//------------------------------//
// Epilogue: Part 1 - Afterparty 
// Story: The Piano Man: Act II 
// by The Sentient Cloud 
//------------------------------//

There's something fantastic about having lunch with nobility - or maybe it's only so amazing because Celestia is the way she is.

When Twilight had first mentioned that the Princess was going to treat us with an official 'late lunch' in celebration of Trixie's imprisonment, the first thought in my mind was that of a stifling swamp of self-promoting conversations from the Canterlot nobility and – with a little bad luck on my part – a possible meeting with Prince Blueblood. I'd hoped for Celestia to at the very least be friendly throughout it, but had been completely gobsmacked by the level of casualness she expressed. The entire thing was definitely not what I'd expected.
Celestia was by no means immature or juvenile, and she didn't spend her time making childish remarks or pulling petty practical jokes on her guests; instead she retained a specific minimum of formality, and behaved extremely amicably, spending quite a bit of time talking with me as if our altercation a few nights ago had never happened - and if she was willing to forget all of that, I was more than happy to follow suit.
Likewise, the Canterlot nobility were not the picture-perfect examples of snobbishness that I had expected. They behaved with considerably more formality than Celestia, but were still fairly friendly with each other. From my position I could see that some of the conversations they had were genuinely cheerful, while others were completely fake. It was completely comparable to what I'd imagine for a human medieval court, although with general friendliness being considerably more abundant.

As I said, I spent a large portion of the lunch speaking with the Princess Celestia, often with Twilight also partaking. I was seated to Celestia's right, with Twilight at the position beyond me and Cadance on the Princess's left; in Luna's seat. (The blue alicorn in question wasn't at the feast, considering the awful image it would have created if one of the judges at Trixie's trial had been present at the lunch celebrating her imprisonment.)
Some of the first words I uttered after we were seated was an apology to Twilight, whose position at Celestia's side I had definitely usurped. The lavender mare simply laughed, and told me to stop apologizing for things. I'd expected her response, but was surprised by the fact that she was prepared to laugh so soon after performing a task as grim as petrification.

So – in short – we ate and socialized with the nobility for the better part of an hour, followed by us going into a private lounge with Celestia for another hour and a half to talk about what's coming soon.
First up there was the matter of the meddlers in the trial, one of whom had been caught. (He'd been the only pony to answer to the name 'Arwell'.) The Lulamoons are under watch too, and there's an entire squad of guards waiting to move in and begin the questioning process once they've been given enough time to grieve, which I understand to be about five days. After everything that's happened, I'm willing to grant that.

And... well, that's pretty much it. Celestia took her leave at four o'clock to go and talk with Luna – whose position as the lead judge during the trial is something I very much want to discuss with Twilight – which left us with three hours to kill before heading back to the suite for the party.
Pinkie went back to the suite immediately to start setting things up – although I have absolutely no idea what could take three hours to set up, considering the food is all ready. Knowing her, it's probably something ridiculous – like a bank of party-cannons arranged on the balcony.
The rest of us spent most of our time walking around the palace, engaging in one long, pleasant group conversation. Maneworthy and Lockhooves excused themselves close to five o'clock for their own reasons, followed by Thunder Glider a half hour later (he's pretty good company, although he has a bad habit of steering the conversation towards his experiences while serving in the guard). Cadance and Shining hung around for a while longer, before also leaving to have some time to rest before the party. This of course left me and the Elements-sans-Pinkie to finish up our conversation with a leisurely stroll towards my suite in the southwest wing.

And that leaves us where we are now; the nine of us all making our slow way up the spiral staircase to my suite. Our pace is so slow because – for some reason – everypony thought it would be a good idea for me to go first, and I'm making sure I don't tire myself out. Some parts of me are getting better. Other parts are taking their time.
After almost two minutes, we find ourselves standing in an awkward train leading up the stairs. Rarity, Applejack and I are positioned on the landing for my suite while the others stand patiently on the stairs of the spiral staircase, choosing to wait rather than crowd us all into the small space.
In short order, I've caught my breath and regained my composure, leaving me to wait as Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy file up onto the platform.

“Uhh... so I suppose it's time to go inside,” I mumble awkwardly, my gaze flitting from pony to pony.

“'Yup.” Applejack nods cheerfully as I try the door, finding it to still be locked.

"Huh." I fish my keys out of my pocket and insert them into the door. Somepony needs to remind me why I need to lock my suite; I doubt anypony trusted enough to be inside the palace would be planning to raid my apartment.
A second thought I have is that Pinkie has both kept the door to my apartment locked, and somehow gotten inside without a key. Neither of those things are very surprising, although with the door locked I'm surprised there aren't any guests that arrived early waiting outside (not that I even know who's invited to the party anyway).

With a slight turn of my wrist, the tumbler in the door lets out a loud, satisfying 'thunk' as it retracts the thick bolt. I smile slightly at the sound before pushing the door open, revealing my pitch-black suite.

“You've got to be kidding me.” I produce an overdone sigh as I peer into the darkened space, hiding the slight smile on my face from the light of the landing.”What's the point in-”

“Surprise!”

I flinch back slightly as my ears are brutalized by a deafeningly loud group-shout. My light smile breaks into a grin at the collective cry as the lights come on, revealing that my apartment has been turned into a sea of multicolored equines, the thronging mass taking up most of my ground floor. Pinkie is - of course - positioned at the very front, a freakishly large grin plastered across her face.
“Really? A surprise party?” I raise one eyebrow at the mare, who snorts happily.

“I just like to shout 'surprise!'” The party-pony's grin turns sheepish. “I mean come on; it's so fun!”

“Of course.” I shake my head slightly, before turning back to the collection of roughly forty ponies. I have no idea what to say to them all – especially considering that I don't recognize most of them. There's Maneworthy and a heavily pregnant mare that could only be his wife, Light Wing, along with Thunder Glider, Lockhooves, and Princess Celestia of all ponies, flanked on her right side by Shining and Cadance (all three of which look very happy). I also think that a few of the ponies here might have been present when we went back to the royal theater and gave my statement.

I'm still staring out at the large group of ponies – who are all waiting patiently for me to speak – when a set of paper cards float into my view, both of them enveloped in Twilight's magical aura.
“Cue-cards? Really?” I sigh, gently plucking them from the air as I turn to give Twilight an exasperated look. The mare herself only smiles slightly.

Shaking my head again, I turn back to the party guests, my own smile returning with an embarrassed edge. “Uhh... well, I was just handed some cue-cards to use at the surprise party I knew was happening, so that's... surprising.”
Half of the crowd laughs politely at my extremely feeble joke, causing me to frown and shake my head a third time, before looking down at the cards. They aren't anything amazing; just a few pointers along the lines of 'thank the guests for coming' and 'mention winning the trial'.
Deciding to simply go with it, I allow a light smile to come to my face, stepping forward so that I'm in better view of the ponies towards the far side of the room. 'Keep it short. Don't be a bore. Be humble. Smile. Don't stutter.'

“Uhh... well, thanks for the big turn-out,” I begin lamely, slightly irritated I didn't open with something more interesting. “And thanks for all the support during the trial.”

A few of the more boisterous ponies in the room give out shouts of victory at my words while I quickly decide on what to say next.

“And... I'm a little ashamed to say that I don't recognize too many faces here tonight. There's Doctor Arthur Maneworthy, without whom I wouldn't be here-” A large portion of the crowd cheers loudly for the poor stallion, who immediately smiles nervously and shies away from the attention. “-along with his wife, Light Wing, who is expecting... what I believe to be their first foal.” A second cheer rings out, this one comprised of mostly female voices. I simply give a little snort of amusement and move on.
“I also see a few royal investigators and – most importantly – Detective Samantha Lockhooves, the mare who organized and spearheaded the royal investigation. Without her, there wouldn't have even been a trial.” My words prompt a third cheer, although this one has far less participants than the first two – an observation that prompts me to recall the story of the unsung hero (which is ironic, considering the fact that I myself glossed over the individual investigators). Lockhooves, for her part, simply smiles slightly and nods.

This speech is starting to get far too cheesy for my tastes, although it doesn't seem like anybody cares. My own issue is that I've already started it this way, and I can't just stop pointing out the ponies who helped me. I suppose it's better to just hurry up and get it out of the way.

“There's also Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and her husband, Captain Shining Armor. If it wasn't for the former, I wouldn't have been freed at all.” There's another round of cheering, this one on par with that given to Maneworthy. Both Cadance and Shining weather it with royal grace.
"I couldn't possibly forget my friends from Ponyville, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony..." I glance behind me at the five mares as the crowd gives their obligatory cheer yet again, although I don't look long enough to actually see their reactions. "...Who have given up a very large amount of their time to look after me."
“And finally, Princess Celestia.” The mere mention of the Alicorn's name prompts another round of cheering and multiple bows from some members of the audience. “...Who has been more than accommodating of my many needs, and has provided me with almost everything I've needed to live comfortably.”

The princess's only response to my praise (and the second round of cheering) is to give a polite – and slightly smug, if you ask me – smile. I myself nod slightly, now fed up with my own corny speech and the audience's ceaseless cheering.

“And... I think I'll leave at that. This speech is bad enough as it is.” I chuckle slightly at myself, although nopony else does. “So, with that all out of the way; have fun.”

One final, lack-luster wave of cheering rolls through the room, before the large crowd dissolves into a slightly less-dense mass of conversation groups. I myself turn back to the group of ponies standing by the door, a bemused look on my face.
“Hmm... that could have gone better. Anyway, I thought this was meant to be a small party.” I give an emphasized – and slightly forced – chuckle as I calmly walk the two steps back to them.

“Well, we thought...” Applejack smirks. “...That ya might like a more int'restin' shin-dig... but if ya don' like it, then I s'pose we c'n ask all these nice folk to leave.”

I make a big show of glancing back at the party-goers and pretending to think about the proposal intently, and then shake my head. “Nah. I like it.”

“Well then, if you two are done horsing around-” Rarity begins to voice her somewhat comically worded opinion, before falling silent as her eyes focus on something over my shoulder. “Wait, is that... no, it can't be.”

“Uhh...” I turn to look over my shoulder, trying to pick out a recognizable face from the group of ponies I think the fashionista has been distracted by. “What-”

“One moment, please.” Rarity trots past me, making a bee-line for the group.

“...Okay then...” I blink twice, before turning back to the others. “Anyway, maybe we should just split up, you know; go and have some fun.”

“You don't have to tell me twice.” Rainbow Dash is – of course - the first to break off, unfurling her wings and raising herself to a hover. “I heard that Spitfire was coming! Maybe she's upstairs.”

“Good luck with that,” I respond in a deadpan monotone as Applejack also trots away, her path looking to come within attack range of the snack buffet. This of course leaves me to stand awkwardly with Twilight and Fluttershy, the later of whom already looks both extremely uncomfortable and sheepish.
I give the yellow Pegasus a rather sympathetic look. To me, it's starting to seem most likely that her shyness around me is simply 'stranger shyness', (Which wouldn't have been helped by the fact that one of the first things I ever said in her presence was a very loud swear). The way she acts doesn't seem reproachful, particularly fearful, or affectionate, so that's the answer I'm left with. I mean, she could be afraid of me for any reason, but for a pony in her line of work, I find that unlikely.
“It's okay, Fluttershy.” I roll my eyes at Twilight, who grimaces uncomfortably at the exchange. “You can go.”

“Th-thank you,” the mare replies quietly in that adorable way of hers, before sedately walking away with her head down.

I twiddle my thumbs awkwardly as Fluttershy makes her graceful exit, before finally looking back to the only remaining pony; Twilight.
“So, I take it you'll...” I crease my forehead briefly, trying to think of any alternative actions the mare would take to her usual M.O. “...go and talk with Celestia about the trial, right?”

“Actually, I'm fine to just stay here and talk for a while.” Twilight gives me a pleasant smile, while I myself simply raise an eyebrow. Like so many other things in Equestria, I wasn't expecting that. “I don't need to talk with the Princess right away.”

“Uh... fair enough.” I wait a few more seconds before relaxing my eyebrow. “Anything in particular you want to talk about.”

“Nope.” Twilight and I begin slowly walking away from the door, taking us towards the heart of the party. “All the important stuff is a little too heavy for party chatter, so small-talk is fine. We don't seem to do that much anyway.”

“Actually, before we get to enthralled in just enjoying the party...” I trail off for a second as I note that the now notably thinned-out crowd readily parts in front of us. I'm going to make a blind guess and say that my being twice as tall as them all has something to do with that. “...I think that I should really, really take a moment to properly thank you. Now seems like an appropriate time to.”
I stop walking while I speak, as does Twilight. She doesn't say anything, although she does look at me bemusedly.
“To be frank, Twilight; you've helped me to an insane degree since I've arrived here.” I feel a slight flush at the embarrassing cheesiness of my words. This is even worse than my speech. “From freeing me at the Gala, to showing me around, and even putting that racist store-owner in his place.”

“Oh, that's fine.” Twilight smiles again, also looking a little embarrassed.

“And you should know that – as far as I'm concerned – that's all been absolutely amazing.” I smile slightly as the mare's embarrassed expression worsens. “The only bad part is that I have no idea how to make it up to you.”

“Well...” Twilight's blush fades as she considers my words. She remains silent for a few seconds, before frowning and turning to look at me again. “...how about a song?”

I give a little snort, amused. “A song? Really?”

“I-if you don't want to, that's fine.” Twilight immediately retracts her request, shaking her head from side to side.

“Twilight, it's okay.” I snort again, although this time it's closer to a chuckle than a snort. “I'd love to. Hell, I haven't been playing much piano at all lately; it's just been a long time since someone's actually requested that I play.”

“Oh.” Twilight frowns uncertainly, clearly not understanding what I find so amusing about her asking me to play. It's not like she could; all I find amusing is that I used to get requests all the time on earth, especially when I was still a student. In a weird way, it's actually a little nostalgic to get a request again.

“Any particular piece?” I glance over to the piano, noticing that a few of the closest ponies to us have stopped talking to listen. It's a pointless question, really. Twilight hasn't heard that many songs from me, so she doesn't have a very broad range to choose from.”

“Uhh... no.” Twilight's frown deepens as she briefly considers her options. “But I'd prefer something... cheerful – or at least not sad.”

“Fair enough,” I reply promptly. I didn't play many – if any – happy songs during my Equestrian Tour. “I think I know a good piece.”

“Alright,” One of the ponies around us comments quietly to a friend, eliciting a brief glance from me.

“Come on.” I beckon to Twilight with one hand as I take a few steps towards the snow-white grand piano that occupies the left side of the lounge.
With very little ceremony, I cross through the crowd and sit down at the instrument, lifting the fallboard to reveal the keys. I have no intention of taking a poll on who'd like to hear me play. All modesty aside, I'm going to guess almost everypony present would enjoy the experience; and it's my apartment anyway. (Well, Celestia's, if you want to be finicky.)

I wait patiently for Twilight to take up a spot near the piano and for a few loud hushing noises from several different ponies to silence the crowd, and then start to play my song of choice; Chopin's Second Nocturne, Opus 9.
It's a wonderful, beautiful song, which makes sense as being one of Chopin's more popular pieces. I think that its reflective 'Half cheerful, half regretful' tone is perfect to round off the day... even if it doesn't quite match up with Twilight's request. I suppose that's why I referred to it as 'good' instead of 'perfect'.

As I play, I tune-out the quiet murmuring of the ponies clustered around the five-centimeter-high podium raising the piano from the carpet. I've never been one to be thrown off by some noise, but I've been getting badly out-of-practice with a large number of my pieces, and I'd rather not mess up in front off so many ponies – especially not the princesses.

As usual, my playing gives me a moment to myself to think, even if I'm focusing on not messing up the song. Tonight, I briefly wonder why so many strangers were invited. It makes for a nice atmosphere, sure, the issue is that now I'm going to spend most of the night listening to different names that I'll never remember. I suppose that's just the celebrity 'thing'.
Realizing that I'm losing too much focus, I pull my undivided attention back to the piano keys. And so I manage to play through the whole song, finishing a full five minutes later to a round of mostly dignified applause from my listeners. After allowing a few seconds for the final notes to fade out I lower the fallboard and stand up, turning back to Twilight.

“That was beautiful,” the lavender unicorn compliments me. “Although not quite as cheerful as I'd hoped.”

“I'll play you a nice rag-time song later, if that'll please you, ” I assure the mare, glancing around us as the listeners start to break up again. “Just promise that you won't try and claim that I've paid you back.”

“I won't,” Twilight exclaims exasperatedly, clearly unimpressed with my assumption.

The party guests, who were starting to congregate around piano, again fracture back into their conversation groups as I mentally shy away from Twilight's disapproval. It looks like I finally broke that ever-present mindset of hers that I'm a do-no-wrong guy.

After another few seconds, Twilight relents in her drawn out disapproving look – which I imagine she only carried on with so long as to make it start seeming a little less sincere and a little more humorous – and takes a long look around the bottom floor of my suite.
“I suppose it's time to go and mingle,” she speaks a little bitterly, almost lamenting the fact.

“I guess so.” I choose to ignore her sudden reluctance. If I may be a little selfish, I'd rather just enjoy the party right now than worry about Twilight's social issues. “We can chat after that party's over.”

“Alright then,” Twilight responds quietly as we unceremoniously part ways, heading off to socialize with the other guests.

This should be fun. As I've said before; I don't get to talk to many ponies in my current situation.


***


"Keys, if I may have a word," Celestia speaks softly, taking advantage of the break in my conversation.

"Oh, of course." I turn away from Maneworthy and Light Wing, both of whom hurriedly and quietly excuse themselves. “Is something wrong?”

“Not as such, no.” Celestia shakes her head and turns towards the exit out onto the terrace. “Come, I'd prefer someplace quiet to discuss this.”

“Of course, your highness.” I obediently follow the alicorn out onto the balcony, now considerably intrigued.
I allow myself a slight shiver as we emerge into the crisp night air and move over to the balustrade, only now realizing just how warm it is inside. There are a few other ponies out with us, all of them talking quietly among themselves. I'd imagine that they've come out here for the same reasons as me and Celestia; some quiet and privacy.

“Now then...” Celestia lowers her voice and adopts a serious tone as we come to a stop at the balustrade, both of us looking out at the sea of lights that make up the nightscape of Canterlot. “I noticed that – during the general chaos of today's trial – Luna neglected to organize any sort of monetary compensation from the Lulamoon family.”

I nod slightly. “You're right. She didn't.”

“Well,” Celestia turns her head slightly to glance at me. “It is my perception that – for any number of reasons – Luna chose to do so intentionally, and as the sentencing has already been passed I am unable to change that.” The alicorn pauses for a moment, a slight intake of breath alerting me that she isn't finished yet.
“And still... from what I know of you, I get the impression that you wouldn't want such an amendment anyway.”

“No, I wouldn't.” I confirm the princess's thoughts. “I think they've suffered enough that I shouldn't take their money too.”

“And if they had a hand in the attempted tampering?” Celestia queries me, speaking almost as soon as I finish my sentence. 

“Uhh...” I pause to think, caught off-guard by the suddenness of her question. “Well... then I'd gladly take compensation. That would be their own fault, and their mistake to pay for.”

“And that's fair enough.” Celestia nods, glancing at me a second time out of the corner of her eye. “But, in the event that they weren't involved in the tampering, we're left with the issue of your own funds.”

“Oh.” I frown, remembering that I gave most of my money to the others as payment for freeing and running around after me. “I see.”

“Yes.” Celestia nods. “I'm not sure when – or even if – you plan to begin public recitals again, but until then you will need living funds.”

“I will...” My frown deepens. It doesn't take a genius to see what she's getting at.

“With that in mind, I feel that it would be best for me to offer you a royal stipend to cover your living costs until you are in a position to provide for yourself.”

“A... uh... oh.” My voice falters as I properly consider her words. Usually, I'd decline right away, but she has a point. I was so busy running around trying to be everypony's friend that I didn't stop and think about what would happen if I didn't get reparations from the trial. That said, I'm now only a couple of thousand bits from broke. “Huh. This is a problem.”
On one hand, I really want to stop mooching of the princesses and everypony around me. I want to provide for myself – and once I've achieved that, I want to pay them back. It goes without saying that accepting a royal stipend would be moving me in the completely opposite direction.
And on the other hand, there's the glaringly obvious problem that I'll need money. Without accepting a stipend, I'd either have to instead drain money from the Elements (who don't have the massive funds that Celestia and Luna keep at their disposal) or begin playing concerts and recitals immediately, which is something that I'm frankly not ready for. All in all, the answer seems pretty simple; accept the stipend, and pay it back in full once I do begin performing again. I can't deny that it's the best option, as much as I dislike it for my own reasons.

Celestia's been waiting patiently while I think, calmly watching the Canterlot skyline. A quiet clearing of my throat brings her eyes to bear on me again.

“Uh... while I would personally prefer not to take any more of your money, your majesty-” I clear my throat a second time, for no other reason than to break my sentence into two sections. “-as far as I can tell I won't have any source of income for the next few weeks, so I must accept your gracious offer.”

The corners of the alicorn's mouth twitch upwards in the beginning of a smile. “Excellent. I had worried that you would decline, which would have been quite an issue.”

“Quite.” I bow stiffly, almost forgetting to do so.

“Very good. Now then, let us return to the festivities.” Celestia turns and begins walking away from the rail, while I choose to linger a few moments longer.
“Oh, and Keys?” The princess pauses as she departs, turning her head slightly to look at me. “For the last time, please refer to me as 'Celestia'. I'm not one for formalities amongst friends.”

“Of course.” I nod briskly as Celestia takes her leave, immediately being struck by the implication of her words.
After a brief pause to think about what the princess just said, I shake my head and return to the party.


***


“Alright then. I'll see you tomorrow.” Maneworthy smiles wearily. “I'll give you a full examination, and we'll find out exactly where you stand recovery-wise.”

“Sounds good.” I nod once at the doctor and his wife, leaning against the frame of my suite's front door. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight – and hey, fun party.” Maneworthy's smile briefly changes to a smirk while Light Wing nods her agreement. She's a very quiet mare, to the point that I've barely actually talked to her.

“See-ya.” I stay where I am, waiting for the two to move out of my sight down the staircase – which takes a while, considering that Light Wing is heavily pregnant.
Finally, the doctor and his waddling wife disappear down the staircase, and I turn back into my apartment, gently swinging the front door closed.

“And that's it.” I call to Twilight, who is sitting on one of the couches in the middle of the lounge. The party started winding down around ten, leaving Maneworthy and Light Wing as the last guests to leave just now, at a quarter-to-eleven. Now it's just me and Twilight, who insisted that we still make an attempt at having one of our nightly conversations.
I quickly approach the couch, sitting down heavily next to Twilight “Now we can talk.”

“Uh-huh,” the mare replies. “That was a fun party.”

“Well, I think it was actually pretty tame, which was nice.” I cast my eyes around the suite, taking in the streamers and many pieces of dropped food strewn across the floor. Those veritable piles of food Pinkie and Applejack prepared last night have been all but completely demolished. “Although I really hope it isn't up to me to clean away this mess.”
It's when Twilight doesn't respond that I turn my attention back to her, fully expecting to find her asleep. Instead, I find her not only awake, but staring intently at my clothes.
“Uhh... everything okay, Twilight?” I glance down at my suit – which I should add that I am really liking. I think it looks pretty good on me.

“Uh, yeah.” Twilight quickly brings her eyes up to meet mine. “I... I was just trying to remember... remember... uhh...”

“You seem a little... unfocused. You sure that everything's alright?” I question her, trying to keep my voice pleasant. “You aren't going to fall asleep again, are you?”

“I-I'm fine...” the lavender mare replies still not averting her gaze. “I'm just... trying... oh!” Twilight suddenly smiles, turning her head slightly as her horn lights up. “That's right! I just remembered.”
She quickly produces a bland silver circlet from her saddlebags, which I immediately pick out as being all but completely identical to the one that was broken during the trial.
“I asked Rarity and Maneworthy to help me enchant this spare circlet the day after I gave you the first one – you know; in case something happened. It won't be quite as powerful as the first one, but what's important is that some random unicorn on the street won't be able to take hold of your mind.”

“Thank you.” I smile again, plucking the circlet from Twilight's aura and deftly slipping onto my head. After a few moments of rearranging my recently-shortened hair so that the metal band is covered, I turn my attention back to Twilight, who has for the second time started staring at me.
“Uhh... did you forget something else?” I raise one eyebrow at the mare, who doesn't even seem to notice my voice. “Twilight? Hey!” I raise my right hand and snap my fingers, finally getting her attention.

“Oh, sorry!” Twilight whips her gaze to my hand, and then up to my face. “It's been a long day.”

“Tell me about it.” I smile uneasily. Twilight's odd behavior is starting to seem a bit familiar. “Are you sure you aren't tired? You said you didn't sleep well last night.” I shift my gaze to the area around Twilight's eyes, which have light but noticeable dark circles underneath them. They're nowhere near as bad as the heavy bags she was sporting when I was preaching Atheism to her, but they're there.

“No, I'm feeling okay.” Twilight glances around the suite quickly, taking a quick breath. “B-but I think I'll sleep pretty well tonight.”

“Uh-huh.” I lean back into the couch, not missing the slight stutter in her voice. “Twilight, you're coming off as... well, kinda nervous.”

“Oh, no!” Twilight shakes her head quickly, a startled expression forming on her face. “No-no-no, I just...” she trails off, leaving me to both make a gesture with one hand for her to go on and turn my face into a strictly neutral mask. “It's just... uh... well, I was wondering about what... what happened with Trixie today.”

“Oh,” I reply dumbly. “That.”

If I can be honest, that's not what I was expecting – although I can see why Twilight would be curious. She must have realized that we talked for even a small amount of time before I started shouting for help, and it's just like her to be curious.
But the question is; is it even worth telling her what Trixie said? Do I even want to tell her? Do I want to waste my time repeating Trixie's justifications and excuses that I don't even believe myself? Do I want to even acknowledge them by talking about them? I'd much rather put it in the past and just move on.
And at the same time, it seems stupid that I even have to think about it. I trust Twilight implicitly, followed extremely closely by Cadance, Rarity, and everypony else who's been involved with me since I was freed. Why wouldn't I tell her? We could discuss all the ways in which what she said is incorrect, or Twilight could at least reassure me in my decision that it's a steaming crock of shit.

Maybe I just don't want to talk about it for that same reason I just mentioned; I could just be wanting to shove it all back to the past, where it belongs. Hell, what if my subconscious is trying to repress it? I'm not a psychiatrist. I don't know the way my mind works; I'm not even sure why I'm hesitating to talk about this in the first place.
A good way to decide all this is to consider one thing: Is there anything actually stopping me from talking to Twilight about this? If I opened my mouth to tell her, would I be able to, or would the words die in my throat for no good reason?
As far as I can tell, I wouldn't have any issues. I trust her, she's intelligent, and I really should tell at least one pony about what Trixie said, no matter how worthless her words are.

With this long period of thinking over, I finally pull my attention back to Twilight herself, only to realize something very, very awkward.

We've both been sitting here, doing nothing else but staring at each-other for just over a full minute.

'What?' I draw back slightly, although Twilight doesn't seem to notice. She's phased-out again, although still staring directly at me. 'That's... that's really weird. What is up with her tonight?'

“Keys?” Twilight speaks suddenly, still looking at me with that same disconcerting absent-minded look. In keeping with her decidedly creepy tiredness, her voice comes out equally weary and sluggish. (I'm starting to think that she might be simply drowsing in her seat).  “I... think I know how... how you can repay me.”

'What?' I repeat the thought, staring at the mare, not entirely following her. 'Wait, she doesn't mean...'

Then Twilight starts to lean towards me. 
Seriously. She's actually doing this.
This can't be happening. She can't be doing this. I must be asleep, or drunk, or having some sort of epileptic seizure on the floor.
But she is, and she's starting to get a little too close - and she's starting to pucker her lips. I can't let this happen. I can't let her kiss me.

“Twilight!” I shout loudly as I lean away from her slow advance, causing the mare in question to both come to her senses and jump slightly in her seat

“What... I...” The lavender mare glances around, before looking back at my shocked expression. “Oh, no. Oh my gosh! I was – I mean, you were... I...” She leaps to her hooves, her own expression matching mine as she becomes extremely upset. “I... I didn't mean to!”

I remain silent as she starts to panic, still trying to properly process what almost just happened. Twilight just tried to kiss me. She was going to kiss me.

“It's just that you're – I mean, you... I...” Twilight backs a few steps away from the couch, shaking her head and stuttering profusely. “I-I'm sorry, I have to go.”
She takes a further two steps back, a mixture of indecision, confusion and shock clouding her face. “I'm really sorry.”
And with that, Twilight turns and hurriedly canters to the front door of the apartment, opening it with her magic just long enough for her to pass through, before slamming it behind her. It takes only a few seconds, and then she's gone.

For my part, I stay exactly where I am, staring at the closed door with that same shocked look on my face.
She was going to kiss me. She really was!

After a few seconds I bring my hands up to my face and run them once through my hair, slumping back into the couch.
'What just happened?'

"Seriously," I speak suddenly, my voice sounding hollow. "What the fuck?”