Simplified

I already had my alarm set last night. The last thing I need is for some stupid guard knocking at my door telling me what time I should be up to do whatever I have to do for the day. I'm already on edge because of the situation from yesterday, dealing with Twilight's annoying ass. I'm almost to the point where I'm done with her. I think I see why Nondis didn't really stick it out for her, and maybe that's just be being bitter.

Whatever, it's 4:45 in the morning and I'm trying to wake up out of this bed.

I have to sit on the edge, gather my thoughts so that I don't snap at the first pony I see. My early mornings haven't been exactly great these days. But I need to not take these feelings out on the others who have nothing to do with anything between me and that annoying purple princess who acts like a slave master more than a big sister. Yeah, this energy needs to disperse before I sling it at the wrong party.

I mostly sit here coaching myself. 'Just try not to close your eyes too heavy, try not to lay back down, try not to reach for the pillow, try not to show any signs of grumpiness to anyone, try not to scream.' Everything else seems to work out just fine, everything except that first part. My eyelids are so damn heavy, maybe I should close them and meditate for a while. Yeah, nothing wrong with a little morning meditation. Helps clear the mind, calm the nerves, lay a new canvas for the day. Yeah, let's clean house, and take on a brand new day.

A knock on my door sounds, and I'm already mostly awake before they can get to me. I was almost on the verge of dozing off, but that's changed since I have to get up and walk to the door. A young guardsmare greets me with a salute. "Sir, good morning."

"Morning to you." I reply. "What time is it?"

"It's currently 5:01 sir. I'm sorry for being late at your door, sir."

Guards, always looking to get as close to perfection as possible. She's probably cursing herself out over the smallest minute details. I smile back to her and answer her. "It's fine. I woke myself up fifteen minutes ago. You're not late for anything."

She seems to be a bit more relieved now, but it's all business for her. "Sir. I was ordered to escort you to the sundial."

"To raise the sun, I got it." I answer. "Lead the way."

Going through the halls, I find myself being unusually melancholy. The dimly lit halls are easy on the eyes, but they seem far less glamorous than what I thought they were in my younger days. At some point back then, I used to see these halls and know that something special was going to go down. Maybe a special assignment from Princess Celestia, a call to do some details with Princess Luna, a request to help Princess Cadance with something, or even a meetup with Shining Armor, probably a call to action in dealing with matters pertaining to the future of Equestria.

Those days are done. Celestia and Luna retired, the former getting married to the last captain of the guard. Cadance left before they did, going north to rule over a city-state of her own, and taking Shining Armor with her. Rarity's gone to be a multi-millionaire fashionista entrepreneur. Applejack's taken the reigns of the farm since Granny Smith's passing, being the head of a multi-million dollar agriculture development that stretches so far out that Ponyville had to annex acres upon acres to accommodate the expansion. Pinkie took over the bakery while her husband runs a party-planning bureau, coming into her own humble mass of wealth. Rainbow Dash is off touring the countryside, running shows and training camps for aspiring Wonderbolts candidates. Fluttershy seems to be the only one who doesn't care too much about wealth, but her animal sanctuary brings in millions of visitors a year, fully staffed with a number of veterinarians, professionals, and environmentalists making sure that the place is ran to the comfort of the animals. It's more of a literal zoo nowadays, but the animals are so well-trained that they seem like a massive collection of domesticated pets.

They all visit once a month, but they visit Twilight with less and less of the bond they shared when they were off saving the world. They're still good friends, just not as tight as what they used to be. And these halls seem to reflect that same change of atmosphere. Everything is running just as it should, all according to design. And that's just it, business as usual.

We arrive to the hall of the great vault, the one that used to hold the elements. It now holds the sundial used to change the sky whenever Twilight is absent. While that is not the case, I'm still assigned to use it. The windows to the outside still show darkness. I look to Inkwell, who holds a silver pocket watch. "Three minutes till sunup." She calls out.

I remember the days of being at the Summer Sun Festival, back when Celestia was still teaching Twilight. I remember the group of friends she had then, how they were a collection of unicorns with personalities, albeit with pairs of matching mane styles. Moondancer seemed not as engaged as the others, while Twilight was overtly so, so much that she could've taken the role of Pinkie Pie for that moment Celestia raised the sun past the golden effigy on her stage. The act was always the same every year, but it had a mystic charm to her. And seeing her like that made me happy.

That charm is no longer there.

"Mr. Spike, it's time."

I place my claw on the center of the dial, twisting clockwise until the gilded arrow met with the mark where it started to tick on it's own, indicating that the sun is on it's rightful path of timing the day away. Another glance to the windows peeking to the outside shows that the sky is silver with the light of the sun poking past the horizon, the clouds as pink and orange as they are pretty.

And yet in this now hollow beauty, it's just as charmless as the halls I now walk.

Twilight went over to the human world, it seems she's still trying to prod around over what all happened and what was discussed over the past few days. Ms. Royal is tasked with driving her around the town since Twilight doesn't know how to drive. I'm just happy that she's gone, but it doesn't change my feelings for this place. It might be a bit quieter, but everyone knows that won't last the entire day.

Walking along, I pass by a group of guards getting a stern talking to from Sergeant Humbreeze. They appear to be getting grilled pretty bad. I swing by to satiate my curiosity, hoping to go unnoticed. Unfortunately, I'm far too big to get away with it. "Sir Spike is present, attention!" One of the younger guards calls out over their stern sergeant.

The stallion calls out the younger squad for overshadowing him. "YOU THINK THAT BECAUSE SOMEONE'S HERE YOU GET TO JUMP PAST ME WITHOUT CONSEQUENCES!? I'LL TELL YOU WHAT, YOU HOLD THAT POSITION UNTIL THE END OF YOUR SHIFT! YOU'LL BE PRESENTING ARMS UNTIL THE THE SUN GOES DOWN! WHEN THAT FINAL SPECK OF LIGHT IN THE SKY GOES OUT, YOU WILL BE GIVEN PERMISSION TO DROP YOUR SALUTE AND AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTION!" He looks to me and gives me a salute as well. "Good day, Sir Spike."

"Geez, what did these guys do to make you so angry?" I question the non-commanding officer.

"These four blunderheads thought it was funny to invade the maids quarters after hours. They thought they could get past the head maid on staff, knowing that all male guards are on restriction from entering the compound. Obviously, they got caught in a closet... all four of them in the same closet."

"Ah, okay." I nod.

He shakes his head at the quartet of policy violators. "Yeah, these guys aren't too bright, and obviously they aren't any good for espionage either. So what can I do for you?"

"Actually, I wanted to talk about some stuff with you and Solemn. I know it's going above the princess' head at this point, but I think it's pretty damn important for you to know."

The stallion shrugs at me. "Well, sounds to me that you've done some digging around after I advised you not to. Got word from Solemn that you can't leave the grounds."

"That may be the case, but we still need to have a talk." I reiterate. "And yes, it's about a certain topic that I can't discuss openly."

He glances over to the four before lowering his voice. "How sensitive is this information?"

"Fairly sensitive."

"Hmm..." He places a hoof to his chin in thought before snapping over to another guard on post. "You!"

"Yes sir?" The guard calls out sheepishly.

"Watch these four. If they move, you report it to me. If you allow them to move and don't report back to me, you'll have what they're having."

"Yes sir!"

The sergeant walks close to me. "Okay, let's talk."

We arrive at the barracks, situating ourselves inside of Solemn Oath's office. She takes a while to get finished with her early morning errands, but she still arrives in a relatively timely manner. She greets us with a casual nod before sitting at her desk and pulling out some files from her in-bin.

As she pulls the first, she comments. "Sir Spike, Humbreeze, I'm sure the matter you're trying to address with me is this important."

"Sir Spike here says he's come across some critical information, claims it to be 'highly sensitive'." The sergeant announces.

"By highly sensitive, do you mean it has something to do with this past Friday evening?" She asks.

"Apparently so." He answers.

She looks up to the ceiling and groans in dismay. "Can we not talk about this one right now? I don't think it's good for my mental health to keep nose diving into trauma. It was bad enough that one guy popped up like he did."

I pull out the pamphlets Nondis gave me back in the human world and place them on the desk. "Well if you ask me, we might end up seeing a lot more than just that one guy. This stuff is getting spread all over."

Both Solemn and Humbreeze pick up the items and go through their contents, reading up on the various methods proposed. "Well, this is troublesome." The sergeant replies.

"These are different from the one we collected from those boys." The captain points out. "Have they ever been tested out?"

"I don't know but I don't think you'll want a certain someone popping up from one of these rituals."

The captain raises a brow and stares me down. "What kind of someone are you referring to?"

"I guess a green unicorn male, orange hair, copper-colored eyes, markings on the face─"

Solemn jumps out of her seat, putting a magic bind around my snout. Her eyes shift back and forth from either side of the room. She walks from around her desk and immediately cast a bubble of silence around us. She slowly eases the binding on my snout bit by bit as she asks me about my description. "Okay. Now I know you were caught digging around for information shortly after that run-in with the summoning ceremony. Now you need to describe to me where you got this information."

"Awfully sensitive to casually describe the appearance of the necro-terrorist. There ain't no visual ref to go by the guy, much less a name. How did you get his visual?" Humbreeze questions.

At this point I'm finally able to speak a little, the bindings on my snout are loose enough to form coherent words. "Your former captain took me on a trip while in his world yesterday."

"Did he give you the visual?" She questions.

"Yeah... among some other things that are nothing short of nightmare-inducing. I won't say what I saw, but it was pretty graphic."

"These pamphlets, where did you get these?" Humbreeze inquires.

"Same source. For a retired guy, he still operates like he's employed for E.S.S. or something." The bindings on my snout fall away completely.

Solemn inhales deeply before speaking. "Okay, so he knows. Great, that's less on my conscience."

"Yeah, no kidding." Humbreeze agrees, wiping his brow. "We were trying to operate like we didn't want any news of this getting to him in any way out of fear that he'd unretire. Last thing we need is for him to go all-out at this point."

"He knows more than we do at this point." I bring up. "Those brochures, the rituals, the probable intent of those rituals, who's spreading the stuff around, where they came from, how they're financed, he's on top of it like he's still here at the office."

The sergeant facehoofs himself at the thought. "Sheesh, he stays on it. If his wife gets word of him still snooping around─"

"He's not the only thing we'll have to fear temporarily coming out of retirement." Solemn concludes. "I've seen Celestia operate with maximum lethality. She can give you a little of the top without you or your body even registering the blow. I've seen her do it to one guy who was sabotaging the security detail to make Captain Nondis look bad. Turns out you can't fuck over the princess' fun-toy just because you're a petty creep."

"Okay, is there something about these two that makes them so fear-inducing?" I ask the pair.

"Have you seen the captain at his prime?" Humbreeze questions. "Like I'm not even talking about all his accolades before learning magic, I'm talking about after Starswirl got a hold of him. He and I had a wager that he couldn't change the orientation of the sun just a bit. He couldn't move the damn thing much, but he nudged it to where the sun had to be set forty-five minutes early. Tried to move it backwards, but it dropped on him instead. He barely caught it, and it almost broke his arm. The fact that he stopped it from collapsing out of the sky is monumentally insane."

"Princess Celestia literally had a dark age, she almost single-hoofedly fought a whole civil war against Equestria for marriage rights and avenging the death of another prince. It was her and Prince Blueblood going against the entire E.U.P. Guard. Do you wanna know how the war ended?" Solemn asks.

"Okay, how?"

"It was a stalemate. That one event is why we currently have a two-to-one mare-to-stallion ratio. And at the time of the armistice, it was as bad as five-to-one." She answers with a shudder. "They had to enact mandatory breeding laws just to keep the country afloat, breeding laws that weren't ever repealed until seven years ago."

A lot of things happened seven years ago. "Okay, I see your point."

The pair recover from their thoughts of seeing the two retirees back in action. "Alright, bullshit aside. What all did the former captain tell you?"

"You may need to write all of this down." I warn the two guards. "The pamphlets are rumored to be a way to bring about the reemergence of the necro-terrorist, hence the word 'revelation' being used. I don't think they have a face to go by, so it could be that they might not even know who they're trying to bringing up."

"Another move of foreshadowing by the captain." Solemn replies.

"He warned us of that one." Humbreeze adds.

"Well we know what to look out for, and it's better that we keep it that way." I state as I go on to my next point. "The second thing is that this group doing the distribution isn't a domestic group, it's actually a foreign religious movement. They call themselves 'The Church of the Healing Hooves', not sure why they went with that one."

Solemn ponders on that issue. "You know, there's a little known truth to the necro-terrorist. Thanks to five-hundred years of being active in the shadows, he authored a lot of the medical research we currently use today. Most of our medical advances are due to him playing God. As such, the ones who know that, they called him 'The Doctor' for that reason."

"Do we know when this religion managed to come up?" Humbreeze inquires.

Solemn quickly offers her rebuttal. "Who knows! The necro-terrorist was active for over five-hundred years. His literature on medicine is known worldwide, from small city-states to large empires spanning massive swaths of land stretching from shoreline to shoreline. Everything has his stamp. So it could be reasoned with that this religion could span up to a century or two. The better question is how prevalent is it's influence?"

"Apparently, it's an imperially sanctioned religion in Ponyland." I respond to her question.

Humbreeze drops his head. "Holy fuck, that's bad!"

"How sanctioned are we talking?" Questions the guardsmare.

"Paid for in full by the imperial family."

"Oh Faust, we hate it." She sounds out in dismay. "Nondis told you all of this?"

"Oh yeah. Made sure that me and the current element bearers are aware of the risk."

"That bastard doesn't know how to retire, does he?" The sergeant replies with a slight chuckle. "Well, I guess it's a good thing that he knows how to work in covert. I can imagine the look on Celestia's face when she finds out her husband's been going around collecting intel behind her back."

"Yeah, because it's not a matter of if, she's gonna find out eventually. And it's gonna be UH-GLY." The captain stresses heavily.

"Let's thank our lucky stars he came through on this before it get ugly." I comment, the pair both sagely nodding in agreement. "He already warned me of how bad it will get with that photo he showed us. Let's try not to land ourselves on an operating table, and double down on keeping our heads screwed on tight."

"Second the motion." Solemn raises a hoof.

"Then it's unanimous." Humbreeze raises his as I raise my claws in tandem. "We'll do what we can to crack down on these religious groups looking to make our kids an unnecessary sacrifice."

"Please do." Solemn mutters as she starts to stare off into space. "Oh Faust, please do."

I turn to Humbreeze and question him about her. "So... what happened with her that has her like this?"

"You remember that part of the exhibit with the metal masks, what they represent?"

"Oh yeah, that's not good."

"Some of those were her coworkers."

"I still see them... dancing like puppets." She whispers.

...Yikes. "Yyyyeeahhhh─Definitely didn't need the nightmare fuel."

After our meeting, we agreed to start an awareness campaign to further bring attention to the current acts being performed under this unknown religious group. We also agreed to explain the matters to Twilight, but withholding the source of this intel. We don't want our pipeline of information to be compromised by an angry wife and a spiteful ex-girlfriend having a simple catch-up conversation over the phone. Just that combination alone could doom a number of kids to a misguided fate. It's honestly pretty funny in a sad way that we all see eye-to-eye on that matter.

The day progresses slowly after that meeting. It's more of the usual sleuth of tasks, conversations, and casual dinners with some of the local municipal leaders looking to gain favors. All of it runs into each other with the clarity of a traveler looking at their immediate field of view through the window of a passing train. So much goes by without you even being able to properly absorb the smaller details of things. All I feel is an unfortunate compromise of seeing a greater picture without having the nuisances of the smaller bits that make it up, individual moments swallowed by the monumental shadow of running a country. And no friends to connect with on the daily.

I wonder if this is what Twilight feels whenever she wears that tiara out in public.

Just out of curiosity's sake, I go down my list of phone numbers and try to pick out a few of her friends I'm still able to communicate with. I start off with Pinkie, but she doesn't answer. I go on to Rainbow, but her phone is off, probably in the middle of a show right now. I go on to Fluttershy, she doesn't answer. Applejack picks up, but cites that she's about to close in on a deal with Queen Novo to bring her family's zap apple jam to the shores of the hippogriff city-state. I look down to the final name on my list, not really thinking that this would even work to begin with because of her busy schedule. But I give it a quick ring, seeing that no one answers. I guess they're all busy.

♪The perfect dress, a color all the rage but still unique. Now loose the♫─

I'm still surprised by how instinctive it is for me to take the call whenever Rarity's name pops up on the screen. "Hello?"

"Spike! I saw you called, dear." She answers in her usual prim cadence.

"Hey, I thought you were busy. Didn't expect you to reach back so... instantly." I say with a bit of a blush from personal embarrassment, my mind is already wandering back to that moment in the club.

"Well I can imagine, darling. I was just short of catching you by a second or two, so I rang back. What can I do for you?"

"I was actually calling to see if you and Twilight had spoken recently. I know you both got up like two weeks ago. I'm trying to see where her mind is at this point because we can't seem to stop fighting."

The mare sighs on the other end. "I swear, that mare does not handle her personal emotions too well. Why do you feel she's fighting you so much?"

"She and I had a standoff yesterday in the throne room. She wouldn't let me go, I had to do a dragon snarl to get her to catch the hint."

The fashionista appears surprised by my revelation. "You snarled at her!? Why!?"

"She wouldn't let me go!" I reiterate firmly. "I was pissed as shit because she keeps talking down to me like I can't be my own being for some fucking reason! I have to be what she wants me to be, otherwise we get into it. Then if I try to walk away from the conversation, even to try to cool off, she holds me hostage! Like how is that healthy? I just wanna know where her mind is so I can move forward. That's all."

"Twilight Sparkle, you are a mess." She mutters through a sigh. "Alright, I can assume that she's not too enthusiastic that you've managed to make yourself available on the more... well... intimate end of things. She worries that she might run into you yet again."

Once more, the intrusive thoughts of her walking in on us while Ocellus was in the midst of her 'sword swallowing' act rings very loudly. "Okay, it was one picture, and I didn't even mean to send it to her! I thought she was someone else! How was I supposed to know that she was the one I was shooting my shot at that one time!? She was literally a gray account, no profile, no prior contact, no name color, nothing!"

"Spike, it was a full-frontal."

"And? That was supposed to go to my girl of the night. I'm nineteen with a full-time government job and no personal relationships like that, and I have the sex drive applicable to those of my age group. I was down bad and I had needs. What else was I supposed to do!? I can't just be fueled by imagination the entire time I get to─" I pause for a moment to realize who I was discussing this with. "─Okay, you know, maybe I'm getting too far into this."

"No, Spike. I understand." She replies with a sympathetic tone. "You are at an age where your sexuality is going to be widely expressed. And I've also seen for myself that you are in that time in your life where that's going to be a thing."

"Yeah..." I can already tell she's referring back to the club. "Sorry for letting you see me like that."

"I walked into a room where a dragon and a changeling were enjoying themselves. Why am I to be offended?"

"Because you saw me... and that... you know. I'm sure it broke a lot of images you had about me." I reply, my cheeks reddening with each moment I speak.

"Spike, are you afraid that I might think of you differently because of what I saw?" She asks.

"Who doesn't? I know Twilight sure does."

"Yes, and that is a problem. But it shouldn't be your problem." She replies. "How Twilight views you shouldn't be how you view you. You should be more open to yourself, and you should be able to express some of these things with Twilight, even if it can be a bit uncomfortable at times. You should be able to tell her that you need your space and that it's important for you to operate within the boundaries of that space. If it's an unintended message that strays her way, it's not for her to go and explode on you about it."

"Do you think so?" I question the mare.

"Spike, what you do with that thing of yours is your business, not mine. So don't expect me to complain about it to you, and don't expect me to rate you either. My opinion of you have not changed in any variable, you're still my little Spikey Wikey... despite a few growth spurts here and there."

I know she's saying this to make me feel better, but it doesn't change the sense of relief I feel with her saying that. It's the first bit of news that makes me smile all day. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

Her tone shifts once more, from endearing to a bit more critical. "Oh, and Spike, another thing. I would steer clear of Sweetie Belle for a while if I were you."

"Uh, why?" I question her.

"I don't know where you and Ocellus are in your relationship, but it would be better to keep you distance. Sweetie Belle is a bit of a trickster, as you can tell. I'm sure you know how she is considering that you still have some rather candid photos of me that you've used to stir the imagination."

I nearly stumble in place, flabbergasted that she knows about that transaction somehow. It even happened years ago, how did she pick up on that? "I, uh... I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Twilight texted me yesterday about it."

Dammit, she went through my stash. "Oh..."

"I'm sure you understand that what's good for the goose is good for the gander. She has video footage of what took place at the club, a short little snippet. I know she'll have that for whatever negotiation she may want to entrap you with, and I'm sure that will go over quite well when she locks you in a room with just only the both of you." I can already feel the immense guilt starting to pluck at my nerves as the fashionista speaks. "Or maybe that's what you'd be gaming for."

"No! I don't have any interest in Sweetie Belle! I never did, we're just friends! I'd never even come close to looking at her that way because of─"

"Because of how you felt about me?" She concludes.

"Y-yeah... that." I stammer through the confession.

The mare on the line sighs for a moment before brightening up her tone again. "Well I can have your word that you'll put those unsanctioned images of me to the flames dear, I would really appreciate it if you would do away with those as I will be trying to do away with the videos Sweetie has of you. Is that or is that not a fair accord?"

While I'm going to miss having those images for my 'finishing touch', I'm in no place to disagree. I'll have to honor my word and burn the images. Besides, they're old, sticky, and covered in heavens knows what else. It's been fun to break many an edge session to them, but I have two marefriends now, one that can even transform into her upon request. "Yeah, I guess I'll do that now."

I lift my mattress and pull out one of the special editions of Mare Model Lingerie, going straight to the centerfold of Rarity modeling one of her own sets. While that image is sensually teasing, what's paperclipped to the bottom is a voyeuristic image of her plunging a toy deep within herself. I mentally absorb the image one last time, seeing the painful longing on her face, the way she lays on her back with her hindlegs reaching back to her ears, the desperation that shows in the blur of the toy being inserted at such a rapid pace, surely it had to have been the moment before climax... Maybe I can have one last go before sending it to the ashes.

"SPIKE!"

The surprise of her calling out my name so loudly causes me to unwittingly set fire to the whole magazine. I panic as I throw the thing on the ground, hoping to salvage what I can before it's all turned to ash. However, with my flames being as hot as they are, it's beyond saving. I can only mourn the fact that I just condemned a perfectly good centerfold along with some prime exclusive spank material.

She hears the pain in my voice. "Very good, Spike. Now I trust that you'll be fair to Ocellus and not have her transform into me whenever you feel like you need to vent your frustrations."

What she doesn't know won't hurt, right? I mean Ocellus is more than willing at this point because she knows she'll get the best out of me if she does. "Yeah, I promise not to ask her."

"And you'll make sure she doesn't transform into me because I know how devious that girl is, she's turned into me a number of times while I was teaching at that school just to get out of trouble. It won't be above her to do that to rile you up."

I used to work at a library, how am I the idiot being read up like one? "Sure."

"Good. Now take a deep breath... clear your thoughts... and keep me out of them, dear."

The sadness is starting to settle in. "Yes, ma'am."

"And I'll have a little chat with Twilight tonight when she gets back in. Hopefully I can get her to understand that you don't need to be locked away like some pet phoenix. Savvy?"

"Savvy." I answer as I reach down to pick up the smoldering ruins of the source of my many self-induced orgasms. "Just peachy."

"Alrighty then! I'll give you a ring when I've finished up on my end of the bargain. Do be a good little Spikey Wikey until we meet up next time. And please remember to keep your mental image on the girl you're currently excavating, it's much healthier for your relationship. Ciao!"

She hangs up immediately, leaving me to have a makeshift memorial service for the many years that centerfold and candid-capture combo worked me back from the depths of my lust. I grab a broom and quietly sweep the ashes into the dust pan, carefully escorting them to the trashcan near my bed, and dump the ruined material into the bin. I stare in silence over the loss before giving the items an honorable salute.

I'm going to no doubt ask Ocellus to replicate that exact position to the best of my memory next weekend.

Yesterday was a mostly boring day with the exception of a meeting that went well and a phone call that ended in nostalgic tragedy. Twilight got back from the human world in the late night hours, she seemed even more prickly than before. And with my head on the pillow, I already knew I was going to have to avoid her during breakfast.

So I simply bypassed the dining room this morning in favor of the general mess hall. The food there isn't bad either, it's a lot less curated and polished, but sometimes that's what makes the experience. I had a bunch of guards coming by to ask what was going on with me and Twilight, seeing that I wasn't stepping near the dining hall. I told them that I wanted some time away from her after living with her for so long, and kept things moving.

I'm still bound to the grounds, and all possible permissions to leave for any reason are to be supervised with at least three guards present, each being one pegasi for flight risk, one earth pony for physical restraint, and a unicorn for instant travel to and from the premises. It feels more like I'm being closed down in a high level containment facility more than I am 'living'.

So I sit in my room in protest. I don't leave for any reason. I don't exit the room for any summons, I don't go out and meet contacts. I essentially don't do my job, because how can I do that when I can't even leave the castle grounds. I even go through the rounds of ordering room service when the opportunity is issued. I do nothing the first day, and I keep my phone on airplane mode so that I don't hear Twilight's annoying ringtone.

Another day passes, and work piles up fast. But since I'm under restriction to never leave the castle until further notice, I'm at liberty to remain maliciously compliant. with the given limitations until I am explicitly told that my freedom is granted without term. I turn back on my phone on occasion to shoot a few texts to friends, letting them know I'm fine and what's going on. I also do my orders of room service though the phone. So far, I've been holding out just fine.

It's the third day, and the work is pooling around Twilight fast. Guards occasionally ask if I'm willing to go on assignment. I ask if I'm being escorted, they reply yes. I deny the assignment and let Twilight deal with the situation. I'm sure she's tired of relegating the issue to someone else, who has the freedoms I don't. But I'm content in my isolation, even if it's growing even more annoying by the day. I already don't like being here, but if I'm forced to stay on grounds, then I'm not coming out of my room until those limits are removed. After all, a counsel of friendship can't engage in diplomatic talks without being able to meet contacts abroad.

It seems that Twilight is getting extremely pissed off now that I haven't done anything for four days. All while she's busy relegating my job to others, knowing they don't have the type of relationships I've built with these contacts, I'm quietly penning a letter or resignation. I think it's time for me to start moving on with my life. I'm ready to get my life back, at least parts of my life back. It's bad enough that she's already put room service on halt for the day. It's a battle of attrition now, and I know it's not one I'm going to win. So I'm going to slide this under the door and politely await for my final escort from the grounds.

It's the fifth day now I've woken up to the sun beaming into my room. I shrug off my growing hunger and walk to the bathroom to take a shower. After I finish my morning routine in the bath, I walk back in to see Twilight standing in front of my bed. It seems she teleported inside. I merely pretend she's not there, even as she addresses me directly. "I read your letter."

I don't respond, I merely wait for her to finally dismiss me.

"Spike, we've been needing to talk for a long time."

I say nothing.

She clicks her tongue, trying to find something that will get me to talk. "So your work has been piling up as of late. Care to explain why you won't give these contacts an ear when they're clearly looking for you to negotiate?"

I lay back down in my bed.

She shows a little more patience, I'm more surprised that she didn't flip the bed already. "I know you think I'm being unreasonable with you. All I want to do is make sure you don't get yourself into trouble. The last creature I know that poked and prodded around for information nearly got themselves killed for my sake. I don't need you to go doing the same."

As much as she wishes that shallow puddle of an excuse would make me consider answering her, I don't.

The princess takes a deep breath. "...I'm sorry." I slowly turn an eye to her as she continues her apology. "I know it feels like I'm being cruel with you, but I'm scared. A lot is happening right now and it's bringing up bad memories. And all I can think of is what's going to happen to you if what I fear will come to pass. Each and every day, it starts to overwhelm me. And because it's happening the way it is now, I can't seem to stop much of it. I don't know where it's coming from, how it's coming to be. I just now there are more than a few kids who were affected by it."

"If you know kids are being affected by it, why don't you ask for help?" I finally break my silence, giving criticism to her admission.

"Because this is something way too big for you to get involved in." She answers with a sigh. "Like why should I get you involved in something that could damage you further than you're prepared for?"

I scoff at her excuse. "Oh, so me helping you save Equestria numerous times isn't something way too big for you to get involved in? So how I helped the Crystal Empire by recovering the Crystal Heart from King Sombra was too big for me? Like how helping you gather the elements to help defeat Discord was too big for me? Like having to help you bring Starlight Glimmer to her senses was too big for me? And don't even get me started on fighting off that malicious trio that could've had Equestria swallowed up by windigos, I nearly had my wings ripped from off of my back because of that shit!"

"WHY DO YOU THINK I'M SO PROTECTIVE OF YOU, SPIKE!?" She screams, pacing back and forth. "Watching you scream like that, seeing how hurt you were while trying to say that we didn't need to save you, it reminded me too much of a certain idiot who always ran in doing the same thing! You don't even know how bad he turned up because of that!"

"Trust me, I think I have the picture in my head." I reply.

"No you don't!"

"Yes I do." I argue strongly. "...He already showed me. He already warned me. Him visiting us last weekend was him trying to warn me not to dig too deep. That's why Ms. Royal took me to the human world, so that he could scare me straight. And I can't even begin to say how little I slept those first two nights over seeing that picture. It was bad."

She shakes her head. "Spike, if only you were there."

"I was!" I call out to her. "I was in a hot air balloon wondering what was stinking up the place so bad. I don't even think you remember the little-known fact that I was the one who piloted that hot air balloon to get Nondis in place for the big and bright finish that day. I remember that moment! I remember seeing that huge monster in the distance and how Nondis wanted me to drop him off in front of it. I called him crazy that day, but he did nothing different than what you would do. Hell, between the both of you, where do you think I get this shit from?"

The princess closes her eyes in thought, her mind wandering to the event that day. "Spike, I've seen so much that you don't want to see. So much death."

"And we've seen enough of that after Chrysalis invaded Canterlot. I still remember seeing a mom crying for her daughter caught in some rubble of a fallen house, I can't forget that. I remember the quiet procession that was supposed to be a parade, the decimated homes of those caught in the crossfire of Tirek's wrath... our home, the many alternate worlds we've seen, the terrors of hell and back. And I was still there with you guys for most of it." I sit up in my bed, staring back at the princess who looks down at herself. "You remember all of that, don't you?"

"I didn't want to expose you to all of that."

"I still have nightmares about it sometimes." I reply to her. "Especially the moment Chrysalis nearly ripped my wings off, I couldn't sleep on my back or fly for a week because of the pain."

"I know." She says, her voice sounding broken as she tries to hold back her emotions. "I... I'm scared for what you were getting into. I didn't know if you were going that route or what. I kept my eye on you for so long, I was being cautious, but now I know what it made us into." She sniffles. "...I'm... I'm so... sorry. You are the only one I have left, Spike. All my friends have gone on to live happy lives, having fulfilling relationships, kids, they have their lives ahead of them and a much shorter lifespan than I have now. The thought of losing you to the world scares me. All of this, it scares me."

Finally, she talks to me like an adult. She's looking for help instead of trying to show that she knows it all, but it's sad that her dependency has grown so much these days. It isn't just Nondis that left her behind, it's everyone else. The others have walked forward, while she's standing back. Now she's scared that I've caught up to her, the march of time and it's ever present threat of claiming everyone around us through it's passage, it makes life so much harder for her to bear.

But still, she didn't have to go this far. "I know what I did was wrong, but why would you go this far?"

"I was scared of what you were getting into. Rebellious teenager doing what they want to do, wanting to leave home..." She looks at me, her eyes reddened and puffy. "All I have is you. And I know that I should let you live your life, but I don't have the strength to do it." She wipes her eyes. "You're not the only one who wants to relive the past. I just want to go back to when I had no control over any of this, where I had my friends, where I had you by my side."

I drop my head in thought, pondering over what to say next. "Twilight, we all have our own lives to live. No matter how old we get, we're going to branch off and have our own thing. But in order for that to happen, we have to be willing to take that next step forward."

"I know." She says, walking beside me. "...Which is why I lifted your restriction yesterday evening."

"So... I'm really fired for real." I say with a chuckle.

"Oh no, your letter of resignation is soundly rejected." She replies with a slight smile. "I'm just saying that you can go out and live the life you wanna live. No more of me making your schedule. No more having to report in directly each day, we have phones for that. No more of me clinging on to you for pastime's sake. Raven already does what you did for me when you were smaller, so there's no need to play secretary. I know I've haven't said 'Spike, take a letter in what's going on a decade now..." She closes her eyes, clinching the tears from them. "Sorry, I'm rambling. But yeah, just check in every month... starting two weeks from now. Please?"

I immediately wrap my arms around the saddened princess and hug her tightly. "Thank you."

The princess smiles as she whispers back at me. "You smell like you're running low on soap."

"You have no idea." I laugh. "Being locked in a room made me realize how much I missed bubble baths."

She pulls away, wiping a tear with a smile. "Some things never change about you, Spike."

Shortly after our run in together, I ran through my lengthy checklist of items I need to take with me on my move. After a trip through town in the affluent Saddle Row, I get a number of assorted soaps and deodorants to make sure I stay up to snuff with my hygiene. With my toiletries out of the way, I sign over my waivers to have all sensitive documents that I may need to carry along with me. I'll also have them sent via dragon breath directly to Twilight.

Everything is packed, the golden royal chariot is loaded with all of my goods. I get a few sendoffs from Captain Solemn Oath and Sergeant Humbreeze. Gallus provides escort on the account that he's headed towards Ponyville for his usual weekend outings with Silverstream. Inkwell stands by Twilight, who lists off the items on my check list one final time.

"Did you remember to set your appointment for Tuesday in Manehattan?"

"Yes, I did."

"Wednesday for Seaddle?"

"Of course."

"Did you clear your schedule on Thursday for the representatives of Saddle Arabia?"

"Twilight, I'm on it already!" I answer back, becoming a bit annoyed.

"I just have to make sure! I don't want you getting too excited over going back to Ponyville that you start to lose sight of your work." She nags.

"I'll be even more on top of it now that I'll have a better schedule more catered to my mental health and physical well being, thank you very much." I answer back.

"You'll remember to eat properly, and try not to overindulge?"

"Yes."

"Do you promise?"

"Yes, yes, I'll do it." I roll my eyes at her as I watch as the guards verify that my cargo is secured and ready to hit the sky.

She gives me another hug, tightly coiling her hooves as well as her wings around me. "Ugh, you leaving is like watching Shining Armor go off to boot camp all over again. I can't stand it."

"You'll live." I reply as I give the thumbs up for the chariot to leave. The small squad of pegasi boom out of the hangar into the crisp blue afternoon sky. As they leave, I take to the air myself.

Twilight takes to the air along with me, flying me out of the hangar once more. "Spike, I know your Sundays are your own again, but if I need you, can you come through for me?"

"Contact me ahead of time, and I'll see if I can fit it into my schedule." I reply.

"And you'll keep me updated on how things are going in town?" She persists.

"Yes."

"Don't forget to write me a letter every Friday."

"We have phones. I'll text you."

"You know how I am with physical mediums, Spike." She reminds me.

I groan towards the princess. "Fine, I write you a damn letter every Friday."

"You better!" She calls out as she stops herself midair. The purple princess waves her hoof frantically as she tries to hold back tears. "Don't forget, we meet back up in two weeks at the next Friendship Summit!"

"I hear you!" I holler back to her before darting off.

"Call me when you land in safely! You know how I am when I get nervous!"

"STOP WITH THE TWILIGHTING, ALRIGHT!"

As I land in Ponyville once more, I give Twilight a quick call to let her know I got here safely. Then I meet up with the mayor, as well as a few of the other representatives of the town. They accompany me on my search for a home to occupy, landing me in a familiar plot of land. They hand me the paperwork to sign for the plot of land, all of it with the address of 2407 Golden Oaks Way. They smile as I sign the waivers and documents to have the home built. They say it will be completed within five days.

Something tells me that the mayor was just tired of having this place remain a vacant lot with a bunch of signs pointing to where the old library used to be. She seemed really eager to have this place built up, and what better opportunity than to have one of the former occupants inhabit the address. And while I'm grateful that they saved me the spot, I politely informed them that I would rather have something more traditional as opposed to the tree home that used to inhabit it. After all, there's a much larger tree home in the shape of a castle overlooking the entire town that reminds me of that aspect enough.

In speaking of which, I'll be staying there until the house is finished.

My belongings are dropped off in the foyer of the castle, I look the place with some nostalgia replaying in my mind. I could remember the halls being much more lively with all the visitations from our friends, the shenanigans we'd all get into, the sounds of panic when something went comically wrong, and the crazy things we used to do. It also reminds me of the time I betrayed Twilight's trust, almost alienating myself away from everyone. Just being here makes me recall that memory more than anything else. The place feels awkward to be in now, but thankfully I won't be here for longer than a week.

I go upstairs, taking only what I use for hygiene, to the room I used to inhabit. Meanwhile, there's a sound of a stallion walking though the halls mumbling about something. I go in the hall to check up on who it is, seeing none other than Sunburst with his eyes glued to a book that levitated in front of him. I call out to the stallion. "Hey, Sunburst!"

His eyes leave the page for one take and drops back down to the book. But then he realizes who I am and moves the book out of the way for a second take. Instantly, he greets me. "Spike? Well, I didn't think you'd be here! How's it going?"

"It's great now that I'm out of Canterlot for the time being. How about you?"

The orange unicorn chuckles. "Well, it's going pretty well thus far. The school seems to be in stable working order. I can say we're pretty much in the same boat as we're usually sailing."

"So, no improvements in dealing with Starlight?" I check in with him.

He looks off with a blush, nervously laughing. "Well... maybe things might've... gotten a bit hectic."

"Hectic?" I ask with concern.

"So you remember that time when you told me to ignore her until she could afford the time to pay attention to me? Well... she didn't take too kindly to that."

A sinking feeling starts to develop in my chest. "Oh no... you two didn't break up, did you?"

"What!? Nonononono!" He frantically corrects me. "Actually, what I meant to say was..."

*Two Weeks Ago...*
-Flashback Perspective: Sunburst-

I had just finished going through the monthly academic report. I also did just as you instructed me. Whenever Starlight requested my assistance in the office, I ignored the call. I did just that for the four days leading up to it. Though the calls each day started to get subtly more aggressive. But I held true and ignored them.

Then that Friday when there was that field trip to Canterlot, I subbed in for one of the teachers that went on the trip. It also meant that I had to watch after the students as they were dismissed from their classes for the day. Once I got done with all of that, then it was time for me to clean up the classroom. But I had noticed that there was a distinct lack of a call to office that day. I causally wrote it off.

Then I had this uneasy feeling that I was being watched from the the supplies cabinet. I walked over, checked to see if there was anything inside unusual. I shrugged it off thinking, "Oh, guess it must be my imagination." and moved along.

But as soon as I turn around, I find myself being the one shoved inside of the closet, and Starlight's looking down at me with a vicious look that ultimately spelled out villainous intent. "YOU!"

She was a bit disheveled, and pretty pissed might I add. "Starlight!... Are you─"

"SHUT IT!" She slammed her hoof against the back of the cabinet so hard that I heard the wood crack from the impact. She started to loom heavily over me looking as imposing as a really pissed off Princess Celestia. "Who are you seeing!?"

"N-n-nobody!" I was stammering because of how dangerous she looked.

"LIAR!" She called me out loudly.

"I'm mean it, Starlight! I'm not seeing anypony!" I try to reason with her, but she doesn't buy anything I'm selling at that point.

"Well YOU haven't been seeing ME! What the fuck's that all about!?"

I tried to speak a little calmly, you know, trying to make things gradually deescalate over time. "Seriously, I take a step back to see where we are and─"

"SEE WHERE WE ARE!?" Instead, my answer managed to only piss her off even more, and it also had the unintended consequence of making her sad. "Are you breaking up with me?"

I tried to relay the logic you passed on to me. "N-no! I just thought that a little bit of absence makes the heart grow fonder is all─"

Again, it fell on deaf ears. "Who the fuck are you to not pay attention to me when all I think about is you!? How fucking dare you go about taking me for granted like this!"

"Starlight, we haven't had a decent conversation in months."

Even as I brought that up, she didn't care. "Okay, I might have been a bit busy, but don't think that I don't keep you on my mind! There may be a lot going on, but I still try to have the time to do what I can to keep you satisfied."

I continued to hold my ground when it came to my reasoning. "Calling me into your office for a so-called 'performance evaluation' is not my idea of being satisfied."

But whenever she's imposing, it's hard to get her to come to rationality. If anything, she tried to find any reason why it all went wrong. "Then what is it!? What has you leaving me on read!? Why are you ignoring me!? Why haven't you been in my office and kneading my brains to mush with your─"

I knew we were still in school, and there were some students still lurking the halls. I needed to quiet her down before news of what we did in the office became a community conversation piece, at least for the sake of the school. "Because I want you to marry me!"

I finally told her. While I was expecting her to react emotionally, she didn't quite filter it through on the initial go. Instead, she stared at me with disbelief. "...I'm sorry, what?"

I was just happy that she calmed down, at least for the time being. "I mean I wanted to have something special, I wanted to set up a date where I could just wine and dine you, then take you to someplace special, at least for a local's standpoint, and then I'd pop the question! I'd even give you the ring I picked out and place it on your horn. That's all I wanted to do. I shouldn't have to force the issue like... this."

It was an awkward moment where I had to spill my heart out as I was spilling my guts. But I did that to at least bring things to a calm. But one look at her at that moment, I knew she was obsessed with the idea. "Oh... So you... me... Us... House, thing, all that!?"

She was really excited to hear that I was finally popping the question on her, albeit in a way that I didn't quite intend for it to go. "Yeah, plus the memory of our wedding day, the flowers, the sight of you walking down the aisle to me─"

But I soon realized that I had underestimated her excitement... greatly underestimated it. "CAN IT!"

She pinched my muzzle shut and teleported us to the city hall. Next thing I know, she's toting me around with this magic ring on my muzzle like I'm her dog. Honestly, it was a bit embarrassing... and kinky. She took charge the entire time we were there. She just dragged me to a hall and growled at everyone who was waiting in the lobby, most of the ponies in attendance scattered out so that we were next in line.

So it was just us two sitting in an office, waiting for our names to get called. And I'm still wondering why we were here of all places for her to go through her kink phase. "So why are we here?"

"Why else!?" She starts to impatiently ring the bell at the attendant's desk. I'm practically mortified at this point to see her being so aggressively assertive.

"Starlight, do you really─"

"No, you listen to me!" She tightened the bind on my muzzle as she yanked me in to meet with me, muzzle to muzzle. "If we're doing this, I'm not going to dare ask my dad to give you any kind of blessing, nor are you going to tell your mom about it until she's to be reasoned with! I will not have you spending tens of thousands of bits to put together some stupid day where I wear some frilly dress only once in my life, you are not going on an alter to embarrass yourself, you are not going to have me ruining thousands of dollars in makeup over some emotional corporate bullshit! I am not going to dare have my dad question me about this, and your mom will not be here to talk you out of it! And after we're finished, I'm going to fuck you into a coma, wake you from it, and repeat this whole fucking process until I am due to give birth! DO. YOU. UNDERSTAND!?"

While it was a lot that made sense in her explanation, especially regarding our parents, I was still trying to process how fast she teleported us to Town Hall. Everything was moving at light speed at that point. "Uh..."

"YES OR NO!"

"Yes, yes." As I'm nodding and basically whimpering past the bindings she placed on my muzzle, the notary finally arrives.

"GOOD!" I notice that the notary happened to be an old lady with glasses, and she moved really slow. She took Starlight's information slowly. "ID." And Starlight's demanding that I take mine out as quick as possible.

"Here you go, ma'am." I try to seem as polite as possible, not wanting this to take any longer and risking Starlight getting angry over the process.

The notary at the desk had this really nasally voice, and she spoke really slow. "You two aren't wasting time, are you?"

Starlight isn't shy to make her intentions known. She's tapping away at the ground like there's oil underneath us, that's how impatient she was. "We have a lot to do this evening, so we're going to make this quick."

That notary knew what she was doing, but she gives me a look and side mouths over to me. "Sir, might I suggest aftercare for your impending coma?"

Starlight doesn't even care about the fact that she had made it publicly know what her intentions were for me. "He's got me, he's fine."

The lady pulled out a manila envelope with some documents in it. She pulls out the last page and slowly slides it across the desk. "Sign this please."

Starlight snatched the paper and started scripting at the bottom line, all while I'm still wondering if this is what she really wanted to do so quickly. "Is this really how we're doing this?"

She shoves the pen and the paper in my face. "SUNBURST!"

"Okay." I wasn't gonna hesitate any longer, doing that would probably make it even worse that what I had coming next.

The notary slowly took out a stamp, clamping down on it to provide the seal on the papers, and just as quick as she let go of that stamp, it was done. "Congratulations, you're now lawfully wedded. Kissing the bride is only customary." Almost in an instant, she swaps back to a normal speed. "Next in line, please!"

I wanted to question that mare about her attitude, but then Starlight yanked my face down and pressed her head and horn against mine. "You. Me. Breed. NOW!"

-Flashback End-

"...And that's how that went." He finishes.

I'm left virtually speechless over the fact that I left him one day, and the next time we meet up he's already tied up and fully married. No ceremony, no pomp and circumstance, just straight paperwork. If that's how quick a marriage can be done, I can't even imagine how fast Twilight would make her process if she finds someone willing to propose. "Uh... congrats?"

"Yeah... it's awkward to think about, but─"

"HONEY!" The sound of Starlight's voice popping up nearby startles us both. We quickly turn around to see the unicorn walking towards us with a smile. She greets her now-husband... apparently. "Honey, you came straight home! I'm so proud of you."

She doesn't let her husband speak, instead turning her attention to me immediately as I greet her. "Hey, I heard you two tied the knot. I didn't─"

"Aw Spike, it's soooo good to see you!" She clutches her forelegs around me, all while using her magic to bend me down to her level. She talks softly in my ear. "Let's get one thing clear. If you EVER try to give my husband any relationship advice again, I will go back in time and alter your existence where you will be nothing more than an afterthought. Have I made myself clear?" She instantly swaps her tone back to bright and welcoming. "I'm sure you can't wait to get settled back in! I'll go downstairs and help you with your stuff! C'mon!"

I slowly turn my head to Sunburst. "The rest of your life, huh?"

"If I'm not with her, it'll probably be even shorter." He mutters jokingly, with some undertones of potential truth.

"Boys!? Don't make me come back up there!" She warns. "I would sure hate to get this reunion off to a cold start! Come down here and help me with all this stuff!"

"Yes, ma'am!" We both holler out as we run after her.