Destiny's Call: The tales of a foreigner in a familiar land

by Zenith Starwalker

Chapter 25: Academic Amelioration & Athletic Games

“Zenith?” Came Rarity’s whisper in the night.

“Hmm?” I hummed. My right forearm propped behind my head as I leaned back against the sleeping bags that Twilight provided for us. There was something about ‘camping’ indoors that never ceased to confound me whenever I thought about it, so I didn’t.

She cleared her throat apologetically, “Do forgive me for inquiring, darling, but there is one thing about what you revealed to us earlier that has been nagging at my innermost curiosity. Well, more than one thing, truthfully. But there is a single mystery that stands out to me amongst the rest”

I cracked open an eyelid to regard her slightly darker silhouette contrasting with the blackness of the library as she lay beside me, “And what might that be?”

I saw her shadowy head look away for a moment as if to debate how to phrase her question, “Why is it that you named yourself as such? Was it improvised so that you could better blend in with Arcanian society? Or is there another explanation?”

“Of all the things you want to ask me after I disclosed the fact that I’m from a land worlds removed from this one, you want to know why I call myself Zenith?” I incredulously balked to her.

“Well I can safely speak for most of the others when I say that we are nothing less than astounded by this unexpected revelation” She faintly chuckled, “Although it does clear up many a mystifying aspect about you”

“I take that as a compliment” I dryly said, “So you think there’s an underlying story behind why I chose that alias?” She nodded in affirmation, “Well you’re partially correct. There is an abundance of reasons as for why I call myself that, to be honest. But the simplest one that I’ll relay to you is that I prefer being on top of things” I told her, glad that she didn’t have the crude humor to twist that comment into something ribald like a certain adventuress I was enamored with.

I couldn’t actually see the motion on her face without magically augmenting my eyes, but I was sure she was cocking a brow, “Ah, so it’s a tribute to your personal skill then?”

I hummed low in disagreement, “Not quite. It’s a moniker that I identify with on a level that I just can’t reliably relate to you. But suffice it to say that I expect to live up to that self granted name to the best of my ability. Failing that, I’d at least retain a name that stays disyllabic” I naturally shrugged, not really caring whether or not the woman could see it.

“Yet another detail that boggles my mind. Why do you insist on keeping your birth name from all of us? Are you ashamed of it? Or do you have ulterior motives for hiding it?” She sounded almost accusatory, as if insulted that I would deny her the pleasure of knowing the name that I answered to on another level.

‘Who says I hid it from all of you?’ I wanted to wisecrack, but prudently refrained from doing so.

“I’m not ashamed of my name in the slightest, Rares” I refuted, noticing her visibly twitch at the nickname, “It’s just that using my real name would, more often than not, attract undue attention, and I do so enjoy my life free of unnecessary interruptions”

I saw her brush away a stray curl of hair with her hand, “Very well. And was this person with the unusual name different than the one currently in front of me?” She posed a perplexing inquiry.

Now that was a very interesting question indeed. How much exactly, have I changed since first waking up in Crystal Clear’s care? I’d have to think about this. Personality wise, I’m pretty much the same guy that I always was in the relatively short span that’s passed. But at the same time, so much change has occurred in my life that I never thought I’d experience. I mean, I never once imagined that I’d romantically connect with more than one woman and yet see each one as being desirably unique and lovable in her own right. I was also capable of things I could only dream of back home, to say nothing about the evolution of my magical abilities.

I settled for a culling from both column A and B, “I myself am resistant to change, but overall I would have to answer that question with a yes. My life has changed much since my transition, though my subdued reaction to it all remains the same, no matter how outrageous the things I bear witness to on a daily basis are” I mordantly stated, “But I feel like I should elucidate further. I am Zenith, yet Zenith is not necessarily me” I paused to let that contradictory statement sink in.

When her head tilted sideways in flummoxed confusion, I continued, “Allow me to clarify on that point. The name Zenith is reminiscent of a Stellar Mage’s appellation, correct? Well that’s mere coincidence, really. The meaning behind the name is both symbolic and arbitrary on my part”

“Assume me to be ignorant to your meaning, darling. Do explain it to me in unfettered description” She patiently requested.

“Gladly. Semantically, to be at the zenith of something is to be at the apex in height, success, or power. That is, relative to something else, mind you. I suppose that the name fits me symbolically since I am one of the few Trifects to walk this Earth and therefore incredibly powerful by nature (‘And unless that breech loading design deal falls through, I suspect I’ll soon be moderately wealthy as well’). Less profoundly, it fits in an arbitrary sense because I liked the catchy way it rolled off the tongue” I concluded somewhat ineloquently.

“Hmm… yes. I always did believe it had a nice ring to it” She said, whispering my name under her breath as if sampling its flavor, “Thank you for telling me this… Zenith. I feel as if I understand you better now”

I gently shook my head, “You’ll never truly understand me, Rarity. But to be perfectly candid with you, I don’t even understand me much of the time” Not entirely in accordance with fact, but it was meant to console her, not myself.

“Perhaps we should work on rectifying that. Say… this Tuesday night at Le Petit Cheval Bistro?” Rarity suggested with a hopeful voice, before artfully disguising it under the guise of business, “You can even consider it my price for repairing the robes that you’ve managed to damage so quickly. Just remember to drop them off at my Boutique whenever it suits you, darling”

“Why Miss Rarity, if I didn’t know better, I’d say that you were asking me out to dinner” I fanned at my face with a hand melodramatically.

She huffed indignantly at the gesture and turned her nose up and away, “Well! Forgive me for taking a proactive role in this relationship!”

I held out a placating hand, “Relax, Rarity. I’d love to treat you to dinner that night. I only ask that you do not order the most expensive, elegantly named item on the menu… and that the only wine we partake of is a fortified dessert liqueur” The last stipulation was more for her sake, as I didn’t want to carry an inebriated Rarity home.

She comprehended the implicit meaning behind it, “I’ll have you know that I am no lightweight, darling. Nor do I entertain any notions of drinking more than a proper lady should” She upheld her refined demeanor with that classy (though obviously not inborn) accent.

“Good. That means I get to finish the bottle” I glibly replied in jest, “What time shall I come knocking?”

Rarity thought for a minute before answering, “No later than seven in the evening, Zenith. I require at least an hour to ‘spruce myself up’, as it were”

I snorted in disbelief, “It takes you an hour to do all that? Heck, I’d just throw on my spiffiest outfit, spritz some cologne on my wrists and collar, comb my hair maybe one or two times, and I am out the door in under ten seconds flat”

“Don’t let Rainbow hear you say that, lest you find yourself contending against her. Although I’m doubtful about how efficiently she could groom herself” Rarity teasingly ridiculed her friend, “Furthermore, unless things happen differently wherever it is you come from Zenith, women in this country like to take the time to appropriately beautify themselves” Rarity explained with an unamused tone.

“I don’t see the point of that. If I can’t appreciate a woman’s natural beauty, then how could I be worthy of her to begin with?” I interpolated, speaking my mind on the subject.

She made a cooing sound, “That’s sweet of you to believe, darling. But women don’t always apply cosmetics simply for others, sometimes they just want to feel glamorous when they see their reflection in the mirror”

I’ve heard an adage like that before, ‘Superficial self flattery, is more like it. But I’ll leave her opinion unchallenged’

“There is… one other thing I need to ask of you, Zenith” She tentatively supplicated after a brief lull in our conversation.

“Ask away” Was my clipped response, for weariness was tugging at the edges of my eyesight.

She noticed my flagging coherence, “Perhaps I better tender my request in the morn-”

“Ask me, Rarity” I was in no mood for her obliqueness.

Even if I couldn’t see it, I was fairly sure that she was scowling at me, “My precious sister, Sweetie Belle is supposed to present a unique exposition along with her friends in class tomorrow afternoon”

“In what context? Is it a show and tell? Or a different breed of presentation altogether?” I tiredly brought up.

“From what my sister has apprised me, Miss Cheerilee has given them free reign, so long as they have an intriguing demonstration for the class that the others can write about in their notebooks”

“Is Miss Cheerilee always so liberal with her assignments?” I cynically spoke, mildly envious. I never received such leeway when I was in grade school.

“Not at all! In fact this is somewhat of an aberration from her typically assigned work” Rarity noted offhand with a downward intonation, as if this was an infrequent development.

“Okay. So why tell me this?” I drawled, cutting to the chase.

She clicked her tongue disapprovingly, “I was just getting to that. You see… Sweetie Belle and her friends had one of their brainstorming sessions in Applejack’s old childhood tree house at the acres over the weekend. Despite their best efforts though, none of them seemed to come up with anything solid… or didn’t deviate into their infamous Mana mark acquisition ideas” She audibly stifled a wince as she said that, and to be honest, I did the same.

“Perhaps they should have tried for liquid then? That way the ideas would flow out of their creative centers naturally” I quipped, not really taking this all that seriously.

She gingerly pushed on my shoulder reproachfully, “This is not a joking matter, Zenith! Sweetie Belle was most distressed about this!” She hissed harshly, expressing legitimate sisterly concern. How touching.

I scoffed, “Well what do you want me to do about it? I’m not the one who should be responsible for their school work”

“Actually… if you were to be in their presentation, you technically would be responsible” She amended my statement.

“Huh? Rarity, of all the harebrained schemes…” I trailed off, too exhausted to think of anything witty to tie along with that.

“It is not harebrained!” She protested with a rise in pitch, “After that demonstration of how gravity could theoretically serve as the primary force behind the day and night cycle of your world, it was to be expected that I would come up with this solution” She judged, as if it were a foregone conclusion.

“So? Does that automatically make me a source for interesting scientific expositions in your eyes?” I could not believe that she would all but volunteer me to be her sister’s academic savior. Learning is a lot like art to me. It’s continual suffering until you finally get it! Pain might be strict, but it is an effective instructor.

“Please, Zenith? I’m sure my dear sister would appreciate you lending them your varied expertise in unexplored fields immensely” She pleaded, her eyes somehow sparkling in the pale moonlight that a parted cloud let stream in through the library window.

‘I do technically owe her a miniscule debt for not ratting me out to her sister for the hair prank’ I mused, resisting the small urge to cackle at the memory. Rarity still had some traces of greenish dye left near the roots of her coiffure that she had missed.

I waved my hand in the air in begrudging consent, “Ugh… fine, fine! I’ll devise something worth showing and worthy of my ken”

“Oh thank you Zenith!” She exclaimed, before leaning over and giving me a grateful peck on the cheek, “I’ll inform Sweetie first thing in the morning” I saw her outline reach into her dress shirt pocket, pulling out what had to be some kind of notepad to remind herself to notify her sister of the good news.

I surreptitiously rubbed at the spot where she kissed me when I knew that she wasn’t paying attention, “Where is your sister staying tonight anyway? Certainly not by herself at the boutique, right?” That would be just asking for trouble. Despite how sweet the girl is; she can be remarkably adept at unintentional disassembly of valuable objects, a quirk that she shares with her schoolmates.

“Certainly not!” She affirmed, tucking the notepad away, “She and the other Mana Mark Maidens are having a sleepover at the Acres under the watchful eye of Applejack’s brother, Big Macintosh” Rarity dreamily sighed at the name, somehow sparking a sensation of jealousy in me, despite how tepid my own affections for the seamstress were.

“Alright then. I best be getting on with my sleep” I articulated with some annoyed heat burning at my face that was proving more difficult to contain than I preferred. I was about to lay back and let sleep overtake me when I picked up someone speaking in hushed tones from across the room. Rainbow Dash’s raucous snoring made it difficult to discern at first, but after she rolled over and mashed herself into her pillow, it became all too apparent that we weren’t the only ones still awake.

“Subject Z, albeit true designation is unknown, converses with Subject R on a variety of topics, some of which provides perspicuous insight into Subject Z’s mysterious origins. Subject Z altruistically offers to help Subject R’s younger sibling with scholastic endeavors” An academic voice murmured just above the lower limits of my hearing.

I twisted my head to speak in her direction, “Subject Z also possesses an incredible aural faculty range. Go. To. Sleep. Twilight” I commanded in a no nonsense tone. Twilight let out a surprised yelp and expeditiously buried herself underneath the many layers of her sleeping bag and extinguished whatever light she was using to illuminate her notes.

Rarity and I shared a lighthearted chuckle before settling back into our ‘beds’ ourselves. Her distraction proved beneficial in taking my mind off my earlier enviousness. Before long my eyes drooped shut, with the transition to blissful sleep soon to follow in its wake. I was gladdened that I strategically picked a spot by the eastern end of the tree base, where it would prove impossible for my least favorite waking call to occur. I smirked a little before succumbing to my dreams.

‘I’d like to see the Sun try to blind me awake this time around!’

⁂

A light shining directly on my face rudely pried me out of my sleep.

“Gah! What the heck!?” I cried out, bracing my arms against my eyes in an effort to stave off the vile light.

“Shh! Not so loud! You might wake the others” Twilight hushed me, “C’mon, get up! I want to show you something” The blasted light cut out, as did Twilight’s magic while she lowered her hand, where a wavering glow could be seen fading out of her fingertips.

‘Great, if it’s not sunlight being the cause of my rude awakenings, it’s some other form of light’ I can’t ever catch a break, it seems.

I stifled a yawn as I sat upright, “All right, all right. Let me just recuperate for a moment” I told her, smacking my lips together.

“This had better be good Twilight” I groused, rubbing the sand out my eyelids.

She giggled at my display, “Oh trust me, will you? I promise that you’ll get a good kick out of this” She assured me with confidence.

“I’ll hold you to that” I muttered as I stood on my feet and looked around to survey my surroundings.

The dawn hadn’t yet arrived, but I could feel that the sun would be rising soon enough. Everyone else was still asleep for the most part, though I could see that Applejack had already come around (years of getting up at dawn to do farm work tends to ingrain that in you) and was just snoozing until she had an official reason to stir herself from her catnap. Rarity’s sleeping bag had mysteriously migrated close to mine and I had an inkling that if I had remained a half hour or so longer, then she would have inadvertently tried to suffocate me with her bulk (Not that I’d ever phrase it aloud that way in her presence). There were indistinct vocalizations emanating from Pinkie’s sealed up bag, like she was talking in her sleep, or at least I hoped that’s what it was. Fluttershy on the other hand, didn’t make so much as a peep as she slumbered between Rainbow Dash (who was still giving off the impression of sawing away at wood with her congested breathing) and myself. I tore my vision away from her, still feeling a little bit irked at how she had fulfilled one of my secret fears. She genuinely liked each of the digital films she saw last night, but it was more of the principle of the thing that got to me.

“Are you going to just stand there?” Came Twilight’s almost impatient voice to my flank. She was standing by the door, looking about ready to tap her feet against the floor in irritation, but was restraining herself.

“I’m coming” I joined her outside, where she led me around the trunk to a sort of back yard area.

The first sight that attracted my notice was a flat table setup with a wooden base stand supporting a large dark grey ball of folded and mashed up pieces of paper with a identifying dimple on the northern hemisphere. It was sizable as well; over three meters in diameter and sculpted with intricate detail in mind. There were even a series of trenches lining the surface of the sphere!

I could hardly believe my eyes. Twilight had made a faithful to image, paper mache replica of the Death Star from last night’s movie.

“This is my take on that Death Star from last night!” Twilight spouted gleefully, “I couldn’t tell based on first glance what the actual scale factoring would be, but I’d estimate it to be at a three to the two hundred and sixteen thousand scale ratio! I spent the last thirty minutes before I woke you crafting it from a combination of memory and my notes on the motion picture!” She announced, circling her creation with an unmistakable glint of pride in her eyes.

I held my chin in my fingers as I appraised the crudely painted paper model of my favorite space station slash expeditionary battle planetoid, “You’re not quite correct in that scaling assumption, but incidentally you’re not incorrect either. But I can safely assert that the original is the size of a small moon”

“Oh, I forgot to write that down!” She blurted out as she thwacked a hand against her forehead, “But anyway, what do you think of it?” Twilight asked me in a hopeful tone.

That was a toughie. This was likely a foolhardy attempt by the bookworm to get back in my good graces, which I’d normally reprimand her for. However, because of the amount of effort that went into this duplication, which to me spoke volumes about the sincerity behind the gesture, I supposed to myself that I could overlook it. Just this once.

“I think…” I let hang in the air, for added suspense, “That you just bumped yourself up on my list of favorite people. Twilight”

The relief in her eyes was nearly palpable, “I’m so glad to hear that! Tell me. Out of curiosity, where does that place me on your list?”

I narrowed my eyes, “You don’t even make the top ten. Don’t push your luck, Twilight” I warned. She was still treading on thin ice around me as far as I was concerned.

She held her hands up in a placating fashion, “Right, right!” She said, before clapping her hands together and regarding her creation, “Imagine it though, a weapon capable of annihilating an Earth sized terrestrial planet in one fell swoop. I know I should be aghast at such a thing even existing in the realm of fancy, but I can’t help but wonder just how powerful it must be to do that” She audibly pondered. Luckily she had me to provide some erudite input.

“With the explosive expansion rate shown in the movie, it lies somewhere along the lines of two and a quarter multiplied by ten to the thirty second power in joules” Twilight whistled long and slow at the monumental number, “To put it into laymen’s perspective. That’s more energy than Celestia’s sun puts out in an entire week” I recited from my inner geek database of all things technical.

“Wow… it’s a good thing no such weapon exists huh?” She asked, giving me an odd sidelong glance.

“Not here, at least” I muttered, “Anyhow, you got the North and South Pole patterning all wrong. What did you even use to scratch in the designs, a shoddy stencil?” I grabbed a pencil from the table before unfolding a nearby tall stepladder to begin ‘fixing’ several mistakes that I felt needed to be rectified. A nagging part of me suspected that these mistakes were intentional and that Twilight was using them as an excuse for some bonding time between us, but I dismissed it as me being irrational.

We used our mutual liking of the Star Wars story world as a way to pass the time before Twilight’s friends were up and about. Twilight would ask about how such a space station of doom could possibly power itself and I would educate her in that fact that it had a hypermatter reactor, which used exotic tachyonic particles and constrained them inside of a reactor, where they would accelerate to infinite speeds in real space and that would generate the phenomenal amounts of energy necessary to reduce a life filled world like Alderaan into space dust.

It was a Monday, so I didn’t expect that anybody was going to be sleeping in too long. Fluttershy had to tend to her soon to be hibernating animal pals (which she invited me to assist her with because the animals had deemed me trustworthy in the past), Rarity had a sister she needed to deliver some uplifting news to, Rainbow Dash had her weather duties (that she would more than likely finish at the very last minute), Applejack had apple related chores at the orchard (big surprise, I know), and Pinkie Pie had parties to plan and confections to bake.

“How do you know so much about this anyway?” The bookworm asked me, as we sketched in additional details that she had glazed over, “It’s like you’re passionate about it!” She sounded legitimately surprised.

‘Hey! I can be passionate about some things!’ I took offense to her mild shock. This girl had much yet to learn about me. We might as well start with this.

“Twilight, if there’s one thing you should know about me. It’s that I am a Star Wars fan boy at heart, through and through. Just like how you possess a love of books, I retain a love for all subjects relating to the universe depicted in that movie and others like it” I carefully explained to her.

“So much about you I don’t know…” She spoke under her breath to herself, “And you’ve memorized even the smallest of minutiae about this?” She looked at me in mixed awe and bafflement from her position a few feet removed from me.

My hand ceased its movement for a moment, “Well, no one can be perfectly knowledgeable about a subject. But yeah, I’d say I come close to memorizing even the most pointless minutiae” I began to poke in dots on the surface of the papery sphere to simulate where the turbolaser towers would be.

I heard a noisy yawn erupt from behind us, “Hey, you two” Rainbow’s voice greeted us and fluctuated in pitch as she conducted morning stretches, “What in the world is that thing?”

Twilight regarded her friend with barely concealed exasperation, “Rainbow! Are you telling us that you weren’t paying attention during last night’s film? This is a mock up of that Death Star!”

Rainbow snorted and shook her head, “And the first thing you do is recreate it the very next morning? You two are such nerds”

“I dispute that classification!” My face scrunched together in insult, “I happen to have passable social skills for your information. Why are you being so critical anyway? Are saying that you didn’t enjoy that badass trench run with the X-wings or the flashy lightsaber duels?” I jabbed at her. I remember that she was second only to Twilight in how glued to my laptop screen she was, doubly so once the swashbuckling action kicked in.

“Yeah, it was all right, I guess…” She folded her arms across each other and peered the other way, “A shame that was the only one, though. I might have gotten into it if it were a series like the Daring Do novels”

I grunted with self assurance, “Huh! You’ll be thrilled to know that it’s a trilogy then, won’t you?” I would keep the prequel version under wraps for now, the newer trio just couldn’t command the same magic as the classic set.

“Really!?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed with visible excitement before catching herself and feigning disinterest, “That’s cool then. I might have to crash at your place to see the rest in that case”

My face contorted, knowing her record with rough landings all too well, “So long as you don’t take it too literally. I’m uncertain if my place is insured against forced entrances” I remarked with a chortle. Now that I think about it, I doubt my home in the sky was insured against anything.

“Whatever” She expressed with a slight scowl, “Anyways, I gotta dash. See you nerds later!” With that, she took off before I could get in a retort edgewise.

“Gotta dash? Seriously? Truly… Rainbow’s humility is astounding to bear witness to” I swayed my head side to side in riled acceptance before resuming with my sketch work on the uneven exterior.

“She’s gotten better in all actuality. Especially since the costumed ne’er do well incident” Twilight said to me, before putting the finishing touches on her portion of the sphere and sighing, “It’s a shame that I don’t have space in my library to store this, and crumpled paper never did react well to shrinking spells. I expect that I’ll have to dispose of it later” She regretfully told me.

“Trash it the boring mundane way? Do this miniature Death Star some justice Twilight! Drag it out to an empty field and explode the hell out of it!” I bombastically suggested as I hopped down from the stepladder to head back inside.

Twilight cringed as she joined me, “That seems a bit violent and excessive, doesn’t it?”

I stared at her flatly, “If you don’t love explosions, you’re probably wearing women’s underwear. Just sayin’!” I obnoxiously quoted from my favorite explosive weapon salesman’s list of catchphrases.

She stared back like I contracted a bad case of the crazies, “Okay… I’ll just detonate it then, happy?”

“Very” I replied in complete seriousness, before waving to a departing Applejack.

Inside the library, I found that most of Twilight’s friends had awoken and left to get back to their own lives, with one exception. A drowsy looking Rarity was in the kitchen making use of Twilight’s coffee supply. Because she forwent proper sleepwear and didn’t apply any pre-sleep implements, her hair was messier than I’d ever seen it (Not that it made her any rougher on the eyes). In the company of friends though, she didn’t seem to fuss over it as much. The pale, almost chalk like, powdery complexion of her skin made her appearance similar to a wraith in the light of the dawning sun. Her dress shirt was unbuttoned down the second stud and her eyes had imperceptible drooping bags under them. Rarity in the morning was a far cry from her usual self. Not that I minded.

“Morning sleeping beauty!” I addressed her as she nursed at her mug of caffeinated beverage, “How was your rest?” I inquired as I grabbed a loaf of bread of butter from the pantry nook and sat myself at the table.

“I could do with some make up, dear. But thank you for taking an interest in my well being” She said as she took large (and some might claim ‘unladylike’) gulps.

“You look fine to me” I regarded her with a raised eyebrow while I sliced up the loaf with a butter knife, “But I suppose that next time you should focus on getting some shut eye instead of needling me before bedtime” I criticized her as I took a sizable chomp out of my breakfast.

Rarity face was a rictus of distaste as flecks of bread crust were ejected out from my lips, which wasn’t really my fault since I always chew with my trap shut. Secretly, I was hoping that with displays like this, I could dissuade her from trying her chances with me romantically. Rarity meant well and was a beautiful woman like so many others I’ve come to know, but there was something about her that just screamed ‘high maintenance drama queen that brews up her own stress and has the gall to whine about it’ personality type that just repulsed me. At times I wondered if my consent in dating her was merely a façade, or if I was challenging myself to overlook a person’s worst in order to see them at their best as an ulterior motive.

She fluttered her natural length eyelashes at me innocently, “I was not needling you, Zenith. Merely satisfying my curiosity. I also recall that it served a practical purpose, for you did agreed to help my sister and her friends with their school project”

I all but slapped my forehead at the reminder, “That’s right! I still need to come up with some deeper thought provoking material. What time do I need to be at the school house?”

She huffed as she exhaled a breath across the steaming cup, “Be there no later than midday, and be sure to inform Miss Cheerilee what you intend to do also. I’ll be eagerly awaiting my sister’s no doubt contented report on your assistance” She made it overtly clear that she would be using this as a means for evaluating my worth. It kind of irked me, but I wasn’t doing this for her, so it could be overlooked as far as I cared.

I levitated my bag of belongings in from the adjacent room, “I best start conducting my research now then, eh?” Was my muffled response, thanks to a buttered roll of bread wedged between my teeth.

I retrieved my laptop from its carrying satchel and flipped it open, the home screen bright and welcoming as always. Rarity watched the device chime with the same rapt attention as the previous night. With a few flicks of my finger, I was online and perusing the search results from multiple websites. I still had no clue as to how my computer was able to connect when it no longer occupied my routered desk at home (to say nothing of the infinite recharge cycle. Perhaps the magically saturated atmosphere passively pumped energy into the batteries?), but it was times like these when I didn’t really care about this baffling providence. Rarity left not long after, off to bring the news of my decision to her sister and rekindle the flames of hope in her young heart (There’s me waxing poetic again).

Within a few minutes of browsing, I had compiled a number of neat ideas that would require some household items and a special solidified gas that I was betting that Twilight had in her science oriented article storage. I wrote down what I’d need on a scrap of lined paper and tore it away from the pad before rummaging through the kitchen cabinets to collect the items I would need. Twilight was amicable enough to see where I was going with my plan and granted me access to her basement stock room, along with a specialized baggie to store the chunks of solidified gas that were kept in a freezer bin. Once I had accumulated everything and stored it in a crate that I found in the kitchen, I stood back and scanned my mental checklist for any discrepancies.

“Hmm…” I tapped at my chin with one of my digits. Once it came to me, I snapped them together with an audible click, “That’s it! I’m lacking a cheesy outfit to complete the image!”

“You need an outfit for your school presentation?” Twilight asked me, addle eyed and with a spoonful of cereal in her maw.

“Well I don’t need it, but I’d like to have one” I clarified, before staring at her, “Say… you wouldn’t happen to have a lab coat and simulacrum of Starswirl the bearded’s pointy wizard hat, would you?”

Twilight’s eyes traced lines in the ceiling as she ran inventory in her head, “I might… hold tight for a minute”

She left to go fetch me what I sought, returning exactly a minute later with an immaculate white cotton coat in one hand. In the other hand lay a navy blue, pointed wizard’s hat with golden bells stitched into the brim and on the tip. Crescent moons, blazing comets, and twinkling stars were emblazoned on its velvety construction. It was by all definitions, the spitting image of a wizard’s hat.

“This is my personal duplicate of my long time role model’s famous headwear. Enchanted to match the original incarnation that it was based off of to the best of my ability” She handled it almost reverently in her grasp, “I expect that it will be returned in the selfsame condition?” Her fingers caressed the brim, tingling the bells attached to it and filling the air with a mysterious jingle that silenced all other sounds in its coming and wake.

“Circumstances permitting, I intend to” I answered in heedful honesty, not really understanding her unease. It’s not like I was taking it with me on some grand journey of self discovery. That would be ridiculously insipid… not to mention tiresome.

“Then I feel much better about loaning this out to you” She said, casting her eyes to the side and offering it to me. Some part of my mind drew parallels between her surrendering her first born with how hesitant she was to part with the ornately embellished piece of clothing.

“Relax, Twilight. I’ll bring it right back as soon as the school gig is done” I took it and sat it atop my noggin, where it somehow struggled to mold around my larger cranium (Form fitted for Twilight in mind, I’ll bet). I was about to snidely quip about it having a tight fit when I felt the rim of the hat expand and proceed to devour a fourth of my skull before it gradually accepted its new bearer.

‘Huh… some useful enchantments, indeed’ Starswirl was without a doubt a very resourceful fellow if he actually foresaw the need for others to don his signature headgear.

“Huh…” Twilight echoed my thoughts, though with different reasoning, “I’d say that hat suits you. And not only because you have more magic flowing through you than most Archmagi could ever dream of achieving within their lifetimes” She spoke factually, and without an iota of envy in her voice. The bookworm was being purely objective about it.

I shifted my head to the side, the bells on the hat jangling in response, “I didn’t exactly earn that attribute. For curiosity’s sake though, why else then?”

“Your affinity with spell-work itself of course!” She replied, elucidating further when I arched a brow questioningly, “Don’t think I haven’t noticed your conjuring trick with that audio emitting projection sphere that you seamlessly envisioned and brought to life when we dusted the shelves in the library together. That’s an on the fly, innovative feat that only the great Starswirl was ever known for” She sent me her accolades, flicking an index finger at me in emphasis.

“It’s simply designated as the Sound Sphere. But thanks for the compliment” I tried to give her my best impression of a smile… I really did, “Anyways… midday will arrive sooner than we might expect. I should probably get going. See ya Twi!” I bid her farewell as I took hold of the coat and buttoned it on while I departed the library with my crate of simplistic science goodies in tow. The coat was larger than I would have guessed, probably a ‘one size fits all’ item that would seem big on shorter people and a tad constricted on taller folk like myself.

The town of Magiville was only half awake as I meandered between thatched houses and shops with my levitated container behind me. This time of year, most people were just shoring up for an extremely brief, but chilly winter interval. Chattered opinions about the upcoming period of snowfall were mixed from what my ears were picking up. The adults looked at it as a necessary encumbrance that came once a year, while their little ones saw it as a chance to have snowball fights, drink hot chocolate, and partake in other kinds of quaint winter activities. Thinking back, I would likely be in the latter of the two general opinions. I loved the snow, even though it was a physical impossibility to see it naturally occur in the Mediterranean climate where I had lived. The few locations it could thrive were in the higher altitudes of the mountain ranges of my state, where my family and I would infrequently visit. I subconsciously straightened out the collar of my coat as I began to sense more eyes on me for my strange choice of attire. Quickening my already considerable pace, I hightailed it to the western end of town and blocked out the disparaging comments that were hardly supposed to affect me at all in the first place. I sincerely hoped that I wasn’t turning native out from under my own nose.

I arrived at the schoolhouse with about an hour or two to spare before Sweetie Belle and her friends were supposed to submit their assignment. The place of learning itself was a reddish color like the kind in the stereotypes that I was picturing in my head, though that was where most of the similarities ended. It was femininely designed, with garish pink hearts decorating the arches hanging over the windows and on the exterior molding. Curlicues of varying complexity were carved into the walls and even etched into the roofing shingles. They were features that I’d noticed a lot of other buildings in this land had in common. Albeit, given the greatly skewed gender ratio of this country, it wasn’t far fetched to deduce that most of the architects it employed were female.

Moving on from the estrogen inspired wooden sculpting. I twisted my head to take in the sight of everything else. An eggshell white picket fence lined either side of the dirt path leading to and from the building’s perimeter for many meters (I surmised that it was for ensuring that the rowdiest wayward children would know their boundaries and not wander off). There was a striped, dual rotating tetherball pole planted into the earth next to some swing sets and a seesaw on the left side of the schoolhouse, presumably for recess time. It was odd to me that no children could be seen at play during this hour, though perhaps the school systems here functioned under a different timetable. A wooden welcoming sign that depicted an open book with light streaming down from above was nestled in front of me in its own stone planter, while artistically trimmed bushes resided near it and close to the school’s personal flagpole. A smallish banner that one would recognize as the twin Sun and Moon emblem of Arcania, flapped and flew in the morning breeze at the summit.

‘Such an American style school building, and yet the banner it flies under belongs to that of an oligarchical kingdom’ I mused to myself. I was by no means harboring any brand of dissent towards their most Royal Highnesses, but to see a symbolic structure like that operating at their majesties’ leisure felt… like a perversion of sorts to the ideals I’ve always upheld.

The sound of the bell ringing three times in its tower steeple broke me out of my random ponderings. The doors burst open and I could make out the chattering of excited children flocking out of the classroom and away from the school in droves as they pushed past me (Some of the impudent snot nosed imps had the chutzpah to make mocking remarks about my hat in passing). They were a lot younger than I had presumed them to be, barely ten years at the most. It then occurred to me that a system of differing times for the different grade levels would have to be in effect, since the town only had a single school building and a scarcity of teachers to staff it. Even before I officially met with her, I had a lot of respect for Cheerilee for taking on that kind of intense workload.

The woman in question was standing by the doorway at the top of the steps and waving to several of her students as they made their way home with a smile gracing her features. As a rule, I have never approved of children peregrinating anywhere without a trusted supervisor watching over them like a hawk (For both their safety and everyone else’s in the catastrophic case of the Mana Mark Maidens). They weren’t my kids though, so their homecoming arrangements weren’t really any of my concern. Weaving through the last remnants of the jumping juveniles, I made my way towards her.

“Morning!” I called out to her, “Are you Magiville’s esteemed children’s instructor?”

“Oh!” She expressed in mild surprise, somehow missing the plenitude of my bulk skulking about the school grounds. Sometimes I feel as if I can be a bit too stealthy for my own good.

She recovered quickly and turned her head to deal with me, “Why, yes I am. Though that’s a title I rarely hear from anybody” She tittered. Her voice was nurturing, like that of a mother, and her eyes sparkled with a laughing joy that was all but infectious in its fervor. Big Mac should consider himself a lucky man to have intimate connections with such a woman.

She stuck her hand out to me, which I gently shook, noting the moisturized softness of her palms. A Mana mark showing a trio of smiling generic flowers were magically stamped on the flip side. I idly wondered why she was a schoolteacher and not a gardener, but contemplated nothing more of it. This ‘Mana mark corresponding with your life’s calling’ business never did properly compute with me.

“What brings you by? I mean no offense when I say this, but you seem a tad young to be the parent of any of my students” She asked me as she gestured me inside, to which I obliged and crossed over the threshold.

The interior of the aged (though not worn) schoolhouse had a… talent fostering atmosphere I would say. The air was warm and smelt of books and chalk dust from the blackboard, but was not stuffy due to a slanted window allowing for some circulation, since ceiling fans apparently weren’t an established invention here. The walls had several posters and papers thumbtacked onto them, displaying crude art works or excellently written essays about what made the country of Arcania so special in big, bold, and colorful letters. Portraits of Celestia and Luna smiled and neutrally regarded all those who gazed upon them respectively, twisting the knife that there was some subtle indoctrination going on in this place of learning.

Shelves lined with textbooks encompassed the corners of the room, on their tops were a myriad of objects like globes of the planet (mostly mapped out), telescopes, microscopes, and a gigantic hourglass for a sense of novelty, given the clock that was ticking away above the blackboard. It seemed as if there were only enough books on the shelves for the classroom’s occupants to share amongst themselves instead of take home to study there. It really did remind one of the olden days when schools took on an appearance that was touched by the students who had attended there.

Creaky wooden floorboards bore the weight of several rows of nineteenth century bench desks that had folding seats, about twenty in all. I withheld a grimace once I realized that they would offer no back support to the poor youngsters that sat in them. I could never see the appeal of such a brutal design. Was it to force children to pay attention and not doze off during lectures? If so, then I was gladdened that I was raised in an era of forward thinking and lumbar cushioning. I immediately felt stupid when I saw how the desks were lined up so that the flat portion would coincide with the chair behind it like pieces of an uncomplicated puzzle. The ceiling wasn’t terribly high, so I had to mind my head when moving about, lest I bump into a random article like a terra-centric model orrery of the Sun and Moon orbiting the Earth hanging by threads.

I returned my awareness to the two toned pink and white haired teacher, “None taken. And I do not wish to insult, but I’ll make it plain as day when I say that I didn’t drop by for the mere purposes of socializing” I absently answered, brushing my hand against the teacher’s desk, feeling the individual grains as I levitated my crate of supplies over to rest upon it.

“I could deduce as much, given your… intriguing choice of attire and that container you’ve brought with you” She sounded like she wanted to describe my outfit as something less than savory, but held back for the sake of tact. How polite of her.

“That’s for the presentation I’m to conduct by midday’s time. The one concerning your assigned work for a trio of young girls who’ve yet to discover their Mana marks?” I clued her in.

It clicked in her head once I alluded to the Maidens, “Oh! Well why didn’t you say so?” She hummed in afterthought, “I don’t recall specifying this as group work, however” She verbalized with a frown.

“Did you specify against it?” I counter questioned, anticipating this impediment. If it didn’t work, then at least Sweetie Belle and I would be even.

“Well… no, I didn’t” She admitted with a slight outlogicked slump, before her shoulders hitched back up in agitation, “But I’d expect my students to comprehend implicit meaning by now” She said, crossing her arms together in minor annoyance.

I scoffed, “Try telling that to the politicians, or the news press” I scathingly wisecracked in reply.

Her eyes widened in dismay, “If you referring to the Gabby Gums incident, I assure you that it was mainly a student led endeavor and I did not expect it to get out of hand the way it did!” Her tone was apologetically frantic. She more than likely received a lot of heat for that from the community.

“Relax, I do not hold you accountable for their misuse of civil liberties…” I sympathized, “Who would have thought that Evelyn had pink hair this entire time!” I joked with a fake gasp that I covered up with a hand. I would act the part of the forgiving fool if it meant that Cheerilee would stay cheery, because I’m a nice guy like that.

Cheerilee calmed down as she laughed at my theatrics (made all the more laughable by my ludicrous clothes, no doubt), “Don’t let her catch you saying that. The Mayor is quite sensitive about that tidbit of information. I heard that she never did manage to put an effective spin on it in the town’s formal and accredited gossip column”

I smirked at how they legitimized printed libel here too, “I will definitely shy away from doing so, Miss Cheerilee”

She humbly wagged a hand at face level, “Oh please, just Cheerilee will do” She then inhaled sharply, “Mercy me! I haven’t even asked you your name yet!”

“No need to work yourself up about it. I’m Zenith” I bowed with a Sith salutation to her in formal introduction.

“Zenith…” She uttered as she scoured her memory banks, “Were you the one that Pinkie threw a welcoming party for in Applejack’s barn at the acres?”

“The very same” I nodded sagely, “Unless you know any other Zeniths” I remarked offhand, “So how will these presentations work? Is there a list of students who go first?” I asked, wanting to know how I’d fit into this.

She deliberated on the matter, “This is all so very last minute… so I believe it best that you go last” She dictated to me, “Will it be an informative presentation? It’s not a stage show I’m running here, you know” She joked with a suppressed giggle.

“I think you’ll find it to be a little different than what you’re used to. But it will educative none the less” I responded, shrouding the crate with a shawl that was stuffed into one of my lab coat’s pockets. This was done so no one would be tempted to tamper with the materials kept within.

Cheerilee glanced at the hands of the clock hanging above the blackboard, “It will be at least another half hour before the children are due to arrive. Would you mind assisting me in preparing the room for them in the meantime, please?” She made to enlist my services.

“Gladly” I agreed, wanting to make myself useful until it came time to shine.

So Cheerilee had me place and stack books in the baskets beneath the desk seats, cover the surfaces with lined paper, and other mundane pre-class setup work for the remainder of the half hour. At the ten minute mark before class would be officially in session, Cheerilee pulled a lever near her desk connected to a network of ropes and pulleys. I felt a mechanism above us grind and crank before the bell rung out and signaled everyone within hearing range that school was about to begin anew. A looksee out the windows would reveal small groups of older children converging on the grounds, happy to stultified expressions ranging on their faces. I scanned their ranks to see if I could pick out the three that I would essentially be championing for, picking them out at the rear echelon.

Sweetie Belle had a nearly relieved air about her as evidenced by the healthy bounce in her step, while her two companions seemed more downtrodden. Had Sweetie Belle not told them in order to keep it a surprise? That’s just cold. They each carried their school supplies in single strap bags and satchels that had lunch boxes hanging from them by strings. It made me wonder why backpacks or rucksacks weren’t more ubiquitous.

“Could you wait in the back please? There should be a bench next to the literary works shelf that you can sit on” Cheerilee requested of me.

I nodded silently in assent and walked towards the back of the classroom to the aforementioned bench positioned in between the curtains. I pulled out a random book from a shelf to occupy myself with as the students filed in through the door. I took off my hat and put it aside as I sat down to scrutinize the features of the hard cover. My eyebrows automatically rose up as I read the name of the author on the bottom, printed preposterously as ‘Check-off’.

‘No way…’ I promptly flipped it open and began to rapidly digest everything written within, paying only a minimal amount of attention to what was going on outside of my ‘sphere of solitude’.

I idly registered the sounds of footfalls against the floor as the children shuffled inside and made for their desks. I saw one or two stare at me in confusion from my peripheral vision, but did not let their vision linger for long. More than a few of them held trays, dioramas, or other manner of displays to showcase their projects in front of class. I swapped glances between the pages and class environment when I felt it prudent so I could stay aware of the goings on around me. The Maidens’ eyes practically lit up when they saw me, and they came rushing to the back rows to plop their keisters down where they were closest to me, indicating that there was no pre-assigned seating arrangement.

“Good afternoon my precious pupils!” Cheerilee welcomed them with a genuine, heartfelt smile, “I trust that each of you enjoyed a good weekend?” A general murmur in the affirmative answered her.

She clapped her hands together, “Excellent! As you all know, today is when we demonstrate our knowledge of subjects that we may or may not have learned in class” There were some collective groans from the less prepared and or enthusiastic students, but most of them seemed happy to share what they knew with their peers.

Cheerilee gestured to a redheaded, curly haired girl with thick rimmed glasses in the first row seat directly in front of her, “Twist? Would you like to go first?” She proposed to the nerdy appearing tween.

“I’d love to, Miss Cheerilee!” She spoke with a noticeable speech impediment, as if she had serious nasal congestion. She got up from her seat and carried her tray to forefront of the room where she set it on the teacher’s desk. On it were candy canes of various stripes and coloration. I could hear the smacking of lips as some of her hungrier classmates began fixing their eyes on the sweets that she bore with her.

“As some of you know, not that long ago I discovered my calling!” She exclaimed happily, flashing one of her hands to exhibit her crossed peppermint candy canes in the shape of a heart, “Anyhow, since that time I’ve been resuming my apprenticeship under Miss Bon Bon and assisting her in and around her candy shop”

“Fascinating!” Cheerilee seemed legitimately interested, “And tell us, what will you be showing the class today?”

The young girl did not answer right away, “A lot of people come into the shop to satisfy their sweet tooth, and my custom made candy canes are often one of the higher selling items” Twist explained with some confectioner’s pride, “But most of them have no idea how the tasty treats they buy are made, so today I’m going to tell you all about the means for making candy canes! First you’ll need to mix some sugar, water, and corn syr-…”

Her voice became little more than white noise as I tuned her out. Not out of blatant disinterest precisely, but I had watched a television program back home detailing this particular process, so hearing how they made it on a smaller scale wasn’t all that appealing to listen in to. I found Check-off’s literary short story works to be much more fascinating, especially with how closely they mirrored his Russian counterpart.

“Psst!” Came Sweetie Belle’s not so subtle, surreptitious beckoning, “Zenith!”

“Hmm…?” I absently hummed as I dabbed my tongue with a finger for better traction and turned a page.

“My sister told me that you were coming to our rescue!” She whispered with a smile.

“Did she use those exact words?” I replied just as quietly, my eyes sweeping across the pages instead of meeting hers.

“Well… no, but you knew what I was getting at” Her smile sagged, my distant, almost clinically cold attitude likely dragging her down, “The Mana Mark Maidens appreciate this noble gesture, and our memory is long. Are you sure you don’t want to join our organization?” Her voice squeaked in offer.

I closed the book and flopped it on my lap with a slow exhalation of breath, “For the last time Sweetie Belle, I am neither a maiden, nor am I interested in receiving a Mana mark. I’m more than happy (‘Quite the opposite, really’) to watch over you and your friends as you try out different activities for the sake of discovering your destiny… but please, keep me out of it!” I tiredly urged her, having had this invitation extended to me on several different occasions in the past.

“Okay…” The girl’s fingers anxiously gripped the back of her chair, “But if you ever change your mind, the girls and I would love to initiat-”

“Sweetie Belle!” Cheerilee called out reproachfully, causing her to yelp and jump in her seat, “It’s very rude to disregard your fellow students when they’re talking, especially when they’re going through the trouble of presenting us with their passions” She admonished her.

“Sorry Miss Cheerilee, sorry Twist” Sweetie murmured dejectedly, both of whom nodded their acceptance of her apology before Twist fittingly resumed making twisting motions of her hands to simulate the procedure behind the striping of the candy cane. Some students were even taking notes like knowledge hungry intellectuals, which I found rather admirable for their age.

Sweetie Belle was not the only one who should have been keeping their eyes turned forward. Apple bloom and Scootaloo frequently snuck peeps back at me with questions manifesting in their eyes that Sweetie Belle refused to yield to them. Two others still were mutedly chatting about the ‘weird visitor in the back’ and making derisive observations about me with no rhyme or reason. I’ll give you one good guess as to who they might have been. I haven’t even spoken to them yet, and already I was growing an aversion to the ‘better than you cause I’m rich’ girls sporting the ostentatious jewelry on their hands.

Twist concluded her instructionally vague demonstration with a little bit of advertisement snuck in, bribing her classmates with free samples of her products (Or less cynically, she was simply being generous with older, reject candy that wasn’t sold and was going to be tossed out anyway). The next up was a short and tubby kid who introduced himself as Truffle Shuffle. This unassuming lad pontificated about the finer points of what made for exquisite cuisine using skillful terminology and methodology that was frankly unexpected by everybody, as evidenced by the several dropped jaws from his associated classmates and a knowing smile that threatened to split Cheerilee’s face apart. Following his esoteric act was a girl solely named Archer, whose lightly shaded purple eyes settled on me for a few too many seconds. They glinted with something I could narrowly identify as a need to inquire about some subject that only I would have the faintest inkling about, though it bothered me that I only had conjectures as to what that might be. She went on about a topic that unusually did not directly relate to her Mana mark talent, which was depicted as a drawn back golden bow and arrow. She explicated on the dynamics of wind affecting the trajectory of a projectile (known to me as external ballistics), be it a gliding bird, a thrown rock, or predictably… an arrow shaft in flight, using charts and graphs that she had drawn up herself.

‘Goodness me. There’s going to be some tough acts to follow here’ I had to admit that the intelligence that Cheerilee’s pupils were exemplifying so far was nothing short of remarkable.

The steady passage of time proved otherwise, however. The consecutive presentations after the strange girl were more lackluster in quality (I made an exception for the one about pirates though, since its shorty of a speaker did an excellent job of dressing up as someone resembling a dwarf version of Jack Sparrow), and failed to capture and hold my interest for more than thirty seconds. In the intervals between interesting, well thought out projects, I entertained myself with Check-off’s take on The Lady with the Dog, finding it to be mostly identical with the exclusion of the locale names, the embankment scene, and the implied shameful adultery.

And while I hated to do it, I additionally forced myself to listen in on Diamond Tiara and her brown nosing friend Silver Spoon’s presentations, both of which were too well done (mostly stuff about economics with supply and demand mixed in. They orated succinctly and orotundly, as if they were giving a dictation) and orchestrated to have been of their own making. The flash cards that they often peeked at before moving on to the next sentence were also a dead give away that they were half assing it at best. Cheerilee’s expression skirted the line dividing being accustomed to this behavior and flat out disappointment that it happened none the less. But I could figure out that there wasn’t much she could do on her end to discourage it, beyond arranging futile parent teacher meetings that wouldn’t amount to anything. I couldn’t tell what the Mana Mark Maidens were thinking regarding their adversaries’ pompousness, as their backs were turned to me and they made no bodily shifts that would indicate their mood whatsoever.

“Thank you, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon for that… informative lecture on why Barnyard Bargains and Sterling Silver’s Metallurgist’s Market have a corner on the grander market at large” Cheerilee’s ability to act shone brightly as she successfully feigned gratitude for her most troublesome student’s clear slacking on this assignment.

“Uh huh. Hope it was as boring for you as it was for us to rehearse” Diamond disrespectfully commented as she and her friend returned to their seats, “Beat that, bland hands. Even you even have something to show us, that is” They sneered at the Maidens, two of whom shrunk back hopelessly, while the third was smugly unaffected. This hostility went unnoticed by Cheerilee, but not by me, adding to my increasing dislike of them.

“And last but not least…” The instructor announced, her eyes roaming towards me.

“Wait, Miss Cheerilee!” Apple bloom interjected as she held up her hand, “I brought a gift! A Pink Lady fresh from the orchard for your tasting pleasure!” She pulled out an apple so thoroughly polished that it had a mirror shine. She ran up to the desk and placed it next to a basket filled with student homework that was pending an official grade.

I rolled my eyes, ‘Why am I not surprised to find out that Apple bloom is an apple shiner? Wait… Actually I shouldn’t think that, she might have a distant, obsequious relative named as such for all I know’ I wish I could say that I was joking. The Apple family tree’s roots were that vast.

Cheerilee’s smile became lopsidedly bemused, “I appreciate the gift, Apple bloom. Even if you didn’t need to do that for me. I bought more than enough pecks worth of fruit from Big Macintosh just last week at the market”

“I know Miss Cheerilee, ah was there helpin’ him remember? Still, it’s the thought that counts… right?” Apple bloom said with a nervous chuckle.

The teacher’s smile regained its former splendor, “It does” She concurred, “Our last presentation involves a guest speaker. As I’m sure many of you have worked out for yourselves” She pointed out. The more oblivious students swiveled their heads to look in my direction and were taken aback by my presence, which came as a shock to them.

“Zenith here has valiantly offered to represent three of your fellow students in class, taking time out of his busy schedule to stand before us today. So how about we give him a nice, warm Magiville welcome!” She began clapping, an action that was gradually copied by her underling slash pupils. I liked how she inflated it so it would appear as if I was more saintly than I actually was.

I grasped at the wizard’s hat by my side and stood up, some of the students gasping at my impressive height as I strode to the front of the room. Many of them were whispering among themselves as I lifted the crate next to the desk by the handles and set it down of the flat surface.

I faced the instructor of Magiville’s youth as she sequestered herself to the side, “Do you mind if I use your desk for this? I promise that none of your things will be affected. The sheet covering this serves a dual purpose in that regard” I requested permission, which I was granted with a downward bob of her head.

Clearing the table of obstacles, I uncovered the crate and utilized the same sheet to wrap over it, setting up my supplies last. Some students leaned up in their chairs to get a better view of what I had to offer, most of them frowning when they saw nothing out of the ordinary. I resisted a smirk at the preliminary, unenthused reactions. Man, were they in for a surprise.

I addressed the classroom assembly loudly, projecting my voice in such a way that even the kids who thought they could nod off in the back would be tricked into thinking that I was standing right next to them, “Good afternoon, youngsters. As was previously mentioned, today I’ll be speaking on behalf of a trio of endearing lassies who are still in the process of discovering who they are talent wise… you’ll get there one day, I promise!” Apple bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all perked themselves up from my encouragement, “Your wonderful teacher here already did a bang up job of telling you all my name, so I’ll skip the introductions and get right to the good stuff”

I straightened out my coat and donned my pointy hat before bowing to my audience with a flourish of my hand, “Boys, Girls… and Lady” I grinned at ‘Cheery’ as Mac had affectionately nicknamed her during our guy talks, “I present to you… Magic-less Magic Tricks!” I waited a beat before deadpanning, “Alternatively known as Household Science”

I don’t know why, but for some reason my mind kept conjuring up mental scenes of Twilight busting the door down with a manic gleam in her eye, before asking in an excessively creepy voice ‘Did somebody say science?’. A shiver crept up my spine as my consciousness restored itself to the present moment. I had the strangest tangential thoughts sometimes.

I kept a close eye on my audience, gauging their opinions based on their facial expressions alone. Right now they were the consistency of half and half. One side was unimpressed off the bat, while the other side wanted to see where this was going.

“A quick disclaimer” I put out just to be cautious, “Don’t reattempt any of the tricks I’m about to display without strict parental supervision” I did a short double take, figuring that their parents would be just as unknowledgeable to this, “In fact, it’s best if you don’t recreate any of these stunts at all”

A student with sandy brown hair raised her hand (which had a vintage handheld mirror on it as a Mana mark), to which I motioned for her to speak, “Why not? Is it dangerous? I really like your hat by the way!” She graciously complimented me offhand.

I nodded, pleased at her spirit of inquisitiveness, “Thank you! And it can be hazardous to work with dry ice, yes. If handled improperly, you can get a nasty frostbite or asphyxiation from carbon dioxide buildup” I fanned at nothing with a hand, “But both of those can be easily avoided by wearing gloves and working in a well ventilated area” I jabbed a finger to the open window that was letting in a slight draft of wind, “That’s one of two already covered” I pulled out the gloves from the crate and put them on, “And that takes care of the second precaution”

Diamond Tiara tore her gaze away from the window and spoke up without raising her hand, “While this is all very fascinating, what is this supposed to teach us?”

“That’s a good question, Diamond Tiara” I replied with a fake smile, “Simply put. I’m going to show you that not all observable wonders stem from the usage of magic itself” I told her, unsealing the baggie with the dry ice pellets stored inside and pinching one in my fingers for examination.

“And you’re going to prove this by showing us ice cubes? Right…” She snorted, clearly skeptical.

I continued, undaunted by her poor attitude, “Not just any old ice cubes. Dry ice cubes” I corrected, though from her upturned nose, she would have none of it.

I began allocating my science supplies like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that would soon be fitted together to create a beautiful picture. I dropped a hefty amount of pellets in a round glass bowl, before pouring a jug of water that I warmed with a flash heating spell when everyone was distracted by looking at the window that I intentionally misdirected their attention at. The water went to work at dissolving the pellets, resulting in a white smoky mist that started to froth up and lick at the rims of its container. I could hear the student’s breath hitching as they witnessed this. I was quite drawn in myself the first time I saw the ghostly fog that dry ice was capable of producing.

“Neat, isn’t it?” I saw many heads bob their awed agreement, “Want to see what happens when you put a bubble over it?” I grinningly suggested, getting the same wordless acknowledgment.

“Using ordinary water and dish detergent” I pulled out a liquid measuring cup filled with the mixture, “I can take this strip of cloth, dip it in the cup until all of its surface area is fully soaked, before doing this…” I ran the strip across the brim of the bowl, leaving behind an iridescent film of soap that prevented the fog from escaping.

“As you can see, you can use the soapy strip to create an impermeable barrier to the gases, effectively trapping them inside the bowl. The sublimating reaction inside the bowl continues unabated however, and soon something has got to give”

Scoots held up a hand in question, “What’s sublimating mean?” She asked.

“Another good question!” I praised her out of habit, “Sublimation is a phase change from solid matter… such as the dry ice… to a gas like the type you see before you now, thereby bypassing the liquid stage” I explained to her, though her crooked neck told me that she still didn’t get it. Oh well, must’ve been my badly simplified vocabulary.

By now the bubble had expanded to the degree that it resembled a dome. The captivated students collectively held their breath in anticipation. They were rewarded when the bubble reached its breaking point, bursting and creating a wispy wave of gas that spread out in all directions, blanketing itself over the edges of the desk and onto the floor by the closest children’s feet. They ‘Oohed’ and ‘ahhed’ in enchantment, hypnotized by what many of them wrote off as being another un-engaging lecture by an adult. Even Cheerilee seemed highly impressed, making me ponder how much in the way of science she taught the children. I did know for certain that Arithmetic was a subject she broached upon (and Apple bloom repeatedly tried to recruit my help on when her mathematically gifted brother was too busy), but was unsure of how in depth she went beyond basic algebra.

My reception among the kids was nigh stellar once I hooked them in with the dry ice bubble, their applause ringing in the air (except for Diamond and her pal, Silver. But I couldn’t give two hoots about what they thought). My sensitive ears sifted through the clamor of the vox populi and discerned the individual reviews.

“That was so cool! I didn’t know you could make fog with just dried ice cubes and water! I totally know what I’m going to ask my parents to do for next Fright Night’s decorations!” A boy roughly the same age as Button Mash spouted (where was he anyway? Maybe his was the empty seat next to the window? I would liked to have seen his undoubtedly video game oriented presentation), writing it down as to not forget.

“Neato!”

“Very enlightening, to be sure”

“How come Miss Cheerilee doesn’t teach us stuff like this?” I heard Apple bloom mutter to herself with a pout, propping her head up with an arm on the desk.

I held up an ungloved finger and tapped it on the rim of the bowl as the dry ice expended itself, “That… my dear hearts, is only the beginning!” The cheer that I got in response to that highlighted their renewed vigor for learning.

I cleared the table of the round bowl and reached into my crate of common household goods for my next trick. No longer were their eyes glazed over as I retrieved a normal looking wax candle and a box of matches. Because the draft flowing through the window had gotten stronger, I shut it manually, not wanting it to interfere with my ‘reigniting candle’ prestidigitation. Cheerilee fidgeted in the corners of my vision as I struck a match against the sanding strip on the matchbox, but trusted me to light a candle enough not to make a fuss out of it.

“This one I suppose you could try for yoursel-” I spotted Cheerilee shaking her head side to side vigorously, “Nope! Same rules apply!” I hastily amended, drawing some disappointed moans from my viewers, “Anyhow, this is less showy than the last trick, but should mystify you regardless”

With that, I promptly blew out the candle with an expelled puff of breath. I let the thick stream of vapor climb upwards enough that it came into contact with my still lit matchstick.

“There’s an idiom where I come from” I asserted to no one in particular, “Where there is smoke, there is fire. But I’d like to put my own spin on it for this… Where there is candle smoke, there can be a flame reborn”

There was a delay of a few seconds before the vapor disappeared and the candle reignited. There were yet more gasps and eyes alit with childlike wonder, and in that moment, I gained a firm understanding as to why Cheerilee was so passionate about her job. Hands instantly shot up in question, but I had predicted this response and spoke up right away.

“If you’re all wondering how I just did that, it involves the smoke leftover from the blown out candle. To give you a summarized overview of the nitty gritty components, there is a chemical reaction that results from the combustion of the candle’s wax, which converts it into carbon dioxide, water, heat, and illumination. You see… there’s still some ignitable fuel left in the vapors, so if you take a light to it, the flame will ‘revive’ itself on the wick. It’s a helpful thing to know when you accidentally snuff out one of your candles and want to relight it without wasting a match”

“Cool… I could use that at parties to impress my friends” Remarked a girl with a cherry topped cupcake adorning the skin above her wrists. She had the right idea. After all, I had gotten the ‘inspiration’ for this demonstration of simple science from intriguing party trick videos online.

I didn’t even bother clearing the desk for the next one, since it was only a single candle and didn’t take up that much space by itself. Cheerilee snatched it up anyway, perhaps feeling a need to seem useful. While I was occupied with more setup work, I posed a deceptively mundane question to the classroom in the meantime.

“Let’s say you wanted to extinguish your lit candles wicks, how would you typically go about accomplishing this?” I inquired, to which several hands sprouted up from their desky soil. After a period spent deliberating, I called on a lanky Stellar Mage boy with freckles and teal hair, “Yes…” My eyes tweaked to the side as I paused, taking a moment to recall his name, “…Snails?”

He gifted me with a toothy smile, either for my remembering of his name or for being selected, “By blowing on them, eh? Or using a candle scissor snuffer like my friend Snips owns” He answered in a slow, accented voice that made him sound kind of Canadian. The aforementioned friend of his swished his hand over his head at me in greeting.

“Correct” I acknowledged both his response and his portly compadre with a nod, “But… what if you were challenged to put them out without using either of those methods, or visibly interfering with the flame at all?” I countered, placing a long strip of stubby candles on the desk and subconsciously lighting them with a snap of my fingers and a flash of thermal magic. By the time I realized that I had just used magic in a magic-less magic show, it was too late. There were those in my audience that murmured among themselves (especially the two strife sowing rich girls) at the hypocritical action, but they said no more, electing to watch me like a hawk.

“Errgh… uhgg…” He hesitated as his mind worked overtime to find the answer.

I spared him the trouble, “Don’t fret! I am here to shed some light on the answer to that very question, metaphorically speaking that is”

I took out a clean glass measuring cup and emptied a generous dollop of baking soda into it. Following that, I uncapped the lid to a bottle of vinegar and tipped it over into the cup, a stream of the heady smelling fluid mingling with the powder and reacting straightaway. I held my hand over the glass to allow for a repeat buildup of carbon dioxide gas to aid me in making another point.

This time, Silver Spoon spoke out of turn, “I think I can see where this is going. But how are you supposed to douse the candles without visibly smothering them with something physical like water or your fingers? I can’t see anything in that cup that would do the job” She remained dubious.

‘What would this girl know about snuffing candles with her fingers? She probably has servants do that without wetting their fingers whenever she’s feeling notably cruel’ I cynically thought.

“Just because you cannot see something, does not necessarily mean that it is not there” I replied evenly, removing my hand and lifting the cup in the air for all to see. The students leaned forward in their seats and squinted, trying to make out whatever was now inside the measuring cup.

“Watch closely” I instructed them, tilting the cup over the candle strip and keeping it a few inches away from the wicks. Slowly, the flames wavered as the carbon dioxide in the glass choked their oxygen fuel before flickering out of existence.

“Most unexpected…” The boy named Truffle Shuffle observed, “…and all using materials that are commonly descried in a kitchen pantry” He eloquently stated.

Silver Spoon said nothing, brooding to herself as her expectations were subverted.

“How did you do that?” Cheerilee actually asked for this occasion.

“You can’t possibly be telling me you’ve never had a student create a baking soda and vinegar volcano diorama before!” I expressed in disbelief.

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about” She shook her head, “You’re saying that simple baking soda and vinegar can be used to put out candles?”

“Yes. In case you didn’t know, baking soda and vinegar result in carbon dioxide gas, which is heavier than the air under ideal circumstances. It’s also non flammable, so the fire in the candle cannot burn it like it can with natural air. Add enough of it to the candle and it will have nothing to fuel itself on” I explained loud enough for those in the back to hear.

She hummed in consideration, “And you can make an imitation of a volcano with this? I think I have an idea for a classroom project that the kids will all enjoy”

“A baking soda volcano will take more than just vinegar and baking powder to work, there’s other materials required for it to be realistic” Lava colored food coloring was important, for one, but I elected to make it to seem more intricate than it was.

“Then perhaps I might need to keep you on as a consultant for academic activities that the children will enjoy” She half joked with a delightful giggle. I was flattered that she and the kids thought so highly of that which was deemed inane back home. But then again, different world… different expectations as to what makes for entertaining learning.

“I, err… my schedule is not that flexible at the moment” I understated, scratching at the back of my head, “But tell you what. I’ll write down a list of things that you can use to inspire these children and I’ll attach the instructions for how you can carry them out on the back. How does that sound?”

“That sounds most agreeable, Zenith” She gratefully smiled at me, which I halfheartedly mirrored before turning to the eager children.

I used my showman’s voice to wrap my role up, “And that concludes today’s demonstration of… Magic-less Magic Tricks! Otherwise known as…?” I rolled my hand in the student’s direction as an invitation for them to fill in the blanks.

“Household Science!” They smilingly chorused in unison. I expertly hid a frown. They were supposed to do it in a deadpan delivery, but I guess it couldn’t be helped with how stoked they were.

“I’d say that the Mana Mark Maidens made an excellent choice when choosing someone to represent them for this” Cheerilee gave her accolades, “With that finished, let’s move on t-”

“Woah woah woah!” I interrupted her, “I never said I was finished!”

She stared at me in confusion, “But you just told us that your demonstration was done” She contended, flustered features on her face.

“Precisely! My demonstration was concluded, but I’m not done teaching these whippersnappers things they know little to nothing about! With your permission, I’d like to bore them a transient while longer” I requested, jesting as an aside.

I initially wanted to substantiate to them how a non Newtonian Shoggoth was born. But that would have required said fluid and a subwoofer, and I don’t think Vinyl was too keen on lending those out to just anybody, even to those she owed for her new selection of music to toy with at her nightclub.

She rocked her posture to the side and placed a hand on her hip, “And what else could you possibly educate them on in the next ten minutes before I have to ring the lunch bell?” She asked me, gesturing with a thumb to the lever mechanism.

“Oh… nothing much…” I dismissively shrugged off the question as I grabbed a stick of chalk and expeditiously started to illustrate a chart detailing the Federal structure of the United States of America, taking special care to separate the three branches of government into a triangle of Montesquieu-esque checks and balances, “Just a prominent example about a minor thing called Democracy” I vocalized with a knowing smirk curling at my lips.

⁂

Once I believed I had sufficiently versed Cheerilee’s assemblage of confounded children in matters of politics, the thoroughly nonplussed teacher rung the bell and signaled the beginning of a thirty minute lunch period before the last two hours of class. Over a dozen hungry juveniles shambled out the door in a disorderly fashion before setting their waypoints for the wooden picnic tables available in the back end of the schoolhouse's yard, lunch boxes in hand and ready to fill the holes in their stomachs with their mothers’ homemade meals to go. Cheerilee politely requested that I wouldn’t touch on sensitive topics like the type concerning disparate forms of government in the future before brusquely shooing me out. I sighed to myself as I absently shifted the crate under my arms. I guess Cheerilee was another one of those Arcanians that believed that the Princesses could do no wrong and were always in the right, even if they weren’t. It was sad to see such an intelligent, rationally thinking woman act so unreceptive (I dare say blinded) to the truth that while the Princesses had the best of intentions at heart, they were just as capable of mistakes as any other person; they’ve even admitted to me that much themselves.

I was stolen away from my musings by the sensation of being tackle hugged by the Maidens. Dropping the crate, I fell back onto the grassy earth next to a leaf shedding tree as the combined weight and momentum of the girls brought me down low.

“Zenith you were so awesome back there!” Scootaloo shouted, which was a commendation customarily reserved for her longtime idol, Rainbow Dash. I blinked at that. I didn’t think she would be that beholden to me over something so mundane.

“I was so worried that we would fail that assignment! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Apple bloom was so elated I momentarily feared that she might kiss me.

“I never had any doubts” Sweetie declared confidently, “You have our eternal thanks for coming to our rescue” She primly exalted me.

I sighed forbearingly, wrapping an acknowledging arm around Scoots and Apple bloom, “Think nothing of it… actually, scratch that. You girls need to devise your own mind blowing presentations in the coming times, so that I don’t won’t have to do this sort of thing again. Not that I believe I even could, as I have a feeling that I’ve recently gotten on your teacher’s bad side” I rolled my eyes. Liberty Prime would be ashamed of how heavily suppressed democracy was here. Eh, at least there are no communists.

Sweetie’s noggin swayed from side to side, “Cheerilee doesn’t have a bad side!” She insisted, her voice cracking adorably as she did so.

I quirked an eyebrow, “Oh really? Are you telling me that you three have never caused your teacher to scowl once with your antics?”

“Err… well… that is” Apple bloom struggled to maintain a straight face once I brought that up.

“This isn’t about us!” Scootaloo hastily deflected for her honest morally imbued friend as we all got to our feet, “Heh, you know for a killjoy… you sure know how to bail us out of a tight spot when you want to. I don’t know what to make of that Fiddle System you talked about in the end, but I kind of like the idea of a government where every voice is heard when it comes to the big decision making”

‘Good, she’s taken the bait. I can only hope the other children will give it some consideration themselves’ I thought quietly. Sowing even the tiniest seeds of democracy in tilled soil was oddly satisfying.

I adjusted my hat, jingling the bells by doing so, which had been knocked noticeably askew by the Maiden’s charge, “It’s pronounced ‘Federal’ System… but the point of that exercise was to notify you younger minds that there’s more than one way to run a country beyond vesting all authority to a few individuals and trusting them unquestionably with that power” I held up a finger, “Remember girls… there must always be a standard of accountability held in place. I respect their Royal Highnesses very much… but realistically, they are only ultimately answerable to themselves, instead of the people over which they rule” I turned the finger inwards to my chest in emphasis. It was a mere statement of fact, with intense implications.

“An’ how’s that a problem? I met Princess Luna once during Fright Night, and she was amazin’! In fact, she’s my favorite!” A cockney accent piped in from the side.

I turned to regard this new voice, finding it in the form of a smaller than average lad with darkish brown eyes like the kind I used to own. He wasn’t listening in on us on purpose. The book illustrating ancient pirates on the cover that was in his hands provided evidence that he was minding his own business and reading before we came along.

“I have myself… Pip Squeak” I cordially spoke to our eavesdropper, “Both of them (‘technically three’), in fact. They’re admirable women, the lot of them. But they’re also human, just like you and me. You can’t tell me that you’ve never made poor calls before”

“Sometimes…” Pip demurely admitted, “But Luna is the infallible mistress of the moon and everything it shines over!” He shouted, using big words like a big boy.

‘You wouldn’t be so quick to say that if you knew about the consequences of her actions first hand like I did, boy’ I opined wordlessly, phantasmal memories of that first night in the decrepit ruins of the Neverfree Castle rerunning themselves in my brain.

“No one is infallible kid, not even the immortals this society seems to hold in such high esteem” I monotonously said to him, “But don’t take my word for it. Next time Luna comes to visit, you be sure to ask your favorite Princess if she’s done things and regretted them in hindsight”

The diminutive boy stared at me with a hard look in his eyes, the kind you would see after callously revealing to them that Santa Claus’s gifts are actually the result of their parents opening their wallets, or that there is no lucky pot of gold on the other end of the rainbow (which is physically possible to get to here, much to my befuddlement). But there was also a flash of vacillation across his face. He wrinkled his brow as he grunted something unintelligible and turned his back on us.

“Woah! You’ve interacted with the Princesses before?” Scootaloo burst out as the boy walked away, his slow stride and curved posture indicating that he was locked in deep introspection.

I gave her a sidelong glance and chipper grin, “Of course I have! You could even say that I’m a member of their innermost circle” I dramatized, putting it mildly.

Apple bloom tilted her head questioningly, “Wow, really!? Then how come you’ve never told us this before?”

“Because you never asked” I bluntly replied, causing her to blink.

“Hey, bland hands!” Came the obnoxious voices of the Maidens' archrivals. The three of them groaned together as they mentally prepared themselves for another barb trading session.

“It figures you would need to enlist the specialty of someone with a chemist’s Mana mark for help! I think Cheerilee should have given you a failing grade like you deserved, useless bland hands!” Diamond Tiara jeered, repetitively using the same insult despite how overused it was to begin with.

“You be quiet! I saw the looks on your faces! You were just as blown away as we were by that ice bubble!” Scootaloo pointed out.

“Dry ice bubble” I interjected, to no one’s heed.

“I’ll have ya’ll know that Zenith here is blank jus’ like us! And he’s one of the most capable people ah know!” Apple bloom protested while gesturing at me, using me as a reference, much to my minor annoyance. I was touched by her faith in me though.

Diamond Tiara looked at me and scoffed, “An adult? Devoid of a Mana mark? That’s ridiculous. You’re just lying to make yourselves feel better about forever being useless bland hands with no direction in life” She crossed her arms in a condescending fashion.

Apple bloom looked at me pleadingly, forcing me to evaluate my options. I could either be a jerk, denying her claim and therefore humiliating the young girl and her friends in front of their worst antagonists. Or I could reveal to yet another person who didn’t need to know, that I was lacking their visual rite of passage and was ‘blank’. I should think that anyone who knew me well would have instinctively known what I would do in this situation.

“Precious Apple bloom here is right. My shoulders are as bare as the day I was born” I authenticated, rolling up my sleeve to show the bratty children that the young fruit farmer spoke truth. If anyone had the gall to think I would have taken the easy way out, I would have very much like to have slapped him or her upside the head to instill some sense in them.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon stared open mouthed at the pale, clear patch of skin that was being exhibited to them. Their expressions rapidly warped from shock to confusion and finally settled on disbelief.

“That’s impossible…” Silver Spoon whined, “Every Arcanian eventually gets their Mana mark before becoming an adult!” Diamond shook herself out of her funk to glare disapprovingly at her lackey of a friend, “I-I mean, with the exception of these three failures” Spoon corrected herself with a nervous simper.

“It’s a trick! He’s one of those Stellar Mages who knows how to cover up their marks with magic!” Diamond accused me, still not accepting the fact that I was as flexibly talented as I was without a stamp to represent it.

I walked over to them and leaned down so that I wouldn’t have to literally speak over the petulant welp of a child, “Personally, I think that singular specialization in any field is overrated and represses one’s true versatility. A competent human being should be able to change a diaper, push the envelope, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a defensive wall, set a broken bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, ask dangerous questions, pitch manure, program a computer, make clever yet obscure references, make obvious references, cook a tasty meal, broker treaties, show no fear, fight efficiently, and die gallantly” I listed off, the two girls in front of me reacting to all this like someone took an egg beater and whisked their brains into oblivion.

I shifted my head in such a way that my eyes appeared like crimson razor thin slits, “Specialization is for insects. Let’s take you for instance, what does your mark even mean?” I asked, crooking a finger at her hand jewelry. She fought for words to respond with before scowling at her inability to do so right away. It seemed that no one had ever really had the courage to call her out on this before, catching her off guard.

Her teeth grit and her blood pressure spiked, “I-it m-means that I am superior to these useless twerps at the very least! They don’t even have one!” She stammered out angrily.

“Yet… they don’t have one yet” I mutedly asserted with confidence, making Diamond angrier.

“And neither do you for that matter!” She snarled at me, “If you aren’t tricking us then that makes you even more of a failure than they are, if that’s even possible!”

My eyes narrowed at her blatantly continued display of tetchy petulance, “I am not defined by some mark, girl with the gaudy jewelry on her hands. My potential is boundless” I stooped lower until I was fully eye level with the bratty hell-raiser, “In case you’re somehow unable to translate that, it means that I am whatever I damn well please to be… and you would do well to remember that”

My lack of hesitance in standing up for myself stupefied her, “Y-you can’t talk to me like that! My dad practically owns half of this town! He can make your life a living hell!” She spat back, an irate fire burning in her eyes.

I snorted in vague amusement, “That’s right… go crying back to daddy when you don’t get your way, like the spoiled brat you are” The Maidens behind me uttered an ‘Ooo!’ in unison.

I didn’t stop there, “Your father doesn’t scare me, you pernicious, pretentious little hellion. Especially not when he signs his documents using the same ink pens that I ushered into the vast majority of this town” A bit of a presumption on my part, but Tiara did nothing to refute my words regardless, “Alternatively, you could try proving me wrong about you, and cutting them some slack for a change” I gesticulated with a thumb back at the Maidens.

“Why should I!?” She sneered, “It’s not my fault they’re a bunch of useless bland hands!”

‘Blank flanks has more of a bite to it’ I idly thought to myself.

“Okay, first off… they’re not useless. Apple bloom alone has probably done more for this community on weekends than you have in months just by doing her chores” I held up a second finger, “Secondly, you seriously need to diversify your insults. Excessive reiteration only dilutes the strength behind your words, and makes you come off as a simpleton to those who possess an entire lexicon for ignominious communication to tear people down with” A third digit joined its brethren, “Third and lastly, I want to know why you antagonize those three so much when they’ve done nothing to you to warrant it”

“They have not done nothing to me!” She shrieked, her face red as a beet, “They started this by humiliating me at my Mark-ceañera party!” She pointed an accusing finger at them, and they shrank back, “Those stupid, bumbling idiots had the nerve to make me look like a fool at my own party!”

“Which you likely instigated on yourself by inviting them over to begin with” I turned my head to speak to Apple bloom, “What was Diamond’s real purpose for extending an invite to you anyway? To rub in the fact that she had her Mana mark while you didn’t? To make fun of you some more in front of your peers?” Apple bloom wordlessly confirmed what I expertly pretended to guess at with a brief nod.

“You’re just taking their side because you’re their friend!” She screamed at me, not appreciating how expeditiously I was chipping away at her perceived moral high ground.

“Actually, I’ve been quite objective about this, while you on the other hand have only gotten more and more emotional with every passing second” I corrected her none too gently, pressing my advantage, “Perhaps somewhere deep inside, you realize that you’re in the wrong, and you simply can’t stand that. So you lie to yourself and weave this pitiful story painting them as the villains and you as some kind of victim giving them their just desserts by running them down and ridiculing them all the time. Well guess what, princess. You’re no more of an avenging angel than King Sombra was a Saint with good intentions in mind” I acerbically compared her to the deceased tyrant ruler of the Krystal Kingdom.

I haven’t even read about the atrocities committed by the mad Krystal King, and yet I knew that it was people like Tiara that had the potential to become like him. Perhaps I was being hard on her for doing so, but vaunting yourself over your fellow being for a perceived ‘weakness’ treads a very fine line between prideful arrogance and outright wickedness.

Diamond Tiara glared balefully at me, even baring her teeth at me like some feral animal, which did not help my image of her in the slightest. Silver Spoon however showed me that she retained a shred of common sense by pulling her friend away by the arm, knocking some tallies off her score by reassuring her that nothing I said to her mattered, but saw the wisdom of retreat before her friend tried something she would regret. I begged to differ, but would not waste any more of my time bickering with children too set in their ways to see the folly of their practices. I would get in one last jab though.

“And another thing concerning your presentation! You two need to remind your fathers that purposely underselling their wares in order to run poorer rival businesses into the ground is unethical!” I called after them, smirking to myself when Diamond began to thrash against her fleshy bonds in a rage. Silver had a strong grip though, and hauled her lesser half away kicking and screaming profanities that were most unbefitting for a girl her age.

“Dang, I’ve never seen Diamond get that angry before. Not even when we received the nomination to carry Magiville’s flag during the openin’ ceremony of the games” Apple bloom commented as silence filled the air in the absence of their usual aggressors.

“Never mind them, you three. And never follow my example like that… I’d rather not know that I’ve veritably been a terrible influence on you” I commanded them, not wanting the Maidens to become overly confrontational with their problems.

Offhandedly, I was struck with an idea for a way to both honor and instruct them on how to deal with critics during the opening concert of the games. I would have to submit my amendments to the opening concert play list to Celestia the next time I saw her. Royal connections with some of the most powerful beings on the planet were… a very advantageous benefit to have in your repertoire.

“Why not!?” Scootaloo demanded to know, “You told them what for and sent them away like you should. You can’t tell me that they didn’t have it coming! I’m usually the one to defend our group and I’ve never been able to rouse Diamond like that!”

I shook my head in the negative, “Inciting your enemies to anger just to make them go away rarely works Scootaloo, and it only exacerbates the existing problem. Now I’m not telling you to turn the other cheek here, as they would doubtlessly exploit that to hurt you with their acidic words some more, but you should be genuinely attempting to make nice with them. Always try to forgive those who would do you wrong. It not only proves that you’re the better person, it also confuses the heck out of them” I advised with a clipped chuckle.

“That sounds kinda namby pamby if you ask me” Scootaloo crossed her arms, “But… we Maidens owe it to you for ensuring that we didn’t get a bad grade on that assignment… so I guess we’ll try to follow your advice. But I won’t be held accountable if those two bullies cross a line!” She warned heatedly.

“That’s all I can ask of you, truthfully” I exhaled, picking my crate back up to return what was left of the dry ice pellets to Twilight, “Tell your sister that I’ll drop off my robes later today, okay Sweetie Belle? Oh, and inform her additionally that we’re still on for Tuesday night”

She dipped her head, “Okay, I will… but what happens on Tuesday night?” The curly haired girl inquired as she succumbed to her curiosity.

“That’s between your sister and I” I rakishly responded.

“Hey, Zenith?” Apple bloom spoke up.

“Yes, Apple bloom?”

“If ya don’t have yer Mana mark, then how come you’ve got a focal gem now?” She expressed, poking at her forehead to emphasize her point.

“That’s so I can use my magic in public without the eagle eyed questioning why” I explained, subconsciously pulling at my hat to hide the rhinestone.

“But… isn’t that lying?” The farm girl’s brow knitted itself together in moral indecision.

I shrugged my shoulders dismissively, “There are two major types of lies, Apple bloom. Neither of which your sister would approve of, but I’m going to clarify them for you anyway. A lie of commission is a direct mistruth that you tell someone, which your sister ardently opposes the usage of very much. A lie of omission is just that… you omit information, or refuse to clear up misconceptions about something when you know the real truth. As far as I’m concerned… the latter of the duo can be perfectly acceptable when necessity dictates it”

“Ya sure do take a likin’ for using all kinds of fancy words, Zenith” Apple bloom dazedly remarked after failing to interpret half of what I’d told her, my propensity for elegant articulation stumping her less than well read brain, “And yer right, my sis would raise a heckuva fit if she heard ya saying that to me”

“Which is probably why it’s best if you don’t impart that particular tidbit of knowledge unto her, savvy?” I vaguely quoted a certain pirate that Pip Squeak reminded me of with his swashbuckler’s presentation. I shuffled the crate in my arms for a better grasp on it as I made to leave the school grounds and return to the library.

I wasn’t even able to get ten paces off when that girl with the bow and arrow Mana mark accoste-, I mean, hailed me, “Hey Mister, Mister!”

I stopped and stifled a sigh, an old song from the eighties playing in my mind thanks to the girl’s unintentional cueing, “I don’t fancy being referred to as a Mister, little miss Archer. I’m not one for titles or anything of the sort unless it is absolutely proper. When it isn’t, I prefer to simply go by Zenith” I entreated of her as she ran up beside me.

“My deepest apologies, Mist-… Zenith” She atoned with a prim bow of her head.

We walked in silence for a few seconds before I realized that she would not deign to continue this conversation by herself.

“Is there something you wanted to discuss? If it’s about my opinion of your presentation, I found it to be quite erudite for a girl as young as you. You should be proud of yourself” I complimented her, dispensing with the niceties.

“It’s not about that, but thank you!” She exclaimed happily, “I first wanted to say that I’m glad you stood up to those mean bullies Diamond and Silver. They’ve been persecuting everyone who hasn’t earned their Mana mark yet, and even taunting those who have! Seeing them rebuffed like that filled me with such a sensation of relief. You didn’t even so much as flinch at their insults!” She praised me.

“And why would I, their elder by more than a few years, do so? I do not trifle myself with the opinions of those I hardly know, because that would imply that I care about what they have to say, which by extension implies that I care about them as people… which I casually don’t” I icily stated, people like Diamond and Silver left a bad taste in my mouth just by thinking about them.

“I wish I was that thick skinned” She said wistfully before perking up, “Hey, so you’re the one that’s going to be representing all of Magiville in the opening ceremony of the Arcanian athletic games right? I was at the bakery when Rainbow Dash was telling everybody about how she was going to get you to agree to participate in the games, even if it was only indirectly”

‘Dash… you and your big mouth’ I groused, the clown haired girl getting on my nerves even when she wasn’t here. Still, without her encouragement, I don’t believe I would be doing anything other than spectating at the games.

“I did” I answered before holding a hand to my face like I was letting her in on a secret, which I suppose I was, “But just between you and I… I’m also going to be directly participating” An endeavor that I would feel a lot safer with undertaking as soon as I got more practice with the Claymore against a wide variety of opponent types.

“Really!? In what category!? Ice Archery!?” She shot off in rapid succession. I had no idea what ice archery was… but I could figure out what it entailed based on title alone.

“Duelist’s section” I apprised her, “Though I used to practice archery in my spare time. I owned a recurve bow that was rated for a fifty pound draw weight, which is nothing to sneeze at for unaided, raw string tension. Although somebody of my size could get more of a fifty five pound draw weight with it. It was a good bow, had great accuracy for a traditional recurve” I left out the fact that it was before I was spirited to this world, anyway. I’d never entertain the thought of using one for combat purposes though. I was only a consistent shot when it came to targets that weren’t going to shoot back at me.

“That’s super cool! My dad Straight Shot is going to be competing in the archery division!”

I gave her a sideways glance, “Is that what has you so excited? Why tell me about it?”

“My dad and I have team spirit!” She spouted, like the answer was that simple, “You’re not excited about representing our town in the games?” She asked, cocking her head to the side questioningly.

I clicked my tongue, “Can’t say that I am. And I’m not actually doing this for the town… no offense meant to you or anyone else living here” I added, not wanting to figuratively step on anyone’s toes.

I stopped walking, since that would take us beyond the school grounds, and the girl showed no sign of the invisible boundaries discouraging her from following me. I didn’t want anyone to think I was encouraging truancy after all. I made a bad enough impression with Big Mac’s lady friend as it was.

She was puzzled, a lock of dark blue hair blocking one of her gentle eyes from sight, “Then what are you doing it for?” She needled me for information, brushing the obstructing hair out of the way.

I paused, her question making me reflect on exactly why I was going to do it, “I dare say that… I’m doing it for my friends, honestly” Partially to shut Rainbow up and to ensure that Celestia won her mysterious wager with Cadence, and mostly for an outstanding woman who took me into her care when she was under no obligation to do so, “My friends are the ones responsible for inspiring (‘otherwise known as heckling’) me to do something with myself instead of sitting around like a sedentary couch potato. I rarely go out my way to act on another’s behalf when there isn’t a significant reason that I can provide myself. Doing it for my friends and knowing that they appreciate my efforts is rewarding enough for me” I inflated my embellished motivations for the impressionable young lass. I forwent telling her that having an incentive on the side never hurt though.

“That’s… most noble of you” Archer breathed out in an introspective fashion, “Just like my dad. He’s not doing this for personal glory or even for the nice shiny medals! He only wants to show the world that folks from our humble town are capable of keeping up with the major league players, be they from Stratopolis or even Gryphondria!” She relayed to me, a resplendent smile stretching across her face.

My eyebrows rose once she revealed that there would be foreign competitors in the games. Perhaps they should rename it to resemble the International Olympics from my planet? Arcanian Athletic games felt conceited and insular to me.

‘What are we, discussing baseball?’ My lip line crinkled in amusement at the thought.

“And I’m sure that we will, miss Archer” I affirmed with conviction, “Now if you will excuse me, I have a previous engagement located at Golden Oak’s library”

“Okay. Farewell! See you at the games!” She called after me as I walked the dirt road leading back into the town.

⁂

The first snows fell on the beginning day of December, covering everything in a powdery blanket of white. It wasn’t anything heavy, averaging a depth of a foot to two feet at its deepest. I recall Dash once telling me that her kin up in Stratopolis spend a better portion of each year meticulously preparing for that one month of winter so that it was just right, not too cold as to be unbearable, but nippy enough that people would have to don their thicker clothing for prolonged periods outdoors. The town’s denizens regarded it as just another yearly occurrence, but for me it was something truly exceptional. As I’ve stated before, where I came from, snow was something that you’d have to travel for in order to see in person. To step outside and see snowflakes drifting onto the ground from the cloudy sky above was quite the spectacle to me.

During this chilly period, I spent much of my time juggling social obligations in Magiville with each of the Elements (including assisting Zecora in gathering herbs and other exotic plant material in the otherwise untouched, snow free Neverfree. This was done because she hadn’t fully recovered from her burns yet, even with her medicinal remedies. In exchange for my assistance, I got to learn a few things about the unique properties of various herbalists’ ingredients on those trips into the forest too. I also discovered that Zecora did not resort to her usual rhyming in her written explications), practicing for the opening ceremony of the athletic games (I went a tad overboard on that one, practicing music and flash memorizing tablature for songs I wouldn’t even officially use. My music chamber just had too much to tempt me with, and it wasn’t like I had any neighbors to complain about the noise), training for those very same games up in the capital palace of Concordia and going to reputable taverns with a constantly disguised Blueblood to drink and listen in on the ‘unofficial’ news being passed around (I couldn’t halt a vicious grin from forming on my face once I heard the local hearsay of that slattern Melody booking it from the capital to her vacation home in Delphia with atypical haste. My very specific warning had finally gotten through to her it would seem. Which was assuredly for the best, as I’d hate to have to deliver on it), as well as checking in the initial progress being made with our secretive developments (with Gizmo securely onboard as a consultant for engineering difficulties. His expertise was really helping to get some of those projects off the ground. Moreover, I had finally received that metric boatload of bits from the breech loading schematic deal to go along with a new account at the bank of Concordia. In the first safe deposit box that I opened there was also a note from Celestia that notified me in her own writing that I was now off ‘The Royal Gravy Train’ as she so humorously put it).

Speaking of the city, I was ambushed there by Octavia during one instance, who implored me to meet a special someone who was visiting her in the city. That was the time I got to meet Octavia’s birth mother, Viola Philharmonica (who looked very much like her, save for the violet hair striped with grey streaks), who was herself an accomplished musician during her day. Her choice of instrument was pretty obvious, but it was intriguing to find out that she was also a virtuoso with the Piano (which she regularly chided her daughter for never taking an avid interest in). A charming woman she was, her graceful mannerisms making it clear which side of the family her daughter got her class from. The only negative opinion that I formed of her was that she made me extremely uncomfortable with her shrewd subtlety, throwing in hints of expecting ‘vibrant fruit to be borne of this relationship within a years time’. Octavia flushed in embarrassment and squirmed from her position on the tassel pillowed sofa, while I sat there nonplussed with a stony expression composing my features. Needless to say, I was wary of my potential mother in law, even if I visually hid this concern from my blissful ladylove (whose bimonthly orchestral concert I managed to attend. Incredible performance it was, the passionate black haired Agrarian woman created breathtaking, colorful art along with her colleagues… all using a different kind of brush stroke. Getting an iced coffee with her after a tough afternoon of training with Smoky Marionette’s hard hitting conjurations was also most enjoyable).

But I’m getting ahead of myself here. For not everything devolved into the humdrum routine preceding an important event. I had one or two heart to heart conversations with some of the Elements in the days preceding the onset of the games. The first of which was with Fluttershy, whose offer for helping her with coordinating her animal friend’s pre winter preparations I accepted.

It was a Wednesday morning when I arrived at the caretaker’s cottage to bear witness to an interesting sight. If I thought her front yard was filled with critters from all walks of life under normal circumstances, then it was positively overflowing in the days before winter fell. Dozens upon dozens, perhaps even hundreds of furry animals chittered among themselves as they waited for the Element of Kindness to listen to their various pleas for help. I watched my steps in case there were even tinier creatures loitering about beneath my feet. They seemed to understand the purpose behind the dirt road though, and for the most part kept out of my way as I treaded past them.

I ambled up to the door and raised my arm, knocking twice on the wooden paneling to signal my arrival. There was a long pause before the knob on the door slowly twisted and pulled inward, unlatching the portal to reveal the large form of Garrett the Grizzly bear. The gargantuan ursus snorted his greeting to me before asking why I was there with a low guttural growl.

“To support Fluttershy with the soon to be dormant animals of course, I figure she could use someone else who can roughly understand your speech patterns” I replied, looking down at him. I still had no idea how I could innately parse what the local wildlife had to say, but I wasn’t complaining. It wasn’t nearly as fine tuned as Fluttershy’s understanding, but I could get the general gist of what the oddly humanlike animals communicated to me.

Garrett nodded his understanding before backing up and swinging his head inwards, inviting me into the cottage. I crossed the threshold into the naturally constructed building, where unsurprisingly; even more animal activity was taking place. Squirrels scampered across the floorboard, taking their share of stockpiled nuts and other aliments to bring home. Teams of birds carried bags of seeds in their beaks as they hovered from a storage closet stocked with feed sacks to the outside. Raccoons hitched themselves to miniscule carts loaded with all kinds of supplies for surviving the winter and hauled them into the backyard. In the middle of all this organized chaos was Angel bunny, who wielded a pair of carrots and directed the ground and air traffic using them like the illuminating beacons of a marshaling official or traffic cop. Fluttershy wasn’t kidding when she claimed that her methods for helping the animals prepare for winter inadvertently caused them to work together for the good of all. It was… uplifting, in a way. Here were all these animals, some of which would normally be preying on each other, working in total coordination. The life forms of this world were genuinely special in that they could also put aside their inborn rivalries in recognition of a greater threat; the coming frost. There was no doubt that this unorthodox partnership would be over as soon as the springtime came, but it was astounding to see for myself none the less.

Angel bunny spared me a nod in passing as I made for the backyard, where Fluttershy was probably attending to the needs of her fauna based companions. I finally found the woman near a large, lock free birdhouse holding a clipboard and flipping through the pages as what looked like her messenger birds tweeted in her ears, likely about the progress that was being made.

“…Uh huh… The badger family’s den is insulated enough that I don’t need to install a heating device there, that’s wonderful. Oh! Sally the snake accidentally squatted in another critter’s hollow? Go tell her that I have several vacant brush piles that are just perfect for her and her mate to bed down in”

I approached carefully and noisily, so that I wouldn’t surprise her, “G’morning, Fluttershy! I came here to render some aid… if you’ll accept me that is”

“Zenith!” Her eyes widened for an instant, “But… don’t you have things to do that are more important than being with me?”

Cue the headshake, “Not really. Besides… even if I did, I’d find a way to make time to spend with you” I spoke from the heart.

I caught a flare of pink that tinged at her cheeks, “I’m honored… well… I could use a second set of hands to take inventory so I can directly interact with my animal friends. Do you think you can do that for me?”

“Gladly!” I held out my right hand and received the clipboard. My eyes scanned over the first page, observing it to be a roster of singular animals to entire groups of them that were represented by a ‘speaker’ that would act as the go between.

‘Man… even the animals here elect their own representatives! And yet Arcania finds the concept of democracy to be foreign?’ Oh how the inconsistences in this mythical land never ceased to perplex me.

“Follow me, please” Fluttershy politely requested, which I obliged as we toured the wildlife version of ‘It’s a small world’.

The rest of the morning to the afternoon melted away as I took care of the organized paperwork while Fluttershy worked her negotiating skills on troublesome critters that were either demanding more than their fair allocation of food (as if it was theirs by right) or had disputes with other critters that were particularly rancorous (more of that predator and prey relationship jazz). Fluttershy’s aura of amicability availed her immensely in fostering cease-fires and even reconciliation between opposing parties, reminding them that there were healthier alternatives to fighting amongst themselves and making the minor threat of looming winter a problem that would snowball in proportion, many of which she provided. I observed all of this with a shade of respect on my countenance. The woman was almost a completely different person when she was acting (if you’ll pardon the pun) in her element. The ease with which she weaved together alliances and encouraged friendship where it seemed most unlikely to occur was phenomenal.

In the lulls between transitioning between nesting sites and congregating grounds, Fluttershy and I spoke to each other. It started out as small talk, like how we’ve been since we last saw each other or if anything of note happened that was worth mentioning. Somehow this chat led to a line of inquiry regarding my date with Rarity the previous night.

“How was your time with Rarity?” She asked, somewhat out of the blue, while scratching a beaver (who was named Harry, I kid you not) under its chin. The creature happily flopped its tail against a mound of stiff mud, flattening it into a miniature plateau.

“Hmm?” I looked up from the clipboard, having just checked off the Brendham Beaver family as ‘set for winter’, “It was… nothing out of the ordinary. How’d you even know about that anyway?” I asked in return.

“Rarity wouldn’t stop talking about it yesterday when I bought some sweaters from her” She answered, shifting her shoulders upward and undulating the canary yellow sweater that she was wearing, “I was originally there to pick up an order of custom made winter clothing tailored exclusively for my animal friends, but she beseeched me to stay and listen to how ‘marvelous’ her night was as she recommended her new fashion line to me” She added as an aside.

“Well… I guess it was enlightening to learn more about Rarity and her family in general, mostly her family” I conceded drolly, “Like how her father was once a famous sports star and now all he does is wear tacky dress shirts and fuss over his mustache, or how he and Rarity’s mother have a tendency to leave their younger daughter in her older sister’s hands while they go on extended vacations around the kingdom, especially Vanclover, where both of them were originally natives to” I relayed to the caretaker. It wasn’t eye popping info to me. Someone as monotonous as me has an ear for accents, even disguised accents.

“She… told you that? And on your first date?” Fluttershy’s tone was difficult to decipher, I wasn’t certain if she was confounded or just plain bewildered by this revelation.

“Yes…? Why? Is that not something she usually does after the third round of wine?” I responded in jest, smacking my lips as I savored the ghostly memory of its flavor. It was a tasty vintage for spoiled grape juice.

She stood up stiffly and we moved on to some vacated birds’ nests (its owners having migrated south ahead of schedule), “I’ve been a friend of Rarity for years, and she’s only just recently admitted to me that she has Vanclovian heritage, and that her prim accent is self trained” She said after a minute of flying up to take down the nests for a month of safekeeping. This was done so that when the birds that lived here returned, they wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of collecting materials for a new nest.

Half an hour passed by with nary a word between us, with the exception of terse instructions from Fluttershy, who barely so much as glanced at me. I understood that winter was coming, but her abnormally cold attitude seemed premature. I could only abide by it for so long before I caved in to my concerns.

“Fluttershy? Is everything alright?” I broke the silence.

“Yes, everything is fine…” She falsely smiled at me, before it gradually slipped off her face and a frown took its place, “No… no it isn’t” She quietly admitted, unable to lie to both herself and me.

“What’s wrong then?” I followed up, levitating the clipboard to its resting place on a workbench cluttered with prefabricated animal shelters of all sizes. We had exhausted the majority of the names printed down on the roster, so I reasonably presumed that we had just about concluded our charitable work.

“What made you ask Rarity out?” She got right to the point, which I both admired and quailed at.

I blinked, “I didn’t… she’s technically the one who asked me out” I corrected, setting the record straight.

“Really?” Fluttershy eyes cast downward and her forehead wrinkled, “She made such a point out of the ‘Starry eyed Prince coming to rescue her from her castle’, and I couldn’t help but listen to it”

I kept my expression unreadable, but inside I was brooding, ‘Rarity spun the truth to aggrandize the circumstances leading up to our first official date? And to Fluttershy no less? What the hell?’ Why must Rarity prove me right by being one of those women? It’s so aggravating!

I dissembled my disgust with facetiousness, “Ha! Rarity’s Boutique is nice, but it’s hardly the palatial type of grand. Our seamstress friend was just taking liberties with the truth, Fluttershy… but that does beg the question, why did her fib upset you so much?”

She shied away from me, “Oh, it’s so embarrassing! Please don’t make me say it!”

I held up my palms reassuringly, “Relax Fluttershy. You don’t have to answer me if you don’t want to. I will not force you to do anything… and I mean that” I turned to fetch the clipboard, content to let this sleeping dog lie.

My understanding stance only worsened whatever chaotic thoughts raged in her mind, building until the dam holding it in check cracked, “I’m envious of Rarity!” She shouted (her volume of shouting anyhow), the truth eventually seeping out.

I stopped in my tracks and my head whipped around, “Envious of Rarity?” I parroted, “Why?”

“Because she has the courage to act on what she wants! She isn’t afraid to speak her mind, and she certainly isn’t afraid to rub her fortune in other people’s faces!” She snapped with uncharacteristic venom.

‘Oh, dear’ I better get to the root of this weed and rectify it before it chokes the life out of their friendship.

“Rarity has some issues with humility when her longtime fantasies are all but fully achieved, yes. But why the anger against her? Shouldn’t you be happy for her? She is one of your closest friends after all”

“She is, but… but…” Fluttershy let out a hybrid of an ultrasonic scream combined with a hiss, “Oooooh! How dare she be so inconsiderate as to lie to me! And over something that’s been tearing at me for weeks now!” She seethed in cold fury.

I examined the ordinarily demure woman in detail, ignoring mundane things such as the bulkier clothing she was wearing (despite her passive resistance to the chill in the air). Her breathing rate had jumped over the course of our tête-à-tête and her muscles were tensed, ready to spring at any second. Her movements were mechanical and her pupils were dilated, hectic emotions of every color flashing in them. All were textbook signs that she was on edge, and I had a strong hunch as to the reason why.

“You’ve developed feelings for me, haven’t you?” I remarked solemnly, robbing her of her indignation and making her retreat behind the curtain of her long hair. It was less of a question and more of a statement.

I was at an emotional impasse here… more of an utter stalemate, really. I’ve envisioned this moment as being one of the rare times where I would feel legitimately happy, the woman who always had a place in my heart sincerely returning my romantically charged sentiments. Instead I felt empty… disappointed even. This occasion had been unwittingly soured by Rarity acting as the catalyst that caused the sweet woman in front of me to disclose her feelings for me not out of affection, but out of bitterness and jealousy. I would weep for the death of yet another precious dream, if it weren’t for the fact that I no longer had tears to shed.

“It’s true…” She whispered, just loudly enough that I wouldn’t need to strain my ears to hear it, “Whenever I see you, my heart begins to race and my breath hitches in my throat. Angel bunny has told me about what you did for him that night you watched over my cottage for me, how you bravely defended him against a prowling pack of Timberwolves at great risk to yourself, even though he admitted to treating you poorly against my wishes. This increased my budding adoration for you even further. I’m sad that they had to die, but I would rather have that happen a thousand times over before I so much as entertain the thought of the grisly alternative. You even shared your trueborn name with me, and no one else… why?”

“Because you’re the only one I trust with respecting its sanctity” I told her, “Applejack would no longer call me by my alias whether I wanted her to or not, Twilight would research its origins in hopes of some misguided insight on myself instead of just seeing it for what it was, Pinkie Pie would decorate her party banners with it; which everyone and their relatives could commit to memory, Rarity would probably construct a shrine with it in mind, and Rainbow Dash would… Well, I don’t rightly know what she would do with it, though I have an inkling that it would be in a manner that I would consider averse. The fact of the matter is that you were astute enough to figure out that Zenith is just a placeholder title for the most part, and so I gave you the knowledge of my name, because I knew that you would both keep and honor it”

“And that’s part of the reason why I’ve been so distressed lately! You’ve given me the privilege of such a sacred thing, and have been so wonderful to me. So why couldn’t I bring myself to approach you when the spark that you instilled in my heart ignited a fire? Why was I so cowardly that I had to be backed into a corner before confessing the way I feel for you?” Fluttershy bemoaned. She was really beating herself up about this.

I saw an opportunity to spin this into some uplifting reminder to encourage her and took it, “Weren’t you essentially backed into a corner when a napping Dragon threatened to clog the atmosphere over Magiville with smog, and the girls had to drag you along when they attempted to peacefully negotiate with him? When Dash had gotten tired of fruitlessly talking and rushed into his cave to welcome him with a bop on the snout? He didn’t appreciate that, so he snatched her up in his scaly claws and was about to do much worse to her than what she did to him. And that’s when I’m told that someone put their debilitating fear of adult dragons to the side and faced the overgrown lizard down? Who actually admonished him for what she perceived as using his massive size to bully others into cowed submission, sending him packing without any bloodshed?” I recounted, having read up on their adventures in the library to keep it factual. Very few causal differences from their equine counterparts’ escapades, that’s for sure.

The skin around her nose crinkled in a stumped fashion, “That’s… what happened, and I’m still frightened of fully matured dragons for your information. But where are you going with this?”

“The point I’m trying to make is that sometimes people have to be put into pressing situations before they stop hiding their innermost qualities from the world. You demonstrated yours spectacularly that day. I think admitting to me that we share a mutual attraction to each other pales in comparison to that” I claimed as I downplayed it.

“I shouldn’t need to be reduced to having no choice before I act though” She contested, my acknowledgment of my feelings for her resulting in a blush, “I should be brave enough to do it ahead of time. I even underwent assertiveness seminars for it. Oh… If only I wasn’t so timid!” She berated herself, clenching her fists against her chest.

I sighed, “Fluttershy, you’re someone who’s leaning on the introverted side in a very much extroverted place, so you cannot afford to tend to your own affairs as much as you’d like, which is understandable. This is especially so since you’re an Element bearer, who therefore has a monumental responsibility to the kingdom at large. I comprehend that better than anyone” I declared without a hint of doubt, having a responsibility to the Arcania myself.

“But… you never show hesitation or that you’re uncomfortable in those settings, just like right now” She shyly pointed out.

“That’s because I’m a decent actor when I need to be. Nothing breaks my stride in a social setting, even if I despise every moment that I’m forced to endure them. It doesn’t hurt that I unequivocally couldn’t care less about what other people, particularly those who I don’t even know, think of me. But that strength is also one of my greatest weaknesses, because it tends to alienate even those closest to me. My intensely reserved personality is often misperceived by others as selfishness or aloofness, and for that they rebuke me without further investigation” I elaborated. As you can imagine, it hasn’t done me any wonders for my already asocial disposition.

“But you’re anything but selfish or aloof! I’ve always known that you are a good person, anyone with sense could see it in your eyes!” Fluttershy defended me, eliciting a pained smile on my face.

“Those accusations are not always unfounded, I’m afraid. That’s why I need people like you to keep me accountable to the greater benefit of us all. Given half a chance, I’d sink into my old viewpoints and retreat inwardly so deeply that even I wouldn’t be able to find myself. I would know… it’s happened once before” I said in a faintly haunted voice. It was the closest thing to a hamartia I had, not that I really tributed much credence to Greek story telling devices.

“Zenith…” The woman spoke my false name with warm compassion, enwrapping me in an equally warm hug, “No one is perfect. Each of us has their faults, some more pronounced than others. Heavens know that I do, but together we can work on each other’s shortcomings, turning our weaknesses into strength. Twilight’s arrival years ago, binding us all in collaboration, taught us that. Individually there was little we could do to stop the dreadful Night Terror, but with all six of us coordinating as one, we became greater than the sum of our parts. We prevailed over each formidable trial she put us through, realized what each of us was capable of in the process, and triumphed over the dread mistress’s plan to veil the known world in everlasting night. And while my nocturnal animal friends wouldn’t mind such an event, my diurnal friends would suffer greatly, which is partially what motivated me to follow my friends into the dangerous depths of the Neverfree” She elucidated, her tone becoming reminiscent as her memory dipped into the past.

“That’s when you took your first steps down the challenging path of maintaining Harmony, isn’t it?” I rhetorically asked, to which she wordlessly nodded in response.

My arms snaked around her midsection, holding her close to me, “Then will someone as renowned as you… put up with a broken person like me? Even if I’m of the stubborn opinion that I don’t deserve you?” My unsteady tone was more vulnerable than I’ve ever allowed in the weeks gone by, one of my darkest fears coming to light.

She looked me in the eyes, “I swear… on my honor as an upright Arcanian woman and as the virtuous Element of Kindness, that I will stand by you no matter what may come. No matter what foulness threatens to enshroud the world in evil… I will be there for you, if not in person… then in spirit” She pulled back and laid her hand on the chest, “I’ll reside right here”

“That’s all I need to hear” I chirped to her, the corners of my mouth twitching as I fought to remain composed, “Congrats on asserting yourself without onerous urging, by the way” I slyly commented.

She laughed mellifluously, the rich sound ringing in my ears with its pleasant peals, “Placing yourself in a stressful position to make me leave my shell and act against my natural attribute… just like in the story you summarized. I’ve fostered foxes with less cunning”

I shrugged and quipped in jest, “It’s an atrocious habit, I know”

I then got to my knees and took her hand in mine, relishing in its delicate softness, “While we’re on the subject of pledging on our words of honor. I promise you, fairest Fluttershy, that I will uphold everything that you cherish to the best of my ability. I will do whatever I can to banish your fears and comfort you during your woes. And above all else, I promise to love you as you were meant to be loved. I swear this upon my life, my light, and the love that I retain for you. Now and forever” I beamed at her, which she happily mirrored.

Her eyes glistened with unshed tears, “You have a wonderful smile you know. I wish I could see it more often”

My expression did not falter, “With your nurturing skill, perhaps you shall Pretty Bird” I replied without skipping a beat, using my sobriquet for her.

She hummed in felicity, “I think that we’ve done all that we can for today. I was able to get much potential toiling out of the way thanks to your timely assistance, Zenith” She gazed in the direction of her home, its backdoor portal was opened invitingly, “Would you care to have a cup of tea with me?” She meekly offered with an adorable gleam in her eyes.

“‘Twoud be my utmost pleasure to partake in a spot of afternoon tea with you, oh kindest maiden of the woods” I said with a Shakespearean bow to her, “Got anything minty perchance?” I prosaically inquired of her good naturedly.

Fluttershy simply smirked in reply.

⁂

It was the following Thursday in the early evening that I walked down the roads and over the narrow creek bridge that led to Rarity’s Boutique with some pep in my step. I was in relatively high spirits, especially after affirming my affections for Fluttershy, who agreed that we should take tentative steps in our newfound relationship so we could settle into something that was entirely a first time experience for her. Yet despite my lightened mood, there was also a dark storm cloud lingering in the back of my mind. In particular, it regarded the woman whose outspokenness had nearly jeopardized her critical friendship with both Fluttershy and myself via her thoughtless flaunting of our relationship. The stability of which was in dire straits at this point, as far as I was concerned. The sundown breeze lacked its usual bite, so I was able to don some of the less stuffy, but still gentlemanly clothes that Rarity had commissioned for me back when we attended the fashion show in the capital without people questioning my common sense.

All the while, I was debating how I should approach this next date in regards to addressing her carelessness. Should I give her the cold shoulder during the duration of the time spent in each other’s company? I mentally shook my head. That was a method that women chose to express their displeasure to each other and to the men in their lives. Did I confront her about this directly? Another no, since that would spoil the rest of the date and ruin Rarity’s night. I scoffed to myself and kicked at a smooth pebble that happened to be in the way. Forgetting to mind my Trifect strength, the tiny rock skipped along the road at impressive speeds, leaving divots in its path until it bored a hole into an empty barrel that doubled as a rubbish bin. I berated myself for being much too afraid of hurting other people’s feelings when they meant something to me, even if it was currently at the level of a tenuous friendship.

I ambled up to the bristled welcoming mat before the two halved, Dutch style door (perhaps it was for her annoying, finicky cat Opalescence? Those two were practically made for each other with how needy they were) and yanked at my collar out of anxious habit. I wanted to reprimand Rarity for being so thoughtless, but at the same time I wanted to break it to her in such a way that did shatter the status quo for either of us. I was so absorbed in my troubled thoughts that I barely registered the fact that the lights were off both upstairs and downstairs, which wasn’t the case when I first delivered my burnt robes to Rarity and took her to that Le Petit Cheval (a decent bistro, very much French inspired if a little on the pricey side like I had predicted. Its meaning in English resulted in a hearty chuckle every time I thought about it) place she mentioned back in the library for fine wining and dining.

I rapped my knuckles against the top portion of the door and waited, rocking back and forth on the balls of my feet to keep my head occupied. After a minute, I repeated the action in case she hadn’t heard me. The shuffling of dainty feet on the other side alerted me that I was indeed heard, and I stood back in antsy anticipation. I swallowed and took a deep breath to calm myself.

‘Be stern but not excessively strict’ I repeated like a mantra.

All that stress stumbled over itself once the door slowly swung open to reveal a sleepy looking Sweetie Belle dressed in a petite pink and white nightgown, “Hello Zenith” She covered up a yawn with a balled up fist, “What brings you by? My sister’s having another one of her episodes and sent me to bed early, I was just in the kitchen grabbing myself a cup of water when I heard you knocking”

“Episodes?”

“You know how she sometimes gets when she thinks one little deviation is the Absolute. Worst. Thing. that can possibly happen to her” Sweetie said as she rolled her eyes, which I was inclined to agree with.

Be that as it may, “That’s uh… disheartening to hear. Where is she? I’d like to give her my condolences in person” I fabricated an excuse.

‘Among other things’ I grumbled to myself.

“I’m young… Zenith, but I’m not young enough to fall for that” Her eyes narrowed, “Why are you really here?”

“Okay, you want me to give it to you straight?” She nodded tiredly, “I’ve recently started dating your sister”

“Ewww… really?” She made a disgusted face, “No offense Zenith… but you could do much better than my sister” She opined.

I expelled a chuckle, “While that is oddly funny to hear coming from your lips, it’s still not very nice to talk about your sister like that. Doubly so behind her back” I upbraided her for her brazen attitude towards her own flesh and blood.

She shrugged unapologetically, “Don’t say I didn’t give you fair warning” She commented, pulling the door all the way back and allowing me inside.

“I have a better idea of what your sister is like than you realize, Sweetie Belle. Now…” I asked, completely indoors within a few strides, “… where might your sister be?”

“Last I checked? She holed herself in her room and locked the door, screaming about her evening being ruined before it even began. You can try banging on her door, but I doubt she’ll come out”

“Thanks Sweetie, I’ll go investigate what’s up and see if I can’t extract her out of whatever funk she’s gotten into”

“Good luck… I guess” Sweetie murmured without any sincerity as she went back into the kitchen to retrieve her glass of water.

I jogged up the stairs to the topmost floor where Rarity’s bedroom was located, stopping in front of a shut doorway that barred any further passage. My keen ears could pick up on the faint sound of rather pathetic sobbing coming from the other side. I resisted a growl once I turned the knob and confirmed that it was indeed as locked as Sweetie had informed me.

The tumbling sound of the room’s door and my attempt to gain entry did not go unnoticed by its occupant, “Who’s that!? Sweetie Belle? I told you to go to bed early!” Came a muffled shout.

I knocked on her door, “Rarity? Are you in there?” I spoke up, feigning ignorance.

“Zenith!?” She gasped, “Leave me be!” A voice sobbingly implored me from the other end, “Can you not hear how distraught I am!?”

“Well geez Rarity, if you’re getting cold feet already, I guess we can simply call off our date” I spoke with fake regret, my anger at her flaring momentarily.

I began to walk away when her panicked voice sounded out, “No wait! Just… j-just give me time to present myself. You can’t rush perfection as you know!” She sallied with an uneven laugh.

Oh she left me wide open for this one, “I’m not rushing perfection, Rarity. I’m rushing you” I smiled as I was rewarded with an indignant huff and a “Well I never!” uttered loud enough that I could hear it even without my honed senses.

“I’m running a bit low on patience here, Rares. So I’m coming in, whether you want me to or not” Giving her little warning, I magically picked the lock and twisted at the knob, pushing the door wide… to receive an eyeful of totally topless Rarity with mammoth mammaries that would make Pamela Anderson at her bustiest go ‘Dayum!’. The woman shrieked and hid herself deeper under the covers of her diamond patterned duvet.

My brain had an encoding error for a moment before I reacted.

“SWEET STARS ABOVE!” I exclaimed, and immediately averted my eyes. Whatever remaining innocence I had left was forever soiled by the image that my brain processed and instantly proceeded to slam the ‘NOPE’ button a half dozen times in sheer consternation.

“Zenith! How crass of you to invoke the name of Luna’s stars like that!” She chided me from under the sheets, momentarily forgetting her current predicament.

I also put a hold on my dumbfoundedness for the sake of correcting fallacies, “Luna doesn’t own the stars, Rarity. Nor does she command them in any capacity. She told me so herself. Otherwise the Night Terror would have been able to use them to escape her banishment beforehand. Luna just adjusts some aspects of the atmosphere so that certain stars can be seen while others are shaded out” And that is not a secret that she shares with many. Though it was something that I always conjectured about from the start.

“Oh… Zenith…” Rarity whin-, I mean… complained, “I didn’t want you to see me like this”

Despite what common sense was screaming at me, I walked over and sat on the bed adjacent in position to her, “Unfortunately… I have. And no amount of brain bleach will ever be enough to purge myself of that memory” I facetiously quipped, before getting serious, “What on earth happened to you? I’m pretty sure that you weren’t that… well endowed previously” I didn’t know what brassiere size she was at the moment, but I highly doubted that it wouldn’t need to be a custom make.

She sniffled and worked up what to say, “I regret to say that this… is the result of a failed attempt at a physical glamorization spell”

“A glamour spell? You tried to enlarge your breast size… using magic? What were you thinking!?” I screeched at her, a ‘What is this… I don’t even’ expression highlighting my countenance. Even the slightest lax of concentration when casting that spell would blow something grossly out of proportion, turning part… if not all of one’s self into a grotesque, misshapen mass of flesh. If measures weren’t taken before the magical energies settled in, then this change would become a hell of a lot harder to revert from.

‘Why ever would she think she’d need to do this? Her cleavage was generous enough as it was’ I’m not really into that kink, but I would never deny that Rarity posolutely had that going for her in the looks department.

“I just… wanted to impress you” She whimpered out.

I took another deep breath and pinched myself to ensure that I wasn’t stuck in some kind of perverse fever dream. The negligible sensation of pain verified that I was very much awake and coherent. Once I had passed over the initial disbelief stage, then came the reflecting phase. It wasn’t difficult to mull over in all honesty. Rarity’s superficial approach to elevating herself in my eyes may not have sat well with me, but I also came to the realization that my tepid stance towards her and the condition of our ‘more than just friendship’ relationship spurred her to find a means of coping. I didn’t like her reasoning for this particular choice, but I could understand why she did it.

I leveled with her, “Look, I’m flattered that you tried to do this for my sake, Rarity. But that’s simply not the way to appeal to my heart”

She sniffled and peeked up at me from her covers with misty eyes, “And what would be the best way to reach your heart?”

“Through my chest I suspect” I jested, before receiving a harsh glare from the emotionally harried woman, “Right, right, that was disingenuous of me. To be candid, the best way to get to me is simply by being yourself (‘Not that it’s been helping your case much lately’), none of this… self augmentation nonsense” It was just plain unnatural if you asked me, and I came from a place where that practice that was all too common. Offhandedly, I wondered if there were any plastic surgeons in this land, or if people just performed magic on themselves like Rarity quite daftly did.

“You mean… do nothing to beautify myself superficially? But my normal self repulses you!” She cut me off before I could protest that statement, “Don’t contradict me, Zenith. It was painfully clear to me the other night that my ‘run of the mill fabulosity’ is not to your tastes. So I sought to enhance my appeal with… other, less than savory measures” Her sparked confidence dwindled once she had said it aloud, realizing how foolish it sounded.

“Clearly it backfired” I deadpanned, making Rarity wince from my directness.

I wanted to rub at my temples in exasperation. Why did she have to make this courtship thing so difficult?

I sighed, “Rarity, I’ve told you this before. If I can’t learn to appreciate, or at least tolerate you at your worst… then I sure as hell don’t deserve you at your best. If I somehow cannot do that, then the fault lies with me, not with you. Just be forthright with me” I fairly stipulated.

“Such sweet sentiments I always hear from you, darling” She crooned, much like she did in the library, “But I cannot for the life of me believe that’s how you honestly feel regarding me”

“Well my opinion of you would be drastically boosted if you ceased inspiring grief in our fragile Fluttershy with your needless gossip mongering” I dryly retorted.

She blinked, “What does our dear Fluttershy have to do with this?”

I blinked right back, “You can’t seriously be telling me that she hasn’t hinted about also having feelings for me in front of you, hasn’t she?” There’s no way Rarity could be that oblivious to her friend’s emotions in spite of her eye for detail, could she?

“Oh my goodness!” She gasped, “She hasn’t spoken a word of this to me! Oh, and I was so excited for our first date that I couldn’t help but share my enthusiasm with her. She must have felt so isolated and alone, but put on a supportive smile for me anyway, the inestimably selfless way she is. Why must I be such a lack wit who is so blinded by her own love struck and swimming emotions that she becomes wholly unreceptive to other’s?” She agonized, full blown drama queen mode engaged.

She slapped a fist gently against her cranium, “Ooooh the signs are so obvious in hindsight now that the truth has been exposed! The twinkle in her eyes whenever I’d mention you, the yearning way she’d look at you when she thought no one else would notice, her erect and unafraid posture whenever you were nearby. She’s fallen completely head over heels for you Zenith!” She vocalized, losing her grip on her bed sheet and scrambling to catch it before she gave me another eyeful of her sizable assets.

“I know” I laconically replied.

Rarity was aghast, “You knew this before? Then why didn’t you go to her and talk about this?”

“I did. Just yesterday afternoon, in fact. We agreed to start seeing each other more often, but we’re taking it slow… as friends for now” I tentatively explained, not remembering if there was a term for the indistinct grey area in between a lover and an acquaintance.

Rarity leaned back, “Oh… that’s most admirable of you then, Zenith”

“Thank you” I accepted her compliment, “But that’s neither here nor now. We’ve got to get this…” I swirled a finger at her concealed chest area, “… under control”

She gave me a sarcastic stare, “And what would you suggest? I’ve been trying to reverse this spell ever since it malfunctioned!” She fussed, intense aggravation marking her tone.

“I thought you said it failed?” I remarked with a grin, hoping to lighten the mood.

“Now is not the time to be debating semantics with me, Zenith!” She reproached me through gritted teeth, not reading between the lines in her frustration.

“Very well. How long ago did you cast the glamour spell?” I prompted her with an important question.

“An hour ago… I thought I had it down pat but Opal kept nagging me to refill her milk saucer, eventually she lost her patience and tried pouncing onto me to get my attention. She succeeded, and my casting of the spell went astray, leaving me in this horrific state that you now see before you”

Try as I might, I just couldn’t muster up any sympathy, “I see… I would recommend not trying to reverse the resul-”

“WHAT!?” She cut me off with a bellow, aghast at my advice, “You want me to remain like this!?”

“You didn’t let me finish” I deadpanned, “Instead of reversing it, which in its unstable state could have the extreme effect of ending up shrinking your mammaries until they are nothing, let’s try robbing the spell of its mana feed until it cancels itself”

“And how would we accomplish this?”

‘Oh boy… of all the times my own standpoint had to turn against me, it picked this one’

I inhaled a deep breath before launching into a brief explication, “Magic is most efficiently transferred between two bodies when they are in physical contact. When it comes to acts of magic involving many intricacies, this becomes all but mandatory. I have to… essentially suck out the mana powering the glamour magic using a siphoning spell” I recited mechanically, not eager for her disgruntledly charged response.

“What? No. Absolutely not!” She turned away from me, her lamp’s light illuminating the strands of her hair as it swayed from the sudden movement.

“Okay… so you inflate your breasts to entice me, but you’re suddenly as chaste as a monk when it comes to the physical contact needed to best rectify it? Female logic never ceases to astound me” I commented mostly to myself.

“It is not so simple as that!” She exclaimed, affronted by my wry observation, “A lady who values her reputation does not allow any gentleman who catches her fancy to engage in intimate closeness without extenuating circumstances!”

I raised a critical eyebrow, “So now it’s about your reputation?” I sighed for the umpteenth time, “Rarity, I’m practically the spirit of discretion. This ordeal you’ve gotten yourself into and everything it entails will stay solely between us. No one else needs to know” I assured her.

“While I cherish your tactful disposition, I need more of a guarantee that this isn’t some dastardly excuse for you to ‘inspect my wares’ using your tactile senses” Rarity politely euphemized the situation.

“There are no guarantees in life that will bring you any comfort, Rares. Ah, well…” I exhaled as I got up and made to walk out the door, “I hope Twilight’s not too busy burying her nose in books at this hour!” I strategically opined in passing.

I was halfway out the door when she stopped me, “Wait! Would you really leave your lady to her doom so callously, Zenith?” She tried to guilt trip me into at least staying. My, how shallow some people could act even when their crippling secret was left out on the clothesline to aerate.

“I would if that lady was so fixated on her pride that she let all sense of reasoning slide into the fire” I countered without turning my head, not missing a single beat.

“Why must you torture me so?” Rarity groaned before caving, “Fine! Just promise me that you’ll look away while you do it”

“I won’t peek at the merchandise” I agreed, letting her keep that bit of dignity, “Closing my eyes should help me to concentrate in this task as well”

I returned to her bedside and seated myself beside her. The woman was shaking like a leaf as she mentally prepared herself for what she perhaps saw as a humiliating permittance. I on the other hand, was no less nervous despite not showing it externally. Even the smallest lapse in focus during what I was about to do could spell disaster for the two of us. It wouldn’t be lethal per se, but Rarity would never show her face (or her chest for that matter) in public again, and I would receive a nasty shock from foreign magical feedback for my efforts.

Each living being is subject to the native magic in the space around them, where it flows through them in both directions, in and out. But each creature ‘metabolizes’ it differently, making it their own brand in the duration that it present in their system. This is why there are no two magical signatures that are exactly alike under intense scrutiny, like the kind examined by magically attuned machines such as Twilight’s Spectroscope. You can’t use that same magic to truly disguise your own aura either. It’s like sneaking a Sprite soda with a plastic water cup at a fast food joint. From afar it might look like ordinary water, but up close, one could see the carbonating bubbles that would distinguish it from its non sugary, fluidic cousin.

“Alright…” I idly verbalized to fill the gap of silence that had descended between us, “Are you ready? You might feel a slight pinch once I get started, after that I have no idea if it will hurt or not. But… it’s either a short lived amount of pain, or a lifetime spent putting excessive strain on your spine” I clarified, to which she only vaguely understood, like I was delivering an ultimatum or something of that ilk.

“Please stop talking and do it already” She said in a dead voice, accepting her fate.

I ran a quick diagnostic scan of the spell matrix that was thankfully still active and working its magic on Rarity’s bust. It was nowhere near as complex as the geas that had taken hold of Lyra’s body when I first held an actual conversation with her, but it was not so elementary that I could half ass it and expect to get away without penalty. An idea formulated in my mind as I thought about what I would do with the energies that I would siphon out with a draining spell of abnegation. Though calling it that would be somewhat of a misnomer, since I couldn’t outright deny the spell’s access to Rarity’s body. Instead I sought to rob it of its power until the matrix collapsed on itself and was nullified in its entirety. But good lord, I was basically going to have to grope Rarity for this!

Just as I was about to signal Rarity to lower the sheets and grant me access to her Brobdingnagian bosom, she spoke up, “Wait!”

I stifled the urge to cry out in agitation, “What is it now!?”

She gave me a sheepish look, “Could you… oil your hands first, please? Underneath my dresser over there is a cabinet containing bottles of all kinds, there should be a jasmine scented glass vial in the second drawer” She instructed before I even agreed, automatically presuming that I would.

“Are you serious?” I glared impatiently at her, “Why the scented massaging oils?”

She glanced at me as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, “For Aromatherapy purposes darling, it will help steady both of our fraying nerves. Please?” She gave the pouty moue that she used to coerce others into doing her bidding.

“Fine” I growled, before retrieving said bottle and dabbing my hands with a few droplets of it. The oil was pungent, and soon the invigorating smell of jasmine flowers assaulted my nostrils with unexpected ferocity and took the majority of my olfactory senses hostage.

“A few more shakes than that, if you would, Zenith” Rarity primly requested. I grumbled unintelligibly but complied regardless.

I emptied the rest of the bottle and roughly tossed the empty vial into the wastebasket, where it shattered in a glassy noise that made Rarity flinch. I made sure my facial expression was as flat as possible as I showed Rarity my hands and wiggled my fingers, “Happy?”

“That depends on how thorough of a job you do, my dear Zenith” She said in a tone that she must have thought coquettishly sultry, content to let me interpret her innuendo however I chose.

“You’re getting comfortable with this whole breast reduction business awfully fast” I vacantly observed, kneading my knuckles together to spread the oil evenly.

“I’m making the most of a poor situation, dear. Is that a crime?” Rarity coyly replied, enjoying this far too much for my tastes, and we hadn’t even started yet.

I ignored her for the time being and refocused on my task. Rarity lowered the blanket once again and I leveled my sight on a boring, not sexual in any way spool rack. However, because it wasn’t terribly well lit in the room, I had to take a few guesses before my hands found their target. I put an excessive amount of force into my snatch and grab though, because Rarity yelped loudly once the deed was done.

“Ooh! Gently please!” She supplicated to me, and I lessened my grip. My face was heating up in spite of my efforts to disregard how misconstrued this whole thing could be perceived.

“Sorry…” I apologized, “… and stop squirming, it’s ruining my concentration” I commanded her in a no nonsense tone.

“But your hands are ice cold, Zenith” She griped in an unmistakably whiny voice, shivering.

“No, they are not” I asserted, “But the massage oil that you insisted I put on is. You can’t have everything perfect all the time, darling” I jeered, using her favored epithet for close friends against her, “Now for lord’s sake, hold still”

She huffed in umbrage to my snide response, but thankfully stayed quiet from there on out. Meanwhile I was silently grateful that I only grabbed the topmost anterior portion of her mammaries, sparing her some embarrassment and me some additional awkwardness.

I activated my channeling spell once my magic made contact with the glamorization charm and went to work at undermining it. I felt a twitchy slash greasy feeling as the foreign magic passed into my system and endeavored to bond with my own mana supply. With how uncomfortable the sensation of vegetable oil filling my metaphysical veins was; I formulated an uninvolved way to shunt it out of my system, via magical burn off. Lifting one hand up and away from us, I channeled a second spell in the form of the Sound Sphere (which was tinted a light blue from the seamstress’s mana that was powering it) and had it play Beethoven’s Für Elise.

“Oh my, such beautiful sounding music” Rarity observed, her eyes closed and a small smile on her face. I only saw this through my peripheral vision though, not wanting to void my promise and dishonor us both.

“My tastes in music are eclectically expansive in their scope. And right now I’m in the mood for a bagatelle” I conversed as we waited for the remaining energies to be cannibalized from the glamour matrix. Rarity might not have been as talented as Twilight when it came to casting magic, but she was still well above average compared to most Stellar Magi when it came to capacity, so she had pumped a substantial amount of magic into this partially failed spell.

“How cultured you are” Rarity smirked, “There must have been many women who had their eyes on you back where you came from”

I snorted, “An overstatement if ever I heard one. Besides, there were no women back home who were worth my time, so I never bothered with any of them”

Her smirk sagged once she heard the coldness in my voice, “I see… who was the composer of this number?” She asked, wisely changing the subject.

“A man who wrote one of his most famous masterpieces while clinically deaf” I edified her, the notes of the song soothing my frazzled mind.

Her eyes scanned the ceiling as she searched her information banks, “Really? I’ve never heard of any such composer before. Did he conduct any performances at one of Concordia’s concert halls?”

“I’d be confused if he did. Ludwig van Beethoven is a composer from my world, two centuries removed from my time. Long since deceased, and before his time in the opinion of many of his contemporaries”

“A shame. But, at the very least I can appreciate his legacy through you” She laid back and let the plush pillow devour a few more inches of her physique.

We did not speak any further after that aside. Mercifully, there were no snags as we went through the procedure of bleeding the glamour spell of its magic and using the energy for other spells (hard light spells ate up the most mana, so they were the preferred figurative release valve spell). Part of my imagination likened it to drawing the snake venom out of a bite in multiple suctions. Before long, the glamour matrix was completely deprived of its fuel, resulting in Rarity’s mammary size slowly but surely shrinking back to their less generous, but respectable cup size until it was like Rarity hadn’t screwed up to begin with.

“You can breathe easy now. I’ve disabled the glamour spell and everything else appears to check out” I got up, and grabbed a hand towel to dry off with, “I presume that our date is a no go?” I said, looking back to see her verifying the results of my solution for herself. She seemed satisfied, if not somewhat vexed at herself for going through with her unarguably harebrained scheme to ‘spruce up’.

She shook her head, “Not necessarily. I wanted us to go dancing tonight, remember?” She motioned for me to turn around while she got dressed, “I found your foreign classical music to be rather charming, might we perhaps dance to more of that then? You can turn around now” She notified me.

I rotated in place to see her normalized self clad in a flowing gown that was a pristine white like freshly driven snow, and was studded in ground up flecks of various gemstones, scintillating in the moonlight like outrageously expensive sequins. I would never contradict that Rarity was a beauty… even if she had some less than desirable quirks hidden under that prim and pampered exterior of hers; such as the one she exhibited not five minutes ago. None the less, I would not begrudge her a dance or two, as long as it was to my tune.

I summoned a new Sound Sphere using my own magic and had it play a profound melody that echoed off the walls due to the enclosed acoustics the room.

I walked up to Rarity and offered her my hand, “May have I have this dance, my lady?” I went through the gentlemanly motions that Rarity had an infatuation for as she barely suppressed a squeal of delight.

The woman let me lead, as was customary according to the olden dancing traditions of my world and hers. And just like at the masquerade in the capital palace ballroom floor, she was completely content with laying her head against my chest as we swayed to the rhythm of the song. We swelled during the higher tempo segments and twirled when it switched itself up. All the while I was multitasking between guiding the woman in my arms around the floor and wordlessly reflecting to myself. These were rare moments for me to momentarily let go of my troubles. Sometimes I felt as if I only tolerated Rarity, acting the role of her gentleman prince instead of really putting my all into this relationship. But from the searching way she was gazing into my eyes, I could tell that she legitimately felt something for me that went beyond the desire to fulfill her fantasies. It was convincing enough that it made me begin to develop doubts about my reservations regarding her.

We ended up dancing the rest of the night away, our steps illuminated by the starlight streaming in through her balcony window screen.

⁂

Dearest Zenith

I cannot begin to tell you how dearly it warmed my heart to hear that I was primarily the main reason for you volunteering to represent your adopted hometown at the games. Speaking of which, the games are the singularly most important event that has happened to the Kingdom since its reappearance into the world. The streets are more bustling than ever now that we’ve officially begun to expand our boundaries to accommodate our new citizens, who are very brave for leaving behind what they knew for a fresh start in the North. At first I had worries about the Crystal Heart being able to provide enough power for us to gain more shoulder room without risking our safety, but amazingly enough, it’s only gotten even stronger. I vaguely recall that our recent influx of permanent residents is responsible for this. The extra people means more emotional energy for the Crystal Heart to propagate, in an exemplar of a positive feedback loop. Or at least according to what one of my more well read friends helpfully summarized for me. I simplified it as this, the more goodwill that is radiated by the citizenry, the stronger the Heart becomes.

The temperature barrier even has the effect of fertilizing the soils hidden beneath the melted snow! This was most wondrous news, especially now that we’ve officially received a semi permanent Valkyrian weather team to tend to the skies and ensure that our crops are well watered when needed. I remember overhearing one bread vendor and local crop owner muttering that they weren’t as eager nor as efficient as that one chap he hired not so long ago, which made me laugh and silently agree with him. It would appear that I was not the only person you made a long lasting impression on, Zenith. Oh, how I look forward to seeing you again! Are your arrangements for staying in the Kingdom settled? If not, you are always welcome to stay with me.

Our Kingdom is flourishing Zenith, and at a rate that eclipses even the days before the reign of the wretched King Sombra, who usurped the throne and asserted his foul dominion over our people. His replacement, Princess Cadence, is that monster’s utter opposite, embodying the ideals of a just and fair ruler. I once caught a close look of her Mana Mark when she summoned me over for tea once. Is it fate that it closely resembles the Crystal Heart keeping us all alive and happy? I so terribly wanted to ask her how she gained it, but couldn’t work up the courage for fear of broaching on a sensitive topic. Her husband and Prince consort, Shining Armor, has been personally training our sports team to make the best first impression we’ve had in over a thousand years of absence.

On the subject of the games participants, I recall just last week that we welcomed some foreign visitors from across the Sea of Tranquility. Strange men and women they were, their eyes were sharp and piercing, their noses curved and long, and their wings were noticeably larger than those of our Valkyrian friends and possibly yours. My memory is still foggy from residual magicks of the curse that Sombra cast on our Kingdom and all its inhabitants in his last act of defiance… but weren’t the Gryphondrians once a loosely united collection of fierce kingdoms that Arcania contested with frequently? If they are now here not to conquer, but to simply compete, then I worry that this world has changed far more than we had possibly realized. My friend Agatha tells me she still believes half of the new books they receive are works of fiction, so farfetched are the contents illustrated inside.

Oh I want to keep it a surprise but I’m so full to bursting that I must tell you! I’ve recently been chosen by my fellow denizens to represent them on the newly formed intramural parliamentary council alongside a few others. I was quite shocked by this, since I tend to mind my own matters instead of actively walking among my neighbors and associating with them regularly. I asked around as to the reason for why, and the leading response was that it was due to my skill in discerning the true nature behind things and rendering it as clear as daylight. Now that I cogitate on it, that would be a useful skill for a politician to have, no? Still… I can’t help but feel some apprehension about approaching this. It’s a big responsibility to be making calls that affect the greater unit in its whole. Something that I never had to do back… back when my hus- (There was a dried water stain on the word, smudging it. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who she was referring to though. Poor Crystal). I apologize… I still get choked up when I think about my family, but I must move on with my life the best that I can so I can honor their memory. A bit of motherly advice from an old nag like me to you, Zenith. When you do find a woman… or women to love, I’m not one to judge the old ways… hold onto them tight and never let them go. Treasure every moment that you share with them and don’t ever take them for granted. You’ll never know how long you’ll have with them to make memories worth reveling in.

But listen to me rambling on and on to you. I’ll have plenty of time to catch up with you once you arrive, assuming that you’re not too busy supporting your friends in the games. As a newly elected member of the intramural council, I’ll be rather preoccupied on the board of adjudicators for the games, but I’ll keep an eye out for you in the crowds. Oh how I hope that I’ll judge the participants fairly! Feel free to stop by during the off hours of the Athletic Events though, my door is always open to you!

With deepest fondness

~Crystal Clear

P.S I expect to meet both Daring and this cellist of yours some day. Now that I’m an upstanding member of the government, I feel as if I should have practice handing out my seal of approval.

I smiled imperceptibly as I imagined Crystal’s voice narrating the contents of her lengthy dragon fire delivered letter (She had a penchant for being extremely chatty over the mail I’ve noticed). Albeit I had no idea why she would want to meet Octavia when I hadn’t even mentioned her since before I left the capital city for Magiville. I had been keeping correspondence with Crystal over my time in the aforementioned town, carefully avoiding certain details and bare boning others for discretion’s sake. The unsullied emotion that she projected into her written words translated even over their ink boundaries, speaking much about the character of their author.

It was a day shy of the second week of December; a superstitiously unlucky number for a Friday, but I placed little stock in the concept of luck. The uniquely crystalline train car that myself and most of the Magivillian sports team were packed into hitched upwards as we hit a bump in the tracks, roughly jarring me out of my thoughts. The disturbance was likely due to a chunk of ice that had managed to freeze onto the rails despite the antifreeze enchantments placed upon them. It was frosty enough as it was back in the town, but here in the North where the land is almost perpetually locked in winter? Forget about it. If you weren’t a modestly clothed Valkyrian or made out of liquid hot chocolate, you were going to be cold, as our non Skyborn companions occasionally complained of in spite of the air conditioned train cars.

We were traveling in style to the Krystal Kingdom for the weekend, being conveyed there on an intimidating looking train that was constructed almost entirely out of multi shaded corundum crystal, much like the city-town where it had originated. Based on the fresh smell of the cabins and the radiating shine of every conceivable surface (and I’m not just talking about the crystals either), it was brand new, perhaps this was the train meant to replace the one that I-... I mean, that one jerk with the fiery claws derailed during the first heart pounding adventure I found myself dragged along on when I arrived here. The Maidens, Spike, and the other four Elements were in another car along with the non participant townsfolk, doing their own thing or practicing flag twirling in the case of the adolescent flag bearers.

The seat less cabin I was occupying was alive with a flurry of activity and the combined chattering of over a dozen separate voices. Much of Magiville’s sports team was in the middle of exercises to keep their bodies in shape, while the others conversed amicably amongst themselves. Among them was one of the most buff Valkyrian men I’d ever seen, and he was a fellow red eye to boot! He was holed up in one corner of the open cabin bench pressing well over four hundred fifty pounds of weight without breaking a sweat (No idea what for, since he was in the aerial relay team alongside Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy). Though to compensate for all that muscle, which put him on par with many Agrarians, his speech was severely limited to a few terms that he enjoyed shouting boisterously even when folks were right in front of him.

“All right listen up everybody! I have a few things to say before we arrive in the Krystal Kingdom to kick some ass and take some names at the games” Rainbow Dash confidently announced aloud, silencing all other talk and causing me to put the scroll of a letter back in my adventure pack next to the bottle of dragon fire that pulsed faintly whenever I had mail.

Once Dash had every person’s attention, she continued, “I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s thinking that these will be the greatest athletic games ever! Unlike certain non Stratopolis hosted ones from my childhood” She muttered somewhat bitterly under her breath, “Each and every one of you is a part of the delegation that represents our incredible town of Magiville, you’ve all trained very hard to get to this point and I want you to feel proud of yourselves. I know I certainly am” She started clapping her hands together, an action that was soon copied by everyone. With the exception of myself that is… freaking conformists.

Once the applause died down, she pressed ahead with her pep speech, “No matter the sport you’re going into, I want you to know that I think we’ve got a real chance at taking home some Gold to mount over our hearths!” She declared genuinely.

The audience cheered enthusiastically, psyching themselves up like they weren’t from a relatively backwater town about to go up against some very professional teams from the major cities. Eh, I had a soft spot for underdogs, so I’d give them the benefit of the doubt.

My sharp hearing sifted through the noise as Dash once again whispered under her breath, “Though I won’t kid myself when I say that Bulk Biceps, me, and Fluttershy don’t have a snowball’s chance of beating the Wonderbolts… which is ironic, given the scenic, frozen location just outside the window”

I got up from the floor and walked beside her, laying a hand against her shoulder, “Just give it your all Dash, that’s all anybody can ask of you. Besides… weren’t you always chomping at the bit for a chance to square off against your idol, Captain Spitfire, in a race?”

“Of course I am!” She grinned at me, before it faltered, “But I’m also nervous… Spitfire isn’t the Captain of the legendary Wonderbolts for nothing. She may not have the raw speed that Fleetfoot has in spades, but she can flawlessly handle a corner at high speeds like no one can, and she’s tied skills wise with the versatile Soarin in everything else”

She glanced back at Fluttershy, who was currently spotting for Bulk Biceps as he upped the weight by another fifty pounds, “And I’d be jittery enough if it were only me going up against them all. I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps aren’t really the best in the air. I can’t imagine how well they’ll thread the needle during a real relay race, what if they crack under the pressure? I’m an awesome flyer, but I can’t carry the team by myself” She admitted as she shook her head wistfully, dispirited by her teammates less than impressive deftness.

I used my sagely tone, “I think you’re cutting them short, they wouldn’t have agreed to participate if they didn’t trust in themselves and in you. Have faith in your friend’s abilities to see you through to the finish line, Dash. I certainly have faith in yours. Heck, if you need extra motivation, just pretend that it’s me in Spitfire’s place and that I had just pranked you with that laxative soda again, you’ll be bypassing her in no time at all!” I joked lightheartedly.

She thumped me on the shoulder for the reminder, “I still haven’t forgotten that!” She hissed. She tried to look angry with me, but a smile cracked on her lips as she snickered, “That’s not bad advice though. I’ll keep it in mind”

She addressed the passengers one last time, “You hear that? Even Zenith here has faith in our skills, and he’s only the pre game entertainment!”

‘Girl, are you in for a surprise’ I thought amusedly. She wasn’t the only one brushing up on her skills for the games for most of the past month.

She leaned over to me and whispered in request, “Hey, do you think you can get me the autographs of the Star Seekers? They’re one of my favorite bands”

“I’ll see what I can do” I chuckled in reply.

She nodded, “Cool. Now are we going own these games or what?” Dash put a hand to her ear and cupped it. A chorus of affirmative responses, including a spirited ‘YEAH!’ answered her, “That’s what I want to hear! GO MAGIVILLE!” She thrust her fist into the air.

“GO MAGIVILLE!” They echoed vociferously as the train banked over the rolling hills, the snow beneath its wheels gradually turning into verdant green grass.

I looked out the window, seeing the city-town where all of this had started for me on the horizon. Crystal wasn’t kidding when she averred that they had being doing some expanding. There were significantly more buildings lining the landscape than I last recalled. The temperature acclimatization barrier had to have been at least fifty percent larger than what I remember it being in order to fit so many new people. Houses and homes that were built out of wood and brick dotted the fringes, in stark contrast to the original crystalline buildings of the snowflake shaped district stamped into the snow. Of which, many of them were general goods stores that offered things that couldn’t normally be found in the Krystal Kingdom, while they doubtlessly exported items from the Kingdom that couldn’t be found anywhere else for a profit.

Within another five minutes, our ride had pulled up at the station and its passengers began to file out in droves. Spike made himself useful and carried a tall, wobbling stack of luggage containing (mostly Rarity’s outfits) the accoutrements of the participants and set it down on the platform where the wheeled carts awaited (I reluctantly surrendered my fully loaded adventure pack to one of those carts with the assurance that that Guest Reception Service would see them to our lodgings). I heard the Maidens pestering him to make sure that he unloaded the case containing their disassembled flag and he reassured them that he did. He was about to double back to retrieve the next load when two local guards in their shiny gem styled armor carrying a litter swooped in out of nowhere to snatch him up and haul him off, much to his shock and confusion.

Twilight saw my eyebrow raise itself at the odd sight and giggled, “They’re taking him on an tour of the town to honor him in front of the people. They consider him to be a hero around these parts you know, being single handedly responsible for keeping the Crystal Heart from the clutches of Sombra long enough for Cadence to activate its magic and destroy him forever. They actually refer to him as Spike the Brave and Glorious” She sounded equal parts prideful and aporetic.

I shrugged, “So long as he doesn’t allow it to go to his head. Otherwise he’ll become Spike the Superficially Vainglorious” I cynically remarked.

“Oh hush, you. He’ll be the same sweet boy he always is” She softly chided me before gesturing me to follow her, “Come, you and I are to meet Princess Cadence for lunch”

I rolled my eyes, “I’ve already met her before, Twilight. As a matter of fact, she’s the first Princess I ever came across” Outside the realm of video games anyway.

“Then she’ll be happy to see you again!” Twilight cheerfully exclaimed as we walked the reflective roads leading towards the citadel.

I sighed and accompanied the bookish girl to see her old babysitter, being regaled with other stories of how wonderful Cadence was as we made for the stairs of the citadel. As we traveled, I couldn’t help but notice how… sparkly everything was, like it was buffed and polished several times over in preparation for visitors, which it in all likelihood was. We passed by a carved statue of Spike holding up a replica of the Crystal Heart with some tourists posing and taking pictures by. I glanced at Twilight and she mouthed at me ‘Hero worship’ and said no more. We passed by the guards (who didn’t recognize me from before, and why should they? I’m a tad bigger than when I first nettled them for passage) and up the stairs that caused me so many problems in the past. Instead of going straight for the throne room once we were on the right floor, we made for one of the side chambers instead.

The first thing I observed once we stepped indoors was Spike lounging back on a Victoria style gem studded sofa like a lazy bastard while being fed crystal berries of varying colors by one of the citadel’s attendants.

The boy chewed before swallowing, “Mmm… more of the green ones, please? I really like the green ones” Spike asked the woman above his head, who anxiously shuffled among the pile for the greenish berries, which were rapidly dwindling, in order to please her charge.

“Twilight! I’m so glad you could make it!” A familiar voice greeted us. I turned to see Twilight rushing towards the Princess who embraced her in a hug. They detached and did this weird patty cake thing involving sunshine and awoken ladybugs, or something of that girlish ilk.

The Princess disengaged from her former charge and turned to face me, “Ah… Zenith, it’s been a while since the last occasion I’ve seen you. You’ve certainly grown in the short interval since then” She surveyed, having to crane her neck up at a slight angle as to look me in the eyes.

“I blame magic” I cheekily replied, earning another hopeless glare from Twilight at my lack of etiquette for royalty or the sanctity of magic, “And I still haven’t ceased growing, before long I fear that I might tower over most people, and therefore no longer be able to retain my propensity for being naturally stealthy” I came off as flippant about it, but in truth it was a real bugbear of mine.

“Perhaps” She agreed neutrally in a terse voice, “I’m told that you will be performing in the opening ceremony of the games?” She posed a rhetorical question under the guise of making conversation, motioning us towards a glass table with crystal chairs where lunch was served. We all took our seats and let a moment of quietude pass in graceful gratitude to the meal’s provider before digging in.

I resumed our discourse, “I will be performing alongside the Star Seekers, yes. When will I meet with them, by the way? I’d like to know what my temporary band mates are like before we take the stage together” I explained my reasons as I helped myself to a hearty portion of salted crystal corn on the cob. I hadn’t done any research into the band, even though I would be playing beside them in a few hours time. Hell’s bells, I had only just learned that they were one of Rainbow’s favorite bands for crying out loud!

“Right after lunch is finished. After all, you must be very hungry after the long trip getting here” She answered, enjoying a jammed slice of bread herself, “And we have much to discuss before then” She asserted, eying me in particular.

Initially lunch was a boring affair, with Twilight and Spike hogging up most of Cadence’s attention (not that I was all that gregarious to begin with. Though my one contribution to the table talk in the form of a revelation to them about my land of origin having a similar event to the games called the Olympics equally fascinated both the bookworm and the lollypop), which prevented us from talking to each other on the level. Albeit in exchange I did get to hear about the event regarding the reappearance of the Krystal Kingdom first hand, learning unknown details left out of the history texts like how Sombra’s influence only got stronger the closer he was to the Crystal Heart. Of how this made the already difficult job of keeping the local people unawares of their dread master’s return even more challenging. After facing their most debilitating fears in the same dungeons where Daring and I relived ours, Twilight and Spike made it to the top of the citadel where the Crystal Heart was hidden. Unfortunately Sombra, in his maniacal deviousness, booby trapped the circle it was contained in, barring anybody within from escaping in time to avoid his wrath. However, Spike was outside the circle at the time that Twilight haplessly activated it and tossed it outside to within his reach, so she had to entrust the Crystal Heart to his care.

Long story short, Sombra’s shadowy mass chased Spike down the citadel with Benny Hill music blaring in the background (or at least, that’s how my imagination portrayed it), nearly catching and corrupting the Heart in the process. If he succeeded, it would have spelled the second downfall of the Kingdom and the re-enslavement of its inhabitants. Through some stroke of luck (or was it fate?), Spike masterfully played the game of keep away from the big, evil nasty and managed to deliver the Heart to an exhausted Cadence right on time for her to call upon the goodwill of the Krystal people, empowering the Heart and allowing it to vanquish Sombra forever with an engulfing sphere of bright light that counteracted his dark shadow (Or so they might lead themselves to believe).

‘How very symbolic’ I thought to myself as I polished off my fourth plate of food, something that garnered me some disbelieving and rather disgusted stares from most of my company, Cadence excluded (Who merely looked amused). I glowered at them to mind their own business while I continued to chow down on the remnants that were left on the food platter.

“Well! I’m sure you’re excited for your own role in the games Spike!” Cadence announced, diverting the attention away from me, which netted her a minimal sum of my gratitude.

“You bet I am!” He said, pointing a thumb at himself, “I’m going to be the first dragon to light the ceremonial torch… well, half dragon anyways” He self consciously amended, rubbing at his very much human arm.

“That’s good! You should be confident when you take your first steps onto the platform. You’re representing a lot more than Magiville in this regard you know” The Princess tipped her glass of lemonade at him in emphasis before taking a dainty sip of it.

“I am?” The boy asked, not thinking beyond his limited viewpoint.

“But of course! You’ll be representing the whole of Arcania itself this noon!” Cadence clarified, not noticing Spike’s growing apprehension at being in a bigger spotlight than he had assumed.

“Arcania… like the entire country?” He tried gulping his fear down, “Right… no pressure then” He chortled nervously.

“I’m glad to hear it. And I’m sure Miss Harshninny will be relieved to hear it as well” Cadence’s eyes flicked to me and I saw the sparking of a plan in their glossy violet depths, “In fact, why don’t you go to her now and have her walk you through the procedure beforehand for practice? Just tell her that I sent you. Don’t worry about your luggage from the station, I’ve prearranged for them to be carted to your rooms” She instructed, politely making it clear that it wasn’t a request.

Twilight joined in her voice, “I’ll go with him. I have a few things I’d like to discuss with Miss Harshninny myself” She stood up from her chair and bowed, “Farewell Princess Cadence, I’ll see you at the opening ceremony of the games, yes?” Twilight inquired hopefully.

She smiled almost motherly, “Indeed you shall my dear Twilight. I’ll be right alongside my fellow sovereigns and rooting my team on from the high seats, as you should with yours”

The two of them took their leave of us with the attendant from earlier shutting the door behind herself to grant the Princess and I some privacy. A transient lull ensued that was pregnant with awkward silence.

She made the first move, “How have you been Zenith? I can see that you’ve changed a lot since retrieving the Crystal Chalice for me not so many moons ago” She spoke in that tone that people use when they reunite with a friend that they’ve been missing. I couldn’t figure out for the life of me why she would feel that way, since we hardly knew each other that well. I surmised that Cadence’s affable personality seemed pre-inclined to permit her to connect that quickly with people.

I scowled in restiveness, “I thought we already went over that?”

“I meant more than just your height, you silly man” She tittered, “I was referring to your overall demeanor. Your steps are still calculated, but not solely out of unwonted caution anymore. You’re also more upbeat, self assured, and there’s a purpose extending beyond yourself that drives you ever onward”

A nonchalant ‘huh’ escaped my lips. Her description was oddly close to the mark. Heh, archery terminology before the Athletic Games makes me crack up inside.

“Not that I’m denying any of that, but how could you tell all that about me?” I was skeptical that she divined that for herself, maybe Celestia has been feeding her updates about me.

“Your eyes reveal a lot about you to me, Zenith. Especially when glimpsing into the inner heart of a person is one of the perks of my special calling. I can see what Celestia means when she claims that you would make a fine addition to our ranks. She once said the same thing about me” Cadence disclosed in a trancelike voice, momentarily lost in the past.

“Please don’t hint about me inevitably having to accepting my Prince hood” I griped as I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms, “I get enough of those insinuations from Celestia. I didn’t ask to be sent here… and I surely didn’t ask to be sent as a Trifect” I told her, levitating over a flask of crystal berry cider and pouring myself a drink.

“None of us did” She whispered quietly, intriguing me, “But that only supports our mutual belief further. You were meant to be among us, Zenith. And in my few centuries of life, I’ve learned that everything that happens, does so for a reason”

“It would certainly appear that way. But I don’t wish to discuss the finer points of destiny with you this morning. I find myself in dire need of your advice, oh renowned Princess of Love” I melodramatically stated in my stage voice.

She tilted her head askew, “My advice? On what?”

“I won’t prevaricate here Cadence, but I wouldn’t mind some counseling from someone who is the leading expert in matters of the heart” I divulged, my worries about my more intimate relationships bubbling to the surface from the inky depths whence they came.

She giggled melodiously, “You flatter me, Zenith. I may be the Princess of the Love, but there are aspects of it that continue to mystify even me” She humbly conceded.

She got to the point, “So you seek counsel from me? Very well. The first thing I need to know is, how has your love life been so far?” She examined me.

“It’s been…” I distractedly looked around the room as I cycled through a list of words to choose from in my head. Not finding the precise word, I selected a generally valid one, “Adequate… I suppose”

She was taken aback, “Simply adequate? Not spectacular, or mind bogglingly insightful?” She prodded, her eyebrow raised at my admitted understatement.

I scoffed, “You want insightful? I could quote a passage for you: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails” I recited one of my favorite sections from the good book. It’s too bad I never had the chance to verify most of those truths for myself, until recently anyways.

“Yes, yes it is” Cadence remarked in agreement, nonplussed, “Where ever did you read that?”

“My family’s Bible” I answered, “When I was young, we read passages like that together in our living room. Some of the morals I learned about I committed to memory, to guide me whenever I feel I might be going astray”

‘And boy, have there been times where I’ve clearly strayed’ I thought with a wince.

She idly hummed to herself, “So it’s scripture from your foreign world then… a shame, I would have very much liked to have read it for myself”

“I don’t think you’d like most of it” I flatly hindered her interest, “Regardless, how satisfying I find my love life varies… but I cannot say that I regret opening my heart to others again”

Cadence’s forehead creased itself in confusion, “Again?” She mimicked me in her impression of a parrot.

My face darkened for an instant before it disappeared, “Not something I wish to recount to you or to anyone else for that matter. The past is best left where it is (‘To rot’)” I said no more on the subject, and the steel in my eyes warned her not to ever broach upon it.

“Very well, what’s relevant is that you have now” We moved on from the touchy subject, “Who was the first woman to capture your heart?”

I grinned a bit, “You’ll probably get a kick out of this one, but Daring Do and I are together… at least in spirit these days. What with her long distance job and everything keeping us apart for the time being”

Not one to prove me wrong, Cadence clapped her hands together as a delighted expression graced her features, “I knew it! I knew there would be a mutual attraction between you two!” She chirped, like she had won some kind of bet she had with herself.

“Yeah yeah, gloat to yourself all you want on your own time please. I still have concerns that I feel need to be addressed” I groused, bellyaching over that knowing look I once saw in her eyes that I wound up proving correct never the less.

“Concerns?” She copied me again, that obnoxious smile plastered on her face.

I rolled the glass cup in my hands, “More like doubts, really. Less potent than they were in the beginning, but they have not dissipated completely. Which is why I aspire to listen to your expertise”

“I can only work with what you give me, Zenith. You’re going to have to expound on these doubts of yours for me” She required.

I refilled my glass and haltingly guzzled it down to give me time to think about how to explain myself.

“I’m somewhat of a demisexual, Cadence. I won’t truly find a woman physically attractive until I find her emotionally attractive first. While this has the inadvertent benefit of shielding me from undue temptation, it also causes a menagerie of roadblocks when it comes to actual intimacy” I explicated.

“But you have been… you know,” She rolled her hand, “Intimate?” She over emphasized.

I tugged at my collar, the only sign that this question unsettled me, “Moderately intimate, yes. But it still nags at the back of my mind that I’m intimate with more than one woman”

“Are all relationships monogamous where you originate? I could see why you would have some difficulty adjusting. There are plenty of critics of my husband that excoriate how he only wants me, principally so when there’s a shortage of bachelors who haven’t set up wide scale family units of their own”

I nodded tentatively, “Purportedly, but so many marriages are ruined by infidelity back home that I think it’s more of an ideal than a strict rule we place on ourselves”

Her eyes dimmed at the reality of my blunt answer, “I’m… sorry to hear that”

I waved a hand dismissively, “Don’t apologize for things you can’t control, Cadence. Getting back to my position towards my love life, I’m not afraid of loving or of being loved, but it was never the most stable of emotions for a stoical person like me to grip. My steadfastness is something that I value heavily, and I did not know if love would take it and render that quality nullified. But I do know that it’s a risk worth taking”

“I can feel the conviction in your words. Tell me about those who have earned a spot in your heart, what makes you love them specifically?” She questioned, shifting in her chair to get comfortable.

I wiggled my eyebrows like they were snakes as I mulled it over, “There’s an interesting question. You could say that I’m in love with Daring’s courage in the face of what seems to be certain death, Octavia’s creative spark and sheer musical talent, Lyra’s ability to stay positive when all hope seems lost and inspire that faith in others… and while I’ve only recently officially started a relationship with her, Fluttershy’s immense kindness naturally attracted me to her; I’ve deemed that tender woman’s innocence sacrosanct to me. I love each and every one of these women in their own appealing way” I declared resolutely.

Then came the other half of the coin, “There’s yet another woman who has also captured the attention of my heart, but I’m still dubious as to whether what I feel for her is genuine love or fleeting fancy, ready to be scattered to the winds at the smallest signs of trouble” I left out the tiny detail where she tried to love potion me, since I didn’t want any mind interfering penalty hammer to drop on her.

Her eyes lit up as I ended my monologue, “Ah… so you’re positive about most of them with the exception of the last one. Now I won’t fish for names, but I’d like you to tell me what about this woman estranges you from her”

“She means the best, she really does, and our dates are far less ostentatious than I would have been led to believe, though I suspect that she does this out of consideration for my modest, simpler tastes. But she’s also very vain, placing too much emphasis on the opinions of others that its almost stifling her development as an individual. Her melodramatic antics are amusing at first, but cease to be endearing with the flow of time. If I don’t develop a magnetizing pull towards her that allows me disregard her flaws soon like with the others, I’m afraid that I might never be able to love her like she deserves” I listed solemnly.

“I’m also faintly allergic to the hair her cat sheds… and she’s not getting rid of her feline Opalescence anytime in the foreseeable future” I included offhandedly. That was verging on a lie, but it would have been truer had I not been a Trifect.

“Love cannot be measured with time. It simply is when it is” She proclaimed with a gesture of her hand, “It sounds to me like you’re in this relationship because of something that she sees in you. I won’t advise calling it off with her right now, but if you don’t begin to feel anything for her in return soon, then I suggest coming to her with these concerns. If no solution can be ascertained from there, then it would be safe to say that you are a poor match for each other and should see other people”

“Thank you for your honesty, Cadence”

“I wouldn’t fret much about it, Zenith. Love that is meant to be always finds a way, you can add that to your memorized scripture wisdom” She smirked at me, “I do have one last question for you before we need to cut this reunion short and go to our respective stations for the games”

“Anything within my power to shed some light on is yours to ask, your highness” I melodramatically responded, provided it didn’t cross any lines.

“Tell me, Zenith. You’ve relayed to me what your scripture says about love. But what do you believe it is?” She solicited me for my view.

My inner geek resurfaced, “Definition: ‘Love’ is making a shot to the knees of a target one hundred and twenty kilometers away using an Aratech sniper rifle with a tri-light scope. Statement: This definition, I am told, is subject to interpretation. Obviously, ‘Love’ is a matter of odds. Not many meatbags could make such a shot, and strangely enough, not many meatbags would derive love from it. Yet for me, love is knowing your target, putting them in your targeting reticle, and altogether… achieving a singular purpose… against statistically long odds” I quoted mechanically, an oddly reminiscent look on my countenance.

Cadence’s jaw slowly picked itself up a few moments after I finished my speech.

“Such is the wisdom of HK-47” I supplemented, breaking her out of her non-computing funk.

The dumbfounded look on her face was priceless, “I’m sorry? I don’t understand. I felt like I was speaking to a different person for a moment” She vigorously shook her head to clear it, “What was that all about?”

I cracked my neck side to side, “I’m strange, Princess. Hadn’t you figured that out when we first met?”

“I found you to be different than most people, the whole ‘beyond the cosmic veil’ issue aside, yes” She granted me, “But it was never that pronounced!”

“That’s only just scratching the surface with me, Cadence” I grinningly replied.

“I hope this reunion is decidedly less straightforward than the one you’ll surely have with Shining Armor in the ring” Cadence said, reevaluating her no doubt shaken opinion of me.

“Is he still sore about the paperwork I put him through? Because I thought the replacement train was a pretty sweet ride” I amusedly quipped.

“I managed to assuage most of his frustrations since then” She uttered to me with a concupiscent curl of her lips, “Though he is looking forward to seeing your progress in the games”

“Hope he’s ready to have his expectations defied” I cockily commented, and not without cause either. I had gotten nearly implacable with the Claymore, its strengths and weaknesses now entirely known to me.

“Time will tell” She glanced upwards at something behind me and inhaled sharply, “Speaking of time, we’re close to being due for ours. Do you still remember your way around the citadel?” She inquired, rapidly getting to her feet.

I did the same, “You have a directory system carved into the walls, don’t you?” I questioned back, recollecting on the floor maps sculpted into the walls of the citadel.

She inclined her head forward in a dip, “Yes, but you won’t need to use them. Just follow the rainbow line from the throne room to the bridge linking the citadel to the second floor of the stadium. The guards, along with a reformed person I’m sure you’ll recall, will be there waiting there for you” She hinted mysteriously as she made a beeline out the door.

“The Star Seekers?” I randomly guessed, nothing immediately coming to mind.

“You’ll just have to find out for yourself!” She called back to me, “Good luck out there, Zenith!” Came her last words as the doors shut with a click.

I sighed before pouring myself a third glass of crystal berry cider juice (Which was still overrated by the way). Licking my lips at both the flavor and the anticipation of the event about to start, I rose from my seat and exited the room. I walked down the colorful magically traced line to the staircase slash bridge separating citadel and stadium. Halfway across its length was a familiar man with a clipboard in his arms and who was flanked by two guards.

“Jomar?” I let out, almost not believing my eyes.

I took in the man’s changed form. No longer did he wear his ghastly pelt; instead he sported a business tie to complement his pinstriped Victorian ere gentleman’s suit with black slacks. He was also mounting a pair of rounded reading glasses over his blue eyes that made him seem much more refined in contrast to his course looking features when I first met him. He also came off as… happier, than last I saw of him.

“Hail to you, oh great and merciful Zenith” He greeted me in his accented voice, though I could tell that he was also losing parts of it in favor of the local one.

‘Wonderful… I’ve assimilated him with my suggestion to the Princess’ Still; it was better than tossing him in a cell and throwing away the keys.

“And a howdy do to you too” I amicably returned, “What have you been up to lately?”

“Community service to her most wise majesty, Princess Cadence. As fair punishment for my role in aiding and abetting in the theft of the Crystal Chalice, I’m to serve as the court logistics official for the foreseeable future, as well as your personal aide during the games. Any and all questions you have regarding the rules of the event that you’ll be participating in, you can direct to me, and I will do my best to elucidate on them for you” He proffered his services.

My eyes flicked to the expressionless men (‘Pfft… guards’) over his shoulder, “And the armed escort?”

“I insisted on always having at least one guard nearby to prove that I mean to atone for what I’ve done. While the Princess was fine with restricting me to a house arrest, I felt that more measures had to be taken to ensure that I do not relapse into my old, mercenary ways” He briefly explained.

“You don’t give yourself enough credit, Jomar. I’ve deduced that it must have been you who purposely dropped the codex page that pointed us in the right direction, what with you being the group’s material manager and all. You should have mentioned that to Cadence, you might have been given an even more lenient treatment, seeing how you aided us as well”

He flinched, but was impressed, “That-… I did not think anyone would notice that”

I smirked, “Well I did, the only thing I want to know is, why’d you do it?”

“Ahuizotl was never the most mentally stable of employers… and he never stopped yearning for power. My group tolerated him because he paid well, but I had a sinking premonition that we needed to refuse him our services before he got us into a situation where we would all die… which sadly, happened anyway. I thought that if I could sabotage this last heist, we could spend the rest of our lives in a dungeon alive… rather than buried in the earth because of some madman’s ignoble dream”

“I’m sor-” He cut me off before I could sympathize for his loss.

“No! Do not apologize for doing the right thing, noble Zenith. My comrades have committed numerous atrocities during our tenure as the Wild Cats… sooner or later, death would come for us to collect its due for our crimes” His eyes watered as he looked up at me, “And yet you found it within you to spare me, when you had reason enough to put me to the sword. There are no words in your language or any other to express the gratitude that I feel for you because of that”

I clapped him on the side of his arm, “That’s because I saw that you could be redeemed, and that your skills could be used for the greater good. I’m gladdened to see that you have not proven me wrong”

He bowed his head to me, “And nor will I ever. I owe you a life debt that cannot be adequately repaid”

I shook my head, “You don’t owe me anything, just live your life in the service of those who cannot help themselves”

“As you decree it, so I shall commit to doing so” He emotionally agreed, before strictly getting down to business, “The lighting of the ceremonial torch is soon to commence, would you like to see it up close?”

“I would”

“Then follow me, please” He spun around and walked away, with his escort and myself in close pursuit.

We soon found ourselves on a tall gallery platform overlooking most of the Crystal Stadium, which itself was about the size of most American football stadiums back home. Hundreds, if not thousands of spectators from all over the land were congregated in the stands, waving flags or blowing on elongated flugelhorns to show their collective crowd spirit (They also had those inflatable balloon stick things to thwack together, which utterly baffled me). With my sensitive hearing and being this close up, the roar of the people was all but deafening to me. I picked up our group’s pace until we neared the jutting platform where a very Olympic-esque torch stood proud in the warm beams of the midday sun, waiting to be set alight.

On the grassy field below were dozens of competitors from neighboring cities, towns, and even countries in the case of the Gryphondrians. They were gathered in one large mass and all of them were wearing jackets demonstrating their team colors, along with symbols embossed into the fabric. I could see a fully uniformed Shining Armor in his full set of Princely regalia pacing the ground while presiding over the proceedings. He was somehow projecting his voice without a microphone headset and over the din through speakers that were bolted all around the stadium’s walls above the audience stands. He was currently announcing the delegations of the flag bearers representing their respective places of origin as they filed out onto the field, marching in a manner that reminded me of the happenings before the Boonta Eve Classic pod race. Among their number were three proud young girls carrying the flag of Magiville (which was a clan-less male and female silhouette on a yellow background situated next to a Valentine heart with filigrees sticking out of the bottom) in unison. They circled the outer ring of the elongated hexagram of playing field once before planting their banners into posts dotting the boundaries. Even from this distance, I could make out the joyful smiles on their faces.

All was not well however, as I could see a trembling Spike and a aggravated looking, middle aged, and corporately dressed woman who must have been Miss Harshninny, who was towering over him and glaring at him disapprovingly by the base of the torch. I motioned for my company to stay where they were, while I got closer to make out what they were speaking.

“Did you not hear me? I just gave you the signal. That’s your cue to climb that ladder and light the torch!” Miss Harshninny austerely pressured him, tapping the heel of her shoe against the metal floor of the platform, making a solid clacking noise. Spike could say nothing in his defense, preoccupied as he was with sweating, shaking, and generally looking like he was about to wet himself from stage fright alone.

“Pardon me, but what seems to be the problem here?” I cut in, mostly to divert the fuming woman’s attention from Spike.

She tore her glare away from the boy to point it at me, “Excuse me Sir, but this is not a matter that concerns you” Harshninny rudely dismissed me without a second thought.

I narrowed my eyes, “Wrong, Spike is one of my friends, and whatever is affecting him right now concerns me greatly… now step away from the poor boy and give him some breathing room” I commanded in an official tone that brooked no contention.

Harshninny glowered at me for the rebuking retort, but begrudgingly obeyed, taking a few steps in reverse while I crouched down to Spike’s level and spoke more comfortingly to him than my predecessor.

“Hey pal, what’s wrong?”

He acknowledged my presence by meeting my eyes, “I can’t do it… I just can’t! There are just too many people, too many of them looking at me. I can’t hack having all of this attention on me, it’s strangling! It’s so bad I can’t work up my flame!” He tried to breathe his signature green fire, but a pathetic sputtering noise came out, accompanied by a few streams of useless smoke, “See!? Oh, I’m so going to let everybody down” He despaired, hunching over to make himself smaller, as if he was hoping that he could shrink small enough to disappear.

‘Wow… his fear of being the public eye is downright debilitating’ I thought as I took pity on the harried lad.

I leaned closer to him, “I don’t care for the spotlight either, Spike. But I don’t let it paralyze me to the point of physical inaction” I made a curling gesture of my two fingers so that he would lean in, which he reluctantly did, “Let me tell you about a little technique that you can use called ‘tunnel visioning’. Close your eyes, count to ten, and breathe deep. In that time, I want you to calm the storm raging in your mind and in your heart, okay?”

He listened to my advice, shut his eyes, and steadily inhaled through his nostrils. When I sensed that he had lowered his heartbeat enough, I continued with his patchwork lesson, “Molto Bene! Now I want you to focus so hard on this task that when you open your eyes, everything else just becomes a blurred wisp at the edges of your vision. Can you do that for me?” He nodded fervently as he squinted, “You can open your eyes now” I told him. Two green irises uncovered themselves and stared into mine. My serene presence seemed to be having a positive effect on him, because he was no longer quaking. I’d have to press my advantage before I lost it.

I grasped him firmly by both shoulders and forced his slitted pupils to meet my rounded ones, “You may not look it for the most part, but you have Dragon’s blood coursing through your veins, Spike. That makes you capable of some extraordinary feats. I think lighting one lousy torch pales in comparison to saving this entire kingdom from the likes of the wicked Sombra, don’t you think?”

He still looked relatively unsure of himself, “But what if I screw it up in front of everybody, with all of Arcania to watch me fail?” He sagged even lower, “I should just stick to the sidelines and let them delegate this task to someone else” He demurred, lingering doubt still eating away at his resolve.

“You’ve been sitting on the sidelines for long enough” I gently admonished him with a pat on his shoulder blade, “It’s time to step into the light once more”

He took another deep breath, looking more spurred on than before, “You’re right, I’ve been lingering on the sidelines for so long that I almost don’t want to leave its safety. A-all right. I can do this! I can do this!” He shouted louder with each sentence.

“Sometime today would optimal. Mr. Half Dragon” Harshninny inserted her opinion on the subject, standing adjacent to us, “Preferably in the next thirty seconds or so” She unhelpfully amended, tapping her watch impatiently.

I ignored her, dedicating all my attention on the young boy, “That’s the spirit! Now that torch over there is mocking you by remaining unlit, are you just going to let that insult to your courage fly? Or are you going to show it who’s boss!?” I boomed at him in challenge, inspiriting him to act.

“I’m going to show that stupid torch what’s what, like a boss!” He answered me vehemently, sprinting towards the ladder with a battle cry like yawp. He climbed up the rungs with the fervor of a dozen angry monkeys before reaching its summit. He then inhaled so deeply that his chest was distended to the point where it looked like it was about to pop off his torso, before unleashing a torrent of flame into the kindling bowl and igniting it in a burst of orangey fire that gradually turned blue.

“Attaboy” I whispered, feeling a surge of pride for him.

My company was not impressed, “Hmmf! He shouldn’t have to be encouraged to light it in the first place! That was his only duty for the games, and a simple one at that! How hard was that for him to do when I gave the signal? But noooo… he needs a pep talk from some random passerby who just happens to know him and a pat on the shoulder before doing his job” Bitchninny piped up with a scowl, crossing her arms together and habitually acting like an utter bitch.

“This random passerby happens to be one of the games participants, and also a close friend of their Royal Highnesses. You would do well to mind your tongue” I authoritatively recommended to her as I indicated in their direction.

With timing that couldn’t be more perfect, the aforementioned Princesses waved to me from their box seats (more like portable thrones) in the splendidly royal portion of the stadium, which I returned with a two finger salute. Among them were several other figures, some of whom I recognized (like Blueblood, our town Mayor, and Fancypants with his two wives). Others were clearly from foreign countries, as evidenced by their odd clothes or disparate statures. The man with the turban and elegant robes must have been Sultan Mahad (Who was otherwise occupied with bickering with the lavishly dressed woman who must have been his wife). The other figures I could not recognize right away, but they looked fairly distinguished with their intricate headdresses.

Harshninny’s blood drained from her stress wrinkled face once she realized that she had risked angering someone of visible importance, “I retract everything I just said! Spike here did an bang up job, I know I certainly couldn’t light that torch without a box of matches!” She laughed nervously, her stern demeanor cracking in the face of what could have been termination on the spot (If I was feeling excessively vindictive anyway).

I raised a single, incredulous eyebrow, “Nice save… Miss Harshninny”

Spike came rushing back with a smile on his face, “Zenith, Zenith! Did you see that? That was one of the strongest gouts of flame I’ve ever ejected!” He exclaimed as he hugged my stomach.

I patted him on the back, “Congrats Spike, you’ve demonstrated great bravery against your fears today”

“Wait… You’re Zenith?” Harshninny spoke up, “I’m to take you to the field right away. Would you be so kind as to follow me, please?” She bothered to make her request courteously this time.

“You know, you’d probably get better results if you asked people to do things nicely more often in the future”

“I’ll keep that in mind” She seethed through gritted teeth, “Now come! You’re to be part of some mystery demonstration for the people’s entertainment” Without waiting for me to respond, she stomped off down the hallway opposite of the now burning torch.

I sighed, “Gotta go, Spike. You go sit with the rest of the girls and enjoy the games, alright?” I told him as I mussed his hair affectionately.

“I will, and cut that out!” He pulled back and struggled to get his hair tidy again, but I could tell that he was cheerful again.

Turning to my entourage, I gesticulated for them to stay on my tail and speed walked to catch up with Harshninny, who hadn’t even bothered to look back and see if I was keeping pace with her.

I heard her muttering bitterly to herself as I flanked her, “The things I have to put up with in order to ensure that the games progress without a hitch. Next thing you’ll know they’ll have me assist in putting on something insipid, like rock concerts”

“Actually, that’s happening today” I grinningly corrected her, “Hope you like the Star Seekers!”

She sighed irritably and pushed a palm to her face, “Uggh… Celebrities” She moaned despondently.

We descended the stairways until we were at ground level. Some people that were late rushed to grab their seats as they jogged through the entrances. Large Agrarian men dressed in suits, caps with badges on them, and black shades instructed the Stellar Magi among them to pass through a special gateway that glowed with a screen of teal colored energy. When the disgruntled tourists traversed through them, the screen adhered to their skin before accumulating around their focal gem and seeping inside. I saw them blink in confusion as the items they were carrying in their levitation fields fell to the floor with a clatter, forcing them to grumblingly carry their things by hand.

Remembering my promise to Celestia to play fair, I elected to go through one of those gates (much to the puzzlement of my companions, since I didn’t have my usual rhinestone on my head), mildly curious to see how it would affect someone who didn’t even have a focal gem. Rather disappointingly, the magical inhibiting field didn’t feel like anything as I passed through the projecting archway. It still clung to my skin like with the other Mages, but instead of concentrating on my forehead, it did so on my eyes. Just like with the magic disrupting rings, my connection to my internal supply of mana felt distorted and harder to call to the fore. In the event of an emergency, I theorized that I could just grab at a chunk of my magic and brute force the lock on itself, but prayed that there wouldn’t be a need to do so. The officials at the gate gave me uniformly strange stares, despite the shades masking most of their expressions, but asked no questions and granted me passage.

Harshninny conducted us through multiple winding corridors and past several occupied locker rooms where the athletes were washing off or relaxing before their scheduled events. After the last set of doorways, we were on the field. A mobile platform was in the final stages of being assembled in the center from individual pieces, while technicians set up various allotments of equipment in preparation for the opening concert. I even saw pyro technicians adjusting the flame launcher nozzles to synchronize with floor pedals on the stage. The only people who were not toiling or otherwise assisting with the finishing touches to the setup work were four individuals who were clustered in a circle in a sequestered area covered by folding screens serving as the unofficial back stage.

The first to attract my notice was the sole woman in the group, who had platinum blond hair, was wearing a purple shades (though they didn’t hide her eyes like Vinyl’s did), and displayed the Mana mark of a bass guitar on her hands. The second fellow was sporting a classic rocker look, with a white bandana wrapped around his forehead, a bright orange jump suit covering his body, and a two toned red and white flying V guitar that he was tuning in his arms. The third guy was visibly shorter than his colleagues and had long, brown, shoulder length locks and armbands with gems on them. The last was probably the most casual looking of the four, with nothing unusual to describe except for his short and curly navy blue hair that almost looked like a trimmed Afro.

“The concert is scheduled to begin in five minutes, acquaint yourself with your stage mates in the meantime. And for Princesses’ sake don’t hesitate like your friend Spike did” Harshninny spoke her peace before pirouetting on the tips of her feet and leaving without so much as a farewell. Bah, good riddance to her!

The sound of her harsh, grating voice caused the four band mates to peek up from whatever they were wasting time with to look at us. The classic rocker dude smiled and greeted us, “Ello there! Is one of you the mystery extra we were told would be performing with us?” He asked in a cockney accent (native to Troddingham I believe), eyes flicking between Jomar and myself.

“Yes, I am” I answered, receiving his full attention.

“They sure grow ‘em big wherever you come from don’t they?” He got up and thrust his hand towards me, which I shook, “I’m Arpeggio, the group’s primary guitarist”

He held his palm out and swept it towards his band mates to introduce them in order, “That lovely poppet o’er there is Stella, our flawless bassist” The woman nodded to me, but stayed silent, “Shorty o’er here is Beryl, our drummer”

“Heyo!” He excitedly chirped, flipping his drumsticks in the air and twirling them about in his fingers.

Arpeggio motioned towards the last man, “And last but not least, Octave ‘ere is typically our pianist, singer, and synth instrument player”

‘Why do I feel as if these people should be familiar to me?’ I mused, trying to place their names and coming up with bupkis.

He bowed his head formally to me, “I look forward to working alongside you mister…?” He fished for my name in a voice as smooth as silk.

“Zenith. And the feeling is mutual” I replied absently, really obsessing over where I’d heard these names before.

“Zenith, eh? Heh! You’ll fit right in with the Star Seekers” Arpeggio confidently declared with a grin, “So, while we’re cool with taking to the stage with a fifth member and having to play interesting songs that we didn’t write, we’d at the barest minimum would like to know what role you’ll be filling in as” He requested.

“Vocals mostly, though I’ve dedicated one song that I’ll have to borrow the piano from Octave for” I glanced apologetically at the man, “Sorry”

He held out his palm forgivingly, “It’s all right. But did you just say that you dedicated the songs that we’re to perform?” He asked as his eyebrows shot up in intrigue.

“Uh, yeah. Did I forget to mention that I’m the one who wrote down the lyrics and tablature for the songs that we’ll be singing?”

“Really?” Stella vocalized for the first time, “You’re the one who produced these songs?” She held up a stack of paper that had the tablature and lyrics that I inscribed scant weeks beforehand.

I borrowed a page from the Apple family, minus the pseudo lying, “Eeyup. I trust that you’re okay with performing them?”

“We wouldn’t spend weeks rehearsing them if we weren’t. And while they’re different from most of what we’ve seen and heard ourselves, they’re different in a way that I personally find groovy” She said with a tiny smile, which I mirrored in gratitude.

“It’s too bad we weren’t able to rehearse all together, that way our coordination would be assured” I bemoaned.

Octave chortled, “Relax man! Just let the music take you and everything will work out fine. That’s one of the wonders of performing music in a group, you know?”

“It sure is. You’re each knowledgeable about the order of songs that we’re playing in, right?” I double checked with them.

“Yah huh!” Beryl spoke up, “Three songs, the first is for the games, the other two are dedications to special people in the crowd that you’ll be taking over from Arpeggio and Octave for”

“That’s correct!” I expressed with a chuckle. The small man’s enthusiasm was almost as infectious as Pinkie Pie’s. Almost.

“You sure you two don’t mind?” I directed to them, pleased by how gracious they were for admitting me into their cadre without issue.

“Nah, that just means less work for us!” Arpeggio uttered with a lazy drawl, with Octave concomitantly concurring with a thumbs up gesture.

“You’re on in a little over a minute” Jomar politely informed from beside me, “I wish you the best of luck and look forward to hearing what kind of music you’ve composed for everyone present” He departed us, with his escort trailing closely behind him.

“Right! That’s our cue!” Arpeggio blurted out and turned to me with an animated expression, “C’mon new guy, we’ve got a concert to rock!”

All of the band members got to their feet and carried their instruments with them if they were portable. I tagged behind them as we hopped up the steps and into full view of the public, who cheered even louder once they could see us. I heard Shining Armor’s voice announce our arrival by name.

“…You’re in for a special treat today folks! We managed to recruit the ever popular Star Seekers to provide some bravado for our opening concert. For those of you who aren’t in the know, they’ve recently released their latest studio album: Sun Surfer, to countrywide acclaim! So give it up for Arpeggio, Stella, Octave, Beryl… and to mix things up a bit, they have an extra member joining them! Please give a warm welcome to… Zenith, from Magiville!” He proclaimed, a slight stutter in his voice after reading off my name. Apparently he wasn’t expecting that.

The sounds from the crowd (triply so from the Magivillians, who stood from their seats) were absolutely earsplitting as each of us took our positions. The stage itself was grand, with several steps and podiums for the musicians to move about if they so desired. There was a panoramic screen fixed to a gantry above us that had a plethora of swirling stars projected onto it, and I assumed that it would change scenery as our concert went on. I went to the forefront of the stage where a cordless microphone with a glowing gem at the end was waiting for me. In my mind I was slightly worried that with my magic cut off I wouldn’t be as effective on stage, but I crushed those worries once I reminded myself that the best thing about muscle memory spells were that they eventually ingrained whatever you did with them into your natural skillset. And I went overkill on the pregame practice in my music chamber back in my cloud home, so I was pretty much covered for this.

I snatched up the microphone in my hands and engaged my showman’s demeanor, “What’s shaking people? I trust that the scenic Krystal Kingdom has been treating you well so far? I’m Zenith as you’ve all heard, and these magnificent people behind me are the Star Seekers!” I motioned behind me with a thumb, “On this momentous day we’re going to be performing some never before heard songs exclusively for you! Are you feeling pumped yet?” The crowds roared their agreement to me.

I cupped a hand to my ear, “I’m a bit hard of hearing, what with all the practice we’ve being doing leading up to this event” I fibbed as I stretched the truth a negligible amount, “So I’m going to ask you again… are you stoked for this!?”

The response I got was brain jarring it was so thunderous in volume.

“That’s more like it!” I pointed to Octave, “Hit it!”

Octave began plunking on the keyboard of his grand piano, which was somehow hooked up with the speaker system despite not having any visible connected wires (it must have been the same magical crystals that were fitted onto the end of my microphone. How incredibly useful those puppies were) as the opening notes of Muse’s Survival filled the stadium. The rest of the band and myself began snapping our fingers, which the crowd soon emulated. When it came time, I sang the lyrics to the best of my ability, trying very hard to imitate Matthew Bellamy’s unique vocal style (It was a shame that I wasn’t dressed as outrageously as he usually was during concert, otherwise I might have been able to channel his persona more easily. I guessed that the standard jeans and a tee combo would have to do).

When the lyrics reached the first crescendo, jets of flame spewed out of the diagonally pre-aimed nozzles surrounding the stage and upping its badass factor by five, erupting several more times over the course of the song. Arpeggio really showed his worth as he danced around the stage with his guitar in hand, doing all kinds of eccentric postures as he shredded at his strings. Stella and I bobbed our heads to the beat during the periods focusing on the guitar solo. The reception from our audience was immensely well received as the song ended with one last emission of fire, and I was worried that many of them were going to wear their vocal chords out with how tumultuous they were at the moment.

“That my good people, was a number named Survival. Fitting for the Athletic Games, wasn’t it?” I remarked to them, exchanging hands with the microphone.

I wiped a bead of sweat off my brow, those flame ejectors sure ran hot, “Some of you Star Seekers fans out there might not approve of this, but I’m going to be stealing Arpeggio’s role for this next song, which I’m dedicating to three very special young ladies who did a smashing job of touting my town’s flag” I announced. I couldn’t pick them out in the numerous throngs of people in the stands, but I imagined that they were quite surprised to be referenced.

Arpeggio relinquished his instrument to me without protest and headed backstage, likely to crash on the couch and refresh himself with a drink of water. I could hear some people in the stands groaning their disappointment at this change of plans. I snorted to myself. They were going to feel silly for doubting me.

I walked back up to the microphone, “What? You folks thought I was only good for lyrics? Allow me to dispel that notion” I took the plectrum wedged between the A and E strings and began strumming the beginning notes of Jimmy Eat World’s The Middle.

The guitar work for this song was relatively simple, with a few repetitive single string notes, double string notes, and power chords composing the majority of it. The guitar solo was a tad more difficult, but I like to think I nailed it. Even though I had to devote much of my attention to my instrument, I still provided the lyrics, which were sung with the Mana Mark Maidens in mind. It was a shorter song than our first, but the audience seemed to like it regardless, I’m sure the Maidens did at the very least.

Arpeggio had a punctual sense of timing, because he came back to the stage right as the last notes faded. I made a melodramatic showing of returning his guitar to him by kneeling and presenting his ‘axe’ to him in medieval fashion. He must have interpreted this a sign of respect, because he flourished a bow in response as he accepted my kingly gift. I then stood up and kicked Octave off of his bench so I could appropriate his piano for the last song. Thankfully, Octave was one of the backup vocalists alongside Stella, so there was no need to take my mike with me and affix it to the countertop of his piano.

I angled the device upward so I could speak into it, “Again, I apologize for uprooting yet another member who has been doing a superb job under the limelight. I might have to check out their new album for myself!” I jested, with the aim of alleviating the hardcore fans in the audience’ fear that I was just some no name, upstart schmuck who was hogging the glory from those who deserved it more. Perhaps I was, but at least I was a philanthropic show stealer.

‘Poor Beryl and Stella, they’ve been performing nonstop’ I thought to myself as I saw them catching their breath. The two of them had great endurance though, and showed no sign of permanently tiring. Beryl in particular warranted some recognition, since he had been the most active member during the concert.

“Anyhow, I won’t tell you who this final number is dedicated to, I’ll just let you figure it out for yourselves” Letting all the late night hours spent practicing music in my acoustically optimized chambers at home guide my movements, my hands pressed down on the smooth, ivory keys of the piano as I began to perform Drops Of Jupiter in earnest. I quickly risked a glance in the direction of the royal box seats.

I had gotten Luna’s attention by the fifth line, I couldn’t make out her expression from down here, but she did visibly scoot forward in her throne and gripped at the arms of her seat before casting a look at her sister, as if questioning her. When her sister merely sent her a half shrug at her, she spent the rest of the song watching my every movement like a hawk. Internally, I prayed that I hadn’t garnered her disfavor and kept a reflective expression on my face as I delved into the chorus. The lyrics to this one would confuse a lot of people, who wouldn’t know who Mozart was, or what the heck tae-bo entailed, or even that you could deep fry chicken. But it was a fun song to sing along to none the less, something I actually caught Stella doing (She had thoughtfully pushed her microphone out of the way so her voice wouldn’t pick up and overshadow mine). I reckoned right then that she was a sucker for mildly romantic music.

After the last dedication played out in its entirety, the Star Seekers and I bowed as a group before a thrilled audience as Shining Armor praised us for a riveting concert and officiated over the official declaration that the games were now in session (as soon as the stage was painstakingly disassembled, that was). Each of the band members clapped me on the back in celebration and admitted to me that they weren’t expecting somebody they had never heard of before to perform the inspired way I did. My entourage emerged from wherever they were observing the concert and Jomar congratulated me on an excellent show (he confessed that he had never heard of rock music before, but found it invigorating in a way that would increase the morale of the spectators) before offering me to take me to my seat next to the rest of the girls until it came time for the duelist’s event. I accepted and received an equally warm welcome from my friends and the Maidens, as well as a handwritten note in cursive from Luna saying that she appreciated the kind gesture of me thinking about her and committing it to song.

The next two hours passed by like they only lasted minutes. My friends and I watched various events of the games and cheered on our fellow Magiville neighbors whenever they manifested. Like true underdogs, the participants from our sleepy town consistently placed in second and third place, preeminently earning us the leading number of medals won with Stratopolis in close second. I had never been to an Olympic event myself, but I imagined that these games weren’t far off in similarity, although the Olympics didn’t have sports like jousting matches (Which the inhabitants of the Krystal Kingdom utterly dominated, unsurprisingly. Part of me likened it to the Canadians and their hockey; such was their home field advantage).

The girls, especially Rarity, fawned over the couples ice skating event (Which was won by a married couple from Vanclover). The Gryphondrian delegation was extremely competitive in a fast paced sport that was known as Skycleaver, where the goal was to hunt down the opposite team’s flag, which would be hidden on one of the opposing team member’s person, while also protecting their own from capture. It was like flag tag in a way, except it took place in the air, and kept you on the edge of your seat with how suspenseful it was. The games were a three day happening, and the aerial relay race was slotted to take place tomorrow, so Rainbow and Fluttershy were currently elsewhere working on passing the baton in white knuckled preparation instead of watching the games with us. I couldn’t begrudge them their prudent choice, if I could be wielding a Claymore right now against highly coordinate shadow sparring partners, I would be doing just that. Their competition was stiff too, Gryphondria and Stratopolis had the best flyers overall, while Magiville really only had Dash and the other two teams had average contestants.

When it came time for the duelist’s event, Shining Armor handed over the responsibility of announcing to someone else and headed elsewhere to trade in his princely demeanor for a soldierly one. Jomar was there for me as always to notify me that I was needed to take to a different stage.

“Jus’ where are you goin’?” Applejack interrogated me once she spotted me trying to sneak away. She was the closest in proximity to me, and the previous event didn’t have any Magiville natives in it, so I wasn’t shocked that she paying more attention to her surroundings than the others.

I held a finger to my lips to stop her from speaking too loud, “To possibly earn Magiville another medal to add to its collection. I’m aiming for gold” I told her with a grin.

“Yer competin’ in the duels, Zenith? How come ya never told us?” She asked me, her eyes becoming razor slits of disapproval as she stared me down.

My grin became a smirk, “Because you never asked” I repeated that same thing I said to her sister.

She puffed a stray hair out of her eyes and snorted, unamused, “I shouldn’t hafta do that. But I wish you the best anyways, pardner”

“Thanks AJ” I slipped into the shadows before the others got the opportunity to notice that I was leaving.

I kept close to Jomar and his escort as he took me down to the locker room area a second time. Only on this occasion, the locker room was more like a kind of armory, with weapons of various assortments lined up on racks or adorning the walls. Jomar spoke with the one of the men minding the armory and pointed at me. Several other competitors were weighing in on what to take with them onto the field, as well as sneakily examining their competition in their peripherals. The man regarded me with a critical eye before searching his wares and tossing Jomar what looked like a full body suit that was made out of a kind of chain mail that was in my size. Jomar thanked him and carried it back to give to me for putting on over my normal clothes.

“What are these for?” I inquired, scrutinizing the weave being held in my hands.

“Magically enchanted chainmail armor that is to register to the judges whenever an opponent scores a strike on you, as well as provide protection from the blunt force of the magically dulled blades that every competitor will be brandishing. The severity of the strike is also taken into account, but the average number it takes to win a match I’m told is three. While it is permissible to daze your opponent using any other part of your body, only hits with weapons will be counted” He helpfully elucidated, while adjusting his glasses so that they’d fit higher up on his nose.

“Ask if they have those body weights for the Agrarians and bring them to me if they do” He did as I bid him and returned to me after several trips with the heavy metal bands that I was to clad myself in underneath my chainmail suit.

“But… m’lord, are you not Valkyrian? Won’t you be unnecessarily limiting yourself with these?” Jomar expressed in confusion, watching me don the body weights.

“I like to challenge myself” I tersely explained as I fluidly sidestepped the question, “And do refrain from referring to me as lord, if you would please” He stammered out an apology that I ignored as I got dressed.

After I slid the armor (which even covered my noggin) and weights on, I took a walk around the room as to adjust to the fit, finding it to be not too tight and not too loose. I also multitasked and considered the numerous swords that were on display, all of which had dulled blades with tapered edges. My eyes locked onto a five and a half foot long two handed Claymore sword with slightly angled quatrefoil terminations and a leather ricasso wrapped over the beginning point of the forte for gripping. I smiled toothily and knew that this was the weapon of choice for me. I pried it off its rack and hefted it in my grip. The thing I loved about the Claymore was that despite having such a long reach, they were remarkably light, which allowed for the wielder to recover his weapon moderately fast. The leather ricasso was an added benefit because it would allow for me to choke up on the blade and switch to a close combat style should my opponent close with me.

“Oh yeah…” I declared to no one specifically as I admired the mighty blade, “…this will do nicely”

“That is most fortunate, as yours is the second match in the sequence” Jomar clued me in.

“And who will my opponent be?”

“By game conventions, I’m not at liberty to reveal that information. Not even to you, great Zenith”

I sighed in faint dismay, “That’s fine, Jomar. I’ll be finding out for myself soon enough I suppose”

As if on cue, a blaring sound like that of a basketball buzzer echoed into the room from outside, followed by the announcer broadcasting the winner of the match over the speakers. I discerned a crimson paint used to dye armor attachments and applied four lines of it under both of my eyes in front of a vanity mirror as a kind of war paint.

“Once more, I wish you the best of luck, great Zenith” He verbalized, saying nothing about the strange pre match intimidation technique.

I rubbed my fingers clean on a polishing rag, “Won’t need it, but thanks. Now if you’ll pardon me, I have a wager to win for somebody” Either Cadence or Celestia, but I had no intention of losing out there.

I care-freely waltzed out into the hallway before making my way to the field. The new stage for the dueling event was elevated and ovular in shape, consisting of several plate like squares that were interlocked in place. I ambled without hurry up the steps and onto the platform, where my opponent was awaiting me.

My eyes widened imperceptibly once I took notice that it was a woman that I was to be primarily dueling. It was harder to tell with the chainmail covering most of her hair, but her feminine face and lips were unmistakably female. She was average height for a woman, though that made her much shorter than I, which could prove to be problematic if I accidentally let her get too close. Her skin was whiter than average, almost milky in complexion. The strands of tri toned silver, white, and pink hair that were sticking out of her suit overlapped with dark, sapphire blue eyes that were icy and calculating, studying me in the same way I was with her. In her hands were a wickedly curved hand axe and a black dagger that looked like a bat’s wing. Clearly, she favored a close quarters style based on those armaments alone.

‘Perfect, it’s not even the second match and I already have an opponent who can rip me a new one if she gets up in my personal space’ I griped to myself, roughly gripping the hilt of my Claymore until my squeezing of the handle was audible.

The female announcer’s voice shook me out of my brooding, “In one corner we have a native from Shady Hollow, and in the other we have a rather familiar looking contestant from Magiville. Who will be the first to score three strikes? Can the music man fight as well as he sings? I don’t know about you people, but the sheer anticipation for this match is getting to me!”

“I really like your hair!” I randomly blurted out to her, mostly out of honesty and a mild hope that it would throw off her assessment of me. She snorted a stream of breath through her nostrils, but otherwise did not physically react to my comment. I tilted my head at her and trembled my lip in fake dejection.

She caved and humored me, “What’s that face paint for? You didn’t have to pretty yourself up for little ol’ me” She japed in retaliation. I liked her already. It was a crying shame that I’d have to be swinging a big ass sword at her soon.

“It wasn’t for your sake that I applied men’s cosmetics, my lady” I answered her, eliciting a condescending scoff from the woman.

“I am no lady” She retorted with some spite.

Not one to be outspoken, I shouted to her, “Neither am I! We have something in common!” I grinningly replied.

‘This opponent seems to study my eyes more so than my movements… perhaps I could use that to my advantage’

“It looks like we have some pre match bantering going on here! Let’s put a stop to that, shall we?” The sound of a bell being struck signaled the start of the match.

Faster than I would have given her credit for, black wings sprouted from her back and propelled her forward, closing the gap between us in scant seconds. My training kicked in and automatically had me leaping to the right to dodge her lunging swipe. Bringing the Claymore to bear, I diagonally slashed in her direction and nicked her in her dagger arm. The area on the armor where I had struck glowed a faint yellow, forcing her to reevaluate her position as she circled around me.

“And we have metaphorical first blood! The challenger from Magiville has scored a grazing hit. Ten of those will mean the end of the match!” The announcer communicated with glee.

I kept my sword pointed at her with both hands grasping it. I could tell that my hit, no matter how petty, had gotten to her pride. Gritting her teeth, she charged me and attempted to bash her way past my defenses with her axe and dagger. Putting the length of the Claymore to work, I kept her at bay and backtracked while she probed at my stalwart position. She grinned as she did something I did not expect and used her wings to leap over me with a flip (kicking me in the face while she was at it). I felt two blades poke at my backside and send me stumbling forward.

“Ooh! Looks like the woman from Shady Hollow has repaid that first blood with interest! Two critical hits on the Magiville native, one more will spell the termination of this bout!”

‘Not a favorable situation’ I slapped myself mentally, ‘Gotta up my game’ I wiped at my nose with a forearm to get rid of the pinchy sensation.

Shady Lady pressed her advantage and gave me little time to recover, clashing at my sword a second time with the intent of scoring one last hit and winning. Her arrogance was making her careless however, and once I spotted an opening to exploit, I slammed the pommel of my Claymore into her chin and marked a red gash into her stomach with a horizontal swipe while she recoiled. My blow had stunned her for several seconds, which allowed me to disarm her axe hand with a follow up strike. Only left with her dagger, she made a furious flurry of stabs and slashes that were easy to ward off with fanning motions of my sword. This back and forth went on for a minute before she tried surprising me a second time with her leap over tactic. This time I knew what to expect, and I pretended to fall for it with my eyes. As she utilized her wings for lift and committed herself to the maneuver, I ducked onto my knees and thrust upward forcefully, nabbing her in her stomach and scoring a penultimate hit. This also simultaneously knocked the wind out of her and sent her reeling. She landed roughly on the ground in a heap, just barely holding onto her dagger. I rushed forward to kick it out of her hands and haul her to her feet, before gripping her by the neck and lifting her off the ground like she weighed no more than a doll. With my blade at her throat, I slowly slid the weapon across the chainmail and initialed my final strike onto her metallic flesh, looking her in the eyes all the while.

The horn blared and signaled the end of the match.

Contrary to the fierce way I was man handling her just seconds prior, I gently put her back on her feet and went through the trouble of dusting her off by the shoulders.

“It was a pleasure dueling with you, Miss…?” I courteously fished for a name.

The woman glared at me with that same frigid stare before quietly replying, “Moonbow” and turning to walk away without another word, or asking for my name in return.

“What a match!” The announcer exclaimed in excitement, “After a wily maneuver by the competitor from Shady Hollow that left him verging on a loss, the competitor from Magiville wizened up and got his act together. Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat and coming out on top. He moves on to the next branch!” Her, frankly annoying, voice rang in my ears as I walked off the field and to the armory to wait until the next round.

The second match was nothing worth mentioning, mostly because my opponent; a tall, lean man of Gryphondria, only fought the match halfheartedly. I could tell that something was troubling him, but was too busy deflecting the lightning swift stabs from his rapier to ask him about it. The man only scored one glancing hit on me, while I managed to score all three of mine on him in succession once I socked him in the solar plexus and took advantage of his windedness to go crazy with my Claymore. The horn blared and I could all but feel the disappointment in the crowd’s muted applause at how fast it was over. I decided to follow up with this man and see what the deal was.

“You alright there? You seemed… distant during the duel. Is there something wrong?” I asked him as we descended the steps down from the platform.

There was a mote of uncertainty in his eyes as he regarded me. He indulged me though, “I apologize profusely for boring you, good sir. We men of Gryphondria are proud to be representing our great kingdom in the games, but the tidings back in the homeland are ill. My King is sick, and growing increasingly frail with every passing day… I worry for his health, and for the future of my country. Needless to say that it weighs heavy upon mine heart” He answered somewhat poetically, not diverting his eyes from some ambiguous point in the distance. I felt my admiration for this man increase, in spite of how he all but threw the match out of bleak sentiment. He seemed very loyal to his liege.

“I’ve heard about that. You have my condolences, for what they’re worth. Although… he has an heir to take his place should the worst occur, doesn’t he?”

The man scoffed derisively, “My King is a wise and just ruler, but too lenient a father” He said, twisting his head to the side and derisively spitting into the grass, “Princess Gilda is not fit to take her father’s place, let alone sit upon the Onyx Throne. She does not even see fit to involve herself in the affairs of her own people! Instead she remains here and shirks her obligations to the land of her birth” He glanced sidelong at me, “Not that most of us blame you” He amended, intriguing me with his word choice.

He sighed pessimistically, “I fear that the prestigious Gryffindor bloodline has exhausted itself of that prestige”

I was at a bit of a loss. What could I possibly say to that?

“Well… I’m sorry you’ve come to that disheartening conclusion Mister…?”

He put on a cordial smile, even if it didn’t reach his eyes, “Victor… Victor Valcroft, of the eponymous house Valcroft, sworn servants to his Majesty, the King. You fought well today, my friend. You’ve certainly forced me to reconsider my opinions on the quality of swordsmen that this kingdom produces” He complimented in a voice that skirted the line dividing sarcasm and sincerity.

“I’ll take that as a compliment, I guess”

“As well you should. Farewell” He also forwent the desire to ask for my name in return. Pssh… jerks.

The third match was harrowing. Apparently, a prominent member of the A.S.M.V guard decided that participating in the games would be good fun. He was a massive Agrarian man who was built like a bulldozer, and who eclipsed even Big Macintosh in both size and strength. He wielded an enormous ovular shield that was taller than most of the girls. Emblazoned on the shield’s surface was an ornamental golden, metallic Eagle screaming defiantly with its wings outstretched at any who would dare challenge its owner. In his other hand was a long Halberd that could cleave opponents in two if it were sharped. Still, I imagined that getting whacked with that thing would hurt, so I’d have to be careful for this one… more careful anyway.

‘No fair! He gets a shield and a big ass Spear-Axe!?’ I thought as I gulped down my apprehension at facing such an intimidating looking opponent.

The bell rung out and the man charged me with a swiftness that belied his towering bulk. Stifling a yelp, I feinted left and deceptively circle strafed to the right using my wings (I desperately hoped that nobody from Magiville recognized me when I did that). His recovered equally quickly though, and was back on me in moments. Whenever I would block a swing of his Halberd, he would bash me with his shield and sent me scuttling backwards. His flash bruiser build came at a cost however; as he couldn’t pivot in place nearly fast enough to prevent himself from getting flanked. Borrowing a page from Moonbow’s book, I drew my sword back as if I was going to swing at him overhead while he recoiled his weapon. He anticipated this and angled his shield back to block a blow that wouldn’t come. The angle of his shield gave me enough purchase to run up and engage the usage of my wings to get within his guard. By the time he spun around to deal with me, there were two critical gashes running diagonally across his spinal column. He returned the favor by slamming the shield into my face and sending me careening backwards into a roll. I spat out a globule of blood as I got to my feet, having bitten into my cheek during my fall.

Honorably, the man ceased his charge and spoke in his deep, bassy voice, “You’re bleeding! Shall I call for the Doctors?”

I absently waved a hand in the air and stabbed my Claymore into the floor paneling to help me stand, “It’s fine. It’s not like I’ve bitten off my tongue or anything” I told him without wooziness as I shuffled onto the soles of my shoes. Trifect durability at its finest.

He nodded and returned to his battle stance, “Very well. Prepare yourself!”

I only just managed to get my Claymore up in time to deflect a lunge of his Halberd. Learning from my mistakes and adapting, I stepped around his shield bash and sliced into his shield arm, scoring a non critical hit, but legally forcing him to drop the shield. I supposed that I should be thankful that they tried to incorporate some sense of realism into these duels. My thankfulness didn’t last though, because the man was no less deadly without his shield. His swings and hacks became faster, and much, much harder to block outright. He didn’t just use the business end of his weapon either, finding excuses aplenty to whack me numerous times with the shaft of his Halberd like it was a Bō staff. While they would daze me if he scored a hit on my cranium, Trifect physiology proved immensely difficult to stun for long, and I was always able to duck under a follow up strike.

We continued this song and dance for an entire ten minutes, neither of managing to find an opening to score a decisive hit and end the match. One of us would have to take a risky gamble, and that person was going to be me. Flipping my Claymore into a reverse grip, I pretended to leave him an opening. With hair trigger reflexes, I caught a downward swipe of his Halberd with my sword and used the momentum, along with my imparted strength, to force it into the ground, where I stomped on the flat of the blade to keep it pinned. With a roar, I planted my free hand into the pommel and shoved my Claymore forward, impaling him in his torso… or that’s what would have happened if these weapons were actually sharpened and we weren’t wearing enchanted chainmail. Instead, there was magical resistance that pushed him back, but left a red mark where my stab registered.

“Unbelievable! The champion from Magiville defeats a member of their Majesties’ armed forces with a clever riposte. He progresses into the final branch of the duelist’s event!” The announcer lady spouted, as enthusiastic as ever.

The man huffed as he caught his breath, “You use unorthodox tactics, Zenith. But after facing you in the ring of honor, I can see the merits of having a flexible fighting style. Well fought” The man commended me, knowing me by name. Not that shocking, since most of the guard knew me around the palace, though I’d never seen this fellow before today.

I offered him my hand, feeling a tad faint of breath myself, which he shook amicably with a hearty grip, “I’m not really unorthodox, I just see opportunities and take them wherever I can. Failing that, I create them” I simplified my strategy for him.

He laughed jovially, “That’ll do it! I’m Tower Shield, by the way. I thought you might as well know my name since I know yours”

“Mighty decent of you, Tower Shield” I nodded my respect, “I’m going to find a nice bench to collapse onto now” I headed back to the locker rooms, dragging my Claymore behind me from fatigue and brooding along the way.

Even though I was still mobile enough to dodge the attacks that most opponents I faced would throw at me, the body weights were inevitably taking their toll, and I was growing alarmingly slower in my movements. I prayed that there would be a nice ten minutes before the ultimate showdown with Shining Armor; otherwise I might be in trouble. Regretfully… Fate itself seemed to be conspiring against me, and only granted me five before Jomar told me to get up and haul myself back to the ring for the most challenging match yet.

A bombshell of a reunion awaited me in the ring. Shining Armor was there, looking ridiculous in full chain mail. But standing across from him was a familiar face I hadn’t seen in a while. The man’s eyes widened perceptibly once he became aware of my presence.

“Zenith!” Came the surprised voice of Silver Sword, “Since when did scouts participate in dueling tournaments? And since when did they get this far?”

“Have you no faith in me Silver?” I quipped in good humor, “I thought I proved myself plenty capable when we faced that snow dragon together”

“Aye, that you did” He conceded with a smile while tilting his head questioningly, “Have you grown since then? I don’t remember you being quite so tall before”

“Save the bantering for after the duel, gentlemen” Shining Killjoy rudely cut in, “We have a three way to fight”

I barely resisted the urge to snerk like a juvenile at his terminology, but saluted with my Claymore and took my place in this medieval mexican standoff.

“Alright folks, we’ve finally reached the last stage of the duelist’s event, and what an event it has been, am I right? To shake things up, the finals consist of not two duelists, but three of each clan type! And to make things even more interesting, the respective restrictions placed on them are hereby removed, by decree of Princess Cadence! Each of them is allowed to fully play to their strengths in this match. Sounds like a win-win situation for all involved, doesn’t it?” The announcer giggled, amused by her own witticism.

I glanced at Silver as he shrugged before unclasping the weights on his arms and thighs and tossing them offstage, ‘Oh Cadence, you sneaky little weasel’ Still, I had to admire her cunning.

Lollypop’s hubby’s specialty was Abjuration magic, or protection spells to be specific. Simply put, that meant that he could spam his shield spell whenever he wanted and deflect both Silver’s sword and my Claymore. It wouldn’t be totally one sided though, as Shining had only equipped a Xiphos that was lacking in the reach department. With such an emphasis on defense however, Shining Armor would prove to be a tough nut to crack. And let’s not forget that Silver Sword is an Agrarian, and without any kind of body weights holding him back, his attacks would be difficult to ward off. I’d have to fight this last duel very, very tactically, perhaps pitting them against each other to tire them out before I mopped up. If all else failed, I was now entitled to limitless flight ceiling to dive-bomb them with.

I contemplated all of this in the span of three seconds before the bell rang and Shining and Silver Sword launched themselves at each other. As predicted, Silver’s strikes glanced harmlessly off Shining’s fat strips of shield projections, which shot out magical sparks from the force of the blows being absorbed. Silver grew impatient with trying to break through his defense and sought to try his luck with me instead. I put my wings to work and engaged in acrobatics to try and get inside his guard. Silver was no fool though, and never allowed me to flank him for more than a second before deflecting a blow and riposting.

I nearly gained the misfortune of being the first target to be scored first blood on when Shining attempted to blitz me from behind. My many hours of training paying off in spades, I stopped the overhead blow short and bent out of the way of a stab from Silver, which sailed right into Shining’s torso. As I was currently blocking his weapon, he couldn’t react fast enough to summon his shielding magic and received the first critical hit of the match. Snarling to himself in a rage, he was forced back on the defensive as Silver and I had an unspoken agreement and ganged up on him to see just how adept with his shielding skills he was. Several hacking blows rained down on him as he struggled to keep up with the demand, beads of sweat building on his face. I capitalized on this weariness and circle strafed him with my wings to exploit his unguarded flank.

Sensing the danger, he poured his magic into a bubble spell that repulsed attacks from every direction and held it up. I personally thought it was a cheap tactic, but could see how useful it could be when surrounded by enemies. His spell had a bit of an Achilles heel however, since he was rapidly using up his mana supply to maintain it, and was straining visibly the longer we kept slashing at it. Knowing that deferring to his defensive tactics were no longer an option, he fed the last of his energies into the spell and pulsed it outwards. I saw the flash of magic building on his focal gem and preempted his plan, leaping backwards into the air and pumping my wings to escape the blast radius. This unexpected move seemed to take Silver off guard, who had no means of countering this even if he had seen it coming. He was flung off of his feet and landed on his stomach with an ‘Oomph!’… outside of the ring, which was a disqualification by default. I felt pity for the disgruntled Krystal militiaman, but had bigger fish to fry. Shining began discharging some kind of stunning spell at me multiple times, which were easy enough to evade, as he wasn’t the greatest shot. Using my altitude to my advantage, I began swooping down at him and using my momentum to add additional strength to my blows. Even with what little magic he could muster up for his shield spells, they were not strong enough to resist my renewed string of assaults. With a battle cry of justice for the disgraced Silver Sword, I overwhelmed Shining’s defense and traced an angry red line across his chest. I then landed on the stage to properly finish the job. Down to his last hit point, and thoroughly tired, Shining feebly raised his sword and rushed at me in a last ditch attempt to win the match. I didn’t bother with any fancy acrobatics for this one. Our swords met in a blade lock that I’m sure looked like an epic finale to a duel… the thing was, Shining played right into my hands by doing so. I grinned as I wrapped my left hand around the leather ricasso and used the extra leverage to pivot around the man; thwacking him in the back of the head with the handle of my Claymore and leaving him wide open for an attack. With a final thrust of my Claymore, the duelist’s portion of the Arcanian Athletic Games drew to a close.

The audience was actually silent as the Prince of the Krystal Kingdom was defeated in open combat in front of their eyes. The shock gradually wore off and soon enough; the stadium was alive with the resounding cheers of whistles of the audience.

The announcer was unequivocally impressed, “Absolutely astounding! The man from Magiville comes out on top! That’s one more Golden medal to add to their total of twelve so far! That puts them ahea-” I tuned the rest of her voice out as I turned to Shining Armor, who had sunken to his knees.

“Oh… my wife is going to kill me” I heard him mutter at the extremities of my auditory range.

I offered him a hand up, which he declined, “Why? There’s nothing wrong with the Silver medal” ‘It’s just not as valuable as mine’

“My wife just lost an important bet because I’ve gotten too rusty in the ring” He verbalized bitterly, “It didn’t help that you and Silver teamed up against me, that’s plain dishonorable”

There was that bet again. Why was it such a big deal?

I scoffed in disbelief, “Dishonorable? You were the one who was hiding behind his shields instead of facing us like a real soldier!” I retorted.

He pounded a fist against the stage in anger, “I used to be a Royal Captain of the Guard! There was a time where I could handle two on one situations like that against even dishonorable foes! Now I’m a laughingstock, my guards will never take me seriously now” He bemoaned.

“You’re their Prince, Shining Armor. They respect you by default, but earning their unwavering dedication isn’t something that will be sullied by one lost duel… especially because I was your opponent. And I don’t hesitate to surprise my foes with unorthodox moves, and make good on that surprise for the win” I explained to him to get him to stop sulking, “Anyhow, I’m feeling kind of tired, I think I’m going to turn in for the day. You have fun presiding over the rest of the games! M’kay?” I left him to either stew in his newfound moodiness or mull over what I told him. Stabbing my Claymore into the earth, I spat into my hands to rub away the flaky paint with so that I wouldn’t look like I was on the warpath anymore.

“Zenith! Congratulations on your win! I think you’ve earned it, not too shabby for a scout!” Silver jokingly said to me as I descended the steps from the dueling platform, “How about you and I get some drinks at the Gemmed Tankard with Ardent and Pierce as celebration? My treat” He offered generously.

I gave him a grateful expression, “That… sounds most agreeable, Silver”

I spent the remainder of the day catching up with the closest thing I had to guy friends at the local tavern that Daring and I once visited. We spent the hours imbibing and trading stories of our lives since the last time I was in town. I now had several stories of my own to regale them with, which made me feel somewhat accomplished. Pierce had difficulty taking me for my word when I revealed to him that I was in multiple relationships with nearly half a dozen amazing women (though all he wanted to know was how beautiful they were). Ardent was loud and proud as usual, though he too revealed to me that he met a nice local girl who he was going steady with. When the evening came, we parted ways and I made a beeline for Crystal’s home (Where another heartfelt reunion would occur) and spent the night there.

The next day happened more or less the same as the previous one, with events being announced by a recently humbled Prince Shining Armor that I didn’t pay much attention to. I carried out a short trip to my room in the citadel so I could change out of my plain clothes and into my repaired robes, sliding on my Tantō through the belt loops in my backside out of habit. I mostly came to the stadium to get my ass chewed out by the girls for not telling them that I was part of the athletic games, for them to gawk over the medal that was given to me by Crystal Clear (who anticipated that I would come to her and had asked the officials if she could hold onto it for me), and to show my support for Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash as they faced off against four other relay teams in the opening event of the day. The relay course for that was unlike any track I had ever seen, composed of tubes, rings, and mazes of cloud that pushed each contestant’s physical prowess and mental acuity to the limit. As was to be expected, Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps (who had wings that wouldn’t look out of place on a hummingbird) lagged at the rear of the pack, but they looked like they were enjoying themselves. Fortunately for team Magiville, the obstacles took their toll on the majority of the faster teams and bogged them down enough for the two of them to keep pace long enough to fork over the baton to Rainbow Dash. The spectrum headed flyer took that moment to rocket out from her starting position to dart around the track and pass every competitor save one, becoming neck and neck with an also speedy woman with bright, fiery orange hair who must have been Captain Spitfire. They both tried to leave one another in the dust for the rest of the way until they crossed the finish line, with Spitfire being declared the winner by a nose.

I groaned to myself in vague disappointment, but remembered that our team did pretty well considering the odds stacked against them. That was spoiled when I then bore witness to the major embarrassment of Spike trying to sing the Stratopolis anthem and failing horrifically as the three winning teams stood awkwardly on their winner’s podium and listened to a city’s anthem get lyrically slaughtered. Evidently, improvising anthems that he didn’t know was not one of Spike’s uses. Dash took me much later to meet her idols in person in a lounging area down by the locker rooms so I could meet some of my fellow Gold medalists. They were very charismatic people, and I could see why Dash admired them so much. Their fastest, Fleetfloot, spoke with a noticeable lisp and was a cute looking thing, if a bit short. Soarin had a happy go lucky type of personality and freely admitted that he was fond of pies, demonstrating a disturbingly extensive knowledge about the baking process as well as the history behind each individual pie flavor that surpassed mere fondness and wandered into obsession territory. He was a cool dude, even if he was extremely weird and possessed kind of a dopey sounding voice. Their Captain, Spitfire, was an awesome chick and clearly the brains behind their operations as an aerialist group, not to mention that she was smokin’ hot. She told me about why Wonderbolts were only led by Captains because it kept in accordance with a historical tradition from the past where elite wing commanders would turn down any promotions beyond the rank of Captain in order to stay in the field with the troops under their command. I shook each of their hands and accepted their own accolades about my skill with a sword.

In the corner of my eye, I spotted a dejected looking Spike stalk past the door of the lounging area and to one of the entrances leading onto the field, politely excusing myself from the Wonderbolt’s company I left a star struck Rainbow Dash behind to drool after her departing idols while I followed the suspiciously acting boy. For some inexplicable reason he was wearing a fedora, rounded shades, and a light grey coat jacket that was a few sizes too large for him. Even though I couldn’t muffle my steps with magic to ensure that I stayed under the radar (I had to pass through the nullifying gates a second time to keep suspicion from the officials regarding my clan type off me), he was too sullen to pay any regard to his environment as he trudged onwards. He stopped just shy from going onto the field and stood to the side, watching the ice archery event occur. I kept my distance for the time being and observed both the boy and the event.

Ice Archery was not like regular archery where shots to the center of the target netted one the most points. Instead, the archer had to cover up an entire target using specially enchanted ice arrows, which would freeze a small portion of any flat surface they struck. It was an interesting sport that required finesse and a speedy hand for nocking a new arrow from the quivers kept on stands next to the individual archers. From what I saw, the two competitors wearing the storm cloud and rainbow emblem on their team jerseys were doing the best work so far, effectively freezing the targets whole on the ground level and moving on to the targets hanging above them on gantries. Other than the two Stratopolis competitors, Pierce was one of the players representing the Krystal Kingdom (And while he was faring well, he was not shooting well enough to eclipse the skill of the two Valkyrian competitors standing next to him, much to his mounting aggravation). The other two competitors were from towns that I could not recall the names of off the top of my head. I did, however, recognize a brown haired man wearing the colors of Magiville as Archer’s father, Straight Shot. Unfortunately, straight shooting was not what determined the winners of an ice archery match, and he was visibly falling behind all of the others. I leaned against wall as I began to zoom in on him as he eventually fidgeted in his movements, which threw his aim off as he took additional arrows to completely cover over the target that was level with him on the ground.

Archer’s father started to sweat as he fell behind the competition with his shots, whipping out an arrow a little too hastily while also misjudging the height of one of his targets. He let one fly with a twang of his bowstring followed by a shriek as the frozen arrow sailed into a wayward cloud floating just about the stadium. The spot where the arrow landed began to freeze up briskly, before the whole of the cloud turned into a rapidly sinking, jagged iceberg of death. There must have been some cloud left in it, as it didn’t fall out of the sky instantaneously. Instead, it agonizingly prolonged its descent and gradually gained speed, letting petrifying fear sink into the helpless spectators hearts as they saw it coming for them, immobilizing many of them to their seats.

Time slowed down and my blood ran cold as I took in the scene, my heartbeat became a rhythmic pounding in my ears. The females in the crowd all gasped and many pointed upwards. The Royal sisters instantly stood to their feet, but I could see that would not intervene on behalf of their subjects unless the need was absolutely dire. The two Valkyrian competitors reacted quickly, tossing their bows to the side and flying up to meet it, trying and slow the icy behemoth’s tumble from the starlit ceiling. Several Valkyrians from the crowd courageously rushed in to aid them, including the ever brave Rainbow Dash and… admirably enough, Fluttershy as well. But even with the additional wing power, it became all too clear that they could only delay the inevitable. Once that gargantuan glacial mass hit the earth, it would shatter into a million pieces, many of which would soar into the stands and injure, possibly even perforate, multiple innocent bystanders. The Krystal Kingdom would bear witness to another great tragedy.

I turned to the boy beside me, “Spike! Contact your inner drake and use your fire breath to melt that ice cloud!” I shouted at him frantically. But Spike just stood and stared at the danger, wide eyed from my unexpected presence and unable to be of much use.

“Dammit!” I cursed. I instantly overpowered the weak seal of magic on me, meant only for repressing an average Stellar Mage, and permeated the atmosphere with a noise like breaking glass. Simultaneously I summoned my wings and raced out into the center of the stadium in full view of everybody spectating.

“FLY, YOU FOOLS!” I commanded the Valkyrians above me in the stentorian Royal Concordian voice, to which they instinctually obeyed and made haste to get out of the soon to be literal line of fire. I felt the energy building up from within, resulting in a hazy crimson shimmer that radiated from my being. I unsheathed my Tantō, barely taking notice of the emblem on the pommel that was glowing a nearly blinding white. Scarcely restrained anger at being forced to act at my own expense boiled up within me, lending great strength to the fire spell I was about to let loose. Channeling all the arcane power I could muster into my blade, I unleashed what had to have been my most powerful, focused fire spell to date. A concentrated torrent of flame shot skyward, piercing the frozen cloud with all the fury that a rushed beam of pure thermal energy could afford. The stream of magically based fire soared into the heavens like an angrier version of the Sorcery projected from Minas Morgul’s tower during the Return of the King. I began to widen the projection aperture of the fire spell, expanding it until it consumed the cloud entirely.

Naught of the hapless cloud remained save for residual humid steam, which quickly cooled and descended onto the ground, shrouding my surroundings in a thin mist. Even though it was all but futile at this point, I sheathed my blade and pulled my robe’s hood over my head, shielding my face from view. A tense silence soon followed, with my previous actions plunging the stadium into a motionless calmness. From under my hood, only my eyes could be seen, which glowed a menacing red after expending so much magic in such a short period of time. With that charming feature active and my dark clothing, I probably appeared like more of a villain than a savior to them. And yet at the edges of my brooding awareness, I could make out the sound of roaring applause, followed by vociferous cheers as the veil of fog parted and revealed me standing there safe and sound.

Not wanting to stick around any longer than was necessary, I began walking back the way I came with mechanically rigid motions. Much was coursing through my mind at the moment, and my evening had taken a turn in a direction that I considered for the worst.

Spike rushed forwards to meet me halfway, “Zenith, that was incredible! You saved those peo-”

“Not another word, Spike the brave and glorious” I tersely interrupted as I pushed past him and into the hallways that would lead up to the citadel, making a swift heading for my quarters.

⁂

Despite sealing myself into my room, I was not feeling any less surrounding by people than I would have liked. I was doubly vexed by how the ‘Go away, I’m brooding’ sign posted on my door didn’t seem to be deterring my visitors.

“C’mon Zenith, it’s not that big of a deal” Rainbow attempted to coax me out by downplaying the whole thing.

“Go away, Dash”

Spike could be inspirited into overcoming his stage fright and lighting the torch, and yet he wasn’t able to summon his courage when others needed him most... typical. His indecision also forced me to reveal my identity to several hundred people, some of whom had occupations in the media. Celestia would see this as an excuse to formally introduce the newest Trifect to their ranks, now that my cover was blown sky high. Every time I'd go out my door and into the world, someone, somewhere would be bother me with their concerns, or instinctual reaction to bow, or other manner of trouble that I cared little for. I could pretty much kiss my desire to remain relatively obscure goodbye. I think from my standpoint, it was perfectly understandable as to why I was in such a foul mood.

“How is performing at a rock concert and in the games in front of countless people any different than revealing that you’re a Trifect?” Twilight posed rhetorically.

“Regular attention dies down with time, the introduction of a fourth Trifect won’t dissipate as easily” I answered as I paced back and forth.

“I think you’re just afraid of attention” Rainbow’s words prodded at me through the door.

“Goading me out won’t work either, Dash”

“Bah! It’s useless, Twilight. We might as well let him stew in there, I’m going to get some dinner with the others” A whooshing of air told me that Dash had winged it out of there.

“Zenith…” Came her last plea, “I understand that you’ve wanted to keep your status as a Trifect secret for a while now, but wouldn’t there eventually come a time where you’d have to be recognized for what you are? I hardly think that saving many dozens of people would a bad first impression to make” She reasoned.

I only barely registered it, busy as I was with planning something that I’ve wanted to do for an age now. I rifled through the belonging in my adventure pack, equipping the rest of my armaments out of habit, before finding the object I was looking for.

“I’ll face the world later… but not now, Twilight. Please understand? I just need some space to myself for a moment”

I heard her sigh forbearingly through the door, “All right, Zenith. But if you change your mind, you can find us in the dining room of the citadel”

“Okay. Thank you, Twilight. I’ll do my best to cheer myself up before then, I promise” ‘Now I know which area to avoid’

I waited for the sounds of her footsteps to recede completely before engaging in what I considered to be cheering myself up. Casting extra sensory perception spells on myself, I scanned the hall for anybody, be they guards or otherwise, before unlocking the door and snaking out into the hallway. Making a short stop by a directory for directions to the royal bedchambers of the Prince and Princess, I cast a full cloak of active camouflage on myself and became one with the shadows. Weaving through the corridors and taking cover behind a curtain or other tall object whenever patrols passed by. Before long I had made it to my objective, though now I had to figure out a way to sneak past the guards standing sentry by the door. While I deliberated a way to distract them, the portal opened and both the Prince and Princess emerged, dressed in formal wear for the evening.

They were in the middle of a discourse, “For the last time, I’m not mad at you, Shiny, nor do I think any less of your skills as an ex-Captain of the guard. Zenith is… a capable person, as he so demonstrated when he vaporized the danger to our guests and subjects” She hesitated, likely remembering how strange I could be in addition.

“In all my time as a Captain in the Royal Guard, I’ve only ever seen Princess Celestia summon that much raw, destructive power” He spoke in awe before he shook his head, “But that’s not what has me the most concerned. Wasn’t it your dream to keep the Krystal Kingdom independent of Arcania? Losing the bet with Princess Celestia means that our new home will practically be all but annexed into becoming the northernmost territory of the country”

‘So that’s what the bet was about’ I mused. Once again, I had unwittingly been a pawn in Celestia’s game of thrones. I had gotten used to it to be honest, though it would be the last time that I championed for her without being duly informed of what I was really doing for her.

“If it were really my dream, my dearest Shining Armor, I wouldn’t have staked it on chance by entering into that wager. I would have stood more resolutely and insisted on keeping the Krystal Kingdom truly independent” She exhaled thoughtfully, “Perhaps this is for the best, having Arcania’s full fledged support will help this Kingdom reclaim its glory days ahead of schedule. The massive amounts of business that the games have stirred up so far is a testament to that, the local economy has never been stronger, to say nothing of all the other support that Arcania has been lending us”

She turned to the guards posted by her door, “Your rotation replacements should be here in the next five minutes, why don’t you two take the evening off early?” She asked them, though it was clear that it was more of a kindly request on her part, really.

The bowed their heads in thanks, “You have our gratitude, your most generous grace” They chorused together with a crisp salute, before turning heel and marching in the opposite direction.

‘Oh… this is too perfect’ I thought to myself as the Prince and Princess disappeared down the corridor. Was it a trap? Were there detection spells inside?

“Nothing ventured… nothing gained” I murmured to myself, pushing ahead and past the door into the opulently decorated bedroom.

If what Cadence said was accurate, I only had about a minute or two of liberty before I’d have to beat a swift retreat. Scanning the room for an optimal spot to put my new ‘alarm clock’ for the royal couple, Cadence in particular, I pushed out a dresser close to the heart shaped bed (‘Why am I not surprised?’) and took out an empty sound crystal that I had purchased from Vinyl and imbued it with Haddaway’s ‘What is love?’, simultaneously enchanting it to go off within a few hours time with a blaring volume. Yes… I was getting over my moping by pranking the royal couple… but I needed something to distract myself from the prospect of committing to my Princely duties, dammit!

Satisfied with my work, I shut the door behind me and made my escape, reengaging my camo spell as precaution. Ghosting between the scheduled replacements, I had a smirk on my face as I envisioned the royal couple freaking out once the sound crystal went off, followed by their guards rushing inside in expectation of an intruder before searching for the disturbance. They’d probably scan the aura tied to the crystal and tie it back to me, but I was willing to take a little heat in exchange for a less troubled mood.

I was literally shaken out of my thoughts when I felt something wooden and flat smack me in the back of the head and disabled the concentration I had on my camo spell, causing it to flicker before rendering me visible again. It didn’t hurt by any means, but my reaction was naturally enacted as if it did.

I spun in place, “Ow! What the-?” I promptly stopped speaking… bearing witness to a bizarre sight.

My Tantō… was levitating itself, the emblem on the bottom glowing once more. I checked around for a Stellar Mage who might have been joshing me, but blinked once I realized that there was no aura around my weapon, not even a very faint or obscure one. Not in the mood for this crap, I reached out to grab it. As if to mock me, it swooped away from me and proceeded to give me another whack on the forehead, soon after it floated down a random hallway.

“Ack! Hey! Get back here!” Yes, I was speaking to an animated-inanimate object, but something… or someone must have been controlling it. It wasn’t unreasonable to let them know that screwing with me was a poor decision.

Taking pursuit, I chased my rogue Tantō down half a dozen hallways (all of which were conspicuously absent of guards) before it ducked inside a doorway, seemingly out of purposefulness. Cautious as always of a potential trap, I flicked out my hidden blades and kept them at the ready as I pushed the rest of the door all the way open. Almost anticlimactically, there was nothing all that interesting about the room, only containing some glass cases filled with ancient pottery, a few well painted portraits, and a huge looking glass mirror with a frame that was shaped like an omega symbol. The Tantō I was chasing was floating in front of the mirror, waving almost mockingly at me before passing through the mirror’s surface. The surface rippled and the reflection of the room became blurred, before stabilizing itself again.

Meanwhile, I was trying to make sense out of what I just saw and couldn’t make heads or tails of it. All I knew was that the mirror was functioning as some kind of portal and that the weapon that had served me so faithfully since the beginning of this all had disappeared on me.

‘I could just leave it… I should just leave it. But I’ve really developed a connection with that thing’ I thought worriedly. I almost felt like it was a part of me at this point.

It wasn’t too hard of a choice. I was going to get my Tantō back, come hell or high water. Guardedly, I approached the mirror and dipped my foot into it, testing the figurative (and almost literal) waters. The surface gave way without resistance, sending out waves like a pebble that was dropped into a pond. Not satisfied, I pressed my hand through the glass and withdrew it, feeling another pang of disappointment when it didn’t feel like anything. A part of me likened it to stepping into a Stargate; only I had no idea where this unorthodox ‘gate’ would take me. I’d have to risk it though, if I wanted to get my prized possession back.

With a deep breath, I steeled myself with resolution, stepped past the event horizon of the mirror, and traveled into the unknown.

Author's Note:

And... cue the cliffhanger! It took me longer than I anticipated to get this chapter out, but it's finally here! I apologize to my readers who despise having to read long ass chapters, but at this point my chapter outline has made it clear that monumentally bloated chapters are now a part of my writing style. Don't expect another chapter from me earlier than usual, as I simply don't have the time nor the drive to pump out daily updates like some authors on this site do. Again, comments and constructive criticisms are welcomed (though pretty please with a cherry on top, refrain from only telling me your criticisms, I'd like to know where my strengths lie in storytelling as well. Though I'll fully admit that my fight scenes are utter garbage). If any of you need me, I'll be occupying myself with Starbound... or at least until Shadow of Mordor comes out.

Wishing you all the best,
~Zenith

Comments

[Spacecowboy]

Okay, umm... I read fast, but even I have issues swallowing 50,000 words in a single sitting. Chapter management and break points, even if it becomes Pt 1, Pt 2, etc... that'd be very helpful. I keep meaning to reread it, as I do like the ideas you had to a large degree in your approach here, but egads... I thought I'd politely mentioned this already, but I guess not. After 20k, chapters become hard to go in one sitting.

Remain prolific, but please... break some of these down if you can do so without a major interruption of the flow.

[Zenith Starwalker]

5022781 Don't worry, the next chapter shouldn't be longer than 30K (I hope). I'll be taking an idea I absolutely despise and turning it on its head.

[Maeroon]

I'm amazed on how you managed to write this fast. 52k words in just a month is no joke.

[Zenith Starwalker]

5023222 Dude, that Kudzuhaiku author writes a heckuva lot more than me in shorter periods of time.

[thatraptor]

oh no your tuning him in to a teenager

[Mänic]

Excellent, as per the norm, and I'm intrigued as to how you'll handle equestria girls, especially since they're already human.

[Zenith Starwalker]

5024151 Who says they'll be human?

[Maeroon]

Finished reading it, and I gotta say, I can't wait for the next chapter. Since the people from the EG universe are already pastel colored human beings, I wonder what surprises you'll bring this time.

Maybe it's be the opposite and we'll see the normal MLP equestria.

Can't wait.

5023433 He writes smaller chapters though. That takes away a bit of awe for me.

[Zenith Starwalker]

5028283 You're closer to the mark than you know... and yet still slightly off centered. Still, expect the unexpected... in about a month or so, give or take.

[tk4]

5025145 I think Manic means: how you would interpret them as, as they are originally humans on the movie.
Anyways, keep up good work!

[Toobert]

YOU SON OF A BITCH!! A CLIFFHANGER ON SUCH A SUBSTANTIAL POINT IN THE STORY!? GAHHH!!!

Kudos, by the way, you are a fantastic writer and Zenith, or as I'm going to perceive his real name, Bruce, and his extensive vocabulary make for an interestingly immersive experience. And all you need to do for your fight scenes is describe more action based themes as in what the combatants are doing, and make sure to keep it fast paced yet not rushed.

[Zenith Starwalker]

5038031 Nice guess on the name... but no cigar, I'm afraid. Thank you for your continued readership and advice on how to better improve the action scenes. There won't be much of that in the next chapter, though I assure you that there will be in the one after that.

[Toobert]

5038623 Speaking of chapters, when is the next one due?

[Zenith Starwalker]

5039751 I've started writing on it, but expect the usual month long wait. Ideally, I'd do my damndest to churn one out in three weeks, but University Fall Quarter is beginning of October for me, so I might not have all the time I need to focus purely on this. Don't worry though, I have no intention of ever letting this story collect dust.

[AficionadoAvacado]

I have a bit of criticisms for this story. For one, I love the length of your chapters, but with that length, and the time in between each update, I don't remember many characters. I remember what they did, but their names come up blank. Who is this fellow from chapter two? I don't know, it was two months ago. I have a solution to this, whenever saying something about a character from 5+ chapters ago, mention something important about them. You've done it here, but with other characters I don't have that instant snap of remembrance, since they simply aren't that memorable. Also, zenith is supposed to be logical, right? Why the fuck did he just walk right into a magic mirror for his tanto? He could've just as easily asked what the mirror did, then went it. Anyways, love the story, bro. Keep it up.

[AficionadoAvacado]

Name guess, Brian, bryan, Branson, bragorb.

[Zenith Starwalker]

5042886 Thanks, I'll keep it in mind. This won't be the same mirror as the one from EQ girls, and it certainly won't lead to the same place. I may have understated just how important the Tanto was to Zenith, but suffice it to say that he's grown very attached to it. All I gotta say on the names is that you're getting very warm.

[Zenith Starwalker]

5043620 Of course! However, I was only using that term in the loosest sense. The economy system is a simple one when it comes to mere bartering, however there are corporations that I've written into this world that are given free reign for the most part, so long as they maintain a certain level of trustworthiness.

[Toobert]

5043480 It is unbecoming of a young man to lie about what happened, now isn't it? I was describing exactly what I felt with a meme. That and I didn't think about your method, so... Yeah. Oh! And you, my friend, are in for a helluva ride with this story! Have fun!

[Blaze the draconic mage]

When will ther be more

[Zenith Starwalker]

5071506 About a month, give or take a few days.

[AficionadoAvacado]

5072007 A month, or a few days. Also missing the story, bro.

[AficionadoAvacado]

3563630 your grammar is fuckin wonderful.

[Zenith Starwalker]

5129483 Might be a bit delayed this time around, I've been swamped with working on weekends piled on top of university stuff. I've been adding to it piece by piece though, so hopefully it won't be that much longer.

[AficionadoAvacado]

5072007 awesome, bro. Can't wait.

[Toobert]

Brandon.

[Zenith Starwalker]

5145614 It's amusing that people keep guessing at the protagonist's name, although I might just be a troll author and make it a Macguffin.

[Toobert]

It is getting around that time, Mr. Starwalker. When is the next installment due? And for such a long wait, I would expect the chapter to be of astounding quality and length, as per the norm.

[Zenith Starwalker]

5153266 The 'norm' as it is, fluctuates regularly, so I'm not always able to meet my self imposed monthly deadline. It's over 12K at the moment, and I add to it whenever I'm able to. I'll do my best to get it out to my readers as soon as possible.

[Zenith Starwalker]

5161741 Working on it. Might be a little on the delayed side.

[zeldawolffang]

this is great keep up the great work ^_^

[Zenith Starwalker]

5187587 I'll try my best to put out the next one before the end of the month.

[zeldawolffang]

5188144 That would be awesome ^_^ be sure to take your time never want to rush something like this :P also have a mustache

[AficionadoAvacado]

So uh.....tomorrow is the end of the month. You know what that means? THAT THE ETERNAL SKELETON WAR SHALL RAGE ON THE BEST IT CAN TOMORROW NIGHT! VIVA LA SKELETON! Oh, and a new chapter, maybe.

[Zenith Starwalker]

5206392 Hmm.... *Holds thinker pose*. All I can say is... definitely maybe.

[AficionadoAvacado]

5206804 yesssss. Seriously, dough. Can't wait for chapter

[Dandle]

Oh HELL YES!

This is the first time I've seen a human go through the mirror. Albeit, everyone else is human... Plus, I'm just assuming this is the Equestria Girls portal. But I'm excited nonetheless!

[Fireeaters]

“‘Twoud be my utmost pleasure to partake in a spot of afternoon tea with you, oh kindest maiden of the woods”

*'Twould
(I think you forgot an 'l', and Google's spell checker agrees. It asked me if I wanted to turn spellcheck on one day, and I agreed.)