The letter had arrived early in the morning. Twilight had been having breakfast with Spike in the library and considering re-shelving some of the books to make more sense of the space she had to organize them in, when the drake burped and a scroll materialized from his fire. She eagerly unwrapped it and read it aloud.

To my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.

After much convincing, my father will be arriving in Ponyville today on the morning train. Please be there to receive him and escort him around town. I am even now in the process of procuring a house for him to reside in, along with a similar stipend for him to use to provide for his life in Ponyville.

Please, Twilight. Help my father reconnect with the ponies of this day and age. His time on Equus has not been...the most kind to him. He has had to fight nearly every day, against monsters that would have seen him dead if they could have. I want him to see that fighting isn’t needed anymore.

Princess Celestia

After a quick breakfast, a quick check to make sure she’d not forgotten anything, and a quick pack of her saddlebags with some choice reference material, Twilight Sparkle made her way to the train platform, to wait for the Princesses’ foster father. She patiently waited for half an hour until the train from Canterlot pulled into the station. A small herd of ponies walked out and made for the town in general, but one stayed put and was looking right at her.

One that was carrying a sword she’d seen before, though the wings were new. The color scheme and the mark were the same, though. Apparently, he could become multiple types of ponies. She would have to ask about that.

“Hello again,” she said with a smile. “I’m glad to see you.”

“Really now?” the stallion observed. “It’s been a while since I heard a pony say that to me. Well, besides Celly and Lulu that is.”

“That’s one of the things we’re going to address today,” Twilight affirmed as she began leading the stallion into the town. “How long has it been since you had regular, friendly contact with anypony?”

There was a silence as the stallion considered her question before sighing moresly. “At least a thousand years. Maybe more. I visited a few ponies over the last thousand years, but they weren’t regular things at all.”

“That’s quite the gap,” Twilight said. “What were you doing before that?”

“Celestia and Luna had a castle in the Everfree Forest,” the stallion said. “I lived there with them, as a ‘royal advisor.’ Then...Nightmare Moon happened, and I failed to do anything to help.”

That seemed to be a sore topic, so Twilight did her best to recover. “Ah, well, I suppose that would be a good reason, then,” she said, coughing slightly. “So, would you say you had a lot of friends then?”

“Oh, the castle staff were friendly as all heck,” Balanced Aspect said with a smile. “I mean, we all had jobs to do, but that didn’t stop us from socializing and being friendly to one another when we could.”

“It sounds like it,” Twilight said with a smile as she kept leading the stallion towards their first stop for the day. Pinkie would probably try to throw him a party at some point, and Fluttershy wouldn’t be a bad idea either, but she wanted to introduce him to the friends that hadn’t been there first. To that end, the Carousel Boutique and Rarity were their first stops.

Balanced Aspect stopped and gawped at the building he was being led to before he found his voice again. “What. Is that,” he asked.

“That’s Carousel Boutique,” Twilight answered. “Rarity’s place of business. And seeing as she’s a friend of mine, I was going to take this chance to introduce you to her.”

“I feel my masculinity levels dropping just from looking at the thing,” the stallion complained. “And that’s after riding the ‘Friendship Express.’”

“It’s not that bad,” Twilight said before they walked up the front steps and she knocked on the front door.

“Coming~” A voice sang out from the other side. After not more than a few seconds, a white unicorn mare with a curly violet mane and tail, with the same blue eyes as Balanced Aspect himself had, greeted them at the door.

“Twilight dear!” she said, giving the lavender unicorn a hug. Then she looked at the strange stallion and carefully raised an eyebrow. “And who is this gentlestallion?”

Aspect had an...unusual reaction. He softly whispered one name, but it wasn’t Rarity’s. “Majesty?” he said.

“Who?” Rarity asked. “You must be mistaken, my name is Rarity, the owner and proprietor of the Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique.”

The stallion shook his head a few times before smiling at the mare softly. “I’m sorry, ma’am, you merely reminded me of a friend I had a...long time ago.”

“I see,” Rarity replied. “And your name, sir?”

“Balanced Aspect,” the stallion said before bowing to her. “At your service.”

“Well you certainly are a gentlestallion,” Rarity said with a small laugh. “Come in, come in. Twilight can tell me all about how you two met over a nice cup of tea.”

“It’s not like that,” Twilight said as the pair of ponies walked into the building. Aspect took note of the many, many dresses on the mannequins lying about and muttered something about his masculinity diving even more. “Rarity, remember that letter I got last week?”

“About the princesses wanting us to visit and see a friend of theirs?” Rarity replied. “I would have gone with you, dear, but I do have a business to run. I can’t go off on every single adventure that walks up to us.”

“I know, and I understand,” Twilight replied as they walked into Rarity’s sitting room. Twilight and Aspect got comfortable before she pointed at the stallion. “This is their friend, come down to visit Ponyville.”

“My word!” Rarity said, taking in the stallion’s very plain appearance. “And you dress like that?”

“What?” Aspect asked. “It’s simple and practical. You would not believe the abuse these saddlebags have lived through.”

“Still, if you are the friend of royalty, you should dress as such,” the white unicorn replied. “I can have a new outfit made for you within a few hours that would properly reflect your status-”

“And what would be the point of that?” the pegasus replied. “I’d likely lose it or get it caught on something. The way I dress suits me just fine.”

“But it is not indicative of you as a pony,” Rarity pointed out. “And I can make outfits for anypony to help them shine as beautifully as possible.”

“Yeah, you’d have your work cut out with me,” the stallion replied. “I’ve been in so many scrapes over the years, I’m not sure there’s anything left to polish.”

“Nonsense,” Rarity said, even as her magic began searching for a tape measure. “I’m sure we can find something for you.”

“This is going to hurt,” Aspect said as he screwed his eyes shut. “You more than me.”

Twilight was worried for a moment, but when it didn’t look like the stallion was moving, Rarity picked him up in her magic and walked over to her fitting room, placing him on his hooves and starting to take his measurements. After a few minutes of this, he eventually opened his eyes and waited for her verdict.

“Perhaps a nice cloak, some sort of ornament for your head,” Rarity said as she passed a sketch in front of the stallion. He took one look at it and snorted, she’d dress him up like a Prince if she could.

“No, I was never one for titles or fancy clothes,” he replied. “I’m more of a stallion of action.”

“That sounds a bit like Rainbow Dash,” Rarity mused. “Perhaps a cape then? Something to billow in the breeze as you stand somewhere dramatically?”

“...Now you’re talking my language,” Balanced replied. “I always wanted a cape.”

“Fantastic!” the dressmaker replied. “Hmm...how about blue, to go with your eyes?”

“That sounds workable,” the stallion replied. Then he realized he’d helped the unicorn get him into more fancy clothing than what he was wearing and blinked. “Oh, you’re good.”

“I am the best at what I do for a reason,” Rarity said with a small victorious smile. “Very well, I will have a fine blue cape for you by this time tomorrow.”

“It better be able to stand up to the elements, along with whatever else might come my way,” Balanced said. “If it’s not as sturdy as my saddlebags, I’ll leave it behind when it gets damaged.”

“Perish the thought, dear,” the unicorn replied as she made a note. “I promise you it will be as sturdy as can be, or else I’ll replace it for free.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” the stallion said. “Well, it was pleasant meeting you, ma’am. I hope the rest of your day finds you well, but I rather get the impression Twilight has more friends she wants to introduce me to.”

“Just a few more, I promise,” Twilight said. “Thank you for seeing us, Rarity.”

“The pleasure was all mine, darling,” the unicorn said as she turned to give Twilight another hug before they left her. “Don’t be a stranger now,” she said from her front porch, before walking back in to work on the cape.

“So who’s next?” Balanced asked.

“Well, Rainbow Dash will likely find us on her own time, but until then, we can walk over to Sweet Apple Acres, where you can meet Applejack.”

Once again, there was silence from her companion. “It couldn’t be,” he said. “I...knew an Applejack back in Dream Valley,” he eventually told Twilight. “She loved apples, but more often than not, didn’t look where she was going and...ended up causing more than her fair share of accidents.”

“Sounds a little like our Applejack, though without the accidents part,” Twilight said, already taking notes mentally that Aspect could draw so many comparisons with the ponies of Dream Valley. “She and her family run Sweet Apple Acres, the largest apple orchard in Equestria.”

“I’m glad to hear the Apple Family is doing so well,” the stallion said as he resumed following after Twilight.

“The Apple family is one of the larger families in Equestria,” Twilight observed as they kept up their trek to the orchard. It wasn’t long before they started seeing apple trees. Rows and rows of apple trees. Aspect whistled as he saw how many there were.

“Goodness, she must have a large family here to help her with this many trees,” he observed.

“Actually, it’s normally just her, Big Mac, Applebloom, and their Granny Smith,” Twilight informed him, causing the stallion to stop and look at her.

“You must be kidding,” he said after a moment.

“Nope,” Twilight replied.

“...Then she has that much more respect from me, for keeping up with such a farm so effortlessly,” the stallion eventually said. It took them a little longer before they found the path leading to the farmhouse of the Apple family. Twilight had no delusions about finding Applejack at home at this hour of the day, but maybe Apple Bloom would tell her where her big sister was. She walked up to the front door and knocked, and as she’d predicted, a little yellow filly opened the door.

“Howdy miss Twilight!” she said. “You lookin’ for Applejack?” Then she noticed the stallion standing just behind her. “Who’s your friend?”

“Somepony I want Applejack to meet,” Twilight said. “He’s Balanced Aspect, and I think he’d like to meet Applejack as well.”

“I certainly would,” the stallion said with a nod.

“Well, okay,” Apple Bloom said with a shrug. “Sis is out by the east orchard. Want me to lead you there?”

“No, but thank you for the offer Apple Bloom,” Twilight said, starting to lead Aspect out to where her friend Applejack was.

It took them a good twenty minutes of walking through the apple trees before they began to hear evidence of Applejack bucking some of the trees. Twilight adjusted her course to take them closer to the sounds, and eventually Balanced Aspect was met with a very familiar sight.

The only thing that looked different at all about the mare from the one he’d known way back when was her cutie mark. Everything else lined up perfectly with her ancestor. Well, and the hat as well. The Applejack of Dream Valley didn’t have a stetson hat, nor did she tie up her mane. Only her tail. Still, despite those minor differences, the two Applejacks were quite alike.

“Applejack,” Twilight said, getting the orange mare’s attention. She turned to look at the pair of them and smiled, looking to Aspect with a friendly face.

“Well howdy there Twi! Who’s yer friend?”

“Balanced Aspect, miss,” the stallion said before bowing to Applejack. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“An’ ah’m Applejack!” the pony said, sticking a hoof out to him. “Put ‘er there, partner!”

Twilight had been about to warn Aspect about Applejack’s hoofshakes, but it was too late. The stallion had accepted the shake…

And didn’t seem all that bothered by the strength of it. If anything, he was giving as good as he was receiving. “Hoo-ee, mister Aspect, you got one heckuva hoofshake. I like that,” Applejack said once it broke.

“Yes, well, it’s not the first time I’ve had to have a strong shake,” the stallion said. “I’m glad I measure up to your expectations.”

“So Twi, who is this?” Applejack asked her friend.

“Remember that friend of the Princess I told you about?” Twilight said. Applejack nodded, and Twilight merely pointed a hoof towards Balanced Aspect.

“Wait. You’re serious?” Applejack said, before looking at the stallion again. “Well, y’all are certainly humble for a friend of Princess Celestia. I was expectin’ somepony a bit more stuck-up.”

“Oh, don’t get me started,” Balanced said with a roll of his eyes. “Everypony thinks that just because I’m one of their friends, I have to be regal and high-and-mighty and holier-than-thou and all that. When in reality, all they ever want is somepony to treat them like ponies, not Princesses. And I’m one of the few willing to do that.”

The revelation that maybe Princess Celestia didn’t like being treated like Princess Celestia all the time was a little shocking, to say the least. Applejack recovered first. “Well, ah can tell y’all are honest, at least. And any friend of the Princess is a friend of ours, right Twilight?”

“R-right,” Twilight said, still coming to grips with the idea that her mentor liked being treated like normal.

“Sad to say ah’ve got a lot of work to do,” Applejack said. “Trees won’t buck themselves. Ah’ll see ya around Twilight, mister Aspect.”

“Fare well, Applejack,” the stallion said, bowing to her again before turning to leave. Twilight followed after him as he led the way out of the orchard.

“Where to next?” he asked once they were back on the road outside the farm. Twilight was jolted out of her thoughts and began leading Aspect again, this time, to Fluttershy’s house.

“Well, now I think we should pay a visit to Fluttershy. She’s Ponyville’s local animal caretaker.”

“Makes sense,” Aspect said as he followed after the mare. “I assume after this, if your friend Rainbow Dash hasn’t made a showing, that we’ll be going on to Pinkie Pie’s place of residence?”

“You assume correctly,” Twilight replied. “I intend to have you meet all my friends if at all possible, before we return to my home.” Before Aspect could ask any questions about that, Twilight plowed ahead. “I have so many questions!”

“I figured you might,” Aspect said with a chuckle. “Just keep in mind, I came here to relax and make friends, which shouldn’t mean reliving any more of the past than I feel comfortable with.”

“Of course not,” Twilight replied automatically. “But surely you can answer a few?”

“That depends entirely on what they are,” the stallion replied before there was a shout from above. With a rush of wind, a sky blue pegasus with a mane and tail all the colors of the rainbow landed in front of them.

“Hey Twi,” the mare said, before looking over at the stallion. “Who’s this?”

“Balanced Aspect,” the stallion introduced himself with his usual bow. “At your service.”

“Really? Cool! It’s too bad I already got my job done today, I woulda had you help me out,” Rainbow replied. “You any good with those wings of yours?”

“I can lift myself off the ground and propel myself in any given direction,” the stallion replied. “Why?”

“Eh, just wonderin’.” Then Dash’s eyes fell on the sword and she grinned. “Wow. Bet you know how to use that thing.”

“A fact the royal guard learned the hard way,” Aspect said with a nod. “They said I couldn’t carry it on the castle grounds, so I told them if they could take it from me, they were welcome to separate the pair of us.” He paused for a second, for effect. “None of them succeeded.”

“Awesome,” Rainbow said. “You and me should totally spar one day. I’ve got a black belt in karate, I bet I could give you a run for your bits.”

“You probably could,” the stallion conceded. “But I’ll have you know right now, I do not fight fair.”

“No holds barred? I can deal with that,” the mare conceded. “Later, then!” With that, she was off into the sky once more.

“And that was Rainbow Dash in a nutshell,” Twilight said. “She’s the lead weathermare for Ponyville.”

“I like her,” the stallion said. “She’s short and to the point. A mare of action.”

The walk continued in mostly silence as the pair made their way to Fluttershy’s house, where once again the stallion stopped in bemusement at the dwelling. “I swear,” he said. “That place looks like a dead ringer for a hobbit home from Tolkien’s books…”

“I’m sorry?” Twilight asked, not understanding the reference the stallion had made.

“Ah, never mind,” he said, waving it off. “So, the shy one lives here?”

“Fluttershy, and yes,” Twilight said, walking up to the front door and knocking on it gently. The door creaked open a touch, before opening a bit wider, showing that familiar yellow pony from before on the other side.

“Oh, hello Twilight,” she said, looking behind her. “Oh, and mister Aspect. Um...would you like to come in?”

“That would be lovely, miss Fluttershy,” Aspect said. The mare softly nodded and opened the door a little wider, letting Twilight and the pegasus stallion into her home. They walked in and sat down in her living room, the stallion looking all around at the furniture and smiling.

“Oh, um, if you want to change your form again mister Aspect, I’d be fine with that,” Fluttershy said. “I can understand you might not be...comfortable as a pony.”

“Only if you’re sure you’d be okay with it,” Balanced said as he looked at the pegasus mare. “I can’t imagine a human is a common occurrence in this day and age.”

“It’s fine,” Fluttershy said. “I’ve already seen you as it once.”

With a nod of assent and that familiar bright white glow again, the stallion shifted into the human that had been present in Canterlot. He sat back on Fluttershy’s couch and sighed. “Holding a formshift for that long isn’t that bad, but it feels good letting go.”

“I can imagine,” Twilight and Fluttershy said in unison, before looking at each other and blinking.

“I was talking about how such a powerful personal transformation spell had to be draining to hold on to,” Twilight said. Fluttershy let out a little ‘eep’ before saying her piece.

“Um, I was talking about how any creature pretending to be something it’s not usually likes being able to be their normal self again,” the yellow mare said.

“Both true,” the human said with a chuckle. Fluttershy timidly approached the human, before asking a question...as well as she could.

“Um...if you wouldn’t mind, do you think I could...examine you?”

Christopher raised an eyebrow at the question, prompting Fluttershy to explain herself. “It’s just...I’ve never seen a human before you. And I don’t know anything about you. With your permission, I’d like to look you over.”

“It’s fine by me,” Christopher said, before pointing over at Twilight, who had a quill and scroll ready. “Though you might want to make your observations a bit more vocal. As it looks like Twilight is ready to take notes as well.”

“Wha- Aspect!” Twilight said, flushing a little at being pointed out. “I’m...merely curious! Yes, that’s all!”

“Oh, I can do that,” Fluttershy said with a nod as she turned back to Christopher. “So...um. If you’d just hold still, please…”

The human did just that, and Fluttershy began looking his form over before making her observations.

“Would I be right in assuming you are naturally bipedal?” she asked. Christopher nodded, and Fluttershy hummed. “And quite obviously an intelligent, tool-using species as well.” Then she got up on the couch with him and put her forehooves on his shoulders. “Say ah, please,” she said, prompting the human to open his mouth. Fluttershy peered into the mouth and nodded, before clambering back down. “Omnivorous as well, I see.”

“Yeah, but I prefer not to eat anything that talks,” the human replied.

“Thank you,” Fluttershy said. “Um, can I also ask that you not eat any of my animal friends as well?”

“I’ll try and hunt away from your hut, Fluttershy,” the human said with a nod. She let out a soft sigh at that, before putting one ear to his chest and listening to the rhythm of his heart. Then she walked to a corner of the room and came back with, of all things, a first aid kit, and began taking more readings.

First she stuck a thermometer in his mouth, before pulling out a small flashlight and shining it in his eyes to watch them react. Then she pulled out a cuff with a pump and a gauge attached to it and asked him to roll up a sleeve so she could take his blood pressure, which he did. And it was only after doing all of this she thought to ask what was, in Twilight’s opinion, the most important question.

“You...are healthy right now, right?”

“Yes,” the human replied after taking the thermometer out. “I assume you’re getting a baseline for later, just in case?”

“Oh yes,” Fluttershy said with a nod. “I’d have to know what healthy for you is before something happened to you. I might do more harm than good otherwise by trying to help.”

“Well, your vitals don’t seem to be too much different from a pony’s,” the yellow mare said. “I hope I don’t have to use this information anytime soon…”

“As don’t I,” Christopher said. “It’s never fun trying to patch yourself up after a fight.”

“You fight a lot?” Fluttershy softly asked.

“Only when I have to,” the human said. “Which was quite a lot in the early days, but not so much nowadays.”

“Oh, that’s good,” the pegasus mare said. “It was nice seeing you again, mister Gale.”

“And you as well, Fluttershy,” the human said before glowing and retaking his pegasus form. “I’ll wait while you tell Twilight everything you found, but then I think she’s going to take me away again to yet another friend.”

“Oh, okay,” the yellow mare said before walking over to Twilight and reciting the facts that she’d just uncovered about the human. Twilight diligently wrote everything down before rolling the scroll up and sticking it in her saddlebags. That would save her time later, having these facts already.

After their goodbyes, Balanced Aspect followed Twilight back into town proper, towards the center of it, where he promptly sat down and pointed a hoof at Sugarcube Corner. “I swear to Yggdrasil, Twilight, if there is a witch in there luring ponies in so she can eat them, I will pull my sword out to deal with them.”

“Don’t be silly,” Twilight said, only slightly mortified he’d jump straight to violence. “That’s just Sugarcube Corner. The Cakes and Pinkie live there and distribute treats to the ponies of Ponyville. Come on, let’s go say hi, they shouldn’t be busy at this time of day.” Apparently, breaking him of his more violent habits would be harder than she thought.

The bell rang as the pair of ponies stepped into the bakery, and Pinkie greeted them with a gasp. Then a bone-crushing hug. “Hiya Twilight! Hiya mister Balanced Aspect! Welcome to Sugarcube Corner!”

“Air!” the stallion gasped. “I need...air!” Pinkie giggled and released them from her embrace, causing them to breathe deeply, thankful that they could again.

“So what brings you guys by?” Pinkie asked. “Here for a treat?”

“Just showing Balanced Aspect around town, Pinkie,” Twilight replied. “...Though I wouldn’t say no to something for dessert tonight. What’s good?”

“Silly filly! Everything here is good!” Pinkie said, and the pegasus stallion took note of just how many baked goods there were in here. The smell was practically overwhelming and caused him to salivate now that he’d taken notice of it.

“Hmm,” Twilight said as she looked the bakery over. “How about some blueberry muffins? They work well as a dessert and as a breakfast food, in case we forget.”

“Sure thing Twi! How many do you want?” Somehow, Pinkie was already over by the muffins, and all he’d done was blink.

“Mmm, half a dozen sounds good,” the unicorn replied like nothing was wrong. Or maybe she was just used to it. Or maybe Pinkie was just that good?

He resolved not to question it. Questioning it hurt.

“Okie dokie, that’ll be twelve bits,” the mare said as she procured a small bag and put the muffins in them. Twilight floated the requisite bits out, and Pinkie handed over the goods. “So how are you finding Ponyville, mister Aspect?”

“It’s a nice little town,” the stallion replied. “The ponies here are welcoming and nice, and the ones Twilight’s introduced me to are very friendly. You included.”

“Duh!” Pinkie said. “I’m like, the welcome wagon for Ponyville! Everypony gets a welcoming party from me at some point, to help them get settled in and make more friends around town. I kinda have to be a friendly pony, otherwise I wouldn’t be very good at what I do!”

“That’s a...unique way of looking at it,” Aspect said with a smile. “Still, I’m glad there are ponies like you in the world.”

“Aww, I’m glad I’m here too!” Without warning, Pinkie had bounded over the counter again and was hugging Aspect like he was a close friend. One he slowly, but eventually returned.

“Yay!” Pinkie cheered once he did. “All right, I’m thinking a party at your place, once you get a place, so that we can help you break it in.”

“I hereby request that you keep it small, maybe just the ponies I already know well,” he countered with.

“I can work with that,” Pinkie agreed, and they shook on it. Twilight was stunned. Somepony had just successfully negotiated with Pinkie about the nature of their surprise welcoming party.

“See you then, Pinkie,” Aspect said before walking over to Twilight and poking her with a hoof. “Um, Twilight? You kind of have to lead me back to your place.”

She blinked and shook her head, to clear the daze that had settled in it. “Um...right. This way.” She was still slightly shocked that somepony had managed to keep up with Pinkie that hadn’t had all that much time to get used to her...antics. “My home is just over here.”

For a fourth time, the stallion was dumbfounded by architecture. The sight of the Tree-bary caused him to stop and stare for a moment. “You...live in a tree,” he said simply.

“Golden Oaks Library is set into the tree, yes,” Twilight said.

“You live in a library inside a tree,” the stallion said. “Oh, I can think of elves from stories back home that would love you. And the irony is palpable.”

“Irony?” Twilight asked as they neared the front door.

“Twilight, what are books made from?” the stallion asked, causing the mare to grin sheepishly as she got it.

“Aheh...let’s just go inside so I can introduce you to Spike,” she said. Once more, there was that thousand-yard stare.

“Is he a dragon?” the stallion asked, causing Twilight to stumble for a moment.

“Yes, how did you- you knew another Spike, didn’t you?” she asked.

“Once, a long time ago,” he said with a nod. “He’d be so very old now.”

“Well, how about you get to know this Spike?” the unicorn prompted, causing the pegasus to nod. She opened the door and ushered them both inside before calling for Spike.

“Coming Twilight!” he said, descending the stairs. The stallion watched the dragon with rapt eyes, before sighing and shaking his head.

“It’s not the same,” he muttered under his breath.

“Who’s your friend, Twilight?” the dragon asked.

“Spike, this is Balanced Aspect, that friend of the Princess’s that she wrote us about last week,” Twilight said. “Aspect, this is my friend Spike.”

“Hello there,” Aspect said with his usual bow.

“Pleased to meetcha!” Spike said, extending a clawed hand. Aspect straightened himself up and put a hoof in that hand before shaking it with Spike. “So, what’s with the sword? You some sort of guard?”

“You could say that, and you wouldn’t be wholly incorrect,” the stallion said with a smile. “Oh, I have stories I could tell you…”

“Stories that I would be all too glad to hear,” Twilight said as she summoned a blank scroll and smiled at him. Aspect chuckled and shook his head.

“Another time, perhaps,” he said. “Now if I know Tia, right about now, she’ll have managed to find some sort of house that she’ll have purchased in my name so that I can stay here longer-”

Spike’s cheeks inflated as he let off a belch of green dragonfire. It rapidly condensed into a scroll, which fell into his outstretched hand. He pulled it open and read the letter aloud.

To my dear friend, Balanced Aspect.

It turns out, there is a home owned by the local government in Ponyville since the last owner passed away about twenty years ago and left the estate to nopony. I have since purchased it and asked that it be inspected before you move in, as I would rather you not live in an unsafe home. It would please me if you stayed with my student while the estate is examined for anything and everything that could be wrong with it.

Celestia

“Well, guess I’m staying here until their inspection is over,” Aspect said as he looked around the lobby of the tree-bary.

“I guess you are,” Twilight said before a growl made itself known. Twilight and Spike looked at Aspect, who grinned sheepishly as another growl emanated from his form.

“Guess it’s lunchtime,” he said with a small laugh. A third growl came from Twilight’s stomach, and she grinned before looking at him.

“I guess it is,” she replied. “How about we go to a local restaurant and you can regale me with one of your stories while we eat?”

“If you’re sure it won’t put you off your food,” Aspect said as they left the library and made their way back into the town at large.

Author's Notes:

And so it begins..

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