A golden brown unicorn, clad in crimson robes, felt the warmth of the sun shine through the throne room’s windows, casting him in an almost holy light in front of Canterlot’s royalty. Princess Celestia bowed her head and the trumpets of a dozen royal guards roared their approval.

She announced to the small crowd of ponies at the back of the room, quietly listening: “Today, we are all deeply saddened that one of my great advisors has taken up the mantle of helping run the newly formed Crystal Kingdom, although surely her wisdom and guidance will help the city grow just as well as it has here in Canterlot. With most of my court mages, advisors and my dear sister present in my castle, acting as my witnesses, I hereby announce her replacement for the position after much deliberation and consultation to be the court mage Foresight.”

Applause scattered around the room. One grey face in the crowd, with a wry smile and a slow clap, stared intently at Foresight.

“This pony has proven to be a reliable, hard-working court mage that often helped the current set of advisors with matters regarding the founding and maintenance of Ponyville in the past year, in addition to performing his duties here in Canterlot.” Celestia cleared her throat. “I ask that my advisors seated amongst the crowd treat him with kindness and respect that one would expect in turn. We will continue the proceedings elsewhere with my advisors, archmage and sister. For the rest of you, thank you for coming and keep our growing nation free and joyful.”

The shuffle amongst the crowd to leave and chatter amongst themselves about Celestia’s decision began as soon as the words were spoken, several of them making their way to the throne to continue the proceedings. One unicorn gave Foresight one last good stare, and the new advisor peeked back at him over his shoulder and just as quickly looked away. His face began to redden.

The unicorn turns, and without anyone seemingly noticing or hearing, monologues: My goodness, it looks like he might even be feeling remorse for his actions. Not that it affects how I feel at all about the smug little insect.

The stallion left the room without so much as a snort. He even gave the guards at the door a smile before making his way down the castle corridors. Instead of leaving outright, though, he walked to the side and waited.

“Hey, Ruby!” a voice called out from the corridor traffic. Two grinning unicorns, both dressed with flashy, star-studded blue robes—one a mare, one a stallion—walked over to ‘Ruby’. “What happened? You said you’d be up there, not Foresight.”

Example A and B of a particularly annoying breed of insect. These ones don’t try and bite you or suck your blood, but their incessant buzzing makes you want to squash them even more. Still, when you seem to lose more friends every day—like that backstabbing con artist—sometimes you’ll have to take a little buzzing to keep from losing more.

“Good afternoon, my friends,” Ruby replied. “There isn’t much to say about Foresight other than that the Princess found him more worthy than me. She knows better than any of us what’s good and proper.”

“Fair enough,” the second unicorn said. “Speaking of proper, where are your court robes?”

“I’m off-duty right now,” Ruby said, putting on a smile. “I just wanted to congratulate my friend on advancing in the city’s hierarchy and having the honour of advising our great ruler.”

“We’re just about done with our shift, do you want to go do something downtown?”

Ruby sighed. “My apologies, but my plan was to wait for Foresight to finish up and talk about some things for a little while. Preferably in private, so I’d rather not make this an excursion for the four of us.”

The two court mages looked to each other with raised eyebrows. One shrugged, and then both continued walking down the corridor. “Alright,” one said. “We’ll be off on that note. Have a good afternoon, Ruby.”

“Yes,” Ruby said. “You too.”

The corner of Ruby’s lips curled up ever so slightly as the throne room doors opened, to which Foresight promptly walked through and exhaled heavily. He glanced in Ruby’s direction, quickly turned the other way and, seeing no exit to that end, slowly walked towards the court mage.

“My friend,” Ruby said, smiling perhaps a bit too brightly. “I haven’t spoken to you in over a week. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trying to avoid me.”

“I’d rather get on with my life than have you chew me out,” Foresight said, his voice noticeably rough. “Sorry, had to speak a lot today. Throat is pretty strained right now.”

“You think I’m angry?” Ruby said, recoiling as though stung by a bee on the spot. “Goodness no. I merely wished to congratulate you on your achievement, and I do believe your throat—”

“You know as well as I do that that’s a lie, Rubious.” Foresight sighed. “I don’t want to make an enemy out of you, though, so I’m willing to take the chewing out and do anything in my pow—”

Ruby raised a hoof to cover Foresight’s mouth. “No, I truly did want to wish you good fortune. This is something both of us worked on, and while I might have done a little bit more work, your exuberance is something that many will definitely look up to.”

“You’re a pretty social guy too, though. I’m not sure if I’m buying it.”

When someone has known you for so long, they’ll trust you if you act like yourself. If I were to say that he did the bulk of the work or that he worked harder to achieve this goal, he would probably have left by now. When two brothers have to split one dessert, the smart one will let the other have it while eating something else they declare to be delicious. That way, the smart one gets only a slightly worse situation and has the added advantage of the other’s trust and goodwill.

Ruby smiled. “There’s nothing to buy. If I wanted to chew you out, I would have done so already. I’m obviously a little hurt that you took credit for things we both worked on without discussing it, but we both knew one of us was going to move along and we promised each other to support advancement all of the way through.”

Foresight looked to the floor. “I know. I just always figured you were the one that’d get things done, and you were so sure to put everything in motion yourself that I felt slighted. My emotions definitely got the best of me here.”

I guess I’m getting extra dessert today.

“Well, bitter or not, I think it’s best to celebrate your achievement instead of wallowing in sadness.” Ruby arched a leg over Foresight’s shoulders. “Let’s get your throat wet with some apple cider downtown tonight, eh? It’d be a great time to talk about our future in this growing nation.”

“As long as it doesn’t have any alcohol in it, I can’t see any hurt in it.” Foresight exhaled deeply. “You know, I’m really glad you took this so well. If you were acting any nicer, there’s no way I’d believe anything you’ve been saying.”

“There’s really no point in lying or making some false pretense, my friend,” Ruby said, removing his leg from Foresight’s shoulders and taking a few steps away. “It would work and it has worked against others, but their perspective on our hierarchy and what really happens is much different than ours. We know how to build, we know how to create, whereas the populace blindly accepts the politics of our new nation with open arms.”

“Alright.” Foresight smiled as he spoke. “Meet at the Brass Taps at sundown?”

Ruby walked away and said over his shoulder: “Only place for it. See you then.”



The bar was relatively empty, save for two unicorns holding their respective apple cider and taking gulps every now and again in silence. The bartender was in the back, cleaning his mugs and allowing the two their peace.

“Rubious,” Foresight began, putting his head in his hooves but keeping his eyes glued to Ruby, “do you ever feel bad about the ponies we slighted and manipulated to make it to Canterlot?”

Ruby paused for a few moments. His eyes lowered, trailed along the bar counter, and met Foresight’s gaze. His stare was cold, neverending. “The things we can create; all of the spells, social systems, political organization and advancement—none of it would be possible if someone with less resolve was in position. We cannot have regrets about what we’ve done, however tame it might have been, when we have so much more to do.”

“You made most of that happen, Ruby.”

“That may be true, but whether it’s you or me in the position of power or whether I’ve done more work on our projects or less, we need each other to confide our goals in, to trust. Are you still a firm believer in good and evil?”

Foresight sighed. “I’m not really sure. What’s good to one is obviously evil to the other, but I can’t help but offer judgement to everything in my world. I’m guessing you’re still a firm believer in power and strength?”

Ruby scowled. “It’s not so cutthroat, my friend. That sounded like an underhanded comment—our goal is to seek advancement in this world so that we can make a difference and leave our names in the history books. This has been our plan all along.”

“Advancement? You mean seeking more power, right?” Foresight took another swig of cider. “I’m starting to wish this had alcohol. Not that I want to go back to my alcoholic days, but whenever I remember the ponies we’ve stepped on in the badlands, it makes me... well, not want to remember.”

“Regrets, Foresight. Remove them from your mind.” A bell rang at the bar door, and Ruby’s lips curled slightly. “I’m surprised we have company.”

“It’s the press,” Foresight said plainly, looking towards the door and seeing a short, cerulean mare with pointy glasses, a long mane and a horn that glowed a faint pinkish red as the door closed. “Apparently they cover newly appointed staff to Celestia’s outer circle and ask them all sorts of questions. I’m a little concerned that one of them followed me to a nearly empty bar late at night, though.”

Ruby’s raised a brow. "Why would the press cover a position like a new advisor?"

"The residents of Canterlot are interested in who has a say in their city’s doings,” Foresight said, dodging sight from the mare. “It’s pretty customary for the press to ask some basic questions to better acquaint them to the public. It isn’t very customary to follow them into a bar at night, though.”

The mare took a seat a couple of bar stools down from the two unicorns, and promptly called for the bartender. “The usual, Surefire.”

“I think we should shuffle out of here, Ru—”

“Hm?” the mare said, peeking over Ruby’s shoulder to Foresight. “Ah, you must be Foresight. I was amongst the crowd when the announcement for your advisorship was made.”

“If so,” Foresight said, gritting his teeth, “then you’ve been following me. For the entire day.”

The mare tilted her head. “No no, I’m a regular here. Just coming in for a mug of hard cider. I’m Mara, senior editor at the Canterlot Express.” Mara stuck out her hoof. “Pleased to meet you, Foresight.”

Foresight leaned over Ruby—”hey”—and shook her hoof. She smiled to him, and he smiled back.

“If you’re not here to badger me about press nonsense, then I’m glad. I’ve had a long day, though, so I think I’ll just head home.” Foresight rubbed the back of his head. “If you’re from the Canterlot Express, though, then I’m guessing you’ll be badgering me tomorrow.”

Mara chuckled. “Someone from our newspaper. Incredibly exciting job we have with all sorts of intriguing, thoughtful questions I’m sure you’ll appreciate.”

“Sounds lovely.” Foresight got off of his bar stool and made his way to the door. “You coming, Ruby?”

No, I think I’ll stay a little while longer.” Ruby raised his hoof, and the bartender nodded as he left to grab a fresh glass. “Might chat with this charming girl for a little while—not to mention I have to cover the cost for your cider.”

“Very well, see you both tomorrow. Next time, cider’s on me.”

The bar door’s bells rang, and Foresight soon vanished from view.

“Questioning the new advisor, huh?” Ruby said, leaning a hoof on the bar counter. “What sorts of questions will your newspaper be asking him?”

“Basic stuff, really. If it was a more important position, then I and the other members of the Canterlot Express would be a lot more keen on badgering him. For an advisor, though? There’s no juicy story in that.”

“Well, I have a little proposal for you. I’ll have to do some stuff behind the scenes to make it happen, but a senior editor for a popular newspaper in a place like this probably has done some...” Ruby looked around for sign of the bartender; he wasn’t back yet, “...back alley type stuff, for lack of a better term. Who knows, it might even grow into a longer partnership between the two of us.”

Mara raised a brow. “You’re right, I’ve seen all sorts of fishy stuff happen in politics, court mage. I’m not about to tattle to anyone about anything you talk to me about tonight, but I’m not going out of my way to help you gain power.”

“My dear, I’m not asking for you to do anything too different. In fact, it’ll probably help you out...”



The press is so easily persuaded when there’s a story at hand. Better yet, they don’t need bribes if there’s little to no work to be done, and they keep quiet about their sources so long as there’s a story at hand. What, you thought I’d spike the cider last night to get back at Foresight? He’d know instantly and hate me forever, even if it was successful and he did get drunk and ruined his reputation. I still need him.

Ruby and Foresight walked the streets of Canterlot, not terribly active this part of the afternoon, but several ponies recognized them by name and waved along the way.

An open folder filled with sheets hovered in front of Ruby, surrounded by a greyish magical aura. “So you remember all of our notes, all of the material we covered this morning, on the spells we created and the magic allocation each one requires?”

“I believe so,” Foresight replied. “I don’t think they’ll go too in-depth with questions about everything, though. I doubt they’ll even touch on any of the spells and whatnot that we’ve made—apparently it’s just the personality that they care about.”

“Terribly boring stuff I’d imagine. Still, you should make sure that you know everything—just in case. Do you still remember all four spells we covered?”

“Four?” Foresight said, widening his eyes. He paused in place for a moment and blinked. “Four?” he repeated.

“Yes, my friend. Four.”

“...But we only covered three.”

“I’m sure you’ve just got nerves, but we covered all four spells thoroughly.” Ruby pointed to a young stallion standing by the castle doors barely a stone’s throw away, waving to the two politicians with a notebook hovering in front of him and a green cap over his head. “I believe that’s your ticket to go. I’ll be on the side listening; and don’t worry, once it starts, I’m sure you’ll remember whatever spell you forgot. They probably won’t even ask about it anyway.”

Foresight still stood in place, and continued blinking.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

Foresight took in a deep breath, put on a smile and walked over to the stallion.

He’d suspect me instantly if Mara had come to do the interview.

“Hello, new advisor!” the journalist said brightly. “I’ve compiled some questions for you, would you mind answering them before going in to do your daily duties?”

“Well, I—of course I don’t mind,” Foresight said. He raised his hoof and wiped away the sweat forming on his forehead. “Sunny day, isn’t it?”

“I suppose so, sir.” The stallion took a look at his notebook. “Alright, so your name is Foresight, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Now, Foresight, everyone knows that the advisors are more just a few more leaders to help organize the city’s day-to-day activities, so do you have any plans or ambitions that you wish to enact or work towards during your tenure?

“P-Plans?” Foresight blinked rapidly. “I never really gave much thought to that—don’t advisors only advise the royalty who call the shots?”

It’s a good thing he took the position so quickly. His rush to outdo me, even in a moment of weakness, left him unprepared for anything more than personal questions. He’s aching for that lemon meringue pie, but I’ve already finished the last piece.

“Uh... not exactly. Alright then. Moving on.” A brief pause. “And you said you designed and structured a new levitation spell that removed twenty percent of the weight for ease of use, correct?”

“That is correct.”

“Can you tell me what sort of things you did to let this happen?”

“Well, the magic allocation stays the same as the Levitation IV spell, but version V was developed by using the more potent magic strands found throughout the body. This way, we could essentially condense the power used while keeping the same strain as an object twenty percent smaller. Efficiency is one goal I have in everything.”

“Thank you. Another one of the spells you said you designed and structured in your resumé, the Audial Magnification, is pretty revolutionary. What kind of magical allocation did you set to allow the common public to use such a spell?”

“The.. Magnification? Of audial tones?” Foresight looked to the sky. “I had it designed for, um... not for everyday ponies, but for... you know, the type of ponies that have medium levels of magic for uses not in their day-to-day lives but...”

“What kind of levels exactly?”

Foresight hung his head down. “I think my court mage friend would be able to tell you. He designed most of the stuff I submitted in my portfolio, including the Levitation V spell. I just read the blueprints and data this morning to catch myself up.”

The journalist sighed. “If you’ve taken credit for something someone else has done and essentially lied to our great Princess, as well as having little knowledge of the actual position you’re running for, I’m not sure I’d trust you in a position of power. I’m going to have to leak this lack of knowledge to the public, as well as Princess Celestia if I can get to her.”

“But, this interview wasn’t supposed to—” Foresight caught Ruby’s eyes; one was frantic, worried about his future, and the other was in shock, seemingly worried about his friend. “No, you’re right. Don’t publish any of that... I’m going to go inside and decline the position.”

“Very well. I’ll just tell my superiors that you declined the position due to being rushed into the position too early. Whoever your replacement winds up being, I’ll deal with them when the time comes.”

The journalist placed his notepad and pencil up into a crevice of his hat and left the scene. Ruby rushed over to Foresight, the latter’s head still hung down.

“I was thinking about this last night, actually,” Foresight said, raising his head to meet Ruby’s. One of the ponies’ set of eyes were strained, nearly bloodshot, while the other was calm, attempting to feign worry with raised eyebrows and widened pupils. “I likely wasn’t going to decline the position without anything concrete working against me, but I guess this counts. Unpreparedness. Me not thinking before I stole from a friend and taking advantage of the situation.”

“Please, let me speak before wallowing in your sadness,” Ruby said, grabbing Foresight’s shoulders with urgency. “One of us needs to be in that position, and even if some of your reputation is ruined, you can blame what just happened on lack of sleep or having a moment of... I don’t know, but what the press says should not influence Celestia’s decision to pick you.”

Foresight looked back to the sky. “It’s no use. If I was to backstab you and take credit for your hard work, especially on something as mind-blowing as an audio magnifier without even realizing what some of it meant, then I should have been better prepared. But you’re prepared. You know this stuff. You don’t let emotion take over in moments of weakness.”

Ruby let go and made an ‘o’ with his lips. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m going in to tell the Princess who did the real work in the portfolio I gave her, and suggest you for the position.” Foresight rushed to the castle doors, and said over his shoulder: “I won’t give you the chance to talk me out of it. I made a mistake to a friend, and this is me fixing it.”

Ruby protested, but before he could utter a sentence, Foresight was gone into the corridors of the castle. When he was sure that the advisor could not see him, Ruby smiled and narrowed his eyes.

Too easy. You see, I was going for this result right off the bat, wanting to put him in my good books and me in his—hell, these books are even better than the ones we had before with the guilt riding on his back—but I intended to drain him of feeling by guilt tripping him slowly. When that Mara girl came into the bar, everything just came into place.

Ruby walked over to the castle wall several metres right from the castle doors, and focused his energy on his horn. Two sparks left from the greyish glow that came from the horn, and both floated into his ears. He moved his horn around, detecting various sounds from inside the castle, and waited. The Audial Magnification Spell, after a few minutes, found Foresight’s familiar, still-rough voice speaking.

“Please, forgive what I’ve just revealed to you, my Princess. I do not wish to keep the position, but I do believe the work I’ve done is enough to keep me as a court mage while allowing my friend to take the advisor position.”

A pause. “This is a lot to take in,” Celestia’s regal voice said. “I will decide what to do with you at a later date, but it will not be terribly serious, if anything. However, you should realize the consequence of a flat-out lie, and by staying a court mage, I hope you will yet learn your lesson.” Another pause. “Please find the court mage you spoke of and bring him here. I’ve got an offer for him.”

Ruby’s horn stopped glowing. He merely stood there, smiling mischievously.

As I said, too easy. Well, I had to give up my new spell to the press that I could have used some other time, but it's a worthy sacrifice.

Ruby looked to the sky.

My goodness, I’ve just realized I haven’t formally introduced myself yet. My name is Rubious, soon-to-be advisor to our great princesses, a pony that only does to others what they have coming, and eventually... well, that work is for another day. I can tell you I certainly won’t be an advisor on that day.

Ruby smirked.

I certainly hope you’ll stay along for the ride. Welcome to Canterlot.

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