Sunset Shimmer seemed pacified by my agreement. Although little did she know I was already thinking about lessons in humility as I returned to my preening. Silence reigned for a few minutes more as I continued my work. Sunset looked to me expectedly.

"Well?" she asked finally, probably not used to being forced to wait.

"Well what?" I asked, keeping my face hidden in my wing, not willing to show my slight, knowing, smirk.

"When do we begin?" she asked.

I couldn't help but snort aloud.

"I'm being serious." she said sternly.

"Tell me Sunset, do you consider yourself to be Celestia?" I asked pointedly. The girl seemed taken aback at my seemingly random question.

"I- Well- What kind of question is that?!" she asked loudly.

"Humor me." I spoke, lifting my head from my wing to look her in the eyes.

"I... No. I'm not Celestia." she looked away shamefully.

"Then why do you expect everything to orbit around you?" I reached over and prodded her gently. "You want lessons from me? You'll get them, but I do have prior arrangements that need tending to. And right now, that means dealing with my own mess and running away from the FBI."

Her mouth fell open.

"Y-you're..." she stammered.

"Get used to the idea 'my apprentice'. You came to a dark wizard for lessons, that means you get to be an accomplice. You don't like it? Well, I'm not forcing you to stay."

Granted, I had no intention of teaching her anything remotely to do with dark magic, but humility might as well been dark magic to the likes of her.

Sunset looked down at her hands in thought.

I smirked to myself and returned to my hygiene. It didn't really matter if she chose to stay or go. If she backed out now, she would be admitting to herself that there were prices she wasn't willing to pay for what she wanted, and that she wasn't so far above normalcy as she thought.

The side effect that she would willingly get out of my hair would've been a bonus.

But if she stayed, well, that just meant more time to smack her in the head with the idea that she wasn't on top of the food chain. And I would have the bonus of having at least the access to human services should I need it by acting through Sunset.

I wouldn't fool myself however, her massive ego wouldn't allow herself to bow out.

"I'll come with you." she finally said.

The temptation of power was far too alluring.

I felt myself smirk into my wing.

"Well then Sunset..." I stated, making sure to keep all traces of my mischievous pride out of my voice. "We both have chores to do." I pulled my face out of my wing again and addressed her directly. "Firstly, do you live in this area? If not, do you have a vehicle?"

"I... No I don't live around here. I barrowed my boyfriend's car."

"Your... Boyfriend's... Car?" I asked slowly, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it was the nicest one at school that I could ask around for." Sunset stated as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

I suddenly felt the urge to take another drink from the bottle that I had kept close.

Dealing with Sunset was going to be more of a headache than I thought it would be wasn't it?

"Sure fine, whatever. It'll work." I admitted, lifting a hoof to rub one of my temples. "Do you have a phone? Any money? Anything you think would be useful?" I asked, maybe a bit more harshly than I intended.

"What teen doesn't have a phone?" Sunset rolled her eyes. "Money too, but nothing physical. I also have my thaumic tracker."

Oh right, I already saw her phone.

"Thaumic tracker?" I asked, feeling an ear cock it self sideways in confusion.

"Yeah, it's- It's how I found you." the girl pulled her phone out of her pocket, revealing the ghost buster prop.

I noted with a twinge of anxiety that her phone case had a stylized sun painted on the back, one half crimson red and the other golden yellow.

It was disturbingly similar to Celestia's mark of destiny.

If she was telling the truth about being a Pony turned Human, was this her mark?

I shivered involuntarily as Sunset reached up and pulled her ghost buster prop off the phone, holding it up for me to see.

Now that I could get a closer look, it was clearly not some sort of toy a corporation would make to sell to nerds. It looked like something an aspiring mad scientist would make, soldered together and fit with differently sized screws. The most notable portion of the device, had wires wrapped around some sort of clear crystal, quartz if I was forced to guess. The wires in turn kept the crystal suspended between two plates, which looked like neodymium magnets.

"Earth's thaumic field isn't as strong as Equss', Humans never evolved an innate sense for it, but I know how I could charge crystals with mana, and use the crystal's resonance to vibrate magnets, which I could convert into data for an app I wrote to display!" Sunset explained proudly.

Luna's knowledge of magic offered no suitable explanation. Likely because she had a medieval understanding of the Universe around her.

Lucas' knowledge of layman theoretical physics on the other limb...

The realization that clicked in my head would've been priceless to a physicist.

Magic was dark matter or dark energy! The universal constant that couldn't be seen, but could be felt!

Humanity had already discovered magic, but they just didn't understand how it worked or how to utilize it!

Ha! Hahaha!

For once I was in on the cosmic joke!

I truly saw what Celestia had seen in Sunset now!

If Sunset wanted, she could have any salaried position in any quantum lab!

I found myself wanting to root for Sunset, regardless of her demeanor. Thankfully, I had already committed to ridding her of that unfortunate holier-than-thou attitude.

Now I had a personal reason to keep her around.

Other than useful tool that is.

"Fascinating." I hummed, returning to the present as I continued to follow the wires with my eyes, attempting to see if I recognized any familiar component.

"Yeah... Imagine my surprise when, two weeks ago, all my thaumic devices suddenly turned in the same direction, like someone had turned on a giant electromagnet that was as strong as Earth's natural field." Sunset continued.

"Oh!" I realized out loud. "That's how the agents found me!" I put a hoof to my forehead.

That's what those agents were looking at! They had hand held devices and were tracking my direction in real time!

That meant...

FUCK!

They were probably closing in as we spoke!

"The... The FBI already found you?" Sunset asked after some hesitation.

"Don't worry about it." I responded. "Point is they might be on me sooner than I thought. You said you had a car right? Is it nearby?"

"Sorta... I parked a few blocks away because I wanted to pin down your location..." Sunset admitted.

"Great." I stated "Now hold on a moment..." I said as I reached for the ruined pants, rifling through its pockets. The search produced the wallet I had stolen and a bundle of tattered blue latex.

The latex gloves I had taken the night earlier had taken at least one round.

Where was the phone?

Or right... I crushed it beneath my foot last night.

Oh well.

"Ok... Um..." I started again. "Go get your car and go wait in the parking lot. When you're parked, wait for me me. I'll join you and we can get out of here."

"A-are you sure?" Sunset asked doubtfully. "I was driving all night. I was too excited to find you before Princess Celestia got to you..."

I froze.

Oh that was a problem.

"How tired are you? Could you drive out of the city limits?" I asked, feeling like I had just downed an energy drink. "I can drive, but it wouldn't be a good idea for me to drive until we're on the back roads. Away from the crowds of drivers and cops."

"Aren't you hungover? And possibly intoxicated?" Sunset asked, pointing at the bottle I had drunk out of when I recalled my story.

I looked down at the bottle.

The label "Absolute Vodka" stared back at me.

"Would it matter if I was?" I asked. "The police would pull us over anyway if they see me in the driver seat."

"But they'll pay more attention if your swerving on the road."

"Do you think you can drive for several more hours?" I retorted. Even as I spoke, the girl across from me seemed to gain baggy eyes and a worn look. I hadn't noticed it when I first saw her, but it looked like she was being carried only by the excitement of finding/meeting me.

So really, who was the best option to drive?

"I-" the girl started to say, before she was interrupted by a yawn.

"That's what I thought. Go get your car, maybe we can go park somewhere so you can sleep before we leave the city."

"What about you?" Sunset murmured. "If we park in the city you could be seen."

"Don't worry about me." I reassured her. "So long as we keep moving and stay in public areas, the FBI and SWAT teams won't risk a confrontation, especially with an actual alien."

"... Are you sure?" Sunset asked slowly. "With Princess Celestia revealing that aliens do exist... Are they going to keep trying to maintain secrecy?"

"Absolutely. It's far too soon for the agencies to change their modus operandi ." I smiled. "In fact, unless we put further pressure on them to change, they may not consider it at all." I left out the fact that I had put plenty of pressure on them already. "You said you've been here for at least two years correct?"

"Yeah..." Sunset nodded.

"Then let me tell you what 24 years have taught me. The United States is far too comfortable in their current state to consider changing. They operate with militaristic and economic impunity on the world stage. No one dares challenge the United States and the American government knows it." I stopped momentarily to let Sunset consider my words. "But that comfort also means complacency. Why fix what isn't broken? It'll take millions of dollars for the feds to adopt new policies. Millions that the money grubbers in Congress will do anything to not spend. If you learn nothing else from me, let this be my most important lesson I can give you 'my apprentice'." I pointed at the girl, who sat in rapt attention, despite her tired eyes. "Stagnation is death. Never get so comfortable that you can't change. If you need structure, gain comfort in being modular and adaptable."

Sunset slowly nodded, lost in thought.

"I... I think I'll go get the car now..." she mumbled, standing up and pocketing her phone.

"Awesome, I'll be waiting." I nodded.

I waited patiently for Sunset to quietly leave, closing the door behind her as she left. As the door clicked shut I sighed to myself.

Damnit Luna... What have you gotten yourself into now?

You know perfectly well what my thought process was.

Weren't you the one that brought up that I should call myself 'Luna'? What do you expect me to do? Call myself "Placeholder Name Here"?

I smoothed out the feathers on the wing I was working on and hopped off the bed.

I'm not calling myself "Placeholder Name Here".

I pulled the bathroom door open and turned the light back on with only a slight wince, eyeing the plates of metal scattered over the room.

I felt my brow twitch.

I suppressed a growl and started to pick up my armor pieces, examining each.

They all had dried blood caked in their recesses.

I added "disgusted shuddering" to my short term emotional blacklist.

I ignored the Other and set the armor plates on the sink's counter. I then turned on the sink's hot water and let it run for a moment.

I grit my teeth together as I turned and left the bathroom. I splayed my vision over the room, before ultimately landing on the shredded pants I had worn the night before.

I ignored the Other and picked up the pants, examining it to see how much of it I could use as a rag.

"Shut up." I growled softly.

"Shut-" I reached deep down into my dreamscape and directly grabbed the Other by her mane. "-Up!" I took hold of my mental blacklist and wrapped it around her face and snout like a chain.

I left the black Alicorn to flounder about in my mindscape as I turned my attention back towards reality.

I sighed in relief.

I turned my attention back to the pants and started to rip the more damaged parts off. I soon had a pile of scraps of denim and lopsided short shorts that was missing a few pockets. I grinned as I beheld the final product of the shorts. The missing pockets would be annoying, but it would be nice to have something I could wear as a Pony that had still actually had pockets.

Maybe I'd lose less stuff if I automatically brought said stuff with me when I inevitably had to bail.

I slipped the shorts over my back legs and pulled them up...

... Oh right, tail.

I pulled the shorts back down, relieving my sudden discomfort and used my telekinesis to rip another whole in the shorts, this time to poke my tail through.

I pulled them back up and threaded my tail through the new hole, pulling at a few tail hairs but ultimately getting the appendage through without hassle.

"Much better." I murmured to myself as I picked up the pile of denim scraps, turning back towards the bathroom.

The water was still running, so I wasted no time in putting the first plate of armor under the stream of water and let it soak for a moment. When it was suitably wet, I picked up the first scrap of denim and began scrubbing at the armor.

Was cleaning the armor with water good for it? Probably not. But without polish, or proper brushes, or something that prevented rust I would have to make do with just getting whatever blood I could off. When I was convinced I could do no more with a plate, I gingerly set the wet armor in the tub to dry, before I turned back to my pile and started scrubbing again.

It took me less time than I expected to clean the pieces, so I set the plates in the tub to dry and waited at the window to watch for Sunset.

Had she betrayed me to the feds?

I peered through the curtains as I waited, both for Sunset and for the armor to dry.

Outside seemed to be its bright and sunny self, albeit a little more yellow under the Sun as it approached noon. The room I was in looked over the hotel's parking lot, which was surrounded by tasteful hedges and trees that supplied copious amounts of shade.

A must for car owners in the Southwest United States I imagined.

The car traffic was busy in the distance, but around the hotel itself it might as well been abandoned.

I suppose hotel stayers had better things to do than hang out in their rooms all day.

Excellent.

This was a prime opportunity.

I abandoned the spot at the window and went back into the bathroom. The suit of armor didn't have much time to dry, so I shook off what ever water I could and started sliding the armor on.

It would be easier to take with me if I wore it, and it would provide a degree of protection if 'Sunset' had alerted the feds to my location.

I carried the helmet under a wing as I strode back into the bedroom, feeling much more like the Luna of old in the clean armor than I had when I woke up.

I paused as I passed by the pile of bottles I had made.

Glancing down, I spotted the one that looked the most full and picked it up.

Jack Daniel's Irish Whiskey.

My mouth suddenly felt painfully dry.

I pulled the cap off and took a quick sip, before putting the cap back on and stuffing the bottle under the barding of my- Luna's armor.

I didn't know what compelled me, but surely I could find a use for the whiskey.

I walked past the pile of bottles and picked up the wallet I had left on the bed. I sifted through its contents and pulled out $200 in cash, leaving the chosen bills on the bed as I stuffed the wallet into my new shorts.

If Sunset really was bringing the feds to me, than I could foil their plans by simply not being where they expected me.

I lifted the helmet up and let it settle down over my horn as I crossed the room.

It was time to go.

I opened the window and let the outside breeze flow over me. The air was fresh and full of warm autumnal life, which marginally helped blow away what remained of my hangover.

Gaseous form.

I flowed out the window, not particularly bothering to hide my initial foray as I dove into the nearest treetop. I clung to the undersides of its branches, using its natural shade to hide my shadow. I searched the area for anyone that looked particularly surprised that they just saw a shape dive out of a window, but found nothing.

Alright then.

I flowed over to a neighboring tree, taking all of my mass with me as I started around the parking lot. There was a good tree to hide it over in the corner or the lot. It provided a particularly good view of the lot and the road. It would be excellent to watch for Sunset or SWAT vans.

Finally I found myself settling into the tree I had chosen, and waited.

I contented myself watching the traffic fly by, trying to guess which car might've been Sunset's. A few pedestrians passed, but they went by peacefully.

I was beginning to debate with myself about resolidifying to rest on the tree's branches, but then I noticed a rather dusty, yet newly made, red car change lanes to turn potentially into the hotel's parking lot. I didn't have a good angle to see who the driver was, so I merely watched the car wearily.

The car turned its blinkers on, turning into the hotel's parking lot.

It drove by several of the empty spaces, although admittingly the lot was pretty empty. The car pulled into a space next to the hotel, very close by to the room I had stayed in. The driver side door opened and a head of familiar crimson locks with golden highlights poked above the roof.

Sunset Shimmer.

She closed the door behind her, and leaned on the side of the car, pulling out her phone with a single hand and tapping at it with her thumb.

What was she looking at on the phone?

Was she talking to the feds?

It only took my about half a minute to get to the tree closest to Sunset's car, from there I flowed down the shaded side of the tree trunk and poured the stream over the curb, eager to not collect too much and pool in an obvious to see shape. Underneath the car itself was another story, it was dark and was very well hidden from view. From there it was easy enough to push upward into the car's workings and into the cab itself.

I resolidified in the passenger seat as soon as the last wisp of shadow came from the air vents.

"Phew." I sighed in relief, now semi hidden and safe enough to take a breather. "Glad that didn't screw up." I murmured to myself. I glanced towards the driver's side window, seeing Sunset leaning on the car still.

She hadn't noticed that I was already in the car.

Awesome.

I reached over across the center console and knocked on the window.

"Gaaah!" Sunset exclaimed, her voice muffled, as she jumped away from the car in fright. She whirled on the car, to fight or start berating whatever thug had decided to break into her car, but her rage fell when she saw my mischievous smirk and slight wave.

"Fucker!" Sunset exclaimed. "Gave me a Harmony damned heart attack! Celestia's tits!"

I felt my brow twitch again.

Her name could be used as an expletive?!

The girl opened her door and climbed in.

"Asshole!" she exclaimed as she closed the door. "Couldn't you have come out of the building like a normal person? Hell, how'd you even do that?!"

I pushed my supreme irritation at Celestia away for a moment, reclaiming what small portion of my mischievousness still existed.

"Would you believe me if I told you it was magic?" I snarked. The girl leveled an unamused look at me.

"No. Really." she sarcastically replied. I felt myself genuinely smile, but I couldn't keep the conversation on this subject without revealing the cards in my hoof.

"So how tired are you? Did you want to park somewhere or get out of the city?" I asked with a grin.