"I don't know about you, but I've had one hell of a week."

"Uh," Twilight was confused and unsure how to respond to the odd statement from the unicorn sitting at her hooves. She was positive she had never seen him before in her life though just to be sure she took a few steps back to examine him; his coat, what she could see of it under the walnut brown cloak that hid much of him, was a grey beige which complimented the long, chocolate brown mane that fell down either side of his face and neck in a carefree manner. Twilight sifted through her memory and examined the features of every pony she could remember, going as far aback as her Academy classes, but still she couldn't place him. Still, something about those warm brown eyes felt familiar. "I'm... sorry to hear that? Are..." there was a long pause before she shook her head, "Where do I know you from?"

"I'm not from around here, I'm from out of town," the unicorn's head cocked to one side, "And I'm talking really far out of town."

She regarded him for a moment, during which time his expression changed to give her a strange lop-sided grin that somehow didn't seem fit for a pony's face but was also familiar enough to cause cognitive dissonance as a thought crossed her mind. No. No way. Twilight searched the eyes and felt them searching her, too, however, the more she thought about it the more it made sense. Perhaps this is what the Princess had meant with the 'keep an eye out for him' line.

Twilight looked at the stallion curiously, "When you say 'really far,' would describing it as being on the other side of the galaxy be fitting?" She watched as the grin turned into the full-on, unadulterated shit-eating smile that she knew from a different face.

"Kark," pony-Titus shook his head and gave a tired sigh, "Probably a bit farther than that. Good to see you, Twi."

"Titus? How are... why do you look... what- oh whatever," Twilight hooked a hoof over his shoulder and pulled him in for a friendly hug and a warm nuzzle, "Welcome back!" This was not something she had planned for and thought better of overwhelming him with a sudden onslaught of questions, instead she made a mental list for later. A cross-species transmutation spell! I wish I could have gotten some data on its casting... perhaps Princess Luna kept notes that she'd be willing to share!

Meanwhile, out of earshot, four heads poked around the corner of the station building like some form of miniature totem pole; cyan pegasus, mint unicorn, white unicorn, and orange earth pony in descending order, all of them bearing various expressions of shock or confusion.

"Gracious me! Twilight certainly seems to have made a... friend," Rarity exclaimed, voicing what everypony was thinking but in a much more elegant manner as the lavender unicorn continued her nuzzling embrace, "Do any of you girls recognize him?"

"Hmm," Lyra squinted as she tried to get a better look at his face but could only catch glimpses around Twilight's body and what she could see wasn't enough to get a positive identification, "Not ringing any bells with me. I don't recognize him from Ponyville or from among her Canterlot acquaintances-"

"Well they sure as shootin' seem to know one another... though if she was that friendly with a stallion that fetchin' I reckon Twilight would've made some sorta mention'a him," Applejack was quick point out, her distaste for snooping forgotten for the moment, "I'd be willin' to bet bushels to bits she would've said somethin' when we all went out for drinks and Rainbow was teasing her about how little 'game' she had with the fellas."

Ignoring the reminder of the drunken night just before Titus' arrival that she had been shot down by a table of stallions in front of her friends, Rainbow instead spoke from the viewpoint of somepony who'd experienced a devastating misunderstanding from a position similar to the one Twilight was in. Dash wouldn't wish something like that on her, what with this being the first semblance of a relationship the unicorn had ever been in, "Forget who this guy is, Twilight was supposed to be meeting Titus! How's he gonna feel if he comes back and finds her with her hooves around another stallion?" Dudes can be touchier than a rain cloud in spring - too much of a push in the wrong place and you've got a runaway lightning cloud looking to zap you back.

"All of our planning and work to set up her up with Titus will go to waste!" Rarity was not faring well with that prospect whatsoever, "The planned picnic! My exquisitely-selected wine pairing list!"

"Now everypony just stop a second," the farmpony tried to be the grounded voice of reason, "Y'all ever think you might be seein' smoke when there ain't a fire? I just don't reckon y'all should go-"

"Titus will find them both in each others hooves, our dear Twilight too flustered in her innocence to explain," cutting off Applejack's attempt to dissuade the group from rash action Rarity continued without so much as a breath, melodramatically draping a foreleg over her forehead and pseudo-fainting into the earth pony's hooves, "He'll feel his heart torn asunder assuming she had been toying with his emotions the whole time and for the rest of his days he'll remain on his ship, a lonely beast yearning for the love of a beauty that mistakenly believes the misunderstanding had made him hate her forever! Woe is me, what a disaster!" She pulled them all back around the building and assumed the worst as she went over their options in her mind. "We can't let that happen. Come on girls, form a line; we're going to run interference and get this tale back on track," she lead the way out into the open.

"-and when the spell didn't end when it was supposed to we both thought I might as well use the effect to keep from causing a scene at the Canterlot train station," Titus finished explaining. It's not the whole truth, but it was far superior to telling her exactly what happened. He slowly and carefully worked his way down from the platform step by step. Being forthcoming would involve saying something along the lines of 'Princess Luna was utterly concentrated on taking some genetic readings with an ancient magical artifact, the timing of which happened to abruptly coincide with one of your cooler sessions. The loss of her concentration caused the artifact to misinterpret her input and the result was my current predicament.'

Yeah, Twi would take that real well... He caught her watching him, the expression on her face a mix of concern and curiosity. "I, uh, this was only supposed to last an hour, but that was last night... while I was recovering Princess Celestia said the rate of the spell's decay should have me back to normal sometime tonight or tomorrow, at the latest. They both assured me that I'll be fine, although I've got a direct connection to them if necessary..." Titus shifted uncomfortably from hoof to hoof when the gravely earth poked into the un-callused pads of his hooves. The sound of an approach - signaled by the clopping of hooves coming their direction - caused him to look up the path and catch the small group of ponies bearing down on them, "This is quite the welcoming committee you organized."

Twilight followed his line of sight and her eyes went wide. "Aheh... w-what are you all doing here?" she asked nervously as she stepped forward in front of Titus, however in doing so she gave him a front-row seat of her flanks. When Rarity was close enough Twilight whispered through a weak smile - quietly enough that Titus wouldn't overhear, "I thought you'd be waiting up the road."

"Twilight! There you are," Rarity said with overly exaggerated relief, moving around Twilight and inserting herself between her friend and the strange stallion as part of her plan, "When the rest of the passengers walked by us and you were nowhere in sight we got worried-" She turned her attention to the unicorn that seemed to be having trouble standing still, pretending to notice him for the first time. "Oh my. Hello there," she adjusted her mane and fluttered her eyelashes as Lyra, Dash, and Applejack fell in alongside their temporary leader to form a semi-circle of probing glances, "Twilight, darling, you simply must introduce me to your dashing gentlecolt friend here."

Titus fidgeted under the sudden increase in scrutiny, unsure of the nature of their interest. "H-hello, Miss Rarity. Lyra, Applejack, Dash. Nice to see you," he greeted each of them, discreetly readjusting his cloak. Dammit Luna, just because I have fur doesn't mean I don't feel fraggin' naked right now. With Twilight's flanks and other bits still pointed at him he had to fight from pitching a tent - or whatever it was ponies did.

When her friends showed confusion as to how he could know them Twilight dropped the proverbial bomb and explained what she knew of his situation, "So try to take it easy, girls. At the moment he's feeling a bit like a fish out of water-"

"It's temporary, right? Right?!" Lyra was the first to voice her concern and literally shook the answer of out Twilight, at which point she visibly relaxed at the affirmative answer from the dizzy librarian. Tomorrow? Oh thank the goddesses. I've got plans for those fingers of his...

"No way," Dash flew a quick circle around him before landing at his side, "Dude, come on... ditch the blanket and give us a peek at that bod of yours!" Before he could stop her amid a small cry she used the tip of a wing to casually flip the cloak up and over his shoulder and exposed him completely.

Titus froze, subconsciously crossing his hind legs and both ears laying flat in response, "I-I'm sorry." That was all he could mumble as he was embarrassed to absolute silence and his eyes darted between the ground and Twilight.

"For wha-?" It took Dash less than a second to spot why he hadn't wanted the cloak removed and another second to catch that she wasn't the only one in the group to have noticed. "Oh, uh... heh, well then. That happens all the time you know, so like don't worry about it," she tried to sound cool but was all but full on staring under him as her wings slowly twitched themselves rigid. Again the night she had been turned away from hopefully going home with one of those stallions came back to mind which she tried to forget by changing the subject, "But dude, you, uh... you gotta convince the Princess to turn you into a pegasi next time. I could totally show you around Cloudsdale and I could pull a few strings with the Weather Team brass and get you scheduled for a fly-along and, ya know, maybe we could buck some thunderheads-"

"There won't be a next time," Titus fumbled with the cloak, finding it rather difficult to adjust the cloth without fingers, "Not if I can help it, anyway," he finally got his hoof in a looped fold and pulled the cloak back over himself, looking up to find disappointment clearly written on the pegasus' face as her awesomely-radical plans were all categorically rejected. "Sorry Dash, as much as I'd love to fly and probably end up breaking my neck in a crash, right now I just want to get to my bunk and sleep off the rest of this spell," Titus gave her an apologetic smile and started down the path, "but hey, I'll find a way to make it up to you, that I will promise."

"But why the heck did the Princess turn ya into a unicorn?" Applejack inquired while Rainbow thought over her options of repayment, "I reckon an earth pony would've been a more fittin' choice and seein' as ya don't got magic it'll be a bit weird seein' a unicorn gettin' all gritty with their hooves, if ya catch my meanin'."

Twilight quickly sidled up next to him. I-is he going to tell them?

"Uh, well, I actually wanted to talk to both Princess Lun-ow!" a particularly triangular pebble dug into his hoof as he put his full weight down and he lurched to one side, his legs scrambled in the loose gravel and tripped over themselves awkwardly but a light blue aura caught him before he completely toppled over.

"Applejack, please," Rarity's magic helped nudge him upright, Titus voicing his appreciation before returning to his trudging shuffle, "he's clearly exhausted, the poor dear; I'm sure he can tell us later. Speaking of later, perhaps you'd be able to drop some of your garments by the boutique, Titus? Earthy tones - such as that cloak you're wearing - and the loose, flowing styles you were seen wearing in Canterlot are all very chic right now." When the stallion wearily agreed to her request Rarity continued to fawn over the simple cloak, going so far as to procure needle and thread from her saddlebag to experimentally hem the article so it fit him better and the edges wouldn't drag in the dirt.

Rarity to the rescue, in more ways than one. The librarian mentally whispered her own gratitude and stepped closer in case he should fall again. He's like a foal in this body, if only he didn't have teleportation sickness I could just warp us to his ship.

"Sorry 'bout that," AJ stopped briefly then trotted to catch up to the shuffling Titus, "Tell ya what, go home and catch some shuteye. But Ah just wanted ta say me, Lyra, and Dash would be more'n happy ta have ya join us fer EFC Fight Night. Shucks, it's always nice ta have more company-"

"That's this Friday," Dash called, a case of the wing-stiffies grounding her, the duration of which was looking like it would be a while because she was making a point to walk behind him to keep her eyes subtly following the rotating motion of his hips which caused his tail to sway back and forth revealingly, almost teasingly if she didn't know better. Holy buck Batmare, dem flanks! Twilight wasn't kidding. "How's that sound, dude?"

Titus turned with a chuckle, looking over his withers at the pegasus to find her staring rather intently in wait for his answer, if she hadn't been on the verge of drooling at any rate, "I'd say it sounds like a part-"

AJ was on him in an instant, desperately slamming his muzzle shut before he could finish and ignoring his muffled protest as she looked around nervously.

Somewhere in Ponyville a pair of pink ears rotated like radar dishes toward the train station and waited. Party Canon acquiring target...

"Hold yer hay bales, par'ner, no need ta be callin' it a-" AJ leaned in close to mouth the word "party", lest the audible mention of the word summon the bountifully-energetic Party Pony. The last time Pinkie had joined them the TV had been buried in an ocean of balloons and confetti and they had missed the whole broadcast searching for it. AJ had also gotten stuck cleaning all of that out of the barn extra early the next morning so it'd be ready for the work day, Lyra and Dash both remembering "previous engagements" when asked to help, "It'll just be a couple'a us watchin' some TV and chowin' on some snacks. Oh yeah, mah big brother - you know, Big Mac? - he'll be there, so ya got no reason ta be feelin' like the only stallion in a mare-fest."

Hm. Never thought Big Mac would be into EFC fights, he seems like he's too mellow to be a fan. Once she thought about it a bit more, she realized she hadn't seen him working the produce stall at his usual times recently. Twilight shook her head and levitated a small rock off of the path as a preventative measure, a second later Titus intentionally bumped a shoulder into her with a smile of thanks.

"I'll stop by a bit early and pick you up. And, uh," Lyra walked alongside Rainbow and, unlike the pegasus, made no attempt to hide that she was enjoying the view; her head shifting position in search of a better angle, "Wear something you can exer-mmm-cise in, although clothing is, as always, optional."

Twilight, having lightly bumped into Titus in return, laughed at the comical sight as he overemphasized the rolling of his large eyes for her and turned his head around to look at the two ponies trailing him, "I'll keep that in mind, Lyra, thanks. Oh and by the way, you two keep staring and I might start charging you both Bits by the minute."

While Dash blushed at being caught Lyra simply fired back at him with a playful wink, "If I'm paying I expect a good show and maybe a few extra 'perks'-"

"Lyra!" Twilight shot her a glare which the mint unicorn acknowledged by sticking her tongue out before smiling at the shuffling Titus again with a hammy waggle of her eyebrows.

"Alright, we'll all get outta yer hair an give ya the space ya wanted earlier," Applejack looked at the other mares; her gaze telling them they'd probably made enough of a nuisance of themselves before she turned to Titus, "See ya Friday, mister!" At the first fork in the road the group dissipated to various parts of town, Twilight and her shuffling human friend giving a nod of farewell before heading down the main street to the Library.

------------

"GO! DON'T STOP!" Twilight shouted ahead to Titus (who, thanks to their current situation, had quickly picked up on how to gallop), both of them tearing through the town street toward the Library. Almost there, and the door is already open! Her heart fell as she watched him catch a hoof on a loose cobblestone.

She wasn't about to leave him to the fate awaiting him at the hooves of the group of heated mares hot on their tails, though. Twilight hoisted him up mid-way through his second somersaulting roll with her magic and quite literally pitched him at the door, sending him barreling into the entry hallway before she slammed the portal shut behind her; sealing it with several of the most powerful barrier spells she knew just as numerous hooves beat against the sturdy wood in an attempt to batter it down as the mares on the other side pleaded to her.

"I just need to borrow him for two minutes!"
"I know it's a library so I promise I won't be too noisy!"
"Come out, poppet!"

"Go cool off, you brazen maumets!" Twilight called angrily through the door, giving it a small kick to get her point across. Breathing a sigh of relief she turned to find Titus where he had landed - having knocked over her table, lamp, and umbrella basket upon entry - legs sprawled out at his sides as he lay on his back and panted heavily. H-he's too burned out from that hard mile we sprinted to care about his modesty. Not that I can blame him, really. Twilight forced herself to look elsewhere as she felt the small tingling sensation she'd become familiar with over the past week working its way down her spine, "Well, we made it. Are you alright? That fall looked rough."

"Just *pant* peachy. Thanks for the save, by the way; the landing was a bit rough, but I guess you could say I'm used to those," a giggle from Twilight let him know his bit of humor hadn't gone unnoticed and, with a grunt, he pushed himself upright so he was essentially sitting, "At this point I honestly can't tell which I prefer; ponies running in terror at the sight of me, or suddenly having to run for dear life from a gaggle of heated mares looking to pulverize my pelvis for pleasure."

"Try saying those last five words five times fast," Twilight sat herself down in the hall and leaned a shoulder against the wall, the exertion from their run finally catching up with her, "Anyway, at least this time they were running the right direction, right?" She tried to laugh but only managed a wheeze while Titus slumped back to the floor. Real smooth, brain. Real. Smooth.

The pounding and pleading at the door continued.

"How about one minute? Work with me here!"
"I'm willing to take seconds! Heck, let me in and I'll even pay my library fines!"
"Sharing is caring!"

Twilight bucked the door harder and ground her teeth in frustration, "Like Tartarus I'd let you get your hooves on him! Buck off!"

"You buck off! You can't hog him all to yourself!"
"HA! Who said anything about hooves?"
"Come on out, handsome, I got a 'muffin' for you to butter!"

"Go. Cool. OFF!" She focused magic into her horn and constructed another barrier, the sounds completely ceasing and the library returning to its usual peaceful stillness.

By the Sisters, that's what stallions have to put up with?! Breathing a sigh to release her tension, Twilight stopped to take another look at Titus; back still toward her and sides heaving with heavy breaths. Her eyes roved over his body admiring the specimen he presented; his coat pulled tight over the muscle groups of his barrel, shoulder, and neck as his head turned to look around her home. Interesting, the fur on his shoulder bares a marking identical to his human tattoo patterning. The silence and study continued until he slowly spun his head around to look at her out of the corner of one eye. She felt compelled to say something. "The Princess really did a number on you; your transmogrification certainly is alluring."

Titus dragged his legs under him and heaved his rump off the floor so he could turn to face Twilight, his expression one of concern, "Do I need to lock myself in a closet or something? I'm sorta getting a vibe that says 'I didn't lock them out there, I locked you in here with me.'"

"W-what? No," Twilight laughed and shook her head when she caught his attempt to hide a smile, her multicolor mane bouncing off either side of her neck, "My cycle's in its waning phase and I was just making an observation; besides, it's not like a flimsy closet door would stop me," she pointed out almost jokingly. The image of her wickedly grinning face peering through a splintered door, fire ax in hoof, saying "Here's Twily!" popped up in her mind before she shook the startling scene away.

"Even if it wasn't waning I'd much rather be in here with you rather than out there with them-"

He hasn't changed! Twilight couldn't help but feel a bit of a tingle as her heart fluttered when he said that, even though the choice would have been an obvious one to any stallion with a mind for their own health - serious injury by rutting wasn't unheard of.

"-in any case, until those maniacs outside are gone do you mind if I crash here?" Upon receiving an enthusiastic invitation to stay as long as he wanted Titus limped his way to the sofa where he removed his cloak, leaving it on the floor where it fell and set both lightsabers on the coffee table. It took him two attempts to mount the seat until he managed to get his hind legs high enough, lounging out with a deeply appreciative sigh as his eyes closed and he sank into the cushions, resting his head on one of the arms.

Hopping up on the other end of the couch Twilight made herself as comfortable as she could, crowded against the opposite arm because with the way he was stretched out Titus' hindquarters occupied the majority of the middle cushion. The position, however, was ideal for her to examine the mark on his flank so she eagerly took the opportunity and wiggled a little bit closer; the symbol appeared to be the rough silhouette similar to his ship sling-shotting around a green and blue planet. She was trying to make out the unfamiliar continents when his leg twitched, bringing a halt to her observations.

"Twi, that tickles," he said dryly, lifting his head from the sofa's arm and giving her a small smile.

She became aware of how close she had gotten her face to the cutie mark, having apparently teased his fur with her breath. Twilight apologized for disturbing his rest but before he could put his head back down she decided she would bother him with a question while he was up, "What you said back at the station, about the week you had? What happened?"

Titus arduously shifted himself around, noticing Twilight visually perk up at the new arrangement before she tentatively reached out with a hoof. For half an instant he thought to take the hoof in his hand, but all he succeeded in doing was to bump into it awkwardly. "I want my hands back," he dropped his head to rest on her hooves and used his own "magic" to commandeer a pillow from the armchair to make himself more comfortable, propping it under their elbows as the middle cushion of the couch sagged with their combined weight, "Well, Twi, a lot of things happened..."

Twilight rested her head on his neck, giving him a small nuzzle as she nestled in to make herself comfortable and he started recounting his week; something was telling her this was going to be a long story.

------------

Relishing in the feeling of speed as it pushed him into his seat, Titus urged the speeder bike to burn on all three operational Overdrive Cores as he rocketed down the trench toward the crash site. His teeth were chattering in his helmet as the early evening air whipped against his bare skin, having had to abandon the flight suit that would have kept him warm and would have acted as a wind breaker when he left Rainbow Dash at the bottom of the hill.

The craft hit a small dip, launching itself into the air when it exited the other side which prompted Titus to stand in his seat to shift the weight of the bike forward so it would return to the ground, pumping his legs to speed his decent. It was a completely unnecessary thing to do as the systems in the machine would automatically readjust the bike's altitude over a short time, but the act itself made him feel that much more in control of what was essentially a tuned-up engine with a seat. When the bike bottomed out and shot forward again he thought back to the first time he had ridden a speeder bike.

It was shortly after Master Krua had indoctrinated him as her Padawan that he had thrown a leg over a model much like this one, sitting behind his Master as they sped through the bustling Coruscant skyways to a meeting with a Senator whose name he'd long forgotten. The ride had been thrilling, thanks in part to Master Krua's usual terrible flying; they narrowly avoided several collisions as they zipped in and out of traffic, the open air causing his cloak to whip in the wind and the feeling of his stomach falling into this throat as they descended had forever created a special spot in his heart for speeder bikes. After they had parked their ride on one of the platforms they had been met by the Senator's assistant, and when he started to follow his Master into the Senate Rotunda she had turned sharply about and snapped at him to wait with the bike. Unsure why she had told him to join her on her errand rather than wait at the Temple if all he would be doing is watching their ride, he had asked what she wanted him to do while he waited.

"The answers you seek never come when the mind is busy, they come when the mind is still," is what she had said, which he inferred meant he would learn his task through meditation. Initially he had done what his Master instructed and sat in perfect stillness on the platform with his eyes shut; the only sound he perceived, despite the hustle and bustle around him, was the drone of the bike's several repulsor arrays as it sat idle. Titus had continued to listen to the hum for what felt like hours until he noticed the slightest variance and thought his inflection was over. Needless to say Master Krua had not been pleased to return from her appointment to find her Padawan had disassembled and was in the process of reassembling (as he had tried his best to point out) one of the bike's key components; the reason supposedly being it had been out of sync with the other two arrays.

Titus let the memory fade to the back of his conscious as he closed in on the crash site, reducing his speed as he passed the mud lake he had fished Twilight out of the night before. Cresting the small berm the figure of the Princess came into view, her dark flowing mane unmistakable against the light grey fuselage as she sat near the cargo bay doors expectantly. He waved and called out, not wanting his sudden arrival on a strange machine to startle her, "Luna! Hello!"

Hearing the familiar voice the alicorn turned toward the fast-approaching source, "Hail fellow, well met!" Luna watched as the human's chariot climbed up the smooth metal incline to come to a stop beside her where he apologized profusely and explained his reason for being late - Rainbow receiving the lead role in the adventure he told.

The Princess spat in disgust when he mentioned the spiders, "May they rot in Tartarus! We have dealt with the foul creatures on several occasions; just prior to depleting an area of food sources they cannibalize the weakest members of their nest and then migrate, rotating feeding grounds to allow them to repopulate before returning again. It would appear you two have prevented a brood from establishing a hold in this area, so this eve we shall pass our thanks along to the pegasus, Rainbow Dash-"

"Careful Luna," Titus - having changed into a set of clothes and requested that the grunt work of emptying and securing the hold be left to him as it was the least he could do - hoisted a series of damaged crates out of the hold with the Force, motioning and sending them outside to rest on one of the few dry areas around the ship, "Dash's head is already big enough without The Lunar Princess herself making a personal appearance to thank her. Any more praise and that head of hers would be a suitable replacement for Twilight's hot air balloon."

Luna sat and watched as Titus organized the hold, a queer look on her face, "It was our understanding that you got along with Rainbow Dash." The equally curious look from her human companion and his answer that, though he might find her grating at times, he considered her a friend confused the Princess further, "You call her friend but make jests at her expense?"

"It's a game of sorts, nothing serious and no harm meant," Titus explained, realizing now how much he had overreacted at the nickname Rainbow had given him as he shepherded the R6 astromech droid out of the ship - Luna giving it a friendly greeting it as it passed and getting an equally friendly series of noises in response - and tightened a strap around a crate with a broken latch. I'll have to apologize when I get back; I guess we're one point up in her favor.

A torch went off in Luna's mind, "Occasionally we enjoy verbally jousting with our sister, though our words carry no weight and both parties quickly forgive any trespass felt. This is... something similar?" At Titus' confirmation she nodded in understanding, "Interesting, we were unaware our subjects could also amicably deride each other in such a manner."

That was sort of a shock to Titus, who was in the final stages of preparation; resigning to let the chips fall where they may in regards to whatever was loose in other parts of the ship. "Surely you've playfully goaded a friend once or twice?" He tapped a small object that hung from a series of wires from the wall and a concussive drum of mechanical activity emanated from several points in the hull as the landing gear extended.

"We strive to be tactful, lest we offend the few friends we have," Luna replied as he slid down the side of the hull on his backside, his preparations for righting the ship finished. The plan he laid out seemed simple enough to her: she would lift the ship while he used his Force power to collapse the mound of dirt the ship had created when it crashed to form an area of dry flat ground; while he was busy doing that she would rotate the vessel to be lowered onto the prepared area. Aside from the visions of his past and the emptying of the cargo hold she had seen she hadn't actually witnessed the ability he possessed, and while she could have asked for a demonstration as a Princess, as a friend she had felt better respecting his reluctance to share that part of himself.

Moving a short distance away, Luna waited for Titus to give her the signal, the human scrambling up the dirt mountain on all fours. When she heard the all-clear from the other side of the berm she channeled at the ship, her magic splashing against the grey body and spreading as tendrils of the energy snaked out from the point of impact and slowly engulfed ship in her aura. "We await your word to proceed, friend," Luna called as her magic completely encompassed the ship.

"All set over here, show me what you've got!" came the reply, Titus waving an arm above his head.

Very well, we shall. Luna widened her stance and urged the ship to rise, to which her massive target shuddered and began to free itself from the muck. Something about the vessel made it hard to keep her magic focused as it felt almost like trying to push similarly charged ends of a magnet together; both the ship and magic stubbornly wanted nothing to do with each other. The Princess gritted her teeth, her own stubborn streak coming to the forefront and she commanded the ship to ascend; also making a mental note to investigate the reason why she was encountering such resistance.

Titus watched as his ship lurched out of the mud, rivulets of the slop draining off as the Princess lifted it free of the ground; waiting for it to be well in the air before he began, he closed his eyes and opened his mind to the Force, exhaling as the familiar feeling of inter-connectivity with his surroundings rolled through him, sensing the berm extending far to either side of him. Titus envisioned the earthwork as an extension of his body, and, as such, subject to his will. Raising his hands parallel to it, he stepped forward and pushed; the dirt mountain collapsed and rolled over the crash site like a tidal wave, burying the marsh under a fresh layer of dry earth.

While the human was completing his task Luna moved into stage two of hers and, though though the ship was still proving unwilling to submit to her magic without a fight, she began rotating it in a slow roll around its wings. She was focusing so keenly to keep the ship from slipping through her magical grasp that she did not sense Titus stride up beside her, the human watching her manipulate the ship around its axis and lower it, until he spoke.

"This favor you do me is too great be repaid, my friend."

Luna was a Princess, wanting for not and having more freedom, knowledge, power, status, and wealth at her disposal than any other pony in Equestria save for her sister; but the mention of the one thing she truly desired that could not be bought or traded or forced with any of what she had made her heart sing; at the same time, the word "friend" also proved to be the chink in her concentration's armor, one which the object of her struggle was quick to exploit. A crack in the magical aura spider-webbed out which the Princess fought to keep from spreading as she continued to lower the vessel until the bubble finally shattered. Still twice its own height from the ground, the ship dropped the remaining distance to smash down on its landing gear - the thunderous impact sending dust rolling out over the alicorn and human, who created an orb of Force so the choking cloud washed around them.

"Titus, has my err damaged your vessel?" Luna worriedly exclaimed, attempting to peer through the dust.

"I wouldn't worry," Titus reassured with a laugh as the dust settled and the ship came into view, rising up from the cushion the heavy duty landing gear and soft dirt had provided, "She's not much to look at, but that ship is built tougher than a septoid." Jogging over to one of the landing gear feet he poked at a keypad, the cargo door opening once again and a ramp extending to the ground, "Five minutes to get this stuff inside then I'm good to go. Are you sure you want to come back for my training gear later? It would only take thirty or so minutes to get it all together."

"Indeed I am sure, my sister expressed her interest in making her introduction. She has been in and out of meetings to negotiate a small border dispute with the Griffon kingdom recently and this evening is the first opening she has had in quite some time," Luna replied as she watched the myriad of damaged crates floated into the cargo hold before Titus mounted the speeder bike and drove it in as well, the machine gaining her full attention, "Your chariot is most remarkable and we do look upon it with envy, for Celestia and I must have trained pegasi guards to pull ours whereas you are free to come and go as you please."

Titus scratched the back of his head and looked back at the hold behind him as he walked down the ramp, carrying a backpack and his shoulderbag, "If we weren't strapped for time we could go for a spin and I'd show you how to operate it, but unless I modify the controls you'd need hands and fingers-" he emphasized his statement with a wiggle of his fingers before tapping a device on his wrist that closed the cargo doors and retracted the ramp, "the same holds true for basically all of my technology, save for what can be controlled by voice commands,"

"Hands and fingers are required?" the Princess thought for a moment as they slowly walked away from the ship, her head tilted slightly and her gaze wandering across the sky, "Mayhaps I have a solution, however I'd prefer to return to the subject when I've done further research and have consulted with several intellectuals in the field of genetic manipulation."

The human could only raise an eyebrow skeptically, "Um, alright. Speaking of chariots," he searched around for Luna's personal vehicle and the two odd-looking ponies that pulled it, "I didn't see yours when I came up the path, is it around here somewhere?"

"As if they weren't an inconvenience to use already, excursions in the royal chariots are logged in a ledger by the time keeper," she stated, coming to a stop, "and like the times we have met at night to talk of your origin, we did not wish this trip to be so recorded." The Princess' passing glace thought Titus looked hurt at the revelation that she felt required to keep their friendship a secret (she was, of course, reading much too far into his expression), and she quickly moved to explain what she meant, "The ledger is available to court officials, all of whom waggle their tongues like earthworms on the sidewalk after a spring rain; though their unfounded falsehoods, once whispered, prove to be much harder to squish."

The thought of Princess Luna comically attempting to stomp on worms that were fleeing every which way in terror of her made Titus chuckle, "It would seem politicians - the present company being an exception, naturally - are the same here as they were in my galaxy."

"An unfortunate similarity, it would seem," Luna snorted in agreement, "Now then, enough dawdling - our sister awaits through the nether."

Titus looked to his feet as a blue glow encompassed them both, finding he had stepped inside an arcane glyph of some nature he dropped his bags and reached out to Luna in an attempt to stop her, "KA-"

Everything lost focus and blurred then stretched out like he was jumping to hyperspace; instantly suffering from a splitting migraine and fighting his nausea as he felt the bile rising in his throat. Unable to keep on his feet he fell to his knees, expecting them to fall into the warm mud but instead they made hard contact with cold smooth stone.

Princess Celestia had been waiting expectantly in the small room, pausing in her reading of a book she had brought to pass the time when the focusing glyph her sister had scrawled on the floor lit up. Two figures appeared in a brief flash; one her sister, the other a bipedal stranger, "Ah! Greetings, you must be-"

"-ARK! *bleuph!*"

Celestia backed away from the prostrate alien as he coughed, the smell of cheese, pickles, and stomach acid reaching her nose as the pool he vomited up crept closer to her hooves, forcing her back once again, "Sister? What happened?" her worried gaze shifted to Luna, who was wearing the same troubled expression with her mouth hanging open. Princess Celestia lowered her face closer to the human's in hopes of catching a visual cue as to his welfare, "Mr. Aelius, are you alright?"

Those five words exploded like neutron stars in his mind; though disoriented and his vision blurred, Titus still had enough sense to crawl a short distance away from his regurgitated lunch before rolling onto his side. He managed a weak smile accompanied by a thumbs up before his body launched into a brief series of uncontrollable spams and went limp.

Luna broke from her shock to place a forehoof against the side of his neck, breathing a sigh of relief when she felt a pulse, "His pulse is quick but slowing; his breathing steady and rhythmic, and the gesture he gave with his hand - one he often uses for affirmation or approval, for your future reference - leads me to believe he is confident he will be alright." She removed the hoof and took a few steps to stand beside her sister, both of them regarding the figure at their hooves, "Titus' symptoms are congruent with teleportation sickness, though to see them in one with as many years as he and in such severity is... rare. Would you agree with our assessment, dear Tia?"

"I would, however now is not the time for such discussion. Come," she gently levitated the unconscious form, "the infirmary lies down the hall, let us make Mr. Aelius comfortable for his recovery."

------------

"By the burning skies! You still slumber?"

The heavy open-palmed patting of his cheek stirred Titus roughly from his sleep.

"If you do not get your lazy choobies up, my Little Koochu, you'll find my boot firmly up your exhaust port." While calling him "Little Idiot" had been a lighthearted tease she had used since the speeder bike incident, the threat was definitely not an idle one; Titus had called her bluff before which was a mistake he only had made once.

"Had I not been up most of the night with repairs - repairs that your flying skills repeatedly necessitate, I might add - I would not still be sleeping," Titus croaked with a parched throat as he sat up, begrudgingly waking himself from the short rest he had taken from the previous night's labors, "In the future, Master, you should leave the flying to me. Perhaps you've forgotten, but I'm not 'your Little Koochu' Padawan anymore; not only have I passed the tests of Knighthood, I've proven to be a rather accomplished pilo-Hey!" he caught the back of his Master as she turned the corner around the door.

"My apologizes, Jedi Knight Koochu, where were my manners?" her horned head leaned back around the corner to reply in a complete deadpan before ducking back into the hallway, her voice diminishing as she walked away, "Regardless, a sleeping Jedi makes an easy mark and what better way to wake up than rigorous training?"

Swinging his feet to the floor, he pushed his weight off the bed, "Krua, wai-" he found his knees weak, buckling and pitching him toward a wall until a hand caught and steadied himself. Why am I so exhausted? With one hand following the wall he worked his way out the door.

Stepping to the other side of the threshold, Titus felt the muggy atmosphere of the jungle they had landed in. I've been here before... this place is familiar. The door swinging closed behind him only caught enough of his attention to log the oddity of its swinging rather than sliding motion as he worked his way toward the ancient bunker they had discovered a few days prior, following the retreating figure, "Master, speak. What is going on?" he called after her as she disappeared past the archway into the dark shadows.

Titus gave a shuffling chase of his Zabrak mentor, the stone under his footfalls giving light clackings. Pushing the door open he caused a small jungle denizen of some sort to dart away at his unexpected entry; though he gave it no thought and continued his weary gait, catching a glimpse of the edge of his master's cloak before it vanished around a corner and he could call out to her. Rounding it Titus found himself at an intersection, one direction leading to the top of a flight of stairs while the other continued a fair distance straight ahead before splitting off into more hallways.

He had to know if this was some form of déjà vu or if he was really reliving a prior experience. Go straight ahead, then on my third left I'll find a long hallway with large computer displays. Titus followed his gut and hoped it wasn't correct, taking the left turn and startling more of the alien critters as he increased his pace down the long hallway, coming to a stop when a wall of screens stood on either side of him.

I remember.

He and his Master had started that day the same way as the last; swapping a bit of banter before they both worked their way through the underbrush from their camp to the overgrown bunker they had discovered after the crash. Deep in its bowels they went about their usual training regimen, spending several of the evening hours sparring with each other...

"Your skill in the Ataru Form is quite impressive though your Djem So Form still needs work," she tossed the lightsaber hilt back to him as he wiped his bloody nose and shook his hand out, the training blade she had struck him with having given him a nasty jolt. In their duels Krua had never pulled her punches, citing that a Jedi should always be more powerful than the weapon they hold. In addition to her punches, her kicks, elbows, and headbutts were never held back either; something the other Masters at the Temple had not been overly approving of, some going so far as to go before the Council and accuse her of abusing her apprentice.

"A fact you keep demonstrating," Titus replied, catching the hilt and wiping the blood dry where she had smashed her elbow into him. "Shall we go again?" he pulled out a second weapon and whirled them about to shake any remaining numbness out of his system.

She raised an eyebrow, "Using Jar'Kai this time?" The single green lightsaber humming to life was answer enough that she was ready.

The pair circled each other, looking for their opponent to make a move until Master Krua came in with a high strike and a sweeping leg, Titus responding with a deflection and a quick slide back as she continued her assault, using the added momentum his deflection had given her blade to quickly come at him again with her lightsaber arcing up in an attempt to gut him from navel to chin; he again gave ground, the blade coming close enough that he could smell the ozone it was shedding. They continued to test each other's zones in a dance, their lightsabers humming as they sought to score a hit but a guard or parry being raised sent the blades bouncing away with angry-sounding zaps.

Titus launched into his own assault, sending one lightsaber in at her shoulder while the other aimed for her back; both of which she avoided, blocking the first strike and pushing it away so she could get her weapon over her shoulder to intercept the second. As she blocked the attack to her back Titus came in again, slashing as he spun around to land a flurry of blows against her raised blade, his onslaught coming to a halt when she hit him with the Force, throwing him back through the air to land on his feet after a quick mid-air recovery, though not before she had closed the distance to reengage in the fight. She started with a simple diagonal slash from shoulder to hip - something he easily parried; though her sudden step inward, rather than back, caught him by surprise and forced him to somersault backward to keep from catching a knee to the groin and barely bringing his weapon up to block the saber she had thrown at him.

He feigned a counterattack by throwing one of his own sabers, anticipating her move and smashing a wave of kinetic energy into her mid-air when she leapt over his tossed weapon. While Krua was still in the air twisting her body to counter her backward momentum so she would land on her feet, Titus suddenly yanked her toward him with the Force; her own motions to recover from the initial attack adding to the unexpected change in direction and increasing the impact of his two-handed weapon swing as it made full contact across her gut. The duel was over.

"I can see why-" Master Krua's intrinsic Zabrak fortitude reduced her recovery from the blow to only require a few moments of coughing, staying doubled over until she had caught her breath, "-you passed your Knight tests; adapting like that to use my momentum against me, but don't expect it to work again. Come, we start another round..."

The vision faded as he remembered that that was when the alarm he had set up alerted them to the ships entering into the atmosphere. A few seconds later the two shuttles had touched down not far from the bunker; the bounty hunter unleashing his combat droids to aid in hunting down the humanoid lifeforms his sensors had detected within the structure. They had done their best to avoid the IG-100 droids - well known to be formidable opponents, even for Jedi - and it was when a handful of them had engaged Master Krua that she had Force Pushed him through one of the blast doors, yelling at him to run before sealing herself on the other side with both the droids and the bounty hunter. We've got to get out of here while there's still time. He took off back down the hallway, using the Force to increase his speed until he was a blur to the creatures he sped past, skidding around the corner as his boots fought for traction on the smooth stonework and bounding up the stairs three to four at a time, racing to beat the siren that was sure to blare any moment now.

Coming to another large hallway, this one much wider than the last with columns running along both walls, several of the life forms similar to the one that had fled from him earlier stood blocking his path. Indigenous beings. Sentient, judging by their appearance. One of them attempted communication, but Titus found the muggy atmosphere of the jungle in combination with the exertion of his sprint through the structure was hampering his ability to understand what was being said as his mind swam in a fog.

"G-greetings, I search for my Master on urgent business. Perhaps you have you seen her? Yellow skin? Lots of horns on her head?" he raised his hands slightly when several spears were made ready and stern gazes firmly fixed on him. He was growing impatient, sensing his and Krua's time running out when the large metal door behind the creatures caught his attention; it was the one the Zabrak had pushed him through. "There! S-she's just on the other side of that blast door!" He stepped forward to move past the creatures, but they all barked something at him and pointed their spears at his throat and stomach, their numbers increasing as more of them arrived out of a side corridor. I don't have time for this, Krua and I need to leave. Now. Their continued shouts remained muddled in his mind.

Something dark loomed in the back of his conscious, a pressure he had felt before. Anger. Hatred. Lingerings of the Dark Side. Titus attempted to move for the door, but the beings insisted on blocking his way, "I need to get through that door-" as he tried going for it again his mind began comprehending what being shouted, the words ringing in his head painfully.

"Bring... it... down!"

At the order a creature jumped onto his back and wrapped its limbs around his neck, attempting to choke him into unconsciousness while two more grappled his arms around his biceps, biting onto his clothing for a better grip because they lacked talons or claws. Titus didn't have that issue, however, his fingers capable of finding purchase on their armor or around a limb, "I have no quarrel with you!" He grabbed one of the offenders and hurled it off, the creature's arms and legs windmilling as it was sent sailing through the air over the others, "Let..."

"Me..." with one arm free the other being around Titus' arm quickly found the biped's leverage to be superior to his grip, joining his brethren in being bodily tossed off.

"Pass!" The creature around his neck thought himself safe from the human's reach, however Titus quickly proved otherwise; both arms easily capable of reaching over his shoulders, hands locking in a vice grip and tearing him from his perch to throw him into his gathered comrades as several more beset Titus from the air upon their wings.

A wave of Force radiated out from the human, knocking the fliers into the walls and scattering the creatures that had placed themselves in front of him like bowling pins to leave a final line of horned beings between himself and the door. "Why? Why do you continue to bar my way?" he croaked, his throat feeling drier than the sands of Tatooine.

"Stop... resisting..." was all Titus could understand of what the white one in purple armor commanded of him, "Surrender." The white creature and the other's horns radiated colors as they pointed at the human.

A sudden weariness overtook him and he faltered briefly, struggling to keep on his feet. Glaring at the defensive line, Titus shook his throbbing head and grit his teeth, steeling himself against the mental assault, "Mind-tricks... will not work on me," he brought his hands up into a low-guard position as his lightsaber powered on with a *Ffwshh!* helping him focus against their telepathic attack, "I will save my Master."

"Stand down, Captain," a thankfully-familiar voice from behind him on the stairs commanded, "let him pass while thou see to thine soldiers."

Titus never took his eyes off the "Captain," which he assumed was the creature with the gilded purple armor that had told him to surrender, "L-Luna? How did you get here- Nevermind," he cut her off, "as soon as I get Master Krua we've got to make for the ship; once I fly all of us out of here and you can explain." Still feeling the dark presence on the other side of the door, the Jedi kept his weapon ready as he cautiously approached.

"Where are we, friend?" the Princess inquired calmly, the hallway completely silent except for groans of the creatures recovering from the fight.

"We're in an abandoned smuggler's bunker in the jungles of Plyraxis, of course," he replied sharply, feeling like the answer should have been obvious, "it's the only blasted planet in the system that gets this hot and muggy!" Finally standing in front of his goal, Titus beckoned to the Force and began lifting the heavy blast door upward, the effort visually straining him as sweat ran down his brow.

The doors were eventually lifted off of their hinges and fell to the floor, a deafening thud resounding down the hall. "Stay behind me, Luna," his hand instinctually went out to shepherd her behind him as his eyes scanned the shadowy room for the red photoreceptors of the Magnaguard droids and reflective T-shaped visor of the bounty hunter's helmet, "W-what is... where are they?"

Luna walked to the human's side, ducking her head under the outstretched hand and letting it run down her neck until it rested on her shoulder, "Friend, the room is empty. You are not in a bunker."

"N-no, she should be here. Right here! This is where I found her-" he pointed to the floor before looking around the room then the hallway, seeing for the first time the carved stone pillars and long red carpet that led to two ornate thrones that sat at the top of a small set of stairs, "t-this isn't..." The lightsaber fell to his side and powered off, its blade retracting and fading much like the fevered delusion began to; the dingy rusted metal walls gave way to brilliant white marble and tapestries, the cracked and frozen computer screens revealed themselves to be stunning stained glass windows, and the odd alien creatures he had seen transformed into unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies.

"There are no shuttles coming, Titus," the Princess watched as the confusion worked its way onto his face, "and your Master was never here." Luna attempted to ease his obvious pain by placing a hoof on her friend, "You are suffering from a fever made worse by the afternoon heat. This is not where she perished; you are in the Canterlot palace, I brought you here from Ponyville last night." She turned his attention to a pony behind him wearing a medical coat who was helping one of the guards to his hooves, "You must have woken and stumbled out of the infirmary after the nurse came to inform me of your condition for when we returned you were gone, but with the directions of a terrified pony we were able to catch up to you. Come, let us walk back together-" she began walking only to feel the hand that had been on her shoulder slide off when the human remained where he was.

"Was anyone hurt?" he asked, directing the question at the white unicorn with the unique armor and watching the ponies he had attacked, some of them stumbling away with help from others.

"Mostly bumps and bruises from getting thrown around," he replied stiffly, "Thankfully Princess Luna's intervention diffused the situation before we had to use magic more powerful than sleep spells or before you used your weapon."

"Captain, you have my sincere apologies. I... I never meant to harm anyone," Titus bowed his head to the unicorn for a moment, "I-I'm glad things did not escalate further..." he turned to the Princess, unhooking the other lightsaber from his belt, "Luna, I shouldn't be in procession of these right now, would you look after them until I'm feeling better?"

The Princess understood the weight of a Jedi surrendering their weapon from what she had learned during her talks with Titus; although he didn't fully comprehend it, it wasn't entirely lost on the Captain and his expression toward the human softened. Luna reverently took both lightsabers from his open palm with her magic and nodded her thanks, "Your gesture is recognized, and by our word neither shall leave our side," with a quick spell the Princess secured them on herself, the hilts remaining in place almost as if held by magnets in a spot concealed by her flowing ethereal mane.

"Now, if Captain Shining Armor has no immediate need of our presence, shall we return you to the infirmary?" When the unicorn gave a brisk salute and turned away to return to his guards, Titus briefly placed his hand back on Luna's shoulder, catching her off by surprise as the warmth from his hand made its way through her coat; her pony subjects were hesitant to make bodily contact even when bid to do so, such as the castle masseur, who sweat bullets on the few occasions Luna had gone for an appointment shortly after her transformation from Nightmare Moon and return to the palace as a Princess. Yet here her human friend was, acting as if she was just like everypony else (though his current condition might be a factor in that, the Princess noted); the thought that he was comfortable enough to not let her royal status effect their friendship - a friendship that was apparently strong enough that he would entrust his most valued possessions to her - made it impossible for her to keep a small smile from her face as she led him through the halls and slowly back to the infirmary, stopping momentarily so she could cast a minor spell to relieve some of his fever.

They came across several ponies that bowed to the Princess and gave unsettled stares at the creature walking beside her as the pair took a short cut through the garden; after a nod of acknowledgement to her prostrate subjects, Luna noticed a tinge of contemplation hidden on Titus' haggard face, "Something troubles you, Titus. Pray, speak of it that we may ease the burden and mayhaps share in solving whatever vexes your mind."

"Don't mind me, I was just thinking." When the Princess halted and put a hoof out to stop him, the look on her face told him they weren't going to continue until he spilled it. Titus sighed heavily as he dropped onto the stone bench near the fountain they had been passing, "As we left I overheard that the guards had been deployed on a monster sighting... it won't matter how long I'm here, in the back of pony minds I'll always be 'the alien' or 'that monster,' though I guess that's to be expected when I go nuts and charge around the palace attacking guards."

"I know far too well the ache that comes with being looked upon with fear and distrust." Luna sidled over to also sit on the bench, placing a hoof on his knee tentatively, "My friend, put this afternoon out of your mind: what happened was unfortunate but not your fault-"

While Luna continued to try to console him Titus could only stare into the shimmering water; the way the sun was reflecting off the numerous ripples on the otherwise undisturbed surface was mesmerizing. Before he knew it he had dunked his still-sore head in, relishing the immediate cooling effect it had on his headache and neck; emerging and pushing his soaking hair back out of his face revealed a Princess with a mirthful grin on her face. "Sorry, I just... that felt amazing," he said through a sigh of relief.

"Your spontaneity is one of the reasons we enjoy thy company, friend," she shook her head to dissuade apology, "you probably do not realize how tiresome being surrounded by constant subservience can be."

"So be spontaneous, huh?" With a tired grin Titus re-submerged his head in the fountain but this time playfully blew bubbles through his nose and mouth as his reply of "Your wish is my command, Your Majesty!" became distorted by the water. Feeling immediately stupid doing something so immature, he almost came back up when he heard a similarly-distorted laugh and shortly after a dark blue face joined his under the water, Luna blowing bubbles through her muzzle and making a face rather unfitting of a Princess that forced the human up before he choked down water in a laugh of his own; they continued this behavior back and forth making increasingly strange faces for a few minutes until they both came up coughing for breath to find themselves in the company of another.

"It has been a while since I've heard you laugh so freely in these gardens, dearest sister."

'Sister?' Titus wiped the water from his eyes to regard the white alicorn that stood a head taller than Princess Luna.

"Tia! Were you not scheduled to still be engaged with the Griffon delegation?" Luna left the human's side to walk into an open-winged hug with her sister before looking at her curiously.

"While talks progress, headway is slow to be made. All agreed a short recess was required... and it would appear my choice of visiting the gardens was a fortunate one," Celestia released Luna from the hug to take a step closer to her sister's bipedal friend, "You must be Mr. Aelius, our extra-equestrian visitor that I have heard so much of from my sister and faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. It is a pleasure to finally be able to meet face to face."

"Princess Celestia," Titus, unsure how bowing might affect his headache, instead took a knee before the Princess of the Sun, "The honor is mine, though I regret my introduction to the sister that Luna speaks so favorably of and the mentor that Twilight holds in such high regard would be made with such a ragged countenance."

"Please, rise; and I must say I prefer your current state to the one you arrived in," she replied, looking down at the human who was drenched from the shoulder up with her trademark kindness, "and I hesitate to think how the long hours of diplomatic negotiation have left me. I had hoped to make acquaintances while accompanying my little sister to one of your rendezvous from which she so often excitedly recounts your tales of adventure and the marvels of another world, though she never made mention and I only became aware of the magic you posses through an incident report left on my desk by a court clerk."

Luna was quick to explain to her sister that Titus had been suffering from delusions brought on by a fever and provided a brief backstory as to why he had been reluctant to display his "Forcemagic" (as she'd come to call it) abilities.

Princess Celestia nodded to her sister as the story came to a close, apologetically smiling as she spoke to him, "I won't keep you much longer as I have to get back to the hearings but I can assure persecution for your gift will not occur here in Equestria and you are welcome to practice it, though my alarm of reading how easily it neutralized a contingent of our Royal Guards makes necessary that I ask; is your ability purely martial or destructive in nature?"

"Nay, sister, it is not," Luna spoke up for her friend, stepping close to him in his defense, "Through his dreams I have seen numerous instances where he and his kind have used it for the betterment of the beings they encountered and communities they worked in."

Celestia's head bobbed along as Luna recounted - verbally painting vivid pictures of what she had seen in Titus' memories. "Thank you, Luna, that assuages much of our apprehension. Mr. Aelius," she gave a glance to a nearby sundial, becoming aware of the passage of time, "I'm afraid my break draws to a close and I must return to the arduous task of debating on which side of a boulder an imaginary line lies."

"Before you depart," Titus quickly interjected and as a sign of appreciation for voicing her support he placed a light hand on Luna's shoulder, which the dark alicorn openly welcomed - the gesture and the response to it Celestia took discrete notice of, "I feel I should add the Force's nature is a case of how it is wielded, Your Majesty, and by whom. For example, I could use it to help the construction of a building while one of another mind could bring it crumbling down. While I will not deny that I was trained in its use for war, I will say that I and my Order only called upon it though necessity of preservation of myself or another." Titus felt himself pulled by the Force, using it to drain the fountain and gather the water into an orb that hovered high above them in the afternoon air; sun shafts piercing through its depth before the Jedi shot it higher into the heavens to detonate it with a motion of his hand, generating a magnificent rainbow over the garden as the light reflected off of millions of tiny water droplets, "We would have preferred the Force be used for peaceful purposes."

In silence the three stood with their heads craned back to look at the splay of colors before Princess Celestia once again glanced at the sundial, "That was wonderful, Mr. Aelius, thank you. You may find our subjects appreciative of such displays, should you use your Forcemagic in their presence," with that suggestion she bid her farewell and disappeared in the hedgerows.

Once she was gone Titus collapsed down on the bench near the now-empty fountain with a breath of relief before laying down completely on his back, "I can't believe that worked..."

"You did not know the rainbow would be formed?" Luna inquired, looking down at the human, "It was a logical assumption, the effect only relied on the correct dispersal rate of the water so it would have the highest chance of light refraction."

Titus laughed nervously. Huh, turns Luna is a bit like Twilight in her scientific analyses, or vise versa. "Well, I was hoping it would work but at the same time I thought it might unleash a deluge on the two of you, securing my banishment or stay in a dungeon cell."

"Mayhaps you should be mewed up in cage and iron, terrorizing the palace like a berserk fiend as you did."

Titus propped himself up on an elbow to look curiously at the Princess, her uncharacteristic reply catching him off guard.

"W-we apologize," Luna's ears went flat back against her head and she took a nervous stride away, "what came out as biting was meant as playful jest-" she was cut off by a chuckle from the human as he flopped back onto the bench, putting two hands under his head as a cushion.

"No, it was a decent attempt, Luna," he replied, flashing her a smile to dissolve any other worry she might have that she had offended him before pushing himself to his feet and returning proverbial fire, "but it's a small wonder you do not choke on the dust and cobwebs that accompany that antiquated dialect your tongue seems to favor."

Luna snorted in mock anger, "I would have thought the dust and cobwebs would be familiar as they are all you have betwixt your ears, Titus."

"Is that so, Princess?" he gave her a playful shove.

"Tis so," she shoved him back and sent him deep into one of the hedges on account of her alicorn strength, though she quickly offered a hoof so he could pull himself out.

The two continued their back and forth all the way to the infirmary.

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Day 3
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Titus stretched and was reluctant to leave the bed that had given him such a wonderful night's sleep, having been moved from the infirmary to private quarters in the Lunar Wing of the palace, but the voice of the Princess accompanying the knocks at the door was more than enough to rouse him. Springing lightly from the bed, he was quickly across the room and reaching for the door handle - Titus had noticed handles being more common than knobs on the doors he saw and drew the conclusion that it was because, aside from unicorns, hooves would have a hard time finding a grip to twist them.

Luna was mid-knock when the door opened and a recently-sleeping yet cheery human face peaked around from behind the door. "Ah, I was about to abandon hope that you might stir," she stepped to one side and revealed several burdened porters in the hallway behind her, "I believe these are all of the items you had on your list, though mayhaps you'd take inventory to be sure."

Taking the note passed to him and walking into the room that was rather opulent for his tastes - containing a bedroom, full bath, lounging area with fireplace and stocked bar, and a balcony with a commanding view; Titus lead the small train of ponies with crates on their backs into the sitting area while reading the checklist written in his own untidy script, "I hadn't expected you to go in my absence, I hope securing these wasn't too much trouble- here, I'll get that," he addressed Luna while helping an earth pony with a large container she was struggling beneath, startling her slightly when he harnessed the Force to lift and set it down with the rest with a simple hand gesture.

"After acquiring the aid of Twilight Sparkle the task was soon completed," the Princess bid the porters to leave before watching Titus, who invite her to make herself comfortable before going through the contents of the first box, "Though I must report that there was a minor incident with your machine, the droid, and a pony from the research expedition."

"Oh blast it!" Titus' whole body sighed in exasperation, "What has that karking rustbucket done now? Are they alright?"

Luna explained the previous night's events, detailing how the astromech had been mishandled but not revealing any names, "You have our apologies for this, the fault lies with me for not overseeing the expedition as I should have."

"All that matters is that no one was hurt. That he only emptied his lubricant tank instead of using his electroshock probe attachment is something to be thankful of. I'll still have a word with him, though. " Titus briefly disappeared and returned from the bedroom carrying one of the bags he arrived with, piquing Luna's curiosity as he withdrew a device no larger than a butter dish before tapping on it several times with a finger and opening one of the smaller crates, a small orb darting out to hover in the air a few seconds of further finger tapping later.

The Princess continued to quietly watch her friend and let him do whatever it was he was doing until he took a brief pause. "You seem to have an uncountable variety of intriguing machines," Luna climbed off of the couch she had been observing from to get a closer look at the floating sphere, "Twilight Sparkle explained to us your as-tro-mek in detail, is this another one of your droids? What, if you will tell, does this one do?" The object spun about on its axis lazily, giving Luna the opportunity to observe the numerous protrusions as well as the cylindrical mirrored indents that alternated across the hemisphere.

"These are the remotes from the list," Titus indicated the entry on the parchment before fiddling with the device he had removed from his bag, "as for what they do? Aside from functioning as training equipment- well, how about you start by waving at it and introducing yourself or something?"

Luna regarded him with a raised eyebrow for a moment before doing so, giving a greeting and waiting patiently. When nothing happened for a few moments, she turned to face Titus, "Is it broken, perhaps?"

Yet all he gave in response was a raised palm asking for her to hold, then seconds later he made as if to speak only to look at her mischievously. Luna was about to ask what his game was when she heard her own voice behind her, "Salutations, I am Princess Luna-" she turned about sharply and was greeted with herself, or what looked exactly like her as it recited and mimicked the wave she had given moments earlier, "co-ruler of Equestria with my sister, Princess Celestia, and friend to the human Titus Marius Aelius."

"An astral-projection spell? Or, rather, a replica of one?" Luna approached the image of herself, running a hoof through it and watching the rippling static it produced as Titus explained the hologram before her, switching the machine from record to live-feed and enjoying the scene as Luna and HoloLuna mirrored each other's motions and sounds.

"I've had a few long flights when my hyperdrive was broken and all I had to do to occupy my time, aside from train, was modify or alter my droids. This one I've spent quite a bit of time on; probably more than R6, but don't tell him I said that," reaching into and removing a length of wiring and a black box from his bag - Luna identifying it as the one Fluttershy had with her the night the Princess had first laid eyes upon the human - Titus popped open part of the sphere to connect one end of the cable and the other end to the box. "This drone has a kit of hardware including motion, acoustic, sonic, and seismic sensors, a radiation meter, holocamera, and a holoprojector - those last two you've seen demonstrated."

"I... see," the look on her face made it apparent she hadn't the slightest clue what he was talking about, "So it has these senses, but what does it do with them?"

"Well, most of them are just there because I was bored and had the parts lying around, though they've come in handy once or twice. Just a moment, I'm transferring some programs; once the transfer is complete it can function as the hive-mind for the other ones." He stalled for the files to finish transferring and ripped the cable out, "There, done."

Several more of the spheres lifted themselves out of the crate to position themselves around Luna and Titus, each one creating a copy indistinguishable from the actual alicorn; the droids were similar to the first she had seen though lacked the small mechanical arms dangling below them and were devoid of the numerous bulbous eye-like protrusions and single jutting antennae that served to broadcast Luna's hologram.

"Recording and broadcasting in such immersing detail is an impressive feat," Luna and her holograms turned to the seated human and all spoke in unison, "though it was some time ago that Equestria found the technology to transmit such images into a screen. For what purpose do you use these images-"

"Appearing in all these locations at once?" interrupted another Titus as he emerged from the bedroom door, a rather mischievous light to his eyes while the Titus beside her regarded her with studied interest before finishing the sentence, "The possibilities of such an application I'll leave to your imagination, though I will say I've used it on several occasions to turn a disadvantage into an advantage." The door to the balcony opened and yet another image of the human walked into the room to watch for a moment as the Princess searched for the original before the holograms cut out, the only one of Titus left standing being the one in the bedroom door, "Sorry, having a bit of fun. In addition to their sensors and broadcasting of holograms, they feature ports capable of discharging various intensities of blaster fire."

Luna was familiar with blaster weapons, having seen their use in numerous scenes she had gathered from his memories, as well as how a skilled Jedi with a lightsaber countered and dealt with such foes, "I believe purpose begins to make itself known in their use of training, though that begs the question; what other oddities have you brought?"

Titus walked to the large crate he had set aside earlier, a hand motion unlocking the container that had vexed both the Princess and Twilight the night before. "The remotes and their blasters serve as a warm up for the regimen, the contents here are what truly hone skill," he floated four compact forms out and to the floor on the other side of the room, his lively warmth of his face fading to stony coldness.

"Perhaps a demonstration would be more beneficial than trying to put it into words. Luna, do you still have my lightsabers on your person?"

"As I vowed, they yet remain at my side," twisting her head to one side, Luna revealed the spot they were concealed in her mane, "though before demonstration ample space must be made." Her horn glowed for a brief moment and everything in the room was moved flush against the walls, creating a clear area for her friend's showing. She was startled to feel the spell keeping both hilts secured suddenly fade - though not by her own will - as they left her to fly through the air, one snapping into the human's hand while the other went to his waist.

"Princess, please take a seat somewhere and stay clear," he instructed as he removed his outer layer of clothing, tossing the jacket to one of the armchairs beside the chaise lounge that Luna had arranged herself on. After adjusting his sabers to a low-power setting, Titus rolled his neck and other joints around in preparation before calling over to the remote droid that had floated over beside the Princess, "Iana, activate number four and initiate its training program."

Luna watched as one of the metallic forms across the room twitched, appendages extending out as the machine unfolded itself to stand on two legs and the pair of red eyes blinked on to stare emotionless at the Jedi in the center of the room. The Princess tensed as she recognized the bipedal droid, T-thats...

"Meet the IG-100 combat droid, also known as a MagnaGuard. I take it you recognize it, judging by the hitch in your breath." Titus reached into the large crate at this feet to remove a staff, the droid catching the weapon tossed to it in one mechanical hand and issuing a barking grunt. The human lowered himself slightly, the muscles in his jaw going visibly taunt, "Yes, these belonged to the bounty hunter that killed Master Krua, though after I dealt with him I wiped their base directives so they're now controlled by Iana, who uses the other drones to plot offense and defense. Though vile and insidious by design, they've proven to be effective training tools." The droid began spinning the staff around itself, the chopping noise it produced as it cut through the air accentuated by the snaps of the arcing energy at either end.

The droid issued grunting taunts as it twirled the staff and in a blur both Jedi and droid were on each other. A *zzrakk!* echoed off the walls as the lightsaber deflected one end of the staff while the other hummed through empty air like a swarm of angry wasps where Titus had just been, the Jedi having flipped over the droid's back in a twisting leap to bring his blade in on the undefended rear. The MagnaGuard's continued spinning of the staff blocked the attack made at its back and it quickly countered with a kick meant to catch its opponent mid-air though a hand came down to intercept the limb, Titus using it as a Force-assisted springboard to create distance between themselves once again.

The Princess silently followed the pair from the sidelines as they circled each other, staff or lightsaber occasionally zipping inward in an attempt to snipe through a defense. The dodging, ducking, spinning and exploratory blows continued until they both fully recommitted, Titus bringing the second lightsaber to bare against the onslaught of staff swings in time to block a strike that would have connected with his throat before launching into a sweeping dance of humming blade swings and spinning acrobatics which culminated in a blow slipping through the droid's defenses, one of its arms going limp and Luna assuming that signaled the fight was drawing to a close though she soon saw Titus' opponent was capable of maintaining an impressive defense even with one inoperable limb. A final strike to the side of the droid's neck ended the battle and the machine fell to the floor.

"Huzzah!" Titus turned at the light patter of hooves - the pony version of applause - coming from one side of the room, "A display that kept me on edge of seat, my friend!"

Both lightsaber blades retracted with a *shh-wurp!*, almost sounding like they were aware of their victory, as he took a deep bow toward the Princess. Several strides saw him across the room and into a chair as Luna rearranged the room into its previous state, the human falling into the cushion before holding both hilts in open palm toward the Princess.

"You wish your swords to return to our safekeeping?" Luna switched gaze from the weapons to Titus' face to seek insight, "Does discomfort still linger?"

Titus tilted his head to one side and his brow furrowed, "I do feel better, however after thinking on it I believe you should hold on to these for the duration of my stay here in the palace, both to ease the mind of your Captain and serve as a sign to the ponies of the palace that I mean them no harm."

Contemplating what he had said, Luna nodded after some time, "Very well, your line of thought is indeed a sound one. However, we shall wear them in plain view so to emphasize your pledge of friendship." Casting the same spell as before, the hilts took a spot on either side of her narrow barrel and the magic secured them in place horizontal to the floor. Luna tapped hoof to chin for a moment as she looked over the human, whose response was an eyebrow raised in curiosity (or perhaps it was tentative apprehension, she wasn't sure), "To further your message, another design comes to mind..."

------------

I can't believe she convinced you that this was a good idea, these politicians and high-society ponies are going to eat you alive. Titus shifted uncomfortably as he waited in the side hall, arguing with himself.

No, making myself and my intentions known to the important court members is a smart move, by calming their fears the word will quickly spread.

If you don't screw this up, you mean.

"Titus?" Luna's voice interrupted his retort to himself, the Princess having found a way to get close enough to place a hoof on his elbow before he registered her presence, "We called to you several times but you seemed lost deep in thought, are you reconsidering joining my sister and I as we entertain the members of court in the gardens this evening?"

"More like second-guessing myself," Titus sighed, patting her forehoof and making note of a slight bit of weariness to her face, "Its just been a while since I've performed in a diplomatic function." His back hugging the wall, he inched his face forward until he could peek around the corner of the wall to watch more ponies pass through the door he, too, would soon have to approach. "This sort of thing wasn't my or Master Krua's forte, though in her case it was because she just had a quick temper and couldn't handle the 'pompous self-inflating fork-tongued wimpled lily-livered clotpoles' that were so often the focus of the 'phalli-waving contests' that were diplomatic missions."

Luna couldn't stifle her giggle at the colorful language, "I foresee you having no trouble if you speak well, observe etiquette, and, well, just be yourself- short of dunking your head in a fountain or *ahem* waving anything like that about, of course. We have provided the orator your credentials to make a suitable announcement of your arrival."

Having changed into the traditional earth-toned Jedi robes he had brought with him in case of just such the event he was about to attend, Titus tried to straighten the neck of his tunic; a motion that was not lost on the Princess. "Cease your fussing," a light tug of her magic readjusted the cloth so it was even again, "This is a casual-dress affair, so you appearance is acceptable. You need not worry, friend, both my sister and I will keep an eye out and should you run into trouble we will be at your side promptly."

"Thank you, Luna," he gave an appreciative pat on her shoulder and took discrete note to her slight lean into the gesture and the not-so-slight intake of breath, "Were it not for you I dread to think where I would be."

"Thou wouldst be in cage, my friend, as we discussed yesterday in the debate where thou were so soundly routed," she replied jokingly before rounding the corner, leaving the human to chuckle and shake his head in the empty hallway.

Giving her time to mingle and not draw attention of his arrival coinciding so closely to hers, Titus took the chance to kneel on the balls of his feet and let the apprehension drift away as his mind opened to the Force.

There is no emotion; there is peace.
There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.
There is no passion; there is serenity.
There is no chaos; there is harmony.
There is no death; there is the Force.

After a brief moment of calming meditation, he rose to approach the large set of double doors that had a resolutely stone-faced guard stationed on either side, both of whom admirably did not flinch at approach of the human. Titus gave his name to the stallion operating as an orator for the evening and received instruction to wait for the end of announcement to enter before the orator ducked through the door and began his recital.

"Titus Marius Aelius-"

"Sir?" one of the guards at Titus' side spoke but remained unflinching, "Permission to speak freely, Sir?"

The orator could be heard continuing with the apparent list of titles fed to him by Princess Luna, "Honorable Knight of the Jedi Order of the land of Coruscant-"

"Uh," the human was caught unready by the sudden request, catching the guard's eye flutter to him before it lock back forward awaiting permission. "B-by all means, be at ease. Speak freely," he replied.

The other guard remained a statue save for one ear that rotated toward them. Meanwhile, the announcement still continued through the door, "Peacekeeper of the People of the Galactic Republic-"

"Thank you, Sir," the guard, a stocky earth pony, relaxed and turned his head to address Titus, "word around the barracks is that you fought a platoon of Honor Guard to a standstill."

With a sigh and a nod, Titus crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm just glad nobody was hurt. As I told your Captain, you and your comrades have my apologies, I was... in my fever I was reliving the loss of a mentor of many years; a wound reopened, if you will."

The earth pony guard was quiet for a moment as he studied the human's alien face, "I wouldn't worry about them holding anything against you, Sir. To be honest, they were pretty psyched up to see some action for a change, usually it's hours of sentry duty and the occasional routine patrol; it can get a bit dull around here - but don't tell the Captain I said that, he'd have us galloping laps around the outer wall all day."

"Thanks, that's a real relief to hear," Titus picked up that the orator was drawing to a close. He twisted his head slightly toward the guard as he made for the door, "What's your name, soldier?"

The earth pony came to attention out of habit, "Lieutenant Bulwark, Sir."

"You take care of yourself, Lieutenant," Titus gave the guard a nod before taking a deep breath and ducking through the door into the garden.

------------
Day 4
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Both knees dangled over the arm and one hand flopped on the floor as Titus sat, or, more appropriately, lazed sideways in the arm chair waiting for his royal friend to make her appearance. It's unlike Luna to be late. He rolled his head along the cushioned furniture supporting his neck until he could gaze upon the slow-moving hands of the clock on top of the book case. And very unlike her to be this late, though maybe something important came up. Perhaps the same thing that lead her to leave the party early last night. Titus' focus shifted from the clock to the group of MangaGuard droids standing motionless in one corner, the Marksman-H remotes lazily bobbing in the air beside them where they had been since he brought them out for practice shortly before Luna had planned to arrive. He had spent some time dueling with one of the droid's electrostaves, Master Krua having instructed him in their use but he never like the long weapons because they felt clunky and unresponsive compared to the much lighter saberstaff he had once used. I've done my opening regimen, but without my lightsabers I can't finish morning training.

He lost several more minutes watching the overhead fan spin for no other reason than it was something to look at. Titus was reluctant to go anywhere in the palace without Luna's escort, having no desire to be set upon by any of the ponies or creatures he had met last night at the garden party and not wanting another incident involving the Royal Guard thinking him a trespassing monster.

"Not that the party went poorly. No, quite the contrary," he told himself while floating the datapad over to spend a few more moments halfheartedly reading sensor data on the portal that he had transferred for Twilight before putting it down; the material itself incapable of holding his attention for any meaningful length of time. The ponies had been a bit snooty at first with a few snide or snarky remarks hidden behind elegant wording reaching his ears, but once one of them decided to break from the pack and talk to him he soon found himself at the center of a small circle turning this way and that in an attempt to keep up with the sudden volume of voiced interest or inquiry directed at him before Princess Celestia had stepped in to divert some attention away from the quickly-nearing overwhelmed human and giving him a chance to slip away to catch a breath and something to drink. And judging by the two guards I met last night I doubt I'd run into trouble if I went out.

Speaking of Princess Celestia, Luna did say I could seek her out if I needed anything. Titus entertained the thought of sending the remote drones off in search of either Princess but immediately thought better of it for the obvious reason of how startling it might be to a pony to bump into an unknown piece of floating alien technology. Coming to the conclusion that there was no alternative to braving an excursion from the room in search of answers - and, if his grumbling stomach was any indication, in search of food - Titus flipped himself over the arm of the chair and made for the bathroom to clean up, having no intention of potentially bumping into anyone in the post-workout mess he felt he was in and, much to his appreciation, he had discovered yesterday that the shower was just the right size for him. It shouldn't have come as a surprise as Luna had mentioned she had deliberately chosen a room furnished for beings such as Minotaur for him to stay in, however that still didn't explain why she had picked this room specifically - ones much closer to the infirmary had been available, Luna having pointed them out as they had worked their way to the literal opposite side of the palace and up many flights of stairs before she had given him the large silver key to the room he now called his own.

When he emerged from the bathroom he was surprised to see a sealed scroll bearing the mark of a moon in its wax waiting for him on the floor at his feet. "Hello, Luna?" he called out and searched about the room, the towel he had been roughly drying his hair with fell to his shoulders, "Are you here, Luna?" Leaving the scroll where it was and quickly walking through the bedchamber and into the main room, he scanned about for a visitor but found none, the only motion being the drapes of the open balcony door as they drifted in the cool early-morning breeze. While he continued to the balcony for any sign of entry he instructed the modified Marksman droid to retrieve the letter, the droid reappearing from the bedroom a few seconds later with the scroll in one of its fine pincer arms.

"Alright, let's see what this has to say-" just as Titus got his fingers on the paper, at the precise moment where he hadn't quite taken a good grip on it and the droid had released most of its own grip to facilitate transfer of the object, a strong gust of wind took the scroll over the railing to sail on a current up and away from him.

"Kriff!" he shouted as he cleared the distance to the balustrade in a single stride and, without a second thought, vaulted on top of it to propel himself like a shot off the balcony and into the open air after the fleeing parchment.

As a Youngling he had been terrified of extreme heights and had received a good bit of harsh teasing for it when his classmates had discovered as much on their first excursion out of the Jedi Temple and into the upper levels of Coruscant to practice Force leaping and controlled falls. Master Krua had been passing through the hallway and learned of his fear from overhearing the ribbing session; later pulling him aside she had told him that a Jedi could not afford to hold such fears and assured him that she could rid him of his phobia in a single trip to a luxury resort - but only if he was willing to make the effort.

Of course at that point all he knew about Master Krua was that she was considered a bit odd so he couldn't have foreseen luxury would not be a part of his trip.

He had held high hopes as they closed in on the floating cloud city and when they headed for the lower levels of the flying structure instead of the glitzy buildings gleaming at the apex of the dome he figured it was for the cheaper landing pad rentals. He had been extremely perplexed, however, when she had barged into his bunk to strap a set of climbing gear and a small repulsor pack onto him, handing him a grapple gun, a headset comlink and a locator and promptly marching him down the landing ramp to leave him clinging to the railing of one of the remote maintenance platforms, the ship pulling away as she shouted over the wind, "I booked a room for four nights, so the longer it takes for you to climb the less of a vacation you'll have. Oh, and the repulsor pack only has enough lift-power to slow your descent should you fall, so there'll be no flying out of this."

As the landing ramp retracted and the hatch closed, he had immediately raised her on the comlink, "Master Krua, please!" he had begged, barely able to keep his food down as the dizzying nothingness beneath the metal grating he was standing on clawed at his stomach, "I cannot do this!"

"'Cannot,' you say? No, little Youngling, you can. You want to be a Jedi so you will. Start. Climbing." He had almost felt the finger jab from Krua, who he could envision sitting in the cockpit and staring harshly through a view screen with her feet up on the console, a nonchalant shrug accompanying her statement as it had come through his headset, "Or you will not and simply stay on that platform until I return in four cycles time... in which case I will inform the council that you are unfit to become a Jedi and your training shall cease; you'll be sent back home to Alderaan as a wash out and your classmates will have been right about your all along. As I said in the Temple, your fear is a weakness unfitting a Jedi. The choice of your future is yours." With that the ship had banked away and left him stranded at the top of the long stalk that hung down below the floating city.

He had spent two nights suspended from the underside of the structure, blowing in the wind on his climbing harness like a banthan dingleberry and two and a half days of strenuously nerve-racking climbing before - fingers, knees and elbows all a bloody mess - he finally pulled himself over the railing of the balcony of the room Master Krua had booked, landing on the floor in an exhausted heap to find her standing in the door waiting for him with bacta gel and patches in hand.

"I choose to be a Jedi," he had said.

"As I thought you would; my faith in you was not ill placed. Come, let's get you cleaned up," she had said, her deadpan expression held as she continued, "I decided to waste a few extra credits on the suite with the glass flooring, I trust you won't mind, my Padawan."

The memory had only lasted a flash of an instant, though he realized that that experience was probably why he currently found himself rocketing through the air after a piece of parchment several hundred feet in the air with no qualms about his safety. Thanks to the Force-assisted leap he had made his fingers were soon wrapping around the scroll and jamming it securely into his tunic so that his attention could turn to slowing his fall; sooner rather than later. Recounting his training he knew that to slow his fall from a height like this required two steps; the first was to pull as much of the air around himself into a high-pressure pillow to help cushion his landing, and for the second he had to essentially Force Push himself away from the fast-approaching ground while maintaining the pillow beneath himself.

Despite slowing his descent Titus still hit the grassy knoll of the garden hard enough that he needed to break his fall and felt a slight strain in his shoulder as he made a forward roll. Pushing himself to his feet, he tested his limb's range of motion and was mid-way through a sigh of relief when the sound of porcelain clinking together to one side caught his attention. Turning about, Titus found himself in the presence of Princess Celestia, who was seated at a white wrought iron table enjoying what smelled like fresh-brewed tea.

"Ah, how nice of you to drop in, Mr. Aelius," she greeted him, pausing to bring the tea cup to her muzzle for a refined sip, "Luna made mentioned of your spontaneity, though she never conveyed it was to this magnitude. I can certainly see why she enjoys your lively company."

Titus wasn't entirely sure what to make of the situation or how to proceed. Here, sipping tea and enjoying breakfast, was the co-ruler of Equestria casually greeting him like he had simply walked through a door when he had quite literally fallen from the sky in front of her. After a lengthy pause he managed a nervous chuckle, "J-just out to get the mail, Your Highness," Titus slowly brought the scroll from his tunic; he didn't need to be Force-sensitive to feel the unseen unicorns aiming their magics at him - ready to blast him with kark knows what should he try anything. Not wanting to stir up any tension he took a deep bow and made to depart, "My apologies for interrupting-"

"It is hardly an intrusion as I find myself in the absence of the regular company of my dearest little sister. Perhaps you would join me for some morning tea and partake of a scone in her stead?" A set of fine chinaware magically set itself on one side of the table and a guard - a unicorn, as he had thought - appeared to set an additional chair beside the table, the Princess expectantly floating a scone to the empty plate. After the human had taken his seat she continued, pouring him a cup of swirling grey tea as she did so, "You took a small tumble in your landing, will you be alright?"

"Um," Titus carefully rolled the arm in its socket experimentally, having to stop at one point as he felt it begin to lock up. I must have landed harder than I thought. With a grunt he massaged his shoulder as he looked up to search for his balcony, "I thought I'd have a bit more room to slow down, though apparently I miscalculated. With a little stretching and a warm compress I'll be good as new; your concern is appreciated, Princess-" A letter similar to the one he had still tucked in his tunic was set to one side of the Princess, prompting him to break the seal on his own scroll to read it.

When he looked up from the parchment the alicorn had apparently been waiting for him to finish. "I would imagine your letter conveys a message similar to the one I received shortly before your arrival," a nibble of a buttered scone gave the comment a small pause, the Princess clearing her palate with another sip of tea before continuing, "it would appear Luna is feeling a bit under the weather and has sought a reprieve from court duty. I had thought it was to spend more time with you while you were here, however," her eyes fell down to the letter in the human's hands before returning to his, "seeing you in possession of a letter as well it would seem my assumption was incorrect."

Titus took a bite of his own scone, halting mid-chew and breathing slowly in contemplation as the delicious crumbly cake overwhelmed his senses. He must have made an amusing face because a warm laugh from the other side of the table broke him from his momentary stupor, "S-sorry, but of what I've been able to eat Equestrian cuisine is just... wow," a mouthful of the tea proved to have a similar effect and he found it hard to put into words what he was experiencing when the Princess asked, his stumbling explanation garnishing another laugh, "everything in the stores on my ship pales in comparison." Then again Nutripaste isn't exactly known for its flavor.

Another scone of a different flavor found itself floated onto the plate, followed by another once he had analyzed that one as Princess Celestia repeatedly restocked Titus' dish and supplied him with various jams and other preserves in what he quickly came to realize was an attempt to elicit more reactions but the flavors she was assaulting him with were too rich for him to resist trying the next until he could eat no more, finally pushing his plate away and holding up his index and middle finger in a sign of surrender, "Mercy, Highness, I have met my limit." Truth be told if he thought he could eat another scone he would have, however at the moment Titus was afraid that even reaching to select a new variety he might burst at the seams.

"Oh, very well," the jams and scones he had yet to try floated back down to the platter, "I fear the games usually reserved for our sister were subconsciously consigned to you in her absence, Mr. Aelius. Please forgive this old mare for her oversight."

"'Old,' Your Majesty?" Titus looked at the Princess a bit skeptically; he knew she was well over a thousand years old just from the time she had had to raise both sun and moon by herself but she certainly showed no signs of her age, "You are only as old as you feel and judging from your exuberance this morning I'd say you're just hitting your prime."

Titus' ears tingled at the melodic belly laugh that graced the table, Princess Celestia somehow capable of making each laugh warmer than the last, "O-ho! Mr. Aelius, would you be attempting to flatter me?"

"Hardly, Princess - flattery implies an empty compliment," he replied before finishing the warm tea still in his cup, "I meant every word."

Princess Celestia laughed again and nodded her thanks before pushing her seat back, "And speaking of emptiness; as the griffons are proving to be rather obstinate in our negotiations I must once again get an early start on my schedule," she said, finishing the last few crumbs on her plate while looking rather weary at the prospect of more fruitless sessions of bickering filling her day.

"It's unfortunate they're being held on such a short leash, if you'll pardon the term," having thrown etiquette to the wind after witnessing the Princess licking her dish (which, as it turns out, is a perfectly acceptable thing to do in Equestria), Titus pressing a finger into each of the scrumptious bits of scone still remaining so nothing went to waste, depositing the food in his mouth, "I'm not privy to what's been discussed at the negotiations so correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I learned at the party last night the King has instructed the representatives not to lose the river to a border adjustment because his minister of agriculture is warning of a poor fishing season, which they've also been told to keep under wraps until further into the next quarter when a new, more accurate prediction can be drawn up."

A lone blueberry survivor of the scone massacre caught his eye and reaching in he plucked it up in two fingers, occupying his attention as the Princess' face slowly fell into one of astonishment, "I was also able to pick up that the reason they haven't spoken of it is that they're worried the early prediction of a poor season would be made public and cause disruption in the industry that so much of their economy is built upon; an economy that is currently recovering from a recession, if I'm remembering one of Twilight's lectures correctly. Anyway, in addition to that: if the border is adjusted their local holdings will lose a source of food; one of the delegates quoted it as 'in season, it's the highest salmon-producing river in the area' and she also said the other Providences don't produce enough of an excess to carry the burden if the border is moved under the current rendition of the-" he was completely absorbed in relishing the taste of the blueberry morsel when his inflection was interrupted as he felt himself engulfed in hooves.

"Mr. Aelius, you are truly a gift!" Princess Celestia couldn't contain her excitement at the headway the new information heralded, giving the writhing human squeezes of appreciation without realizing he had already started turning the same shade as the blueberry he had eaten, "This explains their steadfast resistance to our proposals and refusal to give reasoning. Perhaps with this information we can discreetly barter a deal for free-fishing rights for the locals!"

"*Ah-Gak!*" his only way of communicating his distress was to rapidly tap an open palm against her barrel as each "little" alicorn-sized squeeze worked the air further out of his lungs; the Princess only becoming aware of his plight when he didn't answer her query as to how he had come by the information. After taking a few breaths to regain his color, he pointed to an ear, "A lot of my features are often underestimated; despite how flat and stationary our ears are you might be surprised how acute human hearing is, though I might have used the Force to heighten it a bit after picking up a word or two of interest. Of course, I wouldn't have overheard anything if you hadn't extricated me from that circle of ponies moments before."

Heightened his hearing? But the gardens were under a magic-dampening field... Apologizing again for the forwardness of her embrace, the Princess bowed her head as she bid her farewell, "I'd better bring this to the cabinet so we can draft a new measure before the session starts, and I may yet get a decent night's sleep this week if this all plays out. Mr. Aelius, I can't begin to thank you enough for this."

Grabbing the clean plate from the extra spot that had been set out, Titus placed three scones on it and scraped an assortment of jams along the rim. Turning to face the Princess, he gave a small grin and held the plate up, "Letting me take this up to Luna would be a good start."

After approving of the idea and watching the human happily stride off in that awkwardly fluid manner that his two legs carried him, Celestia noticed a small folded parchment under the table. Grabbing it in her magic before it blew off, she opened the small note that that she concluded must have dropped out of one of their scrolls without their notice. Hmm, her brow furrowed before she she bit her lower lip, holding on for several more seconds until she snorted and another hearty laugh bordering on a guffaw broke across the garden, Poor Lulu, this having to be her first experience in over a thousand years. I'll certainly have to check in on her later.

------------

Titus felt a bit foolish that he had not realized the a large set of doors that lay around the corner from his room led to the vestibule before Luna's own quarters; his shock at their proximity was only exceeded by Princess Celestia's when he had asked directions for where to bring the scones. In his defense, however, all he'd seen of the palace was the gardens, the infirmary, and a few hallways; the layout of Canterlot outside the castle wall was a complete mystery to him.

Rounding the corner he was immediately met with the piercing glares of a pair of Honor Guard, scanning over the odd biped to assess what sort of level of threat factor he posed. "Good morning," he greeted both with a cheerful smile but their expressions remained unchanged. He hadn't seen ponies like this before, their wings were leathery rather than feathered; their ears and eyes were different too.

"Luna was going to attend Princess Celestia's breakfast but missed it, so I've brought her a small sample of scones and jam," it must have been his referral to the Lunar Princess in such a familiar fashion that got the most minute twitch of an eyebrow from what looked to be the younger of the guards.

"Sir," the non-twitching one of them replied with a nod, Titus noticing a scar on the outside of one of his ears as he pushed open the humongous door with the steady pressure of a single hind leg, "Princess Celestia alerted us to your imminent arrival."

Word certainly does travel quickly, though I wonder how they do it without comlinks. Must be magic. But how would earth ponies and pegasi...? He nodded his thanks to both guards as they fell in behind him. Titus worked his way down the structurally-identical hallway, though the decor of this one featuring darker tones of blues and motifs of moons and stars in honor of the alicorn that resided at the end of the stretch of corridor behind the doors of ornate dark black stone embellished with gold trimming - one of them marred by a large crack that ran diagonally across it. Wordlessly the two guards moved to either side of the doors, pushing them open and waiting for him to cross the threshold before closing both massive slabs behind him.

He tentatively took a step further into the room, unable to stop himself from giving a short whistle at the scope of the area. Quarters befitting a Princess, that's for sure. Quite possibly the most luxurious sofa he had ever seen was nestled in one corner facing a large screen that sat atop a cabinet of some sort, the shelves lined with numerous spines of what looked like small books and a single cable ran from one alcove containing a boxy piece of technology to end in a much smaller device. His interest in them was diverted when at the end of his whistle he heard the sound of cloth rustling. He decided it would be a good idea to make his presence known rather than stumble in blindly and potentially startle her, "Luna? It's me, Titus."

Hearing a small noise from an open door Titus moved a bit closer and, realizing it was the bedroom, knocked on the wall outside the doorway out of courtesy, "I got your letter and thought you might be hungry, so I brought scones and jam from the breakfast with your sister."

"...go away..."

"Oh, um... alright," he took a step away as the rustling moved closer from somewhere around the corner, "Sorry you're not feeling good. Just let me know where to put these and I'll be on my way-" A form concealed under a bundle of bed covers was suddenly in front of him, only a tiny portion of muzzle poking out from the impromptu hood that was draped over the entirety of her face; he noticed something about her fur was different.

"Thou art 'sorry'? The fault lies with thee for how we feel!" she spat through her teeth as she levitated a pillow from the bed and hurled it at him with excessive force.

Titus reflexively dodged the missile. "Luna, I'm sorry. What did I-" he started as he briefly followed the cushion's flight across the room, turning back to find what little he could see of the Princess was quivering. Shit. I'd probably have been better off not avoiding that.

"Cease apologizing and make haste in removing thine self from our sight!"

He made sure to take the second pillow square to the face, though he hadn't expected the strength the Princess would put behind it and he reeled back a step as stars exploded in the corners of his eyes. Turns out cloud pillows can still hurt if thrown hard enough.

"Thou can disappear for all we care! And take thine breakfast with you, just... Begone!"

The platter of scones and jam fell to the floor and shattered as the power of the Royal Voice sent him off his feet, flinging him against the wall that was a fair distance behind him. He remained where he landed, in a seated position with thorough confusion written on his face as he stared at the bundle that glared back before she collapsed into a sobbing heap of blankets in the bedroom door. What is going on?

The guards hooked a leg under each of his arms and dragged him out into the hallway, none of them catching the whimpered "W-wait..." as it was muffled to silence by the covers.

"Sir, I think you'd better go," the one with the scar said, closing the cracked door and breathing a sigh of relief.

"Listen to the old-timer," the other guard said, getting a sock to the shoulder for his quip before he hauled the human to his feet, "Whatever you did you got off lightly, from the sound of things." As his comrade closed the outer set of doors behind them he instructed the human to remain in his quarters until his statement could be taken when they got off their shift.

The short walk back to his room ended up taking much longer than it should have as Titus had to find the motivation to put each foot in front of the other instead of stopping in the middle of the hallway and going over everything that had happened. After a brief meander resulting in his getting lost down a side corridor, Titus finally arrived at his door and, expecting to just slip inside to quietly think over what he could have done to anger Luna in one of the comfortable armchairs, instead found the door securely locked. Patting his pockets in search of his key proved fruitless as he realized the key must still be on the nightstand next the bed where he had left it before his morning shower. Kark! He emphasized the expletive by hammering a fist into the door once before his head sank to join the fist in resting on the heavy wood planks and sinking to his knees at the threshold, "What did I do? What?"

"Uh, Sir? Is everything alright?"

Turning slightly to catch a glimpse of the pony behind him and upon recognizing the face from last night Titus flipped himself around so his back was at the door, "I don't know, Lieutenant. I made a mistake somewhere and-" he stopped himself, realizing the guard probably had more important things to do or, more likely, wouldn't want to sit here listening to him try to work this out. He tried giving the Lieutenant a way out should he want it, "I'm not distracting you from duty, am I?"

The guard shrugged, "Technically I am on duty, Sir, but while on patrol I'm charged with helping the palace inhabitants and you looked like you needed a hoof with something," Lieutenant Bulwark seated himself in the empty hallway with the clearly distressed alien, "How may I assist you, Sir?"

"Well, for starters," Titus used a hand to push the hair that had fallen in his face back to its usual position, "you can stop calling me 'Sir,' Titus is fine. I was a General back home but here in Equestria I'm a civilian, not your superior officer... nor am I so old that I warrant the title." He hit the back of his head lightly against the door which ended up being an error of judgement as it was still sore from when he had impacted the wall in Luna's room - he grit his teeth in response to the spike that worked its way down his spine and through his vision. Where did I mess up?

"Okay, sure," the earth pony looked a bit confused, "but just so you know here in Equestria being a Knight comes with the title of 'Sir.' I'm assuming that's not the case where you're from, but with both Princesses confirming your status as such at the party it's gotten out and into all of the papers."

It felt sort of odd that this guard was acting so relaxed when every other he had encountered was stiff, and he could tell they hadn't just been acting on military protocol, "Breaking station last night at the party and now helping me out of the blue like this. What's your deal?"

Another shrug, "One of my mares has a cousin that lives in Ponyville that's been sending her pictures of you because none of of the major papers'll buy 'em and in comparison to what's in circulation all the time it doesn't look like you're getting a fair rep. Not to me or my herd, at least, so with a little help from that cousin we started up the Human-Watcher chapter of Canterlot," he pulled a small pendant out of his uniform, a silver relief of a five-fingered hand set against the gold, "I guess I got lucky to draw guard duty last night and when saw you I figured it was my opportunity to speak up and show support."

To think Lyra's little group has spread this far and this quickly. "Thanks, that actually means a lot to know there's some friendly faces out there," he reached a hand out and the two shared a hand-hoof shake.

"So, what can I help you with, Titus?" the Lieutenant asked once again, "If you've locked yourself out of your room, I can fetch a pegasus to fly to your balcony to unlock your door or a unicorn to teleport you-"

"No. No teleporting, thanks; I'd prefer to leave that to the sci-fi novels. Give me a moment and I can get the key myself," looking at the gap between the floor and the bottom of the door it didn't look like the key would fit under. Another idea of how to unbar the latch began to paint itself in his imagination, "and if not the key, I'll figure a way to get this unlocked." The key was on the other side of the door, around the corner, and through the closed bedroom door; which would have proven to be a challenge manifesting the Force to pull the key from there with all the obstacles and no line of sight. The comlink, however, is right were I left it in the bag in the entryway. With a deep exhale Titus placed an open hand on the door and closed his eyes to better envision every detail of the hallway and honed in on exactly which pocket of his bag his target was in; he waited a moment before calling the communicator to him, the device wiggling sightly as it fought against the fabric of the bag.

Not entirely sure what the human was up to, Bulwark's ears rotated further forward at a noise on the other side of the door, "Something's moved in there."

Titus was well aware of that fact. Come on now, easy does it. He had to be careful here, too much strength in the pull would cause the comlink to fly out of the pocket and smash into the other side of the door or pull the whole bag with it; not enough and it wouldn't have enough force to escape the flap of the bag. His fingers brushed over the grain of the wooden door, each motion of a finger lightly coaxing the device in another direction and closer to its intended goal. One such twitch of the finger found the comlink free and skidding along the carpet of the entryway under the tiny gap, "Ha! Gotcha!" He issued a command into the device and a few seconds later the bolt could be heard sliding into the unlocked position.

"Come on in," he invited, lightly pushing the MagnaGuard that had opened the door back against the wall to allow them space to pass, "I'd rather think this over in a comfortable chair than out on the cold stone floor of the hallway," Titus grabbed a cup from the bar and, after asking the pony if he'd like a drink, poured himself an ice-cold glass of water as he strode to the armchair, flopping down and lounging out with one knee over the arm and his back wedged between the other and the back.

Lieutenant Bulwark skirted around the droid in the doorway as its steely gaze locked with his all the way to the sitting area where he joined the human, stopping for a moment when the three other bipedal machines standing at attention and the hovering remote drones came into view, "You certainly have quite the entourage in here." When Titus didn't respond Bulwark realized he looked lost in thought, absentmindedly swishing the water in circles in his glass so he took a seat and waited for a moment he could speak, "You can talk to me in confidence, if that's what is causing you pause. Guard's Oath, I won't speak of it to any," he held up a hoof solemnly.

"It's um..." Titus started, pinching the bridge of his nose for several seconds as he thought how to best tactfully proceed, "I've got a friend who's not feeling well, so I brought what I thought was a nice breakfast up to them only to get quite literally shouted at and thrown out of the room." He recounted the short conversation he and Luna had had, discreetly changing her lines so her way of speaking wouldn't make it obvious to Bulwark who it was.

The guard waited for him to continue, but no further information came. "Well, what sparked it all?"

"That's the thing, I don't know what I did." By the way he finished his drink in a single gulp it was clear to his company that he was frustrated. She ducked out of the party early while I was being accosted with questions. Is that when she started not feeling well? Did I miss some discreet signal from her there?

They both sat in silence and stewed on their thoughts for a while until Bulwark spoke up, "Speaking stallion to stallion, and I'm just assuming you're dealing with a mare here... unless you're into stallions; in which case I won't judge-" even cross-species the expression the human gave made it clear that wasn't the case, "Right, sorry. I know it's a stereotype, but mares are supposed to be the strong ones that get physical since that's just how their gender is socially constructed; they tend to act before thinking things through. We stallions have more sense," he tipped his head before adding, "supposedly. Look, what I'm saying is if my herd is anything to go by sometimes it's something you didn't do or say that sets them off."

When Titus asked about his herd the pony brightened and couldn't stop grinning, "Somehow a lug like me's got the best pair of mares waiting when I come home. Got a young'un on the way, too." Despite being on duty, he didn't turn down the congratulatory drink when the human jumped up and walked to the bar to pour a two shots of dark amber liquid, both of them hissing through gritted teeth at the strong alcohol after the guard's toast of "Praise the Sun! Praise the Moon!"

The taps of their glasses on the table was accompanied by a knock on the door.

It's nearing lunch time. Luna's guards must have gotten relieved and come to take my statement. "Coming!" Titus chugged a glass of water before heading for the door; a second rap sounded as he reached for the handle, "Hey guys, could we do this a bit later-" He cut himself off when he found it wasn't the guards that had been knocking on his door.

"O-oh, Princess Celestia..." Titus was caught unprepared and stumbled over what he should do, meanwhile Bulwark jumped to attention and made a snappy salute. With not enough room to stand aside on account of the MagnaGuard behind him he snapped his fingers at it and pointed; the droid obediently moved deeper into the chamber to join the others, "Please, Princess, come in, I was just congratulating Lt. Bulwark on becoming a father."

"Congratulations are most certainly due; you and your herd must be very excited. If you would like time off to spend with your family please do not hesitate to ask as I will arrange for it myself," the Princess acknowledged the salute so the guard could be at ease then turned her attention to the human as she walked around him into the room, "My apologies Mr. Aelius, I was unaware you had company. Is now a good time to talk?"

"Thank you both for the well wishes, I'll be sure to pass them on. I'll leave you - I should probably be getting back on patrol now anyway," Bulwark stated, heading for the door once Princess Celestia had moved into the room so as not to crowd her. "Titus, just keep what I said in mind," he gave a final salute to the Princess before closing the door behind him.

Celestia watched the soon-to-be father leave, giving him another bow of her head at his salute and waited for a few seconds silence to pass between herself and the human before speaking, "I wanted to thank you again for the information you provided as it has given me a break in my afternoon; this marks the first occasion that the Griffons have asked for some time to confer with their King about the renditions." She sauntered over and lay herself on the chaise, a look of concern coming to her face as she arranged herself on the lone pillow, "After the break in the summit meeting I went to go spend some sisterly time with Luna, however I found she had locked herself in her bedchamber and refused to come out; instead speaking to me through the door. After questioning her guards - both of whom where unable to provide a clear account of the event - I made my way here to gather what you have to say."

Titus returned to his seat in the armchair, sitting more normally than he had in the presence of the Lieutenant with one leg propped up on his knee. "I'm sorry, Princess, but I'm not really sure what happened myself," he said, shaking his head lightly before leaning on one elbow and resting his head in a hand to verbally go over everything he could remember, "and all morning I've been trying to think of what I could have done to anger her but I keep drawing a blank. Did she... say anything?"

"I do not want to speak where it is not my place," Celestia offered, still unsure for whom the small note she had found at breakfast was for and attempting to find a balance between tactfulness toward her sister and alleviation of the human's worry, "but I will say that I hadn't expected her to be this stressed and out of sorts sharing in Twilight Sparkle's estrous cycle or I would have accompanied you this morning, so please try not to hold any resentment toward her. If I may ask, what was it that Lieutenant Bulwark wanted you to keep in mind?"

Titus quoted the guard, leaving out the bit about mares not thinking things through. He looked to the Princess hopefully, "In your opinion, what should I do here? What advice do you have?"

A little bit of warmth returned as the concerned lines faded from Celestia's face and the corners of her mouth edged their way up her face slightly, "You assisted me with information, now I shall repay the favor." She elegantly dismounted the lounge and walked for the door, looking over her shoulder at Titus as she did so, "Come with me." The Princess lead the human through the palace, neither one speaking as they zigzagged their way across a maze of corridors, through several rooms, and down countless number of stairs until they stood before a door and the alicorn princess turned to face Titus, "Welcome to one of our kitchens. I imagine my little sister is growing a bit peckish having missed breakfast and, with my guidance, you will create a brunch consisting of her favorite sandwiches-"

Titus, eager to get started, was pushing the door open before she had finished, "Just tell me what I have to do, Princess." Ignoring the odd stares of the kitchen staff at the intrusion of the famed alien into their domain, he went about following the recipe Princess Celestia recited from memory. The staff's attitude quickly changed to one of muted admiration of his ability to multitask; settling on two ciabatta buns from the available stock he grabbed a knife and sliced the buns in half, drizzling a generous amount of olive oil over the exposed flesh of the bread before sticking them in a heated oven to broil. While he waited for the bread to finish he dashed about the kitchen collecting the sprouts, baby kale, lettuce, arugula, and tomatoes - getting aid in the form of pointed hooves or nods of a muzzle in the direction of what he was looking for. Slicing the avocado and tomatoes, he stopped midway through to pull the bread out of the oven once it had gone perfectly golden brown, promptly spreading cheese over it before continuing with the slicing to add the two main ingredients on, placing the rest of the greens on top of that. A sprinkle of freshly-ground black pepper and the other half of the bun held together by a toothpick topped the whole thing off; the human maneuvered the two small sandwiches to a serving platter to the hoof-stomping applause of several impressed chefs as he placed a silver cover over the meal. With a nod of approval Celestia once again lead the way and the pair soon found themselves coming up on the corner that lead to the outer doors of Luna's chambers.

Celestia halted before the door and turned to Titus, "Before we enter, I should warn you maintaining the spell has proven taxing on Luna's powers; however do not let her appearance alarm you, Mr. Aelius." She magicked the doors open when he nodded his understanding.

Once both doors swung completely open, Titus immediately began to feel a knot in his stomach as they approached the black and gold doors he had been dragged through earlier that morning. I hope these little sandwiches are enough to convince her to hear me out. He didn't get a chance to collect his thoughts as the Princess continued forward, rapping a hoof on the door and not waiting for an invitation to walk in, leaving Titus out in the hall before he felt himself dragged in by an aura of yellow magic that gripped him at the belt.

"Tia, is that you?" a call came from the door of the bedroom, "You were gone for quite a while; h-how fares he?"

"He has been pained by it all morning," Celestia replied factually to the door, holding a hoof up to quiet Titus when he looked like he was going to speak in protest. Several moments of aching silence passed before she spoke again, "though perhaps you should extricate yourself from your bedchamber to talk with him yourself, seeing as he's standing here waiting for you."

"What?! You brought... he's here?" the door cracked open slightly for the blanket hood to peak out for confirmation before ducking back inside, "I-I was not prepared for this!"

"Luna, recall our earlier conversation-" Celestia took a step closer to the door though she was having a hard time concealing the exasperation she felt in her voice. It had been a rough couple of days with very few openings in her schedule for relaxation and, as much as she was willing to help her sister, she still wanted to use what little time she had left of her break for a nice nap or hot bath. Or both, preferably.

"Mayhaps we may speak through the door?"

While Titus was happy just to hear she was willing to speak to him the sound of the bolt sliding into place was the final straw for the weary elder sister. "Alright, that does it! Mr. Aelius, wait right here a moment," Princess Celestia pointed a hoof at his feet an instant before disappearing in a flash of golden light. Shortly after the sounds of a struggle could be heard on the other side of the door; thumps of furniture being knocked about, a minor shouting match - muted by the thick wall and heavy door which bent outward toward him with the strength of their battling Royal Voices - and the piercing shatter of something rather expensive-sounding indicated the ending of the scuffle as the door flew open and a bundle of squirming and protesting covers was held aloft in an aura of shimmering yellow magic to be deposited in a rather unceremonious fashion before the bewildered Titus.

"Now then, Luna," Celestia, breathing a bit hard, cut an imposing figure as she loomed over the small heap draped under the blankets, "You requested I assist you in making amends and I will not let you waffle when presented the opportunity... and for crying out loud take this mess off, you're not suffering from a deformity!"

Titus watched as a quick yank of the covers revealed the Princess lying on the floor though he did a quick double take at the significant change that she had undergone. He folded himself down to balance on the balls of his feet on account of her smaller size to try and make contact with the cyan eyes hiding behind an azure mane, her hair no longer the flowing ethereal spectrum of blues it normally was and laying flat against the grayed-out blue of her coat, "L-Luna?" He thought about what to say for a moment but couldn't come to a decision, instead just awkwardly offering the covered platter he had brought and with a small flourish he lifted the silver lid to reveal the sandwiches, "Your sister said you might be hungry and, um... suggested I make something special as a sign of apology." He was feeling a bit uncomfortable being under the watchful eye of Celestia as the scene reminded him of a teacher watching over two children who had gotten in a fight and were being forced to apologize to each other - not that he was forcing himself but with a third party it just felt... weird.

The enticing smell of freshly-cut avocado and the contrasting sharpness of cheese reaching her nose caused her nostrils to flair lightly, "I-It is we that should be forming words of apology to you, friend. We value your friendship yet we... we spurned your cordial offering of thoughtful breakfast and amiable company and raised our voice to unacceptable levels in our unfounded anger brought about by unreleased stress. Y-you hath no reason to offer apologies-"

"No, I do have a reason," he cut her off, putting the platter down to rest both elbows on his knees and cup his hands together, "You've done nothing but be accommodating toward me since you cast that spell to help Twilight and as your 'reward'-" Titus made air quotes with his fingers, hoping the gesture would convey it meant the complete opposite of the definition of the word, "-has been having to suffer through this cycle-sharing ordeal. Luna, I-I'm sorry; as a friend I should have noticed how tough it's been for you and I should have helped ease that stress." It wasn't until the small blue alicorn started blushing that he did the mental math of what Equestrians thought was insinuated when the words "estrous cycle" and "helping ease that stress" were spoken by a stallion.

Titus developed his own blush as he stammered an incoherent clarification to Luna who, at the same time, tried to explain that that wasn't what she had meant by "amiable company"; leaving Princess Celestia to giggle at their combined fumblings, "Oh sister, you were right! With no fur he does go an amusing shade of red!"

"Your facilitation of our meeting is appreciated, Tia," seeing her friend's ears burn the same color as his face Luna ground her teeth to keep from doing something more potentially stupid than what she was about to, given her weakened state, "however your continued presence is no longer necessary as it is pernicious to our reconciliation."

There was a flash of deep blue light and, mid-laugh, Princess Celestia suddenly found herself in the garden and had to quickly extend her wings to keep from plummeting into an offshoot of the palace moat. For a moment she thought about blinking back up to the balcony but the opportunity to soak in a warm bubbly tub was too good to pass up, "Very well, Lu, I shall give you two a reprieve," she said to herself as she glided to the soft grass without breaking her usual calmly-collected appearance despite her unplanned change of location. But only because this will prove to be more than enough content for a future ribbing.

Meanwhile, back up in the room, Luna gave a deep sigh of relief, "Much. Better." She leaned closer to the platter for another whiff of the sandwiches that were growing more appealing by the second, "These smell delicious, would you be opposed to keeping me company for lunch?"

Titus didn't say anything for a brief second, waiting for the Solar Princess to teleport back and turn the chamber into an absolute warzone. When nothing happened, he finally responded, "Not at all, if you'd have me-" he stopped, a bit worried with how she struggled to push her small frame to her hooves.

Luna caught the look and did her best to make her slump back to the floor appear intentional. As she called to her magic to blink to the couch, her horn glowed for a brief second before the aura sputtered out in a shower of sparks, "I will be alright with a little rest, though in my frustration with my sister I may have... underestimated how strenuous it would be teleport her to the garden like that." She hesitated when Titus offered to help her to the couch though eventually the beckoning comfort outweighed her trepidation and she accepted, watching a bit nervously as slid up along side her on his knees.

"Okay..." as nervous as Luna looked, Titus was almost sweating blaster bolts as he tried to figure out how he was supposed to do this, "I'll just, um... get an arm under your chest to help get you off the floor, if that's alright?" He slowly inched his way closer scoot by scoot. Twilight was alright with me touching her chest and forelegs, so there's no reason that shouldn't be the same here, right?

A bit of irritation, mostly with herself and how she needed help with something as simple as standing coupled with a lack of sleep, crept into Luna's voice as she lashed out at Titus before she could stop herself, "It shouldn't require that much thought to help get me to the couch-!" As soon as she heard what she had said her ears flattened back and her head dipped; the nervous smile that had been on his face disappearing into a slight frown as both arms fell to his sides limply. "I-I apolog-"

"Right!"

"Eeep!" Luna let out a small squeak as the human leaned over her, both arms going out wide to wrap around her and shortly after squeeze her into a strong bear-like hug as she felt herself being lifted from the floor, her legs dangling beneath her and her wings pinned to her sides as she squirmed about helplessly. "W-what art thou doing?! Put us down this instant!"

"First you order me to get you to the sofa and now that I am you tell me to put you down," he replied through gritted teeth, the alicorn proving to be a bit cumbersome to carry as she writhed about in protest, "Excuse me, Princess, but make up your damn mind!" A few steps later he was placing her on the cushion and rounding on a heel to retrieve the platter of lunch.

Now comfortably atop a blanket on the couch, Luna watched him bend over and retrieve the platter, a few strides more carrying him back as he flopped down beside her. She looked at Titus sheepishly as he placed the dish on the coffee table and leaned into the cushion behind him, "Apologies again for snapping at you, friend; a lack of sleep and distaste for my current form has worn my temper thin. Constantly maintaining the spell has proven to be quite a drain as evident by the weakened appearance you must look upon now."

Titus' brow furrowed as he looked the Princess over from horn to hoof, causing her to squirm under his scrutinizing gaze. Not finding what she found distasteful he shrugged, "I don't see what you're talking about; you're still the same Luna that arranges those beautiful night skies and brought me back from my fevered delusion before I got hauled off to some dungeon cell. As long as that stays true I don't care what form you take."

Luna, feeling a bit better at his kind words, gave an appreciative smile before staring at the sandwich she was keeping levitated and spoke softly, "This was my restored form when the Element Bearers defeated Nightmare Moon. While I am grateful to have been given a second chance I do not want my subjects to see me weak again nor remind them of what I had fallen to."

"Which is why I'm here as your friend and not a subject." Titus watched a small bite disappear and when she opened her mouth he thought she might respond but instead she took a larger bite of sandwich, prompting him continue speaking, "So, what can I do to make you feel better?"

Tired as she was she had given up on expending energy to keep her wings at her side; instead they hung down limply at her sides partially spread in their relaxed state and, in her hurry to finish her mouthful to respond, she didn't notice the small amount of cheese spread slowly ooze down the side of the bread bun and drip down her fur onto her plumage, "Friendly company would be grand; i-if your afternoon is free there was a TV series I was going to watch, perhaps you would be willing to stay for that?"

Looking from the large screen that loomed before him then back at his friend Titus gave a nod while taking notice of the escaping cheese. "Looks like you're losing a bit there," a quick and fruitless search for a napkin fulminated in a finger sweeping in to wipe up the dribble before it traveled further or soaked in and dried. "W-ow! That is too rich," he added through a puckered face once the finger had left his mouth, the spread having been far too flavorful for his enjoyment.

Luna smiled around another scrumptious bite as he chugged several glasses of water to cleanse his mouth. Upon finding herself unable to conjure an additional field with which to wield both a sandwich and a remote, her instructions guided Titus to locate the device to remotely turn the television on. He slowly flipped through the channels until the screen went black, "I, uh..." he froze, holding the remote out toward her for assistance, "I think I pushed the wrong button." A small giggle visibly eased him of that worry.

Astounding; all that space-faring technology and he fumbles with a simple TV remote. "No, it's just on the input channel now, which is where we want it." Luna enjoyed the next few moments directing him about the entertainment system, "See that large box? The one with the horizontal slot on the second shelf next to those thin alphabetically-organized boxes?" She indicated toward the piece of technology that had caught his attention that morning, "Turn that on by pushing the button- no, a little to your left. Yes, there! That button. Now, there should be a cord coming out of the bottom corner of the box. Follow that to the controller, which is a weirdly-shaped thing we'll need to-meep!" she gave another squeak as something under her, close to the dock of her tail, moved.

"Hmm, quite the conundrum," he had trailed the cord as it wound from the gaming console, across the coffee table, and directly into the blanket she was lying on. Luna, clearly in no mood to attempt standing up again, squirmed about to try to get her weight off of the controller as he gave light tugs on the cord; eventually the alicorn huffed in exasperation and propped herself up, allowing Titus to snake an arm into the blanket to grab the controller that they had realized must be stuck between the cushions; device finally in-hand they flopped back down on the couch in unison as the TV came to life with a small series of musical notes.

Titus spent the rest of the afternoon and part of the evening on the couch, indulging in an almost-endless marathon of Equestrian television and trying his hand at several of Luna's favorite video games.

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Day 5
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"Titus, friend, are you sure you can make this work?" Luna, sitting on the couch next to her sister, watched intently over the human's shoulder as he sat with legs crossed like a pretzel (a position both sisters had commented looked uncomfortable) on the floor fiddling with the remote droid as he had been for the last quarter hour.

"Mmm," he hummed, concentrating on the alterations that required the most delicate and precise movements of his soldering pen. After several light touches to the electronic chip, he set it aside to turn his attention to the interface visor that fed him the information he needed to re-code lines of data for the computer. "As soon as we rig the model to your skeleton no one should be able to tell a differ-kark it all," he swore as the test run of the program returned with an error popping up on his visor screen.

"The sooner you stop asking him for updates," Princess Celestia chided, returning from the balcony where she had been lowering the moon to be replaced with the sun - performing both duties to save Luna from the strain it would have on her - this was the third time in so many minutes that Luna had made an inquiry while the human was concentrating, "the sooner he will be finished. Be patient; it was his idea, after all, to loan you use of the hologram devices so you could perform your court duties from the comfort of your chambers without exposing your current appearance to our subjects."

Luna grumbled something about how it would have been a nice vacation as she turned back around from looking at her big sister, resting her head the arm of the couch to resume watching the workings of his dexterous digits from an advantageous angle. She had to admit, his hands had proven very effective when they had played a few of the video games she had in her library - the reach of his fingers allowed him to remain hovering over several buttons at once while manipulating the joystick. He hadn't been very good at any of the games, mind you, but with a little more practice and a bit of training he might prove to be capable. Luna's mind wandered to the multiplayer RPG she'd recently gotten hooked on and much to her sister's voiced dismay as it had negatively impacted her efficiency at completing court paperwork. Come to think of it, he could be a potential party member for dungeon delving as I won't be able progress much further on my own. Hmmm, something that compliments my class... Her scheming to get Titus into the game was interrupted as the visor was flipped up and accidentally bumped into her nose.

"I think..." he paused, tapping a few buttons that appeared on the datapad screen, "I think that's got it. Luna, if you would?" Titus motioned to the open area of the room, holding out a hand for support as she dismounted the sofa. From what he understood after he had left from their movie-extravaganza Princess Celestia had returned to spend the night with Luna, stating that her younger sister had taken comfort in their company that afternoon and evening and dozed right off into a peaceful slumber. While she had definitely had more energy this morning when he came by with the droids - giving him a lively smile and practically pulling him through the door - the Princess still was a bit wobbly on her legs, though she might be a bit hung over from the drinks he had shared on the roof last night in remembrance of his friend's passing. "Alright, just do your best to stand still for a moment as the drone does a quick three-sixty scan of you so the rigging can be done."

Princess Luna did as she was instructed, standing stock still as the remote droid flew a slow circle around her. Flying around the back of her, she stoically attempted to hide her blush as she adjusted her tail to keep herself decent - something she hadn't had a lot of practice doing with her non-ethereal hair. A fleeting glance at Titus, who had put the datapad down and was looking elsewhere, anywhere but the datapad screen, corroded the remaining bastion of her defense and she felt herself burning all the way to the tips of her ears as the machine did a quick roll under her barrel. "T-there, I believe your machine is finished. At least, I hope it is," she stated.

While she was wobbling her way back to the couch Titus stretched out a hand to stop her, "If, um, there's something in the image you don't want in the final render you can blur it out with this," he passed the datapad and what looked like a metal pen to Luna, demonstrating its use a with a scribbling motion, "though keep in mind the more editing you do the less... realistic the model will look up close."

"I dare hope our subjects do not openly gawk at my-" Luna stopped, closing her eyes and pinching her mouth shut for a second before continuing in a much more calm manner, "I will try to keep it to a minimum. Also, thank you for being a gentlecolt and... not staring."

While Luna was passing along her thanks, Celestia had magicked the datapad and stylus over to herself for inspection. "Mr. Aelius? What are these dots and bars next to the image of my sister on your device?" she inquired, forcing Titus to turn about from the hologram image of Luna he had recalled from the droid's memory banks to see what part of the datapad interface she was talking about.

"Those are the image anchors, they allow for macroadjustments to the model. If you tap one with the stylus then slowly drag it around the screen it'll resize the-" he was cut off by a jovial laugh from the Solar Princess as she experimented with the model and various parts of the hologram of Luna took on ridiculous proportions.

"You know, sister, you've always had one giant melon of a head!" the hologram's head expanded to several times its normal size as Celestia slid the scale slider back and forth numerous times as she made a coinciding sound effect of "oOo~OoO~oOo!" before moving on to another anchor; this time the legs stretched like elastic to place the body close to the high ceiling, "Bang, zoom, straight to the Moon!"

"Oh-ho-ho!" the mischievous chortle that erupted from the Solar Princess echoed around the stone walls, "Luna, I've told you time and time again to use the palace gym... or all of those sweets would go right to your flanks!"

Titus didn't need to look to know what had changed size that time. Instead of watching he placed a hand on the small alicorn's withers as a form of light restraint; the contact garnishing a small hum as he reached for the datapad to pluck it from the golden aura, "Sorry to cut your fun short, Princess, but I need to finish this before today's court sessions so I'm on a bit of a deadline here and I'd rather not have to retake the scans." He wouldn't have to retake the scans no matter how many times she tweaked the model, but a small fib to keep Luna from straining herself again teleporting her sister to the gardens was acceptable in his opinion. He also didn't have that much work left to do, but he enjoyed how interested Luna was in watching him work and, once again, he felt a little embellishment was acceptable. Taking his seat at the side of the couch to begin rigging the hologram for animation, Titus only picked up the wearily-whispered "thank you" as the breath from the muzzle that was once again resting on the arm above him tickled his ear. An idea suddenly striking him, he brought up the image scan and adjusted the layers, flipping from the exterior view through the muscle layer and stopping when Luna's own skeleton appeared. A short few minutes of linking her actual skeleton and ligament to the virtual model later the program was up and running smoothly, the excited "Woo!" he issued at the success of his own shortcut startling both alicorns.

Princess Celestia was the first to speak up, "Mr. Aelius, shall we take your elation as a sign of endeavors coming to fruition?" she asked, stretching her neck trying to see over the edge of the couch arm occupied by her sister.

A few dramatic taps on the datascreen and one of the remote drones floated itself from the bag Titus had carried them in and zipped over to hover on the other side of the coffee table, within seconds a holographic image of Princess Luna in her usual form encase and hid the droid from view. "Ta-da! The hard part was creating the hologram from within the image itself, so I had to utilize all of the droid's projectors and then calibrate them so each segment of your sister would line up," Titus explained, beaming proudly at his feat as if either pony would know what he was talking about.

The hologram stared straight ahead, unmoving, as the sisters exchanged a dubious expression behind the human's back.

"I do not mean to belittle your work, friend," Luna said as she continued to look at her holographic image with doubt, "but I do not think the court will be fooled for long with this."

Celestia nodded in disappointed agreement, "The physical likeness is astounding, of that we do not doubt the advisers would give no second thought to, however the figure itself seems-"

"Unresponsive? Statuesque?" Titus supplied the words for her, each one garnishing a nod, "Accurate descriptions; though keep in mind this is the first component, we still need to hook in the input device. Luna?" he asked, removing the visor he had been wearing and turning around to regard the alicorn that was still stretched out on the arm of the couch and looking like she was about to fall asleep as her eyes where half closed, "Oh, um. Princess Celestia, I had wanted to ask if there was somewhere out of earshot your sister and I could go to demonstrate, but on account of her current condition, would you be willing to briefly relocate instead?"

Titus watched as the Solar Princess spent a moment in thought, the faintest hint of a tongue peeking out from one side of her mouth, before stating the hallway that functioned as antechamber to Luna's quarters should suffice for the demonstration; retrieving the drone from the armchair the human lead the way out to the hall to prepare the machine. It only took a few minutes to get the inactive model to appear once again, time that he spent explaining that they needed to isolate the hologram display so that Celestia could provide the best critique without the overlapping audio of both it and the actual Luna talking at once. "Highness, if you notice anything off or have a suggestion to make the image more lifelike, no matter how minor, please let me know," he added before ducking back in the room to prepare the holographic puppet's master.

"Alright Luna, all that's left is to get you-" the alicorn didn't stir as Titus walked up alongside the couch, instead remaining stretched out with wings splayed rigidly to either side (as much as the narrow furniture would allow, anyway) and beads of sweat glistening on her fur. Seeing the state of his friend generated a look of concern as he bent down a bit closer. "Luna?" he whispered, tentatively reaching a hand out but pausing a scant inch from contact as a noticeable tremor ran through her and a faint-but-sweet smell reached his nose. Oh no. Luna... He made his way around the couch arm, squatting down to place his face on level with hers, putting as much compassion into his expression as he could.

"We doth nay wish thou... to layeth thine eyes upon us... " Luna couldn't bring herself to look at him for any length of time, her eyes fluttering up to his and back down, "That thou hath seen us in s-such a state of c-compromise does naught but add to our shame."

"Luna, my friend," he caught a waver in her eyes when they darted up at the word, "I do not want to see you suffer like this; let me fetch a cool towel and a drink of water, and then I'll leave if that is what you wish."

Luna locked eyes with his for several moments upon hearing his offer before giving a tiny murmur of approval, watching as he silently strode to the bar to drape several of the neatly-folded hand towels over an arm, tucking the ice bucket under it and removing a singular glass which he filled before returning to the couch to place the items before her. She gratefully took the offered drink, quickly upending the tumbler as Titus placed the ice bucket beside her, lining the rim with the folded towels before he spoke.

"Is there anything else I can do before I go, Luna?" Titus asked, taking the empty glass from the weak confines of her magic to refill it. Placing the drink back on the couch arm, a forehoof hooked around his wrist and gently pulled it closer in a gesture he equated with holding his hand, bringing a warm smile to his face as he gave the hoof a squeeze.

The recent return of sensations from Twilight's unceremonious ministrations with the cooler - not felt for over a thousand years - continued to leave Luna feeling used; what should have been intimacy shared between lovers instead was empty of emotion like it was being treated as a routine chore. Despite the immense abashment she felt that he had seen her in such an improper state, the simple physical contact of a squeeze of her hoof brought relief to the empty feeling almost to the point of bringing her to tears. "It would do us good to hear you call us 'friend' again," she whispered, continuing to pull the hand in closer as he squatted down to her eye level again.

"Such a simple request? Luna, My Friend," he whispered back and shortly after moved his other hand to cup her cheek so a thumb could wipe away a lone tear rolling down her muzzle, "My chum; my pal; my companion; my pateesa-"

As yet more tears streamed down her face at hearing the treasured word the hand on her cheek slid around to pull her into his shoulder in a hug; Luna's hesitation at returning the gesture became overt appreciation as the empty feeling from moments ago was washed away and replaced with a warm sense of comfort. She couldn't help but happily hum into the shoulder.

"-I would happily shout all of these and more at the top of my lungs for all to hear if it would do your heart good." He gave her a final squeeze and a rub on the neck before pushing himself back, "Now, was there anything else I can help with?"

"No, my dear friend, thank you; your words and embrace were more than enough and precisely what we needed. Forgive my tears," Luna was positively glowing as she wiped the remaining moisture from her eyes. Realizing her coat was still damp with sweat and picking up the faint smell of her expelled arousal, she shied back a bit in embarrassment from the arm still draped loosely around her shoulder, "I-if you would allow me a private moment to myself to refresh, we shall continue with preparing your machines."

As the human stood a white snout retreated back behind the door and into the hallway, giggling mare-ishly.

------------

Titus stood at the base of the small set of stairs to one side of Luna's throne while a charcoal black pegasus adviser gave an in-depth fiscal accounting of some bureaucratic branch or another, his alicorn friend seeming to take vested interest in the subject. He scanned the room for the umpteenth time, looking for any hint of suspicion among the court that their Lunar Princess was, in fact, a hologram. There were no outward signs that the ponies suspected anything because most of them were preoccupied directing their gazes his way, the Princess having declared him amicus curiae and her personal assistant.

A secretary... Titus shook his head and hid a chuckle, remembering the playfully-chauvinistic comment Princess Celestia had made to her sister for appointing herself her own stallion secretary. I'm a karking secretary now. While Luna had tasked him with delivering any letters and documents given to him by members of the court, his real job was to be on-site should something go wrong with the drone.

"Very well. Minister Black Balance, for our examination thou shall provide Sir Aelius with the audit of six months of spending as well as the projected increase in budgeting thou doth see necessary. Should we require additional documentation, the Lunar office shall be in contact with yours," HoloLuna's voice rang across the court as she turned to her sister who was seated beside her and, getting a nod, continued, "So concludes our hearings for the morning. We will reconvene tomorrow as scheduled; please see a memo reaches our aide before he departs should thou have business for the next session of Lunar Court. Solar Court will commence at the first strike of the afternoon. Until then thou are dismissed."

Stepping forward and folding himself down to rest on his haunches to make himself less imposing to the small flock of ponies approaching, the first being the adviser who dropped a stack of parchment that came up to his knee as one of his assistants - another pegasus bearing an identical emblem of office - passed an armful of scrolls bundled together with a strap; Titus noticing a label indicating they were the calculated budget increase. Which makes the massive stack... six months of spending? Wow. This load was followed by more ponies lining up looking to gain the Princess' attention as they showered him in scrolls, loose parchment, and a myriad of envelopes - of which several were addressed to him, those he set to one side for later reading.

Once every pony had worked their way through the line and cleared the room, leaving Titus surrounded in papers as he cast a surprised look that seemed to say "please tell me this is an above-average amount" at the Princesses; Celestia giving an apologetic smile while the hologram (mirroring what Luna was doing up in her chamber) stretched its forelegs above its head as far as they would go.

"Finally our-*Mmh!*" she rolled over onto her back in the throne for another stretch, this time she arched her back and reached all four hooves into the air before they wearily tucked back against her body with a sigh of contentment, "morning court duties are fulfilled! Our thanks to you, friend, for enabling us to do... this," she continued to squirm around on her back for several moments, "Our sofa doth prove to be more agreeable than the cushion of the throne-" HoloLuna stopped to watch Titus as he struggled to pack all of the parchment into his shoulder bag without even bothering to try fitting the audit or budget increase documents in, "Will'st thou be able to carry yonder mountain without assistance?" Luna asked, still subconsciously using her antiquated dialect.

Slinging the bag over a shoulder and balancing the parcel of scrolls under one arm Titus lifted the hefty audit with a slight grunt, "I'll manage... though did you really have to ask for a whole six months of paperwork?"

"Thou bleat at 'a whole six months'?" Luna chuckled and the hologram rolled back into a sitting position, "When a branch office requests an increase in budget we are required to audit to assess the efficiency of their recent spending; thinking of you, we settled for the shortest time-span, which you hold in your hands." The hologram gave him a mischievous grin, Luna slowly working her way back to her relaxed way of speaking, "though on further introspection thou may be correct; if thou would'st prefer we be more thorough we hath kept records on file here, in the palace, as far back as several hundred years... we could go back even further with but a trip to a warehouse." At his unnerved expression at the thought of how much paper would be involved in an audit of that length Luna's laugh accompanied the blue flash of light as the hologram blinked off - Princess Celestia having suggested the drone make it appear like her sister had teleported away.

"Well," Titus gave as much of a bow as he could with what he was carrying to the Solar alicorn, "I'd better take my leave, Princess, and get this paperwork up to your sister before she turns on that entertainment box of hers and she's oblivious to the world."

"A moment, if you would," dismounting her throne Celestia descended the steps toward the human who adjusted the weight of his load in his hands at her approach, "Fear not, I do not intend to add to your burden. Not your physical burden, anyway." She stopped just short of him, smiling and lowering her head to put her eyes on-level with his to show she wasn't talking as royalty, "My sister's anger and frustration yesterday was leading her to a dangerous precipice - one that she has fallen from before with disastrous consequences. For being there to pull her back, you have my heartfelt gratitude, Sir Aelius, though it surprises me how fond with you she has become in such a short time."

Titus bowed again, "Forgive me for potentially bringing up a sore subject, Your Highness, but after returning from her thousand-year banishment - with all of the ponies she had known and made friends with being long deceased and a society that had continued to move forward in her absence - Luna must have felt like she'd been dropped into an unfamiliar world; a sentiment we both share and have been able to bond on. You don't have to thank me," he straightened himself before the tower of parchment tipped over, "I'm proud to say Luna is my friend, and if one of my friends is falling off a cliff I don't hesitate to jump right after them."

The soft kindness returning to the Princess' face as she returned to her full height with a twinkle in her eye, "Please promise you'll better account for the distance of your next leap, Sir Aelius." After his brief chuckle at her joke and striking the deal that if she would drop the 'Sir' title he would look before he lept, she bid her farewell, "This afternoon sees us meeting with the Griffons once again, and this time I hear they're much more willing to discuss terms. Wish me luck, Mr. Aelius."

Adjusting the pile of papers in his hands to cross his fingers for her, and briefly explaining the gesture to the Princess when she cocked an eyebrow at it, Titus and the alicorn split ways as they exited the throne room.

Once Titus got started he found the weight of what he was carrying wasn't so bad, though the awkwardness of it remained as he attempted to keep his arms bent slightly to avoid crushing the scrolls tucked under his arm while he kept the papers from blowing away with his chin and the bag holding the other missives bounced against one hip, giving small appreciative nods and voicing his thanks to ponies that opened doors as he worked his way through the palace. Eventually, however, he started encountering empty hallways and closed doors with nopony to open them for him. Kark... I think I'm l-

"Lost?"

Rotating his whole body toward the source of the voice, Titus found a blueish-silver pegasus with aquamarine eyes and a snow-white mane looking him over from head to foot, "Y-yeah. I guess I got a bit turned around." She's definitely not a guard, and I'm pretty sure I've seen her somewhere; at the party or in court this morning, perhaps?

"Understandable, the hallways can look a lot alike if you're distracted," she gave him a sly smile, "or if you're new here. Where ya headed?"

"I'm trying to get back to my room, it's in the Lunar Wing-"

"Whoa, Lunar Wing?" the pegasus interrupted with a disbelieving look as she held a hoof up to stop him, "You must have gotten really turned around because you're literally on the other side of the palace."

"Just my luck, I suppose." Standing still again Titus had to readjust the weight of his load as he glanced around at the hallways, corridors, and closed doors around him, "Sorry to ask, Miss...?"

"It's... Polar Breeze," she replied, once again looking him over though this time much more intently as she walked a slow circle around him.

Must be the first time she's seen me this close up. Better make a good impression. "Well, Miss Breeze, nice to meet you; I'm Titus, and I'd offer a hoof-bump or handshake but, as you can see, they're sorta full," he gave her his biggest smile, "Sorry to ask but could you do me the favor of showing me where I need to go?"

"No need for introductions, hot stuff, I'd have to be living under a rock to not know who you are, though the last time we met you were with Princess Celestia and dashing about the kitchen making somepony a sandwich," flitting up to shoulder height the mare nodded and motioned with a hoof for him to follow, "Come on, let's get you back to your room."

Utterly lost, Titus followed Polar Breeze down countless corridors and through numerous doors; which she politely held open for him though it appeared it was a bit challenging for her as she had to fly above his head to hold the door open, forcing him to duck under her each time. It was even more awkward for the human as the only way he could bend sufficiently without dropping the mass of papers was to lean back and limbo under her. After one such flexibility exercise Titus tried breaking the awkwardness of the still air, "I'm, uh, glad you're not one of those ponies that's terrified of me because if you'd run off they'd probably have to send a search squad out."

"Me too," the pegasus giggled, zipping across the empty hall to float by another door, "though I wouldn't worry about ponies being so quick to run from you anymore; the fashion magazines are abuzz with what you wore to that garden party and you're a hot topic in the upper echelons of Canterlot's muckety–muck social circles." She pulled the large door open just far enough to get her hooves in the crack before pushing it open the rest of the way with a small grunt of exertion, "Hn-erf! As for this wing it's usually pretty empty so you'd have been wandering for a long time. Castle staff mainly use it as a short cut to their living quarters, which are just a bit further in the direction you were going. We're not supposed to cut through here, so if we hear any hoofsteps duck into a room somewhere and stay quiet."

"Alright. I'll follow your lead, I guess." Ducking through this door Titus felt something incredibly soft brush against his chin and nose and barely stick his lips; it took a second for his mind to register that it had been one of the primaries on Polar's wing. I must have not ducked enough. A weak chuckle at hoping his error had either gone unnoticed or was an obvious accident and, after remembering that an uncharacteristically-flustered Dash had told him that wings were an absolute no-touch zone after an incident involving a leaf caught in her plumage that he thought she would appreciate him plucking out for her, he apologized, "S-sorry, back is a little stiff from all this bending."

"Eh, I don't mind," Polar Breeze replied as she followed him through what seemed to be a storage room of sorts - the walls lined with shelf upon shelf of labeled boxes though a layer of dust obscured what was written. A peek into one such box that had its lid askew revealed neatly-packed books, and further observation lead the human to believe this might be a side room to a library. As he his thoughts wandered from books to libraries to a certain unicorn librarian, he half watched as the pegagus pumped her wings and glided to wait at their next portal, "Don't worry, almost there."

Something's off. That last door felt smaller. Each heavy door seemed smaller than the last as he had to duck further to avoid bumping into the pony again but no matter how he bent a wing or tail would always brush against him. That, and the giggling is almost non-stop now- The sharp *clopclopcla-clop!* of hooves touching down on the hard stone floor after a landing broke his train of thought.

Breeze was standing next to another set of doors with a grin, a hoof on the handle. "Told ya, right through here..."

Stepping through as she pulled the door open, he found himself in what appeared to be an old drinking room; there was a dusty bar tucked against one wall while the other two held a barren fireplace and countless shelves of books. In the middle of the room were several bits of furniture; guessing by their forms under the dust blankets draped over them a lounge, two sofas, and a handful of chairs as well as a large card table beneath the tall window that looked out onto the hedge maze of the garden, across which Luna's tower was visible - still a fair distance away. It was the lack of another door, however, that caused his gut instinct to scream at him. Dead end. Turning around to speak with his guide, he found the pegasus looking at him with a hungry grin.

Sensing trouble and not liking the way she was staring at him one bit he put the stack of papers down on the nearby table to point out the window at the tower, "The Lunar Wing is that way, and now that I can see where I need to go I should be fine. Thanks for your help."

Without breaking her stare, Polar Breeze quickly flicked the lock and turned the rest of her body to face Titus, "You know, when somepony does you a favor..." in doing so she bumped into the door handle and, giving in, bit her lip as she ground her hips against the intruding prod briefly before walking closer to the human creature as an almost invisible strand of fluid stretched between the handle and her now-wet mound, "it's customary to repay the favor with another," she said with a coy smile and extended a wing, placing the primaries against his hip and sashaying a circle around him and letting the soft feather drag against the fabric of his clothing; tracing a path over his firm flanks, across the other hip, and stopping just short of his crotch when he stepped away.

"Miss Breeze, look I'm, um, flattered? but-" he was unable to keep from clearing his throat as the overpowering citrus aroma permeated every one of his senses. Ever since the party the ponies he had dealt with had been much more friendly and there had been several ponies that had started flirting with him - both mare and stallion, either through direct conversation or letters slipped under his door - and some had gotten a little... touchy... but this was leagues beyond any of that. Titus continued to back away, though each step he took was followed by the pegasus stalking him, "I'd be happy to put in a word with the Princess."

"How about you put your 'word' in with me, instead?" Polar Breeze continued her steady advance, enjoying the cat and mouse game they were playing a little too much as a small bit of pre leaked down her leg.

"I-I can't, I'm involved; I've already got what you'd call a special somepony-"

She had his back to a wall, "Oh, I know. It's faint, but I smelled her on you back there when you introduced yourself..."

Wait, "Smell her on me"? Who? Titus quickly did a mental run-through what had happened that morning until he remembered the most likely cause, Kark, maybe she means Luna. The pheromones or whatever she let out on the sofa when I found her must have permeated my clothing.

"♫~Naughty human, you really shouldn't go walking around smelling that way~♫..." she stalked even closer, a hoof on his hip helping to balance herself as she buried her muzzle into the same shoulder he had used to hug Luna and took a deep whiff before pushing herself back off, "covered in an aphrodisiac like that, you'll... get a mare all worked up and jealous, even an alien like you."

Turning to face away from him, the pegasus gave a quick twitch of her tail and revealed her winking self to him, "Now, aren't you going to finish what you started, hot stuff?" When he didn't respond immediately she wiggled her rump enticingly.

"No, Miss Breeze, I'm not," Titus said sternly; finally standing his ground. With a wall at his back there was no way for her to bowl him over in a sudden assault and, unbeknownst to the pegasus, he had discreetly unlocked the door while she had had her head in his shoulder, prepared to make a run for it if necessary, "because it was not my intention to lead you on-"

"Intention or not," her enticing smile was suddenly gone and replaced with a snarl, "you're a stallion - I don't need your permission to use you! Buck, it might even be more fun this way!" Breeze made a lunge for him, intending to tear the the clothes off of him but was caught mid air, unable to get closer no matter how she struggled or flapped her semi-stiff wings as she was held aloft by some form of magic, "Oh, what? You expect me to play the sub now?"

"No." His stern look faded as he closed his eyes, his face slowly becoming completely neutral and emotionless. After a heavy exhale, Titus opened his eyes once more and met her angry stare as he he waved a hand in front of her face. "I'm not the company you're looking for. You want to go home and sleep this off."

Polar Breeze blinked several times and stopped struggling, not even feeling herself being lowered to the floor; glancing at him then around the room, she mumbled to herself, "I-I'm gonna... clean myself up before going home... to sleep this... off." She gave him one more flat look before loosely walking over to the dusty bar to look for anything to wipe herself with.

Meanwhile, Titus took the chance to grab his shoulder bag, the scrolls, and the stack of parchment and head for the door. Thank the stars that worked- His hand was already on the door handle before he remembered to stop himself. Karking crink! Oh well, no point in letting go now. Had it been a door knob, he doubted the slick fluid would let him get enough of a grip to turn it, though thankfully the handle only needed to be pushed and the door slid open, allowing the human to take his leave of the aroused pegasus to her searching. Unfortunately he had to wipe his hand on his tunic as the stack of papers quickly became too much for one arm to bear.

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Putting his back against the large black and gold door to push it closed behind him with a grunt, Titus entered the large living quarters. It had taken him easily a quarter hour to work his way from the abandoned wing of the palace to his room, where he spent a few minutes changing out of his tunic and vigorously washing his sticky hand before heading back out.

"Ah! Friend!" Princess Luna sat up on the sofa, the small game controller floating in front of her, "There you are!"

"Here I am," he replied wearily as he staggered over to Luna's personal office nook, depositing the entire burden down on the small desk before giving a heavy sigh of relief, "and here is your paperwork." He was going to plop himself down in the spinning chair, but the Princess' tapping of a couch cushion was much more inviting.

Waiting for the human to stride over in his lumbering-yet-fluid fashion and sit down, again with a sigh, she gave him a smile, "You were gone quite a while, we had contemplated contacting the guard for fear that you had perhaps gotten los-" She topped mid-word and her nostrils flared at the smallest hint of an odd smell about her friend.

The interruption caused Titus to look at the alicorn just as she turned to stare at him, a slow rosy glow coming to her cheeks before she leaned in and took a deep whiff which was followed by a very quick retreat.

"W-well," she said, turning back to her game and focusing intently on her character, trying not to giggle, "that would certainly explain your delay." Every so often her eyes would dart back over to him, followed shortly after by a snort or a snicker.

Putting his head in his hand - the one that hadn't be involved with the door handle - Titus let out yet another sigh before explaining how he had spent his afternoon.

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Day 6
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"Really, sister," Celestia chided, kneading her hooves into the back of her sister as she lay limply on the chaise, still partially hooked up to the hologram droid and its makeshift controller; Titus having had fabricated it just on the off chance Luna had need of maneuvering the droid to make it look like her hologram was walking about, also requiring him to stay up late inputting a walking animation into the model, "you need to try and relax; you are so tense I could probably bounce a Bit off of you."

"My apologies, Tia, but y-ugh-" Luna apologized dryly, her face contorting with another grunt as a hoof rolled over a muscle in a rather unpleasant manner, "you don't understand how stressful maintaining this karking spell all day everyday has been. Not only that, but I still have t-ouch!-" she shot her sister a glare as another sore spot was prodded, "I still have to deal with your faithful student's estrous cycle and that gartal device she uses incessantly."

"Stop squirming! If you remember, I did make arrangements for the palace masseuse but when she showed up for the appointment you magically barred the door and told her to go away. I gave you that choice, and instead of accepting the hooves of a professional you opted for the hooves of your sister. I also must point out that the predicament you find yourself in is one of your own making, due to... what did you call it? 'Oversights'?" Celestia put a bit more weight down on her hooves, effectively pinning her sister to the lounge as she saw the opportunity for teasing present itself, "As for Twilight Sparkle's use of a cooler I would like to call into question the authenticity of your disapproval, based on the familiar smell Mr. Aelius had lingering about him at court yesterday I have my doubts-" she leaned in extra close to her sister's ear as the blush spread upwards toward it and breathed softly, "unless, of course, it wasn't from the cooler..."

The Solar Princess watched the diminutive form pinned below her as it rapidly grew red and squirmed, struggling to break free until it was too tuckered out to continue at which point Celestia resumed kneading, moving from the shoulder to withers as Luna grumbled several more of the alien words in conjuncture with a feeble defense of her actions yesterday, "There you go again; your usage of Mr. Aelius' terminology has increased significantly as of late yet I doubt you know their meaning. I am curious; he uses the word 'kark' quite a bit, could you make sense of it?"

Luna cast a mildly perturbed glare at her elder sister which was accentuated with a grimace as yet another tender muscle was leaned on in the agonizingly-amateurish massage. By the way he had apologized after first saying the word in their presence both sisters agreed it was fairly safe to assume it had been an expletive of sorts, though the severity or lewdness was still not clear and a bit of an interest to both of them as they both enjoyed linguistics a fair deal. Having a better vantage point than her sister, Luna realized it was the perfect opportunity to deflect the teasing directed at her at her bipedal friend, detecting that he had arrived with her daily assortment of paperwork, "Why, dearest Tia, why not ask him yourself if you're so curious?" she innocently and conveniently challenged just as Titus pushed the door open with a shoulder because both hands were full.

"Ask me what, Your Highness?" he inquired, completely oblivious to the sisters game as he carried the handful over to the desk to sort it into the respective boxes as he had been instructed yesterday, in the process missing the squinted stare Celestia gave Luna.

So she wants to play, does she? Princess Celestia looked down on her sister imposingly, still pinned under her hooves but eyes yet burning with defiance. Very well, in due time we shall make the insolent worm squirm!

"Good afternoon, Mr. Aelius," she warmly greeted without giving hint to her ploy and stopping her massage but keeping her weight applied so Luna couldn't escape, "Before I pose my question, I must thank you for assisting my sister with her administrative duties; I was pleasantly surprised to find all of the important forms and documents I required this morning had been properly filled out and were waiting for me in my office's inbox without needing to traipse across the palace and hound my sister to finish them." The modest response that he had had little to do with it fell on deaf ears; Celestia knew her sister hated doing paperwork though she didn't push the matter further as she was currently more intent on setting up her maneuver against Luna, "Well, should you find yourself in need of or desiring employment I would personally see to it that we arrange a more permanent position. Having my sister's paperwork regularly completed in a reasonable amount of time would be well worth the expenditure."

One look at the heaped desk was enough to tell Titus that it would be more than a full time job considering that the papers visible were all related to current affairs; Luna having told him that the Solar and Lunar offices were currently working through a backlog when he had sat her down and almost strong-armed her through her workload, slightly worried that failure to meet the request Princess Celestia had made to him as they left court that he "please try to get these to my desk before court tomorrow afternoon" would be a black mark next to his name on some shadowy list somewhere.

"Now then, Luna and I were discussing your dialect as she has picked up several of your... colloquialisms yet we are left wondering their nature," Celestia feigned embarrassment at having to ask to sell her play. Clearing her throat after a brief pause, during which an eyebrow on the human raised in curiosity, she continued, "One that she seems to have taken a liking to is 'kark,' perhaps you could elaborate on its meaning."

Sitting himself in the desk's chair as both Royal Sister's fixed their gaze on him, Titus struggled with where to start, "Uh. Well, it's... less than polite, to be frank; sorry that that was what rubbed off-"

"Your apologies are not necessary, Titus," Luna cut him off with a snort and a roll of her eyes, "we are hardly the stuffy old mares our subjects would oft have you believe so please, enlighten us to the meaning of 'kark.' Is it equivalent in vulgarity or bear similar meaning to 'buck'?"

Titus drank in the odd sight of both royal sisters staring at him intently from over the back of the sofa, heads slightly titled to one side and ears fully forward eagerly waiting for his explanation of his otherworldly swearing. "I wouldn't say it's equal," he started, leaning back in the large chair to stare at the ceiling while he thought, "it's a bit shy of that... certainly getting there. No, the equivalents would be 'kriff' or 'frag' or 'crink' when it's used properly in a phrase, such as 'crink off' and there's a few others from various planets like 'irrumo'- that one's particularly crude.... Anyway, something to keep in mind is that human language varies from planet to planet and system to system; in fact 'kark' isn't a word of human origin - it's Huttese." At their shared expression of a raised eyebrow, he spent the next several minutes describing the slug-like Hutts that he had had dealings with, ending the lecture with a teasing grin of his own, "there's a countless number of other lexicons to draw from, as well. Perhaps you'd like me to make you a list of expletives for your perusal?"

"Were you to record what you know we imagine many of the ponies interested in linguistics would be very appreciative, ourselves among them. Speaking of recording; I must say, it was rather easy to ascertain whom had filled out the forms. Compared to hers," Celestia moved her hooves to another point on Luna's back in preparation for the powerplay she had set up, pushing her sister back onto the couch and out of sight. Floating one of the sheets from the outbox on the desk and retrieving a small notebook from the nightstand with her magic, she sent them drifting over to Titus for comparison, "your pencraft is much neater than that of my sister."

Holding the sheet that Princess Celestia had passed him Titus briefly opened the book to compare the two scripts before quickly shutting it again, realizing that it was Luna's diary and she probably wouldn't want him snooping around in it though the temptation was certainly there to read a few entries. Placing the book on the desk and turning away from it, he nodded his thanks for her praise, "I'll have take your word for it, Princess. I was more than happy to lend a hand filling out the paperwork for her as she dictated. If it meant Luna was preserving a bit of magic-"

Oh, almost forgot! A sudden look came to his face as he remembered that Luna was still plugged in to the hologram droid for her morning court appearance. Standing up from the desk chair, Titus made his way over to the sofa, "Sorry about that Luna, let's get that equipment off of you."

While the two were busy discussing how well the setup had been working, neither of them caught the mischievous glint to Celestia's eyes as a small smile came to her face; several moments later she took Luna's sigh at being finally free of the cables and visor she had been wearing as her cue to bring down the proverbial hammer on her sister, "Thank you again for your assistance in aiding my dearest sister, this whole situation is-" the Solar alicorn subtly shifted the weight of one hoof onto one of Luna's sore back muscles and allowed the small yelp to cut her off. Looking up to the somewhat startled human, Celestia scrunched her face up in feigned contemplation for a moment before smiling brightly, "Mr. Aelius, I don't suppose you'd be willing to once again lend a hand or two with another matter plaguing my sister?"

Something in her eyes made Titus hesitantly gulp, casting a look to Luna who was clearly as confused as he was and couldn't clarify what Princess Celestia might be talking about, "I... sure. What can I do?"

"As you're aware constantly maintaining the spell every minute of the day has been incredibly taxing for her, and-" a thought-out adjustment of her weight produced another grunt. "My apologies, Lulu," Celestia copied the sarcastic tone her sister had given her earlier and leaned in to whisper, "Lucky for you, it would seem a third option has presented itself."

Celestia watched with amusement as her sister squirmed for a moment before returning her attention to Titus, "Like I was saying, the spell has caused her a lot of stress and, as you can see, her muscles are all tied up in knots and we believe this may be interfering with the regenerative process of her magic. In the past I have not had an issue massaging her however my hooves are proving a bit too cumbersome on account of her current, smaller frame." Again Celestia pushed a hoof lightly into the taunt muscles in the appearance of illustrating her point, though in reality she was acting to prevent the forthcoming resistance her counterpart would put up, "Normally this wouldn't be an issue but because of her appearance she has obstinately refused to allow the palace masseuse an appointment, which left no other option than for me to do my best; that, Mr. Aelius, is where I would request that you and your hands step in."

The emphasis she had put on her "request" was the only warning he had before she took his wrists in her magic and navigated them to a spot high up on Luna's neck, the pull forcing him to sit right next to the alicorn languishing on her belly. W-what is Princess Celest- it was then that he felt the taut muscles beneath her fur, each one so stiff he was surprised she could move. He had been pleasantly surprised when he had arrived this morning to find that she definitely looked better than she had the previous night as her mane had gone back to its usual flowing form and she had begun to molt her grey-blue feathers with a fresh batch of midnight colored ones coming in, but her current state brought him to worry, "Wow Luna, a-are you okay? You're really tense." He subconsciously started rubbing lightly with his fingers, "Look, I'd like to help, but uh... I don't know if I'm the best person for this."

"As I've already said, she refuses to see the professional we have on staff. Correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Aelius, but does your hollow image machine not function by mirroring the movements of our sister?" Celestia posed, continuing after a hesitant nod from Titus, "So, in her current state of immobility any image broadcast will also mirror her distress, and should the court take notice - which I can assure they most certainly will - it will raise questions on Luna's health. She's stiff as a board! One could prop her up under the muzzle and rump and the middle wouldn't sag. Are you following what I'm saying, Mr. Aelius?"

"I am, Princess," he replied, taking a long glance at the remote droid and gear sitting to one side before switching his attention to Luna, "What are your thoughts on this, friend?"

Before Luna could respond another hoof pressed into her back and all the visibly nervous alicorn managed was a *erk!* in response.

Princess Celestia giggled. "Here, try lightly kneading right... there! Go slowly," her golden aura dragged his wrists slightly to one side. A few minutes of work later and the flexed muscles in Luna's upper neck were visibly relaxed, the motions of the fingers getting a sigh of relieved contentment from the little alicorn. Again the magic pulled, moving his hands halfway down her neck as Celestia instructed him to use a bit more strength.

"Mmm!" Luna sighed as Titus' thumbs pressed harder and moved in small circles, following the length of the muscle he was working like he was trying to push everything out of a tube of toothpaste. Sorry, sister, but I see your scheme and it backfired. I was nervous about this, but it simply feels too divine for me to care. She experimentally rolled her head around before resting it back on the arm of the sofa, "It was a nice attempt Tia, but we're quite tempted to place this human creature in our indefinite custody as a personal masseur; if you would just fetch the necessary forms from one of our desk drawers we will file them posthaste with the dungeon master," she joked, poking her tongue out teasingly at Titus who only rolled his eyes.

Don't get cocky, kid. Princess Celestia smirked as she used her magic to adjust Titus' hands, sliding them slowly across her sister's fur toward her forelegs. This? This is only the beginning. "Really dig those fingers and work her triceps, biceps and pectorals. After that, make your way slowly down to her hoof." It took Titus quite some time to inch his way down each of her long legs, following the muscle groups as they were pointed at with a hoof and having to shake out a hand cramp out at the end. Celestia appeared a little startled at the pops of his fingers as he bent them forcefully with his other hand, though studying his unflinching face as he cracked the knuckles on his second hand made her realize it must have been a normal thing for humans to do, "Have you strained your hands, Mr. Aelius? Do you require a respite?"

"Uh," Titus' brow furrowed as he looked from Celestia to Luna, who was visibly less tense as she rolled both shoulders freely, "I thought I was done. Did I miss something?" Shoulders, arms, and neck... sounds like a fairly thorough massage to me.

Princess Celestia ran a gold-shod hoof from the base of Luna's skull all the way down her spine to stop just above where her back connected with the base of her wings before flashing the human a coy smile as she lifted a wing with one hoof and spread it open with the other, "You still have a little more to do."

"S-sister?!" Luna sat up in shock when her wing was unfurled from her side. She's bluffing.

While Titus had secretly wanted to run a hand over Luna's soft-looking wing for some time now, for some reason - probably spawned by what Dash had told him about touching wings - he shared in a small portion of her apprehension and sat up a bit straighter on the lounge, "Um, the wings? A-aren't they a bit... sensitive, Princess?"

"Oh they are very much so, but they've become a necessity to our everyday routine. You've seen how we use our wings for authoritative displays in court; but look-" she replied as she continued to extend the wing. It was only partly open when it started quivering from the tension, at which point Celestia released the appendage and it quickly snapped back closed on its own, "Tell me, on a scale of one to ten, how regal did that little display look to you?"

"Maybe a... three?" he answered honestly and gave Luna a rub on her shoulder when his low score caused her to noticeably deflate, "Sorry friend, but your sister does have a point..." Titus trailed off as she stared at him, not entirely sure what the look on her face was trying to convey.

"F-fine!" the small alicorn pouted, sticking her lip out in a very cliché manner as she wiggled deeper into the soft cushion of the lounge. A three? A three?! Yes, we will definitely be discussing this later, friend. One eye opened to shoot him a glare when the rubbing turned in to several gentle pats before the hand left left her shoulder, "Just get it over with, but know that I hardly believe that was deserving of such a harsh scoring."

Princess Celestia waited for her sister to relax back into the chaise before magicking Titus' hands and lending a hoof to gently hold the wing open for him, "Take the wing here; do you feel that bone? That's the radius and the one slightly below and running parallel is the ulna." She gave him a moment to run his fingers lightly over the two bones and continued when he gave a satisfied nod that he had identified both bones; Luna, in the meantime, had sunk even lower into the cushion with a small sigh. "Follow the ulna down toward her back and you'll encounter the wing triceps with the bicep just forward of them, and a little bit further down toward her barrel is your final target: the supracostalis." Celestia could tell that Titus was fighting to process the small biology lesson while the distraction of Luna's feathers brushed against his hands; sitting opposite him, she leaned in and whispered softly into her sister's ear, "I think Mr. Aelius admires your plumage, Lulu." The desired effect of both of her sister's eyes snapping open as a blush of pure crimson rushed to her cheeks told the Solar Princess that she knew which of Luna's buttons to press.

"Indeed I do, Princess," Titus offered as his thumbs and fingers pressed the muscles in a wave-like motion and watched as the action slowly sent his friend's muzzle back to the arm of the chaise with a heavy breath, "blue is one of my favorite colors and Luna happens to be displaying two very nice shades at the moment." While he meant well with his compliment and hoped it would ease her tension it had the exact opposite effect on Luna and he had to restart the tricep massage.

"My apologies, Mr. Aelius, one would think after the garden party I would know not to underestimate your hearing." She watched as Titus moved down from the tricep to the bicep and applied pressure from both the top and bottom of the wing at the same time, which drew another heavy breath from the little alicorn. Part of Celestia sulked at the contentment on Luna's face which changed every now and then into silent "Ooo's" and "Aah's" as the human's fingers rolled in small circles down the supracostalis. Drat. It would appear my plan failed; my sister is either enjoying the massage too much to care or she's just that comfortable with him. Still, well done my dearest Lu, well done.

"You certainly look happy, Princess," Titus inquired, having taken notice of Celestia's cheerfully-lost-in-thought look.

The Solar alicorn gave a hearty laugh, "As I very well should be! After a long week of bitter arguing and political showboating a brief meeting tomorrow morning is all that remains between now and Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom making a formal announcement at court that we've come to an agreement." Just the thought of an end to the whole ordeal made the Princess sigh out loud, "Seeing as my sister is enjoying herself so immensely, once the Griffon delegation has departed perhaps you'd be willing to turn the attention of your hands to our own aching muscles-"

"Tia, were you not just reprimanding me because we-Mm~mmf!-we've got somepony on staff for that?" Luna playfully chided and took her wing - now no longer muscle bound thanks to the massage - and draped it over the closest of his shoulders to seemingly shield him from her sister, "and I'm afraid you'll have to find another human to befriend and abscond; this one is my personal masseur."

"Unbelievable," Titus said under his breath and shook his head, reaching over Luna to move onto her other wing in such a way that the wonderfully soft and comfortable one on his shoulders didn't have to move, repeating the process of working from muscle group to muscle group. It became apparent the alicorns had heard his muttering as he quickly found both sisters waiting for him to continue with quizzical looks on their faces, "It's just that in one week I go from being an intergalactic traveler to a court secretary and amateur masseur."

"You needn't sound so disappointed, Mr. Aelius; you forget to add 'covert political espionage' to your list of accomplishments for the week-"

"And 'Best Friend' as well!" Luna twisted herself around to nuzzle her face against one of his working hands which stopped massaging to cup her cheek; Luna quickly wrapping her hooves around the limb to keep it in place.

"Thank you both, but uh... Luna?" while Titus appreciated the gesture and attempted to return the feeling in kind by using a thumb to rub her muzzle, eliciting a surprised purr, Luna's more subtle changes in body language went unperceived on account that he was still learning the different tells, "I can't finish this until you let go."

Princess Celestia was not only old enough to know what to look for in ponies but knew every nuance that was unique to Luna; from the more subtle way the tip of one of her ears would twitch slightly to how several of the stars in her ethereal mane shone ever so faintly brighter than the rest and the more obvious signs such as her shift to get the maximum amount of area of physical contact with his hip. Judging from my sister it would seem my faithful student once again seeks relief from her cycle. Celestia placed a hoof on Luna's shoulder to draw her attention away from the human and leaned in close to whisper - this time low enough that he couldn't possibly hear, "Sister, forgive me; but you must let Mr. Aelius go. You know why you can't do this.."

The nuzzles against his hand stopped and the Princess that had looked so content seconds ago suddenly was crestfallen. Thinking it was his own fault, having told her that he had made prior arrangements for the afternoon, Titus apologized, "I-I'm sorry Luna, but I really do have to keep to my schedule - I agreed to drop by the barracks because the Lieutenant's herd really wanted to meet me while I'm in Canterlot. That, then a display of my training regimen per Captain Shining Armor's request, and I'll be right back here to help you knock out today's paperwork." He knew that the mention of having to deal with the day's work would definitely not brighten his friend's day, so he leaned in to Luna's other ear and hid his mouth from Celestia with a hand using an obviously fake whisper tone, "And then, once we're done, you and I can fire up Vanguards of the Oubliette; I stayed up late last night looking over the spreadsheets you gave me for my character."

That was precisely what Luna needed to hear to brighten up.

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Day 7
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"No! No, come on in," Titus pushed his door open with a foot, hands full of the daily missives for Luna. Placing the shoulder bag and papers on the hallway table he led Lieutenant Bulwark and his herd into his quarters. "It's not an intrusion at all; in fact I've got a little bit of time before I have to deliver these as the two Princesses are in a meeting. Let's see, uh, you guys said you're pretty interested in my tech so there's some droids in the corner over there if you want to take a look at those while I get some drinks," he gave them a moment to inspect the MagnaGuards; one of the machines balancing on the balls of its feet to shake a hoof as Titus made for the bar and quietly thanked the insomnia that had kept him up last night to program several actions in an attempt to make the combat droids a bit less imposing. When the ponies had gotten their fill, the trio of ponies all hopped up on the sofa opposite the armchair.

"Thanks for waiting; we discussed and slept on the idea for a night..." the pregnant yellow earth pony mare, Engilding Glimmer, stated from the sitting area with her husband to one side of her and on the other the forest-green pegasus Emerald Contrail. Taking each of their hooves in her own, she continued, "and we agreed we would like to know what to expect; colt or filly."

"If you're sure," Titus finished pouring the various flavors of juice and made his way over to place the drinks on the coffee table before he knelt down in front of the couch where the ponies were sitting and extended an open hand, "Alright, let's see if we can say 'hi' to your youngling. Glimmer, may I?" At her nod he placed his hand on her swollen barrel and, like so many times before, let out a deep breath as he drew on the Force to seek out her foal; all the while questioning why he had felt compelled to offer to do this as the procedure would have been far simpler if he had access to his ship's medical bay and its pair of droids. Heck, if Luna wasn't using the remote droid, modifying the sensors for this would be a cinch. Feeling a small kick helped him zero-in on his intended target. "Oh, hello there..." he muttered as he slowly back-traced the ripples in the Force the little foal's kick had made.

Bulwark sat up enthusiastically, "Have you found her?"

"Him," Glimmer corrected her husband half teasingly, turning to her pegasus herdmate as best she could from her position lying down on her side, "And what about you, Connie? What are you hoping our little munchkin will be?"

Kark, what have I gotten myself into? I don't know anything about kids. Foals. Whatever. Titus mentally brushed through the miasma of the mare's Force signature to hone-in on the one in her womb. Come on, little guy gal you, gimme something... A small flicker caught his attention and Titus subconsciously shifted his head to face it. Gotcha!

Emerald evidently didn't want to pick sides and rolled her eyes dramatically, "Niece. Nephew. I don't care as long as I get to be an aunt."

Finally achieving a lock on the unique aura, the smile on Titus' face quickly transitioned to a frown of contemplation as the ponies continued to chat excitedly amongst each other, Gotcha... both? It only took a second to confirm that there were, in fact, two almost-identical yet unique signatures though one of them was slightly weaker than the other. Something about it felt wrong. "Uh," his brain, sluggish from lack of sleep, ground until it found the gears to chug forward with his thought while maintaining his focus on the two flares in an attempt to acquire more information. "Well..." pulling his hand away, he looked from the Lieutenant to Glimmer, "if you've made any wagers with each other I'd say they're void - from what I've found you're actually carrying both."

He gave them all a moment for the news to settle and several hugs to be passed along - himself receiving an enthusiastic one from the mother-to-be before moving on to his concern, "I don't want to alarm anyone here but- it's probably easier to show you than explain, so..." he repeated the process but had a much easier time locating the two signatures the second time around; once he had a clear image of both he extended a second hand in search of one of the other ponies and flooded their conscious with what he was seeing when he finally made contact, letting them observe for themselves and say hello for a few moments before showing it to the next parent. "I'm not saying I can tell something is wrong with any certainty because, quite frankly, you guys are alien to me, but it wouldn't hurt to check in with the doctor or hospital, just to be safe-"

"And Aunt Connie says we'll be going right now. Let's go stud, move those flanks! You too, Glimm," the pegasus was the first off the sofa, physically pushing her husband to his hooves and marching him toward the door to hold it open as her pregnant herdmate followed in a careful waddle. "Thanks for this, Titus. Here-" she said with beamish smile and a wave; something small sailing through the air which he snatched as the door closed before he could formulate a response.

Titus stared at the back of the door for several seconds then down to the small medallion identical to the one the Lieutenant had. I think it's safe to assume who's the alpha in that herd. As he was fastening the gift around his neck the paperwork still awaiting delivery caught his attention from the corner of his eye and drew Titus' knackered mind back to the present to contemplate all that he yet had to accomplish with the day, though the thick rug he was sitting on was very comfortable and was tempting him to just remain where he was. After a quick glance at the grandfather clock he spent several moments looking over at the idle MagnaGuards. "Kark me I'm tired... but 'what better way to wake up than rigorous training,' right?"

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"-as pertaining to your inquiry; by law, the Lunar Office requires a notarized copy of Requisition Form C-47, in addition to-" Luna was lounging on the summoned riding cloud above head level as she dictated to her human friend (and temporary secretary) when she stopped; a small red dot appeared and spreading out as it was absorbed into the parchment. Realizing he hadn't noticed she tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to her muzzle with a hoof as several more splotches fell beside the other.

Titus' hands went up in exasperation. "Oh frag it all to-" he swore as he crumpled up yet another missive to suffer from similar tarnishing and tossed it in the trash can with the others. Reaching for a tissue and holding it against his nose, Titus pushed himself an arms-length away from the desk, "Sorry Luna. If you give me a second to stop... leaking I'll restart the form; I've got the entries all but memorized, so you can relax and watch your telly-vision or something."

"You go relax and watch TV 'or something,'" she counter-offered, plucking the quill from his hand with a bit of magic and dipping it in the inkpot with an amused grin, "I am perfectly capable of completing my own paperwork."

It was just as quickly snatched back and the Princess' conceited grin was rewarded with a finger lightly bopping her on the nose, "Stop that! You know Princess Celestia said 'No Magic' until you're back to one hundred percent power, and uh-" he pointed to her tensed wings and their two-toned plumage, "you're not quite there yet." While he had to admit Luna was continuing to look much better - which Celestia had attributed to yesterday's massage reopening magic-channels or something, the explanation had lost him somewhere around the time it had started to sound like one of Twilight's lectures on advanced spell-weaving theoretics - the muted blue-grey and midnight feathers in conjuncture with her smaller frame were hard to miss.

"What are you, my caretaker now?" she pouted playfully and reached down to poke his shoulder again with a hoof, "Some sort of Magic Police?"

Ow that karking smarts! Titus hid a wince and regretted the choice of this morning's training with the droids in his exhausted state because before he had been able to put them down he had received quite a thrashing, one which was outwardly evident by the bloody nose that that had been spontaneously reoccurring off and on since. "One appointed by your sister, yes," he emphasized his statement by jabbing the fluffy end of the quill at her, coming close enough to almost brush her snout with it, "And, I might add, she told me I was to ignore your protests at not being allowed to use magic; going so far as to grant me the authority to disobey any commands you might give me to overlook said usage. Speaking of... is that cloud you're resting on any form of expenditure of your reserves?"

"Really, how lecherous!" Luna feigned indignant shock at the question and stuck her snout in the air haughtily, "Such talk of my 'reserves' and their expenditure is both a private matter and highly inappropriate, Mr. Aelius!" She was having a hard time keeping a straight face and peaked out the corner of her eye to judge the impact of her response to find her friend hunched over the table scribbling something. Subtly stretching her still rather stiff and aching neck, having opted to get her court paperwork out of the way before the massage rather than vice-versa, and with Titus making no attempt to obscure her vision of the parchment she easily followed along as the words were quickly and surprisingly neatly written. 'Dear... Princess... Celestia...' He's writing a letter to my sister?! 'Luna... is... acting... like a... pigheaded... foal-'

"Oh, 'a pigheaded foal,' huh?" The quill left a long streak across the parchment as she swiped it up from the table with a small amount of magic before she crumpling it up and bounced the offending article off of his nose, "HA! Take that! Your leaky nose is much more akin to a pig's than ours!"

Glancing at the balled-up letter now rolling away on the floor, Titus pointed a finger up at Luna then down at the evidence, "Hey! That was an unapproved use of magic! I'll have none of that on my watch!" He quickly realized he might have underestimated just how much of a playful mood his friend was in when multiple sheets of blank paper from the stack he kept to one side floated up and crunched into little balls while Luna stared at him with a defiantly mischievous smirk. "Don't. You. Dare," a sharp jab of a finger in her direction accompanied each word.

"Oink oink oink!" Several more missiles bouncing off of his head indicated his attempt at seriousness was an utter failure as a cry of "Down with the Magic Police!" broke through the room and the riding cloud zipped away.

Titus found himself under constant barrage as his friend reacquired the projectiles she threw, forcing him back out of the office nook and into cover - but not before he grabbed a handful of blank parchment for his own use. "Cease and desist this instant!" he shouted back blindly firing his ammunition around a corner; a few shrieks of laughter indicating hits, "Rebellious scum! Take that!"

"It's over, friend!" she gleefully hollered down at him as the dense cloud deflected several of his shots. She sent a storm raining down on the human's cover though none made contact as he briefly scooted across an open area behind the rolling office chair before doing a diving roll behind the bar, "I have the high ground!" She failed, however, to see his arms were full of readied projectiles just waiting to be unleashed.

The light paper ammunition plonked off of the stocked bottles of the bar, the missiles only outnumbered by the taunts also hurled his way from the alicorn on high. A multitude of shots whipped around the corner of the counter-top at an impossible right angle, catching him by surprise. Well then, if she's going to use magic to cheat it's only fair to level the playing field.

Breaking from his cover in a blur, his Force-heightened speed allowed him to nimbly dodge multiple projectiles that should have otherwise hit him; a sweep of a hand brushed aside her second desperate salvo as he closed in on her position and vaulted himself up off of the back of the sofa. In a hail of fire that made Luna duck behind the cloud for cover, Titus Force-leapt himself into the air well above her and let loose his armament, paper wads bouncing off of her snout, flank, forehead, shoulder, and one impaling itself on her horn. Still firing at his target, Titus somersaulted in the air and planted his feet against the ceiling rather than careening into it head-first, going into a full crouch as his legs absorbed the remaining energy of his leap; his momentum spent he began his fall, intending to land back in cover to resume his assault on the upstart alicorn.

Luna, however, was fast to recover - magically snatching the descending human mid-air and pulling him the short distance onto the soft cloud beside her. Now in close quarters, the two wrestled on the springy surface as the cloud floated to the living room floor, unable to support their combined weight; Titus' size and leverage advantage proved difficult for Luna to handle for a short time, however her brute alicorn strength (and maybe the covert usage of a little magic) eventually overcame it and she pinned him on his stomach below her. "W-we ha-*haa*-have thou, villain!" she said around her panting breaths at the sudden exercise, wings spread out triumphantly, "Surrender and agree to our terms or be trounced a second time!"

"Magnificent," Titus whispered reflexively, catching sight of her displayed two-tone plumage out of the corner of his eye and only becoming aware he had spoken aloud when an intense blush broke through Luna's coat. Feeling her weight shift in her abashment - unfortunately right onto his sore shoulder - he very briefly contemplated breaking the pin and continuing, but for the sake of preventing any further use of magic and resuming the day's work Titus opted to end their conflict. Sputtering several puffs of cloud that had found their way into his mouth on account of a hoof on one side of his head lightly yet forcefully pressing it into the fluffy mass, "A-and what are your demands?" he made a show of weakly struggling to play the character of a foe defeated, "I shall know them before deciding whether I submit or fight to the last!"

"Our demands are threefold," she replied with an air of authority as she realized that, despite his allusion to further roughhousing, he was giving up and, deep down, she was a little disappointed as this sort of physical activity wasn't one she could enjoy very often; she was no match for her sister, who was often too busy or would just pin her little sister beneath the Royal Solar Rump until she conceded, and the thought of even asking a guard or subject was unfathomable. "First, after your clerical duties are completed thou shall remain here to engage in a block of entertainment of our choosing. Snacks and refreshments are to be provided for the defeated party to partake for the duration," waiting for a moment and seeing no visual cues of objection to the first term of surrender on his face, Luna continued. "Demand the second: in regards to the message from Twilight Sparkle we delivered earlier this week, thou shall administer for our experience and critique one, um... 'wonderful ear-rub,' as she described it. Are the terms of your surrender agreeable thus far?"

The human's head bounced up and down on the cloud as much as it could from his current position, "Yeah, I guess so. But what about the third?"

"I-it will be made at the conclusion of the first two..."

Her reply was a bit too sheepish for Titus' liking, so decided to take advantage of her earlier shift in position to pull a reversal - one arm shooting up behind the base of her wing and along her barrel while a foot swept her hind legs out from under her, depositing her roughly onto her side as several more puffs of the springy cloud floated up around her cushioned impact. "If I'm going to surrender I have one term of my own: you're going to oblige your sister's request, so if there's anything you'd usually use magic for you'll instead ask for my assistance first. Do we have a deal?"

Luna sighed as she sent one last paper ball bouncing off his nose before she gave him a nod, "Very well, we have an agreement. Come," she directed the cloud into a slow glide across the floor back to the office nook where their brief firefight had started, "let us finish this karking paperwork so that we may move on to more enjoyable activities."

It wasn't until several hours later that Titus set the quill pen aside for the last time, gently blowing on the immaculately-completed document to dry the ink before placing it in the outbox with a combination of relieved sigh and weary grunt as he tried to reinvigorate himself by rubbing his face with both hands, "Thank the stars that's done! I don't think I could stand to look at another form let alone fill one out."

Do I tell him he still had wet ink on his hands or let him walk around for a bit with those blotches all over his face? The Princess was doing a good job of suppressing her mirth at her friend's expense and managed to keep a straight face as he turned to look at her on the cloud. Realizing it would be suspicious to not say anything, she nodded in agreement, "Yes, we are on 'Easy Avenue,' as my sister likes to say, for the rest of the afternoon."

"Easy? Easy for you, maybe," he grunted as he pushed himself out of the office chair with some effort, rolling his shoulder around in its socket a couple of times once he had stood up, "If you've forgotten, you wanted to get your paperwork completed before your massage, so I've still got that staring me in the face before I'm anywhere near Easy Avenue or whatever."

"Perhaps you could... not and say you did?" Luna offered hopefully though in the back of her mind she knew Titus would not betray the promise he had made to her sister so easily. Her gut feeling was proven correct when he snorted in response and removed the wad of paper still stuck on her horn so he could bounce it off of her snout, shoo'ing her and her cloud toward the lounge with the other hand. Desperate and with no other way to stall the impending massage Luna informed him of the ink smudges covering most of his cheeks and forehead.

Thinking she was fibbing Titus moved his face closer to a silver platter that lay on the coffee table and checked himself in the reflection for the ink - identifying the serving platter as the same one he had seen at his scone breakfast with Princess Celestia. "Right. It would seem you've bought yourself a brief moment," he said, turning this way and that to inspect the dark blotches before summoning up his best disappointed glare to return back at his alicorn friend, "You know, I would have appreciated it if you'd have told me before I rubbed my hands all over my face, though that little smirk of yours is telling me you probably enjoyed watching me do it. I'll be right back then there'll be no more delays, got it?" With her permission he stepped into her bathroom to wash his face.

It was the first time he'd been in a bathroom as large and gorgeous as this one; pristine white tile offset by dark woods and black marble counter-tops, shining silver and gold faucets and taps, a full porcelain bathtub set flush into the floor and a massive walk-in shower with the image of the moon etched into the glass door. He had scarcely lathered his hands and started scrubbing when the door swung open and Luna made a quick beeline for the shower, "Uh, everything okay-?" it was at the moment she passed him and closed the shower door - tucking her hooves under herself and laying on the shower floor - that a familiar sweet scent wafted along behind her. Oh... she'd probably appreciate me not saying anything. As odd as it felt how nonchalantly she had just hopped in the shower with him there, Titus went back to clean his splotchy face but the mirror he was using fogged up as the bathroom quickly turned into a sauna, steam literally pouring over the top of the shower as Luna remained comfortably arranged on the floor with an expression of complete contentment.

"D-did you hear that, friend?"

Her question came just as Titus had his face under the sink's running tap. "Sorry, did you say something?" Turning to face her, he found a dripping wet Luna already halfway out of the shower and tentatively headed for the door leaving little watery hoofprints in her wake, the shower still running full blast as even more steam billowed out.

"T-Titus?" Luna's ears were on full alert as she silently stalked the final distance to the bathroom door that was cracked slightly open, pausing on three hooves and going statue-still when she recognized a familiar sound. "Titus, there's somepony at the door. There's somepony knocking at the door! I... what am I going to do?!"

Doubting she had heard anything, Titus instead thought had seen he was almost done washing his face and was trying to stall again, nevertheless he stuck his head out of the bathroom to listen and heard the voice call from the door. This is bad. The whole operation is at stake. "Okay, calm down Luna," Titus quickly finished dunking his head in the sink, though a good portion of the water ended up on his shoulders and neck of his shirt, before hastily drying himself as best he could with a small hoof towel from the stack on the counter while sliding sideways into the bathroom doorway beside the alicorn, "It'll just take a few minutes to hook you back up to the-" a sudden flash of memory reminded him that the droid he had spent hours calibrating for projecting Luna's hologram was still in his shoulder bag in his room, "Kark, we don't have any display drones here in your quarters that are ready for use."

A sour look came to Luna's face as a familiar and rather unwanted voice called through the door. "Ugh, it's that stuck-up, egotistical distant nephew of mine, Prince Blueblood. Under no circumstances is he to see me like this or it'll be all over Canterlot before the sun even sets! Expeditiously answer the door and get rid of him," she got behind Titus and started physically pushing him out of the bathroom, "I don't care how you go about it!"

A third set of raps that were obviously from a pony growing impatient meant Titus only took a few seconds to weigh his options and formulate a plan. If the guards hadn't have been sent away to prevent them from spotting Luna or note how she never left her room this would have been a quick matter of her ordering them to turn away visitors. Wait... the guards- The thought of the guards made him recall when he had been dragged from the room a few days ago, sparking the beginnings of a rash plan.

Titus turned around and leaned closer to face the alicorn that was steadily pushing him for the door; her frantic look of desperation as if her world was on the brink of collapsing prompted him to extend a hand to her shoulder that eventually slid up to her cheek when the contact didn't have its usual calming effect, "Luna, I have an idea. What I need is for you to yell like you're mad at me... and maybe sock me lightly in the nose, too." Luna's expression turned to one of confusion as she tried to grasp what he had planned; when she sputtered that she couldn't just be angry at him for no reason and she certainly wouldn't be hitting him Titus realized he'd have to try and provide a worthy cause for her to raise her voice and, with no time to explain as a forth series of raps on the door was followed by the locked handle being tested, he took her other cheek in his hand held her head steady, angling it to one side as he spoke, "Luna, I'm improvising here, so please forgive what I'm about to do."

"Friend, w-wait, what are you-mmph!" Luna's eyes grew to monopolize most of her face as her friend quickly closed in; the feeling of his lips pressing on hers cut her off mid sentence. The contact was fleeting and nothing felt forced, but it was enough for her heart to skip significantly more than a single beat from the sudden unexpected shock. When he pulled away she could scarcely believe what had just happened, "W-w-why... Why would you do that?!" she hollered incredulously.

Standing up he was quietly thankful she hadn't magically turned him inside out or teleported him to the center of the sun. "Sorry Luna, I uh... yeah," Titus gave her his best apologetic smile, "But hey, that was good - there's no way your nephew didn't hear that. So on to phase two..." taking his nose in one hand he gave it a sharp yank, rewarding him with a fresh dribble of warm blood and a slightly queasy look from Luna. Titus made as much of a racket as he could jogging over to the door, going so far as to brush several of his less delicate tools from a table to the floor in a metallic clattering that echoed off the walls as well as retrieve the silver platter and place it near the door. And if this ploy doesn't work I could always try the mind trick; it worked on that pegasus, afterall. With a nod of assurance to Luna he unlocked the door and ducked out of her room in one fluid movement, yanking the door closed just as he used the Force to propel the platter at the closed portal like it had been thrown at him.

Titus exhaled heavily, playing it up like he had sprinted for his life as his head came to rest on the heavy obsidian door. He remained like that for a few more short breaths before rolling himself to place his back against the door and find a thoroughly startled white unicorn backpedaling away from him.

"Egad!" Blueblood's gaze was firmly fixed on the ample amount of blood flowing from the biped's nose. "G-get back, creature! Don't come any closer!"

"Hey, relax." Slumping to a sitting position with a sigh to make himself appear less threatening, though more subtly he was arranging himself to bodily block the door should the pony try to get around him into Luna's quarters, "I'm not going to hurt you-"

The Prince shook his head and ceased his retreat though he remained well out of arms reach, "Hurt me? You're that alien - it's well known you're not hostile. I'm more worried about that," he pointed a hoof at Titus' nose, "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get red stains out of a coat as white and well groomed as mine?! Now then, if you'd kindly mop up any remnants of your nasal gushing and demonstrate your primate ability to walk upright to promptly remove yourself from my path I, Prince Blueblood, would seek audience with my aunt, Princess Luna, to discuss highly important business - business well above your station and most likely beyond your limited sapien intellect."

It was Titus' turn to shake his head, "I should warn you that would be a bad idea, Prince. A very bad idea. In case you haven't noticed, the Princess isn't in the best of moods right now and I can't really blame her - she's looking at having to completely redo a bunch of reports and double check the entirety of today's paperwork, which includes filing additional forms to make the other offices aware of the required revisions. Needless to say your aunt has a long grind of ahead of her." He mentally crossed his fingers in hope that Luna's distaste for paperwork was common knowledge or, at the very least, known to someone like the Prince.

"I had heard she was teaching her pet to do tricks but I am to believe that is why you are bloodied and look scruffier than normal? What role did you play in putting the Princess in such a foul temperament, human?"

Scruffy? Who's scruffy looking? A second glance at his current appearance and Titus had to concede that point to Blueblood. "Being her appointed secretary I brought to her attention a rather glaring oversight on her part on a key document and, as the closest release of frustration, a lovely arrangement of flowers and the vase they were in was dumped on my head; hence my current dampness," he gestured to his drenched hair and clothing before pointing at his bloodied nose, "This I got when I tripped over a fold in a carpet during my hasty retreat for the door when the error I found carried over to entries on other forms which required redaction. Hardly the Princess' fault," his head slumped to his chest as he hid a second use of the Force, searching for and pulling multiple objects from within the room to crash into the other side of the door in quick succession, "again, I wouldn't go in there if I were you; it sounds like anything in hoofs-reach is liable to be thrown."

Several seconds of silence transpired as Prince Blueblood weighed his options, glancing from the disheveled, weary looking human to the sealed door barring him from his business with the Princess.

"I bet that last crash was the wine bottle labeled Marelot that she had pointed out this morning," Titus wagered with himself just loud enough for the Prince's heightened equine hearing to pick up as a trace amount of red liquid pooled from under the door and (with a little assistance from the Force) ran in the Prince's direction, "A shame, really; having just restocked her quarters there's all of those other red varieties at risk of being wastefully destroyed..."

That was what pushed Blueblood over the fence, "I should go see Aunt Celestia, perhaps she will be available to discuss a raise in my weekly allowance." Muttering something about risking wine stains on his coat the Prince retreated down the hallway, casting several more glances at the waving human pile still slumped against the door amid the red puddle before disappearing around the far set of doors.

Pushing himself up from the floor with a grunt Titus slid back through the door, carefully stepping over the shattered bottle of cranberry juice and working himself around the puddle lest he leave red footprints in his wake as he moved back into Luna's quarters. "Luna? Where'd you go?" he called out, not catching sight of her immediately but on a second scan around the room he spotted a trail of little puddles leading to a comfortable-looking reading corner; behind a lone armchair a horn and a pair of ear-tips poking out from their hiding spot. "Hey, you can come out now," he walked the short distance and peered around the back, finding the shivering alicorn seated with a bath towel over her still-drenched body as she tried to hold a hand mirror steady, "Mission accomplished."

"S-so I s-see," she replied; her teeth chattering lightly she turned the mirror to face him to show that the reflective surface instead displayed an image of the hallway and the black door, "A good f-fib regarding the oversight, however s-saying I d-dumped a vase of water on you w-was a l-little over the t-top, wouldn't you a-agree?"

"Maybe... but it all worked in the end, right?" he was forced to back up to allow her escape from her hiding spot, though once out she continued toward him menacingly, "Right?!"

"Oh yes-s-s, the outcome was a-agreeable," she said before pulling the towel from her shoulders and twisting it almost like it was a rope, "it was y-your method that left something to be d-d-desired!"

*SNAP!*

"CRINKING-Nnngh! What the frag was that for?!" Titus shouted in response, gripped the spot on his outer thigh where the towel had viciously whipped him. One look at the Princess was enough to guess exactly what it was for, "Luna, look; I apologize, but we didn't exactly have time to sit down for a briefing what with Prince Narcissist battering down the gates and I needed you to sound upset. I'll admit it was a rash thing to do, and I appreciate you not blasting me for it, but the other option I was considering was smashing your game machine-"

"Yes, fine! From the two we will admit you made the preferable choice," she waved a hoof dismissively as she cut him off. Of all the amenities of her luxurious quarters, it was the common gaming console that Luna enjoyed the most and in the time before she and Titus had become close she had considered it the nearest thing to a friend that she had - as immature and inane a thing like that was, now that she thought about it - had the cherished little machine been smashed she wasn't sure what she would have done. "A little warning next time would be appreciated, however."

"Oh, expecting a 'next time,' are we?"

Luna whipped him once more on the calf of his leg, though with less of a resounding crack, "Do not think your roguish charm makes you impervious! Such a stunt would normally carry grave consequences though, fortunately for you, I am simply adding a few terms to your prior surrender." It's not like it was unpleasant, just... unexpected. And my sister is right; my position as a Princess would only cause issues for us both. She trotted after him a short distance, snapping the air behind him with the towel and playfully herding him toward the bathroom, "Now go fetch my bathrobe and manedryer; I'm positively freezing and, as you've forbidden use of magic, you shall have to aid me." He emerged a short time later - having taken the chance to wash the blood from his nose and get his hair back in what could loosely pass for order - carrying the deep cyan bathrobe draped in one hand and a rolled towel over the other; the sight of which caused Luna to retreat from him in fear of retaliation for her earlier whippings.

"I wasn't sure what your manedryer looks like, so I grabbed-" noticing her reaction to his approach Titus chuckled as he knelt down, a hand extending to pass the bathrobe to his still-shivering friend. "Don't worry, I'm not about to get involved in a towel fight," he assured her, unrolling the towel he waited while she sat on her haunches and tied the cloth belt around her barrel to secure the bathrobe in place, "A paper war is one thing - something I wouldn't mind doing again, actually - but a towel fight? Stars forbid I get a good whip in on you and leave a welt somewhere visible for somepony to notice; 'Alien Assaults Princess' isn't a headline I want to see in the papers."

Luna was about to remark that a headline of 'Alien Canoodles Princess' would be equally disastrous but suddenly found her crown plucked off and head enveloped in the soft white towel, her mane and ears were gently tousled which made her head bounce from side to side between his two hands in a way that reminded her of a time long ago when her sister and she had been little fillies and Celestia had dried her in a similar manner. Then there was that song she used to hum, what was it-?

"What's with the goofy grin, Princess?" Titus asked, catching glimpses of the upturned corners of her mouth as the ends of the towel flopped about.

"Nothing," shoving the pleasant memory to the back of her mind with the intent of asking her sister about it later Luna put a hoof up to the human's hand to get him to stop and let the towel fall about her shoulders as she shook her head side to side vigorously, the thoroughly fluffed mane standing up on end in several places when she stopped. Shooting a quick glance at the clock display on her console, she became aware of how much time had passed, "Oh, quick! The movie is about to start!"

Despite being well over twice her size the little alicorn proved she was perfectly capable of bodily shoving him and did so - her front hooves on two spots of his back as she directed him over to the sofa; Titus taking a seat on one end while Luna found a spot on the other as she hoofed the remote to turn the TV on. "I'm sure this is going to sound completely stupid," he started, sinking into the cushion as some pony on the screen overly-enthusiastically tried to sell him some form of powdered cleaning agent, "but I've never actually seen one. A movie, I mean."

"Wait, really?!" she was more than shocked at the honest nod he gave her. How could he not have seen a movie?! Luna thought about the correct course of action, immediately hopping off the couch and quickly trotting out of view when she had come to a conclusion. "If this is your first time there are a few necessities you should know about for a successful 'movie night,' as they are called," she shouted around the corner, her voice accompanied by a clattering of dishes and a rapid series of pops from her miniature kitchen, "First is a copious supply of hot popped corn, buttered and salted to taste. To compliment that some form of chilled drink is also required; I have a variety of sodas here as well as some juices, though feel free to take your pick of something stronger from the bar. Ooo! Candy. We need candy." She went by at a canter, depositing her load of vittles and ducking into her bedroom to appear a short time later with several elegant boxes of chocolates balanced on her back which she placed with the rest of the food before hopping back on the sofa once again - though this time she arranged herself to lean cozily up against Titus' side, "Lastly but most important to having an enjoyable viewing experience, you need a friend-" sticking her tongue out she quickly added, "but I guess you'll have to do."

Titus once again mentally wished she would use his non-sore shoulder and moved his arm up to rest on the back of the couch, tweaking her ear lightly for her tease. "Here I was thinking this wouldn't be a major event but that's quite the list of preparations," he said, staring over the coffee table piled high with snacks as the television screen went blank and a smooth, deep voice announced the feature presentation would be starting shortly. Now that his hand was in the ideal spot for it he began to very lightly rub the ear he had tweaked.

"After... the corruption of Nightmare Moon..." Luna was initially startled by the fingers that had unexpectedly taken hold of her pinna but she quickly sank into the feeling as her head unintentionally started following the motion of the thumb and fingers rotating in small circles and her eyelids drooped, "...Twilight Sparkle took it upon herself to reintroduce us to Equestria's m-mmm-odern society though a 'crash course' and one of the subjects covered in the study materials was 'Being Social: Movies and Movie Nights.' I took... very thorough notes, but in the end the only other pony I've ever invited has been my sister."

"So it's a first for both of us, then," Titus observed as the Princess leaned her ear into his hand, a signal to rub harder if there ever was one, so he began working from ear tip to base with a bit more pressure.

"Shh! The mmmovie is about to start..." she shushed through a purr, her body having sunk so far that she was now resting her head on the cushion alongside his thigh as both ears were rubbed in tandem, "And I hereby command you: do not cease what you're doing. By the heavens..."

Titus did his best to follow along with the plot of the movie but there were several parts pertaining to Equestrian history that he had to have clarified to understand the story - a young mare in a family of treasure hunters whose grandmother believed their ancestors buried a treasure somewhere in Equestria and had hidden cryptic clues to its whereabouts on everything from national landmarks to a secret key made when both Princess' crowns were joined together like a jigsaw puzzle; all the while racing against the Royal Guard as well as a ruthless adversarial sibling to keep the secret treasure from falling into the wrong hooves. They had only gotten a short amount into the movie before Titus' hands had cramped up, forcing him to stop amid pouting glares from the Princess, who eventually resumed her previous position of leaning up against him after muttering that she should chain him to her work desk and force him to be her personal full-time Royal Ear-Rubber and secretary. Her tangent was brought to an abrupt end as a piece of popcorn bounced off her nose, leaving a small splotch of butter behind which she eagerly licked off before adding that she would have been kind and taken him out for "walkies" occasionally.

Luna quieted down after that and Titus - realizing she was holding firm to her promise of not using any magic - left an open palm full of popcorn between them for her to take munches from; during yet another advertisement break in the movie, however, the buttery snacks were blown away as she flapped her wings in what looked like discomfort. "Everything okay, Luna? Every ad break we've gotten you've done that," he picked up the scattered bits of food and deposited them on the table so they wouldn't fall between the sofa cushions, "Are your wings stiffening up?"

"W-what?! No!" she indignantly exclaimed, though by his confused look at her response she quickly came to realize he hadn't understood that he had basically asked her if she was getting a pegassi hard-on, "It's just that I've been molting those ugly feathers and there's this one that's loose and ready to come out, but of course it won't shed of its own accord and has to be in a spot I can't reach. The little blighter itches like karking crazy and it's driving me up the wall! You see normally I'd just pluck it out with magic, but ♫nooo~♫ somebody..." she shot him a glare but it was empty of any ill-temperament, "is kissing my sister's flank and won't let me use any-"

"Here, let me see," remembering what Princess Celestia had shown him he took the elbow of her wing in one hand and applied a light amount of pressure to the joint, causing it to freely and painlessly extend over his lap; it only took Titus a second to spot the tip of a lone greyish blue feather buried between a patch of her midnight blue secondary and marginal coverts. He pointed a finger at the culprit of his friend's discomfort, "This the little bastard right here?" When she nodded he quickly and gently worked his fingers between the layers to get at the base of the offending feather before she could say otherwise.

A gasp had barely left her lips when she felt a light tug and the itch was instantly relieved, the small grey feather held aloft between a finger and thumb by her stupidly-grinning human friend. "Y-you just... p-preened..." she pulled her wing back to her side and briefly looked at the floor as she knew both her cheeks had to be burning red, her gazed returning to him just in time to see the grin fall from his face as he realized he might have done something incredibly insensitive. Luna quickly jumped in to reassure him, "It's alright, my friend, I feel no semblance of transgression I was just..." she was about to explain the significance but stopped and regarded him for a short time before dismounting the couch and asking him to wait a moment, taking one of the small boxes of chocolates and disappearing into her bedchambers for the remaining duration of the advertisement break. When she returned she quietly sat down next to him, noticing the small feather set to one side of the coffee table before ignoring his obviously curious stare that had followed her all the way to the couch; instead focusing her attention on the final scenes of the movie though her mind remained thoroughly elsewhere until she had enough of a break in her thought that she realized the credits were rolling. "H-here," she said, suddenly thrusting the small box she had left with out from under a wing and into his lap before moving the feather from the table on top of it.

"A gift?" Titus took the small feather and gently traced the tip across his palm before running his fingers along the vane, "Wow, I really appreciate it. May I open this one now?"

Another nod answered his question. "Well y-you said you admired my plumage, s-so I thought..." Luna watched with growing embarrassment as her human friend slowly removed the top of the box to go stock still when he saw the contents, "I-I was just going to put it in my keepsake chest where it would collect dust with all the others, b-but instead I decided I want you to have this one - an alula from the leading edge of my wing."

Reaching into the box Titus removed another feather with a level of care and delicacy like it would break just from breathing on it; beneath it a simple note with the words "For my best friend, now and forever." Reaching from the tip of his middle finger to his wrist, the color shifted from midnight blue to almost black as he rotated it in the light.

"You needn't be so gentle with it; they've been permeated by a small amount of alicorn magic which makes them exceedingly durable," she said with a small laugh, "I still have feathers such as that one from... from before my fall," her mood turned dark for the briefest flash before she caught sight of Titus absentmindedly running the gift over his cheek, her embarrassment was rekindled at just how content he looked until he noticed her flushed face.

"Luna, I-" he extended an arm, placing a hand on her closest hoof and gave it a firm squeeze, "Thank you. A personal gift like this calls for an exchange, though you know I don't have much to give in return-"

She watched as he froze in contemplation momentarily before he wordlessly dug around in several of the pouches on his belt before removing a wound up coil of thin wiring - identifying it as transmission wire, something he said he had learned to always carry with him from creatures called "woo-keez" - and followed his hand that slowly moved over toward her and gently plucked his lightsaber from her hip, his fingernails purposefully scratching against her coat pleasantly in the process. Luna's head cocked to one side as he slid off the couch and squatted on the floor before the coffee table; a sweep of his hand clearing a small amount of space where he placed the weapon and the small feather next to it. "What are you-" she started to ask but stopped when both hands hovered above the table, a familiar sign that a display of his Forcemagic was imminent.

What happened next captured Luna's full attention, subconsciously her head lowered down almost to rest on his shoulder and her ears rotated forward completely. "-I don't have much to give in return," he continued where he had left off, "but what I can give you is something very few beings outside of the Order have seen - the construction of a Jedi's lightsaber."

The lightsaber vibrated briefly before it floated evenly above the table and emitted several metallic clicks; pieces slowly moving away from each other as the whole hilt disassembled itself before her eyes; the only parts she could readily identify - circuitry, wires, tubes, and small lenses - floating in a slow orbit around the main casing. A pair of crystals in particular caught her eye.

"Those gems," Luna whispered into his ear, her gaze following the path of the crystals; one almost-clear with a slight golden tinge and the other smaller and lightning blue, "I've not seen anything of that hue before..."

Having routinely disassembled and reassembled his lightsaber as part of his Master's training program, Titus had more than enough control over the parts to be able to split his attention and notice how keenly the crystals were reflected in her eyes. Deciding to indulge in her curiosity, he flicked a finger toward the Princess and the crystals floated over to her waiting hoof for closer inspection, "This blue one is called an opila and is the primary crystal that I use to project the energy of the lightsaber. It was a gift from my Master, who had gotten it from her Master as an Apprentice and he from his; the gesture going back as far as days of the Old Republic," A few minutes passed before a wordless nod from the Princess and the other took its place, "and this one I managed to recover from my ship's cloaking device after it was destroyed in a boarding attempt by some pirates with very bad aim and an even worse sense for business; it's a stygium crystal, and it focuses the beam from the opila to form the blade." When Luna had finished admiring the crystal it floated back to the table. The midnight blue feather suddenly joined in the moving ring of components and quickly disappeared to find a spot inside lightsaber as the hilt came back together like an impossibly-complex jigsaw puzzle, the final touch being the small length of transmission wire attaching itself to the loop used to hang the handle from his belt and securing its other end around the quill of the grey-blue feather he had plucked from her wing effectively forming a garnishment. With his display complete Titus hoisted himself back up onto the sofa, his head resting on the back and his entire body sinking into the plush cushions as he exhaled a weary sigh.

"My friend," as he was far too enveloped by the couch to receive a proper hug Luna pushed herself against his side instead, "I feel privileged to have been witness, you have my thanks; I feel I must inform you I never expected anything in return. If I may ask... why did you choose to integrate my feather into your blade?" Not getting a timely response she poked him lightly, "Titus?"

The exercise in concentration left Titus feeling thoroughly drained and his brain finally decided it had had enough and punched out. A limp hand came over from the back of the sofa to loosely plop itself between Luna's ears, "Your gifts... treasure... with me at all times-zzz..." The rest of his response was garbled beyond recognition as the lack of sleep from the previous night and the comfort of the sofa bore his consciousness down like an anchor and the hand atop the alicorn's head slid off to one side of her neck.

Luna watched the rising and falling of Titus' chest for several moments before smiling. Very well friend, though the demands of your surrender are still not met... she squirmed a bit further into her comfortable position, letting out a contented sigh as she leaned up against his side and closed her eyes, I shall let you rest for a few hours before having you fulfill them. Drifting off herself, she went back over the lengthy report on targeting specific attributes of a species her genetics experts had drafted at her request; the thick tome having been included with the special set of Starswirl's magical analyzing spectacles her sister had retrieved from the palace's artifact vault.

------------

The library once again fell silent as Titus concluded his recounting, "And the rest you know from what I explained at the station... sorry Twi, I didn't intend to be so long-winded about it." While his story telling had taken them into the late afternoon to early evening, he had left out or changed the sensitive bits of his tale - such as Luna's reversion to her weaker form as well as several topics discussed in court pertaining to Equestria's security - the Princesses had both asked as much while they were helping him pack his machines and luggage up because he himself had found it incredibly difficult to do so on account of his unfamiliar body.

Twilight stirred, on the brink of sleep herself, and lifted her head off of his neck where she had been using it as a pillow, "At least it sounds like you had fun; I was busy up until the point I had to lock myself in my room, after that my week was about as pleasant as hooves grating on chalkboard..." her sentence trailed off as she stopped and shuffled back enough to study him. The librarian stayed quiet for a moment then gently placed a forehoof on his cheek and stroked it gently, "I just realized - I'm what broke the Princess' concentration and caused the artifact to... it's my fault, isn't it?" When he sighed heavily instead of denying her inquiry like she had hoped he would, Twilight slumped with the feeling of abject guilt slowly forming in her gut.

Sitting up in a similar position, Titus scooted a bit closer to negate the distance she had created so they were face to face.

"And again, I'm to blame for something unpleasant happening to you..." she tried to retreat further down the couch however her butt was firmly squished against the arm so Twilight instead turned to look away from him until a hoof on the side of her face gently pulled her gaze back to receive a warm smile from Titus; a scant second later he leaned in and she felt his muzzle press against hers lightly. She closed her eyes and sighed into the kiss, letting his tongue play against her lips before meeting it with her own and briefly tangling together before they amicably pulled away, both smiling foolishly at each other.

"Come on... you know I wouldn't blame you for something like this; even with my record of encounters with magic, it was my choice to let the Princess use those glasses on me. Besides, you could say I've got it on very good authority it's only temporary," Titus calmly stated as he inched further forward until they were almost shoulder-to-shoulder, experimenting and finding a comfortable position to rest his head on Twilight's withers which she mimicked shortly after, "and it's more than tolerable now that I'm back in Ponyville, with you," he nestled in a bit for emphasis, "I missed you, Twilight... it's nice to be home."

Giving an enthusiastic nuzzle full of gratitude and a small hum into Titus' shoulder rather than put what she was feeling into words Twilight closed her eyes again and simply relished in the physical contact they were sharing after her own long and arduous week; from her position she felt his sides begin to rise and fall rhythmically, an accompanying barely-audible snore told her that he had finally fallen asleep as only one thing went through her mind.

He called this home.

Author's Notes:

Gosh this was a long one I apologize for the wait. I don't think I'll be doing anything near this length again, the shorter chapters just feel a bit better to write. This one I just found myself unable to stop; I partially attribute that to an early birthday gift combining Sennheiser HD280's and the complete Star Wars soundtrack that I listened to while writing (which, by the way, sounds beyond amazing).

I pulled the sandwich Titus made from a recipe I used recently ("recently" being when that part of the story was being written) and found to be very good. For those interested, here's a link: http://inpursuitofmore.com/2013/03/21/on-packing-for-holidays-a-broiled-sandwich/

Anyway, thanks for waiting and enjoy! Stuff still on the schedule: Twilight's date, EFC Fight Night, and plot stuff.