It had been a week since Celestia had ordered me to Canterlot. My adoption had to be completed, and I had to be introduced to some important ponies in order to be able to live up to my position as a diplomat. But since there was no communication between the two worlds, I would never actually have to do anything, making me feel more like dead weight. The incident with the parasprites had also been talked about again, but this time in form of Shining Armor giving me a lecture about leaving that sort of business to the guards.

Twilight and Applejack had each sent me a short letter after that. Twilight had apologized for acting so hastily and for getting me involved in it while AJ had held the fact that I hadn’t told her about going after the parasprites against me. When I came back home that night, I went directly to bed and had left after the breakfast with Shining Armor and his stallions. So there hadn’t really been a time where I could have told her. I would have written her a letter, but writing with hooves is harder than it looks, and I didn’t even want to try with my mouth.

Today was the last day in Canterlot, and I had gotten most of my meetings over with. Only two more ponies were left that I had to talk to. For one, there was Prince Blueblood who I was somehow related to now, and my aunt Luna. It was somehow very strange to call the Princess of the Night that, but Celestia had trained me to call her ‘mom’ for the first few days as well. I liked the way she was treating me; it somehow reminded me of my own family, who I hoped to see again at some point to say goodbye. I had slowly drifted into the stage of acceptance by now, as who or what I was could no longer be changed. I would stay a pony and would now belong to this world, not theirs anymore.

I bumped into a guard as I walked around the castle, wrapped deeply in my thoughts. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention,” I said and reached a hoof to help him on his legs again.

“No problem, sir, happens to the best of us,” the pegasus said, and I immediately recognized the voice. Haste, one of the two pegasi who had guarded me at the farm. It was hard to tell the guards apart since their armours were enchanted somehow so that they always looked alike. It was something like a uniform, and there were three of them. Celestia’s guards wore golden armour, their coat white, Luna’s knights wore black harnesses and got a dark blue coat, and then there were the Royal Guards. Something like a special force, they didn’t serve the princesses directly but the public. They enforced the laws that both applied to the public and the princesses.

Each of these troops had a Captain, as I had learned, who also had a seat in the courthouse. The courthouse was similar to a court on my world. Aside from Celestia, the three Captains, the mayor of Canterlot, and two randomly selected citizens also acted as judges. In this court, however, only the most severe crimes were heard, and they were so rare that the last case was around ten years ago. Since the laws were directly issued by Celestia or Luna, the Royal Guards were more or less just a formality, and no one had a problem with that since neither Celestia nor Luna had ever abused their powers to harm their subjects.

“Thanks, Haste. I have a question. How do you manage not to get lost? I’ve been searching for the dining hall for an hour now.” It was most likely a very good approximation, seeing that I didn’t have a watch.

“You just have to walk down this corridor and turn right at the end.” He pointed down the hallway he came from with his lance. I thanked him quickly and went on my way. Luckily, I had been smart enough to leave there very early, so I could still make it in time for breakfast. My assumption was confirmed as I opened the large door and spotted Celestia and Luna as they both sat at a large, lengthy table, eating a salad. Luna had been on a diplomatic travel in Gryfalla for the last few days to negotiate a new trade agreement and had only returned last night.

“Good morning, Blue Light. Slept well?” Celestia greeted me shortly after I closed the door again.

“Oh, is this our nephew thou have mentioned, Tia?” Luna apparently still had problems with the modern language, but Trent’s spell mitigated most of it.

“Yes, let me introduce Blue Light.” Celestia pointed at me, and Luna reached her hoof out to me, obviously waiting for some gesture from me.

“Pleased to meet you,” she said and reached her hoof out even further at me, changing nothing about the fact that I had no idea how to respond to the gesture. I did the first thing that came to my mind and met her hoof with my own, leading to a wildly confused Luna. Celestia, who had watched the entire scene, couldn’t hold back a little laugh, but as soon as her sister threw an angry glare at her, she quickly turned back to her salad.

“So, Blue Light, would you mind letting us in on this… gesture?” She still examined her hoof while she spoke.

“I think Twilight Sparkle has written to me about this gesture once. It is called a brohoof and is either a greeting between friends or used as a signal for good work,” Celestia explained while she nibbled at her salad.

“Yes, you could say it’s like that. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Princess Luna,” I said with a light bow. Luna returned the gesture and lowered her head.

“Since you two have been introduced, how about you do something together tonight?” I thought Luna had the same thought I had, and we both looked confusedly at Celestia.

“But Tia, he is your son. Why should we spend the evening with him?” Celestia reached over the table and placed a hoof on Luna’s shoulder.

“He belongs to our family now, Luna. You are his aunt, and I want you two to get along well. And you would do well spending an evening with a young spirit.” She killed two birds with one rock, and I couldn’t blame her since I probably would have done the same. I sat next to them at the table and waited for one of the cooks to take my order. On my first day here, I had gone into the kitchen and made myself something to eat, but as soon as the head chef had seen me, I had been thrown out of his little kingdom before I could even blink. He didn’t care who or what I was - it was his kitchen.

After the week in the palace, I could finally stand next to Celestia since my body had adapted to this world’s magic. I came from a world without magic, so my soul was under constant pressure, but Celestia was like an anvil that you had to carry. That was why I had almost collapsed at our first meeting.

“If you insist, sister, we will take care of him today even though we do not know what we shall do with him.” Celestia looked satisfied that she had successfully persuaded her sister.

“Why don’t you show Light the city and give him an understanding of our history? I’m sure you will find something to talk about.” And Luna would socialize as well, I thought. It was more that I had to keep busy, not vice versa.

“So shall it be. We wish to meet you at the gates at twenty o’clock, Blue Light.” With these words, Luna stood up from the table and left me alone with Celestia in the large room. I scooted over a bit so that I sat directly opposed to her and waited for the cook to take my order.

“Pardon my sister, sometimes she is a bit… like that,” Celestia said with a smile.

“No problem, Princess. I think we will make good use of the time.” She threw this look at me that somehow every parent knew. It told you that you had done something wrong even though you knew better. “I mean Tia.” I had agreed to call her that since ‘mom’ was still a bit too strange for me. The cook came from the kitchen next door and coughed slightly to signal that he was ready to take my order. “I’ll have a sandwich - surprise me with the toppings - and some hay fries.” The cream-colored stallion nodded shortly and disappeared with his chef’s hat in the kitchen again. I had tried something differently every day and was pleasantly surprised by hay since it tasted a bit like rice, just that it was as long as a noodle. It was already crispy, but it was even better fried.

“Before I forget it, Light.” Celestia’s horn glowed, and a piece of parchment appeared together with a small purse. “Here is your payment for your work for the last week.” I quickly skimmed over the parchment which basically was just a list of all the formalities I had done. At the bottom, my signature was required and next to it stood the proud sum of five thousand bits. I had used the library to educate myself more about their currency system. Simple goods like apples or other foods usually cost around five to ten bits, depending on the quality. Goods like furniture and such were available from twenty bits onwards where the upper limit was not set. Houses and apartments could be rented from around a hundred bits per week and be bought from two thousand onwards. The maintenance cost was relatively low. Aside from a water provision, there was only a low real estate tax to maintain the streets and bridges.

“That’s a small fortune!” I was left speechless by the sum. “I can’t take this. I just stuffed myself in the evenings and talked with a few ponies. Read a document here and there, but that’s about it.” I always had trouble taking money if I felt like I didn’t deserve it. During my apprenticeship as a computer scientist, I used to repair computers of acquaintances, which often only were a few minor things or some parts that had to be replaced. Most of them gave me a tenner or even more despite it being just almost no work. It didn’t seem appropriate.

“This is the minimum wage for employees of the crown,” Celestia said briefly. In my head, I roughly calculated how much Applejack made during one day on the market and came to the result that she earned about twice as much in a year than I did in a week. I came to realize how unappreciative the hard work on the farm actually was and why the cider season was so important. Every bit was important for the farm, and she had even paid me. I signed the document, which confirmed that I had received the money, like I did with every other one as well: with a hoofprint. It was an old method but was still officially valid. It would have to be enough until I mastered the art of writing. I could now understand why the writing in the series always looked so strange. Calligraphy was the last thing you cared about while writing with your mouth, and so everything that was mouth-written looked like it came from a doctor. That raised the question as to how horrible the calligraphy of doctors here was.

“You thought about the series again.” Celestia knew about everything since she had been my in my head, just like now.

“Could you leave my head alone? I’d like to keep my thoughts to myself.” I often had awry trains of thought and lost myself in little daydreams that were not necessarily suited for all ages, but that was what the nature of a man brought with it. Celestia laughed.

“Of a man…” It took a while for her to calm down again. “But there is one question I have to ask you as a worried mother. Do you wish to tell the Elements about the series in your world?” She had asked me a few days ago already, but I had just remained silent.

“Sooner or later, I have to. Yes, I know that it’s going to be harder the longer I wait.” She just nodded and emptied her plate. The cook came back and placed a plate in front of me. “One sandwich á la rainbow and hay fries as you wished,” he said in a Prench accent and trotted away again. I eyed the sandwich and somehow got the thought of searching it for cupcakes. Various flowers on it made it actually look like a rainbow on bread. Here goes nothing, I thought to myself and took a large bite. I chewed a bit on the flowers and couldn’t make out a distinct taste, but it was good.

It was midday already as I made my way from my room to the castle gardens, the little pavilion that stood in the garden to be more precise. It wasn’t far off the small labyrinth where a certain statue stood and, hopefully, held its everlasting slumber. A few guards stood at the small way, wearing armour I hadn’t seen before. Unlike the guards from the castle, these four didn’t look alike one bit. Their armour was made out of a plain, silvery, shining metal and had something that resembled a compass engraved. They watched me carefully as I slowly walked up the stairs of the pavilion and sat down by the large white unicorn with a blond mane. His cutie mark was exactly the same as the symbol on the armour, just that one part was gold and the other was silver. Blueblood took a sip of his tea before even looking at me.

“So, here we have the newest member of our family. I am Blueblood, fourth in the line of succession and nephew of her royal Highness, Princess Celestia.” Rarity sounded like a snob from time to time, but this guy took the cake. I knew that he was spoiled, but I would have never thought that one sentence would be enough to despise a person. He thought that he was something better and didn’t hesitate a second to rub that in everyone’s face.

“A pleasure to meet you. I am Blue Light, diplomat and son of said princess.” I tried to keep the formal voice and not sound snarky. For me, everypony had the same worth. I didn’t care about their rank or status.

“The pleasure is mine.” He sipped again from his cup that was floating in front of him, not in his magic but from a maid that stood behind in a bent posture. I was quite a lazy person who only worked if I really had to myself, but this was the second record this guy set today. “I have asked you here to talk about a few important things.” Another maid with a tray on her back stepped next to me and placed a cup of the same tea that Blueblood drank in front of me. “But first I would like you to explain to me the circumstances of your… adoption. I do not see what dignifies you for such a, well, dignity.” What a charmer, knowing exactly how to talk to others. He was the last one I would want to tell my story.

“Well, I came from another world as you probably already know.” He nodded. “And to keep peaceful relations with this world for the future, the princess has decided to take that step.” His cup was placed down on the table again.

“I see… a smart move; nothing else is to be expected by her Highness. Of course, I would not have handled it differently.” Of course not. “But let us come back to my small request. I want you to resign from your title as a prince.” He kept a straight face like it was the most normal thing in the world. “You have to know that I have acquired a certain reputation as a prince, and I would like to keep that.” Until now, I had no interest in this title as it was more of a formal thing, but putting a spoke in this snob’s wheel was its first positive aspect. “If the common ponies speak of a prince then usually my person is meant, and we would not like to confuse the ponies, do we?” I did my best to keep my anger in me and focus my thoughts on angering him a bit more.

“Your reputation can’t be that flawless if it risks to be confused by a nobody like me, right?” At those words, he choked on his tea and looked at me with shocked eyes. It must have been a while that someone had countered him, and to my surprise, the maid behind him couldn’t keep her laughter in. Unfortunately, he seemed to have noticed that, and his horn glowed in a deep blue before I saw the poor thing going to the ground.

“How dare you, you unworthy thing. Have you forgotten who I am?” He didn’t even turn around when he slapped her, his eyes turning back to me again. “Good personnel can be so hard to find.” The poor maid got back on her legs and began to levitate the cup of tea in her magic again.

“Pardon me, sir, it won’t happen again.” Her voice sounded so young; she must have been a year or two younger than Pinkie. Just old enough to no longer count as a filly.

“I will make sure of that later,” he snapped at her. “I am sure we will come to an agreement, Light. We are both civilized unicorns.” Money was the last thing I wanted from him.

“I think civilized is something else, Blueblood. Maybe you should look that up in a dictionary.” He whistled, and his guards slowly gathered at the steps to the pavilion and blocked the exit. He pulled out a piece of paper and pushed it on the table.

“Everything you have to do is sign here, and we forget the whole thing. What do you say?” I took the paper in my mouth and chewed a bit on it before swallowing.

“A bit tart with a slight hint of… never ever.” He seemed to have lost his patience and waved his guards over. The largest of them was an earth pony with a black coat and dark mane. His cutie mark was covered by the armor, just like the others, and at the according place was Blueblood’s. He lunged out and struck me directly in the face. I coughed a bit of blood but still smiled at Blueblood. “You know, somehow I had hoped you would try something like this.” My horn glowed, and in the next moment, the armor of my attacker was no longer made out of light metal but out of massive platinum, pulling him to the ground immediately. Unable to move, he kicked around with all fours, making him look like a baby that couldn’t even crawl. One of his colleagues thought it might be a good idea to follow his example and unfolded his wings to attack me from above. Just as he was about to rise from the ground, he noticed that his hooves were held to the ground since I had changed the ground around him to clamp his hooves. The last two were unicorns and now started to cast spells as well. A bolt flew past me by just a few centimeters and struck one of the wooden beams of the small pavilion. His partner had somehow changed the air pressure or something of the sort, making it much harder for me to be able to stand on my legs.

“Hey, idiot! How much air do you think your friend is getting up here with the additional gravity on his new armor?” In fact, I could see him struggling to breathe, and since I used to have asthma, I knew how it felt not getting enough air. I didn’t know which of the two had casted the spell, but my speech was successful, and the additional pressure disappeared again. The horns of the two glowed again in front of me, but they didn’t get to finish their spells as they both landed with their faces on the ground. I had grounded their armour with roots which had had spread through the ground, pulling the two with them. The smile which had been etched on Blueblood’s face until now had disappeared, and he quickly jumped off his chair to take cover behind the young maid. He pushed her in my direction.

“Do something! What am I paying you for?” Now I had enough with this guy. The maid was shaking and made no signs to attack me, so I ignored her and stepped towards Blueblood.

“You know that I can’t harm you. That would only cause a scandal that you would present to the public.” His grin returned. Apparently, that idea hadn’t come to him until now. “But luckily, I don’t need to harm you to teach you a lesson. In the silent corner you go.” I gathered all the magic I could generate, which wasn’t much at this point, and a pillar shot out of the ground below him, carrying him ten meters into the sky. He screamed like a little girl as he noticed the position he was in. “You have three choices. You either jump, which I would love to see, but I don’t think you are really that stupid. Choice number two is to wait until the spell that holds your pegasus friend to the ground wears off so he can carry you down, or you wait until the pillar disappears. But I guarantee that takes twice as long as you think.” He thought for a moment.

“Go on, Silver Tray! Do something, you stupid thing, or you are fired!” he shouted at the still shaking maid behind me. I slowly went over to her and put a hoof around her shoulder.

“If you want, I have a job for you. Don’t worry about him.” At least I hoped so. I never had a maid before.

“R-Really?” she asked with a little sob.

“We’ll find something,” I answered and gave her a smile. I took her aside and left the pavilion with her. I led her around the castle to a small terrace with a few tables normally used for receptions in the garden, but it was empty today. We both took a seat, and I gave the worried Silver Tray another smile.

“How old are you by the way? You seem so young.” She was still sobbing a bit but seemed to calm down now.

“Fifteen,” she said quietly. So she was just old enough to live alone. I knew that most ponies didn’t leave their homes until they were sixteen or seventeen.

“May I ask why you are working here? Shouldn’t you be in school or something like that?” I felt a bit of pity for her. This was surely her first job, and she had to work for such a jerk.

“I go to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns here in Canterlot, but my parents can’t afford the school fee. That’s why I have to work besides school.” Now I had a good idea what she could do for me.

“Well, I don’t really have any use for a maid, but I could use some kind of assistant. Somepony who is available here in Canterlot and can look things up in the library for me. You would just have to send me the information to Ponyville by mail. Do you think you can do that? Of course, you may use the library for your schoolwork as well.” She nodded quickly, a smile slowly appearing on her face. “Then there’s only the issue of payment left… how much is the school fee per year?” She calculated in her head.

“With all the books and materials, a bit over five-hundred bits.” I nodded.

“How about an apartment? Or are you still living with your parents?” I needed a rough idea how much I could pay her.

“I’m living with my parents at the edge of the town.” I nodded again.

“How much did Blueblood pay you?” I knew that it wasn’t enough, no matter how much it had been.

“One hundred bits per month.” So she worked five months just to go to school? Exploitation was an understatement, but now I had found my first worthy purpose for my wealth.

“Since your new job is kind of a raise, I will cover your school fees and… let’s say one hundred and fifty per month?” She threw her hooves around my neck.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you…” she said for almost a minute before letting go of me. “I mean, thank you, your Highness.”

“Your Highness would be my mother.” It was still strange to say that. “For you, I am Blue Light or just Light. If you want to, you can even call me Tio.” Almost no one did that anymore.

“Tio? What kind of name is that?” Somehow, it was still strange for many here.

“Never mind. I’ll set everything in motion, Silver Tray. Just check every day after school if you have an assignment from me, and if not, you can go home or hang out with some friends. We’ll leave it for today.” I was exhausted already, and I still had to find out who I had to fuck here to get this payment thing done. Somehow, I just hoped that an old stallion would not suddenly appear behind me and say, ‘Me, sir’.

“Thanks, Light, I won’t disappoint you.” With that, she stood up from the table and went on her way with a smile on her face. As she was reached further away and thought I wouldn’t hear her anymore, she burst out in a small cheer. I would now need a nap and somepony to explain me how this whole thing with employees worked here. I would have gone back and asked Blueblood, but I somehow doubted that he would answer me.

Haste, the only guard in the castle I knew by name, had explained to me about what I had to do about Silver Tray, and so I spent my entire afternoon filling out the necessary forms. Everything had to be done three times. One for the archives in the castle so that she got access to all the required places, one for the mayor’s office in Canterlot so that the payment would be taken care of, and then the school for the fees. Luckily, most of it was just setting a mark here or there so that I could do it on my own and signed with my hoofprint as usual. I had to write her name down sometimes as well, which looked like it was written by a first grader, but I didn’t care; I was too proud of my achievement of being able to write with my mouth. Levitating objects was still too hard for me, and Celestia said that was because my spirit wasn’t open for that. Or simply put, I could only do what I thought was possible, and flying objects apparently didn’t fall under that category.

The only change that came was the guards who occasionally knocked at the door. They had heard of my confrontation with Blueblood and were curious to know how I had beaten his four guards. My answer was the same every time: they must have behaved stupidly, and I had more luck than judgment. I wasn’t a trained fighter, and I couldn’t explain how I did it to myself either. After a kitchen help brought me a snack from the kitchen, I took a bath to be presentable for Luna tonight. Canterlot was already busy at daytime, but it turned really going crazy at night. I could hear music of every kind each night coming from the whole city, ponies wandering around to search for the best party everywhere. That today was Saturday and nopony had to work tomorrow due to the spring festival would surely not diminish their mood.

At twenty o’clock, I stood in front of the gate at the main entrance to the castle. A chariot, pulled by various pegasi, was already waiting for me. Only Luna was missing. I was eager to find out what she had planned for the evening. There were a few clubs I would have liked to go to, but a tour through the town would be enough as well. Tomorrow was the spring festival, and AJ and I would surely party a lot if it was that kind of festival. A flash of light exploded in front of me, and in the next moment, Luna stood in front of me.

“We wish you a good evening, Blue Light. Art thou ready for our evening?” She still spoke in that archaic tone.

“Certainly, Luna. I wouldn’t be here otherwise, would I?” Humour eased many situations.

“We demand thou address us with our title as is right and proper,” she said and stomped on the ground with a hoof.

“Certainly, Princess Luna.” She nodded with satisfaction and entered the chariot. I followed her, and the pegasi immediately took off to wherever we were going.

“May I ask what our destination is, your Highness?” I laid extra emphasis on the last word, so much so that it almost sounded ridiculous, but she either ignored it or didn’t notice.

“We have taken the liberty to book two tickets for the opera of Canterlot. As our sister has proposed, we will participate in a cultural exchange.” I was sure that Celestia had meant something different, more like a nightclub.

“May I ask which play we are going to watch?” I was sure that I didn’t know any of the plays, but a bit of information about the content couldn’t go wrong either.

“As chance would have it, ‘A Thousand and One Night’ is being shown at the moment. A wonderful play if we may say. We hope that the quality hasn’t decreased in a thousand years.” Of course, what other play could it have been if Luna got the choice. The rest of the ride she spent explaining to me what it was about, but I had a rough idea already. It was about a young prince who had taken a different princess every night, only for them to never be seen again. One day he had taken a princess who began to tell him a story, and it was so intriguing that the prince didn’t dare to harm her as he wanted to hear how the story ended.

“May we ask thou, Blue Light, have thou ever been to an opera? “ I had been to a musical a couple of times, like Starlight Express or The Lion King, but not an opera. I imagined it somehow the same, just a bit more sophisticated.

“It is over when the fat mare sings, right?” She just threw a baffled look at me.

“Come again?” Not the slightest sign of a smile.

“Just a phrase among my people, Princess.” The chariot touched ground, and we came to a halt. During the conversation, I had completely forgotten to look out of the window. Canterlot at night and from the sky would have to wait until after the opera. One of the pegasi freed himself from his harness and opened the door of the chariot, allowing me to see the opera house. It was a large building with a statue of two ponies in front of it. One wore a happy mask, the other a sad one. I got out first and held, as a gentleman should do, my hoof out for Luna. Not like she couldn’t take the step herself; she was a good head taller than me. Suddenly, a storm of camera flashes fell over us, and for the first time, I noticed that we had stopped on a separate spot with a red carpet rolled out over it. At the barriers stood various photographers and ponies with notebooks who were scribbling hastily. Countless questions were thrown at us, but I couldn’t understand a single one.

I walked slowly with Luna at my side over the carpet, the mob of reporters on our heels. Luna paid them no attention at any time and basically had her head in the clouds. I, for my part, smiled to the right and left from time to time to make a good impression. For me, this was all new, but such a crowd was very pleasant for my ego. We walked through the entrance into some kind of lobby where a few tables with snacks on them stood together with some drinks. Luna immediately got surround by various ponies in fine suits. Without any clothes, I felt a bit out of place. I decided to let Luna do her thing and went to get us a glass of wine from one of the tables.

“Excuse me, sir, but you are Prince Blue Light, aren’t you?” An elderly mare in a fine black dress stepped towards me. In her hoof, she held some kind of binoculars on a lengthy stick.

“At your service. What can I do for you, Madam?” A wide grin appeared on her face as she pulled a younger mare resembled her almost out of thin air. Her coat was orange as well, and her mane was green like her mother’s. Her dress was a light purple, emphasizing that she was a lot younger.

“May I introduce you to my daughter, Orange Slice?” I knew what was going on here. She was trying to hook her daughter up with somepony, and why not with the new prince while she was at it?

“It’s a pleasure, but I already have company tonight. I am expected elsewhere.” I saw that I could quickly get away, so I got said wine and walked back to Luna. She was still talking to multiple nobleponies and took the wine without stopping for a moment. The conversation went from composers to various virtuosi of certain instruments to the construction of a new opera building in Manehatten and Cloudsdale until a bell signalized the start of the play. Luna and I bade goodbye to our company, even though I barely said a word, and made our way to our private box. It was high above the seats of the other ponies and seemed like the seat for a princess, with the seats being especially well-cushioned and showing a different pattern than the other ones.

Exhausted as I was from the day, I let myself fall into the comfortable chair and eagerly waited for the play to start. Luna seemed to actually be happy as I saw her smiling while she watched at the stage. I had realized by now that music was kind of her thing, just like classical being her first choice. The mumbling of the last conversation that rippled through the crowd went silent, and the light dimmed slowly until it seemed like the room was adorned with stars, appropriate for the play. The curtain was drawn and a scene that looked like an Arabian palace appeared. Instead of a throne, there were cushions everywhere, and the stallion, dressed as a prince with a turban, was lying between them, surrounded by mares that fanned him. A song began, and somehow I went deaf. I don’t know what it was, but I didn’t really like that kind of music or the voice of the actor. Usually I listened to all kinds of music, even though I don’t like all of them, but this was just unpleasant. I quickly began to distract myself by looking at the reactions of the audience below me. All were more or less looking at the stage and seemed to be caught by the play, so there was nothing to be seen there either. I began counting the lights at the wall and the ceiling and noticed my eyes slowly getting heavier.

Applause was what ripped me out of my slumber. Luna sat next to me and wildly clopped her hooves together while the actors soaked in the adulation. After a few bows and a brief speech by the director and the main actors, the crowd below us began to rise from their seats. Luna instead sat down again and angrily glared at me.

“We hope to not have disturbed your sleep,” she noted snarkily, clearly angry.

“It’s not like that, Luna… umm Princess Luna. I had a tough day and barely got time to—” She raised her hoof and motioned me to be silent.

“We do not want to hear thy excuses. If a visit to the opera is not to thy liking, thou should have told us.”

“It is not the opera,” I tried to calm her. “There was just an incident at midday today and that—”

“ENOUGH!” Her voice sounded through the hall with the power of the royal Canterlot voice. I was glad that the audience was gone by now so that only the remaining actors on the stage looked at us. She rose from her chair and slowly trotted back down the stair into the atrium. Many ponies were gathered there again and discussed what they had just seen, but Luna made no signs of staying here now. We went outside quickly, back over the red carpet, and entered the chariot that pulled up in front of us as the pegasi had seen us leaving the building. Luna opened the door with her magic before one of the pegasi had the chance to get near us and jumped inside. One pegasi threw a questioning look at me, but I ignored him and got inside as well. The chariot began to move, and I knew we were back on our way to the castle. I didn’t even need to ask.

“Listen, Princess. I am sorry.” She said nothing but at least looked at me again. “I know that it was inappropriate to catch up with my sleep during my time with you. I had promised to keep you company, and I have broken that promise.”

“We are happy to hear that thou are aware of your act,” she said and looked out of the window. “We will accept thy apology.”

“Did I miss much?” She just sighed.

“To our dismay, the quality has suffered over time. I should not even blame thou. Thou were not the only one.”

“What do you mean?” Was the play that bad? Why did everypony applaud then?

“After the first half an hour, half the room was in a deep sleep. We above all had noticed it as Princess of the Night.” I had to resist imagining the looks of the actors when looking at a sleeping audience. Apparently, they had been professional enough to finish the play anyway.

“May I ask you something, Princess? Do you play an instrument?” She thought for a moment and slammed her hooves together a few times, signalling that she was counting.

“We play eight to perfection and are learning two more. Why are thee asking?” Since my phone was out of battery, I had to play myself if I wanted to show her music from Earth.

“I can play the guitar a bit and would like to introduce you to Earth’s music during my next visit to Canterlot.” Luna’s mood seemed to have suddenly improved.

“Thou play such a difficult instrument?” She seemed to be eager to know more.

“I learned it when I was still human, but I practiced a bit since my arrival here. It is still a bit strange, but I think it should pass muster.”

“Most ponies need half their lifetime to master this instrument unless it is their special talent. Magic helps, but it is not sensitive enough for the harder pieces.” Luna seemed to be in her element.

“Then it is settled. The next time I come to Canterlot, I will bring you some music from Earth and will play it to you. If you want to, I can teach you a song or two too, Princess.” She was excited like a little foal, and maybe she still was that by alicorn standards.

“Please, we wish that thou call us Luna from now on. A friend of music is also a friend of us.” Somehow, I was happy to have gotten to her, especially since she seemed to love music even more than I do. The rest of the ride I spent trying to explain her all the different kinds of music on Earth and which instruments were used. When I explained to her that music could be made without them and on computers instead, she seemed to be keener on finding out more than she already was. A little later, we stepped out of the chariot which then disappeared into the darkness again. Luna and I bade each other good night, and I slowly began the search for my room. I slowly had gotten a feeling on where I had to go, and so I hoped to reach my bed soon. In one of the corridors, Celestia approached me and waved me over to her.

“I just met Luna, and it seems like the evening went well.” She held a hoof in front of her muzzle and yawned.

“It seems like when it comes to music, we are on the same page.” Celestia just nodded.

“I had been worried, but now I see that everything went fine. I will go to bed now too. Sleep well, Light.” In about five hours, the sun would be going up, and she had stayed up so long because she was worried? Somehow it was heartwarming, but I was too tired to further think about it, and so I staggered onwards through the corridor until I finally opened the door to my room and threw myself on my bed.

Author's Notes:

A bit of good old slice of life. Have to build up a world after all. But that will change soon.

Thanks to Gron for translating this chapter.
Special thanks to JBL for proofreading and editing.

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