Endymion’s eyes widened as he looked at the two mares he was running from last night. Both of them looked ready to bite nails in half, and he was looking for the exit. This wouldn’t end well, and the last thing he wanted to do was hit a mare. He wasn’t one of those Stallions that used the excuse of the country being so Matriarchy and oppressive toward stallions. That wasn’t the truth at all. Stallions had exact same rights and privileges that any mare had. Besides, mares usually, typically, and normally were softer and more delicate.

“Hello, ladies,” Endymion started, “listen, about last night- There are no words to describe just how sorry I am. My mother raised me to be respectful of mares and last night I let her and myself down. I could use the excuse that I was drunk but even that sounds weak to my ears. I had no intention at all to- expose the both of you to the world like that. In my ale induced stupor, my reflexes and equilibrium had deteriorated exponentially. I would like to apologize, from the very bottom of my heart for everything I did to you last night..”

Dash glared at him, her fists balled up, and finally she huffed, her wings still sticking out in a threatening manner, “Fine! But if you ever, ever try to let the world see my mare bits again I’m gonna make you eat my hoof, got it?!”

“Yes, ma’am,” Endymion stated, “on Sol’s Light, it won’t happen again.”

AJ didn’t stop walking toward him. Instead of stopping and accepting his apology she grabbed his pants. His eyes widened, and she grinned devilishly.

“Ah’ll ‘cept your ‘pology after Ah make things nice and fair.”

He felt his pants, and boxers hit the floor. AJ had seen a few phalluses in her time. Hell, she wasn’t really a mare that simply went around doing whatever whenever she felt like it, but if’n she had an itch to scratch she’d go and scratch it. She realized that while this fella was certainly an exotic stallion, his phallus was as well. The head wasn’t flared, there was no medial ring like on most stallions, and it didn’t look very long. What it did have was a mushroom capped head, a thick girth, and some finely defined veins snaking just underneath the skin. It was a few shades darker than his pale coat or skin, was and despite that it was currently flaccid, Applejack could tell that this phallus had potential to expand greatly. She wondered greatly if grew in length as well as girth when fully erect,

“Applejack!”

The earth pony turned toward the priestess of Sol. She had a very displeased look upon her face, and AJ shrugged her shoulders, “Fair’s Fair ‘Shy. Dun’t know what else ta tell ya. Now fella, yer good with me. Ya dun had yer goods shown to everypony here, and Ah’d say that’s fair ‘nough. How ‘bout ya Dash? Sound fair ta ya?” AJ asked with a wink.

Dash, whose wings had changed from sticking out sideways, looking threatening to sticking more up, which pretty much spoke about arousal nodded.

“Y...Yeah, that’s fine with me.”

Endymion grabbed his boxers, and pants, and quickly pulled them up. His face flushing red with embarrassment. The orange Earth Pony mare looked quite pleased with herself, took her cup and drained it. He stumbled around her, not looking at anypony, and found the punch. He dipped some out, and before he was finished he heard a familiar giggle.

“Hi Pinkie,” he said as he looked into to bluish liquid that was sitting in his crystal cup.

“I gotta say that’s two shows in less than twenty-four hours. I think that having you around is going to be a lotta fun!”

He shook his head, saw his mother, who was cocking an eyebrow, obviously wanting to hear the story of why he was pantsed in the middle of party meant to welcome him to Ponyville. There was no way he was going to escape hearing about drinking in public, and then causing a ruckus. Luckily it was here and not Canterlot, but regardless he was sure she was going to have a few words to say about it. He began to think of what he was going to say, and slowly the realization that there would be nothing to say, other than admitting what happened, that would save him from a lecture. At least he could rest assured that his mom would just talk to him, and not give him a verbal tongue lashing.

He’d seen what happened when she really laid into ponies before. The memory of Professor Nightshade and her being bawled out was still fresh in his mind even though it happened a scant two years ago.

Endymion didn’t feel comfortable being in the room right at this moment. Professor Nightshade wasn’t a bad pony, but she was certainly a misandrist. Out of their class he was usually the one called on for the impossible questions, the more difficult equations, and at first he thought that maybe it was because of his Mom, but slowly he began to see that none of the other students ever got any of those questions. And when he did do what she assigned him she marked it down as low as she could because he obviously cheated.

He hadn’t told his mom, he didn’t want her fighting his battles for him, but Twilight had been in the class with him, and she had spoke up about it. While she didn’t get the same questions as he did, she did end up getting some really difficult time constraints on her assignments. Potions that would take six days to brew had no more than the minimum time allowed. Her spells had to be cast while there was ample distractions, and she even had to deal with trying to overpower a magical inhibitor.

Professor Nightshade had began hurting Twilight for sticking up for him. He wasn’t going to tell his mom because of what she was doing to him, but he couldn’t stand around and let her get away from doing that to Twilight. So, right now, he and Twilight were in the office, Twilight on the other side of the room, looking as worried as he was, and then the door opened and in stepped Professor Nightshade.

She was one of the few Lunar Unicorns, and her heritage was one that was ruthless and hard as stone. She walked in, her head held high, and she looked at Princess Luna.

“You summoned me, your highness?”

“Take a seat, now.”

Cocking an eyebrow at the Princess’ lack of tact she took the seat in front of her. Luna stood, the air in the room dropping several degrees, obviously because all of the energy was gathering into the Princess at that moment. Luna’s wings stuck out threateningly, and Nightshade’s eyes widened. Hard as stone or not she realized there was some Pegasus tendencies inside of her Princess. Tendencies such as a very protective nature toward her own foals. Nightshade swallowed down her nervousness, realizing that at worst this was going to be an epic balling out, and that Luna couldn’t very well kill her, or at least she hoped that Luna couldn’t very well kill her.

“YOU WILL NO LONGER BE TEACHING DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS! THAT POSITION WILL MOVE TO PROFESSOR FLINTHEART!” Luna’s Royal Canterlot voice roared.

Any attempt to remain calm, to look unthreatened, was gone. Professor Nightshade was a shaking, quaking mess that found herself in a fetus position on the chair she currently sitting on.

“YOU WILL NO LONGER DIRECTLY TEACH ANY STUDENT, BUT INSTEAD YOUR SERVICES WILL BECOME THAT OF A PROFESSOR’S AIDE. SHOULD I HEAR OF THOU SAYING ONE CROSS WORD, ONE UNSAVORY PHASE, OR SIMPLY LOOKING AT A STUDENT IN A WAY THAT SEEMS THREATENING THOU SHALT HAVE NIGHTMARES THE LIKE THOU HAS NEVER SEEN! LEAVE NOW!”

With that, and leaving behind the smell of urine, Professor Nightshade ran out of the room, away from Luna, away from her son and prized student, and into her new position.

“M-mother?” Endymion began, only to hushed by an upraised hand.

“Not now, my son,” Luna stated, “your mommy needs a moment to collect herself. It has been an age since she has had to use The Royal Canterlot Voice. It’s been even longer since I have needed to call upon such stark rage like as what I felt today. Not since the Pony-Griffons Wars…”

“Your Highness,” Twilight began, “you really, really didn’t need to do that. I was more than capable of handling this on my own-”

“Twilight,” Luna began, “while we appreciate the sentiment, twas not for thine sake that We hath need to dress down yonder mare.”

“Your Majesty?” Twilight began to ask.

“We hath heard disparaging rumours, rumours concerning Our Colt and the former Professor Nightshade. She hath seen to it thine Our Foal hath a horrible academic career, in spite of his obvious intelligence and talent. We hath need to excise such a horrible blight from Our School, for this instance wast not the first or the worst of the Professor’s behavior.”

“Mother?” Endymion asks, “You- you heard.”

“Yes, my dear,” Luna replies, “I am not so oblivious to my son’s pain. I saw you struggling and at first, I thought you were being your usual self. Then when you brought up the matter of Twilight’s punishment, I knew something was terribly wrong. I have known for some time of Teacher’s Aide Nightshade’s- proclivities. I had been itching to remove her forthwith from the staff, but she had not given me reason to do so. Well, until now, obviously.”

“Wow,” Twilight murmured, “thank you, Princess!”

“It was nothing,” Luna stated, “this is my school and as such, staff changes are at my discretion. I know my son well enough to know he won’t complain to me about his problems, but if his friends are in any kind of trouble, he will make all effort to see their issues redressed.”

“Thank you, Endy!” Twilight beamed.

“You’re welcome, Sparklebutt,” Endymion said, “you now as well I do that I couldn’t sit there and watch you suffer. You would do the same for me; that’s why you were targeted in the first place.”

“Nevertheless, Endymion,” Luna said, “reprisal of that order is usually the mark of a weak or lesser mind. The strong do not seek vengeance, they seek forgiveness.”

“Yes, Mother,” Endymion said, “uh, can we go now? The cafeteria is serving tiramisu for dessert tonight.”

Smiling, Luna ruffled Endymion’s messy auburn hair and said, “Yes, you may go.”

The two students beamed and fled the rather dark room in a hurry. Luna had to smile at their still childlike enthusiasm. Despite her millennia long term as a ruler of Equestria, she never could discern what made children so energetic. Maybe it was because they hadn’t been harrowed by life or maybe it was because they had not taken on the responsibilities of adulthood yet. Either way, it was an enviable trait.

“I do hope that Master Endymion brings that same type of energy he reserves for delicious after meal snacks as he does learning within my class,” Professor Flintheart said, oozing from a shadowy corner of the office, “otherwise I will be much put out.”

“My son has shown a keen mind and an avid predilection for learning, Professor,” Luna replies, “it is not his, nor my, fault that he has trouble mastering magic.”

“No doubt it is because of his species,” Flintheart says, and even though the statement earns him a dour look from the Princess, he carries on, “he is a hooman trying to learn unicorn magic. Your Majesty, I do not doubt your adopted son has a well spring of arcane prowess buried in that thick head of his, but you and I know both know he is no unicorn. There must be some method by which we draw out his latent talent, but until then he may very well be useless in this school.”

“I understand, Professor,” Luna replies, “I also understand that many within the faculty seem impressed upon the idea that Endymion is here in my school because of nepotism. I would hope that you, unlike your predecessor, did not harbor such illusions.”

“I daren’t not,” Professor Flintheart said, “I was one of the few present when your son demonstrated a magic outburst of such capacity as to frighten that thrice-Tartarus-cursed centaur. Any illusion, or delusion, I may have about your son’s abilities have long since been dispelled.”

“I am glad to hear that,” Luna replied, “it has been nearly eighteen years since he came into my life and while I will always see him as my little colt, there is a grand destiny awaiting him, somewhere… out there, well beyond the walls and spires of Canterlot.”

“Is it not so preposterous that your son may be a denizen of that Olde Empire to the west?” Flintheart proposes, “The idea that a hooman family would abandon their son in the Everfree-”

“They did not abandon him, Flintheart,” Luna says, cutting the professor off, “he was found in the Everfree.”

“My Liege,” Flintheart says, “is this information of a- discrete nature?”

“Yes, that it is,’ Luna answers, “and should you tell a soul of what I am about to explain, the damnation you received personally from me will make Nightshade’s dismissal will be as a congenial tea party.”

“I understand,” Flintheart affirms, “nary a soul shall hear of this. Besides, of whom would I even tell?”

“There is wisdom in those words,” Luna retorts, “now, as for my son. You should know that most of what I explained to the media about Endymion is true. There are some major omissions, mind you, made for my son’s sake.”

“And what would these omissions be about, Your Grace?”

“My son was found in the wreckage of a conveyance of unknown origin,” Luna began, “as near as I could tell, he was the only survivor. All others of his species on board the vessel perished.”

“How is that even possible?”

Luna explains, “I have thought long on that. My only theory is that Endymion is a special child, more so than even he could know. When I found him, he was buried under the twisted metal shards of the conveyance’ outer shell. The beings I believed to his mother and father were nearby, broken and broken open, no tender mercies to be applied. He, on the other hand, was whole: alive, but scared. He was wrapped in a shimmering dome of pure silver. To this day, I do not know if that is the natural color of his arcane energies or if that was the markings of some sort of artifice. In any case, my son has, since the day I found him, possessed of a great measure of magical skill.”

“Indeed, to have survived such a horrible ordeal,” Flintheart commented, “has he no memories from that time?”

“The only memories he has are of me and the times thereafter,” Luna answered, “any experience he had previously has simply been erased, or likely forgotten. Even so, he is a happy child and not one prone to devilry or disrespect. I do hope you will be able to build a rapport with him.”

“And if I cannot?” Flintheart asks.

“Then I shall need to take measures into my own hands,” Luna said, “fear not, though. Unless you insist on abusing my foal, your position in this school shall not be affected. Yet, I think it wise that you make an attempt to accommodate Endymion and his unique- handicap.”

“I shall not be passing a student that feels he doesn't not belong here or feels entitled to advance without putting in the effort to do so,” Flintheart retorts, “I shall not be a stepping stone or doormat in that way.”

“Neigh, Flintheart, I wouldn’t ask that of you,” Luna states, “I am assured he will work as hard, if not harder, than any student you have ever had. If he does not, he will have more than your wrath to contend with.”

Luna watched her son, seeing him interact with that earth pony. A look at her told her much about the pink mare. She was lively, and she knew that she had thrown this party together. She actually knew much about her, about Pinkie Pie, but seeing how familiar she was with her son it was both a joy and a reminder that Endymion was indeed growing up. She still silently hoped that he would end up with Twilight, but if another would make him happy, she would be pleased.

Part of her considered the idea that perhaps her son would be open to herding. It wasn’t a banished idea in Equestria, some of the nobility still practiced it, and having royalty add an earth pony to the family would only strengthen the unity between the tribes. Yes, if her son was open to the idea of herding she would openly welcome a pony such as Ms Pie into the family. And, perhaps she could have her help with reading the nobility when they came into the court. Such information would be invaluable.

Still, her mind began to wonder, slowly taking apart what happened, the depantsing, and the conversation that led to it. The mares called him a pervert, he apologised, and while she was certain that she wasn’t paying attention that wasn’t the case. When it came to Endymion she always paid attention. He was her son, her only son, her only child period. Her hand touched her stomach. She wasn’t barren, not by any means, but the spark that could create life inside of her had never truly been found.

She smiled, as she thought of him, of finding him, bringing him home, and her experiences of being a mother for the first time. How happy of a foal he was, how sweet and loving he acted, and how amazed he seemed by the world around him. He was no different than any other foal. And it was for that reason she realized what had happened.

They had talked, at great length, about how he wasn’t to drink in public. A certain image had to remain in tact for the royal family. Part of that image was that royalty did not engage in consumption of Ale or Spirits outside of the Palace. They did so only within the walls of their home, shielded away from the public eye, and an example to all that looked up to them. She had explained that to him a thousand times, but then again she was just as guilty.

Sol help her, she had done the same. When she was a young mare, old enough to drink, too young to know better, and too confident to listen to any wisdom her father or mother had given her. At that time she had snuck out of the original castle, one before the castle that was created for her and Celestia, and wore a guard’s pony uniform. It was a heavy thing, made of wool, smelling heavily of sweat and blood, but it was the price one paid to get the sweet nectar known as Ale.

She had went into the small village near the castle, posing as a female unicorn guard, and ordered a local ale. Her illusion was perfect, her speech pattern was that of the guards, and her profanity was second to none. Not even her own father would have known it was her. She remembered the first taste of the amber liquid. The way it crept onto her tongue, the deep and robust way it introduced itself, and then how it felt when she swallowed.

She drained that first glass with the speed of a bolt of lightening, and the second fared no better. She had perfected everything for that evening, everything except knowing how to hold her ale. Four glasses and she was no longer able to sit at the bar. She paid the barkeep, speaking in a slurred line of profanity that she was certain to this day still floated over a part of that abandoned village. Slowly, she made her way to the door, out of the village, and to the castle.

She thanked Sol it was Celestia that found her, no longer in the uniform, no longer in the illusion, instead nude, stumbling around in the moonlight, drunkenly making the moon do figure eights in the sky. Celestia, her sister had the sense to bring her attention to that moment, to lead her inside, to instruct her most trusted handmaidens to ensure that none knew of this, and to clean her from head to hoof. Her sweet darling sister ensured that none knew of what happened. She knew her sweet son would follow in his mother’s hoofsteps, there was no doubt of that, but she did worry. He had no sister, no brother, no confidant, or perhaps he did.

She thought of his cousin. Prissy, egotistical, and yet still so very close to him. Perhaps Blueblood had actually helped protect her colt from making a scandal a time or two. Regardless, she would need to talk to her son, explain a few things, and hope that the foolishness he got into would help him grow into the stallion she knew he could be. Now all she needed to do was extricate him from the pink Roamani mare who was talking his ear off…

“So I says, ‘Is it chimicherrychanga or cherry chimichanga?’ Oh, she really lost it then- Oh, hi, Princess!”

“Ms. Pie,” Luna said cordially, “if you wouldn’t mind, I have need to speak with Mr. Endymion for a while.”

“Oh, you wanna speak with your son?” Pinkie says gesturing to the aforementioned stallion, “Well he’s right here!”

“Yes he is,” Luna smiles, “Endymion, bitte komm mit mir.”

“Yes, mother,” Endymion said to his mother, then to Pinkie, “I’ll talk to you later.”

Mother and son part the crowd, saying thank yous and other general greetings until the pair remove themselves far enough away from the scene that they can hold a private conversation. Luna directs her son to a small alcove in the northeastern part of the library, in lieu of the kitchen doors. Spike and a few catering stallions can be seen rushing through said doors, often laden with snacks or drinks. Once she is certain they are far enough away, Luna casts a dome of privacy, muffling all other noise save what resides within their dome.

Smiling, Luna begins, “She is a lively one.”

Endymion replies, saying sheepishly, “She sure is.”

“I have no doubt that Ms Pie will make an excellent companion for you, my son,” Luna says, “the Roamani are known for many things, including their proclivity at lovemaking, which probably explains their propensity for offspring.”

“Mother,” Endymion groans, “it isn’t like that. Certainly not yet.”

Tittering, Luna says, “I jest with you, My Little Endymion. Butu now, I must turn to more serious topics.”

“Is this about the pantsing?” Endymion asks.

Luna nods, then says, “I would ask of you an explanation, but I think I can piece together this puzzle without your assistance. So, I would assume you found your way to Lucky’s Tavern, yes?”

“Yes, mother,” Endymion confirms.

“And while there, you sampled some of the local ale?”

Endymion confirms once again this fact.

“And might I assume that whilst consuming said ale, you paid no heed to how many drafts you had or the effect they had on your central nervous system?”

“It’s not that I didn’t pay any attention, mother,” Endymion explains, “but I didn’t care. This isn’t Canterlot…”

“Neight, it isn’t,” Luna affirmed, and yet, “but you are still my son, of as much royal bearing as anypony that can claim kinship to either myself or my sister. Now, if I were to continue my deductions, I would rightly assume you became entranced by Ms Pie’s dance routine.”

Endymion answers, “Yes, mother.”

“And because you were inebriated, you found yourself at mercy of the ale you drank as well as gravity.”

“Yes, mother.”

“And because of your state of inebriation, two fine mares had their private parts exposed, which caused them no small amount of humiliation, yes?”

“Yes, mother.”

“And, having your mind and tongue baffled by drink, you could not utter any apology to the offended mares, even if their were recipient enough to accept one?”

Endymion nods.

“Ah. And so, you ran, avoiding their wrath?”

Another nod from her colt.

“I see,” Luna states, “so, in due course, once confronted by those mares you embarrassed, they had to ‘even the score,’ yes?”

“Yes, mother.”

“Well,” Luna began, “seems fair enough to me. The books are balanced and I do hope you learned a lesson from all of this. You did learn something, correct?”

Answering, Endymion said, “I learned that, A.) I should know my limit when it comes to alcohol, B.) even if the prospect of physical harm is imminent, you should apologize for creating a grievance, and C.) hangovers suck.”

Without hesitation Luna pulled her son into an embrace, holding him in her hug for a few moments, knowing that she was adding to his embarrassment, even if no one else could see, and then she let go, “Very well, From this point on if you drink it will be the private setting of where you are staying. You do not have Blueblood here to protect you from scandal.”

“How did you know about Blue?”

She grinned, “You just told me my son.”

She could see him desperately wanting to be profane. He had, unintentionally, thrown Blueblood under the carriage. Personally, she would do nothing to her nephew. Granted, he was a prissy, egotistical, and often narcissistic stallion, but he cared for her Endymion like a brother. The only thing she would speak to Blueblood about would be the fact that he felt it necessary to toy with various young noble mares’ hearts and take a gift they gave freely before taking his leave of them.

There had been more than a dream or two of him in the dreams of several of the younger maidens. Then again, Blueblood’s own dreams seemed to centered around a young maid in the palace. Perhaps when she decided to speak to Blueblood about his actions with some of the noble maidens she could also point him in the direction of his heart’s desire.

She smiled at her son, who was doing his best to look as if he wasn’t embarrassed that his mother had hugged in him in the middle of what would actually be his first party away from the nobility. She dropped the dome, which allowed them to be seen, and heard, by those around them. She then gave him the smallest of motherly kisses on his cheek.

“Now, be a good colt and play nice.”

Endymion knew his mother had something of a pranking side, and this simply proved it. He grinned sheepishly, trying to blend into the group without bringing too much attention to himself. In a way she was jealous of him. Not that she was jealous of what he had accomplished or his hard work, but of the fact that for a while at least he would be away from Canterlot, from the prying eyes of the nobility. He wouldn’t have to be perfect every day, keep up the rules and manners ponies like Princess Platinum and other Unicorn Nobility had set into place over a thousand years ago.

If she were able to do so without turning the council of nobles against her, she’d dismantle the entire practice. Manners were fine, if the ponies using them enjoyed them. They made things nice and civil, but there were ponies living in Canterlot who didn’t fit into Unicorn society so well. Pegasi that worked the weather, the Earth Ponies that worked as servants for various families, most of them rarely practiced the basic Pegasus manners on their own, and only did so around the nobility.

“My sweet Endymion, enjoy this respite from the stuffy nobility,” she whispered before walking toward Twilight.

The party itself lasted another three hours, friendships were formed, new perceptions of Princess Luna were created, and everypony in Ponyville seemed to accept Endymion with no trouble. For all rights and purposes he fit into the community like it was a perfect glove for him. Once the party died down Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Endymion set to getting the library back into order.

“I guess I should start looking for a place.”

Twilight looked up at Endymion in surprise. Her ears pointing toward him, “Aren’t you going to stay here?”

He grinned at her, “I can, I don’t mind to, but if I am going to stay I want to pay rent.”

She shook her head, “Endymion, I’m here on a royal stipend. Since Princess Luna arranged for me to be here, well, everything’s already paid for. We have the room, we are given enough to cover our eating expenses, and in return I just keep the library up and operating for the public. We really don’t need you to pay rent.”

“Sure, but I want to. I’m living outside of the palace, on my own, for the first time, and I feel that I should contribute. Besides, I’m going to be an adventurer now!”

Twilight tried hard not to laugh. He was excited, but she knew that adventuring didn’t always pay off. In fact, most of the time Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were lucky to break even. Rainbow worked as the weather control manager, a waitress at Lucky’s on the weekends, a fishmonger twice a month at the market, and she did some exotic herbs gathering for the Feed Bag every two months.

And that was just what Rainbow did. She knew that Applejack, or AJ which she preferred to be called, worked her family farm, got a stipend from the Royal Knight’s service, and worked the market every weekend they weren’t adventuring trying to sell her apples, or some kind of apple related treats that her family made.

Fluttershy just worked at the temple, but she knew there was several smaller jobs they had her do there. Adventuring wasn’t a guarantee that they’d strike it rich, oh, sure, They wanted to certainly strike it rich. There was a dream that they’d find a ruin with enough treasure in it to make them all very comfortable, but even then it wasn’t just finding the ruin that was the problem. Once they found it they had to deal with a few other little problems.

Other adventurers wanting it, selling it to the right pony, and making sure that there wasn’t any descendant of the ponies that once lived in the ruins still alive. Everypony heard of what happened to Cranky Doodle. He’d found a small fortune in gems left in some ruins during his travels. It turned out that a great, great, great granddaughter of the unicorn that once lived there was still alive, and even though he went through the trouble of getting those gems out, sorting them, and finding a dealer to purchase them, he had to hand it all over.

Thirty thousand bits worth of gems, gone in an instant. Still, she was glad that Endymion was excited. In a way, she truly hoped that they found something amazing. The night passed, Pinkie instead of heading back to the room she rented from the Cakes decided to spend the night, and she happily slept on the reading couch in the main section of the library.

Endymion rose up the next morning, grabbed his wand, shaped more like a club, held it, and felt the magic charge through him into the wand itself. It wasn’t the most useful thing he had. In truth when he tried more complex spells with it the wand usually fizzled out, but his mother had made it for him. She’d said that a great, and powerful, sorcerer named Grogar had once used a wand similar to this.

Where Grogar had been evil, malicious, and uncaring she hoped that he would show himself to be everything Grogar wasn’t. He looked at the mirror, seeing his green shirt, blue pants, and looked at his boots. They were plain, brown, and heavy to wear. Basically they’d be perfect for long journeys since they’d take so long to wear out. He grabbed a cloak, pulled it on, deciding that it looked dashing, placed his wand on the holder he kept on his side, and then he grabbed a small clear crystal.

Despite his ruining the sealing potion Professor Flintheart had said his true skill seemed to reside in the making of defensive and offensive potion charms. He took the small crystal, with its single small opening, and then grabbed the raw materials he needed. A paralyzing potion would be perfect in case there was trouble. He had a little dragon’s fire, some sap from the Floom Plant that grew on Mount Gloom, ground rubies, and the extract of some fire ants. He mixed the ingredients together, holding it together with his will and aura like Professor Flintheart taught him,and then forced it into the crystal.

For a moment it was the most brilliant white imaginable, and then it turned into a dark, deep ruby red. Smiling he put the new charm into his satchel, and made sure that it was in a pocket by itself. He checked himself once more, and walked down stairs.

“Good morning!”

He saw the energetic pink mare. She was dressed in something that looked like her gypsy outfit she had worn at Lucky’s but it looked a little different. Different colors, although the skirt, much like the other one, was slit all of the way up past her cutie marks.

“Twilight said to go over to the Feed Bag,” she said before she stretched, “I’ve got to go work. Have fun!”

He shook his head, and started out.

Rainbow Dash looked at the ponies at their table, “Twi, I’m not sure Endymion is really going to be somepony that’s going to fit onto our team.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, “Oh, why?”

“Well, besides being a stallion, he didn’t make that good of an impression the first time we met him.”

“She’s got a point sugarcube. That feller really did kinda put Dash and me in an embarrassing situation.”

Twilight’s expression was one of incredulity, and then she shook her head, “And your depantsing him wasn’t the same thing?”

AJ rolled her eyes, “Sol damn it, Twi, it was payin’ ‘im back fer doing it in the first place.”

“Applejack, please, language.”

“Sorry ‘Shy, but my point still stands.”

“Just meet with him, I’m sure that he’ll change your minds.”

Agreeing they waited until they saw him walk into the restaurant. He neared their table, and saw how they seemed to be waiting.

“I’m ready!” he exclaimed.

Before he could react AJ was up, her sword drawn, and it was at his throat.

“No time to cast, and trust me, yer not much use ta us if’n yer dead.”

He pulled out a small marble sized ball, “Normally, you’d be right, but I made this before coming here. It’s a simple paralyzing charm. Nothing too extreme, but it will keep you locked in place. It works on everything.

“Endymion…” Twilight said as she scooted back.

“I got this.”

“No Endymion…” she was on the other side of the room now, “That’s not a paralyzing charm! Paralyzers are blue! That’s an explosive!”

AJ jumped back trying to get away, Fluttershy almost froze in place before Rainbow Dash grabbed her and pulled her away. On reflex he squeezed the charm and it began to pulse.

“How do I change it back?!”

“You don’t! Get rid of it!”

He meant to throw it outside into the dumpster, let it go off in there, but instead the window he threw it at was closed, and it instead hit, pulsed brightly and exploded into fury of liquid fire. It hit everywhere, touching everything, and nothing burned. Applejack walked toward him, growling.

“Ah ought ta tan yer hide!”

“Wait, don’t!” he said.

It was too late. She punched him, the violent action ignited the fire, and suddenly the building, the tables, the floor, and every pony’s clothes were on fire. AJ tried to swat the fire out on her clothes only for it to spread. Fluttershy found herself down to her panties, and nothing else, in mere seconds, Rainbow Dash was completely nude, and Twilight’s own clothes were gone as well.

Still, the fire was smokeless, it wasn’t even hot to those around them, and instead it burned everything except for living beings and anything it hadn’t originally touched in a heatless fire. Everypony except for Endymion’s. His clothes were fine, and when it was done and over with a bad restaurant was gone, clothes were gone, and Several mares and stallions were scrambling for their homes to cover up their nudity. Twilight, embarrassed, but relieved that everypony was at least alive, grabbed, Endymion, held him, and teleported herself and him back to the library. She was certain that this would become the talk of the town for a while. Ponies would be talking about the naked display at the now burned out Feed Bag.