I was standing in the throne room, it had been hours of the three princesses and me discussing a few things actually, but mostly what the Tree of Harmony told me. Budgeting and management took most of our time during the discussion, actual personnel was another issue. With only five pip-boys, we would have a six person strong action team, but I suggested just keeping that as the special task force. The biggest problem was why we needed this task force, not even the Tree of Harmony knew why it was needed, just that it felt like it was
"We know the Tree almost inside and out, but do not see enough evidence to needing this 'task force' of special forces"
"Besides, with the upcoming festivities, such a large project might cause the populace to panic. It is the first Nightm- Ahem, sorry, Night of candy offerings since Princess Luna came back"
"It is quite fine, dear Cadence. Prince Luis's, what did you call it? PR campaign? Yes, that has done wonders to lessen public fear of my... my past. It is still a sore time of mine, but Nightmare night and Nightmare Moon are names I can... stand now. So, please Princess, don't change the name for me," Cadence smiled back as an answer
"Getting back on track, I guess we can keep this aside for the time being"
"That would be best"
"I just hope this doesn't come back and bite us in the... rear"
All three princesses giggle, "Let us hope that does not happen"
"Thank you for your time princesses. I'll take my leave," I did a bit of a bow
"Day court is adjourned for today," she said giving a sigh, then she turned to Luna "Sister, the throne room is all yours"
"Aunt Luna, I can stay with you for a couple of hours if you want"
"There is no need, Cadence. We can handle night court"
Cadence and Luna kept talking, but Celestia came up to me, "You did quite well in your first court discussion," she said with a small chuckle
"I was nervous. Did I use the right language? Like the right words and stuff?"
She smiled at me and placed an arm over my shoulder, "For the most part. Try avoiding things such as 'I guess' and 'I'm not sure'. Though, it does depend on the context," as she finished, we stopped at the door, "I suppose now you'll be returning to Ponyville for the night..." she said with a hint of sadness at the end
The door opened and on the other side was Noctis, Nimble and even Blueblood, the latter who kept avoiding everyone's eyes at the castle the whole day, "Actually, Nimble wants to see what kinds of costumes we could find in Canterlot for Nightmare night," I turned to Nimble, "Speaking of which, how was costume hunting today?"
"We only found costumes for fillies... or pirate costumes..." he mumbled
"Hmm... I see..." I said while scratching my chin, "How about something from my world? How does that sound?"
His eyes lit up, "Really?!" he started jumping a little, breathing a lot faster, "Is it a space ranger? An alien?! OOH! OOH! Some sort of human guard?!!"
"Uhhh... Maybe?" Now I have to think of something... Maybe... Indiana Jones? Since he's basically Daring do... "Depends on what we have time to make, you know?" Yeah, Indiana Jones without the whip, I turned to Noctis, "How was your day? Picked out a dress yet?"
"I actually think Rarity might be the best option for that, surprisingly," she said with lopsided smile
"In that case, I guess I'll get my suit from Rarity too. You know, to match"
She stifled a laugh, "It's going to be so frilly"
"That's the second time someone said that to me. She's still demanding for me to commission her a suit since the first time she offered too," I laughed slightly into my hand
"H-h-hi aunt- PRINCESS!! Princes Celestia...!" Blueblood said very shaky
He's losing his nerve! Are you kidding me?!
"It's okay, Blueblood. We talked about this quite a while back, although, I can assume you don't feel quite comfortable in the castle yet," Celestia said with an air of understanding
I jumped into the conversation, "You know, the next step of your 'training' is to come back to the castle, but you won't get your title of prince back. You'll find out why once you get your title back," I gave Blueblood a thumbs up, "Congratulations, you graduated phase two of my reformation program! Phase three starts when you move back here, so if you don't feel ready yet, you can stay with us in Ponyville for a while longer"
"Don't worry, Blueblood, Luis and I talked about it. You have our full support," Noctis reassured him
I turned back to Blueblood. He was petrified, his eyes glued on Celes- no, his vision was unfocused, filled with fear, shaking all over, "I... I... I don't think I'm ready," he ripped his gaze off and down to the ground, forcing his eyes shut, "I'm sorry..."
I had asked Elusive to help me make Nimble a costume, but he was far too occupied with commissions. Apparently he followed my advice to act more natural with customers, surprisingly, even more ponies were willing to buy from him. Trust goes both ways more than I thought I guess
Anyways, with Nightmare Night just around the corner, and me running out of time to get costumes, I had to resort to Rarity. I really didn't want her to do her own spin on the costume, but I already promised myself to trust more, so here I am
I knocked on the door of the boutique, Come on, she wouldn't do that right? I mean she's a professional... but her ideas... I shuddered a little thinking of her first design idea for me
"Oh! Luis! Darling, what brings you here tonight?" Rarity then put a bit of a manic look, "Are you finally getting that suit I promised to make? Hmm?"
I recoiled back a little, Maybe this wasn't such a good idea... swallowing my pride, I spoke, "Uhm, no, sorry. Just came to ask if you could help me with a costume for Nimble"
"Certainly, darling. What kind of aunt would I be if I didn't" she said in a somewhat deranged tone
"Uhh... he's not-"
"Darling..."
"Yep, your nephew!" I should have just let her make me a suit... she gets so creepy with me since I said no, I thought following her inside. Her shop was as pristine as ever, You're just here for Nimble's sake... His costume... Costume! "Rarity, speaking of a suit-"
Suddenly she was right on my face, with a smile that would make the Cheshire cat think twice, "YEEEESS, DAAAARRLIIING??"
I have opened Pandora's box... I gulped, "I have and idea for costume for myself... It's kind of like a suit. How would you feel about it?"
"What I feel?"
Goodbye cruel world...
"That sounds splendid!" she said, her attitude becoming normal again, "Sorry for making you uncomfortable, Luis. I don't know what got into me"
"I-i-it's fine... hehe"
"Sorry about Nimble. I don't feel like... I just-"
"It's fine, no one has ever refused your generosity and then I came along and did. You just had a minor case of a serious mental breakdown. I understand," Is she... fine now?
"About your costumes? What did you have in mind?"
"Something from my world actually," I took out my laptop and put up a picture of Indiana Jones, "Out of all the ideas I showed Nimble, he liked this one the most. He's the human version of Daring Do, you see? And he loves those books. So the idea of a different and unique version of her, kind of resonated with him. And you know how little colts are, seeing this guy be cool and all. He was... inspired to say the least"
"I can see why a young colt like Nimble might like him. He looks even better than Luis," tha last part was obviously for herself, but that didn't stop my ears from hearing it
Did she just... I don't mind losing to Harrison Ford, "Compared to him, how do I look," I asked as casual as I could
"If he's a ten then- HEY!! That was impolite to ask a lady that, Prince," she said, mocking me with the tittle
"I tried..." I shrugged, "Am I close to looking like him though? Serious question"
Rarity blushed a little, "You are certainly not far behind, if that's what you mean"
I nodded with pride, I look almost as good as he does? Not bad, not bad at all...
"Although..."
Please don't call me ugly after that...
"I cannot make the whip. Not my business, you see. Nor do I have a license or knowledge to make such a thing"
I sighed, Thank god... "Oh, that? I was going to tell you 'no whip' but I guess I don't have to"
"Now for your costume, darling. You said it was similar to a suit?"
"Yeah," I changed the picture on the computer to what my costume was going to be, "This is what it's going to look when fully assembled"
It was a few days after my little encounter with Rarity, who thankfully was now more stable around me, and just yestarday I got in contact with Cutting Edge for an update on our project and to ask him for a piece for my costume. He agreed
We left Nimble with the CMCs at Rarity's not too long ago, Sorry Rarity... and Noctis and I went on a walk around the outskirts of town fairly far away from town in fact. The dirt was soft, only animal tracks around, and a lake in the distance. This lake, by the way, is the one we usually go to for picnics with the girls. Funny enough, even Blueblood has become part of the posse, and Spike has kept him in check with Rarity. I chuckled at the memories of Spike giving Blueblood the stink eye
"What are you thinking?" Noctis said, snapping me from my thoughts
"Just remembering the... what's the word...? Problem? I guess? The problem Spike has with Blueblood over Rarity"
She giggled too, "I don't think Blueblood is even interested in Rarity"
"I know! He's oblivious to all the flags Rarity raised"
"Yeah... So, why did you want to come here?" her curiosity seeping in her words
I sat down just before the shore of the lake prompting my torso up with my arms, "Just to relax," I turned to her with a heartfelt smile, "With you"
Noctis joined me, resting her head on my shoulder, "That sounds nice"
I laid my head on hers and just enjoyed the cold afternoon air
I slowly woke up feeling quite well. Judging by the sun, I'm guessed we slept for about an hour, Probably more...
Noctis in the other hand was still sound asleep, drooling a little bit, "She must feel really comfortable," I whispered to myself while pushing some hair off her face. I simled as I gave her a look over
She had returned a bit to her habit of suits, kind of. She was indeed wearing dress pants again with button blouses this time and no vest. Not bad if you ask me
Me? I now use the faux leather jacket everyday with plain t-shirts and jeans, also my hair was very much similar to the 'colonial' from FO4, quite a bit longer actually. In other news, denim has actually started to become more popular here, it used to be just used by farmers and other labourers, but more ponies are using them more often, even in Canterlot. I wonder if I had something to do with it. It at least made the royal advisors think twice about my wardrobe, so my clothes are my choice. As long as I don't look like I live in a dumpster anyways
I started scratching Noctis behind her ears which she started to enjoy quite a bit, leaning into my hand. Then she woke up, our eyes connected as she started to blush very brightly in embarrassment
"Don't do that... it's demeaning..." she said, clearly trying not to enjoy the feeling. I stopped petting though, just to 'test the waters' as it were
"Sleep well?" I finished with a kiss
"I... yeah..." she gave me an innocent look, "Can you... can you, you know, continue?"
I smiled back, scratching her ear again, "Of course I can"
Suddenly there was a low grumbling noise which made me stop. Noctis looked up to me, "Are you okay?"
"Did you hear that? Like a low grumbling, barely audible," Was that my imagination?
"I didn't hear a thing," she shot a sly smiled at me, "Are you hungry and not want to admit it?"
"Not really..." Maybe it was nothing... hopefully...
"By the way. How's your little stargate system going?" she asked as I continued to pet her
"Just have Cloudsdale and Stratusburg left. The two cloud cities in Equestria... Hmm... You know, I haven't tried to walk on clouds yet... Not without a spell, so maybe I can"
"Do you want me to bring a cloud over?"
"Sure, I guess"
Noctis then proceeded to snuggle up closer to me, "Nah. Maybe later"
I hugged her tighter, "I think I can wait"