• Published 18th Nov 2013
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The Life of a Non-Brony - BronyWriter



TD's life in Equestria after the events of Wanderings of a Non-Brony

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37-All Out

Once we leave the old castle, we're met almost instantly by several of Celestia's guards and a few medics. Nobody I can see has anything worse than a few superficial cuts, so I have to guess that the worst fighting happened between Chrysalis and I. Rainbow, Twilight and Applejack are standing off to the side, no doubt discussing everything that has just happened. It's Applejack who first notices me, and she motions at the other two. They turn and bother instantly rush over to me as I put Comet down.

"TD! What happened in there?" Twilight cries, no doubt noticing my mangled finger.

"Dad kicked her ass, that's what!" Comet says with a smirk. "She got in a hit I guess, but that just made Dad even more awesome!"

"Comet, how about we calm down for a bit," Cheerilee says as she pulls Comet closer to hoof her a water bottle. "I'm sure everypony is tired."

"Yeah," I mutter as I sit down. I take a water bottle of my own and don't protest when one of the medics grabs my injured hand in her magic. Given that there isn't anything to actually sew back on, she lights her horn and begins cauterizing the stump. I'm so exhausted from everything that I barely even flinch. My family is safe. I know that it's them, but out of the corner of my eye, I can still see Twilight casting a spell on them to make sure. She smiles and nods when the spell confirms that it's them.

The medic is wrapping my finger in a bandage and checking me over for any other wounds when Cheerilee walks over. Comet is relaying the story of what happened to Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, so she's fine for the moment. Cheerilee looks a little more... down. Her gaze flicks to my injured hand, but she doesn't comment on it. Instead she sits down next to me and leans against my shoulder.

"Hey," she whispers.

"Hey," I mutter back. "You okay?"

She subtly nods and wraps her forelegs around me. "I pretended for Comet, but... I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life. I didn't know what was going to happen, I couldn't do anything to protect Comet, and she kept talking about how she was going to kill you. If she had--"

"No, don't think like that," I insist, returning her hug with a tight one of my own. "She didn't. Celestia's stopped her, she's never going to hurt anyone ever again, I'm fine, you're fine, Comet's fine..." I take a deep breath and close my eyes. "Everyone is fine. We're all safe from her forever."

"Okay," Cheerilee whispers.

A ghost of a smile crosses my face as a thought strikes me. "Heh, I guess she'd be it, right? Out of all of the villains in my travels all those long years ago, she was the last one who could have been a threat. Aepnet, Purgle, and those Diamond Dogs are definitely not coming back to get me. Guess Chrysalis didn't count on me being... me."

Cheerilee lets out a brief, almost humorless snort. "I guess so. But knowing you, something's going to happen. Maybe Kathyrine will be taken over by the Nightmare and come swear revenge against you for winning a sparring match."

I let out a grin and actually chuckle with some amusement. "Yeah, that'd be interesting. She'd have to take on all four of us, though. No chance she'd win."

"Oh, of course not," Cheerilee agrees. "If Chrysalis can't stop us, who could?"

"Definitely," I reply. "She'd try to attack us, but we'd be ready. Comet would distract her by swearing at her a bunch, allowing you to charge and use that earth pony strength of yours to knock her over. Oswald would light me on fire, and I'd finish the fight before she really knew what happened."

Cheerilee giggles and nuzzles my side. "Sounds about right."

And so the two of us just sit for a while, leaning on each other through the chaos.

* * * *

Once the medics clear us, we go straight home. Anyone who wants to be debriefed can be debriefed later. Right now the four of us just want to go home and crash. Even the excitement from Comet has faded away, and her wings are drooping a little bit on the ground. When we finally reach our house and I push the door open, I can see that it's almost three in the morning. Yeah, that sounds about right.

I pick Comet up and carry her to her room while Oswald flies up to his. She lets out a noise of contentment and nuzzles into my chest. I manage a smile and put her down on her bed when we reach her room. Her eyes are already closed when I pull the covers over to her, and her hoof reaches out to snatch Albert off of the bedside table so she can snuggle with him. I tuck her in tight and she nuzzles the pillow.

"Goodnight, Comet," I whisper. "You're safe now."

Comet smiles and adjusts under the sheets. "You were awesome, Dad," she mutters. "Really kicked her ass. Bet she'd think twice about trying to get you again."

"Yeah, but we're not going to have to worry about that anymore," I insist. "Celestia and Luna have her in stone, so she can't hurt anyone else." I ruffle her mane a bit before standing up and walking toward the door with Cheerilee. Before I exit, I turn back to her. "Love you, Comet. Goodnight."

Comet doesn't respond. I can hear her light snoring. Good. She needs sleep after everything. I leave the door open a crack before Cheerilee and I drag ourselves to our room. I collapse onto our bed without even taking my clothes off. Given that I'm wearing a chainmail shirt, I probably should. I groan and roll off of the bed to begin getting out of my armor so I can get proper sleep. I toss it on the ground to be picked up later and drop my knife belt right next to it. With that done, I plop right back into bed next to Cheerilee, who is already out. I smile and pull the comforter over the two of us. She murmurs in contentment and rolls over to snuggle with me. I wrap my arm around her and let sleep take us.

We're safe. No one is going to hurt us ever again.

* * * *

When I open my eyes, it's still dark out. Huh, I thought that I'd sleep longer than that. My bedside clock tells me that it's only five in the morning. Unless it's five the next day, my body woke me up way too early. I look over and see Cheerilee conked out next to me. Good. If she and Comet slept until the next day, that would be fine with me. As much as Comet enjoyed seeing me kick Chrysalis's behind, the whole ordeal probably drained her a ton. Being in those cocoons probably didn't help either.

I would know.

My stomach growls and tells me that if I'm up, I could at least find something to eat. Cheerilee and I went shopping a few days ago, so I we should have some things to snack on. I slide out of bed and quietly walk out of our room. Cheerilee mutters something and I freeze, worried that I've woken her up, but after a few moments, she relaxes and I hear her light snoring resume. I quietly make my way down the stairs to the kitchen, but pause when I see something.

Or rather, someponies. Two of them.

For pete's sake.

A glare crosses my face, and I flip on the main room light. As expected, Celestia and Luna are standing in my living room. Ugh. Seriously?!

"Did you actually break into my house?" I growled.

Luna shook her head as the two walked up to me. "Your ordeal drained you all. You are still asleep. We are in the realm of dreams, right now."

I grunt and facepalm. "Okay, so I'm dreaming." I look down at my hand where my finger is still missing. Guess the dream explains why it isn't hurting. "So what do you want?"

"We have come to discuss the recent events with you and Chrysalis," Celestia says. " We have some... concerns."

I roll my eyes and lean back against the wall. "Is she coming back? Did I kill her?"

Celestia shakes her head. "No. She is in stone and will not hurt anypony ever again. We will shortly begin making efforts to help the changelings. No, our concern is your... methods in defeating her."

I straighten up and raise an eyebrow. "I didn't kill her. So what's the issue?"

"TD, I understand that you needed to incapacitate her, and that she would not have been defeated easily," Luna began. "However--"

"Let me stop you right there," I say holding a hand up. "You feel like I went too far to stop her?" I scoff. "Are you kidding me? She'd already come back for revenge, kidnapped my family, and she'd just bitten my finger off. All bets are off at that point."

"TD, if she had not been put in stone, your attack would have left her a vegetable," Celestia said. "You--"

My eyes narrow and I rush up to her. "No. No, no, no, you don't get to be like this," I snap. "You put her in stone! Not like that's the most fun thing either."

"Putting her in stone is more akin to stasis," Celestia countered. "She would not have been aware of anything. Discord's powers make him an anomaly in that regard, but--"

"No, see, you're doing it again," I growl. "But let me get this straight. I just want to understand exactly what's going on here." I clear my throat and alternate between looking at the two of them. "You saw what I did to her and thought it was a bit far. So, after you put her in stone, you wait until I'm asleep, then go into my dream to lecture me about what I did to protect my family!"

Both of them frown at me before Celestia speaks up again. "TD, I understand needing to protect your family, but I merely have concerns about your methods. You kept attacking her when she was no longer a threat."

I scoffed and shrugged. "How was I supposed to know that she wasn't a threat anymore? She could have been playing possum. She'd already bitten my finger off. I wasn't going to let her take me by surprise to get another shot in."

Luna's eyes narrow. "Was that really the reason, or--"

Oh, that did it.

Now, if the two of them weren't coming to scold me for what they saw as excessive, they might have taken some time to think things through. The number one thing to think through was that this was my dream. Meaning of the three of us, I was the one in control.

Should have thought of that before they ignored everything about my perspective on things.

"You wanna know something, you two? I get that you're out to protect your subjects and you don't like too much violence and you want to make sure everything is okay. Having said that? You can be real cunts."

Before they can respond, the floor opens up and vines shoot out of them. They wrap themselves around Celestia and Luna before the two of them can even move. Luna lights her horn, but with a wave of my hand, the spell dies out.

"You know what I'm really sick of?" I growl, walking over to them, keeping myself ready if the two of them try to break out. "These fucking double-standards that you hold me to. Oh, if you or your little ponies do it, it's fine, but heaven for-fucking-bid that TD does anything out of line!"

The two of them try to struggle out of the vines, but they're not budging.

"TD..." Celestia begins. "What--?"

"I hit you in the face? Boom! Twilight and her friends beat the hell out of me with no repercussions! I finally find somebody who I want to spend my life with? Well we can't have that without threats of violence if I make a mistake!" Celestia opens her mouth to reply, but I clamp her mouth shut. "I protect my family? The only ones here who make it so that I actually feel like I have a home here? That I'm not some freak living in a land somewhere he'll never truly belong? Well, you come into my dreams to 'have a discussion' with me about how I went too far!"

"TD, that wasn't our intention," Luna insists.

"Then what was your intention?" I ask, turning to her. "You didn't exactly come to see if I was doing alright. What were you doing? You immediately launched into lecture mode. Why? What possibly benefit did you think would come from this? Making me feel like a horrible person for protecting my family?"

"We just wanted--" But I cut Celestia off again. I grabbed her by the throat and leaned in close to her ear.

"Maybe I did go too far. Maybe I did hurt her too much. Let me ask you this." I narrow my eyes and lean in a few inches further. "What if it had been Luna?" I glance over at Luna. "What if it had been Celestia?"

Celestia flinches slightly, and I know that I've gotten to her. Yeah, not so easy to be high-and-mighty when you actually get it, is it?

I let Celestia go and take a few steps back. "Let's say that that an evil entity came through my door right now and was going to possess Luna again and turn her into Nightmare Moon. What would you do, Celestia? Would you just stun it?"

Celestia doesn't respond. She just stares ahead at Luna. Yeah, thought so.

"No, you'd destroy it. You'd crush it with every bit of your power, to hell with the consequences. And if it was left as a wreck afterward? So what? Luna is safe." I shake my head as the vines holding them down recede. When they're free, neither of them say a word. "What, no condescending retort about how I did something awful and you would have done differently?" I walk back up to Celestia and nudge her head up until she's looking me right in the eye. "Cheerilee, Comet and Oswald are all I have. I have some friends here, sure, but in terms of a family? They're it. I lost my family once. I lost everything once. All of my friends, all of my family, everything connected to all of my life experiences, all of it. I can't do that again. in fact, this isn't even the first time Comet has been kidnapped. Those idiots that claimed to be her real parents kidnapped her on Nightmare Night. I've never been so scared in my life than when I saw Cheerilee lying on the ground with broken ribs and telling me that they'd taken her. Now someone has them who is going to hurt them. Badly."

I take a deep breath and let Celestia go. Both her and Luna are just staring at me, unsure of what to say.

"I'd do it again," I continue. "I'd do it again, and let's be honest here for once: you would, too. If Chrysalis had Luna, you'd destroy her. You might have even killed her. Probably would have. You have your subjects to love and watch over, but in terms of family? You two have each other, and you both know what it's like to completely lose that."

When the two of them don't say anything else, I scoff and shake my head. "Let's say it happens. Chrysalis has Luna and you use a little too much force to stop her. Celestia, why would you go that far? You had her beat. Luna was safe, right? You just about broke every part of Chrysalis. How could you? Luna was safe."

None of us speak for a few minutes after that. Glad they finally get it. They're not the perfect ponies they say they are, and I'm not some pony who is willing to go along with everything that they say. I may be an Equestrian citizen, but they aren't these infallible goddesses to me. They're just as much hypocrites as anyone else can be. It's Celestia who breaks the silence.

"I... I'm sorry," she whispers. "I don't know why, but I failed to understand. I think we've both always failed to understand, and of anypony, I should know most what it is like to lose everything like that." She goes over to Luna, and the two nuzzle each other. My anger starts to fade away, but not completely.

"Yeah, you should have understood," I growl. "If I lose them, what am I left with? Some friends? They're not a substitute for a real family, no matter how close. What were you left with? Which friends you had through those thousand years made up for losing Luna?"

"None," Celestia mutters. She takes a deep, shaky breath and looks over to me. "All I can say now is I'm sorry. You have been through much in these last nearly twenty years. More than almost anyone I have ever met. I lost sight of that."

"As did I," Luna chimes in. "You have had precious few bright spots in your life since you arrived."

"Yeah. So you're sorry. Great." I take a deep breath and rub my temples. "I'm sure you two have more stuff to do. Talk to you later."

After a moment, both of them look to each other and nod. "Yes, we do," Celestia says. "We will... talk later." The two walked over to my door, but before they left, Celestia turned back to me. "If you need anything. Anything at all--"

"Just go."

With that, the two of them left.

Then I woke up.

It took me a few seconds to realize that I was back in my bed. Cheerilee was sleeping peacefully beside me. I quick glance at the clock told me that it was just past eight in the morning. I rolled over and scooted closer to my wife. She was safe. Comet was safe. I wasn't going to lose either of them. Cheerilee let out a happy mutter when I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her closer as I slowly drifted back to sleep.

* * * *

I wake up the next morning, still holding Cheerilee. I look at the clock and see that it's one in the afternoon. Yeah, guess we were really tired.

I feel Cheerilee shift in my grasp, and she rolls around to face me. She gives me a smile and nuzzles into my chest.

"Good morning."

I smirk at her. "Afternoon."

She raises her head and looks at the clock. "Yes. Right. Afternoon." She drapes her foreleg over my shoulders. "How are you, TD?"

I grimace and shrug. "Okay, I guess. I'm just happy that you and Comet are safe." I look down at my injured finger. "And am a little annoyed that I only have nine and a quarter fingers."

"Yeah, are you okay?" Cheerilee asks, looking up at me with worry. "Does it hurt?"

"It probably will when the pain management spell wears off, but for the moment it's just a bit of a twinge. My biggest issue right now is..." I sighed and closed my eyes. "Celestia and Luna came to see me in my dreams last night."

Cheerilee frowned. "What? Why? To make sure that you were okay?"

I shook my head. "No, they came to berate me about what I did to Chrysalis. They think that I went too far. They said something about how I'd have left her a vegetable if they hadn't put her in stone."

"Oh." Cheerilee sighed and scooted closer to me. "I can't say that I know what it's like to be in your position, TD. However, given everything that's happened to you over the course of the last seventeen years, I can't say that I would have done differently."

"Glad you think so, and..." A small smile crossed my face. "I think I managed to finally get through to Celestia and Luna. They've never really understood me and why I do what I do. It wasn't until I made it personal that it finally clicked for them."

"Oh? How did you do that?"

"I asked Celestia what she would have done if Luna had been the one taken by Chrysalis. Given that she lost Luna for a thousand years just like I lost my family on Earth forever, it finally stuck and they listened to me for once."

"Yes, I can see why that would have clicked for Princess Celestia," Cheerilee said. "What happened to us was horrible, but it was made more horrible because of what you've been through. Some days I don't know how you made it through."

"Same here," I admitted. "But I guess I just took it one day at a time. I always found something to drive me. On my journey it was the hope of going home and some days just flat-out survival. Now that I'm back, it's you, Comet, and Oswald. Pretty important things to keep going for."

"Yeah." Cheerilee looked up at me. "So what are you going to do about Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?"

I shrugged. "Nothing right now. I think we both need to stay away from each other for a bit, but I hope that their understanding sticks." I smile and hold Cheerilee closer to me. "And you know? I think that it did. Maybe going forward things will be better for all of us."

Author's Note:

Yes, I updated the story to hopefully something less stupid. I do kind of like this better. But for those of you who want the original chapters...

https://docs.google.com/document/d/120lPFsuD7vx-22BwhUAFznGjOraM5ozzSb5t4cd-mwc/edit

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