Shortly after the reveal that the Royal Guard wasn't some massive cloning project, Celestia returned to her duties in Canterlot; leaving the rest of us with damage control. Apparently the mob really liked playing with their torches, because they burnt a large portion of the party decorations. How they managed to avoid burning down the town though, escaped me. Even with magic it was pushing the limit for me; since, Pinkie wasn't involved this time.
However, all this didn't matter to me at the moment as I was trotting down a street with Silver Shield while the Elements and some members of the Royal Guard were cleaning up the mess. I could have lent a hoof but they insisted that I should have the day to myself, since the party was ruined. Pinkie seemed to be finally affected by how the party went, judging by how her mane was partly deflated. This only served to give me more of a grudge as I tried to find my target. It wasn't long before I caught sight of Diamond Tiara with her lackey. "Silver, see those two fillies?"
"Yes madam... err... I mean sir... I mean..." Silver started to say. Since he was going to be aiding me in training the recruits when they arrive, Celestia debriefed him on my true nature, which apparently included my gender change.
"Just go with the proper terms for a mare, seeing that I am now one anyway," I dryly replied. "Anyways, just make sure those two fillies don't get away, or do anything stupid. I have a score to settle with one of them."
"While I have given my word to protect you, I can't just let you harm foals on a whim."
"Oh I'm not going to harm them, unless they throw the first punch. Just stay here, that's an order." Sadly, the short chat with my new 'protector' drew the attention of the terrible two as Diamond glared at me; though, Silver Spoon had some common sense as she looked at me with terror.
Trotting up to them, I was about to open my mouth when Diamond beat me to it. "What are you doing here, you evil alien! Shouldn't you be halfway across Equestria right now?"
Giving her a deadpan look, I replied, "Do you really think it's a good idea to taunt an alien when she's less than ten feet away from you?"
Turning her nose up, Diamond said, "Well, since that guard is behind you, it seems to me that you've been caught and are being made to apologize to me for hurting me. Maybe if you grovel to me enough, Celestia won't banish you to the moon."
Tilting my head with my jaw half opened, I wondered just how much of an ego this filly has. "Silver Shield, come over here and explain to this idiot whatever Celestia wants the public to know me as."
"Hey, I'm not an idiot, you're the idiot!" Wow, nice comeback for an ignoramus, I thought to myself as Silver Shield joined us.
"Due to the word about Aether's origins being partly revealed, it is true that she wasn't a resident of our world, Equus. However, in light of certain events, Aether has proved herself a valuable source of information and experience that Princess Celestia desires to be utilized to its fullest potential. Henceforth, Aether is given a role of both an instructor and a leader of a newly created squad of ponies meant to defend Equestria from threats we never encountered before. In laypony terms, this means that Aether technically holds an officer position in the Equestrian military," Silver Shield explained.
As Diamond Tiara blinked in surprised at the unexpected news, I simply smirked at her. "You do realize that since you were a major factor in the forming of a mob that was practically calling for my blood, that you are partly responsible for an assault on a member of Equestria's... err..."
"Government, madam?"
"Yeah, that. Furthermore, Princess Celestia is highly interested in my well-being, so she wouldn't like anything bad happening to me, and much less the pony that is responsible for the harm. You could potentially be imprisoned for a long time for your actions Diamond."
At this little revelation, Diamond was starting to sweat. "T-there is no way you can prove that! Even if you bring me to court, my daddy will hire the best lawyers in Equestria to prove my innocence!"
"That's assuming that Celestia just doesn't find you guilty herself and skip the whole trial process to imprison you in her dungeon," I said, keeping my grin as I started to walk around her. "That is if she doesn't turn you to stone or banish you to the moon. Wait, she might not do that last part, ‘cause then everypony will have to see your face on it and nopony would want to see that."
At this point, Diamond was shaking in fear, her eyes widening with horror of the thought of being turned to stone. Problem with foals, they're just so gullible, I thought to myself as I held back a chuckle. Before Diamond could regain her composure, I continued, "Thankfully, for you. I managed to keep Princess Celestia from knowing that you're responsible."
This caused Diamond to look at me with a disbelieving look as she squeaked out, "Why would you do that?"
"Oh, it's quite simple. If you were imprisoned or turned to stone, how will I get you back for the mob myself? Besides, I rather be the one dishing out the punishment, and you already saw the kind of revenge I prefer to do," I answered as my grin took on a more manic look. "Besides, what caused you to think that angering an alien was a good idea? You have no idea what I am truly capable of, do you?"
This caused Diamond to whimper in fear as her eyes began to shrink in horror. Silver Spoon was also fearful, but not as much as her friend, having not being the cause for the mob. Poking Diamond, Silver Spoon said, "Diamond, are you alright?"
"Oh, relax you two, Diamond isn't going to get hurt... for now. Though you might want to check under your bed before you go to sleep now, Diamond. Because for all you know, I could be right underneath it, ready to get my revenge on you!" I declared with glee, though some of the adults turned their heads towards me. Apparently whatever Celestia told the ponies wasn't enough for a few of them were giving me suspicious looks, but at least it wasn't outright hostility.
Just as I was about to fully enjoy the sight of Diamond shivering in fear from my 'threats', Pinkie suddenly showed up between us as she exclaimed, "Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon! There you are, I was looking for you two. It was sad that not everypony gotten their cake from Aether's cute-ceañera, so I baked cupcakes to make up for it! enjoy your cupcakes!" Putting a cupcake down for both the fillies, Pinkie gave us a large smile before bouncing off.
Bearing a smug grin after seeing my bewildered look at Pinkie's departure, Diamond said, "Well well well, seems like Pinkie Pie doesn't see me at fault for the mob. I guess that means you can't do a thing to me after all, you stupid alien." As I gritted my teeth in fury, I watched the two fillies grab onto their cupcakes and take a bite out of them while Diamond kept sneering at me. Before I could say anything to wipe that sneer off her face though, her eyes suddenly widen as she dropped her cupcake.
Noticing what Diamond did, Silver Spoon asked, "Diamond? What's wrong?" Instead of getting a response, Diamond started to shake as she began to sweat. Even I was getting a bit curious till her face started to redden as her shaking gotten worse.
Silver Spoon was about to ask a question again when Diamond abruptly jumped into the air, her face now completely red as she screamed, "Hot!" She then started running down the street, steam actually coming out of her nose and mouth.
As Silver Spoon simply gaped at the scene, I quirked an eyebrow as I said, "Hmmm... guess Pinkie is mad with Diamond too. So Silver Spoon, are you going to finish your cupcake or are you going after your friend instead?"
After watching Silver Spoon chase after the brat, I led Silver Shield to the Sugarcube Corner due to needing to pick up something. As we were heading up the stairs, I asked, "So, how far is Princess Celestia with... government stuff she has to take care of for this squad I'm going to train?"
"While I have been informed about the necessity of the squad and my role in regards to it, I regret to say that I wasn't informed about anything else on that matter."
"What a disappointment," I replied as we reached my room. Opening the door with my magic, I went inside while Silver stood outside, looking conflicted.
"Madam, judging by the bed, I take it this is your room. Do you wa—"
"I'm only here to pick up some stuff, so just wait a moment." Grabbing my saddlebag, I opened my toy chest to dig up the Maralus shards that I kept at the bottom. Placing them in my saddlebags, I turned around only to see Silver staring at me with a shocked expression.
"Is that what I think it is?"
"Oh, good, the princess saw fit to inform you of that as well," I replied with a roll of my eyes as I walked out of my room.
"How did you got your hooves on them, and why were they in your... toy chest?"
"Oh, I just snuck into the forest when the first probe explosion occurred. Hey, were you among the guards sent to search the forest?"
"No, that was a different detachment."
"Ah, good. Hopefully you're better trained than the others, since I was able to slip by all of them with ease," I nonchalantly said as I led Silver out of the bakery. "Hey, keep an eye out for Twilight, I need her for something."
"Yes madam," Silver replied as he took a serious look as he scanned the ponies around us, until I let out a snort of amusement that caused him to look at me. "Something the matter, madam?"
"You guards are way too serious about your work aren't you?"
"We have to be, we serve an important role in Equestria."
"Doesn't mean you have to take on such a serious expression. Even if other ponies say I'm too serious for my age, I don't go taking on such a serious expression when I'm doing something like looking for a pony. Besides, from where I come from, looking that serious all the time means you have something very important. That usually ends up with you becoming a target for certain... ponies."
Silver's eyes lost focus as he thought about what I said, before replying, "Understood madam. Also, I believe I spotted Princess Twilight Sparkle." Pointing a hoof, I followed its direction to see Twilight cleaning up one of the games that was destroyed by the mayhem earlier.
Trotting over to her I said, "Twilight, can you stop cleaning for a moment? I need you for a few things."
"What do you need Aether?" Twilight asked, stopping her cleaning, only for a member of the Royal Guard to take over.
"Well, a couple of things. First thing though is I retrieved my Maralus shards. I think it's best that we stash them in your lab, safer in the long-term if they were there then where I had them."
"Alright, but where did you have them in the first place?"
"Like I'm going to tell you that," I answered, only for Twilight to pout a bit as we headed to the library.
"So what else do you need from me?"
"Well, since I was nearly attacked by the mob due to not being able to escape them fast enough, I think I need a faster way of escaping danger. So why not ask you to teach me how to teleport?"
At this, Twilight stopped to turn at me as she yelled, "Teleport! Teleportation isn't a simple spell Aether! You have to have years of tra—" before I shoved a hoof into her mouth. This caused Silver Shield to gasp at what I done, but before he could said a thing I shushed him.
"Twilight, remember that you said my special talent is related to magic? Also remember how well I grasped the other spells? It may take time, but it would be best if I learn how to teleport for my own protection. You can't be near me every time I need some saving Twilight. Besides, it wouldn't be fair if I teach you so many things and you refused to teach me some magic in return. Just remember, I was an adult before I came to this world, so don't always think of me as a mere foal."
After looking at me for a minute, Twilight sighed. "Fine, you do have a point there. However, I don't want you to try teleporting on your own until I say you're ready. You have a tendency to jump ahead with things, but this is something that is too dangerous to do without being sure. You understand?"
"Of course I understand Twilight, teleportation isn't something to take lightly. I know the consequences of someone not being careful about teleportation."
"Wait, consequences?"
"Twilight, dimensional nations may not have magic, but some do have the means to create devices to allow teleportation. As for consequences... it can get really messy for the poor pony that had a bad teleport," I answered, as I watched with amusement at Twilight going green at the thought.
Though, I can't wait till I can do teleportation. Oh the things I can do to Diamond Tiara with that spell on hoof.