Chapter 28

Twilight carefully placed yet another book on the shelf, and sighed as she finished her latest reshelving day.

Despite her long absence from the library, she had been able to get this one done in record time. It certainly helped having another unicorn as organized as herself around.

“Alright, and done,” she said, smiling to herself before turning to the other mare. “Thank you so much, Miss Daisy.”

Daisy Chain smiled back. “Oh, it’s nothing, dear. It’s the least I can do.”

“Oh, please, you’re a lifesaver.”

“Who’s a what now?” a groggy voice said from the stairs.

Twilight smiled, before giving a mock yell. “Look out! It’s a zombie!”

“Hilarious,” Alan commented as he descended the stairs. “It’s not my fault my bed is actually comfortable now.”

“Actually, it technically is.”

“Just humor me.”

“Good morning, Mr. Goldenhoof,” Daisy said, as her horn sparked to life. “Breakfast includes an apple and a blueberry muffin.” A couple of envelopes flew towards him as he headed toward the kitchen. Daisy Chain followed. “You have three letters, one from Princess Celestia, one from King Bloodfeather, and one from a Prince Blueblood.”

“Toss Blueblood’s.”

“Tossing,” Daisy answered, crumpling the letter.

Alan picked up the apple and bit into it. “Anything else?” he asked.

“It’s eleven A.M.” Twilight interjected.

“No, everything seems to be in order,” the widow said.

“Awesome,” Alan said, as he began to enjoy his breakfast, “and thank you so much for everything.”

Daisy smiled. “It’s my pleasure.”

“Yes, thank you, Miss Daisy, you’ve been a massive help.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble,” the pale yellow mare replied. “After all, you have been so gracious housing us since...”

“Yeah,” Alan said before biting into the muffin.

“Miss Daisy,” Twilight said, interrupting. “Could I ask a favor of you?”

“Of course, dear.”

“Well, I’d normally ask Spike, but since he’s off at Rarity’s with her new dress, could you be so kind as to get me another set of quills at Quills and Sofas?”

“It would be my pleasure,” she said.

“Oh thank you so much,” Twilight said, before her coin purse appeared with a poof of teleportation magic. “Here, this should cover the cost,” she stated, dropping a few bits into the other unicorn’s aura.

“Very well, I’ll be back soon,” she said before walking out of the kitchen and out into the spring air of Ponyville, and passing Dawn Flame on the way.

When Twilight heard the front door close, she smiled seductively before turning to the still eating stallion. “And that just leaves us. Alone.”

She had his undivided attention.

“And can you guess how I’d like to spend it?” she asked, sauntering over to him.

“I...uh...”

“I would like...” Twilight said, her voice dropping as she neared his ear, “to study that little shout of yours.”

Alan’s face went from hopeful to disappointed in less than a second. “Of course you do.”

“Please?” she begged, opening her eyes just wide enough to make them look incredibly cute.

Alan sighed. “If I’m going to ruin my voice for the day, I would like to read my mail first.”

Twilight brightened, smiling wider, obviously happy with that answer.

Alan magicked up a letter opener, and with a quick rip, opened the letter from his new father.

It was a simple, short message. A small explanation of what was expected of him now that he had royal blood in his veins. Alan noted, with almost no surprise, that most of his power was symbolic, and when not symbolic, hardly applicable.

He could order any griffon on Equestrian soil to do as he pleased, but considering there were so few of those it didn’t really matter. He could also have infinite unscheduled meetings with the King, but since he wasn’t in Gryphus that was useless. Finally, it seemed that he could technically claim diplomatic immunity, but considering the fact that he was the Equestrian Commander-in-Chief, it seemed unlikely that he’d ever have to use it.

There was also an attached note concerning the proper use of the Word of Power he had received. Only pass it from father to eldest son. Do not teach it to multiple ponies. There was even a little footnote that said that in all technicality, Alan shouldn’t even have his one spell, since they all belonged to the King and King alone.

Nodding, he folded the letter back up and slid it back into its envelope, before a hard-mana hand carried it up to his room.

The second letter was only nine words long.

“Dear Pendragon.

Here is your salary.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia.”

His interest piqued, Alan then reached for the enclosed check.

“Sweet Celestia’s Tiara!” he screamed.

“What?” Twilight asked at his sudden outburst.

Alan mouth merely hung open as he stared at his stipend.

“What?” Twilight asked again, taking the check from him. She glanced at it. “Holy Mother of Horseshoes!”

Twelve digits.

The first happened to be a nine.

Twilight dropped the check like it hot metal, and it floated down to the table, face down revealing a smaller note.

"One thousand years of military taxes sure do add up, don't they?"

The two unicorns simply stared at it in silence.

“Is...is she allowed to do that?” Alan asked.

“I...I think?”

Silence.

The two simply stared at the unholy amount of potential cash lying in front of them.

“That’s a lot of money,” Alan said finally.

“Yup.”

“I...I think I’m set for life.”

“Easily.”

More silence.

“You know...I’ve always wanted a personal airship...”

“Alan,” Twilight said disapprovingly.

“Well what else am I supposed to do with all this?”

“I don’t know! Buy a house or something!?”

“Why? Last I checked, living here was kinda awesome!”

“I don’t know!” Twilight said again.

The door opened again, and Daisy Chain peeked in. “Um, Miss Twilight, I just thought of something. Would you like me to pick up some more scrolls as well?”

Twilight and Alan both stared at her before looking at each other.

There was a moment of silence between them.

“Miss Daisy,” Alan said, looking back at the pale yellow mare, “how would you feel about a new house?”

Diamond Tiara was not happy.

She wasn’t normally happy, mind you, but her current situation was certainly making it worse.

Her second-in-command, her right-hoof filly, Silver Spoon, was not doing her part.

It was a simple system. She would come up with the brilliant insults, and Silver Spoon would echo them. Oh, sure every now and then Spoon would come up with something, but, well, insults were not her special talent.

Instead, the little filly had grown quiet, and Diamond Tiara’s kingdom of the school yard was suffering for it.

Despite her seemingly secondary role in the Subjugation of the Students, Silver Spoon’s current broodiness allowed for Tiara’s eternal rivals, and biggest threats, to continue their rise.

The “Cutie Mark Crusaders,” oh how she loathed that name, had the potential to be the most popular kids in the school, and Tiara just couldn’t allow that.

She had started with ostracizing them, capitalizing on their lack of cutie marks, and of course, they answered by banding together.

The combined unbridled enthusiasm and tenacity of the three fillies had quickly made them famous, and considering their potential, this made them dangerous to her work. Combine that with their new pseudo-member, Pipsqueak, who was already rising in the ranks of popularity, and you had a bad mix. The only way to neutralize them was to insult them and keep them demoralized, and she couldn’t do that effectively until Spoon started doing her part.

Diamond Tiara was, again, not happy.

“Well?” she asked the grey-maned filly.

“Sorry, Diamond,” Silver Spoon said, desperately trying to hide behind her glasses. “I’m just...not feeling well,” she said before turning away.

The Queen Bee of the School Yard’s face softened, but only slightly. “Okay, fine, I get it. But look, they’re over there so just say what I say, and then we’ll go home, okay?”

“Yeah...sure...”

“Alright, come on,” she said.

Pipsqueak and the CMC walked to their favorite spot on the playground, while Scootaloo was going on about another story about her and her dad, who had taken up a semi-permanent residence in Ponyville again.

“And then he taught me how to hover! I mean, sure it’s not really flying, but that’s still a step closer to flying! And then, he promised me when I get strong enough that—”

The day was going well for the four foals. Miss Cheerilee had gone light on the school material to allow the students to have some time to catch up with their families again, and well, their families were back.

“Hey! Blank Flanks!”

And just like that, their day was ruined.

A disgusted look passed between the four, before they exasperatedly turned to face the two oncoming bullies.

“Having fun, losers?” Diamond Tiara asked, before nudging Silver Spoon.

“Uh, yeah, losers,” Spoon added.

“Yes, we are having fun,” Pipsqueak said. “Now leave us to our fun.”

“And why would I do that?” Diamond Tiara asked. “I mean, it’s just so much fun to watch you four try so very hard, and fail every time. Isn’t that right, Spoon?”

Silence.

“Spoon?”

“Oh, yeah, sure.”

Diamond Tiara sent a glare at her companion, but nonetheless continued.

“So no, I don’t think we’re going anywhere.”

Pipsqueak sent a growl her way.

“Pipsqueak,” Applebloom warned, “don’t do it. She’s just being a bully.”

“Again,” Scootaloo hissed.

“My thoughts exactly,” Pipsqueak said. “She’s being a bully like she did yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that. Now I have to wonder when is she going to stop.”

Tiara smirked. “And are you going to do something about it, mister?”

Pip, who was actually just a smidge taller than her, stared down on her.

“No?” Diamond asked. “No, of course not. Because you’re the son of one of those oh-so-honorable soldiers.”

Pipsqueak’s eyes narrowed, and Scootaloo’s wings flared.

Now that’s a reaction...

Smiling, Tiara continued. “Yes, the army, what a waste of ponies, isn’t? But I suppose it does serve a purpose. It gives all of those parents an excuse to leave their little failures behind, never to be seen again.”

Pip began to shake.

“Just imagine, there they are, looking down at their stupid foals, that still haven’t gotten their cutie marks yet, and they're wondering how on earth they’re going to get away with never having to look at their little failures again.”

Scootaloo glared.

“Of course, you may die, but I guess it’s worth the risk for a bunch of blank flanks like—”

Wham!

Diamond Tiara had never been hit so hard in her life.

And the fact that she had been hit from the side only further confused her.

“Don’t you dare say that about the Royal Guard!” a familiar voice yelled.

“S-Spoon?” Tiara mumbled, her world spinning.

A silver figure swam into her vision before her face erupted into pain.

“Don’t you ever say that about the Royal Guard!”

Everypony on the playground watched in horror as Silver Spoon began to mercilessly punch Diamond Tiara in the face.

Tiara suddenly kicked upward with her hind legs, pushing Silver off of her.

“What is your problem?!” Diamond asked, putting her hoof to her face to check for blood.

Suddenly a woosh sounded over her head, and a dull thunk sounded from a tree behind her. Tiara turned, searching for the source of the sound, and found her namesake crown hanging from a spoon that had been dug into the wood.

She turned back to Spoon, who had yet more pieces of cutlery in her mouth.

“What—”

Thuf, thuf! Two more spoons, pilfered from a nearby lunchbox, dug into ground at Tiara’s hooves, and the filly just barely had enough time to jump out of the way of a third before Silver Spoon charged her, screaming in fury.

The fillies slammed into each other, and rolled around in the dirt as Spoon began to whale on the dominating, yet incredibly confused filly.

And then, in what was perhaps the most shocking part of the entire situation, Silver Spoon bit down on Tiara’s left cutie mark, and lifted it off her flank with a rip.

This was then quickly followed by the other one, and both velcro-backed tiaras lay there in the grass.

“Don’t! You! Ever! Say! That! Again!” Spoon screamed, punctuating each word with a punch into the offending pony’s face.

“What is going on out here!?” Miss Cheerilee said, picking the two up, separating them.

“She’s gone crazy!” Tiara yelled, a small trickle of blood falling from her nose.

Silver Spoon just screamed in futile fury as she flailed at the air in front of her.

“Time out, and then detention for the both of you!” Cheerilee yelled over the two before dragging them into the school house.

Everypony could only really stare as the two most notorious bullies in the school were dragged away, leaving only one question in mind.

What just happened?

“And I really like the idea of a vegetable garden,” Daisy Chain said, pointing at a rough diagram of her dream home, which was now definitely going to become a reality now. “It would be fairly easy to place a double tiered garden here in the kitchen.”

Dawn Flame pointed down on square that represented the kitchen. “I’d imagine that it would probably go better here,” he said, his armor glinting in the sunlight streaming through the windows.

“Well, we could put it there,” the mare said, “but then we could also put it...” the mare’s hoof brushed against Dawn’s and the two shared a brief moment of eye contact, before they quickly took interest in opposite corners of the room.

Alan raised an eyebrow.

That was the third time this had happened in the short time he had been watching Daisy Chain design her new home.

He knew that Dawn was a widower, and he had been hanging around for about six months now, so it wasn’t too far-fetched, but still.

“Come to any decisions?” Alan asked.

The two blinked as they looked at him.

“Um, yes!” Daisy said, “I think I definitely want the garden on the outside window.”

“Good,” Alan said, hiding his smirk as he drank from a glass of water. “Do you have a location picked out?”

“Well, there is a place that Dawn mentioned.”

“Yes, um, a little place off River road, just beyond the bridge, there’s a little hill that I think would be very nice.”

Alan nodded. “Alright, I think I can manage to work something out with the mayor.”

“Didn’t Miss Twilight want to study your new shouting thing again?”

“She’s giving me a couple more hours of being able to talk,” Alan said. “Which is greatly appreciated.”

Suddenly the library door slammed open.

“Dad! Dad! Dad!” Scootaloo cried.

“Mom! Mom! Mom!” Pipsqueak yelled.

“What?” the mare and stallion asked in unison.

“Ya gotta come help us!”

“What?” Daisy Chain asked.

“What happened?” Dawn said.

“Silver Spoon!” they answered together.

“What? Has she been bullying you again?” Dawn asked.

“No!” Pipsqueak answered. “Well, sort of!”

“Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon came up to us after school,” Scootaloo started.

“And then she said something mean about the army,” Pipsqueak continued.

“And then, out of nowhere, Spoon just goes crazy!”

“She bucked Tiara across the playground and started punching her—”

“And then Silver just starts throwing spoons, and it was awesome—”

“And now Miss Cheerilee is holding her in detention until her mom picks her up—”

“But Chowder said Silver Spoon’s mom works in a cafe at Canterlot, and will probably be there all night—”

“So we need you to pick her up!” they finished, speaking together.

Daisy Chain and Dawn Flame blinked.

Alan set down his glass and sighed. “Alright, come along.”

Alan was surprised to see that along with Daisy and Dawn, the Crusaders had also picked up Rarity, Spike, and Big Mac.

“Well, they’re certainly calling in the calvalry, aren’t they?”

“Calvalry?” Dawn asked.

“Nevermind,” he said as he led the way into the schoolhouse.

Opening the door, Alan found himself staring at the three occupants of the classroom. Cheerilee sat at her desk, Diamond Tiara pouting in one corner, and Silver Spoon in the other.

Alan thought he heard sobbing.

Cheerilee looked up at them, and quickly crossed the room. She gently pushed them outside and closed the door behind her. “I’m sorry, but I’m with a couple of students.”

“We’re aware,” Alan noted.

The Crusaders suddenly took center stage and began giving their teacher a very long list of reasons as to why she should let Silver Spoon go.

As they did, the Pendragon briefly wondered how Scootaloo knew that many words for “friend.”

“Girls, girls,” Cheerilee said, “I can’t just let her go. She beat Diamond Tiara, rather mercilessly, I might add. It would be irresponsible for me to let her go unpunished.”

“Miss Cheerilee,” Alan said, “I understand that Silver has to be punished, but I think something very serious is going on. Would you mind if I just talked to her?”

“Mr. Goldenhoof,” Cheerilee said, “I’ve have been teaching for the past ten years. I know when something serious is happening. I know that Diamond Tiara tends to be a little...well, I know she bullies the other foals, but I can’t do anything unless I catch her in the act. That being said, I know that Silver Spoon is going through something, but I can’t do anything if she doesn’t open up to me. She refuses to speak, and merely sits there, crying. I’ve managed to get Diamond to talk, but I can’t help Spoon until she actually talks to me.”

Alan nodded. “I see,” he said, before looking to the other gathered adults. “What do you guys think?”

“Honestly?” Spike asked. “I think Spoon should get a medal or something for smacking that brat up a bit. Did you know she tried bullying me? I’m a freakin’ dragon, and she tried to bulldoze me. That little monster needs to be stopped.”

“Well, Spike,” Rarity said, “from my understanding, Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara are friends, or were, at least. Diamond must’ve done something very drastic to get this kind of a reaction out of her.”

“Kinda my point,” Spike said.

Rarity rolled her eyes. “No, Spike. Diamond Tiara probably has no idea what she said to get this kind of a rise out of the girl. This means it is something she doesn’t talk about, which in turn means that this event or action or what-have-you was probably very emotionally draining on the poor dear.”

“How’d you figure that?” the dragon asked.

“It’s all in the details, dear.”

Dawn nodded. “So what did she say then?”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “We already told you, Dad! Tiara was saying some mean things about the army!”

“The Army?” Alan asked, putting a hoof to his chin. “Do you think maybe she lost somepony in the war?”

“It’s possible,” Daisy Chain said. “I’d imagine I would probably turn on my friends if they disrespected Thundersight’s choice.”

“Hm...” Alan pondered, before turning to the dark magenta school teacher. “Miss Cheerilee, I understand you tried speaking with her, but could you at least humor me, and let me try?”

Cheerilee hesitated. “Well, I suppose it couldn’t hurt.”

Alan nodded before opening the door to the small schoolhouse.

He entered just in time to see a crumpled ball of paper bounce off Silver Spoon’s head, and Diamond Tiara suddenly spin back to face her corner.

Alan shot her a look before trotting over to the corner of the grey filly.

Surrounding her were several crumpled notes, each seemed to have been tossed from the other side of the room. Curious, Alan opened one and read the hastily scrawled hoof writing.

“I hate you!”

Silver Spoon sobbed.

Alan frowned, before a hand made of magick swept the letters away.

Silver Spoon looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy behind her glasses.

Alan merely sat down next to her.

“What,” Silver sniffed, “what are you doing?”

“Sitting,” Alan answered.

“Why?” she asked.

Alan shrugged. “Because.”

Silver Spoon sniffed again.

“I heard that Diamond Tiara said some pretty mean things about the army,” Alan said.

Spoon began to sob again.

Alan draped his hoof across her , and she clung to it.

“Who was it, Spoon?” Alan asked.

“Daddy,” the filly cried.

Another fatherless foal.

“He-he-he,” she kept sobbing, forcing her to stutter. “He was a Royal Guard.”

“What happened?” Alan asked, as a mana-hand rubbed the poor filly’s back, trying to calm her down.

“He-he-he saw a tour carriage,” she said, “and it started fa-falling off a cliff. He was the first one there, and he got between the carriage and the cl-cliff.”

Alan nodded.

“He-he held it up, and made sure everypony got off safely, when the g-ground be-beneath...beneath him...” Tears began to stream from her eyes. “The-the pegasi couldn’t-couldn’t catch—”

“Shh...” Alan said, “it’s alright.”

“And now my only friend hates me! Everypony hates me! I’m a stupid filly with a stupid special talent.”

“Now, that’s not true,” Alan said.

“It is!” the filly cried. “I’m not smart enough to get As or Bs on my homework, I’m not as good at name calling as Tiara is, my special talent is throwing spoons, and the only one who has ever been my friend was Tiara, who now hates me, and because I was being a bully like her, everypony else hates me too!”

“Ah-Ah don’t hate you...” a voice said behind them.

Silver turned to see the three fillies that were normally her victims standing in the doorway of the classroom.

“Ah think you’ve been a bit of a bully, but Ah don’t hate ya,” Applebloom said.

“I thought you were kind of quiet, and a little bit annoying,” Pipsqueak said, “but I didn’t hate you.”

“I’ve made it a point not to hate anything awesome,” Scootaloo said, “and as much as I’d hate to admit it, that spoon throwing thing you did was kind of awesome.”

Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement.

The filly sniffed. “Y-you mean it?”

“Well, yeah!” Sweetie Belle said before Scootaloo stepped forward.

“I mean, sure, you were a bully and all,” the pegasus said, before holding out her hoof. “But if your dad was a hero, then you can’t be all bad.”

Silver Spoon sniffed again, and rubbed her eyes under her glasses, she then gave a small smile, before she brought her hoof up in a bump.

Alan smiled before standing up and walking over to the teacher. “Miss Cheerilee, I don’t suppose there is a way for us to postpone Spoon’s punishment, is there?”

Cheerilee looked at him.

“I just think it would be best if each guilty party had their punishment in isolation.”

Cheerilee smiled. “I’ll let you have that one.”

“Thank you,” Alan said, before turning to the foals. “Crusaders! Assemble!”

The three fillies jumped forward, each saluting with practiced perfection. “Sir! Reporting for duty, sir!” they called.

“Honorary members, front and center!”

Pipsqueak jumped forward, saluting as well.

Alan turned to eye Silver Spoon. “Well? You going to get up here?”

“B-but, but I already have my Cutie Mark...”

“I don’t think the girls would mind too much, would they?” he said, looking down at the trio.

They made a quick huddle, and a series of quick whispers passed amongst the fillies.

Suddenly they split and Sweetie Belle spoke. “We could always use somepony in our research division.”

Alan smiled as he looked over at the ex-bully. “Well?”

Silver Spoon could only smile.

“Vistes!” Alan shouted as a jet of flame erupted from his open mouth.

The vermillion flames ate the straw dummy before him in a brilliant flash of heat and light. Within a matter of seconds, it had been totally reduced to ash.

And then Alan began to cough.

A tea cup floated over to him and he quickly took it and sipped at the soothing contents. “How’s that?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

“Perfect!” Twilight exclaimed, before burying herself in notes and readings and statistics. Currently, there were outside in Twilight’s “backyard.” There was a fenced-off area for their testing, and Twilight had moved a few of her machines outside so that they could test Alan’s destructive shouts in relative safety.

“Incredible!” Twilight mumbled. “From these readings here, it seems that while Fastali is a more physical manifestation of magic, Vistes is the exact opposite. It’s actually more magical energy than Fastali, but because Fastali isn’t perfectly physical, Vistes isn’t perfectly energy, creating an equilibrium of magical output that is nearly unobtainable through modern spells!”

Alan rolled his eyes at his marefriend’s excitement over his new spell.

It was kind of cute watching her nerd out like that though.

It had been a week since Silver Spoon had joined up with the crusaders, and Alan was pleased to see that they were actually getting along really well.

In fact, the day after the whole event, the Crusaders had walked into class with a banner over their heads, bearing the “cutie mark” of one Diamond Tiara.

To make matters better, Filthy Rich, Tiara’s dad, who had repeatedly told his daughter to stop pestering the little sister of the manager of Sweet Apple Acres (and thereby the only source of Zap Apple Jam), had refused to buy her another set until she started behaving.

So, while the Crusaders did get a talking to for the banner, Diamond Tiara had been, and would likely remain, quiet for quite some time.

Smirking, Alan walked over, carrying the tea with him, before sitting down next to her and her mountain of paper.

Suddenly her head popped out from the mound of parchment and she planted a kiss on his cheek. “You are the best coltfriend a scientist could ask for.”

Alan tried to chuckle, but wound up coughing instead. He quickly took another sip of tea, and did his best to keep it in the back of his throat for as long as possible before swallowing.

It was getting better, Alan knew, but this shouting was really tough on his throat.

Maybe that’s why the shouts in Skyrim were on a cooldown, Alan thought, it hurts too much to use them in quick succession.

As he was in the middle of this thought process, Daisy Chain came from around the tree. “Mail call,” she said with a smile.

Twilight was too buried in her research to hear, so Alan took the letters and gave Daisy a nod of thanks. She nodded and turned to leave.

He quickly flipped through them, using four mana hands at a time to keep everything afloat.

Two letters in particular caught his attention.

Ooh...

Alan had yet another hand quickly fish into the head-high pile of paper, and tap the studious unicorn on the shoulder.

Her head popped up again, and she looked over at the now-silent stallion.

He nodded towards the house, miming that he was going inside.

“Oh! Sure. Go ahead,” she said.

Alan nodded before heading for the front door, sipping tea as he went.

Once inside he took the two letters and opened them.

He scanned them quickly, reading as fast as he could.

Tuesday, and then...Wednesday? Sweet! Perfect timing.

It was going to be a good Wednesday.

Twilight sat in her basement on Wednesday morning. She was furiously scribbling in her notes, her face the epitome of concentration.

The shouting magic was just too good to resist.

Ancient, traditional magic was very closely related to words. It was a big reason why many unicorns needed to research a spell thoroughly before casting it. A great example was the spell she cast on the parasprites— it made them stop eating food, but that opened doors for them to eat everything else.

But these.

These were words in an arcane language. They had been crafted specifically for the purpose of these spells. A mistranslation was impossible, as they only had this meaning, and nothing else.

They were actually not entirely dissimilar from the original Unicornian language, which was also an arcane language. An ancient Unicornian only needed to think of the word related to the spell, and it would come to be.

In fact, their spells were actually more powerful than modern day spells.

Unfortunately they kept that language a closely guarded secret, and before long it died out.

And ponies wondered why she thought oral history was overrated.

Suddenly, she felt a pair of hands run down her back. A shiver went up her spine, and she felt her coltfriend’s voice tickle in her ear. “My Star, where have you been?”

“Here,” she answered meekly.

“Why?” Alan asked.

“Be-because this needs...” she trailed off as a third hand suddenly began scratching at that spot behind her ear.

A part of her wished she didn’t have it, mostly because it was far too similar to dogs for her liking.

The other part recognized it as feeling far too good to care.

She practically melted into him, and his forelegs wrapped around her in a warm embrace.

“What does it need?” Alan asked.

“Hm...nothing right now...” Twilight moaned.

“Are you sure?” He asked, lightly kissing her neck.

“Yes...”

“Good,” Alan said, before nibbling her ear. “Are you free tonight?”

Twilight smiled, her work temporarily forgotten. “I may be.”

“Good, because I have a trip planned.”

That got her attention. “A trip? Where?”

Alan merely smiled, before planting a kiss on the end of her nose. “Just meet me outside at four. Bring Daisy, Dawn, Silver Spoon, Scootaloo, and Pip.”

Twilight blinked at the request.

“But, I thought...”

“You’ll see,” Alan reassured, before slipping away from her.

“But—”

“You’ll see!” Alan said, as he disappeared up the stairs, leaving Twilight in her basement, slightly confused.

Twilight and the gathered band of ponies stood outside the library at 3:53 pm.

And the poor unicorn just had absolutely no idea what to do.

From his approach and the mood he set back down in the basement, she felt as if she should be wearing makeup and a dress. Which is odd in and of itself, considering she didn’t even wear makeup to the Grand Galloping Gala, and that was one of the very few events she actually dressed for.

But then he invites Daisy, Dawn, and three foals?

Talk about mixed signals.

And so, Twilight stood there, naked as she usually was, and wondering whether or not she should run inside and at least put some blush on her cheeks.

Of course, then she was reminded that she didn’t actually own any blush, and the largest, most reliable source of it was at least 2.6 minutes away. This meant that it would take at least five minutes and twelve seconds just to get there and come back, not including the time it would take to apply it, as well as explain to Rarity (because who else would have blush just lying around) why she needed it without having the fashionista pull her into a full-blown makeover.

Of course...if she teleported, she would theoretically be able to cut time by five minutes...

Could Rarity give her a makeover in five minutes?

“Where is he?” Scootaloo whined.

Ah. Right. The foals are here, and getting all dolled up in front of them would seem—

“Up here!” a voice called from above them.

The six ponies looked up, and their jaws dropped.

Gently dropping down to them was an air yacht. The long, slender envelop coming to a bronze-tipped spike, and a large fin running down its length. Behind the envelope was a spiraling propellor, spinning in a double helix. Three portholes in the hull, along with a domed-shaped observation deck allowed Twilight to see into the ship. And finally, coming off the hull of the ship were numerous wooden spines that reminded her of a lionfish.

“Behold, my little ponies, the Victory! Or at least, I’m thinking about Victory, I may call her the Firefly, or maybe the Harmony...”

As the Victory dropped lower, Alan began moving to the edge of the ship before throwing down the gangplank.

“Welcome aboard!” Alan said, wearing a tricorn hat with the third incarnation of his duster. This time, rather than the inverted cutie marks over his flanks, his coat had a large silver dragon embroidered on the back. The smile on his face spread from ear to ear, as the foals suddenly rushed up to the ship, gasping in awe at whatever their eyes fell on.

Dawn and Daisy were the next ones up, and their faces conveyed a similar state of awe. Finally, up came Twilight who looked slightly confused. “You bought a boat?”

“Yup,” Alan said proudly.

“Why?” she asked.

Alan smirked. “Well how else are we getting to Canterlot in thirty minutes?”

Twilight blinked.

Alan laughed. “Just trust me, my Little Star. Just trust me,” he said, raising the gangplank. “Alright, attention, passengers!” Alan growled in his best pirate voice. “Arr, welcome aboard. We be arrivin’ at Canterlot Castle within the ‘our. Until then, you’re welcome to the galley, mostly because it’s empty. Head’s at the head of the ship, and stay on the inside. Don’t need Mr. Flame fishin’ you out of the sky.” Alan smiled as he walked over to the helm. “Now, Fillies and Gentlecolts, off we go!”

The Victory began to rise, and as it did, Alan couldn’t help but sing.

“Take my love.

Take my land.

Take me where I cannot stand.

I don't care, I'm still free.

You can't take the sky from me.”

The oak hull of the Victory cut through the clouds like waves on the sea.

And Pipsqueak was loving it!

This! Just this! All of this! It was amazing!

Nothing but sky above, and the ground far below, for once in his life, the spotted colt wished he had been born a pegasus. There was just so much to see, so much to discover, and he was still over Equestria!

He scrambled across the deck, excitedly looking over the edge from here to there, to here again.

And then his eyes fell on the helm.

It was majestic.

That single mahogany wheel controlled this vessel. Its every turn and rotation decided where this marvelous ship would go.

It symbolized the ultimate in freedom and power.

“Do you want to try it, Pip?”

The colt shook his head when he heard the voice, before noticing the pilot. Almost like an afterthought. Mr. Goldenhoof asked him something.

“W-what?”

“Do you want to try piloting her?”

The poor boy couldn’t believe his ears. Was...was he actually...

“Do...” he began, “do you mean that?”

Alan smiled before waving the colt over. Pipsqueak approached in a daze.

“Take the helm, Master Pipsqueak,” Alan said, stepping back.

The colt carefully took the hoofholds.

“Now just keep her steady, Pip, we’ve got our destination set, so just keep her on course.”

Pip nodded, his eyes wide as Alan slowly let go, leaving the Victory in the colt’s control.

“Oh my Celesti...gosh...” he thought, remembering not to swear, “I can’t believe I’m actually flying a ship. It’s...amazing...”

As Alan let Pip go, he was quickly approached by Daisy Chain. “Are you sure it’s safe to let him pilot the ship?” she asked, desperately trying to hide the worry in her voice.

Alan smiled before whispering, “Don’t worry, Miss Chain, I had a system installed that deactivates the helm, he’s not controlling anything.”

She blinked. “Why install something like that?” she asked, obviously confused,

“What fun is there in owning an airship if you can’t spin the helm like a madman without killing everypony?”

Daisy blinked, unsure if that answer made sense, but nonetheless, let it slide. Besides, Pip was enjoying himself holding the wheel steady. It was actually the biggest smile she had seen on his face since Thundersight died.

As the Victory touched down at the Canterlot Skydock, Alan piloting for safety's sake, he explained to his passengers why exactly they were here.

“I’ve brought you all here today to show you what griffon craftmasters and a few thousand bits will do after a war.”

“What do you mean by that?” Pip asked.

“You’ll see soon enough,” Alan answered. “It’s kind of a surprise.”

Twilight was very curious.

As the six ponies began to make their way forward, they were suddenly approached by two guards, and a familiar captain. “Shining!” Alan called, “how’s it going?”

The stallions met with a hoof bump. “Going alright. You came to see it?”

“No, I came to see your ugly mug. Of course I did.”

Shining laughed. “Right, right. So then, if you’ll follow me.”

The ponies followed, still curious and growing increasingly annoyed that none of their questions were being answered.

Shining and Alan trotted at the front of the party, sharing as they walked. “The griffons have been behaving themselves, and their stuff’s actually pretty amazing,” Shining said.

“Not that surprised, they do have thumbs.”

They went up a staircase, through an arch, and before long they found themselves in the Canterlot Gardens.

Shining led them around, and then, suddenly, they found themselves before the newest addition to the statuary.

Before them stood a perfectly smooth obelisk of obsidian, the core of which seemed to glow. Along the sides were written hundreds of names, and at the top the words “Hail the Victorious Dead” were written.

“It’s carved just thin enough to let the enchanted stone shine through,” Shining explained. “And we’ve got another enchantment on the obsidian itself to help soldiers and families find their loved ones.”

Alan nodded before waving Pip over.

As the colt approached, Alan thought of the boy’s father, and sure enough, a single name began to glow on the obelisk’s surface.

As Alan and Pip looked at that single name, Alan spoke. “Pipsqueak, I want you to know, that no matter what happens, your father was a good stallion, and he will be remembered.”

Pipsqueak nodded, tears in his eyes.

Alan slowly backed away, leaving the boy and the stone alone, before sighing as he looked down at the black piece of cloth tied around his fetlock. Sighing again, Alan gave the stone a salute, before turning away.

Alan gave Dawn a look, to which the pegasus nodded in return, and then he made his way towards Twilight. “Come on, Twi. You and me and getting dinner.”

“What about everypony else?” she asked.

Alan smiled. “That’s why I brought chaperones.”

“Chaperones?” she asked.

“Well, it simply won’t do letting a bunch of foals running around Canterlot unattended, would it?”

Twi blinked as Alan moved past her.

“But...”

A mana-hand appeared under her chin and pulled her towards him. “I just wanted to make sure Pip saw the memorial before we went on our date.”

That word grabbed Twilight's heart with an icy claw. This was a date. She-she wasn’t prepared for this! She wasn’t dressed for it! She hadn’t read up on dating, she didn’t know proper procedures!

Yet again she was caught without flashcards!

“It’s a little early yet for dinner,” Alan said, noticing the sun, “but I thought we could stop by the Grand Market before we got where we’re going.”

The...the Market?

He’s been doing his research.

Once she had ran out of books to read in the Canterlot Public Library, back when she had lived at the castle, her hungry eyes had turned to Market. It held hundreds of ponies each one selling anything and everything they could get their hooves on. There was bound to be a book or two that she hadn’t read there, and it had become something of a ritual to go down to the Market every Wednesday and see what was around.

It was maybe the only social interaction she had back when she was a full-time student.

“You want to go to the Market?” she asked.

“Yeah, it can’t be that bad, can it?”

It was not what Alan was expecting.

A massive plaza, spanning several blocks, had been dedicated to the Market, and every square inch either had a pony or a merchant’s cart. The air was filled with cries and yells as ponies everywhere bargained and haggled.

Upon entering, Alan was totally lost.

He had lost total sense of the direction in the crowd. He, for the life of him, couldn’t even tell where he had come from. He was being jostled this way and that. For a second, he had a flashback to his first battle in the war, where the first griffon hitting his sword had sent his head spinning until instinct could take over.

A particularly rude pony shoved him in the back, and Alan practically slammed forward into a table.

His eye spun in his head as he tried to get his bearings.

“Well? You gonna buy something?” a voice asked.

Alan’s eyes slowly focused on the merchant pony in front of him, who was wearing a bit of a scowl.

Alan blinked, and found himself staring at some rather nice jewelry.

“Ah! There you are, Alan,” Twilight said, appearing next to him with three, newly bought items in a magical aura above her. “You ran off suddenly, had to track you down.”

At the sight of a mare in the company of a male with cash, the shopkeep brightened. “Doesn’t anything catch your eye, sir? Maybe something for the lady?”

“Uh...” Alan blinked before collecting himself to point out a gold bracelet. “How much?”

“Eighty,” the shopkeep set.

Alan reached for his coinpurse.

“Eighty!” Twilight yelled. “That’s highway robbery at best!”

Alan looked over at her, somewhat confused. “Money’s not an issue...”

“Oh, is it now?” the merchant asked the purple unicorn.

“At. Best,” Twilight repeated. “There’s obvious wear along the edges, and I can tell the stone is not recognized by the royal treasury from here. It’s worth twenty on a good day.”

“Twilight...” Alan protested.

“Twenty!” The shopkeep roared. “Twenty! Are you daft?!”

“The term is reasonable,” Twilight responded. “Luckily for you, we happen to be living comfortably at the moment, so we’ll give you forty. No more.”

The Shopkeep frowned. “Fifty,” he said.

Twilight turned on her hooves and began to walk.

“Fine! Forty!” The shopkeep said.

Twilight was back at the table in less than a second. “Thank you,” she said, slipping her hoof into the bracelet. “Alan, if you’d be so kind.”

Alan blinked as Twilight was off again.

“So she’s back is she?” the merchant said with a frown. “I may have to tell my wife to start dieting again.”

Alan blinked.

And then he spotted something.

Standing, he quickly spoke to the shopkeep. “Sir, perhaps I could make it up to you...”

When the two unicorns finally stepped out of the market, it was around seven in the evening.

Twilight had bought nine different items, all of which she had purchased for a total of less than a hundred bits.

“Oh, it felt good to be back in the Market!” Twilight said, smiling.

“It was fun,” Alan admitted, “but I have to ask, where did you learn to haggle like that?”

“My mom,” Twilight answered. “She was ruthless when it came to spending money. She was so good at haggling, she was actually temporarily banned from the Market once.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Well, I say banned, but it was more like nopony would sell to her.”

“Ah.”

Twilight smiled as she looked over at Alan. “You think maybe we should make dinner quick? I’d hate to leave Daisy, Dawn and the foals for so long.”

“Oh they’re fine,” Alan said, “what’s the worse trouble they could get into?”

“How does an Earth pony even get that high up?!” Dawn yelled.

Alan blinked. “Don’t answer that.”

Twilight gave him a look.

“Alright, alright, we’ll make it quick. Know any good places around here?”

“There’s a sandwich stand around the corner that I like.”

“Sounds good, Radish, lettuce, and tomato, right?”

“As always.”

“Alright,” Alan said, walking onto the deck of the Victory, “I hope nothing too exciting happened.”

“Everything’s fine,” Dawn responded tensely.

Alan regarded the pegasus for a second.

“Alright then. Why don’t you guys go below deck and catch a rest?”

“Aye, aye, cap'n,” the soldier responded.

“But I don’t wanna go to sleep...” Pipsqueak yawned.

Daisy Chain nudged him. “Yes you do.”

The foals groaned as they were herded below deck, leaving only Twilight and Alan under the white envelope.

The Victory hardly made a sound as she floated through the air, and Twilight smiled as she watched the stars go by. Today she had had her first date, and with a stallion who loved her so very much. She drew closer to him, pressing against his side as he set their course.

Ten minutes passed by in total silence.

“Hey, Twilight,” Alan said, getting her attention.

“Yes?” she answered.

“I...I just...I got you something...” he said, before a small amulet hovered up to her neck. It had a simple pendent of silver, with an outer ring of gold, and a large purple jade at the center. “I...I just want to let you know what you mean to me...and...I...”

Twilight kissed him. “I love you, Alan.”

Alan smiled. “I love you too, my beautiful Star.”

And there we go.

“Bout time we got back to the slice of life goodness.”

“I'll say. While we're on the topic, can we have ‘Soul Man’ again?”

“So cute!”

Yeah, it is, isn’t it? Anyway, there’s going to be another chapter like this before the all important wedding, and then some very interesting things are going to happen.

Until then, stay Brony my friends.

“Remember to comment and thumbs up if you haven’t!”

Bye!

Omake (Becuase the Princess Bride is awesome):

In a universe not unlike Equestria...

Pipsqueak Mountoya stood in the small hut of the odd unicorn before him, on the table lay the body of the Mare in Black, a grey woman of great power, who was currently dead.

The unicorn, a strange old man with a crazed-looking eye, picked up a single hoof of the body and let it drop.

Thud.

“I’ve seen worse,” he said. “How much you got?”

“Sixty-five,” Pipsqueak answered.

“Ooh, never have I worked for so little, and that was a noble cause.”

“This is noble, sir.” Pipsqueak’s thick Spreinish accent filled the room. “Her husband is cripple, her children are starving. She needs help.”

The unicorn looked at him. “Boy, aren’t you a rotten liar? I’m sorry, kid, but I’m not going to mess with the natural order of the world for anything less than a hundred.”

“Sir, please, I beg you.”

“Look, kid, Princess Tiara fired me, does that say nothing to you?”

“It means you should help!”

“How on Equestria did you get that?”

“Tiara marries this mare’s true love tonight! See was in pursuit of him until she was killed. If we—”

“Da! Dadadadadadada! Da!” the unicorn interrupted, waving his hooves in front of the swordspony. “This filly lives, Tiara suffers?”

Pipsqueak smiled. “Humiliations galore.”

“Ha!” the unicorn said, smiling before placing an odd-looking cloth cap on his head. “Now that, is a noble cause! Give me the sixty-five, I’m on the job!”