//------------------------------// // Page 9: Shopping // Story: A Unicorn in the Clover Kingdom // by LordBrony2040 //------------------------------// Dawn had yet to come as Secre flew her way down to the halfway point of the seaside cliff and landed on a small rocky out cropping just big enough for her little body to stand on. There, away from prying eyes or any hope of being found by humans, was a small, hollowed out area which she had spent days making with her beak several hundred years ago to store one of the most important artifacts in the world. A small blue jewel with arcane writing at its center, containing the magic of another world. Said artifact that was now missing. Thankful for her ability to speak, the bird sighed as she sat on the little rocky outcropping and voiced her distress. “Well...crap.” It was much too early o’clock as Yami heard someone stupidly pounding on his door. For a moment, he thought that he might have slept all the way through the day off, but one look at the calendar on the wall next to his bed told him that day was in fact, today. So, either someone really wanted to die, or he had forgotten to mark the day off on his calendar. And since it was probably the former, Yami let out a groan as he got out of his bed, pulling up his underwear that had slipped off some of the way during his sleep. Then, we walked over to his room’s exit and put his fist through the door to rip the top half of the thing off and get a look at who was making all the damn racket so early in the morning. “What the hell is going on here?” the irate captain demanded as he looked around before finding out the perpetrator was the short newbie. “You ready to die, boy?” Asta let out a squeal and jumped back. “AHHH! I’M SORRY CAPTAIN YAMI SIR! BUT THERE’S A LETTER TO YOU FROM THE WIZARD KING!” the half pint said before offering up a sealed scroll with an official mark of office on the front, confirming its authenticity. With the brat’s voice resounding in his ears, Yami grunted and took the letter. From Julius, huh? he thought before tearing off the wax seal and unfurling the scroll. It was short and sweet, thank the Clover Kingdom’s crazy god. And after reading it...Yami realized a complete waste of time. “YOU WOKE ME UP FOR THIS?” he yelled at the boy. “B-But it’s from the Wizard King!” Asta replied before backing up to the end of the hallway and looking around desperately after realizing he had nowhere else to go. Which...probably explained why Finral or someone was able to sucker the kid into waking Yami up to deliver it. He vaguely remembered the brat saying how he was going to rise to the position some day, despite having no magic whatsoever. So, he probably thought anything coming from the desk of that magic-loving freak deserved to be preserved behind a frame or something. Feeling the call of the morning’s duties, Yami grumbled and reached up to scratch an annoying itch. Since it would probably be faster to ask someone who’d already been awake for an hour or two where the bathroom had moved to in their crazy house, the man opened the door and went out into the hallway. “Fine. Whatever. Go and get the squad, we have to do this little award ceremony,” he said before ripping off the rest of his door so he could get a whole new one. “Aren’t you going to put on some pants?” Asta asked cautiously. Yami snorted. “No.” With Magna already gone to take care of the other job around Saussy Village, he was the only Black Bull who was absent in the base’s common room while the rest of the squad stood there, most still holding their bags of yul in preparation to go blow it all as Yami stood in a corner of the room, next to a board with several black marks that looked like stars on it. “And so, because of your efforts in protecting the people of Saussy Village, the Wizard King has decided to award the Black Bulls a star,” the uncouth captain of the worst magic knight squad said as Sunset watched him stand in his underwear while holding up a golden star that easily fit between his thumb and finger with one hand as he scratched his ass with another. “Now, where’s the bathroom today?” Gauche pointed towards the common room’s left exit. “Third door on the right.” As Sunset found herself wondering if perhaps the Clover Kingdom wasn’t that much different than Celestia’s nation of adult babies, what with them getting stars and all, Asta let out an excited cry. “ALRIGHT! WE GOT A STAR!” he exclaimed before his excitement suddenly stopped and he looked over to Finral. “Hey, what’s a star?” Noelle groaned. “If you don’t know, then why are you getting all excited, idiot?” “Context clues Asta,” Sunset told him while contemplating the hopelessness of ever getting that boy to think before opening his mouth. At least he could learn to use volume control. “It’s a commendation of some sort.” Actually dressed for once, Vanessa walked up to the redhead in a pair of red-violet long boots and matching top that was skin tight, along with a short skirt that barely covered her hips. However, here looked to be more material in the fingerless gloves that covered most of her arms and boots that came up past her knees than there was on the rest of her body. The matching witch’s hat was a nice touch, though. “It’s a bit more than that, though. It’s part of a competition, with each squad’s members working hard to get as many as they can. Although you get credit for each star you earn as a team or individually, every squad’s total number of stars is tallied at the end of the year during a festival,” she explained before holding up a finger. “The number of stars each squad has will determine how effective they are, which in turn means how many funds are allocated towards them. At the same time, the individuals who earn stars move up through the ranks.” “So it’s not just bragging rights,” Sunset surmised as she had to change her opinion on the whole star idea. Well...not like anyone can blame me, she told herself. Back home, teachers gave stars to little colts and fillies who were still in magic kindergarten. Since Clover didn’t have anything like that here, they wouldn’t have made such a connection. “Right now, the Golden Dawn is ranked highest in terms of stars with a total of seventy,” Vanessa went on. Which made sense, considering how big a deal everyone made of them. If there was a set metric to determine which squad was best, they would be at the top. Asta turned to Yami. “How many stars do we have?” he asked excitedly, practically jumping up and down with excitement. Sunset reached up to rub her forehead before engaging in the futility of trying to teach her little brother to think. “Asta, do you see that board behind Yami?” she asked while pointing to the piece of wood hanging on the wall before counting the rows and doing a little math. “Considering we’re the Black Bulls and those are black stars, we’ve obviously got thirty-one.” “Nope!” Yami was quick to tell her before he put the golden star up on the board where one of the black stars was. There was a brief surge of magic before the black star disappeared along with the golden one Yami had just added. “Counting the star you all just earned, we’re now at an even negative thirty stars!” Sunset’s hair untwinged as she heard the news that she was so horribly wrong about something so basic. Noelle was more vocal about it. “What kind of loser squad am I in?” she demanded in a dejected tone as she slumped where she stood. “How do you even get negative stars?” Not knowing when to keep his mouth shut, the energetic boy Luck raised his hand. “I beat up the noble I was assigned to guard because he looked strong.” “I didn’t show up for a job because the caravan I was supposed to escort went near the town my little sister lives in,” Gauche told them, obviously not caring about the black mark on his record. “Drinking on the job,” Vanessa supplied. “Which reminds me.” She reached behind her to pull out a bottle of wine and took a swig. Finral shrugged. “I didn’t think Lord Tully was going to actually catch me with his daughter.” “I ate all the food on the whaling ship they put me on to fight off leviathans after it made its first catch!” Charmy declared. Sunset blinked. Did Charmy seriously just say she ate a fucking whale? “The people I was supposed to be guarding thought I was a bandit for some reason.” Gray...just blew smoke. Yami headed towards the door Gauche had pointed to him earlier. “Okay. I’m off to take a dump and crawl back into bed. Don’t bother me until tomorrow.” Wow, that even breaks my sensibilities, and I spent eighty-five percent of my life naked, Sunset said as she watched the older man leave before turning to Vanessa. “So, we going by broom or…” not knowing what other options there be, besides Finral, Sunset left the rest of the question unasked. “Hey Finral, be a dear and make us a gate to Kikka, would you?” she asked. “I need to help our fledglings get some clothes that aren’t threatening to fall apart at the drop of a hat and I want to show Noelle the uh...special shopping district.” The portal knight groaned. “Okay, but you’re getting back on your own. I got dates to find.” Sunset stumbled. The fact that he gave the plural was rather disturbing. While not the most traditional pony, she had been stuck with Cadance for a good amount of time and gotten plenty of unwanted advice when the little filly had tried to make small talk in the hopes of awakening Sunset’s long dormant desires and pair her off with a stallion with long, dreamy speeches about two ponies falling in love and spending the rest of their lives together. The fact he was already looking for multiple partners was...weird. “I don’t know what’s worse,” Noelle said before walking up to the portal. “The fact you actually said that, or the fact that you look eager to start.” Sunset just followed her through, with Vanessa having Asta bring up the rear. The section of the human mountain that Sunset took the exam in didn’t look like it had changed much since she had seen it a few days ago. Although, logic told her there were probably less people around then there had been back then. After picking up some essential medical supplies, Vanessa took them to a series of stores that lined both sides of a street, showing off various clothes that looked to be of about the same quality as the dress Sunset had before it began to become threadbare to the point of hopelessly damaged. Although, she told Asta and Noelle to go into a different one than she showed to Sunset. “Noelle, I think we both know that guys have almost no taste, so could you help make sure Asta doesn’t just blow all his money on impractical clothes? We’re not needing a full wardrobe, but make sure it’s something he can do his job in.” “I suppose,” Noelle agreed reluctantly. “Hey, I don’t need any new clothes,” Asta told them. Sunset groaned at the boy’s thick head. “Your pants barely come down past your knees and half of your forearms are showing,” she told him. “You can at least get clothes that fit properly!” Vanessa couldn’t help but giggle a little as she reached her hands around Sunset to carefully measure the younger girl’s breasts to better get an idea of what size she would need for her bra; plus, it was a little fun to get a reaction for her while squeezing Sunset’s boobs. While her thread magic could make the minute changes needed to make it more comfortable, it was best to start with something as close to perfect as they could find. The little room made for trying on clothes wasn’t big, but even if they had an actual fitting room to themselves, Vanessa would still have pressed her whole body up against the girl in a hug. An extra look at the little bench built into the wall beside them confirmed that they had matching sets for all of the lower underwear to go with the bras they had gotten for the currently naked girl. But, it wasn’t cup sizes, or Sunset trying to hide her discomfort of another woman feeling her up that made Vanessa smile as she held the young woman close to her. “You know, I don’t think that I ever wanted anything more without knowing it up until now,” she said softly. “Come again?” Sunset asked as Vanessa removed her hands and grabbed one of the basic white bras they had picked up before going to the dressing room. “It’s just...I never really had anyone to care about until I joined the Bulls, or anyone really care about me, to be honest,” she said while helping Sunset into the thing and taking care of the back for her. “They’re my family. And now that you’re a part of it, so are you. That’s what I mean.  I want you to think of me as a big sister. I know I tend to drink, but if you ever need to talk, I’ll always be here to-Sunny?” Thanks to the mirror in the room, Vanessa could see the redheaded girl looked about to cry as she stood frozen, with an anguished look on her face. “Please, don’t say stuff like that. You don’t even know me.” Vanessa didn’t ease up. Instead, she wrapped her arms around the shorter girl and kissed her on the head before pulling her back onto the little bench all personal dressing rooms had to help try on boots and shoes. With the naked girl sitting in her lap, Vanessa just held her gently, but with a firm grip. “I know enough. I know you genuinely want to help Noelle with her problems, that you’re smart and unbelievably talented. But here you are, joining the Magic Knights when there’s a hundred more ways to make better money. I know someone really hurt you in the past, and you’re afraid that it might happen again,” she said before kissing the girl on the head again. “You’re afraid, both of being vulnerable and losing the people you love. I heard from Asta about what happened at the orphanage.” She decided to leave out the part about hitting on him in the hallway to try and get a reaction from the boy. “And I heard from you about how someone tried to use you for her own ends.” Sunset slumped a little in her arms at the last bit, but Vanessa simply pulled her in close. “Do you know what it means to be family, Sunset?” she asked in a whisper. After several seconds, the girl shook her head. “Not...really.” “It means to always be there for one another, no matter what,” she explained. “I’m not…” she looked for the right words after hearing about Hage from Asta the day before. “That woman Asta mentioned, Lilly? I’m not saying I’ll be the new her. For crying out loud, she was a nun and I’m drunk half the time. That’s not even a contest. But, I will be everything that I can for you.” Sunset trembled for a moment before she raised a hand to try and dislodge one of Vanessa’s. “Thanks for the offer, but, I-I got it.” Vanessa didn’t let go. She couldn’t. Maybe it was too soon, too sudden, too much and too alien to the new girl, but Vanessa wanted her to know that she had someone to help look after her again. “Sunset...have you even cried since that day?” she asked making the girl freeze again. “Asta calls you his big sister. That means you were the one always looking after him, always in control. The rock that everyone has to rely on. Even though you and him are the same age.” “V-Vanessa, please...just…” Sunset whispered before trailing off. Another kiss to the girl’s head made Sunset tremble before she laid her head down on the woman’s shoulder. “People may get their grimoires when they’re fifteen, but they’re still only one day older than they were the day before,” she told the girl as she moved a hand to stroke her hair. “You don’t have to be the adult anymore. At least, not when it’s just you and me. Okay, baby sis?” Sunset simply sat in the woman’s lap, barely moving, if only just to breathe. There was no dam breaking, or even a single tear that fell from her eyes. She simply sat there for several minutes as Vanessa held her, Sunset’s head resting on the bigger woman’s shoulder. “...can I really trust you?” she finally asked, her voice so low it could barely be heard. Vanessa didn’t give her an answer immediately. It wasn’t the kind of question that should be answered right away, or just given a basic reassurance. “I’m not perfect, Sunset. But I’ll do my best to be someone you can rely on,” she promised. “And I will never, ever abandon you. That much, I can promise.” When she didn’t move, Vanessa went to stroking the girl’s hair, playing with it a little as she thought of what types of products would help fix years of neglect brought on by poverty. She needed her nails done too. Big sisters took their little ones to get their nails done, right? By the time Sunset moved again, Vanessa had their whole day planned out to every last detail. She stood back up, looking much more like a naked fifteen-year-old should look when standing next to their bigger, sexier elder sibling. Since enough had been said for now, Vanessa went back to the task at had. Sunset could take all the time she wanted to process what had just been given to her. “So, what do you think?” the older woman asked as she brought up the straps that would help hold the thing in place. After taking a moment to collect herself, Sunset shook her top half from the hips up a little, then bent over to put the full weight of her breasts on the lingerie. I’m not sure. It’s been awhile, but I think this is a little loose,” she told her big sister. Vanessa reached back around and felt the girl’s breasts again, then reached inside the bra to test how much breathing room it had for her. “Well, you don’t want it to be too tight,” she said. “Although, having something fall out during combat is rather embarrassing, despite how good a distraction it makes.” Sunset looked over to the other woman’s chest and poked one of her boobs. “Something tells me you know about that from personal experience.” “Let’s try a strapless one next,” Vanessa told her before helping Sunset out of her current bra. “It gives you a bit more to work with when it comes to clothing options.” “Now this, this will make it perfect,” Vanessa said as she held up a dark jacket made of...actually, Sunset wasn’t sure what the coat was made from. “These new zipper things are still catching on, but they make getting in and out of clothes without tearing them so much easier.”  Sunset gave the thing a careful look. “Do I really need two jackets?” she asked carefully. The older woman giggled. “Sunset, you’re a combat mage, you’re going to need at least three sets of every outfit you own. It’ll help when someone melts your boots or freezes part of your jacket until it shatters, not to mention all the holes you’re going to get, but I can only repair clothes so many times before they wear out completely and we do have a backlog” she said. “The reason everyone at the hideout looks like they wear the same thing all the time is because we all have about five sets of the exact same outfit.” Sunset didn’t know whether to comment on the practicality of such a decision or make a snide remark as Vaness helped her try the coat on before turning her around to look at the three mirrors. While hardly an expert in the world of human fashion, Sunset thought she looked good. The clothes she had on were a mix of practicality and vanity. A pair of boots that stopped halfway up to her knees covered her feet, while a pair of good, long pants that hugged her skin covered Sunset up to her waist. However, the light green wide skirt she had on that was part of her top kept anyone from seeing her butt, hiding it with a collection of frills while a cut low enough to show off her boobs drew attention away from her face. Because the top didn’t have any sleeves, Vanessa had insisted on a jacket, despite it being Summer. Still, the thing was thin enough to be little more than a windbreaker. “So uh...how do you think I look?” Vanessa hugged her again from behind. “Adorable.” After rolling her eyes at the comment, Sunset couldn’t stop herself from smiling from the loving contact while trying to come up with something less approving to say. “You know, with all these clothes you’re making me try on. I’m starting to feel like a doll you’re playing dress up with.” “I’ll have you know that I am taking this trip to buy you some much needed clothes very seriously,” Vanessa assured her before breaking the hug and sticking the tip of her tongue out for a bit. “Turning you into my little fashion doll is just a very enjoyable bonus.” Sunset rolled her eyes, but the blush on her cheeks probably gave away her true feelings on the subject. Despite being older than she looked, it felt good to be taken care of in such a way. Lilly had been great, but they hadn’t really been able to do anything like go shopping together. After moving around a bit more in the jacket to make sure it fit properly, Sunset looked back to Vanessa. “What’s this thing made of, anyway?” “Cotton,” the woman told her before reaching to feel the outside material. “But, it’s been sewn and altered slightly with magic to help resist the rain. I doubt anyone would be able to make fabric this fine on a mundane loom.” Sunset did one last check of her current outfit before looking back at the multiple piles that comprised what would be a third of her wardrobe. Aside from the clothes she had on, there was another set that consisted of a normal shirt colored pink that Vanessa had said she could add her cutie mark to when they got home, a leather vest, shorter boots that only went a little past her ankles and more tight pants; Sunset had said she thought a skirt would go better, but Vanessa advised her against it. Then there was a full top and long skirt combo that came down to her knees that was hot pink, a color Sunset admitted to liking with a good deal of embarrassment. It had a minor enchantment to cause it to sparkle a little in the sunlight. “And I’m going to need to buy three more of each?” After tapping her chin for a moment, Vanessa walked over to start gathering everything up. “Okay, maybe...I’d say try them out for a few days, then see which one you like before buying a few sets,” Vanessa told her. “Although...since it’s Summer, you could probably go without the jacket and just use your robe. Keep the jacket for when it gets cold. We’re the warmest of the four countries, but that doesn’t mean it's not chilly in the winter.” “It’s fine,” she said after putting the coat back on. While the change in species had done a number on her senses and every other norm in her life, ponies were used to wearing coats all the time. Having bare skin open to the air still felt weird, even two years after she’d been doing it. Vanessa helped Sunset take all of her stuff up to the counter to pay for it, then they were out the door and across the street where Asta was supposed to be getting his new wardrobe. They found Noelle sitting with her back to the dressing rooms, her face bright red as she tried to dig her claws into her knees. “Hey girl, what’s up with you?” the older woman asked. “HOW COULD YOU JUST LEAVE ME HERE WITH HIM?” the girl demanded in embarrassment as she pointed to where half a dozen different doors were. Sunset looked over to Vanessa, who gave a confused shrug to show she didn’t know what was going on either before looking back to the girl with the bright red face. “What’s wrong?” Sunset asked before finally catching on. “He didn’t say something, stupid, did he?” The question got a frown from Noelle. “What? No,” she said before she began to get embarrassed again. “You just don’t...you don’t leave a boy and girl together when they’re our age!” While Sunset found herself still confused over Noelle’s distress, Vanessa let out a little gasp before her smile became something that was almost predatory. “Oh! I get it now,” she said with a widening grin. Noelle took one look at the older woman and let out a squeak before jumping back and holding up her arms. “Oh no! No, no, no!” she told Vanessa. “Well, it’s understandable,” the woman with the pink hair went on. “He did save you from drowning, doesn’t think any less of you for your magic problems, has a work ethic that will keep him from getting all fat when he’s older-” The little royal raised her hand and gathered her mana. “One more word, and I flood the store,” she warned. Before Vanessa could goad the girl into carrying out her threat, much to Sunset’s confusion over what was going on, one of the dressing room doors opened and Asta came walking out. “What do you think about this one, Noelle?” Sunset blinked. “Asta, that’s the exact same thing you had on this morning,” she told the boy in the blue jacket and matching pants. After looking at the two newcomers and apparently registering their presence in his brain, the boy frowned back at them.“No it’s not,” he said before raising a leg. “These pants go all the way down to my ankles and are loose enough to move around it without me straining the fabric.” Then, he began to swing his arms back and forth. “Same goes for the shirt and jacket. I bet I can swing my sword around way better, now.” Vanessa slumped a bit as she gave Noelle a look of disappointment. “You spent two hours shopping with him, and the only thing you could get him to buy was a better fitting set of clothes he already owned?” she asked. “What did you expect me to do, dress him myself?” Noelle demanded. Sunset crossed her arms and tapped her elbow with a finger. “Based on what happened to me? Probably.” As Noelle’s eye went to twitching, Asta went back into the dressing room for a moment, then popped his head back out. “Hey Noelle, can you help me get some of these things back on the hangers? We didn’t really have any back at the church.” “Fine! But this doesn’t mean I like you or anything, baka!” “Are those magic knights?” “Ugh, it’s the Black Bulls, stay away or they might beat you up.” Noelle tried her best to ignore the comments as she examined her fingers while walking out of the beauty salon. The quality of their workmanship was hardly up to her standards, but she supposed that was to be expected while slumming it. Sunny didn’t seem to have enjoyed the process very much either, although her mood seemed more curious than anything else as she examined her freshly lacquered nails. “I didn’t even know you could lacquer nails.” “Trust me, the last thing you want is a broken nail in the middle of a fight,” Vanessa told the shorter girl. “Okay, maybe not the last thing, but it really is distracting.” Then she looked back at the boy of their group. “Everything okay back there?” Asta rubbed his hands with a little frown before looking back at his palms. “I think they may have broken something.” The comment made Noelle snort. “They did, they’re called calluses.” After giggling at the comment in a way that sent a silver down Noelle’s spine, Vanessa looked around. “Okay, so we’ve taken care of our clothing needs for the lot of you, gotten a little hair and nail care, so...next on the list is something for you, Noelle.” Although she appreciated the offer, Noelle reached up to toss one of her pigtails in a universal dismissive gesture. “Thanks, but I doubt anything here could actually be up to the level of quality I’m used to.” Vanessa gave her a little smile. “Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure,” she said before turning the girl to look at...a dead end alley? “...I don’t get it,” she replied. Sunset blinked and scratched her head. “Huh, that’s weird.” With her comment drawing the rest of the group’s attention, she blinked when everyone looked at her for a moment, then continued on. “It’s a dead end without any trash or anything else.” Then she frowned. “And I think there’s something wrong with that wall.” The wall in question looked like a dilapidated, crumbling wreck that had a hole big enough for a rat to crawl through and mold growing on it. “Yeah,” Noelle told her. “It’s old and about ready to fall over. The noble in charge of this area should have someone give him an earful. Kids like to play in out of the way places like that. What if it fell on them while they were messing around?” “Oh, I don’t think you have to worry about that, Noelle,” Vanessa assured her as she led them up to the wall and stuck her hand through it. “This is just an illusion to keep up the tourists and know-nothings out. Now come on, I’ll show you around.” After sharing a hesitant look with Sunset, the two of them followed Atsa, who ran right through the wall with a gleeful laugh while declaring it cool, before they made their own way through. Inside was another street that continued on ahead to an open area that had several stalls selling numerous wears. In all honesty, the place weirded Noelle out a little. Why was something like this hidden away? “Welcome to the Black Market,” Vanessa told them. Oh, she realized as she looked around at the cheapskate vendors. They’re avoiding their taxes. “What’s so special about this place?” Sunset asked. Vanessa tapped her chin as she led them into the main vendor’s area. Numerous stalls had been set up in the empty square, cutting it up into little rows that was lined with dealers of illicit merchandise. There didn’t seem to be many customers, but that would change when most of the reputable merchants closed down for the night. “Well, this is where magic items from places like the Forest of Witches are smuggled in to be sold, among other things,” she explained. “But be careful, there’s no guard presence, and reporting something stolen from here will only get you in trouble. So every now and then, a thief will try something.” “There are reasons for those trade embargoes, you know,” Noelle told the smuggler-supporter with a little frown. A little laugh came from the woman in the witch hat. “Oh yes, one little market square is going to crash the Clover Kingdom’s economy,” she replied. “Look, I get that the kingdom needs the tax revenue to pay for things like my wages, but most of the people here are exiles from their homeland and can either make next to nothing working as basic labor, or put their magical talents to good use for a decent living.” Not wanting to get into a debate over the pros and cons of such things, like how not all of the people selling things were exiles hoping to make a living and without some kind of inspection or testing, magic items could cause some real harm, Noelle just crossed her arms. “Can we just agree to disagree?” “Deal,” Vanessa said before leaning in. “Besides, this is the only place in the kingdom you might be able to buy something to help you regulate your power.” Noelle blinked, already seeing where this was heading. “You think if I have one of these nicknacks, I can control my magic?” Instead of giving her some sales pitch, Vanessa held up her hands. “I can’t promise anything. But at the very least, it will help you cut down on the collateral damage. Less power also means it’ll be easier to control where you want your mana to go.” Her eyes lighting up at just the prospect of not being a walking disaster, Noelle let Vanessa lead her down the rows of tables until they found a woman with dark blonde hair selling numerous wands, broaches, and other items that would help lower the flow of mana out of a person’s body. While they were looking around, Asta’s attention wandered over to another street that led to another open area, albeit much smaller than the one they were in. Several people stood around multiple tables and made an ongoing commotion under the light of some hanging lamps. “What’s going on over there?” “Hmm?” Vanessa asked as she looked up. “Oh, you two should probably say away from that place. It’s the local gambling den. They take people for suckers all the time.” Noelle frowned as she picked up a decorative wand and looked it over as Asta found something else to gawk at. “It’s illegal too, right?” If it was, every single game in there was probably rigged.  “Some people seem to be making money,” Sunset commented as she pointed to an old lady sitting at a table outside of the gambling hall with a large stack of coins in front of her while a man in a short green robe not unlike the one the Black Bulls wore let out an anguished cry before throwing down his cards and giving the rest of his money over to the old bag. While the old woman cackled about her luck, the blonde young man with his hair held back by a clip got up to sulk away grumbling. As he did, Noelle noticed the Preying Mantis insignia on his cloak. “Well, good to see we’re not the only Magic Knights involved in illegal trade,” she told herself before looking back at the wand in her hand with its magical crystal on the end of the grip. “Give that one a try,” Sunset said with an encouraging smile. Still feeling nervous as hell about using her magic in public, Noelle focused her mana and blinked as a ball of water formed in front of the wand. It was much smaller than her usual output of raw mana, so...there was that, at least. Then, she let it fly...and sighed when it turned at the last moment to strike the man in the green robe, causing him to cry out. “Good job, you didn’t break anything...I think,” Sunset added after a moment with a poor attempt at encouragement. A brief moment of fear for the man was quickly covered up thanks to years of acting. She crossed her arms and looked away from him in fake disgust. “You should watch where you’re going, commoner.” “...Ba-Hah…?” Sunset blinked and looked back at the man. “Hey, I recognize you!” she said before walking over to help him up. “It’s um...Sekke-something? Right? The Praying Mantis slowly got to his feet. “Oh, hey! Did we meet in line, waiting for registration? I remember talking to a pretty girl.” After thinking about it for a second, Sunset shook her head while retaining a mostly innocent expression. “No, I remember you were the guy who was stupid enough to pick a fight with my baby brother,” she said before patting him on the back with a big, almost mocking smile. “Thanks for that by the way! He might not have gotten into the Black Bulls without a stationary target!” “...Ba...Ha?” the man named Sekke laughed, sounding more confused than anything. “Honestly, I should be mad that you tried to trick him into fighting you, but it all worked out so...no hard feelings,” she went on before becoming a little thoughtful. “I actually think I’m a little happy to see you made it in a squad too. Weird, isn’t it?” Finally getting his bearings, Sekke managed to form a complete sentence. “Wait...baby...you’re the sister of that little brat with the cheat sword?” While Noelle certainly thought that Asta’s weapon was a bit of a cheat, having it being called that in her hearing made the royal’s eye twitch. The thing had saved her life after all, and it wasn’t as if Asta didn’t have enough problems to more than make up for it. She actually got ready to defend the little brat when he came running down the lane. “GUYS, CHECK THIS OUT!” Asta yelled as he ran over with a strange stuffed animal in his hand before noticing the Green Mantis squad member. “Hey it’s you, Baha guy!” “My name is Sekke! Sekke Bronzia!” Giving the man as much attention as was his due, Noelle pushed him out of the way to get a better look at Asta. “What did you throw your money away on?” she asked while Asta raised the small ball of cotton and wire, wrapped in cloth up to her face to squeeze it. “Take me to your leader, human,” it said. And this is the guy Vanessa thinks I have a thing for? Noelle asked herself in a stupor. Just how low of an opinion did that woman have of her? Sunset snorted as she crossed her arms. “Pfft, aliens sound nothing like that.” “So, you’re on the Mantis Squad, huh?” Vanessa asked as she sauntered into Noelle’s view. However, any thought that the woman was going to ditch them to go get drunk with BaHa fell through pretty quickly. “Shouldn’t you be out patrolling the town? I’m pretty sure that’s the standing order for Jack’s squad these days.” Not wanting to waste her time with the green boy everyone was distracted by, Noelle turned back to the merchant to pay for the wand. “Thank you miss...uh…” “Dominante Code,” the woman supplied with a smile that seemed a little too...hungry. “Remember me for all your magic item needs. Repeat customers get a five-percent discount and up to twenty-four hours to return any defective products.”  Noelle took a step back from the woman and swept her gaze over the rest of the street to see if there was anything else she could buy to support the criminal underworld. It was then that she saw a little old lady that looked nearly as small as Charmy walking down the street with a bag of yul nearly as big as she was. While the impossibility of the sight had her frozen, a man in a ratty cape with a hood snuck up from behind her to grab the old woman’s big bag of money before making a break for it. As he ran, the mugger pulled out his grimoire and cast a wind spell that created a flying cloud underneath him to help spirit him away. “My money!” she cried out as the man flew away. “HELP! SOMEONE STOP THAT THIEF!” Behind Noelle, the building fight between BaHa Guy and her group quickly ended, with Asta beginning to chase after the guy. Down on the ground, the wrinkled old lady looked around, having fallen over when her bag was taken. “Someone, please help me. That man stole all my winnings,” she said as Noelle ran to help her up. A moment later, Sunset was beside her, examining the old lady. “Hey, that’s the old bat who took all my money!” BaHa Guy said before looking down the road Asta had gone down. “Well...looks like I can get an easy refund, BA-HA!” A moment later, BaHa Guy pulled out his own grimoire and opened it to cast a spell. “Bronze Creation Magic: Sekke Shooting Star.” Sunset blanched after his magic finished forming some kind of flying contraption that looked like it was ridden like a horse. The obvious reason for her unease was that the thing had a bust of the rider sticking out the front like one of the larger ships that sailed the sea. The whole thing seemed a testament to the man’s ego. “If I ever needed proof everyone has their own spin on magic here, that monstrosity is it.” Oddly enough, the old woman seemed to actually be impressed by it, her old eyes shining a bit. “You ladies just stand back and let Sekke do his thing!” BaHa Guy told them before blowing the three girls a kiss. While Noelle was able to dodge, Vanessa had to pull Sunset out of the way before she was assaulted by the man’s gross affections. “Creep!” the older of the two women yelled. As they were all recovering from the near miss, Sunset went back to checking on the old lady. “You might want to start with her eyes and head,” Noelle suggested to her friend. The bat looked like she had actually liked the look of BaHa’s freaky magic. Then, as the seconds passed, Noelle noticed Sunset taking a bit too much of an interest in the old lady. So much so that grandma was starting to back away from her. “Something wrong, dear?” the crone asked. “Hey Vanessa, can you make me some thread real quick?” Sunset asked as she held out a hand. Although Vanessa did as she was asked, the woman gave a warning while handing her the material. “If she’s got a cut that needs to be sewn shut, we should get her to an actual healer.” The redhead didn’t respond before she suddenly moved to bind the old woman’s hands to everyone’s surprise. Then, Sunset looked into the old bird’s eyes with a frown. “I probably wouldn’t have noticed it without seeing Gray’s transformation magic first, not to mention that static illusion protecting the entrance to this place, but...this is transformation magic,” she said before reaching out and flicking the old lady in her stomach, then stepping back a moment later. Noelle starred in stunned silence as the old lady that had been there a moment before seemed to...shatter and be replaced by a golden light that twisted and expanded until what had been a little old lady standing there with her hands bound turning into a tall, blonde man with glowing pink string binding his hands, dressed in immaculate red robes with a mantle of white fur on the top. Recognizing the man immediately, Noelle decided to tell Sunny how much trouble she was in. “Gaaaaaaah?” Vanessa seemed to be in a similar state, her eye twitching as a smile froze itself on her face. “Eh?” “Oh my,” the man, one Julius Novachrono said with an excited smile. “Tell me miss, how did you see through my disguise?” Sunset blinked at the man before frowning. “Oh please, it’s not my job to explain things to criminals,” she said before holding up a finger using the hand that held Vanessa’s string. “Which you are by the way. I can overlook someone playing a game of cards and winning money, even against a fellow magic knight, but since you were hiding your identity to lull idiots into a false sense of security, that counts as cheating in my book. Plus, if you were using a transformation on yourself, you could have easily done something to the cards in your hand.” Finally finding her voice, Noelle decided to save her best friend from getting herself killed. “SUNSET!” she yelled in the girl’s ear before pointing to the man. “Do you have any idea who this is?” After giving Noelle a shrug, Sunset looked back to the man and sized him up. “Some, big important lord who thinks he can cheat people and get away with it?” Vanessa was the next one to keep Sunset from having her life as a magic knight ended on the spot. “We’re very sorry about this, Sir,” she said as she undid the thread. “I’ll be sure to teach my little sister here a few things about how the Clover Kingdom works when we get home.” “That’s right!” Noelle exclaimed, remembering how little everyone knew about Sunset’s past. “She’s just an ignorant hick from Hage that doesn’t know anything. You can’t blame her for being stupid!” Julius Novachrono, the twenty-eighth person to hold the title of Wizard King, laughed as he rubbed his free wrists. “No need for that ladies. If anything, it’s very heartening to see a young knight so willing to carry out justice despite the position of the person she’s after. If anything-” The Wizard King stopped talking when a communication projection suddenly appeared in the alley, displaying the face of a man with short blue hair done up in such a way that he reminded Noelle of a mushroom. “Sir, I’ve been trying to reach you for hours, where have you been? There’s papers that-” Not wasting a second, the Wizard king quickly rebound his hands with Vanessa’s thread, much to the woman’s surprise. “I’m afraid there’s no time for paperwork now, Marx,” he said before holding up his hands. “I’ve been arrested.” “WHAAAAAAAAAT?” the image of the floating head screamed. The Wizard King nodded. “Yes, illegal gambling, it seems,” he said. “Now, if you would please allow this young lady to do her duties, I’m sure that there are other matters that need attending to. If you need me, I’ll be on my way to the local guardhouse for booking.” As the Wizard King’s assistant began to have what looked like a brain aneurysm, the image faded away and he turned his attention back to the Black Bulls. “Thank you for that, ladies. Marx means well, but he can be such a slave driver sometimes,” he said before undoing the threads and looking at the girl with wide eyes that almost sparkled with interest. “Now, you have to tell me, just how did you see through my disguise?”  Sunset was hardly stupid. Two minutes after having Vanessa and Noelle freak out about her arresting the old lady that had turned into the much younger man walking from front of her, she had known something was up. So, when they actually told her who the blonde stranger in the red robes was, it wasn’t too much of a shock. The fact that he might as well have gotten down on his knees when asking her how she managed to see through his disguise was.  “Come on, pretty please?” the man begged. “I simply have to know how you managed to see through my disguise. I thought it was perfect!” Sunset groaned and stepped back from the man. “If I tell you, then will you go away?” The last thing she wanted was someone like him looking into her for too long. “Only if I have no other questions,” he promised. Taking what she could get, Sunset took a moment to think of how to explain it like the man would understand. Human were pretty ignorant when it came to magic, after all. “Okay so...you know that people can sense mana, right?” The man nodded. “That’s right.” Sunset tapped her finger. “Well, you had the mana of an old woman, but...hmmm…” Looking around for a source of inspiration, Sunset caught sight of a man selling some paintings that didn’t look like they shouldn’t be put out in public. “Ah! You know how someone can paint a window on a wall, with a perfect picture of what is on the other side?” “Yes,” the man replied with a nod. “I’ve seen paintings like that.” “And it can be next to a real window,” Sunset went on. “And other people who are just walking by can’t tell the difference, but if someone stops and looks, it becomes very obvious that one is real and the other is just a very good fake?” Then the man rubbed his chin for a moment. “So you’re saying, transformation magic can be detected by examining the person who cast it very closely using your mana sense?” Sunset shook her head at the conclusion. Then, she realized her mistake and kicked herself for not just letting him jump to his own conclusions. But now that she had started, the explanation needed to be given in a satisfactory manner. “No. If you had cast the spell yourself, I probably wouldn’t have noticed it. There’s a transformation mage in the Black Bulls, and aside from one little error, his transformation magic is like a living, breathing thing,” she explained. “Yours was static and unmoving. Once I actually bothered to examine you, it became clear that something was very wrong.” “Extraordinary,” the noble mumbled. “And I can see the logic behind it. Magic made by a person is alive. It flows with them, but a magic item is static, just doing the same exact thing every time, regardless of who uses it. Oh, might I get another question of mine answered?” Tired of dealing with the idiot’s talking, Sunset crossed her arms. “No.” Behind her, Noelle made a choking sound and Sunset looked back to see Vanessa rubbing her head. The reactions had her reigning in her annoyance at the absurdity of it all, with someone who was supposed to be the head of the Clover Kingdom’s defense disguising himself as a little old lady who took money from his own troops, how was she supposed to act? It was like Celestia picking the pockets of her guards for crying out loud! As for the Wizard King, he threw back his head and laughed. “Hahaha! Yes, I can see Yami has already warned you about me,” he said before looking off in the direction Asta had run.  “Well, I had wanted to get a look at that anti-magic boy,” he said before turning his attention back to the redhead. “But the more I look at you, the more I find myself becoming even more interested in all those layers you seem to have.” Sunset blanched at the comment as the Wizard King leaned in a bit closer. Had the man noticed something different about her? He was the country’s foremost expert in magic, so it might have been within the realm of possibility. “Um...that’s not...uh…” Sunset gulped unsure of what to do. Her first instinct was to run. It worked with Celestia, after all. And she had plenty of gold to get by on this time. Plus, her method of teleportation was unknown to the Clover Kingdom, so it shouldn’t be too hard to pop ten miles away and hide. But...running would mean abandoning everything she had built up in these past two years. And if she did run, would that affect the boys? What about Vanessa and Noelle? She didn’t want to lose them. “But, I guess that will have to wait for another time,” he said after standing back up. “Very interesting mana you seem to have, my dear. I hope to see how you use it in the future. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go find something else to occupy my time, or maybe check on Marx. The man tends to take his job much too seriously. Good seeing you all. Oh, and would you mind taking that yul I was robbed of to the office of abandoned children? I tend to donate my gambling winnings, but with my disguise down until I can recharge my item, it would cause quite a ruckus.” Sunset blinked as the man in the red robe disappeared in a burst of motion. It hadn’t been a teleportation spell. There were lingerings of...tempoal energies? Once he was gone, Noelle managed to find her voice as she walked up to Sunset and looked up to the trail the man left. “Guess the rumors about the Wizard King being a magic freak weren’t just rumors after all.” Julius Novachrono looked out his window at the sight of a magical carriage carrying some noble boy as he was being escorted by Willaim’s new recruits. Part of him wanted to go check things out, but he doubted Marx would let him make another trip out into the streets after what had just transpired. The man looked back at the pardon on his desk with a chuckle as Marx stood off to the side of the room with a frown on his face. His assistant was far too serious sometimes. But, he had enough of a mystery to ponder over for the moment. That girl, Sunset Shimmer, he believed her full name was, she had too much time. As a mage that specialized in the manipulation of temporal energies, Julius could tell how old a person was at a glance. It was a way he had usually used to see through a person’s disguise. But the girl he had met wasn’t wearing a disguise, he had tried to dispel one around her without anyone noticing and there was nothing there to undo. Still, Julius was quite certain that she was at least twenty years old. And her mana, just thinking about it made him almost giddy. She had mana unlike anything he had ever felt. It was almost blending in with the mana around it, adapting to the eb and flow while the mana around her also seemed to be responding to her presence in a way that put it in sync with her.  There were rumors about the girl being Mereoleona’s daughter, which just going by what the reports of what happened at the exam might have seemed like the case. But after meeting the girl, he understood that the truth was something much more interesting. “Well, there’s no need to push it, I suppose,” he mused aloud. The girl had become absolutely terrified when Julius pointed out he saw she was hiding something. While worthy of some scrutiny, her previous actions had more than earned her a chance to prove herself a loyal member of the Magic Knights. Not many people would have bothered saving Saussy Village after being offered an out, like the report said. Still, Julius would have to have a real talk with her sometime in the future to get to the bottom of what she was so nervous about. It wouldn’t do to let a creature such as Sunset worry herself to death over nothing. He could tell from her mana that she was not of ill intent. The previous line of thought caught in the man’s mind. Hmm, now there’s an idea, Julius mused. It was probably nothing, but with the girl being around longer than her age suggested and her mana being unlike any person who had ever come before, was it possible that she in fact wasn’t human? Thanks to the spirit that had all but settled in Clover, there were several fairy tales of children being produced by a human and something otherworldly. Such stories tended to give the offspring some kind of fantastical mana, or a much longer lifespan because they aged slower, or other such thing. They were all just silly stories without any proof of course, people from distant worlds who met and fell in love being used as a stand-in for the vast gulfs the classes used to have before his term as Wizard King. But...what if there was some truth to them? Julius let the fanciful thought linger for a moment longer, then laughed it off as the foolish wish of a boy who went hunting for things like fairies and unicorns in his youth before having to settle for the amazing world of real magic.  Wearing a light on his head to see in the dark, the gray stallion called Cercus groaned as he trotted into the bowels of Canterlot Castle, following the creamy earth pony mare with the light blonde man as he carried a chemical dispenser on the opposite side of a nearly-empty saddlebag. The rather ironic job of exterminator meant that he was granted access to places and a good deal of privacy to do his work, but there were times when the job had its downsides too. Like getting called to a remote section of the castle where absolutely nopony of any worth was ever going to go. “We’ve heard the racket going on nearly a week now,” the maid who he thought was named Melody said in a frightened voice. Not even bothering to fake interest, Cercus just gave a one syllable response. “Yeah?” Melody nodded her head with wide eyes. “Days and days, without stopping. We called the guard, but they said not to worry,” she told him before moving in close. “I just think they’re scared it might be...twittermites.” “Twittermites aren’t real,” Cercus told her evenly before taking a look around. The rooms they were going by didn’t have the same feel to it as the rest of the castle. Nothing around him was anywhere near as lovingly tended to as three floors up. Even the dungeons received more attention. “Hey, what is this place, anyway?” he asked. Melody looked back to him as they turned a corner. “Old storage,” she explained. “Princess Celestia tends to hoard things, then needs to clean everything out about every decade or so. But she doesn’t throw anything away, so it ends up here. There’s also the lost and found collection that goes beyond thirty days without being claimed, old palace records, and Canterlot’s emergency book repository, but that has a level of storage all its own.” “Emergency what?” Cercus asked. “Something the Princess came up with a few hundred years ago after the Manehattan library almost burned down,” Melody explained. “She has an extra copy of nearly every book in Equestria stored in a vault two floors down.” Cercus threw the information away. It wasn’t important to his job, so it didn’t interest him anymore. They turned another corner and came to a door that Cercus could hear something rattling behind. It would go on for about three seconds, stop for another three, then start up again. He looked at the golden plate on the door and frowned. Spare library books, the wingless quadruped read to himself. “I thought you said the book depository is beneath us.” Melody nodded. “Yes, but this is storage for the castle’s spare library books,” she explained. “Sometimes, ponies forget to return them or...Princess Celestia gets some frosting on whatever she’s reading. So, there’s a room for spares of nearly every book in the palace library that we put in as a placeholder until we can get a brand new copy. Between you and me, these are all a little old and musty.” “Okay, I’ll take care of whatever’s making all the scary noises,” the exterminator grumbled before reaching for the door. Before he could even start to open it, Melody was already back around the corner. Then, she poked her head out. “Just be sure to close the door behind you, we wouldn’t want whatever it is escaping!” Cercus groaned and opened the door, wondering if he could get one of his brother’s to take this particular assignment for a little while. Canterlot ponies were ridiculously annoying. Once he was inside the room, it was easy to spot the source of the noise. There was a shaking coming from a cart full of old books that looked rather worn and out of date. It appeared that Canterlot’s emergency library replacement books weren’t replaced that often, themselves. Since the room itself was of little importance, Cercus left the listening devices in his satchel and dug around the bin until he found what was making the racket. A large tome with Celestia’s cutie mark was at the bottom, glowing golden as it shook every few seconds. He took the book out and sat back as he opened it to see why a magical book would have been placed at the bottom of what amounted to a paper recycling bin. It was a communication journal. Between Celestia and… Cercus blinked after going through three pages before finally finding a mention of the other pony who had its twin: Sunset Shimmer. “Well now, this is certainly interesting,” he mumbled before reading page after page. Since she had just gone missing one day without another statue ending up in the gardens, there had always been some speculation as to what happened to Celestia’s old apprentice among his kin. Especially since, by all reports, Celestia had been rather put off by the whole thing for days afterwards, before she proceeded to clean the castle of anything related to the young mare. They had always assumed she had some sort of magical mishap and got herself killed. But, after reading the last page in the journal, that no longer appeared to be the case. “Hmmm,” Cercus mumbled to himself as he looked through the book again. Enough correspondence to build a profile and numerous horn-writing samples, he thought to himself. Queen Chrysalis had been looking for a disguise she could use to lure out that pink pony princess that was supposed to be getting married in the following months away from her guards. And in front of him was everything she would need. I’m gonna get a promotion for this, the changeling told himself before he slipped the book into his saddlebag, then headed out the door.