> Lemur Trouble
>  by Windyspirals
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia gave a long happy sigh as she drained the last of her morning orange juice.  It had become part of her usual ritual just after rising the sun.  Most assumed she was a morning pony, but her role of raising the sun had never correlated with being an early riser.  After the first few centuries she had managed to keep to a strict schedule, rising when she must and bringing the dawn and then allowing herself an hour or two to get presentable.  

It was difficult enough to deal with the hundred plus tasks required to keep Equestria running while drowsy, but she had to look the part too.  She had learned early on how important her image was and how easy misunderstandings could lead to larger messes.  Ponies might mistake sleepiness for disinterest and become offended.  Losing patience with a foreign delegation could lead to endless headaches down the road.  Once she had broken into a long yawn while negotiating with a diplomatic committee of gryphons.  Her royal treasurer at the time had an insatiable need to put a number to everything and he’d estimated her yawn cost Equestria a hundred thousand bits after Celestia gave them a slightly better trade agreement to smooth over their ruffled feathers.  

That was long long ago.  A hundred thousand bits had been worth more back then, and the great great grandchildren of everyone in that meeting had gone on to have great great grandchildren.  Any stories of her earlier missteps had been lost to time.  Aside from her sister, there wasn’t a pony alive that knew her as anything but the always composed princess.

She hadn’t slept well the night before and woke with a vague sense of unease, though she expected it was because of a particular meeting she’d confront that day.  She decided a second cup of coffee was in order to make sure everything ran smoothly; tea could keep her going afterwards.  Once her coffee was down to the last few sips, she heard the insistent knocking of Free Ledger at the door.

“Princess, I’m afraid we should get started.”  Ledger’s faint voice came muffled from the doors.  Celestia sighed and made sure her mane was completely combed and opened the doors.  Full Ledger was only doing her job, and the kingdom might fall apart without her help.  Raising the sun is one thing, but Celestia never had the magic to keep her itinerary memorized.

“Good morning, Free.  I hope you slept well?”  She put on a small smile and began the long walk from her bedroom to the throne room with Free Ledger trotting along.  

“Yes, Princess, thank you.  I’m sorry to be insistent.  I normally would have given you a bit more time but…”  Celestia understood the strained tone in her voice immediately.

“The lemurs.”  She sighed and gave a wan smile.

“Yes Princess.  They were at the doors right at dawn and insisted on seeing you as soon as possible.  I told them when court began but they still have asked for updates every five minutes.  I worried if you were late today they may start climbing the walls.”

“Oh yes, quite literally.”  Celestia allowed herself a little chuckle.  “You were right to make sure I arrived on time.  Dealing with their delegation as soon as possible will be best.  I remember well why I said their next visit shouldn’t be for another fifty years, but time marches on.  Maybe I should have said a hundred.”

Free Ledger gave a little chuckle at that.  She had not yet been born when the delegation fifty years ago had taken place but Celestia knew Free would have looked  at the summary of their last diplomatic meeting.  Water Quill, her predecessor had kept meticulous records, including small bits of advice for future meetings based on the previous ones.  Celestia still recalled what Water Quill had written after the last delegation: “Lemuria.  Inferiority complex, but mostly harmless.”

That was as much as could be said really.  Lemuria was across the ocean on a jungle continent little explored by ponies.  Equestria had no records of note about lemurs or their nation, and everything the Lemurian delegations professed Celestia took with a large grain of salt.  The only certainty she could find was they were awash in mangos.

Celestia entered the throne room and nodded at her guard’s salute before taking her place at the throne.  The herald officially declared court was in session.  The doors opened and the lemurs sprung through.  There were a dozen or so, but most were dressed with nothing but bandannas or belts, while the three in the front of the delegation were arrayed ornately with flowing capes and jewelry.  The one in front had a small golden crown upon his head.  It would have seemed much more impressive if the lemurs did not walk forward in their little hop dance fashion, arms stretched out in front of them.  Those behind the three were divided between standing around waiting for a direction to be given, or lugging a wooden chest nearly the size of a lemur itself.

“Greetings, glorious Princess Celestia.  My father spoke of your splendorous presence, often.”  The one with the crown bowed low.  

As the one in the crown rose, the one to his left began to speak in his place.  “I have the honor to present to you Lemma, Prince of Lemuria, Lord of the Six Rings, Guide of the Dawn, Champion of Twintree, and official envoy to Equestria.

“It is a pleasure, Prince Lemma.” Celestia gave her best diplomatic smile, bracing herself for another series of titles and honors from the others standing on Prince Lemma’s left and right.  Then, if like before, there would be a few hours of proposed ‘declarations of alliance’ covered with complicated wording that could be interpreted as giving Lemuria authority over parts of Equestria.  These would be skimmed over and rejected, with a new document that gave a more general sense of friendship between the nations.  

Then would come a series of trade proposals, often with similarly complex clauses thrown in.  Most of these would be declined outright and for the others Celestia would insist on a very clearly worded agreement sending silk and cotton in exchange for mangos.  It was always mangos, it seemed the only trade good Lemuria could offer in large supply.  The trade agreements themselves were a little anachronistic.  Equestria generally established more open agreements that allowed individuals to travel between countries, acquiring the trade goods they’d desire, but the Lemurian delegations always insisted on agreements made by Celestia herself.

All in all the Lemurian delegations were frustrating and came to little.  Still, Celestia did not wish to shut Lemuria out completely, but had made it a habit to remarking at the end of each of their visits how productive things had been and how it would not be necessary to come again for fifty more years.  At some point, she always hoped a new delegation would arrive, wanting to open up dialogue and not simply begin poorly worded contract negotiations.  

“My most magnificent Princess.”  The one speaking for the prince continued.  “It has been a great while since we last saw your wonderful land.  We hope that our visit will be to our nation’s mutual benefits.  In honor of the centuries of friendship between Lemuria and Equestria, Prince Lemma wishes to provide you a gift from our lands.”

“A gift?”  That was a new development, but not unexpected if they thought it would help when they started proposing trade agreements.  The one speaking for the prince motioned behind him and the half dozen lemurs lifted the wooden box and brought it forward.  For a moment, Celestia feared there would be a giant mango inside and she would be unable to stop herself from laughing.

The prince himself walked forward as the box was laid down in front of the steps.  “Th-this is a token, of our continuing close relations.”  The prince gave a nervous smile that made Celestia all the more certain she was to be presented with the largest mango in Lemurian history, but she simply nodded and tried her best to keep a neutral expression.  The prince nodded back and opened the chest

Celestia’s eyes widened as the chest revealed a giant emerald, resting on satin.  Gems were common enough in Equestria but ones of this size were considerably more rare.  How the lemurs obtained such a gem she had no idea.  It had been given a square, radiant cut that caught the light very well and was flawless in color.  “It’s, ah….”  The emerald even seemed to glow, in fact the glow seemed to be getting brighter and brighter.  The whole room seemed to become bathed in the green light.  Then an instant later the glow had vanished and a wide smile formed on Princess Celestia’s face.  “It’s so beautiful.”

The prince took a tentative step closer.  “Y-yes it’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen, isn’t it?”

“Yes it is!”  Princess Celestia agreed enthusiastically, her eyes briefly glowing a soft green before returning to normal.

“It’s the greatest gift you’ve ever been given.”  The lemur said with slightly more confidence.

“Yes, it is!”  Celestia repeated happily.

“You want to be able to show everyone in Equestria this wonderful gift too don’t you.”  The lemur said with a wide smile.

“Oh yes I do!”  Celestia grinned.  Free Ledger and the guards in the throne room all smiled with her, their eyes all briefly turning green for a few seconds.

> Chapter 1: Guess Who's Coming to Ponyville
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike awoke to the familiar thumping sound of a dozen books crashing to the floor.  “Spiiiiiike!  Get down here!”  The groggy dragon rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked over the balcony as Princess Twilight Sparkle sprinted this way and that around her library, books flying in and out of her view.  The crash had been from a stack of books she’d tumbled into as part of her mad dash and they were now all strewn on the floor.  Spike walked downstairs and into the main hall and started to reorganize the literary wasteland in Twilight’s wake.

“Isn’t it kind of early for panic-research?”  Spike yawned and looked over Twilight’s concerned face.  “What happened?  Did Fluttershy turn into a bat again?”

“I don’t know what happened Spike, that’s the problem!  Just five minutes ago some sort of magical energy enveloped Canterlot and it felt...strange.”

“You could feel magic all the way from Canterlot?  That’s amazing Twilight!”  Spike put on an impressed smile and hoped it changed the subject for a minute to allow Twilight to catch two breaths.  When she became so hyper-focused she sometimes ended up obsessed and when she got obsessed...well the less said about the want-it-need-it incident the better.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to deter her.

“I didn’t just feel it, I saw it!  One second I feel a weird magical energy and then suddenly all of Canterlot was enveloped in this green orb!  I’m looking through old spell books, trying to identify it.”

Spike stacked some more discarded books and glanced at the titles.  “Magical Fields for Dummies, Area of Effect Spells and You….A Brief History of King Sombra?  Why did you pull out this one?”

“It was worth a try.  The magic felt similar to some of Sombra’s traps.  I don’t know Spike, it wasn’t regular magic and I haven’t been able to find anything in these books to narrow it down.”  Twilight pulled her wings in close and scrunched her forehead in frustration.

Spike moved closer and put a hand on her right foreleg.  “You might be overreacting.  I mean, have you asked Princess Celestia if anything is the matter?”

“No I...of course!”  Twilight brightened up.  “I got so distracted by the fact I didn’t recognize the magic I didn’t even think to contact her.  Spike, take a letter.”  Twilight moved the three books still hovering in her view away and found Spike was already writing, quill in hand.

“...and wanted to see if you have any information concerning this strange magic and if you require any assistance, sincerely Twilight Sparkle.”  He presented the letter for her to look over, with a slight grin.  “This isn’t the first panicked letter to Celestia you’ve had me write.”

Twilight glanced over the letter.  “It looks good.  You know my writing style well.  Just don’t start writing fake letters.  I think that would count as treason.”  She gave him a playful grin.

“I wouldn't ever do something like that, Twilight.  What do you take me for?”  He took the letter and sent it directly to Celestia in a rush of green flames.  “Now, do you promise to calm down and wait for a reply?”

“Alright, if she gets back in touch with us in the next ten minutes.  Maybe I’m overreacting, but you never know what kind of danger could be lurking around.”

“I mean sure there was that time those black vines attacked, and the changeling attack, and when Discord was released...but it’s not like Canterlot and Celestia are under siege every weaaaahhahhhhhhhhhgggg”  Spike stopped mid sentence and burped, a parchment forming.  “See, we already have a response.  Let’s look it over.”

Twilight quickly unfurled the scroll and read the message back out loud.  “My dear Twilight.  Everything is fine.  You have nothing to worry about.  I will come to the center of Ponyville in two hours and will explain everything.  Sincerely Princess Celestia.”

“See, everything is fine.”  Spike reassured her.  Twilight raised one eyebrow and frowned.

“I suppose.  But something feels odd about the letter.  It doesn’t sound like Celestia, even though it's her hornwriting.  And why the big wait to explain what’s happening instead of telling me in the letter?”

“She’s probably busy and has meetings to finish.”  Spike shrugged.  “We’ll find out soon enough.  So put down the books and let’s get the news straight from the Princess’ mouth in a couple hours.”

“Okay, I’ll put down the books, but I still have a strange feeling.  I’m going to make sure I have a little backup when Celestia shows up.  Spike, man the fort till I’m back.”  Twilight vanished with a blomph of magic, off to rally her friends.  Spike gathered up the books, hoping things didn’t get too crazy before Celestia arrived to straighten everything out.

Twilight hadn’t returned after an hour and forty five minutes, so Spike decided to head towards the town square himself.  He expected to run into Twilight and the rest of the elements of harmony, though the elements had been gone for some time.  Once he arrived at the square, however, he found not just Twilight and company but almost the entire town encircling the square, chattering curiously.

Spike had to squeeze his way through the crowd, muttering a dozen pardons as he bumped into various ponies zigzagging through the crowd and and finally stumbled out to at the opening where Twilight stood with a look of apprehension.  “Just how much backup did you think you needed Twilight?”

She sighed and looked over the group.  “I wasn’t planning on this, but someone overheard me talking to Pinkie Pie and word got out and everyone wants to come see about this mysterious magic Celestia is coming to explain.”  Spike could see how this would all play out already.  Princess Celestia would come with a very boring explanation and the whole town will shuffle away disappointed and distrustful of the next time Twilight was worked up about something.  No doubt a real threat would show up later that evening and her attempts to rouse the town would come to naught and she would learn an important lesson in not freaking out unless it was over a clear and present danger.

It could be even worse if her friends got in on the lesson too.  They were all trotting around the large circle, Pinkie bouncing around with an obvious look of excitement and anticipation.  Rainbow Dash was doing slow flying circles around the crowd to keep lookout for the Princess’ approach.  Spike looked over at Twilight, hoping this didn’t go as bad as he worried.  He knew Twilight was starting to feel apprehensive about what she was supposed to do as a princess.  It was possible that was why she was seeing danger around the corner with this magic, but having the town see her as a chicken little would repress any progress she made figuring out what kind of princess she was supposed to be.

Spike’s thoughts were interrupted as Rainbow Dash’s excited cry came out from above “I see her coming!”  The crowd erupted in cheers that didn’t let up as the small dot in the distance turned into Celestia’s familiar chariot.  Spike at least hoped the magic had some interesting explanation.  “Hey!”  Rainbow called down at the group, trying to yell through the crowd's voice.  “The Princess is with some lemurs.”

“What did Rainbow say?”  Spike looked at Twilight.

“She said the Princess is near.”  Twilight nodded with a smile.

“Noooo I said the Princess is with lemursss!”  Rainbow’s voice continued to get muffled by the cheers of the crowd.  As the chariot came into close view, however, everyone noticed that along with Princess Celestia’s team of pegasus ponies, there were three odd creatures riding along with Celestia in the chariot.

The cheering started to subside and be replaced with whispers of curiosity as Celestia’s chariot made a landing and everyone saw the oddly dressed creatures.  The three of them disembarked first with a strange hop and dance motion as they walked.  As the Princess descended from her chariot, the whole of Ponyville gave a bow except Twilight and her friends.

The six of them grouped together, looking over the strange display.  Applejack gave the three creatures an odd look  “What are those lil’ dancing fellers with Celestia?”

“I think they’re...lemurs?”  Twilight bit her lip, trying to make sense of their presence.

“That’s what I said.  The Princess is with lemurs!”  Dash protested.

“How do you know about lemurs?”  Twilight looked curiously.

“Duh, Daring Do and the Mangos of Terror?  It’s in the short story anthology!”

Twilight sighed.  “Alright alright.  They're lemurs.  But what are they doing with Princess Celestia here?”  Twilight started to walk towards the Princess and the three lemurs who were looking this way and that in wonder at the town.  Twilight took a few steps towards Celestia with her friends in tow.  Spike followed along behind them curiously.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle.”  Celestia had a smile on her face as she walked up closer herself.  “It’s wonderful to see you today.”

“You too, Princess Celestia...ah...I hope your ride was uneventful.”  Spike could notice the tension in Twilight’s voice.  Part of her wanted to ask immedietly about the magic field and the lemurs but also didn’t want to seem impolite.

“Oh it was a wonderful trip.  I spent the time telling Prince Lemma all about Ponyville.”

“Yes, most interesting, most wonderful.”  One of the lemurs hopped closer, his red silk cape fluttering behind him.  He adjusted a little golden crown and smiled at Twilight.  “You have such a wonderful town here, Princess.”

“Prince Lemma is the Lemurian ambassador!”  Celestia stated happily.

“Charmed.”  Twilight frowned.  “You also said you were going to tell me about that magic field.”

“I did?  Oh yes.  Prince Lemma said I needed to show you.”  Celestia looked back at the chariot and hoisted a huge emerald into the air, floating it back towards them both.

“Lemma said….Princess Celestia is everything alright?  Something feels wrong.”  Twilight’s expression darkened, but Celestia didn’t seem to notice the mood of her faithful student.

“Everything is fine.  Now, this is very important.”  Without another word, Celestia’s horn glowed brightly with dark green speckles, summoning the power of alicorn magic.  In response the floating green gem began to glow.

“Did Celestia always have green eyes?”  Pinkie Pie blurted out.  Before anyone could react, deep green light burst from the gem.  Expanding out in a sphere, all the ponies nearby gasped as the field passed through them.  Soon the entirety of Ponyville was surrounded in the green magical field, and then just as quickly, the light receded back into the gem.

“There, isn’t that just amazing?”  Celestia smiled happily.

“Yes, it is amazing!”  Twilight replied back with the same joyous tone.  Everyone else smiled in unison.  

The lemur that had been called Lemma hopped in a little circle.  “Now yes, Celestia, explain to everyone why we’re here.”

Celestia nodded and looked out at the crowd.  “Everyone, I’m happy to announce that Lemuria has offered to share their wisdom with everyone in Equestria.  They have much to teach us.    I have been discussing the terms of their diplomatic mission and am happy to report a thousand lemur delegates will soon arrive to provide Equestria their knowledge.  One hundred delegates are already here.  Fifty are coming to Ponyville while the others are keeping charge of Canterlot.  For now, everypony please return to your homes and businesses.  Lemur delegates will speak with you if they feel it is necessary.  The ambassador Lemma and I are going to speak with Mayor Mare and see what the Lemurian delegation can offer Ponyville.  I hope everyone else is as excited as I am about this opportunity for us all.”

The crowd all cheered happily and then spread out, going to their homes.  Celestia, the lemurs and her chariot all headed for the mayor’s office building.  Soon only a solitary figure stood where practically all of Ponyville had been before.  Spike stood in place with a look of total confusion.  “What the heck just happened?”
> Chapter 2: Diplomacy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike eventually decided to find Twilight and headed back to the library.  As he came through the door he found Twilight once again bounding around, pulling out and looking over various books, but this time there was a look of joy and anticipation on her face.  “Ah, Spike, you have perfect timing.  I need as much information about Lemurs as possible.  I’ve never done any research on them before and don’t know where to start.  Their history, their culture, what they like to eat.  I’m working with no data!”

Spike raised his eyebrow as she dashed this way and that.  “Why don’t you just ask the lemurs about themselves?”

“Spiiike, we’re the lemur’s hosts.  It’s imperative we anticipate their needs.  Making sure foreign dignitaries get flawless treatment is part of that.”  Twilight flipped through another book and flung it to the side.  “Aaarrgh.  There’s nothing here.  No history of Lemuria or the lemur people at all!”  Spike wandered over and put a hand on Twilight’s back, hoping to get her resettled.

“There’s no need to panic, Twilight.  I’m sure Princess Celestia has some books at Canterlot you can check up on.”

Twilight perked up with that familiar look of a book quest.  “Or even better, there’s probably a book about them at Celestia and Luna’s old castle!”  She did a little  hop in glee.  “Oh Spike that’s perfect.  We should head out there immediately!”

Just then, however, a familiar voice came from the door.  “Princess Twilight, we require you at the mayor’s office to discuss things with the lemur delegation in an official capacity.”  Princess Luna walked in slowly with the same smile everyone else in Ponyville had after the flash of light and Twilight stopped immediately in her tracks.

“Oh that’s terrible timing.  Spike, I have to go.  But those books are still very important.  I want you to go to the library and see if you can find anything.”  Twilight dashed over and grabbed the crown that had been fashioned for her after surrendering the element of harmony crown.

“You want me to go on my own?”  Spike looked at Twilight incredulously, both because it was unprecedented to send him to a distant library to fetch books, and how rare it was for Twilight to let go of the chance to do it herself.  It seemed much more likely she’d ask Spike to head to the mayor’s office.

“I’m sorry Spike but I can’t speak with the lemurs and be with you at the same time.  I trust you, come on back with any books you find and we’ll update there.”  

“Well, if you think so, Twilight.”  Spike shrugged and went to gather a pack for the trip.  “Is there anything else I should look for while I'm at the castle?”

“There’s no time Spike, I have to go, you can figure it out on your own.”  With that she sped off with Princess Luna, leaving Spike alone.

Something about the whole situation felt peculiar, but Spike couldn’t put his claw on it and his vague uncertainty wasn’t enough to make him contradict Twilight’s request.  He decided to bring a book cart along with him in case he found a lot of books that needed to be transported back and he began a solitary trek into the Everfree forest, grumbling.

“Sure, just go all by yourself, bring me all the books, I don’t have any time to go.  I swear I don’t know what her problem is.  First she’s obsessed with green glows and then with dumb lemurs.”  The whole day had been odd.  It wasn’t just Twilight acting peculiarly.  It seemed like all of Ponyville had been acting a little odd after the meetup with the lemurs, but if Princess Celestia was happy it couldn’t be anything dangerous.  Unless she had been Chrysalis in disguise, but that didn’t make sense either.  Chrysalis wouldn’t know how to transmit messages through Spike, would she?  Besides there hadn’t been a changeling sighting in ages.  

These were minor thoughts that passed as his mind kept returning to his concerns over Twilight.  She always worked herself so hard and over analyzed everything.  He felt good being around to help give her some perspective and keep her grounded, though often she got so worked up she wouldn't listen to anyone, even him.  And that’s was where she was again, obsessing over diplomatic minutiae.  He expected she’d be a wreck by the end of the lemur’s visit and he’d come back just in time to hand her a book showing the lemurs were boring ordinary creatures.  

His thoughts concerning Twilight were pushed away when Spike got the sense he was being followed.  He realized during his grumbling, he’d already made it out of Ponyville and into the Everfree forest.  A fluttering of leaves made him pause in his tracks and try to glance through the dark forest canopy.  “Uhhh, hello?”  He looked around but didn’t see anything, but there was no telling what the Everfree forest could throw at you.  “It’s not smart to mess with a dragon you know!”  He shouted with the best fake bravado he could muster.  “Do you know who you’re messing with?”

“Who?”  The voice came from right behind him and Spike jumped up in mid air with a yelp and then whipped around, crouching low to find his pursuer sitting on a small sapling with a curious look.

“Owlowiscious?  What are you doing here?”

“Who.”  The owl replied firmly.

“Are you coming with me to the library?”

“Whoo whoo.”

“Yeah, Twilight was acting kind of strange.  I mean, I’ve seen stranger but not as much recently.”

“Who?”

“I know, I’m worried about her too.  Thank you Owlowiscious.  You know, maybe this will be kind of fun.  I’ve never gone on a research trip with just you.  You can be my Spike for this one!”  Spike finished his one way conversation and continued along his path.  Owlowiscious shrugged and flew over to the cart, perched on the side.  They continued on their way, hoping the castle would soon come into view.

*******************************************************************************************************
As she left with Luna from the library, Twilight felt an overwhelming sense of anticipation.  “How have the talks been proceeding with the lemurs?”  She asked Luna as they trotted towards the mayor’s building.

“They have been going very well!  Admittedly we have not been present for all the discussions but Princess Celestia has kept us informed.  There have been many breakthroughs and the future course of Equestria may be decided.  This is why your presence is needed as well.  We would send for Cadence too, but it is too far to the Crystal Empire to send for her as yet.”  Twilight smiled, even more excited at the prospect.  The closer they could become to the lemurs, the better.  The thought their diplomatic mission would one day come to an end made her feel sad and she buried the thought away.  In its place was a hope they would stay forever.

Luna’s horn glowed to push open the doors of the mayor’s office.  They walked in to see Mayor Mare off to the side with the three lemurs sitting on her desk talking with Celestia.  The one with the crown, prince Lemma sat in the middle and was holding out a parchment that Celestia was in the process of signing.  Once she finished her signature, Celestia’s crown glimmered in time with her horn and she laid it in Prince Lemma’s lap and then gave a long, low bow.

Twilight paused in her tracks in surprise of the action.  “Princess Celestia, what’s going on?”  She felt more curious than concerned, but she had never seen Celestia without her crown in public.

Celestia looked up and smiled.  “Ah Twilight, you’re just in time.  The lemurs have been enchanted by Equestria and believe there is great potential for this land.  Prince Lemma has graciously offered us the opportunity to be formally annexed.  I have just accepted their gracious offer to become a province of Lemuria.”

Twilight gasped, “That….that’s…..so wonderful!  Does this mean the lemurs will stay?”

“Yes Twilight.”  Celestia smiled back at her.  “Sir Lemma informs me once the good news reaches the Emperor, another ten thousand lemurs will arrive to help us with our transition on top of the thousand planned for their diplomatic mission.  Also as Lemma is the Prince of Lemuria, he will be able to assume control of Equestria right away.  Once you and Princess Luna sign the treaty it will be official.”

Luna and Twilight quickly added their signatures to the contract.  Celestia resumed her low bow to the lemur’s leader.  “I, Celestia hereby abdicate the title of Princess and all powers and privileges associated therein.  I surrender my crown and throne to the new ruler of Equestria, province of Lemuria.  Hail Prince Lemma.”

Luna stepped forward and placed her crown next to Celestia’s and bowed, giving the same pledge.  “Hail Prince Lemma.”

Twilight placed her crown next to the others and abdicated her role as princess with the same pledge.  “Hail Prince Lemma!”

“Hail Prince Lemma.”  They all said in unison.

> Chapter 3: Adjustments
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight focused carefully, her horn glowing as her magic flared to life.  An instant later a large bushy mustache blinked into existence on the High Scholar’s face.

“Oooh my my.”  The lemur stroked the finely groomed addition.  “Amazing, a complete transmogrification with magic.”

“It’s a conjuration technically.”  Twilight replied, “Some people call it growing magic.”’

“Yes, yes.”  He waved vaguely at her and kept admiring the mustache in the mirror.  “And you say these are just basic spells?”

“Oh yes!  Each of these tricks is designed to show off a different branch of magic.  Most unicorns can only cast spells related to one or two but I’ve learned countless spells in these and some more abstract fields, including magic only alicorns can perform.  And of course I have the library or other references to help me if there is something I haven’t come across.”

“Mmm, yes yes, I’m pleased.  This is very promising.”  The High Scholar’s muttering was interrupted as the door to Twilight’s library opened and his two main travelling companions arrived, dancing and hopping into the main room.

“Meerca, what is that on your face?”  Prince Lemma gave a little laugh at the mustache, something a lemur couldn't naturally grow.  The prince danced over, his red silk cape flapping behind him and his crown bobbing precariously as he walked.  Sir Rington, the General of Mangolia, followed close behind the prince but didn’t add anything, as he was a lemur of few words.  The two other alicorns, Celestia and Luna followed along behind them, waiting to be prompted before they would speak.  Both were bare of the crown and other jewelry that had come with their former roles as princesses.  Now that the annexation was official, they were simply Lady Celestia and Luna, important managers but subservient to the Prince’s authority.  The annexation would be fully complete in five days once Prince Lemma formally took the crown.

The High Scholar stroked his new black mustache,”  This is a gift of unicorn magic.  I think I’ll keep it.  It makes me look wise.”  As High Scholar, he was to be the most learned lemur of the Kingdom, though he had been appointed by his childhood friend, Prince Lemma, rather than the traditional method of being elected by the council of elders.  The word traditional was practically a tradition itself though.  Of the last hundred High Scholars, only four had received their title by the vote of elders.

Prince Lemma laughed at his friend and hopped close to pat him on the back.  “Keep it then.  Maybe it’ll impress the council of old men.  But we have much to do today still.  Rington and I have surveyed the town and agree it’s a good place to begin the project.  We’ll make the visits you suggested in addition to their confectionery shop.  If things go smoothly we can expand the project to all of Equestria.”

“We currently only have Canterlot and Ponyville.”  Sir Rington noted gruffly.  “If you had not insisted on this coronation party we could have already visited the coast.”

“Always the pessimist.  Or maybe that’s my father’s council coming from your mouth.”  The Prince gave a little laugh.  The General had been brought along more or less to keep his eyes on Prince Lemma for his father.  He did not fear usurpation, but knew the young prince could become distracted easily.  “We’ll make it to the coast that much faster once we take our tour around town.  Meerca, I assume the proper documents are prepared?”

“Yes, I’ve put everything I need into one of Twilight’s saddle bags and she’ll be able to bring it along with us.”

“Let’s go then.  The sun is up and we’ll make use of the daylight.  I would hate to be forced to command the sun to stay longer in the sky.”

They all capered outside while Twilight lifted her saddle bag with the various scrolls and papers Lemma had placed inside.  She had looked with some curiosity as he’d assembled the various scrolls, but had not asked what they were.  Once outside, Prince Lemma clapped and the three alicorns knelt down, folding front and hind legs underneath themselves to allow the lemurs to climb on their backs.  Prince Lemma took Celestia, Sir Rington, Luna and Meerca crawled into place on Twilight’s back.  Soon the whole group was mounted.

“Ahh very good.”  The prince stroked Celestia’s mane slowly.  “Now which location should we start at?”

“I think the school would be best, what do you think Twilight?”  Meerca gave Twilight a similar stroke along her head and mane.

“Oh yes, Miss Cheerilee will be happy to let us visit, and the fillies and colts will be thrilled to meet the royal lemurs in person.”

“We’ll meet quite a few people today.”  The High Scholar replied, wrapping his arms around Twilight’s neck.  “If Equestria is to be a proper territory of Lemuria, we must learn all about it and set it on a prosperous path.”

“Yes, what do you alicorns think of our progress so far?”  The Prince asked with a smile.

“You have been very helpful.”  Celestia smiled, eyes shifting green for a moment.  “You are most wise and generous to guide us, Prince Lemma and I know you will bring even more great insights in how Equestria can advance forward.”

“Indeed sister.  Sir Rington has told me of many important battles he has fought and the glory he won.  The lemurs are courageous and honorable and will bring that honor to all decisions they make for us.”  Luna gave the same smile and nodded at Celestia.  The three alicorns had each taken to their riders quite well, Meerca noticed.  They were bonding especially with the lemur they spent the most time with.  Meerca had been with Twilight since the day before and he knew with a little prompting she would compete with the others in praising him for his his intelligence and insight.

They soon arrived at the school and knocked at the front door. It opened a moment later and a small filly stared up in shock at the visitors and dashed back into the room.  There was a wave of gasps and surprise as they came inside.  All the students quickly left their desks and crowded around the three alicorns and their riders while Cheerilee walked up and bowed down.  “Princesses, I had no idea you would be coming!”

Celestia stepped forward, smiling warmly at Cheerilee.  She leaned down and guided the teacher to rise back to her hooves.  “There’s no need to bow.  I’m just Lady Celestia now.  We’ve come with Prince Lemma, they wanted to see you.

“Oh yes, I’m sorry Prin-, I mean Lady Celestia.  It’s a force of habit.  Anything I or the children can do for the lemurs, just say the word.”

Meerca hopped down from Twilight’s back and scampered over to Cheerilee.  “I am the Honorable High Scholar, Healer, and Historian of the realm.  I wanted to review your educational system, and provide some possible updates.

“Oh of course!”  Cheerilee moved over to her desk and pulled out a large booklet titled Curriculum and she quickly opened it with her hooves, moving to the appropriate page.  “This is the current lesson plan.  I adapt things based on the students, but new lessons follow along this guideline.”

Meerca scrambled up onto the table to get a better look and started flipping through the pages, finding an assortment of math, history and science lessons.  It was a backwards educational program with none of the deep reading concepts necessary to understand Lemurian writing and contract negotiation.  He was amazed Lemuria hadn’t managed to sneak some beneficial clauses into previous trade deals, but it was possible Celestia had more sense than she was teaching her subjects.  He quickly grew bored and closed the book.  

“Yes yes, this is all good.  With our arrival, though, we need to make some adjustments to your lessons.”  Meerca motioned to Twilight, who walked over and shifted to give him access to her saddle bag.  He reached inside and found the appropriate scrolls, laying them down on the table and partly unfurling them.  He noticed that Twilight peered at them in anticipation.  “This is a history of Lemuria.” Meerca explained.  Twilight’s eyes seemed to glitter as she realized the content. “It’s important for ponies to understand our past and the students need to catch up.  I want you to make sure your students get up to speed.”

Cheerilee looked over the scrolls quickly.  “There’s a lot of new material, but I can delay the rest of their lessons and focus solely on Lemurian history.”

“That would be good,”  Meerca nodded

“Maybe the students could put on a play about Lemurian history.”  Twilight offered.

Meerca was surprised at her unprompted suggestion, but it did have appeal.  “That would be entertaining, and would fit with the coronation in five days.  Would the students have time to create and perform that soon?”

“I’d be happy to help them”  Twilight cut in before Cheerilee could offer a response.  “I’ll help read through your history with Cheerilee and speed things up.”  The alicorn glanced hungrily at the scrolls.  Meerca realized this was all a cunning plan on her part.  It was hard to say no to the idea when Twilight wanted so much to read those scrolls.

“With Twilight’s help I’m sure we’ll be able to create a marvelous play for this coronation.”  Cheerilee offered.

That was enough for Meerca.  “That should be fine.  Tomorrow, Twilight can come join Cheerilee and help with production of the play.”  The look of joy on Twilight’s face gave Meerca a warm sense of satisfaction.

The lemurs soon departed, allowing a little time for the fillies and colts to pay some respects.  They started for the outskirts of Ponyville, each lemur once again riding his assigned alicorn.  The prince waited a few minutes into the trip to chat with his friend.

“You’re a bit indulgent with your alicorn, Meerca.  Weren’t you going to have Twilight work on the compatibility problem tomorrow?”

“There will be plenty of time for that.  Twilight was desperate to learn more about us, and this will give her the chance.  If we deny ponies from pursuing any of their old interests, they’ll get restless and it could cause it’s own troubles.”

“I can see your point old friend, but what about when we come to a time where indulging them gets in the way of the plan?”

“Not to worry,”  Meerca smiled.  “Ponyville is all about experimentation.  If the plan requires less indulgence, we can make such adjustments.”

General Rington said nothing, but his expression revealed his annoyance with Meerca’s liberal approach to things.  He saw the plan in terms of a military conquest, wanting to take each pony city in turn and proceed with the plan immediately.  Meerca had relied on his friendship with the prince to make sure they proceeded more carefully, even still speaking vaguely about the plan while in earshot of the alicorns and mentioning no details.  Lemma had agreed, finding the ponies more entertaining in their current state.  He had taken to toying with Celestia, having her praise him on command.  It was enough, at least.  Rington saw Meerca’s caution as libertine and counter productive.  It was good that while Rington stood in for Lemma’s father, the prince was officially in command.  Meerca's real concern he couldn't say outright, even to his old friend because it went against doctrine.

Soon they arrived at the house of the pony known as Fluttershy.  She had been given forewarning of their arrival; Twilight worried a surprise visit would go poorly and noted that advanced notice would give her friends time to welcome them more formally.  This pony was a noted caretaker of animals and it Meerca suspected those skills could relieve a burden the lemurs had brought with them from their homeland.

The yellow pony opened her door as they approach and offered her best smile to the group.  “Oh hello.  It is such an honor to have you come visit me.  Won’t you come in?”  She led them into her living room where tea and lemon cakes had been laid out on a table.  “I hope the teacups aren’t too big.  I only had pony size and ones made for squirrels, and felt that too small might be even worse.”

The prince took to the large teacup quite well after hopping up into a seat, holding it with both hands and taking a long sip.  Meerca and Rington each took a place at the table, sampling the tea and lemon cakes that had been prepared.  Fluttershy smiled as the lemurs tore in, but looked at the three still available teacups and the three alicorns who hadn’t joined in and stood silently in a line.  “Um, would you all like tea as well Prince...I mean, Ladies?”

“No no, there is no time.”  Prince Lemma cut in with a wave of his hand.  “We should get to business.  I was told you take care of a lot of animals?  Where are they all?”

“Yes, I’m sorry to confuse you.  I wasn’t sure how you’d react if you met them all inside.  You might feel crowded or scared, there’s a bear after all.  So I thought tea first and then you could head into the back yard and meet them there.”

“Mhmm, I see, yes, let’s look shall we?”  Lemma stated in between mouthfuls of cake.  Fluttershy headed towards a back door and the lemurs followed after.  Prince Lemma looked over to the alicorns.  “Celestia, Luna, Twilight, wait for us to return.”  The three nodded and Fluttershy led only the lemurs out into her backyard.

A group of animals was sitting around in the back, but once they noticed Fluttershy’s approach, they all hopped up into greeting poses, including the bear standing on his hind legs and unfurling a banner that said “Welcome Lemurs” in a variety of colors and looked to have been painted with various paw prints.  A variety of birds hovered around the animals or landed on the sign and they all arranged themselves according to height.  All of the animals put on big smiles except for a rabbit in the front that seemed skeptical of the whole procession.

The prince seemed quite happy with the display.  “What a wonderful set of creatures.  Tell me, how do you keep them in line?”

“In line?”  Fluttershy’s voice cracked briefly as she absorbed the implications of the Prince’s words.  “No no, I just provide lots of love and care and we all become friends.”

The prince spent a minute absorbing Fluttershy’s words and looked back at Meerca.  “What do you think, old friend? Will she be up to it?”

“Twilight Sparkle says she’s the best caretaker in Ponyville and assured me she can be stern when necessary.”

The prince nodded.  “Very well.”  He turned back to Fluttershy.  “You see, some young lemurs will arrive here tomorrow from Canterlot, including High Scholar Meerca’s son.  The adult lemurs are all going to be very busy with administrative tasks and we want you to look after them for us.”

The yellow pony’s eyes brightened.  “Oh that would be wonderful!  I’m honored you would let me look after your children.  I’m sure they’re adorable.”

“They can be a handful.”  The prince countered.  “Don’t hesitate to be firm with them if you must.”

“Oh I, but I wouldn’t have to, surely I’d never need to punish them.”

“Do what you can and look after them.  I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

Fluttershy nodded to the prince.  “Okay, I’ll be ready tomorrow, don’t worry.”

The lemurs returned to their alicorns and rode off back to Ponyville.  “Another experiment Meerca?”  The prince inquired once they were on their way.  “From her reaction I expect she’ll find it hard to say no to the children.”

“We don’t know for sure.”  Meerca replied.  “She has an order from her Prince to be firm when needed, and Twilight assures me she is capable of staring down misbehaving creatures.  I am interested if the gem will make that impossible when it comes to caring for young lemurs.  At worse, the younglings will be waited on paw and foot, or hoof I suppose.”  That elicited a burst of laughter from the Prince.  The three ponies said nothing, knowing not to interrupt when the lemurs spoke with each other.  

Their next stop was at Sugarcube corner.  The pony known as Pink Pie, or something like that, had been told to expect them.  As they arrived, they found the pony in question waiting at the counter.  “Welcome to Sugarcube--, ahhhh! You’re here!  You made it!  Don’t move!”  The pony zapped into the back room, leaving the group in silence for a few seconds outside of a soft chuckle from Twilight.

“These ponies are crazy.”  Prince Lemma remarked to break the quiet.  A few seconds later they heard a squeaky wheel growing closer and closer and soon the pony returned with a huge cart twice as tall as herself with 6 different levels, each covered in candies, tarts, pastries and souffles.  

“When I heard you were visiting I said, ‘Pinkie, you should make the lemurs a treat,’ and I was like, ‘you’re right I really should.”  Pinkie shifted back and forth, looking over at where she had been standing a moment earlier, simulating both sides of the conversation.

“But then I said, ‘But what do lemurs like?’ and I said, ‘Wow I have no idea.’  And that worried me because I might make something you don’t like, but then I said, ‘Why not just make everything and let them try it?’ and I was like, ‘*gasp* that’s a perfect idea!  I’ll make a Pinkie Party Platter Sampler!’ And I asked, ‘Wait, what’s a Pinkie Party Splatter Sampler?’ And I said, “I just made it up on the spot sooooo…..let me know what you like!”  She gave a squeak and pushed the cart closer.

The lemurs gawked at the mountain of sweets and quickly indulged, hopping up onto the first level of the cart grabbing bits of each dish and sampling them before moving on to the next.  “Biff iff Grrt!”  The prince mumbled through a strawberry tart.  He continued his line of thought after swallowing.  “And these are just the sort of things we’ll need for coronation in five days.”

“Coronation?”  Pinkie tilted her head.

“Yes well, we’ll have an official ceremony where Prince Lemma is crowned the new sovereign.”  Meerca explained.  “And we’ll have a celebration and feast afterwards.”

“Celebration…”  Pinkie’s eyes glittered.  “You mean like.... a PARTY!???!?!”

“Well yes I suppo-”

Pinkie gasped and leapt behind the counter, pulling out a large book.  “Oh there isn’t much time.  I’ll have to use my emergency confetti supply.  Prince Lemma, do you prefer chocolate or vanilla?  I know, both are great but everyone prefers one over the other and it’s important for figuring out the balance of dessert.  Now I know what you’re thinking, ‘Pinkie what about strawberry?’ and normally I’d ask but three flavor comparisons makes the party math kind of tricky and--”

“Pinkie!”  Twilight finally interrupted her friend’s rambles, making Pinkie blush slightly and put her hand over her own mouth.

“Eep, sorry I got carried away.”  Meerca and the other two lemurs weren’t sure what to make of the pony and had gaped as she rattled on.  

Twilight’s interjection gave the prince a chance to get a word in.  “Just do what you think is best.  We leave all the celebration details to you.”

Pinkie nodded slowly, “Not to worry.  The best party planner in Ponyville can make the best party under all conditions.  I’ll have everything ready right on time.”

“Excellent, yes yes.  Good, and definitely bring more of those strawberry pastries.”  The prince noted before they all mounted on their alicorns to leave.

Pinkie sighed.  “I suppose I’ll need to add strawberry to the equations after all.”

The group began to head over to the local boutique where another of Twilight’s friends waited.  As soon as they were out the door of Sugarcube Corner Rington turned to the other lemurs.  “Should we trust such an erratic pony?”  He asked gruffly.

“I like her.”  The prince replied with a laugh.  “She’s very spirited.  If she makes a party that resembles her personality it will be tremendous fun.  And those desserts!  Perhaps she should be my royal pastry chef.

“More indulgences given to ponies?”  Rington asked derisively.

“Twilight,”  Meerca stroked her mane, “Is Pinkie our best choice?”

Being addressed directly Twilight knew it was appropriate to join the conversation.  “Oh definitely.  Pinkie’s being modest when she says she’s the best in Ponyville.  She’s the best party planner in all Equestria, but she says it isn’t meant to be a competition.  You see, she ended up involved in this party battle a while back and..”

Meerca tapped Twilight’s head gently to interrupt her.  “You see General?  If we are to be effective rulers, we will use pony’s talents to their greatest effect.”

Lemma gave a soft laugh of agreement.  “I can see that for many talents, old friend, though with the plan it’s clear some talents will be unnecessary.  We’ll find far better purposes for them.”

Meerca nodded at his prince’s words, but still felt a little concern.  Twilight had elaborated on ponies and their cutie marks and how closely intertwined a pony was with their special talent.  The main reason he wished to experiment first on Ponyville before proceeding with the plan elsewhere was he couldn't shake the concern there may be a conflict down the road between the magic of the gem and the magically bound roles that ponies had in their own society.  Doctrine and history said the gem was absolute, but there was no mention of cutie marks in that history either.

He would have time to worry over that later.  Their last visit to the pony known as Rarity was very important.  He would have a chance to study cutie marks at a later time.  Once they opened the door of the boutique, a small bell chimed, summoning Rarity from the back rooms.

“Yes, welcome to oooooh why you’re here!”  Her eyes sparkled like the gems on her flank.  “I must say it’s a special treat to have a prince come to my shop.  And royalty for Lemuria and Canterlot to boot!”

“Yes, your friend Twilight Sparkle recommended you for any clothing and accessory needs.”  The prince began.

“Ohh you’re highness that’s simply wonderful.”  Without prompting, the prince found himself lifted off the ground and placed at Rarity’s pose stand, circled by three mirrors.  “I confess I took the liberty after first seeing you yesterday of thinking up a few designs and have a prototype here.”  A red velvet cape, padded with down and studded with sapphires flew into view and settled on the prince’s neck, replacing the simpler cape he’d been wearing.  At the same time, a purple doublet settled over his head, sliding into place with bits of padding in the shoulders that helped to emphasize his upper body.  “Hmmm, I was close but it’s still a bit loose in the waist.  When I get your exact measurements I can take it in  bit.”

“We did not come to get clothing for ourselves.”  The General said gruffly.

Rarity tilted her head.  “You didn’t?  Oh how embarrassing.  I simply presumed if you were coming to my boutique that…”

“Never-mind that, Rington, this looks wonderful!” The prince cut in, admiring the look in the mirror.  “You did all this in a day?”

“It took only an hour or so really,”  Rarity allowed herself a satisfied smile, “When inspiration strikes, you have to follow through.”

“This is very wonderful.  I've never had such a magnificent outfit before.  Do you think you could make an outfit like this for my coronation?”

“Oh, to design the outfit you’d wear as you took the crown?  I would be honored!  Certainly I would be able to do that for you.”

“Excellent.  Meerca, she could make a grand High Scholar robe for you to put all the previous High Scholars to shame.  And General, wouldn’t you like a gem encrusted set of armor?”  The general said nothing a moment but then offered  a little nod.  “See I’m sure Rarity here can make outfits for us and the designs for Celestia, Luna, and Twilight.”

That made Rarity gasp, “You want me to make dresses for the Princesses too?!  Or, the Ladies now but still, oh my!”

“Yes but we have some specific designs in mind.”  Meerca cut in, rummaging through Twilight's saddle bag and bringing over the appropriate scroll.  Rarity took hold of the scroll with her horn and unfurled it, studying the design.

“Oh my, really?”  She glanced at the High Scholar’s expression, confirming he was serious.  That allowed her to look at it with seriousness herself.  “I see.”  She said in a flat tone.  “I suppose these would be useful and wouldn’t take much time.”

Meerca noticed a hint of something in her voice outside of the usual delight when he proposed ideas to ponies.  “Is there a problem with the designs?”

“Oh, nothing wrong no.  I...it should take little time at all to make such a functional outfit.”

Meerca could definitely tell something was off.  He looked to Twilight for help, hoping she could read her friend far better.  

Twilight stepped closer and gave her friend an encouraging smile.  “Rarity, is it possible you find the design a little plain?”

Twilight’s prompting was enough to loosen her tongue.  “Oooh yes, I’m sorry to say this but the designs are very simplistic and not befitting of alicorn’s stature.  It’s all function when so much can be done with form.”

Meerca finally understood and it made sense.  A pony that had made such an elaborate outfit for the prince unbidden would certainly be dissatisfied with the bare design he’d provided.  She would want to make them fashionable.  he decided relenting a bit would cause no harm.  “You are welcome to adapt the outfits to be fancier, as long as the design is still based around this concept.” 

Rarity beamed in response.  “Oh!  Wonderful then.  I have a few ideas.  Each Lady’s outfit should show off her unique qualities.  That won’t be a problem.  In five days I can have these ready and if you can send me examples for what a scholar’s robe and lemur armor look, I can make fabulous updates!

“Excellent!  Wonderful!”  The prince declared.  “We’ll return with the necessary designs in a couple days.  For mine, make it like this one but even more luxurious.  Can I wear this one out for now?”

“Oh a prince may do what he wishes, your highness.  I just hope you’ll allow me to make a few adjustments later once I have your measurements.  I would hate for my work to not reach its full potential.”

The three departed Rarity’s shop and headed toward Twilight’s library.  “A productive day, don’t you think?”  The prince smiled.

“Everything is going well so far.”  Meerca agreed.  “After your coronation we will have a better sense of the gem's effects  So far there seems to be no limits, but there is much more I need to learn about pony magic.  And of course we’ll have to find a solution to the compatibility problem eventually.  I have no doubt one will be found.”

“I don’t like the uncertainties.”  Rington noted.  “We should lure the final princess here as soon as possible.”

“You always worry, General.”  The prince said with a wave of his hand.  “Everything will be fine.  Word travels slowly to the Crystal Empire, there will be ample time.  We’re going to claim Manehattan and Fillydelphia like you wanted, and then I’ll be crowned Prince of Equestria.  At that point we can travel to the Crystal Empire at our leisure.”

Meerca worried things would not quite so smoothly as that, though nothing had gone wrong yet.  As High Scholar it was his job to worry, he supposed.  He had much more studying to do.  The group parted ways, leaving him alone with Twilight Sparkle.

“How do you feel the day went, Twilight?”

“You and the Prince both seem happy, so it must have gone very well.”  She offered with a smile.

Meerca smiled back.  It was always unpredictable how much opinion the ponies would offer.  Twilight had not really been given a sense of the scope of their plans, so seemed to fall back to reading the lemurs, looking for approval.  They had been agreeable at every turn, and Meerca decided to begin the next test.  “Now Twilight, do you recall how we were talking about the compatibility problem?”

“Yes, although I still don’t know what that means.”

“Well I’ll explain to you.”  Meerca danced over to a sofa and sat.  Twilight planted herself on the floor in front of him.  “You remember the lovely green gem you saw yesterday?  The gem was very important.  It allowed you and all the other ponies in Ponyville to recognize our wisdom and magnificence.”

“Oh I see!”  Twilight’s eyes turned green for a moment and she perked up.  “That’s why the prince and general are going to Manehattan and Fillydelphia.  They all have to see the gem, or they won’t understand like we do.  That’s what the magical field around Canterlot was.  That same field surrounded Ponyville yesterday.”  Twilight brightened even more.  “And I bet you can only show a whole city the gem at once with alicorn magic.  That’s what Celestia was doing yesterday, putting magic into the gem.”

“That’s right, I’m impressed.”  He was even more impressed with how she took the news.  Meerca was essentially informing Twilight her feelings were unnatural, but she couldn’t see past the gem's effects and thought over his words like she would any other academic puzzle.  He enjoyed how quick Twilight was when it came to magic.  If she hadn’t been caught in the gem's effects in Ponyville, she likely would have figured out its true nature quickly.  The moment Meerca brought up the gem she had figured out its need for alicorn magic to affect more than just a small room.  He decided to see if she could figure out the rest.

“Now, knowing ponies have to see the gem, what do you think the compatibility problem is?”

Twilight thought for a moment.  “I guess it would be that some ponies aren’t compatible and it doesn’t work on them,”  She paused, seeing from Meerca’s expression she was getting colder.  “No, just the opposite!  The problem is that only ponies are compatible.”

Meerca grinned.  “That’s right.  Even in Canterlot, there are some gryphons and other non-ponies who can’t see the gem
like ponies do.  If they don’t understand our magnificence, they may act in foolish ways.  This could be a danger to ponies and themselves as a result.  Because you are so talented with magic, the prince and I are hoping you can find some solution.”

Twilight’s expression narrowed, her mind going over the problem, “The most direct solution would be figuring out how to make the gem compatible...though it might be the gem has to be designed for a specific species.  The alternative would be finding out how to create new gems.  I’d need to study the current one before I can come up with anything tangible.”

“Excellent, I’m very proud Twilight.  The gem won’t be available while it’s used on Manehattan and Fillydelphia, but afterwards you can study it and see if you can find the answer to our problem”  Meerca grinned happily and rubbed his hands together.  If Twilight could learn how to make more gems, all the old dreams might come true and Lemuria would shine just as brightly as it had all those millennia ago.
> Chapter 4: Coming Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I can’t believe it!”  Spike slammed the book he was holding shut and tossed it on the nearby pile.  “Starswirl’s taxonomy, ‘harmless;’ The Guide to Sentience Outside Equestria, ‘mostly harmless;’ The Hobo’s Guide to World Travel on 2 Bits a Day, ‘greedy but harmless.’  Has anyone in history written more than two words about lemurs?”  

He sighed and leaned against the table.  He and Owlowlicious had scoured the Castle of the Two Sisters library for two full days, getting any book that might mention lemurs.  History, geographical studies, travel logs, everything was scant on the strange creatures.  All he’d been able to piece together was Lemuria was very far away and those few ponies who had been there found the natives odd and forgettable.  He’d even thought of looking for the Daring Do book Rainbow Dash had mentioned, or at least something similar, but of course all the books in the library were at least a thousand years old, and action adventure novels didn't appear to have been in vogue at the time.  Considering there wasn’t anything in Twilight’s library back in Ponyville, it didn’t seem like much had changed over the past millennium.

“So what have you lemurs done that’s so amazing it’s caught the princesses’ attention?”  He grumbled to himself.

“Who?”  Owlowlicious fluttered in with a book in his talons.

“I just said, the lemurs.  There’s more data about breezies in these books, and they spend most of their time in a whole different dimension!”

“Whooo.”  Owlowlcious laid the book down on the table in front of Spike and tapped it expectantly.  It didn’t have any markings except for a silhouette on the front cover that looked a lot like a lemur.  Spike flipped the book open and was greeted with a maze of incomprehensible symbols.

“What the...is it in code?  No, wait!”  Spike recognized one of the symbols as he turned the page.  “I think this is dragon writing.  I recognize this symbol.  It was etched in the rock at the dragon gathering I went to.”  He stared carefully at the symbols, trying to pull more meaning from it.”

“Whoo.”

“I don’t know what it means.  I didn’t think dragons wrote books.  None of the dragons I’ve ever met seemed like the writing type, at least.  Were there other books like this one?”

“Who, who.”

“This is nuts.  I wonder if Celestia or Luna can read this.  It is in their library.”  He perked up a bit.  “Well it isn’t much, but at least we won’t come back empty handed.  We’ve been searching long enough, I think.”  

Spike tucked the book under his arm and stood up, but then noticed the light from the window was fading.  He glanced outside and saw the sun setting over the canopy of the Everfree Forest.  He shivered with the thought of wandering through those woods at night  “Well, maybe we should wait till tomorrow morning.”

They set off at sunrise the next morning.  The trip was thankfully devoid of any nasty surprises.  The shock of the trip was from when they reached the outskirts of Ponyville to find the lemurs had multiplied.  Spike saw a dozen of them as he made his way to Twilight’s library.  They were talking with ponies, observing ponies as they went about their days, sometimes even riding on the pony's backs.  “Owlowlicious, do you get a strange vibe from the lemurs sometimes?”

“Who.”  Owlowlicious agreed, viewing all the newcomers with what Spike guessed was concern.

“I’ll ask Twilight more about it when we get to the library.  If there is something wrong, I’m sure she's working on a solution.”  

Twilight wasn’t home when they arrived.  That was uncommon for this time of day.  Twilight would usually have been inside having breakfast or taking care of her checklist if she was in a rush.  Still, there was more than enough precedent for Twilight dashing out of the house due to some threat to Ponyville, an issue with her friends, or rumors of a sale at the book store.  He hoped she wouldn't be disappointed by the slim pickings he'd returned with.  He glanced back at the solitary book in his cart.  If only he could read it.  It was another reminder of how little he knew about his own people, though none of the dragons he’d ever met had been too helpful on that note.  The indecipherable runes taunted him but also tempted him with the chance to make real discoveries about dragon kind.  If Celestia or Luna could read the book, that also meant they could teach him, and he could go back to the Castle and perhaps find other books like this one on all sorts of topics dragons found interesting.

His thoughts were interrupted by Twilight’s voice behind him.  “Spike, you’re back!”  He turned to reply to her, but paused in surprise.  Twilight looked the same as always, wearing a saddle bag she often used for book runs, but she was magically floating a wooden chest behind her, and there was a lemur riding on her back.  As she trotted up, Twilight knelt for a moment to let the lemur hop off before giving Spike a hug.  “It’s good to see you again.  Did you find anything at the castle library?”

“Yes and no.  Twilight, why are you and the other ponies giving these guys rides?”  He eyed the lemur cautiously and noticed the lemur’s black mustache looked just like the type Twilight had given him during her magic practices.

“Ah, I can explain some.”  The lemur cut in, dancing and hopping forward to offer his hand.  “Spike is it?  Twilight has told me much about you.  Amazing to find a dragon in Ponyville.”  He stopped for a moment, eyes narrowing with some unmentioned thought, but the look vanished an instant later.  “I am Meerca, the High Scholar of Lemuria.  Twilight and I have been sharing our knowledge with each other.  You recall how your princess Celestia said we were sharing our wisdom with Equestria?”

Celestia had said that, right after the strange magical field had formed.  That was the first time he'd thought about it in sequence.  It was a bit odd how no one commented on it afterwards.  Still, magic did tend to misfire now and then and it wasn't cause for panic after the fifth or sixth occasion. 

“That’s right Spike,” Twilight added.  “Meerca is very wise and knowledgeable.  I’ve been learning from him non-stop since the annexation.”

“The what?”

“Ah, we can get to that later."  Meerca cut in.  “You should begin your studies, shouldn't you Twilight?”

“Oh, you’re right!  I’m glad the gem is finally available.”  Twilight picked up the chest with her magic once again and turned towards the library.  “Come on Spike.  You should see this, but no touching.”  She gave him a playful grin.

Spike followed along, curious about this gem while eyeing the lemur, Meerca, suspiciously.  Owlowlicious flew inside along with them and sat on his perch, listening silently.  Twilight set the chest down inside her living room and opened it, revealing an amazing emerald.  Spike realized It was the one Celestia had brought to Ponyville that had generated the magical field.

“Isn’t it awesome?”  Twilight smiled and held it out.  Spike had only had a passing glance at the thing last time, but seeing it up close, it did look incredible.  It was flawless and beautifully cut and Spike couldn't help but imagine how delicious it would be.  Because it was a magical gem, though, the flavor might be different from regular emeralds.  It must be magical for Twilight to be so excited about it, and it had created that odd field.  Though giving a second to think about it, Spike remembered that Celestia had done something too; her horn had started to glow.  Perhaps she was using some spell on a regular emerald to make the field?  But right now, all Twilight was doing was holding the gem with her magic and it seemed start glowing all on its own.  As Spike looked, the light became brighter then flared like a lantern, tinting the whole room green in its light.  A moment later, the light faded away.

“That’s really weird.”  Spike commented.

“It just does that, apparently.  Looking at the gem seems to trigger it, and it becomes more powerful with alicorn magic channeled through it.  I can’t wait to figure out why.  Meerca tasked me with learning how the gem works so we can adapt its effect.”

“What effect is that?  Does it do more than produce light?”

“It’s ah...an inspirational magic.”  The lemur cut in again.  “It is our gift to Equestria.  When ponies see its light, they are given deep wisdom and insight they would not normally have, isn’t that right Twilight?”

“Mhm, it’s just as Meerca says, Spike.  But it only works for ponies, so it’s important to see if we can make it work for other creatures too.”  Twilight set the gem back in the chest.  “Before I get started on my research, it sounded like you did find something at the library?”

“I did, but I don’t know if anyone can read it.”  Spike showed her the book with the lemur looking silhouette and draconic runes.  “I was thinking that since it was in Celestia and Luna’s library, that one of them may know the language.”

“I suppose it’s possible, but with as little as we know about dragons, I wouldn’t be certain.  Still, this is a really great find!  Very nice work, Spike.”  She gave him that smile that showed she was proud of his work.

“Well, Owlowlicious found this one.”  Spike admitted.

“Who.” the owl added.

“Yes, it was a team effort.”  Spike grinned a bit.

“I’m glad we are getting more information,”  Twilight nodded thoughtfully, “Like you said, Spike, the lemurs themselves are a great source and Meerca has taught me a lot about their people, but multiple sources are always key for a proper research project.  I would be fascinated to see what dragons have to say about lemurs!  Celestia should be at the mayor’s office working on details of the coronation.”

“Coronation?  Is there another princess?”

“No Spike the coronation of..”

“Ah, Twilight, you really shouldn’t neglect your research.  I will go with Spike and get him up to speed with what he’s missed.”

“Yes, of course, Meerca.”  Twilight nodded, “I know you’d do a better job explaining things anyway.  I’ll see you later Spike.  Let me know how it goes with Celestia.”  Twilight turned back to the gem and pulled out a scroll to begin jotting down her notes.

Spike looked suspiciously at the lemur, who gave him a big grin underneath his mustache and put his arm on Spike’s shoulder, leading them both out the door.  Once they were outside, Spike removed the lemur’s hand.  “So what’s this secret you don’t want Twilight telling me?”

“Oh it’s no secret, it’s just a lot to take in and I worried if Twilight explained things out of order you might be confused or have the wrong idea.”

“Well I’m getting an idea of something.”  Spike replied.  There was something odd about the lemurs, but Spike couldn't put a firm word to the feeling.

“Ah, see, and that’s why I wished to talk with you.  Now, it’s important to understand that we lemurs are a very old and ancient race with a lot of wisdom that younger races like ponies have not yet developed.  Celestia and the other alicorns have recognized our great wisdom and have requested that we, ah... create a formal pact between Equestria and Lemuria.”

“What exactly can you teach someone like Celestia?  She’s over a thousand years old.”

“Oh yes, Celestia and Luna are very old individuals, but lemurs are far more ancient as a people.  We had a great prosperous civilization when ponies were still primitive uncivilized creatures, and we still see the childish things ponies do, like how they treat you, for instance.”

“Wh-what are you talking about?”  Spike halted and glared at Meerca, but part of him was curious where he was going with this.

“Well Twilight has told me about you and some of the things you’ve gone through.  I’m sure you’ve felt a little uncertain about a dragon being told by ponies how he should live.”

Spike remembered the derision other dragons had given him when they learned about him being close with ponies.  He remembered the odd shame he’d felt that had compelled him to follow the dragon flight and try to learn more about his people.  Of course he didn’t learn a whole lot about dragons on that trip really.  Most of his attempts to be more draconic had led to horrible misinterpretations, like the fragmented story he’d heard about life debts, or they had led to massive property damage.  But none of those things were Twilight’s or the other’s fault.

“I’m not being forced to act like a pony.”  He protested, looking a bit less angry and more confused.

“Not in so many words,”  Meerca replied, “But they don’t want you to live the way you were born to, do they?  You see, every species has natural talents and roles they are meant to perform.  A dragon is happiest when acting like a dragon.  But did any pony try to find a fellow dragon to raise you, or try to teach you about your own kind?  No, they raised you in a pony city, taught you pony language and presumed living in this way was what was best for you.  Isn’t controlling your environment the same as controlling you?”

Spike wanted to retort back that everyone was very supportive when he wanted to learn about being a dragon, but the words felt slightly hollow.  While Twilight and the others had never held him back from going to the dragon flight or trying to learn more about himself, they had never actively sought out information for him.  The only times he learned anything about dragons was when he insisted on pursuing it himself or when his dragon nature caused trouble.  None of that was anyone's fault, though.  Ponies just didn’t know much about dragons, not even Celestia.  There was no way for them to raise him like a dragon, and no reason to think they ever could have found a dragon who’d agree to raise him, he wasn’t even sure how dragon families worked.

Twilight and all the others wanted Spike to be happy, that was indisputable.  But Meerca had brought a small, buried part of Spike to the surface.  It was the part that was rankled when Fluttershy would note she was scared of dragons...except for Spike.  It was the part of him that really hoped Celestia couldn't read the draconic language, because if she could it meant she could have taught him how to read it ages ago.  It was the part of him that had felt truly contented only when he had started hoarding everything in Ponyville.  Spike wanted to shrug off Meerca's words, but he only felt more confused and uncertain as they arrived at the mayor’s office.

There was no sign of the mayor or Celestia inside, but Luna was resting on the floor as another lemur regaled her with a story.  “And just like that, we were cut off.  The heathenous six ring lemurs were rushing towards our position and could easily scale the trees we’d taken shelter in.  But they were overconfident and hadn’t noticed we had taken shelter in peach trees.  They didn’t bother to bring any shields for their attack, and as they attempted to reach the trunk of our trees, my men rained down peaches onto their front lines.  Soon the whole field was stained with peach juice and littered with the pits.  Their men became so wet and sticky they had no choice but to retreat to the river to get clean, and we made our escape.”

Luna smiled happily as the lemur finished his story.  “That is amazing, Sir Rington.”  Your courage is most commendable.  I am most impressed by your strategic brilliance.”

“If he was that brilliant he would have hidden in a pineapple tree.”  Spike muttered to himself.

Rington turned to look at them coolly.  “Who is this, Meerca?”

“Ah, Sir Rington, this is Spike the dragon.  Remember...I mentioned him.  He was looking for Celestia.”

“My sister has gone flying with Prince Lemma.  They will not be back for at least another hour, but perhaps I can help you in her stead.”

“Maybe so.”  Spike walked up to Luna and showed her the book.  “This is from your old library in the Everfree forest, but it’s written in what looks like some kind of dragon language.  I was wondering if you or Celestia are able to read it.”

Luna held the book in the air with her magic, giving it a slow glance.  “I recognize this book, but I am afraid neither Celestia nor myself know what it says.  It is part of a collection of ancient texts we believe were written by a dragon scribe.  Why these books were written has been lost to time, and we never were able to find a dragon which had both the knowledge and inclination to translate for us.  I’m sorry Spike, but only another dragon scribe would know how to read this.”

He sighed and bowed his head.  “Thank you Princess.  I guess nothing came of my trip after all.”

“Your dedication alone is admirable, Spike.  And you need not call me a princess anymore.”

That brought Spike’s head suddenly.  Meerca hopped over between the two of them.  “Yes yes, I was in the middle of explaining this to Spike when we arrived.”  Spike looked at Luna, noticing for the first time she wasn’t wearing the crown she usually did, then looked back to the two lemurs.  The whole day had been a series of small oddities, but the idea that Luna was not a princess was shocking all on its own.  “As I was explaining earlier, Luna and Celestia saw the wisdom we could provide and requested that Equestria become part of Lemuria, so that we could share our wisdom directly.  As a formality, there could not princesses of Equestria if they were to become part of Lemuria.  You see?  It’s all very normal.”  Meerca looked over at Luna.

“He speaks the truth Spike.  We have much to learn from the lemurs and a royal title is meaningless next to the well being of our people.  Nothing of this is amiss.”

“But it…”  Spike looked at the three of them, Meerca’s saccharine smile, the other lemur’s silent staring, and Luna’s calm stoic demeanor.  Could this really all be perfectly normal, perfectly understandable?  “Did that gem tell you this was a good idea?”  Everything had started with the gem.  Celestia had shown it to everyone in town, and only after that did everyone seem over awed by the lemurs.  Did it really provide wisdom?  Was it really a smart choice to hand the kingdom over to lemurs?”

“I can see you are skeptical about the benefits of the gem.”  Meerca stated.  “That is, ah, understandable, as it only works on ponies, so you have not been able to receive its wisdom.  Perhaps though, if you saw a demonstration?  Let us show you the wisdom the gem can provide to a pony first hand, and you will see that everything is as it should be.”

“Yes, Spike.  I think that is an excellent idea.”  Luna added.  “All will be well if you see things first hand.”

“Well….I guess, if you can show me.”  He said diffidently.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike sat quietly, looking back and forth between Luna giving him reassuring smiles and Twilight furiously taking notes as she prepared for the “test” despite Luna’s repeated insistence it was a demonstration.  Twilight had cleared away everything from the table in the center of the library and placed the gem up on a metal stand in order to provide light coverage for the entire room.  She had set up chairs along the perimeter of the room to observe.  Everything had been set up as needed and Twilight was working on her commentary, writing down hypotheses and expectations of the upcoming experiment.  Spike could tell she was getting increasingly excited and pent up.

Finally the door swung open and Twilight brightened at the first guest.  “Celestia!  I didn’t think you were going to be here for the test.”

The former princess walked in with her characteristic warm expression.  “I wouldn't miss this for the world, Twilight.  I learned of this upcoming demonstration just as the prince and I returned from flying.  Spike is a dear friend and I want to be here to help reassure him.  Prince Lemma was also curious and decided to observe.”  The prince was a few steps behind her and hopped his way in, giving a cursory greeting to Twilight before they both took seats at the chairs that had been laid out.  Celestia sat next to Spike and gave him the same reassuring smile that Luna had been giving.

Meerca stepped into the library a moment later with another pony in tow that made Spike jump up from his seat.  “R-Rarity?”

“Oh hello Spike,”  The white pony walked in a bit uncertainly.  Then her jaw dropped as she saw the company Spike was sharing.  “Oh goodness!  Prince Lemma is here, along with Celestia and Luna!  This must be important.  High Scholar Meerca said I was needed, but he didn’t tell me why.  Unless you need something fashionable I’m not sure how I could possibly be of help.”

“Ah, ah but in fact, you’re the most important person here.”  Meerca assured her, hopping over to join the spectators.  “Please, stand over there near the gem and keep your eyes on it, and think about Spike.  Everything will be made clear soon.”  Rarity complied and looked at the gem, while her eyes periodically darted back at everyone observing her.  There continued to be a look of uncertainty on her face.

Meerca gave a nod to Twilight who beamed in response.  “Alright!  Test commencing!”  Twilight took two steps closer to the gem and concentrated.  Her horn bubbled purple with the flaring of alicorn magic.  The gem immediately began to glow, bathing the whole room in its green hue.  The magic in Twilight's horn intensified and the same green magical field from before expanded outward to the walls of the room, so intense it seemed to shove the daylight from the windows back outside.  Rarity’s eyes widened as she stared into the gem, and her mouth hung loose, totally transfixed.

Spike’s claws dug into the armrests of his chair.  All the uncertainty and insecurities of the day had been set aside as he watched the gem do...something to his precious Rarity.  All his focus was on concern for her and what was happening.  He almost asked them to stop, but looking at Luna and Celestia’s calm confident expressions made him lose the courage to speak up.  

A few seconds later, Twilight withdrew her magic and the emerald faded.  Spike immediately stood and dashed over to Rarity.  “Rarity are you..okay?”

Rarity let out a slow sigh and turned her gaze from the gem down to Spike and gently gasped.  “Oh...Spike….”  She leaned down and gave him a warm kiss on the cheek.

“Wa...what?”  Spike stuttered with the sudden affection, putting his hand on the spot she had kissed.

Rarity giggled and kissed his other cheek and smiled at him with deep affection.  “Oh Spikey Wikey.  I understand now.  I’ve been lying to myself for a long time, but when I was looking at the gem, I realized the truth.  I love you, Spike.”

He tried to say something back, but as she confessed to him the words became caught in his throat.  Rarity wrapped her front hooves around him and nuzzled him happily.

Princess Celestia walked forward slowly with a smile.  “I had suspected Rarity had some unrecognized feelings towards you.  I’m glad that she has finally seen them thanks to the gem.”

Luna moved next to Celestia to admire the two.“Indeed, Sister.  The gem has been able to provide much wisdom for everyone.  Congratulations Spike.  I know that you and Rarity will be very happy together.”  

Spike only half heard them, lost in the feeling of Rarity’s warm hug.  “Rarity do you really mea…”  Spike was interrupted as Rarity kissed him on the lips

“Shhhh, I love you with all my heart Spike.  I just couldn’t see it until now.  But you're my mighty dragon.”  She squeezed him closer and Spike melted into the embrace.  He looked back at Celestia and Luna’s approving looks, and Twilight’s proud expression.  He’d dreamed of a scene like this many times before: after some act of heroism or grand gesture he would be hugging Rarity close along with cheers from all their friends.  He’d always been a bit embarrassed by those dreams, but now here he was with Celestia and Luna, no less, offering their congratulations and approval.

There was still part of him that felt uneasy, but in that moment he couldn’t seem to find anything that was wrong and Rarity’s kisses made another part of his mind tell him that everything was right.  And if the gem could make Rarity understand her feelings for him, could it be that bad?

“I love you too Rarity.”
> Chapter 5: Something Rotten in Denmare
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike had to take a few breaths and convince himself he wasn’t dreaming.  It had already been three days since the amazing events in Twilight’s library, but it still felt surreal.  Here he was, laying next to Rarity in bed, the pony he’d had a crush on for years, now his loving girlfriend.  Rarity was still asleep, taking deep slow breaths that ended with little sights.  Even when she was asleep, Rarity managed to look beautiful and refined.

Carefully, Spike slipped out of the covers and wandered over to the window as the sun rose over Ponyville.  That was the only thing that had not been perfect the last three days, his sleep.  For some reason he hadn’t been able to sleep through the night.  He’d woken up twice last night, both times feeling a strange panic.  But then Rarity’s smooth breathing would be enough to convince him everything was fine and lull him back to sleep.

“Hmmmnnnmmnnnn.”  Rarity let out a long deep sigh and turned over in bed.  It would be another couple hours before she woke up.  It had taken her a night to adjust to having Spike there next to her and getting the covers adjusted to the extra shape had taken a little practice.  It had left Rarity needing a little extra sleep.  Spike could try to catch another hour, but he didn’t feel at all tired and decided it was easier to just start up his day.

After getting freshened up, he decided to check in on Twilight.  She’d been manically studying the gem ever since she had access to it and it was playing havoc with her sleep cycle.  She’d insisted that Spike focus on time with Rarity and his new duties, but he worried about her when she got like this.  It wasn’t like every waking moment was with Rarity either.  Most of her time was spent working on outfits for the princesses and lemurs.  Most of their time had been in the mornings and evenings, with promises that much more would be available after the coronation.  Everyone was busy with details of the coronation.  It certainly was a lot of trouble for what everyone insisted was a formality.

Spike padded along the road that led to the Golden Oak library and arrived just in time to see a sphere of green magic envelope the whole house.  She was still at it.  He gave a knock and walked inside to find Twilight furiously writing in her notebook.  She hadn’t seemed to notice his entrance.  “Hey Twilight...Twilight!”

“Ah!”  She teleported three feet back in shock.  “Oh, hello Spike.  What are you doing here?  You shouldn’t sacrifice your...” she let out a long yawn, “you’re Rarity time for my sake.”  Twilight had bags under her eyes, and looked as though she would slump over at any minute.

“Rarity’s asleep, which is what you should be. Were you up all night again?”

“Don’t worry about me Spike.  I’ll go to bed soon.  I just need to finish this last test.”  She yawned again and took a few more notes.  “I almost have the magic down.  The gem normally only works when you look into the light, but alicorn magic can transmute that into a field, and even a blind pony would be affected then.  But I still can’t figure out why it only works for ponies.  I haven’t been able to deconstruct the magical effect.  There’s probably something about the gem’s material that’s important but I don’t have the expertaaaawwwwwwwhhhhh.”  Another yawn overpowered Twilight mid-sentence and her quill started to wobble too much to write.

“Come on Twilight, time to get to bed.”  Spike put an arm around her shoulders and started to guide her upstairs.

“I still have so much to understand.  Need to see if…*yawn* there are other possible transmutations.”

“I know, and you’ll have lots of time to do that once you’ve had some sleep.”  He guided her up the last few steps

“Mmmm have to talk to Luna...and see if…”

“Well you might be able to talk to her if you have a good dream.”  He pulled the covers back on her bed.

Spike had played this game many times before and despite her protests, Twilight followed his lead and crawled into bed.  Spike pulled the covers  halfway up her mane.  “Sweet dreams, Twilight.”

“Mmm goodnight Spike.  Just be sure to wake me up beforr…” and she was out.  Spike brushed a little of her mane out of her face and smiled before tiptoeing away, locking the door behind him.

Back outside, he spent a little time wandering around Ponyville to watch people begin their day.  It was the only time of day where you wouldn’t see a large number of lemurs.  The wise lemurs were not early risers, and after initially prancing all around Ponyville, seemed to have become happier spending most of their time indoors.  Spike had heard more than half of the little furballs had taken up residence  in the Rich mansion, including the prince and his two advisers.  The past two days, Ponyville had tended to be lemur-free until 11AM.

By the time most of Ponyville was up and running, Spike walked back to Rarity’s boutique and headed for the kitchen to start a kettle for tea and to cook up some pancakes.  He’d whisked the batter into just the right consistency when Rarity wandered in, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes every other step.  “Mmmm, good morning Spikey.  Ooh you’re making me breakfast?  Such a gentleman.”  She sidled up to him and kissed his cheek.

“Uhh, it’s...the least I can do.”  He replied, blushing furiously.  “I make breakfast for Twilight all the time when she’s lost in her studies.”

Rarity giggled and poured herself some tea while Spike poured batter onto the griddle.  “Well Twilight has been a lucky girl and I’m glad you have let me in on the secret. Ohhh this breakfast will be the only solace I get today.  With the coronation tomorrow I am in quite a crunch to finish up the prince’s royal outfit.  I think we may have to skip date night tonight.”

Spike flipped the pancakes over on the griddle.  “I understand.  At least all this coronation stuff is finally over tomorrow.”

“Yes, it will be a glorious occasion.  And I promise, after that we’ll have a day just the two of us.  Besides, I’m sure the Royal Dragon can find something to occupy himself.”  She smiled slyly at Spike as he brought the pancakes over to the table.

Spike allowed himself a little smile at the mention of his new title.  The same night that Rarity had discovered her love for him, Celestia and Luna had both realized they had not been acknowledging Spike’s capabilities. They and the lemurs had collectively decided he should have his own royal position befitting his draconic heritage.  So now he was the Royal Dragon of Equestria, along with a couple dozen other titles the lemurs had granted him with ‘protector’ ‘defender’ ‘scholar’ and various other honorifics.  It also came with a red cape.  

His official duties so far had been to supervise some of the coronation preparations, and check on them first hand in some cases.  “I’m sure I’ll be able to occupy myself somehow.”  He replied to Rarity, who giggled in response.  The two chatted warmly and sipped tea until all the pancakes were gone.  Rarity locked herself into her work room and Spike put on his cape to begin his royal duties.

He made his way to Sugarcube Corner, where the Cakes had been working with Pinkie Pie to make all the necessary treats for the upcoming coronation.  He needed to check on their progress to make sure everything was going smoothly.  They’d temporarily closed the shop to usual traffic so they could focus on the coronation baking, but Pinkie Pie had made sure to start each day designing a special treat for Spike, and when Pinkie put her energy into creative treats, it led to some of the most wondrous desserts ever.

As he walked through the door, the Cakes were dashing around, putting various pastries into storage boxes.  Pinkie Pie poked her head out of the door with a spot of whipped cream on her nose.  “The key lime is ready!  Oh!  Hi Spike!”  She quickly licked her nose clean and walked over to the counter.  “So, how is the Royal Dragon feeling today?”  She leaned forward and winked conspiratorially.  

“Oh I can’t complain.”  Spike smiled back in anticipation.  “Though I am a little bit hungry.”

“Welllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.”  Pinkie replied.  “I might have something to solve that.”  She tugged him into the kitchen and sat him down at a small table then snuck off to retrieve her dish.  Spike marveled at the two dozen key lime pies on the nearby counter and thought to himself that the coronation was going to be one of the biggest parties in Ponyville history.

Pinkie soon returned with a covered platter she set in front of Spike.  “For the Royal Dragon’s approval, I present, citrine upside down cake!”  She pulled off the platter top to reveal the golden spongy cake topped with the eponymous crystals.

“Oh wow, this looks amazing.”  He picked up a fork and guided a healthy portion to his mouth.  His eyes closed as he savored the flavor.  The cake was sweet, flavored with a little pineapple, which blended perfectly with the sweet and tart flavor of the citrine.  “Mmmm Pinkie.”  He took another bite before continuing.  “I think this is the best treat you’ve made so far.”

Pinkie’s eyes sparkled with joy.  “I’m so so glad!  I have to guess at how gems will taste.  I mean, yeah, I taste them myself just in case, but they all taste icky and I mean why wouldn’t they, ponies can’t eat rocks, except for a few special exceptions, so I don’t know how they’ll taste for you and worry it will be the wrong flavor.

“No no,  you do an amazing job.  You’re probably the best cook for dragons in Equestria.”   

“Ooh, thank you Spike.  Maybe the Royal Dragon will need a royal cook, as long as I can still plan parties.”

“Hehe, that sounds good to me Pinkie.”  The idea tickled him quite a bit.  He did have a royal title now.  Maybe a Royal Dragon would be entitled to a castle and royal cook.  He got lost in thought as he finished the rest of the dessert, imagining a throne for himself and a second nearby for Rarity, perhaps with a few extra ponies to feed them grapes and gems.

After he was done with his treat, Pinkie gave Spike an update on their progress and confirmed all the treats necessary would be ready in time for the coronation.  After that Spike made his way towards the spa.  Normally full of ponies, the lemurs had all taken a liking to the place and monopolized its services.  As part of his royal duties, Spike needed to make sure everything was at the highest quality at the spa.  Spike had taken quite a liking to his daily inspections.

“Ahh Mister Spike.”  Aloe smiled at her most important customer as he came in.  “Will Sir be wanting his complimentary Dragon Special today?”

“Oh yes, definitely.”  Spike grinned.  After setting his cape aside in a changing room, he made his way for a nice healthy steam.  The spa set aside a steam room just for Spike because he had a significantly higher heat tolerance.  Turning the thermostat all the way up, Spike leaned back and gave a long happy sigh.  He allowed himself to fantasize a bit more about the idea of a castle and servants, all befitting hte Royal Dragon.  Celestia had hundreds of guards and servants that attended to her.  Surely his title would warrant a dozen ponies or so.  He’d have to ask about that when he had a chance.

After a while, Spike emerged from the steam room in a giant cloud, remembering to set the thermostat down to levels that wouldn’t scald ponies.  After that he was given a special claw filing and then headed over to get a mud bath to make his scales glisten.  There he met a familiar face, who was in the middle of sinking into his own tub of mud.  

“Hey Meesis, looks like I’m right on time.”  Spike moved to the mud bath tub next to the lemur.  Meesis had been visiting the spa on a daily basis and always ended up running into Spike.  Spike didn’t quite see him as a friend, but was pleasant to talk to as they both enjoyed the amenities at the spa.  It helped Meesis was one of the few lemurs that didn’t sound inherently obnoxious to Spike.  He’d confided about this fact to Meesis the previous day, which had made the lemur laugh and suggest his West Lemurian accent must be more pleasant overall.

The two relaxed in silence for a while, cucumbers over their eyes and a mass of seaweed applied to their faces.  Once Spike began to get a little bored he looked in Meesis’ general direction.  “You know I never asked, what is your job here in Equestria?  Are you part of all this annexation stuff?”

“Oh yes, in a certain manner.”  He replied back, picking one of the cucumbers from his eye and munching on it casually.  “I’m a monetary scholar.  I’m part of the project to fix the Equestrian currency.”

“Fix?”  Spike picked his cucumbers off to get a look at Meesis.  “What’s broken about things now?”

“Well the main thing is the money itself.  Bits you see, they’re made of gold, which is no good as a currency.”

“I don’t understand, what’s wrong with gold?”  Spike noted that dragons at least seemed to favor it as the one he met in the Everfree Forest had a pile of it mixed in with gems.

“There’s nothing wrong with gold itself.  It’s beautiful, but as money...you see the thing you base your money on needs to have inherent value, meaning it needs to be rare.  And that’s the problem, there’s just way too much gold in Equestria.  I mean, I learned in Canterlot there is a unicorn whose name is Gold Digger.  She knows a spell that lets her locate gold underground and she can just dig it right up.”

By then their bath was over so they both got out of the mud baths and rinsed themselves clean with water.  Meesis looked like a wrung out washcloth after that, but started to puff back up when he got his hands on a blowdryer.  “I mean, you can buy a pound of gold in Equestria for two hundred bits, and two hundred bits weigh only a quarter of a pound.”  He yelled over the sound of the dryer.  “It’s inflation you see?  You’re assigning more value than the coins really have.”

Once dry, they both laid down on some mats to get back massages.  “So the gold isn’t worth enough to justify the coins, they might as well be mangoes.”

“Oooooh”  Spike groaned as Aloe worked out a knot in his shoulder.  “What do mangoes have to do with it?”

“It’s a lemur saying, for something being worthless.”  Mangoes are everywhere in Lemuria.  Bland, boring fruit, but it keeps you fed.  No one sells mangoes, because if you need to eat one, there will be a tree within a hundred feet that you can climb to get one for yourself.  Gold isn’t quite that plentiful, but there’s so much of it it just won’t work for a proper currency.  In Lemuria we use these blue pearls that only can be found in this one cove...but with all the expected growth in Equestria, the pearls might be too rare, which can be problematic as well.”

Meesis rattled off a few other thoughts about money as their massages finished up.  Spike wasn’t sure he understood much of the arguments, but Meesis liked talking about it and Spike didn’t want to ruin a perfect spa day by asking questions and getting even more complicated explanations.  He waved goodbye to the lemur and moved on to his next visit in the park.

The Ponyville Flyer’s Club had been started two days earlier.  The club didn’t have a specific role in the upcoming coronation, but was designed for a longer term purpose.  Because lemurs were more comfortable climbing than walking they were not always good at covering long distances.  Earth ponies and unicorns had selflessly offered to give them rides to help with this.  Pegasi wanted to help too, but a lot of lemurs were wary of falling off a pegasus back while in flight.  The club was allowing pegasi to practice so they could offer safe flying for the lemurs.  For the time being, they had been practicing with sacks of flour.

Spike arrived at the park and looked up to see about two dozen pegasi doing slow gentle circles around the sky.  Rainbow Dash noticed Spike on one of her passes and paused in mid flight.  “I’ll be right back guys, keep up the good work.”

Naturally, because it had to do with flying, Rainbow Dash had volunteered to lead up the Flyer’s Club and get everyone prepared, though Spike had found it ironic the fastest flyer in Ponyville was assigned to teach people how to fly gently enough not to lose a passenger.  But Rainbow had seemed to adapt to the new flying requirement.  She descended towards Spike in large circles and gently landed with a last minute flutter of her wings, the sack of flour on her back undisturbed.

“Hey Spike, how’s it going?”  She looked up at the other fliers and cried out.  “That’s it, Blossomforth, nice and slow and gentle like that!”  She looked back at Spike.  “Here for an update?”

“Uh, yeah I guess so.”  Spike had always felt a little odd inspecting the Flyer’s Club.  It was the slowest he’d ever seen Rainbow Dash fly, but she insisted the slow pace didn’t bother her, along with some commentary of the best flyer in Equestria could adapt to the kind of flying that was needed.  “Anything new to report?”

“Not really.”  Rainbow tilted her head to recall the day’s events.  “We’ve had three more dropped sacks today, though two were from a certain blonde pony that doesn’t watch where she’s going.  Otherwise we’re doing great and everyone should be ready for real lemurs by the end of the week.”

“Good to hear.  But uh, if you want me to talk to the lemurs about anything, or you have any thoughts, let me know.”

“Aye aye, Spike.  I’ll see you tomorrow at the coronation, yeah?”  She offered a quick salute then trotted forward to get a running start before carefully taking off.  She ascended in slow carefully circles and rejoined the other fliers.  Spike resolved to talk to the lemurs about the flyer’s club and giving the pegasi time to cut loose when not carrying passengers.  He could mention that the same time he asked about his possible castle.

He moved on to his last stop of the day at the schoolhouse.  The students had been preparing a play based on Lemurian history that they’d perform during the coronation.  Spike had never seen their rehearsals.  They rehearsed in the mornings and worked on their costumes and set pieces in the afternoons.  Spike didn’t want to think how far back the students would be in their studies after working nearly a week on nothing but this play, but like everyone else, the students seemed driven to make the coronation stand out.

As Spike arrived, he saw Twilight was there as well, talking with Cheerilee.  She had been offering advice for the play, Meerca had revealed it was a good excuse so Twilight was able to read the history scrolls he’d provided the school.  Spike passed by a gaggle of fillies and colts that were all dressed up in their costumes and chatting happily to each other, then waved over to Cheerilee and Twilight.

“Hello Spike.  I was just updating Twilight on things.  We did our final dress rehearsal today and everything looks perfect for tomorrow.”

Spike thanked Cheerilee and decided to walk Twilight back to her home.  “I hope you got a good day’s rest.”  He said with a grin.

“Yes, and thank you for getting me there Spike.  I know I get carried away and I need to be more careful with myself.  It’s a good thing my visitor arrived today.  I would still be sleeping if she hadn’t knocked on my door an hour ago.”

“You have a visitor?”

“I was trying to explain to you about it when I fell asleep I think.  I’ve hit a wall with studying the gem.  I can’t seem to figure out why the magic only affects ponies, or how the magic is created in the first place.  So I sent a message to an expert to see if I could get some further insight.”

“An expert?”  Spike tried to think of who Twilight could possibly get expertise from, aside from Celestia herself, and she was already in town and wouldn’t need a message sent.  “Is this someone I would know?”

“Oh, I think you’ve met at least once before.”  Twilight grinned, seeming to enjoy watching the gears turn in Spike’s head as they approached the library.  Spike opened the door and wandered inside, still not sure who it could be.  Once he saw her, he whacked his head.  

“Oh, of course!”

“Hey.”  Maud said.

“Hello again Maud.”  Twilight said as she walked in and shut the door behind her.  “Thanks again for coming all the way to Ponyville to help me out.  Were you able to learn anything about the gem while I was gone?”

“Yes.  It’s a rock.”  Maud replied.

“Ah.”  Twilight gave her an odd smile.  “Right...but is there any special or strange about it?”

“No.  It’s a standard cyclosilicate with chromium impurity.  It’s definitely magical, but compositionally it’s a normal rock.”

Twilight sighed.  “Well, I know more about it than I did before.  Thank you Maud.  I appreciate the help.”

“Thank you, Twilight.”  She said in her even tone.  “Helping lemurs is the most important thing I could do.”

Twilight smiled, understanding Maud’s enthusiasm didn’t always come through.  “I’ll be sure to let the prince know you helped me out.  Pinkie Pie is probably still at Sugarcube Corner, I know you’ll want to pay her a visit before you head home.  Oh!  And I just remembered, I found a book on geology that you might be interested in.  Let me get that for you.”  Twilight walked up to her room to retrieve the book and Spike found himself alone with Maud.

“So...lemurs are great, huh?”  Some part of Spike still couldn’t believe how enthusiastic everyone was about them, gem or not.

“Yes, lemurs are great.”  Maud replied.  But then she added, “Boulder says they’re dangerous and shouldn’t be trusted.  We had a fight about it.”

“Uh, well, I hope you two make up soon.”  Spike replied slowly.

“Thank you, we've been through worse.  We'll figurethings out.”

Twilight returned and gave the book to Maud, who said her goodbyes and made her way to visit Pinkie Pie.  Once she was gone Twilight wandered back over to her scroll to add more notes concerning the gem.  “I was really hoping Maud was going to discover the gem was special in some way and that would be the clue that told me how to replicate its effects.  But it looks like I have a lot more digging to do.”

Spike moved over to Twilight’s side and put a hand on her shoulder.  “Hey, you solved a spell even Starswirl couldn’t get right.  I’m sure you’ll figure this out eventually.  If you want, you could have Maud come in tomorrow and have another look.    Maybe the gem’s power will give her some new insights about things.”

Twilight gave Spike a weak smile.  “I wish that could work Spike, but Maud has to leave tonight to get back to her studies.  Even if the gem could work twice for the same pony, she doesn’t have time to help.  I just have to work from the assumption that the gem’s composition isn’t important and see what comes from that.”

Spike nodded along, but then something Twilight had said made him stop short.  “Twilight, did you say the gem can’t work twice?”

“....but maybe the composition is important, but not for being extraordinary but for being a gem...oh sorry did you say something Spike?”  She was already getting deep into her own thoughts as she did more pondering about the gem.

“Uh, no, nevermind.  I should get back and check in on Rarity.”

“Alright Spike.  I’ll see you tomorrow during the coronation.  It’s going to be a long day so be sure to rest up.”  Twilight turned back to her scroll and jotted down a series of new hypotheses.  Spike took his leave and wandered back towards Rarity’s.  She would still be working on clothes most likely, which meant he’d be stuck with just his thoughts for now, and they were very unsettled.

That phrase kept passing through his mind.  “Even if the gem could work twice for the same pony…”  but if the gem only worked once...Rarity had been exposed to the gem already when the lemurs first came to Ponyville.  If it only worked once that would mean the night she realized she loved him...but that was impossible.  Twilight had obviously misspoken.  If she had discovered the gem only worked once she’d have told him.   

She’d definitely just misspoken...right?
> Chapter 6: Coronation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike lay awake next to Rarity, staring out the window as the sun slowly rose.  He didn’t have the same comfort he’d had the morning before.  His sleep had been sporadic.  He’d constantly had short dreams of his castle as the royal dragon with servants delivering him gems to eat on his throne, and then he would wake up with a gasp, feeling terrified, like there was some other dream that would overtake the first, but which he couldn't remember.  And each time he woke he remembered those words from Twilight.

Even if the gem could work twice on the same pony…

When she said it, Twilight had been busy, tired from a scattered sleep cycle.  She could have misspoken.  If so, then everything was fine.  If she hadn’t, then what Spike had witnessed five nights ago didn’t make sense.  If the gem only gave wisdom and insight once, then Rarity shouldn’t have felt any different on the second exposure.  And that would mean Rarity was lying to him.  And it would mean Twilight was lying, or at least not pointing out the obvious contradiction.  And she would never do that, unless the gem had changed them in some way.  

Each time Spike’s mind reached for that conclusion he batted it away, convincing himself it was crazy.  If the gem had altered Rarity and Twilight to tell lies, then that meant that Celestia and Luna had been changed and manipulated too.  Twilight had defeated Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis.  How could she and Celestia and Luna be tricked and controlled by...lemurs of all things?  Those thoughts continued to spin around his head, and the only way Spike was going to settle things was to look at Twilight’s notes.

“Mmm, good morning Spikey.”  Rarity shifted over and lightly nuzzled his cheek.  “Could you make some coffee and more of those pancakes?  It’s going to be a long long day.”

“Of course.”  Spike smiled reassuringly.  Doing something for Rarity helped settle some of his anxiety, and he was happy for the distraction.  He walked over to the kitchen to get breakfast started while Rarity freshened up and soon they both had an ample supply of pancakes.  Spike picked at his slowly, finding he didn’t have much of an appetite.  Rarity ate ravenously, which for her still ended up being a very refined, slow pace.  In between bites she went over the plans for the day.

“So Spike, as you know with the coronation, I’ll be busy all day making sure the alicorns and lemurs have their outfits fitted just right.  I’ll be helping to manage their walk towards the stage and can’t sit with you during the coronation.  Ohh but we’ll have a wonderful time at the ball afterwards.  I managed to make some matching outfits for us.  We’ll make such a dazzling pair.”

“Uh..yeah that sounds really great.”  Spike picked at another piece of pancake that was now getting a little soggy from sitting in syrup too long.  He looked up momentarily as one part of Rarity’s words caught his attention.  “So, Twilight will be here most of the day for clothes?”

“Yes, they’ll all be here for the fitting and then we should arrive just in time to watch the play being put on by the children.    Sweetie Belle is quite excited about that.  She gets to be the narrator and important people from all over Equestria will be attending.  Once you finish your Royal Dragon duties you can head back here and wait until then.  Though I won’t be able to sit with you, the procession to the stage for the coronation is a bit like a runway and I’ve insisted on being there to make sure everything goes just right.

Spike nodded slowly, thinking over the most important detail.  Twilight would be out of the library most of the day.  “My duties might run a little long today.  So I might just head straight to the coronation.  And we can meet up after.”

“I completely understand.  If you would be short on time any day it would be today.”

Spike worked through his dragon duties as quickly as he could. If his worst fears were correct, it would be dangerous to suddenly stop attending and raise suspicion.  Thankfully he had the perfect excuse; he was in a hurry because it was coronation day.  The word was like a magic spell.  Of course Spike would be short on time today, who wasn’t?  He settled for just a quick inspection of the steam room at the spa and wolfed down the confection Pinkie had prepared him.  That had been the hardest thing to rush because she’d made an amazing ruby creme brulee.  Thanks to his haste, he was able to get to Twilight’s library with an hour to spare before he’d be expected at the coronation.

Twilight had left for the fitting and the door was locked, but Spike knew the windows were always unlocked so Owlowiscious could get inside, though he hadn't seen the owl in the past few days.  He climbed in through the nearest window with a little effort and unlocked the door from the inside as a precaution.  If someone did walk in on him, finding him alone in a locked house would raise all sorts of suspicion.  

Twilight’s notes were at her desk.  The wooden chest that had been the gem’s home sat next to the desk, locked up tight, presumably with the gem inside.  It was tempting to have another up close look at the gem, not that Spike could learn anything from it.  Besides, there was no way to get into the chest without breaking it open and the whole point of this trip was to be discreet.

Spike sat at the desk and picked up the first scroll.  Twilight’s notes were always well organized and incredibly thorough.  Research notes were also in order of experiments performed, and there was no telling when Twilight may have examined ponies being re-exposed.  The first two scrolls were all descriptions of the physical and magical properties of the gem, refractive index, weight, color, luminosity when the gem energized, and every other imaginable detail.

The next few scrolls covered her initial testing on how the magical field was generated.  The gem seemed to channel magical energy into projecting its power.  The periodic light incidents were from the gem absorbing the natural background magic that existed in nature.  The gem could be made to shine on command when extra magic was channeled into it, but only alicorn magic was capable of turning the light into a magical field.

Only after those details were fully understood did the notes turn to the impact of the magic.  There were comments bemoaning the lack of ponies that had not seen the light yet, but no reference to testing the light on already exposed ponies.  Twilight had done direct examinations of ponies and other creatures.  She’d discovered traces of the same magic from the gem existing inside ponies who had seen the gem or been in the magic field.  The magical signature inside ponies had a strange periodic fluctuation, punctuated by the pony’s eyes temporarily turning green.  Spike had seen the green shift happen a couple times in the past few days, but it had been very rare and was certainly not the strangest thing he'd seen magic do, even beneficial magic.

Next were five scrolls diving into the minor differences in the gem magic between earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns.  The periodic eye change seemed to happen more in unicorns than the others, and even faster in herself, Luna, and Celestia.  Her best theory was all ponies were magically linked to the gem and the link was partially sustained by each pony’s magic so different levels of magic corresponded to different signatures.

In this section there was one reference to reusing the gem on ponies who had already seen it.  It noted that the magical signature inside the pony didn’t seem to change at all.  Could that be what Twilight meant?  It was possible the magic signature didn’t change, but that repeated views could offer more wisdom and insight, and the night with Rarity would still make sense.  If this was the only reference to reusing the gem on ponies, it would be a huge relief.  Though right after the reference to unchanged magical signatures was a somewhat ominous passage:

Made spell that keeps track of my eye color shifts.  The rate is slowly increasing along a linear curve.  If this holds consistent, my eyes will be green one hundred percent of the time in approximately a week.  Possible second stage to magic?  Possible link to gem becomes superfluous?

There was a little graph where Twilight had charted the changes.  The idea that eventually the alicorns or perhaps all ponies would have green eyes all the time made it seem a bit less like an odd rare distraction.  Spike was about to reach for the next scroll when he heard the click of someone at the door sliding a key in.  Spike quickly tossed the scroll back down, hopped off the desk and turned to look like he was staring at books on the shelf.

The door clicked again as the figure outside discovered the door wasn’t locked after all, and then opened.  “Oh, ah, Spike.  I didn’t expect you here.”  It was Meerca, the ‘High Scholar’ that had been spending so much time with Twilight.  He still had the black mustache that Twilight had created for him, making him easy to recognize.  He currently was wearing a long white cape that draped about two feet behind him and a cylindrical hat half as tall as he was with several tassels along the top that fluttered around as he walked.  

“Oh, hello.  I was coming to check on Twilight.  The door was unlocked, but I guess she isn’t home.”

“Yes, she is getting ready for the coronation.  We are making some last minute adjustments to the Prince’s outfit and I came back to get some designs I left here.”

“Well, like I said, I was here to check on her.”  Spike said with an innocent smile, “But if she’s off getting dressed, I guess there isn’t anything more to do here.”  He stopped, hoping Meerca would just nod and turn around to leave him to the rest of the papers.

“Yes yes, that’s true.  Would you like me to escort you to the coronation then, Spike?  I know the Royal Dragon’s presence will help inspire confidence.”

Spike hadn’t finished his search of Twilight's notes, but there was no way he could insist he stay in an empty room without raising suspicion.  He agreed and once Meerca had found the designs he sought, they were walking towards the mayor's building in the town square just like they had that first day he’d returned from the castle of the two sisters.

“You know Spike, the coronation has left us all very busy.  Yes, quite strapped for time.  But once everything is finished tonight we’ll have time to take care of certain oversights.  We should talk more tomorrow about your role as the Royal Dragon.  You’ll need your own castle with some servants eventually, of course.”

“My own...really?”  Spike looked back at him, caught by surprise at the topic.

“Oh, definitely, definitely.  It doesn’t do to have a title without all the rightful privileges.  Tomorrow, how about we sit down and discuss possible designs for your castle, and if there are some ponies you believe would make good additions to it?”

“Uhhh, right.  Sure.  Tomorrow then.”

“Splendid, splendid.  I’ll look forward to the meeting.”  

They arrived at the town square, where a wide stage had been erected for the coronation.  A wooden archway had been set up behind the stage holding up a black sheet.  There were various pulleys and some stage lights hanging from the top of the arch that Spike assumed were for the upcoming play.  It was still mid-afternoon and the play would be relying on natural sunlight, but it was obvious there were a few effects involved.

Rows of chairs had been set up in front of the stage for the audience, with a long aisle left open down the middle for Celestia and the others to use during the coronation.  It seemed like most of Ponyville had already arrived in anticipation as very few chairs were still available.  Luckily, up at the very front near the stage was a chair reserved for him, nearby representatives from Canterlot, Fillydelphia, and Manehattan.  All were VIP’s, up front to witness the unification of Lemuria and Equestria.  Spike was apparently one of them now, the Royal Dragon, important in his own way.

For the first time that day, he felt a little sense that maybe everything was going to be alright.  He could look at the rest of Twilight’s notes, and perhaps he would be able to confirm that Twilight was just talking about magical signatures, and everything was actually fine.  And then he’d be safe, and have a castle and servants, like he’d dreamed.

Wait…

More like exactly as he’d dreamed.  Those had been his dreams the previous night.  And suddenly the lemurs were telling him he was owed a castle all along.  It seemed more likely they were reacting to his own desires.  He’d never mentioned the castle to anyone, but Luna could have seen it in his dreams.  To tell someone else about what he was dreaming about would have been a gross violation of Luna’s ethics.  But if lemurs told her to, would she break that trust?  And if she would do that, what request would ponies say no to?

Before Spike could ruminate any further, a horn blared to indicate the play was about to begin.  Sweetie Belle walked up on stage, dressed in a costume to make her look like a lemur with light gray fabric and a fuzzy ringed tail slipped on top of her own.  “Behold, I bring the words of the great Lemurian histories of ages past!”  She cried out, projecting her words to the whole gathering, partially aided by sound amplification spells.  “Tens of thousands of years ago, when pony-kind was still wild, sleeping in the open air, the mighty kingdom of Lemuria was the heart of civilization!”

Sweetie Belle moved to the side of the stage as various ponies in lemur costumes began to wander around holding hammers, hoes, and other assorted tools.  Some of the actors with hammers and chisels moved to stage left and waved their tools vaguely around.  In response, a wall of cardboard was pulled up in the background, painted to resemble a huge city with a giant step pyramid in the center.  At stage right, the actors waved farm tools around and another cardboard backdrop rose up showing farmland and orchards.  

The lemur-workers started to walk randomly back and forth as Diamond Tiara and Pip wandered onto stage, both also dressed as lemurs.  Pip wore a paper-mâché crown painted yellow and Diamond Tiara had on a large cylindrical hat similar to the one Meerca had been wearing earlier.  

“Oh my King Manna, is not Lemuria a beacon of peace and prosperity?”  Diamond Tiara yelled out while putting a huge smile on her face, doing her best to chew up the scenery with every line of dialog.

“Yes, truly it is.”  Pip replied with a slightly choppy delivery.  “But it is too bad that we can not expand our civilization further, with such ravenous beasts at our borders.  If only we could grant them the same peace we have made for ourselves.”

“Hmmm.”  Silver spoon said at the top of her lungs.  “I’m sure we can find something that can help us with that.”  They both walked off stage and for a moment no one was there except Sweetie Belle off to the side.

She continued to narrate, “Hoping to spread their accomplishments, the greatest scholars and mages worked tirelessly until they had the answer, the Gem’s of Tranquility!”

Diamond Tiara returned on stage along with background lemurs doing more aimless wandering.  She held up three cardboard cutouts painted to look like gems and covered in glitter.  One was red, one blue, and one yellow.  “Finally, with these gems, we can bring civilization to the whole world.”  She set down two of the gems and held out the red one.

Another pony suddenly leapt onto the stage dressed in a tan brown costume with two giant fangs glued close to his muzzle.  He leapt around growling menacingly, scaring the background lemurs away before staring at Diamond Tiara and approaching.

“Savage saber-toothed tiger.”  Diamond Tiara declared, “Too long have you lived as a brute in the jungle.  We can give you the gift of tranquility.  From now on you may serve a higher purpose, guarding those who cannot guard themselves.”  Diamond Tiara raised the gem up even higher.  One of the stage lights shined on the gem in a tight focus, making the glitter sparkle for the audience.  The saber-toothed tiger stopped growling and instead bowed to Diamond Tiara.

“Amazing!”  Pip said, staggering onto the stage from the left.  “You have tamed the ferocious tiger!”

“Yes,”  she replied happily, “With the magic of the Gems of Tranquility, all may be given the same gift.  For each gem we can bring peace to another people.”

Now Scootaloo appeared on stage, dressed to look like a griffon.  She began to growl and jump around in much the same way as the saber-toothed tiger, scaring the background lemurs.  Diamond Tiara picked up the second cardboard gem, this one blue.

“Greedy griffon, too long have you cheated and stolen your way through life.  We give you the gift of tranquility.  From now on you may serve a higher purpose, tilling the soil and working for the greater good of all.”  The stage lights made the gem glitter and Scootaloo moved next to the saber-toothed tiger and bowed.

Another pony came on stage.  Their costume consisted of a mask of a bearded creature with a flat broad face and nose along with two extra appendages that looked like the arms and hands of lemurs but were designed to look bulkier.  Spike wasn’t sure what the creature was supposed to be.  This third pony did the same as the ones before, growling and running around.

“Wild centaur!  Too long have you roamed without purpose.  We give you the gift of tranquility.  From now on you may serve a higher purpose, transporting others where they need to go.”  Diamond Tiara held up the yellow gem-prop and the third creature bowed before her.  Then the tiger moved to stand beside Diamond Tiara, while one of the background lemurs handed Scootaloo the griffon a trowel for farming, and two other background lemurs walked up and attached a prop-cart to the back of the centaur so it could give people rides.  The background lemurs put down the rest of their tools and all shouted ‘hurrah’ together.

Diamond Tiara put the three gems on a pedestal brought out by two background lemurs while Sweetie Belle continued her narration.  “And so the lemurs gave peace and civilization to all creatures they found.  Over time, more gems were made to give the gift to every creature the lemurs could find.  With each new gem the power and peace only expanded.  Until one day…”

Diamond Tiara was now alone center stage admiring the gems.  Pip entered from the left, running up to Diamond Tiara.  “Oh High Scholar,”  He said, “We have brought peace to so many creatures since your great great great grandfather made the first of the Gems of Tranquility.  But still there is one creature we have never been able to give this gift to.”

“Yes, the winged demons.”  Diamond Tiara replied, “They are the most dangerous and evil race there is.  They are more savage than a saber-toothed tiger, more greedy than a griffon, more wild than a centaur.  But I am sure we can grant even them with tranquility.  All it takes is time and research.  I will begin to make a new gem right away.”  

Both walked off stage and Sweetie Belle continued narrating.  “But the winged demons learned of what the lemurs were trying to do, and they brought their evil wrath.”  Background lemurs suddenly started running across the stage in fear and the stage lights shined purple on the backdrops as a new cardboard cutout began to drift across the background, showing vague winged figures.

“Noooo,”  Diamond Tiara cried out as she appeared on stage, “The demons have come to stop us.  Their evil power rains down from the sky!”  Small fireworks began to go off from the winged figures, giving puffs of blue flame.  Red puffs of flame rose up from the bottom of the city backdrop and the whole city backdrop slowly lowered away, indicating the city was destroyed.  The creatures continued to move and the farmland backdrop shared the same fate.

Finally the three cardboard gems on stage were ripped in half while the sound of glass shattering was heard from the background.

“Noooo, they have destroyed everything.”  Diamond Tiara wailed, “The gems, our city, all civilization has been ruined.”

The rest of the crowd oohed and ahhed with the pyrotechnics, but Spike sat silently with the bottom falling out of his stomach.  Winged creatures raining fire from the sky?  Why call them demons?  It was obvious they were dragons.

A new backdrop was pulled up, showing only rubble and wild trees with yellow-orange fruits.  The dragons had apparently blasted the lemurs back to the stone age.  Diamond Tiara stood alone at center stage.  “Oh woe, we only wished to bring peace to the world.  We have instead found ruin.  Without the sacred texts, we cannot even remake the Gems of Tranquility.  All is lost.”

Forlorn looking lemurs wandered around the stage with their original tools, waving them ineffectually as Sweetie Belle resumed narration.  “And so the demons destroyed all the great works of Lemuria and for thousands of years, there was great suffering as all tried to rebuild, but nothing could ever reach the greatness of Old Lemuria.”  Sweetie Belle paused, letting those words hang in the air for a few seconds.  “But not all was lost!”  She cried out.

One of the background lemurs waved a pick-ax around, and then stepped back in mock surprise.  “What is this?”  A green gem slid up from the backdrop into view.

“Not all the gems had been destroyed.”  Sweetie Belle declared, “One remained, lost for a thousand generations.”

Diamond Tiara and Pip returned to the stage again.  Diamond Tiara gave a stage gasp at the sight of the gem.  “Surely this is one of the gems made by my ancestors so many thousand years ago.  Yes, this gem was meant for the distant creatures known as ponies.  We could bring this to the land of Equestria and bring them the tranquility seen in those ancient days.  And perhaps, one day we can bring peace to the whole world!”

“And so Prince Lemma, High Scholar Meerca, and Sir Rington began their quest.” Sweetie Belle cried out.  The backdrop fell away to indicate the play had ended and all the ponies cheered while clapping and stomping their hooves.  The actors all came on stage to bow, as well as Apple Bloom who had been in the back managing the backdrops and special effects.

Spike stayed in his seat, crestfallen.  There was no need to go recheck Twilight’s notes.  The play had put together too many pieces.  He remembered the book with draconic text sitting back in Twilight’s library.  What message about lemurs would a dragon want to write down for others?  Perhaps ‘warning, these creatures tried to enslave the world once, be wary.’

Music began to play to officially begin the coronation ceremony.  There were cheers as people in the back of the audience saw the alicorns and lemurs approaching down the aisle.  Spike looked back towards them and his jaw dropped.

Celestia, Luna, and Twilight trotted slowly towards the stage in single file, hooves in sync as they went.  Celestia led the group with Prince Lemma sitting on her back.  Lemma was dressed with a huge golden crown that looked like it couldn’t be worn for more than five minutes at a time.  His chest was covered in a puffy coat with red satin.  He sat on a gold colored saddle strapped around Celestia’s chest.  The base of her tail was wrapped in gold ribbon, and she kept it slightly elevated as she trotted forward.  Her usual shoes had been replaced with new ones that ran up to cover her hooves and then followed up with more gold ribbon that spiraled up her legs and linked lightly to the saddle.  Prince Lemma held the straps of a golden bridle.  The straps were gold chain and dotted with citrine crystals.  The chains led to a set of blinders and a golden bit held firmly in her mouth.  The blinders kept Celestia looking only forward and hid her eyes.  Each blinder pad was decorated with sun opals in the shape of Celestia’s cutie mark.  Finally, the tip of her horn had been capped with gold, holding a small bell that jingled softly with her steps.

Luna’s outfit was nearly identical, but the gold had all been replaced with silver, citrine with glittering platinum orbs, and her blinders sported moon opals in the shape of Luna’s cutie mark.  Sir Rington was on her back, dressed in mock armor made of silk and dotted with flat plates of silver.

Twilight’s outfit was a blend of the other two designs with violet ribbon to match her coat.  Her bridle straps were made of both gold and silver linked together.  The bells on their three horns all jingled together and for a while it was the only sound in the whole crowd as everyone remained deathly quiet watching the procession.  The three alicorns trotted up onto the stage then lowered themselves down close to the floor to make it easier for the lemurs to hop off.  Prince Lemma smiled and waved out to the crowd and was instantly met with enthusiastic cheers.

Meerca walked up and began to speak of Lemurian traditions.  Celestia, Luna and Twilight remained kneeling on the stage.  Once Meerca finished speaking he motioned to Celestia, who stood and walked over to the Prince.  Celestia bowed in the same way the actors in the play had.  The bit in her mouth gave her voice a slightly odd inflection, but didn't make her any harder to understand.  “I, Lady Celestia, offer Equestria to you, Prince Lemma of the wise lemurs.  May your wisdom grant us tranquility and prosperity as the King of Equestria.”

The rest of the coronation was a blur of speeches, pronouncements, and signing of documents.  Spike had to wait and sit through them all.  The whole process felt like it took well over an hour.  At the very end, a different golden crown had been placed on Lemma's head.  Celestia smiled and spoke out.  "May I present King Lemma, ruler of Equestria!"  Celestia, Luna, and Twilight all bowed to him and the whole audience followed suit.  He waved his hands a moment later to bid them all to stand.

"My precious subjects, thank you for allowing me to guide you to prosperity.  I have been told we have a great party planned to celebrate my coronation.  There will be food and drink and fireworks and much more.  Of course we can't enjoy fireworks properly with the sun still up.  So as my first pronouncement, on this day of my coronation, sunset shall occur two hours early."

Celestia simply nodded and the sun began to accelerate and vanished behind the horizon.  The moon rose soon after.  Lemma motioned and Celestia knelt down to allow him up on her back.  "Now everyone get ready for the party and enjoy tonight to its fullest!"  Lemma called out.

Luna and Twilight also knelt down and waited for the lemurs to get on their backs.  Then all three trotted away the way they'd arrived, marching in the exact same disciplined fashion.  They must have practiced it at some point.  As soon as the former princesses had made their full exit, everyone began to walk in crisscrosses to their homes to prepare for the night party, which was to be a much more casual affair than the coronation. 

Spike got up from his chair and started to maneuver his way passed the countless ponies milling around.  Before he got far, he heard Rarity call out.  “Ohhh, there you are Spikey.  Wasn’t that just an incredible event?”  She ran up to him and beamed.  “Now, let’s go back to my place and get dressed for the occasion.”

“You don’t have to pretend.”  Spike said with a sad tone.  “I know you don’t really love me.  The lemurs told you pretend you do.”

“I, but….Spike no no, that isn’t how it is at all!”  She protested.  “The lemurs explained that we’re meant to be together; and while yes I may have confessed those feelings prematurely, I know that I’ll grow to love you very deeply.  Arranged marriages are a venerable tradition, you know!  Many people wouldn't even meet until their wedding day but would fall in love soon after.”

“Enough!”  Spike turned and ran away, dodging past a few other ponies.  Rarity tried to follow him, but the crowd was too chaotic and she soon lost sight.  She called out his name several times, but there was no answer.

Spike soon arrived at Twilight's library.  It was still empty.  With any luck, Twilight had been trotted straight off to the party.  Spike had to climb in through the window again because Meerca had locked the door on their way out.  The gem chest was still there.  Most likely the gem was inside.  It was firmly locked and Spike wasn't much for lock picking.  He considered burning it open, but there was no telling how much dragon fire would be necessary, and he might accidentally set the library on fire.  Finally, he tensed his claws and ran them over the top of the chest.  He left three shallow gashes in the wood.  It was definitely strong material, but with a little patience he could break through.  He started to dig into the top of the chest with both hands.  Splinters and sawdust started to tumbled down from his hands as he clawed faster.  He was making progress.

Five minutes passed and he was nearly all the way through the wood.  Soon he'd be able to simply reach inside.  That was when Twilight returned, Meerca on her back.  She had changed into a more casual party gown instead of the coronation uniform.  She gasped as she entered and ran closer.  “Spike...what are you doing?”

She knelt down as Meerca hopped off her and waddled towards Spike.  “Don’t damage the chest, that is very precious.”

“I’ll damage more than that.”  Spike muttered before continuing to claw at the chest.  One of his claws made a tiny hole.  Each swipe widened it.

“Spike what’s going on?  Rarity found me and said you were acting strange.  What's gotten into you?  Please, stop this.”  Twilight moved closer and Meerca scrambled, trying to grab Spike’s shoulders to pull him away from the chest..  

Spike shoved Meerca away and scraped again, opening a hole wide enough he could fit his hand through, but not enough to pull the gem out.  “The gem isn’t giving you wisdom, Twilight.  It’s controlling you; it’s controlling everyone!”

“Spike, that’s crazy.  How could you think that?”  Twilight said plaintively.

“Stop him, he’s gone mad!  You can’t let him damage the gem!”  Meerca yelled, trying to get back up, but became caught in his own cape and stumbled back to the floor.

Spike finally had a hole in the chest large enough and pulled the gem out.  “I have to do this Twilight, I have to save you.”  He opened his mouth and chomped down on the gem, but his teeth closed around air.  The gem had blinked away and reappeared floating next to Twilight, who looked distressed.  “Please Spike, you have to calm down, you aren’t making any sense.  Let me help you."

Spike walked closer.  “You’re being tricked, controlled, that’s what the gem does, that’s what the lemurs do.”  Spike got closer.  “Please Twilight, I’m your friend, you have to trust me.  Give me the gem.”

“But you don’t trust me?”

Spike moved closer.  “You’re the one who has strange magic inside you.  You said it yourself in your notes."

Twilight took a step back.  "Stop Spike...don't come any closer."

"Think about it.  What if the magic doesn't  give you insight, what if it takes control of you?  You've been the one acting strange, doing whatever the lemurs want, letting them rule Equestria, turning into nothing but servants for them.  You've always been able to study things.  Does any of that seem rational at all?”  Spike reached out for the floating gem.

“I said stop!”  Twilight yelled.  A magenta bubble encircled Spike and floated up into the air.  He instinctively ran his claws against the bubble in an attempt to escape, but knew it wouldn’t help.  He recognized the spell, nothing could pierce through it.  Twilight gave him a pained look before placing the gem back into the chest and using a patch-up spell to repair the damage Spike had done.  "I'm sorry Spike, but you didn't leave me any choice.  We'll figure this out, I promise."

Meerca finally managed to get himself untangled and quickly danced over to Twilight’s side.  “That was too close, too too close.  Everything could have been lost."

"It's alright, Meerca.  Spike is safe inside the bubble.  We can talk and see what's wrong."

"No!  We can't take that risk.  What if he pretends to be reasonable and goes after the gem again?"  Meerca gesticulated with his arms in panic.  "There must be some spell that would prevent him from ever even thinking about harming the gem.  Didn't that unicorn you mentioned have those kinds of spells, the Sombra one?"

Twilight paused and frowned at Meerca.  “Sombra had spell books with...mental domination spells that could do that, but we locked those things away after he was defeated.  Those kinds of spells are dangerous too, using something like that on Spike could cause permanent damage."

“Would you ever do that Twilight?”  Spike asked, “Would you hurt me if a lemur told you to?”

“Oh Spike…”  Twilight bowed her head sadly.  It took her a few seconds to look Spike in the eye again.  When she did her eyes briefly flashed green.  “Don’t make me have to make that kind of choice.  I don't need to hurt you.  For now I'll cast an amnesia spell and erase the last day.  Whatever has you so confused and upset...you'll forget about it.  You'll wake up in Rarity's bed tomorrow morning and everything will be back to the way it should be."  She offered him a soft smile.  Then her horn began to glow and a gold ring of energy formed and slowly floated towards Spike.

“I should have realized what was happening sooner.”  Spike said sadly.  “I was too stupid and too distracted by Rarity and being told I was special for being a dragon."

"You are special, and you'll realize that again soon, and eventually I'll figure out to make a gem that works for you, and you won't worry anymore."

Spike sighed.  "I’m so sorry, Twilight.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for, you’re just confused Spike.”  The halo floated just above Spike's head and began to descend.

“No, for this.”  Spike let out a huge plume of fire that filled the entire bubble.  Twilight yelped in pain and crumpled to the ground wincing.  The bubble and the golden halo both fizzled away.  Spike recognized the bubble spell, and knew it was linked to Twilight’s senses, like an extension of her body.  It couldn't be physically broken, but the fire was just as painful as if he'd blown fire at her, too painful to allow her to concentrate on complex spells.

Spike tumbled to the ground and hopped to his feet.  The gem was back in the chest, fully repaired and Twilight was only caught by surprise from the burst of pain and could trap him again in seconds.  There was no other choice.  He had to run.  But first he turned towards the bookshelf and fired off a tight stream of flame.

Twilight looked up just in time to see a row of books catch fire.  “My books!”  She dashed towards the shelf, ignoring Spike as he ran out the door.  She was too distracted using her magic to stop the fire to notice Meerca’s screams to follow Spike.

------------------------------------------------

Later on, Twilight held a meeting in the library.  The coronation party was still going on with Pinkie Pie in charge, and Rainbow Dash had gone with a handful of other pegasi to see if they could track down Spike.  The remaining four paced around the library, looking at the scorched bookshelf and waiting for Rainbow Dash to return.  

"I just don't know what happened to him."  Rarity said with a downcast expression.  "Was it something I said?  He seemed a bit distant this morning but after the coronation he was just so angry.  I couldn't understand it at all."

"The lemurs had warned me about this, that creatures the gem doesn't work for can become irrational.  I just never expected it would happen to Spike."  Twilight sighed.

Rainbow Dash arrived soon after with news.  “No one’s seen Spike anywhere.  He’s found a hole or something to hide in.”

“Or he went into the Everfree Forest.”  Fluttershy noted.

“A little thing like him going into Everfree at night?”  Applejack tilted her head.  “I know Twilight said he was sounding crazy but do you think he’s that crazy?”

“Ranting about evil lemurs?  Yeah I think he’s pretty out there.”  Rainbow retorted.

Twilight walked into the of the group.  "Whatever has happened to him, we have to help him somehow.  King Lemma has insisted the coronation party can't be interrupted, so nothing but the patrols happen tonight.  Tomorrow we’ll plan more searches, especially of the Everfree Forest.  Until we find Spike and figure out what’s wrong with him, the gem is going to remain under constant guard, with at least one alicorn standing watch.”

“But what if we never find him?”  Fluttershy whispered.

“We will find him.”  Twilight said firmly.  “Spike is our friend and whatever has gone wrong with him we’ll find a way to fix it.  You know he’d do the same for us.”
> Chapter 7: Crusade
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ahem.  I hereby call to order the three hundred and thirty second meeting of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”  Apple Bloom said solemnly.  “First order of business is looking at the progress from the previous week.”  She stared at Sweetie Belle expectantly.  “That’s your cue.”

“Oh, right.”  Sweetie Belle walked up to the podium.  “Last week we tried basketball, hoof painting, architecture and improv comedy.  The coronation three days ago delayed our usual number of attempts.  No cutie marks to report.”

“We all know there weren’t any cutie marks.”  Scootaloo interjected.  “We can look at our own flanks.”

“Scootaloo!  You’re breaking protocol.”  Applebloom hissed, before moving back to the podium.  “With the progress from the previous week concluded, we now have a scheduled brainstorming session for new cutie mark ideas.  Till then the meeting is on recess.”  She picked up a  gavel and tapped the podium three times.

The three fillies all quickly glanced at their flanks and frowned as they found nothing forming.

“I told you this wouldn’t work.”  Scootaloo said scornfully.  “Who’s idea was it to try to get business etiquette cutie marks?”

“Hold on, I’ll look at the minutes.”  Applebloom replied.

“Forget the minutes.”  Scootaloo grabbed the scroll and tossed it aside.  “We’ve been getting stuck in the weeds.  It feels like everything we’ve tried recently has been humdrum.  Laundry, business etiquette, apologizing?  We should be trying bigger stuff, important stuff.”  Scootaloo paced a bit and waved her front hoof in a wide sweep.  “I mean...what’s the most important job a pony could ever have?”

Applebloom shared a glance with Sweetie Belle then looked back at Scootaloo.  “Doin’ whatever lemurs tell us to.”

“Well, yeah.”  Scootaloo conceded, “But you can’t get a cutie mark for that.”

“Why not?”  Sweetie Belle cut in.  “There haven’t been any lemurs in Equestria until last week.  Nopony would have had the chance to get one.”

“That’s the spirit!”  Scootaloo said happily.  “We just need to get some lemurs and figure out what they want.”

“Yeah, let’s go for it.”  Sweetie Belle cried.

“Alright.  That can be our project for today.”  Applebloom agreed.  

“Cutie Mark Crusaders Lemur Helpers, Yay!”  They shouted together.


********************************************************************************************************


The three agreed the first place to start would be Twilight’s.  She had an in with one of the head lemurs who’d be most likely to be able to give them a task of some sort.  Sweetie Belle knocked on the library door and a somewhat disheveled Twilight opened it.  “Ahhh, good morning.  Or is it afternoon?  I’m afraid I’ve been losing track with all the research that needs to get done.  Come in.  What can I do for the Crusaders?”

“We’re hopin’ you could talk to one of the head lemurs for us.”  Applebloom said as they walked inside.  Up on a pedestal was the Gem of Tranquility.  There was a faint blue shimmer around it, like a protective spell.

“Yeah, we’re thinking maybe doing stuff for lemurs could be our special talent.”  Scootaloo noted.

“Oh, that would be a wonderful talent.”  Twilight replied.  “I wish I could help, but High Scholar Meerca is away with the King in Canterlot and won’t be back until tonight.  I have to put all my time into researching the gem so I can make more.”

“Awww, you couldn't send a magic letter or something?”  Scootaloo asked.

“If helping lemurs is the talent you wish to adopt, then you should not ask Twilight’s research to be stopped.”  A voice said emanating from the kitchen as a striped figure walked into the room..

“Zecora!”  The three fillies shouted together and surrounded her excitedly.  There had been endless rumors about her.  She’d been brought to Ponyville the day after Spike had vanished.

“I heard you you had to be tied up and forced to come to Ponyville.”  Applebloom said.

“I heard you were ranting and raving about evil lemurs.”  Scootaloo added.

Zecora smiled apologetically to the fillies.  “I hope I did not give anypony fright.  I am much more understanding, now that I have seen the light.”

“Zecora has been incredibly helpful.”  Twilight said.  “She’s the first creature I could monitor while she was affected by the gem.  At first I didn’t even know if it would work for a zebra, but I had a theory it would because we’re so similar.  It’s created a massive new trove of data and I’m close to finding out how to make new gems.”

“To make sure she does not stay up late into the night, I have been told to look after Twilight.”  Zecora noted with a grin.

“Which I find totally unnecessary.  It was only like three times where Spike insisted that...”  Twilight paused and looked down.  Spike’s absence was suddenly very heavy in the room.

“Did, did Spike come to you Zecora?”  Applebloom asked hopefully.

“Sadly Spike did come see me at my home.  Whatever his path, he walks it alone.”

“I know he’s still out there.”  Twilight said.  “And once I find out how to make more gems, I can make one for dragons and save him.”

“We’re sorry we interrupted you.”  Scootaloo said.

“No, it’s alright.  I suppose I could use a short break.  Would you like me to make some tea?

“Thanks, but we can’t give up that easily.”  Scootaloo declared.  “We’ll go find some lemurs that need our help.”

“Cutie Mark Crusaders, Roll Out!” They cried in unison before sprinting out of the house.  They returned to a leisurely walk once they were out of sight of the library.

“Well it’s easy to say that, but where do we go now?”  Sweetie Belle asked.

“Don’t worry,” Applebloom said, “There are dozens of lemurs at Filthy Rich’s house.  One of them will have something for us to do.”  

They trotted of to the Rich mansion and knocked on the big front door.  A moment later the door cracked open and Diamond Tiara’s head popped through.  “What do you three want?”  She asked with a  derisive glare.

“Hi Tiara,” Scootaloo said warily.  “Can we come in?  We wanted to see if we could help out some lemurs.”

Tiara gave a humph, but opened the door for them.  “Is this one of your Crusader games?  How pathetic.”  She picked up a duster from the floor and moved over to a nearby marble sculpture.

“Yeah we’re...seeing if we can get a lemur helping cutie mark.”  Scootaloo replied, watching as Diamond Tiara dusted the sculpture.  The Crusaders all gave each other a confused look.

“Uh, what are you doing’ Tiara?”  Applebloom finally asked.

Tiara set the duster down to speak.  “What’s it look like?  There are twenty eight lemurs living here and they expect everything to be immaculate.  Because this was dad’s home, I get to help the lemurs out already cleaning serving food and doing laundry.  I don’t see what a bunch of blank flanks will be able to do for them.”

Just then a door popped open with four lemurs followed by Filthy Rich and one of the family butlers, though Filthy Rich was dressed in the same uniform and had a tray of food on his back.”

“Diamonds and emeralds are too plentiful as well.  There just isn’t enough scarcity in Equestria,” One of the lemurs declared, “The only thing with inherent value seems to be the ponies themselves.”

“But we can’t make a currency out of them,” Another lemur replied.  “I don’t see why we can’t import pearls from Lemuria.  We can let them appreciate so they’ll be worth even more.”

“Those lemurs look important, here’s our chance!”  Applebloom chased after the procession with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle close behind.  “Uh, excuse me, Mr. Lemur sir?”

The lemur paused and looked quizzically at the three.  He looked over at Filthy Rich.  “Are these more of your kids?”

“No, these are my daughter’s classmates,” He explained.

“We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders,”  Applebloom declared, “And we wanted to see if there was anything we could do to help you or some other lemurs in town.”

The lemur sighed, “We aren’t doing anything with children until phase three.  You should just go play on your own.”

“Are you sure there isn’t a lemur we could help out?”  Applebloom persisted.

“I don’t have time to deal with children.  Do you know how hard it is to set up a new currency when everything is so plentiful?  Every other lemur is just as busy on their own projects and won’t want to be bothered.  Now, I’m behind schedule.”  The lemur motioned everyone to continue heading down the hall.  The Crusaders stood dejectedly, watching them leave.

“I told you,“ Tiara called from where she was dusting.  “These are important lemurs and they don’t have time to waste on you.  You should just go.  If you’ll excuse me, I have more dusting to do.  I think you know the way out.”  She gave them a last smirk and sauntered up the stairs.

The Crusaders circled together to plan their next move.  “Just because that one lemur said we’d be a bother doesn’t mean all of them think so,” Scootaloo noted.

“Yeah, but they might,” Applebloom said.  “It makes sense every lemur would have a job and if they needed somepony’s help they’ll have adult ponies helping them already.

“That’s it!”  Sweetie Bell brightened up.  “Every adult lemur would be busy with a job, but kid lemurs won’t be.”


********************************************************************************************************


Fluttershy’s cottage had seen better days.  What had been an orderly home when the lemur children had first arrived was now in shambles.  Except for rare instances like the coronation party, the lemur children were supposed to stay at Fluttershy’s cottage and they were all restless.  Lemurs were bouncing up and down on the sofas and playing with the pots and pans.  Fluttershy dashed back and forth trying to keep a handle on them all, but there was always new trouble brewing.  Whenever she went over to separate a group of lemurs fighting, two others would try to start a fire and jump up onto the now abandoned birdhouses on the ceiling.

Only one lemur had not given Fluttershy any difficulties.  Ameeca was sitting in the corner on a stool made for racoons, reading a book.  He didn’t want to cause any more trouble for Fluttershy considering how crazy things were, and he was used to being on his own.  Most lemurs didn’t want to play with him and few shared his interest in books.  He looked up as a pair of lemurs started climbing a set of cabinets.  Fluttershy dashed over to them.  “Ah, no, you really shouldn’t go up there.”  She said breathlessly.

“But I want to see what’s up here.”  One of the two said to her.

“Oh, yes...well, please be careful.”  Fluttershy let them continue their search and turned to another set of lemurs that were starting to bicker.  Ameeca turned back to his book.  The past week had been nothing but Fluttershy trying to contain everyone and finding she couldn’t really oppose them when directly challenged.  His father had explained to him about the gem, about ponies being naturally made to be ruled by lemurs.  It was strange that the lemur prince had thought a pony could be a babysitter, but perhaps they didn’t care if Fluttershy kept them under control, just out of the way.

So far life in Equestria had been the same as before, but with the bonus of a huge new supply of books for him to read.  He’d managed to borrow a book on Equestrian history from the treehouse library in town and was halfway through it.  It was fascinating how much had happened in the last thousand years.  Lemurian history books tended to be rather light on details and either focused on life before the Great Fall, or focused on the constant fights between the different tribes of lemurs and their conflicts for the throne.

Yet even with so many monumental events, the relative stability of Equestria was impressive.  In the same time there had been thirty different lemur dynasties and thousands of wars (though wars between lemurs usually led to nothing worse than broken bones) Equestria had experienced a millennia of peace, and even reconciliation after the return of Luna.  It seemed ironic and a bit backwards that lemurs were the superior group, needing to bring their guidance to Equestria.  It had seemed to Ameeca the ponies had things mostly figured out, but then he would see how readily the strongest amongst them acceded to the lemur’s desires and guidance.

He’d asked his father about it after the coronation and had been told the ponies were like jungle flowers.  There were many different kinds of flowers that all seemed beautiful and elaborate and many had assumed there was a grand purpose to their beauty, but if you studied it you found the flowers reason for existence was to provide nectar to bees.  The flowers could exist independent of the bees but their true purpose could only be seen when bees were present.

It made a sort of sense, though it still felt as though there had to be some shortcoming in Equestrian history that would help explain things.  That had been his initial reason for starting with a book on Equestrian history, though he’d soon become engrossed with the story.

As he was about to start a chapter on the history of amniomorphic magic, Ameeca felt a hoof cover his mouth and another wrapped around his waist.  He gasped in surprise, but his scream was muffled by the hoof.  He moved his eyes and saw an orange pony had grabbed him and was pulling him towards a nearby window.  He tried to fight back but it was no use.  He was only about half the pony’s size and much weaker.  The pony moved on her hind legs along the wall then hopped up on a chair and was out the window.

Immediately, they landed on a scooter and the pony tossed him on her back before accelerating the scooter to breakneck speeds.  Ameeca clung onto the pony’s back for dear life, afraid he would die if he was tossed off with how fast they were go.

“Don’t be afraid.”  She said, looking back at him assuredly.  “I’m here to help.”

“Help?”  He said back in surprise.  “You’re kidnapping me!”

“It is NOT a kidnapping.  I’m just taking you from Fluttershy’s back to our clubhouse...okay it does sound a bit like a kidnapping.  But don’t worry, we’re not dangerous.”

Ameeca didn’t say anything else, and focused on not falling off the pony’s back, made more difficult by the fluttering of her wings.  The pony finally approached a tree house and parked the scooter just outside.  She maintained her momentum up a ramp and into the tree house.

Once she had finally stopped, Ameeca felt safe enough to fall off her back and retreated out of bucking range.  The pony smiled at him expectantly.  After a few awkward seconds of this she broke the silence.  “So, uh, I’m Scootaloo.”

“Ameeca.  I mean, my name is Ameeca.”  An introduction made him feel a little bit more comfortable.  He stepped back closer to her and held out his paw for her to shake.

She looked at his paw in confusion for a moment then reached out and bumped it with her hoof.  “Well, it’s good to meet you Ameeca.  Welcome to the Crusader’s clubhouse.”

“C-Crusaders?  Are you warriors?”

“Ah, not really.”  Scootaloo said with a laugh.  “We asked but Shining Armor wouldn’t lend us any weapons so we weren’t able to try that.  My friends and I are working to get our cutie marks.”

“Oh.”  Ameeca perked up.  The history book he’d been reading was full of references to cutie marks.  It was often one of the things described when talking about historical figures.  He had assumed ponies were born with them though.  But looking at Scootaloo he noticed there was nothing on her flank.  “I’ve read a bit about cutie marks.  What do you do to get them?”

“Well...you do what you’re good at.  Once you figure out what your special talent is, the cutie mark just sort of appears.  But you won’t know what your special talent is until you do it.  Our club is to find out what our talent is as soon as possible.  So we try out anything we can think of and we all thought maybe we can get cutie marks in helping lemurs.”

“Is that why you brought me here?”

“Yep!  Fluttershy looked...busy so we decided we should just make her job easier by bringing some lemurs back here.  I don’t remember who said we should do it secretly, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.”  Scootaloo scratched her head with a hoof.  ”My friends Applebloom and Sweetie Belle are still looking for some other lemurs they can bring without raising a fuss.  But I just saw you off in the corner near the window and went for it.”  

She paused and gave that same expectant smile.  “So...is there something you want me to do?”

Ameeca wasn’t sure how to respond to that.  He couldn’t think of anything that he wanted, aside from being taken back to the cottage to read his book, but that seemed like a rude request when this pony was obviously so hopeful that he could help her with a cutie mark.  He couldn’t just invent arbitrary tasks for her either.  “I can’t really think of anything.”

“Awww, really?  Aren’t you all supposed to be really wise and stuff and know what we should all be doing?”

The lines about wisdom and guiding ponies was what his father assured him, certainly, but Ameeca didn’t feel all that wise and insightful.  Scootaloo exhibited that same contradiction between Equestrian history and the reactions of ponies to lemurs.  She was very energetic and her enthusiasm had its own aura that emenated off of her.  He was enjoying talking with her more than any conversation he’d had with most lemurs.  The other lemur children were usually boring to talk to, interested in contests and fights.  Was this club one of those flowers that didn’t have it’s true purpose shown without a lemur to help?  “I don’t know about just how wise we are.  Maybe I’ll think of something later.  Tell me more about your friends for now.”

Scootaloo started explaining about her two friends and how they met.  It all sounded very nice, and it was amazing how they had remained friends for so long.  All of Ameeca’s friends had drifted away after a while.  Around then there was the sound of hooves on the ramp and the sound of another lemur complaining

“Oh, I think they’re back.”  They waited as Sweetie Belle and Applebloom arrived with another lemur sitting on Applebloom’s back.  “We managed to get one more that was off on his own.”

“What wretched place have you brought me to?”  The new lemur said.

“I already told you, it’s our clubhouse.”  Applebloom said back.

Ameeca recognized the voice.  “Oh, it’s you, Little Dirka.”

“Why do they call you little Dirka?”  Sweetie Belle asked.

“He’s a centimeter shorter than Big Dirka.”  Ameeca explained.

“It’s because they’re jealous.”  Dirka spat back.  “I’m the grand nephew twice removed from the King and that makes me twenty fourth in the line of succession.  I’m the only royal child in Equestria.  All the other kids like Ameeca are scholars or workers.

Ameeca gave a little sigh.  Everyone mostly ignored Dirka for rants like this.  They were never short.  It explained why Dirka was isolated enough for the ponies to nab him.

“So, you’ve brought me here as part of some club?”  Dirka asked.

“Yep, we’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders and we’re going to get cutie marks for helping out lemurs,” Applebloom said.  “So, ah, what can do for you?”

The three fillies looked expectantly at Ameeca and Dirka.  Ameeca felt uncomfortable at the pressure.  “I haven’t really thought of anything yet.”

“Ameeca is always just sitting in a corner reading a book.  That’s all he needs.”  Dirka said disdainfully.

“Book!  Got it!”  Scootaloo dashed over to a bookcase and pulled out three books along with a few scrolls that tumbled off the shelf.  “These are the first three Daring Do books.  Rainbow Dash lent me her copies.  The scroll is...uh, a personal project.”

“She means she’s writing her own Daring Do story with her and Rainbow Dash inserted into it.”  Sweetie Belle said derisively.

“Hey!” Scootaloo frowned at her friend before bringing the books over to Ameeca.  “Will these do?”

Ameeca looked at the books.  “Uh, thank you.  I’ve never read these before.”  Having the ponies hand him things didn’t really seem like a profound purpose, but without anything else coming to mind, he accepted the books.  The whole thing was a bit strange.

“Well it would be fitting for me to be waited on properly.”  Dirka spoke up.  “Who is president of this club of yours?”

“We don’t have a president.  We’re all equal members.”  Applebloom explained.

“Well, then you should start helping me by making me the president of your club.”

“Uh, okay.”  Sweetie Belle nodded.  “We’ll need to amend our charter and set up a vote, but that shouldn’t take long.”

“Worry about the paperwork later.”  Dirka said, “Affirmation should be enough for now.”

“Uh, alright.  All who vote Dirka as president?”  Applebloom asked.

“Aye.” All three ponies said in unison.

Ameeca shook his head.  “Why do you want to be their president?”

“They need a firm leader.  Ponies need to be ruled properly.”  Dirka glared at Ameeca before looking back at the Crusaders.  “Alright, as president I deserve to be given proper treatment.  You, the pegasus, fly over to Sugarcube corner and get me something to eat.  You, yellow one, get me a throne. And you unicorn, what are you good at?”

“I like singing, and I help my sister making clothes sometimes.”  She replied.

“I don’t have any use for a song.  Maybe you can give me a back-rub like they do in the spa.”

“I can give it a try.”  Sweetie Belle said happily.  “We tried getting spa cutie marks once, but it might work this time because you’re a lemur. Oh Ameeca, is there anything else you need besides the book?”

“If he wants anything else, I’m sure he’ll speak up.”  Dirka said, “So don’t get distracted from your task for me.  Ameeca is a scholar, so I’m sure he’s happy to just read in a corner.”

Ameeca retreated a step under Dirka’s gaze.  There wasn’t really anything else he wanted.  He sat down on the ground and opened the first of the books Scootaloo had given him, but kept an eye on Dirka and Sweetie Belle.  Dirka’s orders didn’t seem like the sort of things ponies had been waiting thousands of years to receieve.

Dirka laid on the ground, stretching his back out.  “Okay, just start with the shoulders and work your way down.”  Sweetie Belle pressed her hooves on his shoulders, with both able to cover nearly half his back

“Ow!”  Dirka yelped and hopped up.  “What are you trying to do?”

“I’m sorry, was that too hard?”

“What do you think?  Your hooves are like rocks.”  Dirka stopped speaking as a cacophony of hammering erupted from outside.  “What in Lemuria?”

Ameeca put the book down and looked through the window and saw Applebloom with a pile of wood boards and a hammer.  Dirka walked out the front door to see her.  “What are you doing?”  He shouted down at her.

“I’m makin’ your throne.”  She called back.

“Making...I thought you’d bring one.”

“This is way easier and I can make it lemur sized.”

“But it’s making a racket!  And why would I want to sit on hard wood?”

“I could get some hay to cushion the seat.”  She offered.

Dirka groaned.  “Just...come back inside for now.”  He walked back into the clubhouse.  “Confound these ponies, can they do anything right?”

As Applebloom returned, Scootaloo also dashed back into the clubhouse with a box on her back.  “I’m back with food.”

“Thank heavens, one of you gets results.”  Dirka walked up and opened the box.  “I’ll start with...mangoes???”  Dirka exploded, seeing the exclusive item in the box.  “Why would you bring mangoes here?”

“Well you grow mangoes in Lemuria, right?  So I figured you’d like something familiar.”

“We don’t grow mangos.  They grow on their own like weeds.  We don’t like mangos.  We tolerate them.  We have to eat them because there’s not enough proper food to eat.  We used to have a mighty civilization with the finest foods in the world.  Every mango is a reminder of what we’ve lost.”  Dirka picked a mango up and threw it against the wall.  “And you bring this trash for me to eat?  You worthless ponies.”

“That’s not fair.”  Ameeca cut in.  “You just gave them vague orders, you can’t expect them to read your mind.”

“So you’re saying it’s my fault?”  Dirka growled at Ameeca.  “Fine, can you get them to do things right?”

Ameeca paused.  He had just wanted to read a book, why did he have to order the ponies around?  He looked at the Crusader’s hopeful expressions.  The idea he could allow them to follow instructions properly was like a ray of hope in their eyes.  He sighed.  “Okay.  Applebloom, go get some pillows that will fit in the chair you’re making and finish  building it a bit farther from the clubhouse.  Scootaloo, go back to Sugarcube Corner.  Get strawberry tarts and lemon squares.”  Ameeca recalled Dirka stuffing his face with those two desserts at the coronation.

Both ponies quickly nodded and left.  Ameeca looked at Sweetie Belle, wondering what would work best for her.  Hooves could be used to massage, his father had talked about how nice the Ponyville spa was, but it probably required training to apply just the right pressure.  There wasn’t time for her to learn.  “Sweetie Belle, is it possible you could rub shoulders with your magic?”

“I can try.”  She declared with a rush of enthusiasm.  It took five minutes to find the right amount of pressure, but Dirka soon let out a pleasant sigh as two blue glitters of magic pressed into his shoulderblades.

After a while the other crusaders returned and soon Dirka was arrayed on his throne, even if it was just a wooden chair with pillows.  “I must admit, you’ve done well Ameeca.  I guess that’s what you scholars are for, learning how to get useful labor out of these creatures.”

“Uhm, you’re welcome, I guess.”  That was what his father had told him he needed to begin training for, but it still felt very strange.  Ameeca had imagined much more profound guidance than menial labor.  Still the ponies all seemed very happy.  Applebloom was serving as a foot rest now that her throne construction was complete.  Sweetie Belle was continuing to massage Dirka’s neck and head while Scootaloo handed him strawberry tarts to eat.  “How are you three doing?”

“We’re great.”  Applebloom said, “Cause we’re finally able to help lemurs out.”

“What a silly question.”  Dirka said,  “Of course they’re doing well.  Serving us is what ponies and all other races are meant for.  Their happier now than they would ever be without us.”

Ameeca offered a slight nod.  The Crusaders did seem happy.  Was this the happiness of a flower handing its nectar to bees?

Dirka finished the last of the tarts and lemon squares.  “Very nice.  That’s enough rubbing for now.  You three, come sit in front of me for now.”  The Crusaders complied and sat on their flanks in front of the wooden throne.

“Did we do a good job?”  Scootaloo asked expectantly.

“Hmm?  Oh, yes, not bad for your first time.”

“Woohoo!”  All three lept up excitedly then turned to glance at their flanks, but their expressions fell a moment later, finding no cutie marks had appeared.

“Well, it was a good idea.”  Scootaloo said with resignation.

Applebloom walked over to the bookshelf and pulled down a scroll and quill.  “Well Twilight always says everything we try gets us closer to success.  But I was really hopin’ this one would work out.”

The three of them huddled together as Dirka made noises trying to get their attention.  

“Do we have enough time to try anything else today?”  Sweetie Belle asked.

“We don’t have anything else planned.  It might take too long to plan and try out something else.”  Applebloom replied.

“Hey!”  Dirka finally yelled after clearing his throat over and over didn’t get the ponies’ attention.  “What are you three babbling about?  I haven’t decided on a new order for you.  You can’t just ignore your president.”

The Crusaders looked at each other with a confused look.  “Well, we kind of assumed if this didn’t work, you’d go back to Fluttershy’s.”  Sweetie Belle said.

Applebloom nodded.  “I mean, you can stay president if you want, but the Crusaders are about gettin’ cutie marks, and I don’t think lemurs can get them, so there isn’t much for you to do.”

This made Dirka flush with anger, even showing through his fur.  “You just want to ignore me?  Well I’m president and I say the club isn’t about cutie marks any more, it’s about doing what I say.”

Ameeca looked at the Crusaders as they processed this.  There was a strange expression on their faces he couldn’t place.  “Well, I suppose we could always make the club half finding cutie marks and half lemur helping.”  Scootaloo said.  The other two nodded slowly

“That could work.”  Sweetie Belle agreed.

“N-no!”  Ameeca yelped and stood between Dirka and the ponies.  “You can’t just take their club away like this.  That’s like taking away what makes them special.”

“Special?  They’re just ponies, Ameeca.  The only thing important is how well they can serve us.  These three should feel thankful I want their service as bad as they are at this.”

“No.  You’re wrong.”  Ameeca stood up straight.  He had to convince Dirka to change his mind.  This wasn’t revealing the true purpose of these ponies, it was stripping it away.  “They are special.  They’re passionate about finding their talents and give everything to accomplish that.  If you don’t understand why their club is important then you shouldn’t be its president.  You shouldn’t tell them to stop trying to find cutie marks.”

“Yeah!”  Ameeca turned in shock to see Scootaloo had spoken and was now standing beside him.  “Finding our special talent is what we’re all about.”

“That’s right.”  Sweetie Belle said, standing to Ameeca’s left.  “We all became friends and promised we’d find our cutie marks together.”

“And if you don’t want to help us find our cutie marks, then you’re no president of ours.”  Applebloom declared, standing next to Scootaloo.

“What are you doing Ameeca?  This isn’t how you’re supposed to treat a royal!”

“This isn’t about Ameeca.”  Scootaloo said.  “This is the Cutie Mark Crusaders saying you should just buzz off.”

Dirka reddened even more.  “I’m telling father about this!”  He screamed before dancing out of the clubhouse as fast as his legs would take him.

Ameeca looked at the ponies as they celebrated Dirka’s exit.  What he just saw should have been impossible.  “How did you do that?”

“What do you mean?”  Scootaloo replied, “Kick him out?  Well it’s like you said.  Finding our cutie marks is what the Crusader’s are about and not even a lemur can tell us to stop doing that.”

But that wasn’t true.  All three had been close to agreeing with Dirka when he’d spoken up.  That was the only explanation.  He’d objected, directly contradicted Dirka, and the ponies were able to choose sides.  If it hadn’t been for him, the Crusaders would have been ruined by Dirka.  That brought a smile to his face.  He understood now that guiding the ponies meant more than just giving orders.  Maybe that was what his father meant by wisdom.  Not every lemur was inherently wiser, but those wisest lemurs could help ponies reach their full potential.  “I’m glad nothing’s going to happen to your club.”

The three looked at him curiously.  They didn’t seem to realize how close they’d come to giving things up.  He changed the subject.  “So if helping lemurs didn’t work, what will you do now?”

“Well, we don’t have anything else planned,”  Sweetie Belle said.  “I guess we were all banking on this one.”

“Maybe we should try again.”  Scootaloo said.  “Maybe the problem was we didn’t have the right lemur.  I mean, Dirka was kind of a jerk, for a lemur at least.”

“That’s true,”  Sweetie Belle said.  “Would you like to be our president Ameeca?”

The idea sounded nice, but immediately Ameeca thought better of it.  Insisting on titles was the sort of thing Dirka insisted on.  “I don’t need to be president, but I would be glad to be your friend.”

“That works out great.”  Scootaloo said with a grin.  “I can get you something to eat this time.  Unfortunately Dirka ate all the desserts.  All we have are those mangoes I brought last time.”

“That’s not a problem.”  Ameeca smiled.  “I really like mangos.  They’re my favorite food.”  How could it not be?  He’d grown up eating mangos.  They were sweet and healthy and always available.  All his friends had liked mangos too until one day they would say they didn’t anymore because their parents had explained why they were no good.  Ameeca had never understood that, no matter how many speeches his father gave him about lost glory and empire.  His best memories were of reading in a mango tree, snacking in between chapters.

Ameeca showed the Crusaders how to test mangos for ripeness and how to peel them to avoid a mess.  They all ate the mangoes together while Ameeca told them about Lemuria and they told him about Equestria and their previous attempts at getting cutie marks.

They all checked their flanks one more time just in case and reluctantly concluded that a lemur cutie mark wasn’t in their future.  Ameeca did his best to comfort them.  “I know you’ll get your cutie marks eventually.”

“I know we will.”  Applebloom said, “But it is frustratin’ when it takes so long to find out how we’re special.”

“I can already see why you’re special.”  Ameeca said.  “You’re some of the kindest people I’ve ever known, kinder than any lemurs and I bet that kindness will lead you to your cutie marks.”

“Thank you Ameeca, and we’re all happy to have you as a friend.”  Applebloom smiled.  They all leaned in and gave him a hug.

Just then there was the ring of a bell near the door.  

“Oh, we got a letter.”  Applebloom headed over to the door as a grey pony flew by the window.  Applebloom came back a moment later with an envelope.  “It’s Babs’ update on her chapter of the Crusaders.”  The other ponies perked up and all moved over to the podium in the back.

“Who is Bab?”  Ameeca asked.

Scootaloo responded, “No it’s Babs.  She’s Applebloom’s cousin and lives in Manehattan.  She started her own Crusaders chapter there and sends us updates.  We trade ideas for cutie marks and other stuff.”

“Ahem.”  Applebloom opened the envelope and read from the letter.  “Hey Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.  I hope everything is going well in Ponyville.  Things have been really crazy here in Manehattan since the lemurs arrived, but we’ve managed to keep up our usual number of attempts.  We were able to try jaywalking, accounting, cake baking, and pole vaulting this week.  We also worked the list of ideas you submitted last time.  We haven’t had any cutie marks show up this week, but we figure it just means we’ll get twice as many next week.  Yours Truly, Babs Seed.”

All the ponies paused in silence, looking mildly perturbed.

“Um, is everything okay?”  Ameeca asked.

Applebloom put the letter down.  “I suppose it’s nothing, just weird for there to be no new cutie marks.  Manehattan is really big and Babs’ club has a lot of members.  There’s never been a week where no one got a cutie mark before.”’

“Well it was bound to happen sometime.”  Scootaloo said.  “That’s every week for us.  They just didn’t try the right things this time.”

“Exactly.”  Sweetie Belle said, “It’s not like something could have prevented people from getting their marks.”

Ameeca frowned.  Was it possible there was something?  Did the gem prevent them from forming?

He spent the rest of the day with the Crusaders and came up with ideas for what they could try to do the next day.  They invited him to come back the next time and he happily agreed.  As the sun was beginning to set, he had intended to go back to Fluttershy’s where the children were supposed to stay, but he felt like he needed to go speak to his father.  If the gem could prevent cutie marks from forming, that was a big problem.

He knocked on the door of the library and the alicorn Twilight Sparkle opened the it, looking very tired.  “Oh, hello, is there something I can do for you?”

“Hello.  I need to speak to my dad, Meerca.  Is he with you?”

“Oh you’re Meerca’s son?  Yes, he just got back from Canterlot a minute ago.  He’s in the kitchen.”  Ameeca thanked her and walked in, passing a striped pony before he found his father..

The High Scholar looked in surprise as Ameeca came in.  “Son?  You know you’re supposed to be at the cottage.”

“I know dad, but I wanted to talk to you about something with the ponies.”

“Oh, is this about Dirka?”  He laughed.  “His father came around complaining about you, but I told him if his kid couldn’t handle ponies it was his own fault.  I’m proud you’re doing so well with them.”

Ameeca smiled at the praise, but then scrunched his face.  “That isn’t what I wanted to talk about though.  It’s the cutie marks.  I think it’s possible that the gem is stopping ponies from getting their marks.”

“Oh my.”  Meerca tilted his head.  “Why do you think that?”

“The ponies I was with.  They got a letter from friends in Manehattan who said no fillies or colts had gotten cutie marks this past week and that had never happened before.  The only thing that has changed has been the gem.”

“Oh my.  That’s….fantastic!”  Meerca slapped his son on the back as Ameeca looked in surprise.

“But if they can’t get their marks…”

“I’ve been scared the cutie marks might be able to interfere with the gem in some way, but if cutie marks are bred out in a generation then that won’t ever be a real concern.  I’ll do some investigation with the scholars in the bigger cities.  If this is true it will be a weight off my mind.  Very nice work Ameeca.”

“But...I.”

“You’ll be a wonderful High Scholar someday.  But you really should get back to the cottage now.  It will be embarrassing if it’s found out my son is wandering around where he shouldn’t be.”

Once his father had dismissed him he knew there couldn’t be any protest so Ameeca simply nodded and wandered out.  Twilight looked up from her studies.  “Did you get what you needed from your father?”

“Yeah, I guess.”  He forlornly.  He saw a look of concern on her face.  “Don’t worry about it.”  He said more firmly.  The command made Twilight smile and go back to her book.  He closed the door behind him and began to trace his way back to the cottage.  

It was eerie as the sun was setting.  The cottage was far from any other houses, leaving him totally alone, and yet it felt like he was being watched.  It was likely just his imagination.  He was confused and lost in his own head.  Everything his father had told him about guiding ponies to their true purpose, how could that line up with denying them cutie marks?  That was like pulling the petals off a flower and declaring the plant was better for it.

“Feeling guilty?”  A faint voice asked.

“Not guilty, just very...wha?”  Ameeca whipped around at where the voice had come from, but nothing was there, at least at first.  Suddenly the air shimmered and a purple claw reached out, grabbing his shoulder.  The shimmering soon revealed a short dragon holding him.  “Y-y-y-you’re Spike!”

He stared at Ameeca grimly.  “That’s right.  And you’re the lemur that’s going to help me destroy the gem.”