//------------------------------// // Problematic Explanations // Story: Lessons in the Moonlight // by Harmony Split //------------------------------// Chapter four: Problematic Explanations I sat there for a while, just looking at Twilight. There was no possible way I could answer the question. Honestly, everything before the town and my cutie mark being stolen was a blur, but I always thought it was because Starlight had stolen my true self. “Uh… I… I just lived, you know?” I muttered. It was a weak try, a really weak try and damned to fail. Twilight raised an eyebrow as she inspected me, and I could see that it only envigorated her curiosity even more. “What exactly do you mean by ‘just lived’? I don’t think I’ve heard that phrase before,” she said, curiosity lacing her voice. I bit my lip, thinking for a moment. I wasn’t entirely sure how to explain it in a way that would make sure she stopped asking questions about it. It made me uncomfortable trying to explain my past to her when I didn’t even know how to explain my past to myself. “I just kinda coasted. I didn’t do anything worthwhile, it was just… you know. Boring?” I elaborated, hoping that it made sense enough that she wouldn’t try to go any deeper. Of course, Twilight wouldn’t have any of it. Shifting on her pillow, she shook her head, “There’s no way that you haven’t done anything special. How about the basics; where did you live before you moved there?” she asked, trying to find a starting point in her questioning. It was a simple question, one that most ponies wouldn’t have a problem with answering. Of course, most ponies actually knew where they came from. It was a wild guess at best for me, and even then, that wasn’t a very accurate way to answer. The only things I could remember with any accuracy was my time in Starlight’s town, but I couldn’t tell Twilight that I actually came from there. So, I went with the best guess I could come up with. “Uhhh… Canterlot. I came from Canterlot,” I replied quickly, my wings ruffling in anxiety. It sounded correct, or at least passable. If bits of blurry and incomprehensible dreams were to believe, it was possible that I had been in Canterlot before. Or at the very least, something that looked like Canterlot. Twilight leaned forward, a serious expression on her muzzle, “Really? I was born and raised in Canterlot. Now that I think about it, I’ve never actually seen you there, and you look like you’re about my age. That’s strange,” she said, her eyes narrowing as she examined me and thought about what I had said. I chewed the inside of my cheek, “Y-yeah, I must have been homeschooled or something,” I stammered, my ears folding back against my skull as I spoke, “To be honest, I think I lost a lot of my memories when Starlight took my cutie mark away. I just remember running around a castle, and the only castle I can think of is Canterlot castle,” I replied, trying to put on a convincing smile. “So you can’t remember most of your past?” she asked as she leaned back, humming softly in thought, “Canterlot castle isn’t the only castle in Equestria, but the other castle is almost impossible for you to remember visiting before.” Raising an eyebrow curiously, I tilted my head, “ What do you mean?” I asked in confusion. I only knew of the one castle in Equestria, most other cities only had holds or had upgraded to modern styles. Twilight’s horn began to glow as a book floated over to her hooves. She shuffled through it for a few moments before holding it out in front of my muzzle, showing me a hoof drawn picture of what seemed to be the most beautiful castle I’d ever seen, “This is the old castle of the two sisters. A thousand years ago, it was where they lived and ruled, but now it’s not much more than a ruin in the Everfree Forest,” she explained as she poked a hoof at the page of writing next to the drawing. Something seems familiar about it. And it was the truth. The castle simply looked beautiful and, for the lack of a better term, like home. Like my home. Yet, it was impossible since that was a thousand years ago. If I had ever actually lived there, that’d mean that I was over a thousand years old, and that was just impossible. “What’s going through your head right now?” Twilight asked as she gave me a charmingly knowing smile. “Huh?” I asked stupidly, stopped dead in my thoughts. “That look. I know it, it’s the same look I get when I’m buried deep in thought. Mind telling me about it?” she asked, looking as if my thoughts were the most interesting subject in the world to her. I wonder how that would look on her. I knew that telling her some story or even lying wouldn’t help, so I decided to stay honest, “It seems familiar somehow, but I know that it’s impossible,” I mused, vocalizing my thoughts as best as I could, “It looks like somewhere I’ve been before, and I don’t know how to explain it. I think about it, and somehow I can tell you exactly where the library is, or how many steps you have to take to get to the bedrooms,” I explained, putting my own hoof down on the page that had the picture of the castle. I know where the armory is, too. And the barracks… and the night princess’s quarters. What the hay is going on? Twilight seemed genuinely intrigued by my quiet musings, but the way that she bit her lips suggested that she was quite skeptical, too. No matter how skeptical she seemed, though, I seemed to have her rapt attention.         “How about we go there at some point?” she asked, catching me completely off guard. “W-what?” I asked, blinking a few times in shock. She gave an understanding smile, “We could go to the ruins and you can take a look around. Maybe then you’ll get an idea of why the castle feels familiar to you,” she suggested, with no trace of sarcasm or humor in her voice. “Why are you offering to take me there?” I asked bluntly, unsure of why she’d be willing to venture into the Everfree Forest, of all places, just for my sake. “Because you are my student,” she said before shaking her head, “No… Sorry, that’s wrong. Because you are my friend, Night Glider.” Before I could reply to the touching claim, we were disturbed by a rainbow-coloured blur crashing through one of the windows. “RAINBOW!” Twilight yelled, “Not again!” she exclaimed, seemingly exasperated by the intrusion. The cyan mare slowly rose from her crumpled position on the ground, shaking her head and wings, “Heh, sorry Twi! I just closed my eyes for a second.” “Again? What were you doing that made you tired enough to fall asleep while flying?!” I knew it. I definitely knew it, and I just couldn’t shut my muzzle. I had to pay her back for the lack of sleep. “Because she was doing some nighttime exercises at the farm,” I said bluntly. Rainbow’s eyes widened at that and she looked pleadingly at me, almost as if I shouldn’t tell Twilight anything. “Nighttime exercises? I’m sorry, I don’t understand what-” “Just practice, Twilight. Nothing an egghead like you would understand!” Rainbow quickly interrupted her, the blush on her cheeks matching the red in her prismatic mane. Twilight blinked a few times in surprise, then shook her head with a slight scoff, “Alright, Rainbow Dash, just be careful from now on. Last time you fell asleep while flying, you were in the hospital for a month,” she said, then smirked at the pegasus, “And you don’t want me to have to sit by your hospital bed and pet you again like I was your mother.” This time it was Rainbow’s turn to scoff, “Next time you could just accept my invite. It wouldn’t have been so boring then!” “Rainbow!” Twilight blushed seriously, “I thought that we accepted to never speak of it again! I said no, and it stays no!” “Chicken!” “I think it is my decision with whom I engage the act of cunnilingus, Rainbow,” Twilight replied coldly. “Cunni-what now?” I asked, sufficiently confused. “Bucking,” Rainbow replied bluntly before blowing Twilight a raspberry. Twilight blushed deeply and smacked Rainbow lightly on the side with a wing, “Rainbow! That’s very vulgar,” she snapped, fixing her with a cold glare, “And why aren’t you surprised that Night Glider is here?” “Uhh,” Rainbow scratched her head nervously, “Uh, because AJ told me about it last night,” she said before covering her muzzle quickly with her wings. Ha! Nicely done! To my surprise, Twilight didn’t get it. “You helped at the farm again? What did you do, get caught napping in her tree’s again? Drinking through her cider cellar?” Twilight snickered softly, enjoying a laugh at her friend’s expense while still missing the sexual innuendo behind the real reason. I felt the urge to facehoof, and Rainbow expressed it by doing exactly that, “Twi, for an egghead, you’re sometimes pretty uneggish.” “That’s not even a word, Rainbow,” Twilight scoffed. Rainbow didn’t really seem to care, not that anypony would ever expect her to. “Yeah, whatever. What are you doing with her here anyways, Twi?” Rainbow asked, finally gesturing towards me as if she had only just realized she was curious as to why I was there. “She’s my student. Celestia thought it would be a good idea to experience it for myself,” Twilight responded, her chin raising slightly. Is she… proud? No way. “You’re kidding me, egghead,” Rainbow replied, a laugh creeping out of her muzzle despite her best efforts not to laugh. “She’s not,” I replied simply, “And I think she is doing really well, for her first time teaching,”  I said, flashing a smile over at Twilight, which she seemed happy to return, before returning my gaze to Rainbow. Rainbow blinked a few times, looking from Twilight to myself and then back, her eyes narrowing slightly with each glance. After a few silent moments of glancing, her mouth slowly crept into a sly grin that set me on edge, “Oh my Celestia… No way,” she said, the grin growing exponentially. “No way what?” I asked, raising an eyebrow curiously. “How soft is her fur, Twi? I already guessed that you’re into wings, but now I have the proof.” “WHAT?” Twilight and I both yelled out simultaneously. “Nothing! Have fun, you two!” she said with a rather suggestive wink before flying out the way she came in. “What the hay was that?” I asked Twilight, who still looked bewildered. Twilight was silent for a few moments before she shook her head, “I have no idea,” she admitted, looking at me with a sheepish smile, “Sorry about that,” she said, embarrassment crossing her features. “It’s okay. How about we continue?” I suggested, giving her a soft smile. Somehow, Twilight’s blush intensified at that, and I had to wonder why. Though, she nodded with a smile as the book she brought out levitated back to its spot on a bookshelf. “What do you know about friendship?” she asked suddenly. The question caught me off guard, because that was precisely why I was there to study from Twilight. I didn’t know much about friendship, and to be honest, the things I did know were probably the most basic things. I gave an awkward smile, “Uhh… When you’re friends with someone, you like them, and they like you?” “Interesting answer,” she said, “You don’t know much about it, do you?” A blush raced across my cheeks, “N-no, I don’t,” I admitted, giving a sheepish smile. Twilight seemed to ponder for a bit before coming a bit closer. I had to admit that it wasn’t really uncomfortable to feel her coat on mine, and it confused me to no end. I wasn’t about to complain, it was just different. “It’s okay, Night Glider. It’s not easy,” she said, setting a hoof on my back just above my wings. Rubbing my back gently, she continued, “I was the same when I first moved to Ponyville,” she admitted with a warm smile. W-what is she doing? The touch really relaxed me, and I had to try hard not to loose control over my shuffling wings, “Tw-Twilight. Wings…” I managed to get out, causing her to withdraw her hoof. “Sorry, I’m still new to that part of anatomy,” she admitted sheepishly. Then she looked at the clock, “Okay, Rainbow distracted us for a bit, but there is still plenty of time. How about we go into town to eat something, and I’ll tell you a bit about the magic of friendship?” A smile crossed my features after a moment, “I think that sounds good,” I admitted, giving an enthusiastic nod. Pulling away from me and standing up, Twilight stretched her neck for a moment before gesturing towards the door, “Lets go, shall we?” she said, giving a smile. *** The journey to the restaurant Twilight wanted to eat at was a rather short one. It never really occurred to me how close the castle was to everything in town, so it took no time whatsoever to get where we wanted to be. Of course, that being a hay fry shack in the middle of town came as a relatively brutal surprise to me, but I wasn’t about to complain. After all, who didn’t like hay fries and veggie burgers? Taking our seats near one of the windows, we stayed in companionable silence for a few moments while we looked over the menus at the table. Settling on my order, my eyes wandered towards the window and across the street, settling on a pair of mares across the street in a cafe, seemingly tossing balled up paper at one another and laughing. A scoff crossed my lips as I watched for a few moments. Now that’s what friendship is. Before I could bring my gaze back to Twilight, I saw two other mares approaching them, both wearing Guard armor. It looked like they dragged the two sitting at the table by their ears and wings from their table and papers, ignoring any complaints. I thought they were about to get arrested, however, what surprised me more was the kisses that were traded between the guards and paper tossers once they left the building. Twilight followed my gaze, “They look cute. You know, fillyfoolers are a pretty common sight. I guess it’s because over seventy-five percent of ponies are mares in Equestria.” I blinked a few times and glanced at Twilight before letting my gaze return to the fillyfoolers as they left the cafe, “They are pretty cute together like that. You never saw stuff like that in Starlight’s town… she discouraged us from same sex relationships,” I admitted, giving an awkward shrug. “You speak as if you wanted a mare for yourself,” Twilight said with a smirk. My ears fell back against my skull and an awkward blush crossed my cheeks, “M-maybe once. It was a long time ago, though,” I admitted, averting my gaze from Twilight’s own. “I’m not judging you,” Twilight reassured with a smile. “No, no, it’s not that. Thinking about it just makes me remember how lonely I was when I first moved in… How lonely I still am,” I admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of my head with an idle hoof. “But surely you have friends?” Twilight asked, and suddenly I felt the urge to facehoof again. “I do have friends. What I mean is my lack of a special somepony,” I explained, my blush burning brighter as I was forced to elaborate to Twilight. The mare blinked a few times, a look of comprehension crossing her features as a blush began to burn under her own cheeks, “Oh, I see. I’m sorry, Night Glider,” she said, reaching a hoof across the table to cover mine reassuringly, “If it’s any consolation, I’ve never had a special somepony, myself,” she said, giving an awkward little chuckle at her own misfortune. I looked at her, quite surprised, “Really?” I asked. She raised an eyebrow. “Uh, I mean, I’m a bit surprised. You’re not exactly...” I facehoofed, stopping my muzzle from moving, “Forget what I just said.” “Please tell me what you wanted to say,” Twilight suddenly said as her hoof covered mine once again. Giving a dramatic sigh, I rolled my eyes, “Ughhhh, you never give up do you?” I exclaimed playfully, giving a little laugh, “Alright, I was gonna say that you’re not unattractive. I’d have expected ponies to be lining up at your door to take you out on dates every night!” I said, forcing my embarrassment away as I explained. “You… what?” Twilight stammered and blushed. A nervous laugh escaped my lips, “I said you’re not unattractive. You’re tall, slender, graceful, your mane is beautiful, your wings are perfectly tended to, even your horn doesn’t have anything out of place. You should have mares and stallions lined up to Stalliongrad trying to get your hoof!”          Wait, why did I just say that? “Or...Uhhh… You know. That’s just what I think,” I said, my gusto leaving me the moment I realized exactly what I had said. “Thank you, I guess. I’ve never had anypony say that to me,” Twilight mumbled, trying to avoid my gaze. We were saved from further embarrassment by the arrival of the waitress. The mare was a cheerful unicorn, a light purple coat with a short dark blue mane and a frying pan as a cutie mark. Levitating a notepad and pen in front of her, she smiled at us, “Welcome, princess! What can I get y’all today?” she asked, her eyes fixing on Twilight and quite obviously not acknowledging my presence. What do you expect when you go to lunch with a princess? Still with a proud blush on her cheeks, Twilight looked up at the waitress and fixed her with a smile, “I’ll have some hay fries and a double veggie burger, don’t hold back on the onions, and a chocolate milkshake,” she said before turning her eyes back towards me, “What about you, Night Glider?” That’s not quite the gaze you give a customer. I already guessed that they would just all wait in line for her. The waitress followed Twilight’s gaze, and as if noticing me for the first time, made a little note in the pad she was carrying. I glanced at the menu again before looking up at the waitress, “I’ll have the same thing, but no tomatoes on the burger, please. And a vanilla shake instead of chocolate,” I said, giving the waitress a sharp nod. The waitress wrote down our orders and nodded, bowing her head in Twilight’s direction before quickly trotting off towards the back with an excited bounce in her step. With the waitress gone, Twilight turned her attention back towards me, a thoughtful expression on her face as she bit her lips. It occurred to me that I had probably had that look whenever Twilight had called me out on it. I guess that’s how it looks on her. Kinda cute, in a way. I hesitated for a moment before gesturing, “Now you’re doing it. What’s going on in that big head of yours?” I asked, throwing her own words back at her. She looked up at me, confusion lasting on her face for a moment before she shook it off, “Nothing, really.” “It didn’t looked like nothing,” I replied with a small smile. Twilight gave off a sigh after a moment, “You’re a fast learner, Night Glider. Alright, I was thinking about what you’d said,” she said, leaning against the table with her forehooves to hold her up, “I was just wondering if you meant it.” “Twilight, what I said was the pure truth.” I assured her with a smile. “So you really think that you’ve been in the castle of the two sisters?” she asked, leaning in as if she were trying to hear the latest gossip. Really, it wasn’t what I had expected. My snout made contact with the table, shortly followed by my forehead and an audible crack. Great. Why not directly place myself on a silver platter? Twilight blinked a few times, raising an eyebrow, “Night Glider, are you alright?” she asked, jumping with a small amount of worry. “Yeah,” I muttered, “I just found myself in the gutter.” Reaching over to place a hoof on my shoulder with my head still on the table, she leaned in, “Are you sure? You hit your head pretty hard. Are you tired? Do you need ice? Are you stressed?” she asked, her voice increasing in pace and tone with each question that made it past her lips. Why is it important to me? I had no idea why, but I was really disappointed that she chose that topic. I was expecting a totally different one, but maybe everything would need it’s time. Time for what? I groaned, getting more and more confused about my thoughts, “Yeah, everything is just fine,” I said as I leaned back up in my seat, giving my face a rub to numb the pain. Though she still looked worried, Twilight gave me a nod and retracted her hoof, letting me get back up on my own. The fact that she looked worried put a knot in my gut, for some reason or another, so I did my best to give her a reassuring smile and alleviate her worries. The smile seemed to be enough to make Twilight’s features relax. It was at that point that two plates levitated to the table in front of us, followed by two milkshakes. The waitress, now standing at the edge of the table, gave us both an energetic smile, lingering on Twilight for a moment longer than necessary, “Anything else I can bring for you, princess?” she said, her voice sweet and sultry. I think I want to buck her in her face. I had to chuckle at that, and the waitress shot me a burning glare, “That would be all, thank you,” Twilight said, sending the waitress away. Twilight looked at me sheepishly, “Your laugh is kind of cute,” she spoke nearly inaudibly, but I could hear it. However, I pretended to be fascinated by the plates in front of us. And she seemed thankful of it. Of course, just because she seemed thankful of my avoidance, I had to play around, “Not as cute as yours,” I replied, looking up from my plate to shoot her a small wink. Of course, immediately after that, my plate reclaimed my attention. Maybe this whole student thing’ll be fun.