"Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?" Twilight wondered in a panic.
It was the day before the meeting with King Inferno and they were suppose to leave this morning. Standing by their bags at the castle door, Dark and Spike both watched as Twilight would teleport from in front of them, to a different room in the castle, trying to find the last things on her list. While the two guys were already packed and ready to go, she had forgotten about two things to mark-off on her list.
"Spike! Where're my crown and dress at?!" she asked frantically.
"Aren't they suppose to be in the closet in your bedroom?" he asked.
"I already checked and they're not there!"
"Perhaps one of the dresser drawers?" Dark guessed.
"Checked them too."
"Then where could they be?" Spike wondered. "You're usually so organized when it comes to those kind of things."
"I know. It's just that I've had a lot on my mind with trying to figure out how to tell Shiny that Dark and I are together now. I doubt that he'll take the news well."
Sighing, Dark spoke up. "We'll think of something. For now, you stay here and relax while I go take a look for your dress and crown."
A second later, Dark Shadowported away, leaving Spike and Twilight alone.
"You know, I don't think that I'll ever get used to that teleportation spell of his," Spike commented.
"It's not so bad," Twilight said. "I actually find it rather interesting."
"That's because it's magic. What I don't think I'll get used to is how he disappears and reappears in a cloud of black mist like that. Couldn't you just teach him how to teleport like you do?"
"While he does have a good amount of magic, teleporting is a rather advanced spell that takes years of studying. Besides, I doubt that he'll want to learn it when he already knows a variation of that spell already."
"I guess," Spike grumbled before Dark reappeared in front of them.
"Uh, forgot to ask you what your dress looks like," Dark wondered.
"Remember the picture of me at my coronation? It's that dress," she answered, getting a confirming nod before he disappeared again.
"Alright, so where do you remember seeing your dress and tiara at last?" Spike asked.
Twilight brought a hoof to her chin as she thought about it. "Well, I remember them both sitting in their closet."
"Okay."
"Then a few days ago, Rarity came over and offered to take my measurements and adjust the dress to fit, and to help polish my crown."
"So where did you put them when you got them back?"
Twilight stayed silent with a blank expression. Blinking a few times, she brought up her list, seeing the box with her crown and dress unmarked. Unfurling the scroll a little bit more, she saw that picking them up from Rarity at the train station was at the very, very bottom of her list.
"I can't believe this," she mumbled with a facehoof.
"What?"
"According to the list, I'm suppose to pick them up from Rarity at the train station."
"... you mean that we've been waiting fifteen minutes looking for a dress that isn't even here?!"
Twilight meekly rubbed the back of her head. "I guess so."
"Ugh. Dark! We found it!"
Hearing Spikes voice echo through the crystal hallways, Dark Shadowported back to him and Twilight.
"Really? Where was it?" he asked.
"Turns out that Rarity had it this whole time," Spike grumbled.
Surprised, Dark looked curiously towards Twilight. "Seriously?"
"Turns out that it was on the list, but it was down below at the very bottom where the scroll was still rolled up," she explained.
Rubbing his temples, Dark was about to comment on it, but was interrupted by Twilight teleporting the three of them to the train station. Upon arriving, Twilight and Spike looked around to find their friends who would be meeting them while Dark started wobbling from side-to-side.
"Ugh. I don't think I'll ever get used to that," he complained.
"Teleportation sickness?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah. Only other time I ever was teleported was when Aunt Sunshine came over to visit. Although, that one was far worse than this."
"What's so different from your teleport spell and Twilight's that doesn't make you sick?" Spike asked.
"Besides me casting it, hers is much brighter and disorienting to me."
"Yeah, that's how it was for me too, but you get used to it after a while."
"Speaking of a while," a voice behind them spoke, "we've been waiting for you three.
Turing around, they saw their friends passing through the crowd on the waiting platform which included Big Mac, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle. Seeing his fillyfriend, Spike walked over and gave each other a warm hug.
"Too bad you can't come with us," he said.
"I know, I wish I could come too," she agreed.
"So do we," agreed Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.
"Sorry, sugarcubes," Applejack apologized, "but we're suppose ta be there for a very important meetin', so none of us would be able ta keep an eye on ya at the time."
"Is it really that important?" Scootaloo asked.
"We'll be meeting with Inferno, the Dragon King," Twilight explained. "And I'm sure that he'll also bring some of his advisors with him."
"Which would more than likely include General Razor Claw," Dark guessed with a chuckle. "Wonder how that cyclops has been doing lately."
"What do you mean by calling him a cyclops?" Rainbow asked. "I thought that he would be a dragon too."
"He is. I just call him that because he lost an eye."
"How did that happen?"
Dark smirked. "I'll give you one guess."
Twilight blinked. "Dark, you didn't..."
"Hey, he started it," he defended himself. "Besides, he had two others with him. If anything, he got lucky with only that one injury. Kinda sucks too, since he's the only dragon who ever attacked me that got away."
"Should we be expecting any trouble from him?" Rarity asked.
"We shouldn't," Twilight answered. "This is suppose to be a peaceful meeting." She turned to Dark. "Which means no fighting."
"Alright," he sighed, "I promise not to fight them."
"Or harass them."
"... or harass them."
Feeling content with this, Twilight looked over to Rarity. "So, do you have the dress and crown?"
"Indeed I do," Rarity said as she levitated a box up in front of her. "I had to lengthen the sleeves and the hem of the dress just a tad, but other than that, everything else was just fine."
Happy to have her dress back, Twilight took it in her magic just as the train started pulling into the station. Gathering their luggage, the group walked over to the train while Spike and Sweetie Belle were still clinging to each other. Seeing the others starting to board, Spike started pulling way.
"Guess I better go," he reluctantly said.
"Before you do," Sweetie Belle began as she levitated a plastic container out of her saddlebag. "Here, these are for you."
Taking it into his claws, Spike opened the lid to see fresh peanut butter cookies with gem sprinkles. Licking his lips, Spike closed the container before giving Sweetie Belle a peck on the cheek.
"Thank you, Sweetie," he thanked.
"You're welcome," she happily smiled.
"Ooh, are those peanut butter cookies I smell?" Dark asked, poking his head over Spike.
"Oh, no you don't! I made these for Spike, not you," Sweetie Belle told him.
With a slight whimper, Dark turned back around and boarded the train, quickly followed by Spike as he ran up behind him and dug into the first cookie. Turning around from hearing the crunching of a cookie, Dark saw Spike giving him a smug look as he slowly and tauntingly chewed the cookie. Taking his seat besides Twilight, she noticed that Dark didn't have any of his luggage.
"Um, Dark?" she began questioning. "Where's your stuff?"
"In storage," he answered.
"You mean with that spell of yours?"
"Yep. Besides, I don't have all that much. Just needed to pack my comb, a toothbrush, and some toothpaste to be ready."
Feeling the train jerk, the group of friends looked out the window to wave goodbye. As the train started pulling away, Applejack popped her head out the window.
"Now you three behave for Big Macintosh while we're gone, ya hear?" she called.
"We will," the three fillies shouted back.
Pulling her head back in, Applejack shut the window before and looked over to Dark. "You don't get motion sickness, do ya?"
"What's motion sickness?" he questioned.
"It's when somepony gets nauseous or sick when traveling by a vehicle of some kind," Twilight explained.
"No idea. I've never been on something like this before." Dark paused as he looked out the window and saw the land speeding past them. "How fast are we going anyway?"
"Pretty fast," Rainbow chimed.
"Doesn't really feel like it," he commented before opening the window and sticking his head out, which he immediately returned back into the train after receiving a surprise blast of wind in his face, his mane thrown straight back. "Ooookayyyy, never mind."
"Told ya so."
"So, what's Canterlot like, Twilight?" Dark asked as he tried getting his mane under control. "I remember you saying that you used to live there."
"Yes, we did," she nodded. "As for how it is, it's the most beautiful city that I've seen, the Crystal Empire being the second. The streets are generally clean, crime is very low, and the city itself looks like it's been made from ivory and gold."
"Sounds like a nice place. Do you think that there might be enough free time for me to have a look around?"
"You don't need to worry about that. I've planned out our schedule for the next few days. After we get ourselves settled down, Spike and I will be showing you around Canterlot."
"Does this include going to Doughnut Joe's?" Spike hopefully asked.
"Yes, Spike, it does."
"Sweet, you'll love it. They've got the best doughnuts in Equestria."
"Ooh, can I come too?" Pinkie asked.
"Of course you can. I was actually planning on asking everypony if you all wanted to come with," Twilight told them.
"Sweet. So then, how long do you think it'll take us to get there by this train?" Dark asked.
"A few hours."
"Alright, then what do we do in the meantime?"
"I know!" Pinkie exclaimed as she brought out a board game out from her mane. "How about a game of Risk?"
"Risk?"
"Yeah! It's a strategy game where your goal is to take over the world. At least, that's how the old rules worked. Lately they've been adding newer ways of winning, but I liked the original one better."
"I'll play if the others will."
"You bet I'll play!" Rainbow proclaimed.
"Me too," Applejack agreed.
"I'll just watch... if it's alright with everypony," Fluttershy declined.
"I believe that I too will pass," Rarity politely refused. "Besides, it's not really my kind of game."
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try it again," Twilight said.
"What they said," Spike shrugged as he downed his third cookie.
After explaining the rules, they decided to go for a free-for-all game. As expected for his first time, Dark was out within his first five turns, which just goes to prove that you should never try going for Haysia first. Too many territories and too many directions to be attacked from. It was all good, though, as he sat and watched the others playing, each piece magically enchanted to be held down so that they wouldn't be knocked over by the rattling of the train tracks. After an hour had passed, Spike and Applejack were out, leaving Twilight, Rainbow, and Pinkie left. While it seemed close with each having their specific third of the map, Pinkie had just knocked out Spike from the game, leaving her with two full sets to turn in. Very soon now, her pink legion would sweep across the world. It was with this thought that everyone besides Dark shuddered in fear as memories of Pinkie and the Mirror Pool came flooding back to them.
However, luck wasn't in Pinkie's favor as the dice she rolled were mostly ones and twos, while the others scored fours and higher. Not wanting to relent, she made the mistake of sending everything she had in an attempt to clear the board. By all means, even after losing so may troops, she still had more than enough to do it. All she had to do was beat either Rainbow or Twilight, take their cards, and get another set from them. Pushing forward, Pinkie was able to drive Twilight close to losing, but she had hunkered herself down in Indoneighsia. With Pinkie bottlenecked, she was forced to stop her campaign after Twilight's defenses proved to be too much. And unfortunately for Pinkie, it was Twilight's turn, and she was turning in a set. While Pinkie still had a pair of troops per territory, Twilight was able to mow down most of them with little resistance before deciding to stop her assault. It was then Rainbow's turn, but just before she could finish off Pinkie, the brakes could be heard on the train, signaling them that they were getting close.
Deciding to put the game away and declare it a three-way tie, they packed the game away before looking out the window. Seeing the tall walls and buildings approaching them, Dark watched in amazement by the size and architect. While he thought that Twilight might've played up the city just a tad, he was happy that he was wrong.
"This is amazing," he quietly said.
"This is nothing," Twilight told him. "Just wait until you see the rest of it, and the castle."
Coming closer to the Canterlot Train Station, everyone started grabbing their own luggage while Dark decided to be polite and carry Twilight's for her. With her happy thanks, she looked out the window to the loading platform to see a familiar pony and her guards waiting for her. With a giddy look on her face, Twilight rushed over to the door and stood in front of it to open. As soon as it did, she rushed out and gave her dearest sister-in-law a lovingly hug. Following his friends out of the train, Dark was meet with a sight he didn't know what to make of.
"Sunshine, sunshine, lady bugs awake, clap your hooves and do a little shake," the sisters-in-laws chanted as they did a series of motions that went with what they said.
While their friends were giggling at the sight of them, Dark just stood there confused.
"... what did I just watch?" he slowly asked.
Hearing his voice, Twilight turned to Dark. "It's an old greeting that Cadence and I do."
"Seems kinda weird to me."
"Oh, like you're one to talk. What about that greeting you did with your cousin where all you do is senselessly slap each other's backs until they're beet red? What was it called again? The 'Beardelow Greeting'?"
"Hey now, that greeting was developed by Big Beard's grandpa, Grand Beard, and was enforced by his son, my uncle, Great Beard, which was then passed down to my cousin."
"So it's a family thing then?"
"Yep... how did you know about that?"
"Your memories, remember?"
"... alright, you're going to have to tell me what all you've seen one of these days." Dark paused in worry as one memory came to mind. "You wouldn't by chance have seen how I got my scar, would you?"
"No, I didn't," Twilight said as her face turned to a mischievous smirk. "But there is one memory of yours I know of that you might want to keep in mind."
"And what would that be exactly?"
Twilight's smirk widened. "The peanut butter and toilet paper incident."
Dark's eyes widened in fear. "No."
"Oh, yes."
"Oh, no! Nopony should never ever hear about that!"
"And nopony will, just as long as you continue to behave yourself."
"But why? What did I even do to warrant something like this?"
"Nothing," she answered innocently. "Just something for you to keep in mind should you think of doing something crazy or stupid."
With a reluctant sigh, Dark looked over their friends to see different degrees of mirth. Even some of the guards could be heard snickering lightly.
"Why do I put up with this?" he groaned.
"Because you love me," Twilight playfully answered.
"This conversation sounds a bit like one that I had with Shiny when I used to foalsit you, Twilight," Cadence smirked. "By the way, I believe that introductions are in order."
"Oh, right," Twilight realized. "Cadence, this is Dark Flame, my coltfriend. Dark, this is Cadence, my sister-in-law, Princess of the Crystal Empire, and the Alicorn of Love."
Dark took a few steps closer before bowing down. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Your Highness. Twilight's told me quite a bit about you during her time when you foalsat for her, and after the wedding."
"Thank you, Dark, but please rise. There isn't any need for such formalities from Twily's friends," Cadence told him.
"If you say so."
"Besides, I've heard a little bit about you too."
"Really?" he asked, a eyebrow raised questioningly.
"Yes. I was told about you by Aunty Celestia and Aunty Luna. They said that while you appeared to be a good kirin, they also told me about how you fought during the attack on Ponyville, which only reinforced what was written in the report we got from there."
"What report?" Twilight asked.
"We got a report about what happened the day after the attack," Cadence went to explain. "We heard that the town was attacked my a swarm of manticores, timberwolves, cockatrices, some hydras, and even an ursa major. Once we heard that they were defeated, we figured that it was you and your friends that stopped it." She looked sorrowfully towards Dark. "I wish that was the case."
Twilight followed her gaze. "So that's how Shiny knew about Dark."
Cadence nodded. "I had a bad feeling when he went off like that, but I didn't think he'd be so brutal. Speaking of which, I thought that you'd lost your eyes."
"I did," Dark nodded, "but as it turns out, Discord's chaos magic can bypass the special effects of Draconium weapons and heal me."
"Well, that's rather fortunate. But enough of standing around talking. Why don't we start making our way to the castle and get you all settled in?"
With a round of agreements, everyone grabbed their luggage before following behind Cadence and Twilight. That is, except for Rarity, who was having a few of the royal guards carry her luggage for her. Once they were far enough from the train station, Cadence waved Dark up beside her and Twilight as they continued where they left off.
"So, about what happened between you and Shiny," Cadence solemnly began. "I'm sorry that he did that to you."
"It's... fine," he begrudgingly said.
"... you don't sound very convincing."
Dark sighed. "If it was just the eyes, then I'd probably be better about it. But after everything that he did to me, and all the times we tried to convince him to stop but instead decided to ignore us... it's just going to take me a while to forgive him."
"I see. I guess I should've expected that, but what exactly did he do to you? I was told by Aunty Luna that you would've died several times over during your fight."
"It's true," Twilight interjected. "It started when Shiny shot a blast of magic that hit Dark in the side of the head and knocked him through a tombstone. With all honestly, the impact from the two would've been enough to critically injure any normal pony, so that could very well be considered the first. The next was when they circled each other until Dark's back was towards the crystal guards. After that... Shining used his magic on the guards' spears and..."
Seeing Twilight unable to finish her sentence, Dark decided to take over. "In short, he impaled me to the ground with those seven spears."
Cadence froze in mid-stride as she gawked at him. "If that's true, then how did you survive?"
"Regeneration," he simply answered.
Blinking a few times, Cadence continued their walk with a scowl on her face. "He's so going to get another week for this."
"Another week of what?" Twilight asked.
"Once I heard of what Shiny did to Dark's eyes, I punished him for a month. No poker night with his buddies, tending to the baby when she wake's up crying in the middle of the night, changing the baby's diapers, sleeping on the couch, and lastly, is relieved of his duties until his sentence is over. In short, with a few exceptions like this meeting, I've placed him under house arrest."
"Ouch," Dark commented.
"Oh, that's nothing compared to how he reacted when I told him."
"Speaking of Skyla," Twilight began, "when will I get to see her again?"
Cadence smiled. "Tomorrow. Right now she's spending some time with her grandparents."
"That's perfect! I was planning on visiting mom and dad tomorrow after our meeting's done."
"Speaking of which," Spike chimed, "I take it that I'll be coming to this meeting as well?"
"Sorry, Spike, but this meeting's going to be long, and probably boring."
"Not likely," Dark muttered, getting a scowl from Twilight.
"Dark," she warningly said.
"I'm just saying that never once has Inferno's troops seen me without immediately going hostile, even if I'm not doing anything to provoke them."
Sighing, Twilight turned her attention back ahead of her. "I can't really argue there. Besides Spike, every dragon that we've meet has either threatened us, attacked us, or threatened us before attacking us."
"Don't need to worry about that," Cadence assured. "We have magical runes set around the throne room where we'll be meeting with them. If any of them do try anything to us, we'll have them immobilized immediately."
"If they even try anything with us, they'll be dead before their flames even leave their maws," Dark darkly commented.
Cadence blinked in surprise. "Surely you're not serious."
"I am."
Nervously, Cadence looked to Twilight. "Is he usually like this with dragons?"
Twilight shook her head. "Have you been told the details about this meeting?"
"Just that King Inferno has been attacking a village for the last few hundred years."
"Well, as it turns out, that village was Dark's home, and it was destroyed with him being the only survivor."
"... I see. So then, are we going to have to worry about you doing something reckless?"
"No," he sighed. "I already made a promise not to start anything. However, if they make any aggressive movements, then I will retaliate."
Letting that conversation die down, the group looked ahead to see the gates to the castle directly ahead of them. As everyone walked through, Dark just stood in place as he took in the sheer size of Canterlot Castle. Seeing him in a daze from looking at the castle, Rainbow flew back and gave him a nudge, causing his senses to return to him before he and Rainbow followed after the others. The guards on each side of the door saluted as they passed through the massive double-doors of the castle, giving Dark an approving nod as he walked past them. Following Cadence down the carpet-covered floor through several hallways, they finally came to the wing where their guest rooms were. After everyone unloaded their luggage in their respective rooms, they all gathered around in the hallway to talk about the rest of their day.
"So, what do we do now?" Rainbow asked.
"Well," Twilight began, "considering the time of day, and the fact that we haven't eaten anything on the train ride here, I thought that I'd show Dark to Doughnut Joe's and grab something to eat there."
"Sweet!" Spike happily exclaimed as he jumped onto Twilight's back. "I love his doughnuts."
"Would it be alright if we came along with ya?" Applejack asked. "Haven't been there since our first gala."
"Please don't remind me of that night," Fluttershy said. "I still can't believe that I acted like that."
"It was an... unpleasant night for all of us," Rarity spoke. "I mean, who would've thought that somepony like Prince Blueblood could be such a..."
"Plot hole?" Rainbow guessed.
"While I wouldn't quite use that kind of word, I do suppose that would be one way of saying it." Rarity's eyes widened as she remembered Cadence was still there. "No offense, Your Highness."
"None taken," she laughed. "Blueblood may be royalty, but even I don't care much for him. Besides, he isn't the kind of stallion who would represent the aspects of-"
"Of what now?" a haughty voice asked.
"Speak of the devil," Rarity irritatedly muttered before turning to confront the voice's owner.
Approaching them was none other than Prince Blueblood, who was accompanied by a group of nobles. As he got closer to the group, he took an irritated glance at Rarity before turning his attention to Cadence.
"Good afternoon, Princess Cadenza," he greeted.
"Hello, Blueblood," she returned.
"And how are you doing this fine day?"
"Fine. I just finished showing our guests to their rooms to unpack."
"Ah yes," he said, his eyes turning to Twilight. "It's a pleasure to meet you again, Princess Twilight."
"Hello, Prince Blueblood," she politely returned.
"Might I say that you look rather lovely today," he complimented before taking Twilight's hoof and kissing it.
Seeing this caused the others to look on him in partial disgust, and in slight fear for the look on Dark's face. Seeing him doing that to Twilight caused his pupils to shrink as his natural body heat began expelling outward, causing the hallway to heat up. Dark looked over to meet Twilight's gaze. His eyes asking her permission for him to beat Blueblood down, where as she just shook her head. With a fiery snort, Dark stood down and allowed Blueblood to continue, but only by Twilight's good graces. Removing his lips from her hoof, Blueblood looked Twilight in her eyes, a small smirk forming on the corner of his lips.
"Princess Twilight, I'm having dinner tonight at my private suite and would love for you to join me."
"Thank you for the offer," Twilight thanked, starting to pull her hoof back, "but I have plans tonight."
"Surely you can cancel them just for one night?" he suggested, tightening his grip and subtly pulling her hoof back to him.
Feeling the tug and tightened grip, Twilight began glaring at him. "I'm sorry, but I already said 'no'."
"Well, I must insist."
"And I must refuse."
"Why are you being so-"
Blueblood paused as his foreleg was firmly grasped by a claw and started feeling something hot breathing down the back of his neck. Slowly turning his head around, he was met with the sight of Dark glaring angrily at him with glowing golden eyes.
"She said 'no'," Dark growled.
"This is of no concern to an abomination like you," Blueblood scoffed. "Besides, I'll have you know that I'm a prince, and as such, I could have you arrested in a second."
"Says the one who we could have arrested for harassing a Princess of Equestria. Twilight's already told you 'no', now take a hint and leave. Her. Alone."
"Just who in the Tartarus to you think you are?!" he asked in outrage.
"I'm her coltfriend!" Dark roared, his golden glowing eyes briefly turning red as he bore his fangs, flames now licking the corners of his maw." And if you want to keep your hoof, you will leave her alone."
"Did you just threaten me?"
"I'm not threatening you, I'm promising you," he dangerously answered.
A wave of fear washed over him as he gazed into Dark's eyes. Seeing as this wouldn't be an easy win for him, and not wanting to deal with this anymore for now, Blueblood let go of Twilight's hoof, his own in turn being released from Dark's grasp. Taking a few steps back, Blueblood struggled to mask his fear with the same face that he'd shown up with, then turned around and walked away with his group with a little extra speed in his step. When he was out of sight, Dark snorted a small jet of flames from his nostrils, happy to be done with that arrogant excuse of a stallion. But while he was happy, Twilight was slightly nervous as she noticed Nocturne's voice mixed in with Dark's. Twilight then made a mental note to try and speak with Nocturne again and get some more answers out of him.
"Royal prick," Dark muttered before turning to see the surprised expressions of Cadence, his friends, and his fillyfriend. "... umm... sorry?"
Shaking her head of her thoughts, Rarity was the first to speak. "Quite the contrary, darling. I believe that it's about time that somepony finally put that stallion in his place."
"Did you have to be so hard on him?" Fluttershy asked.
"Of course he did!" Rainbow exclaimed. "I mean, let's face it, that guy's been going after Twilight for some time now and couldn't seem to take 'no' for an answer. Honestly, I'd say that his pushiness this last time was the last straw."
"Sorry to interrupt," Cadence began, "but what happened to your eyes that's causing them to glow?"
"Oh, oops," Dark said before dispelling his Soul Eyes. "Side effect of a spell of mine. It's nothing harmful."
"Do you usually use it like that?"
"To intimidate ponies?" he asked, getting an affirming nod. "No. This was the first time that I've used it for that, otherwise I barely use it."
"So, how much trouble is this gonna cause?" Applejack asked the princesses.
Twilight and Cadence looked to each other for a while, silently discussing it. With a shrug, Cadence went to answer.
"To be honest, Blueblood's been trying to be subtle with his advances on Twilight, but as you can see, he's not as subtle as he thinks he is, so I don't think that they'll pay too much mind to his complaints. If anything, Aunty Luna will probably be laughing over it while Aunty Celestia would try to reason with him while attempting to hold back her own amusement."
"So then how much trouble am I in?" Dark asked.
"Probably little to none," Twilight answered. "Although, I have to agree with Fluttershy. Was it really necessary for you to threaten him like that?"
"He should be happy that's all I did. The moment he started getting forceful was when I wanted to make him pay."
"You can't really blame him, Twilight," Cadence said. "After all, Shiny's made worse threats to other stallions who made advances on me than what Dark just did."
"Anyway," Twilight began, "we should head on out before we have to come back for dinner."
Heeding her words, everyone began filing out of the hallway and onward towards Doughnut Joe's. That is, all but Cadence who had herself a quick word with one of the guards guarding the hallway.
"What was that about?" Twilight asked as soon as Cadence got back.
"Just a little room change is all," she answered.
"How so?"
"Well, seeing as how you and Dark are together, I just thought that you two would like to share a room instead of taking separate ones. What do you think, Dark?"
"It's up to Twilight," he shrugged. "I'm fine with it either way."
"I'm alright with it," Twilight answered. "It's not like we haven't been sharing the same room anyway."
"So," Cadence said with a mouthful of doughnut, "how did you two meet?"
Taking a break from eating, Twilight answered, "Rainbow and I found him passed out in the middle of a field."
"Really?"
"Yep," Rainbow agreed before eating the rest of her chocolate sprinkled doughnut. "No idea how he got there, and neither does he."
"How's that possible?"
"From what we've gathered," Dark began explaining, "I've lost my memories from after my fight, to when I woke up in the Ponyville hospital."
"Alright," Cadence nodded before a curious smile formed. "Then how about you two tell me how you got hooked up? I must admit that I was a bit worried that after what happened with Shiny that it wouldn't have happened."
"I'm happy that it didn't," Twilight said. "As for how... well... you know that I got the Feather Flu, right?"
"Yeah," she sighed. "Everypony was worried after we heard about it. I wish that there was something that we could've done to help assist in your recovery, but Aunty Celestia was very clear that any added assistance would cause unwanted attention."
"I know."
"But that doesn't explain how you two are now together."
"Oh, right. Well, it happened after soon after I woke up with Dark."
"Wait. What was Dark doing with you?"
"Her body temperature was very low, so I had to use my own body heat to warm her back up," Dark explained.
"Alright, go on, Twilight."
"Well after that we said some things and we were alone and-" Twilight was silenced when Cadence shoved a doughnut into her mouth.
"Twilight, calm down. You're getting nervous and starting to talk fast."
"Sorry," she apologized before removing the doughnut and taking a calming breath. "Anyways, we admitted our feelings to each other, and then we.. kissed."
"So that's when it happened?" Cadence asked giddily.
"Not quite," Dark said. "It was after that when I finally asked her to be my fillyfriend."
"I'm sorry to have to ask you of this, Cadence," Twilight began, "but could you please not tell Shiny about us?"
"Afraid of how he'll take it?" Cadence guessed, getting a confirming nod from Twilight. "I suppose I could, but you'll have to tell him sooner or later."
"I know," she sighed. "I'm actually thinking of telling him tomorrow. I'll tell Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in private tonight."
"Sounds good to me. So then, is everypony ready to go?"
"Just one second," Pinkie called before downing another six doughnuts. "Alright, good to go."
"Jeeze, Pinkie," Spike said, "how many doughnuts did you eat?"
"About three dozen," she nonchalantly answered, which in turn caused everyone to look incredulously at her. "What? I was hungry."
"Apparently," Rainbow muttered.
Leaving Doughnut Joe's shop, they started their way down one of the roads to their next destination. That is, until Rarity spoke up.
"Sorry to interrupt, but would it be alright if we stopped by the Canterlot Boutique for a moment?" she asked.
"Actually, Rarity," Twilight spoke up, "that's our next stop."
"Wonderful! I've been meaning to return and check in on Sassy."
With an extra spring in her step, Rarity lead the group to her boutique. As they walked, other ponies would stand away from them. Whether it was out of respect for the two princesses, or for how Dark looked, he wasn't sure. Turning away from the onlookers, he looked up above the rooftops to see a rather large, circular building off to the side.
"Hey, what's that building?" he asked, pointing a wing towards the structure.
Looking over to where he was pointing, Twilight answered him first. "It's the Canterlot Coliseum. It's where some of the major performances are held, but is used as a dueling arena most of the time."
Dark's ears perked up. "Really? How does it work?"
"There are a few different ways," Cadence began explaining. "You sign up for a gauntlet match, and if you win the fight, you get to either continue on to the next fight, or you can cash out your prize. It's a high risk/high rewards type of deal. You can also sign up for a one-on-one duel, and team duels."
"Sounds fun. So, what's the reward then if you complete this gauntlet?"
"From what I've heard," Twilight said taking over, "it's a large bag of bits, and the victor's choice of a custom-made set of armor and weapon. Oh, and they'll also be dubbed as the new 'Champion of the Coliseum'. That is, if you can beat the current one, but nopony has beaten him since his reign started three years ago."
The more Dark heard this, the more excited he became. "Okay, now I definitely need to try it someday. So, who's the current champion?"
"Nopony knows. He's a unicorn, but his hooded cloak covers his face and horn. That, and the rest of his armor and gear covers his mane, tail, and coat. Other than him being a unicorn, there's absolutely nothing about him that that reveals who he is."
"Does he have a name?"
"Ultimate Defender."
"... seriously? That must be some kind of stage name, because I doubt that anypony would naturally have a name like that."
"I'm inclined to agree with that, but while this name may sound arrogant, it's rather fitting since nopony has ever broken through his defenses."
"Alright, besides the 'mysterious' champion, anything else to know about, like the rules?"
"Besides no cheap shots and having to wear a damage absorber, there really aren't any rules,"
"Damage absorber?"
"I know it's not the most clever name, but I didn't name it. Anyway, its purpose is to take damage that the wearer would take. So if an attack would be fatal, the damage would be absorbed instead."
"But if it takes damage for the competitors, then how do you know who wins?"
"There's a screen that shows a sort of heath gauge for them. First to deplete their opponent's gauge wins."
"For a contest that's so violent, you sure do seem to know quite a bit about it, dear," Rarity noticed.
"That's because Shiny would go over to compete and would bring me along with him."
"Really?" Cadence questioned. "Because if I remember correctly, you would start pestering him to bring you."
"I just wanted to see him in action," Twilight pouted.
"Hey," Dark chuckled, "maybe we should get him to compete against this champion. You know, since they both are apparently specialized in defenses."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that. Having two combatants who specialize in defensive magic would be like bashing two rocks together. It would take a long time before one of them would win."
"While all of this talking about fighting is interesting and all," Rarity said sarcastically, "we're finally here."
Paying back attention, Dark saw Rarity opening the door to her second shop. Following after the others at the back of the line, he took in the sight of the store. Besides the ponyquins adorning new dresses on display against the walls and windows, the rest of the place actually looked quite a bit bigger than Rarity's shop in Ponyville. He was about to make his way to get a close look at one of them when he heard an unfamiliar voice.
"Welcome to Canterlot Boutique," a pony called out.
Turning to take a look, Dark saw a tall and thin light-blue unicorn with an orange mane walk up to welcome them.
"Hello, Sassy," Rarity greeted before giving each other a brief, friendly hug. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"A few months if I had to guess," Sassy said. "And welcome, Princess Twilight, Princess Mia Mora Cadenza."
"Hello, Miss Saddles," Cadence returned.
"So, if I may, what brings all of you here today?"
"We've got some business at the castle tomorrow and thought that we'd give our friend here a quick tour of Canterlot," Rarity answered.
"I take it that it's the orange stallion back behind you?"
"You would be correct. Dark, why don't you come up here for a moment and say hello?" Taking his eyes off the ponyquins, Dark listened and made his way up. "Sassy, this is Dark Flame. Dark, this is Sassy Saddles. She runs the Canterlot Boutique when I'm not around."
"Hello, Miss Saddles," Dark greeted as he held out a claw.
"And a hello to you too, Mr. Dark," Sassy returned, accepting his claw in a welcoming shake.
"Now that we've gotten that out of the way, what do you think, Sassy?" Rarity asked.
"Do you mean in terms of clothing?" she asked, getting a nod from Rarity before circling around Dark. "Well, it would have to be made with some holes for the wings, but other than that, I don't see any problems."
"My thoughts exactly."
"Wait, what-" Dark tried to question, but was cut short when he was suddenly lifted into the back by Sassy, closely followed by Rarity.
"Oh, Twilight," Rarity paused to address, "would you mind if Sassy and I borrowed Dark for a while to take his measurements?"
"It's alright, go ahead," she smiled.
While they were busy with Dark, the other started looking around the boutique at the different dresses on display. Some of them that were being displayed weren't seen in Ponyville. By the time Sassy and Rarity walked out from the back, an hour had passed.
"What took you guys so long?" Rainbow impatiently asked. "I know that you said that you were going to take measurements of him, but it shouldn't have taken so long to do that."
"I'm sorry about the wait, Rainbow," Rarity apologized, "but we might have gotten carried away with ourselves."
"How so?" Applejack asked.
"Well," Sassy began, "We might have started a new outfit after we got his measurements."
"And?" Twilight pushed. "How far has it come along?"
"Not much," Rarity answered. "We've ran into some complications. We currently don't have any fabric with the proper colors to make it. We've tried with a different fabric, but it was too thin and weak."
"Alright, so where's Dark?"
"Here," he tiredly mumbled as he slowly walked out from the back.
"Wow, what happened to you?" Rainbow asked.
"You look like you've been through a marathon with a celebration party afterwards," Pinkie compared.
"Just tired and bored from standing still for so long not doing anything," he said.
"Oh, hush now," Rarity told him. "Besides, you'll be doing a lot more of that back in Ponyville when I start fitting you for your suit."
"Why do I even need a suit?"
"Why shouldn't you have one?"
"Because I've never needed one before."
"That was before and this is now, and I say that you should have at least one suit on hoof."
"Fine," Dark grumbled.
"Besides," Twilight spoke up, "if not you, then who's going to accompany me to the Hearth's Warming Eve Ball?"
This caused Dark to blink. "... ball? As in dancing?"
"Yep." Seeing Dark's nervousness as he looked away from her, Twilight started to form an idea of what it was about. "Dark, do you know how to dance?"
"... not really. I've never had any reason to learn."
"In that case, I can help teach you when we get home," she offered before looking over to a clock on the wall. "But for right now, we should probably be getting back to the castle before we miss dinner."
"In that case, you all have a good night and a safe walk back," Sassy wished them before seeing them out.
"Thank you, Sassy," Rarity thanked, "and thank you again for doing so well on the boutique while I'm in Ponyville."
Happy to see her boss and her friends again, Sassy waved goodbye to them before turning around to begin closing up for the night.
The walk back to the castle and towards its dining hall went by rather quick for them. With the lighter road traffic and the time of hour, there were barely any crowds around them. As they neared the dining hall, Rainbow was the first to speak up.
"So what are we having to eat exactly?"
"I'm not sure," Cadence answered. "I don't usually bother the chefs when they're busy. Mostly because they don't like to be disturbed."
"Ah can understand," Applejack nodded. "Ah find that Ah work better bakin' when Ah don't have nopony ta distract me by talkin' ta me."
"Kinda reminds me of how I used to be when it came to reading," Twilight added.
"Either way," Rainbow began, "I just hope that what ever it is that there's plenty of it, because I'm starving."
"What about those doughnuts we had earlier?" Dark asked.
"That was a light snack," she wined before flying ahead and throwing open the doors herself.
Hearing the doors fly open, Celestia and Luna both looked up to see Rainbow flying over the table to her seat. Before either could say anything, the others started filing in. Upon seeing Twilight, Celestia got out of her chair to meet her half-way.
"I'm so happy to see that you're alright, Twilight," Celestia said as she draped a wing over Twilight, pulling her into a warm hug. "I'm sorry that I couldn't do more to help you without drawing unwanted attention."
"It's alright, Princess," Twilight said smiling. "Besides, everything worked out perfectly in the end."
"Ah yes, Doctor Cura told me about how she, ahem, found you awake."
Both Twilight's and Dark's faces immediately lit up by hearing that the princesses have found out already. While Dark tried to hide his face, Twilight was doing fine using Celestia's wing.
"You know then?" she shyly questioned.
"Yes, we very much do," Luna answered with a smirk before turning to Dark.
"Umm... hello?" he meekly greeted.
"Hello, Dark. I see that you've gone and dyed your coat and shaved your beard. So, how have you been lately?"
"Thanks for noticing, and I'm doing alright I guess?"
"Really?" she questioned as she slowly circled him. "Are you sure that that's all?"
"Yes?"
"Come on, Aunty Luna," Cadence spoke, "stop making him so nervous."
"I just wanted to know how he and Twilight are doing."
"And circling him like a timberwolf isn't going to help get you your answers."
"She's right, Luna," Celestia agreed. "Let's just leave them be for now. We can get the details behind how they got together later."
With her blush died down, Twilight removed herself as she and the others took their seats at the table. Once everyone was seated down, Twilight noticed an empty chair beside Cadence.
"Hey, where's Shiny?" she asked.
"He should be here-" Cadence began answering, but was stopped when she saw Shining walking through the doors. "Right now."
"Hello, everypony," he warmly greeted before making his way alongside the table.
Walking up to his spot, Shining gave his wife a quick kiss before taking his seat. Once settled down, Shining looked across and smiled to see Twilight smiling back at him. But that moment of happiness vanished as he saw Dark sitting beside her, straight across from Shining himself.
"Dark," Shining said with a slight scowl.
"Shining," Dark retuned, though not as bad as Shining.
"Play nice you two," Celestia warned. "We're here to eat in peace, not start a fight."
"Yes, Princess Celestia," Dark calmly replied with his gaze downcast.
"Yes, Your Highness," Shining returned.
With things calmed back down, Celestia clapped her hooves, ordering the food be brought out. Once the food was placed and the ponies left, everyone started to dig in, some more sophisticatedly than others. After a few minutes passed by, Twilight decided that now would be a good time to start up a conversation.
"So, Shiny," she began, "what have you been up to lately?"
"Not much," he shrugged. "But from what I've heard, you've had quite a rough time. I didn't even know that alicorns could even get the Feather Flu."
"Neither did any of us, but it happened."
"Well, I'm glad to see that you're doing so good again. Guess I better go thank Doctor Cura after we're done here."
"Actually, it was Dark who got me through it."
Hearing this new and unsettling piece of information, Shining put his fork down as he glared at him.
"Really now?" he questioned.
"Yes, really. He managed to restore my body temperature back up while also transferring his magic to me."
"A magic transfusion?"
"Yeah," she sighed. "Apparently, when my horn got soaked from the ice water prank, it caused my magic to turn cold on me and act as though I had a river of freezing water flowing through me."
"I see," Shining mused before looking more closely at Dark. "I never did ask how you got your eyes back."
"Discord," Dark plainly answered.
"So he used his chaos magic to heal you? Figures," he muttered. "I'm curious, though, as to how you managed to help Twily get her temperature back up."
Dark didn't answer knowing how bad doing so could turn out. His silence, however, wasn't doing him anything to help him as it just fueled Shining's suspicion. While Celestia and Luna got the full details on how they managed it, they deliberately kept it from Shining. After a minute of not getting an answer, Shining had enough.
"Fine. Don't tell me then. But just remember that I will find out sooner or later."
"Why is it such a big deal with you?" Dark questioned. "Twilight's alive and healthy. Shouldn't that be enough for you?"
"Normally it would, but since you're directly involved, it's not."
"It's alright, Shiny," Twilight assured, unaware that Celestia was peeking over her teacup at them while Luna watched as though it were a dinner show. "They did what they had to because they couldn't find any other way to help."
"Which was?" he pressed.
Getting annoyed with this, Spike blurted out, "He slept with her!"
The entire dining hall fell silent as Spike's words echoed off the stone walls. Everyone now looking to the little dragon who just dropped the ball on them. Slowly turning away from Spike, Shining's eyes began targeting Dark, who's face matched that of the others, including the princesses. Feeling the eyes on him, Dark too looked away from Spike to see Shining glaring at him. As he continued his glare, his eyes started to change. Dark noticed this slight eye change, but couldn't quite place where he's seen it before. It looked similar to the look of anger and hatred, but more intense, almost like...
Now recognizing the look, Dark shrouded himself in a thin layer of shadows just before Shining leaped across the table at him with his horn alight. Shining, instead of tackling into Dark as he planned, phased through him and into the backrest of his chair, toppling over it before rolling across the floor. Looking up with murderous eyes, Shining could see the shadows starting to reform into Dark. But before he could take another charge, he found himself encased in a golden aura not belonging to him. Angrily, he turned his gaze to see that it was Celestia who was holding him in place.
"What are you doing?!" he barked. "You heard what he did to Twilight! He-"
"Did not do what you think," Celestia firmly said. "I've read the report from Doctor Cura. The plan was for him to share his body heat with Twilight. Nothing more happened during or after that."
"But what about when Twilight and Dark started making out which caused us to not see them until later that night?" Pinkie wondered.
"WHAT?!" Shining shouted before firing a blast of magic at Dark's chest.
However, it simply passed harmlessly through him, leaving his head and shadowy wisps where his body was before they started to reform himself again. It was then that a purple bubble had formed around Shining.
"That's enough of this, Shining," Twilight told him with a slight hint of anger in her voice. "Calm down and get ahold of yourself, now!"
"But-"
"No buts! Besides, it was me who initiated that kiss, not him."
Snorting angrily, Shining turned to look away from them. Taking a page from Cadence's book, Shining began doing the breathing exercise that she'd taught Twilight. A few moments later, he was relaxed enough to not kill Dark... for now.
"Alright," he calmly said, "you can release me. I won't do anything more."
Cautiously, Celestia and Twilight released their spells and let Shining go. As he said, he didn't do anything to Dark as he made his way towards the dining hall doors.
"I've suddenly I lost my appetite, so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get some sleep for tomorrow."
Dark kept himself shrouded incase of another surprise attack until Shining walked out of the dining hall and closed the doors behind him. With a sigh of relief, he receded the shadows back into his arms and wings before straightening his chair and sitting back in it. With things now starting to cool off, a light sniffling could be heard. While Dark had half-expected it to come from Twilight, it instead came from Spike, who was looking sorrowfully back up at him.
"I'm sorry," he choked, "I didn't mean for this to happen. I just wanted for it to end was all."
Not being able to be mad at him, Dark gave Spike a warm smile as he gently patted him on the head.
"It's alright, little buddy," he told him. "It was just an accident. Just remember to pick your words a little more carefully next time, alright?"
"Okay," he answered, wiping a few tears away.
"Well, I believe that that's enough moping for one dinner," Luna piped up before conjuring a photo beside her. "Now, perhaps you could explain to me what's happened in this picture?"
Brining it over to Twilight and Dark to look at, they saw that it was the picture of them on the morning of the Prank Wars. Looking up, they could see the two sister looking in amusement at them.
"Discord's prank," Dark sighed, eliciting a round of giggles from those present.
"How did you get this?" Twilight asked.
"You can thank your faithful assistant for that," Celestia chuckled.
Immediately Twilight turned to face Spike, but before she could say anything to him, he was already out of his seat and booking it for the door.
"I'm heading off to bed too!" he called backed before slipping through the doors.
"Wait," Cadence spoke, "what did Discord do to you?"
Twilight looked over to Dark who gave her a reluctant nod before levitating it over to her sister-in-law. Once she saw it, her eyes widened. Not because of the color swap, but by what happened to Dark. It wasn't long after until she started laughing out loud at it, almost knocking herself off her chair. After a good minute of laughing, she was able to control it enough for her to speak again.
"I... I can't believe that actually happened."
"I still can't believe it either," Luna agreed as she looked over it again with Cadence. "But I have to admit that Dark does look rather cute as a mare."
Feeling his embarrassment overwhelming him now from the room of mares giggling and laughing at him, Dark slowly slid off his chair.
"I think that Spike and Shining have the right idea," he said as he started backing away. "If nopony needs me, I'll be heading to off to bed too."
"It's quite alright," Celestia smiled. "Tomorrow is a rather important day for you after all, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is. Well then, in that case, you all have a nice night, thank you for dinner, and I'll see you all in the morning," he told everyone before nuzzling Twilight. "See you when you get there."
"Yeah. See you soon," she returned before letting him go off.
Once Dark closed the door after he left, he didn't waste any time in Shadowporting himself over to their room. It didn't take him more than ten seconds for him to get settled down in their bed.
Tomorrow is going to be emotional and stressful enough as it is, but now I have to deal with Shining on top of that, Dark thought with a tired sigh. If that's the case, then I better get as much sleep as I can before then.