Willow giggled. “It’s not so bad waking up like this, is it?”
Caleb sighed. “I suppose not. It’s just that they keep throwing us in bed together without asking. And I can tell that I’m naked again.”
The mare stretched languorously. “I still don’t get what your obsession with clothing is all about, especially in bed.”
“You’d know why I want to wear at least pants if you had to cope with male genitals. Anyway, do you want to shower this morning?”
“Hmm?” Her head ducked under the sheets for a moment and her nose was wrinkled when she emerged. “Phew! We both need it. We put in quite a lot of work yesterday.”
“You can go first. It’ll give you more time to dry your coat and mane.”
Willow pushed back the covers and rolled off the mattress, landing neatly on all four hooves. “Thanks. Meanwhile, you’ll find something to wear before you have to take it off again to wash, right?” She smirked.
“Now you’re getting it.”
The mare giggled as she headed for the bathroom. The human leaned back into his pillow and sighed again. It seemed he was fated to be embarrassed by these nudist ponies, so he may as well get used to it. At least, he couldn’t complain about the sleep that he had gotten the past couple of nights. He could seldom recall being so well-rested. His stomach gurgled, reminding him that he needed breakfast.
“Time to stir your bones,” he told himself as he pushed away the deliciously warm covers. “Now, where are my pants?”
When Caleb and Willow entered the dining room, they found Twilight Sparkle there as well as Vectrix. The man reasoned that they had gone to sleep very early, so they had woken up in time to join the alicorn for breakfast.
“Good morning, Princess,” the man said respectfully.
She looked at the newcomers with bleary eyes. “Just *yawn* Twilight, please,” she replied sleepily.
Judging by the empty mug and lack of anything on the table in front of the alicorn, Caleb reckoned that Twilight had just risen and she was not a morning person. On the other hand, Vectrix looked bright and alert. “Would you be responsible for me and Willow ending up in bed again?”
“Partly. Princess Twilight did the actual deed.”
Caleb figured that getting mad at his host wasn’t going to achieve much, especially when she was still half-asleep. He would have a word with her in private later when she was more alert.
Spike walked in with a tray bearing food and a coffee pot. “Hi, there! I’ll get you two your breakfasts just as soon as I finish with Twilight’s.” He placed the tray on the table and put pancakes and syrup in front of the alicorn before pouring a cup of coffee. He left the pot with the alicorn. Without thinking, the purple mare wrapped a wing around it protectively. Spike smiled at the earth pony and human. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Twilight had already consumed half of her mug’s contents and was intent on demolishing the other half, so Caleb turned his attention to Vectrix. “So, what’s the itinerary for today?”
“You’ve still got two welding units to test, but you’ll want to meet your assistants first. That way, you can bring them up to speed with the new equipment.”
“Will they be learning how to weld too?”
“Yes. Originally, they were just going to learn the principles in so far as they affected their areas of responsibility. However, both expressed interest in doing the full course.”
“And what would their responsibilities be?”
“They will provide whatever is needed for your apprentices. Your assistants will offload you of tasks that would keep you from concentrating on teaching your special skill. For example, if you need a part turned in a lathe or an apprentice taught how to use that tool, your assistants will take care of it. You’ve seen the workshop, so the students will be able to work on practical applications of all kinds rather than just random pieces of steel welded together. Nikos is a smith and he’s interested in how the new technology affects his trade.”
“Nikos doesn’t sound like a pony name,” Caleb commented.
“That’s because he’s a minotaur,” Vectrix explained. “On the other hoof, Coiled Steel is an earth pony mare. She’s familiar with all workshop processes, whether it be bending, folding, drilling, or lifting. She was a workshop foremare before volunteering for this position, so she’ll be able to keep your students in line if needed.”
“They sound like interesting people to know. Anything else?”
“While Equestria has milling machines and lathes that can work metal, we don’t have anything like the CNC models in the workshop. Nikos and Coiled Steel are very keen on getting you to show them how those work.”
Caleb smiled. “And perhaps do some playing on them for their own special projects?”
The changeling shrugged. “You know how it is with big kids and their bigger toys.”
The man nodded his head and laughed.
Vectrix patted a folder that lay on the table to his right. “I have here the extract from the Equestrian Board of Education with the regulations that pertain to your school. There’s a caveat that these rules might need to be amended in light of experience with the new discipline, but as yours isn’t the only type of trade school in Equestria, it’s unlikely to be an issue. Anyway, I suggest you study it well before your first class.”
“Fair enough. I’m new to this side of things, so I’d better know my stuff before trying to teach.”
Twilight finished her second cup of coffee by then and was looking considerably more alert. “The E.B.E. comes under my area of responsibility, so if you have any problems, don’t hesitate to come to me about them.”
“I’ll do that, thanks.”
Spike emerged from the kitchen just then with a steaming pile of pancakes, so Caleb and Willow concentrated on their breakfast for the moment. The dragon also supplied both of them with coffee and fruit juice.
After a few minutes, Caleb asked, “Will Prince Mark be joining us?”
Vectrix shook his head. “Not today – he’s got other obligations to tend to. The time he spent with you on the search the other day left him with a bit of a backlog, so he and Queen Chrysalis gave me detailed instructions on what to do if needed. Consider me your right-hoof stallion.”
“Yeah, I suppose a nation’s ruler has only so much spare time.”
“The Prince did say that you’re always welcome to see him whenever he’s not holding a Court session. After all, this is still his special project.”
“I’ll try not to abuse that, although I already have a few things I’ll need to discuss with him before we get into full swing.”
“That’s not unexpected. There are always going to be unanticipated details in any new endeavor.”
Caleb looked at Vectrix keenly. “You know, for someone who is supposed to be a Royal Guard, you seem pretty up to speed on a totally unrelated professional project.”
The changeling chuckled. “Companions are different from most other changelings. Adaptability is our major trait, and I’m not just referring to our ability to shape-change. If we don’t bond with another being or quickly find a vocation that we enjoy, we go into a holding profession. We often serve the Crown or the Hive in some form until our circumstances change. I became a Royal Guard, as do many others of my kind.”
“So, what changed for you? Why were you really assigned to me?”
Vectrix sighed. “Am I really that easy to read? Fine. I admit that I approached the Queen for the job.”
“Why?”
“You passed by me in the castle and I felt a sympathetic pull. Remember what I told you about how we form bonds with ponies and other creatures? That is how it starts.”
Caleb frowned. “You mean that when you told me you hoped for that to happen to you, it had already begun?”
“I believed so. The time we have spent together has only strengthened that feeling.”
“What makes you think I will feel the same?”
“Caleb, look at me. While my form resembles a pony, I have a carapace rather than a coat. My wings are similar to an insect’s. I have fangs. My eyes are softly glowing orbs. We’re often called bug ponies but we’re something completely different – so different that many beings are repulsed by us at first sight. And yet, when we first met outside Prince Mark’s office, you were okay with me, and when we went to the tavern, we enjoyed a beer together like old buddies. Why is that?”
The man reviewed the event in his mind and realized that what Vectrix had said was true – he had been instantly comfortable with the changeling. “You’re right, I don’t normally warm up to strangers that quickly, especially someone who’s just thrust upon me. Yet I instantly felt like I knew you.”
Twilight spoke up. “My husband says that bonding occurs when your souls are in harmony. As that is one of the most powerful influences in this world, it’s hard to refute.”
“That’s… a little bit scary. It’s not quite like anything I’m used to back on Earth.”
Vectrix said, “That’s why I was trying to ease you into it. To me, it’s a wonderful thing to be desired. To you, it’s a frightening unknown. You told me that we would have to discuss the supposed benefits of being bonded, but I felt that you needed to experience some of them for yourself first. You already know about the tavern, but yesterday was more telling. We were working together without words for half the day, each of us instinctively knowing what the other needed. A partner bond is the most intimate relationship you will ever have, and I’m not talking about sex. We would share our joys and our sorrows equally. Our partners’ needs are our needs. We would hate being separated even for a short time. It’s both the most gravely serious and the most wonderful thing you would ever commit to. And it’s for life.”
Caleb frowned. “Commit? You make it sound as if I have a choice but it seems I have been willingly going along with this from the start like it’s a forgone conclusion.”
“I told you that a bond can’t be forced. While a changeling will never reject a bond, the potential partner has to go into it with a clear desire. You haven’t reached that point quite yet.”
“I see. When will I be?”
“When you don’t need to ask that question anymore.”
Caleb regarded the changeling for a long moment. He thought he could sense Vectrix’s barely restrained desire to complete their partnership. But it was too soon for the man. A lifetime commitment to a ‘bug pony’ was an enormous step that he was not ready to take yet. “You know, this would be a lot easier if you were a pretty woman doing the asking,” Caleb said with a weak grin.
“I could be if you wanted it,” Vectrix replied. “Shape-changer, remember?”
Caleb’s eyes widened. “What? Aren’t you male?”
“My base sex is male, but my gender is whatever I want it to be. Like I said earlier, changelings are adaptable.”
“I thought you said a bond wasn’t about sex?”
“It isn’t, but it can be one of the perks.”
“O-k-a-y… That’s something I’m really going to have to mull over.”
“May I suggest that you do so later? We need to get over to the school,” Willow pointed out, a little irked at being left out of the conversation with her charge.
“You’re right.” Caleb pushed back his chair and stood up, happy to have the discussion put on hold for now. “Let’s get going.”
Twilight said, “I expect you here for dinner tonight. Don’t do what you did yesterday, please.”
“Will do, Your Highness,” Caleb cheerfully called back as he walked out the door. “I promise not to get any more distracted than you do when you receive a new shipment of books.”
The man heard a scandalized gasp from behind him. “I fail to see any similarity whatsoever! And I told you to call me Twilight!” she shouted to the rapidly retreating human.
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