บท 14: Chapter 13: Filler chapter

Hello, how are you?

I hope you are doing well.

Let's go to the chapter.

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This fanfiction was created by a fan for fans with the purpose of improving in the art of writing.

This story can and most likely will have spelling errors.

Any criticism (constructive or not) will be read and appreciated.

This story is not going to be an HIE or G5, it will be tinged to the story of G4, MLP: FIM.

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"Pray tell, Platinum, what dost thou mean by a... 'maid café'?"

At the all weird question, I could only shake off the imaginary dust and look at Princess Luna who had a curious look on her face with my own super confused look, "I beg your pardon, what?"

This was not a question I expected Princess Luna to ask during our training.

As you may have guessed, I am currently in another training session in the dream world with Princess Luna as my cruel and merciless mentor.

Today's training consisted of basically seeing how strong my attacks can be and how fast I can react to an enemy attack from all directions.

Let's just say that this training is not my favorite.

Anyway, I actually did pretty decent in this session, I managed to dodge 6 out of 10 attacks and attacked back to 4 of them and we ended today's session early because this reflex training left me exhausted.

And while I was resting, Princess Luna asked me the question I wasn't expecting at all.

"A maid cafe... What's the question about, Luna?" I asked rather confused although I could get an idea.

"You see, today at the lunar court, a stallion approached me with a request to establish a café in Canterlot. He was unable to present his proposal during my sister's brief solar court as he lacked the requisite documents. By the time he acquired them, it was too late, so he sought my permission instead. When I inquired further, he described it as a 'maid café,' a concept unfamiliar to me, for such establishments did not exist a thousand years ago. Thus, I seek your counsel, Platinum." Princess Luna explained as she gracefully seated herself before me.

Hearing her explanation, I nodded understanding what she was telling me but also having no idea how to explain it to her.

Which also reminds me that there are still quite a few things I don't know and don't make sense in Equestria, and one of those is the cultural and technological advances of this world.

The modern world of Equestria is like a combination of the medieval and modern eras of the land. There are technological advances that would only be seen in the modern era but they also maintain the medieval era, without having yet reached the industrial era itself.

Well, I don't think I'm making myself clear so let me explain it, with examples. Or rather with facts, in Equestria, you can see at a glance that we are somewhat in medieval times, at least if you just focus on Ponyville and a little bit on Canterlot. Spears, soldiers, monarchies, castles and noble structure, these are things you would no doubt expect to see in a medieval era.

However, we also have electricity (magical, of course), trains, amplifiers, electric guitars, and I have heard news of a certain group of ponies that are going to create something called "television," only they have problems because of the many health issues that must be followed.

Anyway, there are many strange things in the equestrian culture that make me doubt that he was the first to arrive in this world.

This 'maid cafe' just proves it to me, I've never been to one if I'm honest and didn't even know they existed in this world until Princess Luna mentioned it.

Sure, I had heard that there were some in Manehattan and that Rarity had recently received a massive order for the same set of clothes in different sizes but I didn't imagine it was for this.

I heard a cough in front of me and realized I had been lost in my thoughts, I looked towards the source of the cough to see Princess Luna looking at me expectantly.

"Um..." I said as I tried to think, I had never been to one in real life but I had watched anime so it shouldn't be that different, right? "It's pretty much this, sort of." I said as I turned on my horn and our surroundings changed.

The dreamscape was now that of a large cafeteria, the floor was made of birch wood, as was the ceiling.

I looked down to see that I was sitting in a chair, the Princess in front of me as well and now between the two of them was a table.

Princess Luna glanced around with curiosity. "So, this is a 'maid café'? I must admit, I fail to see what makes it so remarkable."

Instead of answering, I simply continued to concentrate while my horn glowed, a few seconds later I reached the main attraction and Princess Luna's attention was focused on the mare that was coming to attend us.

The mare in question did not look special to the eye, she had a lime green coat, a pastel pink mane and a horn, what made her special was the dress she was wearing, the dress is black in color reaching her thighs, just before the base of the tail, followed by a skirt of the same wide color held up by a petticoat, she had a pastel white apron, covering the chest to the top of the hind legs with a belt tied with a big bow. She has a white blouse inside the dress with short sleeves with ruffles on the edges and a round neck, she has a headband in her mane, stockings that are actually leg warmers and small shoes covered for the hooves.

Princess Luna did not look away from the mare that was approaching us, even when she was already in front of our table.

"Good evening masters, what can I do for you." Said the mare with a small bow only to have a small notebook suddenly appear in front of her floating with a pen.

At that, my look changed to one of annoyance. "(Still not perfect my dream magic)" I thought with annoyance as I shined my horn and the dream mare disappeared in a POOF.

Princess Luna, seeing the mare in question disappear, blinked and then turned her gaze towards me, her eyes shining with curiosity but also with fascination.

"This place is indeed peculiar. The establishment itself is quite curious, though not particularly remarkable. However, I can see why ponies might be drawn here, especially due to those unique dresses. In truth, I find the dresses you crafted to be far superior to the one young Coffee Coin presented to me," Princess Luna remarked with a smile. I couldn't help but laugh as the dreamscape began to shift once more, the dream slowly reclaiming me.

But then, I analyzed the words Princess Luna said to me. "Wait, how much different are the dresses I showed you from the ones shown to you by the stallion who wanted to open the cafe?" I asked as the scenery went static, I didn't need sleep I needed answers.

At my question, Princess Luna nodded as her horn glowed, some clouds gathered and formed a mannequin of a Pegasus pony, the dress was similar to mine, only it was just a one piece dress, navy blue in color and generally unadorned.

Looking at the dress, I grimaced. It didn't look comfortable at all.

Seeing my expression, Princess Luna nodded solemnly and flashed her horn, making the mannequin disappear. "I had to decline young Coffee Coin's request for dresses. Although his concept intrigued me, I could not accept such designs as the standard attire. He shall return tomorrow with new designs, and if they do not meet my expectations, I shall have to wear yours instead," she said with a slight frown before turning back to me with a smile. "That is, if you do not mind."

At that, I just gave him a smile. "Nah, no problem for me." I said as I lay down in the dreamscape to sleep.

The last thing I heard was a 'Huzzah!' as I fell asleep.

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"So, Spike, let's review what we've seen in the previous classes. Tell me, what kind of animal is a mammal?" I said sitting in the main library, with fake glasses on my face, a tie, and with a whiteboard behind me that has pictures of different kinds of animals on it.

Meanwhile, we have in front of me my young student, Spike sitting at a desk, had a look of annoyance and resignation. Spike hearing my question sighed but answered, nonetheless. "A mammal is an animal that has hair or fur, gives birth to live young and feeds them with milk."

I nodded, approving of Spike's response as I adjusted my glasses on my face to keep them from falling off, as they tended to fall off.

Now, I'm sure you're wondering, what's this all about?

You see, in the previous chapter, after I realized that Spike didn't remember anything about hibernation, I decided to ask him a few questions about animals in general and while his general knowledge wasn't too bad, since he knew what certain types of animals fed on, there were several important things he didn't remember.

I felt ashamed with myself, as I had been teaching Spike these kinds of lessons when he was younger because in the schools the young colts were afraid of Spike because he was a dragon, plus his teachers could be quite strict with Spike when he was still very young, which led to him being taken out of school and taught at home.

At first both Twilight Velvet and Night Light, Twilight's parents, thought of hiring a private tutor for Spike, who would teach him all kinds of subjects: math, languages, history, etc. But I enthusiastically stepped in because I wanted to teach Spike all the things I had "learned" in class and Twilight also joined in because of her love of knowledge.

And at first, I thought Spike had learned quite a bit from our teachings, as both Twilight and I were committed to teaching Spike the best we could.

We weren't perfect, far from it, we were just foals, or well, Twilight was and I was an adult in a child's body, the thing is that I had been proud when I felt that Spike had learned quite a bit.

So, Spike not remembering basic general animal things made me doubt my ability to teach Spike things and I thought at first about sending him back to Ponyville school, I had heard pretty good things about the teacher who taught at the school, teacher Cheerilee, she taught the students pretty well.

I talked it over with Spike and he was quite reluctant about the idea of going to school again, because of his past experience, so I gave him a choice. He could go to school again, give him a new chance, or I could teach him again.

Needless to say, what Spike's choice was, and over the next few days I gave Spike several tests in order to assess how much knowledge he had managed to store in his little head.

And needless to say, he didn't do badly, while his knowledge wasn't advanced or anything like that, he knew a lot more than what you'd expect a kid his age to know, there were just still several things that needed to be polished or remembered to stick in his head.

And that brings us to the present day, using what little free time I usually have in the mornings, I bring in a desk and blackboard that were stored in the basement of the library and go into teacher mode.

And for that characterization, I decided to put on some glasses that don't have magnification or anything like that, and a tie, besides "fixing" my hair. And I say "fix" my hair because Rarity has told me several times that my hairstyle is atrocious, not with those words but that's what she implies, and that if I want, she can help me with it.

I, being the kind being that I am and a being made of pure light, told her in the nicest possible way that thanks but no thanks. Of course, Rarity doesn't take no for an answer and has been nagging me quite a bit ever since, but I always manage to avoid her.

It's nothing personal against Rarity or anything against the stylists of the world, but I just don't like having my hair, or my mane for that matter, touched to get it done.

And I'm pretty sure I bring this from my other world, I never liked going to get my hair cut or having it styled, I liked doing it myself. This was widespread during wartime, where people would cut your hair in exchange for something, and that something was usually a very important thing.

I never learned to cut my hair but it wasn't that I cared either, I just tended to stay away from people or ponies who wanted to cut and fix my hair or mane.

I shook my head internally as I refocused on real life, I have a student to teach.

"Okay, now give me an example of a mammal." I said as I adjusted my glasses and looked at Spike.

Said lizard in question only sighed again but answered anyway. "A pony is a mammal."

"Good." I said nodding as I levitated a marker and enclosed the pony figure in a circle. "Now, what differentiates a mammal from a reptile?"

At the question, Spike looked even more annoyed. "Reptiles lay eggs, have scaly skin, and don't feed their young milk."

I nodded at the answer, while looking at the images on the board. "right, now, let's talk about amphibians - what characterizes an amphibian?"

Instead of answering my question, Spike rose from his seat in exasperation. "I got all this, Platinum, I really do! I don't need any more review."

After he finished his outburst, Spike just stood panting in his seat while I just stared at him for a few moments, mentally assessing if he had really understood everything, I had taught him these past few days. "All right, Spike. If you really understand everything, let's see how much you've learned." I said as I turned on my horn, my backpack that I had left discarded on the ground momentarily glowed as I opened its zipper in question, and from inside the backpack came a folder with some papers. "Next, you are going to answer a written test that I am going to provide you with and with this I will see if you have actually learned correctly."

Spike hearing what I said widened his eyes in surprise, but then let out a resigned sigh as he slumped back in his seat. "All right, Platinum. Let's do this."

At that, I nodded and opened the folder while looking through the papers inside. In the end, I decided on one of the tests and levitated it towards Spike while handing him a lapis. Spike upon getting the test and the lapis, immediately began his test.

I sat in my seat as I watched Spike solve his test, occasionally frowning and muttering to himself, clearly annoyed at having to take a test, which I wholeheartedly understand but that's life.

I couldn't help but hold back a snort as I realized the situation, I became a teacher providing exams. I became what I swore to destroy.

Spike raised a claw which caught my attention, I quickly moved closer and Spike pointed to one of the words in question. I raised my eyebrow as I read the question, it was a simple question about the difference of carnivores and herbivores but Spike seemed to have trouble with the word.

"A carnivore is a meat-eating animal, Spike. Like a lion or a bear." I explained gently.

Spike nodded slowly. "And a herbi...herbi...what was the word?" he asked frustrated.

"Herbivore." I patiently repeated. "Is an animal that eats plants, like a cow or a rabbit."

"Herbivore." Spike repeated as he nodded, as he began to answer the question at hand.

I returned to my seat to watch Spike answer his test.

Finally, after a while, Spike handed me the completed test.

I told Spike to wait while I reviewed his exam, I went over each answer meticulously, making sure I had caught every detail. When I finished, I looked at Spike, who looked quite nervous, with a mixture of satisfaction and seriousness. "Spike, you passed the exam. Well done."

At that, Spike let out a sigh of relief, but his annoyed expression didn't quite disappear. "Thank you, Platinum. But were all this review and exam really necessary? I feel like I've been on a review and exam marathon."

"Spike," I said softly as I walked over to him and put a hoof on his shoulder. "All this review and testing I'm doing because it's important that you learn all of this. But if you'd rather not go through my teachings, I can talk to Twilight and we can send you to the school here in Ponyville."

Spike hearing what I said, opened his eyes in alarm. "No, no! I don't need to go to school. I can keep up with your lessons, Platinum. Just... maybe not as intensive."

I laughed softly as I stroked his head. "It's okay, Spike. I can adjust the pace but there won't be a need for now. You've 'graduated,' congratulations."

Spike's eyes sparkled with excitement and he jumped out of his seat to give me a hug, which I returned warmly. After a few seconds, Spike broke away and ran off to celebrate.

I just shook my head but at that very moment the glasses decided they had enough and fell off my face.

I gave an annoyed glance at the fallen glasses. "Darn" I said as I flicked off my tie and levitated the blackboard and desk back to the basement.

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*whistling*, *whistling*, *whistling*, *whistling*, *whistling*, *whistling*.

He was walking through the streets of Ponyville while whistling aimlessly, just walking because he could.

Today I decided, instead of shutting myself away and working on my research or spending time with my friends, to just walk around and do nothing special today.

The occasion? The truth is I only do it because I want to, I have no other reason.

Well, that's a lie, but I really just walk to clear my head.

There is no one I can talk to right now, most of the ponies I know are busy at this little filly's party, 'diamond tiara' if I'm not mistaken, or are doing other things or are in another city.

I stop whistling and let out a sigh as the memory of the 'maid café' comes back to my mind. Yes, that's what's been haunting me for a while and I can't get it out of my head right now with nothing to distract me.

In itself a maid café should not be enough to haunt my thoughts but it actually raises a lot of questions in my head. Who invented maid cafés? They are not a recent invention, if the fact that the oldest existing maid café in Manhattan is around 100 years old is anything to go by.

How do I know that? A little research and a little help from certain contacts I have and a little script magic, that's how. Anyway, the oldest maid cafe was created by an earth pony in Manehattan and was a success, since then his company has lengthened and he's had several businesses spread around Manehattan since then.

I wish I could go and interview him or something, but I can't. 1. 1. Because the trip would be expensive and a waste of time. And 2. Because he's already dead, and I'm pretty sure that if he were reincarnated, he wouldn't tell his kids about it.

I pause momentarily and look up at the sky thinking for a moment.

"Watch out Platinum!" said a familiar voice, and I didn't even have to look in her direction to dodge or anything, my horn glowed and stopped the mare coming straight at me. "Oh hey, good reflexes." She said with a smile and her eyes viscous as she was levitated down the street.

I laughed a little. "We should stop meeting like this, Derpy." I said with a smile as I stopped using my magic, causing Derpy to stop levitating and fall to the ground standing still.

I blinked as I saw a figure move on her back, the figure jumped off Derpy's back and revealed a small filly with lavender purple fur, a light yellow mane and yellow eyes, the most notable thing about the young filly was her horn and the cutie mark that appeared to be a horseshoe.

The filly in question directs her gaze towards me and gives me a smile. "Hello sir! Thanks for catching us." She said with a big smile as she closed her eyes.

I gave her a curious look as my eyes hovered between her and Derpy, noting a certain resemblance they bore, but after a few seconds I responded. "Hello, young filly," I said with a small smile as my gaze focused on Derpy. "I didn't expect to see you again soon, Derpy."

Derpy looked at me with a half-embarrassed smile as she said. "Yeah, well, Dinky and I were on our way to Diamond Tiara's party." Derpy said with a smile then seemed to remember something. "Oh, that's right, I haven't introduced them. Platinum, this is my little sister, Dinky Hooves."

Dinky moved forward and extended a hoof in greeting. "Hello, Mr. Platinum. Nice to meet you." She said with a bright smile.

"Nice to meet you too, Dinky." I replied as I gave her hooves a light squeeze.

"Oh, oh. Platinum. Are you going to Diamond Tiara's party?" asked Derpy curiously as I put down the hoof-squeeze.

At her question, I shook my head with a small smile. "No, I'm not going to the party, I have some things to do." I lied since I didn't want to tell them the real reason I wasn't going, then proceeded to stick my right hoof in my backpack, pulling out some muffins. "But you can have these, to replenish your energy." I said handing one to Derpy and one to the little filly.

Dinky looked at the muffin with sparkling eyes. "Thank you, Mr. Platinum!" she said enthusiastically then took a big bite.

I gave a curious look to Derpy, who ended up devouring her muffin with great enthusiasm, but ended up smearing crumbs and chocolate all over her muzzle. I chuckled and with a bit of magic, I pulled a napkin out of my backpack and carefully wiped her muzzle. "You should be more careful when eating Derpy, you don't want to set a bad example for your sister." I gently scolded Derpy as I finished wiping her mouth.

And if you ask, no, this isn't the first time it's happened and it definitely won't be the last. Derpy loves muffins, maybe too much, and that makes her a bit careless about eating them. I have consequently prepared myself and always carry napkins and muffins in my backpack, I don't find her every day but I still carry muffins and napkins with me every day.

Sometimes small actions make a difference in a great friendship.

Derpy smiled, somewhat embarrassed. "Thank you, Platinum. You always help me even when you don't have to." She said with a warm smile.

"It's the least I can do." I replied, seeing that they had finished the muffins.

Suddenly, I noticed that Dinky was looking at us curiously. Noticing my stare, Dinky decided to throw out her question. "Are you two dating?" she asked innocently.

At her question, Derpy and I exchanged surprised looks, but then we laughed a little. "No, Dinky, we're just friends," I replied as Derpy nodded with her eyes closed.

Dinky nodded with a smile. "Okay, thanks for the muffins, Mr. Platinum."

"It was nice to meet you, Dinky. I'm happy you liked the muffins." I said as I used my magic and pulled out the bag containing the muffins inside and handed them to Derpy, who received them eagerly.

Derpy smiled broadly as she bent down for sister to climb on her back. "Thanks as always for the muffins, Platinum." She said to then stand up after her sister climbed on her back.

I nodded with a smile. "You're welcome, have fun at the party."

"We will, take care Mr. Platinum." Dinky said with a smile for then Derpy took off.

I dismissed them with a smile and waved my right hoof and then went back to my walk.

I didn't know Derpy had a sister but it was interesting to meet them.

After that I proceeded with my walk for a while and nothing else remarkable happened after that, the only remarkable thing was that a brown stallion ran past me at full speed with an apple between his teeth while I was in the market, which made me shake my head in exasperation.

Honestly, some ponies could be very rude.

Oh, and I also stopped by a candy store to buy some and met a mare named Bonbon who was the store manager.

But other than that, nothing else interesting happened during my walk.

In the end I decided to stop by this filly's party to see what she's like.

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"Dear Princess Celestia, I am happy to report that one of your youngest subjects has learned a valuable lesson about friendship; sometimes what you think will make you lose friends and feel left out, can actually be what makes you more friends with others and makes you realize how special you are. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." The purple unicorn smiled as Spike wrote the little speech. "Did you catch all that, Spike?"

"Of course!" the dragon replied enthusiastically then exhaled his green fire, sending the rolled up letter towards the palace where the Princess was. Then Spike looked at Twilight in exasperation. "Can I go take a nap now? Between Platinum's lessons and helping with the party, I've been working all day!"

I raised an amused eyebrow as Twilight nodded, much to the lizard's relief, then went off to rest somewhere. Then, the unicorn turned her gaze to me. "What do you think, don't you think Applebloom learned a very important lesson about friendship today?" at her question, I let my eyebrow return to its original place only to raise it again in questioning.

"I would think Princess Celestia would be interested in knowing more about anything you learned about friendship." I said as I went into the kitchen to pour myself some water, since I ate too much sweet at the party that one.

The party was nothing extraordinary but it wasn't boring, as no Pinkie Pie party is boring, but there was nothing special about it, it was just a party to celebrate having a "cutie mark."

Which seems absurd to me, and I'll say again how absurd the cutie mark seems to me. What good is it to have a mark on your flank that basically tells you what you're going to do for a living? It makes no sense, I tell you. These cutie marks are nothing special.

"Well, she never said they were 'exclusively' mine." Twilight said, bringing me back to reality as she shrugged sitting in the kitchen dining room, to which I also poured her water and passed it to her, which she gratefully accepted. "By the way, I still can't believe you did that at Diamond Tiara's party, ordering Snips and Snails to eat as many treats as possible before she caught them."

At the memory, I smirked as I recalled the scene I caused. You see, I arrived just in time for that little filly's party and at first it was fun, but then the 'party girl' decided to make fun of Applejack's little sister, Applebloom, for not having a cutie mark.

I don't know what happened after that, I didn't stay to find out, the last thing I did before leaving was to order Snips and Snails to eat as much candy as possible and then run away when they were caught. When they finished their task, they gave me a salute and ran away while I quietly left the place.

It seems Twilight noticed the interaction and deduced that I ordered them to do it, which was not wrong. While I don't feel it's right to ruin celebrations of any kind for any pony, I can't stand snotty brats and since Applejack didn't stand up for her sister from what I saw, I took it upon myself to do so.

Anyway, I shrugged and took a sip of water, at which the mare simply snorted and proceeded to do the same.

After a few seconds of comfortable silence, the mare decided to break it. "So, besides ruining a filly's party, what else did you do today?"

At her question, I shrugged again but this time I answered. "Uh, not much. I gave Spike a lesson, went for a walk for a while, met up with Derpy and after that went to the filly party and then escaped to the library, nothing else."

"Did you do nothing else all day?" at my nod, the mare raised an amused eyebrow. "Wow, Platinum, did you do nothing all day? What about that miracle?"

I gave the mare an amused look as I took a sip instead of answering her question. "Anyway, that's what I did, what about you?"

"I spent the day researching some magic, then visited Pinkie Pie, then went to the party Pinkie threw to celebrate Diamond Tiara getting her cutie mark..."

"Complete nonsense."

"Shush you." Twilight said at my interruption as I just smiled innocently. "Anyway, that led to Applejack's sister Applebloom meeting and befriending two more fillies."

"Hmm, I think I saw them before I left the party." I said as I took the empty glasses to the sink and started washing them. I had a feeling I had seen those two fillies before.

The unicorn nodded at my statement. "I wouldn't be surprised, it's Sweetie belle and Scootaloo." Uh, so those are their names and I only knew the first one. Twilight let out a snort. "Which is quite a coincidence, since Sweetie Belle is Rarity's younger sister, and Scootaloo happens to admire Rainbow Dash."

"The mother of coincidences." I said amused as I finished washing the glasses then sat back down at the table.

"And together they've formed their own adorable little group called the Cutie Mark Crusaders - isn't it inspiring to see such ambition in young fillies?"

Instead of answering her question, I simply got up from my seat and walked out of the kitchen to read a book, with the mare following me as she gave me a look for not answering her question.

And honestly, I don't see what's inspiring about a bunch of fillies coming together to look for a useless mark, as they should let that come on its own because if they look for it, it will never come out.

How many seasons will it be before they get their Cutie Mark? Who knows but it will be fun to watch.

"Come to think of it, should I have added a lesson about the Cutie Mark's in the letter as well?" said Twilight as she stopped in mid-stride, causing my gaze to shift to her as she had her eyes focused on the ceiling. "I guess there must have been some lesson about Cutie Marks in general today, but I haven't noticed any yet."

"Maybe something like 'they are not relevant in any sense and there doesn't have to be a physical representation of one's talent'?" I said as I sat down on the couch and levitated a book toward myself.

Twilight gave me an annoyed and confused look. "You still don't like Cutie Mark Platinum? I thought you were over it, considering you haven't said anything regarding it in years."

Instead of answering her question, again, I just shrugged, smiled and started reading my book.

So, today was basically a meaningless filler episode.

I shrugged my shoulders as I began to read, noticing that Twilight looked at me quizzically and then went to her room.

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And that was it for today's chapter.

I know, it wasn't the best but I honestly didn't know how to approach this episode that had nothing to do with Platinum in general.

I considered skipping it but didn't want to, so I gave it filler.

Anyway, see you next time!