When I arrived outside Twilight's crystal tree castle, I was surprised to find a covered chariot—I swear it looked like something out of Batman—parked on a narrow strip of paving stones off to one side of the main walkway. More than that, however, there were two bat-winged ponies flanking the usually unguarded castle doors. Although they weren't as large as some of the stallions I'd seen about, the blue-grey facial structure beneath their frilled helmets gave away that they were male. That said, their dark metal plate and silver trim and helmets was very much unlike what I was used to with the day guards I'd seen.

Funnily enough, I didn't find myself intimidated by them as I found the day guardsponies. Maybe it was the tufted fur at the tips of their ears, or the fact that their armour seemed barely able to contain what I'd overheard mares calling 'the floof', which had referred to the fluffy fur up the front of their chests, but they looked almost... catlike for ponies. That said, the first mistake one can make about an enemy is underestimating them, and although they weren't foes, they were not necessarily friends either.

They also seemed to have somewhat poor eyesight in direct light, as they didn't seem to fully register me until I was walking up to the base of the stairs leading to the door. When they did, however, they both extended their webbed wings to block the way. "Halt," the one on the left said in a voice of authority, revealing some pointed teeth—an oddity among ponies. "Princesses Luna and Twilight are not taking petitioners at this time."

"If you have an appointment with Princess Twilight, Sir Spike will be with you shortly to reschedule," the one on the right said. "Otherwise, please return at a later date."

"Gentlecolts," I said, remembering the niceties the maids had taught me in Canterlot, "My name is Anon, and I live here. Please step aside and allow me entrance to my mentor's castle."

That actually got a snicker out of one of the bat ponies. "Kiddo, it's not nice to tell lies," Mr. Right said narrowing his golden eyes at me. "While it's true her highness has taken an apprentice of her own, it's an apprentice in magic rather than friendship. Earth ponies don't do magic."

Heaving a sigh, I looked to Mr. Left. "Fine, you guys can explain to Princess Twilight why I broke Rule #8." I felt like I should have been excited. After all, this was an opportunity to test an idea I'd had about runic magic and its link to moon-glyphs, but had yet to confirm with Starlight or Twilight. Instead, all I felt was frustrated and disappointed. "You've surely heard of the incidents involving a certain pompous prince? Well, now you get to meet the rune mage-in-training responsible."

Sucking in a breath, I quickly etched the ignition rune in the dirt, using my hoof field to etch the fine lines, rather than the edge of my hoof itself. Following that, I did what felt right and placed the moon-glyph for 'above' at the twelve o'clock position, the glyph for 'target' at four o'clock, and the 'point' glyph at eight o'clock. Finally, I pressed my right hoof down on the rune, and held out my left, frog up.

Magic flowed out through my right hoof as I channelled the 'spell' I'd created. This was something I'd wanted to demonstrate for Starlight and Twilight, to show my initiative and intuition. Instead, as the rune lit up and the glyphs began to glow in a clockwise pattern, I only felt... sad. Even when I focused on the frog of my left hoof and an orb of blue flame appeared above it, there was no pride warming my belly. Nor did my bluff in rotating my hoof to face them, placing the fireball between us, make me feel anything at all.

I just wish to take a cold shower and pay the piper.

"Is this proof enough that I am perfectly capable of performing magic, and that I am who I said I am?" I asked, looking coldly from the one guard to the other. "Or do I need to explain to Princess Luna why her guards have third degree burns on top of the apology I owe her?"

Either the look on my face was sufficiently scary, or the sight of a tiny earth pony wielding a fireball and coldly threatening to give them the Blueblood treatment was too much for them. First I watched their outstretched wings tremble, and then close against their sides. They both looked away, and I could see their ears folded back.

"You may enter, Miss Anonymous," Mr. Left said, unable to meet my gaze, even as I removed my hoof from the rune and the fireball collapsed. "Please forgive our ignorance."

With a snort, I wiped the rune and accompanying modifiers out of the dirt. Normally, I'd feel elated when a particularly ballsy bluff paid off in dividends, but even now, I just felt exhausted—even more so after continually channelling that fireball for an entire minute. I don't think they realise that the only way I could've even harmed them with that spell unless I'd initially targeted a point underneath them; there was no component to it that would allow the fireball to maintain its form if it even allowed for it to be thrown. Sure, I could probably have redirected the channelled spell at them, but it likely wouldn't have had a very fast movement speed.

As I passed them, I gave them a sidelong glance and considered what had just transpired. Things truly were different here. If I'd gotten into a standoff with a cop back home and pulled something like that? I don't doubt that my brains would've painted the sidewalk. Yet in lacking any sort of actual identification, I'd managed to assert dominance by doing the magical equivalent of brandishing an empty firearm. "I apologise for the threat of violence, gentlecolts," I said as I slipped past. "Even if you weren't listening, you were just doing your jobs. Please don't allow this to reflect poorly on my mentor in your minds."

At that, I pushed the door open and slipped inside. I could hear the two stallions whispering behind me before I closed the door. Though I couldn't hear everything they said, what I could make out 'filly isn't right', 'those cold eyes', and 'warn the princess'. Either those boys in dark plate are green, or my attempt to intimidate them worked a little too well.

As I turned and pulled the door shut, I heard a strange metallic clacking sound. It almost sounded like the strange clopping clap that a pony's hooves made, but metallic. Then again, ponies wore horseshoes from time to time... but I never saw Twilight or Starlight wearing them. So who could be clapping? Gee, I wonder.

"Well met, young Anonymous," came a voice straight out of my dream. I turned to face my voice, and to nobody's surprise, there was Princess Luna in the flesh, standing on the second-floor balcony of the entry hall. Somewhat more surprising was the fact that Twilight and Starlight were with her, and that there was a crystal orb atop a small cushion floating beside them. Had they been watching? "Have you found the answers you sought?"

I shook my head, slipping into what equated to a low bow among ponies. "Some, but not all, Your Highness." I answered. "If it pleases you, I would like to discuss what happened this morning. I only ask that I be granted time to freshen up." Sniffing at myself, I cringed slightly. "I smell of milk and sweat."

With a nod, Princess Luna smiled down at me. "Then we shall reconvene within the library in an hour," she said, giving a sideways glance to Twilight and Starlight. "That will also give you time to discuss what occurred outside with your guardian."

The crystal ball disappeared in a flash, and the princess turned to go elsewhere in the castle. That left me kneeling in the hallway under the gaze of the purple pair. Yet for all I had to discuss with them, my mind was fully focused on the encounter with the princess. She seemed to know what I'd been up to, and I didn't doubt she'd been briefed by Twilight and Starlight... That said, I would expect that she would be a bit more upset with me for threatening her guards—regardless of it being a bluff, it was a threat nonetheless—and maybe a bit more freaked out by our earlier encounter... but she seemed pretty collected. Then again, she may have had time to discuss with Twilight and Starlight and get a better picture of the kind of person I was.

And maybe she actually looked at my psych profile.

Once I could no longer see Princess Luna, I rose, only for the world to spin and pitch sideways. One moment I was standing up, the next I was on my side with Twilight and Starlight standing over me, looking worried. My body felt weak, hollow even, and when I attempted to stand back up, I only just managed to get my front hooves under me. The moment I looked like I was losing traction, Twilight swooped in and let me lean against her.

"Don't try to stand yet, Anon; you've just fainted," she whispered, letting some spell wash over me. Her magic felt warm and gentle, soothing the minor aches in my body from the nonstop milking and bucket hauling. It did nothing to help the empty sensation though. "You burned through a lot of mana with that rudimentary spell, and because you've been avoiding sugar, your reserves were already low."

I grumbled as a bar of milk chocolate appeared before me, enveloped in a cloud of turquoise magic. It'd already been unwrapped, and was just sitting there, tantalisingly. "We really just want you to remain healthy, Anon," Starlight added, smiling as I actually took a bite of the bar. It wasn't like I felt hungry after having apples, cheese, and juice, but they were right. I could feel the lack of magic in me. "Ponies your age usually have larger reserves, but much like your body, yours are less developed than they could be. Practice will help over time, but until you develop adult magic pathways and reserves, you're going to need to rely on the regenerative properties of sugar."

I was about to ask if that meant I could start getting coffee, even if it was just decaf, when I was suddenly levitated. "You're probably due to rest given the sort of day you had," Twilight admitted, as Starlight pushed more chocolate into my face-hole. "We'll get you cleaned up, let you have your meeting with the princess, and then it's off to bed with you."

It wasn't exactly easy to disagree as they carried me up to the baths. I was exhausted from the lack of sleep and working hard all morning. Plus my head was definitely not on straight yet; I was honestly still averse to the pony concept of communal bathing, preferring to tend to my own personal grooming, but I didn't even have the energy to grouse about that. Although, being in this situation makes me understand it. It's about togetherness, co-operation, and trust.

Finally taking the bar with my hoof, I sighed. "Twilight, Starlight, I'm so sorry." That actually caused our little procession to stop for a moment. "I know that caring for me isn't easy, and despite my best attempts, this kid brain-meat has me acting up, like I'm not entirely in control of my own emotions." I looked to Starlight, taking another big bite of chocolate. "I shouldn't have dumped all that baggage on you last night and then left you with the responsibility of telling Twilight where I disappeared to. That wasn't fair to you, and I should've cleared it with Twilight in the first place."

Switching my attention to Twilight, I felt my cheeks flush. "I've been such a little..." I caught myself before I swore. "I've been such a little turd when you've been nothing but kind," I admitted. I finished off the bar of chocolate. "Sure, you come off as condescending because you're not entirely certain that I can function as an adult as a pony despite having been one as a human, but I know it's not out of malice. It's not easy to admit this but I... I'm not used to people saying they're doing something for my own good, and not doing me some sort of harm."

I shivered a bit, breaking eye contact; I could feel the shame welling up in me. "I see you treating me like a child and I keep expecting the other shoe to drop." One thing I've noticed about pony anatomy is that assuming the fetal position isn't something one can do, even if that's all my shame pushes me to do. Unfortunately, being levitated as I am, the best I could do was hide my face with my hooves. "Maybe subconsciously, I'm acting out, pushing your buttons in hopes that you'll snap and be done with it, rather than just waiting." Moisture collected in the corners of my eyes, and I couldn't suppress a sniffle. "I know you're not like that now, but I'm not well..."

"Anon," I heard Twilight murmur. To my surprise, I felt myself pressed into a warm embrace—one I didn't feel compelled to struggle out of. "You don't have to apologise." I felt someone else join in on the hug, and I realised Starlight had also joined the embrace. "I won't deny that you can be maddening at times. You've demonstrated repeatedly that you have mind closer to that of an adult, and I admit fault in being slow to recognise that, because you do have the brain of a foal. Maybe I have been treating you too much like a foal..." There was a bit of a chuckle from her. "You're still in trouble for breaking Rule #8."

~ 07 ~

I would rather not dwell on the fact that I had to let someone else help groom me, or even my feelings on the matter. Instead, I'd like to ask whatever force of nature developed ponies why they get so fluffy after a blow-dry. It was legitimately embarrassing that I'd have to face the princess looking like a puffed-up pigeon. Yet Twilight and Starlight insisted I look adorable like this.

This is definitely punishment for Rule #8.

Thankfully, I while being groomed, I recovered enough strength to move on my own, so I was able to smooth down my fur until it was just the tuft on my chest puffed out. That said, I'd seen plenty of mares out and about with their chest-fluff on display, just as I'd seen some stallions do the same, so why not mimic the native ponies? The only thing I didn't like was the way that Starlight smirked at me when I started making my way down to the library.

Much to my surprise, I could smell a pot of coffee brewing the moment I entered the library. I could tell by the smell that it was decaf, but still, it was coffee. Not only that, though; the moment I saw Princess Luna, I also saw a creature I never would have expected to have seen again in my life. "Is that a <> Opossum, or at least, the Equestrian equivalent?" I asked with some excitement, joining the princess at one of the research tables. My eyes would not leave the small grey creature nestled just behind her crown, its flexible pink tail wrapped around the length of her horn. There was no stopping a smile from spreading across my face at the memories the sight brought. "It's so awesome to get to see one again."

The alicorn princess smiled at me, pouring me a cup of decaf and sliding it across the table, the sugar bowl following lose behind. "Yes. This is Tiberius, a very important friend," she answered. Her eyes watched me with curiosity when I didn't immediately reach for the sugar. "You seemed very pleased to see an opossum; many ponies misunderstand these beautiful creatures."

I nodded, reaching over to the sugar dish to grab a couple of sugar cubes. This would totally mess with the flavour of the coffee, but I wasn't yet feeling better, so into the cup. "I actually travelled with one for a time," I admitted, stirring the contents of the cup with my hoof-field. "He crawled into my automatic-carriage one night I was camping in <>, and despite being wild, he chose to stick with me until I had to leave him in <>. Smart buggers, them, and when they get used to you, they're really friendly."

A gentle sigh escaped me as I sipped at the coffee. Truth was, even today, I missed Samwise the Opossum. I hated that sad look he gave me when I told him we had to part ways, but I swear he knew... Any further north would've been outside the native range of his species... and even if I wouldn't have felt bad taking him across the border into Canada, he never would've been allowed to come with me while working the boat that took me to Gibraltar. It wouldn't have been fair to him.

Still, it was hard not to miss those whiskery nibbles when he wanted his fair share, or the way he would nap in the passenger seat on those long drives. I even missed just chatting at him as he'd putter about the campsite. It was really lonely leaving him behind, even if it was the right thing to do.

"Indeed," she said after a few moments of quiet reminiscence. "I meant to ask upon your arrival... what was it that you said to Dame Applejack to cause her to strike you?"

Looking away, I took a long sip from my cup of coffee. "What is the Nightmare, your highness?" I asked, dodging the point. "How does it differ from a normal nightmare caused by stress and anxiety?"

Her eyes became steely as she looked at me. "The Nightmare was a vile parasite that feeds on your fears and doubts," she explained, finally turning her gaze to her own cup. Rather than take a drink, she prodded the handle with her hoof. "It lives in the dream world until it can take root in a viable host, at which point it attempts to weaken and supplant its victims consciousness. Its first victim was none other than yours truly. It wrested control of my body and mind from my grasp, and attempted the unthinkable."

"Nightmare Moon," I whispered, remembering Applejack's words. What happened with Princess Luna an' the Nightmare ain't nowhere near that simple, so callin' her a demon is a cruelty you can't begin to comprehend. "No wonder she was upset... Talk shit, get hit."

"Pardon?" the princess asked, looking aghast at my turn of phrase.

"Sorry, it's a <> phrase." My cheeks flushed at the realisation that I'd just sworn in front of a royal. "As vulgar as it is, it actually has a pretty important lesson. One should not be surprised when utter disrespect and ignorance is met with violence, rather than acceptance." I looked to the princess. "I knew nothing of what the Nightmare was, or what it did to you... Yet I dismissed it as a 'bad dream', while conflating what it would have attempted through you and its other victim with the actual war crimes perpetrated by one of the most infamous <> in <> history."

We sat in silence for a few minutes, the quiet only momentarily shattered by the soft snuffling of Tiberius as he awoke and looked at me over the edge of Luna's crown. I could feel my shame radiating off of me like heat, but I was right to feel ashamed. What I said was ignorant, and child though I may be in their eyes, that did not automagically free me from the burden of my words.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I can't begin to understand what you or whichever friend Applejack spoke of, and I should know better than to be dismissive things I don't understand in this world..." I lifted my mug and drained it, allowing the sugar slurry that had accumulated at the bottom to slowly flow into my mouth. "Honestly, that segues quite well into the reason you came here in the first place."

"Oh?" she actually seemed surprised to hear that. "Do tell."

Sucking in a breath, I folded my hooves in front of me. "<> didn't have a means to directly affect the mind of others, though in science fiction and fantasy, there were always means of mind control..." I looked her in the eye, even though my instincts were screaming not to. "One of my biggest concerns—fears, even—since coming here has been whether or not my mind has been... altered. Then you tried to enter my dreams and wrested lucidity from my hooves, forcing me to relive a memory."

Luna frowned, shaking her head slightly. "That was never my intent," she insisted. "Every night, I visit the dreams of all ponies to ensure they do not have nightmares, and ensure that they never meet a Nightmare. When I first found your door in the dream-realm, all I could do was peer through the lock and see you surrounded by darkness. I feared the worst..."

Despite the anxiety and anger I felt at her own admission, I smiled. "Starlight said that was probably all it was." I held my hooves up in the equivalent of a human shrug. "Still, at the time, it was a shock, and all but confirmation that someone was attempting to tamper with my mind. I did the only thing I that knew from experience would wake me up..."

The alicorn looked slightly ill at the inference. "Yes, and that is part of the reason I came," she said. "Most ponies, even in dreams, are not capable of such an action, especially if it is done out of spite." She reached a hoof across the small table and placed it atop my hooves. I didn't flinch away. "If you did not intend for her to share, I apologise on Starlight's behalf, but I had to know if you were a threat to yourself... I take the wellness of my little ponies very personally."

I smiled at her and laughed. "I didn't tell her anything I didn't want getting out, Your Highness," I dismissed. "I wanted her, and whoever she ended up sharing it with, to understand the sort of life I lived and why I am the way I am." Shaking my head, I removed one of my hooves from beneath hers and lifted up my empty cup and gave it a shake indicating I wouldn't mind a refill. To my surprise, she laughed as she levitated the carafe over and filled my cup again. "What?"

"I'm just relieved," she said as she withdrew her hooves. "I was worried that you were dangerously unwell and would hate me for intruding upon your dreams. You truly are of another world... No Equestrian foal has a palate capable of appreciating coffee."

Despite the sugar intake of my second and third cups, I was beginning to feel sleep edging in on my consciousness. Yet I didn't try to excuse myself. I was starting to enjoy my time speaking with the princess, and didn't wanna stop to take a nap. Instead, I pushed myself as far as I was willing to go. We talked about whatever came to mind, such as Nightmare Night and whether or not I'd be participating—she convinced me to at least dress up, even if I wasn't in it for the candy—if I had any goals after graduating school, as well as what I was most looking forward to in learning runic magic. In the end, she also managed to convince me that I don't need to isolate myself in the void... and that she'd be willing to watch over my dreams. She promised happy dreams unaffected by my old life.

Oh and while she was impressed with how I managed to handle her guards—apparently this was some sort of test for both myself and the pair of greenies outside to see how we handled ourselves—I was to never ever attempt what I did with any guards in the future. Apparently not all guards were so easy to intimidate, and threatening a guard with violence was in fact something that would normally get a pony clapped in irons. Go figure.

Author's Note

1. Anon has created her first rudimentary spell, and we finally get her personal magic's natural colour. Runic magic can be achieved by inscribing a spell on a surface and channeling magic through the runes and glyphs. A spell can be constructed in three ways, depending on the sort of spell.

What Anon constructed was of the Weaved Spiral sort, were balance of positioning is important. At the center, you have the base rune. Modifier runes and glyphs spiral out in tightly packed threads. In the case of Anon's spell, the 'above target point' instruction is a single thread. It is also worth noting that modifier runes themselves can have their own spiral of modifiers, which allows for construction of incredibly complex nested effects. Without cost-savers and clever use of the right runes, such spells can become huge drains, especially Anon's spell, which—while channeled—would continuously ignite the air until channeling ceased.

The second type is the traditional Scroll variety. A series of runes are written in magic-conducting ink upon a scroll. These runes and glyphs consist of an exact instruction of how a spell is intended to work. This can be something as simple as the approximation of a unicorn's telekinetic levitation spell, or something as complex as creating a localised time distortion that could repair damage to buildings.

The final is the large array. This contains a complex spell written in a circle around the targeted area, as many times as is necessary to circle the area. Such wide-area spells are often mistaken for grand feats of ritual magic. This allows someone with enough preparation time to create a self-powering force-field around a target location not unlike Shining Armour's own grand shield spell that protected Canterlot during the wedding.

1. It is worth noting that chest fluff—or 'the floof'—is used by both mares and stallions to attract a mate. In the case of Anon mimicking the phenomena with her blow-dried coat, it's the pony equivalent of a child trying on her mother's clothes and make-up to look more adult.