//------------------------------// // Magic Show // Story: The Schools of Stalliongrad // by Nadir //------------------------------// Alright, they were doing a magic show. She didn’t really know how she’d gotten here, but Luna and Twilight were now settled on cushions in front of the stage, watching as Trixie climbed back up after getting their cushions arranged. Trixie cleared her throat, that familiar cocky grin spreading across her face. “Welcome to the Great and Powerful Magic show!” Trixie went on her hind legs as she said the words, her forelegs going up as the cape swirled behind her. Lights flashed and flared, sparkles and strobes exploding around them. “Thank you all for coming tonight!” she announced, as if the two of them had any choice. “I assure you I have a wonderful show planned for every single pony in my crowd!” she gestured out towards them, though her eyes lingered on Twilight. It, of course, dawned on her about then that Trixie did all of this to impress her. It made sense - why else would she want to bring her into her room during a huge party? Why else would she try and start the show the second that Luna walked into the room? Trixie wanted to impress her and Twilight oddly felt fine with that. With that in her mind, she settled in and smiled back. It was time to enjoy the show. “Now, most ponies might stand before you and show you simple illusions! Not I!” Trixie kept on in her bombastic manner, prancing across the stage. She tilted her head downwards and pulled her hat half over her face as her eyes locked now on Luna instead. Real magic. Trixie’s horn glowed and all at once, the lights in the room stopped. In fact, even the lights that were still lit in the room stopped shining somehow. The light beams instead started to drag inwards, coalescing together at Trixie’s horn. It wasn’t instant, not jerking, but slow and plodding, coming together to replace the colored glow around Trixie’s horn with one of pure white light. All the while, she kept her pose, the hat half over her head, concentrated on Luna, and from this close, Twilight could tell the concentration that ran through her. Concentration that paid off. With a single cry, the pony threw her head upwards, casting off the light in a single moment. It arced through the air, spreading across the room in a great dome around the three ponies. The sudden infusion of light in the air left Twilight blinking, eyes struggling to adjust for the briefest of moments. A quick few blinks let her gaze upon the light as it formed into shapes, shapes that anypony who knew magic would know. The constellations. The night sky itself had etched itself into the air around them, reflected perfectly with the captured light from Trixie’s horn. Almost perfectly. A hole in the stars looked almost like a scar, a hole that centered itself around Luna. In the bright lights, Twilight hadn’t seen it before, but with everything dimmed she noticed something different about her Princess. Her coat, her mane, and her eyes especially seemed to absorb the light in on itself and emit a black sort of glow around her, disrupting the magic, the show.  Trixie stared at the spot, but only for a moment before the magic snapped back. Just as quickly as it’d gathered around her, the magic started to spread back to its original sources, losing the shape of the stars and becoming mundane once more. It was an impressive display of magic, one that had left just the thinnest sheen of sweat on Trixie’s coat.  Luna started clapping first, hooves clopping together and sounding out through the room. Twilight, getting the point, followed soon enough, giving their adulation towards Trixie in the middle of the room. The showmare had already started to bow as if the act was over, though as she stood back up to her full height, Twilight could tell it was anything but. “Thank you, thank you, ladies and gentlecolts!” Trixie called out, despite the fact that only Twilight and Luna were in the room. “For my next act, I could use a volunteer on stage! Is there anypony brave enough to join the death defying, mystifying Trixie on stage?” she asked, eyes glimmering with amusement and something deeper that Twilight couldn’t pinpoint as her gaze settled on Luna.  Before Twilight could volunteer herself and stop whatever this had become, Luna stood up from her spot, letting the dress flow around her as she stepped forward, as fluid as the most calm of rivers. “I suppose I can,” she volunteered, with a light bow of her head. “I look forward to seeing what you have planned for me. That is, if you’ll accept my offer.” Judging by the way Trixie grinned in practical glee, Twilight could assume yes. With a soft sigh to herself, Twilight stayed in her place, tail wrapping around herself as the tiniest bit of worry seeped into her mind. Trixie had a lot of pride, but surely she didn’t have the pride to think that she could best a princess or anything of that sort? And why exactly did she posture like this? She’d never done this with anyone else that Twilight talked to. Then again, the whole Princess thing put Luna on a tier above everypony else in every sort of way. Trixie ushered her up as she spoke - “Ah yes, you will do nicely. Now, you may be wondering, what could Trixie use such a plain and ordinary pony for? She’s already so wonderful and great, so why would she need to compare herself to others?” Luna quirked an eyebrow at those words, even as she stood front and center on the stage. Twilight couldn’t help but let her eyes slide over to the Princess instead. No matter what room and no matter what crowd, Luna always seemed to be the most radiant pony in the room. Possibly ever. Trixie stepped forward, taking the centerstage from Luna as she stepped towards the front of it. “But fear not, as I’ll show you how even the most plain and boring ponies can become the most wondrous with a little help from me, the Great and Powerful Trixie!” Again, Luna looked less than enthused, but she didn’t move from the spot and even gave a small smile and wave towards Twilight, as if this were a full magic show and everything. Yet, Twilight couldn’t help but feel a little off, a little worried. She exchanged a glance with Luna, silently asking the Princess to go along with it and that hopefully things would be fine. They’d be fine. Right? Still, the show must go on. “Now, hold very still as Trixie is going to make you disappear and reappear all the better than before!” There was that sinking feeling again, digging through her stomach and threatening to make her feel sick. But she needed to trust her friend, trust that she wouldn’t do anything stupid. Trixie’s horn started to glow once more, this time the light enveloping her teacher and her Princess. From the very tip of Luna’s horn, the pony started to disappear. It was inch by inch, and unlike before, Trixie appeared to be straining with the magic, eyes closed and cheeks puffed out in a way that didn’t seem very show-y. Granted, Twilight assumed that Trixie had never tried such a spell on an alicorn, legendary beings that had more magic resistance than any other. Still, the spell inexorably moved on, down her horn, over Luna’s face. There was a hint of shock in Luna’s eyes for just a moment before they too disappeared. A headless pony appeared before Twilight and yet, the spell kept going. It kept going even as Luna scooted a tiny bit on the stage, even as her tail stopped flowing and instead looked like a static image in the middle of the room. It was a strange thing to watch since she’d only seen it the one way.  It didn’t take much longer after that for the disappearing to finish, and Trixie looked like she was absolutely drenched in sweat by now. Even the hat sagged on her head, like it’d been subjected to the same sort of torment as the pony casting the spell. Still, she had the energy to make a “ta-da!’ gesture towards the thin air in front of her. “Now,” a gasping breath from Trixie, “ watch as Luna is returned more,” another gasp, “more great than ever!” Now this was the part that Twilight had bad feelings about. What did ‘more great than ever’ even mean? Without even a minute’s rest, Trixie started to cast once more. A great wooden case floated up onto the stage, in the same purples, whites and blues as the rest of the room, complete with glittering stars plastered on the side. Magic channel through her horn, enveloping the thing in the bright glow of Trixie’s magic. With a ‘pop’ sound, everything reached a fever pitch. A shockwave of magic erupted from the mare, echoing through the room enough to knock picture frames, books, and even a glass of water left there for who knows how long over.  The case opened once more and Luna emerged, the same Luna that Twilight knew all along, the same Luna that she cared about and served dutifully, just with one clear difference. Instead of the tiara atop her head, the princess wore a big, goofy, wizard’s hat, an exact clone of the one that Trixie wore in her shows.  Cheers sounded from nowhere, rapturous applause filling the room and Twilight allowed herself to get into it as well. With a small smile on her face, her hooves came together, all of the tension leaving her at once. All along she should have trusted Trixie, and now that everything turned out fine, Twilight really let herself enjoy the display she’d seen. A laugh escaped her, and her applause joined in with the chorus around them, Luna adding to the symphony as well. Trixie, for her part, basked in it all. It mattered not that she probably accounted for a vast majority of the sounds, just that she’d gotten what she wanted from it. The mythical moment lasted for quite a while, the presence, the magic still swirling in the air. And then Trixie fell flat on her face. The lights, the applause, all of it stopped at once, taking them back to a normal bedroom once more, nothing special whatsoever. The cape and hat crumbled up around Twilight’s friend, hiding them from her view for a moment. Luna reacted first, of course, looking over with mild concern on her face. One of the princess’s hooves came out, lightly poking Trixie in the side.  “It appears like your friend has passed out.” Luna broke the silence first, looking down as she delivered another poke right to the side. “How interesting.” Blue magic, the princess’s this time lifted up Trixie, holding her in the air in front of Luna. “Magic overload. A classic mistake for mages that go too far.” The overloaded pony that was Trixie levitated over towards her bed, pressed atop the covers. Yet, Luna went all the further, magic flickering as the sheets wrapped up Trixie, tucking her in nice and tight. By now, Twilight could see the rise and fall of the other mare’s chest, letting her breath out a sigh of relief. Not dead, no more panicking. Twilight hadn’t killed her friend via complicated magic. Thank the Princesses. “That,” she started, looking back towards Luna with quite the confused look on her face. “That was actually kind of impressive, wasn’t it? I can’t say I’ve been one for magic shows. I always found them childish and the way that Trixie acted worried me,” she admitted. As she talked, she’d step closer towards her Princess, getting close by her side like she preferred.  Luna started to lead them over towards the door, student in tow like always. “Actually, yes. The invisibility spell especially. I suppose not many know that casting magic on an alicorn is actually quite a bit harder than on a regular pony. She could have chosen you and done it much more painlessly and with one hundred percent less passing out.” It took Twilight a second for her to realize that that was a joke, and when she did, she couldn’t help but let out a little giggle and a shake of her head. They’d head out the door, the wooden thing magically closing behind her. “Once she gets some sleep, she’ll be perfectly fine. I don’t think she needs us taking up her space in the meantime, do you? Besides, it’s a party and you did say that you were interested in the nobles!”  Definitely right about that. Down the hall the two made their way once more, the sounds of the party starting to get louder and louder the more they walked. “I did!” Twilight answered back. After the display of magic and now the possibility of getting into the nitty gritty of politics? She’d had quite the nice night so far! All she had to do was keep it cool and be nice and normal during introductions. And stick right by Luna’s side. “So what kind of stuff do ponies normally do during these things, your Highness?” she asked, defaulting back to the title in public.  “Well,” Luna started, looking towards the end of the hallway. “It really does depend on the type of person. Some use this kind of thing as a networking opportunity, others as a way to plug their charities, others as a way to seek power and some…” she stopped, with a grin on her face. “Some just want to have fun, my student. ‘Tis why I am here - while Cadence and her ilk make my teeth ache, Artemis and his group are absolutely lovely. He used to put on magic shows much like his daughter, you know.”  They reached the crowd once more, the noise reaching an almost deafening volume - though it didn’t stay that way for long. Something shimmered over her, a weird feeling of energy and the noise fell to something more manageable. She looked to the side, noticing the faint glint of Luna’s horn. After so much time with the Princess, Twilight had started to be able to see her magic even when she hid it, something that Luna said not many could do. Twilight took a second to look over the crowd, looking over the assembled pones in all their finery and all their different colors. She stood stock still for a second, unsure where to go, where to start.  Luckily, or unluckily, it seemed like ponies would come to them instead. A stallion, powder blue with a marvelous purple sequin suit approached first, shimmering silver mane, short cropped, with a mustache of the same color. Twilight instantly could tell who it was - Artemis. Who else could have possibly been Trixie’s father? A smile appeared on her face and she gave a small bow of her head. The stallion gave a bow right back, deeper and even more theatrical. There was a glint in his eye even now, and a smile on his face that was somehow both confident without being cocky and suave without being pretentious. “Artemis Lulamoon!” he introduced, holding a hoof out to shake. Twilight met it half way, and an enthusiastic shake nearly knocked her half over! “You must be Twilight Sparkle! My daughter has told me so much about you, it’s absolutely wonderful that the two of you have become such good friends!” He didn’t stop there, going on to level with Luna instead. “And Princess Luna Aurorium! What a great blessing it is to have you at my humble abode. I dearly hope that this small event is enough for such a magnanimous personality such as yourself!” His words seemed sarcastic at first, but his tone didn’t imply it at all, though Luna’s eye roll and earlier words about liking the man left Twilight to surmise this as ‘a joke’. “You hurt me, Artemis. You know that I care not for the surroundings and the ponies, simply being around those that I am friendly with are enough. And you should count yourself lucky that you are one of them lest I decide that you don’t deserve all of this.” That was another thing that seemed sarcastic but also looked to have a serious tone. With a blink of confusion, Twilight looked between the two, frowning and trying to get a bead on exactly what was happening in front of her.  Twilight opened her muzzle to speak, only for a bright eyed Artemis to go first. “Oh that would be absolutely disastrous! Imagine if I couldn’t hold my magic shows or my daughter’s tea parties anymore! Woe is me, woe is-” he didn’t finish. He finally burst into laughter, and to Twilight’s surprise, Luna followed him with a fit of giggles.  Alright, well she’d never seen that before. Laughs? Sure. Cackles? Surprisingly, yes. But a giggle fit? Definitely not something that she expected from Luna. “Er,” she finally began, the picture of perfect decorum and charisma. “Sorry, am I missing something here?” she finally asked, with a nervous smile. A foreleg from Luna reached out, looking to grasp against Artemis’s shoulders and pull him into a hug. “Worry not, my dearest student. Artemis and I go way, way back. He was once one of my students - though not in the personal way that you are, just at the Academy. He worked hard, graduated with honors, became a teacher and the two of us became… close.” The hug released, Artemis stepped back, fussing with his suit and getting all the shimmering scales pointed the right way once more. “Lunatic here means to say that we dated for a while. Of course, nothing came of it but I like to bring it up every chance I get because it makes me-” With a flash of dark blue magic, Artemis disappeared. A second later, in a burst of azure magic and sparkles, he reappeared. “And that’s why we broke up!” he announced, before he, once more, disappeared entirely. With a less than amused face, Luna looked to Twilight with a deadpan expression. “He is still wonderful, don’t get me wrong. I think he’s a great stallion who has and will do great things. But I think the both of us can agree he’s stupendously obnoxious, don’t you think?” she asked, cracking a smile once more. Twilight just nodded along, not really sure how to process the news that somepony had dated her teacher. There were a couple conflicting thoughts there -the first being about how weird that was. Luna actually dated ponies? Did that mean she was straight? The second bit was that they seemed legitimately happy and seemed to have a lot of fun around each other and that felt kinda special in a weird way. Maybe she just liked seeing other ponies happy and she cared the most about her teacher. And the last thing that was stuck in her mind somehow seemed the most important. That meant that Luna might date other ponies. Or be with them. Somehow, that felt thrilling. She’d think about that later. “He seems nice though. But also very chaotic,” Twilight answered back pleasantly enough. “Him and his daughter have a lot in common, don’t they? Overly boisterous, proud, but… but really good people with kind hearts.” That was about as sappy as Twilight would ever get, and only because she talked about her best friend, the one who probably meant the third most out of everypony in the world. The answer seemed to please Luna at least and she gave a nod as she looked back to the spot where Artemis once stood. “Don’t talk him or Trixie up too much cause he should be back in three...two-” Artemis beat her projections. A minor explosion and a blast of water announced the now soaked stallion’s arrival. He shook himself off, sending droplets everywhere. “Lunatic, did you have to send me to the bottom of the ocean?” he asked, with a bit of strain to his voice. “I know you think I’m wondrous with my magic, but that was a bit far, don’t you think?” Luna just laughed, the same laugh that sent Twilight’s heart all a flutter. “The bottom of the ocean?” Twilight blurted out, looking amused. That had to be a joke, right? Surely they weren’t serious. She’d chuckle, joining in on the joke. “Imagine how hard it’d be to actually get back from the bottom of the ocean so fast.” Another chuckle and a shake of her head. But neither of the other two were laughing like Twilight was. Luna looked amused, sure, but Artemis looked strained still. The moon princess would respond first, delicately looking over towards Twilight and giving her a slow blink. “Exactly as much as he expended. I know that likely seems absurd to you, but Artemis here has one very special gift.” A hoof came up to tap against the stallion’s horn, something he wouldn’t shy away from. “He’s able to teleport in a way that doesn’t expend energy based on the distance, but instead how good he can imagine it. I know that’s already required for most teleportation, but it’s the only real requirement for him. Since he was in this room just moments ago, he was easily able to imagine the destination and return once more.” Her hoof touched the ground as Artemis nodded, opening his own muzzle to speak once more. “Oh yes! Every pony has their own special talent, this one just happens to be mine,” he beamed. “It does help with my tricks - hardly anyone can teleport in the situations that I do, so my disappearing acts are quite a bit more,” he’d chuckle, “believable than most.” A quick pop and he was behind Twilight, a hoof reaching out to tap her shoulder. It was silent except for the quietest of pops,  “Surprise!” Twilight nearly jumped out of her skin. She hadn’t felt the power, and it was so quick. She scooted away quickly and caught herself, letting out a nervous chuckle at her own foolishness. “Sorry, sorry. That was-” she cleared her throat, a hoof covering her muzzle to be polite. “That was quite the surprise. So that makes you-” She thought it over for a second. “That makes you quite special actually.” Another look over the stallion, inspecting him in a new light. “Have you ever had somepony study you? Have you submitted your magic for analysis?” A look towards the princess. “Has she looked you over yet?” She asked, with a new enthusiasm. A hoof came up between the two of them, delicately pushing the inquisitive young student away. “In order,” he began. “Yes, yes, andddd yes! Lunatic here has tried to figure me out so many times. The best that we’ve managed to come up with is that something affected me in my birth, some otherworldly force. It isn’t a huge deal, I suppose,” Artemis dismissed. Luna stepped up, getting even with Artemis and wrapping a wing around him. “We’ve cataloged his magic for future generations to study as well. If we don’t figure it out in his lifetime, then at the least his magic and his technique will hopefully be understood eventually. I’d actually love for you to take a look, Twilight - once we are home. Tonight is for fun,” Luna reminded, ever so gently.  “Which means,” she’d go on, a free wing gesturing towards a food table across the way. “It’s time to eat! Come, the both of you, let’s grab something and sit, find us a table will you Artemis? I know what you like but I have yet to figure out my newest student’s favorite foods. Perhaps that will be something you divulge tonight?” Luna’s smile was always so contagious. Why not? Why not relax a little bit? She’d had a series of very busy days, a recent test at school something she’d crammed for. Dinner sounded nice, especially with somepony interesting, the father of her best friend even! “Yes princess,” Twilight chirped automatically, ambling behind the mare as she stepped forward. The buffet table itself was quite astounding. Foods of all types were arrayed in front of them, and as Luna levitated two plates above her, Twilight let herself feast her eyes before she started working on her tummy. A couple of spinach quiches, a strawberry tart and a blueberry cheesecake slice, little cucumber sandwiches on tiny buns, and even an array of fresh, crazy purple and green fruit with weird spines all magicked up onto her plate. She’d be so focused on her food that she didn’t notice the princess casting a couple of looks her way. “Dragonfruit. Rare this far north. Have you ever had one?” The princess’s voice so close broke her out of her reverie from staring at the food, with a little shake in her magic from the surprise. A tinge of pink colored her cheeks for a second before she’d give a little shake. “No princess.” Plate in magic, she’d turn and see one plate entirely of sweets, all the tarts and cakes and one entirely of fruit in Luna’s grasp. She could make some educated guesses here. She’d seen Luna’s diet. And despite the princess’s incredible figure and lovely wings, she ate… well, bad. Lots of cake, lots of cheesy things, a bit too much bread, the typical diet of a princess. No wonder it hadn’t worked out. No, wait, that was rude to think. She shouldn’t think that Luna or Artemis would be shallow enough to care what the other ate. He seemed like a nice stallion even though he definitely wasn’t right for Luna and definitely not good- Where were these thoughts coming from? She realized she’d been staring at the princess for a few seconds and shook her head, clearing the thoughts from them. “I thought I’d try something new. Sorry, head in the clouds thinking about Atremis’s magic,” she lied, but it was smooth and accompanied with a giggle at herself, as if she were being very silly. She was, just not in her normal ways. A hoof clapped against her shoulder and Luna’s smile made those bad thoughts disappear from her head. “Don’t worry, we’ll-” The statement wouldn’t ever be finished, as the sound of shattering glass drew Twilight’s attention to the side. A pony stood, mere feet away as the crowd split around them. A brown stallion wearing a bright blue tux, with sequins and everything. He sneered over at the princess, the glass dropped beside him. Presumably, it was from his magic halting while it held a glass, but the way that he looked at Luna had Twilight… perturbed? That felt like the right word. The look on his face spoke of anger and Twilight vaguely remembered seeing something similar years ago, when a local bully had tried to fight Shining. Wait.  Why would anypony want to fight the princess? That made no sense. No, he must have been mad for some other reason. Yet, the tuxedo’d pony stalked his way over, each step looking like it planned murder. “Who invited you? Was tonight not supposed to be for the nobles? For our peace? A place without you looking over our shoulders for once,” the hothead snapped out. Luna, on the other hoof, seemed rather unperturbed. She stood her ground, though she would hand the two dishes off to Twilight, the latter’s magic taking the handoff. “I’m afraid we’ve never met,” Luna began with her usual calmness. “But the current proprietor of this establishment sent me an invite. Artemis and I are long time friends. I am not here to watch over anypony’s shoulders, I am simply here to enjoy an evening with my student.” She’d cast a smile down towards Twilight, a gentle thing. That didn’t seem to be enough to calm the stallion down though, as he’d snort and turn up his nose. “You lie. We know you want to push us out. We’ve heard you, heard that you talk about what leeches the nobles are. My family has lived in Stalliongrad longer than you’ve been alive, princess-” The word was said very sarcastically, “-and you have another thing coming if you believe that you can take what we’ve made.” Again, Luna tried to calm the situation down, stepping forward with a genial smile on her face. “I have no desire to take what you built. You all do wonderful work in your estates and I’m eternally grateful for the assistance you all have given me in having Stalliongrad be my home as well. Please, why don’t you take a seat and talk with me? Twilight, dear, I’m sorry, can you give-” She didn’t finish the sentence. The stallion shot a blast of magic towards Luna, a jettison of golden sparks as a huge wave of energy erupted.  Everything seemed to slow for a moment. Twilight’s instincts kicked in, but Luna had absolutely no problem with such an obvious, unsubtle thing. The magic, the golden wave simply… ceased existing. It disappeared from reality, replaced with a flow of blue and purple butterflies, light wings flapping as they flew towards the ceiling before fading into dust. Her horn hadn’t even glowed from the effort, still able to suppress the color even when doing such an advanced spell. Twilight’s own hornlight had started to brighten, but stopped as she realized the situation was handled. It’d be handled all the more as Artemis appeared directly in front of the stallion, which was probably for the best because Luna had sent out another spell. This one had manifested a silver spear, the thing arcing towards the stallion’s chest but stopping a mere foot away from the now intercepting Artemis. Luna scoffed, letting the thing disappear once more. “You dare?” she thundered out. Her eyes seemed lit with fire from the heavens, anger radiating off her. “In front of my student. In the middle of a party. Where there’s bystanders that can get hurt! You dare hurl an attack at your princess?” Luna thundered, taking a step forward in an almost predatory way. It felt like she was watching everything happen in slow motion. She felt petrified, stuck. Realistically, she should be moving, getting to her teacher’s side and supporting her, trying to stop the situation from escalating but she couldn’t move. Had someone put her hooves in cinder blocks? She tried to open her muzzle to speak but her tongue felt locked against the bottom of her mouth, mind blank. The other stallion spoke first. “You are not my princess! You invaded these lands and forced yourself upon us! My family and our fellow nobles are the rightful rulers of our land and-” Artemis brought his hoof up and pushed it over the stallion’s muzzle. “Lunatic, dear,” Artemis tried to soothe. “Why don’t you take your student to the study? I’ll deal with this and then we can have a nice night together, how does that sound?” he asked, conciliatory and surprisingly sweet.  Part of Twilight wondered why the crazed stallion didn’t keep going, but she’d notice the faintest of silver shimmers around his muzzle, and on Artemis’s horn. Alright, magic. Oh. And he was looking at her with something of a pleading expression, she should probably finally do something.  Twilight got her hooves to move. Somehow she managed to get them out of the blocks and came over to her princess. She tried her best to smile and step in front of her, even as the princess sucked in breath after breath. “Princess, can we go see his study? I bet a unicorn of his caliber has very interesting books!” Twilight proposed. She’d kind of convinced herself with that, no longer lying for the benefit of the princess. No, she actually wanted to go over there. And then she’d play the pity card too, for extra measure. “Your Highness, it’s my first party,” she’d add a little quieter. “Let’s make it end well, okay?” That earned Luna’s attention, finally prying it away from the stallion who’d been so brazen. She finally gave a nod and lifted her head once more, peering over the crowd. They were silent, frozen in the place but as she looked, they each tried to seem busy, the reverie over the crowd finally breaking. “Then let us go,” she agreed. The stallion would earn one last, withering look before Luna stalked forward. For now at least, Twilight kept the plates in her magical grip. Luna led the way towards their inevitable location and Twilight followed. She glanced over her shoulder every now and then, ensuring that they weren’t followed, though Luna plowed ahead without even seeming to think to look back. One more look back would be cast before Twilight spoke again -  “Your Highness, are you-” She stopped, for a moment. There were many things she wanted to ask. She wanted to ask what had happened, wanted to ask how it’d gotten that bad, wanted to ask who it was, but she settled on a single question that seemed more important than any of them. “Are you okay?” she asked, finally. Yes, that’d been the right choice. Luna stopped peering ahead for the briefest of moments, a chance to show surprise on her face. “I am…” Another pause, this time not by Twilight. “Well enough. This was supposed to be a night of revelry and a triumphant introduction for you, my student. I apologize that it wasn’t as advertised.” Twilight had already started to bob her head. “Don’t even worry about it! Regardless of that… that stallion! It has been great! Between you and Trixie and Artemis - and the food - I’ve enjoyed myself!” Twilight promised, nodding again.  Another faint smile from Luna. “Well then. Let us relax tonight. We shall explore rare books with Artemis and tomorrow I promise I’ll inform you of everything, my dearest student. Is this acceptable?” she’d ask. A smile greeted the words as well as acceptance. “Of course. Tomorrow.” Until then.