Dreamwalker's Tale

When I cracked my eyes back open again, they tried their damn hardest to tell my brain: It’s the middle of the night, go back to sleep. It was still dark outside, but I noticed the slightest changes in color. It was getting brighter. Soon enough, a spectacular switch would take place, bringing forth all the beauty Sunny so admired.

Despite parts of my body protesting this decision, I was wide awake now and I saw no chance of going back to sleep either. I had slept for the majority of yesterday, we both had slept through the majority of last night — I was just done with sleeping for now.

I regarded Twilight and wondered how to go about this. I wanted to wake her up, but I was feeling a little playful again. So I lowered my head and softly whispered into her ear. “Luna.” That smile gracing her lips grew a little. “Ancient relics.” It grew brighter. “Unknown magic.” And larger. “Research.”

She finally giggled quietly at that last one. “I’m not sure if you are trying to excite me or arouse me,” she quietly whispered back and opened her eyes. My heart made a little tumble in my chest and I barely stifled that gasp. She looked at me with half-lidded eyes, still a bit drowsy yet so full of warmth. It was moments like these which Twilight would never understand. How irresistible and alluring she was right here, right now, with this gaze of hers.

I reconsidered my choice of words and shrugged softly. “I’m honestly not sure myself, I think,” I admitted. “I mostly just wanted to wake you up.”

“Well, I am awake now and it was a nice way to wake up,” she replied and hugged me.

“Right, so… can we go now?” I pressed a little fidgety. It only served to make her giggle.

“Look who’s all excited,” she teased. And yet I knew she was looking forward to this just as much as I was. We snuck out of bed and tried hard to not wake up Spike who was still happily snoring away in his own bed. We succeeded and left the room. One trip to the bathroom later, we met up in the kitchen. Twilight was faster than me. I tried not to let it get to me too much. She had already started to prepare some sandwiches as snacks, so I started to work beside her and made us a quick breakfast and a mug of coffee for her.

We settled down on the kitchen table, she summoned writing supplies from thin air and started on that letter to Luna I had asked of her.

“Sugarcube Corner won’t be open at this hour, will it?” I asked. I had planned on ordering a slice of cake and taking it with me on my way back, but being up this early had its disadvantages.

“I don’t think so,” she briefly replied, but she clearly focused more on the letter and occasionally took a sip from her mug.

I munched away at my bowl of cereal and came up with a decent idea. “Can I have a piece of paper? I think I'm just going to tug a note to the door.” Another sheet of parchment appeared and floated down before me. It took her no effort at all. “Thank you.” And a second feather. “Thanks.”

Once we were done with breakfast, I separated the note I had written into two pieces. One I intended to leave behind for Spike, as he might be a tad confused about our absence. I took Twilight's plate and mug with me, as well as my own, cleaned the stuff up and set it down to dry on its own. It gave Twilight enough time to finish the letter, seal it and send it with her spell.

“All clear?” I asked.

“I still need to write something to tell Spike where we are off to,” she replied and conjured another sheet.

“Aha! I'm one step ahead of you for a change,” I sang and pointed towards the note on the counter. Her eyes quickly scanned its contents, her expression shifted from analytical to mild exasperation and settling on amusement. Surely not what she would have written, but it got the job done.

“That should be fine… I think,” she said and sounded everything but certain. She shook her head after a moment to clear it to focus more on what was ahead of us. “Now, I’ve been promised some A-grade research!”

I chuckled and quickly snuck a little peck on her cheek. “Well, I wouldn’t say ‘promised’, but sure…”

So we packed our things and headed out. I had initially tried to insist on carrying her saddlebags for her, but after trying to do so, I quickly came to the conclusion that her research material must consist of bars of lead, which was the only reasonable explanation. Seeing her carry those without any issues reminded me of the quickly forgotten fact that she was an alicorn and thus had earth pony magic. ‘Carry lots of stuff’ usually did not sound as fancy and impressive as soaring through the sky or levitating entire apple carts, but there were quite enough situations where it came in clutch.

Sugarcube Corner was not exactly on our route, but wandering by was only a small detour. I left my note and we started towards the Everfree, reaching the outer tree line in the late stages of dawn. We were both hyped for this trip, which became most apparent in the fact that she had a little spring in her step and sometimes hummed a melody to herself.

And we once again saw neither hide nor hair from any of the forest's predators. Maybe choosing this early of day for our trip had been a small blessing — the creatures hunting at night were going back to sleep and those hunting at day had yet to wake up.

As we reached the clearing, a little bit of apprehension had once again built up. But I did not freeze or babble about nonsense again this time. A concern Twilight had apparently shared, as she stayed close to me and kept an eye on me. “I’m fine,” I declared and nuzzled into her mane for a moment. “But thank you.”

She gave me a relieved smile and we made our way across into the ruin.

I immediately saw what she had described. The barely recognizable ruin of the fountain was surrounded by four patches of dirt, three of which looked strangely scorched, burned, with three twisted Everfree trees growing out of them. The fourth patch however looked so utterly out of place. As if Applejack had just put her mind to it, taken up a shovel and carried a piece of Ponyville's surrounding area here on her back, just to plant it down perfectly. Green, healthy grass, a couple of flowers mixed in here and there, and one heck of a massive apple tree.

You gotta be careful and gentle, he can be a tad shy, Applejack's voice echoed through my mind. A smile broke out and I quickly trotted over and did something I could not remember I had ever done before.

I hugged a tree.

I was pretty sure Fluttershy could understand me perfectly well. Surely better than I did right now. The bark was still rough and scratchy and the way it had grown was somewhat uncomfortable for me to be pressed against so tightly as this was decidedly not how my spine was supposed to bend… but for a couple of seconds I could not have cared less.

When the slight discomfort grew into the first pangs of pain, I released the tree from my embrace and stepped back. A single apple fell. Right into my hoof. I looked down at it. Shiny. No bruises, no flaws. It looked delicious. And I couldn’t help it. I just started to laugh. It was a strange sound, carried on the wind and laden with merriment and gratitude and sorrow and hope. My gaze became obscured by tears and shortly after, I felt them stream down my face and for the life of me, I could not have told if those were happy tears or not. They were just… there.

In a corner of my mind, I noticed how Twilight had observed the entire reunion take place. She had put down her saddlebags and opened them up, some of her flasks were still levitating around her, but she sat there and just watched. Her expression spoke of her uncertainty, she was asking herself if she should intervene. So I tried to lighten her burden a little and turned to her, my face still a mess and I was barely able to see her clearly. “Twilight,” I spoke up with a hitch in my voice, “may I introduce you to Bruno? It’s one of Applejack's favorite trees. He actually shouldn’t even be this old here. It was the first tree Apple Bloom planted.” The implication was clear enough for her. It was not supposed to be this old here, but it had been someplace else. Or sometime else.

I had no idea how Bruno had gotten here. What the Elements had done baffled me to no end. They turned villains to stone, they shunned others to the moon for a terrifyingly long exile, they turned a foreign, hostile creature into things that should not be here. Maybe that was the connection? I had been the aggressor in that creature’s eyes. It had set its sight on destroying me first and I carried all those weird memories about other times and other castles. Had the Elements somehow reflected that? Used that? But why? And how?

I just shook my head, and bit down on that apple Bruno had gifted me with. It was delicious, just as much as it looked. Just as a memory of mine remembered. A new wave of tears spilled forth. Despite my attempts to ease her worry, Twilight set down her various doodads and came over to sit down in front of me and hug me tightly. “They’re not gone,” I whispered. “And I’m n-not insane,” I added before my voice just gave up and resorted to occasional sobs. I clung to her, drenched her coat and maybe I wailed at some point. These next few minutes became a bit of a blur as so much tension bled out of me, as I felt such a tremendous wave of relief I had not realized I needed. It took a while to calm down after that.

This tree was irrefutable, physical evidence of my memories. They had been more than just products of a twisted, vivid imagination. They still were more than that.

I took a lot of slow, shaky breaths before I finally managed to let go of her. I felt like apologizing, since I suspected that I might have crushed all the air out of her at some point. Or several points. But I could not bring myself to do so. Not when she was smiling this warmly at me. Was she as relieved as I was?

I could not remember if she had said anything. Twilight being Twilight, she probably had. I looked around and found that apple again. I had taken a single bite from it and now it was lying in the grass. I carefully levitated it over and gave it a little shine on my coat. “Here. Try it.” I offered it to her and after a moment of hesitation, she did just that.

“It’s… a really good apple?” she replied with a hint of uncertainty. I could understand that. What was she supposed to say? An apple was an apple. Some were sweeter, some less so, but at the end of the day, it was just an apple. Yet so much more. To me.

“It is,” I confirmed the obvious with so much happiness in my voice that she could not help but smile a little brighter. Giving one final sigh, I looked up at Bruno. “You want to take samples, right? Dirt, grass, some from the tree itself? Remember what Applejack had taught you whenever you gals helped out with harvesting. Be gentle and patient with Bruno and he will help you in return.” She nodded, gave me one last look over to judge if I was alright, if I was stable enough, before she returned to her saddlebags to resume getting her samples. “It’s good to see you again, old friend,” I whispered to the tree and carefully laid a hoof against its bark.

I plopped myself down in its shade and for a good old while, I just watched Twilight work, content with the silence and with studying her expressions shifting from curiosity to confusion to understanding and back.

“It is growing,” she presented her first conclusion after quite some time.

“What do you mean?” I replied.

“The affected area is growing. Further observation is required of course, but the effects are noticeable.” She pointed to a few blades of grass that, stubborn as most plants were, grew right between the cobblestones of the path. Now that she had pointed that out, I looked around and noticed them in several other places as well. They looked noticeably different from the grass and other undergrowth that one would usually find in the Everfree. It looked brighter, the color more saturated and healthy.

The implications of this were huge, of course. After what Twilight had told me, I had expected this patch to be a serene beauty in a sea of nastiness, slowly being consumed over time until nothing would remain.

But now? This not only gave me hope, it made me think. Most things could be reduced to energy. Ponies, objects of any kind, even several laws of nature could be expressed in energy. Of course I did not know if the dreamscape operated on any familiar law of nature at all. But if I were to assume that energy was a thing there, then that farmer, being hundreds of years old and having feasted like it had done, must have had a lot of it… right? The idea led me to the speculation that this growth might eventually stop — at the point when the farmer's energy would run out. Whenever that might be.

But would that mean the death of the creature?

As I looked over at the dirt patch, I had difficulties not calling its current state as being ‘dead’ anyway. There was an apple tree and a bunch of grass and flowers. At which point became the transformation of a being the destruction of it? Especially when using its parts to create something new?

The Elements don’t kill. I was certain of that. So if this creature was not dead… what — and where — was it?

Given that I could not answer any of that, my thoughts drifted back to the other question — when would that actually stop? It would stop, right? What if it would not? In the Everfree, this transformation was obvious enough. But what would happen once it reached ‘Equestrian soil’, so to speak? Would the grass become greener? Would the transformation just stop? Or would one just not be able to notice the effect spreading even further?

Was another reality slowly bleeding into this one, replacing it over time?

Would we need to stop this effect? Could we stop it? Would I want to stop it…?

My gaze shifted back to the path between the dirt patches. The cobblestones seemed completely unaffected. I knew that path, I had trodden it a thousand times. The stones had become loose, shifting around a little. They should have been more tightly packed together. But the transformation did not affect the path. Or the stone. Or any stone for that matter, as the border around the patch was in disarray as well, with no sign of magical fixing anywhere.

So maybe it would be just about the plants?

“Bruno, I need some leaves and a little bit of tree sap, maybe a sample of wood and bark as well, for my research. Would that be okay? Please?” Twilight’s voice broke me out of my musing. I smiled as she asked so politely, so patiently. I could see that even after everything Applejack had told her and shown her, she was still not sure this was even a thing. That this would even work. She was a natural unicorn, she was the Element of Magic, and she had taken to flight well enough with some rigorous training from Rainbow and Fluttershy. But she sometimes still struggled with her earth pony magic. The finer aspects of it were more difficult to grasp. And I would not know of any of that if it were not for Applejack teaching me. In a time where, as scenes flashing before my closed eyes told me, I was quite close with her. I blinked a couple of times to get rid of the images before they could pile up on me further.

And I grinned as a soft breeze swept through Bruno’s branches and with a quiet crack, a smaller branch fell to the ground. Bark, wood, leaves. And a little bit of sap to gather from his small ‘wound’, if she was quick enough. She was, of course — despite her surprise. “Thank you, Bruno.” She took her samples and turned, intending on returning to her little impromptu research station, when she noticed me grinning. ”Don’t,” she half-warned, half-pleaded.

Told you, I gloated in the privacy of my head while my smile became a little lopsided. “I didn’t say anything,” I replied.

“I can see you thinking it…!” she smiled, shook her head and returned to her research. And I kept watching her. Some things she did I could understand. Testing soil samples for traces of certain elements, comparing them to the regular soil found nearby, trying to get a sample in the midst of changing. Testing organic material for composition, potentially lingering magic…

Other tests and tools I had less of a clue about. The most important thing to me however was seeing how happy it made her. This was field research. Something new and unforeseen and exciting was happening and she was at the forefront, leading the charge in studying it. She was born for this work.

True happiness, somepony had told me once, was found when one was following his destiny. Could a pony have more than one destiny?

Rainbow Dash and Applejack, at least from my point of view, were destined to be together. But was ‘being destined’ the same as ‘destiny’? Surely they were not defined by their relationship. So maybe destiny only concerned itself with parts of a life. Goals, wishes, stages, achievements. Given the many facets a single life had, could there even be something like an all-encompassing destiny?

“Dreamwalker, look!” Twilight spoke up and her urgent intonation immediately caught my attention. I looked over to her, but she pointed towards something else. I followed the directions and noticed… I honestly was not quite sure what I saw. I assumed the transformation process had reached the other two dirt patches, as the grass was partially of the healthier variety, but the real spectacle were the trees. Since the effect seemed to spread evenly in all directions, it had reached two trees at the same time and now… they appeared to be only the faintest bit translucent as little specks of light traveled up from their roots, along their bark and into their branches and leaves. Like an ant trail, these specks followed the same veins over and over, crawling, floating their way upwards. And with quiet groaning and creaking, we heard the material strain. Wood was shifting and bark was stretching as the twisted, gnarled trees straightened out and grew a little higher, as its somewhat drooping branches proudly lifted up, displaying a full canopy of healthy green leaves.

And some apples.

Once the trees were fully transformed, any trace of light or translucency vanished entirely, leaving behind only new, healthy apple trees in its wake. It was astounding and Twilight was quick to gather a sample, probably hoping for some sort of residue or something. “That… was something,” I stated.

“More of Applejack's trees, I assume?” she asked me.

I inspected them closely, but no memory came by to help me out. It was frustrating to have no control over these flashbacks. Some things should obviously trigger them but didn’t, while other actually working triggers just seemed so… random. Still, I knew the answer anyway, if only on a superficial level. “Yes. I assume once the effect reaches the dirt patch on the other side of the fountain, it will happen again. This courtyard was home to four apple trees. Applejack had difficulties leaving the farm, even if one of her relatives took over and she could visit at any given time. It just wasn’t the same. So we compromised. She took four trees with her and we planted them here in the castle courtyard, to symbolize how, once again, an Apple ventured out to help claim new land for ponykind.”

Twilight smiled. “That sounds like a lovely gesture.”

I snorted. “Sure. It was awful getting those things here. Remember that one time you had to transport Bloomberg to Appleloosa? Now imagine it three times over, but without a train.” I looked up at Bruno again and my smile grew warmer. “But it was worth it in the end. Not only to see Applejack at ease and smiling. Entering or exiting the castle always leads one through here. And seeing these apple trees… I mean. Most of us came from Ponyville anyway. The orchard and its fruits are iconic. It was a piece of home we were granted to take with us. Whenever we got homesick, we would sit down under these trees and talk about the good old times back in Ponyville. Or, you know, told those not from there about it until they were eventually sick of hearing all those stories for the umpteenth time.” I chuckled as I remembered a certain facial expression Trixie had given at one point. Or the utter annoyance plastered all over Lightning Dusts’ face.

While I had started to reminisce about this, Twilight had obviously continued her research and now let go of an earthworm that was quickly wriggling away. “It appears to affect plant life exclusively,” she mumbled and quickly made another note on her parchment. She looked over to me and smiled. “It sounds nice. Hm… maybe…” She looked up at the sky and then to the ruins we had barely entered. “I need more samples. Like… a lot more. I should probably do these trips every couple of days to write down the changes, the speed of the spread, everything. But if this does continue, the Everfree Forest could become a lot less hostile.”

We both knew that this was quite a massive change. While animals might not be affected directly, this would change their habitat considerably. Maybe Fluttershy could help out with some of that, maybe Applejack could as well. For a brief moment, I thought about how thrilled Zecora would probably react to this news. She was here for the rare and often dangerous to gather resources. Quite a lot of those were plant-based. Since this effect was the result of the Elements, I had a hard time imagining the forest becoming completely harmless because of all the poisonous flowers vanishing or all the flesh-craving plants being turned into nicely cut garden bushes. But something would happen and it would have consequences. Probably.

“Maybe the castle can be rebuilt,” Twilight mused.

And suddenly my stomach was filled with lead and all warning bells rang, making quite the ruckus in my head. “No!” I half-yelled before I could stop myself. She flinched, startled by my sudden outburst and looked taken aback. After a moment of less than controlled breathing, I shook my head. “I… maybe. Yes, probably. It has been done before, it is very much possible. Even without this transformation taking place. That would just massively ease the process…”

“I… thought you would like the idea,” she meekly interjected.

I sighed. “I would. I mean, I do. Very much so, even if things will never be the same. But there is a problem here…” My explanation was rudely interrupted. I pressed my hooves against my temples. “Shut up,” I hissed and lowered my head until my forehead was close to the ground. New images flashed before my eyes. The smell of burnt flesh hit my nostrils with full force. After what felt like minutes but were probably only a couple of seconds, I took a deep, steadying breath and raised my head again. She looked worried. Of course she did. “I’m sorry. There is a changeling hive somewhere in this forest,” I blurted out. Her eyes grew wide as dinner plates. “Yeah. We didn’t know either. We settled here and were fighting for this town day in, day out, and one day, a group of night guards came up to us. They had been on perimeter patrol and encountered a small group of strange ponies asking where Greenwood was, claiming they had gotten lost. But by that point, the town was still small enough that everypony knew everypony, and they sure didn’t know these faces. With their ruse being useless, they attacked and our guards managed to push them back and escape. There had been a… full scale attack later.” My throat tightened considerably. I remembered us winning. I tried to focus hard on that, and that alone.

“They might be in danger then,” I heard Twilight think aloud.

Bile was rising in my throat. A volatile mixture of anger and hatred and frustration tried to take over. So I closed my eyes. “Celestia, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change," I started. Pile them higher. Make them into a wall. If they want to get to me, they will have to go through their own. Literally. "T-The courage to change the things I can," I continued with a weakening voice. Bugs. Just bugs. I hated them. Hated the noise their wings produced. Hated their eyes, their smooth exoskeletons, their raspy voices. The only good bug was a dead one. "A-And the wisdom t-to know the difference,” I finished my recital. There will be no captives. I will teach them to never, ever touch my family again. I had to repeat it two times before I felt calm enough again to trust myself. My voice quaked and wavered and lost strength with every repeat. But ultimately, the voices subsided, the images and other impressions faded, and I opened my eyes again. I felt drained. Exhausted beyond words. And I saw the conflict in her eyes. “I’m— I don’t— I have a... history with their kind. I know they changed. Or… that they are capable of change. I hope that what I feel towards them is somewhat normal. Not that different from what most ponies from Canterlot feel, I assume. And yes, I know, that still does not make it right and I should work on that… at some point. Can we… maybe… focus on something else?” It was still there. I could feel it lingering in the back of my head, lurking just beneath the surface.

She once more set down her tools, walked over and sat down beside me. She embraced me with a wing and smiled with her usual, enticing warmth. “’I didn’t say anything’, to quote a friend of mine.”

I gave her a wry smile. “Smartass,” I shot back and snuggled up to her. “Thank you.” I took another deep breath and refocused. “You might be right,” I admitted once I could allow myself to see past the prejudices. “If this change continues, it could affect their hive. Wherever they have built it, from whatever material, it could pose a threat. We have seen how quickly it transformed an entire tree. But I don’t think it would be wise to send a messenger.”

Twilight grinned excitedly. And that obviously immediately worried me. “Don’t worry about that. It is about diplomacy, that is kind of my thing,” she replied.

I chuckled weakly and tried to prevent all the horrible scenarios playing out in my head from getting a foothold. “You have a lot of things that are kind of your thing, peanut.” I stopped abruptly as I noticed the slip of tongue. And it seemed she had noticed it just as quickly. “Sorry. Force of habit, I think.”

She was confused at first. She obviously did not know the history behind it, but my intonation had made quite clear what it was meant as. The latter caused the faintest tint in her cheeks and the former made her shake her head. “Don’t worry, it's fine. Knowing about your state helps. Do you... maybe want to explain that?”

I actually felt a little bit embarrassed and quickly shook my head. “Thank you, but no... n-not anytime soon...” I looked around in hopes of distracting both of us and noted that most of her vials and glasses had been filled and closed off with a stopper. “You got everything you need for now?”

She quietly laughed. “Nooo,” she stretched the word for comedic value while she grinned like a maniac, “But! I’m out of vessels. I really should have brought more, but I was so excited and thought it might be enough for a first dip, you know? And don't think you're off the hook that easily. I have my eye on you, mister!”

I laughed and hugged her. “I understand. Don’t worry, we can return here whenever you want. Well, except today. And, uh... no idea what you're talking about, but I feel a sudden need to add to my hip swing.”

I grinned as she blushed. We both looked up to check on the sun in the sky shortly after and noted how it was almost midday. “We should probably start heading back, right?” she half-asked, half-stated.

There was a tinge of disappointment in her voice, but really — there was nothing I could do to help her out. “Yeah, we should. Sorry.”

She shook her head. “It is fine. We'll just have to come back. Sooner rather than later.” She gave a determined nod, used her telekinesis to pack her things back into her saddlebags and levitated them onto her back once more. “Ready?”

I stood up myself and looked back at Bruno. “See you later,” I bid my farewell and fell in step with her as we made to leave the forest.

“Shoot! I forgot about the bits!” I blurted once we stepped back into Ponyville proper and I remembered my initial plan.

“Good thing you have me, right?” She opened her saddlebags with a grin and levitated a small pouch out. It had the trademark design of Rarity, thankfully without being too gaudy.

“Aw, thank you!” I stepped up and hugged her. I pulled back and took the purse in my own magic and… stopped.

“You can be such a featherbrain,” she giggled. “Which is quite the achievement, given your obvious lack of feathers.” A quick conjuration later and I had my own saddlebags to store the purse in.

A part of me wanted to complain that I had had no use for saddlebags up to this point and therefore, it was not as obvious to take a pair along to me. With the little addendum that I did not even own a pair, so these were clearly a loaned item from her. But that part was small enough to shut up when asked and I instead just gave her an apologetic smile. “Thanks, mom.”

I laughed as she grimaced. “Do not make it weird,” she requested and I was all too happy to oblige. I hugged her once more.

“Okay, I won’t,” I promised. The paths were obvious as I looked around. “So. This is the point where I start my epic and dangerous quest to visit Pinkie. And you head home to analyze the hay out of those samples, I presume. Will you be alright?”

“Are you asking me if I will find my way back home?” she joked and pointed a hoof backwards without even looking in that direction. Of course she pointed directly at the massive castle towering over the surrounding buildings. “Or are you asking me to bring you to Sugarcube Corner, so that your travels may be safer?”

We both smiled. “While I’d love to take you everywhere I go, it’s actually neither.”

I gave my answer without answering and she immediately understood what I meant. She replied with a sigh. It was the first night for a long while that I had not been in the castle. And while things might have worked out, there was surely still lingering doubt about my well-being and my common sense, or lack thereof. “Promise me you will be fine and that you will come back to me?”

She sounded a lot more vulnerable than I liked. But she let me hear it, just to make crystal-clear that I had to watch my steps and that I was not just looking out for myself. I took one of her hooves, lifted it up and gave her a little kiss on it. “I promise that I will always come back to you.” This really should have bothered me a lot more than it did. I was once again promising something that I could not reasonably hope to fulfill no matter what. Maybe this was becoming a bad habit of mine. But it was a promise I still felt comfortable making at the same time. Because despite everything reason and logic told me, I was certain of what I had said. I would always gravitate towards her. As a friend, as a teacher, as a role model, as a fellow scientist or reader or unicorn or student, as a lover, as a soulmate, whatever roles we would be given. I would always return to her side.

I just really could not promise that I would be fine. I was about to travel to Canterlot after all!

She blushed at the conviction with which I backed up my answer and nodded. “That will do,” she replied with a smile.

We said our farewells and I moved on. Sugarcube Corner was not exactly far away and I arrived in the late afternoon hours. “Pinkie?” I asked with measured volume as I did not want to disturb the other customers, but did not want to wait in line to talk to Misses Cake either. “Hello Misses Cake. It won’t take long, I swear!”

I greeted the baker but she just waved with a good-humored smile. “Don’t worry, deary, she’s a quick one,” she replied with a wink.

Oh. Right. I might not have encountered Misses Cake before. She seemed to think that I did not know Pinkie personally? Whatever the case might have been, it was rendered moot as soon as the expected pink blur zipped from the kitchen. “Hiya!” she greeted me and stopped right in front of me. Close enough that we were standing muzzle to muzzle with maybe half an inch between us.

“Heh. Hi Pinks. You got my note?” I asked while I followed what felt like instinct and hugged her. She smelled like winter. Plums and cinnamon, a hint of gingerbread. Had I been less focused, maybe I would have licked her. Just to see if she tasted as good as she smelled.

“Oh yes, the note!” She zipped back into the kitchen and thereby somehow escaped my embrace without me getting a say in it whatsoever. And she came right back out before I had so much as blinked once. “There you go.”

She presented me with a nice little box. Sturdy enough for transport, just like I had asked. It sported the little logo the Cakes had started to use after Twilight had given an impromptu lecture about marketing at some point. I lifted my purse out of the saddlebags but stopped. That box felt suspiciously heavy for what I had ordered. “Pinkie, what’s in there?” While I tried to let my voice not sound too accusingly, I started to suspect she had gone out of her way again. And as I opened the box, I indeed found three slices of chocolate fudge cake instead of one. “… why three?” I wondered.

She gave a wide grin. “One to bribe Princess Luna, one for Princess Celestia and one for you of course, silly.”

“O-of course,” I stammered and blinked. How did she—

Down that road lies only madness.

Right. Pinkie being Pinkie. “But I don’t need one for myself, Pinks,” I meekly protested anyway.

“Aw, but Dreamwalker! Eating cake all by yourself is so much less fun,” she objected with this tinge of sadness in her voice that I really just could not stand.

“Fine,” I sighed, closed the box and hugged her. “Thank you.” I just hoped Twilight had given me enough bits for this. I ignored the admittedly small waiting line as we stepped to the side. I had once again my suspicion about the price she told me, but I was still unfamiliar with what usually costs how much, so I had no reason to level more accusations her way. And really, what was I accusing her of in the first place? Being too nice? “Again, thank you,” I said once she had sorted the bits away and my purse was secured in my saddlebags again. “I’m not going to keep you any longer, have a nice day and say ‘hi’ to Fluttershy later on, alright?”

She grinned with all the enthusiasm one was to expect from Pinkie Pie. On sugar. “Will do!” she lilted and zipped back into the kitchen.

I chuckled a little and looked over to Misses Cake. “She’s lovely,” I told her, wished her a good day and left with my supplies packed.

A steady trot later, I emptied most of the purse onto the desk of the clerk working the train station booth. “Uh… will that be enough for a ticket to Canterlot with the next train?” I asked sheepishly.

The gray stallion raised an eyebrow at my probably slightly suspicious behavior but then again, this was Ponyville, so he turned it into a slight sigh and started to count bits, shoving the rest of them back to me. “These you should keep,” he said as he offered me the ticket.

I grabbed it in my magic and stored it away in my purse, together with all the remaining bits except five. I had no idea if that was a lot or not. Apparently it was not enough to insult him with the amount, so I shoved them back to him. “As a thank you for your troubles,” I told him.

His slight frown turned into a small smile. “You Ponyvillians are a strange bunch,” he replied and therefore outed himself.

I laughed. “Sounds like you’re new to town?”

He nodded. “Moved here with my wife three days ago.”

I suddenly felt ancient. Like a cornerstone of the community, deeply ingrained within its bones. It felt quite snug and I liked it a lot. I chuckled a bit. “Well, as a heads-up: You don’t even know half of it. But despite the strangeness, it’s lovely here. You’ll get used to it. And don’t let Pinkie scare you, she will be your best friend eventually.”

“… who?”

Oh sweet Celestia, the innocence. I laughed a little more. “Oh, you’ll see. My name’s Dreamwalker. Welcome to town!” I quickly looked around the platform, but no other pony was waiting so I offered him a hoof. “Proper welcoming committee will follow shortly.”

“Uh, Sharp Clock, it’s a pleasure,” he replied with mild but growing confusion. “There’s a committee for that?”

“Well, sort of. It’s unofficial, but yes,” I explained. “Our resident party planner will want to throw you a ‘welcome to Ponyville’-party. Her name is Pinkie Pie, she’s a little… exuberant.”

He nodded. But it did not look like I was actually helping in any way. That was okay, I told myself. I was not doing any damage either and maybe he would even surprise Pinkie by knowing her name already and make her start one of her ‘can you read my mind?’-rants. It would be hilarious.

But I heard the train coming. “Well, it was nice having a little talk, but that’s my train. Have a nice day, Sharp Clock.”

He wished me safe travels and I got on board as soon as the wagons stood still and the passengers had gotten off. I always had a sharp, disgruntled look and, at least in the confines of my head, some stern words for those ponies who boarded a train while others still tried to get off. It was just common courtesy, for crying out loud. The train would not depart sooner and there were always plenty of seats, there was just no reason to be this impatient and ill-behaved.

I sat down on an empty bench and mulled my own thoughts on the matter over and I came to the conclusion that Rarity would have loved to discuss this with me, if only to whole-heartedly agree. Etiquette was admittedly something I rarely spared much thought. Things either felt right, or they did not. Somepony balanced their groceries and something fell down — picking that up and hoofing it over was just the right thing to do.

Maybe I should not visit Manhattan or Baltimare anytime soon, I mused as the train slowly picked up speed again. I vaguely remembered things being a lot rougher around these parts. And the thought made my skin crawl, for some reason.

I was on my way to Canterlot, but my thoughts about the city did not ring any bells so far. That did not mean that everything would be sunshine and rainbows over there of course. I looked out the window and saw the landscape drift by and I accepted that I would find out soon enough. Just a couple of hours by train ride.

A couple of hours.

Oh boy. I had not thought this through.

I was suddenly confronted with the prospect of several hours of boredom. And ten minutes in, it already started to creep up on me. However it seemed Lady Luck had not abandoned me after all, as the conductor made its way through my wagon and asked to see the tickets of the passengers. “Thank you, lady,” I heard him say with a happy tone, still a good distance away.

And an all too familiar voice suddenly answered with a prim and proper, “You’re quite welcome, dear.”

Rarity? Huh. I had not seen her at the train station. And I had not seen her actually board the train either. Then again, given my conversation with Sharp Clock, I had been less than attentive. Her presence held the unexpected promise of distraction, but at the same time a bunch of memories clawed their way to the surface and reminded me of awkward silences and stuttering conversations. We usually had difficulties finding common ground. We tried, and it worked, but they were there. Did I have the energy and muse to face this issue head on? Now of all times?

But I knew from experience what ‘waiting for a better opportunity’ could do, did I not? And what would we talk about? Maybe she could share some gossip with me. And I could tell her… about… hm.

“May I see your ticket please, mister?” The conductors’ voice was suddenly right beside me and startled me a little bit. I fumbled with my saddlebag and took three attempts to free the ticket from the purse within.

“There you go, sorry for the hold-up,” I apologized.

“Nothing to worry about, mister,” he replied with a patient smile and nodded towards the ticket. “Have a nice day.”

“Thank you, uh, same.” Eloquence, darling, I heard Rarity chide me. Speaking of the dem—pony. Without further overthinking and trying to pre-plan out conversations, I made a simple decision. Namely that overthinking it and attempting to pre-plan conversations would not help me much. Well maybe it would waste some more minutes, but at the cost of frazzled nerves. And I was not willing to pay that price.

So I got up, levitated my saddlebags with me and walked up to where she was sitting. “Hey Rares.”

She looked a little indignant at being addressed with a pet name when she tore her gaze from the window to regard who was this insolent, but upon seeing me her expression softened. She raised an eyebrow at me and that was all it needed to make one thing very clear: Just like with Applejack, I had to work for the right to use that name. So I awkwardly cleared my throat and started over. “I meant to say — hello, Rarity. Didn’t see you there. May I sit with you?”

Now her expression really softened and a warm smile greeted me. “Why hello there, Dreamwalker. How nice to see you again. Please, have a seat.”

I placed my saddlebags nearby hers on the opposite seats and sat down beside her. “What brings you to Canterlot?” I tried to initiate a little small talk.

Lady Luck might have been smiling upon me once more, but that apparently did not mean she was going to make it easy on me. Rarity’s mood instantly soured, if only for a brief moment. But the dip was noticeable enough. “A difficult supplier, I hate to say. He is a rather eccentric personality and insists that transactions are always done in person, so that ‘ponies do not lose touch with each other’. Quite literally. I had placed my last order with him… I believe it was one and a half years ago. To be honest, I had hoped that somepony else might rush into this little market niche and present some decent competition, but to no avail. He remains one of the very few who provide, and from the whole lot, he is still the one I can stand the longest before more uncivilized urges arise.”

The fact alone that she mentioned even having these urges spoke volumes about how aggravating this pony must be, if given enough time. “Wow, that sounds rough. What the heck does he supply that's worth all that trouble?”

“Language, dear,” she urged. “He offers a variety of rare dyes.”

I furrowed my brow. “You dye your fabrics yourself? I was always under the impression that you buy them pre-dyed?”

She smiled. “Darling, do you have any idea how many dyes there are?” Assessing me for a moment, she smiled and softly shook her head. “No, I guess you would not. You may have seen my storage, and you may have thought of it as excessive, yet it is but a droplet in an ocean. Adding to that, some fabrics are a lot cheaper if you dye them yourselves, as the techniques used can be quite tricky, especially for non-unicorns. And finally we have the unfortunate reality of custom orders sometimes requiring only a very small amount of a very specific fabric. It is usually not feasible in such instances to expend bits for an entire roll of it. Oh, and patterns. I do love to work with intricate patterns at times, and rare is the chance to buy those. Yes, I let myself get inspired by what I see when I’m out shopping and yes, I buy the odd roll of patterned fabric here and there, but I am an artiste — I must create.”

She uttered that last sentence with such flair of grandeur that I found it hard not to stare in awe. She really was an artist, although I would have ventured a guess that the actor community lost a promising star in her. “I… didn’t know that, no,” I admitted. It sounded rough. Those dyes apparently really were rare. “So you’re taking a late train to have a perfectly decent excuse as to why you can’t dally around for too long? Because you have to get your train back home?”

She winced just a little bit and sighed. “I would love to use your suggested explanation, if that is quite alright with you. But the fact of the matter is that I simply… overslept.”

Despite my best efforts, I chuckled a little bit and just weathered the burning glare she half-heartedly shot me. “I’m sorry,” I offered. “It’s just… I really appreciate you being this open with me. Thanks.” I leaned over and gave her a little bump with my shoulder against hers. Although she huffed a little, she did not seem offended any longer.

“Despite my… unplanned late arrival,” Rarity resumed, “I will not have to worry too much about getting back home. In fact, this little accident might turn out to be of a happy nature after all.” A smile spread across her muzzle. A noticeably dreamy smile. “A lady is always prepared. As such, I had asked Fleur and Fancy if they would mind terribly hosting me in one of their guest rooms, if the need to stay overnight would arise. Given that I made these arrangements before our little talk, I may actually take them up on their generous offer. They were indeed so smitten with the idea and offered me that I would be welcome at any time. With this new context you provided, their joyful agreement does shine in a new light. Maybe I will… test some waters, so to speak.”

I grinned happily. “Sounds great. I wish you luck.” The faintest blush graced her cheeks as she smiled in return. We fell silent for a while as the train steadily moved through the landscape. “I wish I had packed Fortune Stories,” I remarked after a while. “It’s usually better the more players you have, but I’m sure it would have been fun with just the two of us as well. Say… how do you usually cope with long travels? Since you’re constantly traveling to other boutiques, you must have developed some routine, right?”

She smiled serenely and her horn was wreathed in magic. Rarity opened her saddlebags and drew forth a book from one of them. “With literature,” she replied. “I find it quite relaxing, actually.”

I took the book in my own magic and she ceded it to me. It was a… how would Rainbow have said it? A mushy, sappy, totally uncool romance novel, of course. Rarity loved those. And I knew for a fact that both Twilight and Fluttershy enjoyed them on rare occasions as well. I even suspected Applejack might read one of those every odd year or so. While I stared blankly at the cover, I remembered her little theatrics at the start of our conversation. And as if the floodgates had been opened, the many theatrics throughout the equally numerous years flashed by.

I glanced at her and tried to gauge something. She was an actress at heart…

“Do you want to read?” I asked.

“You make it sound like this will be more than just reading, dear. If you have a proposal, please — continue.” She fluttered her eyelashes at me and wore her mask of patience with practiced ease.

“Well, I was thinking we read to each other and switch it up every other paragraph or so, whatever feels comfortable, and we get a little into the roles? Intone them properly, body language, voices, the whole spiel?” I was not exactly surprised to see her eyes light up. Acting was a creative endeavor after all and I started to get the feeling that no matter what medium, all creative outlets were welcome to her. She was dying patterns, which surely counted as painting in a way, she was singing with the Pony Tones, she was creating dresses and now I had offered her somepony to act with.

I was awful of course. Or at least I suspected I would be, since nothing I remembered gave any indication to the contrary. But we were not on stage — thank Luna for that — and were just about to have some harmless fun. So it was all good.

“I love the idea,” she agreed enthusiastically. “I have only been four pages in so far.” She removed the bookmark, opened it on page one and started herself. It lifted a little bit more weight off my shoulders. Over the next couple of minutes, I eased myself into this little pastime. I had no idea if my acting was decent or not, and I cared little — it actually was fun. She praised me for my gruff voice, which made me blush for a moment, and I chuckled about her dainty little lady, speculating that she was obviously going to be the damsel in distress later on. She agreed but reminded me that this was not about some riddle that needed solving. These kinds of books were usually quite clear with what they were and what they offered. It was about the journey.

And what a nice and entertaining journey those next hours were.

“Hmmm,” she hummed, “we are getting close.” And with that, she closed the book.

I looked out the window and noticed Canterlots architecture surrounding us and I was surprised that I had not noticed it before. However what I had noticed was the nature of her chosen romance novel. A romantic triangle made everything so much more complicated than it had needed to be. While that was a commonly used trope to ‘spice things up’, I wondered if there might have been an additional incentive to pick this one specifically.

The book went back into her saddlebags and we silently waited for a couple more minutes before the train started to slow down. “This has been quite entertaining,” she let me know. “We should do it again sometime. To be honest, I had not expected to enjoy it as much as I did. Maybe, if you are not terribly opposed to the idea, maybe we could dress up next time as well?”

I quietly laughed. “So we put some effort into our roleplay? With fancy dresses, you lounging on a fainting couch, me gracefully stepping down the stairs with a nice tuxedo and puffing away with my pipe?”

It was a rare sight to see her nod this shyly. And her radiant smile was accompanied by a slight blush coloring her cheeks. “Something along those lines, yes.”

I thought about it. It would still be private of course. We could include some of our friends at some point if we wanted to. Rare was a decent novel that only used two protagonists. And there were side characters as well. It could be fun as long as we did not have any audience. Because I would become terrified at that point, just like Fluttershy. But just goofing around with her for fun? “Yeah, sure. Sounds like a great time. We just have to find a solution for the obvious problem,” I replied with a smile.

“Problem?” she echoed in mild confusion. “Whatever problem are you speaking of, dear?”

I could not help but chuckle. It was hard to imagine she had not thought of it herself. Or maybe she had, but in that case, I needed to intervene as early as possible anyway. “Well, I know these novels can get quite spicy at times. And I think that at some point, our respective significant others might have some issues if I were to just throw you onto your fainting couch, bend you over and mount you.” My chuckle grew into uproarious laughter as I watched her splutter and blush furiously. Of course I was not about to give her time so that she could recompose herself enough to start the inevitable lecture about proper manners. I instead leaned in and gave her a chaste kiss on her cheek while grinning like a madpony. And I hugged her closely for emphasis. “Inappropriate language, I know. Very blunt, how dare I,” I tried to preemptively chide myself.

As the train stopped, I levitated my saddlebags on my back — and her saddlebags onto hers. We both stood up, but she still had not found her voice again. Only as we exited the train did she speak up. “I say,” came her agreement. A little late, but it was there. She shook her head and fixed me with an annoyed glare. “Please refrain from doing that again, Dreamwalker. Ever since our late evening talk, I have been thinking about too many things that bother me in too many ways. I would prefer not embarrassing myself in public — or at all.”

My grin dimmed down to an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any harm, I was just teasing you.”

She nodded and we left the very busy train station side by side. We walked a couple of streets when we reached a seemingly random corner and she made a left turn. “Eh,” I spoke up, “this seems to be the point where we part ways then. I will have to head that way,” I remarked and pointed straight down the road.

She turned and trotted back to look in the direction I had showed her. “It appears so, yes. Well, it had been a lovely train ride. Much more enjoyable than reading by my lonesome, I might say.”

“Always happy to help,” I replied and bowed a little, which made her giggle. In a very ladylike manner of course. “I wish you good luck with that supplier of yours, and even more luck with Fleur and Fancy.”

Her smile grew into a wolfish grin once I mentioned her likely evening encounter, even if only for a brief moment. “Why thank you, dear. And I hope you…” She stopped, hummed to herself for a moment and her eyes grew wide. “Goodness, how rude of me. I had not even asked what brings you to this fine city!”

I chuckled and shook my head. “That’s quite alright.” Instead of answering that, I stepped up and embraced her.

“Well then. Good luck with that mare,” she replied with a knowing smirk that actually gave me pause.

“W-What? How?” I blurted out.

And just like that, she had her victory of the day. “A lady recognizes the signs. That chuckle of yours tells me everything I need to know. You appear to be quite smitten. I hope she is as well. Or he, for that matter.”

“She,” I continued to speak without thinking. “Straight as an arrow.” She just shrugged, as she cared little about that detail — on a surface level, anyway. But I knew I was in for some questioning once we met back home in Ponyville and had a hot minute to talk.

Ahhh well.

“Thanks,” I finally replied and before she could decide if it was worth interrogating me right then and there, I fled the scene and cantered down the street with a little more haste than I had liked. I was pretty sure that she had been exaggerating for dramatic effect. A chuckle, no matter how close one might be with somepony else, could indicate something, sure, but outright tell her everything? Surely not. Right?

She was good at reading ponies, I had to admit. Maybe it had been for the best that I basically ran off after all.

Adding to my anxiety was the fact that she probably had a good idea of who I was here to see as well. The street we had been walking on led straight to the nobles’ district. A place where I would stick out like a sore hoof. With no connections, no fancy clothes, the wrong body language and attitude. This was not the right place for a pony like me. However beyond that lay the palace. She already knew of my connection to Luna and would probably suspect that I was heading there for her. Which was neither fully right, nor entirely wrong, but it was uncomfortably close to the truth.

Maybe I should just unpack whatever there was to unpack after my return? But I remembered her excited look when she had managed to coax something from me. Letting her play around while playing coy myself might actually be a better option. It would drain me a lot, frazzled nerves included, but she would have a lot more fun doing it.

We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, I told myself.

I looked up at the sky. Late afternoon. I was on time. I crossed the palace gate, nodded to the stationed day guards who of course did not react in any way. I crossed the courtyard and noted its striking similarities to the old castle courtyard. And finally, I entered through the main gate into a massive hallway. It made me feel tiny and I suspected that this might have been exactly what the architect had intended. I saw guards positioned along the hallway and made my way towards the east wing, where I knew Luna resided. I rounded corners and passed by some intricate doors while I admired the massive banners hanging on the walls and the artwork on display. I did not know most of these pieces. Yet I knew perfectly well how to navigate the castle. How? Why? Was there again something at play here? Something guiding me, too subtle to be noticed consciously?

After a flight of stairs and a last right turn, I knew I had almost reached my destination. While some doors were still guarded by Celestia's servants, I could see two night guards down the hallway, stationed before her chambers. I slowly came closer and could not have pinpointed why exactly I slowed down to begin with. But the closer I got, the more my apprehension grew. This felt eerily familiar. I wracked my brain for answers and I had crossed half the hallway when I remembered.

It had felt just like this before we had stepped into the clearing at the old castle’s ruins.

I stopped immediately. Maybe I brought down my front hoof with a little more force than had been necessary, because even the thick carpet did not swallow the sound entirely. I knew I had drawn the attention — and wariness — of at least those two night guards. But I couldn't care less. My breathing became ragged. My sight wavered. “Help,” I whispered. I had not intended to whisper at all. Even with these grand halls, I was sure nopony had heard me. “H-Help,” I tried to repeat louder. I could not tell if I had succeeded as the only sound I heard was my blood rushing and a growing tinnitus.

“L-Luna!” I tried to yell. She knew. She had read Twilight’s letters. She would understand. My legs trembled, but at the same time, I could not move, could not give in, as my vision started to cloud over.

“Luna!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. I was furious. How dared she?

I blinked. No. I was in control. This was my—

The ceiling was giving in. What had happened?! I saw Luna sitting there, right there, in front of her chamber doors, her ears drooping, her head low. She stared at the floor dejectedly. What did I say? Why had I hurt her? Celestia was sitting right beside her, a wing across her little sister's withers. What? Tell me! What had happened?!

Celestia looked up at me. Unfazed by parts of the castle coming down. She looked so disappointed.

I shook my head as violently as I could, desperately trying to regain control. This was not happening, I had decided. Not now, not here, not anywhere else or anytime ever again, this was my—

Life.

I needed to save her life. Maybe it was not even required. She was an alicorn after all. She would probably be fine anyway. I would certainly not be fine. But I didn't care. I raised my horn high, collected all the energy I could gather and then some, and cast a shield spell. A glowing hemisphere shimmered around the two sisters. When did I learn this spell? From Shining Armor maybe?

A massive piece of concrete smashed onto the shield and drained me of most of my energy in an instant. Dust clouds blocked the view. More rubble came down. And something heavy hit me on the head…

“Buck my life,” I groaned as I came back to my senses.

“We rather not,” I heard Luna reply. I could hear her smile. “Are you alright?”

I opened my bleary eyes and looked around. It was dark. Heavy curtains shut out any sunlight that might remain. I was lying on her bed. Great. Another considerably smaller flash deigned to inform me of the many times I had visited this bed. I shook my head to clear the images and sounds and-

Her scent lingered. I withdrew my muzzle for just a brief moment and was delighted to hear her mewl.

I shook my head once more, with more force than before. It almost hurt my neck this time. “And here I had thought I had done a good job of staying away from your bed so far,” I half-groaned, half-chuckled. She raised an eyebrow and levitated a glass of water over to me. “Thank you.” Why did these stronger flashes always make me this thirsty? “How long have I been out?”

“Only a few minutes,” she replied. “My guards informed me as soon as you called for help.”

So I managed to increase my volume after all. Nice. I slowly and cautiously sat up. There was a little bit of vertigo, but it receded fast. I put down the empty glass on a nightstand nearby. “This isn’t exactly how I had imagined this would go,” I grumbled a little. But it was my fault, was it not? I had dreaded visiting Canterlot because I had known that some major flashes would occur.

“We can imagine,” she agreed. “We must admit—“

I just could not sit here and listen to that. Not right now. “We,” I just interrupted with a quick remark.

She wasn’t exactly happy about it, but she understood and decided to be lenient with me. “I must admit I had not expected you to come here. When I received Twilight's letter asking for a guest room on your behalf, I had first thought that you may have come up with further questions about your employment and training, but that would have been something we could have talked about via letters.”

I was glad. Enough that I offered her a warm and grateful smile. She was not even going to ask what this flash was about and to be honest, I was not entirely sure myself and did not care right now. I had my own plans, I had my own ideas, and I wanted to see them through without some memory interrupting it by throwing random stuff at me. So I was very happy with the direction this conversation was going in. “Well, I— shoot! Did the cake make it?!” I was pretty sure I had tumbled at some point.

She chuckled in amusement. “Indeed, there were no casualties to mourn.” She pointed to a familiar box sitting on a dresser near the door, alongside my purse and saddlebags.

A sigh of relief escaped my throat. “Good, good. Well… I’m here for your sister.” I took another page from Applejack and was just blunt with it. No fancy words, no dancing around the point of it. Just put it out there. “I want to surprise her and do something nice for her. Something that will help her, I think, and something she will enjoy. But ultimately… I…” Despite my attempts, it was hard to say out loud. It sounded so brazen. How did I, of all ponies, think I deserved her? But that was the point, was it not? I had made these fancy speeches about how ponies put her on a pedestal. How they expected her to be immaculate. Perfect. Untouchable. And I wanted to touch her very much. It was not about ‘deserving her’. “I want to court her,” I blurted out with an effort of courage. “Or date her, I guess, since I have no idea how the old courtship rituals work,” I corrected myself.

I was honestly not sure what I had done to Luna. If I had done anything to her. I found it incredibly hard to gauge what she was to me, and what I was to her. She had seen some of my memories that clearly indicated a happy life together, but what those visions meant to her, I could not tell. She had not flirted with me in earnest or shown any interest in any other way that I could tell. Yet she was still conflicted and I could not read her face for the life of me, even though it felt so familiar.

After a good long while, she sighed. “Am I supposed to hold a speech now? To warn you not to break her heart or we would cometh after thee and break thy legs?”

I chuckled and shook my head. “No. I would prefer you not holding such a speech, because I very much know what you are capable of. I like my legs unbroken. And I can’t make such a stupid promise. Heartbreak is an inevitable part of any romance. Most of the time, it can be mended, and the relationship is strengthened through this process. Oh and I would then probably need to make such a speech myself, and I would just hate trying to break your legs for breaking Twilight's heart. Because it wouldn't even work.”

“You do sound like our niece at times,” Luna interjected.

That had me quietly laughing. “Right, uh… I need your help.”

“With courting my sister?” she questioned and quickly raised an eyebrow. “Do not misunderstand me, I love her dearly and would move the heavens to see her truly happy again, but this love does have boundaries.”

“What? No. No!” I hastily replied and chuckled at the absurdity of the thought. “Goodness no. I need to sneak into her study. I presume her old tea set is still in there?”

Her relieved gaze wandered over to the box of cake and back to me. “It is. You hope I will be able to sneak you past her guards?” I nodded. “Why, pray tell, do you have three slices?” she asked after a moment of silence.

From her voice alone I could already tell that this question had bothered her from the moment she had taken a look inside the box. I looked around and spotted a plate. It was part of the décor, embossed with some scene or other — I cared little — and propped up against the wall. Probably some ancient trinket worth thousands of bits. I levitated it over to the box, opened the box, put one slice onto the ancient plate and levitated it over to Luna. “Pinkie Pie sends her regards. And I won’t ever tell that she gave me this as a bribe for you. Because I would never dare attempt to bribe a Princess of Equestria. I’ve been told that’s bad manners by Rarity. And could you get banished and put in a dungeon in the place you're banished to! According to Twilight. Oh and Fluttershy said ‘eep’, I believe. She was very quiet, it was hard to make out.”

What had started as a small snicker on her part grew into a healthy laughter with that last remark. I smiled brightly, satisfied with my little joke. “Is that so,” she stated and took the plate in her own magic. Luna produced a fork from somewhere, probably via conjuration. After a first bite, her eyelids fluttered and she gave an appreciative hum. “Well, with not-bribes like these, I find it hard to deny even such ludicrous requests as this one. We shall certainly try.”

I smiled from ear to ear. “Thank you, Luna.” I hugged her. She seemed surprised by such boldness but did not appear to mind much. I instead heard the soft clink of the fork on the plate and while she busied herself with the cake, I apparently had plenty of time to just enjoy hugging her. It was nice. Hard to compare to Fluttershy, Pinkie, Twilight or any of my other friends. Her larger frame might have had something to do with that. Twilight was larger than me as well, but it was not quite as noticeable with her. Mostly because she tended to make herself smaller.

Luna was not built as lean as Rainbow or as sturdy and muscular as Applejack, she lacked Pinkie's pudge and the softness of Fluttershy’s coat. Compared on the basis of touch alone, Twilight might have been the closest result, but at least for me, it was simply impossible to separate how Twilight felt and how she smelled. Luna wore the scent of a brisk night wind, of cold clouds and fresh rainfall. It was so vastly different to Twilight.

“I will admit, this embrace does feel quite nice,” Luna spoke up minutes later. The fork and plate had been gone for a good while as well. “But I am done with this slice and you still cling to me.”

I chuckled a little and gave a nod without pulling back. Which led to me nuzzling her side. “That I am,” I confirmed. After hearing her sigh, I finally let go and straightened myself out. “Sorry. I was about to try and excuse myself with ‘force of habit’ or ‘my memories made me do it’ or some such, but in truth, it just feels really nice hugging you.”

She smiled happily at that. “Thank you!” Her embrace was short, but crushing. After we parted, we stood up and made our way to the door. I levitated everything back into my saddlebags and then put them on my back again before we left.

“At ease,” she ordered her guards, who were about to fall in line with her. “I am just visiting my sister's study and will be back in no time.” Although I was certain that the explanation was not strictly necessary, the guards nonetheless seemed glad to get it anyway. They both gave a curt nod and remained where they were.

I knew that our way over to Celestia's study would be a short one, but I had a topic I wanted to bring up anyway. “I had hoped you could come with me once I return home,” I started.

“’With you’?” she echoed. “As in ‘to Ponyville’? Is there any particular reason for that request?”

“I don’t know if Twilight has told you about this particular project of hers yet,” I started my explanation. “She’s currently researching a way to craft two linked artifacts that actively and passively absorb magical energy to power a two-way, long-distance teleportation system. When we reached the old castle ruins, I had a massive flash and I remembered that you and your sister had crafted something very similar before. They were mirrors. You could use them to scry a place you already visited and, given enough energy, could step through them. So I was thinking… there’s a high likelihood that you have this knowledge, or power, and could maybe help her out. Although I was the one who was almost begging her for this, I think it would profit you two just as much. Maybe even Celestia, if she ever decides to visit Ponyville for a quick trip instead of spending another fruitless hour in her study.” As she might have done in the past weeks on several occasions.

Before Luna had any real chance to answer, as I could see her still mulling this over in her head, I continued in an attempt to make the prospect more enticing to her. As if that was really needed, with Twilight basically waiting for her on the other side. “Oh and I should add that Twilight was playing around with the idea of restoring the old castle. And I mean ‘restore’ as in ‘rebuilt’, not just a fancy stop on a sightseeing tour.”

That was apparently news to her. She stopped dead in her tracks and regarded me with a mixture of emotions I once again found hard to describe or pin down. A fragile smile spread on her muzzle as she lifted me up in another crushing hug. A second or two later, the force drained and the embrace became a lot softer. “I admit, I have mixed feelings about this,” she quietly said. “But a part of me, a very vocal one, is elated about this news. I will have to talk to her about this sooner rather than later. I will consider your suggestion, Dreamwalker. Thank you.” I grinned once she put me back down. This trip to Canterlot was shaping up to be quite a success so far. I had escaped Rarity — the fallout of that would be future-Dreamwalker’s problem —, I had managed to rope Luna into my idiotic plans, I was about to treat Celestia and I would take Luna back home with me to shove her and Twilight in a small room, preferably one with a bed, to close the door on them and throw the key away for a couple of hours.

This wasn’t just one success. This was a line of successes. And I was very careful not to jinx it by calling it the Best Day Ever or something like that. I was not that stupid.

We reached the study shortly after. Two day guards were stationed at the door. “What are your names?” Luna demanded to know.

“Wall Runner, my Princess,” replied the one on the left.

“Hawkbit, my Princess,” replied the other one.

With a name like that, I suspected the latter to be female. Of course they looked and sounded identical. White, broad-shouldered stallions with fancy armor. Some sporting horns, some sporting wings. The two in front of us both appeared as unicorns. I knew better though. Their golden armor had been enchanted with some impressive illusion spells. They sounded, looked and even felt the same. But those unicorns might not even have been unicorns to begin with. This was mostly so that no personal grudges could be fostered against particular individuals. And to confuse and confound the enemy when engaged in combat. Counting on a slower, lighter spell slinger was a dangerous mistake to make when in reality, a pegasus was drawing closer, or an earth pony.

“Who is your commanding officer?” Luna asked next.

“Sergeant Posey,” both replied in unison.

That name strangely tickled the back of my head, but I could not be bothered to engage my flashing memories right now. I just took note of Luna's face changing as it showed frustration for a brief moment. That was apparently a problem? Luna instead took a step to the side, granting them a better view of me. “This is Dreamwalker, he will be staying as my guest in the castle for today. Search him thoroughly for securities’ sake and then let him enter the study. You two are not to inform my sister of this.”

Both exchanged short glances before they looked up at Luna in mild confusion. “My Princess?” Hawkbit asked.

“You heard me,” Luna replied, but her features softened and she gave a small sigh. “This is meant as a surprise. Search him and I’m sure you will understand.”

They hesitated for just a moment before stepping up and doing as they had been commanded. The only things I was carrying was the purse — which gave no clues whatsoever — and the box, of course. As soon as they opened it, one of them — it must have been Wall Runner — gave half a chuckle before he could restrain himself. They closed the box carefully, placed it back in my saddlebags and returned to their post. “Secure,” concluded Hawkbit. “You may enter.” She (?) opened the door for me.

I looked over my shoulder, back to Luna. “Thank you, Princess.” And I bowed. Because we had an audience, and these annoying formalities existed for a reason and were expected. Still — it felt wrong to bow to Luna.

She must have noticed as she smiled a little lopsided. “Good luck.”

I stepped in, and the door closed again. Several magical seals were reinstated, enforcing several additional layers of security on this room. I looked around and saw her study in a very similar state than I remembered. A massive wooden desk was the centerpiece of it all, standing close to the back wall of the room. The entire back half was lined with bookshelves on its walls, filled with stacks upon stacks of scrolls, maps and tomes. It looked orderly, unlike the desk. Stacks of parchment piled up on either side. A comfortable nice chair custom made for her larger frame sat behind it, and a decidedly smaller chair in front of it. For some reason, I had a memory of a very young Twilight sitting there, and I had no idea why, or how. It was weird. I had assumed that every new cycle started roughly in the same time frame, but this Twilight was still a filly.

I chose to ignore the discrepancy and let my gaze drift around. In the first half of the room, some nice albeit massive paintings graced the walls. A little podium displayed a bust of somepony important, probably. But what I had really been looking for was the massive fireplace right next to the balcony door. A thick, soft, fancy red carpet, round in shape, was lying in front of it and wood was already pre-stacked for its next use. Some necessary tools hung on the side of the fireplace, and there it was: On a little stool stood her tea set. “Perfect,” I mumbled into the room. “Let’s get to work.”

First things first, I searched the bottom left drawer. One of the few on this desk that — as far as I knew — had no enchantment on it that would send a mental alarm to Celestia if opened by anypony other than her. Because it only contained some cutlery from the kitchen and a little assortment of plates and mugs. For those times when unexpected guests came by and she was willing to share something that was already here. She could obviously just order the correct amount of plates from the kitchen otherwise, but with Twilight living here for years, she had grown accustomed to sharing her cake on the odd occasion. She liked to be prepared.

So I had two plates to put the remaining slices on, and some forks to boot.

I discarded my saddlebags in a corner where they hopefully would be less obtrusive. And I set about to make tea. Chamomile, as usual. I had to rely on memories while making it, as Celestia had taught me at some point. Still, my tea was not nearly as good as hers. Or Fluttershy’s, or that of any tea house in Canterlot. But it was tea, and I had made it. I hoped that counted for something.

I looked out the window and noticed how low the sun had already sunken. Day Court must have been over for a little while now, which meant that something had kept her busy. Probably the last supplicant arguing his point despite her very diplomatic attempts to make him understand that his time was up. Or her army of assistants, clerks and aides hoofing over all those forms and applications and whatnot that she would come here to work through.

I looked over to the desk. “Eh. They can probably wait a day,” I once again mumbled to nopony in particular and, with some trouble, started a fire in the fireplace. Celestia usually just shot a spark of magic in there and poof, fire happened. Since I could not do that, I had to use those tools provided, which apparently had not seen any use in a very long time. But — Lady Luck was smiling and they still worked.

With everything prepared according to my plan, I sat down in front of the balcony glass door and stared outside. I watched the sun dip lower and lower. It really must have been a busy day, she should have been here by now, but I could see the sun dip below the horizon… which meant that she had cared for her celestial duty before turning her attention towards the paperwork. She was probably expecting to spend half the night here then.

Or she does not even come here today.

Well that thought was frightening. It would really mess everything up, as I could not just—

I heard a click as the door unlocked and a relieved smile spread across my muzzle. I heard the quiet clip-clop of metal horseshoes on immaculate marble tiles as she entered and the sounds ceased when she suddenly stopped. “What is the meaning of this?” she asked, her voice even and measured as usual.

I was so giddy with anticipation that I could almost understand how Pinkie jumped up into the air from a sitting position and levitated there for half a second before turning around and zipping in a direction without being a pegasus.

Almost.

I instead just stood up and turned around to face Princess Celestia with a wide smile. “Hey there,” was my most improper greeting. I exaggerated a little by leaning to the side to make a show of looking past her to the still open door. “You… might want to close that?” I offered.

A soft golden glow encased her horn and the door's handle, closing it with a thud and therefore reinstating the wards and enchantments once more.

“How did you get in here?” she inquired before she quickly shook her head. “Who are you?”

Oh boy, I would be in sooo much trouble if I were wrong. “I think we’re past the stage play, Sunny. I have to admit, I was surprised by how unusually unsubtle you were, dropping hints here and there. Almost as if daring me to ask you. It’s a neat transformation spell. I would venture a guess and say it served you well over the decades, but then again, one could hardly expect less from the former Element of Magic, right?” I had slowly made my way across the room and now stood in front of her. She wasn’t budging. And her soft golden glow still levitated a fresh stack of paper. “I missed you,” I started anew. “A lot. After last time, I had feared that you might resent me for what had happened. And you did miss your usual visit.”

She finally caved in. Celestia levitated the stack of papers over to set them down on her desk and put away with that practiced smile. After a moment of consideration, she even stepped out of her horseshoes and discarded her regalia onto the smaller chair. Now she really was just Celestia. “My usual visit?” she echoed, apparently still uncomfortable with entirely giving up the charade.

I nodded. “I will admit, it took me some time to figure it out. But after I got worried, I thought back. Tried to remember. We met at what’s left of Golden Oaks. Day seven — one week after my arrival. Two days later, you raised the sun from Ponyville. I took you around town and invited you to the castle. We had tea and ice cream. The day after, I only shortly met you, more or less running by. I guess it was a slow day for you? I was on my way to Applejack's farm, fixing her relationship. Or trying to anyway. Because I kind of failed. And the day after that, you were there. By the lake. Just a quick stop to give me some advice and perk me up. I’m really grateful for that, you know? And another two days later, you were there at the lake when I collapsed. I’m pretty sure Luna does not know a single healing spell. They are quite complicated and take vast amounts of energy to perform. But there you were, the gorgeous pegasus, casting a healing spell. You literally saved my life. So, minor discrepancies aside, you more or less stuck to a two-day-rhythm. My guess is that you just set this arbitrary number for yourself. You are, more than any of us, a creature of habit, after all. But you weren’t around yesterday. And I can’t have you already break a habit that I very much want to support.”

I grinned as I saw a smidgeon of surprise despite her still wearing a mask. The practiced smile might have been gone and she was letting me see at least part of the exhaustion that was plaguing her, but hiding her feelings was second nature to her. She could not just flip a switch and be open about them. “You have decent observation skills,” she replied with the usual, regal tone of voice, before a glint of amusement showed in her eyes, “but you forgot about our visit to Fluttershy’s cottage.”

I furrowed my brow in thought. The massage, yes. How could I have forgotten that? It had been after our evening with Derpy and my dreamwalk with Twilight, but before I had tried to sort out Rainbow. Day twelve then. A major visit on an even-numbered day. It threw off the entire thing. I could not help but chuckle a little bit. “Damn it. Point taken,” I admitted.

With her victory secured, she took the time to look around and take in my preparations. The lit fireplace, the two plates with chocolate fudge cake slices, the two mugs and the steaming pot of chamomile tea.

“To answer your question,” I continued, “this is an intervention.”

She gave a tired sigh. “I can’t.”

“You can. And you will. Sit down in front of the fireplace.” I tried to order her, tried to make my voice sound firm and unrelenting. Emphasis on ‘tried’. I could see her arguing with herself and attempted to throw some weight on my side. “I’m basically holding your study hostage. I have decent levitation skills and an open fire.”

That made her giggle quietly. She obviously had a thousand and one options to avoid that result, starting with teleporting me out of this room. But I was glad my threat served to entertain her, and it did give her a little shove in the right direction. “Fine. But I will have to take care of matters later on.”

“Yeah, sure, later,” I half-heartedly agreed and walked with her. We both sat down, side by side, our coats brushing, and each of us levitated a plate and a mug over.

“As far as interventions go, this is the most preferable one I ever had,” she admitted with an honest smile as she greatly enjoyed the cake little by little.

“Well I mean, I guess the other ones are Luna's handiwork. And while she can be subtle, it really isn’t her first instinct…” We both grinned a little and for a couple of minutes, she actually regaled me with a little story of one such instance. Apparently Luna had deemed it a marvelous idea to hide her sister’s tea set, including all tea in the entire castle, to fix her ‘tea problem’. “You wouldn’t really have dropped the sun on her, would you?” I asked while I was still laughing.

She mused for a couple of seconds before giving it a shrug. “She could take it.”

Despite the horrifying imagery this non-answer conjured, it only made me laugh more. I leaned against her and once again saw her right wing rustle a little from time to time. Maybe she was suppressing the urge to stretch it over me. I liked that idea. But I did not ask her about it. I instead needed to make sure. “Why weren’t you there? Yesterday?”

It had been an incredibly busy day. We were all grouped together, we had started early to venture to Zecora and then to the old castle ruins. I had spent a couple of hours knocked out because of that potion and once I woke up again, I was at the castle and decided to sleep some more. There had admittedly not been much opportunity for her to see me at all.

But she had not known. When I had mentioned her not visiting, she had not disagreed.

Her gaze drifted over to her desk, the new stack of papers especially. “I was busy, sadly,” she told me.

“And is that all there was to it?” I immediately followed up with another question.

She fell silent for a while and stared at what little was left of her cake. My plate lazily floated over to hers and my fork carefully deposited half my slice on her plate. It was a fun little reminder of our visit to Sugarcube Corner and I could tell she recognized it as such from her smile. But that beautiful smile fell again soon after. “There are consequences to be considered,” she replied with unease.

I knew what she was talking about of course. This was about the big picture — diplomacy, politics, her public image — as much as the small one — personal fears, the potential for loss and grief, pregnancy. There was a lot to be considered. But it irked me that she was so adamant about considering it alone. “And are these consequences yours, only?” I shot. Her grimace was quite easy to read this time. “Sunny, not long ago a friend of mine told me that I am apparently utterly ‘smitten’. And I can’t disagree with that. I don’t want to. And a Princess of Equestria, another friend as well, once told me that love can never be wrong. Only how we go about it is the point where we stumble and falter. I don’t want you to burden yourself more than you already are.”

I had tried to make clear that it was meant as an invitation to ask one very specific question. And always the attentive mare, she read the cue and did not disappoint me. “What do you want, then?”

I smiled. “Right now, or in general?” I joked before diving into the thick of it. “I want to share. I want to help you carry your burden. I can’t deal with any of your royal duties, I can’t make the nobles see reason or the supplicants to actually listen for once. But I can help you with some less nation-changing decisions. I can help you think through the consequences. I might not have your experience, but I can offer a fresh perspective. Another angle to see things from. Something less set in your ways. I can be there to help you relax. I can listen to worries and fears you don’t want to share with Luna, because you don’t want to worry her. I want you to relearn to be yourself again. I’ve seen you — the real you — break through from time to time. When you prank Luna and joke around with her, when you give a genuine smile or a startled little yelp at being surprised. But it happens so rarely. There are thick layers upon layers of years and routines to break through. I want you to have fun again. To be happy. Not just content, but truly happy. I want you to be free from your shackles — those at least that you don’t carry willingly. I want you to stand alone no longer, up high on that stupid pedestal. I want you to be flawed, and less than perfect, and I want you to make mistakes and joke about them. I want you to let that happen. To rediscover yourself beneath those layers, and dig her free. I want to help with that. I want to love you. And I want you to love me. I want to make you happy.”

I had started rambling at some point. It was admittedly quite the enthusiastic rambling. But even I had noticed how I started to repeat myself. So I stopped and after some thinking, capped it with a — in my opinion — decent summary. “I want you.” The real you.

At some point during my impromptu speech — because unlike Twilight, I was just incapable of preparing nice speeches and actually delivering them —, she had set down the two plates beside our mugs. She had listened and remained silent after I had exhausted my word count for the day. Felt like it, at least.

She stared into the fire for a couple of minutes. Sometimes she snuck quick little glances at me out of the corner of her eyes. Sometimes she gave an exasperated sigh. She was thinking, gears turning at rapid speed, not unlike Twilight at all. After what felt like ages, her expression settled. There was an unmistakable spark of playfulness in her eyes that made my heart race in anticipation. Because whatever it might have meant, whatever she might have planned and whatever she was considering — that spark sure did not look like rejection.

“And what about ‘right now’ then?” she asked and that same subtle playfulness lingered in her voice.

What do I want right now…

My eyes drifted quickly through the room. Stacks of books and scrolls, desk, chairs, tools, nothing that captured my interest. My eyes were constantly drawn back to her. So I complied. Without the transformation spell, she was a lot larger than Sunny had been. But her body language remained the same. I could see her flick an ear as I stared at it. I still noticed her right wing gave a little twitch. Her pristine white coat. I remembered that bite mark she had given me that, lucky me, had left a little soreness for a day, but nopony had commented on it. I involuntarily raised my hoof to the spot and rubbed at it with a dreamy smile tugging at my lips as I remembered why she had bit down on my neck. And the lower down my gaze drifted on her body, the more my mind started to focus on that. I remembered her moaning at Fluttershy’s cottage, how we were all surprised by it. Her bedroom eyes daring me to make a move. I remembered her downy wing over my barrel on the shore of the lake, how heavenly soft it felt as I woke up. I remembered that beautiful whinny she gave right before she reached her climax.

Heat was flushing my face and burning in my ears and I felt a familiar throbbing down below. “To be honest… right now?” I picked up again with a breathy voice. I could see a faint tint color her cheeks ever so slightly. And I was grateful. Because she was letting me see it. Of course she had noticed my eyes trailing down her form. She wasn’t blind. I desired her oh so very much and I did not hold back. “Right now, I want to mount you so badly. I want to make you moan again, because it was such a beautiful sound. I want to make you a mess again, my mess.” Restraint, I tried to reign myself in. If I let my tongue loose for too long, I would eventually come to regret it. Even these couple of sentences might have been a bit too much already.

She carefully craned her neck to bring her lips to my ear. “And you are holding back because…?”

Her warm breath made me shudder. Her words filled me with excitement and I had to fight hard to keep myself from following up on those wishes and half-promises. Especially since those last couple of seconds, her tail had swished just a little bit and the enticing scent of her arousal had once again hit me full force.

“Because that,” I replied and tried to keep my voice steady, “is step three.”

I honestly had no idea which step exactly it had actually been. Or if ‘rutting Celestia’ had been on the list to begin with. It sure as heck was now! But magic was not her only forte. Back in the day, when she and her sister had shared the Elements between them, she had also been chosen by kindness and generosity. And I was not about to let her step back and disregard her own enjoyment. I wanted to make her feel good.

So I stood up, took a careful step back and took a deep breath. In an attempt to calm myself down at least a little bit. Which immediately backfired of course, because her scent was starting to permeate the entire room. Despite that, I stuck to my plan and grinned. “We’re starting slow,” I announced and chuckled as she pouted for just a brief moment.

We had met five times and I was about to sleep with her. ‘Starting slow’ might not have cut it. But she did not mind, and that was enough for me. So I stepped closer again and carefully started to massage her. Sitting on that damn throne for hours on end was not ideal for her back and rear and I was determined to make her as relaxed as I could.

I remembered from our second meeting, after the little race to the castle and our tumble, how I had held her aloft in my magic and prodded here and there, originally searching for ticklish spots. I had instead found something else. I carefully brought a hoof down on the upper part of her back and stroked down her spine with the faintest pressure. And just like she had done back then, she sighed softly in satisfaction. So I incorporated that into my little routine.

As I reached her rump, I applied a little pressure to her cutie mark and elicited the same gasp as had been the case previously. She looked over her shoulder, her eyes half-lidded. She said nothing. Only her tail swished from side to side a little bit more agitated than before. And then it stayed on the side.

Well. “With an invitation like that, how could I not?” I whispered to myself. I placed my hooves on her flanks and lowered my muzzle to her rump. It apparently was not what she had been expecting, but she did not object to my idea all that hard. She instead softly moaned as I enjoyed her taste. She was getting a little more restless and fidgeted with her hooves, her breathing became more erratic. It only served to notify me when it became time to double my efforts and increase my speed a little. I drove deeper and I firmly grasped her flanks. She gasped and shortly after I enjoyed watching her reach her climax. I savored every tremor, her hitched breathing, her powerful outcry — it was primal and beautiful. I subconsciously liked my lips and chuckled quietly once I noticed. I could get used to this. Easily.

Celestia took a couple of deep breaths to recompose herself. She wore an endearing, goofy smile for a few precious moments that I instantly fell in love with as she looked at me. “That…” Whatever might have been in her mind, the rest did not make it out. I just nodded as I thought I understood perfectly. Her eyes wandered a little bit lower and this time, I had no aspirations of hiding anything. I felt an almost painful throbbing, but I was still in control. And I decided that it was not time yet. “We’re not done,” I told her. And myself.

Her invitation had been something I could not have ignored or declined. No way. But now, with her being this sensitive? I was excited to continue. First off, I properly brought the massage to an end. I cared for her legs as much as my knowledge allowed me and then even more carefully extended her unruly right wing. Her eyes grew wide for a moment, but once again and just like in Fluttershy’s cottage, she did not retract it or say anything to object. After all, I had done a fine job the first time around.

With the night dimming down every light source and the fireplace being the only one around, it was considerably harder to tell, yet I was convinced that she blushed as I once again lowered my mouth to her plumage. I had to constantly remind myself to be slow and careful, to not rush this work, as it was delicate and I could very easily hurt her.

Once I was done with her wing, I allowed myself a little bit of fun and let my tongue circle around her wing joint on her back. She drew in a sharp breath and released it in quiet, shuddering bursts. I smiled throughout. I cared for her more well-behaved left wing next and repeated the process, including the moment when I slowly, agonizingly slowly, drew my tongue down her wing to her joint. She gave a low, quiet whine as several small shudders ran along her body.

Huh. Didn’t see that one coming.

I grinned once more as I watched in satisfaction as she rode out a considerably shorter, flatter climax. I had not remembered her wings — or wings in general — being quite this sensitive. But then again, maybe that was a side effect of her previous orgasm. I took a mental note of that for later study and research purposes, but refocused myself on here and now.

I walked around her and brought my muzzle to her rear again and gave her a long, broad lick upwards. She shuddered again, much to my delight. I reached her dock, rounded it and continued a trail of kisses and careful soft bites along her spine, upwards until I reached her ears. I knew full well how sensitive they had been when I first had discovered this and I could only imagine how sensitive they must feel now. I licked along the edge and relished every tiny tremble I noticed. “Ready?” I breathed hotly.

She tried to recompose herself with a deep breath and I immediately sabotaged her by cautiously nipping at her ear. A mixture between a startled yelp and a delighted moan was my reward. “Should I transform?” she managed to ask.

I honestly did not give it much thought. “No, I want you,” I replied with basically no hesitation at all. I enjoyed Sunny’s frame. It was certainly more manageable and allowed for a wider variety of activities. But it was a compromise of sorts. It was putting something between us — the transformation spell itself. While it might come in handy in the future, I wanted this time to be her, fully her. And I could see in her face how her mask had completely vanished, how she was filled with desire and passion. It was a sight to behold and I loved it. I lunged forward on a whim and we shared a deep and hungry kiss. She was all too welcoming.

After I managed to tear myself away again, I walked back and positioned myself. Both our voices filled the room just a moment later. I had never shared Rainbow's penchant for exaggeration and boasting. There had been a reason behind my decision to care for her before I got my turn. With how aroused I had been, I just did not last very long. And I was not about to see this as some kind of marathon, trying to stretch it as many seconds longer that I could by any means necessary. I instead just enjoyed it. I let loose, gave up control and enjoyed the ride. Literally. I relished her moans, the feeling of her warmth clinging to me, every contraction, her scent, that almost needy, certainly greedy look she shot me.

And when I felt the pressure built up to a critical point, I thrust as deep as I could. In hindsight, that might have been a really stupid oversight on my part. Despite my fancy ideas and somewhat usable plans, not thinking about contraception was just downright stupid. There was magic for that of course, but that mattered little. It was about the principle.

In the heat of the moment however, I was not thinking about it. I was not thinking at all. There was only pressure and pleasure and finally sweet release.

My legs might have given in, I was not sure. I withdrew at some point and laid down beside her and I probably sported a similarly goofy grin like she had before me. “I love you,” I whispered and gazed at her.

She allowed herself a small giggle. “I can see that,” she replied and met my gaze. She dove in for a kiss that was driven less by desire and more by warmth. “I can feel that, too,” she added after the kiss. I grinned a little and maybe, maybe I would have realized at that point, had she not charged her horn with magic and teleported us.

Last time somepony had teleported me, it was Twilight. And I had immediately vomited. Because being teleported felt really, really strange and came with a massive sense of vertigo. But this instance made me question this assumption. Maybe it was just Twilight's teleport that did that. Because we arrived in Celestia's chambers and I felt a little tingle of magic and little else. From the teleport anyway.

We were lying on her bed and I grinned. I had asked Luna for a guest room of course. Mostly so that everything seemed proper and in order. And in case my plan would fail, I had a room to withdraw to. But I had to admit that I had looked forward to this. A lot.

I was about to attempt to pull back the covers when her magic suddenly gripped me and flipped me on my back. I gave a strangled little noise in surprise before I chuckled. She was roughing it. She towered over me a moment later. “To quote: We are not done,” she told me. But the refractory period was a thing, so she had to have some patience at least. That obviously did not mean she was about to sit idly by, apparently. Giving back as much as she had received, I found myself peppered with kisses and little bites. She was exploring in much the same way I had done earlier. And it did not take too long until I felt a familiar throbbing once more and a moment later, she lowered her head and I threw mine back as I moaned without restraint. It had come somewhat unexpectedly — I would not have been able to keep it down even if I had tried.

She was a lover with a lot more experience than me after all.

That did not mean I was about to give up.

I could not tell how much longer we fooled around. Her endurance was incredible and I was starting to think that maybe guard training would have more benefits than just offering me shiny armor and the opportunity to rekindle my friendship with Luna.

But once we finally settled, I had reached my goal and felt pretty satisfied with that. She was a mess. So was I, but that was irrelevant to me. She was lying on her side and I snuggled up to her back. I quietly chuckled as I tried to imagine what this must have looked like from up above. The little spoon was considerably larger than the big one.

“I will feel that tomorrow,” she stated. It was probably meant to carry an accusatory tone, but she sounded way too pleased and content for that to be possible. And my chest swelled with pride.

“You are incredible,” I replied and elicited a subdued giggle. I buried my muzzle in her mane and took a deep breath. Morning dew, summer’s heat, a faint floral something I could not pin down… and a lot of sex that was still lingering in the air. I let my front hoof trace lazy little trails along her side and smiled at that content sigh she gave me in return. “I meant what I said,” I spoke up again. “Every word.”

After a moment, she turned around and looked at me. She was silent for a while, just searching for something. “Despite what you might think, I am not broken.”

I nodded. “I know. You are not my damsel in distress, I am not your shining knight, and I am not here to rescue you. You don’t need rescuing. Even if you did, you’d be perfectly capable of rescuing yourself. Well most of the time anyway. But I stand by what I said. You are hurt. And lonely. This isn’t why I’m here, however. Helping you mend old wounds and giving you company is just a nice bonus. I’m here for you. And I love you.”

“You barely know me,” she tried.

“I would like to disagree. But I had that discussion with Applejack already. So let me just say: I’d love to change that,” I replied without hesitation. Applejack had a point: I knew a Celestia. And as had been demonstrated in these past weeks — that could be a boon as much as a hindrance. But everything I knew about any Celestia was something I loved. It wasn’t that much different with Luna. Or Pinkie. Or Derpy. I could not tell why I wanted her, like this, and not the others. I did not claim to understand love. I just had the dubious honor to have seen, time and again, what worked. And I felt it. Applejack and Rainbow Dash worked. Twilight and Pinkie worked. Fluttershy and Pinkie worked. Rarity and Pinkie wo—

Huh.

You should be kind to yourself, too, Fluttershy had told me. This… this was it. This was me, doing something incredibly selfish. I wanted her. Not just as a friend. Not just as an affair or a friend with benefits, but as a solid part of my life. Somepony to share my life with as much as I wanted to share in hers. And here she was, asking me if I was sure about this.

I leaned in and gave her a kiss. I knew no words for what I felt and thought. I fancied myself a storyteller at times and as such, I should probably have been able to find some description, anything really. But I could not. However, I had read enough romance novels to be familiar with the trope of ponies conveying their feelings with simple gestures. Like a kiss, for example.

In my unsophisticated mind, a kiss was a kiss. There were several kinds, some more intimate or enjoyable than others, but I found it hard to say that I had understood something as fundamental as the feelings of another by just being kissed. But in this instance, I really hoped that she understood.

I held her close even after I pulled apart. “I said: I want you. I said I love you. I meant it. With all that entails.” And that was one heck of a rat’s tail, I knew that. But here I was anyway.

She briefly hesitated before she leaned in herself and kissed me in return. I loved every second of it. And after she broke the kiss, she turned over again and levitated the blanket over us. “Good night, Sunny,” I whispered and gave her neck a little peck.