The Shadow in the Mirror

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I woke up in a daze, my vision hazy. Cold hard stone was pressed against my body as I struggled to understand what was going on.

A sharp pain in my head made me wince as I pushed myself up, attempting to figure out what had happened by looking around. Gleaming or glittering walls met my gaze, with various ornate patterns on them and even on some of the objects I saw. Confusion started to set in as it resembled nothing like my apartment.

A nearby mirror, twice my height and taller than it was wide caught my attention. I shook my head to clear my vision and recognized the patterns! It was the mirror I had bought at that garage sale just last week. Memories of all the time spent cleaning it and getting the dirt out of the cracks and crevices just because I could came to the front of my mind as I tried to remember what happened in-between.

I attempted to stand up and nearly fell over at the unfamiliar movement. A second try, at a slower pace still had the world shaking around me and I quickly fell down to all fours and stared at the ground, trying to will myself into functioning properly once more.

I think back to when the mirror was clean, and a hazy memory of reaching a hand up to clean the mirror’s surface with the Windex and paper towel came to mind. I remember my fingers going through the mirror, a cold tingling sensation spreading across them as I looked at the mirror in surprise. I tried to put the palm of my hand on the surface that had otherwise been solid, only to watch as my entire hand sunk through.

I jerked my head upward as I remembered something grabbing me by the wrist and pulled me forcibly through the mirror! I reached up to the back of my head as I winced, remembering hitting it on the side of the mirror in the tug through. I couldn’t feel any bump, but the side of my head still felt tender.

I looked toward the mirror again, realizing it must have been a portal of some kind like in the occasional story. I inwardly smirked as I remembered a certain wardrobe and started to ‘walk’ to the mirror on all fours, when something in the mirror caught my attention.

Instead of seeing a reflection, I saw my apartment walls in the background and even some of the clothes that didn’t make their way to the laundry basket. Standing in front of that were two horses, with strange colors for their bodies. There was a lime green horse that stood, looking almost as dazed as I felt, and when I looked to its mane, I blinked and rubbed at my eyes before realizing it had a horn.

I wondered for a moment why I would be seeing a unicorn, in a color that was not white, and with a mane of the same lime green with yellow accents. It was a peculiar sight and it seemed as perplexed as I was! Next to it was a darker, and even slightly transparent, small little lights shining on its coat occasionally. It had a larger chest and a more assertive stance to where I had to assume it was male and the other one was female.

I swallowed nervously as I walked toward the mirror, but paused after the second step. The apartment background was disappearing and giving way to this room’s reflection, yet the two ponies remained. The dark one stood still and was as visible as ever, and the green one took the same two steps that I had.

“No, it couldn’t be…” I mumbled quietly, not daring to believe my eyes.

The dark one started to look like he was laughing, or perhaps snickering at me. I ignored him and looked down, hoping to not see what I was starting to suspect.

Sure enough, the mirror was showing a reflection of sorts. Below me were two lime green legs, with no hand on the end to speak of, and looking down between my legs, I saw another rear pair of lime green legs.

I pulled my head upward again, feeling the blood rush away from my mind as the room spun a little before I took a deep breath with my eyes closed. Once I had calmed, I opened my eyes and started to walk toward the mirror slowly, trying to make a note of how my body chose to move.

The reflection of the lime green mare faded away and the darker male started to walk confidently toward the mirror’s surface to take her place. He looked unreasonably aggressive, but I shook my head and reminded myself that if I could go through the mirror once, I could go back. I was curious about where I was to be sure, but I was due to go to work and exploring would have to come later if at all.

The mirror met my head with a resoundingly cold ‘thud’, and a dull pain spread across the front of my face as I tumbled back in surprise.

“What the-” I started to grumble before rubbing my face and standing up again, glaring toward the mirror.

The dark one smirked and shook his head, as if to tell me I could not pass. My glare refocused on him and his gaze hardened as he shook his head again. Determined, I walked up to the mirror and tried to put a hand or hoof or whatever I had up against the mirror and put it wherever he wasn’t.

He put his own hoof up, impossibly mirroring my movements, even when I tried to stand on two legs and moved both of my hand-things to find some purchase, but to no avail. His gaze started to become more and more intense and angry as we progressed to the point where I started to feel threatened by his gaze. Embarrassed, I dropped down to all fours and decided to take the time and look around the room. If I wasn’t allowed to go back because of some jerk, I’ll need to find another solution.

There was a single pair of doors to the room, and two slim windows higher up in the room. I strode toward the door, seeing lever style handles and reached up to give them a push downward.

The door-lever only twisted a little before stopping, confirming that they were locked. I looked at the handle a bit more closely, trying to see if there was a way to unlock the door. A small click could be heard from the door and I looked at the crack in surprise as the door’s lever moved of its own accord. Someone must be opening it from the other side!

I had no idea if the people or things in this world knew what the mirror did or what to expect, and quickly hid behind the slowly opening door, looking around for a hiding spot. Despite my panic, the door did not open more than the crack and my heartbeat slowly calmed as I realized nothing was about to happen, nor any noise came from the outside.

Chuckling quietly at my scare, I walked over to the doorway and slowly opened it so I could peek my head through. A grand hallway spanned to the left and right, but not a sign of anyone else. After waiting a minute, I stepped out into the hall, walking toward the right path.

With halls as tall as they were, and comfortably wide, it elicited wonder at who would design it this way, or why. My thoughts were interrupted by footsteps and small chinking of metal reminiscent of armor in movies. I felt my body freeze by instinct as I wondered what to do. There was nowhere nearby to hide, and I couldn’t reach the door I came from in time, I was pretty certain of that, and then saw the outline of the individual.

Steeling myself, I prepared the ‘take it casually’ approach. I knew back home that people assumed what they wanted to see, and if I looked guilty, I would be questioned for sure. If I acted normally, provided I wasn’t seen as the intruder I was, I could possibly go unnoticed.

An armored guard comes into view, equine like the reflections I saw in the mirror, with a white coat and blue mane. I looked quickly to his head only to not spot a horn on his head. Intrigued, but not daring to push my luck, I continued to walk along, giving him a courteous nod.

He nodded in kind and continued on as if nothing were out of place. The color of gold glinting off of the armor made me pause, wondering who would have gold as an armor metal, when I spotted that this guard had wings! I wanted to look again just to be sure, but he had already passed, and I rounded the corner he came from.

I was risking being lost in this place, but I still had not spotted anything to indicate how I could return home or what to do. After a quick pause in the hall, I decided it was best to keep moving, and try going where the guard was coming from. Perhaps I could find a place where I could ask questions and figure out what was going on and how to get back that way.

A few more guards came by, and as each one passed, my confidence grew. It was clear that there were some similarities, though I almost looked at one guard confused when I heard a friendly, “Afternoon ma’am,” from one of them.

Eventually, I reached a grander hallway than before, stained glass windows were displayed along the sides and shining brightly. Whoever placed them there knew what they were doing I assumed, based on how well lit they all were. They were interesting murals, depicting something, though I didn’t recognize half of what I saw. Many of them included depictions of equines, some with wings, some with horns, even a couple without.

I spotted a larger clear window and walked quickly over to it, intent to take a look at the place outside of this building, not sure what to expect.

Spread out below was a view of a city or a town, many buildings of varying sizes visible, the streets separating them similarly to home. I looked twice as I spotted the bustling residents all being four legged, and based on what I saw earlier with the guards, were likely equine as well. Beyond the city, lush green fields sprawled over a couple gentle hills, with a forest beyond it, and various clouds in the sky. The colors almost seemed too vivid to be real.

“Enjoying the view?” a gentle feminine voice asked from nearby.

I stood up, feeling my heart jump to my throat as I realized I was noticed. I very nearly tripped over my legs, trying to hide how surprised I felt. The voice chuckled as I stood, trying to keep my sight toward the window and acting like nothing had happened.

“I find this view to be my favorite as well, when I have the time at least.” It continued.

“It is impressive for sure.” I managed to say, using her speaking to me as my cue to look in her direction. I nearly gasped at what I saw, noticing a white form, twice as tall and twice as slender as the other equines I had seen. At her sides were wings, and on her head was a long thin horn. She was clearly different from the others I’d seen thusfar.

“So what brings you to my castle today then little one?” She asked, almost sounding like how someone would talk to a young child. It wasn’t demeaning, and carried tones of something akin to a caring parent, and while I still felt uneasy, it was comforting nonetheless.

“I’m not entirely sure. I got a bit lost on my way here. Where am I exactly?” I asked slowly, trying to continue my casual approach from earlier.

“You're in my castle's throne room, in a charming city called Canterlot.” She replied, giving a smirk that suggested to me it was clear she knew something was different, and yet she wasn’t alarmed by it. My heart raced as I wondered just how much she actually knew.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t remember arriving at a castle, nor do I recognize that city’s name. What state is it in, or where could I spot it on a map?” I asked, making one last attempt to glean information without giving away my circumstances. It would be bad news for certain if they realized I was trespassing in a castle… though I couldn’t help but wonder who she was if she was the owner of it.

“State?” she paused, thinking while that smirk stayed on her face, “I think I know how we can get you back home. Come with me.”

We walked at a slow pace back the path I came. I walked with her readily, curious to know more about her by her actions, and admittedly return home. If I returned soon, I could avoid being considered missing, but it was very tempting to call in to work anyway and explore a little longer. It was clear I had the hang of things enough to find out a bit more about this place. As we rounded another corner, she spoke to me again.

“Please, tell me how you came to be here. What is your name?” she asked, still sounding as gentle as before.

I hesitated, not sure what answer to give. She clearly wasn’t acting clueless, and almost seemed to enjoy this verbal dance we had. It was nice to have someone to speak to that was able to understand me so readily, or seemed to at least, but I wasn’t sure of their naming conventions or how well it’d be received.

Another glance up at her face told me that it would be safe to tell her. She didn’t appear to have any malice intended, and seemed genuinely interested. Guilt started to seep in as I realized if I lied, I likely was just digging a deeper hole than I already might have.

I explained as much as I could, going back in my memory to the garage sale and my desire for a full length mirror, how I cleaned it and was pulled into the mirror. She remained quiet and attentive through my story, though I wondered why we did not encounter any guards like I had before. Her pace slowed a bit more when I spoke of the mirror and how I cleaned it, but once I reached the part of the story where I was in the room, we had arrived.

“I believe we're here.” She said, walking toward the door. It opened of its own accord to accommodate her and I stared agape as I noticed a light golden huge around the door and her horn.

“How did you…” I hesitated, trying to figure out how to express my confusion.

“I'll explain in a moment, for now, please show me what you mean and step through that mirror for me.” She said, walking toward the mirror and sitting near it, gesturing with her forelimb in its direction.

I hesitated after stepping into the room, hearing the door close behind me. I looked at the mirror and remembered the dark horse’s glare and anger as I attempted to return home before. Yet now that I looked, the mirror did not have his reflection, nor of the light green one that I think I had become.

I walked slowly toward the mirror, still feeling hesitant as I waited for him to appear, but he never did. I let out a sigh of relief within a few paces of the mirror and started to step more confidently toward the mirror, feeling glad that I would be able to return home. The thought of asking if I could come back and talk more crossed my mind, when suddenly the dark horse appeared in front of me, standing on two legs and raising his forelimbs up suddenly.

I opened my eyes wide and panicked, trying to pull backward but only managing to fall over, feeling my hip hit the hard stone floor as the rest of my back followed suit and I rolled away from the mirror. My breathing grew ragged as I looked up and back at the mirror in surprise.

The dark horse was back on all four legs now, his face making me think he was laughing at me, yet I couldn’t spot any sign of malice like I would have expected for that kind of stunt. I squinted my eyes at him to keep looking for a reason why he would do that when he spotted the white creature I was with.

He rigidly moved himself to attention, almost like a salute, but with a smile that showed no remorse for what he had done. I looked on, determined, as I realized he might listen to her if she told him to stand aside. I stood up, and attempted to walk toward the mirror, standing in front of him and trying to look intimidating myself.

He looked back toward me, and shook his head no. I tried to reach toward the mirror, expecting him to move, and while he didn’t move, my hand-hoof-thing felt firm unyielding glass, no matter where I felt. I asked him to move or let me through, and he shook his head. I told him and ordered him to move, and he shook his head.

Despite my attempts, I could not return, and I sat down in front of the mirror, confused as to why it would not work or why he would bother to block my way.

“Well that is interesting. It seems I have a new guest then.” The white horse said, turning her attention to me with an almost apologetic smile.

“I’m sorry?” I asked, wondering why she would be saying she has a new guest. No part of this situation suggested that I was staying, and it almost seemed like she wanted me here!

“Don't be sorry.” She replied, seeming to misunderstand what I meant, “You can't go back home if you wanted to right now it seems, so seeing as you're my guest, I'll make sure you're taken care of. Though I suppose we should start by having you learn how to use that horn of yours.”

“Excuse me?” I asked, still feeling lost as to what she was implying. Everything was starting to move onward too quickly, and without any feedback from me at that. Suddenly I realized what she last said and asked in disbelief, “Use my horn?”

“Of course! You don't think it's just for decoration do you?” She asked with a hint of mischief.

I stayed quiet, looking at her with doubt. I remembered seeing a horn on the lime horse’s head at one point, but just because a horn was there doesn’t mean it had a purpose. Even so, because of her asking the question the way she had, she clearly implied that it was used for something. I waited for her to elaborate further, and her small smiled widened slightly.

“How do you think you left this room?”

“Well,” I started to say, thinking back to earlier. “I went to the door, I tried to open it, and it seemed like it was locked. I was looking around for some sort of keyhole or something and I heard the door start to open and hid. I thought someone was trying to open it from the other side. Maybe in the end it just wasn’t closed all the way?”

I watched as her smile shifted, suggesting a bit of the mischief I had seen before. Her gaze turned to the door and her horn glowed the light golden hue. The door made a creaking sound and as I turned to look, the door closed and made a resounding ‘click.’

“Perhaps you could try again?”

I stared at her confused. That shouldn’t have been possible. I saw no wires, no electronics or magnets that would operate the door, not even one of those door-slowers they put near the top to keep them from slamming.

“How did you close that door, or was that even you who closed it?” I asked suspiciously.

“Magic, of course.” She said, nodding slightly.

I tried very hard not to snort in reply. Magic is not a known force of any kind, and those who perform it are more properly illusionists. Starting to feel my mood turn sour from the scare and the inability to turn home, I thought I should try a simple presentation first, one that left a resounding impression on me in college.

“Philosophy 101, how can that which is physical interact with that which is not?”

I no sooner had said that phrase, and her horn glowed once more. I watched her intently when a vase crossed in front of me, then a plate, then a chair. I looked at them, mouth agape, and watched them float around me, then around her, then back to their places in the room. This started to seem and feel more like a dream than anything real any longer, and my mind hurt as it tried to understand just what was going on.

“Come, you have much that you'll need to learn if you're going to adjust to your new home. What is your name?” She asked as she started to stand, a click echoing in the room as the door creaked open.

“Well,” I paused, feeling a bit shaken but standing along with her, “if I were to stay here, should I even use my name?”

“Very well then, let's come up with a good name for this fledgling filly we've got now. Let's see that flank of yours a little closer then.” She said, walking toward my back side.

My eyes opened wide, my voice absent as she proceeded to walk past my head to look, and I backed up a few steps in surprise, sitting down as well to protect my sense of modesty.

“Don't worry, I'm just looking at your cutie mark.” She said in a reassuring voice.

“Wait, my what?” I asked in outright disbelief and surprise at the statement.

“Your cutie mark,” she repeated, continuing her approach and looking at my back sides intently, “I guess you could say it’s something that’s helped a lot of fillies and foals know what they're going to do with their lives.”

“Wait, like a destiny mark thing?” I ask, confused at how in the world something like what she was describing was even possible. Unthinking, I continued, “So where is this-”

“Aha!” she exclaimed, interrupting my train of thought, “There it is.”

I tried to look where she was looking only to spot a mirror floating along to help me see. Angled so I could see my left side just above my rear leg, was a mark of a deep green grassy hill, with a sun starting to peek out above it, with yellow rays spreading off of it. It was an oddly comforting sight, despite it’s strange position, and I stared much as she had at it.

“So,” I finally ask, “what does it mean?”

“Well,” she replied coyly, “tell me what you see.”

“I see grass, a hill, and a sunrise.” I said, pausing to see if she would accept that answer. She only nodded and seemed to want me to continue, so I added, “maybe a sunrise over a meadow?”

“That’s what it looks like to me!” She smiled approvingly, “So if you don’t want to give yourself a name, how about calling you ‘Meadow Dawn’?”

I thought for a moment, staring at the symbol in the mirror. The name seemed unconventional to me, yet the more I thought about it, the more a smile came to my lips. I couldn’t find a reason to dislike that name, and if that’s how they named people here, then perhaps it would be best to accept it.

“Ok, Meadow Dawn it is, perhaps Dawn for short though.”

A couple of taps sounded from the direction of the mirror, causing both of us to look over to it, only to spot the dark horse standing there expectantly, showing his side as well.

“Oh, now this is interesting. Your otherself also has a mark.” She said, walking over to the mirror to inspect it. I stared in confusion at the term she just used, but she looked at him thoughtfully, “I think he wants you to come up with a name for him too.”

“My… otherself?” I echoed, the term not sounding at all familiar.

“In due time,” She replied, suggesting she knew it was unfamiliar, “Let’s give him a name first.”

“Ok…” I hesitated, walking toward the mirror cautiously.

The dark horse stood proudly, the mark on his flank looking like it was darker than the rest of his body when I realized it didn’t have any of the small glimmers he had elsewhere. He started to seem less transparent the more I looked, until I spotted four bright stars in a diamond formation twinkle into view and then stayed in place, unlike the rest of his small lights. I looked up to his eyes, noting the violet blue hues and thought out loud, “What if he were named Starlight Dusk?”

He nodded, looking very pleased with himself. His head shook, tossing about his mane like he had an itch that was finally being scratched, and to my amazement started walking out of the mirror. He walked past me with an appreciative smile before walking toward the hallway door, gradually fading to nothing in the sunlight.

“Well, that was freaky.” I managed to say, feeling overwhelmed. I reached out to the mirror now that he was no longer in it, yet its surface was just as unyielding as before.

“I am sorry, but you still cannot go.” The white one apologized, “It would seem part of yourself was here from the beginning, and you could not return without leaving him here, behind. Now that you've named him, you both are together now, until you both wish to leave.”

My balance started shifting as the room started to spin. The news of not being able to go home was hitting me harder than I realized, yet this couldn’t be real anymore. I watched dazed as she walked toward the still open door, calling back to me.

“Now come, let’s get you some food and one of my guards will show you to your room.”

“Wait!” I called back to her, starting to move forward with her like she had asked. Her gaze turned toward me expectantly, and I struggled to find my voice, “Uhm, what is your name then?”

“I,” She paused with a smile, “am Princess Celestia.” She then stepped through the door, forcing me to follow suit.

“Wait,” I spoke again, confused about what I just heard. “princess? Not queen?”

“We don't use that title here. I am a princess, but I take care of all the ponies in my domain.” She said before noticing a guard ahead and turned in his direction.

“Yes milady?” He saluted as we approached.

“Go and have quarters prepared for Meadow Dawn, I'd like her to have a place here for a while.”

“At once,” he replied, giving a bow and moving backward for a few steps before turning around and heading on his way.

I tried to watch the curious sight of a bowing pony moving backward, but Celestia turned around and started heading back.

“We’ll be having dinner soon,” Celestia said as we approached a tower and started climbing the stairwell. “I would appreciate it if you could join us.”

“It would be appreciated.” I replied, taking more care in walking up the steps. Adjusting to the walking had been easier, but the steps nearly caught the tip of my legs once already. A smile crossed my lips as my stomach rumbled, “I didn’t realize how hungry I was until you offered.”

“You're quite welcome of course, I'm sure my sister would like to speak to you as well. Besides, I would not be a proper host without allowing you a chance to eat, especially after some magical travel.”

We climbed so many stairs, my legs started to feel a burn develop, and yet with as high as we climbed, I wondered why I didn’t hurt more. My pace was slower than this Princess’ was, and I started to trail behind until I spotted her at a doorway with two more guardsmen. She paused at the door as they saluted, waiting for my arrival before entering ahead of me.

I looked around at the room before me, spotting the round table and a rug beneath. Several cushions were laid around it. I started to wonder where the chairs were, when I realized how difficult that would be to sit in here.

I looked up only to spot Celestia sitting near the table across from the door, and looking in my direction. A sense of formality started to sink in as I approached the table, turning left and sitting on one of the cushions. Celestia’s chuckle tickled my ear, and I felt it flick back against my head instinctively and shook my head before turning to look at her. She smiled, seemingly at some joke that I couldn’t see, before laying down along the table.

“Are you ready for dinner Princess Celestia?” A deep voice called from just behind me.

I took a sharp breath as I failed to notice the pony approach and come into view between Celestia and myself.

“I am!” She replied cheerfully, “I’ll have my usual.”

The pony turned to me expectantly, staying quiet. I hesitated and sat up more as I tried to think quickly. It started to sink in I didn’t know just what things they ate.

“Well,” I hesitate, deciding to play it safe, “if she enjoys it, I’d like to try it as well please.”

“All right! Two salad sandwiches with an apple on the side, with strawberry juice to drink coming right up!” He said eagerly, trotting out of the room faster than my mind comprehended it.

I started to relax in my seat and took another breath, half expecting the entire scenario to shift like my dreams, or to find myself back at home, but no sooner than I started picturing my apartment and the comments my coworkers would make, a gentle voice spoke from my left.

“Nervous?”

“Yeah.” I admitted, realizing I was still in the presence of royalty. I sat back up properly and gave her my attention again as I started to wonder how I was supposed to eat or drink.

“Don’t worry,” she replied as my gaze drifted toward the table, “as long as you don’t think about it you’ll be fine, at least if your getting out of the room earlier is any clue.”

She made a cup that was now on the table float over to in front of my place, its light gold hue starting to become more easily visible now that I spotted it before it faded out of sight.

“Here, practice on this cup until my sister- Ah, here she is now!” she hesitated, rising from her place at the table, heading to the door excitedly. “Good evening Luna, we have a guest joining us.”

I watched as she embraced a darker pony almost as tall as she was, before they walked into the room together.

“Oh? And who might this be?” The dark sibling asked.

“Hi, I’m-” I started to speak, noticing her mane shift in a manner very similar to Starlight’s. I almost started to say my name, when I remembered that Celestia had given me a name earlier and I struggled to remember. “Dawn, Meadow Dawn.”

“Good evening to you then Meadow Dawn.” She replied, walking with her sister to sit at the table. Very shortly I had one princess on the left and one on the right. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“Well I-” I hesitated once again, confidence leaving me as it started to feel like I was entering a job interview room, but without the excitement, “I don’t quite know really.”

“I see, well,” Luna started to say before pausing. Her gaze was intent on my direction, and I wanted to excuse myself from the table from the intensity of her stare before the waiter’s voice rang through the room.

“Your food, madams!” he said, pushing a trolley up to the table.

I stared openly in amazement, wondering how he managed to bring a trolley up the stairs without making any noise. He showed surprising dexterity and flexibility as I watched him take the dishes off the tray and place them in front of us before leaving the room with the trolley in tow.

“Come, let us eat before it gets cold.” Celestia offered from my left, her sandwich levitating to her hoof and receiving a sizable bite before it was placed on her hoof again.

Luna’s attention was focused on her bowl of hot oatmeal, the cinnamon scent faintly drifting across the room as she levitated a spoon to the bowl and her mouth in a manner like I would, minus the hand and arm.

I looked down to my food and wondered once again how I would eat. Celestia’s advice before Luna’s entrance crossed my mind, and I stared intently at the sandwich like before. I took a deep breath and to my surprise, it started to lift itself up as I pictured it moving upward to meet my face. I looked at the sandwich amazed, wondering how it was doing that, when I saw Celestia looking in my direction with a small smile.

I took a bite of the sandwich, concerned about if it would stop levitating at any point. The crunch of the lettuce and apple slices audible to my ears as I started to put the sandwich down, the surprise of it moving on its own fading from my mind as Luna started to speak.

“What else has happened today then?”

“Another typical day, most of the visits I had today have been advice. Dawn's appearance in my hall was quite eventful. You seemed to fancy the view didn't you?” she replied, smiling in my direction with slightly narrowed eyes.

“Well,” I paused, thinking of something positive to say while not remarking about the difference in citizens, “I hadn’t seen anything like it before.”

“Yes, but it's nothing like being down there yourself.” Luna replied, gaining an air of authority.

I looked at her confused, head tilting slightly as I tried to understand why she would reply in that particular way.

“Aren’t you going to introduce us to your friend?” Luna asked

I looked at her even more confused, blinking and looking around the room quickly, not spotting anyone else. I started to open my mouth, to tell her I didn’t have anyone with me, when a slight motion out of the corner of my eye turned my head.

Approaching from the nearby bookcase, was the dark horse I saw in the mirror. He didn’t appear nearly as solid as he had before. It almost seemed like a puff of wind could blow him away, his outline shifting as he walked. He walked toward the table and stood at my right side, appearing proud of being noticed. I looked at his face and his attention was directed toward Luna, a smile present but barely visible. A glance toward Luna showed her looking at me, and I realized the question she asked.

“Well,” I paused looking back at him, “I don’t really know him that well, but he seemed to like the name Starlight Dusk when I asked earlier.

“Very few ponies have more than one self.” She started to lecture, having finished her food while Starlight seated himself at my side. “Fewer still have the ability to make them appear in physical form. It is no wonder you were invited to dinner.”

“She only just arrived to Equestria this afternoon.” Celestia chimed in, “She is adapting quite well I think, but we will need to find a way of helping her adjust. It appears she can’t go back home for a while, perhaps indefinitely.”

I barely took another bite of my sandwich, half eaten now before setting it down slowly as my food sat I my mouth. I started to chew again out of habit as I dwelled on the word ‘indefinitely.’ The severity of the situation started to sink in. If this is not a dream, then that means I’d lose my job, my apartment I had worked so hard to regain after all the hardship I endured. Even my games and books I never touched suddenly came to mind and I wouldn’t be able to play or read them again.

“Fear not little pony,” Celestia said in a comforting voice, “you likely won’t find your stay here nearly so sad. There is much here that you can gain and learn from, if you wish it.”

“Quite,” Luna nodded, “if you can't return home, you may miss the things you had, but you can still choose whether to enjoy what is around you while you can. And if it's any consolation,” she added in a quieter voice, “I know what it's like to not return home, but always hold out hope that you will be able. Until that day comes, live each day.”

I nodded quietly, my ability to think muted. Motion to my right showed Starlight giving a broad wink before getting up from the table and walking away from it, gradually fading from view.

“It’s about time sister.” Luna said to Celestia.

“Yes it is. Would you like to come watch Meadow Dawn? We are about to move the sun and moon together, as we had for a long time.”

“But, the sun where we see it is where it was eight and a half minutes ago!” I said surprised, “How-”

“Come.” Celestia replied as she had before, the two of them chuckling at my comments.

I got up and walked down the stairs, grabbing the remainder of my food and floated it along with me, munching as we walked. I barely managed to finish the sandwich before we turned left into a broad archway that lead to a wide stone balcony.

“Wow…” I quietly spoke as I saw the landscape. Green fields extended a great deal out along rolling hills, trees visible in the distance, and when I looked down, an extensive hedge maze that appeared well maintained could be seen.

Their chuckles could be heard once again, and a gust of air whipped past my ears as they opened their wings, walking past me. Their horns started to glow their respective colors, Luna’s being a dark navy blue as the sun started to glow with Celestia’s golden hue. Before my eyes, the sun started to set far more quickly than my logic or science could explain. Simultaneously, the moon rose at the same place, and eventually took the place of the sun in the sky, shining more brightly than I would have expected in the night, with stars dotting the sky around it radiantly.

Celestia and luna folded their wings and turned to face me, Celestia needing to raise a hoof to her mouth as she yawned. She walked over to her sister and gave her a hug before walking to my right side, looking back at me.

“Well? Was that eight and a half minutes ago little filly?” She chuckled. “Come now, it’s time for you to get a good night’s rest and a fresh start tomorrow.”

“Indeed. You and I will have much to discuss, when you are ready.” Luna nodded, walking past and leaving me alone on the balcony until Celestia came back with a guard.

The white stallion bowed in my direction, his blue mane with purple highlights draped across his neck before he stood up again and walked toward the hallway. Not wanting to be left behind, I quickly went to his side and followed him down the series of halls until he stopped in front of one of the many doors.

“Here you are madam Dawn, rest well until morning.” He said, letting me enter into the room before quietly closing the door behind me with his hoof.

I looked around the room, seeing the nightstand next to an impossibly large bed, three times as long as I would have needed. Looking at it elicited a long yawn and I shook my head, ready to climb in and sleep regardless.

The bed's height being almost chest high doesn't seem to matter as I climbed upward into the bed, collapsing against the stack of pillows. I almost let myself fall asleep when a shiver crawled up my spine. Searching for the corner of the sheets, I clumsily felt them slide out of my way and tried to lay under them, only to slide some of the blankets away in the process. Frustrated and too tired to think clearly, I simply grab the edge of the sheets with my mouth and pulled them over me. Warmth started to reach my limbs as my head sunk into the pillows, and before I could take another deep breath to relax, the room went dark.

The First Full Day in Equestria

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A sharp rapping sound echoed around me as I awoke abruptly, feeling sluggish and groggy.
“Madam Dawn?” A voice called, “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna ask for your company for breakfast if you're awake.”

“Huh?” I groaned, getting ready to answer as the previous night’s events came back to me in a fog. Preparing to step out of the bed, I suddenly fell off it instead! Faster than I could react, I landed flat on my back with a loud ‘smack’ as I started to groan, trying to get back to my feet.

“Lady Dawn?!” the voice said alarmed. Before I could voice my protest or protect my modesty, the speaker opened the door and stepped in, seeing me still on my back with all four limbs floundering in the air like a tipped cow.

“Ow.” I managed to say from my perspective as I tried to tuck in my legs and roll over, still feeling shy in front of this guard. He helped me roll over onto my legs so I could stand, though it didn’t stop my face from blushing heatedly.

“Are you alright?”

“I’ll live.” I say as I struggle to my feet, “What's this about breakfast?”

“I was wondering if you would like to join us.” Celestia’s voice came from around the corner before her head peeked inside to see us both. “And you, gentlepony, were supposed to be off duty.”

I looked between Celestia and the guard with renewed interest. Somehow seeing the princess here helped solidify this as not a dream, and now to know that this guard went out of his way to help seemed odd. I looked him over, but the only thing distinguishing his white coat and blue mane from any of the other guards I had seen was his own mark on his hindquarters. I barely got a glimpse of something that looked like a tower and a shield before his response garnered my attention.

“I, well,” He stammered with an embarrassed smile, tail flicking and a hoof bending impossibly to rub the back of his neck, “I figured I would just get here first is all!”

I stretched my legs and stepped forward past the guard before realizing how rude it was not to recognize his efforts. I paused and turned back to him.

“Thank you for the help.” Turning to face the princess, I replied, “If you would like me to be there, I'll join you.”

“We would be happy to have you.” She chuckled lightly, “Perhaps a hot breakfast will help with making you more of a morning pony.”
I walked along with her to the stairs, still feeling not quite awake in spite of my fall. It was clear my coordination was not what it should have been as I kept stumbling over my feet, looking down to catch myself and keep seeing the lack of feet. It was strange to refer to my hooves as anything else, at least for now.

When we reached the dining room I was taken to last night, I took up the seat I had before and rested my head on the table. I still felt too tired to really function, and even if it wasn’t polite, I needed the rest. Once I heard the sound of hooves on the floor coming up the stairs, my ears perked up and I raised my head from the table. Rest time was clearly over for now.

Luna walked into the room, appearing as regal, perhaps more-so than her sister, and sat at her place I saw her at before. I looked between the two of them patiently, wondering what will happen for breakfast or when the waiter pony would come in, when another set of hooves came up the stairwell.

I looked intently at the doorway, confused at the idea of having another visitor. I was not prepared for having another guest, it was far too likely I’d gaffe something else up at this rate. My heart jumped when I saw a pony that was clearly not a guard. He was muscled and had a medium sized frame, not like the more well built guards, his muzzle was greyed while his body was a muted white. As he walked in, I noticed he had no horn, but he had wings! I couldn't remember if anyone else have wings in the castle, I was still reeling from everything, but couldn't help but wonder if it meant anything special or if the princesses having both a horn and wings meant something instead.

He looked around the room and inevitably saw me. I felt a little shy, almost embarassed and looked away from him as I moved my forelegs to between my seated rear legs, trying to play with the carpeted rug a bit before looking back to him. His gaze turned back to Celestia before he sat to my right, between myself and Luna.

“And who do we have here?” Celestia gazed toward the guest, despite her head turned toward Luna.

“A new guest, sister.” Luna smiled lightly, almost appearing smugly pleased with herself.

“Oh really? And what is your name then?”

“My name?” he hesitated, sunlight glinting off of some of his feathers on his wings as he squirmed, then looked toward Luna, “Ch- uhh... 'Silver Wing'”

“A fine name.” Celestia nodded.

“A fine name.” he echoed, looking back at Luna.

“Well then, I am Princess Celestia. Have you met our other guest before?” She says, gesturing toward me.

“Oh! I'm,” I paused, trying to remember last night. I glanced subtly toward my flank, and on seeing my mark, I replied with a small bow, “I’m Meadow Dawn.”

One of the ponies outside walked in, bowing before asking, “What would you like to have today?”

“I'll have some warm oatmeal please.” Celestia smiled.

“We would enjoy the apple salad with tea this morning.” Luna stated. Her matter of fact, almost regal tone made me smile, if only because I could appreciate her directness.

“Uhh,” Silver wing paused, clearly thinking before quietly answering, “I'll have the apple salad too please.”

“Did you want a drink too?” the server pony asked.

“Sure, tea'll be fine.” He said, looking back to Luna again.

He seemed to look over to Luna quite a bit more than Celestia, making me wonder what happened between them that has his interest. She was clearly more like a ‘princess’ I would have expected, being more proper with her posture and direct about what she’s wanted so far. On the other hand, she was less approachable than her counterpart.

My musings were interrupted as a small clearing of a throat brought me back to looking at the server pony, and I realized I had yet to order my food as well.

“Whatever works best for breakfast here then.” I reply, feeling too caught off guard to properly think of a breakfast item I wanted to eat. He looked confused at me and then at Celestia for guidance.

“Oatmeal would be a fine start for her then as well. We'll fetch either of you if we need anything more thank you.” Celestia bowed in his direction, inciting shame in my chest as I realized I must be acting ungrateful or inappropriate if a princess is bowing to someone.

“Of course, Princess!” He said eagerly, bowing his way backward yet again and moving briskly down the stairs

“It would seem you both are here not by your choice, and I will say again how sorry we are for your trouble.” Luna stated somberly, eyes closing as she bowed her head to where her chin almost touched her neck before looking up and continuing, “It would be our hope that you find happy and productive lives in Equestria.”

I looked over at Silver in surprise and focus, his own face clearly surprised as well. I doubt he was from here as well, or else she wouldn’t have introduced us as living in this land together. Now I had to wonder how he came to enter this place. It shouldn’t be possible he came from my home, it was locked while I worked on the mirror and I lived alone.

“You came through the mirror too?” He asked, voice sounding confused and somber.

My eyes narrowed as I realized he must have come through the mirror I had. I certainly saw no other portals in that room last night.

“Yes,” I say quietly, and then with a hint of accusation, “and my home was locked.”

“Do not be hasty Meadow Dawn.” Luna interrupted, “There is more than one mirror that is connected to Equestria. And more than your two worlds share that connection.”

“Ah!” I say snapping out of my intense staring at Silver to look at Luna in surprise. I looked back to Silver, blushing as I realized how quick I was to judge, “I apologize.”

“No worries,” he casually replied, appearing unbothered, “but why can't you go back? Did your mirror break too?”

“Too?” I looked back in horror and surprise. ‘Had he broken the mirror portal back? Am I stuck here?‘ I tried to reply, stammering, “No, no, I'm afraid it's a bit more... complicated. I'm being blocked. Something's blocking my way every time I tried to step toward the mirror”

“You could say that, though it is not quite right.” Luna nodded.

“What do you mean?” Silver asked, also turning to face Luna.

“I'm afraid that is something Dawn will need to find for herself.” she replied quietly.

“Though that does not mean she will be without help.” Celestia offered.

I was glad Celestia just offered me help, though I had no idea what Luna meant by ‘something’ I’d need to find for myself. They were both being too cryptic. Deciding against confrontation on it, I tried to move onward.

“What kind of help then?”

“I'm glad you asked.” Celestia said, pausing as hooves started to grow louder until the familiar tray and server appeared.

“Breakfast is served!” He said cheerfully, Using a hoof much like how I would have used my hands to place each pony's food in front of them, ending with oatmeal in front of myself.

“Thank you very much.” I say, trying to make up for my lack of thanks earlier, to follow the princess’ example. He grinned in reply and headed out the door, trolley in tow.

I heard a mutter of thanks to my right, likely from Silver Wing, but hunger hit me and the smells were too appealing to ignore this steaming cinnamon scented breakfast. I start to wonder how I could use the spoon to eat without hands when I remember that I didn’t need hands last night. I tried once again to picture lifting the spoon up to the bowl to scoop up some of the oatmeal.

To my relief, the spoon did exactly what I hoped for it to do, and at my will, it lifted itself to in front of me, letting me blow on it to cool it down before taking a bite of what the earthy sugary breakfast. I suddenly felt very warm metal and goop on the bridge of my nose-muzzle, and I gasped in surprise, looking down at the spoon. My grip on it faltered, clattering down to the table.

Quickly, I lifted a limb up to my face to rub the oatmeal off before it could start to sting, and took a deep breath as my face heated from embarrassment. I tried to eat it again, only to repeat the mistake, letting out another small sound and trying to wipe off my nose yet again, deeply embarrassed.

“Wait, how are you doing that?”

I looked up in dread, realizing I was noticed, and a glance at Silver confirmed he was looking right at me.

“I,” I paused, trying to think about how I was trying. I realized I had to shrug it off, “I don’t really know”

“Unicorns often can use magic Silver. Just as pegasi like you can fly.” Celestia said, wiping her muzzle off with a napkin daintily.

“They... they can?” Silver Wing replied with surprise. I looked over to her in surprise as well. Wings didn’t mean that you could fly, that’d mean penguins or emus could fly here too!

“Yes, you can.” Luna reinforced.

I looked over to Silver Wing intently, seeing how his wings started to flutter in place. I tilted my head to get a better view while avoiding the glinting sunlight he moved around the room off of his Silver feathers. It was no wonder he has that name! I feel confusion rising as I wonder why he can’t just open his wings. After a few more attempts, he stopped moving his wings and resumed eating his food, eating undignified straight from the bowl.

I couldn’t blame him, he had no hands like I was used to, and I wasn’t coordinated enough this morning to manage eating properly either. Deciding to follow suit, I used my mouth to lift the whole bowl and tipped some of the oatmeal into my mouth. It tasted wonderful, full of an earthy tone but still quite sweet without being overpowering.

“I know it may be difficult to adjust,” Celestia stated once she finished her meal, “but you’ll both come along just fine I’m sure.”

“Now, you must realize very few ponies know that other worlds exist.” Luna stated seriously, “It would be greatly appreciated if you did not speak of this to anyone.”

“Naturally, this means we'll need to find you both a way of getting along here in Equestria. What things were you good at where you were from?” Celestia asks.

“You mean like... My job? Or my hobbies?” Silver Wing asked, and on seeing Luna gave him a nod, he continued “Well, I was in law enforcement…”

“I was in customer service,” I stated, feeling it appropriate to say my occupation during his pause, adding “ but I always liked technology, or games. I didn't have the talent to put my imagination to work in other ways.”

“Well, I always liked sword fighting, writing, video games,” he paused and chuckled, “old history, and mythology.”

“And what brought you to that line of work?” Luna asked Silver wing, both princesses staring at him intently. I could almost hear a hint of caution on her voice, but I wasn't sure if I was imagining it.

“Someone has to uphold the peace and keep people honest. If not, there wouldn't be anything worthwhile to come home to.” He replied with a shrug.

Luna nodded, her shoulders seeming to drop down subtly as she and Celestia looked over to me. It was clear they expected me to answer that question as well.

“I just like helping people.” I shrugged, “I didn't have the ability to make anything anyone liked so I just worked on helping people be happy, or understand something they didn't before.”

"You both seem to have very helpful pasts. I'm sure you'll fit right in here in Equestria. But first, I think it would be best if the two of you learned how to be yourselves here." Celestia turned to face both of us in turn, “A unicorn isn't a unicorn unless she can use the magic her horn grants her. And a Pegasus that can't fly simply will not do. My dear sister, where do you think they would be best off learning about themselves?"

“I believe,” Luna started to say after thinking for a moment, turning her attention to Silver first with the same smirk that Celestia had, “I believe learning with the aerial pegasi guard would be best for this one. We are curious as to the techniques used in his world. But as for you… It is probably best if you learned the basics of magic before we taught you how to handle bigger magics such as your other-self. A visit to magic kindergarten perhaps.”

I felt a lump in my throat as I swallowed, not entirely sure if I’d look forward to going to school with children, ponies or otherwise. On the other hand, if I didn’t try to work with these ponies, what were the odds of me getting back home again? Suddenly, it dawned on me what she just said.

“Wait, before you teach me?”

“What a wonderful idea Luna.” Celestia said with a broader smile, possibly teasing her sister, “I've always been telling you you've been in need of an apprentice.”

“It was not apprenticeship I had in mind. Very few in Equestria are suited to teach the proper handling of that kind of magic.” Luna protested.

“I'm just glad you're willing to help. Thank you both.” I say nervously, hoping to stem any potential quabble. “I'm looking forward to seeing just what magic can do, and by extension, what I can do with it.”

“An admirable goal, provided you remember the reasons why you choose to wield it.” Celestia said sagely.

I nod, starting to think. Being in a new yet familiar place, magic existing, and having someone else in the same boat I’m in is all surprising and a bit overwhelming. Soon after Silver and I finished eating ourselves, Celesta stood up, Luna following suit.

“But,” I add, trying to hide my rising embarrassment at the question I’m about to ask, “why kindergarten?”

“It is the place that all unicorns have to learn their trade. And you may yet learn other things there that we might not think to teach.” Celestia said.

It made sense, but I felt a sense of foreboding as I realized I was being put out into their world already, knowing very little of it. She must have been quite confident this is the right choice, but it didn’t mean I wouldn’t have my doubts. I looked over to Silver Wing, curious about what he thought about everything. He was quiet for a while before he looked up from his staring spot.

“When do we begin?”

“Right away, both of you should start your schooling as soon as you can.” Celestia said.

I felt a weight coming off my shoulders as I realized she was starting us both in school at the same time. It would be comforting to have someone who’s in the same boat as me take classes too.

“Might as well start now, I guess.” Silver wing shrugged, “Nothing else to do really” He laughed, voice shaking a little.

“Well, nothing else that we know of anyway.” I corrected. Just because these were the options presented to us didn’t mean there weren’t other options.

“I'll take you both there myself. Come, it's not far, and if we go now, you'll arrive right at their play time.” Celestia said as she walked over to the tower stairs.

“I hope you rest well then Luna,” I said, hoping to recognize the end of her day before following Celestia quickly. I did not want to fall behind.

I caught up to the side and just behind Celestia like before, almost sensing that Silver was soon coming before hearing his hoofsteps come down to meet us. It was a strange feeling of deja vu, but I shook my head briefly to clear my mind and focused on walking without tripping down the stairs.

“So, what do you think of all this Dawn?”

“Well,” I thought out loud, “It's definitely strange to be walking on four legs, I miss my hands, and my books, and my games… I'm still trying to figure out why horses or ponies or whatever, and I don't know what to expect.” I then quietly muttered realizing the emotion I was feeling right now, “I’m scared.”

I felt myself slow down but tried to keep moving forward. My life’s motto had been “I will not let myself be ruled by fear” and I wasn’t about to let that change now just because of the unknown. It’s always best to keep moving forward and focus on what you can do than what you wish would be anyway.

“It'll be alright,” He replied, sounding cheerful, “just try to roll with it. By the sounds of it, you'll be able to get home eventually. So just try to stay positive till then.”

I looked over to him as he paused, and saw a contorted smile that I could only interpret as him trying to put on his own ‘brave face.’ It was a kind gesture, even if it wasn’t very reassuring.

“Though,” he added, “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to not having hands.”

“And by the sounds of it,” I replied quietly, “It's unsure whether I'll end up wanting to go back.”

“If that were the case, wouldn't that mean you would be happier in the end?” Celestia asked, overhearing my comment

“I suppose so.” I think out loud, still feeling unconvinced. I start to feel my stomach twist as I think of home, so I turned to ask Silver “What about you, what would you do since you can't go back then?”

“I'm not sure...”

“I think both of you will find more here in Equestria than you will have bargained for.” Celestia smiled as she turned back to face us, “Then again, what you two do with yourselves now is another story.”

Celestia opened the doors to the outside when we reached the front gates, guiding us down the street toward the main town. A larger building with a decent sized lawn outside was ahead in the distance, where small little dots of color seemed to be playing with the supervision of a couple larger ones. I could only assume they were all ponies as well, though I wondered just how and why there were so many color varieties.

“Will I be able to walk to school?” Silver asked, “I mean, I can't fly... I don't even know how to open my wings yet!”

“Don't worry,” Celestia chuckled, “you can still use the stairs.”

I looked over at Silver confused, head tilting to try to gain his attention. If we’re going to school, and the school was in front of us, why would we need stairs when it’s a gentle slope down this hill? It wasn’t a straight shot from the castle, but it’s not like there were stairs we had to go down yet.

Looking down at the School until other buildings obstructed our view, I felt my heart start to race as we grew close. I felt questions start to enter my mind that needed answering.

“So just what kinds of things can magic do?”

Celestia smiles a bit through eyes that are half closed, leading me to wonder if she is searching for something or maybe rethinking her opinion of me. I find myself hoping she doesn't end up thinking less of me for asking such a question.

“A great deal many things. It was magic that brought you here, and various magics are used to build our homes, clean our waters, control our weather... the bigger question to ask I think, is what do you want to use your magic to do?”

I almost stopped moving, the weight of these concepts hitting me like a ton of bricks. Controlling the weather? That was immensely powerful if in the wrong hands. I wasn’t quite sure I felt ready for trying to answer a question for a source that seemed to be able to accomplish so much!

“Well, I don't know yet,” I barely manage to say, hesitating heavily as I try to keep myself walking, “perhaps I'll find my own way to use it to help people... somehow?”

““Take your time. Not everypony knows what they will do or how they will do it. Some of the latest bloomers of magic have done the greatest of things.” Celestia chuckled, the sound easing my fears.

I looked over to Silver, who for all his laughter was starting to lose his facade, showing some nervousness in his own posture and pace. Clearly, he needed to be cheered up too, and what better way to encourage him by doing what he did earlier?

““So, flying huh? Think you'll get the hang of it by tonight?” I try to say with a grin.

I watch as he gave a heavy sigh, head starting to droop and I see just how distraught he really has been.

“I'm not really sure to be honest,but I guess I'll figure something out.” He laughed again, and I felt my heart twist as I realized just how empty his laughter had been

“Don't worry, we'll stick through this and we'll try to figure something out together.” I said, pausing for half a moment before getting an idea, “Who knows, maybe I could figure out a way to fix your mirror?”

I only realized after I said it just how difficult such an idea must be. I haven’t learned any basic magic at all, and now I’d need to find out just how long it’d take to learn how to fix someone else’s magical item. Clearly those things weren't easily made. If the mirrors we went through were ancient here, and they have numerous ponies with magic, what would the odds be that I could actually do what someone else did years before, no matter how long ago?

Before Silver could reply, we were in front of the school doors. I gulped and prepared myself mentally for the uncertainty, trying to calm my now racing heart. It wasn’t long before a yellow coated pony with an orange mane came through the door.

“Celestia! How wonderful to see you! The children will be so excited to see you too!” She says.

“I am sorry, but I'm only able to spare enough time to introduce you to your newest pupil. Meet Meadow Dawn.” Celestia says, nodding in my direction as I try to step forward nervously.

“H-Hi.” I stammer, attempting a slight bow, noticing how my front leg started to shake slightly from nerves. I put it back down so i could hide my nervousness and took a deep breath to calm myself, even if only a little bit.

“She's new to Equestria, and comes from a village where she was the only unicorn. She'll need to be taught how to use magic since they did not understand it.”

“I understand, say no more. Come with me... It was Meadow right?” She asked in a nice enough way, clearly meaning business but wanting to come across as gentle.

“Yes ma'am. Meadow Dawn, but Dawn is fine too.” I offered, stuttering a bit less as I heard her voice. I hoped that by hearing a name similar to my home, it would ease my nervousness.

“Interesting...” She replied, walking me inside as I realize Silver wing and Celestia turn to walk away from the school, “You can call me Lemon Bloom, or perhaps just Bloom-”

“Hey, isn't Silver coming with?” I ask nervously, looking behind me as they walked out of sight. I almost fell over as I saw the length of my back, a strange feeling, but catch myself before I started to fall or falter.

“Oh heavens no,” She says with a laugh, much to my dismay, “That stallion would have gone to a pegasus school, not a unicorn school!”

“Oh.” I say, sounding as disappointed as I felt while we walked down the hallway.

“Oh? And why did we think he was coming to school together?” Lemon asked gently, then with a sneaky looking smirk she asked, “Do you have a crush on somepony?”

“No, nothing like that!” I looked at her in surprise, then see her smile and snort as I look away at the familiar brick walls of a school building, “He’s… I only knew of him today and what little I hear is that he’s like me. He can’t go home easily either.”

“Nothing to fret about my dear.” Lemon replied dismissively. “I'm sure you two will meet up again and be back home before you know it! You’ll be the first pony there to use magic! Isn’t that an exciting thought? Come to think of it, play time is just about o-” Her thoughts halted as a church bell-like sound rang out, catching me by surprise “Ah, here we go! Time to go into class!

I nod and follow into the room, only to realize I don't know where I should sit. Looking at the inside of the classroom, I quickly decide I should stand toward the front far corner of the room, and wait for everyone to arrive.

As silly as it felt in hindsight, I couldn't help but smile a little at the little horses that came into the room. While the occasional one stopped for a moment or stared or both, they all went to their seats. As the stragglers entered, I noticed a lone desk near the back that was unoccupied.

“Everyone had fun outside?” Lemon Bloom called out to her class, receiving plenty of affirming voices and smiles. “Good, I want to introduce your new classmate, Meadow Dawn!”

I take in a deep breath as I walked my way to the front of the classroom and stood near Lemon Bloom’s desk. I saw all their eyes trained on me, and despite my shyness threatening to make me want to cower, I bowed my head gently toward them.

“Morning everyone. Nice to meet you.” I said, feeling my voice shake unbidden as some of them started to whisper to each other.

“Now class, she just came a very long way, and there was no one to teach her how to use magic. Dawn, if you could take the spare seat please, we'll go ahead and continue our lesson.”

I nod and walk down the slightly narrow aisle down the middle to the back, where the empty seat was. I heard a couple giggles as I pass some of the foals, ignoring the growing urge to confront them or tell them to just speak to me directly. The chair was very clearly too small, so I carefully moved it aside, using my mouth in lieu of a hand, up against the wall. I sat on the floor at the desk, at attention while many of the ponies turn back to the front.

For the next half an hour, with plenty of interruptions and raised hooves for involvement from the children, we all learned about Starswirl the Bearded and Crescent Bell. While magic wasn't explained on how it worked, I still paid a great deal of attention to the variety of magics they were attributed for creating, from the potent spells of Starswirl to the more creative musics of Crescent. Ideas came to mind from these examples just how much could be accomplished with magic, and my nervousness at the new surroundings gave way to excitement.

It was also amusing to watch everyone else's reactions. The idea of magic was commonplace here, and they were more interested in learning how to imitate than be lectured to, which suited my preferences. I was here to learn magic just as they were.

The remaining time used the built up energy of the children, wherein I learned their 'title' was fillies and foals. Everyone practiced with their magic, from trying to shine lights from their horns to moving around soft colorful objects. I was curious about the light trick more than moving objects, since I managed it earlier today with a spoon. I wasn’t clear how I was supposed to make a light like the dim points on the fillies around me, but it seemed like concentration was the key.

I closed my eyes, and I tried focusing on the horn much like I had with the spoon. I focused on feeling like I was putting energy into the tip, and pictured it making a light. I opened my eyes, trying to keep my focus and hoped that intent and effort was all that was needed.

I saw nothing to the top of my vision, and a quick look over to the window showed no reflection. I stopped my efforts, feeling self-conscious as I start to raise my hoof. Lemon bloom looked up from her desk and called my name.

“Yes Dawn? What is it?”

“How do you make a light?”

The room quieted to half its volume, several heads turning my way as they giggled. I refused to back down from my question. None of them could make a light either, and if this was the first step to learning magic so I could be closer to getting home then I’m not going to waste time guessing at how to do it when I can ask the expert in the room.

Lemon bloom walked over and started to tell me what I need to do, and I tried to pay attention despite some of the whispers in class.

“No-light.”
“Calls herself dawn but can’t make a light? Lame!”
“Big adult can’t use magic? Ha!”

The end of school bell rang none too soon. The day lasted much longer than I had ever imagined. Between learning several different spells, each one needing a different thought controlling the spell, I only had the bare basics started for lighting my horn, moving objects like I had before, or manipulating things like the schoolbooks that we referenced a couple times through the day. It didn't help that I had to ask where the faculty restroom was as the ones the fillies used were too small. In the end, while I was mentally drained trying to keep everything remembered. I felt feeling hopeful at where it might lead, despite the effort needed. After all, intellectual work was always better for me than physical.

As the fillies all filed out in a rush to head home with their friends or to play some more, I hung back and waited for everyone to go before approaching Lemon Bloom.

“Yes dear?” she asked before I could open my mouth.

“I just wanted to say thank you, for helping me out like this.” I started to say. I was about to add more about what I really wanted to ask when she chimed in.

“Oh it's not a problem dearie, it's what I live for! I love to teach young fillies how to use magic and the world around them!”

“And that is a great talent to be sure.” I say, acknowledging her slight brag before asking, “and just how long does it usually take to be able to do just what we tried earlier today?”

“It takes as long as it takes. It can't be rushed, and not everypony is good at every magic you know.”

“I know, I know, I just...” I say, hesitating and shuffling my hooves, “I just know I've always been able to complete anything I've set my mind to, and... Let's just say I won't let myself accept failure here.”

“Meadow.” she said, almost sternly, but continuing more gently like before, “Everyone's allowed to fail at something.”

“Yeah... tell that to-” I start to say before thinking better of it. “Fine, then we'll say I won't accept it. I know I can do better. What should I be working on? I didn't hear you assign any homework.”

“Homework?” She asked slightly confused, “Well, if you're trying to get better, just practice where you can on things around you. That's what all the other fillies have done, and I'm sure it'll do just fine. Just remember, don't worry about doing everything perfectly... just do your best.”

Lemon gathered her things into her bag and moved it onto her neck, walking toward the door. She stood just outside waiting for me to leave, so I took the hint and headed outside.

I let myself get so deep in thought I almost completely missed the tap on the shoulder that someone was giving me as I exited the school. Oddly enough, it was that guard I've already bumped into twice!

“Excuse me miss Dawn, but I thought you might want someone to help you get back up to the castle.” He said, acting a little shy. I looked him over curious after what he said sunk in.

“Oh? Well that was rather thoughtful of you. Are you sure you weren't supposed to be doing anything else?” I ask inquisitively.

“Nope!” He said eagerly, “My shift at the castle isn't supposed to start for a little while longer anyway!”

“Oh really?” I say with a small smirk, eyes half closing as I confront that tidbit, “and how did you know I was here?”

“W-well I... look,” he said, pausing nervously before becoming really confident again, “My name's Stalwart Shield, and I'm asking you to walk with me to the castle! Please?”

“Very well Stalwart, lead on!” I laughed curious about this particular guard's interest in me. Afterward, I hoped it wasn't an unkind laughter, but with my smile being as wide as it was from that laughter, I doubted he'd misinterpret my intent.

He smiled and turned around to walk toward the castle, looking very proper and official. His movements seemed very deliberate and over the top. I almost thought it was adorable that someone, pony or otherwise, would put that much effort into being an escort, so I walked closeby. If nothing else, it’d be hard to get lost with a guide back to the castle room.

As we walked toward the castle, I wondered about if I’d like this world. After all, if I get to meet entertaining,nice, pony-people in this world, maybe being stuck here temporarily might not be a bad thing.

A Destiny is Realized

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The trip back was relatively uneventful, with Stalwart asking about my day, and me readily telling him about the struggles of magic kindergarten. He listens to me readily, and the way he laughs at what I say makes me smile in kind. What had been a stress filled day is already turning into a much more bearable and enjoyable day.

Sadly, we had to part ways soon after entering the main doors. He walked off toward his barracks to report for duty while I walked down the main hall. Despite feeling disappointed in not being able to share in Stalwart's company, I suddenly remembered Silver Wing and wondered where he was.

I looked around, only spotting an occasional pony, with all but one seeming to be heading somewhere. The last one was yet another guard with similar colors to the rest I've seen, standing still with a spear in the crook of his leg against his chest. I approached him, feeling slightly impressed and a bit intimidated he was able to keep it standing straight up without much input for not having wings or a horn.

“Excuse me?” I say to him, hoping to catch his attention. I paused slightly but he turned slightly in my direction as he continued to watch over the room. “Have you seen a pegasus by the name of Silver Wing come in?”

“I have not, ma'am.” he said firmly.

“Oh... I see.” I replied sullenly. Taking a deep breath I turn to walk back outside to sit near the entrance to the palace and begin to wait. I watched the movement in the town below for what seemed like only a minute, before I heard hoofsteps that seemed to get right next to me and stop. I turned to face it and there was Stalwart again. Pleasantly surprised, I looked at him with furrowed brows, “Hi?”

“Hey! Turns out I didn't get the time right and I don't have to go in for a few hours!” he chuckled.

A small smile came to my face again as I appreciated his thoughtfulness in keeping me company. “Well then perhaps you could stick around while I wait for my friend.”

“Oh? Who would that be?” he asked me quickly.

“Silver Wing. He went to school too but hasn't come back yet...”

“I see... Are you two friends?”

I could hear his voice shake slightly, making me wonder what he meant or if he was thinking of something else. I shook my head no. “He's a bit like me, and we both can't go back to where we're from, but I feel bad for him. I can only imagine how terrified I'd be if I had to learn how to fly after not being able to for so long.”

“I'm sure he'll be fine.” He spoke with such confidence now I could only hope that he knew something I didn't, but then he got up from by my side and stood in front of me, offering a hoof to pull myself up by, “I don't suppose you've explored much of canterlot then have you!”

“Well, no, no I haven't.” I admit, starting to feel that nervousness appear.

“Then let's go show you just what you can do!” He said cheerfully.

His happy nature was contagious, a smile starting to cross my lips, albeit a small one. “Ok, but only if we can pick up Silver Wing from school too. I still don't know where that is either.”

“Haven't you looked up?” He asked with a confused look

“What?” I ask wide-eyed before looking up the mountainside as small shapes could be seen moving among the clouds, some of whom appear to be walking on the clouds themselves. I feel my legs start to shake as I sink down and lie on the paved street as my mind tries to comprehend just what I'm seeing.

“Are you ok? You don't look so good...”

“Are... are they walking on... clouds? But how?” I barely manage to ask, feeling my voice shake. It was bad enough in the past going to tall buildings, but the idea of standing on a cloud that far off the ground was terrifying.

“Hey, look at me.” I heard a voice say seemingly far away, suddenly feeling two warm things against my cheeks as my eyes were torn away from the clouds and I was staring at Stalwart again. “Look at me, there you go.... It's ok, it's going to be ok.”

I took several deep breaths, looking into his eyes and face, only now noticing how his eyes had some golden overtones despite only noticing some shade of orange or yellow. I let my attention wander around his face, the feeling of being so high off the ground slowly left my body, letting my breath slow before I let my eyes close. Listening to his voice and the feel of my own heartbeat, I slowly opened my eyes and looked down at the ground where his hooves were, only now noticing the blue 'shoes' he wore and wondering how they stay on without fasteners. After a few minutes, I felt strong enough to try to stand.

“Are you all right?”

“I... I am now.” I said. I could tell just from my difficulty standing still I certainly wasn't. It was one thing to be in a world where everyone walked on all fours. It was one thing to have magic in said world. Yet the scope to where the clouds could be used for buildings or be walked upon, as well as that being where Silver Wing had to learn to fly? This world was becoming too much to handle at once, especially when I pictured being up there with him somehow.

Shivering a little bit, I felt a nudge on my side to see Stalwart walking into the castle. Not wanting to stay outside much longer, I followed him in readily, noting the tail's two or three shades of blue to keep myself from thinking about that school. Following his hoofsteps, I let my mind stay blank as we walked along until suddenly he stopped.

Without realizing it, he walked me all the way to my room, door already partly opened for me. Looking at him with numbed eyes I saw him motion his head toward my room and then gave me a gentle smile. Giving him a nod, my lips were unable to relay the 'thank you' I wanted to say. I must have been less steady than I thought, as my right side suddenly felt warmth as our coats touched. Ignoring any further reaction, I go inside and lay down on the rug in the middle of the room.

“You rest here a bit.” I heard Stalwart say, “I'll wait for your friend and bring you both to Celestia when it's time.” I hear a creaking noise, followed by a short click.

Suddenly the room I took for granted last night didn't feel so welcoming. The bed still seemed gigantic, but all the furniture reminded me of home. The chairs, table, dresser, even the rug I was on served to remind me just how far from home I was.

My chest tightened and I couldn't keep my eyes open as tears threatened to come out. It was difficult to stop, but a very light tap on my leg made me look up surprised, thinking I was alone. There before me was that shadow that was blocking me in the mirror, but he wasn't in the mirror! I look up at him confused, almost feeling anger well up inside before he turned away from me toward the dresser and pointed out a book laying on it.

My limbs moved more slowly than I wanted, but I slowly stood and walked over to the desk and climbed up into the chair. Bound in a white cover with blue accents was a copy of “Mundane Magic.” Wiping my tears away and taking a breath, I try to remember earlier today how to open a book. The entire book floats up a little bit until I stop and try again, just holding the edge of the front cover. A slight sigh of relief comes out as the book opens up and reveals the first pages.

I give myself a small smile into the mirror ahead of me, seeing the open book and the pony sitting just beyond it. I nod to her, while she did so in kind, and we both proceeded to read our book. Even if this isn't home, I am not powerless, and I can't give up just yet. If learning magic will help me get home, then I will master it, no matter how much time it needs.

Fueled by determination, I studied the first several chapters intently, though some of the concepts were still hard to grasp. The two hours passed so quickly I felt like I was only just beginning to understand some of the basic magics, even despite reading the first 50 pages several times over when there was a knock at my door. I started to get ready to call out when I decided to just try and open the door instead. Concentrating, I stared intently at the door handle, beginning to turn it, and then pull on the door. It opened slowly, more slowly than I'd like, but it opened.

“Time for your dinner with the Princesses Dawn,” I hear a familiar voice say, stalwart now being spotted in the light, “are you feeling any better?”

“Yes,” I start to say, then realize it isn't entirely true, so I quickly try to make up for it, “a bit, thank you.” I bow a little bit to him for his courtesy, stepping out of my room to see Silver Wing nearby.

“Oh hi Silver!” I say slightly cheerfully, “Did you... well...” I hesitate, getting a little dizzy remembering how high up that school was and try to block out the memory immediately, looking away and to the floor.

“Are you all right Dawn?” I hear Silver ask, making me look up at him and take another deep breath in, steadying myself.

“Y-yeah, I am. I just couldn't go to a school in the clouds... way too scary for me.” I reply, suppressing a shake. “Should we get moving?” I ask Stalwart.

“Knowing my luck today, I'll be quite early yet again, but we could always wait there if we need to.” Stalwart says, smiling a little bit, though I could swear I heard a faint chuckle in his voice.

"It's not too bad, once you get used to it," Silver replies with a smile, "Though, to be honest. I still haven't set foot in the academy yet. Though I did almost crash into it." He laughed while I looked back at him in surprise

I can't figure out anything to say, surprised at his own reaction. I look ahead to Stalwart, who's already begun walking off toward the dinner tower. Giving a small gasp of surprise, I motion for Silver to follow and end up walking behind him on his right side.

“So how was your day Dawn?” Silver asks after we passed one of the windows in the hall.

“Well,” I begin to say, “I learned there's a lot of spells... and I'm better at moving things than I am lighting things, or making music.... definitely nothing that Starswirl's done yet.” I say a little bit frustrated, but then I quickly concede, “yet... It's only my first day after all... Even they had to practice and learn so I shouldn't be so upset.”

"I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in no time." Silver says eagerly.

“First day?” Stalwart asks, “didn't you practice even a little bit as a foal?”

“I... no, I,” I hesitate noticeably as I try to come up with a reasonable excuse, when it hits me, “it never worked for me as a foal, so I just gave up on trying.”

“Shame... I'm sure you'll make great magic one day.” He says confidently, causing me to blush and shake my head no, but my voice gets caught on my tongue so I follow him in silence.

We walked the rest of the way quietly to the tower, where Stalwart waited outside the door as I nodded to him before passing through, only to spot Celestia and Luna both already at the table.

“Good evening students, how did your days go?” Celestia asked us as we began to sit down.

“Well, I made Breezy laugh.” Silver stated. He sounded pretty pleased with himself, and then I noticed his smirk.

“Did you now?” Celestia asked, her tone starting to show more interest as I wondered who 'Breezy' was. “and how did you manage that?”

I watched as he looked at the table, tilting my own head to the side to watch as he did, before he replied, “I may have almost crashed into the academy and made some of the other instructors dive for cover.”

“Yes, I heard about that.” Celestia chuckled. I turn confused to Luna, who only had a smile on her face as well, “You seem to have a knack for those wings of yours after all!”

I smiled happily for him. It sounded like he was doing better than I would have if I were in his shoes, though it made me start to wonder if it was by chance we ended up this way or if it could have been reversed as I start to stare at the table myself in thought.

“Dawn?” Celestia spoke, snapping me out of my thought and looking at her right away.

“Oh, right!” I reply before turning to him, “Congratulations.” I try to give him another smile though, just in case he didn't see my other one. Then I realized she was asking how my day went. “Well, I didn't expect to need to go to school again, but I learned a little bit about someone named Starswirl the Bearded and Crescent Bell. Then we just spent most of the day practicing magic.”

I started to shuffle my legs around slightly, feeling embarrassed, but then took a breath and continued. “I can move things around easily enough, but I can't make them turn or make my horn give a light yet.”

“Sounds like you're getting it down though,” Silver says, “I still can't fly.” I look at Silver slightly surprised, from what Celestia said, it sounded like he had a lot of talent, but maybe talent wasn't enough.

“And you need to remember,” Luna chimed in, sounding as serious as always, “Most fillies struggle to do even the most basic magic, and light magic is not the easiest spell. Practice will ease your struggles.”

“I will try.” I say quietly. I think back to my room and remember my promise I made. I will not give up, and I will learn this magic if only so I could make my way back home, however long that might be.

Any further thought I had was interrupted by the pulling of a cart, already having 4 meals loaded on it. Celestia, Silver, and I were given an apple fritter each along with a vegetable salad, with some whole carrots poking out of the bowl, while Luna was given something that reminded me of a casserole. I almost wanted to ask her for some, but I was getting too hungry to care.
Everyone digs in, and I use my horn to start digging into the apple fritter first, floating it in front of my face and just moving my head forward to chew instead of repeating this morning's debacle.

I barely manage to finish half of my fritter, enjoying the slight burn of cinnamon and warmth, the earthy smell of the apples and cinnamon mingling, and the sweetness it held when I hear a particularly noticeable crunch, shortly followed by another and another.

“Mmm!” Silver managed to get out as I watched him eat the stump of what might have been his second carrot. “These carrots taste great!” Chewing on another piece of my fritter I watch as he rapidly devours a third carrot.

I get a slightly mischievous smile on my face as an idea comes to mind, and before I've had time to think about it, I've set down my fritter and proceed to float his up in front of him, waving it gently back and forth under his nose to tempt him with it instead.

“H-how?” he asked surprised, and I looked at him with a smile until I saw him frown. Disappointed, I put the fritter back down slowly onto his plate and resumed eating my salad, attempting to use my fork to get some of the greens into my mouth, following Celestia's and Luna's example.

“Dawn,” Celestia chimed in with a smile, “usually it's polite to ask a pony their permission to play with their food.” I blushed slightly and looked down at the table with a small nod. It didn't occur to me to think about asking, since I needed magic to do everything, but he seemed to be managing well on his own so far, so I really shouldn't have.

“On the other hoof,” Luna added, bringing my attention from the table to her, “you've demonstrated significant improvement since this morning.”

“Yes, and it'd be a terrible shame if Silver here continued to ignore a Sweet Apple Acres apple fritter. Somepony else might snag it for themselves at this rate.” Celesta said turning toward Silver and giving a mischievous smile herself. I smiled along with her as I proceed to magically hold the plate in front of him just to go along.

I had to keep from laughing as Silver quickly picked up his apple fritter and took a bite of it, quickly laughing out “No one's snagging it today but me! I don't know how much energy it takes to learn magic, but I know how much it takes to try and fly, and I need all the food I can get!” and with another bite of finality, he smiled in my direction again, allowing me to feel comfortable enough to laugh at his antics and return to my food.

“It's true, it does take more energy to fly than to simply levitate food.” Luna said with a smirk, “perhaps we should make things a little more fair?” Without any further notice I saw two of my carrots leave my salad bowl and head in his direction.

“Oh no you don't! I need energy too you know!” I laugh, attempting to grab the carrots back. Even as the carrots glowed a dark dark green, greener than I usually see, I watched as the carrots went back and forth between the center of the table until Luna relinquished them back to me. The sudden stop took me so much by surprise I nearly hit myself in the face with them, before I slowly put them back in my bowl.

“You've got a better grip on magic than you give yourself credit for Meadow.” Luna said with a smile, “Trust those instincts, and we shall see how far it takes you.”

I look over to Silver, who seemed slightly disappointed at missing out on his chance to get some extra carrots, and I decide it really is appropriate for him to have more. I proceed to then hover both of those carrots over toward him, putting one on his plate, the other held in front of him ready to be eaten. He didn't seem to know how to reply, but that was fine by me, though I was waiting for him to take a bite.

“I thank you for the offer, Dawn,” he starts to say, “but I'm sure you're hungry too.”

I feel even more mischievous and hold it in a more swordlike stance, a little bit closer to myself but still near him, wiggling the end nearest him in a slightly taunting way, “Nope, you've gotta eat, so either you eat, or you face the wrath of my carrot-point! Take up your carrot if you dare, en garde!”

I watch as Silver smirks but then looks at his carrot, then the underside of his hoof. I wait for him to figure out a way to hold it before he manages to loosely hold it in my direction. I wait for his attempted swing, feeling reasonably confident in myself when it falls out of his grasp as he tries to hit my carrot, his own falling toward the ground before it's caught by the darker blue magic I saw earlier, including my own.

“That's quite enough here tonight children,” Luna said sternly, though I couldn't help but notice her smile, “now I know what it's like to have fillies at the table.”

“I try to remind myself what that's like from time to time, but I agree, that is enough for tonight.” Celestia says, smiling as she always seems to.

Luna starts to give my carrots back, but I hold a hoof up and gesture toward Silver. Luna nods and floats them onto Silver's plate.

“Well, seeing as I kinda lost that duel,” Silver started to tell me, “but you're so adamant that I have a carrot, how about we share the spoils?”

“I'm fine thank you. I'm not nearly as hungry right now, and I still have plenty left.” I say, shaking my head before hearing Luna clear her throat.

“We are not able to keep having these meals both morning and night.” Luna starts to say, and I pause my thoughts on finishing our meal to pay attention, “We feel it would be best if we met in the evenings instead, so that we may hear of your progress throughout the day. Then as time passes and you grow more accustomed to life here, you may venture forward into the world on your own. Or, if preferred, remain in Canterlot were we could better assist you in locating a suitable calling.”

I nodded my understanding. They were being incredibly nice in giving us a place to live, food, and helping us adjust to their world, but it wasn't unreasonable to expect them to want to see us be productive. At Luna's mentioning of the 'assisting with a suitable calling', I thought for a second before speaking up.

“If I may,” I start to say, getting a bit conscious about what I'm about to ask, “I'd like to see about maybe trying to fix people's magic things... to see how hard it is and if I might be able to help Silver's mirror be fixed eventually.” I look at them slightly confused as I see the interest in their faces.

“That is a calling few even dare to attempt,” Luna stated. “Tampering with another pony's spells, no matter their intent, poses great risk. Yet for those few who are suited to the task, their talents are revered far and wide.” Celestia looked between Luna and myself as I start to tense, swallowing but staring back as if to stand my ground. I don't want to see Silver stuck here if I could go back when I could use magic to send him home first.

“Should you do well on your studies, Meadow Dawn, I may have a few such items you could test your skill with.” Celestia said slowly, her voice denoting caution, to which I nodded slowly, hoping my serious nature carried over as I'm beginning to understand just how deep I may be getting myself into.

“I understand I may fail, but I'm used to seeing how things work, and at least trying to redo what others have done... I learned a great deal of moving things from school by watching the... fillies?” I ask hesitantly, hoping I got the right term. A small nod from Luna confirms my hope and I continue, “and it is my hope that I can do the same here.”

“You certainly do have an appropriate Cutie Mark, Meadow Dawn,” Celestia said somberly, “may it serve you well.”

To my surprise, both Celestia and Luna gave me a bow for several seconds, taking my breath away. My back tingled as my skin seemed to shiver along my legs. I took a deep breath, not at all sure what was going on other than a great deal of expectations being bestowed upon me. It wasn't magic, at least, I don't think it was, but something inside me feels more alive than I've felt in a very very long time...

“Uhh,” Silver begins to say, causing my gaze to turn over to him, “Stupid question I'm sure, but... What's a Cutie Mark?” His hoof was in the air a bit, much like the students at my school when they had a question.
I turn to Celestia and Luna, only barely remembering a mentioning about the mark last night. I struggle to remember what was said, too much had happened since.

“Oh my," Celestia replied, surprise apparent on her face, "I had explained what a cutie mark was to young Dawn when I first met her, so I'm afraid it slipped my mind. I'm sorry Silver."

“No worries,” He said as I watched Silver slowly pulled his hoof back. “it's not a big deal, really.”

“We had not thought to explain either,” Luna stated, “But we will rectify that now.”

After a brief pause, Celestia nodded, signaling Luna to go on.

“A cutie mark is a special mark that everypony gets when they realize their own special destiny," Luna explained, "It is a visual representation of that ponies inner most passion and drive. Most ponies get their cutie marks when they are very young, though some do not receive theirs until they have matured.”

“And everyone gets one?” Silver chimed in. I tiled my head to the side as he looked back at his own rear half, my gaze following his to find out what his mark seemed to be.

“They do.” Luna confirmed.

“Where do they come from, and how come I have one already?”
“They come from within,” Celestia smiled softly, “And you have one because at least some part of you knows what you desire to do.” Her smile widened and she titled her head slightly. “And if I had to guess, I would say that your calling is to protect those that cannot protect themselves.”

I think really hard about what they said, the gravity of what they said starting to really press down upon my chest as I then look up and quietly go, “and me?”

“What I see in your Cutie Mark,” She said, turning to look at me directly, “is why I named you Dawn. The light of Dawn is a light of hope. The hope that a new day will bring an even better and brighter day than the last. You said so yourself that, even your own world, you sought to shed your light on the lives of others and help them as best you could.”

I listened intently, nodding and let out a deep breath as if now realizing just how much of me was actually seen. I just never imagined it would be at all important.

“It's time for bed, lest you be late for school tomorrow you two.” Celestia said, rising from her seat. “We've covered a great deal tonight, and if you have more questions, you're welcome to bring them to us next time.”

I simply nod in silence, stunned by what we've discovered, and then remembering the choice I made on what I'm going to try to do for Silver Wing. As I get up to leave the room, I look over to him and wonder how he's feeling, but can't manage to speak to him.

A pony walked us down to our rooms, I barley even paid attention to what color it was or anything, I was that absorbed in my thoughts. Calling out a “Good night.” to Silver before we separated I entered my room and looked at that book on the desk in a new light, as a starting point for which I'll be able to follow through on that offer.

A yawn passes my lips before I know it, and I readily jump up into the bed like I had the previous night, staring upward into the moon before drifting off to sleep, wondering what things Celestia or Luna see me doing that I don't see myself.

Dawn and Dusk

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Knocking abruptly wakes me up from my dreams, a groan escaping my throat as I try to get up and moving. Barely remembering before stepping off the bed, I stop and then hop down off the bed instead, making several clicking noises as my hooves hit the floor. With a barely stifled yawn, I use my magic to reach out to the door and open it to see why I'm being woken up.

“Meadow?” a familiar voice answered.

“Yes?” I answered through half open eyes before recognizing who it was, “Oh, Stalwart, what's g-”

“If you don't get moving you're going to be late for school!” He interrupted, “I can't leave, my duty's not done until sunrise, but just go down the hill, you can't miss it!”

I look toward my window, only seeing the moonlight and the rather beautiful stars shining down. I start to look toward him with suspicion, then seeing his sense of urgency, decide to trust him some more. Without any further delay I start walking past him, head still not coming up to my normal height as I mumble my thanks.

“Have a good day at school!” I hear him call to me before our hoofsteps carried us in opposite directions.

My mind was barely coherent, but having walked these halls several times in the last two days, I manage to make my way outside and wander down the hill toward the city, barely registering how different everything looked. It wasn't long until I started second guessing which way to go.

After wandering lost for a few minutes, a bit of laughter gave me a sudden idea. If I'm not the only one heading to school this early, maybe I could look around or listen for some of the other foals heading to school.

I look around, hoping this worked, but didn't see any ponies just yet. Just as I was about to turn around and try heading back, I caught something small but bright heading toward a side street! Figuring I have nothing to lose, I chase after it in a hurry. Sure enough, it was a unicorn filly heading off to school. I slow down my pace to not look as rushed, and quickly start catching up due to my stride, intending to walk alongside her.

She giggled noticeably when she turned and saw me. Despite looking at her noticeably confused, I couldn't seem to prompt her to tell me what was funny without speaking. I wondered what could be so funny, but the thought was lost as the school finally came in sight. I walked onward with this filly in front of me until we entered the front doors.

The teacher stood at the door to her classroom, waving every pony inside with a big grin on her face. It was nice to see someone cheerful this morning, even if I wasn't quite awake enough to give her one back. I start to wave to her as I walk into the room when I start to fall forward, hitting my chin on the floor spectacularly with a loud grunt.

I barely had time to realize what happened when the room burst into childish laughter, my eyes rolling as I start picking myself up and walk over to my desk around the room. Of course I'd forget it'd be extremely hard to wave and walk at the same time! I could hardly blame them for laughing, but it definitely wasn't a good start to the day.

“Good morning, children!” Lemon called out after ringing her bell.

“Good morning, Lemon Bloom!” They called out readily.

“It's wonderful to see all of you here today!” Lemon called out, “Time to do our morning warm-ups!”

I looked on slightly confused. This certainly wasn't something we did when I attended school. I watched and got up from my seat, following the others examples as we started to stretch our legs and our backs. After about only 5 minutes of these stretches, Lemon Bloom calling out encouragement and cheery voiced .

“Ok, everypony! Now let's warm up those horns! Take a deep breath in and concentrate on the tip! Make a light as bright as you can make it, to meet the morning sun!”

I watched as they all made their own little faces, a few grunting or groaning as they tried, and most of them were dimly lit, with a few others making a clear white light. Giving a small smile at the picture in front of me I took a deep, calming breath and remember what the book I was given told me to do through half closed eyes.

At first, I wasn't sure if it was working until I looked over at the teacher. She looked at me with a larger than normal smile in my direction, and I looked down at the desk. A small circle of a slightly greenish light reflected on my desk for several seconds before the sun made it's way upward.

“Well done my little ones!” She said excitedly, “It's good to see you all here again! So to begin, let's talk about our favorite subject... History!”

A collective groan from the class reaches my ears as I smirk. They might take it for granted, but learning what they'd take for granted is just as important to fit in. For the foals around me, it was an almost unbearable hour. I had to applaud Lemon Bloom as a teacher, it amazed me just how much effort she took to make it entertaining and involving. She made most of her lessons involved with little skits or questions to keep them involved. It also fascinated me that there wasn't nearly so much of a struggle between countries as there was with magical creatures, wild spells, wild magic, a wide variety of things. Then again, maybe it's something they'd learn when they're older.

Just about when I was starting to settle into the subject and feel adequately informed, the bell rang outside and the kids eagerly stampeded out the door toward the back so they could play. I followed along slowly, knowing how much I wouldn't fit in rushing to a playground like the rest. Lemon Bloom walked alongside me, when I heard her speak.

“Everything all right dear?”

“Oh yes, I'm fine. I would take notes, but you do a good job helping them... us, remember.” I reply, correcting myself mid sentence. “I had three teachers in the family, so I can imagine how difficult this might be.”

“Well thank you dear, but it's just my love to teach children.” She said, pausing as we stepped outside. “If you need anything, just let me know. It's not often Celestia brings over a student, and I'm sure you'll come along once you're ready!”

“Thanks... I think.” I say nervously, thinking about the pressure I'm under, and wondering just what others are thinking I'm supposed to be able to do now too. I walk over to a more secluded spot in the lawn, stretch out and lay down on the grass. With nothing better to do, I started trying to remember what my book said last night when I felt a tap on my side.

“What'cha doin'?” An adorable voice chimed as I looked over. To my left was a blue little colt who wasn't in my class, looking between my face and my cutie mark.

“Thinking,” I replied. I wanted it to sound like it was exciting like Lemon does, but sadly the energy just couldn't come out. I promised myself to make sure I get more sleep tonight.

“Oh,” He said deflated. I felt bad, his disappointment was palpable. “How long'd it take for you to get yours?” I watched him point with one leg toward my cutie mark.

“Oh that?” I start to say, thinking a little bit about what I only just talked about with Celestia last night. It'd probably be best if I didn't get detailed, “A few days ago actually.” I watched as he looked at me in complete surprise, and I worried if I said the right thing.

“Will it take me that long to get mine?” He said wide eyed, looking terrified at the idea.

“Don't worry, I was a special case I'm sure.” I stated reassuringly. “I was the only pony in my town that could use magic, and it scared them. So I spent a long time trying to be what they wanted instead of what I actually was.” A flicker of guilt passed my mind as I lied. It was still somewhat true, but was it a lie to say she was a pony who could use magic? The rest of it fit, but I almost lost myself to my own thoughts on morality when I heard him speak again.

“Why'd they be scared?” He asked, seated and looking up at me confused.

“Well,” I paused to think about it, “Some ponies don't really understand things that are different than what they're used to. They just get... afraid I guess.” I watched as he started to get a little disappointed before he looked up at me again.

“Could you help me get mine?”

“I'm sorry,” I said, trying very hard not to laugh, hoping to smile instead. His hopeful face was too precious to crush with laughter, “mine just kinda happened, and I'm still trying to figure out how I got mine. But tell you what,” I add before he can be disappointed, “If you manage to figure it out before me, tell me how you did it, ok? And if I can figure out how to tell you, I will.”

“Ok!” he nearly shouted in my direction happily before running off. I watched him go off with a smile on my face, until I heard a trio of snickers to my right.

“I don't see why you'd lie to a blank flank like that.” One of them said as I turned to face them.

“I don't see why you would assume that I'm lying.” I said coldly. “It's very rude.”

I received a haughty “Hmpf!” in response from the three of them as they walked away, tails held ridiculously high as they gossiped between each other.

I shook my head, feeling what little good this morning had in store start to ebb away. It wasn't long before the bell rang and teachers started herding their children inside. Giving a small sigh and standing up, I followed suit, preparing for the onslaught of magical spell studying we'll be doing for most of the rest of the day.

When I left school, I looked around for Stalwart, but he nowhere to be seen. I waited for him for a few minutes, and then remembered he was the one who woke me up. I sighed, disappointed as I realized he probably was asleep, since it hadn't been long enough since dawn. I walked upward toward the hill, castle always in sight. I felt a little glad that I'd be able to make my way on my own, but it was saddening that I couldn't keep having a guide take me around.

I walked straight to my room and began studying the beginning chapters again, trying to grasp the concepts behind the books for several hours. Despite my best intents, my head was nearly spinning at all the explanations in it. It felt like I got the familiar knock on my door too quickly to make any progress, but I got up to answer the door. Naturally, it was time for Silver and I to have our dinner meeting with our hostesses...

For several more days this became my new 'normal,' waking up early, going to school, coming back to study, eating dinner and passing out afterward. I had several strange dreams, from that “otherself” or whatever it was chasing me, to it trying to use the very magic I sought to learn against me! Once, I tried to pick up a sword in my dream and hit him with it, only to somehow feel and see it bounce off something and start flying toward me, waking up to have found the book I was studying somehow in my bed along with a rather noticeable headache.

In my most recent dream that pony was chasing after me, and I didn't know what he wanted. Admittedly, I was scared to find out, yet no matter where I turned, he followed me, even appearing in front of me suddenly! After several times of him poofing in front of where I was running, making me turn, I ended up trying to use that magic too. I thought I teleported onto a cloud in my dream before that shadow pony “otherself” came out of the cloud under me in my face!

I woke up half screaming, half crying in Silver's room! Silver no doubt, was very surprised. I barely remember the rest of that night. I cried myself to sleep that night, wondering if I'd ever be able to get myself home, let alone him. That Friday was a nightmare of a day, not making any progress at school whatsoever, especially with the dreams following my mind to distract me from the lessons there.

Stalwart was very helpful to me when the weekend came though. He told me how his younger sister struggled with magic too, and revealed the book I found on my dresser after my first night and was studying was actually one of hers. He used his days off to try to help me learn magic, and I tried just as hard with him as I did with school. What I remember most about that weekend was when he and I had a bit of fun together during our breaks. After our second day of studying with him, we went bowling, and I gave him a small peck on the cheek in thanks before heading to my room and resting early for the school day ahead.

I wake up from another nightmare on Monday, panting. I couldn't rest well because I spent the entire night's dream in front of that pony, and all he did was stare. He almost used some magic before I caught a glimpse of Luna, who yelled “Sleeping is supposed to be for rest you two, not studying!”

It bothered me to think that somehow my dreams were for studying, and yet when the shadow pony looked from her to me and started to pick up a giant log and throw it to near me, I had woken up to find my chair halfway across the room. I tried to pick it up and move it back into place, but I could barely get it to budge. I snorted and dismissed that dream as yet another way of my mind trying to cope with stress.

I went to school, tired as ever, and not appearing to have made any change in abilities at all, while the other children in the class were able to make a light as bright as mine was almost a week ago. They were all rolling balls with ease, starting to be able to use their magic more finely, learning how to write notes with their quill and ink. My internal frustrations grew when I could barely write my name cleanly. It was very difficult to be patient with the children there, especially that trio I encountered from day one. They made a point of trying to get under my skin every day, from the cleanliness of my mane to lack of magic. It made me wonder whether Lemon Bloom was at all right about me having the talent or aptitude for it when it was clear everypony else was making progress.

After school, I paced in my room trying to let off some steam. Where I had been tired most of the week, I was pouring over with energy that I just had to burn! I was sure it was mostly anger, at myself, this world even my situation. My stomach growled, and I realized how I really shouldn't be only having one meal a day like this, but I never wake up early enough for breakfast and it's too late to have lunch or I won't be hungry for it at dinner! That in itself added to my frustrations as I tried not to go hitting my bed or letting off steam in the castle.

My internal tirade was interrupted by a knock on the door, frowning grumpily I answered it, softening that frown when I saw Stalwart on the other side. We didn't share any words on the way, but his smile was comforting, helping to ease the pent up anger I had. By the time we arrived at the dinner table I was a lot more relaxed, but still not looking forward to a progress report.

I go in to the now familiar room where Celestia and Luna both sit, taking up my usual place alongside Silver Wing to my right. Eating the food placed in front of us we quickly fell into our routine of eating our fill and then talking about our day.

“My my, Silver!” Celestia mused. “You sure do enjoy carrot salad. That's all you've eaten for the last 4 days!”

“Haha, yeah! They're just too good not to order though!”

“Indeed. So how have your lessons been today?”

“Pretty good. Though I still can't do a 90 degree turn...”

“You will learn. Just give it time.”

"Yeah. Hard as it is, I've always loved a good challenge. Especially a physical one"

"Have you now?" Celestia said thoughtfully, "Then perhaps you would like to consider a new topic of study?"

“Hmm? Like what?”

“The Ariel Guard is not solely for learning the intricacies of flight. There is also a degree of martial combat to be learned.”

“But, how could I fight without hands, or magic?” I looked over to Silver at his comment, slightly curious about his prospects as well, before Celestia gave off a chuckle.

“Accept this new challenge, and you shall discover this for yourself tomorrow.”

“Alright, why not. Let's see what your aerial guard has to offer"

“Excellent, so how about you dawn? How are you? You've been quiet today.”

“Frustrated, angry, tired, to name a few,” I finished off the last of my food and took a deep breath before starting to unload. “I'm making no progress in school, my magic's not getting any stronger while even the slower children have a brighter light than I can manage, ignoring some of the snobbish ones teasing. I'm studying and not understanding the books at all, and to top it all off I'm not resting well because weird things happen to me when I keep seeing that stupid shadow thing!” Finally letting all that out, I breathed out and let my head hit the table, moving the plate out of the way and making a small thud as I hit the solid wood before hearing Celestia.

“Have you calling him by his name?”

“It's just a dream. I don't give names to things in my dream.” I raise my head gloomy but trying to be respectful.

“Have you forgotten already?”

“Forgotten what?” I looked at them confused and try to think. I couldn't say I recognized what they were talking about, but a lot has happened in the last week.

“The name of the pony you saw in the mirror when you came.”

“Oh, that.” I sighed and tried to remember what I named him, “Star... something?” I tried to think of why I'd name him something after stars when all I could see was shadow when I heard a tickling voice in my ear.

“Starlight... Dusk...”

I echoed what I heard as I heard it, and then felt a chill down my spine as on my left a pony started to walk to my left from behind me, and sat down next to me to sit across from Luna, who smiled and chimed in.

“Have you tried talking with him instead of running?”

“I...” I hesitated, feeling really nervous and slightly embarrassed. It was hard to imagine having something that came from my dreams as something to sit with, especially with all them ending with me being scared. I had to be firm! “No.”

“Perhaps you should start there.” Celestia added helpfully.

“Right,” I say half sarcastically, turning to the Starlight, “Hi Starlight! I'm Dawn, and I'm terrified of you!” On instinct, I cringe, expecting some sort of magical retaliation, and I watched as his horn glowed and my eyes started to open as I feared the worst. Without intending it, I felt my legs shift as they started to get ready to bolt.

“Fear not.” I heard that tickle in my ear again, and my look of fear becomes one of concern. How could he tell me to not be afraid after what he put me through? I felt my face heat up in anger as I started my reply.

“Really? That's what you have to say? 'Fear not?' The flip is that supposed to mean after chasing me and throwing things at me!” I half yelled at him, looking him dead in the eyes to glare at him into guilt. He stared back at me, almost unwavering until I saw his eyes starting to tear. I felt his sadness, though how I did made no sense to me.

I raised one limb up to give myself a small hug across my chest and looked away, feeling alone and a little ashamed of lashing out, until I felt a hoof on my left side. I jumped in my skin, tensing reflectively before realizing his touch was more gentle than I expected. Pangs of guilt and regret passed through me as tears start to form from realizing how I shouldn't have yelled at him in addition to his own regrets.

“I can help.” his ghost-like echoing voice came to my ear, his hoof feeling warmer to the touch as I start to feel his own sadness and regret. Our combined emotions was almost too much for me to bear.

“I'm sorry.” I whisper back, trying very hard not to cry.

“That's a start, Dawn, Starlight.” Luna echoed the now somber tone in the room.

I thought about what it meant to have this pony near me, supposedly someone who can help me out some way. I was left wondering why he prevents me from going home, but I resolved to find out. Taking a deep breath, I looked up at the others at the table again, where Luna addressed me first.

“Now that you have remembered Starlight Dusk and have heard his intentions, I expect your dreams to be far more restful from this point onward.”

“How is my remembering him going to help anything?” I ask, shivering slightly at a breeze. Instantly I regretted my asking, realizing how hurtful it could be interpreted. I felt Starlight's hoof withdraw from my back, and when I looked in his direction, I could tell I hurt him. His body was stiff and he looked away from me, making me wish he would turn back so he could see my apology. Once again, I fought back tears and found my voice unable to utter an apology.

"Though you may not fully understand what I am about to say at the present, you will in time," Luna said softly, "To truly wield magic, ponies must know and understand the magic they wish to command. This can be attained through study, apprenticeship, or self experience. However, you must also know yourself. For most, this comes easily. As children, we explore ourselves constantly through our imaginations and dreams, but for you... It is regrettably more difficult. You have not known of magic until you came to our world. Starlight Dusk is a part of you that is in tune with the magic of this world. He is the shadow of your magic, a part of you that you have never known prior to coming here. In order to know yourself and use magic, you must know him."

My jaw dropped in disbelief as I stared at Luna. It was not an answer I expected in the least! I find myself involuntarily looking over at Starlight in awe, who looked back at me with a rather proud smile.

“You can see him in your dreams easily enough, but the waking world will take practice. I suggest you take the day off tomorrow to reflect, and see if you can't find him yourself.” Luna said, regaining my attention and my confusion. He was in front of me now wasn't he?

“But, then why is he so clear now? Why wouldn't he stay that way?”

"Luna has used her magic to draw him out so we could bring the issue of your nightmares to rest."

“But... then...” I stuttered, looking back to Starlight confused and disappointed. I only just started to realize what he was, and now I have to figure out how to reach him without Luna's help when my own magic has been so limited? My disappointment and frustration must have been quite noticeable as Luna continued to speak.

"Do not worry. Now that you seek him with your waking mind and understand his true purpose, he will not be difficult to find.” Luna looked at my face and must have read my lingering doubts, since before I could voice my concern, she added, “But, should such difficulties still persist. We will assist you come the night."

I gave a sigh of relief before looking between Luna and Starlight.

“Thank you, I don't want to think of how hard it'd be to struggle through this if I can't manage it alone.”

Starlight stood up from his seat, looked toward me, and gave me a pat on my back before fading into the shadows of the room again. His departure after that consoling touch left an ache in my heart. It was hard to imagine before how that was possible, yet now it was the only reaction I could have as it was starting to dawn on me just how much I misunderstood him. Luna was right, I needed to understand him better. Perhaps it's true that in doing so, I'll understand myself and magic, letting us both go home.

The rest of the night passed uneventfully, my own thoughts were swimming in the implications of what we've covered. I tried to think of ways I could help Starlight stay 'real' in front of me like Luna did, but I simply did not understand how. I got up into my bed and curled up under the sheets, trying to let my mind blank out. The silence ticked by as I let my breathing slow until at last I fell asleep.

Of Shadows and Whispers

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I gently woke up from my bed, for the first time feeling more rested than I had in a very long time. It didn't hurt that Starlight spent most of my dream standing over me as I sat on a hill overlooking a vast plain. It was a simple dream, simpler than any I've had, but it was exactly what I needed.

The familiar knocking on my door caused me to look up from my pillow toward the door, and for the first time in a week, open the door from my bed with relative ease. Watching the light enter from the hallway, I smile as I see the now familiar Stalwart who looked into the room in surprise before stepping in.

“Dawn? If you don't hurry you're going to be late.”

“Don't worry,” I say breathily, smiling from my bed at his gentle reminder, “Luna gave me the day off... gotta figure out how to talk to Starlight.”

“Starlight? Who's that?”

“He's some sort of part of me I guess... I don't get it myself.”

“Oh,” he replied quietly, clearly not understanding it himself. “Are you doing anything for breakfast?”

“No, not yet.”

“Then wait for dawn,” he said, a smile creeping onto his face as if he would laugh.

“Don't worry,” I say with a small wink, beating him to the punch, “Dawn will wait for you just this once.”

He laughed readily, waving before walking out of the room and closing the door behind him.

I laid in bed, fully intending to just lay there for as long as my body allowed me, enjoying the warmth of the sheets and the feeling of not being afraid of Starlight any longer. Thoughts drift in and out of my mind about how to talk to him, when the sun rose into the sky, brightening the room significantly.

I barely sit up and stretch, leaning against the pillows and headboard when there was the knock again, followed by a rather happy Stalwart.

“And another night of patrol done,” He said entering the room, towing behind him a cart holding two meals, “and not soon enough!”

“Oh? Could the steadfast tower be growing weary of his boring hours of walking in peace?”

“Not at all,” he smirked, “but even the most steadfast of towers look forward to meeting the sun.”

“Ok, cut it out!” I laugh, “That's too much corniness for the morning!”

“Not when I tell you there's corn for your breakfast!” He laughed in kind, removing the lids to the plates, “or just regular oatmeal and sugar. I'm not too picky.”

“Good.” I smile, “corn isn't what I'd have in mind for a morning meal.”

Stalwart surprised me by grabbing my bowl and putting it on the bed beside me before getting my chair and sitting with the tray to eat his food.

“Hmmmm, you had better be careful Stalwart.” I tell him in a low voice, “I fear you may give some girls the wrong impression!” Noticing the door he came in through was still open, I close the door behind him so we could avoid any possible gossiping should somepony come along.

“I'll keep that in mind if I encounter any other girls then.” He bowed, though I laughed being quite sure he was making another joke. Thinking of nothing else to retort with, I started eating my oatmeal slowly, watching Stalwart as I ate and wondering what his own intentions were.

We ate, enjoying each other's company. Once we finished I lifted up our bowls and put them onto the tray with ease, looking in surprise at just how much more easily it came. Stalwart was looking over at me with his goofy face, trying to act suspicious and I could barely keep a straight face.

“Have you been holding out on me?”

“No, not at all!” I bring my hoof up to my chest in mock horror, leaning back into my pillows, “I am merely in the process of becoming more attuned!”

“Attuned eh?” Stalwart said, getting down off the chair and stepping slowly toward the bed, “Why don't you get attuned... to some tickling!”
I erupt into laughter as I suddenly have his front hooves on my side trying to tickle me very successfully. I thrashed about as I tried to escape him, starting to run out of breath quickly when we heard some knocking... from our window!

We both stopped in surprise, looking toward the window from where we were, only to see Silver Wing bobbing up and down in the window frame.

“Come study outside!” I heard him shout, slightly muffled through the window, “Get some sunshine!” Having said his piece, I watched as he pushed off the wall and zoomed out of sight.

“He's right.” Stalwart grinned, getting off my bed and grabbing the cart, “What's the sun to do if it doesn't get to reach the dawn?”

“Now come on!” I laugh, planning on pegging this on him, “Just because somepony decided to treat me to breakfast in bed...”

“Hmmmm, well that somepony is clearly dashing and deserves a thank you before going outside!”

“Fine, thank you Stalwart.” I say bowing formally from in bed, “Now let me get cleaned up before going out. My hair is all messed up because of that!”

“As you wish.” He replied, bowing in kind before taking the cart out, closing the door behind him.

I laughed quietly as I got down and sat in front of the mirror, using my horn's magic to lift the brush and beginning to straighten it out. I didn't take too long before starting to move toward my tail, brushing it out more fully. I admired the slight sheen my brush started to make it have in the light before realizing I was taking up far too much time getting ready! I put the brush down, rushed to get out the door and have it closed behind me before setting at a brisk trot out to the front doors where I hoped to meet Stalwart.

Thankfully, despite my delay, I managed to get to the door just before he did. I hope he didn't glimpse me trotting ahead, I'd rather he thought I was already there for a little while.

“Something special happening today?” Stalwart asked as he walked alongside me while we walked down the hill.

“Huh?” I asked confused. I certainly didn't think anything special was happening other than trying to figure out a way to reach Starlight Dusk.

“Your mane, it's actually neat this morning.”

“Oh, are you trying to say something?” I try to hint at the danger he's tempting, making my horn glow ever so slightly.

“No, no, I would never-” He shook his head before quickly pointing out Silver. “Hey, here's your friend!”
I looked over toward Silver with a smirk, who was fast approaching from the sky. Stalwart may have gotten off easy, but I intend to let him get away with it for now.

“Hi” Silver says as he lands in front of us both.

“Hey,” I say back, watching as Stalwart nods.

“How goes the flying?” I check in with him.

“Pretty good. My new lessons don't start for about an hour yet. So i was warming up my wings in the meantime.” He flared out his wings, rather proud of himself. “And how bout you. Studying hard?”

“I haven't even started yet. we were just heading to a spot." I laughed.

“And here I thought you'd have been up all night working on your magic.” He laughed as he looked at us both and smirked, “Well, looks like you got a decent sleep at least.”

"Yes, yes I did, thank you.” I nodded my head in appreciation. I'm not quite sure why he thought I'd work on magic after that conversation last night, but maybe he forgot.

“Glad to hear it. Guess this means I can stop sleeping with a helmet on eh?”

“Wha-” Stalwart started to say before I quickly chimed in.

“Yes... yes you can”

“But... why would you need a helmet?” Stalwart looked between us confused

I looked away and to the ground, getting really embarrassed and trying very hard to imagine myself anyplace else but here.

“Don't worry about it Stalwart.” I finally heard him say, letting out a big sigh of relief as I looked back up, “Let's just say Dawn gave me a good fright the other night and I flew into a wall.”

I groan and lie down on the ground, arms over my face as I try not to just melt into the paved road.

“I see...” I could hear stalwart say before I felt a hoof lightly tapping on my shoulder, “I never pictured her for the prankster type."

"Oh she's full of surprises.” I heard Silver chuckle. “and it looks like that's all the time we have to chat for today. looks like its about time for me to get to class. " Grateful for the subject change, I stood up and looked past him to see another pony flying in our direction.
An older looking pony landed softly in front of us, much more gently than Silver had earlier.

“So this is where you're wasting the morning. On the ground?”

I flinched a little at the gruffness of his voice and approach. Suddenly I have a bit more sympathy for Silver if that's what he has to put up with each day to fly. I certainly couldn't handle it.

"Ive been in the air all morning. But it'd have been rude not to come down and say hi to friends"

Friends eh?" the gruff pony snorted as he turned his gaze to stalwart and I. "So you must be the unicorn I've been hearing about. Meadow Dawn, wasn't it?"

“Y-yes sir.” I say polity, a little intimidated by him, “Wha-, What exactly have you been hearing about me?

“That you're lousy at magic for your age,” I cringed and felt myself shrink just a bit, starting to look away until he started to talk again, “but you've come along a good enough all things considered. And you got a good way with the fillies. Least that's what my wife says anyway.”

“Your... wife sir?” I ask confused. What he said still hurt, but right now I was more curious than offended.

"Aye. My little Lemon Bloom" he said, smiling to some unspoken thought to my surprise, "She's got nothing but good things to say about your progress. And what do I know about magic anyways? I'm just an old pegasus." He smiled at me, making me feel a little better. "You be sure to visit the little ones now and again though, eh? Some might be brats, but most ain't half bad. Least that's what my little Lemon Bloom tells me.”
I blush and smile a bit nervously, not really finding any words that seemed adequate, though I nodded my thanks to him as Stalwart chimed in.

“Good to hear, she's been studying a lot and I keep telling her she'll do fine.” he tapped my side, almost making me jump before he chuckled, “Maybe you should listen more.”

“Word of advice, boy.” he said as a snort came out, “Never tell a woman to listen more. You'll live longer and happier.” I smiled wide at the support as he turned to face me, “You have yourself a good day lass. I'll be sure 'n say hi to my Lemon Bloom for ya.” Before I could thank him he turned and snorted at Silver. “Come on Silver. Today I get ta watch you get knocked out by something with a pulse!”

I recoiled as his wings flapped once, sending a gust of wind at my front and he disappeared from my sight till I looked up as he flew off.

“Charming, isn't he?” Silver asked, probably intending to be sarcastic.

“Well, I liked him at least... I hope you do well, and stay safe till dinner ok?”

“I'll be fine, trust me on that.” He replied with a confident smirk.

“Ok,” I say unconvinced, “take care!”

Silver stood back, making a gesture I wasn't quite sure I recognized. It wasn't quite a wave, but before I could ask him about it, he also took off, causing more of a gust than his mentor, quickly disappearing from view.

“Wow, that's... not bad at all!” Stalwart said surprised.

“Yeah... I know I couldn't fly that well in a week.”

“Oh I'm sure you'd get it quickly enough. Breezy's a real softie for ladies... and a real hardball on the colts I hear.”

“Oh my...” It felt like my fears were justified, even if he was thriving because of it. Deciding to change subjects and focus on my magic then, I asked “So, know of any good relaxing spots for me to reflect? I'd like it to be quiet but still be able to talk, so not a library.” I asked Stalwart.

“I think I know just the place. Come with me!” he said eagerly, walking off. Naturally, I followed him, wondering where he would take me.

There were several twists and turns that we took together, until we stood below the castle, overlooking the lands while standing on a small green hill that threatened to drop off dangerously.

“I figured this would be a great place, since it's quiet, and I thought maybe you might like it?” Stalwart stood, putting his hoof up to the back of his head. I smirked at him before looking out at the land, smiling gently.

“Yes, this will be a great place to reflect. Thank you, Stalwart.” I walked slowly toward the most flat part of the hill, trying to ignore the height and just take in the vibrant colors of this world before laying on the grass. It tickled my belly something fierce at first, threatening to make me giggle or laugh, but I managed to keep it down.

“It's nothing, really!” He blushed lightly before sitting near me, facing out toward the landscape, but keeping me in view. I wondered why he felt it was needed, until I remembered my panic from being in the clouds.

I shook my head a few times to clear that though from my mind, and took a deep breath trying to remember what I was told by the princesses about Starlight.

“So what are we doing here today?” Stalwart interrupted.

“Well,” I say giving a small sigh as my train of thought was derailed, “last night when at dinner, I told them how I wasn't doing well with magic so far, and it felt like I should be doing better.”

“But you're doing fine.” Stalwart said encouragingly. I smiled and gave a small snort before continuing.

“No, I'm not, but thank you. They said something about how I have to understand myself to use magic, and to understand myself... I have to get to know him.”

“This Starlight fellow? Is he meeting you here?”

“If we're lucky,” I say, trying to figure out how to address the concern in his voice I heard. “I don't exactly know how, so I'm going to try and remember how things happened last night and try to repeat them, and if that doesn't work, I'll try something else.”

“But why would you learn about yourself from some other pony?”

I watched as his ears stood up on end, his body language was more stiff. I don't know why, but Stalwart must be feeling threatened somehow. I tried to think, looking away from him as what he said sunk in. 'He's right, how would I know about myself from someone or something else? Does that mean he's a part of me? But that's...' I paused my thoughts as an idea came to mind, and I decided to voice those thoughts slowly to stalwart, my eyes opening a bit more as I realize I might know where he came from.

“I think...” I tensed, realizing what I was about to say, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I watched as Stalwart was giving me his undivided attention. “Back home, I didn't get along with my family very well at all. I didn't know how to be myself, and so I tried to do my best to be what my family wanted me to be. The problem was, it was never enough.”

Stalwart thankfully had the sense to stay quiet and let me try to keep talking, he started to look less tense, starting to relax, making me feel more comfortable as I try to continue.

“I tried to strike it out on my own several times, and because I still didn't fit what they wanted, I was effectively disowned.” I paused slightly as I watched Stalwart's jaw drop, clearly this is not common here then. “I tried to mend the relationship with them afterward, but...” I took a deep breath, and then another.

“The winter before last,” I said slowly, not sure how they measure time and thinking it'd be best to reference by seasons, “things were going to get extremely cold, cold to the point where if you were outside for more than about fifteen minutes, you risked losing parts of your body to the cold because it's trying to freeze.”

Stalwart nodded seriously, with me trying very hard to not let old emotions rise back up.

“I reached my mother, father had already passed away some time ago, and tried to ask if I could stay the nights it would be that cold, and only the nights. Promised to stay out of their way, and everything... A week ahead, then a few days, then the last night before it hit... she never replied.” A small tear came to my eye and I tried to ignore it, continuing on in spite of more trying to come. “I survived that winter, only barely, despite being without a home, and bringing along as many of the basic things as I could with me. It told me that my family didn't care if I lived...”

I closed my eyes to calm down and heard Stalwart get up, and with some rustling of the grass before he laid next to me with one arm around my shoulders.

“I'm sorry you had to go through that.” He offered quietly. I shrugged, not really sure what to say. After a small pause, he asked, “What does that have to do with Starlight?”

“I think...” I say while taking another deep breath, calming down as that memory subsided, “he was the mask I wore for all that time. I tried to be what they wanted for so long, he is where most of my strength came from growing up. When I went through that, I swore to cast that away and not look back, and yet here I am... looking back.”

I close my eyes and try to calm down, tears threatening to come forward again before I felt Stalwart shift. I opened my eyes, first to him, then when I saw he was looking past me to my right, I looked as well.”

There Starlight stood, almost completely formed, with some flecks of shadow coming from his body, twitching toward the shadow of the mountainside like a flame. His colors were the same as always, a deep deep blue, almost black surface, but a few flecks of light seemed to almost shine through on his side as his mane and tail glimmered in a similar fashion. I looked toward his flanks, trying to see what his mark was, when I saw the three four-pointed stars, a brighter white than the rest of his flecks. He took in a deep breath as I looked up toward his blue eyes.

“I am thou, and thou art-” He started to say as I started to burst into laughter, a tear or two starting to come out, but for an entirely different reason.

“What? Why are you laughing?” Stalwart looked over at me, being very puzzled. I ignored him temporarily as I try to get my breath back.

“Really Star? Really?” I laughed again, “You really had to go there when we were having a moment?” I watched as he got a wide smile on his face and laid down in front of me, slightly to my right.

“You can't blame a pony for trying.” He chuckled, but I could tell he was a little apologetic.

“Trying what?” Stalwart asked, clearly clueless.

“He tried to reference a game I loved to play during that time, where the heroes all had masks they wore and would 'summon' them to do battle. It's what would be said to them after they realize what was going on and try to accept that part of themselves they hide.”

“Sounds... fitting?” Stalwart said. I wasn't sure whether he really understood, but then I watched as he stood up and gave Starlight a bow, “Thank you for keeping Dawn safe.”

Star and I both laughed, making Stalwart look at us confused again.

“He's me, remember?” I jokingly tap on his leg. “If it's any consolation, we're both glad we made it through, and now I'm here.”

Starlight nodded in agreement, looking over at a nervous Stalwart.

“I'll leave you two alone. We can always talk later, after all,” Starlight said before turning to me, “you will be blessed when making..”

“Oh no you don't!” I say cutting him off with a smile. “I will not be making more of you anytime soon.”

“Pity. Perhaps you will make more of something else then.” He smirked, looking between both me and Stalwart as he got up and walked toward the shadow, melting into it and disappearing from view.

I shake my head, eyes mostly closed as I shrug off that little tease. After all, he couldn't possibly be serious. When I looked up at Stalwart, I noticed he was blushing slightly. Deciding not to extend the teases, I tap the ground where he had been laying by me and waited for him to do so.

“Well, that was... different.” Stalwart slowly as he laid down, though to my disappointment not quite as close, a foot more away.

“Yes, that doesn't happen often where I'm from either. But,” I say, slowly getting up just enough to roll onto my side and lean against him, watching as he gave a small jump in surprise and smiling at his slightly embarrassed face, “if he is who I had been, you're getting the 'real' me that I always wanted to be anyway. That can't be so bad can it?”

“No... No it isn't.” Stalwart said slowly. I watched him smile at me and we enjoyed the quiet bustle around us and a small breeze moving the grass as we stared at the horizon.

It soon became noon as Stalwart and I talked occasionally, the occasional yawn coming by. By his third one, I smiled and got up from the grass.

“Come on sleepy pants. Let's get you to bed.”

“Huh? I'm not that tired yet, honest!”

“Then get up from your bed of grass and start walking with me to the castle!”

He got up, taking his time, even trying to stretch out like a cat. I suppressed a giggle at the thought as he walked with me toward the castle.
“Still going to work the night shifts then?”

“Not really.” He said, starting to yawn a fourth time. “I want to try and get a day shift, but they're all taken. I wonder about getting a job elsewhere but...”

I let his voice trail off, not wanting to press the matter. I could understand. Not everyone is able to find a job quickly, and jobs like the royal guard must be at least stable once you're in.

“What things are you good at?”

“Dunno really. I haven't needed to try anything more than a guard. Ever since I was a colt I wanted to protect ponies and this seemed to be the best way to do it.”

“Then why are you wondering about getting a job elsewhere?”

“Because nothing happens in the castle, or if it does, we're sent away because we can't deal with magic without having magic.”

“That must be frustrating...”

“Not really... maybe I just don't appreciate it like I used to.”

I couldn't think of anything to say, so we walked in silence. I tried to walk a little closer, to give that reminder of how he didn't have to keep it all in, but he stopped just shy of my room like always.

“Well, I appreciate it. You've helped me a lot in the last few days. Thank you.” I bowed to him briefly as I started to enter my room, standing in the door.

“It's nothing, really!” he said, blushing and looking down to the side.

“Well then, clearly it's not been nothing to me. So before you go to shrug it off,” I say as I step toward him. He looked at me, eyes seeming unsure of what to expect. I was slightly frustrated that he'd shrug off my thanks, but then an idea came to my head I had to try. I suddenly felt really nervous, but reached up to give him a peck on the cheek like before, “remember that somepony appreciates it.”

I walk into my room, getting the feeling he'll probably rethink his frustration a little bit. Sometimes all someone needs is a little 'thank you' to really love their work.

I paced my room a little bit, reflecting on the day's events, feeling reasonably good about the day so far. It was only lunch time, and I only felt a little peckish. I decided it'd be best to study, as well as try to talk with Starlight Dusk some more if I could.

I sat at my desk, stretching and calling out his name.

“Starlight?”

I felt that familiar tickle in my ear as I start to hear the hoofsteps behind me.

“Meadow and Stalwart, sitting in a tree. K-i-s-s-i-n-g.” His voice hummed quietly as I looked at the mirror incredulously.

“Really, Starlight? He's just a friend!”

“Oh yes, and you've always kissed your friends before leaving.”

“Oh please!” I protested, turning in my seat to face him, “You and I both know he's been really nice to me.”

“Oh, I wonder why that is.” he said as he walked over to my desk and talked through his horn. It was only then that I realized he wasn't as solid as he was with Stalwart.

“I'm sure it has something to do with a fetching young mare making herself quite available to him, and maybe all the laughter. I dunno, maybe I'm just imagining things.” I watched as he smirked and I wanted to give him a slap on the shoulder, were he just a little bit closer. Then again, maybe he knew that already.

“You're probably imagining things. Why aren't you solid like you were before? What's going on?”

“You aren't realizing the nature of our connection. I was you.”

“But people change... I admit, you remind me a bit of how I used to be, but why would you be my connection to magic? And why would you try to keep me from going home!”

I watched as his form started to shimmer, and I looked on in disappointment as I gathered my thoughts as he no longer was able to even speak to me as he faded to an outline. I stopped staring and closed my eyes, trying to focus on accepting Starlight instead of accusing him.
After a couple of minutes, telling myself I would do the same and when that didn't work, tried to focus on the teasing he made about Stalwart and I. Slowly, I started hearing the tickle again.

“Please, stop rejecting me.”

“I'm sorry. I never was very good at listening to myself was I?”

“No, we weren't.” He said, a smirk felt more than seen until I opened my eyes to see a slowly solidifying Starlight.

“You're right... neither of us were. If you don't mind though,” I added, intending not to let this one slide, “just don't tell Stalwart ok?”

“He's likely as clueless as you are, unless you keep taunting him like you have.”

“I don't wanna talk about it.” I say, not wanting to risk sending him away by doubting what he said again.

“As you wish.” He said, almost imitating Stalwart's earlier line and movement exactly.

“Fine... Can you at least tell me why you block our way home?”

“You cannot leave me behind.” He said simply, sitting down on the floor.

“What do you mean? If you're part of me, doesn't that mean you'd come with me?”

“No.” he shook his head, driving the point home, “leaving would mean leaving part of yourself behind. I cannot survive here without a connection, and it has to be you.”

“Why not? I don't get it.” It was so confusing already. He tries to say he's a part of me, and was the most solid when I recognized that, but now that I've recognized him he's saying I'd somehow leave him behind? How is that possible? How is his survival even relevant if he actually is me? Something just wasn't adding up.

“I don't know if even I fully understand.” He admitted, causing me to snort and want to throw my arms up in frustration, before he continued “I suddenly found myself in darkness after that winter, when you swore you'd never be me again. I wandered about in darkness as I looked around, trying to find a way home, just as you are now.”

I sat bewildered. It almost seemed as if he was his own entity now, if we ended up splitting those two years ago.

“My form changed as I sat in darkness, much like we would imagine as a child, until finally this form came, and three stars appeared before me. I followed them to the mirror I pulled you through. I heard whispers...” He seemed to pause and think, much like I did when I was deciding whether to tell the whole story, making my eyes narrow, “I heard how to use magic, and how to tell if you can. We always knew we wanted to, but this was the first time we could. The whispers told me how I could lure you to the mirror, and how to let you reach in, and pull the rest of the way through.”

I stared at him in disbelief. I never would have thought I'd be so naive to trust a random set of whispering regarding magic, let alone trying to drag others with.

“The whispers stopped as soon as you came, reminding me your learning magic would be the key to coming back once again...” He trailed off, but bowed his head slightly. I wondered just how much of this could have really happened.

“Where did these whispers come from, why does that let you do magic?”

“I... don't know.” He said slowly, making me narrow my eyes. It was exactly the way I've heard myself say it when I tell others before so I don't have to explain. I decide not to press the issue as he said, “I use magic because I draw my strength from your potential, and I've had these couple years to study. You use magic because you are a unicorn, but you don't know yourself well. That is why I can do more.”

“Wait a minute, how the flip does that make sense? If you draw your strength from me, how does that make you more...” I struggled to figure the right word, powerful almost fit, but he also was somehow taught? That's not even counting he should have needed to study, and how would that even work? 'Too many questions,' I shook my head.

“Believe or not, the choice is yours.” He shrugged, “I for one enjoy being able to see others again, and know that you will do well here.”

“And why would you be able to block me from going home?”

“That...” He said voice trailing off. I knew that wasn't good sign, unless he himself didn't know. “I will tell you when the time is right. You are not ready yet.”

“Ready for what?”

“You need to refine your magic” He said, lifting my chair off the ground. I squeaked in surprise and gripped it solidly as he lifted it a foot in the air and floated it to the other room. “Once you can do more than I, we'll talk about it more.”

I spent the rest of the day with Starlight, concerned but deciding that if he can help me to learn or even master magics, then it was worth working with him at least. He told me as I tried to perform them what I needed to do... gradually making progress in lifting the chair and moving it about, making a light brighter than most lamps, even teleporting. Granted, it was such a shock to me at first that I fell over, and it was only a foot over.

There was an abrupt knock on the door, far earlier than I expected. I opened the door, almost expecting to see Stalwart. My heart sunk when it was another of the guards, but I approached readily.

“I am here to inform you that the scheduled dinner with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna has, regrettably, been canceled for tonight.”

“Wait, what? Why?” I asked confused. I had only just managed to get in touch with Starlight Dusk, and wanted to ask several of the questions that I couldn't seem to wrest out of him to Luna tonight.

“I have not been briefed on the details. All I have been told is that an envoy from the Crystal Empire has arrived.”

“Oh... I think I understand.” I nodded. “Where should I go to request food, should it be available?”

“Dinner for all members of the castle will be provided after their own. Expect a delay of up to an hour. Now I need to go tell the others. Good day ma'am.”

He left, causing me to sigh as I went to my bed and curled up patiently. Perhaps now was a good time for a nap. It wasn't likely Stalwart would have the night off, seeing as someone important came by would mean everyone would be on standby. Giving a small yawn I moved a pillow by magic over to my head, and laid down to rest until dinner.

Dawn's Light

View Online

I walked to the school feeling quite refreshed. After having had yet another good night's sleep and the chance to talk with Starlight a little more, I'm finally starting to feel like I'm making progress and not being a burden on anyone. Ignoring Starlight's teasing about not getting Stalwart to walk me into the school, I walked toward Lemon Bloom with a bit more of a smile.

“Good morning, Dawn!” Lemon Bloom smiled in kind, “We missed you yesterday, but I hope you're ready to pick up where you left off!”

“Oh,” I smirk and pause slightly, “I think I'll be doing more than that if given the chance, but we'll see.”

“I see!” Lemon Bloom replied with a raised brow, clearly intrigued. “We'll talk about it later.”

I walked into the class and sat at my usual desk, ignoring the usual chattering of the students around her. A certain trio of fillies gossiping still reached my ears despite my best efforts, but I focused on the front board, thinking of ways I could get them to stop.

We performed our morning exercises, and my light was bright enough to light to the middle of the room, beyond the lighting the children gave. It wasn't my intent to outshine them of course, but it happened nonetheless. The few that could keep their eyes open during their efforts turned back to see my light just before the sun rose and I turned it off before Lemon asked.

Our lesson today covered some of the exploits of Crescent Bell, who despite being known for his magics on music, also had a few adventures that seemed well known.

I was starting to get really interested in the magic he used to make his horn play music he remembered when the bell for recess rang. Once again, all the children headed out as fast as they could without trampling each other, while I stayed behind to speak with Lemon Bloom.

“That was very impressive dear.” She said as we made our way to the hallway.

“Thank you.” I nodded, “I spent a lot of time with a... we'll call him a mentor, yesterday. I miss home, but now that I've had a good long talk with him and gotten some more practice, I think I'll be getting the hang of it all soon. I hope.”

“I'm certain you will.” Lemon said as we finally stepped outside.

I paused and looked toward my usual spot, where the little boy I spoke to once was yet again, but this time, the three fillies were near. That could only mean trouble in my eyes.

“Excuse me, I think I need to remind a few of my classmates how unpleasant it is to pick on other ponies.”

“Oh dear, I can-”

“No, please, I have an idea I'd like to try. Nothing harmful, just a little story...” I give Lemon a playfully mischievous smile before walking off to the trio.

“Really, not being able to shine a light at all?”

“Well, I-”

“I wouldn't be surprised if they sent you home!”

“Now what do we have here? Picking on a boy?” I interrupt them from behind, watching as they turned around in surprise, then started to open their mouths before I interrupted, “I remember how there was once a little boy in my town, not unlike our little friend here. He was picked on a lot by a few girls I knew, until one day, he vanished!”

“Oh please,” one of the three chimed in, “you can't expect us to be scared by-”

“Oh that wasn't the scary part.” I looked at her through narrowed eyes, a slightly perverted smile crossing my lips as I said, “a year later, the ponies who teased him found their lights not as bright. Whispers and rumors of a shadowpony eating up the light went around, but nopony believed it... until he appeared.”

I knew I had their full attention, they were skeptical clearly, but not about to second guess an appearance.

“He stood in the middle of the town, looking around for somepony's light to eat, but nopony came out, no lights to eat. He called out, 'I hunger.... I hunger! I hunger!' and ran off to find the girls who had-” I stopped suddenly, freezing in place and looking up in mock horror beyond the fillies, seeing Starlight standing over the little boy, not fully solid, but his shadowy pelt flickered in the light. The boy looked over at the legs in surprise, only just starting to notice them himself and looked up almost as scared as the girls were.
The fillies were just about to turn around when Starlight lowered his head and whispered deeply, “I... hunger...”

The fillies looked back and then up at Starlight, eyes growing wide as they saw him, then backed into me looking like they were about to scream. Taking that as my cue that I took it a little too far, I shone my light as bright as I could in Starlight's direction. He smirked in my direction, then chuckled with an evil sounding voice as he let himself fade away into the shadows. The girls looked like they were almost in a state of panic. Clearly this was the time to calm them down and remind them of the moral of this impromptu story.

“As you can see, this story isn't quite over yet, but that's what can happen when you tease other ponies. Would you happen to know any ponies who would be teasing other ponies? He does like going after their lights the most-”

“N-No Ma'am!”

“No we wouldn't know any ponies like that!”

“We'll be good! Promise!”

“Good,” I say as gently as I can. “Go play, and maybe one day, your lights will be bright enough to keep 'the shadow' away.”

They nod and rush off as I saw Lemon Bloom walked over toward us, the boy looking up at me in awe, though still looking over his shoulder once or twice. I ignore Lemon Bloom at first, deciding to use a free hoof to ruffle his head and scoot him on to play.

“You too, can't have you turning into a shadow either by not making some friends!”

“But... but who was that? How did you do that?”

“That was a special friend of mine named Starlight Dusk. He can be very shy, but he likes standing up for special ponies.”

“But I'm not special...”

“Oh? Funny, Starlight Dusk hasn't been wrong yet.” I say thoughtfully, looking off a little ways. After waiting a couple of seconds deliberately, I continued, “Who knows? Maybe you'll surprise yourself one day!”

“Hmmmm,” He put his head down, clearly in deep thought, though only for a very short moment before yelling out, “Thanks Dawn! I'm gonna try! Oh... And thanks for the help. I hope I can shine my light as bright as yours some day.” he said as he ran off to play.

“My my, high praise indeed! Not how I would have wanted it handled, but very effective.”

“Oh, Lemon! How much did you hear?”

“More than you might think. There's a reason the children say we have ears everywhere.” She chuckled before continuing, “He's really been struggling to learn how to do magic, very much like you were before now. His teacher's been telling me how he's not been making progress either, partly because he hasn't been confident in his magic.”

“What a shame.” I say staring out over the playground.

“Well,” Bloom answered quickly, causing me to turn my head toward her in slight surprise, watching as she monitored the playground. “let's hope that your little story helps him realize he's not alone, and he's got talent just like everypony here. Now then,” Lemon turned to me looking very serious, “who was that pony I saw? I highly doubt you've become so good at magic you could have made an illusion that convincing.”

“I can see why you might say that,” I chuckle. “but you're right, I haven't gotten that much better. His name is Starlight Dusk. I only kinda know him a little bit, and he's supposed to be some sort of connection between the pony I was and the pony I am now. He's a part of me, but I'm trying to figure out what part and why he came to be and why he's keeping me here and why he's so different than me and... ugh, it's a mess.”

I don't know why I decided to tell her what little I knew about Starlight. I certainly didn't know her as well as some ponies, but as I waited for her reply, I realized just how much I actually trusted her. She spends an enormous amount of effort trying to help all of us here at the school to learn magic and history and language. If there was something she could do to help, she would. It still didn't make complete sense, but then again, my feelings never often did.

“I can imagine.” Lemon Bloom answered, clearly in thoughts of her own, “I don't know much about it myself, but if you ever need somepony to listen, I'll be here. Just try not to need me during class eh?”

“Yeah,” I smiled back, “I don't know how the rest of the class would react if they thought I was one pony split into two or something.”

“Indeed! Best to save that kind of talk for Nightmare Night!”

“What now?” I ask intrigued. The name alone sounded reminiscent of Halloween, what little I knew of it, but it wouldn't hurt to be sure.

“Nightmare Night?” Lemon Bloom looked at me in surprise, “I'm surprised you haven't heard of it.”

“Humor me. I think my home might have called it something else too.”

“Well,” Lemon Bloom hesitated, not being sure where to begin, “a long time ago, Celestia banished Nightmare Moon to the moon, but once a year, near the end of harvest season, she comes back to Equestria to seek vengeance on ponies!”

I tried very hard not to laugh, but settled for some chuckling. It should be impossible for anything to be on the moon, but she is a children's teacher after all. What should I expect out of a story that's a reason for celebration?

“So, everypony dresses up to fool Nightmare Moon, and children go around collecting candy from adults, and should they happen upon Nightmare Moon? They leave a candy for her so she eats it instead of them!” Lemon Bloom said enthusiastically, just as the bell rang.

“Interesting.” I say quietly as I head to the classroom with Lemon, thinking of its parallels before we moved on to our remaining lessons.
Much of the early day was spent at school learning some of the different magics related to sounds. It garnered some excitement from the other children at first, but then as they tried to put the magic into practice, many of them grew disheartened. Thinking the concept seemed simple enough, I tried to think of the steps needed before starting to try a single note.

Amidst the grunting of a few of the children, it could be heard quietly, my own mind concentrating heavily on that sound, gradually focusing it more and more from the base of my head where I was picturing it, and toward the tip. The sounds grew louder until the whole room heard it in a hushed murmur.

My attention waned from the note as I noticed just how heads started to turn toward me in some surprise, except for Lemon Bloom who smiled approvingly.

“That's the way to do it! Just picture the music you want to play and let it ring out!”

Most of the children groaned slightly as they kept trying. Taking her words to heart, I tried a few more notes, attempting to imitate a piano. It was muffled heavily, as if something seemed to be lacking.

'Would you like some help?' I heard Starlight Dusk's voice in my ear. I looked around slowly, to make sure he didn't suddenly appear in the classroom. Confused, I didn't see him, yet I wasn't sure how he could reach me this way. Yet another question I'll need to ask... In the meantime, I nodded, not wanting to show off, but I wanted to have this magic shown properly, both to myself and my students.

I took a few breaths, and focused on Starlight's quiet advice and allowed myself to clear my head. Then I began with a simple piano tune I used to listen to as a lullaby. The notes rang out quietly, slightly muffled, more like a faded memory might sound in the movies.

The rest of the class came along to a similar level just as lunch hit, at which point everypony went along to eat and then play outside while I stayed in the classroom. Lemon Bloom walked to the back of the classroom. I expect she's wanting to continue our talk from before.

“That was quite impressive once again Dawn.”

“Thank you.”

“Care to tell me what brought on this sudden improvement?”

I took a deep breath and thought. How was I supposed to tell her how I'm doing magic, or that Starlight Dusk is helping, and is both his own pony and a part of me? I know I explained a bit to her earlier, but how much is appropriate to share?

“Well, this is a bit... difficult to explain.” I say, hoping that it would be enough

“Like I always tell all of you, it never hurts to try!” She grinned, her face strongly reminded me of the best teachers I'd had previously. I decided then on impulse, I should tell her as much as I was able.

“Well, you know that pony you asked about earlier? He is teaching me how to use magic, but somehow,” I pause, taking a breath and letting it out as I feel my tension rising, “he used to be a part of me that became his own pers-, I mean pony, a couple of years ago. He started learning and had access to magic far sooner than I had, though I don't know how, and now he's teaching me while I try to sort out who and what I am, especially now. That of course not trying to answer what I will try to do or become here.”

“I will admit,” Lemon Bloom started, sounding about as hesitant as I felt, “I don't quite understand, but if you can think of a way I can help, you just let me know, ok?” She placed her hoof on my shoulder as the bell rang, signaling the end of our lunch time. Lemon Bloom then headed to the door to welcome her students back in.

Our studies turned to Equestrian history as well as other magically inclined ponies who helped shape or found their society in many ways. I tried to pay attention, but found myself drifting off in thought more than any previous day as I heard the lesson and no explanations of how they did their magic. I filtered what she said, paying most attention when magic was brought up as I tried to puzzle out what would make my own magic more potent or diverse.

The school bell rang, and not soon enough. I left as fast as the crowed halls would allow me, though never appearing to be in a rush. It wasn't long before I went over to the small hill below the castle and stared out at the horizon like before, laying in the grass.

I thought about several things, only lightly, every now and again. Living with ponies as a pony of sorts, how much magic was taken for granted, being a guest at a castle, I could think of worse fates. Still, I wanted to find a way home, if nothing else for silver to have a way back.

I heard some soft steps behind me, and decided to wait to see who it was. I heard the rustling of the grass as somepony plopped down close by.

“Hello Dawn.” Stalwart's familiar voice spoke several feet away.

“Hello Stranger.” I say, looking over at him with a teasing smile.

“Why am I a stranger?” He said before he yawned, “Sorry, I only just got up. How was school?”

“Pretty good. Sorted out some bullying, made a decent light, and can faintly make sounds.” I say, feeling reasonably good, until I remember my goals. My pessimistic side starting to show, “That'll be real flipping useful in helping Silver and I get home.”

“Hey!” Stalwart's voice came firmly, “You're doing fantastic for how little you've been using magic. Just give yourself time!”

“Thanks Stalwart.” I sigh. “I know it'll take time and effort, but I'm worried. I don't know how much time it'll take to get home at this rate. Can I even pick up the pieces if it takes me more than a couple months? It's not just a matter of learning how to use magic, it's the stress of trying to work my job again, or find new work, to get Silver home so he can get to his family, his job, his home...”

“If there's anything you need me to do to help, just let me know.”

“Thanks Stalwart,” I say, still feeling bad that I'm the only one between Silver and I that can help get us home. I then think about how much Stalwart has been around in the last week and a half, and ask, “Why did you decide to help me in the first place?” I quickly add, “I don't mean to be ungrateful, but I don't usually have anyone who tries to do what you have for me like this.”

“Well,” Stalwart said, taking a deep breath. “I knew a pony, back when I was a raw recruit for the royal guard. She often walked my little sister home, my sister was always bullied at school for not being very good at magic. After a while, we started to hang out, but she found a job out in Fillydelphia and moved away before anything serious happened.”

“So basically,” I said as I tried not to snort when I heard the pun on Philadelphia, starting to smile again “I remind you of some pony, so you're trying to pick up where you left off?”

“No! That's not what I-”

“Relax Stalwart, I didn't say it was a bad thing! It's more because she helped your sister and now you want to pass it on right?” I ask gently, “I'm not about to push away your help anytime soon. Besides... It's been fun getting to hang out with you so far. We should probably hang out more often.”

Stalwart smiled, seeming to like what I said, but looked around, shifting like he was uncomfortable. I watched for a little bit before I decided to take things into my own hooves. I stood up, walked over to him, and laid down next to him so we almost touched. He seemed to deliberately be looking away, but I don't understand why.

“Stalwart,” I said, making sure I had his attention first as he turned his head over to look at me, some parts of his furry face being a deeper red, “don't stop helping ponies out, ok?”

“Oh?” I heard him echo, his voice dropping a little bit.“ok.”

“What's wrong?” I asked, it was clear he was disappointed with what I said, so now I wondered what was bothering him.

“Well, you see,” he said, starting to stumble on his words, “I... well,”

Whatever he was going to say was cut off abruptly as Silver flew down and landed nearby. I let out a deep breath quietly as I realized the moment was ruined.

“Hey you two! Been enjoying yourselves long?”

“No, no. I only just woke up, and when I didn't see dawn, I thought I'd go looking for her.” Stalwart answered, blinking a few times and waving a hoof in his direction.

“Didn't see Dawn when you woke up?" Silver exclaimed, almost seeming to take a step back in surprise, "You mean you're sleeping together?!”

“What!? I... SILVER!” I yell at him mortified, going from wide-eyed to hiding my head in the grass beneath my arms as I try to hide my embarrassment at the idea.

“That- That wasn't what I... I mean...” I heard him stutter. His voice almost clearly said he was embarrassed too, though he didn't sound convinced. I looked over to him and saw he was looking away too before looking back at Silver, feeling rather upset at him for suggesting it.

“Well, we should probably go get ready for dinner. It's getting to be about that time, isn't it?”

“All right, I'll meet you two there” Silver said as he started trotting toward the cliff, “Just can't get enough of this view though.”

I watched in horror as he walked to the edge, and then walked straight off of it! My eyes open wide and a shriek escapes my throat before my breathing stopped!

“What is it?” Silver suddenly appears again above the cliff, causing me to sigh heavily and then start to breathe, “I have wings remember?”

“Sorry... I forgot. Ugh... what a heart attack.” I say laying my head down on the grass again as I feel a comforting hoof on my back from Stalwart.

"I'll see you back at the palace!" he called down as he started flying higher, "Don't get lost along the way!"

I take another deep breath and start to try to stand, not feeling great yet, but definitely eager to get away from the cliffside, Stalwart quickly getting up and trotting over to my side.

“Hey, are you ok?”

“Yeah, I just didn't expect that at all.” I say slowly before muttering, “Stupid Silver.”

Stalwart made a small noise, which I could only presume he meant in agreement as we began to walk up toward the castle slowly, mostly in silence until Stalwart spoke again.

“Dawn? Are you doing anything in a couple nights?”

“Nothing in particular. Why do you ask?”

“Well, I was hoping we could go,” he hesitated slightly, and I slowed my walk down to slow with him, “maybe get something to eat in town, show you around some places?”

“What, a no studying night?” I joke in his direction.

“No, no studying, not till we're done at least.” He said, sounding a bit more confident and flashing a smirk in my direction.

“Interesting,” I reply, feeling he has something in particluar he wants to do. Well, why not? “Ok! Sure, let's do it then.”

“Great!” He exclaimed loudly before coughing a little bit and finishing our walk to the tower, “I mean... I look forward to it.”

I chuckled at his antics and walked up the stairway alone. He's definitely up to something, but as long as I got to have some fun, that's what would matter. As I entered into the room, I took my customary seat across from Luna, and our food was served.

We ate our dinner together, and by the time we finished eating, I was feeling much more relaxed again. I was even able to laugh at myself when the subject of my little scare came up from earlier about forgetting Silver had wings.

“It sounds like you're getting quite the hang of having wings then.” Celestia smiled.

“Yeah, things are going pretty good now. Good enough that that Breezy bets on me if any races come up.” Silver laughed before a saw him pull his head back slightly, “Though I still have some issues with tight turns, but I'm getting it down. At this rate, Breezy'll probably be out of tricks to show me.”

“That's great to hear,” Celestia said, “Many pegasi love to fly, and you're making great progress if Breezy is running out of things to teach!”

“Yeah, but I'd still appreciate less scares in the future.” I chuckled, “I'm really starting to make progress with magic now. Between talking with Stalwart and talking with Starlight- Oh! That's right!”

I turn my head to the side expectantly and watched with a small smile as Starlight Dusk walked forward from a shadow and sat down to my left. There was no flickering of shadow-flame on his body at all, though he was just slightly transparent, he was still as solid as he had gotten so far.

“That's significant progress indeed!” Celestia nodded.

“That's just the beginning so far... I'm finally able to make a noticeable light with my horn, lift heavier things than before, as well as barely play music from memory. I know it's not what I want to use my magic for, but if it's going to help me get us home, then I'll master it as fast as I'm able!”

“That is an excellent attitude to have.” Luna nodded appreciatively.

“Quite! Perhaps you would be interested in taking on a new challenge?” Celestia smirked, making my bravado start to waiver. I hoped I didn't get too in over my head.

“Well, what did you have in mind?” I asked cautiously.

“Dawn, you just said you wanted to see about repairing Silver's mirror, and other artifacts in general, right?” Celestia asked, and seeing me nod, I listened further, “Well, I just happen to have something you could study and experiment with.”

She floated an object into view and set it down in the middle of the table. I looked curiously at the dulled golden-colored cylinder sitting half a cup's height, yet appeared to be hollow to where it could be worn on one of my legs. Various markings or scribbles seemed to be etched into various parts of the metal, otherwise, I would have mistaken it for a paperweight of some kind.

“Princess Cadence just brought it to me last night. We believe it is an old token of Starswirl the Bearded. We are not sure how it made its way to the Crystal Kingdom, but its clear from where it was found that it predates the rule of Sombra, the tyrant who used to control it before its recent liberation. It no longer works as it once did, so it should be safe for your studies. If you feel you could learn from this, it is yours.”

I stare rather dumbfounded at the object, skepticism slightly apparent on my face as I hear her claim it's from the very pony we were learning about in school. In spite of my reservations, I don't wish to reject a gift of this magnitude either. I slowly lift it up with my magic and set it down between myself and Silver, so we could both see it before I responded.

“I... I would be honored to study it, even try to restore it if I can. I just need to know two things before examining further. Do we know what it was supposed to do and why do we think it was Starswirl's?”

“You see this symbol in the center? Its rather worn down now, but this is Starswirl's signature. His seal of creation. And while we are not sure what it was originally intended to do, it is reminiscent of an assistance bracelet I had known Starswirl to make as rare gifts. His bracelets were items that aided in a unicorns ability to manipulate other objects or otherwise enhance their magics. Some of his bracelets were even able to grant non unicorns the ability to use a specific type of magic Starswirl would have imbued into it during its creation. So the possibilities of what this item may have once done are vast.”

“Interesting.” I say quietly. Celestia saying she had 'known' Starswirl to make these gifts almost sounded like she knew him, but that was impossible! He lived a very long time ago, and I can't picture her to mean it that way. Perhaps she meant she knew from her own studies then.

I return my attention to the relic, trying to make note of each marking, getting several ideas together to guess what they might mean or if there might be any gaps in the relic. It's very clear however that it is going to need a lot more study of translation materials or some kind of symbolic magic to be able to unravel this mystery.

“So non unicorns can use magic too then?” Silver asked, seeming to lean into the table more than he usually did, eyes unwavering.

“The methods are few are far between, but it is possible.”

“That's interesting.” Silver leaned back from the table, clearly getting his own ideas. “Very interesting.”

We finished our conversation with more expectations of what is to come for our studies before we left the princesses to their tasks. I went to my room and began looking over the relic as Starlight and I studied it and tried to take our time in absorbing the details we could glean from it before going to bed.

Bonds, of Heart and Horn

View Online

Weeks passed by before I knew what had happened. It had been over a month since I had come to Equestria, and now I feel confident I'm one step closer to getting Silver and I home. Our dinners with the princesses slowed to once or twice a week now that we didn't have as much to talk about, but I didn't mind. I had plenty on my plate to learn and the more time I had to focus on it, the better.

I've learned how to use a few basic magics, though true mastery was likely to take a lifetime I didn't have. Levitation isn't as difficult now, I can lift something half my weight, but struggle to lift much beyond that. I learned about conjuring up items stored for later use, but I simply couldn't store any more than two things at once just yet. My classmates learned how to store one thing each, so I'm quite happy I'm progressing a bit faster than them. And thanks to Lemon Bloom's oddly timed suggestion I even learned how to do a cloud walking spell. I was terrified of the idea, and I couldn't think of a reason why I would ever need such a spell, but I learned it anyway. As it turns out, I got the hang of it just in time, as the Annual Canterlot Race was announced for just around the corner. Thanks to Lemon Bloom, I was able to give Silver my support from the front row!

It was really tough trying to keep my concentration to maintain the spell in spite of my constant fear of falling, but I was sure it meant a lot to him for me to be there. I watched as he trailed behind at first, trying to stay in my seat while watching with baited breath. When he entered the caves, I felt my heart drop before the rest of me followed through half the cloud! I can only remember giving out a yell and then fainting from terror at nearly falling through my seat as my world grew dark. It's a shame he lost, but I heard he lost to that rainbow haired one everyone favored anyway. Even so, Silver earned a silver medal to everyone's surprise, and we shared several jokes about it when I saw him the next day at dinner.

I spent most of my spare time between Starlight Dusk and Stalwart, studying magic as much as I could stand. I learned from Starlight the principles of magic he could teach, despite its complicated terms. I held out hope that I could learn more or newer spells that could get us home soon, but I was more than proud of myself, feeling a bit more confident in my meager-but-growing abilities. Celestia and Luna suggested my studies may be more fruitful on my own, but encouraged me to stay in school regardless to continue to learn about Equestrian history and geography. I nodded my appreciation, but promised I would read those materials at my own pace when not studying magics.

Stalwart and I had fun often, despite my desire to focus on learning about that bracelet. We hung out in Canterlot's main commercial district often, eating out on occasion and just as often making something in the royal kitchen for ourselves and talking on that hill of ours. He smiled a lot as we talked, and I won't deny I enjoyed his company. He was a good friend, and helped ease my homesickness. It was a new concept for me, most of the friends I used to know didn't stick around much. Stalwart was definitely different from them somehow, and I liked it.

I kept trying to research how to fix the bracelet as a major part of my studies, so our 'dates' frequently included me going to different libraries to check their available books on fixing relics. It turned out there was one particular librarian Stalwart helped me learn about who was extremely knowledgeable. She was prone to go on a tangent, but between her and Stalwart, I figured out the magic that had once been in the bracelet had been worn away, but what perplexed me was how it wore away or how to imbue it with the magic needed once again.

I studied that bracelet for the first two weeks without any significant progress to understanding how it did what it did, or why it doesn't work anymore. It was incredibly frustrating until Starlight volunteered to start teaching me. I tried to ask him how he knew this, and why he didn't help me sooner. He told me he didn't know until just recently himself. I tried to ask him who he learned from or how he could teach me, but he wouldn't answer me. He frequently would just flick his ear and continue to point out what was 'wrong' with the relic, and how the magic in it would be repaired.

In the end, Starlight taught me that it was missing several things. First, it was out of power and I then was taught why it was so difficult to repair relics. In order to repair a magical item, the magic being used had to resonate with the original magic perfectly, or it could make the magic unstable, possibly even destroying the object. Second, its engravings were missing key elements to it. He told me how it was like a math problem written on a chalkboard, but with some of the numbers taken out. Ultimately, these magical equations had to be redone properly or it still would be worthless. Third and finally, it was lacking a control crystal. Starlight reminded me of the obvious fact that only unicorns, because of their horn, could turn thought into an outcome with study and effort into the principles. For other ponies, a medium was needed, and the gem was crucial to that effect. Sure enough, there was no crystal in a slot he pointed out to me by the third night of our lessons.

We spent the next several days gradually fixing the bracelet, Starlight using some unknown magic to shape the symbols on the bracelet, while I attempted to imitate the resonance of the original magic. It was incredibly difficult to hear, but there was a small pitch not unlike a music note that our magics made, and the closer I came to that magic, the more the note wavered until it became one solid note again, amplified. It was exhausting work, and yet we still had to go shopping for a gem! I had no money of my own, so I had to ask Celestia if she would be willing to provide the money needed. She was surprised, but consented, and provided me with a hundred 'bits', these golden coins with a unique symbol on them I could safely assume was their currency. I promised to return her any money left over.

I meandered the marketplace of Canterlot slowly, paying attention to the ponies around me and how they spoke to the other merchants. I quickly learned by observation at some of the stalls that some merchants would haggle over items, where some would just have the flat rates that I was used to. Try as I might, I couldn't spot any indicators of which were which. Eventually, I spotted a building store that had several gems and necklaces in the window. None of the gems were small, but I walked inside to see what they had available.

“Welcome, welcome to Colt's Diamond store!” A male pony nearby said, my head turning to look at him assuming he was a worker. “A lovely lady like yourself must be looking for the perfect accessory!”

“No, wait, I...” I turned to look at him stunned, not expecting that kind of attention.

“Not to worry, not to worry, we have all kinds of wonderful gems and trinkets here for your pleasure!” He said, starting to sound a bit too much like a used car salesman. “What are you looking for?”

“I... Tell you what,” I say, taking a breath and looking him in the eye, “If I find something that strikes my fancy, I'll let you know.”

“Absolutely, take all the time you like!” he said with an energetic bow, returning to his post at the door. I looked at him intrigued, wondering if he gave that kind of greeting to everyone that walked in the doors and if anyone else grew as annoyed. I looked over all the various items, making note of their prices. Many of the completed items, particularly the ornate necklaces, went for the thousands of bits in price, but usually featured numerous gems and very elaborate forms of metal around them. I looked over to the corner, where a barrel of miscellaneous gems was found.

I walked over to the barrel, looking at the gems on the surface, though a small bit of digging revealed it was only a few inches deep, understandably. I reached out to Starlight with my horn and asked for his thoughts.

“What do you think, any prospective gems that'd fit or be appropriate here? The price for this area seems to be reasonable.”

“Most of these gems are fake. It's cheap for a reason Jess.” His voice replied.

“That doesn't mean we can't find a real one that'd work in here... Just checking. How about the rest?”

“We won't really know until you look over it all and we can test the harmony of it and your magic.”
I sighed and slid my hoof around in that bin to try and find any other possible ones, but he was right, many of them were poorly shaped for our bracelet. I walked around until I saw some of the other necklaces. One in particular seemed promising, a pair of wyverns wrapped around a pointed cylindrical gem that was half transparent, half whites and greens spiderwebbing inside it.

The door opened and another pony walked in, eliciting the same kind of response that I had received earlier. I saw the other worker at the desk was looking over at the new entrant as well, so I looked back at the gem, ready to test it! Quietly, I built up some magic on the gem like I had with the bracelet. I watched with glee as it not only resonated quickly, but glowed from the inside with the magic I put into it. A couple others nearby like it glowed as well, but not nearly so brightly.

I took the necklace off the hook and examined it for a price tag nearby, there wasn't one. Instinct was screaming at me, saying it had to work well. Knowing that if this item were to be haggled over, I couldn't let my excitement show. I walked to the desk as casually as I could manage, putting it down on the desk.

“Find what you were looking for?” A mare asked from behind the counter, wearing several varieties of the accessories that were on display.

“Perhaps. I spotted this on the rack over there, but I saw no price tag for it.”

“Oh, that's going to be fifty bits. Everything on that rack is.”

“I see.” I say, pausing as I pretend to reconsider. After a second, I nodded in her direction, “I'll take it then. I would be interested in having a different gem inside it though. How much would it be to replace the gem?”

“Thirty bits.”
“Hm, perhaps you have something in a deep or rich blue that could take its place? This green one is pretty, but I have something else in mind for it.”

“Sure. It'll be fifteen minutes.”

“Excellent.” I say, nodding my appreciation, providing the eighty bits to the shopkeeper.

While I waited for her to complete my request, I watched the sales clerk take the necklace to the back to let the jeweler replace the gem. I started to wonder whether it was really wise to have spent eighty of the hundred bits Celestia gave me for the necklace and the gem. It was possible for me to just have purchased the gem inside it, or even just purchase the necklace and pry out the gem myself now that I think about it. Still, I couldn't help but want to use the money she gave, and there was a certain somepony who might benefit from it.

The clerk returned to me after the fifteen minutes, providing me with the gem and the necklace with its new almost dark sapphire gem inside a bag. I thanked her for their quick work, and carried the bag along straight to the castle to make sure I had no other opportunities to spend money.

Once I was in my room, we completed the final step of the repairing of the bracelet, charging up the gem and placing it in the slot. Starlight warned me it had to be fully charged from the start with the right frequency, matching the bracelet's in order to fit. When it is charged and matching the frequency, it will go into the bracelet and almost fuse into the slot, making it very difficult to remove otherwise.

I took a deep breath and began. It took nearly an hour of trying to pour magic power into the gem that floated in front of me. Fatigue kept hitting in waves until finally, after one last strong push of effort, I managed to charge the gem into the same ringing sound that the bracelet was. They both rose up another foot into the air, and appeared to slam into each other with a flash of light before falling down toward the ground.

Starlight caught the bracelet as he stood near me, mostly transparent but still more coherent than I, and set it down on the desk.

“We did it...” He said quietly.

“Yeah. Wake me up when it's time for dinner.” I say through have closed eyes.

“We just missed the dinner hours, but I think they'll forgive us if we hop over to make a salad to tide you over till morning.”

“I'll just not worry about it then. Let's get some sleep.” I say getting up and climbing into bed. I fell asleep almost immediately.

The next morning, despite sleeping in a while, I decided to head over to the school and give the necklace over to the particular colt who always was excited to see me visit. I arrived just after recess started, and when I walked to the lawn, I saw him waiting at our usual spot.

“Hi Dawn!” He called out excitedly, “We missed you!”

“I know you have! I've missed you too, but I've been up a lot of nights trying to fix something that's been broken for a very, very long time.”

“Are you going to practice your music again?” he asked eagerly.

“Almost.” I smile, glad to know someone appreciates my attempts to recall music from home, “I have something for you.”

“You do?” he asked excitedly.

“I do.” I say calmly, and I made the necklace appear with a small poof in front of me and slightly above our heads, slowly lowering it down in front of him.

“Ooooooo.” He admired. I watched him for a minute, seeing how he admired the creatures, an idea forming in my mind I had to put into effect.

“This,” I pause for dramatic effect, “is a little charm I bought, and added a special spell just for you.”

“For me?” he asked surprised.

“For you.” I nodded solemnly. “This little charm will take your bundled up courage you've got right in here,” I lightly tapped his chest, “and let it all come out to do what you want to do at the time.”

“Oh wow! You can do that?” he asked in wonder.

“I can. But remember,” I say, suddenly firm, “this power to do what you want doesn't come from the necklace. It's always inside you, even if you lose this little charm, it'll help you show what you already had. Never forget that.”

“You mean, one day I can do things without your spell?”

“Oh yes you can. You could even do things today if you needed to, but until that happens,” I say slowly lifting it over his head and lowering it down onto his neck, “may it help you accomplish things you dream of doing.”

He gave a very audible whoop of excitement as he flung himself at me. I lost most of my breath when his hug connected and he squeezed as much as he could before running around me. It took me laughing at his exuberance and extending a limb out to catch him on the way to stop him for a final bit.

“Now, promise me you'll take very good care of it, don't lose it under your bed or anything ok?”

“I promise!”

“Now go off and play with your friends, no music today.” I chuckled, a smile spreading on my face as he ran off elated at his gift.

I walked to the castle after school to find Stalwart there waiting for me.

“Hey Dawn, long time no see!”

“Hi Stalwart. Sorry about that.” I yawned and shook my head, trying to wake myself back up again.

“Geeze, you sound and look about how tired I feel!”

“That bad huh?”

“Not quite, but close enough. Just what have you been doing?” He asked as we walked toward my room.

“Learning magic, like always.”

“You need to take a break sometime you know?”

“Yeah... You're right.” I admit. “You're a little late though.”

“Oh?”

“I think we're done now. Starlight's going to check on the bracelet tonight somehow, but I'm too tired to try anymore.”

“Good thing it's time for dinner. Let's get you some food and we'll just take it easy then.”

We walked over to the dining room, which was filled with plenty of guards, a few other minor guests or castle help, and all of them hungry. I found us a seat as he grabbed our food, then nearly wolfed down everything he brought for us before I realized what I was eating. It was satisfying, but I could tell I was starting to become very worn down again already.

Stalwart and I started to head toward the exit, when I thought for a minute someone called my name from the room. Confused, I turned my head to look back at the room, trying to spot who called for me. It was a horrible idea for me to keep walking while looking backward, I felt my head hit something solid with a loud thunk. I wobbled as I backed up, barely able to tell I had ended up walking into the door frame of the exit. I remember Stalwart's voice and leaning against him as we walked for a while, eventually encountering my bed. I climbed into it readily and soon fell fast asleep.
I woke up bright and early on Saturday, a bit before the normal sunrise I usually woke to. I looked in the mirror and idly brushed my mane and tail until a bit after sunrise. I was feeling sluggish and low on energy, but I wanted to get my normally unruly hair in order for if Stalwart dropped by. I half hoped he would want to go somewhere together like a couple weeks ago.

I set down my brush once I was done, and I looked at the newly finished bracelet, deciding to put it on. It was a little snug on my left hoof at first, but then it rose up almost naturally to my upper forelimb and hung there by itself. A quick tug at it with my other forelimb showed me I could take it off easily, almost as if it could stay in place only if desired. It fascinated me that it looked so solid, yet seemed to barely change size enough to stay put. My stomach rumbled audibly, reminding me to go eat food before doing anything else.

After a quick breakfast of oats, something I'd grown to love here in Equestria, I walked out to that little hill to spend some time alone to reflect. Stalwart wouldn't be awake to visit until after lunch at least, and waiting for him always left me at a loss for what to do or study. Starlight Dusk walked over to my side and sat nearby, both of us staring into the distance as the bustle of activity started to rise.

“You're doing incredibly well you know.” Starlight spoke after a couple minutes, half transparent in the sunlight.

“That's what everyone is telling me, so why do I have such a hard time believing it?” I said, realizing he must mean our progress regarding the bracelet. It only felt like I was going through the motions, not actually understanding it if I were honest.

“We never were very good at accepting compliments.”

“We never got many compliments.” I replied.

“We got plenty of them, we just didn't recognize it at the time.” Starlight corrected sternly.

“Just what are you getting at?” I asked quickly, feeling frustrated at the dissent.

“You've been spending a lot of time on learning magic, nearly all of your free time has been studying or learning it. At least, the time you aren't spending with Stalwart Shield.” he said, clearly teasing me.

“Hey come on! You know how few friends we had or made growing up! Can you really blame me?”

“Calm down Jess, trust me I know, and I'm not blaming you.” He admitted, calming me back down, “He's a good man, or stallion, at least from what I've seen. Granted, he's clearly smitten with you.”

“No way! That's not it at all!” I protest, looking away to the fields and trying not to blush, “We're just friends! You don't just fall for somepony in a month! Besides, even if it were true, I couldn't... If we can go home, I wouldn't ask him to come with. We're just friends...”

“Do you think that's how he would look at it?” Starlight asked quietly.

Silence ensued as I thought about what he said. He was right. If Stalwart was actually looking at me as someone he wants to date, that would change things quite a bit. I couldn't play with someone's heart and string them along, only to leave them behind. On the other hoof, if I made friends here, I'd end up leaving them behind here too wouldn't I? I'd miss Silver as well as Stalwart, then there was Breezy and Lemon Bloom, and that little colt in school I just encouraged. I had to wonder, was it right of me to make all these connections to these ponies if I'm just going to leave them behind when I go home?

As I was finishing up my thoughts, realizing just how hard it really could be to leave this world, a glint of sunlight reflected off a fast moving object as I watch Silver Wing land on the terrace in front of Starlight and I.

"Hey Dawn, you're up early," Silver said then paused, "I see you've got your... Friend? Out for a change."

"Good morning to you too." I answer, deciding to let Starlight answer for his own status.

"We were talking about things to ourselves." Starlight said, nodding his acknowledgment of Silver's presence.

"Well that sounds... Fun?" Silver said with uncertainty, trying to laugh it off, "I take it Stalwarts still on nights?"

"Yeah... that he is." I yawned, shaking my head as I tried to wake up, "Sorry, I had a really long night the other day and I'm still not up to par again."

"Tell me about it," Silver said with a sigh. He plopped down into a seated position and shook his head as he continued, "I'm usually up at dawn, and I don't go to bed till nearly midnight..."

"Oh gosh, what has you out so late?" I ask, concerned.

"Fighting," Silver answered with a laugh, "and flying too of course."

"Just what are you fighting?" Starlight asked

"It's more like sparring I guess," Silver admitted, "I'm giving fighting lessons in exchange for flight lessons. That's the only reason I was able to even compete in that race."

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to stay for the entire race." I apologize quietly, still feeling guilty.

"No worries, I know you had quite the scare." He chuckled. "I gotta admit though, I did not expect to see you there at all. What with your height issues and all."

"We have a habit of getting things done in spite of fear" Starlight answered.

"Yeah.” I agreed, remembering what led up to it, “Lemon Bloom told me I might want to learn how to do that cloud walking spell, but I didn't know why until just before the race. I had to keep repeating my motto all the way up the stairs just to keep from shaking or falling..."

"I will not let my life be ruled by fear." Starlight nodded, as if expecting Silver to be unaware.

Silver nodded. "Not a bad motto to have, but not an easy one to stick too"

"Believe me, we know." Starlight said, nudging me in the flank gently, bringing my focus back to the here and now instead of that long stairway up to the audience in the clouds.

"I'm more a Hakuna-matata fan myself. Hence all the no worries." Silver laughed and smiled at us.

“I always did hate that song,” I laughed, causing Silver to smirk.

Silver shook his head and glanced over at Starlight, looking him over and raising a brow. "So you two are connected, right?"

"We are." Starlight said, I merely nodded. I didn't need to echo what he said already.

"So how does that work? Can you two hear each other’s thoughts? Or feel what the other feels then?"

We look at each other briefly before I decided to reply first, "To an extent. It's kinda weird."

"I can imagine," Silver chuckled, "If you two are the same though, why are you different genders? Or is that just more magic stuff?"

"It's ...." I paused, uncertain of how to explain. It was nice to finally be asked the question I had been avoiding, but on the other hoof, it was not an easy subject in any world. "Starlight really is what I used to be. After some really, really hard times back home, I did some deep soul searching and realized why things were often so very wrong. I saw therapists for a couple years before we discovered I wasn't male, at least, not in my brain or how I thought and behaved. Trust me, I was shocked too. Before I was pulled through the mirror, I was already on medications for half a year to help."

"It's very likely the mirror realized what she really was,” Starlight added, “and helped make that change more complete. Celestia told her on our first night in Equestria that it helps those who travel through it become more... more true to what they are."

Silver listened thoughtfully and nodded. "I got ya." he said, smiling at us, "I got a few friends that went through that actually. Well, had..." He shook his head, and I could only imagine he was thinking about home again like I have. "So long as you're happy, that's the important thing right?"

"Thanks," I answered quietly, feeling relieved at his acceptance, "I do feel better about it, though it's not something I think about much.

"You feel more whole, and at peace. It's no wonder you don't question it Dawn." Starlight corrected.
Silver laughed a little. "I'm glad one of use feels whole here. I haven't since I lost my hands" he laughed and clopped his front hooves together. "I can’t use these things to save my life."

"Well, actually,” I start to say, pausing as I start to get an idea, “You just might be able to do something better... I just spent the last several days trying to fix this thing, and Starlight tells me we don't have many, if any, more steps left. It still needs to be tested, but it'll let you move things like we can is the goal. Maybe, just maybe, I can make another one from scratch and give it to you?"

Silver smiled at that, but he shook his head. "Thank you very much for the offer, but you have enough on your plate as it is. If I had a horn instead of wings, I'd be trying to help you. But as it stands, I'm expecting to be here for a while. And not because I don't think you can learn the magic. I just don't see how anyone could fix a broken mirror without actually being there. You know? All this magic stuff just goes right over my head."

"You have a point. It hasn't been at all easy for me either. I don't know how starlight does it." I admit.

"It helps when you have a competent teacher."

"Agreed," Silver said, "If it weren't for Breezy and Sky, I'd probably still be grounded right now."

"What is it like to fly?" I ask.

"It's amazing," Silver grinned, glancing up at the sky, "I've been flying every day, for hours on end, and I' still over the thrill of it. The feel of the wind as it passes over my wings. The sight of the world so tiny and far below. The look of the clouds from their level, or above. It's beautiful." He laughed and smiled at me, "It's like you're free, free from anything and everything."

"You're almost making me wish I had wings instead... Maybe if I did, I wouldn't be so scared of heights." I say wistfully.

"My stomach still knots every time I do a flip, or look down from up high," Silver chuckled and admitted, "But I've gotten used to it. Now it's all part of the thrill." He paused and looked at me for a moment. "Would you like to try flying with me?" He asked softly.

My eyes opened wide and I shook her head no slowly as I looked out at the grounds ahead, "No, I'm not ready for that yet, no no no..."

He smirked and nodded. "No worries, but if you ever want to, just let me know alright? I don't think you'll regret it."

"Perhaps another time then... Are you really strong enough to be able to carry another with you?"

"Of course!" Silver replied confidently, opening his wings, "These have a lot more strength than I think you realize. Though, to be fair, I wouldn't be doing any fancy acrobatics."

I paused, debating if I really would like to fly if he was capable. After a minute, I realized I would feel comfortable enough to let him carry me, as long as he had the strength. I nodded "Ok.... one day, you'll have to show me, but don't you dare drop me!"

"I give you my word." Silver said, bowing his head a little. Then he laughed and added, "Besides, if I did that, then I'd never get home!"

I chuckled, feeling a little bad doing so at a rather morbid joke, while starlight chimed, "I would appreciate not returning to the void by an untimely demise."

"I don't think any of us wants to have an untimely demise," Silver said, "Strange as this place is, if I'm gonna be stuck here, I still plan to get the most out of it. I hope you both do too."

"Judging by how much time Dawn spent brushing her mane, I'd say she plans to get the most out of somepony today." Starlight smirked. I glared at him, trying to will him into submission. I don't want him giving people the wrong impression of Stalwart and me!

Silver chuckled, shaking his head. "You two seem more like siblings than the same person, what with how he seems to pick on you, Dawn."

"We're not quite the same. Remember, we split off some time ago as she realized who she was, and I was... cast away." Starlight replied, voice growing forlorn, "I'd have probably gone insane over these few years if it weren't for that friend I made in that void."

"I don't really get the whole magic, void thing," Silver admitted, "But I'm glad you weren't totally alone. No one deserves that."

"Indeed... He won't tell me a name, in all our time together, but he has been extraordinarily well versed in magic, and just might be the key for us to get you home." Starlight announced.

"Don't you mean get 'us' home?" Silver asked

"So long as we're linked, Dawn cannot go home, because for her to go home, I would return to being alone. I don't want to be alone again, not again." He said growing quiet.

I stood up, feeling sympathy for Starlight well up for the hardships he went through. It was not something anyone should need to endure. I couldn't voice my concern or sympathy for him, not with the pictures crossing my mind. I walked over to him, laying close alongside him and put a hoof on his. It felt almost solid, as if he really was here and my eyes were just playing tricks on me as I tried to remind him in my own way that he isn't alone.

"I don't fully get it either, but I think I remember Celestia mentioning something when I first got here, about how if you don't want to go, actively don't want to go though, you won't. Knowing what he'd have to face, I couldn't bring myself to make that happen, whether they were a part of me or not."

Silver sighed quietly. "So why are you even trying to fix my mirror then? You should be more focused on figuring out your own issue."

"Does anyone need a reason to help others?" I ask concerned. It bothered me that he needed to ask, as if he was doubting my intentions, "Figuring out this 'issue' isn't mutually exclusive on my use of time you know. Besides, what kind of person would that mean I am if I tried to go home first, without granting you that same option if it's within my power?"

"Helping someone is always a good thing to do," Silver replied, "I just don't want you to focus on my problem to the point you forget to work on your own. That's all."

“I appreciate your concern, but neither of us seem to really have an idea how to break the link, let alone ensure he doesn't get left alone for until he dies... until we find out otherwise, we'll work on things slightly more plausible.” I say, starting to smile as I compare the two ideas. With how we may have just fixed the bracelet, meeting our goals seemed possible at least.

“Yes, because being one of the few ponies in history that can repair other ponies' magical artifacts is more plausible.” Starlight snickered.

"After what I've seen since I got here," Silver said with a laugh, "I'm sure anything's possible if you try hard enough."

"We'll see I guess." I smiled, feeling tired and disappointed as I laid my head down on the grass. "It's going to be a slow day 'till lunch comes around."

"Slow's not always a bad thing," Silver said, "I could a little slow once in a while myself. But..." he paused as he stood up and stretched his wings. "Not gonna happen today."

“Well where are you off to in such a hurry?” I ask, feeling intrigued at him cutting our conversation short.

"Training, remember?" Silver laughed, "No rest for the wicked. Even in Equestria."

I tried to keep myself from laughing, managing a smirk while Starlight snorted. Shaking my head slightly I waved with one hoof. "I'll catch you at dinner tomorrow tonight then, sound good?"

"Sounds good," Silver said, "You two have a good day, alright?"

"She always cheers up when she gets to see Stalwart." Starlight smirked, getting another look from dawn. He reminded her, "You know you do, don't give me that look."

"Yeup. Just like siblings." Silver chuckled.

"Better thought as siblings than lovers... I don't think I'm ready for that at all." I shook my head, trying not to think about the romance complications from before Silver came down.

"Yeah, I'm not even considering that type of thing either." Silver admitted with a sigh, “Not for lack of offers.”

"I wonder what Stalwart would say if he realized, with all you've been teasing him." Starlight said, rustling my elbow.

"What do you mean, 'lack of offers?'" I ask, both curious and wanting to ignore Starlight's continued teasing.

"Nothing," Silver with a shake of his head, "I've just apparently become popular is all..."

I laugh, turning my head aside as I try not to smirk at the idea of Silver having his own throng of ladies around him.

"Yeah..." he said with a sigh. "Anyways, I better get going before I'm too late. So I'll see you two later!" With a strong flap of his wings, he took off straight up. I watched as he let his momentum carry him up, then back down toward the ground. My nerves made me want to do something to catch him, but I knew he could act if he wanted. I calmed as I watched him smile at me before flaring his wings, whooshing past the hill and off into the distance.

“Silver Wing's popular with the ladies” I chuckled, “I still can't get past that idea.”

“Surrounded by a throng of mares,” Starlight chuckled with, “and where do you think you'd be in that throng?”

“Outside it, laughing at how they are behaving around him and how silly it is.”

“Oh you're one to talk, Ms. Teasing-Stalwart-Shield”

“Oh please, I am not!”

“You are too!”

“Fine, prove it!” I reply indignantly

“You've kissed him. Twice.”

“No I haven't. It was just on the cheek and he was being really helpful!”

“What about the cuddling then?” Starlight smirked.

“Come on, that's not cuddling. Otherwise you leaning on me is cuddling and I'm cuddling myself.” I grimace, feeling rather awkward at the concept. “Besides, he's got fur! Fuzzy things are almost always adorable!”

“Come on Jess!” Starlight said, sounding exasperated. “I get it, how the heck aren't you getting it?”

“What is there to get?” I half yell at him confused, “We're just really good friends!”

“Oh... my... god. The mirror turned you into a blonde inside and out.” Starlight said as he put his hoof to his head.

“For your information mister facehoof, my hair isn't blond, it's a golden color.” I stare at him in disapproval. I didn't like where this conversation was going.

“Dawn... You silly, silly pony.” He said shaking his head back and forth.

“If you're going to tell me something, just tell me!”

“You've been flirting something fierce with Stalwart every time you've been around him. With how these ponies don't often wear clothes, it's amazing he's stayed decent in public.”

“I have not been flirting!”

“Dawn... you're smiling with him, you're making excuses to be close to him, and you've even kissed him without being asked. A guy would have to be really dense to not pick up on that.”

“So what are you saying?”

“God d-” Starlight started to growl in frustration before getting up and pacing for a minute, clearly upset. I knew then it'd be better to let him say his piece. “Dawn... If I were in Stalwart's shoes, I wouldn't be saying we were just friends. I'd be saying we're quite a bit more than that. Do you understand that?”

I paused to think for a moment, starting to see what he was talking about. I remembered the way things used to be back home, and how those were exactly the sorts of things that I was supposed to watch for. I had to admit, from what he was saying, he was absolutely right. I brows furrowed as I looked away in thought, wondering what Stalwart was thinking.

“Yeah... that's what I thought.” Starlight said. “So what are you going to do?”

“I'm... I'm going to ask him directly what he thinks, and see where he wants to go with it.”

“I thought you weren't wanting to make attachments.”

“It's a bit late for that from what you're telling me at this point.” I say, starting to stand up. “You also said something rather telling earlier to Stalwart. I'm more whole than I was before.”

“Raging hormones and all.” He smirked.

“Yeah... natural ones.” I smirked in reply, “I'd better study up on my health for that. I'm pretty sure it works better than what we were going to save up for.”

“What you were saving up for. I don't have that issue.” Starlight said with a tail flick to the side.

“Well bully for you. Maybe we'll have to find you a mare to help sate any itches you might get.”

“Are you saying you're going to sate some itches Stalwart will get?” He grinned mischievously.

“Oh heck no.” I winced, realizing my suggestion could have been insulting. “Sorry, that was in poor taste.”
“... that's what she said.” He smirked.

“Oh goddammit Star!” I laughed, putting my hoof to my head to hold it as I tried not to picture it. “Enough. I'm going to talk to him about it and see where things take us.”

“Tell me what?” Stalwart's voice came from behind me, followed by a yawn.

“Well, there's your chance!” Starlight smirked before walking off, fading away to nothing once more.

“Don't mind him.” I say, trying to stifle my laughter. “He just spent most of the time teasing me, and Silver joked about how Starlight and I seem more like siblings.”

'Don't make me come back out and tell him for you.' Starlight warned in my head, though I could feel him smiling.
'I'm going to get there! I promise! I just want to set the tone and time to be a bit later, probably when we get our dinner.'
'Good, if you don't, I'm going to for you. No guy should be toyed with.'

“Oh really? I was wondering about that.” Stalwart smiled. “What else did you talk about?”

'He's interested in you Jess, he's asking about your day.'

'Go away! I promised I'd do this and I will! Stop pressuring me!' I replied quietly, shaking my head to get rid of the feeling.

“Are you ok?” Stalwart asked concerned, walking forward to within an arm's length.

“Yeah, sorry. Starlight was really putting on the pressure to talk with you, and I don't like to be rushed, ever.”

“Ah, I see.” He said, his voice hinting at how he really didn't understand. “Well, what have you been up to? I haven't gotten to see you for the last few nights.”

“Oh!” I suddenly perked up at him asking, reaching down to my leg and trying to slide off the bracelet. “This! I think we might have finally fixed it!”

“That's great!” He said, reaching out to give a hug across my neck. Keeping in mind what Starlight was suggesting earlier, I felt my skin start to get very hot as I tried very hard not to blush, “I told you you could do it. Even if Breezy tells me not to, I'm still going to tell you what you can do you know. I was right!” He smirked, grinning on my behalf.

“Thanks,” I shuffled from side to side, lifting up a forelimb to rub my other leg in embarrassment. It was very difficult for me not to smile, especially with him grinning at me like that. I couldn't help but smile back, “I don't know if it works yet. I tried a couple times but I keep using my horn instead. We need to find a good way to test it.”

“How would you do that?”

“Well, actually,” I look over Stalwart, sizing him up, trying to figure out if his legs would fit in the bracelet.

'Don't worry, it'll resize to an extent. That was one of the equations I fixed with my teacher.'’

“Actually... what?” Stalwart asked confused. Only then did I realize I didn’t finish my sentence.
“Well, feel up to trying some magic for me out and around town?”

“Wait a minute! How do you know it’s going to work?” Stalwart asked nervously.

“We don’t, but it hasn’t cut off my leg or anything, so you’re probably going to be fine!” I smirk at him mischievously, taking off the bracelet and holding it in front of him.

“But… I…” He shuffled nervously, much like I had not more than a moment ago.

“You’ll be fine!” I giggle, taking one of his limbs, lifting it up with some resistance from him, slipping it onto his hoof and sliding it up his leg. “There you go! All set for some unicorn magic testing!”

“…things….do-” Stalwart muttered under his breath. I could only barely hear it, but I couldn’t help but start chuckling.

“Be careful what you say… never know where they might go.” I smirked at him, trying to pretend I knew what he said. I walked toward the path back to the town, making sure I nudged him in the side. “Come on slowpoke, I’ve been waiting all day for you to wake up so we could have some fun!”

He gave me a look I wasn’t able to place, almost seeming halfway beyond happy and mischievous, and then walked along to my side, giving me a good nudge in the hip in reply.

I snorted and walked alongside him toward town. Our time for the next several hours was so like all the other times I spent with him, a lot of silliness, goofing off, and occasional quiet points. I watched how often he smiled at me or looked my way, starting to feel really self-conscious about just how much he really did seem to like me.

We headed to a quaint little restaurant on the outskirts of town, intending to have a mid-afternoon meal instead of a proper lunch or dinner as well as hoping to avoid the rushes involved. It was quiet in this part of town, and I was eager to have him try to do things with the bracelet. There was a quiet pang in my heart as I knew I needed to talk to him about just where this might be headed.

“You ok?” Stalwart asked, sounding concerned.

“Hm? Oh, it’s nothing.”

“You sure? You haven’t talked nearly as much today.”

“Well, I was trying to wait for a good time. There’s been something on my mind that Starlight brought up earlier today. How ‘bout after we eat here, we head out to the hill and we can talk about it?”

“Sure, sounds good!” He said eagerly, making me feel a bit more nervous.

He ordered our food and we had a corner table to ourselves, where we started to eat.

“Hey Stalwart? You haven’t bothered to try using magic at all yet. Care to give it a try?”

“But… I don’t ha-” He started to say, stopping short as he remembered the bracelet on his arm.

“Yep. You do. Go ahead, picture being able to pick up that glass like you would with your hoof.”

“I don’t know about this…”

“Come on Stalwart! The worst that’ll happen is you’ll get water on your snout.” I chuckle, hoping my usual teasing would coax him into trying.

I watched him shift uncomfortably away from the table, but when he looked back, he took a breath and looked intently at the glass. It didn’t seem to do anything at first, then slowly lifted up in the air, having a light green glow around it like my magics did. He then let it hang there for another moment then put it back down.

“Not going to try taking a drink that way?” I asked.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Come on, what’s the worst that could happen? You get wet?” I smiled, somehow enjoying teasing him like this.
He frowned, but started to lift the glass again, wobbling quite a bit as he tried to have a good grip on the glass. It was interesting to see him struggle like this, not being completely sure why it was so difficult for him. Then I had to wonder if my having had hands and used it as an analogue for how I’d hold the glass made that much of an impact. I watched as he was bringing it closer to his face, seeing how he tilted it toward himself and moving his face to the glass to drink from it, then set it down.

“See? It’s easy right?”

“It feels weird.”

“Now you know how I felt the day after we first met.” I smirked. “You got to see me fumble with magic, only fair you get to stumble too!”

“Me? Stumble?” He smiled playfully, putting on an air of arrogance, “I am a part of the royal guard! I would never stumble!”

“Oh really? Is that a challenge?” I ask, waving down the waitress. When she came over, I placed another order, “Do you have any dessert pies available?”

“Certainly!” She said, “What are you in the mood for?”

“Hm, I don’t think it’s a good idea to get chocolate right now… how does pumpkin sound Stalwart?”

“I wouldn’t mind pumpkin.”

I paused, looking at him closely. For whatever reason, every time I hear someone say “I wouldn’t mind” after a suggestion, I always think they’re just going with the flow. Today, I want him to really have his pick, and I’m not about to let him just coast by with what I want.

“Well what would you want to eat then?”

“No, we can order the pumpkin…”

“Stalwart, please, get something you like most.” I say, realizing he’s trying to be nice. If he was going to embarrass himself, he should enjoy it.

“Well…”

“If I may make a suggestion,” the waitress chimed in, “We do have a banana cream pie on sale right now, it’s our last one.”

“That’ll work.” Stalwart said.

“Please.” I say, trying not to sound too eager as the waitress walked away to fetch it. Banana was a favorite flavor of mine and it suddenly sounded really good. “And I’ll be paying for that, or compensating you. You’ve treated me out far too much as is. It’s about time I helped you out a little bit.”

“Dawn, you really don’t have to.” He said shuffling in his seat, “It’s not as if I have to spend my bits in any other ways right now…”

“Stalwart, you know we wouldn’t have gotten desert like this if we weren’t trying to make sure that bracelet was working properly. Please, let me help make up for this little extra.”

The waitress put the chilled pie on the table in front of us, clearing out our other dishes and leaving us with a pie and two plates to put our pieces onto.

“So, think you can take out a slice on your own, or should I handle that bit?”

“You go ahead, I don’t want to chop it up into pieces!”

“Good point, never let a good pie go to waste!” I smiled as I pictured him ineptly trying to cut the pie and mincing it up. Carefully, I used the serving scoop to pull out a piece for each of us.

“There you go! One slice of blanabba pie!”

“What?!” Stalwart laughed, clearly confused by what I said.

“Blanabbas! Come on, eat up!”

He laughed once again at my silly name for bananas and started to lower his head to take a bite, failing to realize I was using my magic to pull the piece away from the end of his mouth. After he took a bite of air, he looked at the plate confused, then looked at me with great suspicion.

“Stalwart, just one bite, please. I need to see just how much control you have over it.”

He gave a sigh that almost seemed exasperated, then stared at the piece of pie. Slowly a chunk separated itself from the rest, and floated up to in front of his face. I watched with an appreciative smile as I saw him move it so readily.
He started moving it toward his nose, then held it in place in front of him and took the bite from midair. He chewed thoughtfully, then seemed to relax as he started to enjoy himself.

“Not so bad is it?”

“I guess not.” He shrugged, starting to smile.

“Good.” I smiled at him, “You know I appreciate you helping me all the time like this… right?”

“So you keep telling me!” he said a bit more enthusiastically, lifting the whole slice of pie up to in front of him like I was to take my own first bite.

I was about to reply when he started to bring the pie closer to his mouth to eat, but it approached his nose instead. I held my breath as suddenly, it hit him in the face instead of holding still like he had before. I laughed, trying to hold it back and raising a limb to cover my mouth politely as he shook his head in surprise, setting what was left of the pie slice on the table.

“Poor stalwart!” I finally manage to say, pulling out the cloth napkin and wiping his face with the rag, using magic to make sure I get it all off. “I can’t make fun of you, I did that my first time too, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember.” He chuckled begrudgingly. “You wear food better though.”

“No, no.” I shook my head and tried very hard not to laugh. “Maybe you’ll just need practice like I did. I’ll really need to see just what it can do, what limits there are, and everything eventually. Maybe we can do this a bit more often too. At least the studying can slow down some right?”

“Oh? Just what did you have in mind?”

“Well, let’s go to our hill and talk about it.”

“Sounds good.” He said, getting up and handing back the bracelet after taking it off his leg.

I walked back to the hill with Stalwart in silence, trying to enjoy his company. My thoughts turned back to earlier this morning, and I did have to wonder just why Starlight teased me so much about making friends here.

‘Starlight, why do you care about who I’m friends with?’ I asked him quietly, waiting for his response in my ear.

‘It’s not about who you’re friends with. It’s what you’re doing with your friend that bothers me.’

‘We haven’t been doing anything.’ I reply feeling indignant.

‘Right, I forget, you’re a blonde now.’ He sighed, ‘fine, I think that it’s a really cruel thing to string someone along if you don’t have feelings for them and I don’t want him hurt like we were.’

‘That I get Star, really. But the thing that bothers me is why do you care so much? Are you bothered that I just might like a boy, after all those years of thinking I liked girls?’ I teased. ‘Would you feel better if I found a mare to get to know a bit better? Is that it?’

I could only hear grumbling from his end of frustration, but I could tell he was upset. It told me he cared about Stalwart being strung along, but there had to be something else to it that he wasn’t sharing.

“You’ve been awfully quiet there Dawn. Everything ok?” Stalwart asked, looking my way.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m doing ok.” I said as we started to cross off the path to that hill. “I wanted to ask… What do you think of, well, us?”

“What?” He asked, sounding very surprised.

“Us. You know, you and I. Us.” I ask, trying not to blush or look him in the eye.

“I, well,” He started stammering, “I… why do you ask?”

“Well,” I paused, trying to figure out what to say, “Starlight was teasing me about how much I'd been flirting with you. And, well... I wanted to know what you thought we were.”

“I, I,” he stammered again, causing me to smile a little bit as he seemed to be as flustered as I was, “I hadn’t noticed.”
I looked back to him to notice he was looking away as well, blushing through his light colored fuzz on his face. I was a bit happy, but with other mixed feelings, to see he was either oblivious or maybe just happy that I was flirting with him, and is now realizing it.

“Stalwart,” I speak up, wanting to be firm. “come on, tell me please. I’m pretty sure you noticed if starlight had.”

“It uh,” he hesitated, still blushing but looking me in the eye briefly, “it isn’t polite to assume. What about you? Where do you see us?”

I heard just how happy or excited he sounded, yet tried to hold it back.

"I'm not asking you to assume." I nodded, appreciating his candor. I took a breath and continued, "I see us as in this sort of limbo where we're friends, but we could be something more. I'm a bit scared of that idea, especially since we're only together for a little bit of time, less than I'd prefer, but I also really, really like being with you and want that to continue... so I don't know, and that's also why I'm asking you.”

Well, I" Stalwart hesitated, then sighed, "I like being with you too Dawn. I look forward to it after every shift. I like where we're at, but I won't lie and say I don’t think about the idea of us being something... more. But if you're scared of the idea, then maybe we should wait until you know for sure? I'd never want to put you in a situation that would make you uncomfortable." he smiled at me for a moment, then added, almost as if it were a last minute thought, "No matter how much I want too."

I blush so much it felt as if I was about to burn up. That was practically an open sign of ‘I really want to be boyfriend/girlfriend, but I don’t want to say that word.’ It was something that was never quite expected, and I’m not sure how to react to that. I took a few slow breaths with my eyes closed, unable to stop smiling even when I try, and then speak

"Well, this is a first." Then after taking a minute to breathe in, "Maybe one day. I'm open to the idea, I'd have to say my biggest fear is that this is going pretty fast, and I haven't done this before, so I'm a little afraid of the unknown."

“Hey, when the pieces fit.” He chuckled, then grew quiet, getting up and laying down next to me, ignoring my blushing, “I know what you mean though. I don’t know much about you yet, and you don’t know much about me either. So tell you what, we’ll slow things down a bit, and just keep enjoying our time. If things happen, then we’ll go with it. Till then, I hope you don’t mind me sticking around.”

“That… sounds really nice actually.” I admit, trying not to shake. I’m not sure why I’m suddenly so nervous, but I was going to enjoy this moment.

We didn’t talk much more beyond that point. I almost wanted to laugh at myself. Someone interested in me this quickly was just a strange concept. I had to wonder if this was just how things happened here, or there was something else going on. Maybe it was something wrong with me.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and spent the rest of the day with stalwart, thinking about where my life had headed, and just how different it all was.

One Step Closer to Home

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I woke up slowly the next morning, feeling as comfortable as always, having had another dream of home and how things used to be. A small twinge of sadness crept into my heart, but I tried to push it aside. Memories of some of the harder times in my life floated to the front of my mind unbidden as I sat up and stretched. I shook my head to clear it, talking out loud to the empty room.

“There’s no point in being sad.” I said as I got out of bed. Then I walked over to the desk and started thinking quietly. ‘I know I can’t miss home that much. I moved away from family deliberately, and they didn’t want to see you when you were close as it was, let alone ignored any acknowledgment of my birthday’s existence… though to be fair, I never remembered any of theirs.’ I sighed as I stared at the book once I sat at the desk, starting to feel a cloud grow over my head. ‘I never saw my grandparents often, maybe every three years? Even if family was the issue, it’s not like anything’s different between now and then.’

I stared more at the book on my desk, seeing the designs and wanting to trace them with my finger, only to realize as my hoof entered my vision that wasn’t possible. Looking up, I saw the other books Stalwart loaned me. They still seemed like gibberish to me, even though I was following Starlight’s instructions, and I know I couldn’t make the leap in logic to understand just how any of it correlated.

My mind wandered from subject to subject as I sat at the chair, thinking of all the things of home that I couldn’t experience here. Playing games on my computer, or using a computer at all, no copies of the few books I did enjoy, none of the music.
Unbidden, a few different favorite tunes came to my mind, and I listened to the memory of them, letting my awareness of the room fade away as I clung to that tune and the feelings it brought with it. Soon though, with small noises coming through the door from other pony’s activities, I decided to make the music audible with my horn.

I played the music as best I could, slightly bobbing my head at times to a particularly good piece echoing off of the walls. My smile came back to my face as I realized how much better I felt, even feeling pleased that the music was coming through more clearly now than before, and started humming along to see if it diminished. To my surprise, it only grew more clear and loud.

I smiled wider as I closed my eyes and focused on the tune, tonally singing the notes of the main instrument, switching from game track to game track as they came to my mind and letting time pass by. It was a wonderful feeling, to hear my voice hit notes easily without cracking like it had before. Singing had been an outlet when I was younger, and now that my voice wasn’t fighting me on the higher notes I struggled with before, it was easy to lose myself to the tune.

I continued singing for a while, losing track of time as memories of games and the family I played them with surfaced. Right as I was finishing up one particularly energetic tune and the instruments faded from my horn, I heard a voice to my left.

“Don’t stop there, please, keep going!”

I opened my eyes instantly, feeling panic well up as I turned my head toward the voice. I quickly saw a sitting Stalwart Shield looking intently at my reflection in the mirror. Twisting more to see him directly on my left, I tried to pull back in my seat away from him, only to fall over the side and land sprawled on my back!

“Ow…” I manage to say, feeling so embarrassed. I never let anyone hear me sing as is, and to have him listen in for goodness knows how long only to fall over onto my back in front of him yet again made it all the worse.

“Are you ok?” He asked from my side, having quickly gotten up and rushed over once he saw me fall I presumed.

“Yeah, just a wounded pride and some deja vu.” I muttered, blushing. “So, how long were you listening?”

“Just a few minutes. I knocked but you didn’t answer. I thought I’d check in with you but then I heard you singing and I couldn’t resist listening in.” He said cheerily.

“I see.” I barely managed to reply as the embarrassment sinks in. It was bad enough being caught singing, it was far worse for him to have listened noticeably. I could almost swear my entire face must have been turning a deep shade of red, in spite of my normal coat of fuzz.

“What kind of music was that? I haven’t heard anything like it!”

“I… well… It’s kinda hard to explain.” I stammered.

“Ok, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.” He replied gently.

“Thanks,” I reply relieved, though wondering why he dropped it so suddenly. “I really don’t like singing in front of others.”

“That’s a shame,” He said slowly, “I was hoping to hear what else you could do.”

“Why?” I asked quietly, feeling confused as I get a pit of suspicion forming in my chest and starting to grow heavier.

“Oh, I don’t know,” He hummed coyly, “just might have something to do with having fun listening? Just a wild guess.”

“Oh stop it you big tease.” I chuckled, giving him a very weak shove on his flank. His flattery was always welcome, even if I did act otherwise.

“It’s not teasing if it’s true.” He smirked.

“Well, I’m going to need to stop singing for now and either study up on more magic or do some tests on that bracelet to see just how much it can do.” I said, starting to walk around the chair I fell out of. I lifted the bracelet off from its place on the desk and brought it to my hoof when Stalwart reached over and plucked it from my grasp.

“Wha-! Hey!” I exclaimed in surprise, looking up at him in confusion.

“Tell you what, I’ll help you test it more if you promise to let me hear more of your singing later. Deal?”

“Wait just a minute! I-” I started to protest, that sinking feeling in my chest returning.

“Deal?” he asked with a grin, holding the bracelet back from me.

I hesitated, knowing I couldn’t take it back from him without using magic, which would just seem cruel. In the same breath, while I didn’t want him to listen to me sing or hum, I needed to have that bracelet tested, and I doubted I could find another pony who’d be willing before dinner tonight.

“On one condition,” I say, looking at the ground and trying very hard not to feel embarrassed by sheer willpower. “you have to promise not to make fun of me if I do sing… got it?”

“Got it.” He said solemnly before giving me a hug around the base of my neck briefly, “I don’t think you’ve got much to worry about there though. I wouldn’t ask for your singing if I was going to make fun of it. Now come on, what kinds of tests do you have in mind before I pass out for the day?”

“Well, I didn’t have anything specific in mind per se,” I started to say, his hug making me feel a lot better. I couldn’t explain why, but he had a way of disarming my defenses, and as much as I hated to say it, I liked it. “If we could figure out how much you could lift or move with it and things like that, it’d be a great start.”

“You know, I’ve got just the place. Follow me!” He said, putting the bracelet on his forelimb. He then walked toward the door, opening it and holding it open for me like a gentleman.

I laughed and followed him out the door and along the halls of the castle until we reach a heavy wooden door, which he opened up and headed in. I followed suit, only to see a decently sized gym-like area. Various racks of weapons and padded armors lined the walls while three white rings on the floor marked what I could only imagine were fighting rings.

Two ponies were fighting in one of the rings, but stopped almost as soon as we walked in. Two more stood along the opposite wall and watched us curiously. I followed Stalwart to the nearby wall where some of the lighter weapons seemed to be lined up when the two sparring ponies started walking up to us.

"Oh ho! So this must be the infamous Ms. Dawn that's been keeping our Stalwart Shield so busy eh?" The white pony with a red main said, nudging a larger pony beside him. I looked at his foreleg where he laid a wooden longsword along his body like some of the guards had with spears. The pony he nudged, a light brown coated earth pony with a short-cut black mane, looked over at me and chuckled

“I think you’re right about that. Nice catch there Shield!” The brown one’s deep voice rumbled so deeply that it felt like it was tickling a bit of my own chest fur as he spoke.

“I am not a prize for someone to catch, sir.” I said, trying to put on a brave front. The brown one smirked, and I maneuvered myself to stand behind Stalwart, not feeling comfortable with these unfamiliar ponies as they closed the gap.

“She’s a friend guys, don’t get pushy about it.” Stalwart said, starting to sound annoyed as he turned to face both of them.

"You say that," the white pony laughed, "Yet you spend more time with her than you do training these days." The brown pony chuckled and slightly nodded as he looked at me from above stalwart, using his height.

“And that’s my fault. He’s been helping me learn magic, and that’s what we’re here for, to keep doing just that.” I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt.

"Magic eh?" the white pony said, raising a brow, "Odd thing that. Learning magic from an Earth Pony. But I'm game. Pray tell Ms. Shield’s shadow. Why come to our humble Earth Pony Barracks to practice Unicorn magic?"

“I, well,” I stuttered, trying to figure out what to say. I was caught off guard by being referred to as Ms. Shield. I knew we had joked back when rumors started about Stalwart picking me up as his date or as a couple, but despite us just having had a talk about how that wasn’t something I was ready for, it was harder to joke or play along. “I think I fixed this bracelet and now we’re just trying to test it.”

“That’s all there is to it guys. Come on, give her some space.” Stalwart nodded, speaking firmly to them.

They smirked and took a step or two back, and I slowly stepped forward to be on Stalwart’s left side, though still standing somewhat behind him. I looked between them both, wondering what was going to happen next.

“Timid little thing, isn’t she?” The white pony chuckled to the other.

“Mmhm.” He replied before moving to a nearby bench and sat down on it. “Gotta say, I'm more than a little curious as to how jewelry fits in with magic practice though.”

The white one nodded, looking intently at Stalwart.

“Well, Stalwart, mind showing them?” I asked, already feeling a little better as the focus moved from me onto Stalwart instead.

“We can try, that’s all I can promise. How does it work again?”

“Just picture grabbing hold of something like last time, and don’t move your body to do it…” I said, not sure why he asked how to use it when he had, albeit briefly, last night. I turned my attention from him to the other two, only to see them both raise their brows slightly. I realized then he might have asked just to clue them in, rather than for his benefit.

Stalwart nodded, moving over to the light weapons rack nearby and stopped in front of it. I watched as he stared intently at a dagger lying on its hook there before it started to glow a lime green outline around it, much like my own magic. It started to move and shake at first, then slowly floated up in front of him as he turned to face the others with a confident smile.

“And that’s why the jewelry matters.” He said, much to the stunned surprise of the two.

"Where in Celestia's light did you find something like that!?" the white one asked, clearly in awe.

I looked over at the brown one, hoping he would share in the amazement or surprise, only see him shake his head twice and stare between the bracelet and myself. I looked back at the white one and started to explain.

“Well, more like Celestia handed it for me to study, and since I want to fix something else that’s magic, I thought I’d try my hand at fixing it for practice.” I said, and then as soon as I realized what I did, closed my mouth. I haven’t heard anyone reference hands commonly, if at all. I felt myself tense as I hoped I didn’t say something too out of place.

"Alright, I can see why he's got his eye on you now," the white pony said, grinning at me, "A mighty impressive trinket Ms. Dawn."

I smiled at the compliment, feeling good about it until I watched as the white pony turned his gaze to the brown one and his smile straightened to a more neutral reaction. I looked over to him too, only to see how the brown one was frowning.

“And what’s got your reins in a knot?” the white one asked him.

"Earth Ponies shouldn’t use magic," he said slowly, "It's not natural."

“Why not? I’ve been seeing magic everywhere.” I asked. It didn’t make sense to not like magic in a world with it, especially having come from a world without.

"Just isn't," the brown pony insisted, "If we were meant to use magic, we'd have horns."

I narrowed my eyes at him in concern. He almost reminded me of the people who disliked some parts of science back home, yet was benefiting in all kinds of ways from that science just because it was different. I didn’t think less of him for it, but it disappointed me that someone could be that way toward magic too.

"Just ignore him," the white pony said shaking his head, "Boer's just stubborn about some things. Best to leave to him be when it comes down to it."

“I-” I started to say, not convinced that’s the entire explanation, but then realized if he was like those back home, no reasonable argument would change their mind anyway, “I don’t get it, but ok.”

I looked over to Stalwart, who had set down the dagger, and had moved on to a short sword, moving it around him slowly. I tilted my head slightly as my attention turned to how he always kept the point down. I was about to ask about it when I decided not to. He could be playing safe just to make sure he doesn’t hit anyone or himself as he gets used to it.

"I was unaware any such relics still existed in our age." A feminine voice said from nearby.

I turned around to see a pony behind me. I was a little surprised when I saw that she was also a light green pony, though her mane was a rich blue color and was parted to hang on either side of her face.

"Altai? When did you get here?" the white pony asked.

"I've been here the whole time Sable," she stated, "You should at least attempt to take your surroundings into account every now and then."

"Where's the fun in that?" Sable laughed, "Life's way more fun if you can be surprised every now and again."

Stalwart snorted, giving the short sword a couple of slow swings away from the group. “You won’t be having fun when an enemy surprises you and knocks you out cold.”

"Ha!" Sable laughed, "Like anyone could knock me out with you taking point, Shield!"

“And what do you think will happen if I’m not there to take point Sable? Some of us take our training seriously.” Stalwart said, starting to sound accusing.

"Hey, I can handle myself," Sable said confidently, "After all, you're the only one here I can't beat. You know that."

"And what about the Captain?" Altai asked, "As I recall, none of us has yet to best him with anything but a team effort."

"Yeah, but that's the Captain," Sable said, waving her statement off, "No one beats him but the other instructors."

“Not for long, not if I can help it anyway.” Stalwart chuckled. “Though I don’t think I’ll take to magical fighting anytime soon. How about you Dawn? You’ve told me you’ve dabbled in swordplay before. Wanna give it a go while you’re here?”

I thought about it, wanting to have a little bit of fun with swords for old time’s sake. Despite that desire, I didn’t know if I wanted to try in front of strangers right now.

“I’m not sure that’s a great idea. I’ve already told you, it was hardly often at all, and I have bad reflexes.”

“Come on, it wouldn’t hurt for you to know some self-defense. I’ll even try using the bracelet for you. That’d keep us on the same footing right?”

“I-” I said, hesitating, and then looked back at his face instead of his floating sword. I saw him smiling gently like he had when I was learning magic with him. Feeling better that at least he wouldn’t be making fun of me for it, I nodded, “Alright, try not to be too hard on me ok?”

“As long as you don’t pull a Silver on us, you’ll be fine.” Stalwart chuckled. “I don’t think I ended up asking earlier though, did you know anything about how he fights? We’re still trying to figure out what he did from rumors in the aerial guard.”

“Oh, no, I can’t really say for sure. He hasn’t talked to me about it. Why? What has he done?”

"Oh you know, that he one shot Black Mane, and has the sub under his wing," Sable said, "He knows some weird style of Karate that counters weapons." Then he paused. "Wait, what do you mean he hasn't said? You know him?"

“Well yeah, we both came to Equestria about the same time, about a couple hours apart.”

Suddenly I felt the gaze of all three of the ponies turn to me intently. I felt myself cringe at the attention and wonder just what I said wrong.

“That means you should know him too then Shield. Spending as much time with her as you do, and you didn't tell us?” Sable said, seeming to glare at Stalwart.

I started to open my mouth, wanting to make sure Stalwart wasn’t blamed for whatever was going on when Stalwart stared him right back and gave his reply.

“Yeah, I didn’t tell you.” He said coolly, “All I’ve done is talked with him, and he hasn’t brought up any of his Karate, so I haven’t asked. He might’ve taken Sky Flare under his wing, but we’ve not seen a feather of them since, right? So what makes you think he’d just casually talk about it just because I know Dawn?”

Sable frowned and looked to the others.

"An acceptable explanation," Altai said, "but should you get the chance, I expect you to bring him to meet us, or better yet, meet me. One such as he would likely prefer a more developed sense of conversation than these two would bring." She gestured with her shoulder at Boer and Sable.

"Hey now, maybe he'd like a good match or two instead, eh?" Boer chimed in.

"I know someone who's looking for a match." Sable chuckled as he nodded towards Altai.

“Come on Dawn, let’s go to the far end and get to work.” Stalwart said with a smirk. “Welcome to our chaotic rivalries. You learn to take things in stride here.”

“You mean this happens a lot?”

“More than you know. But that’s what happens when you’re in the guard.” He smiled as we headed toward the furthest ring. “You work with each other, and sometimes, you just have to razz each other a bit too, just to show you care.”

“I… see.” I said, pausing as I think of the military back home, and how similar things seemed to be there. Or at least, what I think was similar. I couldn’t really be sure.

“Yup. Those two over there?” he gestured to the two that used to be along the far wall, who had now walked over to the trio we just left, “they’re Petiso and Stang. They’re in a different squad than the rest, but their commander’s been out for a bit since he had to go home for their first foal.”

I looked over as he gestured at them, Petiso was on the slimmer side compared with the rest. He looked like he had a light grey, yet a dark blue mane. I wondered if he was related to the other green one, Altai, but shifted my gaze to Stang when he was pointed out. That one was well built, and had an almost ice blue color to him with a vibrant gold mane. I had to turn my gaze back to Stalwart quickly, since Stang was a bit too interesting to look at, and the last thing I wanted was for Stalwart to get the wrong idea!

We spent the next hour sparring lightly between each other. I was taking it slowly, getting used to the feel of holding onto a weapon with magic, where Stalwart was just trying to get a feel for using magic at all. Surprisingly, by the time that hour passed, we both became pretty adept at using magic for our swordplay. He had all kinds of tricks for me on how to block attacks properly, and I helped him with figuring out where or how to grip the sword.

He had me toy with the idea of sparring with the rest of the ponies after we were done, but I didn’t feel comfortable with it just yet. In the end, we left and headed back to my room for some discussion on how Stalwart did with the bracelet. Though, we didn’t manage to leave without a couple more ‘Ms. Shield’s Shadow’ comments.

Stalwart handed me the bracelet and reminded me of my promise to sing for him, but he wanted to sleep before he went on patrol duty again. I tried not to yawn, but with the sun shining through the window, I smiled, shrugged, and decided a nap would be just the thing for this lazy Sunday.

I slept well, lying in bed for a while before remembering that I had to have dinner with the princesses! I quickly got out of bed, rushed to the door, then walked the halls in search of a guard who could tell me the time.

“Excuse me,” I said to the first guard I met, “could you please tell me what time it is?”

“It’s almost quarter till five ma’am.”

“Oh. That’s a relief.” I said, letting out a sigh. “So now I know I’m not late. Thank you!”

I walked back to my room with a small smile, getting the sneaking suspicion the guard was now quite confused! I quickly lifted up the bracelet and put it on my left foreleg and paced as I started to try planning out how to introduce the bracelet when they ask about it.

I paced back and forth in my room until I couldn’t wait any longer and stepped into the hall and headed for the usual tower dining room. Much to my surprise, Silver was just ahead, and I trotted quickly forward up to his side with a grin on my face.

“Hey there Silver!”

"Hey there yourself.” He said turning to face me, “What's got you so excited?"

“Oh, you’ll see soon enough.” I smirked, feeling playful.

As much as I was now quite eager about the fixing of the bracelet, as well as knowing fully how it worked thanks to Stalwart, I wasn’t about to spoil it just yet.

Silver kept quiet the entire way up to the room, and once we were seated and requested our food, we ate. I had grilled cheese sandwiches with a cucumber salad to compliment it. It only just dawned on me to request it after seeing another pony eating it in the dining room for lunch. I was incredibly eager since it had been so long since I last had that particular vice, and as soon as it arrived, I ate it with enthusiasm.

“Gods… I can’t remember the last time I had cheese like this.” I finally managed to say after finishing off my plate, settling down on my seat cushion and smiling broadly at the princesses. “Seriously, I swear you have some insanely talented chefs here.”

"Indeed," Celestia said smiling, "Canterlot is home to a great many talented Chefs."

Silver chuckled. "I'm still a fan of the carrots."

"Canterlot is also home to a variety of gardens as well." Celestia chuckled back at him.

“Well, whatever the case may be, I’m really glad to have them available like this.” I sighed contented as I pushed the now empty plate forward. I looked down at the table, letting the feeling wash over me until my gaze landed on my bracelet. I took a deep breath and let it out. This moment was what I was looking forward the whole weekend. ‘Let’s do this!’ I thought before saying, “Well then, let’s go ahead and get right to business then shall we?”

I watched as everyone seemed to look my direction and sit up in preparation for my announcement.

“Ladies and gentlemen...” I start to dramatically introduce.

“It's 'Fillies and Gentlecolts.'” Celestia gently interrupted.

“Oh. Ok, do over!” I paused, realizing my mistake as I let out a giggle. I was feeling too good about my progress to let this stop me! “Fillies and Gentlecolts, I present to you, a now working magical artifact!” I played a little drumroll from my horn while pulling off the artifact from my leg and placing it in the center of the table, stopping it as it was placed.

“Interesting.” Celestia said quietly, much less excited than I had hoped she would be. "I will assume that the full sum of the bits you were given was spent on this items restoration then?"

“Uhm, well, I” I hesitated, not expecting the subject to switch over so quickly. I felt my eagerness and excitement leave me as I realized in hindsight just how I didn’t resist spending every last bit, “no. I spent fifty bits on the necklace the gem was in, thirty to get it changed out, and the remaining twenty was spent… helping test it.” I paused, not sure what more I could say or do, then decided to bow in apology, "I'm sorry. I went a bit overboard.”

"I see." Celestia said, giving me a look I didn’t recognize. She fell silent a moment, but it felt like it dragged on forever. It almost reminded me of how my dad used to handle my misbehaving growing up. My thoughts returned to the present when Celestia replied, speaking sternly, but softly. “I thank you for your honestly, however I am slightly disappointed. When you had asked for some bits in order to repair the bracelet, you had stated that you would return what remained. Keeping one’s word is very important in Equestria. Please remember that in the future.”

“I understand.” I said, feeling deflated from the chastisement. “Again, I’m sorry, and it was my intent! If you like, I could find work to earn the money needed to replace what was spent.”

"That will not be necessary, Dawn," Celestia stated, a smile returning to her face, "Mistakes happen, to all of us. All we can do is learn from them and endeavor not to make the same mistakes again."

“You’re too kind.” I said, my mind still focusing on how I had disappointed her. I took a deep breath and looked around to see everyone still expecting me to continue, so I continued my explanation. “It’s now fully recharged, though for whatever reason it’s not nearly as potent as it should have been, for reasons I can’t fathom beyond possibly it being exaggerated in the past.”

“So what's it supposed to do then?” Silver asked, looking between the bracelet and me.

“Well,” I reply, starting to get a hint of a smile back on my face. I levitated the bracelet toward him expectantly. “why don’t you give it a try? Put it on.”

Silver picked it up slowly, then looked through it like it was a telescope. I looked at him confused, wondering why he didn’t just put it on his arm like I had done earlier yesterday and today.

“Not till you tell me what it's supposed to do.” He said as he held it between his hooves.

“Very well then.” I sighed, disappointed, “It lets you move things around with magic, as if you had a horn like me. Satisfied?” My last word sounded more biting even to myself, almost reflecting the frustration I started to feel for him not being willing to just try it and demonstrate a little trust.

Silver inched away from me a little at that, and I instantly regretted my having snapped at him. He probably hasn’t been around magic nearly as much, and he doesn’t know what it was Starlight and I fixed or what it did. Before I could apologize, I watched as he rolled the bracelet around between his hooves a few more times, then eventually slid it onto his left forearm.

I waited for him patiently, expecting him to try doing a few things, but all I could see him do is stare at it until he finally looked in my direction.

"Do I need to do anything, or...?"

“Well,” I said, taking another deep breath to calm myself and have patience with him, despite not seeming to try, “picture what you would do if you had an arm and a hand again, and try to use it without moving your leg. Just picture it, and want it to happen. That should at least get it started, even if not perfectly.”

I watched as Silver mumbled quietly, though what he was saying was a mystery to me. I watched his gaze shift from the bracelet to his cup and waited. Soon, the cup started to get a lime green outline around it, much like my own magic did, and a peek at the bracelet confirmed it was the one glowing in the place of a horn. My face let out a small smile as I saw him slowly lift the cup from the table!

"Okay, that's cool!" He exclaimed, just before he dropped the glass and it fell down on its side, rolling into Celestia's plate at the other end of the table, "Whoops."

“It was, if I had to guess,” I started to explain, feeling a little more confident. “probably used back when the kingdom was first made, allowing the earth ponies to move or break any giant rocks or obstacles in their way. Supposedly there were several gifts that the three groups gave each other, and this just happened to be the one unicorns gave to the earth ponies. I thought the records said that it could move boulders out of the way, yet I haven’t been able to move much more than about ten or so pounds of whatever with it, nor has Stalwart. I’m not sure I understand why.”

"That is most impressive, Dawn," Celestia said smiling, "and I see your history lessons are paying off quite well too. That is a very good assumption as to this items origins."

“Thank you,” I replied, bowing my head briefly, “I have to admit, the librarians were very helpful in narrowing down these bits of lore, particularly Moon Dancer. Though I'm not sure why this mark is necessarily Starswirl's. It only worked properly when we saw one key difference in the traditional mark and kept that difference during the repairs. Silver, would you mind allowing them to take a closer look?”

"Of course." Silver said, quickly slipping the bracelet from his wrist. He held onto it for a slight moment longer before placing it on the table for whoever was going to take it next.

Celestia floated the bracelet in front of her as the rest of us watched patiently. I felt my heart rise just a little bit as I see her study the bracelet closely, no doubt spotting that difference. Eventually Celestia set it down in front of Luna, who also took a close look while Celestia spoke.

“I know his mark well. You are right, it is different.” Celestia said while her sister had her chance to inspect it.

“Right.” I nodded, “It not only has the three stars on a spiral, it also has an outline of a star around the middle one. I'm not entirely sure why though. Starlight was invaluable in teaching me how to make this happen, but he won't tell me how he knew at all, and keeps deflecting my questions.” I hesitated at the end, only now realizing it was something that started to really bug me.

“It is interesting that Starlight would know of such things while you do not.” Luna said, her brows coming together slightly in what I could only imagine as concern. “And he has shared nothing to shed light on how he came to possess this knowledge?”

“No. It’s most infuriating. I keep asking if he knows more or if he can get us home, but he hasn’t said a word.”

Only then do I spot movement out of the corner of my eye, and once again, I see Starlight Dusk looking very seriously toward the Princesses.

“Not yet.” He interjected, quietly but firmly.

“Not yet?” Luna asked, turning to face him, "Explain."

“We aren’t ready yet to have her attempt repairing the Mirror of Worlds. Not even close, or so I’m told.”

“What do you mean not even close!? And who’s telling you this!” I asked, incredibly surprised. In all of our talks, he said nothing of this before!

“I want to tell you,” Starlight said with his usual ear flick, turning to face me, “but he tells me it’s not necessary for me to explain. I owe him a great deal for saving my life, so I will honor his request for now. He’s decent enough, if constantly cryptic. He teaches me magic, and seems to know a lot more about this than any of the books you’ve studied. Isn’t that enough for now?”

"Will you at least share the name of this teacher of yours?" Luna asked, though her tone seemed more like an order than an actual question.

"I can’t say I know his true name.” He replied, sounding slightly apologetic as he then faced Luna, “He has referred to himself as a teacher or guide for those that are lost. If it weren’t for him, I would not be here today. He kept me sane those long years in that abyss. I cannot tell you more."

I shifted nervously as I tried to make use of this new information. I was still frustrated at him for holding information back, in essence holding back ways for me to go home. On the other hoof, I realized that he just said we weren’t ready, and he said not even close to ready at that. It was disappointing to me to realize it, but I wanted to go back to what I was familiar with... or at least, I thought so.

I hesitated as I thought about home, as well as the struggles I had to be recognized as myself. I adopted a very silly crazy approach to anything that wasn’t work just to fit in, but here in Equestria, I didn’t have to worry about taking medication, nor paying for a surgery. Everything was built in just like every other pony, with its own ups and downs I was already getting used to. If I returned home, I’d be trading my magic and the convenience of a matching identity. And then there’s Starlight, who’d be left on his own, and I know I couldn’t handle being in his shoes if that happened.

I looked up in time to see Luna and Celestia looking at one another seriously and the faintest shimmer crept along their horns. It was clear they were discussing between themselves, and I couldn’t help but wonder what they noticed about what he said.

"We will discuss this 'Teacher' of yours further at a later point, Starlight Dusk," Luna stated, "For now, let us move on to the next topic of the night."

She turned her gaze to Silver Wing and cleared her throat.

"H-huh?" Silver replied, jolting upward in surprise.

"Your endeavors of late have begun to arouse a great deal of attention, Silver Wing," she stated, "First your defeat of Black Mane in his own class. Then your placing second in the Annual Canterlot Race while still being in Flight School. And now you are teaching an unknown style of combat to our very own Sky Flare. Do you have anything to say on this?"
Silver opened his mouth as if to speak, but no words came forth. He looked between all of us, settling his gaze on Luna before speaking slowly at first.

"Uhh, it all just kinda happened. I'm not really sure how?" He gave a slight shrug.

I snorted involuntarily, though kept it as quiet as I could manage, then smiled in his direction. It was far too amusing to think that him beating Black Mane, who from what I had heard everyone had a hard time fighting, and winning second place in a race already would just ‘kinda happen.’ I stayed quiet and paid attention to the conversation, getting the feeling this was leading somewhere important.

"Calm yourself," Luna said softly, "These are not bad things you have done. But we would like some clarification on some matters."

"Alright," Silver replied, sounding slightly nervous, "Fire away."

"We have heard many rumors about your growing capabilities as a flier," Luna explained, "And a great many more in regards to this unique method of fighting you have brought over from your world. But rumor and fact are two very different items. Factually, we know you defeated Black Mane and are now training Sky Flare in your techniques. Other than that, we know nothing."

"Ah, well," Silver said, scratching the back of his head with his hoof, "Sky Flare was there when I kicked Black Mane's a-" he stopped and I tried very hard not to giggle at him almost cursing in his reply. "when I defeat Black Mane, she offered to teach me how to fly better if I taught her my style in return. I hope that's alright? I didn't think it'd matter so I never thought to check with either of you first. "

"That is alright," Luna said, "but we are very curious about this style of combat that you use. What is it called in your world? What is its overall effectiveness, and how is it that you can use it in our world when your form is so unlike your original?"

"Well, I told Sky Flare that it was a form of 'Tai Chi' but that's not quite right," Silver began, "Tai Chi is a main aspect of it, but it's actually a mix of a few different styles I know. So it doesn't have a real name per say. It's just… my style. In terms of effectiveness, well, like any form of fighting, it's meant to hurt people. How severely one gets hurt is up to the intent and control of the user. I will be honest and say that I could very easily kill someone with it. However, I have never been put into such a situation. Even when I was a Law Enforcement Officer. It's main use for me then, was disarming and restraining suspects. And as for how I can still use it, well, I can't fully. You need hands for a lot of it, especially the weapon aspects, but this body is rather flexible and hooves work as good as a closed fist any day, so it's viable enough. I could show you whenever if you'd like?"

"So you would not be against a demonstration then?" Luna asked seriously.

"Well, no. I can show you some of it right now if you want?"

"That will not be necessary," Luna said, a sly grin appearing on her face, "but since you are willing, we would very much enjoy a demonstration at a later date. Perhaps you would be so kind as to spar with some of our guards? A tournament of sorts, to allow us a chance to witness this ‘Silver Style’ in action."

"W-well, what did you have in mind?" Silver asked a little unsurely, "I'm not that good a fighter anymore, remember?"

"Would you be against a stacking tournament?" Luna asked, "You will face three opponents, one at a time, then two, and if you have still come out on top, all three at once."

"Aha..." Silver said slowly, "I could do the one on ones, maybe even the twos, but I doubt I could beat three opponents at once. Not with just my hands- err, hooves."

"Then we would get a proper demonstration," Luna said smiling, "We would see you fight seriously come the end, and be able to get a true sense of your capabilities."

“What about using the bracelet?” I offered, realizing what he meant about the lack of weapon abilities. “It’d be a good stress test for it, and would let you use weapons like you had an arm and hand again. I know it’s not quite the same, but perhaps?”

"Thank you for the offer Dawn, but no," Silver said, shaking his head once, "It wouldn't be a proper demonstration if I didn’t fight with my body. And even if that weren’t the case, I know how to pull my punches like this. With magic, I have no idea, and I won’t risk someone’s safety just to win. It may make things harder for me if I only use myself as a weapon, but I won’t run the risk of accidentally killing someone by swinging a magical weapon too fast or something." He paused for a laugh before adding, "Or myself for that matter! Imagine how embarrassing that'd be, pulling a sword back to block, only to knock myself out with it?"

“Yeah, I doubt that’d happen,” I said, though not without flinching slightly at the thought of doing that myself. “with practice I’m sure you could get to your old skill level again easily. It just takes a shift in how you try to do it, but it’ll have the same outcome.”

“I am inclined to agree with Silver Wing," Luna said, "The purpose of this demonstration is to gauge his styles effectiveness. Utilizing a magical artifact would tip the scales unfairly in his favor."

“Yes, because if he fights a unicorn, their magic won’t tip the scales unfairly, but a limited telekinesis spell would. That makes sense.” I replied sarcastically, not seeing the point. If his opponent could use magic, why couldn’t he? I looked over to Luna and saw her frown and knew I had crossed a line. “Sorry, my tone was rude. I just don’t see how that would change enough! Either way, he made his choice, and I promise to try and respect it.”

Silver smiled at me for a moment appreciatively before he spoke again. "I actually have no idea how a Unicorn fights to be honest. I can imagine how they'd use a weapon, based off how I've seen you all eat, but that's about it."

"Then of the three you shall fight, one will be a Unicorn," Luna stated, "In fact... Your opponents will each be one of the three Pony tribes."

"So an Earth Pony, a Pegasus, and a Unicorn?" Silver asked.

Luna nodded. "It will be a most entertaining demonstration indeed."

"You will have to forgive my sister," Celestia chimed in, "In the old days, we used to hold tournaments like this to decide who amongst our guard would become knights and serve as our personal protectors. Such events have not been needed in these days of peace, but when they were, my sister was always very fond of them."

Luna looked away with a slight huff, evidentially embarrassed by Celestia's comment.

"Well, I look forward to giving you something new then," Silver said smiling, "Hopefully I don’t lose in the first round."

"Seeing as you defeated Black Mane with one strike, I doubt you will lose so swiftly." Celestia said.

"We'll see," Silver said, "I try not to underestimate my opponents. Especially when I've never fought them before."

"Do you have any further questions about the demonstration?"

"Not really, aside from when you're wanting it."

"Friday," Luna said with a nod, "That will provide you with four days to prepare if needed."

"Four days... Fun..." Silver said quietly, appearing to grow deep in thought.

"With that, I believe it is time for us to part for the night," Celestia said with a smile, "Take these next four days to prepare Silver Wing. Your opponents, while not at the level of Black Mane, will not be picked from common stock. You will be facing some of our best trained guards."

Silver nodded and got to his feet. "Right," he said, "Should be fun then." He walked out of the room, clearly lost in his own thoughts.

I stayed seated for a moment longer, staring at the table leg as I realized just how excited they were to see what Silver could do. I couldn’t blame them, since he managed to become known for his fighting prowess and for his speed in the race, but I couldn’t help but feel jealous at how he was able to make them feel excited for what he’d do next. And then there was me by comparison, managing to fix the relic to help ponies who aren’t unicorns do something that nearly any unicorn can do, and only eliciting intrigue or concern for reasons I can’t fathom right now.

A soft clearing of a throat brought me back to reality again, to see Luna starting to address me.

"A parting word of caution to you," she stressed, "There are a great many magics in this world, not all of which are good. Be careful from whom you glean knowledge.”

"What do you mean?” I replied, feeling confused and concerned at this warning. “Knowledge isn't inherently good or evil is it? Wouldn't that apply to magic as well?"

"You are correct in that knowledge in itself is neither good nor evil," Luna said, "However, not all magic is such. There are dark magics in this world, and knowledge gained through such means will taint those who seek it."
I narrowed my brows at what she said, not sure of what she meant by this. Celestia must have noticed my response, as she proceeded to address me as well.

"What my sister is trying to say, is that learning is never a bad thing, but you should be careful of who you learn from. Not all who seem friendly on the surface are. Be careful not to blindly trust those you know very little about."

“I think I understand.” I said, pausing briefly to think. I reflected back to my times growing up and how easily I was fooled, how gullible I’ve been told I can be, and had to ask, “but how will I know the difference then?”

They both sighed a little and appeared to look at me with tired eyes. I felt my heart sink a little lower as I realized they must have thought it was a stupid question, as if it should be obvious.

"You will not always be able to tell one from the other," Luna said, "all you can do is trust in your feelings. If something feels wrong to you, even if such feelings are not shared by those around you. Pay heed to them. A Unicorns instincts are a powerful guide, to those who choose to listen."

“I will try.” I said, growing worried as I knew I never had an easy time hearing my instincts if ever.

"That is all we ask," Celestia said with her usual comforting smile, "Now, off to bed with you!"
I smiled back at them briefly, still feeling disappointed, jealous, even a little confused. I stood up, trying very hard not to stretch like my now aching muscles wanted me to do, and headed toward the door.

"Dawn." Celestia’s voice called softly.

I jumped internally and paused halfway to the door, turning around to face them and unable to hide the confusion in my face.

“You forgot this.” She said, floating the bracelet from the table toward me.

“Oh. Wait, you want me to keep it?” I asked, even more confused, “but it’s an antique! Wouldn’t you want to keep it?”

"As you are the one who repaired it, it should go to you. You may do with it as you please."

“I’m not sure I follow.” I replied, being cautious about taking possession of it now that it was repaired and had some serious value. “It was mine to study yes, but you still had ownership of it that whole time, and if this were to exist in our world, it would be nearly invaluable. I don’t understand why you’d want me to keep it.”

“You were given a broken relic from an age long since passed,” Celestia replied with a broader smile, “However, it is no longer what it was then. You repaired it through study and the use of your own magic. A part of you, however small, now resides within it, granting it new life and purpose. It is now an extension of your magic. As such, it is rightfully yours to do with as you wish."

“I see.” I replied, feeling like a weight of responsibility had been handed to me, even if I wasn’t quite sure what that responsibility entailed. I took hold of the floating bracelet, and slipped it back onto my left leg like I had before. “Well, not quite if I were to be completely honest, but… thank you. I’m not sure what I’ll do with it yet, but I want you to know it’s very much appreciated.”

"Do not underestimate the magnitude of this accomplishment Dawn," Celestia added with a smile, "There are few in this land that could have done what you have. Remember that."

That sinking feeling that had grown through that dinner now left me with her saying that. She was telling me in her own way just how big what I had done really was, and that it mattered somehow. Relief started to wash over me as I tried to figure out how to reply.

“I… well, I… Thank you.” I said, almost stammering as I tried to relay that feeling to them, only able to hope they understood what I was trying to convey before heading out the door. Suddenly I was feeling on top of the world with their approval in tow, and practically floated out of the doorway to head down the stairs.

I stepped down onto the first steps, only to suddenly have a small blast of air tickle my neck. I involuntarily jumped up and looked over to the side, only to find Silver waiting for me!

“Oh! Silver, you scared me good there! What’s up?”

Silver dropped his head and groaned. "Sorry. That was supposed to be a whistle. "

“It’s ok.” I reply, trying to console before my good mood starts seeping through again, “Though now you’ve got me wanting to try to whistle.”

"I'll be practicing alone before I try it again," Silver said with a laugh, "but that'll be later. Right now I- I need your help with something."

“Oh? What do you want help with?”

"Well," Silver hesitated, letting out a sigh, "I need you to try to hit me."

“Wait. You want me to what!?” I ask, completely surprised by this question. Surely he doesn’t mean right now, and if so, why?

"In this demonstration the Princesses want me to do, I'll be fighting a Unicorn," Silver explained, my surprise fading to understanding, "I know how to fight pegasi. And an earth pony should be about the same, minus the flight. But I have no idea how a Unicorn fights with magic. You're the only Unicorn I know. So it'd be a huge help if you'd spar with me a little at some point this week. Even if it's just once."

“I see what you mean.” I replied with a knowing smile, thinking to the small bit of training I had done with Stalwart earlier today. “I used to occasionally do swordplay myself, but that was before the medication and as an excuse to keep in shape. I have no idea if I’m any good though, fair warning. Will that be good enough?”

"It'll be perfect," Silver smiled, "All I need is a sense of how fast you can move a weapon around, and what sort of ranges you have. I won’t even attack you. It'll just be you trying to hit me."

“I see. Well, I hope I can do you justice then.” I nodded, feeling good about being involved like this. I headed down the steps, wanting to talk as we headed to our rooms. “Where and when would you want me to be for your practice?”

"I'm good anytime really," Silver replied from behind me, "When would work best for you?"

“Well, ideally after breakfast would work. Stalwart’s rarely up, with the exception of this morning somehow,” I replied, starting to feel my face heat up at remembering the promise he forced out of me. I shook my head to clear that from my mind before continuing, “Yeah, after breakfast, maybe half an hour to an hour after? Actually, let’s just call it ten o’clock. That work for you?”

"Works perfectly thank you very much for this."

“It’s not a problem! Though now you’ve got me wondering if I could be a decent swordsmare.” I giggled at the prospect, “Probably not, I suspect I’d be better suited to focusing on magic for now.”

"Tomorrow will tell, eh?" Silver laughed, "Just don’t hold back, alright? I'd rather get a few knocks in the head, then a false sense of your speed."

“I…” I paused, remembering his comment earlier about whacking himself in the head, “will try not to. I tend to take it easy at first anyway, and gradually ramp it up, but I’ll do my best.”

"That's all I ask. With that out of the way though, do you need an escort back to your room? Or you good?"

“Oh I’m good. I don’t need Stalwart getting the wrong idea about us after our little talk last night!”

"Alright, take care then, and thanks again."

"See you tomorrow then. Oh wait! Before we split, where would we meet? We didn't say that part yet!"

"Ah, right. " Silver said shaking his head, "I've gotten so used to training in the forest, I just assumed you knew about it. Though..." He paused briefly and I watched him frown as I turned to him. "I don’t think you'd be able to get to the forest to easily without wings, so how about behind the palace? Near that big hedge maze."

“Yeah, fear of heights and all that.” I nodded, “How would I get down there? I haven’t seen a hedge maze yet…”

"Really?" Silver asked surprised, "Guess I forget sometimes that you haven't seen Canterlot like I have. There isn’t much I don’t know about its layout now thanks to all the flybys." He chuckled, "Just walk around the palace though, you'll see the maze eventually. It's big and green, and made out of a huge hedge bush."

“Holding… back… sarcasm." I replied in as deep and monotone a voice as I could manage, just to help him realize I knew what a hedge maze would be made of. I tried very hard not to laugh and smiled widely at him. “All right, no worries. I’ll find my way there eventually. If you don’t see me, well, I’m sure you could fly around and spot me. I don’t suppose you’ve kept tallies of how many other lime green ponies there are huh?”

Silver chuckled. "There's a few, but I think I can tell you apart from them from just about any distance." He gave me a knowing wink, making me chuckle.

“Oh really? I may have to test that sometime. Anyway, I’ll see you then, rest well!”

"You too Dawn, good night."

Understanding Connections

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I woke later the next morning, feeling more tired than I had wanted. I probably would have slept in had it not been for Starlight shaking me awake eagerly.

“Come on Dawn! You’re gonna be late! Don’t make me get a guard to splash water on your face!”

I groaned and stirred out of my bed, rubbing a leg on my eyes to help them clear up.

“Ugh, I’m moving, I’m moving! What are you so excited for anyway…”

“I want to fight Silver.” He said insistently, “we could trade off or something, but I want a shot at him too!”

“Geeze,” I say as I start to head out the door, passing on breakfast and intending to head to the garden hedge maze area Silver mentioned right away, to avoid being late. “I haven’t heard you be this eager. Was I really that into sword-fighting?”

“Not really.” He admitted as I walked outside, Starlight disappearing into the shadows and continuing to talk in my ear by magic. “It’s just really draining being out in the world with you right now, and if you’re going to be using magic as well as swordfight, I really want to join it. It’s been incredibly boring while I have to twiddle my thumbs watching you enjoy Stalwart’s company.”

“Oh please,” I blushed, understanding his intent, “We’ve already had that discussion!”

“Yeah, you keep fooling yourself.”

I sighed, frustrated before trying to picture being in his shoes, being stuck without a body, reliant on someone else to experience the world around me. My only other companion being this other person or thing in this ‘void’ he keeps mentioning. It was hard to imagine it as a pleasant experience, but I had to ask the questions that started to come to mind.

“Hey Starlight?” I asked quietly, instinctively knowing I had his full attention, “do you know why it’s so draining for you to stay out and about with us in this world?”

“Not really, it likely has to do with not having a body. I don’t really know how that even happened, and thinking about my ‘origin’ gives me a headache something awful, but you can bet I’ve already asked my teacher and it boils down to power. It takes a lot of power to keep me physical, and we don’t generate enough to allow that. He can’t help me stay in your world, and I’d be tied by distance to you anyway.”

“So when you run out of power, or just low, you just fade away?”

“Kind of. Basically your ‘world’ just fades away for me and I walk back into the void, mostly just listening through your ears just to keep from going insane. Sometimes, I can even manage to look at your surroundings without getting tired.”

“It must be tough.” I said, walking around the outside of the castle, trying to find this hedge maze, “so, what’s the ‘void’ like then?”

“Really really empty. Remember yu-gi-oh when you used to watch it on tv? Or when you played Kingdom Hearts and Aqua got stuck in that black area? Somewhat like a mix between.”

“Geeze. No wonder you want to fight silver. I’ll see what happens first. After yesterday with Stalwart, I want to have my turn first. I get the feeling you won’t take it easy on him.” I smirked as our conversation stopped abruptly when I walked through the garden area to see the hedge maze.

I looked up at a solitary cloud hovering in place like a white, fluffy bean bag just above head height. I looked around for anyone else, but didn’t spot anyone. Slowly, I approached the cloud until I saw a light grey tail poking out from the side.

“Silver?” I asked, not entirely sure where in the world he got this cloud, or why it was just sitting there.

I waited until he peeked over his cloud and looked down at me and waved.

“Good morning!” He called out.

“What are you doing on a cloud Silver?” I asked right away, “How did it get there?”

"Pegasus perk," he laughed, “We can walk on clouds remember? Turns out the weather around here is all controlled by Pegasi. Even the seasons."

“Wait what? Really?” I pull back surprised. It was one thing to have the sun and moon rise and fall by magic, but all weather controlled by magic and ponies? There was bound to be repercussions for that somewhere, right?

"That doesn’t really surprise you does it?" Silver chuckled, "I mean, we're in world of talking animals, where even the rising and the setting of the sun revolve around the whim of magic." He gave a lazy stretch and glanced down, and I then noticed he had a vest on as he zipped it up before hopping down.

“True…” I agreed, squinting at him as I looked over the apparel. He was now wearing a brown vest that almost seemed to have the sheen of leather, along with a fluffy fur neck outline on the hem. “Wait, you didn’t have that before, did you?”

“I had it on last night Dawn.” He snickered, “Didn’t you notice?”

I took in a sharp breath, surprised that I could miss something so obvious and thought back to the night before, but I couldn’t remember much other than him being present, the food we ate, and a general concept of what we talked about.

‘He was wearing it.’ Starlight said, ‘Just goes to show you don’t pay attention unless it’s Stalwart!’

“Sorry, no.” I shook my head, just as much to clear starlight’s voice out of my head.

‘Do you want to fight him or not?’ I mentally said to Starlight as a threat. I didn’t want to have him pestering me about Stalwart as is, let alone with Silver present. I took his silence as an agreement to behave.

"You were pretty focused on that trinket of yours," Silver laughed, shooting another one of his smiles in my direction.

“Yeah, sorry. I’ve been told I can be pretty self-absorbed.” I apologized, rubbing the back of my head. I couldn’t exactly pin this on Starlight. He’d been too tired out for the most part since we fixed that relic, aside from last night’s dinner.

“No worries." Silver said.

I watched as he gave the cloud a slow kick, and I watched in amusement as it floated away, almost like a balloon. I heard a small sound back down on the ground, only to see Silver standing next to a wooden sword that was stabbed into the ground.

“So,” I started, wanting to make up for my lack of attention before, “where’d ya get it?”

"You remember Breezy?" Silver asked. "Lemon Bloom's husband, you met him once a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah I remember him." I smiled, remembering how gentle and supportive that pony was.

"He gave it to me," Silver smiled as he looked down at the vest, "It was his when he was a wonderbolt. He said someone like me deserved one, so he gave me his." He started to shift his stance a bit, for the first time in a while appearing shy. I had to resist the urge to giggle.

“I see. Well, congratulations then!”

He cleared his threat before replying. “Thanks, it’s hella soft."

I watched as he walked backward, leaving the sword between us. I looked at the sword and then back to him, Silver grinning confidently at me.

“So, ready for some fun?”

“I’m not quite sure I’ll call this fun, but I’ll do what I can.” I said, nodding and remembering what I had done with Stalwart before. Using my magic to attempt to grab hold, I soon discover this training sword was not as light as the one I used with Stalwart yesterday. It quivered in the dirt at first before it rose up and floated its way to in front of me.

‘This thing’s heavy.’ I mention to Starlight. ‘does he really want me to hurt him?’

‘Nah.’ He replied quickly, ‘More likely he’s just taking this seriously. Probably one of those types where if it isn’t going to hurt, it’s not good enough. You going to be ok on your own?’

‘I’ll let you know…’ I said before my thoughts were cut off by Silver’s voice.

"Just relax, get a feel for it first off," Silver assured, "Just swing it around a few times and see what you can do."

“Of course! Last thing I want to do is whack you in the head.” I smirked, thinking about that possible outcome, if he really was insistent on it being able to do damage.

I lifted it up with my magic a little way, feeling how resistant it was to the motion, then tried to reach out with it as far as I could. It wobbled slightly at first, then a bit more as it floated almost thirty feet from where I stood, but it felt really heavy out there. I could almost compare it to holding a weight in my hand while it’s outstretched and trying to keep my arm parallel to the ground. I pulled it back not nearly so slowly and put it in-between Silver and myself, with enough room that should I lose control of it, it wouldn’t hit me at least.

I gave it a few swings, trying to go through the motions like I would have back home. Try as I might, I couldn’t just do a ninety-degree swing. Each time, I nearly swung it around in a full 360-degree arc. This was not going to be easy, but I couldn’t help but marvel at that simple idea. I could see that motion being very useful if it was intentional. As it currently stood, I wasn’t intending it, meaning I’d be left wide open.

“Not gonna lie, this feels really weird and good at the same time.” I managed to say.

"I can imagine it'd be different than a good sword arm," he said thoughtfully, "But the range of motion is clearly superior."

“Yeah, It’s gonna take some getting used to. Are you sure this is going to help? I’m no swordsmare,” I replied, then smirked as I remembered Stalwart’s encouragement last morning, “at least not yet.”

"You've already helped more than you realize," Silver said honestly, "And I have no doubt you'll only continue to do so."

“If you say so.” I shrugged, trying not to doubt him. I kept my focus on the sword, attempting to get it under better control.
‘Try holding it at the balance point, just above the hilt there.’ Starlight suggested.

‘Wait, what?! That’d cut-’ I started to say, when I realized what he was saying. I wasn’t limited to where I could hold the weapon, because I wasn’t holding it with my hands anymore!

I shifted my grip on the sword, or at least, I pictured shifting my grip. I didn’t see any visible change in it as I did, but I gave it a few more swings. Each time, those swings became much easier to control, and the sword didn’t feel quite so heavy in my grasp.

‘Thanks Starlight. Keep that up for me, k?’ I said thankfully to him.

I smiled as I started making the sword swing in the way I most remembered when I played with the foam padded versions back home, swinging it on both sides of myself before holding it in front of me in midair in the traditional ‘en garde’ pose. By the time I finished, I had taken a deep breath and let it out and looked at Silver, eyes slightly narrowed.

“Are you ready?”

I watched as he rose up to his hind legs, appearing to be slightly taller than me this way, and adopted his own pose, left arm held out toward me. “I am. Try and hit me.”

I nodded before calling out, “Then, lay on!” It might have been out of place, but it was something we had always said in my group to signal the battle’s start.

I moved the sword close to silver, daring to take a couple steps closer to keep the responsiveness better. Figuring he didn’t want any punches pulled, I quickly moved the sword to swipe at his head, only to pull it back and swing at his right side instead.

My sword made a small ‘ting’ sound I could barely hear as it made contact with his arm as it moved quickly to block, the other one having already moved to protected his head from the initial feint.

"Harder Dawn!" he called, "Don't hold back! If I get a welt, it'll be my own fault for not dodging!"

I looked at him, concern rising as I realize I didn’t want to hurt him, but I realized what Starlight said was true. He really must want this to play out no holds barred. I gave him a quick nod, deciding to trust his decision and attempted to move the sword in to swing the sword once again, attempting to push past his guard or pressure him into moving.

Silver didn’t budge at all, and no matter the effort I pushed into it, I couldn’t change that fact. Clearly, this called for a change in tactics, and I rushed to swing the sword around and over his head to try hitting him on his exposed flank.

Without warning, he dashed straight at me. I pushed with both of my right legs and tried to move to the side as he closed half of the gap already. I pulled the sword back to me, only barely getting it alongside me as he was almost within arm’s reach.

I watched as he continued his sprint until he was closer to that twenty-five-foot range, and eyed him cautiously. I wanted to keep my sword nearby, and I wasn’t sure what he was up to. I knew that was close to my limit of reach with this. His dash was bound to be able to close the gap faster than I could make the sword move.

I paced to the side, trying to gauge his intent, while also subtly trying to close the gap, see if he was waiting for some trigger in particular. Yet, for each step I took, he kept his distance, matching my movement. It was clear he didn’t want to stay close.

I started pacing back to my original spot, trying not to growl in frustration. I realized I was going to have to take a risk here, if he refused to. I moved my sword out to almost halfway between us and kept it there, waiting for his next move.

Without warning, he flapped his wings and flew around in a tight circle around me! Moving clockwise, he kept his distance as winds whipped around me and made my grip falter slightly on the sword at first. Thinking fast, I started moving the sword toward the circle he was flying in, giving it a swipe against the current so his own momentum would work against him. I knew that he struggled with his turning in the race, so if he was going to turn, it’d have to be away from me.

Right as I made my swing, silver’s path changed. He had flown to a mere five feet away before I realized what had happened! My eyes opened wide as I realized I was about to be hit, pulling my legs up to let me fall down onto the ground, intending to roll over and away from him to my left. Simultaneously, I pulled the sword back.

I barely managed to get back up on my feet in time to have my sword be ready to make a swipe at him, but Silver veered away and continued his miniature tornado.

Clearly, I wasn’t going to make any progress if I had my sword too far out. I had to keep it close! I put the sword at my most vulnerable side, my rear, while watching for any changes to his motion. Staring straight ahead and letting my eyes stop focusing on anything specific, I let myself watch for motion, and waited.

"You ready for something a little more close to home Dawn?" He called out, still flying circles around me

“Not really!” I said, already expecting him to try something. I shifted my weight, trying to get ready for another dodge, should he come up with something else unexpected.

"Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you!" He called.

Almost as soon as he said it, I noticed the circle stopped and started to turn my head in time to see Silver dashing in at my sword with his arms crossed. I knew I couldn’t move at this angle and gaped as he easily battered my sword away and stopped.

I felt a giant gust of air whipping about me and I closed my eyes, starting to cringe as I expected a punch. The sword clattered to the ground as I lost my grip from the wind and the fear of being hit.

“Boop!” I heard as my nose felt something firm make contact.

I instinctively pulled away from it, taking a step back until I realized I wasn’t punched at all. I opened my eyes, finding my arm halfway up to touch my nose and make sure it wasn’t hurt. Starting to realize he didn’t do anything, I stared at silver in confusion.

"What's with that expression?" Silver teased, "I told you I wouldn't hurt you, and I didn’t, did I?"

I stood in astonishment as he lifted his hoof up to tap my nose a second time and leapt back to the same distance as he had prior. I shook my head and took a couple breaths as I picked up my sword from where I dropped it in surprise earlier. I let a small snort escape my nose as I realized he did indeed tell me he wouldn’t.

‘Mind if I step in?’ Starlight said eagerly.

‘Sure. Should I step aside cause you’re coming out?’

‘No. I want to try something else instead. You focus on the positioning and watching his moves, I’ll take care of the sword. Deal?’

‘Deal. Let’s see how much he plays around this time.’

I took a deep breath, taking a moment to calm down, as well as to enjoy not having asthma in this world, then stared at Silver, watching the sword float nearby.

"Oh, what's this now?" Silver smirked, "Ready to stop trying to hit me and actually hit me now?" He rubbed his hooves together and grinned. "Let's see who boops who first then."

“I’m done playing with the blue pill.” I replied, motioning my sword in a ‘come at me’ motion twice.

Silver laughed before calling out more eagerly, "Let's see what you can do then!"

I watched as he dived toward me, arms held upright and reminding me of the rare boxing commercials I saw. I kept my eyes open as wide as allowed at first to watch everything around me, then narrowed them as my focus was on Silver’s movements.

I moved to the side, making sure he couldn’t use his dash forward as a part of a punch or jab and Starlight followed with the word, keeping it between us in the process. Then we started our assault.

We swung multiple times at him, being indiscriminate on whether it was a feint or a direct attack. A smile crossed my lips as I realized he wasn’t sure how we were going to attack. Using this to our advantage, I pulled the sword back, noticing it being much more responsive with Starlight handling the ‘power’ of it. Together, we started spinning the sword quickly, moving it into range when we were ready to make a swipe, only to have that swipe be a feint as well, using the spinning momentum to try and hit him from below.

Despite all our combined efforts, he blocked every attack we tried to make until that very last one, just barely managing to catch his vest. I smiled as I watched him retreat. Our partnering up was working really well.

Sensing a lull in our sparring session, we pulled the sword back, slowing it significantly as it danced around my body one more time before slowing down to hold it in front of me, like we had when we first started.

‘Nice job there Star.’

‘You too. I haven’t had this much fun in years!’

‘Took us a bit, but if we can do it once, we can do it again.’

‘I’m ready when you are. Let’s do this.’

“You know,” I smirked at Silver, realizing the progress we were making together against him, “I could see learning some proper swordplay when all’s said and done here. I’m only doing whatever comes to mind. It’s way better than swinging it with my arm.”

I hoped I didn’t sound too arrogant, but I felt good, really good. To get contact with him after his tapping my nose was a great feeling of equalization, and it was really hard not to laugh as Star’s confidence swelled and reached me.

"I can see the advantages," Silver smirked, “It's a whole different dance to fight against, that's for darn sure."

I nodded, flourishing the sword and having it make a sheathing motion to rest at her left side before giggling.

“So, you had enough, or you ready for another go?” Silver asked, still standing with his arms crossed.

“Well, I suppose we could keep going. I just felt like being fancy.” I laughed, narrowing my focus on Silver as I drew the sword, getting ready for the next round.

"Nothing wrong with that," Silver commented with a small head tilt, "You ready?"

“More than I was before. Let’s do this.”

‘You ready Star?’ I quickly asked.

‘Better believe it! I’m not ready to call it quits with just a few minutes!’

Together, we moved the sword out a few feet, holding it at a diagonal at Silver, trying to be prepared for a rush or another tactic again.
We watched as Silver hopped back and forth, almost imitating our impression of a boxer before he began his tornado move again, moving faster than before.

‘Hey Star, watch behind me, I have an idea and I need to know the moment he comes at me!’

‘You got it!’

My breathing shallowed as I felt all the winds angled at me. It was really difficult to focus on the motion. Silver was getting really hard to track and I could barely hold my sword in place without star’s help. I stood my ground, and braced myself for an attack from behind, knowing Silver was bound to notice my difficulties.

‘Dawn!’

I started shifting all of my weight to my front legs as I looked back and smiled at the now charging silver. Just as I hoped, he charged at my back. I know that what he neglected, was that we weren’t human anymore. I prepared to give him a sizable kick he’d have to avoid, and his momentum would have carried him either into it, or alongside me to where my sword was waiting.

I watched as Silver flung his wings out and put his hooves on the ground, barely stopping in time. As soon as I landed from my kick attempt, I started turning to face him while Starlight maneuvered the sword between us and started striking him wherever he saw fit.
‘Time to finish this. Let’s push him back!’ Star called out loudly in my ear.

We pulled the sword back, attempting to stab his left shoulder. Right on cue, silver deflected it, and we used the momentum to swing down at his leg, then his neck. Each time, he barely managed to get his arm guard in place, and then leapt back a few feet.

I knew something was different, and I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to figure out what it was, until he dove straight at me with his arms crossed. I frowned, not liking his need to dive headlong, but if that’s how he wanted it, that’s how he was going to get it.

I pointed my head down so my horn pointed more at him, the sword already moving into place. I knew Starlight wanted to use it as a shield against his dash, and he was going to need all the support he could get. Together, we pushed the sword against his gauntlets as soon as they made contact and gave it all we had.

‘It’s not working!’ I called out to Starlight.

‘Push harder! We got this!’

‘I’ll… try!’ I grunted back to him, starting to feel beads of sweat start to form on my brow.

I glared at Silver, hoping to intimidate him with our combined will as I redoubled my efforts to push him back. His progress to me faltered, then slowly pushed toward me once again.

‘I… will… not… lose!’ I thought to myself, clinging to that feeling.

I started to close my eyes, trusting that Starlight would notify me should anything about our circumstances change, and started pushing even harder. A pressure started to build, even greater in my horn than what I was feeling from Silver pushing so hard against my sword. I felt Silver start to be pushed back, very slightly and smiled.

Right as I felt him start to shift, presumably to gain better footing, I gave it one final push of everything I had from my horn, feeling all that combined effort and how it was channeled through the sword. Without warning, all of that energy shifted. Instead of feeling a pushing sensation, I was now being engulfed in a feeling I couldn’t describe. All of the magic was pouring out from my horn, like it was being drained entirely. It lasted only a second, and then it was gone.

I started to breathe heavily, feeling dizzy as the sensation passed and I heard a clattering sound of something falling to the ground. Quickly, I knelt down on the grass right as I started to feel light-headed. The last thing I wanted right now was to faint and fall down like that other time.

“I… I don’t feel so good.” I managed to say as I started to lay down, almost feeling nauseous as I start to open my eyes. I looked over to where I thought Silver had been, then looked around for him “Wait… What just happened?”

"Uhh..." Silver started to say, letting me locate him by sound and gave him what attention I could manage. “I can't really say. You, I don’t know, fired off a laser beam from your horn?"

“Wait… what?” I managed to ask, my panting getting lighter as I got my breath back, still feeling very confused. “I don’t know that spell… How’s that even possible?”

"You tell me!" Silver said with a nervous laugh, "You did it! Look."

I turned to where he was pointing, and saw the lawn, or what had been left of it. Burnt plants and scorched earth spread from where I was for a good fifteen feet. I laid there in stunned silence at the scene, then spotted the training sword I had been using, fractured into several pieces. A couple of the smaller pieces had dark wisps of smoke floating from them still.

“Oh god…” I gasp quietly in horror. I looked over to silver wide eyed, very glad I didn’t hurt Silver with this.

“Yeah, that was definitely not intended.” I heard Starlight say from somewhere behind me. Since it wasn’t in my ear, I knew he had taken the effort to appear, but I couldn’t find the energy to look back at him right now. “Sorry about that. I’m glad you got out of the way. I don’t think either of us will be up for any more fighting for a bit though… that drained both of us really good.”

"No worries. " Silver said with his usual smile, though I saw in his eyes he was still worried, "I think I'm good for now too.” He paused briefly before asking, "Are you two alright though?"

“I don’t know.” I replied, not sure what to make of this predicament. I still felt lightheaded, and particularly weak, almost as badly as when I had repaired the bracelet with Starlight a few days go.

“I think we’ll be all right. I can’t say I know how we did that exactly, but I know I at least feel like nearly all our magic’s been drained… again. If it’s like when we fixed the relic, it might take us a couple days to recover.” Starlight added. “I’ll have to ask my teacher if he knows what happened.”

“But, I don’t get it.” I said, turning to look at Starlight. “Magic isn’t tied to a muscle or to anything inside us that I’ve read about, so how can we run out or get tired like this?”

I tried to relax myself, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly. Whatever happened, it wouldn’t do for me to panic and make things worse.

"Is everything alright?" A voice asked rather abruptly from behind.

I turned to look for the familiar voice, only to see Celestia standing and appearing to be very concerned about what she saw before her. I swallowed hard, concerned that I may be in trouble for damaging her lawn, even if it wasn’t intentional.

After a couple seconds, when I realized Silver didn’t want to speak up, I knew I had to take responsibility for this outcome.

“I… don’t know?” I said, feeling myself hesitate. “We were practicing and then suddenly, well-” I faltered, looking back over to the grounds and hung my head a little bit, looking back over at Celestia apologetically.

She looked between each of us and the lawn with the most serious look I had seen her give in our time together, and then saw as she let out what sounded like a sigh of relief.

“So long as none of you are hurt.” She said, a smile starting to return to her face. “Would you care to explain what you were trying to do when this happened, Dawn?"

“Well,” I paused, thinking heavily about what it was we had done and what my intent was, “we were trying to practice our fighting, and I was using that sword to try to fend Silver off. He dashed at me, and I did what I could to keep him from touching me again.”

“What she means to say,” Starlight said impatiently, “is that we were fighting with Silver to help him practice, I tried to help her out mid-fight because I really didn’t want to be left out. She let me help her. Silver made a dash toward Dawn, we tried to push back with the sword as hard as we could, and then right when we put everything we had into it, Dawn had her eyes closed but we somehow shot a laser out of our horn….”

Near the end, Starlight started to sound halfway between concerned and self-doubting, and I wondered what was crossing his mind, only to hear him add, “I don’t really know what happened there.”

I felt a little annoyed at him for overriding my description, but I couldn’t help but appreciate it too. I had a hard time explaining what exactly happened, and if it helped her understand, then it was fine by me.

"I see," Celestia said thoughtfully. "and what did you see Silver?"

"Me?" Silver said surprised, "Well… Dawn was struggling to keep her guard up, then her horn started to glow brighter than usual. I didn’t know what to expect, but when the light all moved the time of her horn, I felt I should move. A second later, she fired off a laser and dropped."

"This is most interesting," Celestia said, nodding to herself, "And most impressive."

“Wait.” I said, brows narrowing in confusion. “How is that… what?!”

I ignored starlight’s quiet snicker from nearby, presumably directing it at my very eloquent expression of confusion and listened for her response.

"What you have done is a very advanced magical technique," Celestia explained with a smile, sitting down on the grass, "It is typically used as a powerful Unicorn’s last line of defense in dire circumstances. It is a technique that channels a vast portion of one’s magical energy into their horn and condenses it. Once condensed, it is then released in a beam of magical energy. Such a beam can be very dangerous, to both the user and whatever the user releases it towards. If channeled incorrectly, on can run the risk of severely injuring themselves. You are fortunate to have released your magic as you did and not panic and try to hold onto it."

“Wait, powerful unicorns?” I said, feeling the need to correct her, “That doesn’t sound like me.”

I’m sure I misheard her. I wasn’t able to keep up with silver during that fight without Starlight’s help for one. For another, I didn’t do that intentionally, it just happened. To try to say I was powerful because it happened once would be too premature. If I had managed it consistently, then I could believe her.

“Yeah, even combined we couldn’t push back Silver like we hoped.” Starlight nodded, affirming my thoughts.

Celestia continued to smile and appeared thoughtful for a moment "You are still new to your magic, Dawn," she began, "As such, you know very little about your true abilities. What power you may or may not come to possess is still unknown. You have no doubt felt the difference within from when you first arrived until now, yes?"

“Well,” I started to say, getting the feeling I knew where she was headed, “yes.”

"Your magic is still in its infancy," Celestia continued, "Typically, by the time a Unicorn reaches adulthood, its magic has already developed. Yours has not. You may still possess what we refer to as 'Foal Magic'. This is most likely due to the effect the Mirror of Worlds had on you. "

“What’s foal magic?” I had to ask, not having heard that term before, “What would that have to do with the mirror?”

"Foal magic is a term used to describe the magic infant Unicorns possess. During the first few years of their lives, a foal's magic runs wild, like their imaginations. Though they do not have the stamina to reliably perform magic, foals have been known to manage some of the most difficult spells that exist, completely by accident. These sorts of things are rare, but they do happen from time to time."

“I see.” I said quietly, seeing why she brought it up. “So it could also just be a fluke.”

I thought for a moment, trying to figure out how I could tell whether it was a fluke or not, seeing as her first reaction was power, not a form of ‘wild magic’. Very suddenly, my vision grew hazy for a split second and I took another breath and steadied myself, looking back to her as I realized something else prudent to ask.

“So why do I get tired when using magic? I didn’t read anything about a magical stamina of sorts…”

"It may very well have been just that, a fluke." Celestia said, "Only time will tell. Though I would not recommend attempting to learn that particular spell until your magic has matured. As for why you have not read anything about magical stamina, the answer to that is quite simple. Have you ever read in a book that you will get tired when you exercise?"

“I… well,” I hesitated, realizing what she was getting at. I couldn’t escape it, it was a given that you got tired when you exercised, so why wouldn’t everyone here know that about magic? “touché.”

I felt a shy happiness surface as Celestia giggled at my response.

"I would not concern yourself with needing to counter an attack of that sort at your Demonstration," I heard her say to Silver, "It is not a spell we use lightly."

I looked over to Silver, who let out a very loud sigh. Only then did I realize he was worried that it’d be something he’d have to face in his fights. Considering the damage we did to the lawn, I couldn’t blame him for getting worried.

“Well, I know I won’t be in any shape to use magic for the most part for the rest of the day… That was more draining than I know how to describe.” I said, slowly starting to stand up.

"You will no doubt feel tired for the next few days," Celestia said, standing up as well, "You should take care and rest until your strength has returned."

“Well darn. Guess that means no more swordplay for us for a bit huh?” Starlight smirked, “Out of curiosity, what had you around in time to see us use that magic? That was some pretty crazy timing you had there.”

Celestia smiled down at Starlight knowingly. "I wouldn't be a good Princess if I couldn’t tell when someone used a great deal of magic, now would I?" she said, pausing for effect, "But, if you really must know..." She nodded towards the palace, where a large balcony protruded. "A guard informed me when the two of you first began your sparring. I've been watching you the whole time."

I smiled in amusement at Celestia, who had laughed and was smiling at us both, only to hear silver groan in what I could imagine as disappointment that his fighting ideas could be leaked out to others.

"It has been a most enlightening display," Celestia said, glancing thoughtfully and Dawn, "And it has given me some deeper insight into your connection with Starlight.

“What do you mean?” I asked. I had thought we had already established the connection I had to Starlight. I felt his interest in the subject too as he laid by my side and looked up at her as well.

"I believe Silver would be better able to explain." Celestia said, glancing to Silver.

"What?" Silver stammered.

"Tell me Silver, did you not notice a change about Dawn as your fight progressed?"

"No..." Silver said unsurely, "Not really."

"Are you sure?" Celestia asked, "Think about it carefully. Did you see anything out of the ordinary at all?"

"Silver grew thoughtful for a moment, then his eyes jerked to Dawn as something came to his mind. "Yeah actually, there was something. Her horn changed."

"How so?" Celestia sked, thought it was clear by her expression she knew all of this already.

"Well..." Silver said, explaining as best he could despite his lack of knowledge on how magic worked, "The glow her horn gives off when she uses magic changed. It got darker. Like a deep green."

Celestia smiled knowingly. "That was due to Dawn and Starlight combining their individual magic's together as one and working together."

“Wait, you really could tell when we were working together?” Starlight asked surprised, sounding half hopeful. I was glad he spoke, since I had the same thought in my mind as well, even in spite of the magic color changing.

"Oh yes, it was quite apparent." Celestia stated.

I felt more than saw Starlight feel quite pleased with himself, settling in on the grass for some reason while I stood at his side, feeling slightly confused why he was so pleased.

"Tell me Silver," Celestia asked, "Did you notice anything else during your fight with Dawn. Anything that may have seemed out of character?"

Silver was quite for a moment before starting, “Well, she was getting a lot more confident as things went on?”

"Correct, and do you know why she became that way?"

"No." Silver replied, almost seeming to give a shrug with one of his shoulders.

Celestia turned to Starlight and myself, asking "Do either of you know?"

“I’m not sure.” I replied, looking over to Starlight. I had thought during the fight it was because we managed to nick Silver, but now, I wondered if she was implying something else regarding the two of us. “I’d rather hear it from you if you don’t mind rather than just guess in the dark.”

"As the two of you focused and worked together, you began to bond as one," Celestia explained, "The closer the two of you got, the more potent your magic became. This is why Silver noticed a change in your magic. But that is not the only change that took place. As your magics fell in line with each other, your personalities started to merge as well." she smiled at Dawn a moment, then continued, "Starlight’s pride and confidence swelled up inside you, pushing your fears and concerns from your mind, didn’t they Dawn?"

“Well… now that you mention it… yeah.”

"While this day was intended to aid Silver in his preparations, it seems to have aided you just as much," Celestia smiled, "Do not forget what you've learned today."

“I won’t… but I’m not sure I understand the significance.” I said, still feeling confused.

"You will," Celestia said, "In time."

Celestia turned to Silver and smiled. "I look forward to seeing you fight seriously, Silver Wing. I am expecting quite a show."

He laughed a little and shook his head. "So long as I don't have to deal with any more magic laser beams, I'll be sure to give you something you've never seen before."

Celestia gave a polite bow of her head to us and took to the sky, sailing back towards the balcony.

"So... At what point did helping me out turn into you two tag teaming me in a two versus one match up, hmm?” Silver asked as we stared after her flying away.

“I… now wait just a second!” I started to protest, “Last I could tell, you were the one asking us to be serious about it!”

He frowned heavily at me for a moment before suddenly bursting out laughing

"You're fine, you're fine," he said, making a gesture I didn’t recognize with his leg, "Though I will admit, it's nice to know I can hold my own against the magic of two Unicorns."

“Well that makes two of us.” I said, sitting back down as I took another couple deep breaths, once again feeling a little light headed, but trying to act casually about it. “I don’t want to face you again anytime soon.”

Silver chuckled, smiling. "Guess I won't get to boop you again for a while then, eh?"

I let out small sigh, shaking my head, though I couldn’t help but smile shyly at that memory.

"Well, guess I should help you get back to your room so you can rest," Silver said, standing up and stretching, "Would be rude of me to just leave you here.”

“I’ll be fine Silver.” I say, rising slowly to my hooves again with starlight joining me. I started to stretch like he had, only to wobble too far to the side and had to spread out my legs to catch my balance again. Only afterward did I see his hoof offered to help me stand up. “Really… I should be ok. I just need to rest.”

"And you can, just as soon as you're back in your room. You can barely stand, so stop being so stubborn and let me help."

“I can stand, and besides, I have Starlight here to…. Wait, where’d he-” I started to look around only to see he disappeared from my side.
‘Sorry, I’m exhausted and you didn’t have any more magic to spare to keep me going. I just need to rest for a minute.’

‘That’s fine… once I’m in bed, that should help us both.’

"I'ma guess he's as tired as you are," Silver continued, "So let me help, since of the three of us, I seem to be the only one that can stand straight."

“Fine… if you have to.” I replied begrudgingly. I started to walk along to my room, assuming he’d keep up along with me, trying to ignore the shaking feeling in my legs and hoping I was walking straight.

We arrived at my room, where I promptly walked in to lay down in bed.

‘Hey Dawn? I’d like to borrow a little bit more power to talk to Silver alone, any objections?’

‘I don’t care, as long as we don’t get more tired…’

“Thanks for the help Silver.” I say as I settle in. “If you’re not busy, Starlight wanted to talk to you about something… I need to sleep.”
Silver paused at the door and titled his head a little. "Uh, sure?" I said, "What about?”

I shrugged, already having closed my eyes and laid down, quickly starting to fall asleep.

Picking sides

View Online

I woke up slowly, barely registering the long shadows across the dim room. The furniture was barely visible as moonlight streamed through the window, but only just enough to help me see all the furniture.

‘Good evening sleepyhead.’ Starlight called in my ear faintly.

‘Evening?’ I asked, confusion setting in, ‘Why hasn’t Celestia made it sunrise yet?’

‘Because the princesses only just set the sun an hour ago. It’s the start of the night Dawn.’

‘Guess I was more tired than I thought.’ I replied as I stepped down off the bed sluggishly, taking some time to stretch my stiff limbs.

‘Don’t push yourself too hard. We probably haven’t gained much of any magic strength back.’

‘I won’t. It won’t kill me to not use magic after all. I’m just feeling a little hungry.’

Stepping out of my room, I headed down the hall toward the kitchen, hoping to assemble a small meal to tide me over until breakfast. Halfway there, a familiar voice called out from behind.

“Dawn? What are you doing at this hour?”

“Stalwart?” I turned around surprised. He stood a good ten paces or so away and seemed as surprised as I was. “Hey! I kinda wore myself out earlier today, and I was sneaking over to the kitchen to get a snack.”

“Ohhhh,” he patrolled on, continuing his walk until he posed in front of me, a mischievous smirk appearing on his face, “so you admit to intent to steal from the royal kitchen!”

“Now wait just a minute!” I protested, taking a step back. I looked between his eyes as I wondered if he was pulling my leg, or if I was actually in trouble.

“I hereby sentence you, as a royal guard pony, to walk with me for the rest of my shift for your crime! Now come, I’m going to be late to my next post if we don’t get moving!”

I laughed as I realized he was joking around, and I changed my path to match his and play along.

“So what were you up to that wore you out so much?” he asked as we rounded the corner and slowed down to a more leisurely stroll.

“Well, Silver wanted to get some more practice for his fighting, and so we met just outside the hedge maze and sparred a little bit.” I replied, feeling nervous once again. I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to mention Silver’s demonstration this week or not, and the results of that fight still made me cringe. “The problem was… in the middle of our fight I pushed a little too hard, and somehow accidentally shot a laser at Silver.”

“Wait, that was you?!” Stalwart exclaimed, his face showed his surprise readily.

“I… well… yeah.” I mumbled, feeling thoroughly embarrassed as my gaze drifted to the carpeting.

“Well, so much for the rumor about an invader trying to make an attack on the palace.” He started to chuckle and look ahead thoughtfully. “The groundsponies were not very happy about it.”

“Don’t go to hedge maze anytime soon, got it.” I nodded, giving him a smirk.

“You’re up to two strikes in one day.” He smirked. “I wonder how we’ll correct this clearly evil pony I’ve caught.”

“Clearly, you should show mercy on the poor soul, as she has so graciously cooperated so far. She might even be grateful.” I replied, holding back the desire to chuckle at just how strange this conversation had gotten.

“Oh really?” he replied with a mock sinister smirk, looking along my entire body suggestively before looking ahead again.

“Not with that face you’re making though. It’d almost be enough to make a girl feel uncomfortable!”

He laughed as we walked down the halls together, heading toward a flight of stairs.

“You know, I don’t think I’ve asked this of you yet.” I started to chime as I realized he was wearing his armor like the other guards, “Why did you join the guard?”

“Oh? So what made you think of asking now?” He asked intrigued.

“Well, I saw your armor, and I guess it only just sunk in that you really were part of the guard. I know that those that joined the military had a lot of different reasons, so I thought I’d just ask you rather than assume.”

“Not much to tell really.” He replied casually as we walked up the stairwell. “My father was a Captain of the Guard, just as his father was. I wanted to keep that going, make my family proud. Ever since the changeling invasion, we’ve been trying to stay in touch more than ever. It worries my parents if they don’t hear from me each week anymore.”

“I see,” I replied solemnly as I heard him give a deep sigh, “So family means a lot to you, huh?”

“Well yeah, doesn’t it for you too?”

“Not as much as I thought it would… but what can you do but move on right?”

He shook his head, letting out a small snort, “I still think it’s stupid, letting you freeze just for being a unicorn. I can’t imagine spending a Hearth’s Warming Eve without spending the night by a warm fire with them.”

I felt my heart shrink back a little at his reply and looked down at the floor. It seemed as if he didn’t quite understand what I was really separated for, but as I looked back to his face, I realized that maybe that detail didn’t matter. He understood the real problem wasn’t why I was separated, but that I was separated in the first place.

“Hey Stalwart?” I asked quietly, thinking about that concept for a minute, “What’s your family like? How would you celebrate… what was that again?”

“You haven’t heard of Hearth’s Warming Eve? That’s a surprise.” He shook his head. “Well, each year, we take some of our plants inside and decorate their pots, we place one present down for each pot, and then we each tell a story before we’re allowed to open the presents. Pretty simple, but it’s our tradition. You see, my little sister always had to make up a story…”

I listened as he started to recount all kinds of details about his past Hearth’s Warming Eves. It became very clear he valued strong ties with all of his family. His little sister being timid and enjoying her little pets she kept taking care of, often little birds. His mother who enjoyed knitting but was really good with numbers. His father he looked up to very much, trying to retell his old war stories, including doing impressions of his father’s impressions that simply left me laughing.

His stories were nice, and made wistful feelings float by, but a couple hours had passed and we paused in what looked like a smaller refreshments room. Small snacks were in bowls on a counter and a faucet with cups nearby for water. Stalwart walked up to the snack bowls and grabbed one with his hoof deftly, offering some to me.

“No thanks, I’m not hungry, I’m more tired than anything now.”

“Well, that’s why we have these around. You sure you don’t want any?” he asked concerned.

“I’m sure.” I said, holding back a yawn. My hoof still rose to in front of my mouth out of habit, then I saw Stalwart’s brow rise along with his little smirk. “I’ll just eat a big breakfast tomorrow.”

“Sounds like somepony needs to get back to bed.”

“But I thought I was sentenced to the rest of your patrol duty to walk with you.” I joked in reply.

“I’m lightening your sentence on the grounds of good behavior. But don’t let me catch you trying to steal anything from our larder again, missie.”

“Missie huh?” I laughed, turning to head out the door, looking back at him with a smirk, “I think I’ll focus on the key words ‘catch you’ for now. Though I’ll clearly have to make it so it’s only a certain somepony that catches me at all… hmm.”

I listened to his laughter as I walked back toward my room, ignoring my rumbling stomach as I enjoyed our verbal sparring. As much as I was hungry, I kept having far too much fun going back and forth like this to want it to stop, and now sleep was a higher priority.

As I walked into my room, I thought about all the things we talked about, realizing just how different everything was, even the holidays. It didn’t feel like it was a bad thing, and my thoughts drifted to what it’d be like to be a part of Stalwart’s family during those celebrations.

I smirked and shook my head as I realized I walked into my room on auto-pilot. My bed was calling my name and just as soon as I climbed into bed and laid down, I felt my body being shaken.

“Dawwwwwwn.” Stalwart’s voice echoed.

“Five more minutes…” I grumbled

“Daaaaaaawn.” His voice called out again, with another voice’s snickering tickling my ear soon after.

I groaned and rolled over away from him, only to feel water trickling onto my neck!

“What the-” I squirmed, starting to sit up sleepily. The room was quite bright and Stalwart was standing by my bed, one hoof on the mattress, a glass of water in the other. “Stalwart, what’s the big id-”

“You have been sleeping all night and most of the day.” Stalwart said sternly, turning his gaze to my other small light blue visitor to my room. “School let out and this colt said he had an urgent message for you.”

“I didn’t say it was urgent…” The little colt shuffled at his feet, a wyvern necklace dangling around his neck. I stared at it intently, getting the nagging feeling it was familiar. Then it hit me this was the little boy who loved hearing some of that music of mine back at school! My mind cleared almost instantly as I jumped down off the bed, giving him my near full attention with my usual smile.

“I’m sure it is, if you wanted to deliver your letter yourself! You can do it.” Stalwart replied encouragingly.

“I, uhm, I wanted you to have this…” He said, holding out a letter toward me.

“Thank you!” I said, getting down off the bed and accepting the letter with my hoof, only to feel it start to slide. Quickly, I used my magic to catch the letter.

“To Meadow Dawn, from Glint” I read out loud from the cover of the letter, written in colorful childish handwriting. I couldn’t help but give him a smile as I opened the letter carefully and continued to read “Our school is doing a play. Can you come? I have two tickets for you.”

I looked away from the letter and saw Glint shuffling his hooves on the ground. Inside the envelope, there were two tickets, one saying ‘Admittance to play: Meadow Dawn’ with the other saying ‘Admittance to play: Dawn’s special somepony.’

“I’d be happy to come, when is it?” I replied, failing to hold back a small smile on my face as I wondered just how much of a couple we really looked like to others, or if this was a case of him not thinking I'd only have friends.

“We’re starting after lunch this Thursday.” Glint said, his eyes appearing to shine excitedly as he started to move around the room. “Who are ya’ bringing?”

“Well,” I paused giving Stalwart a smirk and a nudge with my elbow, “if I can, I’d love to bring this stallion right here.”

“Oh! Is he your special somepony?” He asked, looking up at Stalwart with awe.

“It’s more complicated than that,’ I chuckled, looking over to Stalwart with a gentle smile, ‘but he’s good enough for the part!”

“Well this is… sudden.” He hesitated uncharacteristically. I looked at him puzzled, not feeling sure why he didn’t play along like we had last night. He soon gave a smile to Glint, “I’m not doing anything that day, so sure, I accept!”

“YAY!” Glint yelled loudly in our room, dancing and hopping in place spontaneously, “See you then!”

We barely got the chance to react before he dashed outside, before poking his head back in to wave goodbye then ran off again.

I burst out laughing at his antics, never imagining the shy child I had known him to be had grown so confident.

“So, I’m your special somepony?” Stalwart asked, “When exactly did that change from your wanting to take it slow?”

“Well, it hasn’t changed just yet,” I smiled, still thinking of the colt’s reaction. “But really, you’re the one I know best, Silver’s going to be too busy this week, and I don’t want to go alone. Besides, you’ve been a good friend so far, and I enjoy spending time with you. Why, having second thoughts?”

Stalwart chuckled, “Not at all. I dare say I might even enjoy this break from routine this week.”

“Oh? A break from patrolling the corridors and protecting it from would-be robbers and spies? Whatever made that happen!”

“I’m sorry, that’s classified information, for my special somepony only.” He smirked as he accepted his ticket, tucking it into his armor and started walking toward the door.

“Now wait a minute!” I called out to him, feeling surprised at his reaction, “You never mentioned something about having a special somepony before!”

He gave me a knowing wink before walking out of the room, leaving me to wonder if he was still playing along or if he was actually being serious.
------
In spite of trying to keep myself available for Silver to spar against, my magic didn’t quite recover until late Wednesday, and Silver didn’t reach me at all by Thursday. I couldn’t help but feel antsy and even a bit bored as Stalwart, despite saying he had a break from his routine, was nowhere to be found. It wasn’t until Thursday at lunch that I managed to spot him. I was eating my food when he brought his tray and set it down at my table.

“Hi stranger!” He called to me as he sat down, much as I often had.

“Stalwart! What in the world has had you so busy lately!”

“I can’t talk about it yet, but I’ve been busy all week so far. Today, I get to rest up! Good thing that play is set for today huh?”

“Yeah, it’s a good thing all right! I checked in with the school yesterday, looks like the play is happening about an hour from now!”

“Good, just enough time to eat and then be on our way isn’t it?”

I laughed and made idle chat about what things their play could be about before we made our way to the school.

Lemon bloom was one of the teachers in the halls, guiding the guests to the auditorium. I made sure to give her a smile and nod as we walked along to the seating area.

“You know,” I started to mention to Stalwart quietly as the murmur of the audience went on around us, “I used to hate performing in these plays.”

“Don’t worry, everypony does.” He laughed quietly, “But the parents love it.”

“True…” I said, started to think about parents. It occurred to me that my parents really did enjoy seeing us perform or sing along for those plays, but that led me to an obvious question, “You don’t suppose Glint’s parents are here do you?”

“Well, I’d like to think they are, but it’s possible they’re not. Orphans aren’t common in Equestria, but it looks like they only let two ponies in for each student…”

Stalwart’s voice grew quiet as the curtains were drawn to dim the room. I watched as they closed them by magic, only to draw open the stage curtains and show the play. Much to my surprise, Glint was up front, speaking out as the narrator for the story, before darting to the backstage and getting a costume on to join as a backup role.

I had to admit, I was thoroughly impressed, landing not just one but two roles in the play was something I would not have expected in this shy little pony. I smiled and watched on as they performed their rendition of what they thought happened after the founding of Equestria.

As they performed, I had to wonder about what Stalwart said, that maybe he really didn’t have parents right now, and that’s why he had a hard time fitting in at first and the teachers were concerned about him. It made me all the more impressed and happy with his performance in the play, and I found myself enjoying the simple dialogue they were putting so much effort toward. The smiles on their faces as they went along, even if it wasn’t what their characters should be doing was likely, made it seem more than worthwhile to me.

Glint seemed like he was enjoying himself immensely. It was clear that it was hard work, but he did well despite being the center of most pony’s attention. I felt quite proud of him and cheered the performers on with everyone when he was finished.

All too soon, the play ended, making me forget despite the occasional forgotten line that it was a child’s play and I clapped enthusiastically like the rest of the audience and they quickly went down off the stage to visit their audience as the socializing began.

Glint rushed up to me as soon as he was able, a grin evident on his face. I had to hold back laughter as I saw him still bursting with so much energy.

“Well done there little guy!” I replied almost as eagerly, giving him a hug before rubbing my hoof on his head like a noogie.

“Thanks!” he half-yelled eagerly. Glint reached up to his necklace and held it up, “This charm worked just like you said! I practiced and practiced and practiced, and it was scary, but I did it!”

“Yes you did! I’m very proud of you Glint.” I smiled.

“You did good colt.” Stalwart smirked.

“Noooo, I believe the word you’re looking for is ‘awesome!’ Now say it with me Stalwart,” I smiled mischievously, “You did awesome.”

“You did good.” Stalwart repeated, looking like he was struggling to hold back laughter.

“Don’t worry,” I nudged Glint, “I’ll get him to say it later.”

“Well don’t forget to drop by more often! I miss seein’ ya!” Glint replied.

“I know. You did really well up there, you just might make me need to come back just to see you act more.” I winked.

“Yeah, I had fun.” He said, starting to settle down. “I wish I could keep doing that more!”

I started to reply about how he could, when I was blinded by a light coming from Glint. I raised my limb reflexively and turned away until the light passed. Much to my surprise, Glint now had a cutie mark on his flank, showing an outline of a face on a curved box that I could only imagine was supposed to be a stage.

“Well would you look at that!” Stalwart said encouragingly to Glint, “Congratulations.”

Others started to crowd around him and admired the mark, congratulating him.

“Uhm, Stalwart, what’s going on?” I asked him quietly.

“What, you don’t know?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t ask…”

“Wait, you mean you-” Stalwart started to ask concerned before Glint came back to us, looking at me expectantly.

“So, are you coming?”

“Coming to what again? I must have missed it.” I asked, feeling a bit bashful I didn’t pay more attention to him when it was clearly a big deal to everyone else.

“My cuteseanera of course!”

“I uhm, sure! When is it?” I replied quickly. I couldn’t help but wonder what in the world I just heard, let alone what it meant.

“Well, I wanna have it tomorrow, but it’s probably gonna be over the weekend!”

“I don’t have any plans that I know of on the weekend, so yeah, I’ll come! Where do you want me to be and when?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll pick you up!” he said before showing off his mark innocently to the rest of his classmates.

I smirked and turned toward the exit, Stalwart coming with. As we headed toward the school’s front entrance and to the castle, I couldn’t help but wonder what I heard, or why it was so significant he got his mark if everyone got one.

“So Stalwart… you were about to ask something in the school?”

“Yeah.” He said, hesitating as we walked the streets of Canterlot. “You… don’t know what a cuteseanera is at all?”

“No… should I?” I asked, feeling a little nervous.

“Well, that’s… wow.” He replied, sounding stunned. “I knew you were sheltered, but… I thought everypony knew.”

“Well, I’d know if you told me.” I offered before smirking, “It’d be terribly rude of me if I’m supposed to bring presents or dress up and I don’t know to do that!”

“No, nothing like that!” He chuckled lightly as we started to continue our way up the hill. “It’s just that a cuteseanera is a big thing for a lot of families. It’s a celebration of somepony getting their cutie mark, and who they are. It only ever happens once in a pony’s life, may as well celebrate it, you know?”

“I guess.” I said quietly, thinking about the point in my life when I would have gotten mine. If it had to do with hope, and the moment I realized it was the core of my being, then it’d have to be one specific event. The parking lot and the discussion with the pastor as I confessed how hard it was to find work the last year, living out of my car. It was a strange night, but it brought me some solace to know that in spite of all my hardship, I could still hope for something better. He told me how I ‘ran on hope’ and that phrase struck a chord in me.

“So… when did you get yours that you didn’t get a cuteseanera of your own?” Stalwart asked gently as we resumed our walking.

“About a couple years back I think.”

“You think?”

“I wasn’t looking at the time, and I had bigger things on my mind.” I replied quietly.

“I can imagine. You haven’t exactly had it easy.”

“Yeah,” I replied, thinking about home, and how silver was adjusting as we walked into the palace grounds. Just then, I remembered silver’s demonstration again, and started to offer, “You going to be up to anything tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I-”

“Oi, Stalwart, good luck with tomorrow!” A voice called in our direction.

“Thanks! You all comin’?” He called out. I followed his gaze to spot his friends once more, Stang and Sable and the rest, wondering what he was referring to.

“Wouldn’t miss it! Show him what earth ponies are made of! Gonna sit with us tomorrow Ms. Dawn? We’ll save a seat for you just in case!”

I looked at them quizzically and Stalwart laughed as they went on their way. He eventually turned to see why I wasn’t answering.

“What, you didn’t hear? Silver’s going to be showing off his karate tomorrow to some of the guard. I’m one of the ponies they picked to show what we’re made of.”

I stopped and stood still, caught by surprise. The pony I was starting to get to know, really enjoying and thinking of him as becoming a close friend, about to fight off the only other human I know in Equestria. On the one hoof, I wanted to cheer on Silver, but as I looked at Stalwart I started really thinking. I had no clue who it was I should be cheering for, and as I looked at his face, I started to worry about him getting hurt. I knew nothing of his abilities, and it pained me to think he’d get hurt, considering the sample I got from Silver earlier that week.

“Hey, you ok?” his voice rang through my mind, shaking me from my fears, “What’s wrong?”

“Well, I-” I hesitated, not wanting to give away my concern quite so readily, “I’m a bit surprised, that’s all!”

“You and me both! I’d been practicing like mad all this week. That play was a good idea for a break before the big day. Thanks for inviting me Dawn.” He said, reaching a hoof up to ruffle my head much like I had ruffled Glint’s.

“H-hey!” I tried to protest, moving my head from his hoof after a second and shaking it with a broad grin on my face. “I’m not a kid you know.”

“You say that but we both know you liked it.” He winked, starting to turn around and walk off down the barracks hall, “I’ll pick you up an hour before the match Dawn! Later!”

I wanted to call back to him, but my throat constricted and all I could do was noiselessly chuckle and turned to go to my room. My stomach rumbled, and I suddenly realized I stood a decent chance at getting a late dinner.

I barely registered what it was I ate or how long it was before I found myself back in my room. My mind had been consumed by thinking about the demonstration and the fears it spawned for both Stalwart and Silver. I tried not to worry, I kept telling myself about how Silver had his law enforcement training to go on, and Stalwart had been in the military for some time. Surely they were prepared and could take a blow or two.

Despite my worries, I slept peacefully that night, until the door knocked abruptly. Suddenly alert, I sat upright and looked toward it and tried not to panic.

“Morning Dawn!” Stalwart’s voice came before the door started to open and he came inside. “Oh hey, you’re actually awake!”

“Yeah,” I said quietly, realizing my heart tried to jump out of my chest for no reason, “I was a bit surprised there.”

“Sorry about that.” He apologized, looking at me with a look of concern. “You all right?”

“As all right as I can be. Worried about you both, but not much I can do about it. You ready?”

“Absolutely, mind joining me for breakfast until we have to go?”

“Sure, why not?” I nodded, the familiar clop of hoof on stone echoing in the room as I started to trot over to the door where he stood.

“You said you were worried, what about?” Stalwart asked as we headed over to the kitchens.

“Well,” I took a breath and tried to shrug. “I just don’t want to see you hurt, you know? It’s one thing to have a sparring match where you try to learn from each other, but-”

“But you don’t want us to go all out.” He said, opening the door for me. “I understand. Still, I don’t think you have too much to worry about. Medical ponies have been preparing for this all week, and I was a little surprised that Luna picked me for the Earth Guard.”

“Oh? Are you not one of the best available?” I asked as I gathered our food onto the trays with my magic and then did my best to carry both our trays with magic over to the nearest available table.

“Careful! You aren’t-” Stalwart’s voice echoed behind me as he suddenly grew quiet. I barely managed to set the one tray down, but I lost my grip on the other as soon as I tried to set the one down. I cringed, expecting a crash or clatter, but there was none.

“That… wash too closhe.” Stalwart said through gritted teeth.

I turned to face him and he had his head barely below my chest, gripping his tray in his teeth like he usually does, and he deftly maneuvered it to his spot nearby.

“Sorry… and thanks.”

“Just, try not to overestimate yourself too often ok?” He smirked, starting to eat very deliberately and slowly.

“So, why would you be picked then?” I prompted, noticing my hunger, and let myself wolf down what I enjoyed most.

“Well, Luna told me about the demonstration idea she had because of her dinner with you two, and she said since we knew each other, and I was above average but not among the best yet, I should be representing the earth pony guard.”

“Wait, she picked you because of your proximity to me?” I asked surprised and a bit concerned. It felt strange to allow for someone to be picked just because of their relationship. I tried to think back, and couldn’t remember whether Luna told us if she wanted to pick the best, or only some better examples that the guard had to offer.

“No, not quite. She said it was close between me and a rival of mine, but I edged out because I knew you, and she knew you would enjoy watching us both.”

I turned my attention to my food, but for the life of me I couldn’t get an appetite. I tried to keep eating because I knew I needed to, but the rest of my food started to taste less and less appealing.

“Don’t worry. We’re gonna be fine Dawn.” He said comfortingly, pulling my eyes back from my food to him. “Silver wouldn’t have been picked for this if he couldn’t take a few blows, and neither would I. Have a little trust, eh?”

I gave him a smile, trying to trust him. He was right after all. I played at swordfighting, knowing full well that I would run the risk of being hit in the head, damaging my glasses or a variety of other things. Putting things in that perspective made me take a breath and finally relax. What would happen would happen, and no amount of worrying would prevent it.

“There you go, that’s the Dawn I know.” He smiled appreciatively, “So then, think you’ll sit over by my friends today, or would you rather sit over by Sky Flare and her family?”

“Sky Flare? Who’s that?” I asked, wondering why in the world I would sit with a stranger’s family.

“The pony Silver’s been training all this time. Remember?” Stalwart replied with a raised brow.

“Oh, right.” I replied, half closing my eyes and smiling back at him. I hated when people asked me if I remembered things and I didn’t. It happened often and was yet another thing I neglected to memorize. “I think I’ll sit over by your end, if that’s all right.”

“That’s more than all right by my book!” He said with a broad smile. “Come on, we’re going to be late at this rate.”

I chuckled and followed him toward the appointed room. I didn’t know where we were headed, but I trusted Stalwart to guide me through the palace either way. It didn’t take long to notice a couple other guard ponies walking nearby, quickly passing them, chattering about the upcoming fight.

Butterflies started to sneak their way into the pit of my stomach as I wondered once again about the fight ahead. I found myself moving close to Stalwart to keep him in my line of vision more easily so I could focus on my anticipations of what could happen in the match, and hoped once again no one would be seriously injured.

I heard a chuckle nearby and the brush of Stalwart’s fur against my own, and I didn’t shy away from it. I was starting to really feel out of my element. I preferred smaller groups where each person can be noticed, not being part of a throng of masses. The hallways started to become more crowded with ponies chatting about the upcoming performance as we got closer to our destination.

I finally looked up and noticed nearly all of the ponies turning left at a pair of guards standing at the junction. Stalwart nudged my side and pointed toward the squad of friends, who were chatting among themselves.

“Hey, look, there they are. I got to get to the fighter’s area here or they’ll pull in my replacement. Have fun while you’re here, ok?”

“I’ll try. Stay safe, would you?” I asked him quietly as I tried to suppress my nerves, then nervously reached up to give him a kiss on the cheek. “For luck.”

He blushed briefly, but carried a broad smile and started to turn away as a slightly familiar voice came up to my side.

“Just friends eh? Wish I had friends who did that for me when I go out to fight.”

“You would if you didn’t keep chasing them away with your singing.”

I turned to these voices and saw Sable and Boer, and couldn’t help but smile at the familiarity of their taunts, not to mention Boer’s grounded nature. It would be a relief to at least be with those that Stalwart trusted and I had met before.

“Oh hey, ‘sup Guys?” I replied casually, attempting to ignore the jibes they threw amongst each other. If they did that with everyone, it only made sense not to take it seriously.

“Nothing, just watching Stalwart finally getting somepony of his own.” Sable winked.

“They said they were just friends as I recall,” Stang shook his neck, smirking at me, “which means there’s a chance she could enjoy a more direct stallion instead.”

I laughed, feeling almost at home already. It still embarrassed me slightly to be the center of attention once again, but it would be wrong of me to blame them or be embarrassed. I did choose to kiss stalwart for luck in view of his friends, though in hindsight, I wondered what in the world I was thinking.

“Listed friends and family of the competitors, please come to the front of the group, we are about to open the doors!” Someone called out loudly enough to be heard.

“That’s our cue!” Sable said excitedly. “How far do you think Silver’s gonna make it Petiso? Maybe making it past the one on ones?”

“I’m not sure.” Petiso replied simply.

“I doubt he stands a chance against Stalwart. Even if he could, I doubt he’d win when that stuck up little colt of a unicorn comes along.” Boer chuckled deeply, making my own chest rumble by our proximity.

“What about you Altai?” Sable pressed, clearly eager even in his posture to hear her opinion.

“I lack sufficient information.” She said quietly, in her matter-of-fact tone.

I chuckled. It felt good to have a happy group around, if nothing else because their easy-going nature was contagious. I looked around to see what other ponies are going to get in first, only to spot Breezy and Lemon Bloom! I started to head to them to say hi, when I noticed the reddish orange Pegasus with a red mane and tail glaring at us.

"Don't bet on that! There's no way Silver's going to lose to an Earth Pony, or even one of your Unicorn pals." She yelled out.

I looked at her startled. Yet when I watched, she quickly turned her head back to the door and flicked her tail, proceeding to ignore our group.

“We’ll see about that Sky Flare.” Sable chuckled quietly.

“Don’t worry Dawn, Stalwart’ll give Silver a good run for her bits, that’s for sure.” Stang added

“What’dya mean?” I asked before a loud voice started to bellow.

“Spectators may now find their way to their seats! The tournament will begin shortly!”

With that, he opened the doors and stepped inside. Everyone started to flow in to the sizable room. As we walked, the coolness of the unpacked sand felt wonderful under my hooves and I stared in open amazement at how such a large room could be contained in the castle. We crossed over to the section of the stands behind Stalwart and the two ponies with him, climbing the tiered layers of stone to get to the nearby seats.

Stalwart’s friends rushed to claim some of those seats, but the pegasus’ friends seemed to get there first, crowding a great deal of the space. Sable quickly reserved most of the seats to their side, presumably so that he could come visit them on his down time.

I quickly trotted to join him, wanting a front row seat for the same reason. Stalwart watched for me the whole time I approached, and gave a smile. I smiled broadly back, trying to show him that I trusted what he said earlier, and even starting to believe it. This event seemed to have the promise of good entertainment if I was willing to stop worrying!

“Awww, would you look at those two.” Sable’s voice said loudly enough for Stalwart and myself to hear.

I laughed, trying to take it in stride, but the embarrassment of the tease started to overwhelm my attempts to suppress. I closed my eyes and shook my head, grooves cool stone tickling my hoof as I shuffled my hooves idly to give myself some kind of distraction.

“Aye, she’s smitten alright.” Boer said, his voice seeming to rumble through my spine at this rate.

‘Told ya.’ Starlight’s voice chimed in.

‘Not you too!’ I mentally called back, then I perked my head up and tried to focus on his voice, tilting my head slightly like I used to with my phone back home. ‘Where’ve you been!’

‘Still recovering. I take longer than you since I don’t have a body, and I rely on your own recovery.’ He replied simply, ‘I also know that sometimes, you just want to be alone, and I want to respect that… though I hope you don’t mind me dropping by when others do unless you ask for me.’

‘I really appreciate that, thank you. I’m glad you’re recovering.’ I replied, turning my attention now to the empty arena, Silver appearing to converse with that pony who called us out for doubting him.

Now that Starlight was back, it was more apparent he was very excited at the prospects of this event. His excitement had been bleeding over to me, and I couldn’t help but wonder if I would have been feeling differently if we were separate. Even so, I was glad to have him nearby. I hadn’t realized it until he made his presence known, but I was worried about him.

My attention shifted quickly as I noticed all four of the combatants heading into the middle and the crowd seemed to grow quieter as the four of them met. The anticipation was acting like a rubber band across my chest as I tried to keep calm for when it would continue.

‘This is going to be great!’ Starlight said before cheering with the rest, not caring if he was heard or not.

"Fillies and Gentlecolts," Luna called, almost making my heart jump out of my chest at its sudden volume despite the lack of a microphone, "We will now begin the tournament! It will consist of seven rounds! To begin, we will witness a series of three one on one bouts! Should Silver Wing come out victorious, he will then face two opponents at once in three more bouts! If he has still not fallen by then, he will face all three of his opponents at once!"

“Yeah, you get em Stalwart!” Sable yelled next to me while the crowd roared.

“Show em what an Earth Pony can do!” Boer yelled out, more animated than I would have imagined him ever being, causing my ears to go flat against my head to protect my sense of hearing.

‘Come on Silver, show em what a human can do!’ Starlight yelled in response.

All of the contestants walked back to their respective areas, Stalwart walking straight toward me. I smiled gently, some worry coming back, but some confidence in him starting to come through, albeit with Starlight’s help because of his trust of Stalwart.

Stalwart winked and smiled back as the announcement from Luna rang again.

"Round one will be between Silver Wing and Stalwart Shield!"

“Well, here I go guys.” Stalwart said as the crowd cut him off.

Encouragement rang out from all sides, nearly deafening me as I watched him head out to the middle of the ring where Silver stood. I watched, somewhat amazed at the dexterity needed as they both stood up on their hind legs. Silver made an impressive sight, wings flared out behind him and Stalwart facing him with his slightly bigger frame. I was tempted to play some fighting music from one of my games, but it was difficult to think of one in the middle of all of the ruckus.

“Begin!” Luna’s voice rang through the stadium, and then there was silence.

My heart started to pound in my chest as the two of them seemed to stay still, and then watched a sudden series of movements from both of them. Stalwart gave a yell and approached Silver, only to have silver do something, and Stalwart moved in response.

I’d be lying if I said I really understood what was going on, but neither of them seemed to be hurting each other, even with one point where Silver seemed to stagger backward and his wings flared out more than they already were! I started to feel myself pick up on the excitement of those around me, some of the calling and cheering picking back up again.

I gasped when I saw Silver elbow Stalwart in the back of the head, staggering him to his knees. I looked over to Stalwart’s friends, worried for him, but then they started cheering again! I looked back only to see Stalwart still fighting, going at it with a lot more energy than I would have expected. Worry started to seep back in as I wondered if they were going to seriously injure each other at this rate.

I watched as Silver slid backward along the sand, dashed at Stalwart, who dropped down onto all fours and Silver suddenly stopped his onslaught.

"Round one goes to Silver Wing!" Luna’s voice came across the room.

The crowd yelled out and the seats themselves rumbled as I watched everyone around me stomp their front legs into the ground. It was almost unsettling how the seats rumbled and I tried to ignore the unsettling feeling of a minor earthquake as I watched Stalwart slowly trot back to us.

‘Yeah! Go Silver! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!’ Starlight half yelled in my head. I winced in response, wondering if there was ever a point I was that vocal.

‘How can you even see anything if you’re not here anyway!’

‘Really? You pick now to ask? I use your horn and your senses as I always had.’ He replied annoyed.

"There will be a five-minute break before the next match!" Luna called, "Medical ponies, please see that Stalwart Shield is able to continue in the next set!"

I wanted to ask Starlight more, but he was right, this wasn’t the best time or place. I kept my eyes locked on Stalwart, looking him over to see if he was noticeably injured, but I didn’t see anything, even a bruise.

‘He’s fine Dawn, you’ve got a tough boyfriend there.’ Starlight teased.

‘Come on, he’s not my boyfriend!’

‘Yet.’ Starlight added before Stalwart got within talking distance

“I guess I shouldn’t have tried to take him on his own terms huh?” Stalwart asked, a smirk apparent on his face.

“Always next time.” Stang chimed just before the medical ponies tried to tend to Stalwart.

“I’m fine, really.” He said sitting down and taking the glass of water offered from the light blue nurses.

“If you say so, doesn’t seem like anything’s broken.” The male nurse said as he poked at the place Silver last hit.

“Believe me, I’ll tell you if anything is.” Stalwart said, waving them off. The male took the glass and walked off to refill it. The other nurse looked at Stalwart for a little while longer then followed suit.

“Gonna go with the shield yet?” Boer asked.

“Aye, I may have to. He’s good.” Stalwart nodded, turning to look back at me and giving a smile before turning to the center ring

‘Of course he’s good. We’ve been fighting for millennia, you think we wouldn’t be good at fighting?’ Starlight protested with a proud voice.

‘I’m not sure that’s a bragging point Star.’

‘It is what it is,’ He replied, a shrug apparent in his tone, ‘it’s not like we’re the ones doing the fighting right now anyway. Recognize your heritage and move on. After all, mom’s parents are from Italy and Germany, doesn’t mean that we’re-‘

“Round two will be between Silver Wing and Skyros!" Luna called, causing a cheer from the pegasi in the room and a break in our discussion while the dark Pegasus flapped his wings once and appeared to glide over to the middle of the ring.

I shook my head in disbelief and took a second look at him, just now noticing a proper sword was in his mouth. It wasn’t wooden like I had practiced with Silver before, being metal instead. It didn’t reflect light well, so I could only imagine it was not sharp, but I looked between it and Silver and had to wonder how in the world he expected to get out of it unscathed.

I missed the signal to start the fight as the Pegasus dashed straight at Silver and he seemed to slide in response, avoiding the blow. I strained to watch in the far end of the arena, only to see him up on the ceiling!

In almost no time at all, they both were moving quickly at each other to the point I couldn’t follow. Suddenly there was a crash and a spray of sand that happened on the right side of the arena, and after a few seconds, I saw the dark Pegasus on the ground, silver still floating in the air with an occasional flap of his wings.

The stunned silence was deafening until almost all at once the crowd roared its approval, clearly impressed with the performance. I couldn’t hear anything being said at all until finally, with much relief for my poor ears, the sound abated.

“Round two also goes to Silver Wing! We will take another five minute reprieve at this time!"

“Ouch,” Stalwart said, wincing, “Silver’s karate even works in the air. Doesn’t look good.”

“You’ll get em next time Stalwart!” Stang chimed in.

“Don’t give up before the fight is half over Shield.” Boer added.

“I calculate your odds of success at the next round at approximately 11 percent.” Altai added cooly.

“Oh come on Altai, your calculations rarely work for this kind of thing!” Sable protested.

Stalwart and I started to chuckle as they bickered about what chances he had against Silver depending on the partner he had.

“What do you think Dawn, how well do you think I’ll fare?” He asked, giving me his near full attention.

“Well, I think-” I started to answer, when we were interrupted by the next announcement.

"Round three will be between Silver Wing and Malican! Let us see how well magic competes with such an unusual fighting style!" She announced,

“You think what?” Stalwart asked as he watched the white unicorn with red hair stride to the middle casually.

“Well,” I paused, thinking about it. I didn’t know how he fought, but I knew he wouldn’t be able to handle everyone, “I think you could definitely win with all three of you, but if it was just you and somepony else…”

“Don’t think I could win against him even with help?” He asked, a mischevious twinkle in his eye.

“Well, no, that’s not,” I paused, flustered and looking around bashfully, “I think you could get it done if you were able to keep him on the ground… maybe with the pegasus’ help?”

Stalwart looked back thoughtfully, “That’s not a bad idea…”

“Begin!” Luna’s voice rang out, causing us to remember the match was still going on.

I stared as suddenly the sword floated darkly just above his head and pointed straight at Silver. It looked menacing, to see it snap in place and hang there, ready to strike.

“H-he’s not planning to stab Silver is he?!” I asked Stalwart quickly

Stalwart stayed quiet, his eyes focused on the match as I tried my hardest not to get out of my seat.

‘To be fair, almost anything could be a lance if-’ Starlight started to speak before the sudden movement caught our attention.

Silver had leapt back, only barely missing the sword, which had stopped at where he was.

“He’s… playing with Silver?” I asked concerned.

“I’m not surprised.” Stalwart replied with narrowed eyes. “Malican has a reputation for beating anypony other than another unicorns quickly, and even then-”

We both paused as the dance really began. Silver sidestepped another stab and started to bring his limbs up to block swing after swing. No matter what happened, the sword moved around his limbs to hover just short of hitting him.

“Why isn’t the match over? Mal has shown he would have hit Silver a couple times already…” I asked.

“Because Malican is a showoff, and enjoys showing his superiority at every chance he gets. I don’t know how he’s even lasted in the guard with that attitude.” Stalwart said simply, continuing to watch as the crowd cheered Silver on, then sat up in surprise.

I looked over to the two of them, only to see Silver had gotten the handle in his mouth and had it clamped down hard, his stance getting lower and lower to the ground, resisting being dragged back toward his opponent

‘Yeah Silver! That’s what we’re talkin' about!’ Starlight echoed as similar cheers came from all Stalwart’s friends other than Altai, who remained quiet.

‘What happened! What’d I miss?’

‘Silver bit down on the handle and won’t let go, and Malican isn’t doing anything about it other than try to yank it back!’

“And that,” Stalwart added with uncanny timing, “is why he hasn’t advanced. One of his weaknesses is that he does not move or do anything with his body, just his magic. That in addition to not listening to his superiors more than he has to.”

“Why not?”

Stalwart shrugged, but the mood seemed to sour and I watched the fight once again. Silver suddenly let go of the sword and dashed right after it as it slung itself toward Malican. Silver flew quickly enough that as his foe finally managed to stop the sword, his knee hit Malican’s head, and they both toppled into the sand.

Much of the audience groaned at the impact as we watched, silence starting to creep over it until Silver could be seen springing upright and appearing ready for more.

"And round three goes to Silver Wing!" Luna called while the crowd roared its response, the stands rumbling once more beneath my hooves, "There will be a ten minute break before the next match is to begin!"

“Well,” Stalwart stood up and stretched, “That’s more than enough rest for me. Shame Silver has to go through so much with less time, but who’s to argue with a princess?”

I watched him as he picked up his shield and put it onto his armor. I tried to look again, but I couldn’t see how it was held in place. He then picked up a mace and put it on the other side of his armor, and turned in my direction.

“Here’s to hoping that luck will kick in about now.” He winked.

“Yeah… good luck.” I said, looking over to Silver.

The poor guy was fighting three opponents in six battles, and seemed to be doing fine, but in just a small span of time, he had rubbed his face numerous times. I couldn’t help but wonder if he would be all right, and then there was Stalwart. Looking at him, I didn’t want to see him hurt either. He had his armor on all this time, just like every other day. Even so, I couldn’t help but let my worry creep in as Starlight’s excitement pounded through me.

“50 bits on Stalwart stopping Silver here and now.” Sable said to Stang.

“Hey, that was my bet!”

I laughed and turned to face them, glad to hear some silliness and wanting to be distracted by it. Altai was shooting them a cool smirk, as if she thought differently but new better, while Petiso was rubbing his chin, as if still deciding.

It seemed like we had only just started the break, and yet Luna’s voice boomed out once more.

"Round four will pit Silver Wing against the combined abilities of Stalwart Shield and Skyros!" she called out, “Now we shall witness how well Silver Wing fares against two opponents at once!"

“Good luck Stalwart. Try not to get too hurt out there.” I called to him. He winked back and strode to the middle of the arena without another glance.

“See? Dawn thinks our boy’s gonna lose!” Sable chuckled. “Maybe she isn’t interested in him after all?”

“I didn’t say that!” I protested quickly.

“No, no Sable, you have it backwards!” Stang replied as if to soothe things over, “She doesn’t want to see him hurt, right?” I nodded in reply and he smirked, “She doesn’t want him hurt because she does like him.”

‘Yep, he’s spot on!’ Starlight smirked, ‘better watch him, he’s a real ladies man right there.’

I couldn’t manage much more than a blush between them all as I turned my attention to the arena, despite their snickering. Skyros and Stalwart both ready, Stalwart with a mace in his mouth, Skyros the Pegasus with a short spear against his chest

"Round four may now begin!"

Skyros seemed to dash straight at Silver once again, just like before. Silver flew up, immediately leaving Stalwart behind as Skyros went to follow.

“Stupid.” Petiso grunted, “He made this just like the one on one he had earlier leaving Stalwart on the ground. Should have stayed low enough where Shield could be of help!”

“Why didn’t he?” I asked quickly as they continued their aerial battle, Silver dodging a stab and getting kicked instead.

“Probably used to working with other pegasi. Took for granted Stalwart could-” He hesitated as he watched the battle.

I barely turned my head in time to see the dash by Skyros met with a sudden grab by silver and they started to plummet. I watched in horror as they fell to the ground, only just starting to flap their wings too late and they both hit with a thud.

The crowd seemed to wince and I looked on, worried about what happened to them both. Soon, Skyros stood up, hesitated, and then started to head back to his corner. Silver himself standing up and wincing as he stood up to take on Stalwart.

"And with that, Skyros is out of the match. Now it is down to Silver Wing and Stalwart Shield!"

Silver flew slowly toward Stalwart up to a small distance away and rose up once more onto his hind legs.

Stalwart, weapon at the ready, had been watching as they started to topple and without any further pretense after the announcement, he dashed at Silver. He swung and missed, while Silver counterattacked, seeming to push Stalwart upward and almost immediately lost his grip on his mace, with Silver tossing Stalwart onto his back several feet behind.

I groaned on the inside as Stalwart yelped at the blows, not wanting to hear him in pain like that. Silver dashed toward the mace and tossed it behind him as he readied himself for the next phase of the battle.

Stalwart got up quickly, only to charge right at Silver.

‘Stalwart you fool, no!’ I thought loudly.

‘Your boyfriend’s pretty clever, watch.’ Starlight replied.

Stalwart had charged Silver and just ike before, Silver tossed him and Stalwart rolled into the toss and ran after his weapon.

‘See? Don’t worry… Though Silver’s gonna win.’ he continued with an audible smirk.

Silver whipped his wings into action and dashed after him, flipping around into a movie style kick. Stalwart saw the attack coming and pushed himself at Silver, using his own built body to counter it. Silver’s kick backfired into making him land in the sand once again, while Stalwart appeared unaffected, picking up his mace and facing Silver once again.

Despite the odds that Silver was facing, I was definitely hoping for Stalwart to pull through. He made some headway and Silver’s tactics weren’t working as well any longer. The crowd had gone wild at the stunts pulled, but seemed to quiet down tremendously, some small odd cheers making its way as the gab slowly closed to a few steps away and stopped.

They stared at each other for a minute, seeming to weigh each other’s defenses and catching their breath for the next phase.

Suddenly, Stalwart rose to his back legs and started to kick his front legs at Silver, jabbing several times as Silver continued to dance in front of him. What happened next was once again too fast for me to follow until Silver somehow had Stalwart in a stranglehold, and then started to use his wings to try lifting him into the air.

I gasped and looked at Stalwart extremely concerned. I didn’t think Silver would actually try to choke someone! His opponent wasn’t a human, he had no way of knowing how much they could tolerate before risking real damage or death!

I tried my hardest not to panic, knowing there were several medical experts nearby, but my distress only heightened as he dropped his mace and Silver lifted Stalwart up as he thrashed, and after continuing a moment longer, dropped the now limp Stalwart to the ground.

"An impressive display," Luna called as the medical staff rushed toward Stalwart, "And round four goes to Silver Wing. We will take a ten minute break before the next match."

I looked at him intently, watching them check on his limp form and charging their horns every now and then until he finally was splashed with a glass of water and woke up groaning. It wasn’t much longer before he shook himself free of sand and walked over to our corner slowly.

“Guess I got my shield handed to me, huh guys?” He said sheepishly, starting to already go back to normal.

“Stalwart Shield… You…” I started to say, only to bite my words and slumped back onto my seat, not even realizing when I had left it.

“She was itching to run and help our boy.” Stang said behind me, his voice smirking.

“Barely could keep in her seat, almost leapt into the arena when you were lifted.” Sable laughed.

“Oh really?” He asked, looking at me with concern of his own.

I couldn’t meet his gaze, and looked down at the ground, feeling embarrassed enough to heat the room up several degrees. I didn’t even need Starlight to chime in either, I could sense his own feelings on the matter almost instinctively, where he too thought that I was that involved, and always had been. His excitement at watching the next match was almost comforting, and I focused on that feeling, drawing from it so I could hide from that embarrassment a little longer.

“Dawn,” Stalwart’s voice called, “I’m fine, it’s ok.”

I looked up to him and smiled sadly, still not happy about his close call. Even as the next match started, I tuned it out, not wanting to see how it would unfold. I stared at Stalwart, repeatedly looking him over to make sure that he really wasn’t hurt. The stress hit me far harder than I realized, and I did not want to see him push himself any further than he had to.

My numbness to everything else seemed to speed up time as I watched him carefully, and it had only seemed like minutes before I heard the next announcement.

“…face Stalwart Shield and Malican!”

“Wait, what?” I jumped, surprised. Stalwart already started to get up and strapped a short spear to his side before striding out to the center of the ring.

My heart sank as I watched them get ready, and barely even registered that Malican lifted four weapons into the air. I continued to watch Stalwart, trying to shake that numb feeling. No matter what happened, either Silver was going to somehow avoid being beaten by the vengeful unicorn, or if he made it through that, he and Stalwart were once again going to hurt each other more than they already had. I wanted it to stop, but I was powerless to stop it.

Stalwart rushed at Silver, unimpeded as Malican’s blades dashed along with him. Silver retreated quickly, and Stalwart and Malican both moved to chase. Stalwart tried to keep his distance, but his teammate did not.

“Malican, what are you doing!” Some of the unicorns in his corner tried to call out, much to the agreement of several nearby.

Malican continued to swing each weapon, but they were all sluggish and Stalwart hung back, unable to move in because of the frenzy that the unicorn swung at. They may have been easy to avoid, but he wouldn’t have any more desire to be hit by it than Silver.

Stalwart prepared himself as Malican tired himself out and practically allowed Silver to knock him out when he had no more magic left. Once again, Stalwart had a one on one with Silver. My heart wrenched as I shifted in my seat. Now their hurting each other was almost certain, I could only hope they held back.

Their movements were too fast for my worried mind to keep up, even as I watched it in front of me. Silver seemed to be hitting Stalwart repeatedly until he got one solid blow on his underside. They both seemed to falter, and then Stalwart fell first, quickly followed by Silver.

“This match is a draw, victory to Silver Wing for having the disadvantage!” Luna called out as I rose to my hooves. “Medical ponies, see to all of the contestants, we’re ending the match here. Well done indeed!”

There was an abrupt flash of green in front of me and I found myself on the sand of the arena floor. I looked ahead to Stalwart, surprised and glanced back to the stands several feet up. Sable stared openly as Altai rubbed her chin thoughtfully. I shook my head and looked back at Stalwart and Silver, worried about how they were doing, and unsteadily got to my hooves to rush toward them.

‘Did we really just…’ I asked Starlight quietly, knowing he knew what I meant as I slowed down to a walk as I approached the medical ponies.

‘Yeah. Didn’t you mean to?’

I shook my head no in reply, forgetting he wasn’t talking out loud already. A nurse raised a hoof and tried to block my way to him, so I stood in place to watch their progress.

'They really didn't hold back... did they Star?' I asked quietly.

'No... They really didn't. They're gonna be fine Dawn. There's several ponies here. See? Your boyfriend's getting up already.'

I ignored the jibe as I watched Stalwart shake his head groggily, struggling to his knees before staying down on the ground. The medical ponies were getting stretchers for both Silver and Stalwart. I walked toward Stalwart with the others, seeing Blue Breeze glide down toward Silver with that orange Pegasus.

"Hey. I got 'im in the end, eh?" He chuckled, wobbling slightly as he was placed on the stretcher. He winced as they hit a sore spot, and I shifted to the side, ready to walk with them once he was moving.

"You silly, stupid stallion." I barely managed to chuckle, stepping forward to stay close, looking over to Silver. He wasn’t moving, and was also being put on a stretcher, accompanied by the other three. “Come on, let’s get you some rest this time.”

He nodded and passed out on the stretcher as they lifted it off the ground, and we all walked toward the infirmary and waited outside as they started their work.

The Demonstration Aftermath

View Online

It wasn’t long before the nurse stepped out of the room, motioning for guests to enter. Sable was the first to enter, followed by Stang. My limbs carried me into the front door to see a single cot in a small sized room, reminding me of a hospital room. It was lacking a television or a remote, but it had a book and a lamp nearby. The rest followed behind.

Stalwart’s movement caught my eye’s attention as I noticed him shift on the bed, head raised and looking with a weary smile in our direction. My heart started to pound in my chest as I looked him over for any signs of how badly he had been hurt. His slower movements were noticeable, and I watched as everyone started to crowd around the bed, smiles on everyone else’s faces.

I stood near the corner of the bed closest to the door, trying to ignore the claustrophobic clustering of everyone wanting to chime in.

“Well done Stalwart!” Stang consoled with his usual smile.

“Way to get Silver right at the end!” Sable chuckled.

“Aye, you did good.” Boer chimed.

I took a couple steps back, still not feeling comfortable being pressed in quite so much. I didn’t know what to say, and that was almost as bad to me as saying the wrong thing. I let myself stay quiet as I listened to them recount the fight with laughter interspersed. I couldn’t feel their laughter in me at all though. I didn’t like how they allowed injuries to occur in what was supposed to be just a display of abilities through mock combat, not an actual combat arena.

Stalwart looked between all of them, smiling back just as much. Seeing his smile made me worry that little bit less, but just as I couldn’t bring myself to smile back, he turned toward me.

“Shame about that stranglehold. Still, doubt you would be the last one standing every time if you were the Pegasus there!” Sable smirked, giving Stalwart a nudge from next to his bed.

“Ow!” Stalwart grimaced as they bumped his shoulder, “Easy guys, I’m a bit bruised here.”

“You’ll be fine Shield,” Boer chuckled deeply, “You’re made of some firm stuff.”

“Thanks guys.” Stalwart nodded, looking between them and me once more.

I avoided his gaze as I started to look over his body and frowned. He didn’t look hurt, not that I could adequately tell by the surface appearance. He had thick white fur that seemed to do a really good job of hiding the skin underneath.

“Awww, lookit her,” Sable’s voice chuckled, causing me to jump in my skin and look at him in surprise, “still worried about you. You know, she suddenly disappeared from her seat and appeared on the combat grounds almost by your side. Stumbled a little after though.”

I looked between them in surprise, not expecting to be dragged into the conversation so readily.

“Indeed,” Altai said through narrowed eyes coolly, “one would not have expected such a result.”

“Not even Malican could pull that off yet. Is that why you were so interested there Stalwart?” Stang joked.

“I, no… did she really?” He asked, looking over in my direction with wide eyes, “Well, that’s incredible!”

“I, well,” I hesitated starting to stammer and look down to avoid their eyes as my face heated up rapidly, “it wasn’t intentional…”

“How do you do that unintentionally!” Stang asked, half surprised and half amused.

“Your story seems unlikely.” Altai added, with Petiso nodding his confirmation.

I shuffled my hoof on the ground, feeling incredibly out of sorts with all of the interest in my direction. I hurried myself to come up with an explanation. Starlight was staying oddly quiet throughout, and I remembered that Celestia offered foal magic as an explanation for the laser event, but I knew from my magic kindergarten classes that most of the foals here grow out of it before they ever hit puberty. If I said foal magic, I’d only be scoffed at further.

“Well, I’m sure she’d tell us when she’s ready.” Stalwart said, cutting the silence. His voice seemed soothing on my ears and an idea struck for what to say without explaining anything.

“Well,” I added much as he had interjected, re-gathering the attention. “It isn’t exactly my first time, but I still don’t know how or why I do it. I don’t have any control that I know of.”

“Oh? When was that?” Sable asked.

I turned to Stalwart with an embarrassed half-smile, noticing his confusion as well, “Remember that one night I scared Silver a bit after we went to the hill? And do you remember how he mentioned needing a helmet to sleep?”

“When you scared…” He echoed, thinking for half a minute, “Wait, so… OH! So *that’s* why he said he needed a helmet to sleep!” He laughed loud and deep, briefly wincing as he clutched his side.

“What’s this about?” Sable chuckled, “Let us in on the joke Stal!”

“Well Dawn, care to share?” He asked with his usual smile.

“I suppose I could.” I replied, managing a small chuckle before addressing them all, “Basically as I was still adjusting to being here, I kinda started to have nightmares about some pony chasing me. I didn’t know it was Starlight who was chasing me at the time, but he kept teleporting to me in my dream. I got so scared I tried to do what he was doing to get away. Next thing we knew, I appeared in Silver’s room in midair and crashed on his bed in my sleep, waking up after it happened.”

“And Silver got so surprised by it, he must’ve flown into the ceiling and hit his head.” Stalwart chuckled.

‘You’re welcome by the way.’ Starlight’s voice huffily came in my ear.

The rest of the group laughed a moment, and I smiled back as they continued to talk about the fight, guessing at what they thought could have been different, this time Altai and Petiso going back and forth, with the others chiming in.

‘So, another one of those, respecting privacy moments Starlight?’ I asked.

‘No, was talking with Teacher about the next lesson. We’re in agreement we need more relics to keep motivated for learning, since we made more progress having that bracelet in front of us than we had in trying to study from the books.’

‘Well, it’s not as if we ever did well just reading when we tried to get ahead in math class.’

‘Also double checked on the teleport thing, since the subject came up.’

‘And?’ I asked attentively, curious as to how we could perform that feat again.

‘It appears our combined concern for Silver and Stalwart and wanting to get closer and unified intent to help triggered it, but when I asked, Teacher said that wasn’t how unicorns teleported normally.’

‘Oh, so you mean we’re not sorcerers from dungeons and dragons and we don’t shape our magic by will? Such a shame.’ I bantered, getting a smile and resisting the urge to chuckle out loud while the others were still talking.

‘Ha ha,’ He laughed with hints of annoyance in my ear, ‘but really, he said it doesn’t work that way until you grasp enough of the basic principles and enough practice. I’ve been shown the principles, but they’re pretty advanced. I don’t understand it and I haven’t had too many chances to try without a body like yours. Even then, it was really draining, which is why I’ll be taking the chance to rest until dinner tonight, and probably in the cuteseanera too. So let’s not do that again if we can help it.’

‘Oh right, we did get asked to go to that.’ I thought out loud to him. There was a lot he said to digest, but he seemed to already be gone once more.

The others had already started to walk out of the room before I knew it. I looked around for a clock and sighed internally in relief as I spotted a wall clock suggesting it was early afternoon. As Sable and Boer were the last pair, I stood by Stalwart’s bedside quietly until they walked out of the room, leaving us alone.

“Are you alright Dawn?” Stalwart asked, “You went quiet again.”

“I,” I started to say, gathering up my thoughts and feelings, trying to figure out what to say to him, “I don’t know. I don’t like that you and Silver got hurt as much as you did, but I see everyone else not worried about it and I wonder if I’m overreacting.”

“Really Dawn, I’m ok. I’ve suffered far worse than this, and I’ll be right as rain by tomorrow probably.”

I snorted, trying not to insult him, but it sounded so preposterous. It often took weeks for us to heal back home from a bruise, and a fractured bone took my arm a good six weeks to heal.

“Hey,” Stalwart said with a small degree of sternness, “there’s no need for that.”

“Sorry.” I apologized quietly before giving him a smile “I really need to learn to relax one of these days.”

“You worry about the little things sometimes a bit too much.” He paused before asking, “So, you really did teleport huh?”

“It sounds like it. I saw you fall to the ground and not get back up. I couldn’t help it. I wanted to make sure you were ok as quickly as I could.”

“So you teleported?” He chuckled, “That’s not easy magic Dawn.”

“So I just heard about three minutes ago.” I smirked in reply.

“Oh? From who?”

“Starlight.” I said, growing a slightly brighter smile, “He’s trying to rest right now, but what he told me was we both were concerned about both of you, so our desire manifested our magic and we got it done, though our magic is really weak now until we rest up again.”

“And yet you’re struggling with levitating two things at once.” He stated, shaking his head, “You definitely are a special snowflake.”

“Of course!” I laughed, “You wouldn’t want it any other way right?”

“Right.” He nodded, as I heard a low growl in the room and looked down at the core of his body with a smirk.

“Someone seems hungry.” I said, just before my own stomach rumbled.

“We both are then.” he said as we laughed.

“I’ll get us some food.” I replied as I turned around.

“Sounds good!” I heard him call out as I opened the door and walked down the somewhat familiar halls toward the kitchens.

I went on autopilot, and got a meal for the two of us, only to remember I needed it to go. I remember Starlight saying my magic was weak right now, and while I couldn’t feel the exhaustion, he seemed to have a better grasp on it than I did.

Placing the food into paper bags, I carried them in my mouth. It felt a little strange to carry something in my mouth like this, but I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself out loud, gaining the attention of two guests in the hall briefly. I had no issues walking around this world on all fours or without clothes like it was nothing because everyone else did it, yet this was weird?

I smiled broadly at Stalwart, realizing that he probably didn’t understand what was so amusing. He waited for me to set the bags down onto the bed before asking.

“So what got you in a good mood while I wasn’t looking?”

“Just laughing at something that is taken for granted. That’s all.” I said, hoping that would be enough to deter him from asking specifically what.

“If you say so… You’re not going to stand and eat are you?”

“Well,” I paused, looking around and only just now noticing that there were no chairs in the place. I suppose I could sit on the floor, though with cold stone, that didn’t seem terribly appealing. “I’ll make due.”

“Here.” He said, moving his body to the side of the bed to make room, “Join me up here.”

“There’s not enough room though.” I said, looking at the length of the bed, it was just barely long enough for our food at the foot of the bed before realizing he meant lying next to him.

“I think there’s enough, but if you want to stay standing…” He said, letting his voice trail off as I sighed, and with a smirk, walked over to the side of the bed and carefully climbed up. “See? Plenty of room!”

“Sure, whatever you say Romeo.” I smirked, using my magic to lay out the food on the foot of the bed where we were facing.

We ate quietly, and I gradually relaxed, even feeling Stalwart’s side up against my own. He wasn’t quite as talkative as he often was, but I could tell he was tired. His breathing was slightly ragged and his movements sluggish.

I cleared away our napkins, brushing the crumbs off the bed with magic when I felt him lean more against my side and his head went down to rest on the mattress. My heart fluttered a little at first, but then as he took a deep breath, noticeably relaxing, I couldn’t help but relax my body in turn. His fur against my own was a silky sensation, and his heavy frame expanding and contracting with each breath as his eyes grew closer and closer to closed was comforting in its own right.

I watched him fall asleep, feeling happy about it as I started to puzzle this new experience out. I had never let anyone near me like this, and yet here was someone who was sleeping next to me and I was comfortable, almost protective of them. I couldn’t really do anything yet, but this almost made me want to.

I laid there for an hour, watching him rest and looking through his fur without disturbing him for those bruises, and winced at them when I saw them. They were sizable and made my body cringe internally at the idea of taking that kind of a hit. In the end, as much as I really wanted to rest with him, I was getting restless and needed to check on Silver.

I stepped down off the bed, feeling horrible, as if I was breaking a promise I shouldn’t have, but then promised myself to return to him when I was done seeing if Silver was ok.

I closed the door behind me as I headed toward the nearest nurse pony I spotted.

“Excuse me, which room is Silver Wing’s?”

“He’s the third door on the right. He’s been out cold since the fight. Try not to wear him out if he does end up being awake please.”

“Thank you.” I bowed my head toward her in thanks before heading down the hall to the door she specified, the nurse herself going into another one of the rooms to handle the patient there.

I started to slow down as I reached the door. Anxiety pressed in as I had to wonder just how bad things must be if he’s been out cold still. Stalwart had put on a good face, but ended up sleeping as well.

I stood outside the door, continuing to hesitate as I tried to sort out my concerns. I no longer had a choice, however, as the door started to open and I was left face to face with Silver Wing! His proximity, combined with the door opening surprised me to the extent my heart started to race as my eyes grew wide. I almost immediately raised a hoof to my chest to calm myself down.

Silver groaned, a wince appearing on his face before he started to speak. “Ow… Hey Dawn, enjoy the demonstration?” The smile he brought to his face seemed forced as a snort came from his side.

Standing next to him was the pony who gave the outburst earlier before the match. I looked at her form, only to notice that Silver’s wing was draped over her back limply.

“I,” I hesitated, noticing more of the glare and feeling intimidated. “don’t really know. Stalwart has just a few bruises but-”

“I’m fine,” Silver’s chuckle rang out, “really. I’ll be right as rain in no time. Glad to hear Stalwart’s alright though. That guy can really take a hit.”

“I’m glad to hear you’ll be all right too.” I nodded, not so confident in him as he seemed to suggest, “Are you ready for the dinner then?”

“He’s not even ready to get out of bed yet.” The pony next to him snorted.

Silver winced before replying, “Dinners not for a few hours yet. I'm sure I'll be good by then.”

His companion shook her head. My eyes narrowed slightly as I thought I detected a hint or air of superiority, and it irked me. Her attitude so far reminded me heavily of someone who remained aloof and my experiences with such people have never left good impressions. I tried not to focus on her and returned my gaze to Silver, trying to see if there was some validity to her doubt.

“Why, what’s wrong?” I asked, wanting to see what would be said by either of them.

“Nothing-” Silver started to say, right as his companion spoke.

“He's broken two of his ribs,” she stated irritably, “But he's too much of a mule to stay in his bed.”

“They’re just cracked…” I heard him mutter as he dropped his head.

I looked over to the red pony in surprise, attempting to excuse the attitude on Silver’s stubbornness. I looked back at him to notice the bandages on his back and let out a long sigh. It was clear if he was downplaying these injuries he had no intent to let himself rest.

“So he's not about to get back in bed huh?” I asked, double checking with her.

“Like I told Sky,” Silver protested, “If I have to be in bed for the next while, I'd rather be in my own bed. Not some hospital room.”

I nodded in reply as I tried to assess how I could best help. It’d be unlikely I could convince him to stay in bed if she had already tried, so all I could do is help mitigate the damage he would incur. Seeing Silver’s wing draped over the other pony’s back made me wonder though. I wasn’t sure why he was being supported by her that way unless it helped him somehow with the pain.

A quick glance to his other wing which was dragging on the ground confirmed my suspicions. Rather than speaking to Silver, who would likely downplay it further, I turned to his aloof companion.

“I'm guessing you're doing that to help Silver out with the ribs... I don't suppose you'd want help with the other wing would you?” I asked, wanting to be polite and ensure there wouldn’t be an issue with offering help.

“No, I'm doing it to keep his flight feathers from getting ground off on the floor.” she replied.

“I’m fine, really.” Silver added, grunting slightly as he lifted his wing off the floor, “See?”

There was a sudden movement and he dropped his wing and frowned at the pony next to him. I had to resist growing incredibly angry. Silver’s being hurt was something I took very seriously, and her sarcasm was entirely unnecessary. I took a breath to keep my anger in check, and carefully lifted his wing up with my remaining weakened magic, watching for any signs of discomfort by Silver, before positioning myself under the wing and resting it on my back.

“You don’t need to do that, Dawn, really. I'm fine.”

“Wait,” The mare said, turning her head in surprise, “she’s Dawn!?”

“Yeah,” I replied coolly, still attempting to keep myself in check. I was still frustrated, but I couldn’t help but wonder how she knew my name or why, “I’m she. Why?”

“Some friend you are,” the mare snorted, “I heard you and those other Guards betting on Silver losing before the event.”

“What? Really?” Silver asked in surprise, turning toward me in reply.

I turned to her as my anger started to be kindled further, a cold pit in the middle of my body trying to find an outlet as I attempted to keep myself calm, but was already failing. I didn’t hate very often, but erroneous accusations toward my character were something I never stood for when I could help it. I knew I couldn’t hold my anger in further, so I replied quickly, a darting jab to let her know exactly where I stood.

“Assume whatever the hell you like,” I glared while speaking in a cold dangerous tone, “but I didn't make any bets on anyone because I didn't want to see either of ‘em hurt."

With that, I looked forward, attempting to show I was done with the conversation. If she wants to jump to conclusions based on the people I was with, fine. I simply won’t have much more to do with her if I can help it. Even so, I tried to remind myself of Silver’s presence and waited for us to get moving.

“Easy now,” he replied, attempting to smooth things over. “It wouldn't bother me either way. Win or lose, it was more for the Princesses entertainment than anything, right? I would have probably bet against me too, what with how the odds were stacked.”

The other pony shook her head, right as I was about to. I didn’t like this pony, plain and simple, and while I would have trotted off, leaving her behind, I knew that would leave Silver in a bind, and probably let her feel justified in her assumptions. I wasn’t about to let that happen.

“Let's just get you to your room. You set the pace Silver.” I replied instead. I wanted to get moving, and letting Silver set the pace seemed the most appropriate. I figure not only was Silver the one injured, but this way, it didn’t show any favoritism between myself and this other pony. I didn’t want him to feel pressure from needing to take a side in our heated undertones.

“Okay.” He said, seeming to hesitate before he took a slow step, paused, took another step, and created the rhythm we would follow for the rest of his walk to his room.

Partway through the walk to his room, Silver chimed, “Hey Sky, where’s my armor?”

“After you were brought here, Black Mane took them back,” Sky explained, “He figured it'd be easier if he just took them now, so you wouldn't have to deliver them to him later, when you should be ‘resting.’”

“I’ll have to thank him again when next I see him then,” he said, “His armor worked a hell of a lot better than those crappy training ones.”

“If you'd have won, the Princesses would probably have given you a set of your own,” Sky replied, almost appearing to have a shrug when I looked over to her in slight doubt at the statement before she smirked, “But... You lost. And there's no prize for second place this time, ‘Silver.’”

I heard Silver sigh and tried not to feel frustrated at her. He didn’t need someone bringing him down, so I thought I’d try to cheer him up a bit.

“I wasn't aware there was any kind of prizes or the like for this. Stalwart certainly made no comment of that sort. If it's any consolation, no one expected you to get to where you'd win all three of the one on twos...” I added, only realizing in hindsight she could have been cheering him up in her own way.

“She's just kidding around Dawn,” Silver said smiling, “It was just a simple combat demonstration, not a real competition. And while I appreciate your comment, I lost the last of the two on ones.”

“Actually,” I said quickly, wanting to cut him off right there, “it was a draw, and because you had the disadvantage, you were given the victory point.”

"I was?" Silver said in surprise, "Huh..."

"And he would have won the next match too," the orange-red pony added, "If he hadn't of gone and injured himself in his fight with Skyros."

"I agree,” I nodded, more focused on keeping a middle ground even if it meant a slight bit of deception, “But don't tell Stalwart that.”

Silver’s throat clearing caught my attention, a welcome distraction from figuring out what else I could say to keep things going when I didn’t like half of the company present.

"I'm glad you two think so highly of me," he chuckled, "but I'd probably have lost regardless. The two on ones only worked because I managed to split my opponents up. Come the last fight, they would have realized they needed work together. All they'd really have to do was group up and force me to come to them. I wouldn't have been to keep my eye on all of them. Not when one can fly, and the other can attack at range."

"You would have been fine if you were serious," Sky Flare said, "I've seen you fight with intent before."

I stayed quiet. I didn’t really know what kind of fighting either Silver or Stalwart was capable of, and I didn’t want to seem like I was taking his side any further than I already could be perceived. I let my gaze turn from them and watched the floor slowly go by as we still weren’t in his room yet.

"I wouldn't fight like that unless I had no other choice Sky." Silver spoke quietly.

"Just saying," Sky Flare said confidently, "You could have won fighting like that."

I looked over at Silver, uncertain what he meant by what was said, though having suspicions. I then saw the Pegasus beyond him and turned my gaze back. I still was upset by the woman’s behavior and if she wanted to keep taunting him with how things could have gone better, I wasn’t about to keep that conversation going.

"Actually," Silver added, breaking the small bit of silence, "wanna know something that would have really helped? My fight mix CD. A good beat does wonders."

“Yeah,” I smirked, trying not to chuckle, “music definitely can help, though I always tuned such things out the few times I tried. Found it more distracting than anything."

"If you wanted music Silver, you should have said something," Sky Flare said, "My Dad has a ton of Records."

"I doubt he'd have what I'm used to," Silver said, "but thank you for the offer."

"Try me." Sky Flare said.

"Alright," Silver said with a shrug, "Seizure of Power, by Marylin Manson."

Sky Flare stared at him oddly for a moment, before she shook her head. "Alright, never heard of that one..."

"No worries," Silver said, "I really didn’t expect you to have. But that was one of my main go to songs back home."

“Yeah,” I chuckled involuntarily, adding, “I have no idea what to recommend. Most of my music comes from my games."

For a split second I worried about whether we should be talking about music from our world, whether it’d be appropriate, but on the other hand, I had already let Stalwart hear tunes from my games as it was.

"I miss my games," Silver sighed, "But I'll get over it."

We turned a corner in silence and Silver’s room came into view. A deep breath came out of Silver and I almost thought I felt a quiver in his wing at the prospect of the end being in sight.

"Thanks for the help, Dawn," Silver said tiredly, "I thought we were a little closer to my room than that.”

"That's why I said to stay in bed," Sky Flare reminded him, "But you wouldn't listen."

"Yeah, yeah. I know, I know." Silver sighed.

“Silver,” I started to say, attempting to be forceful with him, “you really should rest." I sighed, starting to feel as tired as Silver sounded before I looked over to Sky, "Want me to help with the other wing more, or do you have it from here?”

"I got him, thanks." Sky Flare snorted, her tone still cool and hinting at annoyance, without a hint of appreciation.

I narrowed my eyes at her and willed myself to be patient. She wasn’t half bad for a moment, but then she had to neglect being courteous at the end. I tried to let out my breath, only to start letting a snort out and cut myself short, breathing through my mouth as I gently lifted Silver’s wing off my back, only to very carefully set it down on the ground like before.

"Take care Silver. I'll see you either at dinner or when you're healed... I'm hoping the latter."

"You take care too." he replied with a weak smile. "And thanks for the help."

I smiled appreciatively at him, feeling sorry for his predicament and the company he kept, but kept calm enough to reply. “You’re welcome.”

With that, I turned back around to walk to Stalwart. I was not happy with how that turned out and how much I missed being near him, but it helped Silver out. If that helps to brighten up his day, then that’ll be enough for me, even if the mare he was with doesn’t seem to appreciate it at all.

I opened Stalwart’s door, closing it behind me as I looked at his sleeping form. He hadn’t shifted at all. Quietly, so as not to wake him up, I climbed back into the bed. It squeaked on its frame and the springs shifted to accommodate the extra weight.

A small snore came from Stalwart’s nose as I froze, half up on the bed before a small bit of laughter escaped my throat. I settled down in the bed with him again, feeling our fur meet and Stalwart’s initial flinch only to lean against me in turn.

I laid my head down to rest for the time being. I didn’t look at the clock to see how long until the dinner was to start, but with all the activity and the tension, a nap wasn’t about to go amiss.

It wasn’t until someone was shaking me gently on the side before I started to wake up, a familiar voice calling my name.

“Dawn, you’re going to be late, get up you silly mare.”

I got up sluggishly blinking as I realized that I was being woken for dinner. Stalwart’s face nearby as he continued to shake until I got up and stepped down off the bed.

“Meadow Dawn, your presence is requested-” A male’s voice chimed, as if on cue.

“I’m coming, I’m coming. Sorry. I was… Well, nevermind. Lead on good sir.”

The guard nodded as he led the way to the dinner room. I was still tired, as if I had been one of the ones fighting, but did my best to wake up with the shining sunlight coming through the various windows in the castle.

It seemed like barely any time had passed before I was in the entrance of the familiar dinner chambers. I headed toward my seat, anticipating everything to be just like always when I noticed a third pony present.

The guest was a purple pony of a similar size, her horn coming out of her forehead like any other unicorn, if perhaps a little longer than average. I couldn’t help but wonder what her participation here would involve, as they hadn’t included guests in the past.

"Good evening, Meadow Dawn," Celestia called to me as I hesitated and sat myself down on the cushion. “I trust our Stalwart Shield is none the worse for wear?”

“He’s a little bruised,” I nodded, “but he’s resting up really well. Silver on the other hand... I'm worried about him, but he says he'll be fine.”

I shifted a little in my seat, thinking about them both, and still feeling frustrated with that Pegasus Silver was with, but thinking about Stalwart’s rested face before the nap helped me to calm down.

"They will both recover swiftly, I am certain." Celestia said smiling. She glanced over at the guest before adding, "Meadow Dawn, I would like you to meet Princess Twilight Sparkle. Twilight, this is Meadow Dawn, the human that managed to repair Starswirl’s bracelet.”

I bowed my head when the introductions were made, hoping that was sufficient. My ears perked up noticeably when I heard that the guest was also a princess. I looked at her in surprise, but sure enough, she had wings on her sides that I had missed before.

“Hello.” I barely managed to speak, feeling more nervous than before. I had no idea that Celestia was going to introduce me as a human. I was doing what I could to blend in as best as allowed, but she was going to out me early on?

"That's a remarkable feat," Twilight said, "It's almost impossible for anypony other than the maker of the magical artifact to be able to repair it, and you did it in no time, and with barely any training!" She cleared her throat and took a quick breath to calm herself. "Sorry," she continued more slowly, "It's very nice to meet you, Meadow Dawn. I can't wait to talk to about your friend."

"There will be plenty of time for that after we have eaten," Celestia said, "But first, we have one more guest that seems to be running a little late."

“You can’t mean Silver.” I replied in doubt, surprised at what Celestia might be suggesting. “He needs his rest! Right?”

"A guard was sent to ask if Silver would be able to attend or not, and was informed that he would indeed be attending," Celestia said, "We will wait another few minutes before I send another to find out what is delaying him."

I sighed, not wanting to see him here. It meant he was pushing himself too far. Then again, as I turned to watch the door, I hoped that maybe, as much as I didn’t care for that Pegasus, maybe she would keep him from attending.

A few moments later, the doors opened outward and I groaned along with them internally. Silver was limping into the room, out of breath and bandages around his chest. He took a little time, but managed to make it to his cushion before he sat down with an obviously tired thump. Silver breathed heavily and it almost looked like his eyes were distant.

"Are you certain you are well enough to attend this dinner, Silver Wing?" Luna asked from across the table.

“I’m fine,” Silver managed to say as he smiled, looking around at everyone. “Just need to catch my breath. Stairs… Stairs suck.”

He seemed to only then wave toward me, and I couldn’t muster the willpower to wave back before he turned to face the purple pony nearby and bowed his head toward her slowly.

My eyes narrowed and I took a deep breath to calm myself as I turned toward Celestia. I was not happy about the scenario, but I couldn’t afford to worry about his behavior. He was an adult and could make his own decisions, and I wasn’t about to stop that.

I watched as Celestia turned toward her sister, the two of them appearing moderately concerned as well, but it wasn’t long before she spoke.

"Very well. First, let us eat, then we can discuss the events of today freely."

I barely registered what I ate. Most of it was flavorful, but if asked, I couldn’t tell anyone what it was I ate. Between being in the presence of a stranger again, and having Silver’s injuries on my mind, it seemed like it was a mere minute before our plates were being cleared and the servers departing. Celestia cleared her throat, pulling all attention to her.

“Your performance this day was quite impressive, Silver Wing.” She smiled at him, “I do not believe anypony expected you to reach as far as you did. Even my dear sister was brought to the edge of her seat during your final match.”

“Your prowess in combat was indeed worth witnessing,” Luna said with a hint of a frown when she glanced at her sister, only to smile at Silver herself. “and you fought with a truly unique ferocity and cunning.”

"I agree. It was very interesting to see," the guest, Twilight admitted, "I bet Rainbow Dash would have loved to have seen it. She'll be so jealous when I tell her about it."

I watched as all eyes seemed to turn to me and I swallowed, trying to figure out the best answer I could give, considering the emotional ride that I went through watching it.

"I'm just glad it stopped when it did... Too many heart attacks in one day for my taste." I replied before hearing Silver chuckling. I turned to face him, surprised at the reaction.

"Try it from inside the ring," he smiled, "Whatever rush you got watching is nothing compared to the real thing."

“Sorry,” I shook my head in reply, “I have no interest in trying anything like that, inside a ring or otherwise.

"Yet you aided Silver Wing with a sparring match a few days ago," Celestia added, correcting me, "So clearly, some part of you at least, holds interest in such things."

“I blame that on Starlight.” I chuckled, realizing I had already almost completely forgotten that event happened in light of everything today.

"Yes,” Celestia chuckled, nodding before adding thoughtfully, “he does seem the more headstrong of the two of you… Speaking of Starlight, if you would be so kind as to introduce him to Twilight? She has been very eager to meet him since I first wrote to her of his nature."

I nodded, turning toward the seat that Starlight would sit, noticing that Twilight was smiling at the idea of his appearance. It took a couple seconds, but Starlight Dusk walked forward from the edge of the room, gradually fading into the room and sitting in his usual seat. Despite his claim earlier today about our magic being weakened, he was just as non-transparent as he ever had been. It wasn’t perfect, but only flecks of his mane flickered in and out of sight like a miniature flame.

"Oh wow, so he really does materialize out of thin air!" Twilight exclaimed as she clapped her hooves, eyes wide open in excitement. There was an abrupt flash of purple, her body disappearing from her seat as she reappeared next to Starlight and looked at him intensely, “Amazing!” She whispered. The purple Alicorn raised a hoof, pushing against Starlight’s side, which felt like it pressed into my own slightly. “That’s incredible! You’re visually transparent, yet physically tangible. Tell me, if you were to eat an apple, would it be absorbed into you, or would we be able to watch it get digested? Do you even need to eat for that matter? And where do you go when you're not here? You came when called, but Meadow Dawn didn't call you verbally, so does that mean you can see or sense what's going on around her through some magical means?"

Starlight and I were both flustered, watching her in a frozen surprise as we tried to figure out how to respond. It was also the first time that Starlight’s experience bled over to me, as I felt her hoof press into my side, despite being a seat away.

“I,” Starlight started to say out loud, his voice sounding almost as confused as we felt, hesitating before he said, “... what should I answer first? I'm lost."

"Right... Sorry." She replied before she vanished once again, a flash of purple where she was before. We turned our heads and she had reappeared in her seat once more. There was another flash beside her, and from it, a quill and a pad of paper appeared and began scribbling down furiously. "So...?" Twilight asked again, "How did you know to come here when Celestia asked?"

“Well,” Starlight spoke as he looked back at her with his head slightly tilted. “I can hear and see what dawn sees, more or less. Depends on how strong I feel at the time.”

"Interesting," Twilight said nodding, "and what about a sense of feel, or taste? Is that also shared?"

Starlight narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling a little uncomfortable but shook his head, "No, not yet anyway. Maybe with time..."

"Interesting," Twilight repeated, "and where do you go when you're not here? What's it like?"

I listened to Starlight as he took a breath, my own body doing the same out of the shared anxiety. It was a strange feeling, sensing how he felt on a basic level, as if it were an echo in my own body as a rubber band tried to press around our chests.

“Well, at first it wasn't much like anything. Just hazy glimpses of my old life, back before Dawn knew who she was. It was cold and time seemed to stand still. I have no idea how long I was stuck like that, but eventually, my teacher found me and pulled me free of that place. He helped me take on this new form and showed me how to reach out to Dawn."

"I see," Twilight said curiously. "And now?"

"Now it's just dark. Only my teacher and what Dawn sees or hears reach me there." He said quietly, shrugging it off after.

I watched as Twilight’s eyes narrowed, though I had no idea why. We were starting to relax, and there wasn’t anything that he said that seemed out of the ordinary. If anything, I would trust Starlight a great deal as he’s the one that is experiencing it.

"So it's just this 'Teacher' and Meadow Dawn in there now?" Twilight asked seriously, her quill having paused in its notetaking.

“I haven’t spotted anyone else in there in the last few years. Why?”

"And what about places, or things just floating about?" Twilight asked. Her tone was still heavy, and that worried me, despite Starlight shrugging after his last answer.

“Just what Dawn sees and hears, as well as where my teacher takes me.”

Starlight’s nervousness was reaching a crescendo in my chest, and while it wasn’t overwhelming, I could instinctively tell that he didn’t understand why any of it would be a problem. Besides, if Starlight were a part of me that could manifest, I couldn’t see how it wouldn’t make sense for him to experience what I experience to an extent.

Twilight frowned and shook her head before replying, “That doesn't seem right to me.”

"What is the matter Twilight?" Celestia asked, her voice almost equally solemn.

"It's just, in all the books and scrolls I've read, the space between worlds is always described as being open," Twilight began, "Pieces of everywhere, from every time and space just drift around. Lost fragments that have been cast off, or memories that refuse to fade. It's never been described so... Blankly."

I watched as she looked to Celestia before she continued thinking out loud, scrutinizing her notes, wondering what in the world she could argue against someone who was experiencing it.

"Even their relationship doesn't quite fit now that I think about it.” Twilight continued, “Starlight's a part of Meadow Dawn, a fragment she lost years ago. He should have become one with her the moment she passed through the Mirror of Worlds. The fact he managed to stay separate makes no sense to me..."

"Well,” I said, eager to jump in Starlight’s defense, “I enjoy that he's out like this instead. I'm.... glad..."

I groaned quietly as my speech slowed, raising a hoof to my head as a headache developed. It grew a little intense for a minute as my head pulsed before I could open my eyes, not realizing when I had closed them and looked around at everyone. All four of the other ponies excluding Starlight were staring at me. Hoping to allay their fears, I set my hoof down and smiled weakly, in spite of the headache staying in place.

“Sorry, what were we talking about again?" I asked, hoping to keep them from worrying.

“Are you alright?” Celestia asked after looking after Luna then back at myself.

“Yeah, I think so,” I nodded, “Just a bit of a headache.”

I lifted a hoof to my ear as a faint buzzing started to reach it. After a single rub and an ear flick, I began to hear Starlight’s voice in that ear, clearly being kept private.

‘Hey Dawn, we don’t have any reason to believe her right now. I just quickly talked with Teacher and he says he’s heard of her. Says she can’t know what she’s talking about because she’s only read about Starswirl’s work.’

‘If he hasn’t been around for a long time, isn’t that the best we have?’ I asked, confused as to why it’s an issue.

'It would be if we didn't have Teacher to help us. He knows way more about Starswirl’s work than she does, why’d you think I was able to find you and bring you here? Besides, she doesn’t understand this in-between place because she hasn’t been there like we are. I can’t fault her for wanting to help, but she’s not speaking with any real authority.'

I nodded my agreement before turning back to everyone, the pulse in my head still present. I don’t know when I tiled my head, but I straightened myself out and gave another ear flick before waiting for the conversation to continue.

"Perhaps we should save such questions for later, Twilight." Celestia said, though her tone seemed unusually thoughtful.

"But-" Twilight started, but fell silent as Celestia's expression hardened for a moment, "Yes Princess."

"Why don't you take a look at Starswirl’s bracelet?" Celestia said, her expression returning to its typical manner, "Dawn has done a most remarkable job in repairing it."

I smiled and straightened up at the compliment, very pleased. Reaching down to my upper forelimb, I slid the bracelet down from its position and used magic to lift it up and set it down in the center of the table. A purple hue surrounded it as it floated over to Twilight and she looked it over eagerly and attentively.

"Incredible," she gasped, "This is one of Starswirl’s works alright, but it's not one of his typical pieces. This one is very rare."

“How so?” I asked. I know the history of the item that I had found thus far, but for all I knew, she could have a very different answer for its rarity and I was curious as to what else might be mentioned.

"Well, you've noticed how this symbol is different than one would typically expect?" Twilight explained. She seemed to continue in spite of my nod, having explained this before myself, "How it has this extra star within a star right here? Nopony's really sure why, but there was a time in Starswirl the Bearded's life where he went a little... Odd. Even for him. He started making trinket after trinket for the ponies of Equestria, and every one of them had this slightly modified engraving on them. He made dozens of helpful items over the course of about a year, then something happened to him. He returned to using his original mark and began taking back all the trinkets he had given away. This is the first one I've actually ever seen with my own eyes."

"Sometimes great intelligence is accompanied by eccentricity,” I nodded, pausing a moment before adding, “Still, I take it that means there aren't that many of these left."

"Until today, I've only ever seen drawings of them," Twilight said, "As far as I am aware, the rest have all been destroyed."

I nodded again, grimacing as the headache started to get a little worse, “So what would cause him to go out and make the artifacts, only to take them back?”

"Nopony really knows," Twilight admitted, "but he clearly missed this one, or chose not to destroy it for some reason. Either way, I'm still amazed you managed to fix it in the first place. I know I said this earlier, but it really is incredible that you repaired it. It takes a very powerful and focused unicorn to repair someone else’s work. The magic used to repair something like this needs to resonate with the magic that was first used to create it. Maybe it's because you came through the Mirror of Worlds, or maybe it has something to do with the odd way you and Starlight have managed to remain separate, I don't really know, but it's an impressive feat."

“I still don't think I'm powerful,” I said, blushing at the compliment and feeling the headache abate already, “but I appreciate what you said.... though, just how well is it repaired? I haven't been able to lift that much, yet stories suggest it should be able to lift large rocks."

"It's very well repaired," Twilight said, "The gem you chose to use is the issue. It's a very fine quality gem, and I doubt you'd be able to find better outside of the Crystal Kingdom. But Starswirl used special gemstones he would grow from pure magic. When fully charged, some of them could imbue great magic into their owners. That's why his gifts were usually so rare, and why the frequency he gave away these ones is such an oddity."

I hummed out loud, frustrated that I wasn’t given that insight. The teacher I had surely would have known about this magic gem trick I thought, but as I started to think that, my headache worsened a great deal.

I let out a groan as my head really started to pound and a hoof raised itself to feel the throbbing pulse of my skull against my wrist. It was almost enough to take my breath away. I tried to blank it out and took a deep breath to counter it before letting it out slowly.

"Sorry, I think... I think I should get some rest soon. This is weird."

"The two of you have had a very long day," Celestia’s voice rang beautifully in spite of the pulses that gradually started to abate once more. Her concerned gaze being the first thing I noticed when I reopened my eyes, “Let us continue this conversation again at our next meeting when you are both more rested. Though I do have a task for you, Meadow Dawn."

I nodded, grimacing as a particularly painful pulse came and then the migraine lessened to a minor headache.

"It requires a great deal of focus for you to help bring Starlight into our world," Celestia explained, "I would like you to try and keep him here as much as possible from now on. The more you practice, the easier it will be in the future to call on him when you need him, or in times of stress. However, I would caution against having him wander the streets of Canterlot with you. While the Guards within the Palace walls will pay him no heed as they have grown accustomed to you, most Ponies in Equestria would react with far more curiosity and suspicion. Do you understand?"

“I’d rather have him out and about when possible,” I nodded, appreciating the request she was suggesting, “but I understand your reason for caution. I will try."

I watched as the bracelet floated its way to in front of me and I slipped it onto my leg effortlessly.

"It would seem that young Silver Wing has dozed off while we discussed Starlight and the magic of Starswirl’s bracelet." she chuckled. "Silver Wing," she called softly, "Awaken Silver Wing."

Silver jerked up and gasped, his face wincing noticeably as he probably stretched something further than he should have.

"I-I'm awake!" he squeaked as he noticed Celestia’s smile.

"With that concluded, I believe rest would be your best interest now Silver Wing," Celestia said, "If you would like, I could have a guard escort you to your room?"

"Thank you," Silver stated, "But I'm fine, I can make it on my own."

"I am certain you can," Celestia said, "But you are still injured, and there is no harm in accepting aid when it is needed."

"I'm fine, really." He protested

"Be that as it may," Luna chimed in, "We feel an escort is in order."

"Yeah, but I'm sure your guards have better things to do that walk me back to my room, so no worries."

"If you do not wish a guard to escort you," Luna said sternly, "Then I shall see to your return myself."

"W-what!? No, no, it's fine."

"You would not be attempting to refuse an offer from a Princess, would you Silver Wing?" Luna asked, her tone more serious than threatening.

"Not at all... I'd just rather not trouble you with something so... Menial"

"Helping somepony else is never menial," Luna stated, "So if that is all, let us be on our way. I expect Princess Twilight has withheld her questions for young Meadow Dawn and Starlight for about as long as she can. My sister can see to the rest."

I stayed quiet through this exchange because it was clear he needed the attention, and the gentle pushing, even with a small nod from Celestia. It was almost amazing to watch them deftly maneuver him into a wall he couldn’t escape to go the route they wanted.

"Alright then, Good night then everyone."

“Good night Silver.” I mumbled, not intending him to hear it, but still wishing him well nonetheless. He was tired, and I didn’t want to delay him any further.

“Now, before you depart," Celestia’s voice added in the now quiet room of the four of us, “I believe Twilight has a gift for you."

"Oh, right!" Twilight exclaimed. She looked around for a moment, then her horn glowed purple. From the ground beside her, hidden by the table, a large bag rose up and drifted towards me.

I looked toward Twilight, feeling a bit of nervous anticipation before gasping in surprise at a decently sized saddlebag floated over to in front of my table seat, landing on the table with a very gentle thud. I found myself standing up already, eager to see what it was that was inside, but there wasn’t much time to guess.

"Celestia told me that you were interested in learning all about magic while you were here," Twilight explained excitedly, "So I brought you a few books on everything from simple magic, to more advanced spells. I couldn’t really make up my mind on which ones you'd like to start with. I hope it’s enough."

I stared at the outside of the bag, not sure how she could have fit a few books into the saddlebags that couldn’t have been much larger than half the size of my backpacks back home. Yet when I used my magic to open the flap and looked inside, both of the saddlebags had a dozen books each inside them, impossibly crammed inside, yet loose enough I could jostle them a little inside with my magic.

I closed the flap and looked at the outside, then reopened it to see the wide contents inside and had to ask a really dumb question, as this seemed impossibly like a game item.

“Is, is this a bag of holding?!”

“No…?” Twilight replied, sounding confused in spite of a snicker from Starlight, “It's a saddlebag. They hold a lot more than they look like they can."

I looked at her, still shocked entirely, barely registering that my headache was entirely gone as I looked for a way to put it on properly, and yet nothing about it seemed conventional. There weren’t any buttons or fasteners that I could see. If I was to use this properly, I had to ask.

“How would I put it on?”

Twilight chuckled, only to levitate the bag over my head and the straps effortlessly into place around my forelegs, where the pack snugly fit my frame before her magic stopped and all of the weight pressed down across my back heavily. At least twelve of these books were not light reading and I felt it now!

“Definitely not a bag of holding then.” I chuckled as I shifted my legs under the load, feeling amazed at my body’s strength at holding them as if I were minimally impacted, “So, how do I know I have it on right and secured, you kinda did that a bit... fast."

"It rests in the small of your back," Twilight explained, "just make sure it feels comfortable and don't bend too far over and you'll do fine."

"Well, thanks...” I nodded as I tried not to complain about how useless of an explanation that was, “I don't really know what to say, but I really appreciate it. What book should I start with first?"

"Oh, I'd start with Starswirl’s guide to Horns and what they can do, volume one," Twilight said quickly, "Though Bellhorn’s notations on the Fundamentals of the Arcane is also a fascinating read. But one you absolutely have to read is Neighvermore's Guide to Object Manipulation and-"

"I think it would be best to choose the one whose cover most catches your eye," Celestia cut in, "You'll find every one of those books will hold a great wealth of knowledge for you."

Twilight chuckled a little sheepishly and nodded. "And if you ever want any more, you're welcome to come and visit me in Ponyville anytime," She offered, "I'm sure my friends would love to meet you."

I nodded. Nothing sounded familiar from magic kindergarten, but it’s likely that these other names would have come up in more advanced courses. If I could manage to glean some things from the books, even if it’s not how I usually learned, it’d still be time well spent.

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind, especially if I'm stuck." I finally replied.

"Now then," Celestia said in a motherly way, "off to bed with you both. We will discuss Starlight and magic more tomorrow." She nodded her head to both Dawn and Starlight, then fell silent.

I nodded, Starlight standing up as well to be by my side. I grunted as I took a few steps and smirked, turning to Celestia, “Yeah, these books are heavy. Thank you for the meal and the talk, I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow.”

“After the cuteseanera probably though.” Starlight added, likely to remind me. I had almost forgotten as I started to walk toward the exit

"It was very interesting meeting you both," Twilight said, "Especially you Starlight."

Starlight nodded, "You're welcome to talk to me at any time." He said as he turned to follow.

We walked down the stairs together, the weight of the books pressing on me noticeably with each step down, yet at the same time, it didn’t seem to bother me yet. The guards at the bottom of the stairwell treated Starlight no differently than me as we both walked to our bedroom.

No words were needed between us, as we were worn out still. The nap with Stalwart helped, but it was time for a proper sleep. After coordinating with Starlight to get the heavy saddlebag off my back and down on the seat of the chair nearby, I stepped up onto the bed and curled up, Starlight preferring to sleep curled up on the surface of the bed, and fell asleep within minutes of the sun setting.

Cuteseaneras, Curses, and Crimson Lillies

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I woke up early the next morning, yawns coming out repeatedly just as the sun started to rise. I looked around and half jumped when I saw Starlight still visible. He was sleeping on the bed, curled up much like a dog would with his head resting on his legs, side rising and falling with each breath.

I slowly got up and walked up to him as intense curiosity came over me before a grin could be spotted on his face, his one eye opened quickly to stare me in the face.

“Morning to you too!” He chuckled, seeming not to mind my curiosity.

I was about to ask Starlight how or if he slept, when a knock on the door rang out in the room, pulling our attentions away from each other and toward the door. I reached out with my magic to open the door, already expecting it to be Stalwart like usual, in spite of the bruises he must still have.

“Good morning Dawn.” Stalwart’s voice rang as he stepped inside, a smile apparent on his face.

“Hi Stalwart. Feeling any better?” I asked.

“Oh yeah.” He smirked, “a whole day and night of resting can do a pony wonders. My bruises are a lot smaller already. So today’s the big day for that little colt, any idea where the cuteseanera is gonna be?”

I smiled at first, only to looked at him in a dazed confusion before remembering the events before the tournament. Glint had given us the tickets to see the play, then we saw the play, and then he did mention something about a cuteseanera. For the life of me I couldn’t remember what was said about it though, let alone where such a thing would be held.

“Sorry, I have no idea…” I hesitated, trying to think of who might know. Suddenly, it hit me exactly who might and with a stamp on the ground, I replied, “maybe Lemon Bloom would know!”

Stalwart smirked in reply, but stood by the door, as if waiting for me to take the lead.

I stepped outside, expecting to hear Stalwart following me when I heard him call back from my room, “Where are you going?”

“School. Where else?” I explained, thinking it’d be obvious that’s where she could be found.

“Why?” He asked, sounding half confused and half leading to a point.

“Because Lemon Bloom teaches there…” I said hesitantly. Something was up, but I didn’t know what. Lemon Bloom still taught at the school, didn’t she?

“And you remember what day of the week it is?” He asked with a broad smile.

“I…” I faltered, trying to think about it. We saw the play, we attended the Demonstration on Friday, which was yesterday. I stared open eyed as the dots connected, and I realized it was the weekend “Oh.”

“Finally put it together huh?” Stalwart chuckled as I walked back into the room embarrassed, “So, what now?”

“I don’t know.” I replied quietly, feeling a bit lost. I didn’t know where Lemon Bloom or Glint lived, and I didn’t know anything about how to celebrate a cuteseanera. “Is there anything special that should be done for a cuteseanera?”

“Just visit and be supportive of them.” Stalwart said, shaking his head. “I know it doesn’t sound like much, but their biggest present was getting their cutie mark. We’re there to congratulate them, lend them our support, and wish them well or give them a present related to what they realized about themselves.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound so bad.” I smiled. “Maybe we can stay until the presents are unwrapped then? It just seems rude to me if we don’t cheer him on without seeing his reactions to the presents then.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Stalwart said as he turned toward the bed, looking at Starlight, “so, what’s brought you around here?”

“Oh,” I started, trying to remember what details from the talk last night related to Starlight, “Celestia wants me to practice keeping him out and about more. Something to do with deepening our bond and figuring out why we’re separate.”

“I see.” He said, looking between the two of us thoughtfully. “Well, it’s good to see you Starlight.”

“Sup.” Starlight yawned before stretching on the bed as a smaller set of hooves echoed through the halls toward us.

“Hey Dawn! Sir!” Glint smiled as he came into view of our room, the door still open. His body seemed to be almost quivering with energy already.

“Morning Glint.” I replied cheerfully, a wave of relief crashing over me. He probably was going to take us to his celebration!

“Morning squirt.” Stalwart smiled teasingly toward him.

“They said I should go play for a while so they could get everything ready, so here I am!” He said, looking between us and spotting Starlight, “Oh hey, you’re here too!”

“Nice to see you too. Kids leaving you alone?” Starlight replied, stepping down off the bed.

I couldn’t help but chuckle. Here I was, worried we wouldn’t have a way of getting to the event, and here Glint was, almost exactly on time!

“Yeah!” He replied eagerly, a grin apparent on his face, “Thanks for your help, that was really cool, how you faded in and out… What’s your name? You didn’t tell me before.”

“Starlight Dusk.” He replied, a gentle smirk on his face as he feigned tolerating the foal.

“Whoah….” He replied in awe, “That’s a cool name…”

I tried so very hard not to laugh. The scene was too adorable, and yet, it was nice to have Glint warm up so readily. It was hard to imagine that he was a shy little colt when I first met him at school, sharing some of my music with him.

“Can you come to the Cuteseanera too?” he asked eagerly.

“I’m not sure Glint,” He replied quickly, his eyes darted around the room for a split second as he tried to come up with an excuse, “Celestia gave me some homework to work on today, but I’ll see what I can do.”

Glint smiled brightly as he jumped almost as high as Starlight’s head height, before hopping around the room in eagerness.

‘Good thing he came along to visit.’ I said to Starlight as Glint chattered with Stalwart, ‘I had no idea how we would follow through on that promise otherwise.’

‘Luck once again, or perhaps your natural clueless charm.’ He replied with a smirk before answering a sudden question from Glint.

When he finally calmed down, we engaged in a little small talk before we followed Glint out the castle. Starlight stayed in the room, only fading out after the door had closed, so as to maintain the illusion. Glint probably wouldn’t understand why Starlight couldn’t be out in public. Admittedly I know we could have come up with a reasonably good excuse to cover up why Starlight was semi-transparent and usually not solid, but Celestia said to leave him put away in public, and that’s what we’d do.

We walked along through the various streets of Canterlot before arriving at a larger grey brown brick building. A lot of activity could be heard through a couple of the open windows, and Glint eagerly stepped inside.

The first floor was madness. Children were everywhere, with a few adults scattered around. A couple snacks had already been spilled on the floor, not that anyone seemed to mind, and confetti was strewn about, as if someone had popped or thrown them all out too early.

“Welcome, welcome, sorry about the mess, here for Glint’s cuteseanera?” A blue mare asked as she approached, minding a pair of foals running in front of her.

“Y-yeah, yes we are.” I nodded, surprised at the level of activity and trying my best not to feel intimidated despite the chaotic environment.

“Good good, we’re all so very happy for him.” She nodded, looking down at Glint, “Go on Glint, say hi to everypony here.”

“Okay!” He said, and with a small sprint chased after some of the other foals to play with them.

“Kids…” I chuckled, shaking my head.

“Only a couple of those here. Were you two looking to adopt as well?”

“Oh no, sorry, I’m used to calling all kinds of children ‘kids’, that’s all.” I quickly replied, very much daunted at the idea of being a parent. I already had concerns about being a parent, and I'm sure i'd be even more clueless trying to raise one that wasn't human!

“Perhaps one day though.” Stalwart said, seeming to shoot a mischievous smile in my direction.

I turned to him, trying to smile, yet giving a look that was half ‘wait, just what are you implying?’ and half, ‘did you really just say that?’

Undecided if I wanted to sigh or laugh at the implication, the loveseat nearby was empty and felt comfortable enough as we climbed on. Another set of adults who were laying across the couch with all four legs up off the floor, I tucked my legs to my underside as I leaned against the tall armrest. Stalwart joined at my side, sitting upright.

Glint was all over the place, mostly with his peers, but occasionally saying hi to a few of the adults. He was running himself ragged so often and having a good time. It was hard to keep track of him while talking with the occasional adult about what Glint planned for the future already.

After a couple slices of cake that had been passed around, many of the foals choosing to just dig their faces into the cake while some of us with magic used utensils, presents were given to Glint. His gifts included a couple sets of performance ready clothes for him that appeared to be slightly too big, but would let him grow into it, and a couple of instruments for him to try his hand at.

After lunchtime I climbed down off the couch. Truth be told, it felt like I was just wasting time, being so clueless about this. We gave our support, it was after the present opening, and I had no idea how to strike up any conversation with the other ponies. My nervousness grew throughout from not knowing how to react and I didn’t want to be a nuisance. Glint seemed to notice almost immediately and rushed up to us by the time we both had stepped onto the floor.

“You’re gonna leave already?” he asked, somehow only slightly out of breath.

“I’m afraid so, I have some things that need to be done back at the castle. Starlight probably is finishing up his homework and I still have mine to do too.” I said, hoping that would suffice. Starlight was just itching to be out and about on his own again, which might not have helped my nervousness, and letting him be with us was technically homework…

“We’ll be back though; I’ll make sure she does.” Stalwart reassured.

“Promise you’ll come to all my shows!” he said, half pleading, half excited.

“I promise to come to all of the ones I can Glint.” I replied, smiling and giving him a light noogie to the head, to which he grinned broadly before rushing off to play with his friends some more.

We left the orphanage, and headed toward the castle, mostly quiet, but my nervous energy from the social anxiety started to dissipate as I slowly relaxed. By the time we were on the hill toward the castle, I was feeling much better, Stalwart turned toward me as Starlight started to form behind us, walking along now that the town was behind.

“Feeling better?” Stalwart asked.

“Yeah,” I replied, feeling a sense of calm similar to settling back down after a storm, “you?”

“Pretty good. Bruises are healing nicely too.”

“Good.” I said quietly, suddenly remembering that he even had any bruises. He didn’t act like he had them at all since he arrived at my room.

“They said it should all clear up in a few more days, which is really nice timing. I was expecting to have them for nearly a week!”

“Why is that?” I asked

“Well,” He paused, as if trying to figure out how to explain, “feel like making a trip?”

“Why do you ask?” I asked hesitantly, wondering why he would ask that question and how it would relate to his bruises.

“Well, I got a message from the guard this morning that I’m required to take a vacation for a full week as my ‘prize’ for competing. I’ve been thinking of visiting my family the next chance I got,” he said, starting to fidget as we walked, “and my family told me in their last letter they wouldn’t mind meeting you if you decided to come along the next chance I got.”

“Wait… your parents asked about me?”

“I may have brought you up in a couple of my letters here and there.” He chuckled sheepishly.

“Oh.” I replied quietly as I thought this through, already walking into the palace and through the halls on autopilot.

I didn’t expect to be asked to meet someone’s family, and my mind instantly wondered why they wanted me to visit as well. My family never had a huge interest in who my friends were, so if they were at all similar, it couldn’t be for that. My mind rushed to find an answer, wondering if the family was going to judge me as a friend or more if he was going to seek approval from them before making his move. My heart started to pound as I worried about what to do or say. I knew I was worried about what the expectation was, but it was also just as likely I was worrying over nothing like so many times before.

“Is there anything I should bring or know or do?” I asked, trying not to sound as nervous as I felt.

“No, no.” He said, shaking his head, “I just thought you’d want a chance to be with good company, and there’s plenty of study you could do there if you wanted. Knowing pops though, he’ll probably insist you listen to one of his old war stories, fair warning.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’ve talked to colonels a lot before and even a general a couple times,” I smirked, continuing my confident charade, “It helps when you remember that they’re still just a person in the end like everyone else.”

“I see.” He replied, being a bit quieter and thoughtful.

“Are you sure your family won’t mind? I’d hate to intrude…” I asked, half hoping that I could still back out.

“You wouldn’t be intruding, they said they would like to meet you too, remember?”

“Oh yeah…” I replied abashed. “Ok, I’ll go.”

“You really do have a goldfish memory don’t you?” He smirked, getting back to his usual self.

“Only sometimes, but it’s never on purpose.”

“I’m sure it’s not.” He said as we arrived at my room. “I’ll go buy the tickets. We can leave after dinner tonight, so we can arrive there about midday tomorrow. If that’s ok.”

“Sure?” I replied as he left, stunned as to how that progressed and trying not to feel overwhelmed by my own worries. Starlight chuckled as we walked into my room and I glared at him, “What’s so funny?”

“You.” Starlight replied continuing to laugh. “Getting so worked up over this. At best he’s gauging how his family would react to you so he can get his dad’s blessing or something.”

“Help me pack…” I rolled my eyes in reply as I turned away from him and toward my bed.

“Pack what? You haven’t touched that saddlebag Princess Twilight gave you since last night, and you don’t have any clothes to worry about.” He smirked.

“Smartass.” I mumbled, shaking my head, heading toward the bed anyway to climb up on it. I didn’t have any need to sleep, but I was definitely feeling overwhelmed and wanted to relax a bit more before dinner.

----------

“Daaaaaaaaawn.” Stalwart’s voice rang out quietly.

I opened my eyes slowly. It had barely been any time at all since I climbed into bed, he couldn’t be back already. I started to move to stretch but found my legs tucked under me much like Starlight had been this morning, and the air started to feel slightly chilly when I moved until I realized the sun was beating down on my fur, keeping me warm.

“That tired?” Stalwart chuckled, “You’ll be able to rest on the train too you know. Did you pack your things?”

“I did that while she slept, not that she had much other than the books she was given.” Starlight’s voice called out from somewhere behind me. “She always wears that bracelet after all.”

Despite how comfortable I was, I raised my head and fumbled my limbs to get them in place to step down off the bed.

“Have you had dinner yet?” Stalwart asked.

I shook my head, suddenly hearing my stomach growl in comedic response. Aside from the cake at lunch, I hadn’t had anything to eat today. It was a minor discomfort but food would be very welcome. Stalwart chuckled and motioned for us to follow.

Starlight followed behind us, and I could feel his enjoyment of being able to walk the halls freely without looking. Stalwart led us to the kitchen, and there we ate.

Starlight sat nearby, looking around at all the stares he got from the other guardsponies. They didn’t seem to confront him, but it was clear that they were a bit uncomfortable, even suspicious of him.

“Friendly group you got here.” He mumbled to Stalwart.

“Give ‘em time, not too many dark furred ponies around here. With the way your mane is moving, I’d say you’re related to Nightmare Moon if I didn’t know better.”

“That’s,” I hesitated while we picked up our food, trying to remember who that was in the lessons, “that one pony with the thousand year curse right?”

“You could say that.” Stalwart nodded.

“Isn’t that an old wives’ tale though?” Starlight asked. “Like that didn’t ‘actually’ happen, right?”

The room grew very quiet as many of the nearby guards stared openly as Starlight and I shifted in our seats. The tension was so thick it was oppressive.

“I’m guessing I shouldn’t start breaking out into an evil laugh then.” Starlight said loudly, trying to feign confidence to evoke a laugh

The room started to move again, but slowly and with considerably more attentiveness in Starlight’s direction. He shrugged and turned his attention almost exclusively toward Stalwart, his leg starting to tap the floor silently as a nervous tick pulsed between us.

“Hey, let’s go ahead and get some air.” Stalwart said after our silent meal, getting up and heading toward the exit.

I nodded, getting up to follow in silence. Starlight sighed and grumbled under his breath at the surrounding members of the guard, taking long deliberate steps.

“If there’s no objections, I’d like to head to our room.” Starlight said as we stepped into the hall, gaze still turned back toward the dining hall. There was a nod from Stalwart and silence for another minute as we walked before Starlight sighed and continued. “You know, if they weren’t going to take it so seriously I actually think I might have stayed in there. A bit of evil laughter while rubbing my hooves together. Problem is, I doubt they’d be able to take a joke.”

“Yeah… probably best that you didn’t.” Stalwart said, his face barely smiling.

“What do you mean? Did the Nightmare Moon character do that too?” I asked, half intending to tease.

“You… don’t know?” He asked, glancing back at us with obvious confusion as we walked onward, “Didn’t they teach you about it in kindergarten, or on any of your Nightmare Nights?”

“Well yeah,” I hesitated, looking at him with some concern, “but that’s got to be an allegory, right? Or… are you saying that magic can literally change you from one person into another?”

Stalwart slowed as we approached my room, though hesitating to open the door at first. He opened it and gestured for us to go inside. I followed into the room nervously, confused about what the problem was, and fearing the response already. It was not unlike the feeling of preparing for a lecture by my parents, only this time, I wasn’t about to be spanked for misbehaving.

“I heard you met with Princess Twilight Sparkle, yes?” He asked, sitting upright on the floor by the door.

“Briefly, yes.” I nodded, wondering where this would head.

“Did you realize she’s the one who faced Nightmare Moon and broke her curse, turning her back into Princess Luna?”

“No, they never told me anything like that.” I said, surprised at this news of both the princesses.

“Yeah.” Stalwart said solemnly as he opened the door. "You remember our friends Stang and Sable right? Together, we three were chosen to reinforce the guard in Ponyville for the raising of the sun event when Nightmare Moon showed up and attacked. Celestia was taken, and even though we tried our best to protect Ponyville, we were no match for her. It was Princess Twilight and her friends that eventually stopped Nightmare Moon and broke the curse, returning Princess Luna and Celestia both to us again."

“Oh.” I replied quietly. I almost wanted to ask something about how many would know this, or how much others outside of Equestria would know about it, but I couldn’t. Perhaps I could excuse it on the ‘not being from Equestria’ that I’ve used before. My mind wandered to the rest of that lesson, “So, I’ve heard some ponies claim that the Princesses are a thousand years old or older… is that true?”

“Yeah, of course.” Stalwart said, sounding absolutely certain of what he just said.

“Do… do ponies usually live that long?”

“Oh no,” He said, waving a hoof in my direction, “Just the princesses.”

“Oh, so does that mean that Twilight is like, 200 years old or something?”

“No, no.” Stalwart laughed, his big grin returning, “She only became a Princess a few years ago!”

“Wait, became a princess? So she wasn’t an Alicorn before?”

“No…” He said, his laughter starting to fade, “did they not cover that in your lessons?”

“Afraid not.” I said, shaking my head. I couldn’t remember a lesson covering how a pony could become a princess. Admittedly, it was an intriguing idea, and if it allowed for a longer lifespan, perhaps something worth pursuing.

“Well, nothing to worry about. Just goes to show when you said you weren’t from Equestria, you really meant it!” He smiled.

An awkward silence ensued as I gathered the saddlebag and pulled it over my head onto my body with a little help from Starlight. I learned a great deal just then, and I could feel Starlight’s eagerness beside me at the prospects of what this world had to offer. Magic, long life, not to mention some very easily made friends. It was something I felt like I lacked back home, though I probably had more than I realized and took them for granted.

“How much time do we have before we need to be on the train?” I asked with a smile, realizing in a different way how grateful I was to have Stalwart around.

“Not very much time at all.” He smirked, “Come on you two, let’s get moving. We’re going to be late at this rate!”

I smirked and followed him along at a brisk trot as we made our way toward the train station, pleased that he seemed to so readily excuse the slipup earlier.

‘And to think, if I hadn’t told him I wasn’t from Equestria I would have been stared at and ostracized by everyone too…’ I thought, rather pleased with myself.

‘Gee, is that supposed to make me feel better?’ Starlight mumbled quietly in my ear.

‘Sorry… At least Stalwart understands, even likes having you around it seems like.’

‘We’ll see.’ He said, going silent as we continued our trot to the outskirts of town.

We arrived rather quickly at the train station, watching the prior ponies just leaving the train as the cleaning crew entered the cabins and started their work. We stood around, allowing me to take a second to catch my breath.

‘Note to self,’ I thought to Starlight, ‘asthma still sucks.’

‘At least you’re only somewhat out of breath. Back home you would have been breathing hard after about twenty paces.’ He teased in response as the cleaning ponies left the cabins, nodding to us with a smile on their faces.

Stalwart handed our tickets in to the conductor and we boarded the train soon after, heading to one of the private cabins. I closed the door behind us, and Starlight faded into view, walking up onto the booth seat to lay across the cushion.

I climbed up onto the opposite seat, where Stalwart had already laid down, and settled myself at his side, not bothering to take off the saddlebags. They didn’t really hurt my back at all to keep on, and they were being supported by the seat-cushions anyway.

“So Dawn, I’m curious, and you’ve never given me a clear answer,” Stalwart started, causing my body to tense. If I hadn’t given an answer, it was probably related to my past. “I have to ask, just where were you on that night of the midsummer’s festival? It was only a few years ago, and I know there was an eclipse the whole day, do you remember that?”

I bit my lip, trying to think of what I could say. I could tell the truth, but I have no idea how well it’d be received. I could lie, but he’d catch it eventually I was certain. Perhaps just enough truth would be enough to satisfy him like it had before…

“Well…” I thought hard, now trying to remember where I was in the summer a few years ago. I was homeless, and if it was daytime, it would have been at a local café for internet access, probably playing games where I should have been applying for jobs. I spent far too much time trying to relieve stress, though there were only so many applications one could do.

“Yes?” He asked, appearing to still be waiting on me.

“I’m sorry…” I apologized, giving up on that train of thought as I looked down at the floor. “I don’t know if I can tell you.”

“What do you mean?” He asked quietly.

“We made a promise to Princess Celestia on something related that subject,” Starlight cut in, taking away the spotlight. “It’s not that she doesn’t want to tell, it’s that we’re not allowed to at the moment.”

“I see.” Stalwart nodded, appearing to consider what he was told further.

“I’m sorry.” I repeated quietly to him as guilt clenched at my heart, laying down as the train whistle blew and the wheels grinded against the tracks until we began to move.

“I understand.” He replied in kind, shifting in his seat next to me, his shoulder bumping against mine.

I blushed a little while the train continued moving onward, feeling comforted that his opinion of me had not altered so much that he didn’t trust me. I only realized it after I finally calmed but I realized just how much I was terrified of his rejection if I didn’t meet his expectations.

“You said your family lives in Vancouver, right Stalwart?” I asked after the sun set, watching Luna raise the moon to its spot in the sky.

“It’s Van Hoover Dawn.” He chuckled.

“Oh, right.” I forgot he told me earlier, but it’s so similar to the other city name I couldn’t help myself. So many similarities, and yet so many differences littered this world. The map in Lemon Bloom’s class wasn’t terribly descriptive, but other city names like Manehattan crossed my mind and made me chuckle on the inside.

“Is there a city similar to Peoria perhaps?” I asked, trying to make it sound like idle conversation.

“You mean Peonia? Yeah, we’ll be passing through there in about half an hour. Why?”

“Interesting…” I thought, wondering if it’s at all similar to the hometown I grew up in.

“Why do you ask?” Stalwart asked, letting out a yawn and yet somehow looking interested in the process.

“I may have been to a place like it on a few occasions.” I worded cautiously, so I could still be truthful. I kept a smile on my face though, so he would think I was still being playful as always.

“Oh? I thought you had never been to Equestria before. You haven’t snuck out of the castle without me noticing have you?” He teased before adding, “Maybe you can show me around then?”

“S-sure?” I nodded, trying not to let my heartrate skyrocket as I realized it was entirely possible that nothing about the town would be the same. On top of that he reminded me that I said I had never been to Equestria before. Worry started to cross my mind as the illusion of my being a slightly eccentric citizen of this world was so close to unravelling.

“I look forward to it.” He said quietly, yawning a second time before laying his head down while still appearing to have a satisfied smile on his face.

I nodded, feeling much too awake for sleep just yet, but nothing was really viewable outside, and the lights inside were dimmed down so I couldn’t read. With nothing better to do than worry, I laid down to sleep beside him.

Sooner than I expected, it was morning, scenery still passing by outside the window. Stalwart already had woken up and as I awoke, I realized my head was nestled on the base of his neck by his shoulders. Surprised, I pulled my head back and started rubbing my wrists against my eyes to help myself wake.

“Well, somepony certainly slept in! I hope my back was comfortable.” He chuckled, rumbling my side with his deep tones. “Waking up just before sunrise was also a nice way to start this vacation too I suppose.”

“Y-yeah.” I mumbled, still slightly embarrassed at how I had used him as a pillow during my sleep.

Starlight’s chuckle rang from the other side of the cabin, his form curled up but his head still alert. It looked like he slept in as much as I had. I was about to ask him what he did in his spare time when a loud yet muted whistle blew around the train.

I looked out the window, and watched as a mountain pass coming up ahead, with various other mountains surrounding us, many of which still have snow on them despite the time of the year.

“That’s the one hour left whistle I think, either that or they wanted to warn whatever was up ahead to get off the tracks.” He sighed before adding, “It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to see my family. We only get a vacation about once or twice a year, and usually around Hearth’s Warming Eve and Nightmare Night, and even then, some guards don’t get to have Nightmare Night off, needing to be on patrol and everything.”

“That’s no fun… so do you just miss out on celebrating it?”

“Of course not.” He smirked, “While it’s not quite the same, we have a basement room or three in the palace set up by some of the townsponies and get our turn to be scared by some of their tricks.”

“Well, it’s good that you get a chance to celebrate it.” I replied, still waking up.

“What, you don’t like being scared?” Stalwart asked.

“No, very much no.” I said, shaking my head for emphasis. “I don’t mind the idea of the costumes or even the games I’ve heard of, but getting scared? I try to avoid that. The less heart attacks I get the longer I’ll live.”

“Oh really?” He smirked, wheels in his head obviously turning as I looked on with uncertainty, “I’ll have to test that someday.”

The train whistle blew again, right as we entered the dark tunnel to cross the mountain pass. My mind flashed to the map of home compared to this world and chuckled, thinking we probably would have passed Spokane a while ago then, or something similar, maybe Boise.

Starlight vanished almost instantly when we heard hoofsteps walk along the hall of our cabin. His fear of being caught and being asked for a ticket flooded to my mind while my heart started to race alongside Starlight’s. The conductor walked along the hall, waved to us as if nothing was amiss and went on his way.

“Yeah, might be a good idea to stay out of sight there Starlight.” I said out loud.

“Agreed.” His voice rang out from my horn, “I just couldn’t help it. Think I could be out while with your family Stalwart?”

“Probably a bad idea.” Stalwart shook his head, “You know it’s okay around me, but I know you’re a part of Dawn. I’m not so sure my father would be so pleased to see you, and I didn’t tell them about you much at all either.”

“Okay, I see how it is.” Starlight teased, adding in, “That was sarcasm by the way.”

“I know. You and Dawn aren’t that different.” He smirked.

“Heyyy! I resemble that remark!” Starlight protested, eliciting a laugh from all of us.

I got off the seat to stretch, my back starting to ache as I remembered I hadn’t take off my saddlebag at all. The weight was still supported by the seat I was on, but it was probably not a good idea to have slept with it on.

It seemed like only minutes later we were standing at the doors to walk out on the platform. My heart raced as I stood as close to Stalwart as possible without touching him. He knew the people and the area, so I shouldn’t get lost easily if I stuck by his side.

We stepped off the train as soon as it allowed, several other ponies starting to get in with machines on their backs, presumably to clean the train before it was boarded again. No sooner than we had walked ten steps Stalwart slowed, and when I looked at his face, he had a broad smile.

“Welcome home son!” a lady’s voice sounded from in front of us and before I knew it, an off-white pony was hugging Stalwart.

“Thanks Mom.” He said quietly, though clearly very happy about seeing her, “It’s been too long.”

“It has, it has.” She nodded, turning to face me, “So you must be Miss Meadow Dawn.”

“Yes ma’am.” I said, bowing to greet her.

“Oh please, you’re going to make me feel like an old mare. Just call me Trickshot.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” I replied, bobbing my head politely.

“Come, we’ll get you home in time for some tea, and then you can settle in, and we’ll have a wonderful dinner together.”

“Mom, you really don’t have to-” Stalwart interjected, only to be interrupted.

“Ah ah ah, you know how it is when guests arrive, your father expects nothing less.” She said, cutting him off and walking away from the platform.

“Good ol’ Mom.” He chuckled, a smile broad on his face, “Come on Dawn, let’s go.”

I nodded, following them across busy streets and ignoring the loud bustling of those around us. I lost track of how we were getting anywhere quickly, and kept my focus on Stalwart and his mother. Eventually, things quieted and there were foals playing in schoolyard as we approached the residences.

When we finally arrived, I stood in front of a brick built two story home, with a well-kept lawn and a flower garden in front of the windows, a couple evergreen bushes dotted symmetrically and well maintained.

“Welcome to our home Meadow, I know it’s not much, but we do what we can.” Stalwart’s mother said happily.

“Please, it looks lovely.” I said, recognizing she could be looking for the praise, but wanting to play it safe and validate her effort.

“Thank you dear. Still, we couldn’t get anything exotic this year.” She turned to face stalwart with a smirk, “Your father is still trying to get me to plant some crimson lilies in the back yard!” She laughed heartily at the idea.

Stalwart smirked as he walked toward the building after his mother, who was still chuckling but standing at the now open door.

I followed him inside, mindful to wipe my hooves on the welcome mat. The bristles tickled, and looking around, it seemed like a very nice upper middle class home. To the left was a wide area that looked like a small library with wide windows to let a lot of light into the room, several comfortable wide chairs in an almost circle between the shelves. To the right was a dining room and just beyond was a sparkling kitchen. It seemed like they were either very serious about cleanliness, or had gotten wind of our arrival.

“Stalwart Shield, report!” a sharp deep voice called out from the top of some stairs that sounded like they were behind the reading-living room.

Starlight walked to the living room and stood to attention rigidly as a white stallion came into view, his hoofsteps silent on the thick light brown carpeting.

“Nothing to report at this time sir.” He said calmly, appearing to wait for something.

“Nothing to report eh? Not going to introduce me to your guest in my home?” the stallion smirked.

“Sir, this is Meadow Dawn, a mare of Canterlot castle, guest to Princess Celestia. Permission to introduce?”

“At ease son… Welcome home.” He said, getting much less gruff and giving him a hug, their limbs wrapping each other’s necks before starting to get into an impromptu wrestling match.

I stood there, chuckling quietly at the scene. I suspected it was all a show or some kind of ritual as it ended pretty quickly, the father being the victor.

“What do you even call that?” He said gruffly, “You getting soft up at that castle boy?”

“No sir,” Stalwart groaned, “Still sore from the demonstration, Bruises haven’t healed either.”

“Don’t tell me you lost the match,” He sighed, before adding “We’ll talk about it later.” He turned and started to stride toward me, “You must be this Dawn my son keeps talking about eh?”

“Yes sir.” I said crisply, starting to stand more at attention myself.

“I’m Stone Wall, retired captain of the royal guard.” He said, introducing himself as he added, “You’re not in the guard like my boy, right?”

“No sir.”

“So what do you do for your living then?” he asked, walking toward the living room.

“I’m studying magic so I can fix an old magical relic for a friend.” I said, walking at his pace toward the living room before coming to a stop at attention by Stalwart’s side.

“Oh? Dangerous business I hear.” Stone Wall commented quietly.

“Yes sir.” I replied, figuring I’d keep it simple. He seemed to be the type of military that was more formal and to the point. I worked with plenty of those before, but I couldn’t help but think back to my old job at the same time.

“And you’re still going to try?”

“Yes sir.” I said quietly, in the most determined voice I could muster.

There was a small moment of silence before he smirked quietly, “Meadow, if you stand much more at attention you’re going to put my son to shame. Are you wanting to wrestle too?”

“No sir.” I said, trying to will my body into relaxing, yet not feeling it budge an inch.

“You sure you’re not a guardspony?” Stone Wall asked, eyeing me over again as Stalwart stood nearby.

“No sir, I’ve just worked with the military in the past.”

“Oh, so you’re like Trish then!” He exclaimed, “Medical field pony like her then?”

“No sir. Insurance.”

“Ah.” He said, his apparent interest waning almost immediately, “Well, it’s good to meet you Meadow, welcome to our home.”

“Thank you sir.” I said. Thinking to the interaction Stalwart had just a minute ago with a slight smile, I added, “Permission to relax sir?”

“Permission granted.” Stone Wall laughed, heading toward the dining room, leaving Stalwart and myself alone as Trickshot prepared the tea.

“Well, color me impressed. He really likes you,” Stalwart said, turning around to head toward the dining room, “You never told me about any of that before though.”

“I… probably shouldn’t have in hindsight,” I admitted, realizing just how much more I slipped up due to my old world’s training. “Still, now you know?”

“Yes,” He chuckled, “but not everything. Maybe you’ll tell me one of these days?”

“I hope I can.” I said quietly, slipping off the saddlebag and tucking it alongside a chair on my way out to the dining room.

“So Stalwart, how did the tournament go?” Trickshot asked as she used her mouth to hold a teapot by the handle and poured cups for everyone. Once she finished serving tea, she offered cookies from a small platter, which we moved onto plates with our hooves.

“It went pretty well. My bruises are starting to heal, but it was rough. Silver Wing’s fighting style is just so strange. He stands on his hind legs and uses his hooves to move attacks around him, and gives some pretty powerful hits if you’re left open.”

“Wait, is this the same Silver that Breezy’s training to fly??” Stone Wall asked. “The one who knocked Black Mane out on his first day?”

“Yes sir.” Stalwart nodded, though with a confused look on his face.

"Huh," He said looking more thoughtfully, "Breezy's been telling me about his progress, and how he's even managed to make friends with his daughter. He's got some talent." He cleared his throat and looked at Stalwart more seriously. "Still, you're a trained guard stationed within the heart of the royal palace. You could be a throne room personal guard if you wanted to be. The fact that you lost to an untrained Pegasus that only just learned how to fly, means only one thing. You were sloppy."

“No sir, you taught me better than that.” Stalwart protested, “His karate isn’t like anything I’ve seen.”

“That’s because it isn’t karate.” I added, intending to clarify

“Then what is it?” his father asked, taking a drink from the tea, adding quietly as he looked at his wife, “Wonderful as always Trish.”

“I don’t know what it’s called, but Silver and I know of a lot of varieties of hand to hand combat exist where we’re from. It could be any one of those martial arts.”

“Nonsense, there isn’t any other kind of fighting without weapons.” Stone wall protested

“With all due respect sir,” I stated abruptly, not wanting that misconception to continue, “that was the only reason Stalwart lost. Even then, he was always the last one standing, and did a remarkable job from what everyone has said. He even got Luna standing up and excited from what I’ve heard from his friends.”

“Is that true son?”

“I have no idea, but that’s what they tell me.”

“So, how did it go then?”

I listened as Stalwart recounted the matches as best as he was able. I took the chance to glance around the room and watch his parents interact. They seemed quite pleasant. The dad was clearly pleased to have their son home, and while at first the mother was serving everyone, she was sitting down next to her husband and leaning in to the conversation or on him throughout the talks.

Stalwart continued to tell them about various things, his duties, the play, even the cuteseanera, before they excused themselves to the living room. I stayed behind, noticing Trickshot was cleaning up after everyone.

“Would you like any help ma’am?” I offered.

“Oh no, thank you darling but I’ve got it. Go visit with Stalwart if you want.”

I smiled appreciatively, bowing my head in thanks before walking into the living room. Stalwart was sitting on one of the wide chairs, taking up a little less than half of it, sitting upright and talking with his father about various barracks gossip that we had already talked about before and I generally didn’t care for a great deal. Seeing there was enough room, I climbed up onto his chair and laid down on it beside him, tucking my legs under me, though my hooves leaned out in front of the seat. It was almost a strange feeling as I instinctually wanted to grab the fabric, yet had no fingers to.

“So, how was it you met my son, Miss Dawn?” He asked as he reclined into his chair comfortably, his legs under his frame much like I was seated.

“Well, I arrived at Canterlot late at night, was wandering around a bit lost, and he was one of the first guards I saw there I think. I do know that when I woke, he was the one who came to my room to get me up that morning for breakfast with Princess Celestia, only to get told off for taking the initiative.” I said, smirking in his direction. “Still, he went above and beyond to make me feel comfortable in Equestria, and I’m quite pleased at where it’s gone so far.”

“And what brought you to Canterlot?”

“Well,” I hesitated, looking briefly at Stalwart, wondering what I could say. “it wasn’t intentional at first, but I was there to study magic and learn what I could.”

“Is that why you’ve been getting your magic lessons from Lemon Bloom?”

“You know her?” I gasped in surprise.

“Of course! She and her husband Breezy are old friends of mine!” He chuckled, “So how is it that a unicorn your age hasn’t earned her horn yet, hm?”

“I… don’t follow.” I said hesitantly. I had never heard anyone refer to a phrase like ‘earned her horn’ to date, and while I could try to infer what that meant, I didn’t think I had a good enough context to guess.

“Oh hush you old fool,” Trickshot chuckled, “Leave the girl be, she had a long trip here after all.”

“No really, it’s ok, I don’t mind.” I shook my head, feeling Stalwart’s fur brush against my own and trying not to blush, “I’m just a bit nervous is all.”

“No reason for that, just striking up conversation.” Stone Wall said dismissively. “You said at one point you hope to fix magical things?”

“Yes sir.” I nodded.

“No need to ‘sir’ me lass. Just call me Stone Wall, or maybe Wally… nah, still doesn’t feel right after all these years.”

“Yes sir- Stone.” I hesitated, “I’ve already fixed one, a telekinesis bracelet.”

“Oh really?” he asked.

“It’s the one I’m wearing. I hardly ever take it off anymore, though I really like having it up high than dangling down low.” I said, motioning to my forelimb, where it stayed about a hoof-print down from my main body. “Would you like to see it?”

“No no, that’s fine. Never been one for magic. I’ll leave that to the unicorns and princesses.” Stone Wall firmly declined.

“Well then, Stalwart, would you like to give your father a demonstration?” I asked.

“Why not? It’ll show them how far you’ve come since you started learning magic a few moons ago.” Stalwart agreed, stepping down off the seat as I watched his mother slip quietly into the room and take the seat next to her husband.

I slipped off the bracelet from its position and smiled gently at watching those two together. Something just clicked as a very relaxing sight to spot his parents getting along so nicely and close together, though the way he gave her a kiss on the neck certainly didn’t hurt. I blinked a few times and turned my gaze more fully to the bracelet which I finally slid off my limb and handed to Stalwart, who slid it on.

“Ok pops, point out an object and I’ll grab it from where I’m standing.” He said before quietly mumbling in my direction, “I hope I still remember how to do this.”

“How about the newspaper in the bin?” Stone Wall grudgingly stated.

Stalwart looked in that direction, and with a look of pained concentration, started to lift the whole bin. He stopped, set the bin down and refined his focused lift to just the newspaper stored inside. Slowly, he started levitating it over to his father, who watched with a stoic face that made me think he was very impressed and just hiding it. He accepted the paper and looked over the title for a few seconds before nodding.

"That'll do son," he said, then looked back to me, "That's quite the trinket. Especially for a unicorn that only just learned to use her magic recently, according to Lemon Bloom anyway."

“Thank you, I’m quite happy with it.” I nodded toward him with an embarassed smile.

Stalwart nodded and took the bracelet off, handing it back to me. I placed it back at its usual place on my forelimb as I heard Stone Wall clear his throat.

“How come you didn’t use any of it growing up?" Stone Wall asked, "Seems to me you could have made a name for yourself if you had started earlier. Something happen?”

“You… could say that. Yes.” I admitted. I wanted to say more, that it was because it wasn’t an option, that it was taboo or evil, something. Despite my desire, I had to resist, because once I start explaining, it’s difficult to stop.

“Shame. What happened?” he asked, seeming genuinely interested, well, as interested as he could be with his arm around his wife.

“I…” I hesitated, not sure what to say. I don’t want to lie, not to Stalwart’s family for the same reason I don’t want to lie to him, but as I looked at his expectant face, I realized I once again would have to settle for partial truth. ‘So much for holding back.’ I thought to myself before speaking again. “I grew up being taught that magic, along with a lot of other normal things, was wrong. Combine this with my education never touching on magical studies and then some survival concerns, I wasn’t exactly in the best of positions to be learning about magic.”

“Hm. Things are better now though yes?” Stone Wall asked quietly

“Quite a bit better mostly. Though I still miss my family a bit, truth be told they likely won’t have realized I’m gone, though my old workplace has probably long since fired me for my disappearance.” I chuckled, “Still, less worry for my friends or family to have, eh?”

“What do you mean?” Trickshot asked quietly.

“Let me put it this way. Even when I was within reach of family, I only saw my brothers rarely. My dad passed away about seven years ago, and my mom,” I hesitated, wondering how to put it, thinking of all the time I spent homeless or went hungry, “she wasn’t ok with who and what I am.”

“I see. Stalwart suggested you’ve had it rough, but we didn’t think it would be quite like that.” She said kindly.

“It’s ok. I’ve learned to make the most of what I’ve been given, I’m even glad for some of my experience. I’ve learned that people aren’t nearly as bad as my parents or their beliefs suggested, and did a fair bit of travelling more than others my age. I think that’s the main reason I have my cutie mark, because despite any hardship, I mostly kept looking for the good side of things, or hoping for a better outcome in the end.”

“Yes, well,” Stone Wall started to speak, seeming to give some consideration, “shame about the family situation, I’d think any parent would be proud of you.”

“Thanks…” I said quietly, not sure how to take the compliment, thinking about my family back home.

“You really have done well Dawn.” Stalwarts voice stated next to me as he leaned against me with a hoof rubbing my back briefly

“Thanks Stalwart.” I blushed, realizing he was doing that in full view of his parents.

“You both must be tired from your travels. Stalwart, your room is ready. Dawn, the guest room is just across from his.” Trickshot smiled gently at us.

“Thanks Mom” Stalwart nodded with a smile before stepping down off the furniture before heading toward the stairs in the back.

“Thank you.” I echoed, following him up the stairs, our steps echoing against the wall.

Stalwart turned at the top of the stairs, following the hall back toward the front of the house and stopped just past a pair of doors.

“Here we are Dawn, this is your room here then.” He gestured to the room on the left.

“Trying to be a guard even at home eh?” I smirked, opening the door.

“Pops expects nothing less.” He chuckled.

The room was simple, with matching endtables and a reasonably sized bed, with a dresser and a mirror just above it at head height.

“Very quaint, I like it.” I smiled, wiggling my hooves at the carpet and enjoying the feeling. It was almost as satisfying as being barefoot. “I may just spend a little bit of time on my own here if that’s ok.”

“That should be fine. Lunch is in an hour though. I’ll be by to check on you then.” Stalwart said, closing the door behind him as he left.

I smiled and walked over to the bed, climbing up on the spring mattress and stretched.

‘Well, that felt like it took forever.’ I sighed out loud, smiling as if Starlight were laying on the bed in front of me.

‘In a way it did. Still, at least we have a room to call our own and escape when we need to.’ He replied wearily, though with some optimism at the end.

‘Aye, I’ve had more than enough talking for now though, let’s just enjoy the quiet while we can.’ I said, closing my eyes and letting my breathing slow. I already slept plenty, but taking a moment to rest after the tension of being in a new place and meeting new people was more than welcome.

Vanhoover

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I stretched out on the bed and sighed. It felt nice to know I could relax away from others, just like my room in Canterlot. I laid in the bed for a few minutes, enjoying the quiet peace around me before taking a breath and starting to climb back down. I was a guest in someone’s home, and I knew the polite thing to do was to socialize as much as my hosts wanted until it was time to separate. With a final stretch of my back legs, I headed over to the door and started to reach my magic to the handle.

“Hey Dawn, mind getting those books for me and leaving them in the room? I’d like to try studying whenever you’re not busy if I can.” Starlight’s voice sounded from behind me.

I froze by the door, now worried why Starlight’s voice wasn’t internal. I slowly turned back to see Starlight and my heart nearly leapt out of my chest in concern. Fears of someone coming along and opening the door rushing to my mind as I went to the door and put my rump to it to keep it from opening easily.

“Star!” I called out in a frantic hiss, “Celestia said not to appear when we’re not in Canterlot!”

“I know, I’ll be careful.” He waved dismissively. “I’ll only be in this room, and I’ll disappear as soon as someone opens the door… come on Dawn, you know how good we were at hiding our gaming habits from mom and dad.”

“We flirted with danger a bit too often back then.” I paused and remembered those days where I was forbidden to play except on three day weekends and the like, even then only an hour a day. We were never satisfied with this, and could have never finished an RPG like that. There were close calls though, shutting off the tv after turning it to the right input, finding the right hiding spot from in bed or the bathroom to avoid suspicion. In the end we were caught, but after how many hours we put in together? I wasn’t sure if I could count.

“Dawn, I’m bored out of my mind. All I’m asking for is a chance to do something else, even this would be a chance to do something productive.” He pleaded.

“Heh, is that so?” I bit back a chuckle. It was almost strange to hear that request, knowing half the time our desire to be productive was hit or miss. Even so, as long as he was attentive like we were back then, it should be fine. “All right, but play it as safe as you can.”

“I will, promise.” He said with a confident smile before disappearing from sight as I opened the door.

I walked through and closed the door behind me, knowing that Starlight would reappear in the room and hopefully study when I return. In hindsight, while I doubted how productive he’d be, I had to admit, for anyone that wanted to know me they would eventually learn of Starlight’s existence.

I paused at the top of the stairwell, hearing tidbits of the conversation. Without knowing why, my heart started to pound and get heavy as I worried about what I could hear. Stone Wall’s voice echoed predominantly with Stalwart’s replies starting to come as well. I knew it was impolite to eavesdrop, but I wanted to know what they were talking about before rejoining more.

“Why did she say hand to hand back at dinner son? She doesn’t have any that I see.” Stone Wall’s voice asked as I approached the flight of stairs, still out of sight. Guilt crept over my body as I realized I slipped up on the right word once again.

It was hard enough back in Canterlot, trying to say the right things, but I sequestered myself a lot outside of Stalwart. It didn’t help that now Stalwart was in the awkward position of trying to defend my mannerisms without potentially know why. I took a deep breath and started to stride down the stairs, ready to help explain, though with a vague thought of promising to myself to be better at using their terms.

“I don’t really know. She hasn’t explained it before, but she keeps gesturing with her hooves, so it’s clear she means them. She never says anypony either, always everybody or everyone. I’ve been meaning to ask.” Stalwart said from his couch, hesitating as I watched him look in my direction during my descent.

“Hm. I don’t recall anypony doing it that way, not even the minotaur representatives back in the day.” Stone Wall said thoughtfully from his seat. His voice trailed as he turned to see me at the base of the stairs now, heading toward Stalwart.

“Well, where I’m from,” I said as I scrambled to think of any explanation that could work. “You called your front hooves hands, and your rear hooves feet. So you can tell whether someone means front or back.”

“Ain’t heard a place that does that, but if you say so.” Stone Wall shrugged as Trickshot entered the room.

“Stalwart, why don’t you go ahead and take Dawn out for a stroll. I’m going to put dinner together and I’m sure the two of you want a chance to stretch your legs a bit.” Trickshot offered gently as she took a place by her husband, her presence already helping him noticeably calm.

“That sounds like a good idea mom. You feel up to it Dawn?” Stalwart asked, turning toward me expectantly as he stepped down off the couch.

“Sure, why not?” I replied with a smile. It’d be nice to avoid needing to talk about my differences in speech after all. I really need to figure out a good excuse for these things or finally adapt to their sayings again. I let myself get comfortable and lax with Stalwart, and that needs to change.

‘I’ll come along Dawn.’ Starlight said, ‘Can’t stay too far away from you or I get pulled along anyway. Mind grabbing the saddlebag? Harder to forget to bring it to your room later that way.’

‘Sure, might as well put it there right away. Carrying it with me is going to hurt after a while I bet.’ I replied before adding out loud, “I’ll be right there, just wanting to put my bag away before we go.”

I picked up the saddlebag with my magic and floated it behind me as I approached my room, eventually setting it down beside the foot of the bed. After taking the stairs and walking out, I let out a quiet sigh before realizing Stalwart turned his head toward me in response.

“Sorry about that, he was trying to find a way to figure that out without needing to bother you.” Stalwart said as we turned onto the sidewalk, setting a gentle pace. “For a stern military man, he occasionally has a sense of tact.”

“I see” I chuckled, “Well, to answer the question better, it’s just what everyone, I mean everypony would say back home. I’m just too used to it to forget it entirely.” I paused before looking around at the buildings, noticing a change from the houses and lawns we had passed, “Where are we headed?”

“Just down the street toward a particular… well,” he smirked, “Let’s just say I suspect you’ll enjoy the sight of it.”

“Oh? Come on Stalwart, tell me more.” I replied slowly, hoping to sound coy instead of begging.

“Patience.” He chuckled, “You’ll enjoy it plenty when we get there.”

I groaned quietly, trying to keep it inside as I tried to look around at the streets. Countless ponies passed by on both sides of the sidewalk. It was almost surprising to me to see this much bustle. Canterlot has its own business to it, but I never went out among the heavier traffic times for exactly this reason.

I tried to suppress any feelings of panic at being lost in the crowd as I started to stick to Stalwart’s side like glue. We walked through the throngs of ponies before catching sight of a giant globe building up ahead.

“What’s that?” I asked as we stopped near the crowd surrounding the place.

“The Magic Globe. It’s a popular attraction here, showing all kinds of different magic that unicorns can do, from teleportation to levitation to illusion. Though they employ several magicians for entertainment too. It helped my little sister a lot when she was a foal.”

“That sounds great!” I laughed, feeling excited at the prospects of seeing more advanced magics that I might yet be able to master. The idea of magicians was a bit surprising, but I suppose in a world full of magic, sometimes it’s nice to have a ‘different’ kind of magic to be amazed at. “Will I be seeing your sister during our visit? You’ve mentioned her to me before…”

“Not that I could tell. She’s been busy out in Manehattan, might not have gotten a lot of time off. Still, we always get to see her around Nightmare Night and Hearth’s Warming Eve.” He said looking over and gesturing to the giant globe, “Hey, what do you think of popping in for a bit to get you going?”

“No, not yet.” I smirked back at him, “I’d rather have a day or two to study in there. I learn best by example, and if they’re demonstrating these magics, I’ll need time to see them all. Besides, with any luck, I’ll understand things so well I’ll stand a good chance of doing them myself.”

If you say so.” Stalwart chuckled, “When my sister visited, a lot of the magics inspired her, but she never could use the advanced magic, like teleportation, and struggled with some of their ‘intermediate’ stuff. Most ponies can’t quite get the hang of it, though I suppose you’ll be fine if you did it already.” He teased.

“And like I said before,” I said as we turned away from the crowd, walking down another street, “Star’s teacher said that it was a one off thing, that we didn’t do it the ‘right’ way and it was exceedingly dangerous.”

“Well, I don’t know this teacher of his, but I’m sure you can do whatever you put your mind to.” He replied as he turned us down another road.

I nodded, remembering how my parents always said the same thing. I never did apply myself too much. I just didn’t seem to have a particular goal in mind before, so I couldn’t put my effort behind it and rested on my intelligence to coast through school.

Thinking back to my old life while walking beside him, I still had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I missed my old way of living to an extent. I missed being on two legs and being self-sustaining despite the hardships I encountered, and I half-missed my family. Even so, my family was a good reason not to go back. I had to move away from them in the first place because it was causing me so much pain to have the reminders that they didn’t care about their own child or brother.

“You ok Dawn? You went quiet on me.” Stalwart asked as we crossed yet another street.

“Oh, yeah, just… thinking about home, and if I had the chance, whether I’d go back.” I said, realizing just how much I really enjoyed being here. Stalwart was attentive, and becoming a really good friend at the very least. Combine that with all the magic that could be done, and the suggestions from Celestia and Luna that our combined magic was a force to be reckoned with and I had more in this world than any other.

“Well, you’d be missed, though if it’s not any trouble, I wouldn’t mind visiting you when I get some downtime.” He smiled.

“Oh really?” I chuckled, “And how good are you at balancing on two legs?”

“What?” He looked back in surprise.

‘Damn, I really need to think about what I’m saying!’ I internally cursed as I realized I really surprised him.

‘Gee, no shit Sherlock!’ Starlight teased.

‘oh shush you.’ I replied back in the same cheerful manner.

“Never mind, it’s an inside joke.” I spoke, trying to make him pass it off as a not so serious answer.

“Ah.” Stalwart said, trying to smile, though it definitely seemed forced to me.

“What I mean to say,” I added, worried he might have felt hurt or like I was pushing him away. I thought hard on to fix what I said so it made more sense, “is you’d be welcome to come visit when I’m home… the problem is, it’s probably going to be a one-way trip.”

“Why’s that?” Stalwart asked.

“It’s… complicated.” I hesitated, barely remembering the promise made when I first arrived, “I have to double check with Princess Celestia to see how much I’m able to say on the matter, I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok. If they don’t want you to say, that’s fine. I still trust you.” He smiled as he gave a brief hug before we approached the entrance to a tall tower-like building with a saucer near the top.

“So,” I sighed, feeling sad that I couldn’t be completely honest with him. He was doing his best to work with me despite these limits and my own faults, and was doing a wonderful job of it. “What’s this place?”

“One of the best views in Vanhoover.” He smirked as we stepped into the doors of a small, mostly glass room. “I know you don’t like heights, but I hope you’ll still like this anyway.”

I gasped as the room started to rise and I quickly cursed my inattentiveness. Of course if I had paid attention, I would have known I was in an elevator! I stood next to him, as close as allowed as I watched the ground go away from us and the tops of buildings come into view. Elevators weren’t incredibly scary on their own, but this was one of those times where a hand-rail would have been really nice to hold onto, so Stalwart would be the next best thing.

I watched as the buildings stopped blocking the view, and the sight was rather breathtaking. I still felt shaky on my hooves, but even as someone who undervalued aesthetics, I could appreciate the ability to see the entire layout of the city. The elevator stopped, and Stalwart guided me along the semi-crowded top floor, where other ponies of many ages appreciated the view in their own ways.

“So, what do you think of my home?” He asked quietly, my ears barely hearing the question over some of the foals playing in the background.

“It’s big, but it’s a wonderful sight to be sure.” I said, slowly pacing the circle with him as I continued to look outward, stopping as we started to see more of the ocean.

“I’m glad you like it.” He said calmly, stopping with me as I soaked in the view.

We stood together on that lookout for some time, occasionally changing what part of the city we looked at. Stalwart talked a fair bit, telling me stories about a couple of the restaurants his family ate at, or field trips he went on while at his school. It was genuinely nice to listen to him talk.

Soon enough though, we took one of the inside elevators back down so the heights didn’t scare me so much. Standing next to him like I had on the way up somehow made me feel better this time around. I gave him a warm smile as we stepped out of the elevator and he returned the smile, the two of us heading onward through the winding streets once again.

I had no idea where he was taking me yet again. This city was huge, and it didn’t help I inherited my mother’s sense of direction, or lack thereof. When the nicer residences came into view I realized he was taking us back home.

“We’re home!” Stalwart called out as we wiped our hooves on the doormat.

“Good timing, the lasagna is almost ready.” Trickshot answered, smiling at us from the dining room while she set the plates for everyone. “How’d you enjoy the tour Dawn?”

“It was really nice. I’m looking forward to the giant globe place if I can get the chance. I always learned things better after a demonstration of the theory, though knowing the theory can really help after the fact.”

“Good, I’m sure you’ll get a lot out of it.” She said approvingly before she left toward the kitchen.

Stalwart and I took up our seats at the table in the dining room to wait. Stone Wall was already sitting at the table, reading his newspaper

“Fair warning Dawn,” Stalwart smirked, keeping his face pointed at me but looking over at his father across from him, “a certain pony at this table enjoys telling stories after eating their fill.”

“Wut!” Stone Wall barked suddenly, his newspaper folding deftly and being set aside as he eyed us both, “What’s this about stories?”

“Nothing dad.” Stalwart chuckled.

“I’m sure regardless of if somepony tells a story or not,” I said slowly, taking the extra time to not slip up on the wrong phrase again after being caught before the trip, “there’s much that a pony can learn from an experienced veteran.”

“Heh,” He started to smirk, “She reminds me of a certain stallion when he was just a colt, always complimenting his father.” He started to chuckle as he turned toward Stalwart, who rolled his eyes with a smile, as if playfully disregarding his father’s comment.

Any further conversation was quieted as Trickshot carefully carried the glass pan for the lasagna to the table. She started to gesture to me, indicating I should take the first slice. I smiled appreciatively, and used my magic to place a corner piece onto my plate.

“Who’s next?” I asked, still levitating the scoop.

“Dear, you don’t have to.” Trickshot said, standing nearby.

“Thank you, but I’d like to if that’s ok with you.” I said with an appreciative smile.

Trickshot nodded and walked over to her seat with her husband as I gave each one the serving they wanted to get. Setting the scoop down, we all began to eat.

The food was delicious. It reminded me a great deal of home, and while it didn’t have any meat in it, I was more than satisfied after that one slice. I tried not to chuckle during the last stages of dinner though, Stalwart and Stone Wall looked like they were playfully glaring at each other before serving themselves seconds.

Once everyone had their fill, we walked over to the living room and settled down on the furniture. I took a moment to go up to my room and checked in on Starlight, who was sitting at the desk reading one of the books already.

“You sure you won’t be caught?” I asked quietly.

“Positive. I won’t be out if any of them go up the stairs, and you’ll have a good view of that, so I’ll be able to hear you tell me like always.”

“Okay…” I replied hesitantly as he returned to his reading.

I left the room and headed downstairs. As I finished, I looked over to see Stalwart and Stone Wall sitting on the floor, holding cards in their hooves. I approached quietly, rather curious about what they were playing, with a bit more curiosity about how they were holding the cards in the first place. Cards were laying on the floor, some face up, in a way that reminded me of several trading card games I used to play when I was in middle school.

“I play Cadence’s Radiance on your Changeling hive. One more spell and you’re going to be on the run.” Stalwart said confidently as I settled myself at his side.

“What’cha playing?” I asked, looking over his shoulder to look at the cards.

“Hoof and Horn.” Stalwart chuckled. “We always take the time to play it. I’m almost good enough to keep beating my old stallion here.”

“In your dreams colt.” Stone Wall said with a knowing smirk. “I’ll use Sombra’s Darkness, and I’ll take your Shining Armor and Starswirl cards out of play.”

“Don’t count me out just yet.” Stalwart said as he held his cards close to his chest.

“I didn’t, that’s why I’m playing Chrysalis. Now my hive’s back to full strength and I’ve got four drones added to the field.” He chuckled, “Your end is near.”

“Dang…” He said looking over to his hand and furrowed his brows, presumably trying to find a way to salvage a victory.

I looked over to the box that laid nearby. Using magic to hold it, I read the description, "Hoof and Horn. A game where you can be anypony. Take control of your Heroes and embark on an epic quest to reign in a wild and unbroken Equestria. Do you have what it takes to master the Might of Hoof and the Magic of the Horn? Only you can succeed, Hero. For Equestria!"

“Seems interesting.” I said as I smirked, wondering how in the world that slogan came to be. “So are all of the characters based on real things or on some fantasy elements for you guys?” I asked, inspecting the various cards in play, moving to the side so I didn’t give away what Stalwart could do by my reactions.

“They’re all real Ponies and Events, though some of the items or abilities might be a bit made up.” Stalwart smirked before looking over his options once again.

“But… then what’s a changeling?” I asked.

“Deceitful little pony wanna’bes that feed off of ponies’ love for each other until they’re dry.” Stone wall said coldly.

“Ah…” I said quietly, wondering why there was the degree of hostility before Stalwart made his move.

“Bad choice son.” Stone Wall said, playing a series of cards that made Stalwart groan and put his hand of cards down on the ground.

“I was so close too…” Stalwart mumbled.

“In your dreams, buckler.” Stone Wall chuckled, “Experience triumphs once again.”

“I’ll get you next time.” Stalwart said as he helped to put the game away.

“You say that every time I beat you.” Stone Wall laughed. “Now settle down colt, time for me to tell you another old war story of mine. Of course, our guest is welcome to join him...”

“I appreciate the offer.” I replied, stretching out like a cat before bowing my head, “But at this point, I think I’d better get my studying done for the day. Perhaps another night?”

“You’re welcome to listen anytime Miss Dawn.” Stone Wall chuckled as I only just now noticed Trickshot on the sofa knitting, “In fact, Stalwart, you get off easy today.”

“Yes sir.” Stalwart stood up, going to a salute before going to my side as I made my way up the stairs.

I headed to my room and stepped inside, quietly hearing Stalwart come in, but the door stayed open.

“Well, that was close.” Stalwart chuckled, “You would have been listening to him for a good hour before his story would finish. Especially if it were the time he joined the royal guard. He loves that one.”

“I see.” I chuckled, noticing Starlight wasn’t visible in the room like he said, though the book was still open on the desk, bookmark left where he must have had to stop reading. “Well, is there anything you wanted to talk about, or were you wanting to help me study again?”

“No no,” he chuckled, “I guess I’m just so used to seeing you to your room it just became habit.”

“Well,” I chuckled, feeling particularly mischievous, “If that’s the case, you might want to step out before somepony’s parents suspect him of trying something with his guest.” I dragged out ‘somepony’ a little as I teased, hoping for a laugh.

“I wouldn’t even dream of doing such a thing.” He said with a bow and a chuckle. As he headed out the door he replied, “It’d just be weird when you’re in your parent’s home...”

I couldn’t tell if I wanted to laugh or flush crimson at the retort. To have him say that so casually in reply was unexpected and it didn’t help he laughed more as he closed the door behind him.

“Whelp, you walked right into that one.” Starlight’s voice sounded quietly from behind.

“Oh shush you.” I shook my head, still trying to clear the imagery trying to crawl its way to my mind.

Starlight shrugged and headed back to the desk, clearly intent on studying.

“Anything exciting so far?” I asked, going over to his side.

“Not really. Reading about basic magical theory and listening to my cryptic teacher as I try to figure stuff out on my own.” He said, sounding bored out of his mind, though there was a hint of accusation.

“Just what are you trying to get at Star?” I asked, not sure where he was headed.

“Just how much studying can you say you’ve ‘really’ done? Like, actually sat down, watched someone demonstrate while someone else explained the method behind it like when we were at school? Or even just sat down and really studied the book? Name me one time since we fixed the bracelet together.”

“I…” I hesitated, feeling the accusation much more directly. I couldn’t really say I had, even with it only having been a month. Sure I read, but I couldn’t honestly say I remember any of it at all. All the concepts were so foreign, I just zoned out during my readings. Then again, that’s what happened when I tried to study math ahead of my class.

“It’s fine to take a break ‘n all.” Starlight said, before adding, “But we can’t expect to rest on just absorbing what we’re told like back when we were in school. Just because you could average C’s and B’s without trying doesn’t mean that’s going to be enough for fixing Silver’s…”

I nodded, thinking hard about what he said. I know he didn’t say ‘mirror’ just in case we were being overheard, but it was clear. Still, I don’t remember fixing the bracelet taking that much study. Truthfully, I could barely remember anything about what I read in preparation for it. I saw Starlight nod as he watched.

“That bracelet was a near miss, or at least, that’s what Teacher says. He had to point out what runes to put in where, and supplied a majority of the focus to our magic to make it work, and only barely so. If we’re going to fix ‘that,’ then he says we need to have enough understanding and power to at least do over half the work ourselves.” Starlight said, still sounding serious.

“Oh….” I replied quietly as my heart started to sink.

“Look…” He sighed, “I’m sorry to rain on your parade. This really was supposed to be a vacation for you because everyone thinks that you’re really studying hard, but we know better.” He paused before giving me a mischevious look, “Besides, a certain stallion still wants to have a certain mare as his bedwarmer.”

“Starlight!” I called out, almost starting to yell before cutting my volume down to a whisper, blushing deeply. He laughed before fading out of sight.

“Hey, I’d stop teasing if you actually stopped fighting it.”

I rolled my eyes and headed over to the bed, thinking seriously about what he said. I really wasn’t studying. I try to do what I can at first, but then my mind always seemed to wander to everything else. And then there was the matter of Stalwart. On the train and even in front of his parents, he kept staying near to me and even wrapped an arm around me.

‘Don’t act so innocent there.’ Starlight chuckled, ‘I distinctly remember you getting up onto the seat next to him and settling down close both on the train and here as well.’

‘Starlight… god I wish I had a spell to keep you quiet sometimes.’

‘Don’t worry, I’ll leave you alone now. Good night Dawn.’

I sighed and curled up under the sheets, moving the pillow to the side so I could sleep more comfortably as I tried to put it out of my mind. I was tired, and I just wasn’t in the mood to really think about it.

Sleep came over me slowly, as I laid there thinking about Stalwart and our time spent so far, imagining what else might be ahead.

My dream wasn’t much better at helping me rest. Vivid action scenes of shifting back and forth between human and pony as Stalwart and I fought through various faceless unthreatening things, plowing through them before trotting along happily onto our next destination, all the while music practically blaring in my ear and spurring us on.

I was abruptly shaken out of the dream just as we were about to approach an inn and spend some more… intimate time together.

“Dawn!” Stalwart hissed as he continued to shake. I tried to raise my head, but it was stuck.

“Ow.” I said as a dull throbbing started to come down to my head before I realized he was pushing a pillow on my horn, dulling the sounds it had made. I struggled against him as I tried to pull or wiggle free, “Ow ow ow!”

“Oh, sorry.” He replied as he stepped off, barely stifling a yawn. “What in the world was going on?”

“That’s what I was about to ask.” I said groggily as a headache started to form. I felt exhausted as the small amount of light came into the room, just enough to look at his bedridden hair.

“You tell me. I was woken up to some music that was getting louder and louder. I opened my door and heard it coming from your room while you were asleep. I had to do something, so I covered your horn before pops could hear and tried to wake you up… just what were you dreaming?” He asked, looking tired but sounding far more awake than I felt.

“Oh, sorry…” I grumbled, wiping my eyes as I twisted my shoulders to sit upright only as much as needed. “Just fighting through a bunch of things next to you, lots of running…. Oh, and just before I woke we were headed to-” I paused and blushed deeply, realizing what that dream was about to become.

“To?” He asked, sounding interested in spite of his apparent fatigue.

“N-nevermind.” I said, starting to curl up the way I had been before. “Sorry to have disturbed you…”

“Well, ok then…” Stalwart shrugged before patting me on the head and heading back to his room, pausing at the door before adding, “This time with less music, ok?”

I wanted to call out to him, say I understood, but he closed the door before I could muster the energy. I sighed and tried to remember the last bit of the dream, slightly disappointed it ended where it had and half hoping it would continue.

The next morning felt hazy, my head heavy as I tried to figure out if I was still tired or just not able to sleep any longer. The room looked unfamiliar as I tried to recognize where I was, until the events of yesterday started to press in. My legs moved sluggishly as I moved to slide out of bed, reaching with my magic to my brush and start getting my hair straightened. I don’t know what sort of expectations they would have had, but I wasn’t about to find out if they disapproved of a guest who slept in.

I stepped out of the room, hoping that Starlight was able to get some more sleep or rest, and started to step down the stairs, wondering why it was so dark.

“Good morning dear,” Trickshot’s voice came quietly, “Sleep well?”

“Kinda.” I said, hearing my voice shake throatily, starting to remember the wakeup call from the prior night. “Where is everyone?”

“Still sleeping. You woke up really early. Do you enjoy seeing the sunrise?”

“I… don’t know really.” I said attempting to roll my shoulders to mimic a shrug.

“I just figured with a name like Dawn, it… well it doesn’t matter. The colts upstairs are still out cold. Stalwart always sleeps in when he’s at home, and Stone’s no better, no matter what he tells everypony.”

“Well, it probably didn’t help I woke Stalwart up… Had a dream that decided it wanted to blare music during the fights.” I sighed, following her into the kitchen.

“I see, I was wondering what that tune was. Very unique compared with Equestrian music.” She said casually, gathering some flour and other materials for what looked like pancakes or waffles.

“You could say that.” I said quietly, not wanting to give her any details.

“Well,” she said after a bit of quiet and pouring everything into a bowl, “either way it was lovely. Plan on going to the Magic Globe today then?” She asked before starting to mix everything together with her front hooves.

“It’d be nice, especially if they have a few unicorns demonstrating some of the magic. Without seeing the example or intended effect, learning theories just goes in one ear and out the other. It’s frustrating, considering the task I have ahead of me, but we’ll get it sorted out.”

“I’m sure you will.” She said as she turned on the waffle iron and started making breakfast.

I headed to the couch and sat there, looking out at the window as the light started to come through it. The sunlight started to bask the living room in its warmth and I felt it start to heat up my fur. It was a nice feeling of comfort as my mind started to more noticeably wake.

Stalwart walked down the stairs sluggishly, approaching the couch I was on and climbed up next to me. I smiled gently, still feeling the warmth of the sun as he leaned against me, settling in. Stone Wall came down the stairs soon after, right as the first set of waffles were finishing.

Soon another set of beeping crossed our ears and we were called to eat breakfast in quiet. It was a wonderful meal, but after it ended Stalwart hopped down and headed toward the door.

“You ready to get some studying done Dawn?” He called back.

“Sure!” I called out, hopping down and walking briskly to his side

‘Well, someone seems eager.’ Starlight replied in my ear.

‘Star, come on… You said I should start studying more seriousl-’

‘Actually, I meant Stalwart.’ He teased, ‘I mean, he’s going a bit out of his way to help you study even still. Of course, that just further suggests-’

‘Don’t want to hear it Star.’ I said, trying to shake my head once again. ‘I mean, I don’t mind the idea, I just-’

“Everything ok?” Stalwart asked, looking at me concerned.

“Yeah, sorry, just trying to fend off Starlight’s teasing.”

“Oh? What about?”

“Basically… us.” I said, hearing my voice come out quietly. The idea of telling him made my legs feel weak as my heart started to pound, but I didn’t want to leave him wondering. “He thinks you taking me out this early when the place might not be open is so you can have time to take me aside or something. I told him I didn’t want to hear it.”

“Why not?” he asked quietly in turn, our combined pace slowing as we started to reach the bustle of everyone else rushing to their workplaces.

“Well,” I hesitated, feeling my chest tighten and my pace slow alongside his, gradually coming back up to a normal volume. “it’s not that I don’t like the idea, really! You’re really nice and supportive, and have been a huge help. I just,” I paused again as my heart continued to pound. I wanted rather badly to say this just right. I don’t want to feel like I’m turning him down somehow. “I’m afraid that with the promise I’ve made to Silver, I don’t want to spend too much time away from that promise or I’ll feel like I’m letting him down. Combine that with the possibility of me returning home too, and…”

“I see.” he nodded pausing for a few seconds before adding, “So, then you wouldn’t mind if I do start calling you my marefriend then eh?”

“Hey!” I burst out, feeling all that tension go away in an instant as I lifted a hoof to push him on the shoulder playfully. “I’m trying to be serious here!”

“And so am I. After all, you’re the one that brought it up.” He smirked before bumping his shoulder against mine.

“Fine.” I said as my face warmed. I looked away while my heart started to race. I blurted out my response, before I could let my embarrassment stop me, “I’d love to be your marefriend. I still have to help Silver get home like I promised though. We’ll worry about my home later, and you’ll keep me on track. Deal?”

“Deal.” He smiled broadly before looking forward again, helping us weave through the crowds.

‘Dawn’s got a boyyyyfriend.’ Starlight teased.

‘In a way then, so do you. How do you like boys?’ I replied quickly, feeling a lot more on top of things once more.

His lack of response made me feel vindicated as the weight of what I just told Stalwart hit my chest like a freight train. I was tense, but my heart was beating excitedly and I couldn’t help but feel elated at finally having said that. The idea of being asked like this was still such a huge surprise I could hardly believe it happened, though in a way, it was also long overdue.

“You know,” Stalwart said, broad smile on his face, “It’s been months since we first met, and I’d been trying to figure out how to ask you for a while. With all the studying and the night shifts, I was half afraid you would say no or had somepony back home.”

“Really?” I asked slowly as my face heated, heart still racing. Despite all my prior hesitation, I could say I felt flattered to hear it directly from him.

“Yup.” He chuckled, “I’m glad you said yes.”

“You know what?” I started, leaning against him and feeling the tension that had built up start to leave once more. I looked up at him with a smile and said, “I’m glad too… Sorry if maybe I strung you along. Starlight could tell you exactly how oblivious I can be, especially on things like this. Though… if we’re going to be dating and all… I’m going to have to tell you a few things.”

“Like what?” He asked, sounding intrigued.

“Like where I’m from, why I can’t go back… I’d say you might not like me if you knew, but I don’t think that’s the case.” I replied, feeling my heart finally calm and slow as I realized once again I still couldn’t tell him what I wanted. “I did make a promise though. It concerns Princess Celestia and Luna enough that they don’t want us talking about it.”

“You mean you and Silver?” He paused before putting his head against mine, “You know, it doesn’t matter to me much at all. You’re a good mare with a heart that shines like your cutie mark.”

“Oh stop it. That’s so corny!” I laughed, unable to stop smiling and pushed my head into the crook of his shoulder to hide my face from the others that might have over heard.

The sounds around me shifted and I raised my head to see the Globe’s entrance. Not so many ponies were inside quite yet, but Stalwart assured me in a couple hours the place would be swamped.

The globe on the inside was huge. Several sizable displays of pictures and plaques were on display for learning more about the magic their display was demonstrating, and was designed like an interactive museum.

We walked over to the first section, where the beginner spells were. First up in view was the light spell, as evidenced by the various lights strung up over all of the display. I chuckled and turned toward Stalwart.

“I think I’ve got this one under wraps.”

“Oh? Well go ahead and get in there and show me.” He smirked, nudging my foreleg toward one of the adult stations.

“Fine, if I have to.” I goofily replied, shaking my head.

I walked into the adult sized station, which wasn’t much more than an upside down bowl that had holes over it in layers. The more light I put out, the more holes would be lit, to help gauge how well you were doing.

I closed my eyes, calmed myself, and started to focus my effort on putting out a light from my horn. Despite my closed eyes, I could tell that some light was coming out, though in no way was blinding. I gave it to the count of fifteen and stepped out.

“So, how’d I do?”

“Well,” Stalwart paused turning his head toward the chart that showed the different degrees of strength. “You got about a third of the way up. About average it says.”

“Only average? Hah, we’ll see how long that lasts.” I playfully mocked.

“Planning on rivaling Celestia?” He replied in kind.

“Perhaps, though not without practice. I mean, a Dawn that is only average light? Unthinkable!”

“Yeah.” He laughed quietly as we turned our attention to the next stand.

“Zippermouth?” I looked at it confused.

In front of me was a display with a statue of a pony head, whose mouth had been turned into a zipper with that caption just below it. It was a really odd think to see. I stared at it for a moment wondering who in the world would waste time thinking of that spell when so far none of them needed vocalization.

“Yeah, it’s a practical joke that a lot of foals do when they’re young… Let’s say I experienced my little sister’s version of it a couple times when she was frustrated with her studies.” He chuckled quietly.

“I see…” I said, looking at him with a cross between pity and doubt. The concept sounded like something out of a cartoon.

The side of the display was more helpful, showing the description, the theory, and the application. I was oddly surprised at its simplicity. For something that would alter a pony’s mouth rather unnaturally, it was very basic in its application of horn magic. My imagination started to wander as I thought about the possibility it was a spell invented by a unicorn who was an engineer by heart, wanting to show a ‘keep it simple stupid’ approach to magic…

Refocusing, I started studying the concept for several minutes. It really was straightforward and having gotten what I could from it, I shrugged and started to move toward the next display.

“Not going to give it a try?” He asked.

“Not really. For one thing, while it doesn’t seem hard, it doesn’t appear to have any practical use. On the other han- hoof I mean, if most fillies grow out of it after childhood, it’s not exactly something I’d need to use anyway, right?”

“Fair enough.” He smiled, “I won’t complain at not being used as a guinea pig or experiencing that again.”

Our next stand was the Telekinesis area, which was much more sizable. Its description was also straightforward, ‘Move things with your magic’, as was its theory for application. ‘Focus on the object you want to move and imagine that you are moving it, and channel your magic while you do.’

The display itself held a variety of blocks and puzzles inside a durable dome shell. I tapped on it gently and looked at the glass itself, wondering why it doesn’t break, but shrugged and moved some of the blocks around, picking up several at once and stacking them up on top of each other into a fort.

A loud rumble of young voices started to reach my ears and I looked up and over to the entrance, to spot a large group of foals start to frolic in.

“I guess it’s a field trip day for a school around here.” Stalwart chuckled as I approached his side and we moved away from that display toward a set of stairs. “It’s a field trip I really enjoyed as a colt, since we would try to come once every season to see the different displays.”

“Gotcha. What’s up here?” I asked as we finished climbing.

“The next level of magic. Figured you might be a bit more challenged by this. My sister struggled with this level of magic and stopped. It was enough for what she wanted to do.”

“Right. Sounds like it could be fun.” I said nodding, “You know, now that I think about it, what was your sister’s name again?”

“Hearth’s Eve.” He chuckled. “She was born on the holiday, poor foal. Couldn’t get any of her friends to come on her birthday so we had to celebrate it a few days early or a few days late.”

“I know that feeling. I was born near the winter solstice, and we have a holiday like that too. A lot of the time, I just celebrated my birthday alongside of that holiday too.”

“No kidding?” He chuckled briefly. “Something tells me you and Eve would have a lot to talk about if you got to meet.”

“Quite possibly.” I chuckled, half listening as I looked at the telepathy spell. “Communicate with somepony else privately, and when strong enough, at long distance. Huh… so kinda like a telephone?”

“A what now?”

“Telephone… uses copper wires to induce a current of electricity to…. Nevermind.” I said, shaking my head. “Seems interesting enough, and really useful.”

“Well, give it a study and see how it goes!” He encouraged.

I looked over the theory behind the spell, still struggling to understand the terminology it used until Starlight chimed in once more.

‘You’re overthinking it Dawn.’

‘Howso?’

‘You’re doing it right now with me. At least, that’s what Teacher says. You’ve been using magic to communicate with me all this time. It’s easier to talk with me than other ponies, but you’ve got this down.’ Starlight said confidently.

“Interesting.” I said, turning to Stalwart. “Starlight says I’ve used a variant of this spell to talk to him all this time. Not sure I believe it based on our connection but still.” I paused, bracing myself as I turned to face him, and tried to continue. ‘he says I could have done it all along, but I’m not sure I believe him.’

“Why n- Oh!” He pulled back in surprise, before starting to laugh heartily, “Maybe you should then!”

“I wonder how far I can reach then.” I said as I walked away from Stalwart. ‘Give me a wave when you can’t hear me anymore, ok?’

“Sounds good.” He said out loud. He said something else quietly that tickled my ear, but I couldn’t quite make it out. As I carefully walked backward, chatting with him along the way. Turns out my range with that is somewhere between fifteen and twenty feet.

“Not bad.” I said as I walked back to him toward our next exhibit. “Though I never heard anything you said sadly.”

“Pity. Now I can’t say exactly what I want with you in private.” He smirked.

“Yes, heaven forbid we talk like normal peo-ponies.” I smirked, correcting myself and chuckling as I realized what he might have been alluding to, “So, next on the list here is... cloud walking? No thanks. Been there, done that.”

“Then let’s find something that you haven’t done.” He said as we steered away from the display, a platform of stairs leading up to a cloud with rails on it, and a mattress underneath it in case someone felt through.

We started to approach the next station when I heard Stalwart’s stomach rumble. I laughed and was about to comment on it when mine rumbled in reply.

“Sounds like we’re both hungry.” He chuckled. “Come on, the food courts are around the corner over there.”

Together, we went to those food stalls and ate a small meal each. The prices of the food for larger portions was about what I expected, more expensive than if they were elsewhere. Stalwart started to ask if I was sure when I cut him off and discreetly told him that it’s fine and I could eat more when we were home.

The food was really well made and enough to smile and head toward the rest of the exhibits available without needing to worry about food, or at least, I didn’t. I wasn’t sure about Stalwart. As I looked at his size, I couldn’t help but wonder if he needed a fair bit more to eat than some. Still, even if he did, he bore it well. I headed us toward the next flight of stairs, eager to see what was even further ahead in magical skill.

“Uh, Dawn, That’s the advanced magic section.” Stalwart said hesitantly as he started to follow.

“I know.” I said confidently, trying to ignore the height of our position and the stairs being on the inner ring of the platforms which split the levels of the place. “I find a good way to motivate myself to study is to see what the big things are, the end goals might be so I can get excited about it.”

“If you say so.” He replied as I reached the top of the stairs and headed to the first display.

A small statue of a unicorn with a colorful cone on the tip of its horn brought a slight smirk to my mind as we approached and noticed the display tell us about the unicorn laser. Memories of that incident near the hedges started coming to mind. I shook my head and tried to refocus. Celestia said something to me afterward, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember what it was.

‘Hey Star? What was it that we talked about after the fight with Silver? About what we were capable of I mean."

‘Something about either powerful magic, or foal magic being responsible.’ Starlight chimed. ‘Judging from what’s up here, with the way we had built up our power together when fighting Silver, maybe we really did make this happen by combining our strength.’

‘I’m not sure… either way, if Celestia’s impressions are right, maybe we can only accomplish these bigger magics together. I highly doubt I have the strength by myself to make this happen, but if we can pull this off, maybe we can do other things like it.’

‘Well, that *is* the point of our studying, so we can do something more than anyone else has, like fixing ancient relics. That’s a three pony job right there.’ He chuckled. ‘Besides, you never know just how strong your magic is unless you push your limits. If we keep using it regularly, maybe it’ll be like a muscle and grow enough to where we can do it separately’.

‘And yet your teacher is content with us just taking the credit with just me or the two of us?’

‘He says that attention would only detract from the products he creates or something. I don’t get it but the guy’s allowed to be eccentric after all that time alone.’

“Interesting stuff huh?” Stalwart said, my body jumping as my heart started to race in surprise.

“Y-yeah… sorry you startled me there. I was talking with Star about how we might have pulled this off, among other related things.” I replied slowly, trying to force my heart to calm so I could enjoy his company again.

“Oh? So you mean to say the garden incident was an accident?” He chuckled as he stood close.

“Of course it was unintentional, but Celestia was suggesting it was our own power, and I remain unconvinced.” I replied as I tried to ignore my heartbeat building up again for a very different reason, turning toward the next station.

This time, a larger picture of a pony was visible on the front, but as we approached, it vanished and appeared on another picture behind it. A smile came to my face over the simple optical illusion, knowing it had to attract the attention of some of the kids. I walked around to the side of the display, where it showed more examples of the feat.

“Why isn’t this one filled o-” I asked before pausing as I started reading the description, “Unsuccessful teleporting can result in leaving body parts behind until another unicorn capable of teleportation can merge the body into a whole… ouch. That’s gotta hurt.”

“Well, you did it once before.” Stalwart said encouragingly.

‘Hey Star?’ I asked, thinking about that time. ‘You know how you said your teacher thinks we did it wrong?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Think he might be able to teach us how to do it properly?’ I asked, feeling a quiver of excitement.

‘I’ll have to ask since I forgot the intricacies of it. He’s more talkative than he’s been in a while though. I’d almost say he’s lonely.’ He chuckled.

A faint glow to the side caught my attention. When I turned my head, I saw a foal shining his light playfully at his sister over at the next stall over. I paused, intent to let them have their time alone, but they were already coming over to look at our current magic station.

“Hey Stalwart, let’s look at the next one.” I suggested.

“Why? Already got this one figured out?” He smirked.

“No, that’s what Starlight’s Teacher is for. Or at least, he taught Starlight so Starlight can teach me later or something.”

“Of course…” He said, not quite sounding like he understood it, but led the way to the next station, “So, healing magic is up? Interesting, didn’t think it was terribly popular.”

“Oh? Why not? If you could heal wounds by magic, why wouldn’t it be popular?” I asked. I knew I took some things for granted, but healing someone’s wounds instantly? “Wait, then why didn’t they do that for you or Silver?”

“They don’t do that because it’s difficult, really difficult. Read for yourself.” He gestured toward one of the plaquards.

“Healing magic, through a great deal of effort, can heal a small scrape or scratch, is unfeasible. It requires multiple ponies working in tandem to heal a broken wing.” I paused as a picture of four unicorns, a couple of them significantly aged and the other two not exactly looking young, horns glowing around a patient.

“Eve wanted to be a nurse when she grew up, seeing this.” He said quietly, “But once she went to medical school, she decided it wasn’t for her. Now she’s a bookstore worker in the outskirts Manehattan.”

“Gotcha… Well, not sure I’d be interested in this one then, if it takes that much effort for that small of an effect.” I said, turning toward the next stall.

Ahead was a statue that gave me pause, my pace slowing as my heart beat just a little faster. It had the pony head I came to expect, but it had fangs and pointed ears.

“Hey Stalwart, you guys don’t really have a spell for vampirism, right?” I asked, not sure if I wanted to approach further.

“Huh? What are you talking about?” He asked as he continued waking to the side of the display.

“Vampires, you know, undead crea-” I started to explain while following him before seeing another statue with a female pony with a beard and squiggling lines painted on her side. “Huh?”

“Illusion Dawn.” He laughed before gesturing. “You’re even in luck, tomorrow it says they’ll have somepony who can demonstrate for ponies just after lunchtime.”

“Oh…. OH!” I exclaimed, starting to realize what he meant. Already ideas of what could be done for a disguise and costumes for Halloween could be teased. Eagerly I approached the stand and studied intentely.

‘Of course, NOW you get excited.’ Starlight chuckled.

‘Duh, this is awesome!’ I replied, ‘Think I could get help on this spell too? I’ll want to practice this when I can too!’

‘I’ll be sure to ask. Teacher said he was going to be busy for a bit so I’ll try to remember.’ Starlight chuckled.

I stood there reading every bit of it I could for as long as I could. I re-read the magical terms listed and tried to remember how they fit in, trying to piece everything together. I paced around the stand at times, looking for more information or tried to judge the effects of the spell based on the statues while consulting Starlight on what he knew and how his studies fit in.

I finally finished my studies feeling I had gleaned everything I could from the display and looked around. Stalwart wasn’t standing nearby, but looking at the clock, I couldn’t say I could blame him. I had studied so much I was ignoring everything else. Maybe he went off to get a snack or stretch his legs.

I started to move toward the next stand, seeing Stalwart walk toward me from that direction.

“Oh there you were. Sorry if I bored you.” I apologized.

“No big deal. I told you I was just going to walk around the place on my own for a few.”

“Oh, I must have missed it…”

“Ready to go home? Dinner’s going to be ready soon, and this place is about to close anyway.” He replied as he turned toward the stairs.

“Already?” I asked surprised, walking alongside him.

“You were at that spot for a while Dawn.” He said simply.

“Wow… Sorry if I wasted the opportunity there, I just hope that it was time well spent.”

“I’m sure it was. Just don’t try any of it around my folks, deal?” He smirked.

“Oh, can’t have two Stalwarts come into their home?” I laughed.

“No, pop’d probably be fine with it. Not sure about mom though.” He smirked before leaning in to whisper, “She’s been asking me to find a good mare and settle down so she can have grandfoals.”

“I… Oh.” I said, feeling heat rush to my face as I found the stairwell rather fascinating at that moment.

“Don’t worry Dawn, it’s a joke, calm down.” He said, nudging me toward the inside of the flight.

“Oh…” I hesitated, letting out a breath and felt my face slowly return to normal, but the thought remained. I had to wonder, was it a joke?

“Besides,” He continued, “I don’t plan on any foals anytime soon. But hey, if they happened with the right mare…”

I started to laugh as we headed toward the exit, deciding to take it in stride rather than think on it too hard. I had to admit, if only because Starlight would tease me otherwise, any guy would love to have time like that with a girl they like. Regardless of whether it was something his mother wanted or not, he had his own reasons to be with me, and it’s been a good time so far.

We left the Globe in relative quiet, allowing me time to think about both Stalwart and the magic I had studied. I barely noticed when we finally arrived until Stalwart called out loudly.

“Hello, I’m hooome!”

“Good timing son, just in time for dinner!” Trickshot said loudly from the kitchen, “Tonight we’ve got hayburgers. Do you both know how many you want?”

“You know me mom, three please!” he replied before toning down his voice and turning toward me, “Know how hungry you are?”

“I almost want to say three, but I don’t know how big they are… we’ll say two.”

“Dawn’ll have three too!” He called out and then chuckled, elbowing my side.

“Heyyy.” I laughed, trying to push him back. Before I could continue and let him know he could have my extra if I don’t eat it, he chimed.

“Is for dinner.”

“I was going to say ‘is for horsies’ but that works.”

Stalwart gave me a look of slight confusion but shrugged and headed over to the kitchen table, where his father already was.

“So how was the trip?” Trickshot asked.

“I learned a fair bit. Naturally we spent most of our time on the actually interesting magics like illusion…. And illusion, oh, and illusion.” I said, starting to laugh at the end. “I think I might have gotten stuck. Didn’t see all of them in the end.”

“There’s always tomorrow.” She replied cheerfully before bringing the first batch to the table.

“That’d be nice, I enjoyed my time there so far, but I don’t want to keep you from visiting with your son…” I hesitated, levitating a burger onto my plate along with a bun while the others used their hooves to serve themselves.

“Nonsense.” Stone Wall huffed, having set his paper down. “Stalwart’s been saying how hard you’ve been studying. You can go again tomorrow and in return, you’ll stay with us the day after and listen to some of my stories that Stalwart couldn’t get enough of when he was a colt.”

“Dad…” Stalwart sighed as he rolled his eyes and focused on his meal. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was blushing now with the slight bit of red I was noticing on his nose. I briefly wondered why he was so embarrassed now unlike before.

I chuckled and nodded, “Sounds like a plan. Besides,” I paused to look at him mischievously as I sought to test what he said earlier, “That’ll give him one day with his marefriend to relax and brace himself.”

“So you finally asked.” Stone Wall smirked before shaking his head, “About bucking time.”

“Just because you asked me within a month doesn’t mean everypony else should.” Trickshot reprimanded him as she brought back the remaining food, sitting down at the table before quietly adding over Stone Wall’s chuckle, “I’m happy for both of you.”

The rest of the dinner went on in relative silence as Stalwart was too embarrassed to talk and Stone Wall was absorbed in his own thoughts, glancing over at Stalwart and myself on occasion. After the dinner was done, I headed up to the guest room and closed the door behind me.

‘Well, that was a day…’ I thought to Starlight absentmindedly.

“You got that right.” Starlight said as he formed himself by the desk where the book had been. “I’ll leave you to your ‘studies’ then, unless you want to go back down for family game night or something. You did good today.”

“You know, I just might. Let me just see what I want to study first…” I mumbled, digging through the books in the saddlebag.

‘Magic for Beginners’ jumped out at me, having the familiar yellow and black theme as back home and I couldn’t help but pull that one out, levitating it onto the bed before trotting to the door, “I’ll be back soon.”

14: Globe Demonstrations

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I stepped down the stairs, intending to sit next to Stalwart again, but everyone was on the ground in front of the couch, a low square table set out in front of that couch. Stone Wall was in front of his usual spot on the couch, with Lemon Bloom on his right side, and Stalwart sitting across from his dad.

“What’s going on?” I asked as I walked over to the empty side of the table.

“Father and son want a rematch,” Trickshot chuckled.

“Oh? Well, this ought to be good.” I chuckled in reply as I took the seat across from her.

“It is,” Stalwart chimed before adding, “Why don’t you play too Dawn? Four-way free for all!”

“I see your game.” Stone Wall’s eyes glinted as he shuffled his deck of cards laid in front of him before showing the remaining decks, “I’ll still beat you.”

I smirked, picking out one of the decks at random.

“Be careful Stalwart,” Trickshot warned, “don’t want to look bad in front of your marefriend.”

I laughed before shuffling the cards, letting familiarity with how I would have done it with my hands take care of the technicalities, “Oh trust me, if he’s not careful, he may even be shown up.”

“Is that so?” Stalwart glared, a smile visible on my lips, receiving a similar playful glare in return, “I see how it is. This means war!”

They started me off with the explanation of the rules, and soon we began to play. Trickshot played the highest power card from her hand and won the first play of the game.

I watched as the family came into their most relaxed element. I watched everyone closely, just as much to get an idea of how they work as to looking for cues to play on. Even as I made my turn, laying down some defenses with some bison characters, I had to smile as the family rivalries really came out. Well, their rivalries were coming out. I took the time between their banter to look closely at the cards and one pony’s name ‘Blond Suede,’ thinking of John Wayne. It wasn’t a perfect match, but even so, it was funny to see.

Stalwart and Stone Wall were both going at each other every chance they could. I watched as Trickshot gave a sly smirk sometimes as she played, leading me to smirk as well. She was far more clever than the boys estimated her. She had a good defense and offense set up, but still had plenty of cards available to her. Her attacks were calculated and focused, never destroying her minions without getting one in return. Stalwart was reckless, assuming his character’s larger health pools would get him through. Stone Wall was harder to figure, but he never touched his wife’s position, which only told me how much he loved her still.

The match started to draw to a close, Stalwart being knocked out first. He grumbled but placed his cards face down and put everything together. He did a huge number on his father’s side of the table but still failed. I knew that I needed to shore up my defenses because this game was about to go two on one.

“I play High Noon,” I smirked when it got to my turn. “Trickshot, you’re going to lose that pixie you’ve been so fond of.”

“But it’s almost midnight!” she protested in mock horror.

“It’s high noon somewhere in the world,” I smirked, teasingly adding in the stereotypical whistle that cartoons of westerns loved to throw in with a little horn magic, but kept it quiet. “but really, I’m going to use it, and there’s five monsters on the field not counting my own? Yeah. So, I’ll focus two of those on that pixie of yours, and the remaining three… oh hi there Stone Wall, I see your forces could use a bit of thinning out.”

“You wouldn’t!” Stone Wall gasped, raising a hoof to his chest as he leaned back toward his wife.

“Oh but I would… see, out here, we don’t like prejudices… out here, we let ponies get along.” I said as I put the five coins in the box and shook the box up, our substitute for flipping coins due to a lack of thumbs. When the box reopened, “Yes! That’s four heads and only 1 tail. I kill your pixie Trickshot, and Stone Wall, oh my, you’re defenseless!”

“Am I really?” He asked, looking back at me confidently.

“Let’s find out,” I said with a smug look, “I send my bison squads to stampede your hive and remove all your hit points.”

“Drat…” He grumbled, starting to chuckle a bit. “Ye’ called my bluff.”

“Well, wasn’t much of a bluff. You had two cards left in your hand, so you were just a bit overextended.” I chuckled, “So now it’s down to the two women of the table.”

“Oh?” She asked quietly, “I only see one left in the next three turns.”

“We’ll see.” I replied, narrowing my eyes at her in friendly rivalry, still smiling. “Your turn.”

It turns out, she wasn’t wrong. After three turns she managed to wipe me from the game, though I tried to make it as difficult as I could. I burned through defenses and used my traps up, and in the end, she only had two almost dead monsters standing between me and her low health.

“And that’s game.” Trickshot chuckled, putting the cards down as she extended a hoof out toward me. “Well done Dawn.”

“I can’t believe you did so well!” Stalwart laughed as he leaned against me.

“Never underestimate the power of beginner’s luck!” I replied with a broad smile, bumping Trickshot’s hoof with my own, “I always ended up on the second place victory for nearly any new game my church group played every Tuesday.”

Stalwart and Stonewall both turned toward me with obvious looks of confusion, but Trickshot more a look of deep thought, making me worry for a few seconds before her voice broke the small silence starting to ensue.

“Well, it was a wonderful game dear. I’m sure you must be tired and you need your rest for all the studying you plan on doing tomorrow!”

“T-that’s right.” I nodded, jumping on the excuse being given before slowly getting up to my feet. “Thank you for the game, and I hope all of you sleep well.”

“Good night.” Trickshot and Stalwart called as I approached the stairs, heading up to my guest room.

-----

The next morning Dawn woke up to find the sun already risen in the window. She raised her head slowly before Stalwart’s voice called out.

“Hey Dawn. Glad to see you’re awake. Mom is already almost done with breakfast and asked me to come get you.”

“Oh… sorry.” I mumbled as I tried to shake the feeling he was snickering at my sluggishness.

“Not a problem, just trying to make sure you’ve got a good breakfast before we pack ourselves a lunch and get going to the Magic Globe.”

“Oh Right!” I called out, perking up almost instantly, “I almost forgot.”

“Dawn… you never cease to amaze me.” He said quietly as we left my room and went down the stairs.

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked looking at him with half narrowed eyes, still unable to hold back a smile.

“You have a terrible poker face, you know that?” He replied before we walked into the dining area.

“Good morning you two!” Trickshot smiled as she picked up a plate of pancakes and deftly brought them to the table.

We said our greetings and had a good time, though by the time we had made ourselves a lunch, emptied my saddlebags and the dozen books inside them to make room, we ended up arriving to the globe a couple hours before lunch.

In my eagerness, I went right back to the stands I had seen before, hoping that there were some ponies there to help demonstrate the magics I wanted to learn most.

I almost rushed up the stairs to the third level where the advanced magics were. Already a bit of a crowd was gathering as a pair of ponies took a small raised platform that wasn’t present yesterday.

“-we will be performing several of these advanced magics for everypony and taking questions from some of you! We encourage any unicorns in the crowd to please avoid imitating any of these spells during our examples unless you’re called to the stage!” The one pony called, both of them exchanging lines but staying perfect in their pacing.

I walked right on up to the crowd, trying to respect the personal space of those around her, but I was really interested in hearing and watching this performance.

“First up, a rather complicated bit of illusion magic, is where the unicorn must keep a constant mental grasp of what sort of illusion they are trying to maintain, and keep that focus. Any interruption of that focus, and it will fade.” The first pony explained as the companion started to have his horn shimmer and took on a dark skinned, almost insect-horse like body with translucent wings. In spite of this, something looked odd about it.

“Illusions,” the second pony under the illusion spoke, not sounding different at all. “are the specialty of changelings. You know a pony is performing an illusion if their disguise shimmers, doesn’t quite move right, or seems to grow transparent at times. These are indications of lack of focus or power. A changeling might not have these weaknesses. Our liaison in the Crystal Empire is still finding out more in the meantime.”

“Is there anypony who has questions?” The first pony called as the first one started to revert his illusion, a glow going from his hooves up to his horn to reveal his original appearance.

A couple questions about trying to show off a couple examples came out. I was eager to give it a try if it was so simple a concept. Yet if it took that much concentration, it was bound to be a good challenge for exercising the magic ‘muscle’ to boot.

“Next up on the list,” the showpony started to say, “is the flight spell. This handy spell gives a pony wings that reflect the nature of the pony that is given them!”

They focused their horns and after a small flash of bright light of their respective colors, wings appeared on their backs, one looking more like an eagle’s wings, and one looking more like a hummingbird, with how small it was. He started flapping his wings and I had to keep from laughing as I realized that’s exactly what they were like, flapping the small things fast and furious, raising him off the ground and darting about around the crowd and hovering in place easily while the other one took a single wingstroke, and pushed a blast of air at all of us and sent himself careening backward. He did a flip in midair and then trotted back up onto the platform.

“This spell is temporary, but very handy if you want to do more than cloud-walking. On average, it lasts about a couple hours or so, depending on the pony’s strength and understanding of the spell and flight.” They said, continuing to explain it.

I smiled broadly and drank in all of what they were saying, feeling confident I knew a fair bit about how to make flight possible from their talks. I already knew about flight as they talked about the various wings and so on, if only because of my mother’s birds she enjoyed keeping in the home. A slightly different smile crossed my lips as I felt a twinge of sadness, missing ‘Beakmonster,’ ‘Dusty,’ and ‘Lady.’

“-does anypony want to come on up here and see their wings?” The second pony called out.

Many hooves went up like hands raised, and they eyed the crowd with a smile before picking a young earth pony out of the dozens of foals that I could hear calling to be picked.

“What’s your name colt?”

“Strider sir.” He replied. I had to stifle a chuckle as I immediately thought of a certain ranger of the wilds.

“Well Strider, today is your lucky day!” He said as the showpony stood back and his companion made his horn glow brightly before a beam of chromatic light spewed onto the foal. Soon, he had a set of Pegasus wings on his back that he flapped eagerly amidst admiration from the adults and a couple foals. The others expressing disappointment at not being picked.

The colt quickly and almost easily got the hang of it, throwing himself up into the air and flying forward a bit in a glide back to his guardians.

One foal looked up at them and asked in an almost snobbish way, “Why give the wings to an earth pony? Seems kinda stupid.”

“Because,” I interjected immediately, feeling a bit of anger well up at that kind of attitude. I spoke slowly, to keep my reply calm and simple because of their age, “he won’t be able to have wings when he grows up. You can, if you practice, study, and use your magic every day. You’re a unicorn aren’t you? You’ll be able to fly whenever you want when you’re older if you really want to. Let him have his fun.”

The foal grumbled as the parents gave a snort at my reply before the three of them walk off. I looked over to the colt and his mother who nodded and mouthed a quick ‘thank you’ before walking away. The colt smiled and waved before fluttering upward and flying around in circles around his mother as she walked, giving her a broad smile I could still see from here.

“That’s all for this demonstration everypony, we’ll be here for questions after a brief lunch rest.” They said as they bowed before turning toward the back of the impromptu stage to their own section.

“You ok Dawn?” Stalwart’s deep voice asked quietly.

“Yeah.” I replied quickly before turning to him in confusion, “Why do you ask?”

“Because you rarely do that, confronting ponies like that. You’re still standing pretty stiffly too.” He said as he took a step forward to stand as close as my saddlebag would allow.

I sighed before speaking directly to him using the same horn magic I learned about yesterday. “I grew up in a really strict home, as I’ve kinda told you about. Thing is, that behavior would not be tolerated at all. It was punished so heavily I still just… some part of me instantly wants to just quash that immediately too. But then I have to remind myself I’m not their parent, and kids are selfish when they’re young, and they don’t always know better or mean badly by it. It’s one reason I’d always been scared of being a parent, and why I kept avoiding the idea of having a special someone.”

“I see.” Stalwart said quietly, still using his deep voice so close to my ear it almost tickled and caused my spine to shiver. “You know, my mom used to have a phrase she loved to say at one point growing up. ‘Your first thought is what you were conditioned to think. The second thought reveals what you’re really like, or trying to be like.’ I think you’ll do a lot better than you give yourself credit for. Anyway,” he paused, speaking up and pulling back from my ear, “enough of this kind of talk, let’s go ahead and get out that lunch of ours and wait for those ponies to answer some questions eh?”

“Sounds good.” I smiled, my mood feeling much lighter after that little pep talk, though his raising his voice at the end didn’t hurt any.

We ate together happily, eating the prepared lunch at one of the last empty tables available, and approached the showponies to learn as much as I could. They had a lot less questioners than I would have expected, and I could only surmise the crowd was there to see the examples for entertainment rather than learning.

I asked as many questions as they would allow, focusing heavily on the illusion because it was such a fascinating idea, though teleportation and flight both were asked about in the end.

It was midafternoon before the showponies finally had to excuse themselves to clean up the stage area, leaving us to look around for more things to study.

‘Hey Starlight, what about this healing stuff? We have a basic idea of medical stuff and that seems to be a part of it…’

‘Nah, we’ve never been one for medical science. Remember that time you were in high school and dissecting an earthworm? You wore a turtleneck like a mask that day because you hated the smell of all of it and you could barely cut the thing.’ Starlight replied before smirking, ‘besides, Teacher doesn’t really know much of anything about it, so we’d be on our own.’

‘Fair enough…’ I shrugged, moving on to the other displays.

I continued my studies, getting more into the intricacies of magic with Starlight until my mind started to swim a couple hours later from sheer detail and trying to keep track of so much new information. It sounded harder and harder as we went on.

“You ok Dawn? You’re a little unsteady on your hooves.” Stalwart said, voice sounding off to my ears.

“Huh?” I turned to him before stumbling in the process, spreading my legs out to catch myself.

“Yeah… we’re done for the day I think.” Stalwart smirked, moving to my side.

“I’m fine really!”

“Dawn, you need to rest. You’ve pushed yourself too hard, and you’re on vacation. I’ve humored you and now it’s time you go actually enjoy yourself for once. I’m not taking no for an answer.” He said, adding that last bit right as I opened my mouth to protest.

I snorted and shook my head but followed him down the stairs toward the first floor of the building with a relieved smile, soon leading us both out entirely. I was rather grateful for his taking me here, and I at least felt like I had learned a lot, but sadly it was becoming a bit too much.

‘You know, we always did do better in shorter bursts every now and then with examples,’ Starlight commented, ‘I mean, we’re able to have lengthy discussions about stuff we care about a lot, but for learning…’

“Yeah, you’re right Star.” I replied with a sigh, looking through the crowds on the way back home.

“Right about what?” Stalwart asked.

“Oh, right,” I said, startled and not realizing I had talked out loud, “he was talking just to me. He basically said I should cut back, that we do better in small bursts until we understand a subject, so we were thinking about how to address that.”

‘We were?’ Starlight teased.

‘Guess so. Sounds better that way or something. Shut up I’m tired.’ I replied in kind, adding in a weak chuckle.

“You think too much.” Stalwart laughed, bumping his chin on my head before saying, “For today, let’s focus less on thinking and more on feeling. What do you feel like doing?”

“Hm,” I thought out loud, looking at some of the buildings nearby, “I dunno, I’m doing a lot of thinking instead of feeling and it still hurts my head the same.”

“All right,” Stalwart laughed along with me, “Let’s just go home and relax. You hadn’t even paused to eat lunch yet.”

I snorted but then heard my stomach rumble and then nodded, “All right, you win.”

Stalwart took a turn I didn’t expect, but I followed him, trusting that he was avoiding some heavier traffic on the way or something. What I didn’t expect, after walking through more streets than I dared count with the impending headache, was to be led to a large park with a great deal of grass and a few benches.

“Here we are.” Stalwart said, seeming to ignore the laughter of some children playing nearby. “Where would you like to set up our picnic?”

“I… well, what about under that tree over there?” I asked, before looking at a bench and chuckling at the idea of sitting on one like back home. ‘Probably should hold off until after we get some clothes for that one.’

Stalwart nodded, heading toward the tree that was past where the foals were playing as he reached for his saddlebag and pulled out a neatly folded blanket with his mouth. The foals ignored us as he then in one neat flourish laid out the blanket nearly perfectly onto the grass.

I chuckled and tried to straighten it out but stalwart quickly flopped onto it and shook his head at me.

“Dawn, rest.” He said simply.

“Awwww, but daaaad.” I teased on back, walking around him and laying down on the other side of the blanket, looking into my own saddlebag to see what was packed. I had practically forgotten by now.

Inside was a bowl of salad, carrot slivers and tomatoes with a sprinkling of cheese, and some bread for the side was left in. She smiled and dug right in, using her horn to gather it up and eat like she had a fork, while Stalwart simply lowered his head to the bowl and grabbed a mouthful that way. I couldn’t help but chuckle just a little at the sight, remembering the horses back home.

“What?” he asked after he finished his mouthful.

“Oh nothing, just a memory coming back from home is all.”

“Oh really, what is it?” he asked, flicking his ear once before grabbing another mouthful.

“just my ex feeding a pet of theirs and it reminded me of back then… Nothing huge.” I said, shaking my head.

“Is that a good thing?” he asked, looking amused and feigning offense.

“Perhaps.” I said quietly, “but those parents… geeze that was rough. I used to live with them for a few months, but after the mental abuse I had gotten, being blamed for things that weren’t my fault or things they perpetuated… I was glad to be gone.”

He looked on concerned but said nothing, getting up to sit next to me. I took another breath and decided to open up a little more.

“In the end, I’m glad to be away from them. I had a few good moments, but being the scapegoat of their problems wasn’t what I had in mind for my life.” I said. I debated saying more, but that was plenty. It was a life that was behind me now, and while I could return if starlight allowed it, I doubt it would happen. No point in saying what other nastiness I had gone through, and how they tried to harm my name after I was gone.

“Well, I’m glad to have you here.” He chuckled, putting his hoof on my neck and rubbing it for a couple seconds, “he didn’t know what he was missing out on. His loss.”

“Actually,” I smiled, as he chuckled at the end. “It was a she, before I realized I was actually Dawn deep down. Though I guess another way of putting it is that was Starlight’s Ex then.”

Stalwart smiled mischievously, “Oh? Did that steer you entirely from mares then?”

“No no,” I said trying to return his mischievous look, “In fact, I still like mares more often than I do stallions… but when one catches my eye,” I paused, giving him a kiss on the cheek, chuckling afterward, “That should say something. Either that or it has to do with being physically a mare… that helps a bit.”

“I wouldn’t know.” He said, looking around before finishing off his salad, letting me do the same as we laid on the blanket for a bit.

The sounds of the park weren’t quite as busy as I expected. Sure, there were still playing children, the chirping of birds and other nature background noises, but the sound of cars and other things were so much less frequent. My ears flicked as I heard the familiar hum at a distance, and couldn’t help but wonder how they had certain technologies like cars and electricity and refrigeration, yet not others.

I looked over at Stalwart, who seemed to be enjoying the time together, even looking back at me when I looked, only to have me look away smiling. It was such a simple thing, but I appreciated it.

We laid there enjoying each other’s company for a while, watching others and the nature around us. It felt nice with a breeze occasionally stirring the furred coat I almost took for granted, but soon I grew restless, and we went to go back to his home.

“Hi mom, we’re home!” Stalwart called out as we stepped in.

“Welcome back Stalwart.” Lemon said as she walked into view, “How went the studying?”

“It went pretty well for a bit, but Stalwart says I’m pushing myself too much for what he thinks is a vacation.” I chuckled, smirking at him before smiling at Lemon Bloom.

“Well, Dinner’s not going to be for a little while longer. Stone Wall is out with his friends and will be back in an hour or two.”

“All right, Thanks mom!” Stalwart replied before walking over toward the living room. “Up for a round of Hoof and Horn Dawn?”

I smiled and almost answered when Starlight’s voice spoke out quietly in the room, “Well, I would like to at least, and since I was doing most of the studying for her except for the last bit…”

“Hey, that’s not fair, what about all the study we’ve been doing together and at the castle?” I protested, rather looking forward to the idea of having a vacation proper.

“Maybe we should move this conversation upstairs,” Stalwart said quietly.

I couldn’t help but feel a little hurt, I was making progress in magic, exercising it nearly every time I could. Sure, I wasn’t exactly doing much that was ‘new’, but I was reading those books even if I didn’t understand it half the time.

Before I realized it, we were up in my guest room, starlight standing by the desk and Stalwart by the now closed door.

“I’ve been studying.” I repeated.

“Yes, but how often, how long, and how well do you understand what you’re reading?” Starlight asked.

“Well,” I hesitated, thinking and answering at the same time, “I mostly understood what you were talking about in the magic globe… I remember really struggling with the studies back home…”

“And why do you think that is?” Starlight asked.

“Starlight, why are you grilling her on this? She’s making improvement after all.” Stalwart said, stepping in closer, which felt like a relief.

“Because she promised to help Silver get home, and teacher says we have a lot of work to do to get to that point, but he’s confident that we can master it and pretty quickly. We have the power, the three of us, it’s just a matter of her knowledge, as she’d be the one to need to fix the magical markings on the mirror to help it reconnect to a new mirror in the same world.”

“Well, but still,” I protested, not expecting a version of myself to be against our having time off, “What’s the rush? We’ve done a lot for just having learned how to use magic in the last several months, right?”

“She has been working hard hasn’t she? Come on, you can play too.” Stalwart chuckled.

“I… All right… Sorry, I just… after years of only being with the teacher, who would keep pushing me to learn more and didn’t want to do any play, I guess it sorta rubbed off on me, and Dawn’s a lot more laidback than I ever remember being.” Starlight said.

I could feel the apology more than hear it if I were honest, but I didn’t mind. Truth was he knew far more than I did, and if I had to guess, he resented that he couldn’t just freely do what he wanted for fun anytime. To top it off, here I was doing exactly that without keeping him in the loop, just continually expecting him to put up with it and give me space. I couldn’t help but stop and really understand him just a little better, even as he sat down and used our shared magic to get the game ready.

‘You don’t have to pity me you know.’ He replied directly.

‘W-what?!’ I replied back, confused.

‘You left your mind an open book right then. Couldn’t help it. Something I was conditioned to do by teacher once we reconnected. I do know more than you, and it’s not as rough as I feared getting you caught up. We always were good at learning, and we know how we learn, but we have a long way to go.’

‘You’re right… but next time, argue with me without an audience please.’ I replied, feeling a bit annoyed. He didn’t have to invade on my thoughts, even if we were together like this.

‘Sure, sure.’ He replied, already looking over the cards he was dealt.

I looked between them, stretched, and climbed up into the bed to watch them play. The match was one-sided at first, then Stalwart came and swept the field and Starlight instantly demanded a rematch. Stalwart accepted and shuffled his deck again as Star did, only to lose to Starlight a short while later.

Dinner soon came and we went down to eat, only to return to the guest room and I played against Stalwart, losing each time. It wasn’t long before I slept after the matches, tired out from the walking, the learning from earlier, and the argument, brief as it was.

-----

I woke the next morning before sunrise, opening a book and rereading the magic basics as a warmup for later that day with the light from my horn. Stalwart might be fine with taking a break, but honestly there wasn’t that much else to do. I didn’t want to wake Stalwart up to ask what I could do like a child, and I didn’t like the idea of exploring to find out more.

It felt like it took forever, yet I managed to finish the book with a clearer understanding of the material by sunrise. I groaned and put the book away, moving to pull out the next book, letting myself chuckle at the idea of pulling it out of a ‘saddle of holding.’ I knew it was an old joke, but I liked it all the same.

After breakfast, we stayed in the living room, each to our own area and had a book to read. Stalwart laid on the couch, and I hopped up to join him. He seemed to frown as I had brought another magical studies book, but we talked by horn so we didn’t disturb his parents, who were reading on their recliners.

‘Don’t worry Stalwart, I’m going to take it easy.’

‘You’re studying magic on a vacation Dawn, you can do that anytime!’ he replied before speaking out loud, “Dawn, time for us to get going.”

“Huh? Where?” I asked, ‘that came out of nowhere.’

“It’s a surprise.” Stalwart said, a mischevious smirk I would know anywhere.

“I don’t suppose you won’t let me stay at home and read huh?” I asked, slowly setting the book down before getting off the couch, stretching in the process, “All right, show me what you have in mind.”

He smiled and followed suit, before taking the lead outside the home.

I followed him just a half pace behind him and to his left, unable to stop with a small smile on his lips. I didn’t like going anywhere new, but there was a sense of adventure that he had about him like this. He kept me wondering just where we were going, with all the turns down streets I wasn’t familiar with. I started to get nervous at the fifteen minutes of walking before he spoke up.

“Here we are.” He nodded, heading toward a wider brown brick building with glass front doors.

“And where’s here?” I asked, confused.

“Look at the doors Dawn.” He chuckled, going inside.

“Penny’s Arcade” I read as I opened the door and walked in, snorting immediately afterward at the irony, then froze just inside the entryway, happiness starting to come over me as I looked at the stations. “You mean to tell me I’ve been missing out on this since we got here?”

“Yup, you mentioned how much you liked your games back home once, so I figured this would be a good distraction.” He chuckled, watching my reaction.

I continued to smile and looked around. He might have misunderstood what I meant by ‘video’ games, but it wasn’t bad. It almost reminded me of some other arcade areas back home I used to enjoy when I was younger. I still couldn’t help but notice some of the cabinets and the floor games out on the premise and wonder, they clearly had some electronics with how things lit up or seemed random, so how did they not have televisions or other related technology?

“So,” I asked, smiling as I walked into the area toward the token purchasing area, “which one am I beating you at first?”

“You? Beating a guardspony at changeling chomper? I don’t think so.” He chuckled, heading toward the counter next to me.

Stalwart used ten bits to buy a hundred tokens on a special going on for this day of the week. I couldn’t help but chuckle, no wonder this place was crowded, it was a good deal from what I could see.

We had a blast for the next several hours. His ‘changeling chomper’ game was a large plastic-like pad of green with a weird partial liquid texture and buttons poking out. When the game started, he used his hooves to press on the buttons when they lit up and a silly sound of ‘splat’ came out from the speaker. Chrysalis lit up only rarely, and she replied when pushed “Get them drones! Bring them down!” and a flurry of button pushing ensued afterward. I laughed harder when he explained breathlessly after stopping at 107 changelings ‘bopped’ according to the chart, that he called it ‘booping’. I asked him why, and he simply tapped his hoof on my nose and spoke, “boop!” with a wide grin.

When I tried, I fell pitifully short of his coordination. I barely made it to 40 before all of them were lit and the game ended, chrysalis never lighting up.

“See? I don’t know how somepony made it to 200 like that says, but I have a suspicion or two.” He chuckled.

“Oh? What do you think happened?” I asked, trying my hardest not to pant.

“Two or three foals got together and teamed up.”

“ahhh, so you suspect they cheated?” I smiled.

“Cheating? Foals? Never.” He said as we moved on to a bowling arcade that I recognized from back home, but practically on the floor instead of elevated, “Besides, if they don’t trip over each other in pushing the buttons, more power to them.”

“True. We had a game like that I only got to play one day, but my brother and I tried to split it up, and while we got a little farther, it was only by about 10 or 15… wow, that must have been a good twenty years ago… just a little less but still…” I said, thinking about my past.

“Then you know what I mean.” He chuckled.

I chuckled back, turning to the next game, determined to show him exactly how good I was.

-----

Stalwart and I went through every game several times, the whole day going by faster than I could keep track. I was exhausted, but grinning as we walked back. Neither of us had high scores for the day, and it kept me moving or dancing all throughout. The changeling splatting one was the one most visited, if only because I thought they looked silly and it was the most familiar game.

“I still can’t believe you can’t get above 50!” Stalwart said as we walked back, “how are you that clumsy?”

“Hey, It’s not like I can help it…” I replied, blushing and looking away, mumbling, “Not like I’m used to four legs yet either.”

“What was that?” Stalwart asked, smiling, “Trying to keep more secrets away from me huh?”

“What? No!” I protested. “Just said I wasn’t used to moving my legs like that!”

“Uh huh, a likely story.” Stalwart teased as we walked back. “Hungry at all?”

“Yeah, I’m starving.” I replied, walking on home.

“Good, cause it’s your turn to cook.” Stalwart said with a grin.

“Wait, what?” I asked, completely surprised. “You’re going to make your guest cook?”

“Well, no, but we figure if you’re from outside equestria, you probably had some different food than us. So, if you’re up to it, we want to know what kinds of things you’re used to and see what it’s like.”

“So, gonna be honest, not much of a cook. At best I know how to make pizza dough from scratch, but I don’t know how to avoid getting dough in my hooves.” I replied hesitantly.

Stalwart chuckled, “Magic, Dawn. Magic.”

“Never used it before in cooking, but it’s worth a try.” I nodded.

“Still, Pizza’s pretty good.” Stalwart said.

“Homemade is even better. I just hope I remember the recipe.” I replied.

We bantered on as we headed toward the market, getting supplies for what I hoped would go over well. Last time I made it, I was human, and the dough came out heavy and overworked. Now I was a pony, it had been a few years, and I was trying to impress stalwart and his family. I sure hope I remember it right…

Lost in the Mirror of Worlds

by Meadow_Dawn

The Shadow in the Mirror

The First Full Day in Equestria

A Destiny is Realized

Dawn and Dusk

Of Shadows and Whispers

Dawn's Light

Bonds, of Heart and Horn

One Step Closer to Home

Understanding Connections

Picking sides

The Demonstration Aftermath

Cuteseaneras, Curses, and Crimson Lillies

Vanhoover

14: Globe Demonstrations