Saturday, August 22nd, 909 AB (the next morning)

The warm summer night’s air tickles at his coat as he soars through the air a couple kilometers above the ground. The view on clear nights is amazing, and the colt silently gives a small thanks to whoever or whatever put him on the planet and, even moreso, gave him the good fortune to be born a pony.

He briefly ruminates on why the one, as far as he is aware, species of creatures on the planet is blessed above and beyond everycreature else. It seems vaguely unfair, even if very few of his fellow ponies have realized anywhere close to their full potential.

That’s not to say others don’t share at least a few gifts; dragons can live for millenia if they have half a brain, even if a good portion of it is spent slumbering. Kirin are said to live for hundreds of years, a trait that is theorized to be related to their alleged draconic heritage. Though less advantageous given magic’s abilities, diamond dogs, minotaurs, abyssinians, pantherans, and a few other races have the advantage of upright postures, use of some magics, and opposable thumbs… even if they don’t seem to take full advantage of such.

As far as he’s concerned, it’s zebras, griffons, hippogriffs that get the short end of the stick. While their life expectancy is roughly the equivalent of a pony’s, they completely miss out on the advantages that marks of destiny convey and, as far as everypony knows, have no inherent possibility to ascend to something more. Neither do other races, granted, but few others are in constant contact with ponies and have it rubbed in their faces constantly, aside from sporadic communities scattered about.

It’s a question that’s niggled at the back of his mind more since he learned that active talent use will be a topic introduced to foals with the upcoming school year. Will the other races finally realize how ridiculously unfair ponies have it? Will there be some kind of international backlash?

Better yet, what could they even do if they wanted to? Equestria is large and has the potential to be immensely powerful once populations start booming. While the other races allegedly do not suffer from the fertility issues that ponies endure, their citizenry’s numbers are no higher largely due to not enjoying the prolonged peace provided by an all-powerful demigod at the helm.

That’s not even factoring the colt’s own capabilities. While he’d like to believe he would absolutely never do anything truly horrific, Luna probably would have sworn the same even hours before she finally fell. The constant awareness of being able to, with little effort, kill an entire planet is not a simple burden to ignore. A few stories had hinted at possible futures similar to that; Celestia, as Daybreaker, alone on a burned, blasted land. The unavailability of death makes the prospect all the more horrifying.

The thought crosses his mind that, as long as the planet hasn’t been scoured clean of life, he could probably jumpstart the whole process over again.

He nearly spirals out of control mid-air at the realization. He could restart the lifecycle of a planet, in theory. So long as there’s enough water and light, there’s nothing that would prevent him from rushing an otherwise dead world through billions of years of evolution.

That sounds supremely boring, he muses, resuming his flight. He dismisses the idle thoughts, pushing them aside for Future Cure to deal with. For now, he focuses his attention on the gathering families outside the recreation facility far below him. Bleeding off most of his altitude with a sharp dive, he zeroes in on the small squad of bats that have volunteered to be his Royal Guard for the evening. As soon as he’s in range, he fires off his spell, flashing into existence far enough above them that they’re not temporarily blinded.

As always, dozens of heads swivel up to watch as the colt comes in for a landing. “Howdy, gents,” he calls in greeting, pivoting towards the building. “Ladies,” he nods to the other foals, “how’s everypony feeling tonight? We all ready to learn how to properly whoop some tail?”

It sounds every bit as forced and cheesy as he feels saying it, but he can’t just completely ignore the hundred or so eyes following his every move. He feels somewhat guilty that he’s kept himself emotionally distant from the other foals. Having an entirely separate identity makes it very difficult to form meaningful friendships, though. Even without that barrier, his diurnal nature would make hanging out nearly impossible.

With polite chuckles and questionably genuine sounds of agreement the mass of foals, parents, guards, instructors, and others make their way into the building and to the gym.

Class begins as normal with a round of stretches, then katas, then instructions and a demonstration of “safe” striking locations to hurt, but not injure a foe. Despite listening well enough to follow along, Cure can’t help but be distracted. A faint smell is in the air; one of a distinctly non-pony origin. It’s hard for Cure to place. Dirt, certainly, but an unfamiliar mustiness he associates with decay. His first thought is that it may be a changeling and, just in case, he tweaks his serotonin and adrenaline production to maintain his calm.

The more he ponders on it, the more it eats at him; he expected a coppery smell instead of the typical tang of iron, but he isn’t picking that up at all. Chitin has a unique scent as well, even if it is far too subtle to normally discern, yet it is not present either.

As the group works their ways through their katas he takes the opportunity to casually glance around the room. A single, dark gray bat pony stallion stands separate from the group of parents observing their foals. A slight alteration of Cure’s left eye allows him to appear as if staring ahead, yet still focus his perception to the side where the stallion stands near the double-door exit to the facility’s lobby.

Though he’s certainly not the only adult keeping an eye on their prince, the intensity of his stare is unique, and would normally be disconcerting enough to make the young alicorn’s coat stand on edge.

Not wanting the stallion to escape, Cure casually stretches his wings and rolls his neck, using the motion to eject a hooffull of modified, filled mosquitoes into the air. The bugs surreptitiously fly straight up to the ceiling, then over the target’s back before silently gliding down to release their payload; a potent cocktail of pheromones that is undetectable by either ponies or any insect he’s yet scanned. They glide past their target, wings unflapping, and land silently on the ground before scurrying off to die out of sight.

Cure watches with bated breath, observing to see if there’s any reaction. When the stallion fails to notice, he moves forward with the next step of his plan; wait and see what happens. He’s tempted to attempt indirectly analyzing the stallion with his magical aura, but dismisses the idea as just too risky. Without knowing what he’s dealing with, he figures it’s best to continue appearing unaware.

The class continues as normal, all the while Cure does his best to pay no more attention to the creature than he does anypony else. He gets a much better opportunity to mark the creature when everypony is sparring, ensuring that for the next few days, or likely weeks, he’ll be able to follow its scent easily.

Aside from the uncomfortable staring, nothing unusual happens at all until towards the end of the session. With only ten minutes left, the stallion’s apparent daze is suddenly broken. Cure catches the movement, but once again does not turn to stare. What he does see is that the stallion turns away from Cure and looks off in the distance, glances back to the colt, makes an annoyed face, and turns to march out the door.

His sudden departure somewhat disappoints the colt; he isn’t sure what he wanted to do, but having many of his options removed is unfortunate. Ultimately, he accepts the fact that it may be for the best. Though he could have alerted his guards and the volunteers to confront the stallion, now he has the option of finding where he went and going from there.

As has become tradition, Cure and his guards take up position next to the exit and say farewell to everypony, treating any that have minor, easily fixed problems or identifying larger concerns that warrant a trip to the hospital.

<< Hey sarge, >> he messages to Sgt. Song, << before you head out I need to ask you something. >> A second message is sent to Lt. Silver asking him to stop by as well. Both make their way over with looks of confusion and a twinge of worry at the unusual request. The privacy screen he erects around the three of them does nothing to mitigate their concern. “There was a stallion here I’ve never seen before.

“He was staring at me the same way my mom eyes an all-you-can-eat dessert bar. Do either of you recognize him?” he asks, projecting an Illusion of the stallion in question. The quality isn’t quite as good as a scanned pony would be, but Cure had well over an hour to take in his appearance, so it’s certainly good enough.

“Slightly above average height, a dark gray coat, a slicked-back black mane, silver eyes, and a dark red heart symbol for his cutie mark. Ring any bells?”

But shake their heads no.

“Never seen him before,” Silver insists. “The coat and mane colors are very common for us, but I don’t recognize his face. I know a few ponies with hearts for cutie marks, but… no, not him.”

“He’s cute,” Song chirps. “You said he was here alone? Maybe I could introduce him to my sister.”

Cure gives her a look of disbelief. “The dude looked like he wanted to eat my gooey insides and wear my skin like a second coat. I’m about ninety-nine percent sure he wasn’t a pony, sergeant.”

“I’m not sure I follow, sir. He looks like a pony to me.”

“He smelled like… an old, wet basement or cave or something.”

Her ears pin back and a sour look crosses her face. “We don’t live in caves, sir,” she insists in a mildly annoyed tone.

“That was not what I was implying, sergeant,” he sternly rebukes.

Lt. Silver waves his hoof in placation. “It’s a stereotype we get from some day ponies. You know, bats?” he says, extending his left wing slightly. “We get called cave dwellers sometimes, amongst other things.”

“That sucks, and I’m sorry to hear that, but whatever this dude was, he literally smelled like he did exactly that. Do either of you know of any kind of creature that can look like a pony, smells like it crawled out of a cave, and would stare at me like I’m dinner?”

“Nothing but superstition, sir,” he replies, slowly shaking his head. “Vamponies, wraiths, things like that, maybe.”

Song’s entire countenance shifts suddenly. Fangs bared and wings lifted in aggression, she snarls, “Vrykolaka!”

Silver does a decent job of not rolling his eyes, calmly arguing, “Those aren’t real. None of these things actually exist.”

“Nanna Grove used to tell us stories about them!” she nearly growls at the stallion. “They do too exist! That’s why her majesty has the Paladins!” She turns back to Cure and firmly insists, “We need to send a message to Meadow right away, sir!”

At the stallion’s unsure look Cure waves a wing to stave off any further argument. “I bet wendigos were once considered make-believe too, lieutenant. Fortunately, it’s almost sunrise, so I don’t think the princess will be too upset if I wake her up a few minutes early, even if we’re wrong.” Song, at least, looks relieved at the suggestion. He pauses and looks between the two. “Not a word to anypony until I’m back. Understood? I’ll give you both whatever updates she’ll allow.”

“Yes sir!” they chorus as one.

Meeting concluded, Cure dispels the privacy screen. Wary of an ambush, he tests the air as he makes his way outside and still finds a lingering trace of the scent tag he’d painted the stallion with. It’s distant now, suffusing the clouds just outside the building’s doors before it veers northeast, roughly in the direction of Parkdale. Rather than follow the scent himself, he crouches down and launches himself up into the sky, ascending at a rate that most ponies couldn’t hope to match. At two kilometers straight up into the night’s sky he casts Invisibility on himself and continues to rise, disappearing from even the formidable sight of the night pegasi watching below.

He halts well out of range of their vision and steps through the barrier between the physical and astral, arriving in a bank of clouds much as he has every other time. Paying careful attention to the feel of the environment, he notes a slight shift in the pressure in the near distance; first, a lessening of the ambient magic, then a weak current like a slow stream followed by a reversal as the princess enters the realm. What would have previously been unnoticed is now impossible to ignore as the majesty of the elder alicorn fills the space; the mare exuding a palpable presence like the sun on a warm summer afternoon.

“Good morning, Celestia,” he calls in greeting as she makes her way closer to the clearing.

“Cure?” she returns, voice full of concern. “Is something wrong?”

“Maybe. Something isn’t right, I can tell you that. I just left Junior Guard Training. There was a bat pony stallion there that set off alarm bells.” As he begins telling her about what he noticed, the princess approaches and lays down nearly right on top of him, pulling the colt to her chest as he continues. Her eyes go wide when he mentions the unusual smell and her wings twitch in barely suppressed anger when he talks about the gaze full of hunger.

“... would I be incorrect in assuming he looked towards the east before departing?”

“I noticed that too,” he answers with a nod. “Vampire was the first thing that came to mind, and it was also the first thing Lt. Silver suggested, even if he said they aren’t real.”

“They are very, very rare. I had believed my sister and I hunted them to extinction. I fear that any of their surviving ilk are probably old and, most likely, quite powerful as a result.”

“How powerful and what kind of power are we talking here? Physical strength? Magic? Speed?”

“The first and last, typically. They do possess mind magics and the power of illusions, but the former is unlikely to work on you. Even the strength of their young is a match for the most powerful of earth ponies and their speed is as great as any pegasus. They can be overwhelmed with numbers, which is likely why it chose not to attack. Or it was scouting, looking for an opportunity or trying to determine what direction you had arrived from.”

“Sucks for him. I fly way higher than a pony and I’m invisible.”

She nods and agrees, “Yes, that would likely make finding you nearly impossible.”

“Given the timing, the look, and your question, I’m guessing sunlight wrecks them?”

“It does. As does fire, silver, and water purified by the moon.”

“Moon water?”

She nods and explains, “Luna could infuse the essence of moonlight into a pool of water. Its effects on such creatures were exceedingly caustic.”

“So… it melts them?”

Cringing, the sun princess slowly nods in affirmation. “It was an abhorrent method of slaying them, not that the others were much better. If they were found in caves underground and a pond or small body of water were nearby, she would infuse her power into the water, carry it to the cave, and flood the system to purge the infection.

“Even the spray of mist from a passing tide was sufficient to doom such a being. When we entered the cave shortly after we would find only the cleansed bones remaining… whole skeletons left intact, washed from crevices in the wall. We would gather them and I would burn them to ash to ensure no trace of their evil was left behind.”

Cure stares at the princess with a mix of awe and respect. “Damn, boss. That’s metal as fudge. You should’a put that in your book. ‘The Slayer Sisters: Equestria’s Warrior Princesses.’ I’d read the shit outta that.”

A light chuckle escapes the mare as she shakes her head no. “I would much prefer my little ponies not fear my sister’s night, and I would be worried what effect that could have on the bat communities when they are already looked upon with suspicion by some. It is they, after all, that those creatures typically chose to mimic.”

“Ah. Makes sense,” he agrees. “Still, it makes ya wonder what could have made the idiot brazen enough to sit there and stare at me like that. I guess nopony else noticed anything was wrong, so…” he trails off with a shrug.

“The creature, whatever it may be, obviously did not expect to be detected. A reasonable expectation if it has been successfully living in hiding for centuries.”

He nods against her chest, suggesting, “I get stared at enough that I may not have noticed without the smell. That was the first thing I noticed, to be honest.”

“And pegasi do not possess a keen sense of smell,” she adds in agreement. “While I am curious what, specifically, such a creature could desire with the Alicorn of Life, I have little doubt its intentions are nefarious.”

“No clue, boss. Sgt. Song said we needed to get a message to your Paladins, but I figured I should give you a heads-up.”

“Absolutely! I will be dispatching a couple squads immediately upon my departure!” She squeezes the colt tight to her chest in a hug and nuzzles into his mane. “Your decision to mark the stallion was brilliant, Cure. In the future, if you find yourself approached by such a being you must prepare yourself, both mentally and physically, for violent conflict. If this is indeed some form of undead monster then it may believe feeding off you would empower it; a possibility I admit may be true. I may have to station a company of Paladins in Baltimare to act as a deterrent. Or as a strike team, perhaps.”

“Maybe,” he begrudgingly agrees. “At least until I’m stronger.”

Nodding again, she suggests, “Indeed. I suspect that is a concern any such fiend would have as well. They do possess intelligence. They would likely never dare attack a fully mature, empowered alicorn after the losses my sister and I inflicted upon them. I dare not hope that this creature is the last of their kind, but perhaps we could be so fortunate to never encounter them again.”

“What do they look like under that Illusion?”

The princess shudders at the memory. “A strange combination of a dog, dragon, and lamprey is the closest I can describe. Observe.”

Her horn ignites and she projects an Illusion of, more or less, a canine-ish creature, but with three sharp claws instead of paws. Its coat is extremely thin with pale gray skin visible through it and completely lacking any kind of mane. Its wings are certainly more draconic than bat-like in their shape. It has a thin, serpentine tail that ends in a point, but lacks any kind of spade or obvious weapon.

The biggest difference is in its face. The shorter, thicker muzzle is split open into three segments; a bottom, and two sides that open diagonally up. Each segment is lined with small, sharp teeth on the exterior and larger, fang-like ones further in that jut forward more than inward.

“Damn. Not the kinda creature you wanna take home to meet the folks. You said they’re undead? As in not alive?”

“Correct. They are the product of necromancy most foul. They rarely do so, but they can propagate by infecting a living victim with a parasite, devouring their essence from inside them much like a wasp’s offspring. It is a truly horrific fate,” she morosely adds. “While Luna’s water would cleanse the creatures themselves, their victims would be left mostly intact. Finding their exploded entrails traumatized many a young soldier greatly.

“It is fortunate that they seem to hate each other as much as they do anything else. We would typically find that they had beheaded their own young shortly after their,” she pauses, face scrunched in disgust, “... birth. We suspected they reproduced due to a compulsion, but killed their kin for fear of competition.”

The colt goes stock still during her explanation, then facehooves himself with more force than necessary.

The princess leans back, slightly startled at the odd behavior. “Cure?”

“I didn’t even think to look at it through different spectrums. I am such a dumbass.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Infrared and ultraviolet, boss!” he exclaims, throwing his hooves in the air. “I bet the damn thing didn’t have body heat! I never got close enough to find out with my normal heat sensors!”

“I very much prefer that, though I am curious as to whether you could have detected it another way.” She shrugs her wings and says, “It matters little so long as you do have a way of detecting them, I suppose.”

“Right. I still feel like a moron, but I guess so.” He blows out a long sigh and nuzzles into her chest. “Well thanks for hearing me out and not dismissing it out of hoof, Celestia. I can’t tell ya how much I appreciate workin for a manager that listens to their employees.”

“You are quite welcome, Cure. I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful it is to have competent underlings to rely on.” She pats him on the head like he’s a small child, which, to be fair, he realizes he is. It doesn’t stop him from scowling up at the mare, much to her amusement.

“Be that as it may, I need to go let Song and Silver know that the cavalry is on its way.”

“And it is nearly time for me to raise my sun,” she agrees.

“Exactly. Where should I wait for them and what’s their ETA?”

“I will have teams from Forts Meadow and Hamleton dispatched immediately. The Fort Meadow squad will arrive first, likely within the next half hour. Fort Hamleton’s team will arrive via carriages soon after; Manehattan is not that far by air, after all. I suspect you will want to be involved, but -”

“Nope!” he instantly denies, cutting her off mid-sentence. “I’m good lettin the pros do their thing.”

Brows raised in surprise, she cranes her neck to look down at the colt. “Really? I had expected you to insist that you accompany them.”

“Nah, screw that. I don’t want to see that shit unless I have to. If they can preserve the body for a scan then that’s super, but I’m fine sittin this one out. I’ll tweak their sniffers so they can follow the scent, but I’ll happily keep my furry butt well away from anything that wants to snack on me ‘till I’m strong enough to fight ‘em.”

A knot of tension in the princess’s chest unwinds and she relaxes, once again squeezing the colt against her soft fluff. “I am relieved to hear that, Cure. There are many, many times that I am thankful for your maturity. Please notify your parents that you will be delayed, then fly directly to Base Carol. I will alert Captain Stance along with the others.”

“Will she be there? It’s Saturday morning, you know, and unless I’m miscounting my weekends she’s off right now.”

She cocks her head in thought, then nods. “You are correct. This is Lt. Quill’s weekend. Regardless, he will alert the captain as soon as he reads the missive. I am unaware of any missing ponies in the Baltimare region, but the possibility exists, unfortunately.”

“Ah right, the anti-changeling measures you put in place. Alright, I’ll head to Carol now. Should I keep my parents in the dark?”

She only ponders a moment before shaking her head. “No. You may tell them, though I would withhold the more unsavory details.”

“Yeah, my dam doesn’t need to hear about exploded abdomens,” he immediately agrees. He rears up and wraps the princess’s neck in a leg and wing hug, and is promptly rewarded with a soft, warm embrace in return. “We still on for tomorrow night?”

“Absolutely. I must go now; my sun calls to me to lend a hoof in its ascent. Farewell, Cure.”

“Later boss!”

Aware that his sire is probably still asleep, Cure first contacts Title to give her the news. << Hey mom, ran into some kind of weird creature at training. Nothing bad happened, it was just present. Celestia is sending Paladins to Carol, so I’m going there to meet ‘em. Will message dam so she knows I’m okay. >>

<< Creature? Paladins?! What kind of creature?! >>

<< Don’t know for sure. It smelled off and was eye-humping me for most of training. Boss suspects a vampire of some kind. >>

<< Those exist?! What the fuck? >>

<< Apparently. Don’t worry, Paladins are on the way. I’m fine. Need to message dam too. Maybe warn her? >>

<< Sure thing, babe. Be careful. >>

<< Always am, ma. >>

Grumbling that his plans for the day have to be readjusted, Cure pumps as much mana into the crystal as he can before sending his next message, this time to his great grandsire. << Hey grandpa. Will have to get with you and grandma later. Something came up during training and I’m running behind. Crystal almost out of magic, still need to message dam. >>

He continues pumping as much magic in as he can supply during the short trip to the base. It’s only a few minutes later when he and his escorts come in for a landing a respectful distance away from the front gate. Silver and Song had both offered to join him after giving them a short briefing, but they both had foals and Cure was not about to suggest they prioritize him over their own children with a potential predator nearby, especially when he already has an escort.

“Cpl. Bitterbark, Pvt. Posy,” he nods in greeting to the saluting mares as he approaches. “As you were.”

“Sir! Lt. Quill just sent word to expect you, sir!” the corporal replies.

“Excellent.” He turns to face his guard detail and straightens up, saluting with his right wing. “Thank you for the escort, but I believe I’m all set from here. Be sure to convey my apologies to your spouses for keeping you all a bit later than normal, okay?”

All three snap to attention and return the salute, accepting the dismissal with amused smiles at his suggestion.

As soon as the crystal charges enough, he sends his dam a message informing her he arrived at the base safely. He approaches the command building to find Lt. Quill standing outside waiting for him. The darker blue stallion snaps a salute as he approaches. “As you were, lieutenant,” he responds with a more casual wing salute. The two turn to head into the building together, Cure following the stallion as he escorts him past several guard posts, down a flight of stairs to a basement, and into a large room that, Cure guesses, is the command nexus for the entire city’s garrison.

It is nothing at all like he had anticipated.

Dozens of ponies mare stations lining the walls, looking at magically-empowered view screens that display different sections of the city. A large, illusory, three-dimensional map of Baltimare occupies the center of the room, and is surrounded by a trio of unicorns shifting the, apparently, real-time image block-by-block as they scan the northern section of the city and western sections of Parkdale.

The detail when zoomed in is amazing, to the point where Cure can see individual ponies both on the ground and soaring through the air. Though the resolution is not quite fine enough to make out facial features, coat, mane, and wing colors are discernable.

There is no doubt that wide-eyed wonder is showing on the young alicorn’s face as he takes it all in. “Wooooaah.”

“Pretty amazing, isn’t it, highness?” Quill proudly boasts.

“This is insane. Do all cities have this?!”

“No, unfortunately, they don’t. This is all very new; so new, in fact, that we’re still learning how to use it all.”

He briefly wonders why Baltimare, of all places, would have a new system installed before it dawns on him. “How new, exactly, lieutenant?”

The stallion laughs lightly and nods his head in confirmation. “Just a little over two months, sir. Her majesty was quite adamant that a city hosting a young alicorn needed proper protections.” He inclines his head in thought and shrugs his wings. “Given the circumstances, I can’t help but concede the point.”

“Is the data collected by all of this,” he waves his wing across the room at large, “stored somehow?”

“Images can be transferred to paper, if needed, sir. There is no way to watch an event that has already passed, unfortunately. I understand that there’s a few companies competing to develop a method to do just that, though.”

Well shit. There goes my ‘save stuff on a crystal’ patent, I bet.

“I see.”

“If his highness would like,” he begins, pointing to an office on the far side of the room, “I could see that a breakfast is brought down while we wait.”

“That… sounds kinda nice, actually. Thank ya kindly, lieutenant. I’ll keep myself out of everypony’s way.”

“HA! Perish the thought, sir, but I have a request as well.” He waits for Cure to cock a brow in question. “If your highness could, please refrain from using magic beyond levitation while in the room. Some of the equipment is sensitive to interference,” he asks, pointing to one of the many signs decorating the wall. Amongst them one repeats frequently with the words “LEVITATION ONLY IN THIS AREA” above a simple drawing of a horn with a corona surrounding it and a large, red line overtop.

“Ah. Right. Probably best you said something. Thanks.”

“Of course, sir. The captain should be in soon, and I’ll inform your highness when the Paladins arrive.”

“I’m hooo-ACK!”

Cure’s call out upon descending the stairs is mercilessly cut off when he’s tackled to the floor and relentlessly nuzzled by his dam. His youngest siblings look on in confusion from beside Title as their dam marehandles their poor older brother. She checks the colt over from horn to tail to ensure he hasn’t been injured by the malicious stare of some vicious, foal-hungry monster.

Both Cherry and Lotus rush over to join in the pony pile, blasting the colt with questions in a relentless barrage with the former leading the charge. “Are you okay?!”

“Did something try to eat you?”

“Did you beat it up?”

“Did you feed it to your plant?”

“It didn’t follow you home, did it?!”

The question gives both fillies pause. They both suddenly scamper to the opposite side of the colt and his dam from the door and look at it as if they’re expecting something to burst through it at any second.

“Nothing happened, girls,” he denies. “Just some mean monster was dumb enough to come around. It’s gone now,” he explains as he dangles in his dam’s grasp. Despite the quiet laughter from the other parents watching from the nursery, he resists the urge to free himself, giving the mare all the time she needs to assure herself he’s completely unharmed.

“Geez, dam… the dude, thing, whatever, never got within ten meters of me. The Paladins were able to follow the scent marker I put on it and went all ‘Purge the Heretic’ on it. Didn’t even take them half an hour to find its hideout.”

“It’s dead?” Amethyst asks, shocked at the quick resolution.

“Even deader than it was this morning,” he answers with a nod, all six limbs dangling from his dam’s inspection. Finally satisfied, she squashes him against her chest in a tight embrace, takes a deep breath, and blows out a long sigh of relief. Cure gently taps her on the side, with an air of nonchalance, says, “You can, ya know… put me down now, dam. I’m home. I’m safe. The threat is very much gone.”

She tightens her hold for a moment longer before finally releasing the colt. “You’re not going to that practice any more!” she sternly insists. “Not without proper guards, at least!”

Cure huffs and rolls his eyes. “Already taken care of,” he responds. “The princess said she’ll probably station a squad of Paladins in town from now on, so I’ll have real Royal Guards when I go there. I’ll find out more tomorrow, but there’s really no reason to be concerned.”

“Oh.” She instantly deflates from her puffed up posture. “Well, I suppose that’s good then. Are we sure there’s not any others out there?”

He spares a moment to wrap both girls in a wing hug and nuzzles them both, reassuring them, “The princess sent her guards and they took care of everything. We’re completely safe.” Both fillies exhale a sigh of relief as he looks back to his dam. “No. How could I possibly know that? I don’t even know if there was more than one wherever the thing was hiding.

“The captain said the paladins found the threat and took care of it and that it was safe for me to leave. Not that I wasn’t already pretty safe given I can turn invisible, teleport, and it’s daytime out now. Truthfully, I’m surprised you even told them anything,” he says, squeezing the girls a little tighter. “Why would you?”

“Like they couldn’t tell yer dam was upset,” Amethyst scoffs. “All we told ‘em was something was starin at ya at trainin and you’d be late gettin home. They overheard the rest with that super hearin ‘a yers.”

“Ah.”

“We’re glad ta hear yer alright, champ. I knew you’d be fine, but yer ma’s were right worried when they heard somecreature was out ta getchya.”

“I’m surprised it’s already taken care of,” Title notes. “Seems like this would have been more of a big to-do.”

Deed finally lets Savvy wiggle free from his grasp. The pink filly immediately launches herself at her older brother, wings flapping madly.

Cure catches the energetic filly with his right foreleg, squeezing her against his chest and kissing all over her brow. “Dunno what to tell ya, ma. I keep tellin y’all I’m ready for almost anything.”

“You,” Amethyst drawls, pointing her hoof at the colt from atop his sire’s withers, “didn’t have to fight it at all.”

“You’re right. I didn’t have to fight it,” he echoes in agreement. His sisters follow him to the nearest couch by Title; the older two each climbing beneath a wing while he pins the younger between his forelegs. “But my point is still valid. I detected a threat immediately and took steps to address it. Lo and behold,” he waves a wing vaguely in the direction of Baltimare, “it is addressed. With gusto, no less.

“It simply amazes me how insignificant even serious threats can be when they’re found early and dealt with by ponies that are properly equipped and trained to tackle them,” he muses.

“I suppose,” she begrudgingly grants.

“So… now that that’s over with, what were you all working on?”

“Really?” Title asks. She waves a hoof at him preening his sister and asks, “You’re just… okay with the fact that some monster that wanted to eat you hunted you down this morning?”

He shrugs his wings and points out, “I’ve had a year now to mentally prepare myself for the fact that there are literal monsters in this world, ma. I think I’m more afraid of the day I’ll eventually have to hurt something than I am about anything trying to hurt me. Besides, I’m pretty confident I could have either taken that thing out or gotten away easily enough.”

The familiar weight of his dam settles on his back as she insists, “No fighting monsters, Cure! I only agreed to this whole prince thing because I thought it would keep you safe. You’re too young to be fighting anything!”

“I will remind you that I did not, in fact, fight anything. I did exactly what I should have done given the circumstances.”

“He’s right, V,” Amethyst agrees. “Ya done good, colt. Glad yer smart enough not ta think yer invincible.”

Cure scoffs and shakes his head no. “There’s no way am I testin the boss’s theory there, ma. You know, I’m tempted to give you all a demonstration one of these days so you don’t all worry about me so much. I ain’t tryin to sound like Captain Hardflank here, but I really don’t think y’all have a firm grasp on what I’m really capable of. Dad’s the only one that probably has an inkling, but none of the rest of ya have ever gone to the range or anything.”

“That doesn’t matter at all, honey,” Vines insists. “Even the toughest ponies can lose or get snuck up on.” She cringes and admits, “Though I suppose you are harder to sneak up on than most.”

“I wouldn’t mind seein,” Amethyst chimes in. “Honestly, I wouldn’t mind takin a shot or two myself with some’a them crystals.”

“Can we try too?” Cherry asks, giving her big brother those huge, soulful, begging eyes.

“Absolutely not!” Vines answers as he shakes his head no. “Not until you’re a few years older, Cherry.” The betrayed look she gives him stabs right into his heart. “If the geezers -” he pauses to scowl up when his dam nips his ear, “I mean youthful, lovely parents say it’s okay we can go out back and use Shape Earth and Shape Stone.”

“Sounds neat, colt,” Amethyst agrees, starting to climb off Deed’s withers. “In fact, how ‘bout I come join ya. Gotta admit I’m a little curious myself.”

<< We’re around back, Dawn. Come on around! >>

The filly immediately swerves to the right to go around the house, calling back over her withers, “He says they’re around back.”

The four adults look at each other, collectively shrug, and change course to follow as she canters around the corner. They slow their trot when they find Dawn standing at the back corner of the house with a complex look on her face. Exasperation, disappointment, resignation, and maybe slightest hint of amusement grace the filly’s features. The two eldest brace themselves for whatever it is she’s borne witness to, aware that her reaction means the colt has done something ridiculous.

Despite bracing for the unknown, Haze and Emerald still pause for a moment to process the sight before them. It brings the sergeant back to his own foalhood, and he completely fails to stifle the small chuckle that escapes his lips.

The foal-sized castle, because why not, sits in the middle of the back yard, directly behind the house. Far more well made than the ones he and his siblings constructed, it is every bit as tall as Deed is at eye level. Nearly two meters to a side, the stone structure must have taken some serious magic to put together. Then again, he considers, with the plethora of crystals, five adults, and one alicorn whose capabilities dwarf a typical unicorn, he could imagine construction taking only a few hours.

“How long has there been a castle here?” Starlight wonders aloud as the herd slowly approaches.

“That was not here last night,” Dawn answers with a sigh. “His plant is straight up cow manure.”

Emerald doesn’t hesitate to chide her. “That is not how proper young ladies speak, dear.”

“Those are his words, dam!”

“Well, glowbug,” Haze begins, “in your dam’s defense, I do not believe anypony has accused Cure of being a proper young lady.”

“I’m honestly a little jealous,” Solar admits. His son looks at Haze and asks, “Why didn’t we ever do something like that?”

“Truthfully? I don’t know, son. Perhaps when you get home for Hearth’s Warming we can build a tree fort.”

As if somepony was waiting for a break in their conversation, which is almost certainly the case, the large drawbridge begins lowering itself far quieter than a real one would, likely thanks to the silk threads supporting its weight in place of chains.

The colt’s two elder sisters step out wearing exceedingly well-made facsimiles of real guard armor, each carrying a blunted, short (for an adult) spear in the crook of their right fetlocks.

The one on the left - Cherry, if Haze is not mistaken - calls out in a high-pitched voice. “Hail, strangers! State thine name and intentions!”

“Yeah!” Lotus shouts in agreement. “Who goes there and what do ya want?”

A guffaw escapes the elder stallion, and even Emerald’s usually-austere demeanor cracks as she quietly giggles at the adorable fillies.

“Oh. My. Celestia! So cuuute!” Starlight squeals, dancing on her hooves, barely keeping herself back from glomping the pair.

Haze steps forward and bows his head, shaking in mirth the whole while. “Greetings, noble knights! We come to beseech the lord of these lands in hopes that he would grant us audience.”

A poorly smothered laugh can be heard from within the castle’s walls. Both fillies turn and look in the door. Lotus loudly whispers to her older brother to relay the message. “He says he wants to talk to her. What should we do?!”

“Tell them she’ll be right out,” is the not-very-quiet response.

“Okay!” she shouts, turning back to the group. “He said they’ll be right out!” she happily chirps.

No more than a few seconds after the message is conveyed to the group, Cure, disguised as a typical earth pony, emerges from the castle’s interior with a large, plush, purple pillow with gold frills sitting on his withers. Languidly lazing upon the pillow is the colt’s younger sister, a regal cloak trailing down her back and a laurel wreath resting upon her brow.

Haze briefly wonders just how aware the filly is. With her head held high, snout proudly turned to the sky, and her wings cocked up and spread open, the younger foal has the bearing of a queen being paraded about by her loyal subjects. Cure plays the part perfectly as well, approaching the family before dropping into a bow, then sliding the pillow up over his neck and head to rest on his forelegs, but never touching the ground.

In an overly pompous tone, the colt announces, “Her Royal Imperial Majesty, Empress Venture the First, may she reign forever, has seen fit to grant your request for an audience. What boon would thee ask, beyond the opportunity to bask in her magnificence?”

“Umm… a blessing of good health?”

A moment of silence follows. When no response is given, Cure leans forward and nudges the filly with his snout, quietly whispering, “Say yes, Savvy.”

“Yes!” the girl eagerly chirps. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

“Four boons!” Cure jubilantly shouts. “The empress has seen fit to grant thine request! Rejoice, that lowly commoners such as thineselves should have such fortune!”

“Lowly commoners?” Emerald echoes, her tone one of annoyance.

The house’s back door opening causes all heads to swivel in Deed’s direction. “Alright, son, you’ve had yer fun. Now come on,” he waves inside the house, “Solar ain’t got all day, after all.”

The colt huffs in annoyance and sets the pillow on the ground. “Fiiine!” he groans as he stands up, rolling his eyes as hard as a pony possibly can. He gives each of his sisters a smooch on their brow and says, “Good job, Lotus, Cherry. I’d let you be my knights any day!”

“Really?!” they ask as one.

“You bet! But don’t get too excited. The job is super boring. Just ask Mr. Haze how fun standing around all day is.”

“It can be, at times,” the stallion confirms when they both look in his direction. “To be fair, though, boring is good when you’re a guard. When it isn’t boring that means something has likely gone wrong.”

“Well, come on then,” the colt sighs, not even reacting when his sister leaps to follow, flying after him and landing on his back again, “daylight is burnin, I suppose.” He passes by Amethyst and Title as they exit the house to get a better look at the castle.

The latter scoops Savvy off his back and quietly warns, “Don’t do anything weird, got it?”

The herd of unicorns all follow Cure, wondering what exactly that warning stemmed from. Sensing their curiosity, he glances over his withers to explain, “I played a prank or two on her last night. Nothin big, but she’s got it in her head I’d try to be funny today or somethin. Y’all know my policy; I don’t joke around when I’m doing medical stuff.”

“Except making a me-puppet,” Solar grumbles.

The colt’s ears flatten and he hangs his head in a mild nod. “Yeah. Sorry ‘bout that, dude. Kinda mixed up the ‘can do’ and ‘should do’ columns a bit on that.”

“Columns?” he questions, unfamiliar with the expression.

“Yeah,” he bobs his head again, leading them through the hallway to the front of the house. He pauses by the stairs and briefly looks up, then to the front door before shrugging. “Dam ‘n pa must’a gone to the store,” he mumbles before turning left and entering his office. “So imagine ya got two lists side by side. ‘Can do’ on the left, ‘should do’ on the right. Some things go in both columns, know what I mean?”

They all follow him in as he hops up on his little couch and turns to face them, flopping on his barrel. From one blink to the next, the unassuming earth pony’s disguise is dispelled to reveal the foal’s true nature. He continues as additional seating emerges from the floor. A large wooden bench forms long enough for all the adults, then the top fluffs up, for lack of a better description, into a soft, foamy mesh. A smaller seat forms immediately by his right side and he lifts his wing in invitation.

With a happy swish of her tail and a muzzle-splitting smile, Dawn leaps up to join the colt and snuggles into his side. A small pillow raises between her forehooves and she sighs in contentment when she rests her chin on it. Similar pillows sprout out of their seating as the rest arrange themselves on the larger couch; Solar closest to the colt on his left, then Starlight, Emerald, and, finally Haze closest to the door, which swings shut before the privacy wards flash into existence.

“So anyhow, a few things. First off, no need to g-tube you. I had a patient with a very different issue, but also needing to put on some weight.”

Emerald interrupts, asking, “The pegasus mare?”

“Yup. Word got around?”

She gives him a flat look and explains, “I scarcely believe you could scratch an itch without word getting around, Cure.”

“That’s fair. So anyhow, and forgive me if this looks every bit as weird,” he begins as a tendril of his plant emerges from the ground and hovers in front of him, “but what I’ll be doing instead, with your blessing, is basically the same, I’ll just go in at the base of your neck so you can still talk and whatnot. Observe without freaking out, please.”

With that warning, the tendril slowly snakes its way to the colt, planting itself just above where his neck meets his chest. Dawn leans slightly away to get a better look, but aside from the exterior of the stalk opening outwards like a flower there is nothing to see. “No pain, no discomfort, no problem.

“I’ll hook you up like this, pump you full of calories, then push that through your system to make any additions necessary. No muss, no fuss, and you can be awake through it all if you want. I will say that it’ll probably feel weird having my magic coursing through you for such an extended period of time - maybe an hour - but,” he shrugs, “what can you do? Normally there would be consequences to ‘consuming’ so much food. Don’t worry about those; nopony is going to have to make bathroom breaks while I work.”

He withdraws the tendril and pans his gaze over the group. “Questions about this part of the process?”

“Not about this part, exactly,” Solar says, flicking his eyes towards his parents.

“Is your question about how we’re doing this?”

“Yep.”

“My plan was to discuss with each of you,” he motions between the younger couple, “what you wanted done one at a time. I can do the same for you two,” he inclines his head to the elders, “but yer married, so why bother?”

“Bothered last week,” Emerald grumbles under her breath.

Cure can’t help but quietly chuckle. The mare’s ears tilt back in embarrassment when she remembers how acute his hearing is.

“So anyhow,” he continues, “extensive changes may take as much as an hour, but some simple stuff like conscious control of autonomic functions?” He shrugs and flicks his left wing, “A few minutes to make the change and a few more to teach you how to use it.”

Haze blushes slightly at the reminder of the previous weekend. Having a foal directly cause that reaction, even in a clinical situation, must be the most uncomfortable he’s been in his entire life, even if it was necessary to “train” him to “engage” the nerves on his own.

“Any other questions?” The group spends several seconds sharing looks to see if anypony has any, after which he claps his forehooves. “Awesome. So… who’s first?”

“I think my parents will,” Solar answers. “We talked about this a lot and since I’ll take longer they said they wanted to go first.”

“Cool. Alright then.” The door swings open and he removes his wing from Dawn’s back, getting a pout from the filly. “If you three want, I have auto-massage couches laid out in the back living room. Just hop up on one and get comfy and my plant’ll give you a good workin-over while ya wait.”

That wipes away her disappointment. With a departing nuzzle, the filly hops down and leads the other two out into the hallway. The door seals shut again and an awkward silence permeates the room.

“So…” the colt begins, “I’m not so uncouth as to ask how everything worked out.” Both ponies’ ears darken, but they otherwise react as mature adults should. “But, if there were any problems then this is a good time to make me aware.”

“No,” Haze quickly assures him. Slowly, as if he doesn’t want to say it out loud, he continues, “Everything worked as expected.”

Emerald scoffs, bumping her husband with her left shoulder. “I very much beg to differ.”

“Yes, well,” the stallion coughs to hide his discomfort, “no unpleasant surprises, I suppose, would be more accurate.”

“Great! I can’t tell you how relieved I am to hear it! I had kinda worried you,” he directs to the mare, “would be a bit miffed at me over that. So unless there’s any issues that need addressed beyond maybe a touch of healing…?” He waits a moment to see if either speaks up, during which her ears darken further, then continues, “then I just need to know what all you would like to work on.”

With the parents’ requests taken care of, Solar and Starlight languidly make their way into Cure’s office. The young mare climbs up on the couch and all but collapses on her side, heaving a deep sigh. The colt watches on in amusement when she rolls to her back and stretches her legs in every direction, yawns loudly, and finally settles into a comfortable position.

Solar sedately climbs up to join her, laying just beside the girl and resting his chin on her soft chest. The young mare instinctively wraps her forelegs around his neck to squeeze him tight against her.

“So… I’m guessing you enjoyed the couches?”

She lazily turns her neck to face him and cracks an eye open. “Yesssss,” she dreamily hisses. “How much for one of those?”

The massage plant, unfortunately, does not perform autonomously. It does have the parts of a brain necessary for motor control so that some of the processing is offloaded from Cure’s own mind, but the ability to both follow verbal commands as well as respond to nonverbal cues would require a great deal more processing power than Cure would be comfortable creating.

That’s doubly true when he considers the significant, though not overwhelming, physical strength that the plant needs to give a proper massage. He can easily imagine some Stephen King-esque story coming out at some point in the future about a massage table that either ate or pretzel-fied a poor pony after gaining some level of sapience.

“I would flat out give you one if I could, but it only works because it’s hooked into my greater plant. I’ve never been to your place in Baltimare before… do you live near the hospital, by any chance?”

She scoffs and shakes her head no. “The housing closer to the hospital are too expensive. I have an apartment a little ways east of the zoo.”

A thought occurs to the colt: The zoo is just beside a decent sized park, not far from the rail line that enters the city. The hospital-based network is already stretching northwest, so an offshoot to the northeast is feasible as well. After a moment of pondering, he finally dismisses the idea as a waste of resources. If he’s going to expand anywhere at all, he would be better off going east towards the ocean.

The ocean! Holy shitballs! I can just have a node in the friggin ocean and do everything underwater! Moron!

The colt keeps his features under control despite the insistent urge to facehoof for not thinking of it earlier. “That’s a bummer. I could, maybe, have given you a plant if you were really close to the hospital, but yeah, sorry. If you want a massage you’re free to come by whenever you want and ask for one. We have a spare room you could crash in whenever.”

He almost reflexively offers to let her crash with him and his sisters, but inviting his adoptive older brother’s marefriend to sleep with him, even with two fillies present, is probably a little too much, even if his intentions are pure. He would never betray his friend, but Cure’s own maturity is a double-edged sword in this case, and the offer alone may make things awkward.

“Mmm… maybe,” she thoughtfully defers.

“Cool. Hay, bring Prism if you want. I don’t mind pampering my bro’s ladies a bit while he’s unavailable. Just Send me a message so I know you’re coming and I’ll get everything ready for ya.” The thoughtful look tells him she’s at least considering it. “So, on to business. You’ve had time to think and talk it out, I hope?”

“We have,” Solar answers with a nod.

“Awesome. What have you decided?”

Starlight cranes her neck up to look in Solar’s eyes. Cure can see some hesitance in the young stallion’s look; a fact that worries him slightly. He does his best to convince himself that it’s not his friend’s fault if he’s unsure about making any big changes to himself. His own dam has been the same, only recently allowing the colt to upgrade her own and the foals’ senses fully. She’d had the olfactory upgrades for quite a while, but the vision package was not one she’d embraced until just recently.

With one last reassuring nod Starlight lays back down, her head tilted slightly to the side to not dig into the couch. With a flex of will a hole forms directly under the tip and, before she has a chance to react, her head rolls to the side to press flatly against the couch’s surface.

She gives a small yelp at the unexpected movement that quickly changes to a contented sigh when she nuzzles her crown and the top of her nuzzle into the plush material. Solar realizes what happened only a second later, snorting a laugh at his marefriend’s foalish behavior.

“Star just wants the basics. Senses, the foal stuff,” he bashfully forces out, eliciting a giggle from the mare in question when his coat darkens, “and the cosmetic stuff you talked about last time. As far as I am concerned, there’s a few things I’m not sure about, but for the most part, I’m going to trust you.”

The colt lights up in glee, eyes widening as he nearly dances in place on his small couch. “Really?!”

Solar nods.

The colt shoots off his perch and, with a flap of his wings, impacts the young stallion’s free side in a tight wing hug. “You won’t regret it, dude! This is going to be so awesome! You’re not gonna believe how happy you’ll be that you trusted me here! I promise, when you stroll outta here, you’re gonna feel like a million bits! You ready to get started now? This’ll take a little longer than yer folks did.”

“Whenever you are,” he agrees, chuckling at the enthusiastic foal.

“Awesome! Awake or asleep?”

“Awake, please.”

“You got it, bro! Just don’t freak out. You won’t feel a thing, promise!”

“... and feel this, right here?” Cure asks for seemingly the hundredth time.

Though the older colt still has the distinctly trimmer build of a unicorn, but the extra hoof of height, both to his body and to his horn, certainly has an impact on his presence in the room. As far as Cure’s concerned, Solar is as physically fit and strong as a unicorn can get without the metaphysical buffs that earth ponies enjoy.

Starlight is clearly happy with the changes as well. Though she’s been sitting quietly to the side observing as Cure walks him through all the changes, her coat turned nearly crimson during one particular array of “upgrades” that the new body came with. She may have thought she was being subtle, but with the fixed stare and more rapid swishing of her tail she might as well have grabbed a megaphone to announce her excitement.

Standing in the center of the room, Solar concentrates on the odd sensation in his gums. “Yeah.”

“Okay. What I want you to do is take a deep breath, flex that, and blow like you’re inflating a balloon. Just don’t aim that at me or Star.”

“Dude…”

“What?”

“I’m not going to freaking shoot fire am I? First scales, then breath?! I am not a dragon.”

“No, no fire,” Cure assures him, “and besides, you can’t even see the scales. They’re under your skin and they're tiny, dude! You’ll just shoot out a paralytic like I used on those muggers.”

“The same one that almost killed the zebra?!”

“No! That was a soporific compound! It knocked ‘em out… I just gave that one mare a tad too much. This’ll leave somepony awake. There’s an additive that’ll make ‘em a tiny bit loopy, so they won’t remember what happened, but otherwise they’ll be fine.”

“When will I ever need to do that?!”

“I dunno,” Cure answers with a shrug. “Maybe somepony somehow foalnaps you and puts a magic blocking ring on your horn and also somehow chains your hooves together in a way that you can’t wiggle free.”

“I have a messaging crystal!”

“And now you have a hold-out weapon, too. One that can hit a whole room in a single breath.”

“You should have used that on the minotaurs, moron.”

“Yeah, probably. Live and learn, bro. Sometimes I suffer from having too many options to choose from. Now,” he points his wing at the wall to his right, “blow!”

Solar lets out an exasperated sigh, but does as he’s commanded. He turns, facing the wall, inhales deeply, activates the nerves that Cure instructed, and blows an invisible cloud against the wall. Only due to his enhanced senses can he detect the slightly acidic tang in the air as he blasts the entire side of the room with his venom.

“Excellent,” Cure slowly drawls in an oddly discomforting voice.

“Still seems silly,” Solar complains aloud, even if, in the confines of his own mind, he finds the idea kind of neat.

“Yeah, well, hopefully you never need it. Now, I suggest we go show ya off to the folks, then,” he shoots a wink to Starlight, “I imagine you probably want to give him a proper send-off before he has to head out.”

The navy mare grins broadly as she looks her stallion up and down. “That sounds like a fantastic idea.”

Solar shuffles uncomfortably on his hooves, but can’t fully hide the upturn of the corners of his lips.

The wards flash brightly for a split second before going completely dark followed by the heavy door swinging into the room. Cure leads the group out and rounds the corner to the right, aware that, aside from Lemon, everypony is waiting for the big reveal in the nursery. He trots right out into the room and hops up on the couch beside Dawn, opposite her dam, and half climbs on her withers.

“Sweet Celestia,” Amethyst quietly crows upon seeing the beefed-up stallion trotting into the room.

Even Title nods in appreciation, smiling broadly when she sees the way Starlight is eye-humping her coltfriend’s flanks.

Emerald shoots to her hooves and hops off the couch, closing the distance to wrap her son in a hug.

“I’m fine, dam,” the young stallion quietly assures her, wrapping a foreleg around her to pull the mare against his chest. With a dismissive snort, he lightly chuckles saying, “You’re acting like I was in danger or something.”

“How do you feel, son?” Haze asks, slowly taking in his son’s new physique.

“Great,” he answers with a shrug. “Not really all that different, to be honest.”

“You won’t until you exert yourself,” Cure points out. “Or rather, try to. Just remember, you need to eat more and, occasionally, mix some gems into your diet. Grind ‘em up and drink ‘em if you want.”

“Gems?!” Emerald cries, whipping her head around to face the colt.

“It’s necessary for the subdermal armor,” Cure explains. “Don’t worry; his body can process them just fine. Here, watch,” he says, igniting his horn. Emerald’s eyes go wide and several shouts of alarm sound out when a spellbolt zips past her and blasts Solar in his hip, the impact not even nudging the stallion as it discharges over his flank and dissipates. The look Emerald gives him is distinctly unamused despite there being no harm done.

“Dagnabit, colt,” his sire growls, fixing him with an annoyed stare.

“I’ve told you a million times!” Vines shouts, thrusting an angry hoof in the colt’s direction, “No attack spells in the house!”

“Was that a stun?” Haze asks, looking between the alicorn and his unbothered son in wonder.

“You betchya. Not a strong one, granted,” he argues, huffing in his dam’s direction, “but enough for a quick demo. A really powerful one could cause you to stumble for a few seconds,” he reminds Solar who nods in understanding.

“I’ll be sure to dodge next time,” he flatly replies, clearly exasperated at the colt’s antics.

“A wise choice,” his sire agrees.

“Yep, always better to avoid getting hit,” Cure agrees. “So you’re all set now. I’m assuming you’re heading back to Baltimare soon?”

“Afraid so,” he sighs. “I have to report to the station at seven, so I only have a few hours before I’ll be heading out. Still, I’ll be back in a few months for Hearth’s Warming, so…” he trails off, sighing again. Vines is the first to climb down and approach the colt, rearing up to wrap him in a hug. It’s only a few seconds later before the young stallion is at the center of a pile of mares squeezing him in from all sides.

Deed gives the younger stallion a respectful nod and a solid hoofbump, then Cure latches on to his side at the shoulder, half wrapping his chest and neck in another wing hug. “I’ll miss ya dude, but hay… a few months isn’t that bad. It’ll go by in no time. Now get outta here,” he insists, separating from his friend. He does his best to avoid looking in Starlight's direction as he adds, “I know you’ve got some packing to do before you leave, after all.”

Author's Note

Alright. Gonna be honest. This chapter was an absolute, complete and total slog for me to get through.

Two main reasons: First off, like every other person that has a Steam Account, it seems, I've played a (frankly) unhealthy amount of the big hit game that landed about a week and a half ago.

The second is because many times I sat down to write I got so pissed off I ended up alt-F4'ing out of my word processor. I've literally spent thousands of hours on a comedy/SoL about ponies, who only very rarely wear any clothing, and occasionally used that as a source of humor or as a contrast to the MC's memories of a human life. To see a comment asking if the story will, after all that time and work, devolve into something completely different... I can't even.

The chapter definitely suffered as a result, and I dithered back and forth between pushing back its publication for a week, but frankly, I just want to move on now. Sorry if the quality in this one is not what I typically deliver, especially in the second half.