//------------------------------// // Setting Things Straight // Story: To Protect and Serve // by iMan203 //------------------------------// We all came out in the afterworld. Tiki, Silver, and Bronze were shuffling around our grassy field of pools and mossy stones. This area was actually a floating perch of land, shrouded in mist from the rest of the afterworld. Only the immortal could see through the mist clearly, which is why the three stallions were so confused and blinded from their surroundings. This perch of land belonged to the 6 elements of disharmony. Each of them agreed to the location of soft, green grass and large mossy rocks with pools of clear water dotting the chunk of land, and thus raised it from the rest of the world as their personal home. The pools of water served as good portal openings whenever needed. There were different patches of tall grassy areas suitable for lounging in where we once met Desire at. The pools of water around the edge flowed off of the floating island and into the afterworld through the shroud of mist seemingly holding the area above the rest of the endless land. I would soon find myself floating through my own imagination, passing the years by in moments when I will lay here to myself and look over both mortal and immortal worlds. I won't let myself go just yet, I plan on spending every single waking second in the real world with my friends as their mortal lives go by. I will be there for each of them as every event in their lives pass by. We will all soon be here, in a land where life is immortal and we live on forever in the perfect utopia. I was snapped out of my day dreaming when a voice spoke out. "You all fought well, Equestria is finally at peace once more." Power said to us. "I'm glad we can finally return to our normal lives." I said. "You may. But before you all leave, there are souls that wish to speak with you." Power replied. "Do go for too long, ah don't wanna be stuck in this fog for much longer." Bronze said, sitting inert in one of the patches of grass. "Is there any way we can heat up one of these pools?" Tiki asked. "That's a good idea, I will get to that while Bliss heads off to meet with a certain goblin waiting for him below us." Power said, motioning down one of the waterfalls. "Alright, I won't take too long." I said, flying down from the ledge into the afterworld. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Let me start by asking for your forgiveness." The voice of Blunt Will spoke out from behind me, under the shade of the floating island. "You've already earned my forgiveness and sympathy, I understand what caused all of those actions." I said sympathetically. "Well, now that we've started off on the right foot of things, we can go on to other subjects." Blunt said, taking my shoulder and walking me off into the distance. "Of course, this conversation can be more personal now, we are friends up to this point." I said. "That's not what I want to talk about. I've been here long enough to know that I can't return to the mortal world." Blunt said sadly. "I could always take you back, but I understand what you're saying." I said. "Good, you know that you have to put the goblin race on track again. You have my last dying words. The words from the real me." Blunt said. "That's good to know, I will negotiate with Celestia about this subject. I promise that your kind will be in good hands." I said assuringly. "I can rest peacefully knowing this." Blunt replied. "I also know that you have many tales from living for 500 years. Let's keep this conversation going." I said happily. "And that we shall! But I have somepony you should talk to when we come across the spot I'm taking you to." Blunt said with a smirk. "Let's continue, then!" I said cheerfully. "I also want you to take this..." Blunt said as he pulled a document from thin air. "A document for your people, to assure them in your command. I will use it wisely." I said. "I'm sure you will, now where were we?" Blunt asked rhetorically. Blunt told me of many stories and accounts he witness throughout his years. We talked for such a long time about his quests for dominance over his kind and Equestria. We even talked about the years before that, the years of his young age and what he lived through. He spoke about the horrors he saw and the ponies that killed so many goblins. There was one occasion where he even witnessed a poacher extract the dragon blood from his own parents. There was no advanced technology back then, which meant that processes such as this were more gruesome than today. The bodies were baked over an open fire as the blood boiled and steamed throughout their bodies. After cooling down, the carcasses were split open. Any regular blood was dried to the hide or steamed away. The dragon blood remained liquid and had the consistency of molten lava. As the carcasses were cut open their insides were dumped into a large thick cauldron. Cooking over a low temperature, the stew of organs and blood were separated as the solids were removed. The fire was then heated up to a higher temperature as the rest of the regular commodities were steamed off. The remanence was pure dragon blood. Only a small amount was gained from this process, but had amazing properties to be used for potions, cooking, or rituals of magic. Blunt Will witnessed this entire process from the poachers and his parents' bodies. He was desensitized from this moment in his life and created the base hatred for ponies and most other creatures of higher living in Equestria. This was also the same approximate time when the dark evil erupted in him, causing him to become immortalized in hatred and desire for revenge. This story was also a bit different from the original story of his dark manifestation. I was told that he was always evil and born from pure darkness. I was told he had no parents and that he only lived for evil purposes. This clearly was not true, because if it was, Blunt Will would not exist and would not be here beside me. "Alright, snap out of your day dreaming! Somepony special is here to see you." Blunt said, motioning to a purple mare lounging in a field past the forest. "I can't believe... It's... You've found her?" I asked in awe. "Go see her, you have a lot to discuss." Blunt said, pushing me into her direction. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "How have things been? I'm still very proud of you." I whispered, laying next to Glimmer Hunt. "Who are... Ironclad?!" Glimmer said in shock as she realized my eyes from the draconian body I had taken form of. "I've come a long way, too!" I chuckled at her reaction. "You're the new lord? The Lord of Bliss?" She asked. "I am." I replied. "This... But... It's so good to see you again!" She said, tears leaking from the sides of her face. "Where did we leave off from last time?" I asked, pulling her closer to me with my tail. "My cutie mark." Glimmer said, showing her flank to me. "Ah yes! I have an idea to what it means!" I exclaimed. "What? What does it mean?" Glimmer asked excitedly. "I think it has something to do with this." I said, drawing my sword from thin air. "The designs... Are exactly like my cutie mark!" Glimmer said, double taking on the sword to her cutie mark. "The same mark also appeared on these." I said, materializing my old robe onto Glimmer's body. "What does this make me?" Glimmer asked anxiously. "I guess... It makes you mine. You are my faithful student, in a way." I said. "I'm not sure how it would work out. I'm stuck here in the afterworld. You can just jump in between the two worlds." Glimmer said dissapointedly. "There's always a way. I can take you back. We can continue from where we left off." I offered. "We... We could. I don't want to offend anypony, but I don't want to leave here. It might be better if I stayed..." Glimmer said hesitantly. "I understand. I promise to visit once in a while. I might just open a portal to see you whenever I can." I offered. "That would be nice." Glimmer said. "It's settled then. I will see you every 30 mortal years. I think that should be enough time for both of us." I said. "30 years?! Are you crazy?" Glimmer asked. "No, I'm trying to correlate mortal time with universal time." I said. "It felt like years though. The time you were gone was endless for me." Glimmer said sadly. "I guess... There must not be a correlation. Unless the feelings of angst and desire caused time to pass extremely slowly for you." I said. "I'm not sure, just don't leave me for too long." Glimmer said grimly. "I won't, but I should probably leave right now. The mortal world needs me." I said, hugging her tightly and kissing her forehead goodbye. "I'll try to keep myself busy while you're gone." Glimmer said. "I have someone who could help you with that." I motioned over to Blunt Will coming out of the forest. "Is this another joke?" Glimmer asked, backing from my hold away from Blunt. "This is the real Blunt Will. This is the Blunt Will that isn't corrupt by dark power." I said. "Please, give me a chance. I didn't ever want to take your life..." Blunt said sorrowfully. "I... It wasn't you?" What happened then?" Glimmer asked confusedly. "It was myself, but with a tainted mind of bad intentions." Blunt explained. "Give him a chance, you two could be good friends in this world." I smiled, flying off to the floating island again. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Is everypony ready?" I asked. "Yep, let's get the buck out of this fog." Tiki said flatly from his pool of steaming water. "Ah'm about done with this fog, too." Bronze added. "Alright, I'll open the portal and we'll head back to Equestria." I said. "I've been wondering where our uniform went, too. We lost them coming through the portal into the afterworld." Silver said. "Our job was finished when we broke the last crystal. Our combat uniforms aren't needed. They will appear whenever you next need them, though." I explained. "Are you coming, Power?" Silver asked. "You are powerful enough to do everything that I could in that gem, just remember everything I've taught you." Power said. "That's a lot to remember in such a small time, you couldn't stay for a couple months and maybe tutor me some more?" Silver asked. "My place is here. Besides, you have all the knowledge still in the gem, anything you need to know will come to you magically through the gem." Power said with a toothy smile. "Alright, farewell to you all, may we see you soon enough." I said. "Yes, let's not make it soon in the afterworld, you all have good lives ahead of you!" Mutiny called out. I opened the portal in the middle pool of the floating island. The three stallions jumped through one by one as I sat by the portal, pouring drops of magic into the pool to keep the vortex open. After all three made it through, I snaked in after them. Colors flashed bright and vivid, as if we were traveling through a swirling hallway of rainbows. Sounds jumped from all areas, from whispers to screeches and everything in between. It must have been the noises of all the cities and settlements of Equestria as we shot through space to the realm of the living. We came out in Manehattan as I hoped. Our first job is to get Grim to help lead the goblins from hiding. I might as well take him to Canterlot to speak with the princess. It wouldn't be long until the goblins were part of everyday life, working and living along side the ponies of Equestria. I came through the portal with ease and no after effects. My magical energy must keep me protected through portals such as that. The other three, on the other hand, need to get used to traveling through the portals. It might be a while before the migraines stop coming on so strong. It was worth it though, not having to travel for days on end to get across Equestria. We don't have to fight goblins anymore, so maybe they can start taking trains around the land instead of a four day trip of hunting through forest and desert. Things will become normal soon, we just have to finish what we started so we could go back to living happily and normally. Everypony started to come back to their senses as I was sitting here, pondering the future. We all grouped up I checked our surroundings. We were near the old mine shaft leading down to the lake. Things looked much different from before. Everything was more green and overgrown around the entrance. The sky was a glorious deep blue shade. The clouds were large and fluffy as they floated through the sky lazily. The sun was still itself, golden yellow shining down across the land. The trees seemed a bit greener and the grass was visibly taller and also much greener. Scenery aside, we went down the mineshaft and headed to the underground lake. We haven't been down the mineshaft since I wasted all of those goblins through the tunnel with one massive blast of fire. The flames melted and reformed the walls into mystifying swirls and colors of rock and gems. Many of the gems had fallen to the floor after the rock melted and they were loosened from their place. Everypony was picking up jewels and trying to figure out where to keep them without their uniforms. I took all of the gems from the ground throughout the caverns and whisked them away to somewhere else using a warping spell over the floors of the cave system. I explained shortly after that I'm holding onto them until they need the gems again for whatever reason. I know that the majority would go to Rarity for her work. The others would have their own little cut of the jewels for whatever they want to do with them. Bronze and Applejack would most likely sell their cut to raise more money for the orchard. Silver might keep his cut and enchant the jewels or something similar to that. Tiki would devote his cut to Rarity's work, no doubt about it. I didn't need a cut of the treasure, only because I had my infinite capabilities of magic and could conjure up my own gems. I might give whatever cut I get to Captain Barrels as payment for all of his good work. As I think to Barrels, I wonder about how he is and what he's doing. Human time is much different from Equestrian time, maybe he isn't around any more. Maybe he caught onto everything and cut away from the human world. It wouldn't be a bad thing to do that, it might even be a good idea if he stayed here and kept humans from entering this world. If human kind came into this world in mass, I have no idea what they would do. Maybe send pilgrims here to take over and settle the land. Things would only become worse from there until humans wage war with the ponies and, sadly, win the battle like events usually play out. It's far into the future, their weaponry surely is much more advanced from when I was in high school. Things would surely take a turn for the worst if humans took over this world. I wouldn't allow it to happen though. Even if it killed me, I would use every drop of my power to keep such people out of this innocent, untouched world. I would definitely allow some people into this world, people that didn't care for settlement and to conquer this land. I wish I could've gone back to get more friends. We have a vacant mansion to fill and even a pirate ship for hard workers to take refuge onto. I snapped out of my thinking as we reached the place of descent. We all jumped down into the deep lake and came up shortly next to one of the rock pillars. It was a long swim back to shore since the lake was so large underground. Most of the islands were underwater and the vegetation was easily adapted to aquatic situations. Even Grim's island was mostly underwater. We reached our usual island, the only island not flooded by the rising water levels. Tiki dried his wings and took off around the lake searching for the goblin. I also flew off with my Draco-vision to see if I could pinpoint Grim's location. I soon found an island driven from the water on a cliff about the lake. Grim's energy radiated through the vegetation in a small hut crafted by the little settler. "Grim? Is that you?" I asked. "It is, and so you have defeated Blunt Will as I've heard over the years of a dragon lord defeating the dark energy!" Grim said happily. "Over... The years?" I asked nervously. "Yes, two years have passed since the battle, I think today is the anniversary." Grim said. "Damn guys, it happened again..." I said to myself. "What happened?" Tiki asked as he flew up to the island on the cliff. "Two years, Tiki." I said sadly. "No... This is much longer than 6 months, this is bad!" Tiki said worriedly after realizing what I was talking about. "At least we left everypony on a good note, no goblin army to threaten the peace." I said. "I'm done with this dimensional stuff! We've wasted too much time doing it!" Tiki said, flying off to the others. "Are you ready to go?" I asked Grim. "I am finally ready, but where will I go?" Grim asked. "We'll find a spot for you somewhere, but for now I have to speak with Celestia and you're going to help me." I reassured him. "Ok, I am ready then, with your assurance." Grim said as he hopped onto my back. We flew off and met up with the others. They were all shocked at the news Tiki hastily delivered to them. There were a lot of questions to be asked, and I had the answers to all of them. "Why don't we just head back in time, maybe a year or more?" Silver asked. "It would be pretty risky to time travel from one energy level to another, going through the time period of when Blunt and I clashed. One of us would most likely become lost in the process." I explained. "What do we do now?" Tiki asked. "Just play out our lives as usual. There isn't much else we could do." I said. "Ah'm pretty sure everypony else is fine, just missin' us is all." Bronze said. "Alright, let's go home." Silver said. I flashed everypony out of the underground lake and to the surface of the forest outside of Manehattan as soon as Silver had finished his sentence. It wasn't as if we jumped across Equestria or in between dimensions. Everypony could brush something like that off as if it were nothing. Some unicorns use teleporting spells in their daily life and have no troubles or symptoms from the effects. I decided that we should send a letter to the princess in order to notify her of our return. This didn't take long now that I had hands and magic. I asked about the date and the goblin issues that were supposedly being solved. I hope everypony was taking the steps to helping the species of the goblins recover from such a long period of outcast from the world. The answer I received on that question would decide the course of Equestria. Two years is long enough to either make the goblins our friends and partners or our worst enemy. I knew that they would be our friends either way, after so long being hated and hunted. If I offered them a break, a rope of hope from the black well of hatred they plunged into, most of them would come around and accept my offer. I just hoped for the best. I sent the letter out and we were off to wherever we needed to go. I decided to walk the coast south of Manehattan for the time being while I wait for a response from the princess. I knew that if she didn't respond immediately it might take a day or even a week for a response. Royal duties come before most of the other matters at hand, and I was patient about this even at such times. As we walked I saw a black ship out in the distance from the shore under the gleaming sun of the afternoon. I knew exactly who it was and decided to fly out there hastily with Grim on my back. The others were just casually walking the shore and weren't going anywhere fast. I spread my wings, long but very short in width. The top half was covered in cloudy white fuzz with the bottom half a mellow shade of blue. Even though they were long and thin they gave me excellent propulsion through any medium, let it be air or water. I shot off the ground, kicking up sand into a small storm of dust on the beach. Darting to the ship, my tail was lashing about behind me and my hair was swirling like a puffy cloud of mist in a slight breeze. I thought it was quite funny when screams of terror and orders from the captain came about the ship. I saw ponies scrambling to their positions as I landed gracefully onto the deck, turning to face Barrels on the upper deck of the ship. "You wouldn't shoot an old friend, would you?" I asked sarcastically. "Ironclad? That isn't you, is it?!" Captain Barrels laughed. "It is, in a new set of flesh!" I responded. "You've changed so much, yet so little!" Barrels said, jumping down to meet me on the lower deck. "You've managed to stay yourself also! Are you still connected to the human world?" I asked. "No, my crew and I broke away many years ago after the government started to become more..." Barrels paused, looking for the right word. "I know exactly what you mean. I'm guessing you all managed to conform to the ways of life in Equestria after a few years?" I asked. "Yes, we've conformed well! Life is much better here, we have more freedom than ever to do as we please!" Barrels said. "You haven't been causing trouble, have you?" I asked sternly. "Oh no, of course not! We've been sailing to far away lands to find treasures of the unknown, mostly raw ores and gems." Barrels said. "That's very good, benefiting Equestria! I actually have a small gift for you to make up for everything you've done." I said as my eyes flashed green and gems started to fall from the sky. "This is a mighty fine gift!" Barrels bellowed happily, his crew scrambling around like children. "I also have another thing for you..." I said, bringing Grim off my back with my snaking tail. "What? Why?" Grim asked confusedly. "I thought since you lived on a lake for so long, why leave the scene of water?" I said. "Are you willing to work with the rest of the crew?" Barrels asked. "Yes." Grim responded shortly. "Welcome to the family!" One pony screamed from the back. "Nopony will judge you here, we're all outcasts in our own way." Barrels said reassuringly. "I feel welcome already." Grim said with a smile. "I'll let you all get settled, I have many more things to do after being gone for so long." I said. "Farewell!" Grim said as I flew back to shore. "Don't worry about Celestia or the goblins either, I've got that well under control, also." I added before flying off. I met up with the rest of the group and we continued as if nothing had happened. They all knew what I was doing when they saw the ship in the distance. We continued to walk when I received a letter from the princess. It was actually from Princess Cadence explaining that both Celestia and Luna were away on important business and that Twilight and her were watching over the palace. It didn't take any deciphering to understand that Twilight had received her wings and was now an alicorn. If Twilight was entrusted on watching over the royal castle, she must've been royalty herself. It was exciting news to learn about such an event happening, but the only thing I was missing was an accurate timeline on the events that took place over the two years we had been missing from. I would have a timeline later, but for now we had to continue our trip. The others argued to why we couldn't just warp back to Canterlot and get it over with, but I insisted on other things I had to do. As we kept walking we passed many land marks that were quite familiar from our original trip. Along one of these landmarks near a forest I saw the group of gypsies traveling Equestria in their low and humble lifestyles. The pink couple were sitting around a cauldron making their dinner for the night and keeping warm from this unusually chilly wind blowing in the dusk sky. Even though it was late spring and we were near the southern oceans, there was a cold land breeze coming from the northwest. We had been walking and the sun was setting down the horizon over the blue ocean. The sky was fading in fiery orange shades, which reflected off the water and tinted the ocean a fiery color as well. The trees and grasses were green while the sand on the beach remained beige white and powdery. The caravan of old, humble gypsies were parked near the tree line of the forest as the glow of their campsite radiated off more each coming minute due to the lack of light from the setting sun. "Mr. And Mrs. Pie, I've been meaning to speak to you for a long time now." I said softly as I slowly drifted over to the campsite of the pink couple. "Don't worry about it anymore, we've spoken with Pinkie." Mr. Pie said with a smile. "You've told her everything, I presume?" I asked. "Of course, we would never keep secrets from our own daughter." Mrs. Pie said softly. "That's all I needed of your time, I'll be off now. And thank you for holding your reactions to my new appearance." I said sheepishly. "Oh, but it's getting late! Please stay for a bit, we insist on repaying you after you've reunited us with our little girl!" Mrs. Pie insisted. "This depends on what you're cooking..." Tiki said, peeking up to look into the pot. "It would be a pleasure." Silver said over Tiki as he dragged the Pegasus back to the ground and back from the pot. "Yes, there is plenty to go around! Stay for the night if you could!" Mr. Pie said. "Yeah, but what's in the pot? What the buck am I going to eat?!" Tiki said nervously. We stayed for the night after eating plenty of stew that was never specified on what it was. Nopony argued what it could've been either, since it was so good. I only ate a small bowl of the stew from the large pot because I was immortal and did not require food. I only eat food for the tastes since my body isn't exactly a body, it's made of pure energy that has taken physical form and texture, so I didn't have muscles or organs to maintain or worry about. My strength is only determined by the intensity of my magical energy and my stamina was determined by the energy pool I possessed. Once I got a feel for my own power I could do much more than I ever could now. After we ate, the two gypsies brought out large, thick quilts that we could use for the night if it got too cold outside. There wasn't enough room in the carriage with all of their belongings to fit everypony inside, and it wouldn't be fair to everypony if only one had the privilege of a bed and a roof. We all agreed that none of us needed it and decided to sleep outside by the fire. Sleep came fast to everypony around me and I could feel their consciences fade into sleep as I gazed into the stars,closing myself in a deep trance of thought. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We woke up the next morning much later than we usually do. The sun had risen high in the sky and I had moved my gaze from the stars to the smoldering fire. I had kept it burning all night with only the focus of my glare on the embers. A blue hue soon took over the smoldering ashes and the fire continued to dance in small sparks for the next few hours of dawn until everypony else woke up. When we were all up everypony had oatmeal made by the gypsy couple. I didn't have any because I didn't need any, and it also gave the other three in my group and extra small portion for each of them. We soon said our goodbyes and headed off after helping clean up. As we started walking I was thinking about all the other things I had to do before we went to Canterlot to see the princesses and the mane 6. It surprised me when I realized that I really didn't have any other errands that I couldn't perform without the princess helping me with the goblin issues. I told the others and they were pretty happy that we were going to be able to go to Canterlot so soon. We were just about to warp all the way to Canterlot before a mysterious figure stopped me from completing the spell. "We've been waiting for your return, all of you." This mysterious stallion in a black cape said to us. "Who are you? You don't look too welcoming." I said uneasily. "Looks are usually deceiving, like the look on the mare from the train station..." He mentioned. "It's one of them..." Tiki whispered to me. "There really isn't much to fear from us, we aren't assigned to eliminate you anymore, in fact we've taken a liking to you, Lord Bliss." The stallion said with no emotion as he slightly adjusted his mask. "I'm not interested in partnership, I don't need it." I said defensively. "We aren't interested in partnership or anything related, just know that we'll be watching you." The stallion said as he walked the other way slowly and faded into the forest. "Anyways... Time for Canterlot!" I said as if nothing had happened. "Why don't we go after him?" Bronze asked. "Why would we? He didn't cause problems, and if him or any of his groupies do cause any trouble, we'll deal with it later." I said, powering up the magical portal once again. "Good enough for me!" Tiki shrugged and got within our circle for the portal. We went through the portal and came out soon enough in Canterlot. The sun was setting once again and everypony at the gates were leaving to go home or heading into the castle for the night. The travel time of the portal took up the entire day to minimize the migraines that everypony received. There was ultimately no discomfort from the trip and no one was expecting us to be here, so it didn't affect anything overall. After a bit of walking, we approached the main gates and were granted immediate access into the palace at the sight of myself and the other three. We walked down the hallways lined with red carpet and dimly lit by fire pits along the hall ways. Shining sets of black armor lined the hallways, complementing the old fashioned paintings dotting the walls along with the stained glass windows depicting tales of major events that occurred in pony history. We continued to wander down the hall slowly until we reached the palace room where Princess Celestia's throne lies. It wasn't occupied at the very moment, but Princess Cadence was standing in the open room talking with a guard about some royal affair that needed to be taken care of. "I know this is a bit unexpected, but..." I mumbled as we entered the room. "Oh! Hello everypony! It's so nice to finally meet you!" Cadence said with a surprised look upon her face. "It is truly a pleasure, I'm sorry we arrived on such short notice, I didn't even tell you that I would be showing up with my group in the first place." I said apologetically. "It's quite alright! There's more than enough room with both Celestia and Luna gone!" Cadence said. "True. Where exactly are they right now?" I asked. "At this very moment they are in the Crystal Empire. Goblin affairs are being settled in a royal manner with some of the local leaders of the goblin factions and the ponies of the north." Cadence explained. "Really? How long has this been happening? Is everything going well?" I asked anxiously. "Everything is going more than well. Almost all of the goblin population has agreed to a treaty between the ponies. Ponyville was one of the first locations to make peace. Although it must be hard for such a change in lifestyle for both sides, goblins do make good assistants and servants for tedious chores." Cadence continued. "What? Goblin slavery? Is that what's going on right now?" I asked nervously. "Oh, that's forbidden in the code of ancient law written by the founders of the lands. Goblins happily agree to most jobs offered to them. Most of the jobs that ponies don't wish to do everyday are taken by goblins for very low cost. Things have worked out very well between the two communities and the goblins are even starting to become self sufficient in their own communities." Cadence finished. "I'm so glad to hear of this, I can stop worrying and look to the future now!" I said happily. "That's good to hear! You all must be tired now, go sleep for tonight and we will head to the Crystal Empire soon." Cadence said. "Alright, although seeing Twilight before bed would be nice." I said. "I'm sorry to say, but she's already left for the Crystal Empire, you'll be able to see her soon enough, though." Cadence said. "Fair enough, is there anypony else around to keep you company for the time being?" I asked. "There is only Discord, which is plenty enough to keep me entertained while I hold the castle down here with Shining Armor." Cadence said. "Oh! I'm going to have to speak with Discord tomorrow, then!" I said eagerly. "This is enough talking, I'm so ready for bed, even if we only traveled for 2 minutes all day." Tiki said. "I will leave you all for the night, come join us in the dining hall tomorrow morning!" Cadence said, starting off for her bedroom. Everypony settled into their original room they slept in when we were last here in the castle. Nothing much had changed since we were last here and sleep came easily to everypony within the castle walls. I could feel it come swiftly and heavily upon each pony's conscience as they all drifted into slumber, one after another. I didn't sleep in a bed or in the castle, for that matter. I snaked out one of the windows quietly and wrapped my tail around one of the flag poles of the roof tops to keep from drifting off as I floated. I didn't need sleep, I could've just floated around and gazed into the stars all night. I could've even gone through everypony's dreams and visited them all in their sleep. After a while I broke from my thoughts and drifted into my own state of slumber as well. Luna was correct, sleep isn't needed, but it's still nice to sleep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Everypony woke up in the morning to hysterical laughter coming from the dining room. I had found my way to Discord after he had finished any work he was assigned to do. I met him in the hallway by flowing through the ceiling back into the halls of the castle. Discord was walking through the carpeted hallways leisurely, making his way back to his own room in the castle when I had appeared from no where and gave him quite a scare. He jumped back and giggled a bit at the awkward moment and the floating dragon in the hallway. He told me that it felt good to see a bit of chaos still lingering in this world, which begun our conversation. We talked for hours through the night in an open court room as we floated around leisurely, passing the night by with our words. When I had found Discord it was in the middle of the night, around 2:00 AM would've been my best estimate. I asked enthusiastically about all the amazing and frivolous bits of chaos he had caused over the centuries, and he replied with many stories of silly encounters and happenings from his world of chaos. Even though Discord was reformed, there wasn't any problem with a bit of chaos controlled into one single room. Nopony was around to witness it, so we both had some fun with magic and chaos, like the cotton candy clouds and the chocolate milk rain. Before the sun rose we whisked away our creations and cleaned up the room as if nothing had ever happened. I learned much about magic and the miscellaneous things I could do with it from this night and would most likely use it in the future for pointless entertainment. The sun was rising above the horizon and cracking through the windows as everypony lay in their beds waking from the previous night of arrival to the Canterlot castle. One by one, they each rose out of bed from the noise coming from the dining hall in the main rooms of the castle. Discord and I were finishing the night with jokes that we've both accumulated over the times. We were laughing hysterically at some of them and didn't realize exactly how loud we were. Cadence came out from her room and urged us to be quiet until the morning wake up call began and the guards had to work. The other three soon awoke and joined us in the dining halls after Discord and I had finished the last of our conversation. Everypony ate breakfast and relaxed for the day through Canterlot. Silver and Tiki decided to leave for a popular cafe at lunch time while Bronze took a long walk through the hedge maze in the back of the castle. Discord had other things to attend to so I only floated through the clouds,closing myself in my imagination and day dreaming like usual. Dusk came fast for everypony and we all gathered in the main room of the castle. Princess Cadence told all of us that we were invited to the Crystal Empire to stay with the mane 6 and Celestia and Luna. It was a given that we were going to be there, but because of the royal matters taking place there, we had to be cleared before arrival. We were all excited to be able to finally leave and be with everypony else again. This time we wouldn't have to leave anymore, we would be able to be with each other for as long as we possibly can. I'm pretty sure the mane 6 would be equally happy to see us considering that 2 years have passed since our last encounter. It would be a great reunion to see everypony once again. Things can finally calm down and we could live normal lives, at least, as normal as possible. Even though things will calm down there is still much work to do.