//------------------------------// // A Day with the Princesses // Story: An Interesting Arrival // by Moongaze14 //------------------------------// A Day with the Princesses Did Princess Luna ask me out on a literal dream date? Even though he was aware that she meant to help him with his inability to dream, Statice couldn’t help but ponder on that thought given the way Luna phrased it. It was hard not to help it when he was having an attractive mare looking at him tenderly in the eye like that. “Sure,” he turned his head away so that he was only maintaining visual contact with only one eye. “I’d be nice to finally learn how to produce my own dreams rather than have to share them with somepony else.” Luna gave him a pitying look before she teleported in a flash of blue light. A surge of anger rose on Statice’s chest at the feeling of pity he inspired on the alicorn. He was a grown stallion, not a defenseless colt anymore. Whatever tragic past or unfortunate condition that he carried in the present should not be a reason to look at him any differently than any average pony. And this is one of the many reasons I don’t tell anypony my past. Then again, having anypony feeling sorry for me is the least of my problems compared to the other reasons why I don’t tell them my past. At best I get something out them… “I’m going to eat dinner…” Statice said to nopony in particular, hoping that a peaceful meal was going to help him sleep. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” “I’M TRYING TO HELP YOU!” The two lines echoed across the dining hall as Twilight Sparkle and Statice shouted at each other. One irritated at the new arrival and the other frustrated at the lack of appreciation for her new arrival.  Spike, on his part, seemed unsurprised at the shouting match and was eating his dinner without preoccupation. “That did not answer my question,” Statice glared daggers at the purple alicorn, who glared back at him. “What brought you here, to Canterlot, to see me? Did Rainbow Dash tell you about my predicament?” “As a matter of fact, yes,” Twilight nodded her head, trying to sound like a rational teacher. “When I heard that you were in trouble, I felt the need to help you…” “And by the ‘need to help you’ she means that she thought that you were in danger and had to be rescued so she went to the first train to Canterlot that was available in Ponyville,” Spike inquired with his mouth full. The interruption earned him a glare from Twilight and a snicker from Statice, whose annoyance at Twilight vanished at the burn she received from her assistant. To be honest, he expected her to overreact when the phrase “Magic Kindergarten” was going to be mentioned by either Rainbow Dash or Rarity. The only thing that he didn’t predict she’d do was that she would visit Canterlot that fast. I guess her fear of failure is not just for her. It also extends to her friends, and also her acquaintances…even those she has all the right to despise. Is this the so called "pony hero syndrome" that the others outside of Equestria claimed that Digitalis and I had? “Before this conversation can go any further, would you mind getting the staff out of the dining hall?” Statice sighed as he looked at Twilight with a patient expression. “I’d rather not have them hear what we’re gonna discuss.” “Assuming you two are not gonna shout, I think it’s pointless you ask Twilight to send the staff away, Statice,” Spike deadpanned, both remembering how the conversation started and how dramatic Twilight could be regarding certain topics. This time around, Spike got a double dose of angry glares from both Statice and Twilight that got him silenced, causing him to return to his meal. “Would the dining hall staff mind leaving for the time being?” Twilight politely asked. “I want to have a private conversation with Statice.” Twilight received a silent reply of head nods as all of the ponies present left the room. The only noise that was followed besides the clicking of hooves on the tiles of the floor was the sound of a door closing. “I heard about your…less than stellar…performance on your…citizenship test,” Twilight awkwardly started the conversation as she fidgeted with her food, using her magic to levitate a fork so that she could play with the veggies inside a bowl of salad. Is she serious? Statice gave her a pointed look. “Do tell?” he egged her on. “What have you heard about my test grade that got you so interested on me?” “She heard it twice actually,” Spike answered before Twilight had the chance of speaking again. “She fainted the first time when Rainbow Dash told her that you got an F in your test so she had to hear it again from Rarity to verify it…and then she fainted again.” “Spike!” Twilight cried out in anger and embarrassment with flushed cheeks. Is this girl for real? There’s being afraid of failure and there’s being allergic to failure. How in Tartarus is she overreacting for MY grades? “And after Pinkie threw a ‘Thank Celestia You’re Still Sane’ Party for Twilight, she decided to go to Canterlot to help you graduate,” Spike summarized, much to Statice’s surprise. Apparently, during Statice’s brief line of thought, Spike went on to describe some events that happened after Twilight’s nervous breakdown in the span of a few seconds. It was very impressive for the little drake to keep up with all that madness...and a little troubling for the green unicorn since his attention span was not that low that he would blank out for an indefinite period of time. Ugh, I have to start paying attention. If I were back in my old life that would have been the end of me. Now, let's go back to the present and focus on Spike. I better remember to at least remain on his good side when it comes to dealing with those mares. I’m not sure if he acts like an unofficial seventh member or a sidekick in their adventures, but I’m sure that he can help me better understand them if I ever get on the bad side of those mares. “I took the liberty of making some flash cards and created schedules for study sessions,” Twilight spoke as Statice snapped out of his thoughts to see the purple alicorn speaking out her mind. Did I space out in my thoughts and nod my head to what other ponies were saying again? Dang it! This is why I accidentally end up agreeing to do stuff I never wanted to do in the first place! Better stop it before it gets out of hoof. I refuse to do any studying with some mare who does needs to triple check if she double checked anything! “Wait,” Statice raised his hoof to stop Twilight in mid-rant. “I’m not doing that garbage.” “B-b-but you already agreed to do all that stuff,” she sputtered in shock. “I wasn’t really paying attention to anything you were saying,” Statice admitted calmly. “I only nodded my head until you stopped talking.” The answer he gave her was not the correct one as Twilight was boiling with anger based on how her purple fur was dyed red with anger and how steam was coming out of her ears. “I’m trying to help you,” she snarled at him. “And let me tell you that I already studied,” Statice told her. “I’ve been studying since I’ve been sent to Magic Kindergarten so that I can skip grades.” “You really think it’s that simple?” Twilight scoffed. “It’s simple,” Statice rolled his eyes at her. “I did everything that needed to be done, I also made every potion, and I also studied the book. All I need to do is to complete the exam and that’s it.” “It’s not that simple,” Twilight simply repeated. “How in Tartarus would you know about what's simple and what's hard?” Statice glared at her. “Did you even fail a test or got sent back to Magic Kindergarten?” “No,” Twilight shook her head. “Then what gives you the right to decide what’s at stake with me when you never experienced failure before?” Statice glared at her for making assumption on his fate. “Chancellor Pudding Head,” Twilight shrunk on her seat. “Pudding Head?” Statice and Spike asked at the same time, although the former was asking it more with a confused frown, wondering if Twilight was making fun of him. Is she talking about one of the Earth pony founders of Equestria? The one that Pinkie Pie played in Heart's Warming Eve? Who the heck names their kid Pudding Head? Twilight guiltily nodded her head. “Chancellor Pudding Head suggested that any and all foreigners that moved to Equestria should take the citizenship based on how similar the foreigner’s species was to any of the pony tribes. Regardless of whether the foreigners failed or succeeded on the test, they would be allowed to live in Equestria.” “What was the catch then?” Statice asked with a disbelieving frown, knowing by previous experiences that it was too good to be true. There was always a catch in a deal. Nothing good came free. “Successful approval of the citizenship meant foreigners were free to become citizens of Equestria right away,” Twilight explained as she recalled the first time she researched the ancient history of Equestria back when she became Celestia’s student many years ago. “I can see that,” Statice took a forkful of salad. “What happened to the foreigners that failed the citizenship test?” “They were allowed to stay in Equestria under a housing program and then they received an education about our kingdom based on the grade they received… kind of what happened to you right now,” Twilight finished with an awkward grimace. “What was that right now?” Statice asked as he dropped his fork. “It’s pretty much the stupid law that got Twilight’s ridiculous phobia about failing any school assignment that Princess Celestia gives her,” Spike summarized as he was serving himself dessert. “It does not!” Twilight shrieked defensively. “It does too!” Spike waved a spoon of flan. “It’s not like a being a student of Princess Celestia made you a foreign dignitary, Twilight! Besides, I’m pretty sure that Statice is the only pony that ever got sent to Magic Kindergarten in all of Equestria.” “That does nothing to reassure my self-esteem, Spike,” Statice glared at Spike, making sure to let his tone of voice communicate his displeasure. “Sorry,” Spike sheepishly apologized. Still, I can’t believe that I have to do this garbage because of some old law from the first days of Equestria. I guess Pudding Head had good parents when they gave her a name. They must have seen that all she had was pudding for a brain. Statice’s thoughts were interrupted, not by Twilight, but by Princess Celestia entering the room. Twilight’s face beamed at seeing her mentor entering the dining hall while Statice’s face soured. He didn’t have anything against Celestia. She had been a real help this few days. The problem was gonna be Twilight. Discord’s videos had shown him that Twilight was a stick in the mud when it came to etiquette around her beloved mentor. Why must teacher’s pets always have to be such a nuisance? “Good evening, Princess Celestia,” Statice addressed the white alicorn, hoping that some good manners would stop Twilight from getting on his case. To his surprise, he got an appreciative nod from Twilight, meaning that he was on the right track. “Good evening, Statice,” she greeted the green unicorn back. “I hope you don’t mind Twilight’s surprise visit. She and Spike had some duties to attend in Canterlot for a few days here.” Statice and Spike secretly shared unconvinced looks with each other as the former responded. “Oh, she told me,” he smiled pleasantly at her. “Say, can you tell me about Chancellor Pudding Head? I did some research and found out that she may be responsible for me and my current…educational restrictions.” Time slowed down as he watched three different reactions. Celestia lifted her head up with a mixture of surprise and shock, not expecting him to have found out the real reason on why he was on Magic Kindergarten. Spike was stunned, his head bobbing to the left or right as he checked on the stallion’s unblinking face or the mares alongside him. And then there was Twilight who had her jaw hanging low, twitching eyes, and mane unkempt with strands of hair getting out of place with each second. That went out of place very quickly. “That’s perhaps one of my first mistakes in my early days of ruling,” Celestia sighed once she finally broke the silence. As she finally gave her answer, she got surprised glances from the three guests at the table. “What did you say?” Statice, Twilight, and Spike asked at the same time. “Equestria was a land of unity between three pony tribes that initially hated each other,” Celestia took a seat at the table. “This is why Chancellor Pudding Head, inspired by the ideal of friendship, decided that we ponies had to share it with other species if Equestria was to flourish as a nation.” “You mean species like griffins and minotaurs?” Statice asked curiously. He had noticed that, in spite of being a pony nation, there had been a few citizens that were definitely not ponies. Ironically enough, he got along better with them than wiht the ponies themselves before he was forced to run away from those towns for getting into fights. “Yes,” Celestia nodded her head. “But there was some opposition. Back then, ponies were not as open to friendship with other species as they are now. To them, the magic of friendship could only be achieved only between ponies.” “That’s awful,” Twilight whispered in horror, looking at Spike and imagining how life would be like without her number one assistant. Spike, for his part, hugged her close since he also shared the same thought. “Why am I not surprised?” Statice scoffed. “Those morons barely liked each other despite the fact that they were the same species just because they belonged to different tribes. I wouldn’t be shocked if they wanted nothing to do with any species that was not hoofed or with a sigil on its flank.” “It was a VERY long discussion,” Celestia recalled, remembering how tedious that meeting was. “By the time we were done, we were all exhausted from talking and shouting for so long. However, we had won. Equestria was going to establish relationships with foreign countries and Chancellor Pudding Head even came up with an idea so that members of other species could become citizens of Equestria.” “Are you talking about the citizenship test that was a win-win scenario regardless of whatever results the participants get, right?” Statice summarized as he gave Celestia an annoyed glare. “It sounded like a good idea at the time,” Celestia rubbed her head sheepishly and avoiding eye contact with everypony at the table. “Every being that wanted to be a citizen of Equestria got the chance of becoming one by studying to pass the test or having more time to do so if they failed. I didn’t realize how demeaning the education system penalty was until you failed your test, Statice.” Just what I needed, I had to know how much I sucked compared to everypony that took the test before me. Well, at least the other guys wanted to be in Equestria bad enough to study for the test. “Luna and I plan to remove that law so that no foreigner will be sent to Magic Kindergarten just in case they get a bad grade that is as low or lower than the one you got on your test,” Celestia declared, earning cheers from Twilight and Spike. Now that’s garbage! Why am I the only pony who gets to suffer? Why am I not allowed the satisfaction of watching some poor schmuck be sent to Magic Kindergarten after getting a low score like me? I deserve to be happy with the knowledge that I wasn’t the only one that didn’t experience that embarrassment. Repressing those thoughts, Statice gave Celestia a smile. “Thank you very much, Princess Celestia,” he raised his cup of tea. As he let the taste of honey and lemon get rid of the negative thoughts of his head, Statice pondered more quietly. He was more at fault in his situation. One of the lessons in his former life was to know everything about his territory. He never bothered to learn anything about Equestria. All he did was mess around even when he wasn’t on the run. I cared too much about having fun to recover the lost time of my life and training to prepare myself for the unknown that I didn’t bother to study so that I can learn for what I have now. After I become an official citizen of Equestria, I’m hitting the books. It’s pretty much what Digitalis always used to do when we were in trouble. Why shouldn’t I hit them every day? It may help me be better. A small smile curved itself on Statice’s lips as he finished his tea. To his delight, Twilight was engaged in a conversation with Celestia and Spike was too focused on his dinner to pay attention to him. It was time for him to go to sleep. “You’re early,” Luna noticed pleasantly as she found Statice on his room. “And you’re in my room,” Statice deadpanned. “And Twilight will probably be here as well to nag me about sneaking out of dinner and not saying goodbye to Princess Celestia or something. Can we speed this up a little? I don’t want to hear her voice.” Luna gave him a scowl. He couldn’t tell if it was because he was discourteous to his sister by leaving so abruptly or because he was badmouthing Twilight. She charged her horn with magic and placed it on his forehead. In a flash of blue, they were both in a starry forest surrounded by multiple spheres of light. “Your dreamscape looks different than the previous one,” Statice observed as he approached the spheres of light. “I combined my dreamscape with the astral plane I used to see the dreams of any pony that is currently asleep,” Luna answered as she gestured Statice to get close to the spheres. Statice got close to a sphere of light and was surprised to see Rainbow Dash dressed as a Wonderbolt, already flying with the team. It took him less than a second to figure out that it was her dream. He looked at the remaining spheres of light and realized that they were the dreams of everypony in Equestria. Dang, alicorn or not, that’s a whole lot of responsibility for a single pony. Statice winced as he realized how Luna pretty much had to protect the dreams of a whole kingdom by herself if she was the only pony that had the ability to travel between dreams. “I am going to do an advanced version of my dream spells, Statice,” Luna walked in as she once again ignited her horn in magic. “I will enter inside your mind to see your subconscious to find out what is blocking your ability to dream.” “Is this gonna mess with my head?” Statice asked, taking a step back. “Things involving the inside of my mind or the word ‘subconscious’ don’t paint well with me, Princess Luna.” “The dream work is very primal in nature, Statice,” Luna placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Only your greatest fears can take control of your mind, not me. If I were to enter into your mind, your subconscious will kick me out regardless of the power difference because your mind truly belongs to you.” “That’s kind of reassuring,” he smiled, glad to know that not even one of the rulers of Equestria could take him or anypony else. Apparently, free will was one of the great emotions that magic could never defeat. “However, I still have my duties to protect the dreams of everypony of Equestria,” Luna lamented as she turned her head around to stare at the spheres of light that represented the dreams of every citizen that was currently sleeping in the kingdom. “Oh,” Statice winced. “You’re right. They’ll be vulnerable to nightmares if you were to spend the entire time focusing on my dreams.” It wouldn’t be fair that the welfare of one pony puts in risk the welfare of hundreds among the many thousands or millions of ponies. He opened his mouth to speak when he felt a tendril of navy blue magic wrap around his horn. “Charge your horn with magic so that it can go through the tendril when you see a nightmare,” Luna instructed him with a kind smile. “After I receive a signal, I will get out of your mind. Tonight, I will only limit myself to using my Inception Spell once to see how bad your mind has been damaged. However, I’ll reserve the spell to one shot so that you can get acclimated to it.” “Fair enough,” Statice nodded his head, satisfied with the explanation. “You might as well get ready though. Ponies are drama queens here. I don’t want you to use the spell now and then have to give you the signal ten seconds later.” Luna rolled her eyes at him, but eventually realized that Statice was being playful when she noticed him having a teasing smile about it. Remembering his upbringing, the princess humored his wry humor and casted her Inception Spell to enter into his mind, vanishing into a light and leaving Statice alone in the forest. What is this place? This was the second time in her life Luna had ever asked herself that question when she casted the Inception Spell. Her first time inside the subconscious mind of a pony was when she realized that her dream magic was more than just protecting the dreams of ponies from magic but using them to help her subjects when they were awake too. She normally used her Inception Spell to enter into the dreams, treating them as passageways to investigate into the minds of each dreamer and then find out what was the source of their nightmares so that she could send Celestia to solve the problem during the day. In hindsight, it was a bad idea to send her sister to deal with the stress of their subjects in daylight since it caused Celestia to look like she was all-knowing while Luna became less regarded because she didn't connect with her subjects in their time of need and only help them from the shadows. In comparison, she only became as respected in modern times when she helped her subjects to face their troubles during their sleep rather than send her sister as an emissary. No. Let's not try to forget what you could have done better or what you did wrong. You're no longer Nightmare Moon. What matters now is that your subjects love you. And right now you have somepony who needs your help right now more than ever. As she shook her head to forget her bad habit of thinking of her failures, Luna once again focused on the unusual setting around her. Each subconscious usually featured a unique landscape that was special to everypony like a cutie mark was to their flanks that reflected their life experiences, beliefs, and personality. The setting that she saw was a mismatch that would make Discord proud. Everything around her was entirely black. She saw no sky above, in front, or behind her. There were no clouds, stars, sun, or moon that could define anything as a sky. She’d be blind if it weren’t for the fact that there was magic around her horn acting as a makeshift lantern. “This is Statice’s inner world created by his subconscious,” Luna observed as she futilely tried to search for any signs of scenery around her. “It’s very…empty. I see no life what so ever.” She looked down at her bare hooves. For some reason, entering the subconscious dreams of any dreamer caused Luna to lose her royal garments, probably so that she could establish a better connection. Beneath her hooves, she felt rock, but she saw no significant sense of it. Let’s see. There’s no sky, so I cannot figure out the meaning behind that. The rock may have something to do with Statice being a user of earth magic. No. That’s superficial at best. I can do better than that. I need to move forward. Luna dip her head low to so that the light that radiated from her horn illuminated her way. A straight gray rocky path was seen in front of her. She followed, hoping that the path would divert or led to different sceneries. Let there be grass or flowers regardless of whether they are fresh or withered. Let there be animals regardless of whether they are tame pets or savage beasts. I care not for the options, just give me something that’s not darkness on an empty rock. Her prayer was answered when she found a hole. She poked her head inside to see what it was. Previous journeys had taught her that holes inside the subconscious of a dreamer were repressed memories or maybe significant memories that shaped their personalities. And yet, for some reason, she found nothing inside that hole. “What is wrong with that hole?” she wondered with narrowed eyes. “There should be a memory inside there. So why isn’t it showing anything?” She thought back on the memory holes she visited before. By personal experience, nopony she visited had the same amount of memory holes. The size was also dependent on how meaningful the memory was, which made it last longer regardless of how much the event lasted in comparison in the real world. Additionally, the most important part was that the memory holes were located based on recent order. It made sense given how the most significant event that happened recently in a pony’s life was going to affect how they were going to act for good or bad until a greater change were to happen to them afterwards. “Why isn’t there any memory here?” Luna asked herself as she grounded her teeth in frustration. “These holes should be like water ponds or shoot some rays of light that show me the memory that I need to help Statice…” She took a pause. This wasn’t her mind. It was Statice’s mind. It had gone through much damage going through Statice’s life if what Discord told her was right. If the life of a bounty hunter was as dangerous as she imagined it to be, then one could wonder the toll it had on the mind she was standing on. It didn’t help that the dream inhibiting potion that Statice was forced to take as a colt may have started doing damage to it since early development. “Patience,” she told herself. “It’s not my mind. I don’t have a right to decide how it should be done. Still, I need to figure out how to work with those memory holes.” Perhaps I should jump inside of them. I didn’t make it this far into protecting the dreams of Equestria by not trying every available option. “I got nothing to lose,” Luna sighed in defeat. If it didn’t work, she could always use her wings to fly out of the hole or use her emergency spell to have Statice pull her out of his mind. Taking a deep breath, the blue alicorn jumped into the hole. Her expression was one of concentration as she expected to find something in the darkness. Subconscious dreams were abstract by nature, meaning that if she hit bottom she was going to be expelled to Statice’s conscious dreamscape with more questions than answers. If she didn’t land because she found something, then that meant that there was a chance to help Statice in one way or another. “You’ll be fine,” Luna told herself, repeating the same old mantra she initially spoke when she first started going into subconscious dreams. It was a little childish, but the sound of her own voice cheering her up was a comforting experience when her sister and her friends were not there to provide support. She hoped that the bottomless pit on which she jumped would be the perfect place to provide an echo. Instead of that, she was answered by another voice. “I got into a fight with Rainbow Dash.” “Statice?” Luna asked with a raised eyebrow. “I lost the fight and got scolded by Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Rarity. We both agreed never to fight each other again. In hindsight, I should have talked it out with Rainbow Dash or sport it out.” “It’s that supposed to be a memory?” Luna asked in horror. “That looked more like a badly summarized event, like the type of bad homework a student would make. How could that fight not be a memory when Discord told us that you nearly got blasted by a Sonic Rainboom?” “I got into a fight with Rainbow Dash. I lost the fight and got scolded by Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Rarity. We both agreed never to fight each other again. In hindsight, I should have talked it out with Rainbow Dash or sport it out.” Luna’s eyes widened at what she heard. There was no memory of Statice’s fight with Rainbow Dash. It was now just an afterthought. Whatever thing that disrupted his ability to dream was not the potion his master gave him, but something magical. It must have been something magical since it disrupted a memory of a recent event. It couldn't be the potion that Discord mentioned because they didn't affect memories so it must have been something regarding magic. “But what magic would disrupt Statice’s memory?” Luna asked herself. Was he under a curse or a spell? If so, why didn’t Discord do anything about it? I need to talk to Statice first. Wait…what was I going to talk to him about? Whose memory hole am I checking now? The questions kept accumulating inside Luna’s mind as Statice’s lines kept repeating inside the hole and on her ears. Even as she finally got out of the hole, Luna was left wondering what she was supposed to do now and whom she was supposed to help. And then, out of the blue, the felt a tug on her horn that pulled her out of the darkness and into a light. She was back in Statice’s conscious dreamscape. She recognized the grassy plains and flowers where she had left him back then and the dreams she asked him to watch when she started her excursion inside his mind. Standing in front of her was the green unicorn looking at her uncertainly. “Hey, I don’t want to sound pushy, but you’ve been out all night and it’s gonna be morning based on the clock I dreamed into existence as soon as you left,” Statice awkwardly pointed to some sort of modern clock with glowing numbers that announced that it was morning. “Were there any nightmares while I was gone?” Luna gasped as she realized that she had been gone all night without protecting the dreams of her subjects. “I would have pulled you sooner if that had happened,” Statice gave her a pointed glare. “You don’t have to suspect of me so much, Princess Luna.” “My apologies,” Luna lamented as she placed a hoof on her head. “It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just that I fear that I may have taken too long getting out of your subconscious mind. I neglected my duties for a thousand years when I was trapped in the moon so I feel the need to never again fail at them.” “It took you a few seconds,” Statice shook his shoulders. “Then again, the insides of one’s mind must distort one’s perception if you felt that it took you longer. Did you find anything?” Luna stared at him. It was a blank look that was very familiar to him. He had seen it long time ago from many kind acquaintances that had tried to help him solve the root of his problems. Many had tried and they all came back with that same empty gaze. Why do they always look at me like that? What did she find in me? “Oh, my apologies,” Luna suddenly snapped out of her trance, turning her head away from him in shame. “I found nothing inside of you, Statice. I can’t recall what’s the problem with your ability to dream.” Can that be why I can’t…? No, I have to forget about it. I’m a grown stallion. I don’t need them anymore. I can make my own living here. “Would you mind taking me to Magic Kindergarten for my final exam?” Statice asked her with a hopeful expression. “Sure,” Luna reassured him with a hug. “I’ll take you after breakfast.” The trip to the school was full of talk as both the green unicorn and the blue alicorn talked along the way. The citizens of Canterlot couldn’t help but gawk at the pair since it was unusual for Luna to walk on broad daylight unless it was an important day. In a certain way it was an important day, for Statice at least since he would be rid of the indignity of going to Magic Kindergarten and move to the School of Gifted Unicorns. For the sake of their privacy, they spoke on whispers. Statice had experience with reporters stalking royalty for any excuse and didn’t want himself involved on it. Likewise, Luna did not want Statice’s dream disability to be affected by libel. “Thanks for accompanying me,” Statice thanked Luna politely. Cute smiles made everypony assume that anypony was a couple. Curse them all. “You’re welcome,” Luna nodded her head. “Are you sure this is necessary?” Statice asked carefully, not wanting to sound ungrateful. “You deserve to rest after helping my dreams. Also, don’t you have something to do with Chancellor Pudding Head or something?” Luna groaned, although it sounded more like an inconvenienced foal rather than a hurt mare. “Don’t remind me,” she complained. “I never really thought how ridiculous that law was until after the gryphon and minotaurs agreed to join Equestria. Fortunately, Twilight was more than willing to work with Celestia in order to change that law if it means working with my sister again.” “Teacher’s pet,” Statice snorted, earning an annoyed glare from Luna. “Please refrain from name calling,” Luna chided him. “Do remember that she is trying to help you.” “More like she’s trying to help her mentor and any future foreign ponies and creatures interested in learning the Magic of Friendship,” Statice scoffed dismissively with a roll of his eyes. “This is more because of her ridiculous phobia when it comes to failure and Magic Kindergarten.” “Will it kill you to try to be nice to Twilight?” Luna glared at him. “She still came all this way to help you, even if you ended up doing something different.” “Fine,” Statice agreed. “I guess I can talk about her problems. How about I try to give her one speech like she always does to other ponies? All I need is an introduction that catches her attention, a body that gets straight to the point, and a memorable ending that she’ll never forget.” "That's a wonderful idea!" Luna cheered, glad that Statice was warming up to the idea of befriending Twilight or at least trying to be civilized with her. They kept talking until they reached the building. It was a peaceful conversation between the two. Thankfully because there were barely any ponies out there in Canterlot because it was early in the morning, nopony was there to give them any trouble. “I’ll see you back at the castle by dinner, Princess Luna” Statice promised with a wave of his hoof.  “I won’t take long.” “Don’t get your hopes up,” Luna chided sternly. “I’ll send somepony to pick you up in two hours. Just because you’re on Magic Kindergarten doesn’t change the fact that you’re taking a final exam. They are very long, Statice.” Statice gave her a firm nod before entering the building. As the green unicorn left her sight, Luna felt a sharp pang inside her head. She remembered the night before and what she was supposed to be doing. More specifically, she recalled what she found inside Statice’s subconscious mind, even if she couldn’t tell what it was or what it meant for the time being. “Memory holes,” she told herself as she teleported back to her room and summoned a scroll, a vial of ink, and a quill to write. “I must write it down. I shall write everything I can remember from the night before.” But why did the memory came back as soon as Statice left my sight? No, this is no time for me to get distracted anymore. I got very little intelligence on his dreams from this excursion and I have to figure out what it means. And I also have to send somepony to pick him up after he leaves in case he ends up taking too long in the exams. Knowing how smart Statice truly was, there was no way that he was going to need the full two hours to finish his exam. Then again, there was also the chance that he was going to appreciative upon seeing who was going to pick him up after finishing the test at the two hour limit. Two hours later, a green unicorn came out with his diploma floating in his magical aura. Although he was glad to be graduated, he was not happy that he was forced to stay longer than expected because the exam forced him to take a lunch break and a nap break despite having more than enough energy to keep going. “Could have finished the stupid thing in an hour,” Statice grumbled in annoyance, not feeling any accomplishment at completing the test or graduating. It was hard for him to feel accomplished when he knew that he could have graduated a long time ago and was more impatient to get over the ordeal as soon as possible. “Well, that doesn’t look like the face of an accomplished graduate.” Statice’s ears perked up as he recognized the voice. He turned around to look at Cadence and Shining Armor waiting for him. The former had a playful look in her face upon seeing how grumpily Statice was behaving while the latter was giving him a dour expression that Statice immediately mirrored. “Sorry about that,” Statice apologized, dropping his bad mood to approach Cadence and show her his diploma. “The exam took longer than expected.” “Oh, this looks so cute,” Cadence gushed upon seeing Statice’s diploma, which was filled with stars, rainbows, and hearts. "I'm so happy we didn't miss this!" “What brought you two here?” Statice asked Shining Armor, transferring any annoyance he may have felt at having his masculinity insulted by Cadence to him. “We heard about your graduation and came to congratulate you,” Shining Armor shrugged his shoulders. “Although in my case, I came to visit Twily upon hearing that she was here in Canterlot.” “By the way, do you plan on having any vacations, Statice?” Cadence asked, turning around with a glint in her eye. “No,” Statice responded with a shake of his head. “I thought so,” Cadence smirked deviously. “How would you like to visit the Crystal Empire?” A pause happened between Shining Armor, Cadence, and Statice. The silence was only broken when the stallions spoke at the same time. “WAIT WHAT?!” Cadence stared at Statice in concern. “Blueblood is coming to Canterlot for a visit so it’d be safe if you were out for a while until he leaves. Besides, the School of Gifted Unicorns won’t start giving lessons in a few months.” “Miserable jerk,” Statice swore. Blueblood was pretty much the reason he was in this mess in the first place. He insulted him in that restaurant. He got those guards to chase him and be noticed by the Elements of Harmony. And now he had to hide from him to prevent himself from giving that snob a lesson in order to add another charge of royal assault to his crime list. “If it makes you feel any better, he won’t stay for long,” Shining Armor comforted him with a grimace, probably sharing the same distaste for Blueblood as he did. “He’s too hedonistic to stay in the same place for a period that lasts between a week and a month.” I guess that gives me enough time to tour the Crystal Empire. Well, I might as well try to learn more about it. I mean the guys disappeared from existence for a thousand years so it’d be fair for visitors to try to learn something about them for the pleasure of staying in their home. “Might as well,” Statice sighed. “You mind if I visit somepony first?” The couple exchanged brief looks. “Sure.” “This is very bad, Spike.” “No, it isn’t.” It was the typical exchange between Twilight Sparkle and Spike in their room every time that they visited Canterlot. The usual routing always happened with each visit. First, Twilight would worry over something minor, Spike would then try to tell her how she was blowing it out of proportion, and the argument would continue until Twilight stormed out and did something ridiculous. As her number one assistant, Spike had grown used to Twilight’s neurotic outbursts despite his young age. Because of this, he knew that Twilight was going to come around in the end or solve whatever problem she faced. “Yes, it is!” Twilight snapped as she stomped a hoof. “I spent so much time helping Princess Celestia that I spent no time helping Statice at all. He’s gonna fail that final test now and it’s gonna be my fault!” “You’re exaggerating!” Spike deadpanned as he kept reading his Power Ponies comic. “If he made it out alive outside of Equestria, I think he can take on an army of toddlers.” “It’s not about the foals in Magic Kindergarten, Spike!” Twilight snatched Spike’s comic away from him, much to his consternation. “It’s about his education, his future, his career.” “I don’t think he cares about any of that,” Spike crouched as he tried to jump after his comic. “Besides, why do you care about him anyway? I thought you hated him for the horn sucking incident.” Twilight spluttered at that incident, blushing at that inappropriate moment. “That was…it’s not…I’m not talking to you about that.” To her dismay, Spike was counting more instances with her disagreements with Statice using his fingers.  “And then you got in that hoof fight with him at Winsome Falls Camp. And then there was that Arcanum Ball tournament. He also does not get along well with Rainbow Dash if what she said about her fight with him ending with her beating him with a Sonic Rainboom is true.” Twilight groaned. Statice was somepony who was hard to befriend, but not impossible. Pinkie seemed to like him before his escape. Fluttershy and Rarity spoke well of him before his fight with Rainbow Dash. She even spoke with Celestia, who told her that, despite his less than pleasant personality, Statice was somepony with potential if he had anypony willing to be his friend. I should give him a try. Rainbow Dash sounded like she was willing to start over with him next time she saw him. I’m not sure if they’ll get along, but it’s a beginning. I might as well give him a chance too. BOOM! A green explosion interrupted her thoughts as her ivory doors were blasted out of their hinges by a charged bolt of magic and fell into the floor. The sudden noise caused Twilight to yelp and instinctively loosen her telekinetic grip on Spike’s comic, allowing the drake to finally recover and then hide behind Twilight’s hind legs. “Guess who’s finally graduated!” Statice came in with his diploma triumphantly floating in the air by the power of his magic. His entry was interrumpted by the thundering noise of hooves as Shining Armor and Cadence entered by the hole that Statice blasted, exhausted from so much running. “Did you just blow up the door to my sister’s room?” Shining Armor glared at the green unicorn with an expression that Spike could tell meant that he was gonna beat Statice up any second now. “You’re really asking me this after seeing me blow up the doors to the other rooms three times now?” Statice asked him with a tone that suggested that he thought low of the white unicorn’s intelligence. “I had trouble finding Twilight’s room and I wasn’t gonna ask where it was in front of her big brother.” “But why did you blow up her door?” Cadence entered the room. Although she wasn’t angry as her husband, that didn’t mean she approved of Statice’s behavior. She was very much miffed, which was telling given how patient and compassionate she was with him in comparison to other ponies. In all honesty, Statice had two ways to open a door besides the normal one. His favorite way was the Skeleton Key Spell that allowed him to insert a tiny sliver of magic on any lock, feeling its contents to morph into a key to open it. He loved the spell because it allowed him to open any locked door or box he wanted without attracting undesired attention to himself. The second way involve more…bombastic ways, like breaking down doors for different purposes. Back on his younger and wilder days, he preferred that approach…until he saw how dangerous his competition was. Nowadays, he only used that entrance method with enemies he could beat or with acquaintances that wouldn’t mind much anyway. “To prove a point,” Statice shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. He gave a quick look at the door and used his Memory Repair Spell to pick up the door and put it back in place alongside the hinges. He was already familiar with the simple mechanisms of a door from his lock picking training and its outward appearance from being a guest at the castle, so it took him a few seconds to get rid of the scorch marks and to reattach the door to the hinges. That reminds me, I better start repairing the other doors before I get property damage added to my crime list. Still, I’m kind of surprised that only Shining Armor and Cadence were the only ones that saw me. The security of this place really needs to improve if I got away with blowing up three pairs of doors and nopony but two witnesses that I allowed to follow me were the only ones that tried to stop me. “What were you trying to prove?” Twilight asked, now being as mad as her big brother and her sister in law. Regardless of whether Statice could fix her door or not, there was no necessity to scare her and Spike like that. “I wanted to prove to you that Magic Kindergarten was not as hard as you thought it was,” Statice waved the diploma in Twilight’s face. “I wanted to show you that there’s no reason for fear or shame for a little academic setback because you can try again,” he pointed his hoof at his graduation age. “And above all else, I want you to know that your biggest fear was a kid’s ride, Twily. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think it’s time for my afternoon nap. Call me for dinner. If I wake up early, I’ll fix the other doors that I busted when I was trying to find your room.” As he said so, Statice satisfyingly walked into Twilight’s bed and flopped into the mattress. The next thing that Twilight, Shining, Cadence, and Spike heard was the sound of Statice’s snores. Twilight stared aghast at the diploma and then at the green unicorn that was sleeping on her bed. He was sleeping on her bed. She was going to protest over what he was doing except that she couldn’t do it over how absurd the situation was. By the stunned expressions on Shining Armor and Cadence’s faces, she could see that they were not going to do anything either. Another sound accompanied Statice’s snores, causing the three adults to turn around behind them. They found Spike suppressing giggles at the situation. “I think I like him already.”