Noctilucent watched as Dr. Cake's patience slowly crumbled. The doctor removed his glasses and closed his eyes, his brows furrowing as he rubbed a hoof along the bridge of his nose.

"So… What you're saying is that you went to the Spa for the day."

Pinkie bounced happily on the couch, "Uh huh!"

"You threw a party in the bathing rooms."

"Uh huh!"

"The water filters became clogged with confetti and…"

"Seee-men!"

The doctor sighed and soldiered on. "You flooded the first floor of the Spa, traumatised the staff, and the Spa has shut down for several days to do cleaning and repairs."

Pinkie nodded enthusiastically and boasted, "Yep! It was a great party! The bestest parties always cause property damage."

Dr. Cake glared at Clickspring, who had two hooves pressed over his muzzle and was making unpleasant snorting sounds as he tried not to laugh out loud. Dirt Nap's lips were trembling with suppressed mirth and the big earth pony's eyes were watering.

Noctilucent found she was having a hard time concentrating on writing notes.

Looking back at the Pink Menace, the doctor sighed again. "Well, I'm sorry Miss Pie, but it seems you did not understand the purpose of your 'homework'. I have no choice but to give you a failing mark."

Pinkie looked poleaxed and shrieked, "I FAILED!?"

"I'm sorry, Pinkie. We'll have to think of something else for a new homework assignment."

"But… But… They really liked the party! The spa ponies are planning to start a swinger's after hours party on Fridays. They asked me to help..." Her mane deflated with a farting sound and her lower lip trembled.

Clickspring broke down into uncontrolled, braying laughter, forcing the doctor had to speak loudly to be heard. "Please don't feel bad about this, it's just the whole point behind your homework was to relax, in a pleasant environment, and learn to enjoy being, well, bored."

Pinkie's mouth puckered, "Oooooooh… I get it." She sat lost in thought for a few moments while Clickspring laughed, Dirt Nap pressed a hoof into his mouth and chewed on it and Noctilucent fought a losing battle to keep a smile off of her muzzle.

"Nope. I don't get it."

She looked over at Clickspring who was gasping for breath and winked at him as her mane poofed back into its usual curly shape. He closed his eyes, pressed his face into the couch, hooves over his muzzle again as he made wet, snorting giggles.

Dr. Cake sighed again—he seemed to do that a lot around Pinkie—and clipped his glasses back on his muzzle. Noctilucent was certain that trying to get the Element of Laughter to take things seriously was a lost cause. Better to cut one's losses and advance to the rear with all speed.

Dr. Cake cleared his throat, "We'll discuss this later, Miss Pie, perhaps in a private session. Can you tell me where Fluttershy is this evening? She usually comes with you."

Pinkie laughed and then said, "Yesterday she asked Star Hunter to go on a date, he said 'yes', she squeaked and ran away, and now she's hiding in her house. Which is not a very good hiding place if you ask me, 'cause if you wanna find Fluttershy you go to her house. Right? Right! I'd have hidden someplace no one would look for me. Like at Fluttershy's house. Heeey! Maybe it really is a good place to hide! Clever..."

Dr. Cake was looking a little overwhelmed, so Noctilucent interrupted Pinkie and asked, "D-do you know i-if she's alright?"

Pinkie nodded and said, "Mmmmhmmmm! I bake her a cake and we all went over to congratulate her and she's fine. She's got us and her animal friends, so she'll bounce back."

Noctilucent made a note to talk with Dr. Cake about making a house call. She could certainly make a dream visit, but dropping in on Fluttershy in pony to encourage her was likely a better idea. It would not be good if Fluttershy depended too much on her animal friends, as that could cause a relapse. That the shy pegasus had arranged a date was a healthy step at least.

Dr. Cake nodded and said, "Please keep supporting her in any way you can, Pinkie. Thank you for letting us know." He turned and asked Clickspring, "Clicky. How did your homework assignment go?"

Clickspring sat up on the couch, gasping a bit as he caught his breath and wiped at his eyes with his forelegs. "Umm… I guess it went pretty well. I'm now the oldest apprentice in Equestria."

As the ponies in the group congratulated Clickspring he grinned, then his ears fell back and he frowned for a moment before pushing a fake grin back onto his face. Noctilucent noted this down as something to discuss with Dr. Cake during their case discussions later. While she was certain that he would have seen Clickspring's mixed emotions over being praised, it never hurt to make have a note for jogging one's memory.

"Thanks. Ah, so I guess that means I passed doing my homework?"

Dr. Cake nodded and said, "Yes, certainly. I imagine you'll be quite busy with apprenticeship homework from now on. Tell me, how do you feel about being an apprentice?"

"Ummm… It's kind of embarrassing, I guess." Clickspring waved a hoof in small circles and said, "I've been given the standard study materials that they give to new apprentices. It's all written for school foals and I'm old enough to be my master's sire... grand-sire, even. It just kind of weird."

Clickspring snorted. "And I'm worried that Rarity's going to try and dress me up like a Canterlot fop. She's insisted I can't wear my old kilt anymore, not if she's going to be my master."

"You're concerned about how other ponies will see you?"

He shrugged and said, "No. I mean, I wear that eyesore of a kilt in public. But I don't want to make Rarity look bad either because she's going out of her way to help me."

Noctilucent looked up from her notes. "I-I am a little s-surprised that you asked Rarity. Why her?"

"I figured she was the most likely to turn me down."

Pinkie waved her forelegs in the air and sang, "Helloooooo…? Element of Generosity?"

"I hadn't thought of that before I asked her," Clickspring said, with a pout.

Dr. Cake's hoof tapped on the wooden arm of his chair. "It disturbs me that you would go looking for somepony hoping that they would turn you down. But I'm glad that she didn't. I hope you'll take this seriously and put in the effort to learn from her."

Nodding Clickspring said, "I am taking it seriously. I've already learned a little bit from reading the books and I'm hoping she can teach me a few useful crafting spells."

"Good. Please keep us informed of how it goes. Now, Dirt Nap. Did you keep that journal?"

The big stallion nodded.

"Ok, that's good. Did you find it helpful at all?"

Dirt Nap opened his mouth… Closed it. Sat for a moment, looking uncomfortable before saying, "Ah'm not sure. But, ah didn't realise how often ah was thinkin' about, uh, sex, until ah started writin' it all down."

"Y-you are likely thinking about it more b-because you're keeping a journal about it. Did you visit The Back Passage on Saturday?"

Dirt Nap nodded and smiled. "Yep. Ah like the music, and dancin'. Gotta thank you two fer takin' me there. Ah didn' know how much ah liked dancin' until now." He sighed happily and said, "Lotta nice ponies there too. Real friendly folk."

"Good, very good. I'd like you to continue keeping your journal, Dirt Nap. It sounds to me like you are making progress." Dr. Cake gestured with a hoof at Noctilucent and asked, "How did your homework assignment go, Counselor Noctilucent?"

They had already discussed their 'homework' assignments before the session, making sure that they both had successful results to share with their patients.

"W-well, I believe I've begun a friendship, with a young mare I ran into. She was lost and I helped her by giving her directions, and we had a pleasant conversation. S-she has offered to make me a meal to repay me for assisting her." Noctilucent shrugged and asked, "Does this count as p-passing?"

"What do you think, group?" Dr. Cake looked around at each of the group members.

Dirt Nap nodded.

Clickspring smiled and said, "Yeah, sounds like a pass to me."

Pinkie, however, was looking unconvinced as she squinting at Noctilucent with one eye and rubbed her chin. "I dunno… Sounds like 'friendly' and not 'friend' yet, to me. Are you gonna go have dinner with her?"

Noctilucent nodded.

"Ok, well, do that and maybe next session I'll give you a gold star." Pinkie grinned at Noctilucent, who returned a hesitant smile.

"For my part; I have joined the Hay Burner group, signed the pledge and bought a couple of the recipe books." Dr. Cake smiled and said, "My wife and I are trying out the diet plan for the next few weeks and see how we get on. Pinkie has agreed to be my health partner and we've been taking walks together around town."

Pinkie waved at Dr. Cake. "Hiya, partner."

Dr. Cake smiled and waved back. "Hi, partner."

"That sounds like another pass to me," said Clickspring.

Pinkie Pie and Dirt Nap both said, "Eeeyup." and then Pinkie broke down into giggles.

"Ok then. Next session we might do homework assignments again, but I think we can call it a night. Did anyone bring post session snacks?" Dr. Cake's rotund tummy decided to punctuate his last sentence with a loud groan.

Clickspring chuckled and said, "Yeah, I bought some food. But nothing from Sugarcube Corners this time, just reasonably healthy stuff." He got up and picked up a wooden box that he'd earlier stashed behind the couch and walking on his hind legs he slid it onto the coffee table.

"I brought some samosas, some veggie sticks, dip and some kombucha sodas."

Rarity stood in her bedroom, tapping a hoof on the floor impatiently. She trotted over to the door to her usually exclusively private toilette and rapped on the door with a hoof. "Are you alright in there, Clicky?" she called.

Sweetie Belle, who was lying upside down on Rarity's bed chirped, "Maybe he fell in?"

Rarity knocked again. "Clicky…?"

Clickspring unlocked and opened the door. Poking his head out he whined, "I… I'm not sure this is really, me, Rarity."

"Come on out and let me be the judge of that." Rarity backed away from the door as Clickspring finally emerged, ears folded back and looking very insecure.

Sweetie's mouth was a round 'o' as she watched him trot out into the middle of the room. He was wearing a cape of shimmering cloth of gold, with large dark blue gears appliquéd all over it. The cape's colour was a several shades brighter than his light brass colour coat and the blue gears were a few shades darker than his mane. It had a high collar and was secured at the front with a golden rope with dark blue sapphires as pendants. The cape completely covered Clickspring's back and hung over his rump and down nearly to the floor, with a slit that his long, tufted tail exited through.

Sweetie rolled over on the bed, sat up and complained, "What about the hat?"

"Yes, Clicky. What about the hat? The ensemble really isn't complete without that hat."

Clickspring groaned as Rarity levitated a large, floppy hat made of matching material out from the toilette and settled it down onto his head. A brace of long, colourful feathers rose up from the left side of the crown in a swooshy arc.

"There! Perfection." Rarity giggled and clapped her hooves together, a big self-satisfied grin on her muzzle. It was not one of her most complex or inventive pieces, having been thrown together at the last moment when inspiration had struck, but it did look good on Clickspring. Just the right contrast in colours and the gear theme certainly meshed well with his chosen trade.

Sweetie jumped off of the bed and trotted around the embarrassed looking Clickspring, staring up at him. She squeaked, "Wow! He looks just like a wizard from a storybook!"

Clickspring sighed and said, "Exactly. Its false advertising is what it is." He looked up at Rarity. "I mean, thank you for making this for me but I'm no wizard. It's just… It's too much."

Rarity came over and fussed a bit with the ropes that held the cape in place. "The robes make the unicorn, Clicky. There's no harm in strutting your stuff and taking a little pride in your appearance. I think you look dashing. Doesn't he look dashing, Sweetie?"

"Dashing! Yeah, looks like he wants to dash out of here and hide." Her sister broke down into adorable little snorting giggles.

Clickspring's ears drooped and a profound pout graced his muzzle, his sagging ears made the hat drop down over his eyes. Rarity felt a twinge of guilt and worried that she might have overdone things a little; that trying to pump up Clickspring's confidence in his magic might be coming across as mockery.

She tugged the hat back off of his head and said, "Mmmm… This might need some adjustments. Anyway, the cape and hat are just a little something for special occasions. I thought, perhaps, if you're ever invited to Canterlot you might wear them. Honestly, they will help you fit right in with the upper crust."

She thought, 'For one thing, the hat will help cover your horn.'

"For everyday wear…" She used her magic to untie the cape and slid it off of him, folded it and placed it and the hat on her bed.

"For every day there's the kilt. How do you like it?"

Clickspring smiled and his tail wagged, flipping around and jeopardising some of Rarity's nic-nacks. "This, I like!" He walked in a small circle, looking over his shoulder as he sashayed his hips.

The new kilt was made of durable, high-thread-count cotton, dyed Pale Desert Sand colour. As requested, it had several pockets and as buttons, there were blue sapphires that matched Clickspring's mane, plus a row of them around the hem and then another row of transparent diamonds slightly higher.

"It's so much more comfortable, but, maybe a few too many gemstones…"

Rarity tsked, "You can never have too many gemstones, Clicky. I notice you didn't say anything about the frills?" She had kept them modest and discreet, just a hint of frilling to add a little much-needed texture.

Clickspring stopped, head lowered almost down to his hooves as he murmured, "I… I kind of like the frill."

Rarity's eyes sparkled as she said, "Ahhh! I thought you might, despite your asking me not to. What with you being…" She glanced at her little sister. "Ahhh… That way."

Sweetie Belle cocked her head to one side, looking curious and asked, "What way?"

"Never you mind what way, Sweetie Belle."

"Ummm… I have to admit that I am kind of jealous of you mares. You have so many clothing options and different kinds of fabrics and stuff. While for stallions it's almost all simple work clothes, armour or stiff collar suits." He perked up and wiggled his rump and said, "I think this is perfect. Thank you."

"You're very welcome, Clicky. Now that you're presentable, shall we get started on your training?"

Clickspring pushed his way through the last of the undergrowth with Rarity on his heels. Seeing Noctilucent down by the riverside of his coppiced hideaway he waved and trotted over, his hoof falls muffled by the grass.

"Hi. I hope we're not disturbing you, uh, Rarity asked me to find a quiet place that I'm relaxed in so we could start my training."

Noctilucent smiled, nodded and said, "You are n-not disturbing me, and this is your secret place after all. Nice… ah... kilt, by the way."

Clickspring grinned and pranced in a circle to show off his new look. "I know, right?"

"Clicky!" Rarity called from where she was laying down a blanket on the grass several meters away. "We can practice here, so we won't disturb your friend. Ok?"

As he trotted over to the blanket, Clickspring saw Rarity giggle and hold a hoof over her mouth while looking toward the river. He looked over his shoulder and didn't see anything interesting; just Noctilucent reading her book, and the river. As he sat down on the blanket he thought about asking Rarity what she was amused by, but she immediately got down to business.

"I think we'll start with the basics, if that's acceptable, Clicky? Simple things like playing Marbles. Did you play Marbles when you were a young colt?"

Rarity retrieved a small cloth bag out of one of her saddlebags, opened it and poured two dozen small glass marbles onto the brightly coloured blanket.

Clickspring felt a sinking sensation in his gut. He had indeed tried to play marbles as a colt, but after his unicorn classmates had had a good laugh at his feeble attempt he'd tried playing Ringer with the earth ponies instead. One round of 'for keepsies' later he was marble-less and had lost any interest in playing with marbles.

Unicorns didn't use a ring drawn in the dirt for playing with marbles; instead, it was about keeping the special set of twenty-four enchanted marbles hovering in the air. The marbles both attracted and repelled one another, making it possible to build complex structures with them. Each player would take turns either 'placing' a new marble into the growing structure or 'hitting' one of the other player's marbles to knock it out and hopefully replace it with the 'striker' marble. The game ended when the players ran out of marbles; if a stable polyhedra was made, whoever had the most marbles in the structure was the winner.

It was a mix of cooperation to make a polyhedra and competition to knock out your opponent's marbles. The game was great practice for manipulating objects using magic, which was why schools encouraged it and had marble-sport teams.

"Eh… No, not really. Marbles weren't really my thing." Clickspring watched as Rarity sorted out the marbles into two equal piles of red and blue colours.

Rarity pouted for a moment, then shook her head, causing her curled mane to bounce. "Never mind. We'll start with just controlling the marbles then and perhaps I can teach you how to play the Marbles game once you're ready."

What followed was a long, tiring and frustrating lesson in basic telekinesis. Clickspring was able to hold two of the little glass spheres in the air at one time, slowly spinning in orbit around one another, but only as long as he could see both of them at once. His magic kept trying to pull the orbiting pair of marbles to the left and when Clickspring lost sight of one of them it would fly off to land the grass or disappear into the undergrowth around the trees. When Rarity tried to give him a third marble it caused the same kind of instability and a marble or two would go shooting off. Rarity called for a break after all of the red marbles had been lost and Clickspring got up to go look for them.

He sighed as he nosed around in the grass and when he found a marble he used his mobile lips to pick up and then tuck it into one of his cheeks. The lesson had gone exactly as he had thought it would; poorly.

Rarity laid back on the blanket, sighed and rubbed a hoof against her forehead, feeling a tension which threatened to blossom into a headache. A shadow fell over her and she opened her eyes.

Noctilucent stood near, smiled down and gestured with her horn at three marbles she held in her magic. "S-some of them l-landed near me." She lowered them down onto the blanket.

"Thank you, Miss..."

"Noctilucent."

"You have a lovely and evocative name, Miss Noctilucent. You're friends with Clicky?"

Noctilucent shook her head and murmured, "N-no, just his therapist."

"Oh! Then I really must thank you, Noctilucent, for it's your council that lead to me taking on my very first apprentice." Rarity thought about getting up or at least rolling over into a more gracious position; one shouldn't be so casual as to flop around on one's back when greeting a new pony. But her head was throbbing as the promised headache began to make itself at home. She closed her eyes, rubbed her forehead and whined in a most ladylike manner.

She felt a light tap on her horn and the pulsing pain was abruptly banished. Blinking her eyes Rarity looked up into the glistening cyan eyes of the other mare, who's face was centimetres away from her own.

A choking sound came from the underbrush, and as Noctilucent sat down on the blanket she called, "A-are you alright in there, Clicky?"

Clickspring's voice sounded oddly garbled as he called back, "Yeah… Almost swallowed a marble."

Rarity sat up, rubbing her no longer sore head. She looked over at Noctilucent and said, "Thank you. Why… I've never had a headache cured so quickly before."

Noctilucent smiled. "A-at the hospital they say I h-have a knack for pain relief magic. Sorry, for touching horns with you... if that b-bothers you. The spell requires a touch and m-my hooves are dirty."

Rarity chuckled nervously and said, "Why of course. Thank you for being so considerate, I wouldn't want to be walking around with a hoof print on my forehead now would I?"

"I feel badly that training Clicky is giving y-you a headache."

Rarity sighed and kept her voice low so as to not offend poor Clickspring. "That crippled horn of his makes it very difficult. I do not know how we're going to proceed. The first lessons are so simple, even my little sister can play Marbles." She pouted and said, "She's not very good at it mind you, but she can at least play."

Noctilucent nodded and asked, "W-what is the next lesson?"

"Using magic to lift weights."

"H-he will do poorly with that task. I have seen him s-struggle to lift a pot of honey. A small one." Noctilucent sighed and shook her head. "T-this will not be good for his self-esteem."

"Oh dear. Well, after that we'll get into simple spell weaving. Such as taking the light from your horn and spinning it off into a separate, self-sustaining globe."

"That is something he may be p-proficient with. The work he does, making c-clocks, does involve some intricate work."

Rarity was thoughtful for a moment. Given Clickspring's disability, perhaps skipping whole sections of the prescribed lesson plan was in order. She nodded and said, "Very well. We'll skip ahead to that then."

Clickspring walked up to the blanket with one of his cheeks bulging. He sat down on the edge, lowered his head and spat moist marbles out onto the blanket.

Rarity recoiled in disgust and yelped, "Clickspring! That's disgusting!"

He turned his head, spat a strand of grass out of his mouth and said, "I know. Sorry, I had to do it the earth pony way." Using his magic to hold open the marbles bag, he used a hoof to scoop them in. Rarity shuddered delicately while Noctilucent smiled and shook her head.

"I couldn't find all of them." He sighed and sagged where he sat. "Sorry Rarity, I don't think I'm going to get any better at this. No playing Marbles for me."

Rarity nodded and said, "Yes, I think we should skip ahead in the official training guide a little. But not today, I think we've both done enough for now."

Clickspring rubbed a hoof over the stubby right side of his horn and said, "Yeah, I'm fried."

"D-do you have a hornache?"

"Ooooh, maybe Noctilucent could horn-tap your head better as well?" Rarity giggled, as Clickspring stared at the two mares, ears flat against his head.

"That w-would be unwise. But I d-do have something that should help."

Noctilucent nosed open one of her saddlebags and felt around inside with her magic, lifting out a small phial from the supply of first aid equipment that every nurse carried with them. The contents of the phial was a thick, white syrup that glowed slightly. She unscrewed the eye dropper cap, checked that it had a small amount of the liquid in the dropper and held it out to Clickspring.

"C-concentrated essence of meadowsweet and willow, with a hasten enchantment. It will t-taste sour."

Clickspring tentatively extended his tongue and Noctilucent squeeze a couple of drops out, he smacked his lips and shuddered. His lips pressed together and he squinting his eyes closed.

"Bleaugh! You weren't kidding! Ugh, I need water, now!"

Rarity giggled as her apprentice hopped up and galloped over to the river edge and stuck his entire head down into the cold water. He had little in the way of unicorn grace or dignity, but he was an oddly likeable old stallion. Hopefully, the next lesson would be more productive.

Author's Note

Grammarly: "I see you wrote 'hornache', did you mean 'horny ache'?"

Why yes, Grammarly, that's exactly what I meant.

Edit: Some small punctuation and grammar fixes courtesy of Cross Lament.