"I keep shrinking!" huffed Derek, tail lashing. "Why aren't you shrinking as much?"

Sunburst turned a hoof on himself, the fur going all the way up to his shoulder, his hind legs equally changed. He had progressed to the point that he could sit on his haunches, which he was doing. "I am shrinking," he assured. "But, I'm told, males shrink a bit less than females, and you were a guy to start, so..."

"So there's more shrinking to do," she huffed, flames licking as if she were ready to combust, but she was fighting it. "Still unfair." Her horn began to glow as she grabbed a tissue from a box from across the room and it flew towards her needy nose.

"Hey." Sunburst's eyes followed the glowing napkin. "Since when could you do that?"

"Huh?" She dropped the napkin out of surprise. "Woah." She pointed at it and raised her hoof, the napkin coming with the motion, glowing again. "Cool..."

Sunburst began to clap softly. "Congratulations!" Then he sneezed, barely having enough time to turn his face away from Derek before it happened. "Really..." He staggered to grab a tissue for himself. "Oh, man, Ponid sucks."

"I'll drink to that." Not that either of them were drinking. "I think I'm gonna... pass out."

"Good idea."

She hopped up onto her bed and curled there. The bed jostled lightly as another form hopped on it and thumped down into a curl next to her. "Silly boy," she sang out. "Don't you have your own bed?"

"My bed is all the way over there," he said through a sniffle. "G'night."

"Good night..." She didn't have the heart to chase him away. Besides, it felt kinda nice to have him there, pressed against her back. She closed her eyes with a little smile. Sleep buddies!

"Guess who has two days off," sang Starlight, her tail wagging behind her as she grinned down at me.

I was in bed. Shining was next to me. We had both been waken up by her sudden arrival when she had just pounced on me. "Starlight, good morning." I took off the sleeping mask I hadn't been wearing. "But I don't have the next two days off."

Shining was laughing and getting to his hooves. Without really thinking about it, he scratched the agitated Starlight behind her ear. "Girl, you are thirsty as hell. Tell her when your schedules match up so she can be put out of her misery."

I reached out a fuzzy hand, my schedule zipping across the room to be caught easily. "Well, let's see." I sat up, a pouting Starlight in my lap. "I don't see any matches this month."

"Take--" She thumped me in the chest. "A--" She leaned forward, bonking her forehead against mine. "Day--" She inclined her head, forcing mine when our horns met and she kept going. "--Off."

Shining's hand came down, rubbing around the horn that wasn't in contact with Starlight's. "You better do what she says, doesn't sound like she's ready to take a no."

"And you're too scared to make me say no, so, pfft, you're stuck with opinions you don't want." She reared back, hoof at her chest. "I am being naughty, and you won't discipline me, so there. Take a damn day off, make it match one of your day offs with one of mine. Do it!" She thrust a hoof at me. "Do. It."

I grabbed her, right at her hips. My fingers pressed into her warm flesh, feeling the powerful muscles of her legs as I rubbed gently along her cutie mark. Her eyes half-lidded, a little smile on her lips. "Are you that desperate to have a weekend under me?" She bobbed her head without delay. "Ugh." It wasn't as if I didn't get time off. I could request one basically any time, being the guy near the top of things.

But I was used to not being that, of giving people proper notice, a few weeks ahead of time... "You have another weekend... In two weeks. I'll schedule my time off to match with that. How's that?"

Oh the mighty rolling of her eyes. "And, today, you're telling me to buzz off."

"Oh, no." I gently pushed her aside to be sitting on the bed as I floated right out of it. "You're quite welcome to hang out with us, but we have work to do. Shining, you up for a Belgium breakfast?" I drew a plate piled high with exotic cheeses, my other hand bearing a platter of freshly baked bread. "Mmm, fresh."

So she was denied fun times, but she got to eat some good food, and hung out with us as we got back to work.

Speaking of that! I had a visitor not long afterwards. "Hiya!" chimed a smiling Apple Bloom.

Sweetie Bloom nodded as she walked into my office. "Nice to see you again."

Coming last, but not least, Scootaloo came flying through the door, her little wings beating in a blur that propelled her forward. "Yo!" She hit the ground at an angle, skidding to a stop. "I have-a question!" The other two blinked, looking to her, apparently not part of the plan.

Scootaloo pointed at the other two. "Why are they so weird?"

The other two gasped in shock, but I had a more neutral smile. "What makes them so strange, Scootaloo?"

"They hug and they kiss all the time." Scootaloo stuck out her tongue. "I mean, I get it. They were adults before... all this." She waved her hooves vaguely. "I wasn't. Am I gonna hug and kiss and stuff when I grow up? 'Cause, no thanks."

I had to fight the urge to laugh. Adults were pretty odd, when you thought about it, especially from the eyes of a small child, er, foal. "Scootaloo, just to be sure, they never bother you with that mushy stuff, right?"

Scootaloo inclined her head. "What? No! We wouldn't be friends otherwise." She waved it off. "They only do that stuff with each other... all the time. They don't try to get me in it, 'cause they know I ain't interested." She half turned, showing off her wings. "I have these bad boys and they're pretty great, especially with the scooter you gave me!" She pointed at the scooter that she had one arm draped around. "Love this thing, by the way. I can go so fast!"

Speaking of that... "While I can undo the damage you cause right around me, most people don't have that advantage, so crashing through doors into offices, maybe tone that down." I held up two fingers close together. "In return, I'll ask they keep their wild displays of adoration a bit down, hm?" I looked to Sweetie and Apple.

Apple huffed, crossing her arms as she stood up. "You just had ta ask!"

Sweetie nodded in agreement. "We didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, Scoots."

"Yer our friend," added Apple with a smile.

"Our best friend!" gushed Sweetie in strong agreement.

Scoots rubbed behind her head. "I know that... I just... wanted an outside opinion." She made a grand wave. "Alright, go ahead."

Sweetie advanced a step towards me, clearing her throat. "That matter settled, we all wanted to talk about something that's actually related."

"Too related," noted Apple Bloom with a bit of a squint. "It's about that guard."

"Silver Spoon," added Scootaloo. "She takes their weird and dials it to 11."

Sweetie coughed into a hoof. "She is different than us by a few... key... points."

Apple leaned forward. "You made her, didn't you?"

"I did," I agreed. "Did I mess something up?"

"Ya sure did," quickly snapped Apple Bloom. "She's got all the parts."

"The ones we don't have," added Sweetie.

Scootaloo shrugged lightly. "They were stupid parts anyway."

I didn't like which way the conversation was going. "I want you three to be absolutely honest with me. I am not angry at you, and nobody will be able to bother you without my say so. This aside, what, exactly, did Silver Spoon do."

Sweetie Bloom shook a hoof in the air. "Woah, hey, adult here, remember? If she was... molesting any of us, I would have filed a report ages ago."

Apple's face twisted into disgust, and Scootaloo looked adorably ignorant. "Sure woulda!" Apple cried in agreement. "It ain't that."

Well, alright. "Good, so what is she doing?"

Sweetie glanced sidelong towards Scootaloo with Apple following the look, the Blooms of one mind. I got the hint. "Scoots, could you let us talk boring adult stuff? There are a few tax forms I really wanted their help with."

"Taxes?" Scootaloo stuck out her tongue in repugnance. "No thanks. How long's that gonna be?"

"Oh, you know, taxes can take a while. I'll send them to find you. Where will you be?"

She thrust a hoof downwards. "I'll be in the game room, unless Silver's there." And off she went, powering herself on her buzzing wings.

Sweetie wiped her brow clear. "Alright. I love her to pieces, but this isn't appropriate talk for fillies."

Apple nodded in agreement. "Darn tootin'. Alright, Silver. She isn't doin' anythin' wrong with us, not really. She's even kinda fun to play with, but whenever an adult is around she fancies..."

Sweetie's brows fell. "She isn't subtle."

Images leaped into my head. Legally, Silver was an adult playing the part. She had a social security belonging to an adult citizen. She had a career path! She... was also a little filly pony, which threw all legal precedent right out the window. "Now, wait... She's still potentially infectious. Are people looking back at her?"

Apple shook her head. "None of the still human ones, thank Celestia."

Sweetie shook her head in unison. "That'd be something else... No, but she does give stallions looks, and some of them aren't entirely put off by her... small stature."

Well, shoot, I'd messed up. I gave Silver exactly what she wanted, and she was using it. She a pony loli, and she liked it, and it was my fault. Crap... I had to do something, but what would be the right thing to do... What law was being broken? Well, none, technically... Who was she hurting? It was... her body...

I let out a slow breath. "As offensive as it may be... she isn't... actually doing a thing wrong. She is the child we would be protecting, and she's old enough to give informed consent... which she's doing. Pressing past that is me telling an adult who and where they can do things, and..."

"She's doin' it on the clock," noted Apple Bloom, brows lowered.

Well, that changed things. "We'll talk then. That is improper behavior for any member of the facility, on duty. I'm not here to police your off hours, but..."

Sweetie nodded. "Please? We don't want to be mean. Like we said, she isn't all bad. She's even kinda fun, when she isn't thinking about that stuff." She flumped down onto her haunches. "If you ever make a young pony, be sure to take away the parts, like ponid does."

The Blooms trotted off together, their sides touching the height of their lewd tendencies.

I had a Silver to write up.

Derek opened her eyes with a wide yawn, stretching and noticing something was off quickly as her legs pushed into something laying half on top of her. She twisted her neck and saw it, er, him. Sunburst was laying on top of her, his face nestled into her side as if he had been nuzzling her ribs.

She took a slow breath, thoughts racing. There he was, more pony than ever before. He had shown no signs of becoming less stallion, more of it, in fact. Her eyes darted over him, noting he still wore that wizardly getup, and that was literally it. He had embraced the nudity-taboo absent lifestyle of ponydom. Being half under him, her eyes could see that he was a stallion.

He was even enjoying a bit of mid-sleep action. She licked over her lips and squirmed a bit, looking away from that. She was a guy! Why was she even looking at that? "Sunburst," she whispered harshly. "Wake up!"

"Mmm?" He reached both hooves around her, hugging her close and nuzzling in. "Mmm, so warm..."

She didn't feel warm, to herself, but that sorta made sense. It wasn't fair... She huffed, a bit of flames tickling at her mane. "Sunburst, you are a friend, and I don't want to set you on fire. I am doing my best to remain calm. Wake up."

"Hmmph?" His sleepiness was interrupted with a sudden hoof applied to his face. He jerked back, squeaking on his way to fall off the side of the bed in a pile. "Ow." His face popped back up over the edge. "Um, hey."

"Hey yourself." She rolled upright and sat up. "Stupid stallion."

"What'd I do?" He climbed back up onto the bed, yawning softly. "Feel better?"

"No." She smiled a little. "But a little less tired at least." She reached out to prod him on the noose, booping. "You know what it's like."

"Yeah," he miserably allowed. "Hey, you know you can order in, right?"

"What?"

"Like a hotel." He half climbed over her, grabbing the phone receiver stuck to his hoof. "You just have to call and ask and they'll bring most stuff."

"You are absolutely shitting me," she sang out melodically, her smile deepending. "There must be some hidden fee," she continued the song, rhyming without noticing. "You sit there giving casual glee, it makes me want to go on a shopping spree!"

"I would never lie to you. My adoration awaits no further proof." He was singing too, drawn along by her tune into the melody awkwardly. "Hello, yes please. I would like twoooo." Unheard, the person answering joined the song, managing a perfect rhyme. "Thank you," he sang, slamming down the receiver before noticing something, the magic fading. "What did I just order?"

Derek sat up, rubbing behind her head with a hoof. "I don't know, but you ordered two, so we both get one."

He laughed at that, nudging the kirin on the shoulder. "You have me under your spell."

"You don't sound that torn up about it." She stuck out her tongue a little, considering the stallion. Why was he so gosh darn cute?! "I need your honest opinion."

"Huh, oh, sure, always." He bobbed his head. "What's on your mind?"

"When you look at me." She turned a cloven hoof at herself. "What do you see? No thinking about it."

"Thank you for coming." Twilight trotted towards her fellow unicorn. "Starlight mentioned your horn was just starting to show signs of activity."

"And I wanted him to learn from one of the best," noted Starlight, who was already there, seated.

"Stop that." She waved it away as she leaned to the side. "You have no mark yet."

His eyes followed her eyes to his rump. "Um, oh, the picture?" He adjusted his glasses as he peeked at the two mares in the room who both did have a picture on their rump. "Not yet. They represent what you're good at, right? Hope it's something to do with magic."

Twilight raised a hoof high. "Then the first thing you need is to attain mastery with the basic functionality of your horn. Without that, you'll never realize your magical potential. Now, this will not be easy." She shook her head. "But it will be rewarding." She reached suddenly, adjusting his glasses for him. "Are you prepared?"

He squeaked, backing away from the hoof at his glasses. "Yes! I mean, that's why I came here. Please, show me how to do it."

"We will start with the easy things, move on to telekinesis, and, if you're still ready, your first spell." She brought together her forehooves in an excited clopping. "I can't wait!"

"Neither can I!" he quickly joined, looking to Starlight. "Thanks for bringing me here. I wasn't allowed to leave my floor."

"I have a bit of an 'in' with the head noodle around here." She polished a hoof on her chest. "Told her what I was doing and she was all for it, so we got things straightened out nice and fast."

"Well, thank you!" He looked back to Twilight. "What's the first--" He didn't get to finish his words, her magic glowing about his horn. "Huh?" She manipulated something inside, poked a muscle he never knew he had. "Woah!" His horn began to glow a different color, his magic and hers competing for space. "What's going on?"

"You've felt this before." Twilight inclined her head as her magic poked at the strange internal muscle. "I'm just letting you feel what's in charge of this. Flex that for me--perfect." Her magic withdrew from him. "When you get it down, you'll be able to start glowing on demand."

"The first spell is light, of course. Of course..." He smiled a bit, looking up as his horn as it glowed and stopped, testing its ability. "Can I change its color?"

"Mmm? No." Twilight shook her head. "I'm still working to unearth other spells, but I haven't found one to create light outside of whatever color your horn's shape creates by merit of its physicality." She reached up and tapped beside her own. "For now, we all have one color."

"It's still light, and I'm making it," he admitted with obvious wonder in his voice. "Thank you!"

"I knew you two would get along." Starlight clopped softly. "Speaking of that, you and Derek, how are things going?"

"Well..."

"I see a confused person," he got out quickly.

She skewed an ear at that. "Really, that's your first impression?"

"Well, you are... You're also nice, and I like being around you. We like a lot of the same stuff." He tapped his hooves together. "I actually... really like your songs."

Her cheeks lit on fire, literally. "You do?! I mean, man, they make you do things. You're just saying what you think I want you to say." She took a step towards him, her features awash in flames, becoming fully a Nirik. "Tell me the truth!"

"Even if you take my thoughts away, you won't chase me off today," he rhymed, trying to capture that elusive song magic.

It wasn't terribly effective, but Derek felt the urge to follow it despite that. "I'm on fire, confused desire. You don't know what, sit down, shut up!" she said in more of a rap than a song, advancing on him. "I'm throwing down rhymes, it's about time, you listened for a second, you got a moment to reckon." She thrust a cloven hoof at him, burning and thumping him, knocking him backward onto his haunches.

"I'm on fire," she repeated, louder. "Confused desire" She stalked around him, heat washing away from her. If the bed was not fire proofed, it would have long ago given up to the abuse. "Sittin' there with a big horse dick, has me thinking, what a prick..."

"Check out this chick," he got out quickly. "Fire's getting thick. That thing ain't a control stick. I like her even if she's homesick."

"And I kinda blacked out," he admitted. "I think we rapped at each other for a while... Next thing I knew, we were hugging. She's..."

"Warm?" proposed Starlight with a wry smile.

"Yeah," he admitted with a silly smile. "But when she came to, she shoved me away and asked me to leave, so I did... she's, uh, going through a lot. I understand that."

"She was a guy," reminded Starlight. "She hasn't forgotten that. You're a big threat to her identity." She lifted an ear. "Speaking of that, you're alright with her having been a guy not even a month ago?"

"Uh..." He worried his hooves together. "She is what she is. What she was... doesn't matter, unless she says it does. I didn't have hooves a month ago, and she likes them now, am I going to hold that against her?"

Twilight's magic flicked his horn. "Keep practicing," she prodded more verbally. "You need complete control of your light before we advance to the next stage."

Starlight snickered at that. "We, Twilight and I, had to figure it out on our own. Now that she knows more, she's not taking anything but the most effective path. You're a cruel teacher, Twilight."

"It's for his own good," she defended, huffing. "As interesting as hearing of your social issues, we're here to learn magic, not establish your romantic life."

"I do appreciate it." He resumed the soft glow, seeming to have somewhat of a better grip on its control. "Sorry, Starlight asked, and I didn't want to not answer her."

"And that's perfectly fine, so long as you keep practicing." Twilight crossed her arms, a hoof bouncing in the air. "I'm eager to have another student with enough skill to attempt spells with. So many of the ones we've tried have no particular aptitude or desire. I don't even understand it. How can you resist magic?!"

"Beats me," he admitted. "Magic? Sign me up! Well, I already signed up, I suppose." He let out a soft breath. "I'm getting a little tired, up there. Can I have a little break?"

Twilight groaned with impatience. "Fine... But as soon as you've caught your--"

Starlight's hoof came down between them. "Twilight, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but let's not chase away our first eager student. Sunburst, head on back to your room, practice as you can, and we'll come back when you have light mastered. Sound good?" She glanced between the two.

Sunburst nodded easily. "Sure thing. Twilight?"

"I suppose," she allowed less eagerly. Her magic wrapped around a book and brought it towards him. "Here are a collection of meditations I have found to be effective at increasing your stamina. It's surprisingly on point for unicorns, though the author had no idea one would be using their techniques."

"Huh, what are the odds?" He grabbed the book between his forehooves and slipped it into a big pocket of his cape. "Thank you. I'll head back."

Starlight waved, letting him go, then looking to Twilight. "Unicorns are people first, Twilight."

"I know that," she sighed. "But I'm so eager to advance!"

"For now... help each unicorn we have learn the basics. Get their light working, get their telekinesis working. No spells there, and everyone seems able to do it, when shown how." Starlight bobbed her head slowly. "And don't push them. See where they go. If they want more, they'll ask you." She looked towards the door Sunburst vanished through. "Pretty sure he'll want what you're selling, Twilight. Relax."

"I'm not selling anything," she huffed defensively. "But, yes, he did seem eager to learn more about the workings of magic. I don't understand how anypony would not be, but at least his head is on straight. I can't wait to show him a proper spell." She began tapping her hooves together, a silly smile on her face.

"He's looking forward to it too," Starlight assured, rising to her hooves. "So look forward to that. Speaking of, Sweetie Bloom wanted to learn how to perform basic unicorn functions. She has light going, but telekinesis is a bit slower going."

"I'll have her floating things in no time," assured Twilight, hoping it would go beyond that. "She's an adult, right?"

"Despite her size, yes." Starlight softly shrugged. "But I don't think you'll insult her by treating her as a filly, unless you want her to not do something specifically because she's a kid. She can make her own decisions."

"And one of those was to mention she needed help with her horn." Twilight inclined her head. "Excellent decision! Who knows, maybe she'll really be into magic..."

"We can hope." Starlight trotted off, leaving Twilight to consider lesson plans and machinations for the future.

Author's Notes:

Development! We have it in this chapter I think. Silver is being naughty, and Twilight is impatient, but what will it mean?

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