Dreamwalker's Tale: An Anthology

A tuft of hair fell across my muzzle. My eyes crossed a little to further inspect the foreign piece of mane. It was such a lovely gradient. An unusual one as well. Most ponies had stripes in their manes and tails, but the gradient of Aurora’s mane was different. Her hair was bright yellow at her neck’s base, almost whitish, and went through orange to her blood-red tips. Her mane was fire. I had no idea how it grew like that or how it maintained that gradient.

She crawled on top of my head and stepped on something in my neck that protested with a jolt of pain. I grimaced and waited until she had found a better foothold. Carrying a filly of eight years on one’s head was not as much of a pleasant experience as some might believe. But I couldn't help but smile as she nibbled at my ear and softly giggled when I flicked it in reply.

“Can we go faster?” she asked as I continued to walk along the hallways. I rounded a corner and had a good, long stretch before me until we reached the staircase. I was intimately familiar with the layout of our castle — our destination was down the stairs, turn right, second door on the left. And I found that I did not mind a little sprint.

“Hold on tight, sunshine,” I warned her. She gleefully pressed herself against me and clung to me with her hooves as best as she could. I sped up quickly and galloped along the hallway in no time.

“Wheee!” I heard her yell excitedly.

I chuckled and gave it my all for one final push. Her unbridled laughter reminded me of that one time half a year ago when we visited Las Pegasus. I was no fan of the city. This one or any other. But we were there with the kids for a nice few days of entertainment. It really was wrong to call that ‘rest and relaxation’. And Aurora had loved that rollercoaster. She screamed her lungs out. Stardust was usually up for just about anything and he loved spending time with his half-sisters, but even he surrendered after the third round. Somepony had to watch Stardust and Arcana, so Twilight refrained from additional rounds as well. Honestly, I suspected she was a little dizzy as well. But Aurora had these big, pleading eyes when she asked for another round, and another round, and another one.

Once we finally left the rollercoaster behind, her voice was just straight up gone. And my knees took about two hours to stop wobbling. But knowing that she would most likely never forget that day was more than worth it.

“Daddy!” she yelled and snapped me back out of it.

I grimaced as I saw the staircase closer than I had been aware of. I dug my hooves into the carpet lining the floor and slowed down as best as I could without dislodging Aurora straight over my head.

I managed to slow down enough to use the remaining excess momentum to jump a few stairs down. And I hated that moment. I was a scaredy-cat at heart. How many times did I chide Stardust for running in the hallways? How many times did I lecture Aurora about not running on stairs and the consequences it could have if something went wrong? Yet here I was, jumping down stairs.

I landed safe and sound and sighed in relief. The remaining few stairs I took slow and steady and with a bit of a shaky breath. When we exited on the lower level, Aurora giggled in glee. “That was awesome!” she concluded. Was it now? My heart still raced. And only partially due to the exercise itself. I smiled and shook my head. Awesome. She spent too much time with Scootaloo again.

“You know, you’re getting a little heavy for this,” I remarked as I grabbed her in my levitation and set her down beside me. Her alabaster coat was a little ruffled, her mane was the usual adorable mess and she grinned from ear to ear. Just seeing how happy she was made my heart melt a little.

Especially once she pouted in that very endearing way of hers. “Aw, don’t say that! I could… I… hm…” She chewed her bottom lip as she tried to come up with a solution to an issue that was no issue at all, and furthermore had no solution. She grew up. It was an inevitability, really. “I could eat less of uncle Spike’s carrot pies?”

I laughed. “Oh boy, you must be desperate,” I replied, leaned down and nuzzled her mane. “You love them. And you shouldn’t forgo that.”

She grimaced ever so slightly. “But I don’t wanna grow up,” she mumbled. It was almost too quiet to hear. And maybe she did not expect me to hear it. For just a moment, I had to swallow and my throat felt strangely dry. There had been enough times when I struggled with this as well. They grew up so fast. Probably not exactly what she had meant, though.

I sat down on my haunches and opened my arms. She looked over and her smile immediately returned as she gladly threw herself into my offered hug. And I pressed her little body against mine. It still felt like it had been tiny not that long ago.

We hugged it out for maybe a minute, maybe two, until I sighed and tried to be a reasonable adult. “Come on, sunshine. We need to get moving again. Don’t want Arcana to chide us for being late again, do we?”

Aurora giggled, but nodded and pulled away from me. “I’m really trying to get her to be less of a stick-in-the-mud. But that’s surprisingly hard.”

I snorted and shook my head. And I ruffled her mane a little with a hoof, just for good measure. “I’m glad you two get along so well. Just don’t push her too much, okay?” After all, with both her and Stardust trying to coax Arcana out of her shell, it could easily get too much for her. And she had this tendency to isolate herself if that happened. On one hoof, that was a good thing. She already knew her limits and boundaries and she was strong enough to act accordingly. But she had a difficult time opening back up again once she had recuperated.

I shook my head and stood up again. The door was only a few dozen feet away. Aurora sidled up to me and we walked over. I opened the door, she slipped in and I followed after.

The position of a mild afternoon sun meant that the room was cozy, but not smoldering and light was streaming in through the windows without making it unbearably bright. Something Stardust was probably most grateful for, seeing as he was slumped over his desk and softly snored. I considered walking over to my little bundle of joy, but ultimately decided against it. He had a long night. I did not mind letting him rest a little.

I instead closed my eyes for a moment and inhaled the scent of this room. Our little den of knowledge, as Twilight called it. The smell of books permeated the entire castle, all the rooms and closets, all the hallways. But this room specifically added chalk and the unique scent of the slate on the wall beside the entrance. A clock above the door gave a faint ticking sound. I heard Aurora’s hoofsteps on the crystal floor recede as she walked over to her desk and took her chair. And then it became quiet.

I had never expected to be that passionate about teaching. A good teacher had to have certain qualities. Aside from a preferably intimate familiarity with the topic itself, patience was of the utmost importance. But in the end, it came down to the ability to adapt. Everypony learned in different ways. I only had my three foals as an example and even I could tell that. These extracurricular lessons had been Twilight’s idea, after Arcana had begged her to teach her magic for weeks and months. And once one was involved, the other two of course quickly followed suit.

Celestia and Luna rarely had the time to teach them. Not like this, anyway. So it really was Twilight’s and my ‘den’.

I opened my eyes again and walked over to my desk. Aurora had already levitated a random book from the massive shelves that lined both walls and had her muzzle buried in it. Within less than a minute after entering the classroom, she was fully engrossed in whatever that was.

Arcana was different. She sat on the middle chair, prim and proper and ready. Her attentive gaze followed me and I could not shake the feeling that she was a little tense. Like a coiled spring. I smiled at her and tried to show her just how much I loved my youngest. And I was happy with that faint smile I received in return. She was a very withdrawn filly by nature. I could relate to that to a certain extent and I was glad her siblings cared for her so much. Stardust especially could probably imagine more thrilling pastimes than more school lessons. Aurora I could handle by sprinkling in the occasional joke or little anecdote. My little sunshine very much adored me and I could do no wrong in her eyes. It was sometimes hard not to let that get to my head. And I knew that this idolization would fade one day.

The clock made a single tick that was ever so slightly louder than the other ones, signifying the start of a new hour. “Right. Everypony ready to start?” I asked. Arcana immediately gave a single, curt nod. Aurora lazily closed the book and put it to the side, but she still left it on her desk instead of putting it back on the shelf. So she had found another one she was interested in finishing. I looked over to Stardust and chuckled softly. “Stardust?” No reaction. “You’re doing great.” Aurora giggled quietly and my attention returned to my two fillies. “Alright. We’ve been talking a lot about schools of magic and arcane classification lately. Let’s see who remembers what and make it a little test, shall we?”

I tried to keep my composure and not laugh at least a little bit when I saw Arcana’s eyes light up. I had used the magic t-word. She nodded excitedly while Aurora was less restrained than me and giggled as she saw her half-sister shift in her seat in anticipation. Arcana was not about to let herself get distracted, though. She put her serious game face on and was ready.

I smiled and nodded. “Good. Briefly explain to me… hm, let’s start with divination spells.”

I could see Arcana’s mind racing. All those little cogs and gears churned, but Aurora was simply quicker this time. “Those are about reading the weave by opening your third eye,” she proudly explained.

I chuckled silently as she beamed at me. “That is correct.” Massively simplified, but correct. And I had asked for a brief explanation. Maybe I should have started with a different first question. Aurora had been enthralled by my story when we discussed divination in detail. The mere mental image of having a third eye was scary to her — in the same manner that telling ghost stories around a campfire was. In the end, even the ‘third eye’ was an oversimplification for what really happened when one read the strands of probability. Heck, even my knowledge and understanding of it was most likely a simplification of what Twilight could say about the topic. But my pupils were between the ages of eight and ten. It was a little bit early for Twilight to give them the ’real’ lecture on the topic.

While I loved seeing Aurora beam happily, her answering quicker than her half-sister had the unfortunate side effect that Arcana pouted. She tried to keep it in, to not let us see her dismay, but she was awful at hiding it as she decidedly stared a hole into her desk.

The fact that she avoided eye contact with everypony else in the room made it a little bit easier. I proudly nodded in Aurora’s direction to let her know that she had done good and then gave a little wink with my head in Arcana’s direction. Aurora quickly picked up on her dismay, looked back at me and nodded with a warm smile. And she leaned back in her seat.

I grinned and was so, so, so thankful that my fillies were this understanding and patient with each other. I knew that Twilight and Shining had had a similar bond in their youths. One that rarely saw strife or conflict. They stuck together like glue. But I also knew that this was not the norm. Applejack and Big Mac had bickered and fought a lot and even Pound and Pumpkin constantly seemed to be a hair’s drop away from strangling each other.

I stood back up and slowly walked over to Arcana’s desk. After I sat down in front of it, I lifted her chin with a hoof. There was a little bit of resistance, but she ultimately relented and looked at me. “There’s no reason to sulk, my little enchantress.” I showed her nothing but love and patience as I smiled and with every second that trickled by, I could see her resistance crumble a little bit further.

She eventually sighed and nodded. Only then did I give her free and leaned down to press a soft kiss on her forehead. I had a suspicion why she had been slower than Aurora. It was an issue that came up quite frequently with her and we would need to address it again, it seemed. But not letting her get too frustrated was more important right now. “Alright, next up: Enchantments,” I asked.

While I walked back to my desk, Arcana already piped up. “Enchantments are spells that affect the mind of a target or multiple targets. Enchantments do not work on non-sentient creatures. They grant varying degrees of influence on memories, thought patterns, emotions and in extreme cases control.”

The version she presented was shortened, which was good. But I could still hear that very specific tone she always used when she recited quotes from her books. I sat back down at my table and watched her for a moment. She smirked. She was back in the saddle and confident that her answer was right. And to be fair, she rarely failed a test. She very much came after her mother in that regard. “Very good,” I nodded and my smile only grew as she puffed her chest out in pride.

I kept my sigh internally as I knew what I had to do next. Construction of a trap for my youngest was easy enough. I knew her, after all. “What about conjuration?”

Quotation in three… two… one…

Arcana closed her eyes. A dreamy smile tugged at her lips. “According to the third addendum of Maredenkainen’s treatise on—“

“Stop.” It did not take much. She grimaced, her eyes shot open and she looked at me in confusion. Barely half a sentence in — what could possibly already have been wrong? Here we go again. I braced myself and smiled. “Come on, Arcana. In your own words, please.”

And she puffed her cheeks out for a moment. We held each other’s gaze for a little while, but she broke it eventually and groaned. She knew what was coming in much the same way I did. Because she was a smart cookie. The smartest in this room, most likely. “But why?!” she whined quietly. “Maredenkainen was a genius! She knew magic like few other ponies ever did! She was certainly a lot smarter than I am! Why should I use something that’s inferior?”

My smile persisted. Knowing this little dance was worth a lot. Our first clashes over this had been a little bit… rough. But by now, it had almost become a routine of sorts. “First off, please don’t talk yourself down like that, Arcana. Your version is not ‘inferior’. I firmly believe that one day, you may very well write your own treatise about magic if you so wish and generations after will regard you in much the same way you now think of her. If that is the path you chose for your life, that is. You have potential to surpass even Twilight one day.” She failed to stifle a disbelieving snort and quickly clasped her hooves in front of her muzzle. She idolized her mother just as much as Aurora idolized her father. I ignored the quiet sound as much as I ignored her blushing ever so slightly in embarrassment. Nothing had happened, after all. Nothing at all. “And secondly, we’ve talked about this before. If I wanted to hear a quote, I could just take the book and read it myself. I know that you have no issues understanding the phrasing and terminology of Maredenkainen’s treatise. But you need to be able to explain it. To adapt how you explain it, depending on who you are talking to. Because if you cannot make other ponies understand you, that knowledge will stay with you and only you. And what worth has knowledge if it is not shared? If it helps you break it down, think of it like this: You don’t take a test right now. You instead try to explain it to Aurora. She doesn’t quite get it, you see. Help her understand.”

Arcana huffed in frustration and mild irritation, but she eventually looked back to me and saw me gesture towards her half-sister. She turned and saw Aurora play along with my little experiment. Aurora had turned in her chair and regarded her with an encouraging smile. “Tell me,” she whispered softly. “I know you can do it.”

Arcana stared at her half-sister for a moment longer before she sighed and relented. “Conjuration describes a category of spells used to summon objects and creatures. They are therefore often called ‘summoning spells’. A conjuration spell is a form of transportation, as the conjured item or creature always has to come from somewhere.”

“Very good,” I praised her. Arcana sighed again, but nodded. And she turned back around to face me. Aurora regarded her for a moment longer and I could see the gears turning in her head. She would probably come up with something to perk her back up after class. “What about creation, then?”

It took my youngest a moment to get back into what she usually enjoyed so much. She closed her eyes, refocused and when she opened them back up again, her game face was back on. She was not about to let a ‘misstep’ hold her back. “Creation magic shares similarities with evocation. It describes an assortment of spells that use magic to transform energy into materials.”

I grinned and nodded again. “Since you already mentioned them, what about—“

“Evocation spells, also called ‘energy manipulation spells’, transform magic into various forms of energy. The most frequent uses are kinetic energy and thermal energy, resulting in the entire school being branded as ‘blast magic’ due to its highly destructive potential.”

I could not quite shake the feeling that she was not trying to make up for her misstep by being extra-thorough. Which was a problem, since I had clearly asked for a brief explanation and she sometimes had difficulties not presenting the full account of something. It was adorable in a way to see her struggle. “Illusion magic?”

“Illusion spells concern the creation of sensory misinformation.”

She stared me down. Or at least tried to. She almost dared me to complain about her answer. It was short, it was quick and it was quite likely in her own words. “So it would be an illusion if I were to let you hear thunder, right?”

She took the challenge in stride with a competitive smile gracing her lips. And that was the moment I knew she was fully back to form. “No. If you would target me with a spell and alter my perception to let me hear thunder, that would be an enchantment spell, as it clearly warps my mind.”

“But casting a spell into the sky to produce actual thunder would be evocation, right?” I continued my little charade.

She nodded resolutely. “Correct. It would be possible to cast the illusion of that sound on a fixed point of origin so that others can hear it. Illusory thunder would be hard to distinguish from real thunder. That is why most examples prefer to reference the more commonly used visual illusions.”

My heart swelled a little in pride and I grinned from ear to ear. “Very good, Arcana. Very good.” And she beamed. It was moments like this one when I felt whole and fulfilled in this role as a teacher. “Alright, two more to go. Necromancy.”

She acknowledged the home straight with a determined look and a cocky grin that would have made Rainbow proud. “The manipulation of life energy. Necromancy contains most so-called ‘dark magic’, but also contains most healing spells. Necromancy can supposedly create sentient beings.”

It was a good answer and I was just about to ask the second to last question, but that one word made me stumble mentally. It was just so unusual for Arcana. “Supposedly?” I asked.

I wanted to hug her tightly as I saw that bashful smile of hers as she averted her eyes and softly mumbled. “We have not been that far in our studies yet. Mom said she’d tell me about it someday.”

I put a hoof to my muzzle just to keep the snort in. It was such a weird Twilight-thing to tell her about necromancy, the school containing spells like life-drain and various forms of reanimation, some of them quite grisly affairs, but she drew the line at the crossover between creation and necromancy. Telling her about creating life was too much. Even though every single pregnancy ever was more or less a necromancy effect.

I would need to have a word with my peanut. While I did not mind that she set limitations on what she deemed age-appropriate for our daughter, she drew some strange lines. I needed to hear the reasoning behind this one. And if it was too weird, maybe I could convince her to redrew that line.

For now, I merely made a mental note and moved on. “Transmutation magic.”

Arcana was just glad for the change of topic. She looked back up and quickly got into the groove again. “Transmutation spells manipulate the state of being of the target. The target can be living or non-living and the extent of the desired effect greatly impacts the energy expenditure.”

I chuckled a little as I saw Aurora grimace out of the corner of my eyes. She was roughly ten months older than Arcana, but she would never think of using terminology like that. She was almost as smart as Arcana, but she saw little to no reason to make herself sound smart. And it was not about sounding smart for Arcana either. To her, it just came naturally. Big words had never scared but always intrigued her.

I once again confirmed her correct answer and saw her slump a little in her chair. She had put herself under pressure the entire time and now deflated like a pierced balloon. With an exhausted, but happy sigh. And she cradled her book with a wide grin. The same joyful grin I saw on her mom’s face every time she reorganized the library for the gazillionth time and stopped in the middle of it to fondly cradle a book or twelve like we had more foals than the ones running around the castle.

“Aaand one last question,” I dared to announce. Arcana’s eyes immediately shot wide open in utter horror and she quickly straightened up again. Her attention refocused on me and her game face was quickly reestablished. I failed to stifle my amused chuckle this time. She was just cute as a button. “I want a snowball. How do I get one?”

The question baffled both my fillies for a moment. I liked to work with practical examples. It helped visualize the conundrum at hoof as well as potential solutions. But for a studious little bookworm like Arcana, the less academic examples were usually harder to wrap her head around. And Aurora simply looked out the window for a brief moment to realize that yes, we were still in the middle of autumn with not a single snowflake to be seen.

“Via conjuration?” Arcana hesitantly asked.

I feigned to ponder her answer while I leaned back in my chair and hummed to myself for a second. “Hm, yes, I suppose that could work. You happen to have some snowballs lying around somewhere close by, then? Because after all, we both know that the amount of magic you need to pay for conjuration depends on the distance your conjured item or creature has to travel. Plus, I suppose you could conjure a snowball from a fresh snow layer and form it into a ball mid-summoning, but that increases the energy cost as well. And seeing how the closest snow layers are probably on Mount Canterhorn right now… I don’t know if that’s possible.”

While Arcana took note of each and every objection and I could already see how she tried to solve them as several problems presented to her, Aurora had caught on to my intention and searched for an alternative solution. “You could create one!” she announced.

And even though Arcana still mulled over the issues I had brought up, she found enough capacity to dismantle Aurora’s attempt. “That would not work either. Depending on the material, its composition, quality, density and several other factors, creation could be even more costly than conjuration.”

Twilight was a powerhouse. I could rarely tell if she had conjured that chair from the next room over, or if she had ‘simply’ created one from pure magic. We had a ridiculous amount of small salad bowls by now.

Neither of my daughters were strong enough to use creation magic just yet. Or conjuration. So it was no surprise that they did not know how much effort it took to create a snowball. And that was the point, after all. They had to critically engage with the topic on a theoretical level. They had to think about how things could work or might work. And it helped them better understand the base mechanics.

“What about an illusion?” Aurora offered with a cheeky grin.

“That’s not a solution at all!” Arcana objected immediately.

But Aurora’s grin widened a little. She had a knack for thinking outside the box. “Well he didn’t say that it had to be real! He just said he wanted a snowball.”

Arcana grimaced. What Aurora did often felt like cheating to her. And I could see why. But honestly, I was proud of my little sunshine for always coming up with a solution that surprised me. I had not even thought about an illusory snowball.

I knew that there was a risk that Arcana would want to discuss this. Again. And while they loved each other dearly, Arcana did not like cheaters. One of the few points they could actually argue about. And to prevent all that from happening right now, I mixed in a new piece. “What about my ice magic?”

I grinned like a shark. It was the exact reason Aurora immediately became very cautious. It was a trap. I did not make any effort to obscure that. But Aurora was stumped as to what the trap was. Arcana on the other hoof once again saw a challenge. Something to prove herself. “You don’t have ‘ice magic’,” she resolutely announced. “You are opening microscopic rifts to a section of the dreamscape called ‘the void’. And getting something as clearly defined as a snowball would require a heavy investment of both magic and willpower, draining your mental fortitude. It would also require prolonged exposure to a hostile dreamscape creature and is therefore neither worth the effort nor the risk.”

It was rare for me to talk about it. And I could not quite remember when I had done so last. But Arcana had absorbed all that knowledge, every scrap, like a sponge drained water. I smiled at her and she once again puffed her chest out.

I’ll show you hostility, a voice in the back of my head growled.

She’s eight, for crying out loud. Simmer down already. Only silence answered me.

I walked over to Arcana’s desk again and sat down next to her. And I offered her a hug. She climbed down from her chair and sat down in front of me so that I could pull her in and press her against me. She rarely sought bodily contact like this, but she knew that I needed it from time to time and she was fine with that. For the most part. So I hugged her and sighed happily. “I’m proud of you,” I whispered. I looked over to the other side and shot a wink at Aurora. I was proud of her as well. I was proud of all of them. But some just needed to hear it more often than others. Aurora grinned, stood up as well and joined our little hug a moment later, hugging her half-sister from the other side.

I noticed Twilight enter the room. The door handle was encased with her trademark raspberry magic, it swung open silently and she closed it without noise as well. I tilted my head ever so slightly to wordlessly ask her what she wanted, but seeing our little group hug, she gestured for me to continue with whatever this was. She looked at the clock and smiled.

So whatever had brought her here was time sensitive, but she had a few minutes to wait around.

“Dad, can I ask you something?” I heard Arcana’s slightly muffled voice as she mumbled into my coat.

“Sure.”

She hesitated for a moment. Which already told me that this was something that weighed down on her mind. Not just now. Knowing her, it probably had done so for a few days already. “Why is Miss Cheerilee not teaching us any of this?”

I furrowed my brow. “Have you asked her?”

“N-No,” she answered sheepishly.

As far as I knew, they loved their teacher. Much the same way almost all of the little ones adored her. Cheerilee just had a hoof with foals. So what exactly was the issue here? The real issue? I still tried to figure it out when Aurora, probably in an attempt to be helpful, blurted it out. “She’s scared because she thinks that Miss Cheerilee might think that she’s not smart enough!”

Oh.

Some might have considered it silly to fear that, of all things, given that she was most likely the most intelligent filly in the entire school. But I understood the feeling of not considering oneself as ‘enough’. Not strong enough. Not fast enough. Not intelligent enough. No matter how good, it was never enough.

Before I could address the main issue, I needed to do something else. I could feel Arcana squirm in place ever so slightly. As if she tried to crawl into me. Or maybe more importantly, away from Aurora. I sighed. “Sunshine, come on. Your sister confided that to you. You should not go around and blurt it out like that.”

“But… but you’re trying to help…?” Aurora argued meekly.

I put a hoof on the back of her head before she could scooch away further and leaned down to press a kiss on her forehead. “I am. And so are you. I know that. But if you had a problem and you told her and she immediately told me, would you feel good about that?”

She would. It had been a bad example. I knew it the moment I said it. But lucky me, Aurora caught on to what I tried to say. Because if we really reversed those roles, Arcana would not come to me to seek help to fix whatever ailed Aurora. Oh no. She would go straight to her mom. And Aurora was decidedly daddy’s little princess. She obviously loved Twilight like a second mother, but she was occasionally slightly intimidated by her as well. An issue that just never came up with me.

I saw understanding dawn in her eyes and she grimaced slightly as her gaze fell on her half-sister. “Arcana? I’m sorry.”

A few seconds passed by and Arcana finally nodded and accepted the apology. Which then ‘only’ left the other issue. I quickly shot an apologetic glance over to Twilight. None of them had noticed her presence yet and she still patiently waited in the corner next to the door. My little peanut smiled and gestured for me to continue. I nodded and felt playful enough to blow her a kiss before I returned my attention to Arcana. “As for Miss Cheerilee’s choices. What Twilight and I teach you here is advanced magical theory, my little enchantress. That’s not exactly part of general education. Not here in Ponyville, not even in Canterlot.”

“But I already know all the stuff she teaches us,” Arcana quietly whined.

“It’s a good exercise then, is it not?” I tried to argue.

“I don’t like feeling different.”

It had been so quiet that I almost had not caught it at all. So this was the root of the issue then. A class full of fillies and colts, learning algebra and Equestria’s history and whatnot. And she lived in a library to begin with and learned all this stuff ahead of time and was bored as a result. Well, maybe not even bored. But she saw the others around her struggle. And she had difficulties relating to that. Most fillies and colts in her class would probably fake-gag if she offered them to read a chapter of Maredenkainen’s Guide to Conjuration. It was about common ground.

I was glad that Twilight was here and listened. I could offer my own point of view on the matter, but truth be told: I had never struggled with the burden of intelligence quite in the same manner Arcana did. Twilight knew a thing or two about that, though. And Arcana trusted her mom fully.

“If you have difficulties with the other colts and fillies,” I started, “then try to work with what you have. Remember earlier when I asked you what knowledge is worth if you can’t share it? If they don’t understand something, offer to explain it. If they struggle with math, offer to teach them. You could invite them here. Learn an hour or two, then read some books or go play or ask Spike to stuff you with pastries. And if you’re worried about talking to them, bring Aurora along. She would gladly help you. Stardust as well. You know you can always rely on your siblings. Or us.”

I heard her sigh and felt her hot breath against my stomach as she buried her muzzle on my coat once more before she finally pulled away and looked up at me. I cupped her cheeks with my hooves and smiled at her. “There is so much to love about you, Arcana. Offer a hoof and they will come to see it, too.”

She hesitantly nodded a few seconds later and I ruffled her mane a little in reply.

“Can I ask something as well?” Aurora piped up now that the catastrophe seemed to have been averted.

“Sure, what is it?” I followed Aurora’s gaze towards Stardust, who still peacefully slept on his desk. A smile graced his lips and a little puddle of half-dried drool had formed under his muzzle. It very much reminded me of his mother and I bit down on my bottom lip to refrain from chuckling.

“Why is he allowed to sleep in class?” Aurora asked.

I looked at her and shrugged with a smile. “Because he was very tired after last night. I showed him the dreamscape and that took a lot out of him.”

The pursuit of knowledge knows no bounds. I sighed the moment I saw Arcana puff her cheeks indignantly. “Why does he get to see it and I don’t?!”

I tried to pull her in again, but she put her hooves against my belly and kept her distance. She was not having it. “Because Stardust is older than you. In time, I will take you along as well, I promise. Adding to that, he has his curiosity fully under control.”

“So do I!” Arcana argued and quickly shot a warning glare to Aurora when she giggled into her hoof.

“No, Arcana, you don’t. You recite facts about the comparative jaw strength of predators while a timberwolf is chasing you down.” I rubbed the bridge of my muzzle with a hoof. Yet another discussion we had on the odd occasion.

Arcana obviously immediately knew what I was talking about and puffed her cheeks out even more. “I was in control!” she insisted.

I sighed once again and put a hoof under her chin to raise her muzzle and smiled at her. “You slowed down because you could not remember which book had been the origin of that quote about shark jaws. Arcana, you got lucky Apple Bloom was nearby or you could have been seriously injured.” There was no judgment in my eyes and no accusation in my voice. Hearing the news about the attack had given me half a heart attack at the time, but that was a couple of weeks ago.

Despite that, she pouted like there was no tomorrow. When she tried to get away from my hoof, I held her a moment longer and tried to mollify her a little. “Listen. One day, you will make your entrance exam at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, and you will ace it. You will have a very good shot to become her next personal protégé and follow in your mom’s hoofsteps. And if you choose to do so, I know that you will make her proud. Her and all of us. But you are eight, Arcana. There is still so much to learn, even for you. Don’t pressure yourself. Give it time. I know that you’re burning to see it with your own eyes. But the dreamscape can be a dangerous place. You will see it in time. And until then, there will be more than enough other topics to keep you occupied.”

It always felt a little bit strange to talk to her about life goals. Most fillies her age were occupied thinking about which games to play this afternoon, or what sweets to buy from their next pocket money. Both Stardust and Aurora were very much ‘normal’ in that regard. But Arcana was convinced that she had it all figured out already. Graduate as the best of the best, ace the exam, become the best pupil Equestria had ever seen, impress Celestia by racing through all of her lessons and then… well. And then. It got a lot fuzzier once she graduated from Celestia’s school. The world would be her oyster. But she was not all that keen on following the path her mother had taken after her graduation. Being sent to a rural town she knew nopony in? Facing down actual threats? Becoming the Princess of Friendship? She tried to emulate her so much, but becoming more social was where she drew the line.

The situation was… well, maybe not ‘resolved’ as such, but as good as it would get for now. And I saw Twilight take another look at the clock and this time, she seemed willing to make her presence known. She quietly cleared her throat so that she would not startle anypony. Aurora smiled widely and waved. And Arcana pulled away from me and quickly galloped over to her mom. “Oof,” Twilight said in jest as the little filly impacted against her. “Hey there,” she whispered down to her daughter and hugged her tightly.

I felt the tiniest pang of jealousy, but it faded as quickly as it had come.

While she still held Arcana, she looked around the room as if she would take it in for the first time today. “Are you done for today? I could use your help with something.”

I chuckled. Of course she knew exactly that I was done. She knew my schedule. I would have loved to say the same in regards to hers, but honestly, that thing was so packed on a regular basis that I had given up on that a long time ago.

After all the little ups and downs, I felt like a little tease was in order. And seeing Twilight always gave me ideas. “Alright, alright,” I announced, “all fillies and colts may wish to exit the premises immediately.” I stood back up and walked over to Twilight. And I captured her lips in a kiss, both to greet her and to coax the obvious reaction from our foals. And just for good measure, I added in a husky growl, “And you may want to do so quickly as I’m about to make a new filly.”

Even though she rolled with her eyes, I still loved to see that goofy smile on Twilight’s face and that faint blush in her cheeks. I successfully swallowed a chuckle down as I heard a suddenly reawakened Stardust gag and saw Arcana grimace. Stardust raced past us and tapped Arcana on her shoulder. “You’re it!” And off he was. Aurora giggled as she walked up to the door. “I’d rather have another brother,” she casually remarked as she strode out of the room. And once she was out, she yelled for Stardust to wait for him and sprinted off as well. Arcana remained for just a brief moment longer before she pulled away from Twilight. I noticed a lot of exchange between the two of them as they held each other’s gaze. Twilight eventually nodded and Arcana trotted outside as well. She reoriented herself and followed her siblings.

Twilight closed the door before she turned to me. “You are not up for another one,” she remarked.

I chuckled and smirked at her. “Is that you telling me that I’m unfit as a father, or is that you daring me?”

My sudden confidence gave her pause and her smile grew a little lopsided. “Would you really want another one?”

I laughed quietly and pulled her in for a tight embrace. She sighed happily and melted a little against me. I could feel the stress in her body. I noticed how her wings seemed a little fluttery and heard her groan quietly as I pressed my hoof into the usual spots along her back that always tensed up when she was stressing out again. She did not look like it. Yet. But she was a bit of a mess.

I leaned back just enough to kiss and nip a small trail along her neck until I reached her ear and nibbled on it. “With you?” I answered belatedly. “Always.”

I pressed my hoof against her flank and smiled as it elicited a mixture between a grunt and a moan. “That is not why I came,” she remarked.

“Obviously,” I shot right back. “But don’t worry. I think I have a pretty good idea why you will come. And how.” I softly bit down on her neck and was rewarded with another groan. Almost a moan. We’re getting there.

“Dreamwalker, please,” she quietly pleaded with me. “I have an important meeting in thirty-two minutes!”

I pulled back and smirked as I heard her disappointed sigh. And just as she was about to explain to me the importance of whatever urgent help she required, I lunged forward and kissed her. Fiercely, passionately. She hesitantly joined her tongue in a little dance with mine and a soft moan escaped her throat as my hooves traveled down her back. She really was tightly wound.

“Dream,” she begged as we pulled apart for air.

“Thirty-two minutes is perfect,” I replied.

“Thirty,” she quickly corrected.

I nodded. “That leaves us twenty.” I grabbed her in my telekinesis and laid her on her back on my desk. She did not protest too much.

Or at all.