Thursday, April 30th, 909 AB (Moments later)

The four separate from the group after a quick round of goodbyes and follow the princess through the castle. With his far shorter stride Cure is having to speed up to a canter just to match the princess's normal walk.

After a moment he spreads his wings, hops in the air, and follows alongside her, hovering by her withers. The move puzzles the mare as he's not even flapping; merely holding his wings out and seemingly sliding across the air. His horn is softly glowing, but he's using so little magic it is unclear what exactly he’s doing.

"How in the world are you doing that?" Solar asks, voicing the same question the princess was about to. "Are you levitating yourself?"

"Cheating," he replies with a smirk. At the deadpanned look he elaborates, "You get partial credit. I've told ya before that earth ponies' telekinetic aura extends a little beyond mere touch, right?" He has several times, he's mainly explaining for the princess's benefit just in case.

"Right."

In a move that completely baffles both the unicorn and alicorn, Cure rotates around mid air, pivoting while maintaining his direction, speed, and height with barely any motion from his wings at all.

He continues his explanation, "Well I had, back in September or so, gotten a variety of rocks and gravel of all sizes figuring that it's an ability that could probably be trained and refined. Both me and my parents, that is," he clarifies, waving a hoof between the three of them. "One night dad was going to the pub when it was raining, so I suggested he envision projecting out almost a bubble of force all around him."

"I remember that," Deed says. "Worked like a charm once I got tha right image. I do it every time it rains now. Only my hooves get wet."

"I came up with a bunch of uses for it in the garden, too,” Title adds. “It's probably an earth pony's greatest advantage and most don't even know we can do it."

"This is fascinating," the princess mumbles, looking up and down at Cure trying to find the trick. "Is this something only you can do?"

"Earth ponies can do the grabby thing all over, but the floating thing? I bet you could do it too. Do you have a gym somewhere for the guards?"

"We do, yes. I will have to try… It looks fun. How did you discover this?"

"Start off with zero assumptions. Test everything. Define rules, find exceptions, and try to determine why they exist." Cure finishes with a shrug, causing him to bob in the air. "I can only imagine what ponies could do if they started with the assumption that nothing is impossible."

"You should see the moves he's come up with, highness," Title says. "He can do this whole ballet-like thing hovering in mid air. It's pretty neat, especially with his muscle control and color changing."

Cure pouts at his mom, grumbling, "That was a private, one time only show for my little sisters!"

"I would absolutely love to see it sometime," Celestia pleads, batting her lashes at the colt.

Gripping his chest with both forehooves he dramatically blurts out, "Gah! Pretty pony princess pleading pierces protections!" He sighs in defeat, dejectedly announcing, "Prescribed performance planning possibly proceeds posterior to the present party."

"Seven out of ten," Title rates over top of the princess's giggle, "It's a little unclear what exactly you meant. I'll toss ya a bonus point because of how many words you got in despite the first few being gimmes." She smirks at the princess and adds, “Found his weakness already, huh? A pretty mare bats her lashes at 'em and he folds like wet paper.”

"Everypony's a critic," he huffs. Rotating to face Celestia he ignores her victorious smirk and clarifies, "Maybe after this meeting I'll think'a something. Or maybe I'll save that for next time. Always leave 'em wanting, after all."

"A showpony on top of everything else, hmm?"

"All the world's a stage, your highness. I just happened to play more parts than some."

"I see. I'm still curious exactly how you are doing that."

"Tha colt couldn't stay on a topic if ya glued 'em to it, highness."

He blows a quick raspberry at his sire, then explains, "So by using the earth pony aura and projecting it I can affect the air around myself, so I can form almost like a bubble of lightened air held in place around me and, of course, I'm only effectively a few kilograms, so the upwards thrust of the surrounding air on the air closer to my body and wings is enough to allow me to basically hover.

"It's not unlike using some kind of flotation device in a body of water, but it definitely takes some practice to get right. I find it's easier to juuuuust about completely counter my weight and levitate with my horn. You're essentially messing with buoyancy even though you're not in water, so if you don't use your horn you gotta find the happy medium that lets you float without gaining or losing altitude, so don't expect to get it right the first few dozen times."

Laughing at the memory, his mom shouts, "The first time he tried he smacked straight into the ceiling!"

"He sure did," Deed says, chuckling. "Left a big divot where his horn hit. Good thing fer that Mendin spell."

"I was tryin somethin new," Cure grumbles under his breath. "At least I finally figured it out."

With a thoughtful look, the princess raises one of her wings slightly. “Lightening the air… That is an interesting concept.” After a moment of dividing her attention she shrugs and refolds her wings. “I will have to experiment when I have an opportunity.”

"Yeah, you gotta get it to kinda ‘click’ in place before you can do it. It's a combination of pegasus and earth pony abilities with a unicorn cheaty shortcut, so like I said, I suspect you could do it too once you get the visual right.”

“Think of it like a hot air balloon, princess,” Title helpfully suggests.

“That’s a good analogy too,” he agrees. “Whether or not you could do it depends on if your wings have enough surface area given your mass, really. As you can see I've slightly enlarged my wings proportionally to match my wider frame compared to a pegasus.

"That gives me a bigger ‘bubble’ to take advantage of to offset my higher mass compared to them. It stinks they don't seem to be able to project out the holding field far enough to do it. They can lighten the air but can't lock it in place, though that updraft still makes it possible to gain altitude quickly."

The princess's eyes bug out in realization. "That…" she pauses, tilting her head in thought. "I suppose I had not considered the full implications of your talent. I noticed everypony had their coats and feathers groomed to perfection at dinner, though. The mane effects are quite dashing, by the way."

"You should have been there when he offered to increase my horn size, your highness," Solar admits while blushing slightly. The princess bursts out laughing, causing his blush to deepen. "That's basically what Dawn did too," he grumbles, causing her to laugh even harder.

"Tell the boss lady what I told her," Cure challenges.

"No way! Don't you dare, Cure!"

"It wasn't that big of a deal. She ain't some little filly!"

"Well now I truly must know," she comments playfully.

Letting out an exaggerated sigh, Cure turns to the grinning mare and paraphrases, "So she busted out laughing just like you did and he went all crimson at her snarkin 'em about how a bigger horn would draw attention from the mares. I told her that is exactly why I don't joke or make comments about anything medical related; it makes ponies uncomfortable asking for help."

"I could certainly see that," she agrees, lightly chuckling. "A wise choice, Cure."

"That's not exactly what he said," Solar defends.

"Fine! I said I don't care if he wanted a bigger horn or a bigger something else; I treat all requests with the same abject professional attitude. Hay, I've already had one FOIB. I'm relieved it hasn't become a recurring thing… especially with stallions," he admits with a shudder.

“Chicken,” Solar mumbles. He can't blame Cure, though. For some reason it just feels like it would be wrong to say the word "dong" around the princess.

"I encounter far too many acronyms to remember them all. I am afraid FOIB does not ring a bell."

Title answers in a sigh, "Foreign Object In Body." Coughing to the side she mumbles, "A cucumber."

Celestia freezes mid step with a shocked look, then absolutely cracks up, laughing uproariously while leaning with a wing against the wall. As amused as everypony else is, the thought of Princess Celestia laughing at a cucumber shoved in a mare’s snatch falls far enough outside of expectations that nopony seems to know how to react. It’s a remarkably similar atmosphere to what Ed had briefly experienced once.

Ed wasn’t a religious guy, exactly, but that didn’t mean he never interacted with anyone that was. A fun memory from his early twenties was when a bud of his was getting married. They were all pretty low income, especially at that point, so the bachelor’s party was a tubing trip down a nearby river with a floating cooler full of beer. It was absolutely illegal, but unless a park ranger happened to be there nobody seemed to give a shit.

He had, at first, been weirded out when the deacon that was going to officiate the wedding showed up, but that uncomfortable atmosphere was, thankfully, dispelled within the first ten minutes. Deacon Meyers was thrilled to be included and, to the shock of the group, brought a couple drinks to share with everyone; two fifths of some kind of “something” Reserve; a Crown knock-off that wasn’t surprisingly good, especially after the first couple shots.

He didn’t get completely shitfaced like the groom-to-be but God apparently was A-OK with his local rep knocking a few back given how little effort it would have taken to smite a group of drunk morons floating down a river on innertubes. In retrospect it was a terrible idea that could have easily ended in disaster, but all’s well that ends well, and apparently the guy upstairs didn’t mind too much.

Cure is aware that the princess is still a mare and, very likely, has done anything and everything imaginable at least once in her ridiculously long life. While he is consciously avoiding being too overly familiar, it occurs to him that he also needs to accept the fact that she isn’t, and apparently doesn’t try to be, some kind of religious icon.

He still isn’t sure if she carries some “spark of divinity” or something, but if she does that doesn’t mean she’s some proselytizing saint. Either way, it still feels kind of weird with the grandmotherly aura the princess possesses.

It takes a moment for her to regain her composure, wiping her eyes with a pastern while still giggling. As the group continues on, through subdued giggles she comments, "On one hoof I would prefer such a young foal not be exposed to such things; on the other I suppose it is somewhat unavoidable given your talent."

"It wasn't any worse than helpin mares push out a foal," he comments. "A heck of a lot less messy, if anything. Besides, we’re all pretty gross on the inside, boss. I don’t get to pick and choose what I see and an errant piece of fruit is pretty low on the yuck scale compared to what’s goin on in our GI tracts."

A cringe crosses everypony's features for a moment before they reluctantly acknowledge his point. “It’s all the same to me at this point anyhow,” he adds with a shrug.

"Here we are," she declares, opening a door and motioning everypony in. "I had your plants brought with the assumption you need them to create your trees."

Cure floats his way into the room, finding his dozen, slightly diminished plants lining the wall to his right. Captain Stalwart Shield and Lieutenant Gliding Spear are in their armor, uncovered, and seated on the closest side of a large conference table to his left with stacks of folders in front of them. They both stand at attention when the door opens. As Celestia walks in she tells them to be at ease.

Both are struck, staring at the alicorn colt hovering in mid air for a moment before the princess's words register and they retake their spots, still craning their necks to stare.

"Sup?" he casually asks, waving a hoof. Title snorts a laugh as she trots around the table to take a seat opposite and slightly right of the lieutenant with Deed sitting across from the empty space between the mares, Solar sitting to his right. Celestia takes the end of the table between the unicorns and the opposite has a riser for the colt to park on by his mom.

He makes himself comfortable, all the while still being open-mouth gawked at. Celestia clears her throat, finally getting their attention. The lieutenant slides a document out of a folder and sets it out to take notes. Cure figures it’s probably something like an official statement, judging by the several blank lines to be filled out.

"So we have several things to discuss, unfortunately. First and foremost, I believe we owe you an apology for failing to ensure your and your family and friends' safety on your journey here.

"During the investigation into your stolen trees we identified a pony of interest who both would have had access to your sire's report," she looks to Solar, "and has familial connections to somepony on the executive board of a smaller pharmaceutical company. We had no reason to suspect anypony was planning such an aggressive move as attacking a train. I can only thank the stars and your foresight for preparing for such an eventuality."

"That was all Cure, I think," Solar admits, looking at the parents for confirmation.

Deed nods in agreement explaining, "Tha colt was sure somepony would try 'n stop 'em from gettin here. We met with Grandpa Brick and he agreed there was a chance, that's why my cousin, Lucky, an' the security team were there."

"A wise precaution, in retrospect," she agrees. "However it is my understanding that they were, for the most part, unnecessary."

Cure answers the unspoken question. "They helped keep an eye on everypony… creature after I knocked them out, but there was zero actual fighting the whole time. It was a near thing with the minotaurs."

"How, though?!" the captain blurts out.

"Airborne sedation for the minotaurs and ponies, internal medication on the zebras. I had made everypony with me immune to the effects beforehoof, so the minotaurs were the only ones affected in our car. I transmuted food inside the zebras' guts and a few milligrams of sugars in their blood to an opiate and sent the one pony back to his boss with a gas bomb, basically, that knocked them all out."

Everypony takes a moment to process the explanation. Both officers' brows are hiked clear into their manes. A tinge of wariness seems to creep into both their features at the possibility of a foal being able to simply magic whatever directly into their bloodstream or, presumably, somewhere even worse.

"Brilliant and effective strategies," Celestia compliments despite their barely veiled worry. "How were you able to use your talent on the zebras from a car away, though? They are all claiming they never even entered your car."

"They didn't. This one," he projects an Illusion of a zebra, "was trying to throw a flask of yellow stuff into the coupling between the car in front of us and the rest of the train. I scanned it; it's acidic, but seems too weak to do much."

"It is an alchemical solution that would have eaten through the metal and cables in seconds," the lieutenant slowly clarifies, shaking off her shock. The colt is a guest of the princess, after all. If he didn't harm the creatures attacking his family there's no need to fear him, she supposes. "The physical properties are just the start."

"Ah. Neat. Anyhow, I had run a vine through the hallways of the last several cars of the train that had a variety of sensors in them. Heat, sound, smell, and visual. With the targeting information provided I was able to levitate away the flask and, after determining their likely intent, knock out the zebras as I described."

After a moment of thought he adds, "I removed the vines when we stopped and Mended any damage to the cars, by the way."

The princess chuckles briefly, assuring him, "I am quite unconcerned about that, Cure."

The captain resumes, "The testimonies from the minotaurs and one pony detail their encounters with a creature that I have never heard of." She opens the folder and reads, "A quadrupedal creature with two clawed arms, four appendages described as scythes, a tail similar to a dragon's, exceedingly muscular, armored with bone and, from their descriptions, some sort of carapace that stood approximately two point five meters tall and likely weighed upwards of six hundred kilograms."

She sets the paper down and looks at Cure. "I fail to see the resemblance."

"I would hope." He slowly combs a hoof through his mane. In an overly posh accent, he says, "That utterly fails to capture my magnificence."

"Cure," Celestia calls in a light scolding tone.

He projects a shrunk down Illusion on the table and explains, "I basically tried to think of the scariest thing I could come up with to delay fighting so the gas could do its thing or just scare 'em off. It’s like a combination between a beetle, praying mantis, crocodile, and, though I hadn’t yet scanned one, dragon. The minotaurs stayed up long enough I thought I was going to have to actually fight them, but that thing was a huge slab of bone and muscle. They had no chance at all."

"Goodness! I do not believe I would want to face such a being in an enclosed train car myself," she comments, the officers voicing their agreements. "Suddenly the 'Fool' label makes far more sense."

"Ah… that's why they had that," the captain mumbles. "So that wasn’t an Illusion? They indicated that the being cut a table in half as a demonstration and the earth pony says it gave him…" she pauses to look at the notes, then gives Cure a flat stare, "tea with two sugars? Really?"

Title starts giggling at the image of Cure, in a huge monster suit, making tiny cups of tea for a terrified pony. Celestia raises a single, questioning brow.

"The tea thing was funny," he insists with a scowl. "As for the rest, I… have reservations about sharing how that was achieved. Let’s just say it was an elaborate puppet."

"He doesn't trust anypony as a rule," Solar clarifies.

"Trust, like respect, is earned, not given," Cure declares. He looks at the princess and asks, "Do you trust them completely?"

"They would certainly not be in their positions if I did not." The small smile on their faces doesn’t escape his notice.

"Will this remain confidential?"

She immediately answers, "It will, as will most of what we've discussed this far."

"Demonstration time?" he asks his parents. Both think, trade looks, and nod at the colt. "Okay," he agrees, flapping once and gliding to his shrubs. "No peeking!" he calls over his withers and casts an Invisibility spell to obscure his work.

Deed and Title can't help but smirk while looking forward to the expressions they're certain are coming momentarily. "It'll take 'em a couple minutes ta get it ready," Deed explains. The officers nod and turn to look over their withers, waiting for the big reveal.

The princess, unsurprisingly, can pierce the spell easily. Fortunately he had just started when he noticed. When Cure senses her gaze on him he shoots her a wink and removes his horn, wings, and fur. The naked foal gets a giggle out of her before she turns away. Within a couple minutes he has reformed his “basic” alicorn suit and climbs inside, dispelling the Invisibility as he stands and faces everypony.

"Sweet Celestia," the lieutenant absently mumbles.

The ancient mare stares in wonder. "I assure you I am every bit as surprised as you, lieutenant."

"Okay, I've been totally dying to do this for months," Cure says in a smooth baritone. Turning to face the princess, he stands imperiously to his full, towering height and smiles broadly. "Hello my little pony," he happily greets the mare.

Deed facehooves immediately but Title starts snickering.

"Really, Cure?" Solar asks with a sigh.

"I don't know why I didn't see that coming," she admits. "I really should have at this point. I admit, it feels quite odd to be on the other end of it for once." Pointing a hoof she asks, "Do you mind?"

Cure gives a no head shake and stands "at ease" for inspection, raising his wings so she can really look him over. He's experiencing a bout of ambivalence regarding the suit's design. On one hoof, he's very relieved he elected not to give it genitalia because it would be pretty weird for it to have an enormous cock and a big dangling nutsack.

That whole apparatus really only has two functions, barring more creative uses like advanced juggling tricks or hooves-and-horn-free writing, at least, and there's no reason he should need either typical use anytime soon.

On the other hoof, a very attractive mare is giving him a thorough look-over and, as incredibly weird as it would be to have a BSD and a couple grapefruit hanging out back there, having nothing at all feels incredibly emasculating. It shouldn’t matter, especially at his age, but the thought still niggles at the back of his mind. At least his exclusion of a rectal cavity should lend credence to the "the innocent foal only put the necessities on" line of thought.

Though all of them are immediately dismissed with prejudice, thoughts of adding strange or humorous images or sayings in those strategic locations flit through his mind. Of the more mild possibilities he considers a "don't stare right here" sign or something like "you're making it weird" in spots that would otherwise be occupied, but as funny as it may be it would also probably embarrass the princess or make her uncomfortable due to his age.

It's possible she may get a laugh out of something like that, but in the end it's just not worth rolling the dice on that until he knows her better. For now, a smooth, unblemished surface with a healthy layer of soft, blue fur is all that's there to be found.

The captain and lieutenant take a moment to get over their shock before joining the princess. Two additional mares staring him over doesn't make it less weird, and them being the height they are, especially the lieutenant, means there's no way they won't notice some things are missing. In the end Cure doesn't have any choice but to accept the situation he put himself in as best he can.

That doesn’t stop his mom from sniggering at the table or his sire from having to bite his lip not to laugh. Solar is too busy staring awestruck to react, though. Apparently seeing an enormous alicorn version of his little brother is even more bizarre than the quadrupedal Tyranid Warrior variant he used on the train.

As the seconds drag on Cure has a hard time keeping weird things from circling in his mind. He considers that he could make a wang pop out right in front of everypony but that would probably be even more weird. Not as weird as having three pop out or a vag suddenly form probably would be, but still well beyond an acceptable level of strangeness given present company.

At least he can prevent any kind of blush or other sign of embarrassment. That's a huge advantage his suit has; he can control his own features very well, normally, but a big surprise can cause him to react before he has a chance to stop it. With the suit every twitch, blink, smile, or other motion is a fully conscious action.

That becomes dubiously useful when he senses the officers trade a look as they're both near his hindquarters. Unbeknownst to the pair he can easily detect when they stare for a second directly where his junk should be then face each other. He gets it; any amputee can attest that something not being where it belongs would naturally draw attention, and given the size of the suit it's far harder to think of him as an eight year old than it is his approximate apparent age.

He could easily say something or even give them a look to let them know they were caught, but he doesn't want to get them in trouble assuming Celestia didn't catch it. It would also make everything really uncomfortable and could result in him having to actually explain out loud exactly why his suit doesn't have a wiener.

Celestia finishes her inspection and stands in front of Cure, looking at his face from only about a hoof lower. "I wonder if this is how you will look when fully grown," she comments. Either she’s already forgotten he’s not really an alicorn, which is unlikely, or she’s saying it for appearance’s sake. Or, he guesses, she figures he’ll eventually do something crazy enough to meet whatever criteria there is.

The thought has bounced around in Cure’s head a number of times and, although he’s not necessarily enamored with the idea of ascending at one point he can’t say his parents are alone in wondering what it would actually take. From some of the stories Ed had read with his granddaughter, Celestia supposedly ascended when she first moved the sun and Luna, when she did the same with the moon. In others and, he thinks in canon, they always were alicorns.

He’s all but certain that is not the case here though, simply for the fact that the princess apparently assumed he had ascended. The only way she could have come to that conclusion is if she or Luna had done so also. More than likely, he figures it had to have been the latter given that she not only knew about the process, but also expected to be able to sense its occurrence.

Either that or, like he had joked with his mom so many months ago, perhaps other ponies have ascended as well. Thankfully she said she doesn't eat meat, so there's a pretty good chance he won't wind up on her plate under any circumstances. At least, not more than he already has with his fruits.

Cadance’s ascension, for whatever reason, wasn’t theorized much in anything he recalls. The only thing that stands out was she defeated some evil sorcerer with love somehow. That sounds pretty lame to him, so either there’s more to the story or she was ascended specifically to deal with the Crystal Empire’s eventual emergence.

That sounds like a pretty massive middle finger to everypony that ruled the Crystal Empire in the past, though, because worthy as she may eventually be, presumably some of those ponies did a fine and dandy job of running the place for quite a while and all they got in return was the reaper’s sweet embrace.

Similarly, as monumental as raising the sun or moon is, unicorns had done it for who knows how long, even if they had to do it as a group ritual. The idea that some “chosen one” was sent to take over and given all the things she needed to accomplish the task singlehoofedly, then was rewarded when she did so, similarly reeks of favoritism.

He’d previously been told that unicorns did not, in fact, burn themselves out when raising the sun, but it was very taxing. The Hearth’s Warming play line he thought said exactly that was nowhere to be found when he checked, but it still strikes him as odd that whoever was nearly killing themselves for the sake of the planet and got bupkis in return when somepony “better” came along and took over.

Dismissing his thoughts on the subject as unimportant in the present, Cure shrugs his wings at the princess’s musing, figuring that the best course of action is to follow her lead.

"Probably. Proportionally, this frame is roughly the same as a large earth pony. This is towards the upper end as far as musculature but unless something weird were to happen during puberty this is about how I would look as an adult if I wanted to… or if that's just how I ended up, I suppose. For all the cosmetic alterations I do to disguise myself I haven't really consciously done anything to change my overall shape."

"Disguise yourself?" the captain asks. “You mean hide that you're an alicorn?”

Cure turns his head right, looking under his wing at the shorter mares. "Yep. I didn't want anypony knowing about the horn and wings before talking to the princess. Believe it or not, I do try my best not to be a bother."

"Ah."

Turning back to the princess, he continues, "Since this isn't my body and there's not what you would really call vital organs, I am able to pretty easily alter the shape. For example," he sits on his haunches while he changes his forehooves into talons and his muzzle to a beak.

At the same time he changes the shape of the suit's head, making his features more angular like a pony, griffon hybrid approximately would be, altering his wing shape at the same time. "I've not scanned a hippogriff, but this is roughly what a tall, extremely muscular one would look like, I think."

"No vital organs?" Celestia questions as she takes in his new form.

"Right. It does have lungs, but no brain or GI tract. There's a heart, but I have my own, too. If this thing was decapitated I would still be fine because that's not where I am in it. I would lose my hearing and eyesight, but that wouldn’t stop me from regrowing eyes, ears, or whatever somewhere else."

He hears his mom quietly whisper, “Do it!” before his sire leans over and nudges her with his shoulder, shooting her a disapproving look.

"Huh. This is all very, very strange," Cpt. Shield comments. "I've never heard of a hippogriff with a horn. I have to say, talons that large…" she drifts off, staring.

Cure holds them out, allowing the unicorn to take one in a hoof and inspect them. "They're a little intimidating, aren't they? These are just a scaled up set from a griffon, unsharpened though. I'm not sure if hippogriffs' are exactly the same."

“Unsharpened?” the captain asks, glancing between the colt’s face and the talons, “They certainly look right to me.”

“I can make them as sharp as a surgical knife,” he explains. “It’s just a matter of making the one edge narrower, after all. I mean… that’s all you’re doing when you’re sharpening a blade.”

“True,” she concedes, releasing his talons and stepping back. “Something… isn’t quite right,” she adds, looking up at him appraisingly.

"He is very close," Celestia says. Turning back to address the colt she continues, "This is a fair amount wider and more muscular than any hippogriff I have seen, even accounting for the height. I have seen some taller hippogriffs, but not typically much beyond your sire.

“Perhaps if a large, muscular earth pony were to have a foal with an unusually large, strong griffon they could look similar.” She looks him over again from top to bottom before adding, “They also have feathers from here down," she points to just above his fetlock, “on both their fore and hind legs.

"Also, their ears are internal and they typically have longer feathers near the entrance to prevent water getting in when fishing. All told, a close estimation if you’ve not had the opportunity to see one before.”

"Thanks boss. I think I’ll stick to being a normal…” he hesitates and corrects, “normal-ish pony though," he says, starting to change back at the same time. The mares move back to the table as Cure levitates the seat out of his way and retakes his place opposite the princess. "So… we good?"

"I'm not sure I'm good," the captain comments, somewhat at a loss as to where to start. "This is far, far, FAR beyond what I thought a biomaniuplator is capable of. I know concerns were voiced before… I can't help but feel they were warranted, in a way."

The lieutenant asks, "Why didn't you use this disguise against the minotaurs? I can't imagine they would have been bold enough to attack an alicorn."

Cure looks to his left and extends his wing as it morphs into a long, unsharpened scythe, absorbing the feathers in the process, then rotates it forward in a way a wing joint can't. The officers lean back reflexively, but the princess just looks on in fascination.

"They attacked a far scarier looking, objectively, being with four of these for arms. Plus I didn't want word to get out of another alicorn until I checked in with the boss lady. I didn’t know who would be interrogating them when we arrived." He rotates the arm back, changing it back to a wing at the same time.

“And I appreciate your thoughtfulness,” she nods in approval. “So you are controlling this… construct? I suppose that’s an accurate word. Or perhaps golem, though that doesn’t seem quite right since you are inside it. Regardless, how does it work?”

“It really is a suit. I think the right term would be exosuit, or exoskeleton, though the latter is less accurate as it’s clearly more than just the bones. Its nervous and cardiopulmonary systems are hooked directly into mine. Trust me when I say that connecting my body to this is very invasive. It also takes a lot of mass to create,” he points to the empty pots. “It’s not feasible for anypony else to use, especially since a bigger pony would need a larger suit as well.”

“I don’t believe anypony was considering that as a possibility,” she explains. “I had assumed it would require your talent in order to put on or remove.”

“It would,” he confirms, “so you don’t have to worry about anypony runnin around in big bug dragon suits or anything. Of course, I could always do the cosmetic changes necessary to make ponies look like other creatures if you have or would like to have zebra spies out there or whatever. Or other races, I suppose.”

"The idea would panic other countries," Solar points out. “Though I suspect that even without that the other nations would lose their minds if they knew half of what you could do.”

"I kinda figured that’s why the zebras came,” Title says, turning to the princess. “They wanted to take out their competition, didn’t they?"

"That is the assumption," Celestia confirms. "We believe the group sought to head off what they see as a potential loss of future export income. Many of the alchemical mixtures they had are ones I recognize. They work much as you described your airborne gas, rendering a pony sleepy. One in their possession is strictly forbidden; it fogs memories as well."

“Jeez… so they were gonna, what? Gas us, whisk me away, and hope that nopony here pinned it on the zebras when the freaking car coupling was melted through? That… doesn’t sound like they would get away with it.”

“You may be underestimating how much income some Zebrican tribes stand to lose from your inventions, Cure,” Celestia explains. “The minotaurs’ involvement caused them to change their plans; they may have simply uncoupled the cars by other means if they felt they had time. They would have been some distance away before anypony realized something was wrong.”

“You can just detach train cars while it’s moving without anypony noticing?” Title asks.

“The last few cars? In the middle of the night?” Lt. Spear rhetorically asks. “An attentive engineer may have noticed less weight pretty quickly, and it would have been noticed when the train went through Detrot, but in all likelihood they would have had a several hour head start by then. Even once an engineer notices, it takes a while to stop the train and let anypony know what’s happened.

"If nopony noticed and you all had been unconscious… well,” she waves her hoof in a “there you have it” motion. “From there they would just have to deny involvement, which is exactly what they're doing now. We could suspect them all we want, but proving anything would be far more difficult, especially if they had succeeded.”

Celestia picks up from there, “Many hospitals and clinics rely on their restorative potions for emergencies. Your origin cell and blood transfusion trees negate much of that need, but news of those has not spread very far as they are still in testing. Only Baltimare is currently using them, and only for dire emergencies until more thorough testing is complete. Initial results have been very promising.

“Unfortunately, the zebras have been quite uncooperative thus far. In their belongings we found a hoofdrawn map. Though unlabeled, I am familiar enough with my cities that I immediately recognized Fillydelphia. We suspect they had forces on the ground waiting for the train cars to come to a stop just west of Hollow Shades.

"We have teams looking for signs of traffic along the tracks, but their magic could obscure much of any would-be evidence. There are paths through the woods to the north; if they had taken you shortly after midnight they could have been on a boat leaving the city by eight this morning. We also sent a letter to the captain in Fillydelphia to shut down the port for an inspection. Ships are still being searched right now.

“Of course, there is the possibility they had more… malicious and immediate intents that would not have required them to uncouple the train at all."

“Gas us, kill me, and chuck my body off the train, you mean?” he casually asks. The princess cringes at the blunt question but nods nonetheless.

"It doesn’t look like that was their plan. Or at least, not their only one,” Cpt. Shield interjects. She lifts a folder in her hoof, holding it towards the princess. “We got word back from Fillydelphia while you were at dinner, ma'am.”

She takes it in her magic and reads the contents, thanking the captain. "A Zebrican trade vessel arrived yesterday morning, unloaded its freight, and inexplicably did not take any on for their return trip. They replenished their food and water stores and even took on more than needed for their crew count. The docking paperwork indicates they were scheduled to embark this morning before noon, still empty.”

She looks around the room with a single raised brow. When no questions arise she continues reading aloud. "They attempted to depart when guard units began moving into the area, but stopped when ordered to by a squad of pegasi. The captain won't talk but the crew was told they would be taking passengers back and they were not to interact with them at all."

"No hard evidence?" Title asks.

"Nothing we can use to detain them. They didn't commit any crime and stopped immediately when ordered to. However, they will be on our watchlist now; both the captain and the ship. We've sent word to the Zebrican embassy asking for identification for the assailants we don’t already know. They've given a few names but denied knowledge of them being in the country. A representative has requested we release them into their custody immediately."

"Are you going to?" Deed asks.

"Absolutely not," she denies. "As I mentioned, a number of the solutions they were carrying are highly illegal, and since a sworn member of the Royal Guard was there as witness and to take custody," she smiles beautifully at Solar, "they were detained legally while attempting to commit a crime and carrying contraband. Well done, corporal."

Solar looks dumbstruck at the mare. "Ma'am?"

"Though I understand this is only your second arrest, you performed your duties beyond what was expected. You stood in defense of others, though unarmed, unarmored, outnumbered, and off duty. You remained with the prisoners until they were properly secured despite the late hour, and followed protocol regarding their treatment and the confiscation of evidence.

“Incidentally," she looks to the captain who nods and passes over another folder. She reviews it briefly and passes it to Solar, "congratulations on your acceptance to the Maelstrom Artillery Academy, Corporal Solar Strike. We expect great things from you."

Solar stands briefly, beaming a thousand watt smile, and snaps off a crisp salute. "Thank you, ma'am," when she smiles and nods he looks to the others adding, "Captain. Lieutenant. I will do my best."

"We know you will, son," the captain responds.

Deed leans over and wraps his forelegs over the unicorn’s withers, hugging him against his side and congratulating him while Title and Cure offer their congratulations as well.

"Now then," Celestia states, calling attention back to the matter at hoof, "needless to say I will be having a meeting with the Zebrican ambassador. I would like to have your permission," she says to the parents, "to share the update in regards to Cure's tribal status. It would offer immense protection beyond even what I can do now."

"How so?" Title asks.

The captain answers immediately, "Loath as I am to admit it, foalnapping an alicorn, especially a colt, is significantly worse than a member of any other tribe. The public would…" she pauses, searching for the right words. "I admit I'm not sure… Saying the public would be outraged feels inadequate."

The lieutenant adds her thoughts, "They would be screaming for bloody vengeance and demanding war. I would bet money on it.” She pauses, then shrugs and admits, “Stars, I can’t deny even I would be incensed. Just imagine if somegriff were to take a swing at her highness," she nods towards the princess.

Once again Cure finds himself with mixed feelings. The thought of a griffon attempting to harm the princess is ludicrous almost to the point of being comical; they would likely be no more than a charred smear on the wall. At the same time a flash of fury surges through his veins at the suggestion that a griffon would even try.

It dawns on him what the princess is truly proposing. His official tribal status would be updated, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he has to go around winged and horned all of the time unless he wants to. It’s a technical change, sure, and ponies that would have access to his talent registration form would also see the official documentation, but for the most part it shouldn’t be an issue.

He had been complaining about not being able to freely use his wings and horn for a while now, but despite that, making it official still makes him anxious. At least he doesn’t have to worry about Guard units being dispatched to investigate if he does go out to heal ponies somewhere.

A foreign government would know there's another alicorn out there, but they would also be aware that going after him would be tantamount to declaring war. Not only would they be declaring war, but they would be doing so via one of the worst, politically, ways possible.

Targeting a minor civilian is bad enough to put a country on everyone's shit list; going after a healer and, as far as they would probably assume, future royalty… that's the kind of thing that makes even stalwart allies start to question their loyalties. After all, if they're willing to go after a pony princeling then what's stopping them from doing the same thing to any other race?

"Huh…" Cure mumbles.

Celestia smiles mischievously. "If you’re going out in public undisguised then I hope you are prepared for the public attention, young colt." She pauses, looking him up and down, "Which is very odd to say when you look like that." She shakes her head, clearing out the distraction and continues, "You are going to be rather popular, I suspect."

Lt. Spear nods in agreement. "Every parent with great ambition be foisting their daughter on you to marry. I'm sure you got that a lot growing up, ma'am," she says, turning to face the princess.

"Actually, quite the opposite," she explains with a scrunched snout. "Many treated me like I was some abomination. The world did not know what an alicorn was and assumed I was a tall, winged unicorn. It was a far more uncivilized time."

"But… you're beautiful!" Title boldly declares. "Even if they didn't know what an alicorn was I wouldn't expect hostility."

"Thank you, Title dear, but I assure you many a noble lady came to view me as little more than a threat or, at best, a potential consort for their husband to have like some… possession.” The ancient mare fails to keep the sadness from her face. “A curiosity more than a pony. Those are not easy times by any measure."

"Creatures suck sometimes," Cure sighs out. The comment draws disappointed agreements from everypony present. “I think I’ll probably keep doing what I’m doing. I may, on occasion, go out publicly, but I’ll probably continue to do it in disguise, at least until I'm older. That's too much attention right now. The girls will be bummed though.”

"That is perfectly acceptable, Cure," Celestia says. "I agree that at your age it would be quite burdensome to have to deal with the attention. When you feel ready you are welcome to come to the castle for assistance."

“I was worried you would insist I move to Canterlot or something. I mean, I’m not completely opposed to it eventually, but…”

“That would be a huge life change,” she nods in understanding. The princess pauses, weighing something on her mind, then comes to a decision. “I have considered asking you to relocate, but I have not done so for a few reasons. First, we began monitoring who comes and goes from Golden Hills after your trees were stolen. Should anypony suspicious arrive unexpectedly they will be under heavy surveillance. Staff Sergeant Bulwark and Captain Stance have been made aware as well.”

“Okay…” Cure slowly drawls, unsure how to take the news. He has little left to hide now either way, so no huge downside comes to mind.

“Second, I believe that since your trees have been delivered, there is little to gain from anypony making an attempt, especially knowing the consequences. Last but not least there’s the issue of removing you from your friends, something I would only do under the most dire of circumstances.”

“Thanks, princess. Just so you know, I have an alias that I suppose your guards in Baltimare should be aware of,” he confesses, projecting an Illusion of his Riddle disguise. He includes the Celtic Tree cutie mark he’d shown his mom when building his suit. “I use the name Riddle in this disguise.”

“An apt name. I somewhat envy that ability, Cure,” Celestia admits. She knows he is aware that she can go out in disguise as well, but she probably wants to keep that under wraps. Cure isn’t sure if it’s willful denial or if the possibility of their ruler wanting to spend time as a normal pony seems completely unbelievable, but he has no intentions of calling her out for it.

"So what's the plan with this officer and tha drug company?” Deed asks. “They didn't send the zebras, did they?"

"We don't think so," Cpt. Shield answers. "We're not sure how the zebras knew about Cure or your travel plans. We're still looking into it, but we need time. The ponies we've questioned aren't happy that they were sent after a foal. The leader, the unicorn you identified," she clarifies, motioning to Cure, "didn't want to be directly involved any more than necessary.

“That's why he hired the minotaurs. There were four train tickets to Manehattan along with brochures from trans-Celestia Sea passenger ships. It looks like the minotaurs were going to be on the next train out and, likely out of the country by this time next week.”

Title asks, "Why'd he take the job at all?"

"Money. His crew was originally from Chicoltgo. They seem to have been struggling finding work after a failed stint working security. A warehouse they were hired to protect got hit. We suspect they were desperate and took an under-the-table job to get by. We think we'll be able to identify who hired them even though the unicorn,” she glances at her report, “Green Slip, has clammed up, insisting he wants a lawyer."

"He has the right to counsel," Celestia sighs. "It may take a little time to sort everything out, unfortunately. We may eventually offer a reduced sentence if we cannot otherwise compel testimony. As the intended victims I wanted to discuss that with you before we would consider that possibility."

Title and Deed look at each other and nod. Deed speaks up saying, "I think we're fine with that, yer highness. We're more interested in catchin the real culprit than the middlepony. I’m guessin he ain't gettin off light either way."

"No he is not," she fiercely insists. "It is only due to his failure that he is not facing banishment or, depending on their ultimate objective, execution. He shall not have his freedom for quite a while, that I promise.

"As for the officer, it’s entirely possible there’s no way to conclusively prove they shared information right now. If we can link the mercenary group to the pharmaceutical company then we can begin questioning their executives. With luck, somepony will have made a mistake somewhere and we can identify the guilty party or parties."

"So… basically nothing is going to happen unless that unicorn tells you who hired him," Cure summarizes.

"Or if they have anything we can use at their base of operations," Lt. Spear adds. "They do still have an office in Chicoltgo that is being searched right now, as are the homes of everypony they employ. We're hoping that the leader got something in writing from whoever hired them, but it's unlikely given the job."

"Yeah, that would be a little too convenient, wouldn't it?" Title comments.

"It would," Cpt. Shield agrees. "We do have one lead, though. In the company safe they had ninety one thousand bit coins all stacked together." She furrows her brows for a second and clarifies, "Ninety coins, each in the thousand bit denomination. We believe that may have been half of their payment for the job, minus the ten they paid the minotaurs. We have the local bank branch and the Chicoltgo one checking for large withdrawals over the last six months to see if any matches come up."

Cure lets out an impressed whistle. "Two hundred grand to nab a foal. Mom's guess was way off. I can kinda see why they were willing to take the job… that's a lot of money for a struggling mercenary group. Still, it feels low given the risk."

"I think your perception is skewed, Cure," Solar says. "That's about what I'll make in seven years. Well, maybe less if I get a raise." He pauses and gives the officers a curious look.

"You do," Lt. Spear confirms.

"Sweet! Err… anyhow, they definitely didn't anticipate running into somepony like you. They probably figured they could send in the minotaurs, have them hit everypony with Sleep spells, grab you, and be out with nopony the wiser until morning."

"I guess," he responds with a shrug. "Those coins stand out, though. How would they ever spend them without getting attention? I know ponies give me weird looks when I use 'em."

Title speaks up to remind him, "You're a foal, though, honey. I mean, they're still pretty uncommon for most transactions, but they're not that unusual for big purchases. Plus they would be spread out over a dozen ponies who travel for work. It's probably not as easily tracked as you're thinking."

"Exactly," the captain agrees. "Spent slowly over time it wouldn't stand out at all."

"What about the minotaurs, ma'am?" Solar inquiries.

"Foalnapping is a first degree offense, the same as murder. Again, only due to their failure to cause harm will they not face a far longer imprisonment. They will likely serve eight to ten years for the attempt, after which they will be expelled permanently from Equestria."

The room goes silent for a few moments while everypony processes everything. Celestia's horn glows for a brief second but only Cure and Solar react, looking questioningly. "Refreshments should be here shortly."

"Coffee?" Cure excitedly asks.

"Blech!" she retches, making a disgusted face. "I suppose I need not comment about it stunting your growth."

"That's exactly why I drink it. I would be four meters tall by now otherwise!"

"That sounds awful," Title says, cringing at the thought.

"Being tall is very difficult at times," Celestia agrees. "I do not envy my tall earth ponies. Unlike myself they do not have the option of reducing their size to comfortably visit many establishments."

Cure asks, "Hey princess I was curious about something, if you don't mind my asking… Were your relatives taller like you are or is it due to you being an alicorn?"

"The latter. As far as my family history is known to me, we had only unicorns as relations. In fact, it wasn't until I was a couple centuries old that I happened upon a traveling group of the taller earth ponies for the first time. We had initially suspected they were a fourth tribe until they showed the same capabilities as other earth ponies."

Cure has to hold back the urge to ask if she was a unicorn before she ascended. It wouldn’t be out of place given the subject, but with the others present he isn’t sure if that’s some kind of taboo topic to bring up. Unfortunately his curiosity likely won’t be sated until he’s gotten to know the princess a little more.

"Fourth?"

"I did not meet a bat pony until far later; they were a southern, nomadic tribe. Membranous wings do not do as good as holding in heat and their coats tend to be thinner. Their innate magic protects them from the worst of the cold but they are more affected than pegasi."

"Huh. Sgt. Song didn't mention that. I coulda thickened her coat over the winter if she'd said something. Thanks for sharing, princess." She smiles and nods in answer.

"She seems fine when we go liftin, sport. I bet she woulda asked if she was strugglin."

"You had better be prepared for serious competition from Staff Sergeant Iron Bulwark's squad, captain," Celestia warns. She waves a wing to the left side of the table and motions to Cure with her head. "You can see the results of months of training with Cure. I have seen BRG3’s numbers… your squads will be in for a real challenge."

"Ah. I hadn't put two and two together there. Fear not, your highness. The CRG squads are up to any challenge." She pauses, looking doubtful at the colt in the alicorn suit. "Well… within reason, I suppose."

A knock at the door causes conversation to stop. Celestia's golden aura engulfs the handle, pulling it open and admitting a dark blue earth pony mare. She smiles and gives a half bow to the princess as she pushes her small service cart in, then freezes on the spot, jaw falling open when her eyes land on Cure.

Before anypony can act, he stands and steps around behind the officers, looking at the treats and tea service she's brought. "Good evening, my little pony," he softly greets.

The noise coming from her isn't so much words as it is disjointed squeaks as she stares wide eyed up at the gorgeous blue slice of divine deliciousness before her. Cure briefly reflects again that he’s currently flat-crotched, but from the front an earth pony would have to stoop down to check which would be incredibly taboo, and there's also the cart between them.

"May I?" he asks, glancing at the cart.

Struck unprepared, she dumbly nods without looking away. Cure levitates the teacups in front of everypony as well as his place, then does the same with the plates of cookies and biscuits. He carefully pours tea for everypony, starting with the princess, then the captain, lieutenant, Solar, his mom, sire, then his own.

While he's doing that he notices the mare slowly reaching up with a hoof to touch his chest. Done serving everypony, he places the teapot back on the cart, takes a half step back, lifts her hoof in his, and plants a kiss on her fetlock. “Thank you for such prompt service, my dear. Truly the princess is blessed to have such dedicated assistants.”

He gives her a genuine smile, releases her hoof, turns, and walks back to his seat. All the while she stays frozen and staring at her hoof, nearly vibrating while glowing bright purple.

"Are you alright, Comfort, dear?" Celestia gently calls. The soft voice and a tap of a wing in her withers snaps the mare awake. She lets out a loud squeak, quickly bows, apologizes, and darts out of the room leaving the cart behind. Celestia giggles, turning to Cure and, in a reproachful tone, scolds the colt. "Cure! That was mean!"

"What?! She looked like she was about to explode in joy! I just made her whole night!"

Cpt. Shield casts a wary eye towards his sire. "Where does an eight year old learn to do that?!” she asks, waving behind herself to the abandoned cart.

Deed holds a hoof to his chest in the most innocent look he can possibly convey. “The colt’s a natural, I tells ya! I ain’t even taught ‘em the family techniques an’ he’s got a whole herd ‘a fillies after ‘em!”

Title, giggling while speaking, agrees with her husband. “You should see him at his job! I don’t think anypony gets hugged at work as often as he does!”

Cure folds his forelegs across his chest and huffs out, “I can’t help that I’m adorable!”

“Actually,” Lt. Spear looks at him appraisingly, “I think you may be very unique in that you can. That,” she waves at all of him, “for example, would cause any mare to stop and stare.”

Quickly changing his colors to the golden macaw theme that wowed his friends, he adds in occasional lines of bioluminescent gold, green, and blue and spreads his wings wide, nearly filling his area of the room. “Better?” he asks, smirking at her dropped jaw.

“Sun and stars…” she mumbles. “Okay, change back. That’s too much,” she insists, struggling to peel her eyes away. Chuckling mischievously, he nods and reverts to his typical blue and green coat.

“You are going to be a downright terror, aren’t you?” Celestia asks with a sigh.

“Bah, I’m not that bad,” he insists, ignoring the deadpan looks from everypony. “All I did was kiss her hoof and compliment her! Y’all are actin like I asked her out on a date.”

She levels an accusing stare at the colt and asks, "What am I supposed to say when the entire castle's staff is asking where the alicorn stallion is, hmm?"

"Tell them he's an eight year old colt who can appear as if he’s an adult due to his special talent and is, even on a normal day, somewhat flirtatious and playful," he casually answers.

She pauses, furrows her brow, and nods slowly in acceptance. "I'm beginning to see how you have successfully avoided lying to anypony, Cure. Your ability to be deceptive with the truth is admirable, in a way, and somewhat concerning in others."

"Were you a lawyer in a past life or something?" Solar asks.

"Hey! That's downright hurtful!” Cure growls in a raised voice. “I don't call you mean things, corporal!"

The scowling colt's offended look gets a few laughs out of the group. Silence settles in the room as everypony takes a few moments to sip at their tea or nibble on a snack.

"So, your trees," Celestia says, breaking the silence.

"Right," he nods, stepping over to the remaining shrubs. He'd used a whole one's mass between the activities on the train and the fruits and presents he made, though he spread the loss out over all of them instead of taking from just one. His current suit took up seven of them, but the viral trees take far less mass than each shrub had to offer.

He shifts mass from two of the plants to the remaining three and, realizing he forgot the oil flowers, starts to grab the empty planter from his depleted shrub before pausing. He makes a dozen seeds of various scents, then glances to the lieutenant and makes two more sets, levitating them before the three mares.

“There’s a dozen different flowers that will, in addition to the normal plant, grow a stalk with perfumed oil bulbs. The pegasi I’ve given them to love them and the leaves are good for when you’re traveling or a quick touch-up. Captain, you don’t need them as much, but the oil is great for coats and smells nice. Feel free to gift them to somepony if you’re not interested,” he finishes with a shrug.

The three thank him as they put the seeds away. The lieutenant and captain both put them in their saddlebags, Celestia teleports hers somewhere.

As they put away their seeds he finishes making his trees, levitating them to sit between the captain and princess and piling the tree seeds on the table.

"One Antiviral tree, one Vaccine tree, and a dozen seeds for each," he says as he moves to stand by the princess. "It sounds silly, but could I get something saying that you've received them? Ya know, to have an official record and whatnot? And mom, I think the care instructions and manuals are in your bag."

"That's not silly at all," she assures him. As Title digs out and passes over the packets Celestia's horn glows for a second, then a paper, ink pot, and quill appear in front of her. She levitates the quill and writes out a few lines, signing it and, with another flash of her horn, places some kind of embossed official stamp on it. “Ensuring proper documentation is a wise decision, Cure.”

"Neat!" He looks over the form and gives her a grateful smile. "I need to learn those spells. And whatever the hay you did to that envelope you sent, ya big showoff."

The princess smiles at the accusation and assures him, "I will have a copy of each delivered to you before you leave Sunday. The envelope trick is slightly more complicated than a simple spell, though."

"Awesome! Thanks, boss."

Giggling she finally asks, "Why do you keep calling me boss? I don't think anypony has ever called me that."

Shrugging his wings he says, "Dunno. I started referring to you as the boss lady when we initially discussed the options I could explore in regards to using my talent. Boss is a single syllable and, while a little silly, is still accurate." He walks around the officers and retakes his seat as the princess slides the receipt to his mom.

Tilting her head curiously, she asks, “I don’t understand. You considered contacting me immediately? I first got word of your talent from your registration form.”

“As the captain and your advisors noted, my talent could easily be abused. We were initially afraid it was illegal to have even though it’s not like I picked it from a list. I think it was Amethyst that suggested we make an appointment to seek your guidance in court. To be fair, all my parents thought I was being paranoid by keeping my capabilities quiet.”

“But… special talents are exempted from typical restrictions,” she notes.

“Earth ponies living in suburbia don’t know the intricacies of laws in regards to magic, boss, and in my defense, it's not like you can un-ring this bell,” he finishes, motioning to himself.

“I see. I suppose many could be unaware,” she concedes, "and I suppose your secretive inclination has served you well enough."

"Yep. None of those jerks had any idea what they were up against. See, Solar? They failed to know their enemy."

"You were right," the unicorn concedes. "That doesn't mean you're any less crazy though."

Unable to dispute the fact, Cure just shrugs in acceptance.

"Should we start calling you boss, ma'am?" the captain teasingly asks.

"Mmm… no, I don't think so. It makes me sound like I'm the head of some kind of nefarious organization or crime syndicate."

"Well we are paying for protection, and if we don't pay up an enforcer will eventually come by." Smiling innocently at the pout he asks something that’s bugged him since her last visit. “Hey princess, when you came by, like the captain pointed out, you said there were concerns voiced about my talent. Do I need to worry about some nutjob showin up thinkin I’m… I dunno,” he admits, rolling his hoof airily, “plotting some kinda crazy scheme or somethin?”

The princess cocks a brow and glances briefly to her equally confused officers. She notes that Solar looks curious as well, but Cure’s parents are both looking at her waiting eagerly for her response. “I believe I may have left you with the wrong impression, Cure. I directly told them you were not to be disturbed until you and your parents determine you are ready to be more publicly known. Or never, should you so choose. If anypony should seek you out without my express approval, notify the local guard immediately. I will not be happy if my command is ignored.”

“Ah. Gotcha. When you said that members of the Archmage’s Assembly were,” he does air quotes, “‘overly insistent’ that something must be done… well,” he finishes, cringing. “I didn’t even know what the Archmage’s Assembly was. You say Archmage to a suburban earth pony, well, we assume,” he pauses in thought for a brief second.

“Fire everywhere,” Title finishes. Solar and Deed nod in agreement; the former slightly more hesitantly than the latter. Celestia and the two officers look on bewildered as she continues. “He literally has not left the house once with wings or a horn visible since you visited without first altering his colors, changing his appearance, and hiding his cutie mark out of concern that somepony would show up to take proactive measures, convinced he is going to do something.”

“I… am so, so sorry!” Celestia breathily apologizes, holding a hoof to her chest with a horrified look. “I certainly did not intend to cause you such distress! Cure, that will not happen, I assure you! You may continue to hide if you so choose, but know that you are not in danger due to your abilities! If anything you are considered, and don’t misconstrue this please, a highly valued asset.”

“The Archmages aren’t battlemages,” Cpt. Shield explains while the princess vigorously nods in agreement. “They’re mostly quill pushers with political clout since so many unicorns are members. They have researchers and some retired military, but… they’re not actually part of the military at all. Hay, I’m a member! I haven’t been there since I was… sixteen? I think? And I only went there looking for employment opportunities before I decided to join the guard!” She sheepishly admits, “I keep paying my dues for the member’s only discount card, mostly.”

“I wasn’t joking or exaggerating,” Solar solemnly admits. “Cure is, hooves down, the most paranoid foal I’ve ever heard of by a huge margin.”

“Most foals aren’t paranoid at all, dude! They’re naive as fudge! Drift’s the only one in our group that wouldn’t instantly trust almost anything an adult says!” Tilting his head he qualifies slightly with, “Eh, maybe Dawn too since she’s been around me and, possibly Coast. She seems a little… frankly, cynical, I suppose. Besides!” he suddenly shouts, “I literally have ponies, and zebras, out to get me! They tried to murder and, or foalnap me just last night!” he hisses.

“Easy, champ… it’s okay,” his sire insists, placatingly waving his hooves. He turns back to the princess once Cure visibly relaxes some and points out, “Putting ‘em on edge may not’a been the worst thing, given somepony actually did come. If he weren’t waitin fer the knife he may not’a seen ‘em comin.”

Huffing, Cure slowly nods. “I guess. I’ll still keep an eye out, though. How much of Zebrica's income am I a threat to?”

Celestia winces slightly and slowly answers, “If your trees only stay in Equestria and do everything we hope for? Offhoof I would estimate twenty to thirty percent of their export income.”

“They’re going to murder my freaking face off,” he solemnly declares. “Or… they’ll try. Again.”

“They would not make an attempt now," Celestia assures him. "To do so would invite the wrath of the entire nation."

"Okay, so I would be dead, but they'll get theirs too," he answers with a shrug. "I can't say that's alleviated all my concerns, highness."

"Cure." The princess simply saying his name pulls his focus directly to the ancient being. "You have no need to be concerned about the zebras. They will not harm you or anypony else."

Staring directly into her eyes, she can't help but notice his near complete lack of movement. His chest expands and deflates to show he's breathing, but otherwise… nothing. No twitches, blinks, ear movement, shifting of the eyes, or motion anywhere else on his body. There is simply nothing to read to indicate what the colt is thinking. It has been many centuries, Celestia reflects, since she has been completely at a loss as to what another pony may do next.

"Okay," he nods once. "I just want to be perfectly clear," the colt slowly says, carefully enunciating every syllable. His voice is flat, lacking any emotion. "If they try to, or even threaten to harm anypony I care about…" he looks to his right, "my family, my friends," he continues, turning back to meet her eyes again, "my customers, coworkers, my mailpony, tax pony, librarian, or even just the nice lady that waves hi to me and my friends on our way to school… I shall be exceedingly displeased with them."

Silence hangs in the air for several long seconds while the princess and the officers wait for him to continue.

"That's it?" the captain finally asks, drawing his gaze. Brows raised, she continues in an almost mocking tone. "You'll be displeased?" Lt. Spear slowly inches away from the table, unwilling to be in the direct line of fire between an enormous slab of alicorn muscle and her captain. The captain barks out a laugh, shaking her head in disbelief of his arrogance.

Cure looks back at Celestia, barely quirking his lips and slightly raising a single brow in question. Thankfully quick on the uptake, she smiles faintly and gives a minute nod. With the princess's blessing he quickly enacts his plan.

The captain hasn't stopped yet, flicking a hoof and dismissively saying, “I somehow doubt they would be more concerned over your ‘displeasure’ than an official-”

She freezes as something quickly loops under her right foreleg at the pit, the side of her barrel, across her withers, and back over to go under her left leg. Slowly turning to her right, she finds Lt. Spear has backed a full body length away and is staring wide-eyed with her wings spread up in alarm. She turns her head to face the colt and finds her vision obscured by a miniature version of his face; mane, horn, ears, and all, on the end of a thick snake's body.

She tries to recoil away, but finds that the lasso around her barrel is holding her very firmly in place. Inching closer as she leans as far back as possible, the diminutive doppelganger rests its head gently on her muzzle before opening its mouth. “Exceedingly displeased, captain. Exxxxx. Ssseed. Ing. Leeeee.” the snake-colt hisses ominously, flicking a forked tongue out at the end.

It dawns on the captain that, perhaps, antagonizing the alicorn colt may not be the best idea ever.

“Cure. That's enough," the princess calls.

“Fine!” comes the whine from the other side of the table as the snake rewinds from the captain’s face, under her leg, back over her withers, and under the table.

“Duuuuddde…” Solar calls, drawling out the word to convey a wide range of emotions.

“What?” the colt innocently asks. “The 'exceedingly' part is kinda important, ya know? I’ll be a whole lot more than just ‘displeased,’” he finishes with air quotes.

“That was awesome!” Title cheers, bouncing in her seat and clapping. “I still think you should do your other trick, though. Maybe like… right in front of their embassy while holding it in your hooves as you give a speech.”

“HA!” Nodding energetically, Cure agrees with his mom’s suggestion. “That would probably do the trick, huh? Just be like, ‘It’s my head this time, next time it’ll be yours!’ I swear if some… somezebra? Whatever, if one of ‘em does the whole ‘Diplomatic Immunity’ thing I’m goin all ‘It’s been rescinded!’ with the angriest scowl I can muster.”

Giggling, Title nods emphatically. “That was a good one! OOH!” she yells, clapping, “I got it! ‘You’re a disease… and I’m the Cure!’”

The laughing alicorn throws his forelegs in the air, almost falling back and groaning, “AWW! Mom! Come oooonnn! I was gonna totally use that one eventually! It doesn’t even make sense there!” Throwing both hooves towards the captain, he continues in a shout, “I just did the snake thing too! Dammit!” he growls, slapping the table. “Oh well,” he sighs, rubbing at his forehead, “I’ll come up with something else, I guess.”

“Please don’t,” Solar insists.

“Dude, I have like a million of ‘em already. Don’t worry, you ain’t seen nothin yet.”

Celestia trades confused looks with her officers. They both shrug helplessly with the same baffled look. The captain still seems more than a little shaken from her experience, though, with sweat lines visible in the pits of her armor and on the sides of her neck.

His softly chuckling sire sees fit to provide context to the bewildered group. “Tha two of ‘em, they like ta make up one-liners.” He nudges his wife with his foreleg and argues, “If’n yer usin it as a warnin then ya can’t beat, ‘I’ll be back,’ colt. Ya don’t even need to give a speech, just do yer thing, drop the line, slap yer head back inta place, turn, and walk away.”

“True… good point, pa. Oh well…” he trails off in wistful sigh.

“Pardon me… your head?” Celestia asks.

“Yeah, remember? No vital organs,” Cure reminds her. “I can take it off," he motions at his head, "like a hat. Of course, the problem would be talking,” he adds, pausing in thought.

“If I removed the head I would have to set up some small lungs and another set of vocal folds ‘cause the ones I’m usin right now are actually back here,” he says, pointing to his throat. “Eh, I’ll come up with something. It’s not like removing my head is that big ‘a deal anyhow.”

“It’s… not?” Lt. Spear hesitantly asks.

“Anypony can remove their own head, lieutenant. It’s putting back on that’s the real trick,” he finishes with a wink.

“I don’t know how to respond to that,” she solemnly replies, looking at everypony else for help.

“Cure… please do not remove any parts, even temporarily, in my presence,” Celestia pleadingly requests. The mischievous smile in response isn't exactly comforting.

“I just want to remind everypony that I’m not related to any of them,” Solar solemnly declares, looking to his left. “You’re all nuts, you do realize that, right?”

“You wound me, bro,” Cure teasingly replies, shooting the young stallion a pouty look which is completely disregarded.

“Noted, corporal,” the princess softly agrees. “And I had better not find any snakes in my castle, young colt, pony faced ones or not,” she adds, waving a warning hoof in his direction. “Or I assure you I shall be the one who is exceedingly displeased.”

“Fiiiiine,” he groans again. “You know there’s probably a couple dozen of ‘em, small ones at least, in yer garden, right?”

“And they had best stay there, out of my sight,” she gravely responds, lifting and fluffing her wings before settling them back on her sides.

“Yeesh. Message received, boss. Ope’nay on the nake’says,” he agrees while giving a sloppy salute. The sentence gets confused looks from everypony in the room, including his parents. “Nope on the snakes,” he quickly clarifies. “I’ll keep my scales to myself from now on, promise. At least, in your castle while I’m your guest,” he qualifies.

“Good enough,” she replies, looking somewhat relieved.

"Wait a second!" Cpt. Shield shouts, looking as if she just realized something, "Where exactly did that… snake come from?!"

The question causes Solar's eyes to almost bulge right out of his head. The three all burst out laughing, Cure and his mom falling on the table in a fit. Celestia's face glows red from a bright blush as she covers her mouth with her right hoof, torn between laughter and mortification.

Lt. Spear, between laughs, is the one to answer the increasingly red-faced captain. "It came out of his left side, his barrel, just under the table. Not… there!" she vaguely waves to the laughing colt's flank area.

"I couldn't tell!" the captain shouts in her own defense. She turns to the princess in a near panic shouting, "It was right on my face!" as she jabs a pointing hoof at her snout. "All I saw was that it disappeared under the table!" she finishes, thrusting both hooves to her right at the colt.

"I shoulda put a tiny hat on it!" Cure shouts as he and his parents break down in laughter again. Despite himself even Solar is shaking with barely contained mirth while covering his eyes with his pastern.

The princess closes her eyes and slowly shakes her head, fighting down her blush from the awkward situation. "Maker help me," she quietly prays.

After a few more seconds of chuckling the colt pushes himself back upright off the table. He lets out a long, laughing groan and reaches over to prod at his mom's shoulder. “Alright, alright…" he calls, "I feel like we may have gotten off topic somehow,” he begins.

“Wonder how that happened,” Solar quietly mumbles, barely getting a glance from the colt.

Done getting an update on everything from the train siege, Cure decides it's time to bring up some issues that he needs to make the princess aware of. He waits for his parents to regain their composure, then sits up straight and mimics the princess’s regal posture.

"Your majesty, if there aren’t any further topics you wished to address,” he says, pausing until she gently shakes her head no, “I have several important topics that I believe require your attention." The sudden change in tone and stance gets curious looks from the group, causing everypony to somewhat come to attention.

“Wait, Cure, you’re forgetting something,” Title interrupts. Everypony turns to look at her as she faces the captain. “We never found out if those three guards were real or not.”

Cure is almost certain they were not. He could tell as soon as he got off the train that the scent marker was going in a different direction from the palace. He figured they could be going to a Regional Health Authority lab of some kind, but the unicorn specifically said they were delivering them to her highness, so he doubts that.

The scent was strong enough that he’s confident it’ll last for several weeks if not the full couple months he intended. Figuring he can track that lead down later, he didn’t even think to bring it up during the meeting.

“No,” Cpt. Shield declares, shaking her head. She still keeps a wary eye on the colt and has noticeably moved a hoof or so away from the table. “We don’t know who they were, but aside from the normal assigned guards on the train, who were up near the engine by the way, there were no other guards present. That means there’s another party involved as well since, obviously, nopony would likely send mercenaries, then try to get you to just hoof the trees over when you’ve arrived.”

“Yeah, we figured that,” Cure acknowledges.

“From your note,” Celestia starts, “I know those were not legitimate antiviral trees. What were they?”

“Nothing too bad. The fruits are just tomatoes, but I filled the trunks with dormant, but ready to hatch, modified wasps that, instead of having venom, have an agent like mosquitos that'll itch like crazy.” He tilts his head consideringly and adds, “I guess that technically makes it venom, still, but it doesn't cause pain.”

Straightening back up, he continues, “Plucking a fruit will release an enzyme bringing them out of their hibernation and set them loose. They are incapable of breeding, nor can they digest anything, so they’ll die within a few hours, unable to reproduce, but in the meantime…” he trails off smiling menacingly.

The lieutenant nods in understanding. “So we should be on the lookout for anypony with mosquito bites?”

“Yup. They'll cause the same allergic reaction. I made sure it’s harmless, but exceedingly annoying, so they may run straight to the nearest clinic for a steroid shot.” Cure catches that Solar is giving him a curious look. He can only assume he’s wondering if Cure will say something about the scent marker he added.

He’s tempted to tell them right now and guide the Guard to their location, but figures that can wait until the morning. He would like to tag along, and given how late it is and how long of a day he’s had he’s more interested in finishing this meeting and going to bed.

A part of him also wants to not say anything at all and deal with the thieves on his own, but his only options are to clue in the princess or use extreme violence, and if this group had nothing to do with the mercenaries the latter feels a little too aggressive. For now.

“We'll alert clinics to be on the lookout for anypony with those symptoms,” Lt. Spear assures them as she reviews her notes. She slides them in front of Cure to look over.

“Umm… this is pretty detailed. Everypony won’t be able to read this, will they?”

“No,” the princess assures, “a much redacted version will be entered into the records. This version will remain confidential."

Cure nods, sliding the form to his parents. After they and Solar look it over he passes it back to the lieutenant who passes it to her left. The captain looks it over, nods, and gives it to the princess for final review.

Celestia casts a spell that duplicates the report, then redacts portions of the copy, sliding it back to Cure to review as she begins talking. His parents both lean over, so he moves the paper where they can all three see.

"Now the details will only remain in the classified version," she explains. "Your capabilities, for example," she waves to him indicating his suit, "as well as details one could potentially use to figure out how you subdued everycreature shall remain confidential, limited to only those I determine need to know."

“Thanks, princess!” Cure exclaims, sliding it back. “Now, in regards to some important topics I needed to make you aware of…” She nods and gives him a “go ahead” motion.

"These are more societal or social issues that are not immediate concerns, but, once revealed, will have massive impacts to the nation over the coming years or decades. Like our earlier conversation, I'm certain you would not appreciate first finding out from a newspaper advertisement.

"I suspect a conversation will need to take place at some point with agencies like Family Planning so everypony can start to think about what an ideal gender ratio would be and how we could implement a solution to get from where we are now to that goal. Of course there's a million factors that have to be considered, and I wouldn't even know where to start.

“Right now the country's population is around three million ponies if the Baltimare RHA stats are right, and the gender imbalance means that for each colt born there’s a little more than five fillies born as well. That means you only have about six hundred thousand colts and stallions in the nation, of which only so many are of child-producing age.

“What's more concerning is that while I've only scanned a few dozen stallions, about one in six has had a condition my talent indicates is a problem, causing them to only produce female sperm. If that trend applies elsewhere, you have well under half a million viable males in this entire country capable of siring colts."

Nodding in understanding, the princess explains, “Low population numbers and birth rates are why we have so many government agencies dedicated specifically to encouraging reproduction. They have been very successful over the last seven hundred years, though in times of war… Well, we had quite the crisis once.”

“Right, I remember hearing about that,” he agrees. “What I’m saying is that I can fix that problem pretty easily.”

The room is silent for a moment while the princess and two officers realize what Cure is saying. "You can alter the ratio?" the princess asks.

"Yes. I already know I could develop a treatment that would increase the likelihood of conceiving a colt. It’s not even that difficult, honestly. The problem is that if we were to just hoof it out to everypony the problem comes fifteen to twenty years later."

"Everypony would be having colts," Cpt. Shield finishes, looking around the table, "at least initially they would. Especially unicorns."

"That could end up being devastating for the country," Lt. Spear nods in understanding.

"Exactly," Cure agrees, "after all, a single stallion can impregnate several mares in a season but if you flip the ratio…" he trails off rolling a hoof.

Celestia cringes at the implied result. "Too few mares could similarly lead to an enormous population decline since a mare can only produce a single foal per year."

"Right. One possible solution is to develop two treatments; one to bring the ratio as close to fifty-fifty as is possible and another one to maximize the odds of a colt. Make the latter, at least, prescription only and maybe only give it to sires that already have a filly or two. The latter is far easier, by the way… going for a one to one ratio is probably more difficult until dosage levels can be fine tuned.

"I couldn’t possibly predict all the effects that would have, but that's exactly why I brought this to you. Aside from the ponies in this room only a dozen or so are aware I can do this. I assumed you'd probably want to get together some kinda planning committee and figure out all the possible results and implementation strategies and whatnot."

"That's an amazing level of foresight from a foal," Lt. Spear notes. "Are we sure the little one isn't the disguise?"

"Yer welcome ta go ask his dam," Deed answers with a grin.

Celestia responds to Cure’s ideas saying, "I believe your suggestions are worth looking into. I'm hesitant to create a commission to look at options until you've actually developed treatments… but given your capabilities I don't doubt you could do it."

She sighs, looking at the other alicorn in thought. "I will discuss it with my advisors. For now, please do not share this, but if you could begin development?” The princess’s ears and head droop into a slight bow and, with a disheartened look, she tells him, “I am sorry, Cure. It feels as if ‘Don’t say anything’ is my answer for everything today."

"Not a problem, boss. I'm dropping a lot on your withers. I would be really worried if you didn't take time to consider all the ramifications. As far as developing something, I could do that right now. Female sperm are different from male so it's not that hard to, basically, hinder their mobility without impeding the males."

The room is quiet for a moment before Lt. Spear, with a scrunched snout, says, "This… is very bizarre. Discussing this with a foal, even one that looks like an adult…"

"It makes you uncomfortable," Cure nods in understanding. "My sire was the first pony other than myself I used my talent on. The first time my talent crammed a detailed anatomical scan into my brain was a shock," he says over Deed's light chuckle. "The hundredth or so," he shrugs helplessly, "Who cares? There's not a single thing you can imagine that would get more than a moment's surprise from me, I assure you."

Lt. Spear hesitates in thought for a moment, sharing an unsure look with the captain and princess. Celestia slowly nods in agreement, but also points out, "He is using his talent, lieutenant. A greater force than us deemed him prepared for a reason."

She nods in understanding and mumbles out a quick apology for interrupting.

"Anyhow, female sperm are susceptible to protein bindings that should slow their swimming speed. It’s not terribly dissimilar to how my antiviral trees work; they target specific cellular structures.

“This isn’t quite as aggressive; it would only slow them instead of kill them. I mean, I could try both approaches and they can be tested, I suppose. The hindrance approach wouldn’t result in a hundred percent guarantee of a male, obviously, but it should tilt the scales considerably. The only question is what is the best delivery method."

"Hypodermic," Title immediately suggests, getting a snorted laugh from the other mares and looks of horror from the males.

"Damn, babe… what'd I ever do to you?"

"Seriously, Mrs. Search?" Solar asks, leaning further away from the giggling demon.

"I was thinking topically," Cure gruffly suggests, scowling at his mom. "Either as an ointment to use prior or applied internally in the vaginal canal prior to intercourse. Or both," he says, turning back to the others. "Obviously the topical solution would have to penetrate the dermis but the other would probably be best as a dissolvable insert."

Everypony stares in silence for a solid ten count. He looks from one pony to another waiting for some kind of response. "What?" he finally asks.

Celestia wrinkles her snout and looks away, unable to meet Cure's confused face. "Okay, it is a little strange," she slowly admits. "I apologize, Cure. Perhaps you could write up a brief and provide sample medications?"

He lets out a sigh and rolls his eyes. "Sure, boss. I'll work on it… Saturday, I guess? I don't think I'll have time tomorrow and I'm still a little tired from everything. That’s not a good project to start on when yer tired."

"Please," she agrees. She slowly looks back up to meet his eyes, frowning. "I am sorry. It is nothing you did wrong, but… Lt. Spear has a point, as you observed."

"It's the talkin 'bout applyin it, champ."

Everypony quickly agrees with the dark stallion, including his mom who explains, "It's really weird hearing that from a foal."

"Eh, no biggie," he says. "I get it, really. Do you have any idea what's going on with the stallions that are only producing female sperm, though? Does that ring a bell?"

"No, it does not. It is entirely likely that many stallions have been diagnosed with such a condition over the years, but that nopony has come to the realization it may be a widespread issue. Many others, I'm sure, have never been diagnosed and simply assumed they were siring only fillies by chance alone. I will be discussing that with the director of the Canterlot RHA and the national director at our next meeting, though. I will be in contact regarding that before the end of May."

"Sounds good. I really don't want to have to go do a nationwide tour adjusting everypony's balls, but I don't think I can fix that problem without direct application of my talent."

Title bursts out laughing and Celestia blushes lightly with widening eyes. Solar gives the colt a deadpan look and Deed mumbles, "phrasing." The two officers are both biting their lips and shaking slightly.

"Err… to be clear, by 'direct application' I don't mean physical contact with their balls specifically. I could just hold a hoof or do it from range," he insists, waving said thus-far-virginal hoof and looking up cross-eyed towards his horn.

"I think we all came to that conclusion," Celestia says, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah, you say that, but I see ya sittin there, barely holding back a chuckle at the poor phrasing.” Tapping the table with a hoof to emphasize his point, he adds, “I ain't touchin nopony's nuts, just so we're all on the same page."

"I am making an official note right here," she says, materializing another piece of paper and writing with her quill in big letters, then holds it up in her magic as she reads aloud. "Cure Wave doesn't touch nopony’s nuts,” she says with a smirk. She vanishes the paper with her horn and explains, “That will go in the official archives for all eternity."

"Good.” He gains a thoughtful look, furrowing his brows. “Wait. That was a double negative, wasn’t it?"

"I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter," she assures him. Title is half laying on the table, covering her face with a foreleg and laughing her plot off. The others aren't doing much better. “Was there another topic you wished to address?” she asks, still holding back a chuckle.

He hesitates a moment, narrowing his eyes before he continues. "The next agenda item I have is aging related. As you can imagine I seek my parents' input on several topics."

"A wise decision. One I wish more foals would make."

"Nopony can see all angles," he agrees. "That said, in regards to development of a way to reverse aging," Cure's timing is spot on, delivering the line just as the captain is taking a sip of her drink.

The spit-take is textbook perfect, blasting a cloud of tea at Solar. Celestia is quick on the draw and erects a shield in front of herself and her papers, shaking in mirth while looking at the drenched corporal to her left. Cure had seen it coming, so he put one in front of his parents as well.

"I am so sorry!" the captain shouts. Turning to point an accusing hoof at Cure she yells, "You did that on purpose!”

Cure gives her a completely innocent look, while his mom and the princess both laugh at Solar's expense. "How could I possibly have done that?!” In a patronizing tone he adds, “I can't read minds, captain."

The young stallion casts Cleaning a couple times, removing the tea and saliva and leaving behind only water. A quick Warming cantrip will evaporate that fast enough, so Cure continues despite the brief interruption, paying no mind to the scowl sent his way.

"Anywho, as you're aware my goal is to develop a method of reversing aging with no negative side effects, but as everypony knows…" he waves around the table.

His sire is the first to speak up. "Ain't no such thing as perfect, son."

Placing a hoof on his chest, the colt agrees. "Your's truly excepted, exactly right, pa."

"Humble indeed," the princess notes.

"The very humblest! Anyhow, my mom made a good point that deaging a pony could result in memories being lost depending on how the brain actually stores and retrieves them. For all I can see with my talent, it’s not like I have the ability to read a pony’s mind. I’m confident I can safely deage a pony, again, with a direct application of my talent, -"

"Without touching anypony's balls," Title adds, earning a scowl from the colt who carries on despite her.

"- but I certainly cannot go around saving everypony that way, so the concern is that I could, in a way, essentially 'murder' even if not physically, a pony. Or somehow the treatment could be overly effective.

"Obviously that would be awful if somepony ended up being twelve instead of twenty five, but if somepony could give me an official ruling on what the legal results would be so I can cover my rear with my attorneys that would be very helpful."

"So the eight year old colt in the adult body is worried about accidentally putting an adult in a foal's body?" Lt. Spear asks, brows raised in amusement.

Shrugging, Cure points out, "We have a word for that for a reason."

“That’s it, isn’t it?” the captain interrupts, staring at Cure curiously. “That’s why you don’t act like a foal, isn’t it?” The room goes quiet at the accusation.

“Pardon?” he asks.

“You deaged yourself, didn’t you? You’re not really a foal at all!”

Deed and Title start laughing while Cure rolls his eyes at the captain. He notes that Celestia and Solar are both watching curiously to see how he responds.

“Got any way to detect lies, princess? Some kinda spell or something?”

Celestia wrinkles her snout in distaste and slowly admits, “No spell I am willing to use. That would require some kind of mental compulsion, which I am quite opposed to. Given your cautious predisposition I suspect you would be as well. No, as convenient as that would be, there is no simple way to separate truths from untruths."

"Figures," he huffs. "I dunno what to tell you, captain. The whole deaging thing was actually started by a retired magic teacher that approached me. She recognized the work of a biomanipulator and asked me to make it so she could enjoy her retirement as much as possible before her time comes."

"You successfully deaged her?" Celestia asks.

"I don't have the magic capacity to do that to a pony. I fixed her up real good and realized it was a service I could offer to others. "I'll tell ya what, captain. Here's the best assurance I can offer."

Cure fully faces the princess. With all the seriousness he can convey he looks directly into Celestia's eyes. “I am Cure Wave, son of Spreading Vines and Clean Deed, born an earth pony on June twentieth of the year nine hundred AB in the town of Golden Hills, just west of Baltimare. I am eight years old; turning nine in a little over a month and a half.

"I have not intentionally taken any action to slow or reverse my own age, nor have I done anything with my talent that would somehow improve or increase my own intelligence. I am mature beyond my years due to events surrounding my gaining of a cutie mark. And I would never lie to you."

He turns to face the captain and stoically asks, “Are we good to move on now?”

“I’m not sure…” she hesitates, thinking. “You’ve shown to be very capable when it comes to bending the truth.”

She looks left up to the princess. Celestia nods to her captain and says, "I believe every word he said. Cure has been thoroughly vetted, as you are aware."

Nodding in acceptance, Cpt. Shield turns back to the colt. “Apologies. Part of the job is being suspicious, after all.”

"I'm not offended, captain," he insists, lightly shrugging. "You're hardly the first to doubt me, and I'm sure you won't be the last." He lets out a deep sigh, stretching his wings back and rolls his neck before looking around the table. "So… back to the topic at hoof?” he asks the room.

"Right, the deaging treatment," Celestia agrees. "I suppose if somepony were undergoing an age reversal treatment, especially during the testing phase, they would be doing so with the understanding that it is experimental." She continues, "If the result is a foal, both physically and mentally, then we would need to develop some process to ensure their well-being.

"Especially since, presumably, parents are not available. At least not for the first generation of testers. Hopefully that wouldn't happen and, if it were to, adult children would be available to assist."

"Huh… hadn't even thought about adult children being an option," Cure mumbles. He glances at his parents and they both give a quick head shake to indicate they hadn't either.

"In the case of the adult in a foal's body, the most logical path would be to continue treating them as an adult until you become available to revert or correct the change. Either way, the earliest volunteers for testing will no doubt sign documents exempting you from liability yourself.

"In all likelihood they are nearing the end of their natural lifespan regardless. Of course, that doesn’t mean we would be less careful, but accidentally becoming twelve instead of the ideal twenty or so, while inconvenient, is far from the worst result.

"Similarly, even if they were to end up completely memory-less, as unfortunate a result as that may be, I cannot imagine you should be held responsible as long as proper testing procedures are being observed, the same as if something were to go wrong with your anti-viral trees.”

Cure releases a sigh, making a show of being relieved. “I appreciate you sharing your view on it, princess. I’m glad to hear that my thoughts on the matter align with yours. I can say that I have theorized on how it can be achieved, but stringent containment procedures are a must. When I have something concrete I’ll be sure to let you know right away.”

“And I look forward to hearing from you,” she assures him with a smile.

“Great!” he declares, “But in the meantime that’s another thing it may be wise to start planning for. It is, after all, quite possibly the biggest thing since you founded the country. I certainly can’t imagine how many aspects of society will be impacted by that alone, never mind everything else.”

“Is your intent to profit off of it?” Celestia asks, immediately holding a hoof up to delay his response. “I apologize if that sounded accusatory, I simply need to know if that is something I should plan for.”

“No. Absolutely not. Aging is a disease, princess. I, as a rule, don’t charge to cure anypony.”

Solar gives him a confused look. “Not to argue, dude, but I thought that’s how you made most of your money.”

“Sort of. I realize that I'm splitting hairs here, but what I’m doing right now is by any measure a cosmetic procedure. I have accepted that once I develop a comprehensive deaging treatment I’ll be making my main income source redundant.

"Hopefully by then I’ll have other income streams developed, but I’ll not hold back a legitimate cure just to make more money. I never planned on spending my whole life, however long that may be, making ponies just look younger or giving mares nice, round, thick rears either way.”

The captain and liuetenant both give him questioning looks, so he explains, “That’s one of the most popular procedures I offer. At least four mares make appointments to get that done each week. And I’m only seeing ten to fifteen ponies… sometimes maybe twenty per week right now.”

“How much is it?” the captain blurts out. When all eyes focus on her she shrinks slightly, defending her request. “I’m just curious!” At the continued stares she adds, “I’m asking for a friend. Really!”

Cure, holding back a snicker, points to the paper in front of the princess and waves to himself. Understanding his request, her horn flashes and a new sheet, along with a quill and inkpot, materialize in front of him. “Thanks. I swear… you’d think you could afford a nice fountain pen,” he grumbles while lifting the quill and writing out a few lines on the paper. He signs it and slides it to the captain.

“There’s a quote and coupon for half off for ‘your friend’ next time you see her,” he says, pantomiming exaggerated air quotes. Cpt. Shield looks between Cure and the coupon a couple times, slightly hesitant. With a roll of his eyes he assures her, “Captain, I would never do anything to a patient without their consent. Don’t forget; I didn’t harm any of the creatures trying to foalnap me beyond what was necessary to subdue them, little as that was.”

With a cough and a quiet “sorry, thanks” the captain folds the sheet and stuffs it in her armor.

“Anyhow,” Cure loudly announces, getting everypony’s attention, “Was there anything else, ma? Pa?”

“Teaching,” his mom reminds him.

“Ah. I think that may be a private conversation topic.” He looks at the two officers and adds, “No offense.” A look of realization flashes across his face. “Duh! I forgot the twins thing!”

Deed and Title both facehoof when they realize he didn’t mention that yet.

“Twins thing?” Celestia asks, looking slightly worried. “I’m assuming you can cause mares to produce more than one foal at a time?”

Cure can only assume she is concerned he is messing with embryos or fertilized eggs; an act that he’s leery of attempting due to a few reasons. Specifically, he is unsure what the metaphysical effect would be, if anything. Also, messing with a developing embryo strikes him as morally questionable at best and he doesn’t want to be making those decisions if he can avoid it.

The ad-hoc creation of sapient life feels like a line he’s not in any particular hurry to cross for some reason, too. Not due to any “compulsion” exactly, just a nagging worry about what impact that would have on society. He’d joked with Dawn once about a field of super soldier ponies being grown like plants and, afterwards, realized he could probably do it pretty easily. The thought is upsetting enough he vowed to never even suggest it jokingly again.

“Nothing bad,” he insists, seeing the concern. “Mares typically only produce a single viable egg during estrus. I can cause their body to release a second, though, so they can end up with fraternal twins. That’ll probably be one of the more challenging issues to address because obviously if the treatment is too effective it can result in too many viable eggs at once.”

Both the captain and lieutenant wince in realization. Lt. Spear hesitantly asks, “How many foals can a mare safely carry anyhow? The most I've ever seen was a set of triplets.”

“Safely under normal circumstances and without complications? I wouldn’t be completely shocked if four or, for an earth pony, five were possible, maybe. I wouldn’t recommend it, though. Three is the max I would suggest and even that can be risky.

“Besides, forcing twins may not be a big issue in the grand scheme of things. Twins would normally only be desirable in certain situations, but if we can control gender ratios and aging isn’t a huge factor then I don’t think that urgent need would normally exist.”

“Your dam?” Celestia asks, perking up in excitement.

“I… don’t generally discuss ponies’ medical info without their permission,” he answers, looking to his parents for guidance. Both Deed and Title nod their approval so he hesitantly relents. The princess already knows Vines is pregnant with twins, so it’s not like verifying he played a part takes any kind of great deduction. The fact he even looked to his parents for permission is telling enough either way, he realizes.

“Yes. Back in September I ensured she had a second egg. She’s carrying a colt and a filly as a result, though the genders are all on him,” he says, waving a hoof at his sire. “I didn’t have anything to do with that.”

“Well,” Title starts with a smirk. She gives Deed an appraising up-down look with a hunger in her eyes. The move makes Solar visibly uncomfortable and causes Deed’s ears to darken again.

“Mom, really?” Cure whines.

“Oh hush, ya big baby. Bigger than normal baby.”

Cure lets out an exasperated sigh but still carries on. “Anyhow, dam’s due next month if it wasn’t painfully obvious from her bump.” Celestia knows that but he isn't sure if the other two have been told.

“I’ll look forward to the good news,” Celestia answers smiling broadly. After a moment of thought she makes a suggestion. "This year's Summer Sun Celebration will be here in Canterlot. It promises to be a very special one, being in the capital and all. I would be delighted if you and your family could attend as my guests.

"Dr. Crystal Dawn would certainly be thrilled to team with you again if you all would like to arrive a few days early," she says to Cure, then turns back to the parents, "and I'll ensure everything is prepared for everypony, especially Mrs. Vines and the foals. Hotels are likely already booked, so you are quite welcome to stay here."

Cure is ecstatic at the prospect of helping here in Canterlot, but that means he won't be in Baltimare until the end of the birthing season there. Canterlot is about a third again as populated, but it's also predominantly unicorns who, typically, have lower birth rates, especially during the summer birthing period.

He also considers that earth ponies have the easiest births on average, so he would likely be more valuable in Canterlot. Also, once the celebration is over and Vines has had the twins there's no reason he couldn't fly to Baltimare to lend a hoof unless she's late and doesn't want to be induced.

After all of those thoughts race through his mind one stops everything else. His dam will, once again, be nearby and about to give birth when the princess is raising the sun. Is that a bad thing? Does it matter at all? He’ll have to talk to his parents, but even if they wanted to decline, it’s such a generous offer he can’t see a way to tactfully do so.

The only thing that comes to mind immediately is if Vines were to say something like she wants to have the twins at home, but that's a weak excuse. Not wanting to travel with a human baby is pretty reasonable; foals, especially with magic available, are far, far easier to travel with, even if there will be two of them. Alternatively, if they want to sidestep the issue he could induce her prior to the princess’s big event.

Despite the mental turmoil he doesn’t let the temptation to say no show on his suit's face.

Both parents are completely blown away at the offer. Being the princess's guests at the Summer Sun Celebration is a huge honor; something they would have never dreamed possible. That she's inviting them to attend in the capital is just icing on the cake.

"That is an extremely generous offer, your highness!" Title can barely get out. "We would have to talk to the others to be sure, but I can't imagine they would be anything but thrilled to accept. Are you sure, though? That's an incredible honor… I would think somepony else would… I dunno… be more deserving?" she says, searching for exactly what she's feeling. Deed nods in agreement, unsure what he can add to his wife's statement.

"Don’t be ridiculous!” she insists with a roll of her eyes. Waving a hoof dismissively she adds, “Royal privilege. I can invite whomever I choose to my event! Just let me know when you and your wives decide."

"We will! We'll talk it over tonight," Title assures her.

"I'm down," Cure agrees, "assuming my parents are okay with it. I had made an offhoof comment about doing just that back in January. I kinda forgot to be honest." He tilts his head in thought and, with a scrunched snout, adds, "I wasn't sure how to ask if I could come crash here for a couple days without sounding tacky, too."

"Family Planning would normally provide lodging to traveling help," Lt. Spear explains. "Given your age, though…” she trails off, unsure exactly what the normal policy would be.

“Foals your age typically do not travel if they are helping at all,” the princess fills in. “That is a program normally offered to adults, but I believe we can get away with bending the rules this once, not that you will be signed up via the normal procedures. Castle staff shall see to your modified enrollment if your parents permit it.

“And Cure, please do not hesitate to speak up if you would like to come visit for any reason. You are quite welcome here, I assure you. This castle has many guest rooms and I am always delighted to have visitors.”

“I reckon that’s alright, highness,” Deed quickly agrees. “As long as we’re nearby ta make sure he ain’t overworkin himself again.”

The princess winces for a second, then meets each parents’ and Cure’s eyes. “I apologize for my role in your exhaustion after my visit. I had not anticipated you would work quite so long of a day. Though reaching out to the other expecting dams in town was a brilliant idea it was not a move I had predicted.” Cure waves the issue away while the parents nod in understanding.

She looks to Deed and assures him, “You will be present. In fact, with Cure’s capabilities I anticipate we will be able to assign slots and induce willing mares in a much more organized fashion than has ever been possible. Another item to discuss with Family Planning, I suppose, if you are coming.”

Everypony pauses to think through the conversation, looking back mentally to see if there’s anything they needed to address that has not yet been or if additional information would be helpful anywhere. Cure casts a Warming cantrip on his and his parents’ cups, then raises a questioning brow to Lt. Spear. When she nods he warms her tea as well, then he takes a sip, reaching for a cookie.

The princess and captain both watch as he eats and drinks, then share a look before the latter turns to regard the colt. “So does that thing have its own stomach?” she asks.

“I must admit,” Celestia begins, “I am curious about your suit as well.”

Cure swallows the rest of the cookie and projects an Illusion showing the suit. He gives a brief summary while everypony snacks, collects their thoughts, and finishes the remaining treats. Several details of the design are left out; specifically the defensive and offensive capabilities and non-pony characteristics like the retractable hoof claws and second set of teeth.

The version he is wearing lacks all of that anyhow since he was pretty confident he wouldn’t need it for the demonstration.

"And you thought somepony may actually be willing to climb in that thing?!" The captain shouts in disbelief. "How are you okay with being crammed in there?"

"Umm… 'Cause I'm safer in here than anywhere on the planet?" Cure condescendingly answers. "You don't panic when you put your armor on, I hope."

Lt. Spear jumps in to argue, "Yeah but our armor isn't fully enclosed and crammed down our throats!"

"The idea discomforts me as well, Cure," Celestia confesses. "I can only assume you having the level of control you do is what prevents a claustrophobic feeling from setting in."

“Probably. And I can see and feel through it just like my own body.”

"I've said it's weird all along," his mom agrees. "You shoulda seen when he was making it the first time. It started as a huge freaking wolf. With wings and a horn."

When everypony looks at him like he's crazy he reminds her, "Yeah and as soon as I saw it I immediately changed it to a pony. There aren't huge, sapient wolves out there, are there?"

"No," the princess answers, "not a race of them that I have ever encountered. Certainly not flying, magic using ones. There are some very intelligent typical wolves, but that is all. The closest are a bipedal race of subterranean canines, but the majority of them are, to be blunt, not very smart."

"I haven't met one yet. I don't suppose they have an embassy here and need my services by any chance?"

"Diamond Dogs? An embassy?" Cpt. Shield scoffs at the notion before explaining, "I don't think they even have a government. There's a pack that roams around to the west of us but they disappear into the ground anytime a pony gets close."

"Are they dangerous?" Solar asks. "I've never seen one either and they were barely mentioned in Basic."

"Not usually," Lt. Spear answers. "They're really strong, but they prefer to run instead of fight. They've been run out of a few towns when they snuck in and stole a few things. They're completely obsessed with shiny stuff. Don't ask me what they do with it though."

"Pardon me," Celestia calls, "but we will have to adjourn shortly. I have my duty to attend to, and it has been a very long day for all of you. Captain, lieutenant… Thank you for your hard work today." She pauses for a moment while everypony else expresses their gratitude as well. "Cure, I also wish to say that I appreciate the way you treated those who came to harm you.

"Given your talent, I can only imagine the wide range of maladies you could have inflicted upon them. That you stayed your hoof shows integrity and character well beyond what I would expect from a foal, or even most adults. That they escaped with only a few receiving a temporary, and accurate, label is a mercy they will likely never appreciate."

Softly, in a shy tone, Cure looks away and admits, "I didn't want to disappoint you."

She only smiles in response. Looking around the table she asks, "Are there any other urgent issues anypony needs addressed immediately?"

"If I could just have a second in private before you go?" Cure requests.

She nods in acceptance and looks at the others. The lieutenant volunteers to escort them back to their rooms once ready. The group files out into the hallway. Lt. Spear pushes the long abandoned service cart out for the staff to take, leaving the two alicorns behind. Once the door shuts Celestia regards Cure with a curious expression.

He steps to the side of the table and sits on his haunches facing her. "It occurred to me that it's probably been a long time since anypony has been capable of doing this, if ever," he explains. He lightens himself, grabbing the floor with his rear and hind legs for leverage and spreads his wings and forelegs wide invitingly.

Celestia stares in shock for only a second, then laughs fondly. "You wanted a hug?" she asks between giggles.

"Close. I wanted to give you a big, warm, enveloping hug. One that everypony should get every so often. Dragons don't strike me as huggers and nopony else is big enough, so…" he trails off, shrugging his wings while still holding his forelegs wide.

The answer brightens her smile. She steps around the table and approaches slightly to his left side. Once she's nearly chest to chest he slowly wraps his forelegs and wings over her withers, careful not to hit a sensitive wing joint with his hooves, and softly squeezes her in a caring embrace.

Celestia can't help but breathe out a comfortable sigh. The colt is right; it has been many, many years since she was on the receiving end of a hug. Aside from when she uses an alias and is shrunken down, she has not, for nearly a millennium, had the opportunity to be hugged like she is now, wings and all. As she lays her chin across the back of his neck, nuzzling into his mane, she can’t help but remark, “You are dangerous, you know that?”

“Dangerously adorable?” he asks.

She nods into his mane. “Quite possibly the most dangerous dangerous of all.”

At her shift he releases her from the hug. “Thanks, boss. I guess I better get outta this now. Should I take my plants with me or…?”

“No need. I am taking the trees with me. I’ll have somepony bring your plants back to the room and water them. Assuming they need it, that is.”

“Sure. They are mostly normal plants, after all. Water, sun, and soil and whatnot. Maybe a soft lullaby before bed or some warm honey milk and a little light rocking if they have a bad dream.”

“What?” she asks, cocking her head to the side confused.

“I’m teasing, princess," he answers with a light smile. "At some point I’d like to talk about the whole teaching offer thing you mentioned. I know you have to go now, but will we have a chance to chat again before we leave?”

“Certainly! I do get weekends too, Cure. Even if you were here during the week I would be seeing you at meals when our schedules align. I had planned on spending much of Saturday with you.”

Cure can't hold back the ear-splitting grin from the news, and doesn't hesitate to let the princess see his true reaction on the suit's face. “Awesome! Goodnight, princess!”

“And a good night to you as well, Cure Wave,” she replies as she turns to leave the room, carrying the trees and seeds in her aura.

Cure doesn’t waste any time. He walks to the plants, detaches his nervous system from the suit as he slides out the stomach, then removes the tracheal and esophageal tubes as he changes the shrubs back, refilling the, now, ten available pots. He regrows his coat and wings, assuming his alicorn appearance and trots out the door to find everypony but the captain waiting.

“Ready, sport?”

“Yup.” The group starts walking with Lt. Spear leading the way. Cure canters to keep up with the adults until he gives up, hops and gives a flap to land on his sire’s withers. “Boss lady said somepony would take the plants up. I wonder what the rest of the gang’s up to."

"They're probably on their way back to the rooms," Solar says. "The princess said she's lowering the sun in a few minutes, so I bet they'll be there waiting for us."

“Yeah, probably. I gotta admit, I’m lookin forward to a full night’s sleep. Hopefully at least nopony in the castle is gonna try to off me.” He gains a thoughtful look, trying to come up with any reason anypony would bother now that his trees have been officially delivered.

“I know that look,” Solar says. “Nopony is going to attack you, Cure. I’m sure her highness has trusted guards that will be keeping an eye on our rooms.”

“She does,” the lieutenant assures them. “A squad of elite royal guards, in fact. Rest assured, colt, there’s not a creature on the planet that could get past the castle’s defenses, and especially not near your rooms. Not without rousing the entire garrison, that is. You’re in the safest place in the world, Cure.”

“Alright…” he hesitantly agrees. “But if somepony does come and shank me in the night I’m gonna haunt you extra hard, got it? And I can be REALLY annoying.”

All three adults nod, voicing their agreement at the same time.

“I’ll… uhh… take that under advisement,” she mumbles over her withers.

Lt. Spear wasn't exaggerating. There really are half a dozen guards lining the walls of the hall everypony is staying in. Two bats, a unicorn, two earth ponies, and a pegasus stand at attention when the lieutenant approaches. Though they're professional about it, Cure notices them stealing glances his way as they give a status report.

Apparently the group before him is only about a quarter of the guard detail specifically assigned to them. His parents and the plants are in interior rooms, but a squad of bats is keeping an eye on the exterior and another two are patrolling. That doesn't even include the dozens of guards assigned to the normal roster for the palace.

Despite their assurance Cure just can't find it in himself to trust any of the guards completely. It was a guard, an officer even, that they suspect played a pivotal role in siccing mercenaries on him. It was three mooks dressed as guards that took his fake trees. It all proves that he was right back when he warned his sire before the seminar he attended; he simply cannot afford to trust somepony simply because they're wearing a uniform.

After hopping down from his sire's back he asks them to knock when his plants arrive, fully intending to rig one up to the door, balcony doors, and the windows. He's a little leery of leaving everypony else to fend for themselves, but realistically anypony that assumes his parents are easy prey will be surprised when his sire rips them in half.

Somepony could maybe go after Solar and Starlight, but he doubts they would be considered adequate hostages. There's a level of separation there that means they're probably safer than anypony. Solar, despite his youth, is also a trained guard with the horn upgrade Cure gave him months prior, so he shouldn't be an easy target anyhow.

After speaking with the guards the lieutenant bids everypony goodnight, thanking Cure for the flower seeds as she departs. As Solar enters the foals' room Cure can hear all of the chatter cut out when everypony hears him call out to the group.

They had moved a couch over closer to the balcony for the adults to watch over the foals. Vines is laid half on her right side watching them with Amethyst spooning her and Lemon on the other side.

Starlight and all of his friends are on the balcony watching pegasi and bat guards have impromptu races and little aerial acrobatic competitions. Cherry is sitting atop Ferric and Heavy, being the dutiful big brother he is, has Lotus on his back. Apparently a number of the guards are keyed up over the Wonderbolts season starting back up and are happy to show off their tricks for the foals.

Cure hops up with his dam, planting a big smooch on her chin before flopping across her forelegs. Everypony still watching the show but he can see each of them have their ears perked and are listening for an update.

"So, how was the garden?" Title asks. Cure levitates the other couch closer so she and his sire can join in. She shoots him a grateful nod and looks over at Starlight. She's apparently content giving Savvy a pony ride. Cure is surprised she's still awake, but assumes they kept her up so Title can feed her before bed. Vines could too, but Savvy does much better with her dam. He’s proven right when Starlight sets her down and the filly beelines for the pink mare.

"Absolutely amazing!" Vines gushes. "Everything is still coming into bloom, but there’s whole trellises with flowers depicting famous moments in history like a painting, beautiful fountains, and statues of historical figures! It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen!” Sighing contently, she lays her head across his back, nosing at his left wing.

Lemon and Amethyst both nod along, the yellow mare adding, “The maze itself was pretty neat. Your friends had a lot of fun searching every nook ‘n cranny in there. The staff were smart enough to hide some of the prizes in the plants and stuff so the pegasi couldn’t just spot ‘em all instantly.”

“Prizes?” he asks.

“Mmhmm,” she hums, nodding. “They hid envelopes all over. Most of them had vouchers for memorabilia they’re selling at the show tomorrow, but some were also for toy stores back in Baltimare. They musta planned ahead to have those here already.”

“The boss lady does strike me as a planner,” he says in agreement. “Did you keep away from…” he trails off.

All three parents subtly nod their heads in answer. “It was in a different part of the garden. None of us went anywhere near it,” Lemon answers.

“How’d it go, babe?” Amethyst asks her husband. “Don’t keep us all waitin.”

Nearly vibrating in excitement, Title gushes out, "She invited us to the Summer Sun Celebration here as her guests!"

Vines sits up straight and gasps so hard Cure feels his wings lift slightly. She’s not the only one struck speechless; Lemon and Amethyst are doing the wide-eyed saucer stare as well.

“You’re not going to be in Golden Hills for the party?” Dawn asks as she leads the herd back in the room.

The parents are chatting animatedly, so Cure hops down, joins the group, and gives her a nuzzle. “Dunno, I’d considered coming to Canterlot to help with the births after last time. Being too young and all I figured it would hafta wait a few years though. You remember what I said about the last time, right?”

Nodding, she looks over her shoulder at the other foals and explains, “Helping other ponies also helps his magic grow.”

“He said something like that when we were teaching him how to fly,” Glacial voices with a nod. “Do you think we’d be allowed to come too?”

“I… can ask, I guess? Would you even wanna be away from your families? I mean, you know I’ll be working during the day and, probably, exhausted at night, so… y’all will be able to do stuff, but I will probably be busy or sleepy,” he warns with a wince.

“That’s kinda a big downside for anypony in a health field,” he begrudgingly admits. “Ponies don’t only get sick from eight to five, Monday through Friday. It’s one of the reasons I’m working on making cures for stuff instead of individually healing…” he drifts off with furrowed brows, pausing in thought.

“What’s wrong?” Rising asks, stepping forwards and nosing at his mane. “Did you just think of something?”

He turns his head, resting his chin on her withers and nods into her. “It hadn’t occurred to me… the whole name thing. I guess I’m living up to mine too.”

“You know that’s not always a thing, right?” Dawn asks. “My sire’s doesn’t have anything to do with being a medic. Your mom, too,” she nods towards Amethyst.

“Yeah, I know. My lawyer’s name was Moon Rose. I should probably go there and make an appointment tomorrow… it may be a good idea to have them on retainer with the craziness I get into.”

“Why?” Drift asks. “You have the princess on your side. Nopony could do anything to you.”

“She doesn’t make all the laws, Crosswind,” Glacial reminds her. “She also could be accused of being biased.” She looks at Cure and asks, “How much does it cost to have them working for you?”

A knock at the door draws Cure’s attention as he answers the filly. Deed opens the door and exchanges a couple words with a guard before retaking his place with his wives.

“Well… the way the retainer works with their offices is you pay the fee, which is only three hundred bits a year, then if something comes up where you need their representation you know you already have them ready to go. Attorneys are kinda like plumbers, ya know? You hope you never need ‘em, but it’s really helpful to know one when something goes wrong.”

The looks on their faces tells him they don’t really get what he means, so he gives an example. “Your sire has to arrest ponies every so often, right?” he asks Drift. When she nods he continues, “If a pony’s sittin in jail they can’t exactly go out and find an attorney they like, but if they already have one on retainer, well…” he waves leadingly.

Rising nods and finishes, “Then somepony they’ve picked is already working for them as soon as they get word and they can get started helping sooner. But I thought attorneys were expensive. Three hundred is a lot of money, but…”

“Oh they charge more as the need arises. The three hundred is just to get them started, and it’s an annual fee. If I needed them for a big long trial or whatever the retainer would probably be used up in the first week or so, depending on what all they had to do. Trust me, they don’t keep working without pay. And Sweet Celestia, do they track everything they use for your case. Every paperclip, stamp, piece of paper… ugh. Bottom line? They get paid, I assure you that.”

“Maybe you should offer your services instead of paying them bits,” Ferric softly suggests. “Master Angle said anything your family needs is on the house. He was… really excited with the tricks you showed me. And the healing.”

“Aww… did you get another hug?” he teases. The blush and glance away is all the answer he needs. “Congrats, Red!” he calls, further darkening the shy filly. Cure feels a yawn coming and, rather than fight it, lets it out. He looks to his sire and asks, “Are my trees here?”

“Yup, just brought ‘em up. They’re next door. Gonna do somethin weird with em?”

“Yeah, I’m going to put one on each entrance as an alarm. I would like to think the lieutenant was right, but I would also like to be able to sleep through the night.”

“There’s like… thirty guards watching just our rooms, Cure,” Solar argues. “And they’re not just some random squad. These are trusted elite guards. We’re perfectly safe.”

“Okay,” he agrees noncommittally. Solar picks up on his tone, but rather than argue just rolls his eyes at the paranoid colt.

“I’m gonna go get a few of them and get ready for bed. Y’all don’t have to go to sleep too, but I’m friggin exhausted.”

“We’re going to bed too,” Solar calls as he and Starlight head for the door. It isn’t difficult to pick up on the extra pep in her step, and Cure can’t help but notice Solar’s gaze tracking her as she leads him out. He must have felt Cure's stare because he looks back over his withers as they approach the door.

Cure gives him a big, beaming smile and mouths "Good luck" to the confused stallion. His only response is another eye roll and a quicker pace, completely unaware of the wild ride he's in for. With the Vagina Mk. II ready for deployment Cure bets the lucky fool is in for a night neither he nor his junk will soon forget.

“We’ll letchya get some sleep, son,” Deed says, scooping Cure up into a hug. Vines, Title, Lemon, and Amethyst all take a turn giving him and the girls goodnight kisses before they make their way out too.

Deed sets the colt down and as the two walk out into the hallway, calls back saying, “Wind, you an’ Ferric are in charge. Make sure they behave!” The rest of the foals squawk in fake outrage as the door closes. “Don’t do anything too crazy, champ. I don’t want ta hafta explain a bunch of incapacitated guards to the princess in the mornin, feel me?”

“Sure thing, pa. Goodnight. Love you,” he says, nuzzling his sire’s chest. Deed leans down and smooches his forehead in front of his horn, then turns to trot in the room with his wives, eager to see how much excitement he can work out of them over the Sun Celebration invite.

Cure gets three of his plants and, on the way back to his room, waves down one of the guards. He very firmly encourages them not to come in the room with the foals without knocking and getting permission to enter first. The bat pony corporal has either been warned about the colt or is wary of pissing off an alicorn, even a young one, so she readily agrees to tell the others not to just burst in unannounced.

Several minutes later the entrances are all secured with paralytic, soporific dart plants on guard duty. Everypony else is exhausted from the day’s excitement too, so little conversation is had as they all get ready and pile into the bed together.

Cure makes sure his sisters brush their teeth and coats clean, then hops up on the bed lifting his wings invitingly. The little fillies are quick to claim his sides with the others filing in and making a pile of soft bodies around and on top of him. With a flash of her horn Dawn turns off the lights and, in only a few moments the dozen foals are fast asleep.

Author's Note

Whew, okay. That's the biggest chapter so far by what... a little under 30%?

62 is done. I just finished 63 literally 15 minutes ago. Just a few updates - most of which are less than optimal news. First, these chapters have been EXTREMELY time-consuming, as I'm sure everyone who has tried to write a long story can understand.

That's due to, of course, trying to make everything logical and reasonable. Again, that "keep it real" approach means it's more difficult. We will not often see, in this story, I hope, a character that behaves in such a stupid freaking way that you have to wonder how they haven't accidentally drowned while looking up at a showerhead. Setting up such foes for the protag to easily thwart can be entertaining, but not only is it an overused approach, it's also not normal IRL. Also, the main point is that it means it takes more time to develop the "who, why, where, when, what, and how" of what is going on.

Combined with news piece number two - which is that I have upcoming summer travel plans - I want to warn everyone well in advance that there's the distinct possibility that there will be weeks where I am unable to get a chapter posted. I was, at one point, staying 3-4 chapters out. I'm barely 2 now and it definitely causes that antsy feeling I don't care for. The easy approach is to simply split chapters up and give them to you in smaller chunks, but I think I said at one point that I don't like cliffhangers and would much rather avoid that whenever possible. That's exactly why, as my last comment said, I try to fit a whole day into a chapter and a whole chapter into one day.

That will not happen with Saturday (Chapters 63 and 64) just because so much is happening. Cure is, after all, far FAR outside of his normal routine right now and that will continue until Sunday, which I probably won't do a chapter for.

Several questions will no doubt come up such as "Why isn't he getting some kind of award" or something. Keep in mind - Almost everything he has set up thus far is still in its testing phase. He has healed a lot of ponies so far, and he did help immensely with the births, but that doesn't really compare to some doctor that's been working at a hospital for a few years and has traveled for two months each year to help thousands of dams give birth all across the nation.

We have to keep things somewhat in perspective.

Also, I am sure many folks will nearly fall out of their chairs at the population number in there. Here's how I came up with three million - I took every single major city I could identify in Equestria which, even after looking at several different maps of the world, came out to somewhere in the low twenties. In the Hearts & Hooves chapter he pointed out that the populations of the cities he's aware of have about 1/10th what the human counterpart does. I also added in a few cities that there's not a human equivalent for (i.e. Cloudsdale) and logic'ed as best I could approximately how large they should be. That came out to somewhere around 1.8 million souls. From there I used the US estimate that 56% of people live in an urban / suburban area (which for the US would be a much larger area because cars & public transit, granted) and so I basically added another 40% on and rounded up.

Is that a good approach? No, it's probably awful and I'm sure someone will lose their mind over the low number. I did some googling and the highest numbers I found people spouting for Equestria 90 years in the future is somewhere around 20 to 25 million. Well... guess what the impacts from Cure's ideas could do to a country over 4 generations? I didn't invest the time needed to come up with solid numbers, but with a mortality rate that is nearly zero, well... I guess it could happen?

I dunno, I spent a TON of time on this chapter, so I'm going to hit the publish button even though I haven't given it the last-minute spelling/grammar check I normally do first. It's long and it would take more time than I have, so enjoy your day-early chapter. There will not be another chapter tomorrow - 62 is slated to hit Monday, 4/17. I'm not sure another will hit 4/24 but I plan to release it right now. Expect, for now, no chapter to come out on either May 15th or 22nd, though.

Hopefully I won't catch COVID this time...

Happy Easter, everyone. And for those not celebrating, Happy Sunday, I guess.

Thanks for reading.