Prince of Zebras

Chapters

Late Night Guest
There is no antidote
Betrothed
Unstoppable
Entwine
The Past
Nobles
The Future

Late Night Guest

Prince of Zebras
by Random Blank

This story begins right after the end of “Upon the Stars”, which is an independent story, but if you find some events of the first chapter as baffling as Celestia does, you might want to check it.

Late night guest

“I just need to spend more time with my sister.” I sighed, affixing the Sun to the beginning of its daily route. I walked back to my room, then stood in front of my ornate dresser, looking at my reflection in the tall mirror. I lifted my tiara to my eyes level. A symbol of status I never asked for. My glance stopped on a crude image of a zebra embossed in a small jade set in the piece that goes behind my ear. A memento from my last real crush, over two thousands years ago. I sighed at the emotional dreary of my life and placed the tiara on my head.

Four golden hoof-overs, worn to protect my hooves from poisoned caltrops. There have been no assassination attempts in over 1200 years, but I still needed them. My hoof surface got soft and sensitive from disuse, and I'd rub it sore from walking any more than several lengths of my bedroom without them. Sure after a week or two it would harden properly, but it would be a week or two of constantly sore hooves. So, hoof-overs it is. This last quad was barely 70 years old, after the old ones, nine centuries old, got so worn from constant use the steel soles became too thin for the guard captain's security clearance.

And finally the heavy, thick golden horse collar. My burden always weighing my neck down, even when not physically present on on it. A constant reminder, that we are servants to the country and ponykind. That we are condemned - sentenced - destined to serve them for all eternity, loyally, faithfully, benevolently and selflessly. Never a word of complaint. Always the gentle, gracious smile.

The ancients choose us - me and Luna - to serve ponykind as wise, noble rulers. Not true leaders, just figureheads to take care of the details of common country leadership faithfully, while the true masters would give us directions from the shadow. They shaped our curse as a pair of horse collars, successors to the yoke. The horse collar at the time was a symbol of progress, success, end of the era of shortages, hardships and famine. It allowed a pony to pull burdens many times heavier than the yoke did. Farming became efficient enough that no pony would ever go hungry again. So we would bear a burden greater than any ruler in the past, and our masters expected nothing would stand in their way. Oh, how wrong they were...

Very few ponies still remembered the meaning of my horse collar. Most thought of it as an ornate necklace meant to dazzle with sheer amount of gold and gems. The few knowledge-seekers who found the truth in old books were at least nice enough not to spread the knowledge. I could see their gaze stopping on the collar, and their faces softening in sympathy. But none dared to ever think of relieving me of my burden, even briefly.

It wasn't a bad fate, really. The gratitude I was receiving for my work was a valuable reward. The praise and respect were always nice. But deep respect comes at a price: solitude. I had only one peer, and very few of my subjects ever dared to approach me on a more personal ground. Sure, some would... “mingle”. Gain status by talking with the princess Oh, how I loathed to be treated as a social status dispenser machine! These much-sought personal audiences were so rare because they were so useless! All small talk, platitudes, flatteries, and boring, low gossip. If the nobleponies could hold an interesting conversation, I'd invite them every day!

A castle full of ponies and all I had for company was my sister, sharing maybe an hour or two of a day. And on rare occasions, Twilight. I loved her like a daughter. I wondered if that's how having a child feels. Luna was the one ever blessed with a son. I was...

I hid my head between my front legs. I was a coward. When she saw a true hero, she tackled the opportunity, twisted the rules around and “rewarded him with the hoof of a princess” herself. My lucky, brave sister! She was as happy as he was. Even after he died, a piece of him stayed with her: she bore a son, and her son had children too. She was the teacher for the future generations of her offspring ever since. Meanwhile, I played it safe. Too safe.

But even as much as she had wasn't enough. When Penumbra, her city, fell when the centuries of her work had to be abandoned, something broke in her. She lasted, she worked, but she had... retreated. The small talk, the audiences, the contact with ponies who show genuine gratitude helped me deal with solitude better. Her... she brooded alone; the ponies afraid to approach her. Finally, she lost it. I did the only thing that could be done. And after that, it wasn't good. Despite my best efforts, alone I could push the country only so far; there was a progress but it was slow. And I didn't want to mess with her bloodline, and as result, without proper care it... degenerated.

How good to have her back. And under no circumstances can I allow the old history to repeat itself. Spend more time with her. Find some friends for her!

But how?! I felt like screaming from frustration! I can't even find friends for myself!

Except for Twilight. But I'm too much of her idol to really have a talk like equals.

Time to wear a brave face and head for breakfast. Maybe with a full stomach I'll think up something better.

* * *

She's gone?

The guardspony wouldn't tell me much. Supposedly she left on her own business, she's not in any danger, and there is a good chance that she would be back soon. I still wondered what kind of affair it was that he had to withhold it from me just to maintain proper discretion of Luna's matters.

I didn't press the issue. Instead, I began brooding. The high officials of the court sharing the table with me didn't dare to utter a word, seeing my mood. Luckily my nephew was not present, I was sure he'd fill the table with his empty blather and I wasn’t sure if I would withstand it this time.

Taking a small bite of a croissant and filling a cup with tea, I tried to be reasonable. I hadn't ever expected such a simple issue would have such a bad impact on me. Our little daily ritual broken. Of course she has the right to her own business! Of course she can skip the breakfast if she wants! I have no right to require her presence. But... I miss her. I want her to be with me.

And all the raspberry syrup is gone.

The servants scuttled away to bring a fresh bottle.

...She used up all the raspberry syrup in the dark of the night! What is she up to?

*BAMF* Suddenly Luna appeared next to the table in a flash of teleportation spell! The maid carrying the new flask of syrup lost concentration and dropped it. The flask shattered, exploding the sticky sweet liquid all around.

I was too happy to see her to even badger her about the rude appearance, especially since she swept the shards and syrup up in a quick whirlwind spell, and helped the maid to dispose of them (Still, some servants would need to mop the sticky floor later. And of course all the raspberry syrup was gone. Again.)

Luna looked... frazzled. Odd. Eyes reddened from tears; one can recognize that after millennia of rule. Her cheeks still slightly damp from tears, tail ruffled and stained with something sticky, her wings in a bad need of preening, and... that smile! That mysterious, half-sad, half-cheerful, half-mischievous, half-kind smirk. She walked up to me and gave me a kiss on my cheek.

“Tia, I'm sorry I can't accompany you at the table today. I'm on my last legs. I really need to catch some z’s. I promise I'll make it up for you it in the afternoon!”

“Luna, what happened?”

“You don't want to know.” She grinned. “Chamberlain?” she turned to the old, serious servant, “Please wake me up an hour before the dinner is served, and have my bath ready for then.”

Huh? She never, ever demanded anything from the servants. If they didn't think it up themselves, she'd either do it herself or go without.

“Oh, and Tia, would you be so dear to ask Twilight Sparkle to visit me in the evening? I wanted to ask her for some help.”

My Twilight? Oh. I just caught myself on the “my”. Anyway... “Why? Maybe I can help?”

“I know you're better with the Equan Arts, but I need somepony with a scientific mind. Oh well, maybe you can help. Where can I find bulk amounts of electrons? Lots and lots of them!”

“Not a clue! Okay, I'll ask her!”

“See ya!” she grabbed a croissant and trotted outside, munching on it on the run.

What is she up to?!

And then she trotted back. “Oh, and could you draft a letter to the younger Zebra prince? An invitation for a visit, or something like that? Oh, and give a kind eye to the Northern Reaches settlement regulation, that matter got stalled in some office.”

The Zebra Prince?

I was sitting with my mouth open, while she left without missing a beat.

Something was ahoof. Something big. And my runt of a sister kept me in the dark! That You don't want to know. It always ends with me getting furious once I find out! I will not force the guards to talk, but I'll be damned if I'm letting her off easy on that!

“Chancellor, would you be so kind as to cancel all my appointments starting an hour before dinner? And Chamberlain, that bath my sister requested... make it for two.”

Zebra prince?

Electrons?

* * *

Warm, almost hot water, and enough foam to build a pegasus home, not to mention the clouds of steam filling the huge, ornate royal bathroom. We'd usually use personal showers by our chambers, but I guessed sis wanted a long soak. The tub, more of a pool, was big enough for a whole herd, never mind the two of us. Sunk up to my chin I enjoyed the warmth soaking the fatigue from the long day off my bones; I enjoyed the moment of calm. ...Before the storm.

I heard hooves first, then saw my sister through the mist, even more frazzled than before. She yawned wide, and scratched her neck with her hoof. Not enough sleep; she never attends the dinner and we usually meet for a light supper later between sunset and moonrise.

I closed my eyes and dunked my head till only my nose was sticking out, hidden between mountains of foam. The sound of hooves sounded like distant cannon fire under water. Closer. Thump against the edge of the tub. A splash, waves, water displaced, more waves. A touch of her leg on mine and a squeak of surprise.

I pushed my head over the surface quickly. She fluttered her wings rapidly, leaping back and into the air, splashing water everywhere, blowing all the foam away from the tub and leaking rivers of water from her mane and tail. At last she recognized me, and landed, while catching her breath loudly.

“By the grace of Equestria, Celly! What are you doing here? Wait, don't answer that. I know you have some perfectly reasonable and completely useless explanation. Could you please let me take a bath now?”

“Sure, jump in!” I moved to a side, not that there wasn't enough room already.

“Sis, I mean... aww, ponyfeathers!” She gave up and rolled from the edge into the tub like a dead log, splashing water again, then letting the buoyancy bring her back to the surface. She settled against the side of the tub on her back and sighed, spreading her wings wide and making small waves with them, letting the water flow between her feathers. She squirted some liquid soap from the dispenser onto a sponge and began scrubbing herself, paying no attention to me, or at least pretending not to.

“I have a reasonable and useful explanation, Luna. The dinner table is always packed. We watch our every word. You'd never tell me everything I want to know. Just tell me tell me tell me!”

“Tell you what?”

“Everything!”

“So, in the beginning, as Discord ruled the land...”

“Luna, please! The zebras, the electrons?”

“The zebra prince wished upon a star for us to trust them more. I think it's high time to warm up the relationships between our countries a little. End of story.”

“And the electrons?”

“That's for a scientific project. I hope to build a machine that can count faster than all of the ponies in Equestria together. It's called a computer.”

“What for?”

“Oh, I'm not quite sure yet. It will certainly be helpful in the research of mathematics. You know, the mother of all sciences, whose inventions find use by physicists and mages decades later.”

“That's not all of it!”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, that's all I intend to use it for! Oh, maybe for games too. And whatever other uses I can think up later. But I honestly swear I have no nefarious plans behind building it!”

“That's not all!”

“Okay. I admit. I'll be reorganizing the shadow guard a little bit. Creating a position of personal adjutant. Volunteers, trials. It should be some pony to talk with, a companion, maybe a friend. You're not angry, are you?”

“No, that's an excellent idea! I'm glad you thought this up, I was starting to worry about you, but it seems my little sis can take care of herself!”

That grin. That grin!

“Luna. You're still not telling me everything.”

Her grin failed immediately. “You'll be mad.”

“I promise I won't.” I crossed my heart, fluttered my hooves, then stuck one in my closed eyelid.

“Tia, I'm... I'm...” she stuttered... “ThereWasThatAbusivePonyAndISentTheShadowGuard!” she shouted out.

“Luna, you know I don't like that but I know it's a necessity, so I accept it and I certainly don't blame you. I'm not angry about that. Therefore, Luna... therefore... it is still not everything. Look, sis. We're stuck for all of eternity together. We must trust each other. Trust me, please.”

Luna lowered her head sadly, pulled her tail in front of her face and scrubbed it with both hooves, squirting the shampoo copiously. As if she was regretting it. As if she was feeling guilty about removing the stains. How did she stain her tail like that anyway?

I floated over to her, took some shampoo too and began washing her mane.

“Did somepony hurt you?”

“No! By Equestria, no!” she jerked her head off my grip and glared at me, deep fear in her eyes.

That fear! That protectiveness! At that point I decided to let go. But...

“Tia... I'm pregnant.”

what?

WHAT?!

“YOU UNGRATEFUL SPAWN OF A BUFFlblbl bl blrlr glbaalrlghl!!!” I dunked my head and screamed my lungful of rage under water. Then I rapidly surfaced and hugged Luna, sobbing. “I'm sorry sis, I'm sorry! I didn't mean that!”

Luna returned the hug, holding me close to her. Holding my head to her bosom. Where she carried...

I sobbed quietly. “You lucky sister of a mule. You're... again... And I... It's not fair! Luna, I... I envy you so much...”

“So you're not mad, sis?”

“No, I'm mad! I'm totally, completely mad! That it’s you who’s pregnant and not me! And that's completely selfish and wrong of me but I can't do anything about it! So who's the lucky colt?”

“...”

“Luna?”

“He's not a pony. Not even equine. He's a human.”

The first words that pushed to my tongue were a poisonous “Are you insane?”, but I swallowed them. Trust each other. Trust my sister. She does stupid things when she's lonely. No, trust her dammit! She's not stupid! She wouldn't...

Computer?

Really?

That hairless ape got to my sister through math! I'm sure he used lambda calculus! She loses her head when she thinks of lambda calculus!

No, trust her! That protectiveness in her eyes. He had to be better than that. How... just how did he get her so wrapped up around his... finger?

“Tell me more about him.”

“He... he was lonely. He spoke his love to me upon a star. You know one can't lie upon a star. The lie, or a false wish will not reach me - and his reached me across the worlds, twice. He threw his old life away to be with me. But I know I couldn't keep him, so I gave him a safe place to live far away.”

“Why did you take him in? Why did you allow him to throw his life away?”

I had her here. I knew it. Her face tensed.

Then the startled expression of her eyes softened. She blinked some tears away.

“Because I would throw my life away for somepony like him just the same. Except I can't, because I'm immortal and bound.” she ruffled the fur of her neck, where it was broken and matted from constant use of her horse collar.

“Luna...” I smiled to her. “I'm going to accept all this, I’ll trust you, I’ll support you completely and I’ll never mention it in any negative manner, but under one condition.”

“Sis?”

“You're not going to stash the foal away from me this time! Aunt Celly is gonna be almost as much of a mom as mommy Luna!”

Luna just hugged me tightly.

* * *

“...So, what was he like?”

“Lay back.”

“What?”

“Lay back and spread your wings.”

...Okay? I relaxed against the side of the tub holding my wings spread far apart.

“I'm not sure if I'm doing this right. Besides, he has fingers; They can really do wonders.”

Luna sat upright in front of me, then rubbed my wings gently. Oh. Oh. Good. Gooooood.

A moan escaped my mouth as her caress began from the trailing edges and reached up to the wing base. She massaged the joint between my wings and my chest.

“This time I'm sure I'm not doing it right. He was doing a kind of... plucking motion. Taking a scruff of skin between his fingers and rolling it... I'd better finish, hooves really aren't any good for it.”

“Don't stop, don't stop! You're doing great!” My goodness, if that was this thing done wrong... whatever it was...

“Sis, maybe we'd better stop? We're getting dangerously close to incest.”

“Just a little more. By Sun and Moon, this is...”

“...completely wrong. Sis, when were you intimate with another pony last?”

“I've lost count. Over two thousands years.”

She muttered something... Property be damped?

“Sis, I'm doing this only this one single time because letting you wait another minute is plain wrong. And then after that we're finding some company for you.”

What? She's doing what for me?

And then the thought was blown away as a sudden spark flowed from my horn, through my spine.

She sucked on my horn tip.

And I was too overwhelmed to do anything, as her tongue pulled along the tip.

The bliss of her touch on my wings and the spark of magic her tongue excited in the tip of my horn transformed into... what felt like fire somewhere in my loins. I gasped loudly as the fire spread and concentrated in my sex, throwing me suddenly, immediately and uncontrollably into a wonderful, intense orgasm.

And then my horn filled with sharp, powerful, incredible magic of a kind that I had never tried in my life. It flowed down through my spine and...

I think I shouted in ecstasy. Maybe screamed. My mind rolled into the orgasm like never before. All the muscles all the way from my labia and anus, all the way up to somewhere near my stomach clenched in a delightful sparkling sensation. My heartbeat sounded like heavy rapid hoofsteps in a gallop.

Then the spasm let go and I entered a blessed bliss, my insides still feeling the exquisite sparkling, my ears still drumming with the hoofsteps.

The hoofsteps stopped.

Sparkling?

Sparkle?

Twilight Sparkle?

Wait! I can explain!

My ears drooped.

No, I can't.

* * *

Aaawkward.

Twilight was waiting in Luna's public office. Her purple fur took a reddish tint around her cheeks. I believe my blush was clearly visible. My lucky sister's dark coat hid hers well.

“Princess?”

“Twilight?”

“I'm so...” - we both began the same thing.

“Let us never speak of it again.” suggested my sister.

We both nodded eagerly.

Still, none of us spoke a single word during the dinner.

Then my sis kidnapped Twilight for that project of hers and I was left on my own.

* * *

On one hoof, I was still embarrassed. And scared. How would that affect Twilight? Would she ever trust me again?

On the other hoof, a terrible knot has been removed from my insides. I hadn't realized what a cramp, what a tension had existed within me. My legs still felt buttery. That thing Luna did with my horn... how did she even...?

On the third hoof, I was simultaneously jealous and happy for my sister. Dark Princess. There are certainly some upsides to being the Dark Princess, the naughty one.

And on the last hoof, she was right. I had to begin looking for company. For my special somepony. Even if it would only be for one night.

I drafted the letter, translated it into Zebraic to the best of my ability, and sent a guard to Zecora to have it proofread. I pondered how would she do as an ambassador - likely she'd refuse - and whether she'd make my letter rhyme in Zebraic too. Then the Northern Reaches settlement act... it was supposed to have been settled months ago!

I walked onto my room's balcony, then soared down to the Land and Estate Office down in the city-proper of Canterlot. I landed on the roof terrace of the big building. Of course the terrace door was locked from the inside, against my order, again.

This office was becoming unruly. I'm not going through reception and waiting to be announced this time, I'm a princess dammit! The warmth in my womb was still there and filled me with young vigor. I just reached with my telekinesis inside and turned the knob. I slipped in, quietly, magically silencing my hoof-overs. Diamond Quill is in for a surprise visit.

The upper atrium floor that the terrace door led to was empty, marble catwalks over the reception floor, stairs, offices. I approached Diamond Quill's office.

“Excellent work, Diamond Quill.” a female voice was heard from inside. “Another family of settlers gave up and bought my land. Here's your premium and keep stalling. As long as you can come up with more excuses the princesses can't do a thing.” I heard ringing of a bag of bits landing on a table.

“And my chance for the title to the territories increases as old Star Ringer's health falters!” That was the voice of my nephew Prince Blueblood.

Oh how I wished to be my sister right now! I had to come up with a wise, benevolent and merciful solution and I sooo wanted to send the three to the... Wait.

I-dea!

Removing the spell of silence I walked to Diamond Quill's office. He almost got to hide his bribe without me noticing. He was in company of Petunia Plot, a major land merchant, and Prince Blueblood the Awful, as I nicknamed him in my mind.

“Hello, I hope I'm not disturbing?” I asked with a smile.

“Not in the least, Princess” the scoundrel behind the desk lied through his teeth while the merchant swept the floor with her long mane in a bow, and my nephew gave me a sparkling, toothy smile.

“First things first, how is the Northern Reaches settlement act progressing?”

“The reports of sloping and drainage contained some mistakes so the measurements are being taken again. We can't risk the settlers getting flooded, can we?”

“Of course. Now for the other matter. I've been thinking of making some new lands available for settlement, and there's got to be at least a few thousands acres habitable in the area I'm considering. We need an experienced prospector to appraise the land, of course the prospector would get the first bid in license to trade the new plots...” I could see Petunia's eyes shine. “Would you be willing to undertake the task, draft borders and appraise every single plot of the new area? Take your time of course; I'd be expecting monthly reports, then a full report when the work is complete, and then we can proceed to actual trade.”

“Yes, Princess! I'd be honored!”

“Nephew, I believe as the first noblepony to put his hoof on the new lands, you will then have acquired the honorary title as ruler of them. But I'd expect you to assist in assessment and planning.”

“Auntie! I... don't know what to say! Is it my birthday? Of course I accept!”

“Now we can't have a private entity going unsupervised, so you, Diamond Quill, are to directly supervise the preparation of the report. Too much time behind the desk is not good for your health, you know. Time for some field duty.”

“But my cases! The Northern Reaches!”

“Apple Seed will be taking them over. I suggest you three pack up for a long trip, the land is quite extensive and it will take you quite some time to appraise it all!”

“When... and primarily where do we go?”

“Would you be ready this evening, just past moon rise?”

“As you wish, your majesty!”

“And as to where, this information is currently classified. You will learn just before the trip.”

“Yes, your majesty!”

“Thank you, your majesty!”

“Thanks, auntie!”

I gave them a kind smile and walked back to the terrace.

I wanted to jump up and clap my hooves! But that wouldn’t be becoming for a princess!

I beat my wings, flying back to Canterlot.

Sis would need to help them prepare for the trip. She's an expert on that land. After all, she spent a thousand years there!

* * *

Luna and Twilight were huddled around a tiny cloud in the middle of their room, the cloud floating above some rod connected to a lot of weird machinery with wires and test tubes. Luna was prodding the cloud with her hoof, making it shoot lightning at the rod, while Twilight was throwing some switches. They intently observed an unlit bulb extending from top of the machinery.

“Let's try that again in the AND configuration,” suggested Luna, readjusting some wires in the device.

“A off, B off,” Twilight said, throwing the switches.

Luna prodded the cloud with her hoof. A tiny lightning bolt hit the rod, emitting a loud crack of thunder.

“X is off” reported Twilight, observing the dark bulb.

“Yes, that's the expected result.”

“A on, B off.”

Another bolt.

“X is off.”

“Success!”

“A off, B on.”

Prod - crack!

“X is off.”

“Huzzah!”

“A on, B on.”

Another lightning.

“X is off.”

“Huh,” Luna frowned, ”It should be ‘on’. Anyway, we got three out of four right, that's better than any of our previous tries.”

“Maybe we should first concentrate on getting a steady ‘1’ signal? I don't think I’ve been able to say ‘X is on’ yet.”

“That's a rather boring avenue of research, but if you think so...” Luna removed a bunch of wires and ran one directly from the rod to the bulb. Prod, followed by immediate crack of thunder.

“X is off,” reported Twilight, unimpressed.

“Yay, we got a working NOT gate!”

“Not quite, Princess. It still doesn't produce positive output on negative input.”

“Can we... I dunno, call it Half-NOT?”

“I'm afraid that's more like a steady zero line.”

“Let me re-check the configuration. Oh, the bulb is burnt! Do you suppose this could be the reason for the faulty readouts?”

“Sis?” I knocked on the door frame, drawing the attention of the two. Twilight jumped up and ran up to me, to snuggle up the usual way, no unusual reservations. My heart skipped with joy. Luna turned to me, while removing the faulty bulb.

“The letter is being proofread. The Northern Reaches act should be finally on the right track. And I'll need to ask your assistance in one delicate matter concerning a certain three industrious ponies.”

I briefed Luna on my plans. At first she was feeling apprehensive about sending more ponies to the moon, but when I uttered Blueblood's name, she was sold and even offered to enchant a gateway talisman with the moon as a destination, a magical device any moderately skilled unicorn can use to teleport things between two points, and with enough skill - even ponies.

“Thank you, Luna. I see you found your source of electrons?”

“No, we abandoned the idea of using particles entirely! Thunder flow, spark energy, transmogrifiers, magistors, all our native physics! No need to import atomic matter at all!”

“That's good I suppose?”

“We'll have it working in no time! Do you want to join us?”

“No, I don't understand a thing about what you're doing. I'll just be on my way.”

Twilight simply nodded and returned to Luna's side.

I trotted to the exit. This time I think Twilight sounded more excited when she reported: “X is on!”

* * *

I was very apprehensive about our meeting with the Zebras. Our last contact nearly two centuries ago wasn't very pleasant. Prince Veth was as handsome as he was arrogant, and my nephew could learn from him how to be a jerk. He was subtly rude, politely offensive, in ways that could not be treated as actual violation of etiquette but made me hate him fiercely. Each offered contract, under scrutiny, appeared to contain some caveat, trick, or deception that would leave us cheated out of some deserved part of the deal. When I confronted him about these, he covered surprise and disappointment with indignant pride, making outrageous demands in exchange for having the offending points removed.

So I just smirked and declared our long-standing mutual customs tax contract null and void, then taxed the hell out of their trade with buffaloes across our lands, while establishing a water route to the land of Minotaurs, circumventing Hippotigria, the land of Zebras entirely, then I ended our visit early and returned home.

Equestria came out ahead financially, and seeing the sour face of the thieving jerk was well worth the worsened diplomatic relationships. Our border guard would sometimes catch caravans of zebra smugglers since then, and collect the tax in form of a major part of their wares. That was the primary activity when it comes to relations between our countries ever since, so no wonder the common opinion about Zebras as smugglers and rogues was predominant in Equestria, and I guess the ponies were seen as greedy tax collectors by Zebras... Neither side trusted the other and contacts were scarce, very few traders ever crossing the heavily taxed borders with wares.

It was two months after the exchange of letters, and the first snows came when the guests from Hippotigria arrived. They were... pleasant enough. The liaison was honest, dedicated, well-mannered, and respectful, but he was all business. We discussed some contracts, profitable to both sides in all honesty. One somewhat dubious entry I found was straightened out immediately and with profuse apologies, and it all seemed to be on the best route to re-establish business relationships. Still, that was a long way from rebuilding the mutual trust. Especially when I was asking him about life in the Zebra lands, common things, such as to tell me about current rulers, he'd shake his head and utter the same “I'm very sorry, noble Princess, but I'm not at liberty to discuss this.”

There were seven other zebras in the liaison's court. An escort of three guards, two experts - mining and agriculture masters who helped come up with proper trade values of exports when their respective contracts were discussed, a translator, who helped to iron out the bilingual contracts and keep the entries in sync, avoiding subtle language differences, and an old Zebra merchant who served as a guide, leading the group across the more dangerous segments of the journey safely.

I tried to pull their tongues, but they were all very adamant about keeping it all business. Except for one of the guards, who... visibly hesitated. But as the three usually appeared in group, I couldn't catch him alone for questioning.

From the scraps of knowledge I still managed to gather, more from our own merchants than the zebra emissaries, I learned their domain had two rulers, princes Zenith and Nadir, and while the elder prince Zenith, ruling the south and married to a noble zebra lady was described as a calm, fair traditionalist, the young prince Nadir was the one whom I was actually doing business with through the liaison, and he was... a riddle even to his own people. Engaging in magical arts of alchemy and mysticism, past elite military training, learned in martial arts and engaging in extreme sports involving combat-related activities. But, allegedly, surprisingly gentle and sensitive.

The most about their characters was said by a merchant who had faced the Zebra court in the past, wrongly accused of a crime (and justly found not guilty), as he received this advice from a zebra friend:

“If you're innocent, have prince Zenith judge you swiftly and fairly. If you're guilty but regret it and want to fix the evils you committed, go to prince Nadir to be judged mercifully. But if you're guilty and you want to sneak your way out, better suffer Zenith's fair punishment than receive Nadir's wrath.”

So there I was standing on my balcony watching my sister weave an aurora. Not just any aurora though, but one to bring her past creations to shame. She'd got some extra fondness to weaving them in the recent months, the elusive art always gone in the morning light, but this time the white of the snow was giving this one a proper backdrop at last. The moon was rising slowly, still far from its peak of travel.

I pondered paying my sister a visit, but whenever she weaved an aurora she'd enter a weird fey mood, silent and distanced. I wouldn't disturb her tonight.

Interestingly, she claimed she had made friends with one of the Zebra guards, but she refused to make him to talk of things he was not comfortable talking about. It appeared that he knew a bit of mathematics good enough to give them a fair conversation (though... luckily? no clue about lambda calculus) and he was surprisingly good with tinkering, and helped her make quite a few improvements to the Computer which occupied a major part of the adjacent ballroom (and would occupy most of it once finished, as my sister assured me, before she'd cast a shrinking spell reducing it to the size of a sugar cube.) Interestingly, Luna insisted she knew the guard from somewhere, even though we both thought it rather impossible.

I levitated a blanket from my wardrobe and wrapped myself in it. I'd stay, watching the show, until I get too sleepy to keep on, or too cold... The sky was clear save for few motes of clouds, but some very light snow was falling. My dream-like thoughts got me wandering through the meanders of the aurora, climbing and sliding its drapes.

The moon was now high, and shining with nearly dazzling brightness. I don't think I could get the moon that bright ever in the times when I was doing the job, never thought it possible for it to be so bright. It must be sister's inborn talent. The aurora was complete, it lingered in its full beauty spanning half the sky, giving the lands below colors all different from a rainbow but no less rich.

And then, right across the middle of aurora, a shooting star!

A tear rolled down my cheek at the beauty... and my lonely fate.

I was about to roll my blanket and return, when a scroll appeared in a puff of dragon fire in front of me. Why would Twilight be sending me letters this late?

But as I unrolled the scroll, to my surprise, the writing was that of Luna.

Sis, you have a secret admirer. Play this right and you may get his wish granted. He's right behind and above you. I have recalled the Shadow Guard so you're on your own.

ps. I was right that I knew him all along. Guess yourself.

I suppressed the urge to turn around rapidly. Instead, I began folding the blanket neatly, while turning and glancing at the steep roof above my room. There! Fresh tracks in the snow along the upper edge, leading to the small chimney and ending there. And a slight shimmer of the invisibility potion effect!

I made the snow a bit more slippery, the chimney colder and then... a gust of wind, a gentle push, and suddenly the figure began slipping down. I cushioned the last bit of fall onto my balcony with my levitation, unnecessarily though as it landed skillfully on four legs.

I dispelled the disguise spell on him, and there appeared that one odd zebra guard. Young, though not a colt, big green eyes, fit, slim, rather short, no doubt very agile - climbing that roof alone was certainly a feat. His cutie mark was one simple black ring with a thick black dot in the lowest part. Currently, he was hanging his head low, in shame.

“You have caught me. Punish me rightfully, but don't bring harm to the liaison or the zebra nation please. It was a deed of me and my... brotherhood, not the doing of the rulers of my land.”

Heh, liar. I could see he wasn't a very skilled liar. Avoiding my gaze, picking at the floor with his hoof, all the signs of unskilled lie. But let's play along for now.

“First I want answers. Who are you?” I dusted off my zebra language skill. I might have sounded a bit anachronistic, it was roughly five centuries since my last Zebraic lessons.

“An assassin. Your death would benefit our brotherhood.”

“It would bring death and destruction to the Zebra lands.”

“As I said, it would benefit the brotherhood.”

“What brotherhood?”

“I can't tell that.”

“And why don't you carry any weapons with you?”

“I wouldn't need any weapons to kill you.”

“Why didn't you try over the few hours I was standing here?”

“I was... planning to kill you in your sleep.”

I could see him wince saying that.

“Why don't you try now?”

“If I am discovered, I will bring death upon the others.”

“But you are discovered already!” I was toying with him. “And I could well use you as a bargaining chip in our negotiations.”

“Please, Princess Celestia. Kill me or banish me to the moon, but don't give me back to the zebras!”

That would be a plausible request if he was telling the truth... But...

“Oh, I'm afraid you'll have to kill me to prevent that.”

Oh, the look of panic in his eyes!

Then he dashed over the rail and plunged head first down from the tower, maybe a mile of fall. Oh, no, you don't. I levitated him back onto the balcony.

“I may not be in my prime form, but let me try myself against a zebra assassin... If it's death you want, you'll have to earn it.”

I raised on my hind hooves and spread my wings, opening with the Capricorn pose. I waved my hoof encouraging him to attack.

He attacked, classic Zo-Fu, Sleepy Owl style. A quick slide, and... he completely failed the cover of his back. I tapped his neck lightly in what could be a quick killing blow had I wanted to kill him. Correct choice of attack style but the execution was... suicidal, actually. With one beat of my wings I was across the balcony, while he was confusedly touching his neck.

“Strike one. Three strikes and I'm bringing you to the liaison.”

This time I opened with the Dragon Spire pose. He seemed rather impressed. Modern Zo-Fu, drunken parasprite style? Now that's unorthodox of you! I struck out, a quick block, lever, oh, you're good at this! But did you know my Solar Guard has developed a counter-maneuver for that? I slid on my belly, lashed out with my wing under his legs, caught him over my back and bucked hard, throwing him rather violently high against the wall. But instead of crashing into it, he landed against the wall with his hooves and attacked in Fallen Phoenix style. I barely had time to drop low, and felt his hoof connecting with my horn. Ouch, that hurt! I staggered, my head throbbing, my ears ringing. My double vision steadied slowly on the zebra lying down, covering his head with his hooves.

“Why didn't you finish me off while I was stunned?” I asked.

“Princess, I beg you, finish me, end the shame! I can't stand it any more!”

“Why?”

“I hurt you! I never wanted to hurt you! Kill me but don't ask me to hurt you!”

“So we've established that you're not an assassin. If you were a spy, you'd sneak in much later, when I'm asleep. That leaves us with only one more option, of who could raid the roof of a lady's bedroom in the evening.”

Oh, the blush was so cute! But the way he's eying the balcony rail... no need to torment him more.

“Oh come on, don't feel bad. Getting hurt in a sparring is inevitable. I'd dismiss a guard unwilling to strike my horn if I gave them the opening in a sparring! So, one more strike and a tea break?”

He looked at me with disbelief.

“Come on, prince Nadir. Don't make a lady wait!”

Oh, I hope I didn't break him. The look on his face certainly suggested that.

“Okay, so tea first, sparring later.” I turned around, sweeping my tail over his nose and trotting into my room.

As I was preparing a fresh kettle of tea, he walked in, head down low.

“Please, Princess, accept my deepest apology and... let me beg for forgiveness...”

“Apology accepted!” I replied almost cheerfully. “But as for forgiveness...” I bowed my head to his ears “I'm going to tease you about this forever.”

Did I mention his blush was cute? Still, he hung his head down low.

“I have disgraced myself and my nation.”

“Your nation has nothing to do with it. I assure you this will not affect the negotiations in the least. As for you... just what did you wish for upon that star?”

He turned completely red. Even the black stripes on his face were red. And I was hearing Fluttershy. There was this strong, muscular zebra stallion in front of me, speaking something in Fluttershy's voice, too quiet for me to hear.

“I didn't quite catch that.”

squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak-

“Come on, use the royal voice!”

“I WISHED FOR YOU TO MARRY ME!” he shouted out in a voice that would easily compete with Royal Canterlot, then grabbed his mouth with both hooves in panic. Then he removed his hooves, dropped his head down low and quietly added “...but that was just a spur of the moment impulse. Just being friends would be fine.”

“Feeling lonely as the prince? No real friends?” I asked.

“Oh, by the Ancients, no! I have some good friends. Two of them, the other two guards, are actually my best friends. We train together, travel together, fight together. We share stories and jokes and songs. But I... I heard stories about you and your sister. Both beautiful and dire. And I wished to learn the truth.”

I prepared the tea and invited him to the table. We sat on soft pillows.

“So what did you hear, and what did you learn?”

“I've met your sister. She is beautiful, a scientist and an artist of untold skill; under the cool radiance the commoners fear so much she hides her temperamental and expressive nature, she's bold, patient but when her patience is exhausted she tends to let wrath guide her. She's very similar to me in many ways. But while I acknowledge her beauty and virtues, I don't feel comfortable around her. It is apparent to me that she loves another, and I'm not one to intrude into that. At least, I'm glad to dismiss the stories about Nightmare Moon returned. She is definitely not an evil spirit.”

He sipped some of his tea while I asked “And what about me?”

“Princess...” he shook his head “You are still an enigma to me. The stories are so conflicting that they make my head spin. Tell me, is there any truth to the stories that after your sister's return from the moon you banished your nephew there?”

I reached to my archive shelf filled with scrolls and floated last month's entries by my nephew and Diamond Quill. Next seven hundred plots drafted, assessed - all invariably good for mining moon dust and moon rock, but that would be too easy and could be done all too quickly, so they all varied in deposits of meteoritic starmetal, and thus in value. Prince Blueblood was complaining about lack of comforts of any kind, but Luna assured me they'd eventually find a nicely furnished cave.

“I've caught them in the act, exchanging bribes to stall new settlements for personal profits. In court, they would deny everything. So I picked a different course of action and gifted them with a... lucrative enterprise.”

The zebra prince was skimming the scrolls quickly.

“Princess, are they some kind of fools? They still don't realize this is a punishment?”

“Soon they will. They should peak at about a thousand plots assessed per month and they will realize the scale of the task, roughly twelve million plots to assess. They are still running on greed, delusion of profit and fame. Once the reality settles in and they realize the extent of work, once I return the first faulty reports for corrections, once they regret their actions, realize futility of their pursuits, and seek ways to correct their past evils, I will bring them back. Currently? They'd be inconsolable for me not letting them get their dream riches and a title to so much land!”

“So... I guess the legend is both true and false. Let's try a different one. Legends about your pranks, Princess?”

“I could have called “Prince Nadir, come down here and let's have some tea”, couldn't I? You set yourself up for that one too perfectly!”

He laughed sheepishly, ruffling his mane on his neck with a hoof. “I really wanted to kill myself from shame. I still do when I think about that.”

“So what more rumors did you hear about me? It's not that I get to hear them often.”

He shrunk a little. “There is also that... rumor, about your... insatiable libido. They say three times a week you take most of your solar guard for a few hours into a secret room of your castle... and they return totally exhausted.”

“Oh, my silly subjects. Sadly, that's untrue. The first part at least. You should guess the second part yourself.”

“Martial arts training, is it? I'd never thought you to be trained in martial arts.”

“It's better when it comes as a surprise to a potential assassin, isn't it?”

“Oh, that's true! But I still managed one strike on you!”

“And that's why I absolutely demand we spar some more. You have exposed a weakness in my technique. No pony would have recovered from that throw and maybe three can execute Fallen Phoenix properly. And even that would I dodge if you hadn't reached me with your hoof... How did you do that anyway?”

He covered his head. “In all honesty, Princess,” he spoke full of shame, “I can't execute Fallen Phoenix properly either! I flailed my hooves desperately and hit you by accident!”

“We should definitely develop it into a proper technique.”

“Please, don't mock me, Princess.”

“Oh, no I’m not! I'm completely serious about that.”

I finished my tea and cracked my fetlocks.

* * *

A pillow case wrapped around my horn to cushion the blows, a piece of open wall opposite to my bed, several hoofprints marring the paint somewhere near the ceiling. For the seventeenth time I bucked Nadir off my back at the wall. A perfect turn, push of his hooves and he spiraled down at me. I ducked along with most basic moves of classic Zo-Fu and felt the light knock on my horn. I knew he could shatter my horn if he took the swing differently but he got skilled with measuring strength of the blow. Then a smooth landing right on my bed, and he rolled off it, bowing to me traditionally.

“We should try the landing on the floor now,” he suggested. “I think I have the flight under enough control that I should be able to land it perfectly.”

“Ready when you are.”

“Celestia... what's behind this wall?”

“The ballroom Luna uses for her project.”

“I wonder if the noises don't disturb her.”

“She'll come and let me know if we overdo it. Now hop! I want to see the Royal Phoenix Tornado executed properly from beginning to end at last!”

He attacked, leaving me the proper opening for the throw. Roll, grip, buck... Now a flying perfection! I crossed my eyes to see his hind hoof just knocking the tip of my horn gently, then he landed behind me - slightly staggered but quite stable landing.

“Ta-da! The first martial arts technique developed jointly by royalties of Equestria and Hippotigria!”

“My turn now. Get ready.” I tied a small ribbon on top of his mane as my target.

“Wait! Do I really have to...”

“Serve as my target?”

“No, not that! I mean, do I have to...“ he pushed his hips up.

“Buck me against the wall? Absolutely! Don't tell me you can't!”

“I can but I'm still not sure about it.”

“It won't be fair if you're the only one of us who gets to learn the technique.”

“All right, do it then.”

I attacked. Whoa, roll, toss, reorient self...SMACK!

Ouch. The shock from my jaw hitting the wall spread through my whole body and made me totally numb. I lay sprawled against the vertical wall for a second, then peeled off and fell on my back. My mane cushioned the fall of my head mercifully. I could see all the stars. That wasn't graceful or royal or pretty.

Then I saw the prettiest pair of green eyes ever, framed by striped face and a blue bow of ribbon on top of a brushy mane. He was bowing above me. Like through the fog I heard “Celestia! Celestia, can you hear me?”

“You have beautiful eyes, Nadir” I muttered the only thought currently on my mind.

“You've got a concussion! I'll get some help!”

He ran out. I groaned inwardly, then I blacked out.

* * *

“Sis, what did you do to him that he had to throw you against a wall? That's not what I meant by playing it right!”

Take Luna's scowl away and give me Nadir's concerned, handsome face back.

Oh, my wish came true.

“Tia? Are you alright?”

I felt tingling of healing and the numbness was replaced by a dull ache, and a daze was lifted from my mind. At last I could heal myself fully. Wait, what did I babble about while concussed? Oh, only the honest truth. I think I flushed red.

“And Tia”, Luna's face returned to my field of vision, “Could you please stop hitting this wall with whatever you keep hitting it? I can't concentrate!”

“Sis, I'm going to need your assistance.” I picked myself up from the floor, recognizing the ballroom half-filled with Luna's construction. “I MUST learn this move. I thought I got it through observation, but I was wrong.”

“Celestia, I'm not sure...” Nadir tried to interrupt.

“So I need a wall tuned to my hoof-overs. Passing everything else.”

“You're gonna break your legs if you hit it at a wrong angle.”

“So you'll have to heal me again.”

“You wanted to learn more about my sis?” Luna turned to the prince. “There's one trait. She's stubborn.”

“Look, Tia.” Nadir was trying to convince me. “Fallen Phoenix is not something you can learn in one night! Even I didn't know it fully before you gave me some tips!”

“But I know Fallen Phoenix! look!” I ran up to, then up a wall, good one floor up the ballroom before my hooves began losing friction, then I flipped over and soared down in a violent spiral, wings close to my body. I landed perfectly, shaking my wings a bit. “It's that recovery from bucking against the wall that I don't know!”

“There's nothing we can do.” Luna spread her hooves helplessly, looking at the prince. “If she wants to hurt herself, we can't stop her.”

“Just what did I get myself into...” he shook his head, as Luna cast her spells at my hoof-overs and prepared a wall of energy.

* * *

Nadir was trying his Poni, chatting with the Shadow Guard pony currently serving as Luna's adjutant, while I was trying to get her to give me tips and pointers on how to continue. She wasn't very sure herself, but suggested to let him set the pace, which seemed like a sound advice. Anyway, her idea for a coffee break was definitely good, the excellent coffee removing most of our fatigue.

I finished my cup, as Nadir was finishing his. His gaze swept the ballroom. “You must have wonderful galas, balls, parties in here. My brother sets the tone of the court and such things are frowned upon back home. One big celebration of new year, and one harvest festival, but we're not supposed to mingle.”

“Yes, we do have huge parties. The Grand Galloping Gala for instance. You'd drop dead from boredom, I assure you.”

“This bad?” he frowned. “I can't believe it could be this bad.”

“Normally it is.” I gave a knowing smirk. “I hope to change that. Last year was definitely a success.”

I think he learned to read my smirk. “Tell me tell me tell me!”

“So, I invited the bearers of Elements of Harmony...”

I wove the tale, while Luna busied herself with some papers at what she called “the console”, a big mess of switches, buttons, screens, and other devices. She was flipping the pages of what I recognized as note sheet under what appeared to be some odd camera. She put earphones on, flipped some switch and began nodding her head rhythmically. She turned some knobs and grinned, removed the earphones and galloped around the room, charging the noise wards - spell talismans built into columns around the room meant to keep loud music from spilling into adjacent rooms, so that two different bands in two ballrooms don't jam each other.

“There! I've got the synthesizer ready!” she grinned, stopping in front of us. “I've got some of The Bitless scanned in.”

She flipped some switches and suddenly a piece of the weird machinery began playing music. Loud, clear as a real orchestra, with some really deep bass and strong rhythm. The Bitless were a band some fifty years ago, really avant-garde, shunned by the elites but I liked the music personally. Too bad I never learned to dance to that!

And then I saw Nadir taking the introductory pose of the seventh kata of classic Zo-Fu. I felt a wide grin entering my mouth, and stood in position. As the intro of the song ended and it blew at its full, we swirled and danced in the perfectly trained forms, strikes and blocks gentle, throws becoming graceful rolls, he'd pull me in into what was originally a deadly, bone-shattering lock, but executed by him - a tender embrace, I'd free myself playfully and flee, whipping his nose with my tail teasingly, a hit of his head to the base of my horn that would knock me out became an intimate touch of our foreheads, a hit of my wing that normally blinds the eyes of my opponents became a soft stroke that ruffled his mane and caressed his ears. The song ended and we stood, catching our breath in a pose which would assure our mutual death if we led it to the end, but felt... extremely intimate.

These eyes. Who'd suppose green can compose with black and white stripes so nicely. We stood there in the deadlock, and our mouth were getting closer.

Then the eyes suddenly widened in terror.

He released the grip, turned, and threw me to the ground - violently, painfully.

Ouch. Why?

“Zephyr you idiot...” gasped Nadir and dropped to the floor like a log. There was a tiny dart in his chest.

A zebra - another of the zebra guards - ran up to the fallen prince, dropping a small blowpipe on the way. “Nadir! Nadir!” he shouted, crouching by the paralyzed body. I stood up and tried to approach him but he drew a long, narrow dagger hidden somewhere in his mane and pointed it at me. “Stand back, you witch!” he muttered in Zebraic around the handle.

He was lithe, almost girlish, but judging by his speed I could say he was a competent fighter, and very, very desperate at the moment.

The act of threatening me with a dagger would not go unnoticed by Luna's adjutant. He galloped in our direction quickly.

Not good. This may end really badly.

“Flash, sis!”

Luna covered her eyes as I cast a blinding flash of light, and immediately pushed back with my wings, adding a shield spell as the dagger hit the empty space. The zebra struck again at my shield, but it withstood the blows easily. The blinded guard stopped, dazed and oriented himself at the noise.

“Guard, stop!” I shouted, while maintaining my shield and leading the zebra away from the group. Luna used the moment to approach fallen Nadir and focus on healing him. The zebra attacking me noticed the sounds of her spells and turned to gallop back, to attack Luna.

My sister pushed herself with her wings backwards, raising a shield spell too, but she didn't get the opportunity to use it. As the zebra was jumping over the fallen prince, suddenly legs shot out from the paralyzed body and tangled with hooves of the attacker. A blink of an eye later the one Nadir called Zephyr crashed face first into the floor, and Nadir was on top of him, pinning him and talking to him in a hushed, angry voice. Then he pulled a dart off his chest using his teeth, and spat it on the floor. I think I saw Zephyr's black stripes fade slightly to white.

The two approached me. Zephyr knelt before me bowing his head to me. “Princess Celestia, my life and death is in your hooves. I do not ask for mercy, because I don't deserve it.”

“Stand up, young zebra. No harm, no foul. You will not repeat your mistake next time.”

“Thank you princess. That I won't, this is certain.”

Nadir approached me. His cockiness was replaced by something like melancholy, almost sadness. “Celestia, thank you. This was a wonderful night. I'm happy I got to know you. Let us now retire to our chambers.”

I lay my head on his neck, hugging him tenderly. “Take care. Tomorrow there's a night too.”

The two walked to the exit.

Something was wrong.

“Luna?”

Luna stood oddly still and silent.

“Luna, say something!”

She walked up to the discarded dart and picked it up with her magic. There was genuine fear in her eyes.

“Tia, I don't know what this does. But it's more than paralysis. More than what I healed.”

She concentrated on the dart some more, ran more spells through it.

“It's the Crown Venom. He has less than a week to live. And there is no antidote.”

Nadir? A week to live?

I wanted to run. To shout for help! To do something!

Suddenly the hours of activity and shock caught up, and despite my best efforts I collapsed.

There is no antidote

There is no antidote

I slept past the sunrise!!!

I woke up with a start. My head throbbed with a splitting pain, but I gasped with relief seeing gentle rays of morning sun falling in through the balcony doors. I was in my bed. I had a cold compress on my head. Luna was by my bedside.

“The sun is up!” I exclaimed in a display of my brilliance.

“Yes, sis. I raised it for you today. It's quite heavy, I've got to admit. You got a fever from shock. Rest, I'll take care of everything.”

“How's Nadir?”

“Seems normal, but they say they are leaving in the evening. They claim urgent business or something. My bet is he doesn't want to die within borders of Equestria to save you from the diplomatic nightmare, maybe even war. I peered at the rim of his hooves, there are the telltale discolorations,” Luna reported, her voice never betraying any signs of worry.

“Luna, how can you say this so calmly?”

“Trust me, sis.” she smiled gently.

“So, what do I do?”

“Rest. I'll need some things signed by you. Like this here.” She lifted a pad with a note. Budget allotment for the project of computational machine. Lots of bits. Lots and lots.

“Luna, how can you demand more money for the pet project of yours when Nadir is dying?!”

“Trust me, sis. I'll need you to unseal Starswirl's forbidden section of the library later. And sign an arrest order.”

“For whom?”

“Nadir and his friends.”

“You're insane, sis.” I levitated a quill set in the pad by the paper, and signed the document trying to ignore my headache. I can cure many ailments but ones originating from my own mind are beyond my powers, so the headache was to stay.

“Now drink this.” she levitated a vial of some bubbling liquid. I recognized a strong medicine that gives a long, restful sleep.

“I don't want to sleep!”

“There's nothing you can do now, and I’ll need you healthy in the afternoon. Drink up and trust me.”

I drank it.

I dreamed that Nadir and me were walking through a desert. There was a sand storm. It was blowing him apart, as if he was made from sand. I tried to keep him together but I could not. I woke up in tears.

* * *

I woke up in the afternoon. Nadir was by my bedside. The headache was much weaker. He noticed me awake, then replaced the compress on my head gently, and wiped my tears with a piece of cloth. I saw a darker, jagged crown extending from the rim of his hoof.

“Celestia”, he said, and I could see sparks of tears in his eyes. “I wanted this all to be different. I'll be leaving soon. I don't think we'll see each other again.”

“Don't speak nonsense, dummy.” I smiled weakly. “Come here and give me a kiss.”

He bent over my bed and kissed me lightly, just a softest touch.

“No, not like this.” I said when he retreated. “Kiss me for real.”

We kissed for real. We nibbled at each other's lips and tasted each other's tongues, we shared breath and tasted tears on each other's cheeks.

“I really wish I could marry you.” he whispered.

I smiled. “Luna seems quite intent on fulfilling that wish. And if you think I'm the stubborn one, think again.”

He nodded and moved away from the bed.

“Princess Celestia”, he bowed courtly.

“Prince Nadir”, I gave him a gentle nod.

He headed to the exit.

I smiled. I trust my sister.

* * *

“This is an outrage! You cannot arrest the court of the emissary!”

“Don't shout at me. I still have a headache after yesterday night. One of them - this one,” i pointed at Nadir, “gave me a concussion.”

The emissary's face was getting pale.

“And this one,” i pointed at Zephyr, “left something behind.”

The shadow guard brought a tray with the blowpipe and the dart.

I approached the third one, a big, strong, stern stallion, and combed his mane with my magic, extracting a similar blowpipe and a garrote. The liaison's black stripes were almost gone from his face.

“I hope you won't mind if the third one is detained for questioning as well.”

“Princess, please!” the liaison fell to his knee, despair in his voice. “I call upon your legendary mercy, please let the three come with us. I'm willing to make significant concessions in the contracts, and I assure you the guilty will face rightful punishment at home, but please, let them go now.”

“This will not affect our contracts in the least, and I'll be expecting your visit soon again to finish the ones we didn't get to finish due to your domestic emergency. You will be granted an escort of elite solar and shadow guards until you reach Entwine. And the three can surely count on my legendary mercy in the court of law. I also specifically request they don't face their domestic court - they will be tried, sentenced and serving their sentences, if any, here, in Equestria. Afterwards they shall be escorted back to Hippotigria, if such is their wish. No further consequences of this event shall be drawn.”

The liaison was pale as a ghost. “May I consult with the detained?” he asked, his voice breaking.

I nodded. The liaison turned to the three, started talking to them in a hushed voice. Two were paying attention to him. But Nadir was ignoring him, watching me with attention, almost painfully.

I could see disappointment in his eyes. Sadness. Betrayal.

So I gave him the best I could. A wink.

His jaw dropped and he sat on his flank. The liaison stopped, they all stared at him. He gathered himself together and stood up, bowed down low and spoke.

“Princess Celestia, we surrender ourselves to your mercy willingly.”

“Thank you. Guards, detain them. Pay attention that no harm of any kind comes to them prematurely; may it never be said that Equestria treats the detained ones badly. Offenders will be punished most severely.”

The guards - both Solar and Shadow led the prisoners away.

Wait, I don't remember a unicorn this tall in the shadow guard... Doesn't matter now, really.

* * *

The court was quick. The two, Zephyr and Storm, for assisting and attempt of regicide were sentenced to lifetime prison, mercifully reduced by my grace to mere three months of jail time.

But Nadir - “Midnight” as he claimed his incognito name - for actual, physical assault was sentenced to death. Mercifully exchanged to three months of complete isolation in the deepest dungeon.

The two were placed in a high tower, given quite a comfortable room with books, all basic necessities in decent quality, a telescope to watch the land... “I'm sorry guys, but I can't have you running around trying to free your prince and mess up any worse than you did already. Waiting three months until he is healed is the least you can do for him.” I said before locking the grate leading to their tower. The sight of disbelief on Zephyr's face was well worth it.

And then Nadir. The dungeon was dark, secluded, far and deep under the castle, with a little straw in the corner, no light, a hoof-sized hole leading to a sewer, a big barrel of water and a crate of hardtack. Nadir was pushed in. Then the dungeon entrance was bricked over with large blocks of stone bound with quality concrete. Nothing would enter or leave.

Except for those pesky alicorns. As soon as the work was done, Luna and me teleported in. The ritual was complex, and Starswirl's notes weren't of best quality, but nothing beats a few millennia of experience with these things. Nadir was sitting, confused, as we milled around, drawing arcane patterns on the floor, pouring mixtures and setting candles.

I gave him a light kiss. “Sit in this circle and wait patiently. See you in roughly... half an hour.” I said and we charged the Seal of Slow Time. Even with our powers combined it was exhausting. Half an hour would pass for him if everything goes according to the plan. Three months would pass for the ponies of Equestria. How many years would it be for the two of us? Luna's estimate was “about three, give or take a few.” Not too confidence-inducing, but then, what is three years - give a or take a few - in the life of an immortal alicorn?

* * *

The poison was devious. There was no antidote in existence, not only known - it was mathematically proven such an antidote cannot exist in our world. And taking all the possible worlds of the multiverse into account, we'd never find the right one, first bringing doom upon our world by entering some world filled with viral corruption. No, I was to busy myself with ruling the country, and Luna was to seek out the antidote. First, find a subset of worlds where the antidote not only is possible but quite abundant, that are simultaneously not too lethal, not filled with horrors that would follow us back to Equestria, and within distance our powers could cover. And that was the easy part. The difficult one was plotting a safe route there.

Of course three months wouldn't be enough, nor Luna's skill alone, but here comes the second half of her plan.

* * *

“To cover the designated two thirds of the room we will need twenty eight of these.” she nudged a round talisman on the table with her hoof. “I enchanted this one, and I almost dropped the Moon while raising it. I'll need your aid, sis. Twilight has prepared blank tokens, but her power is nowhere near to sufficient to charge them. Maybe if we call the Elements of Harmony for our aid... but you know they are fickle with matters that don't endanger the whole universe... I'm worried, maybe if you take over the Sun and the Moon, I'll be able to... but that cuts into our three months badly.”

“It gives a one to four thousands ratio, right?”

“Yes. A second of real time gives me a bit over an hour inside the talisman's influence.”

“So the three months would give us...”

“Around a thousand years if we spent the whole time inside. But the final calculation alone will take no less than five hundred years. If I manage to enchant one talisman a day, we will lose almost a month before we can even start, and that dreadfully cuts into our time for testing.”

“But this one is working already, right?” I poked the talisman on the table.

“Yes, but it's barely enough to cover a small cottage, nowhere near enough for a ballroom.”

“Something like a secluded fisherpony's cottage?” I grinned.

“Yes, why?”

I grinned. I got her gears rolling. “And a month inside converts to...”

“About ten minutes in real time.”

“Grab those tokens from Twilight, a month's worth of supplies and go visit your colt... err, boy? ...friend? And see you in fifteen minutes.”

“Sis, you're a genius!” Luna hugged me and vanished in a flash of teleportation, taking the talisman with her.

"No, you are." I smiled, talking to the empty room.

* * *

The ballroom was closed up. This year's grand galloping gala would not include it. The room was well suited for its purpose, with magic-conducting pillars that amplified and focused the rapid time flow talismans installed instead of the noise cancellation wards. With these, almost all of the ballroom, and nothing outside it was covered with the rapid time flow field. We sealed the doors permanently - no pony would be allowed inside. The only ones allowed were me, Luna and Luna’s team, and we'd either teleport in or use a passage through a magic mirror I enchanted for them, attuned only to let those in, whom it was tuned to. The only non-magical entrance to the room was a dead-drop chute at the far end, installed for bringing raw materials in. As one almost ballroom-sized component of the computer was built, it would be then miniaturized, replicated, and used as a tiny component in construction of another ballroom-sized component. To be miniaturized again. Ah, the advantages of a toonic universe, versus these poor atomic ones. But it all still involved lots of beams, trusses, catwalks, spellductors, transmogrifiers, talismans, magistors, sparkacitors... way over my head.

Supplies were delivered continuously, without break, pegasi bringing transports and dropping them as fast as the chute would let them, and despite that Luna and her team would frequently move out of the talismans range and spend time chatting, playing, generally waiting for enough supplies to pile up to continue work. Still, they slept inside the zone of rapid time, in a small area converted to simple living quarters, curtains on makeshift scaffoldings giving them something resembling private rooms with bare necessities. I'd catch up on my sleep inside too, so I could be helping them from outside day and night.

Oh, did I mention Luna's team? They worked tirelessly, Twilight Sparkle running errands for Luna, organizing deliveries, bringing all the needed books about transdimensional magic from the library, helping with plans and corrections. And the human, Northern Light, busy writing software for the still growing computer, using a smaller one already completed by Luna. I was watching the odd creature with a mix of fear and reservation, not letting my fears get to him, especially that he was extremely respectful to me. Still, it boggled my mind, why did Luna love him so much. He wasn't even attractive by human standards, short, skinny and wearing big glasses... though I had no doubt the two loved each other and he worked with full dedication to the task. Luna would help him both in matters of the mind-bending magic of transdimensional travel which the program was supposed to compute, and caveats and features of her computer, quite unlike what Light met in his world. Still, he claimed he loved working with the machine that never fell victim to corporate meddling, business dependencies and incompetent management. He worked tirelessly, hardly ever leaving the field, creating first an assembler, then a higher-level programming language with a compiler, then a simple operating system, and finally beginning writing the proper application that would conduct the actual computation - not once I'd drop in and ask for details, sharing my knowledge of magic and just giving them a respite of someone new to talk to after weeks of non-stop work.

And then morning of day one came.

* * *

“By the Stars, it feels like I haven't been doing this in ages!” Luna exclaimed, standing on her balcony to lower the moon. “How long was it, Twilight?”

“One hundred and twenty five days, if my calculations are correct.”

The four of us were gathered in Luna's bedroom, celebrating the end of the first night of work.

“Over four months. We may have some unforeseen delays, but nothing critical.” Luna smiled to Northern Light. He touched her bloated belly with unusual tenderness.

“It wasn't due in another eight months,” she said, “so I wasn't thinking about all the stuff associated with it before. But now only three months remain, and at current rate it would mean I'd be giving birth well before noon. Oh my gosh, we still haven't even thought of the name for the foal!”

“Don't worry, sis. I'll have everything prepared.” I smiled.

“Thank you, princess.” Northern Light bowed. He'd grown quite a beard, and his clothes, while clean, were getting rather worn. We'd need to take care of that too.

“Light, please. We've been through this a dozen times. Don't treat me any differently than my sister.”

“I'm sorry pri... Celestia. It's just that you're so full of majesty...”

I stuck my tongue out at him. I think it helped.

* * *

Day two. Luna blames herself for being a horrible mother, spending only a few minutes in a week with her foal, but seriously, the little one needs more sleep, without her hanging over him almost every minute of day and night. Besides, Aunt Celly is far too happy to oblige. Tempus is a healthy, strong alicorn with a dark-blue coat and a short, white brushy mane. Northern Light cried when he saw his son.

The foal is still a sphere of rumors, gossip and speculations outside the palace. After all, three days ago almost nothing showed on Luna's flanks yet, and today she's as slim as always.

The constant influx of raw materials didn't go without impact either. I haven't quite foreseen the problem we'd cause - draining the market of all these goods. Prices rise, supplies are drained, constructions all throughout Equestria are halted as we continue to absorb any and all amounts of raw materials the suppliers can deliver. But soon that will stop. Luna says tomorrow she will enter the last phase of construction. After that, there's only software, calculations and corrections left. “Fixing bugs” as Light calls it.

* * *

Day five. We already have a full set of substances that would cure the poison, and of course none of them would last a second inside a toonic universe before losing stability and collapsing into an inefficient toonic form. We also have a few promising locations where they occur. But finding the safe route is a different matter. Unlike following a direct vector like the one that led Luna to Light's universe, navigating a trail of worlds is hard.

Twilight brought Spike in to help her with finding needed books in the library. He's good at finding things and helps Light iron out “rough corners” too. It seems the same software can be rewritten to be faster. I'm scared by seeing Light getting first white hairs on his head. But he says “If it's important for Luna, it's important for me” and dives for months at a time into the rapid time flow while she stays on our side with Tempus.

Spike tried to use the rapid time flow zone to grow adult fast. He got bored two minutes later.

* * *

Day ten. A major setback. The computer has simply spat out “no solution”. There is no safe route to any of pre-selected universes. We're loosening the constraints. Less abundant cures, less safe universes. This will be harder than we had expected.

* * *

Day fifteen. Same thing again. I haven't even realized how spiked with viciously lethal universes our neighborhood is. Discord, compared to most of the monstrosities out there, seems to be a nice puppy. The reporters caught wind of Tempus, apparently through baby products purchases. They forgot the Zebras already and want “fresh blood”. We've taken Tempus to a press conference, allowed them to take photos. They were charmed with the foal, but Luna refused to answer questions about the father, only denying any connections of the foal to Zebras.

Light took a stroll in the gardens in the evening, alone. I saw him sitting upon the pedestal of Discord. I was almost sure I also saw some big, dark pony hiding in the bushes from him... A journalist? It would be bad. Still, after his return, Light entered the rapid time and stayed there for over two hours of our time without a break. His head is definitely getting more white hairs.

The chamberlain sent a note about increased food usage. There is no problem with that, but the suppliers are asking questions. At least sewage is not overflowing.

* * *

Day sixteen. I don't know what to think of Light any more, but I must say Luna in the Prench maid outfit is exceedingly hot, and she's to wear it until tomorrow.

The conversation between the two in the morning went somewhere along these lines.

“Luna, how sure are you that your system is flawless?”

“Absolutely sure. There is no flaw of any kind. I double-checked and mathematically proven my designs.”

“And if there is?”

“That is impossible.”

“So, let's take this sentence: If the computer design is faulty, then Luna will wear a Prench maid outfit until tomorrow. True or false?”

“True, implication of false premise. What does that have in common with the subject?”

“And you're going to stick to this answer, right?”

“Yes. Light, I don't get where you're going with this.”

“Take this operand, sixty-four bit shift left. Every bit shifted out enters the overflow flag, right?”

“Yes.”

“And the last set bit enters Carry, right?”

“Yes.”

“And now as we shift right instead, we have the leftmost bit to set the zero flag, right?”

“Absolutely.”

“And when I run this program, I should have Z set upon finish?” he presented a few lines of what he called “Assembler”.

“Yes.”

“And what if I get CY set and Z not set?”

“Do you imply...” Luna rushed to the console, the keys clicked quickly upon her magic.

“That's a disaster!” she whispered, filled with dread. “This is such a fundamental part, it's repeated millions of times on the most basic level! There is no room to expand the machine to correct it! This whole thing is... useless!”

“Now don't be so harsh to yourself.” Light approached her. “Go find yourself a nice Prench maid outfit and I should have this corrected in software on the compiler level within half an hour.”

“What? How?!”

“Move register into itself after every right shift. It sets the flags right. I estimate we will lose half a percent of speed on the whole. And the application will stop rejecting viable pocket dimensions and empty universes.”

He remained absolutely calm throughout the whole conversation, but only when Luna showed up in the outfit, and with a deep blush, he smiled and kissed her.

Only now I begin to understand - that was his way of dealing with anger - he was absolutely furious at her. It seems he spent... two hours? That's almost a year, seeking the origin of the error. And he trusted Luna completely so he never checked if the system is without flaws before.

* * *

Day twenty. We've been through a cowpony outfit, a white ballet tutu, tight spandex, and today - socks.

Only today Luna agreed for a full review of her design, conducted by the three of them, including Twilight.

There's a city-wide shortage of coffee. Luckily some merchant from Grazzil had a premonition (he claimed an alicorn visited him at night) about a week ago and is about to bring a few boxcars of coffee beans with a train.

* * *

Day twenty-one. Photo Finish managed to - somehow - sneak into Luna's room. And convinced Luna to a photo session. (I have a feeling that Light had his hoo...fingers? in it.) Whatever, Luna is to be on this month's EQUA front page, and Photo Finish says socks will be big this season. Later, in the evening Luna, Light and Twilight vanished into the ballroom for another full hour.

The coffee has arrived. There were protests at the station once Chamberlain claimed two out of three boxcars of coffee. But the supply will last until more merchants catch up with the demand.

* * *

Day twenty-two. Luna is depressed. She said she never suspected she could have made so many mistakes. The computer's efficiency is halved due to all the in-software fixes, even though a lot of hardware was fixed. She says now the computer will never finish the computation on time. Despite that, Light is strangely optimistic, it seems like he keeps something a secret.

* * *

Day twenty-three. We have the first routes, unfortunately the trip would take far too long, but Light says this is to be expected. They will be gradually optimized over time. The computer is now running without interruptions, “final run” as they call it. And the estimates say we will come up two weeks short of the target three months. After that it's just four days more and Nadir is dead.

Meanwhile, Light is trying to convince Luna to do a “leisure project”, a “graphics processing unit” for the computer. She shuns him for this idea in this situation. I seriously don't know what to think

* * *

Day twenty-four. Luna spent the whole night weaving an aurora. She says it calms her down. In the morning, Light approached me and asked me to support him on that “leisure project”. “It's much more important than I'm willing to admit, but I don't want to put any more stress on Luna. She makes mistakes under stress, and she's stressed enough.” I tried talking to her, and she agreed. The computer is now a box the size of sugar cube located behind the console, and the ballroom is filled with griders and catwalks as underlying construction of the new project.

* * *

Day twenty-seven. Luna says the new project is rather boring. Lots of repetition on everything, simple concepts repeated hundreds of times. But it seems Light is quite satisfied with the outcome. And he seems to have his ways to “motivate” her.

* * *

Day thirty. The issue of EQUA hit the shelves, and it seems day to day Luna became the Princess#1. Some say it's “scandalous” and “a downfall”, and “a shame”. Luna answered these in an interview she gave: “Scandalous” is that the higher mathematics semester was not started this year in the University of Canterlot, due to insufficient number of candidates. “A downfall” is that less than one in ten unicorns still recognize Starswirl the Bearded. And “a shame” is that a princess has to wear raunchy clothes to prove that knowledge and education doesn't have to be unattractive and unfashionable. I applauded and gave her my full support.

Still, I’m worried. The computation progresses at its normal pace and the estimate indicator doesn’t seem to move; two weeks past Nadir’s death. I can’t shake the fear.

* * *

Day thirty-one. A delegation of Nobles demanded audience with Princess Luna. They wanted to express their outrage at her despicable behavior and demand that she never appears in such an outfit.

She agreed to listen to them under a condition that they prove their expertise in any chosen domain of knowledge. She was rejecting them one by one, economy (some advanced maths questions related to economy models), fashion (she'd ask question about history of art that led to given styles), history (massacre!), photography (she asked about properties of golden ratio), modern music (she tapped some beats and demanded them named in proper musical nomenclature), Enology (she asked which wine goes with which long-forgotten dish), and modern art (she demanded to prove the true artistic skill of said noble by demanding a detailed classical style sketch - all true masters of modern painting could draw in classical styles.)

The nobles were getting desperate. They brought more of their own. One was caught in the act on cheating and lost the title of nobility dishonorably. Finally they somehow managed to bring Sir Fancypants and Rarity. Fancypants surprised Luna with extensive knowledge of architecture of the Penumbra Castle, and Rarity answered really detailed questions about various charitable organizations of Equestria. So Luna invited the two for a private chat.

Five minutes later Rarity left the room outraged. She requested all of the unsold EQUA issues recalled immediately, her request confirmed by Luna's order. Then the three left in Luna's aerial chariot without a word of further explanation. Last news of the day was “Photo Finish abducted!”

Light just stays with the foal and chuckles quietly. I should be amused but my worries and thoughts about Nadir chase all my joy away.

* * *

Day thirty-two. Rarity, Luna and Fancypants made a show of burning the pile of issues of EQUA in front of gathered journalists. Then they presented the new, corrected reprint. Luna in a few new sets of socks, with elegant lace, subtle patterns of gems, lacy garter belt, fishnet stockings... “I must agree with nobleponies of Canterlot. These old socks were a crime against fashion!” exclaimed Rarity.

There was also a new interview in the new issue. Luna really gave hell to the vain and stupid, she repeated her lecture about “scandal”, “downfall” and “shame”, then announced she will take up teaching selected subjects at expert level in University of Canterlot starting next year herself. “There's still time to improve your grades and apply, young ponies!” she finished the interview. Fancypants gave his support and offered a generous donation for the school. Rarity criticized the high society for caring about wrongly understood “decency” while letting true moral issues like inequity to go neglected. Lastly, I included a short note, where I fully endorsed my sister's actions.

* * *

Day thirty-three. Luna is back, working on the GPU with Light.

I wrote an article for Equestria Daily, the country's major newspaper. I suggested subtly, that now, that my sister is back, more responsibilities will be shifted back from the nobility onto the royalty and competent advisors chosen for expertise, not birth or wealth. I also informed about my nephew's current occupation - preparing lots and lots of new land for settlement. The new Lunar Shire will be ruled by Prince Blueblood accompanied by any nobility he chooses to assist him, under a different set of laws, very loosely related to The Crowns. All ponies unsatisfied with the new royal policies will find a plenty of room to accommodate them and their traditionalist tendencies under the benevolent rule of my nephew.

* * *

Day thirty-four. I'm the Princess#1 again, although Luna still holds a very near position in popularity charts. Amongst the mass of ponies who cheered the new announcement there were some voices muttering about coup d'etat or tyranny. I think I've placated them through valuable gifts of titles to extensive areas of land rich in meteoritic starmetal. No pony can deny my generosity!

* * *

Day thirty-five.

The estimates concerning the runtime of the program appeared quite accurate. The optimal route will be ready about two weeks past Nadir's death. Still, Light doesn't appear to be fazed in the least and his careless approach gives me a spark of hope. Luna only half-heartedly works on the GPU. It's meant for entertainment, and the estimates don't seem too entertaining. Yes, we might try to recharge Nadir's Seal of Slow Time, but it's not sure to work, and besides, keeping him there additional two weeks past the sentence date would create a diplomatic nightmare. Still, I'd be willing to take that risk...

In other news, the celebrity model Fleur de Lis signed up for Prench Philology and Literature studies at the Canterlot University. I've made sure to send a note to the dean, to ensure they give her a fair treatment, no special exceptions, both directions. We'll see if that's just for show-off or genuine good will.

* * *

Day thirty-six. Luna is furious. Light wears a Prench maid costume (apparently as an apology to her) but he still keeps snickering. Neither would answer any questions. Although Luna stopped for long enough to tell me angrily “Nadir is safe, sis. Harumph!” she turned indignantly to Light and told him to stop snickering. “How could you? A simple fast cosine transform! A dedicated language! Entertainment my flank!” she scolded him.

“I've got the photos of your face” he snickered. “I will cherish them to the end of my days!”

* * *

Day thirty-seven. Twilight has been gracious enough to explain what happened. Apparently, the GPU can be used for certain kinds of computations - in particular, it's very efficient at a certain part of computations required in plotting of the route across multiple dimensions. Currently Luna and Light are spending all the time on rewriting these particular segments of the program and making love, roughly in equal proportions of time, leaving Tempus in my care. I'm not sure how much faster the work will go but it seems we will have it on time.

* * *

Day thirty-eight. Another boxcar of coffee was purchased by the Royal Castle. At least the shortages are gone as the deliveries readjusted to the increased demand. Light's hair is now almost completely white and he seems way older than when I saw him first, but he seems still full of virility. “Luna's healing powers” he says. “I think this amount of coffee would have killed me three times over if not her magic.”

* * *

Day thirty-nine. Tomorrow it's the hearth's warming eve. I commissioned Rarity to make a special nightgown for Luna, and compiled an album with a very special set of Photo Finish's photos of Luna for Light. The ones that happened to be unsuitable for print. Too revealing, you know. Twilight will get a set of socks and a nice book, and Spike - a big, flawless ruby.

I think I should get something for Nadir. Oh as an afterthought I picked the Solar Guard Training Manual, restricted techniques. I still have no clue what to get for his two friends. I asked Luna. She said “Don't worry, I think we've got just the right thing.”

* * *

Day forty. I expected we'd spend the day together, but Luna and Light vanished somewhere before dawn, leaving me a note asking me to take care of Tempus for the day. Twilight left for Ponyville, to her friends, taking Spike with her. Our chambers are eerily empty. I attended to my duties, set a ward to summon me if the foal wakes up, then took a stroll through the streets of the town. Ponies would greet me, bow, whisper my name reverently. Still, I felt eerily lonely. No constant chatter of Light and Luna. No shuffling of papers by Twilight, no Spike's snoring. We have really grown together like a family.

I returned to the castle and went to check on the foal. And stood mortified.

The cradle was empty, and there was just a note, and it wasn't Luna's or Light's writing style.

I raised the note to my eyes and read.

Dear Auntie,

Do not worry about me. I'm safe and sound, and I'll be back late in the afternoon just fine. It's my wild foal magic manifesting my special talent.

Your loving nephew

Tempus.

ps. Feeling lonely? Go visit Nadir's friends.

After my pulse returned to normal, I decided to trust the note and try the advice. It was an excellent suggestion. They appeared to be quite a funny pair, and apparently through experience with the prince not taken aback by presence of royalty at all. Sure they started off with proper respects, but they quickly sensed it's not what I expected, and loosened up. First, they wanted to know about the prince. I told them about our progress and plans. Then I asked them about Nadir and their life together.

“Can't be told. You'd have to live through this.”

“Definitely. Of course you're welcome to join if you dare.”

“I might. You hiring?”

“Look, either it's the princess marries the prince and our trio's down to two, or we get you to join the crew and we become totally unstoppable.”

“Does this involve a whole lot of roof climbing?”

“Sure, why? Heh, you think it was his first try?”

“There was only one line of hoofprints in the snow on the roof...”

“The first night he was hidden under the balcony and the second he spent on your window still.”

“What did he look for? I mean... did he hope to catch me doing something... you know...”

“Clopping? Nah. Zephyr is the resident perv of our team.” Storm ruffled his friend's mane. “Nadir is into mysterious stuff. He really wanted to see you without the horse collar.”

“Why?” I asked, hiding the surprise that he even recognized the nature of the item.

“He said... how did he say that, Zeph?”

“She bears this heavy thing and still her hooves barely dent the snow.”

“Definite overstatement” I protested.

“He said you would... stop being earth-bound entirely once you take it off.”

“Wait, I might not be a wonderbolt, but I can fly just fine.”

“I think he meant something else. More... metaphysical. He's the mystic of our group.”

“Zephyr's the perv, Nadir's the mystic. And you, Storm?”

“I'm the one who saves the other two when they get in trouble. Told you Zeph she's cool? Told you idiot to keep pure sedative for first shot?”

Zephyr's ears drooped. “I really thought I'd killed him. When it comes to poisons, we really mean business. The way Nadir talked about you made me really think you're some kind of fey witch. All mystery and magic. And you're not, you're really one cool lass. No offense meant.”

“None taken, I don't think I've got such a honest compliment in... ever.”

“So, he wasn't back on time so I went to look for him. When I saw you two in the Reaper's Gambit, I was completely sure you would survive it through some magical trick and he'd end up with broken neck. I didn't have the time to reload with pure sedative...”

“And you screwed up worse than usually” finished Storm.

“That I did. Look, Celestia. If you manage to fix him, we're forever in your debt. I mean it.”

“Whatever we could do to help...”

I gave Zephyr a knowing smile. “Tell me what turns him on.”

* * *

Tempus returned to his cradle in a flash in the evening, apparently still not hungry and still with a fresh diaper. I set the sun and raised the moon for Luna, getting somewhat worried, then decided to catch a nap in the fast time flow and stay awake through the night. That was really enormously convenient. I woke up and tried painting the night sky, weaving an aurora... it was hopeless. I just can't get that right.

They returned around midnight, breathless, with scratches, bruises, Luna was missing a big piece of her mane, Light had a long deep gash along his arm. But they appeared to be in excellent mood.

“Go to sleep, sis” Luna commanded. “Tomorrow you will know everything.” Then they went to take a bath, at least that's what Light said, though the noises suggested something more.

* * *

Day forty-one.

My feedbag hanging upon the hearth was slimmer than previous hearth's warming... a book from Twilight: “Leisure magic - 101 magical pranks.” She gets to know me too well. A pretty hair pin from Spike. And a weird vial-within-vial item. The bigger vial was filled with a weird, green smoke, the smaller one in the middle - with a clear liquid. A small card was attached with instructions how to apply it - a rather complex teleportation spell that infuses a pony's body with the liquid without ever removing it from the vial before that.

“That's a quadruple gift for you, Nadir and his two friends at once - L&L.” the note read at the end.

I pranced in place then took the cure to Nadir and applied it immediately. It worked its magic within seconds, neutralizing the poison immediately. Discolorations on his hooves would remain though, for many years to come.

We were about to kiss, then Luna arrived and interrupted. “You'll have a plenty of time for that later. Everypony's waiting for you!”

“For what?”

“The party! Didn't you get the invitation?!”

“What party? What invitation?” the three of us returned to my room.

I'd been too excited by the cure to check the bottom of the bag, where a pretty (if slightly cheesy), pink and glittery invitation lay. Double invitation for me and “the zebra assassin” to a party at the Ponyville Library.

And it was dark outside.

“Luna, what happened? Why is it dark?”

“I think you forgot to dispel the seal on the dungeon floor. I took care of the sunset for you. And wow, you two looked so cute frozen in time with lips about to touch!”

“And what about Zephyr and Storm?”

“I've taken care of them, they are waiting too!”

Then I noticed Nadir holding his front legs in form of letter T.

“Luna, tell them we're coming in a few minutes, all right? We'll join you in a jiffy.” I offered.

“All right but if you don't, I'm going to drag you by the ears!” she smiled and vanished in a flash.

Nadir sighed with relief. “Can you please tell me what is going on?”

“Not here. Not yet.”

I could see him rolling his eyes but I zapped us across the wall into the ballroom, into Luna's abandoned compartment of curtains, where diagrams and plans were littering every empty surface, a large, unkempt bed in the middle.

“Here. Now we have all the time in the world.”

He approached me. Our mouth so close. I closed my eyes. I could feel his breath on my lips. Then I heard him whisper.

“Celestia, my mare of dreams. I like you very much. Maybe even more than that. But could you please...” his voice hardened “...explain what in Tartarus is going on?!”

I sighed. He didn't wait over a month for that moment. It was... what, ten minutes for him?

I backed off and began explaining everything, pointing to Luna's diagrams of the computer insides hanging pinned to the curtains around, I moved a curtain aside to show the console still blinking in some computation Luna or Light left running, I explained about the cure brought from some other world in a protective container made from Luna knows what... I moved on to telling about the magical seals and problems of time flow, and then Nadir suddenly said “Enough.”

Then he kissed me. Deeply, passionately, his tongue doing things I hadn't thought possible.

We stopped at last, breathing deeply.

“That was for saving my life,” he said. “Now for the other matter.”

“Huh?”

“You put me, as the ruler of the Zebra nation in a very uncomfortable situation. I know my brother covered for my missing, and I'm not worried about the domestic situation, but you can definitely use the “assassination attempt” story to pressure us. I'm not feeling comfortable about this. There were other, more subtle ways you could have handled stopping me.”

“I swear I will not use it to coerce you into anything. We both know the truth, and I will never twist it to my profit against your will.”

“But then... why? Just to give yourself an appearance of an unreasonably, almost ridiculously merciful ruler? That sentence... so light it will practically seem damaging to your authority as a ruler!”

“This would be my problem and I can handle it myself. I swore to you. Your will is free.”

He pondered. He lowered his gaze. He raised it to me. Then his pupils suddenly grew big and I could almost see a spark lit in their bottom.

Then he pounced.

I've got to admit. He was faster than me. Not just a bit faster, he was so fast he was on top of me before I really understood what's going on. I lay on my back on the bed and he lay on top of me holding my front legs pinned.

I knew about a dozen ways I could free myself. I also knew a dozen ways he could kill me with that kind of speed. But he didn't strike. He laughed.

“You sneaky, plotting, devious, sly witch!” he was grinning wide. “But the North Hippotigria will not become a part of Equestria?”

“Nor vice versa.” I answered. His grin was infectious.

He laughed some more. “To prank a prince is one thing. But to prank two whole nations at once! You magnificent devil!”

I couldn't help laughing with him, stopping only for a long kiss.

“So, do you agree?” I asked. Gosh, did my face look weird or what? The way he looked at me... serious.

“Look, Tia. This is... a lot for me. I know I wished for this in a spur of a moment. For you I may be an episode, a dot in the timeline. For me it's my whole life. It's coming a bit too fast. I'm tempted. I want it. But let me think about it.”

“No pressure. We can definitely remain just friends if you like. By the way, I talked with Zephyr and Storm. They think I'd fit right in with the three of you.”

He laughed again. “Celestia, I really can't imagine...”

“Ask Twilight.” I said with a sly grin.

“You'll get a letter with my answer. But seriously, I can't imagine myself saying ‘no’. Should I make it look very official?”

“Extremely. Let them never suspect we're an issue. Cold and deadly serious.”

“I can't believe we're seriously planning that.”

“What?” I asked in mock innocence. “We're getting married, nothing weird about that. Nobleponies get married all the time.”

“But we're getting married for real!”

“And they aren't?” I asked with a mock surprise. “Immeasurable fortunes change hooves as result! Tell me that isn't for real!”

“But they don't have premarital sex.” It was time for his sly grin.

I tensed suddenly. Nonono. Don't tense. I like him. Maybe love him. I want sex. I definitely like his body. I should be as ready as I could be. Instead, I was feeling something akin to fear. Totally irrational, I tried to convince myself. Why?

I recalled the suppressed memory, my last husband. Baron Brandy Hall. I shuddered with repulsion. I was feeling defiled. He was using me. Relieving himself with me. I hated the feeling. That was my last political marriage and I remained single ever since. Single and chaste save for occasional clop... and that last time with Luna.

This is gonna be hard. I had thought I had overcame that. That I'm stronger than that. That two thousands years were enough.

Then I felt my front legs released. A gentle but tight embrace, warmth of his body by mine, not unwelcome.

“I know that look, Celestia”, I heard his whisper by my ear. “A zebra prince is also a judge of law, and I know my job. I can recognize the eyes of a victim. You healed me, let me try to heal you. I don't know if I can, but I'll try, and I promise I won't make things worse.”

“I'm sorry.” I choked a little. “Damaged goods, that's what I am.” I felt a tear rolling down my cheek.

I felt his mouth by my ear again. “I'm an orphan, my parents murdered when I was a foal. Storm used to be homeless, starving and caring for three younger siblings, and I set Zephyr free from slavery myself. You'll fit right in.”

“A bunch of misfits, that's what we are”, I laughed sourly.

“Roll over. I'll give you a nice backrub and then we'll go to that party.”

I left his embrace, reluctantly. I rolled onto my belly and felt him straddling my back, far down by my flank. Then I felt the hooves on my shoulders.

The motions. The pressure. The bliss.

“Nadir, marry me. I need this on regular basis.”

“One condition, I'll teach you that and you return the favor.”

“Deal.”

I closed my eyes and sank into the bliss of fatigue and stress getting squeezed off from my shoulders. He massaged my wing muscles, shoulder blades, then asked me to remove my “collar thing”.

I did, and he massaged my neck, removing knots of strain... I hadn't realized how strung up it was. He moved down my spine, giving it firm squeezes and getting me to give out small whimpers of pleasure.

He massaged my flanks well, but as I was about to tense when he approached the sensitive zone, he stopped, returned to gentle massage of my upper back.

Then he stopped, I heard him shift, move and...

I was floating. Nearly weightless, feeling like a feather barely touching the sheets.

A burden weighing me down forever was lifted off my back. I cried out in a sudden relief, an ache of centuries suddenly removed.

I raised my neck, bent it far back like a swan in a sudden rush of freedom I had long forgotten.

I opened my eyes.

I saw Nadir by me on the bed, with my horse collar upon his neck, an expression of effort on his face. He lifted his neck, heavily. I saw how hard it was on him, but he managed a smile. “No wonder I could match you in fight if you wear a handicap like this.”

I smiled to him, enjoyed the lightness a moment longer, stretching my wings and letting the magic lift me off the bed entirely, then I took the collar off his neck and lifted it back to my own. As soon as it touched my shoulders, the burden was back, and I was down on the ground, but the moment of rest was much needed, it was now easier to bear.

“Thank you.” I said, standing by the bed. “You don't even realize how much you did for me.”

“At your service, Princess” he gave a courtly bow, then stood by me. “Shall we go?”

*BAMF!*

We stood in front of the library, Luna was still halfway through the door. She held the door open for us.

* * *

The four of us lay on the upper balcony of the library tree, staring at the starry sky.

“Bvioooo! Blam!” Luna made a noise, tracing a shooting star with her hoof across the sky. Light laughed.

Light raised his hand, pointed a finger. “Bang!”

“No, no, no. Bad human. This is Deneb, I'm not dropping it! The Swan would lose its tail!” Luna protested.

“Do we need that bird in the sky?” Light was insistent.

“Definitely. It's the constellation that is the symbol of our royal family.” Nadir chimed in. “You want a celestial diplomatic conflict, there's Taurus, special for all the bovines including the buffaloes. I'm really sick of the buffaloes.”

“Hey, don't you dare hurting the buffaloes!” we heard Rainbow Dash from the inside.

“Let me guess, Dashie, you've got a crush on one.” I smiled, turning my head towards the inside, where Rainbow Dash was lounging on Twilight's bed, reading a book.

“Me? Naaah” - but the way she blushed, I knew better.

Luna was surprised. “Rainbow, how did you ever get to like a buffalo? They are like... antithesis of fast and agile!”

“You'd see Little Strongheart in action you'd change your mind! She's like... if she had wings she'd be a Wonderbolt! Besides, look who's talking!”

“Little Strongheart?” Nadir groaned, “The Thunderhooves clan, near Appleloosa? The most rock-headed, stubborn pouters on this side of Applelachian Mountains?”

“The very same” we heard Twilight. “And we got them to make friends with the folk of Appleloosa.”

“We totally did. And they really respect dragons.” Spike exclaimed from his little bed, where he was busy playing a small handheld computer game he got from Luna for Heart's Warming.

“Wow. Celestia, this... little plan of yours may actually have some quite unexpected political advantages for my folks.” Nadir was quite impressed.

“No, no, no. Talk about political advantages if you want me to back off”

“Whatcha talking about?” asked Light, pulling manes of both me and Luna over himself, covering himself from the winter cold. We were coping with it much better, despite him wearing an elegant black suit, which matched his short, white hair, a neatly trimmed beard and mustache, face cut by many deep wrinkles but surprisingly handsome.

A loud pop followed by an explosion of laughter down below saved me from answering. “Come on, guys!” I heard Zephyr. “You should have seen that balloon! Pinkie, you are incredible!”

“I know! It would have been bigger if I didn't run out of bubble gum!” we heard Pinkie's squeaking.

“You can borrow mine.”

“The one you're chewing? That's gross!”

“I can make it not be gross. Wanna see?”

“Okie-dokie-lokie!”

A squeak, some more noises and a giggle announced Zephyr put his plan in motion.

“Wow!” Pinkie shouted. “No pony has ever kissed me like that! It was like Pow! And Kaboom!”

“Aaaalllrite. Ta much fer me”, we heard Applejack. “Ah'm gunna take a small walk ta cool mah hooves.”

“Can I keep you company?” Storm asked.

“Not on my watch!” Rainbow's ears perked. “You're not going anywhere alone with a fugitive!”

“Rainbow!” sounded Twilight, in a scolding tone, from near her window with the telescope. Her and Fluttershy were busy watching the sky through the telescope, taking tips from Luna occasionally.

“What?”

“They aren't really fugitives! Not for real!”

“But one of them tried to shoot Princess Celestia dead!”

“That would be me!” we heard Zephyr from below. “Storm's not guilty!”

“Aw, pluck me!” Rainbow still walked up to the end of the stairs and pointed her hoof down, frowning. “Okay, but I'm keeping my eye on you!”

“Stop it, Rainbow Dash.” we heard Rarity. “Of course a crude pony like you would not appreciate the romantic value of a walk upon the stars in company of a closest friend of a foreign prince! I certainly would.”

“Shucks, I think I'd better stay,” Applejack sounded discouraged. “Why won't you. Rarity show Capt'n Storm 'round Ponyville?”

“Miss Applejack, I insist.” Storm spoke quite courtly. “Fair miss Rarity would certainly be a wonderful company to any noblepony, but I believe I'd feel more comfortable around you.”

“What canna country lass like me talk about wit' a fancy zebra officer? Applebucking? Mah farm?”

“The infamous Everfree Forest? The zap apples? Lasso techniques? Applebucking sounds quite interesting too, I guess every military would love some tips on improving the strength of a kick.”

“Really? Well, then, captain...” we heard the squeak of the door and sounds of two sets of hooves in the snow walking away, the two talking in muted voices. Dash grumbled some and returned to the book. Another pop down below got Pinkie to giggle madly. “Zephyr, you should see your face!"

“That gum is useless. Give me mine back. No, not like this, this is gross!”

“Wait, you want me to...”

“Yes, the same way I gave it to you.”

“Told ya Zephyr's a perv?” Nadir winked. Luna just gave out a small giggle.

“So, Northern Light, what are your plans?” Nadir rolled onto his other side, snuggling up to me.

“None really. Probably back to the fisherpony's cottage, visits from Luna from time to time. I'm not as young and strong as I used to be. I still have some good years in me and I plan to use them well. And then... sometimes, at nights, the horizon of the sea is calling to me. Someday I'll get in my boat and sail away, to chase it for as long as I can.”

“Don't talk like this, my love.” Luna snuggled up closer to him, pushing him a little against my back. “I don't want you gone. It's been too short. We spent too much time working, too little time together. I... I shouldn't have asked you.”

“Then Nadir would die. Celestia would be heartbroken. You'd be heartbroken. That was simply not an option.”

“How long did you spend in there?” Nadir asked.

“In all honesty, no clue. Twenty years? Thirty? Without days to rule your time, with a day lasting two or three years, followed by a night lasting second that much, it's really hard to tell. But I got to spend a lot of time with my dearest, and I'm thankful for that.”

“How would you feel about being a pony?”

That was a surprising question.

“I like my hands, thank you very much, although ability to show up at Luna's side in public sounds kinda tempting. But I'm myself, and not uncomfortable with that.”

“What about a young pony? With a whole life ahead of him?”

“Another few years at Luna's side extra, sign me up. Otherwise... no point. Why asking?”

“These, who served the crown of Hippotigria faithfully at great personal expense... let me just say, officially you're in for a special zebra reward. And unofficially, a favor for my brother-in-law.”

“Just what are you two plotting?” I asked.

“Oh, just some old zebra sorcery.”

Then I heard sound of hooves in an unusually lightweight gallop. Fluttershy stopped by us. “But Light! To be his brother-in-law... You both would have to...”

“Hush, Fluttershy. It's a secret for now.” I whispered. She nodded, blushed and returned to Twilight.

“So much of a secret I didn't even know myself.” Light chuckled. “All right, let's do it. Luna, my dearest, if I'm a pony, would you be my wife?”

“That's no place nor position to propose yourself to a princess.” she pouted and grumbled in turn. “I don't even mind the lack of the ring, but you could have at least stood up, to look in my eyes. Oh all right, I agree, but could you keep at least a pretense of ritual the next time?”

“Luna, sweetie, if this pans out, we'll have such a wedding this will go down in history books for all future generations to remember.”

“Something like the last year's Grand Galloping Gala?”

“...nah, that would be your sister's wedding.”

“Me? Who do you take me for?” I said in a mockingly hurt tone.

“That would be totally unforgivable,” snickered Nadir.

“So what's the devious plan of yours, Light?”

“You don't have too many friends of your own to invite to the wedding, do you, Luna?”

“Certainly my sis, our three zebra friends, the six ponies who broke my curse, one baby dragon... I might invite at least a few of my Shadow Guard. Maybe twenty ponies total. But you didn't make too many friends in the meantime, did you?”

“In the meantime, no. But before that... Let me say, Luna, in my world you're quite a bit more popular than Celestia. You have thousands of adoring fans.”

“And now that the GPU makes it a breeze, you've plotted the route back home? Do you remember the moment I brought you in? Bleeding from every opening in your body, five minutes from death? I'm not bringing guests to a wedding that way!”

“Details, details. I'm not going to let any of them ride your back anyway!”

“Why, it's my back!”

“They might be getting ideas. YOU might be getting ideas. And you're mine, mine, mine!” I felt Light shifting, embracing Luna.

“I don't know whether to find your jealousy adorable or creepy” she sighed.

“Yeah, rather unreasonable...” commented the zebra prince.

“I believe we'd be much more open-minded.” I added, giving him a wink.

“Totally, an open relationship. Honesty and freedom.” he teased some more.

“Like, if I like some pony, I'm gonna ask you if you'd mind...” I suggested.

“Or ask one in for a threesome...” he winked. “I'd be all in for a threesome with your sis.”

Don't look panicked! Don't look panicked! Ow ponyfeathers, his grin. Now he suspects.

“That I don't agree to,” Light protested. “Now for a foursome...”

This time it was Luna shifting, pulling Light into a tight embrace. “No way. Mine. Not sharing!”

It was Nadir's and my turn to share a snicker, although my ears were still burning.

We lay for a while as the two behind my back cuddled and kissed.

Nadir's eyes pointed to Luna, then to me, questioningly.

My blush was my unsaid answer.

He grinned and leaned in for a kiss. I accepted.

The rude ruffian! The way he wiggled his tongue inside my mouth! Most rudely suggestive!

I chomped down.

He gave out a quiet whine.

I frowned.

He sunk in and nodded as much as his tongue trapped between my teeth let him.

I released his tongue.

He licked his nose in a mock display of his pain then hid his tongue and gave me innocent, hurt puppy eyes. Oh, these huge green eyes! So adorable! I wondered whether that look worked on his brother. I imagined us negotiating a contract between our nations and him giving me that look over some important clause. I laughed out loud, without holding back, and pulled him into a hug with my wings.

A loud pop down below was followed by a wave of Pinkie's giggling.

“Pinkie, that's so undignified”, I heard Rarity's voice downstairs. “We're in company of Royalty, behave yourself!”

This time none of the four of us could stifle laughter.

* * *

“Drop in on th' farm as soon as ya're outa jail”, Applejack shook Storm's hoof.

“Sure as day, pardner!” Storm was picking Applejack's accent. He hugged her, ignoring Rainbow Dash's glare.

Pinkie, surprisingly didn't say a thing, just hugged Zephyr. He pulled her in a kiss.

“Hey, no gum!” she shouted surprised as they pulled apart.

Twilight snuggled up to me. “Best of luck, Princess Celestia. I'm so happy that you liked our party!”

“Thank you, my faithful student. That party was a wonderful idea.”

“We are...” Luna began, “I am...” she paused again... “Thanks. Thank you, friends. That was a most wonderful night.”

“Princess Luna”, Rarity bowed, “Princess Celestia,” she bowed to me, “May I humbly request an invitation to the weddings?”

“Rarity, my dear, I'm not entirely sure. They are going to be some very special weddings. I'm not sure if you'd like them.”

She looked a bit disappointed so I approached her and bowed my head to her ear.

“Do you remember the last year's Grand Galloping Gala?” I asked.

“How could I forget!”

“The falling columns? The cake all over my nephew? The animal stampede?”

“Yes, that was a disaster!”

“I can't vouch for Luna,” my voice was down to a whisper “but I intend my wedding to top that by far.”

“Oh!” Rarity gasped, “In this case...” She knelt and kissed my hoof-overs, “Please oh please invite me!” she looked up and gave me a sly grin.

“In this case I think I'll ask you to be my third bridlesmaid, after Luna and Twilight of course. And I'll expect full cooperation in organization of... the event!”

That grin she gave! “Princess, your wedding dress will be fabulous!” she bowed.

“Thank you Princess Luna and Northern Light for the most wonderful present!”, Spike bowed.

“Just what is this game?” I asked Light quietly.

“A dragon knight fights hordes of diamond dogs and other menaces to save his fair pony princess.”

“I bet you made her look just like Rarity?”

He gave a little nod.

And finally Fluttershy.

“Your help getting Photo Finish to help us with the EQUA article is greatly appreciated.” Luna's voice was disturbingly loud.

“That was nothing really” Fluttershy squeaked, digging with her hoof in the ground.

“Sis?” I asked surprised.

“And we are grateful for discretion in the matter.”

Oh. So she saw my gift for Light. Still, how did she find the source of the leak?

“squeak-squeak-squeak-squeak-squeak”

“As a token of our gratitude please accept this land title.” Luna produced a scroll out of thin air and floated it to Fluttershy, who unrolled it and promptly fell over, hooves up in air. Oh, yes, a treasure of starmetal on that one. I'll have to make it up to poor Fluttershy for that later, she really didn't have any ill intentions. For now...

“Farewell, friends”

Nadir within borders of Hippotigria, his two friends back to the tower - officially none of them ever left... Me and Luna - back to our duties.

* * *

The castle felt oddly empty and quiet for the last three weeks, even in spite of frequent, noisy interruptions by Tempus. The ballroom would be open for this year's Grand Galloping Gala after all, and I intended to keep it perfectly calm and orderly this year, just to put the nobleponies' caution to rest in anticipation of the upcoming mayhem. Anyway, there should be one major event at the Gala... disruptive but not conflicting with the mood of the fancy party.

Luna allocated... oh wait, when did I start using that word? The two must be rubbing in on me. Luna changed one of guest rooms into a computer laboratory, and together with Light they were preparing a batch of computers for the University of Canterlot and another for the School for Gifted Unicorns.

Me? I was paying unexpected visits to various underperforming institutions, checking and returning faulty reports from my moon prospectors, taking care of little Tempus and visiting the two zebra “prisoners” quite frequently, taking a refreshing course of modern Zebraic and practicing, practicing, practicing martial arts with my guards till I'd drop from fatigue. No way that ruffian gets to surprise me again! That charming ruffian... I always blushed when I thought about him. Finally, the letter arrived... and I replied with an invitation.

Betrothed

Betrothed

This time the reception at the Grand Galoping Gala was held by Luna and me, together. We greeted one noblepony after another, Luna bored to death, me giddy to meet Nadir, who, as my guards reported, has arrived already. Finally, the reception was almost over, and there he was, the last guest. “Prince Nadir of Hippotigria” the ushers announced.

He wore an ornate silver-and-white sash across his chest and a simple diadem of silver on his forehead, climbing the stairs to us in a confident, regal stride. We stood above the crowd while ushers hushed and called attention of the gathered.

“Princess Celestia,” Nadir bowed, speaking loudly enough that at least these gathered near would hear him clearly. “Please allow me to extend sincerest apology for actions by citizens of my country. I begrudgingly must respect your request that they are not punished further beyond what your merciful judgment decided. But please, accept my solemn oath that I adamantly oppose their intentions and wish for the best possible relationships between our nations.”

“Prince Nadir," I smirked. "It would be dishonorable to doubt your oath, but how far would you dare to go as to prove your dedication to friendship between our nations?”

He bowed, with a well played pained expression and just a merest hint of sly grin in the corner of his mouth. “Princess, no treaty or gift would be valuable enough to prove the truth. There is only one way I can think of how I can prove my dedication to the crown of Equestria.”

He produced a ring from behind his ornate sash. He held it between his fetlocks, kneeling.

“Fair Princess Celestia, will you marry me?”

The gasps, the whispers, the murmur of the crowd, even some laughs! I could make out “he's bluffing”, “she'd never...”, “that’s ridiculous...” amongst the whispers.

I gave my best, graceful, shining smile to the crowd, then bowed slightly, lifted the ring with my magic, and put it on my horn. “I accept, Prince Nadir. May our nations profit from this union.”

He made his best startled and smashed impression, ears down, a step back, but I could see his eyes laughing.

The silence was absolute.

Then I heard rhythmical knock of hooves. My sister was applauding first, and was soon joined by others, nobleponies stepping rhythmically one after another. Then the voices joined. “Kiss her! Kiss her!”

Nadir approached me, almost crouched, raised his face to mine, with his eyes closed. I lowered my ears, hunched my shoulders trying to appear hesitant, but there was no hesitation in our lips meeting. And I could see his disappointment when we pulled away all too early.

The applause! The crowds were ecstatic!

I gave a perfectly bland interview for the press. Nadir was playing getting drunk on soft cider and non-alcoholic punch. I was playing pestering him. We were giving photo opportunities for the journalists.

* * *

The gala was entering the late night low gear and we could retire to our quarters. The shadow guard patrols made sure no journalist would try to invade our personal space. I just gave the journalists enough space to allow rumors that the princess visited the prince in his personal quarters, as I locked the door behind us.

Then I tackled him in a kiss. To his credit, he intercepted me and landed with grace on the soft carpet instead of crashing. We paused kissing for a moment.

“At last, Celestia, I missed you so much!” he was stroking my mane out of my forehead. “That gala, it was a purgatory, seeing you so close and unable to do this!” he pulled me into another crazy kiss.

I felt hardness on my stomach. He was surely happy to see me! And my creeping doubt and reservations were back.

“Do it. Do it before I start having second thoughts.” I whispered in his ear.

But he smiled gently and shook his head. “Didn't I promise I won't make it worse?”

A sudden roll, a grip, a buck, and I was flying through the air, upside down, back first. I tried to flutter my wings to turn around, but they aren't of much use in an upside-down backwards indoor flight... I crashed *softly* on the bed, bounced and rolled. And there he was upon me ...all my weeks of training in vain. He's better, simple as that.

Wow. His hooves pushed my shoulders in wonderful massage. He used his teeth too, squeezing my neck. He lifted the horse collar off my neck using his teeth and put it down carefully. At least the physical part of the burden was removed. Next went my tiara and my hoof-overs, while I helped him out of his sash and diadem. He massaged the overly sensitive, soft undersides of my hooves. I couldn't help noticing that despite not doing anything sexual, he was quite excited and... you know what they say about zebras, what they don't have in the way of girth they more than make up in the way of length. Long, black, shiny and smooth, with visibly flared tip. And Nadir was tending to me in such a way as if he wasn't paying any attention to that treasure between his legs.

The old reservations fought in me with a temptation. I was curious about the taste. I wanted to touch it with my tongue. To feel the texture with my lips.

I started carefully though, with my magic. He did pause for a moment when the glow enveloped his maleness and tugged slightly, but then he resumed massaging the wing muscles on my chest, trying to appear totally unfazed.

I leaned out to him and there was a glistening drop on the tip.

Old memories made me shudder, that old swine would force his smelly pink cock down my throat till I choked. And I had to, or the things he would do to his subjects, my subjects...

My throat locked up.

Then the long, black stallionhood vanished from before my face, replaced by the most beautiful pair of green eyes.

“Don't, Celestia. You don't have to. I can see how you tense up, how you struggle. Sure it would be nice, but just being close to you is enough for me, I don't need more.”

I pulled him into a tight embrace. I felt his shaft on my belly, and squirmed, pulled him closer, ground my body against his. This wasn't uncomfortable. That was tender intimacy. There was nothing in my past that could tarnish this feeling.

I rolled on top of him, then slid down along his body until his shaft was just under my chin.

I don't have to do it.

And just that thought allowed me to do it. I gave it a long, slobbery lick.

Musky. Leathery. Firm. Salty.

Harmless.

Nothing bad happened. No hurt, no fear, no shame, no disgust. It wasn't even feeling like anything special. I was half surprised, half exhilarated at the anticlimactic effect.

I looked up at him and met his gaze. Green. Beautiful. Happy.

I do have to do it after all. Not from fear. Not as a duty. Just for him.

I licked down and gripped the tip with my teeth gently. Big, firm, but not hard enough not to squeeze it into my mouth. A big chew toy, I thought humorously.

He squirmed and gasped a little. I moved my magic along his shaft, and chewed gently, bobbed my head a little, licked at the flared tip. Funny, I wasn't finding this arousing at all, but it was totally fun. And the little groans, yelps, nickers, whines he was making were so adorably cute!

And then I felt a gentle tug on my horn. A flash of panic shot at the memory of my horn being grabbed crudely to give leverage, to make me choke and gag unable to move away. But this one was gentle, soft... smooth brushing touch of short fur, the horn held between the soft fur of his fetlocks, a sudden stimulation making me gasp out in surprise.

“Is it as sensitive as they say?” he asked. “Lower your head a little more. I can't quite bend my neck that far.”

oh...

“You'd better not. It's quite sharp and I could stab you by accident.” I smiled. “Just lay back and enjoy.”

“But I don't want to be the one having all the fun!”

“Do you think I'm not having fun doing this? Lay back and don't interrupt.”

“May be hard not to...” he gasped loudly as I pulled his length in and pushed my tongue against his urethra. “...if you don't slow... down...” he squirmed as I squeezed the length with my magic, making the tip flare and harden in my mouth.

“I'm about to...”

I retreated and gave it a long lick, starting at the base and moving up, rubbing with my lips, nibbling, wiggling my tongue over engorged veins, massaging in the rhythm of rapid throbs, ending at the flared tip, taking its edge between my teeth when he shot his load over his chest. Spurt after spurt, he was coming with my magic milking his length and my teeth holding the rim of the flared tip, guiding it like a fire hose all over his chest.

At last the flood subsided and his member softened, retreating to the sheath.

I still wasn't ready to swallow or even taste the bulk of it... and he produced quite a lot, his chest drenched in the sticky liquid, but... a splash left a drop of it on my nose.

Hesitantly I reached with my tongue, licking my nose tip.

Rather bland. Gooey. A little bitter. Nothing I'd choose for a meal, but...

I licked the long drop forming at the opening of his urethra.

All right. The memories of foulness and disgust got invalidated. It's not bad at all!

“Now lookit what you've done” he pointed at his drenched chest with a sigh. “You got me all guilty. Never mind the sticky, but it's been totally wonderful and totally selfish of me. Come on, let's take a bath together.”

“Sure you get started, I'll join you in a moment!”

* * *

“What do you mean they are not good for taking?”

“Late night music! Cloppin's Concerto, right next to Banquet Hall! The ballroom is packed with the worst of snobs, and the party animals only start getting noisy in the Banquet Hall! We can't remove the talismans!”

“Luna, help me! You know what happened last time!”

“What?”

“That thing we promised never to speak about again!”

“What... oh! You're right. That would be bad. What can we... all right, I should be able to set up some new noise cancellation wards around the place. Go on, don't make your stallion wait, I'll take care of everything!”

* * *

Wow, I never thought he could be so totally great looking with his mane flowing down his neck and not the (admittedly cute) brush sticking up between his ears. He was in the tub, just finishing scrubbing his chest under a downpour from the showerhead above. He noticed me and waved to me to join him. The bathroom wasn't as spacious as the Royal one, but the big, ornate iron tub in the middle would still fit us both easily with room to spare.

“What urgent business held you up?” he asked, while embracing and kissing me as I let the shower soak my mane and lowered myself into the warm bath.

“Noise cancellation. I must warn you, I'm a screamer.”

Without warning the far sounds of music vanished and we were left only with the sound of water raining on us from above, warm and soothing. I let it soak my fur and drench my mane, making it hang down from my neck in heavy long strands.

“Celestia...” Nadir's eyes shone as he gazed at me dreamily. “You are beyond beautiful. I'm feeling like I don't deserve you. That it's a luck beyond reason that you'd want me. A beautiful unreal dream”

I bowed my head down low. I let the water drench me, carry my mane over my eyes. “Don't think like that. Please. I don't want to be lonely ever again.”

He moved my mane off my face with his hoof and gazed into my eyes. Green is the color of hope, right?

“Forever is not an option. But for as long as I can, for as long as I will last. This much I can promise.”

I imagined the eyes grey and dull from age, weary and lost. The face faded, the fur molting, old bones sticking out through the skin of his cheeks. And even in that image I still saw my reflection in his eyes, always presentable and looking young. And I still saw the same spark of love and the same disbelief that I could still love him back, as today.

“And not a day less.” I whispered and leaned into his embrace.

“And let's not waste another moment” he answered, a smile returning to his face. Then he pulled my neck lower, turned his head sideways and without further ado caught my horn in his mouth.

A long lick along the length sent a shiver down my body.

“Rather phallic, isn't it?” he said while returning to the base. This time he held it with his mouth and pulled his lips along its length, holding it tightly.

“Not that I mind. You're feminine enough for me.” he continued before proceeding to lick the tip, suckle on it.

“Still, I guess I could get some tips from Zephyr and try them...” he returned to the base and drew his tongue around the very edge where the horn was growing out of my head.

“He likes stallions as much as mares. I guess most techniques would apply.” I felt his mouth screwing into my ear and couldn't help giggling. Not only was his attention very arousing, his silly blather put my mind completely at ease. But tongue in my ear was too much. I grabbed him and we splashed into the water, surfacing for a breath before sinking back to kiss under water.

“Damn you Nadir, now I'll never be able to think of my horn and not imagine a huge stallion phallus on my forehead!” I said, laughing, when we surfaced again.

“Don't tell me no symbological writings in Equestria make the connection” he said, while pulling my horn back to his mouth. I let him.

“Sure they do but it's a different thing to read about the dry theories in a dusty tome...” I caught a breath rapidly as his teeth just lightly grazed the surface. It was bordering on pain but on the pleasant side. “...than to have a partner apply techniques you used on his cock a moment before.”

“I bet it is. Care to help me with a different question from old dusty tomes?”

“Now?”

“No better time than now.” he grinned, then raised his head, giving my horn tiny, light licks, just flicking the tip of his tongue at it.

“What would it be? And will it make me embarrassed too?”

“I don't think so. It's the matter of chakras, special nodes in the body of every living being. Zebras use them actively to stimulate and heal, meditate and seek inner self.” he explained, making short pauses now and then, his tongue probing my horn, tickling it pleasantly. Suddenly the feeling intensified, the touch was sending rapid arrows of stimulus somewhere to my head, and I was feeling as if I was opening up for magic on the outside, drawing it into me. He paused the probing licks and the feeling faded.

“Our mystics have found extra chakras in the bodies of unicorns and pegasi, but we never had an opportunity to study an alicorn. Some believe they just have chakras of the two, others think it's an entirely different set.”

“And what do you think?”

He continued probing my horn with his tongue in silence, reaching closer to the tip, and suddenly I gasped as I got a sudden flash of clarity, awareness of my own self apart from my body or the world.

“Both are wrong.” he said.

“So what's the truth?” I said, gasping heavily after the sudden experience.

“This is Sahasrara,” he said and placed a deep kiss on that point of the horn. The touch of his tongue was slow and light. The sense of awareness returned and filled me. It wasn't obstructing or conflicting with my normal perception, it was as if I gained an additional sense. “It is located at most an inch above the head of every unicorn. You have it near the end of your horn. And this is...” he placed a kiss on the other spot on my horn, and suddenly I felt multiple small wisps of magic flowing into me from all around, “...a chakra no other live being has, I don't know its name or purpose.”

COLD! Suddenly the water slowly raining on us turned completely cold! I turned the valves quickly, checked again... no warm water. Well, the heating talisman must have gone bad. Somepony will fix it in the morning. Anyway, with a tub full of hot water we didn't have to worry about more for a while.

Still, the interruption didn't disrupt the two newly open senses.

Nadir bowed to me and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead, between my eyes. “Ajna, the third eye” he said and suddenly I could dream and travel outside my body, explore my imagination and limitless possibilities with all the clarity of a lucid dream.

He traced my throat with his kisses as I explored images of us together... none of my dreams were better than the present moment and suddenly they shattered and reality returned with unusual clarity. I could still call upon my dream sense, but now the clarity gave me a sudden wave of confidence. I could put the past aside and no demons from ages ago could hurt me. I could now jump Nadir and make love to him without reservations, but the new game he started was too fascinating to interrupt.

“Your Vishuddha is located higher than in other ponies. Let me...” he pulled me close into an intimate embrace, kissing the length of my neck, probing. And there it was, the origin of Royal Canterlot Voice, now open, capable to command obedience or inspire trust and confidence into any live being. I didn't have to use it but the awareness was valuable.

“Another new and unnamed one.” he smiled.

He reached to my chest and rested his mouth over my heart. I felt warmth, kindness, love towards my little ponies and all live creatures. A strong power to protect them...

Nadir was puzzled. “It's odd. There's another one there, right on top of Anahata and I can't open it. Why could it be?”

He traced lower, over my stomach and I could feel it, his tries in vain. “This is Manipura and I can't open it either, I don't know why.”

“I know. It is where the burden of my horse collar is anchored. It cannot be removed this easily.”

“Oh, so this puts a limit on your power?”

“On how I can use it. I can't be a tyrant. It would grow in weight with my bad intentions and snap my neck if I truly turned evil. The ancients were careful when granting us the power.”

“But the Nightmare... ah, doesn't matter I'll ask later. Could you stretch your wing?”

I gave him my right wing and quickly he traced a point near the joint, which commanded truth, honesty, justice. And another near the tip, with sense of loyalty embedded deeply. My left wing carried good humor and lightheartedness by the joint, and selfless generosity on its tip. I became aware of another one on my spine, on heart level, which carried my love for all that lives. Suddenly I knew I could wield and master the Elements of Harmony all by myself once again.

“Don't open the one on my heart. You should be able now, but don't. It would overwhelm us and... it is not necessary now.”

“All right, there are two major classic ones left. Swadhisthana”

He dived to reach between my nipples, his kiss under the surface of water barely perceptible. The chakra opened in a pang of empty need. It was my power to have offspring, and it was unfulfilled, unrealized, empty. Still, the node he opened on my lower neck gave me enough confidence not to be devastated by the void. It was the past, but it would change, it would be filled.

Then the grinning zebra told me to turn around. I knew that grin. I knew what was coming.

“Muladhara, is it?” I asked, the knowledge from dusty old tomes suddenly becoming very real and very near.

I turned around, holding my back exposed to him. He kissed, he probed, seeking the chakra, trying... far more seeking, probing and tasting than with any of the prior ones, the joint of my left wing tingled.

“Celestia, did anypony ever tell you're perfection incarnate?” He paused, then sucked on my clit, his lips closing on it.

“No, why?” I managed to gasp out... he was good! And my new hypersensitivity was making my knees weak with the intensity of the sensations filling my body with fire.

“Because what I'm seeing here is almost as beautiful as your face.”

The rude ruffian! Must be a zebra thing! Still, done in good humor it gave me a blush and a smile, instead of cold rage from a somewhat similar but much more malicious slur by his ancestor.

Besides, I was beyond the point when I could give him a snide reply...

But he slowed down, licking me almost lazily...

“Loosen up. Nice and easy, don't tense a single muscle. There...” he massaged a section of muscles somewhere by my sternum, and I let go of a tension I hadn't been aware of. “Abdomen, let it loose.” I did, and he resumed licking. “Anus. It will hold, don't worry.” and I let the pressure vanish. “Dock. Let the tail drop.”

With each section of muscles getting loose I could feel the excitement inside me drop a little bit, then Nadir's gentle caress would build up back to where it was a moment before. I was relaxed as I hadn't been in years, and the wonderful feeling was growing within me despite that. I could feel my cervix relax and loosen up. The feeling dropped a little again, but the gentle caress of the tongue brought it back and... I got there. The feeling grew to a wonderful climax and suddenly I could feel every section of muscles I had relaxed to involuntarily clench, while exciting a fountain of pleasure, a wave after wave of orgasm hitting me, new areas re-igniting the fading feeling... and then that tongue inside me, and that spark of magic... it was like what Luna did to me, but not dulled by travel through my whole body from my horn, but right there, a node in my body opening - a node dedicated only to sexual pleasure - and filling with strong magic instantly.

My mind protested the overwhelming flood of ecstasy, I was blind and deaf but I could feel the magic escaping me through my eyes, horn... throat...

The kiss vanished from my nether lips, and my senses began returning slowly, as I collapsed, exhausted. I could feel getting lifted and carried. Sheets, pillows. Sleep.

Noises? Voices?

Too tired.

* * *

“Sis? Sis, wake up!”

Another five minutes... it's still dark outside...

well, duh, I'm still asleep so it's still dark...

“Sis, I can't hold it much longer.”

All right. I forced my eyes to open. My backside was filled with wonderful numbness.

The battlefield came into focus.

Battlefield?

Or was it a natural disaster?

Broken furniture and debris of stonework scattered along the walls. Windows torn out of their panes. Floor tiles torn and broken where something heavy plowed through them... A big metal object mangled beyond recognition lay at the disastrous track, embedded in the wall.

I needed to use a bathroom. I turned my head to the bathroom door.

There was no door, most of the wall was missing, debris spread as if from epicenter of explosion inside the bathroom. Part of the ceiling above the missing wall caved in, a pony-sized chunk of it on the floor, the hole above revealing the attic. Surprisingly, the back of the bathroom was almost undamaged. I could make out the shape of a mirror on the wall, not broken.

A few wardrobes were piled over forming a barricade at the entrance door to the room.

Nadir was sleeping by me, his breath calm, his stripes a chessboard in the moonlight filtered through shards of the balcony door.

Luna stood in the middle of the mayhem, her horn glowing.

“Luna, the moon is still up...”

“And I'm in no condition to lower it. The time is due, sis.”

“Just a second...”

I trotted to the bathroom, jumping over the debris. To my luck the toilet was in the undamaged part. As I relieved my bladder, my labia ached pleasantly.

I examined the mayhem.

Did someone set off a bomb?

The remains of the tub seemed to be the epicenter, half of it broken, bent, still in its place, water gurgling from broken pipes. The other half appeared to be torn off by explosive force.

...wasn't I taking a bath yesterday? With Nadir?

I flushed the water and followed the trail of damage caused by the half of the tub. Yes, it was it, making a significant dent in the opposite wall of the room, embedded in it, smashed by an incredible force.

I approached the balcony and set my mind on the task of lowering the moon, peering at it through the haze of a solid force field.

Force field?

I spared a glance to Luna, maintaining the field, apparently opposing a violent force assaulting it from outside.

Down, down... I set the moon gently and began raising the sun. It didn't require so much attention, just more raw power... and up it went, almost effortlessly!

I took over the force field, and Luna stumbled down. I levitated her to the bed.

“Tell me what happened, sis.” I asked.

“You tell me. Suddenly all my noise wards, all magical talismans in the area go dark. I try to recharge them and they are drained faster than I can charge them. Then there's this explosion tearing the door off, barely missing me, I run into the mayhem, look for you, and then there's Nadir carrying you from the bathroom, you're wet and unconscious. He told me not to let anypony in, so I first made the barricade, then, as they began taking it apart I set a forcefield and kept it up all night. They summoned some strong mage though and they'd been battering on it. And I was already drained from trying to charge the darned talismans. That's what I know. Now you.”

“I... uh. I think... I came.”

Luna looked at me. Over the room. At the half of the bathtub making the wall concave around it. At Nadir sleeping on the bed strewn with shards of wood and brick. Then she fell on her side and laughed, tears streaming from her eyes.

Nadir stirred, awoken by Luna's laughter. Quick! I found a relatively undamaged blanket and covered the two. But he was better than that... He opened his eyes, looked around, spotted Luna by his side laying still gasping and giving out little chuckles, then he kissed her cheek, saying “Thanks for everything”, then shook the blanket off his back and trotted up to me. Wow, my prank backfired, it was me blushing furiously now.

“Hello, darling! What a lovely day! I see you've redecorated the room!”

I'd reply with something snide but a sudden assault on the forcefield nearly knocked me out.

“We have some guests! Make yourself presentable. Do I look presentable?”

Nadir just shook his mane, and it stood in its usual brushy state. “Like morning dew on a forest lilly. But maybe you'd prefer to get dressed?” he winked while straightening his slightly bent diadem and shaking dust out of his sash recovered from the rubble.

“My collar, my tiara!” I looked in a panic around the rubble. The accursed collar was easily visible on top of some broken chair, but the tiara and the hoof-overs seemed totally lost. Luna groaned and lifted her head from the bed, floating the tiara from under the sheets to me. Nadir managed to find three of my hoof-overs, and I managed to summon the fourth one with magic, despite my head throbbing a bit from the assault. I shook most of gravel out of them and put them on, then limped to the door, removing the tower of furniture. I pulled a big sheet from under Luna (making her yelp in surprise) and used two splinters of wood to affix it over the door frame as a makeshift curtain hiding the inside before removing last of the barricade.

"Wait" Nadir stopped me. "The ring."

Oh, yes. We're engaged. Try as you will, my magic was not capable of finding the tiny ring, I bit my lip, expecting the headache from my battered horn and conjured an illusion to replace the piece of jewelry. Yes, the headache was bad, and maintaining the illusion kept it throbbing slowly...

We moved outside, beyond the sheet and stood in front of the force field, beyond which figures of many gathered ponies loomed. I dispelled the shield.

“Princess Celestia!” There was Twilight, surrounded by a ring of reporters and nobleponies. “Are you alright? There was an explosion...”

“I haven't noticed anything.” I smirked, then looked at the floor strewn with rubble and remains of the door. “Oh, that little thing! Let's say I had a small disagreement with Prince Nadir on strictly personal matters. It has been resolved to satisfaction of both sides and there is absolutely no reason to discuss it any further.” (Nadir played some nice theatrics of shrinking in fear at my mention of the “disagreement” and gave a sigh of relief at me dismissing it.) “Now if you please, all night of negotiating important international issues, we are tired. Would you kindly please leave us in peace?”

The nobleponies murmured, journalists shot a few more photos and turned to leave. I stopped Twilight and asked her to come. She wasn't looking too healthy either, apparently assaults on the force field took a lot of her strength.

“You really put a lot of heart in piercing that barrier.” I touched my horn, the dull ache dissipating way too slowly for my liking. Poor Luna, she kept it up all night!

“I was really scared, Princess!”

“You realize you could have teleported in?”

“Uh...” she rubbed her neck. “I forgot.”

“And do you still remember the searching spells? I know as a librarian you should have them perfected, and I need help in finding something important...” I dissolved the illusion of the ring.

She pushed the makeshift curtain aside and walked in, and a few moments later a whole bunch of ring-shaped objects was floating in front of her totally stunned face. Among the curtain rings, gaskets, and ornate chain links I spotted my engagement ring and levitated it back to my horn, placing it firmly as not to lose it again.

“Princess, what really happened here?” Twilight asked, taking the whole scene in.

“A word of advice. Find yourself your special somepony. This is the effect of two millennia of chastity ending.”

She looked around and I watched her blush getting deeper as her eyes were fishing out new elements of the mayhem. She turned to me and Nadir. I hugged him with my wing. He smiled.

“Princess... is it... really that good?” she asked.

“Well, it took me some time to find the right partner, but yes, it is.”

“I... I'll be going now.” she gave me a quick bow and galloped out.

“She's a sweetie.” murmured Nadir. “Threesome?”

I swatted his head with my wing.

* * *

The chamberlain assessed the damages and commissioned a trusty group of ponies to repair the room. Nadir's modest luggage was relocated to a different room, not quite as representative but much closer to my own. Dozens of servants were busy cleaning up after the Gala all over the castle.

Breakfast. Luna asked just for orange juice, drank her cup rather quickly, then excused herself, claiming a migraine. I could understand that - Twilight packed quite a punch. Our unusual company at the table for today was sir Fancypants in company of his supermodel wife Fleur de Lis, the noblepony who... I didn't quite get to know them. I heard good things about him, but I heard good things about many other nobleponies I'd prefer never to meet. Anyway, he knew Rarity, and that counted for something in my book.

Nadir was sitting on my right hoof side, and we were making a small theater of playing overly well mannered, exchanging the driest platitudes we could think of, making a very stuffy small talk, paying extreme attention to each other's manners and frowning or pouting at a slightest mistake of the partner, like laying a spoon at an angle or taking two sips in a row from a cup.

“How is your most faithful student, Princess?” Fancy pants interrupted our antics, while taking a nip of his pancake.

“My dear Wispy? Same as usual.” I baited him.

“Oh, I didn't mean dear old Glitter Wisp, though I don't doubt her faithfulness in her days. I think I saw Twilight Sparkle this morning, although she seemed to be in a hurry so I didn't get the opportunity to talk to her.”

Oh. A little pang hit my heart at his mention of the full name of my student of seven hundred years ago. You did your homework, sir Fancypants, I give it to you.

“There were some... misunderstandings in the morning.” I nodded to him with respect. “I think Twilight and my sister exchanged some magical blows unwittingly.” I smiled mysteriously, changing the subject. “Miss... or is it missus Fleur, how did your Prench Philology exam go?”

Fleur's ears sprung to attention, and her eyes shone. “Missus. We're married. Honestly, I didn't expect the exam to be so thorough and advanced. It was a pleasant surprise to be able to exercise my fascination to its fullest. I was accepted with score of 82% and I must say, considering the difficulty of the questions, I'm rather satisfied with the result.”

“And what are your plans for after the studies?”

“Probably a doctorate, maybe a job at the university if I prove to be good enough.”

“I haven't pictured you as a scholarly type.”

“And I haven't pictured our noble Princess Luna as one to appear on centerfolds. It was her who inspired me. Not all of us are gifted with unending youth. Beauty is fleeting, knowledge lasts.”

I was honestly impressed.

Nadir asked Fleur about her origins in Prench. She answered fluently, about being born in a laborer family in Phillydelphia with no connections to Prance other than her fascination and frequent visits to Maris. He said it's fascinating. I asked his opinion on many Zebras emigrating to Prance. He corrected my accent. I glared at him. He placed a piece of prench toast and a croissant on his plate and claimed that Zebras have a special liking for prench cuisine which is the probable reason.

I quit the battle while I could cut my losses and asked Fancypants on how he got to meet Twilight.

“Oh, she's a close friend of fair miss Rarity. I happened to meet Twilight and her friends on her birthday party last year. Most fascinating society. With most interesting tastes in music, dance styles and general party matters.”

“So, you know her other friends?”

“Only superficially, except for Rarity that is. She's really a friend of the family. Although I correspond with Rainbow Dash occasionally, concerning bets on Wonderbolts derby events. She sends in her types, I share my winnings.”

Time to draw some big cannons.

“Tell me, sir Fancypants. How are you feeling about contributing to my sister's moral downfall?”

He appeared unfazed.

“My dear Fleur said these old socks were a crime against fashion. Miss Rarity concurred. And my own opinion? If I had the looks and status like Princess Luna, I'd never hesitate to use it to promote science and learning too. Alas, I do not, so my connections, influences and donations must suffice.”

They passed. Hooves down, they passed my exam.

“Sir Fancypants, missus Fleur, would you care for a personal audience?”

“I'd never dare to ask, but if you offer, I will certainly not refuse, Princess.” he bowed his head.

“It would be an honor, Princess” Fleur nodded graciously.

“Can I be invited too?” asked Nadir.

“Yes, you can come if such is your wish, Prince Nadir.” I said coldly. I could see Fleur's little smirk and Fancypants' face all too indifferent. The two read us like an open book. They deserved a place in the conspiracy, or at least a front row in the audience.

* * *

Politics, politics, politics, and more politics with a piece of economy on top. I sat down with Nadir in my office and we got together to an honest work of rulers of neighboring countries negotiating. The fact that each of us would be willing to move mountains to satisfy the other made the negotiations a breeze and a pleasure. We got a week's worth of work done in matter of seven hours, and enough material to provide excuses for “night-long negotiation sessions” for the remainder of Nadir's stay. There were some unresolved issues like multiple disputed pieces of the border (we'd have to consult historical records kept in Entwine, capital city of Hippotigria), or what concessions should Hippotigria give us for reopening some of the currently heavily taxed routes (our counterparts after moving to the sea appeared more profitable than formerly over the land, so there was no point to return them to the land), and reducing the border patrol’s presence (what to do with the redundant guards?). Still, we had to leave some issues to be resolved after the wedding, or our cover would be blown.

We prepared a press release on a selected portion of the contracts and I sent it a minute or two before a guard announced the arrivals. Audience time. The large door to my office opened.

“Princess”, Fancypants bowed from the door.

“Prince”, Fleur knelt a little bowing her head. She wore some fancy, lightweight saddlebags.

“Come, please.” I smiled.

Fancypants threw Fleur a little glare. They approached and knelt in front of my desk again.

Only then I realized: we were sitting on two throne-like chairs meant for me and Luna. Backs of the chairs over a floor tall, framed in fancy gold and silver with background of richly embroidered white and blue drapes, and my desk area elevated above the floor. We really sat in position of a royal pair to receive an audience of two subjects. Sure the thrones were just in the right place in front of my desk to have the paperwork discussed, and just close enough to each other to let us exchange kisses, but they looked impressive and intimidating nevertheless, and certainly gave us the looks to match too.

“Tia, we're scaring them! What do we do?” hissed Nadir.

I stood up and went down from the elevated floor surrounding the thrones and the desk. Nadir followed.

“Please, let us rest in my personal quarters.” I asked them. “Would you like some tea?”

“Actually, I...” Fleur shrunk somewhat under my quite benign look. “I thought you might like to try...” she opened her saddlebags, revealing two large, squat flasks in reed braid. “No, it was a bad idea. Let's forget it, Princess.” she closed the saddlebags with a sigh.

“At least let me know what it was.”

“Sweet Apple Acres cider. Hard cider.” sighed Fancypants.

“THE Sweet Apple Acres cider?” I asked in surprise. It isn’t becoming for a princess to stand for hours in line, and I'd never cut in front of so many ponies, abusing my status, so all I had were the stories.

“No, not the famous soft cider.” Fleur shook her head. “It's a beverage made from the original cider by Fancy.” she sighed. “I say it's very good, but it's not the same thing.”

“Nadir, what do you think?”

“Do we have anything else scheduled for today?”

“A bit of paperwork for the landscaping office. But that can be done tomorrow. And the dinner. We must seem sober for the dinner.”

“We can simply skip the dinner, but I still have to lower the Sun.”

“Could you get Luna to do it?”

“I owe her big for this morning.”

“You can take over for her over the next few days and give her and Light some vacations. We'll take care of Tempus too.”

“And what about you?”

“Give me your collar. At least two hours a day.”

“Deal.”

Fancypants and Fleur exchanged a knowing look, then knocked hooves with each other.

“Who's Light?” asked Fleur.

*BAMF*.

The four of us stood over the sea shore at the end of a winding path to a small fisherpony hut.

I was here maybe for the third time, but Luna has been quite a regular. I must admit the place was quite picturesque. Dried yellow grass, no snow thanks to warm seaside climate, a hill gently sloping away from the rocky beach and a short wooden pier with a small sail-boat anchored to it. Wide uneven grasslands with white rocks sticking out of the soil frequently, with a layer of soil too thin for farming. There was not enough demand for fish to give jobs for more fisherponies, and the hut was built over a narrow underground brook with not enough water for more houses. Plus the lands were haunted, not dangerously but disturbingly, the hut being a small safe haven in the hallowed grounds.

The hut was simple, wooden, old, not big, but well-maintained, and more sturdy than simple shacks. Whitewashed walls, thick straw roof, smoke over the chimney.

We climbed the path. Light must have noticed us because he stood in the open door inviting us inside.

“Northern Light, betrothed to Luna.” I introduced him as we stood in the bigger of two rooms. “Sir Fancypants and Fleur de Lis, nobleponies of Canterlot. And Tempus, Light's and Luna's son.” I pointed at the cradle by the window.

Fancypants approached the human with fascination. “I heard legends about your species, but there are no archaeological evidences of humans ever existing! It’s a pleasure to meet you!”

The two shook... hooves? Hands? hoof-and-hand? Meanwhile, Fleur was more interested in the foal.

“But there are two! They are twins!” She exclaimed, looking at the foals inside the cradle.

“No, he isn't. He just skipped a few hours back. Foal's wild magic.” explained Light, rocking the cradle, where one blue alicorn baby was reaching his hooves to new arrivals while the other slept curled in a ball.

I could see the nobleponies were impressed. “Amazing times may come to Equestria when he grows up”, Fancypants nodded.

“They came already.” I smiled.

“You mean he's already... “

My mysterious smile was all of my answer.

I went back to the castle to leave a note for Luna while Light and Nadir moved the foals to the second room so that our talk wouldn't disturb them, then they helped the two nobleponies to set the table.

* * *

That was the most... wobbly sunset I'd ever seen. Sure I might cast a poison removal spell on myself and then guide the Sun down smoothly, but that would remove the pleasant buzz and waste so much of the precious drink. So, instead I watched my sister struggle with an orb much heavier than her own.

“No!” I swatted Zephyr's hoof when he reached for the bottle again. “Luna is going to join us any moment now, and I'll be damned if she doesn't get her fair share.”

The small table in the hut was somewhat crowded with Light, the two nobleponies, the three Zebras and me. We were past halfway through the second bottle and only Light appeared to be entirely sober... “Different alcohol tolerance, I guess” he’d shrug.

The moonrise was rushed. Then Luna arrived. She looked over the table, checked the back room with the cradle, then returned, glaring at Light. “Where's Tempus?” she asked with ire.

“Relax, Lu. He told me to tell you to relax.” Light produced a note and Luna took it with her magic. He had shown it to us before.

Dad,

Tell mom to relax and have fun. I'll take care of my baby self for the time being. I know it's a stressful time for her and she really deserves a break. Take care of yourselves and enjoy your vacations.

Love,

Tempus.

ps. I'm taking all the diapers and some bits for milk.

“Phew. You got me scared for a moment there.”

“You can't panic every time he goes missing. Today I've got twins for most of the day and even triplets briefly around noon. We may need a bigger cradle for cases like these!”

“I can't understand how can you remain calm about such things! He's your son!”

“Think logically, Luna. He comes from the future to help us. That means he will be strong, smart and kind in the future, to come to help us. Which means nothing bad will happen to him at least until then.”

“You're right.” she nodded slowly. “But I still can't shake the fear off.” she rested her head on Light's chest and he held her tight, stroking her head.

Only then Luna noticed that the company included two additional guests. She jerked her head back to stand more “presentably” and hit Light's chin with a sharp spike of her tiara. Shouts, blood, apologies, healing, cleaning up. At last order was restored, overdue introductions made, and Luna received her well-deserved cup of cider and relaxed on the simple, large bed.

“It's almost shocking to see a princess lay in simple linen sheets, on a crude wooden bed, away from all the silk and marble” said Fleur. “It reminds me of my youth. My good looks bought me a place into elites, but only Fancy cared about more than my flank. Still, I don't think I'd dare to return to live in a place like this.”

Luna’s eyes tightened a little, I could almost feel the same memories in my head. Tiny makeshift shack in an underground tunnel, barely big enough to fit us both, one in a long row of many such shacks. Soot-covered walls with fire from whatever burnable could be scavenged, constantly burning, keeping the night frost at bay. This cabin was luxurious by comparison. The small town called Hope still thrived somewhere in Horsehead mountains, now filled with picturesque houses, and none of its citizens remembered its terrible past. But no need to bring the dark memories to a cheerful table...

“So, how did you get to marry sir Fancypants, Fleur?” I asked.

“The way she earned the school for orphans a new building left me with no choice,” Fancypants replied instead.

“What way?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“The diamond tiara I got on Miss Equestria pageant.” Fleur sighed. “I was supposed to turn it back in afterwards, their way of channeling funds out of the pageant. Instead, I publicly donated it to Fancy, who was running the charity auction the next day.”

“They threatened to ruin her reputation” Fancy continued where Fleur left off. “So I turned it back in. And during the auction I explained to the public why the tiara is no longer available. In detail, including a recording of the threats.

Long story short, the estate of the pageant organizer was donated. It appears he had many overdue debts to ponies present at the auction and they just signed them all off to the foundation. And to assure safety of Fleur's reputation, I married her. Best decision of my life. Best wife in all of Equestria.”

“That's not going to last.” Light shook his head slowly.

“Why?” Fleur asked shocked. Fancypants Frowned.

“When I marry Luna, Fleur will be only the second best wife in Equestria.” he winked then lay on his belly by her on the bed.

A wave of chuckles, “Oh, agreed, I can’t compete with that!” exclaimed Fleur.

“And how comes you two got together?” asked Nadir.

“I made a wish upon the star...” said Light.

“I found him and brought him in. We talked about math. We fell in love. The end.”

“Not much of a story. Sorry to disappoint, Fancy, but I come from a different universe... and I have no clue about the origins of human legends in Equestria.”

“So, what did you wish for, upon that star?” asked Fleur.

“Her.” Light kissed Luna’s cheek. “You know when you wish upon a star, Luna hears?”

I think only I noticed Nadir’s ear tips getting slightly red.

“Really?” Storm raised his eyebrows. “What do the ponies wish?”

Luna smiled. “You would never imagine some of these wishes.”

...We were telling the tales long into the night...

* * *

I took a stroll with Nadir in the cool night air along the seaside.

“Heh, the romantic pair, your sis and that human. Best wife in Equestria, phew!” he scoffed humorously.

“So why didn't you say “third”?

“Why should I? I imagine you're gonna be a horrible wife.”

“No, why?”

“First off, you're so much taller I'll need a stepladder for sex.”

“I can always provide some lift!” I levitated him in air a bit above my back. He waved his hooves in air helplessly.

“Put me down! See? Next there will never be any serious romance, because you'll never miss an opportunity for a prank or a joke.”

I levitated him down, dropping him only the last bit of the way.

“I thought that's why you agreed to marry me.”

“No, I agreed because you agreed to give me backrubs.”

“See? Now you're turning this into a joke.”

“So what? Did I ever complain? I'm just saying you'll be a horrible wife but I'm totally okay with that. More than okay! My brother has a perfect, great wife. Never, ever, not for me! Boooooring!”

“Look, I can be romantic when I want.” I fluttered my eyelashes. “We're having a romantic walk in the night...”

“To move away from anything you could destroy with your voice...”

“Let me try to be romantic for once.”

“Why? We already know it's gonna end in a tsunami wave, and that's hardly romantic.”

“I can try facing towards the land.”

“Poor grasslands. Aim at the sky.”

“I'll try. Besides, maybe now I'll be less... needy.”

“Hey, look. She's weaving an aurora for him again.”

“Hopeless romantics.”

We stopped, looked at each other and kissed.

“It's rather pretty.” He nodded his head towards the beginnings of the aurora. “Can you do something like that?”

“I can do solar flares.”

“I'd need a darkened glass to see them, wouldn't I?”

“Oh, not at all. A well aimed solar flare will boil the oceans and obliterate all life. You're bound to notice something like that.”

“Cool. Remind me never to drive you really mad.”

“Give me enough snow and I can do multiple Suns. Four, eight, sixteen. And what can you do?”

“I can whistle on my hooves.” he put his front hooves in his mouth and whistled really loud, startling some sleeping seagulls.

“No, seriously. I heard you're a mystic. There is this one thing... where a good mystic might help. A thing that bothered me since my youth, but I never put my heart to it. And it's about this place, these lands. Why so few ponies settle here.”

He stopped, stood still as if listening.

“Hallowed grounds,” he whispered.

“What do you sense?”

“I sense... oh I sense restless souls. This land... it's an old battleground. I know quite a bit of history but I don't know about any major battles near the sea shores...”

“The sea was far away back then. It was the time of Discord's reign and the ponies... zebras, gryphons, they were driven by insanity to kill each other.”

“Not just chocolate rain and soapy roads, was he?”

“Blood and tears. Destroying friendships was always his favorite. Driving friends to war against each other, and tormenting them even in death. They remain here bound to this land, to bother any sensitive soul with nightmares. Luna put wards on the house, but the rest of the land... there are few calm places.”

“So what would you have me do?”

“Could you put them to rest?”

“Not nearly enough power.”

“Do you have the skill? Could you put them to rest if you had enough power?”

“I... might.”

“Lay down.”

He did, and I lay in front of him. I put my front hooves to his, and I lowered my horn to his head and kept it touched there, resting in his brushy mane.

“Set them free.”

He gasped as I let my power flow freely, let him take as much as he wanted.

He called out, commanded, ruled. He was a true prince, a leader and a priest. He drew the attention of those I was barely aware of, drew them close, he issued orders and inspired confidence, giving calm, rigorous commands. He shouted out one last command and drew upon my power, dispatching it in multiple small doses, regular short bursts, sparingly but confident all the while. And I could perceive whispers of gratitude, hundreds of ethereal hooves walking in line, set free, ten, twelve, fifteen at a time, then a second of pause and another burst, efficient and sure, and another ten ghosts released, put to rest. It lasted a good while, but then I felt an odd quiet surrounding us.

“The deed is done. Their souls are free and the land is pure again.” he said.

Not even a noticeable part of my power reserve was exhausted. Once, well over a thousand years ago I came here and tried to banish these ghosts. It left me drained, with a week long headache and not even a dent in their scores. Not me, not Luna, not the Elements could help. Not power but competence was needed here. And now...

“Thank you, Nadir. It means a lot to me.”

“I'm glad you told me and loaned me your power. They deserved rest.”

“There are other such places.”

“No need to ask. It's a thing that should be done. I think my land has such places too, and...”

“No need to ask.”

...and I'm glad we can remain serious and still be a matched pair, I thought...

We kissed. A long, calm, smooth, sweet kiss of two serious lovers, hopeless romantics...

Then we walked along the shore in silence.

I thought about things I had wanted to avoid thinking about. Political consequences of our marriage. There will be trouble, but the good will outweigh the bad. And if bad comes to worse, there's always divorce... I groaned inwardly. That's why I hated thinking about that!

“What will your brother think?” I asked.

“Zenith will... take some convincing that nothing bad will happen to our country. I can expect some harsh words. My great-great-grandfather, Prince Veth didn't have a very high opinion of you, and Zenith very much follows in his hoofsteps. He's very... proud. Serious. Distrustful.”

“Veth was... mean is probably the word to describe him. He'd never miss an opportunity to offend me subtly. Say some compliment that would in fact hurt, a boast that would strike home, a praise that would offend. Is Zenith like that too?”

“I don't think so. I've read my ancestors' diaries. Prince Veth was impressed by your ability to remain cool and think analytically under pressure. I think he was doing this to make you lose focus, not from malice but as a part of his tactics. He thought his contracts were brilliant and he got totally mad about you demanding changes to them. And when you voided another long-standing contract, he was supposedly so enraged that he broke some bones of a servant who slighted him. The whole negotiations were a total fiasco. He wrote in his diary that you damaged profits of both nations just to humiliate him.”

“Now what a selective reporting. Equestria turned up with a bit of profit on that. Did you ever look at the contracts he offered? Brilliantly devious. Like, one point demands we provide full disclosure of given trade values, under pains of a high fine, and another, two pages later enforces non-disclosure of certain data, including price changes “or any data that allows other parties to derive these values” under which clause the very same trade values would fall. And similar fine. Damned if we do, damned if we don't. All his contracts were like that...”

“None of them lasted to our days. But I can believe you. Supposedly that was his favorite battle tactics, to force the opponent into a decision where both choices are wrong. I guess refusing to fight would enrage him. Well, I can surely say Zenith would never create a contract like that. He was the one to introduce the concept of crimes against justice. Nowadays contracts can't be used as means of cheating, trying to do so is a major crime against the Justice. If grandpa Veth tried to pass such a contract under Zenith's rule, it would land him a couple years of prison.”

“Nothing is lost, I still have our copies.”

“Let me borrow them and I'll ask his opinion. Zenith is completely adamant about the purpose of law. Law is to serve justice. Perverting the law to serve injustice is one of few things that can make him rage, and he made it a major crime.”

“I guess we could use a law like this. Most of ponies are simply too good-natured to ever do something like this, but some got rather skilled at abusing the law for personal profit.”

“And why don't you do something about it?”

“I've never been good at creating laws. I think I'm too trusting at times, and I tend to forget to think of scenarios where given law can be subverted to cause trouble or circumvented over some technicality. And I try to keep the law simple enough so that any pony could comprehend it without need for lawyers, so I can't afford hundreds of clauses to cover all caveats and exceptions. Luna's no better at that, I mean she can make fault-proof laws but far too complex for any non-scholar to understand them fully, and letting other ponies create law was hit-or-miss, sometimes the laws were good, sometimes... not quite so.”

“So how do we make it not seem like Hippotigria imposes upon laws of Equestria?”

Smart colt. I ruffled his mane with my hoof. “We'll think of something when the right time comes.”

The path sloped down the shore and led along the rocky beach. The aurora above our heads was slowly entering its full bloom. We sat for a while, gazing at it, then continued along the shore then back onto the rocky grasslands. There was a small copse of trees not far away, a lonely isle in the restless sea of grass, with waves occasionally crested with white rock and rare small patches of snow.

“The night is beautiful but I don't think I'll ever get used to the climate.” Nadir shivered a little. “I mean, I can cope with that, but...”

I silenced him by snuggling him under my wing.

“It's still a couple of weeks until Winter Wrap-up. Then it will be much more acceptable. To be honest, I'd much rather visit Entwine at this time of year. It's my sis who's the snow lover.”

“Feel officially invited.” He wrapped himself tighter in my wing.

As we followed the winding path, it led right to the copse, a short way through bushes, brambles and low, twisted trees to a small clearing in the middle... and it seemed to end here, not leading any further.

There was a ring of rocks in the middle, creating a fire pit filled with ash, a crude bench made from some rock and driftwood planks, and an axe next to a bigger trunk, where whoever came here would chop the wood for fire.

“Maybe we could get a fire running?” I suggested.

“Not a bad idea. I wonder who comes here. The ash doesn't seem very old.”

“I'll give you one guess.”

“We found your sister's and her lover's secret place? Do you think they... here...” he asked.

The thought of my sister and her man doing it right where I stood felt oddly kinky.

“I believe so. I hope sis won't mind us staying here for a while.”

A weird location, a small, relatively young mixed forest, here, far from any other forests... the eldest trees aren't even forty years old. Where did this copse come from? Just as if somepony thoughtfully planted all the trees a few decades ago. The old fisherpony? No, not likely... Then a thought struck me. My baby nephew! I'll need to ask him to plant them for us when he grows up! ...unless Luna does that first that is.

I lit the end of my horn to provide some light, then pulled some dry branches from the tangle of trees and weeds using my magic. Nadir used his shattering kicks to break them up, and I piled them in the fire pit and set them on fire using my magic. Warmth radiated from the fire and I spread my wings to soak it in, Nadir standing close to the fire, grilling his flanks with a delighted look on his face. We enjoyed the heat for a few minutes, occasionally adding some more wood.

“We want romantic walks in the night? From now on we do it in the summer.” he winked to me, switching sides and warming his other flank. The front of my wings and chest was warm, beginning to burn, while my back was still cold, so I turned around, exposing my withers to the heat. Tail to the side to let the inner thighs soak more warmth in... but while my coat soaked the heat nicely, soon my bare labia began burning. I clamped my tail down.

“Awww, it was so beautiful in the light of the fire!” complained my zebra lover.

“Sorry but it burns,” I replied, shrugging my wings a little, glad for the shadows to hide my blush.

Then I heard his steps approaching. He nudged my tail with his nose. Then warm breath on my sex, and then a long, sloppy lick all the way along my labia and anus. “There. Shouldn't burn for several seconds. Then I'll repeat the ministrations.”

“Keeping me well basted?”

“Can't say it doesn't taste delicious.”

I allowed more heat to my flanks and squirmed a little when he “basted” me some more, this time his tongue diving between my labia a little.

I felt a little like a thief sneaking into my sister's sanctuary, doing naughty things... and it turned me on a lot. That was completely unlike submitting to a husband in palace bedrooms. I was... no, saying I was okay with that would be wrong. I was not “okay” with invading my sister's private space. But I was feeling pleasantly naughty about that. And Nadir's attention... one kinky lick, then a dozen seconds of waiting in the warmth of the fire, then as warmth would transform almost into burning, another long, slow lick... that really made me moist!

“Stepladder... where do I find a stepladder at this time of night?” I muttered quietly, but not quietly enough for him not to hear.

A gentle touch on my fetlocks, a sudden pressure on my flank, a shift of weight, and I flew, hooves over head, and fell on my back, giving out a girlish yelp. The landing was surprisingly gentle despite rather lethal snake-mantis technique he used on me... my hooves up in the air, my head facing towards the fire, Nadir laying on my chest, holding me down by my wings and leaning to my neck. He kissed gently, and I felt the source of my inner sense of security open up under his mouth.

“Stepladder won't be necessary,” he muttered. “And no need to levitate me.”

“You realize I can plant my hind hooves on your ass, and send you flying right into the fire?”

“Sure but why would you do that?” he said, kissing my chest and moving down. I could feel a bulge against my groin and slipping down.

I was nervous, feeling like a thief, exposed, vulnerable, embarrassed, but I think that anxiety kept the other kind, the really bad one at bay and let me give out just a little shudder when i felt the little pressure on my vulva.

“Relax” he said. “I'm not doing anything until you're completely comfortable with it. Just relax and if you can't, tell me and I'll back off.”

I recalled how I relaxed all my muscles yesterday. I let go, one after another, clenched muscles, latent tensions, suppressed flows.

“Celestia?” His green eyes flickered in the light of bonfire, and the lights and shadows gave his striped face otherworldly look. Savage and wild, but still friendly, faithful, adoring, concerned. “Would you prefer I use my mouth instead?”

I shook my head weakly. “Just... be gentle.”

He pressed and I felt my labia part, letting him in. My inside stretching a bit, yielding under the gentle pressure, relaxing. He stopped maybe an inch inside, seeking my eyes, my reaction. I smiled weakly and he pushed a little deeper.

Suddenly out of nowhere old images flickered in front of my eyes. I clenched my insides, tensed up.

He rapidly pulled out, then lay on my chest, holding me tightly, reassuringly.

“I'm sorry...” I whimpered a little.

“Don't,” he said, smiling reassuringly. “I'm completely okay with you feeling reluctant. It's only natural.”

His face tensed, the smile gone.

“When I daydreamed of being with the number one mare of this world, it was obvious it wouldn't be easy. When I was dying and there was no chance of saving me, you didn't give up, you broke the rules of this world to heal me. Then you gave me the most precious gift you could offer even before I realized its true value. What a fool was I to ever hesitate on your offer, the chance to marry you! And when I finally learned the true beauty of your heart, the fancy and infatuation changed into true love. I love you, Celestia, I love you and it hurts... it hurts so much when you are sorry for who you are. When you apologize for being hurt. You gave me so much and you feel bad for not giving me more? My silly, beautiful, wonderful Celestia, be angry, be scared, be disgusted, but never be sorry!”

I smiled weakly.

“Try again. Don't retreat this time.”

“But...”

“I'll be fine. I promise.” I wrapped him in my wings and gave my best reassuring smile... not very good one considering the circumstances but still...

The gentle pressure was back. My body opened up for him. And there he was... stretching me lightly.

I gazed into these beautiful big eyes, so full of concern, concentration, so protective. And with a hidden hint of anger. He would give his life for me. Oh, if that pig Brandy Hall was here, my Nadir would so kick his ass!

Come, my hero. Claim your princess.

I relaxed, laying my hind legs splayed to the sides. I took a deep breath and smiled.

And there he was, slowly sinking in, his eyes sparkling with joy. And I was giving myself willingly, happy to see him happy and my inside feeling not invaded but fulfilled. Slowly, inch by inch, the long, black stallionhood was sinking in me. Memories of me licking and caressing its length came, to me, and the friction lessened as I felt my insides getting more moist.

I was feeling young, naughty and happy. I sung out my love in Old Ponic, a long forgotten language of my youth. Nadir's eyes widened, and I could see his mind wander, stumble, brighten...

And to my surprise, he replied in a verse about springtime blooming, from a popular song from times of my youth. Just two short sentences but I felt the carefree times of my early youth in the Everfree Gardens, from before the times of politics and strife. Thousands of years later a piece of my youth was happening, a piece of life that was missing from my original youth. To love and to be loved, to have my own special somepony and to discover each other and be together.

There I was waiting for him to sink to the hilt and reach my bottom. I knew it would feel weird, hurt a bit, but with him here, I'd still enjoy it. And there he was, resting his tip oh-so-gently against my depth, it didn't hurt, it felt exhilaratingly itchy, sent a spasm down my vaginal walls, gripping him. He stopped, looking concerned, my face soon filled with bliss. Yes, filled completely, giving him all of myself...

“Tia? Are you ready to go on?”

“Yes, my love.”

“Relax, loosen up, don't tense and it won't sting a bit.”

What? What was there more to sting? It was at the bottom already.

I lay, enjoying him in me, trying to follow his advice, feeling the fullness and the exhilarating itch.

Then I felt him suddenly thrust. It stung, it hurt! And I felt a place in me touched where I never felt touched before. He was sinking in some more, and I was there with my eyes open wide, gasping for air at the sensation of being touched there for the first time in my life, oversensitive walls getting unstuck from each other, parted, stretched and brushed against his tip, making me cry out a little.

...echoes of realization came, long forgotten texts about it being standard with wild equines to penetrate a mare's cervix. Shunned as barbaric and dangerous to health in the modern society of Equestria, not to mention it practically assured stillbirth when done to a pregnant mare, but not a big concern nowadays, as very few contemporary stallions were still sufficiently endowed to be capable of this. And as I recalled the text, zebras commonly practice this even in modern times.

Poor modern girls. They didn't know how much they miss out.

“You okay?” Nadir asked, and didn't move until I caught my breath and gave him a nod.

“You sure?” he asked, concerned by my prolonged pause. “I can back off if you want.”

I felt a blush rise to my cheeks. “You barbarian!” I said with humor. “This is not how one treats fancy Equestria girls. That's completely, unforgivably improper!“

“Me simple black-white zebber! Me not know. Me sorry!” he said with a fake accent and a wide smile.

“Now make me your zebber wife and make love to me like you would to one!”

“Seriously, Tia, I'm sorry! I completely forgot you ponies...”

“Hush” I interrupted him. “Finish what you started. Judging by how it feels, don't let me roll over. This forest wouldn't survive it.”

“Don't hesitate to tell me to slow down if it gets too intense. The girl sets the speed. That's how we do it in the barbaric Hippotigria.”

He pushed deeper and I hissed a bit.

“Too fast?”

I nodded.

He inched his way in, painstakingly slowly, letting my womb adjust to the sensation, taking frequent pauses as his shaft sometimes throbbed making me cry out.

The touch changed, I felt he reached my bottom for real this time, and I felt a ring encircling the base of his shaft to move past my vulva. Last inch of his shaft pushed my bottom womb wall and stretched my whole womb length-wise a little.

I was panting a little. That felt good. I was truly, completely filled. He paused, letting me adapt, then pulled slowly. Again I whispered to slow down when it was getting too much. His flared, wide tip reached the inner side of the opening of my cervix and he stopped. A gentle push again, slightly faster than before, but my inside was gradually getting used to it, as my womb relaxed and the sensation of “touched for the first time ever” was replaced with just “touched in an extremely sensitive place”. And his whole length along my vagina, and the gentle friction against my clitoris, this all was driving me to the edge.

He reached my bottom again, and I was holding back. “I think I'm about to...”

“Don't hold back. Let it flow, let it go, and let it come back. It's for you, accept it.”

“And you?”

“I'll join in at the right moment.”

He pulled and.... oh, yes, I let go, I let the sensation sink in, it elicited a long spasm, and the spasm excited more of the sensation, and I cried out as the orgasm sent my mind swimming, my inside gripping his shaft, each vein, each bump exciting more of that. That warmth and tingling flowing outwards, making my whole body clench...

I relaxed as it passed, and then he pushed. He thrust towards my bottom, sending me into another wave of orgasm, my insides flailing, trying to squish that organ inside when it tore a burning trail through my womb, and the fire spread out and ran up my spine and broke out in a shout.

He kept the fire burning, pulling slowly, grinding that tip against the virgin walls of my womb, and it faded a little when his tip stopped at my cervix.

I gasped for air and got dunked in orgasm again, the push replacing the fire with a deep chill, my insides nearly numb from strain, unable to contain and limit the rapid throbs of my muscles. A pull, and more spasms, aching so wonderfully, making me scream again.

Too much. Too much of a good thing. My heart fluttered wildly from overwhelming pleasure fading at last. And then he pushed again, faster again, in a specific upwards motion. It caught my clitoris by surprise, pulling the soft hood off, and making the nub rub against the surface. The feeling shot out with incredible intensity, a star being born inside my little nub, There was no holding back, I screamed at my earnest when the whole world was reduced to that single point of ecstasy.

This time it took two long, smooth strokes until the feeling began fading and clarity of the world returned.

And then it hit again, not quite as strong but extremely satisfying again, and when he reached the bottom I gave out a yelp at a sudden spike of excitement.

Smooth, relaxing retreat and a thrust again. This time it didn't excite the spark of orgasm again. Not at first. He had to retreat and push once more, and I was back in the throes, my body arching, my insides clutching, and rekindling the fading spark, making me come once again.

Over. It's over now, for sure. I gasped, as he retreated, then pushed again, three, four, five times in fast succession. His shaft tensed, hardened, grew thicker. His tip flared, pushing my tormented walls further apart, stretching my aching womb, the ache bringing the feeling back. And then I felt the throb and the first spurt of semen hit. And I was lost to my orgasm again, feeling his cum soothing the sore walls and invigorating them for more effort at milking the hard organ, changing the smooth slippery friction against my insides to something thicker, more stuffy, A realization that I don't feel his shaft in my womb, that it's completely filled and stretched by his cum. A smooth wave of another spurt hitting my back wall. Each of them was another wave of orgasm, and each made me scream out. And he was not stopping, filling me, spurt after spurt. The trickle of his semen leaking over my anus. The sticky touch of his balls on my buttocks. A sudden realization that he pulled back past my cervix, and pushed it back in, painless but exhilarating. A realization that he worked me so hard there's no way I'm not going to show effects tomorrow. A splash of his cum suddenly reaching my opening, staining my tail... all small, wonderful orgasms, coming one after another, fading slowly to a wonderfully relaxed state.

He lay on my chest, motionless, still filling me, and I could still feel his maleness sending thick, almost chunky cum inside me in small, short spurts.

I wrapped him in my wings, gazing in his emerald eyes.

“Did I tell you I love you? I love you, Nadir. And you're awesome.”

“We... we did it!” his sudden outburst of joy was rather surprising. “We totally did it. I'm still within you. Celestia! You...” his eyes went suddenly serious. “You really love me! I... I couldn't wish for more. You really returned my love!”

“Oh, but you can wish for more.” I smiled to him, biting my lip. “Do you wish a son or a daughter?”

“A... wait, what?”

I couldn't help chuckling at his expression.

“What do you... can we even...?”

“A zony, a pony, a zebra? Alicorn, unicorn, pegasus or Earth pony? I must enchant your semen now, before conception takes place, and our child will be whatever we desire, besides being similar to both parents.”

“This is... I haven't thought about it really...”

“Too fast? I can make it infertile, and then we can try again, when you have your answers ready.”

He nodded. “That would be best for now.”

“But we will have... you will give me a child?”

“Right now I'm still hesitating. I really haven't thought about that. But it's so tempting that... probably next time I'll call myself a fool for hesitating now.”

I nodded, and somewhat regretfully summoned a contraceptive charm.

“I'll let you know through official channels when I make up my mind, all right?” he joked, but I was still a little saddened. But soon the bliss and happiness removed last of my sadness.

He was completely soft inside me. He pulled, and a flood of his cum followed after his cock. Soon he lay by me, as I put more wood into the fire, turning my back to it, wrapping him in my wings.

“Your sister will be mad.” he muttered.

“Why?”

“Look up.”

I did.

The aurora looked like a rag, torn, tattered and full of holes.

* * *

“No, I'm not mad,” she lied through her teeth. “I mean, you can't contain a scream when you come, right?”

“...right” I blushed. I was the elder sister but I didn't feel that way currently.

“So whenever you come, you need to scream it out.”

“yes.”

“And you shouted at the sky to avoid damage to the landscape.”

“yes.”

“Look sis. I don't mind. The aurora is gone with the morning light anyway. But. Light's fingers can do wonders. Real wonders, I mean, I... okay, real wonders, that's it. But if you scream out once. Every time you come.” she hesitated.

“Yes?”

“Get Nadir to teach Light to do that and we have a deal.”

uh.

“It may be hard. It involves... you know... size.”

“I know, I know. Light is a human. He's not a stallion. I don't know. Use some magic, or something. I mean, I'm not complaining. The times he gave me were wonderful. But.” she looked up.

I tried to count the holes. I lost count past twelve.

“I'll talk with Nadir. I'll see what can be done. I can't promise anything.”

“That will be satisfactory.”

Luna. I just couldn't understand her at times. So many thousands years together and she'd still baffle me.

We were back at the palace, she was past lowering the Moon and I was about to raise the Sun.

Don't rush it. Make it seem casual. Up, along its standard route, a little leverage, a little effort...

Slow down. Just like yesterday, slow down and make it gentle...

“Are you fine, sis? Do you need help?”

“I'm fine... I'm more than fine. I don't want to make it seem rushed.”

“Why would it... wait, did my yesterday's moonrise,..”

I'm not good at lying. My face told it all. Luna facehoofed.

“Was it really that visible?”

“No, not really.”

“You can't lie, sis.”

She hid her face in shame.

“Luna, it's not your fault. You really did both my work and yours and a really, really big favor for me and Nadir, all while I was slacking off.”

“This is not an excuse. I rushed it. I made it look sloppy. I know I botched the sunset, I was trying too hard, it was all jerky, all right, I was never good at it. But to rush the moonrise! And now this disaster with the aurora!”

“Luna, look, you can't...” I turned to her.

“CELESTIA!!!”

I turned around and saw the Sun plummeting down towards the horizon. I grabbed it seconds before it would crash down, stabilized it, soothed the flares that erupted from the mistreatment then began lifting it majestically back up. Still, my heart was pounding madly. We just dodged by seconds a disaster that would irrevocably mean the end of the world.

“Sorry, sis.” Luna stood there, beaten. “I... I just... This is too much.”

“Yes, and that's because I've been slacking off.” I affixed the Sun to the beginning of its daily route and turned to Luna. “Luna, what you did for me is amazing, wonderful and truly a heroic effort. I'd never meet Nadir without your aid. I'm so deep in your debt it's not even funny. Let me repay a bit of it by taking over for a while. Take a few days off. Take Light and go somewhere nice. Tempus took himself for a reason. You must really need it.”

“Tia, will you manage without me? The last few days... were rather hectic.”

“Contrary to what you might think, Nadir is a help, not a liability. I can manage without you. No drinking, no sleeping in, no demolishing bedrooms, trust me, I can last a week without doing any of this. And no dropping celestial bodies.”

She ran up to me and neck-hugged me. “To think I'd be doing the responsible elder sister routine” she cried a little. “My big sis is growing up... Thank you, Tia.”

“Any plans?”

“Me, not a clue. But Light claims he's got an idea. But he says he wants it to be a surprise. Bro-neigh-con, does that ring any bells to you?”

“Not a clue.”

She smiled and trotted on her way. I walked to Nadir still asleep on my royal bed. We still had some time before ponies would get inquisitive and I'd have to zip him to his quarters. I nuzzled his cheek and he stirred, waking up.

“My Sunrise” he smiled. “You are a true ethereal miracle in the morning light. Can I sleep a little longer?”

“Yes, in a second. Just a word of advice, and take it in, it's really important. Do not disturb me while I'm raising or lowering the Sun or the Moon. Really.”

“Sure, but why this all out of sudden? Did something happen?”

“No, nothing at all.”

Did I mention I'm hopeless as a liar?

* * *

I'm a hopeless liar when trying to hide things from friends (maybe because I have so few and so rarely need to lie to them), but I'm a master politician and diplomat, and that requires quite a bit of lying of a different caliber.

Gone for a day and the press goes wild with speculations. Clarification is in order. In fact, obfuscation is in order, if I was to be completely honest, but that's not the politically correct way of saying things. So, a press conference right after the breakfast. But before that - a good-bye to the new friends.

I promised to accept “requests for audiences” from Sir Fancypants and Fleur de Lis as often as they like (as long as duties allow... but duties can usually be rescheduled.) They had one more issue though.

“There's a matter, Princess. We'd like to purchase a plot of the new land. No need for starmetal, just maybe some scenic sights.”

“You would?” I asked in genuine surprise.

“They are currently considered to be something like... a token of allegiance. That would put us beyond suspicion.”

“Oh, of course! Too bad Luna is gone, she'd pick something wonderful for you. Right now all I know are simple descriptions... Follow me please.” I led them to my office, then flipped through a ledger with first batch of plot entries. “There, two plots together comprising surface of a plateau. No starmetal, bordering with what was already given away on one side, what is not to be prospected in a few hundred years on the other...”

“A few hundreds?” gasped Fleur. “But they... You surely wouldn't sentence them to that long!”

“Sentence?” I chuckled a little while filing the paperwork in. “But they just work for their own profit! They are free to return any time, with a mere month of severance. Of course they'd have to waive all rights they would obtain by finishing the work, all that effort wasted, but that's their decision. And there will be others willing to take over after them...”

“Oh, devious.” chuckled Fancypants. “Imprisoned by their own greed. My deepest respect, Princess.”

“Just don't forget to pay the property tax when it is due.” I gave them my generous smile #1. “Standard punitive charges for overlooking the deadlines apply with no exceptions!”

“This... All this land you gave away is taxed?” Fleur covered her mouth with her hoof, suppressing a snort of laughter.

“Standard rate based on the estimated land value. Of course your plots, devoid of resources, are worth a pittance.” I said, while filing two forms of land purchase in the ledger and floating the land title documents to the two.

Fancypants knelt on one knee accepting his scroll. “Princess, it's a pleasure and a honor to serve under your generous rule.” he said, mirth filling his eyes. “I'd never dare to skip paying my taxes.”

“Thank you, Princess.” Fleur bowed courtly. “We will surely visit soon again if you allow. I hope the cider was to your liking.”

“It was delicious, and I definitely request you bring some more next time.”

The two smiled and left. I set the ledger and papers back in order, and headed for breakfast. With my fiancée. Things were looking up.

Unstoppable

Unstoppable!

Both Solar and Shadow Guard are exceptionally discreet, but the servants and court officials are the true source of gossip in the country so Nadir and I made sure to make a real show at the table. This time we played offended and cold, muttering half-words, making up comments meant to seem like some offensive innuendos (while actually speaking totally non-sequitur nonsense) and throwing each other loathsome glares. Making it a challenge of wits: to hide laughter yourself and make the other to fail hiding their laughter. I kept a steel face while Nadir was performing the assassin school of combat Silent Cobra technique with his knife and fork on a pile of pancakes. He covered his laughter with a coughing fit when I asked him to confirm or deny his involvement with the alleged circumstances surrounding the recent spike of sales of cyan ballet tutus in the Appleloosa area.

I thought about us needing to do something like this every day, maybe for many years to come.

No, I'd never get bored of this.

The breakfast was over and we headed for the press conference.

First, rumor of most recent attempt of assassination. This surprised me until I heard they meant the “explosion after the Gala”. I repeated my story about “disagreement”. The reporter was insistent, asking why of all objects that suffered damage, it was the tub that got the worst part of it.

“Allow me to handle this one.” Nadir nodded to me. He spoke:

“There are many cultural differences between our countries. Things considered perfectly normal in one are taboo in the other. One of these things is privacy while using the bathroom. In Hippotigria this is a mere distasteful inconvenience without special social impact and does not impose the social habit of interrupting an interesting, important or, for that matter, aggravated discussion. I learned the hard way that this is not the case in Equestria. The unfortunate tub happened to lay between me and Princess when I managed to invade her privacy. The sudden concussion prevented me from ever seeing just what Princess Celestia was doing, but luckily her healing spells are flawless and the issue has been clarified, apologies were made and cultural differences explained before security forces of either country could get involved and complicate the issue. This too is the reason for the force field, we needed to come to a mutual agreement before allowing more complications in the form of curious reporters and the like.”

Juicy enough, the reporters should be satisfied.

“Many ponies reported a... hitch in this morning's sunrise. Would you care to explain?”

Nadir stood up again.

“A truly terrible display of power. I shall never mention the military prowess of Hippotigria in presence of Princess Celestia again.”

The usual. “Who is the father of Princess Luna's child.”

“It's her call to answer this question,” I answered with the usual.

“Where is Princess Luna?”

“Taking a well-deserved leave of absence. It will last about a week.”

“Why the sudden decision to accept Prince Nadir's proposal?”

“I believe it will be beneficial to both our nations.”

“Some claim it's an attempt on sovereignty of Hippotigria.”

Nadir answered this one, assuring separation of power.

My heart sunk a little at his cold mention of separation, as if it were to involve more than just influence over our countries. Then I felt his tail wrapped around my tail, reassuringly.

“What are the alleged mutual benefits?”

I stepped forward again. “You will receive copies of the first in a long line of mutual contracts after the conference. The Prince's personality may be a little... gritty but he's an excellent politician and we spotted countless areas where relations between our countries could be improved and be mutually beneficial.”

“How come you're practically enthusiastic about current agreements while those two hundreds years ago appeared to be a fiasco?”

“Because Prince Nadir is a flexible negotiator, willing to compromise, and exceptionally honorable. He gave enough of proof of that at the Gala. The old contracts were simply not acceptable and Prince Veth appeared to be too inflexible, refusing to negotiate the offending points. We argue about current contracts long into the night until they are acceptable and satisfactory to both sides.”

“I know this is best aimed at Princess Luna, but since she's currently absent, could you maybe give a hint about the... unusual look of the yesterday's night sky?”

“This is directly related to the prior question. We discuss. We argue. The arguments sometimes become quite heated; not very polite. Performed in a style definitely not possible between two opposing politicians but only natural for a betrothed pair. After the accident at the Gala I actively avoid letting my emotions cause bodily harm and property damage. This is the side effect of that avoidance.”

Nadir stepped up. “Expect more of that over the upcoming days. We still have a lot to discuss and some upcoming issues are bound to make both of us rather emotional.”

“Examples?”

“As a prince of Hippotigria I am expected to produce an heir to the throne. As much as I'd like to compromise on this issue, I'm afraid skipping this point is not an option and I will absolutely require Princess Celestia to deliver a healthy foal once we marry.”

That was my cue to play shocked and disgusted. Damn you Nadir, why do you make me play shocked and disgusted when I want to prance with joy?!

I stormed out of the room, into adjacent office, Nadir ran after me. I slammed the door shut and locked it, gave the journalists a nice dose of “Are you insane?!” in the Royal Canterlot Voice, then grabbed him in a tight embrace and kissed him.

* * *

That was definitely enough fodder for the journalists and they rushed out to publish their scoop.

“Expect more of that? Rather emotional? Negotiating the heir?” I laughed, hugging him tightly... In fact a bit too tightly as he used the Sliding Lockpick technique to escape my clutches. But not without sneaking another kiss in first. We headed to the royal archives, where I recovered the promised copies of Prince Veth's proposed treaties, but I packed them in an envelope, and told Nadir to read them later. I really didn't want to spoil his mood.

Then, as we were about to head back to my room, a cloud of dragon fire sprung up. Oh, a friendship study report?

I checked the letter, first having a peek at the signature. Applejack! How unusual! I almost expected her letter to contain her accent, but no, it didn't carry over into writing.

Dear Princess Celestia.

Today I have learned that love and friendship can stand in conflict against each other. Love is a powerful force, stronger than reason and bearing as much potential to cause good as bad. I'm worried that my friendship is crumbling. I haven't realized Rainbow Dash's feelings towards me were reaching beyond friendship. I know I'm breaking Rainbow Dash's heart and I can't do anything about it! I still wish to be her friend, but I just don't love her, I can't even think about her that way! Instead, I can't stop thinking about Captain Storm. I've seen him only for a night, but he keeps returning to me in my dreams. I really don't know what to do, and neither do any of my friends, so I hope maybe you can help?

Your faithful subject

Applejack.

I passed the letter to Nadir and sighed. I'm really not the right pony for such questions.

“The way I see it”, he said after finishing reading, “is we should talk to Storm. If it was Zephyr, sure, Zeph likely had more girls... and boys than about any zebra. I was truly surprised he didn't take Pinkie to the back room. But Storm is the responsible one. He wouldn't fool with a filly who's in a relationship.”

“You mean Zephyr is so good that he could pick pretty much any filly in the world?”

“Now now he's a good zeb. He doesn't break up good relationships. But if he managed to have a one-night-stand with me when I'm definitely not into stallions, he must be good.”

“With you?!”

“Don't ask.” Nadir lowered his head.

“I guess there are things I'd better not know.”

“Thanks.”

“I wonder, if he's so good... does he do threesomes?”

“Threesomes, foursomes, crossdressing, bondage, name your fetish, Zeph has them all. At least all the mostly harmless ones.”

“Rainbow Dash madly wants to join the Wonderbolts. Do you think Zeph could find her a partner?”

“Not while he's jailed, that's for sure.”

“Oh, I think we can negotiate an early release of the prisoners. But you'll have to reintroduce them as completely different zebras.”

“Give them a neat make-up when released, to make them look different from their usual self... Though I wouldn't worry much. Nopony seems to have made a connection between me and the imprisoned assassin despite my cutie mark never changing...”

I snickered. Yeah, there is no point in a prank if the victim is never given a chance to realize they've been pranked. I guess sooner or later somepony would notice...

* * *

Three hours of common country matters, audiences, petitions, decisions. Nadir sat back and observed, sometimes throwing in a snarky comment, and acting deadly bored, but I could see him learning the inner workings of the country. Maybe to adapt better ideas for his own, maybe to point out things I could be doing better, maybe just to be able to replace me in case both me and Luna would be gone... I thought of spending a few days with Luna, completely careless and free of all our duties. Well, most of them anyway. Nadir would not be raising the Sun of course. I wondered if Tempus could... eh, doesn't matter, I'd be so obsessed with what goes on with the country without me that I'd be unable to relax anyway.

An hour of break. We retired to our respective rooms, then I bamf'd to Nadir's as soon as the lock on my door clicked. I wouldn't dare to have sex with him at the moment, but some light cuddling? I wanted to snuggle up to him a little, but he just shook his head, reached to my neck, then... removed my horse collar and put it on his neck.

I must admit, he was extremely handsome in the huge piece of jewelry, with a thoughtful, somewhat pained expression on his face.

“Two hours... What was I thinking about when I declared two hours a day?” he said, lifting a piece of parchment and placing it on a lectern. “I need to write a letter to my brother and now I'm reluctant to pick the quill for added weight to my neck...”

I wanted to comfort him a bit but the removed weight left me light-headed and somewhat lost. The feeling was wonderful, but I felt as if I had lost a sense of purpose, a goal of my life.

“You look so radiant, Celestia” Nadir looked at me with pained, but elated expression. So incredibly handsome.

I closed my eyes and extended my neck, to kiss him. And his lips found mine. The touch was tired, slow, full of effort, but simultaneously hungry, feeding on the kiss, gaining strength from it.

I opened my eyes and broke the kiss.

“Relax. Rest.” he said. “I'll write that letter and... I don't know, maybe I'll join you.”

I obeyed, filled with this new freedom not sure what to do. The thought of taking it back on... if it wasn't Nadir, I'd flee, leave Equestria to its own fate... But I wouldn't sentence Nadir to a lifetime of this burden. I felt somewhat bad about keeping him still wearing it, and there was no way I'd make him spend two whole hours in it... how would I break it to him so that he wouldn’t feel bad about it?

“I know what you're thinking” he said, while pausing to dip the quill in the inkwell. “And there's no way you're talking me out of this.”

He returned to writing for a while, then paused again.

“It will not break my neck nor my soul, but it will be an important lesson in humility. Next time I'll be more cautious about making idle declarations. I'm aware of my age and lack of experience. You treat me as an equal and I thank you for that, but we both know the truth. There is so much I have to learn.”

I took a breath to interrupt, but he continued, answering me before I got to ask my question.

“Yes, I know I'm unusually experienced for my young age, but that is still not even a drop compared to you. And the experience I have: I didn't get it by avoiding problems but by taking them head on. I act bravely, often even recklessly, but I never avoid the consequences of my actions.”

So adult and serious. Was it the burden, or was it his honor and pride? Well, young prince, time to take a real lesson in humility. We don't always have the comfort of being able to take the difficult, honorable solution. Sometimes we are victims of circumstances and forced to take the easy way out.

“Then you'd better find a believable-looking dummy for me. I have an appointment once the hour's break is over, and I'm definitely not explaining why my betrothed is wearing my jewelry.”

Oh, the look of panic, of pain in his eyes. So trapped. So helpless. So restless.

Give up, young prince. You wanted a share of my ageless experience, accept it.

“Can't you...”

I shook my head no.

“Or summon an...”

“Not for long enough, not believably.”

“Celestia, please!”

“It's your honor, right?”

He lowered his head. “I will admit to everything,” he muttered.

“That would be very unwise. It would weaken your position as well as mine and my sister's. And put her lover in danger.”

“But... but that...” he perked his ears, raising his head again. “No, you're right, I can't do this.”

I nodded.

“Then... Then what shall I do? I... I really don't want...”

“You're asking for my advice?”

“Yes.” he hung his head down low.

“You will have to tarnish your honor one day. It's unavoidable. Do it as rarely as possible, but someday you will be forced to break your oath.”

“But today?”

“Think. If you can't think, hope for help from your friends.”

“Storm!” he rushed to the door but I held him in place with my telekinesis.

“No, Nadir. He would be just as clueless and seeing you destroyed would be hurting him too.”

“Who then?”

I smiled.

“You!”

I nodded.

“Tell me.”

“When the hour is over you will remove the accursed collar and return it to me. And you will trust me and hope that I'm doing the right thing.”

“And you'll be doing?”

“The right thing.”

“Celestia, please!”

“You have currently about fifty minutes left to figure it out yourself.”

“But...” then he paused, then nodded. “It's a lesson, right? The real lesson. Not just a test of endurance, but a real lesson in humility.”

I nodded.

He sighed and nodded. “I can trust you. You wouldn't hurt me on purpose.”

“You don't know me as a teacher yet.”

“I know you as my beloved Celestia.”

“And so did Luna, but she ended up for a thousand years on the Moon.”

“That was different...”

“So did Twilight, and I sent her to fight Nightmare Moon, as a lesson in friendship.”

“It was necessary”

“It was deadly dangerous. In fact, so many things could have gone wrong that it was unlikely she'd succeed.”

“This is not necessary.”

“You don't know about my appointee. And the cost, comparing to failure against Nightmare Moon...”

“Only this youngster's pride and honor?”

It pained me to do so, but I nodded. It would be too easy if he just knew the truth.

“Celestia, you're scaring me. I... I don't know if I can trust you.”

I steeled my face emotionless. It hurt. It hurt bad, and I was not so sure if this lesson was worth it anymore. The burden of responsibility lifted off my shoulders, but the burden of years? Of ages of solitude?

Then Nadir smiled and shook his head. “What in Tartarus am I talking about. Of course I can trust you. Maybe it's my youngster's pride and honor that need to be put in check. I love you, Celestia, and you're just protecting me from doing something completely stupid.”

I smiled and made room for him on the bed.

“So, you found some loophole, didn't you?” he asked, while crawling up onto the bed.

“I wouldn't put it that way.”

“Come on!”

“It's very simple actually.”

“Does that involve the time talismans?”

“Nothing that fancy.”

“Tempus?”

“No, not at all.”

“So how am I to bear the collar for two hours if we only have one hour time?”

“Do we?”

“Yes, no more free time until evening.”

“That's true.”

“Wait. You want me to wear it for another hour in the evening. Right?”

“I don't. I'd rather you gave up on that silly idea entirely.”

“But that's what your plan involved, right?”

“Right.”

“But that's...”

“Two hours a day. I'd be angry if you took it in three-minute intervals, but two separate hours is entirely reasonable.”

“It's so simple in the hindsight.”

“Of course. It always is.”

“You're an awesome teacher.”

“And you're a bright student.”

“Not quite like Twilight, though?”

“She'd be still obsessing and drawing a graph of options right now.”

“You mean she wouldn't find out?”

“Oh, she would. But this class of problems takes her longer than others to solve. She'd have the solution in some thirty minutes maybe. With a proof.”

“Obsessive much?”

“And you weren't?”

“Point taken.”

He lay on his side and rubbed the collar with his hoof.

“It doesn't feel so heavy anymore.”

“It's all in your mind. Put it in the right perspective and it becomes quite bearable.”

“But never light.”

“Bearable. There are things that make it much easier.”

“Like?”

I tucked him under my wing.

“Ask a stupid question” he muttered, snuggling up to me.

* * *

“So this is your appointee?” Nadir frowned.

“He, and most of the rest of the Solar Guard. And it would be completely unforgivable if you were not present.” I said, finishing changing from my golden hoof-overs into soft felt leg protectors and screwing on a red ball-shaped protector on my horn tip.

“Princess?” Captain Shining Armor bowed his head.

“Captain, this is Prince Nadir. He will be training with us today. I specifically request, do not withhold secret techniques from him. Neither will he, so try to pick up as much as you can.”

“Yes, Princess.” the big unicorn bowed. I could see his eyes laughing. Sure he thought I brought the young, arrogant prince to have him spanked... well, captain, you're in for a surprise.

“Prince Nadir, would you be so kind as to lead the warm-up?” the captain asked.

“Yes, sir.” Nadir smoothly assumed the position of subordinate to the leader of the exercises, surprising him a little. “I request somepony else to lead the wing-stretching part though. I'm not experienced with these.”

He led us all in a little trot around the gym at first, going through some of the most basic exercises, stretching fetlocks, flexibility, neck. He yielded the leadership to an appointed pegasus for a while, allowing for a wing-stretching part, quickly catching up and returning to more standard training. A segment of canter, a segment of rapid gallop, more canter in a serpentine, some pesades, changing leads, collected canter, collected trot, down to a walk, stop.

More flexibility exercises, including balance. Not all of my guards could flawlessly stand on both front hooves, some were helping themselves with wings, while he was standing on one hoof, gesticulating with the other giving pointers to the guards. Then a considerable length of exercises while standing on hind legs. Pesade, levade, capriole. The last one caught my guards a little... off-guard, especially pegasi had trouble leading it to a landing instead of taking off into the air. A bit more stretching, and we were back to walking. Piaff, passage, extended trot... everything a bit faster than usual, but then...

Without ever losing a beat, Nadir shifted into Western style. Rundown, sliding stop, backup, rundown, sliding stop again, rollback, spin, kicking...

Most of guards were at loss. They tried best to the their ability, but most of them didn't know a single thing about this style. After I nearly fell over after a rapid rollback, I could see the captain saluting to Nadir.

We walked it down, quite sweaty, and when I thought it should be the end, Nadir told us to scatter. “Skirmish, fifteen seconds.”

He was met with blank stares.

“Don't tell me you don't do skirmishes.”

The captain shook his head.

“It's quite simple. The exercise prepares you for the training, raising your pain threshold. You fight, everypony on everypony. You don't care if they are turned back to you, you don't wait for an opening, you concentrate on offense, defense is secondary. One opponent, one attack, no matter if it connected or was blocked or dodged, you move over to a different opponent. No crippling or killing attacks, but hit in earnest. You are expected to earn a couple bruises. With the pain from the first moment you lose a lot of reservations during the actual training. Shall we do it?”

“Sounds simple enough.”

”Since you are new to this, fifteen seconds is far too long. Eight seconds. On my shout ‘Go’, start attacking, and don't stop until you hear me shout ‘Stop.’ Clear?”

“Yes, sir!” sounded the hundred throats.

“Go!”

I wish I could see him, I caught a glimpse of him dancing over the crowd. But then I received a savage blow to my flank, and there was no time, I fought. Buck, kick, hit with the edge of my wing, a slash with the side of my horn across some flank, and for every hit I was dealing out, I was taking another from a different side. The chaos, the inevitability of injury, the pain! The seconds dragged on as I struggled to hit and not to be hit, then I heard the loud and clear “STOP!” and I stayed my hoof an inch from the forehead of one of the guards.

I was panting and shaking. Eight seconds? That lasted only eight seconds? And at first he wanted it to be fifteen?

Nadir ordered a break to heal bleeding noses and bandage stronger injuries. “They are inevitable”, he commented to the captain. “This is standard.”

I made my way towards to the two, rather pained, listening to their conversation.

“It introduces imbalance,” noted Shining Armor.

“You can't expect balance on the battlefield. One day you come out uninjured, another you fight with a concussion.”

“You haven't received too many blows yourself...”

“A matter of experience. Twenty, thirty trainings like this, and we all level out. There are no masters of skirmish, only beginners and intermediates.”

“Well, it's an interesting exercise. Let's see what they teach in Entwine” Shining Armor assumed the pose.

“Captain?” I interrupted. “Prince?”

They turned to me. I assumed the pose.

“Princess Celestia, I wouldn't dare.”

“Oh, you can drop the pose, Nadir. The guards are very discreet.”

“As you wish.” he chuckled, knocking his front hooves together. “But let's start off lightly.”

“Classic Zo-Fu, up to third bar only. Three strikes win.”

“Let's dance.”

They all stood and stared. Classic Zo-Fu lacks violent and unstable moves, falls and rolls adapted from Cowpoeira, and shattering kicks of oriental kick-bucking. It has elegance and smoothness, it's a honorable sport, not a violent technique. And we really enjoyed the speed and tactics, without trying to hurt each other. Nadir definitely wasn't using his top speed.

We'd speak out the strikes in a very moderate tone, and I won by one.

“You've been holding back.” I said.

“So did you.”

“Not as much.”

“Want to tune it up a little bit?”

“Some elements of Tae Kwon Doe and Aiki-doe?”

“Crow Maga?”

“Have mercy.”

“You could use Wing Chun.”

“And slit your throat with my wings? No, thanks. Let's forget the fancy arts, let's have some unrestricted modern Zo-Fu.”

He nodded. We fought in earnest, and this time I was losing, giving ground. We both had some tricks the other still didn't know, but we were learning fast. Three strikes came all too fast... this time Nadir winning by one.

I shook my frazzled mane back. Nadir rubbed his leg, where one of my kicks connected rather hard.

I could see all the guards staring in awe. That certainly was some show.

“So, Nadir, up to some co-op?”

“What do you mean?”

“Captain?” I grinned. “Arrest us.”

* * *

I was sipping my tea, talking with a gryphon emissary. I didn't quite like him talking about the two of us as “us, winged creatures”. Nadir was still back at the gym, exchanging tips with the guards. The treaty the emissary offered seemed to be entirely in order, but there were entries that baffled me, seemingly pointless and useless. Matters of non-involvement in things I had never been involved in, reaffirming borders and the illegality of trespassing, and finally a request to acknowledge the regional government of the Alpac mountains area. Why should I be endorsing the government - more administration than government actually, of a minor province of their country, not even bordering with Equestria?

The economic incentives were generous. I'd almost say they wanted to buy my compliance.

The visit has been rather unexpected too. Almost rushed.

I consulted the map. Oh, yes. The Alpac mountains border on the south with a swath of nopony's land, a large wild forest, about as bad as the Everfree Forest, a place that gave me bad memories from the times of my youth. And then there was the corner of Hippotigria on the other side of the forest.

“Sir Skythorn, be completely honest with me. What do you want to achieve?”

He peered at the map.

“This map is off. The border between our countries runs along this edge of the Dire Woods.” he drew his talon along the line separating the forest from Hippotigria. “We would like you to acknowledge this border.”

“You mean the Dire Woods area is disputed, don't you?”

“The Dire Woods area belongs to the Province of Alpacia.”

“Shall we wait for the opinion of my betrothed in the matter?”

I could see the emissary's eye twitch a little. “That is not necessary, Princess.”

“But there is a significant ethnic minority... or shall I say majority of Zebras inhabiting more hospitable regions of the forest, isn't there?”

“A number of illegal settlers. They have always been a problem we'd turn a blind eye to... mostly”

“Oh, I'm sure you protect ethnic minorities and grant them far-fetched liberties, right? How many zebras are there in the council I am to endorse?”

“Princess, they are not an ethnic minority, they are illegal immigrants.”

“You mean they settled there just recently, while your country perused the land for a long time?”

“Precisely. We can't keep turning a blind eye to them much longer.”

“I think I need to consult historical records in the matter.”

“Princess, I must return to my country urgently. If the treaty isn't signed immediately, I will have to leave without it.”

“So soon? Well, I can pack up necessary records, ask my betrothed to follow, and accompany you in your travel for a time, while making myself accustomed with the records.”

“I'm afraid this will not be possible. I will be traveling on my wings back home as soon as possible.”

“Nonsense. A winter night with strong winds, you won't make a hundred miles until you have to stop to rest. I can provide you with my royal aerial carriage and transport you to the border of the country, with shifts of guards carrying us without interruption all the way, and there's enough room for the three of us to conduct the necessary research while we travel.”

I could see him squirm. I sipped my tea. He put his claw on the paper and almost shouted. “You will sign this now! Or else...”

“Or else what?” I asked him in a very cold tone. “I thought we'd been through this last time, with Feathertail Mountains.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Answer my question first. Finish your sentence. Or else what?”

Nadir choose that moment to enter.

“Prince Nadir, would you knock first, please?” I turned to him, playing ire, happy to see him.

The gryphon was about to take the papers and storm out, but I held my hoof on them.

“I'm sorry, Princess. I overheard you mention my people, I forgot my manners.” Nadir played apologetic.

“You are excused. Now lock the door please, and we will discuss the matter of allegiance of the... Dire Woods, was that it?”

“Oh, that disputed region.” He sighed, while completing my order. “We've been carrying plans to annex it for the last fifty years, but we didn't want to aggravate the situations with the gryphons. We have a few villages in there, a town of six hundred... right here” he pointed to a place where minutes ago the gryphon was pecking at “pesky illegal immigrants”. “The town is based off a settlement roughly three hundred years old, the records about the settlement of “Gloomy Brook” are somewhere in our royal archives. The gryphons don't have any established settlements but they hunt in the area frequently. It's not a problem as long as they hunt wild game and not cattle...” he gave a very serious frown to the emissary “...or foals.”

“First, there's our settlement, Eagle Nest, right here” the gryphon tapped his claw. “And the offender has been punished.”

“Eagle Nest is a military lookout point, permanent crew of three, working in monthly shifts. And the offender got off with a fine. The foal will have a limp for the rest of his life.”

“What is the total Zebra population in the area?” I asked.

“Around three thousand. They live outside the legal borders of Hippotigria so there has been no official census.”

“Sounds like enough to establish a completely separate province.” I smiled to the emissary.

“Nonsense! There are no gryphons there to establish a province!”

“Why, then it should be governed by Zebras. A local government composed proportionally to population ethnic ratio, a province of Dire Woods. And cut the nonsense with illegal immigrants. A four hundred years-old settlement is not ‘illegal immigrants.’”

“Cele... Princess, are you really going to condone Griffinia annexing this land?”

“I am definitely not going to condone a government with such heavily underrepresented minorities, not to mention such a hostile approach to native settlers.”

“We do not need your endorsement for this!” the gryphon gathered the papers from the table, crumpling them in his talons and turning to the exit. “Equestria has no say in our politics.”

“I sense...” I spread my hooves over a brightly green area of Hippotigria on the map “The Sugara Valley is going to have excellent harvests this year. A four thousand wingpower allotment for perfect weather and deferring the monsoon onto deserts. Or mere two thousand wingpower to rush the monsoon through; and you’d save on rain clouds too.”

The gryphon stopped and turned back to the map.

“Yes, the clouds come from over the sea, rush them through here, the settlers in Dire Woods will have a rather rainy season, but the clouds will quickly pass over the mountains, and should fall as snow,” commented Nadir.

“We signed so many contracts I can't remember them all... did you request two or four thousand wingpower service?” I asked.

“I've only agreed to reduce the prices on the rice exports to compensate for the cost of two thousand wingpower, plus interest,” Nadir was hiding his smirk, playing along, both of us making it all up as we were going.

“This... This is Feathertail Mountains all over again!” said the emissary with disbelief.

“Sir Skythorn.” I turned to him, coldly. “I thought you needed to leave urgently. I consider our negotiations concluded. Farming and weather agreements between Canterlot and Entwine are not of your concern.”

“We shall not let the clouds over our land!”

“That is your right.” Nadir nodded. “Of course gryphons chasing the clouds across the border will not be welcome in our air space. But you can keep the clouds over Dire Woods for as long as necessary for them to fall as rain.”

“That would be some thirty thousand wingpower for about four months each year,” I estimated. “And I'm completely sure the so called illegal immigrants would be totally drenched. They may even leave.”

“Our treaty is signed for how long?” Nadir grinned.

“Twenty years with full provisions for extension.”

I could see the gryphon's lower half of beak shiver. They had a limited range of facial expressions but I still could read them well. He estimated the cost, especially that gryphons were poor at weather management. Thirty thousand wingpower would cost more than the whole lousy province can produce.

“Of course I might consider hiring additional two thousand wingpower and defer the clouds over the deserts if I had any reason to do so,” Nadir smirked.

“I shall ask the council and come up with a treaty that makes adjustments to the status of the disputed area.” The gryphon suddenly became very docile.

“Noble sir Skythorn, may your talons always strike true. This is an excellent offer, but would you care to listen to my counter-offer?” Nadir smiled benevolently. “I shall draft the new treaty and you would be so kind as to present it to the council. Unless your urgent business doesn't allow that much time, that is, but I'm afraid I may be rather busy in the future.”

“Sir?” I nodded to the gryphon. “Prince,” I sent Nadir a shining smile. “I shall leave you to your negotiations.”

“Thank you kindly, Princess. It's moments like this when I regret nothing,” Nadir sent me a charming smile.

I unlocked the door and left, giving Nadir a nice view of my rump on my way out.

* * *

I was lounging on my bed, reading Equestria Daily, while Nadir, wearing my horse collar, was going through the final draft of our agreement with Minotaurs. The week was about to end, Luna would be back soon, and Nadir would return home. But for now we enjoyed each other's company while we could.

“Heh. Even Equestria Daily calls us ‘the unstoppable duo’ now.” I called out.

“What do they say?”

I read the article out loud.

The Unstoppable Duo triumphs again!

Everypony's favorite royal pair ruffled the feathers of the Harpy Queen. Despite alleged ongoing disagreements and rumored loud and violent arguments on personal matters, Princess Celestia and Prince Nadir never appear to be in disagreement when working for the good of Equestria and Hippotigria. In an unprecedented spree they keep signing one treaty after another, solving long-standing problems and tearing the old order down. Combining diplomacy, wit, and masterful strategical thinking, the duo has now developed a set of contracts that ended the Harpy menace of Rock Fall Pass, Eastern Hippotigria.

For centuries now the zebra settlements near the mountains were extremely protective of their foals. The harpies considered zebra meat a delicacy, foals being their favorite, and also easy prey. Now, in an unprecedented move, Diamond Dogs of the area agreed to threaten harpy nests, poach their eggs and collapse their caves if the Harpy Queen does not order the harpies to stop attacking zebras. The diamond dogs agreed to this on condition that the Mountain Goats of Razor Tops permit them to mine pyrite and much desired amethyst in their lands. The Goats agreed on condition that Muttons of the Highland Meadows give them access to one of the highest meadows, providing much needed food in the hostile environment. And the Muttons were happy to oblige in exchange for good prices on their wool, shorn by Zebras of the Rock Fall Pass.

You may ask why does Equestria Daily mention this foreign case - how is it of benefit to Equestria? Some of us will just be happy that a long-standing menace of our striped brethren-in-hooves is resolved. The rest should enjoy new imports of wool and amethyst. Fleur de Lis says thick woolen sweaters decorated with sequins and amethysts are to be top fashion next fall!

“I can't say I don't enjoy the new popularity.” He grinned. “But it gives us less private time.”

A swirl of green fire appeared unexpectedly, and a scroll dropped on the bed in front of me. That ugly mouthwriting style, Rainbow Dash! I read it out loud for Nadir to hear.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I learned to distinguish fascination, infatuation, friendship, love and desire. Now I know how hurtful and selfish my jealousy was. Applejack is a wonderful friend, but she can't love me the way I would like, so I'm letting it go. I'm not gonna lie, I still think of her shapes and adore her style, and would much like to be with her, but I understand how she's not going to accept me as anything more than a friend and I won't let my fantasies and desires get in the way of our friendship.

Rainbow Dash.

ps. huge huge ginormous thanks to you and Prince Nadir for sending Zephyr my way! Not only is he a great pal, but thanks to his tips I got Spitfire of the Wonderbolts to agree to train with me!

“Pinkie, Rainbow and Zephyr. That might get to be too much for Ponyville. Let's hope Rainbow Dash calms down a little with Spitfire,” I smiled gently.

“Let's hope this won't work the other way. With Spitfire in the gang, Ponyville will be doomed!”

“And with Rainbow, Pinkie, Zephyr, Spitfire, Storm, Nadir and Celestia?”

He coughed, snorted, then burst out laughing, kicking his legs up in the air.

“Doomed! Doomed forever!” I droned in a mock ominous tone. “Only the Elements of Harmony could save them! Too bad the gang has claimed two of them already! Wait, three! Count Twilight in too!”

“Twilight Sparkle too? She's such an orderly, organized pony!”

“You've met my phoenix, Philomena. Twilight and Philomena were best pals at school. Pranking each other as often as they could... One day I got caught in Twilight's trap for Philomena... it was only fair to return the favor and then team up.”

“You better check Discord statue for cracks” he snorted.

“Come on, we haven't really pranked anypony in, like, five days?”

“But we're doing it all the time!”

“No, not that. It's still months before we start seeing the fruits of that. Sure it's fun, but I was thinking about some old-fashioned ‘boo from behind the corner’ style prank.”

“Well, not months exactly. Yesterday a maid chastised me for making you so angry. She said she counted the holes in the clouds.”

“She did?”

“Thirty three.”

“Oh my!” I raised the hoof to my mouth, blushing a little.

“Oh, Sweet Celestia indeed! Good thing you don't shout out your own name during sex!”

“I might start shouting out yours.”

“That wouldn't be bad, they'd think you're really mad at me.”

“Unless I include other words, like ‘Yes’ or ‘More’. I'd rather not scream out at all, but I can't quite control myself.”

“I'm gonna get you a cute shiny new red ball gag.”

“I wouldn't mind but I'm afraid it wouldn't last. And how would you explain shooting somepony dead with the gag ball?”

“I think it calls for aid from an expert. Could you invite Zephyr back?”

“I have a better idea. We should drop in with a visit.”

“Doooomed.”

* * *

The week was over. Nadir was out in the city, “shopping” as he informed me when he left. Luna and Light returned in excellent moods, and loaded with artwork, posters, figurines, books and various merchandize, including some quite amazing pictures of Equestria, ponies, them, me... Luna gave me a big poster of Twilight Sparkle smiling triumphantly, and I promptly placed it on the side wall of my office. Light left me a plush miniature toy of me to give to Nadir. Then I was tasked with passing gifts to the Bearers, as Light called them, and for the zebras. Twilight would get a poster of herself, looking stern, with a sign stating “READ”, for the library, Zephyr would get some erotic portfolio of pony pin-ups. There was a pair of aviator goggles for Rainbow... Everypony would get a gift. And on top of that, Luna proudly held up a white pad of plastic with some buttons on the bottom and what looked like a sheet of paper embedded in the middle. She pressed some button and the writing on the sheet shifted and changed.

“Two thousands books!” she cheered, flipping through a long list. “And here...” she floated a hoofful of small squares of plastic “About four thousands books each! I can hold a wing of a library in my hoof!”

“Fascinating. What are they about?”

“Mostly academic textbooks and computer science, I've picked every single academic textbook I could lay my hooves on, but I have three cards filled with fiction, and all the classics of human literature.”

“Oh, I thought I'd forget.” Light reached to his stuffed backpack, grinning mischievously. He pulled out a box of pink cardboard with printed decorations and a plastic see-through front and gave it to me. He exchanged a look with Luna and they observed.

There was an ugly plastic pony inside. Long legs. Light pink color, with shiny blue wings, a thick, blunt pink horn, long eyelashes, purple tail and mane, purple hoof-overs and...

My frown deepened. There was a small hole in the plastic window, with an arrow sticker pointing to it, right over the pony's cutie mark “Try me” read the arrow. And the cutie mark was a button surrounded with flaming, golden sun rays.

This can't be. I stared at the horrible pink thing. This must be some kind of mistake!

And then I noticed a writing in the lower right corner of the box overlapping the window over the horrible pink pony. It read “Princess Celestia”.

I clenched my teeth and tentatively depressed the button with my magic. The wings moved and flashed with color, and a sound came. “My barrettes look so pretty,” squeaked the toy!

I threw it on the floor, away from me and took a step back.

“Oh, my hair looks so beautiful!” the toy chirped.

My disgust took form in my throat and I breathed it as a wave of plasma at the toy, melting it and turning it to vapor.

I gasped hard. Only then my ears began registering irregular clicking sound.

I glared at Luna holding her hoof over her mouth. I glared at Light with a camera in his hands, taking one photo after another as fast as he only could.

“GIVE ME THAT” I roared at him.

He tossed the camera to Luna.

Luna took off through the open window with the camera, gaining speed rapidly.

I rushed after her.

A minor rainboom, and she was gone.

Oh, no, my runt of a sister, you think you can flee me across worlds! I sped after the trail, tracking her, rushing along her path.

The path ended rapidly, and I materialized in a big office. Humans in cubicles drawing, drafting, preparing pictures, using computers. There were numerous toys around. Colorful humanoid robots with wheels, windows and other weird vehicle elements. Some board games. A big cardboard cutout of Twilight Sparkle!

I caught a glimpse of Luna's tail in an office at the end of the row of the cubicles and galloped there. There she was, inside a moderate sized room with a side wall entirely composed of windows showing a view of a strange city. Luna was standing next to a man in a suit; he was sitting behind a modern glass-and-metal desk with neat piles of paper and a computer keyboard and screen on it. There was the camera, right in front of him. He stared at Luna in disbelief.

I glared at my sister. She grinned.

I turned to the camera and coughed out another ball of plasma. It turned the camera and middle of the desk into glowing molten glass. The man, scared by the sudden attack jumped on his chair, resting his back against the wall behind him, looking at me in sudden terror.

“Sis, this is the design manager, the man who ordered that toy to look like this and selected the sentences to be uttered,” said Luna with a smirk.

I glared at the man.

“Luna. Moon.” I commanded through my teeth.

“Sis,” she frowned, “the moon here has no air. And they die without air.”

“Doesn't matter!” I muttered, stepping closer to the pathetic creature who fell off the chair and crawled to the corner.

There were noises outside, people running. I slammed the door shut with my magic, and smashed the two halves of the desk against it. Then I approached the human, who, in the meantime, wet himself. He stood cornered between the back wall and the side wall composed fully of enormous windows. He was shaking, panicked in the corner.

I lowered my horn and placed it to his throat.

“Your... disrespect... shall... not... be... tolerated... ” I squeezed the words through my teeth.

“Celestia, show mercy!” pleaded Luna.

“TRAITOR!” I roared, pushing my horn harder against his chin.

There were noises, people were attacking the door.

“Celestia, you don't want to do it!”

The pounding on the door intensified.

“In my whole life. In over four thousands years. No pony, no creature disrespected me so! I was threatened. I was abused. I was condemned! But NO CREATURE would ever mock me so!”

Suddenly an alarm began ringing and I was drenched in cold rain.

No, these were sprinklers in the ceiling.

The door burst open. I could smell burnt plastic - unlike the cleanly evaporated middle of the desk, there was actual fire outside.

People burst in. An elder woman in front, younger men behind. They stopped a few steps before me, kneeling and holding their hands raised to me.

The woman held a figurine.

A figurine of me.

Small.

White.

With pastel mane.

With white wings.

Rather flattering shape.

The others held clipboards, notepads, papers, printouts, water drenching them. All of them contained pictures of me, Luna, other ponies. Projects. Designs. Actually, pretty good designs.

My mane flowed to the floor in long strands in the downpour.

They knelt there, the water drenching them and their projects. I peered through the door. There was a pile of various merchandise burning in the middle of the passage in front of the doors. The fire was slowly losing to the downpour, extinguishing disgusting baby pony dolls, the pink me, a bunch of horrible projects.

I turned back to the manager.

“Today I will forgive you. Do not make me regret my decision.”

“And tell the legal team I do not condone them trademarking me,” scoffed Luna.

With a quick turn I kicked out a whole sheet of safety glass, leaving a wide opening to the outside. The glass didn't shatter, it was displaced from the frame whole and sailed to a grassy square many floors below. I gave the gathered humans a smile, then took off through the window and soared up, gaining speed. Luna followed close by.

I was barely feeling the loom of magic, and my outburst drained a major part of my internal resources. Could I make the jump? Suddenly I felt quite scared, would I get stuck?

Then I felt a rainbow ray of power hitting me from behind, replenishing my energy. I looked back. Luna was quaffing liquid rainbow from a small vial as if it was orange juice, and pumping me full of energy, sizzling with it herself. We sped up, and I followed her, as she took a trail between worlds she apparently knew quite well.

We landed back in my room. Light was waiting, sitting on a bench.

“So, how was the visit?” he grinned, noticing my still damp hair now stiff from frost. I exposed my mane to the sunlight, and it puffed up into its old flowing form.

“They were misguided. They won't repeat their mistakes.” I gave him my best benevolent princess smile.

He nodded.

Luna landed on the balcony and walked in. She floated one of these small square book storage thingies out of her mane, showing it to Light, and he nodded with a grin.

That grin!

“GIVE ME THAT!” I shouted, storming to her.

“What that?” she asked, badly faking innocence, hiding the card in her mane.

“The photos!”

“Oh, no. It's only fair I share them with Nadir to let him know what he gets himself into, after you gave my photos to Light!”

I sighed and gave up. All right. You win this round, sis.

* * *

This time we took the train. The travel was quite short, Ponyville well within sight of Canterlot. We'd occupy rooms in the town hall, his and my court - barely three guards and two servants each. His escort back home would include his two zebra friends too. I also made a point of taking Philomena with me. She quickly made friends with Nadir, the two making faces at each other.

And there we were, greeted by Mayor Mare and most of the town, with the famous six in the front row, flanked by the two zebras.

To my surprise I spotted Zecora in the crowd. She knelt and bowed to Nadir with deepest respect. He approached her while I was greeting Twilight, and I noticed how her ears perked at what they talked about. I remembered a brief visit to the Everfree Forest was scheduled for our visit later, but I guessed he'd visit the herbalist's hut.

We moved on to the Town Hall, for the banquet. The buffet table was set, with help of the Zebra guests, in some exotic dishes. We approached the table. The Zebras were to try the Cakes' delicacy, and we were to try the Zebra cuisine. I approached the long table tentatively, taking a small plate and looking at the first dish, which looked like a few inches long, featureless roll of white stuff.

“This is a serving of the Cake of Ten Thousands Days,” Nadir explained. “We didn't quite have enough time to prepare the real thing so this is only a Cake of a Thousand Days. It's sweet, very nutritious, although it's a food eaten almost only in times of emergency. It doesn't spoil, so about every family keeps one for times of hunger.”

“Sweet?” Pinkie Pie cut in.

“Hello, Pinkie. Why don't you take yourself a slice?”

Pinkie put a knife to the cake, measuring a rather thick slice, then changed her mind and reduced the slice size by half. Then she extended her tongue and swallowed the remainder of the cake, leaving the thin slice for us.

“Pinkie!” Mrs Cake intruded. “You hardly left any for the others! How many times must I repeat...”

Nadir grinned. “Oh, no worries, Mrs. Cake. There is a plenty of the cake left for all of us.” He scratched a side of the slice with the knife, separating a paper-thin circle off its side, then cut the papery circle in four, placed one quarter on his plate, the other on mine, and nodded to mrs. Cake to take a third one.

“As I said, it's very nutritious,” he continued. “A slice like the one I made, ‘a splint’ as we call it, suffices as a full meal. As we intend to try other foods, I sliced it further so that we don't satiate ourselves on the first dish.

I tried the papery piece. It was almost nauseatingly sweet, quickly dissolving on my tongue.

“Now, this is Appleseed Candy...” he stepped to the bowl next to the cake filled with colorful candies. “Do you want one, Pinkie?”

Pinkie looked at the candy uneasily. She reached her hoof, then withdrew it. “I’ll pass. I'm stuffed.”

“Oh, I estimate you ate well over two years worth of meals, so you'll be full for quite a while.”

“Two years?” she gasped. “Two years without eating?”

“Oh, maybe two days at most, knowing you.”

“Appleseed?” interjected Applejack, pushing Pinkie to the side.

“Yes, it's almost completely made from apple seeds. As we use apples for apple pies, apple tarts, apple cider, and whatever food Equestria knows well, we save up the seeds and once a year we make the candies for the orchard growth day. Applejack has been so gracious as to provide all the leftover discarded bad apples from making the cider, and Zephyr was picking out the seeds. All day,” he smiled smugly.

“I didn't know what you needed them for! I didn’t think apple seeds were good for anything!” Applejack's eyes gleamed.

“Well, try them.”

I got one, Nadir another. It tasted completely un-apple-like. It tasted like fresh water, except fresh water has no taste but the candy...definitely had it. It was chewy and dissolved quickly. Soon I swallowed the last bit.

Applejack chewed it thoughtfully. “Wow, it's actually quite good. Can I have the recipe?”

“You should ask Zephyr, he's good with those. Now for something to drink. Firefly extract.” he pointed us to a glass jug filled with a glowing liquid. “Made with real fireflies. It purifies body and soul!”

“Ewww. Worms?” Applejack grimaced. “I think I'll pass.”

“Me too,” I shook my head.

“As. You. Wish. My Princess!” he grinned toothily.

“On second thought, I'll try a little.” I poured a little in a cup and levitated the glowing substance to my mouth. I tried it tentatively. It tasted like lemonade. I closed my eyes, then downed the cup in one gulp. Lemonade. I tried to convince myself it's lemonade. I will not throw up. That would be too un-princess-like!

Applejack moved on to get a cup of honest apple juice. Momentarily we were alone.

Nadir filled his cup and drank it casually, licking the glow off his lips from time to time. “It's made with fireflies, not of fireflies” he whispered. “Like, they are helping.”

“Oh. And what does it really do?”

“Purifies the body of any undesired effects. Now for the appleseed candies...”

“Yes?”

“We use them to quickly expand apple orchards. A fully grown apple tree overnight. Sweet Apple Acres is equipped with an outhouse, not an internal toilet, so it's going to be fun. ”

“The tree grows out of...?”

He nodded.

“And all the others?” I pointed to the bowl with quite a few candies.

“Dooooomed” he droned quietly. “At least the ones who won't dare to try the extract.”

Twilight approached us.

“Hello, Twilight!” Nadir greeted her. “Have you tried the Spark Rolls yet?” he pointed to a plate filled with small rolls of golden crust with a nondescript stuffing. “They taste sparkly,” he picked one up and took a bite. “And they are supposed to enhance magic. Not that us, non-magical zebras would know.”

Twilight tried the roll, munching on it. “It's true, it tastes... sparkly. Would you like to try one, Princess Celestia?”

I smiled to Nadir. He nodded approvingly, then poured some more of the Firefly Extract in my cup. I tried the roll... and felt sparkles on my tongue! The taste of sparkles flowed through my body, throat, spine, and ended up in my horn.

I tried to float the cup to my mouth and suddenly a fountain of sparks from my horn shot the ceiling and sizzled all around. Nonplussed, I sipped from the cup and the feeling passed.

Twilight was coping with it worse. She reached for a napkin with her magic and a constant stream of sparks shot from her horn. She dropped the napkin.

“Oh, it's completely harmless” assured Nadir. Still, every time Twilight tried to use her magic, the sparks would spook her and make her lose concentration. At last she used the napkin the earth pony way, thanked and excused herself, surely to run and look for a counterspell.

Now for Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Rarity. Fluttershy was absent, I left her in the talons of Philomena, the bird would play sick again. Let's see if Fluttershy learned a thing or two and the joke will be on Philomena. Either way was fine with me. Now for Dashie... There was our Dashie drinking some cider and eating a rather big cake.

“Hello, Rainbow Dash” I called out as we approached, and she bowed to us, with mouth full of cake.

“So you're training with a Wonderbolt now?” I smiled.

Rainbow Dash swallowed and nodded, still unable to speak. She took a quick drink, then bowed again, swallowing.

“That's excellent. Spitfire said you're going to be an excellent guard!”

“A guard?” Rainbow Dash eyed two Solar Guards flanking the exit, standing perfectly still.

“Sergeant?” I called one of the guards. “Could you tell this filly what it would take to be a guard?”

The pegasus nodded and approached. “We must be excellent fliers and fighters, on top of being disciplined, punctual and hard-working. The magic bleach will make your fur and mane impeccable, you'll have to put on a few more pounds of real muscle and learn to stand motionless for hours at a time. Nothing, no silly faces or teasing may disrupt your concentration!”

“Dismissed.” I smiled, and the guard returned to his post.

Nadir grinned. “I believe you'll be an excellent guard, flawlessly able to keep an eye on these pesky Zebras!”

“It would be a honor to have you in the elite of my Solar Guard.” I gave her a nice smile.

We observed Rainbow Dash's face.

“You're not going to refuse the Princess, are you?” Nadir teased.

Jaw down low. The horror. That face.

I was unable to hold the smirk back. Nadir snorted a little. Rainbow Dash frowned.

“You realize that the Wonderbolts are an elite unit of the Solar Guard, don't you?” I smirked, unable to contain my giggling.

“And no, they don't need to bleach their coats,” added Nadir.

Oh, the changes Dashie's face were going through. Finally she beamed. “Thank you Princess! thank you thank you thank you!” she pranced in the air.

“Now that's my line. Princess, it's such a honor!” sounded from a side.

“Rarity! It's a pleasure to meet you!” I smiled to the unicorn. “Sir Fancypants mentioned you fondly.”

“He did?!”

“I think he mentioned something about inviting you around the Summer Sun Celebration to Canterlot!”

“Really?!”

“Of course if you want to come, you're welcome to stay at the castle!”

“Oh! Thank you Princess! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

“Oh, it's nothing, really.”

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” she bowed to my feet.

“Stop please, Rarity!”

“Thank you! Thank you! *cough* *hack* *gasp*”

“I told you to stop! My new hoof-over polish! It's highly corrosive!”

“I'm so *cough* sorry, Princess! *splutter* It tastes terrible!”

“Here, let me help!” Nadir arrived to the rescue, holding a tall glass of reddish drink with a few ice cubes on the bottom. “Cold Hot Punch, it's guaranteed to kill the taste!”

“Thank you, Prince!” she lifted the cup and downed it in two gulps. Then she sat down, reddened, tears appeared in her eyes, little steam came out of her ears, then she breathed fire, no worse than a dragon.

“Water!” she gasped, smoke coming out of her mouth.

I pointed to the glowing jug. Rarity quickly filled a glass, and drank. She flushed her mouth a bit before swallowing the last gulp, then sat down relieved, gasping.

“Oh, yes. The firefly extract. I should have served this instead,” Nadir grinned.

“Firefly?” gasped Rarity looking at the gentle green glow. “As in, the little flying insects?”

“Yes, these fireflies.” Nadir nodded. Rarity caught her throat, looking slightly ill, then excused herself and galloped to the exit.

We hurried to a small “staff room” attached to the hall. I closed the door behind us, then we promptly fell to the floor, rolling with laughter.

“Dooomed!” howled Nadir, holding his stomach.

“Guaranteed to kill the taste!” I coughed out, shaken by laughter.

“Magic bleach!” He lay, struggling for breath.

“Unstoppable Duo!” I gasped. “Unstoppable.”

Click.

Click-click-click. From direction of the window.

I moved the curtain.

Photo Finish ducked behind the window sill outside.

“Catch her!” shouted Nadir. I rushed to the window, opened it and peered outside.

Photo Finish was sitting just by the wall. Her camera open, the roll of film missing.

She had a strange hardness to her look. I caught a glimpse of a few squirrels vanishing in some far bushes.

“Photo Finish!” I said, trying to sound scornful.

She stood up and looked at me, hard. “Du vill not prank Fluddershy! Lazt time du did, sie cried!”

“Oh, this time it's harmless!”

“Du. Vill. Not!”

“But you will give the roll of film back?”

“Yes..”

“And the copies?”

“Yes, yes!”

“And keep this secret!”

“Yes! Hurry up!”

I teleported the three of us near Fluttershy's cottage and we approached the door.

“Now, now, be a good bird and eat the soup, please” sounded Fluttershy's voice from inside. Weird knocking sounds. A metallic bang.

“Look, if you can't eat yourself, I'm sure Angel will help you.”

Slurping sounds.

I knocked on the door.

“I'm coming!”

The door opened and Fluttershy's worried face appeared. But as soon as she noticed the three of us, she smiled cheerfully and invited us inside.

“I'm very sorry about Philomena, I took the best care of her I could but I didn't know she doesn't like walnuts!” she said.

“But she loves walnuts? What happened?”

“She does? I don't understand! I gave her some walnuts, hard shell and all, they are good for the beak you know. And she kicked one and dislocated a toe.”

“She did? Poor thing!”

“So I put it in a cast, and asked Angel Bunny to help her when I was gone to make some soup for her.”

“And she didn't like the soup?”

“Oh, no! She loved the soup!” Fluttershy pointed to the bird standing on the floor, with huge plaster cast over her leg, next to an empty metal bowl with remains of some soup. “You did, Philomena, didn't you?”

The bird shook her feathers indignantly.

I looked to Photo Finish. She hung her head low in shame.

Philomena limped to me in the heavy cast. It was too big for her to fly.

“You have certainly learned a thing or two about handling animals since the last time, Fluttershy!”

“Photo Finish gave me a really big confidence boost. It helps a lot!”

“I think I'll take Philomena with me if you don't mind.”

“Oh, not at all. I'm sure the cast can be removed within a couple days!”

“Thank you again! Miss Photo, you owe us something, I think.”

The photographer shook her tail and a roll of film fell out of it.

“Zat is ze real one. Ze squirrels vere a decoy.”

I thanked her as Nadir put the roll behind his silvery sash.

I lifted Philomena to my back, and as soon as we were outside, she began picking on the cast with her beak.

“Now, now, no removing of cast early!”

She paused only to squawk indignantly, then resumed her activity and soon had her perfectly healthy leg free.

* * *

“Please, Zecora, stand up, there is no need.”

“Princess mighty, Majesty, I don't bow for Royalty.

Bows for wisdom here I make, gratitude for my sake.

In the Rock Fall I was born, Mother was by Harpies torn.

By your deeds you soothed my soul, stopping that menacing fowl.

So, for all the nights I wept, I'm forever in your debt.”

“Please, I'm ashamed I didn't do something about this earlier,” Nadir lifted Zecora's head with his hoof, speaking gently to her in Zebraic. “I'm sorry that I was not competent enough. I'm sorry for my father too. That only now I can help.”

“Don't blame yourself, Prince.” Zecora wasn't rhyming when talking in Zebraic either. “I have read about how complex the agreement was. It took more wisdom than any single pony could have. And both had to be wise enough to pair up and work together, even if you don't agree on personal matters.”

We don't? Oh. Oh, yes. All she knows about us is from newspapers and gossip.

Zecora invited us inside. Her little hut was filled with strong scents of herbs. Some were simmering in a small bowl on the side of the fireplace.

“If I'm imposing, just please tell me to stop, Prince, but I thought as a little token of gratitude I'd prepare some Agreement Brew. It would allow you to look upon each other more favorably, more forgiving of each other's shortcomings.”

“Celestia?” Nadir smirked to me. “Shall we?”

“I don't think it will be necessary.”

Zecora was somewhat startled by me knowing Zebraic but she bowed to me.

“We come to you with a different problem...” Nadir said.

“And even if you can't give us a solution, we will still expect discretion...” I continued.

“Forever in your debt, Prince and Princess.” she bowed her head.

“We really don't need the Agreement Brew.” I smiled.

“Just something to limit... the volume.” Nadir continued.

“The Royal Canterlot Voice is a special magic that cannot be silenced by mundane or magical means. No unicorn magic can stop it. We hope...”

“We hope a brew of Zebra origin would help. I know in theory this should be possible but my knowledge of herbs is insufficient... and I don't want to engage royal medics of Entwine in...”

“In what is a deeply personal matter.” I finished.

Zecora frowned.

“You want to argue quietly? No, that would be... Wait!” her eyes shone. She looked from Nadir to me, from me to Nadir. “Ha! Me old blind Zebra! Agreement Brew! Good joke! Good joke indeed!”

The discovery apparently put her in excellent mood as she positively danced over to the shelves filled with various ointments and potions. “I know how to make a poison of silence, a nasty thing, I don't hold it in stock obviously, but this is not what we need anyway. Princess must keep her normal voice obviously. A difficult challenge you set, but not beyond my skill.” She pranced between the shelves, picking out ingredients. “Any hints as to where the magic is located?”

“It's a unique chakra in my throat,” I pointed to it.

“A chakra, you say? I didn't know ponies ever studied them, but you are obviously not a normal pony.”

“Actually, it was Nadir who discovered it. As well as a few others.”

“He did? Oh, certainly he did!” I think I saw the zebra blush a little as she scuttled between the shelves bringing more goods to the central table. She gave me a small vial of clear liquid. “Drink this, it will help me see your chakras with more clarity. Prince, could you please open that chakra as wide as you can? I can leave you alone if you need.”

I swallowed the bitter liquid. Nadir covered my neck with gentle kisses, not paying any attention to the herbalist currently busy mixing some potions. Soon I felt the gentle kiss and the point opening like a bloom, allowing me to command and rule, grant my voice might.

And then there was the herbalist, stretching my skin there gently, pressing, observing. I felt her probing tongue on my skin, but it wasn't a kiss, it was testing.

“I'll try to make it clench closed, we will have to determine the proportions by trial and error. Too little will not work, too much will leave you voiceless.”

She began mixing essences, grinding seeds, then she picked a glob of clear, waxy substance from another jar and mixed the ingredients with it. Then she measured five drops of another potion into the mix, stirred again and approached us with the ready concoction. She smeared a little over my throat and I felt it tense and clench.

“Now try to say something in the royal voice”

I tried. The words sunk in my throat as if I was speechless. I tried to speak “I can't” but I couldn't either.

“Too strong.” the Zebra said, and brought me a cup of glowing liquid. Oh, the firefly extract! I quaffed it and my voice returned. The zebra mixed in another three drops of the liquid into the ointment and applied it to my throat again. “Now try. Can you?”

I tried. Just a bit, a little bit more... “YES” escaped my throat.

“Too weak.” she gave me another cup of the glowing antidote then added some of the herbs to the ointment, then applied it to my throat again.

“I... I can't,” I choked out - normal speaking wasn't entirely easy either, but possible.

Zecora nodded. “That seems to do the trick, but I guess you'd better try this when you don't try to force it but when it's irresistible.

“Do you mean...”

“I can leave you in privacy of my hut. Or there is a clearing with a magnificent old oak nearby.”

“So we should...”

“Ah, youth...” she looked dreamily up at the ceiling. “Yes, you should.”

“Youth?” I frowned.

“Youth is when your spirit's fresh, not the years upon your flesh.” she recited in Poni.

Oh, she had a point, definitely. I was feeling young.

“We won't impose.” Nadir bowed, grinning.

“Or risk damages to your home.” I added with a grin. “Which way to that oak?”

* * *

The gloomy forest was sending shivers down my spine. Terrible magic, deadly destruction, death and corruption twisted the once beautiful gardens, orchards and meadows of Everfree. The memories were painful. Gnarled trees and tangled vines carried the suffering of the ages. As if sensing my feelings, Nadir nudged my wing, and I lifted it, embracing him. Greed for power, influence, wealth... all at cost of life, sanity and sentience. Undead, twisted and insane feral monsters were all that was left of the former masters of Everfree.

The trees were less dense as we climbed a hill. Smaller creatures were scuttling away into the darkness escaping the ring of light surrounding my horn.

“How did it look in the ancient times? Before it became a place of fear?”

“Serene. Peaceful. Orderly. It looked like... like...” I suddenly stood amazed as we passed the last curtain of ivy. “...like this!”

We stood on the edge of a clearing with a mighty, enormous oak growing in the middle. Shining flowers glowed in the moonlight all around, and low shrubs formed hedges bordering orderly paths between flowerbeds filled with flowers and herbs, now dark at night but still filling the air with wonderful aroma. It was still weeks until Winter Wrap-up, but this place enjoyed a mild, almost warm early spring night.

“So this is her secret garden,” Nadir sighed, as we moved on, up towards the oak. “It saddens me when zebras of such talent escape my land because I can't give them safe homes. Every time I see a mighty creation of my people in a foreign land, it's a testament to my incompetence.”

“You're currently doing better than the mightiest of your ancestors. And you will keep doing better. We both will.”

“But will it ever be enough? Will my lifespan be enough to fix errors that stood for centuries?”

“That's why you will need a worthy heir.”

“Oh, Celestia!” He leaned into me, shuddering, and I held him tightly with my wing. Only after a moment I recognized the motion that shook his body... he was laughing!

“What?” I asked.

“Grandpa always taught us that royal duties are not supposed to be fun.”

“That would be inexcusable!”

“I always imagine my stern brother making love to his beautiful wife in an entirely orderly, organized and serious manner. Unpleasant Royal Duty!”

I didn't laugh this time.

“Oh,” He realized. “Oh. I'm sorry.”

I held him with my wing tighter.

“That was just a stupid joke. Zorana is a smart filly and they... they may not love each other, but they are definitely friends. He cares about her. He would not hurt her.”

“I know.” I nuzzled his mane.

“How?”

“You respect him.”

He thought for a while, then nodded.

We arrived at a grassy square under the oak. Only now we could see how huge it was. The moon was shining brightly, waxing crescent on the starry sky. Luna made the night beautiful for us.

There was an ancient, weathered stone bench facing the tree. It stirred memories.

I stood behind the bench and shone light from my horn upon the surface on its back. Moss and scratches obscured a sign scratched in the ancient stone.

C&L

SBFF

The memories flooded in. How I dug the hole with my hoof. How Luna dropped the acorn in, I poured water from the watering can, and she covered it with soil. Then we stomped the soil packing it tightly. Then we lay by the patch of fresh soil and together we infused it with our newly-learned, still weak spells of protection and fertility.

I turned my head to the oak and raised my head high, looking through the enormous branches tangled over our heads.

“It's ancient,” whispered Nadir. “It's... I'm just a dust mote compared to it.”

“No, you're not. Come, walk up to it.”

We approached.

“This crack here, running from its roots up, sealed and healed. That branch on the other side, it would break off, exposing the fragile insides to vermin, but it’s trimmed and fixed. There, a trace of disease healed. Here, a place after mistletoe that drained its life juices for a time, now uprooted. This tree lasted over four thousands years only thanks to ponies occasionally taking care of it. A certain zebra has assured it will grow healthy for another few centuries past her death. She's not a dust mote in the life of this tree, she's its life and sustenance.”

Nadir dug in the grass with his hoof, then picked up something - an acorn - and put it in his sash.

“My palace yard could use a tree like this one,” he smiled.

“Then plant it,” I smiled and bumped his back with my rump playfully.

He nickered softly and hid his head under my wing.

“If Light was correct...” he muttered and suddenly I squealed a bit as his gentle lick landed on the sensitive joint between my wing and my chest. A bit of getting used to and the sensation became very pleasant. I stood, frozen in delight.

“I love how your body responds to it. Stretch that wing and I'll try preening your pinions.”

“That's no use. Only winged ponies have the right glands in their mouths for that. You'll just make a mess of them,” I smiled. “My turn to be the giver. You lay down and try to teach me giving backrubs.”

“All right,” he lay in the young grass. I removed my hoof-overs and rested my hooves on his back.

“Harder. Put some weight to it,” he instructed as I began “trampling” his spine. “You need to be softer with other creatures, but equine spine is so hard you need to put on some real pressure.”

I shifted my weight and let my front push harder. He nickered approvingly, guiding my motions. Neck, shoulders, haunches, back. He went “oh yesyesyesyesyes” as I massaged the part of spine just above his tail. “Praised be Celestia, the blessing of my life!” He shouted out as I pressed harder.

“Let me try like this...” I lit my horn with a telekinetic spell, sending it in ripples and waves over his body, pinching his skin and making it roll in smooth waves.

“Cheater,” he muttered, but his expression definitely stated “don't stop.”

I nudged him to lay on his side. He shrugged the sash off his shoulder, then lay flat, stretched. I ran the telekinetic ripples through his chest and abdomen, making sure to give his maleness a special, gentle attention. Soon it stood in its full glory and he had to stop me.

“Celestia, my blessing and salvation, I know you love giving me pleasure selflessly and you did convince me you still enjoy it even if I'm the only one to come,” he smiled mischievously, “but we're here for a reason, and that reason is to make. You. Scream.”

I recalled how we'd excuse ourselves from a meeting with officials to “discuss the matter in privacy” where I'd give him a quick blowjob in a locked office - just to relieve stress for both of us. And no more problems with him all sticky. After two or three times I learned to actually enjoy swallowing, the taste was still slightly worse than neutral, but the act was a big turn-on for both of us. A quick scent-neutralizing spell and we'd be back to the negotiations, more assertive and bold than before. He promised when my voice problem is taken care of he'd return the favor. For all these times...

It made me moist. I straddled him and lowered my back, guiding his tip in, aiding myself with telekinesis. No reservations, no fears, no hesitation. It wasn't sex that repulsed me, it was my failure of a husband ages ago. I let my labia throb and rub the tip before opening up and letting him in, then I lowered myself, feeling as if I was swallowing him hungrily, fulfilling a burning need.

“I love watching your face as you take me in,” he said. “As if you were opening a Hearths Warming feed bag. That exhilaration, that disbelief...”

“I still can't believe my luck.” I rocked my hips a little. “First Luna returns, then you appear in my life.”

“Sometimes I question the wisdom of ponykind,” he murmured. “Just look at yourself. Such a girl. Smart. Pretty. Available. And nopony asked her to be his special somepony!”

“You did!”

“Only after you've beaten sense into my head and nearly got killed in the process!”

“Damaged goods,” I shrugged.

He frowned, held me and rolled on top of me, with me impaled on him.

“Damaged goods my stripped ass,” he pushed deeper. “Ready?”

“Yes.” I clenched my teeth. He thrust and I yelped through the short spike of pain.

“I keep telling you, relax and it won't hurt. And you keep tensing up,” he nuzzled my neck, brushing my mane with his fetlocks, holding me tenderly as I was getting used to the sensation.

“I don't mind it the least bit.”

“Don't play tough on me. It's not healthy. You're going to get yourself hurt.”

“The pain is actually quite welcome. I want to feel most of it while I still can.”

He frowned, with a question in his eyes.

“We'll have to switch to the boring, modern way once I'm pregnant.”

“Oh, that! By then I hope you'll be comfortable with me enough...” he smiled, while rubbing his tip along my womb, making me gasp hard. “...that you will let me put it all the way in...” Oh the feeling! I'm about... about to... “...to the hilt in your pooper.”

Imagining this suddenly made me clench my sphincter, tense my muscles all the way in, and then he pulled! The orgasm exploded suddenly, and I cried out, struck like with a hammer. Quick, rapid thrusts, sending me into throes of ecstasy, he wasn't going slowly, keeping me on the top for long as usual, he was forcing me to scream at the top of my lungs with mind-numbing ecstasy. The pain of his rapid thrusts was only adding to the feeling, and when he came, I was crying, blinded by power of the feeling.

And then his mouth silenced me and I felt the kiss, and suddenly the mad pleasure of the body turned into wonderfully soothing happiness of the soul.

We remained in the kiss while I was feeling his throbs and spurts inside me fading slowly.

We broke the kiss, but I was still enjoying him filling me. Zebras were known to last longer than ponies, and produce more semen too, and he definitely could give my afterglow some extra filling.

“Did it work?” I asked.

“I still have my head on my neck, don't I?” he smiled.

“I recall I was screaming...”

“Yes, you scared a bunch of birds. It was pretty loud, but nothing a noise ward won't stop. And no damage to the landscape.”

“Oh, that's good.”

He raised his hoof towards the woods, waved to an unknown party. “It works! Thanks!” he shouted.

“What?” I asked. “Who are you waving at?”

“Zecora, who else?”

“She was here?!”

“From the beginning. And she definitely enjoyed the show, if you know what I mean. She must be getting lonely here. I should send Zephyr her way.”

“Are all Zebras perverts?!”

“Storm isn't. But he's special.”

Then I did a double take.

“Wait. In my pooper?”

* * *

“But you said you're not into colts.”

“Yes, but I never said I don't like my prostate stimulated.”

We were laying on some pillows in our room at the town hall, and I was staring at the contents of the long box in front of me, blushing.

“This looks like you like to have your spleen stimulated too.”

“Turnabout is only fair play. I'm not sticking into you anything bigger than I'm willing to take myself.”

I levitated the huge strap-on dildo out of the box and lay it along his flank, with the set of straps behind his back. The tip was reaching well past the lowest of his ribs.

“I can't imagine how you even plan to fit that thing. It seems like it reaches past the diaphragm.”

“Look, Zephyr is about the same size as me. And...”

“Stop, stop, stop. I don't want to hear about it. I can't even believe we're discussing this! I'm a princess for goodness sake! There are things a princess should not do, no matter what!”

“It's really nothing bad. Look!” He gave the enormous dildo a long lick, then suckled at the tip.

“Nadir, it's one thing when a mare does it...”

“You're not going to do it in the name of love?” he gave me his best puppy eyes.

“Don't you dare go mixing this with matters of love!”

“Celestia, I need to be all the way in to come. And it's going to be almost a year. Normally I'd find a lusty maid, but I'm going to remain faithful to you.”

I looked into his deep, beautiful eyes, into that solemn, begging face.

“There is no way I'm sticking this into you. Get something that's reasonably sized and I'll try it,” I sighed, feeling the blush slowly reaching my ears. “But I swear if anypony catches me wearing it, you're dead.”

“So you'd really would wear a strap-on and pound me in my ass?”

“I'm not comfortable with it but I would,” I thought I'd burn up.

“GOTCHA!” he jumped, tackled me to the floor and laughed at my confusion. “Remember the first night? When I wanted to kill myself from embarrassment?” He grinned toothily. “Turnabout is fair play!”

“Wait, you don't...”

“Celestia,” He smiled gently. “I'd never make you do anything you're not comfortable with. But pranks are exempt from this rule. That disbelief on your face... Poor Zephyr, unable to see his mastermind plan coming to fruition!”

I rolled onto him, keeping him squashed under my belly. At first I wanted to be angry, but I could not. I rolled off him and lay, laughing. We laughed for a good while until I caught my breath.

“Nadir, you rude ruffian! I'm going to take it on and pound you in the ass till I pound such ideas out of your head!”

“Watch it, cotton candy head! I might like it!”

* * *

...And again, a torment. I wanted to pounce him and hug and hold close, but I had to play cold and relieved.

“Farewell, Prince Nadir.” I said faking cold of my voice.

“Farewell, Princess Celestia” he gave me a toothy grin. Others would see it as a cynical smirk, me... He was cheering me up. “Allow me to extend an official invitation to Entwine.”

“Thank you. I will use it. Expect an official letter soon.”

Yeah, not a farewell. Just a “See you later.”

Zephyr and Storm bowed to me. Zephyr's brush of a mane was not striped but a bright, smooth rainbow. I didn't ask, but it was supposedly Rainbow Dash's work. Storm wore a hat, similar to that of Applejack. I wondered what prank found him, supposedly no pony went without getting pranked, and the town was momentarily encompassed by a wave of panic as Pinkie made walnut-sized balls of cotton candy and Twilight enchanted them to float in the air - the memory of recent invasion of parasprites still fresh, and the sight of foals swallowing the flying motes quite a shock to elder ponies.

But now the visit was over, and the zebras turned away and walked the narrow, twisty, little used road across the border of Hippotigria to a carriage already waiting for them, Soon the carriage vanished in the distance.

I thought about our last conversation in privacy of the royal carriage. It took Nadir a long while to gather the courage to ask.

“Celestia, I... For a time, I thought we could just exist for each other. Keep the politics at bay. Be lovers and friends, and company to each other. But after meeting Zecora one of reasons why I wished to marry you hit me harder than ever before: What I saw in Equestria; a land of peace, friendship, trust, honesty. It’s a place where ponies want to live, not one they want to escape. Back when you joked about emigration to Prance, I covered it with arrogance, but it really hurt. It’s not for love of prench cuisine why Zebras leave their homes.

Teach me to be a wise ruler. Teach me to make my country flourish as Equestria does.

I know what you want to say, that Equestria is not just sunshine and rainbows. Trust me, Equestria is a paradise compared to Hippotigria. We’re doing whatever we can, me and Zenith, but there are ones who try to destroy whatever we create just to spite us. There are ones who prefer injustice and poverty because it makes them more influential. Ones who hate change so much that they shun any improvements. Enemies who see us as prey. And we’re not smart, competent, strong enough, to oppose them. Help me, Celestia. Help my people.”

These weren’t cute puppy eyes. I saw real pain. When I begged never to be alone again, he never hesitated. So now I could only repay in kind.

“I don’t know if I can help, but I’ll do what I can. I can’t even promise what you promised me, that I won’t make things worse, but I’ll try my best.”

He hugged me, and I felt him cry into my bosom. “Thank you, Celestia.”

So, if I’m to help Nadir, I will have to learn more about Zebras. Next stop: Entwine.

But for now, back to the empty castle...

Well, empty'ish...

Entwine

Entwine

“Princess,” the unicorn in rich suit bowed low to me. “I wanted to ask you to sign the final permit for railroad line to Canterberry. The last pending issues should be resolved within a week or two, but we should not tarry with preparations, this way we will be able to start construction with the end of Winter Wrap-up.”

“But why are you coming to me with this, sir Puff? My sister is currently taking care of rule of Equestria, I'm just for urgent consulting needs.”

If I'm to leave for Hippotigria, Luna will remain on the throne. She recharged one of the rapid time flow talismans again, and placed it in a way that lets her catch up on her sleep at dusk and dawn, while remaining fully active all day and all night. And currently, she's trying her hoof at ruling, still under my supervision, before she catches up with all the changes and is able to continue alone.

“Your sister... Princess Luna... I'm sorry to say... but she's obstructing the process. She refused to sign until all of the analysis papers are in order. As you remember, we have talked about it last month, and you promised this case would be solved at utmost urgency, allowing all non-essential preconditions to be fulfilled later. But unfortunately no such arrangement has been made with your sister and her appearance on the throne has... disrupted the process unexpectedly.”

“Have you mentioned the agreement to my sister?”

“Yes, I did, but she still didn't agree.”

“Unconditionally?”

“Well... not quite. She agreed to the Southern Bridge variant... but it's considerably more expensive and would take longer, because it would involve an additional bridge! Plus the road would be longer by about a mile.”

“Which documents are missing?”

“Some material allotments, several last employee contracts, the train engine purchase, details on finish of the terminal, some groundwater flow analyses in uninhabited areas, ticket sale concession... mostly things that won't be necessary until late summer.”

“That groundwater thing sounds important...”

“It will absolutely not affect ponies. The construction may disrupt some underwater flows but they do not supply water to any of settlements or farmlands.”

“Let us consult my sister.”

It took us three minutes to reach the throne room, while the businesspony followed, looking beaten. I would have signed the papers, but either my sister was obstructing him wrongly, in which case she should be notified, or she had a good reason. And judging by his looks, she had. So far she’s been very competent and while doing things differently than I did would arise many objections, most of them were baseless. But she wasn’t infallible. She was shocked and appalled by the idea that the former buffaloes’ stampeding grounds were now orchards and that we would designate more, she suggested we make minor time modifying talismans open to the public, which I almost had to beat out of her head, and we got in a shouting match, when she blocked expansion of a major, essential Fillydelphia factory at cost of a small chunk of a neighboring old forest. She yielded in all these cases, but I think the last one got her on verge of breakdown. I’m sorry, sis, but the country needs to move ahead and land becomes scarce.

So I waited by the throne as Luna was finishing calculations for the increase of Fillydelphia Philharmony budget, and signed off the number... she was definitely better with these - I'd just give as much as given manager requested and would come up with saving by delaying some major investment, while Luna could come up with the exact necessary number. Say what you want, progress was slow in the country over the past 1000 years.

Luna smiled and turned to us. “Oh, I see sir Puff has tried the back door” she smiled. “Allow me to repeat: These groundwater veins must not be breached until it is assured they don't affect Tickwood.”

“Any specific reasons?” I asked, squirming at the very name of the place. Ick, I hate ticks!

“Let me show you the map.” she stood up from the throne and approached a huge map of Equestria covering the back wall. “This point” she projected a ray of light from her horn at the map, “is where the veins would be cut. They supply water to a small, unmarked brook here. It provides water to the trees of Tickwood. I'm not sure whether the amount from other underground sources is able to sustain the largest, oldest trees. It may be that they will die off.”

“It's not like we really need them” I frowned. “The forest is avoided and disliked. There were times when I pondered getting it cut it down.”

“And good that you did not!” Luna exclaimed excitedly. “Because the slopes are susceptible to landslide and the trees hold them anchored. And here, below, the brook joins the stream of Millwater. It supplies water to the dam of Miller End, a village living off several watermills. The landslide would block the stream, and later, when the natural dam fills up, it would be washed off and flood the village. The variant I'm requesting provides a dam over Millwater, combining the bridge with a choke point where Millwater can be blocked off in case the landslide happens anyway, and protect the village from flood. Of course the East Rail Company has no interest in helping ponies of Miller End. And sir Puff is hoping the underground water will not affect the forest. I'm not sharing his optimism, but I'm still willing to wait for the groundwater flow analysis.”

And that’s what I hoped to hear.

“I have an impression that sir Puff was very much hoping for the permit before the analysis is complete. Because I think I know what it would say. And I think there is no point wasting time, money and effort on such an analysis. After all, he deemed it non-essential.”

We exchanged smiles.

“Sir Puff”, Luna said almost cheerfully, “There is no reason to delay the permit any further. Hereby...” she took the binder he was carrying by his side, and gave the document within a smooth signature after underlining or crossing over some entries. “You receive permit to build the line according to the Southern Bridge variant. This decision is final.”

* * *

“I've not been assertive enough with the railway case. I'm hopeless. Too long out of the mill. Sis, I'm really not cut for that.”

“Luna, let me tell you how I'd handle that. Imagine I'm on the throne. Sir Puff comes and presents the case. I frown a little at the water flow analysis. He assures me it may at worst adversely affect Tickwood. I smile and sign. And in two or three years I lament lost lives at Miller End, and never make the connection between the landslide and my today's decision. So, Luna - your vigilance beats my assertiveness. And the ultimate truth is that we were meant to rule together, sister.”

“You'll have Nadir for that soon.”

“He'd have no clue about landslides and groundwater flow. They have less than a hundred miles of railway total, he's not really experienced in that. Tell me, Luna, how did you even know about the Tickwood and the landslide risk?”

“Some nights I take the vapor form and travel through Equestria. I listen in to dreams and fears, send good dreams and help when I can. The old miller of Miller End feared a flood would destroy their village, lamented you constantly delaying construction of the dam.”

“Sis, if you ever say you're not qualified to rule, I'll knock you so hard you're gonna see all the stars. If anything, you're far better at it than me.”

“Celestia, you must be joking. Things you've done over past week...”

“Me and Nadir. I admit, the two of us together may be better than you alone. But look at the country over the last thousand years. It's been stagnating. Zebras arose from wild tribes into a stable land. Gryphons have monarchy and diplomacy instead of wild hunters. Minotaurs formed a rule of democracy, not that I expect it to last, but it's an advancement over tyranny they had.”

“Democracy?” Luna screwed her face. “the fools. Rule of the best liars.”

“It's still young and uncorrupted. You know it can push a country by strides before it falls victim to oligarchs.”

“But when it does... We know how Res Publica Ponica ended.”

I sighed. I did. The Trinicity, Res Publica Ponica, The Everfree City, The Equestrian Commonwealth... The ancient names flashed through my mind. Not Discord, not changelings, not dragons. Ponies destroyed their own world, me myself being a significant factor, and it took us half a millennium to rise it from frozen wastelands to foundations of a thriving country. And then as the new city, new capital, Penumbra was rising, cared for by my sister, I dug for more resources for it and I released the ancient evils that consumed most of it and forced the rest of the population to leave their livehood and escape. Then I founded Canterlot, and I failed my sister, abandoned her, too busy with MY city. And she broke, in solitude and grief.

“Are you blaming yourself for Everfree again?”

“No, not this time. I’m blaming myself for abandoning you when you needed me the most. You forgave me, Luna, but I don't think I'll forgive myself, ever.”

“Celestia, what you said... I... I'm not good with words. The stars, seeing all of them...”

...what?

“If you keep blaming yourself for that... Your cutie mark, it will... fall off...”

I frowned.

“I mean...” she groaned, sighed and screwed her face. “I'll kick your flank so hard it will fall off!! Your cutie mark, that is!” Then she covered her face. “I'm hopeless!”

Oh! I neck-hugged my sister, laughing. “It wasn't so bad! I mean, it was, but it's a start!”

* * *

I'd prefer traveling light. A wing of Solar Guards, two pegasi servants, a skywagon with bare necessities. But that would be fine if I was visiting my love to be together. Not if I was visiting the head of a neighbor country on official invitation. Nadir's court was positively tiny by comparison. But then he had a different image to uphold.

So there I was in the ornate, luxurious royal coach, accompanied by a squad of guards, fifteen servants, twenty draft ponies pulling six wagons of luggage, another coach with my court, two guides, five advisors, one scribe and (on her insistence) my most faithful student.

“I will have to rewrite this horrible thing when we are back” Clarity sighed, applying a piece of cloth to another blob on the parchment where she was writing down her observations. “I never suspected shaking of the coach will make writing so hard.”

So, Luna claimed that Crystal Clarity wished upon the stars to see the Zebra Lands, and that dreams didn't quite cut it... and the Earth pony had a talent to describe what she sees with vivid clarity, so... an account of our travel would be valuable. Trade caravans to Hippotigria were relatively rare due to high customs taxes (this would change soon) and the last “guide” style book about that country was over 140 years old and getting hopelessly outdated.

“Let me try to help” Twilight replied, and proceeded to lift Clarity into the air.

“Oh, that's much better!” Clarity exclaimed, quickly covering a paragraph with her writing, while floating in the middle of the coach. Then the coach jumped on a rock, Twilight lost her concentration, and I managed to catch the scribe before she'd fall to the floor.

“Oh... Thank you, Princess!”

“Sorry!” Twilight grinned sheepishly, took over and lowered the pony to the seat.

“And another blob.” the earth pony applied the cloth again. “At least that sponge inkwell works flawlessly.” she replaced the quill in the wide wristband containing a clipboard with multiple sheets of parchment, a clip to attach the quill, a box for spare quills, a small blade for quill sharpening and the inkwell with an ink-soaked sponge inside.

“Would you like to train that with me, Twilight?” I suggested.

“I'm so ashamed! I... that was so unex... there is no excuse. I'm a failure.”

“Oh, Twilight, don't be silly! Everypony can lose concentration when distracted!”

“But I've been training this! For weeks! I had Spike hit my horn till my head was hurting!”

“Every. Pony.”

“But I can't be just like every pony! I must be as unwavering as you!”

“Twilight Sparkle!”I turned my head playfully, “Are you implying I'm not a pony?”

“No! That's not what I meant! I meant that you'd never...”

“Twilight... When I say every pony, I mean every pony.” I peered through the window towards the Sun heading down to the western horizon. An hour before sundown. We should stop for the night soon, but that was chamberlain's headache, I was sure either we had a place at some town or we'd stop to set the camp up.

“Did you ever...” Twilight began, suddenly shocked by realization of the possibility “...lose concentration while lowering the Sun?”

“No.”

Twilight sighed in relief.

“While raising it, yes.”

“What?!”

I just nodded.

Twilight sat in stunned silence.

“So, Twilight, what about we train it together?”

Twilight nodded eagerly.

“You won't mind, Clarity, if we levitate you?”

“Oh, no Princess!”

“Then stay vigilant! If we both lose concentration at the same time you're on your own!”

“So, do we count on another unexpected bump?” Twilight asked, while levitating the scribe cautiously.

“No, besides we are expecting that. We need a stronger distraction.”

“Like?”

“It's very hard to keep concentration while laughing. Do you want me to start with the first one?”

“umm... what first one?”

“So, a pegasus, a zebra and a buffalo walk into a bar...”

* * *

The city was much bigger than Canterlot - but then Canterlot was almost tiny when compared to Manehattan or Fillydelphia. Still, Entwine could probably rival these in size, and certainly beat them in terms of beauty.

The Topside was the poor, barren district of huts of stone and mud, where heat was insufferable and water scarce; a large tongue of sandy desert reaching between barren reddish rocky mountains, with an enormous crevice - a river canyon - running through its length from a narrow valley far in the mountains and extending beyond the horizon into the desert. Countless lesser crevices were branching away from the canyon, splitting Topside into dozens smaller districts connected by a number of bridges.

But just after we touched borders of Topside, it vanished from sight. Entwine certainly grew in the several centuries since I saw it last, but it lost nothing of its special character. We followed a wide road carved into wall of rock, descending steeply through one of the cracks into the network of canyons of the city proper. All houses were carved at various levels into walls of half-mile deep natural canyons, connected by catwalks, stairs, lifts, tunnels, and shaded from the heat through endless web of vines filling the canyons and giving the city its name. From smallest ivy, like the ones ponies grow in pots to stalks spanning the canyon with two-lane roads along their tops, with the tops of the canyons covered with thick canopy, the city was basking in gentle green glow of sunlight filtered through leaves.

Following Storm's guidance we descended to the bottom, reached the main canyon and rode up along the river, through alleys between parks, gardens of the most luxurious and rich houses, stores, hotels and institutions like museums, theaters, or elite schools along the shores of the river. And of course the monuments. The districts with houses carved all the way up into the walls of the main canyon and multiple smaller ravines, crevices, gorges branching off everywhere were framed by enormous sculptures reaching from the bottom all the way up, majestic, placed every half a mile or so apart or guarding the openings of another leg of the canyon, probably hundreds of them in total. Most of them depicted zebras, although we saw one pony, one gryphon, and two minotaurs. All in the weird, vertical pose, standing on hind legs, front legs along the sides or raised, watching the valley from above, each maybe a quarter of mile tall.

“When I was here last, the bottom was the poorest, with unbearable smell. I was brought to the palace through the topside, and all the sightseeing was over the stalks” I noted to Zephyr. “And the makeshift shacks on the bottom would be washed off with every spring flood.

“Oh, since we got the dam up the river and a sewage system, the bottom became very valuable. The floods are no longer a risk, the soil is very fertile and all housings roughly to two thirds up the wall get unlimited running water. Only the ones above the dam water mirror use water that is pumped to the topside, and it's not as plentiful. I'm quite sure Nadir will show you the Hoofer Dam, upriver. It's our national pride and a sight to behold.”

“How is the water pumped up?” Twilight asked.

“Enormous screw pumps, if you excuse my language.” Zephyr winked. “They look like long straight, diagonal pipes, running all the way from the bottom to the top, nudging the crest of the dam two thirds of the way up. Water goes into the pipes through a gap near the crest of the dam, then half the water goes out through the bottom, the other half goes out through the top. Don't ask me about the engineering details and how that happens.”

I must say, I was impressed. The cool shade of canopy forming practically a roof over the canyon, fancy water cascades filling the air with fine, cool mist... I had to admit, despite spring just starting, the mountains around Entwine were already scorched, but down here the temperature was just right. The streets were milling with thousands of zebras going about their business. My convoy wasn't going unnoticed though, zebras stopping, pointing, some smiling, some waving to me with friendly looks, some glaring with scorn, some kneeling low in respect... the general reception was mixed, but I tended to meet more disapproving looks than approving ones. I was giving them all my best smile, constantly reminding myself not to let my jaw drop open at sight of yet another miracle of the architecture. Yes, they went a long way!

And then the turn... Flanked by two of the enormous sculptures there was the branch of the canyon with a narrow brook and a wide, paved road leading up to a distant green, sunny valley. I remembered the bare, scorched walls, as one of eldest plants succumbed to a disease. Currently they were covered with the same canopy of ivy as the rest, although visibly lacking the enormous, ancient stalks. The walls of the branch of the canyon seemed to be filled with offices and institutions. The road was climbing the gentle slope of the bottom of the branch, as we approached the bright valley.

And then the view opened onto the Old Entwine. Surrounded by enormous mountains with snow caps there was the green valley with clean lake in the middle, gardens, orchards, and the Twin Palace on the far end. There were very few buildings besides the palace - most of the buildings of the old city was removed to make room for the fertile gardens supplying the city with fresh fruit and vegetables. Rice, hay, corn, grain and easily preserved goods would be brought by train from the Sugara Valley area, but freshest vegetables and fruit still came from the Palace Valley, Old Entwine.

The palace couldn't quite rival the Canterlot Castle, lower and less colorful, it was impressive nevertheless, with towers of white and black marble mixing, two side wings containing most of its bulk, the central wing quite small, merely a connection between the two, like a perched phoenix with half-spread wings.

Hippotigria always had two rulers if it was only possible - brothers, nephews, if one bloodline was killed off, the other would take over. The history was violent, full of bloodshed and intrigue because for every two rulers working in partnership there was a pair competing or outright fighting. Nadir had promised me the full story of his parents' death “for some long, cold night”.

But for now, we arrived at the palace. Three ponies - the two princes, and a zebra princess stood on top of the low, wide stairs to the main entrance, waiting. A cordon of guards held a crowd of journalists, officials and gawkers to the sides. Storm opened the carriage door and I stepped out, taking my best regal stride. Flanked by Storm from one side, Twilight from the other, I ascended the stairs. Nadir took two steps forward, smiling, practically smirking. He bowed, greeted me officially, then gave my cheek a peck, holding his mouth to my cheek while a storm of photo flashes blinded us for a few seconds. Then he introduced me to his brother and his wife. “Princess Celestia, my fiancé - Prince Zenith, my brother, and Princess Zorana, my brother's wife.”

Yes, she was definitely a beauty, her shapes resembling those of Fleur de Lis, with long, flowing hair and a glyph of an upside-down pyramid composed of six dark circles for a cutie mark, but she lacked the brash confidence of my Prance-loving friend, her demeanor more resembling that of Fluttershy. Zenith, on the other hoof, was tall, impressive, strong... I wondered if he calls Nadir “Runt brother” in his thoughts too. His cutie mark was upside-down of Nadir's - a big ring with a thick black dot in the top part of it. His smile was forced, he seemed to be keeping anger under the surface. He greeted me courtly, but I could feel an edge in his voice. Nadir invited me to follow, and we turned towards the inside.

“Princess, you certainly realize...” Zenith began in a perfectly controlled tone, “the violent history of our country. I'm not sure what to think about the fact that you trusted the Zebra guards as personal escort, while keeping your own guards too far to be able to react quickly. Is that carelessness, arrogance or misplaced trust?”

“Misplaced? I'm quite convinced neither Zephyr nor Storm would attempt to kill me...” I paused, “...again.” I added with a grin.

He threw me a surprised glance. There was a shade of fear in it.

“Prince Zenith, I trust your brother. He's honorable and has pure heart. Are you implying this trust is misplaced?”

“Are you always this fast in judging characters?”

“Am I?”

“You've barely spent two weeks in my brother's company.”

“He's done a great deal of good within those two weeks.”

“Surely he's good at gaining trust of others.”

“That he is. He certainly gained mine.”

Nadir was silent the whole time, feeling oddly distanced.

“You must be tired after the trip, Princess. I will bother you no further. Prince Nadir will lead you to your quarters and you're welcome to join us at the dinner.”

Princess Zorana threw me almost a sympathetic glance as she was departing, following her husband in opposite direction than where Nadir was leading us. The weird smirk was not leaving his mouth... did he plan some prank?

“This will be your room, Twilight Sparkle”, he stopped at a tall door to a fairly luxurious suite, and we left Twilight in her room. A short way down the same corridor we stopped at another tall gate leading to a suite truly dazzling with luxury. Wall-high mirrors, gold, black and white marble, fancy furniture, a bed the size of Light's hut... Servants scuttled away, leaving last of my luggage in the middle of the room when we stepped in.

“Alone at last.” he said.

“Yes,” I smiled, while tensing up, prepared to dodge the pounce.

Instead, he held his mouth outstretched for a kiss. Damn it, no fighting? All right. I wanted him so much that I could skip that part. I was about to kiss him, when things began adding up in my head.

His half-closed eyes. Green. Big. Treacherous. That was not Nadir. The illusion was perfect, but the demeanor was not. Nadir would not... he would not behave like this.

You play a game? Let's play a game. “You want a kiss, you earn it first.” I smirked.

“What do you mean?” the disappointment was almost palpable.

“I rethought your offer from Ponyville. I accept. This willl be a very fun afternoon!”

There, the pile of luggage... I was quickly digging through it, till I found the long, narrow chest locked with a magical lock. I turned the door lock with my magic, then opened the chest. There it was, nested in dark velvet, black, long and glistening.

“Too bad I have only a small bottle of lube. This may get rough.” I removed the bottle from a corner of the box, squirted some gel onto the ridiculously big dildo, then buckled the straps around my back and grinned ravenously.

The fake Nadir's eyes grew suddenly huge with fear. I lifted him with my magic, turned around, then lifted his tail. The bottle floated to him and squirted some cold lube at his anus.

“Wait! Celestia! I... I'm not in the mood!”

I turned him in the air and floated to me. The fake green eyes were filled with terror. I leaned to his ear.

“There are things a Princess is not supposed to do, and I certainly don't enjoy doing them...” I whispered. “But if you don't tell me right now where my Nadir is, I'll fuck your ass with this thing until you tell.”

“But I'm here! I'm your Nadir!”

“Liar.” I grinned, turning him around and binding his legs with my magic, stepping over him. Merely my front legs passed above his hips when I felt the tip bump against his rump.

“I'll tell! I'll tell everything! Don't do it! They paid me!”

The image below me shifted, illusion of the zebra dissolved. A black, remotely-insectoid pony-like creature with gnarled horn, holes in its legs and insect wings was visible in place of the fake prince. A changeling drone. We had enough trouble with them last year in Canterlot...

“They paid me to play prince Nadir! And he said I'd gorge myself with your love to him if I manage to emulate him well enough... But there was not a word about huge dildos! Sure your love is delicious but this is too much!”

“Who?” I was asking slowly, with deliberation, the dildo still resting against the changeling's backside. “What they? And most important of all: Where is he?"

“Wow.” sounded from a big mirror on the wall. I recognized Zenith's voice. Then the mirror moved to the side, revealing Nadir and Zenith in a secret corridor.

“Told ya, bro.” Nadir was grinning so wide I thought his jaw would fall off. He ran up to me and hugged me tightly.

First I returned the hug. Then I threw the changeling a rather cold stare, and it scuttled away like only insects can. Then I levitated Nadir up into the air. I turned him around. I lifted his tail with my magic, then I squirted the cold gel at his anus.

“Wait, wait Celestia! I can explain!” he shouted.

“I'm sure you can. After I'm through with you.”

Oh the look on Zenith's face. I was sure he was just about to shake off the stupor and rush to save his brother, so instead I unbuckled the strap-on, dropped Nadir and gave him a good, solid slap on the flank with it.

“Ouch, that hurt!”

“Now you can start explaining.”

“Allow me, please...” Zenith approached, “and please, don't punish my brother for what was my doing.”

I packed the dildo back into the box, locked it and turned to listen, too overjoyed with Nadir's appearance to be angry really.

“I thought my younger brother got enchanted, infatuated, blinded by your beauty, and that you are simply using him. I devised this test, to replace my brother with a changeling, to see if you really know and love him. Please accept my sincerest apology. I swear I didn't mean to slight you.”

“Prince Zenith, it would be dishonorable to doubt your oath, but how far would you dare to go as to prove your intentions?”

This sudden request, my doubt set him aback. Apparently nobody ever doubted his word here. “Princess... I...”

I threw Nadir a glance. He grinned. I failed to hold back. Just a smallest smirk escaped onto my mouth, but Zenith was too good at recognizing others acting...

I could see as the emotions run through his face, first a relief that I'm not serious, replaced soon by a desperate sinking feeling of realization: "Oh,no! She's just like him!" And then there was this hard smirk: "If I can deal with my brother, I can deal with the two of them."

“Princess”, he smiled, “I hope giving you my brother will be sufficient.”

“Am I yours to give?” asked Nadir, feigning hurt.

“Nadir, remember the time at Star Lake?”

“I do, but I was just a wee foal back then!”

“And I was your big brother trying to keep you in check. Remember how you'd climb the trees and throw pine cones at me?”

“Yes, and how you couldn't climb as high, so you could not reach me.”

“And what I said, what I'd do if you don't stop?”

“You said you'll sell me to a pony witch!”

“And did you stop?”

“...for a time...”

“And so I didn't sell you for a time. So this here is cunning enough and knows magic well enough, and I'm selling you to her in exchange for my peace of mind. There, fair and square, lil bro. Is that okay, Princess?”

I gathered Nadir under my wing. “Deal.” I grinned. “And call me Celestia.”

“So, Celestia, welcome to the family. Tired? Or would you join us for a meal?”

“We'll join you soon, give us some time”, Nadir shooed his brother with his hoof.

“Oh! I see.” he chuckled, then retreated into the hidden passage and left.

I intercepted hit of Nadir's hips on my flank and used advantage of my mass, falling over sideways onto him as he was trying to recover from failed attempt to tip me over. Falling under my weight, he bucked with his hooves at my legs, but I was already rolling over his back, still holding him with my wing, turning him hooves up in the air with it. He bent his neck backwards, ejecting himself upwards, but I expected this, so I reached with my neck and chomped on his mane, stopping his attempt to stand up, and using his momentum to pull myself under him, grabbing him with my hooves into Ironhorns' Grip. Another strong turn, and I was on top of him, laying on his back, holding his legs wide apart and his mane in my teeth, completely immobilized.

“What in tartarus is that?” he whined through the nose.

“Minotaur Wrestling. Speed is deemphasized in favor of combining strength, mass and inertia.”

“You know Minotaur Wrestling?”

“Spent last three weeks learning it!”

“No way, you bested Modern Zo-Fu with Minotaur Wrestling?”

“Yes, I did. Way underrated, isn't it?”

“You MUST teach me!”

“After three weeks of training? I'm still a novice. But I have a good trainer, I'll send him your way after I'm back to Canterlot and catch some more of it myself.”

I released Nadir, rolled off his back, and we finally met in a kiss.

“But you'll teach me the basics”

“I will. You never briefed the changeling on fighting?”

“I knew you had trouble with them in Canterlot recently. I'm not going to expose your secrets to your potential enemies. Bro got some kind of contract with them but they seriously creep me out.”

“He'd better have a good leverage. They don't really hold contracts in deep respect.”

“He's smart, I'm pretty sure he does. Anyway... would you care to explain...”

“Yes?”

“Why did you take that dildo with you?”

* * *

The meal, a counterpart to our “tea time” but with fruit drinks and light snacks in the palace garden, in the shade of a big tree, was an opportunity to get my brother-in-law-to-be known better. The five of us (Twilight was invited too, though she didn't say anything the whole time) were sipping the drinks and discussing.

Nadir was right, Zenith was all business. Still ashamed about misjudging me, he was already expressing his worries about the country. I invited him to participate in drafting the marriage contract. This calmed him down a bit but he still seemed distrustful.

“You really worry about wrong issues. If you really want a headache of this kind, me and Nadir are planning a child.”

“A heir to thrones of both nations?” he asked, surprised.

“Not really. I don't plan on abdicating anytime soon. And even if it came to it, Equestria's rule isn't exactly hereditary. Still, a ruler of Hippotigria who is a son of princess of Equestria... That's bound to cause friction.”

“A lot of problems would be alleviated if he grows up in Entwine, with only minimal contact with Canterlot.”

“And if he's born a plain, mortal Zebra. And that would be optimal from political standpoint, but put yourself in place of me, his mother.”

“Your duty to the land is foremost. Would you put your maternal instincts above the good of your people?”

“My duty is to give the ponies safety and prosperity. It is not to help them cultivate their prejudices.”

“Point taken... but then you'd be really shaking up the order of Hippotigria.“

“WE would.” I put my wing tip on Nadir's back. “The four of us. I'm not going to do this without your consent.”

“Zenith,” Nadir spoke up. “It's me who insists on alicorn heir to the throne. Celestia would be perfectly satisfied to have a daughter and then you could sire two sons.”

“Actually...” I added “I wouldn't just be satisfied. I'd definitely prefer it that way. Considering the violent history of Hippotigria, I'm afraid I'd outlive my son. Not a thing I'd wish to witness. A daughter would be much safer.”

“Brother,” Zenith was visibly disturbed. “You're trying to destroy ages of traditions of our country.”

“That I am. Look where these traditions brought us. Isolated. Nibbled by Gryphons from one side, Harpies from the other, walled off from Equestria, conflicted with buffaloes, alienated from minotaurs, stagnating.”

“Nadir, how can you even say this! The dam...”

“The dam was built almost two hundred years ago. What great did we do since then? One railway line? Anything else?”

“Nothing. Our primary trade routes got cut off.” he sent me a glare. “Prince Veth tried to open new ones. Then you broke the negotiations and cut us off.”

“Did you review the contracts?”

“I did. I spotted maybe three dubious points. I'm pretty sure they could have been renegotiated, or you could have just agreed to them, they weren't that bad really.”

“Can we review them again, together? If I rejected any of the contracts wrongly, I'm willing to apologize and recompense you for all the losses.”

“Fine.” Zenith practically stormed to the library.

* * *

Zenith was sweating profusely. Nadir and Zorana were assisting as I passed him another contract. “Import of perishable goods. The inspection of freshness is at the destination. The punitive charges for spoiled goods are twice the value of the transport. That would leave the importer with a hefty profit in case they can make the goods spoil. And a compensation in case we can't meet the quota, so we couldn't even quit the game.”

Zenith didn't protest any more. He'd oppose before, claim that they would not spoil, that this is correct, that there is enough time, that the point is acceptable. Now he just flipped the page and read into regulations concerning transport.

“The transport is stopped at the border pending signature of Capital Office of Health after it is confirmed to match requirements.” he read, then cursed. “Of course the Office at the time consisted of three zebras and was located in Entwine. The signature could take even two weeks to reach the border.”

“Or be delayed indefinitely,” I added. “After it is confirmed - meaning they might want to review the transport, not just the manifest. Tons upon tons of food wasted and us paying punitive charges for your clerks' procrastination.”

“Scoundrel. Hit me.”

“I demanded pre-approval before the caravan would be formed. He replied we'd have to pay the salary of every resident approving clerk in Equestria. Ten thousand bits per month.”

“Next. Zorana, call some senior servant. I want every single portrait and sculpture of Veth thrown out from the palace.”

I picked another file from the small pile as Zenith closed the binder on the previous one putting it on the big one.

“Oh, this one is my favorite. Wildlife protection.”

“I saw that one. Ban on building dams that could influence our wildlife. That's a very far-fetched clause.”

“Oh, that innocent thing? Read into border responsibilities.”

Zenith started reading.

“The wording is odd, but the intent is pretty clear.”

“No, don't try to guess the intent. Read the wording literally. Note the punctuation. Notice that “also”. Doesn't that seem like it attaches every animal to the same clause as every forest ranger?”

“That would be stupid! Who would ever want to watch every single wild animal crossing the borders! And what for?”

“Flip the page. Punitive charge for trespassing. It would cover the costs of magic markers, wouldn't it?”

Zenith flipped the page back and read the sentence again, and again.

“Celestia, I hope you understand that under my rule an attempt to enforce a clause formulated like this would result in ten to thirty years of heavy labor? Considering scale and malicious intent, closer to thirty than to ten?”

“Yes.”

“And peasant or prince, whoever wrote them would spend a good piece of life carrying bricks for aqueducts?”

“Yes, Nadir briefed me on the idea of Crime against Justice. I like that idea.”

“So what about we take these, and rewrite them all in a honest manner?”

“You're late.”

“What do you mean? It's not like... I mean, you're not vengeful. I know that much. We can...”

“Nadir, you didn't show the briefcase to your brother?”

Nadir facehoofed. “Celestia, did you have to do it? He won't leave me in peace now!”

“What do you mean?”

“Bro practices the rule of “work as hard as you can”. He will demand now that I do the same with the rest of our neighbors, on the same, crazy time scale.”

“Oh. Sorry, I didn't know.”

“You've done that already?” Zenith looked at me with disbelief.

“Yes. We have a briefcase of treaties we plan to sign, releasing about one per week.”

“Why not sign them all now?”

“Told ya, Celly? That's my bro.”

* * *

“Don't tell me you've never done that.”

“I did! Of course I was doing this a lot! But that was like... a thousand years ago! I kinda... lost touch. When sis was on the Moon, I was always too busy. And tired. And needed for something else.”

“Look, I won't make you do it if you don't want. I just thought it would be... the right thing to do.”

“And it is. I'm just... I'm... a coward.” I hid my face in my hooves. “I'd never dare to do something like sneaking up to your room at night. And this... What if they discover me?”

“Nothing bad will happen. I assure you. Khamilion is a true wizard with make-up and disguise. Some stripes, some brushing and you'd easily pass for a half-mustang. You'll get a cowl to hide your wings. And... oh, I'm sure she'll think up something about your horn.

“The looks is not a problem.” I turned myself into pastel vapor of mist and solidified into a plump, elder female zebra form. “What do you see?”

“I see an elder... no, wait. I understand what you mean. I see your age and your power. Every mystic worth a lick of salt would see through that... otherwise excellent disguise.”

“I can cloud their minds so that they would not notice. But it's not fair, it's like throwing sand in their eyes. Besides, where could I leave my horse collar safely?”

“I have this one covered. Zenith will watch over it. As for mystics...” he ran to his study and got me a wooden bracelet from some chest, “take this on. You're possessed by a demon and this thing is keeping it in check.”

“A good mystic will recognize I'm no demon.”

“A good mystic won't blab about what they see. And I know all good mystics in Entwine personally.”

“All right, but you lead the way, I just follow and watch and try not to get in the way.”

“Sure! Look, it's not some kind of excursion into enemy territory. The folks are mostly friendly, and the few that are not... they are no match for the four of us.”

“Four?” Oh. The idea of Zephyr and Storm coming with us gave me a good sense of security. Now that would be a team that could face serious odds. Then a thought struck me. “Does your brother do it?”

“Zenith? Nah. He's got agents. He says I'm old-fashioned, imagine this.”

* * *

And so we were in the Topside. Storm was pretending to be my husband, the biggest of the three. Zephyr and Nadir acted to be children. I must say Zephyr impersonating a filly was exceptionally cute. Nadir, on the other hoof, wore an eyepatch and fake scars. He was pulling me, a stately elder zebra matron in an empty cart - we were supposedly returning after making a delivery to the palace. Changed form or not, my soles were soft and I didn't want to stress the rags tied on my legs instead of my hoof-overs. Sure I could heal my legs magically, but they would be just as soft after the healing, so let’s save that up for times of need. I pondered inviting Twilight to join us, but she preferred to stay in the palace after she discovered the Library.

“The Topside may seem like a dump, it's the poorest and most of worst scum lives here, but it holds some of the best treasures of the land, if you know how to look.” Nadir talked as he pulled the cart along a dusty road.

“What kind of treasures?”

“Like these two.” he pointed to Zephyr and Storm with a grin. “I found them here.”

“You found.” Storm chuckled. “Yeah, right.”

“All right, all right. I was in a fight with a gang of twenty or so, and Storm joined in to help me.”

Storm chuckled. “Gang of twelve, and they were holding you and beating the crap out of you.”

“Right, right. I got much better at fighting since then, I'd handle them myself now.”

“Suuuure.”

“And Zephyr?” I asked.

“We were investigating a slave trade ring.” Storm said. “Nadir was trying to find threads from rich buyers down below. I was asking the folk of the kidnapped around here.”

“Yeah, your threads were better. But when it comes to finding Zephyr, that was me.”

“Yeah, shall I tell?”

“Uh...”

“Right.”

“So, what was the story?” I asked.

“I'd better not tell.” Nadir's ears got red.

“So I will!” Zephyr giggled girlishly, totally matching his looks. “I seduced him. I was a sex slave at a brothel in the Topside. I do like sex, but I'd prefer to pick my partners on my own. Still, as customers go, I totally wanted to hump this one's haunches.”

Nadir's ears seemed to emit small trails of smoke.

“So, after three rounds,” Zephyr continued, “I ask him if he'd consider buying me off. And have me as his permanent slave.”

“I had to get alone with the... employees... to ask them if they are slaves,” Nadir protested.”We still didn't have any proofs. I was investigating!”

“Yeah, after three rounds of very thorough investigation...”

“Look, I got carried away. You're GOOD at that!”

“So, three in-depth checks, and I really, honestly loved every moment of it, I ask him and he starts feeling guilty. So I cheer him up.”

“Making me even more guilty.”

“Guilty pleasures are the best!”

“So, I ask him if he would testify. And he agrees on a condition I take him as my slave.”

“Look, I spent most of my life as a slave. I had no idea how to live on my own. Imagine you release me, tell me I'm free to go, and I have no clue what to do next. I'd end up in the gutter really fast. Figuratively. There are no gutters in Topside.”

“Of course taking him as a slave was not an option, but I could employ him as a page. Long story short, with Zephyr's help we could get testimony from all the slaves and a quick raid completely destroyed the slaver ring.”

“And I never got him in my bed again.” Zephyr sighed. “Any chance you'd invite me for a threesome?”

We arrived at a small market. Trade stands made of single huge dried ivy leaves on stick scaffolding, each leaf big enough to provide shade to the trader, the wares and a couple buyers. Ah, recalling the long-forgotten tastes. String on the money pouch. Coins. Balancing big, spherical object on my nose. Knife handle.

I was slowly recalling doing things the Earth Pony way. The memories of the skills were all returning slowly. I passed slices of the watermelon to my companions after finishing slicing it, and we enjoyed the “food and drink in one” in the shade of our cart.

“Where do you hail from?” asked a cloth trader sitting in the shade of one of the huge leaves near our cart.

“Near Clover, the seaside up north.” Nadir replied. “We heard Prince Nadir's getting hitched, so we brought a cart of nacre, some pearls, red coral, amber and shells. We sold all at the palace. Now we're looking for wares to bring back, not to return empty.”

“What about some silk?”

“We'll be passing through Silk Valley, so... I'm pretty sure you can't top their prices.”

“Flax?”

“Clover gets bulk flax deliveries for sailmaking, we wouldn't make any profit.”

“Mutton wool fabric?”

“What's your price?”

“Seven copper a ten-fetlock.”

“That would be a bad business considering the prices are about to fall.”

“Six copper?”

“Three and we have a deal.”

“Three copper a ten-fetlock? Are you crazy?”

“The muttons of the Rock Fall Pass will bring the prices even lower.”

“Don't even say that name. Yuck, I'm sick of it. Rock Fall this, Prince Nadir that, Princess Celestia another thing. I'm sick of them.”

“What's wrong?”

“Everyzeb's cheering and none think of us, cloth traders. I have three bales of wool. I bought it for four copper a ten-fetlock. And it seems I will have to sell it at a loss.”

“Don't you think a loss of what, three silver, is is a fair price for safe youth of many foals?”

“I know, I know. I'm sorry. It was selfish of me. You know what. Buy the three bales at five copper per ten-fetlock. I'll break even on my costs and you're guaranteed to turn profit by the shores.”

“Four and a half, and just one bale, and we're fine. There is no way I can sell three whole bales upon my return before the cheaper imports arrive.”

“Four and a half for two bales it is, a ruin on my head.”

“Let me see the cloth.” I stood up, licking the watermelon off my mouth.

“Mom?” Nadir asked in surprise.

“I've been weaving wool before your grandfather settled on the shore.” I grinned. There was the bale. “Dirty like the soil itself but you're selling per tenfetlock, not per stone, so that is... gross, but acceptable. Straw and hay weaved in? The zebra who carded this should be flogged. Oh, holes from clothing moths. How neat. The thread is uneven and way too poorly weaved, fragile. And you're saying you paid four copper for that? It isn't even worth two. I'm sorry, but no deal.” I grinned. “This wool has been waiting for a sucker for at least two years, and considering the price you're asking, it will wait another ten until clothing moths leave nothing of it.”

“Go back to your damp Clover, cursed mare. You couldn't recognize a fine cloth if it bit you in the rump!”

“This cloth not only could bite me in the rump, it would eat all my fur off it. Besides, you're selling it in the topside and not on the fancy streets below for a reason, don't you?”

He lowered his head. “I found it discarded behind the clothmaking school. This is where I get most of my wares, cloth that earned the students failing grades. Have it for one copper a tenfetlock so that my kids don't go hungry today.”

“Why don't you cut it up and sell it as blankets or rugs? It would still make acceptable blankets.”

“You know, it's a good idea.”

“Four blankets for five copper each, to keep us warm at night?” Storm suggested.

The trader cheered up and quickly cut four large blankets for us and I loaded them on the cart. Whoa, the wool tasted icky. Definitely needed washing.

“Should we move on?” I asked Nadir.

“No, let the thugs sweat and fiddle a little more.”

“What thugs?”

“The ones that will ambush us as soon as we leave. Didn't you see that filly scuttling away as soon as she heard we sold a whole cart of goods at the palace?”

I swear I didn't.

“If you watch over the wares...” the trader offered, “I could go, call some guards for you.”

“No need.” Storm shook his head. “We can take care of ourselves.”

“You did this on purpose?” I asked Nadir.

He only grinned widely.

* * *

Zephyr had a black eye. Nadir's lip was thick as a baloon. Storm walked with a limp. Only I was relatively presentable, and that only due to healing myself magically from the few bruises. I promised I'd heal them later, but for now they would suffer for putting me into this.

Twenty thugs, driven mad from all that waiting for us in the blistering heat of the backstreets of Topside, and the four of us not scared of them at all.

Of course most of them were taken to the hospital as soon as the guards arrived. I stabilized two that were so badly clobbered they might not make it. One of them tried to file a complaint, that it was us who attacked them. The guard zebra just asked him: “Are you willing to repeat this in front of Prince Nadir's court?” and suddenly the thug's eyes filled with fear and he shook his head.

Now we were sitting in a tavern located in a cave under one of the houses. Sipping cold, mild, honey-flavored ale, reclining in old, battered reed chairs, discussing politics with the bartender and a few patrons.

“Call me a traitor of the nation, I wouldn't mind if Equestria took over. They have better primary education, better health care, and the pegasi make the agriculture flourish despite worse technologies and colder climate,” the bartender commented.

“You'd end up polishing horseshoes of a pony master, you fool. I still can't believe Prince Nadir could do something like that to our country,” and elder patron snarked.

“She bewitched him and he's under her command.” his elder female companion croaked.

“Now now, Prince Nadir is a good mystic, he's not bewitched this easily.” Nadir opposed. “But he's young and she's pretty, if you know what I mean.”

“Pretty? What are you, stupid? She's older than the mountains, all her beauty is magic and illusions. My guess is there's a rotting crone under that all.”

“You're stupid,” her partner replied bluntly. “Alicorns don't grow old physically. They reach a certain age, certain power level, and they choose a permanent form for themselves ever since. It doesn't age. But they can change form temporarily if they wish so. She can be anything, she can look like any creature. For all we know, this could be her.” he pointed at Zephyr. “Playing a frilly filly.”

“I am not a frilly filly!” Zephyr protested. “And I'm not Princess Celestia. Though I wish I was.” he put his face on his hooves, raising his eyes dreamily.

“Why would you ever want to be Princess Celestia?” I asked, faking outrage.

“Because Prince Nadir will marry her. And he's so handsome! I so wish he would marry me!”

“Now, now, sis”, Nadir hugged Zephyr, “He sure won't marry you but if you get a job as his maid, he might...”

“Don't you dare finishing that thought!” I scolded Nadir.

“...introduce you to one of his high officers?” he finished. I blushed.

“Actually, Equestria is quite matriarchal, and if things go the way some think, you might become the prince's officer,” Storm added with humor.

“Me? An officer? But that would involve fighting!” Zephyr's theatrics, in connection with the black eye made me snort with laughter into my mug of ale.

“And I still believe in our prince.” An old traveler zebra in a brown fedora and leather coat said, leaning on the bar. “He works in mysterious ways. He knows something we don't. He didn't get enchanted, and Equestria doesn't need Hippotigria, we'd be just another headache for the hornheads. And there would be a nation-wide rebellion if they tried. Celestia is not stupid, she won't start a war. Now that whole thing with the assassins... This one's stinking.”

“Yeah, I couldn't believe any zebra would be so bound on trying to start a war. The consequences of successful assassination... thousands would die on both sides. Maybe millions.” The bartender sighed.

I held my hoof on Zephyr's shoulder as he shuddered, huddled in fear at the thought.

“I don't think there was any assassination attempt. It was just a ruse.” The elder stallion snorted. “A poison dart with no cure? But then, Why? To put us in an awkward situation?”

“Nadir tried to resolve it diplomatically. But the pony would not let him easily off the hook.” the elder lady commented. “But why would she want to marry him? Other than taking over Hippotigria.”

“Find me a mare who wouldn't want to marry him.” I grinned.

“Sure he's a charmer but Celestia doesn't strike me as one to fall for charming smiles.” the female replied. “Now not to say he doesn't have other virtues, but I heard the first things they did when they saw each other were him proposing and her accepting. Not much time to get to know each other.”

“Yes, don't you find it suspicious?” The traveler smirked from under his hat. “Nadir is not exactly known for making important decisions in the spur of the moment. He takes a day or a few to rethink even the most lucrative offers. And Celestia would definitely not accept if she didn't expect this beforehoof. Everyzeb says he was bluffing and she called his bluff, just to spite him. I won three silver on bets of how long till they break up alone. And today she's in Entwine. Would that happen if he felt uncomfortable with her as his fiancé? ”

“I'm still saying he's under a curse.”

“Sure your right to think that.”

“Wait”, the bartender interrupted the exchange between the elderly lady and the traveler. “So what you're implying: They met secretly, they fell in love. Them getting together as a personal affair would be totally unacceptable for the nobles, so they arranged this whole ruse with fake assassins, fake apology, fake proposal and fake political marriage, just to be together?”

“Now that's a pile of horseapples.” Nadir shook his head. “Just look at the number of treaties they produced. Besides, not to slight our prince, he'd need a stepladder!”

“Midnight, you scrawny runt!” I exclaimed with scorn. “Our Prince is at least a head taller than you!”

“Actually, he isn't.” the bartender disagreed. “He's very similarly sized to your son.”

“Except Princess would never want a good-for-nothing troublemaker like my son. Getting his old parents and little sister into a fight with some thugs. The good wise prince would never do a thing like that!”

“And who was first to call “Take that! And have another!” while pile-driving the gang boss head first into the ground?” Nadir grinned toothily.

“Oh, son, it's not like I don't enjoy to kick some ass of the sissies from the capital. But that's completely improper! Just imagine Prince Nadir taking Princess Celestia to the Topside, just to hunt for a burt with some thugs.”

“I can't talk for the princess...” the traveler spoke, “but that's exactly what our prince would be doing.”

“I wonder what would Prince Zenith do if he learned about something like that.” Nadir chuckled.

“I guess...”, the traveler tipped his hat a little, “he knows his brother enough to foresee this.”

* * *

Nadir asked me for advice. He wanted me to see “The Scorcher”, the poorest part of Topside, and to tell him what to do to resolve its problems. They led me across the canyon through a bridge on top of a massive stalk, and into a chunk of desert far from the canyon and its many branches. A wide, shallow, scorched valley was filled with countless poor shacks, dugouts, rare buildings of dried mud. We went down the main road for a long while, between poor seller stands, houses of mud and wood, but then we turned into narrower streets. Storm led us to the poorest parts of Topside, where he grew up. We passed by shacks of dry ivy, shallow dugouts covered with big, dried ivy leaves, and small mud brick houses. The zebras were definitely poorer, some bore scars or traces of injury, although you'd only rarely see one overly skinny. But patrols of guards were scarce, and there were long lines of zebras to wells with water.

“At least, for the last couple years they don't go hungry. There are soup kitchens, where you can eat for free. Instituted by Nadir,” Storm explained.

“On Storm's suggestion,” Nadir countered.

One old zebra approached us with a limp. An ugly gash on his leg was open and I thought there were worms in the wound.

“Help me, nice lady!” he stepped up to me. “A few copper for a medic.”

I was about to reach to my purse when Storm stopped me.

“This again, Puppy Tail?” he turned to the beggar with scorn. “Last time doctor Needle worked his hooves to his fetlocks on fixing your leg. I can't count the times you were healed. You keep reopening the wound, to raise pity and you disrespect the doctors' work. How much do you have in your mattress? You could afford a nice house with enough land to feed a family for that much.”

“Oh, it's you, young master Storm! I didn't recognize you!” the beggar stumbled back. “Don't take me to the doctor please!”

“That won't be necessary” I smiled, and healed his leg.

“No, no.... he cried, staring at the newly-regrown fur. It hurts! It hurts so much!”

“It does not!” I protested, sensing lack of pain in his body.

“He means it hurts when he makes the injures anew.” Storm grimaced. “Many of the zebras here are unfortunate, sick in some way, unable to work. Some are simply lazy, irresponsible and stupid, responsible for their own fates. Some just don't care and don't want more. Some... made mistakes and now pay for them. And some... I don't understand them. I did check both Canterlot and Ponyville and you don't have districts like these. And I'd really like to know your secret. The soup kitchen doesn't solve this. It actually makes it worse. Some zebras who still worked a bit for food, now gave up completely.”

I stopped and thought, then we continued down another of the shady - in a very figurative sense of the word - streets. I spoke my mind.

“There is no simple secret or easy answer. Role models. Generations of shaping the ethics. Jobs, many jobs where even if you're sick and old, you can still be useful and helpful. Efficient health care, so that you don't spend months in bed uselessly. Good upbringing.”

“Not something that can be solved with a simple treaty.” Nadir shook his head.

“Years, maybe centuries of work.”

“Not within my lifetime.” He sighed.

“Who knows? We're pretty efficient together. Though I agree, it will take another generation for the mindsets to change. Thieves? Bandits? That almost never happens in Equestria.”

Suddenly four zebras with knives and daggers in their teeth emerged from behind some obstacles, surrounding us. Fifth one walked from behind a building, big, heavily built, some wicked blade tied to his front hoof. He was missing an eye, the bloody eye socket gaping at us.

“You dreaming about Equestria's order? he growled, showing yellow teeth, front ones missing. “Ain't no happening while I'm in charge of Topside.”

“Ain't happening when the likes of him are in charge of Topside.” I shrugged to Nadir. “And who do we owe the dubious honor?”

He wasn't a young gangster like the twenty we'd beaten up before. This one was an old, experienced bandit, he did kill in his life, and he would kill again if it gave him profit.

“Purses. Now!” he raised his bladed hoof without gracing me with reply. I reached for my purse.

“Answer.” I said, while untying the string. “Who are you, and why are you doing this.”

“Are you stupid, old crone?” he spat. “Or are you deaf? Name's Purse, and I want them, that's why.”

“I mean, what do you need the money for? What do you need your money for, so desperately that you decide to steal it instead of earning it honestly?”

“Sweet liquors and fun dreams. And mares, though today...” he approached Zephyr, who backed off “I might save up on that.”

“You could afford this all with honest work. With no risk of getting captured.”

“Me, captured?” he guffawed. “There ain't no guard who would dare pick on me. I can get in one day what I'd have to work for a month. And last but not least...” he made another step towards Zephyr “Benefits of the trade.”

“Make another step...” Zephyr hissed through his teeth, “and I'll teach you not to touch girls who don't want you.”

“This is the Southern Half.” Nadir spoke calmly. “Are you usurping rule over Prince Zenith's domain?”

“Zenith can suck my dock, he has no power over me, and Nadir is too busy with his wench to come here, so don't even dream he'll show up to save you.”

“So... let's sum it up.” I smirked. My smirk was apparently driving him mad. “You do it by choice. Not because you didn't have the chance, because life's been unfair or something. You just like doing it.”

“You nailed it, crone. Now when we're on the matters of nailing...” he took another step towards Zephyr.

Zephyr used The Prancing Pony technique, his front hooves delivering a barrage of blows to the nose of the offender. Then he practically galloped over his back... and kicked with his hind leg. Right into Purse's “purse”.

“KILL THEM” croaked the bandit before dropping.

The four attacked.

Now this was the kind of situation to skip all the noble philosophies of Zo-Fu, and apply the cruel reality of Crow Maga. The first attacker got a mouthful of my hoof and his teeth, then his lower jaw got broken as I stepped down, my leg still in his mouth. Out of fight.

Storm engaged his opponent.

Nadir held one thug, choking him.

Zephyr staggered. A dart was sticking out of his flank, and the fourth opponent was loading another into a blowpipe. He raised it to his mouth...

I recalled the month of fear and worries. Not again.

I used my magic to push the dart down his throat.

Then I saw Nadir falling.

“Blades... Poisoned...” he called out. His opponent disengaged and joined the other against Storm.

I was about to rush to Nadir and Zephyr, when the hulking body of Purse stood in my way. His eyes filled with hate.

He held his hoof with a blade up.

He stabbed me.

I dodged, but not quite. Just a nick on my shoulder, but I felt the burning sensation spread.

I lay on my side, using my magic to contain the poison, remove it... It was difficult, the poison not very fast, but definitely lethal and very persistent. Even healed I would be left stunned.

Purse walked towards immobile Zephyr.

“Don't do it!” I shouted out.

He laughed.

I stood up, staggering a little from the effort of my magic, and concentrated on Nadir's wound. Scoop the spreading poison. Contain it. Extract the poison. Slowly...

I heard the expected roar of outrage as Purse discovered Zephyr's gender.

Just a little more... there. Nadir's safe.

Now Zephyr, laying curled up after Purse delivered a savage kick to his groin.

Curing the poison three times in a row is taxing. I was practically on my knees when Zephyr's poison was extracted. Storm was still fighting the two somewhere behind some shack.

And Purse decided I'm still not too old for him.

And I was too exhausted to resist.

I saw Nadir standing up, staggering in our direction. In no condition to help. He would die trying to protect me...

The bandit stepped over me. Then I felt his weight on my back.

Then he rolled off my back and fell to his side. Twitching. Struggling to stand up, and failing. There was a different kind of dart in his flank.

I looked around and saw that zebra traveler from the bar on some roof not far. He turned and vanished behind the edge.

I staggered to the one zebra thug with blowpipe and tried to neutralize the poison, but I was too weak. I felt the poison slipping through my barriers, leaking through his body, paralyzing his heart. I tried to keep it beating, but then the poison spread to the brain and it was the end. I felt the life gone.

I struggled to my hooves and walked towards the corner of a shack, behind which Storm fought two of the thugs. Nadir followed.

Storm emerged, as I was closing. He staggered a little, but calmed me down. “I'm fine, just broken ribs. They didn't nick me.”

I looked behind the corner. Two zebras lying in a heap, limbs at unnatural angles. I checked them with my magic. One was knocked out. The other was dead.

Only now we heard hooves approaching, shouting “Make way to the guards!” and soon a group of rather ragged-looking guards appeared from behind a bend of the road, galloping to us. At first they thought we were drunk, but then they saw the darts, the blowpipe, and finally listened to Nadir when he told them the blades were poisoned.

We all - the four of us, unconscious Purse and two of his mooks that were alive, one with completely shattered jaw, the other unconscious and with badly broken two legs, were loaded on our own cart and two of the guards pulled us to the hospital. I saw others dragging the corpses onto the road, soon obscured by dust raised by the cart.

I killed one of them.

I cried.

* * *

Southern Half Topside hospital. Poor, somewhat crowded, though tidy and what it lacked in luxury and equipment, the crew was making up in dedication. I was placed in one of bigger rooms with six other female zebras. My three friends were in the male wing. The bandits landed in a special ward.

I was unable to maintain the changed form any longer, needing to save up strength for the sunset... sure Luna could do it, but she'd be worried sick if I didn't. So I sent good, calm sleep onto six other patients in my room, and let the illusion drop. Just then a nurse walked in.

I had to calm her down. Yes, it's me. Yes, I'm fine. I just need to rest. Just some water and rest. Yes, I can talk to the guards and give my testimony.

The nurse ran out, and soon two male zebras walked in. One, in the standard guard uniform, he almost stumbled when he saw me. The other... I recognized the traveler from the pub, the one who saved me from the bandit... He smiled.

“Agent Vex, at your service, Princess” he tipped his hat, then revealed his badge on the inside of his coat and took a notepad and a pencil from some inner pocket. “Prince Zenith's Intelligence Service. Could you please answer some questions?”

Oh.

“Yes, of course. And my deepest thanks for timely aid.”

He was concise, to the point, no unnecessary details. Just what we talked about, how the fight began, do I have any clue how the one with the blowpipe got the dart in his throat, can I tell anything about the poison they used... I answered honestly and to the best of my ability. He told me not to worry, the bandits will face the justice. He assured me he saw enough, and the bandits were wanted for quite a while. That Nadir and his friends are safe and sound. The whole visit didn't last even ten minutes. Then he left.

A senior female doctor appeared, bowing to the floor, then informing me that they prepared a room for me, one “more fitting for a Princess”. I refused. “And in case you moved any patients out to make room, move them back in.”

“Oh, no, we just adapted my office!” she blushed. “Is there anything else we can do?”

“Just treat me as any other patient. Give me time to rest, undisturbed.”

“Yes, Princess”, the doctor almost crawled out. The nurse was much better, just leaving the jug of water and a cup, then bowing a little before leaving.

I drank, then lay on my bed, and closed my eyes. Memories of the poison escaping my barriers, filling the body of the zebra, flowing to his brain wandered through my mind, and I cried myself to sleep.

* * *

The sunset was... hardly better than the one my sister did, jerky, uneven and blunt. But at last I knew I'd be rested enough for the Sunrise. Nadir and Zephyr had recovered fully, and I was able to heal Storm's ribs relatively easily.

“And once again we owe you our lives.” Storm sighed.

“Nadir...” I looked into my love's eyes. “What happens to the captured bandits?”

“They will face my brother's court,” he replied, but his eyes didn't meet mine.

“What happens?” I insisted.

“It's almost sure they will be sentenced to death.”

“But... can we save their lives? Can you... give them royal mercy maybe?”

“Normally, they would be able to choose who of the two of us would judge them. They'd pick me and hope for my mercy. I don't think I'd give it to them normally, because they don't regret their acts and they would return to kill more. Still, if you asked, I would do this for you. But now, as I'm one of the victims, I can't be the judge. And my brother will judge them fairly, for crimes of today, and for crimes of the past. And no, he won't yield to me, no matter what.”

I lowered my head, recalling the times when Luna was sending out her Shadow Guard. I knew what had to be done. I couldn't feel okay about that, but I had to accept.

It was the same, except this time I was one of the victims. And still, as much as I hated him, I couldn't wish death upon the one who assaulted me...

We could move to the palace, but I insisted that we stay until morning, despite the word getting out - the nurses quickly passed the gossip and I could see curious eyes peeking from the door at us, but I really needed the extra rest.

The doctor apparently got the message that I don't want any special treatment. We got a light supper, same as all the others, just a glass of milk with honey and a small bowl of rice with some raisins thrown in for taste... I was glad for that, I could not eat anything more fancy anyway.

* * *

I woke up when the right time came and walked up to the eastern window at the end of the corridor.

There was a sea of zebras. Poor dwellers of Topside, often hurt, miserable, tired. They occupied roofs of the poor shacks around the hospital, crowded in the streets, waiting quietly. A whisper ran through the crowd as they noticed me in the window.

They deserved more than plain old sunrise. I climbed on the window still, then jumped into the air, soaring for a while, before stopping on the roof of another, low building, on the other side of the crowd. The sea of bodies turned. There were a few colts and fillies here on this roof, and I could hear them squee, as suddenly their far place where they could hardly see the hospital became the front row.

Majestically. Gently. Reverently. I raised the Sun over the horizon, allowing it to flow through the few low clouds, painting them the colors of my mane. Then I raised it further, and let its light fall upon the crowds.

I flew up and let my shadow pass through the crowds as I spread my wings, soaking in the magic and passing it freely, transformed into form they could feel and absorb.

Finally, as the Sun began its daily route, I landed.

The crowd exploded in a cheer.

Basked in the magic of sunrise, glowing with power, I walked back to the hospital. Healing old aches and injuries, inspiring hope and good will. Smiles and friendship.

And then the crowd parted from the other side, and I saw Nadir approaching. We met halfway, and he greeted me with a bow. I bowed to him. He turned, and I rested my wing on his back. We walked together, confident and inspiring.

“Do we let them in on our secret?” I asked him.

“I think I'm willing to trust them.” he smiled. We stopped, and he turned.

“Friends...” he spoke, his strong voice carrying over the crowd. “I want you to keep what you will see a secret. Keep it in your hearts, and tell it to your best friends, but don't spread it to those you don't trust.”

Then he turned to me.

We kissed.

* * *

The four of us left the empty hospital, most of the crew taking much-overdue time off as I healed all the sick, leaving the crew temporarily without work. Nadir got me a quad of nice, soft boots for until I reach the palace. We crossed over the chasm and I performed similar healings at the Northern Half hospital a few miles further. The more “elite” hospitals in the canyons would need to wait for later...

We were making our way back to the palace slowly, enjoying relatively cool morning weather, being followed by a crowd of gawkers in a short distance. We stopped at a small restaurant near the rim of the valley of Old Entwine, buying boiled corn for breakfast. Of course the owner wanted to give it for free, but Nadir tipped him more than the value of the meal. We sat at a table under canopy of the usual huge dried leaves, and as we started on our corn, Nadir spotted a fresh newspaper on a seat by us. He laughed. Give it to journalists if you want to make mess out of it.

Celestia captures hearts of Topsiders!

In another futile attempt to discourage her from marrying him, Prince Nadir gave Princess Celestia a tour of the least attractive parts of the Capital. The visit to seediest parts of the town made the Princess so sick, that in the yesterday's evening hours she had to be admitted to a hospital - and which one would Prince choose? Southern Half Hospital, about the poorest hospital in Entwine.

Not discouraged in the least, and fully recovered by morning, Princess Celestia gave an exquisite show of magic, raising the Sun before crowds of citizens gathered at dawn by the hospital. She then proceeded to heal all the sick in the hospital, and cheered by the crowds, she pledged not to cease her efforts until she makes Topside flourish.

The article then proceeded to recall our endeavors so far, and made vague guesses based on opinions of zebras I'd never heard about, on when, if at all, would we marry.

I was halfway through my corn, when suddenly I felt lightness, euphoric light-headedness, I felt floating a little over the seat...

“Uh-huh, I wonder if it's my brother or his wife.” Nadir chuckled. Myself, I was momentarily tempted to ask Nadir to run away with me... but sanity prevailed.

“Let's hurry to the castle. Zephyr, Storm, join us later. Ready to soar, Nadir?”

“Uh... yes?”

Still not feeling stable enough to cast group teleport safely, but feeling unusually light and flighty, and unburdened able to lift a lot more than normally, I grabbed Nadir with my magic, ran off the rim of the cliff overlooking Old Entwine, and soared directly to the southern wing of the palace.

I could easily sense my horse collar. Unlike my hoof-overs or the tiara, it's not a thing I could just lose. I soared weightlessly over the orchards and the gardens, then landed on a balcony just outside the room where I sensed my collar was, placing somewhat shaken Nadir by me. I knocked on the glass of the balcony door.

A servant opened the door just a little bit, telling us “Prince Zenith is indisposed.” Nadir put his hoof in the door and smirked at the servant. The servant balked and stepped away. We walked in.

There was Prince Zenith looking sickly on the bed of his fairly luxurious, if practical looking room. Unprepared for the burden, unable to find the proper mental attitude to make it bearable, he lay totally smashed. My horse collar lay by the bed.

“May I?” Nadir asked, smiling to me. I nodded.

“I'm... I'm sorry.” Zenith squeezed his eyes shut.

“Now, now, bro, wearing my marefriend's jewelry”, Nadir teased, then lifted the collar onto his own neck, then stood straight, momentarily tense but calm. Zenith was gasping with relief, struggling to his hooves.

“Heavy, isn't it?” Nadir smirked.

I saw Zenith regain composure. He stood ready to deliver some apology or something, then he made a double take, staring at my legs.

Oh yes, I was standing on a fluffy carpet. On the tips of the thin, long hairs of the carpet.

I walked up to him, my hooves barely touching the carpet. I bowed my mouth to his ear.

“Now you know. There is no need to talk about it.”

I recovered the horse collar from Nadir and somewhat regretfully put it on my neck, my hooves immediately sinking into the carpet.

“Princess.” Zenith looked into my eyes. “May I ask you, so that when my son takes the throne, you let him wear this for a day? Every ruler should feel it upon their neck, to fully understand their role and responsibility. And now, that I know... I can't have anything but deepest respect for you.”

“With attitude like yours, it would break your son's neck before the Sun sets. Lighten up, Prince Zenith. Your brother didn't have much trouble wearing it now, did he? With courage and confidence, trust, friendship and hope this burden is quite bearable.

“But never light.” He lowered his head.

“Bearable.”

* * *

I spent the afternoon in the palace library, with access to all the historical documents about the old disputes between our countries, accompanied by Twilight. Confronting the opposite accounts I was able to easily discern which side was right... slightly ashamed, I was noticing my own mistakes of the old, summarily Equestria owing to Hippotigria more than vice versa. There were still some entries where the accounts were in conflict. We'd have to visit the communities personally and resolve that there. But the count of disputed regions on our border dropped from over thirty to three or four - Nadir should be able to resolve one of the remaining ones on the spot. When he's back, that is.

Nadir and Zenith attended their courts. Zenith would judge Purse and his helpers. He expressly opposed my presence, saying my written testimony would be quite sufficient, and my presence would introduce completely unnecessary bias. Besides, my testimony was only one of many, and not nearly the heaviest. Purse was wanted for a long time, and even my bid for mercy would not hold enough weight against his numerous past crimes. That I learned from the elder librarian helping me find the needed documents.

Meanwhile, Nadir's task in court was more pleasant, though harder. At least a dozen of different small-time criminals of Topside turned themselves in willingly, claiming they want to leave the way of crime, serve their sentences and start anew with clean accounts. One outright claimed he doesn't want Princess Celestia to be disappointed with him. Nadir told me this is all right, most of them honestly mean that, but some might have done it just to get away with their crimes lightly, so he'd have to discern, which ones... not nearly as easy to determine as whether Purse was a murderer or not.

Twilight just finished taking notes for me, when the two princes entered. I invited them to our table and presented my findings, then we began transforming them into written law. Nadir was transferring the spoken entries into language of law with trained efficiency , writing down the Zebraic versions, me translating to Poni, Twilight writing it down, while Zenith was just checking the notes over and again, listening with disbelief.

“You're giving away at least two hundred square miles of land in total. Just like that. Not a word of protest, regret, no demands of any kind.” he muttered, while reviewing an especially big swath of land, Crow Peak, a whole mountain of at least fifteen square miles.

“No, I'm not giving anything away. That land was never mine to begin with. I'm just straightening out mistakes in the paperwork. Making the documents match the reality.”

“Making the...” Zenith sighed. “For ages we were taught the documents are THE reality. That if the world is different than what the documents say, the world must be changed. I always frowned upon this approach, but then I thought, who am I to change the ways of my ancestors?”

“It's healthier this way, don't you think, bro?” Nadir grinned, the quill still in the corner of his mouth.

I kissed Nadir's other mouth corner. “Now the somewhat harder part comes. The next batch is the land that got settled illegally. Of course we don't want to throw the settlers out, some of them live there for a century or longer. So I tried to match land values and prepared offers of mutual exchanges. The last bit is a few uninhabited areas that rightfully belong to Equestria, but I'm offering them in exchange for parts of Hippotigria settled illegally by ponies, as there are more of these than frontiers of Equestria settled by Zebras.”

Nadir reviewed the entries quickly, and approved. Zenith was double-checking them.

“You know now I should really start bargaining and demand more in the exchange?” he raised his eyebrows.

“Yes, but that wouldn't be fair.”

“It's trade, not justice. The concept of “fair” is far more lax.”

“But you won't. You know I have prepared the calculation in good faith, with intention to have it solved with no hiccups. I set the values at about what we'd agree upon in case both sides are bargaining. You'd abuse my trust by demanding more, and next time we try to resolve a conflict you'd face my full strength as a negotiator. You'd face an uphill battle instead of a satisfactory solution ready for your signature.”

“You are perfectly right. I have another question though.” He rested his hooves on the table. “What about Princess Luna? What would she think about this exchange?”

“Now by this question you have earned a lot of respect from me. Many forget that my sister has equal power in all of Equestria's matters. But in this case you don't have to worry. These are border issues, and Luna has delegated all the border issues responsibilities to me. The borders have changed quite a bit over the last thousand years, and she didn't quite catch up on all the subtleties since then, especially that she's busy with many other things, so I'm the one to handle everything concerning the borders and most of foreign affairs.”

“Allow me to ask... did you delegate any responsibilities of your own to your sister fully?”

“Education, science and research. She's in charge of almost all schools, grants, researchers, and so on. She's much better at that than me. I'm still in charge of the School for Gifted Unicorns, but that's only one school in the big Equestria. To be honest, Luna was seriously disappointed in the state of affairs she found upon her return, and not without a reason.”

“She's left to rule alone for the time of your visit?”

“I trust her.”

“She did disappoint you once.”

“Due to my own error. I will not repeat it.”

Zenith was checking my notes with the map for a while, he suggested some quite cosmetic adjustments, which I approved, then as Nadir finished writing everything down, I sent the treaty through dragon fire to Luna to sign. It was back no more than five minutes later, and the three of us signed it too. Zenith passed it to a scribe to make copies, and ordered to have it released to the public when the copies are ready. Then he invited us for dinner. Just the seven of us - me, Nadir and Zenith with his wife, Twilight and two Nadir's friends.

...my first proper meal in Hippotigria. Snacks in the Topside were all right, but I really could use a formal dinner.

It was royal. Various sprouts with buttered baguettes for appetizer. Spicy soy goulash soup. Mixed fruit dumplings in cream. Breaded parasol mushroom hats fried with molten smoked cheese and cranberry jelly sandwiched between them. Thick puff pastry turnovers stuffed with spicy mushroom, cabbage, and various pickled vegetables, with a selection of dips and sauces. Steam-boiled bread with honey, chestnut and plum sauce. And for dessert - a single watermelon-sized grape infused with dozens of various juices, honey, and delicacies, cut into pieces for all of us to enjoy - the fruit of the “Mother Vine”. One of oldest vines spanning Entwine would bear this fruit - only five to seven grapes every year, and the grace to try it was a rare privilege of the royal family and chosen nobles. That's what Zorana told me about it.

“I thought it's ivy that spans the canyon,” I asked her, “and ivy doesn't bear fruit.”

“Oh, a common simplification.” She began explaining with enthusiasm reaching beyond mere learned knowledge. “There are five different giant plant species that give Entwine the name. Two species of ivy, most common Bigleaf that gives us most of the shade and Titan Ivy that forms the great bridges. Some branches of the canyon are overgrown with a species of bindweed called Heaven Bells that gives little shade but grows absolutely wondrous blue bell flowers later in the spring, giving us abundance of honey. And there are two species of vine, Vine of Forefathers with somewhat smaller, dark, extremely sour, overly abundant fruit that is used as ingredient for countless purposes in potions, tanning, medicine, but is far too sour to be used as any kind of food, and the rare Mother Vine, from which only one plant bears scarce fruit, and even that only due to extreme care of very talented gardeners.”

I had to admit, the grape was delicious, and the pockets of various taste from infusions were giving it an extreme variety of tastes. I complimented the dish, then asked Zorana “You certainly seem knowledgeable in these?”

“Oh, yes. My family prides itself in it. I originate from the noble family of Keepers of the Mother Vine, it's my heirloom, and I'm one of only three zebras who can prepare elusive recipes from the Mother Vine grapes. I'm so proud and glad that you like it...” she broke off.

I thought I saw tears in the corners of her eyes. I put my hoof on her shoulder gently. “Tell me.”

“Oh, just old, silly foalish dreams.”

For a brief moment I met Zenith's eyes, and they were soft, caring, unlike his common stern self.

“Tell me.”

“I just wish I had any more useful talents. There is nothing more I could demand from life for myself... but there's so little I can give in return. Preparing a dessert for a dinner five to seven times in a year... not a very useful skill. I'm a decorative article. Oh, forget it, I'm rambling. It's silly, there are so many zebras with real problems, and here I am complaining about having too little work.”

“Zorana tried quite a few other occupations,” Zenith explained, “but she only got results with the grapes. They are her special talent. Despite her best intentions, the effects in all other domains were rather... underwhelming.”

“Disastrous.” She shook her head. “Disastrous is the correct word.”

Nadir nodded, a shade of smile in the corner of his mouth, apparently recalling the events.

I was lost in thought for a while, then I found Twilight staring at Zorana’s cutie mark. I looked at it too. Six black dots forming an upside-down pyramid. Six thick, black dots...

“Have you tried experimenting with these more common, dark grapes?” Twilight asked her.

Zenith frowned a little.

“Uh... not really. They...” she struggled for expression.

“The Commoners’ Grapes?” Zephyr smirked. “That would be quite improper, wouldn't it?”

“If Princess Celestia can fight crime in the Topside, I can certainly try cooking with the Commoners' Grapes.” Zorana planted her hoof on the table as firmly as Fluttershy usually does.

Zenith shook his head and sighed, but he didn't say a word.

* * *

There I was, on Nadir's bed, a neat small red ball gag in my mouth being definitely useful. Zecora's potion curbed my magical destruction, but I was still rather on the noisy side. And Nadir was returning the favor for all the breaks we'd take when I'd take care of him without receiving anything in return. The secret passage behind the mirror in my room was leading straight to his bedroom, no need to teleport.

“I should really tie you down,” sounded from under my tail. “I can't keep going with you writhing like this. I was taking lessons how to do it right, but I was training on an immobile gourd.”

Oh yes, did I mention I was writhing and thrashing from multiple orgasms?

His tongue sunk in me again and he reached that very special spot, his tongue tip drawing small circles over it. I couldn't hold back, writhing and kicking.

I think one of my kicks connected.

“Enough is enough.” he stood up from the bed and picked up his sash.

I stared at him. No, don't stop!

He crawled onto the bed and wrapped my hind legs in the sash, tightening two hoops holding them together. Then he pulled the loose end to my front legs and put them through another two hoops. He pulled on my tail and put it through a gap in the part connecting front and hind hooves. “There.”

“Nadir, I... I'm not sure...” I whimpered, removing my gag for a moment using my magic.

“Your horn still works just fine, you just removed your gag.” he said, while replacing it in my mouth and securing the strap behind my neck. “You can remove the bonds just the same at any time. But if you can't keep yourself from kicking me, they are to stay in place.

I nodded and lay calmly on my side.

Oh!

His tongue found that place again. And moments later I was coming over and over, whimpering through the gag, struggling in my bonds, my labia pulsing rapidly, and my mind wandering through weirdest dream-like visuals, blank from pleasure. No, there was no way I could use my magic while in this state. Not that I wanted. Totally unable to focus on anything but the orgasm. An evil creature like Discord or Chrysalis would find me entirely defenseless.

And Nadir kept licking restlessly. How long did it last? Half an hour?

Finally cramp-like spasms began making my backside ache, and Nadir gave my labia a soft, tender kiss, letting my continuous orgasm fade and pass into a wonderful afterglow.

I felt him crawl up behind me, removing my gag using his mouth.

“May I get in?” he asked.

I hesitated.

“I'll be quick and gentle.”

“Okay. Just don't try to give me another. That was almost too much.”

He kissed my neck and I felt his tip against my wonderfully aching labia. They parted for him without any resistance, and he slipped in, giving out a delighted purr. He nibbled on my neck and bucked his hips lightly. His tip slid near my cervix, never passing into the zone of discomfort.

This time it was him taking his pleasure, using my inside for his own delight, taking without giving, seeking his own relief... with me bound, exhausted and powerless, still shuddering from fatigue. I could feel his tip flaring, stretching my tired, sore insides too overworked to give more than powerless throb. His hips moving faster, his tip flaring harder, his breath catching in his throat.

Taken advantage of?

By Nadir?

I shut my eyes tightly, grinding my teeth. Then my insides clenched. I felt the powerful throb inside, a wave of his semen perceptible through his flesh, flowing to his tip.

I cried out, quietly, as the orgasm hit. A guilty, ashamed, broken orgasm squeezed my insides as they milked his shaft, greedily demanding more of his semen, holding him in, caressing his maleness which was still spurting more, a wave after wave filling me.

I lay, whimpering, crying.

He retreated immediately, held me, whispering his care and worry, asking what happened.

“Just a bad cramp,” I lied.

He didn't believe me, but he didn't press the issue. As he lay spooned to my back, everything was all right again, and I snuggled up closer to him, and loved having his hooves around my neck, and his breath in my mane. I drifted off to sleep, the comfort chasing sadness away.

* * *

I tried to slip out from his embrace without waking him up, but the shine of his eyes from under his eyelids and a smile on the corner of his mouth meant I failed. He wasn't one to sleep in, but first dawn was still too early for him.

“Sleep. I'll just handle the sunrise and I'm back.” I whispered, then trotted to my chamber through the secret passage.

Washing, brushing the mane and tail... my upper back definitely needed more thorough cleaning, disadvantages of spooning right after sex... Tiara, hoof-overs, horse collar. Now, that I knew I had a choice, that the curse wasn't my own alone to bear, wearing it felt easier. A duty, not a sentence.

I walked up to the window. There was a rather big crowd gathered in front of the palace. Well, sorry to disappoint but it will be half an hour past the sunrise when the valley gets its first sunlight, and I prefer the view onto some far, flat horizon when doing it. Raising from the bottom of a bowl - emergencies only.

I soared from the window, and flew up circling slowly around the valley, beating my wings until I had the farthest horizon well within my reach. Now I could see all of Entwine from above for the first time. Barren mountains on the west, dry desert on the east. A network of crevices, enormous cracks in the desert leading from the mountains to the main canyon, most originating from multiple mountain valleys spilling into the tongue of desert reaching between two mountain ranges. I could see the dam and a lake far up the river, deeper into the mountains, and the railway line leading northeast into the desert. Other than deep green of the ivy filling the canyon, the terrain was all the same browns, oranges and grays of the barren world... with the exception of Old Entwine, one circle of green, an oasis in the mountains.

I leveled my flight and concentrated on the sun. The wind was making my mane flutter along my neck, as I pulled the orb from its night resting place and put it in motion for its daily journey. This always filled the world with lots of free magic, magic related to birth, creation and growth.

Concerning birth... I recalled something I forgot yesterday. It felt sacrilegious, to use this magic to kill Nadir's seed within my womb, instead of using it for fertility. But he promised, when we're married...

And then my heart fluttered in fear as I recalled my magic scooping the poison out of his blood not even two days ago. And the same magic failing to scoop the poison from blood of another zebra.

I turned back and soared low over Entwine, back to the castle.

And there I saw it, near one of major roads exiting the canyon and turning into a major Topside artery, there was the old, long-forgotten structure.

Gallows.

Three bodies were hanging on them. I recognized the bigger, bulkier shape in the middle.

A chill ran through my skin. I knew he deserved it. I still remembered him laying his weight on my back. How he did it with trained efficiency. How he didn't even frown at the thought that, was I just a common zebra, the poison would have killed me within another minute or two, and he'd finish off inside my corpse. I knew one of the other two nearly killed Nadir. And still, I couldn't accept their death.

Who were they? What events, what failures of the society shaped them that way?

Maybe if, instead being snotty and smug about beating Prince Veth at his own game, I could have guided him by example, to help him reshape the society of Entwine, to prevent this atrocity from ever coming to be?

Now, for these, it was too late. But late as I was, I got things rolling, and I'd see them to the end. So that no pony or zebra would have to be hanged. So that none would deserve it.

So far it wasn’t that hard. There is an inherent good in all of us, and you only need to make the life bearable, opportunities reachable, give us a chance and hope, and we will let that spark of good surface. If you lead a simple life, you really desire to to lead a simple and honest life, and you will, given the chance. But there are influences that corrupt. Power, wealth, control. Some become drunk with these, addicted. They tend to forget our primal, equine desire to do good. Dealing with these is much harder and I would have to deal with them soon.

I glided lower, descending towards the palace, passing over the scorched city. I could see some zebras already out, working - pausing their work to wave, salute or bow to me. I almost rubbed my belly over the roof of the restaurant where Nadir got me the corn, then as I passed the rim, I gained speed, soaring over the lake and heading for my room's balcony.

The crowd cheered, despite missing the sunrise, the valley still basking in deep shadow. Oh well, tomorrow they'll know better. I may even ask for some suggestions on a location...

I stopped on the balcony and bowed to the crowds, then walked back inside, then through the passage.

Nadir was awake, though still on the bed, his face in a blissful, dazed smile as I entered.

“What?” I asked seeing his dreamy expression.

“Do you have any idea how beautiful you are in the morning?”

“umm, thanks?” I lay by him and we kissed.

“Take me under your wing. I totally love when you do that.”

I did.

We kissed once more. Then we went back to sleep.

The Past

The past

My inbox was full of appeals against my sister's decisions. I looked through them, starting from the top.

Skyship dock. Budget reduction against previous year. Reason for change: adjustment to real expenditures. Reason for appeal: the budget won't suffice for normal operation after executive bonuses are paid. Oh, of course, special bonus for doing exactly what you're paid to do, right? Appeal rejected and let them only try to pay these bonuses, they will be in trouble!

Coffee importers association. Appeal against additional quality checks. Reason for checks: abysmal drop of coffee quality. Reason for appeal: they were never required to, also, coffee not meeting minimum standards will need to be destroyed instead of mixing it in with higher quality, which is a waste and loss of profit. Wait, so you got a ton of coffee moldy, so you mix it with ten tons of good coffee and the blend is no longer substandard? Oh, you! Appeal rejected.

Opera fan club. Budget reduction against previous year. Reason for reduction: wasteful spending. Reason for appeal: Continued operation of the subsidized club café serving sweets and drinks to the club members for free will necessitate more than halving the number of performances the club members will organize. Considering that about all of the club members are rich elite of Canterlot, there is really no reason for ponies to subsidize their cakes. Appeal rejected, and I suggested raising membership fees if the café is to remain free, which would keep hubbub from joining the club for free cupcakes.

Fillydelphia Water and Sewage Works. Massive budget reduction and group layoffs. Reason: reorganization of administration department. Reason for appeal: The new budget will prevent the institution from operating after all the severance packages are paid. I checked the list of laid off. Curiously, only two surnames on two pages filled with names, and all identical as the president and his son's wife. All in the institution's administration. All earning at least three times the technical crew salary. Now we can't pay them extra just to stop their wrongdoings, can we? Appeal accepted. Case of suspicion of nepotism filed with Fillydelphia court. Luna tried to show you the way, and you reject it? You will pay premium.

Miamare winter wrap up budget reduction. Ten thousand bits for team suits design, twenty thousand bits for modernizing shovel models, a million bits for snowplows? What happened to the ones purchased a year ago? Luna attached a note that an investigator is already working on the case, and that the town got all of two inches of snow this winter, and it all melted by now. Appeal rejected.

I accepted only two more appeals from a pile of about three hundred, and in both cases the court would have a closer look and likely get the appealers to pay fines far, far higher than their expected profits.

And there was a cherry on top, or in this case on the bottom of the inbox. Luna's project of a tax reduction act. With the new budget cuts not only all overdue projects got their funding, we could cut the taxes for all honestly working ponies. Just by one percent this year, but Luna expected next year the taxes could be reduced more.

For the first time in the past thousand years taxes would be reduced in Equestria. Wow. I had to hug Luna. I flew up to her tower, hoping I would not intrude on her and her man together... but no, as I knocked on the balcony door frame, she asked me to come.

She was apparently in bad mood. Worried. Light was there too, typing on a terminal by her desk. He greeted me, but he was just as worried, if not more. He paused his typing and observed.

“Sis, is something wrong?” I asked.

“Yes and no, sis. It's good you came, maybe you'll come up with something.” She led me to her desk. “Last year you approved Hippocampus Research to investigate acquiring magic from burning coal. They've been successful. Too successful.”

“What do you mean by 'too successful'”?

“Just look at this.” she gave me a big binder with a Hippocampus picture on the front page. “This is their report. Look at the possible applications.” she opened it at relevant page.

Instant light much brighter than candles. Faster-than-rainboom transport. Machinery. Appliances. Heating. Self-powered carts. The list ran on and on.

“That seems wonderful, sis! I don't know why you'd worry!”

“That was my reaction at first too. But it caused Light almost to panic.”

“Some external insights?”

“He asked me for estimates. Simulations. This is not sustainable. We'd run out of coal eventually and we'd be too dependent on it by then. The results could range from a deep crisis to a downfall of Equestria.”

“Oh! Are you sure?”

“I am not. Light is. And how would I even break this kind of news to enthusiastic researchers who put so much heart into making Equestria better?!”

“Northern Light?” I approached the human.

He bowed. He knelt. He wouldn't kneel in front of me for quite a long time already, but now...

He bowed his head to the ground.

“Princess Celestia, I beg you! Stop this disaster.”

“Luna, all these applications require spark energy, right? And that doesn't need to originate from coal, does it?”

“That's true, sis. A unicorn can propel them by passing energy directly from the horn.”

“So let's scrap the whole coal avenue and look for something sustainable that produces the same results. Solar energy maybe? Coal will be allowed only in experimental phase, no publicly available appliance can run on exhaustible resources.”

“I think I can agree to that.” Luna shrugged.

*glomp*

“Light!?” I peeled him off my neck. “There is really no need. It's nothing!”

“Oh, no, Princess! It's everything!”

“Now just don't start kissing my hooves.”

It seems I stopped him halfway from doing that...

“Come here.” Luna pulled him with her levitation, then held him with her wing. “Too close. Mine.”

“You're really too possessive, sis.” I grinned.

“Am I?” she directed the question at him.

He embraced her and shook his head. “I always lacked self-confidence, self-esteem. You can't imagine what ego boost it gives me when Luna gets this possessive!”

“Oh, concerning ego boost... Luna, I reviewed the appeals against your decisions. I rejected most of them.”

“Most?” she seemed concerned.

“Some ponies really don't know when to give up. They... I... I had a true lesson in value of mercy in Entwine. If they can't appreciate your mercy, they don't deserve it.”

“Sis?” Luna was surprised and worried.

“We'll talk about this sometime. For now, I just wanted to say... sis, I'm proud and happy. And I'd like to ask you to handle all budget issues from now on. You're way, way better at that than me.”

“Seriously?” she gasped in surprise. “I mean... it's just simple math! Some linear programming, some comparative statistics, a little differential calculus, optimization, nothing hard really!”

“You realize I have no clue what you're talking about?”

“You don't? Are you serious? What have you been doing at miss Acute's lessons?”

“Mostly staring at the blackboard... blankly... You realize I've been copying your homeworks and passed only thanks to Acute Angle's poor eyesight and notes written on my hooves?”

“You were cheating at the maths exam?” Luna appeared almost outraged.

“Luna, that was almost four thousand years ago!” I hunched my shoulders.

“And now four thousands years later you harvest the results! You accept any ridiculous budget they throw at you! Sis, I'm so disappointed in you! This cannot be. I'm going to teach you maths, starting now and that's final!”

My cheeks were burning. What did I do to deserve this?! Luna, have mercy!

But wait! I-dea! I have something to distract her!

“All right, sis, but first... I have a letter for you! Just a moment!” I teleported away to my room and began digging through papers I brought from Entwine. Here it is! A quick flash back to Luna's room and there I was, sheepishly passing the ornate scroll with a big, decorative seal. She took it tentatively. She peered at that seal.

“Is that me in that coat of arms?” she frowned.

“I don't know any other alicorns with moon for a cutie mark.” I smiled.

She broke the seal and opened the scroll. Her eyes grew bigger. “An invitation? A lecture? But what could I even talk about? They must be ahead of Canterlot Chair of Mathematics by strides!”

“They exchange mail with the University of Canterlot on regular basis, so no, there isn't all that much of a difference. And Professor... whatshisname... was very interested in your computational machine.”

“Oh, this! But it's flawed! It's full of my errors and Light's patches on them! How could I ever...”

“Luna, darling.” Light spoke, still embracing her. “What fun is there to hear of research that is final and complete. Give them something to work on. We can build model 2.0 together with them, not secretly and not on such an insane schedule. Better, faster and without old errors.”

“Light, why do I have a feeling you qualified the word “errors” with “old” for a reason?”

He grinned. “Because there will be new ones. There always are. Trust me on this.”

“Sis, this is such a wonderful news...” Luna smiled. “But unfortunately I cannot accept. I must stay and teach you maths.”

My wings drooped to the floor.

“Oh, Luna.” Light hugged her. “Cut your sister some slack. You don't need to teach her everything right away, and you don't have to be teaching her all the time!”

I nodded eagerly.

“I'm sure Twilight and I can be teaching Celestia whenever you can't!”

No! You traitorous human! Noooo!

* * *

“The Great and Powerful Trixie does not consent to being treated like this! This is an outrage!”

“Oh, just shut up. You're giving me a headache.”

I observed the two from behind a mirror. Sir Fancypanyts and Trixie weren't getting along very well. Two only somewhat likely suspects. Let's start with the obnoxious one. My voice changed through a special talisman requested her to move to adjacent interrogation room. She moved there, her pace filled with indignity. I cast the spell of truth seeing, and concentrated on reading it right, as I entered the room in company of Luna and Shining Armor.

“Please excuse us for the treatment,” I said. “This is a matter of national security.”

Presence of both of us set her a little aback, but she hid it and tried to appear indignant. “Do you require Trixie's help in this? Trixie thinks she can help... for a price.”

“What do you know about Starswirl's Evertorch?” Luna asked, ignoring the magician's offer.

“Information has its value too,” she replied, frowning. I had to put my hoof on Shining's shoulder as he was about to blurt something out. He calmed down.

“Can you make one?” Luna asked.

“That depends.” She replied. The spell tingled, convincing me she lied, but it never said how.

“What would you need?”

“No less than three... no, four hundred bits! And my magical toolbox!”

“Captain, please bring the items she requested.”

We waited as Shining left. Trixie fiddled on the hard chair under cool stare of Luna and me. She was sweating a little. She removed her hat and pushed it to her chest. She swallowed.

“Of course if it's a matter of national security, Trixie is willing to... offer some discount.”

“Money is of no merit,” Luna replied.

We sat in silence some more. Shining returned with a pouch of coins and a small chest with Trixie's cutie mark on the lid. She gulped, then she got to work. No notes, no introductory spells. There was a blank talisman in her box and she got to drafting runes around its edge. Soon I recognized it's not the evertorch she was making though. That was a normal candle talisman, with some runes that would allow it to draw from power of its creator. Sure it would work like the Evertorch as long as Trixie lives, then it would expire with her death.

“Note we are only interested in the genuine Starswirl's Evertorch, the one that can burn indefinitely by gathering its own charge from the aetherus portal on its reverse side. We are not interested in inferior substitutes of minor talismans of flame with their own pre-charge”, Luna commented.

Trixie swallowed a bit, then shook her head. “You are getting the one and only Evertorch, with Trixie's proprietary improvements, superior to the original in all respects!”

“Not the original?” I asked.

“Why would you ever want that? Here, just let me give it an initial charge...”

Trixie's horn shone and soon the talisman erupted with a small candle-like flame.

Luna smirked. “Now to replicate the conditions we require, I shall damage the limit ward. What will happen?”

“Don't!” Trixie waved her hooves. “It will... It will...”

I smirked. “How would you go about creating a permanent portal to Aetherus?”

“I would... I would first create a temporary portal and then use it to power itself up.”

Which was true, that's what she'd do if she had a clue how to create a temporary portal. And which was entirely wrong, the portal far too prone to closing itself spontaneously, needing far more complex solution. Trixie had no clue how to create the Evertorch. She had some talent but nowhere near enough for that task, and I could sense the truths and falsehoods from her too sharply to ever consider her trying to cloud my truth detection spell.

“You're free to go,” I said.

“Wait! Give Trixie a chance! I can do it! I'll just need...”

“You can keep the gold. And...” Luna rapidly smashed the talisman, startling the magician, “no need to drain your magic for the rest of your days for measly four hundred bits. How many such talismans are eating at you all around Equestria?”

Trixie looked at her, with surprising hardness in her eyes. “This does not need to concern the Princess. And as Princess is not satisfied, Trixie will not take the money.”

“Humor me, answer the question,” Luna insisted.

Trixie hesitated, but she wouldn't dare to refuse the answer. “Four. Two keeping hearts of old ponies beating, one is cleansing water for a far household, and one is keeping a young filly smiling, guarding her dreams. They are no burden for Trixie.”

“How much did you charge?”

“Two hundred bits for the water cleansing talisman.”

“And the other three?”

Trixie remained silent.

Luna smiled. “You're in debt, aren't you?”

Trixie wanted to refuse the answer again, but I saw how she rethinks that. “Yes.” she stated flatly.

“Keep the money,” Luna smiled, “Keep them as a reward for two talismans that keep hearts of ponies beating. And have a bit of your power back. I'll take care of the dreams of the filly from now on. You're free to go.”

“But if you ever fall on hard times,” I sent her a smile, “Report to me. Hippotigria needs unicorns skilled in healing. The pay would be moderate, but the gratitude of the healed immeasurable.”

Trixie bowed, gathered her chest and the pouch and headed to the exit. Meanwhile, Shining Armor went to bring sir Fancypants in.

I exchanged a glance with Luna. She frowned.

The two walked in. Fancypants looked me straight in the eyes. He took the seat as Shining returned to his place.

We sat in silence for a while.

Finally, he coughed quietly. “It doesn't look very good, does it?” he asked.

“You're the last remaining suspect,” I answered.

“I will understand if you lock me up, Princess. If a random pony approached me and asked me to create an evertorch, I wouldn't even blink. It would take me a week or two, and I'd charge several thousands bits for my time, but I wouldn't even ask what they need it for. Still, if that was the case I wouldn't hesitate a second to testify against them if they used the talisman for such nefarious purpose.”

“I want to believe you, Fancypants. I really do.”

“I understand. I know you can't risk being wrong about letting me go. Still, I bid you. Don't cease searching. I'm not the one. If you just lock me up, and stop there, the real culprit will go free.”

“Captain?” I turned my head to Twilight's brother.

“As long as we don't have direct proofs, you're merely under arrest. Still, would it be much of a problem if we announced to the public that the culprit was caught? This might encourage Xaroth to make a move.”

I saw pain in Fancypants' eyes. “My reputation, the estate, the foundations...” he sighed, then raised his head. “Do it. Truth will prevail.”

“It will, one way or another.” Shining nodded. “For now, please, follow me. I'll try to make your stay as tolerable as possible.”

* * *

Why is it that Tutor and Torture sound so much alike? At least I could now predict efficiencies accurately, and spot discrepancies between expectations and reality, to investigate possible fraud. One of many things I learned in recent months. I had to give it to Luna, she was a great teacher, though merciless. Miss Acute Angle would be satisfied if I knew half of the material. Luna required I repeat until I know it all, and would often go back to older subjects to check if I didn't forget.

Tiring.

Between politics, planning for the wedding and learning maths, my life wasn't leaving me much time. I'd exchange letters with Nadir daily, and after I'd excel in given test, Luna would reward me with a few days off, and I'd just fly to Nadir's secret cottage near Entwine and we'd spend a few days without distractions of the outside world.

And month by month, I was getting more plots drafted by Blueblood's crew on the Moon. New report just arrived, and Luna used the opportunity to drill some more of peak output estimating. So there I was in my room hunched over a parchment, drafting new columns of digits, a tiny computer - “calculator” provided by Luna mercifully for my aid on the side, and the previous reports stacked on the other side. I was running through a newly-learned method of prediction, with Luna monitoring my progress. I confirmed the expected peak output at 1050 plots per month, and somewhat surprised, I noticed the prospectors wouldn't approach that number, their last four reports consistently with 823, 825, 826, 826 plots. I scratched my head. Luna ran the calculations quickly, making only rudimentary notes.

“Celestia, just to make sure you got this task perfected, assume my great-grandson is slacking off and not doing his part.” she smiled. “It's going to be easier and you can reuse a good part of the prior calculation.”

I returned to the paper and tried again. Negative output? Oh, I forgot to switch the sign. I corrected the mistake and Luna smiled, approvingly. New factors. Series. Calculate the limit... 819 plots.

“So he's not doing entirely nothing. Just very little.” Luna grinned. “I think I'll pay him a visit...”

“That might be reasonable.” I nodded.

“Now there are three more budget reports I found dubious. Find the leaks and if you make no mistake, I can take over for you for this weekend.”

“Three?! I hoped there would be just one more!”

“Celestia,” Luna frowned. “You're getting between five and thirty of those every day. And if you don't believe me that you can get fluent at solving them, I can rewrite that as a task and you'll calculate your own peak output at calculating peak outputs.”

“Whole weekend?”

“Away friday afternoon, back monday morning.”

“Late monday morning?”

“Noon. But no later than that.”

I unrolled the parchment and began writing down the entries as input variables, then concentrated at picking the right method.

Luna frowned.

Oh. No nibbling on the pencil. That's un-princess-like.

Math is hard.

* * *

I finished re-reading my yesterday's notes and repeated the theorems from memory, as the expected knock on the door came.

“Come in, Luna.” I called out. Routine, hardships, effort of learning... but I was still looking forward to spending the hour with my sister.

Luna walked in. Dragging her legs, head low down, her mane and tail without their usual lightness, hanging down, trailing after her. Her eyes were reddened from tears.

“Sis?” I asked, worried.

“It's nothing. Just old memories.”

“Tell me, Luna.”

“No. You'll start blaming yourself, and I'll have to kick your flank for that...” she grinned sourly. “I'll cope with that myself. Let's get on with the lesson.”

“As you wish,” I sighed.

“So,” Luna sat on the opposite side of my desk and opened the textbook. “I've decided to skip a whole bunch of classic mathematical analysis, I'm well aware you're not able to appreciate its beauty so I'm not going to torment you with learning it, but you need to learn this well instead. It's a dirty shortcut, which was just a crude, mostly useless theory a year ago, but currently, with the computer, it allows you to skip all the convolutions and intricacies of finding exact solutions at cost of accuracy. Discretization is a method of transforming a continuous function into a set of points of data...”

...and suddenly, without any warning, Luna burst into tears.

I ran up to her and hugged her. At first she returned the hug...

“Tell me, Luna. I want to help you...”

“No!” she pulled herself free from my embrace. “You won't understand!”

She turned and ran, her steps heavy, echoing far in the corridors of the castle.

At first I wanted to run after her, but then I thought again. I gathered energy and teleported myself to the sea shores, then ran up the curving path to Light's hut. I burst in without knocking.

Light was busy preparing milk for Tempus. He greeted me with a respectful nod, but there was some hardness in his gaze.

“Light, what happened to Luna?” I gasped out.

“She went to the moon. She recalled it all.”

“What happened?”

“The elements of harmony made her forget. The banishment, the despair, her fall... that was just a dull echo, unimportant, painless. Now it all returned to her in full clarity. She remembers now. And...” his voice trailed off, and he hesitated.

“Light? Tell me!” I shouted, my voice on verge of tears.

“She's afraid of you.”

“Why?”

He turned his head to me, his stare cold like a snake, filled with hostility, but his voice still completely calm.

“Guess.”

I recalled our battle. Her anger, her pain, and then...

“We must help her!”

“How are you going to help her? By making her forget again?”

“If that's what it takes...”

“No, Celestia. She's right to be afraid of you. Leave her alone.”

“I don't want to lose her again!”

“She has friends now. She will be fine.”

“I'm her friend too! Light!”

C&L

S.B.F.F.

I cried.

* * *

It was like that two weeks ago. Currently, Luna simply avoided me. Twilight would still tutor me on maths once a week, but we both were doing it half-heartedly. Luna appeared during the Summer Sun Celebration, and she vanished halfway through the ceremony. There was over a hundred of zebra guests, they cheered, they applauded, but when the celebration ended, I was worried sick. I found Luna in Starswirl's restricted wing of the library, ears deep in books. When I asked her about that, she said it's her own thing, her alone, and that I should not be concerned. She wouldn't cry anymore, but she was brooding, throwing me fearful glances. Her step lost springiness. I recalled it: that was the heavy stride of Nightmare Moon.

I visited Light again, asking him if he found any way to help Luna. His reply made me more worried than before, and explained nothing. He greeted me in the door of the cottage, without letting me in. He didn't appear hostile to me. He appeared sympathetic.

“I'm always faithful to Luna. I'd never betray her trust. I tried to change her mind, but this is too important for her, so I'm with her on this, and I'm endlessly sorry...” he saddened. “You deserve better. But there's nothing I can do. If Luna is to live, to get better, this is the only way.”

“What is she up to?! Light, is she turning into Nightmare Moon again?”

“No. Equestria is safe. Hippotigria... is safe too. If all goes well, if you look back in a few centuries, you'll see she was right.”

“But you wanted to change her mind!”

“I... have a soft heart. A thousand years, Celestia! I can't refuse her. I'm sorry.”

He wanted to close the door, but I held it with my hoof.

“Wait! Light, I beg you! Is there anything I can do?!”

“When the time comes... forgive her.”

With these words he closed the cottage door in my face.

* * *

Nadir was gone.

No pony nor zebra knew what happened. One day he went to sleep to his quarters and another day he went missing.

Of course the newspapers wrote he fled the wedding. But no, no letter, no message, no hint.

The next day I asked Luna for help finding him. And next thing she was gone too.

No hints. No trace. No witnesses. Nothing.

I tried locating her. My spell was actively blocked.

I checked Light's cottage. It was empty. No Light, no Tempus.

At least Twilight was still at the library, but while she was eager to help, she knew nothing. Luna knew how close she was with me, and while she remained friendly towards her, she never let her on her plans. Anyway, I asked her to gather her friends and be ready for my call. Filled with dread, I was afraid the Elements of Harmony would become necessary...

I was back to the castle after checking every place I could think of.

Time for an important test.

I lowered the Sun, quickly, simply, almost rushing it.

And I waited.

I waited.

A sliver of the Moon appeared from behind the horizon.

I breathed in relief.

Luna gone or not, Equestria still needed me governing it. I went back to my desk, to deal with my job. Luna's lessons weren't useless. I didn't even need to check every proposed budget, ponies simply learned I know how to calculate them and began giving me correct ones after I sent a few faulty ones back for corrections...

Still, there was a dozen other problems where I could really use Luna's help. Alas, alone again.

Another monthly report from the Moon. I checked correctness of the attached ledger, really sick of the job. 819 plots, all correct. The prank ceased to be funny. I put the ledger next to the others, rolled the report, placed it next to the others and took another document. Fillydelphia water and sewage works nepotism case. They want to call my sister as a witness...

I looked at my maths notebook with a kind of sadness. The lessons with Luna stopped after her visit to the Moon. Light and Twilight would still teach me, but Luna...

With a feeling of nostalgia I opened the notebook, flipping the pages, recalling Luna badgering me over every line. I really missed that. Linear programming. Statistics, lots of statistic. Differential calculus. Sequences. Predictions. I was repeating the rules in my head with a fondness, but I felt a tear in my eye.

I flipped another page of calculations.

Peak output of the moon prospectors team. 1050. Next try, crossing Blueblood out, 819.

The result at the bottom of the page sent a jolt up my spine. I unrolled the reports.

823, 825, 826, 826, 819.

I slammed the notebook shut and stuffed the reports back on their place. Then I opened the balcony and soared towards the rising Moon.

* * *

I soared over the grey, dull surface littered with craters and rare trails of hoofprints. There were occasional poles marking corners of large plots of land, roads connecting them, room left for communal facilities. A lot of honest work was put into this ridiculous endeavor. Still, the trails crossing over and meeting, makeshift campsites, this wasn't getting me anywhere closer to the solution.

I cast a spell of life detection and extended my senses... nothing within my range. I settled on top of a mountain, looking around, thinking.

Where are they?

Then I recalled: They began marking the edge of Mare Imbrium in last report. I flew up and located the enormous desert... but only a small part of it bore hoofprints. And there was life on the edges of my perception. The plots drafted here were more straightforward, no more fantasy flair like in the early ones. More... streamlined. And then there was this shallow cave, just an overhanging rock, where two ponies lay on worn bedrolls next to rudimentary camping equipment, a supply of poles and ledgers. One pony was sleeping, the other was writing in a ledger by a weak light of an oil lamp.

I landed by them quietly.

Diamond Quill interrupted his writing. He stood up and knelt, his long, unkempt mane in the dust.

“Princess...” his voice was ragged and weak due to air talisman he was wearing on his chest.

Petunia Plot stired, woke up, and seconds later she was kneeling by her companion, equally ragged, dirty and tired-looking. They stood there without a word, without daring to look up at me. A sight so pitiful I felt like crying.

“Stand up, my little ponies. There is no need to grovel. I see you've been doing your work honestly and with dedication.”

“Will you forgive us, Princess?” Diamond Quill asked, without ever raising his head or shifting his pose. “Please, forgive us! Please free us of this...” he hesitated and I was sure he wanted to use a word like “torment” or “torture”, but he just finished “...this duty.”

“Why, your contract says you can pack up at any time, with a month of severance.”

Petunia looked at me with wild eyes.

“This is not what our contract says, Princess!”

“Can you show it to me?”

She retreated, without daring to turn her back to me. It was in her duffel bag and she brought it to me.

I opened the paper, and scanned the terms. They were mostly the same but some mismatched what I'd written. In particular, it put a minimum of three percent of the job to be completed before the contract could be reneged, it put big punitive charges to be paid through contract time extension for failure to deliver results, and it prevented any communication other than reports and ledgers, under a similar punitive clause.

And the signature on the bottom was fake. It resembled mine by looks, but it lacked my standard magical wards.

I recalled myself passing all three contracts to Blueblood. He gave me signed copies later that day. I never checked them.

“You are free of your obligations, and you will be rewarded for the job completed so far appropriately.”

“Oh, no, Princess! Just bring us back home! We don't want any rewards, just... take us back!”

“I will, in just a moment, but for now where is Prince Blooblood?”

“At the Forbidden Cave, I suppose” said Diamond Quill. “He used to spend most of his time there since the discovery.”

“Lead me there.”

“Yes, Princess.” the two stirred and began packing things.

“Why are you packing?”

“It's three days of travel away!”

“There is no need to pack. I'll take you there, just show me the way.”

I levitated the two ponies and took off to the dark sky. After their first wave of panic subsided, Petunia began giving me directions.

At last I saw countless tracks converge at an entrance to a narrow ravine, barely wide for one pony to fit.

I stopped. I thanked them. Then I sent them back to the Canterlot Castle, adding a letter to the chamberlain to give them a generous reception.

I still owed them an apology. They didn't deserve that.

But now first things first. I hoped the cave looming deeper down the ravine held some answers...

Forbidden? Why?

Just in case, I raised a few spells of protection and approached the entrance.

I sensed a ward and a talisman it was bound to. But before that, I saw a stone tablet placed at the entrance to the ravine. It was set in the wall, decorative and engraved with fancy letters.

Only these of royal blood may enter.

There, a few steps further, the walls of the ravine were covered with soot.

I could smell burnt fur and flesh.

I analyzed the talisman and the tablet.

The tablet was new. Crafted by a unicorn magic no more than five months ago. Of course.

Starswirl's evertorch, fairly new too, with limit ward conditioned by a binding to a presence ward. Step in, get burned. No, there was nothing to detect royal blood. Still, I wondered, who got burned. It's not like Blueblood would step into his own trap...

Now, now...

I disarmed the ward and removed the talisman, holding it with my magic at a safe distance. I placed it aside, where it wouldn't hurt anypony.

I passed the sooty walls and proceeded to the dark entrance of the cave at the end of the ravine.

* * *

...a thousand years!

Sis, why haven't you told me?

I passed a simple lair. Soft sand, milled with hooves into fine dust from hundreds of years of use. A wall of notches. One month, one notch. Twelve thousands of them.

I walked along the cave, narrow curving corridors pressing on my flanks from sides, and suddenly the rough walls ended. I walked into a tiny chamber, what seemed like a balcony - with ornate balcony door leading inside the building ahead of me. I pushed the door open and stepped forward.

I entered an exact copy of Luna’s study in Penumbra castle. Made in such a minute detail... Rock lace on rock pillows on rock bed with rock drapes. I couldn't begin to imagine the patience needed to create this. Most of equipment was functional, though books on the shelves were solid bricks, and the windows merely painted, only the door to the balcony real.

But the other door, the one leading to the castle was real too. I pushed them open and proceeded through all-too-familiar corridors...

Down the stairs and through other chambers of the castle, reproduced with less detail, but still very accurately, I passed a forge and armory, where there lay a few hundreds swords, deadly blades of starmetal. Disused, abandoned, more than nine hundred years old, a discarded idea.

I passed out of the castle into a network of wide artificial tunnels made to resemble streets of the city of Penumbra, with houses painted on the walls in painstaking detail. I could see foal scratches on the doors and lace of drapes in the windows. I could feel the texture of the ancient city streets under my hooves. I could see the starry sky drawn between the roofs overhanging the streets, rust on drain pipes, a cat looking down from the upper floor window... for a while it felt like I was walking the old streets of the abandoned city.

But then I reached a street corner and there was a branch which was not finished. A tunnel reaching halfway the length of the street it was to resemble, a discarded starmetal rock pick left at its end, where I could see only the beginning of a street drawn in the piece dug up already... but I could sense the continuation.

The house drawn on the wall by the end was crooked. Half-burnt. There was a dead skeleton of a pony drawn in the window adjacent to the raw wall.

I turned back, and followed another street. Another crossroads and another dead end, abandoned after the nice calm began turning into mayhem of death.

Another turn, and another... after a while, I walked the full circle, all far edges of the city consumed by flames and corruption.

I turned to the center, where the houses were most detailed, most pretty.

The town market, unlike the empty streets, was filled with figures of ponies. Frozen mid their daily work, made in incredible life-like detail, so life-like I had to use my magic to verify these are just sculptures and not real ponies turned to stone.

I approached the fountain gurgling in the middle. A big ornate fountain with stylized sculptures of us two on the top, water flowing down from under our hooves. No water talisman, just a simple magical pump to circulate the water.

There is no water on the Moon. How was this fountain filled?

I tried the clear, pure water with my tongue.

Salty.

Us, alicorns, can't get suffocated, starved, or dehydrated. Our innate magic will supply components our bodies need from nothing.

We can never run out of tears.

* * *

For a while I sat there. I added more to the fountain.

I made sure to verify with my magic. The whole network of caverns was empty. No Luna, no Blueblood.

I walked all the way back the streets to the old castle of Penumbra, up its steps and back to Luna's chamber, then out, through the simple sleeping niche, into the ravine and onto a moon plain. Then I spread my wings and took up, back towards Equestria. Towards the ruins of Penumbra in the deep of the Everfree Forest, where it all began, then ended, and began again.

I descended upon the world, locating the shape of Equestria, then the Everfree Forest, then the Everfree City area, finally closing in on Penumbra. I descended upon the ruins...

...or what I expected to be ruins.

The city was alive. Night life of Penumbra was unequalled in any part of the world. Restaurants, clubs, theaters, schools... The city slept during the day, starting in the afternoon and closing down past dawn, to celebrate my sister and welcome her.

And it was there, alive, bustling with life. At least that was the surface. Yes, there were ruins, bog and shrubbery but the ghostly - ghastly illusion covered it all. Ponies drinking fancy cocktails in restaurants, pairs in love whispering to each other, traders encouraging to buy their wares. Brightly lit streets, signs in magical shining colorful ink...

I stood in the damp moss between three trees dripping with damp overgrowth of Everfree, and simultaneously I could see the ghost forms of houses around me, the street under my hooves, a small market with a few stands, neon sign of a musical show house...

“Princess Celestia?” I heard voice of a foal. I turned. There was a wee earth pony filly with white coat and golden mane. She had a basket of white lilies. She smiled to me. “Please, take a flower. You are my favorite princess, so you can take as many as you like, for free!”

The memory stung. Yes, that filly was there on that night. And she said the same thing. And she didn't live to see another sunset... My eyes filled with tears.

“Why are you crying, Princess Celestia? Is it something I said?” she pouted.

“No, you just reminded me of somepony I knew a long time ago.”

“Come, take the flower, please! It will make you feel better.” she held it by the stalk.

I lowered my head and she stuck the stalk under my crown, by my ear.

...and then and there the ghostly unreality was gone. I could sense the city was real. It had solid foundations. The ponies were alive. Solid and true. The filly smiled to me. She was there, flesh and bones.

No, the city didn't suddenly become true. It was true to begin with. Its ghostly image projected upon the ruins in the Everfree Forest, but this was... a separate timeline. A separate place, a chunk of our word partially chipped off and left hanging between worlds, alive and locked to this very night.

The morning would bring doom upon it.

The magic of moonrise would restore it, turn time back, make the splint of reality to relive its last day once again.

That was my sister's doing. She could not save it, but she put it in this limbo of ever-repeating doom, until...

...until no morning would come.

Every evening my sister would rise the city from ashes.

Every morning I would bring doom upon it with sunrise.

I fought the cold shiver that ran down my spine.

I made my way to the castle. Not nearly as glorious as Canterlot, it bore beauty I could not replicate. Smaller, tighter, as if shy, with small turrets and bigger towers, tall stained glass windows, bridges and stairs, corners and angles mixing with waves and curves, many shades of blue, it was the essence of my Sister. When projecting Canterlot I copied a lot of Penumbra castle, but I aimed for more flair, more impressive, magical look, and in the process I lost some of the homely beauty and warmth the Penumbra castle held.

My hooves led me through the streets the same route they went so many times. I was always a welcome guest here, bringing new shipping routes, new spells, new deposits, new inventions, new lands. Luna would care for the city and I would travel and seek out opportunities for ponies.

Until, at last, one day I would dare to tap into the resources upon which the city was founded, endless source of magical energy, which Luna then used to power her time reversal loop...

I could perceive the crevice under my hooves, across the barrier separating this splint from the main world of Equestria. This is where I dug the day before the fateful disaster, where the evil damaged the barrier and I awakened it. It was already awake, there, below, lurking, waiting for the morning, to emerge and destroy...

I crossed over the last section of the road to the castle and entered it. The castle was bustling with life as usually. An old servant bowed to me in the door.

“Princess Luna is in her study, together with her two guests, awaiting your arrival.”

“Her two guests?” I frowned.

“A handsome blonde unicorn stallion, and a noble tall zebra with an air of darkness around him.”

I would have felt betrayed if not the overwhelming air of guilt. I knew the old servant would die in the morning at his post at the gate, overwhelmed by the first wave of evil from the crevice that would open several steps away.

I threaded my way up the corridors and stairs to Luna's study, a route I knew all too well...

I knocked on the door at the end of the curving stair to her tower.

The door swung open, pushed by my sister's magic. “Come, sis.”, I heard her voice.

I entered. She stood in front of a map of Equestria on a big table.

Suddenly, I felt a spike of pain in my shoulder. A wave of numbness spread through my body.

“That was unnecessary and unasked for, Lord Xaroth.”, she said.

“Allow me to judge what is necessary and what is not. Your holding back is your weakness.”

Stunned by the poison, I tried to fight it and keep it in check. Then I got kicked in the head and blacked out.

* * *

I was tied down, my wings bound to my sides, my hooves bound together tightly, though what should be a bump on my head was healed. A ring of magical blockade on my horn. Normally I could break it but my magic was stunted by some kind of poison.

“She's back.” I heard Blueblood.

“Sis?” I called out.

“I'm sorry, Tia. I'm sorry it's you they want and it's them who can give what I need.” Luna appeared within my field of view, sad, serious.

“Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell the city still exists?! Why didn't you ask me to save it? Together we would have saved it!”

“Celestia, don't you remember? I told you. I was pleading and begging. But you said it's my grief, it's illusion, it's ghosts. You told me to let it lie. To forget. To give up. You didn't believe. You said it's my insanity. And for a time I believed you. But then I visited the city at night and witnessed its doom in the morning again. And I realized that they are my own people I swore to protect, and to abandon them is to betray them... And there is only one price for betrayal” she rubbed her horse collar. “And I called upon all my power to keep the night.”

“And for that I banished you to the moon.” I felt tears in my eyes.

“You did right, sis. It was an insanity. There is a whole wide world that needs your Sun. I can't take it away from them. The Elements of Harmony set me free, made me forget and fooled the curse - you know it can't determine the truth, it only reacts to what we believe, and while I believed a lie, I was safe... But my time by your side let me put things in perspective, it let the logic dictate the course of action, not emotions. I can save the city through a powerful spell. I can keep the night over this part of the Everfree Forest for many centuries while the rest of the world goes by. The night will last long enough to let us develop a way to save them for real, build defenses, bring day back but hold destruction at bay.”

“But... why them?” I threw my glance to the unicorn and the zebra. “Why trapping me?”

“The spell requires a powerful component: a soul. Lord Xaroth agreed to trade his soul to me in exchange for... my aid. And Prince Blueblood... he wants the Moon. He realized your trick quite early on, but he used the time to develop a strategy and to gain an ally. And to learn an essential component of the spell I need. He destroyed the original. The only copy is in his head, and he agreed to share it for a title of the prince of the Moon.”

“And me? What is my role in this? And where is Nadir?”

“Prince Nadir is safe.” Xaroth entered my field of view. His face was badly burned, with blisters and blackened scars. “He's safe as long as I am safe, he dies the moment I die. So no tricks please. He will be set free in due time. There is no need for him to ever know - I can arrange it so that it will appear like you killed me while freeing him. This meeting will be our sweet little secret...”

I glared at him with hate. He continued, unfazed.

“I'm a realist, Princess. After the smear campaign you've organized in Entwine there is no future for me as the ruler of Hippotigria. But I don't need to be the ruler. I just need the royal bloodline of my family back on the throne. When my servant betrayed me, when he wrote me a farewell letter, as I read the words Zebra alicorn, I knew it!” his eyes gleamed, “It had to be my son! No need to destroy, no need to fight. One generation of usurpers is nothing. So, Celestia, you will give me a son. Nadir doesn't need to know anything. He will believe he's the father. You two will bring him up. You will give him the upbringing you think is right, I must admit the ways of my family might have been... lacking.” He sighed, licked his lips and continued. “You give me a son. I give you Nadir back, sound and safe. And I sacrifice my own soul for Luna to protect the city.”

I sighed. “And you, Nephew?”

“I admit I don't have such a strong leverage. Nothing but a contract that forces me to work my hooves off with no chance for reward within my lifetime. A thing your new brother-in-law would be surely interested in reading. I guess he will love to have a sister-in-law who can cheat ponies into slavery like that. I'm not asking much. Just what the contract says I'd receive upon completing its terms, and I'll be satisfied.”

“You passed fake documents, changed contracts to your two co-workers.”

“Them? They are irrelevant. It's between you, me and Zenith. The rest is moot. And think about it, by giving me this worthless piece of rock, you will aid your sister in saving so many lives!”

I closed my eyes to think.

My karma was catching up with me. All my past sins.

They were reasonable. Comparing to what they would give, comparing to what Luna would get... the price was right. I'd really, really hate to lie in the matter to Nadir, but... discounting my personal feelings, the price was more than right.

Exactly, discounting my personal feelings.

“I don't want him to touch me”, I threw a glare to Xaroth.

“Don't worry about that, sis. I know how touchy a subject this is for you. Do you remember that spell that let you heal Nadir? It's a variant of insemination spell I modified for that purpose. You won't feel a thing, not even a tingle. I can even shape it for you.”

“No deal,” Xaroth said. “I won't trust you with this. The conception must take place according to zebra ways. Otherwise I won't accept it.”

“Do you realize the most likely outcome will be a plain zony? No alicorn, no unicorn, not even pegasus, just a partially striped pony?” Blueblood asked.

“It still will be my son and successor to the throne.”

“Or daughter, equally probable. And quite possibly infertile.”

“I'll take the risk.”

“This is not what we agreed to!” Luna protested. “You have no idea what Celestia...”

Luna stared at a dart sticking out from her chest. Xaroth's speed was truly scary. She tried to fight the poison, but then he kicked her horn so hard he knocked her out. He threw a glare to Blueblood, who swallowed saliva, paralyzed by fear.

I could only observe Xaroth binding unconscious Luna, applying another poison that would keep her stunned and unable to fight efficiently, then he placed another ring of magical blockade on her horn.

“I'm considering doubling my chances for a son.” he pushed her tail, looking at her sex lecherously. “For the price she's asking, I should be able to renege. But for now the primary part of the contract.” he turned to me. I squirmed in my bonds, struggling to crawl away from him. He placed another dart in the blowpipe. “No panic. This is merely a potion of fertility, to assure conception will take place.”

A quick blow, a sting of pain, and I could feel warmth filling my womb. I tried to crawl away from him...

“I love the way you're squirming and struggling. We have a moment until the potion takes full hold. Let me help you out of these...” he removed my hoof-overs, one by one, using his mouth, inhaling the scent of my fetlocks deeply whenever he'd touch them.

“Your tiara, such a pretty thing.” he pulled it off my head with his hooves, easily avoiding my futile try to stab him. “So, that little gap is left after a trinket from Saint Vixor... I wonder if all the other gems are gifts from your other lovers. I guess I should...” he removed one of the black beads holding his long strands of mane together, and stuffed it into the gap left after Vixor's jade. “True obsidian, the foundation of my nation.” he smirked and placed the tiara on the table.

Then he approached me again, and reached for my horse collar.

“Now this piece of jewelry is truly interesting. I know it binds you to your people, gives you power over them. You've been sharing this with both usurpers, feeding them on its power.”

He pulled it off my neck, with a strong, violent tug.

“I wonder how it feels to be the designated ruler of the realm...”

“NO! Don't!” I shouted, my eyes widening in terror.

“Now I'm the Lord, and there is nothing you can do to stop me.” he grinned.

“NO! IT WILL KILL YOU!” I screamed.

“Little liar.” he chuckled quietly.

...and he put the collar on his neck.

The lightness didn't fill me with relief. It filled me with dread. I wanted to close my eyes. But I had to look, I had to see.

He fell to his knees. He raised his eyes to me, filled with pain and terror.

With last of his strength he pushed the collar off his neck, but the weight would not be gone until some other pony decides to carry it. I wanted to crawl to take it on, but the bonds were too strong... despite my lightness, I couldn't move.

...and all I could see was his scar-covered face twisted in pain, as he was losing the battle.

Then a quiet crack.

Death by broken neck is not neat. I know of fiction stories where quiet assassins snap the neck of a guard and lay the dead body, limp and silent. This is not the truth. The truth is that every single nerve in the whole body begins firing its signals at maximum speed. Every single muscle tenses and relaxes as fast as it can. The body enters a grotesque, horrible dance of spasms jerking it in all directions, stomach occasionally pushing its contents through the mouth, limbs kicking rapidly, chest writhing like a snake, thrashing in a self-destructive fandango.

And as the heart torn by spasms keeps pumping its blood in erratic pattern, as the chest squeezed by the twisting muscles still pumps air through lungs, the head remains alive for a time, and every single nerve in the snapped neck is sending signals of extreme pain to your brain...

I could see the eyes filled with terror. I could see the despair, as Xaroth understood he was dying and there was nothing that could save him.

And then his erratic spasms finished burning through readily available resources of the body. The shaking slowed down gradually, until it stopped completely.

Xaroth's terror-filled eyes glazed over.

The weight of my burden returned to my neck.

A small charm, a ward hidden in one of the beads in his mane went off with a quiet poof, sending its signal away. Signal of its owner's death.

I gave out a wail of despair. Shaking, writhing in my bonds, I cried, I wailed, I sobbed, I howled.

Nadir!!!

* * *

I lay, numb, sobbing quietly, oblivious to the rest of the world. The bonds were removed, but I could not force myself to open my eyes. Xaroth was not one to bluff.

I felt a gentle kiss on my cheek.

“Sis. There is still time.”

I forced my eyes to open a little.

“I know now that I betrayed you, you have no reason to trust me. My dreams went to hell. But we can still save yours.”

How? My dream was dead too.

“Nadir is still alive. We must find him before dawn.”

I jerked my eyes open. I forced my pained body to rise. I fought the numbness, struggling to attention.

“This splint of our world will remain separate until dawn. No magic ward will make itself known to the real Equestria until this world collapses under its curse. I've chosen this ghost city as the meeting place for a reason. If things go horribly wrong, I'd still have until morning to fix them.”

“Luna, how long is it until morning?”

“Two hours.”

“Can we find him in two hours?”

“No.”

“How long?”

“I don't know. A week? A month? It won't be easy. But we did it once. I know we can do it again.”

“Luna, I can't keep the whole world in darkness for a week, much less for a month.”

“Even if it means his death?”

A cold shiver ran through my body. I felt a drop of sweat forming on my forehead and it felt cold as ice.

“Yes, Luna. Even if it means his death.”

“We're much different, sis. I would.”

“I know. And I don't blame you. No, I envy you, I envy you that you would.”

The thought, that I would raise the Sun... and by doing that I would kill the one I love... I could not contain the pain as tears rolled down my cheeks.

*ahem*

We turned to Blueblood, who drawn our attention. The scoundrel...

“Auntie. Granny.” he spoke courtly. “I made many mistakes in my life. Some really fill me with shame. I keep up the bold face and make a blunder after another. I really, really wanted to prove myself as a wise, benevolent ruler. I really dreamed about a land to rule.”

“Cut it out, worthless spawn”, Luna hissed.

“No, Granny. I may as well be a worthless spawn. I probably am. But I know what defines a noblepony and I always dreamed about a day when I'd really earn that title. This is the day. I want the name Prince Blueblood to be uttered with respect. With a well-deserved respect. I know how to help you.”

“You worthless...” Luna began but I held my hoof to her chest.

“As I understand,” he continued unimpressed, “you both need to have this place kept in darkness for days, weeks, months, maybe years. I know the missing part of the spell. And despite what so many think, I do have a soul, and I’m willing to spare it for a case like this. Now I’m not as selfless as a true noble should be, but cut me some slack, I'm doing my best here.” he smiled sourly. “I'm sorry, granny, that I was such a disappointment. I'm not really cut out to be a true hero. I'm not asking much. Forgive me my faults and remember me fondly. That's all I want. That's a better price than what Xaroth asked, isn't it?”

“Are you serious? That's... You will die!” Luna gasped.

“But I will help saving so many others. Isn't that what being a noble is all about? Anyway, the ritual takes over an hour. We should start soon if we don't want the sunrise delayed.” He motioned Luna to go. She swallowed hard and followed.

“I had thought that seeing aunt Celestia humiliated would make me gloat,” he continued as they headed to the exit. “But it made me want to tear Xaroth's throat out instead. I really thought I would. The moment he would touch her, I would try. I'd die in the process but I would fight him to defend Celestia, even though I still don't like her the least bit. Tell me, granny, what's wrong with me?”

Luna stopped him and hugged him tightly.

“Don't call me granny. Call me mom if you want...son. You... you really have Prince Fir's blood in your veins.”

“I regret nothing. No, not that. I regret a whole lot. But to see you proud of me...”

The two left towards the ritual chamber, catching up on a lifetime of family relationships, leaving me alone and more confused than ever in my life.

I took my collar and hoof-overs on.

I raised my tiara from the table. I pried the obsidian bead loose. I smashed it under my hoof.

* * *

I lay by Nadir's side, on my back, gazing at the sky, resting. Sea of sand of the desert under our backs. Sea of stars above. His prison, a small cavern in a group of rocks loomed behind us, the only disturbance in the sea of sand in miles upon miles...

I was recalling the recent events.

It didn't take weeks, but it took more than a several hours. A small note from Tempus with approximated location helped immensely. “Mom, I'm sorry I couldn't set him free, but the place is ridden with wards and spells beyond my skill. You're way better with these than I am.” he added to the letter to Luna.

Yes, deconstructing the pile of spells was definitely a feat. It took us whole day, finishing well past sunset, and had the two of us covered in sweat by the end. Blueblood had to provide every faulty, corrupted, unstable talisman he'd ever made, and bound them in a ridiculous grid of multiple dependencies. Remove one, all others go off. We'd enchant new, harmless versions, and Luna would hold the magical threads binding one to the others while I'd replace it with a harmless one, then busy myself with disconnecting the removed one.

At last Nadir was free, and we could kiss and lay together, while Luna carried the remaining talismans to a safe distance...

“There.” Luna descended by us silently. She gave Nadir a small seal. “Do the honors, please.”

He snapped it, and the horizon exploded in color, jets of flame, clouds of smoke solidifying into towers, then broken apart by multiple blasts of something that kept exploding over and over, flashes of light that could burn through the ground, shaken by waves of sound so intense they were bending the air like waves on water. Then a blinding flash, a growing ball of fire slowly turning into an enormous mushroom cloud rising to the sky.

“He was really better than what we gave him credit for...” I muttered.

“Yes, a true hero.” Luna nodded with a sigh.

Not what I meant but I didn't press the issue. He was her own grandchild, I could only imagine how hard it was for her to finish the ritual.

“And Celestia...”she stood, with her head down. ”I’m... I’ll understand if you hate me forever. If you never trust me again. If you decide the moon is a better place for me after all... But if you do, please... save them.”

I couldn’t find words. My silly little sister. My eyes filled with tears.

Nadir stood up and walked up to Luna. He nuzzled her face gently.

“Half a year ago I’d be appaled. I’d be really angry at you. But Celestia taught me something. There are times... when you’ve got to do what needs to be done. I’d do this for my zebras. Celestia would do this for her ponies... actually, she did it in the past, at least twice. And I owe my life to you, twice now. So...”

“No, Nadir.” I stood up, shaking sand from my coat and walked up to Luna. “It’s not that. Luna, I didn’t listen when you begged me for help. I fought you when you tried to help them against my will. And now... now you didn’t even dare to approach me with it again. To trust me again. And rightly so, because I would not have believed you again. I failed you over and again, and you kept forgiving me, and you would not give up. You were right all along. So, here I am...”

I knelt before Luna, bowing my horn down to her hooves.

“Can you forgive me, Sister? Can you trust me ever again?”

She bowed to my ears. Her voice was filled with pain.

“Celestia, can you? Can you trust me fully?”

“I hope so.”

“Celestia... As I argued with you about the case of the buffalos, the orchards of Appleloosa...?”

“I’ll have Appleloosa razed to the ground if such is your wish.”

“Fillydelphia expanding over the Forest of Feymane?”

“They won’t cut another tree. They can dig down or build up or claim the sea bottom if they want, but the woods will remain sacred.”

“Unsealing the research on minor rapid time flow talismans for the public?”

“If you say it’s right, it’s right by me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Luna, I told you, I trust you fully!”

“But that was a horrible idea! You were right and as I rethought the consequences, I was shocked I ever thought to do it!”

“Did you?” I looked at her in confusion, standing up from my knees.

“Celestia, you must remain critical! You can’t accept everything I say! I make mistakes too!”

“But should Appleloosa still be razed?”

“No, not really. We got that resolved... by a miracle... But let’s not repeat it, that was a close call. Not one new apple tree on the Buffalo lands.”

“So will it be. And Fillydelphia?”

“I stand by my opinion. The forest is more important than new factories. It's home to many creatures and they will grow to hate and despise ponies if we keep taking their land.”

“And I stand by my word. Your forest is sacred.”

“Thank you, Celestia.” She approached me and hugged me gently with her neck. I returned the hug, and we held each other, happy to be truly together again.

Then I saw Nadir standing where he thought Luna would not see him. He shot a glance to me, to Luna, to me again, then moved his eyebrows in most suggestive manner. The rude ruffian! I tried to look daggers at him. He grinned innocently.

“Not without Light,” muttered Luna.

Nobles

Nobles

At last, the inevitable came. An official meeting with the nobles. A late brunch with fancy dresses, fancy music and the usual boredom. Buffet-style meal with a variety of snacks, nobles "mingling", the two brothers staying in a separate zone, an elevated table set in an alcove aside from others. Sometimes Zenith would greet one noble or another, sometimes gracing one or a pair with a chat by calling them over.

Zorana showed up, looking a bit... disheveled. Tired. Not something that would arise criticism from the gathered nobles, but definitely not at her best. She brought a big jug of some purple drink and insisted I try it. I tried it, and it was... tasty. Not exquisite, not special, about as good as pretty good lemonade. I used my magic to examine it... no special effects besides slight magical rejuvenation. Definitely good for quenching thirst on a hot day. And it had a very nice aroma.

“Celestia...” she cornered me, with a crazy spark in her eyes. “I feel I can do it. This drink is just the beginning. I look at an ingredient and I just feel how much to add. Commoners' grape juice from one grape, a dash of Heaven Bell nectar, half a cup of molasses, one clove, and it makes a flask of extract that can make a barrel of this drink when diluted. And the ingredients are like... six copper total, so even the poorest can afford it!”

“One clove? Per barrel of water?”

“I thought this ridiculous too! I tried without the clove, and it turned my mouth inside out.”, her eyes sparkled with mirth. “I tried with two, and it was just sweetened water, no tang, no aroma. The clove works some magic on the sourness of the grape juice. Makes it actually drinkable.”

“You might want to withhold the ingredients list from the nobles for now.” I gave her a wink. She paused, then nodded, leaving the jug near other drinks, then trotting up to her husband.

Then it was time for me to... “mingle”. Nadir had said we are not supposed to, but it wasn't exactly what I was seeing - more like the privilege to talk to the royalty was restricted, only chosen families deserving the honor.

I stood by Nadir and let him handle the etiquette - even me approaching him uninvited was arising some frowns. But then he nodded for me to approach, and the whispers calmed down.

There was also this special ritual... most of guests would carry their deep plates with food items with them, holding them by special handles, and placing them on tables whenever stopping to talk. The princes would not. They would not approach the buffet, standing behind their table, with big, empty plates in front of them. It was the nobles, who would leave a morsel from their plates on the prince's plate during the conversation. Nadir placed one such empty plate in front of me.

“It will be hard,” he muttered wearing a big, fake grin not reaching to his eyes. “Many definitely don't accept you, and they will try to unnerve you. I have some support and for what I know, they will aid me in getting rid of you to the best of their ability. Anyway, about the food you're served: If you approve of the outcome of the conversation, eat it. If you don't, leave it. Some of my ancestors were known for ending up with a full, untouched plate, starved after such a banquet, then going to eat alfalfa in the kitchen.”

“Bring it on!” I answered, getting a very genuine smirk on my mouth.

He nodded to one of elder zebras wearing a heavy, intricate talisman on a thick, silver chain.

“Patriarch Varinari, the head of the Temple of the Ancients and simultaneously president of the Office of Religions. Princess Celestia, my Fiancée.”

“Pleased to meet you.”

“*mumble* to make your acquaintance.”

He reached for a fork and passed a banana in chocolate to Nadir's plate. Then he placed a few slices of lemon on mine.

“I heard you've gathered quite a following among the commoners, Princess. Simple minds, so easy to captivate with catchy promises. Too bad they don't hold any sway when it comes to important matters.”

“With approach like this, they certainly don't. Given no respect, no chance to make their talents flourish, suppressed, they would always remain gray masses, with most talented would-be professionals mopping floors, and incompetent, spoiled children of nobles abusing their positions of the office.”

“You're quite a sympathizer with the uneducated.”

“Was that their choice, for them to remain uneducated? ...or yours?”

I think this struck home, as he changed the subject of the conversation.

“Now I'm not quite sure about the nature of your morning meetings, but allow me to conjecture they are somewhat religious in their nature... with you appearing as a kind of priest figure? Just a friendly reminder, starting new, unapproved cults within borders of Hippotigria is seriously frowned upon. Zebras are known to be prone to form dangerous sects, so any new cult must pass through a lengthy registration process involving proving it's harmless. And practicing religious rituals without approval of the Temple is a criminal act.”

“Now now, I'm not starting anything new. From what I know, the Solar Cult, along with the Lunar Cult have been long approved as legal religions, as a part of package of rights of ethnic minorities. I definitely belong to the pony ethnic group, and if you ever read description of the Solar Cult in said package, I am merely partaking in my role strictly described in the document.”

“Still, even with approved minority cults, all priests must register with the Temple if they want to practice their rituals.”

“Oh, but I'm no priest! I'm a goddess!” I gave him my best smile, while arching my wings in the iconic Circle of the Sun. “But, as I understand, abusing such a technicality of law might be frowned upon by Prince Zenith so let's assume all priestly laws apply to me. In this case, I can either seek your approval or cease the practice of my rituals for duration of my stay in Entwine, is that correct?”

“By your grace, the latter option would be more welcome, Princess.”

“As you wish, Patriarch. In this case I suggest you distribute news to your believers, to stockpile on candles and invest in warm blankets. If you understand the nature of the ritual we discussed, there's a certain... side effect of it, affecting all races and religions?”

“Wait, wait, can't you... I mean, raise the Sun without performing the ritual?”

“I think you misunderstood. Raising the Sun is the ritual. All other activities are optional and quite insignificant by comparison.”

“I know you were performing healings...”

“Oh please. These weren't ritual or traditional, and neither was spreading transformed magic of the Sunrise. Are you going to have every doctor and mystic to register as a priest?”

“You could perform this in privacy, without gathering crowds...”

“Allow me to ask...” I turned to Zenith and asked him for a moment of attention as he was talking with some noble. “If an unregistered priest is performing religious rituals in privacy, without followers... is that legal?”

“If there is no witness of the ritual or its consequences, I'd say it's legal. If there is a witness, he wasn't alone enough.”

“And if the ritual is so widely reaching that there will be countless witnesses to its effect, even though the priest remains invisible?”

“Oh, no, a temple of marionettes, we had this once. Not legal, not at all.”

I spread my hooves helplessly to Patriarch Varinari.

He frowned. “I'll have you registered as a priest of the Solar Cult later today.”

I thanked, then levitated a slice of lemon off my plate to my mouth and munched on it happily, as Patriarch turned to leave. Mmm, lemons. Some say I have weird taste.

“Sir Quage, lord of the Heartlands, north-eastern Hippotigria. His domain now contains Dire Woods too. He’s my friend from younger times.” Nadir introduced another zebra, a big, bulky and strong one, his brown-white stripe pattern reaching only halfway down his body, the rest brown with exception of white legs. The zebra spoke with some weird accent.

“Princess Celestia! It's an honor to meet you” he bowed, then Nadir and I both got nice, hearty slices of bread crust stuffed with mushrooms on our plates. “I'm well aware that the contract between Prince Nadir and the council of Alpac Mountains bears just signatures of him and the gryphons, but I don't believe in coincidences. Moreover, I believe any two creatures full of good will can eventually learn to like each other, no matter what their differences, so if you still have no plans for honeymoon, let me invite you to the castle of Silvamora; it is guaranteed to temperate even the most disagreeable pairs and let them seek out peace and friendship, and who knows, maybe even love?”

“So you're not opposed to our union?” I asked with some surprise.

“Politically, not at all. I'm well aware Zebras would be able to defend themselves if you tried to abuse your position. I guess you are aware of this too, and you wouldn't start an endeavor you wouldn't be able to see to the end, so all the stupid talks about loss of independence have no impact on me. And personally - the Prince in my friend and I want him to be happy. I believe you'd be a great wife for him, you two just need to... get used to each other. So expect my full support of the marriage and if he gets any ideas about preventing it, expect me to thwart them.” he smirked.

“Thanks for nothing, Quage.” Nadir grimaced, pushing his slice of stuffed bread away to the far end of his plate.

“You're welcome” Sir Quage chuckled, as I cut a bit off my slice and ate it with a smile.

“Told you he’s a real friend?” Nadir whispered, as the big zebra left. “He helps me with what I need, not what I want. Sometimes I’m so mad at him I want to have him banished and then hanged wherever he’s banished to, then I recall my father felt the same way about his father, and his father risked everything he had by hiding Zenith and me after our parents got assassinated.

Next came Lady Axante. fancy dress, fancy coiffure. She was a very stereotypical Noble, she gave us some fancy appetizers, bowing low and acting all excited. She asked me if I plan to bring Canterlot fashion to Entwine. I expressed my concerns about imposing on their culture and contaminating it with foreign influences. “But,” as I assured her, “if there is enough interest and demand, I guess I could encourage some designers to open their shops in Entwine.” I also asked about Zebra fashion, but she was defensive, “We're so backwater, antiquated. I'm afraid we have nothing we could show the fancy Ponies of Canterlot.” I politely choose “I'm not convinced but I'm not going to argue” and picked one of the appetizers. This made Lady Axante almost squee and she went back to the others to tell them of our conversation.

“Want something heavy?” Nadir muttered.

“Thanks to Quage I'm not afraid of leaving hungry.” I grinned, eating another piece of the stuffed bread.

“Name's Lord Xaroth.” he spoke under his breath. “I'd be grateful if you could check my food for poison. His family is older and has more royal traditions than mine. They still call us usurpers in private, though they lost the throne in a bloody revolution against their tyranny good three hundred years ago Still, they hunger for power and he hates Zenith something fierce, me just a little less so. Zenith sentenced his brother, sister and parents to death for murdering our parents and attempting to murder us. Xaroth was lucky to be away on a sea voyage at the time, so he was unable to participate in the assassination, though he certainly would if he could. He plays a loyal subject, but he'd do everything to undermine or preferably kill us, and if the world burns in the process, so be it. He'd gladly kill you to start a war just to spite us.”

I looked at the tall zebra he indicated and it took me a while to understand the difference I was seeing. Most zebras have white bellies, their black stripes not reaching all the way down. Xaroth though was a black zebra with white stripes, his belly, back, legs, all black, with just white stripes where stripes normally go. His mane, combed in little strands kept together by small beads ran down his slender neck. He'd be handsome if not the permanent atmosphere of creepy he'd give out.

“We can still skip him, if you prefer,” Nadir muttered.

“No, I think I should learn about him.”

“Lord Xaroth!” Nadir called out, “Welcome!”

The dark-bellied zebra interrupted his chat with some nobles and approached. He bowed to Nadir and shared a small pile of pickled beans in vinaigrette sauce with him. I got a big baked caramel apple with sweet stuffing. “Prince. Princess. How may be of your service?”

I discreetly checked our food. It was okay. Nadir's was icky and unhealthy, but not poisonous.

“Oh, I just wanted to introduce you to my fiancée. Ask your opinion on recent events. Your insights, if you please.”

“Allow me to be blunt, Prince. Personally, I'm all for Princess Celestia sharing the throne of Hippotigria with you, and I'm disappointed in your attempts to discourage her. Honestly, Topside? What about the Academy? What about the Gardens of the Loom? The Hall of Legends? The Hoofer Dam? Even the Craftzebra Road or the Market Square would be viable places to show.”

“I don't want Princess to choose knowing only the glittery side. Let her make a fully informed decision, not just know the pretty places.”

“Then let her make a fully informed decision, show her everything. Not just Topside. Or... allow me to show her the beauty of this land. Let her understand she's getting a marvelous gem, just a little rough around the edges, not as you depict it, a rotten fruit. Princess,” he turned to me, “This land is ripe and rich, and the right investments will yield immense rewards. I see you resolving long-standing problems, and opening profitable trades, and this is extremely noble, but there are many places of opportunity you don't seem aware of. Resources Zebras simply don't use, and ponies of Equestria would find extremely valuable. Given competent guidance you could triple the profits while ruling this land.”

“That sounds very interesting,” I said, “but who would the person to provide the guidance be...?”

“Oh, I think I can recommend a few smart zebras. And Prince, it would get Princess out of your hair too. All the political advantages, and not getting in each other's way more than it’s necessary, that must certainly seem tempting, no?”

“I am not going to dodge my duties,” Nadir stated hard. “Neither as Prince nor as a husband.”

“Oh, I'm sorry if I overstepped myself. I'm not implying anything like that. But we both know Princess Celestia is a strong, independent mare, and she does as she wills, and she always gets the results she wants. She does what she does for a reason, and we may just as well help her reach her goals quickly, without unnecessary obstructions, and efficiently. All sides will be happy... well, as happy as circumstances allow, without causing each other any more grief than necessary.”

“This is a very tempting offer, Lord Xaroth.” I said, while slicing the sweet apple into very small dice and stacking them in a pyramid, all using just my magic. “But I hope you realize how thin an ice I am treading here. A wrong request, an unfair contract, even being seen in company of a zebra with less than impeccable reputation, anything that damages trust of citizens of Hippotigria could very quickly lead to rebellious protests. I am adamant about retaining positive public image of both me and Prince Nadir. Profits are secondary to maintaining peace, public safety and stability of the government.”

“Oh.” he lost some wind. “I am sure I can find a zebra of unblemished public image for your guidance, and provide access to resources value of which won't be recognized by the public for another few hundreds years.”

“I will...” I send him a cold smile, then took one, smallest piece of the sweet apple from the top of the pyramid on my little golden fork, and lifted it to my mouth, while sweeping the rest to the side. “...consider your offer.

“Princess will consider your offer.” Nadir said, sweeping the icky beans to the far end of his plate.

The noble bowed to us and retreated into the crowd.

“For a moment there my heart jumped, when I thought you'd accept,” he whispered.

“Hold your friends close, your enemies closer.” I muttered, while holding a fake smile. “This may be useful. He'd reveal to me your vulnerabilities you're not even aware of, and it wouldn’t hurt to have the resources he's talking about secured properly.”

“He's dangerous. You may be underestimating how dangerous he is.”

“I'm not making a single move without your and Zenith's approval.”

“Thanks. Now let us try someone more lightweight.” Nadir turned to an old, brown zebra stallion accompanied by equally aged lady. The stallion wore golden glasses and had a short, white beard, and they just finished talking to Zenith and Zorana.

“Professor Querdenstedt!” he smiled. “Would you spare us a few minutes?”

“Oh, young master Nadir! You're always welcome, and I never thought I'd be honored to see Princess Celestia in my life, even less so talk with her. By the way, have you tried the cupcakes? They are delicious! Yori, darling, would you help? My mouth is not as firm as it used to be.”

The elderly lady used a spatula to transfer two big cupcakes with cream and fruit from her own, and two from professor's plate to ours.

“So, as I understand, you're a Zebra of Science?” I smiled.

“Used to be, now too busy with administration and management to have any time for science, unfortunately. But my dear Yori still teaches Griff to young zebras.”

I squawked a greeting in Griff to her, and she replied, saying I have a wonderful accent. I boggled, how anyone can find anything wonderful about Griff, but I covered it with a smile and gentle thanks.

“Your majesty, I must ask you.” Professor's eyes shone with a hope I haven't seen in a while. “Will your sister ever grace Entwine with her presence? Would Princess Luna ever visit the Academy?”

“Oh, we never planned anything like this, but I believe I could convince Luna to give a guest lecture or two.”

“A lecture?” I saw tears in the old professor's eyes. “The Institute of Mathematics has her likeness in its coat of arms, and her treaty on prime numbers in her own hornwriting is the most valuable script in the Academy's library.”

“I think...” I paused, to swallow the piece of cupcake I had in my mouth, “If you give her some time, she might prepare quite a special gift for the Academy. I suggest you write an invitation, and I'll deliver it to her in person.”

“Would that be...” his eyes sparkled “...that computational machine I've been hearing about?”

“You've been hearing about? Yes, that's what I mean, but this project is still under wraps and nearly unheard about in Equestria! Not a secret exactly, but way out of public focus! How in the world have you been hearing about it?!”

...but I've not received my answer. The old professor gripped his chest with a pained expression on his face.

Quick magical scan. Heart attack! I dropped the cupcake and began magically pumping his blood and fixing his failing heart, restoring chemical balance and regulating the temperature of his body. I levitated him to a couch on the side of the room, and Nadir brought him water.

“Too much of a good thing for my old heart.” he gasped, as he recovered enough control over himself. “Thank you. You're truly a goddess, Princess Celestia.”

“Now, now, not in presence of Patriarch Varinari”, I smiled.

“Oh, yes. You'll have your hooves full of him yet, this is sure. Well, as long as my heart is beating, I'm with you and young master Nadir.”

I bid the elderly pair good-bye leaving them to rest and telling not to hesitate to call me if needed.

“Why is he calling you young master”? I asked Nadir when I returned to my place and my unfinished cupcakes.

“Oh, I was the youngest to get the title of Master of Laws in the history of the Academy. Not with stellar degrees, mind you, but it was a prerequisite for taking the throne, and with each year of viceroy rule in absence of adult royalty, our position was eroding, so we had to hurry up. And the old professor always said the scientific title is more important than political one.”

“And his wife?”

“A terror. Nearly got me flunked. Who in the world can demand a Zebra to pronounce squawks made by gryphon beak perfectly? How did you even manage to make that sound?”

“Magic!” I grinned.

“Oh, you.” he chuckled. “Oh well, there's one more I'd like you to meet, and I'd be glad if you could sway her to your side. The head of the military.“

“Military?”

“General Zenobia”, he nodded to a tall, middle-aged zebra mare with her mane trimmed short, wearing iron hoof-overs similar to mine, standing on the side, staying away from others. “Can we talk?”

“Yes, Sir.” She trotted up and stood to attention.

“No, General. I'm not giving orders. I wanted to invite you for conversation.”

“I understand, Sir.” I thought I saw the mare roll her eyes. She left, walked up to the buffet, then returned to us with a plate. There were two plain slices of bread on it, and she placed them on our plates.

“Not much for rituals, are you, miss-” she threw me a glare, and I corrected myself, “General?”

“They have their place. We honor our dead. The roll call bears many ritual elements. But they all have their purpose, binding, instilling sense of order, loyalty and trust.”

“I must say I was quite surprised by this one myself. Personally, I prefer to keep meals and politics apart, but who am I to change old traditions?”

“Only the ruler.”

“Not of this country.”

“And a spiritual leader.”

“I had this conversation with Patriarch already. It's not even that the ritual has the purpose of raising the Sun. It's more like the ritual happens as a side effect. It's a duty foremost, a duty I can't forfeit.”

“This I can respect, still, you gain a following and revered praise for what is essentially your day job.”

“Guilty as charged. The status of a goddess is a potent political weapon. The respect and following spreads peace, good will and kindness. Equestria has no standing army, and never needed it, precisely for the reason of maintaining peace by other means. This is one of them.”

“So the rituals are your way of earning trust?”

“Oh, do you think this trust is baseless or undeserved?”

“I wouldn't dare to say so.” she answered in a politically correct way.

“Me, my sister, we are doing many things the public is not supposed to know about. They prosper and enjoy safety and comfort, without awareness of averted disasters and prevented crises. I'm not taking credit for those, because this would introduce unnecessary worries into their lives, and would be vain too. They have all the reasons to trust me, but they don't get to know them. So I give them a substitute reason.”

“Can you name such an action? Let me in on such a secret?”

“Now that would be bragging...”

“So in essence, I have your word...”

“General,” Nadir interrupted. “Would you care to check something?” he placed his hoof on the table. “I got some... worrisome discolorations.”

She approached him, and I saw the black of the stripes on her face pale.

“Prince. I thought you know the meaning of this.”

“Yes, I got them last fall, when I traveled to Equestria incognito. I got poisoned by one of our own, by accident, one big misunderstanding, good intentions taking a horrible turn.”

“Last fall?” the mare opened her eyes wide. “You were supposedly detained for a month in Equestria, under some phony accusations, and I never learned the real reason. I only got an order not to intervene, and then just at the break of new year you returned.”

“Yes, I had to be placed under influence of a seal of slow time, to buy the princesses time to develop the antidote.”

“But there is no antidote to the Crown Venom! It is proven that none is possible to exist!”

“Yet I am standing here, talking to you, with telltale mark on my hoof, and I know what I was shot with, I brewed it myself.”

“Now,” I interjected, “I can't take much credit for that. It was Luna and her team who performed true miracles of science and magic to find and obtain the antidote outside our universe. I was only taking care of logistics and providing them with whatever they needed for the work.”

“Princess Luna's... assistant,” Nadir continued explaining, “estimated he spent thirty years within the fields of rapid time flow, I guess Luna spent about as much. I saw the scale of the project, the budget must have been comparable with the cost of the Hoofer Dam. And Luna never said what they found on the way, but from what I heard...”

“No need, Prince.” the military mare put her hoof on his. “I now realize my misjudgment.”

She bowed low to me. “I heard enough. You deserve more respect than you receive.”

“And she helped capturing Purse.” Nadir muttered with a grin.

Zenobia stood tall again and shook her head.

“Oh, no, Prince. The brash bravery when you fight a simple enemy and do the simple right thing is easy. It does deserve respect, but nowhere as much respect as Princess is receiving. Now if you face impossible odds, and you can surrender for reasonable cost, but fighting and losing will cost you a lot more, then if you choose to develop a strategy that completely changes the rules of the battle, spend years perfecting this strategy, and apply it in decisive battle despite risk of failure... This is the kind of bravery I can worship.”

“Thank you, General.”

“And you don't have to eat that dry bread. I'm not much for rituals.” she said, turning and walking away.

* * *

And there we were, the small, disused office, door locked, me sitting in the chair, with my hind hooves on Nadir's back, over his shoulders, his mouth buried deep between my thighs. “Yes, yes, like that, By the Sun, don't stop!” I was gripping his head with my thighs, as his tongue was drawing the hood off my clit and twisting around it in small circles.

He paused and looked in my eyes.

“Celestia, my source of nectar of gods. Your little cries are a music to my ears, but these doors aren't soundproof.”

I nodded quickly and bit my lips, as he resumed his activity. Only allowing myself rare, weak whines, I concentrated at the fire between my legs, the wonderful feeling returning, then growing slowly, transforming into something different, less fiery but deeper, then spreading and encompassing my whole lower abdomen. Nadir gave out a small purr, recognizing the signs, then raised his eyes to me.

“May I in?”

“Yes, yes!” I cried out, spreading my legs wide for him. His front legs on my shoulders, his painfully hard maleness on my labia, and there he was, slipping inside me. Yes, give it to me! “All the way in”, I whispered, and he pushed.

Oh, so that was what he meant by “loosen up.” My cervix allowed him with an exhilarating tingling but without a shade of pain, and the cool, relaxed feeling radiated and clutched my insides.

He didn't hesitate, didn't pause, he just kept going within my depth, and I felt the familiar pressure of his tip flaring, of the semen fighting its way through his penis against my pressure, the hit against my bottom wall, and the pulsing, just in rhythm to keep me at the top. Wave after wave, smooth, silky semen filling my womb. My body craved it, fertile and ready.

“I love the look on your face when I'm filling you,” he whispered. “So content... sated. Have you thought about the date of our wedding yet?”

“When would it suit you?”

“Soon. The sooner the better. I see this content smile on your face, and then you cast the contraceptive charm and this smile is gone. I want it to stay. I want you to be happy.”

“I waited so long, I can wait some more. But... not too long.”

“Sometime after Equestrian Summer Sun Celebration, but before our Harvest Festival?”

“Sounds smart. Mid-way between the two.”

“We'll give him a pretty-sounding Zebraic name, Novan, or Xoan. Prince Novan, sounds nice, doesn't it?”

“I like it.”

“And her name will be purely Equestrian. Dawn. Princess Dawn.”

“Her?”

“You wanted a daughter, didn't you?”

I hugged him. Still with his penis deep inside me, soft already, I hugged and kissed him. “Once more. I want it again!”

“Now, now, Celestia, oasis in the desert of life, I'd love to make you happy once more, but our 'little break to discuss it privately' has already taken nearly half an hour, and we're really beginning to tax the Minotaur ambassador's patience.”

* * *

I laughed so hard I thought I'd get stitches. The two street mimes were playing me and Nadir, with the pretend Nadir desperately trying to discourage the pretend me, bribe, beg, hide, and me taking everything in perfectly calm stride and tricking him into giving me a kiss every time his desperate efforts would leave him open for my trick. And the way "Nadir" was emulating getting affected by "Celestia's" magic (pulled by his tail, turned in place) was a true masterpiece of mime act. The comedians didn't appear taken aback by my presence in the least, especially that I wasn't the only one laughing as my presence has drawn quite a crowd surrounding the show. Considering the small pile of Equestrian Bits in the basket was accompanied by increasingly growing number of copper and silver coins from the crowd, the mimes were giving their best, and definitely succeeding at it.

There was only one zebra who was not laughing: My guide, Senior Templar Xaboo. Unusually short, with fewer, thicker stripes than most zebras, rather old and quite grumpy, he was the person Lord Xaroth sent for my company, and my behavior was causing his increasing ire. Templar Xaboo was a noble from a big, influential family from far southwest, but since splitting wealth works only with so many children, and he was one of the youngest of siblings, he was sent to serve at the Temple, as a... this was kind of “operative”, a person for special tasks, not a priest, not a knight, not a servant, not administration... something like a special agent maybe?

We were after a long day of him pointing out various ways I could drain the country's resources for a pittance, replace countless small entrepreneurs with soulless corporate entities, avoid taxes, eliminate competition, and above all, keep the royal brothers in check, threatened by damage to the country infrastructure that would bring ruin and destruction upon the nation. Lord Xaroth lacked resources to execute such plans, and he had too much to lose to try. And not all of them were fail-proof. Many would require unicorns and pegasi to execute. He said he held back some of the most profitable ones, but they are not possible while Prince Zenith is alive...

But it was now late afternoon and as we were returning from the Tannery (an “accident” would poison the water system for months), I was taking long detours to enjoy the city.

“Princess, let us stop wasting time with this... commoner entertainment.”

“Maybe you are wasting time, I certainly am not. Please don't disturb.”

“Prin...” he was interrupted by a hurricane of laughter, as the scenic Celestia managed to get Nadir's hoof glued to her cutie mark (with mime's token nonexistent glue). “Princess... Princess...” he struggled, while I jeered when the Celestia mime tricked Nadir into getting his other hoof glued to her other flank, and demanded a kiss. Of course the implied rude demand was immediately clarified - she wanted to be kissed on her mouth, the mime displaying extreme flexibility, twisting her neck backwards well within reach of the pretend Nadir's mouth.

Upon receiving her kiss, she bowed, and with Nadir still “glued” to her flanks, she took the basket with donations in her teeth, trotting along the crowd, collecting more coins. Then she danced along the crowd, gesturing others to form a conga line after them, and soon a line of fifty or so zebras with front hooves on flanks of the zebra in front of them was moving down the street, with me in the line, quite near the front, and Templar Xaboo trotting by my side, fuming about wrongness of this.

The line stopped by a nearby bar, and the actress at the front thanked for extremely generous donations and announced she's buying a round of Zoranade for all!

Oh, yeah, Zoranade has taken the city by storm, every bar, pub and street vendor selling it for half-copper a cup. And I happily downed my cup of the cool purple drink, licking my lips. Of course, Templar, completely sweaty from trying to keep up with me, refused the drink, “That's made from commoners' grapes!”

“You have some very misguided concept of nobility, Templar,” I rebuked his protests. “First off, the mime theater is an invaluable antique art, with traditions reaching deeper than your religion. The fact such excellent actors act on the street for commoners' coppers only emphasizes corruption of art in your noble spheres, where true talent is secondary to connections and bloodlines. You should be ashamed for not recognizing the value of the art you have witnessed.

And second off, a Noble is primarily a person of exceptional valor, honor, skill and dedication, recognized for outstanding, heroic deeds for their country. Their bloodline is completely irrelevant, but from then on their offspring inherit the title for as long as they adhere to the noble conduct. Mixing with the commoners, eating commoner food, sharing joys and labor does not erode your title of nobility, just the opposite, it tests and reaffirms it with deeds of honor, humility and honesty confirming the value of your title.

But so called “elites”, nobility only in the name, separating themselves from commoners through wealth, wrongly understood culture, and a set of ridiculous social taboos usually lack so much in means of honor and valor, that they need to purchase these fake reaffirmations of their title, and only erode its value further by trading virtue for image, honesty for wealth, and loyalty for power. So do not teach me what is becoming for a princess, and what separates commoners from nobles. I am the one who sets these rules, and the difference between a Noble and a Commoner is what I declare it to be, not thought up rules of far descendants of true Nobles.”

The old zebra listened to my monologue trying to protest, or interrupt, with me not letting him until now.

“But Princess, the right of nobility by blood is undeniable, irrevocable, born noble will always bear noble offspring.”

“Oh, you're deeply mistaken here, Templar. Dishonorable conduct - any dishonorable conduct - is basis for revoking your title of nobility, and this is not just a theory - no longer than three months ago my sister has revoked the title of nobility of a pony who cheated on a test she was performing. One simple misconduct, one dishonorable behavior, and the noble becomes a commoner with one quick decree. Their wealth and connections being moot, they tarnished their honor and lost the title.”

“Princess, that's... that's not how it works really...”

“Ah, yes, the Liberty of the Nobles phase. Elites gain influence at expense of the ruler and the people, oligarchy invariably followed by revolution or downfall if not curbed in time. Old noble houses get cut to extinction, new order forms. I'm dealing with the same phase in Equestria currently, actually, but me and my sister should be able to curb it without bloodshed soon, I have enough experience in dealing with that. I'm afraid though if the Princes don't oppose it on time, Hippotigria won't pass this phase as gracefully.”

“You're speaking about this as if you'd foreseen the events... but I'm aware even you can't peer into the future.”

“You're not very good with history either, are you? History likes to repeat itself. I have witnessed this scenario myself six times and studied other four. I've participated in one of these revolutions myself. The Everfree City, does that name ring a bell?”

“Just notes of dubious truth, mentions within mentions. Rise, magnificence, corruption and downfall.“

“Yes, for a time I believed Res Publica Ponica is the way to go, that democracy will prevail, wisdom and good will dominating less noble goals. But soon the oligarchy appeared. They learned how to game the system, none with enough power to oppose the profits of others, but all with enough power to bring down any that would oppose them. They tore the ripe country to pieces like hungry hyenas tear a pregnant mare, all under guise of freedom of choice for the public, they drained the last of the resources and filled prisons with ponies who were then forced as their slaves to help them attain godhood. I opposed them, let their corruption swallow them, then my sister and I rallied whatever remained under our flag, and rebuilt what you currently know as Equestria.”

“But we are not a democracy.”

“And this is where the hope for averting this fate lies. A strong, unified rule, able to oppose the oligarchy, able to curb their ambitions can prevent the revolt. With the right support and guidance the right ruler can then lead a mighty and flourishing country.”

“A ruler with traditions, will to rule with iron hoof, stomp down the opponents, and enough wealth and influence to be independent? Clever and convincing? Like Lord Xaroth?”

“Independent, without obligations and debts, with strong support of the public and unwavering sense of justice. Incorruptible and wise. Like princes Zenith and Nadir.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“You know... following me... considering the opportunities I've presented... the vulnerabilities and weaknesses... If you're going to aid the princes in ‘curbing’ the Nobles, as you put it, first, and then use what you have learned against the Princes...” he looked into my eyes with visible terror. “Did I just sell out my nation?”

“I'd say you did, no matter what my intentions. Lord Xaroth is a fool. He imagined I would bleed the land dry and discard it, then he could take over and repair it using resources he'd save up by staying in the background. He takes me for a shortsighted raider with my eyes focused on instant gratification, immediate profit at no cost. He thought he could use me as a weapon, as a tool in his personal vendetta. That I would lose interest in Hippotigria within his lifetime, or at worst lifetime of his offspring. His motives were clear, but what were yours?”

“I... I love my land more than my life. I hate to see it stagnate and strive. Zenith's conservatism would get it nowhere. He's a fair ruler, but fair is not good enough. And Nadir...” he shook his head, “He's well-intentioned but foolish. He wanted to open up, to start trade. Instead, he brought you, empowered you, gave us away for the mercy of ponies. Lord Xaroth convinced me that Hippotigria needs a strong ruler like him, and if the downfall of current rulers requires Hippotigria to burn down, so be it, he will make it arise from ashes like a phoenix. Now... I'm not so sure. Tell me, Princess. What is the fate of Hippotigria now?”

“I hope for growth and stability. A country as healthy as Equestria, Ruled wisely and fairly, as a neighbor and friend of Equestria, independent but not xenophobic, wealthy but not greedy, strong but not aggressive. Think from my perspective, perspective of millennia, what more profitable outcome could Equestria ever hope for, than a neighbor country like this?”

“What kind of ruler could bring it there?”

“Honest, loved, unquestioned heir to the throne. Immortal. Accompanied by a mortal on the second throne, for perspective, advice and friendship.”

“Wait... You're... going to replace Zenith on his throne? How would that even work?”

“Me? Replacing Zenith? Don't be silly.”

“But then who? Immortal?!”

“Yes, a zebra alicorn prince. My son. Nadir's son. Sharing the rule with Zenith and his heirs.”

The old zebra's eyes opened wide. He sat for a long while digesting the news. His face ran with various emotions. At last he looked at me with a mix of despair and hope.

“Why are you even telling me this? I'm a traitor!”

I smiled gently. “I believe no pony is beyond redemption, and ones that failed through good, if misguided intentions always deserve another chance.”

“Princess... what would you have me do to redeem myself? I would give my life for a future like this!”

“The remaining secrets. The ones you'd have traded for life of Prince Zenith.”

“Princess... I... I want to believe you, but I risked enough of disaster already. I might be a fool, but at least I learn from my mistakes.”

“That's fine. You don't have to give these secrets to me. I don't need them anyway, I'm just gathering them for the princes. Give them to Prince Nadir. Or even to Prince Zenith, if you dare.”

“Will they be as forgiving as you?”

“Nadir will.”

* * *

“Xaroth, you know you have lost. Why are you still resisting?” Zenith asked.

“Because I have something you don't: honor.”

“False.” I stated calmly.

“Thank you, Celestia, that one was unnecessary.” Zenith's face tensed. “Zombification brew and petroleum in orphanage fire prevention sprinklers? What kind of sick mind thinks up something like that?!”

“That one was brilliant, wasn't it? Charred zombie foals on the streets. Just imagine the mayhem!”

“Truth.” I spat out with hate.

“Murdering foals to cause chaos?!”

“Unwanted commoners? And you care? You're even dumber than I thought.”

“He really believes that,” I said.

“You're unworthy of licking their hooves, worm.” Zenith hissed.

“Me? You're the usurper! True royal blood flows in my veins, you bastard son of a harpy!”

“It's false, and he knows it. He tries to unnerve you, but he understands he's a commoner now.”

“You traitorous pony witch and your lies! You have destroyed the last chance this country had!” Xaroth yelled at me, jerking his chains.

“It's really interesting to sense his faith wavering. He understands Hippotigria has the best chance to flourish now and his own faith in his own lie falters.”

“Celestia, please, allow me...” Nadir approached knocking his hooves together.

“No, there is no need.”

“Yes, cowardly spawn licking up to that horned whore!”

“Now as you speak it, consider this: she has asked me to apply royal mercy in your case...”

“And I'm supposed to thank her for that? Watch your back when I get out of prison...”

“...and considering your valid concern about my independence and objectivity, I have decided to reject her request. Since both me and Zenith were personally affected by your machinations, we shouldn't judge you. If you were a noble, we'd still have to apply the same exception that was used for your family and judge you nevertheless. But since you are a commoner now, you can be judged in a first instance court without right to appeal.”

Zenith unlocked the door of the questioning room, where the three of us have been questioning Xaroth for past three hours, supported by my lie detection spell. “You can take him”, the older prince called to guards waiting outside. “Be cautious, he’s still extremely dangerous.”

Two zebras pulled the cage with the prisoner out of the room, keeping a safe distance. We did not want more accidents after me having to fix damaged spine of the first one who got too close.

“And Celestia, please.” Zenith turned to me as Nadir helped the guards with moving the prisoner. “Don't try to influence the judge. Very few of them would be able to oppose your demand, and the bias this would introduce would make the process essentially worthless.”

“Tell me, Zenith. This is about asserting your power and independence more than about bias and fairness. You want to show that I hold no sway on you.”

“No, Celestia, this is not. The case of Purse might have been. He was just another bandit, and sending him to serve a long sentence of heavy labor instead wouldn't change much. But this is too important. I can't understand how you can still have mercy for Xaroth. Now, that you know how many evils he committed, and what he had in the bag for all of us... how can you even wish for mercy for a zebra like him?”

“You won't understand.” I lowered my head.

“Your sister would take my side. She would disagree with you on that.”

“Yes. She could afford this comfort.”

“Your mercy. Your endless forgiveness... is it your penance for some sins of the past?”

“Yes, it is. I was forgiven for atrocities, by which Xaroth is an innocent foal. I doomed whole nations. And now I am revered as a goddess, while their demigods are reduced to mindless monstrosities.”

“Do you regret your acts?”

“Forever.”

“Did you have a choice?”

“...”

“What was the alternative?”

“They would ascend. Then they would fight. All life would be obliterated, but the victor of the battle would be able to create new.”

“Are you sure?”

“I knew for sure at least a few would fight. Then others would fight back. I knew the power one would possess after ascension. I possess a shade of such power. Each morning and each evening I'm one thought away from burning this world down, and that would be a pathetic, inefficient attack in their standards, one they would easily deflect. But... maybe not all of them needed to be stopped. I didn't know them all well enough. I was merely their servant...”

“Would you survive?”

“No.”

He nodded, and continued asking, his voice completely neutral.

“So what did you do?”

“I corrupted the altars of ascension. Damaged them. They did ascend, but they lost sanity, purpose, sentience. Their magic lashed out in blind fury. Their cities perished. Their nations got obliterated. The few that lived away from the cities survived the attack. And then a terrible winter came...”

“I know nothing of it. Not even the eldest texts I read mention it. Is there even a trace...?”

“The ruins in Dire Woods. You know there are countless ruins there, right?”

“Yes, most far too dangerous to be explored. Is that...”

“Trinicity, the first city of Zebras, Gryphons and Ponies living in harmony... for a time. Tartarus used to be Arf, the capital of Cania. What you know as the Everfree Forest was known as the Everfree City...”

“I thought it was called Penumbra.”

“Penumbra was founded by my sister much later on the ruins of Everfree City, a shadow of its glory. And the buried horrors of perishing Everfree City destroyed it too in the end.”

“What did you do to protect the people?”

“Not much. I didn't hold much sway. I arranged for school trips to be away from the cities. I urged caravans to depart and delayed their returns. But I could not shout out ‘Run’. The ancients would suspect. They would find out the altars were tampered with. I'd be made example of. I don't even want to think about what would happen to me and my sister.”

“And then? What did you do after the cataclysm?”

“I saved as many as I could, seeking in the ruins for survivors, while my sister was busy building a town for refugees, protecting them from deadly frost. We gave home to all we could find, later some leaders emerged and founded cities of their nations. Gryphons, Zebras, Minotaurs. Many ponies left to found their own city-states too. Only the Buffaloes survived entirely without our aid. Later, through politics, through political marriages we united multiple groups of ponies forming and warring at that time. We started rebuilding Equestria.”

“Could you have done more?”

“Yes. There were ones that deserved death. Local tyrants. I parlayed, I paid tributes, sometimes I'd pay with my own body to save lives and to spare lives. And sometimes they would still not live up to their side of the contract and laugh at my weakness. But after destroying the old nations I could not bring myself to killing them. And ponies paid in blood for my weakness.”

Zenith nodded. He stood tall, and spoke in a strong voice.

“I heard enough. Princess Celestia. I didn't hear the other side, but I have a good image of the events. You are guilty, there is no doubt. You indirectly caused death of many. But there are mitigating circumstances. You acted in good faith. You acted in self-defense and defense of many. You did your best to repair the damage you have caused and to minimize it before you caused it. You accepted the responsibility without hesitation or order. And you paid for it dearly and without a word of protest...”

He stopped and looked in my eyes.

“You killed many innocents. This can't go unpunished. But the usual punishment, death for death must be immensely reduced.”

“You are sentenced to a punishment of public service. You will continue to serve the ponykind as a fair and dedicated ruler. I'm aware of how heavy a work this is, so you will serve one day for each death your actions caused. Once this time is passed you will be allowed to remove your burden and cease your duty, pass them to a successor and retire. Your work since the events until now shall be counted towards the sentence served.”

He took a breath.

“The sides may appeal the sentence.”

...Three and a half million lives. That was the estimate. Three and a half million ponies, zebras, gryphons, canines and others...

One day for one life.

Ten thousands years.

A lightness reached my heart. There was an end, a time of freedom for me. And I was a third of the way through my sentence already!

I bowed low, my horn nearly touching his hooves, tears in the corners of my eyes.

“Thank you kindly, Prince Zenith. I will serve my sentence faithfully.”

* * *

“I can't believe the cheek of my brother. To sentence my fiancée for ten thousands years of public service!”

“Don't joke about this, Nadir. That was...”

“I know, I know. I can't even begin to imagine being you. My puny twenty-four years. I still can't believe his balls. I mean, I was pretty sure you'd be pissed at him.”

“He was the first ever to learn the story and judge me fairly, and mercifully. There were these who decided I deserve forgiveness, and these who said I should suffer for all eternity, or die. He... I didn't expect that much mercy. A day for a life!”

“Celestia, he holds no authority over you. This... sentence of his... it's meaningless!”

“Drop it, Nadir. You don't understand.”

He nodded. “Sorry. He clearly impressed you and I'm unreasonably jealous. I know it's stupid and I'm behaving in a stupid way.”

“I wish he'd show Xaroth such mercy.”

“He certainly would, if Xaroth was showing your level of remorse.”

I jerked my head up.

“Take me to him. Take me to Xaroth.”

* * *

Nadir was hugging me while I was weeping.

“I hate this country. I'm here four days and I've already killed two.” I wept, my tears rolling down my cheeks. “Why can't you Zebras go and be fair, be gentle, be caring!? Why!?”

“We can learn. I promise you, we can learn. Teach us, Celestia... Teach us to be as good as you are.” he rocked me gently, holding me to his chest.

“I'm not good. I went and sought out that zebra, and I pushed the dart down his throat. I killed him without a second of consideration. And now Xaroth. I hunted him down, I stole his best kept secrets, I stole the truth out of his head, I took all he had away from him! I killed him!”

“You did not kill him. He killed himself. It was his own choice. From the moment he decided a mass murder is the way to get to power on, he forfeited his life. You just sped things up a bit.”

The image returned to me, the black belly wet with urine, hind hooves spread far apart, livid tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth, eyes bulged, front hooves on the bars of the cage, the chain binding them drawn between the bars and around his neck, cutting deep into his trachea.

“I gave him all the reasons to kill himself. Every single reason.”

“Celestia, think about it! If he ever had his way, thousands of innocents would die. You stopped him! You saved countless lives!”

I shook my head.

“I could have stopped him without killing him!”

“He choose this way himself.”

There was a knocking on the door.

“Go away!” shouted Nadir.

“Prince, this is important.” a breathless voice called out.

“This better really be important,” he muttered and stood up, leaving me sitting and crying quietly on the couch. He opened the door and talked with the guard in a hushed voice.

“Celestia,” he called out, turning to me. “I've got two news, good and bad. Good news, he's alive. Bad news, he's gone.”

* * *

“How did he elude you? I thought you'd be well aware of his life signs! You can bring zebras nearly back from dead, how didn't you notice he was alive?”

“Stop it, Zenith. Don't you see she's falling apart? Drop it.”

“Just tell me, was he alive or did some zebra steal the body?”

“I... I don't know! When I saw him, I was too mortified to even touch him with my magic!”

“Okay. Celestia, try to calm down and don't let it get to you. If you hadn't outed him, he would attack sooner or later. The mayhem would be immeasurable. So no matter what happens... you've already saved thousands of lives. I will need you strong and ready to save more. I can't guarantee we can save all, but with you we can save more than without you.”

I looked up, with my eyes filled with tears.

“Zenith, I will help. But I want you to give them all a chance.”

“You want me to let the worst... The...”

“Brother.” Nadir put his hoof on Zenith's shoulder. “Maybe that's what this nation needs. More kindness, compassion, forgiveness.”

Zenith smirked sourly.

“If this is what Equestria is going to impose on Hippotigria... I can live with it.”

* * *

Templar Xaboo was immensely helpful. Not only did he give us a ton of secrets, and revealed many of Xaroth's helpers, he managed to convince quite a few of them to come to our side. And he continued to be active despite me bringing him back from the threshold of death two times already. I was dealing with zebra assassins for real this time, and they definitely wanted me dead. Rockskin against the darts, life detection and area effect paralysis spells became my daily bread. Every street corner bore wanted posters of Xaroth.

I sent Luna a letter detailing the situation, and she wrote back - “Take care of yourself and don't hold back. The domestic situation is all right. I'll take care of the Sun for you, so don't worry about getting drained. And keep this just in case.” Attached to the letter was a vial of rainbow juice. Supposedly so spicy it makes your eyes bleed and your breath flame, but apparently Luna found out it can recharge alicorn's magical power.

We managed to prevent seven disasters, we averted the worst of four others and we were now holding back the twelfth one.

“How long can you hold it back?” Nadir asked me.

“Until I'm needed more elsewhere or I drop from lack of sleep. Twilight can take over for an hour or so, but not much longer.”

I was inside a water delivery system tunnel, somewhere in a wall of a side canyon, halfway up from the bottom. I was holding the gathering water from the tannery side, water that carried corrosive, poisonous chemicals down to the city water supply network. I was blocking the way with my force field, the tunnel filled with the poisoned water behind it.

This time the attackers didn't need to be present at the site. The location was guarded, but the guards were helpless against some kind of missile launched from the rim of the canyon at the pipeline connecting the secure containers with the tannery.

No matter that the offenders were captured, delivered to us by citizens of Topside in chains. The water supply of this branch was contaminated, and I was just holding it from entering the main grid.

“Make way! Make way for the princess!” sounded below. Ummm... what?

Then I heard a chariot stop outside the water control station and some hooves approaching up the narrow service staircase where I was located.

And then, frazzled, tired, restless, Princess Zorana appeared from the staircase.

“Celestia, can you release some... Just a little of that poison?” she gasped out when she stopped by me.

“Sorry, if I drop the shield, the flood will poison at least a few branches.”

“I just need like a cup or even less.”

“The tanners should have a couple barrels of it concentrated set aside,” Nadir said.

“This way?” she pointed up the stairs leading towards the tanneries.

“Sorry, it's blocked out by the field and flooded by the poison. You must go back outside and circle around through the bottom.”

“Awww, I wish for wings at times like these!” she shouted, running back down the stairs.

Nadir shrugged, and went out to the road to receive reports, leaving me alone with the barrier for now. Soon he returned.

“We caught one more at the dam, setting explosives.”

“What kind of insanity must they live in to follow orders like these?” I sighed.

“Some of them admitted Xaroth holds their families hostage. We will have to save them as soon as the avalanche of sabotages gives us a moment of time.”

We sat together in silence for a while.

“Feeling fine?”

“Yes.”

“The engineering crew is digging the tunnel as fast as they can.”

“I shiver to think the river will be poisoned. I can only imagine how badly it will impact your people.”

“It's sustaining countless families with small gardens running for miles below Entwine. We will give them support until the contamination is cleared. But for now diverting the poison away from the city water supply is of paramount priority, and the river would get contaminated anyway.”

Then we heard hooves on the stairs again. Zorana was back. She was falling from fatigue, running, but she was smiling. And her mouth was painted bright purple.

“Celestia, you can drop the shield.”

“Zorana, what happened? Are you sure?”

“We dumped twenty crates of clove into the water! It will taste funny for the next few days, and stain like crazy, but it's totally harmless now.” she grinned. “I tried. I can drink it.”

“You tried the water with the tanning solution?!”

“It's based on the grape acid. It's harmless now!”

“Nadir, shall we?”

Nadir called out to evacuate the perimeter. The released wave would momentarily flood all of the infrastructure. Then I levitated the two and ran ahead of the wave along the dry channel, out onto open aqueduct, taking them with me as I soared over the heavily industrialized valley, followed by a burst of purple water. Soon the flood stabilized and water flowed down to the city, carrying thousands of cloves on its surface.

“Zorana, you're a hero!” I said setting the two down on the bottom of the valley.

“No, I'm not. You'd have the tunnel ready in another couple hours, I just saved a few businesses at best.”

“Oh, no, Zorana. You saved crops of countless families and bought us time to seek the hostages. If this goes well, you've saved quite a few lives!”

“I did?!” she seemed completely surprised. “Oh! So go, find them! Can I make myself useful somehow?”

“Get out of wherever assassins can get you.” Nadir smiled to her. “I'll let you know if we have any job for you. For now it's essential we don't have more distractions, so just take as many as you can out of our way, fine?”

“Including myself?” she winked. “Got it. I'll be researching what more good I can do with the grapes.” she galloped back to her chariot.

“So, hostages. Where's Storm?”

“Right behind you.” Storm approached from behind some bushes. “Zephyr will join in a minute. Do we gather some more guards?”

“The more Celestia takes with her the weaker she will be at the destination, so just the four of us. But a whole squad is already galloping in that direction, they should arrive in about half an hour so we'll have a backup if we get cornered.”

“Hey!” I heard another zebra, waving at us from a nearby roof. Wide-rimmed hat, long duster coat. “Will a fifth one be much a burden?”

“Agent Vex?”

“Prince Zenith would have me fired from service if anything happens to you, and I can't teleport, so...” he spread his hooves helplessly.

“Always welcome.” I waved to him.

Moments later Zephyr ran up to us from direction of the tannery. “Let me catch my breath” he gasped. “We've picked the remains of the missile for forensics. Definitely not zebra invention. Twilight says it might have been made by ponies, but she's not sure.”

“I'll have a look at it later if you want,” I offered.

“Later.” Nadir nodded.

I cast a mark of group, wards of stoneskin, poison immunities, improved senses and endurance, then I touched Nadir’s head with my horn, and he allowed me to acquire the knowledge about the location of the hostages.

“Ready?” I looked around, receiving confirming nods. “Let's go.”

* * *

“She's here!” I heard somewhere above. I had to stop and gather my bearings before proceeding. A mine or a cave. No, definitely a mine. A very tall, though narrow irregular chamber, with multiple galleries, catwalks and bridges above us, lit with scarce lamps. We were at the bottom littered with damp, black stone - coal.

Others would take more time to adjust their eyes to the darkness coming from the brightness of daylight of Entwine. Still...

“Close your eyes,” I hissed, then launched the blinding flare.

“My eyes! My bucking eyes!” a female voice sounded somewhere above. “Xag, I can't see anything!”

“Feel the lever, Kara! Pull it!” another answered somewhere in the tunnels below.

I soared up, towards the voice, as the rest of the team scattered into various corridors around. There was a small cabin built into the side wall, about four floors above the bottom of the cave. A wide horizontal window revealed the inside containing of a dozen of different levers. A zebra mare was trying to count the levers using just touch. I sent a focused paralyzing spell, the shining blue ball hit, and the mare fell in a heap.

“Lever! Kara! Pull the lever! Stand back! Stand back or they all die!”

I tucked my wings in, turning into a dive and dashing into the side corridor, towards the source of that voice. Two rapid turns and I reached the chamber...

There were Storm and Agent Vex on one side, and a female zebra, tall, skinny and horribly dirty from coal, supposedly called Xag on the other, next to a dozen zebras, mostly foals or youngsters chained to the wall. I could hear hooves of the others approaching.

Xag was old, tall, her eyes filled with malice. She had a blade attached to her leg and she was holding it to the neck of an unconscious filly. “Make another step and she dies.” she hissed with a voice dripping venom.

“Why are you doing this?”

“You hope you can buy time? Bring the usurper and I'll show you what bidding your time is!”

Nadir choose that moment to arrive. The zebra suddenly lifted a blowpipe from behind the hostage's neck and sent a dart at him. The dart got stuck in his fur, but it wouldn't pierce his magically hardened skin.

“You have already lost”, Nadir said. “Release the hostages and you can count on royal mercy.”

“Choke on your mercy, traitor. I will not bow to you. And you're already dead.”

“Am I? I'm feeling rather fine.”

“You have a week to live, and there is no cure! Only true king knows the poison, and even He does not know the cure!”

“The Crown Venom? Fine...” he shrugged. “Then I just want to know what your issue is. Why do you hate me so?”

“Why? WHY?! I was expelled by ponies from my own home at Crow Peak. And now you solidify the theft, make it theirs forever. King Xaroth would take it back!”

“I'm extremely sorry for your home...” I said... “Wait, he'd take it back...how?” I frowned.

“Force, how else?! Your pathetic country has no army! Hippotigria would smash your guard in one quick strike!”

“What an idiot,” Nadir muttered. “And how would he protect Hippotigria from getting consumed by a solar flare?”

This shut the zebra up, she glared at us.

“Wait, Nadir, wasn't Crow Peak one of the territories we've already covered by the treaties?”

“Why, yes, you gave it back. Xag, that's your name? I'm happy to inform you, that Crow Peak is an undisputed part of Hippotigria again.”

“You lie! You want me just to drop my guard!”

“No, I don't. I want you to surrender. You've been misguided, lied to. You made a wrong decision. There's still time to fix it.”

“No, you lie! I killed you!”

Nadir plucked the dart. “It didn't penetrate the skin. Besides, there is a cure for the Crown Venom already.”

“YOU LIE!”

Nadir approached and raised his hoof to the light of the weak oil lamp that was providing the lighting.

“I've been poisoned with it in the past. I've been cured by Celestia. Even if you poison others with it, we can cure them too.”

The zebra was staring at him in shock. “Did you... cure her of something too?”

He looked at me.

“Yes, he healed an ancient wound of my soul,” I said.

The zebra released the hostage and knelt, crying. “I won't beg for mercy, because I don't deserve it. My life and death is in your hooves.”

“Why such a change of heart?” Nadir asked.

“A prophecy, my lord. A healer of immortals, healed of death... I should have seen it earlier!”

I shrugged. Nadir rolled his eyes. I approached the hostages and began releasing them one after another.

“Now could you tell me what that other one's issue with us is?” Nadir asked? “And what does the lever do?”

“The lever!” The zebra's eyes suddenly opened in shock. “We must stop the others!”

* * *

“The grain silos are on fire!”

That was not on any of the lists we were given. Although, we should have foreseen it after the tampering with water supply and fire prevention systems...

All of my Solar Guard were in the air, condensing the little humidity they could find into clouds and sending them over the fire. Zebras busy passing buckets and fixing the damaged aqueduct, were trying to stop the fire from below. But I soon sensed a magical core of the flame in the middle and we recalled the rescue teams, not wanting to risk any accidents. This fire could not be stopped by mundane means, and it was too late to save anything by magical means - I told Nadir to let it burn to the ground, it would be easier to rebuild than cleaning up the mess that would be left if we stop it when only possible. No grain could be saved anyway, all spoiled by the smoke and heat.

We watched the silos burn, thousands of tons of grain consumed by the flames. Nadir's eyes were glistening with tears.

“You know I won't let your people starve. The ponies will gladly share.”

“No, Celestia. My people won’t starve. But this is heavy work of thousands of zebras. All in vain. We had a contract for two thousands tons of rice. I'll have to cancel that and divert it back to Entwine, and the bits would have bought another pump, to finally bring water to The Scorcher.”

“We'll see what we can do. For now, we should definitely find the sources of Xaroth's magical aid.”

* * *

“Bad news, Princess.”

Twilight, in white lab coat, was standing behind a table with several pieces of scrap orderly set on it in semblance of a long tube. She frowned deeply. Several zebras were milling around in the forensics laboratory of the Entwine Guard, and Nadir was gathering reports from them while I questioned Twilight.

“This is unicorn magic,” my student reported. “The propellant is of zebra origin, typical for festival fireworks, the shell was made in one of the workshops in Entwine, the craftszebra has been arrested and interrogated, but the order was anonymous, the explosives were made in Crease, southern Hippotigria, standard rock blasting charges from their quarries. But the guidance talisman...” she tapped a cracked and darkened disc at the top-most side of the remains, “This was made by a pony.”

“And the magical fire?”

“I can't tell much until its charge is exhausted, but it looks very much like Starswirl's Evertorch with its limit ward broken.”

“There weren't many of these left in Equestria left from Starswirl’s times. Too many wards, too few inherent limits, too dangerous.”

“One step ahead of you, Princess. I've contacted Princess Luna. There are exactly seven, and we know six of them are still in place, the seventh is being checked for, located at an outlook post in the far north.”

“But one could have made a new one, right?”

“Yes, and Princess Luna got the same idea and created a list already. It would have to be a skilled unicorn of considerable power. There are fifteen such ponies in Equestria who have access to this knowledge and are powerful enough. The documents necessary for creating the evertorch are still in the Royal Library, they haven't been magically copied, but somepony read them no longer than half a year ago. Copying them by pen would take too long to go unnoticed, so we must assume the one who accessed them either acquired and damaged the seventh ward or is capable of creating a new one.”

Right then a scroll materialized in front of Twilight in a puff of dragon flame. She unrolled it and scanned quickly.

“Princess Luna writes the seventh evertorch is still in its place. That narrows it considerably. She's currently querying all suspects.”

The door burst open behind us. Zenith stormed in.

“Celestia! I want you to rise the Sun tomorrow, at an appointed place! I'll be in attendance!”

I stepped back shocked a little by his sudden appearance. He was visibly shaken.

“Captain!” he shouted. “Captain! Any executive here?! I need an arrest warrant for Patriarch Varinari now!”

A senior zebra officer rushed from an office at the other end of the lab towards us.

“What did he do now, Prince?” I asked.

“He said it's all a punishment of the ancients for Zebras praising a foreign goddess! The cheek! How could he?!”

Oh, no! “Wait. Don't arrest him!”

“Celestia, your mercy has no place here,” he stated sternly.

“It's not my mercy. Think about the consequences! If you arrest him now, he'll make a martyr out of himself.”

He stopped to think. Right then captain of the guard approached, with a notepad with arrest warrant prepared. “What are the charges?”

“Wait.” Zenith pushed the captain aside. “What do you suggest, Celestia?”

“Let's attend his sermon. Let's see if he dares to justify the saboteurs and accuse the rescuers while looking in your face.”

“Right.” he turned to the officer. “Captain, prepare the warrant, the charges of collaboration with fugitives, but don't arrest him just yet. I want to have it with me during the sermon tomorrow.”

* * *

The attacks seemed to cease. There was nothing until late afternoon. Then there was something at the water works near the dam: three zebras with packages walked up to the guards. They placed the packages on the ground and asked to be arrested. The packages contained a substance known to deform and mutate fetuses in wombs of mothers. They asked not to be forced to reveal the others, refused to answer any questions... at first. Nadir woke me after midnight. The newly captured talked with others. Xag, Templar Xaboo. The others managed to change their mind and the saboteurs decided to reveal the location of another prison filled with hostages.

So, another quick action, this time an old, abandoned windmill.

The defenders managed to poison five hostages before we stopped them. I had to open the vial Luna sent me to save two last hostages. The drink felt as if my throat was on fire, and it didn't make me sizzle with power, barely replenishing enough for the essential spells instead, but it gave me enough kick to stop and remove the poison from the last ones. My flanks were heaving like after a long run when I finally brought every zebra back to Entwine and went back to sleep. I felt extremely grateful when Luna raised the Sun for me in the morning.

I dragged my hooves to the temple, following Nadir, Zenith and Zorana. Twilight insisted to join me, and I saw Crystal Clarity following behind too, a throng of zebras ahead and behind us heading for the sermon. The word that we would attend spread quickly yesterday, and this combined with Patriarch’s “controversial sermons” gathered crowds bigger than usually. I wondered if our scribe choose to visit the temple today on her own or got a tip from Twilight.

The Valley of the Temple was a long, narrow, barren crevice branching off the main canyon way up the river. Its walls, devoid of the vines, were dotted with countless sealed holes, each holding a body of one zebra, a vertical graveyard. Deeper up, a span of the valley was wider. There were buildings of the seminary, houses of the priests, and temple gardens. Then the valley was getting narrow again and was closed off by the front wall of the Temple. Tall, with enormous stained glass windows, reaching up a third of the height of the narrow gorge, the temple used the walls of the valley as its natural side walls. The huge double brass doors at the bottom bore countless scenes from the history of the nation. Nadir led me past the doors, and before we'd enter the central nave, we turned to the side and climbed wide stairs three tall floors up, each floor opening onto a level of seats running in a gallery around the center. Finally he led me to a special compartment, big and luxurious, with four seats suitable for royalty, and a number of smaller ones for notables and companions. Zenith and Zorana already occupied two of the seats on the left. Nadir took the center right one next to his brother and invited me to take the rightmost, motioning Twilight to take one of the lesser ones by my. I spotted Zephyr entering our box from the other side and taking a seat behind us. Storm would not be with us, leading a detachment of guards ready to burst in if things get out of control.

Only now could I take in the full view of the inside. The temple was long, tall and narrow. There were seven levels of galleries running along its length, carved into the walls of the valley, with ornate, dark wooden railing and tall, thin wooden pillars connecting the floors, seats stacking towards the back wall so that all would have a good view on the altar at the end of the temple. There were numerous exits in the back of the galleries - to stairs, tombs, various other chambers. The roof was valuted, made of dark, green glass. Behind us there were the windows of stained glass, lit to dazzling levels with the morning sunlight, one window of exceptional brightness just behind our central box, giving us a bright backdrop.

The altar, while separate from the galleries, was elevated almost two floors above the tiled floor, located on top of a pyramid-like structure. The backdrop for the altar was a plain white wall with just two ornate columns covered with ivy pattern on the sides. Plain white didn't mean it looked plain though - the stained glass behind us projected its colorful imagery onto the wall, and the images were shifting slowly as the Sun was rising.

The galleries were filling up, many zebras pointing to our royal box, whispering. All four royal seats were filled for the first time in almost thirty years since death of Nadir's uncle, aunt, and their children got murdered in never fully explained circumstances. I still wasn't Nadir's wife, but both Nadir and Zenith were quite convinced fiancée is quite enough. Plus the brothers weren't very religious, frequenting the temple only during special occasions.

Nadir briefed me on the customary rituals - essentially, I'd have to stand up during the song at the beginning and the end, and I'd have to bow whenever they call upon the names of Saint Vixor, Zorn and Xebarius. Zorn supposedly founded Entwine, and Xebarius united the warring north and south - I didn't know the two personally. I'd easily bow to Vixor though, my dear friend from the times of strife, the one who founded the nation of Zebras once the ices began letting go, and the survivors of the cataclysm moved on to find their own place in the recovering world, founding Hippotigria. There were countless other lesser ancestors honored by sculptures on the railing and paintings on back walls behind the galleries too.

And then, as the last of the zebras arrived, the priestess, a young zebra in ornate, white, gold-rimmed cloak and hood stepped upon the altar.

We all stood up and she began the song - her voice carrying through the temple loud and clear, not amplified magically, but reaching the furthest corners thanks to incredible acoustics of the place. The song praised honesty, patience and faith, giving favor to wisdom over strength and labor over violence. That was a wise, good message and I'd wish more would follow it.

Then the priestess stepped down and Patriarch Varinari took her place. He wore rich, ornate, crimson-and-gold robes, and he spoke of deeds of the ancestors. I noticed a certain twist he gave the story of Saint Vixor - that he was alone, sending the zebras home from a land of suffering, without any help from the outside. He repeated a few other stories and I got the general message: Zebras flourish through own labor, suffer by contacts with the foreigners. That wasn't the message of the song, which not once mentioned trust and openness.

Then Patriarch Varinari changed the topic. He warned about the time of hunger, strife and darkness brought by those who serve false deities. He implied the evil is with them, right there. And finally, he said that the true royalty will prevail, and the guilty of bringing the evil will suffer the right punishment.

Up to that point his speech could be interpreted in two ways. But then he raised his voice, shouting out my name - blaming me for the suffering, the accidents that has been barely averted (without my help of course) and in the end he called out that zebras taken from home, taken prisoners, kept in chains as a threat to their families...

I didn’t listen any more. I noticed a movement with a corner of my eye. Somewhere far ahead, on the middle level a zebra was walking along the third floor gallery, towards its end, near the altar. And then she - a rather young one in a dark cloak - climbed the railing and plunged at Varinari. He turned at the last moment when her hooves met his head. He rolled down from the altar, down the slope of the pyramid.

The zebra was gasping heavily. Temple Guards already ran out from bottom exits, when she shouted out.

“Liar! Liar! I was locked in the windmill, held prisoner! Xaroth took me from my home! Celestia set me free! He gave the poison, to kill me! She cured it! I came to thank the ancients for sending her my way, and this LIAR here...” she was cut off with the guards grabbing her and trying to subdue, carrying her violently away to one of the exits...

“Stop this!” shouted Nadir. “Let her go!”

...but these weren't the royal guard, and Nadir’s voice was lost in the roar of the crowd. These were the temple guards and they were loyal to the temple, not to the Princes. I noticed Zenith though making some gestures with his hooves. A few zebras on various levels vanished in exits behind them. Some acolytes carried Varinari away.

The sermon was disrupted with the altar momentarily empty. The roar died down to a loud murmur, many zebras confused... The young priestess climbed the altar and tried to call upon some silence. At last she called out the names of the three great ancestors, raising three items that lay on the altar: a sickle, a wand and a book.

With a gasp, I recognized that sickle, I recalled the zebra who stuck its edge in the eye of a giant python that was holding me in a deadly grasp... The memories flooded in, with clarity I had not experienced in years.

The zebras bowed and the murmur was silenced, the priestess stepping down from the altar, leaving it empty again.

“Nadir, the account of Vixor was false too. Could I maybe... straighten things out a little?”

“You knew him?”

“He saved my life once. And we were good friends.”

Nadir stood up and approached the railing of our box.

“Before the sermon is resumed,” he spoke in his loud, royal voice, “We have a special guest here. A personal friend of saint Vixor willing to share her personal account of his life.”

I jumped over the railing and soared to the empty altar.

And I spoke. I told them how I found a trail of smoke over snow-covered ruins of Trinicity. How I found him burning nobles' robes huddled with fifty other zebras around the fire, hiding from monsters.

How we traveled together to Hope, the makeshift town of my sister. How he saved my life from the giant serpent that hunted under the snow. How he'd later accompany me in my searches, carrying scavenged food, goods for the houses of Hope.

How later he'd gather a team of zebras to travel far, seeking other goods and survivors. How he became the leader of all the Zebras who arrived to Hope, removing a burden from Luna's shoulders and taming rebellious moods when the food was running short.

How one day he came to me. “Celestia,” he said. “I found a valley where we can live. Enough sunlight, enough unspoiled soil and water for us to grow crops. I know the soil at Hope needs to be allowed to lay fallow at last, or our fields will stop giving crop in next few years. Take all the Earth Ponies with you, and I'll take my zebras, and we'll settle there and farm that land until we can get Hope's fields back to bear full crop. It will suffice for us all until we can find more, it will buy us time until we find a land where there's enough good soil for all to farm.”

“But then we will doom the soil of that fertile place of yours, won't we?”

“But for a year foals won't be starving, for a season scurvy will be averted.”

“Take your zebras there, Vixor”, I said, “farm that land wisely, send us surplus if you have any. I'll keep my Earth Ponies here; the soil here will be able to sustain us with the reduced numbers.”

Minotaurs departed to another place their leader had found the same season. Vixor lived up to his promise. The zebras were sending the ponies and the gryphons surplus crop for as long as we needed it, until at last enough of land thawed that their aid wasn't necessary any longer.

“And before we parted ways, Vixor asked me for a gift...”

I raised the sickle. I untwisted the cap on the end of the hollow handle.

A matted, old tuft of pastel hair fell out.

“In a different world, he said, with less strife and dangers, we could have been a thing. But I'm a mortal, my death would bring you down, and that would be a disaster for our peoples. So let us part our ways as dearest friends.”

With eyes filled with tears I placed the tuft back in the handle, replaced the cap and returned the sickle to its place. Then I floated my tiara to the altar and removed the tiny green gem from it, from the little visible place behind my ear.

“A piece of jade, with image of zebra carved in it. The image is barely visible, worn from centuries of rubbing against my ear, but it's here, he carved it for me with the tip of his sickle. I shall leave it for you here.” I placed the small green rock in the curve of the sickle and turned to step down.

Four temple guards emerged from one of the side exits, and ran to the bottom of the stairs, wielding ornate spears in their teeth, sharp blades aimed at me dripping with poison, but the guards’ look lacked confidence. And there was Patriarch Varinari following them, bruised, frazzled and with an awful scowl but otherwise healthy.

“Blasphemy! Sacrilege! She broke the third seal and revealed its secret to the public! She must die! Guards, kill her now!”

The guards took a very unsure step up the stairs.

Then a watermelon hit Varinari on his head.

This time the patriarch dropped down like blown. A cheer sounded from all around. “Down with the traitor! Disgrace! Liar! Kill him!”

Watermelon? I looked up. I saw some young zebra far up, on the seventh floor, leaning over the railing, holding a coconut just in case the watermelon wasn’t enough.

The guards dropped their spears and picked up their fallen Patriarch, carrying him away quickly. There was a moment of noise and confusion. Then the young priestess approached from a side exit, flanked by two elder priests. They climbed the stairs of the altar slowly. I stood there unsure what to do next...

She bowed to me.

“Princess, please accept our sincerest apology. Patriarch Varinari won't be bothering you again.”

“Don't hurt him!” I almost shouted in sudden fear.

“Oh, we won't” one of the elder priests said. “The temple has many positions where he will be able to make himself useful.” his look wandered up. “The emerald roof could use good scrubbing.”

The other one, quite ancient-looking smiled gently. “Princess, I didn't expect I'd ever meet a friend of saint Vixor in my life. It's been a honor. You are always a most welcome guest at the Temple.”

“And we should definitely open the secrets of the remaining seals to the public,” the other one added. “I can't imagine how keeping them a secret can bring any good. I mean the third seal goes directly against what vicar Varinari was trying to preach!”

“Vicar?” asked the shocked young priestess.

“You can't expect he will remain the Patriarch after this, sister? Now,” he turned to me, “can we wrap the sermon up, Princess?”

I nodded and stepped down between them as the young priestess took place at the altar. She led the chorus, which sounded especially triumphant as I was heading to the exit...

* * *

Back at the palace me and the two brothers gathered in Zenith's private office, discussing the events.

Zenith assured me the mare who assaulted the patriarch got away with only three or four harmless bruises before his agents showed up and “pacified” the temple guards. I asked what about whoever threw the watermelon... “Well, if the patriarch decides to sue, I guess we'll have a case of defense against attempted murder. I assure you no law of Hippotigria grants priests any right to kill for any alleged sacrilege or blasphemy. Actually, you could press charges for attempted murder, but knowing you...”

“Yes.” I nodded. “I won't.”

Nadir was deep in thought. He'd throw me a glance from time to time. Finally, he spoke his mind. “You two seriously weren't a thing? You and saint Vixor?”

I couldn’t keep my grin back. Nadir jealous about my crush from over two thousands years ago? Sweet! I gave him a light, soft kiss on the mouth. “That's as far as we'd ever go. He was really a saint.” I leaned to Nadir's ear. “And even if things went otherwise and we could be a thing, he would never even think to suggest putting it in my pooper.”

I grinned smugly as Nadir's face flushed red. “Zephyr's a bad influence,” he sighed, shrugging.

Zenit coughed a little. We returned our attention to him.

“It seems we have Xaroth. His second-in-command turned himself in after the sermon. We're wrapping it up. It's only a matter of time until we catch him. He has no supporters, no resources and is wanted everywhere. We've even sent the wanted letters to neighbor countries,” Zenith reported. “Nadir, how's the temporary grain storage?”

“Being assessed. some corridors of the old mine are too damp. An enchantress is leading the rats away. A road is being prepared.”

“Can we start preparing the first train with the transport yet?”

“Yes, the first storage areas will be ready tomorrow. By the end of the week we will have enough to fit all of twenty thousand tons of various grain. A hundred and eighty six equestrian bits a ton...” Nadir’s face soured.

“I’ll give a go-ahead to the train loading crew.” Zenith turned to the exit.

“Wait!!”

We all turned to the source of the last exclamation. It was Zorana, restless, tired but hyperactive, her mouth and nose still brightly purple, the stain not coming off. She was gingerly pushing a cart with a tray loaded with several foodstuffs. Most quite purple in color.

“Celestia, I have to thank you... and Twilight too... Every...one, have a cookie.” She gasped, pointing to a plate loaded with small, plain, round cookies.

“Zorana, I can recognize Funny Cookies. What are you planning?” Nadir asked. Noticing my frown, he explained: “Funny cookies are a common prank item. They change the taste of everything you eat. Apples taste like wood, hay is devilishly spicy...”

“Yes, these are the Funny Cookies!” Zorana explained, agitated. “For the past few days I was fruitlessly trying to do something with the Commoners' Grapes. All in vain. Zoranade was a hit, but after that I hit a wall. Nothing could overcome the taste, and you can only go as far with cloves... Then - a breakthrough!”

I took the cookie and munched on it. Sweet, plain, slightly herbal.

“Chew it until it's entirely salty!” Zorana pranced around the tray. Nadir took another cookie. Zenith took the third.

“So, when I saw how you're changing the hearts of zebras, I wished I could change their tongues. And then I recalled the prank cookies!”

The cookie's taste turned to that of a salty cracker. I smiled and tried a spoonful of a purple jelly with beans and corn. It was deliciously sweet, with a little tang, with the corn seeds resembling walnuts, and the beans giving it a vanilla taste. Nadir tried a spoon of what looked like purple peanut butter. “Mushroom cream?” he exclaimed in surprise. Zenith tried a muffin. “It tastes a little like soy, but better.”

“Beef pate,” explained Zorana. “I don't even know how I know it, I've never tasted beef in my life. I just know it!”

Zenith looked slightly queasy.

“Hey, no cow was harmed in making of this muffin.” Nadir chuckled and took a bite from another one. “So that's the taste of beef.” he shrugged. “I think I could get used to it.”

Sure enough there was a bowl of purple soup with a few mushrooms and some wheat in it (tomato soup taste), a pie with grape and plum cream (cheesecake), pickled diced grape (mozzarella) and big slices of the grape crumbed in coconut and fried (steak). All made with the commoners' grapes and various other common, inexpensive ingredients.

“With this,” Zorana explained, “Entwine has enough food for all, now and forever! We'll just have to dedicate a few local fields for the miracle weed for the cookies.”

“And now if I want to eat normal food again?” Zenith asked.

“Here you are,” Zorana poured a small glass of a glowing drink from a jug.

“Oh, firefly extract, that was fairly obvious. Zorana, I'm really proud to have you for a wife.”

“Local grain traders will be furious.” Nadir smirked. “But the aid package for grain deposits they lost should help them switch businesses to the new cuisine. And let's make sure we can secure as much miracle weed as we can. The price will spike as soon as this gets popular, so we should provide a regulated sales point.”

“Way over my head.” Zorana shrugged. “I'll leave the business side of this to you, I'll just write down the recipes.”

I took a piece of the “steak” (despite the realistic taste, it was not easily confused with the real thing - the inside was glassy semi-transparent purple) and took a big bite. I sighed. At last able to eat beef without guilt, shame and regret... times, when the gryphons would bring frozen, dead cows and we'd thaw and fry and eat them, before we got enough soil cleared to provide vegetables for all the herbivores of Hope. It was my guilty secret, and I never acted on my desires afterwards, but I... liked beef. And this really tasted like the real thing.

Zorana observed us with childish glee. I nodded with appreciation, my mouth too full for speaking. Zenith rolled his eyes up with delight at the sweet jelly. Nadir was finishing his third muffin.

“I'll be back in the kitchen!” she shouted and turned to run. “There's so many dishes to be invented!”

Finally Nadir swallowed his muffin. “She's a true hero, isn't she, Celestia?”

I just nodded, my mouth too full to speak.

* * *

“That's it. Exactly fifteen suspects. All either with undeniable alibi or with crystal clean reputation.”

Twilight was truly inconsolable with her failure to locate the maker of the Starswirl's Evertorch.

“You realize that in face of your family member being held hostage reputation doesn't mean that much?”

“Princess Luna used the truth spell. But I also realize a skilled mage, and all the questioned unicorns qualify as these, can fool that spell. So we're stuck.”

I looked at the list once more.

Fifteen suspects.

One with a bad case of horn fracture, certified unable to cast for past sixteen months.

Two away from Canterlot for at least past six months.

Two academic professors. One so entangled in field research, that he was in Canterlot only twice, with the family. Earth pony wife and neighbors confirm. The other - confirmed not to engage in pyromancy within past year, not even lighting a candle - allergy.

Twilight Sparkle. “Here you must trust my word, Princess.” I did.

Prince Blueblood. Away, on the Moon.

Sir Fancypants. Actually, the primary suspect. Frequent visits to the library. He swore it was not him.

Two students. But one flunked her exam of Wards and Seals, the other can't read a word in Old Scripture, the two might have made the talisman together, but they hate the guts out of each other.

Trixie, Great and Powerful, the. She claimed she was out of Canterlot for past year. This is being checked. Still, her claim to be able to create a Starswirl’s Evertorch is considered dubious.

Cadance. Not possible, period.

Shining Armor. Great caster, frequent library visits, but he has no clue about making talismans.

Luna.

Me.

I sighed. I so wished Sir Fancypants not to be guilty.

“Prince Blueblood?” I frowned.

“His graduation work was a Water Talisman, it still supplies the fountain at the School. True it sometimes spews some green goo, and gossip says he bought it...”

At least the local network of Xaroth's connections was dissolved. The second-in-command identified all the remaining cells within Hippotigria.

We had a word with all of the culprits in the morning. They were all misguided or coerced in one way or another. There wasn't a single one we didn't manage to convince that they erred. Some cried. Some begged for another chance. Some... I was worried about them. They seemed like they'd prefer to select a punishment for themselves. The capital punishment.

Later in the afternoon Nadir and Zenith together judged the cases of all the culprits. And they both served the same sentence for all of them: one year of heavy labor; rebuilding the grain silos, repairing the tannery, work at the harvest and sowing to replenish the grain supply. The sentence would be reduced providing the designated work is finished ahead of time.

There were countless cheers and rejoicing. And many solemn promises that Xaroth Will Pay.

* * *

Nadir visited me in my bedroom in the evening. We kissed and he took my horse collar... no obligations, just some comfort.

“What have you done, you evil, treacherous queen, you!” he nuzzled me tenderly. “I'm being unduly pressured.”

“Into what, my poor, unfortunate minion?” I gathered him under my wing, pulling him close and nibbling his ear gently.

“Master Templar made it known to me in no uncertain terms, that I am to stop trying to discourage you, to marry you and to convince you to join the Temple and become the Master Keeper of the Lore. I tried to convince him that you have too much work as the ruler of Equestria, and would not have time for that. I don't think I convinced him. Anyway, he said that if I manage to make you give up on me, he will make my shameful behavior known to all. I also heard some voices of criticism against Zenith at the Temple...”

“What did he do wrong? The sentences?”

“Oh, no. Everyzeb loves the sentences. It's essence of mercy and justice, making the culprits repair what they broke but not harming them really. He was criticized for marrying Zorana.” he brushed my chin with his mane and let me rest my head on his neck. Apparently the added weight wouldn’t bother him any longer.

“What did poor Zorana do?”

“She took his wife slot. Now he can't marry you, and unlike me, he knows what is good for the country, he'd never hesitate.”

“Poor Zorana. I hope they won't find a way for him to divorce her.”

“They might. We'd better announce the date of the wedding. I still don't know how to break it to them.”

I levitated parchment and quill from a lectern on the far side of the room.

“Very official?”

“Very.”

After pondering deeply on the the actual conditions, pertaining to our Nation today, we have decided to effect a settlement of the present situation.

To strive for the common prosperity and happiness of both nations, as well as for the security and well-being of our subjects, is the solemn obligation which has been handed down by our Royal ancestors and which lies close to our heart. Indeed, we proposed for the hoof of Princess Celestia, out of our sincere desire to ensure Hippotigria’s best interest in the face of threat of diplomatic conflict. We had fought gallantly to avert the consequences of this decision.

The Princess has, however, begun to employ a new most generous tactic, the power which to do good for our land is indeed incalculable, captivating hearts of countless citizens. Should we continue to fight, it would only result in the ultimate demise and obliteration of our royal reputation... but would lead also to the harm of our beloved land of Hippotigria. Such being the case, how are we to satisfy wishes of millions of our subjects, to atone before the hallowed spirits of our Royal ancestors? This is the reason we have ordered the acceptance of the date of wedding between Us and Princess Celestia, set by her benevolent Self as the end of the third week after Summer Solstice.

I held the parchment to him to sign.

“That's a declaration of surrender, isn't it?”

“Slightly paraphrased.”

“I love it.” He signed, making a fancy flourish under his name.

I floated the scroll back to the table and nibbled at his cheek, giving him the look.

“Celestia, dawn of my soul...”

“No, no, no.” I pushed him with my hoof, rolling him on his side, “You're not going to talk me out of this.”

“Oh, no, don't get me wrong, I'd love to... but the collar... I really lack the necessary agility.”

“And I always lack the necessary lightness.” I nuzzled him and pushed further to roll him on his back. “All I need you to do is to lie down like this. Can you do this?”

His lips curled into a wide grin. “Now that's kinky. Not your plain bondage. You may proceed, your highness.”

My magic teased his sheath, coaxing his maleness to sneak out, still soft and wrinkled. I lay my nearly weightless chest on his tummy, holding his soft member between my hooves and taking its soft tip in my teeth. I chewed on it lightly, my tongue pulling it towards my throat, circling the tip, my teeth squeezing it gently. I could see blood flowing into it, making it harder with each second, veins pulsating against my tongue. I pondered taking it deeper, trying to swallow its length. No, not yet. Maybe some day, but my body was not ready for this yet.

Instead, I tried a different trick. A trick Luna had suggested to me one night when we'd talk like sister to sister upon her stars. I let my everflowing mane encompass his slowly hardening stallionhood.

I observed his face. Mmm, that expression made me wet. I could feel my mane transfer his throbs to my skin. And the way his mouth tensed in painful concentration, his chest moved in short, rapid, shallow breaths, his loins tensed to push more of his currently steel hard shaft into my flowing hair...

I could hardly believe Luna when she described the effect it had on Light, but now I had no doubt what would be my special treat for Nadir. I could see the length of his cock tense, then throb, its bottom side sunken by the internal muscles rapidly before returning to its full, bloated shape. His tip extending from the other side of my mane expanded into a wide, flat mushroom shape, shaking rapidly and spurting pre-cum. Then a spasm squeezed his abdomen and the tip shot a spurt of his seed, arcing far away beyond the bed.

I didn't let the next spurt to go to waste, quickly engulfing his engorged tip with my mouth and sucking the next blast of semen in, swallowing quickly, and following up with gentle suckle to extract as much of it as I could. Now that's a nice surprise, a sweet-sour tang of quite pleasant fruity taste, so unlike the bland, salty goo! A side effect of the grapes?

I kept suckling the tasty treat. Ponies would finish within seconds, Zebras were somewhat different - Nadir could go on for nearly a minute and the way his body would tense.... mmm....

Finally his throbs ended, and I kept a good mouthful of his semen, while turning to his face. I brushed his chest with my hoof and leaned to his mouth. He met mine with a kiss, and I let a rich gift of his own cum flow down my tongue into his mouth.

A frown of surprise, a thought, and then a very naughty smile followed by a gulp.

“You magicked it to make it tasty?”

“No. I think it's Zorana's magic. How do you know how it tastes normally anyway?”

“Zephyr.” He shrugged.

“Oh. Of course. I wonder if I should ever get jealous about him.” I chuckled awkwardly.

“When he gets a mane like yours, you might start thinking of him as a competition.”

“Was that this good?”

“I almost passed out. Heh!” he laughed. “I still have your collar on! I completely forgot about it!”

I smiled and lay on his chest.

“You're so light.” He kissed me. “I barely feel you. I heard pegasi are like that.”

“Never been with one. You might ask Luna though.”

“Your sis was naughty with a pegasus?”

“Yes, with a pegasus filly. I could write a book on what I went through to keep the rumors under wraps... so to say...”

“It seems oddly fitting for her. Anyway, on the subject of pegasi...”

“Yes?”

“I heard legends about wingjobs...”

I blushed, retreating shyly.

“Why the sudden blush? You suckle on my rod like it was a sugar cane. You play your magic on it like a flute maestro. You ride me like a cowpony. I suckle on your horn like it was a lollipop. So why the sudden blush about wings?”

“I... they... They cast the shadow upon my subjects during the Summer Sun Celebration. They are... more than just...”

He bit his lip. “And let me guess, the very thought makes you wet?”

“Please, don't... don't ask this of me...”

He pulled me into a tight embrace. “I won't. I understand. But forgive me if I tease you about this sometimes. Your blush is so adorable.” He pecked my mouth with a kiss. “Are they very sensitive?”

“When they are extended, yes. And breaking a pinion hurts bad.”

“Surely you can heal them?”

I shook my head. “It's not quite as simple. I told you they are special. Sure I could regrow a pinion for easier flight. But there are things that simple healing won't restore...”

“Don't tell me. I don't want to know. If I ever lose, if my secrets are stolen from my head, I don't want to expose any of your weaknesses. You've already told me too much.”

“Because I don't ever want to think such a thing could happen.”

“But you must accept that I will eventually pass.”

“I know, and I accept it. I want to be with you when the old age extinguishes the last spark in your eyes. I want to take your last breath with a kiss. And don't you ever feel bad about growing old by me. By me, as long as your breath will last. In my heart for all of eternity.”

“And by you for centuries at least, in our children.” He smiled gently.

The thought filled me with warmth.

“Celestia, I want you to promise me something. After my time comes, don't torment yourself with memories forever. Find yourself a gentle stallion, Don't ever be lonely on my account.”

“Don't talk like that, Nadir. I don't even want to think about that...

“Promise.”

“I promise. For you.”

I kissed him, gently. He smiled. We lay like that for a long while.

His grin grew bigger.

“I can smell it.” he said.

“What?”

“Your moist pussy. Wiggle your butt a little and then ride me like a cowpony.”

“Nadir, you rude ruffian... Why do I even...”

“Because you love it, cotton candy head. And I know it.”

Why do I even...

But then I felt the light pressure on my hindquarters, a bulge getting harder under my belly.

Because I love it, and he knows it.

* * *

It was time to go. While arriving, I was greeted by few who happened by my carriage, curious gawkers. reporters, bystanders. While leaving, the carriage was going through a throng. The whole Entwine gathered to bid me good-bye as I rode in an open carriage, accompanied by Nadir, Twilight and Crystal Clarity, who had armed herself with a pencil this time.

“How are your experiences, Clarity?” I asked. “Any memorable accounts?”

“One very special. I visited the Topside. I was jumped by two mean-looking zebras. They said the place is dangerous, then escorted me and showed around, telling about the life up above, taking me for a dinner and generally being so nice I could not believe when they told a week earlier they'd rob me of all my possessions and more. They were truly exceptionally nice!”

She blushed. I could only guess the reason of the blush, but I didn't pry.

“And how was your stay, my faithful student?”

Twilight was fighting a yawn.

“That library!” she sighed dreamily. “It's bigger than Canterlot Library, older and with many works long thought lost by Ponies.”

“Did you even leave that library, Twilight?”

“Oh, of course! I was in the police lab. And at the crime scenes. And I visited the Academy library too. I even attended a lecture on Mysticism! But best of all, I visited the Dam!” her eyes sparkled. “It's magnificent! The Dam of Pony Valley is nothing compared to it! And the pumps! I took a ride up one of them. You board a small boat and let the pump pull you in, and then the screw inside pulls you with a small pond worth of water all the way to the top through the pipe! It's a little scary, but fun! And how was your stay, Princess? I heard that after the Xaroth's case died down a little, you were spending an awful lot of time in the palace. You must have had a lot of work and none of the fun!”

Nadir suddenly got a fit of cough. I nodded. “Yes, Twilight. It's been very... Tiring.”

I couldn't help grinning when we passed by another newly opened bar with a banner displaying characteristic upside-down pyramid of six black circles. Zorana's invention surely took the city by storm again. She was sometimes nicknamed “the purple-nose princess” after the stain she got on her face while neutralizing the tanning chemicals didn't want to come off, but the name was always uttered with kindness, and suddenly from a decorative article at the side of the Prince she changed into a person deeply respected, loved and valued just as much as her husband.

We climbed the sloping road and emerged upon the suburbs of Topside. The crowd was no less dense, but they didn't just greet and cheer us. They would kneel and bow low in revered silence.

I stood up, surprised. Did I ever get this kind of reception? Not in Canterlot. Not in Penumbra. Not in Hope nor in the Everfree City.

Did I deserve it?

And there were banners. “COME BACK SOON.” Four pictograms, marks of Zenith, Nadir, Zorana and me. Other four pictograms, I didn't recognize two, but there was Vixor's cutie mark next to mine. Banners of Equestria and Hippotigria in a circle.

At last we departed from Entwine and I sat down. Nadir would see us to the borders of the province.

“Maybe you'd consider Entwine as the site of the wedding?” Nadir grinned.

“I might.” I smiled. “Especially that until your suggestion I had no clue who could be the priest to perform the ceremony. Still, is Entwine ready for that kind of wedding?”

“Oh, you mean our poor guests! Well, I guess I could ask the new Patriarch to go to Canterlot too,”

“Anyway, we'll make this a day to remember. Any plans for honeymoon?”

“We can take Quage on his offer. You'd love the mountains. I spent a major part of my childhood there. Forests, meadows, lakes, wild and free but not evil. A wonderful place.”

“Sounds like a place where love can really flourish.”

“You bet. We must get a new jar of the ointment from Zecora.”

I blushed.

Twilight and Clarity exchanged rather confused looks.

I shrugged.

And then there was a downer to my elated mood. Among the banners there was something else. A stuffed, black-bellied zebra made of cloth, hanging from a wooden frame imitating gallows.

Nadir's eyes followed my look.

“Don't worry, Celestia. We will catch him.”

“I'm afraid they will catch him before you.” I looked over the crowds. “And there will be no mercy.”

“And if they try to catch him alive, there may be more victims... And if he’s not caught, he might think up something else too.”

I nodded sadly.

The Future

The Future

“Do you, Celestia, Princess of Equestria, Goddess of the Day, Keeper of the Lore...”

“...wait, I didn't accept that gig yet...” I frowned at Master Templar Xaboo.

“...Hopefully soon Keeper of the Lore, Mistress of the Sun and Honorary Dean of the School for Gifted Unicorns, take Prince Nadir to be your husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do you part?"

“Oh, yes, I soooo do!” I pranced in place.

"Do you, Nadir, Prince of Hippotigria, Count of Clover, Lord of Entwine, Prime Judge and Master of Laws...”

“You're a Master of Laws?” I pointed my hoof at him, playing utter shock.

“Why, yes, I hold the university degree! But not now, Celestia, for goodness sake!” he danced in place as if highly uncomfortable.

“...take Princess Celestia to be your lawfully wedded wife, promising to love and cherish, through joy and sorrow, sickness and health, and whatever challenges you may face, for as long as you both shall live?"

Nadir shrunk.

“Um... can I leave for a moment?”

The crowd groaned.

“No, you can't!” Templar stepped up to the prince.

“But... I... I mean...”

“You get to kiss the bride!” I fluttered my eyelashes.

“No! I mean, no, wait Templar, that's not what I meant! I...”

“By the ancients, prince! Your indecisiveness becomes as legendary as the Princess' mercy!”

“Her legendary... mercy?” Suddenly Nadir knelt in front of me. “Celestia, have mercy on me! I'm too young!”

“Prince Nadir...” I bowed my head to his ear. “You're overdoing this! They are gonna guess!” I whispered.

He stood up.

“I do,” he said, resigned.

“Finally.” Xaboo sighed. Apparently our antics were wearing on his nerves. He knew the secret but still, his sense of humor was lacking. “Now, I pronounce you Stallion and Mare. You may kiss the bride.”

...

“You. May. Kiss. The bride.”

Nadir approached me and lifted my veil. We extended lips towards each other.

The lights went out.

How the lights went out in the bright noon of a sunny day in a hall with tall open windows will remain a mystery for all but the involved. Me, as one of the involved, could thank Luna for the diversion. It allowed me to kiss Nadir for real, holding him tight, tasting his tongue and nibbling on his lips. A small mercy for us, allowing us to express our real feelings without others seeing.

Meanwhile, over the ruckus of confusion loud voice of Luna emerged: “Will somepony dispel this?!”

That was our clue to finish. Nadir turned, I held his tail with my magic, he dug his hooves into the floor, pulling.

Daylight returned.

Nadir stopped pulling and turned sheepishly. “I thought something caught my tail.”

“I thought you wanted to run.”

“Me? Never!” he played bold.

“So kiss me at last and let's be done with this.”

He caught me, turned nearly flipping me on my back, but he held me in his hooves like a dancer in Tango. And he kissed, not a gentle kiss, but a bold, strong, and enjoyable drink from my lips.

I didn't need to play shaken when he returned me to upright position. That was some bold kissing!

“There. Satisfied?”

“That remains to be seen in the evening.”

Oh, yes. Definitely. The news that I accepted his demand for a heir raised quite a few eyebrows.

Mixing exchange of glares, smug grins, turning heads indignantly, we walked down from the altar and towards the exit, followed by bridlesmaids and groomscolts. We boarded the carriage and rode to the party in the summer pavilion outside Canterlot. I never liked its pompous architecture and the likelihood to have it torn down after the party was the reason of our choice. That, and distance from any inhabited areas that might fall victim to collateral damage. Oh, our little Ponyville party from Nadir's first official visit would be nothing compared to this!

* * *

“So, Princess, as the evening draws to a close, shall we retire to my chambers or yours?”

Oh, the insolence! Oh, the indignity! I shook my head and stood up from my seat. “Yours. And I hope you're up to the task.” I stood by Nadir, clearly displaying our size difference to whoever was still to see us.

Rarity was one of the remaining guests. I had to shot her a thankful smile. The dress was fabulous. Or the dresses, if you prefer. Currently most of them were in tatters, as designed. She designed my wedding dress to have layers, like an onion. As our antics would destroy one layer, shedding it would reveal a new layer even more dazzling than the previous one.

I also wore my dark green coiffure with pride. Fair is fair, Rarity. Never mind Nadir belching smoke from time to time. “Guaranteed to kill the taste”, yeah, I owed her that much. That was some night to remember, indeed. No pony was safe. Not the bride, not the groom.

We headed to the exit. I suppressed the urge to bump Nadir's butt with mine.

He failed to suppress his.

As we passed the turn of the corridor, hidden from the guests, we raced to his room. Breathless, we ran in, and locked the door.

I tensed.

Nadir tensed.

“Come on, prove you're not a changeling!”

He pounced.

I dodged.

He grabbed me.

I rolled onto him.

He pulled me down.

I held him down.

We kissed. Oh, yes, we kissed, hungry for each other, without holding back. His lips were my treasure, their taste, their touch my delight. Then he kept kissing my chest and my belly, and finally arrived at my nipples. I knew that probing kind of kissing. He sought the chakra of fertility. He opened it with a long, tender kiss, making me gasp in suddenly realized craving, a burning need. I met his eyes and saw the same need reflected in them. He desired it too.

“Tonight.” He smiled. “Tonight you will conceive our son.”

My heart pounded heavily and my face burned with excitement. My mind wandered to what kinky idea would he have for tonight. He definitely would.

As if guessing my thoughts, he grinned mischievously and walked up to the bed. He lifted a big, white sheet of cloth. Then he held it up.

A bedsheet. With a regular, small, round hole in the middle.

“You're kidding? You're kidding, right?”

“Chastity is a kink on its own rights. Play it tonight, as if the bunch of nobles were to scrutinize your every action. Perform your duty. Be my shy, reluctant wife.”

The images played in my head.

I blushed.

He grinned.

I stood up and walked up to the bed. I lifted the sheet with my magic and held it between us.

I undid the latches of my last layer of the wedding dress - a shiny, sequin-covered corset and a short lace skirt. I let it drop to the floor, watching Nadir's expression observing my shadow on the sheet and glimpses of my body through the hole. Oh, yes. The sheet between us kept him more interested than any strip-tease I could ever pull off.

Then I lay on the bed, covering myself with the sheet, allowing the hole to wander near my hindquarters.

He lay by me, on the sheet. He caught the corner of the quilt in his teeth and pulled it over us.

“Princess Celestia,” he spoke quietly, “Tonight the union between our countries shall be made complete.”

I extinguished the candles and darkness encompassed us.

I felt the sheet stretch and curve around my body. I felt his limbs embracing me. I pushed against the sheet to return the embrace and it yielded reluctantly, allowing me to hold... my husband!

The thought filled me with warmth. At long last best interest of my subjects was in total agreement with my own. My duty was my pleasure.

My Nadir. My love. My husband.

The thin barrier of the sheet held him away from me. I could make out his shape but the texture of his fur, the detail of his muscles was hidden from me.

He pulled the quilt tighter around us. The heat of our bodies filled the small space and penetrated through the thin sheet, an additional bond between the two lovers.

I was the princess of the land of Equestria, laying below the sheet, desiring, willing.

He, the prince of Hippotigria, above me, sought the way.

The thin sheet between us was a barrier separating us. A barrier with a fault. He used that fault.

And I didn't oppose the intrusion into my space. No, I was helping him to find the way.

The tip felt new against my coat. As if I had never felt its touch. As if it was happening for the first time in my life.

I teased, moving around, keeping it just out of reach, brushing my thighs against it. But each move was getting it closer to its goal. At last I let it rest against my sensitive flesh, letting me perceive the slow throbs.

He wouldn't force his way in. That was an offer and I would decide whether to accept it or not.

I was fully allowed to back off without any consequences. Some explaining, the prank is over, the young prince is allowed to go free. Sure there would be disappointment. But the one most disappointed would be me.

No, I waited for this long enough. I wanted this too badly to ever consider refusing. I pushed against the pressure. I let my body yield. I felt the hardness sink.

I let it fill me, and only as it hit the barrier deep in me, I paused.

“May Hippotigria prosper. Plant it, my prince.”

His movement was slow and deliberate. His stallionhood was pulsing slowly in me, the friction of the sheet against my erect nipples between my thighs made me clench my teeth, a pleasure little known so far, the moment being more than anything that happened between us so far. He pushed... not harder, just further, and it slid into my womb, the sudden exhilarating shock, but my body was way too receptive to protest in any shade of pain. It was pleasure, pure and stunning.

Normally he'd drag this part out, make me come over and again. But we both needed it too much, we waited too long. The evening would last and we'd have a plenty of time to go at it again. But now we needed it NOW.

With one exception, one last delay. This was Nadir. My Nadir. He just had to.

“Luna will protect the ponies.” he whispered.

Then he kissed my throat. A very special kiss. I felt the chakra of my Royal Canterlot Voice opening. It tore Zecora's ointment blockade apart, it opened wide, blooming in its full glory.

Then he thrust, hard and fast, embracing me, holding me tightly, burying his face in my mane.

I felt the hard member pulsing, throbbing, stretching me. I felt the semen hitting my inside.

I lay there. Not screaming like I would normally do. That was way beyond screaming. That was magic, strong and pure and bright. I lay, taking Nadir's gift in. It was carrying life into me, a new life I would kindle and nourish. It made me full, it made me complete. Four thousands years of seeking. And tonight I achieved my purpose.

I'd create life.

Under the starry sky, holding my beloved, gazing at the beauty of the night, I smiled contently. I held the gift in me. I would not have to destroy it. With morning light, I will infuse it with magic of sunrise, shape it with my magic, conceive our son.

Luna's shield of force field extended over us, enclosing us in a shiny sphere, to protect us from curious intruders and from falling debris.

Soon the shield lit up with countless impacts of falling rubble. Loathsome building. Good that it's now gone.

* * *

We raced breathlessly, as if our lives depended on it. Which was almost true - common ponies might not come alive out of this.

Down the meadow, leaving the hot and dry savanna behind us, up the slopes of the mountain, through increasingly green meadows, we raced towards the distant forest.

“Why is it so tenacious?!” I gasped.

“You pissed it off!”, Jack shouted back to me.

“I hoped it would back off!”

“It didn't!”, Nadir shouted from the other side.

Why did it exist at all? I thought rhinos are just legendary, made-up creatures from pony tales!

We didn't attack it first. It attacked us. Okay, maybe poking the hide with my horn to see if it's as thick and durable wasn't the best idea.

Then maybe using the Prancing Pony technique on the monster's face as it turned to me wasn't a good idea either.

This and many other thoughts passed through my head as we raced towards the forest, growing closer oh-so-slowly.

Jack fell. He stood up, limping. I supported him with my wing as we resumed running.

In other news, the rhino was closing up on us.

One of my pinions was broken in a fight with a vicious badger yesterday, so I couldn't fly. And the way the rhino turned with my horn embedded in its skin, I wasn't sure the tip wasn't fractured. I wouldn't dare to teleport us now.

The young forest was our hope, the trees should be too dense for the rhino to pass.

“I'll try to distract it and you take Jack to safety!” Nadir shouted and turned.

I looked behind me while running and supporting the donkey with my wing.

Nadir charged the rhino. The rhino charged Nadir.

As they were about to collide, Nadir jumped on the beast's head.

The rhino raised his head.

By a miracle, Nadir avoided getting impaled on the fearsome horn. Still, he was thrown far up in the air.

He hit the ground with a thud. My heart stopped.

“I'm fine!” he shouted and I resumed running as he stood up and led the rhino away from us, before turning.

And again, terrified I watched as the rhino takes the turn closer, and is about to impale my husband.

Then Nadir kicked. He kicked the rhino’s head with both hind hooves.

The rhino staggered and fell.

Nadir hesitated.

“Keep running!” I shouted, and just in time, as the rhino began standing up.

Nadir bought us some time. Still, we reached the trees completely breathless, and we needed to run another half a mile before the rhino gave up pushing through the thicket.

Finally, we found a small moss-covered hole and dropped, breathing hard.

“Heal please”, gasped Nadir.

First my horn. I checked. Minimal fracture, which would lead to it blowing apart and likely killing me if I cast anything serious. Still, very carefully casting minimal healing, I managed to repair it, then healed Nadir's fractured ribs and Jack's twisted ankle.

“What's this hole?” Nadir pointed deeper into darkness of our hideout. He picked up a rock with both hooves and threw it deeper into the gloom . A vicious snarl sounded.

“Wolverine! RUN!” yelled Jack.

We didn't need to be told this twice.

But let's skip two days back, to our arrival.

* * *

“I'm glad you took me on my offer.” Sir Quage greeted us at the gate of Castle Silvamora.

High turrets in high, thick walls, this was as much a settlement as a fortress, surrounded by a rapid mountain river rolling rapidly from steep, forested slopes into a valley far below. A tall drawbridge connected it with the forest road.

“Quage, do you think I could get to show Celestia the savanna?” Nadir asked, after greeting his old friend with a hug.

“Savanna, steppes, mountains, meadows, hills, canyons, even Dire Woods, all my lands are yours. But maybe you should start with the meadows and hills, something calm and friendly? The savanna is... tough.”

“Celestia has quite enough of that at home, but she said she's never been to the savanna. She'd love to have a word with the antelopes, greet the giraffes, maybe pay a visit to the elephants.”

“Oh, really?” Quage shook his head, leading us through the castle yard. “It's... oh, yes, I forgot she's not your average princess. I'll give you a competent guide. But for now, a feast. Our cuisine is not as fancy as in the capital, but it's all good and nourishing. Come.”

Two of his soldiers standing guard at the gate of the main castle chamber pushed the gate open and we entered the dark, cool interior. Oh, yes. The table was heavy with what the Canterlot elite calls “commoner food.” All my favorites! I swallowed saliva. And we weren't alone. There was a lot of zebras waiting, and I didn't notice a single frown or glare...

Quage saw my face and grinned.

“Feel at home. Let's get to eating!” he led us to the head of the table.

I noticed a big donkey sitting next to our places, apparently occupying a rather high place in the hierarchy. He was big. Like, taller than me. He had long ears, grey coat and striped legs. I recognized the species: African Wild Ass.

“Oh, yes, let me introduce.” Quage noticed the equine. “Here's my good pal and your guide. You don't know each other yet, but I'm sure you're going to get along just fine.”

The donkey turned to us with a silent question, as if not recognizing us. So Quage introduced him.

“Hello, I'm Princess Celestia.”

“I'm Prince Nadir.”

“And this is Jack Ass.”

* * *

Over half of the honeymoon passed. Oh the amount of fun we had! Nadir got nicknamed as “Terror of Hyenas”, and I taught lions the taste of Zo-Fu. We didn't meet Quage all that often - he couldn't accompany us most of the time, busy managing the province. Annexing Dire Woods, while welcome, added a whole new layer of headaches to his usual duties. New border patrols, census of new citizens, registering current defacto leaders of the communities as official government emploees, dealing with these, who didn't like returning to Hippotigria after they emigrated, and convincing them that zebras were a better alternative than the gryphons. Still, he'd spend a hour or two every day in our company, be that during meals, or at evening leisure time.

As my husband and I lay by the fire, snuggled up, him reading a book, me idly playing with threads of magic, weaving them into patterns in the air, Quage grinned. “See, Nadir? I You're warming up to each other. I said you would!”

Nadir snorted.

“What?” Quage asked, confused.

“You have a heart of gold, my friend, but skin worthy of a rhino.”

“Come on, I heard when you lay your hooves on Celestia after the wedding, she yelled at you so hard she demolished the whole Canterlot Castle! Isn't that true, princess?”

Nadir chuckled. “First, not the Canterlot Castle, just the Summer Pavilion, a small and ugly palace outside the city of Canterlot.” He paused, then he looked at me. “Then, she didn't yell at me...”

I grinned.

“Sir Quage.” I said in my most controlled, regal tone. “Prince Nadir has many virtues and quite a few vices, I accepted the whole package and I don't intend to change much about him. Especially, that amongst his numerous virtues, he's a truly... exceptionally... extremely good lover.”

Quage's eyes grew wide with shock.

“And Celestia can't quite control her voice.” Nadir grinned. “Normally we use an ointment to suppress it... but that evening was special. I mean, special special. You surely heard about... events. They weren't exactly an accident.”

“Nadir! You sabotaged your own wedding?!”

“We both did.” I ruffled Nadir's mane. “So he neutralized my ointment just as I was about to have the best orgasm in months, all right. But who was saying 'Yes I do' with a piece of ginger root under his tail?”

“That was MEAN!” Nadir shouted. “I had to play my part and I couldn't stand in place!”

“When did you even get rid of it?”

“When the lights went out. I kicked it under the altar.”

We looked at each other, laughing. We kissed.

“Well, put a dunce hat on my nose and call me a rhino!” Quage exclaimed. “She's same as you!”

“Naaah,” Nadir grinned. “You can't win against her. She cheats with magic!”

“Says the one who used a haunted deck of cards to cheat at poker.” Quage pointed his hoof at Nadir.

“You did?” I asked, surprised. “How did you even approach putting ghosts in a whole deck of cards...”

“Just the four aces. And it backfired. Badly. I got them all, four of a kind, and they started howling and made the whole deck fly and everything!”

“Made Zephyr want to kick you.” Quage laughed. “Damn, the boy hates cheaters! By the way, where is he? And Storm?”

“Storm's catching up on family relationships. Zeph... I don't know. He asked me for time off. I don't know, it seemed like he's sick, but he played it down when I asked.”

“I noticed it too.” I said. “He looked like he tried to avoid me over the last days before wedding.”

“He did? I... no, friend or not, I'm still his boss and he’d feel cornered if I started questioning him. You ask him what's the matter when you get a chance again, okay?”

I nodded. I hated trying to guess what's biting a friend who doesn't want to tell what's biting them. I'd much rather guess myself and just get a confirmation... Well, maybe he just needs some time and can manage to sort things out on his own?

Sure he seemed depressed. As if he lost something precious. What did Zephyr hold precious that he lost around that time?

I facehoofed.

Denial is such a horrible condition.

* * *

“You wanted to see me...” Zephyr bowed low.

“No. I wanted you to see me. And stand up. I hate when my friends grovel before me.”

Zephyr obeyed. Yes, that's it, he obediently stood up.

“Come.” I motioned him to follow me from my office to my personal chambers. He followed... obediently. We entered the room and I motioned him to the tea table. I prepared two cups of tea for us, while he sat, watching me, silent all the while. I placed the cup in front of him and dropped some sugar cubes into mine. I stirred, while he was watching his cup silently.

I raised the sugar bowl and held it by his cup. “Sugar?”

“Two please,” he said in a calm, resigned tone.

I put the two cubes of sugar in his tea and stirred. His look never left the cup to meet mine.

Silently, I wished to be brave enough to blurt it all out, tell it straight. But I was always a coward.

Still, I was always good at manipulating others, cornering them into situations where they are forced to do what needs to be done. So time to employ the plan... the plan to corner myself into doing this. To trap myself without other options but to do the right thing.

So let's start with beating about the bush. I can dare to do that much.

“Tell me, what connects Nadir and Storm.”

He held the cup with both hooves and raised it to his lips. He took a sip. I could sense him thinking about the answer. He put the cup back. Then he spoke his mind, calmly, precisely, a servant fulfilling an order to the best of his ability.

“They are like brothers. Storm has three younger siblings, and Nadir's the fourth. The most troublesome, the one with most dangerous ideas, and the one needing most attention not to let him hurt himself. Nadir gets some great ideas... he has a kind of hunch, to approach the solution from the opposite direction. You know, Zenith and Nadir. Zenith, doing the straightforward right thing, working along with the procedures, systematically and orderly, like the sun shining on his subjects from above, visible and obvious to all. And Nadir, always in the shadow, seeking the back door, shortcuts, alternate solutions, doing the unexpected. While Zenith has the guard and the agents and all the system solutions for when he is opposed, Nadir has Storm to rush to the rescue if his plans don't pan out. Storm and me... Storm seems to be better at judging when Nadir needs help though.”

“Why?”

“I tend to... panic. Sometimes I worry too much. Storm was never late, and he'd never...” his voice trailed off.

“Still blaming yourself for that dart?”

“Yes.” he nodded, while stirring the tea, spoon held with both hooves.

“So, why are you tagging along?”

I knew the answer. But it was too hard for me to say it. I had to have him to admit it instead. First came the obvious, simple not-quite-lie.

“He employs me as his page. I'm his most faithful servant. And I have a debt that goes... quite beyond mere servitude.”

“Not deep enough to be willing to give your life for him though, is it?”

“He's my prince, and... a really great ruler. I'd never hesitate to give my life for a ruler like him.”

“Would you give your life for Zenith?”

“I...” he stared at the tea for a moment “I think so.”

“Not for the same reason as for Nadir though?”

He looked into my eyes. Now he knew that I knew. Still, he hesitated.

“Trust me, Zephyr.”

Whether he decided to trust me willingly, or if he simply obeyed me...

“I love him.” Zephyr lowered his head, defeated. “From the moment I felt his hooves on my shoulders, his mouth on mine, I fell in love with him. And I know I have no chance. He's the prince, he's straight, he has a wonderful princess for a wife. For a time I thought staying with him would earn me a chance, another chance to be with him, to let him see and return my love. I thought it hopeless, and ridiculous, I knew it was unacceptable politically but I still hoped he - Nadir, the prince of paradox and unintuitive solutions - would find a way for us to be together. I was hiding my affection through antics and jokes. I sought alternate ways... I sought solace in embraces of hundreds others. Many of them were great Zebras, great Ponies... I found many friends and had some great time. Still, none of them was Nadir.”

I could see his ears drooped. He was staring into his tea blankly.

There. I got him to say what I didn't dare to say. I can't claim ignorance any longer. Time to be the princess, noble and wise. I swallowed. I took a sip of tea. Good tea, tea gives me courage. Say it, Celestia. Do it.

“First things first, Zephyr. I'm not giving him up, no matter what. I love him, and no less than you do. He's my husband and my love. And currently my best friend too.”

He didn't move. Still the servant, the slave, not daring to think about opposing the Princess.

“Still, you're my friend too, and I really hate to see my friends depressed. So, Zephyr, I'll do whatever I can to make you happier.”

I noticed it. He didn't move, didn't flinch or say a word but his eye pupils grew wider.

“So, yesterday's game of Poker at the library... That had a somewhat... special purpose,” I continued.

At that Zephyr stirred. “You were cheating?!”

“No, I wouldn't put it that way.”

“You WERE cheating!” he pointed his hoof at me. Love or not love, Zephyr would not agree to cheating at games of chance. Sure Team Ponies obliterating Team Zebras so completely seemed like cheating...

“Luna and Twilight spent last month on drilling me on theory of games. That was my exam. I never cheated, but we three always employed the optimal strategy, and besides, I'm a good actor, so you could never read my bluffs. You three were following your hunch, we were following hard maths. That's all.”

“Okay, okay...” he hunched his shoulders. “Sorry for the... suspicion. Kinda sucks to lose most of my savings though.”

“Sure it does, but fair is fair. Nadir lost more.”

“An hour of his freedom. For an hour he will be your slave, doing everything you say.”

“That bought him a credit of thousand bits.”

“Which he promptly lost anyway.”

“I hoped to win a similar boon from you...”

“Nadir went through a lot to give me freedom. I won't gamble such a gift away.”

“And would you sell it for hard cash?”

“No, I don't think so.”

“To a friend?”

“Once it's out of my hooves... a good master fell on hard times once...”

“With a safeword.”

“With a safeword?” he perked his ears. “Then it's not for real! I wouldn't ask money from a friend for that.”

“Same offer as Nadir. One thousand bits for one hour.“

“One thousand?” Zephyr opened his eyes wide. “That's... You can buy a real slave for that much on the black market!”

“That's only fifty more than what I won from you. Besides, even if I knew where to buy a real slave, can you picture me buying one? And last but not least, I don't want some random slave, I want you! You have a certain... reputation.” I gave him a knowing smile.

“Celestia, I can't. You know that for you I would do it for free. But first off, I won't help you in cheating on Nadir, and even if he knew, I'm not worth that much.”

“Oh, Zephyr... I hoped you think better of me than that,” I teased. “The moment you think Nadir's getting the short end of the stick, you're free to use the safeword. But there's a purpose to the high price tag. Safeword or not, you're keeping the money, and with me knowing your unfaltering sense of honesty, I'm expecting to get my money's worth.”

“It's one of these devious plans of yours, isn't it?”

“Yes, it is.”

“All right. I will trust you know what you're doing.”

* * *

The secluded fortress on a high peak was constantly guarded by a wing of pegasi. They were specifically on lookout for journalists, and anypony spotted with a camera would get clobbered bad. A photo of what was going on inside, if leaked, would be bound to cause a drastic diplomatic conflict. Considering that in the times before the ponykind was united under one flag of Equestria many smaller city-states practiced slavery, and that zebras were commonly slaves to ponies back then, the current sight would cause outrage in Hippotigria.

The sight involved the current ruler of Equestria, noble Princess Celestia holding two leashes attached to collars on two zebras: ruler of Hippotigria, her husband, prince Nadir and his personal page Zephyr. She was wearing tall latex boots, lounging on a luxurious bed. Them - on a fluffy rug by the bed, tracing hooves over bodies of each other.

“Now kiss,” commanded the pony princess.

Any modern, enlightened zebra or a pony would be appalled at how terribly wrong that scene was.

And the less enlightened ones would certainly be outraged about the fact that as the two kissing stallions embraced, their hard stallionhoods crossed like risen swords.

...I stifled a giggle. Giggling is not becoming for a mistress, but the way Nadir was blushing! So cute!

Meanwhile, Zephyr was lost in the kiss. Eyes closed, but their corners sparkling with tears. Breath catching in his chest, his forelegs holding Nadir as his most precious treasure. Now, now, crying is not becoming for a mistress either!

My look wandered down to the two hard, black shafts rubbing their tips against two white bellies. My hoof wandered between my legs. Now this is something a mistress can do. I rubbed my slit, enjoying the sight, slick latex on my tender flesh making quiet squeaky noises.

...oh, so that's what Nadir meant by “forgetting himself”! The two collapsed to the floor and Nadir ceased blushing, now he was kissing Zephyr in the earnest, their tongues entwined, lips dancing together, hooves wandering lower...

I tugged on the leashes a little. “Enough for now.” I had to repeat the tug for them to break up.

They sat before me obediently. Zephyr's need almost palpable. Nadir's blush returning in more intensity than before.

“Once the hour is over you two are free to finish, but for now I'm in charge.”

I could see Nadir blush getting even deeper. Oh, no. Denial is such a horrible condition. Not into stallions and such crap...

“Honey...” I rubbed Nadir's chest with my latex-clad hind hoof. “Honesty and freedom, remember? Zephyr's a trusted friend. I'm often far away, and you have your needs. I won't mind the least bit if you have a roll in the hay with each other when I'm not around.”

Nadir swallowed saliva loudly. I could see Zephyr's eyes sparkling with joy.

“Now my pussy needs good licking. The one that does it better gets a reward, the other keeps licking.”

I rolled on my belly, letting my hind legs down from the bed. And soon enough there were the two tongues. First one performing some quite amazing feats of skill, then making room and the other one joining, trying to repeat them, learning the new trick after few tries.

Still, the masterful strokes soon got me writhing and gasping loudly.

“Enough!” I gasped out, and the two tongues retreated.

I rolled onto my back watching the two dark muzzles damp with my juices.

“Zephyr, here.” I pointed a place on my bed, next to my head. “Nadir, continue.”

Nadir stood transfixed as my mane flowed momentarily where Zephyr was supposed to lay. He realized what reward he missed. Meanwhile Zephyr crawled up to my side, not sure what to expect.

A small cane surrounded by glow of my magic floated from a bucket by the wall and behind Nadir's backside.

*swish-crack*

I hit lightly, waking him up from the stupor. He yelped, then dug his mouth between my thighs and returned to licking me, though only half-heartedly as his stare was devouring the sight of my mane encompassing Zephyr's maleness.

And soon enough I could see Zephyr struggling to withhold his orgasm, not sure if he's allowed to cum. I smiled to him. “Enjoy your reward,” I said.

And as our eyes met, he understood the message:

Nadir is mine. You're my friend, so I'm willing to share, but don't get greedy. Don't try to steal him from me or you will lose him.

And then I blew his mind with an orgasm so intense he whimpered with each spurt of cum shooting up from my mane and flying far past the bed.

Then I lifted my tail a little and let it float along Nadir's belly. His eyes grew bigger as the realization hit, and finally he got to returning the favor with his tongue in the earnest, if a little erratically.

Zephyr lay, catching his breath. I watched Nadir thrust his hips into the colorful mist of my tail.

Not so easy, my dear.

I moved my tail to the side, exposing his maleness painfully hard. He looked at me with a complaint in his gaze. That was cruel!

“Keep him on edge” I muttered to Zephyr. “Don't let him cum until I say so.”

“Yes, mistress!” he sprung to attention and crawled off the bed.

“And you keep licking. You don't get to cum before me.” I tucked a thick pillow bent in half under my neck to watch his face comfortably. Normally Nadir would be able to have me in throes of orgasm within minutes, but this time I was sure to prepare... distractions.

Oh, yes! The eyes suddenly opening wide, the rapid gasp... a sign Zephyr got to work down there. Nadir's normally skillful tongue action got erratic again.

“You may help yourself to the toy chest, Zephyr, if you like,” I said with a smirk.

“Thank you, Mistress, I'm good,” sounded from below Nadir.

I could see Nadir's hips thrusting again, and he almost forgot the tongue in his mouth... *swish-crack*!

And Nadir was back to work, trying to keep Zephyr's distraction from his mind and concentrating on finding my special spot with the tip of his tongue. And he was getting me there fast! Was Zephyr slacking off?

But then I heard quiet knocking of things in the “toy chest” shifting and the hooves of the zebra returning in a quick gallop.

I couldn't see much beyond the head of my husband between my legs, but that was quite enough of visual turn-on for me. His eyes suddenly growing wider than ever before. His tail appearing from behind his head. A breath turning into a yelp, with his mouth open wide.

He shook the stupor off before I'd employ the cane again, and tried his best at licking me, interrupting this with rapid gasps, flaring his nostrils, his eyes wandering away to show only whites, his ears drooping or perking, sometimes clenching his teeth, breathing through the gap between them.

Momentarily, he got a moment of respite and returned to licking me, closing his eyes and gasping hard through his nose.

And I saw a grinning zebra head appearing from behind Nadir's back. Our eyes met again, and I understood the message.

I could steal him from you. It's not for lack of skill that I won't.

I sent Zephyr a gentle nod. Friends. Sharing.

He nodded in confirmation. Then he sunk below Nadir. And my husband yelped, his eyes opening wide, his tongue forgotten. But then he spotted the glow of my horn and got back to work before I could employ the cane.

I could see Nadir focus, he tuned out his distractions and despite Zephyr's attempts, he was succeeding at bringing me closer to the top.

I'd surely stop him before then, still allowing him to bring me closer to the top for now. But then I felt the special kiss... The kiss of a mystic opening a chakra. My Muladhara, the chakra of sexual pleasure opened and the gathered tension flooded in. He gripped my hooves as I was coming, writhing, shouting out, struggling as he held my legs and kept licking, filling me with pleasure.

And then I felt somepony holding my head tightly. And my pleasure doubled with my horn tip in his mouth, the tongue screwing into the spiral of my horn, wrapping around it, pulling...

Caressed from both sides, with my inside burning, my orgasm wasn't stopping, only rising. Soon my stamina was exhausted, and I was unable to writhe and scream, I just lay, whimpering, weak spasms still shaking my body when the assault from both sides wouldn't stop.

Two points, one inside my vagina, on its wall a short way in, and another, two inches from the tip of the horn, on its bottom side, were simultaneously sending wave after wave of pleasure, both assaulted by patient, precise strokes of two tongues, never pausing for a second, never missing the beat. And the waves would meet somewhere near my heart or stomach, and collide, sending ripples of ecstasy so strong it kept me unable to do anything.

And it lasted. And lasted. Subconsciously I knew the two would need to stop eventually, but it felt like they could hold me their prisoner indefinitely, paralyzed by pleasure. Probably, if it was anypony else, at some point I would panic, but I trusted the two, so my trance lasted without interruption, my mind unable to find a coherent thought, blanked by ecstasy.

It's hard to pinpoint the moment, but at some point the caress of my horn shifted a little, ceased to be in sync with the caress of my special spot down there. At first the point of collision wandered down towards my lower abdomen, then it faded, slowly, taking long minutes, until I just lay there, relaxed.

The tongues retreated.

I was far too exhausted to move. I managed to push my eyelids open a little, but my eyes wouldn't even try to focus. I closed my eyes and lay there.

I heard a whisper by my ear.

“I'm sorry, mistress, that I disobeyed you, but you were nowhere near to getting a thousand bits worth of service.”

“I don't think you gave her what she wanted from you, Zeph.”

“And what did she want?”

I heard a muffled thud, a surprised squeak, then sound of kisses, interrupted only by one word.

“This.”

I heard them making out for a while. Then they paused.

“Nadir?” whispered Zephyr, catching his breath.

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

“I know.”

* * *

a small segment of this scene has been blatantly plagiarized from Weaver's “Ask Ice Pack”.

“Zorana, I didn't know you can tapdance!” Nadir joined the applause.

“I do?!” she asked, momentarily losing balance and nearly falling from the table, but she turned the fall into a graceful flip with a landing in her husband's embrace.

...Light's hut got a bigger table and long benches instead of chairs to fit us all. Just a very unofficial evening with one special purpose. My look wandered to my faithful student, sipping from her cup, blushing...

I couldn't tell if Zenith was angry or worried. “Zorana, you're drunk.”

“So are almost all of us.” she laughed and hiccuped loudly.

“I am not.”

She stood up from his lap. “So walk up to the door.”

Zenith stood up. He held his front legs on his hips and walked on his hind legs to the door, staggering only once a bit. “There!” he grinned triumphantly.

“Now that was a fine display of sobriety, brother, but why did you walk on two legs like a diamond dog?” Nadir grinned toothily.

“I... um...” Zenith fell to all fours. “It's him.” he pointed his hoof at Light. “He made... an impression...” Zenith turned his head a little.

“Come back and sit down bro. You're drunk.”

“Okay, maybe just a little.” Zenith stumbled while trying to walk back to the table in a straight line.

Light gathered the cups and reached for the bottles. “So, who wants the cider, who wants the white wine, who just Zoranade, who dares the red?”

“My wife's... wine... please!” Zenith raised his hoof.

“I think you'd better pick Zoranade this round, bro.”

“I am... Fine! A glass of the wine please!”

“One glass of finest Mother Vine grape wine coming up.” Light poured less than half the glass of the light drink from a crystal carafe. Zenith was definitely not used to alcoholic beverages...

“Cider.”

Nadir and his two companions were of single mind. Light filled their cups from a squat bottle in reed braid.

“Celestia, just Zoranade, like before?” Light smiled.

I rubbed my bloated belly, nodding with a smile. I had tried a sip of each of the beverages but I wouldn't harm the little one growing inside my body. Plus I'd be driving in the morning. Driving the moon down and the sun up of course. Light poured the drink from a tall, narrow, curvy bottle. Half-copper for commoners in Entwine, imported Zoranade in its brand, fancy bottles was a prestigious hit at five gold bits a flask all the way from Manehattan to Stalliongrad. Both Zorana and me endorsing it certainly helped the popularity, and a hefty exports tax on Commoners' Grapes and derived products was filling the treasury of Entwine nicely.

“Mee... Cider. With some Zoranade.” Luna grinned leaning into Light's embrace. She was more than a little drunk.

“Twilight?”

“Just a little wine please,” she blushed.

“Applejack, same as Princess Celestia?”

“Yer makin' it like ah was sum fancy noble.” she shook her head.

“Come on, Appy!” Storm rubbed the rounded belly of his wife. “Even if you weren't an Element of Harmony, you'd be still my wife, Lady Applejack of the Scorching Sun. Oh, my noble wife drinking a beverage made of Commoners' Grapes, oh the indignity, oh shame!” he mocked, while tickling her as she laughed.

“Zorana?”

“I'll skip this round. I'm just pleasantly tipsy and not thirsty!”

“Lady Fleur, Lord Fancypants?”

“The wine. Definitely.” Fancypants was sure.

“Me too, please.” Fleur grinned wide. “I can't believe it, only six grapes this year, and one was made into this... godly beverage!”

“It's only so good thanks to your tips!” Zorana smiled, still blushing from the compliment. “Normally I wouldn't ever dare to risk it! To purposely let a Mother Vine grape spoil!”

“You experimented with the dark grapes enough before you tried.” Light grinned, while filling a glass for himself from a separate jug. The rich red drink he poured was unlike anything in our glasses and I could feel the scent of strong alcohol in the air. The commoners' grapes wine was deemed far too strong to drink for ponies and zebras, but seemingly both Gryphons and Minotaurs loved it (and Light stated really hard that sale to Buffalos must be banned.)

Light distributed the glasses to the gathered.

A baby cry could be heard from the adjacent room. Luna jerked her head up.

“Sit down, sis. I'll take care of it.” I stood up and went to check on Tempus as Luna sighed with relief, falling back to her place, embracing Light. I entered the room and approached the cradle.

Oh. The nappy is full. I was so glad to have my alicorn powers. Poor Earth ponies!

“So, Lord Fancypants, how's the Lunar Shire doing?” I heard Nadir through the half-closed door.

“Three hundred new settlers last month! And my two helpers... When Celestia assigned them to me I thought she wants me to keep a close eye on them, but they really work their hooves into the ground at the office! I'd never find time to drop in to this meeting if Petunia couldn't cover for me, and Diamond Quill really seems to know every stone on the moon!”

I finished rolling the full diaper and dumped it into the void. Void. Luna enchanted the dumpster with a portal to the elemental plane of Void. I think she over-engineers things a little at times.

“Sure getting distinguished as the Lord of Lunar Shire and mayor of Bluebloodville helped you rebuild your reputation, but what about your estate? I heard the value went through the bottom. during the worst times”

Ick, the smell! Wet wipe. Void. Wet wipe. Void. Wet wipe. Void. Dry wipe. Void. Levitation power yay. I'd kiss my horn if I could reach it. I winced at the mental image. Zephyr's such a bad influence. No, excuses, excuses. I'm just perverted like this. I extended my tongue towards my horn. Like, a mile is missing. Never mind. Baby powder.

“T'estate*HIC* is fine.” I heard Luna. She really shouldn't have tried her man's drink.

“That's true.” Fancypants said. “It's not mine anymore formally, though I'm still the administrator. Princess Luna bought it whole with her personal funds when it was to be foreclosed. It still boggles my mind how she managed to gather such significant funds on such a short notice.”

“A hundred bits in a high percentage account left for a thousand years goes a long way,” explained Light.

New diaper. Lay the foal. Close the diaper, stick the edges. There, done. I snuggled the foal to my face, nuzzling the brushy white mane. Sweet little baby!

A flash of light. A crying twin copy of Tempus appeared in the cradle. With a full diaper. I sighed, lay first Tempus back and began unrolling the second diaper. The smell assaulted my nose. I began understanding Luna on the decision to create a portal to the Void.

“Ah gonna... You'll get it all back. Every last broken bit!” Luna slurred from behind the door.

“The princess wanted to say that the estate will be returned to the rightful owner in a state no worse than before the unfortunate events, when the opportunity to perform such transition without raising undue questions arises.” Light explained. And he was after two glasses of the strong drink on top of a glass of the wine and a glass of the cider!

“Thazz what ah meant.”

“I know, love.”

“Light, ah gonna... Ah gonna...”

“I know.”

“No, Light! Ah gonna...”

“Run.”

Luna ran in.

I conveniently lifted the lid of the dumpster for her.

The mix of three liquors, pickles, daisy sandwiches and stomach acids vanished Into the void.

“Luna, do you want me to help you neutralize it a little?”

“Ah'll be fi...”

Another flood went into Elemental Void.

“Do it sis.”

I lowered my horn to her spine and applied the spell. Some bad memories tried to surface, but I managed to keep them at bay. It was just my sis drinking a bit too much.

She shook her mane and looked at me with gratitude, sobriety rapidly returning to her mind. She spotted the foal in the fresh diaper and another, freshly unwrapped. “Thanks sis. I'll take over from here.”

I smiled and returned to the table, took my place and took a swig of Zoranade.

“She's gonna be fine?” Light asked with a little concern.

“I made her sober. She's changing the diaper.”

“I thought you were...”

“Let me remind you your son's name is Tempus.”

“Oh.” Light raised his hands defensively. “I'm sorry. I forgot this happens with him.

I smiled, taking another sip. A moment of silence. I looked at Applejack's belly. Her foaling will be around the same date as mine.

I decided to break the silence.

“So, there are still two married pairs without a foal at the table. When is your turn?” I turned to the pony beauty.

“I'll finish the studies first. Get a job maybe.” Fleur smiled.

“You can afford to remain unemployed, dear.” Fancypants embraced her waist.

“I can, but I don't want. A useless pretty shell? Good for looking good? No way!”

“High One!” Zorana raised her hoof, and Fleur knocked her hoof with her.

“So, when will the elder prince of Hippotigria produce a heir?” I grinned to Zenith.

“Six years after you.”

“Excuse me?”

“A rapid transition on both thrones would be destabilizing to the country. Let Novan rule in Nadir's place for at least five years, and then it will be the right time for the change on the second throne.”

“Oh, always so serious, always thinking about the country!” I smiled.

“That I am.”

Luna returned to the table and took her place by Light.

“Awww, all sober and conscious,” he grinned, embracing her waist. “And I hoped I'd carry you to bed and exploit you in a dozen different ways while you lay numbly unable to move” he muttered to her ear.

Luna raised Light's cup and took a deep swig of the strong red wine, then sent him a mischievous grin.

My look wandered to Twilight. Her blush deepened. She took another drink, emptying the cup and fiddling with her front hooves. Her look kept springing to Zephyr.

“I think Twilight is ready.”

Twilight's look jumped to me and her blush went full crimson and she turned to Zephyr.

“I... Is it gonna hurt? I heard it hurts so um, if you could be super-gentle on me I would really- I mean, not TOO gentle, haha. Just, um...”

Zephyr's hoof landed on Twilight's mouth closing it gently. “It's okay to be nervous. But I'm a professional. I'm going to make sure you have a good time. Okay?”

“O-kay” muttered Twilight.

Poor girl still couldn't gather enough self-confidence to approach any stallion (or mare) by herself. So we gathered today to make sure she knows we are accepting. For a while I pondered bringing other Bearers in, but I was a bit afraid their reactions might discourage Twilight. So only Applejack, who bore a zony in her belly already.

Zephyr took Twilight's hoof under his own, courtly, and led her to the door. They'd take the same route Nadir and I took on that memorable night a year ago, have a nice talk, gaze at the stars, and hopefully...

Maybe there was more than just motherly love in my feelings towards Twilight?

* * *

...I strolled the corridors of the University of Canterlot, trying to find the lecture hall. I stopped by some doors overhearing a teacher shouting at a student...

“Just look at that! Wrong method, wrongly executed, with faulty data, errors in calculation, mixed up units, bad graph, and the error discussion is on a different set of data! This whole homework is one huge Celestia’s Wedding!”

I snickered as I continued down the corridor. It’s been six years, but the idiom apparently became a permanent part of Poni.

Another turn, another flight of stairs, and at last I arrived at the right lecture hall. I snuck in, trying to take one of the last seats in the big, almost full room without disrupting the lecture, but Luna spotted me, and threw me a glare. Come on, sis, cut me some slack, I’m only like fifteen minutes late, and... and I’d stain the seat with Nadir’s cum if I was on time! I really had to clean myself up!

“So, let me just repeat the part we covered until now”, Luna said, “...for those, who arrived late...” she threw me another stern look. It caused a few chuckles in the crowd. I had to admit she looked extremely serious with these little round glasses. Rarity’s idea. They really were giving her looks the necessary few extra years needed to command respect in students. But she still looked cute...

Focus, Celestia, Focus! This is important! Tensor fields are cool, I can handle that. Complex numbers flow in my blood, that’s how we cross the barrier between worlds. Functionals, all right, I can handle functionals. But... no, don’t do it, don’t do it, No, you did it! You just had to add recursion into the mix!

I groaned in frustration seeing as Luna happily put the tensor function symbol inside one of the fields in its own tensor.

Squared.

You sadist.

One lost bet. One lost bet and I had to obtain prestigious title of Master of Mathematics, just because Nadir has no fingers on top of his penis.

That cheating human... my insides tingled at the memory. And twenty seconds longer and Luna would have to get a black belt in Classic Zo-Fu!

Have to focus on the lecture. Luna would be all too happy to flunk me!

How did you differentiate it like that? I lose focus for a minute and I...

Oh, thank you sis. At least Luna is a competent teacher. She will repeat until everypony gets it. Demanding, but not unreasonable. I began picking up how she took the thing apart and applied methods we knew already to every piece along the way, resolved the minor caveats and presented a neat solution.

Luna proceeded to solving several other smaller examples, while explaining how and when to use the presented method, and when would it not be applicable. I was taking notes and making the best out of the lecture. As did great most of students. Luna would not hesitate to use the RCV on those who wouldn’t pay attention. I recalled two “noble ladies” who would discuss and compare their cosmetics in the back rows. Noisily. Luna got angry. Wind, clouds, glowy eyes, spread wings, thunderbolts and lightnings, they both wet themselves. One dropped off after that lecture, the other started getting best grades and appeared to be an excellent student and a nice filly once the “bad influence” was gone.

At last Luna wrapped up the lecture with a recap of the new methods and the students packed up. I moved to the side to let others pass and waited as Luna was erasing the board. She put her little glasses in a small case and packed it with her books in a briefcase. I approached her and smiled. She had a line of chalk on her nose. I put my face right in front of her.

“Any problem sis?”

I licked her nose.

“Tia?!” she stepped back, shocked.

“You had some chalk there.”

“You could tell me. Or use a hanky.”

“Yes, I could.”

“And you probably have a perfectly valid and useless excuse why you didn’t.”

“No, I don’t. Or maybe I do, depending on your viewpoint.”

“I’m all ears.”

“I love you, little sis.”

Her expression mellowed. “Not in public, Celestia. There will be rumors.”

“Zephyr’s such a bad influence, isn’t he?”

“Excuses, excuses.” she approached, then licked my nose without warning. “There. Let’s catch some lunch. The transport of grapes has arrived this morning. Today’s Zorana day at the cafeteria.”

“Mmm, steaks.”

* * *

“ABANDON CITY!”

Luna's voice blared over the dark, empty streets. She stood like a captain of a ship on the top of the gate tower of the Penumbra castle, while ponies below milled around, gathering in the caravan along the middle of the main street. Many carts, wagons, all filled to the brim with movable property. They prepared to leave their beloved homes behind. They gathered all they could take, and prepared to start on a trek to the new place where they would rebuild their homes.

They were pale, shorter than ponies of Equestria, skinnier. They all had lived without sunlight for many years now. Time has came to move on, to abandon Penumbra, and welcome the sun for the first time. Risking a battle would be unwise, too dangerous. After counting all the pros and cons, we concluded rebuilding the city from scratch at a different location, then simply discarding this shard of reality, breaking the anchor holding it to Equestria will not endanger a single life, and will cost a small fraction of what would the battle cost. Most of property was already at the destination, the castle striped bare, houses empty - the last batch of citizens would leave today, and the veil of darkness would be raised... to let the empty city die for the last time.

I flew along the line of wagons. I helped a pair of ponies fasten a grandfather clock to the top of their wagon. One of twelve. Twelve grandfather clocks? I shrugged and continued along the line, helping whenever ponies required assistance.

They should exit the Everfree Forest before dawn and ponies of Ponyville would welcome them at a cave by outskirts of the Whitetail Woods. There the property would be deposited and ponies of Penumbra would pass their quarantine of getting used to daylight. A week later they would depart towards borders of Hippotigria, where ponies of Equestria and zebras of Hippotigria, together with first settlers from Penumbra were preparing the new city, called Halflight to welcome them. Nadir was currently there, overseeing the preparations.

“Princess Celestia!” a distressed voice sounded from below. I landed by the cart of a family of Earth ponies. The mother of the family approached me.

“Our daughter is missing! She's nowhere to be found!”

“Calm down. No pony will be left behind. We'll find her. What can you tell about her?”

“A filly fifteen years old, long golden mane, white coat, a white lily for a cutie mark. I'm afraid she could have gone to the lake in the forest!”

“She knows the borders are torn down, doesn't she? The wild Everfree Forest is all open for pouring in?”

“She... She wanted to keep a white lily from the lake. But then her friend came, crying about losing her home and she gave her lily to her. And I think she might have gone to pick another for herself. She should be long back...”

“Mom, let me go bring her, do not bother Princess Celestia.” an almost adult colt approached us. “I'm sure Aeris is fine. She just forgot...”

I smiled. “Yours is currently the most urgent issue. I'll try find her, and if you're willing to help, young stallion, the Solar Guard outpost is located at the end of the column. Pass them a message to send out Wonderbolts in search of her, and if you want to make yourself useful, they will surely find a place for you in the rear guard.”

“Mom? Can I help them?”

“Princess Celestia?”

“I cannot guarantee he'll be fine. The job is difficult and dangerous, but every set of hooves counts.”

The mare turned to the elder stallion who was already harnessed to the cart, a silent question in her eyes.

“Let him help. I'll manage with the cart. And even if he doesn't find Aeris...”

“Make me proud, son.”

“I will, mom.” the youngster kissed his mother on the cheek and ran towards the back of the column.

I flapped my wings, rising over the city veiled in darkness, then turned on wing and dashed to the castle. My wings were recalling long-learned patterns of turns as I did a half-roll fitting in a narrow gap between two towers, pushed with my hooves against the third, and dove through a narrow window into the western wing corridor. Brushing my wingtips against the walls currently devoid of luxurious tapestries they had carried for past millennium and a half, I descended towards the throne room, then took a sharp turn, flying up towards the high ceiling, and landed on a balcony leading to a wooden door, on top of long, narrow stairs overlooking the great throne room.

Many times Luna would chastise me for taking this shortcut, startling servants and upsetting the tapestries mid-flight. So I'd have to circle the castle and take the boring, straight approach to the outside balcony of my chamber? No way, sis. I was glad for the chance to take this route this one last time, centuries after I deemed it lost along with the whole city.

But there's a job to do. I pushed the door open and stepped into my own chamber of the castle. There, on the dresser, a dried white lily was stuck behind the frame mirror, where I left it years ago when Luna sacrificed her grandchild’s soul to give this city a chance.

I removed it and concentrated, binding the life-finding spell with the flower. The Everfree Forest was far too “lively” for plain life-finding spell, but this flower bore an imprint. One from a filly who gave it to me on that fateful night...

The trail was hesitant at first, but then it formed, a needle stinging at my mind, pointing to one specific point amongst millions of sparks of life.

I ran through the balcony door, jumped down, tucking my winds and gaining speed, then I spread them above the ground, banking sharply and flying with all the speed my wings would give me. Market, Orangeries, Water works, darkened, dry fields where watermelons used to grow... permanent darkness wasn't conductive to growth, and Penumbra was entirely dependent of food deliveries from Equestria.

I flew uphill along the former grasslands, now dark and dead. There was the lake, and the lanterns giving nourishment to the few water lilies near the shore. But the filly was further away, where gnarled trees began, dry and dead too - even the dreaded Everfree Forest needed sunlight to live.

A shiver ran along my back as I realized that fate would meet the whole world if I allowed Luna to keep the eternal night.

The trail was wavering and vanishing as if snuffed by some powerful magic. It pointed deeper into the forest and I beat my wings, gaining some altitude, to have a better look. A short way further there was a shimmering, translucent wall through the landscape, where the shard of Penumbra connected to mainland Equestria, currently anchored and inert, basked in the darkness that prevented sunlight from ever shining down here, the shimmering wall just a token disturbance at the joint of the two worlds...

There, a light! And in a moment of clarity the trail pointed to a place in the forest outside the shimmering wall, and I turned into a dive, flying there, crossing the barrier without any resistance.

I could see the filly huddled under roots of a big, old tree, holding the lantern as a weapon, and a monster closing on her.

The monster was something I hadn't seen in my life. A pale, bloated creature covered with loose, bare skin hanging in fat-heavy tumors, and sickly livid sores. It was somewhat resembling an elephant, but the head was vaguely equine, though more rounded, earless, with an indentation in the forehead, an enormous maw and narrow slits between eyelids over large, hidden eyes. Two long, thin, twig-like appendages ending in sharp spikes, like long legs of a spider extended from its back. It bore something like a torn, black, tattered rag or molting black skin on its back and it emanated a miasma of rotting flesh. A noise reminiscent of cackle was escaping its maw, tongue with a split tip licked the lips, and the twig-like appendages kept rubbing each other like legs of a fly.

I landed between the filly and the monster, making my horn shine with strong light, rising a magical barrier of protection.

“Run!” I commanded.

The filly crawled from between the roots and prepared to dash, when the monster coughed out a spell.

The raw, foul, tainted magic felt like a globe of phlegm. Like a ten-ton globe of phlegm hitting us. We'd be dead if not my shield, but the impact knocked it out, broke through and send us tumbling.

The blow knocked the lantern out of the filly's grip and the monster approached, entering the circle of light.

Standing up from the dirt, I began noticing things. A short conical tip sticking out of the hole in the fat forehead. A glimpse of gold on the edges of the black rag. The bony, twig-like appendages with two joints, like bones of wings.

The cackle sounded louder, and I recognized some syllables...

Ce.... Les... Tia...

The eyes were wild, filled with malice and hate. But there was a spark of intelligence in them. A little, barely visible spark. And the hate was clearly directed at me.

For a moment the hem of the black rag shone with rich, fancy, golden embroidery.

I knew this pattern all too well. I'd see it more than enough during the first century and a half of my life. Only one pony wore cloth with this pattern.

Doctor Thistle.

Professor Thistle.

Rector Magnificus Thistle.

Senator Thistle.

Prime Minister Thistle.

President Thistle.

High Marshal Thistle.

In the end just Mister Thistle, the humble advisor to the Royal Sisters. One clueless about the relationship might say he was my father... but he was more of my owner. Master. Slaver.

And currently... this. A monster. And what made it even more creepy was that he was completely transparent for my life finding spell. There was more life in his sores than in his body. Undead. A corpse. Animated by magic so powerful it could obliterate the world many times over.

I knew what direct confrontation would cause. End of Equestria. Death of millions. And my death too.

I raised a spell of confusion, masking us, making us hard to locate.

I sent a jolt of energy to the filly. It would keep her going despite the pain; give strength.

“Run!” I whispered. “Tell them all to run! Now! Fate of Equestria depends on you!”

She ran.

I turned to the creature.

It just willed the confusion to be gone. Its malice-filled irises focused on me. I felt them paralyzing me, making me entirely unable to move. My body would not react and my mind was heavy, finding will to cast spells was difficult.

Such a stroke of bad luck! Over five thousands square miles of the Everfree Forest, and we had to stumble upon the one single creature that...

...that wasn't a mindless animal any longer. No, he sought us out. He was still barely sapient, but he knew... and he wanted revenge.

The stalks of wing bones rose, aiming at me, preparing for a blow. Killing quickly? Torturing for hours? I didn't want to guess. I didn't want to wait for the strike. But I couldn't run, I couldn't move.

So instead of moving, I dissolved. My flesh remained, transfixed in place, but the essence just poured down into the soil. I transpired through the soil as the pink fog, emerging a good way away. I reformed my body... a new body from scratch. This was extremely draining, depleting most of the reserve of my power, but the vapor form was too vulnerable, no horn for focus, no wings for rapid flight, not even mouth to speak. The pinions would take at least a few days to gain the power to absorb magic of the sun... if I lived that long. But for now I was whole and alive.

My ears caught sounds of the feast. Crackling of bones, tearing flesh. I winced mentally. I realized my tiara and hoof-overs are lost, but I knew better than to count on the horse collar gone. For now, the trick bought me just some time. Now to use it wisely and escape alive... No, I wasn't afraid of my death. I was afraid of grief it would cause to Luna and Nadir. I had to survive... for them.

I had no illusions, the bulky, ugly shape would outrun a speeding train. I knew my chances and the outlook wasn't good, but I hoped my knowledge of the forest would help. Confuse, slow down. I knew if I enraged it, it would lash out with the magic, and I wouldn't stand a shade of a chance. But being “gamey” enough?

I flew. Not towards Penumbra yet, but over the forest, through deepest thicket, leaving my scent and a trail of my magic to follow.

And sure enough the collar materialized on my neck... and I heard a roar of frustration as the monster understood: if the curse still can't be destroyed, the bearer is alive.

Wings, don't fail me now!

I dashed, recalling the layout, the features of the forest.

Cave of Murder Spiders, the mountain on my left. There it loomed, a deadly trap. I plunged into the darkness, sparing a bit of my power to shield myself from the hail of their nets shooting at me, sending a burst of flame to open an exit on the other side of the hill. Soot stained my wings as I passed through the burning nets. And soon enough I heard rumble of rocks falling, a roar...

I flew over the Froggy Bottom Bog, and shouted, a yell waking the hydra up. The four towering heads emerged from the bog and stared at me... I was far too fast. But then there was this... “animal” approaching. Hopefully, the hydra would would...

No, the roar changed into a wail, I cast a glimpse behind me, and saw two out of the four necks fall, fly at an angle that was making it apparent: they were no longer attached to the body.

And mr. Thistle was far closer than I had hoped, the thick, pig-like legs making half-mile leaps and punching through obstacles like a cannonball.

There, the Venom Glade! I flew low over the killing grass, it lashed out at me, one of the stalks connected and a burning pain exploded in my leg, luckily the poison didn't get to penetrate.

And there, mr. Thistle landed in the middle of the glade. Thousands of stalks extended, trapping him. Meanwhile, I turned towards a crevice in the ground, looming nearby. I knew better than to count the grass would stop him for long...

But another glimpse made me shudder. The grass was withering in contact with his skin. He was more poisonous than the venomous grass...

There, ahead of me, was the Ghastly Gorge, splitting the Everfree Forest in half. I turned into a dive. Quarray Eels snapped at me shooting from their dwellings in the walls, but I dodged them, nearly turning my dive into a tumble, and in a moment I almost reached the bottom...

I felt sympathy for the merciless predators, they would lose their lives just so that I'd gain a second or two.

Nearly skimming the surface of the river below, I banked and glided deeper. I knew the race wouldn't be long now, just one trick up my sleeve left...

And sure enough, like a rock from the sky, the monstrous mr. Thistle was falling from the edge, the eels easily catching the bulky ball of flesh who didn't even try to avoid them. They'd die from murderous blows, poison in the sores, hang with torn jaws, but by breaking his fall they bought me some time. Enough time to speed towards Penumbra along the bottom of the canyon without much more distractions. Faster, faster! The horror was chasing me in earnest now...

There, a translucent shimmering wall marked the border between real Equestria and Penumbra, where the crack, not existing before the fall of the dark city, ended with a diagonal wall. I beat my wings, feigning intent to rise to the edge of the canyon, and the monster leapt, to intercept me, tackle me. I spotted something that made cold sweat flow down my neck: a piece of flesh, bloodied white coat and pastel cloud of a mane hanging from a maw that would surely end my life in one snap. And I was far too drained to try tricks like teleportation or dissolving into fog again...

But I broke the rise and dove again towards the bottom, where the river was crossing a special gate Luna had prepared... The river belonged to Equestria, and Penumbra would interrupt its flow, sealing the gorge. So there was an exception, a place where the anchoring wall of magic was... faulty. Luna created a weakness in the joint between worlds. Enough that pressure of water could overcome the barrier and the river continued through our modern Equestria, under the ruins of the city, through the gorge that didn't exist in the past Penumbra.

I passed the border and entered a tunnel of dark unreality, the shard of Penumbra overlapping the volume of the gorge, pressing from all sides, trying to assert its presence onto our world, remaining rejected by Luna's Exception.

Sure enough the trick didn't hold my chase for long. The fabric of magic pulsed, as mr. Thistle asserted his existence in the realm of Equestria, breaching through barrier between Penumbra and this location, returning to the chase through the half-existent gorge, half native rock upon which Penumbra was founded.

Not much longer now. I could feel it pulsing. As the worlds overlapped, I was remaining on Equestria side, for the simple reason that it was not all solid rock. But then I sensed the pressure lessen and almost pull me back across the worlds.

Another few flaps of my wings and let's hope my memory serves me well!

I flew up the gorge. Luna's Exception's power weakened and Penumbra re-asserted itself around me. I let the barrier take me, I crossed the worlds, and flew on... through an irregular, tall cavern.

The scattered tents of the prospector camp loomed below me. The site of my research, the last night before I wore the barrier holding the horrors too thin to withstand the pulse of magic of sunrise.

And my magical sense shook and hurt as the barrier exploded prematurely, a wall of crystal behind me collapsing, opening onto blinding bright core, where hundreds of demonic terrors basked in power of a source of energy the ancients used to keep the Everfree City running. It was that power that drew me here in search of resources, they were the monsters that brought doom to Penumbra.

But for a moment they had a different “prey”.

Mr. Thistle had leapt. And as I crossed into Penumbra, he followed, across the fourth dimension, passing into Penumbra's counterpart of where he was in Equestria.

He materialized there, inside the vault. And they swarmed him. The terrors that destroyed the city now opposed an Ancient.

It wouldn't last long. His own outburst had given them origin after all. He didn't need much to destroy them... still, in his berserk, animal state and with their tenacious attacks... it would give me a minute or two.

For a moment I risked to stop. I extended my wings. My new, weak wings basked in the magical glow and I drank the energy in, nowhere near to my full potential but enough for two things...

First, teleport. Straight up, a mile or so.

*BAMF*

Luna was directly below me, on the tower. I curled my wings, diving.

“Luna! Lower the moon!” I yelled, descending to her side.

I could see last of wagons crossing the barrier in the distance, leaving Penumbra. Last of guards ran after them. Three Wonderbolts still circled the tower, trails of smoke, flame and rainbow mixing. I shouted to them to depart. They obeyed and headed towards the caravan...

Luna didn't ask any questions. Her horn glowed and the moon was... not dropping, but falling really fast. The way it stopped... I was sure Western Kingdoms suffered an earthquake...

“You fine, sis?” Luna asked.

“Yes”, I muttered, focusing my power. It was far too early. It wasn't natural. It wasn't easy. It was heavy.

“Thistle?”

“Yes”, I muttered through my teeth. Come on! Move!

I felt the touch of Luna's horn on mine, soft, almost erotic. And the power flowed in. I heaved...

There, the light of dawn shone above the horizon, eight hours ahead of its time. The guards should protect the ponies of Penumbra, wrap their heads in cloth to prevent them from going blind. If not, we'd have a lot of healing to do...

I heaved again and I felt Luna stagger as I drained her power almost dry. But there it was, the first sliver of the sun above the eastern horizon above distant Ponyville. There would be no time to raise it all the way. I affixed it where it was, it would have to wait.

Ponyville vanished, replaced by white, unreal fog.

Penumbra broke its anchor and was adrift through the interdimensional void.

The ground trembled below us, right in front of the castle, and began cracking. We supported each other in the earthquake.

“Sis,” I spoke quickly. “I had to shed my body. I can't absorb the power efficiently. When it opens up, grab as much as you can and channel any surplus into me. Then we crash the city into the meanest, nastiest neighbor universe you can find, and escape seconds before the crash.”

Luna just nodded and spread her wings, then she touched her horn to mine.

The earth opened.

There was no glow to absorb. No demons to oppose. No monstrous bloated creatures.

Just one plain, plump pony emerged. A small, fat alicorn.

* * *

I was a statue.

It wasn't a strange feeling. Under Thistle's power, in my youth, I'd spent a year as a statue for speaking up...

I wondered if I'd ever be a pony again... or would I spend the eternity next to Discord? I could listen and observe but I couldn't do anything else.

At the very least Luna has avoided that fate for now.

I was placed in the corner of my own office in Canterlot, which Thistle has claimed as his own. And he was questioning. There was Luna. And there was Light, sitting in the corner.

“I don't understand, Luna. Why has the compulsor failed so thoroughly? How could she even plan that?”

Luna, to her credit, remained defiant, proud. She entered her special mood. She seemed perfectly calm, perfectly logical, perfectly neutral. Only I knew the absolute rage that blazed under that surface. I could only guess calm gaze of Northern Light hid similar flame.

“Why do you believe it failed? From what I know, it works to the specs to this day.”

“Nonsense. Three millions died in effect of her betrayal. She performed a coup d'etat at such a cost! The world went nearly extinct!”

“It's designed to make us choose the least evil if we can't choose any good, does it not?”

“Stop being insolent! You know perfectly well how it works! Now tell me why it failed!”

“I repeat. It never failed. It performed precisely to specs given the circumstances.” Luna frowned deeply.

Thistle's patience was running short, but his curiosity was still taking the better of him.

“So how do you explain such a mass murder was allowed? Motivated by such selfish purpose too?”

“The choice was the least of evils. The motive was along with the purpose of the collar.”

“Wouldn't not killing a whole bunch of ponies be more along the lines?”

“We are not permitted to allow total extinction of the ponykind, through inaction or otherwise. We are not permitted to allow it, no matter the cost. Moreover, allowing total extinction of all life would be even worse.”

“What kind of insane blather is this? Everfree was on the brink of entering a golden age! What nonsensical idea led you to believe that? Did Celestia perform some sophistic exercises to cheat the compulsor? Did she use them on you too, to make you believe...”

“This is the objective truth.”

Thistle's horn glowed, but with Luna turned to stone he'd have only the human to talk to. He threw a glance to the two-legger and the glow vanished. He didn't consider Light a subject worthy questioning.

“You're insane, Luna. Why did you even pick this... animal for a partner?! Weren't the changelings supposed to provide for all emotional needs of these who are too incompetent to find partners themselves?”

“Allow me to explain the situation with the Changelings. Gifted with insatiable hunger to be loved, they developed a strategy. They concluded that the feeling of love is the most powerful when a love lost is returned. The worse the loss, the stronger the love after recovery.”

“Yes, the counselor role, grief relief, that's all according to design.”

“Except that's way stronger than love to a plain make-believe lover substitute, premarital love, postmarital love, and all other variants they were intended to service.”

“So what? They all provide sustenance if applied correctly.”

“But less than in case of the grief counseling substitute. So that situation was most desired.”

“Obviously not. Oh, you mean from the changeling point of view. I guess they'd swarm a groom whose bride has died as he watched, they'd do everything to make him happy again!”

“Happy? Unhappy love filled with crippling grief was just as nutritious for them! And keeping him in grief, reminding the happy moments and the pain of loss at each opportunity would keep the love going for years.”

“Well, they shouldn't wish for something like this, that's... Oh right. They have no sense of morality. That's a miscalculation. But ponies should quickly notice the situation and prevent it, shouldn't they?”

“Providing the changelings allow them. They would protect their prey violently.”

“Prey? What an ugly word. Anyway, that's a rare border condition and certainly not applicable frequently. There are countless happy pairs and...”

“Countless potential prey!” Luna interrupted. Thistle threw her a glare, he hated to be interrupted.

“And pray tell me, how would the situation apply here? They are both alive!”

“Which is against the changeling's best interest. And let me remind, the changeling has no morals. Leading to the situation where one of them is dead is in its best interest as it can take the place of the deceased, and the changelings do everything in their power to create such a situation.”

“Now, how could the miserable creature even think about creating such a situation? They had no social influence whatsoever, and only the queen had any genuine social grace.”

“Plasma rays from their horns?”

“Apple tarts with green beans? I can speak in non-sequiturs too.”

“I think the academia, politics and the palace has left you out of touch with the more down-to-earth ways, so let me rephrase with a full sentence”, Luna didn't even blink when the horn began glowing and he muttered some curses. “A plasma ray shot from a changeling horn kills a pony very thoroughly and very violently. This achieves the purpose of having the pony's partner witness their lover's demise.”

“Egads, No! The plasma ray spells weren't intended...” Thistle's voice trailed off.

“Changelings are a dangerous vermin. They are hunted and destroyed whenever possible, and their attacks comprise a considerable number of disasters that meet contemporary ponies. Their tactic involves stealthily replacing key figures in a settlement, crippling defenses through sabotage, then attacking openly, killing roughly half of the population, kidnapping the remainder, and enslaving them inside their hives, keeping them in a constant feedback of memories of loss until their death.”

“That's... That's horrible! That's completely different from the intended behavior!”

“That's only one of countless problems we have inherited after the Great Everfree.”

“So... all right, the human. A ridiculous creature, but with your lack of social graces and the problem with changelings, a justified choice. But we've digressed. We were talking about your ridiculous assertion about extinction.”

“Celestia concluded that the first step after ascension would be a battle between all the ascended.”

“No. It would be assuring access to necessary natural resources.”

“What if two ascended don't agree about who should receive given resource?”

“They would resolve this through negotiations. But that's besides the point. There would be no battle of any kind.”

“What if no agreement can be reached?”

“It would be reached, I'm sure about that!”

Light stood up and walked up to me. He brushed my horse collar with his fingers. “Mister Thistle, would you care for a game?”

“We have no time for games, I'm trying to discover FACTS here!”

“This game would answer your questions and allow you to discover the facts you desire.”

“All right, what kind game are you suggesting? Dice? Hide and seek?”

“A strategy game called 'Acquire the resources', a game of wit and negotiation. We assume roles of newly ascended and negotiate on resources that create a conflict of interest.”

“I think I see where you're going with this. Well, if you can prove the point that it would lead to extinction, we can try that. The condition of victory is besting the opponent in negotiations, I presume?.”

“Allow me to offer additional condition of loss. Let's assume both sides wear the... how did you call that?” he placed his hand on the collar. “Compulsor, right? An action that triggers its safeguard mechanism is a condition of loss.”

“That condition is pointless. Why should I voluntarily subject myself to a handicap like that?”

“We are simulating a situation where you are accompanied by a person wearing it. Leading to a situation where they get killed for their inaction in preventing your action would lead to them preventing your action. At all cost.”

Thistle smirked. “They wouldn't be able!”

“Oh, but they already were!”

Thistle frowned. He wanted to add something...

“Humor me.” The human smirked. “We need a notebook and a pencil for keeping score. And please allow me an advantage to consult Luna on matters of magic as we play. I'm completely clueless about them.” he picked the items from the desk and approached the big map of Equestria on the wall. “Let's pick sides. Pick any but the Everfree.”

“Why? I wanted to pick the Everfree!”

“You'd be biased. Besides, your knowledge of the nation would give you an unfair advantage. We need to impartially look at our subjects. I suggest we skip equines entirely and pick between Arf, Trinicity, High Horn, and Atlantis.”

“I pick the Trinicity.”

“All right, I'm the master of Arf.”

“What is the subject of the dispute?”

“You want to build a dam, right here.” he pointed at the river flowing from one of the cities to the other. “It provides flood prevention and irrigation for your farmlands, but the increased water levels would flood tunnels of my settlements and my infrastructure.”

“Well, seal up your tunnels!”

“The rock in the upper strata is a natural aquifer. I'm not capable to do it at reasonable cost.”

“Well, that's not my problem. Deal with it.”

“I provide an underground channel that drains the lake bypassing the dam.”

“I seal it up.”

“I redirect the river entirely at this point...” Light pointed by the mark “Tartarus”.

“I demand you reopen the flow! We need this water!”

“That's not my problem. Deal with it.”

“Why, you...!” the horn glowed.

“Wait wait wait.” Light waved his hands. “This is not how you play a game. We're not digging any tunnels for real so you're not blasting me with your horn for real. If you want to chastise me, you must do it in the game. Remembering you're a newly ascended griffin and I'm a newly ascended... what would I be?”

“Collie”, Luna hinted.

“All right, so if you want to punish my insolence, feel free to declare an action against my in-game persona, taking its power into account.”

“You are not supposed to address me like that!” Thistle was pissed.

“The master of Arf has only replied in kind.”

“I blast the dam by Arf to smithereens!”

“I blast the dam that was the original issue.”

“I order the dam rebuilt, with strong defenses. And throw in a warning blast against all canine settlements surrounding the dam.”

“Well, I poison the fields that were to be irrigated. I also melt the snow in mountains, creating a flood that will obliterate all settlements the dam was supposed to protect.”

“They were already washed off when you blasted the dam first”, Luna interrupted.

“Oh, thanks. Then I skip the flood. Just poison the fields. Your citizens are without food.”

“I take yours!” Thistle gasped increasingly annoyed.

“I form defense preventing entry to Arf. Luna, dear, what kind of shield should I use?”

“Start with generic Red Shift Field.”

“Red Shift Field.”

“I'll just blast it with ray of differential potential.”

“Let me just inform you the moment the ray penetrates the shield and strikes Arf, I'm launching something perfectly comparable at Trinicity.”

“You have no business attacking Trinicity! What profit would it give you?”

“Removal of demand for my food supply. Removal of your reason to attack.”

“Conceded. I raise a shield on Trinicity. Deep containment field.”

“Luna?”

“Add a Reflector shield on the inside of the Red Shift Shield.”

“I raise the Reflector shield.”

“Ha! Fool! I create Absorb-Feedback loop as soon as your Red Shift shield falls! Within minutes every dog in Arf is fried!”

“Restore the outer Red Shift Shield before that happens,” suggested Luna.

“I do.”

“In effect,” Luna explained, “The twice shifted, reflected differential ray, vastly magnified by your Feedback loop, will bypass your absorption. Raising Red Shift Shield takes a fraction of second, you won't have time to react.”

“Wait, you just... Killed me!” Thistle shouted. “You can't kill the players!”

“Protecting my citizens? Protecting myself from the collar?” If your ray passed, it would be game over for me.”

“All right, all right. That was a surprise attack. I would normally foresee it. Let's play this again.”

...and they did, exchanging sides. This time Thistle's move would open him for Light's attack which killed all his citizens. “You know the consequence and still do it. The collar kills you.”

“The stupid thing wouldn't....”

“Foreseeing this course of events, a subordinate kills you two rounds earlier, and they sue for peace. Surrender is better than extinction.”

“All right. Again.”

And so they played long into what would be the night, if not for the unending sunrise. Pretty soon the scenarios began shifting. They ceased paying attention to the resources, immediately focusing on obliterating each other. Sometimes Light would win, sometimes Thistle, but pretty soon Thistle began exhibiting increased ire. “I can't use my strongest attacks because my own people would go extinct! But that's a nonsense, I could rebuilt all life within days after my victory!”

Luna stood back as Light offered a game without the rule about the collars. Blast-blast, Light lost. Once again. Attack, defense, attack. Thistle lost. Again... The games lasted seconds and reminded me the game of rock-paper-scisors from the land of gryphons. At last they paused.

“Now, mister Thistle, how would the course of the game change with several players instead of two?”

“I guess it would be pretty hectic and chaotic. No time to form alliances or build defenses... Only strongest attacks, immediately.”

“All life would be obliterated. Do you still believe the compulsor is faulty?”

“But I would rebuild all life within days!”

“Let me repeat the question. Do you still believe the compulsor is faulty?”

* * *

The world was stuck in the state of permanent dawn for past sixteen hours, the sun stuck where I had left it. Thistle could not be bothered with finishing the job and wouldn't let Luna do it.

Light and Luna managed to convince Thistle that I had a valid reason to oppose them. The alicorn conceded the ecosystem of multiple artificial species created by Res Publica Ponica was a disaster, and that he’d never do better than that. He understood he would not be welcome as a leader of the nation. It seemed like Light was winning every argument.

Too bad Light didn't know Thistle.

Thistle was a jerk.

Knowing it all, with all the more pleasure, he announced he's taking the rule over the world.

And he set Luna and me in the sculpture garden, as sculptures. Still, he kept Light around. As a... “curiosity”. A monkey maybe?

I could see Light's glimpses towards us as he'd walk through the garden. Thistle knew well that Light hates him, still, with Luna set in stone, Light wouldn't dare to do a thing, and Thistle drew sadistic pleasure from Light's powerless hate.

Still, I could not see the point as Light kept telling Thistle about wonders of human technology. Over and again he'd surprise the fat alicorn with a solution that was unknown in Equestria. He casually mentioned visiting there with Luna a few times.

This got Thistle genuinely fascinated. Ability to travel the multiverse safely and conquer more than one world? And Light seemingly oblivious to potential consequences, kept talking about computers... the one made by Luna, and the ones “at home”, much more advanced, as he claimed.

Whether that was his goal or not, he got Thistle to ask: “Could you show me around your home world maybe?”

“Despite having no clue about performing magic, I happen to know the full theory of cross-dimensional travel and know the route by heart. Just carry me and I'll show the way.”

I dreaded Light would try to lead Thistle to some lethal universe, a suicidal attempt - not because the universe would kill him, but because Thistle used truth detection spell all the while and would know when Light lies about the route.

“All right, give me the initial vector.”

“One more thing. Before we go... I will need a hacksaw and a hammer once we arrive there. Could you maybe... produce them out of thin air with your godly powers?”

“What would you need that for?”

“It's about one urgent repair work I absolutely must perform at the landing place before we do anything else. We'll be there in seconds, you'll see for yourself, that will take much shorter than explaining.”

The items materialized and Light picked them up, while citing first vector of the travel... Thistle grabbed Light in his magic and flew up.

* * *

“Ready girls?”

“Ready!”

“Let's do it!”

The rainbow ray hit, dissolving the stone on me, then on Luna. I gasped with relief.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight ran up to me, while the remaining Bearers cheered. “I'm so glad you're fine! We came as soon as we could, but Tempus only showed up three hours ago and then he needed time to unlock the Tower of Elements!”

“And he was right to wait! The power the Elements of Harmony can emit in a short burst is what my opponent could emit continuously. We must prepare a battle plan. They can be back at any moment! But first...”

Another three hours had passed since Thistle and Light vanished, and the halted sunrise was still looming at the horizon. I concentrated on finishing the sunrise, prepared to affix the sun at first sign of trouble, but I managed to set it on its route without distractions.

Then I realized Luna was gone.

Not for long. Barely had I finished asking the six if they saw her going, she appeared with Light in the tow. He looked terrible. His whole chest, face and hands were a bloody mess. He fell to his knees and threw up on the grass... I tried to focus my healing on him but I couldn't find any injuries! It wasn't his blood!

An adult, old man, and he cried, looking at his bloodied hands.

“Hush, love.” Luna held him close, without showing any reservations about getting all the blood on herself. “Hush, you did right. You did the right thing.”

“What happened, Luna? Did... Did Light kill Thistle?”

“No, Celestia.” Luna lowered her head and pulled Light tighter to her chest.

“I... I should have.” Light cried. “I... first I hit his horn with the hammer... I smashed it...”

“Then he hacked his wings off,” Luna finished.

“I just couldn't bring myself to killing him! But I couldn't let him restore his power!” Light cried out.

For a second I felt horribly guilty about feeling relieved that the monster was still alive.

“...so I did it”, said Luna.

And then I felt horribly guilty about feeling relieved that the monster was dead.

* * *

“Mooooom!” Dawn ran to me, crying. “Tempus took Miss Fluttershy and he said he lost it!”

I looked at my little daughter, her big eyes filled with tears. Miss Fluttershy was the oldest and most beloved of her six favorite dolls, all six made by Rarity for her consecutive birthdays.

“Where is he?” I frowned. “I'll have a word with him.”

“He vanished and said he'd be back in the evening! And that I would not see my doll ever again!”

“I'll make sure he's grounded when he shows up, but there's nothing we can do until then.”

“But there’s something I can do, auntie.” I heard the nice, masculine voice behind me. “I was such a brat while growing up, wasn't I?”

The time travel appearances were always unnerving. Unlike teleportation or cross-world travel, they were completely stealthy. I turned.

There, by our picnic blanket stood the tall, navy-blue alicorn with a brushy mane that looked just like the lights of Aurora rapidly shifting. Tempus in his late teens was extremely handsome, similar to his mother but bulkier.

And there was a navy-blue colt with white brushy mane, held by ear in levitation field of the grown-up self.

“Ow, ow! Let me go!” the colt squirmed. “You're me! How can you take side of a girl and not yourself!?”

“Because I was an idiot when I was a colt. Now tell us where you hid Dawn's doll.”

“A-Ha! You don't remember! Ow! Ow! I'll tell! Let go!”

“Then behave and tell.”

“It's in the labyrinth! I ran in and took turns at random till I was lost, then I dropped it under the hedge!”

“That's not true.” Novan removed his glasses and raised his gaze from over his book. I sent a smile to my stripped son. Technically younger than Tempus by over a year, in fact he was older, bigger and more mature due to Tempus notoriously skipping any periods when he'd have to wait for something. Novan was more considerate and extremely dedicated. At one time as we found him ears deep in books way past midnight, still writing a homework, Nadir joked to me: “Did you have a one-night-stand with Twilight?”

Novan's cutie mark was a zebra glyph for Libra, a set of scales. Press would speculate about his special talents for trade, but I knew better. Nadir would even consult Novan in harder court cases. Sometimes I was worried that the young alicorn was so deadly serious about his future role instead of having fun as a kid... but then I'd recall the night we were seeking Novan all over Entwine, while he was in the Southern Half hospital after winning over twenty silver playing cards somewhere in the Topside and then spending that on a big cake and eating it whole, alone.

The winged, horned zebra left the book and stood up from the blanket. “Tempus, you know nopony gets to bully my sister but me.” I knew he'd protect Dawn with his life, still she did complain about him at times... “So tell us where the doll is now.”

“Blah blah blah, you stuck up Prince of Hippotigria! Go rule your stupid country!”

So that's what it's all about. Tempus is jealous about Novan! And he'd bully Dawn just to upset Novan! We'd have to think up something to curb this...

“You know, my younger self,” older Tempus frowned, “that I'd probably already be the prince of Halflight, or maybe even the Lunar Shire, if you weren't such a jerk? Now I have to work hard to rebuild my reputation to be given a chance again.”

Novan threw a confused glance to the older Tempus, but he replied with a wink, and the zebra just smirked. A talent to flawlessly discern truth and falsehood, not just discerning technically true statements but genuine ability to detect deceit, truth told in order to misguide, like Light telling Thistle he needs the hammer to “repair something” when he needed it to repair Equestria... Novan would know. Still, he knew sometimes it's better to hide the truth.

“So if I'm good I can be a prince of a country too?” Younger Tempus threw the older self a surprised glance.

“Yes, if you're good and you want it...”

Technically true. I wouldn't even hesitate to give elder Tempus the rule over Equestria if he asked (horse collar included). Still, I remembered him mentioning to me in private that he enjoys his freedom too much. “I'd much rather handle the journal and have all kinds of adventures”, he'd say. The Journal was a book we'd all write about our experiences and events, and he'd read it in several years, pick a moment in time, then help discreetly, or less discreetly. He said secret help gives him much more freedom. Paradoxes are not possible and the reality will actively prevent them, so if ponies of the past remember given event given way, he has no choice but to follow it to the dot, and attempts to change the future would be resisted. But if he knows too little, he's just an impartial pawn of fate, driving events to a conclusion leading to his normal timeline.

I made a mental note to write down today's event.

“So, Tempus, are you going to return your cousin's doll?” I asked, frowning.

“But I don't know where it is!”

Novan coughed.

“All right, all right!”

“I'll handle it.” Elder Tempus prepared to go with his younger self.

“I'll go check that there's no self-abuse.” Novan stood up.

“Oh c'mon!” elder Tempus protested. Once, as a kid, he managed to make Luna cry with some insensitive remark. Then he came running and crying to me, with a bleeding nose and bruised all over. His older self - not the adult Tempus visiting now, but one just a couple years older than him had came and beat him really bad.

“You did want to beat him, didn't you?”

“Just one kick to the flank! He deserves it!”

“Just one?” Novan required confirmation.

“Novan!” I frowned.

“Not too hard too!” elder Tempus bargained.

“Mom,” Novan frowned back at me. “You know he will keep being a jerk to Dawn if he's not punished.”

“But not by being kicked!”

“Auntie,” elder Tempus said, “your ban on candies does not work. I'd just skip back in time before the ban and stockpile on them. And I can't really recall all my past caches. I still keep finding forgotten ones ten years from now!”

“And the kicks? Do they work?”

“This kick is written in the journals of fate. I still remember it and it will keep me from doing anything mean to Dawn for months!”

“I will watch them.” Novan stood up. “I know you, cousin. Now you believe it will be just one kick, but the moment you're out of earshot you'll change your mind.”

Young Tempus was watching me with increasing panic, hoping for my mercy.

“All right.” I sighed. “One kick, and not too hard.”

“No! Please! Please! I won't do it ever again!”

“Lie.” Novan said with a smirk.

“We can always call Luna.” I smirked.

“No! I'll go!”

Sis had a way of talking to his son. It involved dark clouds and lightnings and blinding bright eyes but it worked like a charm.

The two “escorted” the smaller one away.

At first my heart jumped at the quiet sobs of Tempus as he followed, but then my gaze wandered to the big eyes of Dawn still damp with tears. She still didn't have her cutie mark yet...

I tucked her under my wing and she calmed down, snuggling up to me.

I definitely enjoyed playing a babysitter while Luna would handle foreign affairs.

* * *

We climbed what seemed like endless stairs in the side of the mountain. Not only ponies and gryphons had secluded mountain top fortresses.

Sure I could just fly there, but this was a ceremony of very high importance. Although only very few were allowed to know of it, and even fewer to participate, its importance surpassed most important holidays of Hippotigria. The long climb had a purpose. Each step on the long way was bringing memories and thoughts. Thoughts about mortality and memories of happy moments together. Moments past, that would not return. I could appreciate the meaning of climbing the endless stairs, each step bringing us closer to the final destination.

It was three days after Prince Novan received the silver diadem and sat on the throne in place of Prince Nadir. The gathered crowds cheered the new ruler, momentarily overshadowing Prince Zenith. Although only a formality - Novan, together with Zenith, has been the defacto ruler of Hippotigria for past five years - the change filled the hearts of the gathered with hope and optimism. Future of Hippotigria seemed bright.

Novan walked by my side, climbing the stairs patiently. Nadir walked ahead of us, talking with the High Matriarch of the Temple... the first mare to guide the institution, the very same priestess that led the chorus during the memorable sermon when I gave the accounts of life of Saint Vixor.

I could see how Nadir's step lacked the youthful bounciness. The age was catching up with him, intense youth cut into the years of his life, countless injuries sustained in his adventures, healed back then, were resurfacing now. He could live maybe another ten years normally, or maybe another thirty with help of my healing powers.

Still, Nadir's age was nothing compared to Northern Light. The human could never climb these stairs alone, but Luna was one step behind him, glow of her magic surrounding him. Thanks to her, his walk was easy and light. He didn't change very much from the moments he met Nadir for the first time, during our memorable party at the Ponyville Library, but I could see his skin more ashen in color and thinner, his frame lighter, his wrinkles deeper. Both his body and his mind were losing strength and focus, although he was still pretty strong... for his age.

Others followed in a loose file behind.

Me, Luna, Novan, Dawn, Zenith, Zorana, Zephyr and Storm would be there only for company, guests of honor. Tempus stayed in Halflight to watch over both nations in our absence. Nadir and Light were the subjects of today's special ceremony.

Today Prince Nadir would die.

Soon afterwards Northern Light would pass away too.

My gaze spotted what at first I took for a flock of birds perched on a distant outcropping. Only after a moment I recognized they weren't birds. They were all navy-blue alicorns. I tried counting them but lost count past fifty. So there was Tempus, coming here every time his thoughts about mortality would disturb his sleep, to watch his father at the end of the road.

I watched the backside of my husband, legs patiently pushing him up, step after step. How many times did these loins give me pleasure beyond anything I experienced before? And now, maybe in hour's time they would lie lifeless on a pyre, turning into ash, consumed by fire and blown away by wind.

I heard whisper of Luna.

“We can still wait. We can still change mind. Come again in another ten, maybe twenty years.”

“No, love.” Light stopped for a moment, waiting for Luna to catch up, then continued, walking by her shoulder. “I don't want you watching me turning into a dessicated mummy. I don't want to experience losing memory, losing control over my body. You deserve better than that.”

“I don't know how I'll live without touch of your hands on my cheeks, without the scent of your body.”

“You know well that my body is reaching its limits. I can't give you what I was giving you when I was younger. You'll eventually wonder what was so good about this naked ape, so inferior to a handsome virile stallion.”

“You're joking, right? It's thanks to you we have doctor Celestia walking ahead of us.”

“I'd prefer to believe I've awoken love to mathematics in her...”

“The way she lost her second bet sure looked like she did it on purpose”

I did not! Still, I could not withhold blushing. Besides, which of us isn't a professor of mathematics? And which earned the black belt in classic Zo-Fu recently? Three times is a charm! Three times and long lessons in endurance and self-control under Zephyr's supervision.

Though I had to admit. It's like human hands are built to pleasure mares.

And so, today the only human in Equestria would die, and so would my husband...

All in all, I should feel more sad about all that.

My gaze wandered further up, about a mile above us. A small group of ponies - priests and alchemists - were leading two distinct equines. I met the two briefly before, as Nadir was explaining the secret ceremony not performed for at least 300 years in Hippotigria... no ruler living long enough, all dying premature violent deaths.

The two were practically still kids, barely reaching adulthood. Two stallions. A short, fit zebra and a tall, unicorn-zony, stripes blue, not black. The two stallions really scared me when I saw them first. I looked into their eyes, and I saw nothing. No mind, no will, no soul, nothing. Their biological mothers, priestesses serving the country faithfully (and receiving very generous reward for their service), took a special poison at the conception time. Poison that prevented souls from inhabiting bodies of the foals they bore. Blank, mindless, barely capable of simplest biological processes, the “empty” foals were grown in a secret facility of the temple to be strong and healthy.

The complex ritual is possible only once in a lifetime, once per soul. It can't be repeated to grant immortality. When we are born, our souls get firmly anchored to our body. Upon death that anchor is dissolved and the soul will either depart, or remain as a ghost, to haunt whatever it was bound to when the body died. But once its new temporary residence is destroyed, or something forces it out of the body, it departs permanently, forever.

Some clever pony in the past thought... what if the soul gets to haunt a body that has no soul?

It was a good piece of necromancy and dark magic, but studied for centuries it was assured safe. The idea of “farming” soulless bodies was somewhat morally ambiguous, but I talked to the priestesses and they assured me they considered it an absolute honor to be able to serve Nadir and one who saved Nadir's life. The records recalled many rulers of Hippotigria taking this route of retirement in the past. And I recalled the art reaching much further into the past, practiced in the Everfree City. Forgotten by Ponies, still practiced by Zebras.

So, through special potion-poison Nadir's body would be put on brink of death and his soul would be turned into a wraith. As the ravenous ghost, he would attack the nearest, most vulnerable target: the blank body. He would possess, inhabit, and haunt it.

And then the body of the one we knew as Prince Nadir would die.

At that moment the dark unreality of the wraith is severed. The rest of the soul is pulled into the surrogate body, full consciousness and memory replace the nightmare. King Nadir wakes up.

As Nadir was talking with the priestess, he was definitely anxious about it.

My gaze wandered back to Light. He seemed completely calm about the perspective of being poisoned, turned into a wraith and killed. Something else was bothering him.

“Luna, darling,” he turned to my sister. “I'm still not sure about this whole knighting part. I really have no clue how to be a noble.”

“Not this again. First off, I can't marry a commoner. And besides you are the very epitome of knighthood. You don't have to do anything differently than you were doing all your life. These fake snobs can stuff it with their made up rules, you are the true noble!”

“Isn't a knight supposed to be good at fighting?”

“Sure. And I'd surely end up as a snack to that swamp beast in that half-word between the toonic and atomic universes if you weren't good at fighting!”

“Oh, yes, I forgot. That was some adventure! We should try something like that again!”

“Are you considering some more travels across the wide Multiverse with me once you're young and strong again?”

“Why not? Princess Luna and Sir Northern Light on a Cosmic Adventure!”

“Whoa, that sounds cheesy!”

“Only to those who never tasted it!”

Now that sounded tempting. Maybe in their adventures there would be room for Nadir and me? No, for us this world held more than enough adventure and challenge.

And we were only halfway through our time together.

The End.