//------------------------------// // Chapter Fifteen // Story: A Turn of Events // by Shadow_Fire //------------------------------// The next day… Justin’s PoV “It’s already trashed. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours, yet the house is already a mess. How the heck can little ponies party so hard?” Nick and I sat in our living room staring at the mess Pinkie’s party left behind. She somehow managed to scale both the fence and the moat, opening the way for the rest of town to just barge right on in. There was food on the ceiling, ponies passed out everywhere, and Luna was nowhere to be found. I’ll admit, after somepony spiked the punch I don’t remember much. I am, however, 90% sure Nick and I made fools out of ourselves. The other 10% is that Luna somehow managed to keep us in check. Maybe. I highly doubt it. Anyway, I’m getting off track. Back to figuring out how to clean up this place. “Nick?”

 “Yeah bro?” “Any ideas?” “Hmm…let’s find Pinkie and Luna. Luna will help us clean, and this whole thing is Pinkie’s fault anyway.” “Right. Ok, let’s get searching.” It took maybe fifteen minutes to find the two of them, even in this huge house. Pinkie was passed out in the kitchen (kinda obvious in hindsight) and Luna was sprawled out on the guest bed. After waking her up (and taking a blackmail photo) we started to clean, as well as clear the rest of the crowd out. It took three hours, but the house was finally back in presentable condition. As we flopped down on the sofa (after Pinkie left), Nick, Luna and I tried to plan out the rest of our day. “So what do you guys want to do?” “I’m not sure. Celestia doesn’t require me back at the castle until this evening. What do you think, Nick?” “I think we should go visit Fluttershy and her animals.” That caught my attention. “Fluttershy? How come? Not that I’m not open to visiting her, it just seems a little random.”

“Well, she made me an offer a while back that I think we should take her up on.”

 Luna seemed pretty interested now as well. “What kind of offer, Nick?” “She said once we got our own house, we could go pick out a pet or two.” “Really? That’d be really cool, actually. I haven’t had a pet since I was a little kid!” “Shall we be off, then?”

 "Verily! To Fluttershy’s!” A brief walk later… General PoV “Oh my goodness, I’m so happy for you! Oh I just can’t wait to see which of my critters you’ll decide on!” Fluttershy was practically beaming as she lead Nick, Luna and Justin into her backyard. After telling her they each wanted a pet, she let out an impossibly loud squee before bursting out into song. Nick cut her off though, seeing as how he was just as excited. Upon entering the yard, every animal up for adoption gathered around the trio, doing their best to stand out from amongst the others. Bunnies, squirrels, various birds and insects all trying to garner the humans’ attention. Looking around, Luna asked the two, “So what exactly are you two looking for? Something big, or maybe a bit smaller?” After some brief deliberation, Justin walked his way over to a medium sized vampire bat. After a short, unspoken conversation, the bat flew his way up onto Justin’s shoulder, where he folded up his wings and made himself comfortable. Nick walked his way over and said “So I’m guessing that’s your choice?” Justin nodded. “This is Abraham. I like his style.” Abraham beamed on Justin’s shoulder and cuddled the man. Luna piped up with “That’s the most adorable little bloodsucker I’ve ever seen.” “Luna, don’t embarrass him before I even take him home!” “Sorry!” Whilst this exchange took place, Nick continued to walk around, inspecting the other pets. After a while, he found a small alligator who bore a slight resemblance to Gummy, Pinkie’s pet. Only major difference was that this alligator had a tiny mustache. Nick picked him up, looked at him a bit, pulled out a bowler hat, and placed it on the gator’s head. “I dub thee Gummington. You are now my pet, good sir.” The creature blinked once, smiled, and draped itself over Nick’s neck. After filling out the appropriate paperwork with Fluttershy, the alicorn and two humans took their pets and headed back to their home. A few hours went by as the two spent some quality time getting to know their new pets. Gummington really enjoyed potato chips, and Abraham liked to bring Justin the things he needed, like a little assistant. All in all, the two animals blended in seamlessly into the everyday routine. After Luna left, things slowly started to calm down, and for the first time since they arrived, Nick and Justin really got to relax. Weeks went by with almost no excitement. Lyra was unable to cross the moat, Luna would stop by every couple days to hang out and go pranking, and Nick and Justin even got part time jobs working for the same construction company that built their house. As a hobby, the two also spent their free time training and volunteering with the local guard, as well as learning sword play. They had helped defend the town from various Everfree creatures on a weekly basis. Yes, it would seem life had finally calmed down for the two displaced humans. Looks, however, can be deceiving. It was a sunny summer day, and our two favorite humans were chilling with their favorite alicorn after a long day at work. Nick complained about everything they had to lift on the job, while Justin just sat back and nodded. Their coworkers really did enjoy taking advantage of their height for various things, sometimes. Instead of smiling like usual, however, Luna seemed concerned. Picking up on her worried looks, Justin spoke up. “Luna? Is everything ok? You seem kinda distressed.” *Sigh* “No, not everything is ok I’m afraid. There have been quite a few disappearances up in Canterlot, and neither Celestia nor myself can figure out what’s wrong.” 

Nick was quick to jump in. “Hey, don’t worry Luna, we know you guys will figure it out. Do you have any clues?”

 Luna shook her head. “Only that the ponies in question began acting a little strange a few days before vanishing. But without any actual evidence, we can’t even begin to form theories…” As Nick and Justin tried to think of how to cheer up their forlorn friend, a loud banging came from the door. Upon answering, a royal guard made his way into the house and bowed before Luna. “Your majesty, I have received orders to bring you, Sir Nick, and Sir Justin back to Canterlot for an emergency meeting with Princess Celestia.” Luna looked incredibly confused. “What has happened?” The guard gulped before answering. “We found one of the missing nobles, and managed to capture their kidnapper.” Justin began to look worried. “Who was it?” “It…it was a changeling.”