Misadventures of a Henchpony

by Big Saij

Reflections

Green hills and snow-topped mountains were all I could see as the Friendship Express chugged down the rail line, the gentle rhythmic bouncing keeping me alert as I stared out the window. "You know," I said to the other ponies in the rail car as I stared more at my reflection than the scenery outside, "I've never actually been to the Crystal Empire before. Is it nice?"

"Oh darling, you wouldn't believe what beautiful decor they can do there!" Rarity answered as I pulled myself away from the window to take a seat again. "There's simply nothing like it. Why, I could only wish to replicate their unique style back in Ponyville!"

"They're just crystals," Applejack argued flatly. "Nice looking ones, sure, but I don't see why you couldn't just put one on one of those dresses of yours."

Pinkie Pie, who had been standing across the car, bounced her way over and onto a seat next to the farmpony, almost making her bounce out of the booth herself. "They're special crystals, Applejack! It's the Crystal Empire, they wouldn't just name it that if they didn't have any! Oooh, do you think I can take one with me back to Ponyville this time?"

Now, one might expect that the rest of our little group would be present to add to the conversation. Alas, Twilight had her duties as a Princess and was forced to go ahead of our train ride to ensure preparations went smoothly, and both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had a separate car as competitors on the Ponyville team, alongside the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike.

Preparations and competitors for what? The Equestria Games, of course. Don't worry, I had never heard of it either until Rainbow Dash mentioned it coming up. Apparently, it was some big event where ponies from all over could compete athletically to win medals for their town. It was also another one of those things that everypony seemed shocked by my ignorance about until I once again reminded them of my former residence in a backwater jungle of Equestria.

Sometimes you just have to drill this stuff into ponies' heads, you know?

But back on the topic. There was something that Pinkie Pie said that stood out to me, the part at the very end. "You girls have been here before?" I asked, curious. "What did you all do?"

Rarity thought for a moment, putting a hoof to her chin delicately. "Well, the first time was of course when we had to help Twilight save the Crystal Empire by finding the Crystal Heart. Oh, and there was that time we had to convince Ms. Harshwhinny to have them host the Equestria Games in the first place."

"And don't forget that time with Twilight and the mirror. Whew wee, now that feels like a long time ago!"

Pinkie Pie, Rarity and I all looked at each other before back at Applejack. This was what Spike had told me about. And while the majority of ponies present were in on the secret, I still had to feign ignorance for the one that wasn't. "What are you talking about, Applejack?" I questioned, trying to put on my best 'interested' face.

"Some pony named Sunset Shimmer went and tried to steal Twi's crown," the earth pony explained. "She and Spike had to go into some sort of mirror world to get it back. Apparently, there were even copies of each of us there!"

Right, the alternate versions that Spike had mentioned. "But the mirror is closed now, right?" I asked, keeping the false curiosity as high as possible.

"Yep. Gonna be another twenty-five or so moons until it opens again, if I remember correctly. Twilight seemed a mite bit disappointed that she wouldn't be able to see them again for a while, but being honest it's almost like she's forgotten about them by now." Applejack seemed to think for a second. "Huh, guess she really wasn't in love with that 'Flash Sentry' or something."

I blinked. In what with who? The idea of Twilight, Princess Twilight in some sort of serious romance completely baffled me. Rarity, absolutely. The others, maybe. But Twilight? Absolutely not.

Rarity coughed to get our attention again. "Well darlings, at least that's all in the past now. No point in dwelling on that, yes?"

"Yep!" Pinkie Pie agreed. "And look, we're almost there!" She pointed a hoof out the window I was previously looking at, where a great palace loomed in the distance. Made of tinted crystal, it rose high in the sky above the similarly-crystalline buildings, which formed the city in a variety of colors. It was on a scale I had never seen before, not even on my trip to Canterlot. The gleaming from the sun off the structures, the polished nature of the palace, the original and beautiful form of the city... it was obvious now why they called it the Crystal Empire.

"It's beautiful," I said breathlessly.

"There sure is nothing like it," Applejack agreed. We all bunched together as a group and stared outside even as the Friendship Express began to slow down, pulling into the station. And before you ask, yes, it was also made out of crystal. Put far outside the city, a trail led uphill from the tracks towards the city proper, going under hanging crystals dangling from a rope held by two crystal tower formations.

The door out of the car opened, and a loud whistle sounded to let us know it was safe to get out. "Mares first," I said, waving a hoof to allow my friends out first, in a rare display of generosity from me. Really, it was just wanting to put on a show. Rarity looked charmed, Applejack only rolled her eyes seeing right through my act, and Pinkie, well... acted like Pinkie as she bounced out the door.

"So, do you think we're going to win?" I questioned as we started our walk on the trail, the four of us all together making our little group. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and the rest of the team were still at the station, seemly making sure they and their stuff were all accounted for before beginning the walk themselves.

An awkward silence followed for a few seconds. "Well, I certainly hope so," Rarity responded, finally breaking the rhythmic beat of our hooves on the dirt. "Our friends have been training for quite a while for this, and I'd hate to see them come home disappointed."

"Don't worry about it," Pinkie added with her usual cheery attitude. "There's no way they can lose! Rainbow Dash is like, the fastest flyer in all of Equestria!"

"Not all the games are about flying, Pinkie." Applejack seemed oddly contemplative as if something was on her mind. "And there's a lot of events to get through, so who knows how many medals we'll get?"

"You know, if I was on the Ponyville team I'm sure-"

"Don't even start, Darling/Sugarcube," both Rarity and Applejack said simultaneously. I wisely chose to shut my muzzle. The last thing I needed today was the two mares I was likely going to be sitting next to for the entire Equestria Games being annoyed at me.

Speaking of which... "Hey, do you know how long these games are going to take?" Yes, it was me trying to change the subject, but it was also a legitimate question. Some spare time to explore the Crystal Empire would be nice, but I didn't want to have to stay the entire week or something along those lines. Any work we missed on the farm during our little trip I knew Applejack would probably make up once we got back, and pulling a double shift as a part-time helping hoof was not fun.

I liked getting a good night's sleep, thank you very much.

"If everything goes well they should be over by the end of today," the fashionista answered, which I took as proof of the success of the diversion. "Of course, we don't have to watch every single event since our team isn't competing in all of them. I'm sure there will be plenty of time for you to look around today if you wish, even if everypony will likely be busy with the Games."

Any possible response was cut off immediately by the thundering of hooves coming from behind us. Looking behind me, I saw two Crystal guards beelining straight toward us, carrying some sort of chair between them. Despite the obvious danger, I took a second to squint; was that... Spike? What was he doing sitting in some cool-looking seat?

"Get out of the way!" the dragon cried out to us. The plea snapped me back to reality and fortunately got Applejack moving too. I dived to the side of the road, pushing Rarity out of harm's way, while my farmer friend did the same with Pinkie Pie. We all watched as the guards rushed by, paying us little heed as they galloped with their seemingly non-consenting cargo toward the Crystal City. It wasn't long before they disappeared over the hill.

Needless to say, Rarity was not very happy at getting pushed around. "Sorry," I said apologetically as I extended a hoof to help her back up. "Better than getting run over though, right?"

"Hmph. Perhaps you could put a bit more delicacy into saving me next time? I don't need my mane ruined right before the Games, you know."

Right. I'd make sure to try and be as delicate as possible the next time I save her from danger. That was sure to be the first thing on my mind next time. I was almost tempted to make some witty remark in response, but given... recent events, I held my tongue for once. The last thing I needed was another argument. "Well, you still look just fine to me, Rarity," I remarked back, trying to placate. "And besides, I'm sure most of the attention will be on the competitors, anyway."

The fashionista seemed mollified, refuting my attempts to help brush her off with a hoof and doing so herself. "It is still worth making oneself look presentable at these sorts of occasions, darling."

"Whatever you say."

Once we had made ourselves presentable again (to varying standards), the rest of our little walk was relatively uneventful. The dirt road eventually made way for actual paved streets, the ground giving off a similar sheen to the rest of the Empire. Countless buildings made of crystal, once only seen from a distance, became what surrounded us as crystal ponies left their homes to join us in walking across the city. Far above us, the Crystal Palace only loomed taller and taller as we approached it, taking its place at the center of the city, both a metaphorical and literal heart of the Empire. The Crystal Heart, a magical artifact I had gotten the quick rundown from Twilight on, slowly spun in place beneath the tower, itself on a diagram of a snowflake.

There was something else, too. A statue to be specific, one that caught my attention almost immediately. I almost couldn't believe it at first, it was impossible. But those two legs, that familiar shape, the head that I had seen many times since moving to Ponyville...

"Is that... Spike?"

We all stopped to gawk at the crystal recreation, which was definitely of our very own dragon. He held a larger version of the Crystal Heart in front of him, and I could see multiple crystal ponies pointing and taking pictures. "Wow!" Pinkie exclaimed, as she usually did. "I don't remember that being here last time!"

"Neither do I," Rarity agreed. "Though I suppose he did save the Crystal Empire, and it is quite beautifully designed. I'm just glad our little Spikey-wikey can finally have his moment to shine."

I visibly winced at that nickname. While I understood that the unicorn had her little nicknames, especially for Spike, it did not make them any less painful for them to hear. There was no way that I'd ever be caught out in broad daylight calling him that, and I was sure that he would not be happy if I tried it either. I suppose it was one of those things that only Rarity could get away with due to Spike's obvious infatuation.

Oh well. It certainly wasn't my business to get involved with someone else's love life if I didn't have to. Still, I was a bit miffed at the statue itself. I knew that Spike probably didn't know about it until now, given how heartfelt that confession of his a while back was, but still. He had a literal statue of himself in the Crystal Empire. If he wanted to be and be seen as a hero, this was it.

But anyway. After that slight detour, our course remained steady along the streets until we finally reached the stadium where the Equestria Games would be held. It was a massive structure, set a fair distance away from the palace, and no less impressive due to its sheer scale. I gazed in wonder at the walls towering high above our heads, the long corridors that brought us within the coliseum, and the impossibly long field that stretched from one end to the other.

And to think, the crystal ponies had built it all just to host the Equestria Games shortly after their long banishment. Yes, I had actually paid attention to Twilight's lecture for once. Needless to say, my opinion of their dedication and work ethic just skyrocketed.

We took our seats in a small area on one side of the field, settling down and making ourselves comfortable. Looking upwards out of our box, I saw the nobility and royalty of Equestria and beyond sitting in their little spots, and special thrones made for each of the four alicorn Princesses. Twilight Sparkle had just arrived and was taking her place next to Celestia; I waved a hoof at her, and after a few seconds she finally noticed and waved back. The others noticed what I was doing and joined in before we finally all turned our attention back to the field.

"Well, look at Twilight," I remarked snarkily, "getting her special place with the crown. Guess we have to be left with the cheap seats, huh?"

"Twi has her own Princess duties to deal with," Applejack answered, having absolutely none of it. "I'm sure she'd be down here with us if she could."

Jeez, tough crowd. "I know that," I said defensively. "It was a joke, alright?"

An eye roll was the only response I got as we were interrupted by an announcement from Shining Armor, the Prince of the Crystal Empire. All the crowd cheered as the first team of competitors, this one apparently from Appleloosa, came out onto the field. The collective noise was almost deafening; with ponies filling up the entire stadium, there must have easily been thousands in attendance from all over Equestria. I had never seen so many in one place; these games must truly be something to watch if they drew in this many ponies.

All of us clapped politely for each team as they came out, but we all knew what we were really waiting for. When Shining Armor announced the delegation for Ponyville and we saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders come out with their routine, all of us got up and started cheering as loud as we could. I wasn't usually one for that, but there was something about the competitive spirit in the air that made me want to yell out praise. To show my spirit and pride for the ponies we were sending as our best.

Excluding myself, of course. Having me participate would just be unfair to the other teams, so I understood why I should just sit on the sidelines.

Scootaloo planted the Ponyville flag (which I didn't even know we had until a day or two ago) firmly in the ground next to the flags of the other delegations, and the crowd roared as every competitor got in place for the lighting of the torch, the last part of the opening ceremony.

We waited. A few seconds passed, then a few more. Time continued to turn, and the flame remained unlit. Both athletes and audience turned to look at each other in confusion; where was the torch? Shouldn't it have been lit by now? I was no exception, looking at Applejack and Rarity wondering if it was supposed to take this long. They both shrugged back at me, clearly as bewildered as I was.

It was right when I was beginning to worry that something had gone wrong that the torch burst into flames, a great pillar of orange quickly turning blue. We all gave one last cheer as Shining Armor came out onto the field and gave the last announcement for the ceremony.

"Let the games begin!"

---

Surprisingly, the Equestria Games did not hold my attention for long. Partly because there was something else that was taking up more and more brainpower, and partly because everypony else had dragged me out to congratulate the Cutie Mark Crusaders on their performance.

"You know, out of all the openings for each of the delegations, your display definitely made Ponyville's entrance the most memorable," I said to the three fillies as they each took their praise from their older sisters (or mentor, in Scootaloo's case). I also purposely neglected to mention the fact that I wasn't really paying attention to any other team, so I had absolutely no standard of quality to go by.

Some things were better left unsaid.

"You three really were wonderful," Twilight agreed with me. "But does anypony know what was going on with Spike?"

I blinked. "Wait. Spike was supposed to be the one lighting the torch?"

Everypony nodded back at me. "Come on, Jungle," Applejack said in an ever-so-slightly annoyed voice. "Weren't you even listening to us before the ceremony?"

No. The answer was no. That response was not a good one if I wanted to save face, though. "Look, I was a bit distracted by the stadium and everything. Besides, Spike lit the torch in the end, and that's the important part, right? So what if it was a little delayed?"

"Yeah, about that..." Uh oh. Whenever somepony said those words, it never meant anything good. Especially when they were rubbing the back of their neck like Twilight was. "He didn't light it. I did. I didn't want him to be embarrassed, so I cast a secret spell to light it for him."

That made me grimace. Yep, that was worse than I thought. To mess up a simple task in front of thousands of ponies, and have somepony else have to bail you out... "Does he know yet?" I questioned lightly.

Twilight gave a very unhelpful motion of her hoof. "Maybe. I don't know. He might have figured it out by now. I know I still have to tell him, but I'm just afraid of how he'll take it. I know what pride he takes in a job well done."

I knew what pride I took in a job well done. There were a lot of reactions I could imagine from learning about Twilight's save, and very few of them were good. Anger, resentment, shame... I knew Spike and I were very different creatures, but still.

Rainbow Dash nudged me back to reality. "Hey, here he comes now!" she pointed out quite literally with a hoof towards an approaching Spike. "Act casual!" While the rest of us awkwardly stared at the dejected dragon, Dash pulled out a pair of sunglasses that made me instantly jealous and put them on, crossing her hooves and leaning back. "Sup," she said with a level of coolness that I could only dream of attaining.

Perhaps one day I could have my own pair of sunglasses to pull out at any time. Alas, today would not be that day. Instead, I heroically chose to save the mares from the fate of having to speak first and stepped forward, metaphorically speaking. "How are you doing, Spike? Did the torch-lighting go well?"

"I don't know," the baby dragon responded, seeming confused. "The weirdest thing happened down there. There I was, trying to light the torch, with all of Equestria watching, and then the thing just lit! It was amazing!"

Absolutely not. I was shutting this down right here and not. The sooner he got the hard dose of reality, the better off we'd all be. Plus I could hoof off the problem to Twilight, which was one of my favorite things to do at this point. "You do know Twilight was the one to light it, right?"

Spike immediately froze. "I... she lit..." he stammered, any illusions he previously held shattered. "In front of thousands..."

"Yeah, I'll take it from here, Jungle," Twilight butted in, clearly ungrateful at the hard work I had done. "Spike, can we talk for a moment?"

"You're welcome!" I called after her as she trotted off with Spike, leaving the rest of us either watching her or looking at me with expressions of annoyance plain on their faces. "What? Somepony had to tell him."

"Yes, but you could have used a bit of tact," Rarity responded airily, to which I would have probably fired back with a rebuttal if she didn't have a point. Or the loud voice of Shining Armor echoing outside the stadium.

"Our next event... the aerial relay!"

We all started. "That's Dash and Fluttershy!" Applejack said. "Come on, we gotta get back to our seats!" The group of friends began galloping back to the entrance, the farmer taking notice that one within their ranks was not present. "You coming, Jungle?" she asked me, seeing I had stayed where I was looking the opposite way at the Crystal Palace.

"Huh? Oh, uh, I'll catch up." I waved a hoof to dismiss her concerned and slightly suspicious look. "Just need to check something really quick. Don't worry, I'll be right there."

The farmer's skepticism deepened, but she nodded in the end and galloped after her friends. With the mares finally gone, I could turn my attention to my new interest in the Crystal Empire; not the stadium, but the large gleaming tower in the sky. With the Princesses all at the games, there would be no better chance.

All the streets were deserted on my walk back the way I had come this morning, which wasn't surprising. I could still hear the cheers from the ponies behind me, though it was slowly fading with distance. Houses were empty, row after row dark all the way up to my destination. The statue of Spike was still there, and so was the Crystal Heart, spinning faster than it was before. Perhaps it was from the events; so many ponies with their spirits bright in the Empire had to be doing something.

Either way, the situation looked exactly as I has expected. Not a pony in sight, save for a few crystal guards at each entrance to the palace. Getting past them would be the tricky part, and likely require more than just brute force, especially if I didn't want to spend a night being questioned about why I tried to assault a guard. No, this would require a bit more persuasion.

And as I'm sure you all know, I was very persuasive.

"The palace is off-limits today," one of the armored stallions said sternly as they blocked my way forward. "The Princess is currently attending the Equestria Games."

Right, time to pull out the ace in the sleeve. "Oh, of course," I responded, trying to sound and look as nervous and innocent as possible. "I was just wondering if I could use the bathroom quickly? The last one I checked was closed and I really need to go..."

They looked at each other and then back at me. I stared back. "...Second door on the left," one of them finally responded. "Make it quick."

"Thank you."

Honestly, you'd be surprised how reliable that technique was. What's also surprising is how many times I used it because I actually needed to use it. Very rarely was I lying to get somewhere else like now. But among the more civilized parts of Equestria, it was very effective in getting my way into places I probably shouldn't be.

Up the stairs I went, the staircase spiraling up the leg of the tower going all the way to the first main floor. All the hallways were long, the doors stretching onto seemingly endless rooms. I saw the one the guard has told me of, the second one on the left.

And at that very moment, I felt a very sudden urge to actually use it. Really, the timing of these things is just never great, aren't they? You need to go to the bathroom for five minutes, and when you come out all the exciting things have already gone down. It's something that's happened to me more than once before, unfortunately. But hey, at least it meant I wasn't completely lying downstairs.

After I did my business, my walk further down the hall was fairly quick. Or rather, halls, I should say. There were a lot of them. A lot of stairs and floors too. Really, they should put up signs on the halls telling ponies where to go with how maze-like this place was. How anypony remembered how to get around here astounded me.

"Sir?" I whipped around out of shock from the silence being broken to see a mare in a staff uniform looking curiously at me. "The palace is closed to visitors today. What are you doing here?"

Great. This time I was way past the bathroom, so that excuse went flying out the window. I needed something new, and fast. "Princess Twilight!" I finally blurted out, perhaps a bit too loudly for the situation. "She asked me to travel here to check on something quickly. Do you know where the room with the, uh, big mirror thing is?"

Real smooth. About as much as sandpaper, one would likely say. Whether I was actually charismatic or they were just gullible, I would never know, but they nodded and pointed in the direction opposite the way I came. "Just turn left at the end of the hall, the storage room should be at the end of that. If you reach the throne room, you've gone too far."

"Thank you!"

Not wanting to waste any more time or have any other unnecessary encounters, I quickened my pace to a fast trot. Usually, I would have been impressed by the construction and decor of the walls, but my position was in no way a time to be admiring the immaculate architecture. I had things to do, mirrors to see, and guards that were probably wondering why I was taking so long.

Speaking of things that were taking long, I was finally at my destination. The doors at the end of the hall, both tall and yet not exactly the most sturdy things. You'd think that if there were magical artifacts stored here they'd put a bit more into protecting them. Pulling on one of the door handles, I even found it was unlocked.

When you see better security in literal ancient temples in Tenochtitlan, you know there's a problem.

Or there would be if the so-called 'storage room' actually had something interesting in it. But other than a few trophies, some paintings and maybe even a statue or two... there wasn't really much. Even the restricted section in the Canterlot Library was cooler, and that was filled with nothing but books.

Still, the prize I had come for was right in front of me at last. It was a bit taller than I had expected, and certainly much more ornate. In fact, if you had asked me what it was with no context, I probably would have said 'magic portal' before 'mirror'. If the intention was to try and hide its true purpose, whoever made this thing really botched that. Like really, what kind of normal mirror has some sort of pony emblem on top of it? There was nothing wrong with being discrete sometimes.

"Thought I might find you here."

I jumped in fright as a familiar voice rang out behind me, serious despite her country accent. "Applejack!" I said, turning quickly to greet her. "I was just, uh... shouldn't you be at the Games?"

"Dash and Fluttershy finished second already." The farmer walked forward to get muzzle-to-muzzle with me. "Why try and lie to me, Jungle? And what do you want with the portal?"

This was probably one of the only drawbacks to having a friend like Applejack. She could sniff out my lies from a mile away, even the harmless ones. It wasn't really surprising, what with her being the Element of Honesty, but by Celestia was it annoying on occasion. There had been many a time when I had been caught trying to skim an apple or two while working on the farm.

"Well you see, when you were talking about the portal on the train I-" Her eyebrow raised and I threw my hooves up in surrender. "Fine. It's because of a journal I kind of stole from Princess Celestia."

"You WHAT?!"

"Huh, Rainbow Dash had that exact same reaction too."

Applejack didn't look quite as angry as the prismatic pegasus had, but she was still certainly not happy either. "What in Celestia's sake were you thinking?! You can't just steal from the Princess! Do you have any idea how much trouble you could get into?!"

"Yes," I answered flatly. "And I'll deal with it when that day comes. But this journal... it's connected to somepony on the other side of this mirror. Her name is Sunset."

"Who cares what kind of pony this journal is- wait a minute, did you say Sunset Shimmer?" I had already turned back around, but I could guess that she looked surprised as I walked toward the mirror. "How's she getting messages through? The portal is closed."

"I don't know." Seeing my reflection staring back at me, I let a hoof glide over the glass, the hard surface giving no leeway. "Finding out the how or why would be Twilight's thing more than mine. The reason I'm here is because... I just wanted to see what this was for myself. You said it was twenty-five moons until this opens again?"

Turning back I saw she was nodding, the earth pony's expression a much more mellow melancholy now. "Yep. That's a long time, sugarcube. You friends with her?"

That notion got a subdued laugh out of me, with very little actual emotion in it. If Pinkie Pie were here it would probably instantly send her into a spiral of trying to cheer me up. "As friendly as two people who've never actually met can be, I guess. She seemed nice, but also... distant? Like there was something on her mind."

"If I was in a whole different dimension, I'd sure as Celestia be figuring things out too." Applejack kept pace with me by my side as I walked out of the storage room, my curiosity at its contents sated now. "So what are you planning to do now?"

"Wait. And work on the farm, of course. But if twenty-five moons is how long it's going to take, then that's how long I'll wait."

I didn't expect the stairs in front of me. Putting my hoof forward expecting solid ground, I tipped over and almost fell over, just barely caught by Applejack who pulled me back upright. With a grateful nod, we continued both walking and talking. "And what about that journal?" she asked. "I'm sure Twilight would want to look at it even if you didn't take it from the Princess."

Shrugging, I almost instinctively reached for my saddlebag, just barely remembering that I had purposely left it back in Ponyville and stopping myself to avoid looking like a fool. "I know she would too, but I'm not ready to tell her yet. Someday, I will. Just... can you keep this a secret until I spill the beans?"

"Jungle, you know if Twilight asks me anything about it-"

"Yeah, yeah, you're no good at lying." It was the one flaw I did find comedic about Applejack; while she could sniff out lies better than anypony as befitting her Element, she was also absolutely terrible at telling them herself. I wasn't sure if I should chalk it up to inexperience or something to do with her natural disposition too, but either way, it was fairly humorous. "I don't expect you to do that or to put anypony in danger, just try not to let it slip on accident."

"I think I can do that, Jungle." We both stepped out into the open, the sunshine now illuminating the square as opposed to the crystals themselves. The guards from before let us pass, probably more because of Applejack than because of me. I assumed she didn't have too much trouble getting in just by being recognized, given her whole status as a hero of ponykind. And an excellent farmer. If there was an Apple somewhere in the Crystal Empire, I would frankly not be surprised at all. "Now, how about we get back to our friends and finish watching the Equestria Games?"

"Sounds good to me."

And so my employer and I started back down the street I had walked twice already today, ready to get back to the roaring crowds and hopefully spectacular sports that the finest sportsponies would showcase. Though, far behind me, I did hear the crystal guards talking to each other, believing we were out of earshot.

"What kind of stallion needs a mare to get him from the bathroom?" one asked the other, both snickering afterward.

...Really?

Comments

[Syroc]

Well, this has been a treat to read. Watching Jungle back himself up into more and more trainwrecks is exactly the kind of fun I've been wanting, and I can't wait to see where you next with this.

[StarzGecko]

Oh Jungle you be carful not want other ponies seeing you being cared for by mares all the time. Thought for a moment he would had brought the book and accidentally set the portal open to bring both Jungle and Applejack to the other world for a while.

It’s nice seeing a new chapter!

[PearlyDoesStuff]

Jungle Trek try not to set himself up into a million trainwrecks challenge (100% fail)

[Eltirions]

11384762
Death

[Comma Typer]

It's an unexpected direction to take Jungle in, but I like it. After a long time stealing artifacts and what not, here's an artifact with soul (quite literally). Looking forward to where this goes!

[ENDDRAGON369]

When I read the title what came to mind was IDW Reflections.