“Miss Witching Hour?” asks a vaguely familiar, masculine voice.
Witch looks up from her desk in the Sound Lab and sees a very familiar bat-pony from Luna’s Royal Guard. It was hard to not notice this particular guardsman, with his white coat and wings, black mane and tail, and dark red eyes. She smiles, pushing sheet music aside. “Sir Moonlight Knight! What brings you here at this time of day?” she asks pleasantly, resting her chin on a hoof and supporting it with her elbow on her desk. Being the near the end of her Monday shift, she had been putting some finishing touches on the arrangement for the Squad 2 Fanfare.
“Her highness requires your assistance immediately,” Moonlight Knight replies in all seriousness, though there was a faint flicker of pleasure in his eyes. Witch knows Moonlight Knight quite well, and can easily read his expression; it tells her that while he had to be professional at the moment, he is still pleased at her kind greeting.
“Princess Luna needs my help with something?” Witch repeats quietly in her confusion, blinking rapidly. Luna had never required Witch’s assistance… Her smile fades and she gets up, feeling her stomach sink unpleasantly. “Give me just one moment and you can take me back with you,” she says quickly, looking around for her boss. Spotting her blue and silver mane, Witch darts over to her quickly. “Treble? I have to go. Princess Luna has -”
The moment Witch mentions the princess, Treble waves her away. “Go… Just leave your work on the desk!” Treble replies, still waving Witch back towards the royal guard.
Witch smiles, nods and grabs her lab coat from her chair before nodding again to Moonlight Knight. “Lead the way, good sir. We mustn’t keep Her Highness waiting.”
Moonlight Knight nods as well and leads them out of the lab and over to a set of doors she hadn’t notice before. “This will take us directly to the palace,” he explains as he opens the doors and guides her through it. Witch looks surprised only for a moment before smiling slightly at the guard. Of course there would be a passage connecting the compound to the palace.
They manage to get there in short order, thanks to bypassing the streets, and Moonlight Knight takes Witch immediately into the throne room. “Your Highness, I have brought Witching Hour, as you commanded,” he says formally, bending his knee and bowing his head to her as they approach her throne. Witch bows her head as well, dipping down slightly before Luna gestures that they rise.
“Thank you Sir Moonlight Knight. Please, resume your post,” Luna says calmly. Moonlight Knight answers with a salute and turns quickly to go back to his place outside the doors, leaving Witch alone with her mentor. The moment the door closes, Luna’s shoulders slump and she slowly descends from her dais.
“Witching Hour… How do you fare?” she asks, a tired smile making its way onto her face. Witch anxiously shifts as the Princess approaches, still worrying about why the Princess needed her help.
“I’m doing quite well, Princess Luna; thank you,” Witch replies, her voice shaking slightly from her nerves. The tone catches Luna’s attention immediately and looks at her student with sharp eyes.
“You are concerned about why I called you here, am I correct?” she queries, keeping her narrowed gaze upon the grey unicorn.
“Sir Moonlight Knight said you required my assistance… What I could possibly do to help a princess?” Witch answers, looking up at her teacher with a plaintive and confused expression in her eyes.
“More than you might think, my hopeful student,” Luna responds as she steps alongside Witch and drapes a wing over Witch’s back. “Come with me. There’s somepony I need you to see,” she adds, guiding Witch to a door behind the throne.
Witch follows slowly, her hooves dragging slightly in her hesitant confusion. Luna makes no comment, allowing her student to take her time. Luna’s magic opens the door to a side room and a little unicorn colt immediately bounces into view. Witch blinks several times, taking in the auburn coat and messy black mane. Her jaw drops as she recognizes the colt from the bend in his horn. “T-T-Trick Step?” she stammers as the colt bounds up to her and hugging her foreleg.
“Witch Doctor!” he replies happily, nuzzling his face against her chest. Witch smiles down at him, melting at Trick Step’s affectionate gestures.
“Tricks… I’m not your doctor anymore… Just call me ‘Witch’,” she responds with an amused chuckle, putting her free arm around him and leaning down to nuzzle at his cheek. Despite all her efforts to get Trick Step to stop calling her Witch Doctor, the unicorn colt thought the name was perfect for her and would not be persuaded.
“You’re my Witch Doctor!” he insists, squeezing tighter for an instant before releasing her. He turns his large gold eyes on Luna. “When are my parents coming to pick me up, Princess?” he asks, blinking innocently up at the alicorn. Witch couldn’t miss the troubled expression cross Luna’s face, but it’s gone quickly as she smiles down at the colt.
“We shall speak of that in a few moments… I need to talk to… Witch Doctor,” she pauses to flash Witch a teasing smile, “for just a minute or two. She’ll take you home after we speak again,” Luna explains patiently as she leans down to bring her face level with Trick Step’s.
Trick Step remains, thankfully, ignorant of the anxious look that Luna had had, and the now worried expression on Witch’s face, and he nods happily. “Alright… Can I go look at the pretty windows?” he asks. Luna only nods before Trick Step darts out into the throne room with a gleeful whoop.
The two mares watch him go and both sigh. Witch looks to Luna sharply, looking more confused than ever. “What’s wrong with his parents, Princess Luna?” she asks quickly, worried but already sensing something bad had happened with Chaine Turn and Feather Step. Her question causes Luna to sigh and close the door, trusting the guards stationed in the throne room to keep the rambunctious colt from breaking anything irreplaceable.
“Have you been keeping any sort of tabs on your former cases from the hospital?” Luna asks softly.
Witch narrows her eyes at the non-answer, but replies, “Not really… And since Trick Step was one I was only a consulting physician on, I haven’t heard about him since I gave notice at the Hospital about my new assignment. Last I heard, they were going to be determining if reconstructive surgery was necessary… Oh no…” The pieces click into place almost audibly in Witch’s mind. The constant fighting between the two unicorn parents over Trick Step’s ‘condition’ and the subsequent strain on their marriage, and now Trick Step’s presence in the palace without them and Luna requiring her assistance. Her mouth hangs agape, horror in her eyes. “Please tell me they didn’t -” she cuts herself off as Luna shakes her head sadly. A storm of emotions course through Witch’s mind, but at the forefront was anger at Chaine Turn and Feather Step.
Luna, easily reading her student’s expressions, raises a hoof to silence whatever outburst is about to happen. “We are not pleased that they would abandon him either… Our displeasure will be known when we meet with them again without young Trick Step in attendance.” Witch catches Luna slipping into the Royal pronoun usage, knowing that her mentor is only keeping herself in check for the sake of the colt most affected by the situation.
“So this is why you needed me… I’m familiar with his case, and your student, and you want me to care for him because you’re busy trying to do the job of two princesses.” Though Witch phrases it more like a statement, Luna can hear the uncertain question in Witch’s intonation.
“For all you have been my student only a short while, you know me far too well, Witching Hour,” Luna replies with dry humor, her eyes holding a slight glimmer of her amusement.
Witch sighs. “He’ll be so heartbroken… He wanted to use his magic so badly, and earn his parents’ approval…” she says softly, blue eyes glancing to the door to the throne room.
“Witching Hour… That is why you must be his guardian now. I am confident you will pull him through this hardship, just like you did with your friend, Miss Monkey Wrench,” Luna explains firmly, her wing extending to cover Witch’s shoulders again in a comforting gesture.
“Well, at least he won’t feel like the reconstructed horn will be cheating…” Witch replies with a sigh before she goes stiff. “How will I afford the surgery? I can just cover my expenses as it is…”
“Worry not… As a ward of the crown, his operation will be paid for in full… Traditionally, wards stay in the palace, but I have not the time to care for a foal… And I believe you are uniquely suited to care for him in this trying time,” Luna responds soothingly but her answer only causes Witch to panic more.
“I don’t have room for a colt at my apartment, Wrench doesn’t even know… Oh this is going to be a disaster…” Witch groans. Luna sighs, mostly to cover her laughter.
“Witching Hour… It’s been a very difficult situation recently, but I have every faith in your ability to come through this with your usual brilliance and ingenuity,” the princess consoles her student. “But to aid you in this, your stipend will be increased so your income will reflect your status as a Wonderbolt… And I’ll arrange for the housing to be taken care of… Will you be able to take him in until then?”
Witch sighs, both relieved and resigned as she sags and leans ever so slightly against her mentor. “Even if I could say no, you would make it another assignment…” she replies dryly with the barest hint of a laugh. Luna smiles down at her, eyes dancing with mirth.
“Too true, my hopeful student.” Luna looks to the closed door, her laughter fading. “The path awaits our first step, Witching Hour… Shall we?”
Monkey had been less than pleased at having a new member of the household sprung on her, but the pegasus had a soft spot for the unicorn colt, and immediately started spoiling the child with desserts. The fact that they were getting a better house out of the deal didn’t hurt matters either.
Tuesday morning had gone well, with Witch taking Trick Step to school before heading to the compound. Cinna, of course, needled at Witch until Witch told her lunch companions what was bothering her. It was Flash, this time, that needed to be restrained from tracking down and tearing apart Trick Step’s parents. Work in the Sound Lab went smoothly, and the fanfare was almost done, which was decidedly good since Squad 2 had a show in Whinnyapolis coming up.
When Witch arrives back at her apartment after work Tuesday evening, she can tell something is wrong as soon as she walks through the doors. Monkey sits on her usual couch, her eyes narrowed as she stares at her mail on the coffee table before her.
“Where’s Tricks?” Witch asks, hoping to keep the conversation calm until she could get a better read on the state of Monkey’s mind. With Bliss’ warning bouncing in her ears, Witch hopes that Cinna was correct and that her friend would be happy for the invitations… In spite of that hope though, Witch also knew Monkey, and Monkey was likely to be extremely cross about Witch going over her head.
“Your room, doing his homework,” Monkey answers, her words clipped. Witch flinches, realizing that her fears are about to become real.
“That’s good. He’ll be missing a day or two soon for the surgery,” Witch responds, again keeping the conversation neutral as she takes off her lab coat and saddle bag, leaving them on hooks by the door.
“I bet you can guess what I got in the mail today…” Monkey prompts, and Witch is suddenly very glad that her back is turned so Monkey couldn't see the second wince.
“Hardly. I can do many things, but premonitions and mind reading are not among them,” Witch replies blandly as she turns around, hoping to keep her expression calm against her friend’s obviously growing anger.
“Don’t need either to know you set this up,” Monkey retorts harshly, suddenly in front of Witch and shoving two pieces of paper in her face. Both had the Wonderbolts seal on them and are just as Bliss had said; one invitation for a tour of the compound, and the other for the flight academy. Witch puts on a look of pleasant surprise, her eyes widening and smiling broadly.
“They invited you back to the academy? And to tour the compound? That’s really great, Monkey!” Witch says cheerfully but she can’t maintain her happy expression against the glare Monkey levels on her.
“Don’t sound surprised, Witching Hour,” Monkey snaps, causing Witch to cringe again as the pegasus uses her full name. “I know you had a hoof in this!” she accuses sharply, tossing the invitations down on the floor at Witch’s feet.
“What? Monkey, really! I’ve only been working for them eight days now! I couldn’t pull that sort of influence!” Witch states adamantly, picking the papers up and setting them on the table near the door used for sorting mail.
“You alone, no, but you’re also Princess Luna’s student!” Monkey spits back, and Witch’s eyes go wide. The line of thought in Monkey’s brain is like a trainwreck that Witch can’t stop watching. “That could certainly pull enough weight to get Spitfire to -”
“You’re accusing me of using my connections?” Witch snaps, cutting Monkey off. “Do you even know me?! After five months, you still don’t know how much I hate being judged for who I know?! I don’t know how much plainer I can make it, Miss Wrench!” she rants on, icy blue light starting to flicker around her horn and eyes as her voice raises.
“I guess I don’t know you, Witching Hour, since you seem so willing to go behind my back, against my wishes!” Monkey yells back, her wings flapping angrily and her hind legs lifting slightly off the floor. Witch meets Monkey’s angry green eyes with her own icy glare despite Monkey’s attempts to make Witch back down.
“Did you ever think that maybe some ponies care about ability, no matter what brought it about?!” Witch shouts, a burning sensation in her eyes. “Did you think it didn’t hurt anyone else to watch you throw away something you love?!”
“Well maybe it’s none of your gods-damned business!”
“It’s my business when my friend is hurting for no good reason!!!”
“YOU’RE NO FRIEND OF MINE SO BUTT THE HELL OUT!”
Witch falls back in shock, sitting down hard on the floor and staring numbly at Monkey. The flickering light from her horn and eyes snuffs out and the burning in her eyes turns into small tears that would not fall. Monkey glowers angrily at Witch for a long moment before grabbing her own bag and heading for the door.
“Monkey… Wait,” Witch says softly as the pegasus puts a hoof on the door knob. Monkey pauses only a second, letting Witch know she’d heard, before opening the door and walking out.
Witch stares at the door, hanging slightly ajar, for what feels like an eternity before something rubs against her shoulder. She looks down and sees Trick Step, eyes puffy and red from crying. Slowly she reaches an arm around him and hugs him to her, equal parts for his solace as well as her own.
“Will Monkey leave me too?” Trick Step asks plaintively, sniffling as he pulls back just enough to look at his guardian’s face.
Witch sighs, feeling the tears finally break free. “I don’t know, Tricks… I don’t know…”