//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Justice is Served // Story: Starlight Glimmer's First Student: A "Human"?! // by Clockwork2003 //------------------------------// “Hop on, stud. I’m taking you for a joyride.” And I meant it, I took the stud for a joyride. He took me for a joyride, as well! We made sure to keep it short and sweet because Celestia wanted us for dinner in forty-five minutes. It certainly helps that Noah doesn’t last very long! It’s cute! “Noah, let’s go get ready for dinner. I want to see what a falafel is!” I ask him, shimmying out of bed to go take a quick shower. I want to look proper for supper! I don’t take too long in the shower, and it helps that the water in Canterlot is nice and warm. My only problem is that I have two rather annoying wings that I need to clean! They are a bit difficult to wash, but I get it done. I am also a bit tempted to drag my human lover in here and have a second round of “riding”, but I think he’s had enough! Anyways, by the time I’m out of the shower, Noah has changed into more suitable attire for supper. He’s wearing a navy polo shirt and semi-casual dress pants! The outfit looks like something Rarity could have commissioned! “Don’t peek, Noah. I am getting changed into more suitable attire!” I jest, as Noah behaves and waits for me patiently. I put on a lavender dress, and I sit down on the mattress. “I need help with my horseshoes, Noah! They’re not very easy to put on, and I don’t think they react well with my magic. Do you mind helping me?” I ask him, as Noah puts down the magic book that he packed with him and goes to find my silver horseshoes at the front of the room. He bends down and takes two shoes per hand, and moseys his way back to me. “How do you put these on?” Noah asks me, fumbling with the shoes as he squeamishly maneuvers my front right hoof inside the shoe. “It’s like a slipper. You need to fit the hoof in properly, and don’t mash it in! They’re very delicate.” I kindly remind him, as I help him maneuver my hoof inside the silver shoe. I honestly didn’t expect to get free hoof wear when I became an alicorn! It’s a pleasant bonus, but I try not to consume conspicuously. “I think I got it for the other three, Glimmy. Do you still want my help?” He asks me, to which I reply with a prompt nod of my head. After a few more minutes of my student helping me with my horseshoes, I get up from the mattress and turn around a few times, making sure that my human companion doesn’t see anything wrong with my outfit. It’s a bit weird having to put wings inside a dress, but I think it will do for today! I honestly wonder if I should have Noah ride me down the stairs to show Princess Luna and Princess Celestia how my bond of Friendship has worked with Noah these past few days! I turn around one more time to look at my friend, and I see that he is a bit upset about something. “Noah, sweetie? What’s wrong?” I ask him, as he twiddles his fingers, clearly distraught about something. He looks me directly in the eyes and is trying to hold back tears. “I have a sister.” He says. I remember that when I was upset, Noah stroked my mane, so I do the same. I trot over to him and gently pat him on the head with my front hoof, stroking his hair in a soothing manner. “Her name is Rebecca. She’s my baby sister, and I love her to bits. I miss her so much! Is the portal to Earth really closed forever?” He asks me, as I plant a gentle kiss on his forehead. I really feel for the youngster. “I honestly don’t know. I am a smart mare, and you are a smart human. I think once I get crowned, we can work on fixing the portal, so we can find your sister. I am sure she’d love to meet ponies!” Noah cracks a smile before I make a rather abrupt decision. I quickly put him under my magic’s influence, and I plop him in between my wings. “No flying, Noah, but we will ride down to supper together. I want to show the Princesses the bond between pony and human! If I can successfully get the portal back open, soon everypony will have a human passenger, and humans will make more friends!”  I grin, thinking about how much justice and Friendship I can bring everypony. It’s a good thing I put my saddle on top of the dress as an ornament! I usually wear these for parties, anyway. I am not going to bring the bridle to dinner, lest everypony thinks Noah is riding me in a different way (even though he is!). Noah carefully holds onto a small part of my mane as I slowly trot out of the guest bedroom, using magic to telekinetically open the door. Every time I am inside Celestia’s castle, I am continuously amazed by the architecture, design, and structure of the citadel! I think I am still on time for dinner, so I walk rather slowly down the stairs with Noah. I am looking at the many different paintings on the wall, and I see a family portrait. The family portrait is really cute! Princess Celestia is in the front, with her younger sister Luna flanking her left. Princess Cadence is on her other side, with her foal Flurry Heart and son-in-law Shining Armor next to the love pony. To top it all off, Princess Twilight is in front of Luna, smiling in front of the camera, putting “bunny ears” over the lunar alicorn using magic. How childish! I can’t wait to have a family of my own! Maybe Twilight can find a way to make it possible for me to bear Noah’s foal? “That’s a really cute family portrait, Noah.” I point out to him, as he cocks his head to his right, seeing the massive painting on the wall. “That’s a lot of ponies. I didn’t know Twilight was related to Princess Celestia!” He exclaims, a bit shocked as we make our way down the second flight of stairs.  “Only through marriage, Noah! Her brother, Shining Armor, is married to Princess Cadence, who is Celestia’s niece.” I chuckle with glee. I can sense my rider is a bit stressed about this dinner, because I can feel his heartbeat is faster, and he is breathing a bit more quickly. Quickly remembering my Empathy Training from Fluttershy, I spread out my right wing, and nudged my rider. “You can hold my wing, cute stuff. The feathers seem to calm you down. I am happy when you are happy.” I said in a sing-song voice. Noah puts his right hand on my wing, and carefully strokes it, enjoying the softness of my down. I feel his breathing slow down a bit, and his heart rate goes back to normal. “It’s actually funny, Starlight. Back home, there was something called “Equine therapy” for people like me who are a bit lower functioning. Remember those horses I told you about? They are like ponies, but not sentient and they don’t smell good?” I nodded, vaguely remembering these creatures. I understand the “steed” concept, though, and I enjoy it! “Well, the one thing that ponies and horses have in common is that they are both kind. I’ve seen video footage of lower functioning people actually improving their cognition, empathy, and kindness thanks to horseback riding, although the horse didn’t talk back to you, or give you cuddles!” He chuckles at the thought, savoring the feeling of my wing’s softness. I think my rider is feeling calmer, so I put my wing back underneath my dress, to which Noah sighs. “Thank you, Glimmy. I really appreciated that. Did I tell you how cute you are?” He says affectionately, as we finally make it down the last flight of stairs. I turn my head back at him and smile, before speeding up into a light canter. We turned a few corners and passed some of the service ponies, who were pushing carts of food around. After a good minute or so, we finally make our way to a massive room, labeled “dining hall”. Noah carefully dismounts me, and the two of us slowly enter the room, and my student’s jaw drops. “How, how big is this table? I don’t see the end of it!” He gasps, as he uses magic to pull me out a chair. My word, the human learns quickly! “Thank you, sweet pea.” I blushed, sitting down. As soon as my rump touches the chair, my plate is immediately filled with the pasta salad that I ordered, and my cup is filled with Earl Gray tea! It’s been a while since I’ve used the magic ordering notebook, so I am just as stunned as my rider is. Knowing full well that it is improper to eat before everypony arrives, I turned around to see if anypony else in the royal family made their way to the dining hall. I hear the gentle pattering of hooves, so I know for a fact that it’s not Celestia, who doesn’t walk with grace at all! “Who do you think that is, Starlight?” Noah asks, trying to peek and see who the next pony to arrive will be. After another few awkward moments, he sees who this new pony is.  “Hm, Starlight. Pray, tell what this alien resident of Equestria is called? We don’t want to offend it.” Well, I know that only one pony speaks in such an antiquated manner. It’s Princess Luna. After another moment of not seeing the princess, she enters the dining hall, and Noah is stunned.  “She really does look like a princess. Dare I say, she looks better than Celestia.” Noah says, not realizing what kind of argument he might have unleashed! The “Best Princess” feud has been ongoing in Equestria since time immemorial, and even with Luna’s millennium-long exile, there hasn’t been a clear consensus on which diarch is the preferred deity. Luna immediately bursts into a smile, and teleports in front of my boyfriend! She looks at him very carefully, before beginning to speak. “Creature. What is the proper name for thee? For thy race? Art thou enjoying Equestria, or the tutelage Starlight hath provideth for thee?” Luna asks, rather bluntly. Noah was taken aback by the alicorn’s directness, and I honestly wasn’t sure how he’d react.  “We go by many names, O regal one. Our race is known as “homo sapiens”, the Latin for “wise man.” As for ourself, our surname is Noah. ‘Tis a pleasure to make thy acquaintance.” What? I didn’t see that one coming from a mile away! Luna lets out a hoof, and Noah respectfully kisses it, befitting an interaction with a noblepony. I want to both laugh and cry. I don’t get it! “Noah, what in the name of Celestia are you-.” “Very simple. I speak multiple languages. She speaks an older form of Ponish. I don’t know why, but you taught me during “Listening” that I need to pay attention to what somepony else is saying. I responded in kind.” He says. I want to kiss him right here and now! He’s so charming and cute and-. Yet another pony makes her way into the dining hall, one we saw already. “Aww, Noah the human is getting along swimmingly with Luna! I am surprised you like this one, dear sister. He’s quite peculiar if you read his file!” Celestia chuckles, as Twilight, in her typical fashion, flies into the dining room like her tail was on fire! “Sorry, Celestia, I was writing a dissertation on YakYakistani trade routes, and I was almost late for dinner!” Twilight exclaims as all three alicorn Princesses sit at the table. As I predicted, Celestia’s plate immediately has a large morsel of chocolate cake on it. She sets it aside for dessert, and the plate then spawns a grilled daisy sandwich with cheese! “What about you, Luna, what did you order for tonight?” Celestia asks her younger sister, as the moon alicorn’s plate spawns moon-shaped noodles with marinara sauce and cheese. A small moon pie spawns as well, presumably for her desert. “We love this dish! It’s delectable!” Luna exclaims as Twilight’s plate spawns a slice of Celestial Pizza, with green olives and mushrooms! No dessert for the book pony! Noah guesses that this is his chance to sit down and see how the magical food spawns on his seat. Sitting down, his plate now has a rather peculiar sandwich. It’s in a pocket bread, with these balls of, I don’t know what, mixed with some sauces and greens. His cup fills with jasmine tea, and an oatmeal raisin cookie spawns as well, for his desert. Noah puts it on his napkin for later. Luna looks at the odd sandwich and levitates it in the air with her magic, examining it carefully, before putting it back on Noah’s plate. “Pray tell, human, what is this dish called? It looks bizarre, yet edible!” The moon alicorn asks. Noah would have answered, had he not already taken a bite from this sandwich. He looks very happy as if this is a comfort food dish for him. I take it he hasn’t had this dish in ages! Finally swallowing his food, he explains what it is. “It’s called ‘falafel’ everypony. It’s fried chickpeas inside a loaf of pita bread, and you can put all sorts of stuff inside, from salads, to hummus, to spices. You want it, you get it!” He says, taking another bite. I am a bit tempted to try his dish, but I am a proper pony. I begin to eat my pasta salad, using my magic to take reasonable portion sizes, and eating properly. Noah was quite surprised to see that Celestia doesn’t eat like a princess! She shoves the entire daisy sandwich in her muzzle, chomping it down like a wild animal. Twilight and Luna are unfazed by this, but Noah looks at Celestia in abject horror. He is smart enough to keep his mouth shut! “So…about this coronation, what do I need to prepare?” I ask, quickly changing the subject. Noah nods while he’s chewing, wondering what he has to do, as well. Once Celestia finishes devouring her sandwich, she clears her muzzle and begins to explain. “Well, you are going to be the Princess of Justice, Starlight. This means that your mandate is to maintain a state of equality amongst ponykind within the confines of the law! For example, make sure nopony cheats on their taxes, ensure that nopony thinks that they are above the law, and maintain transparency at all levels of government! Seems easy enough. Also, you and your former teacher will work on fixing the Mirror Portal. Noah has a right to visit his homeland, and I am quite eager to have more humans in the Friendship Exchange Program! Speaking of humans, “Rider of Justice.” Do you have anything to ask us?” Celestia inquires, looking directly at my rider. He thinks about what he’s going to say for a moment, before coming up with a reasonable question. “I do have a few questions, but let’s start with the topic at hand, or in this case, at hoof. Can the first human we bring here be my sister? I miss her tremendously, and I think I know a pony who could be a friend for her!” Noah asks, pleading with the Sun Princess. “Hm, I don’t see why not. Family is very important to me, and bringing your sister would ensure your wellbeing! What is her name, and who do you think would be the pony for her to befriend?” Celestia asks a follow-up question. “Her name is Rebecca, and I think that Trixie would like her. My sister is quite the extrovert!” Noah explains, to which Twilight sighs and facehoofs herself, clearly annoyed. “Why Trixie? What about Rarity? Or Applejack, or Fluttershy, or anypony else?! A little girl would love a talking pony who cares about fashion, or animals, or taking care of a plot of land, or-.” Noah laughs. “She’s 16, Princess. Not a little girl, she’s just younger than me.” Huh, even I didn’t know that about her. Time goes by, and we all ultimately finish our meals. Luna has taken a liking to my coltfriend, probably because she’s also somewhere on the Spectrum if I was to guess. I know Twilight, I know Maud Pie, I know my coltfriend, and I know Luna. I think I can see an autistic creature and spot one out! “Now, I have an amendment suggestion for the Friendship Exchange Program, everypony”. I say, quickly casting a spell to bring my journal to the table. The journal has some notes about my riding adventures with Noah! Luna is quite amused by this concept and lets out a hearty chuckle. “Thou art saying that humans sit atop a pony, and they bond and develop trust?” She asks, to which I nod with encouragement. “Yeah, Princess Luna! We actually discovered this riding exercise by accident, because there was no other way for him to cross the portal! I actually developed a liking for it, and it was a way for the two of us to get to know each other. Not to mention trust-building. Noah needed to trust me for transportation, and I needed to trust him for leadership and encouragement! Here, let me show you!” Noah and I both smile, and the two of us stand up. It’s a good thing I was smart enough to bring the saddle today! He climbs up, more confident than before, and we just trot around the room to demonstrate the bond we’ve built over the past few days. He’s not steering me or anything, and I am not wearing my bridle, but I think my point was made. Luna, Celestia, and Twilight are all in awe at my novel discovery of “ponyback riding”. “This, this could save lives!” Twilight exclaims, seeing the full effect of the magic of riding. “Friendship needs trust, and trusting a pony to take you places, and that pony trusting a human for encouragement and guidance is a mutual benefit! Starlight, you’re a genius!” Celestia exclaims. I feel a bit cocky, so I raise my front hooves in the air playfully, wings spread, while Noah is grabbing my purple and teal mane for dear life. “What a show, what a show!” Luna says, clapping her hooves, while I go back on all fours, Noah a bit dizzy. I gently lift him off my back and plop him back into his chair. “Well, you are going to be doing Starlight’s job too, Noah. Now, dinner was fun and all, but I am very tired. Luna, go raise the moon, I am going to sleep!” Celestia says, teleporting the chocolate cake into her mouth, before leaving. Luna and Twilight both sigh. “Well, I am going to bed, too! It’s late. Luna, good luck with the moon, Starlight. We meet at Canterlot Square, noon sharp, for your coronation!” Twilight says, taking a piece of Luna’s moon pie before teleporting away. Luna doesn’t seem to care, and she finishes her desert in silence, before using magic to draw the drapes in the dining hall. “We take it the human that thou art teaching hasn’t seen a moonrise. Would he care to witness the might and power of his favorite princess?” Luna asks rhetorically, as Noah nods in approval. “Sure thing, Ma’am!” He says with eagerness and a foallike sense of wonder. Luna takes a deep breath, and her horn lights up. Celestia’s sun finally leaves the horizon, and the sky turns dark. With a few moments of utter darkness having passed, Luna begins to glow pure white, as the moon begins to rise over the Equestrian horizon. I could have sworn my rider is crying tears of joy! Aw, he’s a cutie! “This, this is beautiful!” Noah says, in praise of Luna’s handiwork. Once Luna has finished raising the moon, she reverts to her navy blue hue, and her coat isn’t reflective anymore. “We art glad thou appreciate our work. Go get a good night’s sleep with thy mare, and we shall guard thy dreams, too!” Luna says. She approaches my coltfriend, and pecks him on the cheek. “Not many ponies, or creatures, compliment us on our work guarding the night. We would be honored to call thee a companion, er, what is the modern Ponish word?” She asks him with sincerity. “A friend, Princess. You’d call me a friend.” He smiles, as I use my magic to remount my lovely coltfriend. He’s a bit startled because he’s riding me backward! “I am taking this stud to his room, so have a good night!” I say, gluing Noah to my body with magic, and taking off with my new wings. We climb up four flights of stairs in a matter of seconds, before finally making our way to the guest suite. My spell deactivates, and the two of us plunge into the comfort of our massive bed. “Close your eyes, stud. I am going to get changed. We’ll cuddle after.” I playfully ordered him. He does so, and with a flash of my magic, I am back in my natural pony coat! He opens his eyes and smiles. “Your wings are up. Does that mean something?” He asks me. Oh, dear! I think Twilight had this once when she saw Flash Sentry? Isn’t this called a winged “manifestation”? “No idea, don’t bother asking for me, but you are gonna be the little spoon tonight, Rider of Justice. Your Princess likes her snuggles!” I say, as Noah quickly takes off his dress clothes, and leaves on his undershirt and boxers. He climbs back into the bed, and I embrace him with my wings, before noticing something charming. He has a "manifestation" too, but of a more obvious sort! “You popped a tent there, cute stuff. I can handle that for you if you want?” He nods, as I use my magic to close the blinds and the lights. Oh, cute stallions and their animal-like urges. I take it Noah found me to be quite cute tonight! “This is how an alicorn shows her affection towards her rider. Saddle up, stud!”