//------------------------------// // Chapter 39: Captain Mac and meeting the rich family // Story: Era of Harmony // by Gambling_Sam //------------------------------// *Ronin POV* About ten minutes of jogging later, I found myself at sweet apple acres. I jumped the fence and immediately went straight to Big Mac, who was working Applejacks trees for some reason. "Heya, Mac. Why are you doing Applejacks set of trees? Ain't she around here somewhere?" I said as he bucked the last set of apples of the current tree he was facing before he turned to me. "AJ's went on a trip with her friends up north. Somethin' bout a empire." He said as he nodded to the rest of the orchard. "Somepony's got tah do it." I smiled. "Well then, let me give ya a hand. It's the least I can do." An idea popped in my head as I turned from Mac and faced the orchard. Oi, Mel. your connected to the hive mind, right? Of course...but why? Melfesia said as a smug grin crossed my face. Could you call my newest soldiers? I think I have their first training exercise right here. I thought as I turned back to Mac, who was looking at me with a raised eyebrow. "On that note, I've got some assistance coming from the town. We'll get this orchard done in no time!" I said with a laugh as I went and started setting up baskets. ************ Nicholas POV ************ I was in my room at the cottage, reading a note left by Fluttershy I had found on my briefcase. Nicholas, I am going with to the crystal empire to support Twilight with a test she has been given by princess Celestia. I should be back by tomorrow at the latest. I precooked a vegatable stew for you and placed it in the fridge. Don't worry about my animal friends, they have already been given the food they need to have until I return. Fluttershy. ps: I attached a strap to your briefcase so you could carry it on your back rather than hold it everywhere you go. Ok, then. Home alone vibes, anyone? I placed the letter on the table and grabbed my briefcase and strapped it onto my back as I went out the door. I had to make it to Diamonds place at the north side of town. That's where all the richer ponies live, anyway. So I figured that's where her home is. As I was walking through town, I heard a slight commotion as ponies were jumping out of the way of several black blurs flying by. "Come, brethren! the king calls!" I heard one call out as they flew by. Strange...they almost looked like changelings. But wasn't Tak the only other one than Chrysalis? Shrugging it off, I continued my way through town as I approached the wealthy district of ponyville before stopping suddenly, and idea popping into my head. I quickly went down a back alley and opened up my briefcase into its DJ set. After playing a few notes and enveloping the alleyway in a bright light, I walked out of it in full 12K mode with my synthesizer on my back. Hey, if I'm gonna walk the rich streets, might as well do so in style. As I walked past several houses, I heard an excited gasp from my left. I turned and saw Silverspoon run up to me with a equally silver mare behind her. "12K?!" She squealed in typical fangirl fashion. "I can't believe your here walking around my block!" She turns to the mare behind her. "Momma, this is the DJ I was telling you about." Said mare walked up to me, she had similar mane and coat colors, but her eyes were brown. That, and her cutie mark was a sikver knife. "So your the famous 12K the town has been gossiping about." She said ash she extended a hoof and I shook it. "I am Silver set, this young lady's mother." I released the hoof and raised an eyebrow. "Gossip?" I asked as Silver set smirked. "Indeed. There has been several tales of you going around. Such as how you look like the humans that arrived a month ago, yet your so different all the same. Or how you may be a creation of discord that never got handled." She said with a laugh. "Discord? Who is that?" I asked, noticing Silverspoon was now standing directly next to me, looking up at me with literal hearts in her eyes. "You don't know? Discord was a being of chaos that wreaked havoc here several months ago. Though I doubt you are a creation of his, your too respectful to be a spawn of chaos." She said as she looked down at Silverspoon and sighed. "Come on, young lady. Stop pestering the gentlecolt and let him be on his way. We have to get back home before your father attemps to cook another royal sized meal." She said as she grabbed her daughter and pulled her down the street, waving bye to me. "Bye 12K!" Silverspoon called out dreamily. To mess with her, I did a quick spin and struck a pose before blowing her a kiss. Silverspoons eyes widened before she swooned and went limp, making it way harder for Silver set to take her home. Oops. I turned and continued walking until I made it to Diamonds house. And when I say house, that's being extremely bland. The place was a big old mansion! It looked to have three floors and had to be as big as the white house! I took a step onto the lawn and was met with a pale white unicorn butler with a small black mane giving me a look that screamed 'you better have permission to be here'. "Excuse me, sir. This is private property." He said as I smiled. "I thought so, but I was invited by Diamond Tiaras father to come." I said as the butlers eyes widened before he bowed slightly. "Of course, you must be master Nicholas. I was not expecting you to arrive looking like this sir." He said as I leaned down and whispered into his ear. "Yeah, about that. Please don't tell anyone about this. 12K is my stage identity, and I don't need the two names crossing paths." He smiled at that and immediately. "Of course, Sir. And you may call me Alfred Ponyworth." He said as I supressed a gasp. No. stinking. Way! Does that mean Diamonds dad is...nah, he's too old looking to be a vigilante. Alfred led me to the door and opened it, beckoning me to go inside. I took a deep breath and stepped in the mansion. Time to meet the family. ************ Raiden POV ************ I got bored of the quiet library quickly, and immediately portaled my way to Canterlot. After going the through, the mirror, I was met with an angry Luna pacing in her room. "Luna? what's going-mmmph!" I was cut off as she pulled me into a deep kiss with her magic. After a minute, she pulled away and looked me in the eyes. "I give you my thanks for that. It was a needed distraction from the issue at hand." She said as I frowned. "What issue?" I said as she went and sat on the bed, beckoning me to sit with her. After doing so, she leaned her head onto my shoulder and sighed. "Does thou older sibling make rash decisions frequently?" She asked me, causing me to snort loudly with a laugh. Oh, she has no idea. "I think he makes a living out of doing so...why?" I asked as I heard Luna snort, but hers was out of irritation. "About a week ago the crystal empire, a kingdom lost centuries ago, reappered suddenly. Due to this kingdom holding many connections with Equestria, we wanted to ensure that it was brought back to its former glory. So Celestia tasked Princess Cadence and her husband Shining Armour to do so." I turned to her. "I thought they were holding off on the wedding?" I asked as Luna shook her head. "They held a private one for family only." Luna stated as I smiled. "Good for them, but is that what your upset about?" I asked her. She shook her head again and smiled at me. "Not at all. Mi Amor Cadenza and Captain Shining Armour are two perfectly capable ponies. It's Twilight and her friends I am concerned about." She said as my eyes widened. "That's right! Twilight and her friends are currently there doing a test." I said as Luna scowled. "A test that will endanger them all." She said grimly as I blinked in suprise. Say what now? "What do you mean 'endanger them all?'" I said as Luna laid back on the bed and faced the ceiling. "When the kingdom came back, a great evil came with it. An ancient king that was the cause of the kingdoms disappearance in the first place. If they fail to stop him from taking back the throne..." Luna let the unsaid threat to their lives go as I laid next to her, a frown on my face as I thought about the issue. "So let me get this straight, Celestia sent her prized pupil to some ancient kingdom to help it return to its former glory, KNOWING that there was some big bad dude capable of destroying them? And she didn't think to do this herself or at least prepare them some way?" I said, anger laced in my voice as Luna sighed and turned to me and nuzzled my face while her wings pulled me in close to her, her ears folding up and down for a second. "I share your emotions, my love." She said sweetly. my love? That's new. "We went to my sister this morning to voice said concerns to find her locked in her room and extremely upset." She said as I sighed. "Her and Ronin must've had an argument." I said as Luna looked into my eyes again. This time though, there was glint there I hadn't seen before. It looked...hungry. "Sadly, I believe that is the case." She said as she kissed me briefly before whispering into my ear. "Do you know which season we are in?" I furrowed my brows as I thought hard before answering. "Uh...spring. Why?" I said as Luna suddenly rolled over and straddled me. I looked up at her in shock as she spread out her wings while removing her regalia wiht her magic before looking down at me with a sultry smile. Where the heck did this come from? "In spring, many mares go into heat." She said as she leaned in close and winked at me while removing my shirt with her magic. "And I am one of those mares. So we demand that you relieve us of this pent up stress." Welp, that explains it. But what the heck is a heat? All I could do was slowly nod my head as a sweet scent hit my nose, smelling faintly of spring blossoms. I leaned in and kissed her, ready to ensure my girl (mare?) friend was relinquished of this burden nature placed apon her in whatever way I could. *********** Ronin POV *********** I kicked down another set of apples and took the baskets to the barn where Granny smith and Applebloom were seperating them. Mac was returning with some baskets of his own as we both heard the sound of buzzing coming from nearby. "What in tarnation?" I heard Big Mac say as I smiled at the the approaching changelings. "Don't worry, Mac. They're friendly." I said as the changelings landed in front of me in a horizontal line. I made a twirling motion with my finger and yelled. "SOUND OFF!" "Larxene at your command, Sire!" Larxene said loud and proud. "Zexion...present." Zexion said with half the enthusiasm and less than half the loudness. "Roxas, ready for action Sir!" Roxas barked with that same pride in his voice. Axel smiled and responded last. "Axel checking in, boss." I smiled and turned to Big Mac, who looked very perplexed about the situation. "Mac, my man. Meet our support for the day." I said as Mac nodded and took several steps towards the four and took a stance that looked like the pony version of standing at attention. For a second, I thought he was going to just tell them what to do, but what happened next blew me out of the water. He cleared his throat and and took a deep breath before speaking. "ATTENTION!" He barked loudly, the four changeling (and myself, to be honest for a second) To snap to a attentive state. But he wasn't done yet. "LISTEN UP! THIS ORCHARD AIN'T GONNA PICK ITSELF, YA HEAR? SO BY THE TIME THAT SUN SETS, I WANT EACH OF THEM APPLE TREES PICKED CLEAN! AM I CLEAR?!" Mac let out in one fell swoop as the four changelings nodded their heads rapidly. I stepped forward and pointed to several baskets full of apples. "Alright, start taking those baskets to the barn immediately while Mac and I put more apples into them for ya." They nodded and started doing so as I turned to Mac and put a hand on his shoulder. "Buddy...." I started calmy. "Where the hell did that come from?" I asked him as he smiled and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, mah mother is the captain of the lunar guard. So ah might have learned a thing or two from her." He looked to the ground in a shy manner. "Ah apologize if ah crossed any lines, partner." I laughed and patted his back, causing him to look up at me. "Are you kidding? that was absolutely awesome! That's why your my go to bro, man." I said as his eyes widened in shock. "You...think of me as yer bro?" He asked me, clearly suprised. I sighed and smiled. "Of course, I don't let just anyone hold my sword, after all." I said as I realized something. "Um...where did my blade go? You never did give it back." I said as Mac laughed. "Heh, ya forgot it here. So ah kept it in mah room out of sight of Applebloom and her friends. Last thing ah need is fer her to git any ideas." He said as I laughed. "True, man. I'll get it after we finish our job here." I say as we walk towards the trees. "Eeyup." Mac says happily as we resume bucking trees. ************* Nicholas POV ************* After I walked in and ducked into a bathroom to change back to normal, I was escorted to the main living room of the mansion. If you have ever seen the incredibles movie scene where Mr.Incredible goes to the island and sits at the table with lava in the background, that's the vibe I was getting as I sat on a couch positioned by a massive fireplace across from another couch where Filthy Rich, Diamond Tiara, and a mare (probably her mother) sat at. The mare was a faded pink color with a purple mane and had a diamond ring as a cutie mark. "This is the colt you have been talking about?" The mare said with obvious disgust in her voice. Diamond shrunk a bit but nodded her head as Filthy Rich sighed. "Rich dear, please be respectful to our guest. He was invited by our daughter after all." Filthy said as Ms.Rich scoffed. "And why should I? He looks like nothing more than an simple ape that needs to be caged." She said as I frowned at that, ready to speak my mind. Diamond beat me to it though. "Momma! that's my coltfriend your talking about!" She exclaimed before putting a hoof to her muzzle. Ms.Rich gasped and Filthy face-hoofed. "Your telling me that my daughter is dating a filthy commoner?!" Ms.Rich pretty muched screeched, her face contorting into one of fury. "What does this filthy animal have that a colt of higher standing doesn't have?" She stated as Diamond Tiara went to answer, but it was my turn to cut her off. "Ms.Rich." I said with no emotion. This caught her attention, her head swiveling to face me as I placed my briefcase on the table sitting in between us. "I believe you have heard of the rising DJ known as 12K?" I said as Ms.Rich snorted. "Of course I have. The DJ that looks similar to your kind yet can actually be useful to society?" She said as she scoffed. "I doubt a lowlife like yourself interacts with the likes of him." To this, I smirked as I pressed the button on the side of the briefcase, causing it to open up into the DJ set I use. Diamonds eyes bugged out and Filthy Richs jaw dropped while Ms.rich remained unmoved, though her eyes registered shock. "Don't you know who I am, Ms.rich?" I stated as I played a note or two, causing red light to engulf me. "What are you doing?" She yelled as the room flashed red for a second. When it died down, gasps were all that was heard as I became my musical form. I looked to the shocked family as I placed my hands on the disc and synthesizer. "My name is Nicholas kingston Blazeheart! Or as my fans now call me, 12K. I plan to spread my music through all of Equestria, bringing smiles to every kid and adult that hears my wubs!" I looked the shocked Ms.Rich in the eyes as I smirked. "How many ponies have you made smile, Ms.Rich?" I stated as I started to play, fully ready to earn my spot as Diamonds suitor.