Karon woke up in his bed wearing clothes cold from stale sweat, the gentle light of early morning illuminating the bedroom. His muscles ached terribly from the previous day of running and fighting, and were it not for the growling of his stomach, he would have remained where he was for the rest of the day.

He rose up and smelled his clothes cautiously, not surprised in the least when his nose told him they should either be washed or burned at his earliest convenience. Having such a deeply nested aversion to fire, he chose the first option and took off his clothes before going into the bathroom. Once in there, he dumped all the clothes he had, including his robe, into a batch of water and proceeded to wash it all by hand. It took time sure, but the easy movements helped limber up his muscles and made him feel a little less like he was made out of glass.

Once he considered them washed well enough, he hung them up to dry on a line that looked to be there for that very purpose. The thought of walking around naked in the library was amusing, Karon could not deny that, but since he was still trying to maintain a tiny shred of decency, he took a towel and put it around his waist instead.

When he exited the bathroom and came out into the bedroom, he saw that Twilight was still sleeping but Spike must have woken up. His basket empty of any snoring purple dragon.

Karon hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should make an attempt at avoiding the sharp clawed fire breathing thing whose crush he was in the process of stealing. But it would be unrealistic to expect that he would be able to dodge any form of contact with Spike for the remainder of his stay at the library. He would just have to keep it to a minimum.

“And what happens after the truth about us and Rarity gets out?”

“We’ll take care of that problem once it arrives. I can’t see anything we can do at this moment anyway.”

“That’s called denial.”

“It’s called fucking someone over and knowing there is nothing you can do to soften the blow … besides, I’m more worried about what Twilight will do.”

“Me too … me too.”

So, Karon walked down the stairs and into the kitchen in search of breakfast, and as expected, he found the purple dragon inside.  He stood on a stool and was busy chopping up vegetables and fruit for Twilight. He raised his head when Karon walked in and gave him a half smile when he saw what he was wearing.

“Hi Karon, like the new outfit. Did Rarity make it, or have you decided easy and breezy is your new thing?”

“The depth of your wit is without limits Spike. Tell me, when you were inside your egg, did you always dream of being the same color as a sickly sweet pony with a compulsive disorder?”

“That’s cold dude….”

“Where I’m from there is a saying, ‘When you choose to enter the game, you must also endure it’.”

“I was just making a joke,” the dragon grumbled to himself. Karon rubbed his head and continued in a little more diplomatic tone.

“Sorry, my body is aching all over and it’s putting me in a cranky mood. I’m also starving.”

“Why didn’t you just say so. What would you like?” Spike asked and jumped down from the stool and began rummaging through the fridge.

“We got apples, oranges, onions, lettuce, hay, tomatoes, clover leafs, carrots and, ugh, oatmeal.”

“Anything else?”

“Not in here. If you want something else, just tell Twilight and she’ll write it down on my next shopping list.”

“Thanks, just what Twilight is having will be fine.”

“Okay then, one Spike's special coming up.”

Karon leaned on the counter and watched as Spike scooped over some of the prepared breakfast into a new bowl before presenting it to him. Karon ate the mishmash of vegetables and fruit and was pleased to find it pretty tasty. Spike knew what he was doing at least.

And more importantly, Karon's fear of Spike figuring out what was going on with Rarity looked to be unfounded so far. The dragon appeared to be blissfully unaware.

“One less thing to worry about.”

“Indeed, now we can get back to planning this 'trial of valor' thing.”

“I really, really don't want to do that.”

“Come on, you know Rarity will be expecting something like this. You can bet she knows every single tradition like this one and since the trial of valor is supposed to be the ultimate proof of affection, it is what she will want from us.”

“But I just got out from that damn forest....”

“So what? Unless you are planning on giving up on Zecora's lessons, you will be going into it again.”

“Yeah, but that's the outskirts. Who knows how deep we will have to go to find the right kind of flowers.”

“Maybe we should find out.”

“Fine, but not now. I am tired of rushing into dangerous situations. I am going to relax and take it easy for at least a couple of days now.”

“Suit yourself.”

Karon continued eating his breakfast as he enjoyed the sudden silence in his mind and focused his attention on the taste and texture of each bite, but when he was finished and let the spoon fall into the empty bowl with a clink, he drew a deep breath and began considering his options for the day.

The most important thing that needed to be done was finding out what cultural meaning ponies put on flowers and what they represented. As far as such things go, it wasn't that terrible of a task to complete, but going into the forest and picking them perhaps would be. Then again if he was lucky, Zecora might have one or two of them already and he could spare him some trouble, otherwise he would just have to try and move fast.

“Wouldn't getting the flowers from Zecora count as cheating?”

“Trickster remember?”

“Oh right.”

Aside from that little quest, the only thing he needed to take care of at the present was teaching Twilight something about magic she didn't already know. There was probably a trick or two he could show her, but it needed to be something he had a firm grip on.

It wouldn't do to embarrass himself with mediocre skill.

Which meant mental or psychic based magic, not that that narrowed it down in any considerable way. ESP, divination, hypnosis, mental projection, illusions, dream wandering and a lot more were possible things Karon that had a fairly good hand at, but there was one skill that usually stood out and he knew for a fact that Twilight didn't possess while physically grounded in a body.

Telepathy.

That idea brought some risks with it though. Karon wouldn't be able to fool or lie to her if she could just read the truth in his mind, not as easily as he did now anyway. But true mastery of telepathy could take months or even years, and all indications pointed out that the purple unicorn seemed to have little to no experience in psychic magic. So he would probably be safe for a long while as she tried to master the skill, and even when she did, he could still just shield his mind from her.

Such things took effort though.

But everything considered, telepathy looked like the best option. Twilight would certainly appreciate the chance to learn it, that was something Karon was sure of.

“Spike do you know when Twilight is supposed to wake up?”

“I'm supposed to do that when I'm done making breakfast, so now.”

After he said it the dragon grabbed the large bowl with the mixed ingredients with both of his stubby little arms and jumped down from the stool. It looked heavy for him, but the baby dragon still walked on steady legs towards the door and Karon fell in behind him.

“I'll follow you upstairs then, I have some news for Twilight.”

“Oh yeah? What kind of news?”

“I have decided to teach Twilight telepathy.”

“Tel-, what now?”

“Sigh, I'm going to teach Twilight how to read minds.”

The dragon nearly tripped over his feet when Karon said it, and the human had to bend down and steady him so he wouldn't drop the carefully prepared breakfast.

“You can't do that! You have no idea how obsessed she can be when she learns something new. If she learns how to read minds, she's just going to run around and document every single pony's thoughts. No pony will be safe!”

“Relax Spike, it takes time to learn, and even then it's not something you leave yourself open to constantly. I haven't even tried reading a pony's mind since getting here and with good reason. I'll make sure she understands the complications that spying on somepony's thoughts can bring.”

“You better,” The dragon mumbled darkly, obviously fearing she would discover whatever secrets an infant dragon could hide inside of the confines of his mind. Karon doubted there was anything in particular the dragon should fear exposure of besides the occasional cookie theft before dinner, but he understood the fear anyway. The thought of somepony going through your inner most thoughts and secrets was ... disturbing, especially if those thoughts and secrets belonged to Karon.

But the decision was made. He would do his best to teach Twilight basic telepathy, and then things would turn out in whatever way they wanted to. At least it ruined any chances of things becoming boring.

Karon followed the dragon upstairs and into the bedroom, patiently waiting a few steps away from Twilight's bed as the dragon gingerly put the breakfast right next to the bed and carefully began poking Twilight. If this strategy was sound or not was a question for another time, but Karon still felt a little worried when he saw Spike's sharp talons gently dig into her coat. At least it didn't break her skin, but despite that, he couldn't imagine it was a nice way of waking up in the morning.

“Spike, please feel free to never wake me up for anything ... ever.”

“Huh?” the dragon asked but continued poking Twilight while trying to coax her out of sleep at the same time.

“Come on Twilight, it's almost nine and you told me to wake you up early today.”

His only response were a bunch of incoherent sounds that made their way out of Twilight's mouth and into her pillow, muffling whatever discernible words might have slipped out. After an additional five minutes of a relentless Spike poking her in the ribs Twilight finally had enough and slapped his hand the next time it came close to her.

“Go away Spike, I was up half the night studying and I want to sleep.”

“But you said-”

“GO!”

Spike relented and looked a little wounded at having his carefully prepared breakfast so willfully ignored, but shook it off and shrugged, obviously well accustomed to Twilight's usual manners.

Karon lacked Spike's patience and didn't really have anything to do while waiting for Twilight to return to the world of the waking, so instead he took Spike's place on the bed next to her and whispered.

“Hey Twilight, after a little bit of thinking I have decided it might be fun teaching you how to read minds, is that something you might feel interested in?”

She remained still for a moment before asking very suspiciously.

“Are you making a joke of some kind?”

“No.”

“You're serious about this?”

“Yes.”

She instantly shot out of bed and turned to him with a huge grin and eagerness shining out of her eyes, obviously she was interested. Before she could say anything though he held up a hand and added.

“But you have to eat breakfast first.”

Her ears dropped a little, but she dutifully took the bowl into her arms and began picking up the contents with her hoof and put it into her mouth, chewing it while looking at him with an annoyed expression. She didn't like being denied learning something, even if it was for just a few minutes of eating.

“So why did you suddenly decide to do this?” she asked while munching on a slice of lettuce.

“Well I did tell you I would teach you something about my magic, and this seemed like a good start. Besides, it's about time you and I go through the differences and similarities between our respective forms of magic.”

“I've been trying to tell you that ever since we met.”

“Hmmm did you say something?”

“Oh haha very funny,” she said and stuffed the last of her breakfast into her mouth and tried to talk through the wall of half chewed food. “So how do you want to do this?”

“I can begin with a theoretical description of how it works, and then you can enlighten me on the details of how unicorn magic works and is shaped. After that, I can go into human magic a bit more then move on to practical exercise and see how it works for you.”

“Sounds logical, do you want to do it here?”

“Might as well. Psychic and mental based magic is a lot easier to perform when your body is comfortable and not distracted.”

“But shouldn't I have waited to eat until afterward then? Won't my body be distracting now that it is busy digesting my breakfast.”

“Maybe....”

“Gah, Karon!”

“Sorry I forgot, but it won't be that bad. You should be able to manage fine anyway.”

“I hope you know what you are doing.”

“Have a little faith Twilight. I'm not some amateur dabbler. So, ready for the theoretical part?”

Twilight’s horn glowed with a purple aura and a notebook appeared out of thin air with a pencil hovering over it.

“Ready.”

“Okay, the theory behind telepathy is quite simple, and it is considered a basic skill for a reason. It works by connecting your mind to your subject's mental broadcast range within the mental dimension. Once there, your connection should allow information to be copied into your own aura and interpreted as different sensory perceptions, usually for telepathy it is auditory or visual. Olfactory, gustatory and kinetic sensations usually falls within the range of empathy and emotional reading, but both skills are interconnected to the point you usually don't get one without the other. What separates them is after all merely one spherical layer of the subjects personal aura.”

“So it's mostly a mentally based version of a biometric scan spell?”

“Yes I would say so, but telepathy is perpetual since it lasts as long as the connection is maintained and information is constantly feed and processed through it at the same pace as the subject experiences the thoughts. A biometric scan is usually done by pulses where the feedback from the echo is used to discern the subject's state.”

“Ah I see, so I need to consciously maintain the link or it falters and dissolves into the ethereal?”

“No, the connection is constant since it is generated by the energy of your aura, so once it's latched, it will remain open until you break it by will. Which is why it can be dangerous to use it too much since instead of forming a connection, your mind will begin to unconsciously copy data it picks up from its surroundings and you'll end up being constantly bombarded by the thoughts of everypony around you.”

“That does sound problematic. So, I should only maintain the link for a short duration of time before letting it go?”

“That would be best.”

“It does sound simple enough, do you think I could try it right away?”

“We were supposed to discuss the differences between our forms of magic first.”

“Alright, where do you want to begin?”

“How many dimensions can you access through your aura?”

“Six, you?”

“Seven, but I need to be asleep for me to be able to work trough the seventh, and the sixth is usually done while in a trance state since a human brain has some problems processing the information through it's usual cognitive faculties.”

“You seem to do a lot of your magic while asleep. Is that normal for humans?”

“Not really, it's just a personal habit I have. My old master Varsif could jump his mind between dimensions like it was nothing, and as far as I know he had access to all twelve of them.”

“There's twelve dimensions!? We only knew about nine.”

“Yeah, the last three are supposed to be real tricky. Apparently they are accessed by the use of the spatial ones, but I have no idea how. Something about going back to the beginning to get to the end or something like that. You know how incredibly frustrating the true masters can be about the really complicated stuff.”

“Urgh I know, Princess Celestia only spoke in riddles for five whole days when I first began studying the co-function of water content in a body and the electrical memory storage in it.”

“Yeah, they do that sometimes. They are just trying to use subjective interpretation in order to make sense of a larger objective truth, but it still hurts my head most of the time to listen to them.”

“The spell I mastered faster than all my others was a spell for curing headaches. I think it probably saved my life a few times during my study in the academy.”

Karon laughed at the thought. It felt nice discussing these things with someone, or somepony, able to keep pace with him. Back on earth, the number of practitioner he knew could be counted on one hand, and none of them had the same kind of happy innocent air about them that Twilight had ... And none of them were even close to being as cute as her.

“Careful, remember we are officially with Rarity now.”

“It was just an observation.”

“Uhuh...”

“So I was wondering, do you need to channel all your magic through your horn? And does it always take on that purple tinged glow when you do?”

“Yes and yes. Every unicorn's horn glows when they do magic. Speaking of which, how do you humans channel magic since you haven't got any horns?”

“We usually use either ethereal constructs or physical tools like wands, staffs, cups and so on. You saw some of my old tools back in my old home on Earth.”

“But I’ve seen you use magic without tools before, and you didn't shape any constructs as far as I was aware.”

“Well, we don't need to, it's merely to help direct and specify the type and flow of energy. You don't need to have specific objects to channel magic since everything is energy in one form or another. Usually, energy flows naturally along energy channels down from the higher realms within our aura.”

“That sounds strange, without a unicorn horn ponies can't do magic.”

“Of course you can. Magic is just a collection of structured educations and traditions used to manipulate energy. Your horns might give you a natural and very strong affinity to manipulate the higher forms of energy in different dimensional spectrums, but that doesn't mean you can't do without. It just takes a lot of work and forming of connection to different sources of energy.”

“That sounds incredible. So, do you think an earth pony like Applejack or a pegasus like Rainbow Dash could learn how to use magic?”

“I know they could. Rainbow Dash already use a form of magic in order to help her fly, and I suspect all pegasi do. But I told you about what Eldros told me about the origin of ponies, as far as I know each type of pony is specifically tailored to help maintain harmony in this world. You don't see Earth ponies or pegasi use what we would call conventional magic because you unicorns and also the alicorns already fulfill that purpose. What's left after that is personal desire I guess, but I find the thought of an earth pony or pegasus wanting to learn magic strange ... Have you ever heard of such a thing.?”

“No I haven't....”

“I thought so, but you haven't told me anything about the direction unicorn magic has taken in it's development.”

“Well, if you wanted to know everything, you would need to go to the Canterlot archives. There just to much for any pony to learn all of it. Maybe with princess Celestia as the exception, but I can give you a brief overview if you want.”

“I would like that very much.”

And so Twilight spent the next hour going through the history of unicorn magic and the impact it has had on pony society. Beginning with the rule of the Alicorn Kingdom and it's mysterious fall before progressing into the fractured pony tribal conflicts and finally ending up with the founding of Equestria.

“....So even though there are many spells and forms of magic that have been lost to time, much has been preserved by the princesses and by open learning by those unicorns that have demonstrated enough responsibility and talent, like me. But there have always been spells and magic all unicorns have been able to perform, like moving objects.”

“So from your description, there have been studies undertaken of the greater high forms of magic, but they have been limited to the unicorns who's special talent it magic, while the rest have merely developed magic use for practical purposes. I can see your society has been influenced by this, but I was wondering how much society and cultural influence has affected your magic?”

“Well, I guess that depends on where you were born. In places like Ponyville which was founded by Earth ponies, there is little research and education besides the most basic material. Most of what they learn, they learn in school or by natural talent.”

“Sounds odd. The only humans who really study magic are those who give their life and soul to it. Which by pony standards would be the ones whose special talent is magic. The human equivalent of unicorns who don't specialize in magic would be what we refer to as dabblers, and they are mostly looked down upon as flimsy psychics, mediums or other half talented magicians who have no real clue as to what they are doing.”

“Magic can't have as large a place in human societies as it does in Equestria then if you are so few.”

“It used to have. These days technology has taken magic's place for conventional, every-day use. Which is just as well, fewer complications that way if you ask me.”

“I did read a few books when I was inside your mind about your technology. I never knew you could do so many things with just a few pieces of metal and an electric charge.”

“It's ... a lot more complicated than that, but sure. Anyway, you ready to try telepathy?”

“Yes, I think....”

“You inspire such confidence.”

“Blame my teacher.”

“Ouch, fine, how about this. You unicorns seem to only use magic when it is shaped into a spell, which I consider is unnecessary, but breaking that pattern would take more than it's worth, so let's try something new. Do you think you could shift that biometric spell up a few notches from analyzing physical matter into the mental sphere of my aura?”

“Yes that might work, but I would need to increase the frequency of the pulses so it becomes a steady stream.”

“As long as it works, ready?”

Twilight didn't answer instead she just closed her eyes and clenched her jaw as her horn began to glow in it's usual purple color. Karon relaxed his mind and scanned her while she was working. She seemed to get the hang of it very fast. Already a mental bridge began forming between their minds, the mental energy focused by the reconstructed biometric spell.

He thought as hard as he could of her library, shaping an image of it in his mind. When the visual parts were done he added more into it to help solidify the thought, the way a book felt when he touched it. The smell of old parchment and the small particles of dust swirling around in the beams of sunlight.

He soon felt an intruding presence inside his mind and hastily buried his shock, how could she have done it so quickly!? He had expected maybe a shaky sphere taking in his thoughts for maybe a second or two before losing it, but instead he felt her inside his mind as a secure and firm presence.

Twilight opened her eyes and smiled at Karon, tiny beads of sweat began forming on her eyebrows.

“Can you hear me?”

“Yes I can. How did you manage to master the spell so fast? I sense absolutely no difficulty in holding it up.”

“Oh it was easy, I've studied the biometric spell a long time and once I knew how to change it, I had no trouble casting it. I AM princess Celestia's top student for a reason you know.”

“I can see that, but I also see that your horn is still glowing. It will be very hard for you to read somepony's mind if it always does that. They'll know you're doing some kind of magic and might be on their guard.”

“That's fine, I don't want to pry anyway. I just thought it would be exciting in learning a kind of magic I have never heard about before.”

“I can understand that, though it wasn't so different since you just modified your spell.”

“Yes, but I have never heard of anypony ever thinking of constructing spells in the way I just did, most of our magic is used to affect physical matter not mental.”

“It's just a matter of shifting through dimensional spheres is all. Anyway, since you have already mastered it in five minutes, something I am incredibly jealous of, we might as well say we're done now.”

“You sure you don't want to continue? There are a tons of notes I want to write about this, and the more I do the more I can write.”

“You're starting to sound like Lyra, fine we'll talk some more. Maybe I can teach you direct information transfer.”

“Which is?”

“It is when you share raw sensory data or subjective awareness with someone you are linked to, like we are now. With it you could for example transfer the knowledge of an entire book as far as you understand it directly into my mind.”

“That's just amazing. You could learn so much in so little time like that.”

“Sure, but your brain still needs to process the information like it always does, and instead of reading a book over a few hours all that required processing will have to occur in seconds. If you transfer too much ,your neurological pathways will literally burn out and could cause brain damage.”

“Oh, sounds dangerous.”

“'All things are poison, and nothing is without poison; only the dose permits something not to be poisonous'.”

“That is a really strange way to think.”

“It's because it's a quote and not an original thought. What I mean by it, is that anything can be lethal if not properly balanced.”

“So how much information do you think is safe?”

“We can try with something relatively frivolous and without requiring a deeper thinking. How about hmmmm, the meaning you put on flowers and what they are supposed to represent?”

Karon had to use every ounce of his willpower to keep his other part from commenting on that since Twilight would have heard it.

“That sounds like something that might be easy to transfer. I don't know a lot about it, but I can try to transfer what I know. Are you sure it will be safe?”

“Yes, if I sense the information is beginning to overload my systems I can just cut our connection and block you out.”

“Oh, okay then.”

Karon did his best to cut out the smug sense of satisfaction he felt from his thoughts. He had just managed to make Twilight give him all the information he would, hopefully, need regarding flowers and she had no idea of the real reason why.

Tricksters can be tricky.

But that smugness was shattered when his mind felt like it was being drenched in ice water and electrical charges burst through his brain in chaotic patterns as it desperately tried to keep up with the sudden flood of information is was feed. It lasted only for a few seconds, but by the end of it Karon cut the connection with Twilight and fell back in the bed, cold sweat oozed out of him and the world spun as a throbbing pain took form inside his head.

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked with concern in her voice, Karon shifted his eyes to her and gave a weak smile.

“Yeah I'm fine, just been a while since I last did that.”

She looked a little disbelieving of his statement as she took in the sweat and disoriented look in his eyes but didn't protest. Instead she merely asked. “So did it work?”

Karon didn't answer first. He tried to carefully pick through his still reeling mind and found the fresh information readily available. There wasn't a lot, just information about twenty four different plants and the common virtues or feelings they were thought to represent.

But it would be enough he thought as he carefully went through them, now he just had to pick three that he thought represented Rarity. That was the truly dangerous part, you didn't want to get that wrong and insult the lady.

“Yes, it worked.”

Twilight looked overjoyed at the news and bounced around the bed a few times in glee before she stopped and clapped her hooves together.

“So what should we do next?”

“I'm going to go out and do something extremely tedious and boring so my mind can rest.”

“But we can't there is still so much to learn. If you can't do it for me at least do it for SCIENCE!”

“Science won't be going anywhere. Besides, Spike told me he was supposed to wake you up early today. Doesn’t that mean there were things you were supposed to do?”

Twilight froze for a second and her eyes widened as realization struck her.

“Oh no! My yearly report to the Canterlot science foundation is due next week and I haven't even started yet! Spike! Spike get me the books on alchemical reagents and the astrometric tracking logs!”

She shouted as loud as she could as she ran out of the bedroom and into the library without even giving Karon a second glance, something he appreciated. He remained on the bed and relaxed a bit, going over the flowers again before picking three candidates that showed promise.

“Firelily representing passion, golden serafil for beauty and finally bluewings for a hidden depth.”

“Shouldn't something representing generosity be in there?”

“Too obvious. Besides, according to that book I was supposed to present these with an explanation for why they are suiting to her. I can come up with a romantic and fitting description that should contain all of her good qualities.”

“So where to next?”

Karon's stomach grumbled in response to the question, and he smiled in amusement as he rose from the bed and walked into the bathroom. The robe was still pretty wet, but the pants, socks and shirt were dry enough for him to wear. He put them on and walked out from the library and towards Lyra's home. Hopefully she wouldn't be busy so she could buy him another dinner in exchange for another lesson on humans. Sure, he had money now, but it was a very limited resource for the moment, no need to waste it.

For once, the sky wasn't clear with a shining sun. Instead there were clouds covering most of it with a few empty spaces here and there where the sun shone through. It was a nice relief from the usual blistering warmth and the clouds didn't look dark enough to threaten with rain. All in all it looked to be a very pleasant day.

It was during this time when he was heading towards Lyra's house with his eyes fixed on the sky that he nearly tripped over something in the middle of the street that squealed when he walked into it.

When he recovered his balance, he looked down he saw the familiar shape of an orange pegasus filly staring up at him with a reproachful look.

“Watch where you're going, you could have stepped on me!”

“Well hello to you too. It's so nice to see you've recovered from your adventure in the forest. It would have been so very sad if you had been eaten by a giant bird ... so, so very sad.”

Karon said with a tone contradictory to the words he spoke. In response the filly looked down and mumbled something incoherent.

“What was that?”

“I said thank you for saving me,” she mumbled a little louder, her tone also contradicting her words. She didn't sound grateful as much as annoyed.

“Why thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I am in dire need of lunch and somepony to pay for it.”

Karon stepped around the filly and resumed his walk towards Lyra's house when he heard the sound of tiny hooves running after him.

“Hey wait!”

Feeling irritated at having his stomach denied Karon turned around and spoke a little harsher than intended.

“Don't you have school or something? Or friends you can bother?”

The little pegasus stopped and looked down at the ground with an angry frown and answered.

“No, we don't have school today! And both Sweetie Bell and Applebloom are busy with their sisters.”

She finished the last part with the same angry tone, but underneath it there was a lot of hurt evident to even the most oblivious of listeners.

Something painful and yet soft tugged at Karon's heart.

Carefully he asked, “I've heard you're an orphan ... is that true?”

“So what, lot's of ponies are!”

“So it's common?”

“...No,” she answered, a few cracks beginning to shine through her mask of bravado.

Karon nodded in turn and did his best to sound understanding as he continued.

“I don't have a family either.”

The little filly looked up at him with sudden interest and didn't even try and hide it when she sniffled.

“Really? How come?”

“Something ... stupid happened, something very childish and they died. How about you?”

“I don't know ... my mom was still here until I was three, but I've never even heard of who my dad might be.”

“Sounds rough.”

“Yeah, but it takes more then a couple of crappy parents to make me a wuss!” she said with something close to a challenge in her voice, daring him to object.

Instead he just smiled and looked her in the eyes as he said, “Same here.”

She laughed the way a cocky child might and looked pleased at what he'd said.

“Hey you're pretty cool, wanna hang out?”

Normally Karon would have said no and briskly walked away without looking back once, but there was something about the litt- ... something about Scootaloo that made him hesitate. He checked the purse with his bits before sighing.

“Fine, I guess I'll have to have my free lunch some other day. You can come with me to some place where we can eat if you want.”

“Sounds awesome! Are you paying? I haven't eating anything else but school and hospital food in like ... forever.”

“You haven't had anything else but school and hospital food!? ...Okay yeah I'm buying, but only because I feel sorry for you after hearing that.”

“Whatever, can I have a large hayfries?! Oh and a large Bitterberry soda!? Oh and a....”

This went on for quite some time, with suggestions and desires that had been piling up after years of daydreaming about tasty and very unhealthy food finally getting a chance to be voiced, and perhaps, fulfilled.

                                       *************************************

Four days and three flowers later, Karon sat inside the library and stared out the bedroom window.  During these four days there were three significant things that had happened. The first was that Applejack had contacted him with good news; the sales of their alcohol and gone through the roof and they barely had time to keep up with the demand. So Karon had received quite a bit of ... bits, and there looked to be more heading his way if the sales kept up.

The second was that he had had the good fortune of being able to get all three flowers from Zecora, without having to go deeper into the woods in a quest for picking flowers, and dutifully, he had left one flower each day before Rarity's front door. They had continued to spend time together and like the book had said, neither of them mentioned anything about it. And today, on the fourth day, he was supposed to go to her and explain it had been him, despite it being rather obvious, and tell her why those flowers represented her the most.

The thought made him a little nervous. He needed to have a silver tongue tonight if he wished things to go well, but most of his nervousness sprang not from the coming evening, no, it was because of Scootaloo.

During the days since he had run into her, they had grown into a weird but functional ... friendship? No that didn't really describe what they had. Scootaloo seemed to admire him in a strange way. She listened to what he said and actually took it to heart, which was dangerous since he rarely sugarcoated anything. Her admiration of him was nothing compared to that of Rainbow Dash, which bordered close to the same degree as Lyra's obsession with humans, but there was something about the way she looked at him, spoke to him.

Karon would have guessed she had begun seeing him as some kind of father figure if it weren't for the fact that he lacked all forms of authority and responsibility. On the contrary, he was probably the only adult that not only allowed but actually encouraged Scootaloo's reckless behavior. But despite the confused form of relation she still came to him whenever she needed advice or help. They had grown a bond of some kind, and Karon should feel happy about that.

Instead, he felt unnerved. There was something about the way Scootaloo acted. Her casual almost careless attitude and lack of respect that reminded him of something. The way she spoke and behaved was like an echo of someone he used to know, at least he thought so since he couldn't remember who exactly. It was just there in the back of his mind, mocking him with it's position just out of reach.

And for once his mind had been silent of any snarky comments about it, which was the really odd part.

“What am I missing?”

“You'll get it when you're ready.”

“Gah this is so frustrating, I know it's there but I can't put my finger on it. I've gone through nearly every person I can ever remember meeting and none seem to match the same kind of person I see in Scootaloo.”

“God you're oblivious.”

“Just tell me already!”

“No, it will come in it's right time. And when it does, I think a lot of contemplation will follow, and we need a clear head for tonight. We've spent days now preparing for this while we have flirted some more with Rarity, but a few innocent kisses here and there doesn't have to mean anything and she knows it. What we do tonight will set the tone for how the rest of this relationship with her will work, so please, don't fuck up.”

“Oh ye of little faith....”

But he didn't say anything further. Instead, he watched as the sun set over the roofs of Ponyville and waited for it to disappear entirely. When it finally did he rose up from his seat on the bed, climbed down from the platform and walked down the stairs into the library.

There, he found Twilight reading a book while Spike was busy sorting books into the bookshelves while wearing an irritated look. Not that Karon blamed him, Twilight had run amok with her newly acquired telepathy spell for the last few days and it had made it nearly impossible for Spike to steal any cookies or ice cream when she wasn't looking.

Of course, the dragon didn't blame Twilight. He knew how fruitless it was to blame her for using a new spell. No, he blamed Karon and had made that very clear to him between gritted teeth every time his plans to abscond with a bunch of sweets had been thwarted.

Karon was beginning to get very worried about what would happen when the dragon would find out he was also not only ruining his chances to get his claws on cookies but also stealing what he considered to be his true love.

Especially now that Karon and Rarity where beginning to enter a more serious phase of their relationship instead of whatever they've had so far. After tonight, according to the book, she would either accept him as her mate or she would deny him and that would be that. So it was all or nothing. Either they would truly do this or she would back out, or find him lacking.

Whichever it would be tonight would determine a lot, and the consequences would most likely be both good and bad. The good part was a very sexy and charming unicorn, and the bad ... was a pissed off pony population with a very angry dragon at the front.

“Have you ever considered what an interesting life we lead?”

“No not really. I've become too jaded to strangeness. After a while it all just becomes ... normal.”

“Hey Twilight, I'm going out. I might be staying over at Lyra's if she keeps me around too long asking about humans, so don't get worried if I don't show up again.”

“Oh okay, say hi to her for me,” she said and turned around to face him, her horn flared up in it's purple aura and Karon felt the gentle pressure of her presence inside his mind. He quickly shielded his true thoughts and projected a false appearance of wanting to visit Lyra and speak to her. Twilight might have mastered basic telepathy unnaturally quick, but there was a thousand tiny tricks she still had no knowledge of, like the one he had just used.

“Don't trust me?”

She had the decency to blush and looked a little ashamed.

“Sorry, it's just that so little of what a pony really thinks and feels are understood by their words. You understand so much more if you can read their mind.”

“It's still incredibly rude.”

“I'm sorry.”

“Don't let it become a habit,” he said and walked out the door with a final nod goodbye.

“One day I might not catch on fast enough and then you will see through my lies.”

Besides Big Macintosh, Lyra was the only pony Karon had confided in about his situation with Rarity, and she had agreed to cover for him when needed. In exchange for additional information about humans of course, nothing in the world was free after all.

Karon had no idea what would happen tonight and he tried not to let his imagination get away from him, but it would probably take a while just talking.

When he arrived at the boutique, he stood silently for a few minutes in front of her door, calming his nerves with a few breathing techniques and mentally limbering up. He needed to be smooth, charming and very gentle with everything he said.

Everything he usually was not.

He pushed out all the air in his lungs one last time and knocked gently on the door. It was already opened and moved a few inches when his knuckles meet the wood. Karon took that as a planned invitation and stepped inside.

To say it was transformed might be a bit of an overstatement, but she had definitely done some work on the place. It could be best describe as tasteful yet romantic. The usual pearly white that dominated the room had been replaced with various golden and red drapes and clothes covering certain areas. Candles burned with small flickering flames, providing a dimly illuminated room that anyone would have trouble not feeling relaxed within.

In the middle of the room stood a table with a red cloth over it. Karon suspected she had done so to hide the fact it was just the regular kitchen table. Upon it stood two plates with some food Karon couldn't identify and a bottle that looked a lot like wine, probably was too. Surrounding the table were burgundy pillows meant to provide comfort for both of them despite the differences in anatomy.

She must have been planning it for quite some time.

Rarity herself remain out of sight, so Karon shut the door behind him loudly to make sure she knew he had arrived. When he did he heard some clamoring from upstairs and called out.

“Rarity it's Karon, are you okay?”

“Yes, yes, I'm fine, splendid, wonderful! I'll be done shortly.”

She sounded even more nervous than Karon felt which made him feel a lot better, if she screwed up worse than him than maybe she wouldn't notice.

“You are such a romantic.”

Karon stood in the middle of the room close to the table and waited patiently for Rarity to make her appearance. She obviously wanted to make an entrance, and he couldn't fault her for it. This was supposed to be a night for dramatics and emotional indulgence after all.

He didn't have to wait for long as the sound of hooves slowly walking down the stairs reached his ears. He looked over at the staircase and saw Rarity coming down, and he had to admit, he was impressed.

She wore a dress matching the surrounding decor, mostly deep red and gold but also dark green could be seen here and there in crevices and folds. Karon realized it was meant to match the robe he was now wearing as well as the decor, and yes, she had totally pulled it off.

The deep red and gold made her pearly white coat and purplish mane stand out clearly and almost shone in the setting.

She was indeed beautiful.

“Good evening lady Rarity, you look breathtaking.”

She smiled and looked very pleased at the comment, but she wanted more tonight.

“Oh, how breathtaking would you say I am exactly?”

“I imagine that the princesses are gnawing at their bedposts in a jealous rage right about now.”

Not that Karon considered either of them particularly beautiful, they reminded him a little too much about regular horses for him to be able to think of them like that, but ponies appeared to consider them the height of beauty and elegance so it would should work in this case.

It did.

She tried to keep a small lady like smile, but Karon saw how the sides of her mouth twitched like the smile wanted to go up to her ears.

Karon waited for her to make the first move. She had a lot more know-how about these kinds of things than he did, so he remained standing where he was and said nothing further.

She noticed his hesitance and took a seat at the table, indicating he should sit down as well. After he did she cleared her throat and asked in a overly formal tone.

“Would you like to dine with me tonight Karon?”

“I would lady Rarity,” he responded and played along.

The rest of the dinner went mostly in silence, interrupted only by the usual nonsense chitchat about how well tasting the food was and how her business had been going lately. Pretending neither of them knew what this night really was for. This was the night where Karon would show Rarity who she was to him. He had already demonstrated the strength of his feelings by venturing into the Everfree forest. But now was the time to reveal why he had done so, for who he had done so.

“Of course she has no idea we got the flowers from Zecora. Doesn't that count as cheating?”

“Her home is in the Everfree right, and we got them from her. So we got them from inside the Everfree forest.”

“Touche....”

But the food didn't last forever, and after Karon had carefully wiped his mouth with a napkin he looked into Rarity's eyes and steeled himself. He knew the protocol and what he was supposed to say now, it was ridiculous but traditions usually were.

“Lady Rarity, I have a confession to make.”

“Oh,” she said and tried to look unaware of what he spoke of, “Please continue, I am eager to hear all you may confide in me.”

“Oh for the love of...”

“I confess that my heart has been taken away by your beauty and grace, and I now desire to make myself worthy of becoming your mate. To prove the sincerity of my words and the truthfulness of my heart, I have for three days now left one flower each evening at your door. These flowers are you lady Rarity, and I gathered each from the dangerous depths of the Everfree forest. Tonight I reveal this to you in the hopes you will find me worthy of a pony such as yourself.”

“You have proven your bravery and sincerity with your actions, but how am I to know you will not only be true and brave for me, but also show understanding in times of need?”

“By the words I know speak. For these three flowers I brought to you are not chosen merely for their beauty, but for the virtues in you which they speak of.”

Karon really tried his best to sound solemn and proper, he really did, and if he accidentally slipped a little here and there Rarity gracefully ignored it. From the look on her face she was having the time of her life with all of this.

“To you I brought a firelily, for within you burns a fierce flame of passion that neither yields nor barters. It burns and never falters, and if you find me worthy, I shall share in this passion and give strength to yours as you give to mine.”

“To you I brought a golden serafil, for your beauty leaves all in awe and as you share in it, you make this world itself more beautiful, and if you find me worthy, your beauty will never fade in my eyes and I shall treasure it always.”

“To you I brought a bluewing, for within you hides a depth that hides even that which I think only I can see. I see the desire and passion to create and share, to make and give, and the sorrow as the world falters and forgets itself. I know your need to make all see the beauty outside the reaches of our eyes, but not outside the reaches of your heart. To bring forth the beauty that hides within all, and make them see what they dared not look for. I know you lady Rarity, I know your heart and if you find me worthy, I shall give you mine.”

“Wow, not bad really, especially since you came up with all of it yourself.”

“It could be better, but it worked.”

Rarity was sold, one look at her was enough to tell Karon that. Her eyes were wide and sparkling with held back tears of joy. She was overreacting a little perhaps, but even Karon felt a little touched by the tender moment. Even though he knew what most of what he had just said was a lie, nothing lasted forever and eventually everything withered and died, but at least they had moments like these, no matter how brief they may be.

“I find you worthy,” she in a shaky voice and walked to his side of the table and kissed him without saying anything further. He put his arms around her and held her, their lips never parting as he pulled her down on the pillows with him.

Soon he could taste salty tears as they streamed down Rarity's face and fell upon his lips. Rarity could taste them as well as their tongues met and parted. They pressed themselves against one another and felt how they sank deeper into each other, bodies tightly knitted together and lips firmly locked.

It wasn't enough.

They both wanted to be closer, deeper, more....

Rarity pulled back and looked at him, her cheeks blushed and eyes full of so many emotions Karon didn't even care to try and analyze them.

She gulped.

“Karon would you ... care to stay the night...?”

He knew what she meant, and he responded with a nod and a kiss.

They remained there for a while longer, enjoying the feeling as their lips met time and again before Rarity pulled back once more and rose up. She walked to the stairs and looked back at him, her eyes now having a mischievous glint in them he had never seen before.

“Coming?”

She didn't wait for a response and contained her slow walk up the stairs and towards her bedroom, leaving Karon with a stupid grin on his face. He rose from the cushions and with a flick of his hand all the lit candles went out, leaving the room in darkness save for the glow of a trickster's amber eyes.

He slowly climbed the stairs and entered into Rarity's bedroom. She was waiting for him on the bed. He looked at her and felt a hunger that began building inside of him, threatening to take over all control and blot out all sense left in him.

He liked it.

And with a final step he left all caution, doubts and fears behind and fell into Rarity's eager embrace. Next Chapter: Chapter 20: Mirror, mirror... Estimated time remaining: 18 Hours, 28 Minutes