I brought my shield up, the spell fizzling against the meter wide disk held before me.
Shining nodded, "Better," he said and raised his horn, "You're getting faster."
I nodded and rubbed my head right next to my horn, "Thanks. That takes so much more focus than shielding normally."
"And not something recommended in normal circumstances," Shining Armor agreed, "But it's very good shield practice," before glancing at the moon well above the horizon, "We should break for the night though."
"Some rest would be nice," I said and cracked my neck. It wasn't physically tiring using magic like this, but it was draining. Especially mentally when working on new stuff.
"Come on, let's find something to drink," Shining said and led the way towards the castle.
I could just nod in agreement as I joined in next to him, "Do you still train ponies? You're good at it."
"Not a lot, usually don’t have time but I do try when I get the opportunity," he sighed softly before he smiled, "It's fun though."
"Maybe you should," I pointed out, "Prince or not, you have to take time for yourself or you'll burn out."
"Do you?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, "I have talked to Midnight, you know."
"I try," I protested, "And I try to make sure Sunny and Sparks do as well. Things should calm down a little now when the barrier is up over Nocturnis. Also, that's not the same thing, we're a newly formed colony in a hostile land. The Crystal Empire isn't."
Shining smiled, "We're in just as hostile land and with more than ten times your population. Trust me, plenty of things to do to go around for everypony. But I get your drift, Cady and I try to keep the evenings just for us if possible."
"Fair."
We walked in silence until we reached a sitting room where Shining dug around in a drawer for a second before holding up a bottle of amber liquid, "There."
"You found some?"
"Bought it earlier," he said with a grin as he floated up a pair of glasses as well before filling them and offering one to me.
I took it and had a taste. It burned like liquid ice.
Faint taste of apples.
"So what's up with today?" I asked and jumped onto one of the armchairs to settle down, taking another sip.
Shining settled down in the other chair and shrugged, "I don't know," he admitted.
"Trying to figure me out?"
"...A bit, you are dating my sister."
"No I'm not."
He waved one hoof, "Okay, fine. A different version of my sister. Still close enough that I want to check you out. And Twilight will be living in your town again when you leave."
I smiled and sipped my drink.
Couldn't blame him there, if our positions had been reversed I may have been tempted to check if things were safe too.
"And?" I finally asked.
He shrugged again, "Seems like a decent pony, she could do a lot worse," he admitted after taking a sip, "Fangs or not."
I flashed them at him and he rolled his eyes,
"It was interesting how well you handled the changelings though," he then added, "I didn't see a way for that to work out without ponies getting hurt."
"Changelings are easy to handle," I said and sipped my drink, "You just need to understand their priorities. Hive, Queen, Other Changelings, Themselves, anypony else."
"And that lets you work with them?"
I smiled, "No, but it helps. Really, they're not bad beings and may be the most loyal people in the world as long as you work within their frame of reference. Don't threaten the hive, help them find food and be friendly and they'll literally throw themselves in front of a spell for you."
Shining Armor frowned at his glass but didn't comment, just finishing it before refilling our glasses.
"So, any plans for tomorrow?" I asked.
He nodded, "Twilight is taking me and Cadance out for dinner with mom and dad," he said, "Pinkie Pie volunteered to foalsit."
"Nice."
#########
“Are you certain of this, Spicy Pepper?” Celestia asked, looking at the thestral.
Spicy Pepper was terrified, I could see it. She stood before the four Princesses without her illusion, but she didn’t look away.
Instead she set her jaw and nodded once.
Spicy Pepper didn’t like Princess Celestia. Not in this world nor in this one. In fact, I was fairly sure she hated her on some level.
Be it from having to have been out in the bright light all her life or because she was the leader of Equestria or because of the Solar Guard or… because Celestia was a symbol of Equestria as a whole.
Could be a million reasons.
Some valid. Maybe… all of them. I love Celestia. But I understood why some thestrals disliked her. It would be difficult not to when she was a symbol of all that had been wrong in your life.
Midnight nodded and looked between Luna, Celestia and Cadance, “Everypony ready? I’ll overview and assist in the casting, but you three are the primary casters. Everypony as we have practiced.”
One by one they lit their horns and I backed away further next to where Futtershy was watching. She was wearing her illusion, but when I glanced at her…
Her eyes were slightly wide and she was stuff as a board. I reached out to touch my wing to her side but she didn’t react at all, but I could feel her trembling slightly.
“Easy,” I murmured quietly to her, “Deep, slow breaths, Fluttershy.”
She squeezed her eyes closed and sucked in a slow and slightly hitching breath.
There was a flash of light and I shielded my eyes with a wing as Spicy Pepper disappeared in a sphere of brilliant light, beams of energy flowing into it from each of the alicorns surrounding her.
This was a refinement from the spells Twilight and Midnight started with. For one, it broke both the curse and blood magic at the same time, skipping the hours as a blood drinker in the middle.
Drawback is that it made it harder in the energy department to cast, not so much in the difficulty itself.
Not that it mattered, it took multiple alicorns worth of power to cast the first ones. Two alicorns could cast the first one, three the second if they weren’t Twilight and Midnight. Or I suppose a ton of unicorns.
Couldn’t reduce the power either. It took that much to cut through the spells.
“Breath. Slow breaths,” I told Fluttershy quietly, focusing on her rather than the spell, her own eyes squeezed closed, “Easy. Calm.”
The light stopped and I looked over, spotting Pepper laying on the floor, sprawled out. She looked… like I remembered her.
Midnight caught my eye and I nodded, slowly moving away from Fluttershy and approaching the thestral on the floor, scooting down next to her, “Pepper? Pepper, you awake?” I asked her gently.
Spicy Pepper slowly stirred, her eyes blinking open before squeezing closed against the light. I dropped a bubble of darkness across us and waited.
She very slowly pushed herself into a laying position, blinking her eyes as she struggled to raise her head, “P-prin-”
“Relax,” I told her quietly but firmly, “It takes a lot out of a pony. Just close your eyes and take a nap. You’ll feel better after, I promise.”
Pepper slowly relaxed down, her eyes closing and she fell asleep almost instantly, resting her cheek against the crystal floor.
I moved out of the darkness bubble and smiled at Midnight, “Worked perfectly,” I told her.
Midnight smiled and nodded to the rest, “You cast it perfectly. The thestral getting decursed is going to be exhausted and their magic system is going to be extremely stressed. For the next couple of days they will be unable to fly or cloudwalk.”
“It’s from the new curse breaking spell,” I said, “the old ones were a bit gentler.”
Midnight nodded in agreement, “Yes. But this one is safer for everypony involved. Some didn’t handle the blood magic very well, despite the extra strain it’s better to do it this way.”
“S-she’s really alright?” Fluttershy asked quietly.
I glanced back to see that she had dropped her illusion, walking up next to me.
I nodded, “Just tired,” I confirmed, “She’ll be asleep for the next day or so.”
Fluttershy looked at her through the darkness bubble for several long moments, biting her lower lip before her ears slowly pressed against her head, she looked terrified.
Then she turned to Midnight and swallowed, “D-do me now.”
Midnight looked at her in surprise, “Fluttershy, I… are you sure?” she asked gently and walked up to her, “You know that… if we do, you won’t be able to hide your wings. Or eyes or ears or anything.”
Fluttershy nodded, “I-I know. E-everypony will… know…” she said, her voice breaking before she took a deep breath, squeezing her eyes closed for a second before opening them to look at Midnight again, “But I can’t let her do it alone… a-and… and I want foals at some point. Foals like me,” she said gently but determinedly.
Midnight regarded her for several long seconds before she nodded and hugged her, “Give us a couple of hours to recover and we’ll be ready.”
Fluttershy.
You really are the bravest pony I know.