*Ronin POV*
I woke up to find myself pinned to the ground. After sitting there for a second, I looked around to see why.
Pinkie was curled up on top of me, and I also had Chrysalis on my left laying by me and Celestia on my right. It was still dark out, so the bonfire has to be going on still. I placed my hand on Pinkies head and started rubbing it.
"Hey." I say quietly as she stirs. "We gotta get back to the bonfire. I think we are missing the party." Her eyes shoot open wide as she jumps up and lands in front of me.
"Omigosh, I completely forgot about the bonfire! what if ponies are bored? what if everpony already left? what if-" She gets cut off as her mouth gets zipped again, this time in real life.
I turn over to see Chrysalis awake and looking at Pinkie with a frustrated look. She turns to me just as she notices the position we are in. A quick flash of light and she's standing by Pinkie...with a camera?
I frown and point with my free arm at the camera. "What's that for?" I ask her as she smiles wickedly and nods towards Celestia. I turn to her just to get caught in a snuggle hug from the princess.
She puts her head to my face and nuzzles it in her sleep. "Don't go, sir cuddlebear." She mumbles. "We need to fight against the rotten cake thiefs..." She trails off as she smiles and squeezes me tighter. A flash goes off to let me know that this will probably be used as blackmail later.
I sigh as I shake my arms free and hover my hand over her cutie mark. After raising my hand up a bit, I bring it down on the little sun quickly and firmly
The reaction was immediate and absolutely hilarious.
Celestia's eyes shot wide as she teleported to stand up. But she didn't know she was snuggling me, so I ended up throwing her off balance and caused her and I to face plant straight into the dirt.
As I helped her up, I could hear Chrysalis laughing her ass off and Pinkie was nowhere to be found (guess she went to check on the bonfire.)
Celestia turned to Chrysalis and frowned. "Very funny, Chrysalis. Now, would you stop laughing and explain what we were doing in Ronins head?" She asked as Chrysalis calmed down and nodded slightly.
"After hearing about voices in his head, I had a theory that it might've been the hive mind connecting at last. I was not expecting Melfesia herself to connect to you, Ronin." She said as she turned to me. "She gave us a clear warning about Dadiolus, and a hint at Ronin's power. I do believe that for now, the best course of action should be to look into the past. Perhaps whatever happened between the humans of old could help us now." She said as Celestia nodded and turned to me.
"I will return to Canterlot, you and Chrysalis should stay here while I check the archives for any information I might have missed. I may have known the humans eons ago, but I never learned why Dadiolus and Callobrim fought in the first place." She said as I blinked and looked at Celestia sharply.
"Callobrim?" I asked her. "Thats the name of your lover of long ago?" She nodded and tilted her head in a questioning way.
"Indeed. Why?" She said as I shook my head.
"Nothing but a theory, go and see if you can scrounge up some details and we'll see if it sticks." She nodded and teleported away. I turned to see Chrysalis staring at me with hesitation on her face.
"Are you-" But before I could answer, she responded quickly.
"I shall be leaving for a week!" She said suddenly as I simply blinked in response.
"What?" I said, entirely thrown off by the statement.
"I have obtained enough love to go and make more changeling drones." I went to speak but she raised a hoof. "No, they are not your kids. Although, they are from your love, they will share no blood or bond with you beyond there will to serve the hive." She finished as sat there for a second before responding.
"Soooo, what makes Tak different from the drones?" I asked her as she sighed.
"Tak was a direct spawn from my last king. Said pony was similar to you in how he did not care for what we looked like. However, he was terrible at combat, so when we fought against a den of manticores we stumbled upon by accident he...didn't survive." She said as she sighed and turned away as I wrapped my arms around her neck.
"Hey hey hey, it's ok." I said as she leaned into my touch. "Go and bring back our people. But, will you be ok giving birth to so much?" I asked as she turned to me, confused before lauging and turning out of my grasp.
"Oh, you thought I would lay the egg of each one? I use a spell that makes cocoons from the love I have harvested." She says as I smile and roll my eyes.
"Aight, then. Your the boss, babe." I say as she lean in an kisses me deeply before pulling back and turning away, a spell charged in her horn.
"And don't you forget it!" She exclaims as she teleports away with green flames. I shake my head with a laugh before walking back towards the bonfire.
I bet Raiden and Nicholas have been bored this whole time I was gone. I thought as I approached the big bonfire.
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Nicholas POV
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I was staring into the fire, mesmerized by what just occured.
Am I dating Diamond Tiara now? I thought as I sighed and rubbed my eyes. It was starting to get late, and I was officially done with tonight. I got up and went to find Fluttershy to find Applebloom and Sweetiebelle staring at me rather...intently as I walked by. I stopped and walked over to them.
"Hello." I said as they looked to each other before Sweetiebelle elbowed Applebloom. Said filly looked to me and took a deep breath.
But before she could say what was on her mind, A blue light behind me followed by a hand clamped on my shoulder occured. I turned to see Raiden standing over me.
"It's getting late, brother. Go find Fluttershy and head home while we adults clean up." He said as I nodded in response. I turned to the girls and smiled.
"See y'all at school tomorrow!" I said as I ran off to find Fluttershy.
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Raiden POV
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After Nicholas left, I noticed the two girls looked rather down.
"What's up with you two?" I asked as Sweetiebelle looked up at me.
"We were going to see which of us he would rather go out with." She said as I sighed and face-palmed.
Young love...great. This is bound to be complicated.
"Aight, so both of you like him." They both nodded. "So you were going to see if he liked either of you the same way." They nodded again. I shook my head and backed off. "I'm not even going to interfere in this can of worms."
"Aww, but that's the fun part!" Ronin said as he walked up besides me before turning to them. "I figured at least one of y'all liked him. So when you see him tomorrow, just ask him out." He said as they nodded vigorously before yawning.
"Well, look who's went and tired themselves out." Applejack stated as her and Rarity came up and put the sleeping girls on their backs. Rarity turned and smiled at me, before glaring at Ronin and turning her head up, huffing slightly. Applejack looked at the act with a raised brow before continuing. "Well, we ought tah take these varmints home to bed, and ah saw Fluttershy and Nicholas leave as well. So you two might as well skedaddle as well." She said as Ronin nodded and walked off to who knows where. I looked to Rarity and grinned.
"So, still upset with Ronin?" I asked as her cheeks puffed a tad before she answered.
"Darling that no good ruffian kicked my mailbox across town. Of course I'm still upset!" She whined before she walked off in a huff. I looked to a questioning Applejack.
"Long story, but lets just say she chased him around town for a while after that bit of truth was revealed." Applejack chuckled softly before walking off with the now snoring Applebloom in tow.
I smiled and started making my way back to the library.
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Ronin POV
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As I had walked off in search of the Pinkie, I couldn't help but notice how my brother had this weird aura coming off him. The others couldn't see it, so it had to be one thing.
Love.
If thats the case, who the hell managed to pull him out of that shell of his? It could've been Twilight, I've seen her oggle at Raiden several times. But she doesn't seem to be the type to know how to even start a relationship, so thats a hard pass.
As I was thinking, I felt a pony attach themself to my head.
"There you are!" I exclaimed as Pinkie looked down on me upside down. She winked at me before jumping off my head and landing in front of me.
"Yup, I came back to help clean up the party!" She looks around before returning her gaze to me. "Where is the princess and Chrysalis?"
I smiled and motioned for her to follow me as we walked back into town, which she did as she hopped alongside me. "Well, Celestia went back to Canterlot, and Chrysalis is going on a...business trip. So it'll just be the two of us for a while." I said as her grin grew bigger.
"Really! Oooo, maybe you can come and help at sugercube corner! Raiden works there, but we could use the help!" She says as I shake my head.
"Nah, I can't cook to save my life. I do need to look into getting a job though." I said as Pinkie looked in deep thought for a moment before answering.
"What about Applejacks? She and her family run a farm, and I'm sure that you could help there since your so strong." She said as I stopped walking.
That...was a decent idea actually. I turned to Pinkie and smiled. "Sounds like a plan, thanks Pinkie." I said as she beamed at me.
"Anything for you, Rony pony!" She said as she suddenly stopped with a look of realization on her face. "Oh No! I forgot to feed gummy today!"
Gummy? I thought to myself. But Pinkie ran off before I could say anything. I shaked my head and sighed. Pink, you crazy mare.
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Nicholas POV
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I was sitting on the couch at Fluttershy's as she told me stories about her and her friends adventures. And if this wasn't a magical kingdom with all sorts of crazy ponies in it, I'd honestly call bull on half of their acts of heroism.
"So you and went straight up to this manticore thing, which was angry and looked like it would tear you in two, and pulled a splinter out of its foot?" I said as she nodded as I found a blanket amd pulled it up close on me and her."That's absolutely awesome." I said as I yawned and snuggled close to Fluttershy. She was very warm and very soft, probably due to her being a pegasus.
"Night, Fluttermom." I said, barely awake as I felt her wrap a wing around me and pull me closer as I conked out.
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Ronin POV
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I sat in the bed at my house aware of a simple fact.
I can't sleep.
I've never had sleeping trouble before and I wasn't sure why I was now. The only difference was that Chrysalis was out recreating her drones...
ooooooh, that's the answer...I've gotten used to sleeping with Chrysalis in bed, so now it feels empty. Great.
I heard my door open as Tak walked in slowly. I turned to him and smiled.
"Hey bud, how'd the bonfire go for you?" I asked as I patted the empty bedside by me. He walked over and got into bed and immediately snuggled up to me, earning a soft chuckle in response.
"It was great! I got to hang out my friends and Scootaloo!" He said with a voice full of positive energy. I smirked and started rubbing his back.
"Hmm...you said Scootaloos name exclusively...do you not see her as a friend?" I questioned as he immediately looked up at me in anger.
"Of course I do! She is the most amazing pony I have ever met! She witty, kind, funny. And her beauty is umatched and..." He trailed off as he realized what he had said, a red hue appearing on his face.
I laughed openly and pulled him into a hug. "I knew you liked her, but dang you've got it bad. Is that why you two weren't at the bonfire when I came back?" He nodded slowly as he yawned deeply. I smiled and pulled the blanket over us. "Well, this is no cacoon, but I'm sure you don't mind chillin here for the night, huh?" I said as he mumbled something and snuggled up to me again. I smiled and stretched out, sleep overtaking me at last.