//------------------------------// // Chapter 17: Table for Seven // Story: How A Realist Saved The Show // by Mare Of Mystery //------------------------------// "It's been a fun time during this friendship retreat, we've been through some activities that have to do with teamwork, and made a few fun memories along the way. But all of that couldn't top how I managed to not only stop Chrysalis from stealing the elements, but I've also made her reform too. She promised that she'll try to learn about the magic of friendship and is willing to open up to change. I don't know the reason why she doesn't want to share the love inside her, but I'll worry about that later. Now, I'm going to have to tackle preparing for the next target; Lord Tirek. " It's been a few days since the camping trip took off after everyone went back to their old positions at the school; the students back to class, and the teachers back to teaching. Mobius was standing patiently inside Twilight's chambers inside the school, seemingly awaiting her next order. "It still baffles me that Chrysalis is a student at my school." chuckled Twilight, sitting on her office chair while signing some documents in front of her, "I just wondered where in Celestia's name did that human named Amon came from?" "Yeah...pretty bizarre..." Mobius stretched out his words, "Perhaps he's friendly?" "Nothing is certain for sure, we just have to wait to see what else he does in the meantime," she turned over to Mobius' curious glare the moment she finished her work, placing the quill in the ink jar. "I'm having Starlight look into this strange creature, and writing to Sunset Shimmer about this human. He said he isn't from that world but seems to know a lot in Equestria. First, this strange creature appeared out of nowhere, then my family invited me to dinner and they want to see you upclose? What a week!" "Wait, what!?" "Oops, I forgot to mention it to you..." she turned away and blushed for a second, "I invited them for dinner at the Tasty Treat tonight at seven to meet you upfront. I was so distraught by this 'Jo Amon' fiasco, I didn't have time to tell you." "Oh boy, the ol'e meet the parent's scenario. Always with the main character getting worked up to impress the parents, only to make even more of a fool of themselves and ruin the vibe of the meetup. Thankfully, I won't be those who freak ouyt over the littlest things." "Wow, I always wanted to meet your parents, but I don't think they're going to appreciate me being you know what" emphasized Mobius, biting his lower lip in an anticipating sweat. His concern was played off as Twilight chuckled from her seat, "Don't you worry about a thing! I'm sure you'll be great friends with them in no time." "Well, that's reassuring..." "And my brother and his wife are going to be there! It'll be a night to remember." "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" "The first few days for Chrysalis were a bit rough for her, almost all of the students in the classrooms avoided her at all costs. I had to lecture them about how she sees the error of her ways and wanted to start anew. I left the part where a 'strange human' confronted her, chained her in front of her hive, and how she was crying like a banshee, they didn't need to know all of that. After the halfway mark, I guided her to the lunchroom where we sat across from each other." To make it even more awkward for Mobius, he was the only one having a tray of food on his side and Chrysalis was left with nothing on her side. She was paitnetly waiting for him to finish his meal as she fidgeted with her forelegs and had typical first-day anxiety. He doesn't want to see her in this type of mindest, so Mobius started with a little conversation starter. "How are classes doing for you?" It wasn't too long before she answered, "It's alright, I guess. I still don't grasp the teaching methods Twilight's friends are supplying. School is supposed to be about reading books and memorizing, isn't it?" "Well that's part of it, but it all leads up to your understanding about the topic. Their teaching methods may be unorthodox to most schools, but that's what makes this place unique. " Mobius added to her definition about the school, "Perhaps you should start opening up to the students here and ask for help?" "True, but...everypony wants to stay away from me when I go near them!" she moped, dragging her foreleg across the part of the table she's sitting at, "I can't get anything done while I'm in this form!" "This might be my chance to figure out why she refused to change, it could be interesting to figure out what's been bothering her. "So, why not just transform like the rest of the changelings?" That question made Chrysalis shake a little from her seat, as if she had a chill down her spine, "I...I just can't-" "Yo, Mobius!" Everything Mobius was anticipated for went down the drain as the table was immediately filled with his friends sitting next to them. He mumbled to himself when he shifted focus on the guys who were seated near him. Ocellus on the other hand was right next to Chrysalis as she confidently sat next to her. "Damn, Ocellus! How does it feel like to have you and your mom attend the same school?" smiled Sandbar across from her. "Well, it's no big deal really..." she sheepishly replied, "I'm glad that odd creature came to her in the first place. He's shady, but he got the job done." "Speaking of that creature..." Smolder turned her head over at Chrysalis, looking a tad confuse from the dragon's gesture, "What exactly did he do to you to get you to change?" A nervous sweat arose from Chrysalis's forehead, "Well...it's...complicated" "Man, I was so close to getting to some dirt on her. I guess I'll just leave it be for now and wait for the right moment." It was a long rest of the day for everycreature and Chrysalis as she left the last class of the day and slowly walked out of the school to the outside. The other students still found her presence unsettling when they scurried off away from her general direction. Mobius let CHrysalis on her own to head back home, they silently waved goodbye as the two separated. She didn't have a dorm room assigned, so she had to make her way to the train station and commute to school. As she embarked on he way, Mobius quietly walked over to the town and his domicile. He's going to prepare himself for the dinner date he has meeting Twilight's family, including the big brother himself; Shining Armor. "A few hours left before I get to have my death sentence meeting Shining Armor, I have no clue what he'll think of me dating his sister. Fanfics always depict him as some overprotective brother who shuns anypony getting above friendship-level with Twilight. It would be nice to see what he thinks of me, but I'll worry about that later. I just need to simmer down and discuss this with big sis..." Once he stopped at the front door, he got to put the key and entered inside; things seemed to be very much intact. Radial was just by the couch reading a thick book with her face implanted in its contents. She saw the door and the pony who entered and greeted Mobius in the most typical family fashion. "Hey..." "Radial, I need some serious help!" He trotted to the couch and went down to the floor to beg for his life, "I'm going to dinner with Twilight and her family, including Shining Armor himself! If he sees me as the pony to be dating his sister, I would be executed on the spot!" It was at that moment Radial slowly closed the book she was in the middle of reading and get fly placed it on the coffee table creeping up. a small smirk at her little brother. "Oh, now you need my help all of a sudden? You maybe got lucky saving Chrysalis and all, but I can do just as a good job as you! " As soon as Radial stopped her rant, it was clear to Mobius that it was rather harsh leaving her out of this, she wanted to go to Equestria as much as he wants to. He slowly tilted his head down and apologized, "Sorry for leaving you out of my mission, but you don't have any powers in this world to defend yourself. " "Don't you worry about me, I can manage without no powers. Sadly... " She got up from the couch and slowly walked over to Mobius's location with a small frown, "I can't come with you, I'm foal sitting tonight." His whole life seemingly went down the drain as he heard Radial say those last few words of her, "No...you can't do this to me! I'm going to get clobbered!" "Hey, If you can manage to sway yourself with the Princess of Friendship, I'm sure you can convince her brother too." One big sigh later, Mobius found himself at a low tide, he just had to accept what was coming to him. Before he went back to his room, he quickly changed the subject onto things, "So how's the research coming?" "I may have a lead as to what to do to get Tirek on board, but you may or may not enjoy it," she said in the vaguest tone of her voice. "Since you had your fun, it's time for me to have it as well." "Guess I owe you one, so what do you have in mind?" "You'll just have to wait until the time is right..." "It's almost time for the longest night of my life here, getting to meet Night Light and Twilight Velvet upclose. They seem like a cool duo to be around, and I know they'll appreciate their daughter's newly-found happiness with a pony. As for the biggest threat of the night; Shining Armor. I have no clue what he'll think of me; not only I'm the one who's dating his little sister, but I'm a few years younger than her! " Getting out of their seat from the long train ride to Canterlot, Mobius left the train car door and sees himself on the platform of the Canterlot train station. His first time entering Canterlot and seeing the beautiful architecture upfront gave him a small hint of relief from the night ahead. Seeing a live royal capital up close like this was like some dream, but he had to cut his sightseeing short just as Twilight saw him a few feet from his location and waved, he ran up to her and gave a small hug. "You made it on time!" She went in for another small peck of his cheeks, "My parents should meet us at the restaurant by now. This is perfect! You took the same train just like them!" "Them?" He was short to follow through, but Mobius was left scratching, "Who exactly are your referring to?" "She's referring to us of course!" "Shit, I recognize that voice and that tone anywhere, big brother has arrived!" A sense of dread has covered Mobius' face like some creature just stabbed him in the back with a dagger and let it set into his flesh for a while. The large white stallion who walked past him was of course Shining Armor, who was delighted to give his little sister a small hug, but pleasantly surprised by Mobius as he stared daggers right at him. The one next to him was Princess Cadance, who acted very excited to see Mobius' for the first time. Of course, as to James' knowledge, she is fully aware of his true identity and his intentions. He doesn't know how this will play out, so he just stood silent and waited for what's about to come. "Mobius, this is my brother Shining Armor, captain of the royal guard situated at the Crystal Empire, and his lovely wife Princess Cadence. She's my sister-in-law and foal sitter when I was young!" Twilight introduced her brother to the shaking unicorn, moving over to Cadance's side, "Cadance, isn't he such a perfect match for me? We're both bookworms who strive to study the magical arts! And he's quite a fan of me and my friends!" The princess of love slowly locked eyes with Mobius as he locked eyes with her in return, confused and terrified about what she was going to say. Her lips slowly opened as to answer conspicuously. "Well Twilight, I do believe you two would be an acceptional couple..." "I'll be the judge of that..." Shining turned his attention to Mobius, giving him the biggest curious stare he could muster up and making a sense of awkward Ness in the air for the poor colt. Legs shaking and teeth jittering, he was hanging onto dear life. "H...Hi!" blurting out, Mobius took a big gulp before sweat beads started to form around his forehead and slowly backed up. "Hmm?" Shining slanted his head as he carefully inspected Mobius and turned to Twilight for a quick second, "Well, If Twilight does love you for who you are, I guess I shouldn't judge him for who he is and what he's doing her-" *SMACK* "Aaah!" after receiving a forceful whack on the back of his head from Cadance, he rubbed the back part of his head of the impact. "What was that for!?" "Wait, does he..." "Come on Shining!" pouted Twilight, as she came to Mobius' aid and wrapped one of her wings around his torso to comfort him. "Mobius is quite the smart and talented unicorn his age! I'm sure you two will get along, right Mobi?" "Yes of course!" he answered by squealing out to his frightened face. "Okay! Let's head out to the Tasty Treat and meet with mom and dad!" "Stay calm! Stay calm James! You just have to spend one dinner with him! It'll be all over after, even though during the duration of our walk he's staring at me like a hawk. Just...relax!" While Twilight and Cadance were gossiping on some mare stuff too complex for the average stallion to understand, Shining was walking next to Mobius nearby. He didn't think much of it, just trekking silently as to focus on their destination. When the group finally reached Restaurant Row, Twilight guided them to the location of the Tasty Treat and entered the restaurant in an orderly manner. The vibrant interior mixed with the ambiance of the customers' dining made the Tasty Treat more lively than what James and Zoey witnessed in the season six episode. After Saffron Masala came up to the front of the establishment, she was greeting Twilight in the most typical manner. "Oh! Princess Twilight and her brother! Welcome! Your parents are waiting at the table over there!" She warm-heartedly greeted me with a big smile. The two cheerful-looking ponies who were at a table waving in the background were none other than Twilight and Shining Armor's loving parents; Night Light and Twilight Velvet. Whinging took his gaze off of Mobius as he happily walked over to his parents with Twilight following behind; Cadance and Shining were seated in the middle of the rounded booth seat while Twilight and Mobius sat at the edge. "Twilight! It's good to see you after so long! How's running A school doing for you?" Asked Nightlight. "It's going smoothly as a possible dad!" She was timid to swear, "and you too mom, I'm so excited for you to finally meet my coltfriend. It's been a few weeks since we've dated!" He was bracing for impact. keeping his eyes closed and forelegs burying his whole face. Containing his panicked-looking face away from the parents as he expected a burst of outcry from them. But unknowingly, instead of being appalled by him, they were containing their excitement. "Well, it seems that our Twi finally found herself a nice suitor that fits her taste!" Velvet started behind Twilight and saw a nervous young colt sweating beads, "Aww, don't be shy...we don't bit. I'm Twilight Velvet! And my loving husband Night Light!" "Hey, their sport!" Night Light greeted him as if he was a part of the family already, "You're the one that our daughters been raving about in her letters? Fantastic! We've been waiting for somepony like you to come along to her side. You remind us of that one pony during the cruise trip we were on. " "I hope I don't bump into Star Tracker and then we'll have to fight to the death over Twilight's affection..." Slowly opening up his eyes and looking straight at them, Velvet and Night Light were a tad shocked to see the colt sporting two eye colors. It was more intriguing to them than ever. "Woah! You even have heterochromia too!? Quite a rare sight to behold." smiled Velvet, "Wowy! Twilight sure knows how to pick 'em, am I right sweetie?" To his disbelief, Shining Armor was in utter silence hearing his parents being content with Mobius dating his sister. He had to immediately address the situation as he spoke up, "Mom, Dad, what gives!? Do you realize how old he is? Are you not seeing the large age gap here?" Night Light gestured his foreleg as he pushed all of his worries aside, "Oh, don't worry about that son! He'll catch up to Twilight eventually; Cadance was a few years older than you. I'm just happy that you two found somepony special to be with. Now, If only you'd give Flurry Heart a cousin to play with, that'll be even more-" "Daaaad! T.M.I! We're taking things a bit slow for now, let's not focus on that and enjoy a lively dinner! "Twilight let out a loud groan sound as she covered her head with her hooves in total embarrassment, "Say...Mobius," his name being called by Velvet made him turn his glance at her across the table, "I'm curious, when did you start to take a liking to Twilight? She wasn't that popular until she stopped Nightmare Moon, and not that there's something wrong with her, well maybe the fact that she's afraid of quesadillas because they're so ches-" "QUIT IT, MOM!" Twilight blurted out, seeing Mobius cover his ears from her voice. The tone of her whining was heard from the rest of the restaurant. "Damn, didn't expect to answer this question soon. I can't say 'She's my favorite character in a television cartoon that I'm somehow got transported to.' I need to think this one through." "Good question," choosing his next words carefully, Mobius' quick thinking was put into play as he answered, "I always dreamed of attending magic school and studying under Princess Celestia. When I heard about this top student of hers, I had to figure out who it was. Truly, somepony like Celestia declaring a favorite student had to be somepony who's talented. As soon as I saw heard about the fiasco about Nightmare Moon, I quickly took the train to Ponyville. When I got to the town and heard about the hero that saved Equestria from a never-ending night, that's when I knew. I've been watching her and her journey for quite a long time now." "Now?" the suspicious eyebrow raise from Shining Armor made Mobius take a glance at him. "If I remember correctly, that whole Nightmare Moon fiasco happened four years ago. But, it seems like you knew my sister and her friends for longer..." "So the first episode started two years ago and we're currently at the eighth season so far. Assuming that Equestria follows that same 12 months, 365-day calendar system on Earth, that would mean that two seasons worth of the show happened per year. Man, time travel stories are so confusing, I'm just going to go with that logic!" "Aww, it was love at first sight!" Velvet cooked from her seat, "All of this talking is making me hungry! Let's get to order!" "This is my first time having Indian cuisine before, but I'm quite familiar with some things. I ordered tikka masala with rice with a side of samosas and a mango lassi. Too bad I can't have any chicken on my tikka masala, but It was still good nonetheless. Twilight got a dish made with spinach and cheese, Shining Armor, Cadance, and the parents shared an assortment of stuff from different bowls I can't comprehend to name them all with a large flatbread on the side." The party was enjoying the meals followed by stories of Twilight during her youth. It was quite a marvel hearing the in-depth background of any character in this show. He would find bits of it familiar like how she got her cutie mark, but some stuff was never even mentioned before in any form of media or online. While he was listening to Velvet's story, Mobius levitated a spoon scooped out a spoonful of the tikka masala and rice, and took a considerate amount in his mouth. Coming from the middle side of the table, Cadance and Shining listened to his mother's constant story-telling. "This is delicious stuff right here!" Cadance took another bite of her flatbread, "I didn't expect the food to be this good, how about you Shiny?" "Yes, it truly does taste amazing," he muttered right beside her. "Oh! Shining deary!" Calling out like the mother she is, Velvet said the magic words everypony knew to summon her son's attention, "Perhaps it's your turn to have a chat with Mobius at the table? You barely spoke at all!" "Alright, mom," Mobius had his whole attention looking at Shining Armor, to which he had to comply with his mother's wishes. He placed down his fork on his plate before he directed his attention to Mobius. "So Mobius, have you thought about any career choices in mind?" "No, I haven't thought of that really," he answered inconspicuously enough to lower suspicions, "I don't know whether I'll remain at the school as an assistant, or go do my own thing?" He chuckled, "Perhaps you want to give being a royal guard a shot?" "Huh?" "Well, I wouldn't want to interfere with what you'll want to do in the future." Shining emphasized on part of his sentence, before he added, "But if a pony who's worthy of being my sisters...coltfriend...he needs to be taking initiatives." Cadance was sprawling over the idea, she graciously smiled, "Aww! That's perfect! You can take the same training regime just like Shiny did when he was your age, climbing the ranks of becoming captain of the royal gaurd! Then, just like me and Shiny, you'll take your hoof a marriage and bewed to Twilight and have a royal wedding of your own!" "But then, get said wedding hijacked by some bug and her drones and be thrown in the deepest parts of the castle! You're not helping at all!" "Cadance, not you too!" Twilight sighed from her seat while getting comforted by Mobius patting her on the head, "I don't want to talk about our future yet, especially the distant future! We're just taking things slow, that's all." "Sorry Twi, but still," another time, Shining persisted on pushing Mobius' buttons, "I still want to see what Mobius becomes of in the future; will he be remaining by your side for the rest of his life? Or will he move far away...really far away?" "Woah! Reality check! I never thought of what will happen to me once I'm finished with my mission. I'll be able to live my life on Earth as the richest I'll ever be and at the same time, create a better series finale. But, to just leave who I see as just 'fictional cartoon characters'? Everyone, I thought I know actually having emotions, self-awareness, and realism and not just characters people put voices on for a paycheck? I don't want to abandon everyone...I just..." "Hey, kid! You alright?" coming over from across the table, Night Light was looking worried from the long pause took, "Don't let my boy scare you, he's just worried about the future that's all. So, what will you do when you grow up?" "Well..." recuperating on that question, Mobius scrambled to answer with a smile, "I'll just have to see what fate has in store for me!" Meanwhile, at the residence of Mobius and Radial Shine, she was busy sitting at the dining table in the middle of what appears to be an intensive chess game with her side of the board thinner than her opponents. Speaking of the opponent, it was a filly much younger than her, and she wasn't too worried about the results of the match as the hoof of the filly's slowly moved her piece to finish the round in one fell swoop. "I win again!" she shouted out, hovering above the ground with her wings flapping. Radial never thought in her lifetime that she would lose to some foal at a strategic game of chess. She wasn't so good herself, but she has defeated her brother numerous times before. She playfully sighed as she smiled at the cheerful filly, "Damn, you don't have a chess piece for a cutie mark for no reason huh Cozy Glow?" "I still can't believe you're Mobius' sister that he never told me about!" Cozy slowly landed on the chair and leaned the front half of her body to the table, "You can tell me EVERYTHING about him." "Well, sorry to burst your bubbles," the older mare looked ahead at the clock displayed above the kitchen sink to check the time, "Your father said if he isn't back before 8:00 pm, he's probably going to stay the night. So you're sleeping here I guess." "Aww..." she curled her lips, seeing as her father was running late to get her, "Where will I sleep?" "You can sleep in my room, it's just the second door to her leftover they're," Radial pointed her hoof over at the small corridor, "I'll sleep on the couch for tonight, but before that, I'll clean this up!" During the time Radial was cleaning up the table filled with snacks and organizing the chess pieces, Cozy deeply stared at the closest door that was cracked open and saw a slightly cracked up door calling out to her, "That must be it..." After spending nearly an hour dining at the Tasty Treat, and another thirty minutes at the famous donut shop in Canterlot, the group took a long stroll at the night scenes of Canterlot. Twilight and Mobius were exceptionally walking close and so was Shining on Mobious's side. Just when they stopped at a nearby bench, Night Light and Velvet turned over to see them all at once. "It's getting pretty late, so I think we'll call it here. We've got a busy schedule tomorrow!" Velvet unforntualty had to cut their time short with them, "Shiny dearie! Please be safe when riding home will you?" "Yes mom..." he sheepishly answered back. "Well Mobius, It's certainly a nice time with you tonight!" Night Light went to give Mobius a friendly hoof shake as he returned the favor, "But we need to head out now!" "Of course! Thank you so much for meeting Mobius upclose! We'll certainly make the best of what we can!" replied Twilight. Their goodbye hugs came from Twilight and Shining, waving behind them as they head out to their house. Just when their parents left the group, Shining Armor quickly leaned his head over at Twilight's ear and slightly whispered something only she could listen to, "Twily, I would like to have a little chat with him." Twilight's concerned look can only predict what's about to happen to him, "W-what are you going to do this time?" "Nothing, I just want to give him a small talk about...stallion stuff..." "Ooohhh...I see..." "Just stroll with Cadance around for a while." he carefully guided his sister over at Cadance, who patiently waited for her from behind. This was the perfect moment for her to catch up with her sister-in-law when Twilight followed Cadance as they took the scenic route to Canterlot, leaving Mobius all alone with Shining Armor. Slowly gazing upon him, Mobius took extra precaution from tonight as he noticed certain red flags from Shining at tonight's dinner; He was shooting in the dark on this one, "I'm going to take a stab on this one, but you knew about me the whole time don't you?" Shining answered with no words, but from a slow nod coming to form his head, "Good eye, coming from somecreature who's been watching my sister for the past 10 years of his life." "You knew about that too!?" "Cadance can never keep secrets from me, and if she does, I find out eventually." he answered, "James, is it? I don't believe dating my sister is part of your 'contract', still, I'm also disappointed in you. "Alright, I get it!" he cutted Shining their as he didn't want to keep things away from him, "You don't want me to date your sister because I'm from another world where I see you and this entire world as fictional characters! I understand, but please understand that I truly love Twilight for the past 10 years the show was running!" "That's the least of my problems," replied Shining, going over the nitty-gritty of his chat, "and that's not the reason why I'm disappointed, It's because you're lying straight to her face!" "Lying?" "I heard you lying to Twilight and my parents straight to their faces, you need to halt this type of behavior, or perhaps you still think this is some 'show' and you're playing a 'part' in this show?" he continued on ranting, "Face the music, you're living in our reality! This isn't a fictional piece of media to us! This is real-life! You're lying to not only Twi but every single creature you've met. Quit acting like this is some stage play, it isn't!" The truth bombs were firing in all sorts of directions as James was assaulted by them in the crossfire. He immediately had to figure something out to give him "I-I'll tell her everything about me and my purpose once I'm done with King Sombra! I swear!" "Delaying the solution will only make the problem come sooner." his voice of wisdom called out to him, "But seeing Twilight loving somepony that isn't who they say they are, to begin with...it hurts me. You only love her because she's your 'favorite character', not because of who she is on the inside. " "That's not true!" he quickly took a firm stance in front of him, "She helped me through some tough times, even if she didn't directly help me at all! These few years of seeing her every weekend put a smile on her face. The struggles she had to face, the problems she had to solve, everything. Besides, this is the perfect opportunity to get to tell know her outside the T.V. screen. I'll tell her when the time is right!" "If that's so, tell me this," he shook his head to get the tears off of his face, "What I said back then at the restaurant remains true; what will you do when you're done with this whole mission? Are you simply going to leave us, leave Twilight, and go back to the world where you'll see us all as fictional? Is it all just about the money? How about one morning and everycreature sees you vanish, how will it take a toll on Twilight? So, what will you do in the future?" "I..." he was a complete loss of words, hearing what Shining said made him have doubts about his motivation into saving the show, "...I have nothing to say at the moment..." "Just like you said," he slowly placed his muscular hoof on Mobius's side and smiled, "You'll just have to see what fate has in store for you." "Shiny, I think it's time we head back now!" a voice from a few feet called out to Shining, it was Cadance who was just beside Twilight after they took a small walk. "Perfect timing..." he walked over to his lovely wife and turned to Twilight for a quick second, "If he tries anything to disturb you, just write me a letter and I'll come to you asap!" "Don't worry about him Shining, I'm just glad you were able to talk to him in a civilized manner," she trotted back to Mobius' side, trying to see why he was zoning out in front of her, "Mobi? What's wrong? What did my brother tell you?" "D-Don't worry about it..." he muttered back at her, "Let's just g-go now..." "I...I have no clue what to think now, I just replied I'm halfway done with my work here. What will happen when I finish it? Will I vanish into thin air? Will Discord finally reveal everything in his plan to the six? And, what will happen to me? I'll just be an ordinary kid fresh out of high school with loads of cash on me. I can't stress about this right now, I just need to take it calmly and make it back home for now." As Shining and Cadance were waiting for the chariot to get a lift back to their palace, Mobius and Twilight boarded the same train back to Ponyville. The ride was going to be very long for them, almost an hour tops. Everything that he had in mind had to be put on hold as he 'yawned' right beside her and slowly rested his head onto Twilight's side. She didn't mind it, so she let him rest his head on her when she returned the favor and clung onto him with her left foreleg. Just as the train entered Ponyville station, she gentle poked him to awake from his nap as they existed together. It was in the middle of the night, so no pony was seen roaming the town. Besides the few ponies who were heading straight home, they were all alone. "Thanks for getting to meet my family, they may be a tad quirky though." Twilight blushed, before flicking her head and giggling in front him, "I was thinking..." "Yeah?" he raised a brow. "I just want to make it up to you after my 'attempt' back at the camping trip." "Oh?" "And I always wanted to see your house," she continued her subtle hints, "Perhaps we should?" "Of course!" Morning arose amid the dawn of a new day in Equestria, Mobius was lying flat on his bed with his forelegs resting on the back of his head. Twilight was right on his right side, still asleep as ever. "Man, what a night...I met Twilight's parents, almost got vaporized by Shining Armor only to find out that he knew about me the whole time, and questioned my whole existence and what I'll do once I'm done with my mission, and now I'm going to snuggle up with her IN MY OWN BEDROOM! And with that, my bucket list is complete! Well, there is that one thing, but I don't think that's a possibility. We stealthily roamed around town up to my house and discreetly entered without waking my sister up. But I just couldn't believe that I'm currently snuggling up with Twilight in bed! So warm, soft, and adorable...just next to me..." While he was staring deeply at the ceiling over his wonderful sleep, two voices suddenly rose up out of nowhere, "Good morning Mobius!" "Eh?" He didn't expect it at all, but he didn't feel not one cheek, but two of his cheeks being caught off guard by two, soft and wet lips that made him shiver on sight. He can recognize the voice and kiss from Twilight to his right, but there was something strange about the one on the left. Was there another pony that slept on his bed? The only way to answer that was for him to slowly turn his head to the left and- "C-COZY GLOW!?" he shrieked out, "W-What are you doing here!?" "Huh!?" Cozy immodestly locked eyes onto the mare that was across from her as she stood up from the bed, "Princess Twilight!?" "Excuse me!?" Twilight peeked over at the mysterious pony who was sharing a confused look at her, "Who is this...lost child?" "No...It can't be!" Cozy pouted, "I was supposed to snuggle with him tonight!" "What are you talking about?!" Twilight asked, being dumbfounded by this strange filly, "You're just a foal who is probably going through some mixed emotions in her life, go study or something! "There's no way Mobius could ever be with the likes of you!" She responded with a fierce flare and intensity in her voice, "You're old!" "Old!? Excuse me! I'm only 27!" "Oh, so 12 years apart is better than 5?" She crossed her forelegs as Cozy starts scoffing at, "All you old ponies get what they want!" "I'm not old!" "Excuse me ma'am, want me to help you cross the street!?" Cozy taunted straight to her face. "Hey! Keep it down in-" just as Radial opened the door wide open to figuring out who made al the ruckus, she slowly turned deadpanned and witness the 'party' Mobius had in his bed, "...Nope..." She slammed the door shut, leaving Mobius restless on his bed as to only cover his ears to drown out the heated exchange from Cozy and Twilight. "Kill...me...now..."