//------------------------------// // 13: Wisdom of the Sun // Story: The Lawyer and The Unicorn (T-Rated Version) // by Firesight //------------------------------// MUSIC: A Celestial Supper “You know, Princess, of all the places we might have gone, my favorite burger joint was about the last place I thought you’d want to go to eat,” Maya noted, munching on some fries. Her first burger long demolished, she was now on her second as well as her fourth order of fries, courtesy of Celestia’s credit card. “Not that I’m complaining, mind you, it just doesn’t seem… proper, for a princess. Or a pony for that matter.” She popped a fresh fry into her mouth as she spoke. “Well, I grant it does make receiving bovines at court a little… awkward… when I get back,” Celestia replied in between bites of her burger. In contrast to Maya, she was savoring each and every bite of her triple-decker deluxe with all of the fixings, though she did ask for extra onion and pickles. “But it’s simply too good to resist. I’m a human at the moment, with human tastes, and I want to enjoy it all.” She punctuated her statement with a lick of meat juices off her fingers. “Yeah…” Maya trailed off, as she paused in her eating. Noticing her sudden change in mood, Celestia put her burger down, sensing the moment was finally right for their promised talk. “Is all well, Miss Maya? You’ve been distracted ever since we sensed Twilight and Phoenix.” Maya ducked her head—was it that obvious?—but didn’t deny it. “I’m sorry, yeah…” she acknowledged. “When you mentioned being a human, I immediately thought of Spark—I-I mean, Twilight together with Nick. And I just don’t get it.” Celestia gave her a curious look. “You just don’t get why they’re together?” Maya blinked. “No… well, yeah, I guess I really don’t, but that’s not what I meant. I mean I just don’t get why it still, well, upsets me,” she finally admitted. “I mean, at first I felt threatened by her. I was afraid she was going to take Nick away, but I know better now after talking with Sis and von Karma. I admit I was jealous of her magic, too, and worried she was bewitching him somehow.” To her surprise, Celestia nodded in some sympathy. “Not an unreasonable worry, given the circumstances. You found him in a new world with a decidedly non-human love interest, and I gather that for him to show interest in anyone of the female persuasion was quite out of character. So you fretted and sought to protect him as any good mare—or woman—would.” She dabbed her lips with a napkin before plucking a pair of fries. Maya blushed slightly at being called a woman, let alone the implication that she was one trying to defend her man. “Well… that’s just the thing. It’s not like Nick’s my boyfriend or anything; he’s more like this doofus of a big brother to me,” she said, looking down. “We’ve no romantic interest in each other, and yet… I don’t know, he’s like…” She struggled to find the proper words, uncertain if she even believed what she was saying herself any more. “He’s like someone you could nurture and take care of. Someone who gave you a focus and emotional anchor when your sister died,” Celestia proposed, causing Maya to blink, and then nod. The disguised princess nodded in reply. “Maya, your situation isn’t as complicated as you’re making it out to be. The man who took care of you, and vice versa, since your sister’s death is now showing romantic interest in a third party. It’s not unreasonable to be worried about it, especially given its nature or how suddenly it came about.” “I guess. But still… Twilight’s got magic, she’s smart, and she’s got a killer body to boot!” Maya replied, looking down with disgust and some sadness at her still immature curves. “I can’t compete with any of that! I mean, what can I do for Nick that she can’t? And if she’s there, what reason does he have to keep me around?” she asked plaintively, her shoulders slumping. Celestia gave her a deadpan look. “You can channel spirits, Maya Fey. That is something neither Twilight nor any other pony can do,” she reminded the teenaged mystic. “And through that ability, you give Phoenix something that Twilight cannot: the chance to speak with his lost friend and mentor. I meant what I said earlier today—you are a very talented young woman, and you should never forget that.” Despite the compliment, Maya felt confused. “W-woman?” she repeated the strangely discomforting word. The disguised princess nodded, closing her eyes and grinning. “You are very much a woman, Miss Maya. For all you have been through, you have been forced to grow up, perhaps sooner than you wished. And though I still see elements of a child in you, you are no longer a girl, either in body or in mind. You are a young woman now, with all that title implies. Simply because you are a ‘late bloomer’ as humans say does not change that. If your sister is any indication, be assured your body will catch up in due time.” The young mystic sighed, though she found herself suppressing a blush as well. “Maybe… but still…” “But still, given all you’ve been through with Phoenix, I’d be surprised if you didn’t feel some sort of strong attachment to him, and the exact nature of it may surprise you,” Celestia added, her eyes suddenly twinkling like she could see right through the young mystic. Maya took her meaning only too well. “Wait… you’re saying…” she couldn’t voice the words. Celestia closed her eyes and gave her coy grin again. “I am simply saying you would not be the first person—or pony—it has happened to. It is an age-old story, one that holds in both our worlds, and one I have seen play out time and time again over the centuries,” she noted. “I am saying it is only natural that you would feel closer to ‘Nick’ for all you have been through together, and romance has blossomed from less. It may well be that some part of you is trying to preserve him as a future mate, and that is from where your jealousy springs. Only you can decide if this is the case, Maya Fey, though even if not… I feel quite assured that you will find a special somepony of your own to share an evening and bed with… that is, if you haven’t already,” she added with a sly grin and wink. Maya flushed bright red at the implication. How does she know?! she wondered frantically. Celestia chuckled, looking like she was thoroughly enjoying herself. “Fear not. What happened between you and Miss Scratch at that party remains a secret between yourself, myself, and her. And as for how I know… well, that, Miss Fey, is my secret.” Maya stifled a groan—she still didn’t know herself most of what had happened; all she remembered with certainty was how she had woken up the next morning, nearly completely unclothed and snuggled up with Vinyl in a very compromising position. The pony DJ had been just as surprised and mortified as she was, profusely apologetic and fretting more over her new friend’s reaction than her own. Are all alicorns this cryptic?! she wondered, shoving the memories out of her head as hard as she could. “So what about you, Princess?” she asked, eager to change the subject, her thoughts going in directions she wasn’t yet ready to follow. “Since you already seem to have me figured out, then if it’s not too personal… may I ask you a few questions?” she gave her a cockeyed look. She chuckled. “We are not in Equestria, and I am not holding court, so you do not have formally request an audience. In short, you may.” Her eyes twinkled. “Ask away.” “Well, I guess I’m a little curious about the similarities between earth and Equestria. While we were watching the movies the past few days, something Sparkle said stuck with me—that ponies don’t believe in fixing what isn’t broken. And yet, we saw plenty of cameras and film reels when we were in Equestria, and you yourself said your agents had imported it. That seems like, well, a contradiction, to quote Nick.” “I suppose it might,” she chuckled approvingly, taking another bite of her burger, slowing down a bit now that there wasn’t much left. “I had them brought over to Equestria perhaps sixty years ago.” Maya blinked. “Yeah, that’s about the era it looks like they came from. Well, I guess my question is… with how much your magic can do, why are you poaching human technology?” “The better question is, why would I not?” she grinned, picking up a pickle that had slid out of her burger and popping it in her mouth. “It’s just a few select bits and pieces, and only ever a few at a time, things that can be easily adapted for magic and be integrated into greater Equestria. It is my way of at least gradually introducing some change to pony society. Change it sorely needs.” “Equestria needs changing?” Maya blinked. “But you have your magic and ‘harmony’, princess! And I mean, hell, given the typical evening news, we could use some here…” she said with a nod and grimace at the flat screen television hanging in the corner, showing a distant conflict. “Humans do need more harmony,” Celestia agreed, sparing the TV but a glance. “And yet in my view… ponies need a little less.” Maya was surprised. “Really? Less?” “Less,” Celestia confirmed, taking another bite of her burger before continuing. “When a pony is not challenged by life, they do not grow. But the same holds true for societies, Maya Fey,” she noted. “Equestrian society has been stagnant for centuries… really, since the end of the Gryphon War. There has been little innovation or advancement in the interim, and it worries me,” she explained. “We are not evolving, and this is dangerous, leaving us unable to adapt should sudden shocks occur. “Humans, by contrast, are constantly evolving and adapt very well. The fact that you live in a wild world, enduring conflict and natural disasters has helped you tremendously on that score. You have no magic, so you have had to learn to live without it. In contrast, I fear ponies have grown dependent on it.” Standing in the co-counsel position alongside Nick had taught Maya a few things and she spotted a flaw in Celestia’s logic instantly. “Well… the same could be same for our technology, Princess.” She motioned to the next table over, where the patrons were all heads down on their smartphones. “I mean, I didn’t do too well my first few days in Equestria without my internet connection.” “Perhaps. But consider this,” she put down her burger and pursed her fingertips. “Equestrian society has barely changed in five hundred years. In contrast, how much has your world?” she closed her eyes and grinned. “I know. I saw your world back then. The difference is night and day, but if you took an average pony from today and placed them five centuries into Equestria’s past, they would notice little more but a few different words, music and manestyles. It is for this reason I am… borrowing… some human elements over time. Select pieces of technology, your justice system… and for myself, your world as a vacation resort,” she winked. “Well, that actually brings up my next question…” Maya was certain there was more the sun princess wasn’t telling her, but also sensed she’d just get the runaround if she asked. “You know, you’ve lived so long, you have all this power… and yet, you’re nothing like I initially imagined you,” she stated cautiously, giving the sun princess an askance look. “I don’t mean it in a bad way; it’s just that I would never have guessed this is what you would be.” “And what did you think I would be?” Celestia asked, almost rhetorically. “That I would be a power-crazed tyrant? Maybe a mare gone mad from such a long life? A dour and humorless demigod? Or perhaps a pony who, with an endless number of tomorrows, simply fills her days with debauchery and engages in all forms of excess?” she suggested, her grin growing bigger with each suggested version of herself. Maya blushed. “Well…” surprised that the princess could so casually suggest such things. Celestia chuckled like she was enjoying herself. “Well, you are right to wonder. For in truth, I have been all these things at various times in my long life. Some of them were simply stages I passed through, while others… left a more permanent mark.” “Really?” “Really,” Celestia confirmed, sipping on her soda. “At the time of Luna’s fall, I was well on my way to becoming that tyrant, and I regret it took a war with my own sister to shock me back to my senses. Afterwards, unwilling to fully face my grief, I became a humorless queen who was a stickler for rules and protocol, one who walled herself off from everything and everypony and wallowed in her own grief,” she shook her head. “But a century later, lonely and desperate for love and comfort, I overcompensated, seeking distraction by losing myself in all forms of physical pleasure. You do not want to know the nickname I acquired back then,” she grimaced and rubbed her eyes at the memory, suddenly exceedingly glad that the modern human world did not exist back then for what she might have done in it. “That lasted another century before I finally understood that I was finding neither happiness or fulfillment by living in such a way. And yet of all these versions of me… in some ways, it was that one that left its greatest mark.” “How so?” Maya asked, keeping the thought to herself that from what she’d seen, the sun princess was close to that version of herself now. Celestia’s face turned thoughtful. “It taught me that I did have to seek release now and again. Release from my responsibilities, a chance to ‘cut loose’ as you humans term it. I learned the hard way that if I did not give voice to these sides of myself, if I repressed my desires and did not balance my needs with that of my ponies… I did risk going mad. And I think you will agree that is a very dangerous thing for an alicorn to be,” she noted, her eyes going distant for a moment as Maya shivered, suddenly imagining the magic duel between Trixie and Twilight multiplied by a hundred. “So in the end I did not lose that part of me, Maya Fey, I simply got much more selective in when I gave it voice. I now choose my lovers carefully, as well as the time and place to be with them, and thus make our experiences much more enjoyable and meaningful for it. And certainly, in recent times your world has played a large role in this,” she noted, motioning down at her human form before taking a fresh bite of her burger. “But that was only part of the answer for me. It turned out there was something else I needed as well.” Maya listened, intrigued. All these things I never thought about… and what does that mean for someone like Nick, who repressed his interest in girls for years? “And what was it?” she wanted to know, sensing the sun princess wanted to tell the story. Celestia’s eyes got distant as she put down her burger again. “In the aftermath of the Gryphon War, I found an orphaned foal sealed in a shelter spell—a form of concealment magic. Her parents were both unicorns and when their town was overrun, they sacrificed themselves to power the spell, which put their foal into a deep sleep and hid her from all sight except mine. I found her and rescued her, taking her back to Canterlot, where I began raising her myself. “At first, I saw it simply as some small penance for my inability to prevent the war and the many ponies I failed to protect. And yet over time… somewhat to my surprise, I grew very attached to her, coming to love her as my own. That mare became not only my daughter but my first student, establishing a tradition that continues to this day in Twilight. My students are my way of indulging my motherly side and giving back to each generation of ponies that follows. They give me an emotional anchor, and one I sorely needed when my sister was not here. Once I understood that… I believe I became a much better pony and princess. For it gave me a much more personal stake in the well-being of my world and insights into ponies that have served me well over time.” “Wow…” Maya blinked. “I’m impressed, Princess. So this first student… what was her name?” she wanted to know. “Her name?” Celestia’s eyes got distant. “Her given name I do not know, as she was but a tiny foal when I found her. So with a new life, I gave her a new name.” “And what was that?” an enrapt Maya asked, surprised at how fascinating she found the princess’s reminiscence. Celestia’s eyes went wistful, then closed in memory. “Guiding Light.” MUSIC: The Night Is Still Young Midnight found Twilight and Phoenix walking alone on the beach, the lights of the city on their left and glittering darkness of the ocean on their right, reflecting the stars and setting moon. The air was cooling off quickly given the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean nearby, but neither noticed the chill, Twilight for being able to tap her power and warm herself from within, and Phoenix for holding her close as they walked down the sandy shore, leaning on each other and talking softly. They had awoken somewhat embarrassed at their compromising position and very sticky bodies but had quickly cleaned up and thrown the bedding into the wash, a happy but still-lightheaded Twilight making a mental note to research magical feedback loops when she returned to Equestria. That accomplished, they left to grab dinner at a local taco shop. Continuing her culinary explorations, the former unicorn tried some fish tacos once she was assured the meat was cooked. She found herself again surprised by the mild and not unpleasant flavor of the fish, offset nicely by some mixed cabbage, topped with a tasty mixture of onion, tomato and cilantro, finished off with a dollop of sour cream and dash of hot sauce and then encased in a crunchy, tasty shell that brought it all together, leaving her licking her fingers happily. She tried Phoenix’s quesadilla but only a single regretted bite—“too cheesy!” she stuck her tongue out—but did otherwise enjoy her meal, wondering idly what the princess and Maya were doing at that moment. After grabbing some groceries and stopping back at the villa to transfer the linen to the dryer, they went back out to take a long walk, removing their shoes to enjoy the cool sand under their feet. Twilight was surprised by how cold the water was when she dipped her toes in, though she did enjoy the sound of the surf and smell of the sea, regretting not taking the opportunity to visit the ocean more back in Equestria. “So, Phoenix…” Twilight began as they stopped to sit on the cool sand, the furthest front of the waves just reaching their feet. “Just want you to know this place is wonderful and I’ve really enjoyed my week here with you. For all we’ve done and all I’ve seen… I wish it would never end,” she stated wistfully as she laid her head on his shoulder, staring out over the water with him. “Me too,” he answered as he laid his head against hers, sensing a but that was to follow. “Something on your mind…?” “Actually, yes..” she conceded, and Phoenix could all but hear her taking a mental breath. “And maybe we’ve been avoiding this question, but…” she shifted to face him, holding his hands in her own. “We really do need to ask where things go from here. Figure out what kind of relationship we can have.” “You’re right. We do…” Phoenix replied cautiously. Knew we had to do this eventually… better now than later, right? “So let me start by saying I would never ask you to abandon your friends and princess to be with me. I’d be very selfish if I did, and it wouldn’t be fair to you.” Her eyes shone for a moment and she laid her head on his shoulder again. “Thank you for saying so, Phoenix. Because the biggest fear I’ve had… is that I’d have to choose between you. Choose between our two worlds, choose between the friends I can’t live without and the man I’ve fallen in love with.” She raised her eyes back to meet his. “Because I don’t think I can make that choice and if I had to… it’d tear me in two.” “I’m not asking you to,” Phoenix quickly reassured her, squeezing her hand briefly. “And I never would. I’ve had some of the same worries, you know. I’ve thought about it a lot already, and I don’t think I could make that choice either. I guess when it comes down to it… our lives can cross at times, but they can’t fully coincide. It’s like I told Maya… your place is in Equestria with your friends and my place is here, defending the wrongfully accused and trying to set things right. There’s just not as much cause for that in your world and when it comes down to it… I can’t leave or Maya or Pearls behind to be with you.” “Well, I’m sure Pearly wouldn’t mind moving…” Twilight chuckled, “but I think Maya might be a bit unhappy without all her toys and meat.” Phoenix flushed, his mind automatically taking that statement in an entirely different direction. “Uh…” She giggled. “Relax, Phoenix. When it comes down to it, I don’t know how well I’d do here full-time either. I’m really starting to enjoy this body, and I get a lot better now why the princess likes this place. But still…” she shook her head, the wind ruffling her blouse and hair, which she’d changed back to normal hues for their walk. “But your heart is in Equestria?” he suggested, giving her hand a squeeze as it rested against his thigh. She hesitated, but only for a moment. “It really is,” she admitted. “With Spike, with my friends, with the princess, with my brother and my books… I guess whatever body I’m wearing, I really am a pony at heart, Phoenix.” “And I wouldn’t ask you to be anything else,” he kissed the top of her head, suddenly wondering what she might say of their time together to Shining Armor… and how he’d take it. Just so long as he doesn’t want to ‘kick my flank’ for it! “No matter how well you wear that body, you’re still Twilight Sparkle. And that’s who I fell in love with,” he reminded her. “Your friends are part of what makes you who you are. Take them away, you wouldn’t be the same pony, and I would never ask that of you.” Her response was to turn and face him, giving a long and lingering kiss. “And I would never ask you to be something you’re not either… though I’ll admit I have sometimes fantasized about you as a stallion,” she gave him a wry grin again. “And you know… there are spells to temporarily turn you into one.” Far from being tantalized, he froze. “You know how I feel about magic, Twilight,” he reminded her. “The fact that you can is do that is… kind of scary to me.” “I wouldn’t do it against your will!” she quickly added, then slumped slightly at the look Phoenix gave her, reminding her she’d used magic on him without telling him at least once already. “I’m sorry, Phoenix. I guess I was just hoping that since I came to you as a human, that maybe sometime, when you visited Equestria again… you’d return the favor. If nothing else, it’d be a lot easier for you to pass unnoticed as a pony. If you show up as a human, neither of us would be left alone,” she reminded him with a rueful look. Well, that much is true… Phoenix rubbed the back of his head as he remembered the endless media attention he’d endured after Rainbow’s verdict, little of it having to do with his legal skills. “I think I would like to return at some point. See all your friends again,” he admitted. Sure wish I could get some more of that Sugar Cube Corner coffee, too… he wished, his supply having run out weeks earlier. “Well, they’d all love to see you,” Twilight told him somewhat wistfully. “Pinkie wants nothing more than to see ‘Feenie’ again, Fluttershy finally understands you’re not a Phoenix, Rainbow Dash would love to show off her latest flight tricks, Applejack always likes having company for the cider and harvest season, the Crusaders want Pearly back, and Rarity I think just wants to get her hoof kissed again,” she giggled. Though unless I miss my guess, she is still pining a bit for Edgeworth… Phoenix couldn’t resist. “Just her hoof?” he asked with a wry grin. She gave him a look. “Considering what she did the night of the party, I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t object to more!” The better question is, would you or I…? Phoenix’s cheeks flushed as he abruptly remembered the eyeful he’d gotten from the fashionista. It was one of the last things he recalled before… “Speaking of which, I don’t suppose you’ve remembered anything else about what happened that night…?” Twilight shook her head. “At this point, I wish I did!” And I keep forgetting to find out what Pinkie’s putting in that super-special party punch of hers… “All I can say is, I’m pretty sure we did something…?” her brow furrowed, trying to lock on to the elusive, drink-blurred memories again only to sense them slip away the more she tried to reach them. “Yeah…” Phoenix rubbed his head again, noting in some amazement how little it mattered to him now. “Well, given everything else we’ve done, I guess it’s kind of a moot point anyway,” he chuckled. “You said it!” she grinned, already considering what she wanted to do next. Tempting to be taken as a pony again, but… “Well, since you kind of brought it up… there’s something else you need to know. I don’t know if you realize this, but in Equestria… given our gender ratios it’s… pretty common for mares to share males,” she informed him, half-cringingly. “Right. That whole ‘herd’ thing,” he’d learned by the end of his stay. “It’s your family unit and there’s usually like three or more mares to a stallion, right?” Twilight shifted uncomfortably. “Well, yes, but… even outside of it,” she added somewhat reluctantly, but decided he needed to know the full truth before there were any misunderstandings or hurt feelings. “It’s fairly common, for example, for mares on good terms to share a coltfriend. Herds often get their start from that.” Phoenix froze internally as it finally clicked what she was saying. “And you’re telling me this because…?” Twilight chose her next words very carefully. “While I’m here in your world, human dating rules apply. I’m yours exclusively and I wouldn’t have it any other way. But back in Equestria…” she trailed off, not even sure herself what she was trying to say. “Well, the rules are different. And it’s possible my friends may express interest in you. I just want you ready for it if they do.” The images suddenly flowing through his head would have made Celestia blush even as he noted her careful wording… in particular, what she didn’t say. “And what would you think of that?” She hesitated again before replying. “The honest answer is… I don’t know, Phoenix. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want you to myself for now, but for a mare that’s almost seen as selfish,” she went downcast for a moment, fighting off some lurid images of her own of Phoenix with Fluttershy or Rarity, remembering him unknowingly feeling up the former and his royal treatment of the latter. “I guess what I’m saying is… now that we’re lovers, that may change things in the minds of my friends. And I’m pretty sure at least a couple of them might be interested in you.” Well, definitely not Rainbow… Phoenix wasn’t at all sure if that made him more eager to return or less, but in any event, those simply weren’t paths he was ready to go down, certainly not so soon after consummating his relationship with Twilight. And that’s to say nothing about what’s happening with Maya, he mildly cursed the reaction of his loins to sudden memories of the night before, forcefully reminding himself of Ferro’s words—that there was nothing inherently wrong with seeing her as the pretty young woman she was becoming or even appreciating her as one. “Well… thanks for letting me know. I get that’s the pony way of doing things, but… you need to understand that given human social mores, that would be very hard for me to do. And it’s way too soon for us to even consider stuff like that,” he shook his head, in disbelief he could entertain the concept so casually. “So I’d appreciate it if…” “I’ll talk to them when I get back,” she promised. “I said I would meet you on your terms, and to that I hold, Phoenix. If you want an exclusive relationship… believe me, you can have it!” She threw her hands around him and kissed him again. “That aside… the offer to come back to Equestria sometime remains open!” He returned her kiss. “Well, I appreciate the thought, but I don’t know when I can come. Something tells me I’m going to be getting busy before too long,” he said, looking down for a moment. “For now, I’d best stay close to home. I think new clients are coming my way soon.” She gave him a curious look. “What makes you say that?” “Just a feeling…” he shrugged, staring out over the water again. “Last time I had it, I ended up with four cases in pretty short order.” “I see… and I assume in those four cases, you got justice for all?” she asked with a wry grin. Phoenix groaned. “Well, I can name at least one client who doesn’t think so…” he mused. But Engarde can rot in the same hell as Dahlia! “Otherwise, yes.” “Good,” Twilight nodded, thinking she might want to come back to witness him at work again. “So back to our original question, then… what kind of relationship do we want, Phoenix?” she prompted him. “I mean, is what we have enough, or do we want to go for more…?” He considered the question carefully. “I think that for the time being, what we have as lovers is fine, Twilight,” he answered her. “We don’t have all the answers right now, but maybe we don’t need them all just yet. I don’t know what’s going on with Maya, and I have no idea about your friends. All I do know is… that whatever trials and tribulations may come, I don’t want to stop seeing you,” he told her, squeezing her hands. “You mean the world to me, Twilight Sparkle. Both worlds, actually…” he remembered after a beat. He could just see her smiling in the dim light. “And right now, you mean everything to me, Phoenix Wright,” she said as she kissed him again, pressing close to him, her eyes going hooded. “Mare or woman, I’m yours. And you know the biggest benefit of having two different bodies? That you can take my virginity twice,” she all but cooed, kissing him lightly, her hand starting to work its way down his belly, her aura reactivating and casting a dim pink glow about them, her magic and implicit offer sending Phoenix’s excitement surging once more. They headed back to the villa posthaste. Maya and Celestia lingered long over dinner, the latter even deciding she would return the next day to do it all again, grinning as she imagined the look on her sister’s face as she described her culinary choices. “A guilty pleasure, but a pleasure nonetheless,” she sighed happily as she patted her belly. “Thank you for taking me here, Miss Maya.” “It was my pleasure, believe me! So what do you want to do now, Princess?” Maya asked, still inwardly amazed at how easygoing and personable Celestia really was. Just hope I’m that way if I live that long! she thought with a chuckle. “Night’s still young, weekend’s coming, and there’s a nightclub I know here… DJ’s not as good as Vinyl, but it’s fun all the same. So what do you say, princess? Like to ‘cut loose’ at a rave?” she suggested with a sly grin. Celestia put on a mortified look. “Miss Maya… are you suggesting that I indulge in commoner activities and engage in behavior unbecoming of an alicorn and the solar diarch?” She put a hand to her chest in mock horror. “Have you any idea of the scandal that would cause for me back home?” “So is that a yes?” Maya asked with a sardonic smile, deciding that for her wisdom and willingness to break the rules, she well and truly liked the sun princess. Celestia smiled back. “I would love to, Miss Maya. But first…” her eyes locked on something hanging on the far wall. “I think I have finally found Luna’s gift.” She went over to the counter and asked to speak to the manager. Two minutes later there was an exchange of cash and Celestia exited the eatery with Maya, very happy with her find. Underneath her arm was a picture she had bought, a simple captioned image of the moon: