//------------------------------// // Episode 52: Awkward Reunion Is Awkward // Story: Life of a Wanted Changeling Season 3: Tyrants, Terrorists, and Tiaras, Oh My! // by Down with Chrysalis //------------------------------// Opening Theme: You can see so many emotions going through the Deadly Six's faces that you back up slightly in shock. You can taste the mixture of happiness, shock, and more thanks to your changelingness, but you wouldn't be surprised if you could still taste it without that part of you. A tense silence goes by before Twilight shouts, BrownDog's Comment PonySpartan's Comment Master of Shadow's Comment “You think?!” to your idiotic ice breaker. "Is... is that really you?" The real Pinkie Pie that's about to erupt says. “Yeah…Yeah it's me. Okay, I really didn’t expect to see you guys again so soon,” you fib. “That’s another understatement. How do we know you’re the real Tennant?” accuses Fluttershy. Your eyes widen in surprise at her question and you try to come up with an answer when all of a sudden your inventory is thrown open and loud music is blaring. "Daddy, do we have any Allen Wrenches? Mangle's audio loop is stu-" she then stares wide eyed at the Deadly 6 staring at her. An awkward silence hangs in the air as Mangle's music still blares out of the bag. She then very slowly lifts herself out of the bag and onto your back, and closes the bags, silencing the noise. Silence still reigns in the air, so she whispers to you, "So...What's the deal? I thought we were saving Pinkies." "We are Shade, BST and his daughter are the distraction so they can get away," you whisper. Her eyes widen at that, so she looks up at the still speechless mares. "Umm...Hi?" she waves awkwardly. "Nightshade...my student..." Twilight says a little misty eyed. Nightshade gives an awkward nervous glance towards the bookworm. She did just kill several Pinkie Pies, but another Purple being on her back gets a smile from her. "I knew it!" Spike yells out as he jumps down and rushes forth. “SPIKE!” she yells happily as she jumps off your back, rushing towards the dragon. They both collide in the middle in a big, exuberant hug that seems more like a tackle, before they suddenly start talking a million miles a minute. "Oh My Gosh, I've missed you so much!" squeals Nightshade. "Me Too! I knew you weren't dead, I just knew it!" Spike says gleefully. And they continue chattering fast, both their eyes well up, and their hug gets tighter, you even hear some joints pop. While the mares in front of you "Awww," at the little reunion, you have a different reaction. You feel the sudden urge to wring Spike’s neck and throw him down a deep dark hole for being all handsy with your daughter... but you resist...barely. You instead look to Twilight and say, “Proof enough for ya?” “I…I can’t believe it,” Twilight breathes out. “We thought you were dead man!” Rainbow rushes forth and hugs you. Not to be outdone, AJ rushes forth and pulls you into a bone breaking hug. “Oh Sugarcube!” she cries and buries her face in your chest. Then they all join in. It’s air depriving and warming at the same time. “You idiotic numbskull! How are you still alive?” Applejack wails. “Because I am," you unhelpingly reply. "That is not an answer! What happened? Where have you been?" Twilight yelps. "Don't worry, I'll-uh-Tell you. But maybe we can do this somewhere else? Like, why don’t we walk back into town off these railroad tracks and I’ll explain huh?” "You-You're right. Let's head to the library everypony," Twilight declares, and all the mares reluctantly stop hugging you. Given some breathing room, you take your opportunity and you pull Nightshade away from the dragon, giving him a glare to which he chuckles at nervously and gets back up on Twilight's back. Nightshade rolls her eyes and crosses her arms at that, but you tell her, "No we don't have Allen Wrenches, just use a regular screwdriver and some WD-40," you tell her as you place her back in the bags with the loud blaring music. The other mares roll their eyes at this, but they each have a smirk on their face as well. "Yup, definitely him," Spike says to Twilight. You all then take the short trip back into town, with you in the middle of the group of mares, as if they're afraid you'll disappear if you're not surrounded. As you enter town and begin to walk time seems to stop for the ponies. Everywhere you look ponies stop what they're doing and stare at you as if they've seen a ghost. You see the Cowardly Trio faint on the spot and even some ponies starting to get teary-eyed. You chuckle nervously as you think, Guess I had more of an impact on this town than I thought. If there's one thing I've learned about you during our years together, it's that you always leave an impression. Even if you don't try to, you still do. I guess....it feels weird though. It looks like they're seeing a dead body walking, and there's not even a speck of flour on my clothes. Guess I can't blame them though since they thought I was dead and everything. Before Selena can respond you feel a nudge on your shoulder. You look over to see Fluttershy giving you a sheepish smile as she whispers, “Hoody, I’m so glad you’re alright.” “Yeah, and it’s good to see you, we’ll talk in private later alright?” “OK, I still have to talk to that WITCH about what she did in the Crystal Empire,” she growls with a fierce gaze, causing you to shake. Oh that indignant little- “Fluttershy, it’s not what you think, she…” “We’ll talk about it later, right now let’s focus on my friends,” she huffs and walks ahead of you. Ugh, she is seriously gung ho about hating you Selena. Oh let that little obsessive strumpet think what she wants. I did nothing wrong. I wasn't even awake! I know, I know. Hopefully she’ll listen and not freak out too much. But we’ll worry about that later. Right now, everything’s good because the Pinkies distance is even further. I just got to keep stalling... LATER AT TWILIGHT'S LIBRARY You all walk to Twilight’s Library, where the door is shut, and they all look to you. Before anyling begins to speak, Nightshade pops out of the Inventory (with no music this time) and says, "Alright, she wasn't very happy with the 40, but it's fixed." She then looks around, "Ah, good 'ol library. Doesn't have nearly as much ice cream as McStabflank's house, but there's been some good times here," she says wistfully. "Spike," Twilight interrupts, and Nightshade again gives the Unicorn a conflicted look. "Why don't you go catch up with Nightshade upstairs, the girls and I need to talk with Tennant." "Yeah, sure thing Twi," he says as Nightshade follows him. He gives a glance back at you, and you give him the "I'm Watching You" gesture, to which he gulps at. This tough guy look dies on your face however, when you turn around and face the expecting faces of the Deadly 6. “Alright Mr. Tennant, start talking. What happened?” Twilight commands. “Oh, well, what do you want to know?” “Everything!" “Oh, well, first of all, let me start off by letting you know that I didn’t actually die.” “Well yeah, we figured that much. But how? You ran off into those woods after those changelings and then a forest fire started! Flash only came back with your burnt scarf in an area covered in blood,” Rainbow declares, a horrified look on her face. “Okay, everypony calm down. Yes, I ran off after those changelings, and when I found them there was…a scuffle.” “A scuffle?” asks Rarity. “Yeah, I made them bleed, and they got their licks on me, and in the fighting, I lost my scarf,” you tear up especially at that. That scarf was awesome. They seem a bit shocked at that description, but you continue. “And I guess I accidentally set the forest on fire in the process…you know how I get when it comes to flames,” you chuckle nervously. “Boy howdy we do,” Applejack adds with a smirk. “So then, I took Nightshade and ran like heck, not even looking back as the forest went up. I didn’t know that you guys thought I was dead, I was just moving on.” “What? Why’d you do that? Why didn’t you come back to Ponyville man?” asks a sad Rainbow Dash. “Because I was in hiding remember? I told all of you this on the train last year. I figured things were getting too hot in Ponyville, so I just took the opportunity to move on and go into hiding once more.” At that, Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow, Applejack and Pinkie Pie scowl at that. “So you just left without even letting anyone know that you were Okay?! We all thought you were dead! And even if you didn’t know that, you could have written to us at least explaining that you saved your Daughter and moved on!” Twilight scolds in a hurt tone. “Yeah! When Flash came out of that forest, our whole world dropped!" Rainbow snarls. "We had a funeral and everything," Applejack declares. "But we couldn’t even mourn properly because we had to go help Spike,” Rarity declares with runny mascara. “Exactly, and THAT just came with it’s own problems,” Twilight grumbles. “I-I’m sorry. Why did you have to save Spike?” you mumble out. You know the story, but you can't let them know that you know. “He was trying to walk to the dragon lands by himself, so Rarity, Rainbow and I shadowed him. Flash informed us halfway what happened, and we were devastated, but we kept going," Twilight explains, before a look of anger comes over her face as she continues, "THEN we saw the Hooded Offender again. Just like we ALWAYS see him when we don't want to!" She then starts panting angrily, and Fluttershy places a calming wing on her back. "Anyway, long story short, he did what he normally does, and now I have some freeloading Dragoness living here,” Twilight growls. “…What?” WITH SPIKE AND NIGHTSHADE “Um, Spike? What the heck is this?” Nightshade asks staring at a creature sitting on Twilight’s bed. “Blarg!” “Oh that’s just Crackle. She flew me and some of the girls out of the badlands back when we all thought…well, never mind. Anyway, she kind of decided she’d stay here to wait for the Hooded Offender. Apparently she thinks he’s her friend and will come for her.” “Honk Honk!” Crackle barks with a goofy smile. “Ooooookkkkaaaaayyyy,” Nightshade says uncertainly, when all of a sudden, she realizes something. "Wait a minute, Crackle?" she asks. The dragon smiles and nods at this. "Did you used to date a guy named Garble?" she asks. That name causes both Spike and Crackle to scowl in anger. "BLARG! HONK! BLARG!" she declares angrily, before getting up off the bed and wandering into the bathroom, where she slams the door. "I'm gonna take that as a yes then," Nightshade says sheepishly. "Yeah, he's a sore subject for her...And how do you know who Garble is?" Spike asks. "Oh, he's my new playmate," Nightshade responds. "What?!" Spike declares angrily. "Yeah, I kicked his butt awhile back," she begins. "Ha Ha HONK!" laughter comes from the bathroom. "...Yeah, so now I'm his 'Mortal Enemy' and every time I see him, I buck him up." "Oh. That's good," Spike smiles, relaxing. "He's kind of a jerk." "Yeah, but those are the best kinds of punching bags. Though he's always going on and on about finding Crackle again..." "HMMPH!!!" comes an angry snort from the bathroom "Yeeeaaahhh, let's not talk about him anymore," Spike says as he leads her away from the bathroom door. "I've got something to ask you..." Once she and Spike are alone, away from prying ears, Spike turns to her and asks, “Nightshade…That was you back in the Crystal Empire right?” She sighs and says, “Yeah, that was me Spike.” “I knew it! I mean, everypony said I was just seeing things that day, but I knew better,” he says with his chest puffed out. “Yeah, sorry about not telling you the truth before that explosion, but great freaking job saving the day,” she says as she bops him on the shoulder. “Ah, it was nothing…” he says with a hand wave. "You did most of the work anyway." "Hey, you're the one who was burning Sombra when he was all misty, and YOU'RE the one who got the Crystal Heart Back," she points out. A look of self confidence washes over Spike. "Yeah, that was pretty cool...But yeah, after I saw you on The Offender nopony listened to me, except Applebloom. She told me she had seen you out in the woods during some spooky stuff and that I was the only one she was allowed to talk to about it. Though I kind of thought she was crazy, what with the whole ‘Undead Town’ thing,” he chuckles. She gives him a nervous stare and he pales. “That’s true too?” he says in disbelief. “Yeah…I don’t really want to talk about that place anymore,” she responds while looking down. “Oh, alright,” he scratches his head nervously. “But anyway, after she spoke to me, we decided to stop trying to convince the others we’d seen you. She and I still believed and it was enough.” “Thank you Spike. It really means a lot to me,” she says with a smile. “But then again, things got fuzzy. How the heck did you get all the way to the Crystal Empire in time to wrestle the Hooded Offender when he went all Beast Mode?” “Umm…It was a teleportation failure, and I kind of ended up there away from Daddy. When I saw the Hooded Offender I guess I kind of geeked out a bit. I’ve always thought he was cool,” she lies. “Yeah…I thought so too, until that whole snake jaw thing he did…” Spike shudders along with Nightshade. “But yeah, after getting blasted into the sky, I was able to get back to my normal Daddy, and his Opinion of the Offender went down significantly.” “I bet...but another thing, how come you looked like a Pegasus? And Applebloom swears she saw you looking like an Alicorn." "Well...ever heard of a disguise spell?" "Yeah." "Well there you go. I thought I'd try being a different kind of pony when we were in hiding." "Oh, I guess that makes sense," he says with a claw to his chin. Half Truths Nightshade. Half Truths will set you free. PonySpartan's Comment "Anyways," Nightshade starts, "I think daddy would like me to round up all the others that knew we were alive this whole time so we can talk in private later so that we can get our stories straight." "So Apple Bloom then?" Spike asks. "Uh-Huh, but don't forget about Fluuuuuuhhhhh," Nightshade catches herself since to Spike there would be no way that Fluttershy knew that BST was alive, without revealing that she knew by seeing the Offender in the Empire. "Uuuuu-Zecora!" She finishes, remembering the Zebra Shaman that took them in after Sunny Town. "Wait, Zecora knew? Huh. Guess we should have figured that out seeing as how she's the one who carried Applebloom home," Spike thinks aloud. "Yeah, and along with you we can all talk...but let's go see Applebloom first. I want to give her the run down then see Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle." "You sure your dad won't mind us running off into town?" Spike asks nervously. "Oh it'll be fine. He'll be talking with the Deadly 6 for awhile," she smiles. With that said Nightshade and Spike, after a quick shout telling you and the Deadly Six where they're going, head off to find Applebloom. BACK WITH YOU "Wait What?! Get back here you two! I didn't give you permission to-" "Oh forget about them they're fine. Finish the story!" Rarity implores. “I...Oh alright. So yeah, I was hanging out in Neighsa for awhile, until I got word from somepony back here, and that’s why I’m back here. Now can I please go after my daughter before that Dragon tries to-" “Wait, you got word from someone? Who?” Twilight asks. Oh sure, interrupt me again why don't you? With that indignant thought, you tell her, SnapDrake's Comment "Alright, so, uh, you know the Crimson Vengeance?" you ask. At this, Twilight's eyes open wide. "The Crimson Vengeance? You mean that masked bounty hunter that took down the leaders of the Crimson Knights?" You nod, and Twilight's eyes open even further. "It all makes sense now!" she suddenly declares causing all of you to look at her in confusion. "What makes sense?" you ask. "Everything!" she declares with stars in her eyes. You try to cut off Twilight so you can give her the story you gave Flash, about how the Crimson Vengeance is your brother that you never mentioned before and that he was cleaning up the Crimson Knights while you were off in Neighsa hiding out of paranoia and just didn't tell anyling about it. Unfortunately, Twilight has entered Scientific Epiphany mode and it's impossible to get a word in edgewise. "It's all so simple girls, don't you see?!" "No, we don't see. Whatchu talkin bout Twilight?" asks Applejack. "Well OBVIOUSLY Tennant was the Crimson Vengeance all along!" she declares. Your eyes widen in fear for a moment, as the others look confused. How the buck did she figure that out just by me saying his name? "The ponies that were after you, they must have been the Knights! So you ran away, changed your identity again and went to hunt them down, and now that you've finished that, you came back!" she says. Your jaw is dropped at that nearly correct statement. "Twilight, are you sure about that?" Rarity asks. "It seems like you're making a lot of assumptions to arrive at that conclusion." "But you've gotta admit," Pinkie responds, "it's pretty safe to make wild assumptions when it's Tennant we're talking about." "Hey!" you pipe up. "What's that supposed to mean?" "Oh, you know," Pinkie shrugs. "Terminating machines, pranking Hydras, love-based Armageddons." "You caused that last one, and I'm sure that you do this kind stuff on a daily basis!" "And you don't see ponies questioning me, do you?" Pinkie grins. "Pinkie's got a point," Rainbow adds. "Where Tennant's concerned, you can basically throw reason out the window." "Well, I hope for his sake he isn't that bounty hunter," Applejack growls. "Because, Mr. Tennant, if you just left without a word and made us think you were dead while running around beating up criminals, then you better have one japering jackanape of an explanation." "Well, um, uh..." you nervously stutter, as they have unknowingly found you out. I can't believe this. Twilight's outed me just on hearsay! Well don't let her know she's right. Otherwise BST will get a visit from that Sun Tramp. This serves to get your mind steadied, and you do the only thing that you can think of. "Mr. Tennant? Why are you laughing?" asks Twilight as you continue to laugh. "Ha ha ha, well. Ha. Because that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" you declare, causing Twilight's muzzle to scrunch up. "Really, I'M the guy who took down all the Crimson Knights? They've never even met me. Bookworm, I've been touring Neighsa hiding for the last 6 months. Surprisingly it was hard since subtitles don't exist in real life, but I've been far away from this country for my safety. And I'm sorry Applejack, but postage over their is pretty pricey." "But..." Twilight starts. "Come on, do you honestly believe that claim when you look at it with a clear head?" you taunt. You see Twilight's eye twitch as she puts a hoof to her head. "You know, it does sound pretty silly now that I think of it..." she ponders. The other girls giggle at her expression, but you decide to nail that coffin on that train of though Thank You Perception Filter! BrownDog's Comment “But yeah, that’s insane that you would think that I’m my brother, we dress nothing alike.” “Your Brother?!” they all screech at once. “Yeah, my bro. Crimson Vengeance is his code name. Didn’t I mention him before?” “No! Why haven’t you ever talked about a Bounty Hunting brother before?” “Oh that’s the pot calling the kettle black Twi,” Applejack snarks, and Twilight chuckles nervously remembering her reaction to her brother getting married. “Yeah Twi. Someponies just don’t like talking about their brothers. Like Flutter’s Brother. That guy is just…Ugh,” Rainbow gags. “Oh, let’s not talk about Zephyr now Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy groans while rubbing her temple. You feel surprised at this. Wow, Even Fluttershy’s got a brother that annoys her? Huh. I guess this lie can stick a bit easier. "But yeah, he wrote to me saying that he just got done with a big job taking down the countries biggest Terrorist Cell, and that he had enough bits to hide me himself." “Well alright, siblings aside, if you came back to see him, how the heck did you not see him on that train?” Twilight asks. You widen your eyes in mock surprise at that. “He Was On That Train?!” you shriek. “Yes. How didn’t you see him? His coat was very bright," says Rarity. "And his mask was very spooky," Fluttershy adds. “Well excuse me! All I saw was a large group of Pinkie Pies and I freaked out thinking the world was ending!” At that, Twilight’s eyes widen. “OH NO! We forgot about the Pinkie Clones!” Twilight shrieks. “Oh, they’re probably long gone by now,” Pinkie mentions. Twilight groans and facehooves at this. “OHhhh, I’m going to have to ask the Princesses to put an APB out on them now…” “Hey, I’m sure everything will be fine. I mean, I got to prove I was the real Pinkie, I got all my friends back, and even had one return from the grave. I’m just tickled even more pink,” she smiles and pats your shoulder. “Umm, speaking of which, why were there a group of scared Pinkie Pies on that train anyway? Did Discord get loose again and cause chaos?” Are you still harping on that? Yes! "Oh No, Discord would never do that," Fluttershy says with conviction. "I reformed him, we're the best of friends now," she says confidently as the others rub their necks nervously. "Alright, if it wasn't Discord, then why the heck were there a bunch of Pinkies on that train?" All the mares in the room giggle nervously at that. SEVERAL EXPLANATIONS LATER You give Twilight a blank stare before sighing and saying, "Moral questioning and possible jail time aside, you should just be glad it was only a couple of them and not all of them. The situation would be far worse if that was the case. Seriously, Clones still have feelings Twilight!" you scold. Twilight nods her head sadly at this before saying, "I know, I know. I feel so terrible for what I did. I was just so focused on bringing the real Pinkie back, I didn't even think about what that reversion spell was even doing. I didn't think of it as killing until The Crimson Vengeance yelled at me..." she whimpers, and the real Pinkie places an arm around her, followed by the rest. "None of us did Twilight," Rainbow admits. "I rounded them up," Applejack says sadly. "And Rarity and I just sat there watching," Fluttershy sniffles. "I'm the one who provided the canvas and paint," Rarity hiccups. "And I didn't even blink when the others got hurt. I was too focused on myself," Pinkie laments. The 6 Friends then begin comforting each other, sniffling the whole time, and you stand back awkwardly. Wow, about time I get to look down at them from a higher moral level. But I should probably cheer them up before the guilt kicks in. Hmmmm... "I just wish there was something I could do for them to make up for what I've done..." Twilight moans. *ding* Getting a idea you say, "The best way to make it up to them is to pretend they never existed." Twilight, and the rest of the Deadly Six, give you a confused look, so you explain, "It's simple really. We all pretend they don't exist so they can live their lives in peace. They become new ponies and live new lives and make their own stories. We forget about them and they will never have to worry about being hauled off to some magic experiment room or something like that. And If you do see one of them, just pretend you didn't. Simple as that." And I learned that from good ol Quacksalver. Ignore the things that don't exist. It's unsettling that that moron's advice can be used practically. The Deadly Six begin to think this over before Twilight says, "I guess...that could work. For now at least. If I do see one of them I will apologize to her through." You sigh at this before saying, "Whatever you say Twilight." With that said an awkward silence hangs in the air before Rarity asks, "So...will you be staying around or are you going back into hiding?" The mares look at you anxiously before you answer, The Rutherford's Comment Kichi's Comment "Well, I mainly went into hiding because of this whole country was getting dangerous with the Crimson Knights after Hearth's Warming Eve Last year...but now that leaders are locked up...." With the Generals. "C9," Rutherford calls out. "You zapped my weather pony. A5. This is such a stupid game," grumbles Solarkness. "Miss. Well this is the only real game I can easily think of that we could make up by scratching lines into the cell. D3," the Wyvern answers. "Bingo!" calls out Brown Dog. "They're not even playing that," Snap Drake calls out. "Playing? I just remembered a farmer I knew once, and Bingo was his-" That idiocy is interrupted as sounds of armored ponies approaching breaks out through the corridor, along with the squeak of some wheels. "OK, put the crazy in the padded one," comes a gruff voice. "Yes Sir!" calls out two guards. The Generals all look to see Grey strapped to a gurney in a full body cast get pushed into the cell by Snap Drake. "By the Gods, what happened to him?!" Rutherford shudders. "I knew he was off his rocker, but it looks like something tried to kill him. Did the Bounty Hunter do this?" "Heh, if only," the guard snarks. "No, apparently that old white changeling buddy of yours used his blood to control all the inmates in Arkhay Asylum, including this sad sack. Apparently he pushed him far beyond the point of safety. Glad the Bounty Hunter took care of him." "He won't be the only one..." Changer says aloud within his room. "Cheese and Rice! That's horrifying!" comes the voice of Candy. "Yeah, I mean...Jeez!" Silver gags. "Uh-huh, and people called me and Brown Psychos," Snap Drake adds. "Wait, if the Bounty Hunter took care of him then where is Erised?" asks Solarkness. Changer looks through his door window, "Yes, where is that pathetic monster?" "Oh he's here alright, he's just still in the ICU. Apparently his old ass is trying to die on us, but with no such luck. We have him on constant surveillance with guards in his room 24/7." "You won't let him die? Why?" Rutherford asks. "He still needs to pay for his crimes," the guard answers. "And we are called monsters and criminals, ha!" Kichi spits. "As far as I know, we did not kill anyling, but oh, some Bounty Hunter brings us in, we must be evil. Give that mask wearing arsonist a medal why don'tcha?" "Kichi, the guy just said Erised was mind controlling an army of psychopaths, and look what he did to Grey!" Rutherford criticizes. "Yeah, and don't try to act all innocent! You kidnapped and brainwashed kids for your criminal syndicate!" Changer growls. "Oh shut up Traitor! It was a legitimate business...mostly." "Uh-Huh. You know how close you were to having Chris Hayson show up?" Silver snarks. "Oh Ha Ha and Ha" he laughs apathetically and sarcastically. "Okay, but still noling died." "He threatened the Princess directly and put several lives in danger," another guard answers. "Which one?" Kichi asks. "What?" "Which Princess did he threaten?" the changeling repeats. "Celestia of course. The best Princess," the guard answers. "So you wouldn't care as much if it had been Princess Luna?" Brown Dog asks. "I didn't say that!" the guard rebuffs. "But you obviously put Sunbutt before her sister. So you don't care as much about the other one even though she has the superior flank?" Snap Drake adds. "That's not what I..." "Then again, what about Princess Cadance? Do you only care about Single Princesses?" adds Solarkness. "Yeah, why do you hate Love Butt?" asks Rutherford. "I don't I love all of the butts! I MEAN PRINCESSES!" the guard stammers. "Oh wow, hope Shining Armor doesn't hear that!" Silver heckles. "Or does he already know about your undying love-hate relationship with his wife?" "What is even happening?!" "I'm surrounded by morons," Changer moans. "Alright enough of this! Let's get out of here. And Kiteshield," the main guard barks. "Yes Sir?" shouts the teased stallion. "You and I are going to have a talk later about your guard oath and what it means." "Yes sir," he moans. As the guards leave, all the Generals and the other Knights chuckle at the true game they have been playing...Annoy the Guards. Back to you. "...So I should be able to stay for a while. That said I am still hiding from others, so if THAT situation becomes too hectic, I will have to leave, even if only for a few weeks or so. And this time, I promise to write." Is that half truth enough? I think it can work. It is not really a half truth. You were honest with them. They just don't realize that the Other situation is them. I like it....Ooh, a butterfly! PonySpartan's Comment Twilight smiles at you. "There's no need for you to hide. We will all have your back. You're our friend." "That's right!" Rainbow flies and swoops in front of you with a determined face. "We always have each others backs! If you mess with one of us you mess with all of us." You smile at them and are about to say something when suddenly Pinkie squees before saying, "I just realized that this is my chance to throw a "I'm The Real Pinkie Pie and Welcome Back From The Dead Even Through You Never Were Dead In The First Place!" party!" You and the other Deadly Six give Pinkie a confused look as Applejack begins to say, "Now Sugarcube ah don't th-" Applejack is interrupted when Pinkie grabs her and the other mares, and with a shout of "We have no time to lose", they're gone. You stare at the smoke outlines of where they used to be for a good three minutes, alone in the library. Well, not quite alone, you hear what you presume to be Crackle upstairs Honking. "Okay, glad to see they bought it. Now that the Pinkies are free though, I've just got to visit for awhile and then I can go home to Appleloosa...but first I got to go to another party all about me...Ugh," you lament. Be thankful Bugze, Your identity could have been outed after all. "Yeah I know, but still I just want to go home already. But now I'll have to go to a party and let the town know I'm not dead, and that's just gonna be awkward." Especially if the musicians and masseuse are there. "...Yeah, especially if Vinyl, Octavia and Aloe are there...And I've still got to talk to Fluttershy later about why she should calm the buck down about getting rid of you, AND Nightshade is out gallivanting around with Spike doing Luna knows what!" you facehoof, before you look up at the wall clock. "Okay, I have at least a good couple of hours before Pinkie throws the party. But what to do...?" What do you do? Outro: