The town was almost completely empty. That was understandable; it was in the middle of the forenoon, so most ponies were probably at work or school. Felix walked down the road, completely alone save for the occasional bird which flew overhead.

Okay, that wasn’t completely true; if he actually looked behind him, he would probably still see the cloud mum and Aunt Dash were sitting on, even if they themselves were too small for him to see. His mum could probably still see him though; her eyesight was scarily good. ...so long as it was far distances. She had to wear glasses to read books. And he was currently definitely far enough away that she could see him. That’s probably the only reason she’d let him go by himself to the castle to see if Moony wanted to play.

He was kinda regretting that now.

There wasn’t anything to be afraid of. Mum could see him, definitely hear if he yelled, and there wasn’t anything around which could hurt him.

So why was he so nervous?

This wasn’t the route they usually walked. Was he heading in the right direction? Yes, the castle was right over there, just a few blocks away and little to the left. All he had to do was continue walking down this road, until he reached a crossroad where he could see it. Just keep walking straight until then.

He reached one road crossing over the one he was on. Looking left; not yet, the castle was still one block left.

The road curved to the right slightly, but not so much that he should have to be worried about going in the wrong direction. Unless it continued to curve. Then he’d have to find a road that headed back left again. Did he know a road that headed left close to the castle? Where was he now?

He reached another crossing --the castle is just down that road! He skipped once, upped his speed and headed towards it. There were houses on either side of the road for a little bit, and then just the neatly cut grassy fields that were the castle’s ground.

He looked towards the cloud --and paused, as he realised it was now hidden behind the buildings next to him. He couldn’t see it. Mum couldn’t see him any longer.

She scrambled over to the other side of the road; when right next to the opposite buildings, the cloud was just visible over the opposite roofs.

Okay, that works. He walked on again.

But what if something fell from the windowsills he was now under? Pinkie had mentioned saving people from falling plant pots. What if a pot fell on his head? He looked up. No pots seemed to be falling right now.

Still, he kept glancing up as he hurried towards the castle. Once he reached the grassy fields, he was at a full on sprint. He ran down the road until, finally, he stood in front of the castle.

He stared up at the doors, giant even for adults, ginormous for someone of his size.

Should... he just open them? The bottom floor was public, right? Or was it? Should he find a guard and ask for permission? Or walk in? They knew him, so they wouldn’t think he was there to attack or something. But wouldn’t it be rude to just walk into their home? Then again, they didn’t live in all of the castle, just in one section they called their apartment that noone worked in. The rest had guards and cleaning staff and stuff. But maybe they would be upset if he just walked right in? Maybe the closed door was to show it wasn’t open to the public right now?

Maybe he should knock.

He reached out, and rapped his knuckles against the door. It wasn’t as loud as if a hoof had done it, and he hoped they could hear it.

Noone answered.

Maybe they hadn’t heard it? Should he try again? Or maybe they heard but didn’t answer ‘cause he was supposed to just walk in? Did they think it was odd? Maybe they were right now looking at each other in confusion, wondering who just stood there, right outside? Were they watching him?

He looked up; he at least couldn’t see anyone leaning out any windows to look down at least. He glanced behind him too, to make sure noone else was looking at him just standing there either. It was still empty.

Maybe they really just hadn’t heard him. Should he knock again? But why would they hear him a second time if they didn’t the first? He should just open the door and call out. Or find something hard to knock with. A rock? If he held a rock and tapped against the door, it should be louder, right? Or he could throw pebbles against the windows! No, that would be weird. He should just knock with a rock. Or his horn? If he tapped it against the door, would that be loud enough? That would look silly if someone happened to look out a window though. Or--

His running thoughts came to a halt, as he heard two sets of wings approach behind him. He quickly turned around, ready to see pegasi staring at him and wondering why he just stood there.

But it was just Mum and Auntie Dash.

“What’s going on, kit?” Mum asked, as she landed. “Is the door locked?”

Dash walked by, and pushed against it. The magic immediately reacted, and opened the door smoothly. She looked back at Felix, confused.

Felix fidgeted and looked down. “I didn’t know if I should knock? And then noone heard me. Sorry,” he whispered, embarrassed.

Mum and Dash gave him bewildered smiles.

“It’s alright squirt, you can just walk right in,” Auntie Dash said, and nodded towards the open door. “Twi wants to be all ‘approachable’ and stuff, so the bottom floor's open to anyone.”

She walked in, Mum and Felix following behind. The giant floor was mostly empty, with a few couches and tables at one end, and two guards standing at the top of the stairs; a pegasus and a storm creature. They looked down as the trio entered.

Mum turned to Felix. “See, it’s okay. Now you just gotta tell the guards there why you’re here.”

Dash flew up and circled above the two guards. They didn’t react, used to the pegasus’ antics. Felix slowly climbed up the stairs after her.

The guards looked down at him as he approached. Felix didn’t recognize either of them, so he hesitated a bit, glancing back at Mum. Mum cocked head to the side and smiled encouragingly.

“...Um. I was wondering if...if Moony wanted to play?” Felix whispered, looking down.

The guards shared a look, and the pegasus leaned down and gave him a gentle smile. “Hi there, sweetie. I’m sorry, we couldn’t quite hear that? Are you looking for Princess Moonstone?”

Felix nodded mutely.

The pegasus rose up again. “Of course, sweetie. Come on in then; we’ll go ask Princess Twilight if it’s okay.”

They nodded to their partner, who opened the door for them. Motioning for Felix to follow, they walked through.

Felix looked back at Mum; Dash had flown back to join her by the front doors. They nodded at him.

“Go on.” Mum said, making a shooing motion. “If she can’t play today, we’ll be just outside, okay?”

Felix, swallowed and nodded back. He walked though the door.

It was closed behind him by the other guard.

He’d made it in. He knew Moony almost never had anything she needed to do at this time; her lessons didn’t continue until afternoon. So they could play, or read comics, or... he should be excited, now that he’d arrived.

He mostly felt worried and embarrassed.