Once more I was standing in Rarity’s place of business, but this time was different.

Usually she used me as a big ole’ mannequin for her styles for large stallions, but right now she was adjusting an outfit for me. An outfit that I’d commissioned for myself.

An outfit for my date.

A date scheduled for only a few days off!

It kind of sucked, since I still hadn’t redeveloped the magical dexterity to sew again. A part of me wanted to make my own outfit, but I trusted Rarity far, far more to make something amazing.

“So dear, the pink or the purple?”

I looked between the two pieces of fabric, “I-... really have no idea. I tend to favor pink personally but you’re the designer, not me.”

Rarity huffed, “And here I thought I’d appreciate someone who didn’t pester me about little details but I must say that your indecision is just as insufferable in your own way.”

My look quickly became sheepish, “Sorry, I’m not exactly good at fashion and you’re a master of it. I trust you.”

Another huff, though there was a small smile on her face, “Still, you have no idea what you want?”

“Sorry,” I flushed a bit, “I just want to look good for the date and I don’t exactly own… well… anything nice at all.”

She let out a long suffering sigh, “Well yes, we’ll have to take you to the spa and stylist beforehand to ensure that you look absolutely fabulous but… your wardrobe is completely insufficient!”

That made me roll my eyes with a smile, “Rarity, please remember that I’m going on a date with Dash here…” I almost shivered in a combination of fear and happiness, “And eventually going on a date with Applejack. Fancy isn’t the name of the game. Practical is.”

“Yes, ruffians the lot of you!”

“But you can work with that?”

“Of course I can, who do you think I am?” she smirked.

I couldn’t help but grin back at her.

“Excuse me?” I asked softly.

“Go away!”

I sighed. I know that ponies tended to leave quickly whenever I was nearby but damnit, I only wanted to get lunch while in Ponyville…

The Cakes treated me well enough, and most of the ponies in the market would sell to me; if at a big mark up… but…

“Please, I just want to order something–”

“And we just want you to go away!”

Man that was a gut punch… Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I tried again, “I only want to buy some food.”

“Buy it somewhere else then!” the mare shouted from her place beneath the counter, her voice cracking.

“I–” cringing, I looked away. I couldn’t–… reaching into my saddlebags with my magic, pulling out several bits I set them onto the counter, “I’m sorry.”

I turned and walked out of the restaurant, taking a shuddering breath. It hurt, for them to act like this. I couldn’t blame them, for two years I’d been the bane of their existence, bringing death and demanding worship with my very presence… but it still hurt. I wanted to make up for the pain I caused… when ponies hid like this, when they scooched their chairs away and deliberately avoided looking at me… how they’d left the moment I’d walked passed them while entering the restaurant…

An antisocial asshole I might be but damnit, it still hurt…

Bumping the door to the Golden Oaks open, I dejectedly sipped from the smoothie I’d gotten at the Sugarcube Corner, “Twilight?”

“Mmng!” turning to the source of the sound I found Twilight wobbling atop the ladder, a book in her mouth as she tried to sort it into the high shelves. Spike was sitting beside the base of the ladder on a stack of books with a comic in his claws. He’d glanced up at me when I came in but had returned to his book.

“How many times has she fallen down?”

The little dragon rolled his eyes, his face nothing more than bored at this point, “Three so far.”

Twilight let out an indignant sound as she stretched a bit further.

Oh this is not going to end well. I instantly began figuring out how to construct a telekinetic pillow. The trick was to put air in it, I mean sure, I could just grab her but A). It was hard to directly affect living beings with telekinesis, especially for me, and B). I could see this coming enough to have a bit of fun. So what about the material itself for the pillow–

“I’m guessing there’s going to be more. And she’s got a lot to catch up on right since our merger threw her schedule out of whack?”

–elasticity in the material, definitely a contrast to that of my usual rigid metals–

“Got it in one,” he said, glancing up from his comic, “She’s just got to get the library sorted back out from your book binges and what she needed for the homework Celestia gave her.”

–construct it off of a basic foam simulation? No, my brain can’t handle the randomness, better just go with a dodecahedronal system to give it plenty of crumple space–

“Wow, surprised she got through them that quickly… color me impressed, still, you’ve been doing this plenty long enough Spike, I’ll take over for now.”

–err on the side of safety, plenty of elasticity, just make it big in case she falls. I’ll adjust it more later.

“Really?!” Spike’s head shot up, his tail practically wagging as he launched to his feet, “Thanks! I’m totally going to go see Rarity–!”

“Don’t forget your other friends Spike, Rarity isn’t the only one who’s probably been missing you!” This was Twilight, who’d finally gotten the book pushed into place. But the silly mare had gotten into a rush to say her piece and… well…

Is it wrong that I found her squeak as she fell adorable?

“... wha-?” the purple unicorn blinked a few times, enveloped as she was in an enormous, glowing green pillow.

… probably. But come on, it was.

I let the impromptu pillow construct fade, setting Twilight on the floorboards of the library gently, “She’s right by the way Spike, but enjoy the time off. I’ve got this.”

“Thanks Emeris!” comic tucked away under his arm (And it’s definitely wrong that I felt a bit jealous of him for being able to do that, it’d been a long time since I could do that damnit), Spike zipped upstairs to what, if I remembered correctly, was his room.

I walked over to Twilight as she stood, “How are you holding up?”

“I’ll be okay,” she grumbled, getting her hooves beneath her.

“Reshelving everything before you get to remaking a schedule?”

A sigh escaped her, “Yeah. I can’t leave a public library in a state like this, I did take on the job of running this place after all, I can’t neglect that.”

“Of course not,” I looked over the stacks of books as I walked over, taking another sip from my smoothie as I did. Spike came zooming out of his room, running down the stairs and out the door.

"Bye Emeris! Bye Twilight!"

"Have fun! But be safe!" she called out to her assistant as he opened the door.

"Toodles," was my own farewell as the door closed behind him. Turning back to the smaller unicorn mare I cocked my head to the side, looking over the stacks of books, “Well, I don’t know the sorting system you use, so I can’t help you sort directly, but I should be able to hand you books as you need them.”

“I… Emeris, thank you. But, you know that you don’t have to do this.”

“And you’re not allowed to do things without help,” I said with a small smile. Her ears swept back as she looked away, “Twilight, it’s okay...”

A resigned sigh escaped her, “It’s not that. I mean, yeah I don’t like it but… Celestia added a catch, and I don’t think you’re going to like it,” she took a deep breath, “I’ve been asked to forward this to you.”

“... okay…?”

Walking over to one of the tables in the main portion of the library she picked up a bag and walked over, setting it down in front of me. I raised an eyebrow at her as she sighed again, “Your first payment from Celestia for being on duty to protect Ponyville… Sir Emeris.”

A cold weight settled in my stomach, “... what.”

Twilight sighed, her ears drooping as a look of resignation settled on her face, “I knew you wouldn’t like this... “ she took a deep breath, “Celestia has… well, she’s legally made you a knight of Equestria sworn to her service which,” a lavender hoof was jabbed into my chest, “Before you panic, makes sense. It’s to legally protect you and give you some authority, leeway, and a legal reason for you to be protecting us. Also, it’s so she can pay you.”

My chest felt cold and empty, “B-But–”

Twilight glared at me, “You’re not a Prince, it’s not the world rewriting itself and I’m in full possesion of my faculties,” she trailed off for a moment, glancing away briefly, “Though I’m not totally sure Celestia is of hers... she should know that this isn’t something you’d take well.”

“Twilight, I–” I was shuffling back unsteadily.

There was a sudden thunk, “Oh enough of that,” I stared at the very close unicorn who had just knocked her head into mine, “Emeris Fillson, it makes sense. I agree with Celestia that it’s the best course of action here. You’ve been given authority to do the task she gave you and you’re going to be paid for it since you’re not being punished.”

Her hoof poked me in the chest again, “And are you really gonna complain about getting paid?”

“No!” my every business instinct fired off at once before easing off, “I… well… maybe a little…”

Twilight gave me a look, “Emeris… I’ve been in your head. You’re not complaining about getting paid.”

“... I don’t feel like I’ve earned it.”

“Just about as much as the milita does,” she rebuked, though she glanced at the bag, “Mind you, that’s excessive payment by those standards. But by the same token, you’re also massively more experienced and at least significantly more skilled than enlisted Royal Guard, let alone militia. So at least some of it could be justified by paying a quality employee.”

“But it’s still excessive…” I noted, happy to feel the tension and terror easing in my chest. My breathing was still shaky and it felt like there was a cold grip around my heart, but at least I didn’t feel like bolting anymore… But still, it was a big bag of bits the very first day of this ‘job’. It didn't matter what denomination was in the damn bag, it felt like a lot.

A small smile crossed Twilight’s face and she gave the bag of bits a light kick, “Significantly less so than mine. My stipend is ridiculous,” she rolled her eyes, “I get paid 328% more than I should, even taking the factors of skill and being her personal student into account. Celestia likes to spoil her little ponies when she can.”

I snorted, an amused thought crossing my mind, “Did you carry the National Hero coefficient?” I waggled my eyebrows, “That’s the one that always gets me.”

“That doesn’t make any sense and you know it,” the purple unicorn said with a smile as she turned around and started pushing the ladder down the shelves with her head.

“Well duh,” this time I was the one rolling my eyes even as my flanks slid to the floor. I pulled off my saddlebags with my magic as I continued, “It’d be another factor, likely somewhere between 1.4 or 1.9 if you’re using your payment for running the library as the base.”

“I placed it at 1.28 when I did the calculation since it’s not widely known that I’m the pony that did those things. And could you pass me Anvil’s Enchantment 216?” Twilight began to climb the ladder.

Glancing over the titles of the stacks of books, I set my saddlebags on one of the tables, “I don’t have the data to make a real estimation, so I’ll trust yours. Though I’m surprised you have enough data to draw a conclusion with that many significant figures when general accounting isn’t a thing,” finding the requested title, I pulled it from the stack with my magic and lifted it up to her, “AJ didn’t even really know what it was.”

Twilight made a face as she took the book and put it into place before starting to go back down the ladder a ways, “Blast’s Crucibles of Magic please, and while I know AJ isn’t exactly… great with numbers, I’m not surprised she doesn’t have much an idea what accounting is. Most farmers don’t, especially local ones. But accounting is generally something major businesses do.”

“Huh,” I found the book and passed it along, “I can get why if they pay their taxes by the bushel, just find it weird, all taxes have to be paid in cash where I was from.”

“Really? Well, Celestia realized that the requirement that taxes be paid in bits was causing farmers to dedicate more and more of their land to cash crops to the point of detriment during the Earth Pony Revolt scarcity crisis of AB 204,” she breathed in again, “So she revamped the system so that the suppliers of raw goods could pay by a portion of their goods to the crown which are then redistributed as appropriate for payment. Gargel’s Your Shiny Teeth and You, Heartsong Edition please. Some services such as construction do something similar by doing a certain valued amount of work for Equestria as their taxes.”

“Really? I-... huh… I’m surprised that works…” I thought about that puzzling feeling for a moment as Twilight sorted the book into place and started to climb down, “Well, on the scale of Equestria at least. It’d take me a bit before I could articulate why though. It seems like a logistical nightmare though to collect perishable taxes…”

“It’s based off of a modified feudal system, where local governments redistribute as needed, where it’s a direct proportion between the more perishable the good and the locality of the government in charge of its collection and redistribution.”

“Fascinating,” I said without the slightest hint of sarcasm. That could be a delight to study… “Though it seems rife for corruption....”

“That’s why they’re locally elected and there are checks on them,” she said, moving the ladder again, “Feeling better?”

I paused, my brain catching up to the question. My cheeks warmed, “Yeah… thanks.”

There wasn’t that cold weight in my chest anymore, I didn’t feel like a coiled spring ready to launch off at the slightest sound. “Do…” I had to swallow before I could really ask the question I needed to, “Do you really think this is for the best?”

“Your knighthood? It’s a formality to protect you since Harmony isn’t trying to make you a prince anymore,” she started back up the ladder, “So while I don’t think it’s ‘for the best’, I do think it’s a good idea. And could you pass me Blast’s Forge Magic?”

I slowly looked over the stacks of books for the requested title, trying to wrestle my rebellious emotions into line.

“Emeris, are you going to get over yourself or do I need to start talking business again?”

Snorting in a combination of surprise and laughter, my chest warmed in a pleasant happiness, “Need to? No. Would you please anyways? Your financial system is so different from what I’m used to, it’s fascinating. And Twilight…? Thanks.”

The lavender unicorn smiled gently, “And thank you for forgiving me.”

“So that’s what’s been happening,” I heaved the bag of feed off of my back.

“Oh dear. I hope Twilight is okay…” Fluttershy fussed with her mane, “I’ll have to go over and check on her.”

“She could definitely use the help,” I admitted as I stepped out of the storehouse. She had been struggling when I’d left a few hours ago, “By the way… ah…” I flushed a bit in embarrassment, “Could you help me figure out what I need to do to get ready for my date with Dash? You know her better than Rarity does and you can bring the pegasus viewpoint…”

“Oh-! Oh my, a-are you sure?” the yellow pegasus scuffed a hoof as I closed the door to the storehouse, “Rarity knows so much more about things like courtship and herds and stuff…”

“Fluttershy, hun,” I rolled my eyes as we started to walk towards her house, “Asking Rarity for tips on how to date Dash? Not going to work out well.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure,” she said softly, shaking her head, “Rainbow Dash definitely likes being treated like a mare. She may be excitable and dominant but she really likes what she calls… um… mushy stuff.”

A wave of nervousness hit me, “But… ah… what constitutes as mushy stuff?” I gestured vaguely off into the forest as I spoke, “The last time I really dated was years ago, and all of my cultural knowledge is from a completely different, patriarchal monogamous species with different sexual dimorphism and social structure…”

She paused midway through opening her door, “Oh! Oh my. That’s quite unusual, were you part of an avian species?”

“No,” I shook my head briefly as we headed to her kitchen, “We’re related to apes.”

“That’s quite surprising, most mammals use Herd based social structures. Um… oh dear this is awkward to ask, but were your people truly monogamous or monogamous genetic spread?”

“Um… I don’t really know…” I had been studying to be an accountant for pete’s sake! Not a psychiatrist or history teacher or biologist, “But culturally my people were definitely monogamous, though there were exceptions.” Oil sheiks came to mind, both the harems of old and the wish-fulfillment harems of anime.

“Oh I’m so sorry,” Fluttershy hovered up to her cabinets, “It must have been extremely awkward when ponies asked you to form herds with them… tea?”

“Yes please, and it still is,” I admitted as I sat in a chair, “I-... I’m having trouble adjusting to the fact that it’s okay for more than one mare to like me at once. That it’s not part of the curse…“ I shifted some, “Herds like this are called harem’s in my culture and are considered male wish fulfillment.”

“That’s… um, confusing. Why would this be wish fulfillment? It’s so very hard to keep everypony in a herd happy…” she admitted as she fluttered around.

“Having multiple women was considered a sign of status and that you were desirable enough for them to compete with one another over you,” I shifted some, not really willing to admit the other possible reasons it would be wish fulfillment. But I could definitely try to explain it to her, “I think a mare having multiple stallions all to herself would be comparable.”

“Oh!” her face lit up with a blush, “Oh dear, that-... that does make sense…” her ears perked up in realization before drooping down, “It must have been very scary when two mares you like asked you out at once.”

“... ‘very’ is a stronger word than I’d use, but it’s… uncomfortable,” I admitted. “Especially since I don’t know what I’m doing, apparently mare’s are supposed to pursue stallions…?”

“Yes,” she nodded as she set the pot of water on the stove, “Traditionally, the mare asks the stallion out.”

“I remember Rarity mentioning something about flowers…?” I ventured as she lit the fire. The arcano-tech drawing stored magical energy and created a small flame.

“Oh, those were classically given as part of the courtship ritual,” she said with a nod as she came to sit at the table, “But now they’re given either when the mare asks the stallion out, or when they meet up for the date.”

A deliciously naughty idea popped into my head and my mouth worked before I could stop it, “I’m going to go out on a limb and guess I’m not supposed to eat the flower?”

“Goodness no!” she actually looked offended, “You’re supposed to wear it! I mean, if you accept the mare taking you out on a date that is…”

“Which, obviously, I am,” I smiled briefly at that before continuing my questioning, “What-... what’s expected on the date?”

“Oh, um… that depends on the date…”

“Fluttershy, pretend I’m a foal and you’re teaching me about dating for the first time.”

“Oh no! I couldn’t do that! You’re… you’re much too big to be a foal,” she said, looking up at me through her bangs. Admittedly, I was over half again her size, but still, not relevant sweetie.

“I mean use that mindset to think about what I need to know,” I said with a hint of exasperation, as she got up to add the tea leaves to the now boiling water, “Despite any appearances otherwise, I don’t have the experience of an adult stallion.” Start from the beginning, same way you poke the ceiling in a dungeon with a ten foot pole before entering it properly.

She shuffled her hooves nervously, “Well, since it’s the first date you can expect talking, hugs, nuzzling, um… she’ll be paying if you go out to eat.”

I winced, “Not really a viable option there considering how ponies treat me.”

Fluttershy came over and sympathetically bumped her nose against my shoulder before continuing, “Um, well, herds also normally groom each other. Rainbow Dash will probably be awkward about it but she’ll try to cuddle… if you can handle that…”

I kind of wanted to be insulted by that… but, well… yeah. My track record for not panicking so far has been… less than stellar, “I-... I’ll try to be prepared for that.”

“After the date,” she said from her place beside me, “Stallions usually walk the mare home and, um, if you enjoy the date….” her voice kept getting softer as she spoke, her head going lower, “Well, usually if a stallion enjoys the date and likes the mare, well… they kiss at the end of the night.”

A… a kiss…

Swallowing hard past the lump in my throat, I tried to regain control of the sudden and confusing surge of emotions raging in my chest. Hope, fear, and nausea all decided it’d be nice to make a Katamari ball in my stomach and bounce around a bit.

“I–” my throat seized up and I had to swallow hard to force it to work again, “I’m not sure if I can do that.” A sad look crossed her face and her wing reached out to brush against my side, drawing a shuddering breath from my chest. It took me several moments to get my breathing back under control.

Swallowing, I reordered my thoughts, “Well. What-... what shouldn’t I do?”

“Um, well, commenting about her flanks or wings. Don’t try to pay for anything. D-Don’t mess with the base of her wings,” her face lit up a bright shade of red at that, “N-Not on the first date.”

“But preening the rest of her wings is okay?”

“Oh yes, definitely. Anything outside of the axillaries, ah...” she paused, realizing that she’d used a technical term I didn’t know. She extended her wing and moved it at the furthest of the two joints from her shoulder, “This joint here outwards.” She then pivoted the wing at the closer of the two, “From here inwards is more… um… intimate,” another blush, “B-But would be acceptable on l-later dates.”

Biting my lip briefly, I turned to her, “I was planning on making dinner for us to have at a picnic outside of Ponyville and just hang out and talk for a while over the meal, would that be acceptable for a first date? I wanted something more low-key than the books we’ve read and Rarity’s gossip.”

“Oh, that should be good,” I sighed in relief as she continued, “It’s a nice, subdued date, not a whole lot of excitement.”

Further conversation was interrupted by the tea demanding our attention. On a certain level, I was pretty grateful for it since it gave me a chance to think about further questions, which I certainly still had. I felt like a freaking Bioware protagonist, asking stupidly basic questions like this.

“Um… are roses romantic? They are in my culture but I don’t know about here,” I paused as a thought occurred to me, “I mean, I don’t want to bring something that’s insulting, but I also don’t want to be crazy forward here. I know that unicorns can exchange horn rings as part of marriage and that pegasi can give feathers, but I don’t know… well… yeah.”

“They’re romantic, but, um, you’re not going to be proposing or anything with it. Usually, gifts of flowers are eaten like chocolates or pastries, it’s only the dating flowers that are the same color as the coat of the mare that aren’t eaten usually. Roses are a bit of a delicacy.”

“... so I have a garden of delicacies at my house?”

Her face actually got bashful at that, “... yes.”

Confused for a moment, I gave her a look.

“Um, I-... well… might have gotten Droolykins to grab some of them while you were merged with Twilight…”

“... I’m torn between being amused because you feel bad about something that doesn’t bother me,” she flushed and nervously waited for me to finish the thought, at which point I began to tease, “And between being amused at how you basically went clever RPG character and looted the dungeon.”

Confusion flashed across her face, “Um… what is an RPG character…? And why would they loot a dungeon…?”

I blinked, “Oh, welp. That’s… actually a pretty involved answer.”

“I have time…”

With a sigh, I accepted the subject change, I’d made the cute mare too uncomfortable as it is, “Well, see, RPG is short for Role Playing Game–”

With some effort, I pushed my barrel closer to the ground, my forelegs stretched to their limits in front of me.

Stretching was important for any real exercise, which is what I planned to do tonight. I hadn’t seriously exercised since before the merger and that was definitely not my style.

Mind you, going for a run in the Everfree wasn’t exactly safe, especially at night. But I’ve run through the Everfree plenty of times during the day and I had yet to encounter something I couldn’t handle or run away from. I mean, if I hadn’t had to protect Applebloom I could’ve just blinked away from those Timberwolves in a couple quick hops.

So screw you various monsters and predators and general nasty things residing in this chaotic and overly magical forest! My character level is far too high for your challenge rating!

I grunted as I shifted to stretch my back legs.

Well, that’s what I was telling myself so I wouldn’t get nervous. I honestly didn’t have anything to worry about, but it was still a bit scary to go out on a run/patrol like this at night.

While, in theory, I didn’t have to do anything to ‘protect’ Ponyville, it made me very uncomfortable to just sit around doing nothing, especially since I was getting paid.

You could call me a lot of things and I wouldn’t disagree with you, but irresponsible was not one of them.

Okay, so, I wasn’t exactly an expert on magical beasts and their classifications, but I was pretty sure that this was a naga.

A very angry, hostile, and generally cantankerous naga, but a naga.

It had the lower half of a snake, but the upper half not of a human, but a pony. Which was weird to me, but hey, whatever floated your boat.

Now, normally I would avoid coming into confrontation with the predators of the Everfree, even on patrol. Sure, none of them liked me, but they usually avoided me just as much as I avoided them. It was only the apex predators that attacked me.

Nagas? Not really apex predators, not compared to Ursa’s, dragons, hydras, or a tatzlwurm.

But there was a problem.

A problem called making a new nest too close to Ponyville.

I had no frame of reference for how long she’d (?) been here, but the dirt was reasonably fresh and the tree limbs still green so it wasn’t too old.

Briefly, I boggled at how much easier fighting monsters was on me emotionally compared to talking with people. Then I remembered that the people thing was kind of new and different and strange while the monsters were something sadly familiar.

Also, I remembered that I should be paying attention a bit more.

Sure, a naga is dangerous what with the hooves and fangs and snake hair and constricting body, but… well… three words:

Giant Magic Mecha.

More like Mid-Sized Magic Mecha for extra alliterative appeal, but the same concept. An encompassing, humanoid suit of construct magic rendered me effectively immune to anything the naga could dish out so long as A). I had mana and B). I maintained concentration. Sure, enough force could break through the construct, but the naga couldn’t muster up that kind of direct whoopass while I was at full strength.

I’d been working on the formula and spell construction for this for almost three weeks now. It was just an extrapolation of the same magic I used for the rest of my constructs, just a more advanced application… one I really wish I’d had on hoof (or was it horn?) when Applebloom and I had encountered that pack.

I reached out with the arm of the suit and barely missed grabbing the surprisingly agile creature. I hadn’t really gotten the hang of balancing the thing on two legs yet, so I’d forgone the lower body and just encompassed myself with the upper part of a suit of armor, resembling for all the world the plot-atrocious but stylistically awesome Susuanoo that the Uchiha’s had.

With a sniff, I walked forward, pushing the foliage out of the way with the constructs arms as I made half-hearted motions to grab the naga. I couldn’t move very fast while doing this, until I could master the legs I was limited to a walking pace while using this spell. I didn’t want to hurt the damn thing so much as scare it off, it hadn’t done anything wrong (to my knowledge) other than pick a bad place to nest.

So my plan was to just scare the naga off by being an even bigger, meaner monster. Didn’t need to hurt it so much as make it understand that this was my territory to defend, so to quote any number of crotchety old men:

“Get off my lawn.”

I yawned as I walked, my cup of tea floating beside me as I walked through Ponyville. Last night had taken longer than I’d thought it would. I pointedly ignored the ponies ignoring me, I especially pointedly ignored the ones that ducked back into their houses or behind things.

Sure, it hurt, but it wasn’t worth confronting them over. Nor was it something that confronting them would fix.

I’d been in town a lot more than I was really comfortable with recently…

I was going to check up on Twilight, maybe grab a few books from the library, talk to Rarity about the outfit, and head back home.

Taking a sip of tea, I pushed the door to the library open and was greeted by a rather large alicorn.

Blinking for just a moment, I continued in, “Morning Princess…?” I noticed a somewhat bashful Twilight behind Celestia, both of whom had turned to me as I’d entered, “Um… is there something I should know about…?”

“Actually Emeris, there is,” Celestia said, with a look that I’d classify as amused on her face, her hair undulating in the unseen current as it always did. I was actually a little jealous, her hair looked beautiful and ethereal, mine while under the curse had been long and stupid, “It seems that there was a misunderstanding about the nature of Twilight’s punishment.”

A bit of concern bubbled up in my chest, it was mitigated by the fact that Twilight didn’t seem afraid so much as bashful and Celestia only seemed amused rather than angry or irritated, “Which is…?”

“Twilight must ask for the assistance she requires. While I am proud of you and the others for volunteering to help my student so easily, it misses the point of the punishment,” she fluffed her wings slightly, her eyes flicking to Twilight, “Twilight may not accept any offered assistance, but must ask for it.”

“Oh…” it took me a moment to process that, sipping my tea. “... well there went my plans for the morning.”

Heading to the Boutique a fair bit sooner than anticipated I stuffed my cleaned out cup of tea into my vest. Trotting along through the dirt streets as I pondered what Celestia had told me.

Apparently the nobility had been making legal motions towards either ‘adopting’ Gary or towards having ‘him’ arrested or put to death or any number of things. They hadn’t figured out that I was actually Gary yet, while it was apparently super-obvious to anyone that had met Gary that I had been him, legally there was no connection between us.

By making me legally one of her knights, Celestia was able to pre-empt anything the nobility might try since it made me ‘nobility’ enough to avoid adoption and a number of other legal maneuvers. Not to mention she could legally assign me tasks like the protection of Ponyville without problems.

Just as the excessively feminine establishment came into view, a pony galloped past me, the instant when they recognized me being very obvious in the sudden swerve they made to give me a wider berth. Still, the dust they’d kicked up making me sneeze hard.

Ow.

Rubbing the tears from my eyes with my left fetlock, I kept up an awkward, three-legged pace towards Rarity’s place of business.

Then I smelled a bit of ozone and sweat, “Em? Hey! What’s up?”

My face split into a grin as I put my hoof back down, “Not much Dash, just fair warning, Twilight can’t accept offered help any more, she’s got to ask for it.”

“Really? That bites,” she glided over, landing beside me.

“No kidding,” blinking, I realized that something had happened between when we’d last seen each other, “Oh, yeah, and apparently I’m a Knight now.”

“Sir Emeris?” she asked, seeming to taste the term before a grin spread across her face, “Nah, can’t see it.”

“What, is a knight not worthy of a Wonderbolt?” I said with mock indignation, pleased at the small bit of pink that appeared on her cheeks.

“Nah,” she grinned, her wings fluffing, “You’ve read what knights talk like! All thees and thous and talking about honor and being offended when the bad guy does stuff. That’s just not you. If some bad guy tried to mess with you you just beat them up with a mountain.” She paused, her eyes going off to the side in thought, “Well, you did when you were an alicorn at least.”

I pouted, “I didn’t just beat my enemies up with mountains.”

“Oh, right, you used volcanos sometimes too! And hammers the size of mountains, and swords the size of rivers, sonic rainbooms…”

I blew a raspberry at her, earning a giggle, “I get it, I don’t do subtle when it comes to bad-guys.”

“Hey, I’m not complaining. It’s pretty bucking awesome,” she bumped a hoof against my shoulder, “You freaking blew up part of the Everfree to protect AJ’s little sister, that’s good in my book.”

“And to think, you used to hate books,” now it was her turn to stick her tongue out and I chuckled. Something clicked though as my brain finally traced her trajectory to its origin, “By the way… didn’t you hate going to the Boutique too?”

Her rose-colored eyes went wide and I knew I was on to something. I figured I knew why of course, but still… teasing her would be fun, “W-What are you talking about?”

“You came from the Boutique right?”

“Yeah? What if I did?

“You’re usually super concerned about appearing ‘cool’, it’s nice to see you a bit more… well, mushy.”

She snorted, looking away, “What makes you think that me going there was something mushy?”

“You were getting Rarity to make you an outfit for our date,” I guessed with a fair bit of confidence.

Her head snapped back to me, eyes wide and wings flaring, “How did you know that?!”

“I’m psychic obviously,” I said, rolling my eyes but unable to keep a smirk from my lips.

“Oh I call horseapples!” Dash accused, torn between laughing and scowling as she jabbed a hoof at me, the ponies in the distance around us going unnoticed, “There’s no way you’re actually psychic otherwise you’d have seen AJ and me asking you out coming!”

Now it was my turn to snort, “Of course I’m not! I just guessed since that’s what I’m doing right now.”

That made her pause, “You’re going to get an outfit for our date…?” she asked with far more surprise than I’d anticipated.

“Um… yeah…?” I blinked, tilting my head, my ears falling, “I want to look nice for the date and I definitely don’t have anything nice to wear…”

“It’s not that!” she hastened to say, pressing a hoof against my shoulder, “Definitely not complaining or anything! Just… um…” her hoof fell and she looked away, biting her lip, “I just didn’t expect you to go through that much trouble…”

I was suddenly acutely aware of my still lackluster knowledge of the social norms of Equestria and ponies, “Do… um, do stallions normally not get outfits for dates…?”

“... not for me…” she muttered under her breath so softly I almost couldn’t hear it. What had escaped her seemed to click in her head and she started to correct herself.

Oh hell no.

Without hesitation or letting her speak, I stepped up and wrapped a foreleg around her withers, pulling her close. Her head tucked beneath my chin as I pressed her to my chest, “Hey,” she stiffened for just a moment before relaxing with a sigh, her warmth settling against me, “It’s okay. I want this.”

She snorted but didn’t try to pull away, instead shuffling a bit closer, “You certainly didn’t when you were an alicorn.”

“I couldn’t exactly tell the difference between the real and fake stuff then hun,” I smiled just a bit at memories that seemed a bit better in hindsight, “It was always really hard not to return your affections. You were very snuggly,” I grinned against her coat, enjoying her scent, a mix of her shampoo, ozone, fresh rain, and something with just a hint of spice.

The pegasus shivered as my breath washed against her ear before weakly trying to push away, “Hey! It was that stupid curse that made me act so mushy!”

I chuckled deep in my chest, “I like snuggly,” gently nudging the top of her head as she pulled away, “Don’t be afraid to be mushy around me Dash, I might tease you some, but I’ll never think less of you or spread it around.”

She shuffled in place, her cheeks a light shade of red, “I-... thanks. Just don’t expect me to be mushy all the time okay? It’s just not me.”

“Pfft, of course not. You’re the athletic, daring stunt mare,” I moved to gently nudge her cheek, but it turned into a slow nuzzle, my eyes drifting closed, “Mushy stuff is a side thing for you. Just don’t be ashamed of it, not with me.”

“Tch, we’ll see,” I could feel her smiling against the scars on my cheek and hear the laughter in her tone, “Depends on how sappy you are. I might have to revoke your stallion-card if you act too mushy.”

Mutually pulling away, I couldn’t help but notice that her scent lingered in my nose as I grinned at her, “You say that like I had one of those in the first place.”

Snickering, she smirked, “So by that tree on the eastern road on Tuesday?”

“Yeah,” I smiled warmly, “Just a bit after noon.”

Rainbow Dash smiled, her wings flaring outwards, “Don’t be late Em or I’ll kick your flank again.”

“Isn’t that my line?” I muttered in amusement as she took off in a multicolored streak.

… was that a trenchcoat…?

I didn’t even know ponies could wear trenchcoats…?

“It’s only a rough sketch currently, but I do believe it’ll suit your rough and tumble appearance as well as withstand your usual antics and work.”

It was a trenchcoat, vest, shades, fancy hat, and bandages.

“The wrappings were a compromise on my part since socks aren’t truly a style you’d favor,” on the sketch they reminded me of a martial-artists hand wraps, just for my whole legs… “I’m actually quite proud of those, covering up the extensive scarring on your legs without giving you a… pompous shall we say, appearance.”

It was, in a word, awesome.

“I considered whether it would be better to accent or to downplay those three scars on your cheek, but the best I was able to figure out for a stallion was this hat,” a very wide brimmed affair, quite elegant to be honest, it reminded me of the classic vampire killer hat, “The shadow it casts will help accent the scars to give you a deliciously dangerous look which I do believe that Rainbow Dash shall enjoy.”

The coat, hat, and vest were all similar shades of brown on the paper, with gold highlighting the buckles and buttons and clasps. The wraps were a stark white contrast and the shades a deep black.

“Overall, I’m quite delighted with it, it truly encapsulates your practical mindset while accenting and supporting your rakish appearance,” Rarity said with a smile as she gestured at the paper.

I didn’t like it.

“I–…” a sigh escaped me, I didn’t want to say that.

“What’s wrong darling? Brown isn’t your color?”

“I don’t like it,” I admitted.

The fashionista raised an eyebrow at me with a smile, “I do believe I figured that out from the look on your face dear, but what is the problem? Don’t be afraid to say so, that is why it’s only on paper right now.”

Shuffling my hooves, I struggled to express what the problem was, glaring at the paper as if doing so would bring the words to mind. Why didn’t I like it? Rarity was good at what she did… so I didn’t doubt it looked good… yeah, I definitely thought it looked good, but I didn’t want to wear it because…

It unsettled me.

…

Oh.

“I–... okay, this is going to sound extremely stupid,” I grumbled, irritated by how fucked up my own head was.

“I will be the judge of that darling,” the businessmare said with confidence.

“It’s too awesome.”

Her almost crystalline eyes blinked before she turned to look at the sketch. She stared at it, likely trying to puzzle out the reasoning behind that statement and the implications of it. One of her ears cocked to the side briefly before she turned back to me, “Is it not subdued enough?”

“It’s stereotypically ‘awesome’ or ‘cool’,” I paused as her ears perked up, her eyes widening.

“Which is exactly what your curse made you. Oh my, I can see why you don’t like it now,” she said, looking back at the sketch with a new eye.

“Yeah, it’s stupid.”

“Hm, stupid is not the word I’d use dear, silly maybe, but not stupid,” she mused, tapping a hoof against her chin as she stared at the sketch held in her magic.

“Still, it makes your job harder, not something I intended,” I prided myself in being easy when it came to clothes dang nabbit, this was the opposite of easy.

“It’s quite alright darling, at least you’re able to articulate what the problem is,” she’d switched to rubbing her fetlock against the bottom of her chin with an almost comical contemplative expression, “The frustration is that the outfit is quite practical and removing or changing parts may make it less stereotypical but also remove some of your precious practicality…”

Her ears and eyebrows shot up as an almost manic spark lit her eyes.

I immediately plugged my ears with construct cotton-balls.

“IIIIIDDDEEEEEEAAAAAAaaaaa~!”

As the smaller unicorn practically exploded into a flurry of ink and paper and scribbling, I let the cotton-swab constructs fade.

Ow.

Rarity cantered around her workshop, her magical aura wrapping around various pieces of paper and colored inks, bringing them up for inspection before just as quickly setting them aside.

“Should I come back later?”

“Oh no dear I-!” she paused, glancing at the sudden chaos she’d caused around the room, biting her lip, “Well… maybe. This may take me some time, but I simply must finish sketching out this idea, I do believe that you shall absolutely love it.”

I smiled, “I believe you,” I said without the slightest bit of sarcasm.

“In fact…” there was a distinct twinkle in her eye, “I do believe that I have a completely delightful idea for a new line for stallions. Emeris, I have a proposal for you.”

Quirking an eyebrow at her, I made a gesture with a forehoof for her to continue.

“My muse simply cannot be denied and I absolutely must make this outfit in its formative state. I’ll make you a deal though, if you don’t like it, I’ll put it away into my inspirations closet for another time, maybe another large stallion like yourself, and I’ll make you a proper outfit to your tastes. But if you do like it, it’ll be yours gratis, all I ask is that you purchase another two outfits from me in a similar vein to keep the fires of my muse burning.”

Rolling my eyes, “Rarity, did you really think you could slip a sneaky marketing trick past me? I know I’ve told you that I was being trained to be a businessman.”

Rarity’s face fell, and I reached out with a forehoof to press it against her chest, “I’ll be buying at least three outfits from you at your normal price.”

I couldn’t help but let out a short bark of a laugh at her shocked look, “Oh come on, you didn’t really think I was going to avoid paying you? Rarity, you do damn good work and your normal prices are already practically a steal. It just ain’t in me to avoid paying you for your work.”

A beatific smile lit up her face and she let out a happy little squeal.

“Now, go crazy and I’ll get out of your way,” I couldn’t help the broad smile on my face as the alabaster unicorn did just that. A little more hesitantly I asked, “Just not too over the top for me please?”

I couldn’t let her make me something without paying for it. Even the thought of that made me supremely uncomfortable. Partially because that’s what ponies always tried to do while I was Gary, and partially because that’s just the way I was. It was sort of an honor thing, sort of a logic thing, sort of a ‘Economies work by people getting paid damnit! I’m going to pay you because you need to be paid and I am a rational actor!’ thing.

Yeah, I’m weird, but it can be best summed up as me feeling bad if I didn’t compensate people for their efforts and work. It was a bit hypocritical of me since I myself had little problem doing work for basically free, but I considered that better than the alternative.

“Oh don’t worry Emeris darling, I shall make it fabulous!”

“Light on the fabulous as well please…?” I said with an admittedly hesitant smile. Hesitant because I didn’t know if she was joking or not...

“–I’m still surprised that you liked him while he was under the effects of his curse,” Twilight admitted to her friend beside her.

One of Rainbow Dash’s ears quirked to the side, “I’m more surprised that nopony else realized he hated what was happening.” Her wings folded tightly against her sides as she pulled the cart along, “I mean, he was obviously awkward when he first got here, and he turned everypony down and always tried to escape when anypony showed interest in him.”

Twilight blushed, “It’s hard to realize that when all anypony can talk about him is how amazing he is and how much they want to rut or be rutted by him,” her blush turned into a scowl as they approached another line of houses, “And when all you can do is try to get bedded by someone you’re not interested in.”

“So… what?” the well-toned athlete asked, her face showing her confusion, “You’re saying that ‘cause you didn’t like him at the start it made it harder to like him at all?”

“That’s probably the best way to put it, yes. It was a positive feedback loop of initial dislike being amplified by the espousing of unfelt affection; causing resentment of the source of the contradiction which meant more intense dislike, which meant even more resentment when obviously false statements are being trumpeted by all of your peers, which meant even more dislike ad infinitum.”

Dash gave her unicorn friend a look, “How about saying that in non-Egghead-speak?”

Twilight made a face before rolling her eyes, “Not liking him meant ponies didn’t like being forced to say good things about him, which made them not like him even more. So ponies started to hate him when this pony they already didn’t like was all they or others could talk about.”

“Why didn’t you say that in the first place?”

Now it was Twilight’s turn to give her friend a look.

It didn’t go unnoticed, and Dash stuck her pink tongue out with a “Nyah.”

Twilight responded with the perfectly eloquent and refined blowing of a raspberry.

The two friends only kept a straight face for a few moments before bursting into giggles, the two friends leaning against one another as they came to a stop.

Taking a small stack of papers from the cart hitched onto Dash’s well toned withers, Twilight fumbled them into the mailbox of the first house in the line before moving along to the next and repeating the motion; Dash following along beside her as the unicorn performed the unfamiliar action.

The two friends made their way down the street in relative silence, Twilight unable to speak due to using her mouth as her manipulating appendage and Dash not feeling an particular need to talk, instead just watching ponies move along with their lives and livelihoods.

At the end of the row of houses, Twilight started to speak again, “Thank you Dash,” she smiled gratefully as she led the pegasus beside her to the next house on the list, “I really appreciate you helping me pass these out.”

“Hey, it’s no problem Twilight, just, y’know, don’t merge yourself with anypony again. Like, ever. That was super weird.”

The purple unicorn winced, “I get it, I get it, I messed up.”

Rainbow Dash laughed, her multicolored mane bouncing as she did, “Oh come on, it’s already over, it’s funny now!”

“It wasn’t funny then,” Twilight grumbled, scowling at her cyan friend.

Giggling, Dash’s wings ruffled as she pulled the massive cart of surveys that Twilight was supposed to be passing out. Her muscles were shifting under her coat like corded steel, “Don’t be a lame-o Twi, it was funny! You two were super awkward with your wings.”

“Hey!” unable to help her blush, Twilight pouted, “It’s not like I was born with wings.”

“Uh huh,” the pegasus said with a smirk, her rose-colored eyes twinkling as she practically strutted up to the next house, tail swishing with each step.

“You’ve had your wings your whole life! And Emeris never really had to learn to use his wings as such, it just came naturally.”

Dash’s spectral tail flicked and her grin got even more teasing, “Yeah, and you two were still super awkward about it, you especially! You didn’t know how to preen or anything! It was totally hilarious the way you stammered and shuffled.”

Twilight’s pout went fierce as she went to grab a stack of the surveys, “It’s only funny for you because now you’ve got a date with a stallion you like.”

“Mmmaaaayyyyybe,” she admitted, her wings fluffing as Twilight put the small stack of surveys into the mailbox.

Twilight pouted even harder at that, unable to come up with a good comeback, scowling at the pegasus as her friend knickered, trotting in place. The multicolored bolt of lightning seeming to strike repeatedly as Rainbow Dash’s thigh flexed and moved.

“So…” Dash said, drawing the word out teasingly, “Is there something on my flank or you just like what you see?”

The question ground the unicorn’s thought process to a halt, “W-What-?!” her face quickly heating till it felt like it was on fire.

“Oh come on, you’ve been staring at my flanks ever since we started carting these things around,” Dash smirked at the mortified unicorn, “And you were totally staring at my wings when we hitched me up to the cart.”

Twilight’s face was a solid shade of red by this point as she stammered inarticulately.

‘I’ve been staring at Dash’s flank?’

‘I have… Oh dear Celestia I have been ogling Dash’s flank!’

‘When had that happened? Why had that happened? When did I start staring at that shapely flank? At those toned muscles? WHY AM I DOING IT AGAIN?!’

Dash’s grin became devious and strutted, her wings fluffing out, “Looks like everypony wants the Dash.”

Now that her attention had been drawn to it, Twilight was excruciatingly aware of how her eyes followed down the line of the well toned athlete’s body from her muzzle down to her tail as she gave the multicolored appendage a flick, “I’m not-! I–”

‘Sure, I’m not monosexual or anything, but I’ve mostly been into stallions! I’ve never been hugely into mares, let alone my friends! And Dash is my friend! I’m ogling my friend! My supremely athletic, energetic, fun-loving… well toned… pegasus friend.’ Her mind trailed off as she looked at the Element of Loyalty with new eyes.

‘Well huh… never even tried to think of her like that,’ A small smirk spread across her face, ’I actually don’t think I mind the idea.’

“Um… Twilight…? Is something wrong…?”

The smirk became almost evil as Twilight tried to channel a little bit of Rarity, “Why would anything be wrong?” she pitched her voice a bit lower, trying to make it husky the way romance books always talked about as she approached her friend.

“H-Hey-!” Dash leaned away briefly, a dusting of pink appearing on her cheeks as Twilight got closer, shuffling her hooves slightly but unable to truly back away hitched to the cart as she was, “Twilight-?”

A pleasant little emotion bubbled in Twilight’s chest as she turned the tables on her friend, and a warmth spread through her at Dash’s reaction to the nuzzle she gave her. Twilight pressed her muzzle gently against the back of the pegasus’ jaw, a motion just a bit more intimate than normal for friends, and she smiled against the blue coat as Dash’s wings reflexively expanded in display.

Feeling her friend’s coat heat up even as she nuzzled it, Twilight couldn’t help but smirk just a bit, her lips working against Dash’s coat as she said, “You were the one willing to kiss me right along with Emeris weren’t you–?”

There was a muffled boom as Twilight’s muzzle suddenly felt colder and her mane went flying around, a soft phrase left on the wind, “ThanksTwiit’sbeenfungottagobye!”

Only then did the straps and handles of the cart hit the ground with a gentle thump.

Twilight’s surprised face broke into a giggle and she cantered in place, her cheeks a bright shade of red, “Oh wow that was fun! I can see why Rarity does that!” still giggling, she admitted to herself that she wasn’t really sure if she was interested in Rainbow Dash or not, or just had a sudden urge to appreciate the female form, but teasing her had been fun.

… sudden appreciation for the female form…

’Oh you’ve got to be kidding me,’ Twilight grumbled to herself, her good mood evaporating, ’As if everything else wasn’t enough.’

Then another realization hit her, “Oh ponyfeathers.”

Glancing back at the cart almost full of survey’s, “Now who’s going to help me pass these out…?”

Two days to D-Day.

Tch, surprisingly appropriate to be honest, only in my case it was Date-Day rather than an invasion of hostile beaches.

… unless I’m the beach.

And suddenly that was a whole lot less funny. Thanks so much brain.

And here I was getting a haircut.

… well, mane-cut I guess? Terminology could be so weird here. I never had to learn these things. Like, how come my coat doesn’t get super long and shaggy while my mane and tail can? It didn’t make any sense to my non-biologically oriented brain.

Rarity was leading me to her favorite stylist in town (and basically, the only real stylist in town) to… well… get my mane and tail styled up for my date.

… so what I was going to a stylist? My mom had, and I’d gone with her. So what if it wasn’t manly? I didn’t give the slightest number of fucks about being masculine.

… not that it appeared to matter given the disparate and changed gender roles in Equestria but eh, whatever.

I’m mentally rambling, can you tell? I’m nervous. Fluttershy squeaks and hides, Dash cranks up the ego until it cracks, and I ramble.

In this case, my nervousness was due to having to closely deal with some new ponies that likely hated me still… Intellectually, I knew it was a silly fear, the worst that could reasonably happen is that we were refused service because of me.

While, normally, our ‘beautification’ group was Rarity dragging Fluttershy and myself out to the Aloe and Lotus’ salon for a full treatment, gossip, and a meal together, Fluttershy couldn’t make it today. I suspected that Rarity dragged Fluttershy and myself out like she did as much out of her own desire to find beauty as she did out of a desire to try and get Fluttershy and I to socialize.

I was supremely grateful for her attempts, she always scheduled our little forays into socialization, which made it a lot harder for me to just laze about and ignore it. I struggled to just go out and socialize unless I had a schedule or a habit or other obligations.

The insightful and beautiful unicorn was arguably the closest friend I had other than Dash and Applejack, but we both freaking cringed at the thought of romance between us. Great friend, but ugh, no way did I want to deal with how pompous she was pretty much all the time. And I was, as she so politely put it, ‘Far too rough and tumble’ for her tastes-

“Really darling, you need to pay more attention or ponies will start assuming that you like me.”

Blinking, I realized that even if I was aware of my surroundings, my unfocused eyes had been pointed at my companion’s flank. Well crap.

I flushed, “Sorry about that.” A weak chuckle escaped me before becoming a sigh, “I’m sorta zoned out right now.”

“It’s only a trim Emeris,” Rarity said with a smile, “No worse than going to the spa.”

“I believe you,” I said as I switched to a three-legged walk, “But only up here,” tapping the side of my head with a forehoof, “But down in here,” this time I tapped my chest, “I keep being terrified that something crazy or horrible will happen.”

“It’ll be perfectly fine dear, I promise,” coming up to the door of a little shop with the classic barber pole outside the door, “Now come along, lets get your mane into a form worthy of this date!”

Beaming, she pushed the door open, the bell jingling as she stepped into the small salon, “True Glamour! Darling! I’ve brought you a new customerrr~”

“Oh Rarity, it’s so good of you to do so!” the earth pony looked up from her desk as she started to walk around it to greet us, “Who hav-” her eyes landed on me as I hesitantly stepped through the door and a switch was flipped.

Her pupils shrunk to pinpricks, her face paling even behind her burnt orange coat as she froze in place, not even breathing.

My own face fell immediately as my heart felt like it fell out of my chest. There went any hopes of a good day.

“Yes dear, it’s him, and yes, I know how it feels to be around him, but he needs a trim and you’re simply the best stylist in town-”

“No.”

My head hung even as Rarity stepped up, “True Glamour, dear, I promise he’s not as bad as you remember-”

“No, get him out of here.”

“True Glamour, you are being unreasonable!”

“Rarity, let’s just go, there’s no need to make her do something she doesn’t want to,” and I just wanted to be gone. I got enough of these knives in the heart from just walking through town, I didn’t need more of that.

“No, I tolerate the attitudes of the other ponies around you only under duress, but I will no more tolerate her reaction than I did Lotus or Aloe’s!” the alabaster unicorn said with an amount of determination that I admired and appreciated, even if I felt it was misplaced, “Now True Glamour, I assure you that it will be fine. It’s only a haircut, nothing bad will happen, you’ll still be yourself I promise.”

“No! Rarity I refuse!” you could see the whites of her eyes around her purple irises, “I won’t serve this monster!”

“True Glamour you are being a foal!” Rarity said with a stomp of her hoof, her eyebrows drawing down in a scowl, “Emeris has been cleared by Twilight and both of the Princesses as no longer having that terrible curse he had before. He’s only been trying to make it up to ponies, just like you, for the trouble he caused over those two years. I have been coming to you for years and I have brought him now in confidence.”

“But Rarity-!”

“No! Glamour, I will not be leaving until his mane and tail have been cut and that is that.”

… okay, even if we had no romantic feelings for one another, I definitely just wanted to hug her tightly for hours while crying and thanking her for being such an awesome person. You go Rarity.

True Glamour’ jaw clenched, her eyes darting between Rarity and me. I did my best to look small and unthreatening, difficult to do considering I was half again the size of the unicorn beside me. Her breathing was shallow and rapid, her ears swept back, “Rarity, I don’t–”

“Please Glamour, for me?”

“Just-!” Glamour cut herself off as Rarity fluttered her eyelashes, the earth ponies’ nostrils flaring, “Let’s-... let’s just get this over with.”

Her breathing was harsh as she headed back towards the chair. Swallowing, I followed after her hesitantly, my ears unconsciously swept back. I pulled myself up into the chair and looked over at her as she grabbed the bib thing that stylists always put on you. Her movements were jerky and anxious, her tail pressed tightly against her thighs, I started to say something, not entirely sure what, but it died in my throat when her eyes briefly met mine.

It wasn’t panic, it wasn’t rage, but it wasn’t a pleasant emotion in those eyes of hers.

So with a shuddering breath, I gathered my courage and settled in to the chair as best I could. It was still weird to me how subtly different chairs were here than I had been used to.

“What are you here for?” Glamour snapped.

“Just a trim, about half this length, similar style.”

Snorting, Glamour slipped the bib over me before tying it with a jerky motion and going to grab her tools. Rarity had taken up sentinel nearby, giving me a demure smile that was likely intended to be encouraging.

I’d be the first to admit that I needed it. Never been scared of haircuts, but I was supremely anxious and uncomfortable right now. My brain had latched onto the contours of the chair, how it was subtly different from the chairs I’d gotten used to as a human. The bend was more pronounced to support the lower back, the part for my ass was more curled to better support my hind-legs. But yeah, I needed encouragement because here was an angry, panicky pony with scissors near my face.

It was silly, her name was True Glamour, her whole job was cutting and styling hair, and her cutie mark was a freaking pair of scissors!

But emotions didn’t listen to logic. My breathing was shallow and shaky and it felt like my ribcage was trembling under my skin.

I felt her hot breath on the back of my neck as she snorted again and I wanted my brown pants please and thank you. I just… I pressed my forehooves tightly against my barrel in an attempt to prevent myself from shaking.

Hooves roughly pressed against my shoulders and the scissors began to work, my ears desperately flicking out of the way.

… was it just me or did those scissors sound angry?

Clippings fell, scattered bits of my thick brown mane falling all over the bib and my shoulders, each time the steel of the scissors brushed against my skin I had to clench my muscles to avoid flinching away, though my ears were reluctant to listen to my attempts to control them.

Was-... was this normal…?

I mean, those scissors were brushing against me more than they’d ever had when I’d gotten haircuts as a human…

I glanced over at Rarity and found her lips pressed into a line, her ears swept back as her eyes narrowed.

… okay, yeah, now I’m worried.

“Glamour, darling, this ah… this isn’t really up to your normal standards of quality…”

While the stylists growl was muffled by the scissors in her mouth, it was still perfectly understandable, “I just want him gone!”

“... I’m sorry,” her hooves pressed painfully tight on my shoulders, “I didn’t… I never wanted anyone to be hurt by my presence and tried to keep it from affecting pe- ponies, but I didn’t realize how bad it was. I’m sorry.”

Her hooves had gone extremely still and I shot a glance at Rarity, finding that she too had frozen in place. I was still faced away from the mirror and couldn’t see True Glamour face… but the sudden, shuddering release of breath against the back of my neck sent a small tremor through me as I too froze.

“You’re sorry?”

Oh no…

In for a penny, in for a pound, no matter what, I’m committed now!

I swallowed, “Yes. I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry? You’re sorry for all the trouble you caused?!” the sound of the scissors was suddenly very loud next to my ear, “Do you think that somehow makes it better?! Are you a bucking moron?! Do you think that saying sorry makes up for all the times I had to drop everything to chase after you like a drooling idiot?!”

I had to suppress a reflexive flinch away from the cold steel, my ears twitching and my stomach sinking.

“Sorry doesn't cut it! But my best customer comes in and demands that I cut the mane of the- the abomination that pretends to be a pony!” the cuts of the scissors came faster and faster and I had to suppress the urge to squirm out of the way, “Do you have any idea what I had to listen to my little filly say?! What my precious little girl would say while you were in town?! What I encouraged you herdbreaker?!”

“I-” I resisted the urge to turn around in spite of the flurry of cuts around my head, I wanted to deny it, I wanted to say that I never knew, that I had no control... but the words seized in my throat. I stared at a point on the far wall, just above Rarity. The other unicorn in the room staring in horror at the train wreck in front of her, mouth half opened as if to say something.

“No! You don't! And you come in here and have the gall to say that you're sorry?! I don't bucking care how sorry you are! If the Princesses didn't vouch for you I'd want you dead!” I bit back a small sob, I'd heard that before but- “But they do! Crazy mares they are, they do! And now you've brought Rarity and Pinkie Pie into your damn power again-!”

”No!” I couldn't let that stand! No! My head jerked around, there would be no confusion! I couldn't even let myself think of that happening! “I would-”

My words caught in my throat as my breath hitched in pain and I flinched away instinctively, my horn lighting up.

There was dead silence as I stared at an equally wide-eyed True Glamour, my brain trying to catch up-

There was a wet *thwap* and my eyes flicked over to the sound-

… was that my ear...?

…

That was a piece of my ear.

My eyes returned to a horrified looking True Glamour.

She'd just cut off part of my ear.

We both looked over at the bloodied piece of ear on the hardwood floor.

That was almost half of my ear, cut off at an angle.

Our eyes returned to a lock and my ears unconsciously flexed, a sharp, stabbing pain followed by a dull ache making themselves known in my mind at my right ear. The sharp tang of coppery blood filled my nose as warmth began to trickle down the side of my face; my eyes finally picked out the speckling of dark red across the stylists muzzle. There was a soft pitter patter in time with my racing heartbeat as blood flowed freely from my ear… stub of an ear…

True Glamour pupils had shrunk to tiny pinrpicks, “I-I-I-... I'm sorry-” she stammered softly past the scissors in her mouth as she began to tremble like a leaf.

She'd cut off half of my ear!

She hadn't meant to... obviously so.

Her whole job was to cut hair and not do exactly that!

Her name is True Glamour, her cutie mark is a pair of scissors, this is probably the first time this has happened!

She was freaking apologizing! After going on a damn tirade about how saying sorry wasn't enough!

…

She was apologizing.

The light around my horn died out, and I could practically feel myself deflate, “It’s okay, I forgive you.”

“What?!”

I flinched at the exclamation from behind me, turning towards my friend, “Rarity–”

“No!” she cut me off, her hoof making a cutting motion as if to strike what I was saying down, “This is not– you can't just forgive this!” She strode up, her blue eyes frantic and intense, “She cut off your ear!” she spun on the stylist, shrieking, “You cut off his ear!!”

The orange earth pony cringed away, her ears low as she started to stammer incoherently even as Rarity rushed over to me, “Oh dear oh dear, I- oh goodness it’s bleeding badly, we’re going to have to stop the bleeding somehow, oh! And me without my sewing kits!”

Glancing at my reflection, I could see a steady trickle of blood coming from the straight cut of the ear, the ear and the entire right side of my face were coated in blood already… Suddenly there was a wall of white in my vision as Rarity reared up, her forelegs both coming up to pinch my ear in place, drawing a hiss of pain from me.

I felt the tingle of Rarity’s magic against my barrel and realized that she was searching through my vest for something, finding the bit of string that I always carried in its usual pocket, she quickly brought it up to tie it around my ear. The action made me grit my teeth hard as she tightened the knot of the string around my ear.

She settled back down on all fours and I belatedly realized that she’d gotten blood all over her forelegs, and there was a speckling of droplets on her muzzle and chest as well, the dark crimson a stark contrast to her alabaster coat. She seemed to relax as she saw that the flow of blood had been slowed to barely a trickle.

Then True Glamour spoke, “R-Rarity, I–”

Anger and indignation flashed across Rarity’s face as she spun on her hooves, “True Glamour! I am appalled at your unprofessionalism! Not only did you berate your customer you cut off his ear!” I felt myself yanked out of the chair by magic, the bib simultaneously being pulled off and thrown aside, “Come along Emeris, we are leaving and getting that ear looked at. We will not be returning.”

“Rarity-” I started, but True Glamour was going into full blown panic mode now.

“Rarity!” she’d dropped the tools of her trade as she practically stumbled forward, I was no longer a concern, “I didn’t– It was an accident I swear!”

“Accident or not that is inexcusable for a professional of your caliber True Glamour! Especially after yelling at my friend like that! I mean look at him! Look at how much he bled in just those few moments!” I found myself moved behind the furious unicorn, Rarity having placed herself between me and Glamour, “You have lost my business good mare!”

“But Rarity-!”

“Rarity!” I boomed, startling both of the mares in the small salon, my eyes locking with Rarity’s as she spun to look up at me, “It’s alright.”

Her manicured eyebrows went up briefly before her brow furrowed, her ears sweeping back, “No. No Emeris, it’s not alright.”

“She’s sorry,” I pleaded. Don’t fight, don’t hurt her, not because of me…

“That doesn’t mean you should forgive her that easily!” an alabaster hoof was stomped and I felt a fire light in my chest.

“What?” I snapped at the smaller mare, “Like how I forgave Twilight?! What Twilight did was far worse than this!” My ears had swept back and I couldn’t stop it despite the pain it caused, “Are you saying I shouldn’t have forgiven her?!” I was yelling, damnit, I shouldn’t be yelling, this is my friend, arguably my best friend.

Rarity seemed almost taken aback at that, her eyes widening as she recoiled. Then she leaned back in, her eyes as hard as the diamonds on her flank, “Maybe you shouldn’t have darling.” This time it was my turn to recoil even as she continued, “If what Twilight did was truly that bad, then maybe you forgave her too easily. “

“Rarity!” the exclamation slipped out of me in surprise and horror.

“But regardless of that, you shouldn’t be forgiving True Glamour, not so easily! She cut off your ear! After insulting and belittling you!” she forced herself to calm, “She has in no way earned forgiveness.”

“But I wronged her!” I shouted before reigning myself in, “Even if I had no control over it, even if it wasn’t my fault… it was still because of me… it’s still my responsibility.” I met Rarity’s eyes imploringly, “With how much forgiveness I’m asking for, how can I deny giving her forgiveness?”

For just a moment it seemed like I’d convinced her, but then her eyes hardened, “Forgiveness isn’t a currency Emeris! It isn’t something you exchange! It’s something you earn or give! You can’t guilt someone into forgiving you by forgiving their own faults!”

“It’s not about that!” I roared, “It’s about fairness! It’s about honor! It’s about doing unto others as you would have them do unto you! Forgiving her is as much for my peace of mind as hers!”

“And it’s bad for my peace of mind if you do forgive her!” she snarled, stomping a hoof, “I mean look at yourself! Half of your ear is gone! Most of your face and side are covered in blood! You came in submissive and polite and she tried to deny you service! She insulted you before she hurt you! And even now she’s more concerned with losing my business than your health!”

Rarity raised her head high, her nostrils flaring,”Emeris, I can’t let you forgive her so easily.”

My barrel heaved and it felt like I was going to throw up; the sound of my labored breathing loud in the otherwise quiet salon as my jaw worked, “I-... I-... I can’t,” I was crying… fuck, I was crying, “Rarity I can’t. I just can’t not forgive someone that honestly apologizes. I can’t!”

Rarity’s blue eyes slowly widened as I went on, her jaw working slightly.

“R-Rarity… I can’t… I–” her hoof was pressed against my lips and I distantly realized that she’d smeared some of my own blood from the floor onto my coat with the action.

“No… no, it’s alright Emeris. Just…” she swallowed, taking a breath to collect herself, “Let’s just go dear.”

“Rarity–”

“Ap,” again her hoof was pressed against my lips, “That’s… that’s enough Emeris.”

Her hoof fell and my mouth started to open but… her eyes, there was… hurt? Concern? Pain. There was pain in her eyes.

Whatever anger, whatever force there’d been in me to defy her disappeared in a rush, and weakly I said “Alright…”

Rarity’s look softened in gratitude, but only momentarily. The instant words left True Glamour mouth not half a minute later I watched as a change came over the fashionista, “Rarity, I–” her head went up, her hind-quarters tensing as her weight shifted to her forelegs for just an instant, her eyes regaining that fire of anger as her ears swept back, “I–”

“True Glamour, precious,” the stylist and I swallowed hard as Rarity’s eyes closed, grinding the term of endearment out between her teeth. Props to her, because however pompous she sounded most of the time, there was no question that she turned that term of endearment into a ‘bricks have been shat’ one, “I absolutely must insist that you don’t press the issue.”

“O-Okay…” she squeaked, practically cowering now, her ears pressed against the sides of her head.

“That’s quite good to hear precious, now do come along Emeris, we do need to get that ear some proper medical attention,” despite the strain in her voice at keeping her cool, Rarity’s head was held high as she turned away from the interior of the salon and made a beeline for the door.

I had to practically scurry after her, having a moment of fright as I nearly slipped on the small drying pool of blood on the wooden floor. Something clicked in my head as my eyes trailed up after Rarity, who herself was trailing bloody, if faint, hoofprints. I coughed, “Rarity…” oh she wasn’t going to like this…

“Emeris, dear, we’ll talk about it later, but right now you need some proper medical attention,” she said with an almost pleading finality.

“Not that…” I caught up to my fellow unicorn, “Um… you’ve got blood on your…” glancing at the coating of blood on her forelegs and the speckling of it along her muzzle and chest, “Um… you.”

It took a half a second for those words to sink in, and when they did she shuddered unpleasantly, shuffling in place momentarily, “E-Emeris, may I borrow your vest dear?”

Wordlessly, I worked my ever-present pink vest off and passed it over to her with my magic. Taking it with her own power, she immediately began dabbing it against her muzzle and hooves almost frantically, trying to be refined as she hastened to get it off.

With a shuddering breath, she seemed to mentally declare her appearance satisfactory enough to leave, folding the now red-brown stained vest in a quick, practiced motion of her magic, “Could you be a dear and–” encompassing the vest with my magic I gently took it from her and set it on my back, “Thank you.”

“It’s nothing,” I said honestly. She’d made it after all.

“Now come along, let’s get that ear looked at,” her eyes traced the side of my face and her lips pressed into a tight line, “And I do so hope that the doctor knows a good way to remove blood stains from a coat. You look positively dreadful.”

I pointedly didn’t say anything about the flecks of dried blood still on her muzzle as I followed her out of the door.

Before closing it, I glanced back to find True Glamour almost cowering behind the chair, her eyes locked on Rarity as she trembled like a leaf.

In spite of the traitorous part of me that was adamant that she hadn’t suffered enough, I-... I was determined to come back and apologize for this mess. I had to. Her floor was ruined, possibly her reputation…

I-... I don’t think I could come back here for another manecut though… even if everything worked out perfectly from now on…

With my course of action determined, I gently closed the door behind me.

Rarity and I had made all due haste to the hospital because wizard needed food badly, and Rarity needed a moist towelette.

The looks we’d gotten had been… interesting considering that the normally pristine Rarity and the ever disliked me had been speckled and coated in the red-brown of drying blood respectively, galloping through the streets.

“Hey, it was more than two weeks at least…?” I gave the nurse a sheepish grin.

The nurse pulled back from the stitching she was doing to give me a flat look, not bothering to say anything past the needle in her mouth before returning to her task of sealing up my stump of an ear.

“It’s not my fault this time…? Well, it wasn’t the last time either but this one is particularly not my fault,” there was another little jab of pain at the new edge of my ear as the needle was pushed through.

Of course I got the same nurse I did while I was here after the fight with Dash.

“Mhm.”

The corner of my mouth pressed together tightly as I tried to keep from twitching or flinching away in spite of the pain. An amused, if silly thought flitted through my head, “Hey, are there any social stigmas to earrings? Like, is it wrong for a guy to have them or anything? ‘Cause if there aren’t, it’d be pretty efficient to get my ear pierced now.”

The nurse grunted, not that I expected a whole lot more with her mouth full with such delicate work right now. And no, that wasn’t innuendo.

… really wish Rarity hadn’t left me in here alone with her. I mean, I get that the nurse was the one who had to clean me up and stitch up my ear, but after explaining the basics of the situation and getting a nurse on the task, my companion had practically dragged the doctor off.

It wasn’t like the nurse was mean to me or anything, a little cold sure, but nothing bad. It was just super awkward. I was a lot more comfortable around Rarity in general and even though intellectually knew that her breath on my ear meant nothing at all, it still made my chest tighten in conditioned fear. It was stupid of me now to be afraid, but when every time over the past two years it had been a prelude to molestation, it becomes an express ticket on the nopetrain.

My ears twitched and pain flared in my ear, earning an exasperated sigh from the nurse (Redheart I think?) and a grunt from me, “Sorry.” Her hoof gently pressed against my shoulder momentarily in a gesture of comfort before she went back to work.

At times I hated this body of mine, I had almost no control of my tail or ears, I felt like I had no leash on my fear and that the one on my anger had been loosened.

Not being in control of myself had always bothered me, but the power of my curse had made me afraid of it. A single slip, a single moment of inattention, a single ‘why not’, and I could have destroyed someone’s life, shattered the economy, or cracked the planet.

The nurse gave the thread a tug as she finished her stitching and I winced, my entire neck tensing as I tried to keep from flicking my ear. She did something fancy with her lips and tongue that for a human would be very flirtatious at parties and tied off the string with her mouth and carefully snapped it off.

As she headed back over to the cabinet to get some materials, I settled back down on my forelegs and suppressed a sigh.

What a mess, even if I didn’t have to worry so much about losing control of myself anymore, it still bothered me.

I snorted as I lay there in the sunlight from the window, the nurse returning with a tray of various first aid materials and cleaning materials on her back.

She dabbed a cloth into some sort of solution, “Close your eye please, I’m going to try and get all of this blood out of your coat before it stains.”

Obliging her, I held still as she used a hoof to rub the damp cloth against my face, delicately working it against my ear. The motion sending extremely unpleasant tingles along what was left of my ear and down my spine. It twitched a few times against my will, but the nurse was thankfully patient with me.

“... thanks by the way,” she paused in her efforts and I continued, “For being so kind to me after all of this mess…”

She was quiet for a long moment before sighing, “You’re welcome.” She returned to wiping my coat down.

With that, we fell back into relative silence, thankfully far more comfortable than before. Celestia’s sun was bright and warm as it shone through the window, the birds were singing outside, but the soft clinking of glass on the metal tray beside me was much louder as the nurse worked. There was the smell of antiseptic, which was particularly bad in my nose.

The equine nose was more sensitive than I remembered my human nose being, but not massively so. I was usually able to ignore stuff like the overly sterile hospital smell, but without anything more pleasant to focus on my mind decided to fixate on it.

It was only a few minutes later that Rarity and the doctor came back into the room. Rarity’s face and posture were neutral, but deliberately and pointedly so. She was definitely feeling something and hiding it. I sent a questioning look her way, but her only response was a little shake of her head.

And suddenly I was worried again.

She immediately picked up on that, “It’s alright Emeris, there’s nothing wrong. I just needed to check up on some things,” she came up and pressed a hoof against my barrel, a small smile on her face.

I wanted to ask… both because of basic curiosity as well as the near certainty that it was related to me, but
would it be too rude? Too much after our spat not even thirty minutes ago? Would I even be able to get an answer from her?

Rarity rolled her eyes, “Oh don’t worry dear, it was mostly to get sewing tips in case something like this happens again, because unfortunately I have a feeling that it’s likely. You certainly have a talent for getting yourself injured.”

I lowered my head back to my forelegs at the mild admonishment in her tone, “I’m not exactly enjoying it either,” I grumbled.

She sighed dramatically, a fetlock brushing against my face as she pursed her lips in displeasure, “Well I certainly find it frustrating, at this rate even I shall find it difficult to make your appearance presentable!” Her hoof went back to the tile floor and she turned to the nurse, “You’ve done quite well Redheart darling,” Ha! I was right! “He actually looks presentable again without all of the… eaugh, blood in his coat.”

“Thank you Ms. Belle,” Nurse Redheart returned politely.

“That said,” she turned back to me, “Your manecut is quite unfinished, I’ll have to finish it up myself at the Boutique.”

I blinked, “Are you sure Rarity?”

“Darling, who do you think does my hair?” the fashionista said with a smirk, adjusting her hair delicately with a hoof, “If I had to go to the stylist in order to properly maintain my coif I would be broke!”

“I don’t doubt your skills,” I told her honestly before admitting, “I just don’t like being a bother…”

She waved it off with a hoof, “It’s nothing dear, it’s been far too long since I’ve cut the hair of somepony other than Sweetie Belle.”

The doctor delicately coughed into his hoof, a clipboard held in his magic and we both turned to him, “Mr. Fillson, I can’t say it’s good to see you again.”

“I met the deadline for bed-rest?” I offered with a somewhat sarcastic (if strained) smile, ignoring the small twinge in my ear.

The unicorn made a face before sighing, “Yes, yes you did.” I grinned broadly. Ten points to Slytherin. Shaking his head, he continued, “You’ve come into my hospital with a nasty wound, again.”

That made me blink, “Really?”

Every other equine in the room looked at me funny at that, though it was Nurse Redheart that spoke up, “Mr. Fillson, there’s a moderately sized arterial vein that goes approximately two thirds of the way up the ear, with your ear cut in half you could have passed out from blood loss had Ms. Belle not pinched it off until it stopped bleeding.”

I suddenly felt rather cold at the thought. Whatever good feelings I’d been able to recapture after the argument and incident evaporated.

Really should have made the connection between ‘there’s a lot of my blood on the floor’ and ‘possibility of bleeding to death’.

That also kinda sorta maybe explained why Rarity had been just a teensy weensy, itsy bitsy, tiny winy bit absolutely furious with True Glamour.

“Oh,” was my ever-so-eloquent reply.

“Yes, it’s not exactly serious unless left untreated, but it is certainly a worrying wound,” flipping the page on his clipboard over he skimmed over the next page, “According to Ms. Belle’s description, you lost a large amount of blood.”

“That seems likely.”

“Then I recommend drinking lots of fluids and cutting down on the tea… again,” he added with a deadpan look before continuing, “The wound won’t seal for another couple days, so be sure to only lightly rinse it, no scrubbing or picking at it… again.” Yeah, I get it, I got myself messed up again. “You don’t really need prescribed bed-rest… this time, but as your doctor I must recommend taking it easy for the next few days as your body replenishes its blood supply.” Okay, now he’s just fucking with me. Touche’ doctor what’syername, touche’.

“Gotcha.”

“And Mr. Fillson?”

“Don’t come back in for at least three weeks this time?”

“I’d prefer to avoid it until your next physical in five months if you would.”

“... might not be possible.”

“At this rate I find it very unlikely, yes.”

“... well… ah… Celestia knighted me to legally have me protect Ponyville from monsters so…”

There was a long moment of silence before Nurse Redheart dropped her head to the table with an unhappy groan. The doctor blinked for a moment more, “Well… that explains why she’s been footing the bill.”

“I didn’t know that Equestrian military got free medical insurance…” I murmured to myself over the soft sound of scissors as I looked over the leger and legal jargon I’d requested about my non-payment, “… that’s probably going to be useful,” I admitted.

“I’m quite surprised, isn’t that something your people have?” Rarity asked as she worked, her magic delicately brushing against my skin as the scissors did their job.

Admittedly, I probably should have been more unsettled than I was, but I trusted Rarity implicitly, “Well, no. My culture didn’t actually treat its veterans all that well. Wasn’t horrifying or anything, but we didn’t exactly have an immortal and ancient goddess watching over our laws and determined to make sure everything was okay.”

“Emeris! Dear, don’t call the Princes ancient!” Rarity scolded, but I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.

“Hun, she is ancient. Also amazing and beautiful and radiant. But ancient.”

She huffed, “But it is simply rude to talk about a lady’s age!”

I opened my mouth-

Then closed it.

“Nah, too easy.”

“Emeris!” came the indignant cry and I couldn’t help but chuckle, a warm happiness spreading through my chest.

As I started to settle back into the chair, I realized that the scissors had stopped. Worried that I’d actually hurt her with my teasing, I turned in the chair to look at her, “Rarity, I was only joking.” Her look wasn’t hurt, it was… distant? Concerned? Sad?

Shaking her head, the alabaster unicorn waved it off with a hoof, “No, it’s not that dear, don’t worry, it’s just you being your usual brutish self, something I’m quite accustomed to by now.”

“But something’s wrong,” I pressed, concerned.

“Nothing to concern yourself with darling, it’s simply been an…” she paused, looking for an appropriate word, “Exciting day.”

I winced, “Sorry about that.” It was because of me after all.

Her blue eyes rolled in exasperation, “You don’t have anything to apologize for Emeris,” she paused very briefly, I almost missed it really, but then she pressed a hoof against my shoulder and gave me a gentle smile, “And I can assure you that it’s quite alright. Apology accepted even if it is unneeded.”

Some of the tension in my chest eased at that. I wasn’t happy that her day had been ruined because of me but… I’d trust her, “Okay…” Turning back in the chair I settled back down to let her get back to her self-appointed task as I returned to my own.

I wanted to know the ins and outs of my position as a knight, but I couldn’t help the small, stupid smile on my face.

One day to D-Day…

I’d spent the first part of the night on patrol, but mindful of the doctors ‘recommendations’ I’d avoided pushing it too hard. I’d returned home well before midnight and had fallen asleep reading the documents the doctor had been kind enough to give me about medical insurance and my status in Equestria now that I was a knight.

Once I wasn’t worrying my head off about my date, I’d have to remember to get some books from Twilight about my duties, responsibilities, and legal powers.

I was super happy that, unlike my cat, I didn’t drool in my sleep, so the documents were fine, if not the best pillow.

I knew what I was gonna do today though, and no it wasn’t ‘Try to take over the world!’. Been there, done that, didn’t even get a T-shirt.

The plan was to go to Rarity, pick up my new fantabulous outfit (no, she didn’t actually use that word but that was the general sense I got from Rarity about it), swing by the library to check up on Twilight (and see if she could order me some books on my whole knightly duties) before heading to Sugarcube Corner to get some ideas for a meal from Pinkie and the Cakes.

Odds were at least five to one that shit was gonna go down today. Place your bets now!

Hey, given how my week’s gone so far, those were generous odds–

“Emeris!”

I froze in place, ready to bolt if necessary for just a moment before I recognized the voice as a certain librarian’s, “Hey Twilight,” relaxing some I turned to find her trotting down the street towards me, “What’s up?”

“I would like to lodge a formal complaint to my previous roommate,” she said, the corner of her mouth quirking upwards in spite of herself.

Admittedly, I didn’t get it at first before it clicked what she was referring to, “One moment, let me get a hold of him.” I tilted my head as if listening to something before looking back at her, “Speaking.”

“After your forceful removal, I found some minor cosmetic damage to the accommodations,” there was a spike of concern before I realized she was waving it off, “Acceptable and understandable given the… violence of the eviction. But during the cleaning I found some of your luggage strewn about the place. This was utterly unacceptable.”

For just an instant, I started to panic that something dangerous had been left in her mind before it clicked that she was teasing. Still concerned if not frantically so, I swallowed, “What did I leave?”

“There’s this emotional baggage left around that’s definitely not mine,” oh no… “I mean, a sudden fascination with flanks and wings? An inescapable attraction to athletic mares? Sudden spikes of perversion? Those are definitely not mine.”

… oh.

My face heated up and I gave her a sheepish smile even as the smaller unicorn smirked at me, “Ah… sorry about that.”

Twilight snorted, the smirk melting into an amused smile, “It’s alright, just weird being attracted to some of my friends now. I already checked with Princess Celestia about it, if there’s nothing substantial sustaining the emotions on my end they’ll fade back to my original relationship baselines in time.” Her tail flicked, “Though I have to admit, it’s tempting to tell Applejack or Rainbow Dash just how much you probably think about the muscle definition of their backs and stomachs.”

Okay, when I said my face heated up before? I was lying. Now my face was on fire to the point, “Ah. I’d rather you didn’t…?”

Her eyebrow went up, “You’d rather I didn’t…?” she deadpanned.

“Oh don’t give me that,” I grumbled with refinement and class and not the least bit of petulance, “You’d have to explain that you’re having those thoughts too right now to do so and embarrass yourself.”

“It’d be worth it,” she said with a smug smile.

I ever so eloquently blew a raspberry at her. The giggle that escaped her was worth every bit of embarrassment on my part.

Rolling my eyes, I asked, “Anyways, how was your day? My day has been good so far. How about that weather?”

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes, “No, I didn’t come over just to tease you about that… though it was fun, I can see why Rarity does it.” I raised my eyebrow at her, “I came over to ask if you could help me collect some papers I passed out yesterday.”

I made a face, shuffling my hooves, “Unfortunately no. I’m going to spend most of today preparing for my date with Dash tomorrow. That and… well…” I gestured at the not inconsiderable bubble of space around the two of us and the hushed conversations.

Twilight glanced around, not comprehending at first before the realization obviously came across her face, “Oh…. is it always like this…?”

“... has been ever since my curse was broken,” I admitted in something between a grumble and a dejected sigh.

I didn’t brood or sulk, but that didn’t mean I liked to think about it.

Twilight’s lips pressed into a thin line as she scowled, her ears sweeping backwards, “That’s not right.”

Looking away with a sigh, my head drooped, “They’ve only suffered under the effects of the curse…” I looked at her and pointed out, “Just like you had.”

She winced, her ears drooping, “That doesn’t make it right.”

“No… no it doesn’t,” I admitted, “But it does make it understandable.”

She scowled and stamped a hoof, “We can’t just let this stand. You were suffering too and they certainly have preconceived notions about what it was like for you!”

“Well… ah… Pinkie’s going to be throwing a party to celebrate my curse being broken?” I offered.

She considered that, rubbing her chin with a hoof, “Mmm…. I guess that’ll have to do. If it doesn’t fix the situation by itself then we’ll figure something else out.”

“Yeah…” I said uncomfortably, shifting in place. I hoped the party would go well, but the thought of so many ponies around me in one place, it sent nervous shivers down my spine.

The silence dragged on and we both shuffled our hooves, neither knowing what to say. Her soft lavender eyes locked with mine briefly before we both looked away, but then her eyes returned with a more curious expression. Curious, I turned back to her, raising an eyebrow. Then her eyes widened.

"Emeris... what... what happened to your ear...?"

... oh... um... crap.

"Well... um..."

Twilight's eyes narrowed, "Emeris... don't try to brush this off."

"Twilight, it's–"

"Sir Emeris Fillson, don't you dare try to play this off. What happened?"

"... stylist cut it off."

"What?!"

"I said that the stylist cut it off!" I snapped, glaring at her. She wanted the answer, she'd get it but damnit I wasn't happy about it, "I was getting a manecut and I snapped at her and it got cut off! It was an accident!" My nostrils flared as I struggled to control my breathing and volume.

"Emeris... that's..."

"The end of it." I declared with finality, holding her gaze, "I'm not pressing charges. I'm not going to make a big deal about it. It's already been treated. And I got a manecut anyways. There was an accident and she's forgiven, that's the end of it."

Her ears swept back as she met my gaze, "That's not okay Emeris-"

"Twilight, I forgave her just like I forgave you. Mistakes are made and I'm not going to make a big deal about it." I wouldn't, I couldn't... this isn't alright.

The lavender unicorn winced, cringing away briefly. Her reaction making my heart fall through my stomach, I didn't... I didn't want to hurt or scare her, but I couldn't let her do something to the stylist for this... I just couldn't... "Twilight... I'm sorry, I just... I can't let her be punished because she was mad about what happened while I was cursed..."

"I understand Emeris... I just don't like it," she met my eyes defiantly and I shuffled my hooves awkwardly, but I stood my ground. The silence stretched, and we simultaneously looked away in awkward embarassment. We weren't acting like rational adults, we were acting like children. This was stupid and petulant of both of us, and I at very least had thought we'd gotten past this.

... then again, I was the cause of the situation the last time I'd had a spat with a friend too. Damn my inflexibility on these things... but... I couldn't bring myself to do it...

Eventually it was Twilight that broke the silence, coughing delicately into her hoof, “Anyways, I’d better get going, got to pick up those papers.”

“Yes, right!" I immediately latched onto the excuse to part, "Much work to be done. Best of luck Twilight.”

"You too Emeris, have a good day."

"You too Twilight."

Could you say awkward moment? I could say awkward moment! Because fuck, that was awkward…

Now back to getting ready for my date… goodbye awkwardness, hello stress and panic and oh-Celestia-oh-Celestia-what-do-I-do?!

Fucking hell.

Author's Notes:

BOOM.

Super happy with this chapter overall. It does so much that I wanted it to so well. We finally get to see Emeris' forgiveness start to get him in trouble and some of his own issues and flaws brought to the forefront and we get some more delicious world-building! (I missed being able to do that )

But it didn't get to the date! Damnit!

Then again, I just dropped 17k words on y'all so... yeah. Sorry, not sorry.

So! Question: What was your favorite part of this chapter? What was your least favorite part?

As always, comments and critiques are always appreciated! They feed me (not as much as pizza and mac n cheese do, but still)!

Anyways, Autobots, roll out!