distance, the unknown Guardian had fought and smashed at least six of the deadly shadows that seemed to attempt attacking both Guardian and Bearer alike. Each time, the unknown Guardian blocked and knocked away the attack, as though familiar with how the shadows behaved.

The vision closed as I reached them, helping finish off the attackers with my magic and the staff I bore. Words echoed through the aether across my mind in a powerful voice I couldn’t place.

When you cannot arrive in time, they will fight off the many.

***

I took in a sudden breath.

The vivid experience had me feeling everything as though it were real, finding myself panting and disoriented.

And somehow, I knew it was not a mere vision of a possibility at all.

I glanced at the two alicorns that were standing on either side of me, seeing their looks of shock.

“What just happened? That...that was like watching my own memory or something,” I said, working to calm myself back down from the intensity.

Luna stared at me, “Vojin…you should not be able to witness these visions like that. It was only supposed to play the scene. That you experienced it in such a direct manner means the visions we found are likely glimpses of your future, and neither I nor Celestia will understand them as well as you will. We only watch the scene and can read some of the meaning contained within. You can instead experience the very emotions of the moment shown, and understand it more completely than we could ever hope to.”

I felt Celestia touch her wing to my back, “This will be all the more important in your discovering the other Guardians, Vojin. When the moment comes, you will know who they are and that they are ready to protect their Bearer in full, beyond anything an assigned guard could do. More than before, I need you to proceed through each vision. I will not ask you to try and explain everything you witness, as you are the one that needs to know. Though I do hope the last of the five will make some sense to you, for we do not understand what it represents.”

Nodding after a moment, I started reaching for the second vision, “This is bloody intense. Suddenly getting thrust into emergency situations right in the middle like that is overwhelming. Still...that’s a small price to pay if I can keep the girls safe. Here goes round two…”

I touched the next vision and everything flashed around me again.

***

My feet pounded the stone as I went charging through a snowy night. Again, I found myself surrounded by almost amorphous buildings I could not see the details of. It felt more city-like this time, with patterns of light on the ground suggesting streetlights I couldn’t see.

Somehow, I knew Twilight and several members of the Guard were not far behind me. Rainbow Dash and a few pegasi guards were in the air as well, heading our way after I alerted them.

We were all racing towards the sounds of a struggle in an alleyway, where the almost too weak tracer spell was guiding me now that I was in range. I noted something had reduced it near to nothing somehow.

Dashing around corner, I saw the dark mass of what I knew was a Bearer laying on her side, visibly injured and bleeding from a blow to the head. The unknown Guardian blocking three shadowy assailants that were rushing forward as I joined the fight with fist and force in the enclosed space.

Though there was nothing visible, somehow I knew one of the shadows stabbed the unknown Guardian before they could fully react to two attacks at once, choosing to stop the one going after the Bearer over their own safety. The unknown Guardian fell to the ground as a rush of blood began to pour out upon the snow-dusted stone. The three assailants were subdued by me in a brief melee, with Twilight and the guards just reaching us at the end of the alleyway.

The vision closed as my magic seemed to be shifting in some way as I rushed towards the Bearer and Guardian, but didn’t tell me what happened to the fallen Guardian as another set of words echoed. The distant voice was like a sort of thunder in my mind, immense and driving.

When you are not first aware of the threat, they will give you enough time.

***

I gasped as the vision ended without warning again, sending me through another emotional crash.

“I assume it was as intense as the first one, my friend?” Luna said after she saw I was back again.

Swallowing, I just nodded in response.

After enough time to feel ready, I went straight for the third one, determined to know.

These may all be scenes focused on moments when my friends’ lives were endangered. I wanted to know where I came up short in keeping them safe, hoping I could come up with a way to avert the danger, or at least recognize the moment so I could play my part and be there for them when they needed me to be.

My awareness flashed again and I entered the next vision.

***

My vision swam as I tried to recover from the explosion, the ground rumbling and stone threatening to drop on all our heads. A quick glance around showed the others all shifting a little, informing me they were all still alive. I was holding the crumbling rock at bay, worrying how much of it I could handle as I started weaving a second physical shield into the first, acting like support beams and reducing some of the demand to just keeping the spell’s shape and letting some of the pressure transfer into the ground at my feet. It was a slow process, but some earth manipulation magic was slowly shaping the rock to prevent everything above us from turning us into paste.

In the moments that followed, I recognized the blast was some kind of stunning spell, mixed with some kinetic or other effect able to cause this collapse. Somehow, it didn’t knock me out like the others. If it had, this cave would have become our tomb.

The unknown Guardian snapped back to alertness, recovering well before the rest and asked where the Bearer was after a glance at the others.

I remembered a Bearer had been further ahead. In the hazy flash of events and fuzz of the vision, I recalled seeing them collapsing when the spell went off…

And a large slab of stone had fallen between the rest of us and her, cutting us off.

The moment I told them, the unknown Guardian had bellowed the Bearer’s name and charged at the slab of stone. My mind of the vision seemed unsurprised as they tore through the stone, turning it to gravel at an astonishing rate.

I tried to push my magic to work faster, to solidify the stone so I could spare some effort in getting to her, but knew I needed almost a minute of fusing the stone back together before I could dare. With the enemy we were hunting in this cave, it was a painful and dangerous spot for the Bearer to be in.

In a short time, the Guardian had an opening into the rest of the tunnel and I could just see the Bearer laying on her side with a bleeding, badly broken leg and the one we had been chasing approaching her. The unknown Guardian rushed forward, wasting no time in engaging our enemy and keeping them at bay.

I was still working on the stone as the others were getting up and the unknown Guardian took down the attacker I couldn’t really see from my position, the vision coming to a close.

The voice called out again, sounding like male and female together in a chorus of multitudes.

When you must hold back the mountain, they will rise to tear down the danger pursued.

***

I sucked in a breath as the vision ended again, but felt like I had more of a handle on it this time.

Once I had a moment, I spoke, “I think I’m starting to get used to this. I don’t know what kind of enemy we’re supposed to be chasing in a cave, but I guess I need to make sure I keep earth manipulation on my magical practice list.”

Celestia nodded, “If you feel a nudge to do something from these visions, I highly recommend you take it as valuable advice. They may guide you more towards how to best prepare yourself for the days ahead.”

“Agreed. I’ve been leaning towards setting earth manipulation aside in exchange for focusing on other areas once I had enough basics done. That vision makes me think I better keep on them after all,” I returned, taking a breath and letting it out again.

Reaching out to the fourth, the world flashed around me as I entered the next moment in time.

***

I was in a place of blowing wind and dust that was thick enough to be a fog. The sand stung as it peppered across my sensitive ears for a moment’s awareness before sensation went dull and vague within the vision.

All I knew of my mind in the vision was wildness and fury, my whole focus fixated on the shadowy enemies I was engaged against, sword in my purple-tinged gray hand as I snarled and growled like an enraged animal. I didn’t even know what I used to hit with as three strikes I made connected with three separate targets in rapid succession. I felt like I was floating in my own body, disconnected as I fought like a madman.

It was only the part of my mind separate from the vision that caught the dark mass of a Bearer sent flying several feet by a large biped, as the apparent berserker rage blinded me to it otherwise. The Bearer did not move after she landed. The part of me in the vision paid the sight no heed as I tore into the enemies before me. I couldn’t understand what had me disregard everything else around but the enemies I was already fighting, and tearing to pieces with excessive violence I didn’t think myself capable of.

In vague flashes only seen as I whirled this way and that, I saw another unknown Guardian, a pegasus, drop out of the howling wind between the large biped and the stunned Bearer laying on the ground. I could not see much of their fight. Somehow, the swirling wind and sand was summoned by that large biped, evidenced further by them fighting with physical blows and concentrated hammers of the swirling storm.

Just as I finished the enemies near me and turned to go after the large biped with the rather unsettling, gleeful craving for wanting to rip something else apart, I saw the unknown Guardian land a powerful strike to the biped’s head with a sharp cracking sound heard over the howling wind, which then began to calm.

The vision closed as the biped fell and I heard the resonating voice of two and many again.

When you turn wild and ignore the true threat, they will stand against the storm.

***

I collapsed to my knees, holding myself up with shaking arms as the vision ended and began trying to catch my breath again, unsettled down to my core by what I had just witnessed, my ears pinned to my skull.

The Bearer was protected like I expected, but what...what happened to me?

The state I was in during that vision was something I could only describe as feral. I had felt the depth of the madness that had consumed me. With how much I valued my ability to think, the very concept of completely losing my mind like that terrified me in a way I didn’t quite know how to react to.

I just swallowed against a lump in my throat, having a moment of wishing I could feel Twilight holding me right now.

Luna’s gentle voice broke the silence, “It is…a frightening thing to see from yourself, I know,” her hoof rested against my back, “Even now, I sometimes have moments of terror that I might slip into the madness I had given myself once more. That I might have no ability to control myself and go on a rampage again.”

I felt Luna move close and pull me into a hug, her voice choked with emotion, “It...it isn’t easy, my friend, but it is not beyond you to overcome. You should still keep your deepest desires, still love those you care about, as I did when battling my sister. For all I raged at her, as hard as I hit, not once did I actually try to kill her. I only tried to show her I was more dominant, that I was stronger and she should submit. As painful as it is to endure, you can endure. I am entirely confident you would never hurt Twilight or your friends, no matter how wild you become for a time.”

A hand held one of her forelegs a little tighter as I leaned into her embrace, knowing I needed to ask, yet not sure if I could trust their answer, “...do...do you two know what happens to cause it?”

Celestia’s voice then sounded far older and more tired than I had heard from her before, as if countless burdens of knowledge were given sound and physical weight, “Not when, or why. All I can tell you for certain is, if you do not bear the events to come, Twilight will.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed tighter into Luna’s hold, gritting my teeth.

It took longer than I would like to admit, but I fanned the fire that drove me to protect Twilight, and in a slow movement, I pulled myself to my feet, or hooves in this case. Many claim being willing to stand in harm’s way for the one they loved. Few could say they knew something of what they would face before it happened and still stepped forward to meet it.

I stared at the image of the Tree of Harmony with that determination in my eyes and squared my shoulders, knowing I’d have walked through fire for Twilight in an instant. The only real difference now would be my awareness that there really was fire coming.

“No matter what, I won’t let her come to harm if it’s within my power to prevent… If that… If it includes giving up that much of myself to spare her whatever causes it, if I have to be some kind of damage absorber for her...I still think it’s an easy choice...,” my voice wavered for a moment as I settled myself, turning to meet first Luna’s eyes, then Celestia’s before speaking again as the weight of it settled on my shoulders, turning back to the image of the Tree, letting out a long sigh, “...this kind of burden of knowing is something you two carry all the time, isn’t it?”

They spoke in unison, both quiet and solemn, “It is.”

I closed my eyes and took a slow breath, nodding before opening my eyes to look at the image of the Tree again, not knowing why it seemed to give me strength, “I think I’d prefer we never mention this again, even to each other. Don’t warn me or anything unless you think it can be prevented, alright? Just gonna stress me out worse if I have to focus on it. Come what may, I will protect Twilight with everything I have. If that is the price, then so be it.”

I felt a wing touch each shoulder in a silent gesture of solidarity from them both.

Once I had a bit longer to settle my mind, I touched the last of the five visions and dove in.

***

I found myself running across a snow covered field just outside of town, heading for a brutal knockdown, dragout fight between the two ponies I could see tumbling around, kicking up snow and throwing hard blows. They had devolved into vicious snarls and angry shouts, rather than any coherent words.

My mind of the vision raced at how could they be trying to kill each other. The part outside the vision realized it was a Bearer and a Guardian engaged in such a heavy melee when they were just supposed to be sparring. There was a strange sense of a recent pervasive emotional pain.

Thudding blows were strong enough to be audible. A different sound rang out as one of them seemed to crack a bone with a strike, only to have it returned in the next moment by their opponent causing something to crack in reply. They fought as if they didn’t even notice. I couldn’t tell what tribe they were in the hazy dark masses that were their bodies in the vision, let alone what had been broken or even who it was.

I found myself stopping a short distance away as puffs of breath escaped my muzzle, ears back against my scalp in heartache, a moment from forcing them apart. Red spatters of their blood were visible in the snow all around them in testament to the severity with which they were beating each other.

Before I could move to stop the fight, the unknown Guardian pinned the Bearer at last, receiving a shouted statement full of intense grief and anger for the effort. A moment later, the Bearer was met with a shouted reply from the Guardian that made me feel stunned, though unable to hear any words.

Whatever was said, the Bearer was stunned silent by the words as the unknown Guardian collapsed at her side and began to cry, saying they couldn’t bear watching their personal agony repeat for the Bearer.

All I knew was a sense of shock at what the unknown words had been, even as the strange confirmation resonated and I understood the Bearer would find her way back to health when my best effort had failed to reach her, even as she healed her Guardian in kind. The two of them cried and clung together in the bloodied snow as the vision faded.

Words again went dancing across the edges of my perception in that thunderous voice.

When you cannot truly understand, they will know the depth of pain in the mirror.

***

As the vision ended, I didn’t gasp or inhale as I came out of it. Instead, I could only manage a quiet sniffle, feeling a tightness in my chest. I realized after a moment that I’d been weeping from what I had felt, yet I didn’t know the reason why.

“What was…that?” came all the quiet words I had, still reeling from how much sadness ran through the vision.

Celestia’s voice was soft, “Vojin, do you know what happened? There is so much sorrow permeating the vision, yet we cannot tell anything of the reason for it. Nor do we know why Bearer and Guardian fight each other with such fury, only to shout at each other and start crying together right after. What did you learn?”

Swallowing as I wiped at my eyes, I turned to look at Celestia, “I don’t know. I felt like…I was failing to protect the Bearer from something severe within her, despite my best efforts. I think I was trying to help her recover, for lack of any other explanation, but couldn’t because I didn’t understand the full weight of it in some way. I don’t know what could have been devastating enough to do that to one of the girls…”

We remained quiet for a minute before any of us spoke again.

“...I had truly hoped you would be able to tell us more,” Celestia said after a period of silence, “It is that vision which worries me as much as your own future. Without understanding more of it, I cannot offer you any suggestions or advice.”

“I suppose it was too much to ask for us to understand everything coming our way. Whatever happens, I’ll deal with it as it comes, Celestia,” I said in return, looking at that last vision again.

The three of us went silent for a while longer, myself taking some time to absorb the emotion and put it away again.

Once I felt ready to continue, I spoke in a soft voice, “Is there anything else about the Guardians? I feel like that last vision of the Tree of Harmony has little to do with them.”

Luna answered, “There are a few more things to know. In a similar fashion that you will bear something in Twilight’s stead, so too will each of the other Guardians be enduring things for their Bearer. Many of the wounds you and the other five will likely experience shall be a trade of sorts. Instead of them being experienced by the Bearers, such will be for the Guardians to bear. This seems to be another of the changes to Fate guiding the Guardians as protectors. To an extent, you are living shields against harm that would otherwise fall upon your charges.

“That such a thing is added to the burden of what the Guardians shall be for the Bearers says a great deal about the hardships you will face, yet we are hopeful. We found only glimmers of it before our foresight was blocked, but there was some sort of change that gave all of you, the Bearers included, the power to endure much greater forces than before and remain unharmed where you might otherwise have been mortally wounded. While we do not know anything further, I suspect in time we may discover a way to armor you beyond what we presently know. Perhaps it is something drawn from your ideas brought from Earth that we will learn and put to use after we have time to study.”

“I guess we really are damage sponges…,” I said with a sigh, knowing I already accepted it from before, continuing on after a moment more, “Alright. Let’s hope we figure out that armor thing sooner than later. Anything else I have to worry about?”

“Well…,” Celestia started, clearing her throat before continuing.

That kind of lead in is never a good sign. I was already bracing myself.

“I know this will sound strange, but I do not bring it up on a whim. For the two Guardians that have yet to settle between mare and stallion, should either turn out to be a mare…”

I just started moving a hand to my face as she spoke. This one was going to give me a headache, I could just tell.

“Assuming we are victorious, as the head of the Guardians, for some reason you will be responsible for ensuring each of the Bearers has a foal when the fighting ends,” Celestia finished.

All I could do was pinch the bridge of my muzzle and give a faint groan, wondering how much weirder my life could possibly become, taking a long moment of silence before I gave her a deadpan look, “You’ve got to be kidding…”

“I am afraid not, Vojin. This was rather clear. You need to ensure each of them bears a foal, should they not have a stallion as their Guardian,” Celestia said in a dry tone that spoke to her own bemusement.

“Ok...but what if I, uh, run out of time before the end? This whole mess is supposed to last longer than I’ve got. Heck, we don’t even know if I could give Twilight a foal yet…,” I asked in a quieter tone.

Celestia blinked, giving me a confused look for a moment, then realization crossed her features, “Oh, you must not yet be aware of spells that grant compatibility between otherwise incompatible species. It might take several months at most if coming from another world is dramatic enough an issue, but we could create a compatibility spell for you. I do not know what to tell you about the timeline, however. Does anything come to mind in that regard?”

Giving the bridge of my muzzle another rub with my eyes closed, I tried to give it some real thought, an idea coming to mind after a moment, “Um, do you have artificial insemination in Equestria?”

Both Celestia and Luna gave me an odd look.

“Judging by your expressions, I guess not. Short explanation, taking sperm samples and fertilizing an egg. In or out of the womb. No sex necessary. I already know some on just how many variations there are for preservation and stasis enchantments that could be infinitely refreshed, so any...ugh...samples I create would remain viable,” I said at length, giving a slight cough as all that gave me experience a small blush, the whole situation having gone so weird all of a sudden. I had a moment of questioning what could have possibly happened in my past for so much weird stuff to happen to me so much in the past two months.

Celestia thought for a bit, nodding when she seemed to finish taking that in, “Hmm...I believe that answers the question then. I…I am sorry to remind you of your condition like this, Vojin.”

I just waved her off with a huff, “It is what it is. I’ll deal with the here and now so I don’t go crazy over stuff that isn’t here yet. I’m partly still expecting one of you to say ‘gotcha’ about the whole bloody idea of ensuring all the Bearers have a foal after this mess. Twilight and I haven’t even really talked much about that stuff yet. Geh…still, while we’re on this side of things…do you two think the Guardians will also be romantic interests? The whole thing about giving the Bearers a foal makes me wonder.”

Luna stretched her wings for a moment before answering me, “Tia and I have both considered such, and there is certainly nothing to discount the possibility. Such attachment would be quite conducive to the Guardians being more driven to protect their Bearers. You can already speak for how it drives you to protect Twilight. If that is the case, it will certainly settle the issue of foals, if the Guardians all want to give them one, does it not?”

That made me snort in amusement, smirking as I saw both of them gain wry grins themselves. I felt better after that, as small a moment as it was. It seemed we needed a moment of levity after all that had happened since we got to this place.

Taking a deep breath and letting it go, I looked at them, “Ok. Was there anything else about the Guardians I need to know? I might actually lose my bloody marbles if you tell me I suddenly have to plan for a song and dance routine or something.”

Celestia gave me a small smile and shook her head, “No, there is nothing else to know with the Guardians that I am aware of right now. The vision of the Tree of Harmony is something else entirely. It is also a true vision, unlike most of what Luna and I learn through our divination spells. After everything else, I suspect it was meant for you to see most of all. This is the last matter we must attend before we depart the viewing plane.”

“It’s certainly been an interesting visit. Come what may, I’ll do the best I can in the days ahead,” I returned, eyes landing on the image of the Tree of Harmony again.

I started to move my hand towards the last vision, unsure what I would see from the image of the Tree that had kept giving me strange feelings.

When everything around me flashed, it was not like the visions of the Guardians.

…

I stumbled as I dropped a bit, like I’d teleported somehow, and looked up at the gleaming crystalline form of the Tree of Harmony standing tall and proud before me.

All around was somehow alternating at random between pure colors of every kind. Each one filled everything around without form or deviation, seeing no difference between the space above me right down around the indistinguishable surface my hooves were planted on. If I turned my head or blinked, the color of the world around me changed with suddenness.

There was no noise, even when I tried to make some. Not even ringing in my ears or hearing my own blood from the absence of sound. Absolute silence.

All that was present in this unsettlingly still place was myself and the Tree of Harmony, with six strange orbs I couldn’t quite make out the look of hovering before it.

Then sound came at me like a force of nature.

Catalyst.

I stared at the Tree in shock and took a step back as my ears went flat to my head, startled at the sudden appearance of the voice from the earlier visions. An immense presence now accompanied the thunderous sound of a male and female speaking as one, both a single pair and a collection of countless thousands at the same time.

When the time comes, you shall bring these things into creation.

Swallowing, I looked at the Tree of Harmony as it pulsed with the words. The voice was overwhelming as it resonated and echoed like lasting thunder from a storm.

Gaze upon them and remember. Without them, all shall be lost to the hunger that has no end.

I then watched the six orbs moving about for a moment before one moved into prominence.

As I looked at the one that rose, I saw both sand and soil, water and stone at the same time I somehow felt vast mountain ranges, oceans and rivers, expansive tracts of land and water. Even planets, stars and nebulae in the vast void that stretched beyond imagining. Part of my mind realized I was looking at matter itself.

Substance

The next orb moved into prominence as the first fell back, brimming with leaves and fur and feathers. I felt endless forests and grassy fields, swaying seaweed and schools of fish, herds of countless animals running and flocks of countless birds flying. The essence of the spark of life and everything we say is alive.

Soul

The orb of living things returned and the next rose. It was even stranger than the first two, seeming to have a lensing effect around the edges of something that was there and not there. I felt...direction and position, pull and push. Another moment, my eyes widened again as I realized I was somehow looking at the very fabric of spacetime itself.

Foundation

The orb that was the fabric of reality returned, allowing another strange orb to rise into prominence. This one looked to be made of stormclouds, lightning, fire, crashing waves and rumbling earthquakes. In the part that was beyond sight, I felt volcanic eruptions, pounding hurricanes, even an exploding star and a black hole crossed my awareness.

Force

As the essence of natural forces withdrew, a ball of twinkling lights moved into place. In it, I could see all infinity and single instants together. Motion and governing. A guiding force of all that is. A thousand individual lights glittered within, performing in the manner and order they were meant to. That which allowed events to happen.

Time

As the orb of Time pulled back, the last came forward.

It was the most enigmatic, glimmering with a thousand colors at once, yet at the same time it exuded a purity in a way I could not truly fathom in it’s entirety. It was energy and sparks of power at the most basic level. Then the feel of it crashed over and through me.

I was able to see, hear, touch, smell, taste, and feel laughing beings, anger and sadness, boundless memories gained in life, what defined learning, the meaning of dedication to a purpose, first times with a true love, that which defines us all at our deepest core.

My pounding heart threatened to leap out of my chest as I felt like I was just a moment away from being subsumed by all I knew in that moment of looking at the last orb. I could feel the essence of myself spreading out into what I witnessed, feeling myself drifting away from all sense of self as I bore witness to a pure expression of sapient experiences, of living and loving, death and rebirth, and all that came with being alive and beyond.

Spirit

When the orb of Spirit returned to the drifting circle with the rest, and the feel of it’s essence left me, I collapsed without even knowing I was falling until I had already stopped.

My body was trembling, limbs weak as I moved with agonizing slowness until I managed to sit up once more, taking at least a minute to manage such a simple motion after what had just washed over me. As far as I could tell, I was granted time to recover from the experience.

And then the booming voice of two and many thundered once more.

You shall complete their creation when the time comes. Continue preparing yourself and you shall be ready on that final day.

I felt a need to speak as the voice paused, now managing to get myself to a knee as I looked up at the orbs and the Tree of Harmony, not knowing if something changed in this place to allow me to make sound, if it was an illusion of my mind, or if this entity now allowed me to speak, or even all three, “What are you? Are these orbs representations of the Bearers?”

We shall not answer the what of ourselves as you are. In this place you are as close to our whole presence as you can withstand in a mortal existence without subsuming in our power. It is in this place you may understand our words with certainty.

These are not the Elements of Harmony. That which we have shown you does not yet exist in the manner needed. Your Bearers have their necessary role to play.

Remember those defenders we have shown you before your coming here. Each provides unique support to their Bearer. They shall bring them strength in ways they will need in the days to come and our plans after. Their destinies shall now turn to our service, and the first shall come to you soon. They are the embodiments of Endurance, of Abundance, of Absurdity, of Faith, and of Devotion.

Trust in your royal sisters, for they will do you no harm beyond their one error. They hold your needs and opinion closer to heart than you yet know. You may rely upon them in unreserved faith without fear.

Speak not of this experience to them. You shall tell them and the foal of Magic only that you must remain silent on all you have learned here.

Above all else, know that if even one Bearer is lost, so too shall all else be lost.

Protect your Bearers until the end, so they may in turn protect all others.

We shall always watch over you, embodiment of Potential.

…

Without further warning, I found myself back in the lab and gasped as I shot up, or tried to as Twilight yelped and clung tighter. My heart was racing as I began trying to catch my breath, getting a grip on Twilight in return, gulping down air as my vision swam. I only had a vague awareness Twilight was talking, feeling her emotions in a near panic.

As everything raced around in my head and I began to get a grip on where the bloody hell I was in reality again, my eyes locked on Twilight and felt an overpowering urge to kiss her.

I captured her head in my hands and met her lips with intensity, feeling strange tingles that whispered something to me that I couldn’t make out with any clarity. All I knew of the moment was the sense that I would kiss her again when we found ourselves in a reversed position. I had no idea what it meant.

My capacity to grasp where I was finally returned as the kiss ended, almost like I’d drained away an interference, seeing Twilight wearing a somewhat silly expression and a bit breathless. I blinked for a second as I took in her expression, a soft chuckle escaping at her dazed look, “Uh, good kiss I take it?”

She blinked once, then twice, then on the third blink she shook her head before locking her eyes on mine with a satisfied grin, “I wish you could do that more often! That kiss was loaded with magic, Vojin! Bursting with a kind of pure magic I’ve never even felt before! I don’t know what just happened for your eyes to be glowing like that or your body to have so many tiny lightning bolts run over your skin or those tingles or everything I felt from you, but after that kiss… I somehow just know you’re ok and I don’t have to be scared for you like I was. Just...I love you. I love you so very, very much.”

As she wrapped me up in a tight embrace I returned with a warm smile, I had a moment to get lost in it before catching sight of Celestia and Luna staring at me in shock again. I had a moment of wondering if I was developing an inadvertent habit with that.

After a pause to relish Twilight’s embrace again, I looked between them and ventured a question, “So, uh...I take it that wasn’t supposed to happen either?”

Celestia worked her jaw for a moment before speaking, “You…you vanished from our viewing plane without Luna or I deciding it. Vojin... What have you seen?”

I frowned at that, looking off to the side. I had been commanded not to tell them about what I experienced in that strange place where the Tree of Harmony or whatever it was had spoken to me.

There was no way I wanted to start making up lies in front of Celestia and Luna, even less so with Twilight, and not just because she’d know if I was lying to her just because my emotions would give me away.

Lacking any other apparent options, I decided to stick to simple bluntness as I responded in a firm voice, “I need to stay silent about that. I’m sorry I can’t tell you, but you will just have to trust I have good reason to keep what happened to myself,” I looked Twilight in the eye with another frown, “That means you too, Purple Angel. May I have your trust in this?”

Celestia and Luna seemed to scowl with indignation, but there was no immediate argument. It looked like they were either going to leave it at that or catch me another time. Or maybe they were gathering their thoughts. I didn’t know.

Twilight though, she just frowned a little before nuzzling my cheek, “If you need to stay silent about whatever happened, I trust you have a reason, and that’s enough for me. There is nothing I wouldn’t trust you with, my stallion.”

Luna spoke up after a moment more, her voice a bit tense, “My friend…if you truly need to hold this to yourself, I will not argue. If we are to show that you may trust us, then we must be prepared to grant you trust in equal measure to what we wish from you. I will admit my dislike of it, but I will not press.”

Celestia echoed her sister, “I concur with Luna. Vojin, will you at least promise to speak with us about it should you feel you are able to in the future?”

“That much I can do. I promise I will tell all of you if I think I can speak of it down the road. It’s hard enough for me to grasp what happened as it is,” I replied at length, taking time to select my words with care. I didn’t know why the voice from the Tree of Harmony needed my silence, but I was not in a position to argue, let alone understand everything that took place.

After a small pause, I spoke up again from something that had been nagging at me most of this week, “Not we’ve got that out of the way, um… Celestia, Luna...uh, I’m not really sure how to put it, or if maybe it’s just the stress of taking in everything that’s been happening in such a short span of time, but… Well, I can’t stop thinking it once it registered in my thoughts. For some reason, the more I’m around you two, the more oddly familiar you are in a way. It’s really subtle, but it’s there in the little things, little mannerisms I have noticed in the two of you that are so familiar to me in some way.”

Both of them looked at me in thought, glanced at each other, then Luna spoke with a careful nod, “My friend, my sister and I actually spoke of this with each other just last night. It is something we have also noticed. A strange, subtle familiarity that escapes clear definition, yet continues to linger in our interactions with you. I do not know what it is from, for we have never met you before your arriving on Equus two months ago. I do admit it is a pleasant thing to have between us.”

I arched a brow in thought, “Huh. Well, at least it is a nice little extra.”

To my surprise, I noticed Twilight turning pensive as her emotions shifted, leaving me wondering why she was getting nervous. With a nudge, she gave me a tense little smile and leaned closer, looking to be gathering her thoughts.

“I’m sorry. I just thought of something I wanted to ask them,” Twilight half whispered to me with a nuzzle, then raised her head to look at the Princesses, “Um...I need to know something I haven’t been able to figure out.”

Celestia looked at her with a calm smile, “And what would that be, Twilight?”

Twilight looked at me again, then the floor for a long moment before she found her voice, keeping her eyes on the floor, “Vojin died after the timberwolf attack. By all accounts, I…I should have lost him that day,” she sniffled and looked up at Celestia, “How did he live through his body f-failing? I can’t let it go without knowing what let him stay with me, how his presence seemed to rest inside me until his body was healed enough to support him again.”

I tightened my arm and nuzzled her at that. She had moments where she started worrying about it again. Kept telling me she wanted to know if it was something she did, in case I needed her to carry me like that again.

Celestia blinked as she looked between Twilight and I, then gave her a warm smile, “You shared a piece of each other’s soul when your link formed. In the process, I believe it has given you both the capacity to carry each other’s spirit for a time, provided you remain physically close by. It is possible you are able to do it without any effort, though it might have also been something you did without realizing it. This is something I can only make an educated guess about, as I only have a limited amount variables accounted for. Assuming you remain in close proximity, it is quite possible you can do it again, though let us hope you never need to test it.”

Twilight squeezed closer to me and lowered her head to my chest, my free hand moving to hold the side of her head as I felt her settling down again. Despite things having worked out, that day gave her a couple nightmares. Luna had visited her dreams to quell them, and the mornings after she had them were sniffles and comforting until she calmed again.

When I felt she was calm again, I caressed her cheek as she held her head against my chest, figuring she was listening to my heartbeat like she often did when worried about me in some way, “Feel a little better now?” Twilight gave a small nod from her position, turning it into her cheek rubbing against my chest as she took a calming breath, content where she was.

“My friend, we have been here for some time now and it nears the hour of lunch. Have you anything else you wish to inquire upon?” Luna asked.

Taking a second to search my brain, there was something that came to mind. I hadn’t been able to make sense of it and it had been nagging me more and more almost since breaking the Rose Window.

“There is something that’s been bugging me,” I replied as I started pondering it again, “Something about the orb that brought me here. From what I’ve been able to sort out from my magical studies, I’ve been left wondering because it doesn’t add up and I don’t believe in coincidences. With how powerful the artifact was supposed to be, even with the unintended dimensional jump, it would have still been locationally accurate on Equus, right?”

Luna gave a slow nod, curious, “That is correct. Why do you ask?”

“If it was supposed to bring the target to the castle…,” I returned, confused by what was supposed to be a straightforward function of the orb based on what I’d learned.

“How did I wind up in the sky over Ponyville? And with perfect timing for Twilight to catch me?”

***

Twilight and I, myself back in regular human form, were walking through the castle to meet with the girls before we left for the train station after a quick lunch. We’d been in the lab longer than expected.

What was weighing on both of us now was discovering Celestia and Luna had managed to miss that one fact in the face of everything else that had been happening. They said they would spend some time studying the expended orb, but it was unlikely to offer much insight as it burned itself inert when fulfilling it’s purpose. They didn’t know how it could have been so far off.

It was one more question without an answer right now.

As we passed a view of Canterlot, I blinked as I came to a stop, finding myself moving over to the window as sudden curiosity came over me.

“Twilight...what is that big thing off in the distance?” I asked, pointing at what looked like a large swollen form at the far edge of the city’s immense platform. While I could only speculate from here, based on how it compared to the buildings, it had to be immense, and an unknown amount of its bulk was hidden behind the edge of the platform, the ends just starting to curve back towards the middle again. What I could see of it’s gasbag was covered in elegant white and gold designs, and had to be at least several city blocks long.

She moved next to me and replied after a moment with a faint smirk, “You mean the Bastion-class airship? If I remember correctly, the Glory of Dawn was supposed to be stopping in Canterlot for something. They do tend to catch your attention when you see one for the first time. What do you think of one of the flagships of the Equestrian Navy?”

“It reminds me a little of aircraft carriers and battleships back on Earth for some reason. All I really get from it right now is size though. They have a mix between heavy spell cannons and flier support, right?”

“Yes, though the flier support is secondary. They’re colloquially called floating fortresses. I’m not much of a fan of airships, but I can’t help the sense of pride I get when I see one. No other nation on Equus has anything like the Bastions. And we have six,” she said in a proud tone and a smile.

My mind started running through things I started to realize I couldn’t remember, frowning in thought, “How big is the crew on those things?”

Twilight paused for a moment, “Just over 2300 ponies, if I remember it right. You’re bothered by something. What’s on your mind?”

I glanced at her before looking back out at the city, starting to look at the size of the platform, “I just sort of realized I can’t remember some basic facts. I’m sure I would have looked and remembered something as simple as the population of Ponyville or Canterlot.”

“Well, Ponyville has a current population of 487, counting you. Canterlot’s population is 19,820, as I recall. I know you learned that before. Some of your displaced memories?” Twilight asked in a soft voice.

All I could do was frown for a moment, running a few things through my head and feeling frustrated at stuff I know I’d have learned being found absent, “Yeah, I think so. It’s just simple stuff, but I always liked picking up those little facts. While we’re here, what is Equestria’s population and land area?”

Twilight hummed for a second, “I believe the last census placed us around 316 million Equestrian citizens, mostly in small towns spread across the country. Land area is 3.63 million square miles.”

I blinked at the size, it put Equestria almost at the same size as China, “Huh, well, how about the available space on Equus? What is the diameter of this planet?”

Twilight had a faint smile at getting to recall facts and figures, “The liveable area we have, including oceans, is approximately 1.634 billion square miles. Though that is mostly an educated estimate as we don’t have the means yet for taking a more accurate measurement, due to the storms constantly shifting over time at the edge of the world, making it more of the accepted number, rather than a fixed measurement. Celestia and Luna are the reason we know this much, as there is a fair bit of the world still unexplored. The diameter of Equus is 101,294 miles. How does our world compare to Earth in size?”

All I could do was stare at her for a second as the numbers went around my head. For whatever reason, I remembered Earth figures just fine, responding after a moment to collect myself, “Twilight...uh, that’s more than eight times the surface area of Earth, and there aren’t any areas covered by permanent storms. Your planet is larger than the biggest one in Earth’s solar system. Jupiter is only 86,881 miles in diameter. Earth itself is just 7,918 miles. I’m not even going to question the state of planetary gravity. Um, I think I’ll ask one more and stop so we can get going. What is the world population of Equus currently? Earth was roughly around seven billion, last I’d checked.”

“It’s estimated that the various races combined would total up to more than eleven billion. We don’t really know for certain, since it takes so long to get from one side of the world to the other, and there are a number of countries we just estimate because they never share population numbers. That’s also not including the Farlander Clans because they refuse to let visitors very far past their borders, so we don’t know anything about their population beyond what they choose to share,” Twilight replied as we started walking again.

“Farlander Clans?” I asked, curious as I filed things away.

“The Farlander Clans are a large collective of rather secretive dragon clans that live in a wide band of space at the edge of the world between the storms and the other races of Equus. They have spoken about some sort of unstudied capability to grow gems like plants with the energy of the storms and are very self-sustaining. They only trade out of curiosity, rather than any need. We know less about the Farlanders than other dragons, which kind of says something when there isn’t much known about dragons to begin with. They’re very insular, but even though they’re known to be more well-mannered than most dragons, they also guard their borders more jealously. They trade and talk readily enough with travellers that obey their limits, but they don’t take any other incursions well at all. Among scholars, what little information is available is pretty common knowledge partly because there’s so much mystery surrounding them,” Twilight stated, bordering on lecture mode as her eagerness to educate swelled.

I paused in my thoughts for a second and realized I wasn’t going to remember much more if I didn’t take time to absorb everything I’d experienced of late, “I think I better just stop the conversation there or going to go in one ear and out the other. We can geek out about facts and figures later, after I have some time to absorb everything that’s happened. I honestly feel like I’m on the verge of developing a nervous tic, Twilight. We’ve had so much happen so fast this week, and that was after it got kicked off with our finding out about my pony mode, time limit, and other discoveries, then that day finished off with breaking out of a Rose Window spell and all the confusion that brought. And with what I just learned and experienced in their lab…”

More and more, I felt like I was closing in on a meltdown of some kind. I was very much looking forward to the coming week being far more quiet and dull.

One of Twilight’s wings curled around my waist for a moment as we walked, concern radiating from our link and in her voice, “I know it’s been a lot. I also know whatever you saw that you feel the need to keep secret on has left you a lot more nervous than you were before, despite how well you keep it hidden inside. I’m a little overwhelmed after this week as well. Wanna just snuggle up in bed when we get home and have a couple of lazy hours to talk, vent, or even misbehave before we get to sleep?”

Seeing her flash me a sly look, I felt myself smirk as I brushed my fingers through her mane, “Sounds like a plan.”

Not long after that, as we stepped outside and headed towards the others before leaving to catch the train, I found myself stopping at an odd feeling of being watched.

I turned my head to look off to the left and caught a glimpse of feathers, black and white of what had to be separate owners, vanishing behind the edge of a castle wall. The small size precluded a pegasus or gryphon, but I couldn’t shake the sense whatever it was had been watching me a moment before I looked.

With a curious contemplative feeling about the occurrence that was far too strange to be random birds, I moved to join Twilight and the rest getting into the carriage.

There were so many things leaving me with even more questions. All I could do for now was move forward with what I knew, and hope answers started finding me faster than new questions soon.

Bk 1 Ch 26: The Weight Of Implications

Author's Notes:

This chapter ends Book 1. I took some risks, danced among cliches with my own approaches and set up some VERY complicated stuff to come. On the chance something seems unpleasant in the risks I took, at least finish the chapter. Not everything is as simple as it seems, and not every implication made leads where it sounds in the next book.

Here's hoping the risks I've taken hit the way I'm intending.

Also, you all have NO idea how bad I wanted to split the chapter at 'just be a lie' instead of letting it carry through. Would've been an awesome cliffhanger. I just didn't like any of my options to do a split.

Enjoy the end of Book 1.

This whole book was a warm-up.

Celestia stared out the window for a long time after Twilight and Vojin left, worry on her mind and a deep frown upon her face. She thought of how much was coming together now, how there were so many things aligning for what was to come.

She contemplated the reality that, of all times, when the whole world was at stake, facing an unknown enemy strong enough to upset the original path, she and Luna could do little to change or guide the course of events from this point on.

For all their knowledge and foresight, the future they were facing was now beyond them to alter further and out of their hooves. All they could do was play their part as the remaining unknowns came into the light when their time came. Hold the line as they fulfilled their own roles.

Celestia and her sister had not told the two of them the full truth.

Instead, they only hinted that it was all up to Twilight and her friends now, in a way much like she always had. Placed the weight of the world on those mares to save it again, even though this time it was with the support of Vojin and the other five Guardians she hoped he would soon be able to identify and enlist to help him keep the girls safe as threats grew nearer.

She did not tell them about the fact that they had no fallback plans this time. No second chance if they failed, unlike all the times before when they retained options that had let her take such serious risks. Even up to the point she and her sister could have stepped in as a last resort, had anything gone wrong in the worst possible way.

Now they would have to break their oath of restraint to stop it this time, and only if they did not wait too long and their enemy had not gained enough potential strength to face them as such, and the price of that action would be devastating no matter how much they managed to restrain it. In addition, that option would only even matter if they knew whom to face first, and where.

All they had were only whispers in the aether that told them nothing.

When needing foresight more than ever, they were left blind.

Celestia’s eyes fell closed as she felt a deep uncertainty over a future she could no longer see enough of to guide, unable to stop such harm from reaching her little ponies. She dreaded how many she had seen would be lost, running through her thoughts again in the vague hope that she could think of even one more thing, just one, to spare a few more of them.

All she could do was open her eyes to the city outside again, and feel her heart ache in silence.

After a period of quiet thought apart from each other, Luna joined her sister at the window overlooking the city, nosing Celestia’s neck before turning her gaze to the scenery as well.

Luna’s voice was soft, almost subdued, “So many half-truths and carefully worded statements we just told them both…even if it was to nudge them towards the right paths to take in the trials ahead.”

Luna paused. While it was true their foresight was being cut off, they had seen more than they had let on.

They knew the visions of the Guardians they shared were future events through Vojin’s eyes, and selected them to share with him for that reason. They still did not know what had happened with the vision of the Tree of Harmony, however.

Now at least, with no way to guide events left to them as the entire branch of divination magics were all but vanished or blocked, they could stop hiding their motives behind a thousand reasons of why something had to be done a certain way. They would be reacting to events like everypony else. While it left Luna feeling unsettled, she also felt a certain weight was missing because of it.

Another quiet moment passed before Luna spoke again, “It troubles me greatly that we cannot tell Vojin about his coming magic mistake that will leave him permanently altered. Or how it will prepare him for his miracle in the thick of the war, just days before that most dangerous battle that could end Equus early if we cannot hold the line. Nor about the horror he is to face not long after his mistake that will show him the very worst of ponykind. We cannot even dare to warn Twilight Sparkle, lest she bear a portion of it alongside him, and thus risk hurting, or even losing, his trust in us. Without his trust, he will not come to us in his pain when the time comes. Even then, I worry what will happen if he is damaged beyond even our ability to restore him to health.”

Celestia took a moment to nudge her sister in return, taking a slow breath before replying.

“So long as Twilight awakens shortly after he does, we should be able to deal with it and help him when that day comes. Despite what will happen if she does not and he does endure the worst, I know he would never forgive us if we knowingly permitted her to share his burden of pain, even if I am certain Twilight would gladly do so for him,” Celestia swallowed as she closed her eyes, feeling Luna move close and press into her side, “It is clear each of the Guardians will endure some amount of injury for their Bearer. Some will be severe, but they will be alright, and be stronger for it after they recover. I only truly worry over what Vojin has to endure in Twilight’s stead. It feels like that day in the coming the spring is just around the corner already.

“It is times like this I find myself wishing I were still blind to what the future holds. At least we would not have to carry the burden of knowing what we must allow to happen for us to see this all through to the end. He would be otherwise defenseless in a critical time, against a desperate enemy separate from the approaching conflict. They themselves will be ignorant of the coming battles and just playing a gambit to survive before the war fully begins. I hope Vojin does not kill them in the manner some of the branches showed. He will terrify them enough, regardless. If we are lucky, he will be only relatively mild, and leave them willing to join our forces to great effect.”

Luna pressed against her sister a little more, “As we know what he will experience otherwise, I pray Twilight does waken soon after him. We know what is coming, yet cannot intervene further without knowing specific times and places, or we will only make things worse. It has been a long time since we were left without options and truly needed to depend on mortals, rather than acting to guide them. I hope this time, it can eventually end in some amount of joy like the first Event, when Gentle Strength healed our broken hearts earned in the aftermath.

“Now here we are. We know how much danger lay ahead, yet our only remaining recourse to change the chain of events further is breaking our oath of restraint. Tia, do you think it is enough Mother and Father are involved somehow? They did promise to return, but not for another thousand years yet.”

Celestia closed her eyes, the mention of their parents left her a moment of feeling for all the world like she was a filly in too large a world again for the first time in thousands of years. She let herself indulge in wishing for them to come comfort her, even just for a moment.

“You know as well as I do that they won’t involve themselves unless necessary. Nor would they be allowed more than speaking with us, even if they did. For all they have done for this world in the past through their servants, they have been hooves off whenever possible since before Equestria was founded. Even in the thousand years you were gone, I was unable to get any closer to figuring out why,” Celestia spoke in a tense voice, letting her very present distress send a shiver through her body while alone with Luna, leaning into her sister and dropping all pretense or restraint as they comforted each other, forced to watch all that was to come and hope the Guardians were strong enough to see the Bearers to the end.

“And you know as well as I do, if they choose to intervene, our world isn’t the only one in danger.”

***

The constant dull noise of the train rolling along the tracks and the chugging engine was the only noise to be heard on the train as the girls seemed caught in uneasy quiet, conversations on this mid-afternoon ride had struggled along until it all tapered off into this loaded silence.

I could tell from the way they all kept shooting glances at me, trying not to be obvious about it, that they wanted to say something. Twilight was sitting next to me, giving a faint nudge with her wing against my arm. Spike had curled up for a nap at the far end of the otherwise empty passenger car. A lucky occurrence, I suppose.

Having told them not to say a word about only one subject until we were on the train home, combined with the frequent glancing my way, it wasn’t hard to guess what the probable focus was. Twilight was the only one I’d spoken to about it so far, considering she was right there when it first came out.

Another minute of strained quiet went by before I sighed and decided to break the ice for them, even aimless rambling seemed better than the awkward quiet, “The lot of you are pretty obvious, you know. If there’s anything you want to ask me, let’s just get it out in the open. And I do mean any particular topic on your minds, but you’ll have to say it out loud. I’m not a mind reader, after all.”

After a short pause, I spoke again with a note of exasperated wonder in my voice, “You know, it’s kind of funny. Two months ago, I was expecting to start setting up a corporate network in a new building for a big client for this week. Was supposed to be the first job I’d be leading the team on. End of this week, I was planning to take my daughter on a trip to a science museum. Would’ve been the first time taking her to a place like that. Now though…

“Now, I’m here in a world I thought was just a flight of fancy. Now, I’m apparently a living myth to a whole bunch of beings that are themselves myths to me in turn. Now, I’m caught up in this crazy mess we’re all in. Now, I’m supposed to be getting ready for war and making sure you girls stay safe as reasonably possible through it. Now, I’m studying actual unicorn magic and learning about a surprisingly similar, yet still alien culture. And despite all the wild stuff I get to see and do and be and what I have to prepare for I’m...now, I’m…facing a time limit…”

The excitement I felt rose as I spoke at first, waving a hand around, then bottomed out when I said the last part and my arm dropped to my knee. I’d been very intentional about distracting myself after the day Twilight and I learned the price of our link. Might have even kept it between us if it hadn’t come out that same evening when I managed to break out of that Rose Window spell and almost exploded in anger at Celestia and Luna before forcing myself to depart so I could calm down.

I felt Twilight nuzzle my shoulder and move closer, a wing laying across my back as I leaned forward onto my elbows as I looked at the floor, hands folding together, knowing she could sense just what I was feeling as I stopped trying to distract myself or hide it now. Nor would I hold back in this moment with the ponies I now had the privilege of calling close friends, even if we were still growing and learning together.

Part of me wondered if it would be somehow easier to wrap my head around it if I felt less healthy, if I felt like I was dying somehow.

Instead, I felt completely fine. Maybe even better because of everything happening.

And yet I still felt completely wrong…because I wasn’t fine.

Taking a moment to close my eyes and draw a slow breath, I lifted my head and looked around at the girls as they watched me with sadness and open compassion in their eyes in varying amounts.

Fluttershy moved closer and put a hoof on my knee with a gentle little smile, her delicate voice as kind as ever, “No matter what, we’re all here for you, Vojin. I don’t have anything I could say to make everything better, but if there is anything I can do to help along the way, I’ll do it. I know Twilight might be really busy at times, so if ever you just need a friend to be near, feel free to ask or visit me whenever, ok?”

As the girls echoed her statement, I rested a hand on her hoof on my knee and gave her a faint smile, “Thank you, Fluttershy, girls. All things considered, I know you girls will be there. I’m sure I’ll freak out about it eventually, but for right now I’m really just putting it all mostly out of my mind while I figure out everything else that’s happened. Just the stuff this morning has been a whole new dose of overwhelming as it is. I kind of want to talk about my...time limit…, but I don’t at the same time. Everything that comes to mind that I might say is just dancing in a circle and rambling around in hopes I come up with something that helps it make sense.”

Applejack spoke in a low voice that had a bit of strain in it, looking at her hooves as she sat on the bench across from me, “Ah...Ah probably have the most experience with that part of life. At least the lettin’ go part. Ya just gotta keep on movin’ and try not ta dwell and, uh… Aw shoot. Maybe talkin’ about this part with ya ain’t right.”

I gave AJ a faint smirk when she looked up with an apologetic look, “Life goes on. I know. Even those moments where we make an oops are still going to happen, AJ. Don’t worry about it too much. You know, I might even start having a small fascination with morbid humor or something while working through accepting it. I don’t know yet. Maybe I’m just rolling with it well enough because I’ve been at death’s door a couple times in my life already. Then there’s also the whole I-should-be-dead thing from the timber wolf attack. I still haven’t quite figured out how I feel about how all that went.”

“And I still think you’re part zombie now…,” came the voice of Pinkie.

Rolling my eyes with a smirk that was just a little bit bigger, I just shook my head. Of course she does.

Without really thinking about it, I replied, “Eh, only flesh I wanna nibble on is Twilight’s anyw--...oh, uh…,” I gave a small cough, “Well, whatever. Still true either way.”

As I gave her a sheepish grin, Twilight’s cheeks pinkened and she poked me, knowing it was only half accidental. I let out a faint laugh and moved an arm around her in return. The girls had a couple snickers and smiled a little as well.

“Well, darling, as it seems that although we would like to discuss your circumstances in an effort to help you through it, none of us quite knows what to say at this time. Perhaps yourself and Twilight might instead share what you discussed with the Princesses earlier?” Rarity said, her curiosity evident.

Glancing at Twilight, she smirked and nudged me with her hoof, “It’s your stuff to share, Vojin. I know you had a few things you wanted to tell them. One discovery in particular.”

I grinned at that, wondering what the girls would think when I told them about my pony mode and the rest, even if I couldn’t share anything about the protectors I hoped they would soon gain, “Oh heck, where do I even start with the stuff from this morning... Well, the main reason we met with Celestia and Luna earlier was so they could take some very detailed scans of my magical signature. We’re hoping that studying it will clear up some of the weird stuff that I’ve got going on.”

As I spoke, I started untying my shoes with my magic again, still kind of enamoured I could do that at all, and getting ready to make my body shift again as I started grinning wider, “This first one is kind of a doozy and very visually dramatic. The second also a doozy, but it isn’t something I can really show easily. And aside from being enhanced by the first thing I’m going to show you girls, it’s also gotta stay between us, ok? Celestia and Luna warned me not to let the second thing become public knowledge. I don’t think it’d actually put me in danger, but after everything else, I’m also not going to disregard their warning. I just want you girls to know because you’re friends I can trust to keep the secret. I feel a little silly asking, but can you all not to breathe a word of what I’m going to tell you?”

Rainbow Dash arched a brow, “What the hay kinda secret are you gonna tell us that the Princesses warned you not to share? Shouldn’t you, like, not tell us then?”

“I’m telling you because I want you to know, and because it’s my secret to share in the end. They were only advising me of a possible concern. Honestly, I’m not really sure how to feel about it myself yet, but Twilight was there when we had repeatable proof right in front of us. I’ll get to it in a minute though,” I set my shoes and socks aside, noticing red cheeks on two of them and quirking a brow, “Fluttershy, Rarity, you’re blushing at me doing something with my socks again.”

Fluttershy blushed a bit more, looking away as she ducked her head. Rarity gave a quiet, lady-like cough as she gave me a slightly flustered expression, “Yes, I know you have explained that it is rather meaningless to humans outside of a fetish. Despite that, I still cannot help but see the parallels with a pony in stockings. Though it is quite strange to see from a stallion, it is too similar for me to merely toss the thought aside.”

Pinkie called out in a voice only a little above normal volume, wearing a wide grin and a teasing look in her eye, “Whoo! Take it off!”

Several snickers were heard, including my own.

“Ah yes, thank you, Pinkie. Went for a semi-dramatic pause this time?” I asked her.

“Yep! And those toesies are still so cute every time I see em.” Pinkie returned as she eyed my feet again.

At least she didn’t ask to play with the ‘little piggies’ this time. I didn’t know why I told her about that. I was just glad the strangeness and novelty had generally faded for all of them by this point. It’s kind of weird to be on the receiving end of unintended sexualization over something I thought of as so mundane. Maybe that was how it felt to be accidentally the object of another’s fetish.

Although now that I thought of it, I couldn’t remember if Twilight had done a thorough anatomical study on my feet like she had on other parts of my human physiology. She’d spent over an hour on my ears, taking notes and physical scans, so I figured a foot study was just a missing memory. There was also something wrong with me, I think, when I noted I was a little disappointed I might have lost said memory and had a temptation to ask Twilight to redo it just so I always had it to look back on.

“Well in all fairness, the whole idea of stockings on a pony is about to get rather more skewed by what I’m about to show you. We think it’s a result of the magic flux Twilight and I went through. Prepare to be taken by surprise. I call it pony mode,” I said with a wide grin, starting to go through the physical change into said pony mode.

For a moment, the girls just stared at me, looking a little confused as I just sat still. Then their faces began to look baffled as the change became more noticeable, eyes widening as fur began to appear, and my ears and horn really started to change things around.

Over the past week, I had noticed the shift was taking place a little faster than the first time, chalking it up to being more practiced. Twilight and I had timed it to just about nine seconds, give or take a little.

The effect on the girls did not disappoint, though in addition to looks of stunned surprise, all of them had a faint blush now, which confused me. And apart from Pinkie’s big grin, they all had their mouths hanging open.

“So what do you think, ladies?” I said with a cheeky grin of my own after I had fished my tail out of the odd position it grew into and made it comfortable to sit with again, my waistband tucked just below it. The length of white was now laid along my right thigh opposite of Twilight. I was also aware it was more soft and silky than a normal stallion’s tail, as was my mane, according to Twilight. So long as she was happy with it, I had no reason to complain.

Fluttershy just blinked as she covered her mouth with a hoof and stared, her wings fluttering for a moment. Rainbow was just staring like a pervert, a lascivious smile and expression with no effort to hide it as she flexed her slightly stiff wings. Applejack was blushing a little brighter as she worked her jaw.

Then Pinkie made me think she was on a roll today, her grin continuing unabated, though she had a certain look in her eye as she declared, “Wowie zowie, Vojin! You’re like, sexier than a cupcake now! And hornier than ever cause ya grew one!”

I blinked, not quite sure how I should even respond to that, but knew not to ask when it came from Pinkie. Instead, I just looked to Rarity.

She was eyeing me with a curious look that reminded me of her calculating expression when she evaluated nuances in the look of something, then furrowed her brow and blinked, “Vojin, darling, in this form you are, ah, shall we say…rather exceptional. Your face gives me the impression you could have stepped straight out of a romance novel or other mare’s fantasy. Were it not for your different body shape, I would call you impossibly perfect, but even with that caveat, I am still thinking it. If I had not seen you change right in front of me, I would have thought you had just spent hours being prepared for a photo shoot or a runway. I…I am quite stunned by both your surprising change and your remarkable beauty. I do not believe it would be an unfair thing were I to compare you with the immortal perfection of the Royal Sisters themselves. I daresay I could even compare you with the supposed beauty of Skydream of Virga.”

I blinked again, raising one eyebrow as one ear flopped, now feeling pretty confused.

This wasn’t the response I had been expecting at all. Surprise, and a bit of joking about it, was all I thought would happen, followed by chatting about how I gained the ability, but their response was way off in left field from what I anticipated.

Looking at Twilight, she was wearing a silly grin and blushing a bit herself like usual, a faint satisfaction glinting in her eyes.

“Uh, Twilight? You never did say anything specifically about my looks in pony mode…”

She blushed a little more and had a moment of bashfulness before giving me a pleased smile, the tip of her hoof making little circles on my thigh and stifling a giddy giggle before she could speak, “Well, um, you’re kind of incredibly hot as a half pony. And the way you wiggle your ears around so much in this form is so adorable… I, um, well, I have a hard time believing you’re really all mine. I don’t think I could even manage to talk to you if I didn’t already know you love me,” then her voice shifted lower, “You don’t mind being my super sexy stallion, do you?”

My eyebrows went higher and ears sideways. Seeing her lick her lips after using that sultry voice, and giving me a blatant bedroom look as she bit her bottom lip, was providing me with some interesting chills.

And yet, despite that, I was also feeling confused.

Looking around at the girls again, I saw they were still staring with varying degrees of interest in much the same manner as I had seen guys on Earth do when staring at extremely beautiful women. Even if you had no other intentions for the sight, you couldn’t help but drink in the vision of beauty for a time. I had done it myself a number of times. That appreciation of something you felt was worth looking at.

I found being on the receiving end was a really weird experience.

Though I doubted I’d ever see one again, it also gave me a new respect for women on Earth.

Sporting my own warm cheeks at this point, I paused to collect myself again with ears half lowered, the only sound was the background noise of the rolling train for a short span before I found my voice, “You know, back on Earth it’s generally guys that stare at the girls this way. This is a very strange experience for me. I’m, uh, glad I’m pretty? Can one of you tell me what normal is right now? I think I left it behind at the last station.”

Twilight leaned in to nuzzle my cheek with a throaty chuckle, smiling as she pulled away, “Well it goes both ways here in Equestria. You should probably try to get used to a few stares when you’re in your pony form, too. Myself and the girls will get used to seeing you enough that we’ll stop staring, but everypony else is a different story-- Oh!” Twilight blinked, a worried look coming to her face, “We’re not making you uncomfortable, are we? I’m so sorry I forgot to ask! I didn’t feel anything like worry or nervousness from you and--!”

A touch of my fingers at her lips and a lopsided smirk was my first reaction as I got her to hush, just shaking my head and and adopting a roguish grin, “While it is weird for me to be on the receiving end like this, it’s not so bad. Besides, it’s not like any of you are strangers about to drag me into an alley or anything. Then again, judging by the look she was giving me, Rainbow might,” I shot her a look and saw her glance away with a blush and hidden smirk, “I’ll need some time to properly absorb this realization, but I think it’s safe to say this is hardly that big a deal after some of the other stuff I’ve dealt with in this past week alone. However, I do reserve the right to continue thinking of myself as average. That’s how I always rated as human, after all.”

I looked at Rarity as a question came to mind, “I do have to ask though. Rarity, who is this ‘Skydream’ you mentioned?”

Rarity smiled, “Ah. Twilight, darling, if you will excuse any inaccuracies, I would like to tell him a bit of the tale,” glancing at Twilight for a moment, receiving a smirk and a nod before looking back at me, ”Skydream was a stallion in ancient times, long before the Unification. The legends say his was ‘the face that sent legions to battle,’ and in part caused the largest war ever fought between the ancient pegasi cloud states. There is some debate over whether he was stolen or seduced by Pulse Storm, youngest daughter of the queen of Virga, but either way, he was taken away from his wife, Queen Thundersnow. An oath to defend the marriage of Skydream and Thundersnow by the suitors that had vied for his hoof was called upon when he was spirited away. Thousands of pegasi mares fought in the siege of Virga, eventually sacking the cloud city and reuniting them once more.”

She gave a wistful sigh, “While it was quite a brutish event overall, there is still something to appreciate in how Queen Thundersnow went to such lengths to reclaim her beloved husband. I am sure Twilight can give you several books to read if you would like to read more of the tale.”

For my part, I just blinked like an idiot for several seconds, one brow up and one ear down, staring at her as I processed what I just heard.

When it finished processing and my brain unclogged, I worked my jaw a few times, had a couple confused expressions mixed between contemplative ones, and finally just closed my eyes, put my fur covered hand over my face, and groaned, “How the bloody hell did I wind up being analogous to Helen of Troy, of all things?”

After a moment, I took my hand off my face and turned my eyes to Twilight when she prodded me, looking a little confused, “What is ‘Helen of Troy’? Is this one of those things where our histories followed similar paths?”

I sighed, glancing around at the girls before looking back at Twilight, “Yes, it is one of those things. Basically, in an ancient legend from a few thousand years ago, Helen was supposed to be the most beautiful woman in the world. ‘The face that launched a thousand ships’ was the saying. By ships, I mean seafaring boats. Massive army coming to King Menelaus’ aid because of an oath to defend their marriage. Big battles and renowned heroes and all that, too. Troy was a great walled city-state on the ground, rather than a cloud state like pegasi had. Apart from the obvious differences, it sounds like they were eerily similar events.

“I just have to wonder how this kind of stuff keeps happening to me here. I mean great, I’m drop dead gorgeous as a half pony for some reason, but hearing and learning that bit about Skydream is just…just… Well, it’s really freaking weird for me. The more time I’m here in Equestria, the weirder things seem to get. At this rate, I’m going to just check out and lose it over one of them sooner or later.”

Twilight rubbed my thigh with her hoof, leaning in to nuzzle my cheek before giving me a gentle smile, “You know, you are allowed to have a moment or two to panic if you need it. You don’t have to keep holding it in.”

Closing my eyes for a moment and smiling at her touch, I met her gaze and kissed the tip of her nose, giving her another cute little blush, “I know, I know. I’m just used to processing things a little slower than they’ve been happening is all. Now that I’ve got a quiet week to slow down and absorb, I should be mostly alright,” turning to look back at the girls, “So, aside from my somehow being stupidly attractive, did you have any questions or comments about what I like to call ‘pony mode’ before I tell you about the second secret?”

Applejack was the one to speak up while tilting her hat back, a faint blush still on her face as she looked me over again, “Ah’m kinda curious how ya feel bein’ half pony like this. Yer mighty handsome and all, but what are yer own thoughts about it?”

I smirked at that, “Honestly, I think it’s kinda fun, and kinda funny. Everything feels pretty natural, apart from getting used to the tail, how my fur sits under clothes when I first make the change, and how sensitive my ears are to touch. It all otherwise feels as natural as being human to me. I’ve even noticed I seem to have a little more muscle density, so when I can, it’ll be interesting to see how it affects things when I can finally come by and help you out on the farm. Might want to do just that for a couple days this week in fact, since some good old hard work will help shed some stress. I can’t seem to remember if you’ve told me when applebucking season is, though.”

My face turned to a frown as AJ looked surprised and frowned herself, “Y’all don’t remember comin’ down ta help out a coupla times already? Ya even gave a shot with applebuckin’ and Ah told ya it’d be better if ya just hauled bushels instead, seein’ as you needin’ several kicks per tree would wear ya out too fast if yer gonna help us out like that. Y’all kept up with me and Big Mac otherwise. Ah did like the no magic work ethic, and the no concern at all about gettin’ dirty with us.”

That made me grimace a little, taking a moment to let out a frustrated sigh, “I’m sorry, AJ. I guess the Rose Window got that memory, too. Speaking of which… Turns out, I had a pretty nasty reaction to the spell and it’s going to take up to two months for me to remember the past two since I got here. On top of it, there’s probably going to be a couple things I won’t get back period. I’m, uh, kind of just ignoring that part overall and focusing on putting it behind me.

“Hopefully, by the time the next two months pass, I won’t even notice a difference when I remember my first two months on Equus. Right now, I can’t even remember if I showed you girls my smartphone. So, uh, will you mind if I help out and make a fresh memory, AJ?”

She gave me an understanding look and nodded, “Don’t you worry about it none. You know yer welcome anytime, Vojin. Ah know ya get up at the crack of dawn, so head on by whenever and we’ll have plenty of work for ya. We’re always grateful for extra help on the farm. And ya did show us that fancy gadget ya got. Can’t say Ah understand it all that well, though.”

Rainbow Dash jumped in at that, “That thing was bucking awesome! I still can’t believe it does so many things with just lightning energy, and no magic or crystal stuff inside. I just wish I could understand the words to your Earth music. Some of the tunes you played are pretty cool stuff.”

That made me pause, ears twitching in confusion as I furrowed my brow, “You didn’t understand the words?”

“Of course not. You know you and Twi are the only ones that understand that Earth Engish stuff. I bet the lyrics to that band...uh, I think you said it was called ACDC… I bet they have some awesome lyrics to go with those riffs,” Rainbow returned.

I blinked, finding myself at a loss again, turning to Twilight with a baffled head tilt and ear drop, “Uh…explain?”

Twilight giggled at first, then sighed, giving me a sympathetic smile, “I guess that’s another memory that slipped through. In short, our link gave us the capacity to share directly analogous knowledge. It was most effective with learning each other’s languages, and spoken language was even traded before we woke up after experiencing the magic flux. Without that, it would have been a lot harder for us to help you at first, as we wouldn’t have been able to communicate very much until we could adapt a translation spell. Coming from an entirely alien world, it might have taken weeks before we had enough words understood to develop a base translation key to translate your words into Modern Equestrian. Unfortunately, language and some basic mathematics seem be the majority of knowledge we could trade like we did when we shared how to read each other’s languages. We tried seeing if I could teach you magic, or anything else that didn’t have a direct equivalent, but there doesn’t seem to be a way for us to share knowledge without a fully equal trade.”

She paused for a moment, then seemed to gain a shy smile, her cheeks flushing as she met my eyes and, my eyes widening as the difference suddenly snapped into focus, spoke to me in english, “<I guess I get to tell you I love you in your own language for the first time again. I love you, Vojin. No matter what, I will always be here for you.>”

The realization left me feeling stunned.

That I had been speaking the Equestrian language the whole time and not realizing it, even reading and writing in both languages without noticing I was switching back and forth, was throwing me for a loop. In the back of my awareness, I noted their language was a touch more melodic, yet still carried a rhythm very similar to english somehow.

It was catching a sense of Twilight starting to worry about me over our link that brought me back to my senses, a hand cupping her cheek as I took a steadying breath, smiling as I met her eyes and deciding to speak in english as well, “<I’m okay. Just a bit of a doozy to realize all of a sudden. Guess we can kinda be sneaky when talking like this, since nobody will understand us, eh? Hmm...I love you too, Twilight. In more ways than there are trees on Equus, or stars in the sky.>”

Pulling her in for a loving kiss that lasted several seconds, I relished how her blush grew at my words, and she let out a faint whimper of delight as the kiss deepened. Part of me wondered just how much of an effect my pony mode really had on her, though resolved to figure it out at a later time. So long as she was happy, I could probably put up with just about anything. A new way to get her fire going wasn’t something I was going to complain about.

Even now, I was looking forward to getting to curl up in bed early with her when we got home. I had to admit, it was much more likely we wouldn’t be doing any sort of resting once we got there at this point. I already felt the desire for her calling, even though we had a fair bit of time before we returned to the library.

When the kiss ended, she had a dopey smile on her face, a bright blush apparent as she stared into my eyes.

It wasn’t until there was a lady-like cough that we blinked and looked at the girls again, finding all of them blushing to varying degrees, from Fluttershy’s bright one, all the way to Pinkie’s mild one. Applejack was peeking over the edge of her hat, so I wasn’t sure how bad hers was. Rainbow was looking everywhere but us as she kept having to resettle her wings.

It then dawned on me how passionate that kiss had been and I blushed with a sheepish grin, “Uh, sorry girls. Guess we lost ourselves for a moment there.”

Rarity waved a dismissive hoof, her cheeks slow to lose their color, “Think nothing of it, darling. One is bound to be caught up in a moment with one’s beloved from time to time, though I hope you shall restrain yourselves further until you return to your residence. Nevertheless, I will take that, ahem, display as firm proof that you are taking good care of our dear Twilight.”

I blinked at that, blushing brighter than before and seeing Twilight doing the same.

Ok, maybe the kiss had more than a little passion. I did still feel a slight tingle in my lips, seeing Twilight twiddling her hooves for a second before she just hid her face against me, a faint giggle escaping as she snuggled closer. An arm over her to pull her closer drew another adorable giggle. All I could do was wear a lopsided smile, feeling pretty content.

Taking a moment to bury my nose in her mane and relish her unique scent of lightning and learning, of magic and manuscripts, I drank in her presence as a part of me noted there was no noticeable sensory difference with my nose in pony mode and feeling happy about it. It meant no matter what, she would remain a constant for me. Despite knowing it was a somewhat silly thought even as I experienced it, such moments with her left me feeling like everything really would be alright with time.

Straightening back up and stroking a hand along Twilight’s mane before settling it at the base of her neck, fingers sinking into the edge of her mane, I looked at the girls again with what was probably a somewhat goofy grin. At least I knew they were happy for Twilight and I, even if we were being sappy.

I made a slight clearing of my throat before speaking, “Ok then. Now that we’re past that bit of sidetracking, I have another secret to share,” pausing for a moment to see I had their full attention again, I continued as Twilight sat up next to me, “Now there’s not really any way to lead up to it, and I know it’s pretty unbelievable to hear, so I’ll have to demonstrate to help it sink in. I, um… Well, as it turns out, when Twilight and I did a strength check on our magic with Celestia and Luna, we discovered something really unexpected about my own magic. I have three distinct points of magical expression, which means I am the first natural Spellweaver in history.”

To be honest, this time I was expecting the very response I got when they all looked at me with blank expressions. Well, Pinkie was just grinning like usual, so it was hard to tell with her.

Instead, I wore a knowing smirk and looked around for a second for something suitable before giving up and used a sensory-keyed levitation spell on our bags.

I still got a big kick out of spells with sensory aspects. A touch-based one is a lot like searching through stuff with your eyes closed, relying on your sense of touch to identify something. Only the sensory levitation was like having twice as many high-fidelity fingers moving about, and no concerns about being poked by something.

Slipping the pencil I wanted out of the bag, I brought it over and let it hover before Rarity, giving her a devious smirk, knowing how much I was about to blow her mind, “I know this needs a demonstration to really make sense, so we’ll do a simple example of impossible that should get the truth across for you. Rarity, if you would be so kind as to take hold of this pencil in your own levitation? You only have to hold it still. Twilight said you’ll be able to feel the difference easily enough.”

Standard levitation use never had a caster use a marginally more draining multi-target focus when there was only one object to hold, so breaking something like I could removed the additional pieces from the influence of a single target spell. When I had done it with Celestia, I succeeded because I bypassed her influence, rather than overpowered it. Had Celestia been using a multi-target levitation, it would’ve had no effect.

“Vojin, darling, while I am happy to play along with whatever humor you are attempting to employ, I know enough magical theory that it is simply not possible for you to be a Spellweaver on your own. It is impossible for any living creature to have more than one distinct point of magical expression,” she took hold of the pencil in her own magical field and looked at me, “Alright, I have a grip on the pencil. What are you going to--wha-what?!”

As I made a casual separation of the pencil into three parts with a soft crack, needing only a little magic to snap it into three, Rarity’s expression went from a humoring one into full blown shock as only the middle piece remained in her field. I had even paused at first, knowing my three identical spells would feel like one to her until I separated them.

As far as I knew, it was also an effect that couldn’t be easily faked, as every caster has a different sort of tone in their energy, much like how we all had different sounding voices. And even if Twilight was helping me play a trick, that only accounted for two spells. Not three.

Poor Rarity was taking deep shaking breaths as she looked back and forth between me and the pencil pieces I set down on the train car’s floor after her spell collapsed from shock, all attempts at keeping her composure forgotten as she tried to make sense of the impossible happening right in front of her. I lacked the long-established belief and expectation of a unicorn raised in Equestria, so it wasn’t so odd to me after a week to accept it. Twilight was still struggling with the thought, though the scientist in her had shifted into a more studious perspective already, trying to understand how it worked rather than staying hung up on her disbelief.

I couldn’t help the smug grin I had as the seconds ticked by and Rarity still trying to reboot. A glance around at the rest of the girls showed all but one of them had become a lot more interested, if a bit confused. Lacking a direct connection to magic like a unicorn, they wouldn’t grasp it in the same way. It made me wonder how other ponies in Equestria would take it someday, when the reality was made public.

Then there was a moment I cringed inside at the thought, realizing it would be after I was gone. Understanding that there’d be no risk to the secret being shared if I wasn’t around to use it registered in my mind. I fought away the thought almost as fast as it came and refocused. I didn’t want to think about that right now.

A glance at the one having the strangest reaction was a good distraction, however. Rainbow Dash was staring at me with a rather odd level of focus. Not with confusion, but what looked like frustrated concentration, her brow furrowed in thought as her eyes flicked to Twilight and the pencil pieces a few times before coming back to me again each time.

I’d have to ask her what was on her mind in a minute, since Rarity looked to have recovered her wits.

The fashionista pointed a shaky hoof at the pencil pieces, looking at me for a pause, then finally taking a couple deep breaths and composing herself again before speaking, “Vojin, darling, I must ask… How the buck did you accomplish a feat such as that?”

All I could do was give her another lopsided smirk, “Already told you. I’m the first natural Spellweaver ever seen. As impossible as it seems, I’m somehow born to be a miracle worker. Granted, I know crap all how to use it for the most part, considering I don’t know enough spellwork to take much advantage of it yet. It’s going to take a lot more study and practice before it really makes a real practical difference, though I understand it will probably do wonders for me in combat magic pretty fast. I haven’t said anything until now, but it already came into play when I was fighting with Shining Armor in the Trial on the first evening of the Summit. I was able to deliver a much more powerful electrical discharge than he was expecting, which is how I broke his shield in that last round by the way.”

“I must confess I am...ah, quite at a loss. It...well, knowing your inclination to help others, I am sure you will endeavor to put such a unique gift to good use,” Rarity said, one hoof rubbing at her temple.

Looking around at the rest of the girls, skipping Rainbow’s continued odd stare for the moment as I had a feeling it was going to distract the topic again, I flashed them another smile, “Well girls, I know the rest of you aren’t able to feel the proof like Rarity can. Now’s the time to ask me anything you want.”

“Oh! Oh! I have a question!” Pinkie said as she waved her hoof in the air with her huge grin, “Since you said we can ask you anything, I wanna know… Why are bananas radioactive?”

I blinked.

There is normal, and then there is Pinkie.

It was easy to decide I wasn’t even going to ask how she knew about radiation. For all I knew, she was secretly a genius inventor and had quantum storage in her party cannon or something. Maybe someday she’d stop making my brain skip tracks.

I reminded myself not to ask a second time before letting it go.

Once I had a short pause to think, I at least had an easy enough reply, “I believe it has to do with the potassium in them. That’s all I really know about it off the top of my head though.”

“Neat,” was Pinkie’s grinning reply. There was a moment where I would swear she had a look in her eye, like she was daring me to ask for an explanation.

It was followed by the realization that she knows something. That realization was then further muddled when she gained a knowing look and an even more sly smile upon said realization, like she knew I had that thought.

The main thought in my head became ‘do not question The Pink One’ and I looked elsewhere to preserve my sanity. It was safer that way.

Moving on with a shake of my head as I turned to the others, there didn’t look to be any questions from AJ or Fluttershy, leading me to turn to a certain pegasus to finally ask, “Rainbow, you going to tell me why you’ve been staring like that after saying I’m a Spellweaver?”

She grimaced a little, looking down and too the side as she seemed to debate something in her head before looking back up at me, “Uh, it’s not that. Just thought of something I’m trying to figure out. You said your ears are pretty sensitive to being touched, right?”

“Tch, yeah they are. Gets kind of uncomfortable if something is pressing on them, but they’re fine when they’re free like now,” I gave my ears a wiggle, still fascinated at how even tiny air movements tickled the fur on them with such clear sensation, “Why do you ask?”

When I saw her start to blush, I had to quirk a brow at her as I got even more curious about what the heck was going through her mind. Even felt some amusement with myself when I had a moment of wondering if it was perverted. Whether that was because of Rainbow or my own imagination, I wasn’t quite sure.

She took a breath before speaking again, “Can I, uh… Vojin, can I take a closer look at one of your ears? There’s...something I want to check.”

Giving her an even more confused look as an ear flopped, I was wondering what my ears had made her think of and shrugged, “Sure, I guess. What’s on your mind?”

Rainbow Dash hopped off the opposite bench and sat herself on my right, blushing a little brighter, “Just...let me see it first and I’ll tell you, kay?”

Not having any particular reason not to, I just leaned my head towards her so she could have easy access to my right ear. She seemed to hesitate, her breath drifting past it before she leaned in.

My eyebrows shot up when I felt her mouth open and her teeth clamp down quite firmly on my ear, half of it in her mouth. The action sent a surprising amount of electricity through me, leaving me a lot more confused at what was going on and so decided to ask, “Rainbow, whaaAAAAHAHAAA!!”

When she gave a sharp tug on my ear, everything went white.

All I could do was let out a loud gasping moan of unexpected pleasure I had no control over, arching my back even as I felt myself pressing into the teeth on my ear. The electricity I’d felt from her teeth clamping down was like the beat of a butterfly’s wing compared to the massive hurricane force wind of sensation that blasted me at that tug.

I had felt what was an odd response making me confused, then got sent charging straight into a state of gasping, tingling, maddening arousal that might have had me jumping on Twilight right then and there if I wasn’t already used to being a guy in the first place.

In a fraction of a second, I had gone from pretty relaxed to insanely turned on.

And in that same fraction of a second, I realized I was involuntarily rising to attention faster than I could ever remember it happening, while every physical sense I had was heightened to match the peak of physical arousal I was now in. It was a state I only ever remembered reaching after a long buildup of teasing foreplay. It took just one simple tug of my ear, and suddenly I was prepared, and craving, to ravish Twilight like my life depended on it.

In the sudden silence that followed where even the sound of the rolling train seemed to dim, it was the sound of my own gasping breaths that I heard. My eyes were unfocused and staring straight out from the angle my head was in as I quivered in place, mouth agape. I was somehow a slave to the teeth on my ear and felt like I was waiting for them to release me so I could use my twitching arousal. I couldn’t help the almost desperate desire for a second tug, not knowing if I’d lose my mind or not, only that it had felt so incredible and left me wanting more. Had I been able to talk in such a state, I would have begged for her to tug harder, wanting to know how far she could take me.

It had all happened in just the two seconds before Rainbow at last let go of my ear.

The embarrassed blush I would have had as Rainbow’s teeth released my ear was lost behind the intense heat I felt from arousal. I found myself unable to contain the whimper of need as the hold on my ear vanished, body starting to sag back down a moment later.

A couple more seconds ticked by as I regained some proper control, glancing around at the girls and seeing them all glowing red, wide eyed with jaws hanging open. Fluttershy and Rainbow both had their wings extended. Applejack was peeking over the edge of her hat, blushing to the tips of her ears.

Still panting and trying to recover my breath, length twitching against my left leg, I made a slow move to drag Twilight over my lap a bit in an effort to hide the outline that was so very easy to see under leg of my pants and making the girls blush even brighter. I shuddered as I pulled Twilight over and her body began to press against it, groaning at the sensation and having another moment where I felt the hunger for her make another demand for satisfaction before I was able to push it back down.

Tense and breathless, I had to keep resisting the urge to grind against Twilight as she lay across my lap, and still seconds passed before I found my voice again, “What? That, what? What happ…? What was? What? Erect. What? My ear. What? I...what?!”

My brain was all but shut down as I swallowed, realizing my salivary glands were running on high and I was starting to drool on top of everything else. All I could do was start to trade the intense arousal for anxiety as I began to calm down from one peak and start climbing towards another.

Twilight picked up on my growing panic and shifted around, sitting on my left thigh, and the throbbing length under my pants that caused a shuddery whimper to slip out at feeling her pressed against it, so she could look into my eyes as her hooves touched my cheeks, “C-calm down, Vojin. I’ve always heard the Diviso Amore Response could be really dramatic, especially the first time a stallion discovers he has it. I guess this proves it. It’s alright. Take a deep breath for me before anything else, ok?”

It took me a couple deep breaths to feel like I wasn’t on the verge of losing it, hiding my face against her neck as I panted more, a little flabbergasted at how slow the arousal was to fade and worried I’d be stuck with it until I got Twilight alone. The whole experience was making it hard to think, both from the lingering intensity, and how sudden and staggering the effect was. It was like I’d reached the edge to a powerful climax, but it lacked any buildup or warning and just left me hanging at the edge with a need for more.

Leaning back and exhaling, I blinked at Twilight with continued look of bewilderment, “Ok, I think I’m alright now. Just, uh, d-don’t wiggle in my lap right now or anything. You’re pretty much sitting on it and I’m not sure how much I can take. Can you explain to me what the bloody hell that was?”

Before Twilight did more than open her mouth, there was a frustrated growl to my right.

And then Rainbow yelled a rather succinct exclamation.

“BUCK!”

Twilight and I jumped at hearing a shout so close and I shuddered again as it made us grind against each other in rather frustrating, delightful way. We wouldn’t be back at the library fast enough if it happened in the next two seconds.

In that moment, I despised all trains, modesty, manners, and public decency for being in the way and preventing me from doing exactly who I wanted to right then and there. Twilight had no idea how much, or how long, I was going to ravish her when we got home. Were she to tease me in such a moment, I would have lasted only as long as it took to throw her down on the floor and show her exactly how much I was craving her body. Part of me knew nothing except the warmth of her body so tantalizing and close.

Yet for now, all I could manage was a frustrated growl before forcing myself to put that need aside. If only just…

Rainbow’s shout drew all our eyes to her in surprise, only to find her with a strange look on her face as she gestured at me with a hoof, “Seriously, Twilight? I thought there was, like, totally no way it’d happen, but on top of him being this super hot half pony and everything else, he turns out to be a bucking nom & pop stallion?! Really?! Can we, like, take him to the mirror pool or something? Clone him with a spell so I can have one too? He bucking fell outta the sky right in front of you and you got all lovey dovey with him almost right from the start. And on top of it, I remember that list you made last year about your ‘ideal mate,’” Rainbow made quotations with her hooves, looking like she was just warming up, “and it stuck because some of it was kinda silly to me, even though I agreed with a lot of it at the same time, and now this and…” Rainbow started listing off stuff that must have been on Twilight’s list.

My chest was growing tighter with every point she said. Almost every bit of it fit me so well. A couple of things were not really applicable to me, but overall it was like listening to a profile of most of my personality and preferences.

Even some of my quirks came up, like the fact I was somehow a horrible dancer despite my martial skills. For whatever reason, I could never figure out how to let go and flow with music in a way that wasn’t painfully embarrassing or awkward. I could read the flow of a fight, but a dance floor demanded practiced choreography for me to manage.

The whole time, as I glanced around at the girls now and again, I saw surprise in their expressions, but also some kind of anguish or worry as they watched Rainbow going off on her rant. It was feeling Twilight’s deep concern and sadness towards Rainbow that left me the most confusion over what could have happened that Twilight and the girls were reacting like they were.

Then, in a voice that was by now wavering on some level I couldn’t place, Rainbow said one particular thing from the list that finished off my ability to keep myself calm, “I’ll bet Vojin even meets that bucking silly dorkiness ratio you wanted, Twi. I’m--”

I couldn’t hear anything else after that. No longer able to breathe as my blood chilled and vision went dim. It was just one too many new crazy things coming at me too fast in a moment I knew there were no overt dangers, left hearing a rushing sound in my ears as I disconnected from everything. I just accepted that some random weirdness finally sent me off the deep end.

While lost in the middle of a severe panic attack, struggling to draw breath as I wheezed, all I could think about was how convenient it had all been. The way things had kept stacking up with one coincidence after another, no matter how strange.

There was no doubt I loved Twilight with everything I had and then some. I knew and trusted that she felt the same. Yet, I didn’t know how we fit together as well as we had. How we were so closely aligned on so many levels, despite my coming from another world. It didn’t make sense in my head how it was all as simple and easy as it had been.

I never believed much in coincidences. Even less so with such a chain of them.

It left me spiraling down my options as the lack of oxygen began getting to me, voices just a distant noise I couldn’t understand.

What if none of it was a coincidence at all?

That idea scared me, having read or seen so many stories in the past that it led me to one singular conclusion of a plan being followed.

It all made sense if I was chosen to appeal to Twilight and keep her safe to begin with, then delivered straight to her by the orb.

From the orb?

Was I designed for her?

…could…some or all of my life on Earth…

…just be a lie…?

…

…

…

What felt like a moment later, noise began reaching my ears again as I gulped air into my lungs.

“...keep him brea…”

“...alming back d…”

“...st keep it up, Da…”

“...eel him starting to catch his breath now,” Twilight’s soothing voice finally started to feel present and constant again.

I felt weak as I kept breathing, my eyes closed as I felt two bodies against me, feeling warm and cared for.

As I got my senses in order, I felt the one to my right and back making slow, gentle strokes from my head down to my tail with…feathers? I could feel Twilight was the one in front of me, my face shifting to sink into her neck as her wings remained snug against my arms.

Unable to stop myself and not wanting to hold back in the first place, I began to cry against Twilight in near silence as I hid my face further against her fur, shoulders trembling as I let go. She tightened her hold on me, pulling me closer and letting me. The pegasus at my back pressed closer and held me as well, before a soft, wordless lullaby from Fluttershy off to my left said it was Rainbow holding me.

Throwing my remaining composure out the window, I let myself feel the fear, the hanging question of my entire life being all a fabrication, regardless of whether it was actually going to prove true or not.

A part of me noted that, had the situation been different when everything hit me all at once, I might have gotten mad instead of breaking down. Instead, I knew I had the chance to be vulnerable and ran with it.

Twilight was safe. Rainbow felt safe. The four girls right beside us were safe.

Being over the line anyway, in a moment I had the freedom to, I could work on sorting it out once I let it out. It would be just a fool’s effort to try and restrain myself when I was already cracked open. Trying to bear everything in a calm just hurts the foundation you need to stand up in a storm. The importance of that idea had been driven home by my parents growing up, despite still being unable to remember their names and wondering if it was the Rose Window…or something else.

I took the moment to fall apart from everything that had happened, and what I had just been thinking that shook me to the core. And that was before I even considered what I had experienced with the Tree of Harmony this morning. Or everything else going on.

But it was how true madness had felt in that one vision that had continued to haunt the edge of my thoughts from this morning the most.

For the brief period I had experienced that vision I had felt the tangled mess of violent urges, the desire for blood and flesh on my tongue, and how I had thrilled in the snapping of bones and sounds of pain from those I had killed because they dared threaten those I claimed as mine. To challenge my dominance! They needed and deserved to be destro--!!

A heartbeat passed and my fear grew a fraction larger as that strange haze brushed against me again, causing me to cling tighter to Twilight as I wept even more. I still felt off balance from the experience, with a part of me afraid something had transferred somehow. My rational mind was certain it was my extreme level of stress making it feel like more than it was.

I was almost unable to fathom what losing one’s mind was like before that experience. Now I had direct experience to add disturbing tangibility when thinking of that fear.

Above all, I really needed some time just to figure out how to talk to Twilight about it in the first place. Organize my thoughts a little first. Truly, the chance to vent some raw emotion was needed, even if it came sooner than I expected.

Though it didn’t last long, a great deal of tension was shed by the time I sniffled, wincing upon realizing more than tears had wet Twilight’s fur. I knew she didn’t mind, but I still told myself I’d give her a backrub for it later.

Slipping my right arm free, I reached up and back until my fingers sank into Rainbow’s mane at the back of her neck and pulled her a little closer in gratitude, feeling her nuzzle the back of my head in response.

A couple of steadying breaths allowed me to speak in relatively clear tone, if a bit tense, “Thank you, Twilight, Rainbow. Thank you, girls. Sorry I lost it like that. I was already near my limit when the whole ear thing and that list wound up making me think of something pretty heavy.”

Twilight nuzzled the side of my head and spoke in a warm, if concerned voice, “Don’t worry, my stallion. I’m glad you let it out. I was really getting worried you were trying to hold in too much. You’ve never been more on edge in the two months I’ve known you. I know, you said you need to stay quiet about part of whatever you learned. Whatever it is, I hope it’s worth the burden it’s causing you. Can you tell me what it was that got to you so much?”

Another steadying breath was needed before I could respond, “The main one is a matter of realization to solve several mysterious coincidences.”

I loosened my hold on both mares and sat up a bit straighter, but refused to let either go as I levitated a kerchief to myself and took a moment to clean myself off. The fact I could do it in such a way being disproportionately entertaining, despite the seriousness of the moment, was not lost on me. I was blowing my nose on a kerchief suspended in mid-air.

Clearing my throat as another kerchief began gentle strokes against Twilight’s fur, I set to cleaning her up as I continued, “We already gathered I was pretty much mister prophecy human destined to come to Equus, but what about all the smaller stuff? While I feel more for you than I think I have ever felt for anything in my entire life, Twilight, something kept nagging at me.

“Just why has it been so easy between us? Why am I so aligned to you and, with the abnormally good looks and freaky ear thing, feeling a little like a pleasure male meant to please you? How can it be, coming from an alien world, I’ve felt so at ease amongst ponies that it’s like I’ve been around your kind my whole life? Why am I learning unicorn magic at a rate we both have to admit is a lot faster than just an intelligent, merely uneducated adult? How could I be a natural born Spellweaver when it should be completely impossible…?”

Licking my lips when they felt dry, unseeing eyes darting a little at thoughts in my mind as I let the questions out, until leaning close again and pressing my left cheek to hers, I put to words just what was unsettling me so much, “If I have somehow been created for you...how much of my life on Earth was real? Would that mean I’m a little less real? With how prepared for living in Equestria I seem to be, at least some of my life on Earth wasn’t what I thought it was, and I may never even get answers to any of that.”

Twilight’s emotions seemed to skip for a moment before compassion, confusion, and discomfort swelled on her side of our link.

She pulled me in tighter again, like she was afraid I’d slip away in some fashion, her voice was thicker than before, “Oh stars above, that would force anypony to question their entire existence. I…I don’t know how to answer any of that right now… No matter what, Vojin, I’ll do everything I can to help you figure this out. I promise.”

Rainbow pressed in as well, sounding regretful and strangely off, “I, I didn’t think testing your ear was gonna make your feathers drop like that, Vojin. I’m...I’m sorry.”

After nuzzling Twilight in response to her, I pulled Rainbow down as I turned my head and pressed my purple-tinged gray nose and face against the corner of her jaw and neck from the angle we were at, hugging her head against mine, “You’re forgiven, Rainbow. It wouldn’t normally have made me freak out like it did. It’s been a rough day.”

As I held her like that for several seconds, I couldn’t help but notice her scent reminded me of a wild summer storm.

I also wasn’t sure how to react inside when I caught myself inhaling deeper than necessary because I enjoyed her scent in a way that surprised me. Or how to process the small but clear shiver the act caused in Rainbow.

Lifting my head back up and pushing aside a hint at something I didn’t even want to go near trying to figure out right now, I took another steadying breath in open air and caught Twilight’s eye to see a spark of mischief there. Whether she saw the subtle exchange or it was more a result of our link, I didn’t know for certain. Though our link, I did notice her feeling intrigued, and without a trace of negative emotion to be found.

Seems I was on a roll with coming across new questions I didn’t even want to start trying to figure out until all the other massive uncertainties could get some answers. My brain started to develop a nice headache.

Rainbow spoke in a lower tone that left me uncertain on everything it contained, though maybe that was just reading into things too much after the moment I just experienced, “I figured you wouldn’t be too upset with me, but I still needed to say I was s-sorry to the first stallion I’ve taken a liking to in a while.”

Oh bloody hell.

My eyes closed for a moment at that one. So much for reading into things. If my hands weren’t already occupied, I would be facepalming so hard.

The headache got worse.

Deciding that I had to say it, “I’m not sure if I should even ask this, but do you mean that as…more than just a friend, Rainbow?”

“I, uh,” Rainbow made a nervous clearing of her throat as she tensed up from my question, “I-I know you’re, like, devoted to Twi and all. I’ve, uh, just…not supposed to, um, about this s-stuff…”

When I realized just how fast Rainbow was tensing up and starting to tremble, I decided it could wait for another day. Whatever was going on that was enough to make her act like this, it was something we could handle when stress levels were lower and the timing was better.

Instead, I opted to deflect it for her when it seemed she was uncomfortable for reasons unsaid, “You don’t have to say anything else right now, Rainbow.”

Deciding to use the moment as a springboard to just clear the damned air for myself now that I found out Rainbow had at some kind of attraction towards me, I looked to the rest of the girls, “Ok, since we’re here and this subject is now out in the open, I just want say this and get it over with so I have one less question hanging around in my head to drive me crazy with everything else. I’d rather we all try to have the kind of friendship where we know we can say anything at all without fear. With the stuff we’re gonna get into, I think we better work on making sure we’re all as thick as thieves and trust each other as much as possible. The last thing we want when our lives are on the line is a moment of questioning trust, and I know it’s going to take time for you to build it with me. Now granted, this might just be me acting like an idiot male ego, but do any of the rest of you girls have a budding crush on me or anything like that going on?”

Glancing around at the girls, there was a quiet moment before Rarity gave me a sly smirk, “Hmmhmm…you certainly do have a tendency to be direct, don’t you darling? Well for myself, you already know I have expressed interest. You are quite unique and you intrigue me a great deal. However, as I am just entering the first stages of what I hope shall be a delightfully long and rewarding romantic endeavor with Fancy Pants, I can safely inform you there are no hidden desires at play from me.”

“Um,” I looked at Fluttershy as she tapped her forehooves together and hid behind her mane with a tiny sheepish smile, “I’m sorry. I just don’t like you like that. I hope you don’t mind. The only stallion I want on my back is my Big Mac--eep!”

Fluttershy’s face bloomed as she covered her mouth with her hooves, trying to sink into the train car's floor.

I could only give a soft chuckle, “No worries, Fluttershy. Please, never stop being adorable.”

My eyes turned to Pinkie as she started talking, wearing her own sly expression that somehow also left me feeling just the tiniest bit dirty with the way she ogled me, “Well, I wouldn’t have any problems whatsoever rutting you into the floor if you asked, just so ya know. I’ve always wanted to try night or few with a nom & pop stallion because I’ve heard you can keep them going with just another nibble on the ear until you’re walking funny and completely sore-ified. I like sore-ified cause it sounds like satisfied and adds in that fun kind of sore that only comes with at least eight hours of nonstop bedroom fun! Other than that, I’m covered when it comes to a stallion soon enough, so no secret crush cupcakes here!”

All I could do was stare at her with a red-faced blank look and slack jaw as she waggled her eyebrows, struggling to comprehend what just happened. The rest of the girls were staring at her too.

I’m going to try not to think about the rest but…did she already know she’s getting a Guardian?!

Several silent seconds went by before I just gave a light cough, reminding myself not to question The Pink One in order to preserve my sanity, “Um...okay then. Thank you for that, Pinkie.”

“You’re welcome~!” Pinkie said in a cheery sing-song voice as she gave me a suggestive wink. Dammit Pinkie.

And dammit male curiosity. That is a path for a braver male than I.

Don’t think about it.

Turning my eyes to Applejack, I quirked a brow as her modest blush started growing much brighter, “So how about you, AJ?”

I gave an internal sigh as I watched Applejack’s hoof slowly move up and drag her hat down over her face until she was peeking over the brim like earlier, “Uh…”

Well since it was all but out loud, I might as well rib her a little and get her talking, a mischievous smirk forming, “So what was it that did it for you?”

She made a slight clearing of her throat, her blush unabated behind her hat as she met my eyes before glancing to the side, her voice muffled just a touch by her hat in front of her face, “Uh...it, it was seein’ ya workin’ without yer shirt on. Watchin’ yer muscles at work…all sweaty like that and them being so much more visible than on a pony but still sittin’ just right without bein’ too big as they rippled in the sunlight without no fur ta hide anythin’…,” she blinked as her blush surged all the way to the tips of her ears and the lusty glint in her eyes vanished, being replaced by painful embarrassment as her voice got tight, “Er, Ah mean…Ah wasn’t…”

Applejack paused with a worried, even scared look when I raised the hand I’d been holding Rainbow with, who had shifted to sit on the bench again while leaning into me, and giving AJ a smile, no way I was going to let her suffer through that kind of feeling. “Don’t worry about it, AJ. Ok, so you liked watching me work shirtless in the sun. I don’t mind that at all. As we’re being honest here, I will admit it’s kind of flattering, and a bit of an ego booster.”

She looked relieved by my response, managing to put her hat back on her head and giving me a weak smile.

It made me realize how much of an edge we were all riding in this conversation. I could have torn her apart with a wrong word just then. The openness had dangerous potential, but it felt right as we opened up together, regardless of all the tension it was causing.

There was a pause before Rainbow snickered, having settled herself a little more, “Heh, just be glad you don’t have feathers. AJ can get kinda aggressive when she’s got her eyes on somepony willing to play, and I know just how bad she’s got it for wings. Heck, Rarity’s a little on the aggressive side too.”

That made me pause as the implications sank into my brain, giving Rainbow a confused look, “AJ and Rarity are… Have you actually…?”

Rainbow blinked, then lowered her ears and head as she glanced around at our friends with a wince, “Sorry. I, uh, got a little carried away, girls. This something he gets to hear?”

Twilight sighed and shook her head with a soft smile as she looked at Rainbow, then glanced around, “What are we going to do to you, Dash… I’m fine with it. Girls?”

After some time to think and eventual consent was given, Fluttershy sporting a brilliant blush but still giving hers, Rarity cleared her throat and gave me a devious smirk, eyeing me as she spoke, “You will get no details lovercolt, don’t think I haven’t noticed those oh so interested ears of yours, but we ladies are, in fact, familiar with one another. And yes, I do mean we have spent nights together in the most intimate of senses.

“Personally, I have decided to share this because you are right in our needing to work on building a firm foundation of trust with you. Thus far, you have only improved my acceptance of doing so.” Then Rarity frowned, “I dislike thinking of what we may find coming our way in the future and find myself growing ever more thankful you have somehow been sent to protect the six of us. I am pushing myself to give you more trust than I normally would so soon, Vojin. I have been unable to shake the feeling we will need it in some fashion. Please cherish the effort.”

What was at first an eyebrow raising discovery, and I’d be lying if I denied wanting to hear said details, had turned into a somber moment.

Straightening up, I looked around at each of the girls while pulling Twilight closer, even slipping my arm around Rainbow and pulling her in too, my voice steady, “I do cherish the effort, Rarity. And…”

I paused, swallowing a lump in my throat as the thought that sprang to mind gave me mixed feelings, only deciding to voice it when I had a second to see extending that much trust to them was both necessary in building a strong mutual trust, and to let them know I needed their help in turn.

Taking another steadying breath against the tension that was so rampant today, I continued, “Girls… I…I can’t tell you any details, but some of what I learned earlier today makes me think I might lose myself, lose what makes me who I am, from all the stuff we’re going to face. I already promised to protect all of you to the best of my ability like I have with Twilight. One of my greatest fears is losing my mind, and I’m scared it might happen in all that’s going to come. I already know Twilight will be there no matter what, but will all of you…”

I had to pause, swallowing against the lump again and taking another breath, feeling rather exposed with those that I had only known for two months, eyes looking around to each of them, “Could I ask you girls to look after me in turn? Not let me forget who I am if I start to lose myself? Or even keep holding on so I can find my way back if I do?”

Twilight wasted no time in pressing close, knowing she didn’t have to voice it, as she tucked her head beneath my chin.

Rainbow followed suit, turning and pressing her nose into the back of my head and neck on the right side of my mane, “Count on it, big guy.”

Fluttershy was only a moment behind, moving up against my back with her chin resting on top of my head between my ears, “I promise I’ll be there to remind you of who you are whenever you need it.”

Applejack joined us, nuzzling my cheek beside Rainbow, “Ah’ll make sure ya stay honest with yourself, no matter what.”

Rarity slipped in, nuzzling my shoulder just behind Twilight’s head on my chest as she joined the embrace, “Never fear, Vojin darling. I shall not allow a friend to be suffer in such a dreadful manner if I have anything to say about it.”

Pinkie giggled, somehow finding a way to an open spot and completing the group hug, nuzzling my open cheek before giving the faintest of nips, “Don’t worry, Vojin. If you start hearing voices, I’ll get in touch with them and tell them to visit another time. Maybe even invite them over to share cupcakes with the others I know!”

Closing my eyes, I ignored that.

I will not question The Pink One.

While relishing the rather snug yet comforting embrace, another thought came together in my head that caused me a whole new kind of worry I didn’t know where to even begin dealing with.

If the Guardians I needed to find were also romantic interests for the girls…was it possible they were in part revealed because of that interest?

That made me think further into Rainbow and Applejack having expressed some interest in me.

While I preferred monogamy and it was normal practice on Earth, I wasn’t quite sure about these kinds of nuances in Equestrian society yet and wondered what it could mean in this confusing situation. Twilight’s faint glimmer of mischief when she saw me breathe in Rainbow’s scent, and no apparent disapproval for it, was yet another wrinkle.

Then I began to consider what could happen if one of them was fixated on me and didn’t reveal their Guardian somehow.

All but one of the girl’s lives had been saved by their Guardian in the confirmation visions, whomever each of them were. I also had almost no idea when the events in the visions were set to take place. Two in a winter setting, one not, another in an artificial dust storm, and one taking place in a cave. It gave me very little to go on for when they took place. The voice from the Tree of Harmony had been very clear that the girls had to survive or we lost everything.

And if they hadn’t connected with their Guardian when the time came…

A shiver went through me for two very distinct reasons when I felt Rainbow take a deep sniff of my scent in a manner similar to what I had done with her earlier. I couldn’t deny feeling something towards the prismatic pegasus that had become my best friend after Twilight. It also scared me as much as it thrilled me on so many more levels, now that I’d thought what I had.

I felt Twilight press just a little closer to me in the group hug, causing me to cling to her just a little tighter in turn as I ached inside. She might know my emotions, but she had no idea my train of thought had gone to a whole new track for the unease I felt.

All of us were pushing for deeper trust and riding a dangerous edge in good faith that it was safe to do so. All in the hope of being better able to rely on each other. I wasn’t sure if trying to push such things away could cause problems when we were already in delicate waters. There was also the chance I might mess up trying to refuse a possible advance. Maybe even get caught not being able to explain the full truth of why because I have to hide certain knowledge. I knew if I wasn’t getting a completely truthful answer from a friend and knew it, it would hurt. And in such a delicate subject, it could cut deep.

Rainbow already had some level of interest towards me, which meant if I had to shoot her down, she might lose some trust with me. That wasn’t even accounting for whatever she hadn’t said about how strange she was acting before.

Yet, if I didn’t try to turn them away and something started to grow in the absence of refusal, the position that situation could put us all in was also rife with problems. Though it appeared I couldn’t remember much of what happened with AJ, I already admitted to myself that Rainbow was at least a little tempting. I had a sense that she knew it, too.

If I made a mistake in trying to refuse, unable to explain the whole reason, and they didn’t trust me enough in a moment they needed to…

If one of them was focused on me because I didn’t turn them away, regardless of me returning it or not, and they somehow missed their own Guardian…

Or even if I actually did want to try again and let one of them in like that…

…

…could a wrong move in this lead to me getting one of them killed?

Bk 2 Ch 1: Settling Back In

Present day

We have been so spoiled until today.

Letting out mutual sighs of disappointment, Twilight and I reluctantly got ourselves out of bed to begin the day, having slept in to try and keep snuggled up as long as possible.

It was the first time we were going to be apart for a full day after two months of being side by side almost non-stop, a result of our link limiting physical distance and flux concerns keeping us behind closed doors if we had no need to be out, as opposed to being more social. Such considerations had other benefits however, as limiting how much of everything I was exposed to all at once had helped a great deal in getting my head around my whole life being changed in almost every way imaginable, and many otherwise normal assumptions about myself thrown into question. I also had the sense that adding new questions to the list was more likely than answers just yet.

As I stretched a bit after standing, my eyes lingered on Twilight as she began to brush out her mane. She gave me a sweet smile when she saw me looking, prompting one in return from me. Although I had lost a lot by being torn from my world, I also gained a lot from the world jump. It had been just two months and I felt like nearly an entire lifetime had gone by.

The dramatic conclusion to our trip up to Canterlot for the Royal Summit, and then all the reveals, discoveries and pushing the boundaries of trust that happened with the rest of the girls on the train on the way back to Ponyville yesterday had capped off a particularly crazy week in a world where crazy seems kind of normal. Although now that I think of it, when you’re friends with Pinkie Pie, that’s also kind of expected I suppose. And for what I had been able to lock down so far in my fractured memories of the time period, that single week was in many ways half again crazier than most of the rest of the past two months put together.

I found it was still hard to believe I’d actually faced Shining Armor in a combat trial.

Thinking about that experience again, I knew I had lost by a wide margin. It was expected though, when he had specific training against bipedal opponents and real combat experience, while I was stuck working off a couple of for-fun sparring matches with Rainbow Dash. I simply lacked much experience against a pony, all things considered. At least I’d held my own before the magical combat portion, where I simply don’t have the training yet to even have a ghost of a chance.

As I remembered the antics Cadance pulled, I just gave a mental shake of my head and a sly smile. She was rambunctious and her own special kind of crazy, but her open acceptance of me was a relief all it’s own.

Thinking more about it, Cadance and Shining Armor both, actually. Even if Shining did privately admit to enjoying the chance to pound on me a little for dating his sister. Between our match and saving her twice now, I knew I had his respect as both her protector and her boyfriend. Or would it be more accurate for me to think of myself her coltfriend, considering my curious discovery?

My fuzzy ears wiggled a bit in amusement at the thought.

Taking my time as I got myself dressed, a simple button-up gray shirt and brown pants, Rarity’s work taking cues from the kung fu uniforms that came with me, I shifted myself back to regular human form so I could put some shoes on. I’d fallen asleep last night in pony mode, my white mane and tail and purple-tinged gray fur transitioning back to long brown hair and bare skin over the course of a several seconds.

While I was more or less just rolling with it, I still didn’t know quite what to think about discovering I had somehow gained the ability to turn into an anthropomorphic unicorn. At present, we were suspecting my link with Twilight made something in me go fuzzy or something like that. At least, I was thinking it. Currently, we really didn’t know exactly what caused it and had a lot to explore as we studied my full recorded magical signature. I really hope I don’t have any other unusual magical allergies. The experience with the necromantic energies of the timber wolves was plenty, a slight shudder passing through me at how that had felt. There was also the fact I shouldn’t have survived, and wouldn’t have, if not for the strange properties of my link with Twilight keeping me connected long enough for my body to recover.

Forcing my mind onto lighter thoughts so I didn’t start brooding, I smirked as I remembered last night. Twilight hadn’t waited much longer than an hour after we returned from the train before the bedroom door was shut, not that I was doing anything but teasing her at every opportunity just to rile her up. Both of us had wanted to experiment with the freaky ear thing Rainbow Dash somehow suspected, and subsequently tested, on the train ride back to town.

Of the many things I had seen, done, or otherwise been through in my life up to that point, world jump included, that was a moment where I could honestly say my mind had been well and truly blown. More than anything else I’d been through in this world so far.

It was just…completely brain-resetting on multiple levels that first time.

Giving a faint snort of amusement to myself as I remembered the ensuing events and effects, I pondered maybe spending some time to make a shielding spell that would give my disturbingly delightful ears little formed covers or something. Bio-magical traits, or whatever the term was, was just something else I’d have to get used to.

At least it only worked when it was a close friend or lover, limited to those that have a deep personal bond with me, according to what I was told. One more thing on my reading list to study up on. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about random ear attacks from the curious.

And I already made Rainbow and Pinkie both give me a Pinkie Promise not to touch them again, ruling them off limits for pranking on all levels.

One vague reference, combined with the kind of creepy delighted gleam in both Rainbow’s and Pinkie’s eyes, was all it took to shoot that whole mess down. Although there was a lot of stuff I’d grudgingly put up with, even secretly laugh over without admitting to it, that simply wasn’t going to be one of them. I deliberately refused to think about how much I might enjoy that kind of prank on grounds I’d have encouraged them and forget what it felt like to stop blushing or relax in the process. My freaky ear thing felt just a little too nice, and Twilight was the only one I’d allow to perv on me.

Regardless, the whole idea really shouldn’t interest me so much, but I couldn’t deny how much I found myself enjoying ear tugs now. Perhaps Twilight wouldn’t mind giving a little nip and tug before she leaves this morning…

Hmm…maybe I’m the pervert in this situation…

I had to pause and blink at a particularly ludicrous thought the next moment, the idea solidifying in my brain that I pretty much had a magical boner button when I’m in pony mode. There are times when the things I think of can make me stop and wonder just what’s wrong with my brain. I gave a mental eye roll and laugh, putting that train of thought aside for when Twilight gets back tonight.

I finished lacing up my shoes, mind wandering onto other things as I focused on my footwear.

They were made of some kind of durable canvas material Rarity had used in lieu of leather when making them, and were based on the kung fu shoes I’d brought with me when I fell out of the skies above Ponyville when I ended up here. My original ones had been destroyed at the start of last week when we first discovered my pony mode. My hooves had ripped them apart during my transformation. They simply didn’t have the materials to even try repairing them here, and the magical effort was ludicrous for something so ultimately trivial. And yet, there was a certain kind of surreality in the pang of deep regret I felt over my shoes getting destroyed.

It was easy enough to figure out why I felt that way. It was one of the few items I had from Earth. Losing one of those few things felt like I was drifting just a little further away from my former life, from my daughter and all the other people I cared about that I’d left behind. It didn’t help that I had so many deep questions spinning around in my head about my very existence now. If I didn’t have physical evidence I’d been there, I might have even begun to question ever being on Earth at all.

With all that had happened, with even the very meaning of my name having been a message somehow, I was left wondering how much of everything I am is my own doing.

The thought caused a sigh to escape, unable to answer how much of my life on Earth had been a lie. At least part of it had to be, after what I had learned so far. For now, I didn’t even know if I could ever figure any of it out at all without going back, which I was impossible. Even if we did have a way to open a portal of some kind, I couldn’t go without Twilight or it would just kill me because of our link. I wanted to know what was real in my life before I came here, yet I knew it may never be possible to truly find out.

When Twilight nuzzled my cheek and I snapped out of my thoughts, I realized I’d been staring at my feet, hunched over with my elbows on my knees and wishing the shoes were leather again as I sat lost in my head. She probably felt the wave of sad longing or other jumbled emotions through our link.

“Anything you want to talk about right now, Vojin?” Twilight asked quietly after she pulled back to look at me with a sympathetic expression.

After a short pause to consider, I shook my head and leaned in close, touching my nose against hers with a weak smile, voice soft, “Just had a moment of disconnect, Purple Angel. With everything that’s happened, I’m not sure quite where I’m at in adjusting to my whole life changing so drastically, and then continuing to do so a number of times in the past week. I need some time to absorb everything right now, but otherwise I think I’m alright. And if not, I know you will listen the moment I ask.”

She gave me a warm smile and rubbed her nose against mine before going back to her morning preparations, “It’s kind of frustrating that we’ve just had all these big things happen, yet I have to spend this whole week almost dawn to dusk at at town hall to get everything in order for when Celestia and Luna send the squad they’re putting together for us. It’s still hard to believe the girls and I are going to be getting actual combat training soon, after all the adventures we’ve had and managed to get through already.”

“I kind of know what you mean. A lot of what’s happened before now with you and your friends was crazy and plenty dangerous as it was. And for myself, I’m a trained fighter with a history of numerous street fights and brawls from seeing someone in trouble, but that’s not like combat training ahead of a war. I’ll be right there with you, learning who knows what about being an officer in the Guard. Despite pushing myself on practical technique and sparring practice, fighting skills have always been just a hobby for me, even if it was quite useful when I got myself into trouble,” I paused with a frown, thinking again, “Although, now I have to wonder just how much was truly just me enjoying martial studies in my spare time. With everything we found out so far, I can’t stop worrying about that nagging ‘what if’ of my whole life possibly being scripted somehow.”

Stepping up beside her, I started brushing out my own long brown hair so I could tie it back behind my neck in a horsetail and not look a mess. Fortunately, it laid straighter when I wasn’t in pony mode, which apparently gave my mane and tail surprising natural volume, and more curiously, a substantial silky softness. I was still trying not to think about how the crap I wound up being some kind of pretty boy analog to Helen of Troy in this world. My pony mode looks were something that would definitely take a lot of getting used to. It made me feel rather weird.

Sensing my discomfort, Twilight brushed me with her wing and gave me a soft look. I knew she wished there was something she could say, some statement to put my mind at ease or answer the endless questions. There simply were no answers forthcoming right now, maddening as it was for both of us.

“You know, I still have a hard time believing you could possibly have so much paperwork to go through over at the town hall with the mayor,” I commented, seeking a bit of distraction as we headed down to breakfast.

“Ugh. Tell me about it. It was a while ago now, when Celestia gave me the authority to approve various measures and funding requests for Ponyville. At first, it sounded rather simple. Then I found out I have to go through all of the same paperwork the regional council would deal with in order to ensure the process is handled,” Twilight paused and made her voice sound stuffy and uptight, “‘With all of the quite necessary considerations and due process that anypony needing to review a decision made with public funds might know the whole of the matter with certainty.’”

She wore a flat look as she muttered a following, “As much as I love being accurate and organized with records and data, they somehow found a way to make it so dry and forced that even that part of it manages to be an onerous chore. Everything has to be specifically the way it’s expected, regardless of any inefficiencies I find and could otherwise correct, or it gets rejected and the whole process of whatever it was has to be restarted if anypony pulls a random review. Which, I should add, suspiciously tends to happen rather often with anything I personally approve. Sometimes I think there’s somepony on the regional council or their staff that spends a disproportionate amount of time looking for ways to give me headaches over clerical errors. I have been told it does seem more frequent than usual, but the precision with which I hold myself to keeps it under control well enough. A couple times I was even able to turn it back with proof it was a clerical error on their side because we have copies of everything here to check against.

“At least Mayor Mare is also very understanding and easy to work with. Most of my side of it is just review and signing off my approval, or bringing up points needing elaboration or clarification. She and her staff do what they can to help me, but I have to personally look through a large part of it according to designated processing checklists. At least I still get some small satisfaction from completing each checklist and knowing I am making the whole mess a lot easier for the town getting what we need in a timely manner. While I know the experience in governing and civic leadership is the point overall, I would be quite happy to do without it. It’s just one week though, so the mayor is caught up with the backlog and even a bit ahead of things for when I’ll lack the time to keep up because we’ll be training. High priority matters that couldn’t be planned for are all I have to deal with afterward, and the rest just has to take the normal three or more months of processing time like it used to before I could step in and shorten it to a week or two. There will be a small gap, but we have some interim measures to cover the transition first up today so the town overall will be unaffected.”

As she finished her venting, Twilight gave a little coo as I scratched behind one of her ears, her wings shifting a bit as she let the frustration go and leaned into my touch. While Equestria seemed to have a lot of well constructed means with which to catch abuses of power, it seemed to do nothing to improve bureaucracy and paperwork woes. I couldn’t tell if the comparison with Earth was worse or not, having never been involved in government work.

“I am not looking forward to whatever kind of paperwork I’ll probably end up dealing with, now that I’ve been drafted into the Guard at a rank equivalent to a Colonel, even if I’m barred from any actual authority until I’ve had enough training. I doubt it’ll be anything as bad as what you have to handle, but it’s certainly going to be new territory for me,” I said, pausing as a thought gave me a small smirk as I glanced at her, “I don’t suppose you give lessons on efficient means of completing boring paperwork…?”

She caught my eye with a sly smile that slowly grew wider, “Hmm. That depends on whether or not you will provide adequate compensation outside of the previously established list of interaction we have in place…”

Returning her smile, though my own was a bit lascivious, I leaned a little closer and spoke low, “I’m sure we could come to an agreement beneficial to both parties. It may require some...vigorous negotiation, but I confess I find myself in need and am open to an initial proposal of desired compensation to start.”

Twilight moved closer, her nose almost touching mine as her dancing eyes narrowed, a wide grin on her face now as she spoke in a husky tone, “I think that…you’ll have to cook dinner after the first lesson.”

I blinked.

After a second to process, I just chuckled and leaned close enough to nuzzle her cheek, breathing her in as she stifled a soft giggle and nuzzled back.

Once I drew back a few moments later, I looked at her with a smirk, “Tease… Sometimes it feels like I can almost read your mind, then I turn around and get a reminder that you can just as easily keep me guessing when you want to. It figures that females are no less a mystery here on Equus than they were on Earth and our link sharing our emotions doesn’t make it much easier. If me cooking for you is what you want, you may consider it done, Purple Angel.”

Twilight gave me another sly smile as she finished brushing herself and I tied my hair back before we headed down for breakfast.

Not long after a pile of pancakes between the three of us had been devoured, Twilight was at the door with Spike, looking pensive. Heck, we both were as I knelt beside her.

“I really wish we had another option, or it made sense for you to come with me,” she said with a frown.

Waving a dismissive hand, I responded with the blunt truth, “And we both know that even if boredom didn’t make me do something distracting, I still won’t be able to get much of anything done. I’m technically not even allowed to be in the same room because of confidentiality rules, regardless of you having a loophole to use. Yeah, it’s not the best time for me to be alone, but it’s just what we’re stuck with. The rest of the girls have their own things to catch up on or arrange too. I’ll survive though. Stop worrying about me so much.”

Twilight took a breath and let it out, her face turning a bit more determined as she gave me a nuzzle and looked into my eyes, “Can I at least hear you say it one more time? Please?”

Her request had me give her a bemused smirk and slight eye roll that was more to tease her than anything else, leaning in and kissing the tip of her nose before touching mine to the spot and giving her an easy reply, “Even if the scripted life turns out true, it doesn’t change the fact that I still have you.”

For a moment, her eyes flashed with her worry and concern for me, before she gave a soft hum and met me in a tender kiss, a wing curling around the back of my head to hold me close for a lingering moment before she pulled back, a more genuine smile on her face now, “I’ll be back as early as I can, my stallion.”

“I know,” I said in return with a soft look, then turned my attention to Spike and gave him a serious look, “I expect you to be extra attentive this week, Spike. Twilight has a lot more work than usual to get through and she’ll be counting on you to keep her on task, as well as minimizing any extraneous tasks that will cut into her time for getting through the mountain of paperwork. Don’t let her work through lunch and make sure she keeps hydrated. Understood?”

Spike gave a sharp salute, “You can count on me! I haven’t been her number one assistant all this time for no reason!”

“Good. Maybe tonight we can chat a little more about the Power Ponies’ current arc and how they’ll save the city from the Mane-iac’s army of hair gel cannon robots,” I said with a smirk, seeing his eyes brighten at the prospect.

I met Twilight’s eyes again before she turned to leave and knew she felt my discomfort about being left alone, knowing I was all too likely to spend a lot of time thinking about everything we’d learned. Both about things coming our way, and the mess of things concerning myself on various levels.

As I watched her walking off down the street and out of sight towards Town Hall from the door, I felt everything loom so much larger in my mind. Just because you’re able to handle the difficult things life can throw your way doesn’t mean they weigh any less.

Closing the door to the library, the click of the latch was almost thunderous to my ears in the heavy silence of a now empty building, causing tired sigh to escape.

It’s going to be a long day.

It was little more than an hour after Twilight had left and I had spent at least ten minutes on the same page about earth manipulation spell mechanics before I finally gave up trying to study for the time being. Dropping in a bookmark before setting the blasted thing down, I rubbed my eyes with the fingers of my other hand.

With Spike off with Twilight for the day to help her handle the paperwork, and the rest of the girls all likely busy catching up on things they missed over the past week we were in Canterlot, on top of needing to prepare their schedules for the coming training, I was hesitant to visit any of them and unintentionally interfere with their efforts. At the same time, being left alone was driving me a little nuts due to one of the many discoveries about myself seeming to start yelling in my head, now that I’ve been left with time for my mind to wander.

I had just under two years.

Of all the things that had happened, staring at what was essentially an eventual magical overload from the forming of the soul link with Twilight and the resulting physical burnout at the end from more magic than my body could withstand was the hardest one to take in. Not even Celestia or Luna knew anything to stop it. Only daily and consistent use of at least a moderate amount of magic to keep my inner reserves from getting too full, just to keep it from accelerating, was the one option available to me.

And it made being alone right now a difficult prospect to stomach.

I removed my fingers from my scalp where I’d been tugging a bit at my hair in impotent frustration and stood up, feeling an urge to grab my guitar. If a bit of music didn’t calm it down, I’d just take a walk and see where I ended up. According to the current calculation, with Twilight staying at Town Hall for the day, I should be clear on safe distance even as far as part of Sweet Apple Acres now, so long as I kept aware for any signs of getting too far from her.

Up the stairs and back down with my guitar, I felt the loneliness of the empty library digging into my head and decided to sit out front. Some sun and space, and the company of any ponies passing by, might help me settle down so I could get back to studying. If not, at least it would help me relax so I wasn’t so on edge before a walk.

In short order, I was settled cross-legged against the base of the library tree, back resting against the broad trunk.

As I looked around the area and saw various ponies going about their day, not many gave me much more than a glance, with a few even giving me a friendly wave I had to return with a forced smile. While I wasn’t out and about too often in the past two months, it seems I was more or less old news at this point. For a moment, I wondered if Ponyville was a good sample of Equestrian acceptance of foreigners or not.

Pondering what to play as I checked the tune, my mind wandered across the thought of what it might have been like if this had been an Equestria like some of the stories I’d read in the past back on Earth, the ones where spontaneous musicals broke out. It was an entertaining thought, though it also begged the question of whether or not such magic would’ve been strong enough to make me a better dancer. Never could sort out how I could flow in a fight, but still have two left feet if I tried to move to music without it being pre-planned and practiced.

Since I was going to be doing a song from Earth, I knew the locals wouldn’t have a clue what I was saying, though I hoped any that did choose to listen would enjoy it. Maybe I should ask how English vocals sounded to a pony at some point. While I still couldn’t remember playing it for her, Rainbow apparently likes AC/DC, but that’s hardly a good example for the kind of vocal clarity for what I had in mind.

A bit more thought led me to pick the song Never See This Life Again by Bret Blackshear for no specific reason past feeling right for the moment. My eyes closed as I began to play, and I let myself slowly fall into the music.

Along the way, as I followed my emotions, the song grew just a little more somber, just a little more subdued than the original. My deeper ranged baritone keeping restrained and softer as I began to sing.

<Don’t show me my dreams…and the people I could become…>

A whole new world had opened for me. At the same time, just about everything I thought I could hold firm had been shaken and left in disarray. I had found great joys, a chance to live a life I’d never imagined in the process.

And yet no matter what else happened, good or bad, I only had two years to make the most of it before I would be gone.

<I don’t want to go home… I’m not ready to call it a day…>

Once I got through the turbulent emotions I knew I had to tackle first, I figured my only real option was giving this time everything I had. I’d always felt I was called to protect others, and I supposed that feeling was far more purposeful than I previously thought, now that I was apparently the first of the Guardians meant to protect the Bearers from whatever pile of crazy we were headed for. Here’s hoping I can gather the other five sooner, rather than later. Some of the visions I saw left me more than a little unsettled about the dangers ahead.

<Don’t get to the end...say what might have been…>

As the song headed towards it’s end, I thought about the fact I was going to leave Twilight far too soon. I distantly sensed the tightness in my chest and cool lines on my cheeks. The very thought hurt.

Before I came here, before we became linked and found so much love could rise between us, I was more or less content with life. While my tendency of finding trouble had risks, the notion I might lose my life never bothered me too much and I wasn’t really afraid of death. I always figured that when my time came, nothing I did would change it, so I saw no reason to be afraid and decided to live life as best I could.

Then Twilight came along, and suddenly dying terrifies me.

<Oh, and go to sleep, and dream tonight… let your spirit soar and your heart take flight…>

We even spoke about it for a moment once and she asked, almost begged, we not mention it for now. To give her some time to accept it a little first.

I was terrified not for myself, but because of how much I knew it would hurt her in the end. And no matter how much I wanted otherwise, I couldn’t do anything to change that.

<Don’t get to the end, say what might have been… Cause we’ll never see this life again…>

My fingers stilled as the last notes faded, leaving me to take a slow breath and put the fears away once more. I knew Twilight would be able to sense how I was feeling. I could allow a short bit of sad of this kind, but I needed to rebalance myself again so she could focus on her work and not spend all day distracted with worry for me. I felt worry coming from her as it was already, and I couldn’t let her worry.

For Twilight, I’ll stay strong.

I opened my eyes with a quiet sigh, the troubled thoughts largely out of mind for now and feeling much calmer, only to be surprised at finding two recognizable ponies standing a short but respectful distance away with both curiosity and concern in their expressions. I guess I was lost in the song enough that I didn’t hear them approach.

Clearing my throat and making a quick wipe at my eyes with the back of my right hand, I gave a brief wave and weak smile before speaking in Equestrian once more, “Oh, uh...hello Octavia, Vinyl. Just got lost in a somewhat sad song is all. Nothing to worry about. Did you like the music?” I paused at a realization, “Uh...I know this sounds weird, but have we met yet?”

The grey earth pony mare with a black mane and her friend now looked a bit bewildered.

Octavia raised a suspicious eyebrow as Vinyl tilted her shades up to reveal her striking red eyes with a smirk, the pale yellow unicorn mare with a somewhat spiky two-tone blue mane speaking with a chuckle, “Yup, sounds weird, but nah, we haven’t met you face to face yet. We did see you get that medal from the princesses for saving Princess Twilight from falling out of the sky when she wasn’t able to fly, though. How’d you hear about us enough to recognize us? Don’t tell me I’ve got a legend right outta fantasy stories as a fan already! That’d just be awesome!”

Pausing, I had to wonder for a moment if I’m ever going to get used to being considered a myth made real in this world. Her comments also reminded me of the ulterior motives and hidden games Celestia and Luna were playing at the time when they gave me that medal, and the spell they had me under, but I shoved that out of my thoughts as I didn’t want to sour my mood again.

I gave a snort of amusement at her response and the glimmer of hope in her eyes, I shook my head and grinned, “Nothing that simple, to be honest. I recognized you from what I saw on my world before ending up here. While I know you’re a DJ and do club music, and Octavia is a cellist, I’m afraid that’s also pretty much the extent of my knowledge. I asked if we’ve met because I recently had a little mishap with a mind spell and I’ve got some memory malfunctions right now.” Then without considering it properly because I’m an idiot, I added, “You know, a lot of humans on Earth go back and forth on you two being lovers. Is it true?”

Octavia’s cheeks gained a touch of pink as she closed her eyes, turning her head to one side and letting out an exasperated sigh, muttering something to herself.

Vinyl just laughed out loud as she glanced at her companion, “Ha! I told you even an alien might think we’re dating!” Vinyl turned back to me with a grin, “Nah. We’re actually first cousins. Tavi’s got a hot flank on her, sure, but it’s no touchy for me. Well, unless I get kinda drunk first, but that’s usually followed by a smack across the cheek and she gets all cute mad for the rest of the night. Kind of a pity really, since on those rare nights I hear she’s got somepony in her room, I can hear her turning into a total wildcat in b-OW!”

Vinyl was rubbing her shoulder, grinning shamelessly at Octavia after receiving a solid punch from the gray mare.

Octavia gave her a withering glare even as she wore a brilliant blush, “Vinyl! Why must you persist in your incessant pursuit of causing me such extreme embarrassment?!”

Turning back to me, Octavia gave a strained smile, her blush slow to fade as she cleared her throat and visibly forced calm into her voice, “My apologies for that most unseemly display, Mister Drayce. Vinyl has the most dreadful habit of teasing me at every opportunity. However, as it has now been brought up in such an uncouth fashion, I may as well confirm that we are indeed family and thus not involved with one another. Leaving such matters behind us, I am most intrigued by that song you were playing. There were some interesting elements in the sound, and while there were similarities, the arrangement was a touch different than I have heard in comparable styles previously. Considering I have never heard that language before, and your particular uniqueness, is it safe to assume that was a song from your world? I would be most interested in hearing more about your music in the future.”

I had to grin at that. It was potentially both a great distraction from my thoughts and an opportunity to make more friends, even as I privately geeked out about meeting ponies I recognized again, “Heh, well if you ever get to meet Princess Cadance, you might find Vinyl isn’t that bad. Oh the story I could tell you from meeting her just days ago up in Canterlot… Anyway, it certainly is a song from Earth. While I never wrote any music myself, I’ve learned to play a few.” I paused at an idea, grinning wider, “Hey! Would you two like to hear some of the songs I’ve got from Earth? I have a pretty wide range on a device that came along with me. If you have the time, I’ve got many hours of songs available.”

Vinyl’s ears perked up at that, eyebrows raising and now very attentive, “You’ve got something to play a ton of sound from your world? Dude, we totally need to have a sit-down.” Then turning her head to Octavia with a sly grin and a nudge, “Tavi, neither of us has anywhere to be for over an hour. I know we were gonna clean the house a bit after getting breakfast, but surely even you can’t turn this down.”

Octavia sighed with a roll of her eyes, “While under most circumstances I would call you out for trying to escape the needed cleaning, I find that I must agree with you in this particular instance.” She turned back to me with a polite smile, “Mister Drayce, we would be delighted to hear some of the music your world has to offer.”

“Excellent!” I realized I was maybe a little too excited to have some company and gave a slight cough, reminding myself to relax as I stood up, “Why don’t you come inside the library and have a seat at the table. I’ll grab my smartphone and we’ll see what might interest you. And please, just call me Vojin.”

As I headed back inside, I held the door open and the two mares came in, myself motioning them to the table. With a quick comment about grabbing my phone upstairs and putting my guitar away, I went to do just that. I sat down at the table with them as I brought up the music player, starting to look for something that might interest them to start off.

Vinyl’s shades tilted up as she eyed my phone with interest, “Your music player looks kinda strange and tiny compared to the stuff I’ve got. That thing has hours of music?”

Nodding with a sly smirk, I realized I had something perfect as I instead went to pull up a video I’d saved ages ago as I replied, “It’s actually multi-functional. I can type notes, take photos, record both sound and sight, as well as play it back. There are some other functions, but I don’t have access to the required infrastructure to demonstrate, considering it requires remote links to stuff that only exists on Earth. It also functions entirely magic-free, making use of very careful manipulation of electrical energy.”

While Octavia looked surprised, Vinyl was rather laid back as she took it in stride, looking thoughtful as she spoke, “Huh. I’ve got some pretty small devices, but they’re still at least twice that size, and they only manage playback through special sound crystals that make up the bulk of the necessary bits. And they only manage a couple of songs at a time, even under the more complex standard enchantments. I’ve been playing with ways to reduce the enchantment demands of the crystals and the reliance on magic, but that thing is way ahead of me from the sound of it. How does it make the sound during playback?”

“Something of an inventor, eh?” I grinned, the video I wanted now ready to play, “As far as I understand it, considering I just bought the thing like most humans do and had nothing to do with how it’s made, the speaker is a little piece of specially made ceramic or something right here,” I pointed out the tiny grid of holes where the speaker was on my Galaxy phone, “I don’t know the details of how it works though. I just know it’s surprisingly powerful for being so tiny. Same with the light and camera next to it.”

“I guess you could say that. It’s all for finding new ways to create sound in the end. A speaker made of the same kinda stuff as pottery though? That’s a new one to me. Let’s hear it then. What sample of Earth music did you wanna show off first?” Vinyl replied with interest, Octavia wearing her own intrigued and hopeful expression.

My grin turned a bit sly again as I got ready to start the video of two famous cellists back on Earth. “How about a playback you can watch? It’s a pair of cellists being creative and playing a pop music piece.”

Holding my phone propped up on the table in a good spot for them to watch, I hit play on the ever popular Smooth Criminal by 2Cellos. I’d saved it to my phone years ago for whatever reason and now I was really glad it was available to me here. With the situation I was in, stuck in a whole different reality, the images and videos on my phone were the only specifically human connections I had left.

As the song played, both their eyes widened as their faces lit up. The sheer fascination and excitement they wore as they watched made me smile.

Once the song had ended, Vinyl said something I wasn’t expecting as she turned to Octavia, “Tavi, you think we could play that?”

As I eyed them with curiosity, Octavia rubbed her chin with a gray fetlock for a few moments before she nodded, “Yes, I do believe we could, given enough time for you to practice.” Then she turned to look at me as she spoke further, “Mister Vojin, I don’t suppose you happen to have sheet music for that performance by chance?”

“I’m afraid not. Even if I did, I’ve seen Equestrian musical notation. While the comparable basics are easy enough to see, the appearance is different from Earth musical notation in most of it. It’d probably be almost as hard to work with as transcribing the sound off the audio recording until you learned to read it, but I lack much knowledge of anything more than the basics to begin with so I wouldn’t be able to explain most of the symbols. And no calling me a ‘mister’ either. You’re gonna make me feel old,” I said with a chuckle.

“Mmm, noted. Well then, would you be willing to let us make recordings of our own for us to work with?” Octavia inquired, “Based upon what I have heard already, I am certain that there shall be quite many songs and melodies we would be positively delighted to learn of. As both Vinyl and myself are in the business of music, perhaps we can come to an agreement and see that the songs you have brought with you might be heard by the ponies and other races around Equestria and beyond. It would provide us with a tremendous influx of new sources upon which to draw, and we can surely work out a tidy share of royalties along the way.”

Quirking a brow at her, I snorted in amusement and shook my head, “No, that’s not going to be necessary. For one, none of it is my work and I wouldn’t feel right getting paid for it. For two, I have no real need for bits, and I’ll be getting a pretty solid pay rate from the Guard soon anyway. Don’t ask why for now, please. What I do need though, is not having all my eggs in one basket as it were.

“If my phone breaks, it’s all gone. If you two can copy a song and give me a copy in turn, that’s all I really want.” I paused to sigh, knowing what I was going to do with my phone eventually, for no reason other than I won’t be able to use it anymore. “As it is, after certain things happen, I plan on turning it over to the crown for study. Human non-magical materials science is off the charts compared to what you have here, to say nothing of computer technology you’ve never even conceived of yet. It will be an invaluable research and advancement opportunity for Equestria in the future. To that end, I also would require it doesn’t leave this library. Might be a little paranoid, but it’s the only one of it’s kind in this world and truly irreplaceable.”

Vinyl Scratch hummed for a moment before she spoke up, “Well, to make good recordings of the sound as it plays, we’d need a designated space to isolate external noise like I’ve got back at the house. My setup is way too big to move around though. I don’t suppose you have an option for headphones or something like that? A way to plug in for the audio?”

“It does have that, actually.” I paused then, an idea coming to mind, “Now that I think of it, you wouldn’t happen to be able to read minor electrical fluctuations with your magic, could you?”

“I got a spell for something like that. Why do you ask?” Vinyl replied.

Nodding, I continued, “Well, the plug probably isn’t going to work the same as your version, but headphones are pretty simple devices. If you’re careful about testing the pair I have, like simple electrical circuit powered by a lemon careful, you might be able to rig something up. Since it just translates a tiny electrical charge into sound vibrations, do you think you can figure out a way to translate it into something you can record? Maybe an adapter?”

Vinyl grinned, “That should be easy enough. I’ll have more trouble dealing with lyrics while running the translation spells and fixing the weird parts that come out. Speaking of translations though, would you be willing to create a translation key for me if I gave you a list of words to record in both Equestrian and your human language? I’d also need occasional sit-downs to go over additional words not on the list as they come up, but that’d just be you saying it in your language and the spell should tell me the rest, as well as you checking to be sure a translation was accurate and keeps the original meanings.”

Taking a second to think it over, I gave her a smile as I held out a fist, “I’ve got a lot of work ahead for some stuff coming up, but when I’ve got time, I’ll be happy to do what I can. Just make sure the better parts of this music can reach out to listeners everywhere. I think I’d much prefer to exercise some altruism here and make some new friends. At most, you’ll both owe me a favor or something. Sound good to you two?”

Both mares returned the smile and nodded as they bumped my fist with a hoof.

“Sounds good to me, dude,” Vinyl said in response.

Octavia was a little more expressive, “While I have some lingering feelings that I am unfairly taking advantage of your generosity, I can see you mean it wholeheartedly. If all you truly desire in return is copies of your own music and my friendship, I will most certainly not turn you down. What other songs come to mind? I’d love to hear something more about classical styles from your world…”

For the rest of the hour, the three of us went through a few more songs of widely varying genres, more focused on note patterns and melodies than lyrics due to the language gap, and made some initial plans for future visits. Vinyl was going to get some stuff ready for analyzing how to recreate or make an adapter for headphones that would work next time as well. It would just be a short visit one evening, but she said all she could really do at first was get some data to work with.

As we headed for the door so they could leave, I found myself with the strangest feeling of purpose or a connection to them for just a moment, but whatever it meant I couldn’t say. It was gone before I could do more than notice.

Pushing yet one more oddity out of my mind for now, I opened the door for them as we said our goodbyes, “I look forward to when you can drop by next week, Vinyl. Hopefully you can figure out how to mimic my headphones sufficiently so we can start making copies of everything soon after. And I’ll definitely be looking forward to the show you two are planning for Nightmare Night. Can’t believe I forgot that’s in two weeks. Guess things have been just that crazy for me lately.”

“No sweat, dude.” Vinyl wore a grin as she spoke, “Once I have a chance to take some readings and see what exactly is happening on your headphones, I should be able to whip something together within a day. I didn’t minor in applied magitech studies during my doctorate for nothing after all.”

I blinked at that, raising a brow as I asked, “You have a doctorate?”

Vinyl just grinned wider from behind her shades, “Yeah, in Music Theory like Tavi. What? You think I just guessed my way into clubs and making DJ PON3 a widely recognized name? I totally earned it by building all the gear I use that gives me a unique sound. I even had most of the same courses and graduated the same day as Tavi, though we went in different directions professionally. You should’ve seen us tearing up cello recitals back then! It was a blast!”

That made me blink again, but I decided not to question anything else until she could drop by again or we might be lost in conversation.

“Well you’ll have to tell me a story or two when we can start this little project,” I said, then looked to Octavia, “I’ll be looking forward to seeing you then as well, Octavia. It’s been a pleasure meeting you both.”

With a warm smile, the gray mare dipped her head, “I could say the same of you, Vojin. I wish you the best of luck in your upcoming endeavors. Until we meet again.”

“I’ll drop by in the afternoon next week and take a look at those headphones of yours. See ya then,” Vinyl said with a grin before the two mares headed off into Ponyville.

I watched them leave for a few moments before closing the door with a quiet smirk, happy to have the opportunity to make more friends. Once we’d been able to make copies of the music collection I had, maybe I’d be less worried about anything happening to my phone. I still had some other work to do with preparing for such a thing, but Twilight helped me figure out a way to get the photos copied into a physical form like regular photographs. It was a relatively short but useful learning path for my magic studies to do it myself, and should help me cope with losing everything I knew so suddenly by preserving what I did have.

Still, even after that chance to distract myself and relax, the moment I looked at the book I had been studying earlier, I felt myself hesitate. I could tell right away that if I tried to sit down like that again right now, I’d wind up right back where I was just over an hour ago.

Blowing out a breath in unanswerable frustration, I went to put my phone away upstairs and was about to head out for a walk when I noticed my old hat hanging on a hook on the wall. Seeing it made me pause as I tried to recall the last time I’d worn the beat-up waxed-cotton brown fedora and found myself coming up blank. I used to wear the thing almost every time I left the house, uncaring that it was old and kinda ugly. I liked it, and that’s all that mattered to me.

Picking it up and plopping it on my head, I had a moment of wondering at the feel, noticing something was different from the comforting familiarity it had before. I couldn’t quite place what it was. It just didn’t sit quite right anymore as I took it off and looked it over with a frown.

Running my fingers over some of the frayed stitches and tired shape, I couldn’t help the thought that came to mind about my now former life, about the shifts in myself I’d had in the past two months. It occurred to me that even if I made it back to Earth tomorrow somehow, familiar as it was, I’d be longing to come back pretty fast. Somehow, some way, something about this world carried a sense of rightness that was always missing on Earth, now that I was focusing on the matter directly.

Hanging my old hat back on the wall, I felt a little more accepting of things with that bit of understanding. It didn’t explain why I felt so oddly comfortable, why I had that feeling of my somehow being where I was always meant to be, but knowing I had gained that much of a connection to Equestria let me feel more at ease with trying to make it my new home.

If nothing else, at least I know I’ll never spend much time being bored. And if I did, Pinkie would probably fix that pretty fast.

Besides all that, I remembered my pony mode also came with an enlarged cranium that would likely just tear up my old hat if I was wearing it and made the switch. Maybe I’d be fine with losing it someday, but for now it was one more comfort from my old home. I hadn’t thrown away the remains of my ruined kung fu shoes yet as it was.

Rolling my shoulders and feeling done with being mopey, I left the library and headed down the street. I had no actual destination in mind, just looking to see where I felt like going at each turn for now.

Many of the ponies I passed greeted me politely, which I returned with a more genuine smile than I’d worn earlier. It was kind of curious how openly accepting Ponyville seemed, despite my unusual presence. Maybe all those notions about it were true, and the frequent disasters and random shenanigans in town really had inured them to the unusual.

Several times, I had to smirk to myself, seeing a familiar sight on occasion. I noticed Sugarcube Corner was surprisingly similar to the show’s interpretation, retaining the cartoony styling, while other businesses, such as the day spa, had more elegance than was depicted.

Turning a random corner, I nearly bowled over a familiar pair of ponies and couldn’t help but smile, wondering to myself even as I minded my manners, “Oh, pardon me. Blind corners are a constant peril.”

The mint green unicorn with a harp cutie mark had to crane her neck to meet my eyes, “Don’t worry about it. I wasn’t watching where I was going too well as it was. I’m Lyra Heartstrings, and this is my best friend Bon Bon,” she said, gesturing to the cream-colored earth pony beside her, “I don’t mean to be a bother, but I can’t help but wonder. What’s it been like falling out of the sky and living in Ponyville, Mister Drayce? A lot of ponies have been curious about you. Especially when you seemed to hole up in the library with Princess Twilight all of a sudden.”

Giving her a grin and figuring that a lot of ponies in town knew my name at this point, I replied, “Nice to meet you, Lyra. And you, Bon Bon. I can’t say much for the falling out of the sky bit, considering I was mostly unconscious for it, but living here has certainly been interesting. Aside from the obvious ways and the differences in culture though, I have to say it’s not all that different from Earth and human society. Half the fun has been discovering the differences between what I had learned about Equestria before I arrived and what it’s really like. One example would be bumping into ponies I had some knowledge of, such as you two, though it’s only by appearance that I recognize you, for the most part.” A curiosity popped into my head just then and I had to ask. “I know it probably sounds ludicrous, but I have to ask Lyra...are you obsessed with humans by chance?”

I had to blink when Lyra’s jaw dropped, her face taking on an expression of being absolutely floored and speechless. It was further confusing when Bon Bon started to snicker, faintly at first, and slowly failing to contain herself as it grew into guffaws that had her leaning against the nearby wall of the building beside us.

Sputtering for a moment as she collected herself, Lyra facehoofed with her eyes shut, a long suffering groan escaping, “One time! It was one time! I try going as a human for one NIghtmare Night and everypony thinks I’m obsessed! And now I actually meet a human and even he thinks I’m obsessed! Yes! I like the myths and know most of them but I’m not obsessed!”

As she looked back up at me with a severely put upon expression, I gave her an apologetic, sheepish smile, “Er, sorry. It’s just something a lot of humans back on Earth have taken to in absence of knowing much of anything about you. I suppose it would be safe to assume you’re not a martial arts master either then?”

“Augh!” Lyra’s eye twitched a bit as she plopped onto her haunches and threw her forelegs in the air, “That one too?! Next I suppose you’ll tell me lots of humans think I’m some kind of really skilled mage or something, right? Yeah, I went to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, but it was because I’ve got a musical talent, not raw power or something. It’s more than just a school for mages and I’m only a bard. I just play music, and sometimes help Bonnie in her shop when I don’t have anything scheduled. Is it my coat color? My mane style? What is it about me that keeps making everypony think I’m crazy?!”

As Bon Bon slowly got control of herself, fresh laughter starting up with almost every word out of Lyra, all I could do was blink. I had to catch myself before I made a quip about Lyra’s last question, starting to notice a few ponies in the vicinity were currently staring at the three of us. I started to wonder if ponies were more susceptible to being dramatic. I also wasn’t going to question where the connection was that I had insinuated Lyra was crazy.

Clearing my throat, I gave her an apologetic look, “My apologies, Lyra. I didn’t think it was a sensitive topic.”

Going back to facehoofing, Lyra gave an exasperated sigh before meeting my eyes with a sheepish look and faint blush. “Um...yeah. I kinda get asked this stuff for no reason sometimes, and hearing it from a human this time was a bit much. Sorry for overreacting a little there,” she said, then glanced at Bon Bon with an accusing look and prodding her with a hoof, “And you! Was it really that funny Bonnie? I mean, come on! You didn’t have to laugh that much, did you?”

Bon Bon gave Lyra a smug look that said a whole essay, saying only a simple, “Yes, it was, and yes, I did.”

Lyra just huffed and crossed her forelegs before looking away, pointedly ignoring the two of us.

Turning to me with a smirk, Bon Bon didn’t look the slightest bit sorry, “You’ll have to forgive her. She knows I’m going to tease her for months over this. I’d better drag her home so she can sulk and be silly about it. Thanks for giving me a great laugh though, Mister Drayce. It was nice meeting you and I’ll be sure to say hi next time I see you.”

Rubbing the back of my neck with a sheepish grin, I could only nod, still a little flabbergasted from Lyra’s reaction. “It was nice meeting both of you. Maybe next time we meet, we can talk about music or something. Until next time, Bon Bon. Lyra.”

The pair went on their way and I went back to my walk, but it wasn’t long before I found myself interrupted again as I went around another blind corner. I hoped it wasn’t going to become a regular problem.

Landing on the ground with an ‘oof’ as something collided with me, I took a second after opening my eyes to process the gray pegasus mare sitting on me, rubbing the side of her head where I think she bumped the wall, her blond mane looking rather disheveled. A quick glance confirmed bubbles were on her flank, making my present circumstances take on some degree of sense, at least with a certain way of looking at it. There was a bit of mail scattered about, the mailbag the mare wore hanging open at an odd angle.

“Uh, hello. Are you alright?” I asked her, still pinned to the ground with her sitting on my torso. Why was I not surprised that this was how I ran into Derpy?

“Yeah, I’m okay. My bad. I was going faster than I should have. I know it never seems to end well, but I was trying to finish my delivery route a little early today,” she replied before giving a gasp upon opening her off-kilter yellow eyes, a hoof covering her mouth. “Oh gosh! I’m so sorry, Vojin!”

All I could do was smirk and shake my head as I waved off her concern, “Don’t worry about it. I’m durable enough, and it’s better than a head injury or something like that. Now are you going to let me up, or continue using me as a cushion?”

Derpy responded with a tiny giggle and blush before she got to her hooves and I helped her collect the spilled mail in short order.

“Thanks for helping me clean up my mess. I wish I wasn’t such a klutz. Can I treat you to another muffin soon to make it up to you?”

Kneeling there in front of her, I frowned at that before quirking a brow at her, “Another muffin? When did we share muffins? Have we met before?”

What followed I wasn’t quite sure how to process as Derpy gave me the single saddest look I could never have imagined, her bottom lip giving a faint quiver even as her wings drooped, her ears going limp and speaking with a wavering voice that sounded so heartbroken I thought I was going to shatter with my heart, “Y-you don’t remember me?”

As I saw signs of tears in her eyes and heard her give the faintest sniffle, I realized I just made Derpy sad.

How exactly did I become such an evil monster that I made Derpy cry?

“I-I’m sorry, Derpy! I had my brain scrambled by magic recently and don’t remember several things right now. I-I’ll share some muffins with you right now if you want. Just d-don’t be sad anymore, ok?” I said with my hands up, eyes wider as I started feeling a mix between shame for my crimes and a strange desperation to make her smile again. Part of me wondered if she somehow had a secret ‘sadface’ power yet unidentified or something.

Wiping at one of her eyes with a fetlock, Derpy started looking hopeful and the sense of crushing horror that I made her sad began to lift, “You mean you didn’t just forget about me? You and Twilight were so nice when I spilled the mail just as I got to the library. We even shared muffins since I hadn’t taken my break yet. Most ponies only deal with me for as long as they have to before ignoring me again, but you both gave me a goodbye hug and invited me back. I knew Twilight is really nice and we talk sometimes, but you’re the first guy in a while that didn’t try to escape as soon as possible. Out of all the guys in Ponyville, only Happy Hops, Time Turner and Big Mac ever treat me as nice as you did.”

Taking a steadying breath as I boggled at the mare before me, I just gave her a rueful smile, “I’m sorry, I can’t remember that right now. I’ll ask Twilight about it when she gets back from dealing with a bunch of paperwork at town hall tonight. There was a problem with a mind spell and it left me unable to remember some things from the past two months. I’ve also forgotten some of the time I’ve spent with Applejack, since it turns out I’ve helped the Apple family out on the farm and have no recollection of ever doing it. Would a hug let me make up for it and help you smile now?”

I had barely opened my arms before a now smiling Derpy threw herself against me, wrapping her forelegs firmly around my ribs as I held her for a long moment with a soft chuckle.

“Thanks for cheering me back up, Vojin. I know I’m kind of emotional. Feeling like a pariah so much makes finding the really nice ponies mean so much more.” Derpy nuzzled my shoulder as she held tight. “It’s just the life I’m stuck with. My condition makes it hard for me to go anywhere safely. At least I’m really durable and don’t get hurt from most of my accidents.”

Once we separated again, I found myself rather curious as I got to my feet. “What condition do you mean? I know you’ve got some eye trouble, but only one of them wanders so that can’t be it, can it?”

Derpy flexed her wings a bit, then gave me a sad, resigned smile as she went to a hover to match my height. “Yeah, if I need to really focus my vision I can just close my bad eye. I have a rare distortion in my flight magic called Snow Flurry’s Scramble. It causes random and uncontrolled spatial disorientation, along with messed up sensory information. Most of the time I can deal with it well enough. My accidents happen when it gets really bad and I have a hard time with actual distance, direction, and strength control versus the messed up version I get. Add in me being unusually strong for a pegasus and it’s pretty bad, as the town hall can attest after one extra bad day. At least at home, I can sit or lay down until the bad moments pass. I’m just one of the really unlucky ponies that doesn’t qualify for a treatment from a Spellweaver team and there aren’t other options. It’s manageable and not life-threatening. I’m used to it at this point, considering I was born with it.”

That gave me a frown, not knowing enough to really say anything, but it was clearly something for me to think about. If for no other reason, the fact that I actually am a Spellweaver, despite having next to no magical training yet, means there was the potential that I might actually learn how to help Derpy in the future. Definitely something for me to look into later.

Putting that thought aside for the time being, I just gave her a sympathetic nod of understanding. “I’m sorry to hear that. You never know though. Miracles can come out of nowhere sometimes. You’re always welcome to visit. If you have a bad day, stop by for a muffin break at the library with me, if I’m available. I’m gonna be real busy soon, but any time I can, I’d be happy to sit and chat a little, ok?”

She jumped forward from her hover and wrapped her forelegs around my neck, hugging tight with a happier smile as I brought my arms up to return it. “Thanks, Vojin. It’s really, really nice to have another friend. Each one I get is so very precious to me.”

Once she was back to hovering, I gave her a nod, “You’re welcome. I’d best let you get back to work. Hopefully the rest of your day is calm enough. Take care, Derpy.”

“Thanks again for cheering me up, Vojin. Have a great day!” Derpy said before going back to her mail route.

Returning to my walk, I let myself ponder a bit over my somehow being a Spellweaver and having the capacity to enact real miracles even the most powerful unicorns and other mages could not. The rare teams of three gifted ponies, almost always unicorns, that existed had trained for over ten years to accomplish true miracle healing. Yet here I was, carrying the ability as a natural gift, no need for a team. It was a sad thought when I weighed how much time I had to learn how to use it, compared to how many years a real magic education takes the average unicorn. Let alone Spellweavers just learning healing.

A helpless sigh escaped as I acknowledged that I might very well have the capacity to even fix what was wrong with myself and save my own life, but there was no viable knowledge of dealing with issues of the soul to go on for me to even begin trying. It was a terrible trap to be in, needing time to study and experiment for the answer, but not having enough time to study and experiment for the answer. The bloody catch-22 dilemma was going to drive me up a wall.

It was in that state of mind I bumped into yet another pony as I went around a blind corner, finding myself wondering what was with my luck today as I looked down at the white-coated mare.

“Oh, I beg your pardon, Vojin. I fear my sunhat caused something of an obstruction in my vertical awareness,” Rarity said as she adjusted her off-kilter headwear. She had a pair of moderately laden saddlebags on her back that looked to have some bolts of cloth sticking out.

I just gave her a lopsided smirk, “No worries, Rarity. I was a bit lost in thought myself. This is the third time I’ve gone around a corner and bumped into a pony in just the past hour. I’ve been having some great luck.”

Rarity gave a polite laugh with a hoof over her mouth, “It sounds like rather great luck indeed, darling. Might I ask what has you out and about? After only ever seeing you with Twilight these past two months due to the constraints of your curious link, it is rather novel to see you by yourself.”

Her question brought to mind what I had just been thinking moments before, as well as why I needed to go for a walk, leaving me with a bemused expression, “Well, considering you know about certain, ah, time constraints I’m stuck with, I found being alone in the library wasn’t sitting well and opted to take a walk. And before you say it, I knew you girls all need to get ready for next week, in addition to making up for last week’s time in Canterlot. It isn’t anything I couldn’t put up with for a day, so I didn’t want to be pestering any of you, at least until tomorrow.”

Rarity gave me a knowing smirk before speaking, “Ever trying to put others before yourself, I see. Well darling, lucky for you, I am in no rush. As we were not certain what to expect, and considering our past meetings with Princess Celestia have long had a terrible tendency for turning into sudden adventures, I planned for a very light workload. I presently have no commissions due until the end of the week, and those I do have are all but finished already. I was just returning from a small supply run. With the cat out of the bag as it were, you are coming to the boutique for tea. I won’t have a friend dealing with such distress by themselves if I have anything to say about it. I won’t take no for an answer~!” she said in a sing-song tone.

I had to chuckle a little and shake my head at her expression, my only response being a wave of my hand for her to lead the way. Any other response I could’ve made would’ve been either weak excuses, or rather rude, and both of us knew it.

We had been in her kitchen, seated at the table chatting about some sketches Rarity had been making some initial plans with for over an hour, which was more engaging than I would have expected before meeting the fashionista in the flesh. As per usual, she was eagerly seeking the opinion of a very different set of eyes as we had agreed on almost two months ago. My coming from a world where clothing was vastly more common had given me more perspective than I’d ever anticipated, as it turned out. Even if fashion generally made about as much sense to me as painting a picket fence plaid, most of my opinion wrapped up in a big ‘why bother’ pragmatism, I had still been exposed to countless ideas simply by living with it. It was a comfortable exchange, though I had to wonder how much she noticed I was entertained by her exuberance and dramatic flair.

As I took a sip of my tea with a faint smirk, it wasn’t hard to accept the notion she would readily play it up if she did, the ham.

I listened as Rarity continued on, “I simply cannot thank you enough for all the ideas you have given me, darling. Even without seeing those photographs on your miraculous little human device, as positively magnificent as that was, the inspiration I have garnered through our conversations has been simply marvelous. It is difficult to say just yet, but I daresay I might bring about over a dozen new trends if I play my cards right!”

“Heh, well hopefully those cards play the way you’re hoping,” I commented back as a thought came to me, leaving me rather curious about a particular aspect of Equestrian society and voicing my thoughts, “You know, it just occurred to me, barring having simply forgotten due to the Rose Window spell’s backlash, that I am kind of in the dark regarding pony perceptions of physical attractiveness. Although I was raised to see a mind first, that doesn’t stop me from noticing the obvious aspect of what my eyes perceive.

“Could you give me some insight into what the typical Equestrian thinks is beautiful in another pony’s looks? I know my pony mode is apparently stupidly attractive for some reason, which is probably going to feel extremely weird for a while after finding that out on the train yesterday, but I have also noticed my natural human form has attracted appreciative looks here and there. That’s not even counting Twilight’s obviously biased opinion. I’m curious because I look nothing like a pony, and even in pony mode I’m still quite different in my bipedal body structure, yet a few are obviously looking at me with interest now and then. What do ponies think is attractive?”

Rarity’s expression became thoughtful as she set the sketches down in the other room with her magic. I’d noticed she was rather good at levitating things without needing to look at them. A skill I was nowhere near good at yet.

After a pause to consider with a sip of tea, Rarity began to answer, “Hmm…that is quite the tricky question to answer properly when you lack having grown up with the same exposure as we ponies have. I suppose as a fashion designer I would be among the best qualified to answer it with a certain informed objectivity. Remembering our conversations past, I already know you are familiar with things like bone structure and symmetry. That said, I suppose the first thing I should point out that I believe you are not familiar with is the two primary considerations and the two secondary ones. The Solar Ideal, the Lunar Ideal, and to a lesser extent, those that are exotic, and those that have eye-catching rare physical characteristics.

“For a majority of ponies, the Solar Ideal is the epitome of beauty. I think it goes without saying this is inspired by Princess Celestia herself. A pink mane and tail on a pony with a white coat is considered the most desirable combination. Though most curiously, a white mane and tail upon any light-colored coat other than white, like your own lavender-tinted gray, is held in almost the same regard. However, a white mane upon a white coat is typically considered quite bland and uninteresting.”

Rarity tapped her chin with a hoof as she looked at a random point in the air before continuing, “Since the return of Princess Luna, the mostly absent Lunar Ideal has begun a slow rise back towards prominence. I expect it will take quite some time yet, but if I recall my fashion history, a dark blue mane and tail over a black coat was once given nearly the same regard as the Solar inverse. Again, a black mane upon any dark coat was also quite prized, with the same issue for those with black upon black. This also applies to any given coloration being overly similar between mane and coat. Of course, both Ideals are only accounting for single colors, which is a large part of why and how we ended up with the secondary considerations.

“For yourself and your unusual appearance, the interest in the exotic clearly applies. It has different forms and aspects involved, but generally it is an appreciation of health and fitness in non-pony forms. Aspects such as more muscle definition than might be seen among ponies is often one of the more openly expressed. As you already heard from Applejack about your own form, your more visible musculature is quite defined, yet not overstated. As with anything of this nature however, it is a matter of perspective. I know of one pegasus stallion in town that has taken muscle definition to quite an extreme, much to the enjoyment of his minotaur marefriend. The fact you are also a biped provides a very different presentation, which is something often in line with those that value a more muscular appearance. Personally, I believe this is driven at least on some level by the minotaurs, and to a lesser extent, other bipedal races. I could continue all day with the various aspects of the exotic consideration, so I think I shall stop myself here.”

For my part, I was fascinated as I took in Rarity’s explanation. Having nothing to say at the moment, I simply let her continue. I could only imagine what kinds of rabbit holes were in the psychology behind it all. It was certainly something to talk with Twilight about later, that much was certain.

“Mmm,” Rarity took another drink of her tea before she went on, “That of course leaves us with the other secondary consideration I mentioned. Those with rare physical characteristics that stand out. At it’s simplest, it is ponies with unusual patterns of color in the mane and tail. The more contrast or rarity, patterns in particular, the more desireable it is perceived. In most cases, a two-tone mane and tail are only varying shades of the same. Variances in one’s coat tend to be lightly colored in most cases, though I suppose it is worth noting that this is reversed amongst the Thestral population. With me so far, darling?”

I nodded with a lopsided smirk. Curiously, I found myself wishing I could tilt my ears towards her and wondered for a moment about just how amusing I really thought my pony mode ears were, “It’s easy enough to keep up with. I know you’re skimming the surface, too, but all complex subjects need to be built up at some point. I suppose I can understand a little bit better why some ponies look at me the way they have. Not sure how I should feel about it to an extent though, considering I seem to be getting more looks here than I did on Earth. Hmm...I fear I can’t recall. What was it you found interesting about me again?”

Rarity smirked back with a teasing twinkle in her eye and a brief chuckle, “I’ll not be stroking your ego any time soon, lovercolt. I think dear Twilight has you well in hoof in that regard as it is. Tell me though, now that I have explained the most important parts, how do you believe myself and the girls line up? I am curious what you think, and if you have understood Equestrian perceptions of beauty correctly.”

Giving her a grin at her deflection, I finished off my tea as I took some time to think. Pony society was quite open, and from what I had seen so far, very accepting, even encouraging, of differences. I wondered if the fact Ponyville was both disaster-prone and the last rail stop before Canterlot, providing a moderate frequency of foreign travelers always passing through, had anything to do with it.

“Well, I remember from what I knew on Earth that Fluttershy has the top spot. With similar colors in both her mane and coat, Pinkie would likely be last. I suppose with her blonde mane and orange coat being relatively similar colors on the sliding scale, Applejack would be fifth. Rainbow, I guess she lands in fourth. That leaves yourself in second and Twilight objectively in third, though my personal bias puts her at the top of my list. Really, all of you are rather close overall, I think. I see some differences, like Pinkie’s slight pudge, but overall, adding in what I have seen of bone structure and physical symmetry leads me to think you’re all up there in the looks department. How close am I?”

“Pretty close, actually. You have only one of us girls out of order,” Rarity said as she gave me a pleased nod, “but as with anything so ultimately subjective as physical beauty, things are quite flexible. Strictly speaking from the viewpoint of the Solar Ideal, I am ahead of Twilight in a general sense. However, giving equal consideration to the Lunar Ideal quickly leaves Twilight ahead of myself.

“The one you have out of place is Rainbow Dash. In most perspectives, she is a close second to Fluttershy and quite well ahead of my own appearance, I must humbly admit. Her prismatic mane and tail is something exceptionally rare and eye-catching. Quite honestly, if she so desired, and attended the appropriate care of her appearance, our dear Rainbow Dash could be a dominant force as a fitness model.” Rarity paused with a frown and a look of something I couldn’t place. “I must admit, knowing what I do now, I can understand why she wants nothing to do with beauty and thrives as the utter tomcolt she is.”

That made me quirk a brow, “Sounds like there’s a bit of a tale there.”

“Oh, forgive me darling,” Rarity waved a dismissive hoof, “I had not intended to say such a thing. In trying to extend my trust in you as we have been, I let it slip my tongue without thinking. Still, I suppose I can at least tell you it is her story to tell if she trusts you enough and feels you should know. Beyond that, it is not my place to share, and very private.”

“I understand. I won’t pry,” I replied, “But Rainbow is really seen as that attractive?”

“Indeed she is,” Rarity said, “Had she the same natural grace as our darling Fluttershy, I daresay the two might even stand equal. While we are on the subject of physical beauty though, I wonder if I might convince you to show me your, as you call it, pony mode again? There is something I would like to check.”

I couldn’t help the devious smirk I got as my eyes narrowed playfully, “If you take a moment to recall, Rainbow said pretty much the same thing just before she tugged on my ear like the pervert she is, testing if I was a nom & pop stallion. Which, apparently, I am. Are my ears safe from you, or no?”

It was impossible not to laugh lightly at the sudden blush Rarity gained as a hoof covered her heart, her eyes going wide and head pulling back while her jaw worked wordlessly for a few seconds before she let out an embarrassed laugh of her own, “By Celestia, you really are terrible, Vojin… I can assure you, I have no intention of playing with your ears, but if I do, you may restrain me in any manner you desire.”

That made me laugh louder, seeing her giving me a teasing, confident smirk even with the light blush she wore.

With one last chuckle, I met her eye, “Heh, I’m not the only one, Rarity. I’ll bet putting you in a room alone with Cadance for such an exchange would get interesting rather quickly. But yeah, no problem. The change only takes a matter of seconds whenever I will it. And no blushing at me wearings socks again, skewed as things are.”

Rarity let out a sigh as she shook her head with an amused grin on her muzzle as I worked on getting my shoes off, a teasing exasperation in her voice, “Ever the hoofful, darling.”

It wasn’t long before I was pulling my long white tail from the back of my pants and rolling my shoulders to settle the fur under my shirt. I gave my now mobile, fuzzy purple-tinged gray ears a wiggle, wondering if I was ever going to get tired of having the ability to move them so freely in pony mode.

Adding in a twitch of my nose and flex of my differently shaped jaw, I looked to Rarity as she eyed me thoughtfully, “I’m all set. What did you want to check?”

“Your fur, actually.” Rarity replied, causing me to arch a brow as she went on, “To be specific, the way it settles when disturbed. A thought occurred to me, and ever since, my curiosity will simply not rest until I know. If you could please lean down a touch so I might reach your cheek with my hoof and have a close look?”

Now confused at what that had to do with anything, I simply complied from my seated position.

Rarity touched my cheek and rubbed with the grain of my fur, then against it, then back again with a focused sound of interest. She did this a few times, including ruffling my fur and smoothing only part of it, then comparing the two. Once, she ruffled my cheek fur and just stared at the area, leaving me ever more confused with every action until she finally stepped back.

“Positively remarkable. I am going to take a guess here, assuming you have done so at some point in this past week since discovering you could transform yourself in such fashion, that brushing your mane is much easier like this than in your human form?”

I looked at her with a furrowed brow as my ears shifted about, “I didn’t think about it much at the time, but yes, actually. Same with brushing my tail. Why do you ask?”

“My goodness. You truly do lack any knowledge of ear control etiquette whatsoever and how it displays your emotions, don’t you?” Rarity looked between my ears and eyes a couple times with an amused twinkle in her eye and a sly little grin, “As for my asking about your fur and mane, it stems from things I have spoken of with Twilight in the past regarding her becoming an alicorn. It turns out, while not exactly unique to the Princesses, the high flow of ambient magic in their bodies contributes to encouraging a peak physical state on all levels.

“You can ask Twilight for all the specifics she discovered upon looking into it, but suffice to say, you have a most enviable capacity for reduced fur and mane care needs, much like she does. What little I understand of how it functions lines up well with your hybrid appearance being magically derived, which would give you some of the appropriately high natural ambient magic in your body. Much like Twilight however, you are not at the same level as Princess Celestia or Princess Luna, and to a lesser degree, Princess Cadance. As I understand it, they need only a short brushing after getting out of bed before they’re set for an entire day. You have no idea how much I envy their good fortune.”

“Huh. While I’ve never been the type to do anything fancy with my hair, I can see how that would be nice,” I replied, feeling my ears doing whatever as I thought about what I just heard. As curious as it was to learn though, it was just a nice little bonus on top of the rest. Pity it didn’t cross from pony mode to my regular human hair though. Less fuzzy frizzy frump troubles with my long hair wouldn’t be an unwelcome change. It took a fair bit of brushing it out in the morning to prevent ‘spaz hair’ from setting in.

Another thought occurred to me a moment later, “You know… Before we leave the topic, I notice you didn’t specify how beauty perceptions change between sexes. Is there any difference?”

“Ah, you are right. I did not draw such distinction. Well, generally there simply isn’t a distinction to draw. There is some tendency within the Solar Ideal to allow stallions a slightly darker coloration compared to mares. Most intriguingly, this is again reversed within the Lunar Ideal. Particularly among Thestral communities, a more lightly colored allowance is made for stallions, with mares being held more rigidly to the Ideal. Of course, this is all a matter of just a few shades, so it is a relatively minor aspect.”

Rarity paused, looking like something else came to mind before continuing, “I should also point out that it is generally considered exceptionally bad form, even to the point of it being insulting to others, for a pony to artificially change their natural colors. There are allowances for wearing a costume, such as on Nightmare Night, or to a costume party, but that is typically it. Even then, many simply choose to forgo the idea. The exact origins of this escape me at the moment, though I believe it had something to do with a famous cult that had a number of the nobility among their ranks. A certain set of circumstances took place from their dyeing themselves different colors that it ended up becoming almost symbolic of liars and charlatans. The severe rejection of such actions amongst those in high society eventually trickled out, and into the common belief.”

“Interesting. Back on Earth, I know it’s usually considered perfectly normal among humans to dye their hair if they feel so inclined. In some lines of work, such as acting, it’s even assumed as part of the job, so that is a very different cultural view than I’m used to,” I noted.

“I find I must agree with you there. The idea that it would be so common as to even be a job requirement in certain fields is a strange concept. Objectively speaking, I suppose I can see it being a potentially useful tool in the acting field. We ponies simply prefer the use of wigs and costumes to suit a performance role, with some embellishments via makeup as the closest to changing colors,” Rarity returned, looking like she some mixed feelings about the topic.

The two of us continued to trade banter and conversation for a couple more hours. There was also one each of assisting her with something in the shop, and talking her out of making me model something. Mostly with threats of teleporting away if she tried anything.

As all things must end eventually, the day had moved into the afternoon when I finally turned to bid Rarity goodbye, back in my normal human form, “I really can’t thank you enough for keeping me company today, Rarity. If I wasn’t expecting Blossomforth to drop by with our pet birds after she finishes her weather shift, I’d probably stay almost until Twilight was supposed to get back.”

With a dismissive wave of her hoof, Rarity smiled, “Think nothing of it, darling. I can only imagine what must be going through your mind at any given moment right now. You simply must drop by again tomorrow if you find yourself in a similar state of disquiet. I have but a day’s work for the entire week, after all. I have the time.” Rarity leaned a little closer, holding a hoof by her mouth as she stage-whispered, “And just between you and me, were it not for my sharing your company for these past few hours, I would have been reading from my collection of romance novels most of the day.”

That caused a light snicker to escape. “Your secret is safe with me, m’lady,” I made a momentary flourish and bow, “Take care until next we meet, Rarity. I’ll see you when we have the first meet with the squad, if not before.”

“Ta ta, darling.”

***

Later that evening, I was distracting myself with Solomon, my still fairly new pet raven, courtesy of Fluttershy of course. In the back of my mind, I still hadn’t sorted out exactly why I’d picked him up just days before going up to Canterlot. Compared to everything else though, the rather smart, and somehow a little imperious, shiny black bird was an afterthought to consider another time.

Presently, I was only paying token attention to the same earth manipulation book I’d tried to read earlier, knowing a day focused more on relaxing after an excess of stress wasn’t exactly uncalled for. Having only progressed two pages the whole day, I’d pretty much thrown in the towel on any serious studying for the day.

Honestly, with all the crazy shifts in my life, the discoveries, Celestia and Luna casting that spell on me and the backlash of breaking free so suddenly, the worries of keeping the girls safe, the tremendous expectations I was now under, and then still having to make the most of the life I now had...well, a day to unwind was perhaps less a luxury and more necessity to preserve my sanity. Maybe I needed a day around Pinkie tomorrow.

Solomon and I were playing a whistling mimicry game of some sort. We were doing an approximation of the Andy Griffith tune as Solomon sat on my shoulder bobbing his head after his part, when Twilight and Spike returned. The latter didn’t look much worse for wear, giving a quick greeting before heading into the kitchen to make dinner. Twilight though, she looked weary as she levitated her saddlebags off to the side and dragged herself over to the couch where I was sitting. Realizing her intention, I got Solomon off my shoulder, amused when he took wing and immediately went to land on the perch beside Owlowicious.

Twilight crawled onto the couch and unceremoniously flopped into my lap, leaned against me with her eyes closed as she let out a sigh of relief.

“I claim this lap as the sole property of Princess Twilight Sparkle. As a loyal citizen of Equestria, I hereby decree you shall massage my shoulders until such time as I become a puddle,” Twilight nuzzled me with her shoulder at the edge my stomach, her nose pressing into my shirt as she took a deep breath and letting out another, more content, sigh, “Let it also be known my stallion’s scent is the most soothing scent I have encountered this day. You may begin my massage now.”

Chuckling at her antics, one hand settled against the base of her neck, just above her shoulders, where my fingers began to knead at her tension. In seconds, she simply melted with a satisfied groan and a lazy nuzzle before going still.

“Long day though it was, did you at least get through as much as you were hoping?” I asked her, my free hand moving to her mane and scratching softly at her scalp.

“That’s…ooohhh,” she started, a dopey smile coming to her features and melting a bit more against me before she could reply. “Mmm… Thanks to things being prepared and organized into a functional logical order, I was actually able to get a little farther than I hoped. It’s mentally exhausting to put up with so much all at once, but at least I know it’s only four more days. If I keep ahead, the last day will be a short one on top of it. After that, maybe indulging in another study of Earth culture or human biology will be in order. I still want to see what you know about more specific human reproductive processes and conditions again, just in case you remember something else. At the very least, I want to take some special focused scans so I can create the appropriately detailed diagrams to reference beside my notes.”

“You sure that’s the real reason for you being so interested in my reproductive anatomy?” I teased.

“Mmm, maybe it is, and maybe it isn’t…,” Twilight hummed as she slowly cracked one eye open to look up at me from my lap, then slowly pulled herself up to look me in the eye as her forelegs hooked onto my shoulders, a sultry smile on her face the entire time as she moved in close, taking a slow lick that travelled from under my chin and along one side of my jaw. “And I love licking your jaw when you’re freshly shaved. It always reminds me of licking you in…other places…”

A shiver passed down my spine and glad I had a little spell to shave with on the fly with how much she loved my chin being smooth, already knowing where things were going when we went to bed tonight. My hands settled on her flanks as I touched my nose to hers with a knowing smirk, “Whatever happened to my uncorrupted, sweet, adorkable, shy-about-intimacy mare?”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed playfully as she pressed closer, deliberately making sure we were sharing our every breath, “First, she found a stallion she loves. Not long after that, she started getting laid on a regular basis.”

My hands gave her flanks a squeeze as she wiggled herself as close as she was going to get before bed, deliberately letting her weight press into me and giving a faint, cute little growl that threatened to make me start laughing, “You’ve been thinking about tonight for most of the day, haven’t you?”

I took great delight in seeing her blush as she gained a sheepish grin, the look in her eyes softening and her voice turning a little quieter, “I, um, I really want to try the next position on my checklist…,” then Twilight’s eyes took on some concern, “I also haven’t forgotten how you felt this morning. I know you’ve been feeling okay for most of the day since, but did you want to talk about it?”

Tilting my head to the side, I moved in to capture her lips for a gentle kiss before moving back to where we were and gave her a warm smile, “Later, Purple Angel. Kind of just working on the coping process. It actually led to meeting some new friends along the way, too. I can tell you about what happened today during dinner.”

Author's Notes:

Additional stories in this verse:
The Wonderbolts Initiative - Focused on the Wonderbolts (obviously) and what pegasi are capable of. There's a rundown of pegasus flight magic, as well as a few little hints about the verse. The battle that Spitfire related to Rainbow Dash in the first book is also presented as it happened in full, along with some hints of Equestrian airship technology. I'll add to this somewhat rarely as ideas come up.

To Earn Our Equality - Ongoing story (Jan 11, 2016) - This is a complex story, but in short, TEOE is the tale of how earth ponies rose above being seen as lesser ponies by unicorns and pegasi, as well as some of the cultural shifts that made it possible for the three tribes to eventually unite and be victorious during the Windigo War (secret for now ). To expand further, it takes place about 400 years before the Unification and Founding of Equestria, and within the verse, about 4000 years in the past when even the royal sisters hadn't been born yet. Also has one of the various humans that have found their way to Equus in the past, in this case a general from ancient China. The story also shows the single most renowned earth pony general in this verse's history, and how she became a legend on par with the likes of Achilles or Heracles are on Earth. Additionally, it will also be developing the natural magic of earth ponies in the PH verse. Updated largely in alternation with Protecting Harmony until the story is completed.

Lastly, for this chapter specifically: Gibbs rule #40 “If it seems like someone is out to get you, they are.”

Edit: Forgot the two song links. There's always something. *sigh*

Bk 2 Ch 2: Troubling Tricky Trap

Author's Notes:

There we go. Even more stuff getting set up, as well as some explanation of motivations developed in the first book. I plan to do Rising Effort in a manner that makes knowing the first book mostly optional, aside from the desire for specific details. Hopefully, this will mean anyone starting on this second one isn't lost when referencing the first.

Also, for the next chapter being the squad I've been itching to start writing for!

And place your bets on how Vojin's problem is gonna play out...

I rolled my eyes in playful exasperation as Twilight giggled again, myself kneeling in front of her as we bid each other goodbye for the day.

She was still teasing me over the pictures I’d shown her last night, when I had remembered them being on my smartphone at all. It seemed to be such an innocuous offer at first, but from the very moment I’d mentioned them, she was adorably excited. She even let out an actual squeal when she saw the first picture in the album of old photographs I’d converted to digital a while back.

A picture of my naked little self the day I was born, according to my adoptive parents.

It was only a dozen photos from my first couple months of life, and it truly did feel really nice that I was able to share such a thing with her… but bloody hell, did Twilight express mountains of delight in seeing my baby pictures. We must have gone through them more than ten times before she relented on wanting to see them ‘just one more time’ again. Really, the only reason she stopped was my phone’s battery was low, and considering my solar charger only works in the daytime, she would just have to wait. And the only reason I didn’t have to fear the rest of the girls seeing them for now was a promise to create copies of those photos first, once I had learned how.

I was already imagining four more squealing ladies, and one blue-coated laughing one, in my mind’s eye when the time came. There was no hope for me to avoid it. I simply accepted my future doom gracefully.

Teasing about how cute I looked as a baby aside, there was a distinct warmth between Twilight and I after the fact. A feeling of closeness we both relished. It was such a simple thing to share, yet it was deeply meaningful that I was able to share such personal life stuff with her that could have easily been impossible to get back. A cherished little moment so comfortingly mundane that wasn’t lost, that my world jump hadn’t cost me.

Twilight sank into my embrace as I pulled her into my arms, forelegs and wings wrapping around me in return as she nuzzled into my neck. She knew my emotions at a thought because of our link, so she didn’t have to say a word as I let myself have a tiny moment of wistful longing before focusing on the present again.

Drawing back, she smiled as she resettled her wings, ears attentive, “Just one more day of paperwork tomorrow, and I won’t have to be gone all day. Hopefully you’ll have enough range to help AJ today. I also can’t wait till the girls get to see what you looked like as a newborn! You were so adorable that I’m tempted to figure out an age spell just so I can cuddle you!”

Rolling my eyes again at her ongoing obsession, I could only sigh and shake my head with a chuckle, “You’re making me consider erasing them, with all the fuss you’re making. I can only imagine the headache when I finally do make some copies so we can show the girls. You’re lucky I love you.”

Giving me a mock glare at the idea, her eyes twinkling, “You wouldn’t dare because you’ll make me sad.”

Seeing her change to an exaggerated pout, I put a hand over my heart as if I’d been struck, “Oh woe is me that I have ever considered any action by which my lady love would be so aggrieved! Such tragedy do I invite with such careless statements that invoke her to such great displeasure!”

“Careful there, Vojin. I might think you were being dramatic,” Twilight shot back with another giggle.

“Do you two have to act like this almost every morning?” Spike added with a flat look.

We both turned to smirk at the young dragon, speaking in perfect unison, “Yes.”

Turning back to each other, I caught Twilight’s chin with my fingertips and gave her a warm kiss on the lips, “I suppose I’ve delayed you long enough. See you when you get back, Purple Angel.”

Stepping back into the bedroom, I rubbed at the towel draped over my head after a post-workout shower I’d put off until Twilight left. Not even counting the partial cleansing trick I used because Twilight liked to snuggle an extra warm me after my usual training regimen at dawn, I was rather unwilling to skip this morning’s ablution. Even if I was heading out soon for farm work. I also found myself annoyed by the towel wrapped around my waist. Certain parts of my anatomy were being difficult.

I’d been unable to get last night’s other events off my mind. Twilight was adamant we try one new thing off her rather lengthy sex checklist each night. It went back and forth if she was insistent on it because of her fascination with a new direction of learning, or if she was trying to help me relax, or maybe to help us both relax, or even if she was gradually discovering her own kinks. Regardless, it wasn’t something I had any room to complain about, at the very least. Of course, considering my immediate condition seemed all too happy to linger over said previous night, I was starting to think I might have to be more proactive in dealing with it. Replaying the memory certainly didn’t sound like a bad idea…

Closing the door behind myself, I let the towels drop as I went to the dresser to get dressed. I’d had time to adjust to everything a bit better in the past few days and planned to simply be out and about more for the week, rather than stay cooped up to study. Once Twilight was more present again, we could study together and I wouldn’t feel as disconnected or alone.

However, hearing a very unexpected thump and faint pomf I couldn’t identify mixed in with the sound of the towels hitting the floor made me freeze in place, my head snapping towards the direction it came from.

I’m not sure which of us was more surprised in that moment as I discovered Rainbow Dash standing there with wings sprung wide and jaw hanging open, a book on the floor beneath her raised forehoof. Both of us just stared at each other with wide eyes for a long moment, trying to process what just happened. Her face was quickly taking on an intense blush, even as I felt my own face heating up.

Somewhere along the way, my brain registered she wasn’t staring at my eyes.

“Hey!” I said with a grin forming, pointing at my face when my brain finally unclogged. “My eyes are up here!”

“And…?” was Rainbow’s immediate response. Her eyes not only failed to change focus, but she gained a rather lascivious grin that had me looking at her with incredulity. I knew she could be forward and shameless at times, but I didn’t expect this much bluntness out of her. Then again, there was also the fact that, if I was honest with myself and circumstances were different, I’d probably have teased, or even outright encouraged her.

Instead, remembering the things I knew, it weighed heavily on me. It wasn’t even the fact I was already with Twilight that troubled me, and considering the fact she hadn’t given me any signs of displeasure that there was something hovering between Rainbow and I certainly wasn’t helping me figure things out. All that still didn’t stop me from being sorely tempted to swing my hips back and forth just to see if Rainbow’s eyes would follow, however.

After a moment more, I remembered the process for it and assembled a simple illusion spell with my magic. Sweeping a hand in front of my waist left a floating black rectangle to hide the appropriate area, though I knew ponies would probably never get the joke. It also caused Rainbow to shift to an exaggerated pout strangely reminiscent of Twilight’s from earlier.

It really wasn’t helping keep my mind out of places it shouldn’t be going as I made sure the spell would anchor on my waist, but remain angled flat to her view as we moved about. She got enough of a show for one day.

“Aww! I was looking at that!” Rainbow complained as she returned to the lascivious grin.

Giving her a flat look and, rather than give her a verbal response, I opted to modify the illusion spell to include a scrolling marquee with rather obvious wording before folding my arms across my bare chest. Illusion spells had an interesting capacity for forming one’s mental image without needing calculations past the initial visual energization. I was also quite careful with exactly what I used, as a stray thought could cause...unexpected results. At least Twilight was the only one to see what part of her body I’d been thinking of when I slipped that time…

Rainbow snorted out a laugh once she read it, shaking her head as she finally looked me in the eye, “Your fun bits are ‘Property of Twilight Sparkle’ now? How can you be so awesome and still manage to be such a dork sometimes?”

I had to roll my eyes at that, deciding to just ask the obvious question, “Why are you even in Twilight’s and my bedroom?”

She finally had the decency to give a polite cough and look away as she rubbed the back of her head, though her wings hadn’t budged from full spread, “I, uh, well, I was just dropping by to pick up a Daring Do series’ compendium that details some of the stuff she’s used on her adventures. I’ve mostly finished getting Blossomforth ready for taking over as Weather Captain, since she’s known she was my successor when I finally moved on to something bigger. I was just looking for something to help keep me busy until the squad shows up and I can start my Wonderbolts combat training. Twi knew I was coming by. Guess she didn’t mention it to you. We both kinda figured you’d have left for AJ’s place by now anyway, but I really can’t complain about the free show I just got.”

“Blossomforth? I thought Cloud Kicker was your second?” I returned, blatantly ignoring her commentary.

Waving a hoof, she explained. “Yeah, and she straight up refuses a promotion because it’d interfere with, as she puts it, her ‘rigorous banging schedule’, due to the mandatory night duties. She’s been happy to fill in on a temporary basis when I was sick or otherwise unavailable, and more than capable of the position too, but she’s happy where she is.”

“Night duties?”

Rainbow arched a brow. “Yeah. You know, I explained my duties as a Weather Captain already. You forget me telling you that?”

“Hmm, it might be one of those missing pieces from the Rose Window again. Quick rundown on night duty?” I asked as I moved to start getting dressed. At least the distraction made earlier concerns go away.

Rainbow Dash shrugged, her wings slowly starting to flex again. “Well, the short answer is a Weather Captain is responsible for keeping an eye on the weather during the night. Usually, I’d just have to get up around one or two in the morning and tour the sky for an hour or so to make sure everything was staying on track as planned. Longer if I had to fix something. It’s a huge pain in the tail for the weather team to wake up to an unexpected storm, and that’s not even counting the stuff that can show up over the Everfree. Most sectors don’t have a wild magic zone giving them headaches. Some of the bad nights can take hours to counter and set straight, but at least I could start waking the rest of the team at that point. It’s amazing how many ponies don’t even realize what a Weather Captain actually does, or how far from the idea ‘we’re all just lazy’ we are.”

“Huh. That’s why you tend to nap so much during the day, right?” I asked as I slipped on some boxer briefs and simple brown pants. Once I was properly modest, not that I was body shy to begin with, I dispelled the illusion spell. Between the ingrained habit, and the fact Twilight really liked getting to keep certain things about me all to herself, I doubted I’d be changing my preference for keeping covered anytime soon.

“Yeah. Most ponies think all our work happens when the sun’s up, but that’s totally not true. The weather never stops just because somepony’s sleeping. Makes it kinda hard to feel rested sometimes, but I’m awesome enough to handle it.” Rainbow added with confidence.

Having gotten a shirt on, I set to brushing out my damp hair so it dried without going crazy. I had a couple ways, but this time I figured a simple warming spell on my hair to speed up evaporation would give me time to chat with Rainbow, assuming she stuck around, as I dealt with my hair. I could always speed things up if she didn’t.

Sitting on the edge of the bed to take care of my hair, I pondered what I might ask her, but she didn’t give me a chance as she spoke up.

“You know, I have to ask… Where’d the rest of it go?” Rainbow inquired as she gestured to my groin, sounding as if referring to my wedding tackle was completely normal. “I mean, you looked like you were at full attention. And after seeing the outline of it under your pants on the train, I know it should’ve been a bit longer than that. Do humans have some weird ability to pull part of it back in or something? Seemed kinda funny-looking, too.”

Pausing in my brushing, all I could do was stare at her and blink, words temporarily abandoning my brain at what she just said. I might not be body shy, but that gave me another blush as I realized she was paying close enough attention to even notice such a thing. And the sudden thought I had that I was glad she was paying that close of attention to my happy place did not help my warm cheeks one bit, either.

“I…,” was all I could manage at first before getting my wits back, clearing my throat before continuing with a flat tone as I pinched the bridge of my nose, “Seriously, Rainbow? No, humans don’t… That’s just… Ok, well, uh, pony mode also leaves me a bit longer there, for whatever reason. And, uh, it’s a normal shape for humans. Pony mode makes it look like a regular stallion’s, from what Twilight has told me. You planning to stop being a pervert sometime today?”

“What?! I…,” Rainbow blinked as she suddenly paused and her face bloomed, taking a moment to clear her throat as she looked to one side, rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof with a sheepish grin on her flushed face, “Oh, I, uh… Heh. I guess I kinda flew right into that one.”

“Rainbow, you flew into that one so hard they’ll put a picture of you next to the word ‘pervert’ in the dictionary,” I told her with a bemused look.

“Heh, well, I suppose I am awesome enough to have more than just the word ‘awesome’ dedicated to me,” Rainbow returned with a smirk, then stretching her neck out a bit with a tilt of her head and tossing her mane to the other side from my viewpoint, giving me a sidelong glance with a hint of a different kind of blush, “And coming from you, I’ll take it as a compliment.”

Quirking a brow at her, I felt myself worrying a bit more upon seeing her taking a moment to show off her neck like that. If I had any doubts about how heavily she was flirting with me before, seeing her accentuate her neck that way left me no choice but to accept what was right in front of my face. She still hadn’t quite folded her wings like usual either, being more animated with them as she exaggerated her expressions.

I didn’t understand most of it, but I remembered Twilight explaining some things about pegasi and how they often express themselves. Still, so long as she wasn’t being too direct, such as with feathermarking, I didn’t know if it was a thing or not yet, or something else that intimate, I should be able to put her off gently. It didn’t tell me just why the fact that I needed to do so was such a strangely unpleasant thought.

Before I found the right words, Rainbow spoke up again, “Hey, Vojin, uh… Can I ask you something?” I nodded. “Cool, uh… I just… Are humans more like swans when they date or, uh, are they more, um… flexible?”

The almost poetic choice of wording was a surprise as I took a slow breath and I looked to one side, trying not to read what had started to reflect in her eyes when I looked away to avoid her reading my own. A moment of consideration passed and I felt sharing an experience I had would help. I could deal with my slightly damp hair in a few minutes as I set the brush aside and folded my hands, resting my elbows on my thighs and staring at the floor.

“Rainbow, why don’t you have a seat. I think I’ll tell you a story about a part of my life on Earth that happened six years ago,” I said, old memories coming up as I got myself ready to share the tale.

It was a little surprising when Rainbow hopped up on the bed and sat down right next to me, which made me feel a bit nervous, but at the same time, her presence was comforting and welcome. It was so strange in many ways that she reminded me of my best friend Barry so much, while at the same time being almost nothing like him. It wasn’t due to gender or species, either. After Twilight, it was pretty easy to say Rainbow was my best friend in Equestria since arriving.

Feeling that faint difference of warmth in the air from her sitting so close shouldn’t be causing me such a mess of emotions so easily either, but it was.

Taking a little more time to collect my thoughts, I finally leaned back on my hands and looked at the ceiling, my damp long brown hair falling behind me as I temporarily let myself get lost in the past. “It was both kind of out of the blue, and kind of expected, when two close female friends of mine asked me to talk. Their names were Angie and Denise. The two of them and myself had been doing some back and forth about dating each other, but neither I nor they could quite decide which of them should get to try going out with me first. I know it sounds kind of egotistical like that, but humans generally just date one at a time. It was seemingly inevitable one would get left out, and my friendship with both of them was itching for a step further. They were lifelong friends themselves and never kept secrets from each other, so I wasn’t really all that surprised when they’d later told me they had the idea at the same time. Somehow, they got it into their heads to ask if I was willing to date them both simultaneously. While that is pretty unusual for humans, it’s also not unheard of. Now I’d be lying if I said the idea didn’t inflate my ego at first, but considering how it progressed and eventually ended, it balanced out when it was over. The three-way relationship lasted for a little under a year.

“At first, it was pretty great, all things considered. I mean, trying to keep up with two ladies was mentally and physically exhausting at times, but also more rewarding in some ways. Heck, the three of us didn’t even start sleeping together until two months in, which, while it’s own kind of fun, wasn’t going to build a relationship. That’s what caused it to fall apart in the end, too. The relationship we had between us.

“Long story short, after a pretty good start, for the latter eight months it was a very gradual, initially subtle process of decline. One of them wanted me for something and it interfered with the other’s time with me. At first, it was just communication issues we tried to work on. Over time though, they both wanted my time to themselves more and more until they couldn’t help but clash. Then sometimes they got upset just because they’d spend time together trying to say they were sorry for fighting and fed off each other’s guilt over me being left out. I’m simplifying things a ton here, but that was what I think it all boiled down to. I never got jealous of them spending time together, but they sure did of each other spending time with me.

“Finally, I couldn’t put up with it anymore and was worried they were going to tear each other, or me, down in a way that couldn’t be forgiven. Say something they couldn’t take back, stuff like that. Accepting that we weren’t going to fix anything with how everything kept getting worse, I told them I was removing myself from the equation.” I took a moment to sigh and lean forward again, glancing at Rainbow for a second as I did with a strained, sad smile before running my fingers through my hair and staring at the floor a short distance ahead.

“The three of us had a long talk that night. We all cried because we knew it had to end before the fights got any worse. We stopped kidding ourselves and chose what would let us stay friends in the end. Even had one last night in bed together to remember the good moments. Heh, I ended up practically being their personal sex toy that night,” I said with a more wistful smile. “You know, I’ve kind of been feeling like my pony mode was almost made to be one sometimes, considering the way it makes me look, and the other stuff. Anyway, that night certainly marked new directions in more ways than expected, too.” I turned a sidelong look at Rainbow. “Have you heard my story about that rockslide I was in five years ago? I only remember telling it to Twilight while they were stitching me up after jumping off her balcony to catch her when our link incapacitated her mid-air.”

She nodded once and tilted her head with an odd look before it passed, “Uh… Yeah… It almost killed you, right?”

I smirked and went back to staring ahead. “I took that trip less than a week after the breakup. I figured it would help all three of us if I was completely gone for a while, though I never expected how it turned out. Angie and Denise both were beside themselves and tried to blame their fights for me being stuck in the hospital for a while, but obviously that’s just pure bad luck at work. They ended up being my personal pair of sexy nurses while I recovered, too.” I chuckled at the memory. “I also found out after a couple weeks that Denise was pregnant with my daughter during my recovery, thanks to a broken condom on our last night together. To top it off, the two of them also ended up staying together as a couple after I bowed out, and once they got over feeling guilty for it, they were really happy together. Like I said, that night was the start of several new directions.”

With a slow breath, I brought myself around to the part I was trying to say. “I… I know what you’re trying to ask me, Rainbow. I’ve done a three-way relationship and… I didn’t really say how I felt when it ended, how deep it cut me. I don’t think I could go through that again. I…”

Going quiet for a time, the silence stretched on longer than it needed to. I was frustrated with myself for not being able to just tell her in nice, simple words that there couldn’t be anything more than friendship between us. There were still a lot of areas of Equestrian society I hadn’t learned about, or had currently forgotten, and I was regretting not looking into how they were with polyamory sooner. Although, observation had only shown me standard couples of two only so far, leaving me even less sure of where exactly she was coming from.

Feeling Rainbow’s hoof touch my shoulder as I felt her lean closer seemed to free my words even as I turned to her at the same time she began to speak.

“Rainbow…”

“Vojin…”

Then one of those worst case scenario moments happened and we found our noses touching, eyes locked on each other as the world froze. She had moved a lot closer than I realized.

Both of us were wide-eyed and unmoving as our breaths washed over, and a little into, each other’s open mouths, mutual blushes starting to creep over our features. Of all the things that could have happened in that moment, both of us suddenly breathing quicker from the contact, such an emotionally intimate act wasn’t exactly on my list of good options to choose from. I already knew touching noses in such context was akin to kissing to Equestrians, yet it was only intimate, with minimal sexual connotations (and a near touch is a big tease). In other words, the act is seen as highly romantic for them. This was one of those moments where I knew the message was going in the completely wrong direction from what I had been intending.

Worst of all, was that feeling of being powerless to stop as she, maybe we, pressed ever so slightly closer, and I could swear more than breath was tracing against my lips, feeling the faintest sensations that somehow screamed through my nerve endings. Each breath we took from each other’s open mouth felt like it got louder as I fell ever deeper into Rainbow’s rose-colored eyes, drinking in her intimately close presence, her scent like a wild summer storm filling my lungs and making me desire more of it. Part of me was wanting, craving, for her to close the gap, fully aware of what it would bring if our lips met right now.

And how lost to her such an action would leave me.

The world suddenly began moving again when Rainbow moved back, rather than forward. She hopped off the bed with an attempted cool smirk that looked more like a dopey smile, her wings giving a quick flap to carry her a little further in the process. All I could do was give her a stunned stare.

“Ok, uh, I better get going. Still plenty of paperwork to complete for Blossomforth’s promotion, and me leaving the Weather Service, and stuff.” Rainbow said as she slowly backed her way towards the bedroom door, an obvious spring in her step, “I’ll, um, see you soon I guess. Probably tomorrow, or maybe when we meet the squad. Might even be tomorrow...er, wait, I said that,” she chuckled awkwardly as she bumped into the door before turning to open it, “See you when I see you, big guy!”

And she really didn’t help matters one bit when she flicked her tail with a pointed glance and sly smile over her shoulder as she turned to go through the door. It was similar to a trick Twilight does when she’s trying to tease me for later bedroom activities.

It wasn’t long before I heard the front door open and shut downstairs, my gaze falling to the floor in front of me as a hand covered my mouth, everything working it’s way through my head.

There had been five visions of critical moments when the other five Guardians I had to find were confirmed. Five points in time when the Bearers needed protection I couldn’t provide for various reasons. Of those, four were matters of life or death in fights against unknown enemies. Four Guardians were going to save the life of their Bearer when we reached the moments to come. The fifth was an anomaly, when, for reasons unknown, both Bearer and Guardian argued and brawled with each other, and I only watch as that Guardian protects their Bearer from something I somehow won’t be able to understand.

And since that wasn’t enough on it’s own, there was also the apparent need for each Bearer to have a foal when things were over, assuming we succeed in stopping whatever was coming, which left the lingering sense that the Guardians were also potential romantic interests. Then I had to remember that while three were to be stallions, there was still a hanging question that the other two could be mares, and I had to ensure those Bearers had foals in the absence of their own stallions, which suggested I had to have some romantic or similar close connection to them as well. My life was getting really bloody complicated since ending up here.

What bothered me most in the moment was my worrying so much about what could happen if one of the girls failed to connect with their Guardian. If Rainbow Dash failed to connect with her future Guardian because of feelings for me and wasn’t the one Bearer that stands out…

Above all else, know that if even one Bearer is lost, so too shall all else be lost.

The voice from the Tree of Harmony wasn’t beating around the bush or unclear. If one of the girls dies, we lose. Period. And I was specifically told by the bloody voice of the bloody tree not to tell Twilight, or Celestia and Luna for that matter, what it said. Meaning I couldn’t even share the true weight of the burden placed on my shoulders. Unless I came up with another option somehow, I had to bear this one alone as I continued my blank stare at the floor in front of me.

Yes, I had some qualms about going anywhere near another three-way relationship, but that wasn’t what scared me about Rainbow being interested in me. I was worried this growing thing between Rainbow and I might leave her vulnerable, without a protector when the moment came that I wasn’t able to keep her safe from something deadly. In hindsight, I now realized our last sparring match was bordering on foreplay at some points. The more I looked at our interactions, the more tense I became as I realized how much it had snuck up on me.

Then there was also a strong sense the Bearers and I needed to trust each other deeply. I knew I couldn’t tell Rainbow about the visions of the Guardians, which were separate from the vision of the Tree when the voice spoke to me, on a warning from Celestia and Luna. They intimated she, or any of the girls, might make a wrong assumption and get her Guardian or herself killed in some twisted dance of fate. Yet, if Rainbow thought I was hiding something she deserved to know, just that knowledge alone could weaken our bond of trust in a critical moment. I had thought so long as nothing really happened first, I could turn her away without too much trouble overall, but that just got thrown out the window.

Now sitting there on the edge of the bed with my hand over my mouth in worry, I knew it was going to be so much harder to turn her down gently after that moment we just had. Worse, I knew how badly I wanted to kiss her just then on top of it.

Really not helping to know screwing this up could indirectly end up destroying the world. With all this crap starting to give me a headache, I hope drama of this scale isn’t normal for me. Feeling just great now, having no idea what to do, or what the right answer is.

This kind of luck is why I stopped buying nice things.

Shit…

Some time later, I was walking down the road towards Sweet Apple Acres. The time was a fair bit later than I had originally planned, having taken some time to meditate in hopes of helping to settle my mind after Rainbow left. It hadn’t worked as well as I would’ve liked.

Applejack knew I was coming to join her for some farm work today, so she and Big Mac should be in the orchard nearest to Ponyville for the day. Spending a little time with some good old fashioned hard work would hopefully help me work off the building stress I was feeling. I was also curious how things measured up, considering pony mode made me a little stronger. My previous working visits to the farm were apparently forgotten, but from what AJ had said, it took me too much effort to kick apple trees to be efficient before. Perhaps the difference in my pony mode would tip the scales. A doctor’s appointment I had scheduled tomorrow would hopefully provide some specifics as well.

With a faint lopsided smirk as my thoughts moved on, I mused to myself about what Twilight and I had decided to do with revealing pony mode to the rest of the town. Considering the timing of Nightmare Night being so close, we ended up coming to the conclusion it would be funny if we waited until that night for the reveal. To add to it, we were working on an adaptation of Starswirl the Bearded’s historical robe and hat so it fit my bipedal frame. I’d even make myself a beard out of my own tail and she would regrow my tail for me. Both of us had shared a laugh as we wondered what the ponies in town would think when I did my morning exercises, or occasionally walked around town in pony mode, after Nightmare Night.

Now that I was thinking of it, I wondered what the squad would think. I needed to train in both forms in order to be appropriately prepared. While there was a difference in strength, and my lower leg structure was quite different, there wasn’t all that much of a functional change between my human body and pony mode. Past the change in looks and obvious differences, it was nearly the same over all. Might make the cold a little more tolerable as well, though the opposite was probably true for hot weather.

As my thoughts wandered, I suddenly heard a sound that made me tense. A variable I’d forgotten about while having been up in Canterlot. It occurred to me that it was a wonder this hadn’t happened sooner in the week.

“Heeeey there, human! What’re you doing way out here all by your handsome lonesome, and why haven’t we banged like rabbits yet?” came the voice of trouble in the form of the infamous Cloud Kicker.

Of all the possibilities, I had the rather questionable fortune of winding up with the openly declared interest of that Cloud Kicker.

There was a standing agreement she’d restrain herself when I was with Twilight. Of course, with Twilight busy at the town hall, I was walking along the road alone. I was already mentally preparing myself for a no reason open season teasin’ of the perverted kind. Although, she does make a good distraction from normal in way different from most, so there was that.

Turning my head to see the pale persian blue, or maybe an almost grayish lavender, coat and blonde mane of the grinning pegasus drifting into a near hover beside me as she matched my pace in the air on my right, I only gave her a raised eyebrow in response. There were no safe responses with her. Anything and everything, whenever she feels like it, leads back to a reference of trying to get me to bed her. I might have been offended if she wasn’t so cute about how much of a pervert she was. Perhaps part of it was also because I knew she actually did have standards and limits to her ludicrously forward behavior and stops at a certain line, or when the target of her endless craving for sex was being upset by her antics.

Cloud Kicker’s grayish cerise eyes twinkled, “What’s the matter? Aren’t you happy to see me anymore? Maybe you’re just feeling out of sorts and need some stress relief. I know a few ways to help~.”

“You seem to be in a good mood. Two passes at me right out of the gate.” I returned as I casually focused on the road and my walk, trying to avoid merely giving in immediately. It can be trying at times, when she knows I appreciate her humor, so I was at least going to make her work for it a little first.

“Actually, it’s not me that’s been in a good mood. I don’t know what the hay you did, but the boss has been almost giggly so far today. And since she was getting that way when talking about you… With not much for the weather team to do on clear days like this, there isn’t much to keep me occupied. When I saw you down here, I just had to come and say hello when you seem to be the cause of her being all happy like you just said yes to a date or something. Or maybe you gave her a really good morning bang…” Cloud Kicker was starting to give me the impression she looking for qualifying details to explain Rainbow’s mood.

For my end of things though, I didn’t like where that was leading. If I was going to settle things with Rainbow in a way I could stomach, it was feeling more and more like I needed to do it sooner and not let this wait very long. Letting her build up a false impression first would only make it more difficult.

My face must have been betraying some of my thoughts, as I heard hooves hit the ground. A glance showed Cloud Kicker was now walking beside me with a small frown.

“Buck. I know that look. And knowing the boss like I do, I’ll bet she jumped to a conclusion about you and her somehow. You’re thinking you gotta turn her down, aren’t you?” Cloud commented in a more serious tone, her eyes genuinely concerned.

Looking forward again, I found myself feeling inclined to tell her a little of what happened, strangely enough. I could keep certain stuff to myself, but an outside perspective might actually help me clear my head about the problem. I let myself exhale noisily as an initial response, before gathering my words. “Accidentally had her see me after a shower this morning. Obvious parts were ready for action at that exact moment, no less.” Cloud snorted and covered her mouth with a hoof as she continued with a three-legged walk, surprisingly trying to stay quiet. “Long story short, I was trying to get myself around to telling Rainbow we should just stay friends, and after a story from my past to help me explain why, we wound up bumping noses and sharing a moment. I was too stunned to talk before she left shortly after that, and you pretty much just confirmed the way she misunderstood where I was going after the story. Where I come from, polyamory is exceedingly rare. And after trying it once to it’s painful failure, I really don’t want to go there again. Then this morning happened, and she’s left me in a much more uncomfortable position than before.”

We walked in near silence for a bit before Cloud Kicker spoke up. “I can see how she could get the wrong impression. I’ll bet it was all nice and romantic, from the sound of it. Was probably even a complete accident too, like some bucking romance novel. Still, I don’t hear any actual reasons why you’re trying to turn her down. Maybe even spending more time trying to convince yourself you shouldn’t just because something didn’t work in the past.”

I gave a grunt at that. It wasn’t like I could deny it. With how observant she was demonstrating herself to be, I’d probably get called out on it if I tried. Instead, I didn’t, and decided to just be honest with a pony who was probably the strangest possible choice for relationship advice. “There’s a lot of other factors involved, but that’s part of the problem, too. She’s got my attention in exactly that way. What little talking I’ve done with Twilight about it just makes it more frustrating because she hasn’t shown the slightest hint of disapproval either. Bloody hell, I’d almost swear Twilight is actually hoping Rainbow and I start going somewhere romantically. If it wasn’t for all the other stuff, I think I’d even consider giving the idea a chance after talking it over with Twilight, but it just isn’t that simple!”

My hands had clenched into fists as the frustration grew more visually obvious. I really cared about Rainbow, and had perhaps too easy a time imagining her with Twilight and I, but with the visions and the Guardians and the mess we were getting ready for, I couldn’t simply toss caution to the wind. Maybe it was feeling a little like I had the whole world on my shoulders, and that making a poorly considered decision could cause huge problems I could scarcely even fathom. I really bloody hate drama, yet that seems to be what I was overflowing with right now.

“What the buck is such a big deal? You’re acting like the fate of the world is hanging in the balance or something.” Cloud said with an amused tone. If only she knew. “Seriously, unless you wanna start explaining, it all just comes down to deciding if you want Dash to join you and Princess Twilight. I’d think all you really need to do is talk with your mare and make a choice. I can see you wanna bang her when you talk about her, so the choice is made as far as I can see. You just gotta admit it.”

I blinked for a moment before raising an eyebrow at her, not sure if I should be annoyed at her bluntness, or relieved she’s taking things relatively serious and trying to help. I also remembered the vision of the Tree of Harmony had only specified not telling Twilight, Celestia and Luna. And the diarchs had only warned against telling the other Bearers about their Guardians. It was stretching the meaning of things a touch, but I decided to be cautious and vague as I shared a glimpse of it because I really needed some additional perspective. “Ok… Well… Um… If I tell you anything else, you going to keep it only to yourself? And I mean absolutely zero repeats.”

Cloud Kicker arched her brow back at me. “Fair enough. I might be lax and loose and love to bang ponies as much as hold a conversation with them, but I can keep a secret if you need me to. Whatever you have going on seems to be making you lose a few feathers, cause I don’t think deciding whether or not to bang Rainbow Dash is your real hangup.”

Her casual ‘gotta bang em all’ attitude was probably never going to stop making me pause on some level. Instead, I ignored it and just nodded. “Yeah. If that was all that was going on, I’d honestly just talk it out with Twilight and figure it out with her. The problem is…” I paused to sigh, trying to word it right. “I… I recently had some visions of possible events in the future. Not gonna get into the details, but let’s just say it might be very bad if I was romantically involved with Rainbow. Possibly even put her in serious danger. If it wasn’t already obvious, it worries me enough to have me crawling up a wall.”

“Huh. That’s way off from what I was expecting.” Cloud said as she blinked in surprise and tilted her head briefly. “Well, let me tell you a little story about myself from years ago when I had my own vision of the future in a drunken dream. Or was it a too-exhausted-by-sex dream? Eh, probably both. Anyway, I had one when I was coming up on the time for me go start my term in the Solar Guard after getting a West Hoof education. I was getting more nervous by the day, and I was really close to running away from the five year commitment. Then I had that dream, suggesting what I thought life might be like if I did turn tail and skip town. Scared me just enough to show up the day I had to report, and I’m glad I did. I got out of the Guard just over a year ago and moved to Ponyville at Dash and Fluttershy’s suggestion.”

She paused, rustling her wings before continuing. “I don’t think I’m in all that different a place now than I would have been, had I run off like I was gonna do before I had that glimpse, but I do know I don’t regret it. Wound up banging my way across half of Equus along the way with the Guard, so that was even a bonus. Thing is, I spent days agonizing about what to do. As bucking cheesy as it sounds, I eventually just let my heart pick. I look back and realize that’s all I could do. Besides that, for all I was worried about in that vision, a form of it came true anyway, regardless of what I did. Be it dumb luck, or something bigger than me, it was a signpost of sorts I could still question the exact meaning of today and not really have an answer. I can’t say if it’s quite the same for you, or if you’re right, and picking the wrong thing will end up with Dash in some kinda trouble, but buck all if you actually have the ability to tell in the first place. Trust your gut, your heart, instincts, whatever. I’d say trust your dick, but that won’t lead you back to me anytime soon.

“Just… Whatever you choose, if you do gotta turn her down, try to go easy on her. I knew Dash as a foalhood friend and we go way back. We grew up together in Cloudsdale, even if I’m a little older. She’s never smiled like that over a stallion since she went through some stuff a while back. She’s had more than her share of trouble already. Oh, and don’t tell the boss I said anything. She’s tough though, and I’m sure she can deal with it if you can’t, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping you do accept her.”

There were a lot of possible reactions I could have taken, but ultimately settled on quiet contemplation of what she said as we walked along the dirt road together. I was already glad I took a chance on talking with her. Hiding behind all her obsession with sex, Cloud Kicker had experienced a lot of life, and earned a rather unique perspective on some things because of it. It still didn’t stop her from all but asking outright for sex with me, which she’d already done previously anyway. Regardless of anything else you could say about her, she was kind, and genuinely did care about others.

My thoughts turned back to Rainbow Dash and the situation I was in with her. Perhaps what was driving me nuts the most was seeing how much I’d love trying to pursue a relationship with her, and feeling trapped behind a big wall of reasons not to. Twilight and I had it easy because of our link, what with being able to sense each other’s emotions and intuitively understanding how much we could trust each other. It gave us a very powerful base upon which to build up our relationship. It also left me wondering how unfair it all would be to Rainbow, on the off chance she joined us, because Twilight was always going to be first with me. No matter how much was felt between us, Rainbow would always be second with me because of the link, and there was no getting around that. Maybe it wouldn’t be an issue at first, but I could see the long term challenges of Rainbow not having someone, somepony rather, that would truly be able to put her first.

I could never let myself cause Rainbow that kind of pain.

The soft sound of hooves and feet traversing the dirt road was the only noise to be heard aside from a whispering wind flowing through the grasses on either side of us, feeling my long hair wandering with the breeze. I felt more relaxed about the problem, but not really any closer to having an answer. Both choices currently felt wrong and right in nearly equal measure.

Finally, I settled on taking time to process the new perspective, giving Cloud a lopsided smile. “I suppose I have more to think about now. Still don’t have an answer, but I do feel calmer about trying to figure it out. Thanks, Cloudy.”

“I take my thanks in the form of dick, when you’re ready to repay me. Just so we’re clear,” came her smirking reply, causing me to roll my eyes in exasperation.

“You have absolutely zero shame. Geh, I can already tell it’s just going to get worse after Nightmare Night when I show off an ability I picked up since arriving on Equus.” I commented, knowing she was going to find out about my pony mode eventually. After thinking about it, I realized it really didn’t matter when she finds out. Maybe I wanted to get it out of the way, or possibly distract myself for a bit.

Cloud eyed me curiously. “And what ability is that?”

“Well, since I can already see you pestering me all the more no matter if I wait, and I was going to show the whole town then anyway, I may as well tell you.” I paused and took a breath, though I would never admit to doing a dramatic pause. “Somehow, in my getting linked with Twilight, I gained the ability to turn into a half-pony, half-human hybrid.”

She stopped and blinked as she stared at me, causing me to stop and look at her.

“Seriously?”

I nodded. “Purple-tinged gray fur, white mane and tail, with two ears and a horn sticking out of my head. And my feet turn into a pair of hooves”

Cloud grinned as her eyes danced. “Ok, this I gotta see. Can you show me right now?”

“Kind of figured you would want to see it. Since I was just going to transform at the farm anyway, I don’t see why not. Just don’t say anything until Nightmare Night, so the rest of the town can be surprised, alright?” I added before using telekinesis to slip out of my shoes and socks to a wolf whistle from Cloud Kicker, causing me to roll my eyes as I stuffed the socks into my footwear and tied the laces together to hang them off my shoulder.

“So that’s what your feet look like. Kinda cute with how smooth they look. Bet they’d be all soft and warm for fetish play, too. So how do you do it?” Cloud looked intrigued, to say the least.

I ignored that. “Change takes me a little less than ten seconds, so just watch.”

Once again, I focused on the biggest differences, with my ears, tail, and hooves getting a thought as I willed myself through the shift again. The only thing about me that didn’t really change visually were my molten silver eyes, which had only the barest of alterations. That was another thing I’d learned about the differences from the show and actually being here. Their eyes weren’t so ludicrously oversized, a little more prominent than a human’s own perhaps, but it was another exaggeration changed for entertainment on Earth. The texture of the dirt road against my feet mostly faded out as they became hooves, and I fished my long white tail out of the back of my pants before focusing on Cloud Kicker again.

Open-mouthed, wide-eyed shock wasn’t entirely unexpected. Sadly, neither were her slowly rising wings. I just waited for the inevitable from little miss naughty wings… Wait, I called Twilight that two nights ago. Bad brain.

The town pervert got her mouth working a moment later, thankfully it was only in the sense of recovering her ability to speak. “Buuuuuuuck! And you’re probably never gonna bang me when you look like that, too! You’re like, a combination of several popular body kinks most ponies look for in each other and in the biped races! Buck, I’ll bet you’ve even got a perfect-for-banging rock-hard flank from all that training I see you do almost every morning!”

I blinked, raising an eyebrow at her. “You’ve watched me train? I’ve never seen you around.”

“Oh, well, assuming I’m not having a morning bang, that’s cause I’m up on a cloud clopping myself silly while I watch your muscles at work and getting all sweaty. The best days are when you take your shirt off and I see even more. I like imagining you going to town on me and putting that flexibility of yours to good use in all kinds of positions. And I’d absolutely love to run my hooves up and down that nicely toned front side of yours. While I’ve got you hilted in me, of course.”

Part of me wanted to be surprised, but by this point I was far, far too aware of how big a pervert she really was. It didn’t stop me from just staring at her with a bemused look, not sure if I should laugh, feel flattered, or be creeped out. I think if I didn’t know she was genuinely harmless outside of her perversions, and did half of what she did just to mess with everyone else’s head, I’d probably be closer to the latter.

Settling on a facepalm as my pony ears splayed out sideways, I groaned. “Restraint and modesty. You really should up your daily doses. I think you would benefit.”

“Ha! My only daily doses are dick and vag. That’s my favorite medicine, and all I really need. Hmm…” Cloud Kicker had a blatantly lascivious grin as she kept looking me up and down. At least she wasn’t being grabby. Still, I didn’t like that hum. It could lead to far too many places.

“You know… Dash would totally kill me for telling you this, but she can swallow dick a good deal better than I can. She even taught me a few things. Bet she could suck two loads out of you before she pulled her lips off the base even once, and faster than you’d believe.” And Cloud proved my danger senses were correct, and that she was a massive pervert, yet again.

Struggling to prevent my mind from having much time to consider that little factoid, I wasn’t really thinking about my response, hand still over my face. “Not like I have to worry about reload time anyway. Why are you this much of a perv again?”

“Because banging is the best thing ever. What do you mean you don’t have to worry about reload time though?”

I blinked and looked at her, registering what I said, and began to worry how much worse she’d be if she knew about my ears. At the same time, I noticed her eyes starting to widen in a realization I hoped wasn’t what I was afraid it would be.

Her jaw worked for a moment as she stared before words formed. “You can’t be that kind of… Please tell me you don’t have the Diviso Amore Response too…”

All I could do was stare back at her as my ears slowly began to fall back against my head in a wonderfully visual answer, a look of dread appearing on my face as my hand moved away. I began to wonder if I could outrun her as I watched her expression change to some strange mix of predatory lust, utter disbelief, and frustrated fury.

“Argh!” Cloud Kicker let out a shout as she suddenly leapt and tackled me, colliding with my chest. I barely had time to react as she planted her flanks on my front as her forehooves grabbed my shirt and pulled me close while she leaned in, leaving our noses roughly pressed together as she growled. “I can’t believe this! I know there’s no bucking way you’ll bang me and you’re set up to be a bucking perfect lay! Is this some kind of sick joke of fate being played on me for accidentally breaking a bunch of hearts before I came up with my banging rules?! I’ll bang your overly sexy princess too! You can double-team me! Of all the possibilities, why does your dick have to be off limits?!”

There are things that make your brain pause, and some that make your brain malfunction. I found myself on the extreme end of malfunction at that moment, blinking dumbly at Cloud Kicker’s frustrated yet lusty look. I simply had no words available as I tried to process what just happened.

After another pause, she let me fall flat again with an muffled thump. She got up and stalked away for a couple steps, wings still spread wide as she grumbled quietly with her head low.

I sat up and stared at her, still trying to get my brain working again. The situation had gone sideways in a way that left me torn between wanting to escape, say something about manners, and simply start laughing.

I settled for staring.

This was not exactly the best option.

“Ok, I think I’m gonna go find myself a cloud or go back to my place and clop off a few times while I dream about the bang that’ll never be.” Cloud lifted her head and gave me a naughty smile. “Keep being bangable, Vojin. I’m jealous of Princess Twilight. And assuming you go that way, jealous of the boss’s luck too. Feel free to cop a feel if you need to talk again, and I hope you can figure things out. See ya in the morning~!”

With a flirty sing-song tone at the end, Cloud Kicker, pervert extraordinaire, gave a flick of her tail and winked. And because she was facing away from me as she got ready to fly, she just had to wink at me from both ends before taking to the air.

My gray fur-covered hand met my face again as I closed my eyes and groaned in exasperation. In my life, I have met a lot of weird people. Now there were a number of ponies rapidly adding themselves to that list. I was starting to hope I don’t have some kind of weird aura that draws in perverts. That’d just be the worst thing ever.

“This day keeps getting stranger…”

Around ten minutes or so after dealing with the avatar of perversion that was easily the most shameless friend I had now, I was starting through the orchard, following my ears as they caught the sound of a heavy thunk not far away. As it was the plan anyway, I had remained in pony mode. One ear turned towards the sound as the other wiggled at random because I still thought it was fun to do.

Soon, the large red form of Big Mac was visible through the trees as he delivered a buck to the next tree, a number of muted thumps following a moment later. He paused as I came into view and eyed me with caution, having not seen me in pony mode until now. So far in Ponyville, only the girls and Spike, and now Cloud Kicker, had seem me like this.

As I waved and gave him a smile, he spoke before I could say anything. “Seein’ them clothes… That you, Vojin?”

“In the flesh. Don’t mind the appearance. Short of it is my link with Twilight did a few things to me. The ability to shift to this hybrid form is apparently part of it. Aside from the obvious visual stuff, I’m interested in seeing if my being a little stronger like this will make a difference with the trees. Going to show the town on Nightmare Night as a little prank, too. AJ nearby?” I replied as I looked around.

“Should be headin’ back with the cart any minute now. Y’all are runnin’ pretty late. Run inta trouble?” Big Mac said as he started pulling down a net from the tree he just finished clearing.

Wait, net…?

I looked at the setup on the tree and saw a circular arrangement of netting that dipped at the edges straight into the arranged wooden bushel bucket things. I’m not a farmer.

My reply was a little distracted as I answered him. “Got caught up in a chat with Rainbow Dash, which led me to needing to deal with some rather frustrating private stuff that’s come to light. Then on the way here, I was intercepted by Cloud Kicker. Not oddly enough, she gave me some advice about something giving me a headache and was mostly only moderately perverted… Also, I’m sure one of you explained this last time, but I don’t remember any of it right now due to a magic problem. What’s with the net?”

Big Mac gave a snort at the mention of Cloud Kicker, and for a second I thought I saw him smirk. The large red stallion arched a brow at me before returning to his work and continued unhooking the net as he spoke. “Enchanted ta prevent bruising the apples as we kick em down and they roll into the tubs. Only piece of magic on the farm. Saves us a lot of time and bruised apples. Enough that the cost was still worth it even before Twilight started refreshin’ the enchantments for us twice a year ta help us out. Used ta be a lot more difficult ta prevent bruising.”

“Huh…” I guess that explained that. “Things going well with you and Fluttershy since you started having dates in public?”

This time, he did smile. “Eeyup.”

Having nothing else to say, I just started helping him move the netting sets to the next bunch of trees, and I only asked him a couple relevant questions on the setup. Otherwise, we just worked in companionable silence and were just about to begin knocking down the next round when Applejack came back with the cart.

“Howdy there, Vojin. Ah was starting ta wonder if something came up and ya weren’t gonna make it out. Everything alright?” Applejack inquired once she drew close with more empty tubs in the otherwise empty cart.

I gave her the short rundown like I did with Big Mac, drawing a quick laugh out of her. “Ah can’t believe Cloudy can be as shameless as she is sometimes. Still, she sure does know her way ‘round a mare…”

Quirking a brow, I eyed Applejack with some surprise. “You make it sound like you’ve had a roll in the hay with her.”

Chuckling, Applejack smiled as we started loading tubs of apples onto the cart once it was cleared of empty ones. “And ya said the exact same thing when ya found out the first time. Ah do hope yer memory fills back in for ya soon… Yeah, Ah’ve had a few rolls in the hay with her. Course at this point, so has most of the town. Y’all explained before about why it surprised ya, so Ah will skip that and remind ya we ponies just ain’t as bound up about sex as humans seem ta be. Even then, Ah used ta be more bound up myself, but putting it all on the line a few times for Equestria loosened me up ta makin’ sure Ah ain’t holding back none on living. Cloudy’s always ready for some fun when the mood strikes, and Ah’ve apparently got me a bit of a healthy liking for wings.”

Soon, the three of us had the full tubs loaded on the cart and got ready for the next round of applebucking. Big Mac just headed down the line to the far end and set to work, while Applejack and I went to the first one.

She gave me a few quick words on the straightforward process of kicking a tree and making the apples drop, noting striking force and techniques she used herself since I had forgotten previous visits. Unfortunately, my height forced me to duck and slide along underneath the netting. It was set up to permit Big Mac easy access, not anyone taller. If I stood up straight, my ears would be poking through the netting as it draped over my head.

“Alright, let’s give this a go…” I announced as Applejack stepped clear, then sent a purple-tinged gray hoof slamming against the trunk with a solid impact. A moment later, I was rewarded with numerous muffled thumps of falling apples. Several of which bounced off my head.

I realized it was going to be one of those sorts of workdays when one apple made a delayed drop to conk me just when I thought they had finished. Applejack snickered as I decided to take the perspective it being an unusual head massage. Not like I could blame the apples for anything anyway.

“Not bad, Vojn. Give it another kick and see if ya can finish off the tree. Y’all were close before, so that bit of extra strength ya were talkin’ about may have done the trick.” Applejack said, sounding pleased.

Once I had taken a moment to look up at the tree and see for myself, I threw a second kick, and was rewarded by a smaller number of muffled thumps. Yet, as if in defiance of all sense and logic, it felt like just as many apples bounced off my head as the first time, including the straggler that dropped and bonked me after the others were mostly in the tubs at the edge of the netting.

There are times I sincerely believe some entity on Equus is laughing at my expense.

At least Applejack thought it was funny, and having given the affirmative that I could handle applebucking without unnecessarily exhausting myself, all three of us set to knocking down apples. Most of the time, I needed two kicks, and an occasional third, but I could keep pace. Applejack and Big Mac only needed one in most cases.

Some time later, as the day was winding down and Big Mac was hauling a fully laden cart out to the barn, Applejack and I were removing the netting from the last round of trees. The three of us had finished gathering the day’s apples early, as they could only gather a certain amount each day. It also meant that the time was only mid-afternoon, thanks to the steady pace and three of us doing the work of two. I was also expecting I would be a little sore tomorrow.

Perhaps I’m a touch masochistic, but I love that kind of soreness earned in hard work.

Applejack spoke up in the lull as we removed the netting from the last set. “Ya know, I’ve been kinda curious about something, sugarcube. Maybe it’s a might strange for me ta be noticing, but Ah keep tryin’ ta figure out why ya call Twi yer ‘Purple Angel’ all the time. Ah always figured she had more of a lavender coat. Mind if Ah ask why?”

Flashing her a grin, I had to chuckle a little at the question. “It’s actually from a small joke between Twilight and I. It’d be too much to explain everything of how it happened, but it’s mostly the result of a couple things. In part, back on Earth, there’s a stereotype about human males being bad at knowing the names of various colors, instead generally calling them all simple base names as a result. Lavender is a type of purple. Another part of it is kinda cheesy, and inspired by a story on Earth, but ‘Purple Angel’ means the same to Twilight as me telling her I love her. Except, by saying her pet name instead, I don’t have to repeat the same thing quite so often, and I can get away with telling her that I love her that much more often. I think you’re already aware I’m kind of a romantic sap, so you can imagine I tend to enjoy saying it rather frequently.”

“Y’all do get kinda sappy when yer around each other. Ah’m just glad yer both happy.” Applejack sighed, her smile then turning a bit hesitant, yet curious. “While we’re on this kinda subject, Ah wanted ta ask ya about something else too.”

Raising a brow at her tone, I caught her eye with a smile of my own. “You can ask me anything, AJ. If nothing else, I can’t imagine you’ll surprise me more than Cloudy did earlier.”

That gave her a chuckle as she shook her head. “Nope. Nothin’ like that. Like Ah was sayin’ earlier though, Ah try not to hold back on livin’. Ah know it’s a bit forward, but ya already know Ah admitted ta likin’ the way ya look. Ah just wanted to ask if Ah have a chance at gettin’ up close with ya, have a few rolls in the hay, stuff like that. Ah ain’t never seen the sense in dancin’ around when Ah can just ask ya straight.”

I had to pause as I looked at her, my fuzzy ears twitching as I recalled events earlier in the day. Considering the aggravation I’d endured with Rainbow Dash earlier, I have to say I much appreciated the blunt approach and subsequent lack of annoying ambiguity.

With a moment to think, I went for a straightforward answer in return. “If I were single, I wouldn’t turn the idea down, just so you know. Since I’m not though, I would appreciate it if you take me off your list of options. Also, humans are generally monogamous in the culture I come from. While I have nothing against polyamory, I tried it once. Maybe different partners would’ve changed things, but it didn’t work out well for me.”

“Ah understand. Ah am disappointed, but mostly Ah was just wondering what it’d be like with ya, more than anythin’ else.” Applejack sighed, then seemed to slowly gain a salacious smirk, her eyes dancing with mischief. “Still… Would it be too much if Ah ask ta kiss the idea goodbye? Could at least satisfy that part of mah curiosity…”

Blinking, I eyed her for a moment as the idea worked it’s way through my head. I was confident in my awareness that such a thing would be, all other things considered, strictly a platonic one-time thing for a friend. For a brief moment, I also remembered what led me to have a certain additional degree of mental separation from my physical actions. I banished that memory again almost as fast as it came to mind. I wasn’t letting myself go down that road again. It was a long time ago.

Having given it a moment, I only shrugged with a small smirk as my own male curiosity won out on something that would have no illusions or expectations of going further. Although Rainbow was as confusing as she was enticing in her interest in me, Applejack’s request wasn’t complicated to my mind. “Eh, why not. Since she’s a little taller than the rest of you, Twilight is at a perfect height when she’s up on her hind legs, but you aren’t so far off to be out of reach. Want me to kneel down instead, though?”

“Nope.” Applejack grinned like the cat that ate the canary as she strode right in front of me and raised herself up on her hind legs. One foreleg caught the front of my shirt and pulled me towards her, her other foreleg snaking around behind my neck to do the same. I simply set my hands at her sides and let her lead as our mouths connected without hesitation. Somepony doesn’t waste any time, does she?

The first thought I had was the fact that Applejack was as direct in a kiss as she was about bringing up the subject. She wasted no time in pulling me in tight as her tongue slid straight into my mouth. The hoof that had pulled on my shirt slipped under my arm and around my back, pulling me in as close as she could press us together, while she continued to go to town on my mouth.

My own response was less limited after the initial surprise wore off. I found myself tasting the apple she’d eaten before we started talking as I returned the kiss in full, the unique scent of honest sweat adding more to the picture. For whatever reason, such things never seemed unpleasant to my senses, and among Equestrians, the scent was even interesting. My own tongue slid along hers and into her mouth as she let out a pleased hum. Then again, with how much suction and force she was employing, it would have been a little difficult to resist doing so in the first place. Like her approach to work, she dove straight into the kiss for all it was worth. It made me glad my altered anatomy included a stallion’s muscle control to physically restrict an erection from starting, which would have been a lost cause in my human form at this point.

Just as I began to think maybe things were getting a little too intense, Applejack pulled away with a very suggestive draw on my tongue before we separated. I was fairly certain I had a modest blush to accompany my tingling lips and tongue. Both of us were panting for breath as we looked at each other.

“Now that there is how an Apple takes ta kissin’! Too bad Ah gotta make that a one time thing, sugarcube. Them sharper teeth of yours sure do add some excitement!” Applejack’s smile was openly playful and sultry as she stayed close, her eyes half-lidded as our noses brushed together, then pulled back a short distance. “And thanks for lettin’ me do that with ya. Seems ya ain’t a bad kisser yerself… Suppose Ah can thank ya for being so good to Twilight, too. Ah don’t understand all that link stuff y’all got goin’ on together, but she’s been… well, there ain’t no better word for it… braggin’ about ya to the rest of us girls those few times ya ain’t been right there ta hear. All of us girls see it plain as day though, she needs ya more than ya realize.” Then she gave a genuinely tender nuzzle under my chin before she moved away and dropped back down, her smile now more relaxed.

“Heh… I’ll give you credit for that one, AJ. You’re a pretty aggressive kisser. Rainbow’s comment on the train back from Canterlot, about you being an aggressive lover, is probably part and parcel with that as well. With Twilight… Well, because I can sense her heart through our link the way I can… All I can say is, I know.” I gave her a soft smile in return, blatantly refusing to let my mind bring up my ultimately limited time with Twilight. “Honestly, I’m really grateful you’re being direct about all this. I had a misunderstanding with Rainbow this morning that I still need to figure out.”

Applejack frowned. “Huh… Ah’m gonna take a wild guess from that and say you were tryin’ ta turn her down, and that somethin’ is doing a mighty good job of making things harder? The rest of us had a talk just yesterday about her, you’n Twi. Pinkie had a feelin’ it was about ta get kinda complicated, and one interruption was gonna lead to another for a while before it’s settled.”

Letting a sigh escape as I pondered just how predictable Rainbow was being, and what Pinkie might have hinted in her own obscure way. Now I was wondering if there was any simple way out of making a mess of things left for me to take. I found I could only frown, giving a nod in response. “Yeah. Told her about trying polyamory while building up to turning her down, but wound up having one of those perfectly accidental, yet perfectly romantic moments. She left so soon after that, I couldn’t get my brain sorted out enough to say something in time. Cloudy pretty much confirmed the way Rainbow took it was opposite of what I was going for, too. Another part of it is frustrating because Twilight seems to be almost hoping I start something with Rainbow on top of it. I haven’t sat down to talk it over with her just yet.”

She nodded at that, making a face. “As much as Ah know Ah gotta stay out of it for the most part, Ah also gotta ask ya try and go easy on RD. Long as I’ve known her, she ain’t never shown any interest in more than a quick lay with a stallion. Only the occasional mare ever caught her eye for more than a night until you showed up. If ya can, Ah really do hope y’all will give lovin’ her a try.”

What the heck could Rainbow have gone through to cause this kind of response in more than one pony that knows her well? My overactive imagination ran through numerous dark scenarios before I shook it off. Pessimistic guessing wouldn’t help, and might even make me say or do something careless and stupid by getting caught up on an assumption that wasn’t true.

I paused, realizing all this thinking about it was making me less sure of the whole thing, not more. Why did Rainbow have to catch my attention so easily? Why couldn’t Twilight have made it easy and looked jealous or something? Would me welcoming Rainbow in as a lover somehow help her heal from some kind of past hurt? Would I somehow blow up the world if I didn’t let her in?

Geh, this kind of stuff should be simple, yet I had to think about tons complications. Or maybe the stress I’m under is affecting my thoughts more than I realize, considering I’m thinking myself in circles today.

Despite my internal confusion, and growing headache, I tried to be neutral and diplomatic in my response to AJ, unable to tell her even half of what I had to factor in. “I’ll sit down and talk with Twilight about it before I make up my mind completely. I’m pretty wary of being open like that again, you know? Things are going really great with Twilight so far, too, and I don’t want to mess it up…”

Applejack nodded at that. “Ah suppose that’s all Ah can hope for. Plain as the nose on yer face there’s more goin’ on than ya seem wantin’ ta share, though.” Is it my poor acting skills, or just her uncanny capacity to detect varying levels of honesty? “If’n ya need somepony else ta talk to, Ah’m always willin’ ta lend an ear.”

“I appreciate it, AJ. I’m sure I’ll figure things out soon enough.”

We finished up with the netting and last tasks of the day out in the orchard soon after. We bid our goodbyes then, with me taking a slow walk back towards the library, deep in thought.

Once I had some time to sort things out in my head, I’d sit down with Twilight and do what I could to figure things out on exactly how she felt about the idea of Rainbow being a potential romantic partner to us. I felt pretty certain I knew how she felt already.

So very glad the squad is coming in a couple days. I need some action or distraction soon, which was something they should bring plenty of as the training starts. I’m not sure how much more of all this crap I could take.

Bk 2 Ch 3: Squad Mode

Author's Notes:

Augh! This chapter took far longer than it should have. Took forever to figure out how to introduce some new faces. This is just a surface skim of them though. Next chapter will expand their depth.

Oh the depth in some of them...

Nuzzling further into the back of Twilight’s head, I felt the strands of her mane brushing against my nose and face. The two of us were sharing a slow morning in bed as the fingertips of my right hand drew lazy circles over her stomach, my right arm comfortably tucked around underneath her. She was holding my left arm against her chest with one foreleg, her other hoof making slow motions against my forearm.

The squad we’d been waiting for was set to arrive today. We were meeting them for the first time a few hours. The whole afternoon was set aside for evaluation and preliminary work before anything beyond basic training goals were made. In a way, it was a chance to familiarize us all as a group before starting the more involved planning.

With Nightmare Night less than a week away, I hoped we could take a more gentle introduction to heavy physical training. While Rainbow Dash and I were already at that level, and Applejack shouldn’t have too much trouble adjusting, the others were hardly at military fitness standards. I felt Twilight relied a little too much on magic, even though she had a modest degree of exercise in her routine.

Regardless of the unknown time limits we had to work with for the trials ahead, being so sore that the girls could barely move was both bad for an emergency and for the holiday. Nothing we might accomplish with physical development in that short period of time was going to make any appreciable difference anyway.

It was a thought for later anyway. Something that could wait until Twilight and I were done having our cuddle time and intermittent conversation. Our focus of the moment was yesterday’s full medical baseline of my two body forms.

Don’t even know if I changed in my sleep somehow, or just fell asleep this way last night. The mobile ears on my head or the distance of my eyes from the end of my muzzle. The way my tail shifted when I moved, even the unique difference of moving a leg and feeling my hoof sliding under the covers rather than toes. It was different and not in a way. My regular human form and pony mode were both as comfortable as the other. The sheer lack of oddity to my view of it was the oddest thing about it.

Unnaturally natural? Is that a thing?

Dr. Hoofmeister had also officially been designated as my primary care physician because he was the only non-pony specialist in town and well trusted on top of it. The results that he gave me regarding my physical capabilities in pony mode were unexpected. My mind drifted in that place between mostly awake and partly asleep, nosing still further into Twilight’s mane to relish her presence just a little more, my left ear giving a lazy flick.

Twilight’s wings twitched as she shifted a little deeper into my hold, her voice coming in a soft tone. “It seems like every other time I turn around, we’re learning another unexpected thing about you. Now that you had that checkup done on both your forms, and the trouble we’re expecting, I feel a little worried for you. When you change, you gain far more muscle density and your joints appear almost reinforced somehow from the scans. You even have an estimated fifteen to twenty percent increase just in the suggested tensile strength of your different bone composition and density… I have to agree with Dr. Hoofmeister. Your pony mode really seems to be built to withstand greater physical forces than should be natural.”

I didn’t reply right away, instead taking time to breathe deeply of Twilight’s scent like I suspected I was growing addicted to. The fingers tracing patterns on her stomach stopped, my palm pressing flat against the soft warmth of her belly as I pulled her in a little tighter with both arms. Even though there had been nothing I could call bad news, the results of the tests for my human body and my new second state revealed further mysteries.

The discovery of my new form being substantially more durable, on top of everything else, was raising new questions. It also added growing credence to the hanging one.

Was I somehow designed to be Twilight’s lover and protector?

There was little to nothing I could do about it, and nothing was likely to change even if I did get an answer to that biggest question. It also made me more than a little nervous. What would that kind of truth say about my existence as a whole?

I am getting so tired of having even more new questions, without even answering most of the ones I still have. Couldn’t I have some time to adjust at least? Was that too much to ask?

Another deep breath of Twilight’s scent helped keep me grounded. As long as I had her, it would not matter to me so much. Maybe I lost everything I ever knew on Earth, but that didn’t mean I had nothing here on Equus. Even if it was all relatively new. Twilight is my balance now, regardless of the rest.

The hand pressed against her stomach began faintly massaging, hearing and feeling her give a pleased hum, then reward my efforts with a slight shiver. My voice was a little muffled after I planted a kiss against the back of her mane. “All that matters in the end is it gives me a little bit more of an edge to keep you safe.”

“And I love that I can say being in your arms makes me feel like nothing could ever hurt me,” Twilight said in a near whisper, a sort of glow coming across our link as she pulled my arm tighter against her chest, trying to snuggle that much deeper into my embrace.

Then her emotions took a turn from unsettled into sadness, faint tremors in her form as she gave a tiny sniffle. After a moment longer, she turned over and clung to me as she tried to control her breathing, radiating sorrow, anguish and desperation as she pressed her face beneath my chin. I felt dampness as she held me tight as she could with all four legs and her now free right wing.

My only response was to pull her in tight in turn, my left hand coming up to the back of her head as my fingers sank into her mane. Though I suspected what was on her mind, it was still only an educated guess since our link didn’t share the thoughts behind our emotions. I just held her tight, letting her take the time she needed. She would talk to me when she was ready.

Twilight’s voice was muffled and strained when she finally spoke, along with a rise of determination slowly filling her. “I know Celestia and Luna said there’s no known way to stop you from burning out, and that soul magic is mostly unstudied due to the risks involved, but I am the Element of Magic. I will find a way. There are a number of incomplete ways to deal with the various aspects of your condition. One of those includes a means to shunt magical power before it flows through your body, but that is still mostly theory right now. I already have some ideas coming together though. Even if I dropped everything, it still means several months of research for me to figure this out, but I will find a way.”

As she pulled back, I saw remnants of tears on her face, but there was fire in her eyes too. She stared at me for several seconds before pressing her lips to mine with furious passion before pulling back again and speaking in a confident tone that belied the challenge of fulfilling the task in her words. “I am not going to lose you. No matter what it takes.”

It wasn’t an answer to my gradual soul conversion, brought on by our link forming, though I did appreciate hearing her say that.

The natural ambient magic channeling through me was safe for the time being, but it would eventually overwhelm my less magically-capable body like an overloaded fuse. It was a simple enough process really. Expressed at first as primarily physical heat until there wasn’t even ash left, I’d become a burst of raw mana rejoining the ambient fields as a very powerful surge of raw power. It might also ramp up over an entire day or longer, so I had a very slow experience to look forward to.

I’d go out in a blaze of magnificent glory, at least.

I wasn’t sure if there was going to be a way or not for her to deal with the process I was in the early stages of, with Twilight’s alicorn soul fragment gradually taking over the rest of my own.

I fully believe she could find a way if she has enough time. Problem is, I don’t know if I have enough time to give.

Then again, with all the strange stuff going on with me and all the unknowns, I bet we’ll figure out something soon enough. I saw the breakdown of why Celestia and Luna tell me I’m going to die of mana overflow, but I’ve got almost two years and a lot of options ahead. The thaumic math was a bit beyond me just yet, but I could follow the data they showed me. At least I could understand more than simple graphs by now.

Besides, I couldn’t actually be dying when I felt completely fine. I’m sure we’ll find out it’s some kind of mistake.

Celestia, Luna, and Twilight probably just made a mistake…

The time had finally arrived as the train pulled into the station over thirty minutes late. The members of the squad should be somewhere onboard.

Twilight, Spike and I stood together on the wooden platform to greet them. The rest of the girls planned to meet us later at the field that had been designated as our training area just outside of town.

The usual squeal of brakes sounded throughout the station as the train stopped with a hiss of steam. The doors opened, followed by a few ponies disembarking. Looking to be the last to disembark, the squad members stepping onto the platform from the last car by the caboose were immediately obvious by the armor. The first was a thestral stallion. His coat was a deep gray and his visible tail was black with stripes of midnight blue mixed in. He wore the cobalt blue armor of the Lunar Guard, and what looked like a rugged, drab set of saddlebags and pack. The moment his eyes landed on us he straightened up and began heading our way with a stoic expression.

The other members of the squad stood out in the same way as they left the train, armor and travel packs leaving no question to them being military. I noted a steel gray earth pony stallion nearly the same size as Big Mac in gold armor. His tail was a slightly lighter shade of steely gray. What really struck me was he seemed to have what looked like a slight metallic sheen in his coat and tail, almost like his fur was glinting in the sun. He wore a blank, almost bored expression as he headed our way at a sedate pace.

A pair of pegasi followed after. One was a mare in the different, lighter armor of the Pegasus Force. She had a bronze coat and her tail was a vibrant red. Moving right beside her was a stallion in gold armor with a green coat and a whitish greenish tail, wearing a red bandanna tied around his neck. Both wore relaxed, neutral expressions as they followed their comrades.

Right behind them was a unicorn mare wearing a black cloak with the hood down and a smirk. She had a pale light yellow coat, her uncovered mane and tail had streaks of dark pink alongside multiple lighter pinks, in many ways reminiscent of Celestia’s mane. They looked a bit wild in their style. The moment her eyes landed on me, her smirk got bigger and her eyes twinkled with some sort of mischief.

I already sensed trouble ahead.

Before I had a chance to think much on that, I found myself distracted by the tall form of a female minotaur exiting the train in gold armor. She had a large single, and rather familiar-looking, drab canvas bag slung over her shoulder. She looked to be a mild blue-gray in color and her hair was jet black. I noticed her eyeing me as she headed over. I’d swear she was appraising me with a bit of amusement in her eyes, with her expression otherwise professional. She looked to be a little taller than I was, which was quite a change after only being around ponies for two months. It was also a strange experience to find myself perplexed for the briefest moment upon seeing the form of her chest plate. It was clearly made for a bipedal female form.

I had to give myself a mental shake at that. After two months without the slightest bit of familiar forms in those around me, it caught me off guard to see something generally similar to humans in another living being. Rather than male interest though, it instead sparked a flash of longing for everyone and everything I’d left behind on Earth.

A strange thing to make one feel introspective and somber, all things considered.

A soft bump of Twilight’s wing against my leg made me glance at her. Her face said she would ask what was on my mind later, once we were done for the day.

It had been hardly more than two months since I arrived here by an accident that probably wasn’t. Everyone and everything I’d ever known was hopelessly beyond my ever seeing them again.

I was grateful that Twilight was happy to listen to me ramble about Earth when homesickness hit me. Seems like whenever we’re alone without any specific focus, I end up telling her stories. The antics I used to get up to with my two best friends growing up tended to make her giggle. Or the trials and tribulations of taking care of my daughter when she was an infant.

It helped to talk about the good memories. Aside from the photos my phone had, memories were all I had left of them.

All I’d lost was still pretty raw, even if I had mostly accepted my situation through lack of choice. For now, I refocused myself on the present and forced myself to put it out of mind. Again.

The first members of the group reached us as the train made ready to depart, the earlier delay leaving the conductor to move with haste. The train station was already almost empty aside from the squad and ourselves, most other ponies having hurried away to wherever they were going. It was then that I experienced a moment of confusion. From what Twilight and I had been told about who to expect, we were missing a pegasus.

The thestral stallion stopped in front of us and stood at attention. His deep gray coat was thicker than the average pony now that he was closer, up to and including his fluffier ears. There was also something striking about his midnight blue cat-like eyes. His right forehoof came up in a sharp salute, which was copied by the rest of the squad, despite the smirking unicorn mare being rather jaunty about it.

The stallion spoke in a deep, firm voice that ticked something in the back of my mind. “Greetings, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Guardian Vojin Drayce. I am Major Thunder Breaker. Myself and the other members of the special duty team have arrived as ordered, Your Highness.”

That greeting was about the time it finally registered that the title and rank position Celestia and Luna had given me was going to get salutes directed at me, whether or not Twilight was present. Once I was given enough training as an Equestrian officer, and met the Major’s approval as such, command of the squad would pass to me and the Major would become my executive officer.

I blinked at the thought. It was one more thing I’d have to adjust to. At least it was a weirdness I could share with Twilight, for what that was worth. I enjoyed the thrill of fighting, and never backed down when trouble came up, but I was never military.

Twilight gave him a sheepish smile and waved off the salute. “At ease, Major.” She gave a slight cough. “I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to that,” she mumbled under her breath. “Thank you for coming. We can’t discuss why you’re all here in public, but I’m glad you are all willing to help us. I have to ask though. Aren’t we missing somepony? I thought there would be one more pegasus coming.”

Major Thunder Breaker made a slight grimace, his sonorous voice again a touch familiar in some way as he replied. “Your Highness, my apologies. I am afraid the Lieutenant Colonel has chosen to forego the train ride and fly himself over. He will be meeting us at the training field at the previously arranged time. I also apologize for our somewhat late arrival this morning. Our train was delayed by some lazy cows sleeping on the tracks. They were being rather obstinate about getting up until the train engineer finally requested our assistance. Why they refused to budge until someone with authority asked, I really do not know.”

“Understandable, Major. Don’t worry about it,” Twilight said with a smile. “Well, we might as well get official introductions done all at once when we meet up with the girls, so let’s just swing by the houses that have been set aside as your quarters so you can all set down your bags. Then we’ll head out to the field where I’m sure we’ll be spending a lot of time after today. And please, just call me Twilight. I don’t really like being saluted or being called ‘Your Highness’ all the time.”

“As you command, Princess Twilight,” the Major replied in the same professional tone.

Though she gave no outward sign, I felt Twilight experience a twinge of exasperation.

Soon enough, we were all gathered out on the training field. The girls were clustered together next to Twilight and I, with Spike standing between us.

Before us was the special duty squad. The large steely gray stallion on one end, with most of the rest in a line to his right, all at attention, with one exception. The smirking unicorn mare on the far end was rather laid back, turning her eye on me often. Major Thunder Breaker and the minotaur female stood a little to my right and separated from the rest at a right angle to the formation.

Major Thunder Breaker spoke to us once the squad had lined up, the same faint grimace coming to his face as before. “The Lieutenant Colonel should be along any second now. He was probably watching us all from a cloud somewhere.”

Like the Major’s words had been a cue, there was a deep boom in the air above, causing us all to look up. A ring-shaped cloud was spreading out overhead, with a sparking cloud trail following behind a pegasus in gold and blue. Rainbow Dash let out a faint, restrained fangirl squeal.

The pegasus stallion was swift in tying his own cloud trail in a knot before shooting into a tight corkscrew. Before our eyes, he caused a sideways cyclone to form as the clouds were drawn in. The stallion was a blur as he forced the air and clouds into shape, shot away from the churning cylindrical cloud mass for a second, then snapping back around in a staggering hairpin reverse I didn’t think was possible.

Another ring cloud spread out the moment he turned around as another boom sounded. The stallion streaked right through one end of the lateral tornado he’d made moments before. A ripping sound seemed to follow him as it looked like he cut a straight line through the vortex and making it dissipate a moment after he passed. I heard Rainbow let out a gasp and another restrained squeal.

My eyes tracked the stallion as he shot down towards us, then flared his wings and made a perfect four-point landing right beside Major Thunder Breaker with little dust disturbed on the ground. There was a cocky smirk on his light blue muzzle, his windswept dark blue tail settling easily with his soft landing. The blue armor with a large gold lightning bolt along the sides looked streamlined and built for aerial maneuvering, while still keeping vital areas covered.

“Greetings, Princess Twilight. Guardian Drayce. I am Lieutenant Colonel Soarin Skies. Second in command of the Wonderbolts Initiative. Reporting for duty.” He briefly let his face go serious as he saluted Twilight, who acknowledged with a small wave of her hoof. Then he smiled as he gave a quick wink and a wave at Rainbow Dash, who appeared to be wearing the most excited grin and struggling to resist dancing in place.

Isn’t she supposed to be familiar with military protocol? Arching a brow in mild confusion, I made a note to ask about later.

Major Thunder Breaker just gave a quiet huff and poked Soarin with a wingtip. “Was the fancy entrance really necessary?”

Soarin chuckled in response as he glanced at the Major. “What? You know I have to step up my game with you around. Besides, it’s kind of why I’m here anyway. You’re the one technically in command right now. I’m just on independent assignment to turn Lieutenant Dash over there into a fully fledged Wonderbolt.”

To my surprise, Major Thunder Breaker rolled his eyes ever so slightly with a small sigh before giving a nod to Twilight as he straightened up, his deep voice still catching something in my head. “Princess Twilight, now that we’re all here, I’ll get things started.

“As you already know, I am Major Thunder Breaker. Active member of Princess Luna’s Shadow Hammer legion within the Lunar Guard. I am also a member of the Night Mother’s Favored. I am your faithful servant and shall function as commanding officer of this squad until such time as I have given Guardian Drayce sufficient instruction on the duties and conduct of a proper Officer of Equestria. Once I have deemed him ready for command, I will function as his second for the duration of whatever we must face in the months ahead, per my orders directly from Princess Luna herself.”

Quietly from her position just on the other side of Twilight, I heard Rainbow comment under her breath, sounding shocked. “They sent us an officer from bucking Shadow Hammer?!”

Major Thunder Breaker turned his gaze to the squad and called out in a firm tone, “All of you will introduce yourselves, your squad sign, and offer a point or two of your purpose here. In consideration that Princess Twilight has demonstrated a preference for more informal greetings, we will honor her as such by being more relaxed but still direct in turn. A quick word on your background to help make yourselves more familiar, if you please. As you have all been briefed upon accepting this voluntary assignment, we’ll be here working with the Princess, Guardian, and the Bearers for the foreseeable future. Remember the standing security mandate. Any discussions of our duties here require anti-scrying preparations and the like from now on.”

He turned his eyes up to the minotaur beside him. “Lieutenant, if you would.”

“Yes, sir.” The female minotaur responded with calm seriousness. “Princess Twilight. I am Lieutenant Bergthora Bronzehorn. My squad name is Boulder. Prior to this assignment, I have been acting as chief biped trainer up in Camp Crucible, north of Canterlot. I’m here to bring Guardian Drayce up to Guard standards in combat for bipedal races. Separately, I’ll also handle all supplies and gear requisitions. If you need something, let me know.”

The idea that she would be a common sparring partner put a small smile on my face. I was looking forward to seeing what she could do with the longsword she had at her side now. I had to assume she was already aware of my fight with Shining Armor during the Trial of Proving that he put me through.

Hopefully she wouldn’t underestimate me based on that. Shining Armor was highly skilled, but he was also well trained against bipedal opponents already. For me, fighting a pony was strange due to them being quadrupedal and so low to the ground much of the time. Minotaurs were similar to humans in a general sense, so I was going to be much more prepared and familiar with how to react to any given movement.

The next in line was the large steely gray stallion. He spoke in a oddly high but flat monotone tenor, his face devoid of all expression. “Princess Twilight, I am Sergeant Major Steady Steel. Squad name is Sergeant Steel. The focus of my assignment is training Miss Applejack and Miss Pie. I am skilled in ground combat and a registered 4th degree master of Depth of the Mountain. That is an Earth tribe martial style. I can break rocks.”

He spoke with such a deliberate slow blandness, it was hard to get any kind of impression from him. It was like I was looking at a live version of what the show had displayed of Pinkie’s sister, Maud Pie. And speaking of Pinkie, a glance at her showed her staring at him with the strangest look.

Seeing Pinkie looking almost predatory was… odd. I also couldn’t help but remember her comment on the train back from Canterlot about her being taken care of as far as a stallion was concerned soon enough. It wouldn’t be that easy for her, would it?

I reminded myself to never question anything she does. That path brings headaches.

Next in the line was the pegasus mare with the bronze coat and vibrant red tail. She spoke in a rather more normal tone and had a respectful yet warm, friendly expression. “Princess Twilight, I am Sergeant first-class Calm Stitch. Squad name is Sterilizer. I’ll be your squad medic. I was recruited to the team in order to train Miss Fluttershy for the same role, on account of her disinclination for fighting and established veterinary knowledge making her well prepared for learning the duties required. As an accomplished practitioner of Iron Wind, I’m also going to help prepare you and your friends for combat.”

She appeared to be rather unassuming. I found I couldn’t help but wonder if her squad name was related to her position or not. If such things were anything like Earth, each would have a story behind them.

Second to last one in the line was the pegasus stallion with a green coat and whitish light green tail. He seemed laid back as he spoke in a familiar accent. “Princess Twilight. Ah am CF Special Sergeant Cactus Root. Squad name’s Dusty. Ah’ve run a lotta different duties fer the Guard. Ah am a certified master of Cuttin’ Feather, so they keep mah wings busy. Ah’ll mostly be providin’ y’all with an advanced sparrin’ partner for now, and extra muscle fer any of the fightin’ we run into.”

Well, I suppose at least one of them had to be a cliche. The stallion appeared straightforward enough. Much easier to read than Sergeant Steel, at least.

No idea what any of what sounded like martial styles were supposed to be, but it would be pretty fun to spar with a few martial arts masters.

When my eyes settled on the pale yellow unicorn mare in the black cloak again, I found her eyeing me, once again, like a piece of meat. An eyebrow lifted as I met her stare.

The more I saw from her, the more it concerned me. And she hadn’t even said a word yet. Not a single peep. Just silent, with odd smiles and obvious lecherous stares.

The mare looked at Twilight with a playful toss of her uniquely colored mane and began to speak in an almost teasing tone. “Heya, Princess Twilight. I’m Disciple Bright Spark. You know, you are so much cuter up close. I’ll be handling combat magic. Files on you, Miss Rarity, and mister handsome, cuddly, and bipedal next to you already gave me a good idea what I can start working on with you, but I’ll need to do a little testing to lock down specifics.”

Then her eyes seemed to harden suddenly as an almost out of place glint flashed, her mouth taking a grim set. “Beyond a bit of teaching, I’ll also handle certain magical challenges that might come up when we’re on assignment. Worse comes to worse, I’ll be your main defense against the worst of the worst. And as per my oath to my Order when greeting those we are asked to serve, my life for yours if necessary.”

Then, as if her expression never changed, she was back to the pervy eyes and confident smirk. “I am so very pleased to meet you.” Her last words sounded almost like a saucy purr, now seeming a little odd after how cold she sounded a moment before.

She also left a distinct impression she was likely a moment away from waggling her eyebrows at me or Twilight. Prior understanding that the Disciples had a penchant for odd behavior appeared on target so far. Makes me wonder if she’s a good example, or a special case.

Also feel like every second or third pony I’ve met has come off like a pervert. Do I have some sort of pervy pony magnet stuck to me somewhere or something?

At least they tend to be interesting to talk to. Cloud Kicker was also good at keeping me on my toes. Still not sure how to feel about her borderline harassment when she’s pushing her boundaries, but it’s a good distraction. Maybe the fact it was a bit problematic and uncomfortable at times gave me a mundane, manageable problem to be bothered by. By contrast to the rest, Cloud’s overtness was almost a welcome headache.

Maybe it’s a bad sign that I’ve taken to viewing that as a sort of familiarity balance against the crazier worries. A kind of problem I might have had on Earth. I had so little around me that was familiar now, even if it was all slowly becoming so.

To keep with the moment, the girls introduced themselves, with myself going last, though I was sure the squad knew who we all were before arriving.

With that, the Major decided to move things along, his deep voice again making me wonder what was familiar about it. “Princess Twilight, for today, we will begin running through initial evaluations and taking stock of where you and your friends are at. Tomorrow will be fairly simple exercise and overview of the things we will be training all of you in. The day after, we will do some first round sparring and see what kind of instincts you and your friends have in the suddenness of combat. Due to the circumstances, we are heavily accelerating the training. I apologize in advance for being tough on you and your friends, Princess. When we sit down for further discussion this evening, I will be able to inform you further of what the Royal Sisters have briefed me on.”

The evaluation process was dull.

As dinner time approached, Twilight and I were sitting in a magically isolated room with Major Thunder Breaker and Lieutenant Bronzehorn. We’d already had to review some paperwork and I’d have to learn how to read and analyze dossiers on the squad members this week. At least the dry stuff was done for today, though considering our current discussion, there was something to be said about things one might accept in trade.

“Yes, Princess Twilight. Put simply, both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia are concerned you and your friends might soon be targeted for assassination,” the Major said in a level tone. “At present, there are no immediate threats identified by intel, but the Royal Sisters are nothing if not quietly careful planners. Whatever has them willing to even mention such a thing without specifics is worth extra caution.”

I’d rather deal with just about anything than see Twilight at risk. If it’s within my power, harm wouldn’t even get a glance at her.

We shared a glance as we sat next to each other, not needing to say a word. Twilight and I would likely talk about it later, but for now we had a meeting to finish up.

“I...I don’t really know how I should respond to the notion, Major. Thank you for the briefing from yourself and Lieutenant Bronzehorn, all the same,” Twilight replied with hesitation.

“We are here to help protect you, Princess Twilight. In due time, you and your friends will be as capable as most members of the Guard as well. If you have no further questions, we can finish this briefing and remove the wards.”

Twilight shook her head, her horn lighting up. “I don’t have anything else. While I take down the wards, might I ask if you’re related to Captain Cloud Breaker, head of the Airship Navy?”

The Major gave a small huff. “While I do happen to be related to him, it’s a double dose of irony. We’re second cousins from two separate Breaker lineages.”

“Why do you say it’s a double dose of irony?”

“Because Cloud is an Earth pony with the pegasus Storm Breaker line. I am a thestral in the Stone Breaker line, which is an old Earth pony clan,” came the Major’s response.

I couldn’t help but smile a little. “Funny how life works sometimes.”

“By the way, Princess, your brother wanted me to tell you he’ll do what he can to fortify Fort Book against the nation of Armor and not to worry too much,” Lieutenant Bronzehorn said with a small smile as Twilight’s cheeks darkened just a little.

As I arched a brow, Twilight gave a mild sigh of exasperation. “Well I know he trusts you a lot if you know that. I really hope he didn’t tell you the whole story.”

The Lieutenant’s smile widened. “I’ve known him for a while. We were on the same squad for a time. And yes, he did. Captain Armor wanted someone he knew personally on this squad, and my being a trainer with combat experience worked perfectly for the requirements.”

We shared a bit more banter for a minute before they made ready to leave, when that nagging about the Major’s voice needed to be answered.

“Major, there’s something familiar about your voice and I’ve been trying to figure it out. I think it finally clicked and I wonder if you’d repeat something in an Earth language for me to see if I’m right. You mind indulging me?”

The Major arched his brow. “I suppose.”

I grinned and said the phrase with care so he could hear it clearly.

Then, in his deep voice, came the phrase in english, “<...Hello, I’m Johnny Cash?> Is that correct?”

That gave me a big smile. “Hah! I knew it! Your voice sounds just like a famous singer from my world.”

“Well I hope you don’t expect me to sing,” Major Thunder Breaker replied. “I can’t carry a tune to save my life.” He gave us both a slight bow. “We will see you in the morning.”

Bk 2 Ch 4: Those That Serve

Author's Notes:

Had some formatting issues due to FiMfiction's present Gdoc uploader problems. If I missed anything, let me know.

And now some real focus on the squad members, as well as a number of other things behind the scenes taking place.

Edit 2/9/2017: Added some needed stuff I forgot to include.

The previous week…

“Thank you for coming, Sergeant Major Steel. Please, have a seat.”

Sergeant Steel dropped his salute and settled into the chair before the desk of the Captain of the Solar Guard, Colonel Dauntless Mountain. Straightening the relevant papers on the desk in front of him, Colonel Mountain flexed his deep blue wings as he settled in for the short interview and possible briefing.

“I have an important mission here. Due to various reasons, I cannot pass it’s handling off to a subordinate. Based on your record, combat experience, and some other factors, you presently meet requirements,” Colonel Mountain began, eyeing the stallion critically. “I have some questions to determine a few remaining factors.”

Sergeant Steel’s expressionless face stared back at him without reaction beyond a slow blink.

“Right. I recall your file said you try to hold a stony demeanor. Now, due to the nature of this mission, I need to know. You have no listed spouse or foals. Are you seeing somepony you would be reluctant to be away from?”

Steel’s voice was slow and bland. “No, sir. I took an oath of celibacy.”

Colonel Mountain’s brow arched. “That’s a bit unusual. Might I ask why, sergeant?”

Slow blink. “To focus on studying Depth of the Mountain, sir. I am on my last contract with the Solar Guard. I felt I should travel the world for a few years. Military service has been good to see more in life. I have more insight into my art now. I will leave to start a school to teach it. It is the love of my life.”

Colonel Mountain wanted to shake his head. The blandness that Steel spoke with was throwing him off. He kept expecting a change in tone or inflection, and the sheer lack of any left him feeling like something was missing. Clearing his throat, he decided to move on. “Well, that partly answers my next question. I need an experienced earth pony willing to provide combat training to two earth pony mares on this mission. Do you have any issues doing so?”

“No, sir. I would find it fun,” Steel said in the exact same slow monotone.

Colonel Mountain reminded himself the large stallion before him had an impressive record and those that had served with him, be they his commanding officers or the enlisted he took charge of, all left glowing remarks. He couldn’t help but wish there was some kind of visible passion. He liked that in a soldier. Steel was just so…bland.

How did a stallion so expressionless inspire so many of the ponies he had served with to praise him so highly even out of combat? His combat record was impressive as it was, and there were some suggestions in the remarks that Steel might be skilled enough even for a Class Four combat ranking. That was almost unheard of for an earth pony.

He brushed his thoughts aside with a twitch of his wings and continued. “The mission I have here is going to involve presently unknown levels of risk. Enough danger is suggested that we have decided to make it volunteer-only if possible, though it should initially be rather quiet. It’s also highly classified. I covered the additional aspects and cannot discuss it further unless you agree to it. Sergeant Major Steady Steel, are you willing to accept this mission, knowing you can’t be reassigned, and that there are no repercussions for choosing to decline?”

Slow blink. “I am ready to serve, sir. I accept the mission.”

Resisting the urge to shake his head again, Colonel Mountain could at least appreciate the professionalism as he reviewed some of the briefing papers. “Good. The rest of what we discuss is considered classified. None of it may be discussed until meeting with your incoming commanding officer for further briefing and material for you to study. The first part of this assignment will involve providing combat instruction to two VIPs. I’m sure you’ve heard of the Elements of Harmony. You will be working with Miss Applejack Apple and Miss Pinkamena Pie. Both reside in the small town south of here…”

Colonel Mountain carried through the briefing with the unflinching stallion. He couldn’t fathom how the soldier was so stock still. Sometimes he wasn’t sure Steel was still breathing until he responded. It was like talking to a statue that occasionally blinked.

Once the briefing was over, Colonel Mountain felt the urge to get up and flap a wing at Steel, just to see his mane shift. He had never sat down with a Depth of the Mountain master before, but surely it wasn’t normal to be so utterly still.

“That concludes this briefing, Sergeant Major.” Colonel Mountain closed the briefing folder he had been going through. “Before you leave, I want to ask you something. I have sometimes wondered what the philosophy is behind Depth of the Mountain practitioners being so outwardly unflappable. Mind indulging me?”

Slow blink. “It is our goal to be like a mountain, sir. On our surface, we are to remain as unchanging as stone. Within us may be all manner of dynamism as with a sleeping volcano. To this end, we also must choose a creative pursuit that is anything but stoic or part of our training.” Steel got to his hooves in a smooth, slow shift and saluted, the change almost startling after not even an ear had twitched. “If there is nothing else, I shall depart, sir.”

Returning the salute, Colonel Mountain let him go, though he called out as Steel was about to walk out the door. “Sergeant, now you have me curious. What is your creative pursuit?”

Sergeant Steel paused only long enough to hear the question before he resumed his slow pace out the door, his voice as dry and bland as it had been the entire time.

“Raunchy poetry.”

Colonel Mountain couldn’t do more than stare at the empty doorway for a full minute, unable to decide if Steel was joking or serious.

Finally giving his head that shake he had been tempted to give for most of the briefing, Colonel Mountain settled back in his chair. His eyes fell on Steel’s open personnel file, a paragraph on one of the pages of remarks from a past commanding officer jumped out at him that had slipped by him before.

A superb soldier in almost every other area, Steel has a sometimes unexpected sense of humor. Be careful if he is absolutely still. He does that without even so much as an ear twitch for more than a minute or two, it’s because he caught his stillness messing with your head. He’ll keep it up the rest of the time you talk to him if you don’t call him on it. It could cross into insubordination, but he seems to have an uncanny ability to know when an officer will find it funny or not.

Colonel Dauntless Mountain placed a hoof over his face and groaned as he realized Sergeant Steel was screwing with him the entire time. He did like to see sharp minds in his soldiers, and Steel’s little prank was a well-planned gambit that took some skill and insight into another pony.

He couldn’t help the small smile it gave him.

“Maybe he’s not as bland as I first thought.”

***

Colonel Spitfire watched the bronze-coated mare lower her salute and have a seat, crisp lines on her sky blue working uniform. It wasn’t often that Spitfire needed to handle briefings outside of the Wonderbolts personally, but such was the way of things in this instance.

Clearing her throat, Spitfire got started. “Sergeant First-Class Calm Stitch, thank you for coming. I have a special mission available. Highly classified, so I can only get into detail if you accept after I ask you a few questions. Potential danger involved makes it initially volunteer-only. Now, your personnel file says you’ve been a medic for a couple of years, and have a bit of combat experience with a cool head. This mission requires a medic willing to instruct a fellow pegasus in the same. Is this something you are willing to do?”

Calm Stitch nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Your file also says you have some combat skills beyond the standard. Iron Wind style, correct? Would you be willing to act as a supplemental sparring partner with the squad being assembled?”

“I have no problem doing that, ma’am,” Stitch replied.

“Good. The nature of this assignment is expected to be a year or longer, mostly based in one location, with unknown levels of travel. Initial expectations are similar to long-term assignments, but things will get exciting later on and there will likely be frequent travel. I noticed your file says you’ve indicated a desire for a long-term assignment, once a viable one became open. As you know, that’s not usually something a pegasus medic can get. We can’t reassign you if you accept, so I need you to consider the whole timeframe. You can speak freely.” Spitfire kept her trained eye on the mare before her, watching the little things that slipped past a professional demeanor.

Calm Stitch twitched an ear at the mention of frequent travel, taking a moment before she responded, “Well, ma’am, I signed up for military service and being a medic knowing I go where I’m told. Until my contract is up and I decide to return to civilian life instead of re-enlisting, I’ll keep flying with the wind. Getting to settle down without leaving the service would be nice, though I know it probably won’t happen for me.”

Wearing a thoughtful expression, Spitfire pointed out something in her file, “You understand that if you agree to take this assignment, you will automatically be re-enlisted if your current contract expires. You have just under a year and a half left, and this assignment might go past that. Would you have any problems with that?”

Shuffling her wings a tiny amount, Calm Stitch otherwise looked like her name. “Personally, ma’am, I never really think about that. If the Pegasus Force needs me to stay for a new contract, then that’s the way it goes. Also made it a point in my career so far that if I’m asked to take on a mission, I take it. I can settle down once my time’s up.”

“Your file says this is your fourth two year contract after your initial one,” Spitfire noted. “May I ask why you haven’t taken the opportunity to exit the service already? Speak your mind, if you please. An informal response is fine.”

Calm Stitch’s face had a mix of emotions for a moment before turning thoughtful, “To be honest, ma’am, every time it comes up, I think it over and choose to stay. I’d like to settle down at some point, but I never seem to have a specific reason to. Maybe I’m just comfortable in the military. I moved a lot growing up, so I never really got attached to any one place. Being a pegasus medic, I get moved around a lot, too. Worst that happens if I keep re-enlisting is I get a nice retirement eventually, so that’s my plan until I come up with better.”

Spitfire nodded, satisfied that the mare’s file and responses fit the special instructions from Princess Celestia, giving her the standard line for a classified volunteer mission. Once the confirmation was given, Spitfire gave her a small smile. “Thank you for accepting, Sergeant. There aren’t a lot of pegasus medics with the qualifications that we needed. Some already turned this down, and I was starting think it might be necessary to order somepony into it. Your willingness is appreciated. Now to the mission itself, you will be providing training to Miss Fluttershy…”

***

Shining Armor’s horn faded as he finished setting the security wards over a spare office at Camp Crucible, the familiar face of an old friend sitting across from him before his desk.

“Alright, the wards are done. Been a while, Boulder. You been good?” he asked with a warm smile, free to all but abandon protocol where none were able to see them for the briefing.

Lieutenant Bergthora Bronzehorn grinned as she shuffled into a more relaxed position. “Yeah, been busy here at the Crucible with the latest batch of two-twig recruits up for combat certifications. You been good, Bubbles?”

Shining gave a snort and a flat look at the name. She never let him forget that day. Or how drunk he’d been. “Life up in the Empire is a little different, sure, but things are steadily improving as the economy is adapting to modern times. How are Slop and little Simmering Stew?”

Bergthora gave him smile and a knowing look when he avoided the bait. “They’re doing well. Slop is still making plans for that restaurant we’ll open once I’m out. Sim is enjoying his first grade class. Even dragged me in for a family day two weeks ago because none of his classmates believed he really had a minotaur mother. Still amazes me how rewarding being a mother has been.” Then she puffed her cheeks out with a noisy exhale as her eyes became a bit more firm. “Let’s not beat around the bush though. I recognize top-level security protocols when I see them. How bad?”

Shining let his gaze sink to the polished wood of his desk for several long seconds before looking back up with a resigned look. Technically her security clearance was expired, but considering her record and the situation, she would have to get it renewed anyway. “I can confirm the rumors I know you’ve heard. The Wonderbolts have been flagged to enter full active status for the first time in their history. Crown’s expecting it to be all out when the time comes. We don’t want to cause a panic among the populace until we can’t hide it. Their foresight suggests we avoid anything overt until then, so buildup is being kept spread out so nopony sees more than a modest boost in military activity in any one area. We’re hoping we have at least a year, but we can’t count on that. It’s going to be bad.”

Studying his eyes for a long moment, her voice faint when she spoke. “...Shit. The Princesses aren’t sure we’re going to win.”

Turning his head as his eyes closed, Shining sighed. “You always could read me far too well.” He turned back to her. “I would’ve asked another, but you’re the only one with both sufficient skills, and my complete trust.”

Bergthora’s ears perked up. “Ok, that’s a new one. Just lay it out, Bouncer. Don’t want to be here all day with your clumsy flank.” She gave him a half smile she didn’t feel, still absorbing the news she’d just heard.

Shining nodded, his former squad name bringing back a few memories. “Need a trainer for that male I put through a Proving. To be honest, I suspect he won’t be needing near as much as a green recruit in regards to physical combat, but he’s also going to be protecting my sister through this. The squad being built is going to need experience like yours. There aren’t going to be any sidelines soon enough, but I hate having to ask this of you when you’re three years from a Guard retirement. I simply don’t have a single other individual that holds even half your qualifications for this. Even that latent minotauran body magic, weak as it is for you, is considered valuable.”

Bergthora folded her large arms across her chest. “It is what it is, and you know my so called gift is too slow for live combat situations. I’m guessing this thing is classed as a volunteer-only mission or you wouldn’t be so on edge about it. Never let you down before and I won’t now, Shining. Nobody can say we haven’t lived interesting lives. I’ll keep your sister safe. Throw me the mission details.”

Pulling a folder up with his magic, Shining set personal feelings aside as he prepped one of his oldest friends for a long and serious assignment. He took some solace in knowing she’d be present to protect Twily, and his sister’s powerful magic would be around to hopefully keep one of his dearest friends a bit safer in turn.

Bergthora knew it was one of the times Shining Armor hated his position.

***

Colonel Spitfire passed over the drink before settling back on the couch in her Wonderbolts Academy office, the late evening briefing with Lieutenant Colonel Soarin now over. Briefings were much easier when they both knew what parts they could summarize after working together for so long in the Wonderbolts.

Soarin took a sip of the aged whiskey before speaking. “Never expected I’d end up being Dash’s trainer, though I suppose none of us expected she’d get her training away from the home base, either. Heard any new info about the blank spot?”

“Nope,” Spitfire replied. “Been years since then, but we still have no idea where she disappeared to for those seven months. She was pretty driven before she left, but when she came back… it was like she had a fire in her like I’ve rarely seen in a pony. Can’t figure out why she suddenly took off to Ponyville shortly after she got back, either. I mean, I know her dad died at the weather factory while she was gone, but she was a total cloud-born. I was half convinced she’d never touch the ground on purpose her whole life.”

“Maybe I’ll be able to just ask her at some point. Whatever she did, it must have been some pretty amazing training to come back like she did,” Soarin added.

He pondered how the Wonderbolts had been watching Rainbow Dash most of her life after her first Sonic Rainboom when she was a filly. They’d kept a good distance, not wanting to influence her life as they observed her development as a highly gifted flyer in hopes she’d join them when she grew up. Yet, in all the time since the blank spot happened, they never figured out where she went for those seven months when she was fourteen.

One day, she had simply vanished. Seven months went by and she was suddenly in Cloudsdale again. She had rushed about for a short time, then abruptly moved to Ponyville to live with her friend Fluttershy. She’d trained like a madmare almost the day after she moved, and joined the town’s weather team a couple months later for work. Even began learning the Swift Wing fighting style.

Whatever happened, it turned a potential future Wonderbolt into a probable one. Soarin thought it could have been a secret training excursion, but he couldn’t shake the feeling it may have been something else. That it had such an impact on Dash because it was something rough. He knew ponies didn’t often transform like she had on purpose, but he’d seen it happen more than once.

Putting hanging questions out of his mind, Soarin glanced at Spitfire with a knowing grin. “Well, either way, don’t wear your pipes out yelling at all the new recruits while I’m gone, Spits.”

“Luckily, I get to switch out with Fleet and the others to keep them on edge. With all of Team One and half the rest of the Bolts already slated for only a few more shows spread out for the next year, we’ll have trainers to spare at first as we figure out how fast we can bring in more. We sure are gonna put a lot of them through their paces,” Spitfire mused. “Sure you can handle Dash though? She’s a lot like me when I was younger.”

“When you were younger, huh? Oh wait, what’s this…” he said as he leaned closer. “Is that a gray hair in your mane? Well, I suppose you old nags did have more energy in your-urk!”

The hoof that Spitfire sent stabbing into his side kept him from finishing his statement as he chuckled, rubbing his ribs from from the jab as she gave him a flat look.

“Ha ha, real funny, Clipper.” Spitfire’s face broke into a sly smile. “Still, knowing you as well as I do, and knowing Dash’s track record, I know what’s going to happen already. Not if, but when you two start raising each other’s wings, be sure not to let her wear you out so bad you can’t even get off your cloud by falling.”

With a roll of his eyes, Soarin gave her his own flat look. “There a particular reason you always like trying to call it when you think I’ll sleep with a mare?”

Spitfire gave him a broad grin. “Tell me when I’ve been wrong, Soar. I know you well.”

Soarin’s cheeks gained some color as he looked away with a cough.

After a few moments, he changed topics as he turned back to her. “Think you’ll have to resign from the Bolts as we get downwind?”

Spitfire stared into her drink for a time before answering. “Actually asked Celestia that in private. Wouldn’t be required of me, but we both agreed it might be for the best for me to focus on the rest of the Pegasus Force if things get hard enough. Even I can’t handle that much work at once.” She tipped the rest of her whiskey back in one gulp and set the tumbler down on the coffee table.

“Don’t know if I want to take over for you, Spits. Not like that, at least,” Soarin admitted in a quiet tone.

“If it’s hectic enough, I honestly couldn’t pick a better second in command to have take over the Bolts for me.” Spitfire paused, letting a soft sigh escape. “Honestly, all the crazy stuff being brought up right now has me thinking about the stuff that could have been. You ever regret our decision all those years ago?”

It was Soarin’s turn to stare into his drink for a long moment. “I don’t think so. We spent a good while talking it out, but I admit I still wonder ‘what if’ at times.”

Spitfire gave a soft hum. “Yeah. Probably be married with a couple foals by now if we hadn’t agreed to focus on our careers side by side. Scratch that. Probably a lot of foals. One of us would have to retire at this point. Hmm…you know, there are still times when I miss your dick.”

Soarin snorted loudly into his drink as he was taking a sip, getting whiskey splashed across half his muzzle as he coughed and hoped it hadn’t gotten on his uniform. The burning feeling in his windpipe was less than pleasant as he tried to glare at the laughing Spitfire.

Before he could wipe off his face and complain, he found himself frozen as Spitfire slid into his lap and slowly dragged her tongue across the corner of his mouth before smacking her lips. Her voice was in that soft, special kind of husky that used to make him cave in seconds. “Ah...pricey stuff, but it’s only smooth when you drink it, Nipper.”

Feeling his heart start beating much faster, he stared at her, their muzzles less than an inch apart as the whiskey slowly evaporated. He knew how she could get every once in a rare while, and how tempted they both were. The old pet name made his breath hitch. “Y-you feeling ok, Old Flame?”

She pressed her body closer, taking a second slow lick on the other side of his mouth. Spitfire let her tongue linger longer than she should as she felt a familiar feeling rising against the fur of her stomach.

For over a minute, all they did was stare into each other’s eyes without so much as a wing twitch, muzzles a hair apart as they listened to each other breathe. They pushed the limits of protocol a lot farther than they should, but such moments were also their limit. They knew where crossing the line would leave them.

When she finally moved, Spitfire broke their long pattern by settling against him and pretending she didn’t feel what was pressed between them, so close yet out of bounds. Soarin gasped as he wrapped his forelegs and wings around her back as they sank back against the couch.

Spitfire finally spoke with her muzzle pressed into his neck. “Don’t forget our promise to retire together. You know how much I hate broken promises.”

Soarin felt the faint quivers of her wings under his, the temptation so much stronger with them wrapped around each other as they were. His heart hammered in his chest as hard as he felt hers was doing. Each panting breath made them shift a little and he felt himself hold her that much tighter.

He pulled her up, her weight shift far too easily. The move left them just resisting simple gravity, and he couldn’t bring himself to care this time. Their shared past exploits danced across his mind as he felt her press her face against his neck a little harder. There was a far too warm touch between them. Both of them trembled, waiting for the other to give in so they weren’t the one to start it. So they didn’t break their promise.

Spitfire pulled away with a sudden jerk and all but flew to her desk and sat down, visibly shaking hooves coming to rest on the wood surface as she caught her breath, boring a hole in the thing with her stare. She kept repeating their promise in her mind.

This new assignment he was going on worried her. She had never worried about him before.

Stupid Soarin and his stupid smile on his stupid face. He’s not supposed to be the one worrying her.

Forcing herself to look up, she found him standing next to her with a calm look. She didn’t dare look down to see his state of dress.

“I know, Spits. They said it’s gonna be bad,” Soarin said in a soft tone.

Spitfire grit her teeth for a moment before taking a slow breath. “Just keep your wings clear, alright? It’s been quite a while since we weren’t on the same potentially dangerous mission together. Not since we both made Team One.”

“You going to be alright? This isn’t like you.”

“I know more than I can actually tell you, Soar. Also haven’t said anything to you, but I’ve been feeling my bucking biological clock a lot. You’d think that injury that left me unable to ever bear a foal should stop that, but no. I get all the fun parts anyway.” She huffed as she flexed her wings for a second and straightened up, managing a devious smile. “Seriously though, have fun with Dash. We both know she’s got that fangirl crush on you, and that hot flank we both wanna pinch.”

When Soarin moved to touch her shoulder, she jerked away with a warning look. “Hooves off. I’m serious, Soar. I’m gonna be running things from Canterlot all safe and you might be flying right into a tornado full of debris. Thinking about it shouldn’t be messing me up like this but it is. It’s so stupid. I can’t break protocol that bad and you know it. Please just get flying. We’ll have lunch or something if I get back before you have to leave the base. Just...not right now.”

Soarin twitched his wings and sighed, starting towards the door of her office. “Spits, you know as well as I do that everypony in the Bolts knows our history and has no illusions about it. I still get asked by the occasional recruit if I really had to walk through the Nobles District in Canterlot wearing a mare’s lingerie and fuzzy wing-cuffs without the key, with you so drunk off your flank you couldn’t walk. I had to put up with you draped across my back, completely ignoring my protests as you yelled your head off about loving my dick and jerking me off in public the entire time back to the hotel. And the following morning where we showed up limping for our first day as official Bolts, too. I’m just glad nopony had a camera for proof.”

He turned around in the hallway to see Spitfire moving to close the door, giving her a smug smirk as he leaned close to her. “Besides, think of the story we’ll have if we both end up presenting ourselves before Princess Celestia, asking her forgiveness for screwing ourselves stupid.”

“Inside of my flight suit was such a mess that day cause we never stopped, even in the shower, until we actually went out the door.” Spitfire narrowed her eyes. ”Just a flap away from jumping at me too, aren’t ya? Too bad. Just...tell me how Dash is, ok?”

Soarin moved closer, his muzzle a hair away from hers. “You’ve always been so bad, wanting to hear about my exploits with other mares. Bet you enjoy it cause it’s like having me vicariously. Just like I do with you and your famous tongue.”

Scowling at him, her heart racing faster with every moment she felt his breath brushing over her lips. “You’re just playing our game right now. Knowing we’re already way past protocol. Knowing our Bolts all think we’ve been screwing each other stupid for years when we stopped the second one of us gained a command position to be sure we kept ‘us’ out if how we led our fellow Bolts. Keep your flank safe, Soar. We’re retiring together. At least keep a certain piece intact, eh?”

They stared each other down, the ends of their muzzles pressed together, panting.

And then it was over as they jerked away from each other, unable to stand another second of proximity.

They had never broken that rule completely.

Spitfire caught her breath, half closing the door and unable to look at him. “We really shouldn’t push our limits like that, Soar. I got nothing left. You so much as push open this door, I’ll throw you on my couch and we’re not leaving till morning. Yeah, I regret it at times. We made our choice and got the top two spots in the Bolts, just like we planned. It’s not just about us anymore, though. They’re all our Bolts to look after now. Bad enough we know we’re gonna lose some later. Take good care of Dash, alright?”

Soarin swallowed back his first comment about not caring about protocol anymore, and what it would do in that moment. For several tense seconds, he had to force himself not to touch the door of her office. “Yeah… Yeah, I will. I know you’ve got to head back to Canterlot in the morning, so I’ll see you when I see you.”

The door clicked shut and Soarin stood there for a few lingering moments, waiting.

With a frustrated growl, Spitfire’s voice soon came through the door.

“Gah! Stupid, sexy Soarin!”

Soarin grinned to himself and got to walking like always.

Someday.

***

Shining Armor watched as the green pegasus stallion settled into the chair, running Celestia’s unusual instructions through his head for the thousandth time. The things she told him and his two counterparts, Colonel Mountain and Colonel Spitfire, to look for when filling positions for the squad. It reeked of hidden motives. Especially with how she had closed the meeting.

The ones we need shall come to us.

He didn’t like the secrecy, though it was expected. Even necessary in several ways, with how reading possible futures worked.

Since becoming a prince himself, the Royal Sisters had opened up more about how they could look into the future and a small bit of how it worked. He now understood more than he cared to know. Past concerns he had faded as new ones took their place.

Learning how to command and lead for the Guard had been trying, but as he learned how to be a ruler, he understood the why of things he had never known. The prices to be paid along the way for the greater good of their two nations and the world.

Shining Armor knew which members of the squad were likely going to die, though none of them were safe.

As he shuffled the papers on his borrowed desk at Camp Crucible, he had no choice but to remain silent. No choice in sending his ponies into harm’s way. He had no choice because not doing so came with a price far higher.

Commander or ruler, both have to choose the lowest price to pay to see tomorrow. It didn’t matter how powerful a leader was by themselves. No shield he would ever be able to make could protect everything that deserved it.

Yet unlike a military commander, rulers had no recourse. No higher authority to take guidance from in the face of impossible choices.

The true hidden burden of the Royal Sisters was now his to bear in full, side by side with Cadence, for the good of the Crystal Empire and it’s citizens.

Depending on the flow of specific events to come, he knew the fate of the stallion he was about to put on the squad.

Clearing his throat as he kept his face clear of his private thoughts, Shining Armor focused on the task at hoof. “Special Sergeant Cactus Root, I have a volunteer-only mission available. Your file says you have a standing preference for more adventurous missions, and you like a surprisingly high frequency of travel. Assuming you meet our remaining requirements after a couple questions, I hope you will accept.

“The first thing I need to ask is this mission will involve a very high probability of frequent travel and uncertainty later on, and plenty of danger, but it will initially be a relatively quiet assignment for several months. You have a history of getting antsy if you stay in any one place too long. If you accept this mission, can you keep yourself occupied during the initial downtime period? While this is a formal meeting, please speak freely. It is important that I know your mind in this, whatever that might be.”

Sergeant Root fidgeted a small amount and shuffled his wings, his posture relaxing as he sat more at ease before replying. “Well, sir, Ah know Ah get a might twitchy when Ah get stuck someplace for a while. Just kind of who Ah am. If Ah need ta stay put somewhere, Ah can keep outta trouble jus’ fine, if’n that’s what yer wonderin’ bout. Ah can always put more time inta Cuttin’ Feather if needs be.”

Shining nodded. “Your file says you grew up near the badlands on an earth pony cactus fruit farm, and that you were born to an earth pony mother. Indications in your file suggest you are somewhat averse to cloud cities. During part of this lengthy assignment, you will have periods of time where you will spend some of it in places like Cloudsdale. I expect you can handle that, considering you’ve done some missions out of a few, but what I’d like to know is why your file mentions an aversion to cloud cities at all.”

Much to Shining’s surprise, Sergeant Root gained a slight bit of color in his cheeks as he looked off to one side with a nervous chuckle. “Ah, uh… Ah don’t like ta admit it, but Ah got a small fear o’ heights. Took a bad spin during a windstorm as a small colt. Ah woulda made a splat if’n Pops hadn’t had his eye on me. Ain’t never felt quite right if mah hooves ain’t touchin’ dirt or close to it ever since. Kinda dumb fer a pegasus ta be afraid o’ being high up, Ah know. Works well fer Cuttin’ Feather, at least. Ain’t usually enough dust in the clouds fer me.”

Privately, Shining let himself have a mental huff as he realized he lost another bet with Cadence. He had refused to believe a pegasus in the Guard would actually have a fear of heights. She was going to give him that teasing smug smile when he got back to the Empire in a few days. He hoped it would just be something like a pink frilly apron and making her a fancy meal, but it was probably going to be another kinky request like usual.

Sometimes he wondered if she got him to make those bets knowing it helped him manage stress. Her timing without even being present could be uncanny, yet she only smiled and refused to answer when he asked.

Focusing back on the interview, Shining gave another nod as pieces of Celestia’s private instructions to him fell into place almost like clockwork. “Well, how we handle our personal fears can say a lot about us. Part of this mission will also require you to provide some combat training support in the form of sparring. Specifically, a few mares involved have no prior military experience. Additionally, in the highly improbable event of a similar gift to yours, you would need to provide Cutting Feather instruction. Are you comfortable with those aspects of the mission?”

“Ah can deal with em, sir. Ain’t done no teachin’ before, but Ah would figure it out if’n Ah had ta do it,” Sergeant Root replied.

Though he didn’t know the whole plan behind the Royal Sister’s curtain, this stallion was what they expected. The only Cutting Feather pegasus even in the Canterlot region, let alone Camp Crucible, was the one in front of him. He was exactly what was requested.

He hoped the vision Celestia showed him in her private instructions, of what he thought could have been the stallion’s body, missing a wing and bloody exposed ribs, would be averted. It had been difficult to tell anything for certain, nor did it have any color. Sending somepony on a mission was so much harder with a glimpse of a possible deadly future. He hoped the vision was a metaphor and misleading somehow, rather than a glimpse of something inevitable.

Shining Armor gave him the appropriate line and the stallion accepted the classified mission. “Thank you for taking on this mission, Sergeant. I hope you’ll have some degree of relief knowing you’ll be spending much of your time for several months in a small earth pony town named Ponyville…”

The future of the stallion was out of Shining’s hooves, regardless.

***

Two unicorns met in a secure room hidden somewhere in Canterlot, much of the decor was ancient bas-relief stonework on the walls, filled with scenes depicting a few of the Order’s greatest legends that very few outsiders had ever seen. The detailed carvings were also heavily imbued with defensive wards against scrying and any other forms of eavesdropping.

Disciple Bright Spark pranced up and leaned her side against the familiar older indigo mare with a teasing smile, both wearing black robes covering all but their heads and tails. “Heya Tome-Tome. How’s my favorite MILF feeling today? Randy and ready for a quickie, I hope?”

Archmage Hidden Tomes didn’t bother turning her silver-maned head as her horn lit up and magically slapped the mare upside the head with a loud smack, a mare she had adopted many years ago for a promise to a friend and Bright Spark’s father.

She made a casual turn of her head, voice flat and unamused. “Sparky, you know I hate it when you pull that with me. I raised you after your father was KIA. I’m the closest thing to a mother and family that you have beyond the Disciples, and I’m stuck heading our Order. As much as it pains me to see that constant look in your eyes when you drop the act, I can’t stand it when you start hitting on me. Especially when you use your foalhood nickname for me at the same time.”

Bright Spark gave a small huff as she pulled away and moved to stand in front of Tomes, all traces of humor gone. The edge of a growl in her voice added a sharpness to every word. “I know you hate it. Can’t always help how deep in my mask I get, but you know the alternative if I don’t keep up a chase for sex so I can vent somehow.”

Tomes’ eyes softened. “And I don’t want you lashing out between missions when you leave our compound ever again. Once was enough. Still couldn’t say why Princess Celestia didn’t keep you in prison for hospitalizing that mare like that, regardless of what she said to you. At least you have performed every penance asked of you without question since.”

“Sorry, Tomes. The conversation I had with her remains private. Now, you called me here. Gonna tell me you finally got a solid lead on The Bitch you’ll let me track?” A hint of mad eagerness slipped into her words as she grinned.

With a shake of her head, Tomes saw Bright Spark deflate a tiny bit. “No, we still haven’t been able to get any good leads on Lasting Legacy. You know how badly we all want to find her, Sparky. It’s maddening how many times she’s slipped through our hooves, despite returning to that vile Horn of Truth cult. She’ll have that group of unicorn supremacists and all the training knowledge we gave her whenever we do finally track her down. We did have a lead with some potential not long ago, but I won’t let you get involved until we have a good idea of her location first. Instead, I need you to serve.”

Ears perking up, Bright Spark fixed Tomes with an icy glare, jaw clenched and voice low. “You better not hide it when you do, Tomes. The Bitch is mine! She trained me. Acted like a trusted bucking mentor to me before she stabbed us all in the back when she finally revealed the lies and left so many of her lovely gifts behind. She is getting back every last ounce of pain she gave my husband before she left him dangling in a couple pieces for me to find. He’d still be alive if I had trusted my gut and paid more attention. I won’t stop until she dies screaming. If there’s anything left of me after that, we’ll talk.” Bright Spark’s eyes held the look again.

Once more, Hidden Tomes was reminded of how much she hated that look.

Eyes of unending fury.

Far too many Disciples earned it during their careers, one way or another.

Hidden Tomes herself wore it a few times before accepting the sacrifice of becoming the archmage. Unlike other Orders, the role was a step down among Disciples. One to give a focal point and manage information, so the rest could keep hunting the shadows. Tomes knew she would never wear it herself again.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Hidden Tomes intoned one of their mantras, “We fight the shadows from among them…”

Some of the dangerous edge in Bright Spark’s eyes faded as she replied, “To spare those that know only the light.”

“Sparky, Princess Celestia needs a Disciple to serve Princess Twilight Sparkle. There’s serious trouble brewing, despite the reduction in dark magic use and Tartarus being oddly quiet of late. She asked for you personally to help train Sparkle and her friend Rarity, the one that held the gem for Generosity. Also need you to evaluate and train that human that Prince Armor hammered on a couple weeks ago. You saw him yourself since you were helping manage the shield on the arena. He’s a special case for some reason, some sort of unique ability, so use your own discretion. I’m pretty sure the sister’s are keeping something from us again, but that’s nothing new. Just the price of staying as independent as we are.”

Bright Spark gave a grunt. “He did seem to do something out of step with reports on his level of magic training at the end. Whatever. I’ll come up with something.” She cleared her throat. “Archmage, I accept your task. In the same spirit of our Founder, my life before those I shall serve.”

Archmage Hidden Tomes bowed her head in acknowledgement. “May Fate keep you strong on our dangerous path.” She let out a small sigh then. “Didn’t even let me tell you how it’s going to be life threatening, unknown dangers, blah blah. Some parts of being quasi-civilians working under the direction of the military will never make sense. It’s like the bureaucrats over there don’t even realize who they’re sending all that bucking briefing paperwork to. Like we ever do something that isn’t probably going to be deadly.”

Bright Spark merely gave her a dark grin.

“There’s one more important part to this, Sparky. The Princesses aren’t supposed to know about this, either.”

That earned a curious look as Bright Spark waited.

Her horn lighting up with a deep indigo shade, Tomes slipped a very old-looking black book from the folds of her black robes. Levitating it up between them, she gave it a reverent look. “This is probably our Order’s single biggest secret. Embertouch herself created it alongside Starswirl the Bearded. Each Archmage has passed it on to the next since her death with the express instruction to keep it hidden from Celestia and Luna, though we don’t know why she said it was of extreme importance to do so. Exclusively been a secret of us archmages to be sure we followed her instructions. Only figured out two things about this book in all that time, too.

“The first is a defensive ward we’ve never seen equalled before or since, designed to make it impossible to read except by the individual it’s keyed to. How it’s keyed we can’t tell until it unlocks for them, if we even get to study it after that. The second thing was because Shifting Sands the Mad, the 92nd Archmage of the Order, thought his talent for wards and withstanding madness-inducing entities would let him peek. He got a peek alright, and he nearly succumbed to it. The strange nature of the ward seems to act like an Outsider to an untrained mind for as long as you can stand to look at it, but it uses you against yourself. It’s almost like an unreality ward somehow, which was never supposed to be possible. He made it two pages before ’soup fading to column’ was the most sensible part of it. And he stopped frothing at the mouth. Couldn’t even say or write what he read directly. Just that it’s a spellbook on stuff no single mage could ever cast. He never said what he meant or if he knew why.

”And that’s not even touching the fact that whatever it is, it’s permanent. Nothing short of an artifact should be capable of that, but it isn’t one. Enchantments aren’t supposed to last more than a few years, even if you planned it perfectly and had all the power necessary. This ward hasn’t faded one measure in two thousand years.”

Bright Spark waited some more.

“Anyway, Embertouch said to touch the cover with a hoof to know whom it belongs to. That we’d know when it happens.” Tomes levitated the nondescript black book in front of Bright Spark. “Touch it and see for yourself.”

Eyeing the book for a moment, Bright Spark lifted her foreleg. The heavily enchanted steel vambrace and hoofguard she wore slipped from under her robe and gleamed in the torchlight. The magic of the book activated as her hoof touched the ancient cover.

Images flashed in her mind’s eye. Many of them vague, with lingering impressions of meaning that flitted at the edge of her awareness, just beyond a firm grasp.

The image of an indistinct stallion with a white mane somehow passing back and forth between two stormclouds crackling with lightning.

A five-fingered gray hand grasping a sword buried in an ancient stone pedestal, then a brilliant flash of magic came from the blade. An impression of vengeance.

A city being swallowed by the ground, above it was a beacon of light surrounded by countless smaller lights before the beacon blinked out and left the rest, filled by an impression of defiance.

The symbol of a particular thaumic array, with an impression of impossible power and death in the center. There was a sense of acceptance.

A scattering of colorless damaged feathers fallen over a pool of blood and gore. It carried a disturbing sense of failure and desperation beside incredible sorrow.

There were countless scenes and images that did not make much sense together. All she knew was that they were visions, given in metaphors and flashes in time. The one that caught her attention the most was the image of a dragon’s head beside a dove, separated by a sword, and imposed over the image of a shining heart.

Her armored hoof lifted from the book and slipped back beneath the folds of her robe, putting a stop to the visions as she met the archmage’s eye. “One of them matches that chest tattoo on Guardian Drayce.”

Tomes gave a slow nod. “Embertouch and Starswirl somehow knew he was coming. That they went to this much trouble to get this book to a being from a whole other world, it makes me wonder what shadows are coming our way.”

“Think he’s a threat?” Bright Spark’s tone was direct in her meaning.

Tomes paused before answering, “Difficult to tell, but it’s possible. No way for us to know how deep he’ll tread, but he’s been noble-hearted so far. Try to make it quick if things ever get that bad. All I can tell you with any real probability is that he’s very likely going to be as much of a shadow as we are. Each Archmage has studied the visions from the book and destroys their personal notes once shared when it’s time to pass the mantle. Not enough context for most of the visions, but they all seem consistent between viewings, and focus around the one this book is meant for.”

Bright Spark lifted the tome in her her own soft yellow magic and slipped it into her robes. “When I think the time is right, I’ll give it to him. I want to feel him out first. If he’ll be a shadow like us, I want to be sure we can trust him to stay with the light. Considering Princess Twilight treasures him so much, here’s to hoping I don’t have to take him down someday. She’s still so innocent, even now. I’d hate to take that away when she’s served the light so much herself and earned our respect. Anything else, Tomes?”

Without another word, Hidden Tomes moved forward and slipped her own armored foreleg around Bright Spark’s neck to hug her close. “Just...give me a reminder the filly I love like a daughter is still in there.”

For a long minute, Bright Spark did not so much as flinch as she stared at the wall. The constant presence of her fury tempting her to shove the older mare away.

One of the few memories of her father came to her, his words ringing through her mind.

Sparky, protect your own light harder than all others. Lose that and you’re the worst shadow you’ll ever know. Doesn’t matter what it costs you. Do not join the shadows.

He never came home after those final parting words, but his team did because of him.

She saw her husband’s shattered body in her mind’s eye again. Heard his voice and laugh. Recalled the feel of his cheek with, and without, the tender warmth she’d so treasured.

Would you still love what’s left of me, Cayenne?

Eyes remaining fixed on the wall as her jaw tightened, Bright Spark’s own foreleg slowly reached up and returned the hug just as tight.

***

Major Thunder Breaker strode into the private meeting room with quiet steps once he was admitted by the door guards.

For many thestrals, other moonborn, and those rare others that grew up in their cavern enclaves, service to the Night Mother was both an honor and a priority. To a point, it was in many ways almost like but not quite worship. Most felt indebted for the past, joining the Lunar Guard when they came of age for at least one term of service. The Night Mother had once said in the early days of their enclaves that the military was a valuable opportunity to broaden one’s horizons, to see a great deal of things that the world had to offer for only the price of a few years in service to others. It long ago became a matter of personal pride for most.

The Major held to a slow, confident stride, not even needing to think about holding to his best posture as was befitting when in the Night Mother’s presence.

For the more zealous, service to the Night Mother was a calling for life. She had but to say the word and they would bow down and treat Her as a goddess openly as they felt She deserved, yet had always refused in a demonstration of Her humility since returning to them. Lifelong service in Her Lunar Guard was the closest they were permitted, fanatical in defense of Equestria when She asked them to be. Her wisdom had said they could do much more good by aiding others in Her name.

He knew the Night Mother’s gaze was upon him as he approached, his presence requested this night. The reason did not matter, only that the Night Mother had called for him.

Then there was a very small number that had earned the unique position of being counted amongst Her Favored. Ones called Her Children of the Night. Those few ponies that were said to have done great deeds in Her name, but it was a misnomer. The truth was more complicated. Her Favor was not granted lightly, nor discussed by those that earned it beyond acknowledging their official status, required only by those in the military, for the rest was between Her and them alone. Few earned such honors.

Major Thunder Breaker sat down in front of the Night Mother, placing his cobalt steel helmet at his side as he turned his eyes to Her own. He still felt that same moment of reverence for being allowed to meet Her gaze as he did.

What those few Favored knew, the truth of it all, was that while Princess Luna was mighty, filled with power most mortals could not even fathom, She craved understanding and equal treatment. It was not that those called Favored accomplished great things, or had worshipped with the most fervor. They knew the former was recognized enough by other means, and the latter was generally discouraged.

Rather, they had experienced a moment of serendipity with Her. A moment when both realized the truth of understanding was there.

Most remained in service to Equestria afterward in various positions for life, for the sole reason that She needed them near. In turn, She granted them special privileges, including the power to shadow dive for those that fought for her, to help them excel in their duties. Duties that often entailed constant risk to themselves beyond the usual call for the sake of the nation and the ponies within. The Favored remained in Her service not for duty, but for the love of family. Princess Celestia had her own small secret collection of ponies for, and through, similar reasons.

Thunder Breaker had been on patrol during his brief time with the Royal Guard at Canterlot Castle, when passing near the gardens brought a sound to investigate. That was the night he’d found his goddess trying not to cry in private just weeks after Her return. She had grabbed him when he drew near and broken down, himself stunned as he cradled Her head.

They had sat together many nights since, talking about anything, and acting as a source of mutual comfort. It was a profound moment for him when he realized She could be vulnerable like any other pony.

As much as they were Hers, they also knew She was theirs, in almost any manner desired by either. If it had mattered to him, nearly anything was his on request by Her own word. Tea together under Her stars was all he ever asked for, save one thing.

Princess Luna’s wing came up and touched the tips of her feathers to Thunder Breaker’s cheek with an affectionate, familiar gesture, “Thank you for coming so quickly, my Favored Son of the Night. If you are willing, I need to pull you away from the Shadow Hammer teams. I have a very important task for you. You have heard of the human that appeared in Ponyville, correct?”

Thunder Breaker’s midnight blue eyes flashed with deep disappointment for a moment even as he sat up a bit straighter and bowed his head in response. One did not hide their emotions from the Night Mother out of respect. “I am forever at your service, Night Mother. I have heard some tales. And how he has twice come to Princess Twilight Sparkle’s aid at personal cost since his sudden appearance.”

With a nod, Luna continued, “He has been named a Guardian, drafted into the Guard with rank equivalent to a Colonel, and requires somepony to teach him the duties required of an officer of Equestria. Though he is barred from giving orders at this time, and is under mine and my sister’s direct command, there is much he must know. I would like you to be the one for this task, though it is far from all you will be doing in due time.

“Though only rumors at present, Equestria is approaching a time we shall know open war. You are to lead the team being assembled to protect the Bearers of the Elements, alongside this human that has appeared for this very purpose in a much larger game. This assignment is perhaps the most important you could ever undertake. It will likely be the most dangerous, for what I know of the future to come.

“You are the one I trust above all others of my Favored,” Luna paused with a pained look as she stroked his cheek with the feathers that never left. “Though I know your heart and why you strive so hard, why you have volunteered for every mission no matter the danger, yet still succeed and return to me… Please, put aside your singular pursuit for this. They will need your strength and skill to help them see things through to the end. I will finally grant your wish when this task is done, if you still desire it so. You ask so much of me in that.

“In the few years since my return, you have become the one I treasure most. Ever since I learned of you, of what happened to you on the Hearth’s Warming Eve before my return, I have sought to bring you some measure of comfort. Though I have never had such of my own, and though you are grown, I have even come to think of you as my own foal of the Moon,” Luna paused again, now cupping his cheek with a hoof as she leaned closer. “Will you do this for me...my son?”

Thunder Breaker’s eyes closed at the mention of the night he lost his wife and unborn foal, his face an empty calm as his eyes began to burn just a touch. They had been dry a long time now, nothing left to give to his sorrow. All that was left now was a numbness as he pressed his cheek to Her hoof.

The Night Mother doing him such an honor pained him deeply after the depth of his failure. At the same time, the Night Mother was the one pony he found true solace with since that terrible night. He leaned closer as She nudged him towards Herself in a rare gesture.

Thunder Breaker thought of how he had grown up orphaned at a young age, taken in by a zealous mare that taught him her fanatical devotion to the Night Mother. Then he bumbled his way into love, his wife opening his eyes to so many things and how blind he had been. For three far too short years, she had helped him come alive. Made him truly whole, until that fateful night.

Now, military service for the Night Mother was all that mattered. It was his best chance to finish his goal before old age. He had made his wife a two-part promise as she died in his embrace, and he would see it through.

I miss you so much, Soft Step.

“I…” Thunder Breaker felt his forehead touch Her neck and felt the warmth of Her presence, knowing how much trust She just placed in him by calling him a son.

Various emotions made him give a faint shudder as he leaned into Her embrace to bury his face against Her neck. She was his only comfort left. He could not deny Her wish, nor his own to accept Her in such an intimate way as he sat with his face pressed into Her fur, “I will serve as asked…Mother.”

As a former zealot, he still considered his life as Her property to begin with.

He could wait to complete his promise a little longer.

Bk 2 Ch 5: Hidden Motives

Author's Notes:

Finally, after far too many delays, distractions, and depression-related issues, I have the next chapter up. I actually had to break it in half, considering the length of this single day went past 20k, which is my line for max chapter lengths (barring some unusual circumstances).

Next chapter is the second half of the sparring day. I expect it'll hit like an armored hoof.

Unfortunately, I set myself a deadline to post before the end of September, so my editor wasn't able to go over the whole thing and smack me upside the head for silly mistakes. I'll update the chapter later with any changes and edits that come up. Feel free to call out any hiccups if spotted.

Some editing by Stupidhand14
Proofread by Rubahhitam

Hands on my hips, I frowned in thought while I looked down at a sleeping Twilight as she continued with her soft snores. The light of dawn was well underway, the sun moving into the golds and oranges of a lovely day growing bright, but not yet visible on the horizon.

I told Twilight she had to get up almost an hour ago, myself already stretched, showered, and dressed. She had apparently let herself go back to sleep, weary after yesterday’s physical tests.

There was also the fact I warned her last night about what would happen if she didn’t get up.

It was tempting to start chuckling as I smiled at the plan in my head, but it wouldn’t do to give her any warning now.

Reaching out a hand, I gave a soft poke to one of her wing joints as she laid on her side under the covers. Her wing twitched and she mumbled something before going back to soft snoring. Pulling away her blanket didn’t seem to help, either.

Knowing the risk, I leaned down over her and whispered next to her ear. "Time to wake up, Purple Angel.”

One of the more adorable things I’d learned about Twilight since falling out of the sky above Ponyville was that she tended to be a gratuitous sleep hugger. Particularly if she felt my breath on her ears.

As she mumbled again, I felt her forelegs snake around my neck and pull me in. I had little choice but to fall onto the bed as she pulled me off balance and proceeded to give my cheek a sleepy nuzzle before going still.

She also tended to drool when she’s having a comfortable sleep, which left me holding her with a damp cheek and struggling not to laugh. I could have tried harder to wake her a different way, but I had a plan to enact after my token attempts failed.

With a bit of shuffling down in her embrace as I nudged her onto her back, all four of her legs wrapped around me in a cute sort of possessiveness. Once I’d moved down far enough, I got ready to wake her up with swift effect.

Nosing into her neck, I took a moment to savor her presence as I took a deep inhale of her scent. It was tempting to forget even waking her, the idea of letting myself doze where I was held its own calm comfort.

Maybe if I wasn’t so eager to get to our first sparring day with the squad, I would have.

My mind decided, I smiled against her neck. One hand moved up to take hold of her horn and channel a tiny bit of magic to keep her from forming a spell reflexively.

Personally, after learning about it in my foundational studies, I thought of the effect as consciousness bringing emitters into alignment, and it was very easy to disrupt another’s magic if they were asleep first, there being so little resistance to indirect effects. I couldn’t very well go and let her just teleport out of my clutches, after all. It was a curious side effect of multiple magic fields mixing, and required clear focus to cast around. Twilight could do it to me on a whim, in turn.

When a sudden thought drifted across my mind, I froze as a wave of shame ran through me, wondering to myself what I was thinking.

Twilight had given me total surrender, even cut off her own magic with a disabling ring on her horn that she made herself. One of her biggest private fears faced for my sake.

My hand moved away from her horn as I held still in her sleepy embrace, chastising myself. Reminders of what I used to be like and how it could sneak up on me had a certain sting no matter how long it had been after deciding to change.

She deserved better than what I once was. If I had my way, she’d never have to know that side of me beyond stories of the past.

If she did teleport away, I’d just deal with it.

With another deep inhale to savor the cuddle one more time, personal failings put away once more, I pressed my mouth to her neck, and blew a massive raspberry on a ticklish spot.

Twilight woke up with a shriek and flailed against my sides, trying to escape as she squealed with ever louder laughter with each successive raspberry. “EEEK! Vojin! Ah! Heehee! Stop, stop! Mercy!”

When I felt she was sufficiently teased and awake, I relented. Her heart was racing in her chest as I held her down on the bed, panting as she hugged me with little giggles.

“Didn’t I warn you of your fate if you didn’t get up in time, my dear?” I said with my face still pressed against her neck.

Twilight pulled my head up with her hooves so she could look in my eyes as I grinned, a faux scowl on her face she couldn’t hold very well, and was further ruined by some bedhead. “Grr… I was enjoying that dream. It was just about to get to the fun part. You going to make it up to me this morning?”

“I think you should look at the time, Purple Angel,” I replied.

Turning her head to the clock and back to me, she pouted. “I guess we don’t really have that much time. ” Looking back at the clock, she hummed and I felt her emotions turn lusty. “Mmm, better idea. You need a second shower this morning so you can wash my back as I finish waking up. One way or another~!” Her voice turned singsong and gave me a teasing smile.

I really only had one response: “Yes, ma’am.”

As she levitated me into the air and marched us towards the bathroom, I just chuckled, neglecting to tell her I set her alarm clock an hour ahead while she slept. After the shower, I’d tell her. Giving her these little surprises made her day.

***

The morning was pleasant as Celestia & Luna looked out from their castle balcony at the view of distant Ponyville far below Canterhorn mountain. The clear air made the view quite spectacular, and belied the concerns on their minds.

“The coming month has to be enough, Luna.” Celestia’s voice couldn’t hide the concern she felt when alone with her sister. “When the day comes for us to tell Vojin all we have done, I hope he will not hate us for it.”

They had put so much effort into buying so short a span to prepare the Bearers. Even sent what were perhaps three of the most trusted individuals in the nation not in command positions.

Their plans regarding Vojin had to proceed. It had taken too much effort to bring him to their world. The mistake of using a Rose Window spell on him was dangerous. If circumstances went the wrong way, it could cost his willingness to trust them when the time came.

Standing beside Celestia for their private discussion, Luna frowned. “With our promise to be open and honest with him from now on, we can only hope he never directly asks if we have plans for him before then. A mere month’s preparation is far less than I would like, but time to prepare oneself properly for battle is a rare luxury.”

Luna thought about how the ponies of their intelligence branch had far improved from a millennium ago, yet the fact they had found no more than unfounded rumors of the vast armies foreseen confounded her.

A deadly dance of shadows would soon begin, and they knew almost nothing.

The Bearers would be targeted several times, until the hidden foe made the first open military strike upon their borders. Luna was confident that the skills of the special team that had been assigned were the best they could send.

They had to be enough.

Celestia turned her eyes to some pegasi tending to a few errant clouds in the distance near Canterlot, mulling over the difficulties of the situation.

If they warned Twilight and her friends about the first attack, implications were more grim in the probable results. The two of them needed more time than they could get in order to weigh the many possible paths of the future. They had been forced to rush their study of events too much, unable to reach their usual degree of certainty.

In as little as a month, the first attack would come.

And they could no longer see new futures.

“A matter of mere days left,” Celestia said in a soft voice. “The veil over all divination magics has nearly finished it’s course. After centuries upon centuries of being able to peer ahead and know the best courses of action, it feels like I am going blind or deaf. How much I wish it were as simple as a mage attempting to bind our foresight, as Sombra had done. That you somehow grasped something in spellwork deeper than I did once more and still had some of your own foresight. With foreknowledge as a guide, I’ve grown so used to the dance of politics as a form of battle. Complex as it is, I have still always had a clear foe, or the means to discern one, for me to challenge. Now we know we are approaching war, but have no idea who our enemy is.”

Luna closed her eyes a moment, feeling as uneasy as her sister. “We told Vojin of divination being shut down, but not the rate at which it was accelerating. That they would remove an entire branch of magic at all troubles me more than the act of it. There is no reason I can find for why. It feels as disorienting as making rain cease to be wet. Not even Discord could make changes so fundamental.” She turned her gaze to Celestia. “I have still found no signs of our parents’ involvement, even though they are the only power capable of altering reality so grandly.”

Turning her eyes back to distant Ponyville, Celestia replied. "If it is not them, we will have already lost before we began, Luna. There is only one alternative, but there have been no ripples through the world or any of the other planes to even suggest it. The dark dragoness remains sealed, so the bound one is as well. Since we have not received word from old Styx telling us otherwise, vigilant as his kindred are, that is at least one concern I can put out of my mind.”

Flexing her wings and banishing heavy thoughts for the moment, Celestia changed the subject. “I hope you have fun in Las Pegasus for Nightmare Night. Two days, and you’ll find out the truth of the rumors about how wild the parties can get there. I’ll be looking forward to your surprise.”

Glad for the distraction of a happier topic, Luna snorted with a sly smile. “I have been to many celebrations and festivities across Equestria since my return. How much more lively could they be that they have such a reputation for wildness and debauchery? This modern age pales at such compared to times past, so I shall believe it when I see it. It is a pity I cannot merely spend the holiday in Ponyville each year. It remains far more genuine a place than any of our larger cities.”

Celestia’s smile turned sly, and deciding to take advantage of their being in private, she nudged her sister. “Well, either way, I hope you enjoy it. Maybe even think about an illusion and getting yourself a stallion for the night. You still haven’t gotten laid enough since you came home. Get the stick out from under your tail while you can. I’d rather not see you start getting moody like you were over the past summer.”

Luna turned to her sister with an incredulous look, eyes growing wide before they narrowed, her speech reverting in her surprise. “Tia, thy tongue slips.”

Celestia’s eyes danced as she started turning towards her sister, feeling the need to make mischief while they still had the freedom to relax. “That reminds me. You’ll find stallions are far more willing to use their tongues today, too. Remember the way you used to complain to me about how even the mares needed proper training in bed? Poor you, bemoaning a ready supply of eager consorts you had to train to your liking.”

Slowly backing up into the private meeting room as Celestia began to stalk towards her, Luna soon grasped what was happening. Her sister was more stressed than she would admit with words and was hoping for some raucous banter, or even an outright wrestling match like they often used to engage in.

Memories of days long past, when they would personally lead their armies into battle, flitted across her mind.

After moment of consideration, Luna realized they hadn’t done any such things since her return. Celestia had been far too cautious of her feelings. Sometimes even almost smothering in how hard Celestia tried to make up for lost time and neglecting her back then.

When Luna found herself missing the kind of closeness they were still working on getting back, she crouched down like Celestia was, held her ground and narrowed her eyes with her own eager smile. “It seems thy tongue dost refuse to quiet. Mayhap We must offer a thrashing?”

Celestia’s smile grew as her eyes sparkled, pressing her nose against Luna’s in challenge, even as she cast a few spells around the room to make certain the doors were locked and their guards wouldn’t hear anything.

And ensure none of the furniture got broken.

“I do believe the sun shall rest upon the moon before this day is over.”

“In thy modern terms, We say ‘bring it!’” Luna had to resist the urge to giggle. “...chubby.”

Gaping in offended shock for a moment, Celestia hadn’t anticipated such a jab from Luna out of the blue.

After she got over it, Celestia barked a laugh, her large white wings fluttering as they spread in ready, looking forward to regaining something precious with her sister.

Then Celestia let herself drop all decorum and tackled Luna with a jovial battlecry.

***

“As I said yesterday,” Major Thunder Breaker began as he addressed the Bearers and myself, himself decked out in the same cobalt steel light plate armor as he usually wore and a number of wooden crates being arranged by some of the Guard supply corps behind him. “The first part of today will be introducing you to how to put on and move in armor. We’re giving you a bit of a crash course. Expect to be sweaty and tired by the time you get out of your armor this afternoon. I know some of you ladies will need time to develop the physicality necessary to take full advantage of it, so don’t worry if it feels ungainly at first. There is also some room in the fit for a couple of you to account for anticipated gains in muscle mass, so expect to grow into it.

“Due to the unusual circumstances you are training under, I’m afraid we’re trying to write some of the rules as we go. As a result, a lot of what you might have heard about Guard training will be out the window. We’re starting you with full battlefield plate so you get to feel the maximum effect of armor up front. In addition to just moving around, there’s plenty to learn just in proper armor maintenance and good habits along the way. Don’t worry about trying to learn it all at once. That knowledge will come with time and experience as we lead you through it.” He turned his head to the minotaur beside him. “The field is yours, Lieutenant.”

With a respectful nod to her superior, Lieutenant Bergthora Bronzehorn carried on, her golden armor catching the mid-morning sun. “Each crate has your name on it. The supply corps attendants will assist each of you with the basics of how to put it all on, the proper order to prevent pinching, and eventually, how to get back out of it. Princess Twilight, please follow Major Thunder Breaker. Yours will require some special considerations due to your unique status and body. Guardian Drayce, if you will please come with me, I will work with you as the only other biped present.”

Twilight and the girls all went to their crates and started getting into their armor as I walked with Lieutenant Bronzehorn to a crate with my name on the lid in simple block letters.

She set the lid aside and pulled out a gold-colored plate gauntlet, giving it a critical eye. “Always amazes me how fast the Equestrian supply corps works. Most of yours is a standard issue set, with a couple substitutions where needed, since you’re similar enough in shape to us minotaurs. I don’t suppose you want to tell me why your armor had the unusual requirement of a helm and modified greaves imbued with some transformation enchantments? I’ve never seen that needed before. And you wouldn’t happen to have worn armor like this before, would you? I understand you were never in the military, but I also know you had a very different technological level on the world you come from and thought I’d ask. Just in case.”

“I think I’ll save my answer to your first question for when we’re done with this armoring process. I’ll give the transformative aspect a test and show everyone present at the same time,” I replied, hefting the simple but polished cuirass and looking over the attachment methods, pleased to see they gave me armor with it’s own liner, making the accompanying gambeson lighter than it might have been otherwise. I could just wear it all over my simple shirt and pants. “As for your second question…”

Satisfied the differences weren’t as big as they could have been, I set the first piece in place and got to work with the straps as I shot her a small grin. “Once or twice.”

As Lieutenant Bronzehorn watched me steadily go through the many buckles and straps as I put my armor on, she snorted with amusement. “Once or twice my left hoof. I wouldn’t even believe it if you said maybe you were just born to your duties. Practiced familiarity is hard to fake. It’ll make helping you a lot easier, at least. How long since you wore your first set?”

Rotating my left arm and proceeding to adjust the pauldron at my shoulder, I gave her another smile. "Hey now, that’d be spoilers for our sparring match later.”

She just shook her head with a smile and helped me speed up the process since I only had two hands, myself rather impressed by the way it was all constructed. In the simplest terms that came to mind, Equestrian plate armor was visibly far more advanced than even 15th century gothic plate on Earth. The gauntlets even protected the side of each articulated finger, and it was all lighter than I expected.

Once things were in place, I pulled off the cord keeping my long brown hair in a horsetail, holding it in my teeth while I wove my hair into a basic braid, well familiar with how to keep it out of the way and secured under the plates at the back of my neck.

Satisfied, I slipped on the armored gauntlets, then the blue-plumed helm that was similar to a barbute crossed with a centurion helmet. There were some odd formations I couldn’t immediately identify but could figure out easily enough. They were located where my pony mode ears and horn would be when I shifted over.

The vaguely T-shaped opening on the front of my helm appeared a little bigger around my face than typical, but a human face seemed different from anything else that I was aware of on Equus.

My face was flatter than even the bipedal felinoid race I’d learned inhabited one of the southern jungle regions. The short part about the Mrow’sha I’d read even mentioned part of their population were born with wings, and could manipulate clouds like pegasi and griffons. It was a strange moment when I found it oddly novel that they preferred to wear some degree of clothing in their society.

I went through a few motions to check my freedom of movement. To my pleasant surprise, the interlocking segments at every flex point caused very minimal restriction. I wouldn’t be as quick and nimble with it on because of the extra weight and limits, but with a bit of practice and adjustment, some milder acrobatic moves might still be viable.

The only thing that seemed off was that the set did seem to be missing sabatons. Instead, there were some hinged flaps attached to the greaves and what appeared to be leather boots, which was odd by itself. “Huh. This armor looks pretty well made. Curious why I have a helm like this when the rest full plate. It seems off with the advanced joints and the like all over the rest of it.”

“I was just wondering if you were going to ask,” Lieutenant Bronzehorn replied as she observed my movements. “Explanation in the paperwork from supply says it was a problem with the special enchantments needed. They work well with organic materials, but not so much with metal. They can get away with heavy boots and metal flaps for your feet, but the helm’s function requires it to be almost all metal. They made some improvised modifications, but your helm still wouldn’t change enough with a full face cover. It’s either deal with less protection, or what sounded like getting your nose crushed when you do whatever it is you do. It would take a week or two of planning it out before they could even start to forge a completely custom helm for you, let alone making any adjustments afterward. There was a priority on getting all of you set up with your armor ASAP.”

Pondering that, I gave a glance over at the girls to see how they were coming along. It was clear we’d have to wait a short while for them to finish up. I decided not to question why a half-armored Pinkie was spinning a helm on her nose as one of her attendants facehooved.

Rainbow looked like she would be the first done, her two attendants wearing what I figured were Wonderbolts service uniforms.

Taking in Twilight’s status however, I couldn’t help but smile.

The way she looked over there...

Turning back to Lieutenant Bronzehorn, I could only shrug. "I’ll have to take their word for it. I think I’m still around two or three months away from when I’ll even begin to study enchantments, so I have no idea what’s really involved. Twilight might be able to help me improve things, so maybe I’ll be able to work around it later.”

Lieutenant Bronzehorn nodded. “Everything feeling right to you? Aside from the special parts, the rest is standard issue gear for the most part, and supply brought alternates for the initial fitting. It will take time to replace any of it if you don’t call out any problems today.”

“Seems fine so far. It’ll be a matter of actively testing it out for me to say much more.” I told her, flexing a hand and studying how the finger segments in my gauntlet moved when a question came to mind. "The way you were talking about my armor suggested there was more than just special order enchantments. What kind of stuff comes standard with this gear, anyway?”

Lieutenant Bronzehorn thought for a moment. "Well, the typical complement of enhancers covers heat, cold, lightning discharges, stuff like that. Standard elemental resistance spread. Most spells that have to grab onto the target also have a harder time latching on when worn by a living being. There’s a modest kinetic force disperser mixed in, too.”

Despite the casual way she said it, I had to take a second to absorb the information as I was still dealing with an Earth perspective. Part of me wondered if I would ever get used to spells that merrily distorted my understanding of physics. “Uh, ok then. General limits so I don’t do anything stupid by mistake?”

“Pretty straightforward, really. Physical impacts have an upper limit, so don’t act like a statue. The majority of races won’t have too many weapons that can crack Equestrian plate armor by muscle alone,” Lieutenant Bronzehorn began. "I believe you already know that most standard combat spells stick to simpler physical effects for speed and more efficient power use. You’ll still feel things like lightning hitting you, but with the insulating properties, it won’t immediately knock you out of a fight without a strong direct hit or two. Fire and heat resistance hold up the best, so you could probably walk through a burning house unscathed if you held your breath. As long as you don’t go trying to swim in lava, or start pissing off dragons, you should be fine. You’ll be able to read the specifics in your books as you go through all the stuff that an officer has to know.”

“Tch, humans would kill for stuff like this back on Earth. Almost feels like cheating,” I mused, tapping the knuckles of my gauntlet against the opposing vambrace, the sharp sound of metal on metal coming to my ears.

“From what I’ve gathered about Earth, what with lacking magic and some of the other things you’ve mentioned, you also don’t have to deal with some of the crazy shit we have here on Equus,” she added. “Didn’t sound like you have to face down things even half as big as a hydra.”

I shook my head. “Not even close. Biggest critter that I know humans had to deal with were elephants, which are half the size of a house, at best. Largest animals on Earth are whales, but they’re hardly a concern on land.”

“I shudder to think how bad fighting a rampaging star beast would be without any magic at all. I can’t say I know what an elephant is, though. Probably something unique to your world,” Lieutenant Bronzehorn said before she looked like something surprised her. “You know, I just realized we’ve completely neglected some basic protocol. Trying to do all this training out of order just isn’t right. Be much better if we could send you and the Bearers up to Camp Crucible for at least a short basic training. Could you show me how you throw a salute? You might have been granted a high rank equivalence and won’t be giving one too often, but command staff, and of course the Princesses themselves, still outrank you.”

“Alright,” I said as I straightened up with my heels together and feet at a forty-five degree angle, remembering my best friend Barry telling me what a proper US Army salute was years ago.

Hope he doesn’t try to blame himself for my disappearance. He was the last person to see me on Earth when he dropped me off for my four day hike into the wild and I found that orb.

I was quick to banish the thoughts before they turned to my daughter again.

It was getting harder and harder to keep my thoughts straight. Enough that I was starting to worry I was slipping into a depression like I had after that past relationship collapsed so badly. The feeling of being on edge was creeping up on me far too often.

Really hoped some new sparring partners would help. Or at least be enough of a distraction so I could cope with all I’d left behind.

Pulling myself back out of my thoughts before it was noticed, I held a neutral expression.

My gauntlet-covered right hand came up, fingers straight beside my eyebrow. My palm was almost level to the ground at a mild angle, left arm straight at my side.

To my surprise, Lieutenant Bronzehorn gave a small chuckle and shook her head. “Well then, I’m glad I remembered to check. That’s a decent salute, but that’s the correct method in only a few primarily biped nations. Some quadruped races can even find it a little offensive because of the finger emphasis. Equestrian bipeds in the Guard follow a fist standard.

“This is our way,” Lieutenant Bronzehorn said as she straightened up in a similar fashion, her face settling into a stoic expression, only she brought up her right hand as a fist. Her fingers and thumb faced outward, the back of her first knuckle almost touching the corner of her brow.

Following her example, I adjusted, turning the wrist of my right hand and formed a fist. Having seen a couple bipeds in the Guard salute before, I couldn’t fathom how I never even noticed the difference until she called it out.

“Elbow a little higher. Good,” she said, looking me over with a sharp eye. “Try to commit that position to memory and do it at least a couple times per day. It doesn’t reflect well on an officer if their salute looks sloppy.” Lieutenant Bronzehorn looked to the side. “Looks like the rest are about done gearing up.”

The two of us headed to where everyone else was starting to congregate and I took in how the girls all looked. With two exceptions, they now wore golden plate armor.

Poor Fluttershy looked rather stressed in what seemed to be a lighter set of golden armor than the rest, while Rarity wore a bemused expression as she kept trying to polish random spots on hers with a cloth held in her magic. Applejack just seemed indifferent, maybe even a little annoyed or bored.

A smiling Pinkie caused me to do a double-take when I noticed her cutie mark scribbled on the side of her now golden armored flank with what looked like crayon. Giving a glance over to where she’d been getting fitted, I saw a supply stallion sitting on his haunches with a thousand-yard stare.

Ok, not asking. Moving on.

Looking to Rainbow next, I found her wearing the more streamlined blue armor of the Wonderbolts, bearing a large golden lightning bolt emblazoned across her side beneath her wing. Her helm was lighter by comparison, with a large clear pane of something across her eyes, and a faceplate seemed to be hanging open from a hinge. On the part of her wings that weren’t just feathers there appeared to be some kind of interlocking smaller plates, and the whole set looked sleeker than the others. She really wore the look quite well.

When our eyes met, her confident smirk got just a little wider.

I had to clear my throat as I looked elsewhere.

Then my gaze moved to the sight I’d noticed from a distance and it took on new impact.

Focusing on Twilight as she walked towards me, her faceplate was raised out of the way. The only parts of her actually visible aside from the primaries of her wings was her horn and her exposed face within her helm.

The late-morning sun made her a dazzling sight.

There were intricate designs across various parts of her finely crafted silvery armor. Designs, as she drew close enough, I realized were all Equestrian runes relating to spellwork. The metal had occasional highlights based on her mane and coat colors, with the central star of her cutie mark prominently displayed across her chest. The plate there looked much like a peytral.

Following the lines down her forelegs, everything was crafted to flow from one form to the next, balancing unerring coverage at every angle with a stylized appearance that seemed almost organic. The sculpted front of her hooves looked somewhat similar to Celestia’s own royal hoof covers.

My eyes ran up and along her side, seeing similar patterns to Rainbow’s armor, tapering into the flow of her feathers in a way that alluded to being part of her natural form. Her tail was only visible as a mild bulge in her armor. Then my eyes traced back up, seeing her helm bearing no plume and contoured bulges where her ears would be, as she stopped in front of me with a smile.

As I observed the design of her helm, the organic contours of her armor gained some clarity of purpose as I noticed the stern visage that her raised faceplate interrupted. Some sort of animal design, engraved details turning up wherever my eyes landed. It bore what seemed to have a beak-like shape in front, and something resembling feathers or scales, though she would need to lower her faceplate for me to really identify the image.

“See something you like?” Twilight asked as she let her own eyes wander over me and my own armor. The fascination in her gaze said enough about what she thought.

Her question caused an old idea to enter my mind, and it was far too much fun to deny. Running with the idea rather than respond with a mere yes, I decided to be a little dramatic in the moment.

I took a partial step back and began to lift my helm from my head. “My lady,” I began in a formal tone, watching her gain a look of curious surprise. "In all days past, never did I see hint of blessed sign, that I would witness such brilliance, glorious image so divine.”

As my helm came down in my hands, I made a smooth descent to one knee before her, bowing my head after I set the helm beside me and placed my left hand on my chest. “Sighting such radiant beauty clad in stalwart armor’s shine, this humble servant does wish to kiss the hoof of Princess mine.”

My eyes turned up to hers as I held out my right hand, finding her wearing a bashful smile, her cheeks flushing as she placed her hoof in my hand.

Drawing her armored hoof to my lips and placing a kiss on it, I raised my eyes to hers with a warm smile and returned her hoof to her.

Twilight looked at me with an appreciative gaze, her cheeks redder than before. “Oh my gosh, Vojin. The things that come out of your mouth sometimes.”

“Just popped into my head to do that,” I replied, relishing the joy I saw in her eyes. Making her happy had almost become a physical need as the weeks passed. “It’s, uh, a poem I came up with a while back. Minus a couple word substitutions anyway.”

“Oh? Was it inspired by something?” Twilight asked.

It was my turn to feel a bit bashful as I glanced to one side for a second and back to her, embarrassed about the origin of the poem and wearing a sheepish grin. “I kind of wrote it after reading a fantasy story about a soldier. At one point, he met the warrior empress of a foreign nation. Liked the characters so much I got a little carried away thinking about them having a romance together, though they never had a relationship in the story itself.”

Twilight giggled and opened her mouth to say something when a throat being cleared nearby made us remember we weren’t alone.

Turning to look at who sought our attention, Major Thunder had a bemused look on his face. "If you will please excuse my interrupting, Princess, we do have a lot to do today. The sooner we get through today’s list, the sooner you are free for the remainder.” He turned to me as his expression got flatter, though he seemed to hold a faint glimmer of amusement behind it. “Be a dork for your mare later, Guardian. You have to get warmed up for your first sparring match with Lieutenant Bronzehorn so we can start sorting out where your combat skills are at.”

Major Thunder looked up at the sky and spread one wing, made a few motions, then turned and barked loud at Rainbow. "Dash! Soarin’s waiting on you! He’s got the sky course ready! When I signal, you’re wings up and airborne like the ground’s lava! He’ll be timing you from the moment you’re in the air! You want to be a Bolt, show us why you deserve to wear that armor!”

Rainbow stiffened and saluted, eagerness in her eyes. "Yes, sir!”

Stretching out his right wing, Major Thunder paused just long enough to raise the tension, then dropped his wing and Rainbow shot straight up into the sky.

Looking up to track her, I soon saw Soarin dart off a cloud and keep pace long enough to say something to her, then shot ahead. Rainbow raced after him as they flew towards an unusual collection of clouds some distance away.

Returning my eyes to the Major, my knowing we had to get on with it just left one thing for me to do before getting to that sparring match. "Well, before I go with Lieutenant Bronzehorn, I need to test out the special extras on my armor and set myself up for one of the things I need to start evaluating, too.”

“The lieutenant did mention your armor has some atypical enchantments. Considering the nature of them, I presume you can do some kind of body change?” Major Thunder said. “You make it sound like it might affect your combat ability. Not negatively, I hope.”

Grabbing my helm and standing back up, I glanced around once more to find most of the squad was present, other than Soarin and Rainbow having just flown off. The only one otherwise missing was Bright Spark. That overly flirty mare had yet to appear so far this morning.

Turning back to him, I wasn’t quite sure myself. "Mostly, it’s just different, though it might prove valuable as I learn how to make use of it. I can give you more details later when you give me the next officer’s lesson this evening. I’ll show you the results of a medical baseline I had done at the same time.”

Raising my head, I called out for everyone’s attention as we stood on the open grassy field. "If I could kindly have you all give me a moment, I have something to reveal. The Bearers already know about it, but the rest of the town doesn’t. I’d ask that none of you say a word until Nightmare Night, when I’ll be letting it be out in the open. It’s not that big a deal to keep it secret, but I thought it would be funny to reveal it by using it with my costume for the night.”

The girls just smiled as I put my helm back on, while the Guard members, supply corps included, wore curious looks.

Without any further fanfare, my eyes closed and I let myself settle into the shift to pony mode again. There was a slight tingle of magic around my feet as they shifted into hooves, and another at my head that focused largely around my forming muzzle.

For a few moments, there was a moderately uncomfortable squeeze before the helm was able to adjust far enough around my growing muzzle. It suddenly made a lot more sense why they didn’t provide a helm with a full faceplate. My ears and horn also seemed to clear an initial partial restriction.

Once I was done with the change, and whatever it was that my armor’s enchantments did stopped being active, I lifted my helm from my head and looked around with a roguish smile on my muzzle. I got far too much of a kick out of the initial shock my pony mode caused.

A quick look around showed many of the members of the Guard held varying degrees of surprise, though a few seemed to trend towards Steel’s blank response of a slow blink. Namely, it was the members of the special duty squad.

Looking back to the Major, I asked the obvious. "So, what do you think?”

Lieutenant Bronzehorn muttered something in an amused tone that I didn’t catch as Major Thunder arched a brow. "Interesting enough, I guess. Do you anticipate any appreciable effects from your altered form when you engage in combat? I see no immediate reason you might be hindered.”

As my ears splayed out, I couldn’t help staring at him for a second and frowned, eyes flicking to the other members of the squad before returning to him. "Um, I need to do some practical combat tests, but I’m a bit stronger and more durable like this. You know, I thought there’d more of a reaction.”

“This squad is all combat veterans. We’ve seen stranger things from our own ranks, let alone when fighting in various situations,” Major Thunder replied with a shrug. “What were you expecting?”

“Not even any comments on why the heck this weird magic shapeshift thing makes me look like some kind of pony supermodel?” The resulting dearth of shock that such a mild reaction gave threw me off.

It was possible that I had gotten just a little too fixated on the reveal for the shock humor. All the better I wouldn’t be keeping it secret for long.

Some special meditation might be good as well. I would never allow my ego rule me again like it did when I was a teenager. Before my parents vanished and life had forced humility into me. The people I’d hurt before my best friend Barry finally knocked me down and I’d actually listened for once. Faces I never forgot flitted across my mind’s eye.

A moment passed and I had to snap my thoughts out of the sudden rush of guilt. Where did that come from?

Maybe just talking with Twilight or new sparring partners wasn’t going to be enough. I’ve been getting lost in my head at random with growing frequency. I really didn’t like the thought of adding therapy sessions to everything else. There was only so much time in each day.

I didn’t even catch what Major Thunder said in response as a new voice caught me off guard and made me realize I had just gotten lost in my head again before I’d even escaped the previous moment.

“I’d hit it.”

Giving each other a confused look, Major Thunder and I turned and stared at Sergeant Steel for a few seconds, but all he did was give another slow blink. I couldn’t tell if he was pretending he didn’t say anything, or if he was daring us to ask.

Before I could give that any thought or formulate a response, yet another surprise came from nearby as unexpected hoofsteps over grass and ground grew closer.

The sound of someone giving a sultry growl made me to turn my head in their direction, my eyes landing on the perpetually black-robed and sashaying Bright Spark as she made her way up to me. She made no attempt to conceal her eyes roaming all over my body with a teasing, desirous smile.

Once she had stopped in front of me and had her visual fill, she hummed. "Mmm… And here I thought you looked delicious enough already.” Without warning, she reared up and set her hooves on my armored shoulders and brought her face close to mine, my hands automatically finding her sides as I leaned back a little, helm slipping from my hand to thump against the ground by my hooves. Her full three-toned pink mane covered one eye, her smile growing all the more salacious.

Being on the tall side for a mare, she was only a hair shorter than Twilight on her hind legs. It left her at a perfect height to place her almost white nose less than an inch from mine as she stared into my eyes with that smile of hers.

My body grew tense as my face grew warm. I still had a lot to catch up on with Equestrian sensuality, but I gathered she was all but saying ‘sex now’ with that deliberate exhale across my lips so I might taste her breath.

Bright Spark had my complete attention as her voice dropped into an even more husky tone. "So… What’s a mare like me gotta do to get a stallion like you in my bed? I’d be very happy to share with Twi, if you felt me up for a threesome.”

Bright Spark was a mare I had rather mixed feelings about.

She’d fast proven to be full of naughty humor, yet held an underlying determination that was sharp as a razor. Aside from the constant subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, sexual advances that were a lot like Cloud Kicker, she seemed to have a love of life that was hard not to like. Two days of knowing her and she already had me calling her by her nickname somewhat fondly.

Although fondness was questionable at that particular moment.

I gave her a flat stare in response to such a direct proposition. "You really have zero shame, Sparky.”

Drawing her head back as she blinked in surprise for a second, her smile then grew so wide it seemed like it was trying to split her face in half before she let out a strange, merry laugh that sounded full of genuine delight.

A hoof suddenly snaked behind my head and pulled me in close so our noses pressed together, her eyes dancing as she stared into my own, her voice shifting over to a slow amorous tone that made my mouth go dry. "Oh, ho, ho, ho..! What’s this? You know, I only planned to tease you because your frustration is so adorable and really did have you pegged as a ‘never’ until you said that. I am going to have so much fun in this chase. You won’t believe the things I’m gonna do to you when the game ends.”

Before I could react, she gave me a swift peck on the lips. “Every single pony, or any other race for that matter, that hasn’t give me an immediate no when I tease them like that for the first time, has wound up in my bed eventually. You being such a unique guy is going to make chasing and finally landing you way more fun than my past conquests. Please do try to resist for a while. It’ll feel so much better when I win you and Twi over that way. And yes, I’m hunting both of you now because you’re a set, hot stuff.” In a lewd whisper brushing against my lips, she added a very enticing. "Hope your stamina can keep it up… Not that I’d mind training you…”

I was once again glad my pony mode gave me that special musculature that allowed one to stop physical arousal from starting.

And that I had a metal plate over my crotch if I lost control.

“Uh…,” Barely able to do more than stare at her, I was still trying to catch up to whatever had just happened. The sheer conviction with which she spoke had me half tempted to believe her myself, much to my own consternation. “Just… what makes you so confident you’ve got any chance at succeeding?”

“Hmm,” Bright Spark’s went half-lidded before jumping away, still grinning at me like the cat that ate the canary. The sultry expression she wore oozed with even more confidence. “Let’s just say that after twenty-three times I wasn’t given an immediate no after that same kind of question, I ended up with twenty-three nights of raw passion. Usually more than one night each. And four of those were married couples, on top of it. Statistically speaking, my sample size says I’ll have your D in due time, and play naughty with your princess, too. It’s easy enough to see if I can get one of you, I’ll get both soon after. I just gotta be patient as I rub it out of you two.”

She turned and sauntered over to Twilight, hooked an armored hoof behind Twilight’s armored head with a quiet clank, and pressed her nose against Twilight’s. Twilight developed a tremendous blush as she started to stammer, only to be silenced by a similar sudden peck on the lips before Bright pulled away like she did with me.

“See you both at magic sparring later. I’m gonna go make some plans for all the kinky things I want to do to you both,” Bright said with a still broad grin, then turned and walked away towards the town as she hummed a happy tune, voluminous tail sweeping back and forth with her hips.

I closed my eyes with a groan, chin dropping as I let my head hang for a moment while my mind ran through what had taken place.

It all left me wondering if she was watching the armoring process the whole time and just decided to appear the moment she thought something interesting came up. She had been elusive the day before, too. Always seeming to appear close by me when she did show up, and rarely did I see her leave. She often appeared out of nowhere with a sly smile when I looked away and back, like she knew where to stand. A bloody ninja mare, she was.

Speaking of which, when I lifted my head to look in the direction she left, she had once again vanished before she could have walked out of sight.

Should I be annoyed, or worried, about this new development? First, Rainbow Dash was far more enticing than she should be, and now Bright Spark was clearly getting my interest?

Stop it, penis. Mares aren’t like Lay’s potato chips.

Turning to Twilight after Bright left. "Uh… What just happened?”

“I… I think she just told us she’s now courting us both for sex, if not full romantic involvement. At least, I think that’s what she did,” Twilight replied, her cheeks still red as she looked back at me with equal awkward confusion. “I never imagined it would happen like that.” Then Twilight gave me an amused look, a smile growing on her features. “You know, you never once actually told her no.”

My eyes widened as my gray ears went flat. “What? I… Oh bloody hell.”

A gauntleted hand came up to pinch the bridge of my purple-tinged gray muzzle as I grumbled. "Gah, Cloud Kicker has her limits and rules, but I’m still not sure if Sparky has any at all. I doubt me telling her it isn’t going to happen would even stop her now. And imagining what happening like that?”

As I brought my hand down from my face and looked at Twilight again, she replied with a sheepish smile that gave her an interesting look with her dazzling armor. "Oh, I, um, I thought if I found a good stallion someday, and another mare wanted to court me and him, it would be more traditional. Like taking the two of us out on a date or something to start.”

That made me pause as a swarm of new questions spun around in my head, with one springing to the front of my mind.

Was that why it felt like Twilight was almost happy that Rainbow was acting so interested in me since the train back from the Royal Summit?

So far, I had seen little of herds from what I could tell, but it wasn’t exactly something that bore informational labels to point them out on the street, either. It was a topic I’d have to remember to ask Twilight to explain, once we had time.

Of course, it also happened to be one of those conversations I’d been planning to bring up a couple times now out of curiosity, yet always had an interruption come along before I could even ask the question. Murphy seemed to delight in his timing with that one.

“I am getting the sense that unexpected and occasionally weird things have a tendency to happen around you with some frequency, Guardian Drayce.”

Hearing her comment, I turned to meet Lieutenant Bronzehorn’s bemused expression with one of my own and huffed. “I don’t exactly control it, but I can’t argue with that assessment.”

Thunder cleared his throat and moved us along. “Huh. Well, let’s hope any further weird crap that might come up in training or combat works in our favor.” Turning to the rest of the girls, he added. "Alright ladies, yesterday you learned some initial exercises after the physical evaluations. Today, we’ll see how you carry yourselves in some light sparring. One of the reasons I have you in full armor today is so you can go as hard as you can stand without fear of injury. Nothing we do today will be able to hurt you, so don’t be afraid to dive in.

“Each of you has a personal instructor to gauge your skills. Listen to their feedback and put it to use. While we’ll take it easy at first, I have every intention of working the lot of you until you’re struggling to stand after Nightmare Night. That includes you, Miss Applejack. You’re used to farm work, so I expect a higher level out of you up front. Princess Twilight, I’ll attend you personally for your introduction to non-magical ground combat.”

Major Thunder directed the girls over to a group of what I assumed were their trainers, then turned back to Twilight for her to follow him.

Anticipation starting to build up in me again, I gave Twilight a small smile. "Before you go get started, could you let me see what your helm looks like with the faceplate down? I can’t quite make out what the imagery is.”

Twilight returned the smile and her horn glowed for a moment as the faceplate descended into place, letting the image snap into focus.

The beak-like image resolved into something between a sharp-toothed muzzle and a predatory beak. As the beak ended, the blended appearance of scales and feathers flowed back across her steel-clad head. Where the eye holes resided, the image of slitted predatory eyes were present. Even as harsh as they appeared, something about them seemed to suggest something hidden within.

All together, her helm seemed to resemble a feathery dragon, completing the look of her armor well. It seemed to reflect the kind of strength Twilight had inside her.

“Celestia was actually planning to present this armor to me at the next Grand Galloping Gala as a mostly ceremonial gift to a fellow princess. Cadance has her own too, though she’s never had a chance to wear it since receiving it. While it is very ornate, this is real battle armor,” Twilight commented.

“Celestia and Luna have their own sets as well. Each set of armor was designed with two creatures in mind, fused into something unique.” Twilight raised her faceplate again. “The letter that Celestia included said mine was designed with a dragon and owl as the theme. She wrote that the major focus of mine was wisdom and inner strength.”

“It looks pretty impressive. We’ll have to talk about it more later though.” I gave Twilight a knowing smile. “For now, time for sparring. Don’t hold back on the kicking of butts today, Purple Angel. If you do enough to wind up sore, I’ll give you a massage until it’s all better.”

Twilight nodded, her eyes and emotions betraying her rising nerves as she turned away to follow the Major.

Turning to Lieutenant Bronzehorn, I grinned. “Let’s have some fun, eh?”

She chuckled at that as we headed towards the area that was set up, practice weapons on a rack for us. “Since you’re already experienced enough, we can skip a lot of the buildup stuff. Your file makes it pretty obvious you have training in more than one form of combat.”

The training space we walked over to wasn’t anything fancy. Just a weapon rack and the open grassy field, with a curious construct holding a large bag off the ground on a long rope standing nearby. I gave the rack a quick eye, seeing pairs of a few different weapon types. Spears, halberds, staves, a few different types of swords, alongside a couple more weapons. The bag didn’t make any immediate sense.

Lieutenant Bronzehorn and I began running through some warmup exercises as I gave her a little more on myself. “I’ve only studied two distinct styles. The second one I learned is Ying Jow Pai, which is more focused on unarmed fighting. That’s most of what I was using during the Trial of Proving with Shining Armor. I’ve been practicing it for close to five years.”

Once satisfied we were warmed up, she grabbed a couple of longswords from the rack and handed one to me. “Your file also suggests you have some training with a sword, considering you were wearing one on arrival, and used it when fighting the Timber Wolves. How much experience do you have with a blade?”

I made a few test swings with the longsword as I tested the balance. “My experience with a blade, you ask?”

The memory of when it began for me stood out in my memory.

***

The glint of sunlight off polished steel gave visual accompaniment to the sound of blades clashing in rapid succession. Occasional sparks sprang into life and extinguished themselves a moment later as the two combatants squared off.

Green grass underfoot as both combatants attacked and parried, longswords whirling with enough speed their tips at times whistled through the air.

The larger of the pair then made a furious set of motions, the long fiery red braid dancing in concert as their thrusting blade deflected a response at the same time the tip stopped before the opposing throat. The victor between them was rarely different in the end.

Then my parents paused in place for a second, whatever exercise they planned between them having ended, before they relaxed and smiled at each other, withdrawing to stand at ease. My father let his longsword rest over his shoulder, while my mother stood proud with a hand over the pommel of hers, tip against the ground.

My adoptive father was tall, his long black hair drawn back into a fighting braid of his own. His gray eyes held a depth to them. His frame was sturdy, if a little wiry. His plain gray t-shirt and black jeans were a common sight when exercising with mom. Dad spent far more time with a book than he should, according to mom, but she kept him fit even if she had to drag him outside at times. His usual faint smirk appeared again as he looked down at me, always seeming to know something nobody else did.

My adoptive mother was a tower of visible strength in a simple white t-shirt and blue jeans. She was almost a head taller than dad was. My two best friends, Barry and Andy, usually referred to her as the Mom-azon. Her long fire-red braid hung over her shoulder, green eyes dancing as usual whenever she wasn’t in a serious moment. Mom spent much of her relaxation time with a sword in hand. As if for a strange counterpoint, she loved making people laugh, somehow finding a way to cheer up even the worst moments in the lives of others around her. Adults said she was strange until they got used to her.

Both then turned a sudden solemn expression on me, seeming ready to tell me why they called me into the backyard without any warning.

Mom spoke in her deep melodic voice. "Yesterday was your seventh birthday, Vojin. You now have a choice before you that will change the rest of your life, one way or the other.”

Dad continued on with a smoothness that hinted at something planned. "Yesterday was also the last day of your childhood, if you choose to accept what we will offer you. Our family has many secrets. I know you are aware of this to some extent, but we have never spoken about what those secrets are, or what they entail.”

Their intensity made me swallow a sudden lump in my throat.

There was a sense that something important was happening, though the unknowns seemed to frighten me. The day just before was my birthday party at the park, playing and goofing off with my friends.

As my dad turned to set down his longsword, grabbing a broadsword with a wooden scabbard leaning against a nearby patio chair, Mom spoke further. "We would like to offer you a chance to learn those secrets. Make no mistake, choosing to do so will mean a difficult path for the rest of your life. You have asked me if I am a weapon master, to which I now tell you I am a master of battle in various forms. As is your father, though his mastery is more focused upon the mental battles. We adopted you because we saw the potential inside you. We want to pass on our knowledge, but we cannot have children of our own. You are now old enough to begin learning the truth from us.”

Holding the broadsword towards me, Dad continued. "Your mother and I are now offering you a chance to be something far more than you yet know you can be. I know you sometimes like to pretend like you’re one of King Arthur’s knights. Some of what we will teach you is how to live and fight like one. Some of what we will teach you will also make you more like Merlin. If you are ready to accept our offer of teaching, draw this sword. We will not be able to offer it again.”

The hilt of the sword in easy reach seemed to grow monstrous in so many ways, feeling myself start to shake as ideas raced across my mind. Something pressed down on my shoulders, a sense of responsibility that was greater than I’d ever felt in my young life. All I could do was stare at that hilt, unable to move in the moment.

While I stood frozen, trembling from what I saw in their eyes and words as I looked at them and the sword, Mom grunted and spoke again. "We’re asking you to learn, boy. Not take on the world all at once. We will teach you skills that will serve you for life, whether or not you ever need to use them for their original purpose because this world has changed. I know you have a tendency to get into fights at school if you see somebody that needs help. We’ll teach you to be a better fighter and a better protector. It will be a challenging life, but you will find it rewarding.”

Part of me was afraid for reasons I couldn’t really process. Another part felt a need to grab hold of the sword.

Several silent moments passed before Dad spoke the words that pushed me over the line.

“Do you have the strength to become like your favorite knight, Galahad?”

My eyes closed as I felt that urge to help those in trouble bubble within, pushing back against my fears. My eyes opened. A trembling hand reached out.

The quiet singing of steel being drawn forth seemed to resonate to my core.

***

My mind’s eye turned to the broadsword sitting back at the library, how it seemed to have it’s own unique ring whenever I drew it. Of all my possessions, it was the one that meant the most to me. Sometimes, I felt like it had a life of its own.

The blade remained unchanged despite regular use since the first day I pulled it out and altered the course of my life forever. Even though Earth had changed so far from the one my training prepared me for.

Apart from some youthful foolishness and hard lessons everyone has to learn for themselves to appreciate, my parents had given me strength for a lifetime.

I didn’t feel ready to really consider the obvious implications yet. Not when I had so much else to worry about first.

Brushing aside the idea that my adoptive parents somehow knew I’d end up in Equestria someday, my focus drew back to the moment. That they’d possibly prepared me for the strange turn my life had taken was too unsettling for me to face just then.

My answer to Lieutenant Bronzehorn’s question about my sword skills came with a slightly strained smile after squashing my existential quandaries again.

“I have enough.”

Her eyebrow arched. "And what does that mean?”

“It means you should probably treat me as an equal at first and go from there. I’m better with a blade than without. Want me to focus on sword technique only for now? ” I realized my smile had turned a little cheeky and reminded myself not to be a jackass, even if I was confident in my skills.

Her eyes narrowed a little as she smirked, rolling her shoulders once she moved to a good spot to start. "Confident in yourself, aren’t you? Alright, fine. I’ll start hard and see if you can keep up. Focus on defending yourself more than attacking. Let’s see what you can do with that length of steel before we go full out.”

I placed myself before her and got ready, my longsword settling into a standard stance with the point near the ground.

Without need for dramatics, we paused to stare each other down, then we were in motion by unspoken cues.

The song of steel rang out into the air as we attacked, countered, and deflected. Both of us were cautious, testing each other’s ability to respond. I let most attack openings pass by, studying how she moved as she studied me in turn. In so many ways, sparring with a minotaur was no different than going up against a human.

I picked up the pace in my counters and saw her smile, deflecting one of her thrusts and turning her blade aside as I tried to come back with a cut she blocked before we pulled apart again.

Thrust, parry, cut, counter. She swatted my blade aside, I forced her to cancel an attack to block. Steel on steel continued to sound in syncopated rhythm as we circled each other before seeming to agree on a moment and pulled back to pause.

Both of us stood with our blades ready, breathing a little heavier but far from weary.

Lieutenant Bronzehorn gave me an appraising look, grinning. “I’ll admit, when you said I should treat you like an equal at first, I was expecting you to be like so many recruits, always not quite ready to back it up with real skill. You have a different flow than I’ve seen, but your technique seems solid. We’re both armored for it and you have the experience. Want to step it up close to all out and see what happens?”

My grin matched hers. “With pleasure.”

This time, our initial pause came with more weight. The look in her eyes grew more focused than before, myself knowing my own eyes stared back at her with similar intensity.

There was more intention behind her sword. I could feel the difference in how much force she used. I stopped passing up openings. Her blade glanced off my pauldron, had mine slide briefly across the cuisse over her thigh.

I let Lieutenant Bronzehorn dictate the definition of all out. So I was a little surprised when she managed to land a grapple and throw me over her thigh in a display of impressive combat skill.

Our armor made a racket as I rolled with the throw in a way that forced her to lose her grip, slipping into a directed tumble to get some distance and levering right back up to my feet before she could close the distance and keep me down. Equestrian plate was quickly proving easier to maneuver in.

When our eyes met for a moment, she gave a smug grin. I rushed towards her again with a grin of my own, happy to play that game.

As we clashed again, I brought my longsword around with more energy. Then a moment of opportunity hit that let me deflect her blade with my vambrace and lock her sword out of position as I stepped in tight and got a hoof behind hers, my advance forced her to fall backwards as she lost her balance while her blade slipped from her grasp.

My better positioned hand shifted down to close around the middle of the blade, changing my grip to half-swording, then releasing the hilt entirely to add my other hand to a blade grip, which turned my longsword into a makeshift two-handed mace.

With a heavy swing, the pommel made a dull thump against the ground beside Lieutenant Bronzehorn’s head as I stood over her, looking down at her surprised eyes with a smile on my gray muzzle as both of us heaved for breath.

A moment passed and I stepped back, still holding my longsword by the middle and leaned down with my hand held out. “You asked for it, Lieutenant.”

“Shit. That’s what I get for being cocky like you’re another young guy with little real experience.” She grunted in bemusement, taking my hand and letting me help pull her back to her own hooves. “Been a fair while since I had any your age that took me down like that.”

That made me chuckle. “I’m actually older than I look. At least, my human form generally looks younger than I really am. Not sure how this pony mode appears. Haven’t learned how to gauge something like that yet. Of course, I imagine I’ve been training longer than most, too.”

“So it seems. Your unicorn body appears about twenty, as far as I can tell. It can be really hard to tell how old a pony is unless they’re very young or very old,” She added, taking the time to rotate a shoulder before picking up her fallen longsword and looking it over. “Speaking of your forms, did you notice anything about your current body? You said you needed to check it out a bit.”

Humming as I thought about the sparring we just did, “Much to my surprise, I didn’t really notice anything in particular about having hooves instead of feet. At least, not while lost in the moment. I think I slid a little less, but that could have just been a trick of the mind. Doesn’t seem I have to worry much about it after all, Lieutenant.”

Nodding, she gave her shoulder another rotation and stepped back. “Well, we still have a lot of time to work on general sparring before moving to some calibrated combat ability checks and I’m not getting any younger. Let’s go a few more rounds to see more of where you’re at. And call me Bergthora. Maybe after we have a battle together, you’ll learn how I earned my squad name and you might get to call me Boulder.”

Taking my longsword by the hilt again, I grinned and we got back to work.

Bk 2 Ch 6: Hidden Risks

Author's Notes:

And that's the second half of a simple day of sparring tests.

So much is hidden beneath the surface of this chapter...

Note: Chapter has only been edited by me this time. Please let me know if you happen to notice an error.

It was late afternoon when magic sparring came around. The last task on the day’s list for those of us that needed that kind of combat evaluation.

My body had become well-earned tired muscle. Wearing armor for several hours had left me in need of a shower, but I felt alive and energized once I was out of it. Soon enough, I knew I’d also be mentally exhausted from mental work, both in magic, and Major Thunder’s officer lesson in the evening.

The good Major was perhaps a little too eager to whip me into shape. The guy carried a deep passion to serve, and I’d already gathered he would push me hard to improve and learn how to lead a squad to the best of his ability to teach.

It also gave me a quiet sense of familiarity, remembering how Barry taught me all he knew about firearms when I asked him to out of curiosity. Being former military, he had a lot to share. Asking him to teach me in a military fashion wasn’t the best idea, though it was memorable in the end.

For a few weeks, my best friend back on Earth had been half drill instructor whenever we got together. We made so many ‘prepping for the zombie apocalypse’ jokes…

I had to pull myself out of my memory, realizing I was slipping again.

Nobody spoke about it, but we all knew we were cramming a lot of stuff in for the first couple weeks. The ambiguous timeline, unknown but anticipated dangers we knew we were up against. It gave us incentive to push ourselves.

I felt the intensity of our training regimen weighing on me after just a few days, and saw the exhaustion growing in the eyes of the girls. Even Pinkie wasn’t acting quite as rambunctious, despite her still being dedicated to helping all she saw to smile.

Or question their sanity. It was hard to tell.

Drawing in a deep breath and taking a moment to be grateful that the intense pace wouldn’t last forever, I strode across the field to where Twilight and Rarity appeared to have just finished their own magic sparring tests with our attending battlemage.

Bright Spark’s voice reached my fuzzy gray ears as I got close enough to hear her talking to Rarity.

“-ilure to respond could put you or others in jeopardy, even get you killed, if you take that approach. But as a telekinetic, you’re extremely gifted. Staying aware of what you’re capable of, and what you aren’t, is more important than trying to match casters like me or Twi.”

Rarity didn’t look too happy, and she bore signs of bruises, scrapes, dirt, and a few singe marks. She still managed to stand with dignity, mangled mane and tail notwithstanding, as she responded. “I’ve never managed to do well with very many spells. Thaumic processes remain a general mystery, despite Twilight’s occasional attempts to impart her knowledge. As a seamstress, it has never really been an issue.”

“That’s just how it is for some. However, you are probably the most phenomenally talented unicorn at multiple point control I’ve ever seen.” Bright Spark gave me a brief pleased smile, her eyes telling me she was eager to see me in every sense as I stopped beside Twilight, then turned back to Rarity. “All of your friends seem to epitomize the balancing strengths of the three tribes. You six are somehow born exemplars of all ponykind. I won’t be surprised in the slightest if we shortly discover Fluttershy has Cutting Feather capability. If anything, I expect it at this point, assuming we can ever get her to actually take the tests.

“On that note, I also want you to talk to Sergeant Cactus Root. There are some conceptual similarities in how Cutting Feather pegasi use their gift. He might give you a better insight on how to improve your control when levitating large numbers of small weapons. I’ll mostly only be able to teach you defensive techniques to compliment your blade dancing, or whatever you want to call it. Leave the heavy magic battles to me and Twi. Now you need to call it a day, Rares. You’re real good at hiding it, but I can tell you’re gonna drop and not get back up if I go another round on you.”

Giving a lady-like sigh, Rarity let herself sag as exhaustion flashed across her face. “I suppose I lack the energy to argue. You are quite the brute, Bright Spark, but thank you for getting me to understand quite thoroughly that I should never attempt to engage in real combat casting against a trained mage. I did not truly appreciate how misplaced my assumptions were that I could be modestly capable of it, given my levitation skills. I asked for your best and most thorough method, and I regret doing so.”

Bright Spark grinned, herself looking no different than she did earlier in the day, her full three-toned pink mane covering one twinkling eye. “I warned you up front about what I’d do. Your spellwork is rigid and too set in your familiar patterns. Spell-focused battles haven’t forced you to learn how to adapt how you must. You’ve had an easy life by my standards, Rares. You’re soft and snuggleable, packing seriously sexy flanks, and bangable to the point I’d love to tongue you for hours while you squeal my name. That said, you’re no battlemage. You can get stronger in your own way with time.”

Rarity opened her mouth to respond with an incensed expression, paused, then just sighed again. Her voice carried controlled calm. “I shall keep your words in mind, Disciple Bright Spark.”

With that, Rarity turned and started limping away, giving me a weak nod of acknowledgement, looking too exhausted to say another word.

It was apparent that I didn’t finish the lengthy combat review with Bergthora early enough to spectate Twilight or Rarity during magic sparring. With all the variables going on with me, there were almost twice as many combat tests and capability checks for me to work through as any of the girls.

I had thought the various endurance checks the day before were rough. The testing earlier in the day actually required me to wear armor.

Like when Bergthora got a little too much pleasure out of testing my ability to handle a few calibrated impacts.

Armor only prevented injury from a hit. Sudden changes in inertia from being slammed by what amounted to a hundred pound training bag doing thirty was still rather disorienting.

That it was for monster fighting reasons gave me a fair degree of pause…

Looking at Twilight, she appeared roughed up, but largely alright.

Rarity had looked like she picked a fight with an F5 tornado, and then lost.

With only one pony responsible for magic sparring, I began to wonder if I should be feeling a little more concerned than I was as I raised a brow at Bright Spark.

The mare in question gave me another sly smile. “Mmm… I’ve been dreaming of being very hooves on and working you over all day, hot stuff. I hope you’re ready to satisfy me, because we’re not stopping until then.”

“You making naughty jokes and attempting to seduce me is going to be a regular thing, isn’t it?” I replied with what I hoped was a less than amused look.

Perhaps the worst part about her antics was having to pretend she wasn’t making me want to smile because I thought she was entertaining.

An active lady, loaded with confident sass and a naughty streak meant that Sparky was hitting me right in the fetish. Rainbow was just as bad in her own way.

Could swear both of them already knew it, too.

“Well, you’re just so very fascinating to me. I can’t help but tease you. Maybe I’d be able to stop with the right treatment?” Her tone suggested where she was about to take things.

It didn’t help that Twilight’s emotions only seemed highly curious about the whole thing.

If she’d just be jealous, I could lock down the matter in a heartbeat.

Of course, instead of keeping matters simple, Twilight was all but telling me directly that she was interested.

That didn’t even begin to cover the issue with Rainbow. That mare knew she had my attention in no small way. And Twilight seemed almost hopeful, to top it off.

My thoughts were interrupted with Rainbow on my mind, when a mild pressure on my shoulders made me snap back out of my thoughts again, the sight before me not giving me any time to worry about mentally drifting so often the whole day.

Bright Spark was standing on her hind legs, forehooves against my shoulders, with her almost white, pale yellow nose a scant inch from mine.

A playful, breathy chuckle escaped her lips, her words anything but kosher. “I mean, exposure therapy can work wonders. A nightly treatment plan perhaps? A bit of personal attention to help me recover? You injecting your thick, heavy medicine nice and deep into my problem areas?”

I had to fight the urge to swallow the lump in my throat, refusing to give any visible sign that her efforts were working on me, even as I tried to ignore my ears twitching. A moment more and I let myself focus on the idea that Twilight wouldn’t approve and was just being polite.

The attempt didn’t last two seconds.

Yeah, with being able to sense Twilight’s emotions directly without looking, I couldn’t even lie to myself about it.

Why was it so hard to just shove Sparky away, or even react very much? Am I that attracted to her?

At least my ears don’t feel like they’re about to catch fire, nervously pressed to my white-maned head. Heart isn’t racing, either. Nope.

Stupid, traitorous ears.

Maybe I should have waited to shift to pony mode until we were ready to start the test. Knowing I had to do several tests with my magic at it’s strongest, I hadn’t shifted back all day.

“Y-you seem pretty sure of yourself,” I said, cursing my momentary stutter. “You’re as bad about personal space as Cloud Kicker.”

Another breathy chuckle came from Bright Spark as she seemed to press even closer. “Nah...she’s got her personal ruleset. I don’t have any rules to stop me beyond getting you to beg for it first. Absolutely fantastic with her tongue, though. I know you haven’t tried it yet.”

Struggling to keep my focus, my curiosity snuck past and the words were out before I knew they were coming. “How the bloody hell would you know that? You know her?”

Bright Spark’s visible eye danced with mirth as she let out a soft giggle. “Of course I know her. Who's naughty bits do you think I woke up with pressed against my muzzle this morning? She’s got a taste like fluffy, tart strawberries, and tends to gush when she peaks. She wanted you to know that, by the way.”

A shiver ran down my spine and it was only by autopilot that I pulled back suddenly, turning away as I tried to get control of myself, fuzzy ears twitching all the more. Bright Spark’s hooves slipped from my shoulders as I got a little distance.

Another moment where I was eminently grateful my pony mode came with that odd pelvic muscle to prevent certain things from popping up.

Though I didn’t regret teaching Twilight where to press to make it relax on command. Twilight seemed to enjoy asking me to resist and letting her hit my release button, as it were.

It occurred to me that I was surrounded by closet perverts, by human standards anyway.

When my eyes landed on Twilight sitting close by, I saw her wearing a heated look and busy making notes as she stared at me with a blush. The paper and quill hovered beside her, still scribbling away, seemingly with little attention.

That reminded me that I was also in love with a pervert. Still hadn't gotten used to that.

“You… You did not just take notes about me getting harassed,” I said with some incredulity.

Twilight’s blush deepened as she gave me a sheepish grin that made her look far too adorable, tapping her forehooves together. “I just want to learn what sorts of things work on you so I can use them later. None of the books I’ve read were very logical, so I want more data about ways to excite you. I can feel the effect Sparky has on you, and she still barely knows you.”

The mental gymnastics my brain was attempting to do to process everything were probably impressive. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t have access to that department and found I was locked out in the hall.

Then I realized I wasn’t getting back any mental clarity, drifting further still as though swept away by an unseen current.

Without knowing when, Twilight had moved during the blank spot, holding a hoof to my cheek.

I was breathing faster than I should have been, a strange tension registering. My thoughts seemed to be clouded without any immediate explanation.

From her close proximity, Twilight’s scent seemed to act like a focal point, and the growing haze slowly faded back from my awareness, breathing returning to normal.

“--jin? Talk to me. You’re worrying me.” Twilight’s voice was soft as she spoke, her wings wrapped around my shoulders.

I hugged her tighter for a moment as I took another slow breath, then pulled back. Meeting her eyes, my own voice was low as I spoke. “I think we need to have a chat after I’m done here. Something isn’t right, but I don’t know what to call it. I haven’t learned much about combat magic yet, so there won’t be much to do a sparring test on.” I saw Twilight open her mouth to reply but I answered the expected question on her mind before she could speak. “No, I don’t want to put it off to figure this out. I can put up with one last test to finish off the day. We won’t get any mercy in a real fight.”

Twilight frowned at that, looking like she would argue before conceding. “Vojin, you’re too stubborn for your own good sometimes. Something isn’t right with how distracted you’ve been getting. That little episode you just had could mean a lot of different things, and possible magical side effects, from a large number of potential sources.”

Taking a moment to rub the bridge of my gray muzzle, I had to focus as the absurdity of having a muzzle tempted me with another mental tangent before I felt like I had myself back in some semblance of mental order.

When my eyes fell on Bright Spark, I noticed a strange calculating look in her eyes for a brief moment before she schooled her expression. The glimpse of coldness in her eyes was so fast that it only stood out after getting used to seeing her with a playful look in the short time I’d known her. I didn’t know what to make of it as I turned back to Twilight.

Giving Twilight a frown as I brought my hand down, “Ok, is it anything we should be immediately concerned about, or can I do this test first? Sparring does help clear my head. Aside from that little blank out just now, it only feels like I need to meditate for a while, or take a nap. I should be fine. Could just be some delayed effects from trying to make sense of everything after having that spell influencing my mind.”

She looked at me for a long moment, then sighed, “As far as I can tell, there’s nothing I can find with the quick field scan I ran on you while you were out of it. I’d be more comfortable if I could do some more extensive tests immediately, but as much as I’d like to tell you not to, there isn’t anything saying you can’t do a short magic test. Sparky is an extremely skilled mage, so I’m sure she can recognize any symptoms of a developing issue with you magically.”

It occurred to me just then that I’d essentially experienced a mental blue screen. Vojin experienced a fatal error and had to close. Please contact manufacturer for assistance if problem persists.

I tilted my head to one side and made a confused scowl at the ground for a moment.

Quit it, brain. This is serious.

Squashing that last mental derailment, I looked back to Twilight, “Alright. Bergthora gave me the basics of what this test requires, so it should hardly take more than ten minutes at most. Then I will sit through whatever tests you want to run until you’re satisfied, ok?”

“Promise?” Twilight said in a tone that made me feel guilty for not letting her simply abscond with me on the spot to her heart’s content.

“I promise, Purple Angel. I’ll get this test out of the way, then we can spend the rest of the day figuring out why I’m so scatterbrained. It’s probably just as mundane as me needing time to deal with everything that’s happened so fast. You know how much it’s weighing on me.”

Bright Spark stepped up next to us then. “I’ll keep an eye on him for any indications of something going wrong. Once I put him through his paces, he’s all yours again. In fact, knowing about the link you two have, why don’t you put the isolation dome up for me. If you sense more than just combat stress from him, drop it and I’ll stop immediately. Also, if you’ll let me, I’ll place a teleportation tag on you. If I see something happen with him during the test, I’ll grab you so you won’t even have to think about dispelling the dome first.”

Twilight gave Bright a small nod. “Alright. Sounds like a plan. Thanks, Sparky.”

Turning to me after she cast the tag over Twilight, Bright Spark wore a smug smile. “While I’d love to be all over you a different, messier way, I’m still gonna enjoy playing rough with you for a bit. Walk that tightly muscled rump into my arena so I can pound it, hot stuff. When you lose, there will be a spanking.”

I met her playfully narrowed eyes with a flat expression. “There really is no end to it with you, is there?”

Deciding to just get the coming abuse over with as soon as possible, I marched to the middle of the fifty foot circle on the grassy field as Bright Spark gave a low chuckle and followed.

With a last look at Twilight and giving her a nod, her horn lit up. A glowing magenta dome spread out from overhead and to the marked edge of the sparring circle.

I knew the spell that made the dome blocked vision and sound from passing through it as a primary function. There were some other aspects, but most of it focused on diffusing any stray spells or magic bolts from flying off by accident.

For all intents and purposes, I was trapped in that dome with Bright Spark until it was dispelled.

“Mmm… Finally have you all to myself, hot stuff.” Bright Spark purred as she began walking a tight circle around me, looking me up and down with her horn channeling magic I couldn’t seem to identify from passive sensing. “Give me a summary of where your magic training is at since the Trial of Proving. As per tradition, we were hidden, but I was one of the mages running containment of the arena when the Prince-Consort used you as a chew toy.”

I quirked a brow, figuring she’d known about that event, but that she’d seen it herself was a surprise. The reminder of that severe butt kicking still gave me mixed feelings. I was reasonably certain she knew my magic level already too, but she was the one running the test.

“Well, I haven’t made much progress past the basic elemental manipulation spells so far. I’m also still struggling to make headway in shields larger than a melon that have any strength. Most of my learning is still highly focused on just learning the foundations. Telekinesis is gradually getting tighter, but I still haven’t managed very legible writing. Teleportation only happened because some of my knowledge from Earth gave me the ability to follow the processes early. Same with some personal gravity manipulation. Both are still a challenge not to overwork myself with when I do practice them. I get really dizzy and drained after three teleports together in a few minutes.”

Giving a quiet acknowledgement, she carried on. “Info on you says you sensed Discord’s general presence from over a mile away. Care to tell me how you did that?”

As Bright Spark continued to make her tight circuit around me, horn still aglow, her tail starting swishing. Each consecutive pass, she began to swat me on the backside a little more.

Choosing not to react to whatever she was up to, distracting as it was, I answered. “My training on Earth included aura sensing and interpretation. I’m not entirely certain, but I believe I could sense his presence due to his high level of power. I can sense Celestia and Luna to a certain degree as well, though it’s hard to word why they don’t stand out so much. They’re good at restraining themselves maybe? Really brilliant auras though. Since coming to this world, I’ve found I can meditate and see the auras of any living being far more clearly, too.”

“Interesting. Aura work is usually not very practical due to the minor magical aspects it touches, kind of like chakra systems. Good for enhancing self-mastery, at least. Could be very useful in certain ways for tracking and threat detection, if you know how to do that. It typically takes most mages that pursue it over ten years of practice to become proficient. How long have you been at it?” Bright Spark said, still circling me.

“I’ve been training with aura work for longer than ten years,” I replied. “It was actually a little annoying to find out auras and chakras are minor systems when they’re among the few areas of magic still accessible on Earth.”

“Hmm…,” Bright paused for a short time before continuing, her relaxed tone seeming almost out of place with the questionable contact of her tail. “I want you to show me the basic tangible elemental creations. Then tell me what kind of training you feel up for. I want to know how hard you want to push. I need an honest answer though. No false claims like some can get in their heads. Magic battles are won and lost in the span of a single thought. Egos get you killed.”

Not knowing what to say in the moment, and trying to ignore her tail swatting lightly against my rear every time she circled around me, I huffed and held out my arms in front of myself, palms turned towards each other a few inches apart.

I drew on my magic and formed a golf ball-sized orb of earth, then water, fire, lightning, air, ice, light, shadow, and pure mana.

Simple enough as that was to do, I knew actually being able to direct such elements in any useful manner was mostly out of my skill range.

I could improvise a localized effect within a few inches of my hands and horn, but I still couldn’t do stuff like launch a fireball, or shoot lighting at something. Without a cohesive spell or driving will, the energy that forged elemental forces simply dissipated almost immediately without a constant direct conduit from me.

Bright Spark gave an acknowledgement as my gaze turned to where I knew Twilight was standing on the other side of the glowing purple wall of the isolation dome.

What I wanted or hoped to do for my own interest came second to knowing I was somehow sent to help keep Twilight safe. I had no idea what I was going to be up against in the future.

As I thought about how to say what I wanted for training in combat magic, I thought of what I knew about mages and their Orders in Equestria. I just didn’t know that much, or what to ask, forcing me to guess at possibilities.

“Would you be willing to train me like an apprentice of the Disciples?” I said earnestly. The Disciples had the most capable reputation as battle magi that I knew of, and Bright Spark was one of them.

To my slight confusion, Bright Spark froze in place, her tail silently slid away from the most recent swat as she went still. For almost half a minute, she didn’t even twitch an ear.

Her voice was different when she finally spoke, carrying a strange tone as she responded at lengtyh without looking at me. “The only way I would do that is if you request to become an actual Apprentice of the Order, stallion. Our methods are both unique and secret. If you choose to take the test of a Candidate, you have the capacity to pass, but you will die if you fail. We do not make exceptions. Our Order is one of the few with the Crown’s approval for such.”

My eyes flicked back to where I knew Twilight stood, so close, yet blocked from knowing what I was doing during the test with Bright Spark.

As a physical fighter, I was capable. I had experience to draw on.

Then I thought of the unknown threats to come, and how much Shining Armor had outclassed me in the Trial of Proving when he went all out against me.

There was so little I could do in return, beyond a lucky surprise attack he didn’t think I could pull off.

How many times and ways he had obliterated me with his magic alone, changing his tactics merely to give me new ways to be beaten?

My abilities in a magic-based fight left me hardly better than a child.

There wasn’t much of a choice for me to dither about with. “I have to be ready for whatever is coming, Disciple Bright Spark. That means I need to be as strong as I can be in as short a time as can be done. It doesn’t matter how hard it might be. If joining the Disciples is the most effective route to being the strongest I can be in this crazy ass world of magic, then that’s what I have to do.”

Bright Spark moved silently to stand in front of me a few feet away, looking up into my eyes with a cold look similar to the one I had caught a glimpse of earlier. After seeing her almost always wearing a smile of some sort in the short time I had known her, the look in her eye felt far more ominous for the difference.

Her look was one of unending fury I’d never seen until that moment.

“You’ll find no better than the Disciples when it comes to battlemages tasked with taking life from others,” she began.

“To join us will break you, like all of us have been broken. We few are held together by force of will and our demand for vengeance. We are just, but not gentle. We are controlled, but have no mercy. We relish the blood we spill, flirting with the madness of a murderer. We pray for death by our own brothers and sisters of the Order should we lose our way. We are hunters without remorse that even the denizens of Tartarus know to fear. Our mournful path is without peace once begun. To the last breath, we fight.”

I had a sense that Bright Spark was speaking something old. The presence she held in the moment was unsettling.

“Vojin Drayce, this is your final chance. Any further, your life is bartered.” Bright Spark’s gaze held no warmth as she looked back at me. It was pure cold fury. A tempest restrained by no more than raw will. “You have been told what you seek to bring upon yourself. Make no mistake, fail my test and I will kill you.

“Now… Tell me your decision on requesting to join the Disciples of the Deathwalker.”

For several tense seconds, I couldn’t speak as I met her gaze. My mind was clear from the rising anticipation of battle, distractions pushed aside. In that moment, I felt I couldn’t let myself question whether I was thinking it through enough or not.

Instead, I thought of Twilight, of Rainbow, the friends I had gained.

Of those I would never see again.

Of the coming battles, the unknown dangers to come.

Of the time limit on my life no matter what I did.

And how my whole life, I couldn’t turn away from someone in danger.

The air was still within the isolation dome as I straightened, the heavy silence broken as my right fist connected to my left palm in the tradition of the kung fu I had studied, my head bowing briefly with my hands out in front at shoulder level before meeting her gaze again.

Disciple Bright Spark knew my answer as she gave a faint snort. For the first time since I had met her, she reached up and pulled the hood of her cloak over her head, her voice coming out in a harsh snarl.

“So be it.”

Her cloak seemed to ripple before pulling inward, drawing in tight to her body as it pulled back from her legs to reveal the polished steel hoof guards and vambraces I had only seen now and then. The hood seemed to almost melt as it formed into a cowl around her head, body appearing black as night in the effect as her strange cloak covered all but the area around her eyes, and her mane and tail.

It was then that I finally saw the lines of her body as the cloak became like a second skin.

Where Rainbow Dash was a lithe athlete, Bright Spark was visually a match for any soldier. The physical bulk her cloak had been hiding belied the playful demeanor she’d held, or how light her armor-clad hoof could feel.

She raised her head high as her horn shone brighter, the soft yellow hue of her magic descending down from above as the isolation dome changed to her own coloration. Her eyes remained locked on mine the entire time without blinking.

When it was done, her horn dimmed and she turned her head so her mane hid her eyes from view, letting out a mirthless, somehow cruel chuckle. “It never gets old to me. Play along the right way, expectation and patience does almost all the work for me. Working for the Disciples keeps giving me so many opportunities to craft these moments. And I have the Crown’s trust at the same time.”

As she turned her gaze back to me, a sinking feeling began to form.

“I don’t even have to pretend now. We’re locked inside this dome, free from interference for as long as I want. Certainly far longer than I need, but I get to play for a bit this way,” she continued on with cold humor. “You see, I am a killer for hire. Don’t much care why, but a certain party wants you dead. And you let me get everything set up so neatly to execute you in a believably legal way, it’s laughable. Even failed to notice I layered a lovely little charm over your magic to stunt your mana flow to a trickle, just because I kept swatting my tail against that cute ass of yours. Well, you’d be lucky to even know how to counter the spell in the first place, but it’s the lack of thought that counts.”

With that sinking feeling rapidly growing, I was really hoping this was just part of the test as I tried to draw on my magic. The sluggish response and limited power that answered worsened the feeling as my heart raced.

Bright Spark rolled her shoulders, starting to flex her limbs in a casual manner and almost dismissive of me standing before her. “Go ahead, take your time. I certainly can at this point. I like watching as the realization sinks into a target. I’ll get to using you as a training bag prior to turning you to ash soon enough. I love to savor these moments of dawning horror. Specifically, when the full depth of the shit you’re in is revealed. Like finding out you aren’t the only target I’m after.”

Her words ran through my mind, a ball of ice forming in my gut as the possibilities carried along, implications slowly sinking in.

“Since you’ve entertained me so much for the past few days, I’ll make you a deal. I take great pride in never changing a contract with a client. You are the only mandatory kill. Your pretty little princess happens to be just a secondary for a bonus. Keep me back for ten minutes, I won’t finish her off. I do this more for the thrill than the money, so make it fun for me and you’ll save her. She should reach the hospital in time. No promises about what others do for her.”

Bright Spark threw a couple strikes at empty air for a moment before going still and looked at me expectantly, the coldness in her eyes unwavering.

I struggled to form words. “You’re… What kind of psycho are you?”

She huffed and rolled her eyes. “Flattery won’t change anything. Anyway, you know the deal. Let’s get this started!”

Her horn lit up once more, the aura visible through the hood turned cowl, and then Twilight appeared next to her with a soft yellow flash.

Surprised by the sudden involuntary teleportation, Twilight glanced at me, then at Bright Spark. “What happened? I sensed Vojin getting really tense, but nothing I expected would warrant bringing me in. Why did you use the teleportation tag and pull me into the isola~AAALCK!”

My heart stopped as Bright Spark’s armored forehoof connected with Twilight’s throat, cutting her off mid-sentence. The force was enough to knock Twilight’s head back, her mane trailing around her face.

Before I even had time to react, Bright Spark had followed up to strike a wing with a wet crunch. I was starting to move as a third strike caught Twilight in the jaw with another crunching sound. A desperate hand was flying forward to knock the mare away as an armored hoof found purchase against Twilight’s foreleg, an unnatural bend forming.

The last instant before I could make contact, Bright Spark teleported. I almost connected hard with Twilight as she collapsed and I struggled to shift the momentum of the strike. It was all I could do just to slow her fall to the ground.

Desperate to figure out what the bloody hell I was supposed to do, I stepped across Twilight’s rasping, writhing form so I covered her as best I could. The sound of her struggling to draw breath, knowing she needed immediate medical attention, tore at my heart.

Through our link, I was freaking out, and I felt her panic spike as mine did, forcing a terrible clarity to take over me. I had no time to gauge how much pain she had to be in as I pushed out all distraction, only keeping aware of her lying wounded below me.

It was mere moments of trying to see where Bright Spark went before a sudden hit to the middle of my spine forced a pained grunt as I struggled not to fall forward. I turned sharply in an effort to hit back, trying to keep her back without moving away from Twilight, yet finding only a receding flash of teleportation and empty air.

Whipping back and forth as Bright Spark continued to blink around within the isolation dome, a heavy impact found the side of my ribs.

“Guh...!” Breathing suddenly became a struggle, quick to recognize a cracked or broken rib from prior experience.

Bright Spark appeared ten feet away, looking back at me with a cold eagerness. “Realized you’re going to die yet, stallion? Perhaps clinging to the false hope you’ll be able to stop me somehow? It’s a pity they put such hopes on you, only for you to fail so soon. Let me drive home the reality of this moment a little more.”

She disappeared in a flash again, then appeared beside me as she struck the side of my left knee before I could even react, nearly blowing it out if I hadn’t moved with the hit, and flowing right into a stomping strike at the base of Twilight’s horn before vanishing again. To my horror, I could see the small crack left behind as Twilight tried to scream, her damaged throat only managing a harsh croak as my heart and mind raced.

“Just in case you thought a bookish princess might still somehow save the day. Can’t cast around a cracked horn. The pain would ruin any capacity to hold a spell together, if you haven’t trained to surpass it.” Bright Spark mused from behind me, again a short distance away where I could not reach as I struggled to turn.

I couldn’t hide the shock on my face as I looked back at the mare. The severity of how outclassed I was left me stunned, even beyond the pain I was already feeling. And she was getting barely started.

There was no way for me to stop a trained mage without catching them by surprise.

And Bright Spark was focused fully on me, free of any distractions.

“Tell you what,” Bright Spark began, beginning to stalk a wide circle around me. “Short range teleportation being my personal talent, I could keep hitting you from behind all day. I need almost no power to cast it. Unfortunately, that won’t be as much fun. How about I only teleport away when I land a hit on you first, hmm? Give you a chance to at least try to block. I’ll also only start breaking bones when the game is almost over. Having never met anything quite like you, I want to see how you come apart. One piece at a time.”

Glaring back at her, racking my mind for something to work with, I growled. “Maybe you could’ve blamed killing me on some initiation test, but nobody will believe that with Twilight.”

Bright Spark gave a snort of amusement. “Oh, that? Yeah, I don’t really have to care once she’s dead. I could just claim she tried to jump in during the candidate test and got killed in the process. As it is, she won’t survive an hour without help. Possibly not even as long as it takes for me to finish you off. Maybe I’ll make you watch her die, instead. That usually gets me a beautiful expression of anguish. Try to stop me, pretty boy. I’m done talking.”

With that, she surged forward, curving around towards me as she broke into a run. Jumping into the air, Bright Spark’s forehoof shot forward towards my cheek.

I moved to block it…

...then saw her armored hoof pass through my arm and slam against the side of my face before she teleported away again.

Stars flashed in my vision from the hit as I tried to recover, trying to locate her again as the flare of pain ran it’s course with the dull burn of another injury layering in with what I‘d already taken.

She struck again, another block failing to defend before she moved back and stalked around me again. Then another that drove me to one knee because I refused to move away from Twilight’s rasping form.

Not able to spare enough time to glance down, I picked myself back up to keep track of Bright Spark. The sound of Twilight’s weak, ragged breathing seared into my ears as I tried to fathom what I could do.

Something in the hits felt off from what I expected. Every blow, her strike passed through my attempts to block like my arm wasn’t even there.

By the laws of magic I’d learned, she couldn’t possibly be powerful enough to phase matter so accurately and still physically hit me in such a short span of time.

What wasn’t I seeing?

Pulling up my magic the best I could, I slowly drew in what energy was still accessible. Maybe there was a way to get a lucky shot. I could feel whatever charm Bright Spark had placed over my magic trying to bleed off the energy I struggled to raise.

Without something, I was at her non-existent mercy.

Just as she charged forward and struck the other side of my ribs before teleporting away again, I noticed the charm was changing the draining focus between my magic expression points at my horn and hands.

It was a single-target spell.

With my unique gift granting me more than one expression point, I could subvert that part of whatever Bright Spark had cast.

It would be difficult to draw up any power on top of it, and Twilight warned me not to, but my eyes narrowed at Bright Spark as I relaxed almost all control over the magic in my horn and felt the charm fix itself there as my limited capacity began to flow unchecked into the draining effect. The highly disturbing sensation of what I could only say felt like my soul being slowly squeezed in that direction was forced out of mind.

After a couple short minutes, I’d pass out from magical exhaustion and I’d be as good as dead, but until then, magic formed at my hands would be free to build. A slow charge was still something I could possibly use, and an ambient charge could be formed into a spell, though it was inefficient over prepared casting.

I saw Bright Spark narrow her eyes at me with a look I couldn’t place, then charge forward again. Another attempt to block, another blow to the head landing as pain bloomed in my left eye.

When the next attack came in low, I caught another small break when my view was looking in the right spot to see it happen.

Just before the blow passed my attempt to block as before, I saw a depression appear in the grass in the shape of a hoof.

In that moment, I realized Bright Spark was displacing her position with an illusion of some kind. My fighting experience had been telling me she was positioned wrong for how she hit, and I’d figured out why.

It was at that time she also ended her pause between attacks.

With so much ingrained in a fighter’s response to visuals, trying to anticipate an invisible blow was near impossible, but she could only connect close to the illusory image from so far off.

Forcing myself to block where I thought she was coming from on the next attack, I caught her hoof with a forearm and managed to deflect most of the force before she teleported away again.

She paused out of reach for a second, a calculating look in her eyes. “Hmm…”

I could only guess what she saw as she charged forward again, a sudden combo got me a blow to the kidney and another cracked rib. When she appeared behind me, I had no time to react when she delivered a powerful hit to the back of my right knee, nearly breaking the joint as I landed on it. Despite how painful it was to stay put, I kept trying to cover Twilight the best I could. Putting weight on that leg would take too much out of what little I had left as I heaved for each painful breath.

Knowing I was quickly running out of time, I pushed the mild magical charge I had been able to gather into my right hand. I needed to know where she really was, and hoped I could disrupt the illusion. It was all I could think of with my limited training.

Two more blows from the side and behind, then she came at me from the front again.

When she got in range, I didn’t take time to block as I tried to strike where I thought she’d be.

My right fist flew forward and connected with invisible resistance, getting a soft yellow flicker of her face before the sound of something small exploding was heard, and the illusory Bright Spark vanished in a brief cloud of magic sparks. The isolation dome lost the soft yellow color and became magenta again at the same time.

“Mother bucker!” came Bright Spark’s voice from beneath me.

Snapping my useable eye down, I saw Disciple Bright Spark laying where Twilight had been, armored forehooves pressed against her skull at the base of her horn, eyes squeezed shut in pain. What looked like a shattered spell crystal of some kind lay not far in front of her face.

The sudden shift of events seemed to snap something in my head, and all I could do was stare. Even the pain in my body seemed to dull and grow distant.

After a moment, she pulled her hooves back and looked up at me with pain in her eyes. “Some kind of special ability, indeed. Gonna have a nasty migraine for hours now because of you. Still, I’m very glad I won’t have to kill you. You passed, Candidate.”

I tried to think of an answer, but was somehow unable to respond.

Why wasn’t I feeling any concern about that?

Why was everything but errant thoughts suddenly miles away?

Looking up at me, Bright Spark seemed to grimace for a different reason. “Shit, I was afraid this would happen. Vojin, I know you can hear me but not respond. I’ll give you the quick and dirty. The test is over. Twilight was never in the dome with us, and she wasn’t in any danger. That was all a ruse. I’m not a merc. You are going to need some special help, but you’ll be alright afterward. If you are even able to control your physical body right now, don’t try to move around much. I might have been using a powerful illusion, but your injuries aren’t fake. You’ll need medical attention on top of magical help. At least you should be cognitively unable to notice any pain sensation for the time being.”

Teleporting out from beneath me, she stood in front of me as she pulled back her hood, her cloak shifting back to the draping garment it was before. Looking back into her eyes, I saw a hard edge with a strange glimmer of sadness, her voice so faint I wasn’t certain she was talking to me at first.

“Those in Tartarus watch us closely. They know when and who we recruit. A quiet life will never exist for you again. You’re among the shadows now…”

Turning her head, Bright Spark’s horn pulsed once.

The isolation dome fell moments later and Twilight rushed over to me, worry evident in her eyes and our link.

Seeing her whole and unharmed squeezed my heart even through the odd state I was in.

As soon as she was close enough, I watched my body lash out and my arms wrapped around her as tight as I could manage, noticing something grinding in my ribs and unable to feel much of it. All I could do was cling to her as my chin came to rest on her shoulder. My emotions were a torrent and a blank at the same time.

“Eep! Vojin! What’s going on? What kind of sparring test did you do? Sparky, what happened? I felt him become completely terrified. Why did you rough him up so badly?” Twilight held me back, sounding accusatory in her questioning Bright Spark.

All I could think for a moment was that Twilight wasn’t hurt.

That I wasn’t about to lose her.

I couldn’t lose anyone else.

As though it was all that needed to be explained, Bright Spark simply said, “He asked to join the Order.”

“Wha-what…?” Twilight’s voice faltered, shuddering as she gripped me a little tighter, unaware of my internal damage as she nuzzled the side of my head. “No, no, no. Vojin, please tell me you didn’t. They might work for the crown, but they’re extremely dangerous! Please, please tell me you didn’t try to join them. Half of their applicants are killed just taking their tests.”

“He can’t answer you at the moment, Twi,” Bright Spark said. “Either way, it doesn’t matter. He is now a Candidate of the Disciples. That’s not the most important part at the moment anyway. He’s experiencing a Mind Latch. If he goes to sleep, or his injuries make him lose consciousness, without his head being fixed first, he’ll slip into a Mind Lock coma. General estimate from what factors I currently know is a four year trap. We can’t move him much, and definitely not touch him with any direct magic, until he shifts to the next stage and we know how his mind is coping. I have a set of prepared spell stones to start healing it, but you know they have to be activated in order, based on the state of his mind. Once he’s progressed enough, we can get him initial medical care at the library. The local thaumic stabilizations in your lab will make our job much easier.”

“I will talk to you about it later, Bright Spark,” came Twilight’s voice in a tone I hadn’t heard from her before, then her head lifted from mine, worry and confusion running through her words. “How can he be at risk for Mind Lock? That’s a seer’s disease caused by mental overload from being exposed to overwhelming futures or visions. Vojin isn’t that kind of mage, nor has he shown any inclination for visions.”

Bright Spark replied in a quiet tone that I thought was at odds with how brutal she’d been during the test. “Celestia gave me a warning he might have set himself up for it after breaking the Rose Window. You know how risky that spell is if something goes wrong with it. Breaking free of it like he did, it seems like everything went wrong for him, though not even Celestia knows why. I asked.

“Until now, it was just theory that breaking a Rose Window like he did could induce Starsight Syndrome. I know how to fix it, but I’ll need your help to be sure things stay balanced. Don’t expect to get any sleep tonight, either. We’ve got around a twelve hour mental healing to do for him. Thank Celestia’s precautions for giving me the prepared reagents we’ll need, just in case this happened. Also, he’s got broken ribs, among other injuries, so don’t hold him too tight. He probably can’t feel much right now, but he took a lot of hard hits from me. Saw him face Prince Armor during the Trial, so probably not, but a bad enough burst of pain could still potentially knock him out, and he’d be much worse off.”

I felt Twilight’s grip suddenly become far more delicate, my ear close enough to hear her swallow. Whatever a Mind Latch was, I didn’t know. I just couldn’t seem to control my body beyond clinging to Twilight. Rampant confusion was all I could manage to feel.

With a far more gentle nuzzle to the side of my head,Twilight spoke softly into my gray ear so only I could hear her, words coming as a faint plea. “Please stop getting hurt so much…”

The sound of wings in the air reached my ears just then, followed by Rainbow Dash landing in my field of view. Her expression darkened as she looked at me, starting to make her way closer. “Hey, mind telling me why Vojin looks like he went to Tartarus and b-ACK!”

Still seeming unable to control my body, I was further confused when one arm suddenly pulled away from Twilight to snake around Rainbow, yanking her into a tight hug as I started shaking.

“I’m, uh, happy to see you too?” A confused Rainbow Dash said, her chin coming to rest on top of my head when I didn’t respond, subtly pressing herself closer. “Um, Twi. You mind explaining?”

With my mind locked up, Rainbow’s nearer wing pressing itself lightly to me where it couldn’t be seen was odd in how much it stood out. Most pegasi kept their wings tight, even when hugging a friend, leaving more questions to linger in my malfunctioning mind.

How does she really see me? Was there something I did to catch her attention that I couldn’t recall because of my messed up memories of the past two months?

Though I hadn’t asked, I had gotten a sense that Rainbow didn’t get close to stallions beyond one night stands. She never got touchy beyond a close friend, yet she treated me differently enough that I noticed.

As questions whirled through my mind in the midst of whatever was wrong, I felt a powerful urge to let out a battlecry, scream in terror, laugh my head off, and even give a dreary sigh. The only reason I couldn’t manage to do anything seemed due to nothing staying long enough for me to react before it shifted again. The ringing tone starting in my ears was just another confusing part of it all.

Twilight gave another tiny nuzzle to my ear before her head lifted. “It’s a complex magic issue. He’s dealing with substantial mental interdiction, and can’t currently react to stimulus as…,” Twilight paused, giving a weak huff before continuing. “The short answer is we need to wait for Vojin. He’s going to be fine after we fix the problem. Once we know how his mind is moving, Sparky and I can get to work. Please be gentle, too. She got really rough with him.”

Rainbow didn’t make an audible reply, her chin rubbing the top of my head before going still.

Letting out a sigh, Bright Spark moved around where I could see her, her expression mixed as she placed a hoof against the back of the hand I had on Rainbow’s back. “Vojin, from now on, the bulk of your training comes from me. My test was the unwinnable fight, and how you face your own impending death. You weren’t supposed to break my illusion. I was going to tear into you even more. Right until you looked up into my eyes as I acted like I was going to crush your skull and end you. You can stare death in the face and keep your wits. Even better that you held on for the sake of another. That is why you passed.”

For whatever reason, my hand moved of it’s own accord and held Bright Spark’s hoof there against Rainbow’s back. I didn’t know what to think of the mare in that moment after everything she’d just done.

Her other hoof came up to hold my hand, a curious tone to her words.

“Regardless of whatever you think of me once we heal your head, you have my word that I’ll never lie to you again. There may be times I tell you a half-truth out of necessity, but I will never lie. Since I’d be surprised to see you fail the test of the Apprentice after what I’ve learned about you so far, you’ll understand what it means to be a Disciple in due time.”

The only clear thought in my head about it was wondering what I’d just signed myself up for by seeking to join the Disciples.

Some distance away, I noticed Major Thunder Breaker land and look our way before starting to head over with a concerned look.

The ringing tone was gradually fading as my shaking began to subside, my eyes slowly closing as my face turned to press against Twilight.

Bright Spark gave a grunt and a soft squeeze to my hand. “That’s it. Twi, he’s transitioned. After I scan him, I’ll carry him to the library. He’s doing better than most if he’s mentally strong enough to start recovering movement already. Tough bastard, popping a Latch that way.”

Everything remained hazy as I felt myself being moved onto my back, and probably onto Bright Spark’s own from what little I could discern. They had pulled me away from the hug, but the grip I had on Twilight wouldn’t let go of her mane, keeping her in arm’s reach.

Bk 2 Ch 7: Looking Back, Looking In

Author's Notes:

Well that took entirely too long.

This is a small chapter broken out of the upcoming one to get something up after such a long delay. A bit of a review of the plot and character development, with some humor and squishy feels. And a couple terrible jokes.

Next chapter is already well underway. Now that I've got some momentum going again, I intend to get that done before the end of this month, barring the unexpected.

The chill of late fall was making itself known, further announcing the inexorable approach of winter.

Having learned more about how the Equestrian Weather Service operated, I knew they moderated, rather than fully controlled, the passing of the seasons. For all that they could do, nature could still take over if they didn’t respect its balances.

On that chilly morning, the distant sounds of activity heralded early starts to decorations that would continue for most of the day. The Nightmare Night festivities in town were planned to start later in the afternoon.

Lost in thought after breakfast, the much closer sounds of the next room were largely tuned out as Spike did morning chores, and Twilight hummed quietly to herself as she worked on something.

Sitting at the small kitchen table of the library, a place I had slowly begun to think of as home more each day, the comforting heat of the coffee mug held in my fair-skinned hands was just hot enough to give a sting to the skin. The heat seeping into my fingers was a silent reminder to sip carefully and take my time, rather than rush and regret.

The swirls of coffee bean oils that came out during brewing were visible with the right angle. Things so delicate that the slightest exhale across the top of my morning brew made the flowing patterns shift wildly. The patterns of reflected light were easy to direct, yet still utterly unpredictable in the motions of their tiny details.

My life since arriving in Equestria, far more often than was palatable, seemed to be resisting my attempts to take control over its overarching course. I felt more like one of the little details, rather than the guiding wind in my own life.

Was I forced to move to someone else’s whims? Or just experiencing the most unpredictable run of luck I’d ever had?

At the same time, I was also troubled, wondering what else might suddenly go wrong. If I had even more hidden bullshit issues tucked away, just waiting to jump out and potentially take me down.

As a result of my being able to empower Twilight by temporarily giving her my magic, she was able to heal the bulk of my injuries from the test with Bright Spark, rather than my getting stuck in the hospital for a day or more.

Again.

It was something I had been on track to manage nearly twice a month, with how things had been going.

Although I still ached a lot, Twilight’s efforts had reduced it to just moderate bruising.

Twilight had wanted to finish the healing, but I made her stop when I saw her exhausting her strength. She hadn’t let herself rest after working with Bright Spark to fix whatever had gone wrong in my head. She still needed another full night’s rest to say her magic was fully recharged.

My own would also be weaker for a couple days.The simple aches and soreness that remained in my everything were, at least, tolerable things. Not unlike losing a street fight, I supposed.

The Disciple herself had finished the mental healing, told me she’d give me time to think until sundown on Nightmare Night, and hadn’t appeared since.

My thoughts were mixed about her, and what she did.

Even after two days, it was still a struggle to get my head around the test that Bright Spark had given me.

Part of me wanted to be pissed off. The test was extreme, even excessive. I’d been convinced she was going to murder Twilight right in front of me before finishing me off. It was a hanging question over how traumatizing it had been for me, and only time would let me figure that out. Surely nothing the Disciples got into needed that kind of awful test.

Another part of me was more deeply troubled about things the test had highlighted for me.

Foremost of which, was how far out my league I was in a magic-heavy fight.

Shining Armor and Bright Spark both hit harder than a loaded freight train, but they were ultimately just testing me in their way, as opposed to what Bright Spark made me think about her intentions during her bloody test.

Whatever the future held for me, I needed to get markedly stronger with magic than I was. The whole notion was both harrowing and infuriating.

A physical melee was almost second nature in a way. There was training and street experience for me to work from. I’d learned to be a brawler, capable of holding my own against multiple opponents, if I had to.

Yet, the moment I faced a real enemy that could wield magic, there was the fear that things would go really bad, really fast.

That I wouldn’t be able to protect Twilight against a wizard at all.

My mind turned back to the vision of the Tree of Harmony, and the glimpses of the future shown to me by Celestia and Luna. That there were five other Guardians coming to help me keep the girls safe was both relieving, and somehow even more nerve wracking.

I needed to find them soon, but had little idea how beyond letting the visions come to pass.

It was with great frustration that I had to avoid talking to Twilight about much of it. She knew some, but on the parts that weren’t from Celestia or Luna, I’d been all but ordered to remain silent.

The idea of disobeying whatever gave me the vision of the Tree of Harmony, and what it showed me, of sharing the words of each Guardian’s confirmation event, was one act of defiance I wouldn’t even dare to entertain.

Whatever that voice was, it was something far beyond anything mortal life contained. Whatever force it was that gave me a window into the future had snatched me away from Celestia and Luna, on their own alternate plane, and not even they had any idea where I had disappeared to.

Five Guardians. Five hazy future events where they protect the girls when I somehow could not. Most gave little clue to when they were coming.

The words I heard still stuck firm in my mind.

When you are not aware of the threat, they will give you time.

A back alley in a city somewhere as snow fell. The Guardian took a knife for the Bearer right as I joined the fight after racing to locate a Bearer that went missing. A tracking spell, used out of an abundance of caution, was the only reason we found them fast enough. Something I was already making sure I could cast.

When you must hold back the mountain, they will rise to tear down the danger pursued.

The area had been a cave, so I had no idea when it would be. The Bearer had been cut off by a cave-in after some sort of stunning trap went off, myself somehow staying awake but stuck shielding our group from a cave-in as I slowly fused the stone above. The Guardian rose first, and rushed to their Bearer’s aid by tearing through a large boulder that blocked our path. It was why I was making very sure I knew my earth manipulation spells.

When you cannot arrive in time, they will fight off the many.

What little I’d seen had suggested a street lined by smaller buildings, likely a neighborhood. The Bearer had stopped for some reason as multiple unknown enemies rushed in while I was too far away. Their Guardian came around a corner like a freight train.

When you turn wild and ignore the true threat, they will stand against the storm.

A sandstorm and heat, but little to see in the area, beyond what was likely a desert. I had somehow gone violently feral and ignored the wounded Bearer, their Guardian dropping out of the storm to save them from an unknown enemy.

That vision had shaken me the deepest, as each was a glimpse through my own eyes and thoughts.

It was the moment I knew I was going to lose my sanity before my journey was over. A faint shudder ran down my spine again at the mere thought.

I had no idea what was coming to cause me to sink into madness. No way to prepare. It was one of my deepest fears that was shown as not only possible, but essentially prophesied for my future.

It was also the one thing above all that I wished I could tell her. Twilight and the girls only knew I’d asked them to make sure I never forgot who I was. They didn't know the full weight behind it. Luna and Celestia knew, having seen the visual portion of the event, but would remain silent about it at my request so I couldn’t dwell too much.

All I really knew was that I had to face it. If I didn’t, Twilight would experience something that could break a mind instead.

Swallowing a sudden lump in my throat, I accepted it as much as I could in the moment.

No matter the cost to me, I would be Twilight’s shield against all things.

The last vision came to mind as I put my fears aside.

When you cannot truly understand, they will know the depth of pain in the mirror.

It had been a snow-covered field as Bearer and Guardian had an outright brawl with each other, each breaking a bone of their opponent. For unknown reasons, the two seemed on the edge of killing each other, only to end up crying in each other’s embrace as they lay in bloodied snow when the vision ended.

Without any knowledge of the preceding events, there was no way to know why. The only possible clue was a sense of recent loss in some way, but I did not know what that meant.

The only other clue I had for any of them was the sense that each would have a possible romantic connection with their Bearer. The only ones so far that fit that criteria were Big Mac dating Fluttershy, and Fancy Pants was looking to start seeing Rarity somewhat soon.

There were the funny looks Pinkie kept giving Sergeant Steel, but random as she was, it didn't really say that much when I thought about it. It could just be a result of him not smiling or laughing at anything.

The vision of the Tree of Harmony had granted no further clarity to who or when. Each was an embodiment of some kind of supporting aspect to their Bearer.

Devotion, Endurance, Absurdity, Abundance, and Faith.

The Tree had called me the embodiment of Potential, making the set of six.

It was frustrating to know I wasn’t allowed to tell even Twilight about anything the voice of the Tree had shown me.

My troubled, wandering mind then turned towards the strange orbs of what seemed to be the fundamental forces of reality itself. Of the staggering, incomprehensibly vast power I’d felt in them, and was nearly subsumed into the last of them. The voice of the Tree claimed I was supposed to create them, when I was ready on some ambiguous final day.

A tighter grip on my mug gave slight evidence to how overwhelming that part felt, staring into the dark liquid in a vain hope of fathoming everything that weighed on me in the patterns.

My thoughts stopped drifting as a most welcome interruption drew near.

Knowing she was there before I’d even registered the sound of her approaching steps, Twilight soon slid up beside me to wrap her forelegs around my middle with a soft nuzzle against my cheek.

“Still nervous about meeting Sparky this evening?” Twilight asked quietly.

Taking a slow breath and exhaling, I leaned my head into her touch. “Not even entirely sure, Purple Angel. At the moment, I’m just trying to sort through everything. We’ve hardly started and I’m still struggling just to fathom being in another world, then suddenly learn I’m responsible for the safety of several individuals, including you. And that’s before even getting to all the other stuff with magic and some serious questions about my entire life. I’m not sure where to even begin.”

All told, in addition to all the unanswered questions, I found myself wondering where Fate was going to take me in the two years I had left for my life.

And what I would become by the end of it.

Straightening myself, I set my jaw and made myself shoot down a large gulp of coffee.

Holding back a wince as the heat made itself known, I knew I burned my stupid self as the liquid settled in my stomach with the expected sharp sensation of heat.

Maybe I was more unsettled than I thought. Stress would sometimes revive some self-destructive habits I had struggled with in the past.

Then the reminder that I wouldn’t have to face the challenges alone came a moment after my poor life choice of downing coffee that was perhaps a little hotter than desirable.

“Vojin! Are you crazy?!” Twilight exclaimed as she gripped my shoulder. “That was too hot! Are you trying to burn your esophagus? And don't try to to tell me that didn't hurt. You know we can feel it when the other experiences pain.”

That had been a surprise discovery from the day before about our link. As our bond grew deeper, we had begun picking up on new aspects. Finding we could sense each other's pain had been accidental, after I was looking over some officer training material and got a nasty paper cut while she was facing the other way. I had barely realized I was cut when she spun around to ask if I was okay.

Several minutes after, it registered that she reacted without knowing I cut myself. Questions became an experiment with a pin, and we understood.

If we had figured it out before the test with Bright Spark, I wondered if I might have reacted differently.

Letting the facade drop as I saw her worried yet exasperated expression, I grimaced as I rubbed my mildly scalded throat. “Okay. I agree that was dumb.”

Whatever was in my future, I was never going to be the same. I just hoped I'd still recognize myself in the mirror at the end.

“Well, if you're done acting like a masochist, I actually came in here to let you know I finally decided!”

Unable to do more than blink at her, I waited for her to continue. Twilight had already learned when to ignore my male shenanigans rather well.

“I've been trying to come up with one that I liked,” Twilight said in a satisfied tone as her magic waved a rolled up parchment. “After coming up with a full page of different options while figuring it out, I know what acronym I want to call you by!”

The brilliant smile she suddenly wore upon saying that made one of my own start to grow.

Twilight’s voice was light and happy. “It took me a lot of deliberation to settle on one that seemed right. From now on, I am going to call you my wonderful, surprisingly cuddly, B. I. G. A. S. S.!”

There was a moment where I took it in stride, until the aggregate statement hit.

With the eager, hopeful expression she wore, I restrained myself to a tiny snort, struggling to contain my reaction. She seemed nervous under the surface, so I could not let myself laugh right away.

“Twilight, you…,” I started, trying to find the words as my mouth twitched.

“It means Best Interdimensional Guardian, Amazing Special Somepony. Do you like it?” Twilight sensed something was off as I clamped down on my growing urge to guffaw, her face starting to falter a little.

Before she could continue, I managed to force out a strained, “That’s v-very flattering, Twilight. C-can I please see the list of the other options?”

She started to frown and passed me the rolled page she had, Twilight began to blush in embarrassment. “Oh, there’s something wrong with it, isn’t there? I… I know it could be better, but-!”

A finger touched her lips to stop her as I smiled. “Hey now, I really do appreciate the gesture, Purple Angel. I just feel extremely curious about the list. Just…give me a moment…”

Must. Not. Laugh.

Opening the rolled page, I started glancing over the other options she had, seeing her choice as number three.

Several of the other options began to make it infinitely more difficult to keep my humor contained, my eyes seeming drawn to a few more egregious ones.

Protective Extra Nice Intelligent Stallion
Romantic Undeniably Tough Mischievous Encourager
Caring Unselfish Miraculous Impish Nonchalant Sexy Indulgent--

…

Oh good gravy.

It just kept going.

How I was able to restrain myself by that point had become a mystery.

“T-Twilight, did you ch-check if the acronyms formed any w-words?” was all I could squeeze out before needing to actually bite my tongue to keep quiet, holding her list out to her.

Her nerves remained on edge as she took the list and started to review what she had written.

The slow march of distinct expressive results grew as her eyebrows went up, ears went down, and a blush grew steadily across her face until it reached all the way to her neck. Twilight worked her mouth for a long moment as she finally looked at what she had done.

Suddenly, her quiet voice reached my ears as she peeked at me from behind the page, “Oh sweet Celestia, my subconscious is a pervert…”

Nothing could stop the hearty chuckling that escaped. Though held back from turning into a howl of laughter, I didn’t dare try to form words and kept my mouth clamped shut.

Once more attempting to impersonate a tomato, Twilight just stared at me chuckling at her being silly for a long pause before she managed to get her voice back.

“Ok, so maybe I forgot to check for that,” she said at length.

Clearing my throat to keep my cool as an idea began to form, I replied with a smug smile, “Twilight, a lot of the options on your list are highly suggestive.”

“I’m starting to think maybe you really are corrupting me.” She gave a quiet grumble as she looked to one side for a moment. “I just can’t believe I didn’t notice. I came in here to give you a term of endearment and ended up calling you an ass.”

Snickering, I couldn’t help myself. “Well, thanks to you being a silly girl, you wound up accomplishing both. I wouldn’t mind you calling me your wonderful, surprisingly cuddly big ass from now on.”

“That’s… I couldn’t…,” Twilight stumbled over her words, as if my reaction was entirely different from what she expected.

“Oh, and one other thing,” I continued with a growing smile, leaning closer and booping her nose with a finger, causing her to scrunch her muzzle into one of those cute expressions she had. “What did I tell you happens if you act like a silly girl.”

Watching her eyes and our link, I saw her go from sudden confusion, to surprise, to a moment of contemplation, then finally grew into a bashful little grin as realization set in with a swish of her tail. “...They might be screwed silly soon after? But did you actually just say you want me to call you an ass? And that it would be the same as when you call me your Purple Angel?”

A lot of responses flitted across my mind before sweeping her off the floor and into my arms, uttering one word. “Yes.”

Despite a faint shiver of anticipation, Twilight seemed to gain a sly smile as something came to mind. “You do realize you’re inviting me to call you an ass, particularly when you really are acting like one, right?”

“Purple Angel, me being me, even if I never quite get some things right, I shall relish the idea of you making frequent comments about my shapely, firm posterior,” I said with a flourish as I headed for the stairs to our bed.

Blinking for a few moments as she stared at me, Twilight shook her head before nuzzling my cheek, her voice sweet. “...You are an egotistical ass sometimes. You ass. My ass…”

As we started up the stairs to take advantage of the day of rest for the holiday, tender feelings all around, an unexpected voice spoke up.

“Hey, could you two be sure to remember a sound dampener spell, or keep it down? You forgot the library was open last week and Golden Harvest got an earful that made her blush for some reason,” came the words from Spike as he carried on cleaning like it was the most ordinary comment in the world.

Twilight and I shared an embarrassed look as my steps faltered. My face felt a lot warmer after that, and matched my lover’s own.

How exactly do I get myself into these mixed moments so often?

Bk 2 Ch 8 - A Nightmare Night Begins

Author's Notes:

Not letting myself miss Halloween this time.

Still some work to do on the remaining two parts of the night, but this is going up so I capture the time of year appropriately. Next two parts are far less focused on the particular holiday stuff anyway.

Lots of stuff being set up here.

The light jingling of bells accompanied a faint rustle of heavy cloth as I finished settling my costume for the evening. The three-toned blue robe was decorated by a few well-researched stars and a crescent moon on each side. Another moment of jingling sounded as the broad-brimmed, tall and pointy blue hat of similar design was placed upon my head by Twilight.

Her gentle giggle brought a smile to my face as a hand came up to stroke the long white beard now attached to the chin of my muzzle, taken from my tail that had been regrown. As part of the presentation, I would be in pony mode for the evening festivities.

My insistence for one had also seen a decorative crystal added to the top of my quarterstaff. The crystal itself was not drawn from Equestrian history, but Earth fiction. A small personal touch that I couldn’t resist.

A roguish grin appeared on my face, a swish of my tail hidden by my robe. “So, how do I look?”

Twilight stepped back and looked over the complete image of what we’d made together. The time we’d shared as we attempted to make things as historically accurate as was rational was now a warm memory, but those kinds of quiet evenings would stick with me in times I needed them. And with how limited our time had been since the squad arrived, I was glad most of our work was done by then.

“You look like Starswirl the Bearded on two legs. There’s a more distinguished charm to your face with that beard. Nuzzling under your chin is a little strange, but I think it makes you look wiser,” Twilight answered.

“Tch, if only function followed form so easily,” I replied, a stray thought coming to mind. “Hey, I just realized… We’ve been up to Canterlot twice now, but you never mentioned visiting your parents. They do live there, don’t they?”

For herself, Twilight was wearing a simple brown hooded robe, with a braided cloth belt bearing a mix of symbolic colors, having decided to dress up as a historically accurate Clover the Clever, aside from slits for her wings. To the average eye, it would seem plain, but a history buff would smile.

“You actually asked me that on the way down from Canterlot, the first time we were up there,” Twilight said as her eyes found mine with a faint hint of regret. “They’re on a trip to Neighpon while my mother is doing some research for her book. They’ll be back in time for Hearth’s Warming.”

Feeling my ears give a twitch, I let out a small grunt at having forgotten something else.

Every time I ran into another moment I forgot because of breaking that spell, it caught me off guard in how much it dug at me. Only time would stop it from getting to me.

If only because holes in my memory about so many little things would blur a little more beneath each new day.

“I still think it’s funny to learn about the origin of that mistaken idea between Starswirl and Clover having ever known each other.” I told her, wanting to change the subject.

Twilight gave a little giggle as a hoof covered her mouth. “I still can’t believe the idea got so widespread because of a popular historical fiction novel twenty years ago. I don’t think I will ever understand how so many ponies got it into their heads that Starswirl somehow taught magic to Clover the Clever. Not only did they live centuries apart, but they were gifted in entirely different schools of magic!”

It had been strange to find out the real Clover was a healer and philosopher acting as an advisor and close friend of Princess Platinum, and that Clover had lived and died long before Starswirl was even born.

And how the Unification and Founding of Equestria was around 3600 years ago.

The amount of history I had to learn as part of my training to be an officer was boggling. Most critical was my lacking the general education Equestrians got as they grew up.

Yet, I had to learn. One step at a time, and no thought to how long the road would be. There was no other choice to be had.

Then, a faint tension began to grow in my chest at that moment, swelling and twisting my guts as my hands clenched. A recurring experience since recovering from Bright Spark’s test.

Before it could go very far, I knelt next to Twilight with a soft jingling of bells and wrapped my arms around her. My face buried itself against her neck as I trembled, holding her tight as my hat slipped from my head.

Twilight said nothing. A foreleg slipped around me as she returned the hug with a fierce gentleness.

A few times, the false image of her lying near death had sprung up at me. The unfamiliar quiet panic of believing I was about to lose her threatened to crack my easy-going facade, needing a minute or two of just holding Twilight close to calm the new fear.

Despite expecting to adjust in due time, I didn’t resist taking the time to just hold her tight. To know she wasn’t going anywhere.

The test made me realize Twilight was the very core of my ability to handle all I’d been through. That I had little else but goodwill from others in the strange world that was my new home.

Without her, it would have crushed me.

***

The upbeat din around town fit well with the various decorations strung around the town as Twilight and I made our way towards the square that held most of the activity.

The early evening was chilly, but comfortable. A slight breeze kept the air fresh as part of me prepared for a meeting that left me on edge.

Muted sounds filled the air with a syncopated rhythm as our steps met the road, my staff tapping alongside. My hand rested against Twilight’s neck as we walked, welcoming the closeness. The bells on my costume rang out in the night air in an almost subdued fashion.

Both of us had been tempted to just forget the party and enjoy a quiet evening together, but knew more than a few friends would hunt us down if we didn’t show up. The thought that left a small smile on my lips.

As we drew near the town square, a new song began.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFo8-JqzSCM

My smile broadened as familiar guitar notes sang out into the air. A quick chuff of amusement escaped as the lyrics began, washing some tension from my shoulders.

Before I knew it, my tail was swishing to the beat under my robe. Twilight giggled when our eyes met, the two of us stepping to the beat. Both of us able to forget our worries and relax for the evening.

Aside from the obvious things, I could close my eyes and almost feel like I was on Earth. To be concerned with only dealing with the discomfort of a crowd of strangers, and my long tradition of finding a couple friends before sitting off to the side somewhere to stay out of the rest whatever hubbub I was talked into attending. A little bubble of space to pass the night in good company, rather than the press of party throngs.

It was incredible how fast Vinyl Scratch was recording copies of music from my smartphone. Equally impressive was how fast she was establishing translations that seemed so close to their original language.

I had spent a combined four hours of sitting with Vinyl to record word pairs for her to run through enchanted translation crystals that did most of the work for her. Aside from locations, names, and unknown technology references requiring a direct touch to change or leave in, most things crossed the divide far better than I had anticipated.

The square was laden with banners, lights, and booths that suited the Nightmare Night style. Off to one side, Vinyl Scratch was running her setup, a few ponies dancing in the space in front. Vinyl waved a greeting when she saw us at a distance, as did a lot of the townsponies that noticed us.

A lot of surprised, amused, and often delighted smiles were directed my way at seeing me in pony mode for the first time, though I had the impression it was being written off as part of my costume.

As we soaked up the happy atmosphere, we found ourselves drifting towards the apple bobbing booth and Applejack. It was a little separated from the main flow of the crowd, and quieter in contrast.

Before we could make our way over, Twilight and I both grew tense, when a new set of hooves matched pace beside me. The one mare I was almost dreading to see again.

Bright Spark said nothing at first, a glance at her showing a calm seriousness on her face that seemed at odds with the burlesque outfit she wore, fishnet stockings and a burgundy corset with plenty of frilly black lace. How she got so close without my even noticing until she was there, I could only guess at.

Upon nearing the stall Applejack was running, the mutual silence was broken.

“Twi, I need to borrow Vojin for a short while,” Bright Spark said as she kept her eyes forward. “Dangerous situations don’t respect holidays, so neither does training a new Candidate. Time to get started, but I only need him for a few minutes this time. That’ll be it until tomorrow.”

The three of us stopped in front of the stall, a questioning look on Applejack’s face as she sensed a reason we had not yet said hello.

Twilight met my eyes, then looked to Bright Spark with a twitch of her wings. “I… There isn’t really much for me to say, Disciple Bright Spark. I know enough about the Order, but thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Princess Twilight Sparkle,” came the neutral reply.

Bright Spark looked up at me, expression unchanged. “C’mon, hot stuff. We don’t have to go far. I just want to avoid getting bumped into.”

Meeting her gaze, words failed me at first. My eyes narrowed as hand and jaw clenched.

Looking at Twilight reminded me why I made the choice to begin with, then turned back to Bright Spark. “Let’s go.”

With that, she turned and headed towards a small alley a short distance away. Turning back to me, there were no words at first.

Bright Spark gave a sigh, something unsaid crossing her face before she spoke. “I went through it in my own way when I joined the Order, Vojin. One of the most important things you have to understand, is just how dangerous this world we call Equus actually is.”

Her head turned and looked towards the partying townsponies, giving a somehow sad snort.

“Most of them have no idea anymore. They haven’t suffered the deep pains of mortal life because those like the Disciples keep the shadows at bay. For them, real harm is mostly little more than a matter of story and fiction. They don’t know what’s constantly done to shield our society and protect them. The scary shit we stop, for their sake. So most foals never have to find out just how real their worst nightmares often are.”

When she looked into my eyes again, a smoldering fury was growing.

“And far too often, they will never know they should be thankful. If they even realize you fought for them at all. Or worse, think we aren’t needed anymore and look at you with misplaced disgust. You’ll rarely be appreciated for it, save by the ones you rescue from worse than they’d already been through before you arrived. This is a small hint of the life you agreed to take on.

“Above all else that might happen, remember that Disciples never fight alone. If you manage to become an Apprentice and find you can’t fight anymore someday, our compounds are our home and our rest. We’ll provide for our own. Although, beyond enough time to recover from something particularly nasty, no Disciple has given up the fight forever. Even if it takes years to stop waking up screaming from the scarier shit, we find a way to fight again. Even if we manage to grow old, there is only one way we stop. To the last breath, we fight.”

Smoldering, unending fury gleamed in her eyes like an uncontrollable forest fire at a distance. A vicious energy that told of destruction that had been wrought, and was yet to come. A flame that blazed hot enough that it might ignite others if they drew near enough.

To burn with, or be burned by, I did not yet know.

Tightening my grip upon my staff, I sank down to my knees after a glance back at the townsponies and met Bright Spark at eye level. “What are you going to teach me?”

A whisper of a smirk found the corner of her lips, but she did not otherwise react. “My giving you time since the test was for me to consider how to start. You said you trained to read auras. I have a spell to place on you that will take advantage of that as part of opening your mind to the necessity that comes later. Kind of advanced for a fresh Candidate, but you have the right preemptive knowledge for this. Tonight, you are going to start learning to focus under constant awareness. It will be enough for now.”

An eyebrow arched up. “What does that mean?”

A slow, devious smile crept across her face as her horn lit up. “It means a splitting headache and hating my guts for a while, hot stuff.”

The subtle sensation of spellwork slowly wrapping around me was felt, while Bright Spark mumbled some chant too faint to pick up much of.

“Sol… una ex duc… rorum aper... ocul… veri… vitae…”

When her words stilled after seven cycles, she spoke clearly. “Brace yourself. The first time always hits like a freight train.”

When she activated the spell, nothing could have prepared me for the impact it made.

…

Suddenly, I felt like I was being swept away.

Color.

Impression.

Emotion.

Presence.

Brilliant Life all around.

It was all I could do to gasp as I swooned from so much at once. My eyes slammed shut against the radiance, body folding over to hold my head, hat clamped in place by chance, as my staff fell clattering to the ground with a hurricane’s roar.

All of them.

Everything.

At the same time.

A raging torrent pounded at me as I grasped for anything I could hold onto, even my link with Twilight and sense of my own body drowned out by the rush of it all.

There was nothing coherent but the deluge until something caught me. For an unknown length of time, a miniscule thread of something slowly drew my mind out of the raging tempest.

I became aware that I was panting, though I had moved little. Too much was still raging around to open my eyes to the brightness around me, clinging to the thread. It dawned on me, over what felt like hours, that I was leaning into a touch.

Every sound was hitting me at the same time, my ears uncontrollably twitching under my hat in every direction in a fruitless attempt to track them all. Muscles were slow to heed my attempts to move.

After what felt like an age, I found myself beginning to pull my mind back with grudging effort. To set aside portions of what was assailing me like arranging a pile of stuff on a table. As I sorted more pieces, my capacity to understand began to return. Comprehension of senses I didn’t know I had were akin to standing in front of open floodgates, surging through me as an overwhelming whole.

Voices told me range and emotion, hoofbeats shaped solid objects. The sense of auras battering a near tangible strike against my skin. A pulse from the land beneath me thundering against my being.

Pressure in my skull rose as the thread I’d clung to was revealed in Bright Spark keeping me from falling on my face, cheek pressed against the side of my head, her body holding me up.

Time meant little while getting enough room in my own head to think again. The slow effort of sorting through and setting aside much of what I was registering came with grudging steps through the overwhelming weight. The staggering presence of every living thing within an unknown range starting to register with vague coherence as I managed to shut more things out of my awareness.

As time crawled along, I knew my mind was not made for what was being forced upon it.

Piercing pain settled into my head as the awareness of so much faded like a tub on my back being drained. As less remained, so too did the cognitive pressure lessen. Even then, it all washed across my body along the way, leaving me knowing much of it by direct exposure.

A shaky hand made it to the ground, pressing down some fractional degree, a powerful migraine throbbing in my skull. Nausea danced in my guts, a part of me tempted to puke on Bright Spark for putting me through whatever she had done. The hand still on my head squeezing against as much as I could grasp, trying to counter the pressure within.

“Wh-what did…,” was all I could gasp out before needing a few more breaths to continue. “What…did you do?”

Bright Spark said nothing, only giving me something to lean against.

When the inner storm had at last calmed enough where I could pull away from her, I chanced opening my eyes.

For a moment, it was like first stepping into the light of the sun from a dark room, leaving me to wince as I adjusted further. Right in front of me, Bright Spark shone like a beacon that was not made of light. Both hands pressed palms to the side of my head, squeezing my temples and nearly dislodging my hat entirely.

As the near blinding appearance of her gradually faded to something tolerable, somehow a soft yellow glow not really seen with my eyes, she finally spoke.

“It will never go away completely after we’re done with your training, Candidate. That is your first glimpse of how all Disciples learn to see. In time, it changes even how your mind interprets things. I wish you would never have to learn from personal experience the reason we do this, but that would be false hope. We are the last resort, and now, you have seen as we do.”

My body felt weak, though my strength was returning as things kept fading further away. Glancing towards the crowd that was enjoying the party with little regard to us, I saw a sea of flowing, dancing lights that kept dimming. Lights that resolved themselves into the townsponies as my mind continued to calm.

A hand held in front of my face revealed a faint white glow that was also receding, then turning my eyes look at Twilight as she stood near Applejack. The bright burnished orange around AJ was almost overwhelmed by proximity to Twilight’s blazing magenta glow.

All living things around me, even a tree in the distance, had some sort of glowing haze surrounding them. My practice sensing auras had shown such things in part, but only with a clear mind and intentional focus.

Bright Spark had somehow torn a veil from my sight, and auras were almost a physical presence. Swirls and eddies, shifting colors that weren’t really color as I knew them.

“Hey, hot stuff,” Bright Spark said quietly, calling my attention back to her. “That’s it for now, other than a little warning. Usually don’t have to mention it for a while, but you’ve got some atypical skills, and I understand you don’t have enough background for risk factors in a few spots. Never try teleporting anywhere you can’t see. You try to teleport into a solid object by mistake, you’ll never reform. Try to pop in with a solid object occupying part of the space, it’d be a rather messy event. You’d only reform your mass in the unoccupied areas, and what didn’t fit gets compressed into less than a hoofwidth of space from the obstruction. And to help make my point, I’ll remind you water doesn’t like to compress, and will rapidly release itself in that case. The words ‘a fine red mist’ would be literal. The term ‘chunky salsa’ would apply to any part of you caught by the ensuing decompression blast.”

As that lovely image started to sink in past the pain in my head, I saw her face tighten a little as Bright Spark continued. “Headache should pass within the hour. What you see will probably last a few more. Trust your instincts, as they’re more open, too. I’ll be nearby to keep an eye on you, but there’s nothing further tonight. This little introduction is about absorbing the experience. Enjoy your night with Twi if you can. You’re not the only one with a migraine.”

Before I could even think of how to respond, she turned towards the alley. Walking down the short space we’d slipped into, she then teleported to parts unknown without so much as a glance back.

Staring at the empty alley for a few moments, I picked up my staff and used it to help get off my knees. Giving myself some time to move past the queasy side effects of the migraine, I made my way back to Twilight, a small sweat prickling across my skin beneath my thin fur.

When my eyes fell on her, I saw my pet raven, Solomon, sitting on her back. I didn’t give it much thought, considering my head felt like it was about to split open.

Drawing near, her mouth started to open, but I held up a hand to forestall any questions, trying to keep bright lights out of my vision. “I’m sorry, but I need a quiet bench or something for a bit. She kinda did a number on me, and it left me with a pretty bad migraine. I need some time before I’m ready to do much of anything right now.”

Breathing in my nose and exhaling from my mouth, it was taking more effort to keep my stomach under control.

Applejack responded before Twilight could. “Ya’ll can set yerself down on the bench next ta my booth, Vojin. Ya’ll ain’t lookin’ so good.”

Managing to thank her before shambling towards said bench, I all but collapsed onto it.

Twilight sat down beside me as I held a hand over my eyes, thankful that there were no pressing issues to deal with. It had been a long time since I’d had a bad heachache, but after whatever it was Bright Spark did, I had what was easily the most horrendously painful migraine of my entire life.

The soft chime of magic came from Twilight as a small, gentle wave of magic passed through me. Probably a healing spell, but it had no discernible effect.

If anything, I felt like I was heating up.

A soft rustle was followed by a weight landing on my shoulder opposite from Twilight. The quiet kaw made it clear that Solomon had decided it was time to claim a favored perch again. His growing habit of following me, to either watch from nearby or perched on my shoulder, had been interesting.

Paying him no mind, I brought my hand away from my eyes and looked to Twilight. Even turning my head made me dizzy, as the heat was leaving me damp from sweat in the chilled evening air.

“I don’t suppose you have a spell for magically started migraines, do you?” I asked her.

She shook her head. “I just tried the one I know and it doesn’t seem to have worked.”

“Thanks anyway,” I said with a strained groan as I set my hat on the bench beside me, feeling sweat pouring out of me. “Maybe something to cool me off, at least? A bucket of ice water?”

Twilight touched my knee, her voice taking a different tone. “You feel overheated?”

“Yeah. Lot better than when Sparky initiated the spell,” I replied. “I can deal with being sweaty for a while”

“Vojin, listen to me. Are you getting hotter, or feeling like your senses are going fuzzy?”

The anxious edge in her voice gave me pause, Solomon started preening part of my mane as I turned my head to look at Twilight. “I feel like I’m getting a little hotter, but nothing that would be unreasonable from a sudden massive mental load and the rush of caloric energy that takes. Why?”

Her face grew tighter with concern. “Vojin, I know we didn’t go over Cascade Events yet, as that’s more a concern with an advanced magic level that you haven’t reached, but you might be experiencing one. One theory I know about Spellweavers is particularly concerning because of your unique nature. I’ll give you a minute to see if the heat stays or not, but if you don’t start cooling down then we’re going to the hospital.”

All I could do was grimace, aggravation rising at the idea of some new hidden thing going on with my body. I had to take a slow breath beyond just keeping my stomach calm. “Ok. Give me the summary and we’ll see where I’m at once you’re done?”

“Alright. Cascade Events require high energy spells to be cast. Depending on how the resonance interplays, it can also be multiple spells at lower ranges in short succession. Powerful wizards have been known to sometimes induce one in themselves from magical duels.” Twilight explained, her hoof rubbing my thigh with nervous energy.

“Regardless of initial symptoms, heating or sensory loss, the majority of cases can suffer a feedback loop of mana use without directed control. A spellcaster can focus and regain control of the recursion, but that takes special training you likely wouldn’t grasp until you have more knowledge. While it is serious, external stabilization treatment until a spellcaster’s mana reserves empty means it usually isn’t life threatening. You don’t have enough of a mana reserve to spontaneously combust from a Cascade like I do, but you might overheat enough to damage your internal organs.”

As sweat continued pouring from my body, I wiped a hand across my soaked face as I panted. Despite the chilly air of the autumn evening, a snowbank to lay in would be rather appealing.

“Well that just sounds lovely. What was that theory about Cascades and Spellweavers?”

Twilight’s tension was rising as time passed. “Um, there’s the idea that, assuming very specific circumstances, a group of Spellweavers could enter an Exponential Cascade. In that case, the whole idea of individual mana reserves becomes meaningless from magic rapidly folding in on itself in ways that have never been known outside of theory. Of course, in order for it to be possible at all, Spellweavers would first have to be intrinsically merged in their magic. Although closely tied, the teams still aren’t intrinsically bound that way. On top of that, they would have to be simultaneously not aware of drawing their magic up, while also giving it no direction. Which is usually an inherent impossibility because you give purpose to your magic by simply calling it forward.”

There was a sneaking suspicion growing in me in her explanation. “What does ‘usually’ an inherent possibility mean?”

“Spellweavers could, in theory, be intrinsically bound in the right way. You qualify. Fortunately, the only way known for the latter is a spellcaster to be both unconscious and drawing fully on their magic. Since sleep casting can’t draw that much before interrupting REM sleep and waking the caster, I think you can see how that is kind of improbable.” Twilight said, pressing into my thigh as she leaned a little closer. “How are you feeling? That was long enough.”

For a brief moment, I contemplated saying I was fine, because I was really fed up with hospital visits.

Once my less intelligent urges were pushed aside, I took stock in myself and found I was feeling the chilly air a little more than I had been. A moment more, and the heat did seem lower than before. “The heat seems to have peaked, or at least stopped rising.”

The wave of relief I felt from Twilight was surprising.

“Oh, I am so glad to hear that. It might not have been a Cascade, after all.”

“It was kind of scary to you, wasn’t it?” I asked quietly, slowly starting to cool off.

Twilight gave me a meaningful look. “You could have developed second degree burns on your lung tissue, you ass.”

After the notion made its way through my head, I blinked. “Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh,” was all she said, her eyes closing for a calming breath as my hand rested over the hoof she had on my thigh.

A few more minutes passed, neither of us feeling the need to speak. The Fall air worked to bring my temperature down and helping the migraine fade, with a faint unease lingering in the back of my mind that began to register.

The festivities carried on in town, unaware.

When I noticed I was starting to shiver a little, I raised my hands in front of me to cast the little cleansing spell Twilight had taught me, only to have her interrupt by grabbing one hand with her hooves.

“Vojin, just in case it really was a minor Cascade, don’t use your magic unless you have to tonight,” Twilight warned as her horn lit up. “I’ll cast it.”

The soggy, icy feeling of sweat faded from my body, then a small warming spell. Twilight scooted close and leaned into my side after she was done, pulling my arm around her shoulders.

“Thank you, Purple Angel,” I said, giving her a soft squeeze as the sound of approaching hooves reached my ears. “Pity the migraine wasn’t affected. Sparky said it’d last about an hour. Seeing auras for a while at least makes for some interesting sights.”

Before I had much chance to turn my head to see whom had approached, the question was answered for me.

Loudly.

“Hi, Mister Vojin!”

The notorious trio known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders so declared their presence, causing me to wince as the migraine reminded me loud noises enhanced the sensation of a splitting skull. A small surge of nausea provided a chaser as my ears folded back against my head.

With a small force of will, I made my ears perk up and managed a faint smile. “Hello, girls. Enjoying your night?”

A costume-free orange earth stallion with a navy blue mane that I didn’t recognize stopped behind them with an apologetic smile and tired eyes. His mark was a fancy-looking clay vase.

Rainbow Dash was beside him, a dark blue bodysuit with white covers and lightning bolts on her hooves. The lightning bolt necklace and headgear finished her look as Zapp from the Power Ponies.

As she replied, I saw Applebloom was dressed in some sort of body suit that made her look like a skeleton, only her ears, mane and tail visible. “Me an’ the girls are doing great!”

A smiling Scootaloo was wearing a blue bodysuit and mask, her mane and tail done up to copy Rainbow Dash. “We just finished our candy run. What a haul!”

There was something about Scootaloo that made me pause for a second, but beyond a weird sort of wiggle in her aura, I didn’t notice any immediate reason.

Sweetie Belle, her mane and tail the only parts not wrapped up in bandages like a mummy, chimed in. “I really like your costume! How did you make yourself look so much like a pony?”

The unknown stallion spoke up, a somewhat embarrassed smile on his face. “Uh, sorry if we’re interrupting. The girls saw the two of you sitting here and had to say hello.”

Twilight smiled and shook her head. “We were just relaxing for a little bit, Ceramic. I’m glad you managed to schedule tonight off after all.”

Ceramic gave a faint, vaguely tired chuckle. “Had a client delay their delivery until next week for a party, so I lucked out. It’s been fun taking this little scamp and her friends around tonight.” His hoof mussed up Scootaloo’s mane in a playful fashion.

“Daaaad, you’re messing up my style!” Scootaloo whined as she ducked away, giving a quick shake of her head to reset her messy facsimile of Rainbow’s usual style.

A more relaxed smile formed on my lips as a question I’d had was answered. The weird little wiggle in Scootaloo’s aura was still nagging at me in a way I couldn’t place.

Before things could progress further though, I turned to Sweetie Belle. “Sweetie Belle, to answer your question, the beard and robe are the costume, but the rest isn’t.”

There was a moment of surprised chatter from the Crusaders that left my teeth gritting from the migraine as I kept up a facade, not wanting to spoil their excitement.

After the initial burst, they seemed about to ask questions in a coherent manner, when all three gasped and pointed a forehoof at me with the declaration, “If you can turn part pony, you might be able to get a cutie mark now! We can help you find your special talent! Cutie Mark Crusaders Human Helpers! Yay!”

All I could do was blink at them at first, and wished they’d yell quieter before my brain tried to escape to a less painful abode. The growing idea I’d already met them and completely forgot because of the Rose Window was another aspect, but it wasn’t worth bringing up with them.

I chose to run with it, since it was inconsequential to the moment. Although, I did opt to be gentle about the relevant reality of their ‘help’ so they didn’t get any false hopes. “Girls, before you get ahead of yourselves and make any plans, I have to say I don’t have time left in the day for trying to figure out if I can get a mark or not. Right now, I simply have too much training and studying to deal with. If I get time at some point, I’d be happy to have your assistance, ok?”

“Awww…,” came the response as all three gave me a disappointed look. “You promise you’ll let us help then?”

“If I get enough free time, I promise.” I told them, feeling a little guilty, but telling the truth.

The girls got distracted by some of their schoolmates passing by and ran over to the pumpkin catapults nearby with a sudden goodbye.

It left me wondering how much candy they’d already eaten.

The nagging feeling I got from seeing Scootaloo’s odd aura wiggle was still there as I eyed her again, deciding to just voice my thoughts. “Hey Twilight, you wouldn’t happen to know what a weird wiggle in a pony’s aura meant, would you?”

“Hmm…,” Twilight said, thinking as a hoof tapped her chin. “Unless it was Scootaloo, I don’t recall anything. Why?”

“Huh. Well, it was. Just have this nagging feeling about it, but no idea what it means.” I replied.

Twilight frowned at that, thinking for several seconds before lighting up her horn and looking towards the girls.

When she turned back, she looked at me, then at Scootaloo’s dad. “Ceramic, I can’t remember all the details off the top of my head, but just in case, could you please take Scootaloo for a Feather Twitch Test? I’m sure it’s fine, but knowing what happened when she was born, they might not have been able to test her soon enough. You can have the hospital send me the bill and the Crown will cover it. Rainbow Dash can confirm for you if they try to refuse. I recall the test is pretty expensive at her age.”

Ceramic wore a wary expression, looking between Twilight and myself. “Is something wrong with my daughter?”

Shaking her head, Twilight smiled. “I’m sure she’s fine. It’s just a certain pegasus condition that has to be tested for within a few hours of birth. It’s mostly just for peace of mind, but it could possibly be contributing to the reason she can’t fly yet. I’d have to look up the condition again to remember more. I recall reading about a couple of relevant rare conditions when studying pegasus flight magic after getting my wings.” Her wing flexed as she spoke.

“Ok, I guess. I’ll make an appointment tomorrow,” Ceramic said before turning to me, holding out a hoof. “I apologize for my manners. Ceramic Glaze. As you already saw, I’m Scootaloo’s father. And please, call me Ceramic.”

Catching his extended hoof in my hand, I nodded to him. “Good to meet you, Ceramic. Vojin Drayce. You’re welcome to just call me Vojin. While the subject is there, would it be alright to ask what happened when Scootaloo was born?”

Twilight gave me a small nudge, a small burst of sadness coming from her. Rainbow Dash gave a wince at the same time, strangely silent so far as her eyes flicked from Ceramic to Scootaloo and back.

Ceramic gave me a soft, strange smile, several emotions flashing across his face before settling on a quiet, resigned sorrow. “My wife died within a few hours of giving birth. Internal hemorrhage while we were stuck on a stalled train in the middle of nowhere. Went to sleep after the birth and never woke up, so she didn’t suffer. You didn’t know, so don’t go beating yourself up about it. Life happens. What matters is Scootaloo is growing up alright, and I’m sure her mother would be proud.”

“I…,” was all that I could manage at first, knowing there wasn’t really anything to say. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

He nodded, glancing towards the catapults and sighed. “Looks like I need to get back to trailing the girls. Again, don’t worry about it, Vojin. It was good meeting you.”

With that he trotted after the Crusaders, leaving me feeling all kinds of awkward.

Rainbow spoke up then, “Don’t worry about him too much, big guy. Ceramic’s made peace with it and he’s tougher than you’d think. How’re you feeling? Had a chat with Sparky before spotting Ceramic and the Crusaders. She said you wouldn’t be feeling too hot for a while.”

“She did, huh? Where did she get off to?”

Rainbow gave me a questioning look before gesturing with a wing. “She’s laying on a roof, two buildings away. I’m surprised you didn’t see her.”

Turning in the direction Rainbow indicated, there was a yellow flicker of something near the ground in the corner of my vision before I spotted Bright Spark laying on the roof, staring right at me.

She waved the moment I looked, and clearly keeping nearby to watch me like she said. There wasn’t enough light on her to separate whether her expression was strained or teasing from a distance.

After a moment, I turned back to Rainbow. “Maybe she’s easy to spot for a pegasus flying above the rooftops. What’d she say?”

There was something in Rainbow’s eyes that I couldn’t quite place. “That you might have trouble keeping warm for a while and not able to use your magic to warm up. Said I should sit next to you for extra warmth until you recover?”

“Well, that isn’t wrong.” A quick glance at Twilight for my own peace of mind left me to shrug. “I wouldn’t mind the company Rainbow, but I’ve still got a migraine and not really planning on doing anything but sitting here for a while.”

“That’s cool. I’ve been flying around doing Nightmare Night pranks a bunch already.”

With that, Rainbow settled on the bench and, to my surprise, sat close enough for her side to rest against mine. After a moment to consider, I put my other arm over her shoulders, too.

For a minute, there was a little idle conversation, when a thought struck me and I looked back up to where Bright Spark was.

As soon as our eyes met, she sat up to smile, licked her lips and blew me a kiss, then seemed to wince and rub her temple as she laid back down. I realized she might have felt worse than I did after the spell she cast.

I was also left with various questions as my face warmed, the circumstances coming together in my head as I held a mare under each arm. The idea that Sparky might be trying to get me laid, on top of getting me in her own bed, lingered in my mind.

My eye twitched as I fixed my gaze forward, not quite knowing what to think about Sparky acting like a pander on my behalf.

Bloody hell.