Chapter XII

I struggle to keep my breathing quiet, I can’t afford to make that mistake again, not now. I step carefully towards my target, belly almost touching the ground, tail sliding forward in the exact path my body’s moved, and my claws carefully placed to not hit the ground too hard.

A deer grazes in the middle of the field, its ears flick back and forth, and it’s eating slowly, obviously keeping alert while it eats. Several gashes mark its flanks, still red and not quite healed from my failed attempt to catch it.

How long has it been since I first woke up? A week? It feels like a week. I have water and shelter, but I still haven’t managed to eat anything. I don’t know what plants are safe to eat, and I apparently suck at hunting. I don’t think my new body needs to eat as often my human one, because I don’t feel too hungry yet. But I don’t want to find out exactly how long I can last the hard way. I’m sorry Bambi, but I need to make this kill… no matter how much I don’t want to.

I take another silent step towards the deer. But then the birds and other forest sounds go silent. The deer looks up in alarm, and slowly begins walking away from me, the silence of the forest a sign of imminent danger.

‘No!’ I spring from my hiding place and dash straight for the deer.

The deer, hearing the noise behind it, makes a more earnest break for it.

Time seems to slow down as I take a wild leap for the deer’s back, trying to get on top of it to weigh it down and hopefully go for its neck.

The deer makes a juke to the right, and my leap looks like it will end up with me missing, but I reach out one arm and manage to snag my claws into its hide and I attempt to pull myself onto its back from there.

But the deer, in an act of pure, adrenaline-fueled instinct, bucks its hind legs out and nails me in my underbelly, winding me and knocking me backwards off of it.

I hit the dirt and slide for a few feet, and the deer runs off into the forest.

I failed.

I curl up on the ground nursing my bruised stomach. I don’t know why I thought I could hunt. I don’t know why I’m trying to play the part of some kind of survivor. What? I’m a dragon now? So what! That doesn’t mean I’m invincible. If anything, I’m doing worse than I would have done if I were still human. I’m still figuring out how to use this flipping body! I wouldn’t have that problem if I were still human.

I’m so caught up in my frustrations that I don’t hear the rapid galloping approaching until I sit up and then get knocked back over by something furry.

In the single moment when we’re pressed together from the thing’s momentum, I both hear and feel two different things. The first is the creature’s lungs deflating from its breath getting knocked out. The second is a sickening pop from where one of its limbs got tangled up in mine, the bad angle not mixing well with the momentum.

And then I fall over my side, and the creature rolls off me.

I hear a cry of pain next to me. I sit up again and look to where whatever hit me rolled off. I gape in shock and surprise.

Lying on her side, clutching her foreleg in pain, is a gray unicorn mare with a darker gray mane.

A unicorn pony, from My Little Pony. There’s no way I’d mistake those massive eyes on that tiny body.

Those massive eyes that are looking directly at me… in fear… crap.

Her eyes dart to look behind me at the sound of heavy footfalls approach rapidly, and her pupils contract with even more fear at what she sees. I stand and turn to face whatever is coming, and large griffin lopes from the trees, but pulls up short when it catches sight of me.

The griffin backs up a few steps, staring me in mild alarm. And then we stay like that for several moments, just standing, staring at each other.

Our attention is drawn back to the mare as she tries to slide herself away from us, legs scrambling over the dirt as she struggles to find purchase.

I glance back at the griffin and see that he’s tracking the mare’s progress intently with his eyes. He glances back at me, and cautiously, moves away, but very clearly around me.

‘He’s afraid of me.’ I realize with surprise. Then I note the hunger in his eyes as he tries to circle around towards the unicorn.

‘He’s afraid of me but still going after the mare.’ I think, narrowing my eyes.

I’ve been through a lot this past week. I’ve woken up to discover I’m no longer human. I’ve been stuck in a forest with no prior knowledge on survival techniques other than “find shelter, find water, don’t eat any plants you don’t know are food.” And I’ve had to force myself to try to kill things to survive time and time again, regardless of the fact that I haven’t managed to actually do it. But this is a sentient being with dreams, hopes, and feelings. And I’m not going to sit by and let them die when I’m literally standing in front of the predator that’s trying to kill them.

So I move directly in between the mare and the griffin, planting my feet firmly with my claws curling into the dirt, head lowered in resolve as I glare at him.

The griffin stops and stares at me in shock. I hear the mare stop moving behind me as well, but I don’t take my gaze off the griffin.

The griffin’s face morphs into one of anger, but he still holds himself back from coming any closer to me. He tries circling around me the other way, I keep myself between him and his target. He dips his head down in frustration before facing me directly, looking like he’s going to try a more head-on approach. I can almost feel his anger.

I harden my glare, snout scrunching upwards slightly to show just the barest hint of my new dragon teeth. ‘You want to try that? Go right ahead.’ I tell him in my mind, putting my own anger and frustration into the snarl.

This somehow causes all of fight the griffin was building up in himself to leave him with a shudder. He’s now looking at me as if I’m the devil-incarnate, and rapidly backs up. After five quick back-steps he turns all the way around and runs back into the trees of the forest.

I blink twice in surprise. That was easy.

I then remember that the mare hurt herself when she ran into me, and I turn around to check on her.

The unicorn is looking down at my front claws, mesmerized, for some reason.

‘What, did I step in something weird?’ I ask myself. I glance down to my claws as well, and I do a double-take.

For a brief moment, my claws are encased in a dim, reddish color, some strange substance seeming to undulate and flow over their surface. And then it dissipates, with no trace of the crimson material. I lift my right fore-claw cautiously, wondering what the hell I just saw.

“How didst thou do that?” A voice asks me in a near whisper.

“I don’t know.” I answer automatically. Then I blink and look back down at the mare. She realizes she just drew my attention back to herself and she shrinks back, fear overtaking her features again.

“I’m not going to eat you if that’s what you’re thinking.” I tell her, bemused. “Are you alright?” I ask her, my tone changing to one of concern.

“S-stay away! I-I know a spell that can turn somepony into… wait. What? Couldst thou repeat that?” She asks in confusion.

I arch a brow. “It’s not that hard of a question to answer. Are you alright?” I ask her again.

“I, well, other than my hoof, I believe so. I think I can stand.” She tries to stand up on her three legs. I notice something red drip down the front of her face. Looking more closely, I can tell where the blood is coming from. She has a small gash in her horn, a small amount of white showing through the blood to reveal the bone of her horn.

“You’re bleeding.” I tell her once she manages to stand.

“What?” She says, but then staggers sideways into me dizzily.

“Whoa there! I’ve got you.” I tell her, stopping her from falling over with a foreleg.

“Ugh, ow. My horn aches.” The mare says, raising a hoof to gingerly touch where the gash is.

“I’m by no means an expert on unicorn biology. But I’m going to say it’s not a good idea for you to be moving around like this.” I tell her.

“But, I need to get back to-agh!” She cringes from the pain in her horn.

“Okay, yeah, now I’m certain you’re not supposed to be walking around like this.” I say to her. I wrack my brain for an idea of how to help her.

‘Well… I may not have the hang of this new body yet… but she doesn’t look that heavy…’ I think, scanning her over.

“Alright, up you go.” I say to her.

She lets out a confused “Huh?” right before I dip my body down and slide under her. She lets out a startled yelp when I stand up with her draped over my back, her back hooves hanging over my right flanks and her forelegs wrapped around my neck.

I stumble to the side a step before regaining my footing. Then I stand up tall. “Okay then, just point me in the direction you want to go, and I’ll do my best to keep a steady pace for as long as I can.” I tell her, smiling.

She stares at me for a moment before looking off to our left. She points a hoof out. “I… I believe tis that way.” She finally answers.

“Alright then!” I say cheerfully. Then I start walking in the direction she pointed.

For a few minutes, it’s just us and the songs of nature around us. Then the mare speaks up. “Why art thou helping me?” She asks.

I think about her question. “That griffin looked hungry. I stopped him because it’s not right for something that talks to eat something else that can talk back. And after saving you from one thing, it feels like a waste to just leave you there to die from something else. So here I am, helping you get back home.” I explain to her.

I glance back to see her astonished face. After a long moment of silence, she finally speaks up. “Thank you.” She whispers.

I smile. “You’re welcome.” I answer before turning my head forward again.

I just keep walking forward with her on my back for a few more minutes.

“My name is Sky Trotter.” She tells me after a while.

“Nice to meet you. My name’s…” I hesitate. My name? It’s not exactly dragon-ish. I need something different. Come on, think… dragon name, dragon name… Bahamut? No, I’m not a legendary dragon with incredible strength. I’ve always liked that “a-e” kind of lettering in things like “aether” though. Let’s see…

B…A… E…

“…Baelor.” I tell her. “Call me Baelor.”

I look at a book blankly as I try to work out in my brain where it goes.

“*sigh* Here, I’ve got it.” Spike says, taking the book from my grasp and placing it on the shelf it apparently belongs.

I sag my head down, disappointed in myself. “I’m sorry Spike. I’m still reeling from Twilight’s impromptu Dewhoof Decimal System lecture. It’s a lot more complicated than I thought.” I apologize. Seriously, she got almost as rapid-fire as Pinkie with how fast the words came out of her mouth.

Spike waves it off. “Eh, don’t worry about it. I’m just annoyed Twilight bailed on us when she’s the one that made this mess.” Spike says.

“Maybe it’d go faster if you sorted the books into the order they go into piles, and I put them away in the order you put them in. Streamline the process a bit so you don’t have to keep climbing up and down that step-ladder all the time.” I suggest.

“Sounds like a plan, let’s get to it.” Spike says with a grin.

He walks over to a pile of books to start sorting, and then chuckles. “Ha… baeled.” He mutters.

I snort in laughter. Damn-it Baelor! You’re supposed to have standards!

Let it never be said Spike isn’t efficient. He’s already made three different stacks of books for me to put away, and it’s barely been a minute since we started. I take about ten books off of the first stack and look for the place they go.

“That shelf right there, put them in left to right.” Spike instructs and points at one of the top shelves without even looking up.

And we just go like that for a while, with Spike sorting and pointing and me carrying and shelving. We’ve actually gotten through almost all of them by the time Twilight gets back.

“I’m back! How’s the cleaning going?” She asks. Then she notices how far we’ve gotten. “Wow! You guys have been busy.” She comments.

“I couldn’t handle that info-dump you gave me, so I figured I’d handle the carrying part of re-shelving all the books. Spike’s been an absolute beast at sorting them into the right order. Put those two together and you get a pretty good two-person assembly line.” I tell her, flipping the stack of books in my arms sideways while pressing them together with my forelegs. I slide the whole stack into their shelf.

Spike straightens out the last stack for me to grab. “Thanks for helping me out Bael. I might just consider making you deputy-assistant after today.” Spike says as I grab the stack.

I chuckle. “You sure that’s a smart move there? Considering I have a size and strength advantage over you, I can both reach the higher shelves that you can’t reach, and carry more books as I put them away. If you make me an assistant, I might just usurp you as Twilight’s Number One Assistant.” I tell him teasingly. I put the last books on the last remaining shelf. We’re done.

Spike barks out a laugh. “Fat chance! You can’t even remember the Dewhoof Decimal System. You can’t re-shelve books that you have no clue where they go!” Spike replies with a grin.

Twilight laughs at our co-worker banter. “Good job you two. Now all we have to do for Princess Celestia’s visit is make sure everypony else finishes their jobs.” She says.

A cute little warble comes out of Twilight’s mane.

I blink. “Gesundheit?” I tell her questioningly. What the heck?

“Oh, that wasn’t me. That was this cute little guy that Fluttershy let me have.” Twilight answers, and then a parasprite flutters out of her mane.

…Great.

“Heh, hey little guy. How’s it going?” Spike greets the sprite.

I give them both an blank look. “… You guys do know that thing will eat Equestria into a famine if given the chance, right?” I ask them.

Twilight looks up at me strangely. “What? This little thing? Don’ t be silly Bael, look at this little face. He’s harmless.” She tells me, levitating the parasprite over to me to look at. I am not impressed.

“Twilight. I’m not kidding. That thing is called a parasprite. It will eat any food it finds, asexually reproduce seconds after that, and then both of them will continually keep eating until there’s a whole lot of parasprites, and a whole lot less food. These things are the dictionary-definition of “pest”. They need to be thrown with your magic as far into the Everfree Forest as you can. If you don’t believe me, look it up yourself, or ask Zecora since they come from the Everfree. But in the mean time, I’m going to go help Pinkie get all the stuff she needs to lead them out of Ponyville.” I tell her. And then I walk out of the library to find Pinkie.

Which doesn’t take long because she’s right outside the door.

“Did somepony say they were going to help me?!” She asks happily.

“No. Somedragon said I’m going to help you. What should I look for?” I ask Pinkie, not phased in the least.

“No time! I’ll tell you as we work!” And then she grabs me and closes the library door behind her.

“And that’s pretty much how I helped Pinkie Pie save the entire town from getting eaten and overrun by adorable, magical, flying termites that eat anything.” I conclude to a befuddled Princess Celestia.

Celestia stares at me for a moment, before glancing back at the procession of parasprites that are bouncing into the Everfree to the beat of Pinkie’s solo orchestra.

“… That still leaves quite a bit between then and now Baelor.” Celestia finally says.

“Eh, there’s not much to tell after that. Pinkie told me what she needed and I ran around Ponyville looking for them. The parasprites didn’t really get out of hand… er sorry, hoof, until today, since they spent all night duplicating themselves in five different ponies’ homes. After that, I just did more collecting until Pinkie ended up doing that.” I jab thumb over my shoulder at Pinkie playing her instruments.

“I… see.” She says hesitantly. “How exactly did they start eating the buildings though? I thought you said that they only ate things classified as food.” Celestia queries.

I shrug my shoulders. “Beats me.” I answer. Which is a lie. I totally know why that happened. But I wasn’t present to witness Twilight’s spell backfiring, so I need to feign ignorance.

Why do I need to feign ignorance? Because I told Celestia I’m from another world, but I didn’t tell her I know things that could happen in the future. I’ll get to it eventually, but not right now.

Celestia takes a deep breath. “Are there any casualties?” She asks me seriously.

“Don’t worry, the only living things the parasprites ate were the flower ponies’ gardens. Everypony’s fine.” I reassure her. She sighs in relief.

“Anything else you’d like to add Twilight?” I ask cheekily, turning to look behind me.

Twilight has a look of utter mortification on her face. Probably because I just told her teacher everything about what happened today, and how the welcome celebration she planned for Celestia has been completely decimated. To be completely honest, it’s pretty hilarious. Celestia seems to agree if her giggle is anything to go by.

“Well, I’m glad to hear that nopony was hurt by this incident. But it sounds as if the town took a bit of damage. I’ll see what I can do before I have to head back to Canterlot.” Celestia says, walking towards Ponyville.

I tilt my head with interest. She’s not heading off to handle Fillydelphia’s “pest problem” like in the show? Interesting. I wonder what caused that change.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that your highness. You shouldn’t have to clean up our mess when you are meant to be visiting our quaint town.” Rarity says hurriedly to Celestia. The others look a little flummoxed that the Princess wants to help them in something as menial as repairing the town.

“Nonsense. A little bit of hard work never hurt anypony, and I’ve been cooped up in the castle for far too long. Getting through the paperwork for a visit like this is so tedious and I intend to enjoy every second of it, regardless of what I’m doing during the duration.” Celestia replies cheerfully, trotting into the town proper.

“And besides, this gives me plenty of time to catch up with Baelor, as well as get to know the five mares that managed to become Twilight’s friends.” Celestia adds.

The others follow Celestia hesitantly, but I hang back to check on Twilight, who’s still staring blankly off into space. Pinkie is just finishing off leading the last of the parasprites into the Everfree.

“Twilight?” I say to her. She doesn’t respond. I snap my claws next to her ear. “Hey, Twilight.” Her ear twitches away from the snap and she looks at me dolefully.

“Bael… why?” She asks sadly. “Why did you tell Celestia about how badly I messed up?”

“Messed up? Twilight, it was a simple mistake. And everything worked out in the end. Nopony got hurt, the town’s still standing, and Celestia’s still happy to be here.” I tell her.

“But I didn’t listen to you when you warned me about the parasprites, I dismissed Pinkie’s idea because it seemed crazy, and then I made the whole thing worse by casting the spell that made them start eating things that aren’t food. And then you just told Celestia everything. I’ve probably just lost all of her faith in me today.” She says despondently.

I snort. “Twilight, it was just a mistake. Everyone makes them. And as for the spell that you cast on the parastprites, Celestia still doesn’t know about that… and I won’t tell her if you don’t.” I say to her conspiringly.

Twilight blinks. “But what if-?”

I point behind her. “*gasp!* Princess Celestia is giving out extra credit for helping her fix the town!” I exclaim.

“Really?!” Twilight gasps, whipping around.

I smirk. ‘Baelor used Distraction. It was super effective!’

Twilight shakes her head and glares at me.

I poke her on her snout. “Stop. Worrying. The crisis is over, and everypony’s alright. That’s what Celestia was worried about, so that’s why she’s relieved. Everything else is a minor issue that she isn’t too concerned about, so you shouldn’t be either.” I tell her clearly.

Twilight sighs. “Okay, fine, I’ll stop worrying.” She relents.

“Good, now lets go see what we can do to help repair the town.” I say cheerfully, walking to catch up with the others.

Twilight groans. “Ugh, today’s been exhausting, and we still have to clean up.” She complains tiredly.

I shrug. “C’est la vie.” I say in response.

I’m honestly astounded that I still remember that saying, but I don’t let it show on my face.

Twilight rolls her eyes away from me. I chuckle.

A sudden flash startles us. “Well, I’ve done what I can, but I’m afraid anything else that’s missing has simply been eaten, and therefore not able to be mended from that spell. I’ll send you some relief funds from the reserve once I get back to Canterlot.” I overhear Celestia say. I look over and see she’s talking to the mayor.

Oh, and the town is repaired… more or less. There are still tiny bite marks everywhere.

“Huh… well I guess that’s alicorn magic for you. Fixing things before you even get the chance to offer to help.” I note aloud. Twilight nods, still looking stunned from the flash of Celestia’s magic.

“Well then, now that the town is taken care of we can continue the day.” Celestia says while trotting over to us. “Since whatever you were planning for my visit got interrupted by the parasprites, would it be alright if we simply talk at your library Twilight?” Celestia asks Twilight.

Twilight’s ears flick straight up. “Of course! But-er… I think it might be a little… messy still. Some books fell off the shelves from all the chaos that happened. Not to mention how many are shredded from getting eaten.” Twilight mutters.

Celestia smiles understandingly. “That’s fine. It doesn’t need to be perfect. We’re only going to be talking. But if you would like some time to tidy up a bit, I can keep myself occupied catching up with Baelor.” She says.

Celestia turns her head to me. “Would you like to go for a flight Baelor? It’s been a while since I’ve flown, and I like to stay in practice.” She asks me.

I blink. “Alright.” I answer.

“Wonderful.” And she spreads her white wings and takes off with surprising force. I just shrug at Twilight and the other’s confused looks before taking off after her.

Celestia’s acting a little… different, from how I remember her, but I brush it aside. You can’t expect anyone to stay the same over the course of their life, especially when they’ve got a lifespan measured in millennia.

Celestia smiles at me when I catch up to her. “You know, for somepony who hasn’t flown in a while, you sure do know how to take off quickly.” I note wryly.

She just keeps smiling. “I haven’t gotten the chance to say it yet, but I’m glad to see you’ve recovered from what happened on the Summer Sun Celebration Bael.” She tells me.

“Yeah, so am I. And it’s good to see you too.” I answer while flying next to her.

A companionable silence falls between us, with the two of us simply enjoying a leisurely flight together. “I was a little surprised from Twilight’s letter involving the sleeping dragon.” Celestia finally says.

“Oh?” I answer, prompting an elaboration.

“I was surprised that she managed to fit three different lessons into a single letter. But then again, she’s always strived for excellence and perfection in everything she does.” Celestia chuckles at her recollection.

“Yeah, she’s definitely thorough. You picked a good pony for your student. I can tell she’s going to go far.” I compliment her.

“Thank you. I went to a lot of effort to teach her, and it would be a waste if she didn’t meet your approval.” She replies cheekily.

“Well if that’s your reaction to praise, maybe I’ll just insult you from now on Sunbutt.” I retort, using the classic nickname.

Celestia snorts in laughter. “Sunbutt?” She asks me with a wide grin.

I chuckle. “Yeah, that’s right. You’ve got a sun stuck to your butt. Hence the name, Sunbutt. Now imagine somepony calling you that in the middle of day court with a bunch of stuffy nobles watching and it’ll instantly become ten times funnier from their reactions.” Celestia titters from the thought.

“Well, in any case, I’m glad that you weren’t too badly hurt from losing to that dragon. But to be honest, I thought you would be able to handle him. Considering your capabilities with fighting… Luna.” She says after a pause.

My claws give a small twitch at the mention of her name, but I ignore it. “Yeah… not my best moment. Turns out I’m not fully recovered from the moon. My magic’s still recovering, and I accidentally burned through the magic I had at the time too quickly while I was facing the dragon… So how is Luna?” I ask her, deciding to broach the subject since Celestia brought her up.

Her smile turns a bit melancholy. “She’s recovering, just like you. Her magic hasn’t quite returned to full strength either. But she’s not… “ She trails off, closing her eyes in contemplation of something. “Do you think you could come to Canterlot to talk to her?” She asks me.

My eyes widen in surprise and a little bit of fear hits me.

“Not now, of course! I simply mean, in the near future, do you think you can take some time to just… talk it out with her. Speak to each other about your troubles a bit?” She reiterates.

I relax slightly. “Yeah… yeah I think I can do that.” I reply.

“Thank you Bael.” We fall back into silence as we fly.

I speak up. “Don’t take my hesitance as a sign that I don’t want to talk to her. I do. I know I need to. It’s just…” My claws twitch nervously. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. And I’m afraid.” I admit.

Celestia looks at me. “Then that’s all the more reason to do it.” She says solemnly.

I let out a deep breath. “Yeah.” I agree.

“In my experience, it’s better to set a date to commit to when preparing to perform a difficult task.” She tells me.

“Do you have one in mind?” I ask her.

“How do you feel about doing it on the night of the Grand Galloping Gala in a few months, a little after winter?” She asks.

I take a deep breath and let it out. “Alright.” I agree.

The silence returns again, comfortable this time.

“So… on an unrelated note. I brought you something I’ve been storing for a while.” Celestia tells me.

“Really? What is it?” I ask her, curious.

“Something that belongs to you.” She replies. Her horn glows and then a brown sack pops into existence between us.

“My bag!” I exclaim in surprise. She levitates it over to me.

“I had to go through it and apply preservation spells on each item every now and again to make sure it lasted until today, but everything is still as good as the day you left.” She tells me.

“Celestia… thank you. Thank you so much.” I tell her with extreme gratitude as I take the bag from her magic. I want to look through it to see all of my possessions, but I hold myself back and just sling it over my neck.

“So, do you want to keep enjoying the weather up here for a bit, or do you want to go hang out with Twilight and the others now?” I ask her with a grin.

“Yes, that would be a good idea. But… there is one last thing I wish to discuss with you.” She says.

I chuckle. “Okay, what is it?” I ask her. But then I blink in surprise.

Celestia is no longer smiling. In fact, she looks very, very serious. And making direct eye contact with me in a way that I can’t find myself able to look away.

“Baelor. What I’m about to talk with you about. You cannot tell anyone. This is a very closely guarded secret that cannot leave this conversation except with those that already know about it. I need you to swear on your life that you will not repeat what I am about to tell you.” Celestia tells me.

“Wh-wait. Celestia, what is this about?” I ask her, concerned.

“I need you to swear Baelor.” She repeats.

“I… I swear.” I answer hesitantly. What is this about?

She relaxes slightly. “I’m sorry if I seem a little intense right now. But I need you to understand just how serious this conversation is.” She explains to me.

“Okay, consider me one that understands. Now what’s this about?” I ask her.

Celestia looks me directly in the eyes, and opens her mouth.

Author's Notes:

"What?! NO!!! What happens next?! What are they talking about?!"

MWA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH-TROLLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOOLLOOLOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!

"Faaaaaalx, whyyyyyyyy?"

Oh don't you two worry. You'll all learn what they're talking about... eventually. Heh hehe heh.

"... You're an ass. You are one-hundred percent an ass."

On an unrelated note. I wasn't too fond of the new site update... UNTIL TODAY!!!!

"How come the change of heart?"

Because here am, just copying and pasting the chapter from my Word document into the story. I get ready for another half hour of just going through making sure all the italics, bolds, and

---

dividers are in and I find that

THE SITE UPDATE DOES THE FIRST TWO AUTOMATICALLY NOW WHEN I COPY AND PASTE!!!! THIS IS AMAZING!!!! I LOVE THIS FR#$%IN FANDOM WITH ITS GENIUS PROGRAMERS!!!

"Wow, I didn't realize until just now how much you hated editing. Wonderful."

Oh, don't get me wrong. I didn't really mind too much having to go through my chapters to add those little things. But who doesn't love learning they can be just a little bit more lazy with the things they do?

"Arseholes shouldn't get rewarded for being d#$ks that leave their chapters at abrupt cliffhangers."

Okay, fiiiiiiiine. If you're going to be this big a baby about it Ictus, I'll give you all a hint for when I'm going to reveal what Celestia and Bael were talking about.

Next chapter, Bael will have a flashback to the tail end of their conversation this chapter. But the full big reveal of what the hecky they were talking about will be revealed in the last chapter for this story... which will be after the conclusion of the Grand Galloping Gala.

There, happy Ictus? Now it's not all ambiguous about when you're going to learn about it.

"..."

Tch, you're impossible to please.

"I... guess I'm okay with it. Thanks for letting us know Falx."

Thank you Pinkie. I'm glad someone here understands dramatic build-up.

Anyway, see you guys next chapter!