"Bladz...Bladz...BLADZ." A hoof nudged at my face.

"What is it Cristalla?!"

"Get up!" She demanded

"Why!" I splinted my right eye open.

"Why? Why? WHY!"

"Yes why?" I sighed.

"Today is your birthday! That is why!"

"Can my birthday wait another hour?" I readjusted my pillow over my head.

"Come on!" Suddenly my sheets began to de-thread themselves.

"Really?"

"Yes! Come on it is your seventeenth birthday. You should celebrate the end of your junior year of advanced studies."

"Just because my birthday is the day after the end of the scholastic year does not mean I should jump around like a maniac celebrating like a Mad Hatter."

"But Bladz you are becoming an upperclassman at Canterdash High, the absolutely greatest school in all of Serentia!" I began to rub my eyes from the abrupt awakening, while turning to face my sister. "Come on get up!"

"If I get up will you promise to stop badgering me?" Cristalla nodding her head in satisfaction taking on an expression of glee. "Okay I need you to turn around for a moment."

"Stop being stubborn," my sister protested, while obeying

"AMBUSH," I spun around and pounded my pillow square across her forehead.

"Why you." Why sister counter-assaulted with a plush baby dragon that she gave me last year for my fifteen birthday by impacting me forcefully in the flank. "Oh no I knocked your cutie mark off!"

"That is not funny, you know that I do not enjoy the fact that I am the only one without a cutie mark."

"You know I am messing with you dear." My sister failed in her attempts to hide her momentary victory. "Bladz you know"

"Yea, yea. I Should be blessed to not have a cutie mark yet. My cutie mark must be really special. You got your cutie mark last in your class and your cutie mark was the best in entire class, beyond what you could of imagined." I glared down at my sister's cutie mark. Cristalla was gentle pink in coat with large violet eyes, her cutie mark resembled a rich blue sapphire surrounded by a magnificent gold ring. The sapphire held a star burst effect and was probably the only cutie mark that I had ever seen that shimmered in sunlight. "You got your cutie mark when you were seven though, I was not even born then. Also I am now seventeen! I have people in my class that have little brothers and sisters with cutie marks!"

"Well maybe; however, how many of them are the number one in their class."

"I am the top of my class as you know"

"And how many of your peers have the amazingly scrumptious Lord Armonia as their mentor!" I rolled my eyes to the point that I could of probably seen brain tissue if I tired. "oh that rich golden mane and his beautiful matching eyes!"

"Cristalla you know that only the most gifted unicorns get a mentor and Lord Armonia has only ever had one mentor, me. Also his eyes are sky blue just like mine, not gold."

"Well, whatever he is still yummy" I cringed at that comment. "And that is something that makes you special. Something that makes us special. I think we are the only brother-sister combo in all of Serentia that both have had a mentor."

"Yea," I agreed. "Mom and dad are really proud to have such gifted children. If I can really classify you as a child anymore. One day you will own Sapphire Convection."

"You do not know that."

"Do not know that? Have you seen your talents as an artist and your cutie mark. My talents, What ever they are, will never compete with you, nor do I think I could handle the responsibility."

"You can never be to sure my dear," my sister cheered. "Oh my, Bladz your amulet is glowing." The center Sapphire was radiated the entire room with a bright blue aura before a yellow flame emerged from the necklace and a letter descended to the ground.

"Hmm? I wonder what Lord Armonia wants?"

My faithful student Bladz,

                Happy Birthday! Seventeen is a wonderful age to become and I am so proud of you. I just received the report from the past week in your studies and I see that once again you finished out strong and mighty. I will be visiting Canterdash next Thursday so please do not trouble yourself about the weekly letter tomorrow, I will gladly communicate with you in person. Enjoy the rest of your birthday, I know Cristalla and your parents work hard to make them special.

                                                                                   Your Mentor, Armonia.

"Armonia coming here! Oh my! oh my! oh my!" Cristalla began to rampage all over my room in insanity.

"You done?"

"What will I wear? Oh I hope I do not look too bad? Oh why me!"

"Do not worry, you will look fine." I could not help but lose it.

"This is not funny!"

"Sure it is not! Anyway he will be here four days from now, not like he is at our doorstep." The pink began to recover in Cristalla's coat. "Was there not something you were trying to celebrate today?"

"Oh I am so sorry, Bladz. Got a little carried away."

"You think?" Cristalla stared me down. "Just trying to lighten up the mood. This room is getting kind of crowded now, I will see you down stairs"

"Wait! I need to ... check to see if I left the, the shower on!" Pulling me back into my room, she charged out, closing my door, and dashed downstairs.

Your room is the opposite way Ms. Hyperactive.

Opening my door I noticed that ribbons decorated the length of the hallway and expanded down the railing of the staircase. Exiting my room I began to come into view of a variety of happenings downstairs, well actually knowing my sister a diversity of Cristalla creations. "Good morning guys!" I exclaimed. No response."ahh" I reached up to rub my eyes, while preceding down the steps.

"Suprise!" I attempted to withdraw as a typhoon of white, blue and cyan confetti challenged my existence. "how do you like the confetti cannon I engineered?" Cristalla was highly satisfied with herself.

"I would not call that as much of a confetti cannon as it is a missile silo! The colors you used are nice though, better than your usual rainbow colored confetti... that you usually throw into the air, not attempt to decapitate me with."

"Glad you enjoyed it. Using rainbow confetti does not make much sense really; you are white with  blue and cyan mane, not white with a rainbow mane."

"That might be cool looking"

"Ehh, I do not really see it fitting you too well, guess it would depend on how you wore your mane," she declared while squinting, processing the image of me with a rainbow mane.

"Where is mom and dad?" I continued to walk throughout our home looking for them.

"They went out to town to pick something up" My sister chuckled.

"Pick something up? What does Cantarsdash offer at eight in the morning that we do not have here at Sapphire Convection?"

"I do not know," Cristalla watched the ceiling and blushed a little "Something I may of asked them to pick up something for me. Want to play speed dart?"

"In what universe have I ever turned down speed dart?" I roared and almost broke through the wall towards our court. The court was not an original creation of Sapphire Convection when it was constructed; however, three and a half years when my sister became interested in the sport she requested permission to build a speed dart court in our backyard which later became a brother-sister project between us two. For two weeks after completing my studies each day we would come out here and pull trees, flatten the ground, install the boundary markers, build the rings, and paint them the standard colors.

The game in theory was easy enough; however, speed dart was a perfect example of the difference between theory and practice. Using magic, seven rings of three colors were animated and would move around the of the field freely in an predictable manner. The colors determined the size of the ring, the points it was worth, and the speed that the ring moved at. The four red rings are large, slow, and are worth one point a piece, while the two green rings are medium in both size and speed for three points a piece. The golden ring is worth five points and is tiny and highly agile. A ball fifteen inches in diameter is used and is designed to fit through any of the flying rings easily. The objective is to kick the ball through the rings and then into the player's goal to score. When the ball passes through a ring, the ring will materialize into a magic colored comet matching the ring that will continue to orbit the ball until the ball is scored, where the comet will return to ring form and continue to maneuver the field. Losing possession of the ball does not reset to comets making a ball with multiple comets valuable to steal. Any part of the body is acceptable for making contact with the ball as long as the ball is not held. First player or team to fifteen points is deemed the winner.

"Wait up! Are you not suppose to be an egghead? Why do you have to take off so fast!" Cristalla hollered while sprinting to catch up.

"What happened to the cheerful party-goer from a few moments ago?"

"Apparently the same thing that happened to the lethargic brother I had just a few moments ago. Anyway we should get started Mom and Dad will be home in about twenty to twenty-five minutes. This game will have to be quick."

"Hey you mind activating the rings?" I pulled the rings off their post and threw them into the field.

"Why do I have to activate the rings? You trying to give yourself the advantage?"

"Not at all," smirking I lifted my neck to the wind and closed my eyes so that I can focus.

"What are you..." I charged my horn and then blasted the skies with a cyan ray that translated into a blue dome around the field. "What the hay is that!?"

"Well you said this will have to be a quick game, so I used a speed dome spell to allow us to be able to play a full game. What? You did not think I sit and read novels all day when I visit the library did you?" Cristialla was frozen in awe. "The dome allows us to move five times our normal speed in all functions, even in thought processing, hence the reason why you do not feel like you have been sped up. Those twenty minutes you proclaimed just became an hour and forty minutes."

"You know I should no longer question you when it comes to the weird things you do. My brain just always locks into a state stuck between confusion and amazement."

"Why thank you but that actually took a lot of energy to conger up. You mind activating the rings and I think we can call it about even." I massaged my head from the level of the spell, it was very high in caliber and I am a little surprised that I was able to successfully complete the spell on my first attempt. doing as she was asked of, Cristalla activated the rings into frenzy, picked up the ball, smashed the ball with her leg, and the game had begun.

"Do not even think about it," Cristalla proclaimed as she managed to acquire first possession, shuffling the ball effectively between her legs until she reached a red ring and slammed the ball through lining the shot so that it passed through both a red and green ring.

"Damn, nice shot! However, you got to do better than that to be successful!" Using all of my agility I dove infront of her, sticking the landing with the ball now transporting south bound. I stuck out my tongue to be a tease as I aligned the shot for the second green ring and propelled the ball at high velocity towards Cristalla.

"Well, well. This actually will be quick. Thanks for the seven points!" As she watched the ball gunned through the last mint hoop and bounced off a red ring returning back my location.

"I know right!" Speed Dash was a game of skill, but it was more than just that. It was a game of luck, agility, and the ability to predict trajectory. I always planned my shots to benefit myself and then prayed that I did not mess up the shot or have the ring change trajectories while the ball was transporting through the air; the rule of thumb was essentially never count on the golden ring for bank shots, it will never happen without luck on your side. I retrieved the ball, realigned myself and then smashed the ball through another red ring and into my goal zone. "I believe that is eight points."

"Quiet you!" My sister rubbed her cranium from the enormous lead I took in the first few minutes of the game. "Today might be your birthday but you will still eat my dust!!"

"sure. Like to see you try," tossing the ball to her. All she did was trot over and slam the ball with an intense amount of force knocking the ball through the golden ring, bounce of a green to pass through a red, where a quick charge up pushed it through the green into her goal, while I stood in my position looking stupid. "Or how about you not."

"How that taste? The art of trajectory and my eight points."

"It is not over yet" I levitated the ball towards me and chuckled. "How about we kick this game up a little notch?"

"Bring it I will still school you and show you who is the one who has already graduated!"

"We will see about that." I charged my horn and energized all the disks "Welcome to speed dart, 3D. Disks will now move in all directions now, not just across the lateral, two-dimensional plane anymore."

"This is more of a Pegasus version."

"True, but is that going to stop us?" I alternated the ball around my limbs before launching the ball through the yellow ring. "Let the true games begin." Our eyes narrowed upon the ball and it felt as the field had left the speed sphere and I was looking now out from inside. My legs locked into position as I was bound spring set to terminal velocity launching forwards to devastate the ball with tremendous force. The ball soared the skies passing through a red ring and in direct trajectory to a green ring, when the ring jerked in direction to the opposite as I watched my hope, my passion, and the ball transcend into Cristalla's goal.

"I hate to break it to you but that is my goal, your goal is there," pointing across the field at my goal. "Fourteen points! Woot!"

"Not if I have anything to say about that," and in a display of social facilitation, I rapidly bombarded the ball with a serious of blows as my sister attempted to catch. I pushed the ball through one of each color and prepared for my final shot.

"Will you wait up?"

"Too slow," as a smashed the ball down-field straight into my goal. "Fourteen points, sister." Her eyes attempted to dig holes into my coat; however, I was immune. "Final point" I declared launching the ball high into the air and stepping back. The ball came crashing down in the middle of us two as we both charged in for the initial strike. Both of us energized our power leg back for the hit when the shire power of both our strikes caused the ball to burst.

"Well looks like that is a tie then," my sister erupted. "we cannot continue without a ball." We both began to chuckle and her followed by me collapsed to the grass. I disengaged the dome and began to rest. "I guess I can clean up, while you just lay there and sleep."

I levitated all the rings to the pole that we store them on and continued to rest. "You were saying?"

"Bladz lets head inside; Dad will be here any moment now and he has not seen all the decorations that I have done. I think it would be funny to witness his reaction this year with the new color scheme." I trailed my sister in confusion, I myself failed to even detect anything out of the typical, besides for the confetti cannon, before my sister and I dashed outside. As Cristalla motioned to pivot around the workshop she stalled causing me to hurdle to her side to see the reason for hesitation.

"Hey Cristalla! Hello birthday Bladz!" declared our father. "Where have you two been. We just got back from the postmaster's office, you two have impeccable timing. Mind helping me bring in these two boxes, Cristalla?" One box appeared to be a plain old box that you would expect of something that was not supposed wrapped, while the other one was rich blue with golden ribbons that bore the Serentian emblem in the center.

"No problem, it would be my pleasure; Bladz and I just tied in Speed dart because the ball broke on us."my sister rejoiced while picking up the two boxes. "I thought I requested only one box? What is this other fancy box for?"

"When we arrived at the post office they handed us both of those. We thought it was weird; however, both are addressed to Sapphire Convection."

"Looks like someone likes you Bladz," my sister cheered half-certainly before disappearing inside.

"Need any other help," I pleaded.

"Not that we can think of dear. Oh wait one second!" my mother exclaimed before digging through the trunk to pull out a small bakery container tied with a red ribbon. "Ms. Mimas sends her wishes and would like you to have this muffin; I am unsure of the flavor she did not say? She replied that she was going to stop by and give it to us later, but we saved her from the trip."

"Ms. Mimas was a good teacher to have three years ago," I recited while accepting the muffin and holding it closer for examination. "Like I assumed, its Mango-nut."

"Mango-nut?" they both inquired simultaneously.

"Yes, mango-nut. One day in class she messed up one of her banana-nut muffin orders and by accident used mango extract. Unsure of what to do with it she brought it in to class and being the brave soul I am when it comes to food tried it to discover that it was surprisingly delectable. Since then mango-nut muffins were added to her family's menu and they have become a best seller."

"Interesting. You should surrender a piece for me so I can access this myself." my father smiled at his notion.

"I will have to think about that," I replied in an attempt not to chuckle at the attempt. "All three of you guys can try a piece." I grabbed the muffin by the bow and prepared for interior invasion.

Our dinning room looked amazing; along with wall moldings, and around the table and chair legs, and hanging from the ceiling, and dancing on the table laid the ribbons of white and blues I witnessed earlier on the stairwell, displayed in the most stunning presentations. Plates and garnishes of proportionate sizes laid on the table, while an acute stack of creatively wrapped gifts laid aside in the serving pantry and the plain box that was transported from town laid across the presents to the right. "Wow she must of worked since early this morning in order to fashion all these decorations before she woke me up," I muttered to myself because even though Cristalla is perfectly able to use magic to put everything into their places, she takes great pride in doing everything personally to ensure it has that unique signature touch for everything she does for me.

"Wow she really went out this time did she not!" my father exclaimed from the workshop area. "Hey son, about that muffin?"

"I am on it! Have you seen Cristalla?"

"Have you tried the kitchen?" I picked up muffin from the location I placed it on the table and entered into the kitchen to find Cristalla hard at work chopping a carrot.

"Hey! What you doing I am trying to surprise you all withe lunch!" she whined while dumping the carrots into a pot.

"Came in here to see if you have a knife and if you would like piece of mango-nut muffin?"

"Mango-nut? Sounds insisting!" Cristalla pulled a napkin from the pantry and a knife from the drawer she was standing next to and cut a one-eighth piece and placed it on the napkin aside herself. "Thank-you!" She pulled out three forks and napkins and handed them along side the knife to me. "That is a decent sized muffin, try not to spoil yourselves before lunch now." I blushed and retreated from the kitchen.

"Looks like you were right dad, she was in the kitchen preparing a lunch."

"Is this a good thing or bad?" My sister when it comes to cooking is a hit or miss; when they turn out for the better they are zealous contraptions of delight and taste, and when they turn out for the worse, well there really no way to describe it.

"I would say the good." I placed the napkins on a counter separating the living room and dining room, and finished cutting the muffin into eight parts. "You want one or two slices?"

"Seeing as you described the muffin as a best seller I guess two and I can supply you with the second piece if I choose not to consume it. Your mother as you can already probably predict will only want one as she would be eager to more fully enjoy Crisalla's meal." I slid three pieces of mango-nut muffin onto their napkins and placed forks alongside. "Thanks son" my father tested as he took a bite, and then another, and another until he stuffed the second piece almost completely inside his mouth. "I think your old teacher just made another customer."

"I think so too," I determined closing up the container to preserve the muffin for later. If I ever felt down it was those small type of things that have the ability to turn my frown upside-down.

"Okay settle down now," my sister proclaimed proceeding from the kitchen holding a large sum of dishes over her head. "Serving today an order of steamed vegetables, a side of seasoned apple slices, apple cider, with the main entree consisting of a cheesy potato stew." Cristalla celebrated a minor victory while anticipating the upcoming taste tests.

"Well, at least you did not burn it," I responded taking a seat and tasting the stew. It was ever rich in consistency and a bit buttery in taste, yet this only enhanced the delicacy of the stew as I would have to admit this being one of the better stews that Cristalla has crafted over the years. "It is not too bad."

"Not to bad? Whats wrong with it?"

"Easy question; you are not enjoying the deliciousness of this fine creation with me." The compliment instantly made her day I could tell and she rushed to the kitchen to remove all her cooking garments. Meanwhile, I attempted to get my parents. "Hey your sludge is going to waste."

"Oh did it turn out bad?"

"Yea so bad that you should give me all of it for myself!" My mother noted my attempt to be cunning and smirked.

"Well will be on our way in a minute dear." my mother affirmed. I nodded and returned to see my sister sitting patiently waiting my return.

"They are on their way."

"Terrific. I do not want their lunch to cool." We both dove into the meal savoring the every flavor that came with a new surprise withe every bite of the stew. The apples and vegetables proved to be just as well because of the shire freshness of the produce.

"When did you go get all these ingredients to make all of this morning?"

"I did not. I roamed around town yesterday while you were taking you finals for the veggies and I visited the orchard as well to pick up some fresh-picked apples and two quarts of their famous cider," my sister confessed, while our parents joined us. We all finished our meals signalling the desert to appear. My sister collected all the bowls and silverware, placing down a new fork and small platters in their places. Passing by she picked up the box across from the presents and placed it in the middle of table to reveal a vibrant vanilla cake consisting of lemon frosting reading in blue Happy seventeenth Bladz, hope your birthday is Sweet.

"Thank you guys for this cake"

"We actually forgot about it and if it was not for Cristalla ordering one yesterday we would of been embarrassed," my mother admitted.

"We are just going to sit here or are we going to eat cake!" Cristalla demanded as she held the knife out to me, which I used to cut a massive piece and supply to Cristalla who was satisfied with its size. I continued to supply my parents with cake moving clockwise until I reached myself in which I placed a piece roughly the size of Cristalla's onto my plate. The cake was obviously originating from one of the finer  bakeries in Serentia because of the shire richness of flavors yet such fluffiness. I motioned to once again to thank my sister; however, she held out a leg at me and nodded welcome to me before I could speak, Once again, Cristalla collected plates after we concluded. "Presents time!" she cheered jumping almost smashing herself upon the wall.

"Need any help carrying them in?" my father questioned in an attempt to undermine the small quantity of gifts.

"It is fine, quantity does not matter to me; it is the effort that counts, Plus they are coming from you guys so how can I not be happy." My father did not dispute; however, one could plainly see he felt a sense of sorrow due to my lack of friends at everyone of these parties.

"How come Axile was not able to attend?"

"He left to spend time with family yesterday when class got out yesterday; plus we really are not friends."

"I see nothing wrong with Bladz. Personally he is the best brother I could hope for!" My sister interjected while dropping three presents to the table. "Open this one first; its from dad," she cheered as sliding a red and white checkered box towards me. I carefully withdrew the ribbon to unlock the boxes contents, Upon removing the lid I witnessed a white gold watch with the face surrounded by diamonds.

"That watch is a family heirloom really," my father admitted. "My father gave it to me when I was sixteen and now I am giving it to you and quite of honestly I think it matches you a lot better then me." I hugged my father neck and thanked him though body language for the watch; showed to me that my father honored me dearly as a son even though I do not currently have a talent that directly aids the business. To my father I was the best son he could of considered, just not in the way he expected. "Do you sister's next; she worked really hard on her's."

"Actually I believe Cristalla wanted her's last if I remembered correctly" my mother protested looking at my sister who nodded. "Here Bladz open mine. I am sure you will like it." I pulled the seam of my mother's gift and relocated the top to discover a white and cyan backpack. "I thought you would enjoy a change of style from the black bag that you have had since you were small. This one is bigger so you do not have to carry so much outside of the bag all the time and matches you a lot better in colors.

"Thanks mom, this present is really thoughtful."

"Yeah, now it is time for the gift I made for you?" Crisalla picked up and carried the final present to me. This one was in a larger pink box and was considerably heavy in weight. Cristalla's eyes burned into my coat as I relieved the contents to find a cyan-blue tux with a white synthetic rose laying on top. The buttons on the Tux were constructed of star-burst effect sapphires which perfectly matched my necklace causing me to instinctively reached up and assure its location. "The jewels took me a while to do. Finding Sapphires that pure was no easy feat, nor was managing to place the effect inside them; however, knowing how much you would like it drove me on. You do like it right?"

"I honestly do not know what to say," I stuttered. "This must of taken you hours to complete to be of such high quality. This is of finer quality than any other tux or dress I have ever seen throughout all of Serentia."

"And it is worth every minute knowing that you are pleased with it." I gazed over at my sister who was enjoying one of the brighter of her life. "I have had a lot of friends growing up; however, you have given me something extremely valuable the last seventeen years; true friendship, and for that I thank you."

"As I do you. I really have no idea what to say."

"Then do not." My sister hugged my neck as I struggled to hold back my liquid happiness. "Want to go try it on?"

"Sure. Thank you mom and dad; I enjoyed today's little celebration."

"Do not thank us, thank your sister," my father protested. I clipped the watch onto my left forearm and placed the backpack on my back becoming surprised by the build of the bag; it seemed like my mother had fitted it perfectly for myself, not to mention the colors corresponded perfectly with my coat and mane. Picking up the box by the ribbon that bounded the tux closed I continued upstairs into my room.

I placed the box down upon my bed and unfolded the tux across my sheets that Cristalla magically re-did since this morning. I slipped my neck through the dress shirt and coat, readjusting the bow accordingly before slipping the white rose into.my left torso pocket in which it was designed for. "it is stunning."

"The true value comes in the presentation and I would say you pull it off perfectly." Cristalla danced a little in satisfaction. "I am so glad it turn out wonderful, I was a little worried. You look just like royalty in that."

"Wait royalty. Where is that other box with the Seretian seal on it?"

"Oh forgot completely about that one. It is in the kitchen next to the stove. Wait one second I will go get it." Cristalla dashed from the room to return only seconds later with the Navy box. I pulled back the tag to discover the sender and found a message instead.

My faithful student Bladz,

                   I hope you are enjoying your Birthday party and would like to offer this gift to you in celebration. I would prefer if you opened this gift last at the very end of your birthday celebration today.

                                                                       Your Mentor, Lord Armonia

"Well do not just sit there, let us see what he sent you!" I unhooked the Seal and slide open the encasing top. "He sent you a key and a letter?"

"Guess so?"

Dear Bladz,

              I hope your party was delightful; however would you please be so kind as to meet me in the library I would like to talk to you personally about something.

                                                                                                   Lord Armonia

"Well this is atypical, Lord Armonia wants me in the library?"

"Well here is your key back. Maybe you could ask what it is for?" I picked up the key from her and slide it into my brand new backpack.

"Probably, have no idea why he would send me a key?" I trotted over to my desk and levitated the golden quill I got from Armonia roughly ten years ago and spread its feathers aiming it at the door. A beam of cyan light matching my magic aura collided with my door causing a portal to open up. "I wish you could come with me and meet Armonia as well; however, I know that you are unable to  follow because you do not have the ability."

"It is fine, I will hear all about it when you get back. Also Armonia said he will be here Thursday in four days and he never goes back on his word." I nodded and motioned through the door.

"Lord Armonia?" No response. "Lord Armonia?" No response. "Mentor?" With the final lack of response I drove down to the tables and seated myself to find The Empire of Termeoca already placed.

"Good afternoon Bladz! It has been a little while since we last talked face-to-face. How have you been doing besides for schooling as I have already seen the way you aced all your finals and grades from the past year?" Armonia declared approaching from my front right. "Also sorry I was not here when you were I was dealing with a few things."

"No problem Sir! My birthday went very well; I played speed dart with my sister and then we had a birthday party, where we enjoyed a wonderful meal and cake. Afterwards I opened presents and got this watch and this backpack and my sister made me this tux that matches the amulet that you gave me." Lord Armonia was staring at the tux. "Lord Armonia?"

"Sorry; your sister is highly skilled, I do not recall that last time I have ever seen such a fine piece of cloth on a commoner. Although you my boy are anything but common."

"Thank you, Sir. She put a lot of work into I can tell. Oh! By the way what is this key for that you gave me?"

"Thank you for reminding me. I will be leaving this evening for the Termeocan Empire; the king there was wondering if I could act as a third party for a legal dispute he is currently having with a tribe of nomads to his southwest and I was planning on returning Thursday morning and spending the day visiting CanterDash. What I was wondering is if you would like to come with me to Termeoca?"

"I would be honored Sir! But what about the key?"

"Oh silly me. I would like to know if you would like to move to the Palace with me and continue your studies at the Citadel." I was left speechless for a second; however I recovered and glared at Lord Armonia for a few moments; then I gave my answer. "I see. Well thank you for your time and take care Bladz." He smiled before turning and disappearing.

"If I would be intrested in staying with him at the Palace and continuing my studies at the Citadel if it was okay with Mom and Dad."

"Of course we will allow you. We are so proud of you to hear that. What did you tell him?" my father exclaimed.

"Well I had to think about it for a moment"

"And?" my mother questioned.

"I told him that I would be honored to join him both this evening and at the Palace."

"Congradulations Bladz!" my sister ambushed me in a powerful hug. "See you must be destined for something great! Do not let your lack of cutie mark get you down because you will get it and when you do I know that it will fit you!"

"Thank you Cristalla. Thank you mom and dad. I will see you guys Thursday." We all conducted in a large group hug before I began to step through the portal into the library in which I would travel to the Palace.

Happy Birthday. Your new life has only just begun.