The colt stared at the lump of stone he’d managed to craft after about thirty solid minutes of working the crystal. If you looked at it right, it could resemble a heart. It wasn’t the prettiest heart. Nor did it look particularly well-crafted.

Then again, Realm was no sculptor. But when the final cut had been made, the entire thing flashed once. He took it as a sign and stopped, now holding his first, crude attempt in his hooves. The first part had been done. The second part…

“Are you sure?” he asked the painted stallion next to him. “We don’t know if this will work.”

“We won’t know until we try, and I’m well and truly ready for whatever outcome results,” Starswirl replied before huffing. “Now go ahead. Give it to me.”

Realm nodded and held the stone in one hoof. “Say aaah.”

Starswirl rolled his eyes but opened his mouth, and Realm put the Spectra Heart on the stallion’s tongue. There was a gulping sound, and then it was gone.

A moment passed in which nothing happened. “Did it work?” Realm asked.

“I don-” Starswirl managed to get out, before his entire body glowed with all the colors of the rainbow. The room was illuminated for what felt like forever, and when the lightshow died down, Starswirl…

Definitely looked more detailed than he had been before. He breathed out in astonishment. “Amazing,” he said aloud. “Introducing a core of color and magic to a painted pony did have positive effects.” He looked at a nearby bucket of water and performed the crucial test.

He tried to lift it, with his horn.

It took a moment...but soon, his horn was aglow, glowing with all the colors of the rainbow as a similar glow overtook the bucket. Out of shock, he dropped the bucket and held a hoof up to his horn. “Did you see that?!” he proclaimed loudly. “Magic! I can actually do magic now!”

“You’ve caught up to your original in almost every way,” Realm smiled. “I mean, you’re still made of paint. But you’re so detailed now, I doubt any other painted pony will ever compare to you.”

Neither of them noticed that on his flank, Realm’s marks began to glow softly…

“Now,” the colt said as he slathered some Spectra Paint on his wing and turned to the canvas. “Phase two. Lay the groundwork, then add the frame.” He drew the wing over the canvas and focused his mind. The rainbow paint resolved into a sight that Starswirl hadn’t seen in...well, technically a thousand years.

The Everfree Castle. So detailed, so faithful to what he’d seen, that he could swear it was just the same, and that was only from the exterior. Realm huffed and panted, but nodded once.

“Good, the background layer is laid,” the pinto pegasus nodded, before darting to the framework he and Starswirl had assembled. It took the two of them a moment, but eventually the pair snapped the wooden frame around the painting-in-progress. However, this was no ordinary frame.

Dotted around the edges were eight holes. And Realm had eight small crystals that would fit in those holes, which he proceeded to install. If this worked like they thought it would…

The last crystal was wedged into the final opening, and the surface of the painting...rippled. Like water. Realm grinned, and his cutie mark glowed brighter.

“Congratulations,” Starswirl nodded his head. “You’ve successfully made the first portal into the realm of paint.”

“Yeah, but it’s not done yet,” Realm replied as he scooped up more paint and bottled it up. “I have to finish the painting, get the interior down exactly the way it used to be. I want to impress with this thing.” With a double check of his supplies, the colt walked into the painting without a fuss at all.

Starswirl shook his head as he sought to get used to the idea of his newly gained magic. This would take some practice…

Hours had passed. Starswirl would have said he was getting bored, but there was always something to do. Some theory to confirm, some calculation to run. He’d brought plenty of paper to write his ideas down on.

However, every time the colt came out of the painting to get more paint, the wizard noticed he seemed to be getting...weaker. His mark, which he hadn’t noticed before, practically blazed brighter every time. It was almost like he was...feeding the painting his very essence as he sought to complete it.

He’d already run through three cauldron’s worth of paint on it. The last time it’d taken him two tries to conjure up the lightning needed to make the paint.

Realm coughed as he appeared again. “More paint,” he muttered, looking in the cauldron. “Need...to make more paint…”

“Look, Realm,” Starswirl said, putting one hoof on one of the colt’s. “It’s not healthy to throw yourself into your work like this. Take a break, get some rest. It’ll be here for you to finish.”

“No!” Realm protested. “Just...Just one more batch of paint. I can...I can finish it. I have to finish it.”

Starswirl sighed, before deciding to indulge the young master. A glow of his horn saw that the cauldron was refilled with water and that a crystal was plunked into it. “Okay. Now can you mix it properly?” Already, the water was boiling.

Realm shakily extended a wing and stuck out his tongue as he tried to focus. Sparks danced once...twice...on the third time they caught, and he fired a weak bolt of lightning into the water. The paint mixed and he cheered, causing Starswirl to sigh.

Fine. One more load of paint wasn’t going to kill him, right?

It had been half an hour since the colt had gone in with the last application of paint from this cauldron, and he’d yet to return. Starswirl was starting to get worried. The door to the basement opened and Twilight poked her head in.

“Ah! Starswirl?” she gasped, “H-Hello…”

“The Clover lookalike again,” Starswirl nodded, his eyes still focused on the painting. “No, it’s no good. I’m going to have to go in there to find him.”

“I’m not Clover!!” Twilight yelled. “Argh! You insufferable—” She put a hoof to her mouth and gasped. “Ohmigosh! I yelled at Starswirl the Bearded! I’m sorry!”

“I’m used to it,” the painted pony said. “But if you’ll pardon me, we might actually have a problem on our hooves. You see, every time Realm went in there with another batch of paint, he came back out all the weaker for it. He’s apparently making a very complex Pictomancy painting...one that seems to be draining him to make. It’s been half an hour since he went in with the last load.”

“Went in?” Twilight looked at the monstrous painting. “How long has he been in there?”

“He’s been working on it for hours,” Starswirl replied with a sigh. “Right. Time to go in and fetch him out. Hopefully he’s just collapsed out of exhaustion.”

“Yeah, let’s go save him,” Twilight said and headed towards the painting. The moment she touched a hoof to it, she found herself being sucked in. She didn’t have time to contemplate it; one moment she was in the basement, the next, she was on the pathway leading to an impressive castle. Starswirl joined her a moment later, already leading the charge as his horn glowed.

“Huh? What? WHAT!?” Twilight looked around frantically. “What happened!?”

“The young master made a portal into the realm of paint, so that everyone and anyone could walk in, even if they weren’t a Pictomancer,” Starswirl explained. “Keep up. I think he’s in the throne room.”

“This is sooo weird…” Twilight murmured as she followed the stallion. He seemed more… lifelike in here. Heck, everything looked lifelike. It was like she’d stepped through a window into the outside.

Starswirl led the way, his horn aglow as he kept searching through the castle for the young master. It took them a few minutes to reach the throne room, during which time Twilight was treated to a view as to what the castle looked like a thousand years ago. Everything was correct, down to the last detail. Not that she’d know, but Starswirl did.

“Where are we?” Twilight blinked. “It… kind of looks like the Everfree ruins.”

“This is the castle it used to be,” Starswirl explained. “Realm painted it from memory.” The pair of them arrived at a pair of large doors, and Starswirl pushed them open.

The scene beyond that was something they wouldn’t forget anytime soon.

Realm.

On the floor.

Paint spilled around him.

But most notable was the red on the floor around his head. That wasn’t paint. Twilight gasped and ran towards him. Her horn shone as she started a scan, praying to the Creator that he was still alive.

“We have to get him out of here,” Starswirl muttered as he looked around the room. “I’ve heard of Pictomancers losing themselves to the art. I didn’t think the art would consume them.”

“His injuries don't appear too severe,” Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “Do you know any…” Twilight frowned and groaned. Painted Ponies couldn’t use magic. “I'm going to lift him now. Keep an eye on his condition please.”

Starswirl nodded and looked at Realm before pausing and freezing. After a moment of utter shock, he walked forward and used a hoof to part his messy mane, revealing something they’d both overlooked.

A horn on his head.

“Sir Starswirl?” Twilight blinked. “Has Realm always been an alicorn?”

“No, but we can worry about that when we’re free of this place,” Starswirl muttered. “Every painting has a feeling. This one is complete...but I can feel the hunger it had to get that way. If it hadn’t been finished, we likely would not have survived our trek to find the young master. Quickly. Let’s take him to a healer.”

Twilight turned rather pale at the thought of being eaten by a painting. “I’m seriously starting to dislike Aspect’s home,” the unicorn muttered as she carefully carried Realm to the window of the painting. “So I just… step through again?”

“Yes,” Starswirl said, pointing out the elaborate frame with Spectra Crystals. “You can ask him about the idea behind the portal later. Let’s get him out of here.”

Twilight nodded and walked through. “A teleport would be too risky… Can you watch him? I’ll return with a doctor quicker than you can say ‘Starswirl’s Fourth Omnidimensional Theorem’.” And with that, she vanished with a burst of light. Starswirl did his best to make sure the young master was comfortable, before realizing that it would probably be better if he was in his own room. He horn-wrote a quick note to the young mare before lifting Realm onto his own back and starting to make his way through the house. Hopefully she’d be back soon. He really did like the young master.

And true to her word, she returned not seconds later, before he’d even gotten the chance to leave the room, a rather irate earth pony nurse with her.

“Now look here Miss Sparkle, you can’t just teleport in and—”

“You need to help him!” Twilight cut her off, aiming the nurse’s head at Realm.

Nurse Redheart gasped and took her bag off while she looked at him. “He’s suffered a serious injury to his head. Blood from the orifices, and…” She pulled out a crystal, which didn’t seem to do anything. “No light… his magic is virtually depleted… and, is he supposed to have a horn and wings?”

“Recent addition,” Starswirl quipped. “He was a pegasus until he got the bright idea to paint a picture that almost ate him alive.”

“...I’m not going to ask,” Redheart deadpanned. “Okay, so somehow he grew a horn as well.” She wiped away the blood from his coat with a cloth and shone a light in his eyes. “No response. We need to get him to the hospital asap!”

“Would a teleportation be risky?” Twilight asked her.

“I don’t know,” Redheart said. “Maybe. But moving him would take too long, none of us are fast enough…”

“Two seconds,” Starswirl said, before looking at a nearby painting. “Find the Hurricane lookalike, tell her it’s an emergency. Realm’s life hangs in the balance.”

Pansy nodded and flew away rapidly, off to search the house for the chromatic mare. Starswirl had barely turned back to the others before the door to the basement burst open and Rainbow flew in.

“What’s up? What’s the emergency?” she asked and saw Realm. “Ohh, that’s not good.”

“Yes, is there a wagon here? Otherwise we’ll need you to carry him,” Redheart said, and sniffed the air. “Did uh...we interrupt something?”

“More or less,” Rainbow shrugged, her tail hugging her form. “Right, it’ll be easier if I carry the squirt.”

“Not too fast, or you’ll aggravate the injuries,” Redheart instructed. Rainbow saluted and placed Realm on her back before flying off towards the hospital. “Miss Sparkle?” the nurse asked. “Can you teleport us back?”

Twilight nodded and look at Starswirl. “Please tell Aspect about this,” she asked before the two mares vanished.

“So long as the colt pulls through okay, I’ll have no qualms about being the messenger...or the enabler,” Starswirl muttered as he looked at the painting. It was uneasy, looking at the thing that had nearly claimed its creator.

If not for the portal ringing it, he’d likely just burn the damn thing.

Twilight sat by Realm’s bed. She hadn't left since she arrived and despite Redheart’s many attempts, she likely wouldn’t until Realm woke up. Unfortunately, the colt seemed to be deep in the throes of a coma at this point, likely brought on by his utter and complete magical exhaustion.

It hadn’t taken long for word to reach Aspect either, so Twilight simply waited by Realm’s bedside, reading a book titled ‘Daring Do’. One she read aloud to the colt, coma or not.

She hadn’t gotten far into the book before Aspect calmly walked into the room and sat next to her. “How is he?” the stallion softly asked in a break between sentences.

Twilight placed her bookmark on the page and closed the book. “I honestly don’t know,” she replied quietly. “He’s suffering one of the most severe cases of magical exhaustion I’ve ever seen. The doctors aren’t sure if he’ll even be able to use his magic when he wakes up,” The doctors had said if he wakes… but Twilight refused to accept that. “If only I hadn’t taken him to get those damned crystals…”

“I think I can explain it,” Aspect whispered. “He probably burned all his magic out making the painting he did. Making it so realistic and faithful to the original, as well as that portal. And then...well, ascending is never easy on a body, especially a drained body.”

“That begs the question,” Twilight frowned and glanced at the colts horn. “How did he become an Alicorn? And I swear, I’d better get a straight answer from you this time.”

“I honestly can’t explain it,” Aspect replied. “I can guess though. I’ll have to ask someone else for the fine details, but I can take a stab at explaining how it happened.”

“Well, stab away,” Twilight said as she set her book to one side. Aspect took a deep breath as he thought about the best way to phrase it, before replying to her.

“The closest thing I can think of is that...in that moment. He truly lived for all things related to Art. He almost literally gave his life to complete his work. That sort of effort...doesn’t go unnoticed. He made a Pictomancy painting that all could enjoy, truly enjoy. One so vast and detailed that...were it not for the fact that it’s a painting, I could have sworn it was the exact same place that I used to live in a thousand years ago. He almost died for his work. And it is always rewarded, though in this case...quite instantly.”

“Yep, being put in a coma is a great reward,” Twilight replied dryly. “Still, I guess we won’t really know until he wakes up.” She looked back to Aspect. “So you saw the painting? Did you go inside it too?”

“It was one of the first things I did after panicking about my son being in the hospital,” Aspect chuckled after his response. “I have every faith in this era’s medical science. I just wanted to see what had almost consumed him before coming over. It’s quite realistic, you know. I’ll probably put it up in the drawing room...or better yet, let Realm give it over to Lulu and Tia, let them see how much their little brother’s progressed.”

“Have I ever mentioned how weird your family is?” Twilight mused as she straightened her mane and rubbed her eye sleepily.

“Multiple times,” Aspect nodded. “And I think you need some rest. It’s probably been a long day for you. Go on. I can watch him. I’ll be here for him when he wakes up.”

“No… not going to leave until he wakes up,” Twilight nodded, though that nod might have been her drifting in and out of sleep, her eyes blinking slowly. Aspect merely smirked and waited for the inevitable. It happened a few moments later, with Twilight laying her head on the end of the bed, snoring softly.

“Just a shame I don’t know nearly enough fine control to give his magic a jump-start,” Aspect mused as he sat in a chair, waiting. Soon enough, the message would reach Tia or Lulu about Realm being in the hospital. Maybe one of them knew such a skill. If not, they’d have to wait for his body to wake up the natural way.

And in the dark room, a new light source made itself known. Aspect turned his head and saw a gentle, magenta light coming from Twilight’s horn while she slept. And after a moment… the same glow started coming from Realm’s.

“She really does care about him,” Aspect noted, smiling all the while. If they were lucky, that might be just what the colt needed.

Realm came to. He knew he came to because everything was pain. It was literally the worst moment in his life. Nothing else compared to this pain. Everything felt like he’d overused it. Even his head had a splitting headache. All his muscles ached, all the way to his tail. His tail!

He groaned as he came to, able to do that much at least, and looked around.

Why was he in a bed?

Why was Twilight Clover at the end of it?

What had he gotten up to last night?

The mare in question groaned as the sunlight peeking through the windows hit her in the eyes.

“Urgh, turn the sun off Celestia, it’s too early…”

“She never does,” Realm rasped, instantly thinking twice about talking due to how much his everything still hurt.

Twilight’s eyes shot open, instantly regretting that action as light flooded her vision and she groaned, putting her hooves to her face. “...Ow,” she muttered. “Realm… are you awake or am I hallucinating from lack of sleep?”

“I’m awake,” Realm replied, wincing in pain. “Everything hurts.”

Twilight rubbed her eyes and sat up. “Well I’m not surprised after that performance,” she said, now a little more awake. “You certainly know how to impress a mare.”

“...Thanks?” Realm said, now not sure what was going on. Tia and Lulu had said he wasn’t ready for that by the standards of this age. So...surely she wasn’t talking about that. Right?

“I mean, I’d never expect that you’d be able to go inside like that,” Twilight said with a hint of awe. “It was a bit weird at first, but once you were in, well I’d never experienced anything like that before.”

And now the colt was blushing a little. If he could actually talk without pain, he be asking for clarification.

“Your attention to detail, the skill of your wings… It was just… wow!” Twilight sighed as she recalled the painted world. At this point the colt couldn’t even look at her.

“Twilight,” Celestia chuckled as she entered the room. “I’d stop now if I were you, Realm is far too young to have a heart attack.”

“Huh?” Twilight blinked as the alicorn walked towards them. “I was just talking about his painting.”

“Didn’t exactly sound like it,” the colt softly muttered to himself.

“Twilight,” Celestia shook her head and chuckled. “Remember what we said about Realm? Now, go over what you said and apply it without that context.”

Twilight frowned in confusion as she did… before a blush slowly crept across her face and she buried her head in the blankets, mumbling something about being ruined for marriage.

“I take it nothing happened last night then,” the colt spoke, finally able to do so without causing himself pain.

“Oh something happened alright,” Celestia said with a light titter. “Just not what you’re imagining. Oh and…” She pointed to her forehead with a wingtip. “You have a little something here.”

Realm crossed his eyes, wondering what she could mean...and then went very, very still.

“And yes, it’s quite real,” Celestia took some small joy in his expression.

“No,” Realm breathed.

“Yes,” Celestia nodded and smiled. “From what I can tell, you poured so much into your work, pushed past what should have been possible and created something so… new and so… powerful. It would seem that fate saw fit to reward you for such an effort.”

“To be fair, I made two new things before I went into improving the painting,” Realm explained. “A Spectra Heart for Starswirl, and the Painted Portal.”

“Yes, Starswirl has been… odd since yesterday. He blames himself for your injuries, yet is ecstatic about being able to cast magic.”

Realm groaned as he thought about how best to approach that. “I wish I could tell him I’m fine…”

“You are far from fine,” Nurse Redheart said flatly as she strode into the room. “Your internal magic has been pushed to the point of near non-existence. Your magical circuits are so burned that we’re still unsure if you’ll even be able to cast again. That would include from your new horn, to your ability to fly.”

Aspect had woken up at some point during the talking going on and snickered to himself. At everyone’s questioning looks, he turned to Tia and asked a simple question. “Remember the last time we heard that diagnosis?”

Celestia pondered and tapped her chin. “Remind me? I’m getting forgetful in my old age.”

“You and Lulu had just grown your new additions and passed out after saving me from Discord,” Aspect reminded her. “The doctors were sure you’d never fully recover.”

“Ohh, that’s right,” Celestia chuckled and nodded. “Yes, well back then, doctors thought leeches cured most things and so called ‘medical’ spells often caused more harm than good.” She looked at Redheart and nodded. “If he is indeed a true Alicorn, then his regenerative powers will be much more enhanced. Any damage to him that didn’t cause death, will heal eventually.”

Redheart sighed and rolled her eyes, muttering something about Alicorns and being impossible.

“I agree,” Aspect nodded without a hint of sarcasm. “Completely and utterly. You should have tried raising a pair of to-be alicorns. Oh I wish I had a camera back in those days.”

“Pass,” Redheart sighed as she checked Realm’s vitals. “I’d like to keep you here a little while longer, horn and fried magic aside, those head injuries of yours concern me the most. I’ve arranged for a scan later today, make sure your eggs aren’t scrambled.”

“Too late for that, Hurricane taught him everything she knew,” Aspect chimed in. “Colt’s as crazy as a Diamond Dog trying to fly.”

“I have you as a father, that’s a good contribution to my insanity and personality,” Realm snarked back.

“You’ll fit right in with the others when you recover,” Aspect replied, smiling. “It’ll probably take him...three days at least to even begin to heal from this,” the stallion informed the nurse. “Alicorn or not, there’s not a whole lot his body can do without magic. Though magic infusions can help. Kickstart his own into working.”

“Oh, like Twilight did last night,” Celestia nodded as the unicorn mare’s eyes widened.

“I… did what?”

“Infused him with some of your magic in your sleep,” Celestia chuckled. “Mind you, you haven’t Sleep Cast since you were a filly, I guess you were worried about your friend hm?”

“Uhh...thanks?” Realm offered to Twilight.

“Uhh...no problem?” Twilight said back, just as confused.

“Indeed, it’s not everyday somepony gets magic from an Alpha+ unicorn,” Celestia chuckled. “We’re lucky she didn’t overload and explode your head.”

Realm let out a meep as he did his best to shy away from the mare without aggravating what felt like a thousand injuries. His guess on that number wasn’t far off the mark.

“Your family… I swear…” Redheart groaned.

“Tell me about it,” Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes. “And I couldn’t ‘explode’ you Realm. At most, I’d have given you a nasty migraine and maybe a few lost memories from the burnt out synapses and thaumatic cortex of your new horn. But given you're an alicorn, your magical reserves are likely far higher that what I could hope to fill.”

“Not all alicorns are the same,” Aspect said mysteriously. “Realm might not have much in the way of magical potential. We won’t know until he recovers. Speaking of which, we should probably let the good nurse work on him.”

“I’m sure Realm would appreciate that,” Celestia winked as she walked from the room.

“...Is everypony quite done being a pervert?” Twilight groaned and followed her. Aspect lingered just a little longer, just to ask one thing of Redheart.

“Please take care of my son,” the pegasus asked of the nurse.

“Of course,” Redheart nodded and started shooing them out of the room. “Now scram. You’ve been here long enough outside visitors hours.”

Aspect chuckled as he left, leaving the nurse alone with the newest alicorn. A situation Realm wasn’t entirely ungrateful for~

“Honestly,” Redheart sighed as she checked his IV drip. “Can’t this town go one week with a monster popping up, some great disaster befalling us or somepony changing species?”

“Things would get awfully boring if nothing happened around here, though,” Realm observed. “And really, a town sat right in front of the Everfree, one of the largest fonts of wild magic? You’re going to get strange stuff happening. Doubly so if nopony is in there anymore trying to tame it.”

“‘Go to Ponyville’ they said, ‘It’s a sleepy little town’ they said…” Redheart shook her head as she fetched a bedpan. “Alright kid, you need to go?”

“I’m good for now,” Realm shook his head, wincing. “I could use something for the pain though…”

“Hmm, well I’ll see what I can do,” Redheart replied as she set the pan next to his bed for easy reach when he did need it. “Where does it hurt?”

“Everywhere,” the colt moaned. “I don’t know how you even strain your tail, but it hurts there too.”

“Likely the dock of your tail, the hairs can be quite sensitive with the right nerves pinched,” Redheart looked over him. “Can you move your wings?”

Realm did his best to move one of his wings, and bit back a curse at the pain from trying. After a moment to let it pass, he shook his head. “That’s a no,” he informed Redheart.

Redheart nodded and gently rolled him onto his belly. “Alright… I’m going to press a few places. Rate the pain from one to ten for me.” And with that, she touched the back of his neck, just below the base of his head.

“Not...as bad as it could be,” Realm replied. “Probably a three, four...Three and a half.”

Redheart remained silent as she pressed lower, this time at the base of his neck and around his shoulders.

“Definitely a five,” Realm responded. “It’s pretty close to a major sore spot.”

Redheart paused briefly and then gently pressed the space between his wings.

“Seven!” Realm hissed. “At least. It’s not the worst spot by far, but it’s worse than most.”

“And here?” she asked, pressing his lower back, just above his rump.

“Uh...actually back down to four-ish levels,” the colt replied. “I mean, it’s still more sore and painful than I’ve ever been, but compared to everything else it’s pretty tolerable.”

Redheart nodded once more, then moved to the elbow joints on his wings.

“Eight!” the colt squeaked. “Wings...highly sensitive!”

“Curious,” the nurse said and then lightly touched his new horn.

The words he used...well, coming from an adult they would have been fine. Redheart blinked and took a step back.

“Right, so some medication for a headache would be best… and some soap for that mouth,” she added with a sly chuckle.

“I just...how do I even think of using this thing when it hurts so much?” Realm replied, thinking about touching it himself and then thinking better of it.

“It’ll be fine once your magic and stamina build back up,” Redheart replied as she scribbled on a form. “Until then, I’d suggest you don’t play with it.”

Realm did his best to conceal a smirk as he heard that. Something that wasn’t hard with all the pain he was feeling.

“Right,” Redheart looked over him. “Wings and Horn are the most troublesome spots…” She looked down and a thought occured. “How about your hooves?” She moved down to touch one of them…

Oh, there was that mouth of his again.

“Right, wings, horn and hooves,” Redheart noted. “The main magical focal points of all three types of ponies. Maybe you being an alicorn has something to do with that. I wish I hadn’t shooed away the princess now…”

“Just...you heard dad,” Realm gasped. “I’ll recover...eventually. And then I have to figure out just what the buck I’m supposed to do now.”

Redheart nodded and fixed his blankets. “Just lay here, I’ll fetch you some pain killers alright. But given the pain in your hooves, do not try and walk. If you need help, call for one of us and we’ll do what we can to assist you okay?”

“...I feel so useless right now,” Realm sighed as he lay on the bed.

“I’m sure you’ll be running around with the other kids in no time,” Redheart smiled. Mental note, get Tenderheart to take over. She was much better with the foals. “I’ll be right back alright. Don’t go anywhere.”

Realm slowly turned to look at her, before looking at his wings and hooves. Silently asking the question ‘just where the buck would I go?’

Redheart just chuckled to herself as she walked out of the room.

“So wait, Realm became an Alicorn!?” Bon Bon exclaimed as Aspect told her on what had happened. Rainbow’s reaction was a shrug and that she’d check it out after work. Bon Bon was a little more… excitable. “How the heck is that possible? Does that mean he’s immortal now? Oh dear Stars, an immortal twelve year old pervert…”

“Okay, A, he’ll still age until he reaches adulthood, at which point his body will grow larger to accommodate his power,” Aspect explained. “B, we’ll learn how much of an alicorn he is by how quickly he recovers from his exhaustion. Tia and Lulu were five days. Five long, sleepless days for me. And C, I don’t quite know how. My current theory is he basically became a living embodiment of not just his mark, but all things related to Art.”

“All things?” Bon Bon replied. “That’s… a pretty broad spectrum. A lot of things could be classified as art. Music, poetry and literature… even my candy making and cake decorating.”

“Why do you think he burned himself out?” Aspect quipped. “He strained his body’s magic so badly trying to accomplish the impossible, push the envelope. He only touched on a fragment of what he could do, but that was enough for his unconscious body to seize it and make it his.”

“So… what the heck is he going to be capable of then?” Bon Bon asked and looked to Written Script. “You’re the first alicorn we know of. Any ideas?”

“Had the fountain blessed me with just a touch more power for myself, I have every notion I might have become the alicorn of the written word,” Written replied. “Which, if you think about it, is a terribly large burden. No less large than the one that the young colt might have just had placed on his shoulders. What did you call them, Christopher?”

“I think I know what you mean,” the stallion mused. “Yeah...there was a story about sisters who basically were the embodiment of the arts from an ancient culture, long ago.” Aspect chuckled. “Fancy that. My son is now a Muse.”

Bon Bon’s eyes widened. “A...a Muse? As in, the Fae that inspire, but at sometime lethal cost?”

“I hate how that story got twisted,” Aspect muttered, before shaking his head and clearing his throat. “The Muses, in the story I know of, were demigoddesses. They inhabited a mountain and lived together, occasionally going out into the world and finding a worthy artist that aligned with what their realm coincided with. It’s said that the merest glimpse of one could inspire an artistic person to new heights, in an attempt to capture the immortal beauty in song, word, paint, verse...you get the idea. They never purposely sought the end of any artist. But some couldn’t get the image of what they’d seen out of their minds, sadly...which is where those darker stories come from. Not everyone was capable of withstanding their full presence.”

“Wow…” Bon Bon whispered as she sat down. “So, will he become like that? I find an existence where almost nopony could look at him, let alone talk to him would be pretty lonely.”

“Hopefully not, but who knows?” Aspect shrugged. “If his sphere of influence is Art, then I suppose he’ll learn all sorts of new things, since he used to limit himself to just Pictomancy and painting. Though I will say that I wasn’t feeling particularly inspired when I went to see him. He might develop that power in time, he might never learn it.”

“If he does, there’s always a few glamour spells he can use to… dampen the way others perceive him,” Starswirl said with a nod. He looked at Written and the others. “So, I wonder if he can get you lot out and about as well?”

“I honestly don’t want to,” Written replied, sipping at her painted tea. “It would cause no end of strife if I left my painting. As long as there’s that barrier there, my family won’t ever make that mistake of thinking I might be one and the same as the original. And can you honestly say that you think half of the painted ponies would be good if they were let out of their paintings?”

“Yeah, Old Hurricane would likely incite another war,” Starswirl chuckled.

“I heard that!” they heard from two rooms over.

“You were meant to, you stuffy old crone!” Starswirl shouted back.

“...This house is weird,” Bon Bon deadpanned.

“Fun, isn’t it?” Aspect chuckled. “Okay. So Realm will likely be in the hospital for about a week, and...oh. Ohhhh. Oh I just thought of something,” the stallion said as his mind did some mental gymnastics. “Bon Bon, would you say Rarity is an artist?”

“She is an Artiste,” Bon Bon said, mimicking her accent a little too well. “At least she is, according to her.”

“Well I suppose she’ll be a good litmus test to see if Realm actually can inspire others…” the stallion mused.

“Well that should be interesting,” Bon Bon sighed. “Just… don’t use me as a guinea pig without asking okay?”

“Promise,” Aspect agreed before nuzzling her. “Let’s just...relax, okay? I was honestly not expecting this. My nerves are a little shot.”

“Would you like me to whip up some of my mint tea?” Bon Bon asked.

“That would be lovely,” Aspect sighed as he decided to collapse in a chair. “I’m just...Well I know what I’m doing for the next few days. Sticking around and checking in on Realm every day.”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine, he’s a tough kid,” Bon Bon said and then giggled. “Maybe convince Twilight to give him a smooch if he gets better without any fuss.”

“I would never do that to Twilight,” Aspect replied with a huff. “Force her to put up with my son? Because you know he wouldn’t leave it alone after that.”

“Oh wow… harsh,” Bon Bon chuckled as she made her way from the room, but something tackled her out of sight...

“Hiya Aspect!” a mare said after she picked herself up from Bon Bon. Seems Lyra was in one of those moods again. “How’s everypony’s favourite harem leader?”

“Oh, you know, just stressed out after one of my kids landed himself in the hospital,” Aspect replied. “Something about nearly dying for his art. How’ve you been?”

“Dying? Oof, that’s rough,” Lyra winced and shook her head. “You know, I think you need cheering up. Whaddaya say?”

“Say yes,” Bon Bon shouted from the kitchen. “Or she’ll keep bugging you until you do.”

“Anything to make the following days less gloomy and stressful,” Aspect replied, sighing afterwards. “It’s not easy on me either.”

Lyra beamed and took out her lyre, giving it a few strums to test how in tune it was. After a minute of playing random notes, she closed her eyes as she started plucking the strings.

At first, Aspect merely listened. Eventually he closed his eyes and let himself be washed away by the music, letting it soothe his woes and worries. Not even the change in tone bothered him, he welcomed anything to keep his mind from focusing on what had transpired. When the song ended, he opened his eyes and smiled at Lyra. “That was wonderful,” he praised her. “Thank you for that.”

Lyra took a small bow and smiled. “You’re welcome, I do love playing for an appreciative audience.”

“Only because she loves getting her ego stroked,” Bon Bon snarked back, to which Lyra just poked out her tongue.

“Still, I shouldn’t worry about Realm,” Aspect said before sighing, letting his worries go. “Celly and Lulu pulled through just fine. He will too. And then he’ll be raising all new sorts of hell.”

“One would think you’re used to it by this point,” Lyra chuckled. “Also… can I be real with you for a second? There’s something I wanna get off my chest.”

“Uh, sure,” Aspect replied after thinking about it for all of a second. “What’s up?”

“It’s about the whole teasing thing, you know, when you got together with Bonnie,” Lyra replied, blushing under her minty fur. “I was… well I was kinda jealous. Jealous that somepony could get closer to her than I could. I… want to apologise for that.”

“None needed,” Aspect said with a smile. “If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t be together in the first place.”

“I guess… and, now you have Rainbow Dash. Seriously, I have to know how that happened. I figured you’d go after somepony… I dunno, hardworking I guess. Like Applejack or maybe Fluttershy, that girl is seriously adorbs.”

“As I keep saying,” the stallion interjected, holding up a hoof. “They sprung it on me. I have no idea how this happened.”

“Yeah,” Lyra added. “But you aren’t complaining about it are you?”

“Not yet at least,” Aspect replied. “But twice the mares means twice the issues that can crop up. There are bound to be bumps in any relationship. Now I have twice the trouble that can appear.”

“Prepare for trouble,” Lyra beamed.

“And make it double,” Bon Bon added her two bits.

“So, how does the whole thing work anyway?” Lyra asked. “Does one have to hoof over a resume or something? Hey, if you added a unicorn, you’d complete the set.”

“Like I said,” Aspect replied, pointing a wing at where Bon Bon was. “They did it to me. Ask them.”

“Ehh, sounds like a hassle if you ask me, I’m fine being friends,” Lyra replied and another question came to mind. “Hey, do you play any instruments? A couple of thousand years is a long enough time to learn one.”

“No, but I am pretty in tune with the music magic that pervades the land,” Aspect replied. “I’m told I have an amazing singing voice.”

“Ohh, those little musical numbers?” Lyra asked, to which he nodded. “Yeah, anypony can sing when the Harmony kicks in. Try hearing Rainbow sing outside of one, she sounds like a dying cat.”

“Lyra!” Bon Bon chided her as she walked back into the room, a tray of tea on her back. “That’s mean… true as it may be.”

“Yeah well… I say we hear what he sounds like without it,” Lyra nodded. “Know any songs? There’s a good chance I know the tune.”

“Not...off the bat,” Aspect mused. “I’ve not got a good memory for them, I’m sad to say.”

“Ahh, oh well,” Lyra shrugged. “I’ll get you one of these days then.”

Bon Bon poured three cups of tea, passing them to the other two ponies. “So what sort of shenanigans can we expect from this house now?” the mare asked. “What with Alicorn Realm and now Starswirl able to use magic…”

“Heavy use of sorcery to- no, no, that might dispel the magic behind Starswirl,” Aspect mused. “Well, we’ll have a lot of magical happenings going on, that’s for sure. I would say I had them under control, but I can’t exactly use a dispel safely if Starswirl is in range. Or around any of the Pictomancy paintings, come to think of it.”

“Whelp…” Bon Bon smirked a little. “Sounds about normal for Ponyville. Can’t be any worse than Ursa’s and Hydras.”

“You say that now,” Aspect pointed out. “You have yet to see an alicorn growing into their magic.”

“Eh, I’m a unicorn and my magical spurts weren’t bad,” Lyra shrugged. “How bad could it be?”

“The sun once did a figure eight, and the moon had an image of a foal sticking its tongue out,” Aspect deadpanned.

Lyra and Bon bon stared… before bursting out into a severe case of the giggles.

“And keep in mind, when he recovers, he’ll have a whole lot of power at his disposal, and he’s quite perverted as...well…” Aspect paled as he looked in the general direction of the hospital. “I...forgot to warn the hospital.”

“You mean the hospital…” Bon Bon started.

“...Full of cute nurses?” Lyra finished her sentence.

“Okay, A, that was creepy, please don’t do that again,” Aspect shuddered. “And B...well...hopefully they’ve figured it out by now.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine…” Lyra smirked.

“...I mean, they’re smart mares,” Bon Bon concluded.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” they said in perfect unison.

“Now you’ve gone and jinxed it,” the stallion muttered to himself as he did his best to fight off the shivering feeling.

“Is this better Mister Realm?” the unicorn nurse asked. She had a blue coat and a lime green mane as she adjusted the projector from atop her little ladder. Her tail swished back and forth as she stood on her hind hooves, trying to straighten it.

“Mmm, now it’s a little too far to the left,” the colt replied as he was staring at something other than the picture on the wall. “I think you overcorrected.”

“Drat!” the mare muttered. “Give me a moment… I’ll get it right in a second.”

“Take all the time you need,” the colt replied as he kept watching the show, and not the one on the wall.

The rest of the evening was uneventful compared to recent events. Lyra had conked out in the living room, so they let her crash on the couch before Aspect and Bon Bon retreated to bed. Rainbow had left a note saying she wouldn’t be around tonight, wanting some rest as there were some kind of plans for early tomorrow morning.

“So it’s back to just you and me,” Aspect mused as he cuddled the candy mare.

“Mhm, though in Rainbow’s defense, would you have let her sleep anytime soon?” she giggled, nuzzling him gently.

“Considering all that’s happened? Probably. I’m not up for much right now,” Aspect replied, sighing softly. “Just...too worried I suppose. I know I shouldn’t be, he’ll pull through, but...there was a moment when he apparently looked like he might actually die.”

Bon Bon smiled and placed a chaste, gentle kiss on his lips. “It’s because you’re a worried father. And a good father at that. I’d be worried if you weren’t concerned.”

“I worry about all my kids, no matter how they came to be called that,” Aspect replied, nuzzling the mare softly. “I just wish I hadn’t been doing...things, while he was busy becoming an alicorn. Kinda puts a damper on the mood.”

“Try as you might, you can’t be there all the time. They’ll get up to mischief whether you’re around or not,” Bon Bon said. “But they’ll always count on you when it matters.” She snorted lightly and shook her head. “Sorry, guess I shouldn’t be lecturing when I’ve never actually had a foal of my own.”

“Mmm,” Aspect agreed wordlessly as he embraced the mare. He held her, not wanting or needing anything beyond the feeling of someone who loved him in his bed. Tomorrow would come, and it would bring its share of troubles. But right now, he just needed her.

And she was happy to be there, stroking his mane softly with a hoof. She’d always be here for him as well.

Author's Notes:

This won't cause any problems, surely.

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