There is no antidote
I slept past the sunrise!!!
I woke up with a start. My head throbbed with a splitting pain, but I gasped with relief seeing gentle rays of morning sun falling in through the balcony doors. I was in my bed. I had a cold compress on my head. Luna was by my bedside.
“The sun is up!” I exclaimed in a display of my brilliance.
“Yes, sis. I raised it for you today. It's quite heavy, I've got to admit. You got a fever from shock. Rest, I'll take care of everything.”
“How's Nadir?”
“Seems normal, but they say they are leaving in the evening. They claim urgent business or something. My bet is he doesn't want to die within borders of Equestria to save you from the diplomatic nightmare, maybe even war. I peered at the rim of his hooves, there are the telltale discolorations,” Luna reported, her voice never betraying any signs of worry.
“Luna, how can you say this so calmly?”
“Trust me, sis.” she smiled gently.
“So, what do I do?”
“Rest. I'll need some things signed by you. Like this here.” She lifted a pad with a note. Budget allotment for the project of computational machine. Lots of bits. Lots and lots.
“Luna, how can you demand more money for the pet project of yours when Nadir is dying?!”
“Trust me, sis. I'll need you to unseal Starswirl's forbidden section of the library later. And sign an arrest order.”
“For whom?”
“Nadir and his friends.”
“You're insane, sis.” I levitated a quill set in the pad by the paper, and signed the document trying to ignore my headache. I can cure many ailments but ones originating from my own mind are beyond my powers, so the headache was to stay.
“Now drink this.” she levitated a vial of some bubbling liquid. I recognized a strong medicine that gives a long, restful sleep.
“I don't want to sleep!”
“There's nothing you can do now, and I’ll need you healthy in the afternoon. Drink up and trust me.”
I drank it.
I dreamed that Nadir and me were walking through a desert. There was a sand storm. It was blowing him apart, as if he was made from sand. I tried to keep him together but I could not. I woke up in tears.
* * *
I woke up in the afternoon. Nadir was by my bedside. The headache was much weaker. He noticed me awake, then replaced the compress on my head gently, and wiped my tears with a piece of cloth. I saw a darker, jagged crown extending from the rim of his hoof.
“Celestia”, he said, and I could see sparks of tears in his eyes. “I wanted this all to be different. I'll be leaving soon. I don't think we'll see each other again.”
“Don't speak nonsense, dummy.” I smiled weakly. “Come here and give me a kiss.”
He bent over my bed and kissed me lightly, just a softest touch.
“No, not like this.” I said when he retreated. “Kiss me for real.”
We kissed for real. We nibbled at each other's lips and tasted each other's tongues, we shared breath and tasted tears on each other's cheeks.
“I really wish I could marry you.” he whispered.
I smiled. “Luna seems quite intent on fulfilling that wish. And if you think I'm the stubborn one, think again.”
He nodded and moved away from the bed.
“Princess Celestia”, he bowed courtly.
“Prince Nadir”, I gave him a gentle nod.
He headed to the exit.
I smiled. I trust my sister.
* * *
“This is an outrage! You cannot arrest the court of the emissary!”
“Don't shout at me. I still have a headache after yesterday night. One of them - this one,” i pointed at Nadir, “gave me a concussion.”
The emissary's face was getting pale.
“And this one,” i pointed at Zephyr, “left something behind.”
The shadow guard brought a tray with the blowpipe and the dart.
I approached the third one, a big, strong, stern stallion, and combed his mane with my magic, extracting a similar blowpipe and a garrote. The liaison's black stripes were almost gone from his face.
“I hope you won't mind if the third one is detained for questioning as well.”
“Princess, please!” the liaison fell to his knee, despair in his voice. “I call upon your legendary mercy, please let the three come with us. I'm willing to make significant concessions in the contracts, and I assure you the guilty will face rightful punishment at home, but please, let them go now.”
“This will not affect our contracts in the least, and I'll be expecting your visit soon again to finish the ones we didn't get to finish due to your domestic emergency. You will be granted an escort of elite solar and shadow guards until you reach Entwine. And the three can surely count on my legendary mercy in the court of law. I also specifically request they don't face their domestic court - they will be tried, sentenced and serving their sentences, if any, here, in Equestria. Afterwards they shall be escorted back to Hippotigria, if such is their wish. No further consequences of this event shall be drawn.”
The liaison was pale as a ghost. “May I consult with the detained?” he asked, his voice breaking.
I nodded. The liaison turned to the three, started talking to them in a hushed voice. Two were paying attention to him. But Nadir was ignoring him, watching me with attention, almost painfully.
I could see disappointment in his eyes. Sadness. Betrayal.
So I gave him the best I could. A wink.
His jaw dropped and he sat on his flank. The liaison stopped, they all stared at him. He gathered himself together and stood up, bowed down low and spoke.
“Princess Celestia, we surrender ourselves to your mercy willingly.”
“Thank you. Guards, detain them. Pay attention that no harm of any kind comes to them prematurely; may it never be said that Equestria treats the detained ones badly. Offenders will be punished most severely.”
The guards - both Solar and Shadow led the prisoners away.
Wait, I don't remember a unicorn this tall in the shadow guard... Doesn't matter now, really.
* * *
The court was quick. The two, Zephyr and Storm, for assisting and attempt of regicide were sentenced to lifetime prison, mercifully reduced by my grace to mere three months of jail time.
But Nadir - “Midnight” as he claimed his incognito name - for actual, physical assault was sentenced to death. Mercifully exchanged to three months of complete isolation in the deepest dungeon.
The two were placed in a high tower, given quite a comfortable room with books, all basic necessities in decent quality, a telescope to watch the land... “I'm sorry guys, but I can't have you running around trying to free your prince and mess up any worse than you did already. Waiting three months until he is healed is the least you can do for him.” I said before locking the grate leading to their tower. The sight of disbelief on Zephyr's face was well worth it.
And then Nadir. The dungeon was dark, secluded, far and deep under the castle, with a little straw in the corner, no light, a hoof-sized hole leading to a sewer, a big barrel of water and a crate of hardtack. Nadir was pushed in. Then the dungeon entrance was bricked over with large blocks of stone bound with quality concrete. Nothing would enter or leave.
Except for those pesky alicorns. As soon as the work was done, Luna and me teleported in. The ritual was complex, and Starswirl's notes weren't of best quality, but nothing beats a few millennia of experience with these things. Nadir was sitting, confused, as we milled around, drawing arcane patterns on the floor, pouring mixtures and setting candles.
I gave him a light kiss. “Sit in this circle and wait patiently. See you in roughly... half an hour.” I said and we charged the Seal of Slow Time. Even with our powers combined it was exhausting. Half an hour would pass for him if everything goes according to the plan. Three months would pass for the ponies of Equestria. How many years would it be for the two of us? Luna's estimate was “about three, give or take a few.” Not too confidence-inducing, but then, what is three years - give a or take a few - in the life of an immortal alicorn?
* * *
The poison was devious. There was no antidote in existence, not only known - it was mathematically proven such an antidote cannot exist in our world. And taking all the possible worlds of the multiverse into account, we'd never find the right one, first bringing doom upon our world by entering some world filled with viral corruption. No, I was to busy myself with ruling the country, and Luna was to seek out the antidote. First, find a subset of worlds where the antidote not only is possible but quite abundant, that are simultaneously not too lethal, not filled with horrors that would follow us back to Equestria, and within distance our powers could cover. And that was the easy part. The difficult one was plotting a safe route there.
Of course three months wouldn't be enough, nor Luna's skill alone, but here comes the second half of her plan.
* * *
“To cover the designated two thirds of the room we will need twenty eight of these.” she nudged a round talisman on the table with her hoof. “I enchanted this one, and I almost dropped the Moon while raising it. I'll need your aid, sis. Twilight has prepared blank tokens, but her power is nowhere near to sufficient to charge them. Maybe if we call the Elements of Harmony for our aid... but you know they are fickle with matters that don't endanger the whole universe... I'm worried, maybe if you take over the Sun and the Moon, I'll be able to... but that cuts into our three months badly.”
“It gives a one to four thousands ratio, right?”
“Yes. A second of real time gives me a bit over an hour inside the talisman's influence.”
“So the three months would give us...”
“Around a thousand years if we spent the whole time inside. But the final calculation alone will take no less than five hundred years. If I manage to enchant one talisman a day, we will lose almost a month before we can even start, and that dreadfully cuts into our time for testing.”
“But this one is working already, right?” I poked the talisman on the table.
“Yes, but it's barely enough to cover a small cottage, nowhere near enough for a ballroom.”
“Something like a secluded fisherpony's cottage?” I grinned.
“Yes, why?”
I grinned. I got her gears rolling. “And a month inside converts to...”
“About ten minutes in real time.”
“Grab those tokens from Twilight, a month's worth of supplies and go visit your colt... err, boy? ...friend? And see you in fifteen minutes.”
“Sis, you're a genius!” Luna hugged me and vanished in a flash of teleportation, taking the talisman with her.
"No, you are." I smiled, talking to the empty room.
* * *
The ballroom was closed up. This year's grand galloping gala would not include it. The room was well suited for its purpose, with magic-conducting pillars that amplified and focused the rapid time flow talismans installed instead of the noise cancellation wards. With these, almost all of the ballroom, and nothing outside it was covered with the rapid time flow field. We sealed the doors permanently - no pony would be allowed inside. The only ones allowed were me, Luna and Luna’s team, and we'd either teleport in or use a passage through a magic mirror I enchanted for them, attuned only to let those in, whom it was tuned to. The only non-magical entrance to the room was a dead-drop chute at the far end, installed for bringing raw materials in. As one almost ballroom-sized component of the computer was built, it would be then miniaturized, replicated, and used as a tiny component in construction of another ballroom-sized component. To be miniaturized again. Ah, the advantages of a toonic universe, versus these poor atomic ones. But it all still involved lots of beams, trusses, catwalks, spellductors, transmogrifiers, talismans, magistors, sparkacitors... way over my head.
Supplies were delivered continuously, without break, pegasi bringing transports and dropping them as fast as the chute would let them, and despite that Luna and her team would frequently move out of the talismans range and spend time chatting, playing, generally waiting for enough supplies to pile up to continue work. Still, they slept inside the zone of rapid time, in a small area converted to simple living quarters, curtains on makeshift scaffoldings giving them something resembling private rooms with bare necessities. I'd catch up on my sleep inside too, so I could be helping them from outside day and night.
Oh, did I mention Luna's team? They worked tirelessly, Twilight Sparkle running errands for Luna, organizing deliveries, bringing all the needed books about transdimensional magic from the library, helping with plans and corrections. And the human, Northern Light, busy writing software for the still growing computer, using a smaller one already completed by Luna. I was watching the odd creature with a mix of fear and reservation, not letting my fears get to him, especially that he was extremely respectful to me. Still, it boggled my mind, why did Luna love him so much. He wasn't even attractive by human standards, short, skinny and wearing big glasses... though I had no doubt the two loved each other and he worked with full dedication to the task. Luna would help him both in matters of the mind-bending magic of transdimensional travel which the program was supposed to compute, and caveats and features of her computer, quite unlike what Light met in his world. Still, he claimed he loved working with the machine that never fell victim to corporate meddling, business dependencies and incompetent management. He worked tirelessly, hardly ever leaving the field, creating first an assembler, then a higher-level programming language with a compiler, then a simple operating system, and finally beginning writing the proper application that would conduct the actual computation - not once I'd drop in and ask for details, sharing my knowledge of magic and just giving them a respite of someone new to talk to after weeks of non-stop work.
And then morning of day one came.
* * *
“By the Stars, it feels like I haven't been doing this in ages!” Luna exclaimed, standing on her balcony to lower the moon. “How long was it, Twilight?”
“One hundred and twenty five days, if my calculations are correct.”
The four of us were gathered in Luna's bedroom, celebrating the end of the first night of work.
“Over four months. We may have some unforeseen delays, but nothing critical.” Luna smiled to Northern Light. He touched her bloated belly with unusual tenderness.
“It wasn't due in another eight months,” she said, “so I wasn't thinking about all the stuff associated with it before. But now only three months remain, and at current rate it would mean I'd be giving birth well before noon. Oh my gosh, we still haven't even thought of the name for the foal!”
“Don't worry, sis. I'll have everything prepared.” I smiled.
“Thank you, princess.” Northern Light bowed. He'd grown quite a beard, and his clothes, while clean, were getting rather worn. We'd need to take care of that too.
“Light, please. We've been through this a dozen times. Don't treat me any differently than my sister.”
“I'm sorry pri... Celestia. It's just that you're so full of majesty...”
I stuck my tongue out at him. I think it helped.
* * *
Day two. Luna blames herself for being a horrible mother, spending only a few minutes in a week with her foal, but seriously, the little one needs more sleep, without her hanging over him almost every minute of day and night. Besides, Aunt Celly is far too happy to oblige. Tempus is a healthy, strong alicorn with a dark-blue coat and a short, white brushy mane. Northern Light cried when he saw his son.
The foal is still a sphere of rumors, gossip and speculations outside the palace. After all, three days ago almost nothing showed on Luna's flanks yet, and today she's as slim as always.
The constant influx of raw materials didn't go without impact either. I haven't quite foreseen the problem we'd cause - draining the market of all these goods. Prices rise, supplies are drained, constructions all throughout Equestria are halted as we continue to absorb any and all amounts of raw materials the suppliers can deliver. But soon that will stop. Luna says tomorrow she will enter the last phase of construction. After that, there's only software, calculations and corrections left. “Fixing bugs” as Light calls it.
* * *
Day five. We already have a full set of substances that would cure the poison, and of course none of them would last a second inside a toonic universe before losing stability and collapsing into an inefficient toonic form. We also have a few promising locations where they occur. But finding the safe route is a different matter. Unlike following a direct vector like the one that led Luna to Light's universe, navigating a trail of worlds is hard.
Twilight brought Spike in to help her with finding needed books in the library. He's good at finding things and helps Light iron out “rough corners” too. It seems the same software can be rewritten to be faster. I'm scared by seeing Light getting first white hairs on his head. But he says “If it's important for Luna, it's important for me” and dives for months at a time into the rapid time flow while she stays on our side with Tempus.
Spike tried to use the rapid time flow zone to grow adult fast. He got bored two minutes later.
* * *
Day ten. A major setback. The computer has simply spat out “no solution”. There is no safe route to any of pre-selected universes. We're loosening the constraints. Less abundant cures, less safe universes. This will be harder than we had expected.
* * *
Day fifteen. Same thing again. I haven't even realized how spiked with viciously lethal universes our neighborhood is. Discord, compared to most of the monstrosities out there, seems to be a nice puppy. The reporters caught wind of Tempus, apparently through baby products purchases. They forgot the Zebras already and want “fresh blood”. We've taken Tempus to a press conference, allowed them to take photos. They were charmed with the foal, but Luna refused to answer questions about the father, only denying any connections of the foal to Zebras.
Light took a stroll in the gardens in the evening, alone. I saw him sitting upon the pedestal of Discord. I was almost sure I also saw some big, dark pony hiding in the bushes from him... A journalist? It would be bad. Still, after his return, Light entered the rapid time and stayed there for over two hours of our time without a break. His head is definitely getting more white hairs.
The chamberlain sent a note about increased food usage. There is no problem with that, but the suppliers are asking questions. At least sewage is not overflowing.
* * *
Day sixteen. I don't know what to think of Light any more, but I must say Luna in the Prench maid outfit is exceedingly hot, and she's to wear it until tomorrow.
The conversation between the two in the morning went somewhere along these lines.
“Luna, how sure are you that your system is flawless?”
“Absolutely sure. There is no flaw of any kind. I double-checked and mathematically proven my designs.”
“And if there is?”
“That is impossible.”
“So, let's take this sentence: If the computer design is faulty, then Luna will wear a Prench maid outfit until tomorrow. True or false?”
“True, implication of false premise. What does that have in common with the subject?”
“And you're going to stick to this answer, right?”
“Yes. Light, I don't get where you're going with this.”
“Take this operand, sixty-four bit shift left. Every bit shifted out enters the overflow flag, right?”
“Yes.”
“And the last set bit enters Carry, right?”
“Yes.”
“And now as we shift right instead, we have the leftmost bit to set the zero flag, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“And when I run this program, I should have Z set upon finish?” he presented a few lines of what he called “Assembler”.
“Yes.”
“And what if I get CY set and Z not set?”
“Do you imply...” Luna rushed to the console, the keys clicked quickly upon her magic.
“That's a disaster!” she whispered, filled with dread. “This is such a fundamental part, it's repeated millions of times on the most basic level! There is no room to expand the machine to correct it! This whole thing is... useless!”
“Now don't be so harsh to yourself.” Light approached her. “Go find yourself a nice Prench maid outfit and I should have this corrected in software on the compiler level within half an hour.”
“What? How?!”
“Move register into itself after every right shift. It sets the flags right. I estimate we will lose half a percent of speed on the whole. And the application will stop rejecting viable pocket dimensions and empty universes.”
He remained absolutely calm throughout the whole conversation, but only when Luna showed up in the outfit, and with a deep blush, he smiled and kissed her.
Only now I begin to understand - that was his way of dealing with anger - he was absolutely furious at her. It seems he spent... two hours? That's almost a year, seeking the origin of the error. And he trusted Luna completely so he never checked if the system is without flaws before.
* * *
Day twenty. We've been through a cowpony outfit, a white ballet tutu, tight spandex, and today - socks.
Only today Luna agreed for a full review of her design, conducted by the three of them, including Twilight.
There's a city-wide shortage of coffee. Luckily some merchant from Grazzil had a premonition (he claimed an alicorn visited him at night) about a week ago and is about to bring a few boxcars of coffee beans with a train.
* * *
Day twenty-one. Photo Finish managed to - somehow - sneak into Luna's room. And convinced Luna to a photo session. (I have a feeling that Light had his hoo...fingers? in it.) Whatever, Luna is to be on this month's EQUA front page, and Photo Finish says socks will be big this season. Later, in the evening Luna, Light and Twilight vanished into the ballroom for another full hour.
The coffee has arrived. There were protests at the station once Chamberlain claimed two out of three boxcars of coffee. But the supply will last until more merchants catch up with the demand.
* * *
Day twenty-two. Luna is depressed. She said she never suspected she could have made so many mistakes. The computer's efficiency is halved due to all the in-software fixes, even though a lot of hardware was fixed. She says now the computer will never finish the computation on time. Despite that, Light is strangely optimistic, it seems like he keeps something a secret.
* * *
Day twenty-three. We have the first routes, unfortunately the trip would take far too long, but Light says this is to be expected. They will be gradually optimized over time. The computer is now running without interruptions, “final run” as they call it. And the estimates say we will come up two weeks short of the target three months. After that it's just four days more and Nadir is dead.
Meanwhile, Light is trying to convince Luna to do a “leisure project”, a “graphics processing unit” for the computer. She shuns him for this idea in this situation. I seriously don't know what to think
* * *
.
Day twenty-four. Luna spent the whole night weaving an aurora. She says it calms her down. In the morning, Light approached me and asked me to support him on that “leisure project”. “It's much more important than I'm willing to admit, but I don't want to put any more stress on Luna. She makes mistakes under stress, and she's stressed enough.” I tried talking to her, and she agreed. The computer is now a box the size of sugar cube located behind the console, and the ballroom is filled with griders and catwalks as underlying construction of the new project.
* * *
Day twenty-seven. Luna says the new project is rather boring. Lots of repetition on everything, simple concepts repeated hundreds of times. But it seems Light is quite satisfied with the outcome. And he seems to have his ways to “motivate” her.
* * *
Day thirty. The issue of EQUA hit the shelves, and it seems day to day Luna became the Princess#1. Some say it's “scandalous” and “a downfall”, and “a shame”. Luna answered these in an interview she gave: “Scandalous” is that the higher mathematics semester was not started this year in the University of Canterlot, due to insufficient number of candidates. “A downfall” is that less than one in ten unicorns still recognize Starswirl the Bearded. And “a shame” is that a princess has to wear raunchy clothes to prove that knowledge and education doesn't have to be unattractive and unfashionable. I applauded and gave her my full support.
Still, I’m worried. The computation progresses at its normal pace and the estimate indicator doesn’t seem to move; two weeks past Nadir’s death. I can’t shake the fear.
* * *
Day thirty-one. A delegation of Nobles demanded audience with Princess Luna. They wanted to express their outrage at her despicable behavior and demand that she never appears in such an outfit.
She agreed to listen to them under a condition that they prove their expertise in any chosen domain of knowledge. She was rejecting them one by one, economy (some advanced maths questions related to economy models), fashion (she'd ask question about history of art that led to given styles), history (massacre!), photography (she asked about properties of golden ratio), modern music (she tapped some beats and demanded them named in proper musical nomenclature), Enology (she asked which wine goes with which long-forgotten dish), and modern art (she demanded to prove the true artistic skill of said noble by demanding a detailed classical style sketch - all true masters of modern painting could draw in classical styles.)
The nobles were getting desperate. They brought more of their own. One was caught in the act on cheating and lost the title of nobility dishonorably. Finally they somehow managed to bring Sir Fancypants and Rarity. Fancypants surprised Luna with extensive knowledge of architecture of the Penumbra Castle, and Rarity answered really detailed questions about various charitable organizations of Equestria. So Luna invited the two for a private chat.
Five minutes later Rarity left the room outraged. She requested all of the unsold EQUA issues recalled immediately, her request confirmed by Luna's order. Then the three left in Luna's aerial chariot without a word of further explanation. Last news of the day was “Photo Finish abducted!”
Light just stays with the foal and chuckles quietly. I should be amused but my worries and thoughts about Nadir chase all my joy away.
* * *
Day thirty-two. Rarity, Luna and Fancypants made a show of burning the pile of issues of EQUA in front of gathered journalists. Then they presented the new, corrected reprint. Luna in a few new sets of socks, with elegant lace, subtle patterns of gems, lacy garter belt, fishnet stockings... “I must agree with nobleponies of Canterlot. These old socks were a crime against fashion!” exclaimed Rarity.
There was also a new interview in the new issue. Luna really gave hell to the vain and stupid, she repeated her lecture about “scandal”, “downfall” and “shame”, then announced she will take up teaching selected subjects at expert level in University of Canterlot starting next year herself. “There's still time to improve your grades and apply, young ponies!” she finished the interview. Fancypants gave his support and offered a generous donation for the school. Rarity criticized the high society for caring about wrongly understood “decency” while letting true moral issues like inequity to go neglected. Lastly, I included a short note, where I fully endorsed my sister's actions.
* * *
Day thirty-three. Luna is back, working on the GPU with Light.
I wrote an article for Equestria Daily, the country's major newspaper. I suggested subtly, that now, that my sister is back, more responsibilities will be shifted back from the nobility onto the royalty and competent advisors chosen for expertise, not birth or wealth. I also informed about my nephew's current occupation - preparing lots and lots of new land for settlement. The new Lunar Shire will be ruled by Prince Blueblood accompanied by any nobility he chooses to assist him, under a different set of laws, very loosely related to The Crowns. All ponies unsatisfied with the new royal policies will find a plenty of room to accommodate them and their traditionalist tendencies under the benevolent rule of my nephew.
* * *
Day thirty-four. I'm the Princess#1 again, although Luna still holds a very near position in popularity charts. Amongst the mass of ponies who cheered the new announcement there were some voices muttering about coup d'etat or tyranny. I think I've placated them through valuable gifts of titles to extensive areas of land rich in meteoritic starmetal. No pony can deny my generosity!
* * *
Day thirty-five.
The estimates concerning the runtime of the program appeared quite accurate. The optimal route will be ready about two weeks past Nadir's death. Still, Light doesn't appear to be fazed in the least and his careless approach gives me a spark of hope. Luna only half-heartedly works on the GPU. It's meant for entertainment, and the estimates don't seem too entertaining. Yes, we might try to recharge Nadir's Seal of Slow Time, but it's not sure to work, and besides, keeping him there additional two weeks past the sentence date would create a diplomatic nightmare. Still, I'd be willing to take that risk...
In other news, the celebrity model Fleur de Lis signed up for Prench Philology and Literature studies at the Canterlot University. I've made sure to send a note to the dean, to ensure they give her a fair treatment, no special exceptions, both directions. We'll see if that's just for show-off or genuine good will.
* * *
Day thirty-six. Luna is furious. Light wears a Prench maid costume (apparently as an apology to her) but he still keeps snickering. Neither would answer any questions. Although Luna stopped for long enough to tell me angrily “Nadir is safe, sis. Harumph!” she turned indignantly to Light and told him to stop snickering. “How could you? A simple fast cosine transform! A dedicated language! Entertainment my flank!” she scolded him.
“I've got the photos of your face” he snickered. “I will cherish them to the end of my days!”
* * *
Day thirty-seven. Twilight has been gracious enough to explain what happened. Apparently, the GPU can be used for certain kinds of computations - in particular, it's very efficient at a certain part of computations required in plotting of the route across multiple dimensions. Currently Luna and Light are spending all the time on rewriting these particular segments of the program and making love, roughly in equal proportions of time, leaving Tempus in my care. I'm not sure how much faster the work will go but it seems we will have it on time.
* * *
Day thirty-eight. Another boxcar of coffee was purchased by the Royal Castle. At least the shortages are gone as the deliveries readjusted to the increased demand. Light's hair is now almost completely white and he seems way older than when I saw him first, but he seems still full of virility. “Luna's healing powers” he says. “I think this amount of coffee would have killed me three times over if not her magic.”
* * *
Day thirty-nine. Tomorrow it's the hearth's warming eve. I commissioned Rarity to make a special nightgown for Luna, and compiled an album with a very special set of Photo Finish's photos of Luna for Light. The ones that happened to be unsuitable for print. Too revealing, you know. Twilight will get a set of socks and a nice book, and Spike - a big, flawless ruby.
I think I should get something for Nadir. Oh as an afterthought I picked the Solar Guard Training Manual, restricted techniques. I still have no clue what to get for his two friends. I asked Luna. She said “Don't worry, I think we've got just the right thing.”
* * *
Day forty. I expected we'd spend the day together, but Luna and Light vanished somewhere before dawn, leaving me a note asking me to take care of Tempus for the day. Twilight left for Ponyville, to her friends, taking Spike with her. Our chambers are eerily empty. I attended to my duties, set a ward to summon me if the foal wakes up, then took a stroll through the streets of the town. Ponies would greet me, bow, whisper my name reverently. Still, I felt eerily lonely. No constant chatter of Light and Luna. No shuffling of papers by Twilight, no Spike's snoring. We have really grown together like a family.
I returned to the castle and went to check on the foal. And stood mortified.
The cradle was empty, and there was just a note, and it wasn't Luna's or Light's writing style.
I raised the note to my eyes and read.
Dear Auntie,
Do not worry about me. I'm safe and sound, and I'll be back late in the afternoon just fine. It's my wild foal magic manifesting my special talent.
Your loving nephew
Tempus.
ps. Feeling lonely? Go visit Nadir's friends.
After my pulse returned to normal, I decided to trust the note and try the advice. It was an excellent suggestion. They appeared to be quite a funny pair, and apparently through experience with the prince not taken aback by presence of royalty at all. Sure they started off with proper respects, but they quickly sensed it's not what I expected, and loosened up. First, they wanted to know about the prince. I told them about our progress and plans. Then I asked them about Nadir and their life together.
“Can't be told. You'd have to live through this.”
“Definitely. Of course you're welcome to join if you dare.”
“I might. You hiring?”
“Look, either it's the princess marries the prince and our trio's down to two, or we get you to join the crew and we become totally unstoppable.”
“Does this involve a whole lot of roof climbing?”
“Sure, why? Heh, you think it was his first try?”
“There was only one line of hoofprints in the snow on the roof...”
“The first night he was hidden under the balcony and the second he spent on your window still.”
“What did he look for? I mean... did he hope to catch me doing something... you know...”
“Clopping? Nah. Zephyr is the resident perv of our team.” Storm ruffled his friend's mane. “Nadir is into mysterious stuff. He really wanted to see you without the horse collar.”
“Why?” I asked, hiding the surprise that he even recognized the nature of the item.
“He said... how did he say that, Zeph?”
“She bears this heavy thing and still her hooves barely dent the snow.”
“Definite overstatement” I protested.
“He said you would... stop being earth-bound entirely once you take it off.”
“Wait, I might not be a wonderbolt, but I can fly just fine.”
“I think he meant something else. More... metaphysical. He's the mystic of our group.”
“Zephyr's the perv, Nadir's the mystic. And you, Storm?”
“I'm the one who saves the other two when they get in trouble. Told you Zeph she's cool? Told you idiot to keep pure sedative for first shot?”
Zephyr's ears drooped. “I really thought I'd killed him. When it comes to poisons, we really mean business. The way Nadir talked about you made me really think you're some kind of fey witch. All mystery and magic. And you're not, you're really one cool lass. No offense meant.”
“None taken, I don't think I've got such a honest compliment in... ever.”
“So, he wasn't back on time so I went to look for him. When I saw you two in the Reaper's Gambit, I was completely sure you would survive it through some magical trick and he'd end up with broken neck. I didn't have the time to reload with pure sedative...”
“And you screwed up worse than usually” finished Storm.
“That I did. Look, Celestia. If you manage to fix him, we're forever in your debt. I mean it.”
“Whatever we could do to help...”
I gave Zephyr a knowing smile. “Tell me what turns him on.”
* * *
Tempus returned to his cradle in a flash in the evening, apparently still not hungry and still with a fresh diaper. I set the sun and raised the moon for Luna, getting somewhat worried, then decided to catch a nap in the fast time flow and stay awake through the night. That was really enormously convenient. I woke up and tried painting the night sky, weaving an aurora... it was hopeless. I just can't get that right.
They returned around midnight, breathless, with scratches, bruises, Luna was missing a big piece of her mane, Light had a long deep gash along his arm. But they appeared to be in excellent mood.
“Go to sleep, sis” Luna commanded. “Tomorrow you will know everything.” Then they went to take a bath, at least that's what Light said, though the noises suggested something more.
* * *
Day forty-one.
My feedbag hanging upon the hearth was slimmer than previous hearth's warming... a book from Twilight: “Leisure magic - 101 magical pranks.” She gets to know me too well. A pretty hair pin from Spike. And a weird vial-within-vial item. The bigger vial was filled with a weird, green smoke, the smaller one in the middle - with a clear liquid. A small card was attached with instructions how to apply it - a rather complex teleportation spell that infuses a pony's body with the liquid without ever removing it from the vial before that.
“That's a quadruple gift for you, Nadir and his two friends at once - L&L.” the note read at the end.
I pranced in place then took the cure to Nadir and applied it immediately. It worked its magic within seconds, neutralizing the poison immediately. Discolorations on his hooves would remain though, for many years to come.
We were about to kiss, then Luna arrived and interrupted. “You'll have a plenty of time for that later. Everypony's waiting for you!”
“For what?”
“The party! Didn't you get the invitation?!”
“What party? What invitation?” the three of us returned to my room.
I'd been too excited by the cure to check the bottom of the bag, where a pretty (if slightly cheesy), pink and glittery invitation lay. Double invitation for me and “the zebra assassin” to a party at the Ponyville Library.
And it was dark outside.
“Luna, what happened? Why is it dark?”
“I think you forgot to dispel the seal on the dungeon floor. I took care of the sunset for you. And wow, you two looked so cute frozen in time with lips about to touch!”
“And what about Zephyr and Storm?”
“I've taken care of them, they are waiting too!”
Then I noticed Nadir holding his front legs in form of letter T.
“Luna, tell them we're coming in a few minutes, all right? We'll join you in a jiffy.” I offered.
“All right but if you don't, I'm going to drag you by the ears!” she smiled and vanished in a flash.
Nadir sighed with relief. “Can you please tell me what is going on?”
“Not here. Not yet.”
I could see him rolling his eyes but I zapped us across the wall into the ballroom, into Luna's abandoned compartment of curtains, where diagrams and plans were littering every empty surface, a large, unkempt bed in the middle.
“Here. Now we have all the time in the world.”
He approached me. Our mouth so close. I closed my eyes. I could feel his breath on my lips. Then I heard him whisper.
“Celestia, my mare of dreams. I like you very much. Maybe even more than that. But could you please...” his voice hardened “...explain what in Tartarus is going on?!”
I sighed. He didn't wait over a month for that moment. It was... what, ten minutes for him?
I backed off and began explaining everything, pointing to Luna's diagrams of the computer insides hanging pinned to the curtains around, I moved a curtain aside to show the console still blinking in some computation Luna or Light left running, I explained about the cure brought from some other world in a protective container made from Luna knows what... I moved on to telling about the magical seals and problems of time flow, and then Nadir suddenly said “Enough.”
Then he kissed me. Deeply, passionately, his tongue doing things I hadn't thought possible.
We stopped at last, breathing deeply.
“That was for saving my life,” he said. “Now for the other matter.”
“Huh?”
“You put me, as the ruler of the Zebra nation in a very uncomfortable situation. I know my brother covered for my missing, and I'm not worried about the domestic situation, but you can definitely use the “assassination attempt” story to pressure us. I'm not feeling comfortable about this. There were other, more subtle ways you could have handled stopping me.”
“I swear I will not use it to coerce you into anything. We both know the truth, and I will never twist it to my profit against your will.”
“But then... why? Just to give yourself an appearance of an unreasonably, almost ridiculously merciful ruler? That sentence... so light it will practically seem damaging to your authority as a ruler!”
“This would be my problem and I can handle it myself. I swore to you. Your will is free.”
He pondered. He lowered his gaze. He raised it to me. Then his pupils suddenly grew big and I could almost see a spark lit in their bottom.
Then he pounced.
I've got to admit. He was faster than me. Not just a bit faster, he was so fast he was on top of me before I really understood what's going on. I lay on my back on the bed and he lay on top of me holding my front legs pinned.
I knew about a dozen ways I could free myself. I also knew a dozen ways he could kill me with that kind of speed. But he didn't strike. He laughed.
“You sneaky, plotting, devious, sly witch!” he was grinning wide. “But the North Hippotigria will not become a part of Equestria?”
“Nor vice versa.” I answered. His grin was infectious.
He laughed some more. “To prank a prince is one thing. But to prank two whole nations at once! You magnificent devil!”
I couldn't help laughing with him, stopping only for a long kiss.
“So, do you agree?” I asked. Gosh, did my face look weird or what? The way he looked at me... serious.
“Look, Tia. This is... a lot for me. I know I wished for this in a spur of a moment. For you I may be an episode, a dot in the timeline. For me it's my whole life. It's coming a bit too fast. I'm tempted. I want it. But let me think about it.”
“No pressure. We can definitely remain just friends if you like. By the way, I talked with Zephyr and Storm. They think I'd fit right in with the three of you.”
He laughed again. “Celestia, I really can't imagine...”
“Ask Twilight.” I said with a sly grin.
“You'll get a letter with my answer. But seriously, I can't imagine myself saying ‘no’. Should I make it look very official?”
“Extremely. Let them never suspect we're an issue. Cold and deadly serious.”
“I can't believe we're seriously planning that.”
“What?” I asked in mock innocence. “We're getting married, nothing weird about that. Nobleponies get married all the time.”
“But we're getting married for real!”
“And they aren't?” I asked with a mock surprise. “Immeasurable fortunes change hooves as result! Tell me that isn't for real!”
“But they don't have premarital sex.” It was time for his sly grin.
I tensed suddenly. Nonono. Don't tense. I like him. Maybe love him. I want sex. I definitely like his body. I should be as ready as I could be. Instead, I was feeling something akin to fear. Totally irrational, I tried to convince myself. Why?
I recalled the suppressed memory, my last husband. Baron Brandy Hall. I shuddered with repulsion. I was feeling defiled. He was using me. Relieving himself with me. I hated the feeling. That was my last political marriage and I remained single ever since. Single and chaste save for occasional clop... and that last time with Luna.
This is gonna be hard. I had thought I had overcame that. That I'm stronger than that. That two thousands years were enough.
Then I felt my front legs released. A gentle but tight embrace, warmth of his body by mine, not unwelcome.
“I know that look, Celestia”, I heard his whisper by my ear. “A zebra prince is also a judge of law, and I know my job. I can recognize the eyes of a victim. You healed me, let me try to heal you. I don't know if I can, but I'll try, and I promise I won't make things worse.”
“I'm sorry.” I choked a little. “Damaged goods, that's what I am.” I felt a tear rolling down my cheek.
I felt his mouth by my ear again. “I'm an orphan, my parents murdered when I was a foal. Storm used to be homeless, starving and caring for three younger siblings, and I set Zephyr free from slavery myself. You'll fit right in.”
“A bunch of misfits, that's what we are”, I laughed sourly.
“Roll over. I'll give you a nice backrub and then we'll go to that party.”
I left his embrace, reluctantly. I rolled onto my belly and felt him straddling my back, far down by my flank. Then I felt the hooves on my shoulders.
The motions. The pressure. The bliss.
“Nadir, marry me. I need this on regular basis.”
“One condition, I'll teach you that and you return the favor.”
“Deal.”
I closed my eyes and sank into the bliss of fatigue and stress getting squeezed off from my shoulders. He massaged my wing muscles, shoulder blades, then asked me to remove my “collar thing”.
I did, and he massaged my neck, removing knots of strain... I hadn't realized how strung up it was. He moved down my spine, giving it firm squeezes and getting me to give out small whimpers of pleasure.
He massaged my flanks well, but as I was about to tense when he approached the sensitive zone, he stopped, returned to gentle massage of my upper back.
Then he stopped, I heard him shift, move and...
I was floating. Nearly weightless, feeling like a feather barely touching the sheets.
A burden weighing me down forever was lifted off my back. I cried out in a sudden relief, an ache of centuries suddenly removed.
I raised my neck, bent it far back like a swan in a sudden rush of freedom I had long forgotten.
I opened my eyes.
I saw Nadir by me on the bed, with my horse collar upon his neck, an expression of effort on his face. He lifted his neck, heavily. I saw how hard it was on him, but he managed a smile. “No wonder I could match you in fight if you wear a handicap like this.”
I smiled to him, enjoyed the lightness a moment longer, stretching my wings and letting the magic lift me off the bed entirely, then I took the collar off his neck and lifted it back to my own. As soon as it touched my shoulders, the burden was back, and I was down on the ground, but the moment of rest was much needed, it was now easier to bear.
“Thank you.” I said, standing by the bed. “You don't even realize how much you did for me.”
“At your service, Princess” he gave a courtly bow, then stood by me. “Shall we go?”
*BAMF!*
We stood in front of the library, Luna was still halfway through the door. She held the door open for us.
* * *
The four of us lay on the upper balcony of the library tree, staring at the starry sky.
“Bvioooo! Blam!” Luna made a noise, tracing a shooting star with her hoof across the sky. Light laughed.
Light raised his hand, pointed a finger. “Bang!”
“No, no, no. Bad human. This is Deneb, I'm not dropping it! The Swan would lose its tail!” Luna protested.
“Do we need that bird in the sky?” Light was insistent.
“Definitely. It's the constellation that is the symbol of our royal family.” Nadir chimed in. “You want a celestial diplomatic conflict, there's Taurus, special for all the bovines including the buffaloes. I'm really sick of the buffaloes.”
“Hey, don't you dare hurting the buffaloes!” we heard Rainbow Dash from the inside.
“Let me guess, Dashie, you've got a crush on one.” I smiled, turning my head towards the inside, where Rainbow Dash was lounging on Twilight's bed, reading a book.
“Me? Naaah” - but the way she blushed, I knew better.
Luna was surprised. “Rainbow, how did you ever get to like a buffalo? They are like... antithesis of fast and agile!”
“You'd see Little Strongheart in action you'd change your mind! She's like... if she had wings she'd be a Wonderbolt! Besides, look who's talking!”
“Little Strongheart?” Nadir groaned, “The Thunderhooves clan, near Appleloosa? The most rock-headed, stubborn pouters on this side of Applelachian Mountains?”
“The very same” we heard Twilight. “And we got them to make friends with the folk of Appleloosa.”
“We totally did. And they really respect dragons.” Spike exclaimed from his little bed, where he was busy playing a small handheld computer game he got from Luna for Heart's Warming.
“Wow. Celestia, this... little plan of yours may actually have some quite unexpected political advantages for my folks.” Nadir was quite impressed.
“No, no, no. Talk about political advantages if you want me to back off”
“Whatcha talking about?” asked Light, pulling manes of both me and Luna over himself, covering himself from the winter cold. We were coping with it much better, despite him wearing an elegant black suit, which matched his short, white hair, a neatly trimmed beard and mustache, face cut by many deep wrinkles but surprisingly handsome.
A loud pop followed by an explosion of laughter down below saved me from answering. “Come on, guys!” I heard Zephyr. “You should have seen that balloon! Pinkie, you are incredible!”
“I know! It would have been bigger if I didn't run out of bubble gum!” we heard Pinkie's squeaking.
“You can borrow mine.”
“The one you're chewing? That's gross!”
“I can make it not be gross. Wanna see?”
“Okie-dokie-lokie!”
A squeak, some more noises and a giggle announced Zephyr put his plan in motion.
“Wow!” Pinkie shouted. “No pony has ever kissed me like that! It was like Pow! And Kaboom!”
“Aaaalllrite. Ta much fer me”, we heard Applejack. “Ah'm gunna take a small walk ta cool mah hooves.”
“Can I keep you company?” Storm asked.
“Not on my watch!” Rainbow's ears perked. “You're not going anywhere alone with a fugitive!”
“Rainbow!” sounded Twilight, in a scolding tone, from near her window with the telescope. Her and Fluttershy were busy watching the sky through the telescope, taking tips from Luna occasionally.
“What?”
“They aren't really fugitives! Not for real!”
“But one of them tried to shoot Princess Celestia dead!”
“That would be me!” we heard Zephyr from below. “Storm's not guilty!”
“Aw, pluck me!” Rainbow still walked up to the end of the stairs and pointed her hoof down, frowning. “Okay, but I'm keeping my eye on you!”
“Stop it, Rainbow Dash.” we heard Rarity. “Of course a crude pony like you would not appreciate the romantic value of a walk upon the stars in company of a closest friend of a foreign prince! I certainly would.”
“Shucks, I think I'd better stay,” Applejack sounded discouraged. “Why won't you. Rarity show Capt'n Storm 'round Ponyville?”
“Miss Applejack, I insist.” Storm spoke quite courtly. “Fair miss Rarity would certainly be a wonderful company to any noblepony, but I believe I'd feel more comfortable around you.”
“What canna country lass like me talk about wit' a fancy zebra officer? Applebucking? Mah farm?”
“The infamous Everfree Forest? The zap apples? Lasso techniques? Applebucking sounds quite interesting too, I guess every military would love some tips on improving the strength of a kick.”
“Really? Well, then, captain...” we heard the squeak of the door and sounds of two sets of hooves in the snow walking away, the two talking in muted voices. Dash grumbled some and returned to the book. Another pop down below got Pinkie to giggle madly. “Zephyr, you should see your face!"
“That gum is useless. Give me mine back. No, not like this, this is gross!”
“Wait, you want me to...”
“Yes, the same way I gave it to you.”
“Told ya Zephyr's a perv?” Nadir winked. Luna just gave out a small giggle.
“So, Northern Light, what are your plans?” Nadir rolled onto his other side, snuggling up to me.
“None really. Probably back to the fisherpony's cottage, visits from Luna from time to time. I'm not as young and strong as I used to be. I still have some good years in me and I plan to use them well. And then... sometimes, at nights, the horizon of the sea is calling to me. Someday I'll get in my boat and sail away, to chase it for as long as I can.”
“Don't talk like this, my love.” Luna snuggled up closer to him, pushing him a little against my back. “I don't want you gone. It's been too short. We spent too much time working, too little time together. I... I shouldn't have asked you.”
“Then Nadir would die. Celestia would be heartbroken. You'd be heartbroken. That was simply not an option.”
“How long did you spend in there?” Nadir asked.
“In all honesty, no clue. Twenty years? Thirty? Without days to rule your time, with a day lasting two or three years, followed by a night lasting second that much, it's really hard to tell. But I got to spend a lot of time with my dearest, and I'm thankful for that.”
“How would you feel about being a pony?”
That was a surprising question.
“I like my hands, thank you very much, although ability to show up at Luna's side in public sounds kinda tempting. But I'm myself, and not uncomfortable with that.”
“What about a young pony? With a whole life ahead of him?”
“Another few years at Luna's side extra, sign me up. Otherwise... no point. Why asking?”
“These, who served the crown of Hippotigria faithfully at great personal expense... let me just say, officially you're in for a special zebra reward. And unofficially, a favor for my brother-in-law.”
“Just what are you two plotting?” I asked.
“Oh, just some old zebra sorcery.”
Then I heard sound of hooves in an unusually lightweight gallop. Fluttershy stopped by us. “But Light! To be his brother-in-law... You both would have to...”
“Hush, Fluttershy. It's a secret for now.” I whispered. She nodded, blushed and returned to Twilight.
“So much of a secret I didn't even know myself.” Light chuckled. “All right, let's do it. Luna, my dearest, if I'm a pony, would you be my wife?”
“That's no place nor position to propose yourself to a princess.” she pouted and grumbled in turn. “I don't even mind the lack of the ring, but you could have at least stood up, to look in my eyes. Oh all right, I agree, but could you keep at least a pretense of ritual the next time?”
“Luna, sweetie, if this pans out, we'll have such a wedding this will go down in history books for all future generations to remember.”
“Something like the last year's Grand Galloping Gala?”
“...nah, that would be your sister's wedding.”
“Me? Who do you take me for?” I said in a mockingly hurt tone.
“That would be totally unforgivable,” snickered Nadir.
“So what's the devious plan of yours, Light?”
“You don't have too many friends of your own to invite to the wedding, do you, Luna?”
“Certainly my sis, our three zebra friends, the six ponies who broke my curse, one baby dragon... I might invite at least a few of my Shadow Guard. Maybe twenty ponies total. But you didn't make too many friends in the meantime, did you?”
“In the meantime, no. But before that... Let me say, Luna, in my world you're quite a bit more popular than Celestia. You have thousands of adoring fans.”
“And now that the GPU makes it a breeze, you've plotted the route back home? Do you remember the moment I brought you in? Bleeding from every opening in your body, five minutes from death? I'm not bringing guests to a wedding that way!”
“Details, details. I'm not going to let any of them ride your back anyway!”
“Why, it's my back!”
“They might be getting ideas. YOU might be getting ideas. And you're mine, mine, mine!” I felt Light shifting, embracing Luna.
“I don't know whether to find your jealousy adorable or creepy” she sighed.
“Yeah, rather unreasonable...” commented the zebra prince.
“I believe we'd be much more open-minded.” I added, giving him a wink.
“Totally, an open relationship. Honesty and freedom.” he teased some more.
“Like, if I like some pony, I'm gonna ask you if you'd mind...” I suggested.
“Or ask one in for a threesome...” he winked. “I'd be all in for a threesome with your sis.”
Don't look panicked! Don't look panicked! Ow ponyfeathers, his grin. Now he suspects.
“That I don't agree to,” Light protested. “Now for a foursome...”
This time it was Luna shifting, pulling Light into a tight embrace. “No way. Mine. Not sharing!”
It was Nadir's and my turn to share a snicker, although my ears were still burning.
We lay for a while as the two behind my back cuddled and kissed.
Nadir's eyes pointed to Luna, then to me, questioningly.
My blush was my unsaid answer.
He grinned and leaned in for a kiss. I accepted.
The rude ruffian! The way he wiggled his tongue inside my mouth! Most rudely suggestive!
I chomped down.
He gave out a quiet whine.
I frowned.
He sunk in and nodded as much as his tongue trapped between my teeth let him.
I released his tongue.
He licked his nose in a mock display of his pain then hid his tongue and gave me innocent, hurt puppy eyes. Oh, these huge green eyes! So adorable! I wondered whether that look worked on his brother. I imagined us negotiating a contract between our nations and him giving me that look over some important clause. I laughed out loud, without holding back, and pulled him into a hug with my wings.
A loud pop down below was followed by a wave of Pinkie's giggling.
“Pinkie, that's so undignified”, I heard Rarity's voice downstairs. “We're in company of Royalty, behave yourself!”
This time none of the four of us could stifle laughter.
* * *
“Drop in on th' farm as soon as ya're outa jail”, Applejack shook Storm's hoof.
“Sure as day, pardner!” Storm was picking Applejack's accent. He hugged her, ignoring Rainbow Dash's glare.
Pinkie, surprisingly didn't say a thing, just hugged Zephyr. He pulled her in a kiss.
“Hey, no gum!” she shouted surprised as they pulled apart.
Twilight snuggled up to me. “Best of luck, Princess Celestia. I'm so happy that you liked our party!”
“Thank you, my faithful student. That party was a wonderful idea.”
“We are...” Luna began, “I am...” she paused again... “Thanks. Thank you, friends. That was a most wonderful night.”
“Princess Luna”, Rarity bowed, “Princess Celestia,” she bowed to me, “May I humbly request an invitation to the weddings?”
“Rarity, my dear, I'm not entirely sure. They are going to be some very special weddings. I'm not sure if you'd like them.”
She looked a bit disappointed so I approached her and bowed my head to her ear.
“Do you remember the last year's Grand Galloping Gala?” I asked.
“How could I forget!”
“The falling columns? The cake all over my nephew? The animal stampede?”
“Yes, that was a disaster!”
“I can't vouch for Luna,” my voice was down to a whisper “but I intend my wedding to top that by far.”
“Oh!” Rarity gasped, “In this case...” She knelt and kissed my hoof-overs, “Please oh please invite me!” she looked up and gave me a sly grin.
“In this case I think I'll ask you to be my third bridlesmaid, after Luna and Twilight of course. And I'll expect full cooperation in organization of... the event!”
That grin she gave! “Princess, your wedding dress will be fabulous!” she bowed.
“Thank you Princess Luna and Northern Light for the most wonderful present!”, Spike bowed.
“Just what is this game?” I asked Light quietly.
“A dragon knight fights hordes of diamond dogs and other menaces to save his fair pony princess.”
“I bet you made her look just like Rarity?”
He gave a little nod.
And finally Fluttershy.
“Your help getting Photo Finish to help us with the EQUA article is greatly appreciated.” Luna's voice was disturbingly loud.
“That was nothing really” Fluttershy squeaked, digging with her hoof in the ground.
“Sis?” I asked surprised.
“And we are grateful for discretion in the matter.”
Oh. So she saw my gift for Light. Still, how did she find the source of the leak?
“squeak-squeak-squeak-squeak-squeak”
“As a token of our gratitude please accept this land title.” Luna produced a scroll out of thin air and floated it to Fluttershy, who unrolled it and promptly fell over, hooves up in air. Oh, yes, a treasure of starmetal on that one. I'll have to make it up to poor Fluttershy for that later, she really didn't have any ill intentions. For now...
“Farewell, friends”
Nadir within borders of Hippotigria, his two friends back to the tower - officially none of them ever left... Me and Luna - back to our duties.
* * *
The castle felt oddly empty and quiet for the last three weeks, even in spite of frequent, noisy interruptions by Tempus. The ballroom would be open for this year's Grand Galloping Gala after all, and I intended to keep it perfectly calm and orderly this year, just to put the nobleponies' caution to rest in anticipation of the upcoming mayhem. Anyway, there should be one major event at the Gala... disruptive but not conflicting with the mood of the fancy party.
Luna allocated... oh wait, when did I start using that word? The two must be rubbing in on me. Luna changed one of guest rooms into a computer laboratory, and together with Light they were preparing a batch of computers for the University of Canterlot and another for the School for Gifted Unicorns.
Me? I was paying unexpected visits to various underperforming institutions, checking and returning faulty reports from my moon prospectors, taking care of little Tempus and visiting the two zebra “prisoners” quite frequently, taking a refreshing course of modern Zebraic and practicing, practicing, practicing martial arts with my guards till I'd drop from fatigue. No way that ruffian gets to surprise me again! That charming ruffian... I always blushed when I thought about him. Finally, the letter arrived... and I replied with an invitation.