Spider in Equestria

by DarkSpider


42. Return To Ponyville

Dark groaned, setting a hand on his head as he slowly lifted his head up. He hissed when the light hit his eyes, closing them again on reflex. Trying to lift himself up, he stopped when he noticed an unfamiliar weight on his stomach. Dark slowly opened his eyes to look at whatever it was on his stomach, seeing the small blue baby dragon curled up on his chest, resting peacefully.

With a shake of his head, he muttered, “What happened?”

“You touched the dragon, felt a lot of pain, and knocked out,” Venom told him.

“How long was I out?”

“Only a few minutes. Though...you may wanna look at your hand.”

“Why? What's wro-” Dark started before immediately stopping when he saw his right hand. The glove was charred black from burns and the palm of of his hand was exposed. In the center of it was a strange mark curved like an S with a silver color.

“How did that happen by touching it?”

“No idea. Though your chest seems to be fine with it laying on you.”

Dark looked back on the dragon. When he did, he noticed something. “Wait, is that...fur?” He asked as he saw the dragon had something similar to a mane on its head and hair on the tip of its tail, both of which being a lighter shade than its scales.

“You just noticed that?”

“I thought it was its scales at first. How was I supposed to know it had hair?”

Before Venom can respond, the door opened and Twilight walked in. “Morning Dark. Hope you're doing well…” she paused as she saw the small reptile on his chest. “Is that a dragon?”

“Um...yes?”

“Why do you have a dragon on you? And why does it have fur. Wait, are those feathers?” She asked.

“Long story short, I got summoned earlier and was given a dragon egg. The dragon hatched soon after I got back. As for why it has hair and feathers...I honestly have no idea,” Dark finished with a shrug.

Twilight hummed. “Well then. Do you know anything specific about that world?”

“Dragons are the main species, Equestria doesn't exist, and I think I met the Celestia of that world.”

Twilight blinked. “What?”

Dark sighed before activating his magic to bring his laptop to him and set it to his side. He then gestured at the book. “That there has a history of the world. Should help you understand it better than I can.”

Twilight nodded before grabbing said book. She then gave Dark a worried look. “Dark? Why is your glove burned?”

He looked at his hand again. “I don't really know. I just touch this guy and the next thing I know, I feel so much pain that I black out. When I woke up, it was like that.”

At that point, the dragon started to stir and yawned before shaking itself and opening its eyes. When it did, it looked at Twilight for a moment before looking at Dark for a bit. On instinct Dark just ran a few fingers down its neck a few times, noticing a moment after that he didn't get hurt.

“So does it have a name?” Twilight asked.

“What?”

“For the dragon.”

Dark stayed silent for a moment as he stared at the dragon before shrugging and saying, “How about Peter?”

The dragon simply tilted its head but didn’t seem to reject the name.

“Peter it is.”

“Naming it after Parker huh?” Venom asked. “Can’t say I’m surprised.”

“Shut up,” Dark muttered before lifting Peter off of him so he can get up. After he put the dragon back on the bed, it leapt onto his arm and climbed to his shoulder.

“Well he certainly seems attached to you,” Twilight commented, smiling softly at the sight. Turning towards the hallway, she waved towards Dark to follow her. “Come on. The others are waiting.”

With a nod, the two walked out of the door, making their way further in the castle, waving and greeting the stationary guards as they passed by. Reaching a pair of large doors, Twilight used her magic to open the giant doors, allowing for the two to enter a new room, the room’s windows were all decorated with accomplishments of Twilight and her friend’s past deeds.

In the middle of the room, Screwball stood with Cece, the two of them waiting patiently while staring up at the several stained glass windows. Seeing the two enter the room, the pink filly smiled and waved at them, walking up to them with a smile. “Hey guys! Ready to go back?” She asked excitedly.

Cece walked up behind Screwball, stopping when she spotted the dragon in Dark’s shoulder, her eyes widen in surprise. “Oh wow, where did that dragon come from?”

Dark raised the small dragon up. “I got him as an egg during my latest adventure, was summoned to an Equestria filled with dragons and they let me take this little guy with me. Hatched when I got back.”

Screwball took a small step closer to get a better look at the small blue dragon. Smiling softly, she raised an hand and pet him. “He seems friendly.” She commented before turning her attention towards the other two. “So you guys ready to go?” Both Dark and Twilight nodded. “Great! Now this will just take a second.” Raising her hand, she snapped her fingers, teleporting the five of them into Twilight’s Castle.

Dark raised his head to look around their new surroundings, taking in the familiar crystal castle. “It's good to see nothing’s changed since we’ve left.” He commented.

“Hey guys! It's been a while.” Everyone turned around to see Spike running up towards them, the small drake eyes widen when he saw the blue dragon on Dark’s shoulders. “Wow, who’s the new guy?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“He’s a dragon Dark found during one of his adventures. He just hatched today, so it's best not to overwhelm him with attention.” Twilight said with a small smile.

“He just hatched?!” Spike exclaimed, staring up at the dragon with shock and awe. Smiling, he tugged at the red sleeves of his hoodie nervously. “Hey there little guy,” He said catching the attention of the baby dragon. “Name’s Spike!” Spike introduced himself staring at the dragon with great interest.

Smiling softly, Twilight patted Spike. “There’ll be time for you two to bond later Spike, we need to prepare for the meeting after all.”

Spike’s eyes snapped towards Twilight as his eyes widen. “Ah that’s right! Starlight told to me find you guys!” Turning around, he motioned them to follow him. “Everyone is waiting in the throne room, so come on!”

With that the five of them followed the short dragon, until they finally reached a pair of a crystal doors. Using her magic, Twilight opened the doors and greeted their six friends.

Each of the mares, save Starlight, sat in their respective thrones. Rainbow was absently shaping some clouds, Fluttershy was petting a cat she had with her, Rarity was reading a book, Pinkie was humming to herself, and Applejack was finishing an apple while Starlight was reading a book herself by the wall.

“Hey everyone,” Screwball said, getting their attention.

“About time,” Rainbow said, swiping the cloud away.

“I was only gone a few minutes,” Twilight said.

“Didn't feel like it.”

Twilight sighed before going to her throne with Spike following her to sit on his.

Dark and Cece walked to the table, when everyone seemed to notice the drake on Dark's shoulder.

Rarity blinked. “Is that-”

“Yes, it's a dragon,” Dark answered. “Got him today, his name is Peter, and no I don't know why his wings are feathered or why he has hair. Now can we move on to more pressing matters?”

The group nodded, seeming to be fine with moving the conversation along. Fluttershy seemed to be staring longingly at the new creature, wanting to at least be able to hold him, while Pinkie had her eyes narrowed at him, trying to come up with new party plans and possible new recipes for the dragon to try out once they were done.

“So, do you guys have any idea what you’re going to say to the townsponies?” Starlight began, drawing some attention to her.

Twilight hummed, crossing her arms. “I think it’d be best if we just went with the truth. We tell what Dark and Cece are, we tell them some things about where they’re from, why they’re here, and we should be good, right?”

“And avoid mentioning the show,” Dark muttered.

“What about how they came from a different world?” Pinkie asked.

Twilight looked to Dark and Cece, who just shrugged. “They already know we aren't ponies and saw our abilities. Might as well inform them that,” Dark said.

“And maybe about Displaced,” Screwball added. “If more are gonna show up, we should at least let the town know so they can be prepared.”

Rarity nodded, agreeing with Screwball’s suggestion. “That would be for the best. That way we could avoid something like Nisled from happening again.”

Starlight frowned suddenly, her eyes narrowing in thought. “Do you think we should spread this announcement? Like to other cities and different parts of Equestria.” The others turned to look towards her in confusion. “Not the whole speech, but maybe tell the ponies about humans, after all we already know Dark and Cece aren’t the only ones, we met their cousin a few days back.”

The rest of the ponies, sans Screwball and Twilight, blinked in surprise. “Wait, you're saying one of your cousins got Displaced too?” Applejack asked Dark and Cece.

Dark nodded. “Elizabeth. She ended up in the Crystal Empire and was taken in by Shining Armor and Cadance. Turned into a cat with fire powers. As for your suggestion Starlight...I'm not sure. I still rather keep the human thing a secret for now. This whole thing with Nisled showed how xenophobic ponies can be. Besides, I just know some of the more racist ones will do something bad if they knew. Plus it's more likely for outside Displaced to end up here or the Crystal Empire since those are the only places with Displaced.”

“If you think that’s best.” Starlight shrugged.

Fluttershy suddenly spoke up, bringing the attention to her, she briefly flinched before taking a small breathe. “But what if a new displaced shows up somewhere else? You said Elizabeth showed up in the Crystal Empire, what if there are others like her around Equestria, all lost and confused in a new environment without anyone to help.” She shuddered.

“We could always just tell the guards to keep an eye out.” Twilight suggested.

“Or just the princesses,” Cece said with a shrug. “Not like the guard can do anything to a Displaced from what I've seen.”

“Besides, if a new displaced does show up and they’re causing trouble, the princesses can just call us to deal with them!” Rainbow Dash boasted, hitting the palm of her hand with her fist as they started glowing. “With Tito and I working together, we’ll be able to deal with them in ten seconds flat!”

“Well seeing as how Dark wants to keep things a secret, we should probably do that for now.” Twilight said, “We won’t spread the message outside of Ponyville, and I’ll be sure to ask the princesses and guardsponies to keep an eye out for anything that might seem to be Displaced related.”

“Sounds good,” Dark said with a nod.

Spike raised a claw. “Um, Twilight.” He called out, catching the alicorn’s attention. “It's almost time for the meeting to start.” He said, pointing at the clock in the corner of the room.

Twilight bolted up from her seat with a panicked expression. “Already?!” She cried out, out of nervousness she started to pull on her own mane. “I thought we had more time…”

Applejack reached out towards her and patted her shoulder. “Settle down Twi, there ain’t anything to worry about, you’ve got this.” All the others agreed, letting out words of encouragement. “Just remember what we discussed and everything will be alright.”

Twilight smiled nervously, slowly nodding her head. “Yeah, you’re right. There isn’t any need for me to be worried, we got this.” She said, slowly taking some deep calming breaths. Turning towards Dark, she smiled softly. “Well we might as well get this over with.”

Pinkie Pie smiled and spread out her arms, “Don’t worry guys! I’m sure everything will turn out a-okay!” Her smile grew wider as she clapped her hands and bounced on her seat. “And once they accept you back, I’m gonna throw you guys the biggest “Welcome back” party ever!” She yelled, pumping her fist in the air.

“Quite right.” Rarity said, smiling at Pinkie’s cheerful attitude. “While most of us won’t really be saying anything, just know you have our support.” The others nodded.

“Thanks girls, that means a lot to us.” Dark said, smiling. “Well we should get going now, we don’t want to be late.”

With those words everyone began getting up from their seats, making their way out the door.

“Good luck kid.”

Dark turned back, his eyes wide. He looked around the room, trying to find the source of the masculine voice.

“Uhh, you okay there Dark?” Applejack asked, giving him a concerned look.

He gave the room one more look before shaking his head. “Yeah… just thought I heard something.”

'You heard that?’ Dark asked mentally.

“Yes,” Venom replied. “But to be fair I hear everything you do. But I don't know who said it. Never heard that voice before and the only other male who can speak in here is Spike.”

Dark sighed. “Well, let's get this over with,” he said as he put on his cover.


Twilight peeked her head through the door, she looked around the front entrance, looking at all various ponies gathered for the meeting. She frowned when she noticed that the princesses haven’t arrived yet. “Where are they? They said they’ll be here.” She hissed out, her fears beginning to overwhelm her. After waiting a few more seconds she stuck her head back inside, a panicked expression over her face.

“Maybe they’ve just been held up with something?” Starlight suggested, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure they’ll be here soon.”

Twilight frowned. “Maybe you’re right, do you think we should postpone the meeting until they arrive?” She asked, turning towards everyone.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea Twi.” Applejack said, stepping forward. “These ponies aren’t going to want to wait forever, and who knows how long they’ll have to wait.”

“You’re right, we’ll have to start without them.” Taking a few moments to prepare herself before confronting the crowd. “Alright everyone, let’s do this.” She gave the others a somewhat shaky grin before opening the doors and stepping into the main entrance, immediately everypony’s attention was on her. “Good afternoon everypony, and thank you all for attending this meeting.” She greeted everyone, making her way to the podium that was set up earlier. Grabbing the microphone, she quickly fixed it before returning her attention to the crowd.

“Now I gathered you all here today because of an incident that happened a few months back.” She took a small breath. “The incident I’m talking about is the “demon attacks” that occurred in the middle of Ponyville.” Immediately everypony in the room started whisper amongst themselves. Clearing her throat, everypony gave her their undivided attention. “A few months ago, I wasn’t able to really make a proper announcement. Everypony was too afraid, and too wrapped around a mob mentality to really allow me to say anything. Now that everypony has finally settled down, I feel that now would be the best time to discuss it.” Twilight sighed. “The demon attack wasn’t caused by demons, in fact there never were any demons in Ponyville.”

As soon as she said those words an uproar had sparked, all of the ponies in the room were shouting, yelling, and demanding explanations, their voices were so loud that it was impossible for her to tell what was being said. One particular voice in the back of the room made their voices heard. “What do you mean there weren’t any demons?! Everypony here saw the two of them fighting in the middle of the town destroying everything!” A shrill feminine voice shouted louder than all the others.

Twilight tried to find the source of the shout, but was unable to really tell who it was from the sea of ponies in front of her. “If you would just allow me to explain-” She was cut off by more shouts. “Please just listen-” She gritted her teeth as the shouting continued, finally deciding she had enough of being interrupted, she shouted. “BE QUIET!” She yelled into the microphone, cutting off everyone’s yelling. Seeing that the room was completely quiet, she smiled. “Thank you. Now to answer your question, those creatures that were fighting aren’t demons, they’re humans.” Whispers began to make themselves known again as everypony was turning towards each other. “Yes, these are the same humans from legends, and no, not all of the humans are hostile, and not all are here to attack us, or to take over Equestria.” She explained, raising her hands in a calming gesture. “They’re just like ponies, not every single one of them are bad, and not everyone of them is good.”

“Is Nisled really a human?” Dark muttered asked to no one in particular.

“Hard to say,” Venom replied. “Are Conduits considered a different species or just another race?”

Dark shook his head and resumed listening to Twilight.

“Think back to the day of the attack, there was only one human who was attacking the town, trying to hurt ponies. During the fight, two more humans appeared to stop the first one.” She said. “If they were demons who wanted to destroy this town, then why were the other two trying to stop the first one? Shouldn’t they have been working together?” She shook her head, deciding to answer some questions before they were asked. “And no that wasn’t some attempt to gain our trust only to backstab us later, they were trying to protect us.”

“And how do we know that they weren’t just trying to get rid of the competition?” The shrill voice from earlier asked again. Twilight quickly turned towards the source and saw the pink earth pony who said it, Spoiled Rich. “After all, villains are selfish and greedy, they can’t work together. Any partnership that is formed is doomed to fail, as soon as they see a chance they’d try to off their “partners” in hopes of hoarding all of the rewards.” Twilight saw some of the ponies near her nod their heads in agreement.

Dark couldn't help but growl in anger when he saw the pony that was apparently responsible for why he was still an outcast, causing Rarity to look at him in shock.

“Dark, are you growling?” She asked.

The question surprised him enough for his anger to subside and shake his head as he placed a hand on it. “Sorry. Don't know what came over me…”

Twilight frowned slightly. “They weren’t rivals, nor are they evil. We know this because before the attack happened we had a human living here in Ponyville for quite a while now, and he’s never caused us any trouble before.” She saw a few of the citizens look confused, while another few’s eyes lit up in recognition. From the back of the room, she saw two familiar figures enter the room, Cadance smiled at her, Eli entered only a second after her the princess. Twilight smiled, feeling a boost of confidence surge within her. “And right now I’d like to invite the human who’s been with us from before the incident.” She took a small breathe. “Please welcome, Dark.” Twilight moved out of the way, making room for Dark to stand behind the podium.

Dark took a deep breath before he gave Peter to Screwball and entered the room, very happy his face was covered.

“Oh calm down. This is nothing compared to what you've dealt with since you got here.”

‘You should know that I'm not a fan of crowds.’

Dark ignored the whispering going in the room, quickly making his way behind the podium. Turning towards the crowd, he was met with complete silence, some of the ponies in the room were staring at him with fear or caution. Looking around, he saw Lyra waving slightly, giving him an encouraging smile. “Hello everypony, my name is Dark and I am here today to stop all of the rumors that have been going around.” He took a small breath, trying to calm his nerves that threaten to overwhelm him. “What Twilight said was true, I am a human, and I have been living here in Ponyville for quite some time.” Dark removed the hood and scarf that covered his face, revealing himself to the citizens, now there were some harsh whispers going around, deciding to speak before his nerves can get the best of him he continued. “Before the incident I was living here in Ponyville with the rest of you, some of you may recognize me as I always tried to cover myself up completely to avoid any unnecessary attention.”

“Before the incident with the other human, I had friends here, if you can’t trust the words of your princess then you could ask them, I’m not evil. I’m not here to disrupt your way of life, if I was the villain one of you said I was, then why didn’t I just rampage earlier before more humans arrived? Why did I choose to step in and nearly get myself killed trying to protect this town?” Dark reasoned. “I’ve been staying with the princesses for a long time now, if I really was an evil demon, wouldn’t the princesses have tried to get rid of me by now? I wouldn’t really be here to talk to you if they thought I was evil.”

“And how would we know that the Princesses really do trust you?” Spoiled called again, crossing her arms. “What proof do you have that shows the Princesses support you?”

“I trust that us appearing for this meeting is proof enough?”

Everypony immediately turned around, seeing the two princesses come in through the front door. Celestia raised her hand when she saw some of the ponies about to bow. “Please there is no need to bow, we’re here to discuss a few important matters and that can’t be done if you’re facing the floor.” Celestia said, smiling softly at the citizens. The two alicorn’s horns glowed, in a flash of light they disappeared and reappeared at Dark’s side.

Princess Luna stepped up to the podium, she briefly smiled sheepishly. “Sorry for being late, somethings came up back in Canterlot. Now if you excuse us.” The human only nodded, grateful for their intervention, he quickly stepped out of the way to allow the two of them to step forward. “Citizens of Ponyville, I am Princess Luna, ruler of the night!” She announced, briefly yelling before speaking in a lower voice when she noticed a few of the ponies wince. She coughed. “We have come here today to offer our support to a dear friend of ours during his time of need.”

Celestia nodded. “Indeed, it saddens me to see my ponies quickly turning on those who only sought to do the right thing. Of course I understand completely why you all did so. You were clouded by fear, having just suffered an attack from a member of the same species.” Celestia smiled softly, her eyes didn’t show any sort of disappointment nor anger, her eyes were understanding. “But it is just as my pupil said, humans are just like ponies, not all of them are good and not all of them are evil. I have seen many evil ponies in my life time, most of them are unicorns seeking power, but just because a few unicorns decided to go down a dark path does not mean we shun all of them now do we?” A few ponies in the crowd shook their heads, understanding what she was saying. “The human who attacked your town was evil, but Dark and his companions are not. As Dark has mentioned before, he has been living with us for some time now, and can say without a shadow of a doubt, that we trust him completely. He means you no harm.”

Celestia stayed silent for a minute, allowing for the audience to register her words. Once she was satisfied, she continued with her speech. “Of course Dark is not the only human who has been living here in this town, along with him is his sister, Cece.”

Upon hearing her name she quickly made her way to the front of the podium, removing her hood. The ponies in the audience began to whisper amongst themselves, this time they were confused.

Celestia raised a hand to calm them. “I understand your confusion. Cece and Dark look completely different, but there is a reason for that. Dark and Cece are what is known as Displaced.” She went silent allowing the audience to digest her words. “A displaced is a human who has transported from their world into ours, often times their bodies undergo a type of mutation. Sometimes this mutation only grants them powers, other times they become completely different creatures, gaining a new body that is completely different from their original ones.” A few ponies were still looking at her confused, others were sceptical. “You have heard me right, humans are not from this world, they’ve been brought here against their will.”

“Princesses you can’t serious?!” Spoiled cried out. “Different worlds? That sounds completely insane!”

“While it may seem hard to believe it is the truth.” Luna answered. “We are only telling you this so that you may not be caught off guard when and if more humans appear.”

Celestia nodded. “Displaced often attract other displaced, so it might become a common sight to see a couple of new humans appear from time to time, however most of the time they are usually gone by the end of the day.” The royal explained, trying to calm any fears that might’ve been growing.

“Princess Celestia I don’t mean to question your authority.” Spoiled began, looking concerned. “But if they attract these “displaced”, then shouldn’t they be kept away or isolated? What if a repeat of the attack happens again because they were attracted to those two?”

“I understand your concerns, but there isn’t any need to worry. The human who attacked was a special case, I can assure you something like this won’t happen again.” Celestia answered. “And even if a displaced choose to attack, the elements and the two humans are more than capable of dealing with them.”

“Ahem?” Eli said with her arms crossed.

Celestia blinked before smiling sheepishly. “Not to mention there is a third human here with us right now, one that is also capable of dealing with anything that comes her way.” She announced, gesturing to Eli. “Elizabeth here is a relative of these two humans and a displaced herself, she has been living in the Crystal Empire working as a member of their Crystal Guard.”

“In training,” Dark heard Cece mutter next to him.

Luna stepped up to the podium, taking the microphone. “In fact should you need anymore proof of their innocence, just consider this; Dark and Cece are considered members of the Royal Guard.” She waited a moment, letting her words settle in the minds of ponies. “Not only that, but those of you who keep up with the news outside Ponyville may even recognize Dark, after all he is after all a hero who’s fought against ne’er-do-wells such as the Shocker in Manehatten and the Vulture in Canterlot.” Some of ponies eyes’ lit up. “He is known as the Spider, a hero who’s appeared in Manehatten and Canterlot.” Luna turned towards Dark. “Why don’t you show them some proof of your abilities?”

Dark took a deep breath before crouching down. The next moment, he jumped over the crowd and shot webs all over the room until they all connected into a giant web above the ponies. He then went underneath the web and lowered himself down until he was just above the ponies.

“This proof enough for ya?”

“Can't tell whether I should call you a show off or not…” Venom muttered.

‘Not like there was much else to prove it,’ Dark responded before jumping up and zipping back to his friends, the webs disappearing as he landed.

Like before the ponies in the audience began talking amongst themselves, this time the whispers were all somewhat excited, there were still a few who still had worried and concerned looks, but they were a minority now.

“Of course, we’re only telling you this so that your fears may be discarded.” Luna said, bringing all the attention back to her. “We must ask of you now to not spread this information elsewhere, do not tell your relatives outside Ponyville about displaced, do not tell your pen pals about humans, and don’t tell anyone about Dark being the Spider. Not everypony is ready to receive this information and they may get hurt should this information get into the wrong hands.”

Celestia was handed the microphone as she stepped forward again. “With this I hope that you will all welcome Dark and Cece back into Ponyville with open arms. Should any of you still feel some apprehension, please feel free to talk to Twilight, or even my sister and I as we will be here until the end of the day.”

“We thank you all for taking time off your busy schedules to attend this meeting, please fill out the forms and cast your vote before you leave.” Luna instructed the ponies as they were all getting up from their seats.

As Dark put back on his cover and turned around to leave the room, they all heard somepony in the crowd randomly say, “Wait, does that mean that Rainbow is dating a superhero?”

As Dark immediately felt his face heat up, he turned towards whoever said that and said, “WE'RE NOT DATING!” Right after he said that, he sighed and left the room, passing his friends and not noticing the blush on Rainbow's face or the snickers of everyone else.

After the rest of the Displaced and the princesses left the room, Luna sighed, her shoulders sagging. “Finally, I hate public speaking.” She whined.

“I don’t see what’s the issue, it's rather easy.” Celestia commented with a smile, catching up behind her sister.

Luna frowned. “For you maybe, you were always more involved in these types of things.”

“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna!” Twilight called out, running up towards them. “Thank you both so much for coming!” She said with a bright smile, which quickly turned into a confused frown. “But how did you know we were going to reveal Dark’s status as a displaced?”

Celestia smiled. “Why Spike told us of course. He took the time to inform us before we came in.”

Twilight nodded before turning to the other princess and the Displaced with her. “And not that I'm complaining, but why are you two here?”

Eli shrugged. “Screwball told us about the meeting and we came here in case you needed help.”

“Yeah,” the pink filly said. “Wish I could've went there and introduce myself.”

“Why didn't you?” Rainbow asked.

Screwball shrugged. “Star couldn't think of anything to do with me or completely forgot about me,” she said, much to everyone's confusion until a few of them noticed what was in her arms.

“Wait, is-” Cadance started.

“Yes, he's Tito's, no idea, and his name is Peter,” Screwball said. “We been through his introduction over 3 times now, time to move on.”

The princesses blinked before nodding slowly. Luna then said, “Well we do have more important matters to discuss now.”

“We do?” Cece asked.

“Yes. A troubling issue that came to our attention a couple nights ago.”

“Well, see ya in the throne room then,” Cece said as she started leaving.

Twilight then looked around. “Wait, where's Dark?”

Rainbow shrugged. “If not the throne room, probably in his room. I'll go check.” With that, she Cloud Dashed away.

After she left, Rarity said, “So did anyone else notice that she has been calling him by his real name?”

The rest of the ones present to the earlier meeting nodded. “She started doing that since that convention,” Screwball said.

Rarity beamed. “Oh, this is just perfect.”

Screwball rolled her eyes but still smiled nonetheless. “Well I'm gonna go to return Peter to him.”

“Mind if I join?” Elizabeth asked.

Screwball shrugged. “Sure.” With that, Screwball snapped her fingers and the 3 of them disappeared in a flash of light.

When they arrived, they saw Dark on his bed with his cover still on, Mike resting at his mini bed near the window, and Rainbow standing nearby with Bri in her arms.

“Hey guys,” Dark said as Peter leapt out of Screwball's arms into Dark's lap.

“Hey cos, how you been?” Elizabeth asked.

“Decent. As you heard, I fought this world's version of Vulture not too long ago. As well as beat up a guy who regularly deals with a mare version of Indiana Jones, and got a dragon.”

“I see that.”

Right after that, Bri got out of Rainbow's arms and walked towards Dark before looking at Peter with a confused look on her face, with the young dragon tilting its head in response.

“Oh right. Never introduced you two. Bri, this is Peter. He's a new friend I made earlier. Peter, this is my daughter Brianna.”

After she heard that, Bri smiled before placing a paw on Peter's snout, causing the small reptile to pull it back in surprise but otherwise seemed okay.

Before anyone can say anything else, Twilight entered the room as well. “Hey. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna said they wanted all of us present in the throne room for something important.”

Dark sighed. “Yeah, I think I know what it is. And it is important. Come on Mike.” With a nod, the water type got up and exited the room. As Dark stood up from his bed with Peter perched on his left shoulder again, he felt a familiar pull for the second time that day. “Oh boy…” he muttered. The next moment, he was pulled through a portal, along with everyone else in the room.