//------------------------------// // Another Day, Another Death // Story: Nightmare's Heir // by johnnycajxrt //------------------------------// I awoke the next morning to the sound of laughter. I slowly opened my eyes and for the second morning in a row in Canterlot, I was met with a pair of big, blue eyes. Only these belonged to Cloudflower. “GAH!!!” I said as I jumped back, drawing another laugh from the pegasus standing next to my bed. As I regained my composure, I realized what was going on and who was in my room, “Miss Cloudflower, would you mind telling me two things: How did you find my room and why are you here?” “Princess Luna told me where your room was, as far as why I’m here; You didn’t show up at breakfast this morning and I wanted to know why.” I looked at the clock on the wall and cursed, it was almost one in the afternoon. I shook the drowsiness away and then turned to her, “I’m so sorry Cloudflower, it wasn’t my intention to sleep in like this, and I’d be more than willing to make it up to you by taking you to lunch, my treat.” She smiled, “That would be nice, though you should probably take a quick shower and comb your mane. I’ll wait at the entrance of the castle.” “Alright then, I’ll meet you there in about a half hour,” I replied. As I stepped into the shower, I relished the feeling of the hot water hitting my coat as I got busy to cleaning the sweat and dirt that had built up on me the previous day in Ponyville. So much so that I didn’t hear the bathroom door open. I didn’t even know that anypony was there until the shower stall opened, revealing Cloudflower, a very seductive look on her face. I jumped back in surprise and hit my head on the shelf that held bottles of shampoo and conditioner, causing them to fall to the floor with a crash. “Miss Cloudflower… Is there a reason that you have interrupted my shower instead of MMPH-” I was cut off as she stepped into the shower and kissed me. I hadn’t been expecting it, so it knocked me off-balance again, causing me to hit my head on the marble wall of the shower. Stars enveloped my vision as I stumbled back to my feet and tried to regain my balance as well as clear the stars from my vision. Rubbing my aching head, I looked up at Cloudflower, who was blushing so darkly I wondered how she was still conscious, “Miss Cloudflower, would you be so kind as to tell me what you’re doing?” I said as I turned the water off. “Well, I was thinking that maybe I could have you for lunch,” she said seductively. “Well then, all you had to do was ask instead of making me hit my head twice,” I said as I toweled off, causing her to blush again. As I finished, I turned to her, “Now, are you sure you want to do this? You told me that you’ve always been shy and never really had a coltfriend. But now after knowing me all of two days, you’re willing to jump in bed with me. Seems like you’re moving a little fast.” “I can’t really explain it, but something about you makes me feel like you’re the one I’ve been after, the pony that completes me.” “I don’t believe that, Miss Cloudflower. You don’t want a pony like me, not after everything I’ve done. Would you like to know why I was gone for so long?” “What do you mean? You told me that you had been in a distant country to keep away from the bad memories of your mother being banished,” she asked, confused. “No, that was something that my mother and I came up with in case somepony started asking about it,” I started to explain. I took a deep breath and continued, “I’ve been gone for the past two hundred years because I attempted a coup on Celestia. I killed no less than twelve guards and injured I don’t know how many more, as well as severely wounding Celestia herself. She used the Elements of Harmony against me and sent me to a place called “Earth” and changed me into a human… The only reason that I’m back now is because my mother used some unstable magic that sent her and Rainbow Dash to Earth. It was sheer luck that they found me.” Cloudflower stood there, absorbing what I had just told her. I looked down at the floor, tears falling off my muzzle, positive that she wouldn’t want to see me again after what I had just told her. After about a minute, I heard her start to move, then felt her hoof raising my chin. As I looked into her eyes, I was surprised that I didn’t see hatred or anger. Instead, I saw compassion, and something I had only seen in my mother’s eyes when she spoke to me… love. “What you did in the past is the past. What matters is that you’re here now, and while I may not have been sure before, I know it now. Francois, I’m in love with you. While we’ve only known each other a few days, everything that I’ve seen from you and everything you’ve told me shows to me that you are everything I could ever hope for in a coltfriend. You’re sweet, handsome, caring, and above all, honest about the mistakes you’ve made and your willingness to make up for them,” she said to me, wiping a tear off my face. “Thank you Cloudflower, you don’t know how good that feels to hear. Especially from a mare that I care about…” I trailed off as I looked back into her eyes. As I leaned in to kiss her… *THUMP THUMP THUMP* “FRANCOIS! FRANCOIS! OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!” I heard my mother yell through my bedroom door. “Foal of a bitch…” I muttered, “Cloudflower, you hide in the bathroom, and I’ll take care of my mother.” “Alright,” she whispered back, kissing me on the cheek as she hid in the shower stall. Stepping out of the bathroom, I saw the door shake on its hinges again as mother continued to pound on the door, “Door’s unlocked, mother, you can come in.” The door was shrouded in an azure glow as mother’s magic opened it. As she walked in, she looked extremely worried. “Mother, what’s wrong? I was a little busy, as I’m sure you can tell from my mane and tail being wet.” “Sorry if I interrupted anything my son, but I just received a letter from Rainbow Dash.” “What about it?” I asked, concerned. “It says that she thinks you were behind Twilight’s murder,” she replied, looking even more worried than when she came in. I wasn’t surprised by this, considering the way she had acted towards me and the look she had given me at the police station, “And what evidence does she have to show that I was involved?” “She doesn’t, she just says that it’s a gut feeling. Maybe we should go and talk to her about it.” Realizing what I needed to do, I replied, “Let me go and talk to her alone. She won’t air any real accusations at me if you’re standing next to me the whole time.” “Are you sure, Francois? It’s no trouble to go with you back to Ponyville to speak to her.” “No, mother, I’ll be fine. I think she’s just upset that Twi is gone and she’s trying to think of someway that I was involved. Trust me, I’ll be back before Aunt Celestia raises the sun. Could you do me one favor though?” “What is it?” “I’m aware that there’s a spell that will allow me to walk on clouds temporarily. I haven’t gotten the chance to practice it. Will you cast it on me so I can meet Rainbow Dash in her Cloudominium?” “Of course I can. Just hold still and I’ll cast it,” she replied, relaxing slightly, focusing her magic on the spell at hoof. Her horn started glowing, much like Celestia’s had done a few days prior. A bright burst of magic erupted from her horn and hit me square in the chest, knocking me to the floor. As I rose to my hooves, I felt extremely light on the soft carpet, it was a very strange feeling, and I felt slightly off-balance. “There you go, my son. Don’t worry about your balance, you’ll get used to it. I’ll go get my guards and tell them to get a chariot ready.” “Thanks mom, I’ll be out there in a few minutes.” “No problem, Francois… By the way, Miss Cloudflower, you can come out of the bathroom,” she called out. Were it not attached to my head, my jaw would have hit the carpet, “H-how did you know she was there?” “I’m your mother, I know you sometimes better than you know yourself,” she said with a sly grin. Cloudflower then emerged from the bathroom, blushing darkly, “Hello, your majesty,” she said nervously. “Hello again Miss Cloudflower. No need to be nervous, I know that you two weren’t up to anything; though I’m sure that whatever it was was leading up to something.” Drawing a blush out of me and causing Cloudflower to turn a darker shade of red. “I’ll go get that chariot ready for you, it’ll be ready in about ten minutes.” “Alright, I’ll head over to the kitchen and grab something to eat on the go,” I said, starting toward the door. “I’ll come with you, besides, I need to get back to the library and keep studying for my mid-terms,” Cloudflower chimed in. As we all walked our separate ways, mother to her guards’ chambers, Cloudflower and I to the kitchen, I thought of how to handle the Rainbow Dash situation. Should I commit another murder and further increase the suspicion on me? Should I try and reason with her? Should I bring up the fact that I took her into my home and fed her so she could come back to Equestria? I was pulled out of my contemplations by a royal pegasus guard walking up to me, “Prince Francois?” he asked. “Yes,” I said, looking at his rank, “sergeant, What can I do for you?” “I’m sorry for disturbing you, but Princess Celestia has ordered your presence in the throne room. I’m to escort you there now, if you’ll please come with me.” “What is this about? I have important matters to take care of, both here in Canterlot and in Ponyville!” I sharply responded. “I’m unaware of the details, but she wishes to speak to you. Please, come with me.” The guard answered. I rolled my eyes, “Fine, let’s go,” I said, irritated that I wouldn’t be able to grab a bite to eat until I got to Ponyville. The walk to the throne room was uneventful and the Sergeant walking next to me wasn’t much of a conversationalist, merely introducing himself as, “Sergeant Steel Sword”. When we got to the throne room, the two guards outside the door nodded to Steel Sword as they stepped aside and let us through. As we walked up to the throne, Steel Sword bowed low, “Your Majesty, I have brought Prince Francois as you requested.” “Thank you, Sergeant Sword, you can go back to your squad now.” “Yes ma’am!” the guard said, saluting. As the guard left Celestia and I alone, I decided to start the conversation, “Alright Aunt Celestia, what is this about? I have some important matters to take care of today.” “I received a letter from Rainbow Dash today, and she says-” “That she thinks I had something to do with Twilight’s murder, I know,” I interrupted, “I also know that she has no evidence to show that I did have anything to do with it. And if you, Rainbow Dash, or anypony else has a problem with the way the Ponyville Police Department is conducting their investigation, then speak to Detective Colt Phelps.” I finished. “Now see here, Prince Francois, Twilight was my most faithful student and the bearer of the Element of Magic. You, Twilight, your mother, and Rainbow Dash all know about what you did. Do you really expect me to believe that you didn’t have anything to do with it?” “I don’t expect you to believe anything. But ask yourself this: Why, the day after you allowed me to come back, would I try to betray the small amount of trust you gave me, by killing your student and a bearer of the Elements? Going to Earth was absolute Tartarus for me, and it’s something that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, and I certainly wouldn’t want to jeopardize trust by stepping out of line. Now, if this is all, then we have nothing else to talk about. I have some matters to take care of, goodbye Celestia,” I said, turning around and walking out the door without another word. I stepped out of the castle and started walking towards the back of the castle where the chariot that mother was readying for me was. As I got closer, I heard the night guard captain complaining, “Your majesty, I really wish you would let my guards and I know ahead of time. We do guard the palace at night and I can’t really afford to have two of my best guards sleeping in because of Prince Francois.” “Excuse me?” I heard mother say, “Are you questioning my reasons for my son going to Ponyville, Captain Starshine?” “No ma’am, I was just asking why I wasn’t informed that we’d be going back-” “Because I was only informed that Francois needed to go back fifteen minutes ago.” Mother interrupted, “If you have a problem with my son needing to go back, then perhaps I need to find a new guard captain. One that won’t argue with my orders, what say you, Lieutenant Nightfall?” “Your majesty, there’s no need for that. I trust your orders, and I will follow them. “ I heard the captain say as I walked around the corner. “Good, then mother won’t need to come up with a new captain and she can spend her time on worthwhile things like her royal duties,” I said as I stepped into view, drawing an irritated look from Captain Starshine. “Hello, Francois, what did Celestia want?” mother asked. “I don’t want to talk about it here, I’ll tell you when I get back. Right now, I’d like to get to Ponyville so I can straighten everything out with Rainbow Dash,” I said as I climbed into the chariot. “Alright then, I’ll see you when you get back, I love you.” “I love you too, mother.” then, turning to the guards, “Let’s go, Ponyville cloudominium is our destination.” We landed at the complex within a half hour. As I climbed out of the chariot, I turned to the guards, “Thanks guys, you can go and have a drink or something while you wait, I dunno how long this will take. I’ll send a signal when I’m ready to head out.” “Yes sir!” one of the guards said, saluting. I walked to the office and found where Rainbow Dash’s condo was and started heading that way, drawing stares from the pegasi that weren’t used to seeing a unicorn walking on clouds, but I ignored them, I had business to take care of. I knocked on the door of Rainbow Dash’s unit and within a minute, the door opened, revealing Scootaloo. “Hiya Prince Francois, I guess you’re here to see Rainbow Dash, right?” “Yes I am, Scootaloo, how did you know?” “Because she’s only the most awesome, amazing pony there is… That, and she told me you might be coming over,” the filly replied. “I see, is she here? I do need to speak to her.” “Yeah, she’s here, come on in, she’s making lunch right now.” As we walked in, I noticed many nice possessions decorating the walls, mostly Wonderbolt memorabilia; autographed suits, goggles, and pictures among other things. “Rainbow! Francois is here!” Scootaloo yelled out. “I’m in the kitchen, bring him in here,” Rainbow Dash yelled back. As we walked into the kitchen, I saw Rainbow making a dandelion salad with a side of hay fries, which only made me more aware of how hungry I was. “Hello Rainbow Dash, I know you were expecting me to show up, and I would like to talk to you about the letters you sent my mother and aunt today,” I said to her. “Sure, just a minute,” the pegasus said. Then, turning to Scootaloo, “Hey squirt, go play outside for a bit, Francois and I need to talk. I’ll call you when lunch is ready. “Okay Rainbow Dash, I’ll be out by the pool,” the orange filly replied as she walked out of the kitchen. When I heard the door close, I turned to Rainbow, “Would you like to tell me what that letter was all about? What reason do you have to accuse me of killing Twilight?” “Hmm, let’s see,” she said sarcastically, “Oh, I know, how about the fact that you were sent to Earth for trying to overthrow Princess Celestia.” “For your information, Twilight knew that information as well, but she still let me stay at the library that night. I don’t know what problem you have with me, I’ve been nothing but nice to you and everypony else since I came back. You more so because I let you stay in my home after you obliterated my other one.” “As if we both know you didn’t have an ulterior motive for that!” she yelled back. “You underestimate what my mother will do for me, Rainbow. All I had to do was say the word and you could have been left on Earth to be poked and prodded by the humans for the rest of your miserable life.” I replied, “But you know what? I didn’t, and how do you repay me? You tell Celestia that you don’t care if she executes me, and now you accuse me of killing Twilight with no evidence to support it and no reason to do so other than what I did, TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO!!” I finished, my anger rising. “And I haven’t seen how you changed-” “Okay, Shining Armor,” I interrupted sarcastically. “Excuse me?” she replied. “You heard me, you’re behaving the exact way Shining Armor was when he found out about what I did. I haven’t been able to spend any quality time with my niece because of him. And you’re acting the same way.” “Justifiably so, I would say…” Rainbow trailed off “I don’t know what your problem is with me Rainbow, and frankly, I don’t care. I’ve been nothing but nice to you and your friends, and I’ll tell you the same thing that I told Celestia, Shining, and anypony else that thinks I had something to do with Twilight’s murder: If you have a problem with the way the PPD is conducting their investigation, then bring it up to Detective Colt Phelps.” I told her. Then, moving closer, until our muzzles were almost touching, “Until then, stay the fuck out of my way and don’t throw around baseless accusa-” I was cut off as she punched me in the lower jaw. I stumbled back, surprised, but furious. “Oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be. Then come on, bitch, I got a few hooves with your name on them,” I said, readying into a fighting stance. She pounced toward me, but I had been expecting it and dodged, watching her go nose-first into the back of her couch. She got up quicker than I expected and swept my legs out from under me, putting me on my back. She jumped again, elbow aimed at my chest. I only had enough time to brace myself as it connected with my ribcage. I gasped as I felt my ribs crack, but I rolled away from the assault and got back to my feet. “Seems you aren’t much of a fighter, Francois,” the pegasus said, blood trickling out of her nose from when she hit her couch. As I got my wind back, each breath sending another wave of pain through my abdomen, I quickly looked around for something to use as a weapon that she wouldn’t expect. “What’s wrong, your majesty? Had enough?” “I have not yet begun to fight,” I wheezed out, grabbing a bust of a Wonderbolt in my hooves and throwing it at her. She ducked and dove at me again, but I was expecting it this time, and rolled out of the way, grabbing the bust in my magic before it hit the wall and sending it at Rainbow Dash again, hitting her in the left wing, smiling when I heard the “pop” that could only mean at least a dislocated wing. “ARGH! YOU BASTARD!” she yelled in agony, running at me and headbutting me in the ribs, sending me flying back toward the kitchen, flipping over the window and landing on the hard tile floor, feeling something cut my forehead, just over my right eye, quickly making my vision on that side go totally red. As she made her way back to the kitchen, I felt something metallic underneath my back hoof, I quickly looked and saw the knife that Dash had been using to chop the vegetables. Thinking fast, I grabbed it and hid it under my chest. “Had enough yet? Or do you want another sonic rainboom?” Rainbow said as she stepped from around the corner. Not getting up, I looked at her, “Bring it on bitch,” I taunted, wiping the blood from my eye. “Alright then, you asked for it. YAHHH!” she yelled, jumping. The next few seconds felt like hours, as she jumped at me, I flipped over and held the knife up, aiming right for her chest, she realized her mistake a split second too late. The knife plunged deep into her chest as she landed on top of me. As I rolled her off of me, I heard ragged breathing. Struggling to my feet, I looked at the pegasus on the tile floor, the color draining from her face by the second. I looked her in the eye and smiled devilishly, “It would seem that the knife missed your heart, but judging from your breaths, it got your lung. Enjoy suffering for the last few moments of your life.” She coughed in response, blood spraying from her mouth, “Y-y-you w-won’t get away w-with th-this,” she said weakly. I laughed in response. “I already have, Rainbow, you attacked first, that makes this self-defense. Before you die, though, would you like to hear a secret?” I said, looking down at the knife protruding from her chest. “You’re accusations were true. I killed Twilight, too bad you’ll never be able to tell anypony.” “Y-you bast…” she trailed off as she took her final breath. I limped out of the house and quickly tried to find somepony to call the police and EMT’s about the fight that injured me and killed Rainbow. The EMT’s were the first to show up, followed by the police. After the EMT’s patched up my eye, which had been cut open by the corner of the counter, the police came to get my statement. “I must say, Prince Francois, I’m surprised to see you again so soon, and with another dead element,” I heard a voice say. I looked up and found myself looking into the bright yellow eye of Agent Bentgrass of the RIS. “Special Agent Bentgrass, what are you doing here? I thought you were taking care of a case in Hoofston.” “Princess Celestia alerted my superiors that she wanted the best that the RIS had to offer to investigate the death of Twilight Sparkle, when I arrived at the PPD, they got the call about Rainbow Dash, so I decided to come and offer my expertise,” he responded. “Well, you aren’t going to find out much. I came to talk to her about her false accusation against me about Twilight’s murder, she punched me, there was a fight, and it ended with a kitchen knife in her chest. As you can see from my face and ribs, it was self-defense, the only injuries you’ll find on her is a bloody nose and the knife wound,” I said, giving him a quick overview of what had happened. “How I wish I could believe the story of everypony, it would make my job so much easier. Thank you for your statement, but I’ll be conducting my own investigation and drawing my own conclusions. Have a good day, your majesty,” he replied with a quick smile. As I watched the white earth pony walk off toward Rainbow’s condo, I wondered when I’d be able to wipe that smug smirk of his face, but that thought was quickly pushed away when the PPD came back to get the rest of my statement. After they were satisfied with my statement, I sent a signal to tell the guards to come get me. When they landed, they were dumbfounded to see the police and EMS as well as my battered and bruised self. “Umm, your majesty, if you don’t mind me asking…” the guard trailed off. “Rainbow and I got into a fight, I need you to take me to the hospital, now.” I replied, climbing into the chariot. We landed at Ponyville general hospital within a few minutes, as I walked in, I was immediately swarmed by nurses and orderlies asking what had happened. I told them that I had been in a fight and I thought I may have some broken bones. I was quickly taken to an examination room where the doctor took a full-body X-ray. “Your majesty, you were partially right about having broken bones. From what I can see, you’ve got three cracked ribs and a hairline fracture on your right eye socket. All of that in addition to you needing stitches over your eye.” “Alright, what are my options?” I asked. “For the eye injury, it won’t be hard for one of our nurses to fix it up. The ribs are a different story, with all the internal organs around the ribs that are cracked, all we can do is wrap them up and wait for them to heal by themselves.” The doctor responded. “How long until the ribs are healed?” I inquired. “It really depends on how severely they’ve been cracked. In your case, however, you should be okay within a month, but if you develop a persistent cough or start coughing blood, you need to see a doctor right away, as those are signs of the ribs causing your lung to collapse,” he replied. “Okay then, I’ll make sure to avoid any overly stressful activity,” I said, “Can you get the nurse in here to fix my eye? I would like to go back to Canterlot tonight.” “Sure thing, your majesty, I’ll send in Nurse Redheart to stitch your eye and then send in one of our unicorn nurses to repair the fractured socket.” “Thanks Doc, I appreciate the help.” “No problem, your majesty, always happy to help anypony.” A few minutes later, a white earth pony with a short pink mane that I assumed to be Nurse Redheart walked in and quickly stitched up my eye, she then called for one of the other nurses to come in and fix my eye socket. After doing so, I thanked them both and walked out of the hospital. As I walked out, the two guards came down with the chariot, “So, your majesty… back to Canterlot?” one of them asked. “Not quite yet, I need to go to Golden Oaks Library and send word to my mother about what happened.” “We already took care of that. While you were getting patched up, we flew back to Canterlot and told Princess Luna about what happened, but said that we’d leave the details to you,” the guard responded. “Thank you Lieutenant, I appreciate it. That’s all I needed to do, so let’s head back to Canterlot,” I said as I climbed in. “Mind if I catch a ride back?” I heard a voice say. Spinning around, I found myself again staring into the bright yellow eye of Agent Bentgrass, I jumped back at how close he was. “GAH! Agent Bentgrass, could you stop doing that?” I said, clutching my chest. “My apologies, your highness. Nevertheless, my question stands, may I go back to Canterlot with you?” the detective asked. “Uh, sure, I guess. Climb on up,” I said. “Thank you, your majesty… And to think, I almost was driving this thing not more than a year ago,” he said with a hint of nostalgia as he climbed into the carriage. “Let’s head back to Canterlot,” I said to the guards. While we were in the air, enjoying the cool night and bright moon that my mother had graced everypony with, I turned to Bentgrass, “So, back to Canterlot already? Did you already finish your investigation about Miss Sparkle and Miss Dash?” I asked “Oh yes, it wasn’t very difficult. I was even able to get Miss Rarity released from jail.” “How did you manage that?” “I showed the PPD a way to detect whether or not somepony’s magic was used or not. When I performed the test on Miss Sparkle’s body, it showed that it was, without a doubt, NOT Rarity’s magic that took her life.” “Is there any way to tell which pony it came from? Or can it just show that it was not a specific pony’s magic?” I said, slowly edging towards the edge furthest away from Bentgrass. “It can show who it was, as long as the pony in question is there.” “Ah, I see. And how did your investigation of Miss Dash’s death turn out?” I asked. “As you said, it looked as if a fight had broken out, and judging from your injuries, you got the worst of it… other than the kitchen knife of course.I did find something that you didn’t tell me about, though.” “What’s that?” I asked, inching closer to the far end of the carriage. “Miss Dash had a dislocated wing, which is something that you neglected to tell me or the PPD,” he said, turning towards me. “Must’ve slipped my mind, I kinda had a big gash over my eye as well as some cracked ribs,” I said sarcastically. “Now, your majesty, there’s no need for sarcasm. Would you mind telling me when exactly she dislocated her wing?” “Sure,” I said, finally reaching the edge of the carriage, “after she hit me with the blow that cracked my ribs, I picked up a bust of a Wonderbolt and threw it at her, she didn’t get out of the way in time, and it hit her wing, that’s when she ran and headbutted me through the window back into the kitchen.” “Well, it certainly seems like you’re capable of defending yourself, but that’s something that should come naturally to y-AHHHHHHH!!!” he screamed as I kicked the door behind him open with one leg and pushed him with the other, sending him flying out of the carriage to his almost certain demise below. As we landed, the guards looked at each other, then at me with worried expressions. I walked right up to both of them, “Not a word about what happened on the ride back. What happened needed to happen. He knew too much for his own good. If you follow these orders, you both will be handsomely rewarded when I take the crown from Celestia, if you disobey… Well, you saw what happened to Bentgrass. Do I make myself clear?” “Crystal, sir!” “Yes, sir!” “Good, now go knock off for the night, I’m sure you both are tired and need your rest,” I said as I walked towards the castle. As I walked in, I thought back on everything that had transpired, from Cloudflower’s wake up call, to killing Rainbow Dash, to kicking Bentgrass out of the carriage, everything seemed to have started to hit the fan. “FRANCOIS MIDNIGHT!!” a voice yelled out, pulling me out of my thoughts. I spun around and found myself staring at Princess Celestia. I rolled my eyes and responded, “Yes, Aunt Celestia?” “You have been back for not even three days and two of the Elements are dead?! How stupid do you think I am?” “Excuse me? Look at the bandage over my eye, take a quick X-ray spell and look at my ribs, as well as the various bruises on my face and body. Rainbow attacked me, I fought back, and she ended up dead. I had nothing to do with Twilight’s death, and thanks to you wasting the time of the R.I.S. now the Ponyville Police Department knows what everypony already knew, that Rarity had nothing to do with it either. The P.P.D. is continuing their investigation, and they’ve already cleared me of having anything to do with it. Unless they get some reason to suspect me, they aren’t going to arrest me. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to try and get some sleep, which is gonna be Tartarus because of these cracked ribs. Good night, Aunt Celestia,” I said, turning and walking toward my room without another word. As I turned down the hallway that led to my room, I saw a teal blur and then was tackled to the floor, sending a fresh wave of pain through my ribs. I groaned in pain as Cloudflower lay on top of me. “Hello, Francois, I saw you land and thought I’d meet you by your room.” I groaned again in response. “Cloudflower, please get off me, I’m in a lot of pain right now.” “Oh! Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” she said, climbing off me.” “It wasn’t anything you did, I got into a fight with Rainbow Dash and I cracked a few ribs, other than that, I’m fine.” “You got in a fight? What happened?” she asked frantically. “I don’t really want to talk about it. It’s just been a hard day today and I want to relax in my room until morning. You’re more than welcome to stay with me tonight, though I can’t really do much because of these ribs.” “Oh, it’s alright Francois, I’m tired too. I’ve been working all day too, and sleep sounds like just what I need,” she replied, leaning her head onto my shoulder. I returned the gesture, sneaking a quick peck on her cheek as I did so, “Well then, shall we?” I said as I started towards my room. “Such a gentlecolt you are.” “Only to the pretty mares,” I replied with a smile. “Oh, stop it, you’re making me blush,” she said with a playful jab to my flank. “But you’re so cute when you’re blushing,” I replied with a mock whine as I opened the door to my room. As I climbed into bed and stretched out, feeling every bruise from the fight with Rainbow, I had the strange feeling that my time was coming to take the throne. But was pulled out of those thoughts by Cloudflower sliding next to me and resting her head on my chest. In response, I put my foreleg around her and pulled her closer. “Good night, Francois,” she said, closing her eyes. “Good night, Cloudflower. I love you.” I said, leaning down to kiss her. Looking up to return the kiss, she replied, “I love you too, Francois.”