> Eternal Love, Life, and Death
>  by Fiction Quill
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Arrival in Another Dimension (Edited)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today was a warm, sunny day. The birds are chirping. The bees are buzzing and all of the kids are playing and enjoying their summer vacation from school. Yes, today is a beautiful day. There are even those who are enjoying such a fine day from working outside. However, there are those who are unable to enjoy it, due to having to be indoors whether it's because they are sick or they are working indoors. Lance is one of those few who are having to work inside the building. Still things could be worse, he could be like those criminal's stuck in their jail cells. Lance is a policeman. His job isn't babysitting those in their cells. Lance's main job is usually catching criminals, but his superiors are making him work in the office today, although he wishes he could be out there in the sun and in the action. His superiors aren't bad people and they don't abuse their authority and it’s not like Lance is bad at is job. Quite the opposite, in fact he is one of the best. Lance just has a bad habit of being reckless. Of course, no civilian or other officer has ever gotten hurt because of his recklessness. He just tends to end up getting himself hurt often, but thanks to that they rarely ever have any injured officers or civilians besides himself. The reason Lance is so reckless is because he has made it his personal mission to protect as many people as he can, even at the cost of his own life. Lance is very passionate about his job and takes it very seriously, but sadly today he must work in the office because he would surely get hurt or worse by the criminal that is currently being pursued. 

Lance's routine is fairly normal. He just goes to work, does his job and then goes home afterwards. Every once in a while he will stop by a restaurant to get something for dinner. The only thing that changes the routine a little is either when he is in the hospital from an injury on the job or when he decides to go on a walk. The difference between Lance and many of his co-workers or his superiors is that he is a Brony. Not uncommon for a 22 year old, but he doesn't want people getting the wrong idea so he keeps it to himself. The only people who know that he is a Brony are his family and his closest friends. He never misses an episode on T.V. since his only days off are on Saturdays. When there isn't a new episode on and he feels like watching some My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic he will just start up his Netflix and watch some of the older episodes. His favourite pony of all would be Twilight Sparkle the Princess of Friendship. He enjoys how she always tries to look at things from a scientific perspective and he will admit that he finds her joy of organizing and the fact that she seems to have OCD to be quite cute. 

It was 8:30 PM and Lance just got finished with his 9 hour shift in the office. He got up and stretched, aching from sitting down for so long. Lance never liked sitting for so long. He was always active throughout his life. He may have not been on any sports teams, considering that he isn't a fan of sports, but he did always exercise and also took MMA classes so he can defend himself should the need arise.

"Man this has been one slow and boring day." Lance yawned as he continued to stretch and heard a chuckle behind him and saw his best friend Roy shaking his head and smiling.

"Lance you seriously need to learn to chill. I understand that you can't hold still and are used to being so active, but come on! You have got to learn to enjoy the simpler things in life." Roy playfully taunted as Lance laughed.

"I can't help it! You know how I love to be out there in the action and protecting the innocent." Roy sighed as he looked seriously at Lance.

"I know you do buddy, but I don't want to see my best friend get killed. We have been through a lot together and you are not allowed to die before me you hear?" Lance smiled appreciatively and chuckled.

"I know and I promise to do my best to keep myself alive." Roy nodded and smirked.

"Alright dude. Now go on home and watch your ponies. I’m sure they miss you." Roy retorted as he laughed and Lance laughed along with him.

"Alright. See you tomorrow!" Lance exclaimed as he and Roy waved goodbye to each other and Lance made his way home.
Lance doesn't live too far from the station, only a couple blocks so he always walks to work rather than driving. If there is ever a time he needs a vehicle while he is at the station he just uses one of the cars at the station or he quickly rushes home to grab his vehicle. Whichever seems to be the best option at the time. Lance is always prepared though, even when he is walking he always carries his radio, his gun, his badge and a taser for good measure. Lance tries to refrain from using deadly force and so far he has never had to use deadly force. Lance has used his gun on people before and has even shot a number of criminals but none of them have ever been fatally wounded. Lance would either shoot the weapon out of their hand or he would shoot them in the leg to give him an opening to tackle them. Other officers have used deadly force when teamed with him before but only when he was injured.

When Lance arrived at his home he decided to get into his car and go out to eat. It has been a while since he has had Chinese food. He started up his car and decided to go to a restaurant he always went to as a kid, a restaurant called Taste Island. It was no fancy restaurant, but it definitely wasn't a bad restaurant either. Plus it was all you can eat! While on his way to the restaurant his cell phone started ringing. It was his boss calling. When his boss called he knew 1 of 3 things. 1. His boss needs him to work at the office again on his next work day. 2. His boss was giving him some extra time off. 3. There was an emergency and Lance was needed A.S.A.P. Lance turned on his Bluetooth device and answered the call.

"Hey boss. What's up?" Lance queried.

"Lance we need you down on main street and quick! We tried to catch the criminal but he escaped into a hospital and is holding hostages! I really didn't want to get you involved in this case because this guy is a psychopath, but we don't have much of a choice. I already called Roy and he is on his way." Lance could hear the panic in his boss’s voice, nodded and quickly turned the car around.

"Alright boss! I am on my way as we speak. I will be there in 5 minutes." Lance said as he heard a sigh of relief from his Bluetooth device.

"Great! See you soon Lance." Lance heard his boss hang up. He turned his Bluetooth device off as he turned his siren on and headed towards the main street hospital.

When Lance arrived the hospital was completely surrounded and there were search lights shining all over the building. Lance put on his bulletproof vest underneath his shirt before getting out of his car. Once Lance left his vehicle he walked over to where his boss and Roy were standing.

"So what's the situation? Who is this guy and what are we up against?" Lance questioned calmly and seriously. His boss looked at him and sighed.

"He calls himself Genocide, but his real name is Roman Reaper. He is a psychopath who also happens to be an extremely intelligent scientist. We have been after this guy for years and now he is finally cornered. We can't let him get away and hurt any more innocent people!" Lance nodded and loaded his gun. Roy smiled knowingly and also readied his gun.

"Understood sir. He won’t get away." Lance said as he cocked his gun. Roy nodded in agreement. Their boss simply sighed.

"Listen Lance. I know you don't like to use deadly force, which is why I didn't want to get you involved in this, but you need to understand something. This guy is no push over and he will kill you and anybody else without even batting an eye. The orders are shoot to kill. If you hesitate even for a moment you will die." Lance sighed, knowing what he must do to save innocent lives.

"I understand sir. He will be stopped by any means necessary." Their boss nodded as Lance and Roy headed through the back door.

Once Lance and Roy got inside they slowly crept and sneaked around the hospital quietly looking for the perpetrator. Along the way they found several dead bodies of some doctors, nurses, and patients. Some of which were children. Roy grimaced at the sight as Lance silently wept for their deaths.

"See Lance, this is why we have to take this guy out. Someone like him doesn't deserve to live. Not after what he has done." Roy seethed as Lance nodded.

"I know."

They continued to walk quietly against the wall peeking into every room to find Roman, but there was no sign of him. For a while it seemed like he wasn't in the hospital until they heard a lot of clanking and the sound of a welder. They began to follow the sound until they came across Roman who appeared to be building some kind of machine.

"YES! It is done! Soon I shall make those fools pay for humiliating me! I will show them! I WILL SHOW THEM ALL! MWAHAHAHAHA!" Roman cackled psychotically as he was plugging in his new machine. Lance took this opportunity and pointed his gun at Roman.

"FREEZE ROMAN! Put your hands in the air where I can see them and turn around slowly!" Roman stopped what was doing and stood frozen. Roy looked at Lance with a shocked expression.

"LANCE?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! SHOOT THIS GUY! You heard the boss’s orders! Shoot to Kill! They don't want him taken alive they want him dead!" Lance shook his head.

"I am sorry Roy, but you know it goes against my principles. I can't shoot him unless he attacks us first. I have to give him a chance to surrender and if he does then all I can do is bring him into custody." Lance said as Roy began to lose his temper.

"Your principles don't apply here! We have our orders! Don't you remember all of those bodies back there?! All of the innocent lives this bastard has taken?! Look I understand that you want to follow by the code, but this guy is a menace! Even if you did bring him into custody they would probably give him the chair! Just end it here and now! If you don't then I will! Do you understand me?! Now do it!" Lance simply shook his head and then Roman began to chuckle.

"Didn't your superiors ever teach you not to hesitate in front of an enemy? Because if you do then... YOU WILL DIE!" Roman spat as he pulled a gun out and pointed it at Lance. However, just as he pulled the trigger Roy leapt into the path of the bullet.
The bullet ended up hitting Roy in the center of his chest and he collapsed to the ground as he began to cough up blood. Lance quickly rushed to his side, dropping to his knees and losing his grip on his gun.

"ROY! Roy please don't die! PLEASE DON"T DIE! I will get you some help just stay with me!" But before Lance could use his radio Roy stopped him and shook his head weakly.

"Don't. Bother Lance. It’s too late for me now... Just please stop this guy for me... Don't let him escape... Stop him..." Roy exhaled as his eye fluttered shut. His skin grew cold and grey as he lost his pulse. Roy was gone. Lance couldn't hold back anymore and burst into unrelenting tears at his best friend’s demise. Roy was dead and Lance knew he had nobody to blame but himself. Roman laughed maniacally as he tossed his gun down.

"Well looks like I am out of bullets. Shouldn't have used all of them on those people in the hospital." Roman scoffed as he finished hooking up his machine. Lance could stand for no more of this. He picked up his gun and pointed it at Roman.

"I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR KILLING ROY AND ALL OF THOSE INNOCENT PEOPLE! PREPARE TO DIE YOU BASTARD!" Lance roared nd began to fire wildly at Roman until he emptied his gun. Lance got about 3 successful shots out of 8 and Roman fell to the ground. He was bleeding profusely, but all Roman could do was laugh.

"You missed all of my vital organs, but I am still going to need a doctor. I could care less about that though. All I care about is proving everyone wrong about my theory!" Roman said as he stood up.

"What theory?" Lance asked as Roman began to laugh psychotically.

"That there are other dimensions out there! What I have built here is a portal to another dimension! I do not know where it will take us but once I activate this machine every living person in this hospital will be transported to another dimension!" Roman boasted as he began to laugh like a madman.

"Y-You’re insane!" Roman glared at Lance and grinned mischievously.

"Am I? LET'S FIND OUT SHALL WE?!" With that Roman pulled the lever on the machine. The machine started to act strangely, eventually becoming unstable and was getting out of control. After a few moments there was a blinding flash of light and then everything plummeted into darkness.

Outside of the hospital troops were preparing to head inside after hearing several shots of gunfire, until they noticed a strange light coming from the largest room on one of the top floors. After a few moments the entire hospital exploded, debris flying everywhere along with everyone surrounding the hospital being knocked off of their feet.

"Oh no the hospital!" Lance’s boss said. They searched through the debris of the exploded building, but there was no sign of Lance or Roman. All they found were the corpses of Doctors, Nurses, Patients, and Roy. So what happened to Lance and Roman?

Lance began to slowly open his eyes. He thought he had died because he heard the sound of a loud explosion, but here he was still alive. Only question is where is he? Last time he checked he was in a city trying to stop Roman. So why is he in the middle of the woods? He didn't have time to think about that he had to find Roman. As soon as Lance stood up he immediately fell to the ground again finally noticing the big lead pipe that was stabbed through his leg and the amount of blood that was pouring out. He started to feel light headed and things were beginning to go dark again. He surely thought he was dying because he swore he could hear the voice of an angel.

"Oh my gosh! Are you alright?! You have a serious injury! Quick girls help me move him to the castle!"

What was weird about this angel is that she was lavender colored, had a single horn on her head and a pair of wings. He couldn't make out any other features though. Before he could try to contemplate on it any further darkness over took him once more but not after he began to feel himself being levitated into the air.
> The Land of Equestria
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Darkness. That was all Lance could see at the moment. The last thing he remembered seeing before blacking out was what seemed like an angel that was lavender colored, with a pair of wings and a horn. He didn't have a chance to try to figure out who or what it was, but what was odd was the voice sounded familiar. A little TOO familiar. Lance could feel his strength returning and began to open his eyes. When he opened his eyes he could still barely see. All he could see was his hands in front of his face. So he knows he isn't blind, if anything there must not be any lights on. Lance tried to get out of the bed to find a light switch but instead ended up falling to the ground, his leg still in pain. He checked his leg to see its condition. He saw that his leg was patched up but still injured pretty badly. As Lance was trying to get up heard what appeared to be footsteps coming his way or rather... Trotting? That didn't sound right at all. He thought back to what Roman said. About his machine he built transporting them to a different dimension. Before he could continue to think on the matter the doors where enveloped in a purple aura and then swung open to reveal what he was not expecting. Twilight Sparkle the Princess of Friendship was standing in the door way along with her 6 friends Apple Jack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Spike all with concerned looks on their faces. It was a shock to behold. All Lance could do was sit there with his mouth agape. Before he could say anything all 7 of them rushed over to his aid.

"Sir, are you alright?! We heard a crash from your room. What happen?! How is your leg?! How did you get hurt?! I have so many questions for-" Twilight prattled on until Lance put a hand to her muzzle to stop her from getting too carried away. He couldn't help but chuckle at how adorable he thought she was when she was like this.

"Hey now one question at a time. I am just as confused as you are." Twilight blushed as she folded her ears back a bit ashamed at her outburst.

"Sorry! I was just a bit worried I guess. Allow me to introduce myself my name is-" But before Twilight could finish Lance interrupted her.

"Twilight Sparkle. The Princess of Friendship. That baby dragon is your number 1 assistant Spike. The earth pony with the hat is Applejack. The pink earth pony is Pinkie Pie. The Unicorn is Rarity. The cream colored Pegasus is Fluttershy. The cyan colored Pegasus is Rainbow Dash." After Lance finished talking all of their mouths went agape and that's when Pinkie Pie jumped on him and stared him in the eyes.

"Are you psychic?!" That's when Lance couldn't hold back his laughter any longer. That is until the pain settled in. Twilight used her magic to levitate Lance back into the bed.

"Be careful you had more than just an injured leg. When we got back to the castle I used my magic to check you for any further injuries and you had a few broken ribs. I don't know what caused you to have these kinds of injuries but it must have been one heck of a situation."  Twilight said. Pinkie Pie started bouncing up and down as she got excited.

"Oh! I know! He got caught in the crossfire of an explosion that was caused by a machine going haywire that sent him here from a different dimension!" Pinkie Pie said as she smiled happily and made the adorable squee noise that he remembered from the show. The other 6 looked at Pinkie Pie strangely as Lance chuckled.

"You do realize how crazy that sounds Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash said as she rubbed the back of her head with her hoof.

"Nevertheless she is correct." They all looked at Pinkie with shocked expressions, but then they immediately shook it off and chuckled remembering that Pinkie was just being Pinkie.

"So you are from a different dimension? How did you end up here? I mean I know HOW, but what brought all of this about?" Twilight asked. The question suddenly brought back all of the memories that happened during that current time. Especially a certain incident that Lance had caused due to his principles. He shook his head trying to fight back the tears.

"I don't really want to talk about that, at least not yet. If you girls don't mind I need some time to myself." Lance said as he rolled over in an attempt to hide the pained look on his face. Twilight and the others could tell something was wrong, but decided not to press the issue for right now.

"Very well Mr?" Lance just realized he had not given his name yet.

"It's Lance, just Lance. None of this Mr or sir business. I never really liked that sort of thing." Twilight simply nodded.

"Very well Lance. We will let you get some rest. When you feel ready to tell us what happened we will be here when you need us." Lance smiled. Still the same Twilight he knew from the show.

"Thank you princess." Twilight giggled.

"Just Twilight please." Lance chuckle and nodded.

"Very well. Thank you Twilight." With that Twilight and the girls left.
Lance just lied in bed staring at the ceiling with fresh tears running down his cheeks. Lance buried his face in his hands as he began to cry harder. Constantly thinking how he got his best friend Roy killed by that bastard Roman.

"It's all my fault." He could no longer hold anything back. All he could think about was how he was to blame for Roy's death. Never had his principles been used against him like this. He no longer trusted himself. He felt that he was not only a danger to the police force but a danger to every life around him. Suddenly he felt something grab his shoulder.

"What's your fault?" Lance looked beside him and saw Spike standing next to him looking at him sympathetically.

"I thought I asked everyone to leave." Spike smirked and shook his head.

"No you asked the GIRLS to leave. I am not a girl." Lance remembered the words he used and chuckled as he shook his head.

"I guess I should have been more specific." Spike chuckled and nodded as he sat down beside Lance.

"So what eaten ya? You can tell me if you want. I promise I won't tell Twilight or the others. I swear on my honor and my dragon code!" Lance smiled and knew from the show that a dragon code to a dragon is just as important as their own life. Lance nodded.

"I won't go into detail, but let's just say that I caused my best friend to die before I was transported here." Spike's eyes went wide and a frown formed on his face and his look of sympathy only grew stronger.

"Wow I am so sorry to hear that. I’m sure it wasn't your fault. You mustn't blame yourself." Spike said as his grip on Lance's shoulder grew tighter. If only you knew. Lance thought.

"Trust me Spike I know the difference. It was my fault." Spike expression grew sadder, but then he smile at Lance reassuringly.

"Even IF it was your fault I am sure your best friend wouldn't blame you." Lance nodded, but never took his gaze away from the ceiling.

"Thanks Spike." Spike nodded and smiled.

"Don't mention it. Anyways I think I should leave and let you get some rest. I am sure Twilight is going to try to talk your ear off tomorrow." Spike and Lance shared a good laugh before Spike jumped off of the bed and left the room, leaving Lance to his thoughts.

Lance just continued to stare at the ceiling in despair. He wanted nothing more than to seek vengeance against Roman for what he did to Roy and him. Lance knows that he only has himself to blame for Roy's death but it was Roman who initially pulled the trigger. Roman was also to blame for them being stuck here in Equestria. Lance won't lie, he does like the fact that was actually able to meet the mane 6 and Spike in the flesh, but it isn't his home. Lance knows he and Roman don't belong here, plus Lance doesn't want anypony to encounter Roman as he would probably kill them if they did. Sadly Lance can't do anything in his current condition. Lance could barely stand without being in severe pain let alone walking. Lance had no choice but to try to recover. Once that happens he will go out and search for Roman. He can't let Twilight and her friends know about Roman. If they knew who he was and what he was capable of they would end up endangering themselves like Lance endangered Roy. They wouldn't be able to survive against Roman for long. They are too soft hearted to deal with someone like Roman. They don't have the heart to kill. It was then Lance realized why his boss was so hesitant in letting him on this case. He himself was also too soft-hearted and didn't have the heart to kill. He let his personal feelings and principles cloud his judgement. Because of this his best and closest friend Roy has to pay for his weaknesses. Well no more! Lance had decided he will not stand for this anymore. Once his wounds are fully healed he will go out and find Roman and kill him in cold blood. Lance's anger began to rise to the surface and his blood boiled. Lance had only one thing in mind. Find and kill Roman. When Lance finally calmed down he decided it would be best if he got some sleep. Lance knew he wouldn't recover very quickly if his body and mind didn't get any time to rest. As Lance began to close his eyes and drift off to sleep he couldn't help but wonder where Roman was and if he was still alive or not.

Deep inside the frozen wasteland miles away from the Crystal Empire, there was a faint glow deep inside what would normally be an empty cave. Inside the cave was Roman doing his best to keep his fire going. Roman may have been cold, but he still had a satisfied smile on his face knowing that his theory about other dimensions was right. Now he couldn't wait to find a way to make all of the other scientists pay for mocking him and calling him a lunatic and a madman for his theories. The only question is how is he going to get back? His machine got destroyed in the explosion. Roman was lucky to come out of that with just a little scratch. Roman threw some more wood on the fire as he was trying to keep himself warm.

"I knew I was right. Now I just need to bring back some proof and get my revenge, although even if I did bring back proof it wouldn't change the fact that I am a wanted criminal. Besides I want the whole world to pay for how they ostracized me for my theories and ideas! But how? Hmm. If I could find a way to destroy the entire dimension then my revenge would truly be satisfying. Easier said than done. I don't have any parts to build anything of that magnitude; also this place has no electricity. It's like the dark ages except filled with technicolored talking ponies, dragons, griffons, and other mythical creatures. How am I supposed to get revenge without the right technology!?" Roman ranted. Just as he got done ranting he heard a low and malicious chuckle.

"This dimension as you call it is powered by magic. From your ranting I can tell you are evil. Who and what exactly are you?" The voice said. Roman could hear the voice from all around him, unable to pinpoint its location. Roman pulled out his gun and prepared himself.

"My name is Roman. I am a human. Who are YOU and what do you want?" The voice merely chuckle again.

"I couldn't help but hear that you wanted revenge, as well do I. There are some ponies that I want to be rid of, but sadly I don't have the power to do it on my own. Why don't we make a deal?" Roman was definitely intrigued by this.

"What kind of deal?" As the voice cackled for a third time, a black mist was starting to surround him, until it converged into a single spot in from of him revealing a grey unicorn stallion with a red horn and a black mane, wearing pieces of armor and a royal cape. What was strange about him though is the sclera of his eyes are green instead of white and the irises of his eyes are red, which usually showed that someone was either insane or evil with purple aura flowing from the corners of his eyes. When the stallion smiled his sharp fangs were revealed for all the world to see. This pony was definitely evil.

"The deal I propose is that we work together to achieve our goal. I want to make the ponies pay for taking my empire away from me. You want to make your entire dimension pay for the way they ostracized you and mocked you. I can help you with that." Roman smiled maliciously.

"I'm listening." The evil pony grinned.

"I possess a magic far greater than normal magic. However there is some magic that is stronger than mine, but is not able to be used for the purposes you seek. My magic can do that and more, but in order for this to be successful I need my empire back. Sadly I am unable to enter the empire though because of the crystal heart that they wield. It has to be removed from the picture before I can make my attack. If the Crystal Heart is destroyed then the frozen north will freeze and destroy my entire empire so it just needs to go missing until I can take over. That's where you come in my friend." Roman nodded and smirked mischievously.

"So let me get this straight. You want me to help you get your empire back by stealing the Crystal Heart. Once you have taken over you want me to return the heart to you so you can keep it safe and hidden, then when all of that is finished you will help me get my revenge?" The stallion nodded.

"Yes. Do we have a deal?" Roman started to stroke his beard, contemplating his decision. Roman chuckled and smirked.

"I can only accept deals with people or ponies if I know their names." The stallion smirked back and chuckled.

"My apologies. My name is King Sombre."
> Lance's Explanation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was once again a beautiful morning. The sun was shining. The birds were chirping and galloping could be heard outside as life went on its usual course. Wait galloping? This is 20th century. Where are all the - Oh that's right. Lance was transported to Equestria by the crazed psychopath Roman Reaper. Lance woke up from hearing all of the galloping remembering that he wasn't in his dimension anymore. Lance sighed, filled with mixed emotions. On one hand he was a bit happy and excited that he is able to meet Twilight Sparkle and the ponies of Equestria, but on the other hand he was also upset to be away from his real home. Not to mention he still hasn't gotten over Roy's death, plus he still has to catch Roman. Sadly that would have to wait until he has finished recovering. Lance just barely survived an explosion that caused Roman and him to be transported to Equestria. There still no way to tell if Roman is still alive or not, but he has a feeling that he still is.
Lance sat up and stretched his arms. He didn't get a lot of sleep last night. He had too much on his mind with everything that has happened thus far. Lance decided to try to stand up, only to fall once again, but this time his shifted his weight so he would fall backwards on the bed. Obviously his leg wasn't doing any better but then it again it takes more than one night's rest to heal an injury like this.

"Great! So I’m temporarily disabled until I am completely healed. I can't stand just sitting around! I need to exercise!" Just as Lance finished his ranting the door to the room open up with Spike walking through the doorway.

"Sorry buddy but you need to rest. Your leg isn't going get any better if you keep trying to walk on it. Plus you still have some broken ribs." Lance sighed as he nodded.

"I know, but I have never been the type to just sit around and do nothing, even if it’s just walking around. I can't stand sitting still. Is there any way you can have some crutches made for me so I can walk around without being on my injured leg?" Spike put a claw to his chin and started thinking.

"I am sure we can have something arranged. Just be patient. I am sure Twilight can set you up with some crutches. You still don't need to push it though. Like I said you still have some broken ribs and those will take longer to heal than your leg. Probably longer than normal if you keep trying to push yourself." Lance nodded and smiled. There was something about Spike that reminded him of Roy. It felt comforting. Despite him being a baby dragon, Spike was almost exactly like Roy.

"Alright Spike I’ll try not to push it." Spike nodded and beamed victoriously.

"Good so what would you like for breakfast? Wait what does your species usually eat?" Lance began to elaborate.

"Well I’m going to be honest, my species usually eats meat, but not all the time and we don't necessarily have to live off of it. Don't worry I won’t try to eat anybody here. I have more respect and self control than that, plus I don't like killing anything." Spike nodded and seemed un-phased by Lance's response.

"Alright. Though we don't serve meat and from what you said it seems like your species can't digest grass of any kind. So how about some waffles?" Lance's stomached rumbled from Spike's words. Both Lance and Spike laughed.

"I think we should take that as a yes." Lance chuckled as Spike nodded and went to prepare breakfast. Just as Spike left the room, Twilight entered.

"How are you doing this morning Lance, any progress on recovery?" Lance sighed and shook his head.

"Not much Twilight. I made an attempt to walk again this morning and it hurt just as much as it did last night." Twilight looked sadden by this.

"Oh alright. Well if you aren't feeling up to answering our questions then I understand-" Lance put a finger to Twilight's muzzle to silence her.

"Now hold on I never said I wasn't feeling up to answering your question. I can answer them. I just couldn't last night. I was an emotional wreck, but I am more composed and will be able to answer them. You can either bring the others in here or you can provide me with some crutches so I can walk around without walking on my bad leg. Preferably the latter." Lance chuckled as Twilight giggled.

"Alright. I will need to take measurements to find out how tall you are then I can have them made right away. I will have Rarity take the measurements for me since I’m sure she will want to make you new outfits." Twilight giggled as she called Rarity in.

"Yes darling. You called?" Twilight explained the situation to Rarity. Apparently they were already having a meeting in the throne room while Lance was still sleeping.

"Should I lay down for you to take my measurements since I can’t stand up?" Rarity nodded.

"Yes darling. It would make things ever so easier if you did. Since you are unable to stand, then lying down would be the next best option." Lance nodded as Rarity put on her glasses and started to take Lance's measurements. Lance was about 5'11. Rarity copied the measurements down into a notepad and gave them to Twilight.

"Thank you Rarity." Twilight said as Rarity smiled.

"You are very welcome darling. While Twilight is having your crutches made I will make you some new garments to replace your torn up ones, besides those clothes you are wearing aren't very fashionable." Lance chuckled as he shook his head.

"Alright Rarity but I need you to clean and repair these as well." Rarity looked at Lance confused.

"Whatever for?" Lance lifts up his shirt that is laying on the floor and pulls out his badge and shows it to them.

"Because this isn't just some outfit. It is my uniform. You see I’m an enforcer of the law in my dimension. Kind of like your royal guard here. It’s my job to keep the peace and protect the innocent. Much like a guards armor is a representation of them, this uniform is a representation of a police officer in my dimension. That way others will know who we are and can come to us if they ever need assistance. Of Course a royal guard’s main duty is to protect the princess, but police officers don't just protect our leader we protect ALL of the innocent people." Rarity and Twilight looked at Lance in awe and admiration.

"My word darling. I had no idea! I apologize for insulting your uniform. I clearly did not see its own sense of fabulousness. I will thoroughly clean and fix your uniform right away Sir Lance!" Lance blushes and rubs the back of his head with his hand.

"I mentioned this before and I will say it again. Please do not call me Sir or Mr. It really makes me feel uncomfortable. Just Lance." Rarity smiled and nodded.

"Oh my apologies Lance. I will get these garments done straight away! Although... I don't exactly know how the design looks. Do you think you can draw a picture for me so I may know?" Lance smiled and nodded.
"Sure thing Rarity." Rarity smiled as she dashed out of the room with his measurements. Twilight simply giggled.

"Ah Rarity. What would we do without her? I am surprised to say though that you are almost like a guard. Though you do look like you could pass for one. I am guessing the situation you were in that sent you here was while you were protecting the innocent?" Lance rubbed the side of his arm.

"Well sort of. I was on duty but I was actually trying to capture a criminal. I will tell you the story once the others are here, you might want to get Princess Celestia and Princess Luna too." Twilight looked at Lance with shock and amazement.

"How do you know about the Princesses?!" Twilight was up in his face, her eyes filled with curiosity. He gently pushed her back a few inches from himself.

"I will reveal everything when everypony has been gathered, also when you have kept your promise to get me some crutches." Twilight's ears folded back and she blushed. She obviously forgot about the crutches for a moment. Twilight nodded and got on her hooves and trotted to the Ponyville hospital.

After a few hours Twilight arrives with Lances new crutches. Twilight levitates them over to Lance for him to try them out. Lance liked the results, in fact they were better than the ones made in his dimension.

"Come on lance. Everypony is waiting for us in the throne room." Lance nodded as he walked with Twilight to the throne room.
When they entered the throne room Lance saw Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Spike all sitting in their respective thrones, along with three more chairs. One was empty for him obviously. The other two chairs were being used by none other than the rulers of Equestria themselves Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Lance immediately did his best to bow his head in respect to the princesses. The Princesses gawked at the strange new creature in their land, but immediately shrugged it off and smiled as they gestured him and Twilight to come and sit.

"Please come and sit you two." Celestia said as she smiled warmly. Lance had always wondered what it would feel like to be face to face with Celestia. It feels comforting. It’s almost as if he was sitting in front of his own mother. Lance and Twilight sat down next to each other as everypony focused their attention on Lance.

"Twilight Sparkle has informed us that thou knows a lot of things about this land. Please tell us how it is you got here and how it is you know so much about this land and its inhabitants." Luna requested as she looked sternly at Lance as he nodded. Luna also had a somewhat motherly feel to her but more like a stern and strict mother; to be honest it felt more like your aunt was in front of you.

Lance began to explain what he was, how he came to Equestria and how he had his knowledge of it. During his explanation all of the others just sat there with their jaws agape too shocked to utter a single word. Even after lance was finished with his explanation everypony continued to sit there looking dumbstruck. Lance didn't explain the full details of his confrontation with Roman nor had he mentioned Roman at all. Lance wanted to save that for last when all of the most shocking information was out of the way.

“Whoa whoa whoa! Hold up! So you mean to tell us that in your dimension we are nothing but a fictional show meant to entertain people?!” Rainbow Dash bellowed in anger and frustration. Lance nodded.

"I am afraid so Dash. How else would I be able to have all of the knowledge of your world?" Twilight and Pinkie Pie nodded

"Makes sense to me." Twilight and Pinkie said in unison. Celestia nodded.

"I agree. We don't know how his dimension works. We don't have any humans in Equestria and yet there is one now due to these unfortunate events. Maybe there is a way we can open a gateway where our worlds could meet." Lance shook his head in a frightened panic.

"Trust me princess that would be a terrible idea. I may not be bad, but many in my dimension are. They would not hesitate to capture you and dissect you and find a way harness your magic for their own purposes." The others gasped with eyes filled with horror.

"My goodness darling your world sounds dreadful and horrible!" Rarity said. Lance sighed and hung his head low.

"Yeah, I know. My world is a cruel and horrible place and it will only continue to get worse." They all looked at Lance with sympathy.

"We are sorry that you live in such a horrible place. I wish there was something we could do." Fluttershy said. Twilight began to tap her hoof on her chin as she was thinking. Until an idea struck her.

"I know! You can live here with us in Equestria! From what you said about your dimension when you lived there you watch that show every day! You obviously love it and I’m sure you will enjoy living here! As long as the Princesses don't mind of course." Twilight turned to look at the Princesses as they looked at each other, smiled and nodded.

"Yes. I am sure you would love it here Lance. We have no problem with it." Lance smiled, but then frowned as he shook his head.

"The offer is very tempting and I appreciate it, but I have to refuse." The others frowned.

"Why not sugercube?" Applejack questioned. Lance sighed.

"Because I don't belong here. I wasn't born in this dimension. I belong back in my dimension with my friends and family. Not to mention me being here has endangered you all." Celestia looked puzzled.

"How have you being here endangered us?" Lance sighed again.

"I left out some details of how I arrived because I wanted it to be the last thing I mentioned. It’s the most important. Honestly at first I was going to keep it to myself but I need to let you know what’s going on in case of a major crisis. You see, I wasn't the only one transported here. Another person came with me and he is very dangerous. His name is Roman Reaper. He is a homicidal maniac that wants revenge on some people in my dimension. I do not know if he is still alive or not but if he is then he will cause a lot of bloodshed in this world." All of them gasped in horror and they had a look of fear in their eyes.

"H-How awful. You mean he is going to kill other ponies?" Fluttershy said as she shrank in her seat with fear.

"I am afraid so Fluttershy. That's why I need to find him and stop him before it’s too late." Celestia nodded.

"I understand. But why does this keep you from living here. I said that maybe there is a way to open a gateway, whether it would be for our worlds to meet or to just simply send you back, but there is no guarantee. You may be stuck here forever. What will you do then?" Lance sighed.

"Then I would simply adjust to life here. I would have no other option." Lance said.

"We suggest thou adjusts to life in Equestria anyway. Even if we can send you back thou might be here for a long time. It would be in thy best interest to adjust to life here so it won't be as hard on you, then once we are able to send you back we will, unless thou changes their mind and decides to stay here." Luna said. Lance pondered for a moment and then nodded.

"You’re right Luna. It would benefit me more to adjust in case I am stuck and if I’m not, I will just have to readjust to my older life style when I return home. That is if I am able to." Lance said as Celestia and Luna nodded.

"Besides, I’m sure Twilight and her friends can use some protection in case Roman decides to show up here. Twilight, why don't you make him the first member of your royal guard? That way he can protect you and the citizens of Ponyville." Celestia suggested as Twilight sqeed in delight.

"That's perfect! Lance has already had training being a police man in his dimension and he obviously loves to protect others so I am sure he would be more than happy to! Right?" Twilight exclaimed as she looked at Lance who had a big smile on his face.

"I would be honored to be the first of Twilight's royal guard. I need to heal my wounds first before I can do anything though. Right now I’m about as useful as a swimsuit in a snowstorm." Everyone shared a good laugh as the meeting was coming to a close.
> Slow Recovery
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The meeting was adjourned, until later for when the princesses check on Lance's recovery. Twilight on the other hand followed Lance to his room so she could ask him more questions. Lance couldn't help but find Twilight's curiosity adorable and Lance would be lying if he said he didn't find her cute, but there is no way he would tell her that. After all she is a pony and he is a human, it could never work. Not to mention he plans on going back to his dimension if the princesses can find a way, but there is no rush. First things first, Lance has to focus on recovering so he can go and capture Roman. Although, he can't just go out and blindly search for the psycho. Lance has to wait until there are some good leads of another strange bipedal creature in Equestria.

Lance and Twilight both reached his room and entered. Lance wanted to continue to walk around but Twilight wasn't having it.

"Come on Twilight. Just a little bit more walking?" Twilight giggled and shook her head.

"I don't think so mister. If you want to be ready to perform your duties as a royal guard then you need to be fully healed and you can't heal very well if you are constantly walking around. Your body needs rest and time to recover." Lance sighed in defeat.

"Fine you win princess." Twilight gave him an annoyed look.

"What did I say about calling me princess?" Lance chuckles.

"What did I say about calling me mister?" Twilight folded her ears back and blushed out of embarrassment.

"Sorry." Lance laughs and shakes his head.

"It's alright Twilight, I’m just teasing you." Both Lance and Twilight share a good laugh as they both sat down on the bed.

"Courageous and funny? Some girl has to feel pretty lucky to be your special somepony." Lance chuckles and shakes his head, but then sighs.

"Well in my dimension we call it a special someone and to be honest, I don't have anybody special waiting for me back home." Twilight frowns.

"Why not? You are strong, courageous, funny, and well mannered. How can you not have someone special waiting for you?" Lance rubs the back of his head.

"Let's just say I have had some bad experiences and leave it at that, plus I’m sure that since they couldn't find me and Roman after the hospital exploded that they are just going to mark both of us down as dead." Twilight gasped.

"Wait you mean the WHOLE hospital exploded?! I know you said there was an explosion but you never mentioned the entire building exploded! Did the patients and doctors get out in time?!" Lance sighed as he started to weep lightly.

“They didn't have to worry about the explosion because they were all killed by Roman before me and my partner had arrived." Twilight gasped.

"What about the children? Were there any children inside?" Lance nodded as he clenched his hands into fists tightly.

"Yes there was and he killed them just as he killed the adults. Man, woman, or child. It doesn't matter to him he will kill anybody in his path." Twilight's blood began to boil to the surface.

"What a monster! He has to be stopped!" Lance nodded again.

"Trust me Twilight, I plan to stop him, even if I have to use deadly force." Twilight nodded.

"I really don't agree with that kind of method, but if that's what it will take to stop him then I understand." Lance nods in agreement.

"I don't like it either, but he killed a lot of innocent people and will also kill a lot of innocent ponies if he isn't stopped. I tried to stop him without bloodshed and... well you know the results." Twilight sighed.

"I know, I just wish there was another way. By the way what happened to your partner?" Lance cringed at the mention of Roy.

"I don't know. Probably died in the explosion." Lance lied.

"I am so sorry to hear that Lance." Lance sighed.

"It's not your fault Twilight." Twilight stared rubbing a hoof on Lances back comfortingly.

"So, do you have any friends waiting for you back home?" That did it. Lance couldn't hold back his tears anymore as he clung to Twilight and cried in her mane. Twilight wrapped her hooves around Lance and held him tightly as she began to cry softly with him. She didn't know why either of them was crying but she suddenly felt the urge to cry with him. When Lance finally calmed down he and Twilight let go of each other.

"Thank you Twilight, I feel much better." Twilight smiled comfortingly at Lance.

"You’re welcome. So, do you feel like answering my question?" Lance sighed

"I guess I have some friends but not much. The closest friend I had was someone named Roy." This peaked Twilight's curiosity, thinking it might be a friendship problem.

"Really? What happened? Did you two have a fight or something?" There was a long pause before Lance finally decided to answer.

"No. He’s dead." Tears started flowing from Lance's eyes once more. Twilight gasped.

"Why?! What happened?!" Lance shook his head.

"I would rather not talk about it. Only thing I can say is that he died a few days ago." Twilight put her hoof to her muzzle as she started to think. Until she put the pieces together.

"Roy was your partner that died on the day you were transported here wasn't he?" Lance looked at Twilight shocked, but then turned to looked at the ground.

"Yes, he was." Twilight sighed.

"I thought you said you didn't know what happened to him." Lance sighed this time.

"I won’t lie, I actually do know how he died but I can't talk about it. It’s too painful to talk about." Twilight nodded

"I understand. Just, from now on be truthful and honest with us. If it’s too difficult for you to talk about something then tell us. Don't lie to us about the truth. I understand that it can be painful but I really don't like it when somepony lies." Lance sighs in understanding

"I understand, I’m sorry Twilight." Twilight smiles.

"It's alright I’m not mad, I just want you to be honest with us. I think I should let you get some rest now. We will talk more when you are ready." But before Twilight could leave Lance pulled her into a tight hug.

"Thank you Twilight for everything." Once Lance let go Twilight's face was flushed and she was fidgeting a little.

"Y-Your welcome Lance. Well, I need to be going so you can rest and I have some important reading to do so I will see you later." Twilight immediately dashed out the room and closed the door behind her with her magic, leaving Lance in a confused state. He immediately shrugged it off and decided to walk around the room for a few minutes.

Twilight ran to her personal library, her face still flushed and heart beating rapidly. Twilight hadn't felt like this before, except when she was around a certain blue haired pegasus in Cadence’s royal guard but these feelings with Lance felt stronger than they did with Flash Sentry. Twilight decided to try and do some reading to get her mind off of the matter. Twilight didn't understand why she was having these emotions. She hardly even knew him, then again she hardly knew Flash and also got feelings for him just as quickly. Twilight shook her head violently, attempting to forget about the subject as she turned back to her books. As Twilight was reading books of Starswirl the Bearded, Spike walked into the Library.

"Hey Twilight. What are you up to?" Spike’s sudden entry startled Twilight causing her to jump slightly but then sigh in relief.

“O-Oh Spike! It’s just you. Nothing just reading some more books on Starswirl." Spike chuckled.

"You are always reading about Starswirl. So how was Lance doing? Did he make it back to his room alright?" Twilight got flustered again at the mention of Lance, instantly bringing back those feelings she had.

"Y-Yes he did Spike! Lance is doing just fine! Still Recovering!" Spike gave Twilight a puzzled look.

"You okay Twilight? You seem a bit off." Twilight started to break out into a nervous sweat.

"O-Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?" Spike start to scratch his chin as he examined Twilight's nervous behaviour.

"Well you seem a bit flustered. What’s going on?" Twilight's eyes began to dart back and forth trying to think of a way out of this conversation. Twilight sighed and hung her head realizing she can't hide it forever and she knew she could confide in her number one assistant without any worries.

"Spike, can you keep a secret?" Spike playfully scoffed.

"Of course I can Twilight." Twilight glared at Spike.

"Spike! This is serious! You can't tell anyone and I mean not ANYONE! Not the princesses! Not our friends, that includes Rarity! And especially not Lance!" Spike's attitude changed from a playful one to a serious and understanding one.

"Alright Twilight. If it means that much to you then I promise that I won’t tell anyone, not even Rarity." Twilight's glare intensified

"Pinkie Promise?" Spike sighed and gestured the Pinkie Promise.

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Twilight sighed in relief as her glare changed to an appreciative smile.

"Thank you Spike. Well you see.. I think I might have feelings for Lance." Spike eyes widened with shock.

"Are you serious?! Wait. What about Flash Sentry? I thought you had a crush on him." Twilight shook her head.

"I did Spike but thing is Flash lives in the Crystal Empire as one of Cadence's royal guard. I live here in Ponyville doing my duties as the Princess of Friendship and it’s not like I can move my castle or the map." Spike started tapping his claw to his chin.

"Hmm good point. But Lance plans on returning to his dimension after he is done with his business here." Twilight sighed

"I know Spike but you heard what the princesses said. There is no guarantee that they can send him back and even if they can it will probably take a LONG time. What if he changes he mind before then?" Spike sat down by Twilight.

"Another good point but still, I don't want you getting your hopes up thinking you will be able to be with him. What if he doesn't like ponies in that way? I’m not trying to get you to change your mind. I just don't want to see you get hurt." Twilight smiled and pulled spike into a hug.

"I know Spike and thank you for worrying. I still haven't decided what to do about it yet. I just needed someone to talk to before it drove me crazy." Spike smiled

"That's what I’m here for Twilight." They both shared a hug before Twilight went back to her reading.

Lance was laying in his bed, resting from his walk around the room. Lance knew he couldn't push himself too much. If he did he wouldn't recover as quickly and the sooner he recovers, the sooner he can really start exercising. Lance stretched as he began to wonder what he was going to do when he came face to face with Roman. Roman. Every time he hears that name it gets his blood boiling. Lance was wondering what Roman was up to right now.

Deep in a familiar cave in the frozen wasteland of the crystal empire, Roman was sitting by a much brighter fire that was created by his new partner Sombre. Sombre appeared out of the shadows with an impatient look on his face.

"So Roman when are you going to fulfill your end of the bargain?" Roman looked at Sombre with an unamused glare.

"Trust me Sombre, if I could, I would, but that will have to wait until I am fully healed. These may not be fatal wounds but they can still jeopardize the plan if I don't rest and let them heal." Sombre took a close look at the injuries caused by Lance's gun and sighed.

"You are right. With these injuries it will definitely make things difficult unless you are fully recovered. My apologies for trying to rush you." Roman sighed

"It's alright. If we want this plan to work there can't be any mistakes. Which reminds me, does it matter how I deal with any obstacles in my way?" Sombre shook his head.

"As long as you don't kill any of the subjects of the Empire, no." an Evil smirk immediately appeared on Roman's face.

"So the subjects are off limits but the rulers are free game?" Sombre realized what his intentions were and adopted an evil smile of his own.

"Yes, you may do what you want with the Princess of Love and her husband." Roman began to chuckle maniacally.

"I think I am going to enjoy this." Echoes could be heard throughout the caves of both Sombre and Roman laughing evilly and maniacally.
> Doctor's Appointment.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lance was lying in bed twiddling his thumbs out of boredom. It had been a few hours since anypony had come into his room to check on him and there was nothing to do while lying in bed like this. Lance had gotten so used to technology that it became hard for him to live without it. Although he is glad that Equestria can survive and function without fancy high tech gadgets. Sure Equestria did have some technology but it was all run by magic, not electricity and fossil fuels. Lance would hate to see Equestria become a polluted like his dimension. Lance decided to get up and walk around for a few minutes to ease his boredom a little. While Lance was walking around the room Twilight and her friends walked into the room. Twilight didn't seem very happy to see Lance up and about.

"Lance! I thought I told you that you need to rest." Lance chuckled nervously.

"Yeah, well, I was bored. I told you I don't like to sit still unless I’m preoccupied with something." Applejack chuckled.

"I can understand how ya feel sugercube. I don't like to sit around doing nothing either. Not unless I’m reading a book." Lance nodded in agreement.

"See! A.J. gets me!" Twilight groaned in annoyance.

"Even so Lance you have to rest to recover. You do want to become the first of my personal guard don't you?" Lance sighed.

"Dammit. Why do you have to be so smart?" Twilight giggled.

"I just am. Now come on. Back to the bed you go." Twilight uses her magic to levitate Lance back to bed. Lance groaned in disappointment.

"You're no fun." Everyone else started to laugh.

"Well if you want to keep yourself busy sugercube, I have some apples that need peeling and cutting to make some apple pie. I can bring them over and you can help me out." Lance eagerly nodded.

"Anything to cure this boredom, I can’t stand just laying here and doing nothing." Applejack chuckled.

"Alrighty then, I’ll be right back with those apples." Applejack trotted off to Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight giggled and shook her head.

"In the mean time I will bring you some books to read to help keep you occupied." Lance nodded.

"That sounds great actually. I know a lot about this world from watching the show back home but there are still some things I don't know yet so learning more about Equestrian history could really help me in a lot of ways." Twilight Squeed with joy as she flew and hovered in front of Lance.

"That's a great idea! Ooh I love teaching others! This is going to be so much fun!" Twilight flew out towards the library to get her teaching materials which caused Lance to chuckle. Lance always finds it cute and adorable when Twilight gets excited. It wasn't bubbly like Pinkie Pie but Lance could still see the fiery passion burning inside Twilight every time she got excited about something. Lance had yet to notice that he was blushing but soon realized he was when the others began to smile and giggle at him.

"I must say darling you were turning into a beautiful shade of rouge. It was most becoming. What was going through that head of yours?" Rainbow continued to laugh however.

"I bet he has a crush on Twilight." Lance began to blush once more, but kept his composer.

"Don't be ridiculous. I just always find it adorable when anybody shows a passion for something they like." Rainbow only continued to laugh, until Fluttershy stepped in.

"Alright girls that's enough. I do the same thing when somepony hugs me or even gets too close to me." Rainbow looked at Fluttershy 
confusingly.

"Yeah, but that's because you’re shy Flutters." Fluttershy folded her hoofs.

"How is that any different Rainbow? That's the reason I blush. His is just as reasonable. Twilight does it when she is forgetful or when she overreacts, Applejack does it when she is nervous, Rarity does it when she is embarrassed, Pinkie Pie never blushes as far as we know, and you blush when you have been proven wrong." Rainbow begins to blush proving Fluttershy's point.

"OK, OK you’re right. I’m sorry for teasing you Lance. You know I was just playing around right?" Lance chuckled.

"Of course Rainbow. I just didn't want any false information getting leaked." They all nodded in understanding.

"Trust us darling. Even if you did have a crush on Twilight we wouldn't go tell anypony. Not even her if it made you feel uncomfortable." Lance smiled appreciatively.

"Thank you and honestly if I did like anyone I would rather tell them myself." They all smiled understandingly.

"Of course darling. By the way here are your new garments. Please get that sketch to me as soon as possible so I can fix your uniform." He nodded as the others left, no sooner did they leave than Twilight entered.

"Alright, I have everything we need to help you learn Equestrian history. Shall we begin?" Lance chuckled as he gave her a thumbs up.

"Yes we shall." Twilight Squeed again as she began to teach lance about Equestrian history.


Twilight had expected Lance to fall asleep during her lesson but to her surprised he stayed awake the entire time. Twilight learned with Rainbow that a lot of creatures learn differently. However, even with ponies that learned the same way she did, they still fell asleep on her. This demonstrated that her lessons are too boring or not captivating enough. Yet here Lance was, staying awake and paying attention to everything she said. He was even taking notes down here and there. It was a nice change that someone was finally interested in her lectures. Lance wasn't even afraid to let her know when he didn't understand something and that he would need her to simplify it. Twilight rather enjoyed teaching Lance and she can't deny that she is enjoying the attention she is getting. Sadly all good things must come to an end. While Twilight and Lance continued his studying and lecture Applejack enter the bedroom with quite a few barrels being dragged behind her.

"Alright Lance ready to get- Oh hey Twilight you teaching Lance something?" Twilight puffed up happily and proudly

"Yes! I am teaching him about Equestrian history." Applejack looked at Lance with shock and amazement.

"And he hasn't fallen asleep from it? He has some mighty strong will power." Applejack laughs while Twilight gives her an unamused glare. Lance assumed it was an inside joke and just stayed out of it. Twilight sighed a bit, saddened and yet content that the study session is ending.

"This was a lovely lesson Lance shall we pick up where we left off another time?" Lance nodded excitedly.

"You bet Twi! That was very informative and I really enjoyed it!" Twilight Squeed excitedly.

"R-Really?!" Lance smiled softly.

"Of course Twilight. I had fun studying and learning with you. I’m looking forward to another study session. I’m eagerly waiting for it!" Twilight nodded and smiled softly as she began to leave the room carrying her things out. Twilight left just in time before Lance could see the tears forming in her eyes and the huge blush forming on her face. Applejack chuckled after Twilight left the room and closed the door behind her.

"You’ve got no idea just how happy you made her right now Lance." Lance looked at Applejack confused.

"What do you mean Applejack?" Applejack looked towards the door.

"Every time Twilight tries to give a lecture to other ponies they always either fall asleep on her or just goof around ignoring her lectures.  Even we have done it some of the time. It's not that we mean to, it's just that her lectures aren't fun enough. Even other ponies who are like her can agree with us, so she never looked forward to lecturing anyone because of that." Lance scratched his head.

"So basically what you’re saying is?" Applejack sighed as she sat down beside Lance. He and Applejack started peeling the apples.

"What I’m saying, Lance, is that you’re the first one to ever not only stay awake during her lessons but to actually give your full attention to her. I don't know how long you two were studying for but from how happy Twilight looked it was obviously for a while. Lance you basically made her love lecturing again." Lance's blank expression turned into a soft smile as he continued to peel.

"I’m glad I did. I always enjoyed seeing Twilight having that amazing smile on her muzzle." Applejack chuckled and Lance looked at her strangely.

"Looks like I wasn't imagining things." That only confused Lance even more.

"What are you talking about?" Applejack gave him a knowing smirk.

"You have a crush on Twilight." This causes Lance to turn bright red.

"H-How did you?" Applejack laughed.

"Truth is... I didn't until just now that is." He glared at Applejack as she laughed even harder. He softened his glare and began to laugh with her.

"Alright you got me. I have a crush on Twilight, but you can't tell anyone not even your family not the others, especially not Twilight." Applejack nodded

"Alright, I promise as the spirit of the element of honesty. I will not tell anyone." Lance chuckles.

"Good enough. Now why don't we peel the rest of these apples shall we?" Applejack smiled in agreement as she and Lance continued to peel and cut up the apples.

After a few hours Lance and Applejack get finished peeling and cutting the apples.  Applejack takes the slices to Twilight's kitchen to make some apple pie for a bake sale that they are preparing for. While they are making the pies Lance grabs a blank sheet of paper and a quill with ink and begins to draw the designs for the Police uniform for Rarity to repair. After drawing the designs for the uniform Lance grabs one of the books Twilight left behind to brush up on some information on being a royal guard. Lance has seen the show and seen how some guards act but he doesn't want to act like an emotionless statue like from the show. Lance begins to take down notes as he is reading to make sure he can remember all of the information he needs to be a royal guard. As Lance is writing down some information Twilight enters Lance's room.

"I see you are making use of those books." Lance chuckles.

"Well, I need to make sure I have all of the information I need while I’m living in Equestria. By the way can you take this to Rarity? It's the designs for my Police uniform." Twilight nodded as she took the sketch from Lance. When she looked at the sketch she blushed.

"Oh my! This uniform looks amazing. I might have this be your uniform for when you become part of my royal guard." Lance smiled in approval.

"I would be honored for that to be my royal guard uniform princess." Twilight giggled.

"No formalities when you become part of my royal guard either. You are one of my friends and I won’t have my friends treating me like I am better than them." Lance laughs as he nods.

"Alright Twilight." Twilight smiles triumphantly.

"Good. By the way I set you up a doctor’s appointment for tomorrow so you better get some rest." Lance groaned.

"Aww, come on! I don't need to go to the doctors to get better." Twilight just rolled her eyes.

"If you want to heal FASTER, then yes you do!" Lance was about to protest but then realized who he was talking to and Twilight did also have a point.

"Fair enough. Alright, I better get some sleep then. Good night Twilight." Twilight smiled appreciatively.

"Good night Lance. Sleep tight." As Twilight left the room Lance put his book and notes away and turned off the light and laid down as he drifted off to peaceful slumber.

The next morning came by quickly. Lance yawned and stretched as he woke up. Lance checked the clock in his room and saw it was 9 A.M. Not too late, yet not too early. Twilight never mentioned when the doctor's appointment was so either she will come and get him when it is time for them to leave or the doctor is coming here. Lance noticed a note and a hot cup of coffee beside his bed. Lance picked up the note. It read:

Good morning Lance.
Your doctor's appointment isn't until one in the afternoon so here is a hot cup of coffee for you. Applejack will be by very soon to bring you some fresh apple pie for breakfast as a thank you for helping her out. You and I will be walking to the hospital since I am sure you want to walk so badly. See you then!
From Twilight.

Lance chuckled as he started to drink his cup of coffee. No sooner did he start than Applejack walked in with a hot fresh apple pie.

"Well good morning Lance! Glad to see you are awake. I baked this whole apple pie just for you for helping me out yesterday." Lance smile appreciatively.

"Thank you Applejack, though you didn't have to. I’m just glad I’m able to help out for you girls taking care of me." Applejack scoffed.

"Ah horse feathers! We helped you because we wanted to and it was the right thing to do. It wouldn't be right to make you pay us back for doing the right thing." Lance nodded understandingly as he took the apple pie.

"Your right. I’m sorry, it’s just that's usually how it works in my world. I never do that but most people do so you tend to expect it." Applejack shook her head in disappointment.

"Rarity is right your world does sound terrible. Are you sure ya want to go back to that awful place sugercube? Ya know y’all are more than welcome to stay here, plus we both know you would miss Twilight a lot." Lance blushes and scratches the back of his head for a moment but then sigh.

"Trust me Applejack, I would love to but I don't belong here, plus I have put you all in danger bringing Roman here." Applejack's anger grew as she stomped her hoof on the ground.

"Enough of that talk ya hear?! It’s not your fault that Roman is here! And who says you don't belong?! Me and my family have an old saying: *Everything happens for a reason.* So don't you go and keep saying you don't belong here because if you didn't then ya would have died in that explosion. And ya wouldn't have come here!" Lance looks at Applejack with shock and amazement and then begins to ponder what she said.

"You’re right Applejack, still I don't know if I want to stay or go back. Remember A.J. that world maybe cruel and horrible but it is still my home, the place I was born." Applejack nodded.

"I can understand you going back for that reason but not because ya think y’all don't belong here. Just think about it alright. We would sure miss you if you left, especially Twilight. After yesterday I’m sure she considers you a very close friend by now and I wouldn't be surprised if she had a crush on you too." Lance blushed once again.

"Alright, I will think about it." Applejack smiled.

"Good. Now I’ll let you eat your pie and drink your coffee before it gets cold." Applejack trotted off as Lance began to devour his breakfast.
Lance checked the clock and saw it was noon. If Lance knew Twilight like he thought he did then she would probably be here to pick him up by 12:30 p.m. Just enough time for him to get ready. Lance went to the bathroom next to his room and decided to take a quick shower. Lance took his time and washed his injuries carefully. By the time he got out, got dressed, and brushed his teeth and hair it was 12:25. p.m. Lance got back to his bed and put his shoes back on, before he could do that though he realized he had to bandage his leg up again. Lance took his pants off again and proceeded to bandage up is leg. As he was bandaging up his leg Twilight entered the room.

"Good afternoon Lance! It's time to-" But before Twilight could finish her sentence she noticed that Lance was in his boxers. Lance’s face immediately began to turn red. Twilight noticed him blushing but didn't understand why, until she remembered his explanation from the meeting of why humans wear clothes. Twilight's face immediately began to turn red herself and she quickly exited the room. Twilight then heard laughter coming from behind her and saw Spike laying on the floor laughing.

"That was priceless! I can't believe you just barged in on him half naked!" Twilight began to blush again.

"S-Shut up Spike! I expected him to be ready when I came to get him!" Spike looked at her confused.

"You really expect him to be finished with his injuries the way they are?" Twilight was about to speak again, but realized she was out smarted.

"Good point. Maybe I should knock from now on." Spike chuckled.

"That would probably be a smart idea." Twilight and Spike heard Lance's door open and saw him stepping out. Twilight blushed when she saw him again.

"Sorry for barging in like that Lance. I didn't know you were still changing." Lance laughed.

"It's alright Twilight you didn't see anything inappropriate so no harm done." Twilight sighed in relief as she and Lance made their way to the Doctors in Ponyville.

On their way to the doctor's Lance was getting quite a few strange looks.

"This is going to take a while to get used to." Twilight giggled.

"Don't worry they are more curious than afraid. They can see that you are with me so I doubt they’ll make any trouble. Well with the exception of some small fillies but nothing I can't handle." Twilight smiled and winked at Lance which caused him to blush a little, but was able to conceal it before Twilight noticed.

Once they reached the doctor’s office both Lance and Twilight noticed that Zecora was there.

"Zecora?!" Both Lance and Twilight said in unison. Zecora smiled and waved as she walked up to Lance and Twilight.

"It is alright Princess Twilight. The Princesses, Fluttershy, and I had a conversation, they told me of the situation. I am here to help in any way I can, I have a plan to help this young man." Twilight beamed with happiness.

"Thank you so much Zecora!" Zecora smiled.

"There is no need to thank me Twilight. I am glad to help with his plight. It is so good to finally meet you at last, forgive me for your name I haven't asked." Lance chuckled. Lance has always enjoyed Zecora's rhymes with how they bring a comforting wisdom to them.

"My name is Lance. It’s nice to finally meet you as well Zecora." Lance reached his hand out and shook Zecora's hoof.

"Ah yes, I was told of your knowledge of us Lance, would it be possible for me to come by later to discuss your unfortunate circumstance?" Both Lance and Twilight nodded.

"Of course Zecora. Now I believe I’m here for an appointment." Zecora nodded.

"Yes both me and Nurse Redheart will take a look at you; we don't know anything of your species so with what medicines we have we will have to make do." Twilight nods.

"We understand Zecora. Anything you can do to help will be much appreciated." Zecora nods as she takes Lance and Twilight to Nurse Redheart for her and Zecora to examine Lance.

The examination went a lot better than expected. Zecora and Nurse Redheart were able to work together to come up with some medicine to help speed up the healing process of Lances ribs and leg to only a week. Lance had no arguments over that, Lance would rather lay in bed a whole week than a whole month or longer. Lance just has to take 2 types of medication. When they returned to the castle Lance took his medicine which was already helping out a lot. They were bitter but as they say the best medicines always taste bitter. After a long day Lance decided he would study tomorrow and gets some rest. Lance had a feeling that tomorrow was going to be a long day.
> Heading to the Crystal Empire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deep inside the cave on the outskirts of the Crystal Empire, Roman was sitting by the fire cooking some food that Sombre had brought for him. Roman still wasn't in very good shape. Although he wasn't dying he still was in no condition to carry out their plan. Roman knew what he was going to do but he also knew he couldn't just waltz into the Empire and steal the Crystal Heart, nor could he attempt to take out the rulers when first entering the empire. No, Roman had to get close to them. He had to find out their weaknesses and steal the Crystal Heart while undetected but that would be easier said than done. If he did that he would have to go in disguise as a pony from the empire but that would be impossible, unless he could get one of the guards or someone close to the rules to go missing and take his place but how? Roman was currently in thought when Sombre appeared.

"How much longer do you think it will take you to heal those wounds?" Roman sighed.

"It could take at least 3 weeks. I may not be dying but they could become fatal if I move around too much. Can't you use a spell to heal me faster?" Sombre shook is head.

"No I cannot. Though I am able to use normal magic, healing magic isn't something I can do, but there is a way we can get those wounds healed faster. I also figured we could use this as an opportunity to infiltrate the Crystal Empire. If you walked in looking as you do they might try to attack you out of fear." Roman nodded.

"I have thought about that myself, plus if Lance is still alive he will warn them about me for sure if he ever goes there." Sombre looked at Roman confused.

"Lance?" Roman nodded again.

"Yes. He is the other human that was transported here along with me. Though I have no clue if he is alive or not and if he is he will try to warn them about me so I need a disguise." Sombre cackled.

"Well it just so happens that there are some ponies on their way to the Crystal Empire to be trained under the current Crystaller, Sunburst. So we need to capture one of them and then have you pose as one of them but before you can head to the Crystal Empire I will need to teach you how to use your magic so you will be able to correctly impersonate this pony. But first you will need to have them heal your injuries so we will be able to move forward with our plan." Roman smiled evilly.

"Perfect. Can you tell me their exact location." Sombre nodded.

"All of them made it to the Crystal Empire except one he is a good few miles away close to this location. It seems he may have got lost in the storm." Roman began to think.

"Hmm. Maybe I can go out there and get him to heal me. I just have to make him think I am dying and he should help me. Since I don't know where the Crystal Empire is I can let him know that I don't know where it is located at but I can take him to this cave to shelter us until the storm dies down a little." Sombre grinned.

"And that's when we take care of him and turn you into him to take his place. But the question is how fast are you at learning things?" Roman smirked.

"If magic is anything like science then it should only take me a day." Sombre chuckled.

"Excellent. Let’s get this plan under way then." Roman nodded as he got up and walked into the blizzard.

About 2 to 3 miles away from the cave Crystal Clear, the pony Sombre spoke about was lost in the blizzard. Crystal Clear was trying to find some shelter out of the storm or find the Crystal Empire whichever happened first.

"What the hay is with this storm? I heard the weather around the Crystal Empire was crazy but this is ridiculous! Hey wait... What is that?" 
Crystal Clear saw some weird bipedal creature approaching from the storm but he couldn't make out what it was. All he could tell was it had very little fur or hair and it seemed to be injured. The creature collapsed and Crystal Clear approached with worry and caution. When he got close enough he saw a few holes in the creature with blood coming from them.

"P-Please help me.." The creature looked pleadingly at him.

Crystal didn't think this creature meant any harm. Crystal charged up his magic and scanned him for all of the problems he had. When Crystal scanned him he noticed that this creature had 3 strange metallic objects inside his wounds. Crystal figured these were the cause of the injuries and used his magic to pull them out. When he did the creature screamed in agony as more blood began pouring from his wounds. Crystal Clear immediately began to heal the creature. As Crystal was healing him the pain in the creature began to subside. Once Crystal Clear was done healing him the creature stood up.

"Are you alright? Who and what in Equestria are you?" The creature began to wipe the snow off of its clothes.

"I am a human and my name is Roman. If you hadn't come along I would have eventually died from these injuries." Crystal looked at Roman confused.

"What's a human and how would you have died from those injuries? They didn't seem that serious." Roman shook his head.

"Maybe not but if those bullets had stayed in me for too long I could have gotten tetanus which is a bad bacteria build up that can slowly kill someone over time. You can get tetanus from a bullet or a rusty metallic object. As for information on what I am I suggest that wait until we get to some shelter." Crystal Clear nodded.

"I see. Then it's a good thing I came a long when I did, but where are we going to find some shelter?" Roman pointed in the direction he came from.

"In that direction there is a cave where we can hide until the storm ends. That's where I have been hiding for a while but I knew I needed to find help or I would have died." Crystal Clear sighed in relief.

"Thank the princesses! Come on let's get out of this storm. Lead the way! Oh! By the way my name is Crystal Clear." Both Roman and Crystal Clear started heading towards the cave and Roman turned just before Crystal Clear could see the evil grin on his face.

Once they make it to the cave Roman begins to lead Crystal Clear to the back of the cave.

"Come on. I just left not too long ago so the fire I started should be going." Crystal Clear was feeling a little uneasy so he started to proceed with caution.

"Are you sure this place is safe?" Roman nodded.

"I have been staying here for almost a week and nothing has happened to me yet. I got those injuries when I arrived here." Roman finished as they reached the fire in the back of the cave.

"Now that you bring that up HOW did you get here?" Roman simply grinned as they heard an evil cackled echo through the cave.

"This human's backstory is the least of your worries." Crystal Clear heard a voice coming from the direction of the entrance and only exit. He turned and around and his eyes were filled with horror at what he saw, King Sombre!

"K-King S-Sombre! What are you doing here?!" Sombre chuckled.

"To take care of something." Crystal Clear gulped as he prepared for an attack from Sombre.

"Come on Roman! We have to get out of here!" When Crystal looked behind him and saw Roman with an evil grin on his face.

"You fell right into our trap Crystal Clear. I will be taking your identity now." Crystal Clear backed up from Roman and back up against the wall as he was looking back and forth between Roman and Sombre.

"Y-You two are working together?! Why do you want my identity?" Roman laughed maniacally.

"So I can infiltrate the Crystal Empire and once I gain the trust of those pathetic rulers I will steal the Crystal Heart and take out the rulers so Sombre can take over once again!" Both Roman and Sombre were drawing in closer to Crystal Clear.

"W-Why are you telling me all of this? You know revealing your plan to me can jeopardize everything for you." Roman just chuckled maliciously.

"Why? It's simply really. Because you aren't going to live long enough to tell anyone of our plans!" Before Crystal Clear could respond or make an attack, Roman hit him against his head with a rock and continued to repeatedly hit him with the rock until his horn broke off and his brains were all over the cave floor. All the while Roman was laughing maniacally and psychotically while Sombre looked on in great delight.

"Excellent Roman. Now he can't tell anyone of our plans. You also managed to break off his horn. This will prove most useful." Sombre Levitated Crystal Clear’s horn and then zapped Crystal Clear's cutie mark transferring it to the horn. After doing so the horn began to glow  with a purple and green aura, transforming it into a staff and levitating it to Roman.

"What's this for?" Sombre smirked.

"This staff will allow you to use magic even in your present state. Think of it as a magical conduit for you to use magic. It is connected to your mind which is how you will use magic. Once you take the form of Crystal Clear this staff will transform and become your horn. So in a sense it is a part of you now. This staff will only work for the one who killed Crystal Clear. So basically it will only work for you." Roman examined the staff closely and smiled mischievously.

"This will come in handy in deed. Especially when taking out the rulers." Sombre cackled.

"Exactly. Living in this world makes things easier if you have magic at your disposal. Speaking of magic the sooner you learn how to use it the sooner we can continue to the next phase of our plan." Roman nodded.

"Alright. Let's get started." Roman said as he and Sombre began his training.



Back at the Castle of Friendship Lance and Twilight were currently in the middle of another study session.

"So Lance have you got all of this information soaked in yet?" Lance nodded.

"I sure do Twilight very informative. I never knew organizing my notes like this would make it easier to study and remember them!" Twilight beamed happily as she erased the board.

"Shall we continue with the next lesson?" Lance happily nodded.

"Yes we shall." Twilight and Lance were just about to start on their next lesson when Twilight's pupil entered.

"Hey Twilight! I was looking for you. I am back from- Who and what is that?!" Twilight's pupil ran and hid behind her.

"Oh! Starlight you’re back! Perfect timing.  Starlight Glimmer this is Lance, he is a human and Lance I am sure you already know who she is." Lance chuckled as he nodded.

"Yes your student Starlight Glimmer. I take it you were visiting Trixie? Or was it Sunburst?" Starlight looked in awe at Lance.

"H-How does he know about me? Does he know about what I did?" Twilight nodded.

"I am sure he does but I can guarantee you that he isn't going to judge you for it." Starlight nodded as she cautiously approached Lance.

"H-Hi there. It’s nice to meet you." Starlight slowly stuck her hoof out and Lance chuckled as he took her hoof and shook it.

"There is no need to fear me Starlight. It's nice to finally meet you too. As Twilight said I am Lance and very soon I will be the first of Twilight's royal guard. I believe that would make me captain of your royal guard wouldn't it?" Twilight nodded.

"I see. Well if Twilight thinks you’re alright then I believe it's safe to assume you aren't bad. How did you get to Equestria? I have been all over Equestria and I have never seen a human before. Where did you come from?" Lance sighed as he put up his notes.

"You might want to sit down for this Starlight this is going to be a long story." Starlight pulled up a chair and sat down as Lance explained the whole situation to Starlight including the information about Roman and the death of Roy. When Lance finished Starlight was in tears.

"That's one of the saddest stories I ever heard. I’m sorry this has happened to you." Lance sighs.

"It's alright Starlight. You aren't to blame. Besides at least I ended up in a world I know and love."Lance smiled reassuringly which caused Twilight and Starlight to smile.

"We are glad to hear that Lance. Why don't we take a break from studying? That way you can stretch your legs and I can talk with my pupil about her visit with Trixie." Lance nodded.

"Alright. You know Twilight, since I need to learn more about being a royal guard and I am going to be captain of your royal guard... Why don’t we take a trip to the Crystal Empire tomorrow so I can get some tips and training from Shining Armor." Twilight squeed.

"That's a great idea! Plus that will give you a chance to see my cute little niece in person! And I’m sure Starlight would like to visit with Sunburst again." Starlight blushed as she nodded.

Well now I know for a fact that Starlight's relationship with Sunburst can be considered cannon now. Lance thought. "Sounds great Twi. I can't wait to meet your family!" With that Lance went for a walk around the Castle while Starlight and Twilight went to the library to talk



Back at the cave Sombre was continuing to train Roman with his magic.

"You are progressing very well Roman far better than I had expected. Now try to transform into Crystal Clear." Roman nodded as he used his staff to transform into Crystal Clear.

"Well looks like I have control of my magic." Sombre nodded.

"Indeed but now try to use your magic while in this form it will be much more difficult to control with you in this form. Let's see if you can handle it." Roman smirked as he channelled the magic into his horn and began to levitate things as he teleported around the cave.

"As I said I have control of it now." Sombre looked at Roman in shock but then chuckled evilly.

"You certainly do, and in only 4 hours no less. Very impressive. I might want to make you my court wizard at this rate" Roman shook his head.

"I wouldn't mind that but first things first to get your empire back and THEN get my revenge!" Sombre cackled.

"Of course. I understand you’re anxious and you will have your revenge as soon as I have my empire back. It may take time to gather the materials needed to build a portal and gain enough power strong enough to do it but I will help you get your revenge." Roman chuckled evilly.

"Then let's get this plan under way. Which direction is the empire?" Sombre pointed to the west.

"In that direction about 20 miles. It shouldn't take you too long being disguised as Crystal Clear. If you make haste it will only take you about 10 minutes or so. When you arrive you should be greeted by Sunburst. Remember you are a Crystaller in training so whatever Sunburst says, you do for now until it is time to strike. Should you run into the other human you mentioned, avoid conversation if possible if not then just act casual." Roman nodded.

"Trust me I know what I should do. I may be a scientist but I have also committed many crimes in my dimension and never got caught." Sombre scoffed.

“Maybe so but remember this plan cannot have any setbacks. Failure is not an option." Roman cackled.

"Trust me I will not fail. I have just as much riding on this as you do. By the time I am through the rulers will be gone and the empire will be yours once again." Sombre nodded.

"Very well now get going. The sooner you can get there the better." Roman smirked as he took off towards the empire.

After about 15 minutes of trotting, Roman could the see the Crystal Empire coming into view along with a group of ponies standing at the edge of the empire. About 4 of them. The pony standing in the front seemed to have a superior look about him and he seemed to also have a concerned look on his face. Roman made the assumption that he must be Sunburst and the other 3 ponies are also training under Sunburst to become Crystallers.

"Crystal Clear! "Where have you been?!" Roman stopped in front of Sunburst pretending to be exhausted.

"Sorry sir. I got lost in the Storm and I had to find shelter until it died down a little." Roman lied as Sunburst sighed out of relief.

"That was a smart decision but next time stay with the group and don't fall behind. The weather out there can be treacherous." Roman nodded.

"Yes sir." Sunburst smiled.

"Good now let's get to the castle. I am sure you must be exhausted. Starting tomorrow we will begin all of you on your training. Understand?" The other trainees stood in attention.

"Yes sir!" The Trainees said in unison along with Roman as they made their way to the castle. Everything was going smoothly.



It was the next morning, Lance woke up with a spring in his step, being excited to go visit the Crystal Empire along with Shining Armor, Cadence and their baby Flurryheart. As if knowing Lance was awake, Spike walked in with some breakfast for Lance.

"Ah! I figured you would be awake. So I figured I would bring you some breakfast." Lance smile appreciatively.

"Thanks Spike. Yeah I’m REALLY excited about going to the Crystal Empire. I have always wanted to meet Shining Armor, Cadence and Flurryheart! I am sure you are excited to get back to the citizens of the Empire who look up to you." Lance smirked as Spike blushed from embarrassment.

"I almost forgot you know a lot about our past. Not going to lie, I am excited for that but also I do want to see Shining Armor too." Lance nodded.

"I don't blame you. Just like Twilight being like a sister to you Shining Armor must also be like a big brother to you." Spike beamed.

"He sure is! Well I am going to let you eat your breakfast. We will be leaving for the empire in a couple of hours." But before Spike could leave, Lance stopped him.

"Actually Spike I was wondering if you could help me carry my food to the dining hall so I can eat with all of you." Spike smiled and saluted Lance as he started carrying his food for him.

"You got it! Come on lets go." Lance happily nodded as he followed Spike to the dining hall.

After eating breakfast Lance went to go and get ready. Within a couple of hours they were off to the Crystal Empire. The train ride was a bit long but Lance enjoyed the quality time he was getting with his new friends. Even Starlight was warming up to him pretty quickly. Once they disembarked all sorts of Ponies were gawking at Lance. It honestly made him feel uncomfortable but reassuring smiles from Twilight and Spike made them smile in return and even wave at Lance. Lance was really happy that Equestria was accepting him pretty quickly. He was starting to think more and more about staying in Equestria. Getting to the castle took longer than expected because a bunch of ponies came to greet Twilight and more specifically Spike, or as they call him Spike the Great. Lance always found it funny and nice that Spike got a lot of appreciation and praise for his actions. He rarely gets any except from Twilight and Rarity. But after a few autographs and ponies thanking Spike for saving the empire, Lance, Twilight, Spike, and Starlight made their way to the castle.



Roman got up and noticed he was still in his disguise. Roman was worried that it would have vanished once he had fallen asleep but it seemed that Roman would stay like this until he undoes the spell. Roman noticed the others were already up and around and began to go looking around the castle until he found them in the mess hall.

"About time you got up Crystal Clear! We were wondering how long you were going to be out for." Roman chuckled.

"Yeah getting lost in a snow storm can really take it out of you." The others chuckled as they got back to their meals.

After breakfast they met up with Sunburst in the throne room.

"Here are the new ponies I will be training to become Crystallers your highnesses." Cadence and Shining Armor began to smile as they looked at Roman and the trainees.

"They definitely look very qualified. I am sure you will do a great job in training them Sunburst." Cadence smiled at Sunburst, the trainees and Roman. Sunburst nodded as they began to leave the throne room.

"Alright, as Crystallers you will need to learn about the main artifact that makes you a Crystaller. The Crystal Heart." Roman smirk as they made their way to the Crystal Heart, but as they were walking down the hall Roman saw something that confirmed his suspicions. Lance! He WAS still alive! Roman knew if he didn't take care of Lance, then he would get in his way, but taking action now would be WAY too risky so Roman just continued to walk by them with the others. Roman had to come up with a plan to take care of Lance and he would have to let Sombre know of the situation. Things may be a bit harder than he thought.
> Lesson's About Being A Royal Guard
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lance, Twilight, Spike, and Starlight were all coming up on the castle. The castle seemed a lot bigger in person than it did in the show. In fact a lot of things seem slightly different than what they were from the show. Nothing that changes any big important details, only that certain things seemed smaller or bigger than they did in the show. As Lance and the others approached the castle one of the guards seemed a bit on edge. Lance has seen this stallion plenty of times from the show. It was Flash Sentry and he seemed to be very wary of Lance, but still seemed happy to see Twilight, which caused Lance to feel a bit jealous.

"Hey Twilight! Good to see you how have you been?" Flash lightly bowed and smiled warmly which caused Twilight to blush very lightly.

"I am great Flash. I am sorry to cut this conversation short but me and my friends need to see Shining Armor and Cadence." Flash lifted his 
brow as he looked at Lance.

"Even this... thing?" Lance sighed as Spike and Starlight looked at him with sympathy. Twilight on the other hand became agitated at Flash's words.

"He is not a thing Flash! He might look strange but he is my friend and soon to be the captain of my royal guard so I would appreciate it if you did not disrespect him!" Flash took a step back while Lanced looked on bewildered that Twilight raised her voice at Flash like that.

"I-I’m sorry Twilight but as you said he is strange and we haven't seen anything like him. I am just trying to protect you and the citizens and the rulers of the crystal empire." Twilight sighed.

"I understand that Flash but that still doesn't change that fact that you were rude and if you should be apologizing to someone you should be apologizing to him." Twilight pointed at Lance and Flash nodded in understanding.

"I apologize Mr?" Lance chuckled.

"It's Lance and Apology accepted." Flashed nodded and let Lance and the others through.

As they were walking down the halls Starlight caught a glimpse of Sunburst and began to excitedly wave to him. Sunburst spotted Starlight and happily waved back before he ran ahead of his trainee's and gave her a hug. Lance's heart melted at the sight and could tell that they like each other but he was sure neither of them knew that the other one like them. Sunburst gave a little small talk but had to leave after being introduced to Lance so he could put his trainees through training. One of the trainees in particular kept eyeballing Lance. Lance could see that this pony definitely did not like him. Lance knew there was going to be some who didn't so he just shrugged it off, not caring. Little did Lance know that the pony eyeballing him was Roman in disguise and now that Roman's suspicions of Lance's survival were confirmed Roman knew he would have to be extra careful not to give himself away now.

Twilight was happily trotting ahead with Spike while Lance walked a little behind with Starlight. Starlight was staring longingly at Sunburst as he was walking away. Lance nudged her a little and she looked at him confused as he gave her a knowing smirk.

"What?" Lance chuckled.

"Don't try to play dumb. I can already tell you have feelings for Sunburst." Starlight blushed heavily.

"Y-You could tell?" Lance laughed.

"I’m actually surprised Twilight hasn't caught on. If you like him, why don't you tell him?" Starlight sighed.

"If only it was that simple. What if he doesn't like me back and if he does where do we go from there?" Lance shook with head with a small smile.

"If he doesn't like you like that then I promise you that you two can still be friends. If he does like you then try going out on a few dates and see where it goes from there. Love isn't something that needs to be rushed. Just take your time and enjoy the time you spend together." Starlight smiles dreamily in Sunburst's direction.

"Your right. Thank you Lance." Lance smile.

"You’re welcome Starlight. Now what's say we catch back up with Twilight? I am sure we’ll be approaching the throne room any minute now." Starlight giggled and nodded as they ran to catch up with Twilight and Spike.

After a few more minutes of walking Lance, Twilight, Spike, and Starlight came up to the throne room where Shining Armor and Cadence were reading some documents. Cadence stopped reading for a moment and spotted Twilight.

"Twilight!" Both Twilight and Cadence ran up to each other and did their special friendship dance that Lance knew and loved from the show.

"Sunshine! Sunshine! Ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" Both Twilight and Cadence said in unison and hugged afterwards. Shining Armor also saw Twilight and Spike. While Twilight was hugging Cadence Spike went up to greet Shining Armor.

"Hey Shining!" Shining Armor smiled and pulled spike into a hug.

"Hey little bro how have you been?" Spike beamed as he returned the hug.

"I’ve been great. I brought along some new comics we can read together!" Shining Armor smiled.

"Sounds awesome. I am looking forward to it." Shining Armor then turned to Twilight and gave her a hug.

"How have you been BBBFF?" Shining chuckled.

"I have been great Twiley and you?" Twilight beamed.

"I have been great Shining! I have a new friend I want to introduce you both to." Twilight gestures to Lance. Lance waves and smiles at them. Both Cadence and Shining Armor gawked at him for a few moments but then smiled as they both approached him.

"Hello Lance. It’s nice to meet you." Lance looked at them strangely.

"Wait how do you know about me?" They both chuckled.

"My aunt's Celestia and Luna have told us about you ahead of time. To spare us the shock." Lance crossed his arms and looked a bit annoyed.

"Darn those two. Spoiled my fun!" Everyone began to laugh, including Lance.

"We were quite surprised though when they told us the story. You should have seen Shining's reaction when they told us.” Cadence giggled.

"I still can't believe that we are just a fictional show for entertainment in your dimension." Lance shrugged.

"My world would say the same thing about your dimension being real." Twilight walked and stood beside Lance.

"At least that prevented a long explanation." Twilight's stomach began to grumble.

"I’m so sorry you all must be hungry. Come let’s get you all a snack to tide you over until dinner and don't worry Lance we know you don't eat grass so we will get you some fruits." Lance nodded.

"Thank you Princess." Cadence smiled.

"Just call me Cadence. Any friend of Twilight's is a friend of mine." Lance smiled back as they followed Shining and Cadence.

Instead of eating in the dining hall they grabbed their snacks and headed to Shining Armor's and Cadence's reading room for some peace and quiet. Shining and Cadence loved the Crystal Empire and their citizens but when it came to family, they didn't want to be disturbed unless it was a dire emergency. Twilight enjoyed being here as well but she and Lance was here for more than to visit Cadence and Shining Armor.

"By the way Shining Lance was wondering if you could give him some lessons on being a royal guard. You see Lance is going to be the Captain of my royal guard and he wants to make sure he is prepared. Just don't go too hard on him. He is still recovering from his injuries." Shining smirked at Lance.

"That's very admirable of you. I’ll teach you what I know." Lance smiled appreciatively. Cadence whispers in Twilight's ear.

"What about Flash Sentry? Didn't you want to make him the Captain of your royal guard? So he can be close to you because you had feelings for him" Twilight blushed.

"Well he is cute Cadence but I don't feel for him that way anymore. Plus Lance needs the position more than Flash does." Cadence gave a knowing smirk to Twilight.

"If you say so Twilight. He certainly does look like he would make an excellent captain for your guard." Twilight sighed dreamily as she looked longingly at Lance.

"Yes he does." Lance looked at Twilight confusingly. Twilight realized that Lance had caught her staring and looked away blushing heavily as Cadence giggled.

"Well, I need to take Flurry Heart to her friend’s. Do you want to come along Twilight? Lance can begin his lessons and training with Shining so he can work up an appetite for tonight and I am sure Spike and Starlight can help him as well." Twilight nodded as she left the castle with Cadence.

While on their way to their destination Twilight still had a deep blush from what recently happened. Cadence rolled her eyes and smiled.

"So Twilight, is Lance the reason why you don't have feelings for Flash anymore?" Twilight’s blush deepened even more.

"Yes... I can't help it Cadence. I know it might seem wrong because we are two difference species from two different dimensions but even so it just feels so... right." Cadence chuckled.

"That's how love works Twilight and to be fairly honest. It doesn't matter that he is human and you are pony. There is no law against interracial relationships and they aren't frowned upon either except by those Canterlot snobs." Twilight giggled.

"I wouldn't say I love him... yet but I do have a crush on him for sure. He is sweet, kind and funny... And he enjoys my lectures." Cadence looked at Twilight with amazement.

"He can actually stay awake during your lectures? I’m impressed." Cadenced jokingly retorted and Twilight playfully shoved her.

"Cadence!" They both began to laugh.

"I am sorry Twilight. It’s not that your lectures are bad they just aren't very entertaining but at least you do actually try to teach." Twilight nodded.

"Me and Lance have had a few study sessions together and every time we do he pays attention to me and never goofs around or falls asleep. He makes me feel appreciated but more importantly the attention he gives me makes me feel special." Cadence hugged Twilight.

"I am happy for you Twilight. Now you just need to tell him how you feel. If he hasn't already figured it out from your staring." Twilight began to fidget.

"I am afraid to Cadence. What if he doesn't like me that way?" Cadence sighed.

"I understand how you feel Twilight. If you can just give him subtle hints. He will catch on eventually. I can tell he is smart like you and if he does like you back he will confess when he figures it out. Unless you end up getting the courage and telling him first." Twilight nodded as they continued to their destination.

Back at the castle Shining Armor was sending Lance through an obstacle course. Lance may need to recover but he wouldn't recover as well if he didn't get the proper exercise. As long as Lance didn't push it he would be fine. Shining Armor blew his whistle.

"Alright Lance let's take 5." Lance nodded as he jogged over to Shining and grabbed a bottle of water.

"Whew It has been a while since I worked out." Shining looked at him intrigued.

"How long?" Lance wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Well, before I came to Equestria it had been 2 weeks and I had been bed ridden for almost another whole week so that makes practically 3 weeks." Shining smirked.

"Well you are doing really good for not exercising for 3 weeks." Lance beamed with pride.

"Well, I was in the Police force back in my dimension. One of the best, I might add." Shining chuckled.

"That's interesting and good. It means you have experience." Lance nodded.

"I always took my work very seriously and it will be no different with me being captain of Twilight's royal guard." Shining smiled.

"That's what I like to here! Now go back out there and beat your previous record!" Lance saluted Shining.

"Sir yes sir!" Lance ran back to the obstacle course.

Lance kept going through the obstacle course over and over again and kept beating his time bit by bit. Shining was very impressed. with his Stamina and physical dexterity. After Shining believed he was finished with the obstacle course he decided to try Lance at combat. Lance 
performed admirably but the 3 best weapons he could use were a halberd, sword, and something from his dimension called a bow which required projectile weapons called arrows. Shining found the weapon neat and very handy. After a little while longer of combat practice, Twilight and Cadence had returned. Twilight saw Lance fending off Shining fairly well. If she didn't know any better, Lance was just as good if not better than her brother. Needless to say though she wasn't very happy to see Lance in combat rather than resting.

"AHEM!" Lance and Shining looked back to see a very irritated Twilight. Now Lance began to sweat more out of nervousness than physical activity.

"Oh! Uh! Twilight! Welcome back!" Lanced chuckled nervously. Twilight glared at both of them.

"I thought I said that Lance needed to recover so no going overboard!" Shining shook his head.

"Twilight I am going easy enough to where I won’t put strain on his body but if he doesn't get any exercise his body will become unhealthy and 
it will slow down the healing process. A healthy body is one that heals faster. Good balanced meals and exercise are the best medicine for a healing body and sometimes medicine too." Twilight didn't seemed to be pleased with that answer.

"No, he needs REST!" Cadence put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder and showed her the breathing exercise to calm her down. Twilight did just that and it calmed her down quickly.

"Now that you have calmed down I am going to say that all 3 of you are right. He does need rest Twilight but TOO much rest can cause his body to slowly weaken slowing down the healing process like they said. however too much exercise can reopen wounds and also slow down the healing process which is why he needs rest as well. As long as he isn't pushing himself them he will be fine." Twilight looked at Cadence with saddened eyes.

"But-" Cadence cut Twilight off.

"No buts Twilight. I understand he is your friend and you are worried about him but not letting him get his exercise is dangerous. You need to let him exercise just don't let him push himself. Alright?" Twilight sighed.

"Yes." Cadence smiled triumphantly.

"Good. Now Lance don't push yourself alright? Also you need to go take a shower. We are going out to eat tonight. Mine and Shining's treat." Lance smiled and nodded.

"Alright Cadence. Oh! before I forget. Would you mind inviting Sunburst to dinner with us? Follow me as far as the bathroom and I will explain why." Cadence smiled and nodded. as she followed Lance.

"So why do I need to invite Sunburst?" Lance started looking around to make sure nopony was around to hear him.

"Starlight is in love with Sunburst." This caused Cadence to squee.

"Really?!" Lance chuckles at her excitement.

"Yes but they hardly get any time to spend with each other so I figured if Starlight and Spike are coming with us. Why not invite Sunburst. Give him a break from his duties so he can spend some time with Starlight." Cadence began clapping her hooves together like an excited filly.

"Love is just blossoming everywhere as of late! Alright I will invite him too... or I will pay for their meal and they can have a quiet dinner alone!" Lance snapped his fingers.

"Perfect! I know Starlight doesn't have anything nice to wear so maybe you can hook her up?" Cadence happily nodded.

"I sure can! Oh this is going to be great! Sunburst was telling me how he wanted to get some time off to spend time with Starlight but neither of us knew how she felt. How did you find out?" Lance chuckled.

"When we was heading the throne room and Sunburst was leaving after talking with Starlight for a few minutes She was staring at him longingly and had a dreamy look on her face." Cadence burst out laughing.

"That's very ironic." Lance looked at her confusingly.

"What's ironic?" Cadence giggled.

"Nothing!" Cadence said in a sing song tone. Lance shrugged it off as he made it to the room that he was staying in and grabbed his suit and went to take a shower. After Lance took his shower he went to meet up with everyone in the throne room. When Lance got the throne room the only ones there were Shining Armor, Spike, and Sunburst.

"Hey Shining, Spike, and Sunburst good to see you again as well." Lance smiled

"It is nice to see you again too." Sunburst smiles back. Lance looked around the throne room.

"Where are the girls?" Shining chuckled.

"Cadence is upstairs getting the girls ready." They all gave a small laugh.

Just then they heard trotting coming around the corner and heard the girls chatting. Lance wasn't prepared for what he saw though and neither was Sunburst. They knew they were going out to dinner and were going to some place nice but they didn't expect Twilight and Starlight to dress up the way they did.

Starlight Glimmer wore a simple yet elegant dark black dress with diamonds sewn into the collar of the dress.

Twilight Sparkle's was just a lot like the dress she had at the grand galloping gala from season 5 except it was yellow and had purple stars in the same places that the flowers were on the previous dress. The other thing Lance noticed was her hair was done in the same bun she had when she had the look of a crystal pony. It was very rare that Twilight would give herself such a regal appearance. Lance figured it was because Cadence asked her to.

Both Lance and Sunburst couldn't stop looking at the ponies they have grown fond of. Lance always thought Twilight was beautiful especially when she dressed up but seeing her like this in person? There were no words to describe it. Starlight and Twilight were just looking at the ones they longed for and couldn't stop blushing.

"W-Well what do you think Lance?" Twilight said nervously as Lance tried to gather his voice.

"Y-You look amazing Twi." Twilight's blush got deeper as her smile grew.

"W-What about you Sunburst?" Starlight was just as nervous as Twilight and Sunburst was in no better condition than Lance.

"Y-You look beautiful Starlight." Starlight smiled as she played with her mane while Cadence giggled.

"Alright you four that's enough gawking for now. We need to get to the restaurant. I know some of us are hungry." As soon as she said that Lance's stomach rumbles loudly causing everyone to burst into laughter.

"Alright everypony let's go." Shining and Cadence led the way to the restaurant. Once they arrived Cadence turned to Sunburst and Starlight.

"This is where we part ways. I already made a separate reservation for you two so you can have some quality time together." Cadence winked at them causing both of them to blush as they nodded. They all made their way into the restaurant and got their respective tables. Starlight and Sunburst ate alone while the others ate together. The dinner was a unique one but fun all of the same. The highlight of the evening for Cadence was when she caught a glimpse of Starlight and Sunburst kissing. The only one she told was Lance since they planned this together. After the dinner was over they all left the restaurant and made their way to the castle.

On their way to the castle Starlight and Sunburst stopped.

"Thank you for paying for our meal your highnesses." Cadence smiled.

"You are very welcome Sunburst and you as well Starlight." Starlight smiled and she looked over to Twilight.

"Twilight I thought you should know that I am going to be staying the night at Sunburst's tonight." Twilight smiled.

"So you can catch up more I take it?" Starlight and Sunburst looked at each other and blushed.

"Something like that." Twilight nodded.

"Go on and enjoy yourself." Starlight nodded as she turned to Lance and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you Lance. If you hadn't given me that advice earlier, tonight would never had happened." Lance smiled as he hugged her back.

"Your are welcome Starlight. Now don’t have TOO much fun." Lance winked at them and they both got smirks on their faces.

"No promises." They said in unison as they began to walk off. Twilight beamed.

"I’m glad they are becoming closer friends." The rest of them chuckled as she looked at him confused.

"They aren't friends anymore Twilight." Twilight looked even more confused.

"What do you mean Lance if they weren’t friends why would she be staying with him tonight?" Then the realization hit her. "Wait! you don't mean?" Cadence giggled.

"Yes Twilight, they are a couple now." Twilight's mouth dropped.

"Well that was certainly a surprise." Lance chuckled.

"You still haven't put it together yet Twi?" Twilight looked at Lance confused again.

"What's there to figure out? They are a couple now and... she is... staying with him tonight..." The new realization hit her harder as she grew the biggest blush tonight so far. "Oh my sweet Celestia..." Everyone else just burst out laughing after that as they continued their walk to the castle.

Once they returned to the castle Shining Armor helped Lance learn more about being Captain of the guard. It was definitely much harder than being any form of police officer but it was a task Lance was going to take head on. After a few more hours they decided it was best that they go to bed. Twilight was still a little flustered from discovering the plans Starlight had with Sunburst for tonight but she was slowly coming out of it. Lance laid in bed thinking how great today was and he was anxious for tomorrow as well. Lance turned off his light and drifted off into peaceful slumber.
> Full Recovery
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lance awoke the next morning feeling well rested and surprisingly great. Normally ever since the explosion, Lance has woken up feeling sore and a bit in pain but nothing he can't handle since he has been stabbed and shot in non vital area's before. For some reason though, Lance didn't feel any pain or discomfort. Lance got out of the bed and noticed that not only were his bandages gone but so where his wounds besides the obvious scar. Lance was ecstatic. He could finally walk without requiring assistance. He could run, jump, swim and even fight without worries. Lance had to wonder though, how did he recover so quickly? The doctors said it would take at least a full week for him to recover and it has only been a couple days. There's no way his wounds could heal that fast, unless someone used magic to heal him. Lance got dressed and exited his room and began to wonder the halls. The castle guards were already informed of Lance by Cadence and Shining Armor so that Lance could walk around the castle freely. Lance began to approach the kitchen and dining hall and began to smell the delicious aroma of sweets and steamed veggies. As Lance approached the dining hall he ran into that stallion again who gave him that hateful glare the other day.

"Hello sir. What would your name be?" The stallion sighed not wanting to make conversation with Lance but he didn't want to draw attention to himself for being rude to Lance.

"It's Crystal Clear. So you're the human that the whole castle is talking about?" Lance nodded.

"Yes. My name is Lance. We walked by each other in the halls yesterday." The stallion sighed again.

"I remember. If you will excuse me I have to meet with the others to do some studying until our mentor arrives. The Prince and Princess along with your friends are already in the dining hall waiting for you." Lance nodded as he walked past Crystal Clear into the dining hall.

"Thank you Crystal Clear, have a nice day." Crystal Clear huffed. When Lance was out of sight Crystal Clear, Roman in disguise gave out a sigh.

"I have to meet up with Sombre to let him know of the situation." Roman galloped away in the direction of the cave.

Lance smiled as he saw everyone patiently waiting for him. Twilight was the first to notice his entry.

"Lance! Good morning!" Lance smiled.

"Good morning Twi and everypony else, Spike as well." They all waved to Lance and Cadence smiled.

"Did you sleep well last night Lance?" Lance nodded.

"I sure did. By the way was it you that healed me Cadence?" Cadence shook her head.

"No it wasn't me." Lance scratched the back of his head confusingly until he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"It was me Lance." They all turned toward the door to see Starlight and Sunburst standing at the entrance. Lance looked at Starlight.

"You healed me? When? How?" Starlight giggled and blushed.

"Well you see after our activities last night, Sunburst and I decided that we wanted to give you a proper thank you for your advice that you gave me yesterday, but we didn't know how. Then Sunburst remembered that you were injured and I told him how you were training to be Captain of Twilight's royal guard, so we headed back to the castle early in the morning. Sunburst told his trainees to study until it was time to begin their training for the day. Sunburst asked the guards to show us to your room and he scanned and healed you early this morning. Which was a few hours ago." Everyone looked at the couple slightly shocked while Lance beamed.

"We know that wouldn't be enough to repay you for getting Starlight and I together but we thought it was the least we can do." Lance ran up to Starlight and Sunburst and gave them a hug.

"Thank you two so much! You have no idea how happy you have made me! I can now run and jump around without having to worry!" They both smiled and hugged Lance back. Sunburst got a serious look on his face.

"You may have been healed, but the injuries still caused some serious problems and if you get into a fight you need to protect those injured areas. While they might be healed they can still be the cause of you getting hurt again or worse. Think of them being like a weakness for you. You will still be able to do the things you want but you must be careful to not let anything hit them." Lance nodded as he took his seat beside Twilight.

"Yeah, I can feel that my bad leg feels a lot weaker than my good one. So I’ll be sure to be careful. I’m sure some muscles or possibly even some tendons were destroyed when that lead pipe went through my leg." Twilight winced as she remembered first finding Lance in his condition. Shining nodded.

"Well you’re alive and well now, that's all that matters. Now let's eat." Lance smiled and nodded as they began to eat their breakfast.

Lance knew the ponies of Equestria were kind and caring but he never truly understood how much until coming here himself. The more Lance thought about it the more appealing it sounded to stay in Equestria. He felt at home. He felt like he belonged. Back on earth most people who ended up discovering that he was a brony ridiculed, criticized, and discriminated him. Here he could be himself and not have to worry about any of that. Sure there will be ponies who won’t like him for being different and there will be some who will always find him strange, but he never had to worry about hiding himself anymore. He still wasn't sure about his decision yet but he had plenty of time to think about it.

After they ate breakfast Cadence and Twilight went to go pick up Flurry Heart while Shining Armor put Lance through some real training. Spike was eager to help out Lance and Shining while Starlight went to observe Sunburst train his trainees. Shining Armor and Lance were currently in the middle of an even more serious sparing session.

"Man you are a lot harder to fight than I thought Lance." Shining said panting.

"Remember I had to hold back before so I wouldn't reopen my wounds." Lance was also panting. Shining chuckled.

"Fair point. Seems to me we are evenly matched." Lance nodded

"It would seem so, but I think we should stop for now. I’m sure the girls will be back any time now and I don't want to smell when they return." Shining Laughed.

"Another fair point. Come on, let’s go get cleaned up and don't worry there is more than enough hot water for us to take separate showers at the same time." Lance chuckled as he headed towards the bathroom he used last night. After his shower Lance met up with Shining and Spike 
in the throne room waiting for Twilight and Cadence to return with Flurry Heart. They didn't have to wait long.

"We're back!" Cadence yelled from down the hall with the sound of a giggling infant. Once they entered the throne room Lance saw Flurry Heart and started gushing over the sight.

"Sweet Celestia! Flurry Heart looks much more adorable in person!" Lance cooed as he started tickling the infant and Flurry Heart giggled and laughed in delight. Cadence couldn't help but find the scene heart warming.

"You must really love kids Lance." Lance nodded enthusiastically.

"I sure do! They’re so adorable! I was an only child so I don't have any nieces or nephews. The only kids I got to be around were..." Lance immediately stopped talking and became depressed over the memory of his dead friend. Twilight and Cadence immediately noticed.

"Were who Lance?" Cadence was curious but Twilight had a feeling.

"My friend Roy's kids..." Tears started to form in Lances eyes. Twilight was the only one who noticed this time.

"Oh I’m sure they are wonderful! Celestia never mentioned your friend Roy. I wonder why that is?" Cadence asked herself. Lance could barely hold back his tears as he ran to the room he had been staying in. Twilight ran after him.

"Lance, wait!" However Lance didn't stop. Cadence and Shining Armor looked on with confusion and worry.

"What's wrong with Lance?" Spike sighed.

"Roy is Lance's closest friend and he died just before Lance arrived in Equestria but we don't know how or why." Cadence gasped when she realized what she had done.

"I need to go apologize to him!" Spike stepped in the way.

"That's not a good idea right now Cadence. Guys like to be alone when we are emotional like that with the exception of one. Give him time to calm down and I’m sure Twilight can help with that." Cadence sighed.

"Alright. Just let me know when he calms down so I can apologize." Spike nodded.

"I will have Twilight let you know when he calms down." Cadence nodded as she and Shining Armor went to their reading room.



Twilight was surprised at how fast Lance was running considering he was on two legs, but Lance did say he was the best in the police force on earth and this must be one of the reasons why. Even so Lance still wasn't much faster than Twilight and she got inside the room before he could close the door.

"Lance talk to me. Look, I understand you are upset that Roy is gone but I need to know, why do you keep getting so upset at even the mention of his name? I can understand you being a little sad, but it's like you are blaming yourself for his death." Lance sighed fighting back the tears.

"Because I AM blaming myself Twilight. You wouldn't understand." Twilight's anger started to boil.

"You shouldn't blame yourself Lance! It’s not your fault!" Lance's own anger began to rise.

"But it IS my fault Twilight! If you were there you would understand!" Twilight stomped her hoof down in frustration.

"Then help me understand Lance!" Lance turned around and glared at Twilight.

"IT IS MY FAULT BECAUSE I GOT HIM KILLED!" Twilight was awestruck. Not just because of what Lance said but because of how he yelled at her. Lance sighed as he couldn't hold back his tears anymore. "I got Roy killed. It's all because of my principles that he is dead. My superiors told me that the orders were shoot to kill. They didn't even want me to try to take Roman in they just wanted him dead, but I didn't listen to the orders. Instead I followed my principles, even my friend Roy was telling me to just shoot him but I couldn't and because of that Roman tried to kill me but before he could fire his weapon, Roy stepped in the way and took the hit. He didn't even need to because I was wearing armor underneath my clothing but I didn't tell him that. Another reason why it is my fault that he is dead. It is all my fault." Twilight remained silent for a moment and then she flew up to Lance and slapped him across the face with her hoof. Lance looked at Twilight dumbstruck with both of their eyes filled with tears, but before Lance could say anything Twilight wrapped her hoofs around his neck and brought him into her warm embrace.

"Don't you ever say it is your fault Lance. You were just doing what you believed was right and Roy did the same thing. Roy protected you  because you were his friend. He knew what would happen if he protected you but he did it anyways because you two were best friends. I know Roy wouldn't blame you for this and I know he wouldn't be angry. Roy cared about you and did what he believed was right. It is not your fault." Lance was stunned by Twilight's words for a moment but then buried his face in her mane and wrapped his arms around her as he cried all of his sorrows away.

"Twilight, Thank you" Twilight smiled warmly as she stroked his back soothingly.

"I am here for you Lance. Anytime you need somepony to talk to." Lance nodded as he tightened his arms around her.

Lance and Twilight stood like that for about 10 minutes. It didn't feel awkward to either of them. After Lance got done letting his emotions out he let go of Twilight and began to wipe away the remaining tears from his eyes. When Lance was able to see clearly again he and Twilight locked eyes. Neither of them could turn their gaze. That's when Lance noticed something. It was only for a second but he could have sworn he noticed a spark in Twilight's eyes. Neither of them said anything as they began to close the gap. Twilight's breathing began to pick up a little as her heart raced with anticipation and excitement. As they got closer to one another, Lance could feel Twilight's hot breathe and it smelled of daffodils. They began to come even closer as their lips were inches apart. Twilight and Lance went to close the final gap when... there was a knock on the door. Twilight and Lance quickly moved away from each other before Spike stepped in.

"Hey Lance just checking on you to make sure you have calmed down." Lance nodded slightly blushing.

"Y-Yeah everything is fine now." Spike smiled.

"Good. Because I told Cadence that I would send Twilight to get her when you were calm so she could apologize. Anyways I’m going back to hang out with Shining Armor." Twilight who was also blushing nodded just before Spike left the room.

"A-Alright. I-I will be right back Lance." Lance smiled warmly as Twilight went to go get Cadence.

Cadence sat and waited patiently while playing with Flurry Heart. Cadence hadn't meant to cause Lance to become upset. Cadence handed Flurry Heart to Shining Armor and was about to go see if things were alright when Twilight walked in.

"Oh Twilight! Has Lance calmed down?" Twilight simply nodded doing her best to hide her blush but to no avail as Cadence could clearly see the blush on her face. Luckily Shining was too preoccupied with Flurry Heart to notice. Cadence looked to her husband.

"Shining me and Twilight are going for a walk. Some girl-talk before I go apologize to Lance." Shining smiled.

"Take your time." Cadence smiled back and nodded as she and Twilight went to Shining's and her bedroom.

When they had arrived at the room Twilight quickly dashed in and Cadence calmly walked and closed the door behind her and locked it afterwards.

"So Twilight, tell me what happened. Why do you seem so nervous? Did something happen while you were talking with Lance?" Twilight nervously nodded. Cadence sighed. "Alright Twilight tell me everything that happened."

"Well obviously he was upset from our previous discussion about Roy. You see he blames himself for Roy's death, but i will let Lance explain that to you himself." Cadence nodded. "Me and Lance got into heated discussion about why and well... I slapped him." Cadence gasped.

"What! Why did you do that?" Twilight sighed.

"If you heard the things he said then you would understand Cadence but that's not what has me so flustered. After I slapped him I pull him into my hooves and comforted him, in which he cried for a while which I don't mind... and after I told him that I would be there for him when he needed somepony to talk to... I... almost kissed him." Cadence looked at Twilight in confusion.

"I am sorry, what was that?" Twilight fidgeted.

"I said I almost kissed him." Cadence shook her head.

"Twilight you need to speak up I can't hear-" Twilight suddenly cut her off by casting a soundproofing spell.

"I SAID I ALMOST KISSED HIM!" Twilight quickly put her hooves to her mouth out of shock from her outburst. Cadence on the other hand was a bit shocked but at the same time excited as she pulled Twilight into a tight hug.

"Oh my gosh Twilight! That's great! So now you know he likes you!" Twilight gently pushed Cadence away.

"I doubt he does Cadence. He was probably just caught up in the moment. Why would he ever like me?" Twilight started to tear up a little as Cadence looked at her empathetically.

"You know Twilight. I thought the same thing before me and Shining first started dating. I mean I KNEW he liked me but I thought it was just because I was a princess like all of the other stallions in Canterlot, but I decided to find out for myself. So I let him take me out on a date and he proved that he did like me not because I was a princess, but he liked me for me. Now you might not be able to find out if Lance likes you with the same tactic that I did with Shiny, but I know you will figure something out, plus if he didn't like you I doubt he would have let you get that close." Twilight smiled appreciatively.

"I really hope your right Cadence. Oh! And please don't bring up what I just told you to anyone, especially Lance. If he does find out about my feelings I want to be the one to tell him." Cadence smiled warmly as she went to go apologize to Lance.



Lance sat on his bed, the most recent event running through his mind repeatedly. The more he thought about that moment the more his face began to heat up. Lance actually almost kissed Twilight! Sure Lance has kissed other girls before but they didn't mean anything to him. Lance could never feel a connection with any of the girls he dated. Lance could feel it in the air this time. He knew he wasn't in love but these feelings are still stronger than any he may have had with any girl on earth.

"I can't believe that almost happened. Did Twilight actually want to kiss me, or was she just caught up in the moment?" Lance scratched the back of his head as he began to contemplate the scenario. Lance began to chuckle and talk to himself. "Come on Lance why would Twilight have liked you? Sure she may consider you a friend but she likes Flash." Lance cringed at hearing Flash's name. By no means did he hate Flash, but he was extremely jealous that Twilight liked him. Lance hated having these feelings of jealousy toward the pegasus guard, but Lance couldn't help it. It was then Lance heard a knock on the door. To Lance's expectations, it was Cadence knocking at the door.

"Hey Lance. Listen, I wanted to apologize if I upset you earlier. I had no idea your friend passed away." Lance shook his head.

"No it's alright Cadence. It's just hard knowing that my friend is gone. I never told Celestia about him because I was still too upset to mention it. Twilight, Spike, and Starlight are the only two that knows about him excluding you and Shining armor now." Cadence nodded in understanding.

"Twilight also mentioned that you blame yourself, why is that?" Lance sighed.

"I am not ready to talk about that yet. In time I will but not yet. I only told Twilight because we got into a slight argument and she was being persistent about it while I was upset." Cadence giggled.

"I can tell by that red mark on your face." Lance chuckled as he rubbed his bruised cheek.

"Yeah she really gave me a wakeup call." Both Cadence and Lance shared a laugh.

"Are you sure you are alright though?" Lance gave her a thumbs up.

"Yeah I’m fine and you didn't have to apologize either. After all how could you have known since I never told Celestia?" Cadence smiled appreciatively.

"Thank you Lance. But I still want to make up for it regardless so how about I treat you to dinner tonight?" Lance waved his hands.

"There is no need for that Cadence." Cadence smirked.

"Oh but I insist. Don't worry I will bring Twilight with me. Since you know about our world you know I am with Shining and I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize our marriage. This is just a simple way to make up for upsetting you earlier." Lance Laughed.

"That wasn't my point. I just see no reason why you have to go through all of that trouble over something that isn't your fault." Cadence blushed from slight embarrassment.

"Well still I feel like I need to. Besides it's no trouble at all. Plus I think you deserve a little reward for making my sister in-law happy." Lance looked at Cadence with confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Cadence giggled.

"I am talking about how you made her happy by actually paying attention to her when she is teaching you." Lance chuckled.

"Alright, I guess there is no arguing." Cadence beamed triumphantly.

"Good. I already had a talk with Shining about it and he doesn't mind. He actually wants some brother time with Spike anyways. Those two and their comics." Both Cadence and Lance shared another laugh.

"Alright I might as well get ready. Should I wear something nice or wear something casual." Cadence thought for a moment.

"Wear something nice. I am taking you two to an even more fancier restaurant this time. It's not necessarily high class but still I would suggest wearing a tux regardless." Lance nodded as Cadence left the room and Lance proceed to get ready for tonight's dinner. Little did Twilight or Lance know that Cadence had her own plans for the two love birds this evening. If they didn't know about each other's feelings now then they definitely should by tonight.



Back at the cave, Sombre was patiently waiting for any news of Roman's progress. Sombre heard footsteps getting closer. Sombre recognized the sound of the footsteps and immediately knew who it was. It was Roman currently back in his human form.

"So how is the progress going Roman?" Roman cackled.

"Things are going according to plan, but we may have a slight problem." Sombre raised his eyebrows.

"What kind of problem?" Roman gritted his teeth.

"Turns out my suspicions were confirmed. Lance is alive and is in the Crystal Empire as we speak." Sombre merely shook his head.

"No matter. It can't be helped. You will just have to be extra careful now." Roman scoffed.

"I am sure he has told the rulers about me already, although things are going so well right now it shouldn't be much longer until we can move forward with our plan." Sombre snickers evilly.

"Excellent. How soon will we be able to strike?" Roman cackles again.

"Give it a few days after Lance leaves the Crystal Empire. We will be able to strike then." A pleased grin appears on Sombre's muzzle.

"Perfect. Soon I will have my revenge and my empire back, then afterwards we will work on getting your revenge." They both share an evil laugh.

"I had better get back before they start to get suspicious." Sombre nods.

"Alright. Let me know when Lance leaves so I can prepare for the upcoming attack." Roman nods as he heads back to the Crystal empire. 

"Soon my dear crystal slaves. Soon."
> The Blind Date
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Life certainly can be strange. First, Lance awoke this morning to his wound's being healed, which he found out not too long after that it was Starlight and Sunburst's doing. Not long after that he started having a more serious sparring session with Shining Armor until Twilight and Cadence returned to the castle with Flurry heart. This caused some sweet and yet painful memories to come back of Roy's kids. Afterwards he got into an argument with Twilight about him blaming himself for Roy's death, which ended with the result of Twilight slapping him. Then he and Twilight almost kissed. Although the strangest part of today is Cadence deciding to treat just Lance and Twilight to a fancier dinner than the previous night. Yes Life can be strange indeed, however something felt odd about the whole thing.

It was currently 7:30 in the evening. Lance was currently getting ready for the night's events. Lance had no idea what Cadence had in store for them. All he knew was that it was just going to be him, Twilight, and Cadence. Lance grew a suspicious feeling as he tied his shoe laces. Lance normally didn't get a strange feeling about something unless he felt like someone was up to something that directly involved him. Usually Lance over thinks things which causes him to have this sense of paranoia, but this time he was sure Cadence was planning something but he didn't know what.

Meanwhile, back in Shining Armor and Cadence's room, Cadence was telling Twilight about her plans for Lance and Twilight. Needless to say Twilight was in utter shock.

"I-I am sorry Cadence but can you run that by me again? I don't think I understood you the first time." Cadence giggled.

"I said that I am taking you and Lance out to dinner tonight, but what he doesn't know is this is going to be a date for you two!" Cadence explained excitedly as she clapped her hooves together excitedly. Twilight could only stand there dumbfounded as a deep blush glowed on her face.

"But Cadence isn't a date supposed to be meant for only two?" Cadence smirked.

"Exactly, which is why before the dinner starts I will say that I forgot to do something important and leave you two alone." Twilight's blush only deepened at Cadence's words.

"Cadence we don't even know if he likes me yet!" Cadence shook her head and giggled once more.

"Twilight remember not only do I protect the Crystal Empire, but I am also the princess of love. I am sure Lance has feelings for you but is either afraid to mention it for some reason or he doesn't know that you like him. Besides that's why it is called a "Blind Date" Twilight." Twilight began to panic.

"Even if you are right Cadence what if I screw up during the date? What if say something to offend him? What if while we are eating I end up embarrassing him and he doesn't like me anymore and he decides to move out of the castle and never talks to me again and I-I-I!" Twilight hid her face in her hooves as she grew more nervous by the minute. Cadence simply sighed as she shook her head.

"Twilight I understand that you’re nervous and anxious but if he was like that at all then he would be a waste of time, but he isn't. He has shown you the kind of person he is hasn't he?" Twilight nodded lightly.

"A little, yes." Cadence nodded in return.

"Then you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Plus this would be a good chance to get to know him better wouldn't it?" Twilight fidgeted.

"I guess so, but I’m still nervous Cadence. I’ve never had a boyfriend before. I haven't gone on a date yet either." Cadence smiled comfortingly.

"I know Twilight. That's why I am here to help. I was nervous when me and Shining went on our first date too but I’m sure you will do fine." Twilight sighed to relax herself.

"You're right Cadence. I just hope he likes me." Cadence pulled Twilight into a hug.

"I am sure he does Twilight. Now what's say we get you dress up for your date?" Cadence playfully winked at Twilight and Twilight blushed as she smiled and nodded.



Lance just got finished tying his tie on his tux as he began walking down the halls. Even though Lance believed something was up that wasn't going to stop him from enjoying himself this evening. Lance began to walk to the reading room where he was supposed to meet Cadence and Twilight per Cadence's instructions. When he arrived he saw Shining Armor and Spike laughing and reading some comics together. Lance merely chuckled as he found the sight amusing. Shining Armor and Spike noticed Lance and stared for a moment.

"What are you all dressed up for Lance?" Lance scratched the back of his head.

"Well Spike Cadence wanted to treat me to dinner tonight as an apology for earlier. Even though I said it wasn't necessary she insisted. Anyways she told me to where something nice and she said she is bringing Twilight along, but I have no idea why." Shining Armor's eyes widened as Spike shrugged. He knew what his wife was up to as she has done this before being the princess of love. Shining knew Cadence was loyal so the only solution could be that she was setting up a blind date between Lance and Twilight.

"Alright, that just gives me and Shining Armor more brother time." Lance smiled as he stood and waited for Twilight and Cadence to arrive.



Twilight beamed as she was looking herself over in the mirror. "Cadence this dress is beautiful and it's simple just the way I like it, but do you think it is good enough for tonight? If this is going to be a date I really want to impress him." Cadence giggled.

"Of course it is Twilight. Remember he knows much about our world and us so if he does like you it's because he likes the way you dress too. The dresses you wear might be simple but they are still beautiful regardless." Twilight looked at her reflection again and smiled.

"You're right Cadence." Cadence smiled.

"Plus I have a few things planned for tonight besides dinner. That dress is not only elegant and simple but also easy to move around in." Twilight looked at Cadence confused.

"What all do you have planned for tonight Cadence?" Cadence smirked.

"I will explain on the way. Come on. Lance is waiting for us." Twilight nervously nodded as they left the room.



Lance looked at his watch. It was now almost 8:30. Lance sighed hoping it wasn't going to take much longer. Fortunately his wait was over.

"Hey Lance you ready to go?" Lance smiled when he saw Cadence.

"Yes. Wait, where's Twilight?" Cadence giggled as Lance looked around for Twilight.

"Right here Lance." Lance smiled as he heard Twilight's voice but began to blush immediately when he noticed what Twilight was wearing.
 
Lance could not tear his eyes away from Twilight. Lance liked to see her in a regal appearance but he loved it best when he saw her wearing something simple.

"Wow Twilight." Twilight couldn't help but blush at Lance's reaction. Cadence felt so giddy at the Lance's reaction. Spike looked confusingly at Twilight.

"Why is Twilight dressed like she is going on a date?" Twilight's eyes widened as Cadence smiled happily.

"Well I had planned on giving this dress to Twilight for a date but I figured I would give it to her now to show it off, plus who knows she might end up catching someone's eye with this dress." Spike shrugged. Lance eyed Cadence curiously. She was definitely up to something but he wasn't going to argue if he got to spend time with Twilight dressed the way she is. Twilight sighed in relief hoping Shining wouldn't catch on.

"Cadence, can I talk with you alone for a minute?" Cadence nodded as she and Shining Armor walked outside of the reading room. "Cadence are you sure this is a good idea?" Cadence eyed Shining Armor innocently.

"What are you talking about Shiny?" Shining rolled his eyes.

"Don't try to play innocent. I know you are setting up a date between Lance and Twilight." Cadence chuckled nervously.

"So you have caught on already?" Shining looked at Cadence with an unamused look on his face.

"Cadence I know you do this sort of thing when you find out two ponies like each other, and don't think I haven't seen how Twilight and Lance act around each other so I know what's going on. I am just not sure he will be a good choice for Twiley." Cadence giggled.

"Awe how cute. Trying to be protective over your little sister." Shining's expression changed to a pained one.

"Well that and well you know how much Twilight loves foals. I have even heard her talk about how she wants to be a mother someday. They are two different species and Lance isn't from Equestria. If their relationship got serious they probably wouldn't be able to have a foal together." Cadence sighed.

"I know Shining, but this is her decision and you should know all of those blind dates at least one of the ponies knew my intentions and this is no different. Twilight knows of my plan and she seems fine with it. I am sure she knows this if she doesn't she will cross that bridge when she comes to it." Shining also sighed.

"I know. I just don't want to see her get hurt." Cadence kissed Shining on the cheek.

"I know Shiny but I’m sure Lance wouldn't hurt her and Twilight is a grown mare now she can take care of herself. Not to mention she is an Alicorn Princess." Cadence giggled as Shining chuckled.

"You're right. Just know that if he does hurt her I am giving him a beating." Cadence rolled her eyes as she smirked.

"Well Lance, Twilight, and I need to be going. I have a few things planned for them tonight." Cadence smiled as she walked back into the reading room. Lance and Twilight looked over at Cadence concerned, especially Twilight.

"Is everything OK Cadence?" Cadence nodded.

"Yes Twilight everything is fine. No need to worry." Twilight nodded as Shining entered again.

"By the way honey me and Spike are going to order out since you three are going out to eat." Cadence giggled and nodded.

"Alright boys enjoy your junk food night." Both Spike and Shining blushed from embarrassment as Cadence and Twilight giggled.

"Well shall we go ladies?" They both nodded as they walked with Lance to the restaurant.

Lance was a little quiet whilst walking towards the restaurant. Most of the conversing was done between Cadence and Twilight. Lance didn't mind. He liked to walk around and enjoy the sights at night. It was one of his many hobbies while he lived back on earth. Every now and then Lance would turn to look at Twilight who at which point would be staring at him when he wasn't looking at her. He caught her a few times but a couple of the looks he got seemed to be looks of concern.

"Is something wrong Twilight?"

"I should be asking you that. You are being pretty quiet." Lance chuckled.

"Oh sorry. Just enjoying the sights. It was something I used to do all of the time when I lived back on earth. You see I lived alone and all of my friends were either too far, too busy or too lazy to go walking with me so I would just walk to my favourite spots and enjoy the sites and the peace and quiet of the night." Twilight sighed in relief.

"Alright. You also seemed to be deep in thought." Lance smiled reassuringly.

"I promise Twilight everything is alright." Twilight simply nodded and returned to her conversation with Cadence.

Truth is, Lance had been in thought. Nothing bad though. Lance was curious as to why Cadence would invite only him and Twilight to dinner and nopony else. Lance probably figured Starlight had plans with Sunburst again and Spike wanted some bro time with Shining Armor and Flurry Heart was put to bed before they left so all that was left was the three of them. Lance shrugged it off not wanting to waste the night over thinking about these things.

It didn't take much longer for them to reach the restaurant and when they arrived Cadence stopped and gasped.

"I almost forgot! I promised to go run some errands for Shining while he has some bonding time with Spike!" Lance shrugged.

"It's alright Cadence we can do this another time." Cadence shook her head.

"No I promised you a dinner and you are going to get one you and Twilight will just have to go without me." Lance looked at Cadence unsure.

"What about you? What are you going to do for dinner?" Cadence giggled.

"Don't worry I will get something while I’m out running those errands. Here." Cadence hands Lance the bits for their evening tonight. "This will cover dinner and whatever else you might want to do tonight." Lance looked at Cadence shocked.

"Cadence dinner is enough you don't need to-" Cadence interrupted Lance, waving her hoof dismissively at him.

"It is perfectly alright. Go on you two! Have a night on the town! My treat." Lance shook his head and smiled.

"Alright if you insist." Lance and Twilight smiled as they waved goodbye to Cadence. What they didn't know is she planned on watching them to see how their date goes.

Lance and Twilight walked into the restaurant and were pretty shocked at what they saw. As Cadence mentioned it wasn't really high class but they could see why it was fancy, not to mention that there was also a dance floor in this restaurant. Lance was pretty impressed. So impressed in fact that while he was checking out the place he failed to noticed a deep red blush on Twilight's face as she kept looking back and forth from him and the dance floor, thoughts of dancing with Lance running through her mind. Twilight knew that tonight would involve dancing as Cadence had explained her plan to her but she didn't expect it in a place like this. Many of the ponies stopped their meals to look at Twilight and Lance but then immediately resumed their meals afterwards with the exception of a few ponies happily waving to them before resuming their evening. Lance was a bit relieved to see some ponies had recognized him and others were still happily accepting him.

After a few minutes of waiting a waiter noticed them standing at the front waiting to be serviced as the stallion rushed over to them.

"My apologies sir and madam! We have been quite busy tonight and we are a little short-hoofed at the moment." Lance nodded understandingly.

"It is alright. We understand. Anything we can help with?" The waiters eyes widened in surprise.

"I appreciated the offer sir, but you are here with your date I couldn't possibly ask you to put it on hold just to help us."

Date? Oh right. Most ponies come here on dates apparently. Why would Cadence take them to a place like this? Lance shook his head as he chuckled. He didn't believe this was a date but he didn't want to seem rude to the stallion and if Lance was being honest with himself he wanted to believe it was.

"Oh right. Well I hope things get better for you tonight." The waiter smiled appreciatively.

"Thank you sir. So is it just dinner for two?" Lance nodded as the waiter led them to their table. "Very good sir. What would you two like to drink?" Lance looked at their menu for a drink and they had a decent assortment of wines. Lance had always fancied wine every now and then especially apple flavored wine. Of course Lance wanted to pick something Twilight would like too.

"Hmm. What would you pick if you were a customer?" The waiter pondered for a moment and then smiled.

"If I were choosing a drink I would pick this one." The waiter pointed to the Raspberry wine. It looked interesting and definitely wasn't too pricey either. Lance looked to the waiter as he smiled and nodded.

"Alright. We will have a bottle of that." The waiter happily nodded.

"Very well. I will return with your drinks momentarily." Lance nodded and as the waiter left. Lance looked over to Twilight who was blushing a bit.

"Why didn't you tell him that this wasn't a date?" Lance chuckled.

"Well I didn't want to seem rude. I hope that doesn't bother you." Twilight's blush deepened as she turned her head away in an attempt to hide her blush.

"N-No It's fine. I was just curious." Lance nodded not seeming to notice Twilight's flustered state.

A few minutes later the waiter returned with the raspberry wine and two glasses. "Have you decided what to order?" Lance looked over his menu again and nodded.

"Yes I will have the Salad Special please." The waiter nodded as he looked over to Twilight.

"And you miss?" Twilight looked at the menu and nodded.

"Yes I will have the Daffodil Pasta please." The waiter smiled and nodded as he took their menus and went to the kitchen. Lance smile as he poured each of them a glass of wine.

"This is such an amazing restaurant." Twilight tilted her head in curiosity.

"So you didn't have restaurants like this back from where you are from?" Lance shook his head.

"I am sure there was, but not where I lived. Nothing this fancy, especially not any restaurants that have dance floors." Twilight giggled.

"So there are many countries in your dimension?" Lance chuckled as he shook his head.

"There are a few countries but not too many, I lived in the biggest country back on earth called the United States. Which is pretty much one big country that is united by many states." This peaked Twilight's curiosity even more.

"How many states?"

"About 50 states." Twilight's eyes widened a little.

"That's quite a few. Equestria has a few holds in its country as you obviously know but not that many." Lance chuckled but then sighed.

"Well the U.S. grew from all of the wars we had fighting over land and others joined us in hopes of freedom from a tyrannical government." 
Twilight nodded.

"So which state did you live in?" Lance sighed.

"I lived in a state called Oklahoma, but I would rather not keep talking about this." Twilight's demeanour became saddened.

"Oh alright, I understand." Lance realized her saddened behaviour and quickly waved his hands dismissively.

"No it’s okay. You can ask questions about me just not my world. I would rather not think of that place right now." Twilight smiled and nodded.

"Alright. So why don't you tell me a bit more about yourself? I need to get to know you better so I can get a better understanding of you when I make you the Captain of my royal guard." Lance chuckled and nodded as he began to tell Twilight more about him.

Needless to say Twilight was very impressed, surprised, and a bit saddened all at the same time. Lance hadn't lived a very charmed life. Sure he might be doing well now but in his days as a child he was quite the troublemaker. He never did anything really bad, just some pranks here and there. Got into a few fights, but he never took things too far at first. Until after his friends turn their backs on him and the first girl he loved, or to be more precise thought he loved dumped him for someone he once called his best friend, who apparently she was cheating on him with as well. After that point he started hanging around with the wrong kind of people. Thugs, bullies, gangs etc. Lance didn't want to be alone but he didn't necessarily enjoy the things he did. It wasn't until he got arrested from shoplifting with some thugs. That's where he met his boss. At that time he wasn't as Lance was just a child but he would soon come to work him under in the future. The police chief at the time could see the kind hearted person Lance was and decided to try to help him get set on a different path. Lance still hung out with thugs but he would listen to the police chief when he showed up. Lance also explained how he met Roy and how it was ultimately him that got him out of that life style. Twilight was beginning to understand a few things now, like how close Roy and Lance really were. They were more than just best friends they treated each other more like brothers. She was also beginning to understand why she liked him. Unlike Flash, Lance knew and understood certain things. Lance had been down both roads the good and the bad, and more importantly he knows how to live life to the fullest even though he used to be a nerdy egghead in his childhood.
"
Wow. I never knew you had such a hard life." Lance chuckled.

"Honestly every time I look back on those days I can't help but laugh. The hardest part for my life so far has been losing Roy." Lance sighed as he was trying to fight back the depression. Twilight put her hoof on his hand and rubbed it softly as she looked at Lance sympathetically.

"I am sure Roy is happy that you are alive though. Don't let his sacrifice be in vain by wasting your time blaming yourself. Instead live your life to the fullest like you always have! I am sure that's what Roy would want to see." Lance smiled appreciatively as held Twilight's hoof in his hand tightly.

"Thank you Twi." Twilight smiled back at Lance.

"Anytime Lance." Twilight couldn't help but feel happy and a bit satisfied that she was able to cheer up Lance.

They continue their meal and conversation until they heard somepony on the stage with a microphone.

"Alright everypony. It's time to grab your dates for a little dance especially you first timers." Twilight and Lance saw a handful of ponies leave their tables and go to the dance floor. Twilight and Lance began to look at each other for a moment and began to blush heavily. Lance noticed Twilight looking towards the dance floor and couldn't help but smile.

"You want to dance Twilight?" A small smile appeared on her muzzle as she nodded and continue to blush.
"I would love to." Lance stuck out his arm as Twilight wrapped her hooves around it. They made their way to the middle of the dance floor. The ponies on stage got a big smirk on their muzzles as if they had something planned.

"Alright ponies grab your dates and bring them close because this goes out to all of you couples out there." Lance and Twilight's eyes immediately widen as they look at each other and before they could change their minds the song began to start.

Twilight blushed heavily, beginning to think she embarrassed Lance, until she felt him pick her up and wrap his arms around her as he pulled and held her close. When she looked up at Lance she saw he was also blushing, but he was also smiling warmly at her. She smiled back warmly as they began to sway to the song. Twilight reached up and wrapped her hooves around his neck as she laid her head on his chest. Lance was taken aback by this, but nonetheless he smiled as he ran his fingers through her mane which caused Twilight to sigh happily. Many ponies began to watch them as they danced, even the ponies on stage smiled as they watched Lance and Twilight dance. For the first time in his life Lance felt like everything was right. Lance made his decision right then and there. He was going to stay in Equestria. He will miss his home, but right now Twilight was all he needed. Lance cared about her deeply. He still wasn't sure if she felt the same but he didn't care. All that matters was this special moment they shared together. Little did Lance know that Twilight had similar thoughts on her mind. She never felt so safe so protected before. Twilight wanted to tell Lance how she felt but she still was unsure. She knew she would be able to tell him in time. Neither Twilight or Lance wanted this moment to end, but as they say, all good things must come to an end.

As the song ended the ponies separated including Twilight and Lance reluctantly. All of the ponies began to cheer and stomp their hooves on the ground at the performance. Lance was also clapping at the performance of the ponies on stage. As soon as things began to settle down, Lance went to go pay their bill and leave the restaurant and also leaving their waiter an extra tip for his services.

Lance and Twilight began to walk down the road in the direction of castle until Twilight noticed a faint glow in the distance.

"What's that?" Lance turned and looked at what Twilight was pointing at and tilted his head in curiosity.

"Hmm. I don't know. Let’s go check it out." Twilight nodded as she and Lance went to investigate the mysterious glow.
As they were approaching the strange light they noticed, they stumbled into a park. Strangely enough this park wasn't made out of crystal.

"Wow. Cadence or Shining Armor must have added this place to bring more plant life here." Lance nodded as he glanced at his surrounding, until the strange lights got mysteriously closer. They were coming at a fast rate so Lance and Twilight got prepared for what was coming. To their surprised and great delight, it was simply a swarm of fireflies, but these fireflies did look strange. Once they got a closer look they noticed that these fireflies were made out of crystal which meant that the light they emitted was more luminescent.

"Wow these creatures are amazing! I didn't know something like these existed!" Lance couldn't help but chuckle at how adorable Twilight got when she was excited. The crystal fireflies began to fly around Twilight and surround her ever so slightly just to give her a slight glow and Lance couldn't help but stare. To Lance she shined so bright it gave a new meaning to her name Twilight Sparkle. Twilight noticed Lance's staring and began to blush. Lance shook himself out of his trance.

"I-I am sorry Twi I didn't mean to stare. It’s just that you looked so beautiful. The light from those fireflies made you actually sparkle." Twilight’s blush deepened as she played with her mane.

"Y-You really think so?" Lance nodded as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Y-Yeah." Twilight smiled as they made their way back to the castle.

The walk back to the castle was a quiet one. It's not that Twilight or Lance were upset, they just wanted to enjoy the quiet and peaceful night and each other’s company. Though they would keep trying to stare at one another every once in a while until the other looked in their direction. When they finally reached the castle it was 11 p.m. and Cadence was waiting for them in the main hall.

"So how was dinner you two?" Both Twilight and Lance smiled.

"It was great Cadence, I am sorry you couldn't be there." Cadence smiled happily at Lance.

“Don't be it's perfectly fine! Anyway it is getting late. We should really get to bed." Lance and Twilight nodded as they looked at each other and smiled.

"Alright. Goodnight girls." Twilight blushed as she flew up and lightly pecked Lance on the cheek.

"Goodnight Lance thank you for the lovely evening." Lance stood there dumbfounded as he was rubbing his cheek softly. All the while he was blushing and smiling like a doofus as Twilight and Cadence made their way to Twilight's room. Before Twilight and Cadence could get very far however Lance stopped them.

"Twilight!" Twilight turned around smiling brightly as she looked at Lance wishfully.

"Yes Lance?" Lance bit his lip as he looked at the ground. He wanted so badly to tell Twilight how he really felt. He wanted to take her into his arms and hold her tightly, but he couldn't. Lance couldn't tell her how he felt.

"I just wanted to say sweet dreams." Twilight's demeanour changed just slightly for a second, but before Lance could notice she smiled sweetly at him.

"Sweet dreams Lance." Twilight continued to her room along with Cadence. As they were Leaving Lance turned around and walked to his room with tears in his eyes. Lance had only one thing to say to himself.

"Lance you are such a coward."

After Twilight and Cadence entered her room, Cadence locked the door behind her.

"Now Twilight tell me everything!" Cadence knew a good portion of how the date went as she was watching them from outside, but she couldn't stay long enough for her to watch their dance.

Twilight began to explain the details of her date and a few things about Lance as well. She explained how he had been a complete gentlecolt or in his case gentleman the entire evening. It was when Twilight explain how they danced that Cadence got all giddy.

"Oh my gosh Twilight he definitely likes you!" Twilight bit her lips lightly as she grew nervous.

"You really think so Cadence?" Cadence nodded eagerly.

"Of course! There is no way Lance would have held you close like that during the dance unless he liked you! I am sure he was about to confess there in the hallway but I guess he got too nervous and stopped himself." Twilight sighed.

"How are we supposed to know that for sure Cadence? What if he was just trying to be nice?" Cadence let out a slightly annoyed sigh.

"Twilight I am sure that's not the case. You need to tell him how you feel. At least sleep on it tonight." Twilight sighed.

"Alright Cadence I will." Cadence smiled as she hugged Twilight before heading off to her and Shining Armor's room.

Both Twilight and Lance lay in bed with Tonight's events playing through their minds. So many things happened so fast it was hard for them to register or believe any of it. They wanted to confess and tell the other how they felt, but they were still unsure. Not only because they feared rejection, but they also had their own fears to worry about. Lance, unlike Twilight, feared what other ponies would think of their relationship. He knew her family and friends would accept it but he didn't want to ruin her reputation as the princess of friendship. Twilight on the other hand feared that Lance still planned to return home. She knew if he did she would never see him again, which was the main thing that was stopping her from confessing. After an hour of over thinking Twilight and Lance decided it was finally time to get some rest. They would reveal their feelings for each other when the time was right.
> Back to Ponyville
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lance lie in bed awake unable to get some sleep, his thoughts dwelling on the events of that night and the events that may happen in the future. Wondering what he was going to do about his current situation. He wanted to tell Twilight about how he felt, but he was more focused on Roman and worried about the damage he could cause. His priority is to find Roman and put a stop to his madness. Lance had too much on his mind to sleep, so he decided to take a walk around the castle. As he was walking; getting his thoughts together, Lance bumped into Flash Sentry. Lance smiled and saluted the stallion.

"Good evening Sir Sentry." Flash nodded.

"Good evening Mr. Lance, though it will soon be SIr Lance." Flash sighed in which Lance noticed.

"Is something wrong?" Lance could tell he was upset, but he didn't expect Flash to glare at him.

"Yes! I was supposed to be the Captain of Twilight's royal guard! I was meant to be transferred to Ponyville and assigned to Twilight! We planned this so we could be closer to each other and be together, but then you came along and ruined everything!" Lance looked at Flash shocked.

"I apologize. I never knew anything about this. It was Princess Celestia's suggestion to make me Captain of Twilight's royal guard. I have no idea why she suggested it." Flash looked back at Lance shocked as well and sighed again.

"If Princess Celestia thinks you should be Captain of Twilight's royal guard then I have no reason to argue." Lance looked at the saddened Pegasus and sighed.

"Even though you won't be the Captain of her guard that doesn't mean that you don't have a chance with her." It pained Lance to say it, but he believed it to be true. Flash just chuckled and shook his head sadly.

"No I am sure Twilight is over me, and I can understand why. We are so far apart, and we don't have the time or the opportunity to spend time together. That's why I wanted to transfer there, but we never had the time to have it done. You are fortunate you know." Lance looked at the stallion confused.

"How so?" Flash chuckled as he rolled his eyes.

"Just take good care of her alright?" Lance smiled and nodded as he saluted the Pegasus.

"You can count on me Sir Sentry!" Flash smiled as he saluted back and returned to his duties.

Lance returned to his room after his conversation with Flash. He was curious as to why Twilight would change her mind in making Flash the Captain of her guard. Lance just shrugged it off believing that it was just because Princess Celestia suggested it. Lance decided he would lay down again and try to get some sleep.

Roman entered the castle once again after one of his occasional meetings with Sombre, but this previous session was a bit different. During their meeting, Sombre taught Roman how to tap into dark magic.

"Now when the time is right I just need to use dark magic to hide the crystal heart, in a place where the ponies can't find it. First things first though, I need to be able to get close to the heart. Hopefully, Sombre's plan works otherwise our plan is doomed to fail. I also have to wait for Lance and his companions to leave the empire."



It was the next morning when Lance heard some knocking on his door. Lance looked at the clock on the wall and noticed that it was already 11 in the morning.

"Shit! I overslept!" Lance quickly got up and got dressed before answering the door.

Standing at the door was Twilight who had a concerned look on her face. "Good morning Lance you slept in a little late today that's not like you. Is everything alright?"

Lance only nods. "Yeah, I just had a little trouble sleeping last night."

This concerned Twilight even more. "Why? Was it something I did? Or was it Spike or Flash or Shining Armor or Cadence or-"

Lance cut Twilight off by putting his hand over her mouth as he shakes his head. "No, I have just been stressing about Roman. He is still out there, and he could be hurting ponies as we speak or worse. I know these are nothing I can do seeing as I don't know where he is but that doesn't make me any less concerned."

Twilight nods as he removes his hand. "I understand Lance we will get him in time. I also worry about the ponies, but it's like you said without knowing where he is there is nothing we can do. He could be anywhere in Equestria. Also, the fact remains that he might not have even survived. When you arrived, you were severely injured, and he could be in the same state or worse. However, if by some chance he is alive, then if we go frantically looking for him he might catch wind of it letting him know you are alive which will make it harder to find him."

Lance sighs and nods. "I know Twi. I just hope ponies will steer clear from him."

Twilight nods."Me too. Now, why don't we head down to the kitchen? Everyone else already ate breakfast."

Lance looks at Twilight in confusion. "Why didn't you eat breakfast with them?"
Twilight freezes for a moment and blushes. "I-I'm just not very hungry!

As soon as she says that, Twilight's stomach growls and she blushes more. Lance chuckles and arches an eyebrow. "You weren't hungry huh?"

Twilight continues to blush as she turns around and begins to walk towards the kitchen as Lance followed her. "I meant I WASN'T hungry! That doesn't mean I can't change my mind later on! Besides... I had a little bit on my mind too..."

Lance looks at Twilight in concern."Anything I can do to help?"

Twilight blushes harder keeping her head facing forward as individual words immediately entered her mind. You could kiss me. "N-No everything is alright just have a few princess things to deal with that's all!

Lance nods. "Alright just let me know if you ever need help with anything."

Twilight smiles appreciatively and nods just before both Lance's and Twilight stomach's both growl making them both blush for a moment and then chuckle. "Come on future Captain of my royal guard let's go put something in our stomach's."

Lance smiles and nods. "Alright."

As they both make their way into the kitchen Cadence was watching from behind a pillar pouting. "Darn so close! Give it time Cadence they will confess when they are ready. I hope." Cadence said to herself.

Both Twilight and Lance were enjoying their meal and each others company when Twilight saw Flash walk down the halls. Twilight quickly finished her meal and looked at Lance. "I am sorry I have to go, Lance, I have to talk with some pony."

Lance nodded and continued his meal. "That's fine I was going to go for a walk around town when I am done here. I will see you later."

Twilight smiles and nods as she runs after Flash. When she saw Flash, she teleported in front of him. "Flash we need to have a talk."

Flash nods as he follows Twilight to the balcony. "So what did you want to talk about Twilight?"

Twilight cringes not liking what she is about to do. "Flash I know we had plans for us in the future, and You are a great stallion, but I just feel like it won't work between us."

Flash sighs sadly. "I know."

Twilight looks at Flash surprised. "You do?"

Flash nods. "I am a little disappointed that we can't be together, but I understand. You rarely have any free time for us to see each other because of your royal duties and the fact that you are always saving Equestria. If we have done this sooner maybe it would have been possible."

Twilight shakes her head. "No Flash even then I don't think it would be possible. You see I mainly had a crush on you because of the alternate world I went to. I met the human version of you there and developed feelings for him. Yes, he was sweet and kind and cute, but we had nothing in common. He was nice, but that's all he was, and I am looking for someone who knows me who understands me and enjoys some of the things I do."

Twilight blushes thinking back at how Lance was the only one to sit and enjoy her lectures. Flash sighs once again.
"You mean someone like Lance?"

Twilight's eyes widened and began to grow nervous. "I-I don't like Lance!"

Flash just rolls his eyes. "Come on Twilight. Everyone can see you like him, except for him. Seeing as how he does enjoy some of the same things as you I am sure he isn't a complete idiot, but he isn't as observant as you, otherwise he could see your feelings."

Twilight fidgets her hooves. "Has it been that obvious?"

Flash nods. "Many ponies in the empire are talking about you two. Some good, some bad, and some just being plainly confused and intrigued. Many ponies see you two as a couple."

Twilight sighs. "I am sorry Flash I didn't mean for any of this to happen and I didn't mean to hurt you."

Flash nods once again. "I know, and I can tell the guy has a good heart as long as he does his job and takes good care of you then I have no problem with him."

Twilight smiles as she opens her hooves to him. "Friends?"

Flash smiles and accepts the hug. "Friends."

Twilight nodded and once they separated from the hug Twilight left the castle and began her walk around town collecting her thoughts. "Now that I have resolved things with Flash the only thing I have left to do is... Tell Lance my feelings for him..."

Lance left one of the stalls where he bought a Crystal Berry pie surprisingly enough even though they were made from crystals they were only as hard as rock candy but still have the juicy nectar of a berry and it tasted a lot like a raspberry. Lance first tried one on his outing with Twilight last night. He begins to recall the events of the evening. "I swear that felt too much like a date. I might be reading too much into it I mean we were all set and ready to go, but then Cadence had to leave to take care of a few things for Shining Armor. Of course, I can see that happening; seeing as Spike and Shining Armor, were having some brother quality time. Cadence happily agreed to take care of a few things for Shining, so they wouldn't have to cut anything short. Even so, something seems off about last night and the way Twilight acted. It was like she had feelings for me..."

Twilight goes to the library for some peace. "But how do I even tell him? Can I even tell him? I like Lance a lot, but I don't want to ruin our friendship, then again I did kiss him on the cheek last night, and he didn't freak out. Maybe he does like me back... Even so, how can I tell him?"

Lance goes to the park where he and Twilight saw the Crystal Fireflies. "This was one of the spots we had our... possible date. I still remember how the fireflies surrounded Twilight... she seemed to glow like literally sparkled..." Lance sighs. "I have to tell her how I feel, but I don't know if I can."

Twilight looks up some books on how to confess your feelings to your crush. "UGH! None of these books are actually helping! How is that possible?! Books have always helped me solve my problems! Even with the villains, I have faced!" Twilight sighs as she puts the books away and leaves the library. "But then again I wasn't dealing with something as complicated as romance before..."

Lance was walking back to the middle of town with his arms crossed and lightly pulling the hair on his chin. "what am I going to do? I can't keep these feelings a secret forever, and the sooner I get it out, the better I will feel, but I am scared..."

Twilight was currently walking towards the middle of town. "I need to tell him how I feel and I know I will feel better when I do, but what will he say? What will he do? I am afraid he will reject me or even worse won't want to be friends... What should I do?"

Little did they both know they were starting to get close to one another. Lance was approaching Twilight but didn't notice as he was deep in thought, and Twilight was walking to the left of Lance but didn't notice him either due to similar reasons.
Their ideas were driving them crazy until they couldn't take it anymore.

"WHY CAN'T I JUST TELL TWILIGHT HOW I FEEL?!
"WHY CAN'T I JUST TELL LANCE HOW I FEEL?!

They both froze and looked in each others direction with deep blushes on their faces. Cadence hurried and rushed from the crowd of ponies that was beginning to gather and teleported all 3 of them to the castle in her and Shining Armor's room.

"Whew, that was a close one."

Cadence was about to have a talk with them but noticed that they still haven't stopped staring at one another with deep blushes on their faces.

"Y-You have feelings for me Twi?"

Twilight's blush only grew deeper. "Y-Yes I have a crush on you and what about you? Do you feel the same way?

Lance's blush grew deeper this time. Y-Yes I do. But what about Flash Sentry?"

Twilight's eyes widen for a moment before she giggled. "I almost forgot you know about our history. While I did have a crush on him before, I realized that we don't have anything in common. He was just a good man in Canterlot High that helped proved I didn't destroy the decoration for the fall formal. Lance, you enjoy reading as I do and you are the first and only person who not only paid attention to my lectures but enjoyed them you made me feel special like I was worth paying attention to."

Lance smiled. "You are worth paying attention to."

Twilight smiled as her heart fluttered for a moment, but then she frowned. "What about you? You have family and friends, and your job is waiting for you back home. Don't you plan on going back?"

Lance chuckled and shook his head. "While I will miss them dearly I have decided since last night that I am not going back. It was always a dream of mine to see this place one day if it existed and my dream came true it is real, and I was able to see it AND live it. Now that I have I don't want to leave I have everything I could ever want here. Here I can be myself I don't have to hide anymore."

Twilight had tears in her eyes. "So does that mean?"

Lance nods and smiles brightly. "I am here to stay for good Twi!"

Twilight quickly rushes to Lance and tackles him to the ground in a hug as she cries happily. "YES YES YES YES!"

Lance smiled happily as he ran his hand through Twilight's mane. Then Twilight leaped up and pulled him into a deep kiss. This shocked Lance for a moment, but then he happily returned the kiss. Cadence smiled happily as she cried.

"I am so happy for you both."

Cadence words shocked them, and they quickly broke the kiss, and they both took a step back blushing profusely causing Cadence to giggle.

Lance cleared his throat and looked at Cadence. "So tell me Cadence last night was a blind date wasn't it?"

Cadence giggled. "I am not surprised that you figured it out. Twilight said you were smart. Yes, it was a blind date, and before you ask yes, Twilight knew about it."

Lance looked back at Twilight who was blushing heavily. "I-I just didn't want to scare you away if I told you it was a date."

Lance chuckled. "it's okay Twilight. I understand."

Twilight blushes harder "So does this mean you want to be my colt friend?"

lance smiles and walks up to Twilight and gives her a quick peck on the lips. "Does that answer your question?"

Twilight smiles brightly as she jumps on him again and kisses him deeply again.

Cadence just giggles. "Do I need to send you two to your room?"

This causes Lance and Twilight to blush harder than ever before as they separate. Twilight was lightly glaring at Cadence from embarrassment. "C-Cadence! That's a bit sudden don't you think?!"

Cadence burst into fits of laughter. "I am sorry you two I just couldn't help myself."

Twilight pouts adorably as Lance begins to laugh and Twilight joins after. "We will get you for that Cadence."

Cadence giggles "Maybe. Anyways let's go see what the others up to."

Both Lance and Twilight nod as they leave the room with Cadence walking directly beside one another. They go to see Spike and Shining armor playing Ogres and Oglettes while Starlight and Sunburst are sitting on the couch cuddling and reading a book together. Cadence couldn't help but smile at the sight; seeing all of the love surrounding her, even if some of the love is just love between siblings.

Spike sees them and waves. "Hey, guys!

Lance smiles and waves back. "Hey, guys whats up?"
Shining Armor glances up from the game as Sunburst and Starlight look up from their book. "Nothing much. Spike and I were just playing some Ogres and Oubliettes while Starlight and Sunburst were enjoying a book together."

Lance smiles. "I know that game it's just like Dungeons and Dragons where I come from!"

Both Shining Armor and Spike beam happily. "Why don't you come play with us then?"

Lance looks to Twilight to see her reaction. Lance knows he doesn't need her permission, but he doesn't want her to think that he doesn't care about her either. Twilight realizes this and nods.

Starlight stands up and stretches. "I have an idea. Why don't the boys have a guys night while we girls can have a girls night! I haven't had one of those in a while so how about it you two?"

Cadence and Twilight nods. "Sounds like fun! You boys enjoy your junk food and games!"

The guys chuckle as the girls leave and Lance looks at sunburst. "Come join us Sunburst!

Sunburst nods and joins their game.

As the girls leave the castle, Twilight can't help but look longingly back. Cadence notices this, however. "Don't worry Twilight he isn't going to disappear while we are out.

Starlight looks confused as Twilight nods. "I know, but I just got him, and I was hoping to spend some more time with him you know as my colt friend, but we will have plenty of time for that later."

This leaves Starlight even more confused and surprised. "Coltfriend? Who?"

Cadence giggles. "Lance."

Starlight is completely shocked at this point. "L-Lance?! The human?!"

Twilight blushes and nods. "Yeah, we just got together before coming to see all of you."

Starlight shakes her head to shake away the shock. "Well, who am I to judge? Besides he does seem more pony like than anything else."

Cadence nods in agreement. "He may look like a human, but he acts more like a pony. Of course, that's no surprise seeing as we are only a show in his world, and he has watched that same show for five years."

Both Twilight and Starlight nod as they continue to the restaurant.

Lance and the other guys decided to order Pizza and also had cola and other soda along with an abundance of candy and chips. They plan on having a pretty long game, and typically Spike managed the game, but they decided to let Lance handle it this time to see how impressive he could make the story and boy did he make it exciting and challenging. Lance kept them on their hooves and toes, but they all enjoyed the game nonetheless.

After about 6 hours a little after nine the decided to call it a night. Spike had already fallen asleep; Sunburst went home to wait for Starlight. Lance was helping Shining Armor put the game away. "Man I had no idea you were so good at this game!"
Lance chuckled. "Well as I said there is a very similar game in my world called Dungeons and Dragons and I was the one who mostly played as the Dungeon Master."

Shining laughed. "I can see why. You sure kept us on our hooves. I can't wait to play another game with you."
Lance nods. "I am looking forward to it. However, that will have to wait another time. We are heading back to Ponyville tomorrow."

Shining Armor nods. "I just have one thing to say before you guys do go."

Lance looked at Shining Armor. "What's that?"

Shining Armor gave Lance a serious look. "Please don't break my sister's heart and don't play dumb I know you two got together. I could see when you looked at Twilight after we asked you to play. It's the same look I give to Cadence during similar situations."

Lance smiled and gave Shining Armor a thumbs up. "Don't worry I promise I won't break her heart."

Shining Armor smiles satisfied with his answer as they finished picking up the game.

Lance begins to walk to his room after they finish cleaning up and while on his way he sees Crystal Clear (Roman in disguise). Roman scoffs at the human as he walks past Lance.

Lance sighs. "Look I understand if you don't like me but there is no reason to be rude."

Roman cringes. "My apologies I have just had a long and tiring day."

Lance nods and makes his way to his chambers. Lance takes a quick shower and lays down in bed. Before he has a chance to fall asleep however he hears a knock on his door. Lance puts on his pants and answers the door to see Twilight standing there with a small blush on her face. "Hey, Twi whats up?"

Twilight fidgets her hooves. "W-Well I was wondering if we could um... cuddle together while we sleep?"

Lance blushes a little and chuckles. "Sure."

Twilight smiles as she enters Lances room and she climbs into bed with him and holds him close as she rests her head on his chest and sighs contently. "Starlight was right this does feel... magical."

Lance chuckles as he wraps his arms around Twilight and the fall into blissful slumber together.

The next morning Lance wakes up feeling well rested and to see a sleeping Twilight with a big smile on her face as she 
sleeps soundly.

Lance smiles as he strokes her cheek softly and runs his fingers through her mane. I never thought it was possible but I am dating Twilight Sparkle. Man, I know quite a few bronies who would be pissed at me for stealing their waifu.

Twilight stirs in her sleep and her eyes flutter open seeing Lance her smile grows bigger. "Good morning Lance."
Lance smiles and kisses her. "Good morning beautiful. Sleep well?"

Twilight beamed brightly. "Yes I did especially after the last two- wait..." Twilight blushes deeply. "D-Did you just call me beautiful?"

Lance chuckles. "Why yes, I did. Does that surprise you?"

Twilight blushes more as she turns away. "Nopony but my parents have ever called me beautiful..."

Lance grabs Twilight's face and makes her look at him. "I don't see how that's possible because you are a gorgeous mare. Any stallion would be lucky to be with you."

Twilight's face saddens. "Nopony has ever wanted to be with me besides Flash... I think that's the reason why I took an interest in him in the first place..."

Lance looks at her shocked. "How can no pony want to be with you? You are smart, beautiful, talented. If no stallion ever gave you a chance well then, that's their problem. They missed out on a chance with the best pony in Equestria."

Twilight looks at Lance confused. "Princess Celestia?"

Lance laughs. "Princess Celestia is great and all but she is nothing compared to you. At least in my opinion."

Twilight blushes once more. "You know how to flatter a girl."

Lance sighs. "Not really I can't tell you how many times I have taken a girl out on a date and they would say I am too cheesy or lame."

It was Twilight's turn to be shocked. "What?! So what if the things you say can be cheesy, they are still sweet and endearing. The only compliments I would get would be for how smart I am and sometimes how talented I am but those only came from older ponies. Ponies my age wouldn't even glance in my direction unless they wanted help with homework or something. To hear these things from someone who is interested in me. It's something I have wanted for so long...

Lance smirks as he pulls Twilight in his arms. "Well, I promise to compliment you every day."

Twilight giggled as she lightly taps Lance on the nose. "You are a dork, but I am glad you are mine."

Lance blushes. "I am glad you are mine too Twilight."

Twilight and Lance blush as they share a kiss before hearing someone make their throat from the doorway.

They look to the door to see Spike and Starlight standing in the door with their stuff all packed. Starlight was covering her mouth to suppress a giggle while Spike was giving them a deadpan look. "Can we save the mushy stuff for later? You two still need to eat breakfast and then we have a train to catch."

Lance and Twilight blushed and nodded as they gathered their things and ate breakfast. Afterward, they went to a few stalls to collect some snacks for the trip. After a couple of hours of shopping, they went to the train station and boarded the train back to Ponyville all the while they did not see Roman disguised as Crystal Clear following them up until they left on the train. Once he saw the train depart Roman rushed to the cave to inform Sombre.

"Sombre! Lance and his companions just left the Crystal Empire. They are on the train as we speak."

Sombre cackled evilly. "Excellent but we shall give it a few more days to make sure they aren't in our way when we strike. Remember to follow my plan accordingly we must not fail."

Roman nods. "I know, trust me we will prevail. Now as you said the rulers are a free game, but what about the infant?"
Sombre scratches his chin. "Hmm? Leave that to me I will try to corrupt it with my magic and if I cannot well, then it would make for a good prisoner in case things do go south."

Roman chuckles menacingly. "Very well Sombre I will leave the child to you and as for the rulers well they are about to meet an untimely end!"

Roman's evil laughs echoes throughout the cave and into the winter tundra but cannot be heard due to the sound of the storm.
> Mischievous Fun
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lance couldn't believe the events that have recently unfolded. Twilight Sparkle was his marefriend! He never thought in his wildest dreams that Twilight could ever reciprocate his feelings, but here she was snuggled up to him as she read a book. The two only started dating, so they weren't going to say they were in love yet, but they both knew something was there and wanted to give it a chance. Lance was currently busy staring out the window watching the scenery skimming by the train.

"So I take it since you and Twilight are together now that means you have decided to stay?" Lance looked at Spike and smiled.

"Yes. I will miss everyone back home, but I am happy here, not to mention that after the hospital exploded, I am probably marked off as dead." Spike nodded. Twilight put her book away and smiled at Lance.

"I am glad you decided to stay. I would miss you if you left and I know I am not the only one, so will our friends." Lance chuckled as he nodded.

"Well, it's as I said it's every bronies dream to come to Equestria and some would even want to live here as well. I can only imagine what many of them would say about us." Twilight looked at Lance confused.

"You mean they wouldn't approve?" Lance nodded.

"Yeah only because many of them would be jealous because they can't have you." Twilight blushed.

"You mean other humans want to be with me?" Lance laughed.

"Yes, many bronies do. Which is one of the main reasons why many bronies didn't like Flash Sentry because back in the show from my world he was only added as a potential love interest for you." The statement caused Twilight to become annoyed.

"That's childish! All because I liked him?! These people need to learn to accept what happens." Lance shook his head with a chuckle.

"Trust me I don't blame you for your aggravation." Twilight sat there and pondered for a moment before looking back at Lance concerned.

"Were you one of those people?" Lance looked at Twilight shocked for a moment, but he understood her concerns.

"To be honest. No, I wasn't. Was I jealous of Flash? Yes, I can't deny that, but I didn't hate the guy nor did I dislike him in any way I was just a bit jealous and thought he was lucky because you had feelings for him." Twilight sighed with relief.

"Well I only liked him because he was the first boy to like me, but we had nothing in common. I hate hurting his feelings, but honestly I only see him as a friend now, besides if it were meant to happen, we would have got together in the show right?" Lance rubbed his chin as he pondered.

"Well not necessarily. Let's take Starlight and Sunburst, for instance, they weren't together in the show either, and yet many figured that they liked each other. That was just a big headcanon for people. Heck, some people even paired Starlight with Trixie or even you and Starlight." Both Starlight and Twilight cringed at the pairings.

"I can understand and appreciate that people would pair me with Sunburst but with Trixie and Twilight? No thank you." Lance chuckled at their behavior.

"Trust me there are WORSE pairings than those." They all looked at Lance in discomfort.

"I don't think I want to know." Lance shook his head.

"Trust me Starlight you don't" They all shared a small laugh and jump to a new conversation.

Roman continued to pretend to be Crystal Clear and attend Sunburst's lessons. He and Sombre discussed that they would wait a week before making their move in case Lance decided to return anytime soon, Sombre also wanted to try to gain their trust as well as learn the movements of the guards in case something goes wrong.

"You have been doing an excellent job so far Crystal Clear. Even the others are unable to keep up with you. Although it is strange when you signed up before, and I saw your record they were never as good as this." Roman remained calm as not to blow his cover.

"Well I know how important a Crystaller's job is so I am taking this seriously, after all, we don't want a Crystaller who is too laid back." Sunburst nodded.

"Very true, Well I think you will make a fine Crystaller one day. I think you have worked hard enough today; why don't you take the rest of the day off?" Roman smirked.

"Thank you, sir; I think I will take you up on that offer I have wanted to do some sightseeing around the empire anyways" Sunburst nodded as he took his leave.

Roman began to walk around the entire empire carefully studying its design and layout. He was quite impressed. It's a mighty structured empire especially the arrangement. They could probably handle an invasion if they didn't rely on love and friendship. Roman couldn't wait until he and Sombre conquered these pitiful ponies. Roman started going around and helping other ponies around the empire with small and minor tasks to help gain their trust. Roman knew the quickest way to increase the confidence of the rulers is to win the confidence of their subjects and so far everything is going according to plan. All he needs to do is keep this up and wait a week; then it will be time to initiate the project. Now that Lance left the empire this was going to be easy. Roman couldn't help but smirk with anticipation.

Lance had a grin on his face while Twilight and Starlight were laughing their flanks off. 

"I swear your voice impressions are spot on! How can you sound so much like Pinkie Pie? or Trixie or even Discord!" Lance shrugged at Starlight.

"Just a talent of mine. I can not only change my vocal range, but I can also change the pitch of my voice, but I can't go too high. Otherwise, it puts a strain on my throat. Pinkie's voice is as high as I can go." Twilight smiled brightly, as she looked at Lance excitedly.

"So do talents work for humans in your world as they do with ponies here? Do you get cutie marks? I mean, I have seen humans before but only from the mirror, and you aren't from there so how do talents work for your world!?" Lance couldn't help but laugh which confused Twilight.

"I am sorry Twilight I am not laughing at you. I think you're cute when you get excited like that." Twilight's eyes widened, and she blushed while fidgeted her hooves together as a small smile formed on her face.

"Really? No-pony has ever said that before." Lance nodded as he chuckled.

"Yes, really and you are even cuter when you are flustered," Lance smirked as he kissed Twilight on the forehead which caused her blush to deepen as she hid her face in her hooves. Starlight and Spike chuckled at her embarrassment.

"You say that now but wait until she has you help her reorganize the library. You should know yourself how big the library in the castle is." Lance cringed at the thought.

"Well I might not enjoy it very much, but I will still help regardless." Twilight smiled appreciatively.

After a few minutes of talking they arrive at the Ponyville train station with their friends waiting for them. Lance got up and stretched. He always hated being a passenger, even though he hated sitting for too long regardless, at least when he had a vehicle he did have to move around to operate the car, even if it was only a little. Lance and the others disembarked from the train and smiled as they approached their friends, although Twilight still didn't entirely like Trixie, she has come to tolerate her a lot more than she used to. Trixie spotted Lance and was a little shocked but quickly regained her composure.

"Hey, every pony! we are back!" Lance smiled as the other came up to embrace him Twilight, Spike, and Starlight, everyone except for Trixie. Lance smiled as he approached her.

"Hello, Trixie it is nice to meet you finally." Lance smiled, and Trixie had her signature cocky smile.

"Of course it is! I am somepony worth meeting." Lance rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"Still as cocky as ever I see. I figured becoming friends with Starlight might have humbled you a little, but some things never 
change." Trixie looked at Lance confused.

"You talk as if you know-" Lance smirked and interrupted her.

"The great and powerful Trixie? Let's see you are a traveling performer, You're bragging from when you first came to Ponyville caused a couple of colts to bring an Ursa Minor to town. You worked on a rock farm for a while. When you came back to Ponyville you had a soul-sucking amulet known as the Alicorn Amulet, but you apologized for that and left, after a good while you came back to have your apology tour, and that's where you met Starlight and became friends afterward. you also helped save Equestria with Starlight, Discord, and Thorax, the current leader of the Changelings." Trixie looked at Lance dumbfounded. Starlight giggled.

"He knows A LOT about Equestria and many ponies as well. I will explain later." Trixie looked to Starlight still baffled.

"Trixie would love an explanation." Everyone began to laugh as they started walking back to Twilight's Castle.

While at the Castle of Friendship, Lance and Twilight headed back up to Lance's room so they could continue on his studies. Trixie and Starlight sat in the throne room with the others as Starlight just finished telling Trixie about Lance and how he has knowledge of this world.

"So Lance is from a whole different dimension, and in that said dimension, we are nothing more than entertainment for his world?!" Everyone nodded in unison.

"Yeah, it's strange to think about but, it's true! Otherwise, he wouldn't have any knowledge of us." Trixie scoffed.

"Well, I am appalled to know this! Sure Trixie does enjoy entertaining ponies with her magic shows, but he knows everything that has happened outside of my shows as well? Doesn't this make ANY of you feel uncomfortable?" Trixie looked to all of Twilight's friends as they shifted around in their seats uncomfortably, Especially Rarity.

"W-Well maybe a little." Trixie nodded.

"Exactly! Since he knows so much he could know all of our most private moments and secrets, for all, we know they could know all of Equestria's weaknesses! With his knowledge, he could easily take us over!" Trixie and even Fluttershy shivered in fear.

"Oh dear. I hadn't thought about that." Applejack gave a deadpan look at Trixie.

"Ah highly doubt that. If he knew THAT much, there would be no reason for him to be taking lessons from Twilight." Trixie just looked at Applejack with a blank and shocked expression.

"You mean he can sit there through one of her lectures? He must be powerful if he can do that." Everyone just rolled their eyes and giggled.

"Well from what we have learned of him so far he doesn't seem like a bad fella, plus it isn't his fault that his world chose to do that, in fact he even mentioned how his world has no knowledge of us and most humans from his world don't believe other dimensions exist." Trixie looked confused.

"How can they not? Any world knows that other dimensions exist. It's just nearly impossible to locate specific dimensions with their magic." Applejack just shook her head.

"That's just it. His dimension has no magic." Trixie's eyes widened in surprise.

"WHAT?! But how?! How can a world exist without magic?" Applejack shrugged.

"I have no idea, but his world operates differently than ours. The best example he could give us is that his world operates just like the Everfree Forest." Trixie shook her head in confusion.

"You mean all of nature, INCLUDING the sun and the moon operates all of their own?!" Applejack nodded.

"Yeah, that's what he said. He also mentioned that his world thrives on *Technology*. Ah don't rightly understand it myself but it doesn't work on magic. Twilight understands it better than we do." While Trixie was Talking to Applejack and most of the others paying attention to the conversation, Starlight leans down and whispers to Spike.

"Are you sure we shouldn't tell the others about Lance and Twilight? They are her friends. I am sure they wouldn't judge her for it." Spike shook his head as he whispered back.

"If I know Twilight she won't want to tell them for a while. She will tell them when she is ready." Starlight simply nodded as she just watched the conversation with Spike. Little did they know that they had a pair of eyes watching all of them from the Ceiling.

Back at Lance's room, He and Twilight were taking a small break from studying. They were sitting on his bed smiling and laughing at Lance's lame jokes.

"I am glad we are taking a break. Books are fun and all, but they can only cover so much." as soon as Lance finished his joke Twilight started laughing harder.

"Why is that so funny?! I can't stop laughing!" Lance was glad someone enjoyed his corny puns.

"I am glad you are enjoying yourself. Most people don't like my puns." Twilight looked at him confused.

"Why? Your puns are funny." Lance shrugged.

"They think my puns are lame, but I just chalk it up to them having a different kind of sense of humor than me." Twilight giggled.

"I guess that means we have a similar sense of humor." Lance nodded and smirked.

"At least you get my point." He laughs as he poked Twilight's horn and she started laughing again as well.

"You are such a dork."Lance smiled as he kissed her on her forehead.

"Yes, but I am your dork." Twilight blushed but smiled all the same as she went to kiss him, only to be stopped by both of their stomach's growling causing her to giggle.

"looks like we can both use a snack. Anything you want specifically?" Lance stroked his chin as he thought.

"a simple muffin will suffice and a glass of chocolate milk? Need some of that brain food." Twilight smiled and nodded as she kissed Lance on the cheek.

"I will be right back." Lance smiled and blushed.

"Alright. I will do a little more research while I wait." Twilight went to get the snacks, as she laughed softly.

While Twilight was out, Lance got a bit bored and decided to walk around the room. He was wondering what was keeping Twilight for the last hour. Lance decided he should see if she needed any help, but when he tried to open the door, he noticed that it was stuck.

"What the? I can't get it open! I doubt this was Twilight's or Starlight's doing. Rarity has the skill, but she would have no reason to do so, and Trixie doesn't have the skill to pull this off and as far as I am aware neither Celestia, Luna, nor Cadence or Shining Armor are here." Lance scratched his head as he began to ponder what caused this. Before he could think on it further, he hears a low, menacing cackle echo throughout the room. Lance couldn't place the voice he had never heard it from the show before. It sounded more demonic than anything.

"So you are the human I have heard about so much. You don't look that impressive. Hardly someone who is fit to be a captain of the royal guard for any princess." Lance continued to look around as he began to grow more concerned.

"Who is there? Show yourself?!" The voice's laughter only grew more.

"What's the matter *Lance*? Are you afraid? You seem to have acquired so much knowledge of our land through the shows of your world, how interesting. Tell me, have you ever heard my voice before?" Lance was looking around the room trying to pinpoint his location.

"H-How do you know my name?" The voice grew louder.

"You shouldn't be so surprised. I have been watching you for a while now. I sensed you the moment you arrived in this dimension." Lance's anger began to rise.

"So you have been watching me? Are you working with Genocide?!" The voiced seemed confused by this.

"Who?" Lance's anger only continued to grow.

"I'm talking about the other human that arrived with me to this dimension! Are you working with Roman Reaper?!" The voice only chuckled at this.

"And what if I am?" That had done it. Lance instantly lost control of his emotions as he began to scream at the top of his lungs.

"GET OUT HERE AND FIGHT ME YOU COWARD AND TELL ME WHERE ROMAN IS NOW! I AM GOING TO RIP HIM APART!" The voice grew silent for a moment but began to laugh some more.

"In due time. I am enjoying this game of ours." Immediately after the voice spoke Twilight teleported herself and her friends, including Spike into the room with them.

Lance what's wrong?! We heard you scream, what's going on?!" Lance gritted his teeth as he continues to look around the room.

"An ally of Roman's has come here, possibly after me or all of you." They all gasp as the voice spoke again causing all but one of them to shiver in fear.

"That's right ponies! I am here for this human and there is nothing you can do!" Magic arrows appeared all around the room pointing at the Lance, Once again causing all but one of them to get prepared for the worst, except for Spike who just facepalmed.

"Alright Discord come on out! Your joke is a little overboard." Everyone just looked at spike with the most confused expressions. Only then they all here a loud sigh as The arrows disappeared and Discord appeared in front of them.

"Way to ruin my fun, Spike. It was just getting good!" Discord is now sounding like himself. Everyone just started glaring at Discord, especially Twilight, Lance, and Fluttershy.

"Discord, what the hay?!" Discord smirked.

"Now, Now Twilight. Hay is for horses." after Discord joke, they all could hear the sound effect from a punchline causing all of them to raise an eyebrow, except for Twilight, whose anger only began to grow.

"I thought that Lance was in danger! I swear on Celestia Discord that if this weren't a joke, I would turn you back to stone!" Discord started sweating profusely as he smiled sheepishly.

"W-Well I can see you all need some time to calm down so I will be off. bye!" With that Discord teleported away. They all began to calm down as Starlight looked at Spike confused.

"How did you know that it was Discord?" Spike sighed.

"He did something very similar during one of our games of Ogres and Oubliettes. I am just surprised Lance didn't know this." Lance shook his head.

"While I did know that he plays with you and Big Mac, he never did that in the show back home. There are a lot of things I know about Equestria, but I don't know every detail." Everypony nodded in understanding. Lance's and Twilight's stomach began to growl again causing them both to blush and everyone else to laugh, But then Twilight sighed.

"I still need to get Lance and me a bite to eat. I just got back with our food when I heard Lance shout. I was so concerned that I dropped the food. Sorry, Lance." Lance just smiled.

"it's alright Twi. I am just glad that nothing bad happened. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if any of you got hurt, especially you Twilight." Twilight simply blushed and smiled.

"T-Thank you. Well, I better go get us some food." Before Twilight could leave, however, Pinkie Pie jumped in front of her.

"No Need for that!" Pinkie Pull out some freshly baked muffins, a couple of hay-burgers and some hay fries, some chocolate milk, and a hay-shake. This left Twilight shocked for a moment but shook her head and smiled remembering that it's just Pinkie being Pinkie. Twilight smiled as she happily took the food.

"Thank you, Pinkie." Pinkie Pie just smiled, and she left the room the others, except for Twilight and Lance following her. Lance shakes his head and laughs.

"Ah, Pinkie. I hope she never changes."Twilight smiles and nods. Then they both hear Pinkie screaming down the hall.

"I WON'T!" Both Twilight and Lance share a hearty laugh as they begin to eat their meal and enjoy the rest of the day studying and cuddling.
> Painful Decision
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was another beautiful day in Equestria, at least for most creature's, even Lance tends to love mornings at times, but today was not one of them. Celestia's sun beamed brightly into the window of Lance's room shining in his face. One of the times he hates mornings.

"Ugh. Stupid sun." Lance check the clock to see it was 7:15 in the morning. Too early even for him. It would be better if he had his marefriend with him, but Twilight didn't want to rush things by spending every night with him. The furthest they had gone is kissing and cuddling, and Lance was content with that. Lance did have a problem of getting a little clingy; however, one of his downfalls for his past relationships. Lance doesn't think Twilight would leave at the first sign of being clingy, but he doesn't want to take any chances.

Lance got up and took a quick shower before getting dressed and heading down to the dining hall. When he arrived, he Noticed something seemed to be bothering Twilight. Lance sighed as he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, much to her surprised but she smiled when she saw it was Lance.

"Good morning Lance. How was your sleep?" Lance shrugged.

"Eh, Can't complain too much. What about you?" Twilight sighed.

"About the same." Lance looked at her concerned as he held her close.

"Is something wrong? You don't seem like yourself." Twilight flinched before adorning an awkward smile.

"N-No! Nothing is wrong! Everything is fine!" Lance raised an eyebrow.

"You do remember that I watched a show about all of you for five years, so I know you very well especially when you are 
lying." Twilight froze for a moment but then sighed heavily.

"You're right. I'm sorry; I have a lot on my mind." Lance nodded as he rubbed her hoof comfortingly.

"You wanna talk about it?" Twilight shakes her head.

"No I will be fine, I promise." Lance sighs but nods in understanding.

"Alright. Just know that you can talk to me about anything. Remember I am more than just your boyfriend. I am your friend too." Lance lets go of Twilight as he makes his way out of the castle. Twilight sighs as Spike walks in the dining hall.

"You know, Twilight, you really shouldn't hide this from him," Spike says as he hands a letter to Twilight. Twilight nods.

"I know Spike; I am just so afraid of what he will do when he finds out." Spike groans in annoyance.

"While I understand Twilight, he does have a right to know." Twilight shakes her head.

"I can't risk it, Spike." Spike sighs in defeat as he walks away.

"Whatever. I will leave it up to you to tell him." Twilight begins to cry as she read the letter once again.

Dear Twilight.
I am happy to inform you that we have found a way to return Lance home.
However, it is a one-way trip. Should he choose to go home, he will never be able to return.
I know you, and your friends will miss him dearly but time is of the essence. 
We must do this by the end of the week, or he will miss his only opportunity to go home.
Please inform him quickly so he may give us a quick response.

Your beloved Teacher.
Princess Celestia.

"I-I don't want him to go..." Twilight sobbed as she contemplated what she should do.



Lance began to walk through Ponyville, hoping to make friends with the rest of the residents of the small town. Lance started to hear several hooves trotting behind him and judging by the fact that they aren't very loud he could probably guess who it is. Lance turned around to see who was walking up to him and sure enough, he was right, It was the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"There he is! See! I told ya we would find him leavin' Twilight's Castle!" Sweetie Belle looked up at Lance.

"Dang he sure is tall!. You were right that he would be here Applebloom." Scootaloo nodded.

"He looks strange though. Rainbow Dash said he was something called a Human." Applebloom looks Lance up and down.

"I wonder if he has a Cutie Mark.. Hey mister! Do you have a Cutie Mark?" Lance Chuckled as he shook his head.

"No, I don't. You see-" But before Lance could finish, the CMC began to squeal in delight.

"Ah can't believe it! We finally found someone new we can help get their Cutie Mark!" Lance tried to interject.

"Um, girls?" But he was unheard.

"I know! This is so exciting!" Scootaloo nodded excitedly.

"This is going to be AWESOME!" Lance pinched the bridge of his nose seeing where this was going to go.

"Wait. Can Humans even get Cutie Marks?"Applebloom looked at Sweetie Belle scratching her head.

"Ah don't know. He is the first and only human in Equestria, but we won't know until we try!" Scootaloo nodded eagerly.

"Yeah! let's give it a shot!" The CMC nodded in unison as they jumped up and high-hoofed each other.

"Yeah!" They all said in unison.

"YEAH!!!" Lance and the CMC looked to see Bulk Biceps doing a cheer of his own and causing the CMC to raise an eyebrow while Lance couldn't help but laugh. The CMC just shrugged and began to talk to one another again.

"So What should we try first?" Lance sighed.

"Hey, girls?" But once again they didn't hear him as they two of them looked at Scootaloo.

"Well, we might want to try on something small first. We don't want to break the only Human in Equestria." Lance decided to try again but a little louder this time.

"Girls?" But they still didn't quite hear him over their excitement. Applebloom nodded to Sweetie Belle's response.

"Ah Agree, but we do need to give him something challenging. So how about we try mountain climbing first?" The other crusaders nodded in unison and all they high-hoofed each other once again.

"Yeah!" Lance was tired of this and decided to get their attention

"GIRLS!" They all stopped and looked at Lance shocked and confused. Lance sighed in relief once he finally got their attention.

"Yes, Mister Human?" Lance just rolled his eyes and laughed softly.

"First of all, my name is Lance. Secondly, I don't have a Cutie Mark because humans can't get them." The CMC gasped in unison.

"You can't?! Then how do you find out your special talent and purpose in life?" Applebloom nodded.

"What if humans CAN'T have Special talents?" Sweetie Belle grabbed the side of her head as she began to freak out.

"Of all of the things that could happen, This is The. Worst. Possible. Thing!" The other two crusaders looked at Sweetie Belle strangely.

"You have been around your sister too much Sweetie Belle." Sweetie Belle smiled sheepishly as she blushed. Lance chuckled to himself.

"Well the best way I can put it to you girls is to think of this situation like Gabby's." The three fillies looked at each other confused.

"You mean you can be good at more than one thing?" Lance nodded.

"Exactly that's how humans are. Sometimes we can be good at many things or sometimes a few things. Very rarely a person can be good at everything or very rarely they can be good at nothing. Many factors can determine which is true for people." Applebloom looked confusingly at Lance.

"Then how do you find your callin' in life?" Lance smiled.

"Many humans have different ways of finding out what they want to do with their lives, but as for me, I listened to this." Lance too his index finger and pointed it to where Appleblooms heart is. The fillies smiled and nodded in understanding as they asked him more questions, in which Lance as more than happy to answer.



Back at the Castle of Friendship, Twilight still sat there questioning what she should do. Starlight sat with her as Twilight continued to cry.

"What am I supposed to do Starlight? I know I should tell him and give him the letter but what if he DOES decide to go back?" Starlight frowned.

"Then we let him go. It is ultimately his decision, and you shouldn't deny him this choice, however, remember on the train he did say he was going to stay here remember?" Twilight nodded, and she blew her nose.

"Yes but what if he only chose that because he believed there was no way of going back? He might change his mind once he finds out that there is a way." Starlight sighed.

"He might and he might not. We won't know for sure unless you tell him the truth. I know this is painful for you Twilight, Especially after you two got together, but think of his feelings for a moment. Yes, Lance has friends here, but his family is back in his dimension. Are you going to deny him that?" Twilight looked at Starlight shocked for a moment before she burst into more tears.

"B-But I-" Twilight couldn't continue knowing Starlight was right.

"As Spike said it's up to you, just consider Lance's feelings and what might be best for him before you decide anything." Twilight nodded as Starlight got up and walked towards her room.

Twilight sat there for hours thinking on what both Starlight and Spike had said to her. She didn't want to lose him, the one guy who genuinely liked her and shared her interests, but she knew she couldn't be selfish about this. She had to tell him. She had to give Lance the letter. As Twilight made her choice, she heard the doors to the Castle open. She knew it was him. Spike hadn't left the Castle all day and Starlight had already come back from her day with Trixie, and she had already asked that no pony in town disturb her today, not even her friends. She heard his footsteps approaching the dining hall. Before he came in, she dried her tears and cleaned her face off. She had to this, for him.

Lance had finally come in from spending the day with the crusaders, and he was pretty exhausted. Lance figured he would get a quick bite from the kitchen and go to bed early, but little did he know that Twilight was waiting for him in the dining hall once he had made it into the dining to see Twilight still sitting in the same chair. Has Twilight been there all day? Lance thought. This only made him even more concerned.

"Twilight, are you okay?" Twilight turned to look at Lance with a severe look on her face.

"Lance we need to talk" Lance knew what those words meant, and it was never a good thing.

"Twi. If I had done something to upset you-" Twilight held up her hoof and shook her head as she tried to fight back the tears.

"No, you have done nothing wrong. It is I who have wronged you." Lance looked at her confused. She sighed as she levitated the letter over to him.

"What's this?" Twilight chocked back her tears trying to keep a brave face.

"A letter from Princess Celestia. It may be addressed to me, but it is for you." Lance was curious as he opened the letter and began to read it. Twilight knew he has finished reading as he dropped the note from his hands and adorned a shocked look upon his face.

"They found a way to get me home." Twilight knew it was over the moment he read it, and she did her best to put on the bravest face she could muster.

"Yes! Now you don't have to stay here if you don't want to. You can return to your friends and family! Don't worry about Roman we can take care of him, but if you don't go back soon, you will lose your only chance of returning home." Lance looked at Twilight questioningly.

"But what about you, our friends? What about us?" Twilight almost broke from that, but she knew she had to be strong.

" We will all miss you dearly when you leave, but we will be alright. We will take a picture with you to commemorate our meeting, and as for you and me, we haven't been together for long Lance. I can't and won't ask you to choose me over your own home. I want you to be happy Lance, and we both know you want to go back to your home. Please go back to your life in your dimension.." Lance began to tear up.

"Y-You want me to leave?" Twilight gasped and shook her head as she started to cry tears of her own.

"No! Of course not! I want you to stay here more than anything! You aren't just my colt-friend Lance you are one of my best friends. But if you became miserable because you lost your only chance to go back, then I wouldn't be to forgive myself. Maybe it would have been better if we had never met..." With that, the dam broke for both Twilight and Lance. Lance was so conflicted he didn't know what to do. He wanted to stay here with Twilight so severely, but he can't deny that he wanted to return home. Lance left the dining hall, no longer have the appetite to eat he decided to go for a walk around Ponyville once again.

Twilight continued to cry relentlessly as both Spike and Starlight approached her. Spike decided to speak up first.

"You did the right thing Twilight. We know this is hard for you, but now Lance has the choice to go back or stay, but I don't think you need to-"

"He is going back." Both Starlight and Lance looked at her as she spoke.

"How do you know for sure Twilight?" Twilight shook her head in defeat.

"I could tell by the look on his face. I can tell he wants to stay, but he is going to go back home." Twilight began to cry harder as Starlight attempted to comfort her.

"Twilight, Listen to me. It's going to be al-

"Please leave me alone! "After Twilight's sudden outburst she teleported away. Starlight charged up her horn to follow her, but Spike put a claw on her shoulder and shook his head.

"It's best just to leave her be, for now, let her calm down, and then we will try to talk to her." Starlight nodded as she sighed and canceled her magic.

Deep within the Everfree Forest sat Twilight in tears while she looked at the same spot where Lance had landed when he 
first arrived in Equestria. She remembered it like it was yesterday.


FLASHBACK


Twilight and her friends were currently treading through the Everfree Forest with determined, yet worried looks on their faces. Fluttershy is the most frightened.

"T-Twilight are you sure we shouldn't wait until morning for this? The Everfree Forest is even more dangerous and frightening at night." Twilight just shook her head.

I am sorry Fluttershy, but it can't. Discord sensed a disturbance, and it wouldn't be wise if we just ignored it. We need to find out what has happened." Applejack nodded.

"Ah Agree. It could be something bad, and we can't just leave it be." Rainbow Dash smirked.

"Well, whatever it is. We will kick its flank and send it packing!" Rarity scoffed.

"Rainbow Dash? Must you always be so uncouth?" Pinkie Pie smiled and giggled.

"Besides it might not be something bad, but super fun! Like a new friend!" Twilight stopped in front of a bush as she looked back towards the others.

"Well, we are about to find out. We are here." Twilight and her friends looked through the bush and saw what appeared to be, a human laying down on the ground injured, she remembered learning about them when she went through the mirror, but this one looked different. Twilight gasped and immediately rushed over to the human.

"Oh my gosh! Are you alright?! You have a serious injury! Quick girls help me move him to the castle!" She could have sworn she saw that he was conscious when she was picking him up with her magic, but if he was, he wasn't now. Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight confused.

"Are you crazy?! Do you know what this thing is? Because we sure don't! "Twilight nodded

"Yes, and I will explain everything later, but if we don't take care of his injuries soon he will die!" Their eyes widened as they nodded and ran over to lift him off of the ground. Applejack groaned as she struggled to hold him.

"This guy is heavier than he looks!" Twilight nodded beginning to panic.

"I understand, but we need to get him to the castle and fast!" Pinkie looked at Twilight confused.

"Then why not just teleport us?" Twilight stopped for a moment and began to turn red and smile sheepishly.

"Right, sorry." Twilight charged up her horn as she teleported them all to a spare bedroom in the castle. 

Twilight quickly did what she could with Fluttershy's help to remove the lead pipe and patch up the wound on his leg, after that was said and done she decided to scan his body for further injuries and found he had some broken ribs and she did what she could to fix those as well. After they were finished treating him, they left the human to rest and 2 hours later they had heard a crash from his room and had decided to check on him. The human they would soon come to know as Lance.


FLASHBACK OVER


Twilight cried profusely, wishing that Lance had never ended up in Equestria.



Lance continued his walk through Ponyville, sighing along the way. Lance wanted to stay, and he had decided to in the first place because of Twilight, yes, but he also figured he wouldn't be able to go back to his dimension. Now he has the chance, his ONLY chance to be more precise. If he decided to stay he would never see his friends or family again, but if he went back he would never see Twilight or the others yet, except behind a tv screen, but it's not the same as being with them in person. Twilight and her friends had become an essential part of Lance's life, and he theirs, so could he break all of their hearts, especially Twilight's by going back? Lance sat down on a bench as he chokes back some tears.

"What am I supposed to do? What is the right call?"

"Looks like I am not the only one out for a walk, so you must be Lance? Lance looked in the direction of the voice and saw a pony with a light ember coat with a fiery red and yellow mane and tail, and her cutie mark resembled a red and bright yellow sun. Lance instantly recognized the pony.

"Your Sunset Shimmer? What are you doing here? I figured you would be living in the world through the mirror." Sunset giggled.

"Twilight said you knew a lot about Equestria, so it wouldn't be too far fetched if you knew about my life beyond the mirror as well, although not everything. Canterlot High let out for summer so I decided I would come and visit Princess Celestia and my family for a while." Lance adorned a frown as he looks up tot he sky.

"Must be nice, to be able to travel between worlds like that anytime you want." Sunset looked at him concerned.

"I can tell something is bothering you, do you want to talk about it?" Lance scoffed a little.

"Even if I did you wouldn't understand. You weren't stuck with the choice I am stuck with. By the time you wanted to go back to Equestria you had the choice without the consequences." Sunset sighed as she walked up and sat beside him.

"So I take it Princess Celestia found a way to get you home, but if you go back to your home you won't be able to return here?" Lance nodded sadly.

"it's a one-way trip, and I only have a week, before I lose my only opportunity to leave." Sunset nodded.

"But you aren't sure if you want to leave, because of your relationship with Twilight?" Lance looked at Sunset shock, but then chuckle as he shook his head.

"So I take it Twilight wrote to you about me? Sunset giggled as she nodded.

"Yeah, even before you two got together, and it was hard to focus on my finals from her constant bragging about you. I have to say though I was a bit surprised. She was so hung up on Flash that I figured those two were together." Lance shook his head.

"She was, but only because he was the first guy to show interest in her, however, they didn't share much in common." Sunset nodded.

"Anyways, back to your dilemma. Your right, I never had to make a decision exactly like this before, but there is a reason why I never chose to come back here, besides what I did during my tutelage under Princess Celestia." Lance looked at Sunset confused.

"Why is that?" Sunset smiled.

"While, yes I had that choice I decided not to move back because I made myself a good life there. I know our situations are different, but if they weren't, I still wouldn't change my decision." Lance looked at her a bit shocked.

"What about your family and Princess Celestia and Twilight?" Sunset giggled.

"Yes I would miss them, but I have something very precious to me in that world that I just can't leave behind." Sunset smiled as she looked to a group of ponies who were laughing as they say around a table telling jokes and eating a meal. Lance looked in their direction as well confused for a moment but then smiled.

"Your friends." Sunset nodded happily.

"Exactly! What made you decide to stay here? Besides the whole *might not be able to go back* thing." Lance looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You already know the answer to that." Sunset rolled her eyes before nodding.

"Yes I do, but do YOU? I mean, do you fully understand the reason why you wanted to stay here?" Lance began to ponder for a moment, but then it hit him. The answer was so simple, yet he didn't see it until he had remembered that night he had his date with Twilight. When he danced with her, he knew what he wanted, and he mentally slapped himself for losing sight of that.

"I wanted to be with Twilight, more than anything. I can't believe I lost sight of that!" Sunset smiled.

"So now that you know your reason, what are you going to do?" Lance smiled as he took off running towards the castle.

"To correct my mistake!" Sunset smiled as she watched him run off.



Twilight sighed as she decided it was time to head back, after all, she didn't want her friends to worry, she hopes that Lance would give her a chance to say goodbye before he leaves. Twilight teleported to the castle dining hall to see Starlight waiting for her. Starlight saw Twilight and ran up to hug her.

"I am so glad you are back! I was worried about you!" Twilight smiled a little as she hugged her former student back.

"Thanks, Starlight. I am sorry I worried you." When the broke, the hug Starlight looked to her friend in concern.

"Are you doing okay?" Twilight sighed as she shook her head.

"No, but I will be fine in time. Can you please get our friends so they can all say goodbye to Lance before he leaves." Starlight nods in understanding as she teleports away. Twilight sighed as she walks to the throne room, only to see Spike and Lance standing there. Twilight chocked back her tears as she made her way over to them. Spike is the first to notice.

"Hey, Twilight you might want to stick around Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will be here soon." Twilight bit her lip as she started to tear up, but she was able to keep her emotions in check.

"G-Great! Now we need to wait on the girls." No sooner had she said that Starlight appeared with the others and they each had sad and even depressed looks on their faces. Rarity was the first to say something.

"Do you have to go? We will all miss you when you are gone." Applejack nodded.

"You may not have been here very long, but we all consider you a friend." Rainbow Dash was next.

"We never got to hang out much, but we still think you are an awesome friend." Fluttershy tears up a little.

"I was hoping to introduce you to all of my animal friends, but we understand if you want to go back home." Pinkie wanted to cry, but she stayed strong as she knew this was hurting Twilight the most.

"I never got to throw you a party either. Promise you will watch the show every day, so you will never forget us." Twilight was close to breaking down, but she knew she had to be strong. Lance scratched the back of his head.

"Well-" Before he could tell them the truth, both Celestia and Luna had appeared in the throne room.

"Thou hast called upon us Lance?" Lance nodded as Celestia looked around seeing Twilight and her friend's faces well up with tears as she sighed.

"I take it you have received the letter from Twilight?" Lance nodded.

"Yes, princess." Celestia nodded. She noticed Twilight even more distraught than the others.

"We don't have much time. We only have six days left, so when do you wish to leave?" Twilight and her friend's sobbed quietly as they held each other. Lance smiled as he shook his head.

"Princess I have decided to stay." Everyone looked at Lance in shock Especially the Princesses.

"Lance, you do realize this is your only window of opportunity? If you don't take it, then you will never be able to return to your world ever again." Lance nodded.

"I know, and I will miss all of my family and friends there, but I realized how happy I am here, even if I don't get accepted by every-pony in Equestria. I have a much more important reason why I want to stay here." Lance smiled as he looked lovingly at Twilight causing her cry once more, but this time they were tears of joy. Twilight immediately let go of her friends as she ran up to Lance and jump in his arms as she cried in his chest. Lance pulled his face to hers as he kissed her deeply and passionately causing Twilight to blush profusely, but returning the kiss with just as much passion. Everyone else looked on in shock, except for Starlight, Spike, Applejack, Pinkie Pie. Celestia smiled as she nodded.

"I understand Lance. I am glad you have chosen to stay. I know you will have a happy life here. Let's go, Luna." Luna nodded after shaking off the shock she just had and teleported away with her sister. Both Twilight and Lance were still holding the kiss as Rainbow Dash looked at the others.

"They have to come up for air sometime, don't they?" After a few more minutes both Twilight and Lance finally broke the kiss and smile to one another as Twilight still had tears in her eyes.

"Please tell me this isn't a dream. You are staying?" Lance smiled as he kissed Twilight's forehead.

"I promise you that this is very real, and yes I am staying permanently." Twilight's smile only grew at that as she clung to his chest and sobbed happily as Lance smiled and held her close.

No longer able to contain their excitement as they ran up and tackled Lance into a hug as they all laughed. This caused Lance to laugh as he started hugging them all back. Lance knew where he belonged, and now a more difficult task laid ahead of him. Finding and stopping Roman, but he has no idea where he is or if he is even alive. Lance knew all he could do is wait.