So to those of you who for some reason didn't realize it, last chapter was just an April Fools joke that I whipped up in like twenty minutes and isn't canon. That's what those kinds of chapters are for right?

"Right!"

Right. So no complaining and just enjoy this chapter, which is canon! Happy April 28th!

"April 28th isn't a holiday."

*blows raspberry* Oh whatever.

Chapter XX: A Little Bit Answered

I keep my breathing even as I fly, wind flowing out of my wings as I channel some of my air element through them to propel me forward through the air. It’s always been the easiest element to send through my wings, in that it’s the most comfortable to do so in that way.

When the girls and I got back from Appaloosa, I took some time to think about what happened when I rescued Peach Heart. And I realized that everything is getting just a little too big for just myself.

I need answers, and there’s only one pony that I know of that has them. Or at least only one that I know I can trust. And so, I wrote a letter, and asked Spike to send it. Celestia sent a response asking if I could come speak with her personally.

Naturally, I left before Twilight could find out and freak out about me meeting with the princess.

It’ll probably be nice to see Tia again. But I have a feeling I’m going to be cringing every time I walk around a corner when I get inside the palace. Dreading that I’ll run into Luna while I’m there.

I glance down and see the rail-line underneath me. It leads into a large hill, and so I fly around it. Upon banking around the last edge, Canterlot comes into my view from around the incline. At the speed I’m traveling at, it doesn’t take long for me to reach the front entrance of the castle gates, in front of two white pegasus guard stallions

Upon landing the guards’ eyes widen in surprise before their spears are pointed at me, ready for a fight. I internally sigh at this, but remain calm and say aloud to them. “My name is Baelor. I believe that Princess Celestia is expecting me by this time.” I state clearly before they can say or do anything.

The guards hesitate, and look at each other in surprise. Then the one on the right speaks up. “You are Baelor?” He asks me, suspicious.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “Yes, I am. May I pass?” I ask him.

They share a look with each other again before looking back to me. “… yes. Go right ahead.” The same guard answers slowly.

I nod in thanks to them both and carefully walk in between them, keeping my wings to my side, and keeping my path as straight as possible. No need to agitate them further. I have an appointment with a friend to keep after all.

Right as I’m almost out of hearing distance, I hear the second guard murmur quietly “Dragon is a guest. But keep an eye on him.”

I glance back at them and see they’re standing at attention again, spears upright between their fetlocks. Maybe they have some kind of magical communication device?

I turn my gaze back forward, intent on finding Celestia and getting some answers. I can’t get too distracted by other things right now. I walk in through the opened doors to the royal castle.

…

‘Wait, where am I going again?’ I think stupidly when I step inside and see three different directions I could go. I look between the three indecisively, silently berating myself for not asking somepony for directions. Then I internally slap myself when I realize that besides those two guards at the gate, nopony else save Celestia and Luna probably know who I am, and are likely to panic at the sight of a dragon in the castle.

“Hey!” A voice calls out at me. I look in the direction of the voice to see another guard pony, this one in purple armor, marching directly towards me. “What are you doing here?” He demands. And so it begins.

I decide to act exactly as I am; lost. “Oh, uh, I’m kind of not sure where to go. This castle doesn’t have a map out front here and I’m worried I’ll get lost and-.”

“I don’t care why you’re here, and I don’t know how you got inside past the front guards, but you need to leave before I’m forced to make you leave, dragon.” The pony tells me firmly. I feel like I should know him or something, but I can’t for the life of me remember why or who he is.

I take a deep breath before responding. “I’m not here to cause trouble, I just need to speak with Princess Celestia. If you could point me in the right direction, I’d really appreciate it.” I say calmly.

He narrows his eyes at me. “The Princess has cancelled all court functions this afternoon. She’s awaiting a special guest and has asked me to wait at the front entrance to escort him to her. I don’t have time to deal with you right now. So I’m giving you another chance to leave.” He tells me, horn starting to glow.

I sigh in exasperation. “Is the “special guest” named Baelor, by any chance?” I ask him.

I’m lifted up by a magenta telekinetic grip and brought face to face with the guard. “How do you know…” He trails off in his question when he notices that I’ve kind of rolled around in his grip into an upside down position.

I blink dumbly. “I’m getting a sense of dèja vu.” I say as I lazily roll back upright, and then backwards uncontrollably.

The guard shakes off his confusion and turns stern again. “How do you know the name of- Would you stop that!” He snaps at me as I continue to roll around.

“Hey, don’t look at me. This has only happened to me one other time and I still don’t know why it happens whenever I’m in Twilight’s magical grip.” I respond, still rolling, and starting to get a little dizzy. WAIT! Is this the return of the spiral god! All hail the spiral!

“How do you know my sister’s name? Who are-oh for pete’s sake!” The guard drops me in frustration and then a magenta magical bubble forms around me. I shake the dizziness off, and then I have an epiphany.

“Shining Armor!” I exclaim in realization. Wait…

“How do you know my name?!” He asks, starting to look a little freaked out. Whoops, probably shouldn’t have said that aloud. “Who are you?!” He demands.

You know, maybe whatever causes the thing to happen is genetic. It would explain why it happens when Twilight, and now her brother can do this rolly-polly thing to me.

“Answer me dragon!” Shining Armor demands. Oh yeah, that’s right, he’s freaking out.

“Hi, my name is Baelor. I’m a dragon. Celestia obviously didn’t tell you that.” I droll. His reaction is actually pretty funny, all things considered.

This catches him off guard. And no, that wasn’t intended as a pun. “You’re Baelor?” He asks disbelievingly.

“You’re the second pony to ask me that today.” I say with a grin, highly amused by this.

He squints at me. “You, are Baelor? The one Celestia cancelled an entire afternoon’s session of petitioners for?” He asks again, trying to clarify things for himself.

“Yep. That’s me. Can you let me out of this bubble thing now?” I ask, poking the shield with one claw.

He just keeps looking at me in silence, lips slightly parted as he processes information. “… Only if you answer one more question.” He finally says after a few seconds.

“Alright then. Shoot.” I tell him.

“How do you know my sister?” He asks.

“Celestia asked her to let me crash at her place. I’m kind of just helping her out here and there in the library alongside Spike.” I tell him.

Shining Armor looks at me for a second more before sucking in a breath through his teeth and letting it out in a sigh. Then he drops his shield. “Well, alright. Follow me, and I’ll take you to the Princess.” He tells me.

I nod at him. “Lead the way.” I say to him.

He turns around and starts walking down the hallway to my right from where I entered, and I follow him.

And… that’s pretty much all that happened. I followed him. He didn’t say a word to me the entire way there, and I didn’t say a word either. We just walked in silence.

Eventually we reach a door that he stops at, and knocks on it.

“Come in.” I hear Celestia’s voice say from beyond the door.

Shining opens the door with his magic and steps inside and says. “Your highness, your… guest, is here.” He tells her, standing at attention.

“Thank you Captain. Let him in please.” She answers.

I see him nod and he steps aside to let me into the room. I walk past him with a nod of thanks. He doesn’t acknowledge it, but I think I see one of his brows raise slightly in response.

“Baelor! It’s good to see you again.” Celestia greets me warmly from her place on a large pillow on the ground.

I smile. “Yeah. It’s good to see you too Celestia.” I feel a small jolt of shock from the direction of Shining Armor. Guess he didn’t know we were friends.

“I’m also glad to see you haven’t been injured since the last time we met. You seem to have a bad habit of getting into situations where you get hurt.” She says with a titter.

I wince slightly but try to just grin to hide it.

Celestia blinks at me. “What happened this time?” She asks me in bemusement.

Shoot! “Ehehehe,” I chuckle in embarrassment. “it kind of happened out in the desert, out by Appaloosa.” I say to her.

Celestia gives a hum of thought. “And how exactly did it happen again?” She asks me, curious.

I look down in thought, aware of Shining Armor’s presence in the room. Celestia swore me to secrecy when she told me about the Knights. Is it right to talk about it in front of him? “I got ambushed by a cougar out in the desert while searching for a mare that went missing.” I tell Celestia the lie that Proditor told Peach Heart.

Celestia tilts her head. “That must have been quite a cougar to manage to land a strike on you.” She comments.

I glance pointedly back at Shining Armor behind me before answering. “It had a few tricks up its metaphorical sleeves. I couldn’t feel its intent until its claws had almost pierced my body. Because of that, it got a few good blows in before I could react.” I tell her, hoping that she knows about that ability of thestrals.

“My my, that’s certainly an interesting trick.” Celestia says. Then she looks at Shining Armor. “Thank you Captain, for being so diligent. You are dismissed.” She tells him.

Shining hesitates before speaking up. “Your highness, do you believe it’s wise to remain in the same room alone with this… with Baelor?” He questions her. Huh… he used my name instead of calling me a dragon.

Celestia smiles serenely. “Your loyalty and devotion know no bounds Captain Armor, but in this case, you do not need to worry for my safety. Baelor would not harm me, nor anypony else in this castle. And I personally believe Baelor is safer in my presence than anything else.” She says with a confident wink. I chuckle humorously. She’s probably right.

Shining Armor takes a subtle breath. “Very well. If you need me, I’ll be outside.” He says and walks out of Celestia’s room, closing the door behind him.

I hear the sound of magic and I turn and see Celestia’s horn glowing a golden yellow color. A pulse from her horn silently billows outwards and covers the walls of the room.

“There. That should keep prying ears from listening in, should somepony get a little curious.” She says. She looks directly at me. “So what was the true story that happened out in the desert?” She asks me.

I sigh. “It was some kind of pony called a thestral that ambushed me, not a cougar. And then another thestral came out of nowhere and took the first one out. He transformed into a pony I’d only just met named Proditor. He said he was a Knight?” I say to her questioningly.

“Hmmm. So he did contact you.” She hums in contemplation.

“So Proditor is a Knight? And you already knew he’s a thestral?” I ask her.

“Yes, he is both. And a very dear friend.” She answers.

I take a long, calming breath, trying to think of what to say next.

“Is that a problem for you?” Celestia asks upon noticing that I’m unsure about something.

I look at her inquisitively before answering. “I don’t think it is. Mostly I was worried he was lying to me just to get away with killing another thestral.” I answer.

Celestia nods morosely. “It’s unfortunate that ponies sometimes cannot overcome their more base desires. Punishment of crimes committed in such ways, are needed to deter the more foolhardy and selfish among my little ponies from doing so on a whim.” She says.

“Except that no lesson is learned when the one being punished is killed.” I say sourly.

Celestia looks at me with sadness in her eyes. “Sometimes, it isn’t about punishment though. Sometimes, it’s simply the fact that we cannot take the time to fix every problem with the world around us. We have to pick and choose, and then move on to the next one. Oftentimes swiftly. Rogue thestrals are both too big, and too small of a problem for imprisonment.” She responds.

I’m confused about that. “Too big, and too small?” I echo.

“Thestrals are too dangerous for regular law enforcement officials and officers, or even the royal guard, to safely restrain and keep contained. But at the same time, they are also not a force of great enough evil to be locked away by powerful spells, or even the Elements of Harmony. I cannot ask Twilight and the other Bearers to simply traipse off from their lives every time a thestral decides it wants to kill another pony for a meal, no matter how much I wish to.” Celestia explains in more detail.

I sigh in acceptance of her words. It makes sense. I’m not sure why I’m questioning the reasons for killing murderers that eat their victims. Maybe I’m just sick of pointless violence.

For some strange reason, I think of myself being the one to kill that thestral instead of Proditor. And then I cringe when the thestral is replaced with Luna for a moment.

I shove those images out of my mind.

“Is that all you wanted to discuss Baelor?” Celestia asks me.

I look up at her, silent for a moment. “What does it mean to be a Knight?” I ask her, changing both the subject and my train of thought to a different problem.

Celestia looks thoughtful for a few seconds before she answers. “It can mean many different things, depending on who you ask. What it could mean to one pony could mean something completely different from another.” She tells me solemnly.

I close my eyes, “Celestia, if you’d be so kind, please stop with the cryptically symbolic explanations. I’m confused, I’m conflicted, I want an actual answer.” I say with annoyance.

Celestia giggles softly. “Alright, I suppose I can do that for you Baelor. But before I do, I’d like to say that I do mean it when I say that Knighthood means something different to everyone. But I suppose I can tell you what it means to me.” She answers.

She settles herself on her pillow to sit more upright. “To put it simply, it means being my friend.” She says with a smile.

I level a deadpan expression at her. Seriously? Is she going to go into a lecture about friendship being magic?

“I’m being serious about this Baelor, I promise. To me, being a Knight of the Order of Awen-.”

“The order of what?” I interrupt her.

“Oh, yes that is the name of the order of knights, I forgot I didn’t actually tell you it’s full name. Anyway, being a Knight means being my friend.” Celestia tells me.

I sigh. “Okay, can you explain to me why?” I ask her.

She nods. “Yes, I can. When I say that being a Knight means being my friend, I mean it in the sense that friends are there for each other, they look out for each other, they support each other, and they pick each other up when they fall. And I am… very afraid of falling.” She says in a low tone. I blink in surprise at this admission, but I stay silent to allow her to continue.

“And not just in the sense of failing. I mean that… I fear what would happen to my little ponies should something similar to what happened to Luna happen to me as well.” Celestia says with wilted ears.

“What does this have to do with friendship?” I ask her, concerned.

She takes a deep breath. “Baelor. The Knights of Awen were originally formed to be a force that is capable of defeating and killing me should I ever turn into a monster like Nightmare Moon. Because without my sister, and with the Elements of Harmony rendered inert after I used them to banish Luna to the moon, there was nothing and nopony stopping me from using my power over the sun to completely destroy not just Equestria, but all life on this world. There just was no counterbalance to my power and influence back then.” Celestia explains.

“Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” I quote aloud from my thoughts in response.

She nods in agreement. “I’m afraid of myself Baelor. I fully believe that I was, and still am, the greatest threat to Equestria’s safety.” She says quietly.

I shake my head in disbelief. “So you’re saying, that my entire purpose, should I become a Knight, would be to kill you if you went Nightmare? Celestia, do you really think I could live my life knowing that I might have to kill one of my oldest friends?... Again?” I add on last-second.

Celestia shakes her head. “No, as a Knight, your duty would be to protect Equestria and all of its citizens from any harm that you are able to. I am simply saying that I see myself potentially as one of the greatest threats to all of Equestria, and that should the worst happen, your duty would entail making sure that threat is neutralized.” She pauses for a moment. “But I would also hope that, as my friend you would do anything in your power to make sure I don’t reach that point: Emotionally, or through any other circumstance.” She finishes.

I mull that over in my head, and for a moment, it doesn’t fully make sense to me. But then I think about a time I haven’t thought of in a while. A time before the moon. A time when I was sitting in silence in a room, reading a letter from Luna from halfway around the world. And then time moves forward, and at some point, I realized that she isn’t sending me any more letters for some reason I don’t know.

‘As my friend, you would do anything in your power to make sure I don’t reach that point.’ Celestia’s words echo with purpose in my mind.

Like I couldn’t do with Luna.

‘I fully believe that I was, and still am, the greatest threat to Equestria’s safety.’

Like Luna was.

‘Friends are there for each other, they look out for each other, they support each other, and they pick each other up when they fall.’

I wasn’t there for Luna when she needed a friend most.

But that’s one mistake I will never make again.

A quick three-tap knocking interrupts my thoughts; Celestia and I turn to the door to her room. Three more knocks sound from beyond Celestia’s soundproofing spell. “Your highness, your three-o’clock session with the elementary level students of your school is in five minutes.” A female voice announces from the other side.

A gasp from behind me makes me turn back around to see Celestia scrambling to her hooves. “Oh my goodness, I completely forgot that that was today!” She exclaims in surprise. She trots quickly over to a desk in one corner of the room.

I get up from my seat slower than her. “Well, I think I should be going anyway. This is obviously important, so anything else we might need to talk about can probably wait till another time. Thank you for your time Celestia.” I thank her. I’m in no hurry, and Celestia’s already helped me to sort out at least one of the problems I’ve been mulling over in my head for a while. Might as well take some time to try and figure out the next one on my own before I bother her again.

Celestia glances at me and suddenly begins smirking. “Actually, I’d like to bring you along to this event if you wouldn’t mind.” She says. She levitates her crown off her head and sets it on the desk, then does the same with the golden peytral around her neck.

I blink. “…What is it you’re bringing me with to?” I ask her, wary that she might be trying to get me to sit through some kind of… political meeting or something. But I’m not sure why she’s removing her jewelry.

“Oh, nothing much, but it should be fun. I wouldn’t be this worried about being late if it wasn’t.” She answers with her smirk still adorning her face, stepping out of her shoes and leaving them near her desk. “Please follow me, if you would.” She says striding past me while opening the door with her magic. “Come along Captain Armor.” She adds as she passes him standing outside her door.

“Yes, your highness.” He answers without question. I glance back around the room once more before reluctantly following them.

I lope to catch up to Celestia and Shining Armor. “So what are we doing again?” I ask when I reach her side.

“Just a little activity with the younger students attending my school, nothing to be worried about. In all honesty, this is one of my favorite traditions that I’ve put into place since you and Luna… went away.” Celestia answers with only a small hesitation in her wording.

I tilt my head to look up at her slightly. “Okay, but that doesn’t answer my question of what we’re doing.” I point out.

Celestia giggles in amusement. “Just be patient, you’ll find out soon enough.” She answers.

I frown and look to Shining Armor on her other side for any possible answers, but he just keeps walking with his gaze forward, giving no indication to what’s going on. I internally sigh and do the same, figuring I’ll find out when we get to wherever we’re going.

The walk isn’t long, and pretty soon we find ourselves outside on a field of grass next to a guard building. I figure it’s a guard building because there’s a large gathering of guard-ponies standing just outside of it, and strangely enough, just as many young unicorn fillies and colts as well.

“Hello everypony!” Celestia greets them with a bright smile.

“Hello Princess Celestia.” The children call back.

“So, who here knows why you are all here today?” Celestia asks them.

A filly near the back raises her hoof. “You’re going to teach us something?” She suggests.

“While I’m always hoping you learn things from your day to day lives, that isn’t quite the main reason. Anypony else?” Celestia asks again.

A blue colt speaks up this time. “Are we going to watch the royal guards use spells in fights?” He asks in a high pitched voice. I’m starting to notice something about all these fillies and colts. They seem to be younger than the CMC and the rest of the foals in Cheerilee’s class in Ponyville.

Celestia giggles. “Not quite. Well… actually, a little bit yes as well.” She says. “You’re all here to play a little game with the Royal Guard and myself.” She tells them.

“Really?” A filly near the front exclaims in surprise. The other children around her start talking around each other at the prospect of playing a game instead of learning a lesson.

Celestia clops her bare hoof on the dirt ground to gain their attention again. “Now I’m sure you’re all excited to have some fun, but there is one small but very important lesson I would like to teach you all before we begin.” She says. One or two foals groan aloud but they all stay quiet so Celestia can begin.

“So who can tell me what the most important spell any unicorn can learn is?” Celestia asks them.

The foals are quiet for a moment before the colt that spoke up before does so again. “Plasma beams?” He questions.

Shining Armor grunts slightly, and when I glance at him, I think I see just the barest trace of a grin tugging at the edges of his mouth.

Turning back, I see Celestia shaking her head. “No, while that is a certainly useful combat spell, that is not the most important one.” She answers. Another filly raises her hoof. “Yes?” Celestia points at her.

“Um… transfirg, trunsfagir…,” She seems to be struggling to pronounce the word. “uh, making stuff change into other things?” She offers, settling on the definition instead.

“Transfiguration,” Celestia corrects. “but no, while it is a very advanced type of magic, it is also not the most important.” Another colt raises his hoof. “Yes?” Celestia asks.

“Picking stuff up and throwing it?” He offers, picking a pebble up off the ground with his magic to demonstrate.

Celestia smiles brightly at him. “Yes! Excellent! That is correct!” She praises him. She picks up some dust from the ground in her own magic field. “Levitation, Telekinesis, or Arcanokinesis are all names used to describe the magic of “picking things up and/or throwing it” and it is by far the most important and useful spell any unicorn can learn in their lifetime.” She explains to them. She lets the dust drop. “The main reason for this is because it is the simplest spell for any unicorn to learn, so practically all unicorns are able to use it, regardless of how powerful their magic is. And even when they’re exceptionally powerful, they still resort to using the levitation spell in their day-to-day lives,” Celestia explains. “and it is the spell we will mainly be using today in our little game.” She finishes with a warm smile.

“Now you all may be wondering what we will be playing that will require levitation to play. Well, can you all see the guardsponies gathered near us?” The foals look at the guards in curiosity, though none seem to have taken much notice of me yet, strangely enough. “They will be participating as well, since this game is most aptly named by them as simply Battlefield,” The foals look back to Celestia with wide-eyed confusion. “Every one of you will be given a “sword” to hold in your magic,” Celestia grabs a foam sword from one of the racks off near building and brings it over for all of them to see. “and use them to do epic battle against the other team! After you all break off into teams, the objective is fairly simple: Defeat the other team. If you get hit in a leg, you must hold that leg up off the ground since it has been “cut off” and you will have to fight on. Please try to avoid hitting others in the head too hard, and getting hit in the horn means you have to stop using your magic and use your hooves or mouth to hold your weapon. Again, be very careful and gentle when trying to aim for the horn since it does hurt if you hit it hard enough while casting. And finally, getting hit in the head or the body means that you are out for the round, and must then sit down with your weapon on the ground next to you. Are there any questions?” Celestia asks.

A colt raises his hoof. Celestia nods at him in acknowledgement. “Yes?” Celestia prompts the young colt.

“How come the guards are playing with us?” He asks.

“This game is similar to how the guards train, by sparring against each other to hone their skills against each other. They also need to be able to use their weapons with their magic, and without it if they are a unicorn. The reason for this is because anything can happen on the battlefield. This also happens to be a very good way to train both your magical strength as well as finesse with your magic, and so they will be joining in to both teach you all how to better your technique as well as to swoop in and save some young fillies in distress on occasion.” Celestia answers slyly with a wink. “Anypony else?” She asks again.

Another foal raises their hoof, but at this point I turn look at Shining Armor. “Has she done this before?” I whisper to him.

Shining looks at me for a moment before answering. “Yes. She does this every other month for the children at her school among this age group. From what I can remember, she’s been doing this since before I was even a Private in the guard.” He answers in a whisper back.

I look back at Celestia, who is now going over some basic attacks to make with a foam sword if the children are so inclined. From what I know about kids though, they’re all probably going to just run around whacking each other silly while having a blast. But I will admit, some of them look to be legitimately interested in following along with the Princess’s instruction. “Huh.” I say in response.

Shining apparently took that as a sign to go on. “There are a lot of guards that started out exactly the same as all of those foals. Some were exceptional mages and swordsmares, with some even having been previous personal students of the Princess. Becoming a guard is obviously not for everypony, but this one simple game has given rise to some of the most decorated and skilled soldiers in Equestrian history.” He says.

By this point, the chaos has begun, and numerous foals and even some of the guards are enthusiastically bludgeoning each other with the equivalent of pillows impaled on sticks. And Celestia is right in the thick of it with them. Laughter fills the air as Shining and I watch.

“It’s also a great way for the guards to relax, have fun, and be reminded of what we stand to protect.” Shining Armor finishes.

“What we stand to protect…” I echo with a murmur thoughtfully.

Shining quirks a brow under his helmet at my words. “Thinking about joining the guard?” He asks me.

I let out a small huff of laughter. “Something like that.” I answer. I watch thoughtfully, ruminating on the information Shining Armor’s given me. “So does that mean Twilight knows how to use a sword?” I ask him in curiosity.

Shining is quiet for a few moments, and I sense a momentary spark of suspicion in him, but he answers me. “Celestia has told me that she only trains her personal students in how to use a weapon if they show an interest in it. Twilight was more interested in books and spells than anything else. So, according to Celestia, no, Twilight doesn’t know how to fight.” He answers.

“Hm…” Is all I say in answer before we both go back to watching the children play their game. It looks like the first round is over, and Celestia let a bunch of the foals take her down in the most comical way possible: Hopping on one front leg with a foam sword sticking out the side of her mouth before the remaining colts and fillies rush and overwhelm her. She gets back up with a smile big and bright enough to rival Pinkie Pie’s best ones.

I take a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. “Thanks, I hope you have fun.” I tell Shining while turning around.

He looks at me in mild surprise. “You’re leaving? Not going to join in?” He asks me curiously.

I stop, a memory flashes into my mind of a disintegrating arm, then of sparking wing talons descending on a blue head, and finally of a battered and broken thestral stallion looking up in defiance, and I tiredly give Shining Armor my answer. “It’s been a while since I’ve last had to hold back in a fight. I’d really hate to accidentally hurt somepony from overenthusiasm. Maybe next time. And please tell Princess Celestia thanks for the talk. It was really… illuminating.” I answer before taking flight to head back to Ponyville.

I glide listlessly through the air down the mountain, Ponyville in the distance.

Something’s wrong with me. Every time I seem to be getting better, something comes up and I react too quickly. I’m on a hair trigger and I’m not fighting an alicorn anymore. I need to fix this. I need to get myself under control again before someone else gets hurt or worse. I’m wound up far too tightly.

Looking up from the ground, the wide blue, cloud-filled sky fills my view, and I feel myself stroking my wings. I blink as I’m hit by an impulse to fly faster.

Maybe I should… let loose for a little bit.

Once I have that thought, I feel wind being pushed out through my wing membranes, and I’m accelerating forward through the air ever faster, until I’m racing across the sky using my magic.

If I’m feeling wound up right now, then I guess I’ll just have to unwind.

The wind trailing from my wings become sparks of electricity and I’m rocketing through the clouds, imagining myself as a bolt of lightning, unbound and free from all of my problems for a little bit..

Author's Notes:

He-llo Everyone!!!

"Not much happened this chapter."

Yeah, I know. It's just one of those kinds of chapters. Also I was getting anxious to post a new chapter since so much time had passed since the last one.

"And the last one wasn't even canon."

I KNOW! Things are passing by really slow in my mind at this point of the story. Tons of ideas for future chapters, but I'm kind of in the awkward "gotta get past these specific MLP episodes before moving forward with the plot" filler chapter period. I'm also super slow at getting chapters out during the college quarter.

"We noticed."

"Hurry up and blow something up!"

... Eh, I guess I could do that. Might as well go with that episode for the next chapter.

"... which one?"

"Is it time for Twilicorn vs Tirek already?!"

Not even remotely close Pinkie Pie.

"Aww..."

It is time to give Bael an upgrade though.

"What... do you mean by that?"

Heheheheh, you'll just have to wait and find out. I will say that he's just going to get the ability, not necessarily be able to use it in a way that's useful.

"Does he learn to explode?"

What? No. Why would you-

"What about pulling his wings off and using them as boomerangs?"

No, Pinkie, that's not something an organic being can do.

"Sure he can!"

"As much as I hate to agree with Ictus and Pinkie, they are technically right that Baelor could probably do that."

Well, yeah, but it'd really, really, really hurt. Also I'm not sure whether he would be able to reattach them.

"But he could still do it."

OKAY FINE! YES, BAELOR COULD USE HIS WINGS AS BOOMERANGS! BUT HE'S NOT GOING TO! BECAUSE WHAT SANE PERSON WOULD EVER RESORT TO RIPPING OFF THEIR OWN LIMBS AND THROWING THEM AT THEIR ENEMY?!?!