"Stupid, stupid, stupid..."

I repeated these words to myself over and over again as I made my way through the streets of Canterlot. I was still unsure as to where exactly I was going — but I knew I had to get somewhere quick, given that I was not wearing my jacket.

Canterlot Castle, illuminated by the moon behind it, caught my eye. Stopping in my tracks, I remembered what Luna had told me in the letter she wrote when I got my citizenship rights.

'If you ever need to talk, we are always available.'

With this in mind, I began walking up the hill towards the castle. As I approached the main gates, the two guards stationed at it – a pegasus and an Earth pony – came over, the former using his weapon to bar my way. The pegasus was orange, while the Earth pony was grey — though their armour prevented me from seeing what their cutie marks were.

The pegasus spoke first. "Halt! Who are you, and why—"

"You idiot, Flash," the Earth pony interrupted. "Have you even been paying attention to briefings recently? This is Geo, the human whom the Princesses told us about."

Flash glared at him. "I knew that, Dusk," he defended. "But that's not going to deter me from asking him why he's here."

Dusk rolled his eyes and turned his attention to me. "I apologise for the stupidity of my colleague here," he said. "He's new. Now, I assume you are here to see the— whoa, wait a minute, why are you not wearing a jacket? You'll catch your death out here!"

"I know." I shrugged. "But to answer the question you were going to ask, yes, I am here to see the Princesses."

Both guards stepped aside, although Flash did so grudgingly. "Of course you can, sir," Dusk said. "Go on through, but be quick about it. It's going to get a lot colder out here later."

"Thanks for the warning," I replied, breaking into a sprint. I rushed up the stairs, into the castle — only to stop in my tracks again, since I realised I had no idea where to go. Thankfully, though, Fate decided to step in and lend me a hand.

"Geo?"

I turned around to see Luna and Celestia walking towards me with confused expressions on their faces. I bowed my head in respect, though they only seemed to notice one thing about me.

"Look at you, you're shivering!" Celestia said. "Whatever possessed you to come out in this weather without a coat?"

Luna nodded. "Indeed," she added. "What would Twilight think if she was to know you were doing something this silly?"

At the mention of Twilight's name, I dropped to my knees and began to cry. Both Princesses looked at me in shock, but quickly came over and helped me to my feet.

"Twilight..." I choked. "Twilight doesn't love me anymore. And why should she, after what I did?"

"What happened?" Celestia asked. "What did you do?"

"Tia." Luna swept a forehoof over the area, indicating the guards and staff who were going about their duties. "Perhaps this isn't the best place to discuss this issue. Let's take Geo to my chambers, so that we may have some privacy."

Celestia nodded, and then the world dissolved in a blaze of light.

***

Once the world had stopped spinning, I found myself sitting on Luna's rather plush bed. Looking around, I saw that everything about her room – the carpet, the curtains, the bedclothes, and so forth – seemed to be either black or really dark blue.

Luna herself was sitting next to me, while Celestia sat on the floor opposite. Both of them wore compassionate expressions — but eventually, after a moment of silence, I let out a sigh.

"So, you want to know what happened?" I asked, to which they nodded. "Well, I'll tell you... but you're probably going to end up hating me just as much as Twilight does."

With that, I launched into the story of how I came to find myself at the castle. Nothing was spared, as I explained every part of my illicit encounter with Velvet to the letter. By the time I was finished, I was on the verge of tears again — though Celestia and Luna's facial expressions had changed from compassionate to indifferent.

"That..." Luna paused for a moment, as though she was trying to find the right words. "That was some story, Geo."

"Indeed." Celestia nodded. "I can understand why Twilight would be angry with you, but I also understand how you could get her confused with her mother — after all, they do look alike."

"Be that as it may, Tia, Geo still needs to figure out what he's going to do in order to fix this mess." she looked at me. "It doesn't take a genius to work out how much Twilight means to you — but the real question is, just how far are you willing to go to make it up to her?"

I took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes. "I'll go as far as it takes," I replied. "I'll go to the very depths of Tartarus itself if I have to... I just want her to know that I'm sorry."

"Then you came to the right place," Luna said, patting me on the back. "I have an idea, Tia, but I'll need your support to make it happen. Can I count on you, dear sister?"

"You can always count on my support, Lulu," Celestia said. "Now, tell us about this idea of yours."

"Right." Luna nodded. "Okay then, dear Geo, listen up and listen well." She cleared her throat. "It seems, to me at least, that Twilight feels as though you have made a mockery of your relationship with her. Through your actions with Velvet, you have made her feel as though she means nothing to you — especially given the fact you didn't even check that you were in the right room before you performed a sex act on the mare in the bed."

I grit my teeth. "Don't you think I know that?" I growled. "If I could go back and stop myself from going down on Velvet, then you'd better believe that I'd kick my own arse just to make sure."

Luna let out a small giggle, but quickly stopped when I glared at her. "Sorry. Um, anyway... if you want Twilight to know just how much you love her, then you need to go about it in a most extravagant way — do something that she wouldn't expect you to do." She paused. "Tell me, Geo, are you familiar with the phrase 'to shout it from the rooftops?'"

I saw at once where she was going — and I made sure to nod as quickly as I could, cracking a smile for the first time that evening.

Author's Note

Just a couple more chapters left, and then this will be over.

Also, Flash Sentry is here because I like to think that he was a guard long before Twilight became a Princess — and that he only began to notice her once she got her wings.

Also, the other guard is Dusk Wind. Remember him?

EDIT: Thanks to Bryan Luna for reminding me that Dusk is actually an Earth pony, and not a pegasus.