Diaries of the Anonymous Filly

Over the next several days, I found myself growing increasingly agitated. With my newfound interest in running, I found that just hobbling around wasn't enough for me. If I wasn't situated in the castle library, avoiding whatever homework that had built up for Cheerilee and instead focusing instead on my magical studies, I could be found pacing around the castle gardens, and walking the hedge maze—anything to keep moving.

Of course I knew that stressing my body out wasn't good for healing the wound in my leg, but the longer I stayed here when where I needed to be was the Crystal Empire, the more stressed I started to feel. There was a therapist there that Princess Cadance said was taking on patients. The longer I was still here, the harder it felt to hold myself together. The only way to really keep myself from fraying further was to have something to do.

It didn't help any that I was beginning to feel quite paranoid. After my show at the banquet, I'd begun noticing a good portion of the nobility—Blueblood aligned, most likely—giving me dirty looks or watching me. It wasn't just anger for the way I'd embarrassed the prince, though. I could feel the fear, disgust, and resentment. It wasn't hard to figure out why; I'd turned their world view in regards to magic on its head, and the Sun Horse had all but agreed with me. But to them, magic was the domain of unicorns, and my encroachment was an abomination.

At first, it was just the looks. Then Refined Skill caught a maid not assigned to this part of the castle pretending to clean the room as she went through my things. She'd probably been bribed to find and steal—or destroy—my research notes. The joke was on her, though. If I didn't have my notes on my person, they were with Starlight. Even then, I'd started encoding my more recent notes entirely in English.

Not that it really mattered. All the important bits were in my head. What was more, the more that I worked with runes, the more I was beginning to think that my memory—at least where my special talent was reserved—was borderline eidetic. Sure, it wasn't like I was able to instantly remember every spell I'd ever converted to a weaved spiral, but intuition and a cheating helping hoof from my talent made it pretty easy to accomplish.

Probably the most unfortunate side effect of my paranoia and fraying nerves, however, was the fact that I'd started making combat spells. Not safe remove a threat by disabling them sorts of spells, either; I'm talking full-on if I hit an unarmoured target in the head with this, they're as good as dead sorts of spells. They were the sorts of spells that could easily make me a murderer if used inappropriately.

It wasn't that I wanted to fight. If it were up to me, I'd never have to use any of them anywhere other than a firing range. If I could help it, I'd rather trust in Starlight and Twilight, or the guards, and simply retreat from danger. But what if they're not there? What if there's no guards around, or running isn't an option? My fight with Gilda and Lightning Dust had shown me what could happen when I purposely blunder into a fight I wasn't prepared for. Wasn't it better to be prepared for a situation I might never be in?

You'd have thought that Twilight and Starlight would be more concerned about how hard I was ignoring the rule about studying and practising magic without them present. Between the fact that there was always either of the maid sisters assigned to watch over me nearby, as well as several unicorn guards throughout the palace, however, it was easy to argue that I wasn't without supervision. Even if I couldn't write things down, they couldn't exactly stop me from doing things in my head. Besides, by throwing myself into my studies, I was able to redirect my focus, and reign in some of my snappishness.

By the third day of my castle stay, I'd convinced the guards to grant me usage of the palace training grounds. It was surprisingly simple to convince the watch commander and the rangemaster to allow me access. After all, I'd otherwise have to find an open space, conjure up a stone wall that I couldn't exactly get rid of, and use that as target practice instead. It wasn't exactly possible for me to magically reinforce the wall especially when I demonstrated two of the spells I'd made: a water conjuration spell that fired 10 cm by 9 mm spike of glacier ice at 335 m/s, and a modified air bullet at a somewhat slower speed, but magically super-heated to the point that it crossed the plasma threshold. Definitely not something you wanna fire off indoors unless you want shards of ice everywhere or melted marble. Magically reinforced targets like the ones on the range were much more durable, and able to withstand most of my creations.

Other than that, I'd been experimenting with earth conjuration. After I'd determined back in the mirror world that modifiers could alter the state of the conjured element, I found myself curious about whether conjure earth couldn't create different mineral compositions. After a few experiments, I found that I could have a 70% pure sample of a mineral before the spell would fail. And trust me, I checked if there was an elemental plane of metal. No such luck.

Similarly, if I tried to attempt any sort of earth conjuring after summoning any sized chunk of ore, the spell would fail, I would get a really painful zap; if the spell was baked into a clay medallion after testing once, it shattered. Same thing if I attempted anything with precious minerals such as silver, gold, or platinum. If I didn't know better, I'd say that the Elemental Plane of Earth had a degree of consciousness and actively punished greed.

Therefore, the only earth spells I had to practice with were one to conjure a stone pillar rapidly beneath a target, and one to create a two metre by four metre by quarter metre stone wall. These spells were hardly destructive, but because they didn't have any sort of means to banish the material back to its Elemental Plane at the end of the duration, they were quite disruptive, and I was only able to verify that they worked once. At least the rangemaster didn't get super pissed when I tested them in his range. If anything, some of the guards enjoyed using those as alternative targets.

~ 31 ~

Since I couldn't get any real physical exercise in until my leg was fully recovered, I'd taken to using my excursions to the firing range as a means on expanding my magical reservoir. At least when exhaustion kicked in and started leaving me winded, I could feel like I was accomplishing something. Sure, I could only manage about ten combat spells in a row, but if it kept my mind off what was bugging me, then it was all the better for me.

Deep down, I knew that distracting myself—rather than confronting my problems—was an unhealthy choice to make but I really did not want to burden Twilight or Starlight right now. My decision to head to the Crystal Empire to seek counselling was already made; I only had to hold myself together for another week or two. Besides, apparently now Twilight was preparing Canterlot for some first-ever Friendship Festival, and she didn't need me worrying her any more than I already was. I know she probably doesn't share that feeling, but still.

Another benefit of tiring myself out an the shooting range was the fact that Twilight's friends, who were now all beginning to show up in Canterlot to help, didn't have easy access to me. I wasn't necessarily angry at any of them for anything they did, but much like the crusaders—who I feared may also be in town—I didn't exactly know how to feel about them. Yes, their human counterparts had stepped up and tried to fix their fuck-up, but that didn't change the fact that they turned on Sunset at the drop of a hat. What if they do that to Aunt Twilight?

"Mind if I join you?" came a voice to my right as I was laying out the spell medallions I was going to be using today. Looking up, I saw Sunset Shimmer standing at the neighbouring firing position. I pretended to consider it for a moment before nodding. "I'm impressed you managed to convince Sergeant Major Surefire to let you on his range," she continued, looking me up and down. "Back when I was Princess Celestia's student, he was a total hard-ass about foals on the range."

I waited until the Range Safety Officer called out, "Commence firing!" before dropping my hoof to the two spell medallions I'd laid side-by-side. "When you've got spells like these two," I said, looking down-range as I pumped mana through the first, and then second. First, a bolt of super-heated plasma shot off from in front of my forehead, and the target caught fire. Then, a spike of ice shot out from that same space a moment later and hit the exact same spot, shattering on impact and quenching the burning target. "You need a safe environment to fire them off. You should see what the plasma bolt did to stone the other day."

She stared wide-eyed at my still-smoking target, and although she tried her hardest to school her facial expression, I could still catch the surprise and momentary spike of fear. "Do you even have it in you to use that on a living being?" Sunset asked, firing off some sort of energy bolt of her own at her target. "Despite what happened with Lightning Dust, you demonstrated a lot of restraint, especially if you're capable of making and using military-grade combat spells already."

My shoulders rolled with the gentle shrug I made before pulling out two more spells I had built this morning. "On an unarmoured target? Probably not," I admitted, remembering the way the conjured rock wall I'd tested it on was spitting molten rock for several seconds after the plasma had dissipated. "The plasma might only be half as fast as the ice spikes, but I think by the time the part of the spell that frees the plasma and lets it burn out on its own kicks in, it could very well punch clean through a living target before it could fizzle out. Definitely not something you'd wanna go hunting with, and the <> might well have something to say about it if they applied here."

Sunset didn't even try to hide the shiver that ran down her spine. I hadn't intended to sound so cold and clinical about it, but I imagine that coupled with the way I casually threaded hunting and war crimes into the same sentence is what spooked her. "Yeesh, and to think you just playing less-than-lethal was enough to send Gilda to the insane asylum," she muttered. Casting a fireball down range this time, I watched her shut her eyes. "You're one scary filly, Anon."

I tilted my head away from her slightly, unable to meet her eyes. "It's not something I do on purpose," I whispered, sending a torrent of water down-range, followed by an absolute-zero gale that travelled down the length of my lane. There was no satisfaction as I watched the moisture all turn to ice. "Go through all I have, though, and you start to look at the world in terms of 'What can hurt me, and how can I make sure it stops trying to hurt me?' Lately, that's shifted to include, 'How can I protect those I care about?' Still, I use the tools I have available to me, and while I could easily look up a shield spell, there's something more satisfying about constructing your own spells."

Before she could formulate a response, there was a loud crack and a startled cry, followed by the RSO calling out "Cease fire!". Both of us turned and watched as he went a few lanes down, where a cocky private seemed to have somehow caught his horn and armour on fire. Neither was melting, but it was kicking off an awful stink. While several of the other guards on the range were trying desperately to put out the results of the miscast spell, all to the tune of the safety officer calling the pony every name under the sun, what Sunset had said about that young woman I'd almost put through a windshield sunk in.

"That chick with the fauxhawk and the frosted tips is in a psych ward?" I finally asked when someone in the guard group finally stopped panicking and cast a water conjuration. "How'd that happen?"

Her head snapped around so fast that I was somewhat concerned she might've gotten whiplash. "You're kidding, right?" she asked, looking at me like I was stupid. "You took out four people! Dumb-bell got a concussion, Hoops somehow got a ruptured testicle, and Score's in a knee brace for who knows how long. That's not even taking into account Lightning Dust... What she saw broke her."

My reflexively flicked back. "How bad is it?" I asked. "Is Lightning...?"

With a shake of her head, Sunset moved closer to me. "She'll live," she said, reaching out to tousle my mane. "Might have a limp for a bit... Unfortunately, the same can't be said for her arm." She looked somewhat ill, but continued. "With all the damage to the forearm and wrist you did, they had to amputate at the elbow."

I found myself staring down at the ground, a cold feeling spreading through my belly. I maimed a teenage girl, was the first thing that came to mind as I started to pack my medallions back into my sling. I wasn't quite winded yet, but I had no more enthusiasm in me.

Perhaps picking up on the guilt I was feeling, she gently lifted my chin with one hoof so I'd look her in the eye. "I want you to understand, none of this is your fault, Anon," she said in a firm voice. "Lightning Dust was on a bad path long before Anon-a-Miss happened. Even when I was at the top of the school's food chain, I knew she was destined for disaster." Her own ears twitched and she allowed herself a grimace. "She was a real overachiever, you know? Wanted to be the best of the best, but more than that, she wanted her folks to just pay attention to her."

That made me cringe. "Lemme guess, when her grades weren't up to snuff, she went for sports, but that didn't work either?" I asked, straining to stand up. When Sunset nodded, helping me up, I snorted. "Sometimes, the grass isn't always greener..." My voice had dropped to a whisper. "Having his attention was always a nightmare I wanted nothing more than to avoid, but as I grew older, sometimes I found that I had to keep his attention because it otherwise meant he was taking it out on Mom and my little sisters." I started making my way to the exit, but stopped to regard her. "She'll probably need counselling of her own after losing her arm; I hope she gets the help she needs."

She actually started following after me, so I asked, "What else has been happening there since I helped bring in those three?"

"I've only heard what Principal Celestia's been telling me through the journal, but..." As we made our way to the castle gardens, she regaled me with news from the other side. Some of it was sad, some of it was what it was, and some was downright humorous. Even when we got to the gardens and I found a spot to relax, she had more to share.

The long and short of things? Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom were all being expelled, along with Lightning Dust, her accomplices, and several of the students that came forward regarding Sunset being pushed down the stairs. Additionally, the three girls were facing several months community service, and they were all advised to seek therapy. Honestly, they're lucky; if they'd gotten someone killed, I'd have argued they'd belong in jail. Given that they'd turned themselves in, though, they got off with the counselling and community service.

Rainbow Dash wanted nothing to do with Scootaloo for the foreseeable future, whilst Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were just barely on speaking terms with AJ and Rarity. I kinda get why Dash might take things so badly. I mean, because of Scootaloo and the other three, they'd almost lost a friend for good. It didn't help that Applejack and Dash were probably still beating themselves up over roughing up Sunset.

Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity apparently wanted desperately to make up for what they'd done. Sunset was still on the fence about forgiving them—Can't blame her; if they turned on her once, they could easily do it again—but was willing to meet with them in a few days. Apparently, since the portal had been kept open save for using the journal to communicate, the holidays had already passed and the school-year had resumed. I told her that it probably wouldn't stop them from heaping lots of apology gifts and Christmas gifts on her.

The biggest bit of news was that, after the New Year, the Anon-a-Miss account had leaked a bunch of incriminating emails it had received copies of anonymously. The emails in question were the very same ones Celestia had mentioned having, although Celestia denied any involvement in the leak. It then made its way into the press, and soon Spoiled Rich was being absolutely drug through the mud by the news-media and the PTA. Some were even bandying about the possibility of criminal charges.

The humorous bit was that apparently security footage of the absolute slaughter at Donut Joe's had ended up on a news aggregation/content rating/discussion site by the name of Sawdat.net, and in the process of going viral. Initially it was trending as "Horse Girl Goes Buck Wild on Bullies," with about only a quarter of comments outright decrying it as fake. Then, although the footage was edited to hide my face, folks had apparently linked it to the two videos of me that CHS students had taken, and things, and theories had only gotten wilder. Now it was most popular as "Undead Horse Girl Puts Hoof Down on Vigilante Justice."

Luckily, nobody had linked me to Emerald Breeze, so it'd all hopefully just die down to urban legend status before she was pulled into any more nonsense. Speaking of my deceased counterpart's mother, after hearing about the brawl and seeing the fight footage, was asking about me a lot. I guess I made more of an impression on the woman than I thought, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. Imagine if she formed an attachment, only to never see you again.

"About Ms. Breeze," I murmured, staring up at the sky. I thought I could see a familiar rainbow contrail flitting about the sky, but I hardly paid it any mind. "If you're gonna stick around in that world, could you... could you take care of her?" Sunset seemed kinda surprised, but before she could ask why, I continued. "I know she's not my Mom in any sense, but I could tell when we met that she's a good person. What's more, she clearly cares about you. I don't think she'd mind seeing you more."

That drew a nod from her as she stood up to leave. "I can do that, but in return, I want you to give your friends a fair shake," she replied, turning her back to me. "It doesn't have to be right away, but it'll be better if you speak to them about it before writing them off completely."

~ 31 ~

A few days later, I was once again at the range burning off frustration. Sunset's request had been eating away at me, so I'd finally broken down and asked Twilight for more information about what the Crusaders had done. Better to have more information before I make any damning decisions, right?

The way she'd explained it, the girls joined the paper in an attempt to get journalism cutie marks, back when they were so obsessed with earning their marks that they'd miss the forest for the trees. It'd started out as generally harmless gossip column called Gabby Gums, like what you'd see in the average paper, with the occasional fun poking at humorous incidents. Then, they'd slowly started to get more indiscriminate, invading the privacy of others, and not always truthful. They published Rarity's diary, they told outright hurtful lies, and even framed completely normal things like a spa trip from Rainbow in a negative light.

At that point I was almost convinced that they were just as morally bankrupt as their human counterparts. Then something Twilight said caught my attention. According to her, they'd wanted to stop, having seen the damage they were doing, but somepony else in the paper had been trying to blackmail them into continuing. In the end, before their blackmailer could dish out the dirt on them, they chose to publish a public apology, citing the success of the column having blinded them to the harm they were doing, but that the guilt was eating them up, and they publicly outed themselves as the faces behind Gabby Gums. It took a while, but the towns-ponies had forgiven them.

It had ended with Twilight repeating what Sunset had told me. She believed that I should talk to them before passing judgement. If I did so, I'd be making a mistake not unlike the ones the human trio had. What pissed me off was that I understood what she meant and I knew she was right. If I just assumed they were irredeemable, it was no different than them assuming that it was only a matter of time before Sunset returned to her old ways.

In the end, I wasn't entirely sure what to think. On the one hoof, it was reassuring that it hadn't started from a place of malice. Unlike the actions of their counterparts, it genuinely sounded like kids being stupid kids and making stupid kid mistakes. They weren't actively trying to make anyone look bad; they were just riding the high of success and got carried away until they were in over their heads.

On the other hoof, it didn't really excuse what they'd done. Malice or no, it sounded like they hadn't really considered the feelings of others into things. The public outing of people's dirty laundry, and publishing outright lies or misconstruing the facts could have done some serious damage. From the sound of it, they'd inadvertently called the stability of Cakes' marriage into question, which could very well have ended disastrously. What would have even happened if they'd revealed something that somepony really would've wanted kept buried? Ponies didn't seem as likely to commit suicide, but Sunset had shown me that even ponies could break...

As it was, I barely even paid any mind to the other unicorns on the range who'd begun whispering about me. What's the big deal if I can cast spells like this at this age? The rule pertaining to cost-complexity inverse proportionality meant that these spells weren't super taxing! Then again, it might be due to the fact that I was using custom-built spells that could seriously maim or kill a pony, and firing them off at targets and targeting dummies to burn off steam. I think one or two were even joking that Princess Twilight was raising a battle-mage... or an assassin.

"Cease fire, everypony!" the RSO called out, bringing all spell-casting on the range to a stop.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Natural Talent approaching, an unfamiliar crystalline-looking stallion bearing a messenger bag and a livery bearing Princess Cadance's mark following close behind her. Packing up my medallions, I turned and gave her my full attention. "Lady Flicker," Talent greeted. Since my showing at the banquet, I'd taken to officially using the name Anonymous Flicker out of respect for what Emerald Breeze had said about some iteration of her daughter living on in happiness. She'd seen something of Emerald in me, so who was I to deny it. "Princess Cadance arrived in Canterlot this morning, and has sent a runner with a message."

At this, the crystal pony stepped forward. "Her Royal Highness, Princess Cadance has requested an urgent meeting with you," he explained, bowing slightly for some reason. "She requests that you meet with her in the royal sitting rooms."

That piqued my interest. It was maybe half-past two in the afternoon, so she had to have been at the castle for a few hours now. That was more than enough time to settle in. That said, what sort of urgent issue could she have that required a meeting with me. I hope it's not foalsitting duty... As much as I enjoyed Flurry's presence, that kid's gonna think me being hurt is the norm.

"Thank you, sir," I responded. "I shall accede to her request posthaste, although I have no coin to provide you a gratuity." Still need to get Aunt Twilight to agree to an allowance.

The stallion shook his head with a smile. "I've already received payment, young miss." At that, the stallion turned and left. "Think nothing of it."

Turning to Natural Talent, I began stretching my legs. "Since it's urgent, you think she'll mind if we don't stop for a quick shower?" I commented following as she silently led the way. "Or should I get somepony to zap me with a quick cleaning spell?"

With a snort and a quick roll of her eyes, the maid lit her horn. As we walked, I felt the tingle of magic wash over me, and the gross feeling of sweat in my coat vanished. Showoff. It took several minutes to navigate the castle hallways. Despite the upcoming festival, it was surprisingly calm in the castle this afternoon.

Eventually, we reached a door that was flanked by two equestrian Royal Guards, marked by a placard that read Royal Sitting Room. Although I found it somewhat odd that it wasn't a pair of Cadance's own ceremonial guard, I didn't really question it. I didn't even feel the need to keep my combat spells on me, instead passing them off to Natural Talent before stepping in. Only a water conjuration and ice conjuration I kept for drinks remained in my sling.

The doors swung open at the behest of the unicorn of the pair, and in I stepped. It was a rather spacious room, the walls lined with bookshelves, with a large bay window to one side. In the middle, atop what looked to be a very expensive rug sat two plush sofas facing one another. In between them sat a decorative teak coffee-table, atop which sat some glasses on coasters and what looked to be a decanter full of an amber liquid, and what looked to be a large obsidian hex-nut.

It's what I didn't see was what bugged me, however. Princess Cadance, the pony who had urgently requested my presence, was nowhere to be seen. Because that's not unnerving or anything, I thought as I climbed onto one of the sofas. She must've been delayed.

Since I'd nothing else to do, I reached for the medallion to conjure ice into a glass. The way I saw it, I may as well have some cold water to drink while I waited. I nearly leapt out of my skin when there came a voice directly across from me. It wasn't because I was scared, but because I hadn't heard anyone else enter. I was startled.

"Would you mind terribly adding some ice to my glass as well?" Prince Blueblood asked as he shimmered into view directly across from me. I was caught so off guard that my brain momentarily failed me, and I did as he asked. "I do apologize for this deception and the scare, but Cousin Cadance agreed that you probably wouldn't have agreed to meet me otherwise."

The top of the bottle levitated off, and I could immediately tell that it was whiskey. He poured some over the sphere of ice in his glass. Once he was done, he lifted the bottle once more and gave it a gentle shake. "Can I offer you a dram?"

I blinked before looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "I'm eight, Your Highness," I said with incredulity. My brain was finally starting to reboot, but I was completely confused. This was not the same Prince Blueblood I'd interacted with the other night, nor the same one I'd set aflame several times in the past. He was jovial, and there wasn't a hint of the usual disdain he showed for me in the presence of his toadies. "Even in my previous life, I couldn't stand the stuff."

He nodded thoughtfully, returning the decanter to the table and returning its lid. "That's fair," he said, still sounding so goddamn agreeable. "With the way you conjured up that ice, it almost seemed as though you were experienced with serving liquor, so it only felt right to ask."

Instead, I used the other medallion in my sling to fill my glass with water. That drew a raised eyebrow from him, but he didn't comment. Probably wondering why the guards didn't frisk me. "Don't worry; the ice and water are the only spells I have on me, Prince Blueblood," I assured him, reaching over to grab my glass. Had I known, I'd have kept a fire bolt. "What can I do for you?"

That actually got a laugh out of him, and he gestured to the obsidian ring on the table. "And here I was ready to offer to restrict my magic to make you feel more at ease," he said, standing up and levitating his whiskey along with him. He went over to the window and stared out, taking in the sight before sipping his drink. "Still, if you would rather cut to the chase, so to speak, I can get behind that."

Turning back to me, he smiled. "Auntie has given your suggestion from the banquet great consideration," he explained. "These technological marvels described would be a great boon to our peoples, and as such she has agreed that we should initiate contact with the government of this Amareica on the other side of the mirror. I've already ironed out several political details with dear Sunset, but I also wished for your input, and help, before I spearhead this diplomatic mission."

Again, I was caught off-guard. Who the hell is this, and what did he do to that tribalist brute? "Sir?" I glanced down at the glass in my own hooves. "I don't know how much help I can be. The world I came from and this world on the other side of the mirror aren't exactly the same, and I was more of a wanderer, doing what I could to get by."

That got a nod from him. "That is in line with what Auntie told me of your past, but that isn't what I meant." He raised his glass to me, as if toasting. "You figured out how to utilise your own magic when two of the brightest mages of their times could not, which is something we will need to convey the veracity of our claims..."

To that effect, we ended up in a discussion of how to 'Pony Up', how to contact the magic goddess Magia, and how others might use their magic without creating runic medallions like I did. The first two were simple, but the last devolved into a debate of whether staffs could act in place of a horn. You know... Should it be wood or metal? What Kind? How long? Gemstones, yes or no?

Once that was tabled for later testing, he asked what magics humans would want, what we should offer, and what we should avoid offering knowledge of. He was surprised that I very candidly told him not to offer anything that could be easily turned into a weapon. Instead, weather management, creation of water, alternative power-sources were the first things to come to mind. If a spell could be used to animate the proper parts of turbines in a generator, energy problems could easily be solved. Pure water could ease problems in parts of the world where there were no drinking water, and with weather control, deserts could probably be converted to farmlands. Then of course there was healing magic...

For some reason, when he was being affable, it was surprisingly easy to talk to him. I also openly suggested that, if Equestria opens diplomatic relations with this other world, and things take a turn for the worst, they should prepare safeguards. Some people could be opportunists and see us—I didn't just say ponies, surprisingly—as an easy target to invade and exploit for natural resources. While it might seem as simple as turning off the portal from our end, we couldn't discount the possibility that someone on their end might find a way to power it. They had to have a Twilight over there somewhere... The portal on our end would need to be moved from Twilight's castle and placed in a facility that could serve as an embassy, but also have a means to lock down the portal. My suggestion for that would be to place it in a chamber that could be sealed, depressurised, and completely emptied of air.

He seemed taken aback by how candid I was being regarding the potential for an invasion. He was, after all, apparently being sent to establish diplomatic relations, and here I was providing potential reasons not to reveal their existence. The way I saw it, though, Equestria's my home now, and I needed to take a realistic approach to protecting it. If that meant preparing us for the worst while expecting the best, so be it.

Refilling my glass with magic, I glanced out the window. It was almost close to dinnertime now. "What I don't get," I said, quickly draining the glass and then eyeing up the bottle of whiskey. "What I don't get is you. The stallion I'm talking to now is nothing like the one who spoke from a place of unicorn supremacy only a few nights ago. You're nothing like the brute I set aflame... and the banquet! You must've known she gave me the clay."

He nodded. "I am a diplomat, Anonymous," he said with a sad smile. "But another part of my job is to serve as a liaison between the crown and the nobility and keep them in line. This requires me to put on airs and act like none before could. Believe it or not, they would be even worse without me. I've spent the last twenty years slowly dialing back the regressive tribalist attitudes built up by their egotistical predecessors."

He paused to refill his own glass from the decanter, letting out a sigh. "I play the pompous clown that they rally behind, lest they find someone competent who actually shares their ideals. I pretend to dance to their tune, and if I find situations I can work with, I can use them to sway the fools and lead them down Auntie's path." Following my gaze, he smirked, levitating the bottle over, and pouring a dram before I could reconsider. "I hate the masks that I must wear, but heavy is the head that wears the crown."

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry about the fire," I said, smiling and raising up the glass in a toast. "If I knew you were half as cool as you were today..."

"As am I for the shows I must put on for those imbeciles," he levitated over his glass and clinked it against mine. "To the masks we wear, for the sake of ourselves, and those we must guide down the righteous paths."

"To the masks we wear!" I cheered, knocking back the dram.