Quest for Earth Pony Magic: the Disciple

by IMN

First published 9th of March, 2015

When refugees came to Equestria fleeing war, Princess Celestia accepted them with open hooves. Ten years later, their youngest made the castle a little too much his own home; but Sun Light's leisure is about to be challenged rather unexpectidly

In an Equestria that predates the return of the princess of the night, in a time when princess Mi Amore Cadenza has just got her cutie mark, and subsequently her alicornhood. In an era so close to our time, yet so far in the past. An earth pony not native to Equestria stood in front the princess of the sun. His scars are many, standing proud as testament to the fierce battles he fought. However, if there was any pride in his past, he was not showing it. Instead he was bowing, begging for asylum. And his reasons were none too clearer, a filly in his shadow and a foal on his back.

That was the start of the legend known as the colt of the castle. After many years since that day, it became custom to find a young earth pony colt moseying around the castle with no watcher over him. He would stroll about aimlessly among the greatest and the brightest of Equestria, be they guards or scholars, always listening, always learning, and forever sharing whatever knowledge came across his pass.

However that leisure lifestyle of his will soon be shattered when a certain filly moves into the castle as Celestia’s protégé after hatching a dragon egg then turning the hatchling into an adult with a blink of an eye, a filly under the name of Twilight Sparkle.

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Some clarifications before you start:

If it wasn't clear enough in the description, yes, this story takes place before the event of the series and will end before the beginning of its events. Because of that it did not warrant an AU tag in my opinion.

I was struggling between adventure and slice of life, but chose adventure because of the nature of the events are too over the top for slice of life.

I am still unsure if a tragedy tag is needed or not.

What inspired this story was the thought: "what would make a child to reject all forms of friendship in a world such as mlp?" Season 1 episode 1 Twilight was adamant that she did not need friends after all, what made her reach that conclusion, but still accept other friends quite readily?

Finally, I'd implore you dear readers if you dislike my story, I'd be very grateful if you told me why as well

Cover Art done by the amazing mix-up You can be dazzled in all of it's glory.

Prologue: A New Home

Princess Celestia shuffled through the Sultan letter. How cruel can one get?! She thought dejectedly.

“General… Shalim was it?”

The pony in front of her simply replied with a nod and a bow, “In your language, it means bringer of the evening star, my lady.”

Celestia took a closer look at the pony in front of her. Scars littered almost every part of his body; most notably were his lost eye and front right hoof. Yet his stance showed no opening for a surprise attack; upright with shoulders straight and his head held high, yet so relaxed, it oozes flexibility and reflex. From her experience, such stance can only be achieved after years of practice. She couldn’t help but admire the warrior within, despite his groveling.

Celestia took another look at the letter. Dear Princess Celestia, Bringer of the Sun and Moon. The letter started, Celestia didn’t need to read four useless pages of flattery again, so she skimmed through the vain pleasantries of Saddle Arabia's Sultan to reach the content of the letter.

I have sent before you an asylum seeker, he stated, he is a general from a nearby land that has been exiled with his family from his homeland, the Phoenix Mountains, and has been seeking refuge ever since.

Bile returned to the princess’s mouth as she read the other part. Don’t be fooled Princess, the General known as Shalim with his wife Hera are no friends to anyone. I was forced to throw them out of Saddle Arabia and into the wilds you call the Badlands. And I am appalled that they managed to find their way to your doorsteps. I would urge you to do the same and send him even further, perhaps the frozen north would suit criminals like him and his ilk.

Celestia couldn’t handle that damned letter anymore. With a blast of her magic, she watched merrily as the ashes floated away. To condemn children to their death just for the sins of their parents, her thoughts darkened again, how far some places in this world have fallen.

“I doubt that letter says anything good about me.” The General stated stoically.

Celestia thought for a moment, “It mentioned you had a wife,” To the naked eye, the General remained emotionless. To Celestia however, he was holding back tears. “What happened to her?”

“Died,” Only Celestia noticed the choking in his voice, “shortly after giving birth to this fellow.” With a swift motion of his right stump, the sack that was on his back parted ways revealing a sleeping baby foal.

The foal whose coat was darker than that of his father gave a hearty yawn, then squinted his beautiful golden eyes before rolling in to continue his nap.

The shock of seeing a foal so young left an even bitterer taste in Celestia, It wasn’t enough for a filly to have to suffer like that, now this. Celestia’s eyes traced to the filly standing next to her father. Considering her age, the filly’s stance is even more impressive than that of her parent; it resembled that of her father in terms of straightness and flexibility, but hers was showing what her father's lacked, an alertness to every soldier around her. Not only that, she was covering every corner of his blind side like a hawk, ready for evasion or attack at a moment’s notice.

A lump was stuck in Celestia's throat. That child was trailing every one of her motion. The more she looked at her the more she appeared like a predator than a filly.

“How did he survive the Badlands?” asked one of the attendants.

The father’s voice became suddenly cheerful, “He wouldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for her help.” He pointed his head toward his daughter who beamed with pride in return.

That doesn't explain how she got her cutiemark though. Celestia noticed the crescent moon covering the head of a growling saber tooth tiger. I definitely don't want want to get on her bad side.

“It must have been tough, fleeing Saddle Arabia and crossing the Badlands.”

“It was harder than fleeing the Phoenix Mountains I admit,” The cheerfulness in the general’s voice was gone again, replaced by an emotionless monotone, “With Hera being pregnant.”

“If I might ask, why were you exiled in the first place?” Celestia finally asked the golden question that rested on every pony's mind since the appearance of the general a few days ago.

The general took a deep breath. “As stated in the letter, I was a commander in the army of my homeland. However, I had different views on the wars my leadership was waging. Some said they were disconcerting? I guess that is the proper word for it.” He thought back for a moment, trying to make sure the correctness of his vocabulary. “It all started when I forged a peace agreement with a neighboring kingdom, then my constant objections over the role my leadership assigned to me.”

“Why did you stay in your position if you did not like what you were doing?” Celestia asked curiously.

“I did so because some pony needed to speak up and voice the concern of those who wanted peace. I couldn’t do that under any other position; I am of common birth, after all, so no one would listen to me if I have been anything else.”

“It’s rare to find a warrior who is against war,” Celestia commented, “But if you had such unfavorable views, why did they leave you in your post?”

“Because I win wars, my lady.” The general straightened his pose, “I am so good at it that some battles I won while relying simply on my reputation if nothing else.”

That explain the language the Sultan used. Celestia mused, “Then what happened?”

The general sighed heavily. “I was tasked to free the city of Tyr from rebel forces. However, when I reached the city, I discovered that the rebels have taken its citizen hostages. Stallions, Mares, Foals, Everyone. So I devised a plan that prioritized the extraction of the citizens above all else. The plan, however, did not go well at all; half the city was massacred along with a full regiment of my soldiers. I lost my eye, and the leader of the rebellion escaped. Even though it was a victory, it was a costly one. I was put on trial soon after, stripped of my position, my reputation, tarnished. I was then forced to flee my hometown toward neighboring Saddle Arabia.”

“And Saddle Arabia?”

The general grunted, “The moment I stepped there I was greeted by the rebel leader. It turns out he had important connections there so he thought refuge. He offered me a chance to lead the rebellion to victory. I declined; I wanted to retire, to raise my family in peace. I told him so and we parted ways. At first, he left us alone, and we started to build new lives for ourselves. That peace did not last. When his rebellion failed a second time, he blamed it on me for not joining him. The following night my house was attacked by the Sultan’s assassins. I fended them off but I lost a hoof, then we took flight the same night toward Equestria.”

Celestia sat there for a moment, trying to process what she has been told. “Your equish is good.” She finally commented.

“Thank you,” the general gave a bow, “Hera thought it is a good idea to learn, she was better at it than I, however.”

Celestia shifted uncomfortably on her throne knowingly what was coming next. Then asked the question that was on everypony's mind, “So what exactly do you want from me?”

The general shifted uncomfortably, then gave an obeisance, “I wish that you’d keep my children safe.” He finally pleaded.

“[Father, don't!].” The filly begged, only to have her father shush her with a stern look.

“My children bear no sins. Why should they be punished for mine,” He then glanced at Celestia with pleading eyes, “I beg of you. I don’t care what you do to me. Please let my foals live in peace.”

A moment of suffocating silence passed in the court, but was immediately broken when the foal shifted uncomfortably in his sack and started whining. The general simply shifted his bearing and tried to cradle him back to sleep, but to no avail.

Celestia sat back on her throne, watching the exchange between father and children. So that's how it is. Her secretary cleared her throat, “Have you decided what to do with them?” She whispered in her ear.

Celestia looked back at her secretary, “I have. Though I'd like to hear your council first.”

“I think you should give him what he wants and send him away,” Celestia scolded at her assistant who felt her disappointment in him. “I mean look at him, he looks dangerous even when he grovels.”

"Noted," with a chuckle Celestia stood up. “Kibitz, take a letter.”

With that, her secretary stood attention, paper and quill levitated and ready. Celestia nodded then spoke. “Dear Sultan Ibrahim. I am grateful for your warning and your concerns over my nation's security, however, the general you call Shalim have died earlier today due to internal injuries he sustained from his trip.”

Hearing this, the general motioned to his daughter to hide further under his shadow, both stallion and filly raised their guard as their posture shifted to defensive, the foal started to cry.

“I will be burying him next to his already deceased wife, daughter, and unborn son, all of whom died while traversing the Badlands, in unmarked graves where they lay to rest for eternity... Did you finish it?”

Kibitz gave her a nod. “Then send it to the Sultan.”

“Princess, what is the meaning of this?” The general was clearly panicking as he readied himself for a fight or flight situation.

“Relax, no need for alarm. This is our decoy," Celestia explained, "It will be less likely for assassins to come after you if they think you are dead,” she affirmed with a warm smile. She then walked toward the general, and she gestured with a small motion toward the foal in the general’s hold. “May I?” she asked. The general gave a hesitant nod.

Upon sensing the hold of Celestia's magic surrounding him, the foal stopped crying then regarded his new situation with intrigue. He screamed with glee upon seeing Celestia’s face up close.

Celestia cooed as the foal stretched his hooves jovially toward her, uttering absolute gibberish in his happiness of being out of a sack and into her warm telepathic embrace.

“You never told me his name.” she then stated.

“His mother wished to call him Helios, which means bringer of the sun.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Does that mean, I am Helios in your language?”

“No, no, Helios means the act of bringing the sun, not the pony behind it.” He quickly corrected, hoping he didn't offend her by it.

“I can see why she would name him that,” Celestia remarked as she looked deeply into the foal’s eyes; yellow golden pupil shining through a black coated foal, like the sun that rise to end the night. “If I kept your original name, the big bad ponies will know I lied to them and would probably want to hurt you.” She told the foal who simply shrugged and returned to booping her nose.

“Sun Light,” she then concluded, “I think it’s a perfect new name. Wouldn’t you agree?”

The general only nodded, a new name for a new life, he thought.

Celestia then returned the foal back to his father’s embrace, and turned her attention to the young filly who's standing in her father’s shadow, “And you, young one, what is your name?”

The filly regarded the alicorn with incredulity, then turned to her father for guidance. “[go on,]” Her father encouraged her.

“Artemis.” The young filly finally spoke, “moon chase, means.”

Celestia looked at the general, “I’m sorry, her equish is a lot worse than mine, she will understand what you’re saying, however.”

“It’s alright then,” Celestia assured, before regarding the young filly, unlike her father and brother dark coats, her coat is of soft silver, must be her mother’s color, coupled with deep blue eyes like her father’s, like Luna’s eyes. “From now on, you are Moon Chaser.”

Artemis pointed at herself and repeated, “Moon Chaser.”

Celestia gave her an encouraging nod. “There is someone I want you to meet, Moon Chaser.” Celestia gestured to one of her guards, “Her name is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but she’ll insist you call her Cadence. And like you, she is new around here, not a month ago she became an alicorn. I think you two can become great friends. Do you understand what I am saying?”

Artemis nodded, “Me, friends, Cadenza?”

“That is very good, have fun.”

Now known as Moon Chaser, Artemis looked up to her father who gave her a small nudge. Reluctantly, she followed the guard outside of the courtroom, all the while peering back at her father who smiled at her in return.

“Thank you, Princess, this means a lot to me,” The General bowed.

“There is still the issue of what to do with you, General Shalim,” Celestia affirmed as she retook her position on the throne. “Or whoever you are since General Shalim is dead,” She replied teasingly.

“What do you mean, Princess?”

“I have always believed that the best way to judge a stallion is to see how he treats his kids. And from what I saw from you today, you are willing to put everything on the line to offer them a peaceful life. But you were too willing to give them away just so you can keep running.”

The general jumped at the accusation. “I have no choice but to keep running. If I remain here, they will come and they will harm them, and I will not stand for that to happen again.”

Celestia remained as passive as possible, “What if you were given a choice? What if you were allowed to stay with them without endangering their safety, would you take it?”

The general regarded the Princess, then looked down at the foal in his hoof who smiled upon seeing his father, “I wouldn’t trade my time with them for the world.” He replied as he gave his child a playful nuzzle.

“Evening Star.”

The general broke his cuddle and regarded the smiling princess, “You told me the meaning of your name is the bringer of the evening star, correct?” He gave her a nod, “then like your kids, you will change your name to that of its meaning. You are now Evening Star.”

“I accept the name you gave me.”

“Well then, Evening Star. Would you like to be my security counselor? I think your history as a previous general will serve you well in protecting Equestria and its citizen from harm.”

“I’ll serve you until the day I die.” The general, now known as Evening Star, gave a final bow as Celestia walked in front of him.

“And Evening, if you ever think of betraying me, or mistreat your kids or…”

“Shall I be cursed to Tartaros and beyond!” Evening Star interrupted. His gaze filled with determination and renewed hope.

“Good. Then come with me, I’ll explain your new duties while we prepare for your accommodations.” Satisfied with his answer, Celestia took the lead while Evening Star followed toward his life.

Introduction: Ten Years Later.

There was an unusual activity in the palace in the short hours before dawn. A child went missing in the palace ground and the guards are up and about searching for him.

“Don’t worry, Evening. We’ll find him.” Celestia tried to calm her defense minister, whose agitation exceeds that of any guard.

“Me? Worried? Why would I be worried? It’s not like he made it his sole mission to wander aimlessly pestering nobles and guest…” As Evening raved on about his son’s antics, Celestia realized just how homely the ex-general has become; to have every soldier in the castle willingly aid in the search for his son. You’ve come far from that unsure counselor who wanted to please everypony. “…It’s one simple rule, be home before dinner and can he abide by that one rule? No! It’s like talking to a brick wall, I swear.”

“Come now Evening Star, it’s not like this is the first time he got lost. He always found his way back before.” Celestia tried to calm him down again, to no avail, she noted. “What’s so special about him being home this time?”

“Moon Chaser is going to the military academy tomorrow morning,” Evening Star beamed with pride, “and if he is going to miss his sister’s farewell, I’ll make sure he’ll never set foot in the castle again.” Before seething with anger again.

Suddenly a guard came rushing in. “Princess Celestia, Minister Star. We found him.”

“Oh, thank Celestia.” Just like that, all signs of anger from Evening Star evaporated and was replaced with relief.

Celestia grumbled with a pout, “but I didn’t do anything,” though she was promptly ignored by Star who grabbed the soldier by the haunches yelling “Where is he? Is he okay?”

“He is fine, we found him sleeping in the barracks armory.” The soldier replied, albeit shaken.

“The armory?!” exclaimed the princess and her minister. The armory, after the castle vault, was one of the best-sealed rooms in the entire castle, it was next to impossible to break into it.

“How did he even manage to enter that place?”

“Beats me, the weird thing is that it’s blocked from the inside. So we are still trying to open it.” The soldier shrugged.

“How…” Celestia was about to ask something but decided against it when Evening Star suddenly threw the soldier aside and went running toward the palace armory.

Upon arrival at the armory, Evening Star spotted Captain Soaring Blade with two pegasi soldiers trying to push through the front door that doesn’t seem to budge.

“How is he? Captain.” He spoke upon saluting the guards.

“Surprisingly, still sleeping.” Replied the pegasus captain after lowering his salute, “We’ve been trying to open the damn thing for a while now, but something really heavy is barricading the door so we can’t open it more than a crack.”

“Is that so?” The minister watched as the two soldiers tried pushing through the door, only to have them collapse after several minutes of wasteful efforts. Evening Star couldn’t help but roll his eyes upon the soldiers’ fruitless attempts.

“Stand back, both of you.” He then ordered, the soldiers turned in surprise to their captain who only nodded before they parted the way.

Celestia then came trotting to the scene, “Did you get him out?” she inquired her captain only to have her minister reply, “Not yet.” As he removed his prosthetic hoof with his mouth.

“What are you doing?” She inquired as Evening Star handed her his artificial hoof.

“That thing usually gets in my way.” He replied before standing on his back hooves, then placing his remaining hoof on the door and slowly but surely pushed the door that not two well-trained soldiers were able to budge.

“Wow.” Exclaimed one soldier. As he echoed every pony’s thought at that moment.

“Remind to never get on your bad side, Minister.” The captain concluded.

“I do work out, you know.” The minister replied defensively.

“You can take the warrior out of the battlefield, but you can never take him out of the pony’s heart.” Quoted Celestia in response.

“What happened here?” Exclaimed Evening Star as the chaos inside became clear to him.

The once neat and organized armory was suddenly a giant mess as shelves of spears, swords, hammers, and armor were all scattered on the floor.

“It’s like a blizzard passed through here.” Noted the Captain.

“What’s that smell?” A soldier’s voice was heard in the background.

“Sunny! Where are you?” Evening Star called out to his son once he couldn’t spot him anywhere in this mess, his heart pounding out of fear of what possible injuries Sun Light could have sustained in such place. Only to have his fears alleviated as he noticed a ruffling sound from one of the body armor laying in the corner.

Evening Star leaped to the piece of armor and immediately lifted it to find a young colt sleeping peacefully inside, “Sunny?” the father nudged his son to wake him up.

Sun Light grudgingly rolled over, and with a hearty yawn, opened his eyes only to peer at his father leaning over him, “Dad, what time is it?”

“Oh thank Celestia.” Evening scooped up his son with his free arm before giving a hug.

Celestia pouted again as her name was gratified without actually doing anything, only to have her expression changed into mirth upon seeing little Sun Light pleading for her aid with a “help, I’m being crushed” in a muffled voice.

Evening Star had the awareness of putting his son on the ground before causing permanent bodily harm. His expression changed into that of a scold, “What were you doing here?”

“Just, give me a sec,” Sun Light huffed as he sucked as much air as possible, “Okay, I know you're mad but hear me out first.”

“You are right I’m mad,” His father asserted, “It was one rule if you are going to wander, be home by dinner time. One rule, Sun Light, and you couldn’t keep it up.”

“What part of 'hear me out' didn’t you understand?!” Suddenly Sun Light retreated to the safety of his armor-bed upon seeing his father angry gaze being cast like a menacing dragon that had his hoard poached, “That came out very wrong,” He smoothed unsuccessfully, “Can I have another take?”

“You have ten seconds,” Evening crossed his hoof and stomp without changing his expression.

“I was trying channeling but I overdid it and suddenly ended up in the armory with that heavy hammer suddenly falling on the door and even though I tried my hardest to lift that thing but it was too heavy and I ended up exhausting myself so I decided to take a small nap in the armor but time flew by and here we are.” Sun Light finally exhaled deeply, only to abruptly yell, “Stop, don’t go there,” while pointing at the soldier in another corner of the room.

The soldier turned with an inquisitive look, Sun Light explained, “A while back I had to go to the little colts room and, well…” The soldier turned toward every pony in the room with disgust, Celestia cast an anti-smelling spell to limit the stench that was somewhat overpowering.

“Scale back, you were trying channeling?” Evening asked his son in surprise.

“Well yeah, I overheard Mister Night Light and Princess Celestia talk about it the other day in great details, I went to the national archive, did some research and decided to give it a try.” A loud gurgling sound came from the little colt’s stomach, “If I knew I’d end up here, I’d have decided practiced someplace else.”

“Channeling is something only unicorns can do,” Evening Star deadpanned.

“Well, yeah?” Sun gave his father an inquisitive look.

“How did you, an earth pony, pull it off?” That was the trap that Evening had set for his son.

“Well, you see…no that’s not….I mean it’s like…” and that is how Sun fell for his father’s trap, “Look, it’s much harder to explain than you think.”

“Hey, if you don’t want to tell, that’s fine,” Evening waved a hoof in dismissal, “But don’t think you are getting off that easy. Once your sister leaves I am going to insert the harshest punishment you have ever had.”

“Fine,” Sun Light mumbled a few incomprehensible words as he walked passed his father.

“And clean up your attitude, your sister deserves better than a frown before she leaves for military training,” Evening scolded one last time.

Sun looked at his father like he had something to say, only to shake his head and slung it low to the ground with a heavy, defeated sigh, “Sorry for causing trouble princess, again.” He said as he passed Celestia without looking up.

“Cheer up, little one,” Celestia replied warmly as she noticed the small change, “You ought to celebrate, for now, we may not know what you did to get yourself into this mess, but one good thing came out of it.”

Sun Light looks at his princess in disbelief, Celestia chuckled at the young one’s expression before pointing at his blank flank who is no longer blank, “Congratulations on your cutie mark,” She cheered.

“Really!!” The colt cheered up and immediately turned toward his flank, only to be rendered speechless, “its…Great,” he exclaimed with no enthusiasm whatsoever.

“What, you don’t like it?” asked Evening Star in surprise.

“Dad, it’s a triangle,” The young Sun deadpanned.

“At least it’s the same color as your eyes,” quipped the captain of the royal guard only to be glared down to submission by his superiors. “What? It’s been a long night.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Sun Light finally huffed while stomping briskly at the giggles of the adults toward the tower where his sister awaits.

Chapter I: The Magic of Siblings.

Sun Light stealthily opened the front door of the eastern tower behind the barracks, a place he became accustomed to calling it his home.

Upon taking a peek, Sun Light was relieved that his sister was nowhere in sight, “The ghost is clear.” He whispered to his father walking behind him, who rolled his eyes in response.

Sun Light then took count of his surroundings. Keeping to the walls would offer him behind cover in case of a surprise attack, but would expose him if ‘she’ was on the lookout. He judged that moving quickly from one hiding place to another would be a better solution, but staying in one place too long would pose a greater risk of exposure. Taking all that into account, he planned a path of multiple hiding spots to get him from the front door to his room upstairs. Alright, first I need to move to the southern tapestry, from there I can hide under the stairs, then….

His plans were however cut short when his father waltzed in declaring in his highest voice, “Moonie, we’re home!” Before proceeding to turn on the torches.

“Dad~” complained the little colt, “if she sees me, I’m dead.”

“You’re dead either way Sunny,” His father reassured, in response, Sun Light sat in the doorway and crossed his hooves. Evening shook his head before turning toward his son, “You knew you were in trouble from the start; being stubborn now isn’t going to change anything you know.”

Sun Light gave a big sigh before deciding to take a plunge with destiny. At least I’ll die by the ponies I know and love, he thought before walking in toward his demise.

Upon entering the front gate, Sun Light stood in the center of the entrance, then yelled at the top of his voice, “Moon Chaser~… Come out, come out wherever you are!”

His voice echoed through the tower like a haunted scream, but no answer could be heard. Sun Light stood there for a full minute expecting a hit to come at any moment’s notice, afterward he turned to his father, eyes filled with false hope, and said, “guess she went to bed.”

His hope was suddenly sent crashing as the front gate suddenly crept to a close, revealing the angry blue eyes that lay hidden behind the opened doors, “How dare you!” came the growl of the angry mare.

“M-Moonie!” shriveled Sun Light at the sight of his sister’s glare, “I’m back, and in one piece this time,” He tried to sooth the fuming beast, “No need to worry, this is your big day today and the only pony that we need to worry about is you,” He straightened his pose with a broad smile on his face, “So, let’s go to your room and start taking care of you,” He then raised his hooves trying to garner as much sympathy as possible.

Moon Chaser’s gaze suddenly reduced from a smoldering volcano to that of a predator in ambush. She walked toward her little brother who gave her an even wider smile coupled with a tail wag and the cutest, widest puppy dog eyes he could ever muster.

“You are in so much trouble, buster,” She replied, her hoof moved too swift for her brother’s untrained reflexes and caught his ear which she subsequently twisted.

“Ouch. Ear. Ear. Ear,” Sun Light yelped as the pain flared through his facial muscles.

“Okay then. I can see you two have a lot to talk about,” Evening Star addressed his children as he walked up the stairs, “I’ll just leave you two to it.”

“Wait,” his son yelled after him, “Don’t leave me.”

“Wake me up when it’s time to leave,” His father replied, deaf to his son’s plea.

“I might need a witness,” His son screamed desperately, trying not to pull too hard from his sister’s grab, “this is foal cruelty.”

“Good night,” His father replied before slamming the door of his bedroom.

Sun Light turned to his sister, “I can explain everything.”

“Save it,” Moon Chaser snarled, “Just tell me one thing. Was it worth it?”

“Huh?” He replied to her perplexingly.

“What you were doing, was it worth skipping on my last day here?” Moon Chaser snarl suddenly had a pleading undertone to it.

“I got my cutie mark.”

Moon Chaser released her brother who fell on his haunches while scrubbing the pain away from his ear.

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Show it to me.”

Sun Light turned his flank toward his sister, “I’m not sure what it is though,” As he looked incredulously at his newly acquired destiny, “and it’s not just a triangle, that would have been too obvious.”

Moon Chaser gave it a scrutinizing look, “Well, it’s something alright.”

Suddenly a loud gurgling sound came from his stomach, Sun looked up to his sister who gave him a sympathetic smile, “Is it too much to ask for your pancakes before you leave?”

“No, it’s not,” Moon replied with a chuckle. As she led her brother to the kitchen, when she settled to her normal rhythm of cooking she asked him, “So what happened?”

Sun Light settled on the table watching his sister moving around, “Well, it started a couple of days ago,” He started with his own rhythm of storytelling, “You remember Thursday when I attended Mister Night Light and Princess Celestia’s meeting, right?”

“You mean when you eavesdropped,” His sister correct.

“It’s not my fault no one pays any attention to me when I walk into a room,” Sun defended his position, “anyway, mister Night Light was explaining his research into improving raising the stars in the night sky, it seems Princess Celestia always had trouble raising them, being stubborn and all. So he was suggesting channeling some of her energy that she uses to raise the moon into the stars themselves. He went to great length explaining how to do it, and that caught my interest.”

“And that was when you broke into the national archive?” Moon interjected.

“Yes, and that was when… Hey,” Sun objected to his sister’s trap, who she replied with mirth, “In any case, I learned from the archive a lot about channeling, and how to transfer energy from one place to another using one’s own magic, or another form of conduit. Finally, I stumbled upon something rather interesting.”

“What was it?” His sister started the fire with which she’ll use for the pancakes.

“There was a reference for a lich centaur under the name of Tirek. As I understood from the script, he could absorb the magic of unicorns, the flight of pegasi, and the strength of earth ponies. That was when it clicked. You see, according to Starswirl the Bearded theorem over magic entropy, the origin of magic is one. So I concluded that earth pony strength is, in fact, a form of magic.”

“You know, most colts just want to play outside and have a mud war or something, not learn to channel and deciphering Starswirl the Bearded theorems,” Moon noted as she placed honey and nuts on the first pancake.

“Well, most colts have friends who want to play with them mud wars, and none of them have unlimited access to the most secure archives in Canterlot,” Sun replied before wolfing down the pancake whole.

“Slow down, or you’ll have yourself a tummy ache,” Moon Chaser couldn’t help but chuckle at her brother’s eating habits, always in a hurry, “And don’t talk with your mouth full,” she scolded as he mumbled something unintelligible to her.

Sun then swallowed his meal, “That was delicious,” he announced with a belly rub, he then picked up the plate with a “seconds?” and pleading eyes.

“Already on it,” She assured him as she placed the second pancake on the stove.

“Thank you,” Sun slumped back into his chair, “Where was I?”

“You are about to tell me what happened yesterday.”

“Oh yeah,” Sun returned to his storytelling mood, “So, yesterday morning I designed a simple experiment, I’d set up two points, point A is where I jump, point B is where I land. I spaced them further apart than my normal reach, and started trying to jump from A to B. Simple, No?” Moon gave him a nod. “I theorized that by channeling my earth pony strength from my forelimbs to my back limbs I might jump higher than how I normally do.”

"Huh," Moon Chaser looked over her brother, perplexed as one could be, "and how does that work?"

Sun Light sat back in his chair, hoof under the chin, "It's like a water piston, if I am to put it in other words. You see, magical energy moves in the body in a fluid motion, if you can press it from one side it comes up in the other. Unicorns can channel magic into their horn this way, the horn condenses the magical energy and forces it outward, that is the process of spell casting. I tried to mimic the same effect using body motion instead," he looked at his sister who seemed more lost at this point, "are you still with me?"

“So, basically, you spent the entire afternoon jumping?”

“Yep.”

“Then, how did you end up in the armory?”

“Jeez, things travel fast around here.”

“Helios.”

“Alright, alright,” Sun Light replied in defeat, “It was working,” Moon’s interest suddenly peaked, “I was jumping higher and higher by applying such simple concept, and it was exhilarating. I was able to feel how the energy is moving inside my own body, it was no longer a matter of theories and words and calculations in my head, it was something I could test, and it felt wonderful. Anyway, after a dozen or so successful jumps, I decided to try something different, a big jump packed with as much strength I could muster."

Sun Light suddenly went silent for a moment, Moon waited for her brother’s response but when he took too long she voiced, “then what happened?”

“An explosion came out of nowhere made me jump. I mean jump harder than what I was already intending,” Sun Light concluded after much contemplation on the events that transpired, “The next thing I knew weapons were falling all around me, and a giant hammer was blocking the doorway.”

“Wait, are you telling me you teleported into the armory??” Moon Chaser couldn’t keep the shock out of her face, “but that’s…”

“Unbelievable. I know,” Sun Light replied dejected.

“I was going to say incredible,” Moon walked over to her brother and gave him a hug.

“Thanks,” smiling, Sun Light leaned closer into his sister’s hug taking in as much of her warmth as he can, “I’m going to miss our talks.”

“Come now, Sunny. I’m sure you’ll find someone you can talk to.”

“If you mean dad, then you have no idea how wrong you are.”

“You just don’t know how to talk to him.”

“Because he doesn’t listen,” Sun Light broke off his sister’s hug.

“Let me guess,” Moon Chaser sat in front of her brother, “Dad asked you how you did it and you replied ‘it’s harder to explain than you think.’”

Sun Light looked in awe at his sister, “It’s scary how well you know me.”

“So are you really going to tell him? Or are you going to babble your way around the subject until it goes away.”

“I’m not sure,” Sun Light averted his gaze.

But Moon wasn’t going to let things slide, “He’ll be so proud of you if you do, come on,” She told him with a jab to his shoulder.

“I’m not even sure I can repeat what I did. How can I prove something I can’t at least duplicate successfully?” Sun Light looked toward his sister, hoping for answers he hoped she might have.

“You’ll think of something,” Moon comforted, “You always do.”

“A good cook who knows how to fight better than a captain, and great with little monsters. Is it just me or do you have the whole package.” Came a sudden third voice out of the bloom.

“Oh brother,” Sun Light felt aggravated by the sheer presence of that pink menace.

“Hey Cadence,” Moon Chaser welcomed her friend with a wave, “You’re here early.”

“Well, somepony had to hide in the last place anypony would look into,” Cadence made a hoof gesture toward the only colt in the room, “Which ended up waking the entire castle all night long looking for him,” yawning, she took a seat at the table, “Congratulations on your cutie mark, by the way. I heard it certified you as a genuine blockhead?”

“Oh candy butt, you and your dull jokes,” Sun made an innuendo, “it’s a triangle, not a block. Not that you would know the difference.”

“Enough. Both of you,” Moon slammed four pancakes on the table, “This is the last day I’m going to be here, and I don’t want to break up any fight.”

“Fine,” The Princess and the sibling sounded their defeat.

“How did you lock yourself in the armory anyway?” Cadence took a bite out of her pancake while turning her attention to Sun Light, who was about to stuff his face with his second serving.

“I teleported in there.”

The guffaw that came from the alicorn at the table sprayed pieces of pancakes all over Sun Light.

Sun placed back the pancake in disgust as he removed chunks of the other pancake from his mane. But just as he was about to voice his thoughts, he was glared down by his sister. Sighing in defeat he shrank back into his chair pouting. Moon nodded to him in gratitude which he smiled too, “I’ll go clean up,” He finally said while removing pancake morsels from his mane.

Once Sun Light left, Moon Chaser turned her angry gaze toward her friend, “I thought we agreed that you’ll look after him while I’m gone.”

“Oh don’t worry,” Cadence gave her friend an innocent smile, “I doubt there’ll ever be a filly for him from here to Manehatten.”

“Not that kind of looking after,” Moon smashed her hoof at the dining table, nearly destroying it.

“Sunny and I may have our differences. But I do consider him like a younger brother,” Cadence assured Moon with surprising calmness, “I’ll look after him, so don’t worry.”

“Good,” Moon returned to her seat with a sigh of relief, “I worry about him, I doubt he’ll have anyone once I’m gone.”

“You worry too much about him.” Cadence took another bite, “He’s smart for one thing, and a lot more sociable than you or your father give him credit. But don’t tell him that I said that,” She told her friend while chewing.

Moon let out a chuckle, “I won’t. Tell me, what do you think his cutie mark means?”

“I don’t know, but it has to do with his observation and analytical skills,” Cadence took another bite, “Mmm, these are the best pancakes I have ever tasted, your cutie mark should be honey and nuts pancake instead of that ghastly monster you got.”

“But I like taming monsters,” Moon pouted, “They are like babies, treat them right, and they’ll purr like kittens.”

“Forget about your brother, I doubt I’ll ever find you a special somepony.”

Both fillies giggled at the prospect. Moon then asked, “Speaking of which, are you still seeing that colt from uptown Canterlot?”

“Yeah,” Cadence replied in a sad tone. “He’s leaving today for the military academy with you. Is it too much to ask of you to keep an eye on him? He’s a white unicorn with a blue mane, his name is Shining Armor.”

“Sure thing. Aren’t you going to see him off?”

“Yeah, after I’m done prepping you up,” Cadence cleaned her plate, “Hey, did you know that his little sister is going to be living in the castle soon.”

“Wait, is she the one who hatched the dragon yesterday and nearly destroyed the unicorn academy?”

“The one and only,” Cadence beamed with a bit of pride, “her name is Twilight Sparkle, and I used to babysit her for pocket change a while back.”

“I remember her, I used to escort you to their house when it got late in the evening, isn’t she a year younger than my brother?” Once Cadence gave her a nod, she continued, “Do you think she’ll get along with Sun Light?”

Both mares looked at each other for a long while before reaching the same conclusion, “I should be worried, shouldn’t I?” It was more like a statement than a question.

With which Cadence promptly replied with “Oh, definitely.”

Chapter II: A Magical Greeting.

Author's Notes:

From now on conversation within brackets [] will be considered spoken in an entirely different language.

I'm doing this to avoid have put a translation of entire conversation, but simple words that can be understood within the context will remain in a different language so as to keep the aesthetic of the text.

“[You must always listen to your superior officer.]”

“[Dad, I know.]”

“[And respect your fellow cadets.]”

“[Dad, I know.]”

“[And remember, be smart, not coy.]”

“[Dad, stop worrying.]”

“[And don’t stop writing to us.]”

“[I won’t, Dad.]”

“[Even though this isn’t exactly what I wanted for you, I’m still very proud of you.]”

“[I know, dad.]”

As the final wishes of the father were being given to his daughter, Sun Light kept his gaze low to the ground. In reality, he didn’t want his sister to leave, but he knew that his wishes will only bring her sorrow, and Celestia knows how much sorrow she endured on my behalf, he thought bitterly at the many times she stayed awake when he was sick, or when he entered in fights with the other colts, or…

“Hey Sunny. Aren’t you going to tell me goodbye?” Sun Light looked up to his sister who was giving him the warmest smile.

“Sorry, I was thinking of the old times.” He replied apologetically.

“It’s okay,” she hugged him, then turned toward her father. “Hey, Dad; is it okay if I talked to Sunny in private?”

“Okay, I get the hint,” Her father replied flailing his hoof, “I’ll just wait next to the bags,” It was only one bag next to a bunch of weapons.

“Thanks,” Moon Chaser pulled her brother closer and walked a bit further away from her father, “I was thinking about the best way you can tell them about your magic, but it requires a lot of work. You in?”

“Are you still worried about that?” Sun Light couldn’t hold his surprise.

“Aren’t you?” Moon was equally surprised by her brother’s nonchalance toward what he did.

“I’m just… I…”

“You don’t want me to leave, don’t you,” Moon deadpanned.

“Stop reading my mind,” Sun’s cheeks felt on fire. Upon hearing his sister chuckle, he left his gaze trail back to the ground.

“Now that you’re gone, I’ll be alone,” Sun let out a sniffle, “I don’t want to be alone.”

“Come here,” Moon pulled her brother into a tight hug, “You’re never alone. You just need to find somepony to have fun with while I’m gone. And I’ll be back, I promise,” She wiped a tear from his eyes, “Now I want you to listen carefully, what you’ve got there is something special, but like all things special you need hard work to prove it to everypony else.”

Moon Chaser leaned closer to her brother's ear and whispered, “Aim big.”

Sun looked up to his sister with a bemused smile. Moon Chaser continued her explanation, “search for the biggest, hardest spell you can find and learn how to do it. Then do in front of everypony.”

“Like what you did with that lieutenant?”

“Exactly the same, only with magic.”

“But I have no idea where to start, what to do, how to do…”

Moon stopped her brother’s grievances with a wave of dismissal, “You’ll figure something out.”

“But I…”

Before he could utter another word, “Listen, you are smart enough to get yourself in and out of everything, and that isn’t just me talking Sun Light. A lot of ponies expect great things from you. So buck up, do your research, and figure it out. The next time I want to hear from you is how you pulled that teleportation trick.”

Sun Light looked straight into Moon Chaser’s eyes, puffed up his chest and with new determination he spoke, “I’ll try my hardest.”

“Good that’s all I want to hear,” A sudden siren sung through the air, “That’s my cue. No last kiss?”

Sun Light stood on his hind hooves and gave his sister a small peck on her cheek. Evening Star came trotting to his daughter’s side, he handed her bag and weapons, and gave her a deep kiss on her frown, “Frontízo, Artemis.”

Moon Chaser took her bag and weapons and trotted briskly toward the airship while waving goodbye to her family, “Antío, papa, Helios.” She yelled as she boarded.

Sun Light kept waving, even after Moon Chaser boarded, even after the ship started flying, even after the ship was out of sight. He kept waving.

“I think it's time to leave,” He heard his father talking to him.

Sun Light slowly allowed his hoof to drop then turned to his father, “Where is your leg piece?”

Evening suddenly jerked his head to his half hoof, "guess I forgot to wear it."

"I don't think I recall seeing you in one since the armory incident," Sun Light pointed out, "Are you sure you forgot it and didn't lose it somewhere?"

“Sunny, I am not so careless as to forget where I placed my leg piece,” Evening reaffirmed, “looks like we’ll be taking a cab back,” he said after sighing.

"Oh joy," Sun Light raised his hooves sarcastically, "and here I thought I'd be able to enjoy the long walk home. Again."

"I may not be able to smack you on the head," Evening waved his stump, "but you deserve a smack on the head."

"I'm being punished later," Sun Light pointed out, "at least let me have some derision before my final hour comes."

Evening shook his head, "you know, most foals will try to act nice so they get a lighter punishment.

Sun Light suddenly stopped, turned toward his father, a sparkle in his eyes as he faked a tear on his cheek, "[will you pwease lighten my punishment daddy?]"

"[You look adorable, but no,]" Evening patted his son's head with his stomp, "[nice try though.]"

"See, nothing works with you!" Sun Light exclaimed at his father's mirth.

Upon arriving at the cab station, the two ponies noticed an immense lack of taxi cabs.

“There is one left,” Yelled Sun Light as he trotted as fast as he can, only to bump head first into something at the cab’s door.

“Ouch,” He rubbed his head only to notice something moist, “This can’t be good.”

Sun Light lifted his paw to see the red liquid dripping from it, “Definitely not good.”

“Ack, you’re bleeding,” Suddenly came the voice of filly, before long a small purple hoof was pressing intently on Sun’s head, “Nooo, I’m making it worse,” The filly gasped as blood got on her hooves.

“Listen, filly,” Sun Light tried to stand up only to be abruptly and forcefully laid on his back.

“Don’t move,” the filly ordered in a rush, “I’ll go get help,” Sun Light noticed the red trail on her horn. Oh great, stupid unicorns and their horns.

Sun, however, obeyed the filly’s orders and remained immobile until he could hear her clopping away. A shadow loomed over him, “Are you okay?” the taxi driver asked.

“Yeah,” Sun Light stood up, only to notice that there is still blood flowing on his face, “Can I have a mirror and a first aid kit please?”

Not a moment later the objects that he requested were present. Sun Light took a closer look only to find that his injury isn’t too severe. Maybe a plaster or two to stop the bleeding, he assessed calmly.

He took a piece of cotton, dipped it with an antiseptic, and then carefully started cleaning his wound. Evening Star noticed his son’s predicament while walking closer to check things out, “What happened to you?”

“I bumped head with a unicorn,” Sun replied as he finished cleaning his wound.

“Need help?”

Sun turned his head to his father, “I’m good.”

“You sure?” his dad replied after carefully assessing his wound, “It looks like you need stitches.”

“Well, there seem to be a severe lack of stitches,” Sun Light pointed out.

Shacking his head, Evening took some bandages then with his firm hoof he pressed a thick amount of it on his son’s forehead, “Alright, now roll this behind your head,” He pointed at the remaining pieces, Sun obeyed. After a few turns, Evening Star took the free piece with his mouth and the one over his son’s head with his hoof, then skillfully fastened the dressing together, “There. All done.”

“I’m so sorry mister… Evening Star? Is that you?” Both Evening and Sun turned toward the origin of the voice, only to find Night Light, the royal astronomer, standing behind them with a mare and a filly.

“Night Light, good to see you again,” Evening Star extended his hoof, which Night Light readily accepted, “Here to see your son off?”

“Yeah,” Night Light replied despondently, “I’m surprised you allowed your daughter to leave. You two made such a ruckus over this.”

“Well, it’s her dream she is following, who am I to stand in her way?”

“They grow up so fast, don’t they?” interrupted suddenly the mare with Night Light before flashing a smile to her husband.

“Where are my manners?” Night Light suddenly exclaimed cheerfully, “Twilights, I like you to meet minister Evening Star, minister of defense under her royal’s cabinet. And the rascal behind him is Sun Light, the colt of the castle.”

Evening Star straightened his pose before instinctively bowing with his stomp with a “charmed,” while Sun Light simply gave a salute.

“Evening, Sunny,” Night Light continued with his introduction, “I’d like you to meet my lovely wife, Twilight Velvet, and my adorable little daughter Twilight Sparkle.”

“The pleasure is all mine, minister,” Twilight Velvet mirrored the minister’s greeting. However, Twilight Sparkle hid underneath her mother’s shadow.

“Please, no need for formalities, just Evening is fine,” Evening waved his stomp in dismissal.

“So heading back to the palace?” Night Light inquired.

“Yeah, usually I’d walk, but in our rush to get here, I forgot to wear my leg piece.”

“More like, misplaced,” Sun Light corrected his father.

“You don’t know that for sure,” Evening defended his position.

“Oh trust me, I know,” Sun Light gave his father a mischievous smile.

---

Back in the palace, Kibitz noticed something hiding behind Celestia’s throne, “Princess, why is Minister Star’s leg piece behind your throne?”

“Let it be, I have a special package I’m supposed to put into it,” Princess Celestia informed her secretary.

---

“Anyway,” Evening Star rolled his eyes at his son, “it’d be tiring to walk all the way to the palace now, so we thought we’ll take a cab.”

“Well, what a coincidence! We’re going to the palace as well. Care to share a cab?”

“Sure, why not?” Replied content Evening Star, “But I’m paying.”

“No, no, I’m paying, I insist.” Countered Night Light.

“Night, I know how much you earn, which is why I’m paying the cab fare,” Pointed Evening Star as he entered the cab.

“Evening, we outnumber you three to two, if we take a vote I’ll end up paying anyway,” Argued Night Light as he followed his friend.

“Oh, brother,” Complained Twilight Velvet, shaking her head before entering soon after.

Twilight Sparkle soon came after, but before she could hoist herself into the cab Sun Light interrupted her by stopping in front of her. Surprised, she took a step back, then blushed deeply as the colt bore his gaze into hers, “I’m sorry about your head.”

“Don't you think you are being a bit too judgmental?” The statement made the filly’s blood drain from her face. Sun Light continued unfazed, “Although my dad doesn’t show it. It hurts him when somepony acts scared around him. So please, keep your insulting stares to yourself next time, okay?” Twilight Sparkle’s mouth hung open as she watched the young colt enter the cab.

Chapter III: An Irking Vex.

Author's Notes:

I apologies for the delay, I was going to post the next two chapters like I did with the other three, but every time I read it, it felt wrong somehow. In the end real life caught up to me without me finding the reason why I didn't feel it up to the standard.

I finally had a break this week just around the same time I figured out what was wrong with the chapter. So I ended up rewriting it from scratch.

Expect another chapter before the weekend ends, then this story is going to enter another hiatus until I have time to write the rest of it (and every story else).

“…and then he got booted out of her room,” Night Light was gossiping about an incident that happened in the palace a few nights ago.

“So that’s what really happened,” Evening Star started laughing, “The report did say about domestic issues, I never thought they were that type of issues.”

“Dear sweet Celestia, you guys are worse than the mares at the beauty salon,” Twilight Velvet couldn’t believe what her husband was saying. “Pulling the poor stallion’s laundry like that, have you no shame?”

What started out as an argument over taxi fares, soon turned into a political argument, before evolving into a heated debate about the ethics of some of the magical research, until it finally settled about idle gossip over the prime minister’s marital problems.

“He did overpass Princess Celestia in that particular law which limited night magic research,” Night Light pointed out.

“And he’s been hindering a lot of reforms in favor of the noble class,” Evening Star pondered over his cabinet’s future, “The next election is going to be a brutal one,” He concluded, “Hope I can still make it for the next cabinet.”

“Are you joking? None of the armed forces will even consider another name. You set the path for a better Equestrian military, and you have been working strides into improving our national defense like none other. They owe you so many favors that they wouldn’t even consider letting you go.”

“They’ll be idiots if they considered another name,” concluded one of the drivers.

“Besides, didn’t Captain Soaring Blade rouse the entire barracks yesterday with just a sigh?” Night Light pointed at the colt sitting quietly next to his father with a bored expression plastered over his face as he gazed lazily over the passing buildings.

Evening nudged his son back toward the attendance, “What?” Sun Light looked at his father before looking at Night Light who was smiling slyly at him.

“You’re been oddly quiet, Sunny. Are you feeling well?” Night Light addressed the young colt with his usual warmth.

“A bit dizzy,” Sun Light shrugged back, "otherwise I'm good," before leaning at the window again.

“You’re usually more talkative than this, I was hoping to hear your opinion about night magic and dream research. You usually come up with interesting points.” A small smile crept on Sun Light’s face at the compliment.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.” His smile turned toward embarrassment as he avoided the gaze of the adults.

“As if an earth pony even understands unicorn magic,” Twilight Sparkle mumbled under her breath, she was sure to keep her voice so down that no one hears her.

“I’ll have you know I understand it perfectly,” Sun Light replied, his coy smile caught Sparkle by surprise.

"You said you weren't paying attention," She protested.

"Oh please, I said that my head hurts because somepony stabbed me with her horn, I never said my ears were damaged as well," Sun Light barely finished his speech when something smacked him from behind.

"You never rub the injury in the face of the lady that gave it to you," Evening lectured his son, "it is unbecoming from a gentlecolt of your status," earning a giggle from Sparkle and a glare from Sun Light.

"Oh dearest father of mine," Sun Light's sarcasm caused his father to wince, "Have I ever claimed to be the gentlecolt you so illusioned me to be?" That earned him another smack from his father's stump.

"You will become the gentlecolt I aspire you to be," His father asserted, "regardless the method in which I instill these qualities in you."

Sun Light smirked at that notion, "Do anything out of bound and I'll tell Princess Celestia."

Unfortunately for Sun Light, that did not elicit the reaction that he wanted from his father whose grin suddenly became plastered from one side of his face to the other.

Sun Light gulped, his father nonchalantly announced, "That's a great idea! I'll just ask Princess Celestia to teach you how to be a gentlecolt."

Sun Light deadpanned, "I just lost this argument, did I?" he stated.

"Big Times," Chipped Night Light as giggles erupted from the mares around him.

Twilight Sparkle kept glancing sheepishly at Evening Star and Sun Light, an action that didn't go unnoticed by the duo.

Evening sighed inwardly as the filly's initial shyness toward him seemed to fade, turning toward his son he simply grinned in approval. Sun Light looked back at his father and simply shrugged in response. Twilight Sparkle could only look with intrigue as both stallion and colt shared an entire conversation without even uttering a single word, "What are you two smiling about?" she asked.

"Nothing," Both father and son replied at the same time.

"So what was everypony talking about?" Sun Light quickly shot back.

"Oh, something for grown-ups," Twilight Velvet said, trying to steer the young one off the course, "you wouldn't really understand."

"Is it about prime minister Trueblood getting thrown out of his wife bedroom?" Sunlight quipped, turning Twilight Velvet's face bright red.

"How did you know that?" Seemingly surprised, Twilight Sparkle's eyes brightened.

"Well, there are only two things for grown ups that my dad and yours can talk about in public, the Blood family affairs, and the Craig list," All the grown up's ears perked, "I just guessed which one they are more likely to talk about."

Twilight Velvet leaned toward her husband, "he knows about the Craig list?" she whispered.

"If he did, it's not from me," Night Light replied defensively.

"What's a Craig list?" Twilight Sparkle asked innocently.

"Well, it's a list." Sun Light answered immediately.

"Of what?"

"Books."

"About?"

"Clopping."

The taxi cab suddenly hit a rock causing all the passengers to jump off their seats.

"Why would books about running be considered only for adults?"

Sun Light was about to answer that when a chill suddenly ran down his spin, looking around he noticed all adults eyes were on him, and not in a good way. Straightening his pose he replied in a very autonomous voice, "I do not know. I have never read any of them. I simply know them by reputation." He then turned to his father and flashed his most 'I'm innocent' smile.

"Well that's a relief," Evening hugged his son with his good hoof, "If you looked into things you aren't supposed to, then I would be sad, *crack*, so very sad *crik*."

"I'm okay," Sun Light barely pronounced while tapping on his father's hoof, causing instant relief, "About the Blood family affairs," he quickly changed the subject, "What's the latest gossip from Barrack Thirteen?"

"He was kicked out because he couldn't perform," Night Light answered immediately, earning a glare from his wife.

Sun Light sat back incredulously, "Really? Is that the best they can come up with?" he asked rather disappointingly.

"Oh cough it up mister," his father answered, "Everypony knows you know everything going on in that part of the tower and for some reason you've been quiet about it."

"What can I do? Under Celestia's orders, I can't tell anyone the inner workings of the Blood household." Sunlight zipped his mouth, crossed his hooves, then looked the other way.

"I'll show leniency toward your punishment," Evening announced calmly.

"Do you want explicit details or just a quick version?"

"Do Princess Celestia's words mean nothing to you?" Twilight Sparkle suddenly scolded.

"I'm neither under any oath nor am I from the military," Sun Light teased, causing the young filly to cross her hooves and look the other way with a "hmph".

Sun Light giggled at Sparkle's antique, "Anyway," he then returned toward the grown-ups who are all eager to hear what he has to say, "There are a lot of trouble brewing in the Blood family household. And it all started one fateful night when Prince Blueblood, heir of the royal house, was discovered to be a coltcuddler. His mother, Princess Sapphire Scarlet, was furious with her son. Her reasoning for not accepting the situation is because of wanting grandkids to carry the bloodline. The father, Prince Trueblood, couldn't be more indifferent. That is the reason why he's been sleeping on the couch instead of his bed chambers."

The shock was palpable on every pony's face, except for Twilight Sparkle who looked confused, so much so that the taxi slowed down.

"So that's what happened," Night Light spoke in awe.

"Well, who would have thought..." Evening Star reciprocated.

"I am so using this for my next book," Twilight Velvet's eyes were sparkling with glee.

"I don't get it," Twilight Sparkle responded, "Why is it so wrong for two colts to cuddle?"

"It's the same reason as the Craig list," Sun Light explained, "You'll get it when you grow older."

"How did they discover that Prince Blueblood is a coltcuddler?" Night Light asked with vigorous curiosity.

"Oh, they didn't," Sunlight replied innocently, "I walked in on him while he was doing it with another colt."

The taxi hit another rock.

"You, WHAT?" Evening Star glared at his son as disbelief washed over him.

"Hey!" Sunlight answered sharply, "I learned my lesson from that time. No need to give me that look, Celestia already punished me enough with 'the talk' that you keep dreading the day to have with me." Sun Light visibly shriveled as parts of that talk came back to him.

"Well that explains how he knows about the Craig list," Twilight Velvet commented, earning a nod from her husband.

However, before Evening Star could reprimand his son, Twilight Sparkle interfered, "Would somepony explain to me what's going on?"

Sun Light gave Twilight Sparkle an incredulous look, "You haven't figured it out already, have you?" he asked rather disappointingly, before giving a long sigh, "You really aren't the brightest pony around," he concluded, earning him another slap behind the head from his father.

"Hey!" Sparkle answered defensively, "I'm book smart not street smart. Never forget that!" She chastised.

"Why not be both?" He asked.

"Because being street smart means being mean and hurtful," She answered, "and I don't want to be either."

Sun Light wanted to answer that, but another thought occurred to him, then he satisfied himself with a "good point," for a response.

Satisfied with Sparkle finally letting go of that point, Night Light relaxed in his seat, "Finally that's settled," however the previous conversation never left his thought, "still, who would have thought..." he concluded in a loud voice, something that was immediately noticed.

"You are going to forget what I said about the Blood family, are you?" Sun Light asked with a plea in his eyes.

"I may not like the laws he is issuing, but I am not in the habit of breaking families apart just because of my dislike over another's action," Night Light answered calmly.

However, Sunlight detected some bitterness in his voice, "You're just sore over the fact that he didn't authorize that new telescope you were hoping to install."

"He had no rights to diverting funds toward dream research without Princess Celestia's authorization," Night Light argued, "All to curry a favor from count Sleepy Head. His actions have always benefited the noble class over the working class, you know."

"First, what he did was not illegal, according to section 8 code 4 of the Equestrian constitution, these funds are legally under the jurisdiction of the ministry of research and development to do with as they please," Sun Light countered, "Minister Neon Led rerouted these funds toward studies for raising the security of the dream realm which he deemed to be a pressing matter ever since your team has discovered it to be in jeopardy as of late in your publication in the Dreams and Reality research journal. The prime minister simply pointed out the presence of these extra funds in the ministry's budget.

Second, Prince Trueblood have been playing the scapegoat for quite some times now by giving the nobles what they want because they are the only ones with the funds to get Equestria's economy back on its feet after the Grundle invaded a few years back, I'm sure I don't need to remind you of that disaster," Sun Light gave a hearty laugh, "I mean who other than Prince Trueblood could convince the Rich family of Ponyville to keep investing in a farm after both of its farmers disappeared?"

Night Light, Twilight Velvet, and Twilight Sparkle were all looking wide eyes, mouth agape, at Sun Light who was leaning back eyes close and had a genuine smile on his face. "Have you been feeding him your argument or something?" Night Light asked Evening Star.

"More like I'm using his," Evening replied smugly.

"How do you know all that?" Twilight Velvet asked Sun Light who slowly opened his eyes.

"Well, I know what happened to the funds because I asked minister Neon Led about why he looked so relieved after the cabinet meeting last month, he always hated asking more funds from the ministry of finance and having minister Money Account rant about a lack of money for further research. I stumbled upon your husband's publication while researching on nightmare protection after having a bunch of them last month..."

"... when you broke into the royal publisher house last month," his father interjected.

"Yes, when I broke into the publisher's house to get the latest research, not the before latest research," Sun Light explained defensively, "Finally I know that the prime minister's hand in the Sweet Apple Acre because when they were announcing the resuming of the investments, prince Trueblood rolled his eyes before looking away. That is a telltale sign that he did something he didn't want to for the benefit of the greater good."

"So you read body languages?" Twilight concluded.

"That's right, if I want to I can detect every muscle you move, every eye twitch, ear tug, lip lick, sweat trickle, even a change in your body odor can tell me what you are thinking. Combine that with my book smart and I become an all-rounder," Sun Light puffed his chest while giving a victory smile.

Twilight remained transfixed on the colt for a moment, “That's creepy,” She confessed, “But I think it’s amazing, is that why you have a prism for a cutie mark?”

Almost instantly, Sun Light puffed up pose was deflated, he stared mouth open at the filly in front of him before grumbling back into his seat, a scold plastered on his face.

Evening Star noticed the rapid change in his son's attitude, “Do we have a bingo?” he smiled triumphantly, earning a grudging stare from his son for an answer.

Upon taking a closer look at Sun Light’s cutie mark, Twilight Velvet turned toward her daughter turned toward Twilight Sparkle, “What’s a prism?”

“It’s a triangle shaped crystal that turns polychromatic light into its monochromatic components.” Twilight Sparkle happily explained, earning more inquisitive looks from the less knowledgeable pony around.

“Translation please,” Evening Star turned toward his son.

With a groan, Sun Light explained, “It breaks sunlight into its basic color components, which is rainbow light.”

With an exasperation, Evening announced, “Make sense to be your cutie mark.”

“We are here,” Announced one of the drivers as the cab came to another sudden halt.

“Finally.”

As the two stallions went last, Night Light stepped in front of Evening Star, “60/40,” he announced, “there are three of us and only two of you, it wouldn’t be fair for me to accept it otherwise.”

Evening thought for a moment, then a malicious came into mind, “if I agree with you, will you agree with what I am about to do?”

“Does it involve my daughter?”

It didn’t take long for Sun Light to pick up the faint scent of scheming, “It’s a perfect punishment, don’t you think?” he heard his father say.

Night Light contemplated the thought for a moment, “It’d be nice to have somepony looking after her from within for sure...”

“Night Light, Evening Star, so good to see you both.” Both stallions stood in attention as Princess Celestia walked over to them.

“Your highness,” all the present gave a bow, “If you’ll excuse us, we need to pay the cab,” Evening Star pointed at the kneeling drivers.

“Sure thing,” Then Princess Celestia levitated Evening hoof piece, “I do believe you forgot this with me last night.”

Evening Star gave a big sigh of relief, “Thank you, princess, I was afraid that I lost it.”

“And here are the files you requested,” Princess Celestia levitated a rather thick folder next to her.

“Thank you,” Evening Star gave another courtesy, before stuffing the files in his leg compartment, “and Princess, do you remember our talk a few days ago?”

Celestia raised an eyebrow, “Are you going to go through with it?”

“Are you grown-ups done scheming yet?” Sun’s head started spinning a bit, he couldn’t focus enough to know what’s going on, but he still could tell the adults were planning something.

“Do what you think is best,” Celestia replied with her usual demeanor, though anticipation was killing her.

“And where do you think you’re going, young colt?” Evening Star addressed his son before he had any time to sneak away.

“To the infirmary.” Sun Light replied almost immediately, “I need to get this checked out.” He pointed at his gauge who seemed to be drenched red.

“Before you go, I need to tell you what your punishment is,” Evening Star contemplated his son’s lament.

“Fine, let’s get this over with,” He told his father impatiently.

“For the next month you are going to become the assistant of Princess Celestia’s new student,” Evening Star declared triumphantly.

Sun Light smiled inwardly, he thought he got off easy, maybe because of my sister. “Fine~, I’ll do it if it pleases you.” He faked annoyance. “When will this new student is going to come so that I can get this over with?”

“I’m here.” Announced Twilight Sparkle proudly.

Sun Light took a single look at Twilight before snickering, “No seriously, when is she going to come?”

“She is my newest student Sun Light,” Princess Celestia approached Sun Light as panic started to grow within him.

“Since when?” Sun Light, the colt of the castle, the one who knows everything, “How?” Not knowing something? Inconceivable! “Why?”

“Since yesterday noon,” Celestia replied with a smirk behind her stoical smile, “I think it was the same time when you trapped yourself inside the armory, as for the reason, she managed to hatch a dragon egg then cast numerous high-level spells in a magical surge the likes of which I have ever seen.”

“Shut up,” Gasps were heard at the colt’s insolence, Evening Star, however, couldn’t contain his mirth at his son’s outburst. Sun Light turned toward his snickering father, “I demand another punishment.”

“Why I thought I was giving you a light punishment, don’t you like it?” Evening Star beamed a coy smile at his son.

“No, I’d rather clean the barracks for the rest of the year than to help this presumptuous whelp,” The frowns he received from the Sparkles could drill a hole in solid rock. However Sun Light remained adamant.

“Fine, you will clean the barracks until your sister returned from military training.” Evening Star feigned submission, then opened the compartment in his leg piece and pulled a maid’s outfit. “Of course you’ll be wearing this for change.”

An outfit of demonic origin was dangled in front of the little colt in horror, the frou-frou style skirt, the black and white shirt with white shaped flowers as buttons, the insinuating crack at the vest’s collar, and the most dreaded, most vile looking, most mundane maid’s hat he had ever seen, with white strappings and streamers.

“I thought it might be a good time I gave the boys in the barracks some entertainment instead of a bratty colt. Now they’ll enjoy the sight of a colt in a maid’s costume. Wouldn’t that be a treat?”

“I’m sure it would,” affirmed Night Light, “I know I would.”

“Oh,” Sun Light gave a nervous laugh, “very funny, dad. I almost didn’t realize you were joking.”

“I wasn’t joking,” Evening Star replied with the most serious expression he could muster, “in fact if it wasn’t for your sister’s intervention, this was going to be your first punishment ever!” Evening couldn’t help but smile at his son’s horrorstruck face, “what was that saying from the old country? Discipline the stallion with his pride, not his strength…”

Something felt wrong with Sun Light, suddenly he saw the dress as double, “I’m not feeling too good.”

Everypony snickered, Evening decided to tease further, “Come now, Sunny. I thought you were tougher than this.”

Sun Light looked up to his father, sweat glistening all over his frown, tried as he might, speech did not come easily for some reason, he could hear his father say something like,

“Are… you… okay?” then everything went dark.

The playful expressions suddenly vanished when Sun Light wobbled in his place uttered “help” then fell unconscious, smearing the ground with most of the blood his coat had absorbed.

Evening Star tucked the dress back in his compartment, “Guess your injury was more severe than I previously thought,” he muttered before lifting his son’s body then trotting toward the infirmary.

Celestia turned toward Night Light, worry written all over her face, only to have him say, "well, that just happened."

Chapter IV: The Smile Cast.

“I told you Sun Light is tougher than to die from a scratch on the head, but to die from embarrassment isn’t beyond him.” Mi Amore Cadenza joked as she marched a concerned filly and a grumpy colt toward the castle’s athenaeum.

“Please stop talking, or I will put on that dress,” Sun Light replied though cheeks were burning.

“I know you won’t do it Sunny, you know better than to tease Blueblood,” Cadance chuckled at the prospect, “Besides, after your sister’s first letter, there won’t be any dress for you to wear.”

Though he huffed, Sun Light smiled inwardly. He never thought that embarrassment coupled with an injury to the head would get him out of trouble that fast, at least he minimized his punishment to one week instead of a month so that is a win for him. Looking to his side, Twilight gave him an apologetic look with a mumbled “sorry,” which he promptly ignored.

“We’re here,” announced Cadance as she opened a large wooden door to a giant circular room with walls brimming with books, the middle of a room is a spacious clearance adorned by a desk facing the door, Cadance and Sun Light regarded Twilight with mild amusement as she entered in awe with her surroundings.

“Hello Cadance, Thank you kindly for your help,” Princess Celestia stepped out from behind the desk, then gave her niece a small hug. Turning toward the filly she said, “And hello to you as well Twilight Sparkle, hope you’re ready for your first day,” Twilight nodded in excitement. Celestia finally turned toward the colt of the group, “Sun Light, good to see you in good health again, you gave us quite a fright yesterday.”

“Sorry about that.”

“Will you be alright working today?” Celestia voiced her concern, only to be relieved when Sun Light’s blasé attitude.

“You worry too much about me, Princess,” he replied waving a hoof.

“Good,” Celestia nodded, “now that everything is settled, we should get started.”

“I’ll leave you to it then,” and with that Cadance left while waving everyone off.

“Now then, let’s start with our first lesson of the day,” Celestia then levitated four crystal spheres, each embroidered with a glowing insignia, the two foals’ eyes widened in awe as the four balls were set in front of them.

“Channeling!” Celestia announced cheerfully, Twilight clapped her hooves with glee before taking a notebook and a pen in her mouth, while the initial excitement of Sun Light faded into mild irritation over the subject that caused him so much trouble in the first place.

“Channeling is the art of being able to charge the correct amount of magic in order to cast a spell,” Celestia started her monolog at the same time as Twilight started furiously taking note, Sun Light merely huffed with frustrated boredom.

“Every spell requires a correct amount of magic to be cast correctly, less magic and the spell wouldn’t activate,” Celestia’s horn suddenly lights up with gold aura, the red ball’s glow suddenly intensified, but just as Celestia’s aura faded so did the glow of the crystal ball.

“But, if too much magic is channeled into the spell, it will overcharge and explode,” again, Celestia’s horn started glowing a slightly stronger aura than before, the red crystal ball suddenly burst into flames. Twilight jumped back in surprise, however Sun Light’s ears perked as more of Celestia's demonstration started to perk his interest. Celestia quickly retracted her magic and the flames receded.

“These,” Celestia pointed out by levitating the red crystal, “are enchanted crystals, each crystal is enchanted with an elemental spell. You have fire, water, air, and earth,” she said while point each in turn, “if you channel them correctly, their enchantments will glow brightly, as well as emitting a constant stream of their own element,” she demonstrated this by lighting her horn one more time, the glow seeped into the crystal and the insignia started to glow brightly, A crown of fire suddenly appeared around the crystal.

Celestia retracted her magic and the glow with the flames faded. She then took another crystal ball and placed it in front of Twilight, “Now you try it.”

With an eager nod, Twilight light up her horn in a lavender aura then placed as much of her magic inside the crystal ball as possible. The insignia glowed intensely but just as suddenly water erupted out of it in a large splash, causing a stunned yelp from Twilight, making her drop her spell immediately.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia’s voice snapped Twilight from her shock, “what do you know of these enchantments?”

Twilight stuttered a bit, “Um, I know that each element has a different way of activating it, fire is the easiest, then water, earth, and finally air."

“Very good,” Celestia applauded, “however, you mentioned them in order. Do you know what that order means?”

“It’s the order in which scholars learn their elements,” Twilight replied with more confidence.

“Good, but what does it mean to you?” Celestia ventured with her question.

Twilight stood a bit unsure, feeling as if she was walking into a trap, “it means I need to learn fire first, then water, then earth, and finally air.”

“Wrong.”

Both Celestia and Twilight turned to Sun Light, “what you just explained is the normal method of learning the elements as described by Clover the Clever,” he stood up, then started scanning the library, “Fire is the easiest because it requires the least amount of magic and, although it’s margin is a bit narrow, it is also easiest to sense and control.
Water require the largest amount of magic to activate, but it also has the largest margin to work with.
Earth requires more magic than fire but less magic than water, its margin is somewhat reasonable, though it’s the hardest to detect.
And finally air requires a larger amount than earth but less than water, it is the most difficult because it has the narrowest margin of them all.”

“How do you know that?” Twilight exclaimed a bit miffed at the colt’s cold treatment, “I never heard of such a thing.”

Ignoring Twilight’s inquiry, Sun Light started scanning the bookcases for their content. After finding his target, he reared one of the bookcases; and with a swift punch, a specific book suddenly fell from one of the high shelves and into his hoof, “You just overcharged a water enchanted crystal, which is theoretically very hard to do. What do you expect will happen to the other elements if you tried to channel them? They will overcharge just as easily,” he said while leafing through the pages of the chosen book.

“That is very good Sun Light. I knew choosing you as Twilight’s assistant would be a wise choice,” Celestia praised Sun Light, in return Sun lifted his head from the book with the terrifying glare that made Twilight shriek.

“That was you?” he asked acidly, much to the princess’s amusement.

“Do you think Cadance is the only matchmaker around here?” Celestia replied with a giggle.

“Good thing I’m staying here for a week and not a month then, no time for chemistry to build,” Sun Light pulled out his tongue in defiance, Celestia simply replied by smiling coyly. Sun Light pulled back his tongue. Shocked at the princess's lack of interest, he returned to his book. “There it is!” He suddenly exclaimed, handing Twilight the book at a specific page.

Twilight looked on Sun incredulously, then started to read:

Although for the majority of unicorns the standard elemental order applies, a decent twenty percent of all unicorns will, however, be unable to learn elements in such order due to variation in magical capacities. Those who are more or less capable than the norm might require a different order to learn them. Then there are the special cases who gain their cutiemark in a certain element, these are often the trickiest to teach…

“So what? I need to learn them from the one that requires the most magic to activate to the least?”

Sun Light shook his head again, “That is the regime for those who are usually lower than the norm, you will be learning them in this order,” he then leafed quickly until he reached the chapter in question.

Starswirl the Bearded Approach

The Starswirl the bearded Approach was developed by Starswirl the bearded himself during his attempt at learning elemental magic. The elemental order in which he learned was Earth, Water, Air, and finally Fire. His reasoning for such order was that Earth requires the most latent talent to channel, while Water would enhance capacity for high requiring spells, Air fine-tunes channeling through a limited margin, and finally Fire because it is the most difficult for those with high magical capacity.

Twilight sat on her haunches, baffled as to why none of her books contained such detailed but necessary information, she flipped the book to read the title. “Proficiency at Elemental Magic Volume 1,” it read. “That’s a master level reference book, there was no way I could find something like that in the local library.”

“I know,” Sun Light replied sarcastically, “Unfortunately, I read books that not even Master students can gain access to, which I presume is the real reason why Celestia chose me to be your assistant and not that silly matchmaker joke you said earlier?”

With a giggle, Celestia replied, “Looks like I am caught red-hoofed.”

Sun Light snorted, “Now I think I know where this is going, so if you’ll excuse me, I have some reading to catch up on,” he turned his back, and with another buck, another book fell into his hoof, “if you need anything, just call,” he sat at the far edge of the room, opened the book then lost himself the moment he opened it.

Twilight glared at him angrily, then turned toward Celestia, “He’s kind of a jerk, isn’t he?” she stated.

“He had a difficult couple of days,” Celestia replied warmly as ever, “Give him some time, he’ll come around.”

Twilight regarded her princess with a bit of skepticism, but chose to return to the subject at hand, “So what exactly am I supposed to do?”

“Sun Light was correct, you will be following Starswirl the bearded approach. For the next few days, you will learn how to activate these runes by the order he explained. This is an important step in learning how to control your powers, which is why we will not advance in our studies until you can successfully channel these runes, alright?”

Twilight nodded fervently, “Good,” Celestia exclaimed, then with a small nudge she said, “Get to it then.”

Celestia watched as Twilight trotted cheerfully toward the stone rune then immediately started channeling her magic into it, and as expected the rune overcharged and a pile of rubble suddenly appeared. Celestia regarded her student’s surprise with mild amusement, before shifting her attention toward her student’s assistant who was leisurely reading his book without a care. She sighed. What am I going to do with you? She thought inwardly. When suddenly an idea came into her head.

Turning toward her student, she addressed her absentmindedly, “will it be alright if I left you for a bit?”

Twilight turned toward her mentor a bit perplexed, “Sure,” she replied hesitantly.

After seeing Twilight returned to her task, Celestia walked toward the young colt at the other end of the room. She sat next to Sun Light who seemed oblivious of her presence, she noticed he was reading another advanced book about transmorfiguration spells, giggling she asked, “Reading anything interesting?”

“Not really, can’t seem to find what I’m looking for,” He replied automatically.

“Then, do you have a minute to talk?”

Sun Light glanced above his book to meet Celestia’s own gaze, “What do you want to talk about?”

“What is your purpose in life?” she asked in an all-knowing tone.

Sun muffled a chuckle, “I’m just a foal princess. I shouldn’t be thinking that far.”

“True,” Celestia scratched her chin, “but you did pass the state examination last year, something even Cadance isn’t expected to take in three more years. Treating you like a foal at this point isn’t doing you any justice.”

Sun Light’s smile vanished, “Is this going to be one of our serious talks?” he asked with a serious expression.

“If you want it to be,” Celestia replied innocently.

Sun sighed, “I just want to be taken seriously, is that too much to ask?”

“No, but what exactly have you done in order to be taken seriously?”

Sun Light opened his mouth in order to say something, but then nothing came out, he then thought for a moment, “I guess not much,” he concluded.

A moment of silence have passed, both the princess and the colt stared at the student training. Twilight was on her fourth try, she overcharged the spell four times and was now thinking of another way around it. She cast a tentative glance at the duo, earning a wave from the solar princess. Blushing she returned to her channeling and overcharging the crystal for the fifth time.

“She’s too distracted,” Sun Light noted, “I think watching her like that isn’t helping.”

“You are correct,” Celestia affirmed while stealing a glance between her student and the colt, something that didn’t go unnoticed.

“If you have any suggestions just spit them out already,” Sun Light replied irritated.

“How about finding a job?” Celestia proposed.

“And I’m guessing you have a job in mind?”

“In the matter of fact I do,” Celestia stood up, “come with me,” she walked toward the door.

Sun Light placed the book on the ground then followed the princess.

“Where are you going?” Twilight asked as they passed her.

“I’ll be right back,” Celestia replied quickly.

Twilight gave Sun Light a questioning glance, he only replied to her with a shrug.

A while later, Celestia guided in silence Sun Light into one of the many corridors in the castle. “This way leads to the bedchambers,” Sun Light noted.

“Correct,” Celestia confirmed, “we are heading toward Twilight Sparkle’s chambers.”

“What for?”

Celestia suddenly stopped, “Did you know how Twilight became my student?”

Sun Light thought for a moment, “She hatched a dragon egg, right?”

“Correct again, and who do you think is taking care of that dragon right now?”

“Wait, you were serious about that?”

Celestia gave Sun Light a scrutinizing look over, “You saw exactly how capable that filly is. Is there a reason for you to be belittling her to that extent?” she replied harshly.

Sun Light shrieked, “She figured my cutiemark before me,” he grumbled.

Celestia stared at Sun in utter shock, “You can’t be that foalish, can you?” Celestia mused over what she just said, and to whom she said it, “On second thought, of course, you can, you are just the same little vindictive foal who wanders my castle aimlessly,” she ended with a scrutinizing glare.

Sun Light flashed a bright smile before quipping, “Of course I am.”

Celestia sigh, “Well, I’m putting an end to it,” she turned then headed toward Twilight’s room, “starting today I am putting you in charge of Twilight Sparkle’s baby dragon, Spike. With your current duties as her assistant, you will be held responsible for him as well,” she suddenly turned toward Sun Light, and with her most authoritative voice, she commanded, “Do I make myself clear? Helios of Phoenicia.”

Sun Light stood in attention. Goosebumps running the long of his neck, “Using my name like that,” he erred, “you really left me with little choice there, Princess Celestia. Though I have to ask, why do you need me to babysit a hatchling?”

“None of the other sitters in the castle agreed to it, though they are not my first choice in the matter,” Celestia explained, “When the decision was made, your sister was the first pony I thought of.”

“Good choice,” Sun commented.

“Yes, her monster taming skills are as unfathomable as her strength, but she was leaving to join the guards,” Celestia sighed, “however, seeing as you have nothing else to do other than being mean spirited, I might as well put your knowledge to good use.”

Celestia suddenly turned toward one of the doors, “here we are.”

Sun Light walked into a room that looked much like the castle’s athenaeum, circular in shape, a large window adorning one of its fronts while the other walls are brimming with books.

“Way to go, Celestia, putting a live dragon in a library full of flammable books, I bet the little demon will burn this place to ashes before his mistress will have her way.”

“Sun Light please,” Celestia rolled her eyes, “if you want to insult somepony, at least be more tactful about it, your overdramatic speech loses a lot of insult potential.”

Sun Light followed the princess toward a staircase at the other side of the room, on the second floor Celestia opened the door to a homelier room, a small desk greeted them, facing it was a bed and a cradle, while a closet stood at the far side.

Celestia walked toward the cradle, then levitated something with her aura, “Hello there,” she cooed, “how was your nap?” a loud giggle was heard coming from whoever she was playing with.

Celestia looked at Sun Light, the warm smile that adorned her face was suddenly twisted into something twisted as she placed the creature on the ground in front of Sun Light, “Spike, meet your new caretaker.”

Sun Light stared intently as a small tail uncoiled around itself revealing a small purple lizard with a green crown garnishing his head and back, the young lizard gave a hearty yawn before opening its emerald eyes fully. The baby dragon took one look at Sun Light and flashed a wide smile that caused the young colt to recoil back and fall on his rump.

“This… This is…” Sun Light stammered.

Spike crawled toward the young colt. Giggling, he climbed on his belly, then his head. Then he took one of his ears with his two little paws and placed it in his mouth.

“He likes you,” Celestia jested with a grin, causing Sun Light to blush intently.

Sun Light wiped frivolously away the drool on his cheek that was coming from the baby dragon’s chewing. “Does my submission amuse you so?” he asked while standing up.

Celestia shook her head, “I hope that a time comes when you stop looking at grownups as evil creatures coming after you and your precious leisure, Sun Light,” she then walked toward the door, “You have one week to give me an answer about whether or not you want to work as Twilight Sparkle’s assistant and Spike’s caretaker. I am also planning on paying you as much as I pay an adult employee as an incentive. I urge you to consider your options carefully before giving me your word,” and with that, she left the colt with the baby dragon chewing on his ear.

Sun Light sighed, “Sheesh, she sure can make things sound ominous when she wants to.”

Standing up, he picked up the baby dragon from the top of his head, “Hey you,” he said with a stern expression, “my ear is not a chew toy.”

Spike simply laughed, beaming his wide smile in front of Sun Light, he stretched his paws in an attempt to grab his muzzle, causing Sun Light’s expression to soften considerably, “but Celestia be damned it, you are so damn cute.”

Placing the hatchling on the ground, Sun Light sat in front of him, “but having to care for you while helping your mistress with magic is going to take a lot of time, I doubt I’ll be able to research any spells in the process.”

Sun Light stared at the baby dragon for a long time, while the latter simply stared back, smiling and waving his tail. Suddenly a wicked smile coiled around the young colt’s mouth, “unless I want to learn a dragon egg hatching spell from the only pony in Equestria that managed to pull it off,” he jumped at the baby dragon, showering him with tickles, “then this job is going to be perfect for me.”

Author's Notes:

And here we are at the first crossroad. With this chapter finished I can rest assured and write the other part with peace.

Next up, Sun Light learns a spell or two.

Again, once the other part is done I'll resume updates at the rate of 1 chapter every 1-2 days. That way none of you will be bored, I hope.

Chapter V: The Magic of Parenthood

Author's Notes:

I think I advanced enough in the other parts of the story to know how to fix any discrepancy in the older chapter (namely for this arc).

Expect an update within the next couple of days.

Celestia’s sun was setting nicely across the horizon declaring the end of the day. At the Phoenician’s, two ponies were settling in for a simple dinner of daffodil sandwiches.

“So, how was your day?” Evening asked after swallowing his bite.

“It was good,” his son replied quickly.

“Anything special happened today?”

“Twilight managed to channel successfully her tertiary elements today,” Sun Light suppressed a laugh remembering how Twilight was prancing around after successfully activating twelve elements in a row, “Celestia said she’ll teach her a new spell next week.”

“And Spike? I hope you are not having too much trouble looking after him.”

“Nah, he’s no trouble. In fact, he’s a lot smarter than he looks.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.”

….

“So…”

“Just ask the question, dad.”

“The deadline is tomorrow Sun Light, have you made a decision yet?”

Sun Light regarded his father with mild amusement, “you can relax dad. I’m taking that job.”

“Oh?” Evening straightened his back while skepticism crept into his eyes.

Sun Light noticed immediately the change, “Oh what?”

“It seems to me that you made up your mind very quickly, questionably so,” He leaned on the table, putting two hooves under his chin, “what are you really up to Sun Light Helios of Phoenicia?”

Sun’s eye twitched, “If you must know, I have found that Twilight Sparkle and little Spike to be very entertaining. So much so that keeping them company will be a unique experience that will keep me out of boredom until the next century, or at least until Moon Chaser returns.”

“And what of the task your sister gave you?” Evening’s glare intensified.

Sun Light waved his hoof nonchalantly, “You worry too much over what my sister and I plot together.”

“I ought to; if I left you both for your own demise, you might take over Equestria,” Evening quipped.

“I’ll have her task done by the time she returns,” Sun replied before taking the last bite out of his sandwich, “If you don’t need anything else, I’m going to bed, I need an early start tomorrow if I am to find all the research materials Celestia have asked of me in time for the lesson,” he said while standing up in preparation to head toward his room.

“Actually, there is something I wish to talk with you about. Would you mind taking your seat back?”

“What is it?”

“It’s about the incident with the armory.”

Sun Light took back his seat, his heart was pounding hard in his chest. Although he knew this talk was coming; but the fact that it took his father the entire week to bring it up meant that something was happening behind his back. And he hated things that happen behind his back, “shoot.”

“I had the incident investigated by three different agencies, Equestria’s secret services, the police department, and an outside investigator,” with each name popping up, Evening placed an envelope from his hoof compartment on the table, “You see, I couldn’t exactly believe what I was reading. So I decided not to jump to any conclusion and listen to your side of the story. That is; if you are willing to tell me what really happened...”

Helios gulped, “Have you talked about this with Moon Chaser?”

“Moon got nothing to do with this, though I know for a fact that she knows.”

Sun Light hesitated, he tried to avoid his father’s gaze by fidgeting left and right.

“Just what are you afraid of Sunny?" Evening yelled, but it wasn't out of his anger that he did, "That I'll get mad at you? That I'll laugh at you? What is done is done, there is no point in dwelling on it, but for once I want to hear the truth from you," No, that was a yell of frustration, of despair, the yell that comes out of every parent that have failed repeatedly to reach out to his foal, "Is that too much to ask?”

Sun Light gulped, “No I think not.”

“Then tell me.”

“I…” Sun Light took a deep breath, then after exhaling, he stated, “I think I teleported inside the armory,” suddenly, he shielded his face with his hoof.

“Seriously,” Evening tsked, “You can be such a foal sometimes.”

“You’re not mad? Or going to laugh? Or send me to be dissected for experimental purpose?”

“What? No! What gave you that idea?” Evening sighed, “I’m actually a bit proud that you managed to pull something like that off.”

“So… you believe me?”

Evening tapped at the stack of papers to his left, “I have three reports that back you up. Initial teleportation magic surge happens when casting a teleportation spell without proper projection, that’s what caused the explosion in the armory. It also explains how you got in there in the first place since it is nearly impossible to do so otherwise.”

Sun Light gave a sigh of relief, “Good because Cadance laughed at me when I told her.”

“You told the one pony you hated most, but not me?” Evening Star's answer was a bit miffed, but no sooner did he relax after noticing his son’s hesitancy, “Never mind that. Tell me, what are you going to do now?”

“Well, I need to prove that I can do magic beyond any reasonable doubt.”

“And how are you going to prove that?”

“By hatching a dragon egg.”

“Wow, you sure are aiming big,” just like his sister, Evening thought, “How are you planning on doing that?”

“I’m going to trick Twilight Sparkle into teaching me.”

Evening Star snorted, “You know, you don’t need to go that far. You are an earth pony, after all, if you teleported in court you can have anypony believe that you can do it.”

“There is a problem in that,” Sun Light fidget nervously, “I haven’t been able to teleport since the first time I did it.”

Evening Star’s jaw dropped, for the first time in the short of the life of his son, he heard him say something so nonsensical it twisted his thoughts into knots.

“Look I didn’t have time okay,” Sun Light bellowed defensively, “As cute of a monster Spike is, he can be such a hoofull that it’s next to impossible to do anything when I’m with him and don’t get me started on Twilight Sparkle, she’s needier than Cadance on a bad day, please get me that book, I’m not sure that’s was asked of me, are you sure this is correct. Gah, she’s so infuriating… What are you laughing at?”

Sun Light’s cheeks were burning with embarrassment as he watched his father literally fall off his chair laughing, “Stop that!” Sun Light whined, “You said you wouldn’t laugh!”

“Sorry…” his father could only muster between fits of laughter, “Sorry… It’s just that… you sounded like… a married couple…” with that he fell on his back laughing again.

“Dad~!” Sun Light’s expression screamed aghast at that moment.

Evening managed to calm his fits, “But you know, Sunny, I’m very happy that you finally confined to me your problems,” standing up, Evening walked toward his son then gave him a hug, “I want you to know that whatever your problems are, you can always come to me for help.”

“But won’t you get angry with me when I get in trouble?” Sun Light pulled away a little, “I really don’t like it when you’re angry with me.”

“True, I might get angry if you break a rule, I might even yell from time to time. But that doesn’t mean I will stop listening,” Evening mussed his son’s mane, “I will always listen to what you have to say, no matter what.”

For the first time since his sister’s leave, Sun’s gentle smile appeared on his face as he buried his face deeper into his father’s chest.

“Do you want me to get you into bed like old times?” Evening proposed.

“Only if you read me those investigation reports before I sleep,” Sun Light joked, earning a laugh from his father, which he echoed as well.

“No seriously, I need to see these reports.”

Chapter VI: How to Train your Magically Hatched Dragon?

“Sign here, here and here.”

Since Evening Star is the sole responsible for his son’s action, it was him who signed Sun Light’s contract on his behalf. He did so after careful reading and consideration of what type of work Sun Light will be in charge of.

“Done,” he announced to Celestia’s secretary, Kibitz.

Kibitz snorted, “To think that Celestia kept a monster like you so close, and now your own offspring is following your path. Makes me wonder what her highness is really up to.”

Evening Star spat the pen in his mouth, planting it on the wall like an arrow, then flashed his most political grin ever, “Secretary Kibitz, you’ve always been a good friend of mine. So please, never again insult my son in front of me, or you might just find how monstrous I can really be,” however, he failed to hide his murderous aura, causing Kibitz to stiff all over.

“I am but a pen that is guided by her majesty’s will, if she asks of me to help then I will help,” Kibitz replied three pitches higher than normal.

“And I am her spear, swore to her protection by an oath more sacred than heaven itself,” Evening countered with full vigor.

“But are you really?” Kibitz asked incredulously.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Evening’s aura faded as his expression grew to a more serious one

“It means, minister, your loyalties is always and forever will be to your family first,” Kibitz explained, more relaxed as the intensity of the situation died down, “if your family had chosen a different path, we might not be having this conversation.”

“Are the papers signed yet?” Sun Light peeked at the adults from the crack of the door, breaking all residual tension between them, “I need to get the filly to Celestia before she chews my ear off for being tardy.”

Evening turned toward his son, a soft smile adorning his lips, “Already signed them, would you mind if I tagged along on your first day?”

“Don’t you have work to do?” Sun Light suspiciously inspected his father smile.

“No need to worry, Kibitz will take over them for a day,” Evening then turned toward Kibitz and with a coy smile that somehow felt more threatening than a prowling hydra, “Am I right mister Celestia’s pen?”

“I-I-I…“ Kibitz stammered as he felt his time nearing its end, “I’ll do it,” he finally admitted defeat.

“But don’t you have your work cut out for you, grandpa secretary?” Sun Light asked with genuine concern in his eyes.

“Don’t worry about me, young one,” Kibitz waved Sun Light off, “I’ll manage somehow.”

“Alright then,” Evening was suddenly at the door, “Let’s go.”

“Dad, how many times have I told you not to bully grandpa Kibitz like that,” Sun Light scolded as he left the room.

“Sunny please, if anypony can handle my teasing, it’s Kibitz,” Evening replied just as he closed the door after his son.

Kibitz sat back in his armchair, relief finally washing over him, “That was close!” he exclaimed loudly, “His presence can certainly make a pony tremble if he wills it,” after a few moments of relaxing he straightened his back, grabbed his quill with his aura then returned to his work, “I guess it’s fine, having a monster like that around here. As long as his leash remains in the right hoof,” he exclaimed to no one in particular.

---

Further down the hall, father and son were walking side by side.

“[What did the contract say]?” Sun asked.

“[You can read it if you want to, I had Kibitz send me a copy to my office],” Evening answered calmly.

“[Can’t you at least give me a summary]?” Sun pressured.

“[It basically explained what your job is, and your schedule, there was a clause about your salary of 250 bits and an explanation on how you can earn overtime. Oh and that Celestia is your superior, not Twilight Sparkle,]” Evening summarized.

A mischievous smile appeared on Sun Light’s face, “[good to know.]”

“[There is also a clause on a number of comebacks you are allowed to use,]” Evening Star quipped.

Sun Light hesitated before concluding, “[Now I know you’re just making that up.]”

“[Suit yourself,]” Evening Star shrugged, but upon hearing his son’s grumbling he said, “[You know, I see no reason for you to hate this filly as much as you do.]”

“[She managed to figure out my cutiemark before I did,]” Sun Light reacted defensively, “[and everypony just wants to shower her with praise simply because she is the Princess’s disciple. So annoying.]”

“[So its pride and envy that caused so much animosity,]” Evening concluded, “[I expected better from you, you know,]” he sighed.

Sun grumbled, he knew his reasons were petty, but it’s more than that, something about Twilight just doesn’t sit right with him, but he couldn’t place his hoof on it. Because of this, he didn’t want his father, or even his sister for that matter to know about that.

Noticing his son’s deep contemplation, Evening Star spoke, “[Or is there some other reason else you aren’t telling me about?]”

Sun Light hesitate, even though he swore to himself last night that he will be more open with his father, it still was easier said than done, “[It’s just my instincts],” he caved in, “[Something about her just doesn’t…click, you know...]”

Evening Star smiled in recognition, “[Oh I know,]” he quipped, “[like how her eyes sparkle when she looks at you, or how she smells too good to be true.]”

Sun Light stared at his father in shock, “[Oh? and what is that suppose to mean?]”

“[Can't you tell?]”

“[If you think you know me better than I know myself then please, don't hold back,]” Sun Light stopped in front of Twilight’s chamber’s door.

But before he could knock, Evening Star let out a chuckle, “[I think she's your first crush.]”

Sun Light froze in his place, “[don’t even joke about that,]” he said to his father’s amusement.

Twilight Sparkle opened the door shyly, immediately her face brightened when she saw her assistant, “I thought I heard a familiar voice but didn’t understand the language, what type of Equish was this?”

“It wasn’t Equish,” Sun Light replied a couple of pitches higher than usual, a blush adorning his face. He tried to shack it off by rubbing the back of his head, “it was Phoenician, the language where my dad came from.”

“So cool,” Twilight brightened three folds, “Do you think you could teach me?”

“I- I guess,” Sun Light stammered.

“Nice,” Twilight jumped with excitement, “I’ll go and get Spike then we can head toward Celestia to learn that new spell.”

“[Well?]” Evening Star hovered above Sun Light with his all-knowing grin.

“[I just thought how better she’ll sound if she ever talked in Phoenician,]” Sun Light mumbled, shortly before glowering at his father who he didn’t need to see to figure out that he was snickering at his expense. “[You,]” he jeered, “[you used your inception on me, didn’t you?]”

“[Oh, grow up,]” Evening scolded, though he couldn’t get the smile completely out of his face, “[you two make an adorable couple.]”

Sun Light gasped loudly, “[Never, will I indulge you in ANY act you might find me cute.]”

Twilight came trotting with Spike on her back, “Ready to go?”

“Spiky!” Sun Light jumped with joy, scooped up the baby dragon on the filly’s back and starting cooing, “Who is my favorite baby dragon, who is?”

Spike jovially accepted the colt’s embrace, smearing his drool all over his black coat, giving it a glistening sheen.

Evening opened his leg compartment, then pulled his handkerchief. He knelt toward his oblivious son, then started wiping away some of the drool, “[Right now, you look more adorable than the first day you were born,]” he whispered softly in his son's ear while making sure Sun Light noticed his smirk.

Sun Light’s smile immediately turned into a scowl. “[I just lost this argument, didn’t I?]” He muttered.

“[Big times,]” his father replied jovially, earning a hiss from his son.

Evening ignored Sun Light, then focused his attention on the little filly next to him, giggling silently to herself. “Would it be alright if I tagged along for today, little one?” he asked her warmly.

“Sure,” Twilight replied while beaming a smile.

“Shall we go then?”

“Let’s.”

And with that, the trio went their way toward the Royal Athenaeum where Princess Celestia was waiting.

---

Princess Celestia greeted the newcomers, “Minister Evening Star, what a surprise seeing you here today!”

“Greetings Princess,” Evening gave a bow, “will it be alright if I stay and watch for today?”

“Evening,” Celestia responded with a grave expression on her face, “Who is it this time?”

“Kibitz,” Evening replied immediately.

Celestia sighed, “When will you two ever stop pestering each other?”

“And where will the fun in that be?” he answered her sarcastically, Causing Celestia to roll her eyes at him.

“You can watch silently from the corner,” she ordered by pointing at the desk and he obliged by walking toward it.

“Sun,” She then addressed Sun Light, who merely looked at her droopily, “This is your first day on the job, you should be ecstatic, is something the matter?”

“Nothing to concern yourself, princess,” He answered, giving his father the stink eye. Evening noticed and immediately waved at his son with his ‘I know you are angry with me and I don’t care’ smile that he normally wore during the cabinet meetings. Sun Light replied by sticking his tongue out, only for his father’s smile to widen.

What am I going to do with you two? Celestia sighed inwardly, better not dwell upon their mischief, lest I might worry myself to my own grave. “Then would you mind gathering these books while I see through Twilight’s homework?” she levitates the list of books toward him.

“Sure thing,” he grabbed the list of books then trotted toward the designated bookcase, Spike in tow.

“Now Spike, if you to aspire to be anything more than a bowl of drooling adorableness you need to learn the basics of a working library,” he explained as Spike stood in attention placing his paw on his head in a salute.

Evening’s inquisitive stare did not go unnoticed, Sun Light looked at him and said, “Just watch,” before returning to the baby dragon.

“Since you still don’t understand that much about subjects and such, it’s best to teach you the simple things,” Sun Light walked toward the main desk, then pulled the upper drawer, and from it, a thick binder.

“This,” he then placed the binder between him and the baby dragon, “is the library log," he tapped on the binder, then waved over the Athenaeum, "The placement of every book in any library is written in its log,” He opened the binder then leafed through a random page showing a table the size of the page portraying six main columns.

“This,” Sun Light pointed at the first column, “is the name of the book,” he took a random book from a nearby shelf and pointed with his hoof at the title. He then pointed at the first letter of the title, “When you want to find a book, you look for the first Letter.” He enunciated on letter while tapping on the first letter of the random book he chose.

Sun Light flipped the book in his hoof and read the title, ‘Shamans, a reference guide’, it read. Then pointed again at the S of the word Shamans, “This is an S,” he told the baby dragon, “Now say it with me, S.”

“ARGH,” Spike replied, following carefully every movement the young colt is making.

“Close enough,” Sun Light concluded, before continuing in his explanation, “Now, we only need to search for the letter S.” He kept leafing through the binder until the letter S appeared on the top page, “S” he repeated to the baby dragon while pointing at the giant letter.

“Now we need to find the second letter H,” he pointed at the second letter of the word, and Spike almost immediately nodded in agreement, Sun Light started leafing through the S section until he found his word.

“There is it,” he pointed to the word in the binder and Spike let out a coo of awe. However there are three books that start with the word Shaman, Sun Light noted. “Now, which of these books is the one we are looking for?” Sun Light asked after putting both the book and the open binder in front of Spike.

Spike squinted at the binder, then at the book, then at the binder. Evening Star looked curiously from behind the dragon, only to be genuinely surprised when the baby dragon pointed at the correct book from the list in the binder.

“Very good!” Sun Light exclaimed as he nuzzled the dragon while rubbing his head, with Spike shouting gibberish of joy at the young colt’s treatment.

“That’s amazing!” Evening Star clapped to his son who beamed back with pride, “How did you do that?”

“I turned my job into a simple associative game with him as a player,” Sun Light explained happily, “It’s quite remarkable how fast he learns things that way.” He then placed Spike on the ground, then pulled the list of books that Celestia asked of him, “Now that the warm-up round is up, let’s get to the real…” He trailed as he started reading the necessary literature.

“Is something wrong?”

But before his son could explain, a hail of books started falling on the trio.

Evening didn’t waste a single breath, almost immediately he unsheathed his hidden spear, then with a single swoop, knocked all the falling books away from the children.

“Dad, wai..!” Sun Light tried to explain, but to no avail as Evening scooped up both colt and hatchling and dashed quickly to where Celestia has been.

“Are you alright princess?” He asked with all urgency…

….only to be blown off by the princess who ran in the opposite direction screaming, “Twilight, are you alright?”

“Wha?!” Evening asked as he watched the princess running toward a pile of books, letting go of his son and the baby dragon.

“Its initial teleportation surge, dad! No need to go super warrior on us.” Sun Light scolded his father while cradling a crying Spike.

Evening turned toward his son with an unsure expression.

“Twilight have just managed her first teleportation,” He explained acidly as Celestia helped her student out of a pile of books.

Chapter VII. The curse of jealousy.

Twilight was rushed toward the medical ward, although she was slightly bruised, she literally rattled the castle, everypony that is anypony was worried about her, and the pony they asked to know what happened was Sun Light.

And Oh how he loathed repeating the same story over and over again, first to her parents, then to the guards then to the cooks and servants, and when Prince Blueblood came to ask him how she was, he literally snapped.

“She’s a two minute walk in the medical ward, if you are so worried sick about her, go there and check up on her yourself,” He yelled, and that was the last time anypony asked him about her, and then he disappeared out of sight.

Since then, two days have passed since Sun Light stepped inside the castle. Evening Star went to the only place where he knew his son would be hiding, the western tower roof.

Because the western tower overlooked Canterlot Mountain, it is often regarded as the useless tower of the bunch. Consequently, it is seldom guarded and even less so visited. Sun Light took a liking to it from an early age. However, in order to alleviate his father’s worry, he only goes to the roof where pegasi might spot him if he gets into trouble.

Upon reaching the bottom of the tower, Evening noticed a lot of dust getting blown off the roof. Shaking his head he went inside.

The more he climbed toward the top, the louder the noise in the roof were getting. If he knew any better he swore he was hearing someone whizzing at very high speed.

The moment he reached the top of the stairs, he hesitated. He leaned his ear on the door, hoping to get an idea of what is going on, but he only heard whooshing.

He took a deep breath, then quickly opened the door, “Sun Light,” he screamed only to get blown away by a draft created by something moving at high speed.

Evening Star stared in awe as Sun Light skipped left and right barely touching the ground one instance only to be launched to another location, It’s almost as if he’s hovering above the ground, he thought as an old ache came crawling to his body. Let’s see how this goes, Evening stepped back into the shadows while carefully calculating his son’s trajectory.

No, skip. No, skip. No, skip. Sun Light have lost count of how many times he failed, a hundred? A thousand? For some reason, he kept repeating the same movement over and over again even though he knew it wouldn’t work. Perhaps it will work if I go faster, he thought… was it this morning or yesterday’s morning? He could no longer tell. All he knew was that the speed made him focus, it was a distraction, and it was what he needed.

No, skip. Sun Light was so caught up in his movement that he did not even see his father’s hoof wrapping around his chest, forcing him into an immediate stop before slamming him on the ground with shattering force while locking him in place using a stranglehold. “Easy, easy,” Evening ordered his son who was struggling under his grasp.

Only when he heard his son yell, “Dad, you’re hurting me,” did he let go.

“Sorry about that,” Evening said after releasing his son. Sun Light twisted over himself writhing from the pain of the slam, or the pain from the hold, or the pain from the stop… he honestly could not tell which part of him was truly in pain. Suddenly, his father’s hoof lifted him off the ground, “Come on. Walk it off,” Evening ordered, and Sun Light followed.

“What kind of a father would do something like that to his son?” Sun Light asked as the pain started to dull.

“When doing the heavenly steps, your energy rebounds from your hoof to your chest midway before returning to your hoof, which is why you exhale after the push and inhale before it, and you skip between heartbeats,” Evening Star explained, “I aimed for that high point so the feeling of pain is only due to being in shock, your earth pony magic as you describe it should have protected you from any harm. By the way, who taught you such an advanced martial arts techniques?

Sun Light looked at his father dumbfounded, “Martial arts? What in Tartarus are you talking about?” he exclaimed as the pain vanished, “I was only trying to…”

“…Teleport?” Evening finished his son’s sentence.

Sun Light nodded, “Celestia said that the second time is always the hardest because you need to ‘conquer your fear of the first try’,” He sighed, “I started out with what I was trying to do last time, jump higher, but I feared I might jump from the tower. So instead I decided on jumping further instead, and I kept repeating myself over and over again for some reason…” Sun Light trailed off for a moment, “the rhythm kept me from thinking.”

“Thinking about what?”

“About my job,” Sun Light replied, “about my future, about Celestia…About Her.” He said acidly.

Evening Star sighed, “What is it about Twilight Sparkle that you hate so much?”

“Where do I begin?”

“You have to start from somewhere.”

Sun Light sighed, “You aren’t going to let that go are you,” his father only kept an anticipating gaze as a response, he sighed again, “It’s because… forget it.” He picked himself and headed toward the door.

“If you don’t talk I wouldn’t know how to help,” Evening yelled as his son reached midway to the door, “We’ve been over this Sun Light, I will listen, I just want you to speak.”

“It’s because everything became about her!” Sun Light sudden outburst caused Evening to reel back, “I come home and you ask me about her! I go to the castle and Celestia asks me about her! Everywhere I walk everyone asks me about her! She gets a bruise because of a book and everyone rushes to check if she’s okay! While I nearly died in that armory and it took You, of all ponies, an entire day to even think to check up on me, and you are still asking why I hate her?”

Sun Light sniffed, when did he start crying? He could not tell, wiping away his tears he said, “I must look really pathetic now, huh?”

Evening walked toward his son, then with a big hug he whispered, “You did beautifully.” Letting go, he grabbed Sun Light by his shoulders, “But have you thought for a moment as to why everyone is so worried about her?”

Sun Light looked down, “No,” he gave a solemn reply.

Evening sat beside his son, then gestured for him to sit as well, “You know, ever since the first time you wandered off on your own, my heart grips whenever I see you take a step out of my sight. I get these weird thoughts, Is he okay? Will he return safely? What if something really bad happened to him? But every time you step outside of that house, you manage to return to it safe and sound. As the years have gone past, I managed to learn to temper my imagination with reality. So whenever you go out now, I just reassure myself that you will always return to me safely.”

“But what does all this have to do with my situation?” Sun Light asked.

Evening Star giggled, then pulled his son into a tight hug, “Sunny, you are a strong, exceptionally smart young colt, but you need to learn empathy. Twilight wasn’t raised in a castle, she didn’t always talk to the princess, she was never around guards before; of course, everyone would be worried. Everyone here wants what’s best for both of you, but who among you two need the more attention? The colt who memorized every secret passageway in the castle? Or the filly who, according to Barrack Thirteen, still don’t know the way to the bathroom?”

“I guess this is something to consider,” Sun Light concluded.

“Talk to her Sunny, it always helps to talk to other,” Evening suggested, “you of all ponies should know that.”

Sun Light opened his mouth to say something but then bit back his tongue. Evening sighed at his son’s discretion, “You told me once that you wanted to learn from her how to hatch a dragon’s egg, aren’t I right?”

“Yeah, you are,” Sun Light replied dejectedly.

“Then it will help you a lot to simply get to know her, who knows, maybe she’ll tell you her secret without much effort on your part.”

Sun Light thought for a moment, “Fine, I’ll see what I can do,” He said in exasperation.

“That is all I need to hear,” Evening stood up, and started walking toward the door, “and one last thing.”

“What?” His son replied in haste.

“Take a shower, you stink.”

Sun Light looked at his father quizzically, he the lifted his arm and took a whiff, only to regret ever doing mere moments later.

Author's Notes:

Just a side note, this chapter with the following three chapters were supposed to have been a single chapter which I thought was too long ... enjoy

Chapter VIII. Honesty’s binding

After his third hot shower, Sun Light found himself in a satisfying hygienically condition to go out for the rest of the day. He debated whether he should check the library, pester some scholars, or just go and watch the affairs at the court.

However one look at the calendar and he chose to do none of the above. Horror struck him as he discovered that he hadn't checked on his charge for two days. Poor little Spike got swept away without anypony paying him any heed as his mistress got a book to the head, literally.

The thought that Twilight is with him alleviated his worry a bit. No matter how busy Twilight gets, she somehow always found the time to take care of the little guy. That is one of her most genuine attributes that Sun Light took note off.

As he walked toward her bedchamber, another thought occurred to Sun Light, how to broach the subject and actually start talking to the filly? Ever since she came here, he has been trying to minimize the level of communication with her, he despised every waking minute he would spend with her, regardless of whatever entertainment she would provide. Why does being passive aggressive have to be so hard? He thought as the target door came to view.

With a sigh, he lifted his hoof and knocked on the door three times. “Go away,” came the immediate response from within the library, “I’m fine and I don’t want anypony checking up on me,” since it was preceded with a very soft sniff, Sun Light could only sigh again at the deranged mood of his boss’s pupil.

“Then thank Celestia that I don’t really care,” Sun Light lied, he doesn’t need to her right away, “Now open the door Sparkle, I need to check on your dragon.”

There was a moment of pause, then the door opened a crack, “Why should I let you in?” The filly behind the door said, adamant on not letting the door open more than a crack.

“Oh, let’s see. There are several reasons why you should let Me, of all ponies, in,” Sun Light argued, “there is the I’m your assistant reason which you should know too well, there is the I’m your dragon’s caretaker, there is the I get paid by the hour and I have missed two days of work. And finally, there is the I can destroy the door with my earth pony strength and walk in. You can always choose which one you like.”

In a blink of an eye, Twilight opened the door, caught Sun Light, whisked him in, and then closed the door rapidly behind her.

“Why all the hiding?” Sun Light asked once inside.

“Because I’m studying and everypony keeps disturbing me to check up on me,” Twilight answered after closing the door, “Now do what you came here to do and leave me alone,” she ordered.

“Fine, fine, so snippy,” Sun Light said in a low voice.

“I heard that!” Twilight yelled.

“Oh, bite me.” Sun Light watched as Twilight stuck out her tongue at him before returning to her study.

With a head shake, Sun Light went upstairs. It took him a moment to reach the crib and wake the sleeping hatchling that lay within.

“Hello there,” Sun Light cooed as Spike let out a shriek of joy, “Did you miss me? Cause I missed you too!”

Setting him on the ground, Sun Light gave the baby dragon a light nuzzle causing the dragon to laugh. “Now to get your head back in the game,” Sun Light pointed at himself, “I’m Sun Light,” He said all cheerfully, “Sun! Light!”

However, Spike didn’t pay him any mind and peeked behind Sun Light toward the door.

Sun Light noticed; he turned to where Spike was looking and saw a tuft of purple rushing behind the door. A smile crept on his face. “Alright Spike,” Sunny the turned toward the door and pointed Spike toward the purple bundle, “This is Twilight, say it with me, Twiii! Liiight!”

“Atata!” Spike said while stretching a paw toward Twilight.

“Close enough,” Sun Light concluded with a giggle, “Hey Atata, your baby dragon wants you.”

With a huff, Twilight Sparkle appeared behind the door, “My name is Twilight,” she said assertively, why does he always have to tease her like that? He is infuriating! “And stop teaching my dragon weird things!” She saw how he’s constantly trying to get him to do stuff, doesn’t he know that Spike is still a baby?

“As in how to talk?” Sun Light feigned sarcasm.

“Yes,” Twilight said immediately before realizing her mistake, “I mean no,” For some reason, he constantly keeps outwitting her, “I mean dragons don’t talk.”

“Are you sure?” Although his voice seemed genuine, Twilight couldn’t help but feel the satire coming out of it, “Have you ever met a dragon before to know for certain?”

“No, but I read that in a book,” How long is he going to keep annoying her like that?

“Just because it’s written in a book doesn’t mean it’s true,” Sun Light argued calmly, yet every word he said felt like an insult, “there is a lot of complexity in the voices he is making, almost as much as a toddler, I think teaching him how to speak is worth a shot,” There he goes again, why can’t he accept things as facts?

“Why can’t you just do as you are told and be done with it?” Twilight snapped at Sun Light’s face, “You are nothing more than a lousy assistant who doesn’t know his place!”

The moment those words left Twilight’s mouth, a chill ran down her spine. Shaking her head, she glared at the young colt. She wasn’t really sure but for that brief moment, she felt in actual mortal danger.

Sun Light inhaled deeply then exhaled, he carefully took a step forward. “I am Not your assistant. I am Celestia’s assistant in teaching you. Never forget that,” he said with the most serious frown on his face.

Both filly and colt stared deep into each other’s eyes, neither willing to compromise. Spike looked at both his caretakers’ faceoff, he could not understand what could possibly prompt them to act this way. He wobbled toward Sun Light who usually pays him the most attention. Lifting himself up, he tugged at the young colt’s chest.

Almost immediately, all seriousness from Sun Light’s face melted away. He looked down at Spike with a comely smile and said, “Sorry to frighten you little one, I guess we’ll be continuing our little training elsewhere today.”

With a swift lift, Spike found himself on Sun Light’s back, he climbed on his head and gave Twilight a concerned stare. “Now if you’ll pardon us,” Sun Light told Twilight as he started walking toward the door.

“Wait, we’re not done yet!” Twilight exclaimed, “Come back,” she said while following the colt outside, “Why do you hate me so much?”

That word made Sun Light stop dead in his tracks, “I’ve been asked that question so many times since you came,” he said all nostalgia in his voice, “but I guess I can tell you the truth.”

He turned toward her, and the look on his face made Twilight sit down. He wasn’t angry, he wasn’t mean, in fact, if she wanted to describe it she would say he had absolutely no emotions in his face, and for some reason that frightened her even more, “The reason I harbor so much animosity toward you is because you are exactly like Sunset Shimmers, a loudmouth know-it-all who thinks she can pick on me and boss me around just because I am the only earth pony foal in the castle.”

Twilight’s mouth hung open, “But I’m not Sunset Shimmers… whoever she is,” she said defensively, “I don’t care that you are an earth pony nor do I want to boss you around or bully you or anything.”

“Oh yeah? Then what was that outburst a few moments ago?” Sun Light rolled his eyes, “Or when you were learning your secondary elements, or when you were doing your arithmetic homework? I can go on you know.”

“Well, how else should I talk with you? You are the scariest colt around!”

For a moment Sun Light’s brain froze, he stared at Twilight wide eyes, mouth agape, then burst into laughter.

“Stop laughing, this isn’t funny!” Twilight protested, only to be ignored, “This is serious, just a moment ago I thought you were going to hit me.”

That snapped Sun Light back into attention, “I would never!” he exclaimed gravely. But when he saw Twilight shriek in front of him, he let out a sigh, “I guess I hold part of the blame as well,” he finally admitted, “if I gave you the chance you so rightly deserved then we might not be having this conversation.”

“I am sorry,” he said while giving a bow.

“I guess I am sorry too,” Twilight said giving the young colt a long stare.

“Well, if you don’t want anything else, I’ll be taking my leave,” Sun Light gave a small salute and started heading toward the door.

“Wait.”

He stopped and turned toward Twilight, “What is it?”

“Can you help me with teleportation?”

“Sure,” he said, “let’s see what you got.”

“Well, I haven’t been able to do it yet, and I don’t want to disappoint Princess Celestia,” Sun Light snorted, earning a frown from Twilight, “What was that for?”

“Celestia won’t get disappointed if you failed, Sparkle,” Twilight crossed her hooves, “If she finds out that you can’t do it, she will most likely change your regime and that’s that.”

Sun Light walked toward Twilight then wrapped his hoof around her, “You need to understand that Celestia trusts you completely, regardless of your competence. She will never doubt you just because you failed.”

Spike let out a shriek and jumped on Twilight’s head happily munching her ear. Twilight blushed with a smile on her face, but then she smelled something, “Sun Light, I think you need a shower,” she stated calmly.

“Again!” Sun Light couldn’t believe himself, sure he neglected his hygiene for three days straight but he should be clean after three showers, should he? “I need to stop going to that old tower,” he concluded absentmindedly, then turned to Twilight, “Now show me your teleportation,” he said without skipping a beat.

Taking heart, Twilight puffed her and started walking toward her private study, “I didn’t manage to teleport but I have done extensive research on the topic.”

“The most common technique used is to open a wormhole to your destination. Usually, you do so through projection, which is the main element of teleportation,” Twilight explained.

“That’s good. Have you tried any projection techniques yet?”

“No, not yet. I have read about many techniques, visualization, walkthrough, physical manifestation, but none I understood completely to do on my own.”

Sun Light walked next to Twilight’s desk, and the book she’s reading caught his eye. “Teleportation for Dummies,” he read out loud, “Really?” he finally deadpanned.

“Okay, I’m desperate,” Twilight replied defensively.

“Fine,” he said before throwing the book in the air, Twilight watched in awe as the book landed properly straight into its designated area of the library, “let’s see what you’ve got. “

Twilight nodded, “Okay, so visualization is the easiest one, it requires me to…”

But before Twilight could finish, Sun Light had his hoof in her mouth, “I didn’t ask for an explanation, I asked for a preview. Show me what you can do.”

He slowly lifted his hoof from her mouth, Twilight spat something, “Honestly, what were you doing? You taste like charcoal.”

With a head shake, Sun Light sighed, “Will you please stop dancing around the subject and show me what you can do?”

“I can’t do it! Okay!” Twilight snapped at him, causing him to rear, “Every time I try I get an image of books falling on me, and then I fail to channel correctly and the spell implodes," she sniffed, was admitting failure always that hard? She knew one thing though, she was going to be at the receiving end of a jeer, taunts labeling her a failure, Celestia throwing her out of the castle. Her parents disowning her, Shining Armor disappointed in her, she'll end up lonely living in a box with Spike her only company, that is, is Sun Light decided to let her have him of course, the know-it-all colt would surely put a fight for his custody, then there would be courts, and she wouldn't be able to pay the fees, and...

...Her thoughts, however, were interrupted when a warm though kind of putrid feel wrapped around her. She glanced from her watery eyes to see Sun Light wrapping his hooves around her in a hug, “Now you are just messing with me,” she said with a sniff but made no effort of breaking his hug.

Sun Light broke his hug and glared at Twilight, “Stop with the smell joke already, I’m trying to cheer you,” he deadpanned, causing Twilight to giggle.

“Good then,” Sun Light let go of Twilight completely, “let me tell you what happened three days ago. You were impatient.” Twilight raised a dubious brown, “Celestia told me what happened, she didn’t even finish her explanation when you lit up your horn and cast the spell, which knowing your magical capacity landed you in a bookcase, literally.”

“Okay, okay, so what did I miss?” Twilight was surprised to find that it was Sun Light who raised his eyebrow dubiously this time, “Oh, don’t give me that look, I know that you know what I did wrong, so tell me already.”

“You learn quickly,” Sun Light replied with a sly smile, “you didn’t project yourself correctly. That is the cause of an initial teleportation surge.”

Twilight thought about it for a moment, then she started to recall what happened, as she listed the steps she took, she let out an Oh.

“I think you understand the theory well enough. So, we can make an experiment out of it, I’ll explain with more details later,” Sun Light cheered, “However, we might need a place with a lot of free space.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I don’t want to carry you to the infirmary again,” Sun Light explained, “There hasn’t been enough time for gossip to sip through about us making out in the library yet.”

“Don’t you mean making up?”

“That too,” Sun Light tapped a hoof under his chin, “The throne room!” he suddenly exclaimed.

“The throne room?” Twilight exclaimed, “But we’re not allowed there.”

“You really don’t know the benefit of being friends with a princess's right?”

Twilight shrugged.

“Then come with me, I’ll show you a thing or two about abusing royalty.”

Chapter IX. A Spell Unraveled

There was a loud knock on Princess Celestia’s door. She had just lowered the sun and raised the moon, her job should be done and she needed to settle down for another good night sleep.

“A princess’s job is never done,” she said with a sigh until another knock rapped on her door, “Coming,” she said while getting up.

With a charge from her magic, she opened the door, “How can I help…” only to find no one in front of her.

A cough caught her attention as she looked bellow and saw two young foals and a baby dragon staring back at her, “Sun Light, Twilight, what a surprise! What can I do for you?”

As she expected, it was Sun Light who responded, “We need to use the throne room.”

Celestia stared for a moment, the duo in front of her seemed in sync with each other's body language, a sign that usually comes from two friends who just made up. Not that it displeased her to see them like that, but she liked that they would have made up in her presence instead, that way it would ease up her suspicion that Sun Light was planning something.

Under any other circumstance, Celestia would have allowed them in the courtroom in a heartbeat. However, seeing those two together made her decide to play along instead, “I’m sorry Sun Light, but the throne room is off limits after closing hours,” she knew if it was Sun Light, entertainment will ensue.

“But Princess,” Sun Light whined, “If we can’t use the throne room, Twilight would be sad,” he hugged Twilight with one hoof, “And if Twilight is sad then Spike becomes sad.” He then hugged Spike with the other hoof, “And if I can’t cheer Spike up then I’ll be sad,” Sun Light then stuck his lips while pouting, “And as the princess, you don’t want all your subjects to be sad do you?” All three of them looked up to her, wide eyes swelling with tears, and a pout displayed on each of their faces.

Celestia’s heart stopped for a moment as she stared at the puckering trio. Then a nervous laughter cracked out from her, “Alright Sunny, show’s over. Stop pouting before you give me diabetes. What is this all about?”

Almost instantly, Sun Light’s innocent demeanor dissolved as he released Twilight and Spike from his grasp, “We need the throne room because it is spacious enough for Twilight to practice teleportation without the fear hitting any bookcases.” Both Twilight and Spike took a deep breath after that.

“We? Since when?” Celestia probed.

“This afternoon, we had a… heart to heart,” Sun Light smiled warmly to Twilight who mirrored his smile. The contagion didn’t stop at the foals, however, as Celestia found herself smiling with them.

This was the reaction she hoped for from the beginning, “Of course I’ll open the throne room for my dearest student and my faithful assistant. Though I’ll have to ask, what were you two doing? You smell of sweat and soot.”

Twilight looked perplexed, “I don’t smell that bad, do I?” she asked her baby dragon who squealed incomprehensibly.

“Oh deal with it, this is the smell of stallions,” Sun Light puffed up his chest.

“And the smell of stink mite,” Sun Light’s eyes twitched as Celestia cast a spell on him to prevent further contamination, “And I’m guessing Twilight got them after you hugged her earlier,” Celestia suppressed a laugh at Twilight’s aghast face as she cast the same spell on her as well, “I hope you learned something new at that tower that is worth shaving your fur again.”

“Again!” Twilight screamed, “You went there even though you knew there was stink mite?” she scorned at Sun who looked mildly upset by all this, “Are you an idiot or something?”

“I am going to let that slide simply because I know I’ll be seeing you bald tomorrow,” Sun Light replied shrewdly.

“You really are insufferable,” Twilight concluded before crossing her hooves and looking the other way.

“Now, now, I had my reasons for risking another infection, though I really am sorry for transferring it to you Twilight.”

“Hmph,” Twilight didn’t even want to dignify that with a reply.

“Don't worry you two, I have a shampoo hidden somewhere that can take care of stink mite very effectively,” Celestia announced after finishing the weaving of her spell on both foals, “By the way, what were your reasons for going there?” Celestia asked.

“I was learning the heavenly steps.”

Celestia could not hide her surprise, “That’s impressive, did your father taught you how? I thought he never wanted to teach his combat style to another soul in Equestria.”

“No, I kind of learned it myself.”

Celestia lowered her head to meet Sun Light’s eyes, “How?” she asked doubtfully.

“I found some old scripts in the house and thought it nice to try learning what they were, even dad was surprised when he saw me doing them,” Sun Light answered.

The problem is, Sun Light is a perfect liar. He needs to be in order to deceive Princess Celestia. However, regardless of how good he is, the princess can still spot a lie when she sees one. What are you hiding from me little one? She thought as she picked up the slightly higher pitch in Sun Light’s voice at the mentioning of the scripts.

“Alright then,” probing him now though isn’t the best idea, Celestia doesn’t want to use interrogation techniques to crack him for something so banal, especially not in front of Twilight, Perhaps I can ask Evening what his son is really up to, she thought. “I’ll lead you to the throne room, though I have to ask, did you clear things with your father? It’s already past sundown you know.”

“Meh,” Sun Light shrugged coolly, “He knows I’m here.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow but did not inquire further.

Upon reaching the courtroom, Celestia opened the door with her magic and allowed the two foals with their dragon in. But just as she was about to enter herself, a small hoof stopped her.

“Sorry princess, this is as far as you go,” Sun Light said before slamming the door in the princess’s face.

Celestia stared at the door for a moment, unable to comprehend what just happened, the moment she felt her anger rising she decided to take a deep breath, then cast an eavesdropping spell in the courtroom. Only to be bombarded with Twilight’s yelling, “What did you do that for?”

Sun Light calmly replied, “Celestia distracts you like no other pony can, and you need to focus.”

That seemed to have convinced Twilight oddly quickly, the princess thought as she heard her say, “Well you could have been nicer about it.”

Sun Light’s reply made Celestia roll her eyes, “Tact is a wasted effort when there is a job to do.”

At this point, Celestia cast a divination spell so that she could see as well as hear what is going on inside.

What she saw was Sun Light pulling a chalk and drawing two circles, the first one near the throne, the second one near the door.

He then motioned to Twilight toward the first circle. “Visualization is the basis of projection,” he started to explain, “The reason why teleportation is so essential to learning both, is the ease of which you can visualize.”

Once Twilight sat in the Circle in front of the throne, Sun Light approached her from behind, “Now, just like we talked earlier, I want you to look around very carefully, take as many details as you possibly can, memorize the structures, the distance, the sound, the smell, everything that can tell you where you are in this room.” He then took a few steps back, Spike followed, “Take your time, no need to rush.”

Twilight sat there relaxed but straight, her ears were perked, her head held high. She focused only on the throne in front of her, “I’m ready,” she told Sun Light.

Those two must have planned this all along, Celestia thought as Sun Light motioned to Twilight to come to the other circle at the other side of the room.

“Now, just like I told you before,” Sun Light explained as Twilight sat, “Imagine yourself moving through space with your magic, don’t bend it, don’t force it, and keep in mind your destination, see where you want to go before even thinking of summoning your magic. Map every step with all the details beforehoof. And only when you are ready, channel through how You feel your magic is flowing, then cast the spell when you feel most comfortable to do so.”

Twilight nodded, then closed her eyes. Celestia could not help but smile at how the duo was interacting, Twilight is sitting there, relaxed, but clearly focused beyond any level she saw her with. A pang of jealousy wrapped her heart, why can’t you be like that with me? She thought as her attention shifted toward Sun Light, who, although had Spike wrapped carefully in his hooves, was paying close attention to Twilight while licking the corner of his upper lip.

Celestia knew what that particular gesture mean, she has seen it far too often that it became a telltale to that colt’s mind. Sun Light is as much studying Twilight as he is helping her, and that is far more disconcerting to Celestia than anything she has ever seen him do until now, just what are you up to, little one? She thought as she watched Sun Light’s eyes brighten the moment Twilight’s horn light.

A purple aura engulfed Twilight and in a blink of an eye, she disappeared from where she is, only to appear in a loud explosion of purple aura right where the first circle was drawn, leaving charred marks on the marble floor.

Spike shrieked in excitement as Twilight jumped in joy of managing to teleport successfully to her destination.

“See! I told you,” letting go of Spike, Sun Light ran toward Twilight giving her a hug with Spike using him to climb on both their heads, “You just need to think it through before you act.”

“Thanks, Sun Light,” Twilight said while hugging the colt back, Celestia couldn’t help but let an “aww” escape her.

“Now tell me,” Sun Light said as he broke the hug, “What is it that you felt that told you the spell was ready to be cast?”

“Well, the first thing I felt was that my aura had wrapped me completely, then there was a sort of hum in my horn, I think I knew it by instinct that now was the best time to cast the spell,” Twilight told Sun Light, who immediately went into analysis mode by putting his right hoof in his mouth.

Celestia was about to burst in when Sun Light suddenly stood up and started heading toward the door, “Remember the feeling, Twilight,” he said, “That is the tell that will allow you to cast all your spells in the future.”

“Wait, you’re leaving?” Twilight asked as Spike climbed up her back.

“Yeah, it’s getting late, my dad should be worried sick about me by now,” He said before opening the door, “Princess, I hope you liked the show.” He said to Celestia.

With a small giggle, Celestia replied, “it was most heartwarming, thank you Sun Light, I knew that you will pull it through.”

“You’re welcome and sorry for the mess.”

“That won’t be a problem, and see you tomorrow.”

Sun Light replied with a wave before he scurried off toward the eastern tower.

Twilight Sparkle walked toward the princess, “You were right princess. He is a good guy, still a jerk though, but a good jerk,” she concluded, only for her smile to vanish when Celestia turned toward her with a grave expression.

“I don’t like this,” Celestia stated, making Twilight turn to her with a perplexed expression and a “huh?”

“That cheeky little colt is planning something,” Celestia further explain, “and somehow he managed to keep it a secret from me of all ponies.”

“So what are you going to do about it?” Twilight inquired only to shriek back when Celestia looked at her with a very sly smile.

“Absolutely nothing.”

---

Sun Light stood in front of the door to his house, still musing over what happened with Twilight Sparkle all the while trying to comprehend how that relates to him.

My aura wrapped around me completely, he recalled Twilight saying. He thought about it for a moment, then a book titled Natural Flow came to his mind, he remembered reading that earth ponies already have their magic surrounding them all the time.

Then there was a short hum, that part wasn’t in any literature, could unicorns be able to tell the level of magic needed without much trial and error?

I knew it by instincts, Twilight didn’t expect her spell to work right off the bat, but if the scorch marks were any indication, she definitely overcharged her spell. In fact, that is probably what gave off the hum, Twilight have a huge reserve of energy under her figurative belt, she probably used too much that it gave a warning sign.

“The hum is a caveat for surplus energy,” Sun Light concluded to no one in particular, “She overcharged her spell but projected correctly.”

Sun Light looked up to the front door, if he could overcharge his spell while casting it correctly then he could probably discover how to best control his earth pony strength.

He stood up, then positioned himself in the same manner as a racer on a field, but he didn’t jump immediately, he started to channel his earth pony strength in the same manner as when he did with the heavenly steps on top of that tower, and as expected, his energy resonated throughout his body. He focused that energy on his hind hooves, all the while he kept picturing the entrance to his home.

As he painted a complete picture of his home, a numbing feeling started to take over his back hooves, he lifted one hoof, then stomped.

---

“The dinner is getting cold,” Evening Star watched the floating bits in the soup as he waited for his son to come home.

With a sigh, he looked at the clock, “If he isn't coming in this instant, then I’m going to start eating without him,” he told his nonexisting son.

Giving thanks, Evening took his spoon, then plunged it deep inside the soup, as he carefully lifted it toward his mouth, a large explosion erupted in the entrance causing him to spill all the soup on his coat.

“I did it!” came the overenthusiastic voice from his son.

Evening immediately ran toward the entrance only to find his son in the middle of what seemed to be scorch marks left from an explosion in the middle of the room, he stared as Sun Light pointed his hoof at him and declared, “I told you I can teleport!” before he waddled and fell to the ground, “Okay, that was more tiring than I thought,” Sun Light said after a failed attempt at getting up, “can you help me?”

At that point, Evening Star erupted in laughter, “Of course,” he said before scooping his son in his hoof, “So I’m guessing my advice worked?”

“Like a charm.” His son affirmed with a yawn.

“Want to eat or straight to bed?”

“Bed please,” his son said already dozing off, “and dad?”

“Yes, Sunny?”

“Can I skip work tomorrow, I think I strained a muscle, or ten.”

With another giggle, “Sure, I’ll tell them you are grounded for being late.”

“Thanks,” was the last word Sun Light before falling to deep sleep.

Author's Notes:

And this concludes the second arc, it will be some times before I start posting the third arc because I still need to finish writing it and ironing all the details. Hope you have enjoyed our little trip so far.

Chapter X. Magical Morning Shenanigans.

“Sun Light, breakfast is ready,” Evening called for his son, only to hear a popping sound from behind him announcing that said son is already at the table.

He turned to peer through a hooded figure sitting right across his seat at the table.

“I have to get used to that,” he mused out loud the method of entry that his son had adopted in recent days, only to have the hooded figure to chuckle at him.

Evening walked toward the foal in the hoody, he kneeled behind the foal’s neck, then took a whiff. With a satisfied grin he said, “Finally, you smell clean again.”

The foal took off his hoody, what was once black fur is now a whitish pink skin, it was by some miracle that his mane remained unaffected by the medicinal shampoo which caused all his fur to fall, “Are you happy now? Having disfigured me like that?”

With a chuckle, his father replied, “Well Sunny, the doctor said your hair will grow back in a couple of days, you just need to bear with it,” taking his seat, Evening concluded, “besides, the sick leave that Princess Celestia gave you is not to end for more than those couple of days, you can still wait until then and Practice your teleportation some more.”

“I nailed my teleportation as it is evident from teleporting directly into a sitting position mere moments ago,” Sun Light took a bite out of the pancake in front of him, “Besides, Celestia is going to teach Twilight a new spell today. You think I’m going to miss that just because I’m furless?”

“Anything that tickles your fancy, Sunny,” concluded Evening as he settled in to start eating. He looked across the table to see the pinkish head as it chewed its food, then he remembered the first time that same pinkish head teleported into the living room all frightened over his most recent loss, screaming “Don’t look at me,” in the most shameful posture his son have ever displayed.

And Evening made the mistake of letting out a giggle.

Sun Light immediately teleported onto the table, a few inches of his father’s face, “Laugh it up old colt. The moment my fur grows back, you will all feel my vengeful wrath for laughing at my misfortune, starting with that overgrown, cake eating, the sun and the moon commanding princess who used the wrong shampoo and made me what I am today.”

“And until then, I am going to enjoy watching you squiggle around in all your naked glory.”

Sun Light teleported back into his seat, mumbling “naked glory” to himself. When suddenly a mischievous smile drew his face, “That is a great idea, I’ll just walk into the throne room with all my naked glory to behold.”

“I don’t think that is a good idea,” Evening replied with an eerie calmness, “You wouldn’t want to evoke the wrath of your replacement now, do you?”

Sun Light regarded his father skeptically, “my replacement?”

“Prince Blueblood has been aiding the princess with Twilight’s studies,” Evening said with a coy smile, “I distinctly remember him lecturing you for days about going out naked in public, even when your bottom was still cover in fur.”

The pink in the foal’s cheeks turned white for a sudden, “That might be a problem.”

“I don’t get it, you and Blueblood were best of friends,” Evening wore his most serious face, “something I didn’t particularly approve of at the time, but still. He helped you a lot, babysat you with Cadence, and even endorsed you in your attempt to take the national examination last year which you passed with flying colors by the way. Then all of a sudden, neither of you are talking to each other. Care to share what happened?”

“It’s nothing important.” Sun Light sighed. Evening lifted an eyebrow at his son, his expression clearly unamused. Sun Light rolled his eyes at his father, “It’s just some stupid colt stuff, okay?”

Evening cocked his head at his son, then looked down underneath the table. “Last I checked, I’m a colt as well,” Evening noted, “Am I not in prevue to my son’s ‘Colt problems’?”

A sudden redness came over Sun Light as he suddenly started fidgeting in his place. “It’s about the Craig list,” he finally said and all manner of playfulness disappeared from his father’s face.

“What about the Craig list?” he asked disapprovingly.

“I, uh… I made fun of an entry on the list regarding two colts and an odd fetish. Turns out it was his entry.” Sun Light then slammed his head onto the table while trying to hide his face from his father.

“I thought Princess Celestia explained the Craig list to you,” Evening asked rhetorically without a shred of emotions.

“She did,” Sun Light answered sheepishly from his hiding place, “It was Blueblood who introduced me to the Craig list after seeing me turning red and green from Celestia’s explanation… To make fun of me.”

“Oh,” Evening said dejectedly, “I see.”

“I don’t think it went as planned though,” Sun Light quipped.

Evening raised an eyebrow, “And why is that?”

“Because I found them funny,” A wide smile appeared on Sun Light’s face, “I mean, listen to this, ‘and with a final thrust, he climaxed beyond anything he ever felt before.’” Sun Light then scratched his head, “If it was within a context, I might have understood it, but as a standalone, it feels odd and perplexing.”

Evening gave a sigh of relief. Guess you are still young after all, he thought. “I see,” he deadpanned, though it still irked him that he missed such an important talk with his son, He knew that it would still be best if he pried into what Sun Light knew, “Tell you what Sunny, how about we talk about this more during dinner? There are things that only a father can explain, and I’d like not to miss something like that with you, you know?”

Sun Light gave his father a fearful look, “Is that really necessary? It was awkward enough with Princess Celestia, and even more awkward with Blueblood, I’d rather at least have one adult with which I don’t have that awkwardness with.”

With a warm smile, Evening answered, “That awkwardness is part of growing up Sun Light. You’ll have to get used to it sooner or later.”

With a loud huff, Sun Light turned toward his breakfast. “Fine,” he said while wolfing down the remainder of his meal, “We’ll talk after work then, I’m going to be late anyway.” Sun Light sat up from his seat, teleported to his room, picked up his backpack, then teleported to the front door and opened it.

Evening eyed his son curiously, “Aren’t you going to teleport to the castle?”

Sun Light wore a shocked expression, “And risk exposing my magic skills? No way!”

“But you are going to be late otherwise,” Evening pointed out.

Sun Light waved his hoof dismissively. “Teleportation isn’t my only method for fast travel.” He then kicked the ground hard, causing him to launch himself forward at tremendous speed.

“The heavenly steps! I forgot he can use that,” Evening exclaimed as his son quickly disappeared from view. Evening calmly finished his meal, then sat up, “Now then, I have to talk to a certain prince about a certain habit of messing with my boy.”

---

Sun Light entered the castle with lightning speed. As he whizzed through the first corridor, he nearly collided with one of the working staff, but thanks to his now tuned reflexes, with a single stomp he managed to fly above her and continued his stepping on the ceiling; a technique he developed shortly after his infection.

Right, left, left, right… He navigated the halls with perfect precision, even with the world being inverted, until he reached the intersection he wanted. He angled himself to stomp downward from the ceiling of the corridor toward the wall facing the intersection, then he stomped downward again to reach the ground level only to fall headfirst into the last pony he wanted to meet.

Twilight Sparkle was classifying her homework in alphabetical order when a loud bang resonated in the corridor. Startled, she ran outside her room, “Is somepony hurt?” she screamed, only to hear the familiar moan of a pony she hasn’t seen since their bath.

Sun Light's hoody receded from his face revealing his pinkish skin. “Sunny, glad you’re okay!” she exclaimed before running him with a hug, one that Sun Light hesitantly accepted. “You smell good,” she commented.

Sun Light forced Twilight to let him go. “Yeah, yeah laugh it up.”

“I didn’t laugh at you,” Twilight replied defensively, “well maybe at first, but not after you escaped through the window.”

“I was being ogled at, what else could I have done?”

“Wrapped a towel over yourself maybe?” Twilight suggested, before sighing, “Honestly, leave it to Sun Light to jump out of a ten-story tower and land safely because he was being laughed at.”

Sun Light stuck his tongue out, but instead of derision, he was met with a mirth. “Cadence says that is how I know I won an argument,” Twilight said with pride in her voice.

“As honoring as that may be, are you here to learn about magic or to learn about me?” Sun Light replied sarcastically.

Sun Light readied himself for a retort, “Why not a bit of both?” Sun Light stared at her agape.

Twilight noticed this and laugh.

But before Sun Light could speak, “Ouch my head,” was the loud groan that came from the other end of the corridor, “This pain should never have befallen royalty,” He said with scorn, causing the smile on both foals’ faces to disappear.

“Oh brother,” Twilight retorted, Sun Light carefully returned his hood on his head and closed it, hoping he wouldn’t be recognized.

Prince Blueblood, son of Prime Minister Trueblood, and adopted nephew of Princess Celestia stood there with the biggest bump he had ever received, his eyes scanning left and right for whoever did such atrocity to his noggin.

And Lo and behold, he held up that snot that calls herself his aunt’s pupil and a hooded figure that’s giving an oddly familiar presence. He snorted, was it not enough to have her middle-class snootiness around to taint the air, now she has to bring a hooded gangster to the mix?

“Greetings peasant,” he addressed Twilight, “I see you brought more rabble with you.”

“My name is Twilight,” She replied firmly, “and I won’t be needing your assistance for today.”

“Oh! Why so?”

“Because Sun Light decided to return to work,” she exclaimed pointing at the hooded figure trying to sneak away from the conversation.

“Sun Light?” Prince Blueblood inquired, only to have the hooded turnaround and give him a salute. “Why are you dressed like that?”

“Yo, can’t a colt try a new style without others looking at him weirdly?” He said while crisscrossing his hooves in an attempt to go with the style.

“You look ridiculous,” with a scorn, Prince Blueblood wrapped his magic around the hood in an attempt to lift it off, only to be held back by the young colt’s grip, “Come now Sunny, you are to tell me that you’d rather be a street urchin that your casual suave?” But just as Prince Blueblood tried to pull harder, the colt struggled with equal force, “Come… on… Sun… Light… stop… being… a… tyke…” with a final big push, Sun Light’s hood tore off from his hooves, causing him to loose balance and fall while revealing, well, his pink now turned red head.

Twilight gasped and ran to help the young colt back on his hooves, Prince Blueblood stared in absolute silence at the colt, shock written all over his face.

With an ever so dignified grunt, Sun Light jeered, “You can take a picture if you want, it will last longer.”

“You look like a naked mole rat,” Prince Blueblood deadpanned.

“And you have just proven yourself a bigger jerk than you already were,” Sun Light replied while dusting himself, “which, when I think about it, is absolutely next to impossible to do,” He then motioned to Twilight, “Let’s go.”

Seeing the two foals walk away, Blueblood cried out, “Sun Light wait,” only to be stopped by a tap on his shoulder.

Blueblood looked around to see none other than the minister of defense standing behind him.

“What do you…?” Sun Light wasn’t exactly surprised to see his father, to say the least, he was however surprised to see the prime minister as well. That was very fast, he thought. It was pretty normal for Evening to surprise his son with feats beyond logic in which Sun Light attributed them as ‘Dad powers’.

“Dad, Prince Trueblood, what a pleasure,” he quipped.

“The pleasure is mine,” Prince Trueblood replied, stoically and politically as ever, “Please pay us no heed and continue to your duties, don’t want to keep Princess Celestia waiting now do we?”

Sun Light glanced back at Twilight who shrugged at him in response, He then followed her back to her room to get Spike as well as some research materials that Princess Celestia asked Twilight to prepare them the day before, though not before casting a glance of ‘don’t do anything stupid’ at his father who simply replied with a smile; a surprisingly forced smile, one that clearly indicates that the situation is beyond Sun Light's control.

Sun Light sighed. He didn't want an escalation, but it seemed that it was bound to happen. I should have done something sooner, he lamented while dragging behind Twilight Sparkle, guess I'll be stuck with the consequences now.

Once the foals are on their way and out of sight, Trueblood turned to his son, “I’m going to go on a limb here and assume that you already know what this is about.” Blueblood simply giggled nervously.

Chapter XI. The Earth Pony Conundrum.

“So are you going to tell me what that was about?” Twilight asked as she and Sun Light marched toward the Athenaeum, “between you and Blueblood.”

“Didn't think you'd notice such trivialities,” Sun Light shooed the baby dragon who was chewing on his ear. Again.

“It’s kind of hard not to,” Twilight remarked, “You treat everyone with bluntness, but with him… you cower.”

Sun Light faked a gasp, causing Spike to rear, “if only we weren’t friends,” he faked a dissatisfied tone.

Twilight giggled at his play, “No seriously, what’s up between you two?” she pressured.

“Colt stuff,” Sun Light said with a finally, “nothing you should concern yourself about unless you want the stingy disgusting details of the life of a colt.”

“You make it sound like it’s about peeing or pooping,” Twilight deadpanned.

“What makes you think it’s otherwise?”

Sun Light retort caused Twilight to fake a gag.

Once they reached the Athenaeum, Princess Celestia was in the middle of a heated discussion with Kibitz, “I said no Kibitz, and that is final.”

With that Kibitz finally relented, then excused himself. As he walked past the children, Sun Light said to him, “Don’t worry grandpa secretary, you’ll have your day eventually.” With a snort, Kibitz continued his way.

“Sun Light, good to see you again!” Princess Celestia greeted, “I’m glad that you decided to come despite your lack of fur, it goes to show that the fur does not make stallions,” she quipped.

Only to have Sun Light hiss at her in response.

With a head shake, she replied, “Very mature, Sunny. As a reward, here is the list of what I want you to do.”

She levitated the list and Sun Light snatched it with an ‘hmpf’. “I am a foal of ten years old, maturity is wasted upon me.”

“I can see that,” Celestia remarked with a sly smile on her face, “Can I trouble you to stay here for a moment before you start?”

Sun Light looked incredulously at Princess Celestia before saying, “okay.”

“And can you put Spike down please?”

Sun Light did as he was told, “you’re not going to ask me to strip, are you? Because I’m not doing that.”

Celestia giggled, “No I’m not,” she said before turning to Twilight, “Now Twilight. Can you levitate Sun Light for me?”

Both foals looked at Celestia in surprise.

“I don’t know princess, I mean, I can levitate small objects, but I have never tried that on a living being before,” Twilight said.

“Can you at least try?” Celestia encouraged.

Twilight nodded hesitantly, “Oh boy,” Sun Light said as he prepared himself to receive a spell from an untrained magician.

Purple aura enveloped a stiff Sun Light, Twilight immediately lifted her head, but nothing happened. She tried to pull harder, shaking her head left and right, but still, nothing happened. The more she struggled, the more Sun Light relaxed, the more he relaxed the more guilt he felt that she wasn’t succeeding.

With a final ‘Umpf’ Twilight sat on the ground, the purple aura dissipating from around Sun Light, and he walked toward Twilight then gave her a reassuring pat with a smile.

Twilight looked up and returned the smile and said, “I know you are trying to be nice, but without your fur, you look kind of weird.”

Sun Light’s eye twitched, “I will get you for that.”

“Now, now you two,” Celestia interfered, “Weird furless colts’ aside,” she said while peering at Sun Light from the corner of her eye, causing him to hiss at her again, “This will be your goal for next week training, you will try to levitate Sun Light, even for a hair width above ground.”

“Levitation,” she went on, “Is the most basic of all unicorn spells. Almost every unicorn can do it, however mastering it is another ordeal altogether.” She turned to Twilight Sparkle who looked captivated by her speech, “And that brings us to our lesson for today, we are going to break apart the spell known as telekinesis and figure out how it works.”

The moment she turned around, she saw all the materials that were on her list ready and waiting in a neat pile with Sun Light hugging Spike in the corner with a broad smile on his face, So it’s levitation you are interested in, she thought at the sight of his glittering eyes, let’s see what you can make of this.

Princess Celestia levitated the first book, then motioned to both Twilight and Sun Light to come closer before she started her explanation, “The basic of telekinesis is…”

---

Evening Star had a lot of work today, he did not know that a few days of distractions would amount to so much work.

His stomach protested his hunger, He knew his son would have prepared dinner for both of them. He thought about how to broach the subject of this morning. He knew Sun Light would shower him with questions and inquiries, it is normal since he didn’t want him to interfere in the first place.

With a sigh he opened the door to the house, only to find it eerily quiet.

“Sun Light!” he yelled but no one answered, he walked to the kitchen and found no one, no plates, no dishes, no food, nothing.

“Now where could that colt be?” he said to himself. But then a loud stomp came from upstairs.

Evening walked toward the source of the noise, which he identified as his son’s room. Slowly, he started to recognize even more noise, scribbling, paper throwing, grunts and shouts of frustrations.

He opened the door to his son’s room, slowly, “Sunny?” he asked before words became lost to him.

The room he opened was nothing like Sun Light’s room. Books stacked in fortresses were found everywhere, the walls were filled with papers and scribbles of spells, calculations, runes, and formulas in the likes of which he had never seen. The bed was turned into a fortress in and off itself, books stacked too high, it might kill a pony if they fall over. And then he recognized the desk, the desk was set up in the epicenter of this great city of books, like a capital of a great civilization. He peered his son sitting on it, candlelight surrounding him, his head between his hooves.

“Sunny, you okay?” Evening only saw this phenomenon once, last year when Sun Light was studying for an exam he was too young to take. And he knew what it meant, something was boggling him greatly.

With a loud groan, Sun Light replied, “I can’t do it.”

“Do what?”

“Levitation, Telekinesis, whatever you want to call it,” Sun Light let out a yell of frustration, “it is impossible for an earth pony like me to do it.”

“Why?”

“Because it requires a pony to be motionless,” his son answered with a groan.

“Motionless?! The horror!” Evening looked agape at his son.

“Oh, I know you’re faking it,” Sun Light hissed at his father’s joke.

“I can’t help it, you’re not making a lick of sense,” Evening walked toward his son then sat next to his desk, “now, explain everything in details, please.”

“Fine, fine,” Sun Light lamented, “First, let me quote what Celestia said,” Sun Light opened a binder that had more sticky notes coming out of it than the feathers on a bird’s wing, “It is a great misconception that you can wave your head and expect something to fly in that direction, you need your hooves firmly planted on the ground and immense concentration to be able to pull telekinesis off correctly, any unnecessary motion will cut down on that concentration and will diminish your telekinetic grab efficiency.”

Evening mused on what his son had just said, “and why is that?” he ended up asking.

“Ah, let me continue,” Sun Light turned the page, “The most basic forms of telekinesis require first and foremost to counter the gravity of the object you wish to grab, this is done by transferring part of its mass to your horn through a weightlessness field which connects your horn to the object in question. In your first lesson, you learned Channeling, in your second lesson you learned Projection. Now you will learn the opposite of projection, probing. And only when you can probe an object correctly can you levitate any and all objects with ease.”

“You know, for a spell that almost every unicorn can use, I think Princess Celestia over-complicated it a bit,” Evening concluded.

“Twilight asked the same question,” Sun Light replied before turning yet another page, “Probing is an innate skill for all unicorns, but for high-level mages, you’re not only required to do it innately but to actively understand how to do it.”

“Did you write down every word Celestia and Twilight have said during today’s lesson?”

“Uh, yeah? I also wrote down their expressions and their body motions just in case I missed something.”

Evening snorted, “I’m beginning to think your cutie mark is for spying not analyzing.”

“I’m not in the mood dad,” Sun Light snapped at is father, “After today’s lesson I went to five different libraries, search for every book I can find about levitation, telekinesis, probing… I researched every word in that lecture from A to Z,” Sun Light stood up and went to one of the book fortresses, “I was so focused that I forgot Spike with me and ended up bringing him home,” He pulled one of the books from the bottom causing all the books in the tower to fall surprisingly neatly on top of each other, revealing a baby dragon snoozing soundly with a gem wrapped between his tiny claws behind it all.

Suppressing to sneer at his son, Evening went to check on the baby dragon, while Sun Light returned to his desk. Picking him up, Spike gave a hearty yawn before cooing at Evening, with Evening cooing back at him, “You know, he is kind of adorable up close,” he told his son, however his comment was ignored by Sun Light returning to his studies, focused as ever.

Evening sighed. Spike gave another big yawn before leaning into Evening’s chest and closing his eyes for another snooze, “Aww, you must be tired little one, let’s get you to bed first, now where did I put Sun Light’s cradle?” but just as Evening turned around, a book caught his eye.

“Telekinesis for Dummies,” he read out loud, “Sun Light, I thought you said that this entire series is a blight on literature.”

“Not hearing it,” Sun Light answered without even lifting his head from the book.

“Yikes, you’re crankier than Cranky,” Evening remembered the donkey coming for a visit today, “continue like that and you might lose what little fur that remains on you faster than even Cranky himself,” he fussed his son’s mane, eliciting a groan in response.

No sooner was it followed with a gurgle from his stomach. Sun Light looked surprised at first, but then he cast a sad look on the portfolio in front of him, Evening nudged his son with his head, “You’ll figure it out after a good meal and a good night sleep; you’ll get it in no time.”

Sun Light looked at his father with a smile, renewed hope drawn on his face. “Guess you’re right, I’ll cook then,” he said while standing from his chair, noticing Spike sleeping in his father’s grasp, “Dad?”

Sun Light wasn’t really sure what to expect, however, one thing came clear from the image he was seeing, his father was definitely cooing at Spike as if he’s baby foal.

Chapter XII. The Relaxation Charm.

Author's Notes:

A few notes for those who needs them: everything in {} means that it was spoken in the language of Saddle Arabia, while everything in [] means it was spoken in the language of Phoenicia.

Hope you guys enjoy the big revelation.

“It’s been a week Doc! Why in all that is holy and divine is my fur not growing back?” Sun Light scorned.

The doctor looked up from the examination report, glanced silently at Sun Light, then returned to reading the report. Sun Light groaned patience was never his virtue.

“I think I know what your problem is Sunny,” Doctor Royal Medicine said, “You are too stressed out.”

“Stressed out? Me? Why on earth would you even think of that?” Sun Light said as calmly as he could.

“Well, for starters, you can stop yelling in my face, let go of my lab coat, and climb down my desk. If you would please,” Doc Royal replied patiently.

“Oh,” Sun Light blinked before doing as the doctor said. Evening shook his head.

“The shampoo is out of your system and you have been restored to full health, however, your stress hormones are ten times the normal level. You need to calm down.”

“I am calm,” Sun Light yelled loudly before glaring angrily at the doctor.

With a sigh, Doctor Royal Medicine stood up then motioned to Sun Light to sit in his chair. Sun Light jumped immediately for the opportunity, literally, causing the chair to swirl around a couple of circles before coming to a stop.

“Comfy?” He asked while putting a hoof on Sun Light’s shoulder. Once Sun Light nodded, he continued, “Let’s talk for a bit, what’s going on in your life right now?”

“Why? I mean, you know most of the details; gossip fly around here faster than a speeding Wonderbolt,” Sun Light answered with a peeve.

“Well, yes, that is true,” the doctor stuttered a bit, “but, I still want to hear it from you.”

Sun Light sighed, “I taught Spike the alphabet this week. He still can’t talk, but his retention is astonishing.”

“That’s good,” The doctor kept nodding, “anything else?”

“Twilight can now levitate three tomes at the same time and rotate them around.”

“I see,” The doctor replied, taking note of Sun Light’s unhappiness over the issue, “That’s quite impressive for a filly her age. I can only lift one tome at a time, and I can’t really swing it without fear of it falling out of my aura.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” When Sun Light’s voice turned from bitterness to sadness, the doctor understood that it wasn’t Twilight who’s causing him grief.

“How about your old entourage?” he asked, “Anyone bothering you in particular?”

Sun Light shrugged, “Not really. Princess Celestia has been kind of mellow with me for a while, I think she’s feeling guilty about causing my current ordeal. I haven’t been seeing Princess Cadence a lot lately, Twilight told me she misses her coltfriend so she prefers to be left alone. And Prince Blueblood has been actively avoiding me for a while now,” he shot a glance at his father who looked up to the ceiling whistling nonchalantly, “for reasons unknown.”

"And your sister? Heard anything about her lately?"

Sun Light sank in his seat. "Moon Chaser is fine... I think."

The old doctor raised an eyebrow. "You think?"

This time, however, it was Evening Star who responded, "She haven't sent us a letter yet, but that is to be expected since the first few weeks are the most time-consuming."

The doctor watched as Sun Light nodded begrudgingly at his dad's words. “Well, that can’t be right!” He exclaimed, “These things shouldn’t induce the stress you’ve been having; is there anything you’re not telling me?”

Sun Light hesitated, “I have been working on a big project but it’s not going too good; I think that is what’s causing me the most stress.”

Doctor Royal nodded before standing up, “I see, and does this project have any deadline?”

“No, not really.”

“Then you can do without,” the doctor asserted, “Also I’m giving you another sick leave, and I’m circulating it throughout the castle personally so that you can’t go there whenever you want to.”

Sun Light jumped, “What?!”

The doctor needed to be strong, he shrugged off Sun Light’s pleading eyes firmly, though waveringly, “I’m also going to ask your father to restrict your movement by placing a guard over you.”

“You can’t!!” Sun Light cowered on all four begging.

And with a final hoofstomp, the doctor asserted, “And if you don’t comply with my prescription this time, I’ll…” he gulped, “I won’t invite you to Canterlot medical conference next month,” before pulling his hoof back into his mouth in guilt.

Sun Light screamed, “NOOOOO!!!!”

The doctor placed a reassuring hoof on Sun Light’s shoulder, “I am sorry, but this is for your own good,” he pulled a lollipop from his desk and gave it to him, “for being a good colt during the examination.”

Sun Light sniffed, “Can I have another?”

“Sure thing,” the doctor gave him another.

Evening facehoofed.

---

Doctor Royal Medicine waved his patient goodbye, “Take it easy Sunny, there is nothing in this world for you to be stressed about.”

“I will,” Sun Light waved back at the doctor.

But just as the doctor closed the door to his office, Sun Light let out an exasperated sigh, “This is going to be a pain.”

“You do realize that you just conned Doctor Medicine out of his stash, right?” His father pointed it out.

“Considering the fact that I am going to sit around doing nothing for a week, I might as well take something out of it,” he unwrapped a lollipop and placed it in his mouth.

“I know you’re furless Sun Light. I didn’t know you wanted to be toothless as well,” Evening noted, “Unless you want to be an old pony with a cane limping and yelling at foals to stop running, then be my guest.”

Sun Light looked at his father shocked, then carefully took the lollipop out of his mouth and threw it away, “Sometimes I wonder where you get most of your ideas.”

“He said you needed to relax, and having a sugar rush isn’t relaxing,” Evening explained.

“Pish posh, I am always relaxed.”

“Did you manage telekinesis yet?”

Sun Light took a deep breath before coming up with his most reasonable reply, “IT’S HARDER THAN YOU THINK, OKAY!”

“Yes, you sounded very relax,” his father quipped.

“I guess I am a little stressed out over this, aren’t I?”

“A little?”

“Okay, okay, a lot,” Sun Light finally admitted in defeat.

Not wishing for his son to remain depressed, Evening took an initiative, “Perhaps I can help, I did travel to foreign lands and have seen many things, my insight might be useful to you.”

“Okay, I have a few theories, but nothing remotely close for them to actually work,” his son explained, “If I am to take teleportation as a model; teleportation requires an enormous amount of motion to work, I need to activate my entire body, every ounce of my earth pony strength in order to work.”

“So what seems to be the problem then?”

“Telekinesis is different, you can consider it to be the opposite of teleportation; with teleportation, you gather your magic inward but you project your thoughts outward, that is called projection. Telekinesis requires you to gather your magic outward, but the projection of the weight is inward. Because of their horns acting as a conduit to that projection, unicorns can do that instinctively by focusing on a single point all the time. My conduit is motion, which is the opposite of what is required from all the books I have read.”

Inhaling, Sun Light decided to let out his deepest frustration yet, “There is nothing in the literature that can help me achieve my goal.”

“I understand your predicament perfectly,” Evening stated with pride, as hope brightened in his son’s eyes in anticipation for what to come, “You are stuck,” only to have that hope shattered in an instance.

“Thank you for stating the obvious,” Sun Light deadpanned.

“I don’t mean it like that, let me tell you a story of the time when I was a colonel in…”

“Wait,” Sun Light suddenly interrupted, “You’re going to talk about your time in the army?” glee glittering in his eyes, “You never talk about the homeland.”

“Then are you going to let me tell the story or are you going to keep gushing?”

Sun Light sat there, then zipped his hoof over his mouth, ear perked ready to absorb every detail.

“When I was still a colonel in the army of the city-state of Ramitha under the command of the celestial king Torgan, Ramitha entered a war against another city-state called Sarepta, I was tasked with taking over a key position called the fortress of White Ashes near the edge of Sarepta’s border. However Sarepta’s king, Celestial King Arthur Pendragon, wanted to avoid any advancement toward the borders of his city-state, so he sent his strongest warrior in his guard, Heracles the immortal, to stand guard and prevent the fortress from falling no matter what.”

“And was this Heracles Strong?” Sun Light asked with awe.

“Strong? That guy was a bloody titan in dragon form, a moving mountain, unstoppable, unrelenting, and an immortal to top it all; there was no way my battalion would have survived a headlong battle against him.”

“So what happened?”

“I was in command of the forward battalion, and the main army was not far behind us, we were pressed in time and every minute counted, however, if we don’t take the fortress then all our advancement would be for naught, and the army would be forced to retreat, but with Heracles guarding the gates, our mission was suicide. So I decided to do the only thing left for me to do, I took a break.”

“You took a break,” Sun Light deadpanned.

“I took a break,” Evening reaffirmed, “I ordered my guard that no one would disturb me for the next ten minutes, I took the flute and I started playing some music.”

“I’m failing to see where you are going with this.”

“Within those ten minutes, I forgot about the world outside, I cleared all my thoughts, and I rejuvenated myself in preparation for the upcoming battle, and that is when I realized what my goal really is. My goal is to take the fortress, not to defeat Heracles. So I summoned my warriors, created a squad capable of surviving a fight with the Titan then snuck the rest of my battalion toward the fortress. Surprisingly they left the front gate open, they didn’t think anyone would be able to get past Heracles so they didn’t bother with the defense, it was the easiest win in my entire career.”

“But wouldn’t Heracles have turned back and tried to take the fortress from you?”

“He did, but we were in an upward position on top of well-fortified castle walls with all our weapons pointed at him, that is what gave us the edge to drive him off. We couldn’t kill him of course, but forcing the great Heracles into a stalemate was as sweet a victory as we could have hoped.”

“That,” Sun Light held his breath, “Was amazing,” he ended up gushing over his father’s tale.

Evening looked shocked at his son for a moment, then suddenly exploded in laughter, Sun Light looked at his father quizzically, “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, no,” Evening replied, “You had the same reaction as Hera did when I first told her that story,” he finally calmed down to see his son’s eyes brighten at the mention of his mother.

“I had the same reaction as Mom?” he asked with hopefulness.

“Well, yeah, I just said so,” Evening’s smile wavered, “And this isn’t even the first time, you do things like her all the time. Didn’t Moonie ever tell you that?”

“Well, no,” Evening was taken aback by his son’s answer, “She never talked about her in front of me, and whenever I asked she would give me the same look you are giving right now, so I stopped asking.”

Evening looked at his son, “what look are you talking about?”

“Like you’re about to cry.”

Evening was at a loss for words, as memories of ashes and death rose in his mind, he felt sickened by what happened, by the curses that had befallen on him and his family, yet he could still taste the joy of happier times. He knew that someday he would have to explain everything to his son. No, he owed it to him, and at that sudden realization, a smile crept on his face.

“I’ll make you a deal,” he said, and Sun Light’s ear perked at his father words, “If you can grow back your fur in one week, I’ll tell you everything you wish to know about your mother. Everything. It will be our little family reunion,” The moment Evening proposed the visit to his son, Sun Light’s expression brightened like a morning sun, “You like the idea, don’t you?”

“Really?” Sun Light asked cheerfully, “You’ll tell me everything?”

Evening chuckled as Sun Light hopped in excitement, “However, only if you can grow your fur back,” he added sternly.

Sun Light stood his ground, then raised his hoof in a salute, “I’ll do my best.”

“Then I won’t need to place a guard to watch over, would I?”

“As I said, I’ll do my best,” Sun Light repeated.

“Good,” With a smile and a shove Evening sent his son out to his home, “then I’ll see you at home.”

“Bye.”

Evening waved off his son who was zipping through toward his house “That was easier than I expected,” he noted. But just as he continued toward his office in the castle, a single memory resurfaced in his mind:

The doctor stood at the front of their room, a smile adorning his face. Hera had been sick for a week, which made both Shalim and Artemis worried sick for her.

“{Is mommy going to be okay?}” Artemis asked in her sick Arabian language, worry clear in her eyes.

“{Mommy’s going to be better than okay,}” The doctor answered before turning to Shalim, “{Congratulations, General. Your wife is pregnant!}”

A wide smile adorned Artemis as she learned she’ll be an older sister. Her father was less enthusiastic“{Is something wrong General Shalim?}” The doctor asked.

“{That’s not possible,}” Shalim answered, “{I haven’t been in bed with my wife for months!}”

The smile on the doctor disappeared, “{Then I’m sorry.}”

Shalim pushed the doctor. Ignoring his daughter’s plea for answers, he barged into his bedroom only to find his wife drowning in tear, “[I’m sorry!]” Hera cried, “[I couldn’t stop him!]” Her cry rang as each sob felt like a stab through Shalim’s heart.

Evening stood his place, frozen in both time and space, he mumbled the only thought that came to his mind, “Dear Celestia, what have I done?”

Chapter XIII. Before the Magic Happens.

Sun Light sighed happily, he has been working endlessly since his visit to the doctor this morning.

“Archiving the research on levitation spell…Check,” He said to the five XXXL cardboard boxes now stored away neatly in his attic.

He then teleported downstairs, took the list he was preparing, then recounted all three hundred and fifty-four books neatly pilled down in the entrance, coded with which book going to which library, “Research material set for returning to their respectful places…Check.”

He then teleported to his room, now neatly tied up with the bed made, the desk empty, and the sunlight bathing it with all its empty glory, “clean room… Check.”

He trotted to the main bathroom, the moment he opened the door, steam greeted him like an old friend, he walked toward the bathtub, tested the water for medium to hot temperature, once he found it to be adequate, he added the exact amount of soap to create the most desired amount of foam, “Bubble bath… Check.”

Teleporting to the kitchen, he went to the fridge, took some ice cream from the ice shelf, then teleported upstairs and placed the treat next to the tube, “Calming sugary appetizers… Check.”

Teleporting to his room, he picked up a couple of disks from one of his favorite musician, Beethooven. He then teleported back to the gramophone in the corridor, he winded the gramophone, placed the first disk, but was instantly bombarded with the fifth symphony, “Yikes,” Just as quickly he unloaded it and placed another one that turned out to be the moonlight sonata. “Much better,” he exclaimed, “calming music… Check.”

He did one final teleportation to the bathroom, straight into the tube of lukewarm water, where he finally indulged in the relaxing environment.

But just as his senses began to calm down, thoughts about his research began to surface, then about his charge, then about his other charge. He shook his head, swam to the edge of the tub where a book titled War and Peace was sitting on the corner. Eating a spoonful of ice cream, he picked up the book and opened it at the last place he left off, “this is the life,” he exclaimed as he finally settled down to his reading.

But a sudden knock on the front broke his trance.

“Must be the delivery pony,” he thought despite expecting him much later during the day. He went out of the bathtub, placed a bathrobe on himself, then teleported to the front door.

He opened the door slowly, fully prepared to handle any remark about his current condition. However, his nervousness washed away when he saw a purple filly smiling back at him.

“Hi,” Twilight Sparkle greeted. “I heard you were sick, so I came to see if there is anything I can do.”

Sun Light looked at Twilight for a moment. “You heard I was what now?”

“Doctor Royal Medicine has been going around the castle telling everypony that you are sick and the only way to heal you is to let you relax and not allow you into the castle for a while,” Twilight informed Sun Light before levitating a book from her saddle. “So I thought of coming here and help you relax with this.”

Sun Light looked at the book incredulously. “How to relax, a reference guide.” The title was written in a curvy format.

“The second chapter talk about tea being a source for relaxation in the Far East. So I bought my own blend for a tea drinking ceremony," Twilight said cheerfully.

“Uh huh,” Sun Light deadpanned. “Look, Twilight, I appreciate the gesture, really. But I am in the middle of doing chapter four of this book and I’d appreciate a little peace and quiet.”

Twilight stared at Sun Light shocked, “But,” Twilight first reacted restlessly, “I even brought my own blend,” she told him with a saddened tone while pouting at him with her secretly trained, Cadence hand-me-down, puppy-dog eyes.

Sun Light took one quick look before letting out a yell of frustration. “Fine, come in,” he said clearing a path for Twilight to hop happily inside.

“Wow, this place is huge!” She exclaimed as Sun Light closed the door behind her. “This tapestry is beautiful, and these swords look really old.”

Sun Light chuckled at her reaction. “The tapestries come from a friend of the family, they are quite new I assure you, and these swords are fake. Moon Chaser likes to collect them because she is such a weapon’s freak.”

“Moon Chaser?” Twilight asked.

“My older sister, she got admitted to the royal guard academy this year.”

Twilight immediately cheered at that info. “My brother goes to the same academy!” she exclaimed, glee in her eyes. “Do you think they are friends there?”

---

Shining Armor bumped into a hard wall, the moment he looked up he saw the worst nightmare in boot camp.

“Any last words feather-hooves?” the ominous voice of Moon Chaser echoed in the empty hall.

“Mercy?” Shining asked pleadingly.

Moon Chaser smiled warmly at Shining Armor, causing him to ease a little, “No,” she deadpanned.

A loud girlish scream resonated throughout the boot camp.

---

“I think they are doing fine, Moony is a lot more approachable than I am,” Sun Light grinned at the thought of his sister making friends.

An awkward moment of pause passed between the two friends, “So…” Twilight trailed, “Where is your kitchen?”

“Oh, right, the tea,” Sun Light pointed to the corridor on his left, “Down this hall, first door on your left, you won’t miss it. I’ll meet up with you after I wear something more suitable.”

“Thanks, I’ll go prepare the tea,” Twilight said as she waved at Sun Light who waved at her in return.

The moment Twilight was out of view, Sun Light teleported to the bathroom. He looked at the mirror and noticed his face being red as a tomato. “I need to stop blushing every time she acts awkward like that,” He said to himself when another knock on the door broke his self-contemplation.

He peaked from the bathroom to better hear what’s going on when Twilight yelled, “I’ll get it!”

There was a click, then she opened the door. “Cadie!” she exclaimed.

Sun Light listened in horror as Cadence was admitted into the house with a “Twily!”

He gagged as they did their ladybug dance.

“What are you doing here?” Twilight finally asked.

“I’m here to check up on little Sunny, Doctor Medicine told me he isn’t doing too good and needs to relax.” She then added ominously, “And I know exactly how to make him relax.”

Sun Light uttered a word he was forbidden to use when Twilight asked innocently, “How?”

“Yoga!” Cadence replied.

Sun Light repeated the word he was forbidden to use when Cadence asked Twilight, “So where is the little menace?”

“Upstairs changing into something more presentable,” Twilight replied, completely oblivious to what was about to happen.

“Is that so?" Cadence turned toward the stairs then yelled, "Sun Light, you can come down now, I know you were spying on us this whole time.”

Sun Light scoffed, on the first hoof, he could act like a jerk and tell them all to leave him alone, or he could act like a jerk and have fun at the expense of Cadence.

Tough choice. He chose the latter.

“Well if it isn’t the princess of Love gracing us with her presence,” he yelled from upstairs, as he removed his bathrobe and threw it on the ground. “I haven’t seen you in a while, what’s up?” He walked toward the top of the stairs.

Cadence watched in horror as Sun Light came to them nude and furless. She immediately covered Twilight’s eyes with the latter protesting with an irate ‘hey’. “Put some clothes on, you’re completely exposed!” she exclaimed.

“News flash, Cadence, we are always nude,” he quipped, pointing at her own lack of garment.

“It’s not a news flash, it’s you trying to flash us!” she replied sternly. “What is it that you are trying to do exactly? Ruin the innocence of the foals I sit?”

“You hear that Twilight, your innocence is in jeopardy, guess tea can wait another time,” he walked toward the door, “I’ll see you all in a week,” he opened the door, “Bye,” and stood there.

“Hey,” Twilight protested loudly, “I already saw him naked before, and besides,” she turned toward Cadence then said to her horror, “It’s only Anatomy,” then pointed a hoof at Sun Light, “And you aren’t going out of this tea party this easily.”

“Fine,” Sun Light conceded, “What about you Candy butt?”

Cadence bit her lower lip. “Just close the door so that no one might see you,” She stood between Twilight and Sun Light making sure that Twilight will never see this debauchery in front of her. “Twily will you please run as fast as you can to the kitchen and prepare some tea?”

“You really don’t want me to see him, don’t you?” Twilight deadpanned.

“Just do this,” Cadence pleaded. “For me?”

“Fine,” Twilight let out in exasperation. “I won’t look.”

“Good.” Cadence lifted her hooves from Twilight’s eyes, then shoved her gently toward the kitchen. “I’m looking forward to drinking your special blend.”

Cadence watched as Twilight marched to the kitchen mumbling how she’s old enough to see a colt in the nude. She turned toward Sun Light again to see him sitting on his haunches, door closed, hooves crossed, a grin plastered all over his face. “I know you’re not here for yoga,” he said dubiously.

“If your sister sees you like this, she is going to kill me!” Cadence answered agitatedly.

“Not my problem you didn’t keep your end of the bargain,” Sun Light shrugged, only to receive a hoof to the head.

“I care for you, you dolt, never question that,” Cadence answered sternly.

“Then where were you these past three weeks, huh?” Sun Light replied defensively, “Two foals you claim to care so much nearly ended at each other’s throats, both having tons of issues to deal with and you are nowhere to be found, we ended up seeing you thrice these past two weeks, and two of them were by coincidence.”

“Trust me, Sunny, you don’t want to hear about my filly problems no more than I want to hear of your teleportation problem.”

“And that is why we hate each other.” Sun Light rubbed his template. “if you are done playing the surrogate sister please leave. If nothing else, I am looking forward to the tea party Twilight is preparing and having you here isn’t making me any more relaxed.”

“What happened between you and Blueblood?” Cadence knew that if she doesn’t jump to the main subject, he will dance around it till she left.

“You think that is the reason why I can’t grow my fur back?” Sun Light jeered.

“You don’t get it, do you? For somepony to be stressed to the degree of losing his fur doesn’t mean he has one big problem that takes all his time, it means he has an entire host of problems that he is ignoring for the sake of one problem.”

“And what makes you think I have a problem in the first place?”

Cadence simply pointed at the stacks of books next to them. “Do I need a bigger evidence?” she asked, Sun Light looked abashed. “I wasn’t here for a while now, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being a lousy sitter, Sun Light. But I am here now, so please, talk to me.”

“There is nothing to talk about,” Sun Light remained adamant.

Only to have Cadence yell “ENNNN; wrong answer,” in his ear.

Sun Light glared menacingly at Cadence. “Your dad gave Blueblood quite a colorful threat with the full consent of Prime Minister Prince Trueblood because of what happened between you two.”

Sun Light didn’t answer right away, he probably has guessed that his dad will take it into extreme, he now was questioning whether telling Evening Star what happened was such a good idea in the first place. “So you do know everything that happened,” he stated.

“Of course I do.” Cadence stomped her hoof. “Blueblood came to my room last night and told me everything.”

“And I am guessing you are here to bestow upon me your wisdom in lovedom where butterflies give you kisses and rabbits poop chocolate, am I correct?” Sun Light said sarcastically with a smirk knowing where he got that line.

Cadence glared at him furiously, The little twat read my journals! She thought. “I didn’t even have my cutiemark when I wrote that!” But when Sun Light rolled his eyes at her, she let out an exasperated sigh, it’s useless to negotiate with him! She cursed to herself. “Just forgive him already Sun Light and be done with it!”

Sun Light thought for a moment. “Forget it,” he scorned.

“Why?” Cadence asked forcibly.

“He threatened excessive violence against my person!” Sun Light spoke firmly and loudly.

“And he is sorry for that, can’t you show some sympathy for the guy?”

“Why? He never did anything to earn it.”

“Really? Is that what you think?” Cadence sat next to Sun Light, “Not only did you ruin what was possibly the best day of his life, you criticized his entry on the Craig list rather harshly.”

“Well now, isn’t this just peachy!” Sun Light puffed with irritation, “Have you read his entry? Forget about bad grammar and worst vocabulary that is more vulgar than talking to Sailor ponies. There was no plot. There were no twists. There wasn’t even a story, to begin with! That was, and still is, a poorly written descriptive essay of an erotic scene that will never happen.”

“You could have used kinder words to describe it you know,” Cadence scolded, “I mean you just cost the colt his date, and blew the cover about his sexuality, claiming that what he wrote was the worst thing ever was just rubbing salt on his wound.”

“And everything worked out great for him in the end,” Sun Light waved his hoof dismissively, “His old colt friend was planning on conning him out of his money so ruining that date was a blessing in disguise, his mother is now introducing him with the local playcolts, and his writing is improving albeit at a snail pace. And do you know what I got? The worst conversation of my life and a threat to defile my bottom.”

“So it’s compensation you want?” Cadence was happy to have reached, she immediately started to formulate what types of compensations Sun Light might propose.

But her dreams were cut short when Sun Light simply shook his head, “I don’t want anything from him except him leaving me alone.”

“But Whyyyy?” Cadence whined.

“How many times do I have to say it? He threatened me!” Sun Light was losing his patience, he contemplated on whether teleporting Cadence out of his home was out of the question, but then again, he never learned how to teleport objects beside himself away. “And I don’t take kindly to threats.”

“Can’t you just forgive him now and completely ignore him afterward?” Cadence proposed.

“Then what’s the point of forgiving him if I am going to end up not forgiving him in the end?”

“Because it’s the grown-up thing to do and because you have to do it.”

“But it doesn’t make any sense!”

“It doesn’t need to make sense for it to be the right thing!”

“You know, you two talk very loudly.” Twilight suddenly interjected causing both ponies to jump in surprise.

Cadence glared at Twilight then at Sun Light, then tried to cover him with her hoof. “Twilight!” she exclaimed a few octaves higher than usual. “What brings you here?”

“I came to see what was all the yelling about,” Twilight stated calmly. “tea’s finished by the way.”

“How much did you hear?” Sun Light asked sheepishly.

“Let’s start with all of it and go from there,” Twilight answered calmly.

Sun Light and Cadence looked at each then at Twilight. “And I feel you have an opinion to share?” Sun Light finally broke.

“I don’t know what happened between you and the snobby prince, but I think it’s similar to something that happened between my brother and I. So once upon a time…”

“…Oh boy,” Sun Light lamented.

“It’s a short one, so shush,” Twilight retorted before continuing, “Once upon a time, Shining Armor and I were playing my favorite toy, Smarty Pants, but he ‘accidently’ tore its eyes off…”

“Yikes,” commented Princess Cadance, “No wonder it has buttons for eyes now.”

“I know, right!” Twilight exclaimed.

“So let me guess,” Sun Light interrupted the fillies, the last thing he wanted was for them to go on a tangent, “you forgave and went to eat candy together and lived happily ever after,” he added sarcastically.

“Actually, no,” Twilight deadpanned, “I said I hated him and that I never wanted to play with him again.”

“Wow, harsh,” Cadence gave Twilight a sympathetic look.

“I know, I thought that by no longer playing with him I’d keep my toys safe, but then I grew bored and lonely, and Shining kept apologizing whenever we sat on the table or met in the hallway, or when tucking me to bed that I felt sorry for him,” Twilight dug deep into her saddle bag, “Then one day, he brought me this,” she pulled out a ragged doll with spotted pants and button for eyes, it was so utterly tattered that it made Sun Light cringe, “He said he tried to fix it but he didn’t know how. I decided to forgive him then, though I never allowed him to play with my toys ever again. And yes we did go for ice-cream later that day.”

“And the moral of the story is?” Sun Light arched his invisible eyes brow in impatience.

“You don’t forgive others because they deserved it, you forgive them because you want them in your life,” Twilight concluded with a broad smile.

“Uhuh,” Sun Light nodded in accordance, though seemingly unconvinced. “Well, that’s something to think about.” He turned toward the door. “Glad the both of you came to a visit. I really appreciate your concerns for me. Now, I need to muse over this new information. Alone.” Twilight and Cadence stared at him. “Soaked in my bubble bath.” Seemingly unable to take the hint. “For me to relax.” he opened the door. “So goodbye.”

“And here I was just about to knock on your door,” came the voice of Prince Blueblood who was standing on the porch. “Thank you for opening it Sun Light, may I come in?”

Chapter XIV. The Unexpected Hex.

The roof was quiet.

No, the roof was too quiet for Prince Blueblood to bear.

Sun Light managed to put an astonishing amount of resistance regarding his presence in the tower but caved in after Twilight Sparkle started to cry.

Needless to say, everyone agreed on having a quiet picnic on the roof of the tower.

However, no one expected the exact level of quiet Sun Light can generate by sitting there, sipping tea, and occasionally glaring Blueblood to death.

It felt like the sky was about to fall and swallow him up where he stood.

Blueblood felt the need to say something, anything, else he might go insane. “Lovely day, isn’t it?” He finally managed.

A breeze passed among the picnickers when Cadence finally replied, “It sure is.”

A tumbleweed blew next to the Sun Light, which he promptly ignored.

Finally, the silence became too much for Blueblood to bear. "Say something!" He yelled at Sun Light.

Sun Light glanced at Blueblood while lifting an eyebrow.He then turned to Twilight,"Hey Twilight, did I ever tell you the secrets of this roof?"

"Does it have stink mites like the other roof?" Twilight responded indignantly.

Sun Light gaped at Twilight. "Hahaha. No," Sun Light responded forcefully, "Come with me, it's better to show you."

Twilight seemed unsure. She turned to Cadence for some guidance. Cadence simply nodded. "Okay," Twilight said.

Sun Light grabbed Twilight and went toward one of the ledges. "This tower has the perfect view of Canterlot, come I'll show you."

Blueblood waited until the foals were out of earshot. He turned toward Cadence hysterical. "He's not budging at all! What do I do? What do I do?" He fidgeted. He couldn't believe how much stress apologizing for causes and how much havoc on his person it was causing.

Cadence stood up, then slapped Blueblood across the face. "Stop panicking, Sunny will cave in, just be patient and don't show him any weaknesses.I'll throw him a treat soon and we'll see how much he resists then."

"Okay, okay, I'll calm down, I'm calm now," Blueblood repeated to himself, then something dawned on him, "Where are the foals?"

Cadence quickly turned her head around and saw no sign of either Twilight or Sun Light, "Twily! Sunny!" She yelled but there was no reply.

"Did they fell over?" Blueblood asked.

"Impossib..." Cadence was about to say when a loud squishing noise echoed from down bellow.

Blueblood screamed, "They Fell Over The Roof!" He bellowed.

Cadence gave an incredulous gaze. She then tried to listen in. But Blueblood's crying was drowning every sound she could possibly hear.

"Shush!" She ordered, but Blueblood kept at it. Cadence jumped at Blueblood's muzzle. "Listen!" She ordered.

"What a waste of a perfectly good watermelon," Twilight's voice came out of nowhere.

Cadence and Blueblood walked toward the source of the voice but found no one there.

"You have no sense for pranking, don't you," Sun Light deadpanned.

Cadence and Blueblood looked down. Beneath the ledge of the roof was a hidden staircase that led to a small balcony that overlooked all of Canterlot.

Twilight and Sun Light were sitting idly with a crate of fruit next to them.

Cadence light her horn and levitated both foals to her eye level. "Care to explain?" She asked Sun Light.

"An angry Cadence," Sun Light noted, "That's something you don't see every day."

"I thought you fell to your doom!" Blueblood cried, "What is wrong with you?"

Sun Light thought for a moment. "Throwing pranks doesn't seem to be my strong suit." He threw a sheepish smile at the prince.

With a loud stomp she sat up, “This has gone far enough!” She yelled. With a commanding hoof, she pointed at Blueblood, “You! Apologies for whatever it is you threatened him with!” He voice carried an unusual authority that made even Sun Light raise an eyebrow.

Blueblood immediately went on all four, groveled toward Sun Light with his head between his front hooves, and then yelled, “I’m sorry I threatened to put hot pepper in your toilet paper!”

With a satisfied nod, Cadence pointed the same authoritative hoof at Sun Light, “And you! Accept his apology!”

Sun Light raised his eyebrow.

“Just Do It!” Cadence yelled.

Sun Light calmly sipped some of his tea, then looked at Blueblood callously. “If that will take to make you leave then fine, I accept your apology.”

Blueblood was overjoyed, he rushed Sun Light with a hug and kisses while saying, “Thank you,” continuously in his ear.

Tears flowed from Twilight upon seeing the happy reunion. Cadence huffed with satisfaction and said, “Does everything with your family have to be so intense?”

Sun Light, who up until that point looked bored out of his mind, turned to Cadence and with a serious expression and said, “We’re not that intense…”

---

Shining Armor was in the cafeteria, the last cheese bruschetta was standing tentatively on the plate. He reached out toward it with his aura when suddenly he felt his face getting punched.

Quickly, he erected a shield. However, it did not stop him from getting punched to the other end of the cafeteria.

“The last bruschetta is mine,” growled Moon Chaser.

Shining shook his head in disapproval, “What did I do to deserve that?” He muttered silently at the snickering of his classmates.

---

Evening Star looked at the paper tower next to him, he sighed as he started filling them between done work and undone work when all of a sudden, Kibitz waltz in the room with a new stack of papers.

“Minister Star, these are the budgets for the new weapons, please read them all and sign them individually,” The secretary said, only to stop his advancement when he felt the same old bloodlust sensation he got used to.

Evening glared at Kibitz first and snarled, “Place it here and you will suffer unimaginable pain.”

---

“… We are reasonably passionate.” He said with his hooves crossed.

“Yeah, right!” Cadence jeered.

Giggles erupted from the group, as tension seemed to melt away.

“By the way,” Sun Light swiveled his tea as if he’s drinking a martini, “where have you been all this time Candy butt?”

“Yeah,” Protested Twilight, “I’ve been in the castle for three weeks and you haven’t visited me once!” A tear rolled down her eye, “Do you not like me anymore?”

“No! No,” Cadence rushed toward Twilight with a hug, “Of course I love you little one. It’s just that I have been a bit busy as of late.”

“Busy with what?” Twilight asked, falling deeper into Cadence’s hug, before levitating the golden coin in Sun Light’s hoof into her saddle bag.

Cadence hesitated for a bit, but looking at Twilight’s hopeful eyes, she caved in, “I am having colt problem!”

“What kind?” Sun Light placed a sympathetic hoof on Cadence, causing her suspicion sense to skyrocket.

Taking the hint, Sun Light defended himself, "It's a new thing I'm trying where I show compassion to others to get them to open up."

Cadence opened her mouth wanting to say something but ultimately decided against it. "Fair enough." She then took a deep breath and started, “My coltfriend hasn't been contacting me ever since he went to the military academy, okay?”

Her crowd of three gasped, even though one was faking it.

“The nerve!” Exclaimed Blueblood. Twilight shook her head. Sun Light drank some more tea.

“I have been racking my head over it for the past few weeks,” Cadence then popped between Sun Light and Twilight, then wrapped them in a tight clasp, “Which is why I didn’t have a lot of time for you two. Will you ever forgive me?”

“Of course!” Twilight exclaimed returning the hug.

“I doubt I have a choice in the matter, so eh,” Sun Light shrugged, but shared in the hug just the same.

“I have to say,” Blueblood interjected, “For you to go to such length for the colt, you must really like him.”

“I do,” Cadence wailed, pulling both foals into a tighter hug. Unable to breathe, Twilight charged her horn and teleported to the ground next to Cadence where she took a deep breath.

Sun Light on the other hoof was unable to get his hind hoof on anything solid to do the same, so he got stuck tapping on Cadence’s hoof to let him go. Cadence took Sun Light his cheeks and yelled, “Why do you colts have to be so cruel?!”

“I dun’ no,” Sun Light said through his squished mouth, “But let me go.”

Blueblood walked toward Cadence, then placed a sympathetic hoof on her, causing her to release Sun Light and latch on to him. “There, there,” He said all sagely, “There is always a hook when dealing with the middle class, especially in the affairs of love.”

Twilight ignored Blueblood’s snippet, but Sun Light picked up on something in the young prince's tone. "Is that a fact now?" He said, "And what have you been doing all this time? Cadence, I can understand. But you haven't been around as much as you used to as well."

Blueblood looked nervous. "I-I don't know what you mean," He stuttered, wiping out some sweat from his forehead.

Cadence let go of the foals. "Spit it out!" She yelled bulging her eyes at him with the full fury that even Blueblood couldn't help but cower.

Unable to meet Cadence at her gaze Blueblood cracked, "Alright, alright, I sent a spy to sabotage his ability to enter the royal guards. Please stop with the glare! It burns!"

Cadence sighed. “So let me get this straight,” She turned toward Blueblood, “Shining hasn't been in contact with me because you were bullying him?”

“Of course not you silly goose,” Blueblood tried to jab Cadence, without even putting a dent in her freezing glare, “Half of the court was in on it, there was a hedge fund for it and everyone was investing.”

There was a moment of utter silence amid the group. Finally, Sun Light spoke, “Who is the saboteur?”

The resentment in Sun Light’s voice, however, felt like acid dripping on every pony's coats. Blueblood felt a threat materializing in front of him, “Come now Sunny, you can’t be…”

“No!” Came the interruption like a lightning on a tree. "If I am to follow the trend you established; Moon Chaser Artemis of Phoenicia, My Sister, hasn't so much as sent me a letter since she left. So I'm going to ask again. Who is the saboteur?"

Blueblood gulped, unable to utter even a single word. Cadence's glare looked like a puppy pleading for a treat in comparison.

"Is that your answer?" Sun Light asked, but when he didn't get a response, he pointed to the door. "Out!" Blueblood poofed out of existence.

Cadence looked wide eyed, then stood up and went to the door. “I should leave as well,” She said while standing, “It’s been nice talking to you Sun Light, we should do that again.” And then she left.

Twilight watched everything in silence. The moment Cadence closed the door of the roof, she turned toward Sun Light, “You are not the only one whose sibling is ignoring him you know.”

"It's different," Sun Light said solemnly.

"How so?" Twilight asked.

Sun Light turned his head toward her, and Twilight was overwhelmed by what she saw. "Because she means everything to me," For the first time since they met, Twilight saw a genuine sadness in his eyes, "She was there when I was sick, when I cried, she came to comfort me, when I'm happy she shared my joys, my sorrows, my guilt." Sun Light looked at Twilight on the verge of tears, “Ever since she left, I have lost my pride, my time, my honor... my fur, and now, my sister. I have nothing left.”

Twilight felt shocked, she had never seen Sun Light play the victim before. “Do you want to talk about it?” She placed a hoof on his shoulder.

Sun Light shook his head. “No, I need some time alone,” He said while rubbing his head, “I feel lightheaded, I’m going to lie down.”

Chapter XV. A Magical Climax.

Evening rubbed his head at the report he just read. “That good for nothing…”

“Language, Minister,” Kibitz interrupted.

Evening sighed. “It seems, my daughter is playing politics in the middle of her training,” He concluded.

“Seems so,” Kibitz affirmed, “What are you going to do about it?”

“I’m not sure yet,” Evening replied, “The nobles really dislike this Shining Armor fellow though.”

“Princess Cadence is infatuated with him, I think that is enough to bring their ire.”

Evening chuckled, “I don’t envy his luck though. He picked the wrong girl to flirt with.”

“Indeed.” Kibitz went to the door but before he left, he turned toward Evening, “What should I tell Princess Celestia though?”

“I’ll have my best pony on the job,” Evening answered.

“Are you sure you wish to drag Sun into this? He seemed really despondent lately,” Kibitz noted.

“First, Sunny is not my best pony,” Evening said before averting Kibitz’s gaze. “Though he’s definitely not going to like the reason why Moon isn’t replying to him, that’s certain. But he’ll find out about it sooner or later, so might as well he hears it from me.”

“It appears that you know what to do then, I’ll be off.” Kibitz opened only to be surprised by the pony standing in front of him. “Twilight Sparkle? What a surprise!”

“Hello mister secretary, is uncle Evening there?” She asked with urgency.

Something about Twilight’s voice concerned Evening. “I’m here,” He said, waving her in, “Come in.”

Twilight did not waste a single breath, “Sun Light isn’t feeling well. I helped him get to bed but he was shivering when I left.”

Evening was not expecting that. “I see,” He said before turning toward Kibitz, “I’ll just finish up early and head to see him.” Kibitz simply nodded before heading out of the door. Evening turned to Twilight, “Did something happen before that?”

“Blueblood told us what he was doing with Sun Light’s sister in the military school.”

Evening’s eye twitched. He knew that Sunny would eventually find out, he never expected it to be so soon. “I understand, thank you for telling me.” He told Twilight before returning back to his paperwork. After a moment, however, Evening noticed Twilight was still at the door of his office. “Is something the matter?”

“Is my brother okay?” Twilight asked with concern.

“What do you mean?” Evening tried to avoid Twilight’s gaze, hoping that Sunny didn’t teach her body language yet.

“I know my brother is a goofball sometimes and that he may have done something that might anger someone,” Twilight said calmly, “but he’s a great colt, and he likes to be funny even when he’s not.”

Evening debated internally for a moment and chose to tell her part of the truth at least. “Shining is being bullied, unfortunately.” The moment he said that Twilight lowered her gaze with a sadness on her face. “But you shouldn’t worry, I’ll have my best pony on the case.” He added.

“But Sun Light’s sick!” Twilight exclaimed, “He’s not going to help.”

“For the last time, Sun Light is not my best pony,” Evening exasperated, “Don’t worry, I’ll handle everything.”

With a nod, Twilight left Evening to his work. “I need to stop relying so much on Sunny if I ever wish to keep hold of my position,” He muttered to himself before returning to his work at an accelerated pace.

---

Evening finished his work earlier than normal, thanks to a fast pace work schedule, a short lunch, and only a handful of papers to read and sign.

He entered his house expecting to surprise his son but was instead greeted with a tower of books. Sunny must have cleaned up. He thought. “Sunny!” He shouted, but no one replied.

The first thing he checked was Sun Light’s room. He opened its door but was surprised by how dark it was with the drapes being closed. “Sunny?” He asked. A shuffle from the bed came as a response.

Evening entered the room and the first thing that struck him was the smell of freshness. It was evident that Sun Light cleaned his room to an obsessive level, even in pitch darkness the floor was practically shining; the room felt surprisingly empty, especially since it was only yesterday since this place felt like a sarcophaguses of books with the boards filled with scribbles and the desk being lost in a maze of papers and research.

Evening walked around the room to adjust his eyes to the darkness, the chalkboards that hang on Sun Light’s wall were shimmering as if they were new. The desk was properly organized with a heavy book sitting in the middle. No dust, not even a paper can be found throughout the room.

It was all clean, just like Evening ordered.

And yet, it felt so desolated at the same time.

Evening approached the bed where his son is lying. Sun Light had pulled the bed sheets to cover his entire body.

Gently, Evening pocked his son. “Sunny? Are you okay?”

Sun Light shifted in his bed, then opened his eyes to see his father staring back at him, a mixture of kind and concern on his face. “No,” He answered his father in a wary tone, before rolling to the other side. “Just leave me alone.”

Evening decided to take a gander. “Is this because of Moonie not answering us?”

Sun Light turned toward his father with a glare that could pierce stone despite the bags under his eyes.

Evening sighed. He sat on the bed next to his son, “Look, Sunny…”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Sun Light cut his father. “I don’t want any excuse of being unreasonable, I don’t want to know how special I am from others, I don’t want you explaining anything about Moon’s behavior, or what is right or wrong, or anything for that matter. I just want to be left alone. Indefinitely.”

That, however, made Evening angry. Reaching out was never the old general’s strong suit; he is used to giving orders and getting them done. So he did what he was always used to; he stood above Sun Light and with a single word he ordered, “Move! I want to lie down next to you.”

Sun Light wanted to object, but his father’s gaze was insistent. With a sigh, Sun Light made space for his father.

Evening lied down next to his son, and in a gesture rarely took, he wrapped his hooves around him in a tight hug.

Sun Light yelped. “What are you doing?”

“Hush, you need this.” Evening tightened his grip.

“No, I don’t,” Sun Light insisted while trying to loosen his father’s grip.

But Evening wasn’t letting him get his way. “You are suffering,” He told his son, “You need this whether you wished for it or not.”

Sun Light gave up struggling after hearing that. He laid his head on his father’s chest and surrendered to his grip.

Minutes have passed without anyone saying a word. Evening felt himself getting drowsy and thought that a little nap wouldn’t hurt when Sun Light spoke, “Why is it that every pony claims to care for me but when push comes to shove I find myself alone?”

Evening expected anger and frustration from his son toward Moon’s behavior, but loneliness wasn’t what he had in mind. He took a deep breath then replied to his son with whatever his own life had taught him, “Despite what we like to believe Sunny, the world doesn’t revolve around us. And it is especially in the moments of our greatest need that it likes to remind us of that.”

“So this is all the irony of the world?” Sun Light concluded.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Evening said, “However, this is a fact that normal ponies learn much older. You have the misfortune of being without a mother. I would imagine she would want to be here in my place stroking your head until you slept all the while comforting you that things will be okay.”

Sun Light turned to face his father. “What was she like? My mom, I mean.”

Evening started stroking his son’s head while memories flooded his mind. “Hera was… the optimist,” He said while reminiscing. “She always carried herself with a smile, regardless of the situation she was in.” Evening looked down to his son who, despite his tiredness, had the most heartwarming anticipation on his face. “Why, the best example of that was the day you were born.”

“You see, Sunny.” Evening settled into recounting the events that passed, “The day you were born was an exceptional day by all accounts. The week prior to it however was, to put it on the best of terms, hell. It started with your mother getting sick, then we were attacked my sand coyotes who stole most of our supplies, and a sandstorm shredded our tents. It was a disaster, and to make matters worse, Hera went into labor.”

“Talk about a difficult week,” Sun Light commented.

“It sure was,” Evening affirmed before continuing, “We made a makeshift tent for her and her maid so that they can birth you without too much interference from the elements. Artemis was to stand guard, and I was to forage for food. Before I left them, however, your mother turned to me with a smile on her face and said, ‘now that this one is coming, things will finally look up to us, you’ll see.’”

“And you believed her?” Sun Light asked.

Evening snorted. “Of course not, I scoffed at her and told her that you will bring more misfortune to our already battered group.”

“Hey!” Sun Light objected.

“You have to forgive me Sun Light, but I was very tired and hungry to boot. I was not looking for a baby to keep screaming each and every night.” Evening said in a matter-of-fact manner, “Anyway, your mother looked at me and laughed. She believed in every fiber of her being that you would change everything once you pop out of her.”

Sun Light thought for a moment. “First, Ew.” He said which earned a chuckle from his father. “What happened next?”

“Two things happened before you were born. The first was that I found a huge supply of sand rocks. These are desert vegetation that looks like rocks, but once you open them, they have this sugary chewy interior. It saved many desert travelers in the past, and it surely saved us.” Evening remembered just how much he hated that stuff, always tasted like dirt in his mouth. “The other was that a bunch of coyotes attacked the tent, but your sister fended them off, and earned her cutie mark that day. Since then, no wildlife ever dared to attack us again.

“Go figures,” Sun Light quipped.

Evening ignored him and continued, “That night, you were born. When your mother’s maid carried you, you were squealing at the top of your lung. Then, she gave you to me while she tended to your mother’s wounds." A smile appeared on Evening's face as the picture came back clear in his mind of that day's events. "The moment I held you though, you calmed down and snuggle in my embrace as if holding to dear life. For me, it felt like time has stopped, just from that single embrace. Hera, even with her battered state, turned to me and said, ‘he likes you, you know. You should give him a chance.”

“And, did you?” Sun Light asked.

“Of course not,” Evening’s reply made Sun Light frown, “I scoffed at her and told her that you would be the end of us. Of course, she laughed at me, like always. However, she then said that when you were born, the last ray of sunlight fell on you blessing you with a kiss. I didn’t understand what she meant by that, and she never really told me if it even meant anything. But your mother was an oracle, she studied the hidden magic of the stars and the sun and probably thought it was a good omen or something...”

Sun Light waited for his father to continue his story. But the silence stretched, he asked tentatively, “And?”

“And what?”

“Was it a good thing?”

“It was the best thing, Sunny. It was as if the world was smiling at us, telling us that everything will be okay. Despite nothing ever truly changed about our situation, everything changed for the better,” Evening answered with a hug. “It is unfortunate that your mother died soon after. She would have really liked you, you know.”

A lump got stuck in Sun Light’s throat when he asked, “Then why did she had to die? Why did she left me, left us?”

So that he may flourish without the taint of his real father’s tarnish, those words sent a shiver down Evening’s spine as he remembered the maid uttering them to Artemis when she asked the same question. “Because a pregnant mare is weaker than most, especially to sickness, but you know that, you are a lot more informed about this subject than I am.”

“Yeah, it’s true,” Sun Light said with sorrow.

A loud knock surprised the two ponies.

Evening sat up from the bed. “Just stay here,” He told his son, “I’ll go check who’s at the door.” He stopped however at the door. “Sunny, would you like something to eat?”

“No,” Sun Light said tiredly, “I’ll just try to get some sleep.”

Evening nodded. “I’ll be downstairs if you ever need me.” He said then he closed the door.

His head still in heavy with what he told his son, Evening went to open the door.

---

“Mister Archive, good to see you again,” He greeted Archive Quill, the royal librarian.

“Minister Evening,” Archive greeted back, “I got this letter regarding our books?”

Evening allowed the librarian to enter. “As you can see, they are all placed in order and coded to be sorted out for their respective libraries.” He pointed at the large stacks of books.

“I’m going to presume that Sun Light read them all, otherwise I'd still be sitting there wondering who thieved them all.” Archive went straight to the pile to check which book is which.

“Then I’ll leave you to work,” Evening said before heading to the kitchen to prepare some tea for his guests.

“You know, Minister, I am quite happy for colts like Sun Light who always like to dig deep in their research,” Archive said, “but I do wish that he would do that in the library like a normal pony and not, you know, 'breaking and borrowing’ as he likes.”

“I guess so,” Evening said before leaving the librarian to his work. He goes into the kitchen in order to make some coffee. He figured it’s going to be a long night for him and for himself as well.

"If I may offer a piece of advice, minister," Evening gave Archive an inquisitive look. "But have you ever thought that you're overexerting your parental skills with Sun Light?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"I mean," Archive elaborated, "don't you think taking on the job of both a mother and a father for Sun Light is kind of making it hard to do both?"

Evening stared at Archive for a good moment, just waiting to make him nervous enough. This particular argument he heard far too many times before, and like before, he was planning on shutting it down with Archive permanently. "I never faced that problem before," He said the moment Archive was going to say something. "In fact, up until this, I doubt that was even an issue."

"But wasn't that when Moon Chaser was around playing the mother figure?" That, however, took Evening by surprise. "I heard that she recently went to the military academy and that Sun Light began acting up the moment she left."

Another moment of silence passed. But this time, it was Evening who was on the defensive in this argument. Archive, however, noticed that his host was getting uncomfortable, "I apologize for intruding, I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, no. You said what was on my mind from the very start, there is nothing to apologize for," Evening said in his diplomat tone. "I should brew some coffee, would you like some?"

"If you would be so kind."

Evening nodded then went into the kitchen. However, what was said plagued his mind heavily. Moon Chaser was a great brake for Sun Light. But now, with his daughter now out of the picture, Sun Light has been on a downward spiral ever since. Evening did, in fact, expect some form of self-destruction, however not to that degree.

Evening placed a teapot on the stove. He, then sat back while waiting for the water to boil. He sighed. When he became an adviser to Princess Celestia, that was one of the very first thing ponies would ask him about albeit in a different format; if he's thinking about dating again, if he wishes to find a mother for his foals, if he feels lonely and would like some female company... Back then, he often said that his wife died recently and was still in mourning, or that he was still new to the land and wasn't comfortable enough, or that they were managing without an outsider and everything is okay. However, it has been so long since his wife died that he could no longer use her as an excuse, and with Artemis gone, he can't really tell if they are okay or not.

But taking into consideration the way things are, can he really hide behind these excuses? Artemis is no longer a foal, she no longer needs a mother figure in her life. Sun Light might still benefit though, he is around that age where a good relationship role model will benefit him greatly for the future. And besides, Evening have been feeling a bit of loneliness from time to time, when there isn't a crisis that is.

The biggest issue though doesn't lie in his refusal to the idea. The problem lies with Evening himself. He has been out of the dating game for so long that he doesn't know how to do so in the first place. Not that he was ever good at the dating game, not like his younger brother anyway, even his marriage with Hera was arranged to broker peace Ramitha and Bytros. Adding to that, the fact that he is not in his native culture makes this an egregious challenge.

“This is going to be harder than I would expect,” He mused when the whistle declared that the water had done boiling.

Archive Quill suddenly yelled from inside, “Minister Evening, I found something that belongs to you.”

Evening came out to see that the unicorn had gone through a good portion of the stacks. That was fast, he thought, Must be the constant training Sun Light subject him to. “What is it?”

“This book doesn’t belong to my library,” Archive said while levitating a peculiar book. “Or any library for that matter.”

Evening took one look and realized it. “That’s Sunny’s notebook. He must have left it there.”

“That’s unusual,” Archive noted, “Mister Light never made a mistake like that before.”

“Thank you for finding it,” Evening took the book from Archive’s telekinetic grab. “Say, Coffee is ready. Come and have a break with me.”

“You have my gratitude.”

As the stallions entered the kitchen, Evening’s curiosity started to itch. Inside that book is a huge part of his son’s misery. It shouldn’t hurt to take a peek.

“Aren’t you going to open it?” Archive said as he poured the hot water into the cups.

“Of course I am,” Evening said, “Though, what’s in it for you to know?”

“He stole every book on telekinesis from four different libraries. It goes without saying that I am curious as to why.” Archive answered.

Evening nodded as he took the cup from Archive, then both of them sat on the table, putting the book between them.

Evening placed the cup a bit further away from him; he knew Sun Light would freak out if a single droplet fell on his precious work. He then opened the book as if opening a treasure trove.

On the first page, it read:

“Probing is the key technique to learn Telekinesis properly. However, without a proper conduit, probing becomes a guessing game. But that is only the tip of the iceberg, the real challenge for proper telekinesis is how I can wrap my earth pony strength on something that I am not physically touching.”

“Is Sun Light trying to learn magic?” Archive Quill asked in amazement.

“He is,” Evening feigned ignorance.

“If he manages to pull it off, he’ll be the next Starswirl the bearded.” Archive Quill noted. Evening only shook his head.

The next several pages were about the transfer of magical energy from one point of the body to the next, a recap about teleportation, and the basics of how telekinesis should work to an earth pony.

Then the stallions came upon a page titled “schematics”. Underneath the titles were drawings and scribbles of what the movements should be.

Evening gasped.

The first picture showed a pony first thrusting his hoof toward a ball in the first pic; bellow it there is a caption that reads: Initial step is to wrap one’s strength around the desired object.

The second picture portrayed the same pony lifting his hoof, and the ball rises above.

“That’s not right,” Evening suddenly mumbled to himself.

“What’s not right?” Archive asked.

“Not sure,” Evening said without paying him any mind

The third picture showed the pony bringing his hoof toward his body while pointing at the ball, and the ball etches closer to the pony.

The fourth picture showed the exact opposite.

“Well, that was informative,” Archive Quill exclaimed while standing. “I should finish checking the books and take my leave. Thanks for the coffee minister Evening.” He then placed the cup in the sink before heading to the entrance. “Oh, and tell Mister Light that since he’s working now, he’ll be paying the late fees."

“Can you leave a message about that? Please?” Evening said without even taking his head off the book.

Archive Quill nodded his head and left the minister alone.

Evening closed the book. He looked at the clock and realized that it was well past midnight. He went to the entrance and saw the bill Archive Quill had left.

He picked it up and placed it on the fridge's door. “I need to talk to Sunny about that,” He said to himself. Then went to the toilet, did his nighttime cleaning.

The moment he saw himself in the mirror, a sudden realization struck him. “I know what’s not right!” He exclaimed then went back straight to the kitchen.

---

Sun Light woke up later than usual. However, he felt drowsy. “Must have overslept,” He concluded. He went to the bathroom for his morning routine. However, the moment he entered the bathroom, he noticed something odd.

“Dad!!” He yelled, “Did you even used the bathroom yesterday?”

Everything was exactly as it was yesterday, not even his father’s toothbrush changed its position.

When his father did not respond, Sun Light went downstairs. “Dad?” He yelled again.

“Down Here,” Came his father’s voice from the kitchen.

Sun Light felt anxious. He knew his father was the military type; wake up, brush your teeth, shave your mane, take a shower, get dressed, get to work. Always the same routine.

To break his routine is unprecedented.

As Sun Light entered the kitchen, he first noticed his father sitting at the table reading a book, the cup of coffee was sitting quietly next to him, full and cold. That made Sun Light even more anxious. “Dad? Are you okay?”

“Hey Sunny!” Evening greeted his son while putting down the book he was reading. “I’m fine, and how are you this morning, still down from yesterday?”

Evening’s eyes were red from not sleeping but his movements were normal. No, Sun Light thought, He’s way too energetic. “I’m okay,” He answered, “A bit peeved, but better than yesterday.”

“Good, good,” Evening said, “Come, sit. I need to talk to you about something.”

“Sure.” Sun Light walked toward his father. Evening slid the book he was reading to his lap, making sure his son would not see it. That, of course, did not go unnoticed. “What’s that book? Looks familiar.”

“Something for later,” Evening said while gesturing his son to sit in front of him. After Sun Light sat down, Evening started, “Tell me Sunny, would you like to have a mother?”

“Not necessary,” Sun Light said tentatively, “Why? Is there someone wish to introduce?”

“Not really,” Evening said, “I was simply testing the water.”

“Are you in love and wanted to take my permission to date?” Sun Light pressed forth.

“No, Sunny, I just wanted your opinion on the matter,” Evening reacted defensively.

“Why do you want my opinion when it’s something that touches your life more than mine?” Sin Light asked with increase suspicions.

“Because Sun Light…” Evening tried to retort, but could not find anything, “Just drop the subject, okay?” But Sun Light held his gaze at his father, still expecting an answer.

Evening sighed. “There is something I want to show you first,” He said while lifting the book for his son to see.

“That’s my notebook!” Sun Light exclaimed, “What are you doing with it?”

“I found it among the books you took from the library,” Evening stated.

“Oh,” Sun Light cursed himself inwardly for making such a mistake without him even realizing it.

Evening placed the book on the table then stood up, “I read it yesterday, and finally understood what you were trying to accomplish.”

Sun Light regarded his father with suspicion. “You mean telekinesis.”

“Well, yes and no.” Evening said while detaching his prosthetic arm, then placing it on the wall. “You’ve been focusing too much on doing it like a unicorn and forgot an essential part of being an earth pony.”

“And you think you do?” Sun Light said in his most cynical tone.

Evening scoffed. “Just watch.”

Evening stood on his hind legs, cracked his shoulder and neck, fixed his posture, then closed his eyes while breathing deeply.

A few moments later and Sun Light started to notice the air around his father getting heavy all of a sudden. That’s a lot of earth pony strength, He thought. Suddenly Evening opened his eyes. Sun Light noticed a small glow emanating from them. “Okay dad, that’s quite impressive.”

“I haven’t even started yet,” Evening retorted with a toothy smile. Then, he thrust with hoof with a twist of his hips toward his prosthetic.

Sun Light realized what his father was trying to do. “Come now, Dad. Do you think…?” But Sun Light fell speechless the moment his father moved his hoof upward.

The prosthetic started to levitate.

Evening snuck a peek at his son looking at him flabbergasted. He exhaled while releasing his stance, and the prosthetic fell on the ground.

“Earth ponies need to use every fiber of their body if they wished to perform any task,” Evening said smugly, “That goes double for what you are trying to accomplish."

Sun Light said nothing. He remained transfixed at his father with his mouth wide open.

Evening looked at his son with beaming pride. He knew that if he fixed the biggest problem, things will get fixed. He waited patiently to get showered with praise.

“What… Was that?”

Evening looked at his son and found him fuming. “What was what?”

“That!” Sun Light pointed at the floating prosthetic.

“I solved your problem,” Evening said unsure of what just happened, “Was that a bad thing?”

“YES!” Sun Light exclaimed, taking his father by surprise.

Evening stared at his son in shock. He felt his face burning as a thousand thought bombarded his mind, from remorse over the wasted time, to anger over the ungratefulness, and, most importantly, to disappointment. But before he could say anything, He took a deep breath. “Alright,” He said while inhaling heavily, “I’m not going to overreact, but I will ask why?”

Sun Light bit his lip. The frown he is seeing on his father was the deepest since he talked back to him after getting stuck in the armory. “Because I wanted it to be my discovery,” He said sheepishly.

He can’t be that selfish, can he? Evening thought. “Why?” Evening asked angrily, but he was too stressed out so he continued without even giving his son the chance to speak, “Why is it so important for you to figure things out alone? You’ve lost your standard, you’ve lost almost everyone’s trust, heck you lost your fur and you still think you can do everything alone?”

“Because it will make you proud of me!” Sun Light screamed back at his father.

Evening stared at his son speechless for the second time in less than five minutes. It finally clicked to him what’s going on, and a laugh escaped Evening’s lips.

Sun Light sat baffled at his father’s sudden burst. “What are you laughing at?” He asked with a mixture of anger and shame.

“Because you actually think that I’m not proud of you,” Evening said between fits of mirth.

“Well, aren’t you?” Sun Light asked on the verge of tears.

Evening stopped laughing. He stared at his son in amazement. No, he can’t seriously think that can he? He thought. But the fear in Sun Light’s eyes was genuine enough to tell him otherwise. “Oh Sunny,” Evening walked toward his son, then started patting his head, “My precious little Sun Light. There has never been a moment where I felt otherwise.”

Sun Light's gaze dropped, shame prevented him from meeting his father's eyes. “It’s just that, you really make it hard for me to believe that.”

Evening grabbed his son’s face then leaned stared straight into his eyes. “Look at me,” He ordered, and his son did. “It is not a lie or a joke when I say that you make me the proudest father in the history. Understand?”

When Sun Light gave a small nod, Evening continued, “It doesn’t matter to me if you get that spell right. Heck, it doesn’t matter if you get it at all. For the past couple of weeks, you have shown commitment, discipline and a drive that most adults would dream of having. You worked harder than anyone I have ever seen. You made a friend out of someone you perceived as an adversary. And let’s not forget, you made the impossible, possible. All I ever wanted was for you to be happy, and so I took an initiative and thought of a solution, that doesn't mean that I am disappointed. So would you please let your old colt help you once? I still like to feel useful to you, you know.”

Sun Light smiled, and through teary eyes, a chuckle escaped from him.

Evening wiped his son’s tears with his hoof. “There is my Sun shining for today.” He said causing his son to chuckle further.

“I don’t think I need a mother,” Sun Light finally spoke.

“Oh yeah? And why is that?” His father asked.

“Cause I have you,” Sun Light concluded, causing his father to smile broadly before smothering him with a hug. “Though, I wouldn’t object in finding you a wife.”

Evening broke the hug. “Say what?”

“I’m already in my pre-pubescent years,” Sun Light said, “And the older I get, the fewer moments like these will come. So… you kind of need someone else.”

Evening wanted to retort, but he couldn’t find anything to say. “Just don’t tell cadence,” He finally settled, “I don’t want to play in any of her dating games.”

Chapter XVI. Corruption at Magic Battle School.

At the north of Equestria lies the Crystal Mountains whose ice feeds the many lakes dotting the northern region in an ever expanding web that ends with the Neighagra Falls.

At the bottom of these mountains, near the shores of one of its many crystalline lakes lies the prestigious Equestria’s Royal Guard Academy where generations of ponies graduated as loyal guards for the greatest princess of them all. With its astonishingly large mess hall anointed with marble pillars and statues of the previous heroes and captains who protected the princess with all their might, all of which lead to a window with a panoramic view of the lakes that dot the landscape.

Despite the awe-inducing view that would fill any pony with pride, one pony sat dejected in one of the mess hall darkest corners as he ate lunch.

“You okay?”

He looked up to see Night Vision giving him a concerned look.

“I’ve been better,” Shining Armor said, wincing at the pain in his side.

This was supposed to be Shining’s golden years, but things turned sour for him rather quickly. The moment he sat on the airship, he met… Her.

“That punch must have hurt, don’t you want to get it checked out at the infirmary?” Night Vision asked.

“He’ll just say that if it ain’t broken, I should walk it off,” Shining replied solemnly, “And then dismisses me for wasting his time.”

“I don’t get it. You’re getting a treatment worse than I am,” Night Vision asked.

Shining Armor gave Night Vision a weird look, “What I don’t get is why you are getting a bad treatment.”

Night Vision unfurled his bat wings and gave Shining Armor a toothy, canine smile while glaring at him with slit, golden eyes. “Does this offer you a clue?”

“So? You’re a bat pony, that doesn’t mean anything,” Shining scoffed.

“It does if by virtue of being a bat pony means you get to graduate to the ranks of the night guard without the tedious examination,” Night Vision lamented.

“Why though?”

“Some one thousand years ago, bat pony population plummeted for some reason, so Princess Celestia gave them… Incentives.” Night Vision shuddered at uttering that word. “Needless to say, that didn’t bode well for the rest of Equestria. So they tend to make us know it whenever possible.”

“But you are top of every class!” Shining said in surprise.

“You think my father would let me pass any other way?” Night raised his eyebrow.

Shining thought for a moment. “Good point.”

“Now that I have told you of my reason for being the outcast,” Night Vision leaned over toward Shining Armor. “What’s your sin?”

“Apparently, the fact that I’m dating Prince Cadence is a sin in and of itself,” Shining said while seething with anger.

Night Vision faked a gasp. “And is she...? I mean is the department of…”

“Perfect,” Shining said with a reminiscent gaze upward, “Just perfect.”

“Perfect enough to endure all this struggle?” Night Vision gave his friend a concerned look.

Shining was about to say yes, but a chill suddenly ran down his spin prevented him from answering. He turned toward its source and saw Moon Chaser glaring at him from the distance.

Night Vision noticed the exchange. “She looks at you as if seeking revenge for killing her father.”

Shining dropped his head in his hooves. “I don’t know how much longer I can take.”

Night vision gave him a supportive pat on the back. “If it is of any consolidation, I’m here for you.”

Shining looked at his friend and gave him a weary smile.

Across the hall, Moon Chaser kept glaring at Shining Armor. Her friend patted her on the shoulder. “What’cha thinkin’,” She asked mouth full of grub.

“We need to break these two apart,” Moon mused aloud, then she turned toward her friend, “Any ideas?”

Butterfly Kick swallowed, “How about I hook up with Night guy?”

Moon Chaser looked at Butterfly with one brow raised, “And how will that accomplish anything?”

“Oh filly,” Butterfly snorted, “Two colts are best buds until a mare gets between them.”

“True,” Moon Chaser then gave Butterfly’s head a gentle slap, “That’s only if both colts are in love with said filly.” Moon Chaser then returned to her glaring. “Things could have been a lot smoother if Shining agreed to sleep with you once.”

“Mare, I know why the big dogs of Canterlot want to break the boy with the princess of love,” Butterfly placed her hooves on her hips, “But I don’t get why you hate him so.”

Moon looked at her friend from the corner of her eye before returning to glaring at Shining Armor. “It’s personal,” She stated calmly.

“Cadet Moon Chaser?” Came a voice from behind them.

“Yes?” Moon said while turning.

“The dean wants to see you,” The private said.

With a nod, Moon left her lunch and walked toward the private. She turned toward her friend and said, “We’ll continue this later.”

After a short walk, Moon Chaser was at the dean’s office. With a single strong knock, she announced herself, “Cadet Moon Chaser Artemis, reporting for duty, Sir!”

“At ease,” The Dean said.

Lieutenant first class Hard Horn is an old stallion, but for those who first meet him, he doesn’t look a day over thirty. His training regimen earned him the title ‘harder than steel’ and nominated him to become dean of the royal military academy.

“You wished to see me? Sir?” Moon Chaser asked.

Knowing the routine, Hard Horn immediately went into the subject, “The captain of the royal guard is coming tomorrow for an inspection. So I expect you to postpone any plans you have for cadet Armor till after he leaves.”

“And the light scuff from this morning?” Moon Chaser asked.

“If he can’t do training, we’ll send him to the infirmary,” Hard Horn scoffed, “end of story.”

“Anything else? Sir?” Moon Chaser kept her posture straight, her face neutral. Just like he taught me, she thought to herself while thinking of her father, and how much he would disapprove of what she is doing right now.

Hard Horn motioned to her to come closer, which she did. “Did you send the money?” He asked.

“Today’s message confirms the transfer to the hospital,” Moon Chaser, “They scheduled your daughter’s operation for this weekend, you’ll hear about it this afternoon.”

Hard Horn gave a firm nod. “Just so you know, I don’t really approve of what you and the nobles are doing.”

Moon Chaser took a step back and kept her posture straight. “With all due respect, Sir. As long as you don’t get in the way, the nobles don’t require your approval.”

Hard Horn gave a dry chuckle. “Trust me, I know that better than any pony.”

“Anything else? Sir.”

“No, you are dismissed,” Hard Horn waved, “Though, I was wondering, would you satisfy this old colt’s curiosity?”

Moon Chaser was taken off-guard, “Off the records?”

“Off the records,” Hard Horn affirmed.

“It’s personal,” She replied.

Hard Horn gave Moon Chaser a long look, “You liked the colt, didn’t you?”

“Something similar,” Moon Chaser said.

Hard Horn gave Moon a long look. “Ah,” He said all-knowing, “Alright then, good chat. Now get back to class.”

With a nod and a salute, Moon Chaser left the office.

When she was admitted into the military academy, Blueblood came to Moon Chaser with a proposal; there was a pony that the court wished to get rid of, and wanted a coordinator with someone inside the academy. Of course as the coordinator, her job was simply to relay messages to and from those who will actually do the dirty work.

It was supposed to be a safe job with a good pay. Until they told her the name of their target. Moon Chaser was more thrilled with the prospect of her getting her own hooves at Shining Armor than anyone else. She never liked the colt from the moment she saw him. Taking her Cadence out to dinner and being all goofy and adorable, making Cadence fall in love with him.

She absolutely loathed that.

If anyone was to make him pay for it, it was her. Her plan wasn't to take part of anything that was done to him. No, she left the actual bullying to the teachers, and her fellow cadets, the ones with an actual problem with him. All she did was, every time there was a scuffle, every time he was being punished, at every juncture where he was being bullied; she would walk by and made sure he sees her smiling at his misery.

That was her way of letting him know a single fact. She was in charge.

As she went to class, she walked by a group of ponies in gilded armor. “Moon Chaser,” One of them greeted.

“Duke Golden Hoof,” She returned the greeting.

“So what’s on the agenda?” He asked.

To which she replied, “Nothing.”

“What?” He exclaimed, “Why?”

“There is an inspection coming and bullying the guy might blow our cover,” She explained.

Duke Golden Hoof is what one calls of old blood. His family is responsible for founding three out of four cities in Equestria, including Manehatten which he owns the city center. Inheriting the title of Duke at a young age, he became keenly aware of his responsibilities rather early on, with one of them being advancing the family name.

When Princess Cadence came to be, he knew there and then that he is the only one who can fulfill the role as her charming prince, but because she lives in a different city, a chanced meet on the street and in high-school never came up. So he devised a plan to become the captain of the royal guard and charm her then.

But what he didn’t count on was the competition.

Of course, the aristocracy is always here to help.

“Alright,” He conceded, “but we need to up it a notch, the colt isn’t budging.”

“I have a few ideas,” Moon Chaser said, “We’ll talk later.”

With that, Moon Chaser went her way.

The rest of the day was unoriginal.

After the drills, which Shining was unable to complete due to his morning injury, they all had a class on squadron formation and other military tactics, which bored Moon Chaser to pieces, then they all had dinner before the day ended.

However, Shining had night guard duty. And so he strapped on his armor, grabbed his spear and walked outside to greet his peer who will be standing with him the rest of the night.

The moment he stepped outside, however, he felt a chill run down his spine as blue eyes glared at him from their post.

Moon Chaser was also picked for night guard duty. However, it was more her decision than anything else. For if the plan to work, it was time to introduce a carrot.

“You’re late,” she said.

“By only a couple of minutes,” Shining whined, “Don’t report me for just this.”

Moon Chaser simply turned her head forward. Shining Armor took his place at the right side of the front gate. In front of them is a road that zigzags around the lakes, and somewhere at the end of that road lies the train station home; something Shining misses dearly.

Silence between them stretched.

“Cold night,” Shining commented, trying to break the ice. But Moon didn’t respond and kept her gaze forward.

Shining sighed in defeat. In his last letter from his father, his dad gave him the advice of being empathic toward his bullies. Everyone who ever bullied you must have been bullied in return, his father wrote, showing them kindness is the best thing you can possibly do.

It was hard living up to those words. For Shining Armor, Moon Chaser is the instigator; she never really did target him physically, however, she was present at every scuffle, and at every abuse, she would watch calmly from afar, glaring at him.

Shining was determined to make her talk, but the way she looks at him made her all the more unapproachable.

Shining opened his mouth wanting to say something, but words eluded him. He couldn’t figure out what to say. Think, Shining, Think. He said to himself.

“You should probably give up.”

Shining’s head snapped in attention toward the source of the voice.

“Whatever they want from you,” Moon Chaser continued, “Just give it to them and move on.”

Shining Armor hesitated, “And what about you?”

“I’m in it because I’m getting paid,” Moon Chaser confessed with a sly smile, “In fact, a lot of people are benefiting from it.”

Shining was at a loss for words, he knew, more like intuitively, that they were organized. But the confirmation still shocked him. “Why should I give up on my love just for this?” He replied.

“When something becomes detrimental to your health and your future prospect, you’re given a choice,” Moon Chaser shifted the spear and with her free hoof, she grabbed something out of her pocket. “You either endure it, or you give it up.” She held her hoof to Shining Armor.

“What’s this?”

“Pain reliever,” She said, revealing the pills. But when she was met with a look of skepticism, she sighed. “Consider them a gesture of good faith.”

Shining hesitated, then took the pills with his magic. “What’s your angle?”

“I have a proposition,” Moon Chaser said, “You promise to break up with Princess Mi Amore Cadenza on your next leave, and no one will bully you or your friend until your leave at the end of the month. I guarantee it.”

Shining looked at her unsure of what to say, then returned to his guarding posture, gazing at the oblivion. Then an idea came to him. He needed to appear more genuine to her if he ever wished to gain her trust, and the best way to do that is with a story from his own life. “My little sister joined the school of gifted unicorns this month,” He said, “She met up with a young colt which I think she’s infatuated with, his name is Sun Light…”

*snap*

The sound caused Shining to jump. Moon Chaser had broken her spear in half with her grip. Scary!!! Shining gulped the moment Moon Chaser turned toward him very slowly, her once ice cold eyes were ablaze.

“And?” She said in a tone that made the temperature drop.

“She um… She…” Words eluded Shining once more as he grappled with finding his thought.

Moon Chaser didn’t give him the chance though, “Sun Light is the name of my younger brother, should I be wary of anything you are planning to do to him?”

“No!” Shining immediately answered, “No… I was….” He removed the sweat from his brow, “I was going to say…” He gulped, “Should I stop her from seeing him just because they’re from different social class?”

“Oh,” Moon felt a pang of guilt for overreacting.

“I didn’t even know you had a younger brother,” Shining concluded once he felt the change in her attitude.

Moon Chaser looked at the lake in front of her. “I raised him when our mom died,” She said, “He is a big part of my world. I will never forgive myself if a single hair on his head is hurt.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Shining smiled inwardly, he never thought his dad’s advice would work.

“To answer your question,” She continued, “It depends on whether such relationship is detrimental to him or not. If I felt that it is bad for him, I will do my best to stop it.” She gave Shining Armor a compassionate look, “Which is why I think it's high time you should give up on the princess.”

Shining was unable to reply to that at all, was he wrong about her all this time? “I’ll think about it,” He said.

“Good, that’s all I want to hear,” She replied, “Now take your medicine before the night shift ends, otherwise you’ll oversleep tomorrow and end up in trouble.”

“Alright,” Shining didn’t think twice and swallowed the medicine whole, “What about you? You broke a spear.”

“I’ll probably end up cleaning the armory till my leave,” She said, “Nothing that can be done about it.”

With that, the two continued their shift in a much more bearable silence than before.

Author's Notes:

When I realized that I struck 7k words with this chapter I thought it would be better to split it in three.

So expect three chapters within a week's time.

Chapter XVII. Magic Battle School Upheaval.

Dawn came early for Moon Chaser. The night shift always does that.

She woke up at the sound of the trumpet, got dressed, went to do the morning drills, and then went to the shower.

After showering, she waited near her locker until no one was around. She opened her locker, then opened a secret compartment at the bottom of her locker.

In the secret compartment lies a magical box sealed with a combination only she knows. Inside the box, she would usually find a letter.

That was how she kept contact with her handler from the outside.

Usually, she would read the letter, memorize it as quickly as possible.

Usually, she would write any detail of what she needs, or whether something needs to be done from the outside, like a bribe or a blackmail.

Usually, she would close the box, then the compartment, and be on her way to carry out any plan.

Today, despite starting normally, suddenly turned unusual when, upon opening the compartment, she did not find the box.

Moon Chaser panicked. She double checked every inch of the compartment with her hooves but the box is gone.

“Where is it?” She asked herself, frantically, as every horrible possibility rushed to her head. “Where is it??”

“Looking for this?”

The voice came from above her head.

The very familiar voice that should not have been in the military academy came from above.

Moon Chaser lifted her head and squinted her eyes, not believing what she is seeing.

“That’s some elaborate scheme you got there,” The foal said. His fur seemed to be newly grown as his pinkish skin still shaded under its blackness. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you are a yakyakistani spy or something.”

However, those eyes are unmistakable.

“Sun Light?” Moon Chaser asked.

The foal smiled. “The one and only.”

“What happened to you?” Moon Chaser wasn’t sure what was she horrified about more, the fact that Sun Light is almost furless, or the fact that her box is in his hooves.

“Didn’t you read my letters?” He asked sarcastically. But when she gave him a blank stare, he continued, “Of course you didn’t. I know that for a fact because I found all of them in Blueblood’s secret drawer.”

Moon Chaser’s eyes went wide.

“It seems, those who hired you to be their saboteurs didn’t trust you either,” Sun Light said calmly.

“What are you doing here?” Moon Chaser asked. She knew that she needed answers, but in order to get them, she needed to capture her brother for a small interrogation.

Kind of like old times.

“I opened the box,” He said, “Using your birthdate according to the calendar of the Phoenix Mountains is probably the least imaginative thing you could think of.” He opened the box, took the piece of paper inside and threw it at his sister. “You should read this carefully; it’s quite important, I assure you.”

Moon Chaser caught the piece of paper. There was only one line written on it: “They know everything.” Moon Chaser let out an ‘Uh-Oh.’ But when she looked up, her brother was not there.

“You should consider your options before following me.” Moon Chaser’s head snapped toward the door, where Sun Light was casually walking out of it.

Immediately, Moon Chaser ran toward the door. Once she stepped outside, she turned her head left and right only to see her younger brother running down toward the classrooms.

She gave chase.

Knowing that Sun Light isn’t that fast, she quickly caught up to him as he reached the end of the hall.

“Wait!” Sun Light exclaimed, “Wrong direction, the mess hall is the other way.” But when he turned, Moon Chaser was already on top of him.

“And where do you think you’re going,” She said with a huff. She was smiling. At the end of the hall are the classrooms. There, the teachers will help her in catching him.

“To the mess hall,” Sun Light smiled back, “I’m meeting everyone else there.”

Moon Chaser paused. Usually when caught, Sun Light would become frantic, but he is too calm in this situation. However, what normally happens isn’t happening today; Moon Chaser needed to take extra precautions. “No you are not,” She said, “Not until you tell me everything that’s going on.”

“Only if you can catch me,” Sun Light said. He lowered his body as if trying to outrun her.

“Fine by me.” Hoping to catch him off-guard, Moon Chaser jumped at Sun Light.

Only to be blinded by a flash of light as she landed head first on the ground.

“What the?” Moon Chaser quickly stood up, looking left and right, trying to discern where her brother evaded her.

“Where the hell did you come from?” Butterfly Kick suddenly exclaimed at the other end of the hall.

“Oh you know,” Sun Light retorted as he moved away from the pegasus filly, “Here and there.”

“Get Him!” Moon yelled at the other end of the hall.

But before Butterfly could do anything, Sun Light zipped to the other end of the hall at such tremendous speed that, had she blinked, Moon Chaser was sure she would have missed him.

“What in Tartarus?” Butterfly sat stunned by what just happened.

Moon Chaser came running at her. “Follow Him!” She ordered with a gentle tap on her shoulder, and so Butterfly did.

“Who tha hell is that?” Butterfly asked as she ran after Moon Chaser.

“My brother!” Moon replied.

“Mare, he’s way too quick to be your brother,” Butterfly commented. Only to be ignored.

Just as Moon Chaser reached the end of the hall, Sun Light had vanished again.

Moon Chaser yelled a sailor’s word.

Butterfly shuddered. “That foal is creepy.”

---

Moon Chaser busted into the mess hall, puffing. Every pony stared back at her in surprise. She did a quick scan of the room but could not find her target.

“Moon Chaser!” Yelled Butterfly, “Calm down. You nearly broke the door… again.”

“I can’t be calm,” Moon replied, “He’s here, and he knows too much.”

“Yeah? So?” Butterfly asked.

Moon chaser’s head snapped toward her friend so fast that Butterfly nearly jumped. “You don’t get it, do you,” Moon started to shake, “If Sun Light is here, it means my father is here, and that he is about to carry out his plan.”

“And is that a bad thing?”

Moon Chaser glared at her friend. “Is that a bad thing?” She gave her friend a dry laugh before lifting her in mid-air by the shoulders and shook her violently, “Have you been listening to any of the stories I’ve been telling you?”

“Weren’t… They… Exaggerations?” Butterfly managed to say between shakes.

Moon Chaser dropped Butterfly with her mouth hanging open. “That’s it,” She said, “I’m done for,” before she started laughing maniacally.

Duke Golden Hoof came to her side, “Is she okay?” He asked Butterfly.

“Apparently, her family is here,” Butterfly replied.

“And is that a bad thing?”

“I don’t know, but her little brother was creepy.”

“I got it!” Moon Chaser suddenly exclaimed, “We’ll kidnap Shining for a day.”

---

"Are you okay?" Night Vision asked Shining Armor.

"I don't know," Shining said, "I feel fine, but my magic isn't working like it supposed to."

Night Vision had been with Shining Armor since this morning, he could tell that his friend wasn't in his best condition ever since he couldn't make his bed properly. "Did anything happened while you were on guard duty last night?"

"Yeah, Moon Chaser gave me some medicine for the bruises," Shining said.

"Moon Chaser?" Exclaimed Night Vision.

"She had guard duty with me last night," Shining Armor informed him.

"I never trusted that pony," Night Vision sat in his chair cross-hooves.

"You never trusted anyone," Shining said, dismissing his friend's intentions.

"What did you talk about?" Night Vision asked.

"Well, she said if I promise to break up with Princess Cadence, she would guarantee that no one will bother me until our break," Shining replied.

Night Vision mulled over that bit of information for a second. Then he realized something amiss, "How can she guarantee something like that?"

"I don't know," Shining suddenly realized the same thing, "I didn't particularly think about it."

"Do you...?" The more Night Vision heard, the more he became convinced, "Do you think that Moon Chaser is behind the bullying?"

"She did say that she was benefiting from it," Shining did not affirm nor deny it, but the more he thought about it, the more things became clearer in his mind.

“I got it!” Moon Chaser suddenly exclaimed, “We’ll kidnap Shining for a day.”

Every pony looked at her with uncertainty, in particular, Shining Armor from across the room.

“Chill Moon,” Butterfly grabbed her by the shoulder, “There’s always another way.”

A grin appeared on the Duke’s face. “I don’t know Butterfly, If those stories weren’t exaggerations, then we’d be in deep trouble.” He motioned for a couple of cadets behind him, “Boys! Get to it.”

“Wait!” Shining yelled when two of the Duke’s goons approached him. “We can talk this through!”

Night Vision grabbed the knife he was eating with, then took a combat stance. “Looks like we’ll have to fight our way today,” He said to Shining Armor.

“You heard the order, Armor,” Duke Golden Hoof dismissed, “Don’t make a fuss about it and come along.”

Frustration turned into anger as Shining yelled, “We had a Deal! Moon Chaser!”

“A new situation demands a new form of action,” Moon Chaser simply mumbled, “I’m sorry.”

Despite his current condition, Shining readied himself for a fight. Five of Golden Hoof’s gang surrounded him and his friend.

But before anyone could throw a punch, a dark figure appeared behind one of the statues. “This is getting too painful to watch,” The black foal said.

His eyes shining golden at the goons, “First I’ll take care of you,” He said.

Then, Sun Light tapped with his hoof a rope and it started glowing a strong yellow aura. He lifted his hoof while rising with his entire body, and the rope stood up like a snake. He then threw his hoof with a wide circle and the rope went flying toward the goons tying them up before they could even breathe.

The room suddenly fell silent. “Enchanted rope from Princess Celestia,” The foal explained, “She thought it might come in handy.”

Moon Chaser felt her blood boiling. “Sun Light!” She yelled. Her frustration toward her little brother exploding. She charged at him.

Sun Light simply shrugged, then pulled a small box with a button on top from behind him and placed it on the floor in front of him.

The moment Sun Light came in range, Moon Chaser jumped.

Sun Light pressed the button.

The box opened, expanded to a large size, jumped at Moon Chaser, ate her, then shrunk to his original size.

The room fell deadly silent.

Sun Light’s eyes light up with delight. “Ehh!? So that’s how it works,” He grabbed the box to examine it, “The tech department sure has a lot of neat stuff in their basement, I should go there more often.”

“Wh-who are you?” Night Vision stuttered.

Sun Light turned toward him with an unimpressed glare and said, “Her brother,” while pointing at the box.

“That’s crazy!” Duke Golden Hoof exclaimed. “You’re crazy!” He pointed a hoof at Sun Light.

“I beg your pardon!?” A voice came from behind.

The Duke turned his head only to find the minister of defense standing behind him.

“My son is not crazy,” The minister defended, “Though I wouldn’t put it past him to be an evil genius.”

“Hey dad,” Sun Light yelled, “Can I go to the tech department some more? These things are awesome.”

“No,” The minister denied, “You are too dangerous without having the most advanced weapons in the military at your disposal.”

Sun Light’s smile vanished. “Cheapskate,” He mumbled.

“Where is your sister?” The minister asked.

Sun Light picked the box and threw it to him.

The minister raised an eyebrow. “And them?” He pointed at the tied up ponies.

“Come here, rope.” Sun Light ordered, and the rope obeyed, untangling the five ponies, then flying toward him in a well-arranged loop.

“Isn’t there something else you wanted to do?” The minister asked his son, “Something Princess Cadenza asked of you?”

“I was going to do that now,” Sun Light said. He walked toward Shining Armor, grabbed his tail by his teeth, then with a “come with me” he dragged the unicorn outside.

After seeing his son leave the building, the minister let out a sigh. He then placed the box on the ground and pressed the button again.

The box opened and Moon Chaser jumped at the closest pony she could find with a “Gotcha!” Only to slam head first into her unmovable father.

Moon Chaser looked up to see her father glaring at her. “Hey... Daddy,” She said with her most winnable smile.

“Hey Moonie,” Minister Evening Star gave her his most forced grin to date.

“I’m in big trouble, aren’t I,” Moon Chaser said while fidgeting.

A dry laugh escaped minister’s Star’s lips. “You have no idea.”

---

“This looks like a good spot,” Sun Light said upon reaching one of the shores of one of the lakes.

Shining Armor just glared at him.

“No one should be able to listen in on us talking this far from the academy,” Sun Light noted, “Right?”

“I guess,” Shining pouted.

“Are you still upset that I dragged you from your behind all through the academy?” Sun Light asked.

“Not really,” Shining said, "Kind of relieved that you dragged me out of there... I didn't catch your name."

“Didn’t I already tell you?” Sun Light replied with a playful tone, “Where are my manners?” He said, taking a step back then giving a bow, “Sun Light Helios at your service.”

The name immediately jumped at Shining Armor. “Sun Light as in…”

“Moon Chaser’s little brother, Twilight Sparkle’s tutelage adviser, the Colt of Canterlot Castle,” Sun Light thought for a moment, “I bet I have more titles, but they are irrelevant to your situation.”

“Look, I didn’t do anything to your sister,” Shining reacted defensively, seeing the young colt's arsenal of defensive gadgets which took out too many ponies that are stronger than he is, coupled with the fact that his magic isn't working at all, he chose the path of least resistance. “If anything she’s the one who has a beef with me.”

However, Sun Light’s purpose was entirely different from what Shining Armor would expect.

“Oh, we’re well aware of that fact,” Sun Light replied to Shining’s surprise, “I’m not here to justify her actions. I am here to simply offer my help.”

Sun Light could read every emotion on Shining’s face; he could tell that Shining Armor regarded him with skepticism. “Well, to be more precise, I was ordered to help you by Princess Cadence,” He added.

But to achieve his purpose, Sun Light wanted Shining Armor to weigh each word he has to say.

“Princess Cadence?” Shining Armor said in surprise.

“Though I am a little disappointed when I saw you,” Sun Light said, trying to get Shining Armor back on the ground, “If Cadence was any reference, you’d be a few hooves taller, thrice more muscled with a horn the size of a sword. Colt, you turned to be a bore.”

“EH??” Shining felt his blood boiling again. He was completely at a loss if that colt was with him or was just making fun of him.

However, Sun Light immediately added, “Thankfully, that’s where I come in.”

Shining regarded Sun Light with more suspicion than ever.

To which Sun Light elaborated, “I’m going help you become the captain of the royal guard.”

Author's Notes:

The last part of this chapter will be published somewhere around the weekend, so please, look forward to that.

P.S.: this chapter was edited to account for some holes left in the first publish.

Chapter XVIII. Magic Battle School Resolution.

“You don’t believe me,” Sun Light concluded.

“Well, it’s kind of hard to believe,” Shining Armor affirmed, “I mean, you’re still a foal.”

Sun Light stared Shining Armor down. Such an awkward, intense glare made Shining a bit nervous, but all sense of nervousness disappeared when Sun Light started to grin.

“I know, right?” Sun Light said, “Hard to believe when it’s a foal talking and not some awesome pony like captain Soaring, right?”

“Definitely,” Shining jumped, “Captain Soaring has a lot of battle experience and a lot of cool moves he can teach me. He’s the greatest captain that ever lived.”

“Debatable, but okay,” Sun Light said, “I am certain that he can figure out how to restore your magic in a heartbeat.”

“Yeah… wait…” Shining Armor paused, he was unsure that he heard the foal correctly, “Restore my magic?”

“Of course,” Sun Light kept grinning at Shining Armor, the more Shining looked at it, the creepier it got. “I mean, who else would my sister dearest give ibuproterezole to?”

“Ibu… what?” The more Sun Light talked, the more Shining felt at a loss.

“It’s a regenerative medicine used to treat medium level injuries,” Sun Light said, handing Shining Armor a piece of paper. “The medicine suppresses a pony’s personal magic and convert it into a regenerative energy to heal all wounds. Though if taken without any injuries it will still suppress magic for three days.”

Shining started to read the paper; it was a prescription for the drug to Shining Armor signed by Medicine Front, the local medic. He turned toward Sun Light. “How did you get that?”

“From the infirmary, when the Captain and I went there to detain private Medicine Front,” Sun Light said with a boastful smile.

Shining’s mind swirled a thousand direction. “Just who are you?”

“I thought the nobles didn’t intercept your family’s letters to you,” Sun Light said, “I was certain Twilight wrote extensively about me.”

“You read Twilight letters to me!” Shining was unsure if he should get angry or surprised at that point.

“I don’t need to read them to know what’s in them,” Sun Light said with his usual smugness, “Your sister and I have been good friends for well over two weeks now. It's only natural that she would write something about me.”

Shining thought for a moment, trying to recollect. “She did say something about a foal helping her with her magic. Wait… that was you!”

“I thought I mentioned that earlier,” Sun Light mused. He then pulled another pill and gave it to Shining. “This is the antidote, it is supposed to make you sleepy so be careful.”

“I guess I should thank you for helping my little sister,” Shining took the pill then swallowed it, “I was kind of afraid that she wouldn’t make any friends and would spend her time stuck in… books…” Suddenly he started to have a blurry vision.

Shining Armor tried to walk forward, “What’s happening?” He muttered.

“I forget to mention the effect is instantaneous,” Sun Light said at an ever increasing distance.

“Why you little…” Shining wanted to say but only managed to think before utter darkness.

Sun Light dragged Shining underneath a nearby shade. “Two hours should be enough for him to recuperate,” He mused to himself, “Perhaps I can use this time to train a little.”

---

“You can’t expel me!” Yelled Duke Golden Hoof.

“Duke Golden, you are charged with corruption at the highest level,” Explained minister Star, “This is a crackdown on corruption, ergo you are expelled pending your trial.”

“Ergo my furry butt!” Cried the Duke, “I earned my position like every other pony.”

“Oh really?” The minister stood up, “I looked up your file. I was not impressed.”

“Ha! You can’t possibly have found anything that isn’t in other people’s files,” The Duke said brazenly.

The minister was getting irked. They were standing in the mess hall when he delivered the news to the Duke. The minister had suggested going somewhere private to explain to the Duke's situation which was a lot dire than a simple expulsion. Instead, He was standing there, waiting for Captain Soaring Blade to finish his first round of arrests all the while the guy he was supposed to hoofcuff first is making the biggest scene.

Needless to say, this was not turning out how he expected it at all. But he wasn’t worried about the arrest. The entire building is surrounded by troops loyal to the Princess; so escape through an accomplice was next to impossible.

“Do you honestly believe yourself to be superior to cadet Shining Armor by any chance?”

“Is there any doubt?” The Duke puffed himself.

Minister Star sighed. “Cadet Armor ranked second in the Canterlot Metropolitan area, fourth throughout Equestria. He received a dozen recommendations from his school, his uncle was lieutenant Shining Shield, his grandfather was Captain Gleaming Sword, and almost everyone from his mother side served in the military at one point or another.” Minister Star counted, “The last time someone from your prestigious family had anything to do with the military was your father’s proposition to disband the royal guards as they were, to put it in his words, ‘a useless waste of money.’”

Duke Golden Hoof fell silent.

“Usually there are twenty cadets accepted each year, let see how you compare to those,” Minister started walking around the first years.

“Cadet Night Vision ranked first in all of Equestria, He currently has the highest chance to become the next Captain of the Royal Guard,” He told the bat pony, beaming him with pride.

“Cadet Butterfly Kick has three black belts in three different martial arts. Her qualifications speak for themselves.” Butterfly went red, she replied with a 'shucks'.

The minister walked toward one of Golden’s goons, a lanky earth pony who didn’t seem that impressive at first. “Despite cadet Tough Thoughts average physique, he still managed to rank second in Equestria in his entry examination.” Tough Thoughts eyes grew enormous from that recognition.

Finally, Minister Star turned toward his daughter. “And let’s not forget my darling Moon-Moon, ranked third in the entry examination, and whose recommendation included fighting on par with Captain Soarin Blade and defeating Lieutenant Shadow Strick in single pony combat.” Moon chaser sank in her seat so deep, she might as well have merged with it.

“And then there is you,” The minister turned toward Duke Golden Hoof. “You ranked 678 out of 1454 students, nothing about you is noteworthy to be here, and despite the fact that we only admit the top twenty, you are standing here as a cadet for the royal guard. Now, why is that?”

“Hmph, you got nothing on me,” Duke Golden Hoof stated while crossing his hooves, “She’s not going to talk,” He said while pointing at Moon Chaser, “They’re not going to talk,” He said while pointing at his goons. “All this is a puff of smoke that will disappear in the air once my lawyers come.”

“Is that a fact now?” Minister Star said with a grin. One that sent chills down his daughter’s spine.

“Make way, coming through!” A pony yelled from outside the mess hall.

Moon Chaser clicked her tongue.

“What’s wrong?” Butterfly asked her.

“Someone annoying just showed up,” Moon Chaser replied.

The door opened. Captain Soaring Blade came in, following him walked a bat pony mare whose physique made every stallion jaw drops. Every curve she had was oozing from her armor as if she was about to burst from it.

With a single tug, a chained Hard Horn was thrown straight before Minister Star’s hooves.

Butterfly whistled. “Wish I had curves like that,” She commented. She turned to Moon Chaser, “Whose she?”

“Lieutenant Shadow Strick reporting for duty.” The young lieutenant said with a salute, before turning to Moon chaser with a grin.

“SIS?!!” Yelled Night Vision.

“Mare, how did you beat that?” Butterfly Kick asked Moon Chaser, “Her flanks are way bigger than yours.”

“Pretty easily,” Moon Chaser replied, “That flank of hers is a hindrance in actual combat.”

“Nighty!” Shadow trotted her brother before smothering with a hug, “I missed you soo much!” She said giddily while drawing envy gaze from everyone toward her brother. “You’re not part of this mess,” She suddenly said in a somber voice, “Are you?”

“No,” Night Vision managed in an asphyxiated voice, “Now, please… let me go.”

“This is an outrage!” Hard Horn yelled.

Captain Blade gave the minister the salute. “With the exception of the cadets, we’ve rounded everyone who was involved in the case.”

“And him?” Minister Star pointed at Hard Horn.

“He insisted on seeing you first,” The Captain replied.

“Minister Star!” Hard Horn cried, “What is the meaning of this? I have done nothing to warrant such treatment.”

“Lieutenant Horn,” the minister said with an all knowing smile, “Your daughter is having an operation that is far too expensive for your salary to handle. So we traced back the money given to the hospital and it led to a foreign account that was being used by the Yaks to undermine our northern borders.”

Hard Horn’s eyes went wide and he felt deeply silent.

“Simply put,” minister star continued, “We are detaining you under charges of corruption and possible treason.”

Hard Horn spat at minister Star’s face. He scorned, “I’ve served Equestria for longer than you were even allowed to set foot here, and yet you serve at the Princess’s side while we sweat for even the slightest recognition only to be ignored at the time of our greatest need.”

Hard Horn rose on his hind legs, then pointed an accusation at the minister. “You barbaric, rabid stray,”

Gasps and whispers spread around the room.

The captain rushed to the minister’s side with a handkerchief. Minister star took it and wiped his face with a small, dry laugh. “That was amusing,” The minister said with a grin.

Evening Star walked toward Hard Horn. “It’s a shame really, and here Princess Celestia was going to send you the money for your daughter’s operation through one of her many foundations,” He said.

Evening then wrapped his hoof around Hard Horn. “In the land of Equestria, I have to follow the due process where you get a formal trial and your punishment is weighed by the jury.”

“If it was up to me, however…” The grin on the Minister’s face had disappeared.

Suddenly, the hair on Moon Chaser’s neck stood up. She could smell the bloodlust oozing from her father. Even those inept in combat felt a chill running through their spines.

Duke Golden Hoof watched in horror as Hard Horn started trembling uncontrollably, his eyes went wide with fear, his skin started to age, and his mane turned white.

“…I would send you to the deepest, darkest dungeon where I’d bring your little filly every single day just to let her hear your endless scream.” Minister Star continued, before dropping the ex-lieutenant on the floor, weeping.

The silence in the mess hall was so heavy, it could drown a fish in the oceans.

“Take him out of my sight,” Minister Star ordered Captain Blade.

“That was hot,” Lieutenant Shadow Strick noted.

“Remind me to never, ever, get on your bad side, Minister.” Captain Blade did as he was ordered.

“W-What d-did you d-do?” Duke Golden Hoof stuttered as the minister turned toward him.

“Oh, that?” The minister pointed at Hard Horn, “I simply scared a few years out of him. Why? You want some years shaved as well?”

“T-the P-princess will hear o-of this,” Golden Hoof’s nerves kept betraying him.

“The Princess would not have sent me unless she expected some form of casualty or another, so I think I’m safe in that regard,” The minister simply shrugged the matter off. “Anyway, I suggest you go with them as well, I’d rather not waste pony resources on the likes of you as well.”

Golden Hoof stared down at his hooves only to find them still shaking. He turned to the minister, nodded his head, and then followed the Captain of the royal guard.

Lieutenant Shadow Strick took the opportunity to address the minister. First with a salute, then she asked, “What about her?” while pointing at Moon Chaser.

Moon Chaser shrieked. Hiding further into her chair.

“What about my daughter?” The minister asked.

“Come now Minister, Every pony who ever set foot in the castle knows about your unusual punishments you would often subject your foal to,” Lieutenant Shadow Strick pointed out, “But despite all she did she’s not on the list of ponies to be arrested. Is there a reason for that?”

“That’s because I’m bailing her out,” The minister replied calmly.

To which every pony in the room jumped with a loud “WHAT??”

“Don’t worry too much Lieutenant,” The minister added to his daughter with his malevolent grin, “I do have a special punishment prepared for my sweet little innocent daughter.”

---

Shining Armor felt groggy. A breeze caused him to shiver.

He struggled to open his eyes at first. From the corner of his eyes, he took a peek.

At first, he saw shade, then he saw Sun Light meditating with pebbles floating around him, then he saw the lake.

He felt the drug was still in his system, so he switched to his other side in hopes to continue his nap when it dawned on him.

Shining jumped like a lunatic, his eyes glaring at Sun Light with the glow of someone who just discovered a deep secret.

“You’re up early,” Sun Light noted with his usual creepy all knowing smile, “How are you feeling?”

Shining stared at Sun’s surroundings, the pebbles were all neatly stacked on top of each other.

“I wanted to see how many stones I can stack on top of each other,” Sun Light said in an answer to Shining’s intensifying glare. “It’s a good focus exercise, helps keep my instincts sharp.”

“Weren’t those pebbles floating just now?” Shining asked with suspicion.

“Nope,” Sun replied simply.

Shining didn’t want to believe him, but he was unsure of what he saw in the first place.

Noticing his hesitation, Sun Light sighed of relief that his little secret wasn’t discovered. He internally berated himself for being careless and nearly exposing his magic to someone else. “Can you feel your magic yet?” He asked.

Shining shook his head trying to get rid of any remaining doubts. This isn’t the time to be superstitious after all. “I’ll try.” He charged his horn and felt energy coursing through it.

“That looks good,” Sun noted, “Can you cast a spell?”

“Fire Ball!” Shining yelled as a great fire ball formed overhead.

He then reared his head and threw the fire ball toward the lake.

The fire ball blew off no sooner than it was thrown.

“That was something alright,” Sun Light said in a poker face.

“Oh laugh it up,” Shining sat on his haunches dejected. “This entire ordeal has been nothing but depressing from start to finish. First I get bullied because everyone wants to date my marefriend, then I get drugged, and finally, I get laughed at by a foal of all creatures.”

Sun Light sighed. He had never worked with someone so demotivated before. If he was to teach him anything, Sun Light needed to switch tactics and fast. “One time, Twilight was learning how to charge an enchanted crystal,” He started his recollection, “She had her butt stick through the air with her horn trailing the crystal like a predator about to jump at its prey. Spike, the baby dragon, was playing with some dusty old books, under my supervision of course. And as Twilight charged her horn, the book fell in front of Spike causing him to sneeze, and catching Twilight in such a surprise that she jumped backward landing on her rear.

After I managed to stop laughing I went to help Twilight getting up, but instead of taking my hoof Twilight pointed at the crystal excitingly as it glowed of dust and rubble. You see, up until that point, Twilight had never successfully charged a single crystal. So that was how she first started getting used to things.”

“Heh, yeah. She always had a knack for casting spells, not like her older brother.” The mentioning of his sister made Shining smile.

“But is she stubborn,” Sun Light continued jokingly, “It took her a week to figure out that she wasn’t doing teleportation right before coming to me for help.”

“She can be stubborn,” Shining reaffirmed, “Once I accidentally poked her dolls eye and she wouldn’t talk to me for a month.”

Sun Light realized something. “She must mean a lot to you. Probably the reason why you came to this academy.”

Shining Armor at Sun Light unsure. “Why would you say that?” He asked.

“Because if you’re doing this just for Cadence, someone you barely knew for five months,” Sun Light said, “You wouldn’t have lasted this long.”

Shining Armor chuckled. “You sure have a way with words you know.”

“To tell you the truth, I am hoping to see that infamous shield spell.”

“A shield spell?” Shining asked before realizing something, “How do you know about my shield spells?”

“Because I read your file,” Sun Light said.

Shining was unsure how to respond to that. “I thought cadets files are state secrets. How did you get it?” He asked.

Sun Light gave a sly chuckle. “I have my sources,” He said while rubbing his hooves together.

Shining Armor stared at him with mistrust.

To which Sun Light replied, “My dad is the minister of defense, how else could I have gotten them?”

“Oh,” Shining Armor was unsure how to feel about state secrets being handed to a foal.

Sun Light, however, cared less about what Shining felt and continued, “It said that your shield spell earned you top marks in that section.”

“Your sister broke my field spell with a single punch,” Shining said angrily, “She then told every pony how to break it.”

“Let me guess, she said something along those lines” Sun Light lifted his hoof in an attempt to imitate his sister, “That was disgustingly easy. If you ever put that retched spell in front of me again, I will break you.”

Shining felt a shiver down his spine. “That was exactly what she said.”

“She can be so uptight about things, that one,” Sun Light said nostalgically, “Once I wrote a word wrong during our study sessions and she made me spell the entire dictionary.”

That’s insane, Shining Armor thought, If everything he has ever done was set to extreme, then no wonder why he can help in adult stuff with ease. “But what good would showing you my shield spell will help?”

“I’ve been thinking of a way to make you a captain in a record time,” Sun Light said.

“Record time?” Shining asked

“I expected Moon chaser to do it within five years of her graduation,” Sun Light noted, “Though now I’m not sure.”

Shining Armor chuckled at the notion of him becoming a captain in just five years. “Come on Sun Light, you can’t expect me to compete with that monster,” Shining Armor said with trepidation.

Sun Light sighed. “Do you love Cadence?” He asked.

“Yes, but what does…”

Sun Light interrupted, “Do you think you’ll love her even after your graduation?”

“Definitely, I mean…”

“Then here is what will happen,” Sun Light interrupted Shining Armor again, “You will most likely graduate this academy without any problem, then you will be assigned to various teams and groups depending on your performance all around. However, unlike the Academy, where things are under the control of the minister of defense who answers to her Majesty, Princess Celestia. Outside the academy can be less controlled, the nobles will try to usurp you again, and again, and again.”

Sun Light approached Shining Armor. “What you have been through here, is only but a taste of what will happen to you out there.”

“So, what you’re saying, if I don’t become a captain within five years after graduation, I may not live that long?” Shining concluded.

Sun Light smiled as he pulled away. “Show me your shield spell.”

Shining Armor charged his horn. He started by creating a small sphere at the top of his horn, then he started expanding the sphere until it covered his entire body.

Sun Light whistled. “Impressive!”

Shining Armor blushed. “Thanks.”

Sun Light placed his hoof on the shield before trailing it across. “Taking into consideration that the magic suppression drug is still in your system, I believe its durability is above average from those made by the lowest ranked royal guards.”

Shining Armor felt some pride that someone praised his specialty. “I developed it so that I can help put Twily’s to sleep at a stormy night. She used to hide inside my blanket and snuggle up to me, then I would cast the shield to protect her from lightning.”

Sun Light approached the shield for a closer inspection, and no sooner did he managed to find a fatal flaw. “But you need to make it lower.” The shield was only two third imbedded in the ground. “You need to make it half a sphere if you don’t want your shield to break so easily.”

Sun Light punched the shield from bellow, breaking parts of it instantly.

Shining fell on the ground and the shield dispelled.

“I believe, that was how everyone was dispelling your shield,” Sun Light said, “Am I correct?”

After rubbing away the headache, Shining stood up. “Now I’m impressed.”

“I believe,” Sun helped Shining in getting back on his feet, “that is the key to your success in becoming a royal guard.”

“Oh yeah? How?” Shining Armor asked.

“If you can specialize in shield spells, then perhaps you may find a path to becoming a captain of the Royal Guard,” Sun Light said.

“I’ve never heard of any single pony managing to become a captain of the royal guard with one spell,” Shining Armor countered, “But I think you have a plan on how to do that?”

Sun Light replied with a smile that sent shiver down Shining Armor’s spine. So far, everything has gone exactly as he planned. “I read of a way to test the powers of a shield spell, would you like to try it?”

Shining Armor nodded.

Sun Light pointed toward the lake. “Make a shield inside the water, and then take it out from the water and pop it on land, then make another shield inside only bigger and repeat. You keep repeating until you can no longer get the shield out of the water.”

Shining Armor nodded. He charged his horn and readied the spell, but then paused for a moment.

“What’s wrong?” Sun Light asked.

“How big should I make my first shield?” Shining Armor asked.

“Let’s try, the same size as the shield you just showed me.”

Shining nodded. He concentrated his shield inside the water, then he jerked his head upward. The shield peaked from the water, but the strain from trying so much made the shield pop before leaving the water.

Shining started to pant. “That was harder than I thought.”

“I think you should try to gauge the size when your abilities are fully restored,” Sun Light ended up saying.

Shining Armor nodded. “So, how big does it need to be when I'm captain of the royal guard?”

“How about… half the water inside this lake.”

Shining Armor blinked.

He blinked again.

Then looked at the lake.

Then he blinked again.

“You’re insane,” He concluded.

“True,” Sun Light affirmed, “A shield that size can cover all of Canterlot and can possibly withstand an assault from an entire army for several days.”

Shining’s mind couldn’t grasp what Sun just described. If he can’t even do a bubble half the size of a pony, then it’s impossible to meet the expectations that foal is giving him.

“But if a single pony can create such shield, then he will become the finest captain the royal guard had ever seen,” Sun Light continued.

And it finally clicked in Shining’s head. He’s not asking me to do it, he’s telling me that this is a goal that can be done.

“But how long will it take me to do it?” Shining asked.

Sun Light’s smile this time gave Shining Armor hope he thought did not exist. “Three years,” Sun Light said, “If you are willing to go to Tartaros to achieve it.”

“I hope you mean that figuratively,” Shining said, his heart pounding as his head swirled with the possibilities.

“I’ll send you the regimen first thing tomorrow morning,” Sun Light said, “For today, you should rest.”

“You know, you’re nothing like your sister,” Shining Armor said.

“How so?” Sun Light asked.

“She’s all manipulative and sly, while you’re brash and outspoken.”

However, Shining Armor’s comment had the opposite effect of what he intended as Sun Light fell on his back from laughter.

“You actually believe that I am not manipulative?” Sun Light managed between fits of laughter.

“Well aren’t you?” Shining asked.

“’To survive in this world, you need to think three steps ahead of everyone else, and chose the best course that benefits everyone, even at the expense of their feelings and yours.’” Sun Light quoted. “That is my sister in a nutshell.”

Shining wanted to say something, yet words didn’t come from his mouth. “I hate her,” He confessed.

Sun Light looked at him inquisitively.

“She made my life a hell, and had the gall to demand I break up with a pony I love,” Shining said with anger.

“I can’t fault you for your feelings,” Sun Light replied before falling silent. “I can’t fault her for hers as well, though.”

“What do you mean?” Shining Armor asked.

“She’s hurting,” Sun Light answered, “She’s been hurting for a long time.”

“You don’t know that,” Shining Armor said.

But before he could continue, Sun Light replied violently, “Of course I know! I’ve always known.” A tear ran down his face, and Sun Light looked away. “She’s good at hiding it but… I’m her little brother, I’ve always known.”

Sun Light wiped away his tears before turning to a stunned Shining Armor. “I know I don’t have the rights to ask you this,” Sun Light kneeled in front of Shining Armor, “Can you give her another chance?”

---

At the dean’s office, Evening Star met with his daughter. “You have been oddly quiet about things,” He noted, “Have you considered your position thoroughly?”

“So, basically,” Moon Chaser said to her father, “My punishment is surviving three years of the military academy with everyone hating me?”

“If that’s what you think it is, then let’s go with that,” her father replied.

“That’s too easy,” Moon Chaser shrugged it off, “And here I thought you were going to present me with a challenge.”

Evening didn’t reply, he didn’t even smile.

“Dad, please, no need to frown,” Moon Chaser felt uncomfortable when she couldn’t read her father's stare. “You got what you came for, I mean I’m definitely not going to enjoy my stay from now on, but it’s not like the end of the world, right?”

Her father didn’t say anything, simply kept staring deep into her eyes.

“Okay dad, I was putting a strong face, the next three years are going to suck, would you please say something?” Moon Chaser cracked.

“I’m sorry,” Evening finally spoke.

Moon Chaser felt placated. Out of all the words in the dictionary, it had to be two words in particular.

But before she could answer, Evening continued, “I thought that, by leaving you to figure things out for yourself, I was doing you a favor. So I turned a blind eye to everything…”

Fear gripped at Moon Chaser’s heart, “Stop,” She hoped to interrupt him.

But her father continued, “I turned a blind eye when I left Sun Light to you, I turned a blind eye during your teenage years, I even gave up too soon about you joining the royal academy…”

“Dad, enough!” Moon Chaser yelled louder.

However, Evening continued unfazed, “I ignored you at every turn, preaching whenever felt like it and expecting you to live a decent normal life without any support, I left you to your own far too long…”

Moon Chaser couldn’t take it anymore. She grabbed her father by the shoulders and with a strong shake she said, “Enough is enough!”

Evening glared at his daughter. She threw him at the chair, “You’re not my father,” she declared, “My father is the great general Shalim who broke the armies of Sarepta, who broke the siege of Baalbeck, who liberated Tyre at the expense of his armies and himself…”

With a slam on the table, Evening Star rose, “Your father is a broken stallion trying to raise a broken daughter out of the broken ideals she was spoon-fed her entire life!”

“This conversation is done,” Moon Chaser turned tail and went to the door. The moment she tried to open it, however, the door slammed shut.

Moon Chaser jumped, but after a second glance, she noticed a soft blueish glow. She turned to her father to find him standing on his hind legs, his hoof pointing to the door emanating the same glow.

Words escaped Moon Chaser as the shock of discovering that not only her brother is adept at magic but her father as well took hold on all her thoughts.

“Sit.” Evening ordered, bringing his daughter back to reality, “This conversation is far from over.”

“I’m not accepting this makeshift apology,” Moon Chaser replied as she took her seat.

“This is not an apology,” Evening continued, “This is a confession.”

When Moon Chaser did not reply to that, Evening continued, “I made many mistakes with you, but the one thing I made sure of, was teaching you about loyalty. And because of that, I cannot help but feel disappointed.”

Moon Chaser met her father’s glare, and she could tell, he wasn’t going to tolerate any comeback.

“The trust we all had in you, your brother’s trust, my trust,” Evening paused for a moment when Moon Chaser raised her head expectantly, he continued, “Your love’s trust. You threw it all away, and for what?”

“My love?” Moon Chaser asked, fearing what her father might know.

“Don’t play dumb with me,” Evening answered, “I’m talking about Mi Amore Cadenza.”

If Moon Chaser had any fight left in her, it fled away. She felt the need to ask, “How did you…?”

“How did I know?” Evening took a more sarcastic tone, “From the way you looked at her when she entered the room, from how you weighed in on every words she said… from how you cried that night in your pillow when you discovered that she chose Shining Armor and not you.”

“You knew that much?” Moon Chaser exclaimed.

“You can add my inaction at that moment to the list of mistake I made during your upbringing,” Evening replied almost sorrowfully.

Moon Chaser sat silently as she contemplated all that which she was just told. “So… what now?” She broke her silence.

“This is an adult mistake you made, and so I decided on an adult punishment,” Evening said, leaning back in the dean’s chair, “If by next week you remain in your bubble without even trying to change, I’m sending your file to the judiciary and you will be court marshaled.”

“What do you expect to see exactly?” Moon Chaser asked.

“I don’t know!” Evening exclaimed, “Something. Anything! Whatever it is that tells me that I can still have faith in my little filly.”

---

It was just before the sun down when the minister of defense left with the captain of the royal guard and his son.

However, The Equestrian Royal Academy was abuzz.

Soon after the train left, the new dean sent declared the need to reassess each class’s combat potential through sparing matches.

“The new administration isn’t wasting time,” Butterfly Kick noted as she looked on the chart.

“Aw buck,” Tough Thought swore, “I have a battle with Giant Hoof.”

“Giant Hoof is weak,” Butterfly shrugged.

“Giant Hoof is thrice my size,” Tough Thought stated.

“Just fly overhead and kick him from above,” Butterfly did an overhead kick, stomping the ground with sheer force.

“I’m an earth pony,” Tough Thought specified.

“Then jump that high,” Butterfly replied.

“You’re unbelievable,” Tough Thought shook his head before leaving.

Butterfly turned her head left and right until she saw her target. “Hey, Nighty!” She yelled.

Night Visions ducked and tried to escape the hall way, but Butterfly was already over him in a split second. “Where do you think you’re going, colt?”

“First, I don’t want to be seen talking with you,” Night Vision said in a state of fact manner, “Second, shouldn’t you be on a train home? Or to prison?”

“Oh colt,” Butterfly punched Night on his arm, “I was clean, Moon Chaser is the one who was in this mess.”

Night Vision stared at Butterfly Kick for a moment. “Let’s say I believe you,” He said, “What do you want?”

“We have a battle together,” Butterfly pointed at the chart.

“Yeah so?” Night asked rhetorically.

“Jeez, Can you be more of a killjoy?” Butterfly said before turning away but stopped before taking any step. “Do you know where Shining Armor is at?”

“He’s sleeping the drugs off,” Night replied, “why?”

“The last match is him against Moon Chaser,” Butterfly suddenly said in a morose tone.

Night’s eyes went wide, “What!?”

“Just make sure he’s ready,” Butterfly continued, “Moon Chaser was seeing blood when she read the match'up.”

Night Vision nodded, before quickly scramming toward the dean’s office.

He threw the door wide open. “Dammit, Shadow, what’s the meaning of this?” He yelled.

“It’s Dean Strick for you, Cadet,” Shadow ordered with a death glare to her brother.

Night Vision gulped. He then straightened his pose before throwing a salute. “Apologies ma’am.”

“Save it,” She waved him in.

The moment Night Vision closed the door, his sister flashed him a grin. “What do you think?” She asked, “Was it formal enough? Do you think the students will respect me because of it?”

Night Vision looked at his sister agape. “Honestly, words are wasted on you,” He deadpanned.

Shadow waved at him dismissively. “Don’t be a jerk about it,” She said, “Dad is happy about it.”

“Dad is happy that you are finally out of Canterlot’s red district,” Night retorted.

Shadow rolled her eyes at him. “So? What do you want?”

“Why did you put Shining against Moon Chaser?” Night asked, “You know Moon is out for his blood.”

“It wasn’t my call,” Shadow replied.

“It wasn’t your call?” Night reacted sarcastically. “You’re the dean for crying out loud! You have all the call.”

“Shining was the one who requested it before heading to the infirmary,” Shadow answered him.

“He What?!”

Shadow sighed. “I was against it,” She continued, “But his trainer didn’t mind, and Shining wants answers, and he has a right to them.”

“By fighting her?” Night mulled it out loud, “Is that his idea for finding answers?”

“If you can convince him otherwise, be my guest,” Shadow concluded.

Night Vision rubbed his head. However, his sister continued, “Sometimes, you just have to trust in your friends’ decision, Night.”

Night Vision conceded. He shook his head then turned toward the door.

“Wait,” His sister cried.

“What?”

“Did I make a good first impression?” Shadow asked with a smile and an eye bat.

Night Vision wanted to say no, but he remembered that he has three years with her. “Just… don’t ruin this for me, please?”

“Ugh, fine you worrywart, I’ll be your Dean all the time then,” Shadow said before returning to her papers. “You’re dismissed,” She barked as Night Vision left the office.

Night hurried a salute then scurried to the infirmary.

Shining Armor stretched, after the small training session he had with Sun Light, he went straight to the infirmary where a new nurse greeted him.

After a full checkup, the nurse decided that Shining needed more rest and so she allowed him to sleep there.

Night Vision’s power run stopped short in front of the infirmary. He was still expecting lieutenant Medicine Front to open the door. So he went to knock as hard as he could.

But before the first knock, the door was opened. “Hello there,” The unicorn mare said, “How can I help you?”

Bloody Tartaros, she’s even bustier than my sister! Night Vision gawked at the mare’s cleavage all the while mumbling incomprehensibly.

The mare giggled. With a small spell, she lifted his head till their eyes met. “Lieutenant Open Heart at your service,” She said politely.

Night Vision gave a stiff salute, “Cadet Night Vision,” He introduced himself.

“What can I do for you Cadet?”

Night Vision gulped. “Is, Shinning… I mean, is Cadet Armor still here? Ma’am?”

“He just woke up,” Open Heart cleared the way for him to enter, “We’re still running some test, but he’s good to go.”

“Thank you,” He said while walking in.

Shining Armor was sitting on the bed flexing his muscles. He looked up to see his friend coming in, so he waved.

Night Vision waved back. “How are you feeling?”

“Pretty good,” Shining flexed his muscles, “Like a million bits.”

“’ll leave you two for a moment,” Open Heart said before returning to her desk.

The two cadets saluted her all the while keeping an eye on her as she moved to her desk.

Night Vision approached Shining Armor. “That’s some nurse,” He noted.

“Yeah,” Shining affirmed, “With a nurse like that, I wouldn’t mind getting hurt… Ouch!” Shining rubbed his smacked head. “What did you do that for?”

“Moon Chaser?” Night Vision yelled, “Are you insane or do you have a death wish?”

“Neither, I’m perfectly fine,” Shining replied, “It’s just that, there is a new spell I want to try. I’ll be fine.”

“And you picked Moon Chaser?”

“Yep.”

Night Vision grabbed Shining’s head. “Did that nurse hit you on your head or something?” He double checked.

Shining pushed him away. “I’m totally fine, thank you very much.”

But Night’s concern remained. “Just, tell me what happened, and start from the top.”

With a sigh Shining relented. “Fine,” He said, “After I walked that colt to his father, I followed Moon Chaser to see what she was up to…

Moon Chaser watched silently as the train silently as the train started to move. She kept watching as the last ember of it flicked away in the horizon.

She didn’t cry.

She hasn’t cried since her mother’s death.

That tear rolling on her face must be from the humidity. There are many lakes around here after all.

She went back to the academy.

Upon reaching the gate. Moon Chaser was greeted with two rather unpleasant individuals.

“Cadet Moon Chaser,” Captain Soaring Blade addressed her first, “I was wondering where you have been.”

She gave him a salute. “I was asked to escort the minister to his train, sir!”

“Good, good,” Lieutenant Shadow Strick said, “That is the attitude I expect from you from here on out.”

Moon Chaser kept her salute. Inwardly, however, she cursed her luck. Lieutenant Shadow Strick as the Dean might be the worst possible choice for her due to her past with the lieutenant.

“Head to the mess hall then to wait for your match up. Tomorrow is the start of a new day,” the lieutenant told her, “You are dismissed.”

Upon entering the building, Moon Chaser could almost immediately tell that the atmosphere was against her.

Ponies were looking at her. They were whispering things as she passed by. Most were actively avoiding her.

It took her father a day to destroy everything she tried to build during her three weeks here.

Her father’s words lingered in her mind. As she looked around she realized that this must be what he meant.

However, she was only relieved. The fear that lingered from her monstrous combat ability was still in effect and no one dared to talk down to her.

Just like old times, she thought. They were unpleasant memories filled with void and sadness, but they were also filled with serenity.

Loneliness was something she could live with.

In the mess hall, she took her tray, took some food then sat in the furthest corner of the mess hall, the same table where Shining Armor usually sat.

Upon scanning the room she found Butterfly Kick talking to Tough Thoughts. Moon Chaser gave a sigh of relief, it would have been easy for them to be taken up by her father’s purge, but she was careful enough not to get their hooves dirty.

It would be considered a stretch that she wished them closer.

Well, it didn’t matter anymore, as long as she kept her head low, and her boundaries straight, she’ll survive this.

A hoof smashed at her table.

From the corner of her eyes, she peaked to see Shining Armor standing in front of her.

“I demand answers,” He said.

The entire mess hall was looking at them, expecting her reaction. She didn’t reply.

“I lived in abuse this past month because of you,” He said, “I deserve to know why.”

“In a single morning the power structure that I purposefully built crumbled by external forces, setting you free,” She answered him, “From my perspective, you are not the victor, more like the treasure that was saved. Therefore, I am under no obligation to tell you anything.”

“Then I demand a duel,” Shining said, “And if I win, you’ll tell me everything.”

A vein popped on Moon Chaser’s head. This was not the start she had wanted. Fearing she might lose her temper, she took a deep breath. “I cannot duel you.” She answered.

“Are you chickening out?” Shining said, causing her temper to soar.

After taking another deep breath, she answered, “It would go against section 3.25 of the code of conduct if I am to fight you without registering a proper duel.”

Shining faltered. He didn’t expect her to know the code of conduct by heart.

But before he could speak, Moon Chaser continued, “The reason my father didn’t expel me like he did to the Duke is because he couldn’t have tied anything against me personally. So let me give you a word of advice, causing me trouble by forcing me to break the rule is neigh impossible. You’d do well to remember that.”

Shining quickly glanced at the clock. “If I registered a duel within the next half an hour will you accept it?”

“Of course,” Moon Chaser replied, “It would be a great opportunity to put you back in your place.”

Shining felt like he wanted to punch her in the face, but he knew he was short on time, so he turned his back and started to run.

The stares started to dissipate. Moon Chaser noticed the sympathy look from Butterfly Kick; she continued her meal in peace.

“… And that’s what happened.” Shining concluded.

Night vision sighed. “I wish you told me you were planning on doing that.” He said.

“But then you’d be against it,” Shining replied.

“Of course I would. What happened to you was tragic, so let bygones be bygones and get on with your life instead.”

“But then what was the point of it all?” Shining asked. “If I don’t know, it will haunt me for the rest of my career.”

“So you’re that adamant, huh,” Night concluded.

“I want closure,” Shining concluded.

“I can’t say that I agree with you,” Night said, “But I’ll stand by your decision.”

Shining smiled back at his friend, “Thanks.”

Night Vision knew when to call it quits on something. He smiled back, still unable to hide the concern from his eyes. “So that new spell, what is it?”

“It’s a secret.”

“It’s a new shield spell isn’t it,” Night deadpanned.

Shining’s mouth fell open. “How did you know that?”

“I was right!” Night proclaimed, “You will get yourself killed out there!”

“What are you? My mother?” Shining’s jab was met with frustration.

“I’m serious.”

“So am I,” Shining replied.

“I just hope you know what you’re doing,” Night Vision finally conceded.

“Come and watch. You’ll be surprised,” Shining smirked.

“Maybe I will!” Night said before storming out.

---

It was somewhat late in the evening when the duel of payback was scheduled.

Moon Chaser walked into the arena on the third floor where Shining Armor. The only spectator were the new dean and a few of the new teachers. Some, Moon Chaser recognized, might be troublesome in the future.

“I thought there would be a cheering squad or something,” She commented.

“We’re here to see first hoof your combat abilities in order to assess them, not parade them.” Dean Shadow replied.

With a nod, a referee walked into the arena, “You know the rules, everything is allowed unless it endanger the opponent’s life. I will interfere to stop the match if I deemed it necessary. The victor is the one that makes the other submit or is thrown out of the arena.”

“Alright,” Shining said while doing some stretches.

“Fine by me,” Moon replied.

“Very well,” The referee said, “You may begin.”

Shining Armor jumped back a few paces, only to find Moon Chaser standing still with her eyes closed.

“That’s a good start,” Noted one of the unicorn teachers to the dean. “Adding distance between your opponents is a key tactic to a unicorn that most normally forget about.”

“True, but it’s not enough in this case,” The Dean replied.

The unicorn teacher didn’t understand at first.

Moon Chaser exhaled; a faint aura could be seen around her. “Here I come,” She declared.

Quickly, Shining charged his horn. But before he could cast the spell, Moon Chaser had already closed the distance between them.

Too quick, Shining thought as he unleashed his spell.

The punch struck the shield with such force that Shining was thrown to the end of the arena.

Whispers of awe started to spread.

“Such high level combat,” the unicorn teacher said.

“Looks like… I underestimated him as well.” Dean Shadow Strick noted.

Shining regained his balance as he walked a bit toward the center while being watchful of his opponent. The shield in which he cast in his haste saved him from being completely thrown out of the arena. Despite being severely cracked, the shield held up; had she followed up with another attack things might have ended up getting risky.

“A shield spell?” Moon Chaser jeered, “You spent an entire day with my brother and the best you came with is that useless spell?”

“It blocked your attack, didn’t it?” Shining retorted.

Moon Chaser took a closer look at Shining’s shield, “It seems, you managed to correct the flaw that was in it,” She told him, “It doesn’t matter, there are many ways to break a shield spell.”

“Oh yeah?” Shining jeered, “Show me.”

Moon Chaser smirked. “Don’t mind if I do.”

Then she jumped.

However, unlike the previous attack, Shining had more than ample time to set up his new shield in place, as he hunkered down, readied himself for the impact.

No sooner had Moon reached the zenith of her jump before she force kicked the air and fell like a meteorite on Shining’s shield.

The impact broke the arena’s floor as Shining’s shield shattered into a million pieces.

But Shining Armor didn’t panic. He remained calm as he executed the plan Sun Light laid out for him.

---

“Is there a shield that my sister can’t break?” Sun Light repeated the question leveraged at him.

“My best bet would be implosive shield reconstruction,” came his answer after a moment of pondering.

“What’s that?” Shining asked.

“It’s not so much as a shield spell as an application of it,” Sun Light explained, “When your shield break, that means the ethereal cohesive field construct is becoming untangled, turning into ethereal energy, then dissipating into nature. However, the energy doesn’t immediately dissipates and if you are running a hard wire between your horn and the shield, you can immediately grasp the energy and reconstruct a new shield in its place.”

Shining Armor stared clueless at Sun Light. “You lost me at cohesive field.”

Sun Light sighed. “Do you know how many types of shields there are?”

“That’s easy, two,” Shining answered, “A passive shield where you create a shield but don’t feed it magic, the shield will remain fixed for a certain amount of time before evaporating, and an active shield where you continuously feed it from your magic to make lasts longer.”

Sun Light nodded. “Can you switch between a passive spell and an active spell?”

“Definitely,” Shining smirked.

“You can switch between the two, I bet.”

“That’s easy,” Shining waved dismissively.

Sun Light smirked. “Then this is going to be very easy. First you make a passive shield, and then you make an active shield underneath it, but without casting it, and I cannot stress this enough. It’s kind of tricky and might need getting used to…” He then pondered if it was too complicated.

“So… a spell within a spell?” Shining asked and Sun Light smiled.

“Exactly, once the first shield is broken you need to activate the second one as quickly as possible.” Sun Light explained, “Because the second shield is directly underneath, it sucks all the dissipating energy of the first one and creates a smaller but firmer shield than the last, which is why they call it an implosion, because the shield implodes into another.”

“A shield within a shield, huh,” Shining mused, “I can do that.”

“You better,” Sun Light said ominously.

---

Here goes nothing.

Shining activated his new shield.

Moon felt the shield broke. She lunged with her full body throwing a punch at Shining’s face with the aim to render him unconscious.

But her second punch struck something solid.

She recoiled backward and landed on all four while putting some distance away.

Shining already had placed another shield around himself.

Moon Chaser stared baffled. That was too quick, she thought, Damn it Sun Light, when did you have the time to teach him that?

When the second punch struck, Shining recoiled back, thinking he would be rendered unconscious. But seeing Moon Chaser, The Moon Chaser, putting distance between them, he felt a surge of self-confidence.

Cheers could be heard from the teaching staff.

Moon Chaser and Shining turned to see their audience on their hooves clapping hard.

Dean Shadow Strick walked toward them. “I know Sun Light is good, but that was beyond my expectations, when did you learn something as advance as that?”

“Sun Light gave me a… lengthy explanation as to what I need to do,” Shining Armor’s expression was enough to tell the Dean that Sun Light didn’t go easy at him at all.

“Still, it would have taken you a lot of practice to pull it off,” The unicorn teacher remarked.

“Not really?” Shining shrugged, “I mean, after having it spoon-fed to you, it just felt natural.”

The teacher looked baffled at first. “Are you telling us this is the first time you did an implosion reconstruction?”

Shining scratched the back of his neck. “I tested it before… Where do you think you’re going?” He suddenly yelled at Moon Chaser.

Half way from the arena, Moon Chaser turned toward him, and with the same stone cold face she said, “You won, I lost, is there a reason for me to continue this fight?”

“Yes, there is!” Shining yelled.

Dean Shadow Strick clicked her tongue, “Just drop it.”

But Shining ignored her

Moon Chaser shook her head. “Do you honestly think I will indulge in your fantasy of giving you a proper victory?” She said without even turning your head.

“HA,” Shining retorted smirking, “You actually think you can defeat me?”

“Just because Sun Light gave you an edge doesn’t mean you actually won,” Moon Chaser said, “I’m simply admitting that he managed to one up me this time.”

Anger swelled inside Shining. “After everything that happened to you, you still think you have any cards to play?!”

“The game never ends between my family and me,” Moon Chaser smirked, “You’re just the latest piece that everyone seem to have taken a liking to.” She continued walking.

Only to be stopped when a shield the size of the arena was set up.

“He's really not going to drop it,” Shadow mumbled to herself with a smirk, causing the teachers around her to stare at her with concern.

“Just how low your own opinion of your own brother is?” Shining growled, “He cares for you! He was Crying for you for Celestia’s sake!”

“That’s a lie!” Moon Chaser snarled back, “Stop projecting your own insecurities on my family, they are not so weak as to show tolerance towards my betrayal of their trust.”

“Then why do you think they left you here?” Shining asked, “Why give you a second chance since you so clearly deserve none?”

“Because it’s a game!” Moon Chaser replied all agitated, “Because it’s our twisted game with no victor and the only thing that matter is winning the next round.”

Shining back up in surprise. “So everything to you is a game?” He said in surprise, but when Moon Chaser didn’t reply, he continued, “Your brother’s feeling? Your father’s? Even Cadence?”

“You take that back!” Moon Chaser snapped.

“But if everything is a game to you, then…”

“She’s different!” Moon Chaser interrupted.

However, the realization that was left unspoken has already dawned on Shining Armor. “Sun Light said that, if I am to have a future with Princess Cadence, I must be ready to face Tartaros if need be. It seems, he forgot of the enemies that still lie in this academy as well.” He fixed his armor, and glared at Moon Chaser with renewed resolve.

Moon Chaser, now fully facing Shining Armor, took a deep breath. “It seems, I haven’t broken you enough to figure out that I don’t tolerate competition,” She said while adjusting her helm. She returned the glare. “Very well Armor, I’ll engrave into your body just why am I the strongest.”

“Shouldn’t we stop them?” One of the teacher said to the Dean.

Shadow Strick smiled at him. “Not need,” She replied, “This is turning out better than I hoped.”

Shining Armor charged his horn to the limit. With a quick wave, he cast his first shield, then, as he did the first time, he charged the second horn underneath.

Moon Chaser kept breathing deeply, and much like her first charge, a soft blueish aura appeared.

I’m ready! Shining hunched forward, increasing his defense in anticipation of the attack. But it didn’t come.

Instead, Moon Chaser kept breathing, and her aura kept intensifying.

Then, after what felt like an eternity. Moon Chaser opened her eyes. “Here I come,” She said before charging.

What’s this? Shining realized, She’s way slower than before.

Moon Chaser stopped hoof length from the shield. “Take This!” She said, and her punch landed full force into Shining’s shield instantly shattering it.

Shining recoiled. Within a heartbeat, he set up his second shield.

But Moon Chaser wasn’t done. Barely had the shield crystalized that she landed another punch, shattering the other shield with a blink of an eye.

What the…? But Shining didn’t have the luxury to think when suddenly, Moon Chaser’s foot appeared on top of him.

He dropped and rolled and the floor shattered underneath him.

He barely managed to stand, only to see Moon Chaser’s sillouhette in the rubble.

“I missed,” She clicked her tongue, before turning to Shining Armor crouching at her with an expression mixed between horror and determination.

“Heh,” Shining Armor knew this wouldn’t be easy, but only then did the realization dawned on him. “So you really are on a captain’s level,” He noted.

“You flatter me,” Moon Chaser said before she lunged at him again.

At the first strike, Shining Armor jumped, evading the attack completely, and giving him ample time to charge his horn.

Moon jumped at him again, but this time Shining activated his shield spell, and she could tell, he had another one ready for her.

She punched the first one away, then shattered the second one with a kick.

But before she could find her leverage, Shining placed a third shield between them.

The moment her foot met the ground, Moon jumped to the barrier around the arena. Using the giant shield as footing, she lunged at Shining full speed.

Shining tried to charge his horn, but Moon was quicker this time. The moment the shield broke he was unable to cast another one, and parried her kick which left another hole in the arena’s ground.

“Is that all you can do?” He yelled, “Force other into submission?”

“You don’t get it,” Moon Chaser retorted, “It was always do or die.”

“No one is trying to kill you…” the words barely came out of Shining’s mouth before he jumped back from Moon’s kick. “You’re trying to kill me!”

“I didn’t act the first time and I lost my home,” Moon threw another punch at Shining, but he threw himself to the left. “I didn’t act the second time, and I lost my mother,” She kept at him with another kick, but Shining kept dodging her. “I will not lose my family because I failed to act a third time!”

“But aren’t your actions driving them away?” Shining Armor asked as he dodged a fourth time, “Why would you even sabotage yourself like that?”

“Because it wasn’t meant to happen like that!” Moon Chaser yelled, but by the time she was about to attack, Shining had placed another shield spell.

“What wasn’t meant to happen then?” Shining readied another shield underneath.

“I wasn’t supposed to fall in love!” Moon Chaser finally confessed, but when her punch landed, the shield didn’t break.

For the longest moment, the only sound that could be heard was that of the shield resonating.

“But I did,” Moon Chaser said, “And to our misfortune, she chose you.”

For the past month, Shining Armor dreamt of defeating the monster called Moon Chaser. He thought that, when he defeated her, ponies left and right would be congratulating him and that there would be fire works and cake.

This is... However, he didn't count on the sight of Moon Chaser collapsing in front of him in tears would make his victory taste so sour.

Author's Notes:

You guys asked for it and here it is... the biggest chapter I ever written.

If anyone spotted any mistake, please don't hesitate to point it out.

Next chapter we return to Sun Light being Sun Light.

Chapter XIX. The Money Spell.

On her first week, Twilight learned how to channel her magic

On her third week, she learned teleportation.

On her fourth week, she learned telekinesis.

Now that her sixth week was drawing to a close, she was going to start learning how to cast elemental spells next week.

But something kept interrupting the lecture. It was a distraction like nothing that happened before because it wasn’t only her that was kept distracted by it.

“Should we ask him?” She asked her teacher, who also looking keenly at the colt that was playing with the whelp.

“I’m not sure,” Princess Celestia replied, “This has never happened before.”

The colt in question noticed the stares he was getting. “I spent all morning gathering those books, the least you can do is look at them instead of staring at me.”

“We would, it’s just that,” Celestia thought of the best way to describe what it was that distracted her so, “Sun Light. You have a black eye.”

“Oh, this?” Sun Light pointed at his swollen eye, “Just a training accident, nothing to worry about.”

“A training accident?” Twilight asked, unsure she even wanted an answer.

“Yes, dad is teaching me hoof to hoof combat,” Sun Light explained, “I accidentally slipped and landed on his elbow.”

The actual event that transpired was a bit more complicated than that of course. Ever since his heart to heart with his father, Evening Star decided to create a new outlet for his son’s stress, which was martial arts; it was also meant as training in order for Sun Light to learn and study telekinesis. To make a long story short, the new training regimen worked. A couple of days into the training and Sun Light’s fur started to grow, he also managed to perform a telekinetic grab within that same timeframe, but he still lagged when compared to what his father was able to achieve.

And that frustrated Sun Light to no end. He was meant to be the preeminent earth pony mage. He was supposed to perfect all spells that would fall into the spectrum of his own brand of magic. But for his father to perfect a spell he came up with before him? Inconceivable!

Sun Light tripled his training regimen, doing extra push-ups, squats, pull-ups, and every calisthenics training he could find, and that left him… tired, most of the time. So when he went into a sparring match with his old colt, his vision was so blurry that he ran head first into his elbow causing the training to begrudgingly stop there.

“The swelling went down a lot from this morning, so no need to worry,” Sun Light brushed their concerns, “You guys should go back to your lessons.” He then turned toward little Spike, “Now Spike, say bee.” He picked a picture book then pointed at a photo of a bumble bee, then reiterated clearly, “BEE!”

Spike looked confused at Sun Light before reaching out for his black eye.

“Oh for the love of…” Sun Light huffed as he wiped the curious dragon away from his injuries. He then turned to see that the princess and her student were still giving him pity stares. “What?”

“Maybe you should take the day off,” Celestia suggested, “And put some ice on it until the swelling is gone, hm?”

“What are you, my mother?” Sun Light snapped back, only to regret it after seeing the hurt look on the Princess’s face. “I’ll finish early if that’s what you want,” He seceded.

Satisfied with the result, Celestia turned toward Twilight. “Now then, as I was saying, learning elemental is a lot more imaginative than you might think. You need to do what you did with the enchanted orbs, only without them.”

“So… I should start with earth elemental?” Twilight asked.

“Not necessarily,” Celestia explain, “As I mentioned earlier, elemental magic is the most imaginative field of magic known to pony kind. Simply put, no two references I read had the same methodology, despite all reaching similar if not same results.”

That confused Twilight even further. “Then, how am I going to go about learning it?”

“Read a lot of references, study a lot of styles, figure out what works for you and what doesn’t through experimentation.” Celestia answered, “Oh, and use Sun Light as much as possible, he’ll probably have figured it out before you do.”

Twilight and Celestia both turned to the colt who was on the ground giggling with Spike on top of him.

“When he wants to,” Celestia added.

What Celestia missed, however, was how intently Sun Light was listening in just mere seconds ago before Spike climbed atop of him.

Twilight struck her thinking pose. “I need a lot of research for this one,” She concluded.

“You don’t need to worry too much about it,” Celestia reassured her student, “This is an open assignment for a full year...”

“A full year!” Suddenly came Sun Light yelling, “What am I going to do during that time?”

Celestia turned toward Sun Light with a quizzical stare, only to see the little colt standing with an even more intense glare that would have been intimidating if it wasn’t for Spike perching on his head still trying to reach his discolored eye.

“What you’ve always done Sun Light,” Celestia explained, “Babysit Spike for most of the day, help Twilight with her research, report to me her findings, and help out whoever comes requesting your aid.”

“But this sound so redundant!” Sun Light complained, “I’ll be bored before we even start.”

“You might be,” Celestia mused out loud, “But at least you are getting paid for it.”

Sun Light burning glare suddenly turned to intrigue. His original plan, according to his research, he would need to buy a dragon egg in order to perform his dragon egg hatching in front of every pony in the royal court. But dragon eggs are expensive, it would take him twenty years on his twenty-bit allowance which he received from his father.

Extra funding would be a welcomed addition. “Well, I wouldn’t mind the extra bits,” Sun Light conceded.

“Uhuh,” Celestia gave him an indignant side glance. “Don’t forget to go to the treasury to get your first paycheck.”

“I will,” Sun Light replying all giddily while shoving Spike off his head.

“If I want to start with the earth element, which technique should I use?” Twilight asked.

“That’s easy, start with the ‘De mineralibus liber imperium’, and then use Clover’s field containment theorem for solids as a reference guide,” Sun Light punched the bookcase behind him and both books fell to his open hoof.

“I don’t think the Imperium suits her style Sun Light, thought Clover’s theorem is a good reference guide,” Celestia noted, she then levitated two new books, “I suggest you start with ‘Stone Wall’s Guide to Masonry’. He’s the unicorn that championed the building techniques used for Canterlot, then read 'The Many Uses of Fine Sand' by Fine Sand, he revolutionized rock farming back in the day.”

Sun Light swallowed a laugh, “Only if you’re a parrot,” He snickered.

Twilight rolled her eyes disapprovingly. “Here we go again.”

“I beg your pardon?” Celestia replied aghast at her aid's reaction.

“Stone Wall and Fine Sand’s techniques don’t leave much to maneuver in terms of flexibility and imagination,” Sun Light explained himself, “It’s like regurgitating a text, and Twilight will hit a wall very quickly by using these books.”

“And the Imperium is far too cryptic for Twilight to comprehend,” Celestia argued, “Heck, even I have trouble understand half of it, and I was alive when they wrote that bloody thing.”

“But that would encourage her critical thinking,” Sun Light counter-argued, “If all she does is regurgitate what others have already discovered, then what’s the point of her learning anything new?”

Celestia shook her head, “Tell me Sun Light, if you are such an expert in the Imperium that you would defend it so, then explain to me this, ‘what thine stone hath thee to comfort to thine will shall be naiver to the soul of the river which thine life ever superposed to…”

Sun Light gave the princess a blank, thinking stare, “I’ll get back to you on that one. But that was the point of having Clover theorem as a reference guide,” He picked Clover’s theorem and started leafing it, “I’m sure something will pop up that will explain your quote.” But before he could find what he was looking for a purple aura whisked the book away.

“Thank you, both of you,” Twilight said with a huff, “I’m sure that your books are going to keep me awake for long nights.”

“But I thought you love reading?” Sun Light asked sheepishly.

“That’s not the point,” Twilight replied acidly.

“It seems you have a lot to work with,” Celestia noted, “Let’s finish for today then. You have until next week to come up with a training regimen for your elemental magic.”

“Princess, if I may?” Sun Light asked, tucking at the princess’s heel.

“What is it?” Celestia asked.

“Don’t you think you’re making it a wee bit difficult for Twilight to learn that stuff? I mean, she still has normal classes on top of learning magic under your wing.” Sun Light confided.

“Nonsense,” The Princess dismissed, “Twilight has been learning stuff at an incredible pace, it’s time for her to learn how to do things herself, otherwise she will become too dependent on me to find answers for her.”

“Of course,” Sun Light replied, cursing his luck that now, he now had to learn things the hard way instead of relying on Princess Celestia to show him the correct path in which he needed to start.

“If there is nothing else you need, I will return back to my duties,” Celestia said as she walked toward the door, “You know where to find me~.”

As Celestia left, Sun Light sighed. To add to his schedule, he now has to help Twilight with her research, take care of Spike, finish up the report on last week’s escapade to the royal guard academy for the ministry of defense, read the progress report on Shining Armor while devising the next steps in his training, start devising a way for him to learn elemental magic, and be home for supper and the afternoon training with his father.

This was going to be a long week.

“Hey, Sun Light?” Twilight asked, “Have you ever read the Imperium?”

“No, but it was a reference in every book on geology and rock magic I have ever read,” Sun Light said, “I was hoping to use you as an excuse so that I get to read it as well.”

“Well, listen to this,” Twilight leafed picked the phrase that popped to her the moment she opened the book, ‘thou arrest not where thy soul stone rescind, for it be shaped in das toughest of forges ever conceived in das dowry.’”

“Oh? And what is the title in which this little quotation is taken from?” Sun Light asked all smugly.

“Rock ascension and the creation of things.”

“Looks like Celestia’s choice wins again,” Sun Light sighed defeat.

“I will not waste my entire year learning a single element Sun Light,” Twilight said with a tone of finality.

“But I need to know!” Sun Light whined.

“If you’re so interested in it, then you try to decipher it,” Twilight retorted.

“I don’t have the time to,” Sun Light wailed.

“Then forget about the whole ordeal,” Twilight stuck her nose in the air.

As the two foals made their way through the castle, the books riding on Sun Light’s back and Spike on Twilight’s, Sun Light kept nagging Twilight to start learning rock elemental magic through the Imperium.

“But I really wanna,” Sun Light sniffled.

“Crying won’t work on me again,” Twilight said impatiently, to which Sun Light sniffled again, as he did so he looked at her wide eyes, with a tear streaking on the side of his face, “Ugh, fine!” She finally relented, “I’ll try the book for one day; if I understood nothing by the end of it, then you need to drop it entirely.”

“YES!” Sun Light jumped and the books on his back flew high before landing a hug on Twilight with the books landing on his head. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! You won’t regret this I promise, I’ll be with you the entire time getting you references, deciphering the meaning, doing pie chart, creating…”

“Hi Cadence,” Twilight suddenly waved.

“Hey there,” Princess Cadenza waved back, but upon seeing Sun Light’s brimming facial expression, she continued, “What’s wrong with Sun Light?”

Twilight sighed. “I agreed to read with him the ‘De mineralibus liber imperium’,” She said.

“I was talking about his eye, but okay.” Then Cadence’s expression changed from cheerful to sour upon remembering the book. “That book gave me the biggest headache in history.”

“Oh?” That remark did not fly over Sun Light, “Are you insinuating that we are smarter than you?”

Cadence chuckled. “Come back to me after you finish reading it.”

The smile on Sun Light’s face vanished. “Maybe I will.” He said with a frown.

Twilight noticed something off about Cadence. “Cadence, what’s wrong?”

Cadence glanced at Sun Light, then at Twilight, then at Sun Light again. “Don’t you know what day it is?”

Sun Light and Twilight looked at each other before shrugging. “The day of my first paycheck?” Sun Light asked.

“I already got my stipend from my scholarship this month,” Twilight said, “Princess Celestia gave it to me before you came with that eye of yours.”

“And how much would a stipend for someone your age take?” Princess Cadence asked.

“A hundred bits!” Twilight replied cheerfully, “That’s a third of my dad’s.” She then turned to Cadence, “How much do you get paid?”

“Well, I really shouldn’t tell,” Cadence said in a hushed voice, so she gestured to Twilight to come closer and whispered it into her ear.

“Wow, that much?” Twilight exclaimed.

“Well, what do you expect? I’m a princess after all,” Cadence said while puffing her chest. She then turned to Sun Light, “And how much are you getting paid for this?”

“Two hundred and fifty bits,” Sun Light said all dignified.

“That’s a lot,” Twilight was impressed.

“That’s nowhere near enough,” Cadence was aghast.

“Why is that?” Twilight asked.

“Because he works twelve hours a day on a six-hour schedule,” Cadence said, “That’s not counting how many ponies he helped outside of his work that counts as his work.”

“I don’t know how much overtime I’m clocking, so…” Sun Light added. “That’s just my basic salary.”

“I’m sure Sun Light is taking a huge bonus on top of his work,” Evening Star said from behind.

“μπαμπάς” Sun Light greeted. “Good day to you, minister,” Cadence said, followed by a ‘hello’ from Twilight.

“Hey every pony, how is everyone today?” Evening greeted back.

“Fine,” Cadence said, with Twilight nodding after her.

Evening turned to his son, “Πώς είναι το μάτι σου?”

“Πώς είναι το μάτι σου,” Sun Light replied.

“I hate when they go like this,” Cadence commented.

“The minister is asking if Sun Light’s eye is better and Sun said it’s not hurting anymore,” Twilight answered her.

That impressed Evening Star, “Very good Twilight! I see my son is rubbing off on you.”

“[Dad, please],” Sun Light said all flustered.

Twilight giggled at the father-son duo, “I’ve been learning a few words, yes.”

“May I ask, minister,” Cadence interjected, “What are you doing here?”

“Oh am I not invited to the castle?” Evening faked being hurt.

“No!” Cadence quickly corrected, “No, it’s just, it’s a rarity to see you here and…” Cadence stopped trying to come up with excuses when she saw Minister star chuckle at her fluttering.

“I came searching for Sun Light,” Evening motioned to his son, “I want to be there when he takes his first paycheck before going to the station to pick up Moon Chaser. I don’t want him to forget himself in the castle... again.”

“That happened once and you know it,” Sun Light defended himself.

Evening ruffled his son’s mane. “Once, every night, for the past month,” He said, and Sun Light pouted, but showed no resistance to his father’s tease, “What about you princess? Up to anything lately?”

“Actually, I’m… concerned,” Cadence said while biting her lips.

“About my daughter?” Evening asked, and an air of silence fell on the group.

“Yes,” Cadence answered quietly.

“We’ll just need to wait for them and see,” Evening said, betraying no high expectation, nor any disappointment. “Just remember, whatever happens, it’s ultimately her decision to make, not yours.”

“But one that I have to live up with,” Cadence added.

Feeling the conversation becoming too heavy, Sun Light spoke, “You guys can ponder on that all you want, I am going to get paid.”

Twilight couldn’t bear the mood. She didn’t know the specifics of anything at first, but she did know that Sun Light’s sister was tied to something big against her brother and seeing every pony torn up about it made her curious but at the same time frightened to ask.

That is until the day they were going to the royal academy. My sister is acting like a liaison between the ponies inside the academy bullying your brother and those outside who want him bullied, Sun Light explained, whatever happens today, I’m planning to hold her accountable for a lot of things, that sister of mine.

Sun Light haven’t spoken about his sister since then.

“I’m going to put the books in my room, then wait with Spike for my parents to pick us up,” Twilight said.

“Going to pick up Shining at the station?” Evening asked.

“Yep,” Twilight answered.

“I have a better idea,” Evening suggested to Twilight, “Why don’t we go to your room to put the books, then head to the observatory for your dad before all of us go down to the treasury’s office to get our paycheck?”

“Why?” Sun Light asked.

“Because I want a lot of witnesses to see you all awkward about getting your pay,” Evening said.

“That’s an odd way of putting it,” Sun Light noted, “What are you hiding from me you old colt?”

“I agree,” jumped Cadence,

“Sounds like a good plan,” Twilight said.

Sun Light looked aghast at Twilight, “Not you too!”

“Then it’s decided,” Evening declared, “Let’s go every pony.”

Evening walked in front leading the way. “There is no point in waiting,” Cadence followed.

Twilight gave Sun Light an encouraging pat, “Don’t worry, Mister Star is a nice pony, and it’s not like he will embarrass you or anything.” But as she said that, she stifled a chuckle.

“Can’t say that with a straight face huh,” Sun Light noted.

“Let’s just go,” She said before following the grownups.
Sun Light rolled his eyes before following her.

“And then he,” Night Light guffawed, “He peed himself apologizing!”

“No Way!” Evening Star joined him.

“Why did I fear this would happen?” Sun Light lamented.

“Please stop talking, please stop talking, please stop talking,” Twilight kept repeating as if trying to block the words.

“Wow,” Interjected Cadence before she heard another story, “Within the few minutes we’ve waited for our turn you, you gossiped about nearly half the aristocrats in the kingdom.” She nodded slowly as if trying to process the amount of garbage she just heard. “Pray tell, do you have any story about us?”

Twilight and Sun Light fervently shook their heads no.

“Definitely,” Night Light said, “But most are somewhat inappropriate though.”

“Oh?” Something light in Cadence’s eyes, “Do tell.”

“Well,” Evening glanced at Night Light, who gave him his okay with a single nod, “I kept hearing from Barrack Thirteen that Twilight and Sun Light are actually in love and that they were engaged secretly but that we, as their parents, have refused to marry them before Twilight graduates.”

“No!!” Came the united reaction of the two foals.

When the grownups turned to look at them, they were greeted with looks of horror and disgust.

Night Light and Evening smiled in satisfaction at the foals’ reaction.

“Oh hush you two,” Cadence dismissed them, “You make a cute couple you know.”

“No, they’re not,” Night Light objected.

“I wouldn’t know about that,” Evening said to the dismay of Sun Light, “Twilight Velvet seems to agree with Cadence.”

Night Light shot a dagger stare at Evening Star, but a showoff smile appeared on his face, “Well, there is one about Sun Light, in particular, that is… disconcerting.”

“Oh?” Evening took it as a challenge, “And what is it?”

“It said that Sun Light…” Night Light paused for dramatic effect, “can do magic.”

A wave of silence settled on the group. Evening and Cadence shared a glance before both glancing at Sun Light, who calmly said, “It’s true.”

“It is?” Asked Night Light with enthusiasm.

“It is?” Asked Twilight with skepticism.

“It is?” Asked Cadence with intrigue.

“It is?” Asked Evening Star with annoyance.

“Yeah, watch.” Sun Light lifted his front hooves and showed them to every pony that they are empty. He then started rubbing his hooves together, then turned to Twilight and said, “Behold, my greatest trick!” He then pulled a flower that appeared from nowhere and gave it to her.

Cadence and Night Light started applauding, causing Sun Light to beam with pride. Twilight took the flower and gave it to Spike, “Now I’m impressed.”

Evening just smirked. “And that’s why they think you guys are in love.”

The smile on Sun Light’s face wavered, but after giving it some thought, he shrugged. “Meh, they can think what they want, I don’t mind.”

Twilight, however, was horrorstruck.

Cadence clapped her hooves. “That’s the spirit.”

“How did you do that?” Night Light asked.

“A magician never reveals his secrets!” Sun Light declared.

“So all those disappearing acts?” Night Light asked.

“Practice,” Sun Light answered mysteriously.

“Next!” Yelled the teller.

“Alright then. Here is the deal,” Night Light said turning toward Evening Star and Sun Light, “Since we’ll be knowing what each of us will be getting paid, how about a little contest?”

“Like what?” Sun Light asked.

“The one who gets paid the most invites both our families for dinner,” Night suggested.

Evening looked uncertain. “Are you sure? After all the drama that happened?” He asked.

“Yes,” Night Light affirmed, “I hate to see all this built up tensions with a good friend because of what our kids have done, so consider it as a form of mending fences.”

“Yeah, I like the idea,” Evening agreed, “You have a deal. How about you Sun Light?”

“Sure, I don’t see why not.” Sun Light replied.

“Huh, I thought he was going to put a fight or something,” Night Light lamented.

“I think we are all mature enough to admit defeat when facing it,” Sun Light said calmly.

Night Light and Evening stared at the foal with unsure stares. “He thinks he’s going to lose,” Cadence explained.

“Are you guys done conniving?” The teller said.

“Yes,” Night Light said as he approached the old unicorn mare. “So what is it this month Miss Accountable?”

Miss Accountable placed her glasses on her head and started counting the punched papers in front of her. “You only have a couple of days as overtime Mister Light,” She said in a hoarse tone, then pulled the bag from underneath her, “That would be three hundred and twenty-three bits.”

“Wow, thanks,” Night Light said while levitating the bag of coins.

“Sign here and here,” Miss Accountable said in a dry tone, portraying the board where he needs to sign.

After signing, Evening Star took the stage. “What will it be this time?” Evening asked.

With the same dryness, Miss Accountable started counting the minister’s punch papers. “You’ve totaled half a month in overtime, congratulation,” She said without even smiling, “That's six hundred and forty bits.”

Every pony broke into applause. “Do we have a winner?” Cadence asked.

“Not yet,” Evening said, “Can you deduce them from my debt please?” He asked, leaving a lot of confused looks.

“The old one or the new one?” Miss Accountable asked not even shifting her tone.

“The old one please,” Evening said with a winning smile, “I am still undecided on the new one yet.”

“Fine, you still have a thousand seven hundred and sixty-one bits left, counting interest, do you want me to deduct the usual?” She asked with almost complete indifference.

“Yes please,” Evening said.

“Fine,” She took a heavy bag, then with a quick spell, picked a small number and placed it in a smaller bag. “That’s one hundred and forty bits.”

“Thank you,” Evening said before turning to a very surprised audience.

“We’re in debt?” Sun Light asked his father.

“Why do you think we still live in the castle’s tower and not in our own apartment?” Evening asked rhetorically, “Someone have to pay for your sister and your disastrous escapades.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Night Light tapped his friend’s shoulder.

“Sign here and here,” Miss Accountable continued with neutral disdain.

“Nah, it was bound to come out eventually,” Evening shrugged it off as he signed the papers, “Moon went on a scholarship and I don’t have any school worries since this guy is already working.” He pointed at Sun Light.

“Who knows about this?” Cadence asked.

“All the ministers know about it, so does the Princess,” Evening counted, “And now you do.”

“Next!” Yelled Miss Accountable.

With a deep breath, Sun Light walked to the teller then stood on his hind hooves so that his head was peaking above the counter, and said with his most childish voice, “Hello Miss Accountable.”

“Oh, if it isn’t little Sunny!” Miss Accountable cheered. Sending a shockwave through Evening Star and Night Light. “Here for your first paycheck?”

“Yes please,” Sun Light said.

“Alright then, you wait here.” Miss Accountable then went inside searching for Sun Light’s punch card.

“I can’t believe she smiles like that,” Night Light noted.

“That was creepier than her normal scowl,” Evening commented.

“Here it is!” Miss Accountable cheered again. Showing a skeleton of a punch card from the amount of time it was punched, but also, strapped to it were a lot of other papers as well, “Now let see. Oh look at all this over time, looks like someone has been diligent.”

“Thank you,” Sun Light said before turning to his father with a ‘she likes me but hates you’ smile.

“And all those commissions, wow, you’ve been quite busy lately,” She said as she counted the first stack of papers, “And some bonuses as well, some pony must have impressed a lot of ponies.”

With every word of praise, Sun Light seemed to puff even more, till he appeared as though he was levitating. “I tried to do my best,” He said.

“And it shows,” Miss Accountable said, “Here is the total, Princess Cadence dearie, can you help me with the bag please?”

That comment raised the eyebrows of everyone around.

Cadence approached the window. “Which bag?” She asked.

“This one,” pointed Miss Accountable.

“Oh dear,” Cadence commented.

“So how much I’m getting?” Sun Light asked.

“You’re salary this month is a whopping, one thousand and thirteen bits!” Miss Accountable cheered as Cadence pulled with her magic a bag the size of Sun Light himself.

Every pony watched in awe as the bag of money slumped casually next to Sun Light, standing taller than he is.

No one spoke a word at first, then it dawned on Sun Light. “I’m… rich?”

“Yes!” Miss Accountable cheered. “Congratulation!”

Every pony in the vicinity started clapping.

As the idea started to sink in, Sun Light broke into his happy dance. “I’m rich!” He said again and again as he jumped up and down. “Mister Night, I’m inviting you to the most expensive restaurant in town!” He suddenly declared to Night Light who was smiling inward for not having to be the one to invite. “I’ll need a new bookcase for my room, and maybe I’ll buy some toys for Spike, I’ll definitely need to put some aside, maybe buy something nice for… wait.”

As Sun Light looked at the happy faces and the congratulatory smiles. One smile, in particular, caught his attention. “Why are you giving me your pillaging smile?” He asked his dad, drawing confusion from every pony around.

“What smile?” Cadence asked before seeing Evening Star’s face with a hungry glare at his son and a smile stretching from cheek to cheek showing off canine-like teeth. Needless to say, Cadence did not like that smile. Anticipating trouble she went toward Twilight and Spike and wrapped her wings around them, “Stay still,” She whispered.

“Whatever are you talking about?” Evening said and an eerie silence fell on the room. He walked calmly toward the sack of money, grabbed it, then lifted it toward the window, then said, “Miss Accountable, Sun Light will be paying the new debt now, please.”

Miss Accountable sat horrorstruck, “All Of it?” She asked.

“Yes,” Evening said, “All of it.”

Miss Accountable tried to scramble through some papers trying to find the debt the minister was talking about, “But that…”

“I know.” The minister interrupted with glee.

“Are you sure?”

“Definitely.”

“There are other ways…”

“I know.”

“Then how about…”

“No.”

“Alright, break it up.” Sun Light pushed his father away from the window. “What are you doing with my money?” He asked.

“Why, Sunny, I’m paying your debt of course,” Evening said.

“What debt?” Sun Light asked.

“Take it away, Miss Accountable,” Evening said while backing away.

With a heavy sigh, Miss Accountable took out the first receipt. “Due to damage you have incurred to the western tower, you will be charged with a hundred and thirty bits repair bill.”

Sun Light snorted. “Is that really it?” He asked his father.

“A couple of years ago, your sister and you nearly destroyed that tower,” Evening pointed out, “That’s where most of our old debt comes from.”

Sun Light shook his head. “Alright what’s next?”

“Your medical bill from when you lost your fur is seventy bits,” Miss Accountable.

Sun Light rolled his eyes. “That’s two hundred bits,” he said, “I can handle it.”

“Oh, we’re just getting started,” Evening said with his malicious smile.

“You’ve racked quite a large library penalty,” Miss Accountable said. She gulped before continuing, “Two hundred bits for unlawful taking of library books.”

“Oh, hehe,” Sun Light smiled sheepishly, “Hey, I’m still winning our wager though, I mean six hundred something bits aren’t exactly that bad.” He then added under his breath a bit peeved, “They’re not a thousand though,”

“Oh, no, there is more~” Evening Star sang.

“And finally, you have…” Miss Accountable gave a long sigh, “The armory repair bill.”

“What??!” Sun Light reacted.

“I knew it was this bad, but not like this,” Night Light whispered to Cadence.

“Due to the damages you caused to the armory, you were fined with,” Miss Accountable gulped, “Six hundred…”

“Six Hundred!!” Sun Light wailed.

“And…” Miss Accountable shrieked backward at the number in front of her.

“And?” Sun Light asked with utter fear in his eyes.

“…Twelve.” Miss Accountable finally uttered in defeat. With her magic, she pulled one bit and gave it to Sun Light. “I’m sorry,” She said with tears in her eyes.

Sun Light slumped back from the window, looking at his bit in utter dismay.

“That was beautiful Miss Accountable,” Evening cheered, “Thank you kindly for your help.”

“You’re one mean pony minister Star,” Miss Accountable replied with a scowl before slamming the window shut in front of his face.

“Evening, don’t you think you went overboard with this?” Night Light chastised, “If you knew he had that much, at least help him with something symbolic, for the sake of his dignity.”

“No,” Evening said, “He needs to learn that actions have consequences, and I am not going to let a single dime slip from last month to the next and then wager on him learning not to be as destructive as he is and not rack up more debt than we already… have?”

As Evening Star spoke, Cadence’s facial expression changed from pity to fear, then she quickly placed a bubble around her, Twilight and Spike.

At the same time, Night Light noticed something about Sun Light and dove into the bubble Cadence made.

That was when Evening felt it. The unmistakable charge of an earth pony’s magic. As he turned slowly, he saw Sun Light’s aura shining harder and harder with every heavy breathing little Sun Light took.
“Uh oh,” Evening uttered before he tried running to safety.

Yesterday, a peculiar letter came to Princess Celestia. Its peculiarity stemmed from its sender and its content.

The sender was Moon Chaser, and the content was a request for the Princess to go to the station at an earlier date than the one she mentioned to her father in order to escort her back to the castle with Shining Armor.

That last part raised the Princess’s eyebrow.

So, in a sly act, she finished the foals’ lesson early and went to the station at the given time, only to be surprised by both Moon Chaser and Shining Armor, walking out of the platform together, as friends.

Of course, the one who was more surprised by that was Shining Armor himself who, upon entering the castle, whispered to Moon Chaser’s ear, “When you said that you know someone who would make things less awkward, the last pony I thought you’d call was Princess Celestia.”

Moon Chaser gave him a disapproving look, “She’s right there you know,” She replied while pointing at the princess walking in front.

“Don’t say that!” Shining reacted, “She’ll know we’re talking about her.”

“Which is very rude,” Moon shot back.

Celestia giggled, throughout the years the family came to live with her, Celestia came to appreciate that they don’t put her on a pedestal and always treated her like part of their own; one thing, in particular, she liked about the family’s treatment is how they quickly point out to others when their veneration becomes offensive or overbearing. She decided to get to the point, “Is it just me or are you two becoming good friends?”

Moon Chaser looked away with a bit of shame crossing her eyes.

“We are, Ma’am,” Shining Armor said with a salute.

“Princess is also fine, Shining Armor,” Celestia said with a smile.

As they passed through the gates and the guards saluted; while giving Moon Chaser questioning stares, Princess Celestia turned toward Moon Chaser, “Besides acting as a liaison from within the academy, I never understood your role in his… shall we say, roughhousing?” She asked.

“It’s an old torturer’s technique,” Moon Chaser explained, with remorse in her voice, “He who interrogates must never be the one to cause harm. If I was to successfully cause a break up between him and Cadence, I needed to gain his trust, but also let him know that I am in charge.”

“So basically, it’s the kibble and the whip,” Celestia said before she realized she made a small mistake. “Apologies Shining if this makes you uncomfortable.”

Shining felt pride that Princess Celestia, no, The Princess Celestia, knows his name. But when he saw her giving him a look of concern he was quickly dismissive. “No, no need to apologize, Princess,” He said, “Moon Chaser and I talked about this at length.”

Celestia turned to Moon in surprised. “You talked about this at length?” She asked.

“Yeah,” Moon replied while scratching her head in awkwardness, “After dad left, he registered a battle with me, which I lost. Then the next morning he sat with me for lunch and we started talking…” Moon Chaser stole a glance at Shining Armor who was looking at her with his cheesy smile. “It felt good, to talk.”

“I had her explain everything,” Shining added, “I wanted to understand her motives, her fears, her wants. I felt she needed it as much as I did.”

“So you two became friends then?” Celestia asked.

Moon Chaser simply nodded with a satisfying smile.

“Yes,” Shining answered, “Definitely. I wouldn’t want it any other way, which is why I wanted to plead her case to minister Star. I don’t want to lose an awesome comrade so early after getting her.”

With tears in her eyes, Celestia leaped to Moon Chaser and smothered her with a hug. “Oh, I’m so proud of you, Moon Chaser Artemis,” She said, “I was very disappointed when I heard you were a partner in the crimes of the nobles, but it takes a lot of courage to admit you were wrong, and it takes more courage to seek help, from the one you wronged nonetheless.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Moon Chaser chocked.

“And you Shining Armor,” The princess turned toward the colt who was frozen stiff, “I thank you truly forgiving someone who wronged you a second chance, this speaks volumes to your character and I eagerly await you to become part of my royal guard.”

Shining’s eyes swelled with liquid pride as he puffed his chest. “I’m not crying,” he said with a sniffle.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The loud shriek caused everyone to cover their ears.

“What was that?” Shining asked his ears were still ringing.

“It sounded like Sun Light,” Celestia noted as her ears popped.

“Sun Light?” Shining asked as he started to regain his hearing.

“Something must have happened,” Celestia turned to the gate guards.

Fully knowing what she wanted, the guard said, “It came from the financial office.”

“Let’s go,” Celestia motioned to Shining to follow her when it dawned on her, “Where is Moon Chaser?”

The scream had subsided. Or so that’s what Evening thought, he couldn’t tell from the ringing from his ears.

As he gained back his sense of balance he looked at the room as every pony present was huddled around Sun Light who himself was cowering while munching on his tail between his legs.

“That could have gone better,” He lamented to himself.

“You think?” Someone said he couldn’t quite tell who until Twilight glaring at him.

But as she opened her mouth again, Evening quickly shushed her. He closed his nose, shut his mouth, and blew hard until his ears popped. “Much better,” He exclaimed in relief, “You were saying, dear?”

“Sun worked really hard to earn his money,” Twilight defended, “You have no right to take them away.”

Realizing what his daughter was trying to accomplish, Night Light moved behind her, and with a gentle tap on her shoulder, he said, “Don’t bother, sweetheart, what’s done is done.”

“But Daddy!” Twilight exclaimed, tears streaming, “It’s not fair! No one stands up for Sun Light.”

“Is that what you think?” Night Light exclaimed in surprise, though pride swelled in him after seeing his daughter taking a stand. “Don’t worry, Little Sunny has the best pony that I know of to look out for him.”

“Really? Who?”

The moment Twilight said those words, the wall behind her exploded. A mare in a cadet uniform stood among the rubbles, eyes burning with rage, her nostrils flared as she yelled, “Where Is He?”

Cadence picked Spike up from above Sun Light’s unmoving body and ran toward Twilight and Night Light.

“Who’s that?” Twilight asked hiding behind her father.

“That is Moon Chaser, Sun Light’s older sister,” Night Light answered.

“She’s scary,” Twilight commented.

“Oh, you have no idea,” Night Light replied.

“Moon Chaser?” Evening Star asked, “Aren’t you supposed to come on the afternoon train?”

Moon Chaser took one look at Sun Light before charging into her father slamming him on the wall. “What did you do?” She interrogated.

“Shouldn’t you worry more about yourself?” Evening replied smugly, before getting slammed into the wall again.

“I would never traumatize Sunny like that,” She replied protectively, “Now explain yourself!”

“She’s really into her sisterly mode,” Cadence commented, “She’s not even aware who’s in the room right now.”

“Must be the scream,” Night Light pointed out.

Evening rubbed the pain behind his neck, as he did, he noticed the wall behind him becoming somewhat brittle. “I had Sun Light pay with his entire salary the debt he created from his escapades this past month.”

“But, that’s his well-earned money you took!” She asked in surprise.

“And that was a huge debt he racked up,” He replied.

Moon lifted her father and slammed him again, “You monster!” She screamed before slamming him again, “You could have talked to him about this,” and again, “You could have come up with a payment plan,” and again, “You could have…”

Suddenly Moon fell to the ground while writhing in pain.

Evening Star hoisted himself from the hole he was in. He dusted off the debris on his shoulder, then turned toward Night Light and said, “You were saying?”

Night Light turned to him flabbergasted, “What did you do?”

“I struck one of the pressure points in her neck,” Evening answered calmly, “She should wake up in about an hour or so.”

“But I couldn’t see anything,” Night Light answered in astonishment.

Evening Star rolled his eyes in annoyance and asked, “And your point being?”

“Why did you do that?” Night Light asked.

Evening pointed to the hole in the wall, “Need I explain more?”

Night Light shook his head.

Evening Star grabbed his daughter by her tail and started dragging her toward the exit. He stopped in front of the window and asked, “Miss Accountable, can you put the repairs on your wall on the old debt please?”

A loud thud confirmed her reply. Evening walked toward his son, then placed him on top of his sister before dragging both of them by their tails.

Princess Celestia and Shining Armor suddenly appeared in front of the exit, but before any of them could say anything, Evening hushed them both with a “Not a single word.” Before passing through them.

Once they were out of sight, Twilight commented, “They’re scary.” And in that moment, every pony agreed with her.

Author's Notes:

This is the before-last arc of the story, one more major arc to go.

Chapter XX. The Curse of Being Broke.

It was a beautiful Saturday morning for Evening Star.

He had the day off to spend with his lovely daughter whom he hasn't seen in a while and seemed to be somewhat proud of, despite costing him a wall fix. He paid a huge debt yesterday from his son’s money which meant that, and with said son bringing a grand per month, he can finally relax financially and start looking for some future investment.

Like buying a new house!

Perhaps he can go and see something later that day.

He came down those stairs with a skip in his steps, and with a bright smile, he opened the kitchen door and greeted, “Good Morning my precious foals, and how are you on this glorious morning?”

But instead of smiles, he was greeted with the sound of thunder coming from the small dark cloud that is raining on top of Sun Light’s head.

“What is with all this doom and gloom on this beautiful morning?” Evening asked in surprise.

“I’m broke,” Sun Light said in a mournful tone.

Evening hated seeing his son so under the weather, literally, so he decided to cheer him up, “But Sun Light, you were always broke, up until last month, you were living on the allowance I was giving you.”

“Oh yes, those five bits per week were so accommodating, they could barely sustain us until next week,” Moon Chaser replied to her father acridly from her seat next to Sun Light.

“I will have you know Miss Snarky Pants, the minimum wage here in Equestria is five bits per week,” Evening retorted to his daughter, “So basically you guys were getting paid just as much as a lot of ponies here in Equestria.”

“Ah, yes. We should be grateful to our father overlord who takes away our hard earned money and leaves us with the minimum wage of Equestria,” Moon Chaser replied with a fake plea of gratitude.

Evening glared at his daughter unimpressed. Instead of yelling, however, he took a deep breath, then exhaled, “I’m not going to let that bother me today.” Before turning toward his foals with a smile. The doorbell rang. Evening turned toward his foals and said, “I can see none of you are in a good mood so I’ll be leaving.” He turned his back at Sun Light and Moon Chaser’s glare and left the kitchen.

Evening skipped all the way to the front door while humming. When he opened it, he was greeted with Cadence, Shining Armor, and Twilight Sparkle. “Oh hello~ and how are you on this fine day?” He greeted.

With a warm smile, Cadence replied, “We’ve been good, how are Sun Light and Moon Chaser?”

“Oh, they are fine, a bit moody, but otherwise in great shape,” Evening answered, causing Cadence to glare at him suspiciously.

Evening then waved them in. “Unfortunately, I won’t be joining you today as I have to scour the housing market for future investment.”

“It’s alright Minister Star,” Shining Armor said, “We’ll be leaving for the park real soon anyway.”

A malevolent smile appeared on Evening’s lips. “Oh? And will they pay to enter the park?” He said before leaning toward the kitchen and yelling, “Because They Can’t Afford It!” Leaving a shocked Twilight and a disgusted Cadence to stare at him.

Shining Armor, however, replied all innocently, “Actually, the entrance to the park is free.”

Evening gave the young stallion a deadpanned stare before leaving. Cadence leaned over her coltfriend and said, “That was a good reply.”

“A reply to what?” Shining asked.

Cadence looked at her coltfriend confused. “Weren’t you talking back to him?”

“Oh Celestia no!” Shining replied with shock, “I was only alleviating his concern about the entry fee to the park.”

Cadence stared at her coltfriend with her mouth hanging low. Twilight articulated her thoughts when she commented, “I have no idea what you see in him sometimes.” Before heading in front of them toward the kitchen.

“Me neither,” Cadence said before following her.

“What? What did I say?” Shining asked before following them.

“Hey,” Moon yelled from the kitchen door, “Come on in.”

“Hey, is Sun Light okay?” Twilight immediately asked.

“He’s a bit under the weather,” Moon replied when the sound of thunder emanated from the kitchen. “Literally.”

The trio entered the kitchen and to a scene that can only be described as melodramatic as Sun Light sat there with a pout looking at his breakfast under the rain.

Cadence was the first to sooth. “Oh, Sunny,” She cooed but didn’t dare to approach as the lightning coming from the cloud answered her. “I’m sorry about yesterday.”

“Me too,” Sun Light.

“How are you feeling?” Twilight asked.

“My pancake is getting soggy,” Sun replied, miserably.

“Probably because you kept it under the rain,” Shining pointed out as he moved the plate from under the rain, only to be struck on his side.

“You don’t mention the rain,” Moon whispered in Shining’s ear in a harsh tone.

“Okay,” Shining replied while rubbing his side. He then turned to Sun, “So how much bits did you lose?”

Cadence rolled her eyes at her coltfriend and said, “Did you have to open old wounds?”

Shining simply shrugged, but before he could say anything Sun Light answered him, “Out of one thousand and thirteen bits, I lost,” He sniffed, “One thousand and,” He panted, “And twelve.”

Shining saw how miserable things were becoming so he decided to cheer the little colt up with a, “At least you still have one bit.”

That was the needle that broke the camel as Sun started to cry.

The three fillies turned their gaze that ranges from scornful to dismayed at Shining Armor who reeled back in self-defense exclaiming, “What did I do?!”

“It’s the cloud you dodo,” Twilight berated.

Shining stared with confusion at the cloud. “What about the cloud?” He asked.

“It cost one bi-i-t!” Sun wailed.

“Oh,” Shining realized. “Not sparing any expense on the drama I see,” He tried to joke.

“What’s with you today?” Moon flared.

“I’ll shut up now,” Shining flailed his hooves before walking out of the kitchen.

“I’m sorry about my brother,” Twilight said to Moon.

Moon waved her hoof in dismissal.

More lightning cracked from the cloud. “Did he supercharge the cloud or something?” Twilight asked.

Cadence shook her head. “I’ll take care of this,” She said as she approached Sun. She then placed a bag of coins in front of him.

Upon hearing the coins landing on the table, Sun took a peek. “What’s this?”

“A gift,” Cadence said, “Actually this is part of your next month paycheck, it’s called an advance payment. I did some smooth talking to get them for you.”

Sun glared at the bag of coins.

After the awkward silence, Cadence asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Feels like pity money,” Sun noted.

“You don’t want it?” Cadence asked in surprise, grabbing the bag with her aura.

But before she could levitate it, Sun Light grabbed it with his hoof. “Thank you,” He said with a head bow.

And the cloud above him parted.

---

It was, just as Evening Star said it, a gorgeous day.

The park was brimming with life. The tree provided the most beautiful of shades, the birds were singing, and the sounds of laughter abounded.

And in the midst of it all, Shining Armor sat alone at one of the swings while watching over the foals as they argued over which reference to go in regards to explaining ‘De mineralibus liber imperium’ with boredom. “Maybe I should have volunteered to watch over Spike as well,” The young colt lamented.

He was hoping to do something fun with everyone, like monster hunting, or pirate chasing, or some other role-playing game he used to play with Twilight and oftentimes with Cadence joining them as well. He was hoping since this is a big enough party, they can make a full day event. But alas, his marefriend and his new friend had some issues to resolve, and Twilight brought with her the most cringe causing book in the history.

Shining’s eyes fell on the two young mares sitting in the distant, not far from view but far enough to not be heard. “Wonder what they are talking about?”

Not far from them, Moon Chaser watched her brother arguing with this new filly called Twilight Sparkle which she heard much about.

“They do make a cute couple,” Cadence said.

“They have chemistry, I’ll give them that,” Moon Agreed, “But do they have the spark?”

“Not sure,” Cadence replied, “She’s not fully aware of other ponies’ feelings, and he’s not too keen on sharing his.”

Moon nodded for a bit, “Who do you think will tell the other first?”

Cadence thought for a moment, “Definitely Twilight,” She answered, “Sun is more likely to keep questioning his feelings until he analyzes them away.”

Moon Chaser fell silent. Cadence didn’t add anything to the conversation. They sat there watching the foals argue for a time.

“I’m sorry, ” Cadence said.

Moon jumped from her seat. “If any of you ever apologize one more time, I’ll…”

“Will you calm down?” Cadence ordered, and Moon grumbled back. “I knew you had feelings for me,” She then said, “And instead of putting an end to us, I fanned the flames and pitted you against Shining Armor, and for that I’m sorry.”

Moon sat, huffing her anger away. “Okay, I’ll accept this, but I need to know,” Moon then approached Cadence and asked, “Why?”

“Why what?” Cadence asked in return.

“Why him and not me?” Moon Chaser asked, “You knew I had feelings for you, so you either were toying with me or…”

“What? No! I wasn’t toying with you!” Cadence reacted defensively.

“Then, what was I to you?” Moon held her gaze at Cadence.

But Cadence immediately looked away. “Now I know how Sun Light feels when he makes a mistake.”

“Mi Amore Cadenza!” Moon Chaser ordered.

“Fine, fine,” Cadence took a deep breath, “You were, to me… No, you have, and will always be, my first ever filly-crush.” Cadence felt her cheeks on fire. “Now I know how Shining felt when he first asked me out.”

“So... it was mutual?” Moon Chaser concluded.

“Yes.”

“Then… why him?”

“Because,” Cadence jumbled her words, “because, you are just too perfect.”

“Huh?” Moon Chaser gave Cadence the most confused stare the latter had ever seen.

“Before I became an alicorn,” Cadence started to explain, “I had a checklist for all the qualities I wanted in my future partner in life. I wanted him, or her, to be strong, kind, capable, charming and charismatic, always serious but can still make me laugh when he, or she, want to.”

Cadence turned to Moon, “And you! You fit all those criteria, heck, you even check the optional criteria as well, Princess Artemis Moon Chaser of Phoenicia. I was head over heels in love with you when we first met.”

Moon Chaser nodded, trying to take everything in. Then she realized something “You can’t use that against me! I’m like the seven hundred seat to the throne, heck, Sun Light have a more legitimate claim, and he’s my mother’s illegitimate.”

“A princess is a princess even if she doesn’t have a throne to inherit,” Cadence remained adamant.

“Okay, okay,” Moon shut the argument before it distracted from the real argument, “If you were in love with me, then why did you stop?”

“I realized one day, that you shined too brightly,” Cadence answered, lowering her head in shame, “The closer we got, the more I realized that I am left behind in the shadow, your shadow. I can’t be with someone who can outshine me every moment of every day. But I didn’t know how to act.”

“So you kept quiet,” Moon Chaser concluded.

“I thought you’d take the hint, I wasn’t expecting you to be…”

“The envious type,” Moon Chaser finished her line.

“That really tarnished my image of you, you know,” Cadence chuckled. “I thought I knew everything about love, guess I still have ways to go.”

“You’ll live, you’ll learn,” Moon tried to console her friend, “So what now?”

“I think…” Cadence paused for a moment, “we should end our friendship for now.”

---

“So… she will only be your friend again if you fall in love with someone else?” Shining realized with astonishment.

“That was her term,” Moon affirmed.

“I don’t know how to feel about this,” Shining shook his head, “I was hoping you two would mend fences and move on.”

“Oh please,” Sun interjected, “You should feel ecstatic about this. Your marefriend just drew the line of respectful distancing necessary for her and Moon’s emotions to heal.”

“That’s a good phrase, from where did you get it?” Twilight teased.

“Relationship Psychology by Paul Poponie,” Sun quickly answered.

Moon grabbed her brother’s mane and tugged lightly, “Isn’t that book banned here in Equestria on the account of its racial purity propaganda?”

Sun twisted his head and managed to escape his sister’s grasp. “When did that ever stop me from finding it?” He answered with a smirk.

“So, what other advice does that book give?” Shining asked. Moon and Twilight looked at him aghast.

“Just that you need to draw a line between Moon and Cadence if you ever wished to retain both their respect and trust in you,” Sun answered.

“Don’t talk to the one about the other,” Shining nodded. “Got it.”

“You didn’t learn that from a racial propaganda relationship advice,” Twilight noted, “Didn’t you?”

“No, that was the logical thing to do,” Sun replied.

“I have to say, you reading something like that makes me wonder how relatively normal you turned out to be Sunny,” Moon noted.

“Sun Light and normal? That’s two words I never imagined to find in the same sentence,” Twilight quipped.

Sun chuckled. “When I read it I had a lot of questions, but Princess Celestia just made fun of every single point the book raised on racial purity and how marriage should be between same race only and what-not,” He shrugged. “The ideology felt absurd to me after that, despite the excellent marriage advice I found in that book.”

“I’m glad you think of it that way,” Shining said, “I don’t think there are many who can read something like that and not be taken with its message.”

“Nah, I just have good ponies watching over me,” Sun’s reply caused every pony to glare at him in shock. “Oh har har har, I do give credit when it's deserving, you know,” He jeered in response.

Every pony, with exception of one, broke into a chuckle.

The moment Shining and Twilight’s parents’ house came into view, Shining turned to Moon, “Are you sure you don’t want to come in?” He asked, “I’m sure the foals would want to continue reading the Imperium.”

“NO!!” Exclaimed the foals.

Moon chuckled at her brother’s reaction. “Thank you for the invite, but I don’t your mother would appreciate my presence.” She pointed at the window that got quickly shot.

“I’d rather read propaganda than continue with this contradictory piece of…” Sun was saying to Twilight when the elders called their younger siblings.

“I’ll see you tomorrow on the train, Shining,” Moon waved at Shining, to which he replied with a wave back before entering the house with Twilight.

With that, Moon Chaser and Sun Light made their way home. The trek was silent at the beginning, which only made Moon more contemplative about her little brother and how much he had grown in the past few weeks she had not seen him.

“[Have you done anything to your fur?]” She asked, “[It looks absolutely stunning.]”

“[I had it replaced,]” Sun joked.

Though, Moon predicted what he meant by that, “[You went to that tower right?]” When she saw her brother’s reaction, she knew she was right, “[Got some stink mites on you again? Haven’t you learned from last time that happened?]”

“[If that was the end of it I would have been glad,]” Sun shook his head at his own stupidity back then.

“[Will you tell me what happened?]” Moon asked her brother with a plea in her eyes.

“[It’s a long story,]” Sun answered.

“[It’s a long way home,]”Moon pointed out.

Sun chuckled, “[True at that,]” He said, “[To tell you what happened, I guess I should start from the beginning...]”

The two siblings went their way, filling the streets of Canterlot with stories and laughter as the sun set over Canterlot’s streets.

---

“[…And that was when dad said that I should go to the advance division bureau to get some new weapons,]” Sun explained enthusiastically as he took a bite out of his dinner.

“[When I saw what that cube did I was mortified!]” Moon exclaimed before she munched on her sandwich. “[Dad must have been infuriated to let you get those gadgets]”

The two siblings sat at their kitchen table having dinner while finishing their stories of the day. Moon made herself a simple dandelion sandwich while Sun had hay salad with apple crumbs.

“[You have no idea,]” Sun said, spitting morsels that were in his mouth.

“[Trust me, I think I do,]” Moon said while handing him a napkin. “[And don’t talk with your mouth full! It’s bad manners.]”

Sun swallowed, “[Sorry.]”

“[I should count my stars at how lucky I am things turned out the way they did,]” Moon said with a grateful tone.

“[You should,]” Sun affirmed, “[There were so many things that could have gone wrong, I’d say this is the best possible outcome you could have ever imagined.]”

“[Say, you’re not going to be hard on Shining Armor now that he’s under your care,]” Moon said in pleading tone, “[Will you?]”

“[Hard isn’t the right word to describe it,]” Sun said, his eyes brimming with malevolence, “[Brutal is more like it.]”

“Helios!” Moon rose with a reprimand.

“[I have so many plans to break him,]” Sun rubbed his hooves together while keeping that awful glare in his eyes, “[I’m going to make the old you sympathetic to his plight.]”

“I’m serious, Helios,” Moon let out a warning.

“So am I, Artemis,” Sun replied.

The two glared at each other for a time.

Sun broke the silence, “The path he chose is not an easy one, you should be aware of that most.”

“Yeah, I know,” Moon back down, “Just don’t go crazy with him.”

“Can’t promise you that,” Sun replied.

“Then don’t let me in on it,” Moon asked in her statement.

“Can’t promise you that either.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s my punishment for you,” Sun answered.

“You little brat,” Moon stood up from the table, “Haven’t I been punished enough?”

“From an outsider perspective, no,” Sun shut his sister down, “However, this is a punishment you should be more accepting to take, as I want you to make him into a captain of the royal guard.”

Moon sat back down, mulling her role. She then chuckled, “A smart move mister advisor.”

“Thank you, I try my best,” Sun said while finishing his salad. He then rose up, lifted his hoof, and with it, the plate and fork started to levitate. With a light push, Sun levitated the kitchen wares to the sink before gentling placing them down.

Moon looked at him in awe. “You have got to teach me that.”

“Psh, that’s easy,” Sun leaned back in his chair, “You just channel your warrior’s aura into the object you want to push or pull, and then act upon it. The rest is practice, pure and simple.”

“My warrior’s aura?” Moon asked.

“That’s what dad calls it,” Sun explained, "I refer to it as Earth pony magic."

“Hmm,” Moon thought for a moment. She then grabbed her chair and placed it in the center of the kitchen. She counted three steps in the opposite direction, took a combat pose, and then started to accumulate her warrior’s aura.

Sun whistled as the blue light shrouded his sister. “That’s some control you have,” He noted.

“Thanks,” Moon said before throwing both her arms toward the chair, but nothing happened.

“FYI, dad figured it out on his own,” Sun told Moon.

“Nothing is happening,” Moon complained.

“That’s because you’re not imagining it clearly in your head,” Sun pointed out, “It’s both a mental thing and a physical thing.”

Moon released her aura. “I’m not going to figure it out tonight,” She said when an idea came to her, “Say, can you tell me how you come up with your spells?”

A smirk appeared on Sun’s face, unlike anything Moon saw on his face before. “It’s going to cost you,” He said.

“Cost me what?”

“A story about mom.”

If there was any sign of playfulness in Moon’s face, it got completely drained. “A story about mom?” She asked.

“Yep,” Sun replied.

“What do you know about mom?” Moon asked in amazement.

“Some stories here and there,” Evening said from behind, causing his daughter to jump in surprise. “Nothing from Saddle Arabia, though, everything from our time in the Badlands. That was my cost for him as well.”

“When did you came in?” Sun asked in full irritation.

“Enough to see you two are bonding,” Evening said, “And liking every second of it.”

“What do you want dad?” Moon asked.

“I wanted to talk to Sunny about what happened, but I can see that it can wait,” Evening turned to meet his son’s glare, “But I can also see that tensions are still high, so I’ll leave you two to your stories,” He said before leaving them.

A smile appeared on Moon’s face. “Alright, I have the perfect story for you.”

Sun sat up to listen. Moon took her seat and started to narrate, “When I six years old, I was the biggest tomboy in the city of Ramitha, always getting into fights, and believe it or not, always losing.”

Sun jumped from his seat, “No way! You?!”

Moon chuckled at the memories, “Yep, I always ended up getting bruised and beaten. So mom told dad to teach me how to fight, but dad said, [It's better that she stops fighting altogether and act like how mares are supposed to.]”

“I can totally see him saying that,” Sun quipped.

“Anyway, mom wasn’t satisfied with that answer,” Moon continued, “So she went to grandpa, King Arthur Pentdragon of Sarepta.”

“Wait… King?!!” Sun jumped for the second time.

“Yep,” Moon answered.

“Does that make me a prince?” Sun asked, batting his eyes.

“The four hundred and seventy-eighth to the throne of Sarepta,” Moon said in a cheer. “Enjoy your throne little prince.”

“What?” Sun deadpanned.

“Our mother is the third daughter from his fifth concubine out of seven children from our grandmother’s side, four of which are colts.” Moon counted.

Sun sat back. “That was awkward to know.”

“It is, any male heir is placed in front of a female heir, and our mother is at the bottom of everyone, so we are the last direct heirs to the throne of Sarepta for our respective genders.” Moon did not feel the need to tell her little brother her ranking, so she moved on, “Anyway, Grandpa Arthur had one good thing about him, and that he knows all his kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids by name. So when mother came to him with my problems, he agreed to have me train with the captain of the royal guards, despite dad’s initial objection.”

“And that is how you became strong?” Sun asked.

Moon puffed her a little, “Yep, but our story doesn’t stop here.”

“Do tell,” Sun said with excitement.

“A couple of month into my training and I broke my hoof,” Moon continued, “Dad was ecstatic about it, hoping that I will forgo my training and start acting ladylike. Mom had none of it, she took me to the training ground, and had me sit and watch other ponies train.”

“That must have been boring,” Sun noted in annoyance.

“It should have been boring, but it wasn’t,” Moon said while adding suspense to her story, “You see, mom was there with me, and she knew nothing about fighting, so she kept asking me questions, and more questions, and the more she knew, the more sophisticated her questions became. By the time my cask was about to be removed, the captain of the royal guard, the royal champion, and even dad were all arguing about the best stance to take, the correct moves to make, how to nail the timing and so on and so forth.”

“You’re telling me, that my mother managed to turn your injury into a warrior’s convention?” Sun said with a tone of disbelief.

“You do that all the time,” Moon said to him, “You have the exact same move as her, you ask for something then throw a curve ball then get exactly what you want to hear.”

“I do no such thing,” Sun reacted but then realized something, “Oh, yeah I do those things.”

“I swear, you’re like a mini, black version of mom.” That statement made Sun blush. “She would have liked you, you know.”

A smile crept on Sun Light’s lips. It wasn’t his usual mischief smile, rather, it was something Moon Chaser saw only a few times till now.

“You seem happy,” Moon said, “Why the sudden interest?”

“The interest was always there,” Sun answered, “I just never had the courage to ask.”

Moon held a tear from falling. “You really have grown while I was gone.”

“Enough sappy stories,” Sun declared, “Time to teach you some magic.” He jumped down then walked upstairs. “Follow me.”

Moon laughed, then did as instructed. She followed him straight to his room where, once again, was filled with fliers from top to bottom.

“What are you working on?” Moon asked.

“Elemental magic!” Sun exclaimed.

“You mean, like the thing you were reading with Twilight?” Moon asked.

“No that was Earth Element,” Sun explained, “This is for Lightning Element.”

That impressed his older sister who replied, “Why lightning?”

“Twilight said that she wanted to follow her elemental order, so I decided on doing the same,” Sun pulled a sheet of paper from the wall and gave it to Moon. On that sheet, Moon found a table with the names, classes, and level of all the elements.

“Care to explain?” Moon asked.

“Elements are grouped into class and degrees, an element class is its nature, and an element degree is its level of complexity.” Sun pointed to the first class, “Fire, lightning, and light, for example, all belong to the energy class. Fire is the least complex of them so it’s a primary element, lightning is a form of compressed fire, and light is a form of compressed lightning. They all belong to the same magical class, but each is a higher version of the other. Magically speaking.”

“And the elemental order?”

“It’s the order you learn which element to use.”

“Ah.”

After examining the table further, Moon asked, “And how does one go about finding his elemental order?”

“Most books teach the standardize method of energy, purity, nature, and ether.”

Judging from her brother’s demeanor, Moon realized his disapproval. “But that’s not the case.”

Sun smiled, “No, however standardizing elemental order came after standardizing education en-mass. Basically, no one has time to discover their own elemental order, and not many can teach it correctly.”

“So unicorns learn only one order, but can never become proficient elemental mages,” Moon concluded, “No wonder most of the unicorns in the academy can’t use elements correctly.”

“Exactly.”

“So, how does one learn his elemental order?” Moon asked.

“There is the hard way: you try all primary elements, and then a professional will analyze your proficiency in each of the elements and gives you the order in which you need to learn them.” Sun then walked to his closet, opened it, and dragged a box outside. “And then there is the shortcut.” With a single push, the box fell and crystal elemental balls fell to the ground. “You try all the elements, and the two in which you are best at channeling your energy into dictates your order.”

Moon regarded her brother with suspicion, “Wait, if there is such a technique, then why isn’t it more widespread?”

“Because, the one who documented it is a major advocate of unicorn purity that had most of his works discredited and the rest fell into obscurity,” Sun replied sheepishly.

Moon glared at her brother, “If I ever hear you reading those books, I will punch you.”

Sun rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine.” He pulled a sheet, “Want to try it out?”

Moon nodded, “So, what am I supposed to do here?”

“Channel your earth pony aura into the crystals by tapping them,” Sun explained.

“My what?”

“Your warrior’s aura.”

Moon took the same pose she did in the kitchen, and when the blue aura surrounded her, she touched one of the balls, and the insignia started to glow.

Sun whistled. “Got it right the first time, that’s impressive.”

“Which element was that?” Moon asked.

“Metal, which means you start with the purity element. Try another one.”

The second ball Moon touched, exploded in a flash of light, the third one barely had any glow in it. After a few ones, another Moon Chaser managed to make one of the crystal’s insignia to glow an odd white and red.

“Wow.” Sun Light looked astonished.

“Is that a good wow, or a bad wow?” Moon asked.

“A good wow for sure,” Sun picked, “That’s the fury element.”

“What’s that?”

“Have you ever heard of the spirit of the wild?”

Moon shook her head.

“It’s a magical theory that tells us that each action taken in the wild has a higher spirit guiding it such as the hunt, the chase, the kill, defending your territory, mating, childbearing etcetera. Fury if what we call the element that channels those ancient properties.” Sun grabbed the glowing crystal, “Took me three days to reach this result with this element. I’m kind of irked that it’s your basics.”

Moon glowed with pride. “That means I’m a natural.”

“Yeah right,” Sun sneered.

“So what is my elemental order?” Moon asked.

“A divine beast order,” Sun said, “You start with purity, nature, ether, and finally energy. The first class denotes the combined degree of your element, both are the same so it’s the higher class, Purity, the second belongs to the other class, so nature. The third belongs to the distance of both elements, here being short means energy, and the fourth is the remaining class, ether.”

“Cool,” Moon exclaimed. “What’s your order?”

“That’s my secret,” Sun smirked.

“You haven’t been doing this for long, so I think lightning is your first,” Moon concluded.

Sun was shocked at his sister’s finding. “How did you know that?”

“There are too many papers here,” Moon pointed out, “That means you are still in the early stages of things.”

Sun frowned at his sister before grumbling.

Moon laughed at her little brother’s antiques. “Glad to know that I still know you very well.”

“Whatever makes you happy,” Sun said in defeat.

“So, what do I do know?” Moon said, picking one of the orbs.

“You train to make all these orbs glow like the ones you managed to do thus far, in the order I mentioned,” Sun explained.

“Right, I’m going to borrow a paper and write everything down,” Moon went to her brother’s desk.

“You can have these crystals if you wish,” Sun said while putting them back in the box, “I’m done with them anyway.”

“Aren’t they something you ‘borrowed’ from the castle?” Moon asked.

“No, dad bought them for me to train… fifteen bits for the whole set, not as expensive as I thought they would be,” Sun explained.

“Good to know.” Moon finished taking her notes, she was about to head to her room when she saw her brother staring at her. “What?”

“Don’t you want to see my progress?” Sun asked.

“What progress?” Moon asked.

“In lightning element,” Sun said.

“You’re really excited about this,” Moon noted, “Alright, but that's the last thing for today, I want to sleep in my own bed for a change like there is no tomorrow.”

Sun smiled, he then jumped to his desk and pulled a jar of dark cloud from his drawer.

Moon gasped. “I knew those clouds today weren’t only theatrical.”

“I grew the one from this morning for a week now,” Sun said while opening the jar, “I now have a few dozen of those, littered all over the house.”

Sun grabbed the cloud with his hoof, then he squashed it. “The thing is, I need to learn how lightning feels before I can get to use it.” He started rubbing his hooves together, faster and faster and faster until he suddenly stopped. His smile grew. He opened his hooves and a steady stream of sparks flew between them.

Moon started to clap. “Now that is impressive.”

“Thank you,” Sun said. But no sooner did he say it, that a strong lightning strike flew from his hoof and struck the wall. After that, the entire charge dissipated.

“Controlling it is a different ordeal, but that’s the gist of it,” Sun said when suddenly, smoke appeared from behind him.

“Uh, Sunny?” Moon pointed at the smoke.

“Uh oh,” Sun grabbed a nearby leather bound book and tried to squash the little flame, but it didn’t die out.

“I’ll go get some water,” Moon said while running to the bathroom.

“What to do, what to do?” Sun started to panic. He remembered something about fire extinguishing using a woolen sheet. He grabbed his bed sheet and tried to snuff the fire with it.

But suddenly, the sheet caught fire and it started to spread through the papers he placed on the wall.

Moon came with a bucket of water and saw Sun trying to put out the fire with a burned sheet. “I need more water,” she noted.

Sun turned to her and exclaimed, “It’s not working!”

Moon went in and grabbed Sun. She ran quickly outside the room then slammed the door.

“Now we’ll just have to wait until the fire extinguishes itself out,” Moon explained between gasps of air.

“Yeah, okay,” Sun said while catching his breath. “Glad dad didn’t see that, or else he would be pissed.”

“Yeah, hehe, he would be fuming,” Moon chuckled.

Sun laughed, “Fuming like my research,” his laugh turned into crying.

Moon pat her brother’s back “At least, nothing bad happened, right?”

A sudden cough sent chills down the sibling's spine.

Sun and Moon looked up to their dad glowering at them while glowing deep blue aura.

“Hey, dad,” Moon said in an increasingly shrinking position.

“It’s not what it looks like,” Sun said before smoke started to come out from under his door.

---

Princess Celestia sat pensively while drinking her midnight tea.

“Hey Princess,” Princess Cadence knocked on the door, “Can’t get any sleep?”

“I’m worried,” Princess Celestia said.

“About?” Princess Cadence asked.

“SSSSSSSUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNN LLLLLLLIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGHHHHHTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Minister Evening Star’s voice suddenly boomed in the distance. Followed by the faint sounds of sirens.

Princess Celestia smiled, “It seems about nothing.”

Author's Notes:

I have no idea how to insert a table and make it visible upon publishing, so if any of you have any ideas, I would be grateful.