Simplified

When I arrive at the castle, it's no later than 6:57. As soon as I arrive on scene, there's a multitude of guards and city officials lined up to commence the march over to Corrotto. Along the way, I see a pair of young foals playing around with each other. The pair of colts energetically went back and forth in pretending that they were a giant monster, and the other being a brave guard with a stick for a sword.

"Raaah, I am going to make every day a school day! No weekends! No vacations! Triple homework for every creature!" Indeed terrifying, the young zebracorn colt is playing his role very well. His accent is the main thing that rings out about him.

"Every creature deserves a free day! More video games for everypony! Equestria wills it!" For being a transplant from the human world, the young pegasus throws out everything he wants to see more of here.

An older zebracorn mare quickly approaches from behind me, firmly barking orders to her child. "Nafasi, stop playing around so much! You're going to get messy before the parade!" She spoke with a similar, but a much more tame accent, seemingly finding an in-between tongue. "Get over here now!"

"Kali, c'mon. They're boys, let them run around for a bit." Walking beside her is a much more mild-tempered earth pony mare. She may be a transplant also, but her role in the parade is more pivotal than anyone else around here. "The more they wear themselves down, the easier it will be for us."

"Mom!" The young pegasus calls out to his mother, flying eagerly for the mare who embraces her son upon his landing.

"Sweetie, you know I can't be with you the entire time today, so just be sure to behave, okay?" The mare also takes the time to greet me as she pats her son's head. "Hey, Spike! You look pretty excited about today."

"I didn't think you'd bring little Jasper along." I point towards the young colt by her side.

"Kali said Nafasi needed someone his age to hang around for today, just to keep things simmered down for a bit."

"Simmer down a lot." The aforementioned zebracorn corrects emphatically. "Gala couldn't attend today. Some of the things on display is still going to be a bit raw for her. I mean how could it not be? You know exactly how it affected her."

"How it affected you too." The mare responds, looking a little worriedly to the zebra-unicorn hybrid. "I mean besides Nondis, Gala, and Blue, you're top of the list of traumatized souls."

"It could have been worse, if it weren't for a timely arrival of an air balloon and it's dependable pilot." The zebracorn says as she gives me a smile.

"Hey, I didn't even know what the deal was until I read about what happened. Twilight wouldn't let me come to anything. I can understand her not wanting me around for the execution of the terrorist, but the trial, the sentencing, all of that I had to find out through the papers."

"If I could tell you anything, it would be to trust me. There were a lot of things you didn't need to see." Kalimba rhymes for a brief moment before she quietly falls into reflection. As her thoughts wander, she levitates her son over to her side and holds him closely. "The world is a frightening place, and I plan to protect this one from ever seeing something like that."

"Amen." Melanie agrees as she hugs her own son. "Hey, do you think Blue might come around today?"

"It may be her brother's namesake, but I doubt she will want much to do with this." The zebracorn responds with a solemn tone.

"Spike!" I turn quickly to see Twilight approaching me fairly briskly. "What time did you get here!?"

"Not even seven." I reply. "I told you I'd be here on time."

"Where were you last night anyways? The guards at the checkpoint said you flew off castle grounds late last night and never returned. How would you be in Corrotto by the time you woke up this morning?"

"Seems to me Spike had a little pick-me-up over in Rotty." Melanie chirps with a smirk.

"He is of age now, I suppose it's typical of him to do things like that." Kalimba adds.

"Momma, do you mean to say dat sir Spike is grown?" The young zebracorn colt asks.

"I am saying he is growing up, child. You too will get there, but in due time."

Twilight doesn't seem to care much for that much, only about me being in place in a timely manner. "Spike, I can understand you wanting to spread out a little more, and I agree that you should find some outlet for your dragon lust, but timing is of the most importance. You can wait on stuff like that. What you should be doing is adhering to your given duties, put your work before your foreplay."

"Mom, what's foreplay?" The pegasus colt asks his parent.

"I'll let your father explain it when you're older." She answers quickly.

I can't help but to show defeat as I lower my head and reply to her in official capacity. "Yes, your majesty."

She purses her lips and hands me three different scrolls to carry. "Now, these scrolls are the speeches I intend to give. One is for the start of the march, one is for our arrival in the district towards the downtown fountain, the last one is for the lobby of the museum. I've color coded the wax on the seals to indicate which is which."

"Red for the parade. Gold for the square. Black for the museum." I answer.

"Precisely." She says as she steps aside, allowing me to see a fairly fatigued mare walking up from behind her. She's slow to approach, but upon her getting closer I can smell the alcohol all over her. She's visibly drunk. "Also, I need you to keep an eye out on her."

Melanie steps up to intervene. "Uh, can you let me be in charge of her? I can deal with her just fine, why not let Spike handle some of the other things you got going on?"

The mare stumbles over to me, looking me up and down as though I had said something wrong. "What subsection of the guild are you part of again?"

"Uhhh..." I don't know how to answer her inebriated question.

She takes a sniff of me and clears her throat. "Wow, you smell like soap, cologne, and late night sex... and marecum."

Seeing that both Melanie and Kalimba are more familiar with how to deal with the drunken unicorn, I propose a means for my own out. "Hey, how about I look after the boys while you ladies keep her lucid, is that alright?"

"Quick thinker, good idea." The zebracorn mother says as she allows her son to stand by me. "Nafasi, you will be with him on today. Kuwa na tabia. (Be good.)"

"Ndiyo, mama. (Yes, mother.)" He replies.

Melanie brings me her son also. "Sorry to pawn you off to be the babysitter on top of your royal duties, Spike."

"No, I understand. The holiday's the namesake of her brother, and he's obviously not with us. She'll definitely need the familiar company on today."

"I swear, when she's not like this, she's the most brilliant thing out there, and really the nicest being you'll ever know. I hate that this whole thing gets to her so bad." She bows her head at me in a show of thanks. "Again, I'm sorry. I will pay you back for this, even if I have to drop a little something in your account."

"No it's fine." I fumble with my arms, trying to come up with a solid counterargument to why she shouldn't pay me until I point back at the castle. "This is where I live. I don't need much more of anything else."

"Two rubies with your name on them."

Fuck, I forgot she knows what gems I have a preference in eating. My stomach rumbles long before my mouth utters a noise. "I mean I could go for the snack since I didn't get breakfast."

"Bet." She says, digging her hoof into her bag and pulling out a sack full of pristine dragonfire rubies. She hands the rubies and gets closer to me. "Did you really go out and get you some last night."

"Maaybe." I answer shifty-eyed.

She snickers and whispers again, keeping her language coded so that her son doesn't catch on. "Yeah. Blue may be drunk, but she's never wrong when it comes to sniffing out the fun. You just don't get caught up by her, or else you'll be her next victim."

Ah, so that's why she stepped in. I guess she's what Melanie calls a 'maneater', or a mare who goes through males like Rarity goes through pints of ice cream in a crying fit. No thanks. "Ahh, okay. Thanks for that."

"It's what friends do." She says with a wink before waltzing to her inebriated acquaintance. "Alright hun, let's get a move on."

"What, no! I want the dragon!" She urges in a bout of brief resistance. "Seriously, haven't you heard what they're like!? I'm surprised Twilight hasn't figured it out yet, but he is literally ribbed for our pleasure."

Twilight's horn crackle with a shock as her expression matches her surprise. I snort out a small puff of smoke through my nostrils, a puff of smoke I have to immediately waft off to not get all over the boys. Young Nafasi looks up to me and asks curiously. "What does she mean by dat?"

"I'll tell you when you're older." I say as I cover my nose.

The parade to Corrotto wasn't really a boisterous affair as one would make it seem in terms of the word 'parade'. In the public eye most see it as such, but Twilight was always picky on how it was called amongst the royal staff and guards. To her, it's what she'd call a procession.

The boys however saw it as an opportunity to act out as though it was a parade. I know that I can't control young foals looking to keep things interesting for themselves. They get to be in a large ceremony where their parents are the ones getting thanked and celebrated. I'm sure that bit of pride, along with a hint of youthful entitlement, stirs up a lot of ideas in their minds. Plus getting this much attention is bound to make them overstimulated and energetic. So for the boys sake I kept my voice low as I called it a parade, all to avoid the nagging voice of Twilight in my ear.

When we reached the museum, everyone waited for Twilight to finally give her speech to the world as the ribbon was placed on the large white granite pillars standing beside the hallowed entrance. Twilight, having gone through already two speeches, asks me to give her the scroll with the black seal. She uses a voice amplification spell and addresses the gathered audience.

"Once more, my dear citizens, it is with great honor and duty that I may serve you in these days of peace. While I am honored that you would join with us and celebrate the victory that was won on that fateful day seven years ago, I am still burdened by the memory of those who did not see such a victory. There are far too many who cannot speak today because of their predispositions, circumstances, and some for their sacrifice. This museum, a standing edifice of what once was in the days of Corrotto's past, is now a memorial. It is a powerful reminder of the ones who could not share their stories... until today."

Blue Royal, the drunken mare from earlier, appears sulking and slow as she walks to Twilight with a pair of gilded scissors. Her head hangs low before turning to the statue in the far distance, namely the one before the buckball stadium. She begins to cry silently, earning the empathy of both the ponies who know and shared her story.

Twilight also comforts the mare. "Blue, you okay?" The mare gives a quiet but rapid nod as she works through her emotional moment. She offers the scissors to the high princess, but Twilight takes only one of the loops in expectation that they would take the task together of cutting the ribbon. "Okay, on three. One... Two... Three."

Their magic unite for a moment as the loops of the scissors close in together, the bladed tool swiftly cutting the bright red ribbon that once gated the entrance. The crowd gives a respectful applause as they watch the mare wipe her eyes from the tears that pour from them. Melanie approaches her to commend her for what all she's done in the district. "Hey, he would be beyond proud of you, you know that?"

As she nodded, Twilight continued her speech. "For those looking to enter, I wish to warn you that this museum is not for the faint of heart. It is filled with truths that are often difficult to absorb, accounts from voices long lost belonging to the faces that some of you may know personally, and also visuals that turn many a cold heart to warm in sorrow. These things I warn for you now, but I pray your experience will not be a triggering one. Those who know, they forever will know. For those who don't, enter and know, and remember them for their sacrifices."

While a few begin to file in line to visit the museum for the first time, the boys run past me to take their spot in line. But while Jasper continues on, Nafasi is stopped by the magic of his mother holding him in place. She approaches him to guide him the opposite way. "Come, our work here is done."

"But mama, I want to know what is in dere!" He stamps his hoof in protest. "Jasper gets to see, why can't I?"

She offers a smile, alongside a bribe too good for the colt to pass down. "Because our time begins at the ice cream parlor. You and I get to have ice cream."

His eyes blazed while he became even more eager for the treat that his mother offered. "Well in dat case, forget dis boring place anyways!"

I can't help but to laugh at the young child and his blunt reaction. I watch as the two trot along their way, happily moving along while also disappearing into the crowded square. Melanie walks beside me and makes a note of the willingly absent pair. "She's still not quite over it herself, you know."

"Wasn't she with Nondis in the thick of it all?" I ask.

"There and living it." She answers quietly. "A lot of times, she tries to act like there's nothing to be ashamed of, that she's strong enough to tell her story. But I honestly think she's not."

"Why do you say that?"

She points to the mother-son pair in the crowd, their being very visually distinctive aids in that task. "Well, would you want to tell your own kid that you were victimized since a little over their age? How do you have that conversation? 'Gee son, I would love to tell you why you don't have a father to lean on because of my distrust in most men, but if I told you that they used to do bad things to me, I'm sure you'll understand, not that it's your personal experience or anything.' I don't think that would smooth over very well, especially for a mind as young as his."

"Your son's walking into the museum." I point out, quietly citing the age similarity.

"My son has watched a huge family squabble. He saw how one side got sent away to somewhere else, and the other slowly poisoned by propaganda so bad that they took it to heart and died with those misbeliefs. He's watched us funeralize both of his grandparents, nearly lose his father to COVID, watch as his classmates go the same way, and then endure the freezing cold because of state politicians wanting to turn a profit over updating the electrical grid. Our world had a global pandemic that took away two years of his development, leaving him isolated at a home where we couldn't even keep up with our bills. Plus there's also the internet, it's hard to avoid the gray areas of it when it permeates throughout society. I don't see a problem with him understanding the truth at a young age, not every place is perfect."

Her vivid argument allows for me to see the differences in how Kalimba and Melanie raise their kids differently. One allows the other to build on the personal experience to ultimately grow wiser and smarter from it, not running from the fact that these things do happen at any time. The other having gone through those traumas at a young age seeks to not instill that trauma onto the one she birthed. It's a strange, but understandable juxtaposition that gives thought to any being. "Oh yeah, I forget that the human world had some serious issues leading up to you moving here."

Just as we're having this heavy discussion, the blue unicorn from earlier runs up to us both, her eyes reddened from crying a lot. "Blue, you still need a moment, hun?"

She shakes her head and takes a trembling breath. "I went to see if the memory sphere had my brother right. His voice, all of it, I remember it now. That's all I really wanted, a place I can come to see him again."

"I'm happy you got your wish, ma'am." I add respectfully.

She takes a deep breath, wiping her eyes. "I had my time now. I'm ready to leave back to my little abode."

"I can assign a guard escort for you, ma'am." I offer, waving over two armor-wearing ponies.

"That won't be necessary." She denies. "I can manage on my own."

"A pony as important as you, I would think that having protection is in your best interest." I suggest.

She uses her magic to formulate a dagger completely made of her aura, a high-tier skill that only licensed specialists can legally use. "Trust me, I can manage."

I shrug being that I can't contest her abilities. "Well if that's the case, then I hope you get home safe."

She starts to walk on, but cuts right back under me and snags me by my tail. "Actually, you're the one who manages the interdimensional trade dealings, right?"

I look to Melanie, hoping she can bail me out of this one. "Uh... I do happen to deal with some of the proceedings."

"Great! Then I need to talk with you then!"

Melanie offers her best attempt to neutralize her apparent ploy to whisk me away. "Hey, don't you have a direct line to Alex?"

"Alex can only control things on his end. I can only do things on mine. But what we need is the assistance of a moderator between the two transacting parties." She explains a little more. "To keep it short, the access point we're working with is too small. We need something bigger, something that can handle a warehouse's demand with every transfer per day."

That's a lot of transfer, and a lot of portal to build. Then again, I guess that does help move along some more infrastructure projects that can be further inspired by the humans. I know Twilight wants to upgrade the rail system as well, the dragons want to build a shelter for molting dragons, and we need the technology to further increase phone production. It only makes sense to increase the size of the portal, but that can take north of four months to complete that process. "Well, I─"

"AHT!" She calls out loudly, walking in front of me. "Chocolate ice cream. I feel a little more like my non-depressed self with chocolate ice cream. Let's mosey over to the creamery, then we can discuss the logistics from there."

Wait... Did she just use a business request to set up a impromptu date? "Uh, okay. I guess we can discuss that, provided that negotiations are civil and work-safe."

"All business, no funny." She replies before crossing her eyes and dropping her head in defeat. "Though taking the fun out of the deal isn't what I was going for."

Melanie looked back to see where her son had went off to. "Alrighty then, I'll leave you two to it."

The two of us talk up a storm as we walk the crowded streets of the district. It seems much of everyone is enjoying themselves. Meanwhile miss Blue looks on fondly at the multitude of foals running by us. She starts to go on about her childhood, recalling the things that she and her brother used to do before their mother came by to pick them up from the park. She also explains that she lived on the back end of the mountain, where the highly influential and wealthy reside.

It seems she has lots of fond accounts of her brother, but hardly none of her adolescence. It's only after her college years where he reenters the picture. After that, there's not much positive she has to say about her life but the fact that her brother was there to support her every step of the way. And it remained that way until his untimely death, all because he threw himself in the line of fire for her sake.

She goes right back into the subject of the children running up the street. "You know, a while ago this wasn't possible, not even a remote reality. This place was a wasteland in the daylight hours, only things you'd see around here are the things that'll haunt you for a good while."

"Well it's really your work that put all of this together, ma'am. You did all of this, on your own bits no less." I praise the mare.

"No, I took property that was dilapidated here, bulldozed what was here, sold off the lots for a markup ten times the cost of my purchase, and then offered those displaced affordable housing... that wasn't as affordable as my realtors were willing to put up with. They wanted premium price points, I wanted to give the residents who lived here for all of their lives a chance to start all over again. I couldn't even do that without having to pay the cost upfront. And of course..."

"Can't buy your own property." I conclude.

"I mean I get it, consumer protections against those looking to purchase their own stuff, then appraise the value for more than it's worth with a few soft hoofshakes, and sell it off again at a higher premium. It's a damn good law to have... just wish it didn't work against me when I wanted to do good."

"Well at least Twilight was willing to spot you for that." I remind her.

"Still, I felt bad about it. I've known some of those ponies for a while, just seeing them out there without anything to go by after promising them better, I felt terrible. I'm just glad Twilight and you made that happen as quick as you did before the aspiring rich kids came up looking to turn a few profits off of their backs."

"It's nothing. You do right by others, we're more than happy to help."

As we show up to the ice cream parlor, miss Blue takes a peak through the front window to see if Kalimba was inside. "Huh, she's not here."

"Excuse me?"

"Kali. She's not here. And she left before us." She points out.

"Maybe her taste in treat changed and she's going downtown to do some dining."

"She promised her son ice cream. I know Kali, she never promises her son anything she won't deliver. That's always been her promise to herself." Her ears pin back as she starts to look elsewhere. "Something's wrong."

"You think they might've gotten lost?" Miss Blue gives me a very harsh look. "What? I mean it's possible that Nafasi might've run off and she's looking for him."

She takes a glance to my left and her eyes lock on to something. Her horn starts to shine and a ghostly field engulfs the both of us. "Found her."

I turn around trying to see what spell she just cast, and then I see a group of four stallions surrounding the pair. I ball my claws into a fist and start to slowly walk over, but Blue erupts into a full gallop. "C'mon, they can't see or hear us right now as long as you're in my field! Keep up!"

A stealth spell? This mare is full of surprises.

We get in closer to a quartet of sleazebags, each of them taking a corner around the two zebracorns. The first one chuckles as he calls her out. "Well well, if it isn't the diva herself."

"Diva Kalimba." The second cosigns. "Haven't seen you around these parts in I don't know how long."

"And you got a little franken-shit with you. Since when did you get plugged up?" The third questions.

"He's gotta be good for something." The fourth jokes, causing the mare to step into a protective pose, her body very much covering over her son as she stood. "Aw, c'mon, I was just yanking your tail a little, just like old times."

"She looks pretty nice, doesn't she, boys?"

Kalimba whispers to her son quietly in their seldom spoken language. "Kaa chini yangu. (Stay under me.)"

Nafasi looks on, afraid of what was happening as his mother covers for him. He watches as the leader of the pack closes in on her. "I see you changed up your look. I never though I'd say this but your body looks nice in that dress."

As we watch, I can see Blue's magic start to form the dagger that she created earlier. It seems more and more that this will get pretty confrontational very soon. "Spike, can you sneak in closer and touch Nafasi, and only him? If you touch anyone else, they will be thrown in my barrier. I don't want to have to make a mess before we get the kid away from here."

As I'm about to comply with her directions, Kalimba finally speaks, but with a heightened confidence. "I trust you are looking for something other than the foal beneath me, correct?"

The leader snickers at her. "I couldn't care less about the little striped shit. All we want is you, maybe you can spark up a little something old in a new place. And you know what I mean."

"Then you will let him go without harm. That is my only provision." She calmly requests.

The leader rolls his eyes and orders the others to step aside. "Whatever."

She whispers to her son to run. "Nenda. Haraka. (Go. Hurry.)"

He's obedient in her commands, darting off at the widened opening. Blue steps in the way to grab him before he gets too far. He yelps for a moment after being caught, but none of the sheisty stallions notice. Miss Blue comforts the colt and turns to me. "Okay, let's head back to the creamery."

Nafasi quickly argues against us, reaching for his encircled mother. "What about mama!?"

Blue quiets and nuzzles him. "She'll be with us in a minute. Why don't you come with us and order a flavor she would like. You know your mom's favorite flavor of ice cream, right?" He nods. "Great, then let's get you both started before she comes back."

While we walk, I question the mare. "You sure she can handle this on her own?"

She responds to my concern almost dismissively. "Spike, she's in the jurisdiction of foreign ministry, literally a few steps below you. Out of all the dignitaries trained for hostile encounter, she's literally the best by default. We'll see her in two minutes, tops."

"She placed a lot of faith in letting her son go." I add.

"Only because she saw us standing there. If she hadn't, teleportation would be her next alternative. She thinks so far ahead that even most in the guard's chain of command will get outwitted by her. She's got that taken care of." She opens the door and drops her field, letting the other patrons see us entering inside. "You coming in or what?"

I look back to the zebracorn mare, seeing she's still standing. But all of her assailants are lying on the ground writhing in pain as she dusts herself off and walks in our direction. I hold the door open for her as she walks by. Her crimson eyes glances back at the four defeated malfactors, she pokes her lips with a strong sucking sound. "Idjiots." Her accent suddenly falls on the heavy side, her voice deep yet smooth, reminding me of that one dragon who tried to leave her mark on me. Her voice changes again as she questions her son in a much lighter accent. "What flavor do you want, Nafasi?"

"Can I get peanut butter and chocolate?" He answers happily.

"Whatever you like." She says as she goes to the counter to confirm her order. "One double scoop of peanut butter and chocolate, I'll take a single of vanilla."

...She's scary and well out of my age range, but goddammit who's the lucky fucker that gave her a son!?

Meanwhile at Silver Shoals

After a long session of marital affairs, the former princess Celestia lays in the afterglow of her husband's work. She sits up and feels her stomach rumble. She calls out to him while he cleans up in the shower. "Honey, what do you want for dinner!?"

"I could go for... ah... ACHOO!" He sneezes.

"Gesundheit!"

After a long day out in the town, we return back to the castle and start our daily decompression. I look nervously at my phone, seeing the new number that was stashed in my contacts. All I can think of is the idea that she's going to send me some unsolicited texts requesting meetups at every hour aside from the usual daylight and business hours. If I'm not careful, she might have me working the graveyard shift... and it will likely be a drunken affair that not even her unicorn self will be able to recall fluidly. She even left her picture in the contact information.

*knock knock knock knock*

I holler to the door for a response. "Who is it?"

"Spike, it's me." Twilight says urgently. "Come to the door."

I open the door, Twilight walks in unimpeded. "What's the issue, you sound serious?"

She closes the door behind her. "I just wanted to talk to you about this morning."

"You mean with miss Blue?" I question.

"No. What I mean is your leaving the castle unannounced."

I shake my head and batter back at her argument. "Twilight, I am nineteen. I have a life too, and I want to live it."

"I can respect that... sort of." She says as she looks at me. "I know you're growing. But there's just some part of me that still see you like the little brother you are to me. I still see that small baby dragon who just grew his wings."

"I was fourteen." I strongly recall.

"And dragons can live up to over five hundred years, a thousand if you're really special. So my point still stands." She sits on my bed, taking off her regalia and making a small quip about it. "Ugh, can't see how Celestia managed to keep this stuff on her all the time."

"Well when you got a lot of scars and history to hide, you tend to make it a regular practice." I answer.

"Scars and trauma, yet another reason why I couldn't walk down the aisle." I tilt my head at her, knowing that she went through her own troubles. "Look, all I'm saying is that my life wasn't as traumatic as those two. But I digress, let me get back on subject. Spike, you cannot just leave the castle in the midnight hours and expect that to be okay with me. What if something were to happen to you? I'd have no Equestrian clue where you would be. So from here on, I'm gonna need you to tell me when you're going out, where you're going to, who you're going with, and what you're doing."

I aptly throw my palm to my face, still feeling more and more restricted. "Twilight, I'm old enough to have a personal life. I can tell you when I plan to leave, but I shouldn't have to have a full briefing every time I go to get laid."

Her cheeks redden as a silence grows between us. The situation becomes even more awkward as we remember what Blue said about me before the procession. The mare clears her throat. "Again, I just don't want anything bad happening to you and I not know where you are."

I grumble as I come up with a solution. "Look, how about I take a picture of the place I'm at, not of the party that I'm with. That's my business, and mine alone."

"The last person who moved in silence without telling us anything, you know what happened to him?"

"Can we not?" I urge in frustration. "I don't need every comparison of my life to be paired up with your ex. You need to find you a new guy to call your ex after you break up with him next. And then you need to bitch about him and what he does. Like can you seriously find a new ex to rant about?"

"This isn't about me, Spike."

"Since when isn't this about you, Violet!?" I knows she doesn't like me calling her that name, but I do it just to hound my point further. "You're the princess of a nation now, trying to be mom of her adopted dragon spawn. Half the shit about me you don't even know outside of a research novel, and those are all outdated stereotypes. So how about you stop hounding me about what I'm acting like and look at the fact that I might be different from what you think I am?"

"I just want to protect you, Spike." She says softly. "I fall back on you because I don't have any alternative aside from my brother and my father, and both of them have their own lives to live."

"And I have mine." I say again. "You can still manage to find your own, just stop being picky."

"I know, I know."

"And besides, I'm not gonna just outright ask you to do nasty things with me, alright." I joke to much of her chagrin.

"EW! SPIKE!"

"Hey you're the one who's down bad, not me." I tease again.

She groans in disgust as well as envy. "'Kay, I get it. Just... clue me in on when you're leaving out next time."

"Every Saturday, schedule's been scrubbed clean from here on." I answer plainly.

"Spike, you can't do every Saturday! What about─"

"Balance." I remind her in a soft voice. "I work from sun-up, to well past the sun-down. I've done that everyday for the past five years, no vacations, no breaks. Now I'm reclaiming my time for my mental health, physical well-being, and sexual discovery."

"Ugh, Spike." She rolls her eyes as I continue.

"I don't wanna hear it. I take Saturday to break it in. You take Sunday to branch out. I get mine, you get yours, there's no disruption in power, we each have a day to ourselves, and we get to hit Monday hard as hell. Deal?"

She sighs, but only out of admittance that she needs the time off. "Okay. You win this one."

"Good." I say as I extend my claw for her to shake.

She retracts herself in questioning. "Uh, you and Blue didn't do anything today did you?"

"We just had the talk over ice cream, that's it."

She finally extends her hoof to shake with me. "Good. So you want your Saturdays clear. Glad to know you told me this on today as opposed to Friday."

"Twilight, you know me. I'm all about the schedule."

The rest of my evening is pretty quiet. I finally get a moment's peace where I don't have to worry about paperwork, changes to travel schedule, packing clothes for a trip out of town, and a bunch of other things. I'm more than thankful for it, especially if it gives me a chance to chill for a bit.

Honestly, it feels weird not having to bust nut after a day like this. Usually I'm good for two or three, would've been seven if I was the way I was two weeks ago. Who knows, I probably would've already turned my brief conversation with miss Blue into a different kind of business engagement. Maybe she's not into soliciting pics, but I'm sure she would've been somewhat thrilled of the idea of a young dragon flooding her inbox with pictures of dragon meat oozing with precum. Who am I kidding, she's probably standing by her phone right now, waiting for a name to come up on her screen.

Meanwhile...

Bottles of wine litter the bedside of the messy room of the billionaire heiress. Her eyes glazing up and down her phone as she browses an article on mating habits of dragons. Being that there's virtually no porn of dragons in existence, she's forced to access the online archive of tomes regarding dragon anatomy. She programs her phone to take a picture in selfie mode, smirking as her drunk self places the camera view firmly on herself. She tucks her tail between her legs to hide enough of herself to not offer a wide view. But not so much that they hide the redness of her prior activity, nor the dampness that coated her legs.

The mare giggles in a drunken manner. "Mr. Dragon, I got a special late night dessert for you." The camera snaps a photo, and she reviews the incredibly compromising image before she sends the picture to the unknowing recipient.

My phone buzzes, to indicate I have a message sent to me. As soon as I read the name, I start to worry. As soon as I see there's an image attached, I get flustered. I open the message just to see what it is she sent me...

...She's not wasting any time, is she?

The next message that pops up in my feed is from her also. "Hungry?"

I'll be the first to admit it while I'm alone, it brings up a bunch of ideas, namely to question if she can pay a visit, but I realize that it would be bad for business if I threw myself in that kind of situation. I'll just keep the picture to myself for now and tell her to cool down. "I thought our communication was to be strictly professional, ma'am."

"Sometimes sex is part of the profession. It's a great way to close the deal." She messages back.

I know Melanie warned me about her, and I'm starting to believe it. A lady like this will probably chew me up, spit me out, and forget what flavor I was five minutes later. I still try to be strong. "Ma'am, I am not able to reciprocate your request at this time. Please contact me during business hours."

I put my phone down, already trying not to stir myself back up. But as I put my phone on the nightstand, it vibrates again with yet another message. "I saw how you looked at Kali earlier today." I start to sweat at the pressure she was putting on. Is she always so pervasive? "You had some ideas about her after she beat up those goons, didn't you?" Not only is she perverted, she's incredibly observant. "You're not the only guy who's had a thought or two about her. That dress she wore hides a lot of things most stallions want."

"Ma'am, please stop this." I need to put my phone down, but I'm more afraid that she'll just send me more lewd pictures instead. I can already bet she's drunk right now. "Have you been drinking again?"

"Yeah, but I need a drinking buddy to tell bedtime stories to." If she wasn't laying it on thick with the pic she sent, I know she's putting it all out there now.

"Ma'am, I don't have time for this." I need to calm down before I lose composure and start browsing on certain websites.

She's still persistent, sending me yet another message. "If you don't have time for me teasing you, then why you keep answering?" As I start to text back a response, another message pops up, one that grabs my full undivided attention. "You know, Kali and I had a foursome once. Do you wanna know what all happened?"

...Yeah, I think it's time for me to go back to that picture and start all over again.

I scroll back up to the photo of her indecent gift, very much unsolicited but also appreciated for the moment. She's still texting me, sending message after message. "She and I were with a maid, we had a contest with this one stallion who was hard to make cum. Both the maid and I gave him a blowjob. Kali rode him real slow. He wouldn't even cum for us until both she and I started taking sides, if you know what I mean. He shot ropes across the entire room when we were done. I'd bet you'd like that too."

Dammit, I'm gonna have to make this quick.

"Leaving me on read, or are your claws busy with something?"

Dammit, Saturday cannot come soon enough. Let me answer this mare so I can get this over with. "Can I just go to bed? What do you want?"

True to her drunken sexuality, she pushes the envelope even further with a simple message. "Let me see it."

I know I've already learned my lesson about what I send to who. And if she's drunk now, I know she's not going to be all too confidential with my secrets. It's better that I don't. "I can't right now."

"Aw, why not? Boys your age stay ready."

"Phone call." I lie on the spot. "Important call, royal jurisdiction, ttyl."

I save the picture and leave the message app. I take a deep breath, completely overwhelmed by the pressure that mare was putting on me. I somewhat regret giving her my number, but I at least have a little something to commemorate my miscue. I going to enjoy that image starting now.

Or at least I was going to until Smolder's name pops up on the caller ID. I take a moment to scream into my pillow from the frustration before I answer the call. "Hello?"

"Sup!" She answers with a boisterous bellow. "Ocellus tells me you got your phone back on the train ride today."

"Yup. Just got it yesterday." I tell her.

"Ha! I bet you're jacking off right now." She jokes.

"Uh, no not really." While I try to disguise my voice to hide the fact I was about to, she breaks out in laughter.

"You totally were! I knew it!"

While most would see her as being condescending, I know she's just playful with virtually no filter whenever she's not dealing with any classes. "Look, what I do in my own time is my business."

"Yeah, yeah." She says as she jumps straight to the point. "So, you clutch up any mates lately?"

While I could tell her about Ocellus, I don't think it would be wise to do that unless Ocellus made mention of it to her. But in terms of dragons... "Nope. Not one."

"Ugh, tragic!" She shouts on the other end. "I seriously thought you would've beaten up on some female while you were over there. How do you mess that up!?"

"Well considering that Ember kept most of the competition away, and with her being the strongest dragon aside from her dad... yeah, go and fill in the blanks."

"Yikes, Ember competed for you? No wonder you never got laid."

"I know." I deadpan. "It's late and you got classes to teach in the morning, what's your deal?"

"Just checking in, seeing if you got taken care of. So far, that's a no. Looks like you might have to keep Ember updated."

Well that's a disaster waiting to happen. "Uh... sure."

"I know you don't want to do it because of how things might've went." That's exactly the reason why. "But you gotta keep her updated on stuff like that. It's dragon business after all, what you do and how you act reflects on all of us. You and I are pretty big figures in the dragon world, can't let anything bad happen."

"I hear you." I say, growing a little more annoyed.

"You hear me, but are you listening to me?"

"Yes, I am." I respond.

"Okay. I'm warning you, Spike. Let me down and I'll be coming after you with a knuckle sandwich. Don't fuck up."

"I got you. I'll be fine." I assure once more.

"Good. Now drop by the school tomorrow. Headmare Starlight wants to talk to you about something. I don't know what it is, but she seems to have a lot of paperwork for you to sort through."

Oh what joy, to visit Ponyville for the exclusive purpose of filling out paperwork. I didn't know being an adult was so boring compared to the days when I used to trail behind Twilight's friends. I miss that already. "Okay, I'll be there by noon."

"See you there."

After the sun comes up I do my little 30 minute cardio workout for energy, breakfast, and knock out some preliminary stuff here in town before heading down to Ponyville. When I arrive in the growing town down south of the city, I'm greeted by a few of the locals passing through. Pipsqueak is getting some work done with the local political action committee, working beside Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara. It seems she's running for a position on the city council. Rumble's darting through the air, busting clouds before giving me a wave of greeting. I walk by the boutique, seeing Sandbar carting along some heavy supplies like it's nothing. But then his yak fiancée opens the door to greet him, snagging him up in a tight hug he doesn't even flinch at.

I finally get to the school, passing by a number of students in the hall. I end up waiting for some of the traffic to clear before Silverstream greets me with an enthusiastic wave and a smile. I pass by Ocellus, who gives me a smile before tending back to her classes. Sweetie Belle is in the middle of teaching a chorale, going over some interesting vocal techniques that I only caught wind of at the big wedding last year. Scootaloo's running physical education, having some of the students running laps around outside. Applebloom is teaching chemistry, repeatedly shouting out that the fire extinguishers are not meant to be used as rocket thrusters.

As chaotic as that last part may be, it's still a peaceful day in Ponyville. And it's a peace that's so often missed.

Turning into the administrative wing, I'm greeted by Sunburst, wearing a teal cape decorated with moons and stars. He sees me and offers a friendly greeting. "Spike, good afternoon. I trust you're here for Starlight?"

"Yeah, is she in her office?"

"She's never not." He says a little quietly before erupting back to his cheerful self. "But you're cleared to go in."

I take the stallion's word and knock at the door before poking my head in. "Hey hey, guess who's in town."

"Hey, Spike!" She leaps up from her desk, teleporting right next to me to give me a hug. "Oh, I can barely keep up with how big you are now. What does that make you?"

"An even five." I answer in regards to my height.

"Might be a little taller than that. You're human height at this point. I don't know what's in the water in Canterlot, but you and Twilight have been shooting up!" She says as she pats me on my back, guiding me towards her desk.

"I guess so." I take my seat for a moment, expecting the paperwork to be a long slog. "So what's the deal, you got some paperwork?"

She pulls out a small manila envelope, removing only a single page to place at the center of the table for me. "Actually, just this."

I read the document seeing it's just a simple list of books for the school curriculum. I wince with surprise and confusion. "A grant for books? You could've just sent this to a town administrator, that would've been the end of it right there."

"Well you're here, aren't you? Go on and sign that bad boy so we can get us some new books!" She seems pretty elated to have the proposal at the foot of her desk for me to sign, so much so that she smiles and levitates a quill and a phial of ink.

I give it another once-over, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. After that, I sign the dotted line. "You know, this isn't really that big of a reason for me to take an express visit to town."

She places her hooves together as her mood grows serious. "Yeah, but I think there's something else we need to talk about."

"What, are you and Sunburst finally getting hitched?" I joke.

"No, he hasn't proposed yet." She answers with an eye roll. "But maybe you'll be interested in what's in here."

She slides the manila envelope that she hid the grant in, expecting me to go through it a little more. "What is this?"

As I pull out some vague pictures of some robed apparent ponies, I take notice of the background they're in. It seems thaty they are moving suspiciously in the Everfree Forest, name the ruins there. "There's something fishy going on in the ruins of Everfree Castle. There are these figures wearing black hoods just hunching around the place. I'd ask Zecora for help, but she's been traveling more with Mage Meadowbrook. These are images are what some of the local tourists snapped along their way. They reported them to the town constable. They give it to me, and now I'm giving them to you to give to Twilight."

Yeah, if I wasn't keen on keeping track of things, I'd be double cross-eyed by now. "There's a literal treehouse in the cave down in the ravine, and you mean to tell me that no one saw them moving until now?"

"Well that's why we're here." She shrugs.

While I don't think there's much to be concerned about with the ruins, it's better to err on the side of caution. I take the documents and take a shallow breath while holding the envelope and it's contents. With a soft exhale, green flames leave from my lips and engulf the folder into an enchanted ash to be carried by the winds. "Okay. They're forwarded to Twilight, she'll send some investigators to look into it. If it's serious, we'll nip it in the bud."

"Thanks, Spike." She smiles softly. "If there's anyone who can get the busiest princess' attention, it's always you who's got her ear."

As I walk out the room, I joke back to her. "As if she really listens to me much these days more than I have to repeat myself."

The door closes and I make my way down the hall again, running into Sunburst once more. "Hey Spike, did it go well?"

"Yeah, new books coming your way."

The stallion pumps his hoof with excitement. "Yes! I knew we could count on you!"

While I'm on my way onward to meet up with Smolder, I give the stallion a comment of personal importance. "Also, you may want to seal things up with Starlight before she loses patience."

He rolls his eyes seemingly fatigued with my suggestion, probably because he's heard it all before. "Trust me, I know."

"Then what are you waiting for?" I ask.

He sits himself down as he explains to me what's been going on. "For the right moment, where we're just being us, not headmare and assistant. Whether you believe it or not, she keeps her focus mainly on the school. Our relationship's been taking a back seat to it all."

"You ever tried making time?" I suggest.

"I do, but Trixie and Maud always beat me to it. Always girls night out and never a night out for us. I get we see each other during the day everyday, but it's not enough."

Seems the both of them have some things to work on with each other. "Uh... have you tried talking to her about it?"

"She's too busy. Everything is about either the schedule or the students, I thought she learned that lesson before, but with the enrollment shooting up over the past few years, she's been all in on the school. I know it's Twilight's namesake entrusted to her, but I wonder if she's even realizes that we're in a relationship just as much as we are business partners."

I tap on my chin, coming up with a possible solution that could probably bring some spark into their relationship. The first idea that comes to mind is that the two are probably not getting sexually involved. I know that's a pretty big reason why most long-term relationships start to fail. "I know this is gonna sound real douchy, but walk in that office, knock something from off her desk, put her on it, and blow her mind."

He groans in defeat. "I've tried that, Spike. We've been at it on her desk five times yesterday. It's almost everyday with us doing that. But when we get home, she just locks herself in her room and goes right back to administrative work. 'Now's not the time, Sunburst. You're being a distraction, Sunburst. Can we do this later, Sunburst? I promise I'll make it up to you, Sunburst.' She doesn't even call me honey or sweetie anymore."

Yikes, didn't think it was that bad with them. Okay, change of approach. "Okay, so I have a better idea. Don't ignore her like you're not aware of her, but ignore her in the sense of removing yourself from her schedule for a day or two, if not longer. Let her come to you with the conversation. And try not to wilt under pressure. Make her see that you have an emotional need outside of feeling an occasional touch on a tightly planned schedule. If she doesn't make time for you, don't make time for her. Relationships are a two way street, can't have the flow going one way while you're moving into oncoming traffic."

Nodding quietly with approval, he takes my advice into strong consideration. He also gives me a look of subtle disbelief. "You know for a young guy, you sure do give some good relationship advice."

"I've been doing this for years, still do it now." I answer.

"You still give advice to Rarity and Twilight?" He questions, both partially joking and genuinely curious.

"Not so much to Rarity. But Twilight on the other hoof..." I roll my eyes and sigh in thought. "...Don't get me started."