Awry

Chapters

Ch 1 - A possible solution to an unsolvable problem
Ch 10 - In the depth of a mare's soul
Prologue
Ch 2 - As a rookie
Ch 3 - Our new, second home
Ch 4 - Caught between a pony and a soft place
Ch 5 - Smoke and light - or a birth of a bizarre idea
Ch 6 - An irrefutable offer
Ch 7 - Relations of a lucky pony
Ch 8 - Where all our dreams will come true
Ch 9 - Damage control 101
Ch 11 - Party amidst test tubes
Ch 12 - A small spot on a huge square
Ch 13 - Painful admission and lengthening shadows
Ch 14 - Behind the curtains

Ch 1 - A possible solution to an unsolvable problem

I remember how excited I was on that day. The night before it was hard enough to get myself to sleep and in the morning my eyes shot up at the touch of my mother. My legs wanted to gallop so much that I almost knocked over the tray placed on my blanket with the hot cocoa and honey cookies that my mommy set there for me. My dear parents just wanted to help and prepare me for the trials awaiting, but my stomach was so cramped I couldn't get anything into my system. Even if I knew how much harder it was to concentrate with an empty tummy.

Luckily, my mother did have the foresight and didn't leave my side until she 'force fed' me at least half of my breakfast, fighting heroically with my stubborn resistance. She helped me dress up too, and I actually needed the assistance because even if I wasn't a little colt anymore, I simply couldn't manage buttons. Franky, it was an understatement: I had literally no idea how anypony can handle them with hooves. It must be something only a mother can do.

When I was in full gear and my mother gave up on combing my unruly mane, I was allowed to finally sprint down into the living room. My father was already waiting for me, sitting on the sofa and reading his favourite newspaper, but when he saw me he stood up on four hooves with a happy smile. As I got near, he lifted me up and spun me in the air, although meeting my mother's piercing gaze he put me back down and tried his best to fake seriousness. Today was not about games and goofiness.

With that in mind, we left our little home. Holding my head high, I proudly trod between my parents, resisting the urge to try to get up on their backs. Normally, I wouldn't care in any other situation, but it wouldn’t be the best introduction if I arrived riding on a pony in front of my future classmates and teachers. They would probably see me as a little foal and couldn't take me seriously after that... I was already nervous, the last thing I needed was them laughing at me.

Our house stood at the edge of Canterlot, at the base of the outer wall, so it took us almost half an hour to get to the place of the entrance exam. This was more than enough to help me calm down. Partially because my father asked me questions all the way, which made for a nice distraction and gave me some of my confidence back too. After all, I was able to answer everything and this was not something, anypony of my age could do - at least according to my dad. I was surely to finish among the best!

It was only when I saw the crowd in front of the onion-domed building between the observatory and the library that panic began to creep through me again. There were so many ponies gathered that I felt my chances suddenly vanish into thin air. All I knew in advance that there were always much more applicant to Princess Celestia's school, the world-famous Canterlot Academy, than they can take in... but I wouldn't even dream that there can even be so many! Just looking around was well over a hundred foals in front of the gates. And the school didn't give out any information about how many places they even have...

So I felt my fears had been completely justified, and neither my parents reassuring words nor the worries on the other candidates’ face helped alleviating it. And they just kept coming and coming... We only arrived an hour early but there were many, who didn't plan to spend that much time standing in one place. Well, it could be turned into an advantage, actually, if they pick us for the test by the order of arrival. Then I got myself a pretty good place, counting all those who came after us.

Five minutes before the beginning - they announced nine o'clock as the time of opening of the gates - everypony was watching intently the clock in the tower. There was still some, who arrived in the last minute, causing some commotion in the back rows but the others were waiting silently for something to happen. Even with the background voices of the city - which were admittedly less than usual - we could clearly hear the clinking of the cogs as they slowly pushed the hands towards the finish line. When the much waited moment arrived, one resounding 'Bong' rang through the square, and everypony fell silent.

A tall and lean stallion with dark red fur stood on one of the balconies of the building, looking down at the gathered ponies. I only noticed because my father pointed him out for me. But before he could say a word, the newcomer spoke. "I welcome those who came with all my heart," he said slowly with a deep voice. "My name is Poltergeist. As the Dean of the Canterlot Academy for Gifted Unicorns I hereby initiate the entrance exam! But before we begin with the test I shall highlight some crucial information for you. First of all, you must be aware of being enrolled in the Academy is not a right, but a privilege; something in which only the best of the best may take part in. No other viewpoints shall be considered in the process of approbation of your applications. Only those candidates who are worthy may enter our school that was founded by none other than Her Majesty Princess Celestia herself. I am compelled to point it out that appeal does not lie against our decision, but we do warrant an opportunity to repeat the exam next year in case of failure."

"I would also like to draw attention to the fact that even if somepony's application is accepted, it does not automatically mean that it shall stay that way. This is why I ask you, dear caretakers, take it into serious consideration before you expose your foals to this challenge! Participation in our curriculum is highly demanding and is usually extremely stressful for the young ones. The same applies to the entrance exam. Anypony who feels unprepared should leave of their own motion. I cannot guarantee access to anypony present, and I would prefer sparing as many foals of disappointment as possible."

The dark red stallion took a pause, looking all around the crowd. Long seconds passed but nopony said a word. But after that, to my great surprise, some of the ponies left the group and slowly walked away. I must admit, the Dean's speech was a little scary, but didn't we all came here to at least give it a try?

"Your new director has an interesting screening method," my father whispered in my ear. "When I started, they didn't try to play it rough in the beginning. But you don't need to worry, it definitely worked, because you have that much fewer rivals!"

I didn't doubt it, but the stallion also made the exam seem to be that much harder... Luckily, I didn't have time to ponder - it would only make me feel even less confident - because the dean continued. "I'd like to share some details with you regarding the test. First, we shall split you into groups of ten, which shall be examined separately. Please note, that during this period the candidates may not contact anypony except each other, obviously including their caretakers also."

This time the red stallion's words were followed by a displeased murmur. Even my parents were paving the ground with their hooves indignantly. "I can't believe this!" my mother got her dander up. "This is outrageous!"

"The option to leave freely still exists!" the dean exclaimed in a surprisingly calm voice, and everypony fell silent again. "The groups shall be assigned randomly. Given the outstandingly large amount of applicants, half of them shall receive their first task in the library. This year the exam has three parts, however, those not meeting the requirements shall be disqualified immediately. The preset groups shall stay together, continuing with less member if necessary. Admittedly, this does not hold great significance since there are only individual tasks."

"Within five minutes, Professor Tome shall arrive with your assignment, until then I would like to make use of our time and speak a little of the question most of you are probably interested in: choosing a course. The most important is that none of our freshly accepted student needs to think too hard about finding a fitting faculty. I know, many of you already has a solid conception regarding this, although in the first few years everypony shall participate in exactly the same basic education in every subject. Like in any ordinary school, with the addition of some our own, more specialized subjects. This is not meant to be a surprise, and you should not expect high level tuition from our part in the beginning. Consider it rather having a sample and a chance to try out your abilities to find your true way. That was all I wanted to say. We open the gates. Thank you for your patience."

A loud click and metallic squeak followed the stallion's words, who already turned tail on us and disappeared inside the building. "Okay, I need every applicant to gather in front of me!" spoke out a confident mare from the door though I couldn't see her from the crowd.

"Don't worry my son, they just want to scare you!" my mother hugged me. "Yeah, I believe in you, and we are very proud!" my father joined. "I know you'll pass! We will wait for you out here as long as it takes!" I couldn't hold myself back any longer, I jumped into their necks and hugged them as hard as I could.

I didn't dare to waste more time, so I rushed after the other foals, dodging between their parents and in the general direction of the frilly maned lady where my future classmates were gathering. I didn't pay too much attention towards anypony but our leader. The middle-aged mare's hoof moved rapidly, pointing at everypony one by one, creating the promised groups of ten and another pony gave a piece of paper to each group to write down their names on it.

I was placed with three other colt and six fillies and immediately after that we were sent inside the domed building. We had to climb some stairs and then another almost-adult unicorn joined us, leading the small gang to a long corridor. Two other groups were already waiting in front of separate doors, pacing nervously. The room with the highest number on it was ours in the end of the hallway. The unicorn asked each of our names, wrote it down to the paper, then opening the door just a crack he slid in quickly. I tried to peek inside but saw only darkness. It didn't take a whole minute for him to come back but despite our hopes he said nothing and even avoided our gazes. Many of us were exchanging excited glances but nothing happened just yet.

"Ya know anythin' about what's goin' on?" the colt standing next to me asked. As nopony answered he turned to face me and I was too late to glance away. "Maybe ya heard somethin' about what kind of exam are we havin'?"

"No," I replied, trying to get over with this conversation.

But the colt insisted. "I heard that every year is different, to make it harder to prepare. And Mr. Polter only took over this year, so there will be changes. He has a reputation of playin' by his own rules."

"If you know it this well, why are you asking me?" I snorted.

"'cause I'm already bored of waitin'. Hi, name's Jasper!" he extended a hoof towards me. "Jasper Volley".

"I saw that on the paper" I murmured, turning away.

"And I saw yers, but we could properly introduce ourselves. Otherwise it's pretty hard to get to know each other dontcha think?"

"Look, it doesn't make much sense to try to make friends before this thing is over," I pushed down his leg firmly. "I won't memorize your name for half a day to never use it again if you fail the test."

"Yer a grumpy one, ya hear?" the little shrimp grimaced.

"I'm just honest," I pointed around. "It would be exceptional if half of the team can get through the filter."

"'kay then," he shrugged, already turning to the filly on his other side. "Hi! Name 's Jasper, what's yers?"

I successfully blocked out the rest of the conversation, though I didn't have to strain myself for too long. The door opened with a quiet creek and a harsh voice of a stallion called out. "Death Wish!"

A few second passed but nothing happened just everypony fell silent. Soon, a short filly in a frilly skirt stepped out of the group. Shyly, as if she was asking for forgiveness for her mere existence, she pushed the doorknob and vanished in the beckoning darkness. Yeah... come to think of it, I did saw this name on the list. And it was kind of good news if we were following an alphabetic order because my place was in the middle. I can hear some referrals but I won't have to wait here forever. We tried to eavesdrop, though not a sound has come out of the room. Quickly checking around the corridor I noticed that the other teams were also missing a pony. It finally began!

* * *

In spite of the initial excitement the minutes went by slower and slower. I wasn't even sure that it would've been better if they provided us the means to measure time. Well, then I could have at least guessed if there's a time limit for the test. Having no other option, I tried counting seconds but I always lost count after a thousand. Also, there was once I only got to nine hundred until the door opened, but I may have been a little faster as I was getting impatient.

Of course, it would've been more useful to ask those who got through the first test, but we had no such luck. The deep darkness kept swallowing the ponies and nopony came out. At first, I was a little afraid, that it would mean that everypony passed who came before me - after that it would be an unbearable shame to fail -, but a few glances to the other groups convinced me that this was not the case. After all it was highly unlikely that absolutely everypony succeeded in the first part. Perhaps they just wanted to keep us in the dark or simply give us equal chances. It would've been funny if somepony told us what we were expected to do, wouldn't it?

My heart beat faster when they called for the colt that was trying to chat with me before. If I remembered correctly, my name came immediately after his, so my turn was approaching rapidly. I tried to contain my excitement and not trotting in place. My father always told me it was very important to stay calm in situations like this. So I took a few deep breaths and with closed eyes I ran through everything I learned. They said my abilities were above average, though right then I felt completely unprepared... and also acutely aware that I'm facing one of my big decisive moments of my life. And I regretted every missed opportunity to practice, but there was nothing to do about that now.

A thin beam of light crept into the room. I didn't even comprehend what was I seeing, though I realised afterhoof that it was the lack of the awaited creek that made me react so slowly. When I heard my name I almost jumped. I needed all of my willpower to keep my dignity and not crawl inside. I didn't even fully realise that I was inside until the door behind me closed with a quiet but firm 'click'. I tugged my tail between my hind legs and stared into the darkness, but it was so perfect that I saw nothing. That was until they turned on the sole lamp in the chamber.

The light coming from the ceiling illuminated a little round table with a cube lying on it, as well as the floor around it in a two feet circle. Otherwise it was still pitch black inside even after my eyes got accommodated to the new conditions. I didn't want to step inside the circle of light until I was instructed to do so. There was not much waiting: soon a mare's bored, drawn-out voice rang in my ears as clearly as if she was standing right next to me.

"You have exactly twenty minutes to complete your task. You have no other objective but to open the box on the table. It is allowed to use any spell, but no items, so you may only touch it directly with your bare hooves. I have to warn you furthermore that this exercise is extremely important in the surveying of your competence, however, you have the opportunity to give up at any moment. If you choose to do so, you may not make any further attempts, but the remaining time can be used in the other parts of the test. After starting the clock, you may not ask questions, so if you have any, please, state them now!"

She let me have a little time to process the information. I chewed on her words during this and I did find some details that needed clarification. "Does it count if I break it?" I asked with a slight tremble in my voice.

"Your job is to make the contents of the box accessible," the answer came. "Choosing the fitting method is a part of your task."

"And... I suppose I'm not allowed to use items that I brought with myself, so if I find something here...?" I found it unnecessary to finish my question but I did have to wait for a bit longer this time.

"The area outside the circle of light is to be considered as empty space."

"I understand. Thank you!"

"The twenty-minute counter starts now," the voice stated neutrally. "Good luck!"

A face of a clock lit up brightly in front of me where I thought to be the wall. When I moved my head, however, the clock followed the movement of my eyes and remained in focus. It was quite annoying but I could get used to it. This small detail won't hinder me in my quest!

First, I walked around the table, in case I find something interesting on it. It was made of beautiful mahogany, the polished tabletop forming a perfect circle. There was no signs of damage that would show that those who came before me would hit it with the cube trying to open it... or in their rage.

For the sake of order, to avoid missing such a trivial detail, I carefully picked up the cube and placed it on the ground. I lifted the table with my magic and turned it upside down. Partly, I wanted to show my examiners how nicely I can perform a levitation spell on a heavy object like this, but I was more interested if there was a key or something similar item fixed to the bottom or to the legs. After all, I could strain myself as much as I want if the test was about to determine our resourcefulness. But I didn't find anything, so I was forced to continue in a more 'classical' way.

After I set the table back, I took the box into my hooves and checked it from every direction. I still had much time, there was no need to rush. Its surface was as smooth as the table's, and there were no flaws in its metallic decorations. However hard I was looking though, I found no signs of trickery. I was kind of hoping to find a simple solution to basically skip this exercise... especially because I didn't know any lock-opening spells yet...

The floating clock in front of me relentlessly reminded me that I already used up three minutes of the given time and I didn't even begin with the experimentation. There was not much to do about it, so I turned the box upside down, sighing. I felt its weight distribution shifting though whatever was inside, it made no sound. In the same position I tried to carefully force open its lid, but there was no use: it was a perfect fit. Of course, I wasn't surprised as it would make no sense to test if we are able to do a job of a yearling. I was only curious if it would even worth it to go in this direction. Well, I didn't exactly get my answer.

It was time to use magic, then! Even though I didn't know the mechanism of lockpicking, I lit up my horn and focused my magic on the small keyhole. They obviously wouldn't expect us to have the abilities of a professional burglar, so I honestly believed in the chance of success. I strained myself as I tried to get a grip in that little hole, but I felt no change. I tried in vain to reach further, but I was stopped by the walls of the box and I couldn't even get any information about the contents.

I took a little pause to catch my breath. I used up only one third of my time. The next thing I thought of that I could really use a crowbar, but I discarded the idea immediately. Conjuring items were well beyond my abilities right then. It was only my magic I could rely on to open the cube. Grimacing, I tried to yank it forcefully again and again, until it became hard to even stay standing on four legs.

I sat down, panting, and took a look at the clock, that showed that I have ten minutes left. Ten minutes... but for what ends? I had literally no idea what to do next. What should I do? What were they expecting? Was there even a single pony who could get this stupid box to open? Or did they let go the others because they didn't succeed? I could not bear the shame and stand in front of my parents if I didn't try everything!

It took a great effort to stand, but I reared up on my hind legs and lifted the cube. I turned its backside to face me and I aimed at the hinges with my horn. Using up all my magical reserves, I hit it multiple times, but the only thing I got for my effort was a headache. I gritted my teeth and moaned, but I got nowhere further.

I didn't sink back to the ground as I closed my eyes and stopped throwing spells at the thing. I lifted the box over my head and froze motionless. It was all in vain. It seems, even if I tried everything, I was not prepared. One last thing remained although I knew all well that it's just a final, desperate attempt on my part.

"I will throw it," I said in a hoarse voice. It was hard enough to restrain myself: I really felt like crying. After waiting for a few seconds and not getting an answer I did what I was about to do. The box hit the floor hard, but there was no cracking sound. My heart sank, but I still reached down for it for safety's sake and inspected it carefully. There wasn't even a scratch on it. I put the cube back to the middle of the table. I took a deep breath to have the courage to say what I was about to say.

"I give up," I whispered into the darkness.

"You have five minutes left," the bored voice of the mare replied. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes."

A slim, red string descended in front of my face from somewhere above. "Please, hold the string and don't move for a few seconds!"

I followed the instructions without a word. The little ribbon slid down as I pulled it and wrapped itself around my right leg. After a few moments I felt a strange tingle running through my body, then light flashed and the floor below me vanished. I almost lost my balance, but before it could have happened, I felt solid ground under my hooves again.

I shook my head to come back to my senses after the unexpected spell. It took me some time to realize what was happening and that was only then when I saw the menacingly huge table before me with the three grown-up sitting behind. They were all looking down at me and making me feel small and insignificant. It gave me a jump when one of them pointed at a chair. I tugged in my tail and flatted my ears as I complied to the silent command and climbed up to it.

"Hold your hoof up!" the same stallion ordered me. I did so though he was seemingly not satisfied. "The other one." A little reluctantly, I lifted my leg hugged tightly by the red string. I saw all too well one of his eyes twitching. "So you failed," he stated condescendingly. "Can you tell us what the problem was?"

Opening my mouth, I couldn't get out a word first. Yeah, I failed, but did they have to rub it in? It didn't work and that's it. Couldn't we just jump to the next test if I'm not disqualified just yet?

"Because... because I didn't know the right spell," I murmured, avoiding eye contact.

"And after this, do you still think you can meet our school's high expectations?" the examiner asked, though he didn't wait for response this time. "Look, I'll be honest with you! Almost everypony gets to the second part of the exam, but after that, we dispatch at least half of the applicants. Regarding your performance, do you really feel ready to take it? It will only get harder from now on! If you are mistaken and you are not adequately prepared, the consequences can be grim!"

"I must try!" I replied a bit more confident this time, even though I could not control the shaking of my body. "I... want to try! This is what I came for!"

"You see that red string on your leg?" the mare sitting next to the stallion asked harshly. "This indicates that you were unable to complete your given task. We may let you pass now, but in that case everypony will know about your failure."

"I don't care! If I don't succeed, I'll... I'll come back next year! And I will become stronger and then I'll pass!"

"Are you sure you have the determination necessary?" the one sitting in the middle snorted. "It says in your results that you gave up before the time was up..."

"Yeah because... because I saw that it won't work for me!" I said and gulped audibly. "And... and I thought, I might have more chance if I don't waste my power and time for something I cannot solve!"

The ponies shared glances and nodded almost in sync.

"I'll share a secret with you," the stallion in the middle leaned towards me. "This task could not have been solved. It was not expected of any of you to have the arcane fortitude necessary to open the box. We were curious about your reactions. If somepony had the resolve to wait and fight through the twenty minutes, the box opened on its own. If you would be given a chance to try again, would you have the patience to wait it out?"

I gulped again. It didn't even come to me that they would give us an actually unsolvable puzzle! Of course... wasn't this school's very purpose to teach us problem solving spells like this? And... they would really give me another chance? For a few seconds it was the only thing in my mind, but after that I thought better of it.

"I'd have the patience..."

"That's all right...!" the examiner began but I interrupted.

"But if I was given another chance, I would give up immediately."

There was a shocked pause. It seems like they were more surprised than I expected, considering I said the only logical thing, obviously.

"I just said that the box would open in the end!" the stallion in the middle spread his front legs, confused.

"You also said that none of us would be able to open it," I replied with fake calm, even though my heart was beating furiously against my ribs. "You told me my job is to open it. If it opens on its own in my hooves, then I failed, right? So I could win a bit more time this way... right?"

The three of them shared glances again, then grabbed their quills and began to scribe. It was really hard to contain my nervousness and I caught myself rubbing my hooves together. Stupid instincts! I was simply not able to ignore that they were most likely deciding on my faith right now. Was I too bold? Did I say something stupid? Why don't they say anything? Can I get another chance or they changed their minds?

After what seemed like an eternity the one in the middle looked up at me again as if he has forgotten about me. "We are finished here," he said hazily. "You may proceed."

* * *

I felt dizzy from the new, unexpected teleport. For a moment I thought they simply threw me out, although I didn't know what to think of the deep darkness that surrounded me. In that case wouldn't it be more practical to push me out of the door, or to teleport me outside of the gates? There an arrogant apprentice would inform me how pathetic my performance was, and then send me my way to receive the next scrap of a unicorn. Instead, I was in an unknown place without any direction.

It took me almost a half-minute to notice the buzzing sound as it was getting louder. But when I did notice it, the darkness was also pierced by a few colorful dots of light around me in an undiscernible distance. Before I could find out any more details about my new location a strange tingle crept up my legs and a scary, sparkly feeling cut into my horn. It didn't hurt, it wasn't even really uncomfortable, but it caught me off guard, so I panicked. If I could see the space around me, I'd be surely running around in circles, but this way I could do nothing but awaiting my impending doom, shivering in place. I wasn't thinking realistically, but with a retroactive analysis I found that maybe my line of thought was something like this: they found me absolutely inadequate and they want to simply get rid of me with some deadly machine. Ponies like me should not be allowed to sully the air of Canterlot. I don't even know if it was my exceptional naivety or my hyperactive survival instinct that was talking right then, but I found my reactions quite laughable afterhoof.

My only luck was that this whole thing didn't take too long, because I had a hard time not to pee myself. And taking into consideration what happened next, I would've never been free of the shame if I did that. So it practically saved me when the buzzing stopped and the light came from a big opening on one of the walls. I immediately noticed that I was actually right being in a huge metal box instead of a room and it also looked like a machine. Whatever they did to me though, I was still alive...

I crept out carefully through the opening - which was most likely a portal - and immediately ran into two foals who were trying to sneak a peek inside the machine. At first, I had no idea what was going on, but soon enough I recognized the colt as the one trying to chat with everypony before the test. And the filly was maybe the one who went in first. Both of them had a red ribbon around one of their front legs. So... were we the wash-outs, or...?

"Ah, so yer here!" the colt smiled as our eyes met. "I was curious if I'd ever get yer name."

He poked his hoof my way again and I took it this time. Whatever comes next, the same destiny awaits us all now. "Life Thread," I smiled, bumping his hoof.

"Jasper Volley," he bowed slightly towards me. "Nice to meet ya! And she's Death Wish here!" he pointed at the filly who was even shorter than him.

"Just Wish if I may ask!" she poked shyly at the ground.

I took a step towards her, but as I reached out with my hoof, she pulled in her neck and just nodded with a small smile. She seemed quite a timid type and I didn't want to make it more difficult for her so I simply returned the gesture. All the while I took a better look at her and now I noticed that in addition to her height - and age of course - she did make quite a 'little girl' impression. Mostly it was her behaviour, although her pastel red and orange mane arranged into pigtail or the massive bow in her tail didn't help either. And there were the freckles that broke the monotonousness of her short, moss-green fur. Her body's colors had a bit too much contrast between them, but her clothes and light brown eyes did alleviate some of it.

On the other hoof, the colt had a much more harmonic appearance, even if he seemed to be uncomfortable in an elegant dress. I thought he was a countrypony, that's why he wasn't used to it. His fur had a greener shade than mine with just a touch, but his mane was a more characteristic azure blue, something I couldn't say about myself. Despite his social background, he seemed to have quite a confidence.

"So, ya failed too, huh?" Jasper asked, pointing at my leg, still hugged by the red string.

"Of course." I answered. "As far as I know, everypony did."

"Whaddya mean?" he raised an eyebrow.

"They said that it was not the purpose of this test that somepony should open the box."

"Huh? What was, then?"

"They didn't tell me. Only that they were watching us, what we are doing about an exercise like this. It would open in the end on its own, but I suppose you gave up before that like me and this is why we are here together."

"It... would... open...?" he repeated flabbergasted.

"Yes" Wish said quietly. "When the time was up, it clicked and when I put my hoof into it, the string wrapped itself around my leg."

"Ya never said anythin' about this!" Jasper exclaimed in a hurt voice and the mare quickly backed to the wall, ears folding back.

"I thought it was the same with you..." she murmured. "You said that the examiners had a conversation with you too."

"So my theory is blasted," I thought out loud. "What the heck is this all about? And why did they put us together if we had different results?"

"It's a better question, what the holy hay was that buzzin' whatchamacallit that we arrived in" Jasper pointed at the wall where I came in through the portal.

"No idea, but it did give me quite a jump!" I snickered.

"To me too!" he snorted. "Could've given us a warnin' or somethin'..."

"It can't be helped now. But I'm curious about how long we have to stay here."

"I think until everypony is finished. If ya remember, Wish was the first one, and they didn't let her go any further."

"Oh, come on!" I groaned. "It's one and a half hour, then! What shall we do until that?"

"We had a good ol' conversation until ya got here," Jasper shrugged. "For example, ya could tell us where are ya from and why did ya apply. I for one always wanted to be a great battlemage, and that's why I journeyed here with my parents 'cause I'm now old enough to join the Academy. We came from the mage-quarter of Trottingham and what should I say, the carriage shook our brains out 'til we got here. There was a school there, too, but my parents agreed on it that Canterlot is still the very best. So I'll give it a shot, and then we'll see!"

"And I live here, near the big clocktower," joined Wish meekly. "They made me do this preliminary survey, you know, and they said it to be a good idea to apply. I was interested... so now I'm here."

"I see," I nodded. "We live here too, only in the outskirts. I have a talent in magic, and I did much preparation, so I really hope, they'll give me a chance to prove myself worthy. I came here to learn from the best and to show the world, what I'm capable of!"

"Oh yeah!" Jasper grinned. "And which courses are ya interested in? I really want to enlist to the Military Department 'cause it's so cool!" He raised to his hind legs and flailed his hooves around, trying to imitate some sort of martial arts. "I'll beat up everypony! I'm hard as a saddle-bow! I shall show these canterlotians the Trottingham-virtue!" He seemed quite pent up, but without any transition he went back to standing on four hooves and sounded normal again. "But if they find that I'm better at something else, it'll work out for me. Just not some crappy bookwormy stuff! One can't actually learn the good stuff from books, righty?"

"I actually did read much to prepare properly," I said a little condescendingly even if I didn't mean to. "And I also listened to a few open lectures."

"Meh, it's not the same," Jasper shrugged. "Listenin' and doodlin' is not the same as sitting inside, collecting dust, and licking cobwebs from between the pages. Nothin' could beat it when I went out with Pa to the garden to practice! He needs tenth of the time to explain any spell compared to those crazy descriptions and definitions. I hope the lectures here'll be somethin' like that!"

"Surely it's no coincidence that the Academy has the best reputation. We'll have the chance to try ourselves out both in theory and practice. If you're not interested in books, I doubt they would make you choose a course full of them, am I right?"

"Mayhaps, but I sure do hope so," he said scratching his head. "And what 'bout ya? Wish already told me that she doesn't know yet."

The little mare nodded in agreement, but as I turned to her she lowered her head again, and continued rubbing the ground with her hoof - although she didn't break eye contact.

"I don't have any well-defined plan on this," I said, deep in thought. "But I was able to learn a wide range of spells and I'm also good with them, so I really want to reach a very high level in any branch of wizardry. My parents said that I have the potential, so if I work really hard, I can get far."

"That's so cool!" Jasper cheered. "It'd be so much fun to practice together! The three of us should form a club! We'd stick together and help each other in everythin'! Whatccha sayin'? Brohoof?"

I wasn't so sure that only because fate has chosen to take us to the same place, we could get along. Wish seemed to be extremely introverted and Jasper talked way too much, so we'd definitely form an interesting team together. And we couldn't even be sure that we'll get to study here. Maybe it was this uncertainty that caused me to agree this easily, and I bumped the colt's extended hoof. If this works out, we may as well give it a shot, and if not, well, it doesn't even matter then...

* * *

We had such a good time talking for the rest of our wait that we didn't even realise how long did it actually take. It's true, we still didn't have any means to measure time because we had no clock in the room and nopony came after me to at least guess by their name, how things are going out there. This way we got to know each other a little better, especially after Wish got used to my company and opened up to me too. We talked about our previous schools and about the spells we already know. Later on we just speculated about the second and third trial, in case we even get there.

Just as we were sharing a good laugh, our room's door opened and we saw an old, dark purple mare waiting for us outside. She cleared her throat impatiently, so the three of us jumped immediately onto our hooves. The mare just waved for us to follow and led us through a long corridor, much similar to the one we were waiting in before the first test.

There were other foals coming with a guidance of an adult. As I saw, none of their groups were larger than five ponies, so it seemed the number of applicants has already decreased drastically. The same excitement ran through my body that I felt radiating from my companions. We all marched in nice and organised lines towards a single destination. There was not much talking, so I didn't have too much affinity to continue our interrupted conversation. Instead I was paying attention to our surroundings, hoping that maybe I can get some preliminary information about what awaited us. In the end the only thing that I discovered became soon enough obvious to everypony: we were being led to a great auditorium.

Inside it started getting kinda crowded, partly by the little ponies sitting in bigger or smaller groups behind the small tables, and partly by the adults gathering in front of a huge projection screen. Our temporary leader made us sit in the edge of one of the lines and soon, I discovered our dean, Mr. Poltergeist, in the middle of the stage-thingy. The red stallion sat on a cushioned chair, his eyes were half-lidded, and he clasped his hooves together with geometric precision. He seemed to be deep in thought and I watched him intently waiting for him to do something. That is, until Jasper disturbed me by poking my side.

"I didn't bring a cheat-sheet, y'hear?" he whispered into my ear.

"What do you mean?" I turned to face him.

"Just look at them!" he nodded his head towards the adults, who would most likely were to become our future teachers. "They look like they are about to deal out the papers and quills! Sure, they'll ask some wild shit... Can I use yer essay as a 'direct reference'?"

"Why do you think we'd have a written test...?" I asked but when I finished I realized it was a pretty logical conclusion.

"Here, watch that yellow one!" he nodded not-so-subtly towards a stallion. "If ya'd know that everypony here will write a test, how would ya stand on yer four legs? Just like him! Amirite or amirite?"

"You reasoning is not to be trifled with, bro..." I sighed. Of course, there was nothing unusual about the yellow stallion's behaviour or body language, but I already had the privilege to experience the strange thought process of my new acquaintance from Trottingham. I couldn't decide if he was trying too hard to be funny or was simply weird, but there were definitely situations where it was a bit tiresome. Like this one.

He had a good point, though. The odds were in the favor of that they prepared with a written test too, but I thought it would have been be more practical to begin with something like that. It would've been more comfortable for both parties and they could use an easily adjustable filter to reduce the amount of attendants. Not to mention that I myself did most of my preparations in magic theory and in my humble opinion my knowledge was well beyond my age. And, of course, in that case I wouldn't have to face the next challenge with a failed test behind my back. Could've used a little boost in confidence... As I looked around, however, I noticed that I saw only foals that have red strings around their legs. For a few second I thought that they took the losers here after all, but I honestly doubted that they would make such a big deal of telling us how hopeless we are.

A sharp whistle ran through the hall, coming from its two sides. The quietly murmuring crowd suddenly went silent... except for those who had too good ears and welcomed the unpleasant voice with indignant chirping.

"...two, one... two..." came a crispy sound of a stallion from the same directions. "Here you go, sir!"

As I looked down to the projection screen, I just caught as a lanky pony hoofed over his microphone to Mr. Poltergeist. Soon enough, we could hear the slow, almost hypnotic speech of the dean from the speakers on the wall. "I welcome warmly everypony present: the leaders of the Academy, our fellow teachers, our dear guests and our newest students as well!" The red stallion took a conspicuously long pause, but before I could truly formulate the thought, he said it out loud: "That's right! I congratulate you, young apprentices, as everypony who got this far, has successfully passed the entrance exam! In fact, according to our statistics, you surpassed our expectations, as almost half of the applicants completed all three part of the test. Shall your steadiness persist and yours might prove to be the class with highest headcount so far! I myself wish that your enthusiasm may remain unshakeable."

"Now I would like to mention the matters of utmost importance to you: the forming of the classes, the requisition of school supplies, the timetables, and, what may excite your fantasies the most: the freshpony camp. Before I elaborate though, I shall clarify the process of the entrance exam for the reason that it might be non-evident for those participating. Few of you did realise that the purpose of this test was not the measuring of magical prowess, however, the staff kept hidden the nature of the attributes we were seeking for. The information we needed of our applicants was their reaction to a stressful situation. Our school is extremely demanding and that might prove highly straining for those with young minds. Each of you shall face intense exam situations, and there shall be none of you who can succeed every single occasion. Those that cannot handle failure with head held high, shall drop out!"

"Some panicked in the face of the unsolvable arrangement, some went on a tantrum and some overstrained themselves by using up every bit of their magical power, risking injury. We do not need students that follow orders blindly. This is not the military. We seek young intellectuals to help them rise into the elite of pony society. Thinkers, who can correctly estimate their capabilities and use them rationally. And those, whose will shall not break from failure. Advanced spells require a high degree of discipline, and even though we, unicorns, possess the gift of magic on an organic level, not every one of us can become true wizards."

"You have passed therefore a psychological aptitude test. The second part of the exam had the same purpose. We asked you thoroughly about your experiences of the failed task. Our best specialists analysed you and most of the applicants washed out in this phase. Those who were deemed eligible are here. I congratulations everypony again, you performed valiantly!"

Our dean paused for a breath and somepony used it immediately to shout in somewhere from the first lines. "Hey! And what about the third exercise?"

In spite of the dirty looks from the other teachers Mr. Poltergeist took the question with pleasure as if it was awaited. "Actually, I have never stated that the entrance exam would include three exercises," he said, squinting mirthfully. "The only thing I stated that it has three separate parts. What you think of is the experiment that I conducted with the cooperation of Mrs. Tome, senior lecturer of the Department of Complex Arcane Sciences. We developed a procedure through which we are able to measure one's certain magical abilities in a passive state. To prevent the outrage," he raised his voice, "the Princess gave us permission to perform this experiment and you shall receive the results as well, during the opening ceremony which shall take place in the sports hall, 3 pm Saturday, exactly one month from now. I would like to notify that the experiment did not have any influence on our decision about the admission to the Academy. It had a statistical significance."

"And now, it is time to get down to business! First of all, I would like to inform everypony that regarding the school supplies our students are only required to procure writing equipment and notebooks - everything else is provided by Her Majesty, Princess Celestia. The tuition is free of cost until the base exam, after that a nominal amount is to be paid by those without scholarship. This is no matter to you, yet, however, I would like to direct your attention towards the fact that scholarship may be received even after the second half-year if considered reasonable based on a student's performance. As you are quite numerous, you may expect high competition in the beginning."

"The next in line that is worth mentioning is the freshpony camp. I shall not share you every detail as the prospectus shall be placed on the bulletin board of this building so everypony can read it. It is to be aware of that the camp may not be obligatory, it is highly recommended. This is the easiest way to make acquaintances, which has a great importance as forming the classes before the base exam shall be your duty. One teacher may only supervise one class, with set minimum headcount and rearranging classes is only possible in the beginning of each year. So you should choose carefully. Timetables shall be also bound to the classes, although the organisation is within the scope of the head teacher's duties. That was everything from me today! We shall continue on the year opening ceremony and, of course, the freshpony camp, in two weeks. Those who can, should really participate!"

Ch 10 - In the depth of a mare's soul

I remember Princess Celestia's face when the guards led us to her throne. It was one of those rare occasions when she didn't smile. It was as if she was trying to look us in the eyes with a detached expression, maybe with a slight sternness, but I could read the disappointment from her face. Although I still didn't feel concerned about the punishment for what we had done, my conscience rose up and immediately made me realize what a scumbag I was for putting my own mentor in such an unpleasant position. I felt ashamed, as the private apprentice of the ruler of Equestria, I had behaved unworthy of her name. Way to express how grateful I was for everything she'd done for me...

The gate closed behind us, and the guards pushed us into a line, then positioned themselves on either side at attention, their spears still ready, but not aimed at us. The white pegasus, who appeared to be the leader, lifted his helmet and bowed to the Princess, who did not even get up from the throne.

"I'm reporting that the stolen train has been found as well as the culprits!" he said firmly, painfully emphasizing the words "stolen" and "culprits".

"Thank you," Celestia nodded grimly, then looked straight into my eyes. "I'm waiting for an explanation."

Of course, I could have expected her to ask me the question. She had nothing to do with any of my friends, only with me. And my relationship with the Princess was pretty good to say the least, so... so if I take the responsibility and Celestia is in a good enough mood, I can take the blame...

"I'm so sorry, Your Majesty!" I took a step forward with a repentant face and lowered ears, then I bowed deeply to her. "It was very stupid of me to test our magic like this without your permission. I don't have any excuses, but we all really regretted it..."

"It was not only stupid, but also irresponsible," said the Princess harshly. "How did you come up with such dangerous and illegal entertainment?"

"It was my fault, Your Highness!" I looked up pleadingly at the alicorn.

"I don't care in the least whose idea it was," Celestia declared sternly. "All of you, you committed it together, so it's only fitting that you all get the same punishment. I can't make an exception with any of you."

I gritted my teeth. Well, unfortunately it didn't work out, but at least I tried. "Understood..." I muttered to myself and retreated back to my team.

"You have put me in a difficult position," said Princess Celestia. "As much as I would like to, I cannot ignore what you did, even if nopony was hurt, you brought back the stolen train, and you did not commit the theft out of bad intentions. As an additional mitigating circumstance, I am willing to take into account that none of you have had a similar violation of the law before. So, if you promise that you won't even think of a similar dangerous action, I will only take away your summer break in the hope that you will learn from this. And so that you can make up for your mistakes, I will not sentence you to prison, but to community service."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" a few of us muttered, but the Princess suddenly spread her wings, silencing us.

"Don't thank me!" she continued in the same calm voice, although I could still feel the tension in her. "Show me that you are worthy of my trust! You will receive your assignments early tomorrow morning. Guard, escort them out! Thread, you stay! I want to have a talk with you."

With my head held low, I watched out of the corner of my eye as the soldiers in golden armor escorted my friends out of the room. I had no idea what kind of scolding Celestia was about to give me, but I had never seen her so angry before, which didn't bode well.

"Come closer!" said the Princess, when the last pony left the room and the gate closed again.

I slowly walked over to the throne, still avoiding Celestia's gaze to show how sorry I was for our sins.

"Closer!"

I complied with her order, although it was a bit embarrassing to be so close to her. If I had lifted my leg, I could have touched her. She, on the other hoof, even despite the very small distance, leaned towards me from her seat so that her mane was practically in line with my head.

"Look, Thread..." she suddenly changed her tone, and now her voice sounded much sadder than demanding. "You know exactly how much I prefer it when somepony goes their own way, but this is not the case."

"I know, Princess, and I'm truly sorry," I muttered under my breath. "I promise it will never happen again..."

"In any other case, I would be satisfied with this, but I would like you to understand why I am asking you this," As I raised my head, Celestia looked deeply into my eyes. "It's not just that you did something that, even when considered with simple, common sense, is crazy. Take better care of yourself and take care of your marefriend too! It would be very disadvantageous if you kept wandering about, because if I can't see you, I can't guarantee your safety either..."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, a little surprised.

"Go ahead and enjoy life, but stay in Canterlot!" the Princess smiled. "And spend as much time as possible together with her!" she added with a cheerful squint. "That's all I ask for. Can you do that?"

"Of course!" I blinked in confusion.

"Very well!" Celestia backed away from me a little, stretched her back and folded her wings. "Don't worry about work; I will not impose anything on you that is too difficult or humiliating! After all, you are still my student..."

"Yes, sometimes I feel a bit like you're making an exception with me," I blurted out.

"If you know a better pony for that, just let me know!" Celestia raised her eyebrows challengingly.

"It was not a complaint!" I retorted immediately. "Just... let's just forget about it, shall we?"

The Princess seemed to smile mockingly for a moment, then shook her head. "That much excitement was enough for today," she declared, pointing her leg towards the gate. "Get some rest, and then we'll talk during our next class."

Confused, I took a few steps back, with my head slightly bowed - considering my situation, I didn't want to overextend myself, so instead I took back some of the courtesies I had disregarded earlier - and then I bowed deeply and turned my back to my mentor.

I found her words rather strange. I thought about them the whole time I was walking home accompanied by a pair of palace guards. I would have felt better if my friends or even just Ambrosia waited for me, but presumably they were left with no choice. For example, I myself tried to turn towards my fillyfriend's tower on the way, but the shaft of a spear discreetly drove me back in the original direction. At least they didn't speak to me at then either, and even though it didn't help my sense of comfort that I got stared at because of my escort, the guards left me relatively alone, so I could calmly ponder what was going through the Princess's mind.

It was an impossible task for me to figure it out, as always. I could already learn how limited of the spectrum I could experience of Celestia's... you could say her entire being. To most, she was Permanence Incarnate, the Heart of Equestria, and the Eternal Splendor. Her mere presence radiated a certain confidence. It was as if she was the Sun herself, which she was able to control with her will. Whenever we looked up at the sky, we saw that it was there. And in the evening, we knew that the morning would soon come and it would be with us again.

But not many have paid attention to what the Sun was doing when it hides behind the clouds or sets below the horizon.

Even I couldn't really see into Celestia's background activities, even though she almost always let me be by her side when she was doing her own business. She never tried to shake me off if I felt like staying with her after our private lesson. True, this often meant that I was allowed to trot after her wherever she went, or if she was busy in the throne room, I could stand quietly by her side. On the other hoof, it rarely happened that I managed to put together who she was talking to on a particular occasion, or exactly what she was talking about. And many times, I either didn't have the opportunity to ask about it, or it would simply have felt impolite. And even if I did, Celestia preferred to answer in riddles. Those occasions were my "favourites", when she herself was busy with other things, and then suddenly a pony in armour or a suit appeared from somewhere and, ignoring everypony else, walked straight up to her and whispered something in her ear. She usually acknowledged the confidential information with a nod, or answered them in a completely nonsensical way, in a low voice, such as "Three will be enough" or "Try from a different direction!". It was impossible to decipher her...

But I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that Celestia was worried about me. I gave her a reason, that's for sure, but she was aware of my abilities, so I didn't understand what she was afraid of. And why does she want to... keep her eyes on me...? She must have had a good reason for asking such a thing, especially since I'm sure she was well aware that at the moment I'd prefer to hide even from her. Only partly because of the incident at night, more because I wanted to be alone with Ambrosia.

That's right, she even mentioned her... Maybe she had something to do with all of this? The Princess was at least broadly aware - although it was dangerous to underestimate how much she actually knew - of what was and is between us. And she obviously had to know what would happen if rumors about our relationship got to Ambrosia's father. Nothing good, that's for sure. However, several ponies could see us at the Gala, and what would rule out that some of them have Saddle-Arabian connections...?

But even so, Celestia must have known about it. She, on the other hoof, seemed to support us. She just asked us to be careful. Maybe she just brought this to my attention as a precaution? Would she like to train me to be alert so she doesn't have to hold my hoof all the time? She must have enough on her plate already; it wouldn't hurt if I didn't burden her with my nonsense, but instead I would be the one to take care of others. After all, this could have been one of her goals when she accepted me as her student, so that I would realize this...

Of course, I speculated too much again, which was good news from the point of view that I started to sober up. I also felt that I was getting more and more tired and lethargic - even though my head was almost buzzing inside - but somehow my sense of fear was yet to return. And that didn't change when we arrived in front of our house, so I blessed my luck that my parents were still working and missed my spectacular entrance. Turning back from the door, I politely thanked the guards for accompanying me and waved to them until they disappeared around the corner of the street. After that, just to be on the safe side, I waited a good quarter of an hour, during which I prepared clean clothes for myself for a few days, a toothbrush and a towel, looked out the window, and then headed straight for Ambrosia's tower with my packed saddlebags. On the way, I realized that I forgot to pack my pajamas, but in the end I shrugged it off. Does it matter between lovers? Ambrosia might even be happier that way...

* * *

In the end, the work turned out not to be as dire as we expected - we basically got jobs that we would have probably taken - or already taken previously - during the summer break. Princess Celestia was really merciful to us. She didn't even take away the possibility of us serving the sentence together. First, we had to help pack the goods at a pegasus airport for eight hours a day, but we were allowed to use magic, which made the whole process much easier, and the guards assigned to supervise us did not constantly watch us with prying eyes. After that, we were assigned to a large kitchen to peel vegetables and wash dishes.

Not much of note happened during those few days, except for Stella's weird accident during work. She thoroughly frightened us, as we had no idea what could be wrong with her. Until that everything went completely as usual, then suddenly we picked up on Lotus shouting. Of course, we immediately gathered around him, but what we saw made several of us almost sick. When Wish saw the blood covering the mare, she galloped off for help, retching slightly...

Stella sat on the floor with a thousand-mile stare; there were fresh cuts on her leg. Lotus gently shook her to see if he could bring her back to her senses, but it didn't seem like he succeeded. A few steps away were the tool that presumably caused the injuries: a regular kitchen knife, the edge of which was still dripping with reddish liquid.

"What happened?" I asked in horror.

"No idea!" gasped Lotus. "Can somepony stop it?"

None of us excelled in healing spells, and considering the growing pool of blood under the mare she would have needed immediate medical care. However, since help was still nowhere to be found, Jasper pulled some sterile bandages out of nowhere with the help of his horn, and he and Ambrosia tried to at least cover the wounds.

"Why am I not bleeding?" Stella asked in a voice that was lackluster even compared to her usual self.

"What are you talking about, honey?" Lotus desperately tried to turn the mare's head towards himself, but she seemed to have looked right through him. "Don't move, help is on the way!"

"Did you cut yourself, Stella?" Jasper shook his head.

"It must have been by accident..." Cavern muttered weakly. The sight of blood seemingly affected him the most.

"There were at least four wounds..." Jasper pointed out. "There is no such accident in the world."

"I'm not bleeding..." Stella stated again, her eyes becoming more and more cloudier.

"Don't talk, please!" Lotus whined softly. "Help is coming soon! Hold on, please!"

"Did she cut herself on purpose?" I asked, driven by a sudden idea. "Nopony else was around."

"Why would she do that?" snapped Lotus angrily.

"What kind of shit did you give her this time, bro?" Scorch said harshly.

Lotus's pupils suddenly narrowed, his face turned pale, and he shook his head, gaping silently. "Nothing!" he finally moaned when he found his voice. "Nothing, I promise! I'm not that stupid! I could never harm her!"

"Are you feeling sick, dear?" Stella asked quietly, finally looking at her stallion. "Your face looks so green..."

I also took a look at Lotus, but his head could only be described as pale blue since the blood had run out of it.

"Stella, please!" the stallion hugged the mare.

"Hug me, Lotus!" the girl muttered with her eyes rolling back in her head.

"I'm doing it..." Lotus whispered.

"Withdrawal symptoms?" Scorch continued to speculate.

"Shut up, you idiot!" Jasper even kicked out at the red stallion to give momentum to his words barely leaving him time to duck.

"Where is the injured?" somepony shouted from afar.

"Here!" I answered with the same volume.

Within a few seconds, the source of the sound arrived in the form of a robust, paramedic-looking pony.

"Let me get to her!" he snapped at us, and we immediately pulled aside. The stallion lifted Stella's eyelids, gently slapped her face, took a look at her injured leg, and then pulled her onto his back without further ado.

"We have to take her to the hospital..." Lotus muttered uncertainty. "Will she be alright, sir?"

"It doesn't look like she's lost too much blood, but we must hurry," answered the stallion, already trotting out.

* * *

By the next morning, there was already news about the mare. Lotus said before we could even start the day's work that he had been with her the whole time and she was feeling much better. Her wounds have been stitched up, but she will be kept under observation for a few more days to be safe. Lotus, as her "relative", was allowed to visit her after the shift, but we were asked to let the girl rest if possible. So we didn't get to visit Stella, and we accepted what her stallion told her about every single day. And he always reassured us that she was feeling better by the day and would be released soon.

However, before we could see Stella again, another strange incident happened. By then, we had already moved on from kitchen work to cleaning some of the Academy's less frequently used halls and rooms, but luckily, we were still able to stay together. However, one morning, just as we were gathering in front of the designated school building, Wish arrived wearing sunglasses. For a while we were just teasing how it didn't suit her, but when Scorch took it off her as a joke with a quick spell so he could try it on, we got to see the ugly shiner around her left eye. She could barely blink, but when we asked her how she managed to get it, she just giggled with a pained expression.

"But seriously, what happened?" I tried for the umpteenth time. "Did somepony hurt you?"

"Tartarus, no!" the girl squinted with a grin. "I was just being clumsy again. This heat is not helping..."

"How did ya manage to hit yer eye?" Jasper asked, gently brushing Wish's mane aside so he could get a better look.

"I took a close look at the corner of the table," the girl waved, closing her other eye to the stallion's touch. "We have a carpet, one corner of which always gets curled up. I've always been able to step over it for years. Well, not now..."

"Did you try to apply a cold pack?" Lotus interjected.

"Of course, but I couldn't come with a bag of frozen peas tied to my head..." laughed Wish.

"Ya poor thing!" Jasper lamented, continuing to ruffle her mane. "Is there somethin' in the air that everypony is getting sick right now?"

"Horseapples, I'm okay!" Wish snorted, but didn't pull away from the stallion. "I will feel perfectly fine if you finally return my sunglasses."

Reluctantly, Scorch complied with her request, and Wish covered her eyes with a measured, graceful gesture executed with much exaggerated elegance. And then she gently informed us that she would rather we drop her injury as a topic, because - as she said - there is no need to constantly rub it under her nose that only foals suffer such impossible accidents. Instead, she asked Cavern why he had been so quiet lately.

The stallion took the opportunity to tell us that Quickie - or Quicksilver Catalyst by her true name - has recently found him again and is constantly nagging him to get back together. I didn't care that much about that short relationship he had with the grey mare, but I had to pay attention to him a bit, and in the meantime, I thanked Celestia that a certain pegasus friend of mine didn't behave so childishly towards me. Now that Ambrosia and I had gotten along so well, I wanted nothing less than Hacky to reappear in my life.

However, my thoughts were not primarily occupied by this. This was the second unusual injury near me in a short time, so I didn't want to leave it at that. Especially since it happened to Wish. The mare had a tendency to hide her problems anyway. And I wasn't used to her just randomly bumping into things, being so clumsy. I had a feeling that somepony had hurt her, but she didn't dare to say it. And her parents have been suspicious to me for a long time that something was wrong with them. We were not allowed to meet them even once, nor to go near their house. Of course, since Wish asked for it herself, we respected it, but it was still strange... And if it turns out that any of them dared to raise a hoof on this poor, innocent girl, I'll make them regret it!

So I decided. I'm going to find out what happened to her whether she likes it or not. For once, I will secretly follow her home, and nopony can stop me! When Ambrosia and I got a little further away from the group, I brought up my idea to her. Fortunately, she had no objections to it, but she obliged me to hurry back. And I immediately agreed after she told me that she would be waiting for me with a surprise... It was a little confusing, as I thought about it, lately I have been at home - I mean with my parents - less and less and my nights have been spent practically without exception at my fillyfriend's. Nopony had a problem with this new arrangement. Sometimes the instinctive feeling that it was late and I should go home would still arise in me at night. At such times, the bargaining with Ambrosia always started... to get me to stay just another hour... just another half hour, just ten more minutes, and then somehow it always turned out to be so late anyway that it would have been rather impolite to go home. At this time, the "oldies" were already asleep, I told myself, but obviously the main deterrent was that I would have to give up the possibility of sleeping in the same bed with my mare. Which admittedly would have been a disproportionately large and rather unnecessary sacrifice. Anyway, my dad once remarked that I'm already an adult, and it doesn't hurt if I learn to live separately from them anyway, even if my mom had a hard time accepting the situation.

I was really grateful to fate for my parents. Sometimes they could get on my nerves, but when I needed their help, they always did their best. Despite this, they didn't cling to me, and even before I reached adulthood, they always made sure to leave me enough room. And that's why I couldn't even imagine what kind of parents Wish had...

I knew that the girl had always had a kind of fear of adults, which I assumed could be because of them. They never escorted her anywhere, Wish had to do everything herself. Somehow in spite of that it didn't seem like she had more freedom than me. Not always, but in some cases, she had to get home on time, and she strictly kept to this - or they made her keep to it. Sometimes she seemed sad for no reason, and then she refused to share her sorrow with us, just as she never talked about how things were going at home. However, as far as I can remember, there was no instance where there was any sign of her physically being hurt. In short, I felt it was time to look into a few things.

When we were finished with our assigned task for the day, Ambrosia and I accompanied Jasper and Wish to the dormitory as usual, and then we started with the mare back to the intersection, where we normally parted ways. There, we quickly said goodbye to each other, but Ambrosia and I walked very leisurely. I looked back at Wish many times, and as soon as I found that we were at a safe distance from each other, so that she wouldn't turn back to look at us even by accident, I pulled my fillyfriend behind a bush.

"Are you sure this is necessary?" Ambrosia pouted. "It didn't seem so bad..."

"If everything seems to be okay, at least I can come back to you that much sooner," I smiled.

"Alright then. Just make sure she doesn't teleport away from you!"

She was more right about that one than I'd like to admit. Although I could still see the girl as I peeked out from behind the bush, she was actually capable of making my big plan obsolete with a simple spell. So I quickly exchanged a kiss with Ambrosia, then crumbled into a fine powder and followed Wish. She didn't get far, and the wind wasn't blowing much, so it was quite easy to track her down. I tried to keep my distance from her and hovered about a floor above her, even though I was sure, in this form it was almost impossible to detect my presence. And Wish really didn't look to the right or to the left - especially not up - she just moved decisively forward.

A few streets later, after about a quarter of an hour, she stopped in front of a wooden fence. I didn't even understand what she was doing, because she didn't go to the gate, she just put her foot through the laths. And as I looked at the house that stood behind the fence, I would have been unable to associate it with the mare anyway, it was so huge and ostentatious. However, Wish didn't move, she just made a strange, chirping sound - as far as I could tell without physically existing ears.

Something was approaching from the other side. I felt it, but I didn't see it for some time. It didn't look big, but it was definitely not a pony.

"Well, hello, Shiver!" the mare cooed, stretching her hoof even more towards the garden. "Who's a good boy? Yes, you are!"

Now it wasn't hard to identify the purring sound that came in response, so I wasn't surprised by the tomcat trotting quickly towards the mare. The huge, shiny-furred cat sniffed and licked Wish's hoof, then even slowly rubbed against it.

"Had a nice day, didn’t we?" Wish kept talking to him. "Is this a good little kitten?"

She lowered her foot, and the cat meowed loudly, then, carefully prepared for the manoeuvre, jumped on it. They put their heads together through the fence, then the kitten jumped back to the ground and continued to cuddle with the mare. For a while they seemed to just enjoy each other's company, only I got bored watching them, but then Wish finally waved goodbye to the animal. And from here, the house, whose door the mare had actually entered, was not far away.

I was even more surprised by the appearance of the building than the previous one. What I found most peculiar about it was that it was completely average. The small courtyard in front of it was neatly kept, the walls were simply coloured and clean, and the windows were spacious and square. Nothing worth mentioning. Nothing that should have been kept a secret from us.

I waited for her to enter the door, and after she closed it behind her, I waited a few seconds and only then did I carefully slip in through the keyhole. In the meantime, I could already hear her saying hello to whom I assumed were her parents.

"Hello!"

"Hi!" came the answer in the voice of a mare, and after a while a stallion joined her.

They seemed completely ordinary, although they didn't exactly welcome Wish with bursting joy. By the time I made my way through the narrow gap, she was already in the living room - which by the way seemed quite a bit smaller than ours, although probably only because of its furnishings - and was looking at a rolled-up rug leaning against the wall.

"Oh! Did you pack it anyway?" Wish shouted to the other room.

"We'll buy another," replied the stallion's voice. "Check out the table while you're at it!"

The mare went a few steps away and stopped in front of the aforementioned piece of furniture. She just watched in silence for a few seconds, then raised her leg and touched the corner protector that was placed on it. She let out a low sigh, shook her head, and then turned her back on it with a grimace.

"You didn't need to bother with this," she shouted again. "If there's nothing to trip over, I won't hit myself there again."

A strange disappointment came over me. I arrived less than a minute ago and already received the answer to my question, which lined up with Wish's story. The place they lived in was perfectly average, and her parents seemed normal. Yet this whole matter did not let me rest. On one hoof, I didn't want to leave immediately, as if I had done my job well, if I had gathered my courage and "broke in" to them without their knowledge, and on the other hoof, I wanted to find out why I could never just come here if everything was really okay with them.

I wanted to have a look at Wish's parents. While the girl went to the room in the opposite direction and closed the door with a soft click, I floated over to where I guessed the two ponies were. I only found a completely ordinary shorter earth pony mare and a tall unicorn stallion. Wish's mother was peeling an apple in a large bowl, and her father was sitting at the desk with a pencil in his mouth, apparently deep in thought. They were so... mundane that I couldn't get over it. I watched them quietly and motionless for a while, but since they weren't doing anything worth mentioning, I headed towards Wish's room instead.

Inside, the sight that greeted me was finally not what I had expected. As humble a girl as I knew Wish to be, I was surprised by how cluttered her room was. It wasn't exactly a small room, but quite a large part of it was impassable due to the objects piled on the floor. Although the shelves were almost without exception full of all kinds of things, the mare apparently also found the carpet a suitable place for her stacked up books, or for her unused bedding. What immediately caught my eye were the huge stuffed animals that were scattered in different parts of the room; a life-sized dog figure, for example, was placed right on her bed.

After getting rid of her sunglasses, the mare was busy examining her injury in the mirror of her dressing table - the mere existence of which I found a little strange, since Wish was not usually wearing any makeup, at most very minimal one - so I took the opportunity, and I looked around the room more carefully. I found a few certificates hanging on her wall, which she obtained at the Academy, and among them hung a few photos from the class. On one of the shelves, which was noticeably sparser in terms of layout, there were a few more pictures of just the three of us: her, Jasper, and me. I also remembered that she even made us sign one of them, but I didn't feel like checking it now. It also had a couple of magical-looking doodads, but I couldn't even pay attention to them, because by the time I got there, Wish had finally stepped away from the mirror.

I watched curiously what she was going to do after that, but I froze in an instant, as she pulled off her skirt with one quick movement and threw it into one of the open closets with the help of her horn. In a rather unexpected and embarrassing way, I had to realize that Wish really couldn't see me... Suddenly I didn't even know what to do. I knew it was terribly rude of me not to retreat immediately, but something kept me there. If I had a tangible, physical body, I could at least turn away, but this way I couldn't completely push the visual stimuli out of my mind.

With a big sigh, Wish laid back on her bed, causing her blouse to crinkle up. She's wearing panties, I noted, not just a little embarrassed by my own train of thought and the fact that I'm still there, looking at her. The girl, on the other hoof, was apparently not bothered at all: she lightly waved her tail, and she floated a couple of small magnetic iron orbs to her, humming softly and clicking them together. She amused herself with this for a minute or two, but then she sighed again, put down her little toy, shook her head, and flopped on her back, showing even more of herself.

This time she only stayed like that for a very short time, then she pulled the big stuffed dog to herself and slid her other hoof down all the way to her underwear. I didn't even dare to think about what the buck is she doing, I was pulled up short. I never thought that one day I would see her like this.

The mare's hoof was already at the bow and she gently nudged her panties, but then she pulled back.

"It's red," she stated loudly.

I had no idea why she was saying that all of a sudden. And anyway... does she usually talk to herself...?

"I thought I would help a bit," she continued matter-of-factly. "Or are you no longer colour blind?"

I had this terrifying suspicion that Wish was talking to me. After all, she knew exactly that I don't see colours in this dispersed form...

"I know you're here!" the girl remarked with a playful smile, although her gaze wandered uncertaintyaround the room, as if she couldn't see where I was hiding. "I've seen you casting this spell, like, a million times, Thread..."

Did she know all along that I followed her? So why did she act like she didn't notice? And why did she undress...? Or was she just bluffing? If it was so, she would have to play this every single day for it to work...

"Aw, come on, I won't bite!" she rolled her eyes.

Either way, I'm only making a fool of myself if I try to hide any longer. I mustered up the courage to face her, though as my body sank to floor level, and regained its original shape, I had to realize some extremely unpleasant facts such as the fact that my heart was beating so hard I could almost feel it through my ribs. And in a few moments, my sweat damped my fur, which was not primarily due to the summer heat.

Wish's smile turned embarrassed as soon as she saw me, and she instinctively covered herself with the stuffed animal. Needless to say; I couldn't look at her like that anymore. Rather, I turned my head away and, looking in the mirror, I immediately realized how profusely I managed to blush.

"Hi..." I muttered.

"Well, hi..." she answered after a few seconds. But at least her voice didn't sound demanding. "So, as I said, it was red and lacy. Feel free to check it again if you don't believe me..."

I swallowed hard, but it was difficult to bring myself to turn towards her again. She, on the other hoof, was patient, so my curiosity soon overcame my embarrassment. Wish was still lying on her back, holding the plush dog to her chest with her front hooves. She closed her hind legs tightly, but pulled up her blouse, giving me an awkwardly perfect view of her hips and her slightly translucent underwear. Even if Wish hadn't been scrutinizing my face, I wouldn't have been able to stare for more than a few fleeting moments. As soon as I turned away, she adjusted her dress and changed her position, covering herself again. She turned to the other end of the bed and was now lying on her stomach looking into my eyes.

"Well, are you satisfied?" she asked in a voice that was meant to be confident, but was too timid for that. "Although I will note, it would have been easier for you to ask if you were so much interested. That I do wear your gift!" she added a little impatiently, probably seeing the incomprehension on my face.

I must admit, that would have been the last thing I thought of if she hadn't said it. My visit had nothing to do with anything like that, and it was all Jasper's idea anyway; I almost forgot about our little outing before the Gala. I didn't even know what to say about this whole situation.

"That's... not why you came here, huh?" Wish asked with some uncertainty in her voice, though still smiling indulgently.

I just shook my head.

"But you sneaked into my room..." she raised an eyebrow slightly over her undamaged eye. "And you waited for me to undress."

"Okay, first, I wasn't expecting that, and second, if you knew I was here, why did you do it?" I finally found my voice, although I couldn't sound much more confident than her either.

"Well first, because I, unlike you, am at home, so only you should be embarrassed," explained Wish, parodying my style. "By the way, I hate walking around in my own room in clothes, so I left these on only because you're here. Second, I thought you wouldn't leave me alone until you saw it with your own eyes, and I couldn't have stopped you if you really wanted to."

"You really think I'm so aggressive?" I asked.

"No," she giggled. "But I would have been curious as to how long you would have followed me if I didn't say anything. By the way, does your fillyfriend know that you are running after other mares?"

"Of course we discussed it," I switched to a more serious tone. "I was worried about you. I didn't want you to end up in the hospital like Stella."

"And what did you want to do about it, big guy?" Wish grinned more and more relieved, unlike me. "You can't be there all the time to catch me when I trip!"

"It was hard to believe that it really happened the way you told us..." I remarked.

"And you still don't believe me, do you?" she shook her head smiling. "But accidents happen sometimes. I think it's just the weather. A warm front, or what the heck, in addition to this heat. Don't you feel that you have become more tired these days?"

"Honestly, no," I replied. "Apparently, I'm not that sensitive to such things."

"Well, that could be the case..." Wish nodded.

Neither of us spoke for a while. Wish thoughtfully poked the edge of her bed with her hoof, and I sneaked a few glances at her flank, which was almost not covered at all by the underwear from behind, especially since the mare also threw her tail a little to one side. I didn't know exactly why I was looking there. I had a partner and was perfectly happy with my relationship, and Wish was my friend. Although I always found her cute, she didn't arouse any kind of desire or dirty thoughts in me, but somehow, I was still tempted by the rare opportunity to let my eyes wander over her body for a bit. Of course, the simplest explanation must have been that I'm a stallion, that's why I can't stop... I can't even say that despite my best efforts, since I was rather trying to be cunning so that she wouldn't notice if I sneaked a peek sometimes. Perhaps, knowing Wish, I wanted to take advantage of that, exceptionally, she opened up in front of me.

"Shall I get dressed?" she asked, as if she had guessed my thoughts. Or maybe I wasn't as cunning as I thought I was.

"No, you don't have to!" I replied, maybe a little too quickly. "I don't mind if you're like this..."

She closed her eyes and sighed heavily.

"That felt... nice..." she said softly.

I also felt a pleasant feeling that I could hear this from her, but at the same time I was a little startled. I didn't want her to think for a second that I felt anything but friendship for her. It should have been clear anyway, after all, I had Ambrosia, but the fact that Wish was behaving so strangely made me unsure again. We should avoid getting tangled up in some nasty misunderstanding...

"Look, I really didn't mean to peep at you!" I said after some time. "So I promise, it won't happen again."

Wish squinted at me for a while, then pulled her mouth into a sly smile. "You are always so... circumstantial, my friend," she concluded. "You don't have to explain; I know you so well. I'm glad if I'm not indifferent to you as a mare, but that obviously doesn't mean anything more. Not many ponies have looked at me the way you did today, so thank you for this little experience." She laughed merrily. "I can put it in the right place and it will stay between the two of us. And don't be afraid that I want anything more from you! I wouldn't try anything even if you didn't have a special somepony right now."

"Can I ask... is it because of Jasper?"

"We could say, although it's a bit more complicated," she smiled mysteriously.

"I have some spare time at the moment," I said cautiously. "As long as I don't bother you..."

"You never bother me!" she winked. "But I don't like that you are so tight. Sit down here next to me! Just watch out for Bogey!"

By way of explanation, she used her magic to lift the stuffed dog and lay it down on her outstretched hind legs. I hesitated a bit, then I climbed onto the bed next to her, although I didn't sit, but rather leaned on my side and rested my chin on my hoof so that we could maintain eye contact. She also turned towards me, essentially mirroring my body position. And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop myself from glancing at her hips while she was settling in this new position. Of course, I was again lucky enough to be caught by my momentary digression, but she didn't seem to really mind it aside from blushing a bit again.

"It's funny, but not even in my dreams..." she began, but then her face turned beet-red and she shook her head a little. "Whatever..."

I looked at her questioningly, but she just kept smiling shyly and flopped back her ears as she turned away a little. I didn't want to embarrass her even more, so instead I helped her change the topic, even though I was terribly curious about what she was about to say.

"So he's your dog?" I asked, poking at her hind legs.

"Uh-huh! You can pet him, just don't poke his nose, because he doesn't like that!"

It was funny how she talked about the plush as a living thing. I stretched out my hoof to reach for it, though I stopped for a moment when I realized that the stuffed animal was lying on top of the girl, so it could have been indirectly interpreted as petting her. So instead I only scratched the fur of the plushie very superficially.

"He likes you," Wish stated. "He growled at Jasper at first, but got a liking for him too now."

I imagined the girl hoofing the stuffed dog to the stallion, Jasper tries to pet it, but then suddenly recoils as the toy unexpectedly growls at him.

"Wait a minute!" I put two and two together as what the mare said actually meant. "Jasper has visited you?"

"Only once or twice," Wish flopped her ears a little.

I felt like I had been fooled, and it probably showed as she hung her head in remorse.

"Did I... miss something?" I asked, aiming for a neutral tone.

"Sorry..." she muttered quietly. "I should have said that you can also visit me sometimes..."

"Why, what has changed?" I asked in surprise.

"We grew up," she stated simply.

"And your parents prefer that you lock yourself in your room with grown-up stallions?"

"Eh, they don't care what I do at all," she shrugged. "That is, as long as I don't disturb them."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Exactly what I said."

Her cheerfulness seemed to have vanished, and she stared in front of her with a completely expressionless face. Her horn flared faintly, and her stuffed dog rose slowly, then dropped on her back; his nose almost reached her ear. "Come on, Bogey, bad doggie!" she laughed and shook herself so that the plushie would slide down on her.

"You're so cute," slipped out of my mouth. "It's rare to see you so cheerful."

"I'm glad you came," she replied, looking into my eyes again. "Even if I misunderstood your intentions."

"Wish..." I stroked the sheet in front of me. "Can I ask you something?"

"Fire away!"

"Are you and Jasper dating?"

"Honestly?" she asked back with a long sigh. "No. But I want to, and I feel like he does too. It's just... obviously I can't take the initiative..."

"Should I tell him?" I offered carefully.

"Holy Sweet Celestia, don't you dare!" the girl suddenly turned pale. "I promised that I wouldn't tell anypony about you being here either! Don't do this to me, please!"

"Hey, I'm just trying to help, okay?" I retorted immediately. "But you're right, this is your business."

"Thanks Thread!" She patted my shoulder, then sighed. "Anyway... how do you see it? Do you think he likes me a little?"

"It seemed to me that he hangs around you all the time," I replied thoughtfully. "And you're not making it hard for him..."

"Well... if it was up to me... Oh, don't give me that look, please!" Wish blinked shyly at me. "You hear me?"

I don't know exactly what kind of look I was giving her, but she got up and turned around, then fell on her stomach again and hid her head under her pillow. Of course, it didn't escape my attention that with this maneuver she left her rear uncovered again. After some deliberation, I took advantage of the situation and tugged very gently on the bow tied at the base of her tail.

"Okay, noted..." she muttered from the depths, but she only raised her tail a little at my teasing. "Even then, it would be stupid for me to discuss it with you if you were a mare, after all, we are talking about a mutual friend."

I sneaked another glance at the mare's flank, but so that she wouldn't accidentally notice it, I also turned towards the other end of the bed so that our heads were in line.

"I would say that we shouldn't make a big deal of it, but maybe you're right," I said thoughtfully. "If only so that we don't talk about him behind his back. It would also be a bit awkward to hear anything like that about him..."

Wish raised her head from the pillow and looked mischievously into my eyes. "Well..." she began, but then, raising her ears, she turned towards the door.

Somepony was fumbling about outside, which made me break a sweat in an instant. I couldn't imagine what would happen if Wish's parents "caught me" with their daughter. Especially since I stayed in their house not only uninvited, but completely secretly.

"You, Wish!" I whispered. "What if they open the door on us?"

"Well, my dear friend, that would be a historic moment!" she answered cheerfully, in a normal speaking tone. "Don't worry, I always have a soundproofing spell on my room! Also, I tend to lock the door. Well, it's not like they would come in anyway..."

"Interesting..."

"But staying on topic, can I also ask something?" she asked again bashfully with her ears down. "What do you use for... for... protection?"

"Nothing," I answered.

She opened her healthy eyes wide and stared at me.

"I really hope you're just pulling my tail!" she said unusually forcefully.

"Okay, I'll tell you, if you're so interested, that it was not needed yet," I reluctantly explained. "Nothing like that has happened between us yet."

If possible, Wish was now even more surprised than before.

"Well, I never would have guessed!" she shook her head in shock. "I was totally, like, you guys, you know... did it a long time ago...! Is there seriously a stud who can wait so long for a mare? Well, huge respect, then!"

I nodded with a half-hearted, not-so-sincere smile, while thinking about the evening of the Gala and about Hacky. I felt like Wish was giving me way more credit than I deserved.

"Don't be afraid, you'll get there with time!" she patted my shoulder sympathetically, misunderstanding my reaction. "But really do pay attention to this, so it doesn't become a problem! May I ask about your plans? For protection...?"

"Haven't actually talked about it..." I shook my head.

"Stella is taking pills, as far as I know," she continued, looking deeply into my eyes. "They've been using it for a couple of years now, and it looks like it's working well. But if you don't fancy that sort of thing, I know a pretty good spell."

"How do you know it's good, have you tried it?" I tried to tease, but she didn't react the way I expected her to.

"I've practiced a lot, but I'm yet to use it in practice. My father taught it when I was still in preschool. I've read about it since then, and it has a pretty good rating in scientific circles."

"Were you interested in such things so early on? I wondered.

"You can't prepare early enough," she said seriously. "I don't want to accidentally get pregnant..."

"You're being a bit too anxious about this, don't you think? Is that why you have such a hard time opening up to stallions?"

"Well... I don't want to fall in the same pit as my parents," she pulled her mouth into a bitter smile.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked when I processed her words a little.

"Have you seen them?" she asked with the same expression. "They really like to be left alone, in peace. You can imagine that the last thing they wanted or needed was a foal..."

"So... you were... unwanted?" I tried to put the picture together.

"Exactly!" she giggled. "The most surprising thing is that I am here. You know, a foal changes everything. And they didn't want change, but if such a misfortune had befallen them, they wouldn't have had the heart to get rid of me. I can be grateful that they kept me..."

I couldn't believe what she was saying. Do such ponies really exist? How was it possible to live like this, knowing this? Or how did she even find out? I had so many questions in my head, I didn't even know where to start. Or am I even doing the right thing by simply trying to pry into her past to satisfy my own curiosity, recalling such painful memories with her... After all, if I think about it carefully, would this also mean that her own parents don't love her?

"I think I've been putting off telling anypony for long enough," she finally continued. "I must admit, I wasn't even sure that anypony was interested at all. But if nopony else, you and Jasper deserved to know... if you want to, I mean."

"I'd be curious, but... I don't want to pry..."

"Come on, it's okay!" she waved a hoof cheerfully. "You can get used to it in a couple of years. If I'm not in their way, I hardly notice. You know, it's not very lucky to have foals for ponies who hate kids in general. Which I understand by the way; they can be quite annoying. They never shut up and they follow you everywhere until you finally deal with them. You have to feed them, buy them things, and you have to do everything for them, because they can't do anything by themselves. If they don't like something, they whine and throw tantrums. And now imagine a situation where you get married to the love of your life, and then another little resident sneaks in between you and does everything to prevent you from enjoying each other's company! Who wants that?"

"I never thought of that before..."

"Of course, because your parents love you!" she grinned. "They don't get irritated by the little ones. Don't take it personally, but you were very much a spoiled brat compared to me. I've been doing everything I can by myself for a long time. As soon as I was able, I had to buy my clothes too. Do you think they ever cooked anything specifically for me? Is it a problem if I hate what we have to eat? Either I made something else for myself, or I had to take it. That was the deal. They don't interfere in my affairs, if I want to put it nicely. The truth is, of course, they don't want to deal with me. They never wanted to."

"Horrible..." I remarked regretfully. "To be honest, I thought they were just very strict with you. Or that you need to save money, and that's why you're often so tied up."

"Oh, we have money, don't you worry!" she waved dismissingly. "I'll get as much of it as... as I get. I basically furnished this room. Okay, except for the bed and that one wardrobe. But do you think I ever got anything from them besides money?"

She talked about it so easily, even though I was sure it hurt her. If not now, then in the past.

"You made it very homely!" I tried to compliment. "Really nice to be here."

"Thanks." She looked around smiling. "I brought in the furniture as well!"

"Nopony helped?"

"My parents don't like strangers coming into our house," she shook her head. "Especially if they are foals. Only trouble with them."

"What can I say, it must have been difficult for you!" I grimaced sympathetically.

"Well, I wouldn't say it was easy," she smiled. "But it's not that bad. No matter how much they disliked it, they did raise me and turned me into something pony-like, didn't they? All in all, I think I'm happy. It could have been much, much worse. For example, they never hurt me! Once or twice I got how much better their lives would be without me, but that was it."

"You poor thing! If I had known..."

"Even then, you wouldn't have been able to do anything. You can't even now. But you don't have to. I am actually grateful to them, and to the coincidence that I exist at all..."

She herself didn't seem sad at all, but it was a terrible feeling for me to know what she had to go through. Why her, who was such an innocent, benevolent creature...? My best friend had such a terrible foalhood and I never even asked about it. But if I knew, I'm sure I'd have been much more understanding towards her. And I would have told the others not to tease her so much with all kinds of nonsense.

"Oh, don't give me this grievous face!" she patted my back.

I pulled her closer and hugged her gently. I stroked her mane as she closed her good eye.

"It was nice of you to hear me out," she said after a few minutes of silence, during which I tried to comb her mane with my hoof. She didn't even look at me, but she seemed to enjoy my touch, even though in this sense we only sought contact in rare cases. "I'm a little relieved that I could finally tell you. And thank you for always being there for me. You are a real good friend!"

I saw her smile, but her pillow seemed to be wet. I pushed my head to her and let her lean on me a little. She sniffed softly, but then continued in a clear voice. "You know, you are just as important to me. You and Jasper. Only you are always looking for reasons and solutions. And he... he can cheer me up at any time. I hope I'll be lucky enough one day..."

She didn't finish the sentence, but she didn't have to. I understood her better than I ever had in my life. I stayed there for a long time, stroking her back. I waited until she calmed down and her cheerfulness returned. We didn't talk much after that, but I promised that I would always be there for her and take care of her. It was getting dark by the time I started back to Ambrosia. I knew she wouldn't be happy about me coming home so late, but I had an idea of how I could make it up for her. And she had to understand that Wish was somepony in my life whom I will devote my time to whenever she needs me in the future...

Prologue

Metallic clattering of hooves reached my ears. I didn't even have to move, didn't even have to reach out to feel it was her. However, she wasn't alone. There was somepony... else with her.

Only perking my ears I waited there sitting silently. Seconds went by uncounted until the sounds of hoofsteps died out again. They both stood in front of me, but of course I could not see them. I felt as they watched me. They were much alike; I couldn’t believe it’s possible anypony to be so much like her.

But they didn't say a word so I waited patiently. I really didn't want to be impolite.

I felt she took a deep breath and finally opened her mouth to speak. I straightened myself up and turned to her with my whole being to memorize each of her words. But she wasn't talking to me. "I'll leave you two alone," she said in her always sweet, calm, mirthful voice.

I heared as they touched their horns together and then she flitted her long mane and turned to leave with slow, comfortable steps. Minutes flew by us in the muted darkness as we mutually observed each other with my guest. They didn't initiate, didn't even made the slightest move, so I did instead. Lighter than a sigh, I reached out and touched them, without ever moving from my place. Even though I could feel the disgusted shiver that ran through their body, they didn't pull away as I carefully prodded.

She was even more like her than I initially presumed. She was also a mare, that was pretty easy to find out, but a little smaller than her. Their most prominently similar features were obviously that her forehead was also adorned by a horn, and her wings, like a silky blanket of feathers, lightly covered her back. I found it strange, however, that their faces were almost identical. As if they were sisters...

I retreated. It was more than enough to feel her repugnance. Of course, I could understand. But she was still just staring silently at me, so I took in some air in my lungs to vibrate my vocal cords and form audible words towards her. What else could be the reason she stayed?

"I don't know who you are," I murmured hoarsely, like I had to stir up years of subsided dust. "And I don't care. But I can tell you who I am. I suppose you came here for this. It will be a long story, but if you get bored or you decide not to care anymore, you are free to leave me alone. I won't be offended. I won't go after you. I won't ask questions. And don't worry, I will not touch you again."

My 'chat partner' snorted condescendingly but otherwise made no commentary. Not that I minded. I always liked to tell stories. It was enough for me if she stayed and listened.

"It isn't easy, but I'll try to tell my tale so that you can understand me," I said finally. "And for this, I have to start from the beginning."

Ch 2 - As a rookie

I remember how worried my parents became when they heard where the freshpony camp shall take place. For some reason they believed it to be in the city and they plan to use the dormitory for hosting the camp. It would've made sense in some way as many of us came from outside of Canterlot, so this could've provided an opportunity for them to get know their new home. But the noname village - and by village, I mean homestead - they marked as destination on the eastern side of the range was an unknown territory for all of us. Maybe this was the point so it would be more exciting for us, canterlotians. Or they just wanted to give everypony the same experience that would, in theory, help us getting to know each other better.

I couldn't decide if i mind it or not. On one hoof I was still Mommy's little colt, even if i was a teenager. I didn't like getting far away from home and I never travelled alone to another city before with anypony else than my parents. Not that I had the affinity for it: I could find everything I ever needed in the capital... and those times I was wandering along the streets on my own and didn't need any more independency. On the other hoof I was very excited about the camp, if for no other reason, then because I had already two ponies there that I knew. Jasper and Wish were also allowed to come - just like anypony else by the way - so I didn't need to worry that I'll be left alone. Even if I wasn't particularly interested in the promised wooden cottages or in the few details they cared to share about the programs, it did give me a reason to remain optimistic.

I was also curious about the others. In the previous school I didn't really had friends, maybe just a few ponies I liked to spend time with. It was fun, playing games with them, we spent whole afternoons in the park or on the playgrounds - my favourite was the one next to the grocery because it had three double swing next to each other, so if there was no crowd, all of them could sit and I could push them with my magic... I always liked to brag about my abilities and also felt sick from the swinging. But I never was the center of attention in the group. We had too different interests for that. There was another unicorn in our team but he didn't possess the same dedication about learning spells as I did. If I was in the mood, I found that satisfactory to just levitate a leaf with my horn as the other foal were having a nice talk around me. Silence was not something I particularly liked and I wasn't a bother for them. And I gave up pretty fast on trying to bring up the things I was interested in. As I already kind of stuck out, the last thing I wanted to be shut out because of my love for magic. Most ponies found my ranting haughty, to be honest.

So I had big hopes about my new school, and my new classmates in particular. If I only take that as a basis that I could get along with two foals so different from me, I had a pretty good chance to meet ponies with the same interests in this 'elite' company. Maybe I won't even stick out with my tendency to use my magic so much, for even the most mundane of tasks.

As the time of the freshpony camp got closer, I became more and more excited. I even made my mom pack for me days before. And that wasn't enough in itself, I had to walk every day to the place of the entrance exam to have a good look at the bulletin board our dean mentioned. Usually, I had more control over myself but I'm sure, in that period I look as much ablaze as I felt. That emotionless expression that I perfected in my old school didn't work that time. It was useful when I tried to blend in a crowd and it worked almost every time. With my well-practiced bored face and almost colorless, beige fur, I could become practically invisible anywhere. Helped me a lot by repetitions, unless some felonious teacher caught the school diary in their hooves to read the death sentence from it directly.

The point is, I was unable to idly sit in one place, so I took it into serious consideration to try and find Wish's house or to help Jasper's family with moving their son to the dormitory. In the end I abandoned my plan although it was harder to convince myself than usual. Jasper's parents were just as weird and noisy as their son - no wonder where he inherited his personality from - and only one of him was more than enough, thank you very much. Just surviving that few minutes with them after the exam until the two families introduced themselves to each other was cringy enough. My parents didn't like folk like them, for example my mother was completely astonished by their extraordinary and no less ostentatious outfit of dolman. Luckily, she didn't say anything right away but she definitely didn't fail to explain to me at home that no pony in their right mind would put on something like that, and she really hopes that my new friend is smarter than his parents.

We didn't have the chance to meet Wish's relatives. Actually, even that didn't come to light where she lives in spite her mentioning that their house was near the domed building. That made it even more surprising for me that nopony bothered to wait for her, or at least come and pick her up after the exam. Well, she did mention that her parents were working right then, and she also politely refused when we offered to accompany her on the way home. Albeit I paid attention, I never ran into her on the streets by chance.

Next time I saw them was when my mother took me to the train station. At first, I was looking for Jasper and his family because they were impossible not to notice in the crowd. But as I didn't see hide or tail of them I asked for my mother's permission to scout between the groups standing on the platform. I didn't have any luck initially but as I began my second round, I discovered Wish. The little green mare was sitting between her two pony-sized suitcases, all of her own. She was resting her forelegs on one of them and wrapped her tail around the other, almost as if she was afraid that somepony would try to steal them from her.

I smiled as I recognized her and I started towards her. Before I could reach her, she turned around to face me. There was joy on her face and maybe a little relief, too. "Hi!" I greeted her happily. "What's up?"

"Hi!" she chirped happily, returning my gaze firmly. This time she didn't seem so embarrassed for which I was grateful - I wasn't in the mood for starting everything from the beginning with her. "I didn't know how much time will it take to get here, this is why I came so early."

"Why? When did you arrive, then?" I stepped beside her so she wouldn't have to break her neck looking at me. Watching the gathering ponies, I suspected that almost everypony got here by now.

"Maybe an hour ago," she replied, looking up at the sky in thought.

"Wow, that's cool!" I nodded in appreciation. "And nopony came with you this time either?"

"Canterlot isn't that big. I found my way around before, too," she shrugged, but she didn't pull her hooves away from her luggage for a second.

"And weren't they too heavy?" I pointed at the bags.

"No way!" she laughed merrily. "It's not much, it just takes up much space."

"By the way, have you seen Jasper?" I changed subject.

"I think he isn't here, yet."

"But you remember that way too, that he said he'll come, right?"

She nodded. Sighing heavily, I looked up at a clock nearby. We still had like a quarter left. And anyway, they surely won't get the train here in the last minute so that we must hurry with the boarding. "It would be nice to sit next to each other," I stated.

"Yeah, but I'm afraid the wagons will be packed," she grimaced. "We can't talk too much if there are no booths..."

"We'll reserve a seat for him. Or a bed, or whatever we'll have. But I don't think they would send one with sleeping wagons. According to the map, it should take only around an hour to arrive. Also, we could go to my mother as we wait, what do you think?" I had good intentions but I could clearly see it on her that she wasn't enthusiastic about the idea. "Or should I ask her to come here instead?" I offered.

"Eh, it's not important!" she smiled. "We shouldn't bother her for those few minutes..."

"Okay, then," I said, turning back to where I came from. "But I'll let her know where we are at least. Coming soon!"

This time it went slower to find my way through the tight lines of ponies, so by the time I got there the train was pulled onto the track. My mother was already searching for me with her eyes, but I managed to get to her before they opened the doors. Quickly, I picked up my saddlebags, which was resting on the ground, kissed goodbye to my mother and politely jostled my way up the car. The best way seemed to be to reserve the seats as soon as possible, and after that I could help Wish with her stuff.

Things worked pretty good as far as finding two unoccupied bed facing each other - not seats, but I didn't mind -, where I could spread out my luggage. When I trotted through two cars to find Wish, though, she was already climbing up the steps, floating her suitcases in front of her. I'd really like to offer my help but she clearly didn't need it and I didn't want to disturb her while casting. I knew it well, how much concentration was needed to levitate two items this big simultaneously from a pony of our age. She didn't seem to struggle, so I became a bit unsure if I underestimated her capabilities because of her looks. She was such a little mare, after all...

"I'm here, I can take one!" I said loudly when she got inside the train with all four legs.

The small filly looked at me from behind her bags and smiled at me with a slight blush. "I'm good, thanks," she said, almost apologizing for denying the offered help.

"You sure? Our places are not in this car." I saw her growing uncertainty so I added: "Don't worry, I didn't mean to take anything from you, just..."

"No, of course, here you go, thank you!" she said in quick succession, directing one of her bags towards me, and let me take over its levitation. I went ahead, leading her to the beds I reserved for us, but I almost dropped her suitcase when we got there. Where my saddlebags were just a few minutes before, now lied two plump colts. They wore loose casual clothes, which revealed their neglect of proper manners at least as much as the way my bag had been tossed to the other side, letting my stuff spill out - well, at least not onto the floor, but onto the bed. And they didn't even react when I cleared my throat loudly.

"I'm sorry, but I was here first," I said, confidently standing in front of them.

The two stallions stopped talking temporarily, eyed me suspiciously and the shorter, bright green coated one shrugged, clearly not caring the least. "You weren't here, 'twas just a bag lying around."

"Yes, because I was reserving it for my friends," I snorted more and more irritated. "It is customary to respect such things around here. And you're better off if you adapt..."

"Oh, come on!" the bigger one with red fur moaned. "Dude, we already had to get off another car because of this!"

"Yeah, and there is hardly any room left!" the other one joined. "Can we find a solution, somehow? How many more are you expecting?"

"Her," I pointed at Wish, who cautiously remained in the coverage provided by her massive luggage, "and another friend of mine, who didn't get here yet."

"Oh, then we can easily fit in!" lit up the green colt's face.

"It depends on how many bags Jasper carry with himself..."

"Come on!" waved the same foal. "There's still place for it under us, and there up it's still completely empty!" he pointed at the rack. "And the three of you can fit on that bed if you squeeze yourselves just a tiny bit, right?"

"How nice of you to think of it..." I snarled.

"Pretty please?" The green pony tried to give me an endearing grin. "We'll thank you later, somehow!"

"What do you say?" I looked back at Wish. "Do you mind?"

The little mare only blinked confusedly, sometimes at me, sometimes at the strangers, from which I concluded that she, for her part, would not complain about anything, even if she might be against the idea. There was nothing to do, so I nodded in agreement. If there are so many of us, sooner or later somepony would have tried anyway, so why not let these ones stay here?

"Thanks, dude! We won't forget!" smiled the red colt, and then they just continued their chat where they were left off. We tossed Wish's suitcases up onto the net that functioned as the rack and I stuffed my stuff back into my saddlebags and hid them under our bed. I made myself comfortable on it about a hoof length away from my friend. I leaned over the window to see Jasper as soon as he arrives, but all I saw was my mother, who waved cheerfully when she saw that I had found a place for myself. I waved back at her, then continued to scan the crowd.

I felt the mattress stir under me, but I didn't pay much attention to it for a while. Only when it started to become disturbing did I turn around to see what my companion was up to. For some reason, Wish was unable to sit still, as she was continuously adjusting her skirt. Now that it caught my attention, I noticed that it was not the same she wore for the exam, because no matter how she sat, it always wrinkled up. I probably wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't been messing around so much with it...

Of course, she 'caught' me watching her in the end, so she shyly hung her head and pulled her legs under herself, slid one front hoof into her lap, and braced herself with the other so she wouldn't lose her balance in this quite un-pony-like position. I just looked around the rest of the car, as if I was just turning her way by chance, then without any comment I turned back to the window. I quickly got over this little 'incident', because within minutes Jasper and his parents appeared on the platform. Luckily, he didn't bring too much stuff so we shouldn't have problem with space. As this crossed my mind, I already pushed up the window and waved and shouted to them, trying to catch their attention. He didn't disappoint me as he almost immediately noticed me, and never breaking eye contact he jumped in our car. I watched as his father threw his luggage after him, but after that I could already hear the colt's voice, so I turned my back to the glass.

"Hey! Ouch... sorry... sorry..!" we heard him as he made his way towards us through the piles of ponies. "Yeah, I know, who sits in the middle, comes in last in the theater, too... Hello, there!" he exclaimed as he got to our bed.

"Hiya!" I greeted him with my hoof held up high. He considered our situation, then he basically jumped between us on the matrass. Sighing heavily he levitated his bags in front of our legs effectively occupying all the remaining free space between the beds and he threw his hind legs up on them comfortably.

"I was pretty sluggish, huh?" he asked squinting jovially. "'course it was because of the bedtime story..."

"What, it was too long and you couldn't wake up in time?" I snickered.

"Nah, but we left the hotel a long time ago. And it was far, far away."

It took me a little while, but seeing his grin made me realise, he was trying to make a joke. Emphasis on 'trying'. "Oh, my sweet Celestia, that hurts..." I moaned. "You're way too much in your element, huh?"

"Yeah, pony on fire!" he agreed and smacked my leg and Wish's which he could barely reach. "Y'know when this pile of rubbish starts?"

"Getting impatient already? You just got here!"

"But now everypony who matters is here! You havin' fun over there?" he added, addressing his question to the colts sitting on the other side.

"I just told Dulci that we really ought to find another bed," the shorter, yellow-white maned foal replied surprisingly honestly. "You blabber so much, I can't even hear my own thoughts!"

"Why, can you hear somepony else's?" Jasper replied without hesitation.

"Yeah, yours I can hear a little bit too loud and clear..."

Jasper leaned forward a bit, closed his eyes, and shortly after he sat back with a smug expression. "Doubt it!"

"What?" the big red colt joined in.

"Just sayin' you can't hear my thoughts! Maybe if I say them out loud."

"You're tiresome, kiddo, y'hear?" the green one said.

"Not always!" Jasper objected. "I can be a pretty cool guy too! Name's Jasper, Jasper Volley."

"Dulcimer," the bigger one nodded. "And my pal here is Cavernwind."

I exchanged a quick glance in front of Jasper's nose with Wish, and in a silent agreement we skipped introducing ourselves. Unlike Jasper, I didn't like to advertise myself to all kinds of strangers. I didn't even want to reveal my name, but I was quite sure, this will be nothing more than a passing acquaintance.

I was wrong, although I obviously couldn't have known it at the time...

* * *

After the ones organizing the camp finally decided to start the engine, the travel itself didn't took too long. Despite Jasper's persuasion, I refused to join the conversation that was developing next to me - although I found that the first impression of the two strange stallions might have been somewhat deceiving, as they didn't seem like complete jerks anymore. Regardless, I occupied myself with scanning the landscape from the window as we sped through the hills and valleys at a fast pace. My excitement rose again when the train started with a small push, and I waved goodbye to my mother for the last time: I realized again that this was the first time I was really traveling alone. A thorough assessment of my surroundings gave me a sense of security, even though I was sure that no matter how hard I tried, I wouldn't be able to find my way home on hooves. It was stupid, of course, because it would obviously be easier to follow the tracks, and only the distance itself would be a problem. Well, yes... I couldn't wait to finally learn how to teleport...

Only a few times could I tear away my eyes from the view outside. I didn't want to be rude to my new friends, but I must admit, it was more frustrating to watch the trees just slide by out of the corner of my eye. Jasper got along well with our neighbors anyway, and Wish and I sometimes exchanged glances, and it seemed that she was satisfied with only smiling at each other at the moment. The conditions for the conversation were far from as ideal as I had originally imagined.

The next time I thought of something worth sharing was when a senior, seemingly almost adult aged stallion, equipped with a huge guitar-case crawled through the narrow corridor of the train, asking everypony if they were all right. I brought up to the group that since I got on the train I hadn't seen a single teacher and, in fact, neither did I before that. Jasper just shrugged, but the colt named Cavernwind was kind enough to explain that the freshpony camp was usually supervised by seniors only. I found it strange that they dare to entrust so much responsibility to young ponies, but the green stallion convinced me that this is the custom around here.

Then, of course, later on I could see for myself that it was true. After we arrived at the final station and unloaded our bags, the guitarist and a few of his fellows tried to herd us into one place. They were nowhere near as efficient at maintaining order as the adults that was immediately apparent. While we stood in line among the slightly ragged-looking wooden houses, the noise of the foals grew louder and louder, although at least they showed enough discipline not to wander off.

The three of us waited in silence until we got to the table set up in front of one of the cottages, where some sort of schedule was being prepared. It soon became clear what the game was about: each room was for five ponies, with two bunk beds and a single one. Considering the large number of attendances, the places had to be fully utilized. Hearing this, Jasper's eyes immediately lit up, and he explained how lucky we were to meet the two stallions on the train, since this way we could have a room to ourselves. But then came the surprise! The organizers insisted that mares and stallions should not be in the same room. This made Wish a bit melancholic and she immediately asked if she would still be allowed to come to our place. To everypony's reassurance, they gave an affirmative answer to this, although I was more surprised that we barely knew each other, yet she was so attached to us.

After a quick discussion, we teamed up with Cavernwind and Dulcimer, forming a team of four. However, we were in trouble with the fifth member. None of us had any more acquaintances here, so we agreed with the guy with the guitar that they would send somepony who couldn't fit in anywhere else. The others left to occupy our accommodation, but I stayed with Wish. I wanted to wait until they found a place for her too. I saw it on her face that she was a little surprised that I paid so much attention to her. She didn't say anything though, but I felt like that grateful look was worth it.

It seemed, a lonely colt was harder to find than a group needing additional members for my friend. Just while we were waiting there, five groups of two or three fillies showed up, and they managed to get almost all of them together. After that, another mare came separately, so now Wish also had a couple of roommates. True, she wasn't too thrilled with her situation: the trio she joined seemed like a rather closed company, ponies who have known each other for a long time, and the fifth appeared to be even more introverted than Wish at first glance. I myself received a few strange looks from them for daring to accompany my friend to their cottage, so after that I just went about my business.

It didn't take long to find our own little wooden house. It was near the camp's center, just the room was on the opposite side. This also made me realise that we'll have neighbours that will be separated from us only by a thin board wall. I hoped they won't make too much noise at night and I would be able to sleep. Come to think of it there was no guarantee that my own roommates will keep quiet... Actually, I was pretty sure that they want to stay up late. Foals, without adult supervision... I really didn't want to spoil anything good, I myself enjoyed that kind of thing sometimes, but even before I entered, I had already decided that I would make it clear to everypony as soon as possible: they must respect my need for sleep.

When I stepped in, the first thing I realised that I lost the opportunity to choose my bed. I could either sleep above Jasper or I could target the single bed, standing separately in the other corner. I wasn't in the mood for the latter option so after a brief hesitation I pulled off my saddlebags, dropped them by the wall, then I climbed up to my designated level. I quickly made my bed to avoid dealing with such irritating chores later, and after that I could now freely join the others.

By that time they almost finished unpacking... or at least they reached a point from where they just didn't seem to continue doing so. Jasper barely touched his stuff as he was rather busily whittling our bed's leg with a huge pocket knife. On the other side Caverwind and Dulcimer already provided us with a healthy mess: the former colt completely rummaged through one of his packages, probably looking for that tiny yellow bow tie, which he was now carefully arranging on himself - but of course he didn't bother to pack back up. And the latter was already eating his second oversized sandwich sitting on top of their bed - this was clearly visible from the papers and crumbs lying on the floor.

Carefully, not to break his concentration, I flopped down next to Jasper on the mattress. I leaned a little closer to see what he was doing but by the time I realized that he was painstakingly carving the initials of our name into the wood, he was already done. Well, it took a little longer to piece it together because he marked me with an L, even though everypony in the world called me Thread...

"I left some space for our lonely wolf," he turned to me, merrily swinging his knife around.

"Gosh! Don't poke my eyes out with your thingy...!" I leaned back a bit from the dangerously swishing blade. "Are we even allowed to bring stuff like this here? You could kill a pony with that!"

"Before ya soil yerself, I'll let ya know, it's just toothpick!" he said and with sleasy movement he threw and stuck the knife deep into the wooden floor. "I have ten times more badass stuff at home. If we're goin' campin', I needed at least a junk like this."

"I'm... not convinced..." I eyed the knife warily.

"Hey, y'hear, the dorm is cool as buck!" he changed topic suddenly. "'t has tons of hooks in it so we could all hang out there!"

I just swallowed silently the fresh and horrible joke and nodded, smiling. "As far as I know, it's not too far away from us, so I don't see any obstacle. Which one did they place you in?"

"In the SS. Y'know..." He paused for a moment, then pointed out the syllables with his hooves. "Star. Swirl."

"Please tell me that you won't be like this the whole week!" I sighed. He just stuck out his tongue at me.

There was a quiet knock on the door and we all fell silent. We thought, of course, it’s to be our fifth roommate. Might I say, we got pleasantly disappointed. "Come in!" Jasper hollered.

A cute little green nose appeared in the crack of the door, quickly followed by the little mare's whole body. As it seemed, Wish was not much for socialisation and she came to visit us already. She probably didn't spend more time at her lodge than she needed to change clothes: she was wearing a skirt just a half hoof longer than previously and she took out the bow from her tail. She also switched her blouse to a more comfortable and less white one, so I suspected that it was her 'touring gear'.

"Am I disturbing...?" she asked, carefully turning away her head from us.

"Nopony is changin', chill!" Jasper answered. "That's it, got bored of the girls?"

"Well..." she began, but clearly without the intent to elaborate.

"Come on then!" he waved her closer. "Yer always welcome here, right, boys?" The response was an approving, if not very enthusiastic, murmur. "Yo, I can write ya up here as a bonus member!" Jasper leaned forward, took out the knife from the floor and scratched the newest letter into the wood. "So, waccha sayin'?"

"Uh... thanks?" she said with a face that made it clear that to desecrate the furniture in this way would have amounted to sacrilege in her eyes.

"So, what now?" the colt asked, swinging his blade left and right again, but he saw my grimace, so he put it back instead in its case and slipped it under his pillow. "Y'all wanna have a trot around the camp or what?"

"Absolutely, but we should wait and see, who we get!" I replied.

"Ok on my part!" Jasper shrugged then flopped onto his back and tried to reach the bottom of my bed with his hindhooves. He didn't spend too much time with this silly game, instead he soon joined in my conversation with Wish. I asked the filly what her cutie mark is, because her clothes always kept it hidden. I must add, in my time, we had other customs than ponies has now. For example, showing up completely naked somewhere was considered terribly impolite at best, and the more decent ponies always left their hind side, and thus their cutie marks, covered in public places. And of course, as a result, it was considered really elegant - or cool among young ponies - to walk the streets dressed from head to hoof. However, how and why this changed later on, I will probably never find out...

"It's three arrow crossin' each other for me, ya see?" Jasper jumped and turned his flank to us before Wish could answer. "Got it on a target shootin' competition. With two bows at once! I held one with a hoof and the other with magic, got the picture?" He reared up on his hind legs - likely to illustrate the event - but with the same momentum he bumped his head in the wood, and he fell back between us with a loud yelp. For a few second he was just clutching his head, whimpering, but before we could properly react, he gritted his teeth and raised again. With closed eyes he pushed his head to the bed.

"What the hay are you doing?" I asked completely flabbergasted.

"Just showin' my head not to fear this stupid thingy," the answer came without a second thought. "So it'll know that it doesn't have to signal with pain and it'll go away faster."

I exchanged glances with Wish and with a silent agreement, we left it to that. "So, what is your cutie mark, then?" I turned to face her completely again.

She just tapped her hooves nervously in front of her mouth. "I... well... actually... Can we talk about anything else, maybe?"

"A cutie mark reveals a lot about its wearer, so if we don't know it, it'll be that much harder to get to know you."

"Eh, don't be so shy!" Jasper joined in, still leaning into the bottom of my bed. "Just pull up your skirt and that's it, you don't even have to say it! It's just us, huh?"

Wish just slid her hooves down her dress and gently pressed the fabric against her body. She mumbled something, but I couldn't catch a word of it. However, her face slowly reached the shade of red like one of the components of her mane...

"I'm sorry, what was that?" I leaned toward her a bit.

The little mare took such a deep breath that even her shoulders rose a bit from it, then she looked with a mournful expression into my eyes. "I... don't have one..."

Hah, and you're not alone - I thought to myself, but I didn't want to spoil the surprise. Instead, I leaned forward and tried my best to look like somepony who had absolutely no idea how much foals of our age used to tease - or bully - each other for things like that.

"Yeah. And?"

With burning ears, she pulled her neck in, but she didn't lower her eyes. "You asked, I answered," she replied just a tiny bit more confidently than previously. Must've been a relief that she dared to say it out loud, yet nopony laughed at her.

"Yeah, but you did it as if you were confessing murder." I raised an eyebrow to which she cracked a smile. "Nopony here's gonna mock you for this. Am I right, Jasper?"

"Never said better," he agreed eagerly, sinking back to all fours. "Nice, got my ears flattened..."

"What about you, guys?" I looked back to my other two roommates who were apparently trying to pretend being preoccupied, but were actually paying close attention to our little discussion.

"You can believe me when I say, I'm not interested the least in the little lady's ass," Dulcimer waved and sent an apologetic smile to Wish immediately afterwards. "Not that I have any problem with you, mind you... I'm from a musician family, so it's nothing new somepony getting their mark long after me."

"I don't think it matters too much either," Cavernwind joined in. "It can be neat to know yourself, but that's it. It's just for show, but we don't show it around much, so who cares?"

"I'm glad we agree upon this," I stated with a neutral expression. "Because, just so you know, I am a blank flank, too."

Not waiting for response, I just turned back to Wish with a satisfied smile. The surprise on her face was unforgettable. It was just like as if I had admitted that I'm her long lost twin brother. Well, truth to be told, it was hard to come by a pony without cutie mark even in my old school. There were maybe four or five of us that I knew of...

"Seriously?" she asked with wide eyes.

"Should I show you?" I winked coyly.

"Oh, you don't have to!" she snickered and lifted a hoof as if she was about to poke me but she changed her mind.

We didn't have much time to talk after that because within a few minutes our last roommate arrived. To be exact, 'burst in' would describe better what he did, when he kicked in our door with a huge bang. With his very first appearance, he managed to destroy my preconceived sympathy for him, and I saw that the others had a similar attitude towards the colt. And looking at him didn't help matters much either. Burning red fur, disheveled black mane, torn crimson cloak, steel hoofguards... In other words, he looked like exactly the kind of pony I couldn't stand being around even in the short term. The organizers either 'loved' us very much, or they simply couldn't slip him in anywhere else...

"Hi there, bro! 'Sup?" Jasper shouted from beside me.

"I'm nopony's brother" he stated with a palpable air of superiority as he stepped in. He looked around all of us scornfully until Wish caught his eye. "What's a girl doing here?"

"She's Wish, my best friend!" Jasper hugged the filly as if he didn't even notice the offending tone. Maybe it was for the best that he answered because I couldn't get myself to act so kindly. Even if it would have been a surefire way to get an enemy... with whom I'd still had to stay in one place for a full week.

"Cool..." the red colt grimaced. He looked around in the room, stopping by the sole bed. "That's mine."

It was not a question and it didn't reflect recognition either. It was a statement so natural as if fate itself decided that he will sleep there, separated from all of us.

"Hello to you, by the way..." Cavernwind piped in from behind me as the new boy put down his saddlebags next to his newfound resting place and thrown up his cloak on the hanger, showing us his bizarre cutie mark of a skull. He completely ignored the comment, he just climbed up his bed and flattening his ears, he turned to face the wall.

"Now that we got over the introductions and this extremely... constructive conversation, I think we can go for a walk," I said loudly, but the real target of the comment didn't budge.

"Well said, mate!" Jasper was already on all fours. Wish also got up but before we could depart, Cavernwind and Dulcimer joined us, too.

"Is it okay if we go with you?" the green colt asked hopefully, nodding unmistakably towards our newest roommate. I nodded. It wouldn't feel right to leave somepony alone with this terribly dark looking pony.

* * *

The four of us had a stroll around the entire area of the camp, which consisted of a smaller part of surveying which buildings - washroom, kitchen - we could find, and a larger part of admiring nature. We were on the edge of a forest, separated from it only by a wooden fence that was designed to be easily jumped over, which was a serious novelty for me as a city pony. Obviously it was stupid, but as the aroma of fresh, living plants wafted through me, I could almost sense the call of the wild. Even alone, I would have gladly made a short trip to the shady forest, even though I was a homebody as default.

All in all, I loved the place, even though we weren't here for more than an hour. It was as if even the grass was greener here, I had to restrain myself not to bite into it every step of the way. Especially since I felt like I'll regret it forever if I don't try it, and when Jasper and I went around one of the wooden houses, I pretended to find something interesting on the ground and sneaked a taste of the crisp, juicy leaves. From then on, I really needed all my willpower to control myself. It's a good thing that it wasn't just my pride that held me back, but also that I was thoroughly taught at home that I shouldn't suddenly eat a lot of wet grass at the same time, because I could get bloated. And of course, I also expected the camp kitchen to serve edible food.

We wandered around until lunch time, then we joined the impatient army of foals. At first, I was happy to get my hooves on the large cucumber sandwich, which was given to me, and I devoured it in seconds, but soon after I had to realize that there would be neither second course, nor more of the first... And it certainly didn't cheer me up at first when they revealed the reason behind the poor menu.

As it turned out, they wanted to make us do some kind of team-building training, which consisted of the colts having to carry wood, branches, and twigs from the nearby forest for the campfire, while the fillies peeled and sliced vegetables for dinner, which, by the way, will practically be our reward if we complete the task. Then I thought I realized why the freshpony camp was free, and I found it outrageous that they wanted to save on just such things. And I wasn't alone in this. Many grumbled, and there was even one who threatened to complain about the organizers to Princess Celestia herself, but they were apparently not impressed in the least.

"Kiddos, the train is already gone" said the stallion with the guitar, who very much seemed to play the role of the boss, sitting comfortably on a stump. He was in the process of tuning his instrument and gently plucked the strings with his hooves. "I don't care what you do, but I would start working if I were you. We have a pallet of delicious vegetables and a pile of special spices; we could whip up a very mouth-watering soup if you do well! It will be fun, believe me!"

Reluctantly, we had to part with Wish again and ventured into forest with my roommates. Yes, I was attracted to the idea of going into the thick of the trees, but that was not exactly how I imagined it. It didn't even take a quarter of an hour, and all of us were dirty up to our necks - I was afraid in advance of what my mom would say if she saw my clothes - and our manes were also covered in twigs. I myself tripped several times in the loose undergrowth, and the others had a good laugh when once, trying to free my hooves, I fell into one of the large bushes. We were thoroughly tired, as we collected a sufficiently large pieces of wood, carried on our backs, with our magic or in our hooves. Afterwards, however, I must give it to them that we were able to sit down in front of our finished work with the joy of a job well done. In the end, I had to admit, it all made sense after all: we could do something together that was both challenging and useful. In some ways, we all have already become closer to each other as a team.

On top of everything, the deserved praise was not left out when Rasgueado - I heard several times when other seniors called the guy with the guitar that way - inspected the piles that we gathered in multiple places of the camp. Together with the other organizers he rearranged everything, forming two large stacks of them. They said that we even over-achieved the goal, which will come in handy, since we'll have materials ready for the fire for the next few days. And they didn't make us wait any longer: they immediately lit a bonfire under the huge cauldron and threw the ingredients into it, in spite of that it hadn't started to get dark. Soup takes time, right?

And what was even better than the promise of delicious food was that Wish could join us again. She wasn't nearly as dirty and exhausted as we were, but she chuckled at us when she saw us.

We snuggled up by the warmth of the fire and listened to what the guitarist played for us. He used quite a strange technique for making music, I've never seen anything like it before. He used both his hooves and his magic to play the strings, coaxing out of them something very special, strumming sounds. It caused a bit of an echo, as if he had plucked with several feet at once, although to be honest, I didn't understand it, and I haven't taken the trouble to ask about it since. Right then and there, I was only enjoying some very atmospheric music, and this feeling only intensified when the stallion started humming along with a slick expression on his face.

The foals around me burst into cheers as they recognized the tunes of the famous hit. It was interesting to hear it in such a rendition, I didn't even recognize it myself until the others started singing the lyrics... a bit falsely of course. After that, I joined them enthusiastically, although I tried to hide my disastrous singing voice in the chorus. And when we got to the end of the song, Rasgueado slyly asked what other songs we knew... and from then on there was no stopping... Famous songs came one after another, and as some of the other seniors joined in the music, we slowly even forgot about how hungry we were, so it was a particularly pleasant surprise when our dinner was ready.

In retrospect, it is difficult to judge whether it was our empty stomachs, our fatigue, or actually the skill of our cooks, but the soup was as good as it has ever been. It is certain, however, that despite the initial difficulties, our spirits soared.

As soon as we filled our bellies, our leader got his guitar again, but this time he taught us new camp songs until the sun went down. After that, however, the time for the indispensable properties of the campsites came: the horror stories. A dark gray mare with almost luminous blue eyes stepped out somewhere from the shadows and in her mysteriously raspy voice she told the story of the archaeologists trapped in the cursed pyramids of al-Manesura. She was quite a storyteller, I say; Jasper and Wish were already gnawing their hooves next to me even when nothing out of the ordinary had happened in the story, yet. It didn't have that effect on me but only because I've already heard the whole thing - admittedly, in a slightly different version - at least twice. Regardless, I also got chills when she got to the part where the unsuspecting ponies woke up the mummy...

The story had its effect as the foals simultaneously yelped in dismay as the characters in the story tried to get through the tricky and treacherous traps - with little success. The gray mare presciently skipped over the bloodier parts or shrouded them in sufficient balladic obscurity, but it still turned out to be terrifying enough. At least that's what I thought. However, when she got to the end, in the silence somewhere in the back rows, somepony laughed.

"Well, well, well!" the grey mare giggled in a strange display of cheerfulness. "Pray tell, which part you found so funny!"

"That was nothing, a sack full of horseapples!" a suspiciously familiar voice shouted back. "You know nothing about fear!"

The mare didn't answer right away, but then her expression turned into a playful grin. "Very well, your challenge is accepted! Come here, my little friend and tell your scary story, then!"

I thought the colt would lose his courage and he won't dare to stand up to so many ponies. But I had to admit, I underestimated him. The others gave way to him, and the red stallion - in whom I recognized now the fifth resident of our room - entered the circle of light of the fire and then slowly turned to face us. The gray mare gave him her place with a polite nod, and the stallion cleared his throat. He was clearly not at all flustered by having to speak in front of such a large crowd.

"The archeologists of al-Manesura were stupid, they looked for trouble for themselves" he began with a mysterious voice, playing quite skillfully compared to how much younger and more inexperienced he must have been than the previous story-teller. "But what do you do when Death comes for you personally?" The black-maned foal in the rugged cloak left the question hanging for a bit, looking around us grimly.

"There are many stories about the Headless Horse, but none of them come close to the truth. Most ponies think that the whole thing is nothing more than a legend, a fairy tale. However, those who survived the encounter with him can attest to his existence. Serious, scientific books confirm the existence of ghosts, which is why even great wizards often believe that the Headless Horse comes from the spiritual plane. They are very wrong! He is a fairy!"

A few of us giggled, and to be honest it took an effort from me to keep myself doing the same. But the colt in the center could keep a straight face. "That's right, he's a fairy..." he continued in a grave voice like somepony who knows exactly what he's talking about. "A dark, fallen, corrupted fairy from the depth of Tartarus. Princess Celestia casted him there a long time ago for the sins he committed, but his shadow, his soul comes out haunting at nights because an evil like this cannot be contained. Did any of you ever tried it? Try to ask the Princess about the Headless Horse? They say if somepony is brave enough to say his name in front of her, you can see the terror in her eyes, just for a moment. Because he was a foe she could never defeat completely..."

"There are many ways for murder. You can kill with traps, poisons and curses, as the ancients did in that pyramid. You can kill with or without a weapon. But the method of the Headless Horse is very different! It doesn't make any noise. It leaves no trace. You can't prepare for it. And you can't defend against it either." The stallion paused again, letting his words settle, then took a deep breath and continued with determination.

"It was a dark night... just like this one. Seven young ponies and one adult went camping in a dense, dark forest... It seemed like fun at first. They gathered wood, lit a fire, ate the potato stew they had cooked, and then they talked happily for a long time. One of the foals even brought his fillyfriend, and they cuddled up lovingly watching the dancing flames. All was calm and peaceful until..."

The fire popped loudly and I winced involuntarily. Somepony grabbed my leg, though I wasn't particularly happy when I saw it was Jasper. When he realised what he was doing he immediately let go, of course, although it looked more like he practically pushed my hoof aside, as if it was my fault, that he was clinging to me.

"Yes... that was a moment, precisely like this one," the red colt whispered ominously. "You all know it; you must have had a chance to encounter it. When you are talking calmly and cheerfully, and yet everypony fall silent at the same time. But after that, nothing continued as you might think! At first, they didn't even realize what had happened. The howl of a coyote pierced the night, and they were listening to that. The stallion who brought his fillyfriend wanted to ask her if she heard it too. But when he turned around, he only noticed that it wasn't his mare supporting his side, but only a piece of wood. He didn't even understand how it could happen, he was firmly convinced that his beloved was lying next to him. But as he asked the others if they had seen the filly, nopony could give him a meaningful answer. There were those who claimed that the mare might have gone for a walk. One of them said that he also remembered that they were lying next to each other the moment before. What was the strangest thing, several ponies remembered that way that the mare didn't even come with them in the first place!"

"The foal insisted that the mare was indeed there with him and persuaded the group until their leader agreed to go find her. They split into two teams and merged into the dense, dark forest. They called her name, flashed their magic lanterns, but got no response. They were just far enough away from each other and from the camp that they could not lose sight of the lights. And even though they couldn't find the mare, their strategy seemed to be efficient, at least for a while."

The red colt paused again as he picked up a stick from the ground. He closed his eyes and pulled it in front of his nose, whispering silently. His horn glowed for a moment, and a small, shiny sphere, a dancing tongue of cold flame came off of it and floated to the tip of the stick, clinging firmly to it. "And then, the voices died out. The colt's team that had the adult in it, noticed it quickly. At first, they thought, the other group has found something. So they trotted towards the light." The colt sent the stick flying into the air and as it spun, it dropped and stuck into the ground with its glowing end up.

"When they got there, they found only a lantern, swinging on the branch of a fallen tree. Just like what their peers had. Just like what they carried with themselves. But there was no sign of their friends. They yelled to them too. They asked their friends not to play such a wicked joke on them. But only the increasingly chilly whistling of the wind answered." Falling silent again, he slowly walked to the stick stuck to the ground, and without ever taking his eyes off it, he walked around it, then finally stopped and leaned very close to it and rested one of his hooves on it. The light of the cold flame danced on his face. "They didn't want to give up. They shouted restlessly to see if anypony could hear them."

He took a deep breath as if he wanted to continue the story, but instead he just blew, extinguishing the dancing flame. Now both of my companions were leaning against my side, and I just took a big gulp and tried to act like I wasn't affected at all.

"It took only a single gust of wind to snuff out the lights of the lanterns" said the red colt darkly. "A gust of wind, and a blood-curdling, ghostly whinny that it brought with it. Needless to say, the ponies didn't need more, they immediately ran headlong back to the campfire, to the warm flames that gave the illusion of safety. Four started, but only three reached the camp. They couldn't decide, they didn't even understand where their other companion could have gone, but they couldn't think about it for long. Because the forest was no longer quiet! A low scraping and rustling filtered towards them even through the howling of the wind, as if something at least the size of a pony was prowling the field, waiting for the right moment to pounce on them."

"Then something happened that nopony expected. There were only three of them left: the colt, whose fillyfriend had disappeared, the adult who looked after them, and one more stallion besides them. But suddenly, as if an invisible force was pulling him in that direction, that stallion started slowly, stumbling towards the trees. His eyes went glassy, as if hypnotized, and he just kept going and going, straight to where the terrifying rattle was coming from. The camp leader immediately jumped in front of him, screaming desperately at him, but he didn't even budge. Even that didn't stop him when the adult pony latched onto one of his hind legs. He slowed down a bit, but he still dragged the stallion one and a half times his size behind him."

"When they had almost reached the line of the trees, the camp leader realized that he would not be able to stop him. He was forced to let go and gallop back, scraping the ground, before he was dragged in, too, by his companion, straight to their mysterious attacker. And then... everything went silent. The wind stopped too, but even the rustling of the leaves died away, as if that thing over there had frozen in its motion. The two ponies waited with bated breath to see what would happen, but they didn't hear a single voice. Then the fire began to hiss softly, as if someone had sprinkled drops of water on it from above. There was a soft tapping of hooves, and the two ponies watched with bated breath as the distorted, dark figure was getting closer and closer beyond the slowly collapsing circle of light around the campfire."

"And then they saw it!" he suddenly raised his voice. Four hooves locked around my neck at the same time, as my friends clung to me, but I couldn't pay much attention to them, I was too engrossed in the horror story. "It was the Headless Horse, right in front of them! They had no other chance, they both jumped into a mad gallop, trying to get away from the otherworldly monster. They ran and ran, right next to each other, jumping over the fallen trees and brambles they were walking through on their way here. Behind them they heard the inexorable sounds of the wild gallop: it was not so easy to shake off their pursuer!"

"When the rustling of the leaves behind them finally stopped, they gasped for air and stopped to rest. The colt was already so tired, he could barely move his muscles. Helplessly, on the verge of losing consciousness, he lay on the ground, panting heavily. He heard the adult, who happened to be his best friend's father, walk up to him and felt him put his hoof on his back. He was still trying to rest a little with his eyes closed, then he struggled to get up on all fours. But as he slowly looked up, he saw not who he expected. The owner of the gray hooves was not his friend's father, but the Headless Horse!"

"He used every last bit of his strength to escape from the beast. He couldn't have guessed how far he could gallop, but by the end he thought he was going to spit out his lungs. And yet... he finally got home!" The colt lowered his head, pulled the branch out of the ground, and slowly swayed it on his hoof. I breathed a sigh of relief that, overall, the story turned out well.

They were already whispering here and there, probably starting to discuss the story, but our black-maned storyteller suddenly raised his stick and poked it towards us. "He thought he could get away with it!" he shouted, drowning out everypony's words. "But if the Headless Horse sets his eyes on somepony, there is no escape! The stallion ran home and collapsed on the doorstep. His parents were at home, so they brought him in, but they couldn't ask him exactly what happened, he was so exhausted and tormented. When they took him up to his room, he slept for three days straight. But when he woke up and his thoughts cleared, the first thing he has done was to go to his window. He looked out into the bright morning. His eyes swept over the beautifully manicured lawn, their well-kept garden and the hedge. He was looking for only one thing. He was almost relieved that he hadn't found him, when his eyes fell on a motionless figure with a flowing mane standing outside their gate. Because it was him, he recognized him immediately! The Headless Horse has come for him!"

"Terrified, he backed away from the window, calling out for his parents. They quickly came to his aid and asked him what had happened. When the foal mentioned the Headless Horse, they just looked at each other in disbelief. They tried to reassure him that such things do not exist, but the foal did not budge. At this his father went out into the garden, despite all protests and begging, to prove his point. And indeed, nothing happened. Then, for a short time, the foal believed that it was really just his imagination playing with him. However, when he went back up to his room, the Headless Horse was standing there again, as if waiting for him, mocking him for trying to avoid his fate."

"After that, the foal had to tell many, many times what happened to the other members of his group who disappeared in the forest that night. Almost nopony believed him. And none of those who were there did ever come back. The colt, on the other hoof, was haunted by the Headless Horse until the end of his life. It was as if he was always there behind him, but when he turned around, he could just see a shadow slip out of the corner of his eye. But if he was inside any building... and looked out the window... the Headless Horse was there, waiting for him. And nopony else could see him but himself. Yet he always, always felt that he was there."

Standing on his hind legs, the red colt reared up a little from the ground and began poking his hoof with the piece of branch. For a few seconds, the camp was silent, only the fire crackled softly. I felt an irresistible urge to check if my friends were still there. I was somewhat relieved that the two ponies clinging to me were still the same living, breathing creatures, and neither of them had been replaced by a piece of wood...

"The story is not so interesting from here on, but I can tell it for the sake of completeness," the foal finally said in a lighter tone. "The colt was hospitalized a few months after he returned home because he had a nervous breakdown. He was put under forced medical treatment and for a couple of weeks he was given sedatives so strong they would knock out a dragon. After that, they tried to reduce the doses, but the result was only that as soon as he regained consciousness, he hanged himself with an infusion set. His best friend found him when he went to visit him. The colt has since been buried, his parents have mourned him, and his best friend, whose father was last seen when he went camping with a couple of teenagers in a dense, dark forest, recently enrolled at the Canterlot Academy, and is currently in a freshpony camp, listening to all kinds of bullshit horror stories..."

Ch 3 - Our new, second home

I remember we got some time after freshpony camp to relax. It was, in fact, justified because even if the anointed dust catchers like me enjoyed the regular, long hikes, muscle fever quickly caught up with us. But at the camp, they had literally every program possible! We went up the mountain and down the valley, all around the whole area. I'm a bit unfamiliar in that region, but I can confidently claim we visited all the springs, which had about the same effect on me as the fresh green grass. Even though my throat was burning, I couldn't stop myself from drinking from all of them - and in return, during the last two days of the camp, I could hardly be persuaded to speak, I became so hoarse.

It didn't detract much from the enjoyment value of the whole thing; anyway, there were so much to do, I didn't have time to properly take care of myself. To be honest, we didn't have that much opportunity to get to know each other, the organizers have come up with so many activities for us to participate. In addition to the fine arts occupations and various competitions, to my greatest delight, magic soon came up as a topic. On the second day, we already got our first guest, in the person of a teacher from our new school, and he gave us a couple of hours of interactive lecture on concentration of magical power. Wish, Jasper and I listened to the optional education from the front row and participated in the tasks, even though I actually either already knew them or they weren't challenging. I would have appreciated it better if we could actually cast spells, but thanks to the long explanation, I believed that it makes sense to mess around with something like this. I eagerly balanced the practice pebble on the tip of my horn, I did my best to paint the most orderly spiral line possible on the sheet of paper placed in front of me with the brush in my mouth... and with my tongue extended and squinting hardly, I carried an egg together with Jasper, using only our noses.

They gave us a few concentration exercises like these to practice in our spare time. And even though there were things like those used to train foals, I promised to myself that I would do them all. As they said, if we get the right foundations, our work will be much easier later on. Of course, my enthusiasm waned pretty quickly, and when I got to that point, I preferred to practice the spells I already knew.

On the other days, our invited teachers gave us presentations. I wasn't so impressed when the alchemists came with their vials and flasks, and the telescopes of the astrologers didn't really stick with me either, but I watched them dutifully, and what's more, I even tried out their tools. On the other hoof, when the ponies of the Department of Complex Arcane Sciences arrived, I had to steel myself so that I could sit still. True to their name, they presented us with terribly complex and versatile spells, and I fell from one amazement to another. On a theoretical level, I knew it was possible, but I was speechless when, right in front of my eyes, our instructor fabricated a perfectly functioning boat from a small ball of dirt step by step. Mass, material, and shape changed at the same time, but the mare just wiped her forehead, then continued the explanation as if nothing extraordinary happened before our eyes.

We were allowed to see a lot of magic that I could only read about in books before. The most amazing thing for me was when one of the unicorns was able to walk through a half-magical, half-physical wall without teleporting. They said that this can also be learned, in other words we can even exist without a material form for a short time - although the procedure can consume a tremendous amount of energy and is also fraught with danger. However, the highlight of the performance was when Mr. Poltergeist paid us a visit on the penultimate day. And he showed me a new level of magic that was unimaginable to me before.

The red stallion arrived to us when the first stars appeared in the sky. He stood in front of the campfire and asked who wanted to join him on a wonderful journey. I don't even know if there was anypony who could say no to the offer; I immediately jumped there and settled on the ground, curiously waiting for the continuation. As soon as we had gathered, the stallion begun with his enchantment with a brightly shining horn and pulled us out of the fabric of reality.

First, he took us up into the outer space so that we could admire the planets, stars and other extraordinary beauties of the cosmos up close. Then we descended back to our own world. In amazing detail, from the polar ice caps to the huge deserts on the equator, from the depths of the oceans to the highest mountain peaks, we have travelled through everything. We galloped together with the zebras of the southern regions, flew together with the griffins of the east, swam together with the seaponies of the oceans... Even since then, I can't find words to describe all the experiences we had. And that was just the beginning!

The world turned upside down and we found ourselves in a completely unfamiliar environment. A whole army of ponies stood around us, in armour and weapons. With their bows drawn and stretched, they watched the huge water spread out in front of us and the coal-black sailboats that were fast approaching on the waves. An earth pony with thick fur and a scarred face howled near us. A thousand strings swung, and the arrows whizzed towards the ships like an ominous, dark cloud. I felt the tingle of magic, which within moments became a vibration, and the arrows caught fire in the air, and upon impact turned both canvas and wood into a swirling conflagration.

It dawned on me that I had read about this long-ago battle from the legends of early Equestria, but before I could think about who the scarred hero who led the ponies was, everything changed again. We were standing in a vast meadow covered with flowers, and in the distance could be seen the proud castle of Canterlot. Birds chirped and insects buzzed around us in the summer heat, but despite the clear sky, a huge shadow suddenly fell upon us, and everything immediately fell silent. As I looked up with flattened ears, I could see a disk, rimmed with bluish-purple lightning and swirling like smoke: the gateway to another world. Membranous, hook-tipped wings clung to its inner edge, and then slowly an elongated monster of incredible size, with an insectoid body, pulled itself out through the portal. The creature stretched out its giant, bare spine-like body, spun its head around, then opened its mouth and howled - though its voice could not be heard, only the trees swayed with its silent scream.

After a few moments, the answer arrived. As if the sun itself had shone even brighter, the heat overwhelmed us. I put my hoof in front of my eyes to protect them, but I could still see a burning white dot flying up from the castle with a burning flash. It was approaching with incredible speed, and I soon recognized her as Princess Celestia, although that was not exactly the memory I had of her. Whenever I could see her, she was always gentle and smiling, her multi-coloured mane waving softly. Now, however, her face reflected stone-hard determination even from this distance, and her mane surrounded her head like a wild, flaming halo. As she got closer, the monster lashed out at her with its whole body like a whip, but the alicorn easily dodged it and lowered her head, floating small, colourful crystals in front of it. A bright rainbow shot out of the Princess' horn and hit the alien creature around its chest.

I could still see the massive beam push the bony monster back towards the portal, then everything around us changed again. And again and again. We were allowed to witness epic fights and gigantic battles up close, as if we could have been part of them ourselves. We couldn't see the bloody, frightening details of any of them, but we could still feel the weight of them all, as our history was shaped before our eyes. The figure of Princess Celestia also appeared, as the sublime goddess led her ponies through forgotten ages. The sight of her majestic figure in golden armour filled my heart with pride for being a pony, and this warmth remained in me later, every time I thought of her.

I didn't know all the fight scenes, although they were all distinctive in their own way, but the last one completely surprised me even compared to the others. Giant metal monsters and enormous dragons fought each other amid a sky-high firestorm. I had no idea who was with whom or what was going on. Mountains exploded to pieces around me, the following terrible cracks tore my eardrums, and I tried to figure out if this was also a forgotten slice of our past, or just a vision of the future...

Then everything went dark and I opened my eyes. I was sitting in the same place where it all began: in front of the campfire, but now its light barely flickered compared to the swirling flood of visions before. I couldn't speak for long minutes, I was so under the influence of the "performance", and I must say, neither of us had to be put to sleep that night... I fell into my bed - I was a little sorry that I was given the upper level - like a sack of straw. All I could think about was how lucky I am to be part of such a special company, and the next moment I was frolicking on the pastures of the Dream world.

* * *

There was no foal ever who was waiting for school as excitedly as I was then, I think. It's true, I was worried enough, even though it wasn't at all attributable to my studies or even my teachers. The real problem was the classmates, or to be more precise, their absence. A kind of loose bond developed between all of us in the freshpony camp, but nothing was settled by that point. The task was clear: we had to form classes with a more or less defined number of ponies. It was beyond dispute that Jasper, Wish and I would stay together, but we didn't get much beyond that. Dulcimer and his friend with yellow fur didn't seem terribly annoying in the long run, so I didn't have a hard time accepting them either. However, we were not much ahead with this either. Five ponies are still just five ponies. However, if possible, I wanted to avoid being pushed into a pre-established group. The problems started though exactly with that, as most of them had already decided in the first few days who they wanted to spend their first academic year with.

Of course, there were other potential candidates, for example, that quirky bastard with the raven-black mane who introduced himself to us under the name Scorched Earth and, thanks to his terrifying tale, inevitably became the center of attention for a few days. He played the unapproachable cool guy who is only rarely willing to stoop to our level. And I have to admit, he played it well... As soon as he set foot out of the wooden house, there was almost always somepony jumping next to him to ask questions about him and his story. The lucky thing was that such ponies did not come inside our house, and the red stallion usually shooed those interested away quite quickly.

On the other hoof, we, as his roommates, had the privilege of him sharing a few more details with us - of course only after an adequate amount of "begging". Truth to be said, it was Jasper who forced the whole thing, although I can't say that he completely left me uninterested. However, I wasn't completely persuaded either. Of course, at first, I had a kind of impression about him, and even though it was now possible to have a relatively reasonable conversation with him, he somehow didn't refute it. And I just couldn't place this feeling. I found no fault in his story, and as honestly as he could tell it, I was almost inclined to believe him. I was aware that sometimes the most incredible things turn out to be true, and I didn't have enough information to draw far-reaching conclusions.

But still... something about the foal didn't feel right. Either I just wasn't used to ponies like him, or there really was something strange about him. For example, when we stayed up a little longer on our first night, talking from under the covers and I asked him how he made those cold flames during his story, he immediately answered that he was the only one in all of Equestria who could do that, and he wouldn't reveal the secret. Still, he was willing to show it to me several times to see if I could figure out his trick. And of course, he watched me try with visible joy, and was filled with unabashed pride at my inability to copy it.

So he was able to maintain my interest, and despite all my dislike, I sought his company on a certain level. Just the fact that he knew something I didn't, changed my attitude. Being snooty - although there were no perfectly identifiable signs of it - or being snooty and having some skill to match were two entirely different things; he could even have been somepony uniquely introverted.

Then there was another stallion we got to know through Cavernwind who also looked like a promising candidate. His name was Still Lotus, and he made the first impression of an interesting figure. We didn't spend a lot of time together, and he wasn't the loud type anyway, but when he did speak, it was at least funny enough to make me glad to see him in our class. On the other hoof, there were still worryingly few of us with him, and besides, all but one was colt, which also couldn't have been very lucky. However, as the time for decision approached and I mentioned my problem to Wish, her eyes immediately lit up. I thought that she was even less successful in making acquaintances than we were... after all she spent almost all of her time with us and only went to sleep with her own roommates. Once we even had to wake up the poor girl, because she dozed off on Jasper's bed during the conversation that went on late into the night, and none of us wanted her to get into trouble.

To get to the point, thanks to Wish, another eccentric joined us in the form of a tall filly with huge glasses and white fur, by the name of Stella. Let's say I wasn't as happy with her as I was with Lotus, as I was soon faced with a couple of extremely annoying habits of her, which I immediately realised that I would find difficult to tolerate in the long run. To cite just one example, whoever she was talking to, she would always stare straight into their eyes without blinking, and even if she got the answer for her question, she would stay that way for a few seconds. With her, however, we might have had a slim chance of getting a separate class for ourselves. Unfortunately, we did not receive overly detailed information about how things will work, but we tried to remain hopeful.

That's why I was a little shocked when I found out that they don't start groups under ten ponies. I was standing there at the opening ceremony between Jasper and Wish, my entrance exam results in my hoof, just looking out of my head at complete loss. My thoughts were numb, I couldn't think of anything useful. From where we could get two more ponies? Before that, I looked around a bit to see how well everypony else got on with the task, and sure enough I didn't find insufficient groups or lonely foals. It seemed very much like we would be forced to leave the decision to our fate.

When we were finished with the obligatory formalities, our dean asked the company to leave the hall except for the first-year students and the teachers. With increasing excitement, I waved goodbye to my parents who were waiting in the crowd - or, to be exact, were already preparing to leave - and then together with my friends we wandered a little forward to hear something from Mr. Poltergeist's words. Our friends we met in the camp also gathered around us, and together with the other freshponies we formed a loose ring around the red stallion. Instead of him, however, the mare with the curly mane spoke up, who assisted him during the entrance exam - and who I assumed must have been Professor Tome.

"Alright, then," she began in a stern voice as she looked over us. "I see, we have the groups here, so we can start assigning them to instructors!"

It's now or never - I thought, and with that momentum I raised my hoof high. "Here you go, young colt!" the mare turned to me. I felt the blood rushing to my ears, but there was no turning back now. "Sorry, I have a problem that my team doesn't have ten ponies in it!" I said in a low voice, so that she would definitely hear, but that nopony should feel as if I was shouting.

"Of course, we can arrange to merge your group with another class," the lady replied without batting an eye and turned away from me as if she was done with her job.

"My companions and I discussed that it would be better if this did not happen..." I remarked a little discouraged. I heard that I managed to cause a bit of an uproar among the foals and I wasn't thrilled about it at all.

The mare let out a big sigh and looked into my eyes again. "I'm sorry, young colt, but this is not a make-a-wish foundation," she answered. "Our options are limited; we cannot shape the classes according to anypony's whim."

I lowered my ears in frustration, and the lady was about to go on with her thing when the dean cleared his throat. "Does anypony else has the same concerns?" Nopony answered, only the foals looked at each other in confusion. Mr. Poltergeist gave us a few seconds to think, then spoke again at his usual pace. "I think in this case we could make an exception for once. Because of my busy schedule, it would be more convenient for me to supervise a smaller group anyway, so I'm happy to take them on. On one condition. We also have a foreign student who has been entrusted to my care, and she doesn't have a place yet. If you - he turned to me - are willing to accept her, I shall allow your group to remain like this."It sounded like a fair enough offer, but I didn't want to make the decision alone. However, as I looked around at my peers, they seemed to accept me as an advocate. I didn't like talking in front of so many ponies, but I couldn't let it go. So I swallowed and looked deeply into the dean's eyes. "That would be great, thank you!" I said, though with much less confidence than I intended."Great," said Mr. Poltergeist with just a hint of serenity in his voice. "One less problem. Thank you for your patience, Professor Tome, you may continue.""So, where was I..." the mare continued, sending me a few pointed glances, but I couldn't pay attention to her, as Jasper patted my shoulder pretty hard. "Nice job, pumpkin, ya hear that?" he whispered into my ear from the side, as I refused to turn towards him.I could still feel the eyes of the foals on me, so I tried to keep my expression blank and do nothing interesting. It almost worked: after Jasper got away from me and the classes selected their instructors in a neat order, I gradually got out of the limelight. It wasn't until we finished and Mr. Poltergeist asked us to follow him that I met the reproachful faces of a couple of ponies again. However, I couldn't decide whether they were jealous of us now, for being singled out like this, or they were simply bothered by the fact that I dared to speak at all. But why should I have felt ashamed for presenting our very much legitimate problem?

We left the sports hall, joined our parents for a short time - I quickly told them that we had the dean as head of class - and then we could go on to another facility of the academy. We marched to a large green and white building, which, upon entering, we climbed up at the first turn of stairs at a rather hasty pace dictated by the red pony. We must have climbed two floors before we finally stopped for a moment: Mr. Poltergeist was busy opening a door. He didn't use magic directly, but summoned a key and inserted it into the lock. "This shall be our classroom," he added as an explanation, then with a few waves of his hoof, he ushered us in.

We were going to be pretty cramped, I noticed that right away. The room itself was quite narrow, and looked as if its entire area had been pinched off from the adjoining supply closet. The fact that it was indeed connected to the previously mentioned room by a door at the back half indicated this, and otherwise - as I observed afterwards - their furniture was completely identical. There was only one window on the wall opposite the blackboard, and the benches set up in two columns were pushed to the edge of the room so that at least we could walk between them. True, as small as we were, even that was more than enough. The only thing missing was the thick layer of dust and the cobwebs, otherwise I would have easily believed that we were the first class to be thrown here in years.

At the time, I couldn't have said anything positive about it, but it didn't spoil my mood. All I could think about was that my academic career would finally begin, and I couldn't wait to study. Didn't even waiting for a prompt, Jasper and I started towards the second row at the same time, and then, looking at each other, we decided that we would position ourselves towards the far right. I presciently took the chair closer to the wall - as I had known the colt to be twitchy, I assumed he would be the one jumping up more for whatever reason - and then I watched what the others were doing.

They were a little more unsure than we were, but the two of us were enough to break the ice. Wish eyed the table behind us intently, but didn't have the courage to take it until everypony else was seated. Cavernwind and Dulcimer hesitated the least: they quickly crashed into the adjacent bench, and immediately after that Lotus also slipped behind them. With that, there were only three ponies left, and I watched curiously how they distributed the remaining places among themselves. The first row, for example, was still completely empty...

Finally, much to my surprise, Stella was the first pony settling down in front of us with a completely expressionless face, although fortunately on the part facing the wall, so her long neck and straw-stack mane didn't hide the smallest part of the board's surface from me. After that, I was pretty sure that Wish will sit next to her, after all, Stella got into the class thanks to her. However, the little green mare - after our friend with the black mane also took a seat behind Lotus - only flashed a faint smile at Stella, and then seated herself behind us.

"You don't have to be afraid of me, I don't bite" remarked Mr. Poltergeist cheerfully as he looked over us. "But I shall not interfere, if it's convenient for you, so be it. It's not an issue here that you can't hear from the back rows. Then we can get back to the subject. As I said, this shall be our room, and now I shall explain what I mean by that. It means that the vast majority of the theoretical education will be taught here. The custom is that before specialization, the teachers come to the students, and then gradually, as you become more and more familiar with the Academy's buildings, you shall get used to going to the classes yourself. Of course, there shall be exceptions, which you shall be able to experience already in the first week. However, we keep almost all conventional subjects in this place, by definition, if this is feasible."

"I shall not take up your time any longer than necessary; I still have much on my plate as well. All I can say is that you shall love the first week because it shall be full of punch hours. You can pick up your books on the ground floor on the way down. It doesn't hurt if you peek into one or two a little, even just to get to know them a bit. And we shall meet at the same place on Monday at exactly eight o'clock. Also - he took a meaningful break, as if we didn't pay close attention to him anyway - it's important to mention, I didn't forget what I promised. You shall soon get to know your foreign classmate, but unfortunately you shall have to do without her during the first week. However, I strongly advise everypony to be especially kind and courteous towards her! It would cast a bad light on all of Equestria if we don't receive her as expected. I hope I managed to get the message through."

"Woah, cold..." Jasper said, turning to me but Mr. Poltergeist did not let that without a word.

"Believe it or not, this is very serious! Our guest shall study at our school with the personal consent of Princess Celestia. She came here from a distant land, straight from Saddle-Arabia, and she is a scion of a noble family, so if we take it that way, how you relate to her is a diplomatic matter. I'm not asking for anything special, but you should always remember that when interacting with her. Especially since I allowed the team to remain in this form on this condition."

"Of course, understood!" I answered immediately and my classmates nodded in agreement.

"That's right." A faint smile crossed the red stallion's face. "If you always cooperate like this, we shall easily prosper in the future. So, if there are no questions, I'll let you go for now until I see you again the day after tomorrow... Here you go?"

A white hoof rose slowly from the bench in front of us. "You didn't explain the colored circles, teacher," Stella said in a voice as if everypony should know exactly what she was talking about. It totally confused me, at least, and until the dean answered, I was just straining my brain unnecessarily.

"You're right!" Mr. Poltergeist approached us with barely concealed joy and extended his hoof towards the mare. "If you allow me, I can even demonstrate it on yours." Stella hoofed over the stallion a sheet of paper, in which I now recognized the one that was pressed into our hoof at the opening ceremony, and it contained the results of our entrance exam, including the experiment - in a way that was incomprehensible to us. However, I already had an idea of what the girl was interested in, and what's more, this immediately piqued my interest as well.

"As I have already mentioned previously, I conducted an experiment together with the Department of Complex Arcane Sciences, the purpose of which was to immediately form a kind of image of you, as novice wizards and our fresh students. This was partly the testing of the instrument, and partly it served and serves the purpose of getting to know your weaknesses and strengths, thereby finding out which areas we need to pay attention to on an individual level. As you may know, most unicorns only know and use a few spells, which are by definition necessary for their work and everyday life. However, we, as true and professional practitioners of pony magic, must have extensive knowledge in multiple fields."

"Several of our attributes determine how we relate to our own magical power. There are some that we are born with, some that we acquire during our lives, or that we develop in ourselves through practice. In common parlance, this is called talent, but it is actually much more complex. In that regard, the circle diagram mentioned by the lady is the most informative, although I have to note that our instruments are still quite rudimentary, so we cannot rule out serious errors for the time being. So, if you take a closer look, you can see that each circle is divided into four articles of different colors, and even within that each article fills a varying amount of space, so even the line of the circle is not consistent. These slices show what type of magic you have an affinity for. Green indicates your static, yellow your dynamic style of magic usage, and blue and red your perception and projection skills."

"Although the first two and the last two are almost opposite polarities of the same aspect, it is worth observing them together, as they can enter into very special interactions with each other, which is mostly manifested in synergism," he continued more and more enthusiastically. "For example, if you look at your friend's evaluation sheet" he showed us Stella's paper "it is clear that she is basically a static perceiver, and even the passive type. However, although almost half of her circle is blue, it is not the most prominent in thickness, so she also has plenty of room to develop her greatest strength. Which is really excellent, because we can go far with unripe talents, as that's why we're here!"

Mr. Poltergeist looked at us with as much pride as if he was showing us around the first drawing of his foal. On the other hoof, I, as a stallion, admit that I was completely at loss, and I didn't understand one bit of the point. And it never worked for me to nod insincerely, as if I had successfully processed the information. I had already read somewhere about this static-dynamic thing, but I didn't comprehend it even then, moreover, the dean peppered it all with a few fancy technical terms, which only achieved that I gave up on trying. Instead, I've been digging through my own page to see if I can read something useful from it. Needless to say, I haven't made any progress...

"Excuse me, sir!" Caverwind raised his leg. "Could you repeat it please? I didn't understand the whole thing..."

"Whoah, sorry, kids!" Mr. Poltergeist put a hoof to his temple. "I think I went a little too far ahead! Not to mention that this is primarily Professor Tome's area of expertise, so I won't be usurping it any further. Everything in its time! And this, I think, is the perfect ending for now! Don't forget, Monday morning at eight o'clock in the same place!"

Everypony got up from their seats, so I followed their example. However, before I left the room, I carefully positioned myself so that I could catch the red stallion before he left. I didn't expect much from the conversation, but I didn't want to leave the question hanging either. "Professor!" I called out to him when it was only the two of us left.

"Yes, what was it?" the dean turned to me, even though I could see from this close - which I could hardly get used to later -, that although he was clearly watching my face, he was actually staring between my eyes, and with such a distant focus, as if he was looking straight through me.

"Can I ask... would you take a look at my page too?" I asked a little uncertainly. "I'm not asking you to explain everything, I just want to know the significance of my results from my point of view."

"It is an excellent question, dear..."

"Thread" I helped him out as I gave him my sheet. "Life Thread."

"I shall remember it," said the red stallion in a low voice, then immersed himself in the data. "Well, then... Yes, yours is indeed quite interesting. If you look closely, you're the exact opposite of Miss... the filly who's diagram I analysed as a demonstration. Well... or more specifically you a shall be if I'm right. Based on the numbers, you have promising magical potential, which is special because your larger circle slices are the thinnest. If you compare, based on the area of the slices, you use roughly the same amount of dynamic and static energy, but the dynamic slice is half as thin as its counterpart, so you still have a lot of room for improvement. And if you look at the other two, you can see that they are both very shallow, in fact, your projection is almost not visible, even though that article clearly has the largest angle. I interpret this to mean that you haven't really discovered your own strength yet. In fact, I would hazard a guess that if your talent is in magic, you didn't even get your cutie mark, yet!"

My chin dropped. "How did you know?"

"Maybe we're a little alike, you and I." For a moment, the dean looked directly into my eyes, and his mouth twitched into a sly smile. "Dynamic projection is not something that can be easily learned, but it is an excellent foundation for my field of expertise: mind and illusion magic. I shall be watching with interest as you find your own path. And, if it turns out that way, I'll even be happy to see you in my department in the future." Mr. Poltergeist ruffled my mane, returned my paper, and then left me alone. I knew I would ponder a lot more on what I just heard, but I didn't want to be by myself, so I soon followed. But outside, to my surprise, Jasper and Wish were waiting for me, ears perked curiously. I thought they had already gone down to collect their books...

"Didya get yer desired brain-expansion?" Jasper asked with a wide grin.

"Yeah, kinda," I shrugged. "Oh, while we're at it, may I borrow your paper, Wish?" The little green mare reached into her pocket with a forced smile, and after a little rummaging, she hoofed over her sheet. She folded it carefully, I could hardly unpack it, but when I did, I looked at the pie chart with a pensive expression on my face. True, hers was more like a semicircle, roughly divided into equal parts in green, blue, and red colors. The other half consisted of only a very thin yellow spot, from which I had already drawn my far-reaching conclusions with my newly acquired knowledge. "Yes, yes, exactly what I expected! You'll get your cutie mark when you improve your dynamic magical abilities, like me."

"Wha...? Are you sure?" she was staring at me with huge puppy-eyes.

"Yeah, because, you see here..." I held her paper in front of them. "If this yellow slice is thicker, it will have the largest area."

"And how do I do that?" she inquired as if I suddenly became an expert on the topic.

"Well that is something they are going to teach us here!" I answered with a mysterious smile. "I can't wait to begin!"

"I'll do my best!" said Wish quietly but with newfound determination.

"All righty!" Jasper piped in. "If we stick together, nopony can stop us! Triple hoofbump!" Our legs swung up at the same time so that they collided in the middle. For a few elevated seconds, all the desire to do something that I had been forced to keep in me passed through, and then, having calmed down a bit, we started to pick up our textbooks together.

* * *

Our first week didn't exactly go smoothly. We managed to "introduce" ourselves to both our teachers and fellow students - and not necessarily in a good way. Far be it from me to talk shit of any of my former classmates - especially since I was also heavily involved in almost every case - but I have to admit, we were quite... alive. Fortunately, everypony listened quietly during classes, except for Scorch who was sighing loudly sometimes if he really found the material very boring. On the other hoof, during the breaks and recess hours, I repeatedly ran into situations that, to be honest, I didn't have the faintest idea how to handle. Present me would definitely choose different solutions than past me did.

There was, for example, the case when after classes, during the long break, I went out with Jasper and Wish to the yard to gallop around a bit, to exercise our limbs after sitting a lot. I did not know exactly where the others were wandering; we didn't get along with them as much as we did with each other, the three of us. I just went back into the green and white building to the restroom, but when I tried to get out again, I saw some strange light flickering from one of the secluded corridors. Pricking up my ears, I unsuspectingly turned that way; I simply had to investigate.

But what - or more precisely who - I found there, I didn't know what to think of. In the middle of a relatively narrow passage, there stood, what's more, floated, a stallion with green fur, whom I quickly recognized as Cavernwind. The big colt was snarling with effort and his horn were glowing with yellowish hue, so it wasn't hard for me to identify him as the source of the light. However, I had no idea what he was doing when I found him.

"Hello there!" I greeted him. I didn't have any malicious intent, yet I managed to throw him out of his concentration, which resulted in his spell breaking, and he fell down and hit the marble hard. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" I rushed to him to help. "What are you up to?"

He didn't answer right away, but his ears were burning. He jumped up, placing a hoof on my mouth and he looked around nervously. "Thank Celestia, it's you!" he whispered. "I thought I checked that everypony avoids this part... How the heck did you find me?

As he waited for the answer, he let me go. "You made a little light-show with this here," I softly poke his horn.

"Shut it now, will you?" he plastered a hoof over my muzzle again. "Buck, was it really that easy to spot?"

"Why do we have to be quiet?" I whispered when he freed my mouth. "Are we off limits or what?"

He rolled his eyes. "It depends... You see, I found the mares' bathroom!"

"And... what's so special about that?" I blinked in confusion. The green stallion lifted his leg in response and pointed to a narrow, barred gap in the wall, almost at ceiling height. Since my companion's horn went off, almost all the light in the dim corridor came from there, although it was more than enough for us to see each other. "Please, do explain, I'm clueless!" I sighed.

"Not so long ago a bunch of mares came back from the sports hall. They are a few years older than us," he lifted his eyebrows tellingly.

"Ah, so you were peeping!" I finally felt enlightened. Of course, I knew why I didn't realize it sooner: I simply didn't see the point, since you can see dozens of mares bathing on the beaches, and I told him that much.

"Well, first of all, I was just trying to, and second... if you think about it, why would they wear swimming suit in here?"

He had a point. And I have to admit, it has already sparked my imagination. It's true, I wouldn't even have had the courage to seriously consider lurking about. However, when the opportunity arose, thanks to which I could do it with without consequences, I have to admit, the temptation was big enough. It's not exactly that I would have looked at the girls that much - at that time I was simply too young to be really bothered by such things - but I had not yet seen a mare completely naked, and the mere fact that now I might have a chance to see one, well, it looked extremely tempting.

I had to make a decision, and make it quickly. With every second that passed, the chances of us being spotted increased, and besides, it wouldn't have been fortunate if my friends got suspicious about me disappearing for so long. If I take part of the green stallion's fun, on one hoof, we may fail, but on the other hoof, only by thinking about it, my ears were already burning with shame. Most of the time, my face was hard to read, but just then I had to clench my teeth so they wouldn't chatter from the sheer excitement of planning. Though the fact that I was preparing for something - even if only in imagination - that I obviously shouldn't have done, nevertheless promised me a special experience, attracted me in a very special way.

Obviously, these factors also played an important role in my choice, but my decision was made by a completely different kind of thought. Right now, I can tell Cavernwind to leave me out of this risky little adventure, but then he may probably never see me again as a partner in similar fun...

"So then why didn't you put something under the window?" I looked around, searching for a fitting item. "I see a few small boxes and floor mats or what the heck they are called..."

"Nah, this high up it would be too instable," he waved a hoof. "I can't keep it from falling. You saw me, I couldn't even lift myself up..."

"Yeah, you're right..." I thought aloud. "So, what if we just took two of the small boxes, and then you could stand on my back? And then... we could switch places..." I added with folded ears.

"You think we can reach it that way?" he asked with a sly smile. I nodded in agreement. "Can you hold me?"

"We'll solve it somehow," I replied. "And this way we won't even need magic."

That was enough talking so we got down to work. We quickly pulled two small boxes in front of the small vent-like window, then I climbed onto it and bent over a bit so that Cavernwind could stand on my back. Although it went quite easily at first, I slightly underestimated his weight, but I only realized this when the stallion pushed his hind hooves into my spine and between my shoulder blades, as he only reached the necessary height by rearing up. I took it silently for a while, but then I got bored of missing out on all the good stuff.

"Say something now, will you?" I hissed through gritted teeth. "Do you even see anything?"

"Oh, I do, believe me!" I heard his excited whisper from above. "There's one with gold-coloured fur, she just hanged her towel on the rack. Heh, I'd sooo lick her little birdy cutie mark!"

"Bleh! Where did you learned that from?" I stuck out my tongue in disgust, then I immediately regretted the move as I almost bit it when Cavernwind shifted his weight.

"Trust me on this, she has the finest little flank!" he insisted. "Oh, I'd bite the hock of that one over there! Heh, would you look at that! She has such a short tail, that it doesn't even cover anything...!"

"Okay, get down, it's my turn!" I snapped, maybe a bit more indignantly than necessary.

It was already noticeably more comfortable as he leaned on my back on all fours, and it came as a real relief when he finally got off me carefully. The space was a bit tight, as if we had stacked more stools it would have been too unstable, so Cavernwind really had to jump a bit. After that, when we changed places, my problem was that the foal was about one and a half times as big as I was, and I couldn't hold onto him comfortably. Of course, I didn't give up trying, and I soon succeeded.

Slowly, to not lose my balance, I climbed up and leaned my front hooves against the wall. Even so, I had to stretch quite a bit to reach the small window. Before I could even get there, excitement washed over me again, I swallowed hard and instinctively looked around the deserted corridor again. It was still a strange feeling that in just a few seconds I could actually see a couple of mares naked... it sounded so unreal as I said it in my head; I had to muster up all my courage before I decided to act.

With clenched teeth, I pulled myself even closer to the vent and peered through it with one eye. The hot steam was wafting inside, I could even feel it seeping out, but fortunately the steam was not so thick as to obscure everything beyond recognition, it just stretched like an eerie veil between me and the girls. And indeed - I hardly believed it - I could really see them!

The mare with the golden coat that Cavernwind most likely mentioned disappeared into a side shower stall just then, and soon not even the end of her tail was visible, but a white coated one with a steel blue mane was standing almost directly in front of me, with her back to me, combing her mane in front of a mirror with the help of a brush and her magic. My heart skipped a beat when I realized that she was wearing nothing but a towel draped over her shoulders. She was only two or three years older than me, but that was enough to give the impression of being much more mature than ponies my age, who - let's face it - didn't have really feminine features yet. I grazed my eyes on the mare with undeniable joy, not even paying attention to see if there were others there, but I was soon overcome with guilt for secretly staring. Even if her tail, still dripping with water, was hanging calmly, so I couldn't see anything of her that would have really given me a reason to feel ashamed.

"Enjoying the view, huh?" Cavernwind asked suddenly, scaring the crap out of me.

I ducked to avoid getting noticed. "Why?"

"You were huffin' and puffin' like a steam engine!"

I looked at him in surprise, but then as I swallowed, my throat did feel quite dry. I didn't even notice... and that only made me more embarrassed. "Let's get out of here!"

I took one last look at the mare, then pulled myself together and broke away from the sight. I quickly jumped off my friend's back and already get to packing up.

"Why? Did they see you?" he said, joining me.

"No."

"Then what?" he asked indignantly. "I barely saw anything!"

"Who knows how big of a trouble we get ourselves into if somepony spots us..." I answered "I won't be taking any risks! You shouldn't either, so let's get to hide our traces!"

"Okay, then..." he murmured.

"Look, it's our first week so we really ought to keep it low!" I tried to convince him. "Wouldn't be too much fun if they call in our parent right away, huh?"

The green stallion didn't have a good answer to that, he just helped putting the boxes back their place. When we finished, we cautiously stepped out into the long corridor, swimming in light compared to the previous one. We managed to get out when nopony was watching. Despite this, I constantly felt the eyes of everypony on me, what's more, as I watched, I caught a couple of times that even students I had never met before were actually staring at me. In hindsight, it probably showed how uncomfortable I was, and in the "crossfire" of so many looks, all this only intensified. Especially since, to my utter horror, there was somepony who even specifically asked me what was wrong. For a long time, I didn't even dare to tell anypony about this little adventure, and although I can be sure that if I didn't do it at all, they would never have found out, I didn't dare to visit the secluded little corridor again... only in my imagination.

After that, I was more careful to avoid trouble, but it found me anyway. It also happened during the long break, with our first weekend fast approaching. I could say that by then I was overwhelmed by the amount of new information and the many unknown ponies, but that would be more like an excuse on my part. The fact is, by then I was pretty much at the end of my patience, and it didn't take much to piss me off. By the way, I could never stand it when somepony behaved excessively arrogantly, especially towards me or my friends.

That's why it was more than enough for me to get into the middle of the conversation - and by that, I mean hassle - and I've already decided whose side I'm on. Jasper and I were walking downstairs when I heard Scorch's unmistakable voice from down the hall. The crimson stallion had his hoof propped against the wall, so I couldn't see who he was talking to. Of the pony he was talking to, I could only see her light blue fur, but they both sounded quite irritated. There were only one or two ponies sauntering about, but most of them were probably making their way to the yard, because soon there was almost nopony left in the vicinity.

"You think yourself a big shot, but I can make an educated guess that you're just a loudmouth!" I heard the thin, yet confident voice of the mare.

"And who do you think you are, preaching like that?" Scorch snorted. "A little upstart like you should just shut it!"

In the meantime, my friend and I got there, so I could finally get a good view of my classmate's "opponent". She was a mare with a purple-pink mane, barely taller than a Wish, dressed in elegant-looking clothes. She wore thick, ebony-framed glasses, which otherwise suited her quite well, but her appearance alone showed her to be an intolerable egghead - as was the enormous book that she was levitating beside herself while speaking.

"Mind your tone, you scoundrel!" the mare turned up her nose and sneered at the stallion with the black mane like only a true noble can. "I don't need to tell fairy tales to be interesting in the eyes of others! If you may not know, I come from a very important family. My ancestors have been confidants of Princess Celestia for generations..."

"That's right, little princess!" Scorch almost spitted his words into her face. "Not everypony has a pre-purchased place on the Academy!"

"Huh!" she snorted angrily, though still having much more self-control than my classmate. However, she did not continue, as she noticed that we had been standing behind the red stallion for some time, watching them. Instead, we got a few disdainful looks from her.

"So, what's the argument about?" I made use of a small pause.

"This little lady from Manehattan thinks she's better than everypony else" Scorch explained with irritation clear in his voice. "Even the freshpony camp was too degrading for her refined tastes..."

"But Manehattan is a crappy place," Jasper interjected before the mare had a chance to react.

"Not from Manehattan, but from the castle, which is on our own property next to it," the mare declared defiantly.

Well, that was what she shouldn't have said! If somepony bragged in front of others about how rich they were, especially thanks to their parents, they immediately dug a hole for themselves in my eyes. I have always been happy with what I have, and in a financial sense I never wanted more. However, I saw the conditions that others lived in, even here in Canterlot, and I hated those who were willing to rub it under their noses. Those who could afford it, I expected them to take care of themselves, after all, it also showed respect for the other pony, but that didn't mean one should look down on those who couldn't even wear regular clothes, for example. Bragging about a castle was completely outrageous...

"I wouldn't be so proud of what daddy shoved under my ass!" I said suddenly furious. "Such a spoiled little brat like yourself should just be gracious to be among those who got here thanks to their own abilities!"

"And who asked you anything, smartass?" she turned towards me with scrunched up nose. "Why are you even taking the side of this jerk?"

"Because he's my friend!" I replied without thinking, momentarily forgetting about my reservations towards the crimson stallion. "Say, sweetie, do you even know how does it feel to have friends? Or do you only talk to your payed servants in your little castle?"

The blue mare got around Scorch and with a single step she came up so close to my face that our noses almost touched - even though she had to stretch for that. "I do have real friends! And very influential friends at that. So, you'd better pull your tail between your legs and think twice before getting involved in something that's none of your business! And you should be ashamed of yourself for having such friends, although I can see that you are no different..."

"Oh, so should I be afraid of you telling of me to your very influential friends?"

"Just get out of my mane and leave me alone, or it'll get messy, pal!"

As she talked, the mare with the glasses pressed her nose to mine as if trying to push my head back which was more than enough to stop me from paying attention to what she was saying. This aggressive behavior was all the provocation I needed. My whole body tensed and I pushed back on to the girl with all my strength, and using my leverage I shoved her to the ground.

"You really don't know when to stop, huh?" I asked menacingly.

"Dumb bitch, she doesn't know anything..." Scorch interjected from the side.

"It is you who doesn't know when to stop," the mare moaned with her glasses almost slid down her face. "What's next? You're going to hit a girl?"

"Do you really have the audacity to hide behind this?" I snarled. "Picking at my friend and you try to save your hide in such a pathetic way? Just because you're a mare it doesn't mean you can be disrespectful to those bigger than you."

"What...? I... I..." she stuttered in confusion, but finally there was a glimpse of fear in her eyes.

"That's it! We've heard enough, yeah? We really oughtta lock her in a locker if she can't put a lock on her mouth!" Jasper stated relatively calmly.

I didn't necessarily think it was a good idea, but I didn't have time to ponder. The light blue mare took a scared step back and lowered her head defensively. She pointed her horn at me, which lit up a moment later. However, she couldn't finish the spell she was preparing, because a beam of light burst from one side - maybe from Scorch -, leaving an ugly, scratch-like mark on her face. She staggered, dropped her book, and her glasses slipped off her head.

"He... help...!" she whimpered, but so softly that even we could barely hear her. In the next moment, she grabbed her own throat, but she only managed to gape silently.

"We ain't want her alertin' the teachers..." Jasper said with clear uncertainty but with glowing horn. "An' why the heck didya attack her?" he added, turning to Scorch. "What the everliving horseapples shall we do with her now?"

The red stallion looked around, but the mare tried to take advantage of the fact that we weren't paying attention, and squinting hard so that she could see something even without glasses, she jumped up and made a run for it - or at least she would have if I didn't immediately catch her in the air with my magic. She trashed wildly, so it was terribly difficult to hold her, so we soon got to the point where I was forced to hang her by her tail, her nose pointing down, and even then, I was afraid to drop her, as I had to focus on her movement and fight her magic at the same time. As I turned her upside down, we could have even seen her panties, if she didn't squirm so much, or if she didn't tugged her tail between her legs - although in that moment that was the least of my concerns.

"Nice catch!" Jasper patted my shoulder, meanwhile keeping up his mouth-lock spell. "What now?"

"Throw her in there before somepony sees us!" Scorch pointed to a slightly open door on the other side of the corridor. "She can mope around the mops and brooms all she wants!"

"And then?" I asked with growing distress. I really started to regret being so careless, but we couldn't just leave her here like this.

"We lock her up, what else?" Scorch said as if it was the most natural thing to do in the world. "Let her think about her life choices!"

I liked less and less where we were going. I wanted to come up with some striking idea, but I heard hoofsteps - or just thought I heard them - and at the same time the filly also crouched down with a loud moan. Due to the unexpected maneuver, she broke free of my magic and fell to the ground, but Jasper was quick, he immediately pinned her down with his front hooves so that she did not have the chance to run away.

"Yeah! Pick her up and throw her in!" Scorch was busily giving out instructions. "I'll lock her up so much, nopony shall ever get her out!"

We got that only halfway done. The filly was kicking furiously, so it all ended with her being dragged by her hind legs towards the small, dark room a few meters away. I just followed by and opened the door for them. It wasn't until they threw her in that I turned back and my eye fell on the mare's book and glasses. All traces must be removed - flashed through my mind, and I quickly floated the two objects close to me.

Scorch's eyes flashed as he saw the glasses. "Break them!"

"Oh, come on!" Jasper shook his head, while pulling the handle so she couldn't open it from the other side. "Now yer just bein' mean! She ain't did no harm, so she just gettin' a li'l lecture, right? To stuff her loud mouth..."

"That's right!" I joined as well. "Open it just a crack, I'll give them back to her!"

The foal just rolled his eyes, but then he saw that we were serious, so he sighed in submission. Jasper let it go before the door burst open and the blue mare ended up with her flank in a bucket and fell over. After that, however, she didn't try to run away, she just blinked at the three of us in fear, not knowing what to expect - it seemed that the wooden panel was pretty well insulated, or she just didn't care what we were talking about outside, being busy trying to escape.

I didn't even enter, I just floated in her book and glasses with my horn, and then we quickly closed the door again. I nodded to Scorch as he closed his eyes and began his spell. A bright, red-glowing padlock appeared in the air and slowly floated to the lock. It sunk into the metal and made a dull but hard click, then the glow went out. Jasper tentatively pushed the handle and pushed the door, but nothing happened. We exchanged a not-so-resolute look, then left the filly alone.

My conscience was somewhat troubled that we had done this to her, especially as a stranger, but I tried to reassure myself that we had not hurt her in the end. She just got what she deserved. And next time she'll think twice about hurting my friends... I wasn't really afraid that she'd tell us to the teachers. Even if she recognizes us, she cannot prove that it was really us. I wouldn't say I liked to lie, but I was pretty good at faking complete incomprehension.

However, to my surprise, the whole incident did not have any consequences whatsoever. At least openly. The next time I ran into the filly, I was unsuspectingly sitting on a bench in the yard with Wish and Jasper. We were chatting and laughing merrily until I noticed the light blue mare approaching us. She was looking straight into my eyes, so she was clearly looking for me, which I certainly wasn't happy about. Especially when I noticed that the tall, snow-white stallion next to her was actually following her, so the mare was probably prepared for the reunion...

My first thought was that she might want to make a scene, or even outright beat us up with her friend, but as I looked around, there were quite a few ponies around us, so I thought the latter less likely. I was uncomfortably shifting in place, on which Jasper quickly picked up, and his face paled in seconds when he saw the reason.

"Hi, Thread! Hi, Jasper!" she greeted us loudly as she got to the bench. A suspicious smile played on her face, but she didn't continue even when the white stallion stopped in front of us as well.

"Hi, uhm..." I tried to reciprocate the gesture, although I had to realize that the filly was several steps ahead of me. Like, I had no idea who she could be...

"I see you're having a great time so I won't bother you for long," she said demurely. "I just wanted to introduce my friend, Nimbus Strike. Nimbus, it's them I talked about!"

The stallion nodded with an impassive face, and I instinctively tried to blend into my surroundings.

"We are moving along," she continued with a palpable air of superiority, as if to say that she was indeed different from us, and that she did not resort to such crude means as we do. "Oh, and by the way, thank you for giving me back my book!" she added and I swallowed hard.

"Wow, I didn't know you have such friends!" Wish blinked with true amazement as the two of them made their leave. "I thought you are just familiar with canterlotians!"

"Why? Who were they?" I asked in a ridiculously thin voice. Jasper was seemingly still recovering from his near-death experience.

"Well, the filly was Violet Sign," Wish began though she seemed adequately confused as for why she has to explain anything. "Stella told me about her, I don't actually know her. I think she said, she is the heir to the family estate in Manehattan. The stallion, if he really was the Nimbus Strike, is Princess Celestia's only private student. I understand that she didn't take anypony as her protégé for fifty years or so before him, so the guy must really know something!"

"So much about influence..." Jasper squeaked, getting up from our bench. "Think I'm gonna throw up...!"

"Did I say something wrong?" Wish asked worriedly as Jasper trotted towards the school.

In the end, I somehow managed to explain ourselves without having to tell the filly what it was all about. Wish pretty much calmed down and didn't ask any more questions, and I tried to avoid any kind of confrontation with Violet Sign later on. And since she had a similar attitude towards me, we didn't have anything to do with each other for a long time. However, I promised to myself one thing in relation to the case: if I do not know the full story, I will never intervene in any discussion again. I had a sneaky suspicion, which formed in my mind a little bit later, that maybe it wasn't the filly who provoked Scorch in the corridor after all...

* * *

Our first week was basically over with that; nothing else important happened, apart from the fact that we got a little taste of all the subjects of the semester. The teachers introduced themselves to us, the curriculum was introduced, but we did not "officially" reciprocate this until the first day of the second week, as Mr. Poltergeist wanted to wait for us to gather in full. It didn't bother us, since we already knew each other on some level anyway, and everypony, without exception, was already curious about our foreign student. I was not expecting that anypony of my class - in fact, not only one pony - would still have a surprise at the introduction.

We were told that nopony should be late. We were all already sitting there, in good order, already five minutes before the start of the discussion class, on the other hoof, Mr. Poltergeist made us wait for at least ten minutes. However, when he appeared, he was not alone, as we all expected. A thin, tall, pink-haired filly entered the room with him, wearing such a strange outfit that I couldn't get my head around for a long time. The shape of her head was already quite strange, but even beyond that, my eyes were drawn to the lace-decorated halter, which surrounded her nose and framed her entire face. Her well-groomed, rich, flame-colored mane fell softly on her shoulders, but from then on, not much of the mare was visible, as she hid everything except her chest under a sheet-like white cloak. Also, what was even more striking was that on her back sat a beautifully curved decorative saddle, from which long things hung on both sides. Later, Jasper was kind enough to explain to me that it is called a stirrup, and it's very cool...

"Kiddos, this is Ambrosia, from Saddle-Arabia," Mr. Poltergeist said, then he proceeded very slowly as if explaining something to a toddler. "Please sit anywhere you like!"

Even in the crossfire of so many gazes, the mare didn't seem to be bothered, and just watched in silence with her big, bright green eyes, until she received the expected instruction from the teacher. After that, she walked towards us with graceful steps and took a seat on the first bench next to Stella. I had to restrain myself from expressing my displeasure, because in this position she managed to cover part of the board from me with her luscious mane.

Mr. Poltergeist smiled. "Great! Now that we're all together, let's do some introductions! Whoever hears their name, please stand up and say a few words about themselves so that our new classmate can get to know you a little! You may begin, dear Ambrosia!" he added, slowing down a bit again.

I hated such things beyond words, but I forced myself to listen to the mare's story. She began with a pleasant voice as she turned to face us all. "I am Ambrosia. I come from Saddle-Arabia and am interesting in life in Equestria."

"You mean interested, right?" our teacher tried to help.

"Am interested, yes!" she nodded happily, somewhat brightening our mood as well. "Canterlot is very nice and I wait to know you. I like the cooking and the helping ponies. I think your language interesting but I learn and hope we speaking much good."

Ambrosia flashed her pearl-white teeth in a broad, yet not forced grin, looked at us with a friendly squint, and then sat back down, turning the chair around so that she could still face us. Mr. Poltergeist gave a satisfied hum, then magically floated the diary in front of him and opened it leisurely.

"Thank you, young lady!" he said in the meantime. "I am quite sure that your new classmates shall help you learn the subtleties of our language. And, of course, I am at your service if you need advice in any way. Now let us proceed alphabetically, so at least I might begin to memorize your names! Cavernwind is next in line."

The green-haired stallion with disheveled mane reluctantly got up, and then, with a big sigh, opened his mouth. "I'm Cavern and I'm from Canterlot," he said in a terribly bored voice; he clearly didn't like this whole ordeal either. "I like to go to all kinds of places, preferably with many ponies, and I like fun and funny things..."

He couldn't have presented himself any less enthusiasm, but everypony listened to him in silence. "Well, that's that..." he added a few seconds later. "I can answer questions, but nothing comes into mind now."

"That's quite alright, we shall have much time," Mr. Poltergeist nodded. "So, if you may... Constellation Glory!"

Jasper and I exchanged a surprised look - the name wasn't even familiar. However, as the tall, white mare slowly stretched her legs on the bench in front of us, it slowly dawned on me where her nickname came from...

"What am I supposed to talk about, sir?" she asked in a sleepy voice.

"Anything about yourself," the stallion replied. "Just like the others before you. Where did you come from, what do you like, what you don't... things like these."

"My name is Stella and I come from Greenleaf Street. I like to caress large, flat stones and look at the sky, especially during shooting stars. I don't like it when my hair is ruffled backwards, and when water gets into my ears..."

Maybe she would have continued, maybe not, I'll never know, because Jasper whinnied so loudly next to me, he almost fell out from the bench. My other classmates also laughed, and I couldn't contain my laughter any longer either - in fact, it was rather from my friend's reaction on my part. Mr. Poltergeist patiently tapped his hoof on his desk until we regained our composure.

"I suppose nopony likes that," he stated neutrally. "Is there anything else you would like to share?"

Stella shook her head calmly, apparently unfazed by everypony laughing at her, and then took her seat again.

"Let's jump to the next pony then! Miss Death Wish!

"Just Wish, if you please!" the small filly piped up from behind us. "I'm from Canterlot as well and I really enjoy being with my friends, reading, and things like that... What I don't like... well, I really don't think I have any reason to complain in any way."

"Why, that's great to hear that there are ponies here that are content with their lives!" Mr. Poltergeist nodded while he sat behind his table and clasped his hooves together. "We may continue, yes? Dulcimer!"

"I'm Dulcimer, and I live in Caterlot as well, though I'm originally from Vanhoover," the big red stallion began as he carefully tried to stand up from next to Cavernwind. "I come from an old family of musicians, maybe some of you heard of my father, Solo Strings, or Yelling Sound, my grandfather. I myself love playing music and going to concerts; anything from classic to modern is OK in my book, I enjoy everything. I have a dulcimer, but I can also play the flute and the piano a little. If anypony is interested, I'll be happy to show you. But I think that's enough of me! I already did most of the talking..."

"The next one is Jasper Volley," our teacher nodded.

He basically jumped next to me and looked around with a broad smile plastered on his face. "Alrighty then! Jasper Volley is the name, and I come to ya from the noble town of Trottingham. Right now, I am expandin' the large camp of boardin' students at the Starswirl Dormitory. I have been practicin' magic for years, and my favorite hobby is target shootin'. I'm good with the bow and one day I wanna learn to shoot backwards like our ancestors. And before ya think I'm crazy, it can be done without magic! There is written evidence of it, yeah! So, an earth pony can do it as well, but we lost this knowledge a long time ago..."

I cleared my throat softly so that my friend would remember where we are and stop lecturing us about his theories. He did seem to catch up on what I meant as he immediately changed the subject. "So that's all, folks! Just ya wait, when I grow up, one day I'll be the strongest pony in all of Equestria! Now your turn, buddy!" he slapped my shoulder as he fell back down on his chair.

I knew that I was indeed next, but I waited for the teacher to call me. And when he did, I stood up with about the same enthusiasm as Cavernwind did. "I'm Life Thread, I live in Canterlot, and what I don't like is, for example, forced introductions," I tried to cut the topic short, and quickly took a seat before other questions could arise. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't get away with that. Everypony fell suspiciously silent, and Mr. Poltergeist parted his hooves and rested them on the table.

"That is your task now, though," he said with unwavering tranquillity.

"Okay... I like magic..." I added with a resigned sigh. "Talking more won't help you know me better."

"We shall leave it to that, then!" the red stallion smiled, putting his hooves together again. "We shall have plenty of time to get to know each other. So, the next pony is... Mirthwhistle!

I was a little relieved, but then I got a bit staggered at the new unknown name. But before I could look around, Scorch spoke from behind. "I don't use that name anymore, sir!"

"What? Is that your actual name?" snickered Cavernwind.

"I said I don't use it anymore!" growled the stallion, his black mane falling over his eyes. "I have my reasons."

"Oh, so that's yer maiden name?" joined in Jasper as well.

I couldn't take it anymore, as I burst out laughing again, although to be honest, I wasn't the only one. I even hit my head onto the table a bit, so I had to fight the tears that came to my eyes from laughing and from the pain in my horn at the same time. On the other hoof, Scorch - or who knows what I should call him - clearly did not appreciate the joke.

"It's just that it's hard to make it official, but I've left that name behind a long time ago," he hissed angrily. "I am Scorched Earth, and I expect you to call me that! And if somepony brings it up again, I won't take responsibility if something... nasty happens to them!

"Nicely," remarked Mr. Poltergeist. "I suppose it is possible to call you the way you want in the class, but we might have to use your old name on some occasions. You have to accept that, and I don't want to hear any complaints about it. From anypony."

I forced myself to be serious, and so did the others. So even Scorch could skip the introduction, although I didn't particularly mind. I was just waiting for us to finally get over this whole crazy stuff.

"The last one is Still Lotus," our teacher stated.

The tall, bluish-purple stallion stood up slowly, straightened the scarf, which had almost always been wrapped around his neck, and then cleared his throat without any hurry.

"And I am Lotus, Baltimare is my home, and I like to disturb shit..."

Our seriousness lasted exactly until this moment, and after that we didn't even try to maintain appearances. I literally fell under my table, and it didn't even occur to me to climb forward for a long time. Lotus was the one who had the most time to figure out what he was going to say, and with this speech he was a resounding success then and there. After the class calmed down a little, I realized that I would definitely not get bored in such a company for the next couple of years.

Author's Note

Shooting backwards with a bow (from horseback), also known as Parthian shot is a reference to an ancient, characteristic hungarian military tactic.

Ch 4 - Caught between a pony and a soft place

I remember how difficult it was to sit quietly and wait for the class to end. Maybe if it was about magic, I might have had a chance. But whoever put together our timetable, they thought - for whatever reason - that it would be fun to end the week with grammar. On a Friday afternoon, when it would have been an art just to keep our attention in and of itself. We were nearing the end of the semester anyway; not much of our initial enthusiasm was left due to the daily studying, homework and other things to practice. And I couldn't swing my chair intensively enough to make sure I wouldn't die out of boredom. Of course, my checkered notebook was almost full - even though at the beginning of class there were still four blank pages - so I couldn't even continue with the gomoku tournament, which Jasper and I arranged in the cover of the bench. And of course, we were not allowed to talk with each other, even if the teacher overlooked our other activities which were not even close to learning.

If I had a choice, I would much rather be anywhere else. To be honest, I would have preferred to jump forward in time a good four or five hours, but at the moment it would have been enough if instead of editing sentences, I could have listened to Mr. Poltergeist's significantly more interesting - although I must say, much more monotonous as well - presentation about... anything. In fact, I was beginning to feel, I would rather have gone back to Thyme Fresh, the assistant professor of the Department-Of-Dealing-Something-With-Herbs, to pick weeds, just to do something to occupy myself. Not to mention that the mint green mare - unlike our current lecturer - was an earth pony, which was not a small rarity among academics, and I have to admit, it was a pleasant change among so many unicorns. After all this time, I still missed my pegasus and earth pony classmates a bit, even if I didn't have a problem with the current ones. And the mare explaining with youthful vigor and enthusiasm was a real treat, even if the work she gave us involved quite a lot of dirt and was just as boring in itself.

Of course, when Jasper noticed how unreasonably I enjoyed it - which was evident in the fact that I never complained, I just quietly did the assigned tasks - pressing the leaves and removing the mud from the roots, he guessed that I must like the teacher. Consequently, I had to put up with all his nagging about it once a week. Which I didn't have a problem with in itself, only after a while I got bored of his repeated corny jokes. Even if they were about plants, he found them pretty damn reasonable. At first, I even laughed when he suggested that I should go to a tree nursery instead of school. Not for the twentieth time, though...

Anyway, this also reflected quite well how much the grammar could not engage me. I preferred to recall how the dry leaves had to be lined up last time to paying attention in class. I usually had no problems concentrating, but this was a special occasion. I was nervous about the evening, and not just a little, as I had spent quite a bit of time getting ready. So much so that I didn't even notice at the time how much my parents helped. But actually, I gave them much more work than I could have imagined when I announced that I wanted to organize a slumber party for the whole class at our place. I've participated one only once before, with my friends from my old school, and I really enjoyed it. It's true, I was much younger then, I mean smaller, so it could only provide such a good starting point... otherwise I had quite a blurry concept about the whole affair. Back then we stayed at a very nice pegasus girl, and since then I've wanted to organize a party like that one day. I didn’t have many specific memories of it, except that we all had a great time.

And to my immense joy, all my friends received permission from their parents to join me. They also seemed quite enthusiastic, and for some of them - as I found out - this would be their first pajama party, so I felt the weight of the "huge" responsibility. But I had ideas, we shopped all the supplies, cleaned the whole house, so that my classmates wouldn't go home and tell only about the mess, and - shame or not - I questioned my mom thoroughly about what "must" be done, or at least what such a party looks like party. I then combined what I heard with my own ideas, but I was quite excited about the end result. It's no wonder that I was less engaged than usual in such a "traditional" class, and my attention wandered all over the place.

That's why I sometimes looked enviously at Ambrosia sitting in front of me, for whom our language was still magic itself. The pink mare had an intense conversation with our teacher; she asked about every possible detail and took notes as if her life depended on it. From some point of view, I must admit, it had the advantage that it occupied the teacher's attention in its full extent, so she didn't really have the opportunity to pay attention to us, at least while we were silent. On any other day of the week, we could have used this very nicely to prepare for the other classes and write our missing homework, but on Friday nopony wants to bother with such things. Except maybe Wish, who sometimes tended to study in advance to have more time left of the weekend. I didn't even have to look back to know that she was scribbling furiously right then, since the gathering from Friday night to Saturday morning could potentially take up a lot of her preparation time, and I assumed her parents were only willing to let her come and join us on this condition.

However, her diligence was not enough motivation for me to do something useful. It didn't even help that much when I noticed that Jasper had probably been leaning on the bench next to me with his face buried in his hooves for a long time. He didn't snore, but I had a sneaky suspicion, he is already gallopin' merrily on the field of dreams - at least his ears, which sometimes twitched a bit, indicated that. Of course, I wouldn't have imagined waking him up, and it was pointless anyway, since we wouldn't have been allowed to do anything fun. Having nothing better to do, I continued to swing my chair, slowly moving my center of gravity further and further back, and every minute I glanced at the clock hanging above the door. I only had to stop with this last attempt at banishing boredom when Wish gave me a big blow in my ear, indicating that my mane was flowing over her notes.

From then on, I really couldn't occupy myself with anything. The only comforting fact was that there were only ten minutes left of the lesson. As a last resort, I was forced to use the technique I developed here at the Academy back in the first month. In the dead time of the classes, I learned to disassemble and reassemble my ballpoint pen using only magic - my parents had to invest in a couple of these, as I simply couldn't get by with traditional quills - which I considered a serious step forward in the mechanical fine-tuning of my magic powers. It's true, at first, I had to spend several of my breaks searching for the spring that popped out, but now this was no longer a threat. I was almost perfectly able to control all parts at once.

I placed the small object in front of me, then, squinting and concentrating, I carefully unscrewed it, making sure that the stored kinetic energy did not throw the whole thing apart. I pulled it in half, took out the spring and the refill then pulled the latter in front of my eye, as if to check if there was enough ink left. Of course, I knew it was still quite full, but with a satisfied face I put it back together and then screwed it all back to its original state. I clicked its button a couple of times, checking the result, then carefully placed it back on the table.

I was too fast, I thought, looking at the clock. Sighing softly, I lowered my head and slowly started counting forwards to engage my brain on some level. I didn't even get to ninety, when a small ball of paper hit my neck. I looked up at the teacher for a moment, but she was still preoccupied by our foreign classmate, so I picked up the short message from the floor without a bother. "I hope your parents go to bed early, because I'm bringing booze," announced the crumpled-up letter.

What can I say, I was sweating buckets... My parents were never the ones to spoil anything fun, but even without them, I considered this idea far too scandalous. We were all minors in the first place, so it would have been not only illegal, but also dangerous to attempt such a thing. And why would we need it anyway?

Avoiding being noticed, as if just looking around, I turned to the side, to the direction I guessed the piece of paper had come from. Cavern grinned at me from the adjacent bench, then saluted me with his ruler. I firmly shook my head so that he wouldn't be too surprised when I explained to him in detail after class, how nonsensical his suggestion was. In any case, he could have trusted me, since I have already proven several times that I can indeed come up with meaningful and enjoyable programs...

However, since I was mulling over this, the ringing came almost completely unexpectedly. And I wasn't alone with that. "Oh, is it time already?" the teacher blinked in surprise towards the class. "Aww, I really wanted to let you go earlier today!"

I would have almost believed that... if she hadn't said it every single time during Friday classes. It didn't even elicit a tired snort out of me anymore, I just nudged Jasper's shoulder then I stood up quietly, took a meaningful look at Cavern, and took my bag on my back and headed outside. I stopped on the corridor by the stairs and waited for my friends there. I usually stayed in the hall until Jasper and Wish got ready, but this time I found it more practical to consult with my green-furred friend at a safe distance from our teacher.

Before that, however, there were others who couldn't resist stopping by me. First Dulcimer found me there, then a little later Ambrosia as well.

"Are you sure I shouldn't bring some extra snacks?" the red stallion asked with a worried expression.

"Nah, it's okay!" I smiled reassuringly. "We have enough prepared, but the pantry is stuffed, so we can put something together if we really need it."

By the time I waved goodbye to Dulci, the pink mare was already standing behind him, although to her credit, she patiently waited her turn. I wasn't so happy about her, to be honest, even if it wasn't really her fault. Talking to Ambrosia was quite tiring, since during the few months she spent here, her - otherwise quite tolerable - language skills did not improve at all, and she regularly had problems understanding things or expressing herself. I would have preferred not to invite her to the pajama party at all, but if I left her out - as the last member of the class -, it would at least cause a scandal, and I didn't dare to risk that. I could only hope that maybe we could laugh at the mare's clumsy choosing of her words, as there was not much else to do with her anyway.

"I am very thanks that I can come inside you!" Ambrosia said with grateful looks. "Will I come in at six?"

"Sounds perfect!" I grinned not without any malice into the mare's face.

"You are very good, Thread," she replied with naive cheerfulness, squinting kindly at me. "I am waiting the night." I nodded to her, then turned back to our classroom. Fortunately, the next one approaching was Cavern, so I was able to quickly pull him aside.

"Look, you weren't serious, were you?" I asked, leaning closer to him so that my voice, almost a whisper, could reach him.

"What? The booze? Oh, I was! Can't have a good party without it!"

I struck immediately. "You know what? Let me prove you wrong! No horsin' around, while you're at my place, okay?"

The green foal just waved me off, going his way. "Meh, partypooper... See you in the evening!"

"Promise me, please!" I caught his tail before he got away.

"I'm not insane, dude, chill!" He flashed a mischievous grin towards me.

Everypony else had already left, even our teacher, but there was still no sign of Jasper and Wish. I reluctantly went back to our classroom, after all, I preferred to stick to our usual routine. We walk to the Starswirl Dormitory, then after this small detour we turn back with Wish, and then we part ways in the street in front of the clock tower. Although not the easiest or shortest route, at least it included the daily walk, and we could spend a little more time together, now in an environment free from studying.

By the time I reached the door, my friends were already coming out, Jasper with a yawn so wide that a whole herd of cattle could fit in his mouth. Next to him, Wish rolled her eyes unamused. When she saw me, she did smile a little, although she was clearly not in the best mood. For some reason, I immediately associated this with the fact that she definitely doesn't want to come to my party, she just doesn't dare to say it, but it didn't even cross my mind to tell her. I knew this would also be her first pajama party, and I decided that whether she liked it or not, I would make it memorable for her - of course only in a good way. If I let her back down, I would only take away from her the possibility of another shared experience.

"Are you sure it won't be a problem if so many of us come to you?" she asked, to my surprise, when we were already walking down the stairs.

"No way!" I protested immediately. "Why would it be?"

"There will be many of us, foals, loud, things like that..." she said, not even looking at me, just slowly swinging her head. "We disturb your parents, your neighbors, we need supervision, we make a mess, we take up too much place, we eat your food..." she listed off.

"Oh, come on!" I snickered. "We'll survive somehow! Don't you worry, we wouldn't have invited you if it would be a problem!" I added, seeing her growing confusion.

"Well, okay, if you say so..." she said without much conviction, still avoiding my gaze.

"So, what 'bout the programs?" Jasper interjected, seemingly still in a half-asleep state.

"All surprise," I replied mysteriously.

"Should I bring somethin' with me?" he asked the question that I've already clarified to everypony - to him as well.

"Pyjamas, toothbrush and towel," I sighed. "And a sleeping bag if you're uncomfortable with a mattress, but last time we talked about it, you said you're good. Everything else is on the company.

"What company?" he blinked at me with slightly unfocused eyes.

"Us! What, only you're allowed to tell shitty jokes?"

"Oh, go to heck...!" he said as if I've offended him, but I saw the smile in the corner of his mouth.

Since he was already awake, he suddenly became an order of magnitude better conversational partner, and the few minutes until we got to the dormitory almost flew by. Since I still had some work to do at home, this time I didn't let us stop in front of the building, instead we did a quick turn-tail with Wish. However, as soon as we were alone, it became apparent that the girl was even quieter than usual, and I saw it on her face that she was deep in thought. I tried to gently nudge her to see if there was anything wrong with her, but all I achieved was that she sped up a bit, as if it was bothersome to talk to me.

"Trust me, it'll be fun!" I said in hope that it may brighten her mood a bit. "I'll make sure nopony feels down."

"Okay," she answered, facing forward, and increasing our already uncomfortable pace.

"We'll have a good time, I promise!" I persisted, although I wasn't convinced that she was afraid of the party. But I was like, maybe she'll stop and tell me what's on her mind. "I attended one before, so I know what I'm doing."

"No doubts here," she replied after a short pause, but her voice was still devoid of emotions.

"Then what...?"

"Look, Thread..." The filly suddenly stopped, and as I turned, she finally looked me in the eyes. She even smiled faintly, although I got the feeling that she was just trying to calm me down. "You don't have to always look for the reason for everything. This is one of those days. I'm tired. I'll go home and rest a bit. And you don't have to worry, I promised I'd go. It will be nice for sure. I just have to prepare myself mentally."

"Okay, then," I nodded. "Have a nice rest! We'll be waiting for you!"

"Bye, Thread!" She hugged me for a moment, but then she decisively trotted away as if she just wanted me to know, she needed some time alone.

I stared at her receding form for a while. She was sometimes hidden from me by passers-by, but she caught my eye again and again. Like a log floating against the tide in the river. Like so many times, it occurred to me that I could maybe follow her without her knowing, because even though we had known each other for months and always came home from school together, she never once allowed me to accompany her home. I didn't even know exactly where she lived, and since she didn't talk about it much, it always was somewhat of a mystery to me. However, she pointedly asked us earlier not to go with her, and we respected her wishes. I figured she must have had a good reason to be "secretive", so I didn't ask, and neither did Jasper. It certainly wasn’t worth it to make her angry with us - that is, knowing her more precisely, the correct term would have been to hurt her feelings. Even now, I just tried to push the thought away from me, so as not to fall for the temptation. I still had enough on my plate before the party.

* * *

One can never prepare thoroughly enough for this kind of party, but it made me a bit uncomfortable when my first classmate showed up a good half an hour before the scheduled time. When the bell rang, at first, I thought it was a postpony or something like that, and it only occurred to me afterwards that it would have been too late for them anyway. And it was even more suspicious when my father opened the door and immediately called me over.

As it turned out, Stella was the early bird. I almost asked her if she knew the clock, but the girl was so enchanted as she looked around our little garden, I immediately aborted the idea. She certainly didn't mean to be impolite, she could simply have been lost in her thoughts, and it wouldn't have helped any of us if I received her in such a jerk way. I can only imagine how nicely I would have set the mood... Instead, I invited her in with a big smile. Actually, I was just trying, as she was unperturbed looking at the side of our house from behind her glasses, not even noticing that I was waving at her.

"Hi, Stella!" I greeted her, looking for a bit of progression. "Is it only you?"

"Ivy is a very useful plant," said the mare to the wall, not moving from our doormat. "It likes light and shade at the same time."

"Yeah, and it looks nice as well," I shrugged. "It was no accident that we let it run up the side of the house. Would you like to come in, maybe?"

"I would," the girl answered, finally meeting my eyes, though she still didn't move an inch.

"Come on in, then!" I invited her, when it was beginning to become annoying that she was staring at my face. She started so suddenly, I rather jumped out of her way, but then she stopped just as unexpectedly after a few steps, in the middle of the hall, and I almost bumped into her rump.

"Hi!" Stella greeted my mom as she came across.

"Why, hello there!" she smiled, waving a hoof towards the living room. "You must be Stella! Please, feel yourself at home! Thread will show you around."

For the time being, I did not consider it expedient, since I concluded that then I would have to show everything to everypony one by one. Stella, on the other hoof, looked at me expectantly, so I was forced to meet the demands. I sighed imperceptibly, then began our tour around the room.

"So, since there will be many of us, we will primarily be here," I pointed around. "We wouldn't fit that many in my room anyway, and here if we pull the table aside, we can even sleep. Of course, you don't have to be confined to such a small place, and I don't know how sleepy we'll get, because I have a lot of..."

"Next to the fish?" the filly asked from somewhere behind my back.

I didn't notice when I left her behind, although I didn't even try to pay attention to such a thing for such a fleeting time. I only had time to take a few steps, but Stella was already hanging around on the other side of the room, waving her saddlebag with her horn next to our aquarium.

"Well... okay, sure, it'll do, but then again you'd better put it in front of their table so it doesn't knock it over, or whatever. So, we will be here for the most part, and if the evening is not too cold, we can also go up to the attic. We could light a candle, it will be so cozy! The bathroom is here on the ground floor, my room is upstairs if you want to visit it too..."

I sent her an uncertain look, but she was calmly examining one of our floor lamps, and even though her neck was fully stretched, this time she kept up with me. "So, this is the bathroom," I opened the door to the small room before we passed it.

Without hesitation, Stella stepped onto the previously polished marble, with her head tilted to the side, she examined herself carefully in the mirror above the faucet, then without any transition she knelt down on her front legs and sniffed into the drain. I had the unpleasant feeling that she was inspecting us, although she had never shown that she was so whimsical about stuff like this - at least not at school.

"What are you using?" she asked before I could collect my thoughts.

"What do you mean?" I asked a bit stunned.

"Ours always gets moldy," she answered, plastering her ear to the metal. "It's doesn't smell, but that would be still better."

"Uhm... you should really ask my mother instead..."

"You have neat toothbrushes," she stated as she gets back to all fours.

"Thanks?" It was more of a question as I was not sure I could take something like this as a compliment. "I suppose, there's nothing special about them."

"Exactly," she said looking dead into my eyes.

Now I'm wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or if she's just saying out loud whatever comes to mind, as was her habit. Of course, I have been with her this way many times, so I tried not to ponder too much on it.

"Okay, I'll show you my room if you're interested..."

We got upstairs, then I let her in through the very first door. I was just a little embarrassed, even though other than close relatives rarely paid any attention to my little private nook. The usual mess had to be removed, so the place was looking quite acceptable, otherwise I had nothing to hide, we simply rarely invited ponies, especially in this part of the house. The last time I had somepony here was maybe my cousin from Baltimare, but that was about two years ago...

"You like pegasi?" Stella asked me the next unexpected question, barely a few seconds after we entered. Luckily, I didn't have to work hard to figure out what she meant, as she climbed onto my bed without any hesitation and almost pressed her nose against the Wonderbolts poster above it. "Original autograph?" she added a little louder, which was basically the definition of shouting by her book.

"That's right!" I was grinning like I was going crazy: she immediately found the one thing I was the proudest of. "I got it signed with all of them myself, at the Grand Galloping Gala last year! Most ponies only got one after their grand performance, but I won this beauty in a raffle! I don't even know if anypony else has one like this... Typhoon Wing invited me into their lounge and they all gave me autographs. Mare, what a day it was!"

"You were at their competitions as well?" Stella reared up on my bed so that she could look at the pictures higher up.

I would never have guessed that she would be so interested in sports, after all, such a thing had never come up before. Her enthusiasm also surprised me, since aerobatics had significantly fewer fans among the earth-bound ponies. Although that wouldn't have been the strangest thing I learned about Stella.

"Not as much as I'd prefer." I levitated a heavy album from my bookshelf, in which I stored photos, postcards and the like related to Wonderbolts. "But if you want, I will gladly show you my little collection."

She immediately flopped to her belly and patted my pillow to make me lie my stuff there. I was extremely happy that I managed to find something to do to pass the time until everypony else arrives. I lay down comfortably next to her, and we took turns, assessing each other's knowledge about the famous team, and of course about a few others we knew as well.

We didn't even notice when the next guest knocked. Mom had to shout for us to come down, but from then on, for the sake of simplicity, we stayed downstairs and gathered there. Jasper ran in after Stella, followed by Wish at exactly six o'clock. The rest were all late, but the four of us had such an engaging conversation, I didn't even bother to look at the time.

It only became apparent that we were all together when Stella was kind enough to draw my attention to this fact. I didn't want to make too much of a fuss about it, but I had to start somehow, so I got up and cleared my throat. It felt so nice when they all turned to me.

"Well, my friends! Thank you all for coming! I see that everypony is sufficiently equipped. We shall be mostly here; the whole living room is ours until morning. First of all, I have a special little board game that can be played by many ponies. I hope nopony had dinner because somepony has to destroy all this delicious goodness we prepared! I think we should change our clothes before we get down to business, so we don't need to waste time with it later!"

They obeyed without any objection. We boys marched up to my room while the girls used the bathroom as they could fit in there too. We were done soon, but before we could even start heading back, I simply had to ask Jasper about his outfit.

"Listen, won't you get cold in just a pair of boxers?" I asked cautiously. "I know it was enough at the freshpony camp, but it's almost winter... We don't like to heat the house too much."

"He just wants to impress the girls" Cavern snickered.

Jasper just waved us off with a hoof. "Nah, Thread, never fear! Even in the dorm, I lie by the window and I don't let them turn up the heat!"

"Okay, then! Just saying."

I checked each of their outfits once more, but found nothing else to complain about. I wasn't even surprised that Scorch was wearing thick, jet-black pajamas with some stupid writing on them - I expected something like that from him. Cavern wore a fluffy knitted hoodie, Dulci and Lotus wore socks made of similar material, so we were also prepared for the "raging frost" outside. With this, at least, we evoked a pleasant, warm atmosphere, which will be finalized by the crackling fire in the fireplace and the cookies.

The girls were already waiting for us downstairs. When I saw Stella, I almost laughed. It wasn't just that she put on a disproportionately large nightcap, but she even managed to pull it on her horn... Wish and Ambrosia were sitting on the two sides of the couch, but the former was holding her posture so tightly, as if she had been ordered not to move. Let's just say I was a bit surprised that they were both wearing nightgowns - I would have thought it was too loose, even if it wasn't cool in here. My father took a seat between them with a large tray of pretzels so that he could present it to them more effectively, although I did catch him sneaking a good portion into his own mouth.

"I mean it, feel free to take some!" he tried to encourage Wish with his mouth full, but he only gets a gently shake of her head.

"Not yet, thank you very much..." she said, her voice surprisingly thin even from her.

"Daddy, would you bring out your game?" I asked him.

"Of course, Thread!" he replied with a broad grin.

He pushed the tray into Wish's hooves, not noticing that she had to use her magic to balance the metal, and was already jumping towards their own bedroom. He soon returned with a large roll of paper and a neat wooden box containing other accessories for the game. While my dad rolled out the track, Jasper peeked into the box curiously.

"Hey, I think I know this one!" he shouted, levitating out a few pony-shaped, colored pieces.

"Not this specific one, I'm sure," my dad smiled mischievously. "Maybe something alike, but this one is made by little old me! The pieces are not my best work, though... I'm not particularly good with shaping metals..."

"Did you really make this?" Jasper marveled when he saw the detailed hoof-drawn map.

"Nice, huh?" I stood next to my father. "It took him almost a whole year!"

"But only because you helped," he caught me with his hooves and ruffled my mane while using his magic to prevent the track from rolling up. "Without you I'd be still in the planning phase."

"He's lying, I didn't do anything!"

I tried my best to escape from the bear hug. In return, my father tickled my side, as a result of which I soon fell to the ground, and I kicked, giggling and whimpering, trying to get rid of the insidious and no less embarrassing attack... alas, it was in vain. It would have been impossible for me to keep up the poker face I was using at school here, back at home. In the company of my parents, I was a completely different pony than usual, I couldn't do anything about it.

Probably, my dad could also see that it can be quite cheesy to harass me in front of my friends, because he let me go and petted my head. "What's the point of designing a game if you don't have anypony to enjoy it? It was you who kept pestering me to get this over with, you little scoundrel!"

"Okay, okay, it was all me!" I grinned. "Let's just tell them at least the basic rules, because there are quite a few! I'll deal with the other stuff."

None of the tasks were easy, but I deliberately left the more difficult one to him. If he invented it all, let him present the rules he created himself - nopony could know better than him anyway. Not to mention that even though the "board" looked somewhat like a traditional board game, there was more to it than meets the eye. The most striking difference was that there was not only one walkable path in it, but it branched almost like a labyrinth, and there were many ways to reach the goal. The fun part was not just the fact that shorter routes were always riskier, or downright more dangerous than long ones, but that it wasn't enough to just cross the finish line, you had to pick up a lot of things on the way there. Magic items, weapons, and crystals could be collected in different ways, which were needed to defeat dragons and other monsters. Then, if the player managed to obtain a sufficient number and value of treasure from the beasts, they could set off for the enchanted forest and the swamp, in order to finally free the princess from the heavily guarded castle prison - or, optionally for the mares, the imprisoned prince.

Yes, it was quite complicated already, and it didn't end quickly even with only a few players and there was no strict limitation regarding the number of ponies playing. You could easily spend an entire evening with it, and needless to say, we used to have a great time with it when all three of us were at home, and we felt like it. I definitely wanted to try it once with a bigger team, but it seemed that I miscalculated it a bit, because just while listening to the rules, a few ponies already waved the white flag. I did expect our foreign classmate that she wouldn't understand the whole affair, and the mare actually refused the opportunity with this exact reason. Dulci and Wish surprised me a bit more. Even though they both claimed that there were simply too many of us already, it became apparent that the stallion had been eyeing our small piano since his arrival, which was placed in the corner of the living room, covered with a white fabric. Not long after we started the game he carefully asked if he could try it, and then he provided us with some pleasant background music with a couple of easy-to-play songs. However, it wasn't that easy to see what was going on in Wish's mind. Together with Ambrosia, they inserted themselves among us and quietly but enthusiastically spectated the match.

All in all, everypony had a really great time - even those who were just watching, as there were a lot of extra surprises and fun tasks hidden on the board - in the end, we didn't even wait for somepony to reach the finish line. It would have taken too much time, and I didn't want it to be at the expense of other programs, nor did I feel that my companions really had the patience to play with so many ponies. So, we made a shorter version of the game by mutual agreement. It was a bit of a last minute decision, but we agreed that the pony who defeats the last monster will be the winner. So suddenly Scorch won the whole thing and got all the princesses as a reward...

Of course, they went neck and neck with Jasper all the way, and often even jumped at the dragons with less preparation, and I just smiled at them, knowing that my collecting strategy would show its true strength when we have to fight our way through the more difficult areas. I thought we'd see how many times they would be forced to pass a turn when they got stuck in the swamp, but in the end, we didn't get there. It was also somewhat worrying though that Stella, who was trotting a few steps ahead of me, for some reason had accumulated a significant amount of traps, which, although it would not help her in getting ahead, could have put Cavern and me in a rather unfavorable position...

Anyway, in the end, we had a winner and we had fun. My father, as a good game master, was with us from the beginning and patiently explained the more uncertain rules, and of course helped everypony. However, as soon as we finished, he neatly packed up by himself, then left us to ourselves with a cryptic smile. My mom kept around us a bit more: she replaced the snacks and cookies that were devoured during the game, she quickly arranged everything in the room, and then she also left for their bedroom on the ground floor, saying that we should let them know if we needed anything.

We didn't even set a separate time for dinner, instead we just kept nibbling on the delicacies on display. This made my job a bit more difficult as I wanted to treat the company to something very special, which needed to be freshly prepared, but I needed more time for that than I could have asked for within the bounds of politeness. However, as a couple of them insisted that the next game should be "pin the tail on the pony" - after all, there is no good party without it, even if I personally disliked it - I quickly excused myself and headed for the kitchen.

My parents helped me with my little "stunt" as much as they could, which mainly consisted of preparing everything I could possibly need. Just to be safe, I examined all the syrups, fruits and soft drinks lined up on the table, then, satisfied with what I saw, I levitated from the cupboard the stemmed glasses. But before I could even begin, I felt an irresistible urge to look behind me.

My intuition was right, Wish was standing at the door, watching me. I couldn't tell from her expression what she might want, but she didn't exactly look overjoyed. "And you...?" she preceded me with the question, smiling slightly as our eyes met.

"I'm just putting together a few cocktails."

"Can I help?" Without waiting for an answer, she already came closer to me going around the table where I planned to collect my equipment.

"You don't enjoy the party?" I answered with a question of my own, so that she couldn't dodge it.

"I do."

She said like it could have easily been a straight up "no". She stood next to me, grabbed the edge of the table with her front hooves, and curiously sniffed one of the syrup bottles. Her face twitched for a moment from the intense scent, then when she slowly inhaled the air with her eyes closed, as she apparently got used to it.

"Would you show me please, how it's done?" she asked quietly.

I winked at her and pulled one of the empty glasses in front of me. I magically lifted a bottle of syrup and poured just enough of it into the bottom of the glass to cover it. I grabbed a nice, ripe orange, vigorously squeezed the juice out of it with a juicer then very carefully poured it over the thin, viscous liquid layer. With a low hiss, I opened a bottle of carbonated soft drink, and even more carefully than the previous one, I poured a portion of this as well. Resting my chin on the table, I was pleased to note that I had done well: the three layers were perfectly separated from each other. Only the bubbles popped occasionally at the top.

It was time to use my spell that I had learned just for this purpose. It wasn't easy; I had to practice a lot, but the end result spoke for itself. I concentrated hard and my horn glowed as I reached inside the liquids with my magic. The line between the three juices of different colors and properties became more and more blurred, and as soon as I twisted them, they penetrated each other, arranged in long, colorful bands, perfectly visible even through the glass.

"Oh, wow!" she whispered, completely stunned. "How did you do that?"

I wanted to answer, but I was still too distracted by the spell. It had to be stabilized with a few small internal bindings and a liquid bridge that also appeared on a physical level, otherwise the system would have disintegrated by itself, but that was the simpler part of the operation.

"I'm just fooling around with surface tension a bit," I said with a smirk as I felt safe to let go of my creation.

Although I was far from finished, from here it was an easy task. I took the whipped cream out of the fridge and pressed a snug little crown on top of the finished cocktail. I sprinkled it with a little cocoa powder, stuck two rolettis in it, and placed a frozen cherry on top. As a final touch, I used my horn to cool it down to a temperature that wouldn't quite freeze - which also helped a bit keeping it from mixing, by the way - and then proudly showed off my work to Wish.

"You can have the first one," I added, curiously watching her reaction.

"Thank you, Thread!" she blinked in embarrassment, as she gingerly lifted the glass with her magic, as if she was afraid she might break it. "I see you don't actually need my help, after all.

She floated the cocktail closer to herself and stuck her tongue out a little and licked the foam. She rolled her tongue around her mouth softly, savoring the small sample - although in my opinion the visual experience might have dominated in this way - and then she looked at me with a puzzled expression, clearly wondering why I was laughing at her. I couldn't help it, she was simply indescribably cute with a tiny bit of foam on her snout... And the little "incident" definitely was slightly useful that after I wiped the little mare's nose, it occurred to me that maybe it wouldn't hurt to add a couple of straws to the drinks. Wish, however, didn't look like she would give it another shot, even though I wouldn't have minded if somepony tested it before I presented it to the "general public".

"Just a single gulp?" I offered, while I was already working on the second cocktail.

"It looks amazing, but I'd rather do it with the others," she apologized with a blush. "I really don't mean to be pushy."

"Whatever floats you boat..." I murmured as I was momentarily paying more attention to making the layers just right. "So, then, if I ask you nicely, would you please tell me what's the problem? I don't want anypony feeling bad on my party..."

She took her sweet time answering, I almost finished another drink, but I tried to be patient. I didn't want her to think I was trying to force her. However, she did not give in so easily.

"I'm fine, thanks," she said, though not with remotely enough confidence to convince me.

"You're showing it in a very particular way, you know?"

She remained quiet this time. I don't know if she was planning to say anything, but I didn't wait it out.

"Any problems at home?" I tried to sound casual as I mixed some shredded coconut into the cocktail's components. We needed some of these as well, it would have been a mistake not to try it out.

"No," she answered firmly. Maybe a little too firmly as I thought in hindsight. "Why do you assume?"

She crossed her front legs on the table in front of her and rested her chin on them. She floated a large apple in front of her, and using only her magic, she began to peel the skin. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her shoulders slowly rise under her nightgown and then sink back, but no matter how hard I tried, I didn't hear her sigh, although it was probably because of the noises coming from the living room.

"I was just thinking, and you're not used to be like this and I don't see the reason," I answered, choosing my words carefully.

"Then you can relax: back home, everything is exactly the same as it was at any given time in the last few years," she said in an emotionless voice. "Maybe the only thing that frustrates me is that I don't like being a burden on others."

"But we already talked about it!" I looked at her in surprise. "I'm glad that you came!"

She didn't return my gaze. She gingerly peeled the fruit she had chosen, then gently placed it on a tray. She looked into my eyes for a second, but then lowered them and shook her head a little.

"I was afraid that this would happen," she sighed.

"What, Wish?"

She looked more and more anxious: she flapped her ears, pulled her tail under herself, and absent-mindedly poked at the wooden board in front of her with one hoof. I had to do something, so I stepped next to her and hugged her shoulder gently. I thought she was going to cry or something, but when she spoke again, her voice sounded much more demanding.

"I knew they would be loud and wouldn't be able to behave normally," she muttered sullenly. "I could have guessed that they have no idea how to act like cultured guests. I can just hope your parents aren't too angry..."

"Aw, come on!" I let her go and patted her hoof on the table. "They know what foals are like. They've got me, after all!"

"That's why they moved away, huh?" she snorted in irritation. "I'm not surprised they got fed up with us."

"No way!" I protested. "It's not about that! They just let us play in peace."

"Yeah, it looked like that, alright..." By the sound of it, she was thinking the exact opposite.

I gave one more shot convincing her. "They both like a little bustle every now and then. The whole place gets a little livelier. And, as you saw, my father loves to play."

"Well... that's not very... mature..." she remarked.

"Why, you never used to play with your parents?"

She leaned back on the table and floated another apple in front of her with her horn, and peeled it slowly, keeping her eyes fixed on it the whole time. When she was done, she gently placed it next to the other, and only then did she answer.

"I do."

She looked over the cocktails and empty glasses, then turned to me questioningly, as if she didn't understand why I was just standing next to her instead of doing my job. I thought it better not to push the issue any further, so I continued making the drinks in silence, sometimes using the fruits that the filly had peeled.

* * *

We worked much quicker without talking, but just before I finished the last one, we were interrupted. At first, only the laughter increased noticeably, then as I looked up, I saw Ambrosia stumbling towards us blindfolded. The rest of our class followed not too closely behind, openly laughing at the mare. Grinning wide, Jasper raised his hoof to his own mouth, motioning for us to be quiet - not that we were making much noise anyway.

"Are you sure this is the way?" Ambrosia asked, uncertainly waving around with the ponytail held in her hoof.

"Of course!" Cavern snickered. "Just go straight on!"

The filly listened to him and continued towards us. There was a good chance that she would have knocked the table off, if Wish and I didn't pull it away from her at the last moment - of course, making sure that it didn't scratch the floor while we lifted it up with our magic. Ambrosia walked between us, then felt the kitchen wall and pushed the nail into it with a firm movement.

She was rewarded with a raucous laughter, and curiously she lifted the cloth off herself, perking up her ears. She even took a step back, so surprised at what she had gotten herself into, but then she too joined the laughing.

"What a sucker!" Scorch snorted. "She even swallowed! It didn't even occur to her how much she had to walk..."

"What is a sucker?" Ambrosia asked innocently.

Dulci, who stopped poking our piano in the meantime, tried to soften the blow. "Only that you believed us easily."

"It is right," she agreed immediately. "This cover was covering good, I didn't see nothing."

"And why were y'all out here hidin'?" The point-blank question came from none other than Jasper.

"Smooching for sure," Lotus replied, before we even had the chance to think.

I didn't get it how he came to such a conclusion, but it is certain that in the blink of an eye we became the center of attention. Even though we didn't do anything like that, the blood immediately rushed to my ears, and although I was careful not to show my confusion on my face - that would have only made me more suspicious - I didn't look at Wish to be safe.

"We were making a surprise for you, you just came early," I said, forcing myself to calm down. "It's right here on the table. You can choose plain, coconut or cinnamon. So, here you go, I'll make one more for myself while you try them out."

"Cool!" Lotus exclaimed, choosing a random glass.

"Yeah, it is, you can even see the steam condensing," Jasper piped in. "Which ones are with coconut?"

"Those," I pointed out.

Scorch on the other hoof was examining the drinks with utter repugnance. "Sweet Celestia! Look how they look like! There's no way I'm putting this into my mouth...!"

"Why, what do you think a cocktail should be like?" I inquired kindly, although it felt terrible that he treated my little thoughtfulness like that out of the blue, especially since I was doing it all for them.

"C'mon, it's hip!" Cavern came to my rescue. "Hey, you've got... you know... a little something-something in it?" he added almost whispering.

"What?"

I raised an eyebrow, but then I had a sneaking suspicion that he might have been referring some kind of alcohol. And this also reminded me that the foal had only half-heartedly promised not to bring such things to my party, and I forgot to check him on the way inside...

"No, there's nothing illegal in them, but they are quite tasty," I grumbled. "If somepony doesn't like it... there's the sink..."

I would have expected more enthusiasm from my friends, but I stopped trying. If they decide without tasting it, that's their loss. I don't care. I did my best...

But my little comment did the trick. They probably didn't want to hurt my feelings, so suddenly everypony got one of the drinks in their hooves or magic. I wasn't so interested in whether they were doing it out of politeness, I was confident enough that I managed to create something that would at least be liked by the majority. Their trust will come once they have tried it. Wish might have given them some encouragement too, as she took a sip of her cocktail with a low slurp as soon as she felt she had the permission, and the satisfied look on her face afterwards spoke for itself. Soon everypony - including Scorch - was enjoying their drinks.

"That was cool, alright!" Jasper clicked his tongue. "My throat is burnin'. But from now on, no skulkin' ya two! Especially ya, Thread, playin' the host and all!

"Sorry, it was necessary," I said with exaggerated remorse. "If for no other reason, then because we need a bottle for this next game. Come on, ponies!"

I used my magic to pick up one of the empty syrup bottles, rinsed it with water a little so we wouldn't make the whole house sticky, and then we went back to the other room. I stood in the middle and decidedly placed the bottle I had brought with me on the carpet, then instructed the others to form a circle.

"I wonder how many of you know this game," I started. "I know it by the name "Truth or Dare" and I think it can be very entertaining. It is also said to be excellent for getting to know each other from a different perspective. The point is, you have to spin the bottle, and whoever the end turns to, has to choose whether to answer a question or complete a task. You can ask anything, you have to answer it truthfully, and no matter how embarrassing or funny the task is, you have to do it. I spin it first, and anypony can ask from the "victim".

"Shouldn't the one spinning ask?" Jasper piped in.

"Yeah, otherwise it is so, it's only for the first turn to make things smoother. Last time I played this, we did it like this, anyway. So, you ready? Here I go!"

I reached out with one hoof and kicked the glass. I watched curiously to see who it would pick, and I smiled when Stella became the first lucky one - I was quite sure that it would not be easy. On the other hoof, I strongly hoped that somepony else would take the burden of asking questions or assigning tasks off my shoulders, since nothing interesting came to mind about her right then. Or maybe, if she chooses dare, maybe I could make her recreate my favorite choreography from the Wonderbolts... I mean, I'd watch her try to do it on the ground...

"Truth," she declared with unwavering tranquility.

"Does anypony has a good question to Stella?" I tried to prevent that this noble quest sticks to me.

"Have you ever seen a comb?" Cavern asked a bit spitefully.

"I have, but I look silly with a straight mane because I have two bold spots on my head here and here," the mare showed us with her hoof.

It was a bit surprising that she shared such unpleasant information with us so easily, even though she could have gotten away with it easily, had she taken the question literally. The green stallion also stared at her in shock, but Stella impassively leaned forward and tapped the bottle. Soon the new candidate was chosen: Jasper, who, seeing that the mouth of the bottle was pointing at him, jumped energetically on his hind legs in his boxers and flailing his hooves back and forth in a mock-martial arts style.

"Yeehaw! Just say it, milady, I can do anythin'! Nothing is impossible! Only findin' an impossible thing is impossible!"

"Lick one of your hind hooves!" Stella said, still perfectly peacefully.

"This was supposed to be a challenge?" my friend snorted. "Sure, ya don't want me to do somethin' actually hard?"

"Just do it!"

Jasper dropped back to all fours, then craned his neck back and raised his hind hoof. He stretched and strained, but he just couldn't connect one to another. Also, once he got to the point of biting his own leg just a tad higher up, when he managed to bend it properly, thus momentarily stabilizing himself, he stuck out his tongue sideways, but in the next moment he lost his balance and simply fell over like a piece of wood. After that, however, he tried to pull his hind hoof to himself with his front legs, in a terribly clumsy twisted position, in which his tongue was still sticking out. It was such a bizarre sight that we wouldn't have been able to stop laughing even if Princess Celestia had charged it with tax. In the end, the foal's efforts paid off, and he could revel in the well-deserved applause.

"Ya made me work for it, that's for sure!" Jasper panted while he reached for the bottle. "But now's the time for my revenge!"

He spun it a bit too forcefully so we had to wait a relatively long time, but then it stopped at Wish. The mare's smile became forced in a single moment, and she flashed her eyes at me. "Dare!" she blurted out with remarkable confidence compared to her usual self.

"Hah! I was hopin' ya'd say that!" Jasper grinned. "Let's get down to business, and kiss Thread on the mouth!"

The stallion's unexpected move was followed by loud hooting. Wish turned pale first, then she lowered her head, now turning beet-red up to the ears and stared at the glass in front of her as if she wanted to erase its mere existence from the universe. My heart rate doubled as well, but - perhaps thanks to the sudden panic that hit me - I immediately found an assailable point in the task.

"Hey, that's cheating!" I tried to save ourselves. "It is not within the rules that you can make me do anything!"

"Nah, ya don't need to do anythin'," Jasper shrugged. "Come on, just show us, how ya'all were doin' it!"

"We didn't do anything!" I protested... in vain.

"Rules are rules, let's get smoochin'!"

"You're an ass, Jasper..."

"I know!" he grinned.

Devastated, Wish got up from the ground and, bypassing our classmates, slowly came to me. She sat down on the carpet across from me, looked deeply into my eyes with her ears folding back, and then moved even closer. She was breathing so heavily, I could feel the air ruffling my hair even from a relatively decent distance, but she didn't back down. She leaned towards me a little, then immediately pulled back, as if she didn't dare to touch me. I wanted to help her, but I couldn't even stretch my neck - I was completely paralyzed by the knowledge that she was actually planning to do it. My dear classmates obviously tried to do everything they could to "make it easier" for us, and now they were hooting with a volume that would put a flock of owls to shame.

I could already sense the sweet smell of the cocktail I made from Wish's breath. I couldn't bear watching as she slowly, sometimes backing away a bit, but still unstoppably approached me, so I closed my eyes instead. As strange as it may sound, I was afraid. Not from her, from this sweet, innocent little mare, who, to my complete astonishment, accepted her task without any real objection. In fact, I can't even say exactly what I was afraid of. Maybe from the unknown. Maybe because that's not how I imagined my first kiss. I wanted it to be an intimate experience with my future love in private place, hidden from the whole world. This was forced upon both of us, and we had to consciously bridge the distance between two ponies of a few steps, yet seemingly miles, in the crossfire of our classmates’ stares.

I felt a strange, soft, wet, cool touch on my lips. I clamped my jaw shut just to be safe. I forced myself not to open my eyes. It only lasted a second, and then she moved away from me. I heard the whistling and laughing, but now I looked up anyway. Wish backed down to her previous place with her ears down, then, completely avoiding my gaze, spun the bottle.

"That was it?" Cavern grumbled indignantly. "That wasn't even a real kiss!"

"Chill, dude, that was OK!" Jasper waved him off. "Right, Wish? Did you enjoy it?"

The little mare didn't answer, just stared straight ahead. She only looked up when we got our next applicant. "Well, Cavern?" she asked in a noticeably wavering voice.

I was beginning to seriously worry that the girl doesn't like the party at all anymore and is only here out of necessity. I was sure she wouldn't say anything even if she was suffering, that's why I promised to myself, that I will make sure that she returns home with pleasant memories and this whole affair won't leave a bad taste in her mouth - what a stupid thought after a kiss.

"Ask away, filly!" the stallion pushed himself up to a sitting position.

"Have you ever got a fillyfriend?" she obeyed, successfully surprising me again. I thought she was going to be actively avoiding anything related to this topic.

"Of course, I have!" Cavern replied without thinking. "In my previous school there was a filly and we were together for two months, but it didn't work out between us."

"You don't seem to be dejected..."

"Eh, we didn't fit together," he waved dismissingly. "It was anything but serious. She was too immature for my taste."

"So, she didn't want to hold hooves with you?" Lotus asked, raising an eyebrow.

I was happy that the company was finally hooting because of somepony else, and I gladly joined them in laughing at the joke - that was until Cavern's reaction.

"You hit the nail on the head, bro!" he said, and they performed such a flawless hoofbump, it was joy to watch. And I was just wondering if these ponies were for real... Scandalous!

The bottle spun again, and this time it stopped at Lotus.

"Choose 'dare', big guy!" Cavern rubbed his hooves together.

"Dare!" Lotus shrugged.

Cavern got up with a sly smile and reached into his own pack. Soon he returned with a suspicious-looking metal flask and handed it to the stallion. "Take a sip of this!"

"It isn't...?" I tried to ask, but before I could finish, Lotus unscrewed the cap and vigorously sipped the flask.

"Uhh!" he added, then he gave the rest back.

"Darn it, you drank almost half of it!" Cavern shake it unbelievingly.

"Yeah, that water was a tad spicy," Lotus said innocently.

"You idiot, it was the hardest...!"

"Cavern, didn't I ask you not to bring any... alcohol?" I only dared to whisper the last word, and I also cautiously glanced towards my parents' bedroom. Fortunately, there was no sign of that they had heard anything, but I didn't dare to risk it.

Nopony else seemed to be bothered much. The green stallion just shrugged carelessly, then on the basis of "it doesn't matter anyway" he took a big gulp out of the flask and then put the thing back in his bag. By the time he got back, the spinning glass had already chosen its next victim: Stella... again.

"Truth," she said with her usual calmness.

"Actually, it doesn't matter which you'd choose," Lotus stated. "The question is, would you let me kiss you?"

"Why?" the mare asked with a slightly tilted head.

"That's not the point," the stallion said, matching her nonchalance. "Yes, or no? I would like to try it."

"You'd put your tongue into my mouth?" she asked with almost indecent openness.

"Yeah, it would mainly consist of that."

"Fine by me," the filly nodded, then she sat up to her hind hooves and waited him with closed eyes and partially opened mouth.

Strange, I didn't exactly remember like this of this game. The last time I participated in something alike, it wasn't so much about kissing and stuff, but we still had a lot of fun. In this form, the whole thing was rather confusing, although I must add that my companions clearly enjoyed the program and - as it clearly showed - they were quite willing to participate. Even after one or two tasks that seemed cheesier, their enthusiasm did not wane, even though I was a little afraid of what they would want to make me do.

However, I must say, it was fun to watch how Lotus delicately lifted Stella's glasses, then hugged her head and pulled her close and made a spectacle of kissing her. Especially since she was game and just let herself go. And when the stallion finished, she licked her mouth with her eyes still shut, and then she reached for the bottle as if nothing happened.

"Your turn, Thread," she said plainly.

Yeah, I was a bit out of it... I didn't even notice that the bottle was pointing at me.

"Truth."

"Is there a filly in the class, who hits your fancy?"

And there was I, thinking I could get away with a simple, silly question... It made me actually think about it. As it was, I have never payed attention to my classmates in this sense. Wish was weapon-grade cute, especially when she was wearing one of her little bows, but somehow her personality always got me better. She was shy and reserved among strangers, and at the same time informal but secretive among her friends... Why would I have paid attention to her appearance? She dressed, well... decently, but she didn't attract attention - in that respect she was just like me.

Then there was Ambrosia, the stranger, the mystical, the exotic... The first thing I thought about her was not what she looked like, but rather how annoying it was to talk to her, and how much every teacher took exception to her. It's true, as I looked at her now, I did see her noble elegance and the purity in her eyes. And of course, the questioner herself, Stella, also fell into the "filly" category, so I was forced to include her as well. She was always a bit odd, from the outside as well as from the inside, and even though I couldn't have gotten over it, if I had to imagine, like, dating her, I could say that I liked her appearance as a mare.

"The buck are ya thinkin' so much?" Jasper apparently got bored first. "Fire away!"

"Yes," I answered finally.

"And who?" came the next question from Cavern, as he was sending sly glances towards Wish.

"One question, one answer..." I folded my hooves in front of my chest.

"And ya said, I'm the ass!" Jasper snorted in mock offense. "Yer the one stubborn like a donkey!"

"There aren't many rules, but I follow them to the letter," I answered, flicking the bottle with my magic. And with that I decided that they wouldn't get anything out of me, I'd rather do any nonsense they might throw at me. If for no other reason, then because I wouldn't have been able to give an honest answer anyway...

I was somewhat disappointed to learn that I managed to roll out Ambrosia. I always followed Mr. Poltergeist's instructions and was always discreet towards the girl, but this game was all about violating such standards of politeness, so I managed to put myself in quite a pickle. And of course, looking into the mare's big, shiny eyes, I could only think of lewd things... If I ask for something very simple, which is not the least bit fun, the others would just see me as a coward.

"Truth," came her choice.

"Alright, then," I said, mostly to myself. "Have you ever cribbed before?"

The smile disappeared from Ambrosia's face, frightening me quite a bit, but luckily there seemed to be more contemplation than anger on her face. "I don't understand," she said finally.

I should have thought she was just being as tiring as ever. This is the eternal language barrier, which I somehow managed to stumble into all the time. I won't get away without an explanation now...

"So... what I meant was, like, have you ever cheated at a test, an exam, or anything like this."

"I don't do cheat!" she shook her long, flame-colored mane. "Cheat is big no-no!"

"Yeah, I know, but..." I tried to calm her down, but then I thought, there's not much I can do about it. "Eh, whatever. It's your turn..."

* * *

We entertained each other with this game for a longest time, until late at night. So much so that some of us actually fell asleep during it, and after that we suspended the questioning and retired to take a bath and brush our teeth. I have to add that for some it was an experience in itself, even though I didn't expect it at all. However, Wish was completely swooning over the corner tub and asked everypony to let her use the bathroom last, thus gaining some extra time during which she could take advantage of this little luxury. She said she loves to take bubble baths, but back home they only have such a big tub that she can't comfortably stretch her legs in it.

Of course, I was happy to say yes to her request, but it meant much more to me that she seemed to be in a better mood as the game progressed. I was seriously afraid that it would not be like this, since no matter how many times she was picked by the glass, she always immediately chose "dare", and our classmates weren't going easy on her. Luckily, we managed to agree that we wouldn't give the same task to the same pony twice, so she was exempted from further kissing, but I couldn't help her with the other inconveniences. I don't know what was the most embarrassing thing she had to do, but there was a good chance that it was when she had to carry Dulci around the room on her back - the stallion must have been at least twice her weight -, when she had to pull up her nightgown to show off her blank flank, or maybe when she had to thoroughly chew and consume a dead bug found in our garden - thanks to Scorch, by the way. By far, the roughest thing for me was that I had to climb onto our fence and shout into the night from there that "I am Princess of the Night!"

And all this silliness was definitely useful because we really got to know each other from a slightly different perspective. And not only on the basis of what we were forced to admit to each other with honest answers, but what tasks the other gave or what they were curious about also revealed a lot. And I won't even mention how good it was to finally lie down after the party and get a good night's sleep. And since everypony was settled so well in our living room, I didn't feel like spending the night alone either, so for the sake of a nice little camping atmosphere, I also brought down my pillow and blanket and snuggled in between Jasper and Wish.

Ch 5 - Smoke and light - or a birth of a bizarre idea

Author's Note

I'll be afk for the holidays... so here's a little extra update for this period!

Ch 5 - Smoke and light - or a birth of a bizarre idea

I remember the day that completely changed my life. Actually, nothing really special happened that day... As usual, my friends and I were overwhelmed with tasks, we made good progress according to our plans. Then suddenly that moment came. That fate-changing moment that... that I didn't attach too much importance to, when I found myself face to face with it...

There were still two years left until specialization, so we had plenty of time to choose from the subjects we liked. It's true, over time our timetable was also radically transformed and turned upside down. As Mr. Poltergeist predicted in our very first class, we were now expected to go to the various departments ourselves - at least in most cases - and listen to the lectures there. This also meant that, in order to reach the required number of students, several classes had to attend at the same time if the class was held by a professor, and of course the room made it possible. And although participation in such lectures was not mandatory, it wasn't a rare occurrence that more than a hundred of us gathered on these.

It was no different that day. Everypony was more excited than usual, as we had the honor of one of the Academy's emeritus professors, Vapor Yield, undertaking a lecture for all students. When I saw the announcement on the bulletin board, my eyes simply ran over it at first, as soon as I recognized the gray seal of the Department of Rune Magic on the paper. I thought, don't let them bother me again with their idiotic crisscrosses, to which I had about as much affinity as ninety-nine percent of my classmates: nothing. It was more than enough to suffer through the semester when the basics of rune magic had to be taken up as an introductory subject. I swear, I even wrote a petition to Mr. Poltergeist - in the spare time of a language lesson - to take it out of the compulsory classes. I must add though that I don't think he has even read it...

So, the point is, after I had successfully erased the existence of the announcement from the periphery of my consciousness, I ran into Jasper and Wish at the next turn of the stairs, who immediately set upon me to go together to the above-mentioned lecture. I didn't understand their enthusiasm, since as far as I knew they weren't particularly interested in non-traditional pony magic. The next moment, however, they pulled me back in front of the bulletin board so that I could see it with my own eyes and at least superficially read it. And the details really were important in this case, what's more, they decided everything. When I found the word "teleport" in the text stretching out like a thick wall in front of me, I had such an insidious grin spread across my face that I literally scared off a first grader who tried to slip between me and the wall.

From then on, there was no question whether we would go or not. The fact that we had previously promised Dulci that we would go to the performance of his favorite band on the scheduled day of the lecture could not hold us back either. At most, the two programs overlap a little, and we miss the beginning of the concert - heck, we won't hear the tuning - but we couldn't miss it! I've been waiting to learn about teleportation for as long as I can remember. And Professor Vapor was famous, almost infamous, for his experiments with magical relocation. He was considered the foremost authority on the subject throughout Equestria and beyond.

I happily announced the special lesson to our class, even though I guessed that not many ponies would share my interest. Dulci, Cavern and Lotus answered immediately that they certainly don't want to miss a single second of the concert for the sake of some gray maned magician, plus they made us promise that as soon as we finished, we would join them as well. Stella was a little reluctant, but then she too decided to go with the boys. Of course, I would have been surprised if she chose otherwise: my friend Lotus and she had been "officially" together for a year already, and even though they were an unusual couple at best, it was quite difficult to separate them from each other. Scorch was also very tempted by the concert, but regardless, he declared that he would definitely be sitting in the front row, alone. So, if we take it that way, I managed to "convince" only Ambrosia to the lecture, even though I targeted her the least.

We arrived in the conference room long before the start. It was also particularly gratifying that not the lecture hall of the department was chosen for the purpose, although they probably realized it themselves: it would be impossible to squeeze so many interested ponies into that small dusty hole. It wasn't the habit of mine, dressing up for lectures, but right then for some reason I thought up that I was going to sit in the class of the famous professor in a suit and tie. Let's give it a go this once - that's about all I had in mind, and afterwards I almost regretted my little idea. I didn't count on one thing, namely that somepony would actually notice my completely unusual outfit. Besides, for whom? Exactly those I'd rather avoid...

Jasper, showing exceptional self-control, did not make any remark regarding my appearance. I even got a few consolidated compliments from Wish and Ambrosia about how good I was looking, which felt really nice, but most of the attendants gave me strange, or downright hostile looks, while we moved between the rows of chairs looking for a suitable place.

"Would you look at that? Here comes the alpha-male!" a familiar voice of a mare rang from somewhere in the middle.

It didn't even occur to me that the sarcastic comment might apply to me, so I looked around unsuspectingly. Since I couldn't find a stallion that matched the label, I searched instead for the source of the sound. I soon discovered a small group of mares, all of whom I knew were of the same year as us. They were all looking at me, some were giggling, some gave me pitiful looks. I didn't really understand until I found the speaker among them.

The Violet-girl... I haven't seen her in a long time, but I wouldn't say I missed her. She was sitting there with such disgusting self-confidence, it would have felt so nice to just kick her in the face. I got in her way once, and only once, and it seems that she was holding a grudge ever since...

"Hi Thread!" she greeted me when she saw that I had noticed her. She stretched out a little and patted the back of the empty chair in front of her with a sweet smile. "Don't you feel like sitting here with your dear friends?"

Of course, this was exactly what I needed right now - to be laughed at the whole time... I tried to quickly come up with some not-so-spectacular excuse, even though I would have preferred to send her to Tartarus.

Jasper was faster, though. "Oh wow! How observant ya are!"

I was a bit worried that it was too harsh, so I tried to soften the blow. I even managed to put on a somewhat regretful expression. "Not right now, Sign, sorry. Maybe another time..."

I hugged Ambrosia's neck with one of my front legs and led my little team down. I didn't mind if we sat further anyway, at least we would hear better from there. When the lesson starts, I can just blend into the crowd and not attract more attention than I want. Hastily, but not scrambling, I herded the girls and Jasper in front of me, careful not to look like I was trying to escape. When we managed to sit down on the edge of one of the long benches, fortunately not surrounded by completely unknown ponies, I imperceptibly took a sigh.

"Hey Jasper!" one of them, who I knew sometimes used to talk with my friend, turned around. "Did you hear that Polter kicked out almost everypony at the entrance exam this year?"

I was also interested in this, so I pricked up my ears curiously.

"Yer just pullin' my tail!" Jasper waved the stallion off. "'Twas no biggie, ya won't convince me that the li'l ones were idiots."

"Yeah, it wasn't difficult for us, but the old nag played it hard now," said the guy, completely seriously. "They must have thought that they wouldn't have to prepare at all, then bam, the questionnaire came. It was so, they say, almost everypony bled out on it. Now he was testing some logical skills, and there was a trick question in it. Those who didn't know or didn't take it seriously were sent home without a second chance!"

"No kiddin'?" Jasper asked, unbelieving.

"Nope!" the stallion shook his head. "Would you guess how much passed? Twenty!"

"What was the question?" I piped in.

"Listen, I don't want to know..." he looked at me grimly. "I won't take chances that they would figure out that I shouldn't be here after all this!

"Aww, shucks!" I grimaced.

"Yeah. Did you make him mad or something?"

"Oh, I don't think so," Jasper shook his head. "He was completely usual in class."

The crowd around us grew noticeably quieter. The stallion in front of us turned back, and I also focused my attention on the chair, where a pony with a long, gray beard, but with a straight posture, had just stepped up. Although I haven't particularly dealt with this sort of thing so far, I would have been curious about him, how old he might be. From his appearance, I would have called him an old pony, but his movements were surprisingly youthful, of course only within rational limits.

The elderly stallion looked around at us, then conjured up a stick and tapped the edge of the board firmly, but not too loudly, until everypony went silent. A wide, friendly smile slowly spread across his face, and then he started.

"I haven't seen so many young ponies in one place since my grandson's wedding," he remarked cheerfully, in a fluid style matching his movements. "I never thought that so many of you would be interested in my field of expertise! You don't know how much this means to me! Thank you for coming!" He paused to "bow" to us, nodding his head forward, then continued in the same manner. "Just a quick question, if I may, before I start... How many of you can teleport? Oh, and I beg your pardon, dear colleagues, I have to speak in advance, I have a habit of asking questions during presentations."

I admittedly wasn't overjoyed about that. I never liked interactive classes, after all, preferring to remain a passive listener. Although it was somewhat reassuring that there were quite a few of us, so I probably won't have to deal with the whole thing, at most it will break the course of the presentation somewhat. Come to think of it, I should be grateful for the Violet-girl's attendance, after all, if nopony else, she will surely fall out of the bench to share her thoughts with the professor.

Wish raised her hoof meekly, and a few others did the same. Although their number was not large, theoretically our grade did not lag behind the average. This seemed to be supported by the fact that after the teacher counted the legs with a squint, he nodded his head in satisfaction.

"Very well!" he said. "Then you could already experience the... surface of traveling through the ethereal space. Why am I saying this? For those who have never tried it, all they see is that a pony disappears in one place and then appears in another. It seems simple. But anypony who knows its theory, even at a basic level, can see that there are not many more complicated magical activities than teleportation. What are the phases of teleportation, can somepony list them?"

It was primary school material, I was sure that any of us would have known it even if we woke up from our sleep. Despite this, the professor waited patiently, only conjuring a piece of chalk out of nowhere and waving it back and forth. I could hear Wish almost silently whispering the answer next to me, but it probably went unnoticed by anypony else.

"Well?" the gray-maned stallion broke the silence. "Nopony?"

"Dematerialization, translocation, rematerialization," said somepony reluctantly from the front rows.

"That's right!" Prof. Vapor nodded. He quickly scribbled the three words on the board, then turned back to us. "Which of the three is the most important?"

It was a pretty stupid question... How could it all work without any of the steps? The whole class probably had the same thought, as nopony spoke.

"Exactly!" agreed the prof. "All are equally important! However, before we go into the individual phases, could somepony summarize what factors determine whether a given teleport operation succeeds or not?"

This time, a mare took on the unpleasant task of answering, also from somewhere in the front. "The magical potential and practice of the person performing the spell, the distance, the relative magical field density and the subjective factor."

The old stallion wrote these down on the board, but then he remained with his rear facing us for a bit longer, and waved his chalk in the air thoughtfully. "What did you mean by distance, colleague?" he finally asked, still with his back to us.

"The dis... space between the point of departure and arrival," came the uncertain answer.

Prof Vapor looked back but didn't move from the board. He looked around at us with an expressionless face, then without looking back he put the word "distance" in quotation marks.

"We will return to this later." he added. "Let's take a look at what we know about the departure, then! What is necessary to be able to dematerialize? You don't have to answer, I'll tell you now. Two things are really important, apart from the obvious, namely magical power: willpower and the ability to observe. It is important to note that it is the subjective aspect of the willpower we're talking about! Why? Because it is not the magic itself that is difficult to perform, but rather we have to overcome our own fear! After all, if you think about it, in order to be able to teleport, one must first disappear, almost cease to exist! Of course, this is not a problem for the more experienced, but those who are just trying it for the first time, or have done it only a few times, can easily come up against their own survival instincts. In fact, in a couple of years you can get used to it at such a level that you don't have the slightest fear of dematerialization."

"Why do we need skills in observation? There are obviously subjective reasons for this as well, the simplest of which is also important in terms of overcoming fear. We need to know ourselves as much as possible so that we will be able to confidently rematerialize in the future. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that this does not mean that we would not be able to do it otherwise! In this case, the laws of magic have nothing to do with our experiences of its manifestation. Not like the next phase. Who knows what our most important task is during our time in ethereal space?"

I admit, this was no longer a simple question. Maybe I had some vague idea, but I probably wouldn't have been able to say anything even if he had given me more time. I saw Wish's mouth move again next to me, silently forming the answer, but this time I couldn't hear it either.

"Keeping ourselves!" Violet Sign's voice came down to me from several rows behind.

I almost burst out laughing, and when our teacher shook his head, I did snort. Fortunately, only the few ponies sitting around me could hear it, although I still got a few reproachful looks. Wish also gently pinched me with her magic, so I tried to compose myself.

"You didn't say anything wrong, miss," said Prof. Vapor. "The preservation of integrity is indeed a top priority, but not the most important thing. Let me help you a little! What is the zeroth law of ether dynamics?"

"The magical space is always in motion" replied the Violet girl again.

Yeah, I knew that as well, although it was annoying that my first reaction could come out as if I was just a jerk. Maybe I could blame my giggling at her "unprofessional" wording...

"Exactly!" the prof poked at the audience with his pointer stick. "No matter how irrelevant it may seem to talk about this, you'll see it is the most important thing! But let's forget about that for a second! After all, if the starting point and the destination are fixed, and the necessary amount of energy is available, there can be no interruption, am I right? So, what do we need to know about the site of arrival?"

I have to admit, I couldn't keep up with our teacher. Why bring up something that has almost nothing to do with the topic and then why not explain it? What does he want to show us?

"As much as possible," came the answer again from somewhere in the front lines.

"I couldn't have put it more aptly myself!" chuckled the stallion. "As much as possible! The more the merrier, huh? What is the information without which it is impossible to start, then?

"The location we want to get to," said somepony from the other half of my line.

Prof Vapor just shook his head. For a while nopony tried, but he was noticeably enjoying the situation more and more.

"It's a very simple thing, dear colleagues!" he encouraged us. "We won't go any further until this is done! After all, we can't teleport without a destination, can we?"

He chuckled to himself again and rested his stick against his neck. This time, Wish didn't mutter anything under her breath either. It took a good half a minute before somepony spoke again in the front rows.

"Something..."

"That's right!" the grey stallion immediately pounced on him. "Very important, and note this, the minimum requirement for the rematerialization phase of teleportation: something! On a theoretical level, any scrap of information can be enough to find the destination. It can be an accurate imaginary picture of the site of arrival, it can be a certain person, it can be a few general parameters, or even just a name. Don't you look at me like that, it does work!"

Only now did I notice that my eyebrows shot up as well. I did find the statement rather odd, but I was like, well, that's his area of expertise, so I'm not going to question it.

"Of course, the importance of the subjective factor should not be neglected" Prof. Vapor meaningfully raised his hoof. "Most of us need to know exactly where we want to go. Many unicorns can only teleport within line of sight, or perhaps teleport home, and only from a relatively short distance. For those who already have more routine, this is no longer strenuous. However, this type of magic can also be used intuitively. I'm not saying it's easy, only that it's possible. Now, if one of you told me their mother's name, conceivably I would be able to teleport to her without knowing exactly where she is, or even having ever met her. Of course, if you tell me which city she lives in that will make my job a lot easier. The bottom line is, the more information you have, the easier it is to perform the spell, but don't forget that even a few clues are just an obstacle to overcome!"

"And now let's talk about that "distance"! The space between the point of departure and the place of arrival, as our colleague here described it to us. Can somepony tell me what the maximum distance that one can cover with teleportation is?"

"There is no absolute maximum," Wish whispered next to me.

"I know there are ponies who can even teleport across the sea, but you can surely go further than that," said somepony from the back rows.

"Then tell us please, is it possible to teleport to the Moon?" The prof squinted in the direction of the sound. "Let's look at the conditions! It's within sight. If we examine it with a telescope, we can get very precise information about the desired site of arrival. Let's assume that we start from a place that we know perfectly! The unicorn performing the spell is very powerful and has as much practice in this branch of magic as can be had. The subjective factor of the spacial knowledge parameter is approximately one. Well?"

"I think it's theoretically possible, but the pony would suffocate."

"You are right, colleague, that it is theoretically possible, but your statement is not logically correct," smiled the old stallion. "Because if it is theoretically possible, it is also achievable in practice, but it is not possible, because the subject would die. That's why they won't be able to even start. Their instincts will hold them back. It's like being submerged in a pool full of water and trying to breathe. Even if we assume that somepony wants to commit suicide, it would take an unnatural amount of willpower to overcome this. More specifically, it's disproportionately more than what is needed to cast the spell. But now let's look just at the distance! What is more difficult to bridge in absolute terms: the power needed to travel to the Moon or the power needed to reach another continent?"

"The former, obviously," answered the same stallion.

"The professor wouldn't bother to ask if that was the case," chimed in the Violet girl.

I hate to say this, but she was right. I haven't seen the logic behind it yet, but why else would he ask?

"I like your way of thinking, colleague," stated Prof. Vapor cheerfully. "The correct answer: it depends. I assume you are all aware of how different the construction and layout of magical space is compared to physical reality. What we perceive here as a faraway place, can be quite close on ethereal level, and vice versa. Why is this not apparent to us? Well, of course, because of the suppressing effect of the subjective factor. If I feel and think that Hoofington is far away from here, it will be far away. Once I realize how tiny the ethereal space is between it and my current location, my job will be much easier. However, from the magic's point of view, there are no great distances."

He turned around and put the word "distance" in brackets. After that, however, he stayed a bit like that again, swinging his chalk in the air, then circled the word "translocation".

"Tell me, dear colleagues, is it possible to teleport without a target?"

I didn't even have time to think about the question, a student who was better prepared than me had already answered it.

"Of course, since this is the professor's specialty!"

"Well said, colleague," approved Prof. Vapor. "So, the next thing we should talk about is the zero-point teleport, or null teleport. By definition, it is a magical operation in which the person performing the spell enters the ethereal space without leaving it for an indefinite period of time. What is special about this? Well, it seems to contradict the zeroth law of ether dynamics. If the wizard enters the magical space and does not move along with the vibrations of the ethereal waves, they form an immobile focus, which the magical space cannot tolerate, and either expels them from itself or consumes them. I think I don't need to tell you how dangerous it is to experiment with something like this..."

"How is it possible then? This is certainly the big question, but I can tell you that there are several methods, but none of them are one hundred percent effective. Take this to mean that no matter how strong the wizard is, zero-point teleportation is never easy to perform, it requires extreme discipline, and maintaining it requires exponentially more and more energy. But, of course, it also has benefits, otherwise it wouldn't be worth wasting our precious time on it. Can somepony list the advantages of null teleport?"

This presentation started to become more and more interesting, but this also meant that I would not have been able to comment by any chance. Wish didn't answer silently this time either, but to my greatest surprise, Ambrosia spoke up from the other side of me.

"That it is not possible to follow," she said in a confident, jingling voice.

I was completely shocked. So far, our foreign classmate has mostly only testified about how incompetent she was in professional matters, but the professor nodded enthusiastically and wrote the comment on the board.

"May I ask why you took this first, colleague?"

"In my home, is a head-hunter, he can do null teleport," she explained. "He strikes, then he vanishes and not even court mages can follow him."

"A very interesting aspect, indeed, but you are correct," Prof. Vapor agreed. "Anypony else?"

"I guess the caster doesn’t have to bother with figuring out the target," said the Violet girl from behind. "If you suddenly have to disappear from somewhere and there is no time to choose your place of arrival, it can be useful."

The old stallion nodded briskly again and wrote this down as well. After that, however, nopony said anything for a long time.

"Alright, then I'll tell you the third one," he turned back to the board. "In the case of a group teleport, it is possible to coordinate more precisely the location of arrival for each individual, if, I repeat, if it differs from each other. Attention! Not easier, but more accurate! It is significantly more complicated to execute, but if somepony can do it, they can perform the operation much more precisely than with a traditional teleport."

"Now let's talk about how we can achieve that the ethereal space does not tear us into small pieces during zero-point teleport! Of course, as was already discussed today, the magical space is in constant motion. Standing still, we must therefore be able to behave in such a way as to break the consistency of the ethereal waves as little as possible. The simplest, although least sustainable, technique is the flatter- or raft method. In this case, we try to move together with the ethereal waves, to float on their surface, just like a raft. You can get by with this for a short time, but due to wave congestion and resonance, you reach the critical point very quickly, and the ethereal space expels you. Note that this is the worst-case scenario that can happen using this method, but considering the consequences of an uncoordinated rematerialization, its application should be contemplated."

"For more experienced unicorns, I recommend the transparent- or sifter method. It consists of essentially making our own etheric body temporarily permeable and allowing the waves to flow through us. Congestion will not occur with this method, as the minimal blockade we create gives plenty of opportunity for collateral flow, but the wave resonance can cause complications in the medium term as well. If we want to avoid this at all costs, we should use the dissolution or fog method. In this case, we practically break up our entire etheric body, and the only link that holds our existence together is our own consciousness. I think it goes without saying that this variation is the riskiest and the most difficult, but as long as we are able to concentrate our attention, it basically does not require a lot of extra effort to maintain the spell. In the worst-case scenario micro-resonance can accumulate over a longer period of time. However, the other thing that must be considered with this method is that since we have broken down our own physical and etheric bodies, we need to use an integrity recreation spell afterwards. Do you know it? Have you learned about it yet?

I remembered it exactly, as it was recently in the curriculum. It was presented by Professor Tome from the Department of Complex Arcane Sciences. It was a very tricky and useful spell, so I felt a strong compulsion to learn it right away, and I was the best in the class with it. The masters of these forms of magic were capable of almost miracles, and although I was still far from it, I was already able to restore objects smaller than a pony to their original state if they were damaged by something simple. A broken wheel or a crumpled sheet of metal was no longer a challenge, and I could manage even glass shards quite well, even though only a few ponies were able to get this spell so far. But the essentials were really simple. Every living being or object leaves an imprint in the ether, which remains even after it suffers damage. In more mundane terms, a chopped-up table and a pile of firewood can be easily distinguished based on the memories they hold of themselves. The physical integrity of the table is damaged if it is broken into pieces, but it is enough to retrieve from the magical space only the information about it that pertains to the nature of the table, so that the magic can be performed and the object can be recreated with reasonable effort.

Of course, the logical conclusion would be - or could have been - that it is possible to recreate a real, living tree from firewood, if somepony is powerful, skilled and patient enough. However, this magic had quite specific limits - beyond the fact that it could be used for a lot of things. The complexity of the structure of the objects and the degree of deviation were very strict limiting factors, and although the best healers were able to perform this spell even on a living organism, a generation that possessed even one such excellent talent would be considered lucky. However, it was an intriguing question, how difficult can it be to recreate an ethereal and physical body that is not damaged, but deliberately and consciously "broken down into its elements"...

"I see, what I'm talking about is not completely unknown to you," Prof. Vapor looked around us. "I know, it doesn't seem simple at first, and believe me, it's not. However, allow me to ramble a bit, as rune magic is excellent for helping out or fixing more complicated spells! With careful planning, you can specify the destination of your journey, or you can achieve that you are fixed at an external point at a null teleport, thereby making the method safer. The teleport runes are mostly to be drawn gracefully, with light lines, and their central motifs are the low amplitude aspects of air, wind and the ether principle..."

From then on, the grey pony was so engrossed in his explanation, as if he had completely forgotten about us. He didn't ask any more questions, he was just talking and talking, filling the blackboard with more and more complicated pictures. The hope that I had until now, that a prof from the Department of Rune Magic might actually be able to hold an interesting class, was immediately dissipated. I didn't write a single letter on the paper I had prepared on my desk - even though there was so much to write down before - and I found myself nibbling on my ballpoint pen again and again.

When I finally gave up on trying to pay attention, I checked to see how well my friends were faring. Next to me, Ambrosia was busy polishing her hooves, and Jasper, on the other side of Wish, was leaning his head on the table and snoring softly. Only Wish was holding the line, but from her movements, as she poked more and more irritated at her half-page note with her quill, I concluded that she was also bored out of her mind. Not having a better idea, I drew a small circle on my paper and pushed it a little towards the girl, to see if she wanted to play gomoku with me. Wish just glanced at it, then subtly shook her head. I sighed softly, then pushed the paper towards Ambrosia. The pink mare turned to me with her ears perked up curiously, then she stopped polishing her hooves and with a broad smile she placed an X next to my circle.

I knew for a fact that she was nowhere near as tough an opponent as my two best friends, but for the moment I had to make do with her. During the long presentation, she even managed to beat me once because I was not paying attention, but otherwise she could be dragged into quite simple figures. Well, she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but at least she didn't lose her interest in the game even after a series of defeats, in contrast with, for example, Scorch, who had a tendency to slam the door on the pony even after a single loss. And later I also noticed from the corner of my eye that Wish was also watching us instead of listening to the presentation, but since she originally refused the challenge and didn't even ask if she could join, I didn't offer it to her either. Maybe I was a bit mean, but she should have known that this would happen... I wasn't concerned for her, because after a few minutes - when she realized that there was no grass growing here for her - she was already reading some girly magazine under the cover of her bench.

* * *

All in all, I didn't regret missing the beginning of the concert because of the lecture, although I would have appreciated it if Prof. Vapor had cut it short at least a little. Especially the parts that - I guess - nopony was interested in. Then maybe we wouldn't have had to rush so much - especially since I even wanted to change - and Jasper wouldn't have spent the first quarter of an hour trying to wipe the boogers from his eyes. Besides, we wouldn't have gotten any of the rather gratuitous dressing-down that Cavern was kind enough to treat us to, although I assumed it was just the booze talking.

Yeah, I suspected so much that if Dulci isn't dragging us to a classical, orchestral symphonic concert, then the most important thing cannot be left out: the warm-up drinks. By the time we got to the scene, all of my classmates who had arrived earlier were already somewhat under the effects of alcohol, although this could also be said of everypony else who was there. This part of the matter didn't bother me so much, as - being an outdoor event - the smell was quite tolerable, but while we were looking for our companions in the growing crowd, those trying to dance stepped on my hooves three times in that short period. The music wasn't that great either, but it was echoing through the streets, taking advantage of the fact that we were far enough away from the highly populated areas of Canterlot. I realized pretty quickly that the only way I can have fun here is if I drink too... I must admit, it's become a habit for us to start the semesters right away with relaxation, and although I didn't have a busy summer, I believe my classmates did need it.

"So, how was it?" Cavern asked shouting during a break between two plays, which was still much too loud for me, because my ears had not yet had time to adapt to the decibels roaring from the speakers.

"It was fantastic" Jasper answered with the same volume.

"He slept through it," Wish added, although the way she spoke, it probably didn't reach the one asking.

"Oh, we found out that Ambrosia knows a couple of assassins, so just be careful who you're trying to feel up tonight, Cavern!" I piped up.

"Head-hunter, and one," she corrected, although it didn't have much of an effect. The green stallion was not impressed either way.

"Eh, I already have my target for tonight!" he waved with a somewhat clumsy gesture. "See that hot gray mare over there?"

He pointed towards the stage, to the edge of which a young unicorn girl in rather loose clothing was indeed clinging. I must say, she was indeed eye-catching. I examined her thoroughly, not the least bit bothered by the fact that Wish and Ambrosia were standing right next to me, moreover, Stella and Lotus appeared a few moments later as well.

"Okay, who is she?" I asked, not taking my eyes off of the mare.

He grabbed my shoulder for temporary support. "Dunno. I just want a piece of that sweet little flank of hers. I think Stella and Lotus know her or something."

"Quicksilver Catalyst from the Alchemy Department," Stella joined us in staring at the mare. "She has good grades and she likes to party. I think she's not here for the music."

"Yeah, and it's no coincidence that her nickname is "Quickie"..." Lotus added.

Cavern rubbed his hooves together. "That's right! Tonight, I'm gonna stuff her like a feather pillow!"

"What does it mean, "stuff"?" Ambrosia inquired from the sideline.

"You can guess..." answered Wish, and then she added somewhat disapprovingly: "And you can put your jaw back, Thread! Since when are you interested in such mares, huh?"

"My dearest Wish!" I turned to her with a sly smile and looked deep into her eyes. "Disappointing as it may be, even if I don't have and never had a fillyfriend, I am still a stallion to the core."

"Yeah, I noticed... alpha-male..." she teased me. "I think Sign likes you, so why don't you try asking her out? You see, even now she wanted to have you close to herself, and you had the heart to reject the poor girl!"

"Come on!" I waved dismissively. "I know that I am out of her league. I'm not even as lanky as that "every mare's dream" Nimbus Strike. At least the Violet girl doesn't have to bend down to bite him on the knee..."

Wish snickered merrily at my absurd exaggeration, but we didn't have the opportunity to talk any further, as the small technical break was over and the speakers boomed with renewed vigor, followed directly by the cheering of the ponies. The problem was probably the sound system, as I could tolerate the music better when we arrived, but now, thanks to the bass, I felt as if the ground was shaking beneath me. Somepony from the crowd shoved Ambrosia to me, and while I helped the mare back to her hooves - struggling with my own sense of balance - I vowed to myself that if Dulcimer dared to drag us to such a party one more time, I would skin him alive.

"Why don't we get a little further away?" I screamed so much that even my throat hurt.

Ambrosia nodded with her ears down, then as somepony bumped into her again, pushing her hard, she held onto my back instead for support. I tried to discreetly cut a path for us with my magic, but in the meantime, I turned around for a moment to look for my friends. At first, I only saw Jasper, who emerged from the crowd as he did huge four-legged jumps into the air to the beat of the music. He really didn't need anything extra to have a good time! I was concerned about Wish, though. If she's not careful, she'll end up getting trampled...

As if my friends had the same idea, just before I turned back, I caught Jasper out of the corner of my eye as he made his next jump with a green coated mare on his back. Wish looked more terrified of the unexpected maneuver, but I trusted Jasper's strength. Compared to an average unicorn, he was extremely fit anyway, he stood out by far among us, so holding the already thin mare couldn't have been too much of a challenge for him. And on his back, I know Wish was in safety, more than anywhere else right now.

It took us a while to "fight" our way through the crowd, although this time I acted more aggressively towards the dancers who were not paying attention to their peers, and pushed them aside without thinking if they came threateningly close. Just to settle my nerves completely, I looked back once more as the crowd around me thinned out. I smiled widely as I found the jumping pair again. Jasper won a little free space for themselves with his little stunt, and Wish had already visibly gotten over her initial fright and started to enjoy the situation. She clung to the stallion's mane with one of her hooves, and she was flailing up high with the other, trying to follow the movements of the bouncing pony below her, laughing freely.

"Thanks Thread!" sighed Ambrosia, when we were sufficiently far from the danger zone. She let go of my back but stayed close to me for safety. "I always forget, Equestrians can be so wild..."

"Think nothing of it!" I said as I continued walking. "I have to admit, I didn't expect anything like that either. We had a great time last time, and now..."

"It was not nice of Dulci to call us and he is not here."

I stopped. She was right. Damn it, I wasn't paying attention, but we really met everypony, except him! Damn everything; the next time we run into each other, I'll give him a piece of my mind!

Ambrosia also immediately stopped and looked at me questioningly. "Whatever, we'll settle accounts later," I shook my head and moved on so she wouldn't have to wait.

"Accounts?"

"It's just an expression of settling disagreements," I explained. I was reminded again how much I didn't like talking to Ambrosia, but I couldn't imagine leaving her alone.

"I understand, I think," she said without much conviction.

"Right... So, what should we do now?"

"I don't know, but it's early to go home," she answered. "And the music looks pretty good from here."

"We could sit down somewhere, then?" I offered.

"It would be nice," she smiled.

I slowed the pace of the walk a little and searched for benches with my eyes. There were a few here, outside the city walls, but unfortunately, they were all taken. And on the one on which there were no couples in love huddled, some unidentifiable pile of textiles laid together with a worn saddlebag, so I assumed it might have been the home of some beggar, so I avoided it even in my thoughts.

Finally, we found a place for ourselves just a little further away, among the trees. It is true that there were no seats there, but no ponies ventured up to that point, so we could settle down on the hillside in relative peace. With the help of my horn, I flattened and dried the grass under us a little, then lay down comfortably. Ambrosia also lay down next to me, I could feel her clothes touching me, and in the meantime, I realized that we had really managed to find a good position for ourselves. From here we could still see the stage, the colorfully swirling crowd, the lights, and of course our eardrums didn't want to burst either. In fact, we even heard some kind of melody in the middle of the rumbling bass.

I felt a very delicate touch by my rear. It surprised me so much that I flinched and immediately threw my head back, ready to gallop at a moment's notice. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary by which I could identify what that might have been, so I turned forward again, instinctively turning my ears back to listen for any movement behind me. Minutes passed before the strange sensation returned, but now it was no longer unexpected. This time it was even softer than the previous one, as if only the summer breeze ruffled the longer hairs coming from the base of my tail, yet it was easily distinguishable from it. Freezing motionless, I concentrated all my attention there and suppressed my reflexes, thanks to which I would otherwise have been constantly thrashing my tail.

I only understood what had happened when Ambrosia - trying to avoid being noticed - moved a little closer to me. So, she reached out to me, and on purpose... It was quite strange; I didn't really know what to think. Maybe she thought I brought her here to be alone with her? Was this balmy night under the open sky feeling too romantic with the "soft" background music and she wanted to snuggle up with somepony who just happened to be me? Or does she want...does she actually want something from me? Maybe I'm just overcomplicating things again? It could also be that she just felt cold from the breeze, or was just teasing me - although this was really not her habit - or she simply didn't notice that she was touching me... After all, she had a nice, luscious tail, so she didn't necessarily even feel anything of it, and it was just me being jumpy.

She was a lot more careful this time as if she was hoping I don't notice what she's doing. However, as she slowly covered my tail with hers, I had no doubt that she was doing it very much consciously, even if I didn't see her purpose. My heartbeat quickened, but I tried not to let anything show on my face. I had no idea what I was supposed to do or what she expected of me at all...

My thoughts remained clear, but this alone did not help to dispel my uncertainty. I tried to calmly weigh my options. Ambrosia was perhaps the most beautiful mare in the entire grade, yet she didn't have a coltfriend. Maybe it was just because she seemed so unapproachable; come to think of it, probably she herself wasn't so happy about her situation. Even though she had been living here with us for years, sometimes it was still difficult to understand her, and not only because there were some linguistic subtleties that she simply could not absorb. It's just... I know it's not nice to say this, but she was dumber than average. She wasn't outstanding in any kind of magic, maybe at best in make-up spells, but she couldn't get far among those who wanted a somewhat smart fillyfriend. In such a micro-society of intellectuals, we didn't ostracize her only because it wasn't allowed. We were told - like the other classes too - that if our guest student gets hurt in any sort of way, we will get on the receiving end of Mr. Poltergeist's ire.

We all kept a polite distance from her, so it's not surprising if she longed to be close to somepony. I couldn't decide whether she chose me because she sympathized with me anyway - I was the "lucky one" who stayed with her after classes most of the time, if she needed help in learning the course material - or if I was simply within hoof's reach, I couldn't decide. Although it's true, I still didn't know what she wanted of me... Something serious? A little adventure? After all, I didn't even know what I wanted! There was only one way to find out... I just didn't have the courage.

Maybe I could accept her as my fillyfriend - ran through my mind suddenly. What does it matter if she's not a genius? She was always nice to me, as she was to everypony else. We could count on her, she was game to almost anything fun. She was a nice person. And last but not least, she was the most beautiful mare I have ever met. Only time can decide whether we really fit together. We can get to know each other more thoroughly, what it's like to be together in a slightly different sense, and then we'll see...

I mustered all my willpower and reached out to hold her hoof, but she pulled back just as I lifted my leg. I froze suddenly, I think I forgot to even breathe, then I quickly corrected my misdirected movement and dug into my mane. It seemed that I had underestimated the task: I wouldn't be able to try this again... I hoped that the time slowly turning into night would hide my embarrassment, but I didn't dare to look at the mare for a while. I couldn't tell if she pulled her leg away on purpose, although it reassured me a bit that her tail was still resting on mine, gently covering it.

I decided not to think about it. It would be better to just enjoy the situation, the closeness of the mare, and not to think about the future. I heaved a big sigh of relief and turned my attention to the concert. The singer of the band must have felt in his element, because he was screaming into the microphone completely unintelligibly, ignoring melody and rhythm. The atmosphere must have reached its peak there anyway, because the audience was also screaming, and a thick cloud of smoke slowly billowed between them from the stage, breaking the colorful flickering of the lights.

I smiled as it reminded me of Prof. Vapor's lecture. It was a terribly inappropriate thought, come on, anypony can blame me for how much of a geek I am. However, for some reason I associated the scattering of light with null teleportation. "Fog" method, eh? I would have been curious as to what the prof was thinking, but I could imagine something like this. The light would be the ethereal space, and the wizard would be the smoke. And indeed, light can eventually pass through it without actually having to impede its movement. It's a shame that with my current attitude, I'll almost surely never learn to teleport... I wasn't even able to seriously think about what it would be like to immaterially exist, I was simply too down to earth for that. The professor would surely have put it more succinctly, that the "fear of death" part of the subjective factor gives me a near zero multiplier. Even if I loved the subject, there is a good chance that I will have to make do with a comprehensive knowledge of the theory of it for the rest of my life. Fortunately, the expectations at the Academy are quite flexible. If somepony was talented in only one thing - and of course there was a suitable major for it - nopony said anything. Well, it was evident in the received grades, but they didn't deprive anypony of the opportunity to develop. Our poor fellow musicians, like Dulcimer, would have had a hard time otherwise...

As I kept watching the smoke, something funny occurred to me. Can this mentioned dissolution technique also work on living matter? If I'm already so impossibly lame at immaterial spells, maybe I could give it a shot. The thought that I don't have to cease to exist for this was a little more reassuring, and I was pretty good at integrity recreation anyway. With careful planning and careful experimentation, I might be able to do it. Although it's a good question, what would be the use of it... Is there literature on this too?

"I'm a bucking genius," I muttered, though I immediately realized I hadn't actually meant to say it out loud.

"Why do you say nasty words?" Ambrosia asked reproachfully. "That's not allowed!"

"Sorry!" I flattened my ears repentantly. "Don't be mad at me, please! I just had a really weird idea..."

I told her what I had come up with. I could see that she didn't fully understand what I said, but at least she listened attentively. After that, however, it occurred to me that I should ask her a little about the zero-teleporting headhunter she mentioned during the presentation. At least now we had time to talk in a relatively tranquil environment, and I was very curious about how she came to know about such ponies. I was not just a little surprised when she told me that she actually knew the pony personally, since he worked for her father. What's more, he even took care of her when she was a little filly. As she said, the powers that be in her country must be very careful who they trust, because life there is much more dangerous than it is here.

While we were on the subject, I also made a few soft inquiries about what kind of spells that particular headhunter used, to see if that would give me some more ideas. Although Ambrosia wasn't very knowledgeable on the subject, she told me that there was a time when she was a filly when she only dared to travel on the back of a camel, because their headhunter had once shown her how he can get close to almost anypony without being noticed by skulking under the sand. The filly was only willing to set hoof in the desert again when her father managed to talk her into it with great difficulty and also bought her a pair of hoof protectors that would completely block out the sounds of her steps.

I have to admit, we had such a good talk like never before. Before that, it didn't occur to me to ask the girl about her home, even though she had very interesting stories indeed. I didn't think much about it, but Saddle-Arabia was pretty much a different world compared to Equestria. And the pink mare shared her memories with me with sparkling eyes, and I was so hooked, I didn't even notice when our tails got completely intertwined during the conversation...

Ch 6 - An irrefutable offer

I remember being surprised by how well my little idea worked. I may say that what I had the talent for, I was able to learn it incredibly quickly anyway, but it has never happened to me that I achieved results on the very first day with a completely new spell. This time, however, after only a few hours of practice, I was able to successfully disassemble one of my legs to the point where it looked like it was made of dust. I was so ecstatic about it, I even forgot about my fear that I might not be able to put myself back together again, but - perhaps thanks to that - I didn't have the slightest difficulty.

In a couple of weeks, I got to the point where I was able to exist in this "dissolved" form with my whole body - although it is worth mentioning that I later found it in the literature, and in this case the correct term was "dispersed". At first, I didn't see much of a practical use for it, unless I wanted to hide in a very small place, but I really enjoyed my new, self-developed, unique ability. Interesting... when I look at it this way, in retrospect I feel rather stupid for being surprised by the appearance of my own cutie mark in connection with the spell...

This was definitely the drawback of the clothes: they were the reason I missed the big moment. One evening I went to take a bath, as I usually did. I showered in a bit of a hurry, because I was quite sleepy that day, but while I was drying off with my towel I noticed that I missed a spot on my rump. I tried to rub the dirt off myself, but it was too stubborn, so I climbed back into the tub grumbling. Basically, I used up a week's worth of shower gel before realizing that the tiny, yellow dots were symmetrically present on both sides. And at first, I still thought I had contracted some nasty disease. It wasn't until I shook off the water and floated out of the tub with the help of my new spell that I realized: I had finally found what I'm really good at, and that scattered-sand-thingy is my cutie mark.

It was about time! Since last year, I've been the only one with a blank flank in the class, since in the fall Wish got her cutie mark. Perhaps she wouldn't have admitted it to us, only Stella revealed it after one of the P.E. classes, when they came out of the locker room. The green mare even tried to deny it at first, but eventually Jasper and I pestered her so much that she reluctantly pulled up her skirt, after she made us promise that we wouldn't make fun of her. I couldn't get it why she said that, since every pony is proud of their cutie mark. Even after she showed it to us, hiding in the shadows of the sports field, I understood only partially. The thin, slightly unfolded, asymmetrical black bow that adorned her flank did not seem to be enough of a reason for the girl to be on the verge of crying.

"I don't understand..." she sniffed desperately. "It’s so ugly..."

Of course, we immediately tried to comfort her, but for many minutes, all our words bounced off her. It was only when Jasper told her that she must have a special ability to be so adorably cute that she finally managed to smile a little. It also helped a little when we reminded her how much she loves bows, but it seemed that the only final solution would be to help her decipher the mysterious sign. I guessed that she managed to get a very allegorical cutie mark, and I was almost sure that what hurt her the most was that it apparently had nothing to do with magic, even though she was a talented unicorn and liked school-related things. Out of pure good intentions, I suggested that she consult an expert, but since she didn't want to hear about showing her rear to complete strangers, I could only promise her that I would think about the riddle.

Weeks later, I came up with a possibly usable theory that actually included the girl's magical abilities. I suspected that maybe I was just overcomplicating things with my twisted thinking - after all, most ponies had their cutie marks as simple as a pimple - but the end result suited Wish so well that I wanted to think it was true. The mare also accepted my explanation and, recovering from her temporary depression, came to terms with her cutie mark. I started my theory from the fact that Wish's dynamic magical power had increased by leaps and bounds over the years, but with the exception of teleportation, her independent magic usage was... not the best. On the other hoof, she was exceedingly talented at correcting other unicorns' incorrectly formed spells, and she was also very good at seeing the connections in the magical space. And since the bow on her flank was obviously not related to teleportation, but rather to the arrangement and untangling of ethereal threads, I logically connected it to that. I also added that if we take in account how introverted and mysterious she was, she shouldn't be surprised if her cutie mark reflects this as well. She smiled at my observations but also was visibly relieved by them.

Finally, all three of us had our cutie marks, but Jasper was still ahead of us. He already had quite specific plans for his life: he decided that when he reached the required age, he would become the Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard. There was no talk of such a thing before, and then one day he came to school with that in mind. He was incredibly enthusiastic, and even though he could be talked into finishing some kind of specialised exam at the Academy - in some military course - he worked on the preparation every single day, and he included us in it as well. We regularly, almost every day, went out with him to the practice field next to the school to train, and of course to try out the techniques on which he essentially wanted to base his career. Of course, this consisted of him testing his skills on me, while Wish only looked at us from the sidelines and sometimes chimed in or corrected his spells if they went dangerously awry. Later - to be exact, after the concert, and that ambiguous cuddling - Ambrosia also joined us, but she always listened silently.

I couldn't wrap my head around her behavior. She always seemed happy to talk to me, but that was true about anypony else as well. It was a rarity if she approached somepony in a non-friendly way, with a toothy smile on her face, but she seemed to be actually following me. She didn't say anything directly about it, in fact, the topic didn't even come up, but I found my thoughts wandering back to her surprisingly often. During lessons, I often watched her luscious, flame-colored mane from behind her, wondering if she liked me. It also occurred to me countless times, maybe I could ask her if she wanted to go out with me, but I was simply too cowardly for that. Even though I didn't generally find it hard to talk to mares, how could I bring up something like that?

* * *

That day, only the three of us headed to the training grounds, as Ambrosia had other plans. If I remember correctly she was referring to some special class when she regretfully explained that she would not be able to come along with us. I was quite disappointed, if for no other reason, then because we didn't have a single class that afternoon, so we were completely free. Well, actually this was not true from two aspects, because we would have had class, but only after five, so we skipped it by mutual agreement. And we were allowed to do it, after all, just like Prof. Vapor's presentation, it would have been a hundreds-of-ponies-attending abomination, so it was obviously not mandatory. The other thing is that Wish had to get home early because she had to help with some cleaning-related stuff. I, on the other hoof, had no other planned program than to maybe go for a walk with Ambrosia after practice. I played with the idea of asking her if she would like to have something more than friendship between us. From that point of view, I could say it came in handy that she couldn't come, since otherwise I would have surely gathered my courage right now, I just fell victim to the circumstances.

"I feel like you're not really here with us today, Thread," Wish remarked on the way, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"What? Sorry, my head was in the clouds."

"Missing somepony from the group, hmm?" she asked with an impish smile.

"What do you mean?" I asked back with honest incomprehension.

"Are you seriously playing dumb?" she giggled. "Do you really think it didn't occur to us that there used to be four of us? Oh, and I'd say, it's not too hard to piece together that your little pink fillyfriend isn't coming here regularly because of us..."

"Ambrosia is not my fillyfriend. I mean, we're not together... like that or something, you see..."

I could read from Wish's mischievous look that whatever I say, it won't convince her. My face remained expressionless, but I felt myself turning pale. I tried to focus on my steps, but that only helped so much, as turning the unconscious movement into a conscious one, that I almost tripped over my own feet.

"I told Wish that ya ain't starin' at her all the time 'cause yer interested, but ya just happen to keep lookin' at her, and then ya can't take yer eyes off her..." said Jasper. "But ya see, she ain't believin' me! Everypony knows that stallions only stare at mares they are not attracted to, otherwise it would be quite confusin'..."

I wanted to retort, but nothing came to mind, so I just grimaced and silently turned away from them.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Thread, we didn't mean to hurt your feelings!" said Wish with a sudden alarm in her voice. "It's just that we've been best friends for so long and we want to know what's going on!"

"Okay... maybe I do like her..." I mumbled. "So what?"

"Oh wow!" she smiled again. "I think you two would make a beautiful couple! Has she said anything? How far did you get?"

"Yeah, get yerself ready, little filly here will get every secret out of ya!" Jasper warned with a serious nod.

"Well, I am a mare; I can't stand not knowing everything, especially about you!" Wish waved him off, then turned to me again, curiously waiting for my answer.

"Not much to say, really," I sighed.

"Alas?"

"Yeah... alas," I nodded reluctantly. "We just... like... I don't know, lay next to each other during that fantastic concert and, well... we sorta... touched. But I have no idea if it meant anything to her..."

"But she didn't pull away, right?" Wish asked.

"Actually, she started it..."

"Oh, congratulations, then!" she replied immediately.

"What...?"

"Look, if I were to lay next to somepony and touch him on purpose, I would definitely want something!"

"Even if it's... just with your tails?"

It was terribly uncomfortable to talk to my friends about such things, but I was genuinely interested in their opinion. Why in the world would I try to hide this from them, since I took them at their word on other issues as well! Just because Wish is a girl? Before everything else, she was my friend...

"Why, what were you two doing exactly?" she asked, the corners of her mouth turning up again.

I stopped for a moment, put my weight on my hind legs and placed my front hooves on top of each other. "Maybe we got a bit... entangled as well..." I added shyly.

"I'm proud of ya, son!" Jasper said in a deeper voice, patting my shoulder. "Just do be careful with the foals!"

"Didn't you just promise not to harass me?" I asked with an upset snort, because he managed to make me blush.

In return, Wish stomped on the stallion's hoof, although based on the weight difference between them, Jasper whinnied only out of politeness. After that, however, the mare stepped a little closer to me and gave me an endearing grin.

"You don't have to tell him anything, but... would you share a few details with me in case anything happens?"

"You became very curious all of a sudden!" I snorted again, though much less upset this time. "All right, if we do start dating in the future, you will be the first two ponies to know about it. Deal?"

"She just wants the juicy details, trust me!" Jasper piped in.

Wish blushed furiously so I immediately pounced on the opportunity. "Oh, so you're planning to share more intimate things with us too when you'll have a coltfriend?" I asked her with raised eyebrows.

"Why, are you interested?" she tried to use my question against me, but I didn't give it up that easily.

"But of course! You know what? If you need help with what stallions like us enjoy, we can discuss that too!"

The mare looked at me with a shock in her dinner-plate-sized eyes for a moment, but then she pulled her mouth into a sly smile. "You're bluffing, Thread! You are even shyer than me. When it comes to..." She couldn't finish it, as she jumped forward with a surprised squeal. She turned to face us and straightened her skirt in confusion.

"Mister Colorless here may be a tad shy, but I ain't," Jasper grinned. "Ya gonna tell me, cutie pie? Listen, if ya need mental support, I'll be there for ya for the first time, and I'll give ya advice along the way!" he added with a more serious face.

"You're incorrigible, Jasper!" Wish poked her tongue out mockingly. "But I guess I don't have to worry about that happening. As lame as I am, I'll never get myself a coltfriend anyway."

She let us catch up, then she joined us again.

"With this attitude, you might never..." I stated.

"Well, whatever!" she giggled happily. "I'm accustomed to not being wanted by anypony. It's a miracle you two put up with me!"

She said it so cheerfully, I just couldn't wrap my head around it. Sometimes she had such strange ways of expressing herself...

"You know, sometimes I don't get you," I said, but she just waved me off.

"Yeah, come to think of it, what about you, Jasper?" she turned to him. "Any mares on the horizon for you?"

"Ya know that the answer is a big nah... Sure I could find myself under a huge pile of needy fillies in a moment’s notice, but I don't have time for them, that’s all."

"Luring them to yourself with your exceptional humility, huh?" I snickered.

"And what about that chick from Trottingham you asked out on the beach last time?" Wish didn't even wait for Jasper to have a chance to answer. "You weren't keeping much eye contact with her..."

"Yes, because she was wearing such a small swimsuit!" explained the stallion nervously. "I am neither blind nor stupid!"

"Hehe, gotcha!" she grinned. "The correct answer would have been that you're not interested in birds, only ponies!"

"Now ya've gone and done it!" Jasper shouted.

He lunged at Wish with one of his hoofs, barely missing punching me in the nose, but the mare dodged in time. The stallion, however, didn't leave it at that: he immediately rushed at her to catch her, but this time Wish teleported a few steps aside, and then, just like the stallion, she jumped into a gallop. Laughing wildly, she let Jasper chase her, but whenever he got dangerously close, she always teleported away from him. For a while I had a lot of fun watching these two fool foals, but then I continued on my way to the training ground. I was like, if we don't get there much later, I won't disturb them, but after a few minutes I had to whistle after them so that they would notice that we weren't alone - the surprised looks of some of our fellow students who were trotting about were not enough in themselves.

We managed to get there after they calmed down a bit. Just to get things back in order, before we entered the slag-strewn circle with a radius of several meters, Jasper quickly pulled Wish's tail, making the mare jump again, and that was it. Wish sat on the four-row platform intended for spectators, and we positioned ourselves opposite each other. Fortunately, it was still quite early, and those who wanted to spend the afternoon practicing were mostly in their classes, so the course around us were empty. It meant we had to pay less attention to other ponies' physical health, although that wasn't usually a problem anyway, since Wish was always on the lookout for our spells going astray.

It was no different that day. After a little warm-up, Jasper threw his magical spikes shaped like his favorite knives at me to defend against or avoid them. He was able to summon several such magical weapons at the same time and aim them with his two front hooves, sometimes showing surprising new moves, so recently I had to pay very close attention to escape his attacks unscathed. However, thanks to my new trick, I was able to cheat a little. If I was even a little unsure of whether I could focus my shield in time - although this was not exactly my strong point - or if I could throw myself aside, I simply disintegrated myself into small specks of dust, and the blades penetrated my body without hindrance.

Of course, this was also an important aspect, that here I had to use this new ability all the time, especially as Jasper casted his spells more and more skillfully and faster. It really seemed like he was born for this: he rained his magical weapons on me almost non-stop, only taking a minimum time with his aim, or with his jumps and other maneuvers imitating a combat situation. He didn't even expect a counterattack from me, and rightfully so, since he had absolute dominance on the "battlefield", and I only knew combat spells at a very minimal level. I could have only thrown a few basic elemental spells at him, if he let me get to that point...

That's why, since we were so busy with each other, we didn't even notice what was happening around us. We trained energetically in the beginning, towards the end we soaked our fur and clothes with our own sweat. However, when I reformed myself from dust to raise my leg asking for a break, I saw something that made my heart skip a beat - which my body did not particularly appreciate after the hard physical and mental exertion.

Wish was still sitting on the edge of the "spectator's terrace", staring at us with a perfectly straight back, motionless, but ears pinned back and pupils as big as my hooves. I didn't have to look long for the reason; above her, in the middle of the bench, sat a no lesser pony than Princess Celestia herself. Behind her stood two gruff bodyguards in gold armor, holding long spears. However, there weren't any more soldiers with them as I looked, so that seemed to somewhat contradict my first thought that they were here to arrest somepony. Of course, this still didn't rule out the possibility that the Violet girl, as "the Princess's confidante", instigated this whole mess for some reason...

"Huff!" Jasper sighed loudly. "Y'hear two more, and... 'Sup?

I was waving madly with my hoof in front of my mouth, but it took a bit of time for him to tick. Only when I cautiously nodded towards the small platform - Princess Celestia stood up, keeping her eyes on us the whole time, thus making it clear to me beyond all doubt that she was looking for us - did he turn around. The same moment the stallion jumped into perfect attention and saluted. I have never learned such a thing, so I thought it better to kneel down with my head held down. In the meantime, however, I was quite a bit relieved, because seeing Jasper's salute, it occurred to me that the Princess might have heard about my friend's motivations and was just curious about him.

"Hello, my little ponies!" the most gracious female voice I've heard in my life greeted us.

"Your Majesty!" I replied loudly at the same time as Jasper, still facing the ground.

"Feel free to look at me!" spoke the Princess again, in a voice as if she found our reaction amusing.

I obeyed. The snow-white alicorn stood in front of us with majestically spread wings and looked down at us with a cheerful smile. Now she was not wearing that fiery, sparkly dress she used to wear at the Summer Sun Celebration, nor the more modest, though no less ornate, blue-green evening dress that I saw her in at the Grand Galloping Gala, when I was allowed to participate a long time ago. This time, she wore something simpler - although it still cannot be called street wear in the ordinary sense - a white dress with straps, which was apparently more comfortable than the previous ones, but it emphasized the Princess's own beauty much more.

I must admit, I've never seen her from this close before, and I was stunned by the sight. If there was an ideal mare, it was her that was beyond dispute for me. Her mane, that softly fluttering, pale rainbow, constantly hid one beautifully curved, mischievously squinting eye from me, but the other was just enough to get myself lost in it...

"May I ask your names?" the Princess's velvety voice rang in my ears again.

"I'm Jasper Volley and he's Life Thread!" my friend replied without hesitation, I must add, very correctly, because I was temporarily unable to make a sound.

"I heard you are considering a career in the military, dear Jasper Volley,” Celestia said, motioning to one of her bodyguards.

"Yes, your Majesty!"

"I hope you will remain enthusiastic and persistent about your goals," the Princess nodded, then, assuming a noble posture, lifting one of her front legs from the ground, she turned towards me and looked straight into my eyes. "The talent you possess is very special, Life Thread, but you still have a long way to go before you can discover its true power. If you'd like, I'll be happy to help you learn the subtleties of this magic."

I would be lying if I said that I understood the meaning of her words then and there. All I could think about was Princess Celestia is talking to me, and I couldn't get any further in my thoughts.

"Feel free to consider it, you don't have to answer right away!" the Princess squinted amiably then waving her long mane, she turned away from me and left with her little entourage in the most dignified manner imaginable. "You can find me in the palace."

I have no idea how long I stood there with my feet stuck to the ground, but the next thing I knew, Jasper was waving his hoof in front of my face. "Ya hear, yer such a lucky bastard!" he declared, shaking his head, when I returned his gaze.

"Did this actually happen?" I asked, my own voice sounding completely unfamiliar.

"Sure, you mule! How can you be such a jerk? Why didn't you say yes?"

"I couldn't get myself to speak..." I saw that Wish was heading our way so I turned to her instead. "Do you also think I was acting like a jerk?"

"Well..." she grimaced.

"Oh my goodness!" I reached up and held my head with my front legs. "Mommy, help me! What should I do now?"

"Immediately gallop after her, apologize, and tell her that you want to be her disciple more than anything!" To emphasize the urgency of the call, Jasper gave me a push with his head, which caused me to fall over on the small dirt track, decorating the hitherto untouched parts of my clothes and fur with rusty-red spots.

"I can't stand in front of her like this!" I moaned as I struggled to my feet. "Look, I'm dirty, sweaty and smelly! My goodness, I've been like this before; what is she thinking of me now!"

"Surely that you must be a lunatic that actually works so hard out until breaking a sweat..." said Jasper, surprisingly irritated. "Just go already!"

"But..."

"Thread..." Wish put her hoof soothingly on my shoulder, even though she was apparently still under the influence of the events. "Go home, take a shower, change your clothes, then when you've collected yourself, request an audience from the Princess, thank her generosity and accept this honorable offer!"

"Thank..."

"Go!"

* * *

Too many thoughts were running through my head. I galloped home as fast as I could, although I was still tired enough only to be able to trot along the last street, panting. For now, I had no idea what I was going to say to my parents, but I was sure that if I told them exactly what happened, they wouldn't let me continue until they had questioned me thoroughly. Driven by a sudden idea, I aimed for the window and using my favorite spell, I flew into the house as a pretty little cloud of dust. I only stopped for a moment to look around, but then I headed straight for the bathroom. I had to slow down a bit while I squeezed myself through the keyhole in this form, but then I took shape again with a big sigh. I grimaced when I saw the smudged reddish marks my hooves left on the floor, but it was nothing compared to when I looked in the mirror. My head should have been declared a disaster area... So much for first impressions; I really hoped my terrible appearance was more to be attributed to the previous rush.

I opened the faucet above the tub, setting it to uncomfortably warm, then I poured in a couple of types from the bubble baths on the shelf. I threw my clothes down next to the laundry rack, then took out our coarsest-bristle bath brush and, equipped with it, I climbed into the water with a sharp hiss. When enough of the foaming hotness had collected, I bent my legs and dipped in it to at least loosen the dirt from my fur a little, and then I began to rub myself with the brush with increasingly strong movements.

Meanwhile, I finally had time to gather my thoughts. I could still hardly comprehend that Princess Celestia really wanted to accept me as her apprentice. Me! I didn't even think of it in the first place when I tried to interpret her words, but Wish said it so convincingly... Maybe she simply misunderstood, as I did... Although it's true, it was still a great honor to talk to her - even if I myself didn't even speak. Of course, I vowed, this time it won't be like that, and no matter how difficult it may be, I will open my mouth and exchange meaningful sentences with her!

If I can even get there! I had never been inside the palace before, so I only had vague ideas about the place. Thanks to this, an unnavigable labyrinth has formed in my head, which is full of exactly the same-looking corridors, and if I ask anypony where to go, even the directions will be completely useless. Every other pony shall stop and ask me what the heck I'm doing there, and then I'll have to explain that I'm answering the Princess's summons, but that's what everypony would say anyway, so nopony shall believe me and I'd better just get on with my business and not dirty the expensive carpets with my bare hooves!

And what if I do succeed and Princess Celestia really wants to take me as her private student? I didn't even have the best grades or abilities in the class, so how could I live up to her expectations? It would be a real shame if after a few weeks she said to just forget the whole thing! Even if I wasn't a "one trick pony", I wouldn't have been able to show anything really outstanding apart from this dispersion spell. Or if the Princess takes me under her wing, will she teach me a whole different perspective on magic? Or would she be content to develop this one skill of mine to whatever level she prefers?

And what about the Academy and my friends? Of course, we can still meet at any time outside of school, but it's still different from spending most of our days together in the first place. I loved my class, and I already had some vague plans regarding my specialization. If Princess Celestia takes over my education, will it all go down the drain? I've seen Nimbus Strike, his only protégé, occasionally during presentations, but I couldn't draw any far-reaching conclusions from that.

But why am I pondering this at all? This is an opportunity of a lifetime; if I even think about saying no, I'm the biggest idiot in all of Equestria! How could I look into Wish and Jasper's eyes after that? Or in the mirror?

Does Princess Celestia give any papers about her tutelage...?

Poor Jasper seemed quite upset... I hoped that he didn't get too jealous and that in time he would be able to enjoy my success with me. My success! I haven't even done anything yet! Maybe I indulged myself a little too much in the various events unfolding in my imagination. The logical thing would be if I just let myself drift with the events for now.

I hissed in pain. I had managed to rub my skin with the brush until it almost glowed red under my wet, matted fur, and when I stopped torturing it, it still throbbed and ached for several minutes. So much about organizing my thoughts... It just got worse than before. Sometimes it would be easier to forget everything and just simply exist in the world! Like a potato...

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, pulled the plug from the tub, and imagined that the water, as it slowly trickled down from me, was taking my thoughts with it. I exhaled as slowly as I could and tried to clear my head. I stood motionless for minutes, taking slow breaths, until the water was only dripping from my tail and stomach. Then I lifted my towel and carefully soaked up the remaining moisture with it, so as not to expose my sensitive skin to unnecessary irritation. I climbed out of the tub, sprayed myself with my favorite deodorant - although it burned like Tartarus - and then I brushed my teeth as thoroughly as I had never done before in my life. I even used mouthwash, even though it usually made me sick, and then I attacked my mane with all my knowledge and strength. I didn't leave tangled locks, but I kept my characteristic, always slightly "unruly" hairstyle, after all, it wasn't my goal that Princess Celestia wouldn't recognize me. I used magic to dry myself a little more, then opened the door a crack and poked my nose out.

It was quiet in the living room, even though my mom could have been home this early. I got out of the bathroom and trotted up to my room, naked as I was. I quickly locked the door, then dumped the entire contents of my wardrobe onto my bed. I had to search for a bit before I found a shirt suitable for the occasion. When I dropped it, it crumpled up a bit, but I restored it to its original state with a quick spell. Isn't integrity recreation a wonderful thing? Soon I was in full combat gear, and when I looked in the mirror, I was basically satisfied with the sight.

I still didn't hear any noises from inside the house, but to be safe, I left through the window instead, floating onto the street as a fine little cloud of dust. I looked for a place where I could calmly take shape without being noticed by anypony, and then, walking like a normal pony again, I set off through the streets towards the palace. I tried to avoid standing out as much as possible in such clothes, but time passed alarmingly quickly, and I almost didn't notice when I reached the ornate staircase that ultimately led to the throne room.

In a way I was lucky that I didn't have to ask anypony about the right direction: a tall, well-groomed stallion came up at the top of the stairs just then and already beckoned me to follow. In retrospect, I found it strange that the Princess apparently not only knew that I was going to say yes, but was also preparing for my arrival at that exact moment - which, I must admit, was quite frustrating - but then and there, I was too busy staring at his ruffled dress that I couldn't even take a good look around. And when I heard his voice, from then on, I had to wage a desperate battle against myself, so as not to ask him whether his barndoor swings the other way...

However, all this became completely insignificant to me when I saw that particular gate. Two stallions in gold armor were standing guard in front of it, as well as a small line of ponies waiting, giving me the false illusion of security for a few seconds, that I still had time to mentally prepare for meeting the Princess, but my escort simply walked around line without hesitation and beckoned to me as well. Just as I stopped, the door already opened, a very elegant mare stepped out, and my guide let me in without delay. I could almost feel the angry looks on my backside, but there was nothing I could do about it: I was not in control of the events...

I was a little afraid to look up at the throne, but my curiosity proved stronger. Princess Celestia sat dignified in her seat surrounded by her two bodyguards, but she smiled at me so cheerfully that it made my whole-body shudder. I half-heartedly tried to reciprocate the gesture, so as not to stand in front of the alicorn - hopefully my future master - with this terrible pout...

"Hello, Life Thread!" the Princess greeted me with unparalleled joy in her voice.

"Your Majesty!"

I bowed deeply; my nose almost touched the ground. I had the feeling that the Princess might have found it funny that I was all dirty before, and now I was dressed so spectacularly. But what kind of impression would it give if I stood in front of her like that?

"You may call me Celestia! And come closer!

"Thank you, Princess Celestia!" I looked up again and smiled. I carefully stepped closer, being very careful not to make my movements look unnatural. "And thank you very much for your generous offer; if it's still standing, I'd like to take it up!"

"Wonderful!" stated the Princess cheerfully. "You have a really great talent, Life Thread, I haven't met a pony in a long time who could perform this magic so beautifully. Tell me, who taught you? As far as I know, it is not currently included in the curriculum of any major at my school."

"I learned it by myself" I said proudly, but I immediately realized that this was at best a half truth, and it most certainly sounded quite immodest. "I mean, more precisely, the integrity recreation part was taught by Professor Tome, and the idea for the rest was given by Professor Vapor Yield."

"Great!" nodded the Princess, although I couldn't figure out exactly what she meant. "Now tell me what you are planning to use it for?"

She completely threw me off guard with her question. On second thought, she was absolutely justified to ask. And yet... I hadn't thought about this at all. I enjoyed being able to do it, I included it in my daily routine, it clearly served me well in my battles with Jasper, but to have any other goal with it...

"I don't know, I haven't given it much thought yet," I answered bewildered.

"This is not a problem at all, don't panic!" Princess Celestia smiled. "I was just curious, but it may also change over time anyway. I will be happy to teach you as long as the limits of your abilities allow, and of course as long as you want."

"You are very generous to me, Princess Celestia..." I bowed again.

"But?"

"I'm just worried... what if I don't live up to your expectations?"

"You don't need to worry about expectations but your own." she smiled warmly. "I've already seen what you're capable of, and that's more than enough for me. I won't go back on my word if that's what you mean."

"Thank you, Princess Celestia! You honour me beyond words!"

"Although it would be great, unfortunately I can't deal with you right now due to my busy schedule," declared the Princess, but that charming smile did not disappear from her face for a moment. "Likewise, I don't want you to neglect your other duties because of this little special education. I can find time for you usually after sunset, mainly on Tuesdays and Fridays, and since I understand you're from Canterlot, I assume that won't be too much of a problem for you. Of course, if you have any questions or problems, you can also contact me. If you can't find me or I'm out of the palace, feel free to contact Mr. Eye Candy! He accompanied you here and will be at your disposal in the future."

"Thank you very much, Princess!" I bowed again. "I promise, I will do everything to reciprocate your kindness to me!"

"You're easy to please," Princess Celestia giggled. "Then let's meet on Friday, for the sake of simplicity, in the same place! I will make sure we are not disturbed unless it is a matter of life and death."

* * *

I felt absolutely unstoppable. I was able to walk past the outraged queuers with a relatively expressionless face, but even before I left the palace my smile couldn't be washed off my face. I trotted along the streets with my tail proudly held high, not even caring about anypony. At home, when I announced the big news, they were basically jumping circles around me, just as I expected. I also couldn't wait to brag to my classmates - not least Ambrosia - that from now on they could be friends with Princess Celestia's private student. I had to celebrate this, but that alone is no fun, so as soon as I felt that I had spent enough time with my parents, I headed to Starswirl Dormitory, now in a bit more comfortable clothes.

They let me in at the door without a hitch: they already knew me, I went there practically every day. I couldn't find Jasper in his room though, and his roommates didn't know where he was either. Let's say I wasn't making much effort finding him, after all he already knew enough about the situation anyway, and I still had the strange feeling about him that he was jealous of me. So I headed towards Lotus's and Scorch's room instead. Wish probably still had to help at home, and if Jasper wanted to avoid contact with me for a bit, I didn't want to be making a nuisance of myself.

Luckily for me, the guys were in their place, and with them were Cavern and Stella. The mare stretched out comfortably on her coltfriend's bed, resting her chin on Lotus's shoulder. The stallions weren't doing anything important either, and they apparently didn't plan to go to the class that started around five, because they were sitting at the small table between their beds, and all of them, except for Stella, had a good amount of cards in their hooves, and in front of them were rows of chips in various colors and quantities.

They didn't pay any attention to me. It's true that I didn't knock, but the door was open so I just let myself in... Even after my silent greeting, only Stella flopped onto her back and waved at me lazily, but the others were deeply engrossed in the game. I rather just watched in silence, sitting next to the girl, since I didn't even recognize the type of cards, let alone the game itself.

"What is this?" I whispered to Stella after a few rounds.

"Red forty-one hundred, but Mirthy will fail spectacularly," the white mare told me in a voice that was not at all restrained, leaning her hind hooves against my side.

I didn't get an answer to my question, but I didn't want to emphasize my ignorance any more.

"Suck my dick, Stella...” Scorch snarled from across the table, shrouding his face with his jet-black mane.

"You called redouble, bro," remarked Lotus, and stroked Stella's face with his free hoof.

"Alright, then," the crimson stallion sighed. "For the sake of variety, you can suck my dick as well!"

I had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to participate in the conversation or the party, but I wanted to wait for the end. It didn't take long, Lotus took the last couple of rounds with a good laugh, and Scorch, true to his habits, sent everypony to Tartarus - but after the purple stallion swept the chips in front of him, he already collected the deck and started mixing it with practiced movements. I had to strike now before they started another match...

"And what would Princess Celestia say if she found out what a gambling den was here?" I tried to introduce my news from as far away as possible.

"Meh, she doesn't give a crap about us!" Cavern waved dismissively.

"Just be careful before one of her students might tell her!" I grinned.

A few seconds of silence followed my words. Apparently, none of them understood what I was trying to subtly imply, or they didn't even get to the point that I was alluding to something that requires explanation. Only Stella patted me lazily with her hind legs between my ribs.

"Congrats!" she added. "How did you do it?"

Now this got their attention. In no time I became the center of the company; I had to tell everything to them, and one time wasn't enough. Even Lotus's other roommate joined us, who didn't even speak to me before, but suddenly became very informal towards me. Soon, a couple of bottles of beer came out of the fridge, bringing me leaps and bounds closer to the party atmosphere that had permeated me until now and that I longed for.

And of course, nothing could be kept a secret with the door open: the residents of the dormitory inevitably found out what we were discussing in the small room. The historic moment's - taking into account how rarely Princess Celestia took students under her wings these days, I can say without modesty that it really was - slightly alcoholic wind gradually permeated the entire building, attracting more and more interested ponies... towards me.

I wasn't exactly used to being popular, and I didn't really know what to do with it. Everypony wanted to congratulate me, everypony wanted to introduce themselves to me, which I let them do, and after the second bottle of beer it didn't bother me at all, but in return it would not have been possible to get any stranger's name out of me even by torture, even if they only asked within ten seconds of meeting them.

I tried to stay close to my friends as much as possible - and of course, continue to drink - which didn't turn out to be difficult from the point of view that Scorch kept following me everywhere, as if we had suddenly become best friends. However, the accumulating, encroaching crowd pushed me out into the corridor a couple of times, and it was not an easy task to get back to the room from there. Somepony also got some music going from somewhere, making it quite difficult to have any kind of meaningful conversation, but by then it had already become apparent that the whole party was not about me for some time now, and although I still attracted more attention than usual, I was really just an excuse to have a party. It didn't particularly bother me, but I got a little bored after a while. I wandered around aimlessly, instinctively looking for emptier spots in the crowd, slowly but surely moving away from everypony.

It must have been the effect of the booze, but when I found myself loitering on the street, watching the strange, bustling-musical-sounding building, I seriously thought I had managed to accidentally learn teleportation. Smiling languidly, I leaned against a nearby lamppost - luckily, my senses didn't let me down and it was really there - and I closed my eyes.

"...nice friends they are," remarked somepony next to me sarcastically.

"Huh...?" I moaned after a half-minute of thinking.

"Jasper and Wish." A raven-black mane and a pair of green eyes swam into my field of vision when I forced myself to look up again. From this I soon identified my dear good old pal, Scorched Earth, alias Mirthwhistle. "They didn't even bother to show up."

"Got stuff to do, dunno," I shrugged, almost losing my balance in the process. "I think... Wish had somethin'..." I searched for words for a bit but came up with nothing. "Somethin' stuff, I think..."

"I don't get it what you like in that mare!" Scorch continued his thoughts. "She's such a nerdy gray mouse."

"Shuddup, she's cutesy...!" I shook my head and closed my eyes again. It was already getting dark, almost time for me to get into my soft li'l bed...

"Please tell me you don't want anything from her!" the stallion put a hoof on my shoulder. "You're wasting too much time on her already, and you wouldn't get along anyway."

I didn't particularly feel like trying to decipher what he meant by that. "Okay," I murmured. "Hey, so... Could you, like... take me home...?"

"Sure, mate, you can count on me!"

Somehow, the stallion switched places with the lamppost in my support, so I finally dared to move. At least I didn't have to open my eyes, it was enough to put one foot after the other. It was really very generous of him to help me out like that...

I have no more memories of that evening, but Scorch afterwards claimed - embarrassing me hugely by it - that I did not want to enter our gate, as I insisted that he take me to Ambrosia because I wanted to confess my love to her. Fortunately, that didn't happen, and what's more, I didn't even run into the mare that day, for which I was very grateful to fate afterwards. And somehow, I got into my bed, and the next day I woke up with only a headache, but my parents didn't say a single bad word about my condition. I don't know how Scorch managed all this, but I owed him a debt of gratitude...

Author's Note

They were playing Ulti, a hungarian card-game.

Ch 7 - Relations of a lucky pony

I remember how my courage evaporated with the alcohol each time I came to a decision about Ambrosia. I didn't even understand how I could be such a wuss, since we met and talked every single day. There would have been plenty of opportunities to ask that particular question, but no matter how many times I looked deeply into her eyes, I was simply unable to speak. In such cases, she always also fell silent, and just watched me with a smile for several minutes, as if she was just waiting for me to finally say what we were both thinking.

It was especially hard when we went for a walk together in the city, and in the starry night we sat down by a fountain or the castle wall to watch the sky. It was so clear, anypony could see why we were doing all this, why we sought each other's company so much, and why we couldn't speak when our eyes met. I knew I should have taken the initiative, but it was still Ambrosia who was less afraid to make contact. Sometimes, at the most unexpected moments, she would entwine our tails when we were close enough, usually completely paralyzing me. Although she managed to find the most sensitive, ticklish spot on my body, I always let her touch me. Over time, I got used to it, and not only did I not want to jump out of my skin from her gentle touch, but I slowly learned to enjoy it.

And still... and still I was able to remain a huge oaf for an incredibly long time... Even Wish told me that I was terribly dumb. And when I dragged her and Jasper to a pub on the outskirts of the city for the umpteenth time to "gather courage", she pretty much threatened me that if I didn't finally have an honest conversation with our classmate from Saddle Arabia, she would do it for me, and then I could be ashamed of myself. I couldn't help but whenever I finally felt capable of carrying out the task, I could barely stand on all fours. It made me realise two things, though. First: the state of drunkenness is relative, and the second is that I really needed to clarify my feelings with Ambrosia, otherwise Wish will actually fulfil her promise, making a fool of me for sure...

So, I needed a plan, which certainly wasn't as simple to put together as it sounded at first. Somehow, I had to get myself in such a state that I would dare to bring up the subject in front of the mare, while at the same time maintaining my sanity at least enough so that she wouldn't be sick from the mere sight of me. From this point of view, it was a rather unfortunate circumstance that Ambrosia could be invited anywhere - she was happy to come with the whole class -, excluding pubs and other places inherently related to alcohol. I wouldn't claim that she would have condemned us for going to such places, or that she would have considered the company to be deranged, she just told us diplomatically: she shouldn't drink. In order to prevent temptation, she looked for another program for herself, no matter how many times we tried to persuade her to at least be there with us.

However, I was sure that if I offered her a candlelit dinner, which we would enjoy together in an intimate setting in a famous restaurant, she would not refuse. It's true, it won't be easy to present such a thinly veiled invitation to a date, I knew that right away. And if I don't tell her that I want to take her to a prestigious place, and she can't prepare enough, I can easily upset her with that too... I was lucky though, that she never made it difficult for me when I wanted to talk to her face to face, so at least I could count on her to make it easy to avoid asking her out in front of our other classmates.

In the end, I managed to find a restaurant whose entire design and menu reminded me of the girl's home country, at least based on her stories. On the outside it was nothing special, but on the inside, it was like the pony was in a huge tent, full of ornate, carefully worked tapestries, fussy flower motifs, elegant, contained but warm lanterns, and of course waiters wearing strange, sheet-like clothes and dancing mares with half-veiled faces. They inevitably reminded me of Ambrosia and since I knew that even though she felt good in Equestria, she still sometimes felt homesick. I hoped that I would match her taste with the choice of place.

To my surprise, I encountered no obstacles in bringing it up to her. After one of my private lessons with Princess Celestia on Tuesday, I went for a little evening walk with her. On this occasion, however, I didn't let us sit down anywhere, but tried to lead ourselves towards the place that I found. She didn't show any signs of noticing my little trick all the way, but when she saw the restaurant, I saw how excited she suddenly became. Then I told her that I led her here on purpose, because I really like the place, and I wanted to show it to her. Fortunately, she didn't dare to ask why, but as we entered, her nostrils widened and she looked around mesmerized.

"Say, how about we come here properly sometime?" I asked her in an unassuming voice.

She couldn't even answer, just nodded and gently pushed her head under my chin, rubbing against me like that. I think that was when I actually got the confirmation that I had been waiting for. I hugged her and finally for the first time felt the strength to ask her if she wanted to be my fillyfriend. But I haven't done it yet. I wanted to wait for the right moment. On the way back, we agreed on the time, and the next day I visited the cozy restaurant again, to reserve a table for two for Friday evening. I didn't even tell my friends what was going on in my head, but I already knew that I finally had enough self-confidence to step into the field of action and "catch" the most beautiful mare from the Academy. I really had to see it... I was the private student of the ruler of Equestria, I had friends who I could count on at any time for anything, my relationship with my parents remained good even after all these years... if I can get this together, I will be the happiest pony in the world!

* * *

I have no idea if Princess Celestia knew I had plans for that evening, but she let me go much sooner than usual, without even being asked. She didn't make any comments, but she set me remarkably few tasks for that class in the first place, and they weren't too burdensome either, which I was particularly grateful for. I was able to go to Ambrosia fresh and rested. I donned a suit and tie for the special occasion, and with a red rose in my mouth, I stepped in front of the mare's tower, which she had personally borrowed from Princess Celestia during her stay in Canterlot. I always wondered, as the only resident, if she was lonely in such a large building; I would definitely be bored in her place. Although I have to admit, she was entitled to such luxuries, if for no other reason, then because of her noble blood. She was a highly esteemed guest, and the role suited her incredibly well... and she was probably used to it from the beginning so it would obviously have been extremely impolite to force her into circumstances that would be considered beneath her dignity.

It just crossed my mind that I might be considered beneath her dignity, but I quickly dismissed the thought. I may have come from an ordinary bourgeois family, but in my current position next to the ruler of Equestria, I could be considered a pretty good party. And since I received a scholarship for the same reason, I didn't have to worry that I wouldn't be able to provide the financial background necessary for a more serious relationship. Of course, money doesn't matter, it's the least important - I would have said in other situations, but thinking about it, if I wanted to hypothetically take her to any nice place, I would even invite her to something, I would already be able to spend horrible sums. And if it turns out that we really get together with Ambrosia, then I want to give her everything she wants. One shouldn't skimp on fillyfriends...

I felt a little awkward with a flower in my mouth - maybe I found it too sloppy or clichéd, I don't know - but I wasn't nervous when I knocked on her door. I was surprised at myself and quite elated, but as soon as I heard the soft clopping of the mare's hooves, I felt a very fine, semi-pleasant tremor in my chest around my heart, and I had to rein in my hooves so that they wouldn't paw the ground. I even shuddered when Ambrosia pushed the doorknob from the inside, although that was obviously exactly what I was expecting.

She appeared at the door. Wearing a softly flowing, low-cut, golden dress. A large, wide-petaled, blood-red flower pinned to her mane. Her eyes were shadowed with black ink, highlighting the more characteristic features of her face even more. I couldn't even tear my eyes away from her gorgeous form, and I almost dropped the rose from my mouth. When I remembered, I hoofed the small gift to the girl with an elegant gesture. She accepted it with a small nod and a broad smile, smelled it politely, and then - obeying some strange custom, presumably originating from her country - magically plucked a single petal, caught it in her mouth while it was floating the air, then touched the rose to her forehead with closed eyes.

"You are the most beautiful flower of all," I tried to compliment her, and it seemed that I was successful, because she couldn't answer, she just blushed with her ears slightly flopped down, which was quite unusual with her. "Shall we go, ma'am?"

"Thank you, Thread!" she said finally. She hesitantly took a few steps back, but seeing my confused face, she quickly explained. "I'm just going to put this away quick because it's very beautiful and doesn't wither!"

She floated a vase over to her, carefully slipped the rose into it, and then hurried back to me. She didn't come too close, so I didn't even dare to hug her on the way, but I could still smell the pleasantly sweet, yet slightly spicy scent she exuded. It was totally invigorating even to walk next to her, and I confirmed again that this is the mare I want...

Exceptionally, we did not talk at all until we reached the chosen restaurant. Of course, only because we both felt how special this occasion was, the charm of which could be broken by ordinary words. The waiter who welcomed us recognized me, so we didn't have to bother with finding the reservation. I politely pulled out the chair with my legs for Ambrosia, then sat across from her. We were also given a menu, but I couldn't deal with it for several minutes: I kept scanning the girl's face. Ambrosia tolerated it quite well for a while, blushing and turning the pages slowly, but then she too looked up.

"You chose already?" she asked, uncharacteristically shyly.

"Yes, I did, yesterday," I replied.

"Still, don't look at me like that, please! I'm so embarrassed of you..."

"You are too cute when you're embarrassed," I shrugged.

She didn't have a reply to that, just raised the menu a little higher, even though she didn't cover her eyes with it, and I saw her cautiously peeking out from behind it from time to time. It was better that way, at least I could feel like holding the reins. I needed this little extra self-confidence to convince myself to implement my plan. But, of course, everything in its own time.

By the time the waiter came back to ask what kind of drink we wanted, Ambrosia had already chosen food. I - to play it safe - asked for a glass of red wine and a bowl of spring flowers; the latter was my safe pick as a meal, plus I was guaranteed not to overburden my stomach, and the former helped me loosen up in a cultured way in the company of the mare. Ambrosia, on the other hoof, apparently knew exactly what she was doing, as she was able to communicate with the guy in the suit using completely foreign words, and I had no idea how much this evening would cost me... Of course, I wouldn't make a deal out of it, but with that I didn't want to be put in a hole if I didn't have enough money with me or that I couldn't tip enough.

"How was your class with the Princess?" Ambrosia asked while we waited.

"Oh, she let me go pretty early today. We just repeated, really, she promised to teach something new next week."

"And are you doing well anyway? You don't talk much of these."

"Yeah, I guess things are going pretty well," I said thoughtfully. "Maybe it sounds funny, but I practically learned to fly. Let's say I could have tried this in my other form, but I certainly wouldn't have thought of it on my own. And I can go underwater without air. It's a bit slow, but it feels really good otherwise. I was scared to death when she first gave me this task, you hear?

Ambrosia gave a wholehearted laugh. "I imagined you," she explained. "You must have been cute!"

"Perhaps," I smiled. "So far we've only been testing my limits, although I can't complain, it was still quite exciting."

"And are you getting along good? She loves you?

"Maybe I can say she likes me," I giggled at her phrasing. "Personal life doesn't come up very often, but I'm not surprised if she doesn't find me that interesting, and we wouldn't have time for it anyway, I suppose."

"It must be bad for her that she has no time for nopony," she noted. "She must be very alone for so many years without partners. She is so unapproachable, nopony dares to have an honest conversation with her. A ruler can't have real friends? They don't deserve love?

"I don't know, I never thought about this," I answered thoughtfully.

"Just because she is a great ruler, no mortal dares to direct contact with her. Maybe she wants it."

"I honestly don't know. Maybe she has somepony in secret..."

What a fool I am - I realized as soon as I said it. I was looking at the mare's face the whole time, but I still didn't see those small signs. She wasn't talking about Princess Celestia, but about herself! It might be natural for her to sympathize with Celestia, since in a way she had to live in the same isolation, yet surrounded by ponies. I admit, it really couldn't have been easy - this also revealed that she still doesn't know, or at least wasn't sure, why I brought her here. Was she, like me, brooding a lot about where the two of us were heading? Did I unwittingly cause her sleepless nights with my hesitation?

It may sound quite strange, but it was only then for the first time that it occurred to me that she might really be in love with me. I didn't really give her a reason. Or does love need no special reason? I never understood such things, it's no wonder that I was still single... I wouldn't even dare to say that I was in love with Ambrosia. I thought of her many times even when she was not around. Sometimes I felt a peculiar shudder when we looked into each other's eyes. I wanted to try out what it would be like to be together, not just in a strictly friendly sense. But like... yes, like a mare and a stallion. But I didn't feel like I'd sacrifice everything for her, or things like that, like I read in some novels. I wouldn't have been able to say that I couldn't live without her. Maybe I wouldn't even be able to say that simple little word that lovers always say to each other. Was my emotional life completely distorted, or were the books lying? Or does it simply vary from pony to pony? Or is it really just a matter of time?

Either way, I felt guilty for leaving her in limbo. My only comforting thought was that now we were really here so that I can confess everything to her and clear up this whole matter. The only question that remained was "how"...

"Maybe that's why she doesn't want me to tell her about my life," I tried to introduce the topic from a safe distance. Considering my intentions, however, I was unable to maintain eye contact any longer, I just caressed the tablecloth in front of me nervously. "As well informed as she is, she must know how great friends I have."

"Like Wish and Jasper?" she asked, mixing up my thoughts for a few seconds.

"Yes, like them," I answered after I gave it some thought. I looked into her eyes again, but behind her smile I now discovered a good amount of insecurity, which caused an unpleasant, tight feeling to settle on my chest. "Or like you."

"I'm not such a good friend to you like they are," she remarked, maintaining her smile almost perfectly. If she really was as afraid of this conversation as I was, her composure was truly admirable.

"I can't just think of you as a friend," I said, although I felt my voice grow thin towards the end. I cleared my throat a little, cursing myself for not being able to wait until at least I got my wine. "Since a while... you're more than that to me."

I saw the girl catch her breath and raise one of her front hoofs to cover her mouth. I tried to read her eyes, but she didn't seem to believe I actually said that. However, I didn't have a chance to reassure her immediately, as the waiter came and put the long-awaited drinks in front of us. Ambrosia didn't seem to notice, so I said thanks on behalf of her instead. I didn't want to be impolite, but as soon as the stallion left, saying that our dinner would have to wait a little longer, I poured half of my wine into myself with one big gulp.

"So, the question would be whether you would be my fillyfriend..." I blurted out, once again adjusting the tablecloth in front of me.

"Oh Thread!" she said in a low, trembling voice, although I didn't dare look up at her. "You really... you really want this?"

"Well... if you don't mind, I'd like to try..." I said cautiously.

"Yes, I would very much like it!" she answered firmly. "Thank you, Thread!"

"Come on, there's nothing to thank for!" I finally looked into those beautiful, grateful eyes again. "I am honored that you find me worthy."

It was a huge relief. Both the fact that I said it and the fact that my chosen one said yes. I extended my foot and Ambrosia placed hers in my hoof. It was a wonderful feeling... like when everything in life just comes together.

"You know, I always thought you wanted to be with Wish..." she said, blushing a little, but clearly happy.

"Why?" I asked in surprise. "Because we spend so much time together? She's been one of my best friends for a long time and that's it. She's completely different from you," I added.

"Yes, but she is so much like you," explained the mare, slowly stroking my hoof. "You understand each other very well, you are always there for each other, and... when I saw you kissing..."

"Ouch... I knew this would come up sometime!" I laughed to myself. "We'll never wash it off, will we? That was years ago and none of us wanted it. That was the game, that's how it is played. Don't take it too seriously."

"And she feels the same? It didn't mean nothing to her?"

"Come on!" I waved with my free leg. "Wish is Wish. She was the one pushing me to take the initiative with you. She is important to me, and will remain important, but not in the same way as you."

"Okay, I believe you," Ambrosia said.

"If she wanted anything from me, she had all the time in the world to tell me," I added, although this actually made me a little uneasy. It was enough to think about how difficult it was for me to reveal my feelings, I can't imagine how hard it could be for Wish...

"I'm just happy to be with you!" the mare grabbed my legs with both hooves and didn't let go until they brought our food.

We were able to spend the evening quietly and romantically, just as I had planned. In fact, the reality exceeded my expectations. The flower bowl was especially delicious, but it was nothing compared to seeing Ambrosia so cheerful. I couldn't stop looking up at her occasionally while eating, she was just so beautiful, so noble. This wonderful mare... my mare...

A single thought was constantly nagging me from the inside, however, even when I paid for our dinner. I thought of Wish again and again. The least I wanted to do was to hurt her feelings, even unintentionally. But I couldn't see what was going on in her head; she rarely revealed why she was doing what she was doing. I knew exactly how sensitive she was, and since she usually hid her emotions quite well even from us, we didn't always notice when she was offended by something. And for example, I couldn't figure out whether she even wanted a relationship like the one I just got into with Ambrosia. Until now, it never occurred to me that she might think differently of me among her few stallion acquaintances...

However, if I think about it a bit, unlike with Ambrosia, everything would have been a given with her. But the question was, even if it was so, did it matter at all? I had already made my choice, and I had no intention of changing my decision. This is not a situation in which I can be influenced by the fact that I can offend anypony... But I have not been exempted from responsibility either. We were best friends; practically, I considered it my duty to help her in everything that my abilities allowed me to do, and of course if she didn't refuse - after all, the latter had already happened a few times as well. Her happiness was important in my eyes, and although I wouldn't have traded my love life for that, I would have gladly given her a fraction of my luck, which permeated my every day. Too bad these things don't work that way. So, I promised myself, thus calming my conscience, that if necessary, I would go all over Equestria to find her a stallion that would respect her and give her everything she could wish for.

The time I spent with Ambrosia could not be overshadowed by my worries, but after we hugged each other at the gate of her tower and said goodbye with a very restrained kiss, I thought of Wish again. Even on the way home, the feeling grew stronger in me that I would not be able to behave in a truly liberated manner towards my new fillyfriend until I had settled this issue. However, I guessed that this would not be very easy to achieve, if only because I rarely got to spend even a few quiet minutes with Wish face to face. Not to mention that I had absolutely no idea how I could handle all of this...

* * *

True to my promise, the first thing I did on Monday morning was to tell Jasper and Wish about my date. I purposely told them everything in detail, watching the mare's smallest reactions, but there was nothing that indicated that she was hurt by what she was hearing. We didn't have a chance to talk about my experience further, as Mr. Poltergeist, as always, arrived on time and ushered us into the room right away. It happened quite rarely nowadays that our lesson was held here, but the dean kept this good habit, even if we were confined in a relatively small place this way. We simply outgrew the room, although somehow it did retain a kind of nostalgic charm.

Walking past Ambrosia, I stroked the mare's silken mane, and in turn she rubbed a little against my hoof, giving me a funny kitten-ish impression, which only made me feel better, and then I took my old place, diagonally behind her. However, it suddenly occurred to me that I might as well switch chairs with Jasper, and then I could be that much closer to my fillyfriend. I didn't even delay, after a quick consultation we carried out my plan - accompanied by the boy's sly grin - and pushing our bench a little further I could even enjoy the scent of Ambrosia's mane.

"If you have finished settling in, I would prefer to begin with your permission," said Mr. Polter in front of us. "Today's class will be special, so I would like you all to pay close attention. Today we are going to start with a test, but before you get upset, this time you are going to test me."

It was fortunate that he said it quickly enough, because already several ponies hissed in horror - nothing like this came up during the last class.

"You shall fill in an evaluation about me, my presentation style, and the curriculum I delivered," he continued, not even pausing, as he used to do. "As you can guess, there shall be questions specifically designed to assess how well you have memorized what I said in general, and I would like to ask you to pay attention to every detail. Based on the new educational directives of the EEA, we should place more emphasis on the feedback of our students." He paused for a moment, then looked at us with a hint of a smile. "As Lotus put it very insightfully a few presentations earlier, now is the time for the ice cream to lick back..."

The whole class shared a good laugh. We've heard this from Lotus a few times, but it sounded much funnier coming from the dean's mouth.

"Then let us not delay; we should get down to business right away!" Mr. Polter held up his hoof to make us quiet. He sat down behind his desk, propped his hooves together, and began his monologue. "Today's topic shall be interesting: I shall talk about the high school of illusion magic. And before that, just so that we can proceed on the basis of our system so far and be able to classify it among the others, I shall briefly summarize our previously acquired knowledge about this branch of magic."

"As we know, the purpose of illusions is always to convey false information to somepony. This can often go so far that our task is to deceive somepony and try to get them to accept the information we provide as truth. The technique we can use for this can be physically or mentally based, and in terms of its invasiveness, it has a very wide palette. First, we learned physical image creation, which is the simplest, most basic, and also the easiest method to reveal. The potential for error lies in the fact that an uncombined image merely shows something to the target person, which on the one hoof loses its credibility immediately if anypony comes into contact with it, and, more importantly, it must be believable. Even if we can perfectly portray a certain person, for example, if for whatever reason our target does not consider it rational to see who we want them to see in the given situation, we have already failed."

"We practiced this kind of magic for a long time, because even those of you who didn't want to be professional illusionistscan benefit from being able to project your thoughts in a visual form. We call this simple graphic image creation, and this part of our curriculum that any unicorn can learn with the right amount of practice. Of course, there can be huge differences in the finished image, but this does not change the essence."

"This was followed by complex physical images, when visual information was associated with other stimuli: sounds, smells, tastes, touch. It is easier for anypony to believe in the authenticity of a lookalike created with the illusion technique if it speaks, and when we touch it our hoof does not drift through the bare air. And if we are able to copy even somepony's unique scent, it is possible to get hold of our target on a relatively unconscious level, because feeling it will instinctively make ponies trust an image more, even if they are inherently a doubting type. And of course, it is extremely important here to know the thing we want to copy as thoroughly as possible, and to be able to reconstruct it precisely. Obviously, this cannot be avoided in any other case... completely."

"It is even more difficult to create an independent, or as it is called, interactive physical image. This is the pinnacle of image-type illusion magic, so it's no wonder that you may only encounter it as a theoretical question in the exams. In such cases, we combine summoning techniques with illusion techniques and create an autonomous, multi-level, complex image capable of responding and learning. If you were to ask somepony from the Department of Complex Arcane Sciences, they would say that the interactive physical image is actually a specialised elementar. It is obviously not necessary for us to deal with this, but it is good to know that it is true from the point of view that it is indeed the same as the elementars in terms of its function and operating principle, but compared to the real elementars and the elementals that are not to be confused with them, the image has at most a nominal consciousness and independence."

"To repeat how an interactive physical image works, I will explain it through the classic box example. Let's say we have an unconscious pony in a sealed, perfectly empty room, whom we want to make believe is at home, in their own room. It could be for example a simple police case if we know they have hidden something in the room and we want them to show it to us without even knowing we are watching. If our subject is proficient in illusion spells, then without a mental component, they can easily outsmart us. If they are not, we can make them believe that they see reality. They shall be able to leave a mark on the world we create, and everything shall seem real. When they sit down on their bed, they shall feel it sink under them; if they tear a piece of paper, it stays that way. We can even trick them into thinking they are eating. We can make them feel the taste of food and can even imitate satiety with the image. However, if they walk up to a painting on the wall and take it down, because only they know that the secret safe is behind it, then we shall get caught. Although I must note, we still achieved our goal..."

"The next things, which we have only barely learned about, are the aforementioned mental components. And indeed, this, together with the multitude of physical images, leads us to the highest level of illusion techniques." Mr. Poltergeist looked deeply into my eyes for a moment, and a smile crossed his face again, which gave me a strange feeling, although I couldn't really place it. "Here, we are no longer merely deceiving the target's senses, but their entire mind. It shall not necessarily cause a disruption if they don't see what seems rational to them, it's our job to force them to believe it. We break into their consciousness, mix their reality with our own creations. Of course, it is not possible to modify somepony's thoughts directly with this method either, but what they perceive as reality from the world can potentially be influenced at will. This method is obviously illegal even in the subtlest of forms, but a trained wizard must be able to prepare against it."

"The most effective and surest way to prepare you would be, of course, if we could teach everypony at least a basic level of this technique, or to specifically train you against it by using it on you, but this is obviously neither feasible nor expected. That is why we are forced to search for other options. For example, like everything else, an illusion technique cannot be perfect, and that is why, if you pay close attention to the details, you can figure out the trick. Any created image necessarily contains errors, gaps, which are small deficiencies in the creator's knowledge, or substitutes aimed at filling them. We learned about the latter under the title of paradoxes, since we can stumble upon them if they are incompatible with the reality we know. And this is the aspect of illusion magic that can become apparent even to an amateur after a longer or shorter time. Many experienced illusionists use various methods to cover them up, such as simple distraction."

"We, however, have a much more effective way to recognize when somepony is using illusion magic on us. The previous method has two problems, namely that it plays on the mistakes of our opponent and, on the other hoof, it looks for paradoxes that appear by chance. Depending on the influence of our mind, we can also counter the spell directed against us, or even the one who invokes it on us. This can work even without prior preparation, but if we have fixed points in our environment - I hope everypony remembers them -, it can make our job a lot easier."

"If somepony is paranoid enough about illusions, like me, they can also use routine reality-checking algorithms during their daily lives at predetermined times," A couple of ponies in the room giggled softly, but Mr. Poltergeist continued with a neutral face. "I note that the same technique is also excellent for recognizing dreams, if somepony prefers to be aware of whether they are currently sleeping or not. The first step is the most important, although taking it requires great discipline in following the routine. We need to ask ourselves when the last time we did a reality check was. If we cannot give a precise answer to this, or if we find that there is something missing from the routine, it already assumes a strong influence. From here on, we have to proceed carefully and in the correct manner, and for the sake of safety, it is worth using one or two interruptingtechniques, regardless of their final result."

"And let us stop here for a moment, as we have reached the point that is the most important to highlight! Interrupting techniques can be used regardless of being aware of whether we are under illusionist influence at all. It is true that if our mind is not under an attack, it is obvious that we shall not experience any independent effects."

"The simplest type of these methods is rejection. In such cases, we refuse any incoming information, we wrap ourselves in ourselves, trying to break the connection with the mind of the magician who created the illusion. This is also a generally accepted, though not specific, strategy against other mind-oriented attacks. I could best explain its mechanism of action through dreams: if we use it the right way during sleep, we simply wake up. A serious disadvantage of this technique, however, is the uncertainty of its ability to break a sufficiently strong and invasive image, but it can make us believe that we have succeeded and that we remain in the pseudo-reality in good faith."

"Manipulation is a much trickier, but more refined method. With this, we can force the person who is trying to deceive us to match their willpower with ours, by attempting to take control of the image. In any case, an illusion is malleable, so in theory it can be influenced easily with non-physical spells, in which only its creator can stand in our way. It is worth using this technique when we find a point or a paradox that we are quite sure is the result of reality distortion. If we are skilled enough, we can not only break down the illusion spell, but we can even trace it back to its creator, and we can even turn it against them, which is obviously not possible with the aforementioned method. What is quite a serious disadvantage is that our adversary shall immediately find out if we have suspicions about the image, but if we miss the point and actually try to manipulate reality, we can mislead ourselves. If I want to connect this to my previous example, I would say that this is how we can control our own dreams."

"The third method, equivalent to this in many respects, is clairvoyance. Yes, as the name suggests, it requires serious perceptive skills, either static or dynamic, depending on the type of the image. It is important to note, however, that although clairvoyance is also considered an interruptingtechnique, its purpose is not primarily to break the process of illusion magic, but merely to free the caster from its influence. The benefit also comes from this: in this way, without our opponent's knowledge, we can see through the trick, and we can get out of it whenever we want, or alternatively we can follow the events determined by them, thereby shedding light on their intentions. There is no real danger in this technique, but its implementation requires quite a bit of magical power and inherent talent. And if I have already brought up dreams, in this case we do nothing else with them than recognize that we are dreaming, but let ourselves drift with the events, and if somepony believes in such things, then they can memorize the whole dream so that they can decipher its "message" later."

"Now let us get back to the reality-checking algorithm! So the first step was to recall the last examination, in other words we control the consistency. If this is violated, then there is either an external influence in motion, or the fault lies with us, and of course it does no harm if we are aware of both as soon as possible. Our next task, regardless of the outcome of this, is to check the details, that is to say the complexity. Reality is infinitely complex, which is why nopony can copy it perfectly. They can make us believe that what we see is real, but we make it a lot easier if we are superficial in the first place. If we suspect a fake external image, let us look as carefully as we can! If an interior image is more likely, let us look for small things that the pony would think of last as essential details. Let us reach into a dusty cupboard, stir up the dust and see how it behaves! If the illusionist was not thorough enough, we can experience very strange phenomena with a lucky examination."

"Finally, we should check the stability. We look for a relatively fixed point on the perceived image and pay close attention to it. This is also somewhat similar to the manipulationinterruptingtechnique in the sense that it can be just as invasive against an illusion spell, but I would like to point out that it is not against its caster! It is suspicious that we are dealing with an image if we discover elusive errors on it, and it indicates internal influence, if we cannot focus our attention properly on them. Overall, the most important thing is to pay attention to the details, as even the most precisely put together illusion techniques can fail."

"Well, that was all for now," Mr. Poltergeist got up from his desk, then floated some evaluation sheets in front of us with his horn. "Feedback is important to me as well, so please be honest! You have to fill in the papers anonymously, so you don't have to worry about anypony being discriminated against if they rate my presentation badly. And you don't have to worry about me either: it won't hurt me in any way. So just take it easy!"

In a few minutes we were all done with the "test". There were really no complicated questions; thus, it didn't stand up to my expectations. And since a significant part of the presentation was repetition, I quickly found the correct answers to the related questions in my memories. Regarding the evaluation of our dean, I followed the instructions and was really honest: I gave him maximum marks for his professional preparation, but only average marks for his presentation style and his ability to capture our interest. As for the last question, which asked for other comments about the presentation, I left it blank as usual. Taking advantage of the fact that I did it relatively quickly, I had some time left to ruffle Ambrosia's mane from behind... which she probably enjoyed, because she pushed her chair back a little and let me continue while she filled the short questionnaire.

"Great!" Mr. Polter clapped with his hooves. "Scorch, would you please collect the papers?"

"Of course, sir!" the red stallion hopped up eagerly.

I wasn't even surprised; Scorch was practically only on good terms with the dean among the teachers, but when dealing with him, he always awaited his instructions like an obedient puppy, and he prepared for all his classes as thoroughly as possible. However, after the boy collected the papers with a quick spell, he stopped by the teacher's desk and quickly flipped through them one by one. I strongly doubted that it would fit the procedure's standards, but Mr. Polter didn't comment on it, just calmly watched the red stallion.

"Looks like there were only two ponies paying attention besides me, sir," Scorch spoke again.

"Oh really?" the dean raised his eyebrows. "Could you elaborate, please?"

"That's how many ponies answered question thirteen. One of the answers was "rejection", and the other... "I just noticed". Heh, that's good!"

I had literally no idea what the thirteenth question was, and the answers didn't provide any clues either.

"Let me see!" Mr. Polter reached for the sheets with noticeable nervousness in his voice. Only when he looked through the stack did he calm down a little. "There were two ponies observant still," he remarked, turning towards us again. "Although they only noticed that question thirteen was missing... Even though it is far from perfect, that is still something."

"That is correct," Scorch stated. "However, this also means that they didn't notice, so you passed. I think I am also satisfied with the oral part of the exam."

"Thank you, sir!" the dean nodded and stood up from his chair.

Something isn't right! - I suddenly realised. Even after hearing the previous exchange, I had a strange, prickling feeling behind my ear, but I didn't attach any particular importance to it. However, as the two stallions switched places, it all came together for me. By the time they got there, I was no longer surprised that the person I thought was Mr. Poltergeist was now walking towards us with bright red fur and a raven-black mane, with a big grin on his face, as if Princess Celestia had accepted him as her private student as well...

"So, how was I?" Scorch nudged my shoulder before he passed me.

"Um... creepy?" I answered with a question full of uncertainty.

I could see that this was not exactly the reaction he was hoping for. He probably would have liked it better if I praised his - otherwise really admirable - illusion magic, but to be honest, it just gave me the chills... He continued to smile, though far less cheerfully, patted me on the back, then sat back down.

"That was scary, dude!" Jasper claimed loudly next to me.

"That won't cut it!" Dulci snapped, surprisingly irritated. "Not the first time that you're completely freaking me out! Seriously, what the heck are you guys? Ponies at all? I swear, I can't wait for that damn basic exam, so I can finally play music in peace among normal ponies! One of them sleeps with a knife under his pillow, the other goes everywhere like a giant dust bunny, and this one even gets in my head?! Such a messed-up bunch! I'll be happy if I get out of here alive, and I don't go bananas!

"Please, calm down, Dulcimer!" Mr. Polter tried to de-escalate. "Remember what you learned! Illusion techniques can sometimes mess with the pony's head on this level."

"No, sir!" continued the stallion. "No and no! That was the last straw! Who isn't a drug addict here is an inveterate psychopath... I won't stay here a minute longer! I don't care if you expel me, but I've had enough!"

I was stunned speechless. And Dulci had already put his words into practice as he angrily got up from his chair and headed for the door.

"What the buck is wrong with you?" Cavern grabbed the stallion's clothes with his magic. "The heck you think you're doing?

"Leave me alone!" the stallion pulled away. "I've had enough! I'm really sorry, sir, but I'm done here..."

Dulci tore open the door, then swung it behind himself. Everypony was silently watching the place where the stallion disappeared, only Mr. Polter was looking at us, carefully putting his hooves together in front of him.

"Kiddos..." he spoke after a while. "Are there drug addicts, alcoholics or psychopaths among you?"

"No way, sir!" Cavern replied immediately. "What were you thinking?"

"That is what I thought," the crimson stallion continued with a perfectly even voice, then he slowly raised from his table. "I shall go and talk to him. Due to the special situation, the class is dismissed for now. Anyway, it doesn't hurt if you clear your head a little as well. And congratulations again to you, Scorch, and I hope you shall enjoy yourself at our Department."

* * *

We welcomed the unexpected break more or less, but when I left the room, I immediately felt how confused my thoughts were, and on the other hoof, even though I wanted to discuss the strange exam with my friends, Scorch followed me almost immediately, making my situation a bit awkward. In the end, we just sat on one of the benches in a small space next to our room - although since Ambrosia also joined us, we were basically building a pony-pile - so we couldn't squeeze the red stallion in... not that I particularly minded. Scorch just stood in front of us while he proudly explained - what we all realized since then -, how skillfully he was able to imitate our dean, and how he was the first among us to choose a major, which was always his favourite subject, "mind and illusion magic". Only when he saw that we weren't so enthusiastic about his success did he stop, although to my surprise - perhaps because of me - he didn't have a single insult for us this time.

At last there were four of us left, but somehow, we couldn't talk as freely as we usually did when I was with Jasper and Wish. After a couple of failed attempts to get my fillyfriend and my friends into a conversation, I gave up. In fact, it even took away my motivation to talk to them. For some reason, I got the stupid feeling that if I did that, Ambrosia might feel like I was neglecting her. Even if she didn't do anything else while sitting, she was just rubbing my neck with one of her hooves, which, I must admit, was exhilarating in and of itself.

Only when the day was over - which, being a Monday, was quite late - was I able to talk to my friends normally. Since Ambrosia's tower was the closest to the training laboratory of the Department of Medicinal Magic, where our last class was held, we escorted her home first together, and only then turned towards Wish's house. I was quite sorry that this time our route turned out to be just like this, since I could hardly have clarified my thoughts and questions about the girl in a calm environment this way.

"Not even a kiss or somethin'?" Jasper asked when we were out of earshot of my fillyfriend's place.

"It was a kiss," I answered, sighing softly. I could have guessed that I wouldn't be able to get away without getting picked on. "Okay, so, maybe more of a peck... Isn't that enough?"

"Lame..." Jasper said, trying to disguise it in an incredibly half-assed way as a cough.

"Come on!" Wish waved him off. "At least they don't rush things. It's better if they take their time, right? And he's not lame, just a little shy, aren't you, Thread?

"I hope this doesn't mean that my love life will be a daily topic from now on..." I tried to indicate that it's not what I want to talk about right then.

"You don't have to be ashamed, it's rather cute," the mare remarked. "You are more of a romantic type, which is absolutely fine. Many mares like this instead of machos..."

I don't know if she meant to continue, but at this point Jasper couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.

"Just a piece of advice, Wish," I flinched. "Never call a stallion cute!"

"Sorry," the mare flopped down her ears repentantly.

"'kay, stopped teasin' ya!" Jasper slapped me in the back with such vigor that I had to wince. "This really is yer business. As for me, I just wanna know when we can get together and beat up each other next time! Now we have to coordinate yer dates with two of yer admirers..."

"Admirers..." I shook my head. "Princess Celestia would think twice about taking you into her army if she heard how you're talking about her."

"I heard she likes a good joke. Or ya have a different experience from yer private lessons?"

"Emphasis on "good", Jasper," I smiled. "Otherwise... I don't know."

"Give it a try!" he grinned as well. "Try prankin' her with somethin' dumb, maybe she'll like it!"

"Yeah, figures..." I snorted. "But there is something I wanted to ask you, but you keep interrupting!"

"You need help with Ambrosia?" Wish asked with sparkling eyes.

"No, no way!" I shook my head. "It's about Scorch's performance. Did you know that the guy has improved so much?"

"I knew he was good, but I wouldn't have guessed that he's that good," Wish shook her head. "When he said the word "test", I already guessed that there was something fishy. I thought the trick would be there, and I was right, but I didn't expect anything else. Especially when I saw the hidden question; that really put my suspicions to rest."

"What was that anyway? They somehow forgot to tell us."

"It was just about the interrupting technique we used during the test. Obviously, only those who used one could answer it."

"Now, that makes a buncha' sense!" Japser laughed.

"Well, actually, I was surprised that Stella didn't notice the ruse either," the girl mused. "She discovered the question; I'm sure that she was the other pony who answered. But she's always been the best in the class in perception, so Scorch must have had a lot of preparation for all of this. I mean, beyond the fact that he copied Mr. Poltergeist's gestures and habits."

"It must be because they are on the opposite side of the spectrum," I said. "If I'm right, Scorch's strength is dynamic projection, like mine, and Stella is as static as a three-door wardrobe. However, even if she feels like somepony from another world, such a down-to-earth pony like her is a rarity."

"That's true!" Wish chuckled. "But look at her, even she has found a partner, and look how long they have been together!"

I... couldn't say anything to that. I couldn't think of anything encouraging, but I was afraid to say anything about Wish anyway. From then on, I mostly remained silent, although my friends could easily have missed it since they had a nice conversation about something - in comparison – a more neutral topic. Arriving at the intersection, where the roads split towards the dormitory and Wish's house, we stopped for a short while. I agreed with Jasper that on Wednesday after school we would go out to train, then the three of us went three ways.

* * *

The next day wasn't boring either. When Dulci freaked out, we didn't take his words seriously enough. He had been somewhat of an outlier for some time anyway; he was looking for the company of other novice musicians rather than ours, but so far this has not bothered anypony. We were like, Mr. Polter will talk to him anyway, and everything will be solved, as usual. Silly thought... of course everything was resolved, just not with the results we were expecting.

Although we did not spend more than half of our lessons with the entire class, the absence of the red stallion soon became noticeable. At first Jasper even joked that Dulci was really gone, but unfortunately, he was too close to the truth. I'm not saying that our musician classmate was ever one of my best friends, but it hurt quite a bit to part with him this way. He didn't even give us a chance to discuss it, even though so far, he hasn't shown any clear signs that he was bothered by the way we were. Yes, I admit, we teased him more than once because of his size - he was big as a colt in terms of height, but since then he's only grown... broadwise - or because of his, well, modest skills in magic. What the heck would a pony expect from a musician, but everypony was constantly teasing each other anyway.

Or, on second thought, maybe not... At first, Stella was a popular target for jokes, although it's true, mostly only behind her back. The filly, on the other hoof, somehow had such a strange attitude towards the whole world, which we were unable to get used to at the time, but we have also missed her from the class quite a bit, if the mare was not with us for any reason. Everything became flat, boring and predictable. It sounds a bit stupid, but it wasn't worth offending her because of her eccentricity, if only because she could react to such a joke quite differently. Dulci, on the other hoof, was a perfect target - if only because of his size, he was easier to hit - for the little bantering, and moreover, unlike Scorch, he didn't seethe or get upset when we got on him a bit, but he didn't just take it silently either, like, say, Wish.

Maybe he really could have gotten fed up with us... Later, he and Cavern didn't hang out much together anymore: he went to places with other acquaintances, and Cavern spent more time with Lotus. Perhaps the concerts that Dulci liked so much could also be among the reasons. From the beginning, he got the band to visit such things sometimes, but our tastes were very diverse, so it was impossible to please everypony at the same time. At the classical concerts, some of us just suffered - I myself could sit through a two-hour performance without any problems - and it also happened that if the concert did not meet the expectations, the group blamed the red stallion. And recently, I also scolded him pretty thoroughly when he called us to a concert he wasn't even attending... Who the buck would've thought we'd end up here?

I couldn't just let it go. I met half-privately with the dean accompanied by Jasper, Wish, and Ambrosia to see if we could find out what they were up to. We didn't manage to get anything out of Mr. Polter about what they talked about, but he did tell us the details of the agreement. He moved Dulcimer to another class and asked us not to look for him if possible and leave him alone. On the other hoof, he reassured that, despite the reduced headcount, he will now see our class through this way.

That was what was on my mind even when I took Ambrosia to my favourite café before the private lesson with the Princess for a quick bite. It was a bit rushed date, but the silence and the proximity of my mare calmed me down a bit. Originally, I even wanted to go home before sunset, but we snuggled so cozily at the table, on the cushioned chairs, that I decided against it. It was just too comfortable.

Ambrosia even accompanied me to the palace. It felt nice that she was so attached to me, and even though I guessed that I wouldn't be able to take her home after - obviously I didn't expect her to sit here alone and wait for the end of my lesson - it was undoubtedly more pleasant to walk together in the corridors, which to me still seemed somehow so cold and distant. As we walked she leaned her head against my neck, so she had to lag a little behind me, but this way we were able to maintain constant contact.

Her gentle touch successfully distracted me from who was waiting in front of the throne room. Of course, I saw the two guards, whom I've mostly looked through lately, since as the Princess's private apprentice they had no authority to stop me - not that I had anything to do with them anyway. I also noticed the presence of the other two ponies, but I was used to the fact that sometimes even at such a late hour some idiots were waiting for an audience. I learned to ignore them too. If Princess Celestia deemed their visit urgent, I could still stand by her side as her escort if I really wanted to.

Even when they turned towards us, I didn't waste a single glance at them. We probably would have walked right between them if the mare - whose thick, black-rimmed glasses and purple-pink mane suddenly looked ominously familiar - hadn't called out to me.

"Long live the young couple!" she said with a mocking tone.

"Oh wow! They really allow anypony to barge in here?" I tried to retort. Really, the one thing I missed for my happiness was the Violet girl...

"Come on, Thread, if you are allowed here, then who wouldn't?" she grinned impudently. "Anyway, I don't understand what your problem is. You really look good together. The color of your eyes goes with the young lady's dress. You are so decorative, it should be taught!"

The smile was long gone from my face, but I didn't let any other emotion take its place. The Violet girl had the good sense to kick me right where it hurts... but of course she couldn't openly say that I was dating a dumb bitch. It insulted my honor, so I couldn't leave it without a remark. After I appraised both Violet Sign and her companion - what a surprise, it was Nimbus Strike - I turned to the stallion with sudden determination.

"Hi!" I greeted him in a forcedly kind voice. "It's good that you're here too, I wanted to ask you something! You're a little more into things like this, don't you know how one can get a scholarship like that one - I gently nodded towards Sign - when she's drowning in money, and the real talents in need are going without?"

The white stallion raised one of his eyebrows just the slightest bit, as if he thought I was completely stupid, but that didn't stop me.

"Oh, silly me!" I slapped my forehead. "I'm sure her daddy takes care of that too, otherwise she couldn't afford to buy a nice enough prom dress, right? I'm sorry, that money is in the right place..."

"Or perhaps they just remunerate me for not driving my own classmates crazy, and I don't "raise" the reputation of the Academy by drinking myself to near-stupor in pubs, but in participating high-level magic competitions," replied Sign calmly.

As my gaze strayed to her face, I saw that I had somewhat achieved my goal, but she being this well-informed was still annoying as buck...

"For some reason, it's still me who is on the same level as everypony's idol..." I bowed slightly towards Nimbus. "I'd like to think Princess Celestia chooses carefully the ponies she surrounds herself with."

"Only in your dream are we on the same level," Nimbus finally spoke, in exactly the same condescending tone as I expected from him.

"I admit, your only skill that got you here is really something," Sign took the floor again. "If you have polished it to perfection, the Princess can put you on her shelf as another interesting piece of her collection. You can bask in her glory, nopony will hold a grudge against you. I'm just content with doing something actually useful for Equestria."

I didn't even try to hold it back, I snorted and laughed. Of course, Sign, as she generously deploys her vast theoretical knowledge to help her country.

"Can't wait to see how you handle things when you get out of school!" I finally remarked. "Oh, sorry! I always forget that you don't even have to move a hoof, a hundred ponies are already jumping to do your bidding, M'lady!" I bowed to her mockingly. "If only once I could see you achieve something by yourself... except for the paperwork, of course..."

"You have no idea, Thread!" the Violet girl's eyes flashed menacingly. "You have no idea what I'm capable of!"

The answer was already on the tip of my tongue, but something suddenly touched my tail, which made me wince involuntarily. Of course, I immediately realized that it was just Ambrosia, but I wasn't so thrilled by the unexpected maneuver. The mare, on the other hoof, just ran her nose along my neck, which sent a pleasant, tingling sensation down my spine, and then leaned close to my ear.

"I think I go," she whispered. "I feel useless here."

I turned back to her and answered in a whisper as well. "Come on! It means a lot to me that you are here with me."

"Okay, but you must go and I don't like them."

She had a point. I sighed, then planted a kiss on her nose, although it only annoyed me more that I wasn't paying enough attention and hit the halter. It was nothing like the mare's soft, silky fur and the hot skin that was underneath, more like I was licking a hemp rope...

"Goodbye!" Ambrosia nodded towards the two ponies.

"Oh, goodbye indeed, darling!" Sign waved to her with an unreasonably cordial smile.

Until my fillyfriend disappeared at the end of the corridor, I followed her with my eyes, but then I turned to Sign, and she could probably read from my look that I would prefer to wipe the grin off her face with a seamless spinning kick. But no, it wasn’t worth it.

"Well, it was nice to see you, but the Princess is already waiting for me," I said, and with that I started towards the door of the throne room.

"Alright I'll take my leave then," said Sign. "As much as I would enjoy seeing how you present how "on the same level" you are with Nimbus, unfortunately it is not possible. Just make sure that the cleaning staff don't sweep you up along with the ordinary dust when you're done!"

I didn't pay much attention to her words, but I couldn't ignore the fact that before I could even reach the gate, it opened in front of me from Nimbus' magic. I looked at the white stallion with mild interest. "And you...?"

"After you!" he nodded.

I didn't understand what that was about, but I entered anyway. I turned my ears back to be safe, so I heard exactly that the stallion came in after me and even closed the door behind himself.

The throne was empty in the middle, making the guards standing in front of the hall a little redundant. It had happened once or twice that the Princess had some other things to take care of before she could deal with me, so I wasn't particularly surprised. I walked casually to the front of the stairs leading to the throne and sat down comfortably. To occupy myself with something, I looked at the colored mosaic glass windows - although they were all already familiar - and I tapped softly on the marble with one of my front hoofs to the characteristic beat of a song, which, by the way, reminded me of Dulcimer again.

While waiting, I sneaked a sideways glance at Nimbus. I didn't like the fact that he had something to discuss with the Princess just now, but I smiled when I saw that the stallion was waiting in a terribly formal way, kneeling down on one knee, even though there were only two of us. It also dawned on me that Celestia maybe isn't as amiable with everypony as she is with me. Although I was sure of that, she doesn't expect this from anypony, perhaps only we, ordinary mortals, could instinctively have this kind of subservient attitude towards the alicorn.

After a few minutes, Princess Celestia arrived somewhere from the side. Actually... I didn't hear the opening of a door, or the first soft, then increasingly loud clatter of hooves on the marble, so she might as well have teleported. Nimbus visibly tensed his entire body, but I turned happily to my teacher and mentor, and saw with some relief that the Princess smiled back.

"I'm glad you both could come this time," the alicorn stated cheerfully. "Let's not waste time; we should get to work right away!"

"Wha...?" it slipped out of my mouth. "You mean all three of us?"

"Yes, we will spend this little lesson together." Celestia giggled heartily. "Did I forget to mention it?"

I was sure that she did it on purpose - that would be so much like her - but I didn't voice my opinion. Obviously, there was a good reason to organize it behind my back, and there would have been no point in arguing anyway.

"Come now, Nimbus!" the Princess motioned to the stallion to rise. "Are you prepared?"

"Yes, Your Highness, as you requested," replied Nimbus as he also stepped closer.

"Very well," Celestia smiled. "We will teleport now."

She gave us a few seconds to tune in to the spell, then pulled us out of the fabric of reality, and a moment later we found ourselves in a large, disc-shaped space. It was a bit like the tracks in the training ground that Jasper and I used to fight each other on, only here it wasn't slag, but we were standing on some unidentifiable, slightly flexible, pale yellow glowing material. Nothing could be seen around, only blackness, and the yellowish material was also lost in the gloom in the parts further away from us.

"Your task will be simple," said the Princess, after patiently waiting for us to observe our surroundings. "You have to fight each other. Put all your abilities into it; don't spare each other! I'm just watching you, but I won't interfere."

"Not even if one of us gets hurt?" I asked in surprise, trying and failing to disguise the tremor in my voice.

I felt my throat dry up. With somewhat faltering movements, I turned my head towards Nimbus Strike. The stallion dutifully straightened up and met the Princess' gaze. Princess Celestia gave me a mischievous wink - or so I assume, since her mane covered the other eye - and then turned her back on us and slowly walked out of the square's circle of light. Somewhere in the great blackness, she took her place, but she didn't go too far from us. It didn't calm me down one bit, nor did it when Nimbus stopped in front of me and looked me determinedly in the eye. He didn't seem condescending now, more like... cruel. I felt that if it were up to him, I probably wouldn't be able to leave the arena alive...

"You may begin," Celestia stated cheerfully.

The white stallion bent his head forward, narrowed his eyes, and his horn shone brightly. He didn't attack right away, but lucky for him, I was pretty bad at sensing magic, so I couldn't prepare for what he wanted to use against me. Gray and red stripes appeared on the stallion's body, wherever it could be seen from the clothes, as if he was a zebra, and the air around him vibrated wildly.

Nimbus' eyes suddenly snapped open, radiating a brilliant brightness, and he himself slowly rose from the ground. He aimed his horn right at me. I must admit, I have never been so afraid of a pony as I was then. I was unable to move, unable to cast a spell. I was guided only by my instincts, when I dodged the glowing-flaring-rumbling beam of light suddenly rushing towards me, crumbling to dust. Nimbus, however, didn't even let me do anything, he kept trying to hit me with more and more unidentifiable spells. So, I didn't even try to take shape, I just floated here and there like fine ash, mostly not even in control of my body's movements. I just let the stallion's spells push me back and forth.

Sometimes I felt hot or cold for a moment. I was blinded by the light, I lost control of myself. But my magic didn't wear me down much more than usual. My consciousness remained clear, and I would have been able to recreate my own body at any time - provided that my opponent did not tear me to pieces in the meantime. All I could think was that sooner or later he would get tired. Even if he is the other student of Princess Celestia, he has to have his limits. I'll just survive until then somehow...

I wanted to look up. To see Nimbus's face so I can guess how much longer he can last. Or to see what Celestia has to say about it all. Is that what she wanted to achieve? Because it's pretty... boring. However, in this form, since I did not have physical eyes, it was quite difficult to see. I couldn't perceive colors in the first place, and everything was blurry even three or four meters away. Of course, it was more than nothing, and I was more than satisfied with it most of the time, and at longer distances, such as high in the air, I could find my way around with simple directional spells. The visual stimuli were needed more to calm myself down. Somehow it was never enough just to know who I was facing, I also had to see them and hear their voice.

"It's okay... that'll be enough..." Princess Celestia's words filtered towards me softly, vaguely.

I still felt the tiny particles that make up my body hot, so I wanted to wait until I cooled down a bit, but the Princess's teleport magic grabbed me. I was thoroughly dizzy, and for a moment even the fear of death came over me, that I might not have been able to pay enough attention and left a few pieces behind. To my surprise, however, I arrived in the throne room as a flesh-and-blood pony.

We got over it pretty quickly - it occurred to me. In fact, compared to the announcement, it wasn't that bad. Next to me, Nimbus panted restrainedly but undeniably, I was shaking more from stress than from fatigue, but neither of us got a single scratch. It felt like a huge achievement just to tie against one of the strongest unicorns in Equestria.

"Now let's repeat what we learned today!" Celestia gracefully lifted one of her front legs while sitting on the throne.

The white stallion didn't look like he wanted to answer, so I took the initiative. I didn't care, if I looked stupid in his eyes, it wouldn't even change anything.

"Well... actually, I don't really understand what you wanted to achieve with this," I scratched my mane with a confused smile.

"I want to raise your education to a higher level, and for that you have to see your mistakes," explained the Princess kindly. "You, Nimbus Strike, have learned, practiced and used your spells very well. You are able to mobilize great powers, and you do so when you see the need. But you don't adapt. If one of your techniques doesn't work, you stick with it. You alternate the types of your spells in the order you determine, rather than focusing on your partner. The tasks I have given you so far have been more or less difficult, but you have coped, as you have never faced significant resistance. However, as soon as you come across something that is unknown to you, you simply do not know what to do with it, even if you know the necessary basics. Once fate brings you together with somepony who can read your spells and is not far behind you in strength, you can easily fail. And I've already warned you about this a few times. Let this fight be a warning example not to be overconfident in your abilities!"

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

The white stallion dropped theatrically to his knees and touched his horns to the floor. I just rolled my eyes, but Celestia turned to me right after, and from the fact that she even flashed her teeth in her smile, I deduced that she saw my reaction.

"And you, Life Thread, use your ability very unifacial. You don't need to worry if you are not outstanding in any other magic, but in this case, you should develop this one to such a level that it can be used for other tasks as well. You have already learned to move and find your way in this form; it's time to use your magic in less passive ways." Celestia got up from her throne and majestically spread her wings. She looked at me with so much warmth in her eyes that only Ambrosia could. "Of course, you are still new here, as my protégé, so it will obviously be my job to teach you. And there would have been no point in rushing, so at least we clarified the basics, and what I just said, consider it a sample. And you should also remember the fight: if you don't prepare properly, even if you survive, you can only be the victim of other ponies' spells. Everypony can be broken with time."

"I see, Princess Celestia!" I nodded.

"That's all for today. Next time, we will discuss possible solutions and routes."

The Princess turned away from us and stepped closer to one of the colorful windows. Nimbus took a few steps back next to me, then left the room. I, on the other hoof, would have liked to stay. It was still too early to go home, but I didn't want to disturb my friends or Ambrosia at this time. And then, as I watched Celestia pondering the mosaic, I remembered my fillyfriend's words. A lonely goddess stood before me. Nopony dares to approach her. Everypony limits themselves to formalities and to the most important information when talking to her, so as not to bother her. Even Nimbus, whom she accepted as her student... It's true, I could never determine how she relates to me. Now was the first time I really saw how casually I speak to the great Celestia compared to everypony else. It would have been impossible to decide whether this merely amused her, or she actually liked it. My poker face was nothing compared to hers... If she's always smiling and always pretending to be cheerful, nopony will ever question whether something is weighing on her soul... There probably isn't a pony in Equestria who knows what was going on in the Princess's mind.

A little hesitantly, I started towards her. In the silence, my hooves thumped loudly on the pavement, and although I grimaced in pain from them, at least I could avoid the appearance of trying to sneak up on her. I stepped up next to her and followed her gaze.

The mosaic depicted her, surrounded by a few colorful crystals, as she raises one of her legs and looks at the Moon from the top of a bastion. Her posture was stiff and unbroken, yet somehow her face seemed sad. I turned sideways, but Celestia showed no sign of emotion this time.

"You know what each one represents, right?" I asked softly.

She closed her eyes for a moment and nodded.

"None of them tell me anything," I remarked.

She remained silent.

"Is it okay that I stayed?" I asked cautiously. "One word and I disappear..."

"You may follow me if you want," she answered quietly, waving her mane and walking away slowly.

I followed her, lagging behind just a little bit. We left the throne room, and she signaled to the guards with just a small gesture that she did not require an entourage. We marched along the corridors and up the stairs in silence. The few Nightguards we met on our way greeted the Princess with a salute. They didn't seem surprised by her unusual company, although they might have seen us together in the palace during our lessons.

Celestia took me to one of the highest rooms in the palace, where there was even a small observatory. However, she didn't bother with anything like that, she went straight to the balcony. She stood right up to the railing and held on to it with one of her front legs. I followed her in this as well, although I had to rear up to reach it properly. I could feel the magic emanating from her, and as I looked towards her, I could see her shining horn. I didn't want to disturb the moonrise, so I didn't say a word. It only lasted a few seconds, and we could already see the cold light slowly creeping up from the horizon.

"You take it from here, right?" the Princess asked quietly, mostly from herself.

"Isn't it hard to do this every single day for thousands of years?" I asked, driven by a sudden idea. "You can never skip it, there is no rest, no holidays. You can't say you're going on vacation to the beach for a week."

I meant it as a serious point, but Celestia just giggled.

"You wake up in the morning and open your eyes," she said cheerfully and ruffled my mane like a foal's. "And at night you go to bed and close them. Is it exhausting to spend your whole life doing this?"

"In the evening, I'd rather go to a party with my friends, then I'll sleep 'til noon," I shrugged, although Celestia made me smile too. "Maybe I'll be like a washed rag afterwards, but sometimes it's worth it."

"Each to their own," the Princess squinted. "It is not that difficult to organize a schedule in such a way that you can both get and give."

"So, do you have a chance to relax? This is somewhat reassuring."

"Indeed, but we have different ideas of rest, Thread. Sometimes just a little flight under the open sky can do wonders. Makes me feel a few hundred years younger!" she laughed.

"I'm sure many have asked you, but I'm just curious... How does it feel to be immortal?"

"Dear Thread!" she turned to me, flicking her mane aside so that she could see with both eyes. "You tell me first! How does it feel to be alive?"

"Nice try, but you can't distract me!" I grinned. "The difference is obviously that we can die at any time. It has a beginning and an end, and it constantly haunts us. You don't have to fear such things."

"If I told you that I know from experience that there are worse things than death, would you think otherwise?" she asked again, squinting mischievously.

"I don't know, but death can't be a fun thing either..." I pondered. "To permanently lose everything that is me... Even if the "other" is bad, you always have a way back, don't you? After all, that's what being immortal is all about, isn't it?"

"You know... you kind of remind me of somepony from a long time ago," Celestia sighed nostalgically. "I don't regret accepting you as my student."

"The honor is all mine, my Princess," I nodded. "I love being by your side and I thank you for every second you spent on me."

We stayed there for a long time and had a pleasant time talking about anything but studying for the first time. I couldn't get her to tell me about her past, even a little bit, but now she discreetly asked about my private life, which, even if she only did it out of politeness, meant a lot to me. I felt like she showed me that I meant something to her and that I was more than just one of her subjects of the masses.

In the end, we just stood next to each other and watched the Moon. Just for fun, I complimented her on how deftly she brought it up to the sky, which made her laugh again. The only thing that was a bit strange was when I remarked to her that the big dark spot on the big, white surface looked just like a pony's head. Then she fell silent for a few moments, then with a mysterious smile she simply said: the truth is relative...

Ch 8 - Where all our dreams will come true

I remember that I prepared much more thoroughly for the second Grand Galloping Gala of my life than for the first. It was funny: I had just mentioned to Ambrosia how nice it would be to visit the big event together, and the next day I found two golden tickets in the mailbox at home. There were still months until the event... Princess Celestia seemed to read my thoughts. Of course, it took time to plan everything in advance. And time has really become a critical point in my life. Although I didn't have to deal with the specialization that was due for the others, in the spring I did have to prepare for the basic exam like them. In addition, if studying wasn't enough, the Princess, true to her promise, sped up my education a bit, which required a lot of extra practice from me. My free time was drastically reduced, so I tried to combine as many activities as possible.

I have never despised laziness, but nearing the end of my last academic year, I could no longer afford such a luxury. It was without question that I brushed my teeth while taking a shower - even though I used to consider this physically impossible before - and immediately afterwards, aiming for continuous practice, I floated to my bed in dust form, spread out on my blanket, and snored so loudly that sometimes I even woke myself up with it. I regularly woke up dead tired, I missed the non-compulsory lectures without exception, but even so I often had to rush to the others. During the mandatory lessons, I browsed through theorems under the table's cover, while reminiscing about those long-gone days when we used to fill similar "dead time" with games. Even when Jasper and I went out to practice - which we missed a couple of times, if our preparations didn't go as well as they should have - I still tried to combine the fight with the tasks given by the Princess. The only thing that reassured me was that apparently even Wish didn't bother to watch us anymore; oftentimes the book she brought with her kept her more engaged than us fooling around.

To top it all off, to my despair, I had to devote a good chunk of my time with Ambrosia to helping my fillyfriend prepare for the course material. Of course, we went here and there sometimes, I even allowed myself to be dragged to the theater once, and I went up to the mare's tower a couple of times. Obviously, it was much more comfortable to lie next to each other on the carpet or on her bed, but unfortunately, we didn't get any further than that: in such a situation, there was always a disgustingly thick pile of notes in front of us to go through, constantly reminding us of our duties. After that, I probably don't even have to mention how much opportunity we had for night outings with my other classmates...

In the last couple of weeks, only the Gala kept me alive. It was the seemingly unattainable goal I wanted to reach. Because then of course everything will be perfect! We will all get through the great challenge and can start our well-earned vacation. We will be chill and happy, finally without any obligations. We can enjoy the most famous event in all of Equestria. In every possible way. And we will finally have... time. We will have time to rest, enjoy life and have time for each other. Because that was the worst part of it all. Now, for the first time, I finally had a fillyfriend, and not just anypony, but we couldn't attend to each other. I cursed myself for messing around for so long; a year or two, or even just a few months earlier, we could have done whatever we wanted. Of course, I was taking my sweet time, and now, even if I wanted more, it was simply impossible to move on under such stressful conditions. So, it was more like we became very close friends. And sometimes we kissed a little. And once during our long studying session, we fell asleep next to each other on her bed, and waking up in the middle of the night, I just abandoned the idea of going home, so I just found a blanket for us and snuggled back next to her.

But the Gala will change everything! We shall spend a wonderful evening together, mingling with the elite of pony society. Then, once we've had our fun there, it doesn't have to be over! The whole night is ours, we will be completely free! By then, we'll have passed our exams, so I could say, we'll practically be considered adults from then on. They probably didn't consciously time it this year so that the Gala would be a full week after the basic academic exam, but I was grateful to the organizers anyway. It couldn't have turned out any better.

Although I tried to prepare well in advance in every way, I left one of the most important things to be done right at the end. Granted, I had a good excuse for putting off buying the right outfit for so long, as I wanted Wish and Jasper to be with me and help me choose, and I didn't want to show Ambrosia beforehoof. Before the exam, however, it would have been impossible to get all three of us together at the same time and not have to rush the decision. I wanted it to be a surprise, and I wanted it to work as intended. On the other hoof, I was finally able to meet my friends again in relatively calm conditions, which was a rare opportunity worth taking advantage of.

None of us did well in the exam anyway, which was another reason I wanted to talk with them. However, what surprised me even more than that was their choice of a major. It wasn't a huge miracle that Jasper chose the Department of Combat Magic, but I found it all the stranger that Wish followed suit. I was at least as shocked by that as by the fact that the girl's basic exam was only the third best in the class, right after Stella and Lotus, but even so she didn't reach an A. Even though I saw how much she studied for it. Moreover, compared to her, her deplorable result was not much better than ours, and even I, as a private student of Princess Celestia, would not have dared to brag about my own, strongly mediocre results.

Of course, if we look at it from this point of view, we were not the worst. Ambrosia's written exam hovered around the score limit, and during the practical, despite all the encouragement, she stubbornly refused to do anything, so it was solely due to Mr. Polter's kindness that she was allowed to pass. And that was only because, as he said, he had already seen that she had reached the level that the Academy requires of its graduate students. There was again some grumbling among students and teachers alike due to the unequal assessment, but nopony dared to oppose the committee's decision, behind which was obviously our dean...

After that, Ambrosia was completely devastated, and I tried in vain to discuss the matter with her or to cheer her up. She asked me to leave her alone for a while and went home immediately after the exam. For the sake of safety, I managed to negotiate with her that she would come with me to the Gala, no matter what. I was seriously afraid that everything might not turn out according to my plan, but I stuck to it anyway. And the next day I went up to her just to see if I could comfort her. I wouldn't say that I helped her that much, but maybe she was a little relieved after she cried on my shoulder. And even though she didn't tell me why she wasn't satisfied with just getting that stupid piece of paper - although I guessed that she didn't consider herself worthy of it - she assured me again that she would pull herself together for the Gala and we would have a great time.

* * *

"Well... you didn't look for the cheapest place, that's for sure," said Wish with a worried face, stopping in front of the salon for a few moments.

"Now I wasn't aiming for that," I answered. "I heard the best casual clothes are sold here."

"That's for sure," Jasper nodded in agreement. "Plus, this is the only boutique or whatever in all of Canterlot that I don't wanna run out of screamin' after a few minutes. I also bought that little damn pelisse thingy here, so ya made the right call, dude. Everythin' is in one place here."

"If you say so," Wish blinked uncertainty, and started off again. "It's not my wallet that will suffer..."

Upon entering the store - which seemed even bigger from the inside than I would have guessed from the outside - a strikingly elegant salescolt immediately appeared in front of us, although he seemed rather relieved after we told him that we were just looking around for the time being. Even if shopping wasn't one of my favorite activities, I exceptionally didn't just want to get over it. I had no objection even to going through all the other lines; we were spending time together no matter what we were doing.

"It's so nice that you were able to come; as twisted as my taste is, I would definitely pick something horrible..." I said when we were rummaging through a huge pile of socks as a warm-up, looking for pieces with funny patterns.

"But at least you acknowledge it," Wish nodded indulgently.

She took a pair of thigh-high purple-red socks from the shelf, looked around carefully, used her magic to knead them into a ball, wiggled her ears back and forth a little, and then, coming to a decision, threw it softly at Jasper's head in a nice curve.

The stallion froze as he moved, then turned with ominous slowness. "How dare you, pathetic mortal being?" he asked in a menacing voice. "Behold, the fury of Tartarus is upon you!" Adding weight to his words, he lifted some socks with a glowing horn, spinning them faster and faster towards Wish. The mare giggled merrily, raising her hooves as if looking for an escape route ready to gallop. But I didn't let the situation escalate. I was very tempted to use an improved version of my favorite spell to curb the indolence of my two friends, but that would have achieved exactly what I was trying to avoid. Instead, I just gently placed my hoof on Wish's shoulder.

"I mean, I wouldn't be thrilled if they threw me out of here because of you," I said quietly.

"She started it!" Jasper pointed at Wish with his hooves and the socks.

She only grimaced, scrunching her nose. Seriously, we were back in magic kindergarten...

"If you continue being naughty, you won't get cotton candy..." I tried to adequately indicate what exactly my problem with their behavior is.

In return, as soon as I turned my back on them, I got a pair of stockings between my ears. Silly fillies... But I had to admit that we've really been too serious lately. Constantly it was only learning, responsibility, and anxiety about the future. We haven't even been to a normal party in an unimaginably long time. The Gala is still awaiting, but after that it is absolutely necessary to arrange something like this. Of course, it would have been best if they could have come here with us as well - obviously not to get in each other's manes all the time - but that was not so easy to arrange. Princess Celestia wasn’t just throwing tickets at everypony...

"You're right, it wasn't a wise move to start with two greenhorn warriors," I sighed. "Really, Wish, where did you get that idea?"

"I just went after Jasper," answered the girl without the slightest hesitation. "You didn't leave me many options; you are obviously committed to the Princess."

She admitted it so openly, I was completely taken aback. She could probably see it on my face, though she didn't seem to feel like she needed to explain her decision any further.

"And what about your own plans?" I tried to gently push for an actual answer.

"I planned to stay with you," she shrugged. "That's the best way I can achieve it."

"Seriously now... a lot of things can be said about you, but you are no soldier material."

"I can still work as a paperweight," she replied with a smile. "I have no problem with office and other background work."

"It's a waste," I concluded. "Your abilities go well beyond such things."

"I'll manage somehow!" she rolled his eyes. "I find myself a way, as I always have. Obviously, I'm not going to do something I don't like."

There was a small pause in the conversation, during which we moved to another row, where the more festive garments began - and accordingly the number of ponies around us tripled; apparently, I wasn't the only one who tried to get their dress at the last minute.

"And if I had to choose a major, what would you have done?" I asked, driven by a sudden idea.

"Then it would have been more difficult to decide," the mare answered after some thought, then stuck her head between two suits.

"But I guess, yer enrollin' with us anyway!" Jasper patted my back. "After all, Princess Celestia herself will be yer Major!"

For a few seconds I just blankly watched him grinning at me, but then I had to rest my head on some good hard surface, which in this case was a dressing room. Nothing has changed in all these years! It's as if he gets his energy from tiring me with his terrific jokes...

"Well she's way better than having an Ursa as a Major..." Wish came back out, waving a black vest towards me with her horn. "Try this on!" she added.

That's why I brought them with me, so without objection I ducked into one of the free booths and quickly changed. When I came out, Wish circled around me with a thoughtful face, but then she just shook her head.

"No, you won't like that one," she concluded. "It looks good, but there's too much contrast. Something less conspicuous, right...? The size is good though..."

"Ya really know everythin' about Thread's sizes, huh?" Jasper tried to poke fun, but the mare stepped out a little to the side and kicked a quick hoof towards him. All praise to the stallion's reflexes for being able to dodge it.

"Something cream-colored or beige would suit you better," the mare continued pondering as if nothing had happened. "Although that's stupid, because then you'd look like you were naked... Well, just wait, I'll find something else!"

"I present ya Wish, the Mirror!" Jasper turned to me while she disappeared under the hangers. "Lucky we have her here, huh? She'll even tell ya what ya don't like."

"I can't see myself, but as I know her, she must be right," I said as I unbuttoned the vest.

"By the way, look how excited she became to be here lookin' at clothes!" Jasper remarked keeping an eye on the still slightly rocking fabrics where the mare had disappeared.

"Yeah..."

"It's a bit, well, mafia-style, but I'm curious to see how it goes!" said the girl from the other side, as she floated over the clothes: a dark grey jacket with stiffened shoulders, decorated with hair-thin white stripes.

This time she chose a little tighter one, I had to play around with it before I was able to put it on. However, when I came out, I was a little surprised to see that Jasper had just fitted a rather short skirt to Wish's rump, as if he was trying out how she would look in it. Curious...

"Well... my guess was right," Wish stated as she saw me. She waved at Jasper, who immediately took the clothes away from her, as if I had caught them in something I shouldn't have. "I don't like light-coloured suits, but you absolutely shouldn't wear dark ones. We'll just find some middle ground. However, the jacket is quite elegant, so we should pick something like that. Two sizes bigger, of course..." she added when I unbuttoned with relief.

She took the top from me and then disappeared again on the other side.

"Shouldn't we buy her something too?" I asked softly when Jasper and I were left alone.

The stallion stroked his chin with a worried face, then suddenly his face lit up. "Leave it to me!" he nudged me. "I have an idea!"

"I'm just afraid she'll refuse..."

"She won't, we just have to play it smart!"

We couldn't plan any further, as Wish has already returned with a slightly shorter, but more spacious, light gray piece. However, she didn't like it either, so in the end she made me try on at least eight more variations of the same style. In the meantime, when she went to look for it, on one occasion Jasper disappeared as well, only he went in the other direction. When they returned, Wish brought a jacket with a simpler cut, while the stallion waved a snow-white blouse in front of him.

"What now, are you getting dressed up too?" Wish tried to joke.

"No, my sweetie, it's for you!" answered the boy. "We're not leaving here until we've found some clothes for special occasions for you too!"

"Okay, but silliness aside, what do you want with that?" the girl's expression became uncertain.

"To peel a cabbage!" Jasper rolled his eyes. "What do you think?"

"Yes, this is serious," I interrupted, pre-empting the question.

Wish took turns eyeing us suspiciously for a few seconds, then took over the levitation of the blouse with a soft sigh. "As if I don't have enough clothes anyway..." she growled.

"As far as I know, a mare can never have enough clothes," Jasper winked.

"Well, okay. I'll give it a try, but I can't guarantee anything."

Jasper grinned as if he knew something I didn't. He briskly ushered us into two adjacent booths, then even pulled the curtain behind us. This time, I made a little more effort to be quick and came out before Wish, but I couldn't see my friend, even though I looked in a couple of adjacent rows.

"Actually, I already have something like this." Wish remarked behind my back.

"And it fits you very well!" I said immediately.

She really was pretty, though as humble as ever.

"Thanks, but if you insist on this, I'd rather choose something else..." She looked around confused. "But where did the mastermind go?"

"No idea," I shrugged. I didn't feel like telling her that it was actually my idea, especially since she didn't seem too enthusiastic.

"It won't work for you either," she shook her head after looking me up and down. "We might have to pick something colorful." She waited a little longer, drumming her hoof impatiently, then continued. "He could have said... I don't feel like hanging around here like this. Should we look around here while I'm wearing this, or what?"

"Don't be mad at him, he means well!"

"I'm not mad!" she waved. "He could just be a little more collected."

"It's so nice to see that you get along so well," I remarked. "I hope you will have a good time in the military course as well."

I deliberately watched her face and it looked like she was blushing a little. I've been suspicious of these two for some time... Sometimes they entertained each other remarkably well, which was nothing to complain about. After a certain age, however, the pony might have... different ideas if a mare and a stallion tease each other so much. Especially the way they used to do it...

How should I put it, well, I wasn't blind. At least sometimes I tried to pretend I was. But it didn't escape my attention, Jasper often just used his random antics as an excuse to touch Wish. This sometimes bordered the level of a little foal, like when, for example, he "accidentally" pushed her a little while walking, or playfully pulled her mane. I also remembered exactly when we were fooling around in his dorm room, and he tickled the mare until she begged for mercy... Wish also teased the boy a bit sometimes, but regardless, she eventually let him do his things.

I would be happy for them if they started dating, I said to myself. At first glance, it didn't seem like they fit together, but who knows, maybe they would complement each other well. If it were up to me, I would definitely support their relationship.

"Here I am, darlings!" Jasper announced his arrival shouting absolutely unobtrusively. "Let me have a look!"

Wish moved closer to the stallion and gently booped him on the nose, but then she turned around, showing herself from every angle.

"Not bad, not bad," the boy nodded.

"Yes, but I have an almost identical one at home," answered the mare.

"I know, but it's okay!" Jasper grinned. "I found such a festive attire for ya, mare! Yer jaw will drop!"

"Okay, don't leave me hanging, where is it?" Wish looked around curiously.

Jasper floated something surprisingly small, but clearly something fabric-looking, from behind his back. I also went over to them to take a closer look, but even I blushed at the sight, not just Wish, whose ears were practically burning. The small, slightly translucent piece of textile was a red, lacy underwear.

"There ya go, a piece of clothing for special occasions!" Jasper held it out to the mare, who hesitantly raised one of her front legs, but then put it back on the ground.

"I'm not going to try it on for you," Wish finally muttered in deep embarrassment.

"No problem!" Jasper waved. "Just promise us that ya'll wear it! Ya used to wear panties, didn't ya?"

Ears perked, he stepped forward as if aiming for her skirt, but Wish carefully dodged him, slamming her rump straight into my side. I was left speechless...

"You won't leave me alone until I buy it, will you?" Wish asked a bit more firmly.

"It even has a tiny bow on it," Jasper dangled the underwear in front of the girl's nose, putting on his most engaging face.

"Well... okay," Wish sighed, although I felt that she was trembling very gently. "You talked me into it. I mean, I don't have anything like that one at home anyway..."

She stepped away from me, pulled out her wallet with her magic and rattled the coins in it, humming softly.

"Oh, don't get us wrong, we pay!" I grabbed her hoof.

She gave me a perplexed look. "Why?"

"Just because," Jasper stated. "If yer actin' under duress, ya should at least benefit from it this much."

"Stop messing with me!" Wish snorted.

"Take it as a birthday gift, then!"

"It's almost half a year until that..."

"So, what?"

My two friends had a brief staring contest, then finally Wish yielded.

"Alright," she shook her head. "But you take it to the cashier..."

"Sure thing!"

They agreed on this, and slowly the blush dissipated from Wish's face. Jasper rearranged the underwear to a somewhat less conspicuous place and we continued our tour. In the end, we managed to find me a mid-blue suit, and, after standing in front of a real mirror, I realized that Wish knew me too well: her choice was simply perfect.

In the meantime, however, I watched the two of them constantly, to see if I could discover any more tell-tale signs that might indicate that they might really be attracted to each other. I couldn't keep an eye on them during the time I spent in the dressing room, but otherwise they didn't do anything special; they even seemed to avoid looking into each other's eyes. Only when it was time to pay, came in marching another blushing-parade.

"It's for her," Jasper told the clerk, as he placed the lacy panties in front of him and motioned to Wish with his head.

The pony standing at the counter didn't even bat an eye, but Wish's head turned into a tomato again and covered her face with one of her legs. After that, when we were at a safe distance, she thanked us for the gift with a kiss on the face, albeit a little shyly, and she even promised to wear it...

* * *

Of course, we were late with Ambrosia for the opening of the Grand Galloping Gala. I didn't expect anything else: neither of us had the strength of quick preparation, and although we could bypass any line, we still only arrived right in the middle of the Wonderbolts' performance, and we only found a place to stand behind the back seats. I was quite disappointed, although at least we could have been there and seen them. Ambrosia was not particularly interested in this part of the program, but she listened politely while I commented on the events in the sky using the appropriate figures and names - as far as I could distinguish the pegasi from each other in their blue and yellow uniforms.

With this detour, I've broken the standards of politeness somewhat, because I know I should have gone to the ballroom first and greeted Princess Celestia, if for no other reason, since we owed her the invitation. Had we joined the queue right away though - I really shouldn't have skipped the line here - we would have missed everything. And since the Wonderbolts had some new, breathtaking flight formation reserved for this occasion, it would have been a terrible shame if I couldn't see them. We even watched their retreat, and at the cost of some pushing, I managed to get close enough to the fence to even get two hoofbumps from the masters of aerial stunts. Although I couldn't see it properly, one of them seemed to be Typhoon Wing, the captain of the team, whom I could touch.

After that, of course, I didn't want to put it off any longer, and refreshed by the new experience, I enthusiastically joined the meandering line in front of my mentor with my partner. At first it seemed like a pretty boring activity, but it boosted my spirits a lot when I saw Nimbus Strike next to Princess Celestia, in some amazingly uncomfortable tailcoat. Well, I'd rather keep my current position, by the side of my fillyfriend - come to think of it, I didn't even know if he had one - so I only had to wait my turn once, and then I was free as a bird. I told this to Ambrosia as well and we shared a good laugh at the stallion's expense.

"Life Thread and Ambrosia!" Celestia nodded to us when it was our turn. "I'm glad you could come! Have a wonderful evening!"

"Thank you for the invitation, Princess!" I bowed. I would have continued with that, not wasting a single glance at the white stallion standing next to Celestia, but the Princess stopped me by gently touching my shoulder.

"If you have a bit of time to spare for me, I have a little task for you..." she whispered, leaning close to my ear as inconspicuously as possible. "Let's not make a big fuss!"

I gave a small nod without even looking back, and then continued my journey unperturbed with Ambrosia by my side towards the ballroom. What can I say... I wasn't thrilled that Celestia had found me some extra work. The timing was just perfect, thank you very much... However, since she didn't want to ask me blatantly, I had a guess about the nature of the task. Again, something I wouldn't want to do myself, but solely for her sake. I have to follow somepony again in this very fine dust-form of mine, quasi-invisible, or maybe I have to eavesdrop on a conversation without being noticed. I had already done this once or twice, in principle for practice purposes, and then I had to report it to Celestia, although I was convinced that the target persons were not always aware that I had been set on them. Let's just say that I never saw what exactly my teacher's purpose could have been with this, or why she didn't solve it without my involvement - after all, as I imagined, a ruler could have the methods for such things if she really needed it.

I didn't want this little thing to spoil my mood though, so first I led Ambrosia to the dance floor, and, smoothly covering up my rather pathetic dancing skills, I just swung around with her by tilting our necks against each other. Not that that wasn't pleasant enough in itself. Soft music surrounded us, and the sweet scent of the mare's fur filled my nose completely. Her touch erased almost everything else from my mind, making me want to nuzzle her even tighter by the second. I only moved away from her a little when I had to hold myself back from gently pinching her neck with my teeth - I planned that kind of thing for later, when there wouldn't be so many ponies around.

When we pulled over to "rest" for a bit, I found her some non-alcoholic drink and left her alone at one of the tables, saying that I would quickly take care of whatever Celestia wanted from me, and then I would be all hers again. Avoiding being noticed, I ducked behind a pillar. I pretended to just look around, then when I found that nopony would spot it if I suddenly disappeared, I quickly crumbled into very fine-grained dust. I tried to move as slowly as possible, so as not to catch anypony's eye, and slowly floated towards the entrance.

The Princess and her faithful student haven't moved since then, but the winding line in front of them hasn't gotten any shorter. Of course, that didn't stop me; I hovered carefully next to my mentor and waited for the instructions. Celestia had been exchanging meaningless words with the same guest for about half a minute, but when she was done, she turned to me for a moment, as if she was only moving the joints in her neck after the long chatter. I discreetly levitated even closer to her.

"Welcome to the Grand Galloping Gala! I'm so happy to see you again!" she greeted another couple, but then she immediately spoke to me, even though her mouth barely moved, so either she was whispering very skillfully, or she was using telepathy, or something similar. "Your dean, Mr. Poltergeist, arrived about a minute ago. He must be somewhere around the outer gates. His invitation is in the inside pocket of his vest. Bring it to me, be so kind!"

She managed to surprise me again... Although maybe it would have been more surprising if she didn't do so. I simply didn't see any point in my "mission". On the one hoof, she would hardly have achieved anything with it in the first place - after somepony got inside, nopony asked if they had a ticket. On the other hoof, why was the good old Mr. Polter my target? She could have chosen any random pony. Of course, since she didn't, I assumed that my training wasn't the main concern. Although the dean might be able to see through these kinds of tricks quite easily, and he also knew that there was somepony in his class capable of such things...

Celestia could perhaps sense my hesitation, because after she was done with two more couples and I didn't move, she added some context.

"Welcome to the Gala! I hope you have a good time!" she smiled at the new arrivals, then added through gritted teeth: "This is just a little game. I'm bored..."

If I hadn't been afraid that I would be discovered - and of course I would have been able to emit normal sounds in such a scattered form - I would have certainly cracked up laughing. She was right, that was more than enough justification... As soon as I got over my sudden, overflowing mirth, I cautiously floated out, avoiding as far as possible the ponies wandering back and forth. I couldn't really rely on my senses because of the distance and the crowd, so I tried to use a simple - and castable without a physical horn - search spell. Something very dimly loomed in my mind from the direction Celestia indicated, so I tried to orient myself towards it.

After a bit of searching, I found our teacher, who was walking with Professor Tome towards the ballroom. Unfortunate circumstances, I concluded. Both of their senses were quite sharp, and even though they weren't expecting me in theory, I was seriously afraid that they would notice me anyway. Of course, that didn't hold me back. I approached them carefully, sinking all the way to the ground. I didn't want to be indiscreet, but I caught some of their conversation anyway, while I shaped the part of my dispersed body into a thin, tentacle-like formation, which would normally form my back roughly from my rump to my hips. I mostly used this part at Celestia's suggestion, since I could access it even in my pony form with relative ease if I only needed to partially transform to, for example - like now - I wanted to reach out to something magically and physically at the same time.

"...that's not what we get our money for," said Mr. Poltergeist, although I had no idea what they were talking about beforehoof. "We kept to the agreement."

"It's hard to accept," remarked Professor Tome more quietly than usual. "But we do have to recognize, in the larger scheme of things this is in the interest of us all."

I tried to overcome my instinctive aversion, and with extreme caution, following the stallion's movements, I reached under his vest. Luckily, it wasn't associated with real, physical sensations, so it was a completely indifferent stimulus when I felt around and found the small, golden card. Of course, this did not solve my whole problem. I had to pull it out of its place so that the dean wouldn't feel anything.

So, I had to resolve in this form, that just by touching the ticket, I have to bring it to the same dusty state as I am, and at the same time, I must not leave any other trace of my magic. If I had teeth, I would have snarled with concentration, but I could only push my mind to the limit.

"They are here, right?" I heard the mare's voice very faintly.

Either there was no answer, or I just wasn't paying enough attention, as I spent the next few seconds trying to finally retreat, rejoicing in my success. I felt I had the ticket. I left my teachers alone and floated back to Celestia as fast as I could. I was very proud of myself, I would have liked to have trotted up to her properly, as a pony, waving the proof of my victory from afar. But I knew that then not only would I not have received the - in my opinion well-deserved - praise, but I would have had the exact opposite effect. So, I stopped behind her uncertainly, as I had no idea how to hoof over my acquisition.

As if she had guessed my thoughts, Princess Celestia majestically spread her wings while she greeted the next guests in line, and noticeably exchanged more words with them than with the others. I immediately took advantage of the opportunity and, carefully reaching between two of her larger feathers, turned back into shape with a well-aimed, partial integrity recreation spell, and slid the golden card to her.

"Thank you!" my mentor said loudly after the two ponies continued towards the ballroom.

Smiling even wider, she closed her wings. It made it even funnier that Nimbus next to her looked at her in confusion as to who she was thanking and what. It seems that in some ways I was still closer to her than her other student... Just for that knowledge alone, it was more than worth it to separate myself a little from my partner in order to please the Princess.

Ambrosia! Dang it, I left her alone... - the realization hit me. Of course, this whole procedure didn't take terribly long, but it was about time for me to rejoin her. I would have liked to wait to see exactly what Celestia wanted to use Mr. Poltergeist's ticket for, but considering the length of the line, it was not going to happen in the near future. Rather, I quickly flew back into the ballroom, now less concerned about being noticed.

The pink mare was exactly where I left her, but I was disappointed to find that she wasn't alone. An annoyingly short, bespectacled, light gray earth pony stallion was talking to her - or at least he tried to. I stopped to listen a little, but all I could catch was that the stranger was talking a lot about Saddle-Arabia and something about griffins, and my fillyfriend nodded with a polite smile. I felt a strong temptation to change shape right in front of the stallion's nose, but in the end, I settled for hiding behind the same pillar and turning back into a pony there. I stepped behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Ah, so you would be Life Thread!" the guy turned to me with obvious joy. "Her Majesty Princess Celestia's private apprentice, if I'm not mistaken...

"You could say..." I answered in surprise. I didn't expect such a reaction.

"Please allow me to introduce myself!" he held out his hoof to me, which I accepted a little hesitantly. "My name is Cryptic Phrase, and I came here from Lightwind Pass, across the sea. It is truly an honor to meet you!"

"How can I help you?" I asked, still confused.

"Oh, I was just chatting with your delightful marefriend about the fact that they hardly like strangers in her beautiful country, so it's terribly difficult for simple archaeologists like me to get to Sandreins or other ruined cities of the same caliber. There are many undiscovered secrets and hidden treasures in those wonderful places. Tell me, dear Mr. Life, are you interested in such things?"

"I've never dealt with this kind of thing, but it doesn't really excite me..." I answered, even though I couldn't get over the way the short pony addressed me.

Although the gray stallion didn't stop grinning for a second, as soon as I voiced my thoughts, I realized that I had probably been extremely impolite. But I didn't really feel like explaining anything or worse, apologizing...

"Well, in case you change your mind and want to be a part of my adventures, here is my contact information!" the stranger hoofed me a small card. "I'll be staying in Canterlot for another seven days, but you can also contact me anytime back home. I won't bother you anymore, I can see that you are busy. See you soon!"

Still not recovered from the initial shock, I looked at the strange guy's business card thoughtfully. I read it carefully, although apart from the fact that it had an embossed griffin crest instead of the equestrian one, I didn't find anything special about it. And Ambrosia, as if until now she had only been waiting for the stallion to leave, quickly stepped up to me and snuggled her head under my neck.

"Are you angry that I disappeared?" I asked her softly.

"I'm not angry," she said. "Just missed you. Don't leave me again, please!"

"I won't leave you!" I chuckled, though I was a little surprised by how sad her voice sounded. "What do you want to do? Shall we go back to dancing for a bit?"

"Anything just stays together!"

* * *

For my part, I wouldn't have pushed dancing too much, but I had to experience that if we hang out in one place, strange ponies like the gray stallion will find us more easily. After a while, I realized that the Grand Galloping Gala probably meant something completely different to most ponies than it did to me. For many, this whole fuss was good for nothing other than establishing new, promisingly fruitful relationships with ponies from all over the world. And I, as Princess Celestia's - currently least busy - private student, seemed to be a rather promising target. I was jumped by all kinds of ponies, from the simple starers to hoof-lickers of the more disgusting kind, from business ponies to journalists. They didn't care that I wanted to spend the evening with my partner. In fact, sometimes she was called specifically in the first place, especially by those who had interests in Saddle-Arabia in any form.

Only then could we finally catch our breath, when we went outside, joining the "garden party", right after having a light snack from the smorgasbord. I had no objection to it, especially after I spotted Mr. Polter in the ballroom and asked Ambrosia to move a little closer to him to avoid being noticed. I caught him just as the dean was swearing to Professor Tome that he put his ticket back after showing it to the guards at the entrance. I smiled at him, but tried to avoid him seeing us.

It was totally worth going out into the open air. There were fewer ponies here in the first place, plus there was a soft wind here, which proved to be a pleasant refreshment after the ballroom, which in retrospect seemed stuffy. What's more, we even met a few... acquaintances here, whom I was even a little happy about thanks to my already great mood. Ambrosia first drew my attention to Dulcimer, who was sitting on a small platform, in front of a piano, providing soft background music as part of a quartet I did not know anything about. It looked like he was finding his way in the world without us just fine, if he was already invited to such a famous event as a performer... However, I didn't have to hold myself back not to greet him.

And the other one, whom I was happy to see only because she was another familiar face in the crowd, was Violet Sign. I caught a glimpse of her while she was merrily chatting with two older mares, waving a glass of champagne. I thought that she must also be building her very important relationships for the well-being of Equestria... However, it made me smile when I took a closer look at her dress, as it seemed almost ridiculously humble compared to such an important event. So, at that time, my words did hit their marks somehow. Although it's true, I myself didn't regret spending my two months' stipend on my suit - but to be honest, I didn't have a whole Manehattan estate behind me to finance my luxury expenses like this.

We strolled comfortably around the palace grounds, but this time we didn't let all kinds of ponies stop us. And when we got bored of the hustle and bustle, I discreetly suggested to Ambrosia that we should sit somewhere, a little further away from the crowd. She enthusiastically accepted the idea and immediately suggested that we visit the gardens. As she said, it is especially worthwhile at this time, because compared to how beautiful it is, especially on the evening of the Gala, when everything is blooming, very few ponies actually go and visit it. I didn't have to be encouraged either, clinging tightly to her, I already set off in the chosen direction.

"So beautiful!" I stated after a few minutes, when we climbed up onto a bench, which was surrounded on three sides by bushes that exuded a pleasant honey scent.

I didn't choose such a place by chance: this way we could hide a bit from the world...

"Right?" Ambrosia sniffed the air with her eyes closed. "There will never be nothing like this back home..."

"I don't know about that, but I'm talking about you" I smiled.

"Thank you."

She looked up at me and the slowly emerging stars shone in her gorgeous, bright green eyes. She moved closer to me and grabbed one of my legs. In return, I slid my other hoof onto his thigh. Fortunately, her dress was open enough at the bottom so that I didn't encounter any resistance, and I could actually caress her soft fur. And she sighed gratefully and leaned even closer. I took the opportunity, hugged her head and kissed her softly. It felt even more wonderful than ever before. Now we didn't have to care about anything or anypony but each other. Every fiber of my being tingled pleasantly as we entwined closer and closer. Never felt so hot to touch each other before...

I was so happy that we had the same thought, the same desire. I wanted to caress her face during the kiss, but my hoof got stuck in the halter she was wearing. Sometimes this stupid little accessory that she wore all the time could really get on my nerves. Well, it was really special, and somehow it fit her face, but at any time, even if I wanted to caress her nose, it was in the way... So, I carefully reached under her chin and behind her ear, not taking my tongue out of her mouth for a moment, and I wanted to cause as little disturbance as possible as I tried to unhook the halter from her. But as soon as I managed to find the correct spot, she noticed what I was doing and gently but firmly grabbed my leg.

"Can't we take this off a bit?" I asked hopefully, barely moving away from her.

"That's not allowed..." she whispered with half-closed eyes. Her breath almost scorched my skin.

"And is this allowed?" I asked defiantly and sealed our lips together again.

She couldn't even answer, but from her increasingly quick panting and her soft, wet stroking tongue, I thought that she didn't mind what I was doing to her at all. I adjusted my body a bit and straightened up to look taller than her - although there was almost no difference between us in this respect - and then, brushing her face and chest with my legs, I bit her lip very delicately. I could feel the trembling spreading through her entire body, and I took the soft moan that left her mouth as further encouragement. I exchanged more and more small, superficial kisses with her, with which I guessed that I had achieved my goal, because she stretched herself more towards me with each, as if she was struggling to break away from me.

But I had something else on my mind. I dug into her mane with one of my hoofs, and with the other I gradually found my way under her skirt to her inner thigh. I caressed her gently, but firmly, with longer and longer strokes, while she sighed heavily and tried to kiss me again. Her muscles sometimes tensed, but she never resisted for a moment. Soon she gave up completely, resting her chin on my shoulder and panting, enjoying my touch.

"Why don't we go home?" I whispered. "Before somepony sees us..."

"No..." she moaned faintly, pressing her head to my neck.

"Why not?" I asked softly. "We could even continue on your... bed..."

"It's so good here..." she whispered.

"It would be good there too, believe me! Don't be afraid! If you don't want it right away, I'm patient. But, you know... I really want to..."

"Oh, Thread! I want, too! But that's not allowed!"

"It's okay," I hushed her, while reaching even deeper under her skirt, with which I again managed to elicit from her a small moan almost overflowing with burning desires. "I said I can wait. However, if we went up to your place, even this would be much more convenient."

Ambrosia held me close with her front legs and gently bit my neck, moaning softly. Her hind legs were constantly shaking, but she didn't close them, so I thought I essentially had her wrapped around my hoof.

"Come, my love!" I whispered in her ear.

Although I didn't pull my hoof back, I rested it a bit on her thigh so she could move. Her breathing slowly calmed down, and she leaned her head on my shoulder.

"I really want to, Thread, but it's not allowed!" she said softly. "It's so very difficult... We shouldn't have done this, either, it's just so good... Don't be angry with me, please!"

"Why do you keep saying that it's not allowed?" I asked. "Who forbids it?"

"Well, a mare is not allowed to snuggle with a stallion like that before marrying," explained Ambrosia.

I quietly snorted. This was the dumbest thing I've heard in my entire life...

"In short, I should take your hoof before you could sleep with me?"

I moved away from her a little to look her in the eyes, but she lowered her head.

"I think it's not that simple," she sighed sadly. "To get us married, you would have to be a Saddle-Arabian pony. You should ask my father for my hoof. I don't know what he would say..."

What can I say, I could barely breathe. Well, I was aware that the customs in her country were very different from ours, but to impose even such nonsense...! And does anypony really take these seriously?

"And what if, if I do that and it doesn't even work out between the two of us? How can you go into something like this without having tried what it's like to be with each other?"

"I really enjoy being with you, Thread!" Ambrosia, with a startled face, grabbed my leg with both of her front hooves and pulled it to her chest. "I was never as happy as I am with you! I want you like nopony else!"

"So, what are we even talking about?" I asked a little harder than I intended. "You are not at home now; the rules there do not apply to you. Who would stop you from doing whatever you want?"

"Thread!" she looked at me suppliantly and raised my hoof to touch it to her face. "Please, understand me...!"

I turned my head and snorted. I slowly took a deep breath to calm down a bit. I can still try to be optimistic...

"It's okay, I understand," I said a little more calmly, but I pulled my leg back "You can't roll in the hay with me, because that would leave a mark. Of course, I can accept this if I have to. It's no tragedy. And I hope you understand me, after all, we've been together for half a year now, and nothing serious has happened between us since then. There are other ways to have fun together! Things that we can easily deny. You know what I mean? Believe me, I really want to finally get close to you!"

"I really want it, Thread, but that's not allowed..." she muttered penitently.

"Who cares if it's not allowed?" I snapped in exasperation. "Nopony would see us! Does your whole life consist of doing nothing? Why? Aren't you living your own life? Why are you giving up your own freedom? You don't even dare to secretly do anything that somepony once told you for whatever reason that you are not allowed…"

"Thread..." whispered Ambrosia, blinking widely, as if fighting back tears.

"How many ponies do you think would have waited half a year?" I continued, although my own words pained me too. "Or when did you plan to tell me that you really don't want anything from me? What did you even need me for?"

"Don't hurt me, please!" the mare whined in a tearful voice. "I meant no bad! I just feel so good with you!"

She reached out to touch my face, but I ducked away. "I just don't understand why you torture me," I said quietly. "Do you know what it feels like after everything we've been through together, to be faced with the fact that our love can never be fulfilled? I'm on fire from you and there's nothing I can do to put it out! What do you expect me to say?"

She sniffed silently and lowered her head. She wiped her eyes with a trembling hoof, then turned over to the bush behind the bench. I wasn't surprised that she couldn't stand my gaze...

"I wanted to fail the exam..." she sniffed "It was that I could only stay in Equestria until I passed the basic exam. If I hadn't succeeded, I could stay another year... But my family wants me to go home. I want to stay with you! I begged my father to allow me to spend the summer here."

"But why?" I asked hoarsely. My throat was tight. I felt like if this went on for much longer I was going to get sick. "To break my heart, both of our hearts, that we can't touch each other? Why did you even say yes when I asked if you would go out with me? You should have seen how it would end!"

"E-end...?" she sobbed.

She looked at me as if her whole little world had collapsed around her. I didn't feel much better either. It hurt me to see her like this and I was mad at her at the same time. But now really... why did she do this to me? Everything was going so well in my life! Everything was so beautiful! Everything went according to my plans! Then it turns out that the relationship I was so proud of was doomed from the beginning... I was only a limited-time leisure activity for her... No matter how it all happened, the end would have been that she would have gone home nicely and married a local pony, and lived happily ever after. And I'll bucking manage somehow...

"This... hurts..." I felt tears welling up in my eyes, so I covered my face with my hooves. "If only you had found another sucker instead of me...!"

I didn't even see, I just heard her get up from the bench with a big sniff. The soft, receding clatter of her hooves echoed in my ears for a long time. Like when somepony pours all their pain into a gallop...

I couldn't even move. The tears that had formed earlier also dried up, taking away the possibility of crying out the tension. I couldn't do anything but grind my teeth.

A cool breeze ruffled my fur. It even penetrated my clothes. It's late at night. What kind of idiot sits all alone in a park at this time?

I slowly removed my hooves from my face. It was completely unnecessary for me to stay any longer. Even if I didn't feel like going anywhere...

As I stood up from the bench suddenly an urge came over me to break something. This damned seat itself if nothing else. Or the bushes...

In the wake of my spell, thin, translucent tentacles of dust protruded from my back. It took only one swift swipe, and the hedge was no higher than the bench anymore. The cut was not perfectly straight. I made a note to myself that I still have to practice a lot...

I'm completely out of my mind - I realised as I looked at the fallen branches and torn leaves, which now disfigured my immediate surroundings in the form of an ugly pile. Not only was this unnecessary, but it didn't make me feel any better. And I ruined somepony's work. Celestia won't be thrilled either. But of course, I take responsibility. If I'm that stupid, I have to. Why would I act like it matters?

* * *

I don't remember exactly how I got to the bar. I just went where my feet took me, and they probably knew what I needed better than I did. Once I was there, nothing could hold me back from drinking - only my own thoughts. I downed a couple of beers relatively quickly, but afterwards I found myself staring at the wall with the glass in my hoof. And my usual expressionless face reflected my dejectedness exceptionally well.

At first, I thought of Ambrosia a lot and what I could or should have done. Of course, in the end I always got to the same point, that ultimately it doesn't matter; it would have been pointless for me to strain myself either way. Rather, I just looked ahead and let the not-so-substantial amount of alcohol help to dispel my worries about my future. I didn't want to have a good time. I didn't want to make a fool of myself one more time today either, so I didn't even try to get drunk. It was more than enough to float in nothingness and exclude from my consciousness this irritating, noisy ball in which I was locked in and was called reality...

The only thing that jolted me out of my melancholy was when I heard that familiar voice. Maybe I wouldn't have noticed it if it hadn't called me by my name, it was talking to me from such a distant past.

"Thread, pal, is that really you?" asked a mare cheerfully from behind me.

By the time I turned around, I already knew who it was, but that only added to my surprise by the actual pony I saw. A pegasus mare with pale pink fur and a reddish mane with white tips, about half a head shorter than me, smiled at me. We were classmates at my old school, we got along well, but since then I have heard almost nothing about her. Even the mere sight of her lifted my spirit a bit in spite of my gloomy thoughts.

"Hack Filter?" I asked, smiling. "Is that you? I barely recognized you!"

"You've... grown up too!" she measured me from head to hoof. "What a refined gentlecolt, just look at you!"

"Why, and you... wait, what kind of dress is that?"

My jaw dropped in shock when I recognized the blue and yellow uniform. At the time, I owed my admiration of the Wonderbolts mostly to Filter, but I never dreamed that one day she would become one of them...

"Cool huh?" The mare adjusted her aviator glasses, then turned to the side so that I could take a closer look.

"I can't believe my eyes!" I jumped off my chair. "Oh my gosh! That's like... the coolest thing ever! Let me congratulate!"

She held out her hoof to me, but I immediately went for a bear hug and patted her back... she had to move her wings aside so that I wouldn't crush them too.

"Hey, have you been drinking?" she asked disapprovingly after sniffing the air.

"But of course!" I replied without thinking.

"And you don't even offer to buy me one?"

She said it like it was the most natural thing in the world, which brought a smile back to my face.

"You're right, we need a toast for that!" I already waved to the bartender, and soon we got two more glasses of the same beer that I had been sipping until now. "One for the reunion, and one for you becoming a Wonderbolt."

"Then we should also drink to you becoming the student of the Big White!" grinned the pegasus girl as she climbed onto the chair next to me. "It will be too much; let's combine!"

"As you wish. Cheers!"

After the toast, we were silent for a few seconds while we immersed ourselves in our drinks, but after that I put the glass back on the table, shaking my head. "You can't imagine how glad I am to have you here!" I said. "We really should keep in touch somehow, because this won't do..."

"Yeah, from Cloudsdale, it's a bit hard," she shook her head. "But then there was a pleasant surprise, and we can be doubly happy that we ran into each other!"

"When did you move there?" I asked, curiously leaning my chin against my hoof.

"It's been around four years now," she answered thoughtfully.

"And the Wonderbolts? How did you manage to get in? Do I really have to pull everything out of you with pincers?"

As if she was just waiting for the question. She straightened herself proudly and just kept telling stories after stories. She told me what competitions she had participated in, and that she was still very new to the team, which somewhat explained why I hadn't heard about her yet - she hadn't even been added to the official member list. She also told me about Typhoon Wing and the other team members, what they were like in real life, and needless to say, I was both envious of her and proud of having a friend like her.

"You've only changed in appearance," I noted when she took a break from telling the story.

"Yeah, I gained a few pounds," she chuckled. "Fitting for a sportpony, eh?"

"Come on, that just made you shapelier!" I waved dismissively. "You can't even be called chubby. Turns on most of the guys, honestly!"

"You think?" she asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Of course! And don't you start talking about aerodynamics! There are other things to consider besides flying."

"Hehe, you're a bad colt, Thread..."

She reached out to me with one wing and playfully poked me in the side with a feather. It tickled a bit, but I wouldn't exactly say it was unpleasant. In fact...

"That's it, Hacky, they corrupted me at the Academy. I'd rather not tell you what's going on there!"

"Whatever it is, you've changed for the better!" she winked. "You've become a real cool stud."

"As if you had a reason to complain! You've always been the coolest girl around here. And now that you've become a Wonderbolt, not just around here..."

"Are you flattering me now?" she laughed.

"Eh, it's only the alcohol speaking," I shrugged. "Don't worry, it will fade in time and I will be as boring as I used to be."

"I never thought you were boring. And I have to say, I like this flirty Thread even more than the old one..."

I raised an eyebrow. "Flirty?"

It didn't feel like flirting what I was doing, although it is true that the alcohol and the proximity of my good old friend got me much more relaxed. For a short while, I even achieved the original purpose of coming here, namely to get my earlier conversation with Ambrosia out of my head. Or who am I trying to deceive... we practically broke up! It didn't lighten my mood to finally admit to myself what had happened, but at least I was a little bit relieved. If nothing was holding me back, I could even allow myself to flirt with Hacky...

Somehow, it didn't bother me to think something like that about my foalhood friend. After all, I wasn't lying when I praised her figure; she was a really neat mare, which was especially emphasized by the form-fitting flying suit. It was also particularly nice that it didn't cover her face like the Wonderbolts' full outfit, so I could see her cute little snout. Yes, the years have clearly done her good. That and the fact that she has plumped up a bit. I would have gladly tried what it would be like to hold her in my hooves and feel for myself what it would be like to touch her in a way that I had never thought of before.

She probably saw something of my train of thought on me, because she didn't say anything, just tapped the empty beer mug against her teeth with a sly half-smile. And when our eyes met, she squinted mischievously and licked the rim of the glass. Suddenly, she swished her tail, then put down the glass, jumped down from the chair and pulled me with her.

"Come, I'll show you our locker-room! You're still interested in the Wonderbolts, right?"

"Of course!" I almost shouted. "I absolutely adore them, especially one of them!"

Without even counting I tossed a few coins down on the counter, then eagerly followed the mare. Many things were swirling in my head, but thanks to the alcohol, I didn't even feel the need to untangle them. Although I was surprised by Hacky's coquettish behavior, I would have found it even more difficult to comprehend my own. I just matter-of-factly and slightly languidly noted that I was courting a mare who wasn't Ambrosia, and I didn't even feel bad about it. Well, it was a bit strange, my head was spinning like I was in a dream, but I also found that I must have banished my conscience to some very distant and dark place.

True to her promise, the mare led me straight to the square above which her team was performing. She targeted a smaller building for which she had her own key. She did show me the previously mentioned locker-room, but I have to admit, I wasn't able to pay much attention to it - although I wouldn't have missed the opportunity to reach into one of the open lockers to feel the touch of the uniform hanging in it - I was pretty much preoccupied staring the pegasus girl next to me. My gaze wandered over her curves a couple of times, and as sluggish as I momentarily was, I was sure she noticed, but she didn't say anything about it.

However, when we got to their shared shower, she suddenly stopped and grabbed my mane to halt me too. There was exactly the same fire in her eyes I had seen once today... But I knew she wouldn't come up with stupid things like "it's not allowed" and such. No, she was a real kick-ass mare who doesn't run away like a coward and who gets what she wants!

"How about I show you where somepony like me can stay here in Canterlot instead?" she asked in a determined whisper.

"Lead the way, ma'am!" I answered just as firmly. "If I have to fly for it, I'll still follow you!"

I didn't mind that our sightseeing tour was already over. Especially after Hacky, fiddling with her keys, even leaned over to me for a moment and licked my nose playfully, yet almost erotically. I couldn't even imagine what came over her - somepony can't be so happy just to see an old acquaintance - but I didn't protest, I just followed her excitedly as she trotted through the streets of Cantelot, making a beeline to her hotel. This time I didn't even care about the place we went, I much preferred to watch her suit gently rippling on her back as she walked thanks to the work of her muscles. Or her graceful, red-and-white tail as she swung it slightly left and right. I didn't care if others noticed either. Actually, by that time, I wasn't interested anymore in anything or anypony that wasn't her...

When we got to her room, I closed the door behind us, and without asking anything, I gently grabbed her with my magic. She didn't resist, she didn't even turn around, she just slowly backed towards me, yielding to my pull. I could hardly believe that I was able to remove my inhibitions at such a level, and that the mare really responded so positively to my approach. But I also knew I wasn't going to back down now. And the fact that I felt that she would not object to what I wanted to do with her filled me with a kind of wild, unrestrained joy.

* * *

I don't want to tell you exactly what happened between us, however, for personal reasons. Let it be enough that I was able to spend a wonderful evening with the girl, which I look back on ever since with a blissful shudder mixed with remorse.

The mere fact that thanks to my pegasus friend I was able to experience what I had been waiting for so long, namely losing my virginity, says it all and says nothing. It won't tell how patient and helpful Hacky was with me for my very first time. It cannot describe all the sensual pleasure we experienced together. It doesn't even include how grateful I was that she shared her bed with me, and even though I felt even then that all of this meant more to her than a simple one-night stand only because long ago, and in a certain way even then, we were important to each other.

And she allowed me to hug her, kiss her and even call her pet names, after we had reclined next to each other with satisfied fatigue. To be able to experience with her everything that I couldn't with Ambrosia, despite how much I yearned for it...

Ch 9 - Damage control 101

I remember how weird I felt the next morning. Hacky and I fell asleep with me hugging her from behind, and by some miracle I wasn't tossing and turning during the night, so after waking up I could still enjoy the touch of her velvety fur and the warmth of her body. I couldn't resist the temptation to caress her side in her sleep, or to let my hooves wander a little on... other parts I could reach from there, but I was very careful not to accidentally disturb her. Sometimes she sighed softly when I caressed her in a slightly more sensitive part, which filled me with satisfaction and sadness at the same time. Every time the rhythm of her peaceful snoring changed, it only reminded me how quickly the minutes flew by. And once this marvelous pegasus girl wakes up in my hooves, it will only mean another painful goodbye. Then I'll be alone again...

Obviously, I couldn't expect her to leave Cloudsdale because of me. I couldn't even rightfully ask her to stay a few more days. If she wanted to spend a few hot nights like this with me, it would only make it more painful for me - and I hoped a little for her too - when we finally parted ways. This will be enough. It's enough to process everything that I was able to partake on the day of the Gala...

And I couldn't even delay the inevitable. At one point, somehow much, much earlier than I had hoped, the mare stretched out under the blanket with a low moan. I followed the movement of her body, instinctively holding on tighter as if I didn't want to let go. And Hacky giggled when she noticed where I was groping her, and she even let me continue for a while, sensually rubbing against me. Turning around, she even kissed me and lovingly caressed my face, but then gently informed me that she had to hoof over the key by ten in the morning.

While we showered and got dressed, I was able to graze my eyes on her for a little while, and she even let me hug her once or twice, but by then I could already feel her intention to leave, so I didn't force anything. When we got out of the hotel, we parted with a kiss - she initiated it, for which I was especially grateful - we looked deeply into each other's eyes for a few seconds, but we didn't exchange a single word. Maybe it was better this way. This whole situation... there was simply nothing to say. And to promise that we would look for each other would have been just a useless lie. Even if I hoped we'd meet in life, I had a feeling that one or both of us would have families by then...though I tried not to think about such things.

I wasn't in any hurry on the way home. After the big celebration, the city looked quite run down, it was bad to walk around alone, but I didn't want company. I wandered aimlessly through the streets, stepping over torn lanterns and other decorations, and trying to be grateful that I didn't run into too many ponies. I tried not to look at benches that I passed, so as not to accidentally bring up painful memories, but I spent a good half hour sitting on the cobblestones in a square and staring blankly at a covered statue that had recently been put on display and had not yet been inaugurated. I passed by a couple of pubs, for some stupid reason I climbed into one of the fountains and rolled around in the cool water - to the immense joy of the guards, although after they recognized me, they thankfully refrained from saying a word - then, after drying my clothes with magic, I walked to the Starswirl Dormitory. For a while, I just hung out on the other side of the street, watching my fellow students who were walking or talking in front of the building, but it never crossed my mind to go over to them, or even to visit my friends.

Finally, I started back based on the routine we followed with Jasper and Wish. I went to the intersection where Wish and I used to part ways, but this time I turned in the direction where she always went. I didn't even hope to find her house, after all, even if I had made it there, I wouldn't have recognized it unless she was there, waving at me from the window, or something... But that didn't bother me either, it merely gave me some vague purpose for some pointless hovering, which delayed me a little longer until I had to go home. Of course, regardless of this, it could not be postponed indefinitely either.

At home, after I finished my pointless tour, the first question my parents asked me was how I was feeling. The answer, however, would have been so devastating, I just replied with a simple "fine". With that, I considered the conversation finished and locked myself in my room. I didn't even come down for lunch or dinner, but I wasn't hungry either. Instead, I only engaged in seemingly endless, self-recurring internal dialogues with myself, sometimes rising to philosophical heights - or plunging into depths.

As soon as I felt capable of it, I tried to analyze my emotions as objectively as possible. If my emotional self handled my problems so clumsily, perhaps I'll be better off with the rational one... I even figured out pretty well what my problem with Ambrosia was. That she didn't allow what my pegasus friend did? Oh no! That she didn't plan it at all? Maybe... If at least the intention had been there, maybe I would have had a different approach. But I found that, overall, what hurt the most was that she found even that too much, how far we had come. As if I should have considered it a special honor that I could touch her at all.

Because I felt this way. But not because of her. I didn't want to feel privileged to be able to touch a female being in this way because it was expected of me. Maybe I'm very way-out - at least from a Saddle-Arabian perspective, if nothing else - but for me this kind of contact meant mutual trust and love beyond simple, physical pleasure. Obviously, the whole thing could not work without respect between the two parties. Even if all of this is surrounded by a kind of pejorative interpretation, this is essentially what it was all about, what should have been about. Just looking at what we did with Hacky last night, apart from some taboo details, it was about that too. We trusted each other and let each other get close. We could say we also rewarded each other for it. And I could get this from her? We haven't even seen each other for many, many years, yet she thought me worthy to share her... her own body with me?

So now I was selfish for expecting the same from my fillyfriend? It wasn't even that big of a deal... More like my own imagination made it so until I experienced it. And no tragedy happened. There was no need to fear any consequences. We were careful and gentle with each other, as I would of course have been with Ambrosia. I would have been very careful... of course, it's easy to think about what could have been... Not to mention that, considering my own, very modest experiences, I had only vague ideas about anything, even if I didn't encounter too many difficulties with Hacky.

However, no matter how much I quibbled, I always got to the same point. I understood how difficult it must have been for Ambrosia, but not why she couldn't be at least a bit more flexible. It was hard, of course, but I accepted that she couldn't stay in Equestria forever, but not that she didn't tell me anything about it. And I couldn't get over the fact that if Hack Filter and I ended up in bed so easily, how in Tartarus anypony could make such a big deal out of this... Why did I have to throw away half a year's worth of relationship, or where would this all have led us...?

* * *

The more I thought about it, the more uncertain I became. I couldn't decide what I should have done. What would have been right or ethical... I also had doubts about what I even wanted. I missed Ambrosia, I missed her closeness, her touch, but at the same time, I wouldn't give up my memories of the naughty pegasus girl either. It was a difficult matter, I realized that, and when my head started to hurt from thinking too much, I gave up on figuring it all out. The deed was done; there must have been a reason. However, I couldn't spend all my time locked in my room from now on.

In fact, as soon as I met my mother on the stairs, I realized that I didn't really want to stay at home either. I didn't want to talk to them, I didn't need their advice. I once had to sit through a short lecture about mares and stallions, and that was more than enough, thank you very much. They wouldn't have been able to help with Ambrosia anyway. In fact, nopony and nothing would. So, I did the only logical thing: I dressed in loose summer clothes and headed straight for the dormitory. I had a good tip on whom to visit if I wanted to forget all my worries.

It's true, I didn't know how successful I would be. There were still a good two weeks left in the semester, but that obviously didn't apply to us anymore - only in that regards that the residents farther away from Canterlot hadn't been kicked out of the dormitory yet. I mean, not even those who had nothing to do with the Academy for the summer. Well, this was partly the reason why I wasn't sure I'd find Lotus here. For us, it was already summer - even if technically it was only the end of spring - so it could easily be that he spent his free time somewhere with Stella, rather than being locked up between the four walls. Or it could also be that they continued their research in the lab, outside of class time, as enthusiastic students of the Department of Alchemy. By the way, since Lotus practically didn't have to move out - Stella already lived nearby - I was somewhat optimistic about the break. Even if Ambrosia left me, I won't be alone. With those who will not go home, we can still use the remaining time until the opening of the next year, which we will no longer experience as one class.

Hoping for the best, I climbed up to my friend's room. The door was closed, which surprised me a little, after all, except for very late at night, it was almost always kept open, but I knocked gently anyway. I didn't get any response for a few seconds, then the lock clicked softly. I found the situation strange, but I pushed the handle and entered.

I wanted to say hello, but when I saw the blue stallion holding his hoof to his mouth, I aborted the idea. He was wearing a pair of boxers, from which I suddenly concluded that he was alone, and given the heat, I wasn't surprised at the shut curtains either. But as I looked around a little, I saw Stella lying on the stallion's bed, and it didn't look like she was more dressed. Lotus, following my gaze, adjusted the blanket on the peacefully snoring mare with a quick spell.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt!" I whispered as it clicked.

"Would I have opened it if you were interrupting?" asked the blue stallion just as quietly. "We are just having a bit of rest."

Yeah, of course - I thought. It looked just like that. Or was my imagination too dirty due to what happened to me recently?

"So, what's up?"

"I was just thinking how nice it would be to bring the class together a little, if we're already over everything like this," I answered. "I could really use some relaxation. Maybe something more serious..."

"I see, so the Gala was too refined for the gentlecolt," nodded Lotus. "Then I understand why you're asking me to organize something truly grandiose."

I laughed softly to myself. Yes, Lotus is the perfect choice if I want something that slaps harder than the Grand Galloping Gala.

"When can you get it together?" I still asked in a choked voice. "I'd like to finally knock myself out a little."

"For eight ponies?" he grinned slyly. "Let's see... I already have something in mind that we have the ingredients for so Stella and I will have everything prepared by tomorrow evening."

I flinched as he said eight ponies. Although I wouldn't feel like trotting around searching for the others, it would have been even more embarrassing if Lotus had done it for me and called Ambrosia as well. I wasn't in the mood to tell him what happened between us, but when we all get together, at least there will be an opportunity for that, too. Or they'll surely ask me if I can't bring myself to say it...

"Don't worry, I'll bring the ponies," I waved with forced calmness. "I'll tell everypony to be here in front of the dorm by eight. Is that okay?"

"Oh yeah!" he winked. "Should go easy; Cavern, Scorch and I were already planning something like that. You can count on us! It will blow your mind!"

"Cool..." I put my hoof on his shoulder for a moment. "Well, I really should stop bothering you! Enjoy the well-deserved rest together!"

"Is something wrong, Thread?" Lotus suddenly asked with a surprisingly serious face.

"Nothing special... I'll go then. I'll tell Jasper and the others, but I'll leave Scorch to you if you're roommates anyway."

"Okay, then" the stallion shrugged. "Tomorrow night it is."

"Tomorrow," I echoed, and we parted with a hoofbump.

* * *

As I was looking for my friends I got that a couple of times that day that there must be something wrong with me. It seems that, despite my best efforts, other emotions than mere fatigue were still visible on me. Jasper was especially interested, although Wish probably would have been more relentless in her questioning if the stallion hadn't offered to tell her about the party himself. I still wasn't in the mood to tell them about the ugly breakup I'd been through, but while I visited Cavern, even a few relatively unknown students asked me in the corridors and on the street if I was okay, so I went home as soon as possible. And I didn't leave the room again until the next evening, except for lunch and stuff like that.

At least that was my plan. However, when I was mentally preparing for the party in the afternoon, my mother shouted for me to come down. She seemed quite impatient, so I grumbled and crawled out. She stood in the hall, looked up at me sternly and then nodded towards the entrance. I reluctantly rolled my eyes, but went down to her anyway. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the figure lingering in front of the door...

"Hi..." Ambrosia greeted me in a hoarse voice.

She looked terrible, that was the first thing I noticed. Her eyes were bloodshot, with dark circles under them, as if she hadn't slept in days. Her mane was also a sheer tousle. If everypony kept asking me if I was sick...

Suddenly I felt terribly guilty. After all, I was the one responsible for her current condition. And as I looked into her eyes, I just couldn't be mad at her anymore. She looked so miserable... And she never wanted to hurt me, never wanted to cause me pain. And I... selfishly, of course, only thought of myself. Typical...

"Are you okay?" I asked quietly, uncertainty extending one of my legs towards her.

She nodded, but I got the feeling she only did it because she thought it would be impolite to complain...

"Look..." I began but she interrupted.

"I want... to say sorry..." she whispered shakily.

"But..."

This time my mom was the one who didn't let me finish as she shouted from the kitchen.

"If you don't want to come in, go out for a walk, but don't talk at the door!"

"Should we go somewhere?" I asked the girl.

She just nodded again.

"Bye!" I shouted above my shoulder and I was already outside the house.

We just walked side by side in silence for a while. I was torn between doubts, what I could say to her, but I was even more curious about what exactly she wanted from me. To apologize? What for? She is who she is. She follows the will of her parents and the traditions of her folks. She did what she felt was right. It was an unpleasant situation, and it did hurt when we parted, but there was nothing we could do about it. It wouldn't be fair to expect either of us to change for the sake of the other, right? So, an apology would have been rather unreasonable...

"Can we sit down?" she asked, pointing at a bench, when we were passing through a secluded little square.

An uneasy feeling came over me, but I didn't want to object. Be as she pleases. Anyway, I wanted to clear things up a bit with her. I did not wish in the least that we should part as enemies.

"I want to talk to you."

I knew she was going to say that. Predictable, but unnecessary. Why else would she have come to me in the first place? Why else would we have come here...? I couldn't really respond to her.

"So... I was thinking..." she said, and then sighed. However, she looked openly into my eyes, which surprised me. Although it was rather unreasonable as well... she has always been like this. "And I think you're right."

Her words froze midair. I couldn't even process them. I was totally shocked.

"Huh...?"

Yes, this was the only, well-formulated and exact question I was able to articulate. Although, on second thought, it did express my confusion perfectly.

"I want to stay with you," she looked at me with huge, but still pitifully bloodshot eyes. "And you're right, if I let ponies from home have a say in this, I can never be happy. I want more. I want you. If you don't hate me too much and accept the apology..."

"But... but... what about your country?" I barked in disbelief. "That you could not get married like that? Your rules..."

"I don't care," she answered firmly. "If I can no longer be a Saddle-Arabian, then I will become an equestrian. If that's the price to stay with you, I'll gladly pay it. It may be even better this way, because I like living here."

"But... because of me...?"

I was still at a loss for words. Had I misunderstood this mare that much? Would she really be willing to give up everything for me? This is bordering on insanity! I've heard the saying about how close love and madness are, but to see it live... it was terrifying.

"Not only because of you," Ambrosia smiled for a moment, then she slouched with her ears down and a sorrowful expression on her face. "Also because of myself. As I said, you were right. I also long for freedom. Almost as much as I long for you. Because I want you!" She suddenly raised her hoof and tapped it on my mouth for a moment before I could speak. "You don't know how hard it is for me to hold back. I can imagine what it must be like for you. So, my answer is this: I want it and I don't care what happens!"

"Are you serious now?" I asked when I was able to speak. I will not say when I came to my senses; that wouldn't do justice to how shocked I was.

She nodded and gently took one of my front legs by two hooves. "Say yes, Thread, and I'm yours!" she looked deeply, longingly into my eyes. "We could go up to my tower and you can do whatever you want with me!" She was silent for a moment and froze motionless, as if she had scared herself with what she said, then blushed faintly and continued caressing my hoof nervously. "Just... let's take it slowly, okay? I'm a little scared..."

An offer like this would have been impossible to refuse. Even if the mare was now a distorted shadow of herself. The fire of desire still burned in her eyes red from crying, although it was mixed with a good dose of desperation. Her beauty couldn't be overshadowed by her still slightly trembling, broken figure, or her almost sticky-looking fur. As I looked at her, I would have liked to have taken off her crumpled clothes and gently helped her into her bathtub in the tower for a nice hot bubble bath. Although by then I wouldn't have been able to resist the temptation to undress and climb in next to her... On second thought, that really would have been the best thing to do. It's just something very light and pleasant, with which we still cross the boundaries that have been stretched between us like impassable mountains until now.

I raised my free hoof and carefully caressed the girl's face, taking care not to get caught in her halter. She flinched for a moment at my touch, but then tears welled up in her dry, reddened eyes. I couldn't help myself either.

"I'm so sorry for all the mean things I've said," I sobbed softly. "And thank you... thank you for wanting to stay with me despite all this. I think I didn't realize what I had lost when... when..."

"I love you Thread!" she said suddenly, and kissed me. It wasn't even pleasant physically; her lips were parched, and she was pushing her tongue almost aggressively into my mouth, but it still meant the world to me. "Let's stay together forever!"

"I love you too, Ambrosia," I replied when she let go.

And I didn't do it out of compulsion. I really felt that way. I was finally able to say it for the first time. Completely honestly.

I got up and helped her up too. Walking slowly, entwining our necks, lovingly rubbing against each other, we set off towards her home.

* * *

Everything went exactly as I planned. As soon as we closed the gate behind us, we were already kissing so wildly, which I would not have expected from my fillyfriend. And after I freed her from her first piece of clothing in the heat of our embrace, as if incidentally, she unclasped the halter on her head with a soft click and let me take it off as well. And without it, she seemed so fragile and defenseless, which made me feel even more masculine, and at the same time awakened some completely animalistic instincts in me. Of course, I had it under control, but it really stirred my imagination. And Ambrosia somehow almost seemed to quail before me, as if from then on, she was not even my equal anymore...

But of course, I had no intention of abusing my situation. I was gentle with her and didn't push her in any way. I only approached her gently, and I also respected her intimate sphere, even though I no longer felt as if she expected me to do so. Of course, we have made some progress now, but only gradually, as she asked...

However, it did not escape my attention how empty the entire tower was. When I sometimes sneaked a look around, I noticed a few packed suitcases thrown in one corner. So, for Ambrosia, this was really just a last-ditch effort to win me back. If we had agreed otherwise, she would have gone home by the first train... Fortunately, it didn't turn out that way, and we gave each other another chance. I rather tried not to worry about what could have been, and soon I was lost in the embrace of my mare again.

I had no idea how long we had been together like this when there was a knock on the door. We had such a good time, I almost preferred to ignore it. Although the water was only lukewarm in the tub - that is, considering the dimensions, Ambrosia's could be called even a smaller pool - the foam had already run out from the top, but I still felt like I could stay forever, cuddling with my partner naked. But when I heard Jasper's voice, I immediately realized what was going on.

So, it was already evening... I didn't even think about it, and I forgot about everypony else. However, since I invited them, it would have been an absolute jerk move to send them away. Also... if they came here, it probably meant that they got bored waiting in front of the dormitory, and in fact, after looking for me, they most likely even stopped by my parents' place first, so there's a good chance that I successfully upset everypony with my rudeness. Hopefully they won't bite our heads off...

Apologizing profusely, I climbed out of the tub - which, of course, meant that as soon as I realized that I would step out onto the tiles wet, I crumbled to dust and shook most of the water off myself - then wrapped a towel around myself and trotted to the door. All of my friends were already there, and as I appeared, they all turned to me. It was unpleasant to feel their gaze on me while I was wearing almost nothing, but let's say it was still better to keep them busy with that than to let them realize that I forgot about the whole meeting completely.

"Oh, sorry guys, we missed the time a bit!" I apologised, trying not to show how embarrassed I was.

"Explainin' makes it worse, ya know?" Jasper raised his eyebrows. "Well, now that we've got the excuses out of the way, we can go!"

I took the opportunity to escape and quickly retreated back into the tower. It was more because my towel was only kept on by my magic...

"A moment and we'll join you!" I shouted out.

Ambrosia looked at me questioningly, so I tried to quickly explain the situation to her.

"So, the thing is, we wanted to go somewhere to relax a little with the guys..."

As I said it, it suddenly occurred to me that if we hadn't been together right now, this would have come out pretty weird. Of course… we broke up recently, she was about to move home, and I was about to go to a party... And in the places, we usually visited, it wasn't terribly hard to pick up a drunk mare or two. What can she think of me; would I already run after other girls? Or... how about finding out what happened on the night of the Gala after we parted ways...?

She smiled, even though she could definitely see on my face how tense I suddenly became. She slowly rose from the tub and fluttered her eyelashes flirtatiously, but covered her rear with her tail.

"Missed me so much?" she asked cheerfully, with a mischievous undertone. "Okay, let's go wherever you want. But it would be nice if for once just the two of us went somewhere. We could rent a small room in one of the Equestrian towns, and nopony could bother us there!"

"That's a fantastic idea!" I said gratefully.

It was almost unbelievable that she was so understanding towards me. I felt really lucky again.

I quickly dried off and put on the clothes I was wearing earlier - I even thought about it that it would be worthwhile to bring a few of my things over to the mare's, and then I could sleep here without further ado - and then I stepped to the entrance. It took Ambrosia a little longer, but we were both ready to go within a reasonable amount of time. Soon I was already walking the streets with the seven ponies, and after everypony gave us a piece of their mind about how long they had to wait for us - and the nightclub chosen by Lotus was within reach - the atmosphere improved drastically.

I have to admit; my memories are a bit blurred from here on. The fact that I didn't drink out of sorrow, but out of joy, didn't particularly affect the mechanism of action of the alcohol, so it wasn't until a good hour or so after we sat down in the designated basement pub that I finally realised Ambrosia came with us without any objections. She didn't ask for a glass, it wasn't even possible to offer her a fizzy drink and she was busy hugging me the whole time anyway, but what's important is that she finally took part in our fun in her own way, and she didn't stand out - that much.

Anyway, the place was really great. Again, I have established that there is no better pony than Lotus to choose such. As he said, The Anchor was the most atmospheric pub in the area. Fortunately, Jasper's joke didn't suit it, because they didn't want to drag us down at all, and they offered high-quality drinks at a good price. Let's just say that it was so exceptionally cheap here in Canterlot, that I somewhat doubted the legal nature of the business - for example, receipts were only given to very suspiciously well-dressed ponies - but I tried not to think too much about such things.

Besides the staff and the assortment, I liked the design the most. The walls were made of rough, stringy boards, with fishing nets, oars, and similar accessories hanging on them as decorations, and the lighting was very modest, which gave the overall impression that we were inside a ship. If somepony spent enough time here, there would even be rocking, especially thanks to the punchy, unique recipe of rum, which was impossible not to try just because of its rarity around here. Well, except for Saddle Arabians...

There wasn't a big crowd, but we had to wait a few minutes until a fairly large table became available, at which we could all sit down. Until then, we were forced to occupy ourselves with other activities, for example I tried to teach Ambrosia and Wish the rules of darts with the help of Jasper. I have no idea what the others were doing, though. After that, as soon as we were comfortably seated, the drinking and story-telling began. There was much to tell each other; previously, we could not even properly discuss our experiences related to the exam. And of course, we got a lot of nostalgia as we recalled the years we spent at the Academy, our most characteristic teachers, our craziest schoolmates, who made it all worth remembering.

Then, we seemed to laugh more and more, whether we had reason to or not. It seemed that this rum really got into our heads quite well, but its "beneficial" effect only appeared long after drinking it. In the meantime, Lotus unloaded something similar to a dried plant on the table, and together with Stella they began to arrange it neatly. I thought they were pure idiots for bringing the work here with them, but then it slowly became clear what exactly they were up to. They shaped the weeds into eight roughly equal sticks, then wrapped them one by one in some dark paper.

"The buck is this?" Jasper asked, shaking his head slightly, as Lotus pressed one of the cylinders into his hoof.

"What do you think?" he shrugged. "Cigars."

"Stupid ass..." Scorch stated. From the sight of him his vision must have been a little blurry as well.

"Nah, these are made of special leaves..." said Lotus. "If you don't want it, throw it back! At least we have more left."

He extended his leg towards the red stallion, but he only shook his head and did not take the cigar from his mouth. "Gimme fire...!" he grumbled. "Don't tell me that you became alchemists only to get high?"

"You've got a horn, light it with that!" Lotus waved him off. "Anyway, don't worry, Mirthy, it's not the hard stuff..."

Scorch squinted hard, then with a heavily flickering horn he set the end of the cigar to smolder. After that, he turned back to the blue stallion. "You call me like that again, I'll hang you with your own intestines..."

"I wouldn't be happy about that," Stella stated, while she also took a stick in her mouth and began to chew the end of it at a leisurely pace.

"Eh, he's just venting again!" Lotus waved. "Lil' Mirthy always has a big mouth when he's wasted... Cantankerous, are we...?

Scorch reacted immediately. He slammed his hooves on the table and lifted it up, but he must have underestimated the weight of it all, because a moment later the legs of the furniture clattered loudly on the floor. "Oh fuck...!" cursed the red stallion, clutching his own hoof with a pained grimace. "Worst time for a cramp kicking in! Somepony threw this shit on him for me!"

"Heh!" laughed Lotus. "You're weaker than nightshade against hay fever!"

"You foal of a bitch..."

"Cool yourself off, or I'll get them to bring ice and I'll dip you both in it!" I tried to half-heartedly relieve the tension.

Since none of them responded immediately, I returned to studying the cigar from the outside. For several minutes I occupied myself quite well with this simple activity, while my classmates were again talking about something, although I barely listened. In the end, I concluded that we only live once, and if I had entrusted Lotus with our entertainment anyway, I could trust him that he would not wish us harm. It was a little tricky to concentrate my magic, but I managed to light the thing. I could already feel its effect after a few puffs. I was quite refreshed by it. Even my thoughts became a little clearer, but fortunately the pleasant effect of alcohol has not dulled anything. In addition, I wasn't so tired anymore, and I suddenly felt like doing something that required a lot of movement. For example, a gallop in the night. Anyway, it was quite pleasant, but I had to pay attention to restrain myself.

In the meantime, the whole group also noticeably woke up. Along with Lotus, Cavern and Jasper now joined in Scorch's teasing. I don't know what exactly I missed, but the topic was something like how the stallion will not be able to do anything by the side of our dean in the "Department of Clowns", because anything even remotely interesting is illegal.

"You can talk shit about them but they can do tougher things with two flasks and swills than you can with your full magic power," Cavern said. "At least that's useful."

"Just shuddup!" scorched Scorch. "You can't even do that much! I'm surprised that they accepted you for any major at all..."

"Yeah, but what can you do with illusions in the first place?" continued the stallion. "Nothing you create is real... Whatever you do is a big zero."

If I hadn't known that he was just fooling around, I would have intervened, but instead I had fun with the others at Scorch's reactions, who apparently took it all seriously. In fact, it was maybe because of the strange cigar, he got involved in the debate more and more.

"Whatever! Tell that to the illusionists who can transform into nykur! It's purely our technique, not the elementalists'!

"I admit, it's really something..." Cavern hummed. "But I'll wait until you get there, little sprout!"

"Yeah, it's lucky that we have ponies here with actual magical abilities, like Jasper or Thread," added Lotus.

"Buck you!" Scorch grumbled. "If I wanted to, I could project an entire dragon onto the sky of Canterlot, then everypony would panic."

"Ah, nonsense," Cavern fanned his hoof. "There wouldn't be a pony to eat it. Or if somepony do, I'd give your entire trick at most half a minute."

"And how about I make something disappear, asshole?" the stallion narrowed his eyes. "Would you still say it's nothing? I know very good cloaking spells as well! I could make an entire house vanish!"

"So very useful, wow!" the stallion kept teasing.

"Okay, but let's say I can also make myself invisible, and then I can sneak in anywhere. In fact, I could even take a cart with me, and nopony would notice."

"Even something that big?" Ambrosia chimed in with a surprised look.

"Mare, if I get into it even more, I could cloak an entire train even in front of the guard!" claimed the boy proudly.

"Of course, and we will believe it just like that!" Cavern laughed.

"No, you really couldn't do that," Stella remarked. She was already halfway through her cigar and didn't seem like she was considering lighting it as a realistic option. "They would easily notice. Even if you make it, the sounds will uncover you."

"Bullshit!" Scorch protested. "I could do it in my sleep!"

"They must be prepared against such things," said Wish, who sat quietly next to Jasper for most of the evening, and although she didn't turn down the rum, she didn't even touch the prepared dried herb crap. The only reason she could be so awake without it was that at least she didn't drink much. "It would be crazy if it could be done easily like this."

"Yeah, it's stupid to underestimate the vigilance of the guard," Jasper joined in as well.

"Oh, you don't know me!" waved the red stallion. "It's always easy to make fun of me, huh? But Thread is with me, right? Do you think I can do it?"

The question came to me unexpectedly. I didn't know what to say, especially since I had no more idea of Scorch's abilities than any of us.

"Dunno," I summarized my immediate opinion on the question.

"You don't trust my abilities either?" he asked in frustration.

I just shrugged hesitantly, but I wouldn't have had time to answer anyway; Cavern was faster than me again. "You're all talk and no action! Always boasting how great you are. Now's the time to prove it! None of us will believe it until we see it with our own eyes!

Scorch snarled with his ears down and his lips pulled up - which made it quite hard to take him seriously anyway - but Jasper immediately jumped at the chance. "Oh yeah! Just for this once, show us what ya can do! I'd really like to see ya steal an entire train!"

"He certainly doesn't dare" snapped Lotus.

"Bullshit!" Scorch slammed a hoof on the table.

"Come on then, prove it!" Cavern took the stage again. "Not just sometime, but now! Let's go to the station and steal a train!"

He shouted at the end so loudly that several ponies turned towards us. Of course, they only had a pitying smile on their faces - they surely thought that we were already irretrievably drunk, and it was completely unnecessary to take us seriously. I wasn't surprised; if I hadn't known how much of a troublemaker Cavern could be, especially when he put his head together with Lotus, I wouldn't have believed either that they could and would do it even half-drunk. The other members of our team also caught the clue and slowly began to pick up their stuff. Poor Scorch was scratching his head looking between us. He probably didn't expect that he would actually have to show what he could do.

After settling the bill, we started towards the exit, laughing softly and feeling a little woozy. The fresh air was especially nice on a moonlit night, but I was surprised at how sleepy I wasn't. It might have been midnight, but I was as alert as when I drank a liter of coffee in preparation for one of my exams a few years ago. Then, until the next evening, it was difficult for me to keep my eyes closed, even to blink, and my current state strongly resembled that, except for my ever-increasing cheerfulness. As time went by, I felt like giggling at anything...

It was only when we got to the station that we had to shut up, as Scorch rather nervously told us that if we didn't do so, he wasn't going to do anything. After that, a little more quietly - although I wouldn't exactly say stealthily - we retreated, all the way to the tracks where the trains that weren't running at the time were kept. We just watched from afar, during which Scorch declared that he can't drive a locomotive, so he only provides the magic, we have to take care of everything else. Cavern and Lotus, of course, immediately replied that they were game. I'm not saying that I minded the idea at all either, as it seemed fun enough, but the girls who were with us would have obviously objected to it. Nevertheless, they were all able to stop themselves from voicing their opinions. Stella just shook her head sometimes, but not with too much intensity, and Wish and Ambrosia looked around nervously sometimes, but they didn't say a word either. Scorch immediately assigned them the task of steering, saying that they had barely drunk, and it couldn't be that hard to keep a train on a perfectly straight pair of rails and move forward on them.

We just watched for a while, while the red stallion chose a nice train for himself, and then Scorch touched each of us with a faintly glowing horn and kept whispering, making us invisible. He could have done it a little more tactically, as we became unable to perceive each other, so we collided more than once, or even fell over a few times, until we reached the train. After that, however, the matter became significantly easier, as Scorch took off our disguise, then, snarling heavily, covered the locomotive and the first car belonging to it with his cloaking magic. He asked Jasper to unhook the ones behind it, then continued to mutter as he extended his spell to drown out the noises coming from inside as well.

For us, of course, the true trial came from here on. Together with the guys, I had to heat up the boiler carefully, while the girls tried to decipher the dashboard with the help of Jasper. We piled a bunch of logs on the ashes, then we were able to light it with a spell, and I was even able to improve the mixing of the air a little with magic, so I was very proud of myself. And soon the train took a big jolt when Ambrosia pulled a lever and started the vehicle. After playing around with the controls a bit, we were able to set a safely slow pace, and we glided out of the station gracefully.

We watched from the window to make sure we were keeping the route well, and the rails didn't want to throw us off their backs either. I had just realized how easily it all went, when suddenly a sharp whistle cut into my ears. Everypony was holding their heads with pained expressions, but Stella pulled the string of the train whistle one more time just for the sake of it.

"Stupid bitch!" shouted Scorch with his horn shining brighter and brighter. "What the buck are you doing?"

"I couldn't leave it out..." the girl explained with an impassive face. "I was never allowed in the front of a train."

"Did they hear us?" Wish asked nervously.

"What do you think?" raged the red stallion. "I can't hold back that much! Oh, what a bloody mess we're going to be in now! Stella, I'd so throw you out of here!"

"Chill, dude...!" Lotus placed his hoof on Scorch's back. "Don't even joke with such things!"

"There they come!" Ambrosia pointed out the window.

Indeed. Outside, a couple of ponies with lanterns trotted towards us, although they weren't aiming directly at us, so the illusion still worked. And this meant two things at the same time... One was that we still had a chance to disappear without being noticed. And the other is that since they can't see us, and we didn't keep the train under our control perfectly, if we're not careful, we could run over one of them. I wasn't really worried about it, nor about the possibility of being caught, but even in this state of mind I understood that this outcome would not be the best possible way to end our little adventure.

Driven by a sudden idea, I locked my eyes on a train a little further away from us, and dented its side with a well-aimed magical strike. All the arriving ponies immediately raised their heads at the metallic bang, and rushed to the scene of the crime. And we glided silently through the night.

"Nice job, Thread!" Jasper patted me on the back with such force that I almost collapsed. "It was a crazy idea, and fast too! Even faster than me for once."

"You're making me blush..." I grinned languidly.

"Is it possible to keep your mouths shut a little longer?" groaned Scorch. "It's darn hard to concentrate like this..."

At this pace, it took us a while to roll out of the station, but then we allowed ourselves a slightly higher speed. We continued to travel silently to the outside world, but inside we were laughing our rumps off, while Wish was constantly making sure that nopony stepped on the tracks in front of us. Scorch, on the other hoof, had to push himself until we crossed the city limits. Afterwards, however, he took off his disguise from the train with a sigh of relief. And when we got out of sight and ear-shot, Stella blew the train horn again for a long time, to everypony's boundless joy.

"Well, we got away with it!" blew Scorch. "So, did I pass your shitty test? It was something, wasn't it?"

"You did bro, you did!" Cavern grinned. "It looks like you are not the screw-up you appear from the outside, after all..."

I could see that the red stallion didn't take it very well, but he didn't have a chance to say anything about it as Wish interrupted. "How far do we want to go anyway?" she asked cautiously.

"Hopefully it won't be far, 'cause we're pretty cramped..." remarked Jasper.

"That's why we brought another wagon," Scorch replied. "I don't recommend that you try to use it while going, but half the team could sit there on the way back. Anyway, I don't care. Let me know if you get bored..."

"It's just like when we went to freshpony camp, isn't it?" I asked, turning to Ambrosia.

The girl just nodded with an uncertain smile, which suddenly reminded me that she wasn't even with us. And this is a humongous mistake; how could she stay out of this?!

"Oh, you can't even remember! What a shame that we couldn't get to know each other back then! Well, it was just like that; that's how we went to... the middle of nothing with the train. There was a campfire and everything... I don't even know if we told you about it at all."

"How about we make her a little supplemental freshpony camp?" Lotus asked. "Because it really began like this trip. Except that we didn't steal the train then. And we didn't have to drive it. And we had somewhere to sit down. And..."

"I think we've got the picture..." I waved off the stallion. "So... what do you say?"

"Well... now I don't really know what you mean..." remarked Wish, still looking out the window, keeping an eye on the direction.

"You know, that... stuff... umm..." I tried to find the words. "That it was so good, and it would be fun to recall it!"

"On a stolen train?" Wish raised an eyebrow.

"Come on, babe, don't be such a killjoy!" Jasper lightly slapped her flank. "If we're already runnin' a tour train like this, we could park somewhere to hang out in the shrubbery. That was something, alright!"

"Okay, but honestly... does anypony but me care that we're on a stolen train?" Wish asked, not even flinching at the stallion's touch. "No? Ok, just asking..."

* * *

I have no idea how long we were speeding through the night. Well, it wouldn't have bothered me if we ran off the edge of the world as well, because after a while it was uncomfortable to stand, as a result of which we relatively quickly decided to just lay down on each other in a messy pony-pile - with the exception of Wish and Stella of course, who controlled the locomotive together. Jasper was also buzzing around them quite a lot: heating the boiler and the like. And apparently Scorch also got up many times to see how we were doing, although I think he could hardly see anything in the darkness. In contrast to them, I just lay back lazily and enjoyed the trip. And Ambrosia snuggled up to me and hugged me so tightly that she couldn't be separated from me even by force. Besides the mare's hot touch and the intoxicating effect of the alcohol mixed with that herbal crap, I wasn't interested in anything. I didn't even have to think to occupy myself, yet I didn't feel sleepy at all.

Our destination was marked by Jasper suddenly yelling that we were going to stop. The road around us was bordered on either side by some kind of forest, but I wasn't good enough at geography to guess what was south of Canterlot. If I was even remembering correctly that we headed that way... Then we fumbled with the brakes for a while, since nopony, not even Wish, remembered how we started the whole machine. So, at first, we only held back our momentum with our unified magic, then Jasper used some tricky spell to reverse-engineer the mechanics of the brakes to a single lever.

So, we finally managed to stop, and after they put the locomotive in a more or less safe condition, we jumped off it. We didn't even bother to lock the train in some way; we headed straight for the dark forest. The weather was chilly, although I took it as a simple fact, and it didn't bother me in the least. Nor did the strange noises of the forest. The lack of fear left a kind of peculiar void in me, but then again, Lotus did tell me on the way that the experimental stuff he gave us was perfectly suitable to forget all our worries and concerns. According to his claim, due to its invigorating effect, he was very tempted to present it to us before the basic exam, but he didn't want us to lose that minimal anxiety that would essentially motivate us to study. Now, however, there were no such concerns stopping him.

We didn't wander too deep, so we wouldn't lose sight of the dull position indicator lights of our train and not find our way back when we were finished out here. We just looked for a part where the trees were sparser - we weren't so lucky to find an entire clearing - we collected a few twigs and larger branches, and after clearing the area a bit, so that the embers wouldn't set anything on fire, we lit a cozy little campfire. Even if the cold didn't bother me, the fire warmed me up nicely. We laid down comfortably on the almost strangely soft ground, and I rested my head on Ambrosia's neck.

"It really is just like that camp," Wish stated. She was lying on the other side of the fire, but it didn't escape my attention how suspiciously close she positioned herself to Jasper. "Maybe with a homelier atmosphere..."

"Yer not afraid of wild animals?" the stallion hugged her, as if only he was following the same line of thought. As I watched, while he continued talking, he didn't even take his hoof off her back... "The Everfree Forest is a very dangerous place, especially at night!"

"Wild animals?" giggled Wish. "Come on! If nothing else, I have some big, strong unicorns here with me; I sure do hope they will protect me!"

"But even we can't protect ya from everythin'," Jasper suddenly changed into a tone intended to be terrifying, which was definitely not his forte. "Such dark and mysterious creatures inhabit these accursed woods that cannot be fought; ya can't escape! Ya'd better be afraid, girl, because I've heard that in this very forest lives the most terrible monster in all of Equestria!"

"Oh, story time?" Cavern asked cheerfully.

"Can't have a campfire without it!" I said.

"It ain't no fairy tale!" Jasper raised his free hoof significantly. "Ya just listen quietly, 'cause the beast may be lurkin' at us from the shadows! It's called Human, and legends say that it hunts at night. In the moonlight, ya can sometimes even hear its howl! Its hut is here somewhere hidden among the trees, from where it goes raidin'. They say it can't run fast, so it sets traps to catch the unwary. Those who are luckier, just get cut down and eaten by it, but if ya find it in such a mood, it may prefer to take ya prisoner and torture ya, make ya work until ya die! Free will means nothin' to it; it's impossible to talk some sense into it. If ya don't follow its will, it will beat ya until ya learn obedience!"

"Life is worth nothing to it, yet it is constantly searchin' for new victims, new slaves. It needs to resupply often, because if anypony is injured under its rule, it quite simply shoots them and throws their body to the scavengers. It wouldn't even think of tending to a broken leg, it'd get somepony else to bend to its will anyway. Once it catches ya and doesn't kill ya right away, ya can count on it to humiliate ya in every way possible!"

"And I haven't even told ya what it looks like! Y'all can already recognize the Human from afar, because it's unlike anything ya have seen before. It has a hideous, naked body, which it often covers with flayed skins or wears thick armor to hide it from the world. Rockin' strangely, it uses its hind legs to walk and holds its weapons with its front legs. And even though it runs slower than us, it can kill even from outside the range of the bows! They say it can't really cast spells, but it's not affected by any kind of magic, in fact, if somepony stays near it for too long, even their own magic dwindles and then slowly even their consciousness leaves them, until they become a brainless zombie who tolerates without a word when the Human sits on their back and carries itself with them as its prey."

I have to admit, I wasn't very impressed with Jasper's short story. Not only did it seem like some kind of out-of-the-air nonsense - although it covered the topic in surprising detail - but it wasn't scary at all. I couldn't really decide whether the latter was just due to Lotus's stuff, or whether abstract horror stories like this didn't suit Jasper. Maybe both. However, it seemed I wasn't the only one, as others also voiced their displeasure.

"Where did you get this crap from?" Cavern snapped at him as soon as he was done with the little story. "Even I can think of something better than this!"

"Then do it, don't just cry stinkin' fish!" Jasper answered immediately.

"No, it's not that stupid," Scorch remarked before Cavern could answer. "Well, okay the story was terrible, but he didn't make up that human thing. Although you don't roleplay, I happen to have a twelfth level human character... Its racial bonuses can be very useful... Now what?"

We laughed so loudly, it rang through the whole forest. I imagined Scorch, the big cool dude, getting together with a couple of bespectacled little snotty nerds and discussing their game. Well, surely it was something that some ponies enjoyed, but our class collectively looked down on those, so... what about Scorch? I would never have guessed him being such an egghead, and the others must have had the same opinion. However, this at least explained where he used to go sometimes in the evenings, even skipping a party or two, and why he didn't tell anypony what he was doing at those times. Even now, it must have been only that strange cigar that lifted his inhibitions, because even when he was drunk, he never talked about such things.

"Awkwaaaard," Stella said when the laughter died down a bit.

"Go and die in a hole!" grumbled the red stallion. "Why do you always have to criticize what I do?"

"Then tell us your horror story!" I proposed. "Ambrosia never had the chance to hear it before, and it was really something."

Scorch seemed to be pleased with my suggestion. For greater effect, he even got up from the ground and began the same tale he had told years ago at freshpony camp about the Headless Horse and its victims. If my memory serves me correctly, this time he presented a few details a little differently than at that time, but the gist was the same. However, this time it didn't seem so scary at all, which was at least partly due to the fact that my friends were constantly interrupting. They got caught up in every minor logical flaw. In the end, Scorch got bored with the whole thing - and was annoyed by his inability to provide satisfactory explanations for many questions - so he abandoned the story halfway through.

"I know it happened like that..." he sulked. "It was my father who was there, not yours..."

"It's okay, Mirthy, nopony..."

Cavern couldn't even finish his sentence, Scorch angrily grabbed the entire campfire with his horn and threw the whole thing at the stallion. Cavern couldn't even react in time, he was saved only by Wish's presence of mind. The mare was on her hooves in a moment's notice, and with her magic she pushed aside the flaming and smoldering woods. At least most of it. A couple of burning pieces still hit the stallion and set his fur on fire in no time. Luckily, Wish was still quick to react and basically turned herself into a living water cannon and immediately tried to extinguish the fire. By that time, we also gathered our bearings, and while the mare focused on Cavern, we quickly put a stop to the beginning forest fire. It seemed it hadn't rained in this area for days, as the embers burned incredibly fast, but we were able to prevent it from spreading with our combined efforts.

"Are ya completely out of yer mind?" Jasper roared.

He wasn't idling around either: while we were dealing with the fire, my friend grabbed Scorch by the neck and slammed him against a tree with piercing eyes, lifting him from the ground.

"Let... go...!" moaned the red stallion heavily, his front legs clinging to Jasper's hooves, and his hind legs limping more and more weakly.

"Stupid bastard!" Jasper fumed. I've never seen him so upset... "What the heck were ya think yer doin'?"

"Stop, please!" Wish hurried to them and gently placed her hoof on the stallion's shoulder. "You'll strangle him!"

"Exactly, my dear, I'm right on it!" Jasper snarled. "Freakin' Tartarus...!"

"Pretty please!" the girl kept trying, clinging to the stallion's back. "Come to your senses! This is not you!"

Grunting loudly, Jasper lifted the suffocating stallion a little higher, then threw him to the ground with such force, he even slid a little. He was always able to shock me with how much physical strength he had for a unicorn, but he did work a lot on it, I'll give it to him.

Scorch pawed at his throat and coughed, trying to crawl away a little while we just followed him with our eyes.

"That's not me?" Jasper asked menacingly, probably mainly addressing the red stallion. "I always stand up for my friends and I won't let anypony hurt them!"

"At least apologize!" Lotus said to Scorch.

The stallion was still holding his neck and breathing hard, but he managed to whisper "sorry" with great pain. I'm not saying that everything was fine, but the mood has calmed down a bit. I also took a look at Cavern's injuries, but apart from the fact that his fur was slightly scorched in a few places, and his skin was red underneath, his condition did not seem dangerous. It didn't even look like something that the pony would take to the doctor. Of course, that wasn't the point... How did Scorch even have the audacity to attack any of us...?

There wasn't much desire left for camping. After our fire went out, we were forced to make our way back to the train by the light of our horns, as the sky became more and more cloudy, obscuring even the stars. There wasn't much left of the good mood either; until we got out of the forest, Jasper came along behind Scorch to keep an eye on him, and we also felt the hostile atmosphere.

"Would you mind if we were left alone for a while?" Ambrosia asked, whispering in my ear, when we were almost back to our vehicle.

"Of course not, but..."

"Just trust me!" she winked, then turned to the others. "You can relax in the car, and we'll drive you back! It's not that complicated, I remember how it works and Thread will take care of the heat."

If she only wanted to lighten the mood, she would have succeeded: the whole company, including Scorch, was laughing so hard, they almost toppled over.

"Alrighty, champs, but pay a little mind to the road as well!" Jasper giggled.

"Wow, way to go!" Lotus also joined.

"But we won't clean up after you..." added Wish with a mischievous grin.

I couldn't even speak, I just stood there blushing as I thought about whether we would have been better off if I had presented the idea to them instead. It would have still been clear what our intentions were - at least roughly, since I suspected that my friends could have believed that our relationship was much... further progressed - but I would not have rubbed it under their noses even in the form of such a clumsy innuendo.

"Well, let them have a fun time!" Lotus finally said. "Come on, guys, all aboard!"

The blue stallion gave a push with his forehooves to Stella, who was climbing the steps of the car, but the mare immediately raised her head from the unexpected movement and pegged down her legs in the door with her hind legs slightly spread. Lotus tried to push her one more time, but she was stubborn.

"Don't we wanna go?" asked the stallion, when he realized that his tactic wasn't working.

"I want you," Stella said without looking back, much louder than she would normally have intended, or would have been appropriate.

"Okay, okay, well, let's just go!" Lotus ushered her in, almost shouting, although this time, for the sake of safety, he didn't touch the girl.

His efforts were enough to finally get Stella to move, but he could no longer take back what she had said. However, it was definitely useful in that regard that everypony was laughing at them, instead of us. Giggling about, they climbed into the car one by one, we closed the door on them, and then headed towards the locomotive. We climbed onto it nicely, I heated up the engine, Ambrosia adjusted some things on the dashboard - it's strange that she seemed to have talent for this, especially being a mare. And when we set off with a powerful jolt, my fillyfriend was already there next to me, and in a matter of seconds she managed to make it extremely hard to watch the tracks even from the corner of my eye...

* * *

There was a light at the bottom of the sky by the time the effect of the alcohol and the cigars Lotus gave us began to wear off. However, this was not primarily manifested in the fact that I was nervous about what we would get when we returned home, if they found out that we had stolen an entire train as a joke, but only in the fact that I became more and more sleepy. Still, I really enjoyed the ride, and I was grateful to my friends for leaving us alone and not even trying to come over to the engine, thus saving me and Ambrosia a lot of awkward explaining. What can I say, I bless my luck that nopony saw us...

But when we rolled through the boundaries of Canterlot, I had to realize that Scorch's magic was no longer hiding us from prying eyes. Which didn't cause much trouble until we reached the station. There, however, - although I had already expected it subconsciously - to my surprise, a large group of golden-armored guards, fully armed, were waiting for us. Even as we tried to sneak "quietly" to the parking area of the train station, some invisible magic made the train stop before the end of the platform. And in order not to leave the appearance that we might still be able to escape, all the doors were flung open at the same time on the side facing the guards.

I carefully stuck my nose out of the locomotive, and immediately dozens of spears were pointed at my throat. I didn't feel threatened too much, after all, I could have easily outwitted them in a dispersed form, no matter how many tried to stop me, but considering that they were Princess Celestia's ponies, a faint fear-like feeling slowly crept back into my chest, even despite the dull fog sitting on my mind.

"I must ask you to leave the vehicle immediately and follow me!" said a boss-looking white pegasus harshly.

My movements were a bit uncertain, but I managed to jump out on all fours, even if I hit one of my hind hoofs in such a way that I was forced to limp a bit afterwards for a few minutes. I also helped Ambrosia to get off, and our whole group also compiled without objection. The soldiers assigned to receive us withdrew their lances, though I perceived that they were constantly kept ready, as if they had not received very definite instructions as to what they were to do with us. They just surrounded us tightly and led us straight towards the palace.

Although I couldn't talk with my friends under these circumstances, looking at them I thought that now we had all come to our senses enough to be afraid of what we were going to get...

Ch 11 - Party amidst test tubes

I remember, on that Monday Ambrosia and I put off leaving her tower until the last second - as usual now. They gave us a lot of work for that day anyway, as we had to help clean the gym of my old school. This also meant that we were moving in a fairly large area and that we had to work with a large group of strangers, so I would be happy if I could even briefly meet my friends. I considered a special treat if several of us were needed for a task at the same time, and at least we could be together until then, or even talk, if it did not require too much concentration from us.

Because there would have been something to discuss. Stella finally rejoined us and I must say she looked great. Although Lotus had already pointed out to us that the girl had actually only sustained very superficial injuries, to us, as layponies, that amount of blood seemed terrifyingly large. I think we all imagined a head-to-hoof bandaged Stella whenever the stallion was speaking about her, so when she came towards us on Lotus's side, not even limping, while we gathered in front of the school, I was quite surprised at the sight. Stella then showed off the scars on her legs, remarkably cheerfully compared to her usual self and the situation, and although she could not give a satisfactory explanation in that short time, she claimed that she was completely fine. In fact, I've never seen her smile so much in my life...

We weren't able to discuss the matter more thoroughly, but before we even started work, Lotus approached me with a mysterious grin and slipped a note into my pocket without any comment. As I observed, everypony else also got some, and even though I could barely contain my curiosity, by the time I could see it, our supervisor had already started assigning the tasks. After a good hour and a half, I could only spare time for the message, when I trotted towards the restroom as a half-excuse. "Come to the drug lab at eight in the evening! Don't have dinner before, but everypony should bring some refresher with them!" - was all it said on the paper. I smiled at that, since by Lotus's book "refresher" meant any sugary or otherwise sweetened drink, but not containing alcohol. So the stallion wants to celebrate his fillyfriend's recovery, but he will be exceptionally able to keep a measure... What can I say, I was curious what the guy could organize without one of his most important party accessories.

At the weekend, we agreed with Ambrosia that we would spend Monday evening quietly, alone, and if possible, not get out of bed - not that we had planned the last couple of days differently - but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to meet a little outside of work also with the class. Well, of course I also wanted to talk to Stella a bit. I really hoped she would tell me what happened to her while peeling vegetables. Because no matter how I thought about it, if it came to mind sometimes, I never got ahead. The most realistic explanation seemed to be what Scorch said about certain withdrawal symptoms and the like, but I tried to rule that out as much as possible.

Understandably, I both looked forward to the evening and I didn't. My curiosity would have led me forward, but as my fillyfriend and I cuddled under the blanket, her head resting on my shoulder and all four legs hugging me, I toyed with the idea that I would rather never move again in my life. She weighed almost nothing compared to me, yet she nailed me to the bed with incredible force, even if she didn't do it on purpose. She didn't squeeze me, she didn't hold me down, but her mane fell softly on my neck, and I didn't want to unravel from the hot, soft touch of her body, even when we should have really gotten started to get to the agreed place on time.

"Are you happy with me?" Ambrosia asked, just when I had made up my mind to finally get going.

"Of course!" I answered immediately, although I was surprised by the question. "Why do you ask? I don't look like it?"

"You do," said the girl, not moving her head, just running her hoof along my chest. "I was just curious."

"I found the most amazing mare in the world. I've never been so happy since I've been with you."

"I love you so much!" she hugged me even tighter.

"I love you, too."

I returned her gesture and gently pressed my chin to her head. I inhaled the scent of her mane, then sighed contentedly. Something was wrong. I felt that Ambrosia was quite a bit more tense than usual. I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't already know her so well.

"Is something the matter?" I asked softly.

"Nothing."

"Oh, but it is," I sighed. "Could you tell me, please, what's wrong?"

"I just... I want to spend more time with you..." she whispered as if she was ashamed of what she was saying.

I seriously didn't understand. In practice, we haven't moved from each other's sides since Friday afternoon. Well, with the exception of our work today, where we really had to do without each other's company, but it would have been weird to hold me accountable for that. Even after that, we came here right away, and I didn't deal with anything else but her. Of course, it would be nice to get the punishment imposed by Princess Celestia off of our backs - which might have been a bit much for her, after all, she was not used to physical work - but that was not up to us.

"I don't know what..." I started, but she interrupted.

"It would be better if you always stayed here during the day. Last time I waited for you for hours..."

"Last time?" I asked, but then recognition quickly dawned on me. "When I was at Wish's?" I continued more carefully.

"I missed you," she remarked in a perfectly neutral voice.

"I missed you, too," I replied almost automatically.

"You said, you'll just see what's up with her..."

"But I've already told you everything!" I tried to rub against her, but I didn't feel that she was so receptive to it, even though she was still clinging to me. "It took me so long because she noticed, and I obviously had to talk to her. And she needed my help."

"Your help, or just help in general?" she continued to inquire with this forced composure.

"She's been my best friend for a long time. Of course, it's not surprising if we count on each other, no matter what the problem is."

"I thought Jasper was your best friend..."

For the first time, she gave a little edge to her statement, and resting her hoof on my stomach, she stretched her neck back a little so that she could look into my eyes. She is jealous and wants an explanation from me, I concluded. I never thought we'd get here, especially with regards to Wish...

"You are splitting hairs, my dear," I said finally, forcing myself to reach the same calm state she appeared to be in. "If Jasper had tried to hide what was wrong with him, I would have looked into it in the same way, you can believe that. But he's not that type, you know exactly that. And you know as well how sensitive Wish is."

Ambrosia lowered her head and snuggled up to me again.

"What do you think I should have done?" I asked her the question, although since she didn't answer immediately, I continued to speak my mind. "Should I have left it at that? And if she really was hurt and nopony checks out? I love you more than anypony, and I think I'm with you enough. I hardly go home anymore. But you have to understand, there are others in my life, not just you! I didn't want to exclude you even then, it just would have been too difficult for me to carry the two of us. Even so, I thought about you a lot, and then I hurried back as best I could!"

I exaggerated a bit, because while I was talking to Wish, I didn't think of my fillyfriend very often, but I felt that I deserved so much bias. She would surely have been on my mind, if other, unusual factors had not kept me occupied. In the same way, I would not have been exceptionally happy if I had not been able to meet my friend face to face, and not only because of the slightly ambiguous situation. I was convinced that it really concerned only the two of us, even if I "reported" the situation to Ambrosia in broad terms afterwards.

"I don't have anypony else besides you," she sniffed softly, almost apologetically, as if she already regretted her former "outburst". "I feel so empty when you are not with me! Don't be mad at me, please!"

Yep, she managed to make me remember what she gave up so that we could stay together... But she said she didn't do it just for me. Sometimes it was hard to understand her, but I wasn't mad at her. On the other hoof, it would have been a rather unrealistic expectation of me to spend every second with her. I seriously didn't understand.

"I'm not mad at you!" I stroked her mane as far as I could reach with my hoof. "However, I would like to note that you can be friends with anypony. And you're still a member of our small team! If you really want to call Equestria your home, make connections with other ponies! I won't be jealous of you..."

"Okay, I'm sorry!" Now she raised her huge, willow-green eyes directly at me pleadingly. "I didn't mean to lay into you like that. I think I'm a little too sensitive. You know, mare stuff..."

That... did explain a lot. Although this sort of thing wasn't much of a topic between us, I was able to experience a couple of times how much girls can be influenced by their own biology. Let's just say that as much as I had an eye for this sort of thing before I got together with Ambrosia, I could only rarely tell about Wish when she was in heat. She didn't give many signs either, she was just more easily embarrassed than usual, so at first it seemed like a good joke to tease her together with Jasper with all kinds of nonsense at these times, once we found it out. However, we overshot the target a couple of times and managed to chase the girl away from us for half a day, so we got out of the habit of doing so pretty quickly. I didn't care much about Ambrosia at the time, and Stella probably only shared confidential information like this with Lotus. However, it is true, each of them had periods when, seemingly for no reason, they could hardly be spoken to for a few days. It seems that what the hormones bring out of them varies not only from individual to individual, but also within a pony.

"It's okay, come on!" I smiled. "It would be time for us to leave soon. Let's not make them wait!"

"Couldn't we stay at home instead, just this once?" she asked carefully, pressing herself close to me again. "We'll see them tomorrow anyway."

"It would be nice to get out sometimes," I replied, trying to avoid the appearance that I would blame her for the fact that we always hang out here. "If you want, I promise that I will be yours for the whole week after that, but even then I want to listen to what Stella has to say in a calm environment. And we're going there together anyway, aren't we? We don't have to be separated from each other for a moment."

"Alright..." she sighed resignedly, then let go, already reaching for her clothes with her magic.

* * *

The Herb Lab of the Department of Alchemy was located at the other end of the city, surrounded by a couple of large greenhouses, so we had to walk quite a bit. On the way there, we even had to pop into a small shop for some carbonated and sugary junk. Lotus had no other request, so it would have been indecent to show up emptyhooved, but earlier none of us had the will or strength to deal with shopping. So we visited the nearest store and didn't spend much time choosing. I wouldn't have been able to tell exactly what I took off the shelf after five minutes.

We were already running late, so we trotted on in the light of the setting sun. But no matter how much I wanted to hurry, in a large, wide square, some intangible feeling made me stop. I vaguely remembered that I had been there recently - which is not so surprising, since even walking at a comfortable pace, we could only be a quarter of an hour away from Ambrosia's tower. If my memory serves me correctly, everything looked the same on it. The row of arcades, the street stones, the leafy trees trimmed to shape, and the veiled statue in the middle of the square have not changed at all, yet somehow... they almost made the hair on my back stand on end. My eyes wandered uncertainly here and there, searching for any suspicious element, so I almost jumped at my fillyfriend's touch.

"What is it, dear?" Ambrosia asked gently.

"I have no idea," I answered, instinctively keeping my voice down. "I just... I don't know... I feel like I saw something..."

With my ears attentively flicking back and forth, I tried to survey the terrain as thoroughly as possible. Apart from us, there were only a few more ponies walking around the square, although not many of them crossed it: most of them were looking at the shop windows in the shadow of the arches. The shadows bothered me. I was perplexed by every little detail that fell out of sight. We didn't come here at the best time of day. When I had nothing to do, I liked these twilight hours, but now it was downright annoying. The combination of the slowly shrinking orange light and the dull gray semi-darkness broke the contours even more than the starry night. I'd say that without the street lights, even in the natural darkness, I would have seen more clearly than in this weather.

If somepony knew me well enough and wanted to ambush me in the open street when I least expected it, they would certainly do it in a situation like this...

I prepared thoroughly to crumble to dust at the slightest threat, and to take Ambrosia with me. Without a physical body, it would at least be much more difficult to harm us... But despite my attention to my surroundings, nothing happened. But the nagging feeling didn't go away either.

"Something is bothering my eyes," I muttered to myself so that Ambrosia could barely hear. "I can't say what it is, but it feels like I almost know. And that really irritates me..."

But no... we were not in danger. At least not directly. As soon as I tried to identify even a little bit, I already knew what kind of feeling came over me. My survival instincts had always been reliable - if not downright hypersensitive - but this had nothing to do with them. I could compare it to when I really want to recall a song, but I can't remember the title, or even some more characteristic details of it. The same, only somehow visually. It was as if I had seen something about which I had an idea, but I could neither say what it was that did not fully form in me, nor what I saw. It sounded so stupid the way I said it all to myself that I didn't even try to explain it to Ambrosia. I'll remember it later if I don't ponder on it.

And I'll keep my eyes open...

* * *

"New record!" Lotus told me, raising his eyebrows mischievously. "You have never been so late before!"

When we got to the laboratory, nopony greeted us, we only found the right door by following the light coming out. However, when we entered, the blue stallion appeared in front of us in a single moment. It seemed that they didn't even wait for us: everypony else had already started eating the food piled on one of the long tables. I must add that it was the only free space, along with a couple of chairs, as all the other furniture, including the cupboards, was thinly covered with some brownish floral debris, which was probably the reason for the concentrated, almost sickeningly sweet smell.

"Yeah, we came here because while this shit dries, we can't do any meaningful work anyway," explained Lotus, preempting my question. "It's cheap and cozy. And as we are already banned from all kinds of stuff, we don't have to worry about damaging anything here!"

"I see," I smiled. "And what is this dish party for, if I may ask?"

"Oh, of course!" the stallion touched his forehead with a hoof. "I almost forgot the most important thing! I want to introduce you somepony!"

Ambrosia and I shared a confused look, but we followed the stallion anyway. I quickly looked around at the other participants - Wish nodded at me with her mouth full, but cheerfully squinting from beside Jasper - but I didn't see any unfamiliar face. I was even more surprised when Lotus stopped next to Stella, who was sipping from a huge glass with a straw.

"Look, Stella, here's Thread and Ambrosia!" He waited for the girl to turn towards us, then putting his hoof on her shoulder, he continued. "My dear friends! Let me introduce my bride!"

Needless to say, I was so surprised, I almost had to sit down on the floor. How to serve unexpected news simply? Just ask Lotus! And indeed, when I took a closer look at Stella, it really looked like she was dressed up for more than a simple party. Especially considering the golden pendant around her neck that I've never seen before. Would it be engagement jewelry? How strange that they didn't choose a ring despite being unicorns...

"I'm... speechless..." I said finally. "Huge congratulations to both of you! When...? How...?"

"Congratulations!" Ambrosia joined me, a little more quietly.

"I've been planning it for a while, so you can imagine," Lotus grinned. "Then, of course, the idea suddenly came. I originally wanted it as a surprise, but in the end, we even chose the necklace together. The important thing is that we both like it, right?"

"Even more important that we can be happy together," Stella snuggled up to the stallion with a smile. "And, I think none of us can complain!"

"That's why I was like, if we've been together for so long and we don't want to change that, why not make it official?" Lotus continued. "On Friday, after work, I went to the hospital for her, then on the way back, we sort of happened to stop by a jewelry store. After that, I couldn't keep what I wanted to myself."

"On the weekend, we even visited my parents, and he asked them for my hoof," the girl took over again. "I still can't believe I'm getting married!"

"But you're not having second thoughts, are you?" Lotus asked half-heartedly.

"Come on!" Stella giggled. "I have never felt better in my life!"

"Does that mean you've completely recovered?" I interrupted.

"Of course!" the mare shrugged. "We overreacted a bit, I think. The doctors only kept me in for so long as a precaution. After a few days, the bandages were removed, but after that I had to talk to a psychiatrist for a long time. Don't worry, they found nothing!"

"Do you remember what happened?" I tried to inquire.

"I must say, that part was too blurry..." Stella's face became a little uncertain, but apparently that didn't dampen her spirits. "I tried to recall it, but then I preferred to let it all go. Nothing dangerous happened, and Lotus promised to take care of me anyway. What's the worst that could happen?"

At the mare's words, the boy planted a huge kiss on her cheek.

"I certainly wouldn't leave it at that," I remarked. "If it all happened so unexpectedly and there is no explanation for it, what guarantees that it won't happen again?"

"Listen, if the doctors couldn't tell me anything, what am I supposed to play smart about?" Stella rolled her eyes. "Let's be glad that everything is fine now! Come and eat with us!"

Although she didn't manage to calm my nerves, it wasn't that difficult to talk me into dinner. I had purposely not eaten anything since noon, so the prepared delicacies seemed more and more enticing. I took a large portion of cake for myself, then we sat down at the section of the table left free for us and ate there. However, as I watched my companions while they were chatting, it became apparent that there were fewer of us than I expected. I quickly found who was missing.

"Hey, where is Scorch?" I turned to Jasper.

The boy was currently listening with interest as Cavern rather nervously explained something to Wish, so he barely paid me any attention while answering.

"Heck if I know. Don't tell me yer missin' him!"

"I'm just surprised that only he is missing."

"He said in advance that he had a program for the evening," Lotus spoke from a little further away.

"He must be playing with the little fags again," Cavern waved. "Who cares about that idiot? We don't need him to screw up this party as well! At least he leaves us alone..."

"At least?" I raised an eyebrow. "Who doesn't?"

"That stupid bitch Quicky is still followin' him,” Jasper sighed. "Seriously, how can somepony be such a jerk? Ya know how long they were together? Only one night!"

"Yeah, and even that was half a year ago!" Cavern huffed. "Up until now, we've been fine without each other, now she suddenly needs me? Seriously, I have to hide from her. It's like she's stalking me. Can you imagine how tired I am of it?

"She's following you?" I asked in surprise.

"Yeah, everywhere!" the stallion shook his head. "She is driving me crazy with this..."

For some reason, I felt that this whole story did not go on all fours.

"It may sound stupid, but can I ask... do you actually see her coming after you?"

Apparently, I managed to confuse him. Just as I suspected. I don't know where this all came from, but for some reason I thought it was relevant to clarify this.

"She came to me a couple of times," he said, although he still didn't seem confident. "We even talked at first, but even though I clarified things with her, she has been following me ever since. I just don't understand what she wants from me? What kind of mare is so stupid as to think she's fine with me in a long-term relationship?"

"Asking the real question, here..." Ambrosia remarked quietly.

"Aren't you a little paranoid?" I asked him.

"I'm slowly becoming that!" Cavern snapped. "Do you know how bad it is when you walk down the street, look back, and she's right behind you? I even wake up at night to see if she's watching through the window, seriously..."

"Well, I'll still say it is best if you try not to worry about it," said Wish. "If you've already discussed it, but she can't get over it, act as if you don't notice! She has to understand that sooner or later."

"You say that because not a single stallion is dogging you," the boy continued to rant. "You can't even imagine how unsettling it can be!"

"And... what if you just give her another chance?" Stella also tried to join the brainstorming session.

"Because I don't want anything from her? It would make a heck of a lot of sense to waste each other's time. She's easy on the eye, but I don't care about her otherwise. I'm more of a fan of flexible relationships."

"I agree. If it doesn't work, you shouldn't force it," said Ambrosia, mostly addressing Stella. "If that's how he feels about it, there's not much to do..."

"Not everypony wants to commit so early," Cavern nodded. "The only thing that should be resolved is that Quicky finally understands this as well."

"Well, let's not talk about such things now!" Lotus clapped his hooves. "It's no wonder you are so annoyed if you can't forget her even when she's not around. Let's relax a little to enjoy this special occasion! Get ready, because I have brought you such a delicacy, you will lick your hooves afterwards! I know, I told you to bring a soft drink with you, but you can fit something else, I think. The only problem was that it was quite difficult to get it off-season, so I didn't get much of it. I don't even dare to tell you the price!"

While speaking, he also turned his back to us, rummaging through a basket, and waving a green, almost completely opaque bottle in front of him. After placing it on the table, he picked from one of the cupboards just as many vials as would be enough for everypony present, and, making room for them, collected them on a tray. He pulled the cork out of the bottle with a loud pop, then filled each vial to the top with some yellowish, cloudy liquid.

I found it very suspicious, and it probably showed, as the stallion hoofed me the first portion with an encouraging smile. "Don't worry Thread, there's nothing in it that would make us steal trains! It's just plain must, but it's insanely delicious. So it is not a sin in any sense to toast with this."

I took the vial a little warily and sniffed it curiously. The pure, concentrated aroma of grapes almost washed over my nose after the sweet, herbal scent that filled everything up until now, to which I had gotten so used to for a few minutes that I almost forgot about it. However, I really didn't smell any alcohol, so I didn't make any comments. Everypony else got a vial as well, then Lotus stopped in front of us and held up his own.

"As I look at you, I see special ponies, a special team," began the stallion in a voice as if he wanted to make a proper speech. "We started as one class and finished as one class, but not just as teammates, but as friends. As much as we came together by chance, we have stayed together steadfastly over the years, and I think that is a rarity in our year, or even in the entire Academy. We are connected by shared adventures, shared memories, everyday experiences and time spent together outside of school. A couple of ponies who wouldn't have anything to do with each other anyway... but even now you've all come! After passing our last exam together, we could have split up, like most ponies do, but we stayed together, and I think that's amazing!"

"During these years, however, not only friendships were born! Four of us found love within the class, which I think is also a pretty good ratio. You are also very lucky, Thread, with Ambrosia, and we wish you much happiness!" He waited for us to smile and nod to thank him for the good wishes, then he continued. "Stella and I are now connecting our lives. When I joined you, I could never have imagined that I would find not only such great friends, but also my future wife. Thank you for always being by my side, by our side, and for being here with us now, on this important day, and sharing our joy! Cheers, my friends!"

The stallion raised his vial, then clinked with each of ours in turn. We also went around each other so that nopony missed out, and then simultaneously raised the strange glasses to our mouths. Lotus certainly wasn't lying, the must was something sublime. In taste, it even beat the finest wines I've ever tasted, so the stallion really found a special quality for this occasion. The only thing missing was alcohol, but maybe it was possible to survive without it, sometimes. As much as my friends meant to me, I really believed that we can have a good party while being sober for once.

"Of course, those not present are the exception," Cavern noted glumly. "Only the hard core is left here from the class."

We left it to that. Scorch has always tried to be a bit of an outsider, so it was his loss if he stayed out of everything. Dulcimer left us a long time ago. Everypony who matters has come. The night was still young, so none of us wanted to complain about something like that. It really was a miracle that we stuck together.

* * *

We stayed up for a long time. Lotus even played music for us from a phonograph, so we could even dance as much as space allowed. The only problem - if we considered it a problem - was that there were only three mares for four stallions, and the couples were quite attached to each other. I obviously stuck to Ambrosia as much as possible, and Lotus wouldn't have replaced Stella with anypony, even temporarily, so Wish had to be shared by two. Of course, it was completely clear to me that she would prefer Jasper, but she let Cavern ask her out for a while. They rocked quietly through a slow song - it was impossible to do anything else in the cramped space anyway - but after that the stallion left us apologizing profusely, saying that he still wanted to rest before tomorrow's work. I guessed that he was only bothered by the fact that he didn't have a partner.

I can't even tell you how long we stayed. Sure enough, the final push to go was when Wish dropped her plate to the floor with a loud clatter. Afterwards, she said she just picked some snacks for herself and wanted to put it on the table, but somehow miscalculated the distance. Of course, this was just the excuse; I could see in her wide-eyed thousand-mile stare that she was so sleepy, she could barely stand on all fours. She stared at the shards in such a horrified and confused way, as if at first, she did not comprehend what had happened.

She's really been a bit clumsier lately, although I've put it down to her being in love. Ever since she told me how she felt about Jasper, I could see it in every move they made towards each other. It didn't take any special explanation that the boy - after he also found that Wish could be very sleepy - immediately offered to walk her home. And Wish, of course, immediately agreed. I didn't have much desire to stay either, and Ambrosia also seemed to prefer to spend the rest of the night leaning against my side and sleeping peacefully in a soft bed. I didn't want to miss the opportunity either, to walk in the dark with my friends as long as possible.

Everything was fine until we crossed the same square on the way back, where I had to stop for some reason. The exact same feeling returned. And this time it would have been harder for me to attribute it to the play of light and shadow. The streetlights shone almost without flinching. Yet...

"Something isn't right..." I said my thoughts in a low voice.

"What's wrong Thread?" asked Wish with almost alarming concern, now completely awake.

"I have no idea!" I grimaced. "Don't you feel something... strange? Like I'm seeing something that... that I shouldn't..."

"I dunno whaccha mean, pal," Jasper looked around with narrowed eyes. "But it ain't no fun hangin' around here. Let's trot! If ya see somethin', tell us right away!"

I was about to do as he said, but before I started, I noticed that Wish was standing with her eyes closed and muttering something to herself. But just before I could address her, she looked up again, turned around, and then slightly shook her head.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Me?" she looked at me, almost surprised. "I didn't do anything! Let's go!"

I had no intention of arguing. I wanted nothing more than to finally be home and get rid of all these stupid feelings. And I vowed that I would avoid this strange place as much as possible...

* * *

The next day we all felt the recoil from staying up so long. In the morning I could barely open my eyes, but afterwards I just laughed at my own stupidity, what I could have imagined about that damn square. In the first place, a place shouldn't have made me so terrified. Especially after I re-identified the feeling in myself afterwards. It was nothing like the time when I went inside a crypt with my parents when I was still a foal. It was more of a shudder, like when somepony takes a book off my shelf and arranges the rest so that there are no holes in between. I can see the deficiency, but I wouldn't be able to tell what's wrong...

I talked to Ambrosia a little more about this after waking up, but when we got to our meeting place in front of the school, it was no longer a topic. There, Jasper and Wish and I just laughed - since it seems only we were early enough - that Lotus and Stella must have had a very eventful night, that's why they came so late. And indeed, even Scorch appeared before them, though he had a habit of sleeping the longest.

"Ya missed yesterday's amazin' party," Jasper rubbed under the nose of the red stallion as soon as he arrived.

"Couldn't care less..." Scorch snorted, then covered his mouth to hide a yawn.

"But you shouldn't be feeling left out all the time; we always welcome you," Wish remarked.

"Yeah, damn right!" the stallion continued to grumble. Apparently, we didn't find him in the best mood. "You always drag me into some dumb shit, and then I have to wake up early to suck some recreational dick with you."

"Lotus and Stella got engaged, just so you know," she continued.

"Terrific," Scorch rolled his eyes wearily.

"You look tired," I remarked. "Did you sleep badly?"

"None of your business..."

I wasn't used to him talking to me in such a tone, but if he was so grumpy, I didn't want to pester him anymore. I rather hugged Ambrosia, even though before I closed my eyes, I caught the mischievous glances that Jasper and Wish were exchanging with each other. They'd seemed very cheerful since we'd met this morning anyway, so it even crossed my mind that something else might have happened last night after Jasper walked Wish home. It would have been a great relief if they finally told each other their feelings. And in such a situation, especially after Lotus explained so abundantly how good it is to find the love of our life, it was quite easy to bring it up as a topic.

"Good morning, younglings!" we were greeted by a strong-looking stallion wearing a gardener's outfit, whom I recognized as the school's custodian. "I know it's expected to be very hot today, but your tasks will be outside. A few flower beds should be weeded a little, because the goosegrass has already spread a lot in them. So, sorry boys and girls, by the end of the day you're going to hate me because it's going to get stuck in your fur in places where you'd think it's impossible! Let's get down to it, don't waste time!"

"One moment, sir!" called Wish in a thin voice. "Sorry, but not everypony is here yet! Three are missing..."

I didn't even notice it until now, but it's true: not only Lotus and Stella were late, Cavern didn't get here in time either. Strange...

"Nopony said anything about that to me," the stallion shrugged. "Well, it doesn't matter, we'll start, and then when they come, I'll tell them what to do as well."

Everything happened as the custodian said. Canterlot probably set a new heat record that day; the sweat just poured off us, forming an unpleasant, muddy mixture with the flower soil, and this, supplemented by the sticky leaves, together provided a truly unrivalled experience. It would have been terribly easy if we could have just used our horns to eradicate the weed, but it was hidden so well among the plants we wanted to keep that we had to climb over head and ears in the plantation, just to be able to separate the useful from the harmful. Even so I had fewer available hooves than was necessary, and it turned out to be a serious dilemma to decide whether I should wipe my forehead or scratch where the sticky crap stuck to my fur.

What was not right, however, was that our numbers did not seem to increase. There were five of us at the start, and there were still five of us at the lunch break. There was no news of our friends, which I found extremely disturbing. When our supervisor announced the break, I crumbled to dust and tried to shake off all the extraneous matter - although I was not successful in the least, because unlike clean water, with integrity recreation, I could not separate the half-dried mud or the pieces of plants from me, even based on the actual state of matter -, then I hurried straight to the stallion.

"Sir, our three companions still haven't arrived," I began. "Could you possibly find out where they might be? Or will there be any consequence to this? They have to make up for it or something...?"

"This is not my competence, but of course I will report their absence," answered the custodian with an easygoing smile. "And if you're that interested, just ask around!"

"I will..." I muttered under my breath, turning away from the pony.

My companions had already unpacked their lunch on one of the nearby wooden tables. When I walked over, Ambrosia smiled and pushed a large sandwich into my hoof - obviously it wouldn't have made sense to pack something that needed to be heated - and then patted the bench next to her cheerfully. I sat down next to her, and although it didn't escape my attention when Jasper hoofed Wish his own, richly stuffed baguette for her to bite into - which she did, by the way, blushing a little - I kept my eyes on Scorch while eating. True to his habit, the red stallion positioned himself as far away from us as possible at the table, but he only poked around in his own lunchbox.

"When did Lotus get back to the dorm yesterday?" I tried to ask him, but he apparently did not pay attention to my words at all. "Hey, Scorch! I'm talking to you."

At last he was willing to look me in the eye, although as sullenly as he did, I would almost prefer it if he hadn't.

"What now?"

"I asked what time did Lotus get back to your room?" I repeated myself.

"How should I know? I was sleeping..."

I didn't like how he avoided my gaze again. It was like he was trying to hide something...

"And were any of them there in the morning? Lotus or Stella?"

"I wasn't paying attention."

I have never heard more obvious equivocation in my life. However, until I found out why he was lying to me, I didn't push any further.

"Maybe they spent the night at Stella's?" Jasper asked.

"Of course, it's possible," I answered calmly. "When we can go home, let's go to the dormitory first and ask him what the heck that was! And if they're not there, we could check over to Stella. Are you with me?"

"Of course!" Jasper replied immediately, and the two mares just nodded.

"You coming too, Scorch?" I asked innocently.

"Got better things to do..." he shrugged.

"It's okay, we have enough ponies anyway," I agreed.

I didn't talk much at lunch after this, I just took turns watching Jasper and Wish entertain each other, and I kept an eye on Scorch. I couldn't wait until we were finally done with our task for the day and I could finally look into this whole thing.

* * *

We have never gotten so tired from work as we did that day. Even Jasper, who was the toughest among us, admitted that it was a bit much for him too. The whole procedure was more complicated than it seemed at first. Uprooting entire plants without damaging nearby flowers required a surprisingly high level of concentration from us. Wish made it through, but for my part, towards the end, I considered using Jasper's tactic of pulling the weeds with my teeth instead. I also felt a strong temptation several times to cut down the entire flower bed in my dust-form with one decisive swipe, solving the whole weed problem in a flash, but of course, I quickly discarded the idea.

When we finished, we had to pay a visit to one of the school's washrooms with showers, we were so dirty and sweaty. I, for my part, would have been satisfied with a garden hose, and after taking a bath, I didn't even towel off, but instead took on my clothes fully wet. The thought behind it was, at least it keeps me cool for a while, and as it turned out, I was right, because by the time we reached the dormitory, I was almost completely dry.

Even though Scorch shared a room with Lotus, true to his promise, he really didn't come with us, even though he refused to explain where he was going. However, we did not find the blue stallion and his fillyfriend - more precisely now his fiancée - in the building, and no matter how much we asked Lotus's roommates or the other residents, nopony knew anything. So we followed my plan and all four of us headed towards Stella's house. Good thing she wasn't as secretive as Wish, so we all knew exactly where she lived. We visited her twice as a group, at a pajama party similar to the one I organized the first time, so we even knew her parents quite well. Oddly enough, they weren't as weird as their daughter, but it's true that sometimes they too had quite a peculiar way of thinking.

We soon reached the house with the big garden. A few ponies were lounging around in the street, but we saw no movement from inside. We didn't mess around much: while we were watching, Jasper energetically shook the small brass bell hung above the gate. We waited for a minute or so, but no answer came. The boy tried again but nothing happened.

"Are they working?" asked Ambrosia timidly.

"Whether they are or aren't, I want to know where those two birds have flown," I answered, pressing a kiss to the mare's nose.

"What should we do?" Wish asked worriedly.

"Buck me, I'll go in and look around!" I said after some thought.

"Are you sure it's a good idea?" Ambrosia grabbed my shoulder as if to hold me back.

"If anypony knows better, I welcome any suggestions!"

My friends just looked at me uncertainly, so I put my plan in motion. Slipping out of my fillyfriend's embrace, I dispersed into a fine cloud of dust and floated through the fence, aiming straight for the door. It's a pity that I already had enough practice in this sort of thing, but at least I was able to squeeze myself through the keyhole without hindrance.

There was silence inside. Only the ticking of a pendulum clock echoed through the walls, which I remembered how annoying it had been during our last visit. But nothing else, not even a buzz a fly.

I floated around everything carefully, paying attention to every detail. All the rooms looked pretty much the same as the last time I visited. It was a bit more orderly than it was then, they replaced the dilapidated lamp shade in the living room, but otherwise I didn't find anything special. In Stella's room, there was no clear indication of where the occupants might be. Gently prodding the walls, I tried to search for hidden rooms, but I found nothing. Nothing at all.

It just wouldn't let me rest, what in Tartarus could have happened. I didn't want to give up the search, but I felt completely hopeless. I flew out of the house and rejoined my friends. I just shook my head at their questioning looks.

"And now?" Wish asked.

"I won't leave it at that!" I answered with determination. "You go home, and I'll find the only pony who must know the answers!"

Author's Note

Must=young wine

Ch 12 - A small spot on a huge square

I remember being lucky and finding the Princess in the throne room. Otherwise, the palace seemed fairly deserted, only the pounding of a couple of armored guards' hooves echoed on the walls apart from mine. Not once did the sound of conversation reach my ears, even though I would have really needed it between the high, unfeeling walls. However, if it hadn't been for the determination to finally investigate the strange events, I would have preferred to turn back so that I could gallop home and get into bed next to Ambrosia and forget all my troubles. But I've already decided. Anything could have happened, and I couldn't stand being idle any longer. I wanted answers, and I wanted them immediately!

I felt the sharp gaze of the guards on me the whole time, so it was a relief to close the gate behind me. I tried to hold back my steps as my hooves still clattered painfully loud in the ominous silence. I was in even less of a hurry when I saw that Celestia was sitting on her throne, but she wasn't alone. In front of her two thestrals were waiting with their backs to me. Damn nightguards... They didn't even have to say a word for me to recognize them from their black armor, and of course from their leathery bat wings and conspicuously long fluffy ears. They didn't choose to meet my mentor at the best time. Especially since it was daytime anyway; what does the Nightguard have to do with Celestia then?

But it was not revealed what kind of business they came for. As soon as the Princess noticed me, she beckoned towards her, but the two strange stallions - or perhaps I had seen them somewhere before - did not move aside, they just stared silently, suspiciously, until I walked around them. I didn't want to bring up my problem in front of them, but it really seemed like I had no other choice.

"How can I help you, Thread?" Celestia asked with a smile.

"It's about my friends, Princess," I cut right in the middle of it, but at least my voice remained calm. "Today, three of them did not come to fulfill the imposed... task." I almost said punishment, but at the last moment I changed it because of the two unexpected eavesdropping stallions. "We tried to look for them, but we couldn't find them, and nopony knows anything."

"And you thought you'd ask me about them," Celestia nodded as if she wasn't surprised at all by what I said. Very well, exactly what I was hoping for.

I nodded.

"You don't need to worry, my faithful student," she continued to smile. "I have everything under control. Everything will be fine."

"Why, what happened?" I asked suspiciously.

"Nothing happened, Thread," she stated with perfect calmness. "Your friends are fine. I'd like you to make do with this for now."

I gaped in disbelief. I wasn't used to Celestia talking to me like that. As if I was completely stupid...

"Why am I not allowed to know, Your Majesty?" I asked when I found my voice again.

"Do you trust me, Thread?" the alicorn asked back with a warm, caring smile. "Do you trust me that I don't do anything without a reason?"

Unfortunately, she didn't mean it as a rhetorical question; she was clearly waiting for my answer. I didn't want to lie to her, but at the moment I really doubted her intentions. I gritted my teeth, chewed the thought a few more times, and then said it.

"I trust you, Princess, but I would be honored if you would not leave me in suspense."

Celestia's expression didn't change, but she couldn't maintain eye contact with me without flinching. It was as if she wasn't sure what to say.

"It is enough for you to know that Still Lotus and Stella did not appear today with my personal consent," she said finally. "They are in a safe place, I can guarantee that, so please don't go looking for them!"

"And Cavernwind?"

I tried to see behind the smiling mask, but I just couldn't.

"You may leave, gentlecolts," Celestia said after a while, and then she waited for the two nightguard to close the door behind them. Finally, looking into my eyes again, she continued. "You know I like you, Thread, and I consider you my friend. It is very important to me that you are happy. And that's why I have to ask you again to trust me. Believe me, it's much harder for me than for you, but I only do what I must to protect you!"

"From what, Celestia?" I asked more harshly than I intended. "From the truth?"

"It wouldn't be in your best interest if I told you," said the Princess, still smiling.

I waited in vain for the continuation, but my mentor remained silent. For a while I didn't speak either, I just looked deeply into her eyes and tried to figure out how I could get her to talk.

"If you want to spare me from something, Your Highness, remember that even certain bad things are better than uncertainty!"

She returned my look, scanning my face, but she didn't answer right away either. Finally, after an unusual amount of thought for her, she summed up her position in a single word.

"Exactly."

It took me a minute or so to fully comprehend what she was saying. And indeed, as I concluded, it shocked me even more than if she had just told me that my friend was dead.

"You don't know?" I asked in shock.

The answer was simply that all cheerfulness disappeared from the Princess's face with a drastic suddenness. I could hardly believe it. Celestia, who was always the first to know about everything and who seemed to be literally everywhere at the same time, was unable to answer such a simple question! What in Tartarus could have happened... what would have to happen to somepony for this to occur? Or would I have overestimated how interested the Princess was in my friends? Obviously, she couldn't keep every one of her subjects under close surveillance... But she still knew that Cavern had disappeared! So what's going on?

"I have already deployed the necessary forces to find him," she finally said firmly, but in a remarkably restrained voice. "From here it can only be a matter of time."

I shook my head in disbelief. It can't be true... it just can't happen for Celestia to have no idea where to look for somepony!

"Calm down, please!" she tried to prevent my outburst. "I am not saying that our situation is not complicated. Still, I want to ask you again to trust me! The most important thing now is not to panic! I can see in your eyes that you are too worried. Don't be! Go home to Ambrosia and attend to her, and leave the rest to me!"

"I want to help..." I said, almost shaking with anger. I seriously didn't understand why she was doing this to me...

"It would be wiser to listen to me," Celestia smiled again. "I know, it would be impossible to forget what happened, so all I ask is that you stay out of it and don't get upset. You are young and you still have a whole life ahead of you. Take advantage of the opportunity and enjoy it!"

"But..."

"Go now!" she continued just as softly. "I would like to find out about things as soon as possible. And your love is surely waiting for you. Don't leave her alone!"

My legs almost gave out. I couldn't process it all. I felt like the ground was slipping out from under my hooves. What is happening and why can't I participate? What is the Princess so spectacularly hiding from me? She's never done that before. She practically always let me be with her, and I listened in freely to her conversations with other ponies. Sometimes she seemed to watch with visible pleasure as I tried to figure out what she was up to. Maybe she perceived this as a friendly game between the two of us, in which she always won. Even if she played with open cards, I never knew exactly what she was doing, or why.

But this was different. This time there was not a hint of the mischief she usually directed at me despite being an adult - or heck, thousands of years old - mare. Now this secrecy was not a joke, nor was it a challenge. I couldn't decide if she's doing it only because it was my friends who were involved in all of this, or because the problem was really that serious...

Before I opened the door, something occurred to me. As much as she wanted me to be left out from all of this, I wanted to give her all the help I could.

"Quicksilver Catalyst," I said, turning back to the throne.

"Beg your pardon?" Celestia looked at me confused.

"A gray unicorn mare about our age from the Department of Alchemy. If you want to find Cavernwind, I think it's a good idea to start with her."

The Princess returned my gaze with a strange, inscrutable face, then nodded slightly.

"Go and relax, Thread!" she said as a farewell. "You need it. Until this matter is settled, I won't bother you with private lessons either. That much stress was already more than enough."

Again! She just sends me away again, as if she doesn't want me to stay near her! Why...?

"It's never burdensome for me to learn from you," I tried, even though I already knew the answer.

"If you really want to, just continue to develop the technique we practiced in the last few lessons. Until it goes perfectly, we can't move on anyway."

Well, at least that made some sense. Although I didn't have much of an idea how we would benefit from further development of my dispersing magic in this direction - we spent several occasions trying to make sure that I could break down the particles that make up my body really, really small - but since she had already explained the method once, in recent times she didn't comment too much during our sessions. She basically just repeated the same things and drew my attention to the fact that I should do more concentration exercises.

"If that's what you wish..." I bowed slightly towards her, then left.

* * *

"Even then, I can't calm down!" I explained to my friends the next day after work, which for the sake of variety was again weeding in the same place, only about one and a half times the amount, so that we wouldn't accidentally get to catch our breath. "She told me not to interfere, almost as if I was just in her way. But I can't sit on my ass if anything happens to Cavern!"

"Do you think she hid both Stella and Lotus to protect them from the same thing that caused Cavern to disappear?" Wish asked worriedly.

"I wouldn't bet my leg on it, but it's possible," I answered.

"And she said we are not in danger?" Jasper frowned, sometimes glancing around suspiciously. "What the everlivin' crap can threaten them that doesn't us?"

"You don't believe the Princess?" Ambrosia asked.

"This whole stuff is very strange," answered the stallion. "Especially that she was tryin' to calm Thread down. Why didn't she say that we're under attack and let's hide in the shelters? If it wasn't that bad, she could have told that without all this bullshit."

"She claimed she didn't know where Cavern had gone," I said thoughtfully. "But ponies don't tend to disappear without a trace from one moment to the next. Especially without a well-defined reason."

"She was also able to make Stella and Lotus disappear," Wish noted. "But in any case, this really doesn't bode well when we're dealing with somepony who has the same influence as Celestia."

"What if it's a trap?" Ambrosia asked. "The Princess asked you specifically not to investigate, Thread. If somepony knows you and wants to use Cavern as bait...?"

"Why would anypony want to trap me?" I was confused. "And then, following this logic, does Celestia want to lure out the culprit, using Stella and Lotus as baits?"

"Or rather she wants to protect them and we are the bait..." Jasper snarled.

We all fell silent for a few seconds. I couldn't have imagined such a thing about Celestia, but Jasper had a point. Why else would she make our friends disappear and leave us here, in front of everypony's eyes at the same time?

"Either way, we can't do any harm if we look into a few things," I finally concluded. "Of course, we investigate together, as a team, and we do not engage in any risky ventures. I really want to have a word with this Quickie. If we can believe Cavern that she really followed him all the time, then it can't be ruled out that she was the last to see him..."

"Or that she was the one who made him disappear," Jasper pointed out. "Anypony who is insane enough to stalk ponies, is might capable of anythin'!"

"I agree, we need to find her first," Wish nodded. "Do any of you have any idea where we can find the girl?"

"Cavern didn't tell much about her," I pondered. "Apart from her name and the fact that she is an alchemist, I know practically nothing about her."

"I only know her by sight as well..." remarked Ambrosia.

"Then there is not much else we can do, we have to ask around at the Department," sighed Wish.

* * *

This time I was even gladder than before that Scorch had left us earlier. As grumpy as he was at work again every time we spoke to him, I probably would have strangled him if he whined and made comments during the search. Luckily, as soon as we finished, the red stallion immediately picked up his bag and started somewhere, but obviously not in the direction of the dormitory, so he spared us his company from then on.

And considering how difficult it was to find competent ponies in the Department of Alchemy, he certainly wouldn't be able to make it through without his usual unfunny remarks. It was difficult for me too, although their ineffectiveness not just annoyed me, it straight up terrified me. Nopony we asked had heard of the mare. Not only had they not known her personally, but her name didn't ring a bell to anypony. There weren't many ponies inside, and those few were busy with more or less vital activities, such as watching the nutrient solution drip through small tubes onto some plants. The best part was when a stallion in another lab, after we questioned him, took notes in a notebook in front of a flask containing a hissing solution for half a minute, and only then told us that he had no idea who we were looking for.

We could not find the head of the department, and nopony else could provide us with useful information, so we were forced to look for other methods. First, we asked around at the Starswirl Dormitory, especially among our acquaintances - and of course, once we were there, for the sake of safety, we also asked if anypony had heard of Cavern's disappearance - but we didn't get any further. However, we achieved so much with the fruitless search that Jasper remembered that it might be worth looking into the Canterlot Royal Guard's records of wanted ponies. If nothing else, we could at least find out if our friend was officially declared missing, and if Celestia involved the military in the search. And on the way, Wish also came up with an idea - for which I scolded myself, for I didn't think of it sooner - that we could ask Mr. Polter about all of this. If anypony, then he had to know about the affairs and students of the Academy, especially when such strange things happen. I even saw a slight chance that he might know even more about all of this than the Princess herself.

Taking advantage of Jasper's connections, which he made in order to establish his military career, with a couple of higher-ranking - and, by the way, quite nice - officers, we were able to relatively easily convince the loyal guardians of the order to do a little searching in the wanted lists. Cavern was indeed featured on it, but apart from a detailed personal description, there was no other information about him. And we didn't find anything about Quickie, although we weren't too surprised by this development. Jasper's acquaintances also said that Princess Celestia had mentioned to them that the guards had to find a missing stallion, but to them she had not given any specific orders.

We didn't have any other options left, and we already used up much time, so all four of us headed towards our dean's office. We couldn't even be sure if we would still find Mr. Polter there, and we didn't have the gall to disturb him in his home, so it was a great relief when we saw the light coming from the window of the Dean's Office. Of course, the noble task was assigned to me to knock on the door...

"One moment!" said a rather irritated female voice, what I recognized as Mr. Polter secretary's.

It would have been unlikely if it wasn't she who came to answer the door, although I wasn't the least bit thrilled by the fact. To say I didn't like the mare would be an understatement. I ran into the things she didn't do which was her job more often than the things she did, so I had a sneaking suspicion that her cutie mark hidden under her costume had nothing to do with paperwork, at most with making coffee or something similar. Every time Mr. Polter entrusted her with the organization of something, the deadlines suddenly delayed. Good thing I didn't intend to exchange more than a few words with her this time.

After a little while, the door opened a crack, and the mare, only a few years older than us, poked her head out. She looked around unfriendly, and she hardly wasted a single glance at my companions. And since she saw who she was dealing with, she only raised one eyebrow as a greeting.

"Is our dean in?" I asked immediately, avoiding the politeness formulas like her.

"Do you have an appointment?"

So he is... That's all I needed to know.

"It's urgent. And we need him specifically," I tried to prevent her from trying to take on the responsibility of "helping". If she takes action, we won't get answers in this life...

The secretary reluctantly turned her back on us, and although she didn't invite us in, at least Mr. Polter soon appeared at the door.

"Hello, children," nodded the red stallion, and then he looked over his reading glasses with mild interest until his gaze settled on Ambrosia. "What wind has blown you here?"

"Good mornin'... evenin', sir!" Jasper began hastily. "Our big question would be, have you heard anythin' about Cavern?"

The dean took his eyes off my fillyfriend and looked at us again with an emotionless face, but he waited a little longer with his answer.

"All I know is that he disappeared," he said finally. "That's why I'm not thrilled to see you out here so late."

"What makes you think it's not safe for us to walk on the street?" I asked immediately.

"I'm not thinking anything," answered the stallion inscrutably, looking sometimes at me, sometimes at Ambrosia. "But when anything like this, well... weird happens, a little extra... caution doesn't hurt. Am I right?"

None of us could answer. He was obviously right. I, however, was getting more and more worried about all this, so I couldn't have sat at home and waited until something was finally revealed. And I saw on my friends that they were also adequately scared by the situation.

"Sir, could we possibly ask you one more question?" Wish addressed the stallion. "Would you look up in the registry a certain mare named Quicksilver Catalyst?"

"What do you mean by that?" asked Mr. Polter, turning to the girl.

"Well... we heard of a pony with that name," said Wish timidly. "In principle, she studies or works at the Department of Alchemy, but nopony there has heard of her. Could you look her up for us, please? She's probably already in graduate school, but I can't say for sure."

"We'll look into that," answered the stallion in a lackluster voice, and then disappeared for a moment behind the door. "Quill, be a dear and find the letter Q in the register! If my memory serves me right, it won't be too long..."

Fumbling and rustling of papers emanated from the office, and after a short wait we could hear our dean's voice again.

"And the previous years? No, just a few..."

This time the search took a little longer. Until then, I couldn't do anything other than exchange a few worried glances with my friends and a soft kiss with Ambrosia. To be honest, I already had an inkling of what Mr. Polter was going to say, and I wasn't the least bit thrilled.

"There is no student with that name in the register," said the red stallion to us, and then he stepped in front of us again, thoughtfully chewing the stem of his glasses. "I don't know where you got it from... Or maybe you're just remembering the name wrong."

"Yeah, most likely," snapped Jasper briskly. "But it's okay, it's not that important! We were just interested anyway. Thank you, sir! Goodbye!"

"Great," said Mr. Polter with a faint smile. "Goodbye, kids!"

We also waved goodbye to the dean, then quickly caught up with Jasper, who in the meantime was already on his way back.

"What's up with you?" I asked the boy when I caught up.

"He won't find it..." Jasper looked me seriously in the eyes, but he didn't slow down. "Nopony will. That mare... it's like she doesn't even exist!"

"But I remember seeing her!" said Wish with lowered ears and a worried face. "Not nowadays, but in the past. It can't be that she doesn't exist!"

"Somethin' is wrong with her, though," grumbled the boy. "I also remember that I ran into a girl a couple of times who they said was Quickie. Still, based on this, should I believe that she really is a simple, ordinary unicorn? What if our homie is right and it's really just an alias? What if somepony wanted to... infiltrate us this way?"

"Anything is possible, but why?" I pondered. "Who has and what kind of secret business at the Academy? And what does Cavern have to do with all of this?"

"Or Lotus and Stella," Wish added. "Yes, I would also be very curious about that..."

"It would be nice if I had the slightest clue," snorted Jasper in irritation.

"Maybe Cavern knew too much about this Quickie and that was the problem?" Ambrosia asked cautiously.

"How could he know too much?" the boy shook his head. "He himself said that they were only together once!"

"And you believe him if he says that?" Ambrosia pointed out.

Jasper stopped in his tracks, but so suddenly that I didn't realize where he had gone. It was only when we stopped as well and I turned around that I saw him standing with his mouth open and his eyes raised to the sky.

"Oh, buck my buckin' life!" he moaned as loudly as others used to shout. "I soo tired of everythin'! Seriously, I'd rather leave this whole crap to the Guard! Only then, what kind of captain would I be if one day I become one? Then they would come to me with such nonsense cases! But what the heck can we do now? Nopony knows who this Quickie is at all, maybe only Cavern, but that idiot vanished. Well, now what?"

"Stella and Lotus have something to do with the Department of Alchemy, where in principle the mare also studies," I tried to put the pieces together. "Could this be the connection between them?"

"Perhaps, bro, but we can't ask them either, because Celestia stuffed them into her secret fun shed!" Jasper grumbled. "I don't think she actually wants us to find out about anythin' either..."

"Then it's really not the smartest thing to search any further," Wish shook her head. "Why would we want to go against the will of the Princess?"

"Because she doesn't know what happened either," I answered. "And because it's about our friend. Isn't it our duty to do everything we can to find him?"

"But what about what Ambrosia said? What if this is all a trap?"

"Let's say it is!" I answered, a little harder than I intended. "Then should we sit on our asses and wait until our enemy comes up with some new method to trap us? Or whom do they want to capture? Or anything? We know almost nothing now. What guarantees that our ignorance is not more harmful than at least trying to do something?"

"I don't know," she seemed to deflate. "But rushing in blindly is the worst possible idea. So far, at least we had some concept about where to go. Well, it turned out to be a dead end, but at least we know what doesn't lead anywhere. As well as that we have to be careful. That's what everypony keeps saying. How about we listen to them?"

"I support her idea," Ambrosia nodded.

"Are ya two in cahoots, girls?" Jasper whinnied.

"I just want to let this all settle down a bit!" Wish looked pleadingly into the boy's eyes. "Let's avoid being conspicuous and think about what could have happened! We should at least get some sleep! We used up all our free time with this and I'm tired."

"Yeah, ya have a point," Jasper sighed, looking up at the sky. "This forced labor, or whatever, would be enough in itself, so runnin' around investigatin' things like that..."

"At least this way we won't do anything reckless," smiled Wish.

She stepped closer to Jasper and placed her hoof gently on his shoulder, causing the stallion to relax a bit as well.

"It's okay, babe," he said, patting her leg gently, though when he realized we were looking at them with Ambrosia, he quickly let go. "Then we'll walk ya home, right, Thread?"

"Oh, just go!" I tried to hide my smile, although I wasn't convinced that I really succeeded. "I really had enough of this day. Let's rest a bit, and then we'll come back to the question tomorrow!"

* * *

After we parted ways, we walked straight to Ambrosia's tower. However, the moment we entered, I stopped. If I had thought about this little detail half an hour earlier, my job would have been much easier, but there was not much to do about it. My friends and I had agreed that we'd go everywhere together for the sake of safety if we were to investigate such oddities, but I didn't see the need to bother them with such a thing again today. But I would not have been able to leave it until tomorrow. This small idea, feeling, or whatever you call it, simply did not let me rest. Like a thorn... like a tiny shard of truth that wormed its way under my skin; I had to pull it out, I had to find out.

"I must go back," I said to Ambrosia when she turned to me confused. "I think I found out what was bothering me on that square!"

The girl looked absolutely terrified at my words. "It's almost dark!" she protested immediately. "Don't even think about going out! Don't leave me here alone!"

To reinforce her request, she stepped close to me and took my face between her two front hooves.

"Then come with me!" I grabbed one of her hooves. "You don't have to be afraid, I'll protect you!"

I didn't have to drag her with me, but I felt the resistance from her. She came trotting beside me, barely half a step behind, never breaking contact, as if she was afraid that somepony would jump at us from behind one of the lampposts.

"At least tell me what we're looking for!" she asked as we walked.

"There was a covered statue in the square," I answered. "And it's been there for a while. Haven't you thought about this before, how long do they usually wait until they are inaugurated?"

I turned to her, but all I saw was confusion and concern on her face.

"I don't know," she said. "I've never paid attention to anything like that."

"I find it impossible that they would wait with it so much," I stated firmly. "And I definitely remember that the date was written on it. So I'll check it out..."

"But... why did this suddenly become so important?" she asked uncertainly. "Why can't it wait until morning? Why don't we go together with Jasper and Wish?"

"Because I finally figured it out, and I'm not willing to wait a minute longer! I don't know why, but I can feel it's important!"

We made a beeline through the streets at a brisk pace, but luckily, we didn't run into many ponies. Of course, regardless, I kept my eyes and ears open, carefully watching for any threats. In the same way, I was constantly ready to crumble to dust and disappear from possible attackers at any moment, taking Ambrosia with me.

There was no need for it. We arrived without a problem. The square looked almost exactly the same as the last time the two of us visited it. Even now, the hair on my back stood up from the strange play of light and shadow. But this time I didn't care. I focused my attention in one direction as I trotted towards the tall, gray, veiled statue with my fillyfriend by my side.

Indeed... I didn't even remember what occasion it was erected... Who does it represent? Who is the artist who created it, and why was it decided just now to put it on a display in a square that has not had a statue yet? Why now... when it could catch my eye? I didn't usually pay much attention to this sort of thing, so I wouldn't have been too surprised if I didn't hear anything about this specific piece of art beforehoof, and then it appears here overnight. But the fact that time has essentially stopped above it... It made me wonder what secret the shroud can hide...

I glanced at the small sign that stood in front of it, but behind the thin chain link fence that separated it from the walkable parts of the square. The date. Oh yes, the date. As I suspected. It was supposed to be unveiled on Monday afternoon. It was already Wednesday night. I knew what was missing when we went to Lotus's party at the lab. The crowd. The crowd in the square. As many ponies gather and listen to the speech of somepony, perhaps even Princess Celestia herself, so that they can finally see what new landmark has been added to Canterlot. And that was quietly forgotten. As if nopony had noticed. It's like nopony knows anything. Just like Quickie, the mysterious alchemist unicorn. Or like Cavern. How can such extraordinary things happen so quietly? Has everypony gone completely blind?

I don't know what exactly made me do so, but I reached out towards the statue with my dust-tentacles and pulled the grey blanket off it. Maybe I just wanted to jolt things back into their natural state. If nopony else showed the statue to the world when the time came, then I did. My heart skipped a beat when I saw what was hidden under the veil.

"This... can't be...!" I whispered in shock and with widely open eyes, when I processed the sight.

On the high plinth stood a tall, grey, metal figure. As one could guess from the position of the shroud, he proudly raised his tail and one of his front legs. He looked like any normal full-grown pony, but something made him unmistakable.

The head of the statue was missing.

Ch 13 - Painful admission and lengthening shadows

I remember as I stared at the statue of the Headless Horse, time seemed to have stopped around me. I can't even recall what was going through my mind, only the way I felt my body. I froze immobile, but every muscle was tense to the point of snapping, ready to break out in a mad gallop at a moment's notice. My nostrils flared and I gasped for air as if I wanted to stock up on oxygen for a mile-long race. And I couldn't tear my eyes away from the statue's graceful, yet blind-ended neck. As if a nightmare had come to life in front of my eyes.

But nothing happened. Even though I was standing there ready to jump, the sky didn't fall on me. It didn't get darker around. I was not swallowed by emptiness. Nopony even asked me why I was poking at that statue. It's true, there were only a few ponies walking around the square, but they didn't seem to notice what I was doing. Nopony bats an eye from the sight of a headless statue...

Only one pony came to mind. Who was the one who spoke about the Headless Horse, not only once? Who hated Cavern the most, not just in our class, but perhaps in the entire Academy? Who was always annoyed by Cavern's best friend Lotus? And who suddenly disappears when such a statue appears? I dare anypony to tell me this is a coincidence! To tell me that Scorch has nothing to do with all of this! And while we're at it, somepony could also tell me where the stallion has been these days! What is the purpose of this great secrecy right now, when such inexplicable things are happening in my close circle of friends?

I quickly put the shroud back on the statue and adjusted it as if nothing had happened. I didn't think it was a satisfactory explanation that Scorch had done something foul, but the boy was involved, I was sure of it. But where could he put Cavern? And what does all this have to do with Celestia? Or how can the Princess not see it at all, if Scorch really was behind the strange events?

I took another look at the shrouded statue. I had an idea, but I was afraid to even think about it. I didn't believe in fairy tales anyway... Still, if anything from Scorch's story could be true... How was his story? A corrupted fairy exiled to Tartarus, whom even Celestia fears. Ponies disappear... or they don't just disappear! I definitely remembered that there was somepony in the story, one they were arguing about whether she was there at all, or she didn't go with them in the first place. Just like that Quickie. It is as if her mere existence had retroactively ceased to exist. There was nothing left behind, only a few flickering fragments of memories...

When we stole the train, Celestia was most worried about us leaving Canterlot at all. As we came back... have we brought something with us? Even the thought gave me chills. Would the curse that supposedly took Scorch's father follow his son? Was it a mistake to set hoof in the Everfree Forest?

Or would we have misunderstood the stallion? After all, we're talking about Scorch, the best illusion mage in the entire grade! A master of deception... how far can he go with this? Or what if the Headless Horse possessed him and came to smite Canterlot through him? It could really cause such an uproar that even Celestia can't do anything about it...

I had too much going on in my head. So far, I haven't even seen a chance to make anything out of it. I was sure of only one thing: tomorrow the red stallion will not go home alone, and as soon as I came to a decision, I immediately discussed it with Ambrosia.

* * *

I barely slept that night, but thanks to this I was able to present a detailed plan to my friends in the morning. The job for the day was to paint a large building, although I wasn't particularly excited about it. The only thing that mattered was that Jasper and Wish arrived on time and Scorch was late as he had been for days, so we had plenty of time to discuss what I saw in the square and to figure out how we could finally effectively investigate things.

We all agreed that the only logical course of action was to somehow try to get answers out of Scorch. There was no question that it would be foolish to inquire directly, and my friends also shared my opinion that the safest and most effective way to find out what the boy was up to was to simply follow him. From then on, however, opinions were divided. Everypony had a slightly different solution. I had to go, it was above questioning, after all, I was the only one in the team who could follow somepony unnoticed, even on completely impossible terrain. On my own, however, I felt inadequate, if for no other reason than Scorch's strength, illusion magic, was one of my greatest weaknesses.

That's why I didn't consider it expedient to take Jasper with me, even though the boy tried to persuade me at all costs. In terms of combat spells, with my dispersal tricks we were roughly on par with each other, but we still couldn't eliminate the potential threat that the red stallion posed with mind spells. Ambrosia also said she wanted to come with me, although I didn't understand that at all. My fillyfriend still didn't excel in any branch of magic, so I wouldn't have any leverage with her by my side either. Maybe she felt safer with me even in the middle of enemy territory than anywhere else. I, on the other hoof, wanted to entrust the protection of Ambrosia to Jasper while I was away, and I wanted to carry Wish with me, since she was the only one of the four of us who could see through illusions. And Wish, though she really wanted us all to go together, at least saw that it was the only way to go, since it was just too taxing for me to carry even one pony with my magic. And the two of us have finally proved to be enough to convince Ambrosia and Jasper as well.

We stuck to what we agreed to. After Scorch arrived grumpily, we got to work as if nothing had happened. We didn't even talk much to each other. It's true, sometimes I couldn't resist sneaking a glance at the stallion to see if I could see any tell-tale signs of what kind of nefarious plan he might have in mind. But no. The only thing I could observe was that the boy hadn't been sleeping well for days, at least judging by the circles around his eyes and the small yawns he sometimes released. Did he have a bad conscience? Or am I just too naive even now, and he settles his dirty deals during the nights, practically instead of sleeping?

After the painting and subsequent washing, we pretended to have a conversation and waited for Scorch to leave, then - while Wish kept an unobtrusive eye on the red stallion - we said good-bye to each other.

"Please hurry back!" Ambrosia hugged me after we exchanged a passionate kiss. "And take care of yourself!"

"We'll be careful" I caressed the girl's cheeks. "But then again, you should also be very careful!"

"Doncha worry, I ain't movin' an inch from her!" Jasper reassured me.

"If none of us return within two hours, go to the palace and report to Princess Celestia!" I said dead serious. "Tell her everything and don't let anypony delay you! Tell them that it is a matter of life and death to talk to her!"

"Y'hear... if ya get hurt...!" the boy shook his head worriedly.

"We won't," I touched his shoulder. "And I count on you. And if we really don't come back, don't wait! I would rather explain to the Princess how dumb I am than that we too... disappear, or I don't know!"

I waited for Jasper to nod, then, following Wish's gaze, I found the direction where I had to fly, then I grabbed the girl, and straining my mind for a moment, I broke both of our bodies into small particles. I didn't mess around for a second; I immediately went after Scorch and caught up with him as fast as I could. I did it just in time, as the stallion turned right at the intersection where he was going and switched to a trot. Luckily, I could easily produce half the flight speed of an average pegasus in this form, and the extra weight that Wish meant didn't slow me substantially, so I didn't have the least difficulty following the stallion.

But I couldn't find out where he was going. Not to the dormitory, that was perfectly clear, although this was nothing new. I have hardly been to this part of the city, where he was currently treading. It must have been some sort of residential area, though much poorer than ours or Wish's. A few streets later, the smaller apartment buildings were replaced by manehattan-ish panel houses, and even if they didn't look exactly run down, it seemed pretty clear to me that less well-off ponies could live here. I have to say, I was getting more and more interested in where Scorch was heading, or what he could be doing in such a place. At most, I could have imagined him turning into one of the pubs on the corner, and sitting down there with a couple of thugs wrapped in black cloaks, discussing the next step in their grandiose plan.

However, the stallion stopped in front of an ordinary five-story house, seemingly no different from the others. I also stopped with Wish, floating roughly over the stallion's head, but a little further back so we could have a better view of the gate. Scorch looked around cautiously, but probably didn't notice us - although after Wish played this game with me once, I couldn't say for sure - and then opened the door for himself with a faintly glowing horn. I only waited a little while after he entered, but then I managed to slip into the house through the wide enough gap, so we didn't lose much time.

Scorch climbed the steps at a surprisingly fast pace, although I could hear that he had to exert himself, at least enough to be noticeably panting. At the height of the third floor, the stallion stopped in front of one of the doors. He didn't open it, nor did he knock. At first, I thought he was just catching his breath, then I felt the air around him vibrate. It's a good thing that I didn't feel my heartbeat in this form, because I think it could have been felt through my ribs again, as I saw the boy's mane and tail fade a few shades with rapid speed...

The stallion took a few deep breaths, straightened his mane with his front hooves, cleared his throat, and then pressed the doorknob. He encountered no obstacles; he could easily enter. For a moment I was unsure if I really wanted all of this, but then I made up my mind again, mustered my courage, and before Scorch closed the door again, I floated to the top of the entrance to the apartment, then slid in at the level of the upper doorjamb and stopped at the height of the ceiling. It would have been so much easier if I could have at least communicated with Wish in some way! She would surely have been able to tell me exactly what kind of magic the boy had used before entering... Or at least I could have heard her voice, and that would calm me down a bit.

"Hello, Honey!" Scorch called out.

I never thought that these words, especially in such a tone, could ever leave my "friend's" mouth... And I didn't believe it for a second. I did see how the stallion, nodding his head cheerfully, took off his cloak and hung it on the hanger in the hall. I watched as he looked humming softly into the living room, then turned towards the kitchen and noticed the short, dark-furred mare coming to meet him. I also watched as they hugged each other tightly and exchanged an extremely tender, emotional kiss with their ears down. I saw all this, but I knew, I felt, that it was all just a show. I needed Wish here. Wish, to tell me what's real and what's not...

I wanted to signal the mare that the time had come. I couldn't speak, so I just slowly descended to the level of the floor, and I tried to partially separate the cloud of dust that made up momentarily the two of us in advance, and to shape it into something pony-like, so that it wouldn't hit her unexpectedly when we took form again. On the other hoof, I could legitimately hope that we could surprise Scorch. If I could believe my eyes to some extent, the stallion was looking at what was boiling on the stove, while he was gently stroking the rump of the small mare who was wearing only an apron.

I was ready to destroy the false idyll in a single second. I really rushed the last phase of my integrity recreation spell, but as soon as our hooves hit the marble, I reached out with a couple of my dust tentacles, which I left this way on purpose so that I could attack anypony in a moment's notice.

"Wait!" Wish shouted immediately, even though for now I only intended my move to be a threat. Until I found a real, clear target, there was no point in rushing anyway.

They both immediately turned towards us. The unfamiliar, deep purple earth pony mare screamed in fright, and after quickly looking around, but not seeing an available escape route, she shuddered and cowered in the corner with dilated pupils, her tail tucked under her. Scorch stared at us in disbelief as if he had just woken up and couldn't believe what he was seeing. But I didn't fall for the trick. While I was taking a look at the stallion's changed appearance - somehow, he seemed much thinner than usual, and his mane had now clearly taken on a blond color - I was constantly watching with half an ear behind me, but also towards the walls. If all this is not real, they can ambush us from any direction...

"What...?" Scorch tried to speak, but I interrupted him.

"Shut up!" I waved my tentacles menacingly, then I turned to Wish. "Where is the real one? And when did we lose him?"

The girl snarled and furrowed her brows for a few seconds, while those two ponies were just blinking in confusion at us.

"I don't know..." Wish finally said in a pained voice. "In principle, it really is him."

"What the buck are you doing, Thread?" snapped the red stallion.

I didn't let him prevail this time either. Before he could continue, I reached out with my dust tentacles and lifted him off the ground despite all his protests. I also pointed one to his neck just to be sure he wouldn't try anything stupid. For now, I was still only threatening, but I felt that if it turned out that he was really hurting my friends, I would try to see if I could cut through bones with my magic...

"No tricks, pal, or I swear to Celestia, I'll grind these on you!"

"You're insane, Thread!" shouted Scorch, frantically flailing his legs in the air.

"What's going on, Mirthy?" whined the purple mare from the corner on the verge of crying.

"Tell us, Scorch!" I grumbled. "Tell us about the Headless Horse! And while you're at it, tell us also where you took Cavern!"

"Wait... what?" asked the stallion with genuine shock and fear in his eyes. "I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Playing dumb now, are we?" I snapped. "Better get to the explanation part before you make me even angrier!" I could see that he was still trying to put on an air of innocence, so I continued. "Just tell me, how is it possible that Cavern vanished, and even Princess Celestia doesn't know where he's gone, and then a few days later I find a statue of your precious Headless Horse?"

Scorch gaped in surprise, but it took a relatively long time before he could speak. And I was far from satisfied with what he had to say. "Headless Horse? Cavern's gone?"

He chose the worst possible way to try and save his hide. I could barely control myself... In fact, even though I tried to restrain myself, I involuntarily squeezed the stallion, and he hissed in pain. The only thing that stopped me was when Wish gently touched my side.

"There's no point in hiding things," she said firmly, addressing the boy. "Nor to deny it. You were also there when we talked about where three of our friends had gone. It will be easier for everypony if you share what you know."

"It's okay, it's okay, I'll tell you everything I know!" groaned Scorch. "Just calm down, please! Let me go, Thread! I swear, I will cooperate with you, whatever you want!"

"Try anything; that will be the last thing you did in your life!" I said furiously as I slowly lowered the stallion back to the ground.

"Are you hurt, Mirthy?" the purple mare hugged the boy's legs as soon as he reached the floor.

"I'm fine..." Scorch said softly, remarkably softly for himself.

"If you see anything suspicious, tell me immediately, and we're out of here!" I whispered imperceptibly into Wish's ear, which she acknowledged with a small nod.

I looked over again, this time a little more carefully at the two ponies in front of me. Scorch, crouching down in front of me, watching my every move... Of course, we could have scared him, but in general, it was as if he was completely out of his mind. Especially with that blonde mane. As if another pony was standing in front of me. And of course, there was his... fillyfriend? Now that I looked more closely, I realized, on the one hoof, that the mare had embarrassingly nothing on herself apart from that one apron, and on the other hoof, she looked significantly younger than us. Looking at her, I would almost have called her a foal, and the strikingly girlish features of her face seemed to support this. And that immediately raised the question of what the heck Scorch could want from her... They kissed, I saw it. And the way he called her... If they really were together, and the filly is so much younger than him, it's no wonder that he wanted to keep their relationship a secret from us, or even from everypony. It would also explain where the stallion disappeared to after work recently instead of the dormitory.

But nothing else. All in all, this whole situation only raised more questions in me in just a few seconds. And some of them were seriously bothering me. Why was she waiting for Scorch all alone in such an apartment? Doesn't she have anypony or what? And what does Scorch have to do with anything then? How does the Headless Horse fit in the picture? Or does it even make sense to think about this, if I'm not even sure that what I see now is not just a distortion of reality... I would have liked to trust Wish to see through the illusions, but I've experienced before that Scorch is indeed too good in this aspect to fool any of us. Yet there was nothing to be done; I had to adapt to what I was seeing, even if I was paying attention to all the other suspicious details. If I don't get proper answers, or if Scorch tries to lie to us again, I'll hopefully see through it. Recognizing a lie is maybe not finding the truth, but a good first step towards it.

"Let's start at the beginning!" I said harshly to the red stallion, who now stood protectively between us and the purple mare. "What is this silly disguise? Why do you look so weird?"

"You mean my... mane?" Scorch chuckled uncertainly to himself.

I didn't grace him with an answer, I just looked him firmly in the eyes, and even this momentary smile immediately disappeared from his face, giving way to fear again.

"We're watching," Wish told him unusually coldly. "So, don't try to lie, Scorch!"

"Why do they call you this way?" asked the little purple mare in a trembling voice, hugging the stallion's leg even tighter.

The boy hesitantly raised his free front leg, but then put it back and bowed his head with a resigned sigh. "This... is not so easy to explain..." he said in a surprisingly thin voice. "But the reason is actually one and the same. There's something... I should have told you, Touch..." he turned to the mare. "I'm a little... well, different... than you know me. It would be better if we sat down..." he sighed again and pointed towards the living room.

I still suspected a trap, so I didn't want to give him any leeway.

"Answer me!" I snapped at him and gave a stomp to emphasize that I wasn't joking.

He grimaced but nodded submissively nonetheless.

"This is the natural color of my mane..." he muttered under his breath. "I know you haven't seen it yet, but... well... here you go."

"You've never been blond," Wish stated flatly.

"I've always been blond," the stallion shook his head. "I mean... after my father died, I started dyeing. Now I'm trying to get rid of it for Touch." He sent a surprisingly affectionate smile towards the little mare, and only then continued. "It's just... it's not that easy. But she loves me the way I am."

"You know who you should feed this crap to!" I snorted.

I searched Wish's eyes for confirmation, but she just seemed more unsure.

"I'll tell you everything, and then you'll understand, Thread," Scorch raised his leg soothingly. "But it would really be easier if we sat down..."

"Until you've told us everything, we won't move an inch from here," I said, leaving no room for objection.

"Right," Scorch nodded. "After all of this, that you broke in like that, what did I expect..."

"Don't screw around or it won't end well!" I warned him. "Get to it already!"

"It's okay, dude, just calm down!" he said. "No more secrets... So... the first thing you all need to know is that my real name is Mirthwhistle..."

"Great!" I snorted. "Now tell me something we don't know!"

"I haven't finished," continued the stallion patiently, closing his eyes. "My real name is Mirthwhistle, so I didn't lie to you, Touch. However, everypony else knows me as Scorched Earth. In front of others, I am not like I am with you. I know, I know, I should have told you, I was just... I was afraid. I was afraid that then you wouldn't love me like that anymore. Can you forgive me for that?"

"I was never mad at you..." muttered the young mare timidly.

Scorch smiled faintly, then looked up again, straight into my eyes.

"On the other hoof, if we take it that way, I was lying to you all along," he said surprisingly calmly. "I would have liked to have forgotten my old, real name forever, but of course I couldn't, it was found out. I hated it when anypony used it, but you guys found it very funny to tease me about it. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't leave my past behind even for a minute. I hated all of it... until now."

The stallion slowly, avoiding any sudden movements, bent down to the mare holding her leg and snuggled her head with his. It was still hard for me to process how Scorch could treat anypony in such a kind, let alone gentle, manner.

"And then, she came!" the stallion softly ran his nose along the girl's ear. "Chromatic Touch, to take the opportunity and introduce her... although I wouldn't have forced this if you hadn't ambushed us like this."

"Nice to meet you!" A charming yet shy smile spread across the purple mare's face.

She wasn't very feminine, rather a distinctly girlish pony, but I must give it to her that she was cute. Though I still didn't see in what kind of twisted, warped world she could be a good match with a pony like Scorch.

"She is the only pony who accepts me as I am and loves me no matter what," said the red stallion, almost touched. "And I love her the way she is. She is the sweetest creature in the world!"

"I don't want to spoil your happiness, but what does that have to do with anything?" I snapped impatiently.

"I don't understand what you mean, Thread," Scorch looked at me confused. "This was my big secret, and that's why I haven't slept in the dorm for days. I can't stay away from her. Now, for the first time in my life, I finally have somepony!"

"And I need him too!" the purple mare joined him, giving us pleading looks. "Don't hurt him, please! He didn't do anything wrong!"

"You know, there's a tiny little problem..." Wish interjected, radiating a similar irritation as the one that constantly passed through me. "The fact that that's still beside the point. You put together a nice little story, Scorch, but Thread is right. Placing a statue of the Headless Horse in the middle of Canterlot is like writing your name on the sky in flaming letters!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about..." blinked the stallion.

"You already said that," Wish narrowed her eyes. "Come up with something better!"

Scorch looked confused, sometimes at Wish, then at me, but then he just shook his head again. "I seriously don't understand," he said finally. "I have nothing to do with it, whatever it is! Or do you think it was me because I told a stupid horror story about him?"

"Stupid horror story?" I repeated menacingly. "You kept saying that everything you said about him was true! Your father also disappeared when the Headless Horse..."

"I lied," said Scorch with lowered ears and downcast eyes. "Not a word of it is true. I just... just made it up to... to..." he sniffed loudly, then looked up at the ceiling, avoiding our gaze "...to make me look cool. I was always the one... I was always the one who did the gross things, the one who liked games for toddlers. I was constantly teased in kindergarten and at my old school. They always laughed at me because of my parents. We were the shame of the village, and I was the stupid farm boy. And then my father... my father, that drunk idiot fell into the ditch during wintertime. But the damn bastard couldn't just simply freeze to death! He choked on his own vomit! I would never, ever wash it off myself... That's why I needed something... I mean, I had to leave home, that was for sure. As much as Hayville is off the map, nopony ever goes anywhere from there anyway. Fucking inbred community; no big brains either. Canterlot was my only chance to finally break away from them. It was a relief to be accepted to the Academy. But this time I didn't want to be the stupid little brat! I wanted you to see how tough I am just by looking at me! That's why the paint... that's why the fake cutie mark... And I didn't even dare to hope that with my story, which could have been the ugliest event of my life that I would finally become somepony all at once!"

"There, I told you!" he spat the words to us, as we just stared at him in shock. "Do you see? I'm not afraid of the truth anymore! I finally got to the point where my past doesn't matter, only that I can be with the pony with whom we love each other! So feel free to tell anypony! I don't care if the whole city laughs at me, just leave me alone here, in this one place!"

I was totally confused. I didn't know if I could believe Scorch. And I still haven't decided if I can believe my eyes. Looking at Wish, I could only read the same uncertainty on her face.

"Let's say it is true," I said finally. "Then how could a headless statue end up in a square in Canterlot? This is not something we can just walk past! There has to be some explanation!"

"If I knew, Thread, I would tell you, believe me!" the stallion looked seriously into my eyes. "But the Headless Horse is just a legend, nothing more."

"What if it is true?" I asked the big question.

"I don't believe in him," Scorch shook his head. "But I don't know. I really don't..."

"What if somepony wants to deliberately mislead us?" Wish asked with some seemingly unwarranted terror in her voice.

"Mislead us?" I asked back in surprise. "Here's Celestia, here's the Canterlot Royal Guard, the Nightguard, and who knows what else! Who cares what exactly... what... exactly I... what... I do..."

I could barely finish, the wheels in my brain started spinning like crazy. Small puzzle-bits of information flew here and there, slowly forming a vague picture. Many details were still unclear, but a single tiny spot became almost painfully clear in front of me. I felt myself turning pale...

"Ambrosia..." I muttered in shock. "Celestia asked for one thing, but more than once! To stay with her! Don't move away from her, don't leave her alone! Somepony wanted me to believe that Scorch... and... and go away from home because only I can... That's why she told me not to investigate...?"

"We must go back immediately!" Wish shook my shoulder, bringing me back to reality.

I didn't hesitate for a second. This terrible realization, and the even more terrible fear that I had made a fatal mistake, gave me enormous strength. I didn't even have to think or concentrate on the spell, I caught the girl in powder form and we were already racing home, faster than I've ever flown before...

* * *

I kicked the door of the tower with the force of an enraged bull, and immediately pushed in with my dust-tentacles to bring the imagined assassins threatening my fillyfriend into a deadly embrace. But I ran into unexpected resistance before I could even look around. A faint, vibrating energy field stood in my way...

"Ambrosia!" I shouted desperately as I strained against the shield as much as I could.

"Is... that ya?" Jasper's strained voice came in response from the other side of the shield.

I stopped for a moment and immediately retreated so as not to hide the inside of the room from ourselves. In the cover of the protective field, I soon recognized my friend, and behind him Ambrosia, as she tried to hide in fear.

"Is that ya, Thread?" Jasper asked warily.

"Of course..."

"Prove it!"

I was surprised, but eventually it was the right call. If we guessed Scorch as an illusionist behind the events, it really didn't hurt to be extra careful. I suddenly felt proud that my friend was so smart...

"I really hope you become the captain of Canterlot one day, Jasper!" I said smiling. "Protecting my partner so faithfully...! I couldn't ask for a better friend! That's right. If my magic didn't convince you that it's really me, let's say... remember those lace panties we bought together for Wish?"

"I remember the little red one," Jasper nodded, although apparently, I managed to embarrass him a little by mentioning that. "Ya should say somethin' too, Wish, if only for the sake of order!"

I turned to the girl, but her face basically turned into a tomato. I guess it was even more difficult for her that I managed to say such intimate things right in front of his - hopefully - future coltfriend. Especially remembering the day when I accidentally got to admire her in that underwear up close...

"Well... would that suffice if I say that you still sleep with a knife under your pillow?" she asked in a meek voice.

"Unfortunately, no," the stallion shook his head. "Quite a lot of ponies know this about me..."

"But... all I can think of now..." she didn't even finish, just scratched the floor in front of her with her hoof. "I mean... what if I told you, you haven't eaten onion soup since, well... for three days you...

"Say no more, babe!" Jasper waved, then withdrew his magical shield. "Come on then, tell me what this big entrance was!"

Sitting in a circle on our carpet, we reported everything to the two of them, but in the meantime, I also asked them if anything unusual had happened. It was encouraging that Jasper really did keep an eye on Ambrosia, and he claimed nopony had bothered them while we were gone. It's true, I realized relatively quickly whom the threat was actually aimed at, and we returned surprisingly quickly from my friends' point of view. On the other hoof, we tried to analyze what we talked about with Scorch, but even the four of us didn't get any further. After that, we tried to figure out why Ambrosia might be in danger and what we should be careful about.

"Could it be that a rival of your family from Saddle-Arabia is behind the events?" Wish asked.

"It might as well be," I nodded thoughtfully, but the second I said it out loud, a horrible feeling came over me. "In fact, maybe... Ambrosia, does your father know that you don't plan to go home?"

"I didn't tell him anything!" the mare looked at me alarmed. "But even if he knew, what could he do?"

"He's quite an influential pony, so he must have agents here too," I replied. "And if I remember correctly, you said he had a couple of pretty good assassins..."

"He does, but... but what...?

"The question is more like; how would he feel about you staying here for an equestrian pony?"

"Ya wouldn't be very safe, Thread," Jasper stated grimly.

"I can imagine what he would do to somepony who took his daughter from him," I caressed my neck, as if showing how to cut it with a knife.

"He... he wouldn't!" Ambrosia put her hoof in front of her mouth in fear.

"Oh, he totally would!" Jasper nodded. "No offense, but from yer kind, I can easily imagine that they'd skewer Thread for less."

"Wait a second, guys, that can't be right!" Wish tapped the carpet in front of her. "Then Thread would be the target, and if Celestia knows that, then she wouldn't try to protect Ambrosia like that! I think it's more likely that somepony is trying to catch Ambrosia and Thread is the last line of defense. They want to get close to her unnoticed, so they set the trap to lure him away. But there might have been a mistake in their calculation, because they didn't even get to the point of trying to harm her."

"Because if Thread is now actin' like Ambrosia's personal bodyguard, the Canterlot Royal Guard is still there!" Jasper continued the thought with enthusiasm. "Ya see, we shouldn't underestimate them! And Celestia is watchin' too! Perhaps while we were hangin' around here ready to jump, they sorted out everythin' in the background!"

"Yes, that would be more like Celestia," I stated. "But somehow I still don't feel very safe. Either way, Cavern is gone and nopony knows what happened to him."

"Of course, because he wasn't the target!" Jasper pointed out. "There weren’t several hundred guards watchin' his every move; they only noticed that he was missin' when he vanished! Nopony expected that anypony would want to use him against ya."

"But after that Celestia immediately hid Stella and Lotus," Wish frowned. "Why them? What is special about them? Or, an even better question: why aren't we in danger?"

We sat in deep thought for a good minute, then I finally broke the silence.

"Maybe because they are weaker. Just think about it! Cavern has always been far behind us in terms of its magic power. Stella and Lotus were considered good, but they are more theoretical ponies. You, Wish, on the other hoof, are great at teleporting and you use your magic pretty well anyway. If you feel any threat, you can easily escape and report to the guards. And you, Jasper, are one of the strongest ponies I know. When it comes to combat spells, only Nimbus Strike is above you from the Academy, and maybe I am in some sense. Besides, you're not a lost soul; you see, we even talked about it now that even waking up from your dream, you would easily plunge your knife into the throat of your attacker. Our enemy had a goal by foalnapping Cavernwind, but they have nothing to do with you. If it weren't for that, Celestia would definitely take care of you as much as she does with Lotus and Stella."

"Now this makes sense!" Jasper grinned, though there wasn't much joy in it. "So the Princess made a mistake once, but she won't fall for the same trick again! Heck, maybe what I said before is true and we are the bait! If this mysterious pony doesn't find a gap in yer defenses, and the Guard doesn't catch them first, they might try their luck with us! And then the Princess can finally strike at them!"

"I should calm down..." I muttered softly. "Celestia said that a few times too. Don't worry about anything, just go home nicely, stay with Ambrosia, and don't get upset. I really don't see any other explanation for this."

"So what now?" Wish asked with her ears down. "Shall we just go home and try to pretend we don't know about anything?"

"This may be the hardest part," I said, looking deeply into her eyes. "But the only logical move. We just have to decide if we trust Princess Celestia."

"I trust her," remarked Ambrosia, who so far has not been able to help us in the guessing much.

"I'd trust her with my life any time,'' Jasper declared with a proud salute.

"Me too..." Wish said softly. "But I'm scared..."

"It seems we have no other choice," I closed the topic. "May Celestia protect us all, but let's keep our eyes open! It is surely no coincidence that she entrusted us with this important task!"

* * *

Although I finally felt that we had just figured something out together, the anxiety came back with full force when my friends left. I could also see that Ambrosia was restless, although she tried to hide it by smiling, just like the Princess used to. In addition, she was constantly trying to make me feel better, but the poor thing was not very successful. No matter how much she kissed me, no matter how much she hugged me, I was still on the edge. I let her drag me to our bed, and I held on to her tightly, as we used to do when lying down, but all the while I kept thinking on what kinds of mortal dangers my friends were facing. I wanted to think that our faith in Celestia wasn't unwarranted, but regardless, it was horrible to know that if either Wish or Jasper were in trouble, I wouldn't be there to help them.

"If only the Princess had asked me to fight your attackers myself!" I whispered softly in Ambrosia's ear.

"If she thinks this is the most effective way for you to protect me, I don't mind!" she smiled.

"But still... then we could finally get over with this madness!"

"I can tell you're too tense," Ambrosia cooed gently. "Don't be afraid! If the Princess said you were ready for the task, then you are! Calm down, please! Do you remember that you said a few minutes ago that Celestia asked you the same? You can't always be on the alert either!"

I felt my muscles relax a little at the mere words of the mare. Ambrosia gently caressed my face and kissed me on the lips with so much tenderness, I had to close my eyes.

"Would you like me to help you relax?" she asked passionately.

She didn't even wait for my answer. She ran her front hooves along my sides with wide, exciting movements, and pressed her hot hips against me. She carefully bit my neck, eliciting a soft sigh from me, which she probably felt as an encouragement, because she continued to pepper me with kisses, slowly moving lower and lower on my chest, then down my stomach...

Somepony knocked on the door. I thought my heart was going to stop on the spot, I was so scared. Ambrosia also froze in a single moment.

"Don't open it!" whispered the mare in horror.

I didn't even have time to answer, they knocked again.

"Thread!" somepony shouted from outside.

Their voice reminded me of Wish. But that can't be! They hadn't been gone that long and she would have come back by now? Besides, we talked about it... I mean...

Something was wrong. I felt it. It penetrated almost every part of my being. I tried to get up, but Ambrosia held me back.

"What are you doing?" she asked, almost shaking with nervousness. "You don't want to go there, do you?"

I looked uncertainly towards the door. The shadow of a short pony could be seen through the glass. I didn't know what to do...

"Thread!" came another cry.

I can't leave it at that, that's all that was on my mind. If this is a trick, Celestia's ponies are sure to be watching. Now this whole misery will finally be over. One way or the other...

"I'll be careful!" I untangled myself gently from my partner's embrace.

"Don't do this, please!" Ambrosia begged, but this time I was not moved by it.

I got up and walked slowly to the door with trembling steps. The shadowy figure did not move from the glass. I stopped a little further away and, reaching out with a single dust-tentacle, I carefully pressed the handle and opened the door a crack. I saw the shadow coming closer, and then a greenish hoof wormed its way over the threshold. I didn't let them in. Even if they didn't come any further, I vigorously pushed the wood at their leg.

I heard a pained hiss, but I didn't give up on my principles. A few seconds later, a greenish nose also appeared in the gap, but they couldn't come any closer with their head. They didn't even try for long, rather they retreated. But I held their hoof firmly...

"I understand, Thread," said Wish in a frighteningly shaky, hoarse voice. "Ask anything!"

I racked my brain for the right question and finally came up with something. I would be extremely happy if they didn't know the answer to that...

"What is the name of the cat I saw... then?"

For a few moments, there was only silence, and I prepared myself to use all my strength to tear our late visitor to small bloody pieces.

"If you think of the one you saw when you followed me home, that was Shiver," she continued in that terrifyingly distorted voice.

"Alright, I'm listening!" I answered, still incredulous.

"No, Thread," the voice said. "Now I will ask you."

"Fire away!"

"Whom did I kiss for the first time in my life?"

"Me," I answered almost without thinking.

There was silence, then the mare spoke again in that hoarse voice.

"If you believe that, it really must be you. Can you come out? Or do you think it's safer to let me in? No, actually it'd be better if you come out and lock the door..."

"Is it really necessary?" I grimaced. "Can't we talk like this?"

"I'm so scared!" whined the mare in a high-pitched voice. "Come out, please, before I lose my mind!"

I didn't open the door, but I crumbled to dust and floated quickly through the narrow gap, letting her pull her leg back. Before I even took form again, I looked over at the mare, who did indeed appear to be Wish. But she really looked like she was hovering on the edge of madness. Her mane stood as if she had tried to tear it out with her own hooves, and her pupils narrowed to the size of a needle despite the darkness of the twilight hour.

I turned back into a pony, but with that momentum I propped up the door with my hoof, making it clear that there was no entry. However, she didn't seem to care in the least. She just stared madly into my eyes...

"I went home," she began with a tangible slur, but in the same nervous, trembling voice. "I mean, Jasper walked me home. Everything was fine. I even checked my diary to see if it was okay. Everything was fine. I don't know how much time passed, but then he came back. He knocked and came in. He said he wanted to take care of me. Well, you can imagine how happy I was for him! My parents didn't care anyway. I thought everything was fine. He came into my room. We talked a bit. Not much really. Then he pulled me close. He pulled me onto my bed. You know, he kissed me. I haven't told you yet, but he kissed me before. But it wasn't Jasper, you see? Thread, he came to me, to our own house, and it wasn't Jasper! He looked exactly like him. He talked like him. But I felt it when he kissed me! That wasn't Jasper! And... and nothing happened! Celestia didn't come! There weren’t pegasus guards falling from the sky! There was this... thing... just lying there on my bed and it kissed me! I had to... I had to flee! Thread, I'm so scared!"

Ch 14 - Behind the curtains

I remember how difficult it was to make the decision. Should I believe that the person in front of me really was one of my best friends and do everything I can to help her? Or should I just shoo her away, to see if this is just part of the ruse? What she claimed seemed quite unrealistic, but if it was true, I couldn't leave her alone. But this would also obviously mean that I would have to let her in. And then Ambrosia will be defenseless, at least against her, if the pony in front of me just disguised herself as Wish to get close to us. Which is probably as stupid as it is. A professional assassin capable of such a thing should have no trouble teleporting, say, inside the tower and...

Reaching this point in my thoughts, I pricked up my ears in terror, and, completely contrary to my previous principles, turned and tore open the door. Ambrosia blinked at us in horror from under the covers. Nothing seemed to threaten her - at least not at the moment - but I was determined that, whatever happens, I would not take my eyes off her again.

"Thread...!" Wish whimpered in a tearful voice. "You have to help me! We can't wait! We have to find him! Please... ask Celestia to help! Let's go now! I'm so afraid something bad happened to him! There is no other choice! Why... why is this happening to us? What did we do to anypony?"

"Calm down, please!" I tried, although I could understand her perfectly. "It'll be fine. We're going there together, and I won't leave her alone until she answers all our questions. Does that sound good?"

I couldn't believe my own words. Nothing was fine. It shouldn't have happened this way. It couldn't have happened. If I could believe Wish - and if I accepted that it really was her standing in front of me, there would hardly have been any reason for her to lie - all our theories up until now were fundamentally flawed. No matter how much we tried to act, no matter how much we wanted to let Celestia's ponies figure it out, everything just got worse and worse. The Princess, on the other hoof, knew, if not everything, at least something about all of this. And I slowly felt that I needed that certain "something", any scrap of information that could be grasped with a hoof, as much as I needed the air to breathe...

Wish nodded. Of course, since she brought it up. When I looked into her eyes again, all I saw was this mistrustful, almost paranoid, crazy look. She exuded so much terror that I wouldn't have dared to touch her or try to calm her down a bit with a hug. Even though I felt the same way towards the girl, I still couldn't seem to convince her that I really was me. But it really wouldn't have made any sense if something wasn't right with me. I mean... that would mean that Wish is the target, but I couldn't give an even remotely acceptable explanation for that. Especially since I was still sure of my own identity, if nothing else. Although, if this continues for long, I may start to question that as well...

"Put on your clothes, my dear!" I said into the room. "We have to get to the palace somehow."

"Wait, Thread!" Wish grabbed my shoulder surprisingly aggressively, then she briskly stepped in next to me, but stopped abruptly. "We can't be sure... I'll ask her first!"

"I was with her the whole time," I said, but she made me a little uneasy. "It's okay after all; a question can't hurt anyway..." I added, sending an apologetic look towards my partner, who was still hiding under the covers.

Ambrosia gave the two of us a disbelieving look, but then she could see the reason behind the suggestion as she gave a small nod.

"Tell me, Ambrosia, what was it about the end of second year that we all had such a good laugh about?"

I was busy thinking what she could mean by that while they stared at each other for a few tense seconds, then my fillyfriend spoke.

"You mean... when Jasper mimicked Professor Tome?" asked the pink mare with some uncertainty.

"You found out pretty fast!" Wish growled menacingly with her ears down. "How did you come up with this so quickly?"

"Thread...!" Ambrosia turned to me with a pleading look.

"Don't look at him, answer me!" Wish continued in an increasingly maniacal voice. "How did you figure out what I mean so quickly?"

"What?" I interrupted. Although I didn't find the solution myself, now that the answer was revealed, I couldn't think of any other option.

"I don't know how long Jasper hasn't been himself, but if... but if before that..." Wish answered more and more nervously, not taking her eyes off my fillyfriend. "If it happened before he walked me home...? I want to know if she really is the real Ambrosia! So answer me!" she snapped at her in an uncharacteristically harsh voice.

"I... I just... I just... laughed so hard that... the apple juice almost came out my nose..." the mare explained in horror. "He did it pretty well...!"

It happened exactly like that, I remembered. Despite this, Wish continued to stare at Ambrosia suspiciously, her left eye twitching noticeably. Her behavior made me more and more worried - even though a few minutes ago she almost gave me a heart attack.

"You still don't believe it's her?" I asked a bit demandingly, so that she could feel that despite our dire situation, we were still friends who must stick together.

"I have no idea anymore what to believe!" the girl blurted out.

She looked at me with such a bitter pout, I was feeling pity for her. But... perhaps nothing... disastrous happened... Perhaps we were all just... worrying over nothing...

"Look, after talking to Celestia, we'll find Jasper, okay?" I somehow forced myself to smile. "I wonder if what you saw was really just some cunning scam. Jasper must be fine! He couldn't be hurt!"

"Then why does it hurt so much here?" Wish hit her chest hard with her hoof. "When he left, it hit me shortly after. Suddenly... that... that... I'm going to lose him! It was as if... the world had turned around me! I almost... almost knocked over my wardrobe. Only then... he came, and I calmed down. But how could I be so stupid? I almost thought it was him! I'm so scared that something happened to him!"

"We will find out whatever it takes!" I promised, mustering all my remaining confidence.

It was incredibly hard. I felt terror slowly filling my soul like a sticky goo. I somehow managed to keep my cool. I wouldn't say that I was able to consider the options calmly anymore, but my head remained surprisingly clear. Maybe I just felt that one of us has to think rationally, otherwise... otherwise, we might not even live to see the dawn...

I gently hugged Wish's back while exchanging a telling look with Ambrosia. We really had no other choice. If Celestia wanted to do something, it was about time...

* * *

For a moment, I had the idea of asking Wish to teleport ourselves to at least the entrance of the palace, in order to avoid marching on the open street, but then I abandoned it. I didn't want to burden my friend anymore, after all, performing such a spell with several ponies was even harder than carrying anypony in a dispersed form for me. And my other reason was that I didn't want to give up the solid ground under my hooves for even a second. At least that was something I could be more or less sure of.

Fortunately, there were few ponies walking around the city after dusk, so we could have spotted it relatively easily if somepony was conspicuously watching or even following us. We didn't run into anything like that, though, and the guard let us in without question, even despite Wish's terrifyingly storm-tossed appearance. Arriving at the throne room, I thought about the fact that at such a late hour, there's a good chance we won't find Celestia here, but I was still hopeful despite the lack of ponies waiting in front of the door.

"Good evening, gentlecolts!" I greeted the two white stallions standing in front of the gate from afar. "We came to the Princess. She's here, isn't she?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Thread, but she isn't," the one on the left shook his head.

It's a good thing that I was mentally prepared for such an answer, so it didn't come as a surprise in contrast with Wish, who moaned softly but painfully next to me.

"Yeah, I suspected that much," I nodded in understanding. "Where can we find her? It would be very important and urgent for me to talk to her."

"That... we can't say," answered the same guard.

"What?" I asked in astonishment. "What do you mean you can't tell?"

"Orders are orders," the other stallion took the floor. "You know the Princess, Mr. Thread..."

"You don't understand," I shook my head, but I felt that if this continued, that certain last straw was nearing unstoppably and I, too, would finally snap. "It's a matter of life and death. That order couldn't have applied to me anyway... The Princess always lets me be with her. You know that too, don't you? So please answer!"

"We would like to help, but even if we were allowed, we wouldn't be able to tell you," explained the former. "She didn't tell anypony where she had to go..."

I went numb in a split second. This can't be...! This really can't be! Right now...?

"Did she leave any message?" I asked, but I was no longer able to hide the tremor in my voice.

"It was only that if you come here, we are to tell you to go home and stay calm," said the guard with a slightly uncertain face.

"How... how can I stay calm?" I snapped. "Ponies are disappearing, idiots! My friends! And you tell me to stay calm?"

"I merely conveyed the words of the Princess," the stallion craned his neck.

"We're going in and I'll look around," I announced, already opening the door to the throne room.

They didn't even try to stop us. Inside, however, we were greeted by ominous gloom and silence. Not a lamp, not one torch; nothing was lit, only a little light filtered through the mosaic windows.

I looked uncertainly at the two mares, wondering what they were thinking. Ambrosia snuggled up to my side softly, as usual, but she kept her eyes on Wish, which I understood as soon as my eyes fell on her. The girl stared blankly in front of her without blinking. I could see that she was sweating, but she seemed to be following my movements mechanically. As I took a step, she did the same, as if in her mind she wasn't even here... but in some terribly scary place...

"Are you okay?" I asked her cautiously, but she didn't respond. "Wish! Wish, can you hear me?"

I reached out to touch her shoulder, but she suddenly shuddered and looked into my eyes for a moment, and shook her head.

"Nothing is okay, Thread!" she whined almost in a whisper. "We are completely on our own!"

"Celestia!" I shouted and the entire throne room resounded. "You must help, Princess! I've never needed you so much! Please come forward!"

Only the echo answered, strangely refracted on the barren walls.

"She can't hear you," Wish shook her head in desperation. "Nopony can hear us! It's just the two of us, Thread!"

I tried to look her in the eyes in confusion, but she didn't even look at me. I turned to Ambrosia questioningly, but she looked at Wish with distrustfully narrowed eyes.

"But Wish!" I pointed at my partner, full of terrible suspicions. "There are three of us."

"No, Thread, it's just the two of us," said Wish, all atremble. "That's not Ambrosia. This is not reality. This can't be real! Just a very clever box. But we can't see behind the illusion, because it's inside our heads! It knows our thoughts! It knows everything we know, and it makes us see what they want us to see!"

"What do you mean by "them"?" I asked in shock.

Could she really be right? Is everything we see really just a fake? If so, I did have a tip as to who could be behind it...

"I don't know!" snapped Wish angrily, so that I could hear her voice bounce off the walls several times. "But they are inside my head! I can feel it!"

She stood on her hind legs and frantically tore at her own mane. She did it with such force that almost an entire lock of hair remained in her hoof, yet she gave no sign of pain.

"They know about my diary, Thread!" spluttered the mare again, like when I went out to her in front of the tower. "Nopony knows about it! Yet every single word I looked back was correct! They know our every thought! No matter how cleverly I ask, they know the answer right away! Just look at Ambrosia! Don't look at her! That's not the truth, Thread, you see that too, don't you? I can't break out! Whatever it is, it's too powerful! It's like... like I'm slowly losing my mind!"

I turned to Ambrosia again, but she returned my gaze with an almost cold and determined stare. Could it really not be her...? I was about to say what I was thinking, but the pink mare was faster.

"I understand now," she said, as sternly as I had ever heard her speak. "So that's what the game is about. You want to take Thread from me. I admit, it was a clever move, but I have to disappoint you, it won't work!"

I was confused again. Ambrosia was acting so weird, yet... it would have made sense if our attackers tried to convince me through Wish that my partner was just an illusion when Celestia was away. At the same time, there was a reason in my own theory, which was based on what Wish said. The only problem was that the two situations were practically the opposite of each other, and their solutions were exactly that much different. All I could do was say out loud what I was thinking...

"If it's Scorch, we still haven't made it back and Jasper is alone looking after Ambrosia."

I looked warily at Ambrosia to see how she would react to me talking about her as if she wasn't there. However, to my greatest surprise, she only smiled softly, almost superiorly, as if she knew something that I didn't...

"Excellent conclusion!" she winked at me with a peculiar, mischievous glee. "Oh, how much they would like you to believe that!"

"You're right, Thread, but it's not Scorch!" Wish completely ignored my fillyfriend's words as she grabbed my head and stared into my face so closely with her bloodshot eyes that even our noses touched. "Somepony helps him or he helps somepony! Jasper and Ambrosia are still in danger! We must break out of this pseudo-reality, immediately!"

"If you hadn't come home, Jasper would have told the Princess, don't you think, dear Wish?" Ambrosia's playful voice filtered into my ears.

"Just... help me somehow, Thread!" Wish shook my head desperately. "We have to get out!"

"But... she's right!" I caught the girl's hoof.

Wish's breathing quickened even more, almost threatening to pass out.

"It was in vain, even if he did!" she finally seemed to snap out of it. "Cavern is gone too. Both Lotus and Stella have disappeared. I can't believe it was actually Celestia who hid them! Remember how weird Stella was when she came back? What if it wasn't her, just like that Jasper who... who... And now we've vanished too! We are trapped in a world of illusion, and our body is lying helplessly who knows where! They'll never find us! Do you hear me? Never!"

Ambrosia gave a low, good-natured giggle that, despite all my swirling thoughts and feelings, reminded me of... somepony.

"It's amusing how much you underestimate the abilities of an alicorn!" she said cheerfully, but then she continued addressing me. "I think the moment has come. I would have avoided it, but it seems I can't put it off any longer. Don't be scared! I promise to answer all your questions! I only ask for one thing. Before you make hasty judgments... think logically...!"

I didn't have time to answer or even react. Ambrosia's horn and eyes lit up, and the light emanating from them covered Wish in an instant, who immediately tried to run away from the spell. But my friend didn't stand a chance. It was just a huge flash, and then I couldn't even see where she was standing a moment ago. She vanished without a trace...

"What did you do?" I shouted angrily at my fillyfriend.

"I put her in safety," answered Ambrosia calmly, with a faint smile.

"Wha... what...?" I stammered in shock.

"Our friend Wish is surprisingly perceptive," the girl stated, still smiling, although it seemed as if a hint of sadness was mixed into it. "However, until she clears her head, she only poses a danger to everypony, especially herself."

I couldn't say anything, I just gaped in silence. Fortunately, however, she did not leave me floating in uncertainty for long in the midst of events that were now becoming totally incomprehensible.

"I'm not saying that our situation is easy, but believe me, it's much harder for me than for you!" the mare looked deeply into my eyes.

As if I had heard this once before... As if her whole behavior... as she was completely out of her mind... it all pointed in one direction... But that really was... impossible!

"I'm not who you think I am," the mare began, sighing softly. "Actually, I'm not just who you think I am. It's hard to explain, but the point is that otherwise I wouldn't be able to pay so much attention, to be present in so many places at the same time. As the ruler of Equestria, it's not easy for me to step away from the throne, especially in a way that's not too noticeable to those... well... whose attention I want to avoid."

"You can't... you... can't be..." I whispered in disbelief.

Many images of us kissing came to my mind. As well as images of us doing much more intimate things with each other. It's... really... To even think about it...

"Princess Celestia? In a way, I'm really not the Celestia you know me to be. Just a small part of her. But believe me, I'm just as real a pony as any of you! There is an advantage of immortality that very few ponies know about and we try to keep it that way. Namely, that we are able to live several lives in parallel at the same time. It has quite serious drawbacks, for example, I have to split my power in many places, but this way I can control almost the entire nation in one person. And without real rivals, it's really not much of a sacrifice for the ponies' well-being. Not to mention the other benefits!"

She took a step towards me with a sly glance, but then stopped. She probably realized that I wasn't willing to believe a word she said. So she immediately continued her explanation, while I just stood petrified and stared at her.

"If you remember, we talked about this before. How hard it is to live so lonely. I don't have a single companion. How do you think I can endure this for so many millennia? You talked this over with me, and you talked it over with the "real" Celestia. Believe me, none of my feelings for you was a lie! This body of mine, this piece of my soul, is as frail as you mortals. I live with it a whole life, as a normal pony, so that it can be reunited with the greater whole in the end. Even though I'm a princess, I need love too. I need your love, your care, Thread! That's why I accepted you as my student. I want to do everything to make you happy, in return for making me happy! I... this simple pony who stands before you loves you with her whole heart. I love you! I know how hard this is to accept, but it's the truth."

I was finally able to move, but it was only enough to shake my head in disbelief. And yet... inferring from some twisted thought... it seemed to make sense. After all, even Celestia herself asked me to be with Ambrosia! I would have thought otherwise that she would oppose our relationship for certain diplomatic reasons. And... the Princess really could read my mind to an amazing degree sometimes. Surely it can't even be explained by how well she knew ponies in general, but she would have learned about things directly from Ambrosia? One day I mentioned something to my fillyfriend, and the next day, what a coincidence, I got tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala from Celestia? And it wasn't the only occasion! The Princess, even if she didn't hint at it or say it, still often acted as if she knew me better than anypony else. And... even when she should have punished us, she chose the gentlest method possible...

"But if... if it's really you, then why...?"

"A perfectly valid point, my dear Thread!" sighed the pink pony with an apologetic smile. "And I'm not going to extenuate, because I really did make a mistake in this whole ugly... incident. However, you should know that I always had your safety in mind, even if it sometimes seemed like I did the exact opposite. Still, I think my reason for secrecy is understandable..." She took a deep breath, then continued. "I have enemies, you may be aware of that. But since I rule this world as the only alicorn, and I am the only one responsible for the Sun and the Moon, nopony would dare to harm me directly. Mainly because they are afraid of me. Still, you'd be surprised if I told you how many organizations I know of are working constantly to secretly undermine my power."

"They hide from me and make it terribly difficult for me to find them. Many times I don't even know exactly what their purpose is. And this time I found myself facing an even more serious threat than usual, although now that I've found out what they tried to achieve, there's no chance for them to accomplish it, you can relax! Unfortunately, there were events that I only claimed were under my control. When Cavern disappeared from my sight, even I was terrified. But I already know that their only goal with this whole diversionary maneuver was to separate us! They wanted to hurt me in a place where... where it wouldn't heal..."

She took a step towards me again, looking at me in such a way that I shuddered. Ambrosia had never lacked this regal appearance, but now, coupled with Celestia's splendor, her figure became incredibly majestic yet fragile. Even with all my shock, a strange, indescribable happiness came over me. Did an... an alicorn goddess deem me worthy of her love? Even if not with her whole being, but with a tiny particle of herself, does she truly and sincerely love me? This is more than I could have ever expected from life!

"They seem to understand how important you are to me," Celestia continued. "I tried in vain to show that I am actually indifferent to you. I tried to keep you away from my whole self, but somehow, they found out about my secret. They tried to get close to you and indirectly to me through your friends. They want to cause me pain by taking you away from me, thus making this little slice of my soul that longs for you so much, vulnerable! I think they might have found some way to do permanent damage to me through this mortal body of mine. But I won't let them do it, don't be afraid! Now it's clear what they used against us!"

"They wanted to drive you insane!" she said, her eyes flashing for a moment. "They wanted to achieve the same thing they did with Wish, and through her they wanted to attack you as well. They wanted to shake your faith in me and in all of reality. This technique does exist... It's amazingly difficult to discover, even for me, so I didn't notice who was using it and what exactly. A very special illusion spell called a splinter. It enters your mind unnoticed and slowly eats itself into its depths. A terrible spell; it's one of those whose use is punishable by death even here in Equestria. But fortunately, only a few can use it correctly, even among nykur-level mind mages."

"And with that... with that, the number of suspects was reduced to a single one!" Celestia flashed a wicked smile. "I have suspected for some time that Mr. Poltergeist has connections with a certain organization called "Free Equestria", but with this I was not only able to confirm it, but I also know exactly his role among them. Even if he didn't necessarily come up with the plan, he was the executor. I think I have to admit that they did a brilliant job, which is why I couldn't put the picture together until now! However, I am putting an end to all of this now! As we speak here, the "great" Celestia gathers her soldiers and strikes, ending the entire rogue organization in a single operation!"

"So... my friends... are they okay?" I asked with hesitant hope.

"Wish is currently being treated by my ponies," Celestia nodded. "Unfortunately, her symptoms were so severe that I'm afraid it will take quite a while before we can completely clear her mind. As for Cavern, although we've lost sight of him, Mr. Poltergeist probably has no interest in killing him, so I see a good chance my warriors will retrieve him now that we've figured everything out. If I get the signal, I'll release Jasper, Lotus, and Stella from quarantine, but until then, I'd keep them there just to be safe. But don't worry, you'll see them all again soon!"

She stepped very close to me and raised her hoof as if she wanted to caress my face, but then held back.

"I would love to change back to my true form so much, Thread!" she said tenderly, with a heart-wrenching sigh. "I'm just afraid..."

"Of what?" I asked, blushing from the mare's proximity.

"Of this," she said quietly, with her ears down. "Do you see? I told you the truth and already... you are keeping your distance from me. If I were to stand before you as Celestia, would you be able to see me simply as your fillyfriend and not as some unreachable royalty? Would you be able to kiss me? Would you be able to touch me... like a stallion touches a mare?"

Seeing her uncertainty, a shaky smile crept onto my face almost imperceptibly onto my face.

"I don't know if I could do it," I answered honestly. "But... I would definitely try!"

Ambrosia gently closed her eyes and her horn glowed faintly. A soft, warm light swirled around her body, then slowly long, graceful, snow-white wings stretched out from her back, her mane turned into an airy pastel rainbow, and then my beloved fillyfriend slowly turned into my beloved Princess in every detail. And although her face once again exuded Celestia's trademark calm confidence and serenity, she still retained something of the mare who always needed my protection. The mare who longed for my closeness and my touch. How terrible it must be to live alone for so long... The least I can do is try to give her everything she wants, no matter how clumsy a young rascal I was compared to her. Although who knows, next to Celestia anypony could have looked like a little colt...

"May I ask... why me?"

"Because you're kind, funny and able to talk to me in a normal voice," Celestia giggled sweetly. "What do you think I need? Yes, Your Majesty, at Your Majesty's command!" she straightened, comically mimicking how her soldiers used to salute her. "They are terribly boring! Why would I want anything from them? I just like studs like you. And when I got to know you more thoroughly, I really... fell in love with you too..."

It was weird to see her blush but it was wonderful all the same. I hesitantly stretched my neck towards her, but habits and instincts really held me back. Just knowing that the ruler of Equestria was standing before me took almost all of my confidence away. I couldn't even finish the motion, but Celestia did it for me. A marvelous, unparalleled happiness and tingle ran through my whole body as the alicorn thrust her tongue into my mouth with passionate vigor...