//------------------------------// // Chapter 18: Adjusting to society // Story: Era of Harmony // by Gambling_Sam //------------------------------// *Ronin Pov* After leaving the purple pony's library, Chrysi and I started walking through town, getting a decent amount of terrified stares from the ponies on the streets. We laughed as several ran at the sight of us. "And here I was thinking this town would be boring." Chrysalis said as a certain pink pony came galloping up to us. "Hey Ronin! Hiya Chrysalis! How do you like ponyville so far? Are you planning on staying? Ooo, do you two live in that new building down the road?" Pinkie rapid fired questions at us, causing Chrysalis to groan in agitation while I caught the last sentence she said. "What new building?" I asked as she gasped and grabbed my hand and pulled me through the streets. Chrysalis, who was agitated a second ago, now was following close behind snickering at my predicament. We came to a stop in front of a two story house that looked brand stinking new. It was grey on the outside with those basic windows on the walls. We even had a basic mailbox next to the road. I looked at the house and grimaced. "Dang, Sunbutt could've at least hired a decorator that wasn't drunk as balls." I said as Chrysalis caught up and stared at the house. She turned to me and smirked. "You dont like how it looks, do you?" She asked me. "Nope." I replied simply. She started walking to the door. "Then we are going to have to transform this garbage heap into a hive fit for a queen!" She proclaimed while spreading her forehooves out towards the sky. I rolled my eyes and walked up next to her, wrapped my arms around her neck and placed a kiss on her cheek. "And how's my kingdom-conquering girlfriend gonna do that?" I asked as she turned her head to me and kissed me before teleporting away, then reappearing through one of the windows. "Your queen shall need sustenance for the task, so get up here and get to it!" She demanded. I rolled my eyes as Pinkie started getting excited for some reason. "Ooo ooo, can I help you feed Chrysalis?" She asked as I did a double take. I turned to her with eyes wide and a slack jaw. "Maybe next time, party queen." I said before running into the house and locking the door. Pinkie stood outside and shrugged before seeing Raiden walk by with a mini suitcase in tow. "HIYA RAIDEN!!!" She yelled at him with excitement in every fiber of her body. ********** Raiden POV ********** Shortly after Ronin left, I had decided that I needed clothes. The dragon Armour was good and all, but I really just wanted to chill out in some basic clothes rather than metal. So, after getting directions from Twilight, I found myself at the boutique. I walked in to a room full of mannequins (ponnequins?) and saw Rarity walk out of the kitchen. "Hey, Rarity. Are you busy right now?" I asked as she turned to me and smiled. "Not at all, darling. What do you need?" She asked me while I took a seat on a stool. "Well, Since I no longer have to worry about the whole 'war in equestria' thing, I realized that I have a short supply of clothes on me right now, and I was wondering if you could help with that." I said as her expression slowly got more giddy. "Why Raiden, of course I can." She turned and pulled out what looked like a mini suitcase. "Your brother Nicholas already had me make clothes for you." I raised an eyebrow. "How did... oooh, he told you the sizes, huh?" I said as she nodded. I took the suitcase and smiled. "Well, this helps a lot. Thanks Rarity!" I said as I walked out the door. "Your welcome dearie!" I heard her call out as the door closed. Man, I have got to pay her back somehow. I thought as I dragged the suitcase along. I heard a door slam shut quickly and turned to the source to see Pinkie Pie staring me down. "HIYA RAIDEN!" She yelled, way too hyper of a greeting. She galloped over and pulled a cupcake out of her hair. "wanna cupcake?" I looked at her in shock, but took the cupcake. After making sure there was no hair on it, I took a big bite. And proceeded to fan my mouth at the heat that scorched my mouth. "Pinkie-cough-what was in that?!" I asked as she grinned. "Oh, it was a new recipe I came up with! I call them Jalapeno cakes! do you like them?" She looked at me with a shine in her eyes. I recovered from the heat and forced a smile. "Yeah, next time...chill out with the spicy foods, aight?" I told her as she nodded before gasping. "Oh my gosh, that reminds me! I have to set up a 'welcome to ponyville party for you and Ronin! Twilight wouldn't let me do one for Nicholas, but you two are adults, so it should be fine!" She bolted off before I could interject. I sighed and shook my head before continuing my walk back to Twilights. "That mare is insane." *********** Nicholas POV *********** After everyone had left, the crusaders each had to go back to their respective homes, I still had a question burning in my mind. I turned to Twilight as she came from downstairs with a lizard behind her. "Hey Twilight, can I ask you-whoa who are you?" I said to the little guy as he walked up to me. He was about a two to three feet below my height. "Im Spike, Twilights number one assistant!" He proclaimed with pride in his voice. Twilight rolled her eyes as she walked past him. "Spike is a dragon, I hatched him a while ago when I was just a filly for a test of mine." Twilight said while smiling at the memory. I stuck out my hand and grinned as he shook it, then it hit me. "You must be the guy we got the blood from to make Raidens armour, huh." I said while Spike nodded. "Well, I'm Nicholas, and I must personally thank you for doing that. Your blood saved all of our bacons at the castle." Spike started to turn red at the sudden attention. "Aww, its no problem Nick. I'd do anything for Twilight and her friends. Besides, you seem pretty cool." He said as he walked into the kitchen. I turned to Twilight and smiled. "A dragon, huh? that's awesome." I said as she giggled at my reaction to Spike. "Hey Twilight, do you have any books on history before Nightmare Moon?" She raised an eyebrow. "I should, but why?" Twilight said as I walked towards the closest bookshelf. "Well, after the incident with Dadiolus, I wanted to find out what my grandfather was doing here, and what would possess Dadiolus to turn evil in the first place." I said as Twilight thought for a moment. "I'll look for something like that today while I'm organizing the bookshelves. Meanwhile, why don't you go to Fluttershy's? she's been worried sick about you." Twilight said as my eyes widened in shock. "Ok! Thanks!" I say as I run out of the library and make a beeline for the cottage. ************ After making it to the cottage, and catching my breath, I walk inside and notice there is no lights on. A pat on my leg causes me to look down and see Angel bunny looking up at me with a sad expression. "Where is Fluttershy?" I ask and he points upstairs. Must be upstairs in her room. I thought as I walk up the stairs. I make it to her door as I start ti hear a faint sound. I put my ears to the door as I finally make out what it sounds like: crying. I open the door and walk in. Fluttershy turns to me as I walk in and I see her tear stricken face. It almost breaks my heart right then and there and I can already feel tears in my eyes. I take a deep breath before speaking. "Fluttershy, whats wrong?" I ask shakily. She sniffles a bit before getting up and walking towards me. There's almost no warning as she pulls me into a powerful hug and cries again. "Oh, Nick! I thought that *sniff* since your brothers were found, you would leave me here by myself. And I didn't want you to leave. I know their your brothers and they love you and all but-" She takes a moment to grab a tissue from a box nearbt and blow her nose."-Ever since you came here, I've felt so...happy and warm inside. It's like even though I was surrounded by animal friends of mine, I never realized I had been so..." "Alone" I finish as my dams break as I embrace her hug and cry tears of my own. "Fluttershy, I know that ever since I've been here, you've always taken care of me and made sure I had everything I need. Yes, Ronin and Raiden are my brothers, and I love those goofballs to death. But here, in this cottage, I feel the most at peace. When I'm here with you, I feel safe and loved like any child should. I havent felt like this in years!" I proclaimed as Fluttershy looked me in the eyes, both of us still shedding tears. "What I'm trying to say is, I wouldn't dream of living anywhere else, and if your ok with it, I wanted to know if I could call you...Mom?" I said with a smile as shock came over Fluttershy's face. A smile slowly came over her face and, if she wasn't already crying, that definitely would've done it for her. She pulled me into a intimate winged embrace. "I would love you to do that...Son." She said as new tears went down her face. This time,though, they were tears of joy. ************ Raiden POV ************ I walked back into Twilights house and took the suitcase upstairs to my geust room to get a better look at it. I opened it and gasped slightly. There were shirts, underwear, and jeans inside. There was even a set of socks with each pair of underwear! I smiled and started putting on a set if clothes. I turned to a mirror and smiled. I had a green shirt on that had a picture of a four leaf clover on it. My jeans were slim-fit and hugged my waist perfectly. the socks were white and super clean. I grinned and flexed a bit in the mirror, perhaps not as big as Ronin, but pretty good myself. I walked downstairs as Twilight was organizing her books. She looked at me and smiled. "Looks like somepony went to Raritys today." She said as she levitated one last book on the shelf. "Phew, finished." I walked overand ruffled her mane a bit. "Looks good, Twilight. Although I notice you left a book out." I said while pointing to one book that was sitting on the floor. She smiled before levitating it to me. I grabbed it as she responded. "Nicholas asked me to find a history book so he can learn more about your grandfather and Dadiolus." She said as I frowned and put the book on a stool nearby before walking back out the door. "Wait, where are you going?" She asked but I didn't reply as I walked out. ********* Ronin POV ********* I closed the door as I walked out of the house, tired and hungry as hell. I looked back up at the window Chrysalis had been in hours ago. That lady is going to be the death of me. I thought to myself as I saw Raiden walk by, his face frowning as he muttered to himself. I walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Dude, whats wrong?" I asked as he turned to me, anger in his eyes evident. "Did someone piss you off? Where are they? I'll give em something to fear!" I said while cracking my knuckles. This got a smile out of him while he shook his head. "No one did it, man. But... can I ask you something?" He said while motioning for me to follow him. I did and we walked the town under the moonlit sky. "How do you feel about...all of this?" He said while swinging his arms in an outward motion. I smiled at him. "You mean being teleported to some weird world and being dropped into a war neither of us understood?" He nodded. "It's a lot, to be honest." I admit as he stops to stare at me, shock evident in his eyes. "Wait, what? But you've been rocking and rolling since you got here. Hell, your dating a queen for goodness sake! how are you not one hundred percent with all this?" He asked as I looked towards the sky. "Well, the whole time I was in the old hive, I was worried you and Nick had been killed or eaten by something. Then I find you just to learn you had joined the 'enemy' of my allies. Then we find out some old coon from grandfathers double life here has had it in for us. Hell, the old joker tried to POSSESS me! its been insane!" I said as I kicked a mailbox, sending it across town to who knows where. "The only thing keeping me going is the fact that, as crazy as this mess is, I've never felt more at home than when I arrived here. And you saw the way Nicholas is around those kids. He loves it here, and whens the last time you saw that kid truly smile?" I said as he looked at him with smile of his own. "Your right, thanks man. I needed that." Raiden said as I turned around. "Well, we better be getting back. Don't want to lose any sleep." he said as he grinned at me. "I don't know about you buddy, but from Chrysalis's mood earlier, I probably won't be sleeping either way." I said as he punched me in the shoulder. "Dude that's gross." he laughed as I ran forward. "Don't knock it till ya try it, Raiden!" I yelled as I ran off. Raiden smiled and walked back towards Twilights. maybe he's right. I could get used to living here.