//------------------------------// // The End of the Study // Story: The Study of a Winning Pony // by Ponibius //------------------------------// The Study of a Winning Pony Chapter 22: The End of the Study Thanks in no small part to Spike's help, I managed to pull myself together. The tears stopped, and I could start thinking like a rational pony again. Though I felt an undercurrent of embarrassment and shame when I considered the sort of mess Spike found me in, there wasn't much to do about that at this juncture. All I could do was try and move forward. "Hey, Twilight. You feeling any better?" Spike must have noticed that my sobbing had slowed down. I wiped at my eyes so I could see again. "Yeah, a little." "You wanna talk about it?" That was the question, wasn't it? More than a small part of me wanted to talk to someone about everything. That was a big reason why I had gone to see Princess Celestia. Shame that had only caused the whole night to nosedive even faster. The issue was that I didn't think Spike was the right person for that. I would need to talk to him about everything sooner or later, but I had to sort out my own feelings and thoughts first. My parents’ relationship and everything involving Amethyst were big issues to tackle. Spike was pretty mature, but he was still a baby dragon and didn't deserve to have me dump all my emotional baggage on him. I shook my head. "No, I think I'm good for now. Maybe we can talk about it later. I've gone through a lot the last couple of days and I need time to think about it, okay?" "Well if you're really sure..." he said reluctantly. "Thanks for understanding, Spike." I nuzzled the best assistant in all the world. He gave me another hug. "Are we still leaving Canterlot?" I bit my lower lip. "I'm afraid so. Like I said, a lot of stuff came up, and I want to get back to Ponyville." Really, I wanted to get some space from all the problems that had developed here in my hometown. Once I had some time to figure out where I stood, I would be able to come back. Not like anything major was likely to change with my family in a few weeks. Finding out I had two half-sisters probably met my drama quota for at least a couple of months. Spike let out a resigned sigh. "Well, alright then. We’re heading out now?" "I think that would be for the best." I got off the bed and started packing all my stuff. “Oh! Before I forget.” Spike pointed to an envelope on the dresser by my bed. “Your parents wanted me to tell you to read that when you got back.” I picked the letter up. “I’ll ... read it later.” I packed it away along with everything else. Spike quirked an eyebrow. “Why not now?” “Later,” I repeated. Whatever my parents had to say to me, I didn’t want to deal with it at the moment. First they had come to the palace looking for me and then left this letter. I guess I had inherited my persistence from them. “It’s not like you to put off reading a letter, Twilight.” Spike crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Especially when it’s from your parents.” I rubbed my eyes, this was way too soon. “Like I said, Spike, it has been a couple of days. Could we drop it, please?” Spike let out an exasperated breath. “Fine. Let’s get this over with then.” The two of us gathered up all our possessions, including my new magic circle and some of the other things I had bought the previous day. I suppose that I was lucky they had placed everything in my room instead of placing my purchases somewhere on the other side of the manor. After a quick double-check, I gave Spike a smile. “And I think that’s it.” “Seems like it.” Spike tested the weight of his backpack. I grinned conspiratorially. “Though we do have one more stop to make before we leave town.” “Oh? Where?” Spike asked with a hint of suspicion. “How about—” I teleported us out of the manor and onto the Canterlot streets. Before Spike could get his bearings, I made a couple more precise hops to arrive in front of one of the Canterlot storefronts. “—we stop here for a bit?” Spike shook his head to clear out the post-teleportation fuzziness. He looked at the sign of the store we now stood in front of and his eyes widened. “Cosmic Comics and Collectables?!” He turned to me with a big smile on his face. “We’re gonna go in?” I smiled right back at him. “Sure are!” This comic shop was just about Spike’s favorite place in Canterlot, and I knew that he would want to go here before we left. He always liked to load up on a comic or two while here, and it would keep him content for the train ride at the very least. Although I had originally intended to come here anyway, I couldn’t help but feel I was bribing him. “And you can get whatever you want.” “Anything!?” Spike ran into the store as fast as his little legs would carry him. “Within reason!” I called after him. I chuckled and followed him inside. This trip wasn’t all bad. The trip back to Ponyville was thankfully uneventful, and once there, it was back to work. There is a certain peace and stability to be found in daily mundane life. Oh sure, it was nice to now and again break the daily routine, but I still wanted a sense of normality to return to when it was all said and done. Thus, I spent the next couple of days doing nothing but gloriously normal things around the library. I wrapped up a couple of book reports well ahead of time so that I would have time to review them later, finished setting up the new lab, cleaned the library, conducted a basic thaumaturgic realignment experiment, practiced some new spells, reshelved the books, and as became a growing nagging thought in the back of my head, did anything that didn't involve my f—things I didn’t want to think about and honestly had no idea what I would even think about if I were to think about them. All my papers and materials on Cloud Kicker were sitting on my desk upstairs, quietly taunting me to stop procrastinating and get back to work. The envelope about Amethyst and the letter my parents left me sat safely in my interdimensional pocket plane, along with Spike's Hearth's Warming Eve gifts. In the statistically unlikely event that he should get into that, he would be far too interested in his presents to bother with some mundane-looking mail. I did not want Spike to learn that Amethyst was alive by reading a piece of paper. That was highly undesirable to say the least. Spike deserved better. Just like I had. The Princess was probably right about talking with my parents about everything. Maybe I would write out everything I wanted to address with them? It would be like preparing for a speech. I could see where I was standing in a week and decide how to proceed then. That would give me more than enough time to get my act together and come up with a rational plan or two. Then there was Amethyst. I was terribly tempted to open that envelope up and see where my sister was, but Princess Celestia’s advice echoed in the back of my mind. No, I couldn’t see her when I was still mad at my parents. The revelation of having a sister would be hard enough. Amethyst didn’t deserve to have all my emotional baggage dumped on top of that. Ugh, but that meant I would actually have to bunker down and deal with Mom and Dad, and soon if I wanted to see my sister. So I had the beginnings of a plan. First I would give myself some time to calm down, then I would come up with a working plan to see my parents and then Amethyst with a clear conscience. At least that sounded like a workable plan. Well, at least I could write a letter to Vinyl Scratch so that I could get to know my half-sister a little better. We seemed to be pretty different ponies, but plenty of siblings were different yet still got along. Maybe we could even arrange a day that would just be for the two of us? That sounded like a workable plan to me. That decided, I headed to my desk to write that letter. It wasn’t long after I had finished the letter that Rainbow Dash flew in through the window. Someday I was going to teach her to use the door like a civilized pony. Well, not to imply that pegasi were uncivilized. Windows and doors were more of an aesthetic choice for cloud homes. Any opening a pegasus could fly through effectively served as a door for them. Still, for ground-based homes, there was a door for a reason. Ugh, cross-tribal relations could be difficult sometimes. Dash fixed me with one of her typical cocky grins. “Hey, Twilight. What’s up?” “Oh, just the usual stuff.” I waved a hoof vaguely. “Studying, writing, experimenting. You?” “Being awesome, as always.” She fluttered down closer to me. “Heard you got back from Canterlot. That mean you and Spike are gonna join the rest of us to watch the dragon migration later today?” “Wait, that was this week?” I retrieved my monthly schedule. It showed how scattered-brained I was if I had forgotten about something as big as the dragon migration. I had cleared out my schedule for the week so that I could take care of everything in Canterlot. Seems I hadn’t been paying as much attention to what I was cutting out of my schedule as I should have been. Though redoing my schedule for what remained of the week was at least one thing I could do before tackling the Cloud Kicker project... “Hay yeah, it is.” Dash excitedly flipped back in the air. “How can you forget that there are gonna be hundreds of dragons flying right by Ponyville? Helloooo! I thought you eggheads were supposed to be good at remembering this type of stuff.” I shook my head. “Sorry, I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately.” Examining my schedule, I saw where I had absentmindedly crossed out everything for today. It seemed I had just forgotten. Whoops. A dragon migration was something I had always wanted to see. They were often sporadic and difficult to predict, with the timing of the journey and their destination seeming to be random as far as ponies could figure. Equestria and the dragons had long ago come to an ... agreement that  dragons could have safe passage through Equestria as long as they didn’t cause any trouble. It had been quite a bit of work to make sure the dragons didn’t cause any incidents while flying over settlements—cities getting burned to the ground type of incidents. Each dragon was different of course, but some were a bit more foul-tempered than others. A few of the more greedy ones might get it in their heads to loot a city of its prized possessions while flying over said city. The Royal Guard was of course shadowing the dragon migration, but the idea of so many dragons flying over Equestria was still upsetting to many. I for one found it fascinating. “So you coming or not?” Dash asked with a hint of impatience. “Applejack and Pinkie are digging that trench like we talked about. And since I’m the fastest pony anywhere...” Dash rubbed a hoof on her chest in a nonchalant manner. “It’s up to me to round everypony else up so nopony’s late. I’ve already went to Rarity’s, and she said she just needed to finish the final touches to her getup. So what’s the word? We don’t have all day you know.” “I’d love to come watch the dragon migration with all of you.” It was exactly what I needed to help me clear my thoughts. “I’ll talk to Spike about baking some cookies.” Dash smiled. “Great, and cookies sound pretty cool. Say...” She seemed to mull over something before continuing. “You wanna come with me to Fluttershy’s to see if she wants to come too? She said she didn’t want to see the dragons earlier, but this is way too cool to just skip. You’re a bit better with talking, so maybe you can talk her into coming to see the dragons with us?” I wondered if Fluttershy’s fear of dragons was cropping up again. She had taken care of that one dragon on the mountain quite handily, but there was a bit of a difference between that incident and the dragon migration. Still, it would be nice if we could convince her to come with us. Besides, some time with Fluttershy was something I could really use. It was hard not to feel at least a little better with Fluttershy around. “Sure, let’s go ahead and do that,” I said. “Let me just talk to Spike real quick first to make sure he’s up for this. After that it shouldn’t be too hard to convince Fluttershy to come with us.” It had proven much more difficult to convince Fluttershy to come watch the dragon migration than anticipated. In fact, in a rare moment of self-assertion, she had very firmly told us that she had no intention of joining us, despite Dash’s rather aggressive attempt at dragging Fluttershy with us. Her flight from her own home had made it pretty clear where she stood on the matter. With that being a bust, the two of us returned to the library to pick up Spike. Big surprise, the little guy had been pretty enthusiastic about joining us. It wasn’t very often he got to see other dragons. “So I guess there is no convincing Fluttershy to join us,” I said conversationally while closing the library door behind us. I couldn’t help but sigh at that. I had really hoped she would come. “No kidding.” Dash grumbled while rubbing her chest. Fluttershy had given her a pretty nasty kick there while getting away. “She didn't have to get that worked up about it, though. I thought she was over her dragon-phobia.” “I thought she had gotten over her drakonophobia too,” I gently corrected. “I guess it was a one time thing with that dragon on the mountain. Bit of a shame, really.” “I guess.” She sighed and shook her head. “Oh well, I guess she'll just have to miss out on the awesome time the rest of us will have.” She crossed her forelegs and grumbled. “Even though I went to her butterfly thing...” It was perhaps a little bit bad of me, but I couldn’t help but grin at the thought of Rainbow Dash going to see a butterfly migration. Now I personally thought that would have been great to see, but Dash had always had her own preference for activities, and a lot of those activities were very different from the ones Fluttershy liked, as this incident showed clearly. “Did you bring that photograph specifically to blackmail her into coming?” It had struck me as slightly suspicious that Dash had that photograph on her when we went out to see Fluttershy. “It wasn't blackmail, it was just ... y'know...” Dash struggled to find the right way to explain her thoughts. “A favor for a favor, is all.” I gave her a knowing grin. “Right, asking a favor for a favor. While using documented evidence.” Dash snorted. “She had fun. Besides, it was my turn to pick something fun for us to do.” “Now you know it was important to her,” I said soothingly. “You're one of her oldest and best friends. It meant a lot to her that you went to that with her.” I remembered Fluttershy talking about going to the butterfly migration. She had been walking on water afterwards. Figuratively speaking, of course. “Yeah, which is why I went to that butterfly thing even though I knew it would be sooo boring.” I was a bit surprised when I saw Dash’s usual bravado dissolve as her ears drooped. “But now she won't do the dragon migration with me...” “Hey.” I placed a hoof on her shoulder. “The rest of us are still going to be there, and then there are all the treats Spike’s making.” Dash let out a disgruntled huff. “Yeah, I guess.” That probably wasn’t exactly what Dash wanted to hear, but hopefully she would feel better once we got to see the dragons. “And speaking of Spike, I just need to check in on him real quick.” I trotted to the kitchen. He was busy putting some baking sheets into the oven while whistling some tune to himself. “Hey, Spike. How is it going?” He closed the oven door before turning to me with a smile. “Great! Everything should be done here soon.” “Thanks, Spike.” I gave him an appreciative nuzzle. “I’m sure all the girls will thank you. You know they love your cooking.” “Aw, it’s nothing,” he said with an embarrassed smile. I looked about the kitchen to see if there was anything out of the ordinary. “Are you sure you don’t need any help before I tell Dash that everything is almost ready?” “Nope, everything is hunky-dory in here,” Spike picked up a couple of bowls to place in the sink. “Thanks for asking, though.” “Sure thing. Be back in a bit.” I trotted back to the main library to see Dash idly looking around. “Sorry about that. Just wanted to make sure Spike was okay in the kitchen. Good news is that everything should be ready here before too long.” “It’s cool.” She shrugged. “So ... s'up with you? You kinda came back from Canterlot sooner than we thought you would.” “Yeah...” I rubbed the back of my head. “It went alright, I guess.” This really wasn’t a topic I wanted to get into. “Yeah, family good?” Dash asked. I looked away from her and scraped a hoof along the floor. “They're doing alright.” If Dash caught onto my discomfort, she didn’t show any sign of it. “Cool. You went to see Cloud's too, right? For the whole study thing you got going? How're they doing?” “Oh, they're doing just fine.” Now this was a topic I was a bit more comfortable with, though that did make me wonder what that meant when I said I was more comfortable with anything involving Cloud Kicker than my own parents. “I got to meet Tornado and Star Kicker. They seemed really nice.” Dash nodded. “Yeah, Cloud's dad is alright. And her cousins are pretty cool. Especially Storm. We pulled such a sick prank on Lyra once when we zapped Harpbutt on the rear. It was a blast!” It wasn’t hard to imagine Dash getting one of Cloud’s teenage cousins to zap Lyra with a lightning cloud. Dash did have a love of using lightning and thunder clouds for her pranks. She had terrorized half the town during Nightmare Night with those until Princess Luna had given her a dose of her own medicine. “I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t get to interview Storm.” I shrugged. “Maybe I’ll get to meet her later.” The topic of Cloud’s family caused a few synapses to fire. “That reminds me, I need to tell Cloud that her dad would like to see her and Alula at some point. You know when Cloud is supposed to get back from Cloudsdale so I can tell her?” Dash pursed her lips as she thought my question over. “It should just be a couple days. Annual weather conferences take a while. The big ponies upstairs will keep her there until they’re happy with everything. Though usually they don’t take more than a week. But I didn’t really want to go. It’s sooo boring. Taking a few days off to watch dragons is way cooler.” Sometimes I wondered how much Dash actually worked versus how much she was supposed to, but that seemed to just be one of those perpetual mysteries that plagued Ponyville. “The dragon migration is a pretty special event,” I allowed. “I’m happy that I’m not going to miss it now.” “Hay yeah! It’s going to be. So. Awesome!” Dash zipped about the room. “Say, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?” There had been a question plaguing my mind for a while and now seemed as good a time as any to ask it. Dash stopped flying about the library to face me. “Go for it.” After a second she added, “Well, as long as it's not weird.” She was always one to jump right in, though sometimes with some conditions. “I was wondering why you became friends with Cloud to start with? I mean, you two are a bit... different.” “Huh?” Dash rubbed her chin. “Well, 'cause she's cool, I guess.”  She lowered her voice to say, “Don't tell her I said that, though.” I chuckled. It felt good to see Dash be her usual self. “This never leaves the library. But seriously, why do you find her cool? I mean...” Words failed me as I tried to think of the best way to put my thoughts. “Oh Twilight.” She patted me on the head. “You still don't really get how coolness works, do you?” Brushing her hoof aside, I re-straightened my mane. “I think I’ve figured out the basics. That, and how you define ‘awesome’ and ‘radical’ too.” Rainbow blew a raspberry at me. “You can’t use egghead stuff to understand the really cool stuff.” I rolled my eyes. “Anyways, you and Cloud seem like very different ponies. And, well ... she does tend to bring up a certain topic you seem pretty uncomfortable with.” Yes, that totally didn’t sound like a question that applied one hundred percent to me. Way to not be transparent, Twilight. Dash shrugged. "You talk about egghead stuff a lot, and we're still friends. It's more that we like hanging out, right?" "That is true, but I never really embarrass you with the type of things I do, do I?" I asked. "Not really." "I see.” I thought over that. “So what, you just ignore it when she's being ... her?" "Nah, I've got a pretty thick skin with Kicker." She grinned. "Besides, I get her back for when she's being all weird, so it's cool." "Like how?" I picked up a notebook and quill. This might give me a better idea for how to deal with Cloud. Dash had been friends with her for years now and dealt with her on a daily basis. My friend fluttered up to a window to lounge in it. "You know, tease her back, pranks, whatever. It's all in good fun. No big." "I think I understand." I scribbled away furiously. "So you don't let her get under your skin and get her back. Good naturedly, of course." Dash stretched as she made herself comfortable. "Exactly. Now you're getting it." I finished writing up my current line of thoughts. "I'll keep that in mind, then." "Cool. You and her doing alright?" She craned her neck to get a better look at me. I groaned as the topic of my own feelings for Cloud came back to the surface. They weren't as pronounced as they were before, but I still needed to sit down and decide on a course of action. "I'm working on it. I partially went to Canterlot to give me some time and distance to figure out how to deal with her." "How'd that work out?" Dash asked. "Brilliantly," I said with bleeding sarcasm. "I found a boatload of new problems to overshadow the old." Dash winced. "Oh." My comment had been more caustic than I had intended. "Um ... anything I can do to help?" I let out a huff as I worked to rein in my temper. "Not really. It's a bit complicated, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around the problem." "Oh." Dash squirmed in place on the window ledge. "I guess I could listen, if you want. I mean, that's really more Fluttershy's thing. Well, her and you. But you can’t really give yourself an ear, now can you? But if you need somepony to talk to right now..." She paused, running a hoof through the mane. “Well, I’m here, y’know?” “I appreciate the offer,” I said. "But you don't really have to listen to my problems if you don’t want to. I don't want to make you uncomfortable." "Nah, I don't mind." She hopped down to the floor. "I mean, if you need help I'm here and all.” “I know that.” I put away my notebook. “Everypony has their strengths and weaknesses.” Though based on the way Dash kept mentioning Fluttershy, I was going to guess she really would prefer for me to talk to her about this. And on second thought, Fluttershy might be exactly who I needed to talk to about my problems. At the very least, she was always a good shoulder to cry on. Dash would probably just advise me to march right back to Canterlot and confront my parents about everything, and that really wasn’t how I wanted to approach the problem. As direct and efficient as it might be, I needed to hide away in Ponyville until I got my head on straight. “I think I will go talk to her about ... everything later,” I said. “After the dragon migration, of course.” “Oh yeah!” Dash nudged my shoulder. “Gotta have your priorities straight.” “Thanks for being here for me, by the way.” I nuzzled her. “Couldn't ask for a more awesome friend.” Dash puffed out her chest proudly. "You know me, being awesome is what I do." I glanced into the kitchen to check on Spike's progress. He was in the middle of pulling out the baking sheets from the oven. It seemed we had just a little while to wait before he would be ready to go. Seeing that was the case, I picked up my schedule to review it. "How about I double-check what else I'm doing with you while you're here?" I mused. "No sense risking me forgetting anything." Dash put a hoof over mouth as she suppressed a laugh. I shot her a look that was equal parts suspicion and irritation. “What?” "Nothing," she said with all the innocence of a child. Dash was only beat by Applejack for a lack of a poker face. The grin working itself onto Dash's features proved infectious. I gave her my own knowing smile. "Nooo, it's not nothing. You're thinking something." No doubt seeing that the game was up, Dash rolled her eyes. "I just think it's funny how you always have a schedule. I wouldn't be surprised to see that you schedule when you're going to go to the bathroom." "I'm very busy." I went back to reviewing my schedule. "Keeping a schedule makes sure I don't forget anything." She shrugged. "Hey, whatever, Twi. That's how you are. I think it's kinda funny, but you probably think some of the things I do are a bit weird. Weirdly awesome, but probably weird to an egghead." "I guess that is true," I said. "Everypony has their quirks." "Exactly," Dash said with a nod. "See, I know what I'm talking about." I saw a specific event that did catch my eyes considering Dash was here. "It looks like Tornado Day is sneaking up on us. It's only a couple of weeks away." "Oh, right, that!" My friend took flight again, never being a pony to stay still for long. "It's going to be so radical if Cloud can manage to get that lined up for us. You set on your end to help out with the anemometer?" "I am." I recalled my mental list of all the things I needed to build it, and I was pretty sure I got everything I needed in Canterlot. "I just need to put it together and then test it to make sure it works right. Other than that, everything should be fine." "Cool," Dash said. "Anything else you need to get that set up?" Thinking the question over, I shook my head. "I don't think so. It would be nice to have a pegasus or two from the weather team at some point to help me test the device and make sure it's calibrated right." “Not a problem.” She playfully punched me in the shoulder. “You cover that, and I’ve got the rest handled. Just gonna have to train everypony real hard for the big day. Once we do, we’re gonna show everypony just how awesome Ponyville is.” I held my own reservations about Tornado Day. At least the part where Dash wanted to break the record. I never really liked plans where everything had to go exactly right or the plan would fail. I knew from bitter personal experiences how well such plans tended to go once they were enacted. Dash was expecting a lot out of the pegasi of Ponyville, and I wasn’t sure everypony was going to be as motivated as Dash wanted them to be. Though it should turn out alright. It wasn’t that hard even for a town like Ponyville to do a water tornado as long as the turnout was good enough. Before I could bring up any of my concerns, Spike walked in with a cart filled with treats and drinks. “Hey, I’m ready to go,” Spike said. “C’mon then!” Dash rushed out the door and stopping just outside to wave for us to follow. “There’s dragon watching to do!” I grasped the cart with my magic to move it forward. “Don’t worry, we’re right behind you.” Time to relax and watch some dragons in flight. That had been less relaxing than I had hoped for. I opened the front door to the library, so very happy to be back home after a long trip. “Okay Spike, no more journeys of self-discovery for a while. That was more excitement than I really needed.” “Sorry,” Spike said apologetically. “I just wanted to figure out who I was.” “I know, I know.” I nuzzled him. “And I’d like to think it all turned out for the best.” Spike gave me a big grin. “Yeah! I learned a bunch about myself. Oh, and now I’ve got a new pet!” He held the phoenix egg up but then frowned at it. “Or at least will once it hatches.” I smiled back. “Yep, you sure will.” I locked the front door, since it was starting to get late by the time we got home. Spike turned the egg around in his claws carefully. “I bet a phoenix is going to be such a cool pet. We’re gonna have so much fun together!” Spike getting a pet was certainly not something I had expected. I mean it was certainly a possibility, and one I wasn’t against, but usually whenever someone got a pet it was something like a dog or a cat, not a mythical fire-bird. Then again, given that a pet phoenix would most likely live as long as Spike will, it works out. It was probably a big reason why Princess Celestia had Philomena. “We might need to send a letter to Princess Celestia asking how to raise a phoenix, at least.” If anypony knew how to raise one, it was her. “And it would probably be good to check with Fluttershy, too. She might have some good advice about taking care of a bird.” We did have experience helping to take care of Owlicious, but he took care of himself for the most part. Peewee was going to be a chick when he or she hatched. That meant a whole other range of issues to deal with. “I’m sure we’ll make it work just fine.”  “Sounds good to me.” Spike yawned and blinked his eyes sleepily. “You mind if I head to bed? It’s been a long day.” “Sure, go ahead,” I said. “I think I might get to work on that anemometer I promised to make for Dash.” That wasn’t something I wanted to do at the last minute, of course. One never knew what types of minor issues might come up with an engineering project, so best to get the bulk of the work done ahead of time in case something came up. “Alright.” Spike stifled another yawn. “Night.” We parted ways. Spike went upstairs, while I went through the basement to the lab. It felt relaxing to do an engineering project again. They were so uncomplicated compared to some of the messes I had been dealing with lately. With engineering, it was all about making sure all the parts were in working order, putting them together correctly and then turning it on to make sure it operated properly. After that, it was making any corrections that needed to be made, and then fine-tuning it for maximum efficiency and measurement accuracy. I was in the middle of putting in some of the screws into the anemometer when I heard a knock on the door. Curious, I headed upstairs and answered. My eyes widened, and I quickly fell into a bow. “Princess Luna! I-I wasn't expecting you!” The Princess of the Night stood outside in all her regal presence. She spoke in an official and dispassionate tone, probably meaning she was here on business. “Greetings, Twilight Sparkle. How does this evening find thee?” I rose from my bow. “G-good! Do you want to come in?” I moved to give her space to step in. Princess Luna smiled and nodded. “I will gladly accept thy hospitality.” She stepped into the library, and I closed the door behind her. “I hope that thou wilt not take offense if we go straight to business?” “Of course not.” Immediately after she said those words I guessed why she was here, and I felt a cramping in my stomach. Confirming my suspicions, she asked, “How dost thy work on Cloud Kicker progress?” I cleared my throat. “I'm working on it.” That was to say, it wasn’t done yet. Spike’s personal journey to discover himself had put a bit of a stop to my other projects. I couldn’t very well let a baby dragon who might as well be my little brother go marching off to meet with a bunch of big, potentially dangerous dragons all by himself? “But of course,” Princess Luna said. “And how far along art thou?” “Um, that is something I'm trying to figure out, if I'm going to be honest.” I rubbed the back of my mane. This was just about one of the worst feelings in the world, the realization that I had been procrastinating on a project that others would have liked to see done. This was exactly why I had schedules, so this type of thing didn’t happen. “I've collected a lot of material, but ... I'm trying to decide if I want to collect more information or go ahead and write the actual report.” Princess Luna glanced about the library with an air of indifference. “Then share thy current findings with me.” “Okay.” My thoughts scrambled as I found myself in a situation I wasn’t prepared for. I mean, I knew I would have to make some sort of presentation to the princess, but I didn’t know it would be this soon. “Did you want all the research material I've gathered, or is this more an oral summary of my findings?” “A summary will suffice for now,” Princess Luna said. “Um, well, Cloud Kicker is... different from most ponies I know.” I drew upon my experiences of doing oral presentations for Princess Celestia to help me figure out how best to proceed. “She grew up within the Kicker Clan and seemed like she was going to be a pretty typical member of the family. Going into West Hoof to become a Guard officer and all that, but then she suddenly decided not to join the Guard after skipping out on her graduation.” “Interesting, but I know her history already.” Her head tilted slightly as she stared at me. “I see little point in having thee do in-depth research just to provide information I could largely find in public records.” “So you were wanting to know her as a pony, then?” That was going to make things a bit more difficult considering I hadn’t exactly gotten along with Cloud. Still, it didn’t strike me as right to slander her to the princess without her even being here to defend herself. “The personal aspect is one of the parts I'm still working on. Cloud and I are ... different ponies, you see.” And now it felt like I was repeating myself. The princess’s raised her brow at that. “How so? Explain, please. And in detail.” I glanced about the room, stalling for time as I gathered my thoughts. “Cloud likes to engage in carnal relationships. Often. In fact, it's such a significant part of her life, it tends to work into a lot of her conversations and humor. And it isn't something I am used to or really comfortable with.” “That matches my own observations.” Whether Princess Luna was talking about Cloud or me, I wasn’t sure, but I wasn’t about to ask her. “You've met her?” I asked. “I have, and I would have the rest of thy thoughts on her,” she said, not letting the conversation get off the rails. “Full disclosure.” “Honestly, I'm still sorting my thoughts out on her. When I first got to meet her, I didn't like her much. She's just so different from anypony I've ever known or had to deal with.” I braced myself as I moved onto talking about one of the more uncomfortable aspects of my relationship with Cloud. “I guess it revolves around ... sex. It's not a topic I've given much thought to or had to deal with.” “And now?” the princess asked with a hint of curiosity. “I'm not sure.” I sighed, feeling my frustration growing. “I may have been hard on her, or she may deserve my original opinion of her. I mean she has other parts to her, I know that. Her father said he wanted to see her just the other day when I spoke with him, so she can’t be all bad. I'm trying to put my personal bias aside, but that’s a work in progress.” I internally winced when I realized I admitted to having a bias for an academic discussion. You weren’t supposed to do that for a research project. Everything was supposed to be completely, one-hundred percent impartial for something like this. Princess Luna pursed her lips after I said that. “She did not make the best first impression, then?” “Not really, no.” Cloud certainly had a way to leave an impression on ponies. That definitely came across in my research. “Her humor is a lot more crass than what I'm used to. With a lot more teasing than I’m experienced with.” “But thou hast begun to revise thine opinion?” she asked. “I'm not entirely sure I really understand her,” I said. “I've ... been doing a lot of rethinking about my own life recently.” Princess Luna sat down at the library’s central desk and gave me displeased look. “If thou dost not understand her, then further study is required.” I sat down opposite of her, my head bowed. “I guess all the background research isn't going to cut it then?” I sighed to myself. This wasn’t going very well and I knew it. “Hardly,” she scoffed. “I wanted you to study the mare, not her record.” “Err, why? If I may ask.” It struck me as weird how the princess seemed so concerned with the personal side of Cloud Kicker. This was certainly different than most of the research projects I had done for Princess Celestia. Those were generally about hard facts, figures, solving problems. The project with Cloud wasn’t quite lining up, or at least the part where I was trying to figure out the princess’s goals here. The Warden of the Moon frowned at my question. “My reasons are my own. And I am ... less than satisfied with what thou hast reported.” My ears wilted at the rebuke. “I'm sorry, I'll do better. I promise.” Her eyes narrowed. “If thou hast nothing more to tell me...” I looked down at the floor. “No.” Princess Luna looked away from me and out one of the windows. “Perhaps 'twould be best to call an end to the assignment. 'Twould seem thou art unsuited to it.” “U-unsuited!” The words sounded odd to me, wrong somehow. I couldn’t be hearing what I was hearing. “Aye. In any case, 'tis a moot issue now,” Princess Luna said in a tone coated in disappointment. “I will have to make my own determination regarding the mare shortly, and if thou canst tell me nothing more...” She started towards the door, prompting me to bolt from my seat and run after her. “Please, give me more time!” I placed myself before her and the door and bowed. “I can't fail! I've never failed! Whatever you want to know, I'll find it out! Maybe I already discovered what you want from something else.” Princess Luna stopped and quirked an eyebrow. She stood there for a long moment that felt like an eternity to me. I started to worry I might have offended her with my outburst. Would she tell Princess Celestia? She might even recommend to her sister that I shouldn’t be her personal student anymore. What would I do then? A dozen different disaster scenarios ran through my mind as the silence dragged on and on. Finally, Luna broke her silence. “Very well, then. A question to see if thou hast learned anything of this mare. Tell me, dost thou think her a good mare?” That question threw me for a loop. It was such an unscientific question for a report. How do you quantify if somepony is good or not? Sure, there was good and evil, but they weren’t always easy to judge. Especially when there were multiple perspectives to look from. Still, I couldn’t allow myself to fail. I grasped for whatever facts I could to answer her question. “Um, I don't think she's evil or anything like that. She ... makes poor choices sometimes. But I'm pretty sure she cares about her family, and she did protect me against Sticks and Stones when she didn't have to. So she has her good qualities.” The princess nodded at that. “Which are more prominent, her good or bad qualities? Is she a good pony who occasionally errs, or a bad pony with moments of decency?” I stood up and frowned. This was starting to sound like some of Princess Celestia’s more philosophical questions. I had never been a fan of those. They always seemed relative and prone to one’s personal opinion, not based on hard facts like science. I bit my lip and said, “Probably good. Cloud shows regret for her bad decisions, and a bad pony wouldn't feel regret for most of the things she does. Rainbow Dash also really likes her, and I can't see my friend hanging out with somepony that is rotten to the core.” Princess Luna seemed to think that over for a few seconds before nodding. “I have made my own mistakes, and had cause to lament them.” I didn’t want to say so, but going insane and trying to create eternal darkness that would most likely kill everything on the planet was quite the mistake. One that could get you a thousand-year banishment. She closed her eyes and again seemed to think to herself for a time before asking another question. “If she transgressed against thee, wouldst thou forgive her?” Now that was an excellent question. It was one I had been struggling with for the last few days as I considered how best to deal with Cloud going into the future. Upon reflecting on it, and one of Princess Luna’s earlier comments, wouldn’t I forgive Cloud? Nightmare Moon had nearly caused untold chaos and destruction, but here I was, talking with Princess Luna like none of that had ever happened. And that had been after she had gone through no small effort at trying to keep me and my friends from trying to find the Elements of Harmony, and would have done who knows what else if she had remained free. And yet I had forgiven Princess Luna. True, she could be a bit cold and distant at times, but she was trying to be a good pony now. Next to all of that, a few off-color jokes from Cloud seemed minor in comparison. It felt petty when I looked at it in those terms. Besides, I was a better mare than to let that type of thing bother me. At the very least, I could stand up for myself to make Cloud stop bothering me. I had a say in how our relationship was defined, after all. She didn’t have to dominate it, especially if she made me uncomfortable, and she had said she didn’t want to make me uncomfortable in the first place. Yes, I was starting to prefer this new line of thinking to my own. Perhaps I had gotten my nose so buried in the book I couldn’t read the words? Thinking it over carefully, I said, “If she was sorry about what she did and doesn’t keep doing what upset me, sure. I'm always willing to forgive somepony if they're willing to try to be better.” “Interesting.” She turned to pace about the library. “Thou find’st her to be a good mare. This is useful information.” “Wait, it is?” I quirked an eyebrow at this, but I was going to accept it for now. If the princess was pleased, then it meant I wasn’t going to fail. That was a life-saver I was more than happy to grasp onto. “What else would you like to know?” She nodded. “As for my next question: dost thou consider her comely?” I blinked. “Excuse me?” “From all I have heard, I am sure that she has propositioned thee,” she said. “Didst thou find her comely enough to consider the offer?” One of the things I hadn’t expected from this project was that it would become personal. I wasn’t sure how to respond other than to answer the princess’s question as best I could. I couldn’t just allow myself to fail. “I, um, I didn't seriously consider it. I've never really thought about things like that. I mean, I always thought I would get into an arranged marriage and that would be that. Not to mention I've been too busy with my studies to date or consider romantic pursuits, so it never occurred to me to seriously consider Cloud's ... propositions.” “And now that the thought has occurred?” The princess asked curiously. “Aesthetically speaking, she is physically attractive,” I hedged. “Tall without being lanky, well-muscled without it detracting from her appearance, and an attractive mane. At least by conventional measures of such things, which are based on societal norms. Her facial features are also in the upper twenty percent for ponies, I would think.” She hummed to herself. “So dost thou find her comely?” I shuffled in place. Why did she have to ask such a personal question? “Err, yes, I guess so.” Her mouth quirked into a mischievous edge. “Canst thou imagine any circumstance in which thou wouldst bed her?” I felt my cheeks burn. Drawing on my previous thoughts on Cloud Kicker, I remembered that I could just ask the princess to stop if I was too uncomfortable. I considered doing just that, but I did seem to be turning things around for this conversation, and I didn’t want to destroy all my progress. Keeping that in mind, I said, “Maybe if I married her?” “Ah. I see.” Princess Luna paused and raised an eyebrow. “Wouldst thou consider speaking with thy parents about arranging such?” I coughed on empty air. “M-me? Marry Cloud Kicker? But that's ... I can't ... what?!” A grin worked onto her face. “There are some merits to it. You belong to a powerful and important noble house, and she is a member of the patrician family of the Kicker Clan. It is my understanding that there is a bit of a rift between your families over your brother becoming Captain of the Guard, but a marriage could help repair that divide.” “No. Just no. I mean I've never seriously considered it with anypony.” I wondered how concrete that thought process was anymore after the recent revelations involving my parents and their love lives. It felt like I was on quicksand with some of my old ways of thinking these days. It didn’t help that the princess was giving some technically compelling reasons to consider such a match. If my parents ever heard of the idea... Princess Luna gave me a knowing smile that made me wonder exactly what she was thinking. “Is that so? Very well, then. I am well pleased with thy results.” I returned a hopeful smile of my own. “You are?” “Aye, perhaps the initial failings were on my account.” She hummed to herself, as though musing something over. “Thou canst not give the proper answer until the correct question is asked. I will make sure to be more clear if I should ask a similar thing of you at a later point.” “It does tend to help to know what the question is when trying to come up with an answer,” I said cautiously. “Exactly.” She stood and made her way to the door. “Very well then. If thou wilt excuse me, I have other business to attend to ere the world awakens, but this has been most productive. My thanks.” “Of course, Princess.” I moved towards the door and opened it for her. “Did you need anything else before you leave?” The Princess of the Moon shook her head as she exited the library. “Neigh, but I thank thee for the offer.” “Okay then.” I stood in the doorway as I watched her leave. “Um, would you still like a written report?” “I think it moot now, but let us see it done for the sake of completion.” “I'll get right to work on that then.” I suddenly felt like a huge weight had been pulled off my back. This was it, it was over! I wouldn’t have to do this project anymore once I was done with the written portion of it. “I should have it done in a couple of days.” Princess Luna gave me a smile. “Excellent, then. Fare thee well, Twilight Sparkle.” “Bye, Princess Luna!” I waved. “Have a good night!” The princess waved at me before turning away. Her horn glowed and then a black hole the size of a door opened into reality. She casually strode into the rift, and it closed behind her. I had to all but push my jaw up at the sudden and unexpected show of powerful magic. She had made it seem casual, but I knew that opening holes in reality was not an easy task. I had read about using the Dreamscape as a form of transportation for powerful magi, and it was something I had thought of trying someday. Though it was somewhat dangerous and not something you casually did. Extraplanar travel came with a number of risks. Still... “I really need to learn how to do that someday,” I said as I closed the door.