Guardian of Equestria

by Armyidiot


A Thorn of the Mind, A Thorn in the Side

At the guest bedroom he was given, Heaross was preparing to bed down for the night to continue his activities the next day. He had just checked on the Petverse and was surprised to find Sunset Shimmer, who was still servant to his dragons, alive. He had made a wager with Celestia on how long she would last there, where he had bet 100 gold that she wouldn't last until the end of the week. Celestia bet that Sunset would be gone by a month's time, with 100 bits, respectively. Luna had gotten into the bet, and bet it would be 3 months before her death. Heaross' sentence was to last 8 months, if she could make it, where she would be officially reintegrated with society. If she hadn't been driven insane, that is.

After finishing with his checklist on pets, and finding them to be alright, Heaross continued with his nightly routine, which generally consisted of cleaning and stowing away his armor and weapons, and a calisthenic routine. After that, and cleaning himself in the guest restroom, Heaross bed down, preparing for sleep. Meditating himself to the dream world, Heaross found himself in a strange hallway, lined with doors of all sizes and colors. Looking down and around gave him a headache, as the floor and walls were ever changing, providing a confusing and migraine-inducing view. Deciding to focus on the doors, he walked down the hall, until something had stopped him.

Tearing his vision away from the doors, Heaross found that he had bumped into Luna, Princess of the Night. "Hello Luna. Might you be a figment of this strange dream, or have I found myself in another dimension altogether?"

Luna, for her part, was wearing a strange expression, like she hadn't expected him. "You find yourself in the Dream Realm, Heaross," Luna wearily answered, "but I express curiosity at how you managed to find your way here. Only I know the way in, and here I spend my nights, walking the halls and remedying nightmares and bad dreams caused by the unrest of the soul."

"Hmm," Heaross replied, "I seem to have a strange knack for dimension hopping, don't I?" His small joke lightened the mood, if Luna's chuckles were any indicator. "In all seriousness, I have not a clue on how I made my way here. Maybe some other cosmic force sent me here to do what you might be unable to. I am just as unsure as you. If matters allow, may I explore a few dreams?"

"You may," Luna granted, "But don't hurt anypony you meet. Harm in the dreams can sometimes extend to harm in the real world. Also, stay away from Pinkie Pie's dreams. Terrors are nothing compared to that strange mare's night visions..."

"Thank you Luna, I won't hurt anyone while I am here." Heeding her warning, knowing that the cupcake loving pony was extremely strange, "I won't deign to bother Pinkie, if my continued sanity is of any measure of worth."

Relieved, Luna wished the Guardian a well night, and continued on her way. Heaross, rather curious, decided to find his friend's dreams and take a peek into their inner thoughts. As he made his way, the warrior found Applejack's dream first, and Rainbow Dash's beside it. Taking a peek, Heaross found her and Rainbow at a restaurant. Just as he was about to leave, he saw the two kiss, and more than a little steamy. Taking another peek, this time at Rainbow Dash, he found the same thing, but at Sweet Apple Acres. Oh, tomorrow will be very fun.

Finding Rarity's dream next, Heaross took a peek and found her designing dresses, even in her dreams, but the dresses were for him. Despite going against his masculinity, he had to admit they would look good on him. Oh god, I hope she doesn't take inspiration from this.

Heaross found Twilight's door next where he found himself and Twilight in a rather compromising position. Even though it was strange seeing himself in that light, Heaross was rather intrigued. I wish I was that flexible... Wait is that Valencia's... OH MY GOD NEXT DREAM

Blushing heavily now, Heaross continued onto Fluttershy, where he found, instead of something exceedingly raunchy, a simple tea party with all of their friends, and some other ponies that he hadn't met. At least Fluttershy is relatively normal. Though I'm not sure if I'm a good judge, considering my daily life.

Heaross found Pinkie's door next, but decided not to enter. As much as he would love to find out the inner workings of her mind, Heaross rather enjoyed being sane, even if it was at the price of not finding out who's screams were behind the door.

Moving on, he found Celestia's door, where the warrior found something a bit more disturbing. Instead of seeing something like a land entirely of cake, or subjects praising her, Heaross found Celestia watching events fold out from her past, no doubt the ones where Luna had turned into Nightmare Moon and was subsequently banished to the moon. As the Dream Celestia was doing battle, the real Celestia was on the ground, crying.

Instead of rushing to comfort the sobbing princess, Heaross simply took a seat to her side and watched the events unfold, all the way until the Dream Celestia took the Elements of Harmony and blasted Nightmare Moon to the moon, trapping her for what would be 1000 years. Knowing the pain of losing a loved one, Heaross used his own control over the mind to change Celestia's Dreamscape to a flourishing meadow, full of blooming flowers and growing trees. Letting her sob for a few minutes, the Guardian took a flower from its stem, smelled it, and threw it to pick another until he had found just the right scent. Ah, that's the one. Smells just like her too...

Taking the beautiful flower, which he learned was called Dragon's Tongue, Heaross placed the bell along Celestia's flowing mane, along her ear. Just sniffling now, Celestia took a look around, confused to see a vibrant garden instead of the stone castle that had been hers and Luna's. "You remind me so much of her." Surprised to find another there, Celestia looked around until she found the source of the voice, confused to see Heaross, and not her sister.

Sniffling, Celestia took a seated position facing Heaross, "I'm sorry, remind you of who?" Celestia curiously asked.

Heaross had a very aged and crestfallen expression. "My sister, Aytheri. You are so much like her. The way she never let anyone know that she wasn't always happy, or how she always put on a tough exterior for those that need it, or even simply her laugh. When you laugh, I can't help but see her in you."

Giving a small chuckle, Celestia replied, "Well, wherever she is, I hope that she is proud of you. If she's anything like you, I would guess that she very much enjoys her brother."

Heaross didn't let his tears fall, too determined to not get obstructed in his past. "Yeah, I certainly hope she does. Her and Dekio were always looking up to me."

"Dekio?" Celestia had heard this name, but never questioned its importance.

"Yeah, my brother. Dekio and Aytheri were twins. I miss them dearly."

Celestia chuckled again, "Well, you have friends here too, so you don't quite have to worry about being lonely."

Just as Heaross was about to reply, everything around him went dark and Celestia appeared to be surprised by something. As he tried to regain control of the Dreamscape, it occurred to him: He wasn't losing control, the realm was shutting down on itself.


Heaross awoke in his bed moments later, finding the time to still be night. Acting quickly, he used a spell to call his armor on, and rushed to Celestia's personal quarters. Barreling past many guards, and even crashing into a few, he eventually made it the room, set at the second highest tower. Bursting open the doors, Heaross was met with a struggling Celestia being pulled underground by thick, spiky vines. They had gagged her, making it impossible for her to sound any alarm to her guards outside. Just as the vines were about to seal the hole around Celestia's horn, Heaross reached in quickly and grasped at the vines surrounding the princess, pulling with all of his might. Instead of pulling Celestia out of the hole, he was met with strong resistance, and found himself being pressured to keep her from getting plant-napped.

Deciding now was the time, Heaross let his full strength loose, roughly grabbing onto the vines surrounding Celestia's barrel, and heaved. Slowly, ever so slowly, the princess started rising again, coming out of the ground. Pulling for what had to have been more than 10 minutes, Heaross managed to fully surface Celestia, still wrapped in vines trying bring her down. Quickly swinging the Blade of Awe, Heaross cut all of the vines off, taking care not to strike the alicorn. In response, the vines retracted from the awesome sword, steaming at the potent magic it wielded. "Never in my life have I met a plant that strong. And I have seen plants large enough to destroy cities." Heaross was panting, tired from exerting himself fully.

Celestia was shaking, covered in many cuts and bruises from the vines and Heaross' close rescue. As she was catching her breath, a startling thought took her mind. "Heaross! If they went after me, do you think they might go after Luna as well?"

Fear gripping his mind, Heaross' thoughts raced. Dammit, Luna could be in danger, and if she is, then Twilight might be as well. Why did my day have to start out like this... Acting quickly, Heaross opened a separate pocket of his Petverse, calling out, "Dekio! Aytheri! Come here! There you are, there's my little nerfkittens." Grabbing the 2 small, adorable blue cats, Heaross lifted them to his cheeks and let them lick him. "There you are! There's some good creatures of death! Okay, Dekio, Aytheri, I have something I need you two to do, okay? I want you to follow Celestia here, the tall white pony, and make sure that nothing comes to harm her, or anybody around her. I'll meet back up with you 3 at another room, where a smaller, purple one of her is, okay? I want you 2 to be on the lookout for this," holding up a cutting of the vine that had come off of Celestia, "it's a vine that attacked her, and might attack other people like her too. Can you do all of that for me?" The nerfkitten pair nuzzled Heaross then, showing their understanding. "Good nerfkittens! I'll have some treats for you when I meet back up with you, okay? Now follow Celestia!"

Said alicorn was very confused, both at why Heaross was making orders, and why he had assigned 2 small kittens to be her 'protectors' when she could defend herself. "Heaross, I'm not sure what a couple of tiny kits could do to protect me."

"If you want to remain alive, do not insult those two, do not attempt to harm them, and do not get in their way. Even if I was forced to, there is no way I could kill them single-handedly. They will protect you at all costs, and will escort you to Twilight's room. I will go to Luna's room, and escort her from there to Twilight's room as well."

Not taking no for an answer, Heaross used a spell to switch from his Ultra Guardian Armor to the Twilight's Mantle easily, and used the shadow flight to go to Luna's tower, where he found the mare trying to escape from the vines attacking her. Using the shadows, Heaross cut the vines at the stems coming from the ground, where they retreated and thrashed the ground for minutes after. Luna decided to not ask questions and followed Heaross to Twilight's room. As they ran, Heaross switched his armor back to the Ultra Guardian Armor, and explained the situation to Luna, who didn't ask questions until they reached Heaross' liege's room. Inside they found Celestia, Twilight, and Heaross' nerfkittens safe and sound, if rather spooked.

"Dekio, Aytheri! Come here you 2, there you are, there's some good kittens! I promised you a treat didn't I?" Aytheri burped up a black spiky vine then. "It appears someone might have already had a treat... Celestia, were they good?"

"GET THOSE DEATH CATS AWAY FROM ME!"

"I'll take that as a yes. You two deserve a little reward!" Pulling out a couple rats, and setting down the nerfkittens, "Here you two go! Catch it!" Heaross then threw the rats into the air, which was responded by Dekio and Aytheri jumping several feet to snatch the snacks out of the air. The rats were eaten in single gulps, and the cats went to nuzzle Heaross. "Good kittens! Okay, now I need you to go back in the portal alright? I'll come in a bit okay?" Soft mewls showed acceptance. "Good. Okay you two, I love you! I'll see you in a bit." Opening the portal, Dekio and Aytheri obediently walked in, Heaross shutting the portal moments later. "I swear... I raised those 2 from birth, yet I still can't get over my fear of them. Dealing with nerfkittens is never easy."

Twilight spoke up at that point, making her inquiries known, "I'm sorry, but nopony has told me anything of what's happening. Is there a situation at hand?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Heaross responded, "Luna and Celestia have just almost been kidnapped by thick spiky vines erupting from the ground. I was made aware of the situation when Celestia's Dreamscape started shutting down. I ran to her room and found the vines attempting to 'plant-nap' her, as it were."

Twilight face-hooved then. "I haven't even been a princess for a week... Is there anything else out of the ordinary?"

"Just the fact that the vines managed to climb through the entirety of the castle without being noticed by anyone, and reached to Celestia and Luna's private quarters. If it weren't for the danger these vines show, I would recommend a test of the castle's structural integrity. Vines that thick, and that many would inevitably cause some foundation and structure damage." Referring back to the situation at hand, "Let's worry about that later. For now, Twilight, what would you recommend doing?"

Twilight was understandably stunned. Why would Heaross want her to start giving orders? Just go with it, Twilight. Figure out his games later. "Umm, let's start by getting the Princess' to safety, then figuring out where the vines are coming from. We can fix the problem at the source."

Heaross was glad to see her able to reason, but she had forgotten a possibility. "Twilight, what if this isn't only affecting Canterlot?"

Twilight rolled with the punches, despite realizing she forgot that important aspect. "Then we find any towns or residences affected, and mitigate the situation there. We focus our resources on ending this at the source though."

Heaross smiled, relieved to find that Twilight wasn't incompetent in giving good orders. "Excellent, Twilight. Remember to consider the possibilities of what a situation may contain. Play the 'what-if' game to see if you forgot anything. For now, how would you recommend we follow these orders?"

Celestia spoke up then, rather peeved at being ignored, "Shouldn't I be the one in charge? Twilight is just learning how to be a ruler."

"This is actually good training for Twilight." Heaross responded easily, "By having her be in charge of an emergency situation, she can learn quick thinking in a stressful environment and quick reactions to sudden changes. Think of it as lessons for being a ruler."

Celestia was momentarily stunned, not realizing that Heaross had a motive behind his actions. If he asked someone else for advice, it was because he had a thought going and needed that person to perfect it. "I... hadn't thought of that. You're right, we should focus on training Twilight."

"Glad to see you find things my way." Turning his attention back to the purple alicorn, "Okay Twilight. What do we do now?"

Twilight was silent for a moment, pondering her options. Finally, she chose, "Currently, we're the 4 most powerful beings in Equestria." Heaross gave a small chuckle. "We might be able to draw the vine's attention by staying close. I'd bet that those vines emit some kind of magic trace, so if we can follow it, we might be able to find the source of this all. For now, let's head to Ponyville and gather my friends. We may need the Elements."

Heaross nodded, "Smart plan," to the 2 bigger alicorns, "Celestia, Luna, can you teleport us directly there? Time is of the essence."

"We can," Celestia confirmed, "everypony gather closely." As Heaross and Twilight moved closer, Celestia's horn started to glow. In a blinding flash of light, the 4 were instantly transported to Ponyville, where the situation hadn't reached ears, considering the time of night.

"Okay," Heaross started, "let's split up and gather the other 5. I'll go and get Fluttershy and Applejack."

Twilight responded, "I'll get Rainbow Dash."

Celestia then, "Then I will get Rarity."

"And that leaves me with Pinkie Pie." Luna finished.

"Then let's meet back at Town Hall in 10 minutes." Twilight ordered. As they all split, going for the necessary mares, each had their own thoughts. Twilight thought, Heaross might not have made the smartest decision in letting me lead this... That human is SO going to pay later... Especially for waking me up. That was a good dream... Twilight blushed then.

Heaross sneezed as he was running towards Fluttershy's. Where could the vines possibly be coming from? And how could they be so strong? When I get back, I'll ask Luna and Celestia if they know anything about the vines and where to learn more of them. Why do I have a feeling that it has something to do with their old castle?

Celestia was flying towards Rainbow Dash's cloud house when she had the thought, Heaross better know what he's doing. We'll check the old castle first, checking the library and the Tree of Harmony underneath, then we'll find Discord and question him. Wait, does Heaross know about Discord?

Luna was racing towards Sugarcube Corner, when, First, I meet Heaross in the Dream Realm. Then, I almost get kidnapped by plants! What's next, the Tree of Harmony being attacked?!

Each of the 4 gathered their respective charges and raced towards Town Hall. Twilight took the time to explain to her friends what's going on, while Celestia, Luna, and Heaross made plans of their next course of action. Just as Twilight finished story time, the other 3 came to the decision to check on the old castle.

Heaross informed Twilight of their next move, but Twilight interjected, "Shouldn't we get the Elements first? We're kinda useless without them."

"That's... A very good point, Twilight," Heaross admitted. "We should get those. They're in the Library, right?" Twilight nodded. "Alright. I'll be back in a moment." With that, Heaross ran towards the town Library, acquired the Elements of Harmony, and hurried back to the pony group. Heaross also brought out one of his pets, a raven named Twilight, to carry the case containing the mystical artifacts.

Elements in hand (claw), the group of ponies (and human) head towards the Everfree Forest, and the castle contained within. On the way, several perils were found, but most were dealt with by Heaross and his combat expertise. That is, until a Cragodile (as Heaross was told the name of) launched a surprise attack at Twilight. Heaross was quick to act, bringing his sword up to the beast's mouth and blocked it, using his sword's leverage to bash the Cragodile back, and knocked it on the head with his shield. Stunned, the beast withdrew for a moment to prepare another assault, but was met with a blade tip at the snout. Frightened, the beast ran deeper into the swamp, not daring to attack again.

As Heaross was wiping his blade clean of spit, he overheard Applejack talking to Twilight, "Sugar, I don't think that it's safe for you to be here, even with Heaross protecting ya. Ya saw how close that beast came to eating ya!"

To his surprise, the others, aside from Celestia and Luna, who were currently scouting the areas ahead, agreed. Rainbow Dash concurred with, "Yeah, Twilight. If something happens to Celestia and Luna, we need another Princess to take their place. As much as we need to find out what caused those vines to attack, if you got hurt, none of us could live with it."

Twilight had tears in her eyes. Trying to blink them away, "I thought you guys trusted me to help. I'm just in the way here then. Fine, I know when I'm not wanted." Twilight would have run off then, if it wasn't for Heaross scooping her up into his arms.

Instead of struggling, Twilight held onto Heaross, wrapping her hooves around his neck. While this confused the other mares, the warrior she was clinging to said, "I swear, sometimes you ponies have absolutely no sense of forethought or empathy. If Twilight left, then what's the point of the Elements of Harmony being here? And if they aren't here, then why are you?" All the mares, aside Twilight, were quite ashamed of themselves then. They didn't think of her role there, they just thought of what they wanted to. "I do understand that while those two traits can be hard to come by, I would have thought that all of you would have more of it."

Applejack was silent for a moment, before going to Heaross, speaking to Twilight, "A'm sorry Twi. Ah wasn't thinking of your feelings or how important you were." Rainbow Dash went and said a similar line, but the feeling was there. At the least, she swallowed her pride and admitted she was wrong.

Heaross nodded his approval, yet Twilight took a moment more to calm down. Despite the fact that she was emotionally fragile, they didn't have time to waste. Thinking slightly evilly, he whispered, "Twilight, do you want to tell them about us? I won't force you, but now does seem a good time."

To his surprise, Twilight nodded. "Yeah, I don't want to have to hide secrets from them."

"Alright, if you want to, look at me." Twilight did, though with a slightly somber look. That changed quickly though, when Heaross surprised her with a kiss. The other Elements looked on in amazement, aside from Pinkie Pie, who was making some sort of cake. The kiss ended after a second, though the effects were felt for minutes. Despite the sudden shock, AJ handed a smiling Rarity a few bits, and so did Rainbow to Fluttershy. "Does that explain everything?" A smirking Heaross said to everypony.

Fluttershy spoke up then, still quietly, "I'm happy for you 2, though isn't there some custom against inter-species dating?"

"Unless there is one here," Heaross answered, "then not that I know of. In my world, dating someone from a different species isn't prohibited in the slightest. Some may think of you as strange, but they cannot legally speak out against you. My friend Warlic, I know that he has dated 4 people who weren't humans."

Rarity looked confused for a bit, asking, "What about how Twilight is a Princess? Wouldn't that make you a Prince?"

Heaross had another answer ready, "Royalty dating non-royalty always causes problems. The problem for me is that a Guardian cannot be royalty. Twilight and I have talked about this for a time, and we've made it official. Even if we were to wed, I would not be considered a Prince. I have papers signed from both of us about this, as much as it does hurt to."

There were a few more questions, "Have you 2 slept together?" "How long has it been?" "How much are you willing to do for each other?" and plenty more. Heaross took it in stride, literally and figuratively, as he started walking when they asked miscellaneous questions. "Yes, but not in that way." "Since the Princess summit." "I'm a Guardian, so literally anything." His fast pace certainly did get the mares the short distance they had left to the castle, where he halted their questions and finally put Twilight down.

When they got to the clearing in front of the castle, Luna and Celestia finally rejoined them. Quite interestingly, Celestia handed Luna about 20 bits. "Sunset still isn't gonna last 3 months." "Oh, she will." Heaross cleared his throat loudly, attracting the attention of the 2 gambling alicorns.

"If you two would mind not betting on whether me and Twilight are dating, we have a bit of an emergency right now." Celestia looked sheepish, but Luna was smirking while they came over. He did a once over of the castle and the surrounding areas with his magic sense, and while the source of the vines was certainly there, he couldn't pinpoint it. "The vine's source is here, but its magic is covering the entire castle and the surrounding areas. We'll have to search everywhere to find it, so let's split up."

"Luna and I will search in the castle," Celestia said, "Rainbow Dash, fly above the castle and search from there. Rarity and Fluttershy, you two search around the back of the castle, Applejack and Pinkie Pie, you search the sides and the woods, while Heaross and Twilight will search the canyon and the outer reaches of the forest."

"If ya find somethin', don't try and fix it by yerself," AJ advised, "get the rest of us so we can tackle it all at once."

With that, everyone broke into their respective positions to search for the cause of the thorny vines. Heaross jumped down into the canyon, throwing up a plume of dust on landing, while Twilight used her wings to glide down much slower. "Remember, use your primaries to change direction, and your secondaries to change your angle!" Heaross shouted to her.

Taking the time, Twilight steered herself to him, landing in his arms. "Thanks for the tips, Heaross." Jumping down, "Where should we go first?"

Heaross did another scan over the castle and areas, "This way, the signal gets stronger over here." The couple moved towards the source, deep in the canyon around the castle. "It shouldn't be too far ahead." True to his word, Heaross and Twilight encountered a cave riddled with the vines that attacked Celestia and Luna.

"Let's go back and get the others," Twilight said, "we'll need the Elements of Harmony, as well as Celestia and Luna would want to know about all this."

"Actually," Heaross interjected, "I have a way to get everyone's attention." Drawing the Blade of Awe, Heaross charged the magic in the blade for a moment, causing it to glow with energy. With a wide flourish, Heaross pointed the tip to the sky, unleashing the magic. "AWE BLAST!" A massive beam of pure mana flowed out of the Blade of Awe, illuminating the night sky and causing a small shock wave to spread out, blasting a few close by trees with heavy force.

Twilight was awed by the sheer force of the Awe Blast, shocking her motionless for a few seconds even after the magic dissipated. Heaross maintained his pose for moments more after the blast ended, then finally dropped it, seeing Twilight staring at him in complete enrapturement. "How- I me- wha- why di-" Twilight took a moment to compose herself, before asking her warrior, "Is there nothing beyond you?!"

Heaross laughed, knowing the effects of seeing the Awe Blast the first time. He picked Twilight up, giving her a small kiss before answering, "There are a great many things I am unable to do. I am unable to create something from nothing, I cannot defy physics themselves, and even I cannot cheat Death when he comes to collect. The things I can do greatly outnumber the things I cannot, for I am always pushing myself. A lesson for you to learn, is that no matter what you may do, there is always someone stronger, faster, smarter. Always push yourself to do better, even by just a little bit. Run the extra mile, push the extra weight, pull yourself just that one bit farther and say 'I did it.'" Heaross gave another kiss, this time with just a bit more passion. "I know I certainly did."

Twilight had a few tears in her eyes, smiling greatly. "I will, Heaross. Can you make a promise to me though?"

"Was is it?"

"Teach me to be like you. I want to be a hero for everypony who needs one." Twilight's morals certainly weren't in question.

Heaross thought for a moment before finally, "No."

Twilight was quite understandably taken aback. "No? Why?"

Heaross smiled then. "Because I'm going to teach you to be you. I am me, and there is no one like me, just as there is no pony like you. I can teach you what I know, but that doesn't mean you're going to be me. I don't want you to anyways, I want you to be you."

Twilight had more tears in her eyes, before kissing Heaross quite fervently. A promise was made, and an oath was kept. Also, 7 ponies got quite a view of a human and a pony kissing. Hearing a wolf whistle, Heaross threw up a rude gesture at the onlookers before moving the hand back to its original position.

Celestia called out, "Encore, please!" Luna concurred, as did the other 5 who were going to tease Twilight later. A few minutes later, and a ton of laughter too, the 7 onlookers were calmed down enough to be serious. "What was that giant beam of magic?" Celestia asked.

"Just something to get your attention." Heaross answered jovially. "The reason why I did it is because we found the source. It's in this cave." True to his word, the ponies found a vine filled cave strangling some crystal tree.

"The... the Tree of Harmony..." Celestia breathed out.

"So this is what powers the Elements?" Heaross inquired.

"Yes, Heaross." Luna answered. "How did this happen? What vines could do something like this?" Realizing Heaross didn't know much about the ancient growth, "The Tree of Harmony is where the Elements of Harmony came from. They are what give the Elements their power, as well as providing the land with magic and peace."

"So don't hurt the tree." Heaross inferred. "Give me 5 minutes."


5 minutes later, the cave floor was a maze of cut vines and thorns. A weird, foul-smelling sap also formed in the vines, leaving puddles of ooze on the ground. The Tree of Harmony also was free of vines, and was glowing slightly. Heaross stepped away from the cave, covered in ooze. "I need a shower..."

"When we get back to Ponyville, you're getting more than that, mister." Twilight warned him.

"Should I be worried or excited?" Heaross joked.

"Both."