The early morning sun snuck its way through the open door of her bedroom and touched Gusty’s eyelids. It was earlier than her usual wake up time, Bunker must have accidentally left the door open on his way out to work today. That’s right, her husband had a job, one that had gone unnoticed for the last three years. She had missed more than she cared to admit this last while in her life, but she was not going to miss things now. Vaguely smiling, she pictured him yelling at the greenhorned ponies on their survival training for Royal Guard school. There was not a better stallion to show the young recruits how to forage the land for food and necessary supplies while on extended missions.

Sitting up with a relaxed stretch of her wings and forehooves the teal alicorn hummed pleasantly to herself, thinking of other things. Life had been going quite well for her, there were no nightmares to deal with, no random and violent thoughts, the world felt at peace. That was much more than Gusty had ever hoped for, it had been making her very happy since she had awoken on the Midnight Onyx. Guardian Angel had seen to that. The mere thought of his name sent a chill up her spine, Gusty had been dreaming of him more than was polite for a mare that was married to another stallion. However, there was not much for it, with the way things were now she would rather dream of him than stand in front of him not knowing what to do with herself. That feeling would only be increased by his little inquisitive prods across the ties that bound their minds, the damn curious bastard.

“Oh, good grief,” she grumbled at the butterflies in her stomach.

Rolling out of bed, Gusty came to the executive decision that she would walk with Amethyst to school this morning. Fall session had just started and it would be good for her to dote on her daughter compared to how she had been acting. It was not ever going to make up for lost time, not that the lost time had been something in her control. Gusty had to remind herself constantly that though she felt guilty for her previous aloof behavior with Amethyst, she had the chance to make the difference now. That sentiment extended to a number of other subjects as well, making her trot briskly to the shower where she could ruminate her thoughts in the hot water.

The screech of the faucet knobs, a splash of water on porcelain and the quiet hiss of steaming liquid preceded Gusty finding the optimum temperature. It did not take long before she grabbed a fresh, over-sized sponge from the bathroom cabinet and stepped into the running water. She had already levitated her usual body wash into the air from its resting place on the tub, spraying a jet of the cool gel across her own back and into the sponge. It was nice to not be in a rush to make it to Court, and Gusty lavished herself with suds. Taking advantage of the rarely-used fine-toothed comb that hung from the shower head, she brushed water and soap in and out of her wings. Before she took to simply standing in the comfortable water her eye caught a bottle of oatmeal fur conditioner. Since she was already treating herself, it was quickly hefted in her telekinetic grip and squeezed into her hair. Relishing the fresh, yet savory, almost sultry smell she actively felt it soften and fluff her coat as she worked it in.

A knocking on the door came about the time she was washing out the conditioner.

“Mom? Is that you in there?” Amethyst called through the door.

“Good morning!” Gusty cooed to her daughter.

“May I come in? I need to go to the bathroom,” she requested politely.

“Sure, I’ll step out once you are done, so you can get cleaned up for school.”

“Okay.”

The audible vibration of Amethyst’s magic opened the door with only a small amount of noise. The hooves of the young filly pranced in quickly, a sigh of relief coming from her lungs. Gusty stifled a giggle, though she was not her daughter by blood, Amethyst had certainly picked up a few of her habits simply by living with her.

“So, kiddo, I’m going to walk you to school this morning,” Gusty declared over the rushing water of the flushing toilet.

“Y-you are?!” She did not need to see her daughter to tell how much she had balked in surprise.

“Yep. I figured I better do it before you get old enough to think I’m not fun to be around anymore,” Gusty teased, turning off the water and drawing the curtain.

Amethyst hovered over a big towel before Gusty could get it herself. She wrapped it around her barrel briefly before switching to wiping down her hooves. Bobbing impatiently, her daughter’s messy light pink mane reflected the partially concealed emotion of the filly herself. Gusty rolled her eyes, that was another trait she had seemingly acquired that stemmed from the alicorn. Dry enough, she turned and snagged the wing comb with her magic, deciding to take it with her to her bedroom and delay Amethyst no longer.

“Come get me after you finish breakfast,” she instructed the filly as she strode into the hall.

“I will. Don’t worry!” Amethyst emphasized before shutting the bathroom door behind her.

Gusty heaved an exasperated breath. Her daughter’s eleventh birthday was only a few weeks away, or was it her twelfth? Amethyst had always been a little dodgy when it came to her age. The alicorn suspected that was because she did not truly know her age and was much too embarrassed to admit it. Having made it to her room, she took to combing out her mane and brushing her fur and wings, her thoughts dwelling still on the filly in the shower.

Either way, the budding little preteen was already getting slightly more rebellious than she had been last year. Gusty felt a tinge of fear in her chest at the thought of those upcoming teen years and first heat. She shuddered at the thought. Amethyst was a magical prodigy, and if she wanted to do something there were not many means to stop her. Anxious but also intrigued, her daughter was growing up and it made her proud. Now if perhaps Amethyst was an alicorn, Gusty could feel even better. That was, unfortunately, a fever dream. Ponies could not just suddenly become alicorns, and even if you did stick wings on a unicorn, a horn on a pegasus, or even both an an earthpony that would not make said pony immortal like herself, Celestia, or Luna.

This drew her thoughts to having a child of her own blood. Gusty turned around to begin work on her tail, internally remarking that Bunker would love that idea. Sadly, she was fairly certain the stallion just did not have the genes necessary to produce alicorn foals. That did not make him less valuable as a partner but as a mare considering the scant numbers of true alicorns left, all of them female, it did sour the mood. It had been hard to stop and think of the situation her race was in before, but now the clarity she had made her feel depressed at the state of things.

“Mom! I’m ready, come on!” Amethyst called from the kitchen of the apartment, graciously interrupting her line of thoughts.

Gusty discarded the brush, happy that any mats that might have been in her tail were gone. The thick mass of hair was still a little curlier than she liked but there was not much for it now. She was not about to make her daughter late.

“Okay, I’m on my way,” she said standing up. Gusty caught a glimpse of her backside in the vanity’s mirror and quickly decided her tail would not be enough to cover herself. She hastily grabbed her cobalt skirt and slipped it on, letting the cloth give her peace-of-mind. Giving her rump a final shake in the glass, she was pleased to see the fit keep her endowments covered and manageable, it would not have done to be open and in the wind with her mind on the idea of foaling.

She beat a speedy path into the living room where Amethyst waited, an eager grin on her face. However, Gusty could not help but notice the wall clock showing the time as five minutes before seven in the morning.

“Amethyst...why are we leaving so early? Your school isn’t that far away is it?!” she questioned, horrified at the possibility she had been making her daughter walk some ridiculous distance to school.

“Well...no. I usually take my time...I never go straight there.” The filly lowered her shoulders sheepishly.

“Oh ho!” Gusty smiled wide, “Sneaking around behind your mother’s back?”

“Not exactly…” Amethyst conceded.

Reaching down, the alicorn ruffled the filly’s mane giggling, “Don’t worry silly filly, you aren’t in trouble. I know you can take care of yourself. Though I would have preferred you told me. I was always puzzled when you left before I even went to breakfast before Court. I want you to be more open with me in the future, okay?”

“Yes, momma, I will,” she replied still looking a bit timid.

They got going after Gusty pushed her suddenly less eager daughter along. After they had got past the Royal Apartments. She took the time to inform the guards that she probably would not be making morning Court on time and to let Celestia know. They nodded in agreement and let them continue on as they slowly made their way to the other side of the Palace, the side with the gardens. It was there that the alicorn started asking questions.

“So, what do you do besides walk around? Do you and some friends get together to play or something?” Gusty inquired.

“Well, I do meet somepony, but...he’s not really my friend. He usually meets me and takes me to school,” Amethyst explain rather vaguely.

“He? I don’t think I like where this is going, missy,” Gusty admonished.

“Mom! It’s not like...that! He takes me flying, makes sure I get home after school and even helps with my homework sometimes. But it’s mostly the flying, I mean, ever since you first showed me what it was like to fly, I take any chance I can get!” Her daughter bounced as she spoke. Most disturbingly, the alicorn knew of no colt Amethyst’s age that could handle her. This was sounding worse by the second.

The sound of chirping birds hit her ears, and Gusty looked around the garden. It had been a while since she had been here, but the big hedges, fountains, and various statues were familiar enough. However she was looking for some creepy stallion that was possibly taking advantage of her daughter, so it was hard to admire the beauty. Amethyst was very mature for her age, and Gusty was not so naive to think the filly did not understand sex or other adult behavior. Amethyst had been through a lot, more than anypony should have been through in several life times and she was not even a teenager yet. However, upon finding nopony sticking out of the various shrubs and flower beds Gusty turned back to her daughter.

“Who is he?” She narrowly kept herself from growling in disapproval as they continued to trek deeper into the garden.

“Well..um..I-I um...you know him…” Amethyst answered unsteadily.

“I do?” Gusty questioned suspiciously.

“Y-yeah. And that’s why I’m nervous.” Pointing, her daughter drew her attention to a low hanging yew tree.

The tree had not been visible until they had rounded the corner of the tall row of decorative hedges on their right. And there, standing under its shady branches not twenty feet away was Guardian Angel. Gusty felt her heart skip a beat. Freezing in place, she did not even manage to gasp as an ear flicked her direction followed by his eyes.

A broad smile parted his lips and exposed his fangs, making Gusty turn her face away. She had not been ready to see him, not ready to try and parse her emotions. The problem she had was simply that she already knew how she felt about him. A feeling she could not get out of her mind, a feeling she had not recognized, blurred by the magics of his ancestors and her own design. With those inhibitions out of the way, she could not look at him without heat racing to her face and her loins. Walking up slowly, Gusty could hear him release a calm contented sigh. Those playful prods of inquisitiveness came from his presence as she looked at the ground trying to hide behind her mane.

“Good morning, Gusty. Quite the surprise to see out this early,” Guardian Angel greeted her warmly.

“Good morning,” she answered back doing her best to maintain her composure.

“Hey, wait a minute!” Amethyst’s voice seemed far off and Gusty was forced to look for where the filly had run off to. She found her daughter quickly, the little pony galloping over from behind a squirrel shaped bush. She skidded to a stop between them, comically looking between the two tall beings with the gaze of a suspicious dragon, thinking she was being slighted.

“Did you two make up and I just didn’t figure it out?” she asked finally.

“I guess you could say that,” Guardian Angel answered sagely.

“I have to say I am very surprised! Like, I really don’t believe it! This is great!” Amethyst merrily chirped

This confused Gusty: just how long had the demon-stallion been escorting her daughter to and from school? Why did he even care to do it? This was the same stallion that had cut her horn off, and Amethyst did not even seem hesitant to be around him in the slightest. More questions buzzed through Gusty’s mind before a simple solution presented itself to her. The intrigue distracted her from her feelings. If he was manipulating Amethyst then she had every reason to assume the worst of him like she had before. However, if this was all genuine, Gusty felt a blush return full force, that meant that there was a legitimate chance he had truly turned over a new leaf. He had always been telling her that, anyhow.

She cast a scrutinizing gaze over the stallion. He wore a dark jacket of an unfamiliar material. It remained unbuttoned showing off his scars and muscled chest, allowing her to see the inside lining. Glistening dimly the cloth seemed to be rather thick but still flexible, it was sort of grey-blue unlike the more charcoal-black of the exterior. Something about it did not sit right with her but she was unable to put her hoof on the reason.

“Alright, punk. Ready to fly?” He bent down to Amethyst a smile on his face, ignoring Gusty’s pursed lips and jaded thoughts.

“You bet!” her daughter hopped once excitedly.

Guardian Angel extended one of his big hooves out and the filly pounced on it. Amethyst was just big enough to reach around his limb and he lifted her up and deposited her onto his back between his half-folded wings.

“Well, get strapped in. I’m going to push your limits today!” he beamed. Gusty remained silent, still more than a little flabbergasted.

Watching curiously, she waited as the stallion removed one of his legs from his jacket, exposing a large sown-in pouch as he folded it partially behind his neck. To her surprise Amethyst scampered up to the enclosure, her horn lit as she pulled out a strange set of cords and a pair of goggles from inside. The filly slipped the eyewear on and stepped between the lengths of rope which turned out to be a specially designed harness. Now visible against the backdrop of Amethyst’s creme-colored fur, a pair of clasps stood out from the rest of the safety gear. One dangled from her back another from the bottom of her teeny barrel. Amethyst then hopped into the pouch, her horn glowing a little more fiercely as a series of clicks snip-snapped. Guardian Angel pulled his sleeve back on and her daughter faced forward into the stallion’s mane. Gusty noticed the shoulders of his jacket pinch some and a final clack sounded.

“Ready!” the filly declared a huge grin taking up most of her face.

“Me too.” Guardian Angel turned to her. “What about you, Gusty?”

“Ready for what?”” she balked her mind still trying to catch up with what was happening.

“To fly!” the unlikely pair of a child and demon declared together. Shaking her head, the alicorn brought a hoof up to her left temple. They looked completely ridiculous. Guardian Angel was so ludicrously large that Amethyst practically looked like she had been shrunken by some rogue mage that had a complex for tiny things. At least by the look of things her daughter was not going to fall off him. They had clearly done this before, not with her blessing of course, but at this point they were not going to listen to her anyway.

“Okay, I guess I’m ready,” she sighed.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get an explanation, but only if you can keep up,” Guardian Angel smiled wryly. He knew she was trying to piece together what was going on here, and there was nothing she could do about it. Now he was dangling the answer in front of her like a carrot on a string. The worst part was: Gusty loved carrots.

“Come on, Mom! You aren’t going to take that from him are you?” her daughter taunted, making her jump in surprise.

“No, I’m not, Amethyst. You better get ready to do that explaining, flyboy!’ Gusty bent her knees some, getting ready to fly. She could not help but get competitive with Guardian Angel, besides, this might be a good way to get him to loosen up his mental “guard.” It had already been proven that once he did that she had him.

“This is gonna be awesome! Alright I’ll count down!” her daughter bounced in her seat. “Four, three, twoooooooo!!!”

Guardian Angel sprang of the ground carrying Amethyst’s voice with him as he flew up at a steep angle at a blistering speed. Caught off guard Gusty hastily attempted to chase, finding it much too difficult at the angle he chose.

“Cheater!” She shouted after them, taking her shallower climb to try and catch up.

Just as she was about level with him, he turned over in a rolling dive with a perfect grace, seemingly commanding the flow of air around his body with his will alone. Amethyst squealed with delight as he continued to corkscrew in his dive. Dipping forward Gusty did not see much else as she attempted to mimic his pattern. After a moment the grey blur that was Guardian Angel pulled up and she stopped her twisting motion momentarily to see which way she needed to follow.

White streaks appeared along the edges of his wings as he glided on his momentum. They left a clear, but wispy trail as he leveled out facing away from the Royal Gardens and out over Canterlot proper. Gusty gritted her teeth, she was not about to be outdone by the stallion, but she was getting the sinking feeling she had no hope of beating him in the sky. Adjusting her wings and pumping them like mad she turned up from her dive and pointed her nose right at him, closing the majority of the distance. As she neared Guardian Angel he began to flex his enormous wings, a single cycle of their motion doubling the space between them as he sped away.

He looked over his shoulder before he got too far away and let loose a cocky chuckle. Pride bruised Gusty growled, pushing herself to keep pace. Gaining, she smiled her favorite idea in her head; a distraction.

Hey! You over-sized sparrow! If I catch you I’m going to- Gusty stopped herself finding the plan backfiring as her eyes traced over the stallion’s tail and hips. It was too late however, she had already bridged the short distance between she and Guardian Angel’s mind.

Gonna what? Size me up from a closer distance? Pay attention, you’re going to fly into a building. He retorted smugly while executing a turn tighter than a hairpin and zipping away.

Mind refocusing on flying Gusty found him to be quite correct. Her wings immediately ached as she slowed herself, pulling up to clear the roof of the structure with not much more than an inch clearance. She might be as fast as him, but she did not have his maneuverability. Taking a more gradual turn she watched the stallion pitch into a variety of complex maneuvers, her ears vaguely able to catch Amethyst shouting in the excited sort of rage caused by adrenaline.

First a pair of loops, one upwards one downwards were displayed. They were followed by an agility display where Guardian Angel tilted his wings so severely that they looked reversed which made his body tilt away from the direction he was soaring, dangling Amethyst upside down as the stallion’s rear hooves swung forward matching his direction of travel. Even from here, Gusty could see the look of awe growing on her daughter’s face. The alicorn shot after the pair after the big pegasus righted himself and flew up higher into the empty blue sky.

Things continued like this for about a half-hour. Guardian Angel putting Amethyst through different sets of tricks and stunts, while Gusty desperately attempted to keep up. Heaving, as she was more than winded at this point, the alicorn absently followed the demon as he pitched into his final dive, heading towards a building that could only be described as definitely the school.

He seemed to slow himself with a sort of inconsistent pace as he tightened his body to keep his hooves below his barrel. Landing in the grass on a simple glide that Gusty tried to match him but found herself overshooting, passing well above he and her daughter. She skidded and bounced a few times before coming to a halt nearly tumbling over. Finally on the ground she remained unsteadily standing in the yard of the school. However, fatigue took over and Gusty quickly lay on the soft grass heaving a sigh, trying to relieve the strain on her body.

“You okay, mom?” Amethyst ask wobbling over, a goofy smile shining bright.

“I’ve been better.” She used her magic to pull the googles off of her daughter’s face and attempt to fix her stuck-blown-back mane.

“It’s too bad you lost, but it was still pretty amazing. I wonder: when the world will stop spinning?” The filly laid flat, her limbs spread out to the maximum her joints would allow.

Trotting up on the other side of her, Guardian Angel stretched his legs forward like a cat before sitting down properly. Casting a sly smile at Gusty, he said, “I cheated, kid. I still have to talk to her.”

“Yeah, you do,” The alicorn busied herself undoing her daughter’s harness, before tossing it at the stallion. She had a good place to start her questions before getting more serious, “Let’s start with that jacket. Where did you get it?”

“I had it made, actually. Why do you care?” he answered tilting his head to the side.

“Made from what?” she continued.

“If you really must know it is made from dragon and hydra. The hide and scales of both,” Guardian Angel looked to the side. Meanwhile Amethyst cooed with curiosity, prodding the clothing with a hoof.

“That’s barbaric,” Gusty criticized.

“Waste not, want not. Neither of them were using them anymore anyway,” the demon replied darkly his head down.

“Wait, so you killed a dragon?!” Amethyst cried in shock, “That’s crazy! You had a good reason, right?”

“He was massacring the majority of the griffon population, I was tasked with stopping him.” Turning back to face them, “So yeah, a pretty good reason...I guess.” Gusty noticed the stallion’s face had a healthy touch of self-loathing written on it.

“That didn’t mean you had to kill him,” she admonished, intentionally preying on his insecurity. Gusty was already intrigued by the story, her memories of the dragons of old sparking a bit of an angry little fire in her chest.

“That’s right I didn’t. Nor was it really my intention. However, once he realized what I was he made it a me or him situation. I chose me,” he answered with a shake of his head.

“Could you blame him? You are Shadow-kin after all, your families are the reason there are so few dragons these days.” Gusty paused another thought taking form, “If he recognized you that means he was probably pretty old. How big was he?”

“Easily the size of a mountain. Big enough that a single swing of his tail would wreck an entire village without any effort. He was this color,” Guardian Angel pushed the jacket open and pointed at the grey sparkling to blue lining. A shiver went up Gusty’s spine, her mind working into overdrive, she had recognized that pearlescent color earlier. There was a reason she felt unsettled by the sight, she knew it had belonged to a living being. A being that she had once known.

“His name was Torch,” she whispered.

“How do you know th-” Guardian Angel started only to be interrupted by Gusty continuing.

“I knew him. He was the eldest of the male dragons before the rise of the Cirran Empire, the father to all the young drakes today. Caretaker of the last horde of eggs we saved from the Shadow-kin those five thousand years ago. But he was so young then, so small and timid…and now I find out you’ve killed him.” The alicorn folded her hooves angrily.

Swinging her head repeatedly, Amethyst looked warily between she and Guardian Angel. Gusty noticed, and felt guilty for scaring her daughter, and immediately relaxed her posture. However, she kept her stern gaze on the stallion across from her in the grass. The alicorn had not expected to stumble upon another of the demon’s misdeeds quite so easily, but he seemed to have a good reason for having killed Torch. She waited for him to speak, knowing he would take her mental cues to explain himself without the need for instructions

“I don’t know who he was in the past, but I can tell you what I saw that day was a bloodthirsty monster that made my body count look small in the matter of a few hours. I didn’t want to fight him...because I didn’t think I could win. I tried to talk him down some, but he got fed up with me. So he slaps me across the countryside and I do some regeneration, and he just gets even crazier. I mean completely-com-plete-ly ballistic! Screaming nonsense about how many he’d killed before me, it was like he was rabid. After that, I did what was necessary to survive,” he finished his eyes looking distant.

“Torch was a just and honorable dragon, he only fought opponents fairly. I can’t imagine he would have done that to the griffons without some form of provocation. And I mean something big...like they crushed an unhatched egg, no-a dozen unhatched eggs,” Gusty commented, disturbed by the description of the drake she once knew.

“No one knows why, but I can tell you he doesn’t fight fair at all...at least not when he’s angry, and huge...and trying to crush me to death.” Guardian Angel drew a breath rolling his lips inward, before blustering a long sigh and pointing to the long scar across his lower chest. “I got this big one from him. He really almost killed me. It was a pretty bad fight.”

“I hesitate to ask, but knowing Amethyst has seen worse,” Gusty looked at her daughter who shrugged, silently listening, “So tell us how you beat him.”

“Well, after giving me this scar,” he pointed at the particularly thick deformity again. “He grabbed me and tossed me into his mouth, and kinda chewed me a bit before swallowing me. I wasn’t quite dead yet so that was a pretty dumb move on his part. It was godsdamned harrowing though,” he shuddered.

“Language!” she hissed. Amethyst giggled which elicited a disapproving glare directed at the filly. She turned her eyes to the sky in a perfectly innocent look that her mother did not buy for a second. She motioned for Guardian Angel to continue.

“Long story short, I didn’t feel like getting dissolved in dragon stomach acid so I bit into his throat, managing to cut my way to his heart...which out of desperation I then ate…” he rubbed his mane sheepishly as Gusty stared on in vacant horror.

“You ate...his heart,” she repeated slowly trying to wrap her mind around the atrocity.

“You. As in you, a Shadow-kin...ate his heart…the core part of him that made him a dragon. The place where their soul...t-their-their magic...everything is kept,” she stammered in disbelief.

“Yes. And judging by what you just described the side-effects that I experienced later make a lot more sense...” Guardian Angel trailed off.

Gusty cupped her face in her hooves trying to contain her disgust and shock. “You know that what you did is a crime against all dragon-kind don’t you?”

“Nope. Sure didn’t. And again you are making a compelling case for why Equestria’s relationship with the dragons has been deteriorating over the last seven years since it happened. Where were you seven years ago...anyway, how’s it a crime?” the ignorant demon asked confusedly.

“You ate his magic. Like any Shadow-kin is wont to do, but destroying a dragon’s magic makes it impossible for their spirit to be reincarnated as a new egg. You permanently removed Torch’s magic from the cycle of dragons,” Gusty explained.

Guardian Angel gave a small upset grunt but remained silent. He searched the grass with his eyes, his face tight with concentration. She found herself at a loss for words, while it had been a very long time since she had seen a dragon face-to-face, the realization still stung. Strangely, it did not bother her that Torch had been killed by the stallion across from her, but more the consequences of his death. She supposed this was because whether or not Guardian Angel’s story had not even the tiniest shred of truth in it, there was no excuse for Torch’s rampage of death. Gusty knew that it was only a matter of time before whatever remaining diplomatic relationships between Equestria and the Dragons dissolved completely.

If the matriarch she was thinking of still lived, she would not handle the death of her mate well. With luck she would keep mourning for a few more years. After all, the lifespan of dragon’s lasted millennias and the older they got the longer it took for them to reach full emotional distress. Ashijinir’s depression would hopefully last long enough for Gusty to be cleared of the Curse, that way she could smooth things over properly, even if that meant defending Guardian Angel’s actions. Momentarily, she bit her lip feeling her age, not in her body but in her heart at the thought she had known dragons old enough to take years to reach the rage stage of grief. She might still have the bright healthy body of a mare younger than thirty but that did little to dull the knife of worry that had stabbed itself into her mind both for her previous scaly friend and the future of the world.

“There is more I need to tell you, Gusty. If you have the patience for it,” Guardian Angel said breaking the pause between their words. It was a good distraction from the thoughts of impending doom.

“I-I don’t think I can right now…” She looked at him, and practically felt bags form under her eyes. “I don’t know what to do with you...I don’t know if I should trust what you say...if-if-if how I feel is real or-or if its the side-effect of being momentarily free of the Curse.”

A slight whimper from Amethyst drew her attention over to her daughter. “You two aren’t going to start fighting again are you?”

“No, little gem, we aren’t.” Gusty ruffled the filly’s mane. “I wanna to handle this differently now that I have my wits about me. It’s why I wanted to walk you to school today, because now that I can think clearly, I don’t really want to miss any more of you growing up. The last three years were really a blur for me.”

Guardian Angel stood up and offered her a hoof. She cautiously took it and let him pull her up. Feeling a bit of a blush again, but too stubborn to turn away, Gusty met his eyes. His look was soft, concerned, as if he was trying to give her as much space as he could regardless of what he wanted to do. And Gusty could distinctly feel what he wanted, and found herself damning the connection they shared.

“If not now...when? We should have this talk soon. I don’t want to risk missing the opportunity. I’ve already missed enough of you,” he murmured stepping closer, a portion of his air-whipped mane sliding onto his face.

“Not tomorrow...n-not this weekend either,” she stammered. It distinctly felt like Guardian Angel was asking her out on a date. The serious nature of his voice and the look in his eyes made the heat on her face rise in the extreme.

“Monday. I’m sure I can persuade Celestia to let you slip away for brunch.” He leaned back a bit, aware of her discomfort.

Gusty looked down at Amethyst. Her daughter was no help, nodding resolutely to show she thought it was a good idea. The alicorn stared daggers at the filly for a moment, before acquiescing. She had been hoping for an out but it seemed that even her daughter thought talking to Guardian Angel was a good idea. This made Gusty feel unbelievably pouty so she took it out on the stallion who requested.

“Fine, but only if you stop flirting with me!” she declared, her mood elevating as she went back to her old habits.

“Fine, only if you stop flirting with me,” he countered immediately. Guardian Angel smiled already ready for their old song and dance.

“I’ll do no such thing it is my only weapon against you!”

“That’s not fair, you started it, you stop it!”

“I did not!”

“If four very promiscuous clones isn’t flirting I don’t know what is!”

“That doesn’t count! I don’t control those!”

“Yeah, sure. And I bet you want me believe you didn’t tell them to do what they did and that you couldn’t feel it either!”

“HEY! STOP FIGHTING IN FRONT OF MY FRIENDS!” Amethyst’s magically amplified voice sent shockwaves just powerful enough to distract the two squabbling adults.

Gusty caught a mischievous glint in Guardian Angel’s eye just before they both turned to look at her daughter. Sure enough, a pair of surprised unicorn fillies stood behind Amethyst in the school yard, having evidently arrived while she was distracted. The plucky group stared up at them, their leader’s brow furrowed in frustration. Driven by the prodding sensation she always got when Guardian Angel wanted her to look at him, Gusty turned her eyes up to meet his. The look in his gaze had turned to a grin, one that she found herself acquiring too, since she already knew what he was planning before he said it.

“I’ll hold her down. You tickle her,” he ordered. Gusty nodded in agreement.

“What?!” Amethyst balked. At that point it was too late and Guardian Angel snagged her in a wing before laying her flat on the ground.

Gusty played her part, both with magic and her hooves. Poor Amethyst to her credit managed to squeal once in between the giggling and the embarrassment.

“Run! Save yourselves!” she cried to her friends both of whom dashed away.

The unlikely pair of allies persisted until the filly’s cries of dismayed merriment turned to ones of actual laughter. Once released Amethyst rushed off to class, trying her best to look like she had been mistreated, but failing to forget she was smiling. Guardian Angel bade farewell not long after, slipping away into the sky leaving Gusty to watch him go. A contented feeling settled in her chest and she released a long sigh. Arguing for sport and playing with her daughter and actually being able to feel joy while doing it was a long forgotten sensation that she deeply relished. A pleasant feeling of acknowledgement vaguely brushed her coming from Guardian Angel.

So how far away can you feel me? She asked.

As far as you like, sweetheart, he responded. Gusty caught the sight of him banking up high in the sky his wings drawing cuts through the air.

One of the things we need to talk about his how we can reduce how much we time we spend in each other’s mind. She shook her head.

Noted. But for starters, you can practice thinking of something besides me. Guardian Angel commented.

Ha! Still the most conceited stallion I know. Begone with you! Gusty waved a hoof dismissively. This was before she realized she probably looked like an idiot batting her hoof about at nothing anypony else could perceive.

His presence slowly dissipated as he snickered at her. It took a moment but the sensation of him watching her almost completely vanished. It was good enough. Sighing pleasantly, Gusty turned her head at the school as its bell rang signaling eight o’clock. She still had a whole hour before Court would start up. Today had already been pretty good, and if she could make it through the coming Monday without having any symptoms then she might just forget about the Curse of the Shadow-kin altogether. Starting on a brisk walk towards the markets in downtown Canterlot, she remarked internally that she could get extremely comfortable in this routine.

A warm feeling nestled itself in her chest making the sun seem cheerier and the colors of the many ponies on the street seem brighter. Gusty closed her eyes for a moment drawing a deep, even breath. The emotion swelled and she remembered its name. But she decided to keep that little tidbit to herself, she would not want other ponies to think her promiscuous, right?

Next Chapter: Act 4: Chapter 4 - Of Shadow-kin and Dragons Estimated time remaining: 9 Hours, 17 Minutes