//------------------------------// // Page 21: Date // Story: A Unicorn in the Clover Kingdom // by LordBrony2040 //------------------------------// The crowds cheered, the coats shined, the air made Cadance’s horn hum in resonance with the Crystal Heart as it filled the air with its mana, the ponies all pranced and sang as Twilight’s friends went on about her passing some kind of test. While the first two did lift her spirits and the third made her confused and slightly worried, Cadance couldn’t do anything to keep the crushing feeling of failure at bay. Even being rejuvenated by the Crystal Heart hadn’t helped her rise up from the mire of thoughts that were threatening to pull her down. Her first real test as an alicorn, and she had failed it. Failed completely. Part of her wanted to blame Celestia. A very large part that she agreed with, because the mare had said nothing about the Crystal Heart or anything else that would have been helpful. She had sent the two of them in completely blind to the dangers. Not that Cadance had stayed long enough and demanded to know, either. She had gotten caught up in the moment, the thought of what it would be like to finally prove herself...to herself. “So, I’ve been talking to some of the other ponies and-Cadance?” The alicorn turned her head to look at her husband, glistening with a shiny new coat that was almost transparent. “Please tell me this isn’t going to last.” Shining Armor shook his head. “No, they said that whenever ponies came to the Fair from out of town, their coats would go back to normal in an hour or so. Unborn foals that are exposed to the Heart’s magic is what makes the change stick. But stuff like making the Crystal Heart flood the Empire with its energies only happen once a year. So...maybe a sign or something at the train station?” “Okay,” Cadance replied with a sigh. That was one worry done with, at least. “Now, what were you saying?” After a few seconds of giving her a measured look, Shining Armor went back to his previous topic. Not that it wasn’t obvious to Cadance he knew something was bothering her, but her husband also knew enough to prioritize. “So, I was talking with some of the ponies that were in charge of the Empire before Sombra took over. The ones that are still alive, anyway,” he added uneasily. “They’re willing to meet with you to discuss what has happened in the past thousand years and the best way to move forward.” Despite the good news, Cadance hung her head. “So, I’m going to be meeting with a bunch of foreign leaders...again,” she said before a stab of self loathing entered her mind. She knew the job was important, but it just wasn’t her. It was politics, and Cadance hated politics. It was all lies and exaggerations. “Well, not like there is anything left to be done here,” she said before turning back towards the spire of a palace that stood at the center of the Crystal Empire and headed towards it. She may not have been the Empire’s ruler, it’s savior, or even a member of the castle cleaning staff, but she was going to be using one of the beds inside, anyway. Shining Armor was quick to catch her. “Okay, what’s got you all flustered?” he asked. “I know you’re tired, but I would think after not dying to Sombra, you’d be in a better mood.” Despite not wanting to talk about it, Cadance knew that the best thing to do was get everything out in the open. Letting things fester only made them worse. “I failed, Shiny. I wanted to save everypony and...I failed.” “It’s really bothering you that much, huh?” Shining Armor asked before raising an eyebrow. Cadance nodded. Shining Armor stopped when they got into the entryway of the palace. “How come?” “Well…” Cadance sighed and sat down on the floor to look at it. The thing was polished enough to look back at her. “It’s...I never told you about how it was for me when I first became an alicorn, did I?” After looking up for a moment in an obvious ‘thinking stance’ Shining Armor turned his attention back to Cadance. “Well, I remember you saying it was hard. But...no, you never said anything more than that.” Cadance sighed, again. “The week after I...was discovered and moved to Canterlot, I was introduced to my magic tutor. She was another student of Celestia’s, before Twilight came along. She was brilliant, harsh, demanding, and a dozen other things,” Cadance told him before a melancholy smile crossed her face. “I might of been the alicorn, but she was the one with all the magical power.” “No offense Cadance, but I get the feeling from you that she was a bit of a jerk,” Shiny told her. A giggle escaped Cadance’s lips. “Oh, she definitely was, and a lot more than a bit,” she said with a smile. “But, my third week of being in Canterlot, I was starting to really doubt myself. I didn’t think I deserved to be an alicorn. That there had been some kind of mistake. It showed in my magic lesson, and I just fell down after being unable to do a basic transmutation. Then I asked her ‘why are you here? Teaching me is just a waste of time’.” “Then Sunset, that was her name, by the way. Sunset Shimmer, she said, ‘if you were a waste of time, I wouldn’t be here. Now get up and try again’,” Cadance went on in her best imitation of Sunset’s voice before she let out a little laugh through her nose. “And it hit me that, even though she was horrible at showing it, Sunset actually believed in me.” Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. “Uh, Cadance. You know that Princess Celestia had probably just ordered her to teach you, right?” The suggestion got a laugh from Cadance. “Sweetie, you don’t know my big sister. Nopony could tell her what to do, not even Celestia.” “B-Big sister?” Shining Armor repeated. Cadance rolled her eyes. “Well, not my actual sister. But, that was the way I thought of her,” she said. “She was cool, determined to the point of being hard-headed, and was one of those ponies...you know the type, the ones that pretend not to have emotions in order to try and look tough? That was her to a fault! And I wanted to be just like her.” After obviously thinking things through again, Shining Armor frowned. “Hold on, if she was Princess Celestia’s student, then how come I’ve never heard of her?” The question brought up things Cadance tried not to show. But she was just too tired to care at the moment. “Because Celestia had everything to do with Sunset banned from the castle and ordered her name never to be spoken in Celestia’s presence again,” Cadance told him sadly. “I’m not sure on the details, what with all the conflicting reports I’ve heard, not to mention the other little thing I learned recently, but...they had a fight. A big fight. By all credible accounts, Sunset ending up running through a magical portal that hasn’t functioned properly since she used it.” A sudden realization appeared on Shining Armor’s face. “And that’s why you hate her.” With Shining Armor using the H-word, Cadance felt as if she had been stabbed. She didn’t like to admit it to herself, but...she did hate Celestia. She had hated her since the day Sunset disappeared. Hatred that had only grown since Twilight came into Celestia’s tutelage and the old nag had found a way to avoid feeling anything about how she had failed her sister, her default-daughter, Cadance, and everypony that had ever gotten close to her. “It’s what started it,” the pink alicorn told her. “But...Shiny, before your sister came along, Celestia was a different pony. She was harsh, but...she listened to other points of view. She doubted herself, she didn’t talk about Destiny every other sentence, she was...normal.” Or as normal as a pony as old as Celestia could be. “What does Twilight have to do with it?” he asked. Cadance sighed at the question. It was one that had plagued her mind for some time, but it was only after meeting Luna and having some time to really think about things after the wedding that she had managed to put it all together. “I’ve seen Twilight’s tiara. It’s the same as her cutie mark. I think Celestia recognized it, and she’s been using it as an excuse to avoid taking responsibility for things. For anything bad that ever happened in her lifetime. Luna had to get banished because of Destiny. Sunset had to disappear because of Destiny. I had to spend most of my life going to meetings where I had to lie and give other ponies nothing but false smiles because of Destiny. Oh and, it wasn’t my Destiny to save the Crystal Empire, it was Twilight’s!” Despite how ill prepared she had been. Even though part of that lack of preparation was her fault. Holding up a hoof to stop her from ranting, Shining Armor pointed something out. “Technically, it was Spike that brought you the Crystal Heart,” he said. “And I heard about what happened under the palace. Without him, Twilight would have never bypassed Sombra’s trap. He’s as responsible for saving everypony as she is.” The years of politics had Cadance’s mind latch onto that little tidbit. “Really?” she asked before a plot formed in her mind to make Spike the hero of the story, not Twilight. Although, after it was finished, she frowned down at herself. Was she really thinking about taking the glory from her little sister? “Yeah, Twilight’s really worried about what Celestia will think since it was Spike that passed her test, instead of Twily,” Shining Armor told her. Cadance blinked. “Oh, right...that,” she grumbled as she was reminded of what nearly killed them all. It was disturbing how Twilight and her friends had tied their hooves in their efforts of saving the Crystal Empire because Celestia had decreed it as some kind of test. If things hadn’t gone the way they did, which cut it all very close, everyone could have been enslaved by Sombra. “You know what? Fine, as far as I’m concerned, Spike was who saved the Empire. Not me, not Twilight, nopony.” Somehow, that made her feel a bit better. “So...mind if I tell you something you’re probably not going to want to hear?” Shining Armor asked. Cadance looked back at him and sighed. “That I’m an idiot that nearly got us both killed?” After giving a shake of his head, Shining Armor took in a deep breath. “Celestia’s right about you.” It took everything Cadance had not to smack her husband right then and there. “There better be more to it than that, or you’ll be sleeping on your own, in a doghouse, for the rest of time,” she said. “And I’ll make sure it’s a doghouse on the other side of the temperature controlled barrier.” “Cadance, I’ve watched you for a few years now, and I can tell that you’re good at bringing other ponies together,” Shining Armor told her. “You know what’s in their hearts, and that’s even more important than what’s in their heads. I get that when you were a filly, you saw this cool mare and wanted to be just like her, but you’re you, not her. So, go be you. There’s a whole bunch of ponies out there needing to know what this new Equestria is like and...I think that you’re the only pony who can really get to the heart of what they want to know and show them what they need to see.” Cadance frowned at her stallion for several seconds before she let out a long sigh and dropped her head. “Stupid, sexy, sensible husband,” she grumbled with a little pout. “Fine. I’ll go for a meet and greet to set up a real meeting. Because something tells me when this crystal pony thing wears off, I’m going to need a bed to crash into.” Life settled back into what had become a new normal for Sunset over the past two months. She woke up, looked into whatever interested her for that particular morning, ate breakfast, went to magic practice with Noelle and watched her while working out, dealt with everyday insanity as she did the laundry, ate lunch, dealt with more insanity, did whatever that needed to be taken care of that afternoon, carried Vanessa back up to her bed, used a spell to have Vanessa throw up her liquor before she went to bed, put Vanessa to bed, and then finally go to sleep on her own. Two days after returning from Nairn, Sunset was relieved to hear that the kids that had been drained of their magic were properly treated for their problem and had their magic restored. Even though it meant the two days of magical technology lessons she got from Secre ended up being a total waste. It was on the third day that she opened her big mouth and messed everything up… Sunset was taking a rest on the grass as she watched Noelle point her wand at the nearby tree with a frown. It would have been nice to say that the girl’s talents had grown since then, but...a loud splash in the bushes to the right of the tree said otherwise. “Okay, time to take a break,” Vanessa announced as the expression on Noelle’s face became more agitated. “There’s something we need to talk about.” Noelle let out a groan before turning away from her target. “Like what? How am I flooding the forest?” The woman shook her head as she sat on the red and white blanket in her underwear. “No. It’s three days until the squad’s founding day, which Yami uses as an excuse to get us all out of work,” she told them. “Which means it’s another day off. And this time, I’m definitely getting you girls to-” Before she could announce her plans and possibly make Sunset feel even worse about what she needed to say, the redhead raised a hand. “Um...I already have plans, actually.” “How do you already have plans?” Vanessa asked before she crossed her arms under her breasts. “You’re newbies, and I know nobody’s told you about squad specific holidays.” An uncomfortable blush overcame Sunset. She had been with the girls long enough to know where this was going to go, and that was to a very embarrassing place, full of all kinds of questions. “I...have a date,” she admitted after taking a moment to steel herself. “WHAT?” Noelle yelled before she went down to pin Sunset to the ground by the shoulders and straddled her body as she got in the not-unicorn’s face. “How do you have a date? Wait, never mind. That’s not important. Who do you have a date with?” Vanessa sat up a little straighter. “Yeah, I’m curious about that one as well,” she said. “Have you been stepping out on us, kitten?” The nickname that didn’t suit her at all made Sunset groan before she fought Noelle off and got to her feet. “I wanted to research spatial magic, so I offered to let Finral take me out on a date if he let me read his grimoire,” Sunset explained reluctantly. “You…” Vanessa managed to say as she got a disturbed look on her face. “You whored yourself out over a book?” Sunset glared back at her. “Oh come on, it’s just a date!” “It’s Finral,” Noelle added. “I’ve only known him for a few months, but I can already tell he goes through more women than Yami does toilet paper!” The odd analogy had Sunset frowning. “Come on, he can’t be that bad.” “He’s probably got more bastards than any other noble in the kingdom!” Noelle went on. Vanessa blinked before becoming thoughtful as she tapped her chin. “Actually, come to think of it. I don’t think he’s sired any children,” she said, making both of the girls look at her in disbelief. “You’re kidding,” Noelle said in disbelief before she raised an eyebrow. “What? Is he one of those secret gays?” The odd descriptor made Sunset blink. “Secret whatnow?” Noelle turned her attention to Sunset and just looked at her for a moment before she sighed. “Oh right, outsider commoner,” she said before crossing her arms. “It’s a joke in the Noble Realm. You know how every noble in the realm is supposed to have kids to increase Clover’s military power, right? Well, once in a blue moon, you get a man or woman who’s interested in same sex relationships. But, they’re still expected to breed. So, a guy who likes guys finds a girl who likes girls, they get married, sleep with whomever they want, and everybody just talks about how they expect a child any day now.” “But...if everyone knows, then why do they call it a secret?” Sunset asked. After taking a moment to rub her head, Noelle looked back at the redhead. “Because that’s the joke,” she went on. “It’s just a show for the commoners to read about in the papers.” Sunset digested the information with a frown. “...you guys are weird.” “Says the girl that prefers to be naked!” Noelle shot back. Before the back and forth to devolve further, Vanessa stood up and put on a pair of light shoes she used for walking around outside in her underwear. “Well, you girls have fun. I’m going to head back inside for a drink.” Noelle looked up at the sky for a moment before turning her attention back to the older woman. “It’s not even noon!” Not ten minutes after Vanessa had left, Noelle went back to practicing, but her heart really wasn’t in it. Weeks of training had allowed her to hit something nearly twenty feet away if she kept her focus, but after hearing the bomb that the redhead had just dropped, keeping her focus was… “Hey Noelle, what do you say to going out on a date with me?” an imaginary Asta asked before the royal launched a concentrated blast of water while mentally replying to him. Like I’d ever do something like that! Said blast shot forward, curved upward, and then looped around to come at Noelle from on high. The resulting impact left her soaked, but otherwise unharmed. Stupid Asta, she thought. Several feet away, Sunset picked herself up off the ground from where she was doing pushups like Asta tended to, if at a much slower pace, and frowned at her. “Okay, backfiring magic means that it’s time to call it quits for the day,” she said before her stomach growled a little. “Besides, I’m getting hungry.” Noelle groaned and reached up to cover herself before Sunset began to draw the liquid away from her with such fine control that it made Noelle want to scream. But only sometimes. She had grown up in a house with someone who had the best mana control in the kingdom after all. So being lackluster while standing next to a genius wasn’t anything new to her. “So...do you...like Finral, or something?” she asked after being made dry. An eyebrow on Sunset’s face went up. “Is that what was distracting you?” she asked. The question got a blush from Noelle as she thought of the real reason she asked the question. “Not really. But, you can’t just tell me something like that and not expect a followup!” Sunset shrugged nonchalantly. “Eh. I can’t really say I like or dislike him,” she said before tapping a finger on her chin. “Although, he’s a lot better than some of the nobles I’ve met over here. But still, isn’t spending time with someone on a date how you figure those things out?” “Well...there’s...other ways,” Noelle argued more because she didn’t want Sunset to have the last word than anything else as they began to walk back to the odd mansion the Black Bulls lived in. Thinking about those was putting a blush on her cheeks. “Like, working alongside someone.” After giving Noelle a confused look, Sunset’s eyes widened a bit, and she stuck an open hand with a fist. “Oh, I get what’s got you so flustered. You’re thinking about going on a date with Asta.” Noelle’s face turned red. “N-N-No I’m not!” she insisted, trying not to think about just what they could do together. It wouldn’t be a boring dinner date. They would need something with a bit of action. “Honestly, I would have thought the two of you would have done something the day I was laying on my backside,” Sunset said as she went ahead, linking her hands behind her head while looking up. When Noelle flinched and froze halfway into a step, Sunset turned towards her with wide eyes. “Oh my gosh! You did do something,” she said before spinning around and getting into the other girl’s face. “Spill!” After Noelle’s face twitched for a bit, she let out a sigh and sagged her shoulders. “We went to eat at this restaurant that was run by some redhead named Rebecca. Two of the kids we saved were hers and she offered to treat us to a meal, and Asta needed to take a break from writing his report that nobody’s going to want to read because it’s so damn long,” she grumbled. “So, how did it go?” Sunset asked after backing off. Noelle groaned and rolled her eyes as she remembered just how badly everything went. “He ate like a pig, and I stammered a lot like an idiot,” she said. “So basically, our usual noontime meal.” The explanation made Sunset look like she wanted to laugh, but a small realization held her back. She crossed her arms and looked down at the ground to frown for a second before speaking. “Well, maybe that’s for the best.” “Come again?” Noelle asked, having gotten completely lost over the sudden change in her best friend. Sunset took in a deep breath and let it out after thinking for several seconds. “Hey Noelle, has Asta ever told you about the nun that took care of us back at the church?” “You mean Sister Lilly?” she asked, already answering Sunset’s question before taking a moment to think. Aside from that she was a nun that helped run the church where Asta had grown up, Noelle didn’t really know anything about her. “Well, I know her name, but not much else. Why?” “Well, Asta had a huge crush on her since before I ever met him, saying he was going to marry her someday,” she explained before holding a hand up to stop Noelle from pointing out the obvious flaw in that plan. “I know, it was impossible, and just one of those things every kid probably says to an older woman that’s pretty, but you know how stubborn Asta can be. He held onto that idea until the day she died, right in front of him.” The gloomy feelings Sunset was emitting quickly spread to Noelle, and she let her shoulders bend forward a little. “Oh...that’s right. Your adoptive family was killed by a mage from Diamond.” “I didn’t see it myself, but Asta was standing right next to her. She pushed him out of the way,” Sunset said before she reached over to grab Noelle’s hand. “I don’t know how much he’s holding onto that, but it’s only been a few months since she died. So...don’t try and force anything, okay?” Noelle didn’t say anything, but she squeezed the girl’s hand. Finral sat atop the Black Bull’s hideout, deep in thought. The perplexing problem that perturbed him so was a tough one. While he had been out with many women, struck out with many women, and gone down on many women, none of them had access to him the way another member of the squad did. If he screwed up going out with Sunset, Final had a sneaking suspicion that it would haunt him for the rest of what could possibly be a very short life. After all, the girl was ridiculously powerful for a newbie. And as she got older, that power would only increase. On top of which, certain members of his squad, one of which had family connections that trumped his own on top of a great deal of magical power and another that had been around since the beginning of the Black Bulls wouldn’t be very happy with him for the foreseeable future. Maybe this was a mistake, the spatial mage told himself as he laid onto his back and put his hands behind his head. What was he supposed to do with Sunset, anyway? Most girls were impressed enough with his spatial magic and ability to take them basically anywhere for a date with next to zero travel time. The redhead had already been to a lot of places in the kingdom, came from an even more exotic location, and had tastes that Finral hadn’t even begun to discover. About the only thing he knew of which was that she didn’t like to eat mutton or beef. “So...maybe something culturally unique to humans, but somewhat related to horses?” he mumbled before trying to think of something. Like...horse races? Finral wondered as he tried to imagine what such a thing would be like… “Eeek!” Sunset cried as she watched the equines gallop past the finish line with their rides on top of them before turning to her date. “Finral, they’re beating those poor little horses!” Finral frowned. Wait, it would probably be something more like this, he thought before correcting his vision of things to come… There was a loud explosion that blew up the horse track as Sunset launched fireball after fireball at the arena to horse sports before turning on the crowd. “YOU MONSTERS! I’ll burn you all to ash for this display of cruelty! WHO CAME UP WITH SOMETHING THIS BARBARIC?” Everyone in the crowd pointed to the man sitting at a special box placed above the stands that the nobles were sitting in. There, King Clover let out a scream before Sunset launched herself at him. “SPORT OF KINGS THIS, YOU BASTARD!” Finral blinked as the vision ended with Sunset committing regicide. “Yeah...not a good idea to show her something like that,” he mumbled.  So, he needed to come up with something else. As Finral’s thoughts went from idea to idea that was thrown away for one reason or another, a shadow fell across his vision, and he looked ‘up’ from where he was laying to spot a killer pair of legs attached to a pair of velvet panties. “Oh, hey Vanessa,” Finral mumbled before sitting up and turning around. The fact that the resident near-nudist was actually wearing her clothes made Finral a little worried. Vanessa only put her clothes on at home when she was getting serious about something. “Hey Finral, I heard you’re taking my baby sister out on a date,” she asked before crossing her arms. Finral sat up and turned around to look at the hottest thing in the hideout before gulping. Despite being clothed, Vanessa looked hotter than ever. And the way she had her arms crossed pushed her breasts up just enough to make them look even bigger than they already were. “So, uh…” Finral fought to move his eyes off the woman’s ripe melons and up to her face as he got to his feet. “Y-Yeah. Me and Sunset are, g-going out.” The frown on the woman’s face made the spatial mage that much more nervous about his situation. Why was it that he felt like he just stole a cub from a mother bear’s den? “Look, Finral,” Vanessa began before she pointed a finger right at his nose. “I know you do things a certain way when you’re with girls. Sunset acts real tough, but the truth is, she’s still pretty naive and innocent. If you take advantage of that, I’m going to be very, very angry. Got it?” Finral slumped and sighed. “Yeah, I thought you’d say something like that,” he said before raising his hands up in a surrendering shrug. “But the thing is, I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with her. Where are you supposed to take an interdimensional horse?” The expression on Vanessa’s face didn’t budge as she withdrew her hand. “A playhouse. Take her to one that’s got a musical showing. Trust me, she’ll like that. But, no opras. Then go somewhere outside to eat. Actually, get the food to go, and use your spatial magic to take her somewhere scenic might be a better idea. That way, she doesn’t have to sit in a restaurant while everyone else orders food that makes her uncomfortable to be around.” With Vanessa giving him the unexpected advice, Finral could only stare at her in surprise for several seconds before finally finding his voice. “Oh-kay,” he said before thinking things over. “I do have some fancy clothes from a few years ago, but does Sunset-” “I’ll whip something up for her that will work,” Vanessa told him before she got closer to the man with a frown on her face. “This is her first real date. Make sure it’s classy, but not too stuffy. So comb your hair...which reminds me, I need to do Sunset’s...what do you think about her wearing her hair up?” Finral blinked. “Uh, Vanessa? I think you’re putting way too much thought into this.” Which, as it turned out, was the worst possible thing that Finral could say. Vanessa turned back to him with a glare that might have killed several other men right on the spot. “A girl can never put too much thought into her first date!” she exclaimed before blinking and frowning and again. “Which reminds me. No alcohol. I drank too much when I went out with my first guy, and it kills me that I still can’t remember what happened that night.” Dawn came, and Sunset found herself in Vanessa’s bedroom after both she and Noelle broke into the redhead’s quarters to drag her there. Hours later, having eaten a quick breakfast that Charmy brought up as part of what Sunset thought was some all female Black Bulls conspiracy plan, she looked at herself in the full body mirror the older woman kept on the inside of her closet door as Vanessa finished making the alterations to her green top. Which ended up turning it into a completely different set of clothes than what she had been wearing before. Instead of a blouse with a wide bottom that was more of a dress, Sunset found herself standing in a full-on gown. The dress still left her shoulders completely bare, relying on what Sunset could only guess was magic to keep it up. Magic, or her breasts, which looked a little bigger after Vanessa reworked her bra a bit to give them a better direction. Further down the fancy dress, sequins that had been removed from another piece of clothing sparkled a slightly darker green against the lighter color, while three layers of fabric composed what covered everything below her waist, including her feet. Sunset looked down at the sparkling gown that barely stopped a centimetre above the ground. “Are you sure this is going to be okay? I feel like I’m going to step on something.” “You’ll be fine,” Vanessa assured the redhead as she examined one of her own gloves, then cracked it like a whip as her thread magic went to work. A second later, the thinner, shorter glove that had all five fingers was colored white. She handed it to Sunset. “Now, try this on.” After doing like she was told, Sunset examined the long hand covering that almost went up to her elbow. “Uh, I think this is a bit long.” From her place in the corner, Noelle let out a discerning hum. “Actually, I’d say it’s too short,” she said before coming up to help Sunset out of it and handing it back to Vanessa. “Gloves like these have been out of style for months. Long ones that go up to the shoulder are back in.” Vanessa looked over to the shorter girl. “But, it’s still Summer.” “Since when has practicality mattered in the world of fashion?” Noelle countered before handing the clothing over to the witch and doing a once over of Sunset’s body. “Now, let’s see...what color lipstick do you have?” Feeling a little like a doll, Sunset frowned at the two of them. “Hey, shouldn’t I be the one deciding what I wear?” Both of the girls shared an even look before turning their attention back to Sunset and speaking in tandem. “No.” As Sunset gave them looks of disbelief, Noelle turned her attention back to Vanessa. “So, what about her hair?” the girl asked. “That is way too plain a style to be seen in a theater.” “I was thinking something like this,” she said before grabbing a book on a nearby dresser to show it to Noelle. The royal nodded. “Yeah. That’s in style too.” Vanessa nodded before she brought over the stool that had been resting under her dresser with its own little beautification station and mirror that magnified everything it reflected. The woman’s magic touched Sunset’s clothes, and she saw them unravel a second later to reassemble on top of Vanessa’s bed in pristine condition. “Okay, now sit down.” Fearing what might come next, Sunset did as she was told and planted her butt on the stool. That fear grew when Noelle grabbed her foot and gave it a careful study. “I think my sandals will fit you, and...hmmm, Vanessa? Do you have any red nail polish? Something just a tiny bit darker than Sunset’s hair. It will look good on her toes and fingers.” “Nobody is even going to see my toes and fingers!” Sunset exclaimed. Vanessa took a small bottle of polish out of her dresser and snorted. “That’s not the point.” A second later, Noelle touched the sole of Sunset’s foot with her fingers. “Now, behave, or I’ll tickle you.” The fear Sunset had been experiencing a moment ago returned a hundredfold and she quickly slouched in on herself. “I’ll be good.” Okay, let’s see, Finral thought as he looked himself over in the mirror and adjusted his dark green coat with gold stylings on the cuffs. Snazzy overcoat...check. Quality cologne… check. Clean teeth...check. Contraceptive...better leave that here...Vanessa might kill me. The last thing he got was a pair of tickets to the play, The Last Unicorn. It was supposed to be somewhat popular. Not enough to be sold out the night of the show, but not so much that Finral had his pick of seats, either.  With everything looking good, Finral headed out of his room and started down the stairs before running into Magna, who was coming up them. The man with the dark glasses blinked. “What the? What’re you up to, looking all fancy like that?” Finral rolled his eyes. “I’m going on a date, obviously.” “Pfft. Dude, you do that all the time without getting all fancy. What’s the deal with all...that?” Magna asked as he took a moment to gesture at Finral’s clothes. “You never put effort into going out on a date before.” The insult to all of his previous efforts made Finral’s eye twitch. “I’ve put plenty of effort into going on dates!” he exclaimed. Magna raised an eyebrow. “Then, how come you’re always striking out?” “That’s…” Finral frowned at the man, not wanting to explain to him the complex intricacies of going out with female companions. It wasn’t as if he was looking for a wife or anything. “...you know what? I don’t need the stairs.” The spatial mage opened up a portal, although Sunset said what he made was more like a tunnel, and jumped through it. With his end destination being the common room of the Black Bulls HQ, the travel time through the magical dimension he moved through was practically nothing, and Finral popped back up not a second later to see Vanessa standing behind...someone it took Finral a moment to recognize. Sunset looked...good. Not the smoking hot to mildly cute type Finral went for, and definitely not her usual mix of tomboy with too curvy a figure. She had a classical beauty about her that reminded him of high-born ladies. Except for one minor thing… “I swear, if you laugh, I’ll burn you half to death,” the girl in the bright green gown with her hair done up in a very classy bun threatened while she wore a scowl on her face. With all the mana flared up behind her, Finral had to gulp down his nervousness before he could speak. HOW CAN SOMEONE THAT CUTE BE THAT THREATENING? Finral asked himself. “N-Nice dress.” Thankfully, he didn’t have to deal with the irate outsider, as Vanessa reached over and pinched the girl on the shoulder, cutting off the aura of flaming doom before Sunset winced and gave Vanessa a look with her lips pressed together. “What?” she asked. “You said not to let me be pushed around.” “You can do that without looking like you want to kill him,” Vanessa scolded her before giving Finral a look he had seen many times before. “And you can behave for a single night.” Finral rolled his eyes at the way the witch was acting. “Yes mom, I’ll be sure to return your little girl, virtue intact.” As Sunset gave the older woman a pensive look, Vanessa rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m being the responsible one now. That should tell you something about this whole situation.” “Well, better get going,” he said before offering his arm for Sunset to take. … … … “Um...is your shoulder okay?” she asked in confusion. Finral had to fight to keep his smile steady. “Yes.” “...then, why are you sticking your elbow out like that?” Sunset asked while pointing to the arm he was holding out for her to take. Because of the more secure spatial magic blocker around the Noble Realm, Sunset and Finral had to use what looked to be a booming business thanks to the added security measures that prevented any spatial magic from being used. With the need to quickly move around the capital and spatial magic being slowed down around the mountain, a new kind of service industry had arisen to get things from point A to point B: magic carpets. The magic carpet that they took a seat on operated on the same principles as brooms, but were much more roomy, which meant that they had plenty of space for new passengers and cargo. While the mages that piloted the things weren’t even at Magna’s level when it came to available mana, they could fly wealthy-looking people around the city after they had been dropped off at the edge of the commoner town that surrounded it. Once they were in the air and moving, everything became a bit too quiet for much too long. “So...do you have plays...where you come from?” Finral asked. The asinine question made Sunset give him a half-lidded look. “Yes. If anything, we have more things than you people do,” she said before taking in a deep breath before letting it out. “Okay...sorry, trying to be pleasant. You let me look at your grimoire after all, and…” Sunset tried to think of a way to phrase what she was thinking of correctly. “Even though I have absolutely no interest in making babies with you, that doesn’t mean that there is zero chance I’ll meet someone who somehow manages attract my attention. So, I need to know what I’m doing when it comes time for that kind of social interaction.” Judging by the cringe stance that Finral had adopted, Sunset realized she probably could have phrased what she said a bit better. However, the explanation she gave the clothed ape wasn’t exactly true. Ever since she had come to Clover, Sunset had developed zero interest in the opposite sex, with just as little made in the way of girls. “Sorry,” she apologized. “I’m still working on the nice, personal interaction thing. At least when it comes to stuff I don’t normally do. Like this whole dating thing.” For some reason, Sunset felt a bit nervous after she finished talking. Which was an odd feeling, but one that she understood. With Finral being the expert, she was not only putting her education in his hands tonight, but putting him in the position to judge her behavior. The carpet landed near a large theater that looked about the size of the colosseum that Sunset took her Magic Knight Exam at, although the sight of it made her a little homesick. Somehow, it looked just like the Globe Trotter Theater back in Canterlot. Then again, there seems to be a lot of similarities between our worlds, Sunset thought to herself as she thought up just half a dozen parallels that didn’t make sense. Even if Starswirl had seen the human world, there was no way a single pony could have had such an influence on either society that they mirrored each other to the point that humans and ponies did. Finral gave Sunset the same confusing elbow gesture from before, and she looped her arm though it before moving forward with the older man and into the herd of humans that were heading inside the large building. The interior was just as opulent inside as the outside promised, with bright red rugs leading up the stairs in the middle to the second floor of seats and a dozen different kinds of fancy decorations scattered throughout the overgrown room Once they had gotten through the large doorway, movement became much easier as the crowd broke apart to do everything from search for the bathroom, to get in line for food. “So, you want some popcorn? It’s a tradition snack when-” Sunset decided to stop the man before he could finish. “No thanks.” Although Sunset hadn’t been to a play in the human world, she had eaten popcorn. The oddity of human teeth just weren’t made for the food. Stupid kernals got stuck in the most annoying places, and a human tongue just didn’t have the dexterity to remove them properly. When Finral winced, Sunset frowned at herself. Had that been too...her? She had said thanks. “Oh, Finral! I thought that was you!” The female voice made Sunset look behind her to see who had spoken. It was an older woman, older than even what Sunset’s real age was supposed to be. Although she was beyond the average height for a woman, the way she stood a little sunken made her look a great deal shorter. Flowing black hair fell past her shoulders down to touch the beginnings of her breasts that managed to show themselves in the low neckline of her fancy pink dress, and a pair of dark brown eyes managed to look both kind and tired at the same time as she looked at Finral. However, there was an oddity about her. While the woman had a good deal of mana, her body looked slightly pale and sickly. Sunset doubted she could express much of that magical energy as actual magic power to fuel her spells without her body giving out from the strain. Which contradicted almost everything Sunset knew about human magic. Humans with powerful magic were supposed to have equally powerful bodies. “F-Finnes?” he stuttered  Sunset looked back and forth between the two. “You know each other?” Finral cleared his throat. “Oh, um. Here, let me make the introductions,” he said before gesturing towards the tall woman with an open hand. “Sunset, this is Finnes Calmreich...my brother’s fiancee. Finnes, this is Sunset, she’s a squadmate of mine and-” The woman’s face brightened a little. “Oh, the...ahem, person from out of town?” she asked. Catching what the woman really meant, Sunset blinked. “You know about that?” “Oh yes, I tend to hear a good deal of things in my house,” she said with a pleasant smile before making a light bow of her head. Then, she took Sunset’s hands in her own to hold them gently. “It’s such a joy to know that you have decided to settle in Clover. I um…” She spared a moment to glance at Sunset’s date. “And don’t pay attention to the rumors about Finral, I know that he’ll make a good husband.” For his part, Finral looked like Finnes had just stabbed him through the heart. “S-Seriously?” he complained. Sunset didn’t appreciate the comment and gave the woman a little glare. “This is just a date.” “That’s how it always starts,” Finnes said in a gentle, but teasing manner before she let out a short series of coughs that shook her whole body. A second later, Finral was moving to support the woman to the point that he was almost holding her up. “Whoa, are you okay?” he asked before putting on a small frown. “Wait a second. What are you even doing here? Shouldn’t you be resting in bed?” The woman stopped coughing to give the man a little smile. “Probably. But, I fell asleep during the premiere showing, and just had to see the ending of this play. It was so booked up, this was the earliest date we could get seats for.” Sunset raised an eyebrow before she looked over to Finral. “If this play has been sold out that long, then how did you get any tickets?” “Well, we’re probably in cheaper seats,” Finral replied nervously before he turned his attention back to Finnes. “Now, what are you doing here alone? Sorry if this sounds bad, but you really should have someone around to watch after you if-” “Oh, you’re here,” a new voice cut into the conversation, making Finral stand up straight. Sunset turned to look at the speaker and blinked. He looked younger than Finral, but not by much, and there was a slight resemblance between the two that marked them as distant family. Standing a few inches shorter than Finral, the man had thick, wavy hair and a slight build that was wrapped in an air of superiority. “And you are?” she asked. The man gave Sunset a frown. “Aren’t you supposed to give your own name before demanding introductions?” “This is Sunset,” Finnes said as she stepped into the conversation to take the man’s arm. “A friend of the crown. Sunset, this is my fiancee, Langris Vaude.” Not one to let a friendly attempt to smooth over relations cool her temper after such a challenging first impression, Sunset crossed her arms. “Shouldn’t you have been helping your betrothed not collapse in the middle of a theater’s entryway?” Langris gave the redhead a frown, then looked over to Finral. “So, why are you here?” The question got another wince from Finral as Sunset’s eye twitched from being blown off. “Oh, just thought we’d take in a show.” “Say Langress,” Finnes spoke up, getting everyone to turn their heads towards her. “The other two seats in the booth don’t have anyone in them tonight, right? We should have your brother and his date join us.” As Finral became even more put off, Sunset blinked in surprise. Before looking back and forth between the two. “Different fathers?” “Mothers, actually,” Langris told her. But...they have different family names, Sunset thought to herself. Stupid humans and their complicated naming systems. Just when she thought she had it figured out, they go and throw her a curve. In what was quickly shaping up to be the worst date of his life, Finral found himself sitting on the far right of a group of four seats, next to Sunset as she sat between him and Finnes, with Langris on the far left. The seats were in a raised part of the theater, far above the normal seating most people were stuck in and even the second level of more affluent supporters of the arts. A private box for the most elite of the Clover Kingdom. “So,” Sunset spoke up as she looked back and forth between the two brothers. “The two of you are brothers. That would mean, you’re a spatial mage as well, Langris?” The question got a little snort from the younger Vaude. “Don’t compare what I do to anything my older brother is capable of,” he replied in a haunty voice. “My spatial magic is used for combat. His can only shuttle people from one point to another.” Sunset gave him an even look. “So, does that mean you can’t do what every other spatial mage on the planet can?” “If I wanted to, sure,” he replied with a shrug. “That’s what makes me so much better than my older brother. And why I’ve been given the responsibility of handling House Vaude.” A disapproving sound came from Finnes before she looked back to Sunset. “Not that Finral isn’t a fine magic knight.” Don’t drag me into this, Finral screamed as he found himself pulled into the simmering argument. “Well...that’s...debatable,” he said to try and appease his brother, who was clenching his jaw so hard that Finral was surprised that his teeth hadn’t broken under the pressure. However, after hearing Langris’s last comment, Sunset’s expression became more interested than angry. “Really? The younger brother is taking control of the family?” she asked as a tiny smile appeared on her face. “I thought it was first come, first serve when titles were involved among the nobility. You must be really talented for your family to go against tradition.” “Don’t just write it off with a word like talent,” Langris told her. “I had to work hard to get where I am today.” Then, he looked at Finral with a frown. “My brother being such a slacking failure that only cared about hanging out with girls and making friends with losers just meant that I had the opportunity to do so.” Sunset leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms before looking back ahead, taking a moment to turn her eyes over to Finral, then moved them over to Langris before sparing a look at Finral again. After that, she just looked down at the floor. “It’s like looking into a pair of enchanted mirrors that went in opposite directions,” she mumbled.  The odd comment killed the tension that Finral felt building in the air. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked. “Hm?” Sunset replied as she looked over to the older man before leaning her head back against her seat. “It’s just...looking at the two of you, I think I can actually see the different paths my life could have gone down, if I had never come to Clover. Of course, I spent my whole life studying magic and working my butt off while a dozen other people followed behind me, just waiting for a misstep so they could try and take my place. Then, right as I’m about to move on to the next level, the idiot I was supposed to look up to the most tells me to go make some friends instead of studying, secure in her position of power.” Once her story was finished, Langris let out a laugh. “Ha! I think I might have misjudged you.” Before the conversation could continue, the curtain behind the private seats was pulled back, and Finral saw the theater staff wheel in a cart loaded with the orders that had been placed earlier. Being in a box seat meant that they were afforded a few special privileges not allotted to people that were packed together in the seats below. Like complete meals served to them throughout the show and a refilling of drinks. Which had Sunset drinking after a little bit of social pressure from seeing everyone else ordering a little, although not to the point of Vanessa’s binges. The play was...okay. Although, Finral wasn’t much of an arts connoisseur. It was based off of an idea that had made the rounds in society a year previous, about a post magic world where everyone had to make do without grimoires, society had more or less devolved into tiny despot kingdoms and widespread banditry, and the only trace of magic left in the world were a few magical creatures that were hidden away for one reason or another. Not that unicorns actually existed...before Sunset came around, at least. About the only thing Finral enjoyed about the whole play was Sunset’s reaction to it. “Just a bit of hair on the end of her tail?” Sunset grumbled with a snort before she took a hold of the wine she hadn’t even touched throughout dinner while the illusion of the unicorn pranced across the stage. “That’s stupid.” Of which… “A traveling circus of fake magical animals, where she has to have magic cast on her so everyone can see a fake horn? How convoluted can you get?” the redhead mumbled after taking a sip of the red liquid in her goblet. ...she had plenty… “Oh yeah, turn her into a human. So original,” Sunset commented before she downed her entire glass of wine. ...until the end… “So, an immortal white horse used a poor prince that did everything to try and win her love before she got him killed at the end. Only to bring him back to life now that he has nothing before saying how she loved him while the guy is standing next to the ruins of his castle...and then she runs off while everyone goes on about how she’s the one who is suffering the most,” Sunset summarized with a little flush to her cheeks as she crossed her arms and tapped a finger against one of her elbows. “...yeah, seems legit.” With Sunset in a sour mood that the alcohol only made worse, Finral gave Finnes an apologetic look. “I think we should be moving on. Thanks for the invitation to your private seating.” Finnes gave the man a little smile. “Oh, it’s alright,” she replied before glancing over to Sunset. “Looking at it the way your friend does, I have to admit. It seems a rather odd way to end a play.” Before Sunset could interject in the conversation, Finral opened a spatial portal to their next destination and led her through after a few quick goodbyes. A few seconds later, they stepped out onto a hill that had a good view of both the capital and the night sky. It was a good hour earlier than Finral had expected to come, but with Sunset getting surly, he was thinking it was probably a good idea to call things off a bit early. “Hmm,” Sunset went before Finral could suggest heading back to the hideout before she stumbled forward and looked around. “Open sky, good view of the city, nobody around...oh! This is where you want us to get naked!” “SAY WHAT?” Finral screamed. WE’RE ONLY ON THE FIRST DATE! Sunset actually giggled before stumbling forward a few steps before frowning. She looked down at her feet and there was a light pop before she got just a tiny bit shorter. A second later, she was holding Noelle’s sandals. “That’s better. No idea how Noelle walks around in these things.” As the girl threw away her footwear, Finral held up his hands. “Hold on Sunset, I don’t think you should-” “Stop with just the footwear? Good idea!” she said before Finral could finish. There was a loud pop, and after his eyes adjusted from the bright light, Finral let out startled cry at what he saw. Sunset wasn’t naked, but she was just about the closest thing to it! Even her bra had been removed, and she gently massaged her bare breasts while looking down at herself. Everything but her black panties had completely vanished. “Sooooo much better. Push-up bras suck,” she grumbled before looking to Finral. “Okay so...this is the part where you try and put the moves on me, right?” The odd question got Finral’s attention away from Sunset as she played with her nipples, but he didn’t recover very much of his wits. “Come again?” “Vanessa said you were going to try and kiss me and junk,” she replied before taking in a deep breath. “Which is actually what I want, so...get to it already. I need the practice!” Finral took a step back, which only made Sunset’s frown return before she pounced towards the nervous man. Their bodies collided, and Finral found himself pinned to the ground by his shoulders as Sunset straddled his body with her lips pushed together. “S-Sunset, now what a second!” Not even doing that, Sunset lowered herself down until their noses were touching and...frowned. “How do you get these things out of the way?” “...huh?” Finral replied, what with him having no clue what she was going on about. Sunset picked herself back up as she gave an aggravated whine. “The noses! See, this is why ponies nuzzle! It’s way easier. Stupid humans and your lip obessions!” she grumbled. The absurdity of the moment hit Finral hard. “That can’t seriously be the only problem you see with the two of us being out here like this!” Finral exclaimed as the nearly naked girl squirmed on top of him. “Hm?” Sunset replied before she looked around. “Yeah, suppose you got a point,” she replied before she sat up straight and removed the pressure from Finral’s shoulders as her hands began to glow. A second later, a thick blanket appeared underneath the two of them, which was followed by a pair of pillows, and then another bedsheet that came into existence over them before gently floating down to cover Sunset’s shoulders. Not that it stopped Finral from seeing the supple breasts that gravity was pulling down as Sunset sat on top of him. They had definitely gotten bigger since the last time Finral had laid eyes on them. “And now, your stuff,” Sunset said before a loud pop took away everything but Finral’s underwear. Then, she was back on top of him, her almost naked body pressing down on his as she leaned in close enough for Finral to feel her breath on his face. She licked her lips, making Finral gulp as she asked. “Okay...now what?” Finral blinked and the tension he felt just flowed out of him to be replaced by confusion. “Huh?” A groan came from Sunset before she straightened her back as she sat up. “Your mouth, stupid!” she exclaimed. “How am I supposed to kiss someone without their mouth getting in the way? I mean, their muzzle. Nose! It’s a nose, right   “See? This is the whole point of us going out here, right? We get naked, press our lips together, suck on the others mouth and swap spit in some kind of premature mating ritual!”  “When you say it like that, it just sounds weird,” Finral told her. Sunset gave another groan before she rolled off of Finral, taking the sheet with her to leave them both exposed to the open air as she fell onto her back next to him. “Well of course it’s weird. This whole stupid thing is weird. All humans are weird!” she exclaimed before licking up a foot to hold it there, wiggling her toes as she did. “Just look at this. You’re supposed to walk on these things, but half the places you step are too hot, to hard, too sharp, or have stupid little prickly things that go right through your skin like it’s not even there! What kind of species can’t even get around on its own two feet?” Despite the outpouring of thoughts from the redhead, Sunset’s garbled rant told Finral that she wasn’t so out of it to be unreachable. More philosophical level drunk than anything else. “Well…” Finral stopped when he noticed Sunset was still playing with her feet. “Everything okay?” Blushing, Sunset put her leg down. “I like having toes,” she mumbled before going silent for several seconds. “So...we’re not making out?” After taking a moment to think about it, and processing the weird feeling of turning a girl down, Finral gave Sunset her answer. “No,” he said. The words left a bad taste in his mouth. “...did I do something wrong?” she asked as she looked up at the sky. Finral blinked, thinking back on the date. While he had been on worse, he had to admit that it hadn’t been all that great. “Well, you talked a bit too much during the play. What was up with that, anyway?” “The story didn’t make any sense,” Sunset replied before frowning. “And the main character got really stupid. I mean, she’s supposed to be this big immortal white horse, but she’s acting all innocent and junk. Nobody that old is that stupid. Plus, her tail was stupid. Unicorns have hair all over their tails.” A large puff of smoke accompanied Sunset’s statement, and the next thing Finral knew, he was laying next to a completely naked four foot unicorn that had the same color pattern in her hair as Sunset. The mare rolled over onto its belly to stand up and swish her tail around. “See? Plenty of hair,” she said before falling back onto her side. Finral gave the pony an even look. “I think you’re missing the point of plays in general. You’re not supposed to get tied up in the facts. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.” “So I should just shut up and nod my head, no matter how stupid everything I’m seeing is?” Sunset asked in anger before giving off a snort that no human could hope to duplicate after she rolled around until her back was to Finral. “That’s dumb.” Not wanting to get into an argument over something so meaningless, Finral went back to looking up at the stars. The longer he looked at them, the more he got the feeling that this was about more than just a play. While Sunset had plenty of emotional moments, she didn’t keep them going for very long. Her current one had started just about the moment she saw the illusion of the talking white horse galloping around on the stage.  So, Finral decided to wade into danger. “Hey Sunset, is everything okay with you?” he asked. After taking a very deep breath, Sunset let out a long sigh. “Hey Finral, are you happy with where you are today?” she asked. Not following the pony at all, Finral could only blink. “Huh?” “It’s just…” Sunset took in a breath. “Remember what I said before the play started? All my life, I worked my butt off, like your brother. I had to, or I would have been deemed useless and thrown out on my ass. I took joy in my accomplishments, but all of that praise only came from a single person. But…” She sighed and figited around a little. “For almost two and a half years now, I’ve spent time with others and formed bonds that I never would have before. I’m wondering if things would have been better if I had just been like you and slacked off.” Finral looked back up at the sky and frowned as he took a moment to really think about what the unicorn had said. “You’re being too extreme,” he said. “I slacked off because my father didn’t like the way I used spatial magic. My family warps space and uses it as a weapon to create an attack that can’t be blocked, no matter how powerful the defense. But I hate fighting. It’s not just getting hurt either, although I’m a pretty big coward, the idea of hurting anyone twists my stomach. So, I ended up being a failure in my father’s eyes. That’s why I always asked my brother to come and slack off with me from time to time. He thought that because I had taken the position away from me, Dad would take it away from him if he slacked off. The truth of it was that Father never wanted me to run the family because of how I used magic, so I never bothered to learn how.” “But, are you happy, with things the way they are?” Sunset asked. The question made Finral think about his life. After getting his grimoire, Finral had found his life lacking something. He still lived at his family estate and was given all the luxuries of a noble life, which meant plenty of wine and lots of women. But none of that had really mattered to him. Something had been missing from his life. And then, he met Finnes. Her beauty had only been part of the reason why Finral had been so speechless when he first met her. Although, a fifteen-year-old being told they were going to be able to get it on with a twenty-year-old woman with a full-developed figure certainly helped. The reason she still made him think about her to this day was... “You’re a very kind and considerate person. So, if you ask me, you’re a better mage than your brother will ever be,” the memory of Finnes said as they had sat in the family estate’s garden. Because of that, Finral had decided to try joining the Magic Knights, if just to see if he could do it, to see if someone else thought he was worth something. Yami had taken him in when the other captains had decided not to bother since they already had spatial mages in their ranks. Then, after Langris was named the official head of House Vaude, Finral left the family permanently, changing his name to Roulacase, which was his mother’s maiden name. But even now, that something was still missing from his life. “No, I’m not happy with my life,” he finally told her with a sigh. “I’ve got good friends in the Black Bulls, but I spent my whole life slacking off and being an underachiever. Having friends helps not pay attention to my own feelings, but the truth of things is, I hate myself. Especially when I look at you, Noelle and Asta.” Sunset rolled onto her belly and gave the man a hurt look. The fact that she was currently too adorable than a puppy made Finral feel like kicking himself in the balls. “What did I do?” she asked. After pulling out the nonexistent daggers that had flown into his heart, Finral sighed. “Asta doesn’t have a bit of magic, but he trains every day without stopping. Noelle has a ton of magic, but she still works every day on control. And you? You’ve got more magic than anybody on the squad, short of Yami. If anyone should be laying around on their butt with all the excuses to slack off, it’s you. But every day, you’re up earlier than any of us, studying, training, and helping out with the chores. It’s enough to make me realize just how pathetic I really am.” “Then change who you are,” Sunset told him. Finral snorted. “You make it sound so simple.” The comment made Sunset frown at him. “Just because I can say it in a single sentence doesn’t make it sound simple. I grew up with everything given to me because of my talent. Then, I had nothing. Do you have any idea what that’s like? Not a Black Bulls pay once a month kind of nothing, an actual danger of starvation during Winter kind of nothing. And I had to take care of kids half the time. For the first time in my life, I was the adult in the room,” she went on. “So, I changed. It was slow, it was hard, it was absolutely maddening at times, but I did it. And if you want to change too, I can help you along.” “You know...you don’t sound as drunk as you did a second ago,” Finral pointed out as the pony got to her feet, or...hooves. Sunset snorted in that odd horse way again. “Please, you humans have such weak stomachs. This level of fruit juice is nothing to a pony,” she said before the items the little horse had created popped out of existence, making Finral get to his feet while still in his underwear. “Now, hurry up and make with the gateway home.” With the little horse turning into a bossy nag, Finral did as instructed before she could gore him with that horn of hers that happened to be very crotch level. A portal opened up to the space between space and they traveled through it. Only after he was about to drift through the other end did Finral remember that he was nearly naked. When they came back to the headquarters, Finral froze when he saw Vanessa sitting on the couch, completely sober. She took one look at him and Finral was doing his best to quickly come up with something, anything to explain his lack of clothes. Then, after Sunset landed next to him with a little clip clop, Vanessa just stared. She slowly turned her eyes to Sunset, then to Finral, and back to Sunset. “Yeah...I’m not drunk enough to have this kind of conversation,” she said before walking over to the bar and snagging half of the liquor with her magical thread to take it upstairs with her. Wait...does she think...with the PONY? Finral asked himself. Sunset blinked. “What’s she so put off for? All we did was roll around in the grass for a bit. And then you gave me a ride.”