//------------------------------//
// Bill the Oracle 
// Story: Broken Wings 
// by Lt_Voss 
//------------------------------//

	I looked down in panic, but found that my pants were secure. I looked back at Bill, red-faced, to find he was already talking to Luna and Mason. I made for them but was stopped by Applejack.

"Look," she said, scraping her hoof on the ground. "I'm really sorry about jumping to conclusions. That was definitely something I should have asked about first. I shouldn't have accused you, and instead I should be comforting you, but I've not done that. So..." She trailed off.

I knelt down beside her. I put my left hand on her shoulder and told her, "It's alright. Anyone might have thought the same thing. Because you're my friend," I chuckled. "At least, I hope you are." I flashed her a grin to show her I was joking. "Because you're my friend, I forgive you. Don't worry too much about it. Now, I've gotta go talk to Luna and Mason. Maybe later, I could stop by and say hello to the family."

Applejack nodded and smiled. "That'd be great. Thanks, Will."

I got up and continued towards the trio. As I drew closer, I could hear Bill speaking. "I am Bill, the voice who, until recently, made his home in Will's head."

Luna sighed. "I set out to teach Will everything he should know about this world... thinking that I would have my sister to be there to help..." She lowered her head. "But now I must teach two people everything, and I don't even have the comfort of having Tia here beside me!" She shouted at the ground. I heard her begin to cry, and she fell to her knees.

Bill knelt down next to her. "What kind of talk is that? She isn't gone, she's right here." He pointed to her heart.

Luna interrupted her own sobbing to look at Bill and yell at him. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE! YOU'VE NEVER LOST ANYONE!"

Bill silently stared at her for several moments. Luna held his gaze. Bill spoke to her then. "I've lost Will... I've lost myself."

Luna looked taken aback by this, and she dropped her gaze and looked back down at the ground, crying again. "It's not the same! If only I had gotten there SOONER!" She wailed the last word towards the sky, the sudden motion making Bill flinch.

"I'm glad you didn't get there sooner." Before Luna could protest, as she had already begun to do so, Bill held up a hand. "Let me explain. If you had gotten there sooner, Celestia would have been occupied trying not to hit you. It was a fairly enclosed space. The Nightmare would have taken this advantage to kill Will, rendering Celestia's sacrificial power useless. Then, the Nightmare would have killed the three of us as she wished. By not being there, you saved the lives of Will and I."

"Then I wish it was me, not her! I deserve it! I was corrupted by the Nightmare, not her! IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME THERE, NOT TIA!"

Bill frowned deeply, his eyebrows furrowing. "Are you saying it was you that died?"

"YES!"

"Have you thought about what effect that would have on Will?"

"He would still live, if that's what you're asking!"

"That isn't it. What would have happened if you were in Celestia's place?"

"I would have sacrificed myself... for... Will..." Luna was silent for a few moments. "Dear god..."

"Exactly."

Luna's head swung around, looking in every direction. When she had spotted me, she got up and ran to me, crying even more now. "How much did you hear?"

I hugged her. "Enough."

"Will, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it! I'm sorry, so sorry!" She wailed and buried her head in my shoulder.

I rubbed her back gently, slowly. Like I said earlier, I am clueless as to how you should comfort a pony. Or in this case, a Paracorn disguised as a pony. "There, there." I told her. "I understand. I believe you. You weren't thinking straight. But it happens."

"I'm sorry! I can't take back what I said, and I hate it!"

"Luna," I pushed her out to hold her at arms length, and I looked into her eyes, after I lifted her face to meet mine. "Listen to me. It happens. Do you know what I had to do before I got captured?" She shook her head. "You remember that survivor I told you about?" Mason's face turned grim; he knew what was coming. Luna nodded. "He was one of my best friends. We'd been friends for years. We'd served together for six. You know how I found him?"

I continued before Luna had a chance to respond, verbally or by gesture. "He was a half-burned lump on the ground. Half his face was black and swollen, his legs were covered in blisters, half of his arm was gone." I noticed both Luna's and Mason's eyes grow wide. Neither knew the exact details until now. "Luna... I... I had to..." Though, for the most part, I'd gotten over my actions, retelling them made the thoughts and sights resurface, making it hard to concentrate. "I had to... put him down. He was in so much pain..." I moved my face closer to Luna's. "I had to mercy kill my own best friend. But you know what?

"I put it behind me. I took that memory, and shoved it into a box labeled "forget" and moved on. Why? Because I had a job to do. I still had things that needed to be done. And do you know what?" She shook her head, most of the sadness replaced with shame. "We still do. There are still things that need to be done, chief among them stopping this monster invasion."

Luna sighed. "You... you're right. I... should have set it aside to think on later. But... that still doesn't forgive my words earlier! I talked about leaving you without your mother!"

I slapped her, not too hard, though, knowing that I would pay for it later. I growled at her. "Pull yourself together, Luna! And focus! What's said was said, and I've forgiven you! Now get over it and focus on the task at hand!"

She didn't hit me back or magic something up for revenge. Instead, she slowly nodded her head, saying, "I know. God, I'm being stubborn and childish, and stupid, and I am ranting, aren't I?" She asked the question looking up at me, with soft, watery eyes, a small smile on her lips.

It was then that I remembered something, and I slapped my forehead. "Hell! Luna, I-"

Before I could finish, though, she silenced me with a hoof to the mouth. "I know what you are going to say."

Bill piqued in. "Hey, that's my job!"

This caused Luna to chuckle, further easing her away from being a mopey Paracorn to a somewhat cheery being. She continued. "If you think that these things are so easily lost, then you are very sorely mistaken." With that, her horn began to glow. It took several seconds of this, and many facial expressions conveying struggle, before she finished.

But it was what was floating in front of me when she did finish that astounded me. There, floating six inches from me without a care in the world, were the blasting rod and shield bracelet. "But... how?" I asked, amazed.

She smiled in earnest now. "Form a bond with something, and if that bond is strong enough, you can call it to you whenever you'd like. Because of who the previous owner was..." She sighed. "I'll have to tell you about him. I can't go on keeping it pent up anymore." She looked at me and palmed my cheek. "After coming close to losing you several times, I've grown afraid about death. What if I die in five seconds? Who will live to pass on the tales of old? It certainly couldn't be-"

She stopped herself. "No," she said sternly. "I will not dwell on that subject. Right now, I need to focus on the task at hand, as you've said."

Mason spoke his piece then. "Alright. If we're going to do this, it'd probably be in our best interests if we met up with Captain Henderson. He has the latest news about the ongoing situation." He spun on his heel without waiting for acknowledgement from us and started towards the command tent, Luna following closely behind him.

Bill and I looked at each other. He shrugged, saying, "Might as well." He took off after Mason and Luna, and I followed lastly, wondering what Luna's tale would contain. I followed the trio into the command pavilion.

As Bill and I took our places around the tactical map, Captain Henderson looked up from a field report he was reading. "Ah, Will, you've returned." He glanced at Bill, then back to me. "And you've brought a friend."

I saluted him out of formality; his behaviour these past few days was beginning to take its toll on me. I was starting to not like the guy. "Yes sir, this is Bill."

Henderson looked up and down at Bill, as if sizing him up. "He's not authorized to view this information. MP, get him out of here."

I stood too shocked to do anything. Not that I actually had to in the first place. The MP approached Bill cautiously, probably intimidated by the pure white eyes. But as the MP moved to seize Bill by the arm and drag him out of the pavilion, Bill demonstrated his melee combat prowess by lashing out with his foot, catching the guard on the arch of his foot, leaving the MP writhing in pain on the ground while Bill composed himself and dusted off his clothes, then returned his gaze back to Henderson.

The Captain simply stared in shock. MP's are some of the better trained infantrymen, so for Bill to disable one without any trouble at all sent a shiver up his spine; I could see it run its course from the small of his back to the base of his neck. He reached for a radio on his belt, while an officer began to draw his sidearm.

But Bill was having none of that. He held out his hand toward the officer, palm up, and made a fist. The officer stopped trying to get out his gun and grabbed at his head, screaming in pain. Bill turned his seemingly lifeless eyes to Henderson, who had the radio out and was millimeters away from pressing the button to speak. Bill swung the same arm he'd used to incapacitate the officer behind him, hand poised as if he were holding a ball.

Indeed, as his arm swung behind him, a small ball of flame formed in his grip. Bill then thrust his arm forward, sending the flaming ball hurtling straight for the radio. It stopped less than a quarter of an inch away from Henderson's hand, which naturally made him drop the radio. As soon as the device was out of Henderson's possession, the ball dissipated.

Mason raised his rifle and pointed it at Bill, who simply stared at him with empty eyes. I guess Mason became unnerved, because he quickly lowered the weapon. Bill turned back to Henderson, saying, "I will not simply be thrown out of here. Anything Prince Will is cleared for, I am as well."

Henderson's expression went to angry shock to angry surprise. "You're a prince? How the hell did that happen? Did you marry this Princess? Do I need to have you put down? Because you obviously cannot follow orders. Guards!" He shouted, then pointed to Bill and I. "Arrest these two men. The taller one with the optical birth defect is to be 'tried,'" I heard the sarcastic emphasis on the word "tried." "For assaulting an MP, two officers, and a CO. The butterfly is to be charged with severe breach of protocol, fraternization with local royalty, and association with the other accused."

Before any of the guards could touch us, Bill and I spun on our heels and walked out. I discreetly glanced at Bill, silently asking him a question. He nodded. Since we knew each other so well, heh, we could understand each other without having to speak. Luna was following us. Bill took a step in front of me, and, keeping in pace, I wrapped my arms around his chest, under his arms. Beating my wings, I took off, which seemed too easy considering how tall Bill was and how heavy he was supposed to be.

"Alright, Bill," I said. "When we get back to Canterlot, I'm sticking you on a scale. You are freaking light as hell."

"Well, without any food for thought, you'd done a pretty good job of starving me in there." Another set of flapping joined me to my right, and Bill jerked his head in greeting. "Hey, Luna."

"Hello again Bill." She greeted him, then spoke to me. "Do you need any help with him?"

Before I could answer, Bill jokingly replied, pretending it was he that Luna was asking. "Nah, Will's a handful, but I have another hand to help with the load." I could feel his grin.

Luna laughed at this, lightening all of our moods. But then she realized what direction we were flying in. "We're flying North. Canterlot is Northeast."

I reminded her of what I was doing. "Remember when we were standing outside of the Moon Castle? Remember what I said?"

Luna was quiet for a moment, thinking. "You are going to see Fluttershy."

"Yes. I was told, by her, in fact, that she was scared out of her mind when I was taken." My memories flashed back to that horrific night. "I hope it hasn't come to that," I told myself under my breath.

Bill, who knew what I was talking about, answered. "I know. I hope so too. That means we must fly faster."

I beat my wings harder, trying to pick up as much speed as I could. That is until Luna called out to me. "Will, slow down, you could hurt yourself!" She was quiet for a second, then said, "I sound like an over protective mother, don't I?"

I chuckled, as did Bill. "Yeah," I told her. "You kind of do. But you're right, of course. I'm just so eager."

Bill said, "Eager for what, good friend?" Snarky bastard.

I glared at him, knowing that if he still had all the abilities he had while he was in my head, he could see me. "Watch it, Bill. I'm the one providing your flight. And my arms are itchy."

"I was simply... referring to her soup... yeah, that's what I was talking about. You believe me, right Luna?" He looked pleadingly to her. Her response was to simply laugh and shake her head.

I saw Fluttershy's cottage come into view on the horizon; we'd flown faster than I'd thought. It didn't take long for us to stop right on top, where we then landed in the back animal pen. The animals turned their heads to look at the three of us, to which I knelt down and called softly to them. "Hello there, fellas. Do you remember poor old Will?" I held out my hand to them.

They cautiously crept over to sniff it. Finding the scent of the man who had fed them several days before, they stepped up their greetings, nuzzling my legs and such. But there was one animal who stared in shock. It was a white little bunny rabbit.

The other animals left to do whatever it was they were doing. I turned to Bill, intending to impress Angel a second time. "Bill, got a carrot?"

Bill smiled, catching on. Only, there was a difference between now and then. Bill didn't need to steal a carrot. He whipped his hand out in a showman's fashion, and in his hand was a good sized carrot. He gave it to me, where I began the impression... as if Bill's trick hadn't already practically stunned Angel. Using the shield bracelet, I conjured a horizontally flat "table" and placed the carrot on top. "Come get the carrot, Angel."

Angel came forward warily. He obviously didn't trust me. Smart bunny. As he reached for the carrot, I tried to do something with the shield. I attempted to move it to the left, just far enough so that Angel's outstretched paw would miss the carrot. He looked at me angrily. With my free hand, I rubbed the top of his head. "I'm sorry Angel. I thought you'd be impressed. I now have real magic!"

I picked up the carrot from the makeshift table and gave it to Angel. He took it hungrily, but before he scampered off, I had Bill magic up another carrot. "Wait, Angel. First, here's an apology carrot." He took it so fast my hand almost caught fire. "Secondly, could you go get Fluttershy? I don't want to startle her." Angel nodded, then went inside.

As Angel went inside, Bill turned to me. "You don't want to startle her? And yet, instead of going to her front door and knocking like a normal person, you go ahead and sneak into her back yard."

"Hey," I said defensively. "You didn't voice any objection before we landed, so it's your fault too!"

"It is not. I had no choice!"

"You could have said-"

"Will!"

I stopped my argument to look towards the cottage, and found Fluttershy standing in the doorway, the light from the living room shining against her back. I could see that she was teary-eyed, because the moonlight made the droplets glisten. Again thanks to the moon, I could see two distinct lines trailing from her eyes down to her cheeks, and they were a much darker colour than her fur. This could only mean one thing.

Frankly, though, I was glad it wasn't worse than this. "Fluttershy!" Totally not cliched. I ran up to her, and, sliding on my knees through the dirt, hugged her. Anything to show her that, for the most part, I was alive and well.

"You're okay!" She said, loudly. In my ear to boot.

"Now that I'm here with my favourite pony in the universe, I am," I said, smiling. "It's so good to see you again, love."

"Yes, it is," Luna interjected in a bored tone. "I'm afraid if you didn't show up any sooner, dear Fluttershy, these two would have bickered with each other until I died of boredom."

I thought that was a poor choice of dark humour considering the fact that Luna was still holding Celestia's body in her arms. I let her know that. "Luna," I said. "You've got a pretty sick mind."

She adjusted Celestia's weight so she could tap her head and say, "I think that was a given." I continued to glare at her, and she eventually sighed and grumbled, "But you're right, and I am sorry."

I looked back at Fluttershy standing next to me. Her eyes were watery, but now were also wide with evident shock. Her mouth worked, but no sound came. I didn't have to follow her gaze to know what it was she was looking at. I began to turn her around, gently, and as I did so, I looked at Bill and jerked my head at him.

He took the hint and grabbed Celestia from Luna. Carefully throwing the body over his shoulder, again defying the laws of physics by carrying something that was, or felt, at least twice his weight, he hopped the fence and withdrew into the forest. Luna followed him. When I was satisfied that the offending parties had been removed, I ushered Fluttershy inside.

She began to make some noises before I silenced her with a gently, quiet shush. I sat her on the couch and threw down my pack that I hadn't realized until now I was carrying. I sure was stressed out if I couldn't recognize a simple fact such as that. "Wait here," I told her. I went into the kitchen. I got some water going for tea, so that I could calm her down, then walked back out to find Fluttershy wasn't there anymore.

Fearing the worst, I ran upstairs into her room. All it took was for me to see something shiny glint before I jumped. I barreled into Fluttershy, knocking whatever it was to the ground; I heard a metallic clang as it hit the floor. I had Fluttershy pinned, and I was straddling her hips. I wasn't trying to make a move; I didn't know what she was going to do next. She looked up at me with sad, even scared, eyes. "Will," she said softly, her voice wavering. "What... what are you... doing?"

I almost cried to see her like this, but what had to be done had to be done. When I was sure she couldn't move, I looked behind me to see what was dropped. I saw a thin strip of metal, which only fed my fears. But what made me the most afraid was what I saw that the strip ended in: it was a small, round, and indented piece of metal.

I had tried to save Fluttershy from a spoon.

Immediately I jumped off of Fluttershy, backing away, eyes wide in fear, and my vision blurred. I tasted salt from some of the droplets. I had no idea how she'd react. I'd only heard stories of her rages and furies, and I wanted no part in that. I ran out of room when I bumped into a bookshelf, causing a few books to fall to the floor.

She got up slowly, then picked up the spoon. She turned to me, and against my will, heh, I flinched. She flew up to look me in the eyes, which only made me cower lower and lower. I made to apologize, but she stopped me with a hoof to the mouth. "Shh." I obeyed. I was in dangerous waters already, and I did not want to tip her over the edge. "It's okay. You didn't know; I would have done the same thing. Well," she amended. "Maybe I wouldn't have been as... frontal, as you were, but..." she trailed off.

Some gentle mind probing told me that even though I was completely in the wrong, she still wanted to be forgiven. Why? Because this scenario could have played out a lot differently, and she felt it was her fault I even had the idea that she would do something to herself. "I'm sorry," I sneaked in, flashing her a grin to show her I was trying to lighten the mood.

Her face remained the same, painful-to-look-at teary eyed face that had been present since my arrival for quite a while. But, thankfully, her mouth started twitching. The spasms grew more intense until finally she beamed at me with a very apologetic and thankful smile. She hugged me tightly, and glad that things were going to be okay, I hugged her back. "I'm sorry," I repeated. "I should have looked first."

"I told you it's alright, Will, please, there's no need to apologize. I should have told you what I was doing." She said over my shoulder.

I chuckled. "Okay, since it's clear we're going to blame ourselves over this, can we both apologize at the same time and be done with it?" I held her out to give her my crooked smile.

She returned it with a small smile, and said, "If it'll make you feel better... sorry."

"Sorry." We both stared at each other in an awkward silence. We didn't move until I realized I was hearing something. "Oh, gosh! The tea!" I let go of Fluttershy, without dropping her or anything, and ran downstairs to take the kettle from the fire, nearly burning my hands in the process. I set it to cool, and walked back out into the living room. Fluttershy was just taking her place on the couch.

I went over to my pack to look for something. Rummaging for about three minutes, I found what I was looking for. I withdrew the bottle and popped the top. I took a single sip before resealing it. I'd need the rest for the two of us, and if I drank it all achieving that goal would be rather difficult. "Will," Fluttershy asked. "Are you... drinking?"

I shook my head. "Not yet, I'm not. I intend to have some with my tea, however. I need my 'calm fix,'" I said while grinning at her. I dropped the grin and asked her seriously, "Do you... do you want a bit? I mean, I'm not going to have much myself, just gonna add a cap full, not a lot."

She looked a bit nervous, as if debating on whether or not to take me up on my offer. I reminded her, "You don't have to have some if you don't want it. I'd never make you do something you don't want to do." I got up to check the temperature of the tea, and found it was ideal for pouring. I'd left the bottle on the coffee table as a sign of trust. I'd hoped having the bottle in her view would alleviate any fears she might have that I was going to put some of it into her tea without her knowledge.

I poured the water into two mugs, and plonked a tea bag in each. "Fluttershy," I called out. "How much sugar do you like in your tea?"

"Three teaspoons," came the reply.

"Okay," I finished. I took out two teaspoons, one for each of us. I know we were betrothed, but I wasn't going to accidentally breach her trust. I put in three teaspoons for Fluttershy, and stirred for her as well. I myself helped myself to four, and I made a resolve to go out and get some more sugar. I picked up the two mugs, with the spoons still in them, and brought them out to the living room.

Fluttershy looked up at me as I entered; she had been staring at the ground. "Thank you, Will."

I gave her another crooked smile; I was probably running out of crooked smiles to give her, and should probably stock up on real smiles. "You're welcome, Fluttershy." I set the two mugs down beside the bottle of bourbon. "You know what," I told her. "Instead of asking directly, Fluttershy, as I know that makes you uncomfortable, I'll just leave the bottle open. If you want it, you can get it. I won't put the question to you."

Having said that, I poured about a cap-and-a-half of the golden nectar into my mug. I took one long sip, scalding my tongue. "Ow," I said. "I have to remember: cool enough to pour and cool enough to drink are two different things." I said this looking at my cup. "I forget small things like that. Heck, I'd forget my wings if they weren't attached to my body." I chuckled and attempted to make a joke. "At least, I hope they are. It'd suck if they were attached with Velcro or something."

Fluttershy took the bait and laughed. I myself smiled, for real this time, which served to make Fluttershy laugh harder. I was about to take another sip, having completely forgotten what had happened the last time I'd taken one, when I heard a knock on the door. I looked up at the window to find it was pretty dark outside. Fluttershy made to get up, but I stopped her with a hand to the leg.

I shook my head. "I'll get it," I told her. "You hide. I don't like visitors so late after dark. It's probably Bill and Luna, but I'm not taking chances." Fluttershy nodded wildly, and I feared I had just placed unnecessary terror in her. She ran quietly up the stairs, while I got up and turned to the door. With my hand on my sidearm, I opened the door so that I would have it between me and whatever was on the other side. Seeing who it was, I lowered the gun.

My visitor didn't take kindly to this. "Wow, Will. Do you greet every visitor with a gun to the face?" He grinned at me and strode past me. He'd brought a friend, and she followed him through. Neither even asked for an invitation, dammit. That was just rude.

"You're in here uninvited, so I guess that evens it out." I said grumpily.

I wondered if Bill even heard me. He took one look at the coffee table and said, "Wow! Bourbon! Don't mind if I-"

But I stopped him by grabbing him by the arm and pulling him back. "No, you don't."

He looked at me with mock sadness. "Aw, I just wanted a bit."

I shook my head. "No."

He humphed. "You're no fun, Will, you know that? I think I may prefer the inside of your head than the real world."

I humphed right back at him in a totally mature way. "Fine. Get back in." I shook my head. "Fluttershy," I called out. "It's safe. It's just Luna and Bill." I walked back over to my mug of tea and took another sip. With most of my taste buds fried by the first sip, the second didn't hurt nearly as much. Fluttershy slowly came back into the living room. "Sorry," I said to her. "For the scare. I didn't mean to."

"Oh, it's okay, Will. It's perfectly fine. I mean, you had good intentions, and good reason. So, I forgive you." She gave me an apologetic smile, regardless.

"Okay," I told her. "I'm just going to accept your apology before we start with that fiasco we had fifteen minutes ago." I smiled at her, and she smiled back at me. I looked back at Luna. She had Celestia in her arms; she must have taken her back from Bill in the woods. She lied the body on the couch. She sighed and turned her face. Bill, being the closest, threw an arm around her when she made an audible whimper.

Fluttershy was taking it worse than Luna was showing. "I can't... how did... why would..." She trailed off. Desperate for some comfort, she ran up to me. I knelt down beside her to hold her better.

I rubbed the back of her head, my hand going under her lovely mane. "I'm thankful," I told her. "She saved me, Fluttershy." I held her out to look at her. "She saved my life. She did it for me... she did it for her nephew."

"What?" Fluttershy asked. "You mean, she's like you?"

Luna, in the middle of crying, said, "Yes... she was..." Her horn glowed for a moment, and the "alicorn" was replaced with the Paracorn. To be honest, I don't know how Fluttershy could have missed Celestia's "true form" when she barged into the stateroom... oh god, what was it? Two days ago? Yesterday? I shook my head.

I reached over for Fluttershy's tea, and picked it up. I held it up to her mouth, and she took it and drank it down thirstily. She finished it all in ten seconds flat, and when she set the cup down, she went for mine. "Now hold on there, Thirsty McThirsty... pony... I don't know," I muttered. "I'm not good at that. Anyway, hold on!" I didn't shout, but I did say it a bit more gruffly than I had meant to. "Sorry Fluttershy," I apologized before continuing. "But my cup has some drink in it."

Bill snapped his head to me. "You were drinking?"

I can't believe he'd forgotten what he'd asked for a few minutes ago. I shook my head, saying, "No, but I put some bourbon in my tea. Calm me down a bit." I looked back at Fluttershy. "Are you sure you want it? If you do, I won't stop you, but I just want to be sure."

She thought about it for a bit, and nodded. "I want to be calm. But... how strong is bourbon?"

I looked at her in shock. She knew about alcohol content? "Well," I began. "We Army guys get to use this only when something really traumatizing happens, like an entire platoon being lost. I drank half of the bottle and could barely remember how to walk, as Bill knows first-hand. I'd say it's strong."

"Oh," she said, looking sullen.

"But remember," I said, trying to console her. "I only put in about a sip. I don't know how you react to alcohol, but it should be okay." I picked up the cup and gave it to her.

She took it cautiously and took a sip. Feeling no immediate effects, she gulped it down. She set the mug on the coffee table and leaned into me. Whether it was out of her love for me or the drink, I knew not, nor did I care. I unconsciously began scratching her side much like I would a dog, but instead of getting mad, Fluttershy leaned in even further. "Bill," I said. "Could you go and feed the animals?"

Bill stared at me with featureless eyes for a few seconds. "Alright," he said eventually, and his tone was simply emotionless. I don't know if that meant anger or not, but I thought it best try and stay on Bill's "good side" for a while.

"Do you remember how to do it?" I asked him, and I made sure I sounded as innocent as possible.

"Yeah. Remember: I may not have been the one doing it, but everything you did I learned." Then he stepped outside, leaving me alone with Luna and Fluttershy.

My fiance broke the silence. "Will... who's that person?"

I thought long and hard over what to say. To be honest, I knew what he used to be, but I'm not sure if he's changed since... that day. "Remember when we were flying to Canterlot?"

"To the music festival?"

"Yes, then. Remember what we talked about?"

She was quiet. "N-no..."

I sighed. "That's fine, Fluttershy, you were honest. I could care less if you forgot what you ate for breakfast this morning, as long as you told the truth. Anyway, you asked me why I was quiet so much. I told you it was because I had a voice in my head that helped me do things in life. Well... last night... or was it morning? Luna," I said as an aside. "You messing up the moon and sun schedule messed me up."

She chuckled. "Sorry."

I continued my ramble, er, I mean, my explanation. "At some point in the recent past," I said, grinning. "The Nightmare took Bill, my voice, away from me. I don't know how, but she did."

"Wait," Luna interjected. "You mean, Bill is your Oracle?"

"Huh?" I asked in a proper Twilight Sparkle fashion.

"Your Oracle... I thought you knew what those were!"

"I know what an oracle is: a person who could supposedly see the future by inhaling special fumes... I wonder if they ever figured out if those fumes made them stoned..." I got sidetracked.

"Yes, yes, but the Oracles. The true Oracles, can only be found in Paracorns and other special beings. Never in my life have I seen an Oracle as a living, breathing entity!"

Her tone made me fear she'd "pull a Twilight" and run off to do studies. "If the Oracles are the voices in our heads, then yes, Bill is mine. And that," I said, looking at Fluttershy. "Is the answer to your question."

"So the Bill that was standing there not moments ago was the voice in your head?"

I nodded. "It would appear so."

Luna waggled her eyebrows and smiled at me. "He's rather..." Her gesture and tone made me fear what she was going to say... and I was right to. "Attractive, don't you think?"

"Luna!" I said loudly, embarrassed; indeed, I felt my cheeks flare up.

"Oh, come, Will. I was only joking! Besides. He does seem a bit... small. Fluttershy, dear, do you have a scale or balance we could borrow? I'm afraid this may not be able to wait until Canterlot. My researcher needs her fix."

Fluttershy nodded, saying, "Of course. Lots of animals big and small come to me, and I usually try to help them. Lots of times, keeping them at their suggested weight does a lot to help, and to do that I needed a big scale. There's no problem with Bill using it." She walked off into another room. I didn't miss the fact that she automatically, but correctly, assumed we were going to weigh Bill.

She returned in short order, with Bill arriving shortly thereafter. He took one look at the scale upon entering before sighing and immediately taking off his boots. "I assume that's for me." His voice betrayed no emotion, despite the sigh just a moment ago. I nodded. He stepped up to the plate, no pun intended, if a bit reluctantly. The result shocked us all.

I was the first to voice my amazement. "You're at least five foot ten, and you barely weigh one hundred thirty pounds?! Good God, what's your secret, Bill, I'm sure everyone in the universe will want to know!"

He grinned at this. "I don't know. I honestly didn't know how much I weighed myself. I didn't even have a guess. So this is just as much of a surprise to me as it is to you."

Luna laughed. "Well, now that we've discovered that Bill is on the killer diet, I suppose we should find out how strong he is!"

I pouted, muttering under my breath, "You just want to see him flex."

She laughed even harder. "I told you, I was just playing around!"

Bill simply blinked his featureless eyes at this exchange, but went outside. We followed Bill, even over the fence, and into the woods. Luna spoke. "Okay. Will, you can go first. Take this branch," she handed me a sturdy branch about an inch and a half in diameter. "And hit it against that tree as hard as you can."

I stepped up to bat. The tree was a big one, but I was not deterred. I would best this tree in combat! Heh, lapse into childhood memories. I swung the branch as hard as I could. I hit the tree, but nothing cracked. Instead, my arms went numb from the shock. I totally meant to drop the branch at that time.

"Okay, Bill," Luna said, and I could see her smiling at my pain... she's a horrible mother! "Your turn. First, inspect the tree and the branch to make sure everything is up to snuff."

Bill walked by me and picked up my fallen log. "Neither has any problems." And with that, he proceeded to swing at the tree. At this point, I expected his arms to numb and the branch to survive. I may have even been okay with a crack in the branch.

But I was not expecting the branch to completely shatter, nor did I expect the tree to bend so far over, I swear if I had pushed it just a little it would have fallen over. Luna, Fluttershy, and I both stared in shock, our mouths agape, eyes wide. Even Bill himself couldn't believe it. "Damn," he said. "If I'd have known I was this strong, I might've tried to find a way out sooner." He looked at me. "This could have been useful in so many ways."

I nodded. "That minotaur would have been a cakewalk."

"I agree. But then... so many things wouldn't have happened." He pointedly looked at Fluttershy, then himself, then Luna, and finally at the cottage, presumably towards Celestia's body. "Either way, I'm glad we got that mystery cleared up. But... what are we going to do about-" He stopped suddenly, and craned his neck sideways so his right ear was higher. Returning to his normal pose, he said, "I was going to ask what we planned to do with Celestia and the Army. But monsters are fine too." With that, he drew my revolver, which was still holstered to my hip, spun one hundred eighty degrees, and began firing.

The cylinder emptied, and eight yelps and cries cut short indicated eight monster deaths. But now, even I could hear trampling of hooves, paws, and feet, and I began to worry...

What the hell are monsters doing so far up north?