Monday 1 of August - Year 983

Father had decided he would go help ponies, to heal them with his powers, we shared dinner last night, then he left for the train station this morning. Mom recommended for him to visit Fillydelphia, an idea I was reluctant to agree to, but I had to concede that it was the largest city, with the most ponies in need of help, but I told him that he should be careful, and that I hoped that his goddess would at least look after him, help him if needed.

Oddly enough I heard her voice shortly after saying goodbye to him.

And by her I mean the goddess, her voice I heard one time before, it was soft and caring, yet I could feel the power behind it. She is definitively the goddess of harmony, Faust.

'I promise I'll keep him safe Onyx, you know he means a lot to me, I'm not just a voice asking for favors.' Her honeyed voice soothing me, yet I didn't fully trust her to do as she says, could she even interfere with mortals? I wasn't sure, but maybe it was a system of favors, that could be it?

Dad helped ponies for her by healing them, and she in exchange, offered him power and protection from whatever bad thing could happen to him.

'Oh! G-goddess Faust, right? I'll trust you, but forgive me for saying this, but if something bad were to happen to him... I'm going in there, to the fields of Elysium and I'm dragging you here to help me get him back, safe and sound, do you understand?' Despite my slight fear of powerful entities, I threaten her, being completely serious, I would not hesitate to get her help in saving my dad, even if it meant I would have to drag her out of wherever she is, yet somehow I will have to get that far.

This may be going too far, but if she is as good as he says, then I should not worry about her becoming angry.

'I would never abandon him to a bad end, If anything where to happen to him and I could not intervene for some reason, I would call you to help right away, I would keep you informed to where he is at all times, he is connected to me by his devotion to harmony and the amulet too, Onyx I promise to keep him safe as long as he stays in the side of harmony, and we both know he will. Also... I await patiently for the day when you and your family comes visit my realm, I want to have a talk to you about how I could further protect and empower you all.' So... She is offering more power, it would be foolish to not accept, I wonder what could she offer us? And most importantly, what was the price?

'We could do that, next time we are all together, is that okay? I need to go get ready for school now, so... Talk to you later, as much as I would love to ask about all the details on the way you have to protect someone, I don't want to be late, I hope that's okay?' I asked, getting a mental acknowledgment from her and silence after.

I get ready quickly and prepare my bags, books and writing implements I'll need for a today, getting sure I have everything ready, the correct books too.

The streets are packed with ponies and occasionally, although rarely another creature, everyone is returning from vacation and jobs start again, as well as school, the rush hour, when everyone either goes to school or work is now, and there are dozens of ponies around me, most of them walking the same way as me, towards upper Canterlot, although some head to the middle city, and are going the opposite way.

I sometimes wave at ponies I recognize, some I've crossed before, others are just family friends, but after living here I start seeing some familiar faces, the city is very alive today, but it doesn't take me long to arrive to the school, I am wearing my school uniform, it's a simple white shirt, with a small, red tie that goes around my neck.

Celestia's School of Magic is a four story building, having gardens around, and its open plan, students are entering now, and heading to their classes, teachers had already arrived early to prepare the classrooms and hang up signs, the school was packed with students, all heading to different classrooms, I remembered my classroom well, it was the one all the way in third floor, I had honestly forgot what classes we had today, but soon I would find out.

As I headed to my classroom, a slight bounce on my step in excitement from getting back to a routine of learning and hanging out with my two friends, I unknowingly approach a group of fillies my age, out of habit, I greet them with a friendly "Good morning!"

I don't expect a response, and keep walking towards my locker room to put my bags, not realizing that behind me, those three fillies I greeted earlier stepped up smirking and giggling, the sound was oddly enough not as friendly sounding as I am used to.

I turned around after placing my bags and closing the locker, knowing there were there, but I immediately recognized them and I could only sigh in frustration, I knew this ones well.

One has light yellow coat with darker yellow mane and tail, her name is Lemon Drop. The one next to her was a green mare with two tone blue mane and tail, who's name is Right Angle, and the third is pink coated unicorn filly with a fiery red mane with pink highlights, her name is Flaming Rose.

Had I not known them by now, I would have said they are easy on the eyes, their colors being pleasant and beautiful like pretty much every single pony in this world, as ponies often had very shiny, well groomed and healthy coats and manes.

That was not the problem with the three of them, it was altogether different.

They had very unlikable personalities, somepony or ponies, most likely their parents taught them that non ponies were monsters or something.

That's what I can assume from the way they treat me, I was not usually sure why this even happened, my only possible explanation as to why some ponies were so xenophobic was the fact that they were part of a very sheltered society, they had no hardships, not much crime, no wars, no famine as far as I know, no serious pandemics or other issues that transcend such issues, not that humans were much better when it came to xenophobia, humans not only hated other humans based on skin color but also nationality and a lot more, ponies hated other species, which was not exactly the same but...

I guess now I know what it felt to be a minority. Not that it was new, Celestia made me feel like I was some sort of potential serial killer that she had to intimidate into compliance that one time, that left a mark on my mind I wasn't sure I could forget or forgive fully.

Focusing back on reality and on the fillies in front of me, I greeted. "Hey Drops, Angle, Rose. Hope your vacations went well, good to see you three in a good mood, what do you have for me today?"

I knew they had something planned this time. "So lame, trying to get us to stop by being polite? It won't work, you deserve no politeness from us." Rose, the 'leader' of the little group spoke with a dismissive tone, and the other two nodded, gathering their wits. "She's right, you should not even talk to us, you know monsters like you don't belong on this school, now stop looking at us!" Lemon spoke, an angry look on her eyes, but she still had a bit of a mean smile on her. Right Angle didn't say anything, and just glared at me.

Then nothing happened, I was about to turn and head to my classroom.

"Now!" until they used a spell on me, I was splattered by magically created paint suddenly, my uniform, my saddlebags, and my face were covered in multicolor paint, the magic made it almost impossible to wash off right away, it would fade in a few hours sure, but my uniform would be ruined and I would look like a fucking clown during our class!

"Hahahah good luck getting that off loser! its magic that lasts for hours, and you look ridiculous! Clown." Rose mocked me and they giggled and ran off ahead into the class, playing the role of innocent little fillies, as I uselessly try to wipe off the paint from my face, letting out a small sigh of frustration. Why does this always happen to me? Why was there never a teacher or an adult around that said anything to them?

I let out a little sad exhale, they were definitively creative, from trying to intimidate me with words, to physical violence, to insults, and now resorting to actually using spells on me, spells that while not illegal, were considered a prank spell, or applied like they did, a self defense spell. Not as bad as pepper spray, but not good either.

I walked towards the guys bathroom, where I entered an unoccupied stall, once in there, I used dispel magic on it to make the sticking effect go away, and the paint dripped down from my face and head, as well as my clothes for a few seconds, then it all dissolved into light as the spell failed completely, unmade by my own, restricted spell.

I just shrugged, what can I really do about it? They're just dumb fillies, did I mention that this spell temporarily blinds you? at least having my blindsight was a huge help for cases like this.

I washed my face quickly to freshen up after exiting the stall, and I dried myself with magic, and now I was ready, well cleaned and groomed for class! Not that I had any hair to straighten.

I walked the rest to the way to the classroom, looking for an empty seat, there sitting by the middle, I saw my two friends, Cadence and Ruby, who I waved excitedly at both, they smiled happily and waved back.

Thankfully, I wasn't late, and the annoying three fillies looked at me with surprise that quickly turned into anger, their little prank had not gone as swimmingly as they had hoped at first, and now... they probably want to mess with me some other way.

lucky for me, and unlike them, I knew how to dispel magic, it was a spell closely kept secret by the Royal Guard, because being able to just dispel any magic done by a guard would make it a lot harder to capture a unicorn, and it could cause havoc on everyday magic systems, including home security systems using magilocks.

At least they didn't have time to think up another prank to play on me until the teacher arrived, Professor Inkwell, a white unicorn mare with brown mane tied in a ponytail, she must be around 55 or so years old, and was blind on her left eye, from what I've heard she was in some sort of serious incident that she herself helped solve, involving, worryingly, an invasion of shadow monsters to Canterlot a few years before I was born. Could this have anything to do with the World of Dreams? the other side of the veil... I hoped not, but where could have this creatures even come from if not from there? Better to not entertain those thoughts for too long, not when the teacher is speaking.

She greets the students and begins her class on the various runes and their meanings, something that I payed close attention to once I stopped thinking to myself, taking notes of every single rune she mentioned, and her explanation on them.

She talked about the intricacies of every rune, the way they were applied, and how they could be combined together to form spells, the spells used everyday, she explained which runes formed them. I decided to ask a question, something I already knew the answer to, but wanted to hear it from them, so I raised my foreleg.

She looked at me with a raised eyebrow and nodded, pointing her hoof at me. "Yes, Onyx, right? What is it?"

"What happens if you combine runes to create a spell, but instead of using the already established spells, you make something new?" I asked with a curious tone, her look turned stern, yet not fully angry.

"You do not do that, ever, do you know why, Onyx?" I shake my head, but another pony lifts her hoof, Cadence, the teacher points at her. "Yes miss Cadence? Do you know the answer?" Cadence nods at that. "Go ahead, explain to your fellow student why then."

"Because, if you don't use properly tested spells, and try to mix and match runes, you have a very high probability of creating a dangerous or even deadly spell in unexpected ways, a spell that could cause great harm to you or those around you, or worse." She spoke in a serious tone, looking at me with a worried frown, then to the other students and then back at the professor.

"That is correct, miss Cadence, you understand now, Onyx? the reason we don't drift away from well established runic matrixes is for the safety of everypony, runes by themselves are very simple concepts, but they have many variables, as well as hidden intricacies, which make learning them and using them correctly, a bit difficult.
The reason most unicorns don't usually learn past Telekinesis or their cutie mark related talents is because runes are difficult to master, and for casting other spells easily, you need either a cutie mark that guides you, or you need to study, learn, and practice a lot of runes and their correct order, is that clear everypony?" She explains, then ask the class.

"Yes Professor Inkwell!" The class answers almost as one, I smile, satisfied at the explanation, this mare knows a lot clearly, probably knows more about runes and magic, at least everyday magic and runes, than myself.

The class continues without interruption afterwards, I double check my notes and make sure I have all written down, and diagrams and drawings of the runes she explained and showed in my notebook, this class has been amazing, Professor Inkwell is a badass, she clearly is a powerful unicorn, and kind hearted as well, she treats me like any other student.

Next class was maths and physics, something that I really struggled on as a human, but I found myself much better at this time around.

Professor Neigh, an earth pony with crazy looking black mane and gray coat, he was nice enough, if a bit eccentric, but that just made his classes more fun and interesting, always pulling some interesting example for us to understand a concept, something that I really appreciated specially in math class. His class was uneventful, we did some math problems and many went to the front, completing math problems and physics problems on the blackboard, it helped build confidence if anything.

It had been 2 hours by now, and only the last few classes remained, 3 more hours to go, but for now it was recess.

The bell rung, and everypony ran out of the classroom, except for me Ruby and Cadence, who came to sit next to me, we finally had time alone. "Onyyyx, it's been so long since last we met! how were your vacations? Where did you go? everypony was worried because no one was at your house, we even went there to see if you wanted to hang out, but no one answered, we figured you went on vacation with your family." Cadence spoke first, pulling me into a hug with her small wings and her hooves, I got out of my seat to be able to properly go and hug her, and so did she and Ruby.

"She's right, tell us everyyything! I missed you, the others missed you so much too, when did you come back?" Ruby got up and trotted over, joining the hug, I just held both of them close to me, closing my eyes and enjoying their presence, their scent and their warmth close to me again.

"I've missed you so much you two, and the others... We have to get together and hang out this weekend, are any of you free? Okay explaining what happened and where I went will take too long, how about we talk about this in our next little get together, that sounds okay?" I asked while nuzzling them both, they're awesome, I am excited to see all my friends again too!

"Yeah, that sounds reasonable." Cadence answers with a slight nod, smiling at me with that sweet smile of hers, she looks so adorable... "It's also my turn to host, I hope you're ready to spend a full day in Canterlot's Royal Castle, it's gonna be soooo exciting! You'll see, even auntie will join us, we will have games and other fun things ready, it will also be your welcome back party, are you okay with that?" She asks with excitement and cheer in her voice, it's contagious because now I feel the same way.

"Yeah! Let's do that, I'll do my best to also help, if you want I can go help set things up, I'm good with magic remember?" I offer, bouncing in place excitedly. They stand beside me and Cadence nods, seeing my eagerness to help.

"Oh why not? I'm sure auntie would love to have you around, she seemed very interested in you last time she saw you at your house, teaching us magic."

"Hey how's Shining doing Cadence? It's been a while since we had time to spar, It would be fun to do it again, also I wanted to talk to you about something, do you know what's the deal with those three fillies that always seem to have a problem with me? They keep harassing me and I can't really do anything about it." I decided that I may as well ask her if she knew anything, because I didn't want any problems with them. "I just want them to leave me alone, do you think you could set up a conversation with them, so they stop bothering me?"

She gains a thoughtful look and then nods. "Sure, if they are picking on you, maybe you can talk it out, I'll get them to come over, they will most likely listen to me, you know why." She gestures to her wings, flapping them slowly to get the point across.
"And Shiny? He's doing good, he is becoming a very strong colt and he may even surpass you soon, but don't worry about him, you'll see him on the weekend and you will be able to hug him as much as I know you want to~" She teased, all of a sudden, I felt flustered by her words and avoided her gaze, but she had a knowing smirk on her face.

I give her a small glare, before speaking up in a defensive tone.

"Of course I wanna hug him! He's my best friend, and I miss him and all the others a whole lot.
Stop giving me that look... I-its not like that, we are just friends, he's your coltfriend already!" I don't realize I was raising my voice by the end, and end up almost shouting the last part, I blinked, my snout going visibly glowing in embarrassment, why did I raise my voice like that? I looked away, shaking my head, quickly thinking about another topic on the spot.
"I'm sorry for raising my voice Cadence, I just feel really annoyed from having to deal with those three fillies from earlier and I took my anger out on you, can you get them to come over so I can talk to them, like civilized beings? I'm tired of getting harassed every day, even after vacations they just won't stop. Please? I-I know its a lot to ask even after I yelled at you, I guess I've not got it all under control as much as I would have hoped." I spoke softly, my blushing going away and under control as I found a topic that really made me feel bad, I really want to get this over with, I don't want to deal with bullies, even after realizing they can't hurt me, they still try their best to annoy me to death and just make my school hours as miserable as they can.

They've already dumped my ink bottles in the trashcan three times, and they even poured ink into my books, I had to re-buy a few of them and it felt like a waste. Stupid pranks, I wish they would go back to trying to hurt me physically, that was at least amusing, not this tho.

Their attempts may get me to the point I snap and do something stupid like hurting them, I need to keep my emotions under control at all times, this I have some experience with, thankfully.

"Oh no, you have the wrong idea, I don't want to get in the way of your friendship at all Onyx, I promise!" She was serious, her eyes meeting mine, then she gives me a small kiss on the side of the snout, making my eyes for a second, then I smile and kiss her back, making her giggle in turn. Her lips are soft, and warm. I realize I'm getting a bit flustered again, but I don't care if I look a bit purple.

"And Shining really likes you, he talks about you a lot and how much he looks up to you still, I'm sure next time you meet, he will want to have another sparring match with you to see how he measures up now... I have an idea for that, in fact heheh~
Sorry about teasing you though, I'll go out now and get those three fillies to come talk to you, wait here and try to relax, I care a great deal about you, don't forget about that Onyx." She ends up giving me gentle nuzzles before walking out, while I stayed with Ruby Ray, sitting there, feeling confused about my emotions, whatever she did... It sparked a fire in me that I was all too familiar with, the same emotions I felt after kissing Sable.

I decided to not think about it now, there is nothing I can do about this with Cadence, she already has a coltfriend, doesn't she?

"You know she's right, Shining isn't going to stop being your friend just because he is getting close with Cadence, and he still sees you a friend and a rival, I know for a fact he is not giving up on either, so you better be ready." She stands beside me, placing her left leg over my shoulder and pulling me close to her side.

"You also have other friends who really like being with you too, me for example, as well as everypony else, don't forget that my silly shiny friend, and you better get ready for the weekend, because you will be piled on for all the time you were away, and not only by me, got it?" Ruby uses her magic to boop my nose, then pats me with her hoof on top of the head. "You are clearly lovestruck, Onyx." She adds with a smirk, I look away, not daring to make eye contact because I know I can't hide how I feel from her, she knows me well, even better than Cadence.

"Am not." Its clear that I don't even believe in those words myself.

"Well, everypony in our group knows you have a crush on her, what I wonder is if you also have... some feelings for... her coltfriend perhaps? I'm not deaf, or blind Onyx, the way you raised your voice and got all defensive about it, not to mention the fact that every time you get flustered, you literally glow like a hearth warming decoration in this colorful shade of bluish purple? It's very obvious better to just admit it, we all support you on this, In fact I think even they know." I couldn't stop myself from gasping in shock, they ALL knew?! All this time... I was speechless, wanting to disappear into nothingness, and yet I couldn't just go and skip class, not to mention the fact that using magic will raise plenty of questions.

I sighed, pretending I wasn't blushing more than before, and tried to play it cool, but of course I knew I was blushing.

Of course, because of magic, dragons could visibly blush, just as much as ponies, despite both having scales or fur in the way that should make it impossible to see, it was worse for me because I have bioluminescent blood flowing through my veins. There was no point in hiding it then, in a way, it felt good to admit the truth.
"Hmph. Fine, I-I like both of them, ohh I haven't told you yet, but I also have met a girl back in Griffonstone that I have feelings for, during my vacations, so Ruby, I can say with complete certainty that I'm a complete and utter mess when it comes to all of this romance stuff, I don't really... I don't know a lot.

I exhaled, feeling somewhat relieved, there was no secret now, nothing to hide, was there? At least when it came to my feelings, I wasn't ready to talk about my past with them, not that it seemed believable, the only reason my family even believes me is because I have proved to them my abilities and they have benefited from them.

Maybe this is how it should have always been, maybe I should not have hid my feelings from my friends, not this kind of things at least. Ponies are very much open about their feelings, and that explained why I was relentlessly and shamelessly picked on by those fillies, they showed the good and the bad without an ounce of moderation, maybe I should not back so much... But I'm not a pony, and I knew if I were to just act out on my feelings, I wouldn't be as nice to bullies as I am now, sure I didn't plan on beating up anypony but I would at least speak my mind.

"Despite keeping secrets from you, you stay beside me? I don't deserve such wonderful friends Ruby, I... I know you don't need me to tell you this, but thank you for making me see things like they really are, my feelings towards others sometimes confuse me, and I try to keep them to myself, now I realize maybe that is not the best idea if it makes snap at my friends out of jealousy. And no, its not jealousy about them being together, its..."
I looked down and fidgeted in my seat, unsure how to say this without seeming unstable. Even though I am pretty sure I could be considered unstable if I were to go to a therapist.

"I just fear that my best friend who I've known for years, started to drift apart from me because he found a fillyfriend, but I shouldn't be worrying about that, even if he did, he has the right to, I should respect his decision, and value his friendship right now. But a selfish part of me doesn't want to accept it and let him go, a part of me wants both of them." I sighed as I explained how I felt sometimes, they really are wonderful, what I did not expect, was getting smacked in the belly by her magic, It didn't exactly hurt much, but it pushed the air out of my lungs and made me gasp, yet clearly, it wasn't meant to hurt me, just get my attention, and show she was pissed off.

"Don't ever say that! Don't ever say you don't deserve us or any of that nonsense, its not true Onyx, and you know it... And also, you are within your rights to have secrets and not tell anypony, we all have secrets you silly colt, but revealing your secrets to others can make you feel like a huge weight taken off you, I'm sorry for the hit, but you deserved it for even implying that you are not deserving of us, and its not like I could ever hurt you, your scales are slippery to magic, I had to put a lot of oomph into that telekinetic pulse to even get a reaction out of ya." She spoke with a serious, slightly angry tone at my words, not happy in the least about my self deprecation. then she hugged me again, nuzzling my neck and getting lower, tilting her head and pressing it my chest, making me feel a bit confused for a bit, nopony did this before, but I can't deny that it felt comforting. "How about you make it up to me for what you said huh? I think you know what I want~"

"I'll do it no problem Ruby, I know just what you want my adorable and cuddly friend~ Next time we go out together, I'll get us both as many hayburgers as you want, from that good burger place that makes them just like you like em!"
I wasn't a big fan of hayburgers, I much prefer snacking on real fries and burgers, they have pork and chicken burgers around the areas with the most griffon populations like lower Canterlot, I had a map of the best locations back at home, a tour guide for griffons and other omnivores like diamond dogs and dragons.

"Ahh you know me well! Good colt, hey... Onyx? I think you will make a good coltfriend someday, oh, and don't think I forgot about what you said, you better tell me everything about this filly from Griffonstone you have a crush on, but that can wait until tomorrow, when everypony is present, so we can hear what happened in detail." I swallowed fearfully, then nodded, no way I could say no to her after everything, everyone knows Ruby is the boss.

Cadence... I like her, and I like Shining too, I am not sure how I like them yet exactly. Maybe its just a crush and nothing else, but what I'm sure off is that they're both my friends, no one is trying to take them from me. I smirk and chuckle softly to myself, it's kind of funny, maybe I am just as greedy as Celestia says dragons are, wanting to hoard all of the ponies for myself, I bet if she knew, she would have some snarky comment about how all dragons are the same or how I disappointed her, well, that doesn't matter now.

"What you laughing about?" She obviously hears me and ask with a raised eyebrow, now I obviously need to give her a reason, and I don't think I feel like lying to her.

"Its... funny you know? I can't really make out what I really want, maybe I don't just want one pony, and that is what causes me some confusion, I think that's why they say that dragons are greedy, because I have a crush on three, at the same time, what if I start liking a fourth? Just three is already a mess."

"Don't be ridiculous Onyx, you know that ponies have herds of around 5 ponies? sometimes more! You have no reason to be ashamed or think its anything but normal, I've been given the talk by my dam this year, turns out ponies form herds because stallions are born much less often than mares." She explains in a conspiratorial whisper on my ear, as if the last part about there being more mares than stallions was a large, well hidden secret. It makes me smile and honestly feel much better, hearing her say so, despite already knowing that the numbers were unbalanced, it felt... reassuring to hear she thought It was not a bad thing. "But I didn't know a colt could like another colt, that Is weird! My dam didn't ever mention that colts could like other colts, I'm sure it's fine, because maybe dragon colts do like other colts sometimes, do you know how that works?" Nevermind, of course it would be weird in Equestria for male ponies to be with other males at all, considering they're fewer of them.

"I guess it's a bit weird that I like another colt too, isn't it?" I let out a humorless chuckle. "Maybe I'm confused and I don't know what I'm really feeling."
I decided to thank her for her support nonetheless, as she clearly meant it and she wanted me to be myself, she is a really supportive friend.
"But nevermind that, thank you, I really needed to hear your opinion, as silly as It sounds, that topic was bothering me." I give her a genuine smile this time, using one of my paws to caress her red coat on her back. I couldn't blame her for not understanding same sex relationships, not that I did completely myself, I just knew I was feeling that way.

"You're welcome, also, if you're getting us all some hayburgers, that means you're also getting us ice cream after, I hope? And you shouldn't worry so much, you've been wonderful to us, all of us, I promise I'll never just up and leave your side. You'll be seeing me a lot too now since school's back in full and we have to prepare for exams together, hope you'll help me with the practical part, you got nothing but top grades on everything since we started, how do you even do it?" Ruby is clearly excited about my offer for her favorite foods, and honestly I too am excited to share dinner with my best friends in the world.

I couldn't just say that I was really smart and leave it at that, could I? It was honestly the truth, I could understand everything that was taught to me, and deduct the rest, I was able to read much faster too, and keep all the information, even now, the only things I didn't fully understand were the legendary artifacts, and it was not that I had no idea, I just was missing the biggest parts of the puzzle, the runic context of the runes used, most of them were unknown to me, at least three fourths of them.

"I'm a very smart little lizard, and I eat my veggies, on top of that, I was homeschooled from an earlier age than normal, does that answer your questions? I can help you practice magic if that's what you want, I can give you classes but I'll have to charge you a hundred bits per class... Kidding! You're welcome to come over whenever I can, just come check if I'm home and available, okay? Same goes for any of us, you're all invited!" I offered, giving her side a gentle and playful bump with my side.

"I will be definitively take you up on your offer, I find your magic classes very fun, it's both a learning experience and a chance to hang out with friends." She pauses, thinking for a minute as if remembering something.
"Wasn't your class where Shining gained his cutie mark? He still talks about it, how he bravely saved Cadence from a big, dangerous spell and earned his mark, quite the dramatic, isn't he?" She giggled cutely while covering her face with a hoof, I joined in, chuckling at the way she said it, imagining Shining dressed up in some tragic character from a theater play and reenacting his heroic deeds to save his princess.

"Hahahh thats not something I expected him of all ponies to be called, dramatic, but I bet he brags about his cutie mark story to his friends at the academy, a mark like that is very unique, he definitively has potential to be an amazing caster, specifically of magical shields... I think he's earned the right to be dramatic." I wonder how far could Shining get with his talent? Maybe he could cast the spell I designed by himself? It would work but it would not be anywhere as powerful as the version that protected Griffonstone, not without a similar multiphasic array made up of thousands of magical sources at the same time, honestly the power amplification of the Throne was something still mind-blowing for me.

If he could cast the spell himself, which I knew he could, he would only need some help with supplying the mana for it, a few high quality gems perhaps could supply such a spell for a few hours... A larger array of gems or a large enough group of ponies could supply it for longer, and yet I doubted that it could ever be as strong as what I am calling the prismatic shield of Griffonstone.

I was pulled from my thoughts as I heard footsteps approaching, four, quadruped and small.

Cadence, followed by three fillies, all holding a seemingly friendly conversation, they entered the room, and they all walked towards us, the smiles on the fillies turned to frowns when they looked at me, but they still kept following my friend, and they sat down in front of us, turning their seats around to face us, while Cadence chose to sit next to me.

"Onyx, go ahead and ask them, they'll listen, I promise." The alicorn spoke in a soft encouraging tone, looking at me.

I nodded, looking at the three fillies in the eyes one by one. "So why do you do it huh? I never did anything to any of you, even when you tried to hurt me before, I just ignored it and didn't even talk to you." I looked at the three of them, noticing they have slight frowns on their faces for having to talk to me directly, I was not sure what to make of them.

Flaming Rose was the first to speak up, her tone as unlikable as her attitude towards me. "You have sharp fangs, claws and you look nothing like a pony, and you act... Different, you never look worried about your scores, you never look worried about a test, it... It makes me really angry that you never even seem scared, even after we tried to beat you up the first time, you just stood there and took it, and you didn't look concerned!" She glared, anger growing as I looked at her with a curious expression, unsure as to what made her angry

"You're not like us at all. You're not one of us, you're abnormal, others may not see though your mask, but we do! See? Now anypony else would look worried and scared, but you just look... Curious." Lemon Drop continued, looking at me with some suspicion and a slight hint of fear in her eyes, so that was what this is about then huh? Fear, that's what it boils down to, they fear me and because they fear me they can justify their actions.

"So you bother me because you fear me for being different, is that it? I can't blame you, I am different, I am unknown, I could be dangerous... You know what? I would appreciate if you stopped bothering me, I'm not a pony, that's true, but I'm family with ponies, I live with ponies and I have friends who are ponies, what else do you want me to do?" I ask, genuinely curious, as to what it would take for them to stop.

"We want you to leave, leave the school, you aren't a unicorn, or a pony at all! You don't belong here, so leave." Right Angle spoke with a harsh glare, and a demanding tone, the other two mares nodded, agreeing with her.

I shake my head, there is no way I'm dropping highschool over some pathetic bullies.
"I'm not leaving, so either get used to wasting your time bothering me, with your minor inconveniences and pesky pranks, with your weak attempts to hurt me, or just accept the fact that I'm different and you can't change me, and you just need to accept me." I spoke in an overly friendly tone, just so they feel more freaked out, if they wanted a freak, I could be like that, I could make them really uncomfortable.

The three fillies looked stunned at my words, my insults to their attempts to hurt me. "You are defined by your actions, and from what I've experienced so far, your attempts were absolutely garbage, it's just the way I see it, now that's my way of being nice and giving you another chance, understand? Keep being trash and I'll have to put you in the dumpster." I speak that last part with a small smirk, showing I do have fangs, and they're quite sharp and long compared to a pony's teeth.

Their eyes widen in fear at my small and harmless threat as if I had threatened to kill them. "Y-you can't do that! My mommy is a noble, and... My friends live in upper Canterlot! T-they have noble families, ill tell the teacher what you said! They'll kick you out, and you'll be the one who's sorry!" Lemon said in her annoying, smug and ugly tone, one of a spoiled brat who always gets what she wants.

I seriously doubt the teacher will side with them, and they have no proof either, plus I have my friends to back me up. "I never threatened you, I just think trash belongs in the dumpster, if you behaved more like a pony and less like rubbish then maybe I wouldn't be so bloody confused, don't you have any sense? Any of you? Please, Cadence, Ruby, you two lovely mares, do you think I'm being unreasonable for asking to be treated with decency? I just don't want any problem, but when I get harassed every day for nothing, and I have to pretend that they're just playing so the teachers don't get involved... I have to say I don't particularly enjoy it." I spoke in a slightly exasperated tone, looking at my friends and asking if they have my back, thankfully both of them nodded.

"I always saw you as I see any other pony, I know you are you, and that's all I care about, be pony, dragon or griffon, any race, that doesn't matter, what matters is that you are my friend and you always treated me kindly, and I've known you for eight years now, eight years, and you never, ever hurt me, not with words or even while playing... Maybe a few hugs that were a bit too tight, if those count." Ruby was the first to speak up, her tone encouraging and honest, looking at the bullies, showing them she means what she says, that gave them pause, at least they seemed intrigued by her words, maybe they just needed more ponies to vouch for me, maybe Cadence could?

"Onyx, you and Shiny are the closest I've gotten to anyone other than my parents and my aunt, in all my life, all of our friends, they're like a family to me, you always have supported me, even with Shiny, teaching us magic, showing us love in your own way... You also helped him get his cutie mark somehow! How could I not support you?" She speaks to me, looking directly into my eyes with her own beautiful purple eyes, I see she loves me as a friend, my expression softens as I stare into her eyes, I could get lost looking into them, after all it's a fact that I have a crush on Cadence and her beautiful eyes are certainly reminding me of that.

"So yes, girls, Onyx is a sweetheart if you only get to know him, he isn't scary at all, he just looks different but he would never hurt you, even you, after all the times you've annoyed, hit, even tried to humiliate him in front of others, after all that, he still gives you a chance, I won't deny that he is angry at you, he is certainly being snarky towards you." she directs her words to the three fillies, who listen more intently to her than Ruby, now their ears are perked up in attention, eyes looking intently at the alicorn filly.

I guess being an alicorn makes most ponies listen to her, and she spreads positivity and love, in a way she is making use of her special talent. It's the only explanation as to how a group of fillies who feared me and hated my guts not even an hour ago, dedicating their lives to make my school day miserable, now are all of a sudden to her, fully paying attention.

"But he is surely willing to forgive you if you just open up to him, and just tell him you're sorry and you mean it, isn't that right, dear Onyx?" She encourages them, and me, to be better, I am tempted to say no, to tell them I don't want to forgive them and they should go eat a cactus plant, but I know better than holding a grudge.

I know their reasons for disliking me are also valid, more so than they may think, they have no idea how dangerous I really am if I wanted to be. "That's right, I just want to be at peace, you don't even need to say sorry, none of you need to, just say you'll stop and actually stop, that is enough, okay?" I end up saying in a pleading tone, Cadence and Ruby look like they want to argue, possibly to add that I deserve an apology but I stop them, I don't care really about apologies, apologies don't really help me, I just want peace.

"All I want is peace and to be able to calm down and enjoy school like everyone else." I add with a soft, pleading tone.

"If... You say so, Cadence, I... I trust you, you are a noble, and if you say it's okay... Maybe it isn't such a big deal that he is different, I heard my parents say that the princess is trying to improve relations with other races like griffons, maybe... He maybe is some sort of ambassador for the dragons? I don't know! Maybe that's why he was allowed in this school?" Lemon Drop was the first to speak in a hesitant tone, I nodded at her and smiled in a far less cynical and predatory way, Right Angle seemed somewhat convinced, but Flaming Rose was glaring at Lemon, definitively furious for her change of mind.

"A-are you serious?! You can't... You can't just change your mind like that! Just because he lied to Cadence and Ruby, he's manipulating you all, can't you see? And you too Angle?! Come oooon!" Flaming Rose fumed and almost yelled at the other fillies, who lowered their ears, looking indecisively between each other and their friend, then they realized something they probably didn't think about before.

What did I even do to her?

They were the only ones, the only ones who cared what I was, the only ones who bothered me and wasted their time and effort, and against them was a future princess, a princess who while not officially a princess yet, was definitively of the highest royalty only under Celestia, because of her status as an Alicorn.

Were they really willing to go against her, knowing they would lose their chance of making friends with the pony they valued as the most important one in the school, a future princess?

"Girls, please listen, we can even be friends! Maybe Onyx is not very happy with you now, but I'm sure if you were nicer to him, we could all be good friends and we could hang out and even do sleepovers together! I'll let you in on a secret, just in case you aren't convinced, come closer you two." Cadence spoke with a friendly smile, looking at Lemon and Angle, who both stopped looking at their 'friend' Rose and approached Cadence, who then whispered to each of them, making their eyes widen and their frowns quickly turn into smiles.

"What are you two doing? What did she told you, tell me this instant! I don't care if you're a future princess, you have no right to take away MY friends!" The fiery unicorn filly yelled out in frustration and anger towards both their friends and Cadence, I could immediately tell there was something wrong with her, then her horn lit up in a bright pink aura and she hurled one of the big saddlebags that were on the seats, hers I believe, to my friend Cadence.

She was taken by surprise, covering her head with her hooves, but I was not so easily surprised, and I caught the flying heavy bag full of books with my telekinesis halfway through its trajectory.

I could accept someone messing with me, but not my friends or family.

"Don't do that ever again to my friend, understand? I tolerate you messing with me, trying to attack me, throwing things at me or even trying to mess up my uniform, but going after my friends is a step too far, now apologize." I commanded, my eyes glowing with magical power. I wasn't going to actually hurt her, but I couldn't just let her do this, maybe a stern look would be enough to get her to back down and apologize. I had a bad feeling about this filly, I felt like she was... off, something was wrong in her, more specifically, her magical aura, it was fluctuating wildly, I felt it when she grabbed her saddlebags, what was going on with her?

My words had the opposite effect that I had hoped, only seeming to fuel her anger and hate. "Buck you! I don't take orders from you, you're not a pony, it's a mistake of nature that you can even use magic, you are a monster pretending to be one, and I don't care if either of you losers become friends! I DO NOT NEED YOU!" She then threw her desk towards us, I have to admit she had some decent power with her telekinesis, not many foals are able to throw a desk with such ease, but sadly for her, a basic shield was enough to stop the desk and make it bounce away harmlessly, landing on the ground, metal and wood making a noise that made me pin my ears back.

This was however, apparently a surprise for the other two fillies, who thought that they were the best of friends with Flaming Rose. "W-why are you doing this Rose?! Cadence... She's royalty! You can't attack her, I thought we were friends! But I won't stand with you if you are going to go this far and attack us, one thing is to try to prank Onyx and make him leave, but to go as far as to attack a future princess when she's near your friends... You're out of your mind!" Lemon spoke in a sad tone that quickly turned rightfully angry, and Right Angle stood to the other side, both beside Cadence in a protective way, I smiled despite myself, they chose to side with my friend and protect her by standing protectively next to her, even if it was a bit late in a real fight, and a real fight is what Rose wanted from the way she looked at them, and her horn lit up once again. Her magic was off somehow, it felt angry, like a reflection of her current mood, wild, unpredictable and dangerous.

I felt weary and activated a spell, sense magic, it helped me visualize the currents of magic around, see the magic flowing around me as it were.

Thanks to this spell, I immediately recognized a firebolt being formed in her horn, who taught this spell to the filly?! It was an actually dangerous spell, sure it was extremely easy to use and even a foal could use it, as it was a cantrip, but it was a restricted spell for a reason, anyone could use this spell, it was relatively quick to cast, and costs little to no mana to use, at most someone could get mental exhaustion from overcasting it.

I immediately put up a shield, a slightly stronger shield than the previous one, as magic had an easier time going through magic shields than physical objects going through a magic shield.

By using sense magic, I also realized that this filly was having some sort of magical health problem, or maybe one of the outbursts that sometimes happen to unicorns, something to do with magic build up destabilizing the magical core inside the brain. I shook my head, there was no time to worry about her, she was actually the danger!

The firebolt spell took about 3 seconds for her to cast, and it dissipated harmlessly on my shield cantrip, she growled and tried again, but the nature of the spell was not enough to bypass this shield, she would need a higher tier spell than tier 0, even then, firebolt was more than enough to seriously burn and even to maim somepony, even an adult who wasn't able to shield themselves from it.

"You're really leaving me no choice Rose... Better stop now." I warned, if she didn't I would be forced to stop her myself, even if the spell could hold her attacks back pretty much forever at my level of power, I didn't want to risk anypony coming in and getting hit by a stray spell.

"Stop it! Please, you're gonna hurt somepony! I mean it!" Cadence spoke up, her voice full of fear, I could understand her, she was stronger than Flaming Rose but she didn't know any attack spell, or at least was not willing to use any, I'm pretty sure I taught her basic spells to stun an attacker, but she may be unwilling to even do that, or couldn't in her panic.

"Y-you fake friends, liars! Take this! This will teach you what happens to those who side with a monster over me, you will BURN!" Flaming Rose yelled as she hurled a larger, more powerful firebolt, then another after another at the shield, now all of the attacks were twice as strong as before, but all attacks dissipated on impact, I had to upcast the shield at tier 2 to be able to safely hold all the stronger spells off.

It seems this was the only offensive spell Flaming Rose knew, I breathed out frost at her, making her back away in surprise with a shriek and interrupting her spell, she was after all just a filly, the cold was not enough to even hurt, but it was enough to scare someone who wasn't expecting it, like stepping into freezing cold water after being out in the sun during a summer day.

She was going to get into a huge amount of trouble for her actions, if she did this to me only, I'm sure she wouldn't have even gotten into trouble, but Cadence and the others? It was a different story altogether, the system was set to protect ponies, I hope that they don't count me using a little cold air as assault, but I doubt it, with Cadence being the target of this attack, there was no way anyone would even listen to any reason the filly had to do it, they were irrelevant, attacking royalty... I don't know the sentence that carries, but it sure can't be light.

"Stop it Rose! Please! You're gonna hurt us! I thought our friendship meant something!" Right Angle exclaimed, clearly emotionally hurt and scared, the other fillies were huddled together, crying in fear, I stood in front of them, focusing on keeping the empowered shield up and prepared to counter any magic that I couldn't simply shield from.

It's better to be ready, even if I knew she would have nothing stronger, I'd rather be over prepared than unprepared.

She tried again a couple more times, but she gave up after around the tenth attack, panting and dizzy, the effort of casting, mental and emotional because all of her attacks were empowered by her raw anger and frustration, and the sense of betrayal she felt from her supposed friends. In my opinion she was even worse of a friend to the both of them, after all she tried to attack them, all of them just because they didn't side with her.

"I-I can't use magic, my horn stings..."
Finally Flaming Rose collapsed on her haunches, no longer able to fight, sweat dripping from her body and steam came from her horn, I have to give it to her, not many foals know combat spells, even weak ones like this, and even less can cast over ten spells in a row without passing out. For some reason, the anger present just seconds ago seemed to vanish as soon as she couldn't use her horn, its like all the anger drained away with the mana, ponies... They're really really strange at times.

She rubbed her horn with a hoof, wincing at probably having overloaded her mana pathways from casting so much and so fast without previous training.

I couldn't help but think that there was something definitively wrong with her, I honestly don't know enough about the anatomy of a pony to figure out what or how, but... I would neutralize her and make sure to mention this to some adult.

Taking advantage of her state, I gestured to the door for us to run out of the classroom and head to the director's office, everypony gathered their things and left the classroom, all but me, I approached and used a weak stun spell on her, knocking her out fully for at least a while, making sure she wouldn't escape somewhere, then I catch up with the others.

"Let's go, run! We have to tell the teachers, she's dangerous and unstable, I knocked her out with a stun spell but I don't know how long it will last." I urged the others while we trotted out, getting nods from everypony.

At the office, or more like an entire area, where teachers rested and prepared to give their classes, many of the usual were there, surprisingly enough there was an unexpected pony, Princess Celestia.

She was sitting in front of the director's desk, having a conversation about students performance or something along those lines, however Cadence interrupted, stepping forward and quickly getting her attention, she turned, looking at all of us, and her gaze remained on me for a few seconds longer than the others, it was not a hostile look like last time we met, she had a small smile even, I nodded at her in greeting, while the other foals were too worried to even bother with a greeting.

"I'm so sorry Princess Celestia for interrupting, but there is an emergency, Flaming Rose attacked us in the classroom during recess, she used an offensive fire spell, aimed at all of us, if it wasn't for Onyx here, she may have seriously burned somepony! She is back at our classroom, she wore herself out after using the fire spell over ten times to attack us, and Onyx had to knock her out just in case she would try something again, please... Could we have someone go check on her and make sure she hasn't been hurt?" The alicorn filly interrupted with a pleading and alarmed tone, making every single pony turn to look at us, Celestia's face shifted between many expressions, first worry and alertness at hearing it was an emergency, then confusion and disbelief, and ending up in a barely contained anger, something told me it wasn't fully directed at the young filly that attacked us.

"I will deal with this, please everypony, stay here and relax, it's okay and you're safe, please Onyx come with me, director? Please give the fillies some water." I raised an eyebrow, confused why she would call me of everyone here, but I nodded and followed her along, she closed the door as we exited the room using her golden magic, I felt a little bit nervous, and hoped she wasn't about blame me for everything.

After a few seconds she turned to me. "Did she really try to attack you all? How did this whole ordeal start in the first place? Please tell me everything, every detail, I'll know if you are lying." She said, her eyes glowing slightly with magic as well as her horn, probably a lie detector spell.

I had no reason to lie, I told her everything, from why we all gathered to the way I insulted them because I just feel tired of their annoying actions, the constant attempts to bully me into quitting the school, but I also told them I was willing to forgive them and go with Cadence's plan.

Then I explained in detail what happened, I described the strange sensation I had when she used magic, how it felt wrong every time, then I explained that I used a spell to sense magic better, and realized that her core was fluctuating as well as her telekinesis, then I explained the fire spell Rose used as a small ball of fire about the size of a kiwi, and the shield I used that I learned from mom, further empowered, precisely so I could protect others and myself in situations like this, as well as the weak stun spell I used to make sure she wouldn't attack other ponies who came in, considering how unstable she was.

"Thank you, for protecting Cadence and the other fillies, you are truly a gentlec- err drake, still you managed the situation extremely well, and you didn't hurt Flaming Rose, many others, even adults would have tried to stop her by any means necessary in such a situation, but you let her tire herself out, and then stunned her safely and took everypony out, leaving her in a closed room."
Her tone is oddly cheerful and she seems proud of me, she places a wing over my back and partially hugs me with it, I tremble slightly in fear, worried she may be trying something bad, a punishment for stunning one of her ponies, but relax after she doesn't, it was just a soft wing hug, she's not like that anymore, right? Or was she just really just bidding her time... No, I couldn't constantly doubt her like this, her hug felt genuine.

"It seems I made a good choice when I trusted you, come, let's go check on Rose, if what you described feeling and seeing is true, she is having a condition related to her core, but instead of altering her magical output to dangerous levels, it just makes her more violent and aggressive, it's less common but it happens to most unicorns with powerful magic.
I have something that will prevent things like this from happening to her for now." Surprisingly she praised my handling of the situation and smiled at me in a way that made me let out a sight of relief, I relaxed my posture and raised my ears, now curious as to what she meant by that last sentence.

We walked the short way to the classroom, since the bell failed to ring due to our issue, the room was still closed, and the other foals were all playing or just hanging out on the hallways, our classroom's door was opened and Celestia entered followed by myself.

Inside there was Flaming Rose laying on the ground, fast asleep from my stun spell, she at least wasn't angry anymore, she looked quite peaceful in fact, who thought a little filly could have so much fire and hostility in her? Maybe Celestia was right, she had some condition, like I theorized, but hopefully its only effect is that, and nothing worse.

Celestia suddenly teleported over an item that she kept somewhere, I hoped she just teleported it, and if not that, she had an ability similar to mine to store things inside another inexistent space, either way, she held a ring in her aura, it was slightly different than a ring however, a slight conical shape for one, and it was made of silver metal with a black gemstone embedded within.

She placed it on the sleeping filly's horn, and the black gem lit up for an instant with a slight white glow, before going dark again.

"There, she will have to wear a nullring until she recovers from her condition, it will also be a lesson for her dam, because I'll be paying her a visit." Oh fuck, a nullring? I've never seen one before, I knew they existed but they were only held by guards and strictly controlled, I'm sure mom had some at work, but they were so strictly controlled that she couldn't bring one home for me to study.

I was most confused about the black gem, what was it? And what kind of metal was what they used? Was it even metal? I had so many questions! Would one work on me, considering I had no horn? What was stopping someone from simply removing them using their hooves or a solid object?

There was no harm in asking I guess. "What's stopping her from just removing it by bending her head down or rubbing her horn on a wall until it slides off?" I asked the obvious, looking confused and intrigued.

Celestia smiled at my question, nodding slightly. "That's a good question Onyx, you'll get far by being so observant, the reason it doesn't come off is because, while the ring can suppress magic, its very specific on what magic it targets, you see? The ring is enchanted with an adhesion spell to keep it firmly attached, the gem itself absorbs magic and powers the adhesion spell, the ring only absorbs magic from spells already forming or formed and and only on the innermost part of the ring that is touching a horn, so it doesn't affect those carrying the ring or even holding it, just those it's placed upon." She explained with patience, and very softly to not wake up the filly, who she took in her magic and placed on her back.

"Thank you for explaining, Princess, by the way... I hope you keep up the good work, you really are making a difference out there, you know? That rail line bridge to Griffon Empire territory and all the way to Griffonstone and the more open trade policies, I am honestly very pleasantly surprised." I didn't see a reason to deny her the small praise she deserves for doing a good job lately in diplomacy, the griffons and who knows what other races have had improved relationships with Equestria, after centuries of distancing and isolationism she is opening up trade and helping, this says more about her than the way she talks to me. It shows she at least cares.

"I'm glad you noticed then! Speaking of Griffonstone... Not long ago, big news reached me about the Griffon Empire having gained a new, legitimate king and abandoning their military government in favor of the new ruler, I also heard some interesting news about some dragon who recovered their legendary idol, who has gained fame through the entire nation, but no one knows the name of, at least they aren't willing to say it publicly, what they did mention was it being short and shiny like metal, wouldn't you know anything about who that may be, little drake?" She asks with curiosity, but her knowing smile makes me let out a sigh, not many silver dragons around I guess, I wasn't sure if she still had her truth spell on, but I didn't want to talk about my personal matters with her.

"I did want to visit the ancient city of Griffonstone for a while after reading about it on a history book.
I went there with the fam, not telling you anything else because it's private." I answered her, not feeling like explaining everything myself.

"Please, tell me?" She asked me with a soft pleading tone. I groan at having to deal with her begging look, it was honestly effective and oddly adorable, she didn't look like a ruler for a moment, instead like a horse giving me puppy dog eyes with a big sad pout.

"Hmph... Fine, I admit I returned that golden effigy to the griffons there, and they were happy to have it back, I guess they did spread the word about me being a big help and all.
Those were definitively the craziest vacations we ever had! My family and I had a good time there, despite the problems we faced." I spoke honestly, choosing my words very carefully to not lie but also to not reveal too much, I wasn't about to talk about my role stopping an invasion from an enemy nation, she could figure that out herself, I was definitively hoping she didn't find out I was involved tho.

She looked at me with interest, her ears perked, but nodded her head.

"That's a very big thing you did for them, I won't pry further unless you want to talk about it, which you clearly don't. And while not many here would know much about the significance of the Idol of Boreas, and the city of Griffonstone, I'm sure you'll go down in the history books as a legend back in the Griffon territories, now as much as I'd love to have a long talk about everything that happened there, we can't right now.
Let's go I have to take this filly back to her house and I have to have a serious discussion with her caretakers, they are going to be in so much trouble, you have no idea." She shook her head and we headed back out, everypony started at the princess carrying Flaming Rose on her back with curiosity, and barely paid any attention to me, other than a few glances, it wasn't everyday that the Princess herself attended her school, it was not exactly hers, just named after her, but from what I could see, she and the director were close, or had some sort of professional relationship.

After a few minutes of walking, smiling and waving to the foals, she spoke up, we were going outside of the school, I knew this path well.
"Now for a change of topic, I'm guessing your mother taught you how to defend yourself, right? I commend your shield use as well as your use of the stun spell, I always encourage the use of defensive magic over attack spells to my little ponies, you have... Very good magical affinity and power for someone your age."

She praised my abilities and I blushed slightly, unsure on how to respond, feeling the attention of others on me because of her words.
"I see why you want to be in this school, it was originally meant for unicorns, as it's former name implies, but I suggested a name change to 'Celestia's School of Magic.' because all ponies, no matter their race, can learn and do magic in their own way, earth ponies with their hooves and pegasi with their wings, it's important to include other ponies, and I realized, thanks to you, that I should not only include ponies, but other races too, you were the first non pony student we allowed into the school, I'm sure you're aware of that, I trust you to represent your kind to the best of your ability." She was giving me an encouraging smile, while we existed the building, outside a few guards waited, most likely summoned by some unseen spell or command she gave. The way she said the last part also made it clear that I had a big responsibility to not only myself but to all non ponies who would most likely be accepted in the future. I took that to heart.

"Thank you! I'm honored to be allowed to learn magic in such a prestigious school, I promise I won't disappoint you, Princess Celestia, it's wonderful to see you're becoming a better pony and I can tell by just talking to you, you sound far less... aggressive than the time you came home to visit, its like you care now." I appreciated that, I knew she was used to being less than friendly with my kind in the past, she couldn't tolerate me before, at least not the concept she had of me, but we both needed each other, and she realized that if anything, being friendly would only help things go smoother, I wouldn't call her a friend however.

At least not yet, honestly I still held some resentment towards her, maybe we could work it out in the future, but for now we were... acquaintances, still we shared the same goal, that made cooperation much easier.

"Honestly I still don't think I could love other races as much as I love my little ponies but... I can see the damage I did and how unjust I was to them, I feel like I am learning from you what I should have known for centuries: kindness, empathy and compassion, you showed so much of that to me that it made me realize that not only ponies are deserving of it. I will do my best to make things right, to make it even for what I've done, I'll slowly work to give back." She lowered her head slightly and gave me a soft and caring smile, showing she really meant what she said. I returned the smile then approached her.

"May I hug you, princess?" I asked her softly, getting a quick nod in response, then I hugged her gently, a few ponies turned to look at me as I held her by the neck in a soft, shy hug that didn't last long but felt right, she returned the hug, using her wings to envelop me for a few seconds, then we moved back and kept walking beside each other.

I smiled, feeling more at ease after that, maybe it wasn't such a distant concept for her to be a friend, just... Not right now, I still hadn't gotten a proper apology, I am not as trusting as I used to be, she will need to earn it, and that isn't going to be easy, but doing the right thing certainly placed her on the right path.

"Everything is going to be alright in the end, I promise, you and her will be reunited after a thousand years and I'll make sure it goes well, I'll also let you in on a secret, mother is proud of your progress and if you keep doing so well, she will talk to you again, still you've got ways to go before that, you need to prove yourself again, and I will help." I approached her side and whispered in hear ear, making her let out a soft gasp of surprise when I told her that last secret. After all, it was her mom, I would be devastated if my own mother didn't want to talk to me again, I couldn't blame her sudden excitement.

'Y-you know my m-mother? Please tell me more! I've stopped hearing her centuries ago, she doesn't answer anymore... every since I... I banished Luna.' She switched to using telepathy, which surprised me for a second, but I just shook my head.

'Not me exactly, haven't talked to her personally, not yet at least, but I've heard her voice, I can contact her too, I'll just say that she is glad you are changing and getting back on the path of harmony, someday, if you manage to become my friend, I'll let you in and maybe allow you to talk to her again, okay? But you're still ways away from being my friend." I answer her, making clear that I was not planning on letting her know any more, she seemed to want to argue with me over it but shut her muzzle, knowing that insisting would only make things more difficult.

'I-I understand, still, when sister comes back, we will celebrate big, that's a promise, and again... I'm sorry about the way I acted before, I'll make it up to you somehow, you'll see.' She finally sighed but regained her smile and a look of hope.

'I'll bring my friends and family, there better be cake too on that party, it's a deal Princess, maybe you can start making it up to me by telling me what Luna enjoys and I can prepare it for her, would be good to make her feel cared for, don't you agree?' I spoke in her mind, smiling up at her to my side, she smiled back, a genuine smile full of hope, I could imagine... She wanted to be reunited with her sister more than anything right now. If anything, this question would work to know if she really knew her sister, cough cough, changelings were a thing after all.

'About foods? She likes foreign desserts for special occasions, always would go on and on about Saddle Arabian's date cookies, baklava made with pistachios or some other pastries filled with fruits and nuts, she definitively has a palate for the exotic, likes fish like some pegasi and caviar too, they're fish eggs from a rare fish, quite expensive and were only produced by the Griffon Empire back in the day, but she was not against having some Equestrian dishes, she prefers regular foods on most days, while getting a foreign dish at special occasions, like parties or banquets.' I could feel the nostalgia in her telepathic tone, so I approached her and nuzzled the side of her neck and shoulder, she sighed sadly and gave me an appreciative smile, at least slightly cheered up.

'Ah, so I would need to go learn about this dishes, thank you Princess, what does she like outside of the food world?'

'Well, she loves animals of all types and has a fascination with other races, non ponies I mean... But yeah, she had a pet manticore at some point, not to mention keeping large snakes and tarantulas as pets, but owls are her favorite, maybe because they are nocturnal animals, I.... I remember she also had a very special crow who flew away one day, that same day she became Nightmare Moon.' A few tears were going down her face, seems like remembering that hurt, she quickly summoned a handkerchief and wiped her face, blinking away the tears and regaining her normal expression, her mask.

'She loved the night, nature and foals, not only pony foals, she would go out of her way to protect other races in their dreams, I-i remember when I yelled at her for doing that, helping the monsters in the night, I told her, goodness, I was such a horrible sister.' She spoke numbly, her eyes lost, unfocused, I decided that was enough.

'You aren't the same pony anymore Celestia, you are changing, just by deciding to change you have already made a difference, I trust you won't make the same mistakes twice, now chin up, I want you to do something for me, okay? Tell what you did to Cadence, tell her in a general sense, don't go into too much detail or she may be too horrified and stop talking to you, but tell her what you did to the other races and to your sister, tell her your wrongdoings, be honest and open up to her, then ask for help, ask her to guide you to the right path, she's the Princess of Love, she will know what to do even in her young age, and if that doesn't work you can ask me to join in, you'll have to pay me though! My time is expensive.' I give her a few pats on the side, helping her feel better, she nodded slowly as I spoke, her hopelessness slowly turning to cautious optimism and then a small chuckle at my last suggestion.

'You know? I may take you up on that last offer sometimes, if you're serious, we both know you know something, much more than you're telling me, and as much as my old self would have jumped at the opportunity to interrogate you, I'm not like that anymore, I don't ever want to be like that anymore, it's... Not the right thing to do.'
Her expression turned serious, we arrived at the the street, and guards were in front of us, patiently waiting until she finally decided to address them.

"Sergeant Hazel, would you please tell me if Battlemage Flaming Vine is on duty today? I also need her address if she's not. I need to have a word with her right away, and that involves this filly I have here with me."

"Of course your Majesty, I think she's at home, she's mostly called only when necessary and works only 3 days a week, her address... it's 273 Opal street, on the northern section of middle Canterlot." The guard answered after a minute of thinking, probably trying to remember about the specialist.

"Thank you, now go back to your friends Onyx, you can all go back to class, I got it from here, again it was nice talking, I hope we have a conversation like that again, you may even catch one of my classes in about two years when you're in your third year of school." With that the princess nodded and teleported away in a flash of golden light, leaving behind only motes falling around like sparkling flakes of gold that drifted and fell on top of me.

I have to say her magic aura is unique and beautiful, I could appreciate that, now I felt like we could end up being friends in the future if she kept her word.

I just hoped she wouldn't mind me playing a few pranks on her.

The guards gave me a confused look and I shrugged, before heading back to class.

I have a feeling they will get along when she comes back, I couldn't stop myself from smiling inside despite the situation, his words made me hopeful for both being reunited with Luna and of being able to talk to mother again.

I miss them, specially you Lulu, it's been a long long millennia without you, now I have renewed hope that it will end up with us holding each other, I will do anything for that to happen.

Who knew that him of all creatures would have a connection to Faust? But the way he said it, it implied he wasn't the one who was directly connected, who could be? Maybe a family member? A family friend? It was worth to look into, but I wouldn't want to worsen our relationship, I knew he still didn't fully trust me, it was clear from the little he always revealed, always deflecting my questions with half truths.

As much as I could theorize, I had no idea and I prefer to not mess with his family, or himself anymore, I had not apologized yet after all.

I shook my head, focusing on the here and now, I had somepony to give a stern talking to, time to put on a different mask, one of seriousness.

I appeared right on the street indicated, I haven't ever visited them, but the sign on the two story house with the number gave me enough information, it was here, I knocked on the door and waited, a few ponies walking around stopped and stared, gathering around at seeing their princess, it wasn't something they saw everyday.

I waved and smiled at them, the filly on my back didn't wake up thankfully from the teleport.

After a minute, hoof steps could be heard approaching the door, then it opened, and thankfully, Flaming Vine was the one who stood before me. "Yes? Who is-" the mare's words died in her throat, and her eyes widened upon seeing me, but after about 3 seconds of wide eyed and open mouthed shock, she regained her wits and bowed her head deep, the correct action, as she was off duty, while on duty, a salute was the correct way of greeting.

"Please rise, miss Flaming Vine, I have a few things to discuss with you, may I come inside?" I invited myself, wanting to get this over with quickly, I had a schedule to keep.

She rose to her hooves, looking worried and even more so when she spotted the filly sleeping on my back. "Your Highness, p-please come in, let's sit on the living room, I see you have... My little Rose with you, is she okay?" She gestured me inside, and I closed the door behind me, we walked into her home, it was a quaint and had lots of indoor plants, the living room was right in front of the door so it was a short walk, Vine gestured to me to sit in the large sofa, it was long and big enough to accommodate an Alicorn like myself, so I nodded and chose to sit down, then I levitated the filly to the other end of the sofa,, right next to where she chose to sit down.

"Indeed, miss Vine, you are the mother of this filly, are you not? We have something important to discuss." I spoke to her in a serious tone, far from my usual friendly and motherly tone I used with everypony else most of the time, just to put the seriousness of the events in plain view, she frowned at my words.

"I am, princess, I care for her and I help educate her, she's my little rose bud, my precious daughter, w-what happened to her? Is she okay?" The mare's tone grew worried for her little one, but I shook my head.

"She's fine, just tired herself out, what I have to discuss with you is what she did, it's a very VERY serious crime and when a foal commits such acts, it's often the fault of the adults who are supposed to care for them, in this case, you miss Flaming Vine, as well as the rest of your herd." I started to explain, making it clear that this was her fault. "You have taught her a combat spell, to be precise, from the description of the victims of the spell, it was a firebolt spell, something strictly restricted from most civilians, let alone a filly like her, while you may have done so with good intentions, as a last line of defense against a would be attacker, you still broke the law." I explained carefully, giving her a glare that made her go slightly pale.

"B-but... Princess I just wanted her to have a way to protect herself, and taking into consideration her connection to fire from her talent, w-what did she do? Was she attacked?! I bet it was him... I knew that dragon who signed up the same class as her was going to cause trouble for everypony, damn monsters, even when they're foals they still can't behave like ponies!" The guardmare angrily rambled to herself, coming up with her own story in her head, I let her.
Sometimes ponies were way too honest with their emotions towards others, that I realized long ago was a flaw that even I shared, by centuries of practice helped mask my emotions most of the time, but It seemed that not even that was enough sometimes.

Letting her speak told me all I needed to know, not only had she taught her daughter a restricted spell, she taught her that non ponies were evil, and trouble, and I couldn't blame her for it, not completely, I had systematically induced the fear of other races to generations of ponies, this mare, just like countless others were merely a reflection, now I could see firsthoof how sometimes ponies could get hurt too when they were taught to hate others.

After all, guards were taught how to detain ponies, never to kill them, but for other races... Killing was not off the table, of course long ago I changed it so it was done only when no easier option was available.
I trained and equipped the Royal Guard to deal with all races, SMILE, a special unit created to neutralize non pony criminals, had metal toughening runes on their weapons meant to pierce the thick and dense hides and flesh of beasts, including adult dragons who are theorized to be the deadliest threat to an entire city, in truth, ponies were the main threats to ponies, I intentionally kept that fact from being publicly known, but ponies were sometimes very adept at crime, from simple mugging to much worse acts of violence, murder and various crimes, this happened in every major city, and rarely in smaller cities as well, even Canterlot wasn't immune.

It was no surprise after all that, that my very own guards would have a bias against anycreature who wasn't a pony, and it went even deeper than many would believe.

"Flaming Rose attacked my niece and her friends using the spell you taught her, thinking it would be used to defend herself, instead she tried to hurt innocent ponies and a dragon, she nearly hurt my niece, if it wasn't for him, for the dragon you speak so lowly of, she would have seriously hurt a future princess, do you know what this means for you and your daughter?" I asked her, glaring and with an angry scowl, despite what I may have taught them before, couldn't tolerate something like this in my guard, she still went over the law to teach a filly combat magic and that on itself made her responsible of everything.

It was about time for some changes it seems, I would need to reform the Royal Guards, no other option was available at this point.

"S-she...no, that can't be true! She wouldn't, she and her friends, they were only going after that dragon colt, she wouldn't hurt an Alicorn, she... She wouldn't! Who told you this, was it him!?" Her voice was desperate and angry at myself, for daring to suggest something like that about her daughter.

"You forget yourself specialist Vine, watch your tone when you are talking to your princess." I narrowed my eyes and my tone conveyed the threat quite clearly, she snapped her muzzle shut and lowered her eyes, realizing her mistake. Seeing that she wouldn't interrupt me again, I continued explaining.

"My niece, Cadence told me everything that happened, she was in tears, she only tried to make peace between the fillies and the dragon, and she ended up succeeding for every one except Flaming Rose, now I understand why she is so sure of herself, you taught her it was okay to use this magic on others, I'm afraid she is going to be punished, and for you? You're facing very serious charges, what you have done is very very bad, one could say treasonous, by teaching combat magic to a filly, you have committed a really serious offence, but if nothing had come out of it that would have been fine, maybe a slap on the fetlock with a fine, but your daughter attempted the murder of a high noble, a royal, such a thing is unforgivable, do you understand?" I gave her the extend of her possible sentence, death sentence was not a common occurrence, except for the most hideous of crimes.

Luckily for her this was not one of those, not that she needed to know that just yet.

Murder of a royal, which this clearly wasn't the case, it was a failed attempt instead, the sentence was less severe in this case because of the failed part, but repeat offenders could still face capital punishment. Had she actually killed Cadence... I don't want to even imagine what I would have done to them both, but thanks to him, a tragedy was prevented. Although I'm sure Cadence would have been able to defend herself if she was ready, from what I knew, she was in a panic and couldn't have reacted in time, I will need to teach how to protect herself properly, this can't happen again.

"W-what did you say? Treason? Attempted murder?! Sweet Celestia! S-sorry I... I can't have this! A-and Rose? What is her fate? P-please have mercy on us Princess! I was just trying to keep my daughter safe." The unicorn finally understood the situation she was in, and her eyes started to water, she made a chocked sob as I explained her crimes, her daughter's crimes were her crimes by equestrian law, unless the parent could have not possibly known she was going to do them, but she knew, she taught her when she believed it was justified, to attack out of anger, she just didn't expect her daughter to attack a pony, let alone a royal, but that was inconsequential, she attacked with intent to hurt, maybe even to kill.

But I know that the reason she went so far was not because of a desire to kill, but because of a magical core instability issue, the brain was pumped full of hormones like adrenaline, causing the filly to go into full alarm, maybe the violent tendencies that she already had were magnified, still I couldn't fully justify her emotions with just her core going wild, this would not create feelings of hostility, but it would greatly increase them to the extreme. After all the magical core is in the brain, near the base of the horn in unicorns.

For this reason I decided to not punish the filly, instead I decided to help her in a way that would make her feel like she was being punished for what she did.

"I will be merciful towards both of you, she will be turned into an earth pony temporarily, it will both help stabilize her magic and teach her some humility, to depend less in her magic and to not think that just because she has a horn and can cast spells, she should use those spells on whoever or whatever upsets her." I decided to be merciful with them, while the death sentence was never in question because no one actually was murdered, if I was given another chance, why not give them an one too? She could change for the better like I am trying to, I removed the nullring from Flaming Rose's horn and teleported it back to my room, then I turned to Vine again.

"And... As for you, I think you will be put under supervision, you are also fired from the ranks of the Guard, but your magic knowledge and skill is too vast to throw away, so in case anything happens you will be called back into action, no questions asked, there will be no severance pay, from today on, forget about getting any benefits or retirement, your years of work on the royal guard are wiped clean, so you better get a job or I hope your herd will support, because you aren't going to see a single bit from the Crown again." I smiled, feeling like that was fair, I was not planning on turning Rose permanently either, just enough so she would learn and grow as a pony and help calm down her unstable core, earth ponies had it harder than any other pony race, at least when it came to everyday life, they couldn't fly and they couldn't use telekinesis, they couldn't use prestidigitation either unless they learned how to cast with hooves and runes, an art that was lost to time, and if any earth pony knew it, she or he wasn't sharing.

After a short magical scan I know that the reason Flaming Rose acted so unpredictably is because her magical core is unstable, when that happens to a unicorn, they experienced heightened emotions and their magic is affected by emotion, some may become extremely violent and aggressive if they already had those emotions within then, others instead experience a magical outburst or flare, which is usually way more dangerous than an overly angry and violent filly most of the time, except when that filly has access to combat spells. Faust... You really deserve to be thrown behind bars a few days Vine, I cant believe you taught her a combat spell instead of a stun spell, what were you thinking?

I didn't dare to say that and risk getting in trouble with the media for an emotional outburst.

Transforming her into an earth pony was a shortcut to help her core stabilize, as earth ponies, unlike unicorns, had a way to stabilize their core without any outbursts, magical or otherwise. Their excess magic could simply dissipate back on the ground harmlessly, this is the same magic they used to help crops grow faster and healthier if focused properly by an experienced farmer, something that all earth ponies had some ability to do, just as all unicorns could use telekinesis.
The connection they have to the forest and nature, to the ground and the roots, it was something even I don't fully understand despite having that same connection myself for so long.

"R-really?! Oh goodness thank you! Thank you, oh merciful princess! I thought I was... Wait, you will turn my daughter into an earth pony?! Oh, will she not suffer adverse effects from the transformation?" Her tone was very much cheerful when she heard she was just getting kicked off and wasn't going to face any other legal issues, but worry and fear took over, knowing her daughter was going to take the worst of the punishment.

I could see she was biting her lip to not say anything that would get her further into trouble, I nodded to her. "Not from the transformation itself, no, but she will definitively need to learn how to be an earth pony from scratch and that will take some time, she will also fall back on her magic training during her formative years, and will be left behind in magical practice and skill compared to her unicorn peers, but she deserves this, and worse." I tempered her excitement over being let off lightly with a threatening look.

"I'm basically letting both of you go with a slap on the fetlock, change your ways, both of you, or you will suffer much worse consequences the next time, understand?" I got a quick nod from the mare, she was shaking slightly but she wasn't about to pass at least, I was glad she was strong enough to not faint at the sight of my displeased scowl like some ponies in the past did.

"Vine, need to go and meet non ponies, get to know them and learn they aren't as bad as you may think, if you don't, then maybe I will give you a similar punishment as I did to your daughter, how does that sound? I was thinking you would make for a very pretty cow. There are some very big and handsome bulls on the farming villages near and around Canterlot that I'm sure you would love to meet once you are a cow." I smirked at her a little too wide, I knew Rose was awake by now, her attempt to pretend to be asleep didn't work on my trained ears and eyes, I could hear her breathing and it was not that of somepony sleeping.

I could see the fear in the filly's expression, even as she pretended to be asleep still, she couldn't keep her face relaxed, she couldn't keep the scared frown from it.

"O-oh no, no need Princess Celestia, I will go and talk to the kind griffons and zebras at the market, there's a diamond dog too that sometimes comes by to sell his wares, and even a few minotaurs, I could... I could just talk to them, I'm really thankful that you let me stay with my daughter, I'll... Try to do better with her from now on, I swear!" Despite her attempt to sound calm, the trembling in her voice was unmistakable, she really didn't want to become a cow for some reason, I nodded at her counter offer, and she let out a sigh of relief.

I must admit, it would have been funny to turn her into a cow anyway, cows were considered citizens too and they shared the same rights, but they had a wholly different culture than ponies, and they tended to prefer the countryside exclusively, living a more simplistic lifestyle, akin to what pony's ancestors would have lived, but instead of foraging they work in partnership with farmponies, providing milk in exchange for high quality hay and other food, the safety of a ranch and medical help when needed, other than that they keep to themselves, their ranches were very well stocked and comfortable, despite what some ponies from the city think, cows weren't stupid, they were educated, they could read and even write, but because of ancient agreements with their races going back thousands of years, their communities were exempt from taxes.

"I expect weekly letters with reports on your progress, don't disappoint me once more, there won't be a third time, Flaming Vine, now the time has come." I stood up, causing the mare to stand up quickly with her head lowered in a bow, I ignored it and prepared a very complex spell, it took me a few seconds and then, magic formed in my horn, aimed at the 'sleeping' filly, when it hit, she was surrounded by golden glow, which soon faded and she was left relatively unchanged, her horn was nowhere to be seen though.

The filly cried out in surprise, opening her eyes and trying frantically to touch her horn, just ending up bumping her hoof to her head. "Aaaaahh! Ow! W-where?! My horn! Princess you can't do this! Please!" The filly whines and pouts, rubbing her head, it's clear she isn't in any pain or anything, the spell is a success.

"You're fine, better get used to it, you may get your horn back if I find out you have become a better pony, no more listening to what Vine says about other races, okay? Or you will have to learn to live this way, start practicing with your hooves and your muzzle to hold objects, the earth pony way, you'll need it from now on." I gave them both an overly friendly smile and before they could complain further, I teleported back to the castle in a flash of golden magic, more specifically to my office, I have a lot of work to do if I want to reform the Royal Guard.

I may have made the first step without realizing when I hired Sylf, she made many of the other guardsmares and stallions start to see other species as less of a threat and more like partners and colleagues, even making some of the more xenophobic ponies open up to the idea of non ponies integrating into equestrian society and even the armed forces, at the very least in Canterlot. Still clearly not everypony, there is much to do.

There were lots of paperwork to fill out, this incident was eye opening, the ponies in the guard had their hearts in the right place by teaching their foals how to defend themselves, but giving foals spells that could be deadly dangerous, and the way foals behave often impulsively was a terrible combination, it was a miracle that this didn't happen more often. I will need to make it way more clear that there is consequences for teaching foals combat magic, there could NOT be a repeat of this!

Just when I thought I could have some tea with director Scroll... I sighed and dipped the feather into the inkpot to begin writing.

Author's Note

No funny sex chapter 69 sorry it's more of having to deal with the foals of xenophobic parents.

Celestia learns a valuable lesson, teaching fear and hate of other races can end up hurting her ponies as well, if she thinking about changing her policies before, now she is sure about that after the little scare with Cadence.

This version of Celestia has a lot of skeletons in the closet, and she caused the downfall of Luna to the nightmare parasite, who in this story are eldritch beings who feed on suffering and misery.

Will she ever be as nice as in the show in the future? Maybe, but she is willing now to admit her mistakes, at least to herself.