Of Flame and Shadow

by Garuda IV

Chapter 30- Last Morning in Canterlot

In the kitchen of Night's and Velvet's house, dishes were being set up for today's large breakfast. While Night, Velvet, Shining, and Cadence were helping with the cooking and setting down eating places, Spike and the girls were busy in the living room playing with Skyla. They all had fun last night playing games together, telling stories, laughing as Velvet showed the girls the family album, and had some snacks while watching a show on the crystal projection. All in all they had a very fun time last night, especially when Twilight casted a soundproof barrier around them so that they wouldn't need to worry about being too loud.

By about 8:00 A.M., breakfast was just about done for them, but no one had seen Twilight yet. Curious as to where she was, Night called out from the kitchen into the living room.

"Hey, girls?"

"Hey!" Spike protested. "What about me?"

"And, Spike," Night chuckled. "Have any of you seen Twilight this morning?"

"Nope," they all answered.

"Even you, Spike?"

"The last time I saw her was when she was still sleeping," he answered.

"So that means that she's probably still asleep then. Would one of you be willing to go wake her up me us?"

"No problem," Rainbow said before flying away up the stairs.

Reaching Twilight's door, Rainbow quietly knocked on it. A few attempts later of not getting any answer, she opened the door and went in. Walking over to the bed, she saw Twilight snuggled up against Dark with his arms and wings wrapped around her, both peacefully asleep. Just before she was about to wake them, she noticed a glint of light out of the corner of her eye. Turning to look, she saw that it was Spike's new instant-photo camera, which gave her a mischievous thought. Walking over to it, she grabbed the camera, walked back alongside the bed, and took a picture of the two sleeping. With a quiet snicker, she tucked the photo beneath her wing and sat the camera back where she found it. As she did, she heard a tired moan coming from the bed. Walking back over, Rainbow could see Twilight beginning to stir before she opened her eyes.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Rainbow greeted her. "Have fun last night?"

Twilight's eyes snapped wide awake as she heard her friend's voice. Turning her head up from her resting spot, she could see Rainbow looking at her with a shit-eating grin.

"R-Rainbow?" Twilight nervously said. "What are you doing in here?"

"Your dad asked for one of us to come up and get you for breakfast... although," her grin widened, "I can understand if you're not feeling hungry at the moment."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Just think about it for a moment, it'll come to you."

Doing just that, Twilight mulled her words over. Of course, granted how her sense of humor could be at times, and how similar it sounded when Luna asked her and Dark that after the invasion, it didn't take her long to figure out what she meant. When she did, Twilight felt as though her face was lit on fire, and probably looked like it was burning like it too.

"Rainbow!" Twilight embarrassingly snapped. "You know full well that we didn't do anything like that! Besides, everypony would have probably heard us if we did."

"Just like how your family heard all of us laughing last night?"

"Ugh! I'm not going to get into this with-" Twilight froze as she heard Dark groan and begin to shift.

The two went silent as they watched him move for a few seconds before he fell motionless again. Waiting a little while longer to make sure that he really did go back to sleep, Twilight and Rainbow looked back to each other. With a nod over to the door, Rainbow made her way out while Twilight kissed Dark on the cheek before teleporting herself out into the hallway. Quietly shutting the door, the two mares began their walk down to eat.

"So," Rainbow began, "what time did he get back at? I remember you telling us last night that he wouldn't be finished until long after sunset."

"It was about half-past midnight before he woke me up and told me that he was home," Twilight answered.

"And your dad's okay with him sleeping with you like that?"

"... well... he actually didn't want us to. But, considering that the futon was taken up, there wasn't exactly anywhere else he could've slept besides with you girls in the living room."

"So if I told your dad about what I saw..."

"Then we would both probably be in trouble," Twilight finished.

Rainbow sighed. "In that case, I suppose that I should probably give you this."

Moving her wing, Rainbow reached over and pulled out the photo that she'd taken of them and gave it to Twilight.

"When did you-"

"Just before I heard you wake up."

"I thought I heard something, I just didn't think that it came from Spike's camera shutters was all."

"Well I was going to show it to everypony during breakfast for a laugh, but if it means that you'll get into trouble for it, then it's probably better that you have it instead."

"Thanks, Rainbow," Twilight smiled before teleporting the photo to her bag.

With that potential disaster adverted, the two soon came into the kitchen where everyone was waiting for them. After taking their seats, Velvet looked around to notice one spot empty.

"Has anypony seen Dark?" she asked.

"He's sleeping right now," Twilight answered her. "He didn't get back till past midnight, so I'm just going to let him sleep in a little bit before waking him."

"Just don't let him sleep in too long now. Besides, I'm sure that he'll want to play with Skyla again before you all have to head back to Ponyville."

"I'm sure he would too."

"Speaking of Dark," Night began, "where did he sleep at last night? Because he wasn't in the living room when I went downstairs earlier to make coffee."

Rainbow then leaned over to whisper to Twilight. "Looks like you're busted."

"Yeah," she sighed before looking up to her dad. "Well... you see, dad... about that."

---

Over in Canterlot Castle, Celestia was sitting down in the dining hall with Luna. While their meals with each other were usually filled with some form of conversation, Celestia noticed that Luna appeared to have something preoccupying her mind.

"Luna? Is everything alright?" Celestia asked.

"Hmm?" Luna questioned before snapping out of her thoughts. "Oh, yes, everything is fine, sister."

"Are you sure about that? You seem to be a little bit distracted."

"Well... I suppose I do, but I don't know whether it's good or bad."

"What is it?"

"It's the weapon that Dark created last night."

"Ah, yes, I almost forgot about that. How did it go for him and Anvil?"

"From what I was told, and from what I saw of the end result, I'd say that what he made was easily more than what he intended to create."

"How so?"

"Tia," Luna began, her face turning serious, "he created a Living Weapon with a part of his and Nocturne's souls."

Celestia's eyes widened. "He what?!"

"That's what I said."

"How did he accomplish something like that?!"

"By using his blood during the creation of the weapon. He told me that his intention behind that was to make him immune to the effects of the Draconium. However, in doing so, he'd also accidentally created a Living Weapon."

"Did he know what a Living Weapon was at the time?"

"According to Dark and Nocturne, he didn't know until Anvil told him about it after its creation."

"Alright," Celestia sighed. "So then, do you believe that it's a threat to Equestria?"

"Well of course the weapon is dangerous, but considering who its wielder is, and after a lot of thinking last night, I don't believe that we'll have to worry too much about him. But I also wanted to get your opinion on this, Tia."

"While I don't want to jump to anything, I'd rather not have to face another one of those weapons. The last one we faced was enough for me."

"Not to mention who was wielding it."

"Yes, that too."

"So then, what's your plan for approaching this?"

"After we're done eating here, I'll go and have a small talk with Dark about the risks of such a weapon. That, and I would like to see it for myself. In the meantime, why don't you tell me more about last night."

---

Dark was still laying in Twilight's bed as he let out a loud yawn. While he was tired from playing with Skyla and forging his weapon, the bed that he slept in was unusually comfortable, much more so than the futon he had to sleep in the night before all of that. Still barely awake, he moved his claw to feel the once occupied space emptied. Cracking an eye open, all Dark saw was the empty space on the bed, and the bedroom wall just beyond that. Groaning, Dark rolled himself over with the intent of getting up for the day... only to be met with the sight of Night glaring at him with his hoof tapping the floor. Now noticing the sound, Dark was actually surprised that he didn't hear it before.

"So," Night calmly began, "did you have a nice sleep last night?"

While he appeared to be calm, Dark immediately noticed the tone of voice he was using from when his mother used to use it when he or one of his siblings were in trouble. Worried that he'd just been caught, Dark slowly began to retreat down under the blankets.

"What did I tell you before about the sleeping arrangements?"

"That I was suppose to sleep on the couch?" Dark nervously answered.

"Well, that is partially correct," another voice spoke.

Poking his head out from under the blankets, Dark saw Twilight walking out from behind Night, causing him to smile as she continued.

"If you remember, my dad said, and I quote, 'You're sleeping on the couch tonight'. And that one night had already passed. Besides, you couldn't have slept on the couch last night because it was already being used, and I doubt that you would've wanted to sleep in the living room or the fire place."

"And I'm happy that I didn't," Dark said to her. "Pinkie snores like a broken kazoo, and I think I heard Rainbow whinny in her sleep."

"That they do."

"By the way, what time is it?"

"9:00."

"Huh. Didn't think I slept in that late."

"Not too much by some pony's standards. Although, the time is partially why I came to wake you up."

"If you're here to wake me up, then what's your dad doing in here?"

"He just wanted to mess with you when you woke up," she giggled.

Dark looked over to Night. "Really?"

"Twilight already explained what happened when you got back last night, and I have to admit that I should've seen that coming with her friends all sleeping in the living room like that," Night told him. "Did you intend on sleeping in here when you got back?"

"I actually thought that I'd sleep on that futon again, but after I saw that it was occupied, and with the girls all sleeping in the living room, the back porch was starting to look like the next best thing."

"You're not sleeping on the back porch," Twilight firmly stated. "Not if there's room for you here, understand?"

"Yes, Twilight."

"Good. Now come on down. We might be done with breakfast, but mom saved you a plate. Besides, you'll want to play with Skyla again before we leave for Ponyville, right?"

Dark chuckled. "True. It would be nice to play with her for a little bit before we leave."

Getting out of bed, Dark quickly made it before following after Twilight and Night. While Twilight began to go on ahead, Night fell back with Dark.

"Thanks," Night quietly told Dark.

"Huh? For what?" he questioned.

"Twilight told me about how you were hesitant to sleep in her bed last night, that it would go against my wishes."

"Oh, right. She's not going to be in any trouble for this, is she?""

"No, she's not. Twilight's a grown mare now, so she can make her own decisions. Also, I just wanted to thank you for trying to respect the rules I set for you, even though Twilight didn't like them."

"I'm sorry, Night, but there's something about Twilight that makes me have a hard time refusing her."

"I suppose a mare will do that to you," Night sighed before smiling. "But I must say that I'm glad that she picked somepony like you to be her special somepony."

"I'm glad she did too," Dark smiled back. "After losing everything, she's given me a reason to continue forward."

"Hey," Twilight called back, snapping to two out of their conversation. "Are you two just going to stand there? If you are, then I'm going to eat your food, Dark."

Seeing Twilight run down the stairs, Dark and Night looked back to each other before Night put a hoof on Dark's shoulder.

"You be good to her and look after her, alright?"

"I promise," Dark nodded. "Although, I think that she looks after me more than I do for her."

"Well either way, I wish you luck. Knowing her, you may need it."

"If you're talking about her freak-outs that I've heard about, she hasn't had any since I've met her."

"Then consider yourself lucky that you haven't seen any yet."

Ending it with that, the two made their way down stairs. While Night went towards the living room to interact with his kids and their friends, Dark went straight for the kitchen where Twilight was waiting for him.

"What took you so long?" she wondered.

"Just talking with your dad," Dark shrugged.

"He wasn't giving you any grief for earlier was he?"

"Nope, nothing like that. Just two guys talking is all," he said before he started eating.

"Well, that's good to hear. So, can I see what it is that you made yesterday?"

Dark slowly put the fork-full of food back down to his plate as he tried to think about it. While he had every intention to before all of this started, after seeing what he'd created and with Luna's words, he was now hesitant to do so.

"... I'm not so sure that's a good idea, Twilight."

"Why not? Did it not turn out the way you'd hoped it would?"

"Well, no, it did turn out good. It's just that what I made was a bit more than what I'd bargained for."

"Did something happen?"

"You could say that. Look, I'm sorry that I'm being so vague with my answers right now. It's just that after showing it to Princess Luna, she asked me to try and keep a lid on it."

"So you're under orders to not talk about it to anypony?"

"I wouldn't quite say that she did, but at the same time, she sorta did."

"... you know that I could order you to tell me, right?"

"Would that be as a princess, or as my fillyfriend?"

"Either one works, but I might be more successful asking as your fillyfriend."

Dark sighed. "If you really want to know, then I'll tell you."

"Only if you want to," Twilight replied. "I can see that talking about it is troubling you."

Reaching over, Dark gently held Twilight's hoof in his claw.

"Even if it troubles me, I don't want to keep secrets from you while we're in this relationship. I'd rather tell you sooner, than have you find out later and be upset about it."

"Thank you," she smiled, lightly squeezing his claw back.

"Well, this is a rather sweet sight to walk into."

Turning towards the source of the new voice, Dark and Twilight saw Celestia standing in the kitchen walkway, causing them both to jump in their seats.

How is it that we managed to miss seeing the giant, white alicorn standing just a few feet away from us?! Dark thought.

"Relax, you two," Celestia calmly told them, "it's just me."

"How long were you listening?" Twilight asked.

"Long enough," she said, walking over and taking a seat on the other side of the table. "I spoke to Luna already during breakfast before coming here. And yes, Twilight. While she didn't say that she specifically order Dark to remain silent, it was intended to. Of course, she also knew that trying to hide it from you would be a challenge."

"But why is this so important to keep it hidden from everypony?"

Celestia turned to Dark. "Dark, could you please show us what you created?"

Nodding hesitantly, Dark summoned the sword into his claw before laying it on the table for them to see. While Twilight recoiled from seeing the sword covered in black flesh, Celestia's eyes and horn were already scanning it. After a few moments had passed with Celestia looking over the weapon, and Dark continuing to eat his food, Twilight slowly returned back to her chair to have herself a good look at it before she too began to scan it with her magic. Completing her scan, she looked over to Celestia.

"Princess? What is this thing?" Twilight nervously asked. "I know that it's a weapon, but it also felt as though it is alive."

"It's called a Living Weapon, Twilight," Celestia answered. "And like the name implies, it is alive."

"But how is that possible? I can understand if a Come to Life spell was casted on it, but what I felt instead almost felt like a heartbeat."

"Listen to your princess, Princess," the sword groaned.

"Gah!"

"So Luna wasn't joking after all," Celestia murmured.

"Nocturne? Is that you again?"

"Yes, it is," he sighed.

"How did this happen to you?"

"Long story short, this idiot of a boyfriend of yours accidentally inserted a piece of both of our souls into this weapon," Nocturne complained.

"I don't see why you're so upset about it," Dark chimed. "At least now you get to talk to everypony."

"What I'm more annoyed about is the fact that you actually did this! I haven't even began to start teaching you yet and you've already pulled off a variation of my Soul Transfer spell, though weak it may be."

"Is that what you used to escape from your old dragon body?"

"... maybe."

"So does that mean that we can talk to you whenever?" Twilight asked.

"Almost."

"While he can talk whenever he wants while the sword is out, when it's inside me, he can only talk to me in my mind," Dark continued off of Nocturne. "Although, I've made it clear to him that he isn't allowed to talk or even peek during our personal time together."

"Good, otherwise that would be a bit awkward," Twilight agreed.

"So, you're Nocturne?" Celestia asked.

"Yes, I am," he confirmed. "It's a pleasure to finally have a chance to talk to you, Princess Celestia. That is, without the interference of that hatchling of a king."

"So you've meet King Inferno before."

"Yes, I've meet him a few times before. However, I must warn you that while he may have appeared to have been relatively calm on the surface, he's like a raging volcano of anger just below. I was actually a little surprised that he didn't just go after this kid as soon as he saw him."

"It's a good thing that he didn't then."

"I agree," Twilight said with a nod. "You taking over Dark's body and assaulting General Razor Claw was excitement enough."

"Quite, but we're starting to get off track," Celestia redirected. "I'm here to talk to Dark about the risks of having a weapon like this."

"... I suppose I should add in my input as well, considering that I owned one too," Nocturne spoke.

"Okay," Dark said with a slight nod, "what kind of risks are we talking about?"

"For starters, there're those who would try and take it from you like mine. If you start using its power around ponies, they might be tempted to try and steal it away... or kill you and loot it off of your corpse."

"Nocturne!" Twilight scolded.

"Hey, that's how it goes. Although, I will be teaching you, Dark, how to properly wield this weapon and control its power."

"Can I wield it without invoking its power or channeling my power into it?" Dark wondered.

"Yes you can, but just the look of the weapon alone will attract attention. So in the meantime, I suggest that you use your little armory and only use the Death Reaver when either practicing with me, or if facing a dangerous enemy."

"What's a 'Death Reaver'?" Twilight asked.

"It's the name of the weapon."

"Oh! Like in the olden days when-"

"Yes, like that," Nocturne groaned.

"Okay, so what other risks involving my Living Weapon are there?" Dark asked.

"While being targeted for having one and the power they hold are worth noticing, the last is the possibility of the weapon corrupting you," Celestia answered.

"But how?" Twilight wondered.

"Since a Living Weapon is of course, living, that means that it has somewhat of a will of its own. Now, while I would normally be greatly concerned about this, considering it's soulbound to Dark, the possibility of corruption is non-existent."

"So what if somepony else besides Dark wields it?"

"You see this black flesh covering it?"

"Yes."

"If somepony other than Dark wields this weapon, the flesh will crawl up whatever is holding it and try to possess them."

"So if I were to try and grab hold if it..."

"No, it wouldn't harm you," Nocturne interrupted, causing everyone to look at him.

"Come again?"

"While Princess Celestia is correct about that, this sword is bound to Dark and I. Meaning that if we wanted to, we could allow for somepony other than him to hold it, like with Princess Luna last night. If Dark didn't give her permission, then the weapon would've tried to possess her as a sort of defensive mechanism."

"Alright, so only Dark and anypony who he allows to hold it can wield it?"

"Correct. Why? Are you wanting to?"

"... maybe?"

"In that case," Dark began as he slid the sword over to her, "go on ahead."

"Are you sure?"

"Yep."

With a nervous gulp, Twilight lit up her horn and levitated the sword off the table. Once it was floating a foot above, she bounced it up and down in her magic, trying to get a feel for it.

"It feels a lot lighter than what it looks like," Twilight observed.

"Anvil carved magical runes into the blade to help lighten it up," Dark explained.

"Really? I don't see them."

"That's because they're hidden beneath this fleshy stuff," Dark shuddered. "Even feeling it while holding it makes my skin crawl."

"You'll get used to it," Nocturne told him. "Besides, once we get back to that new village of yours, we're heading to that canyon to train."

"You mean Ghastly Gorge?"

"Yeah, whatever."

"Speaking of training," Dark began, looking over to Celestia, "how much power were you talking about was in this thing?"

"From the scan I ran over it, it has enough power to wipe-out a fifth of Canterlot with just one swing."

Hearing that caused Twilight to drop the sword back onto the table, no longer wanting to hold it, magic or otherwise.

"Hey, don't drop me like that!" Nocturne snapped.

"Sorry," She apologized. "Just a bit nervous hearing what this thing can do."

"In that case," Dark began saying, "was there anything else you wanted with this weapon, Princess?"

"No, thank you, Dark," Celestia replied.

With a nod, Dark reached down to pick up his sword, only to find that it was no longer laying on the table anymore. He began looking around and under the table when he heard a bubbly voice behind him.

"Ooohhh! Creepy~"

"Hey! Put me down!"

Turning around, Dark saw that Pinkie as standing on her back legs while holding the Living Weapon in her front hooves.

"Pinkie!" Twilight nearly shouted. "What are you doing?! Let go of that!"

"Aahhh, but this is so creepy cool that I don't want to just yet."

"But if you keep holding onto it, it'll corrupt and possess you!"

"Huh? What are you talking about, Twilight? It's not doing anything to me, see?"

Holding out the hoof gripping the sword, everyone saw that the flesh wasn't reacting to Pinkie. Looking back from the weapon, to her, and back to it, they all started to become confused, namely Nocturne.

"But... how?" he cluelessly questioned. "Dark didn't even give her permission! This defies everything that we just went over!"

Twilight sighed. "Nocturne, one thing that you need to know is that Pinkie Pie defies all logic in general."

"Yeah, it's a gift," Pinkie happily sighed.

"Regardless, I don't want to be out here anymore and would like to go back now," Nocturne requested.

With a happy giggle, Pinkie gave Nocturne a quick goodbye before returning the sword back to Dark, who absorbed the sword soon after taking it.

"Excuse me, Miss Pie?" Celestia spoke. "Could you bring Cadence down here for a moment?"

"Okie-dokie-lokie," Pinkie happily answered before turning into a blur and returning with Cadence a second later.

"Thank you."

"What just happened?" Cadence confusingly asked. "How'd I get from upstairs to down here?"

"I carried you, silly," Pinkie explained before bouncing back to the living room.

Blinking in confusion a few times, Cadence then turned her gaze away from Pinkie to see who all was gathered.

"Oh, hello, Aunty Celestia. When did you get here?"

"Not too long ago. I was just going over with Dark the risks of having a Living Weapon. And before you ask, no, you don't need to worry about it."

"... if you say so," she slowly answered, taking an empty seat at the table.

"Thank you. Now, as for why you're here, do you have that crystal for Twilight that we talked about?"

"Oh, I almost forgot about that."

Remembering her talk with Celestia and Luna, Cadence lit up her horn and teleported a crystal from her bag onto the table in front of Twilight.

"Here, Twily. This is for you."

"What is it?" Twilight asked them.

"It's a crystal that we use to communicate to each other. Aunty Celestia, Luna, and I already have one, and we thought that you should have one too. Especially with everything that's been going on lately."

"How does it work?"

"Just picture in your mind who you want to talk to and charge the crystal with your magic. After that the crystal will connect to the crystal belonging to whoever you thought about and alert them. Once the pony on the other side answers, an image projection of them will appear that you can talk to."

"That's pretty neat," Dark commented.

"It was made for the purpose of getting in touch with each other during dire times, but lately we use it to just keep in touch, like when Aunty Celestia and Aunty Luna called me for help when Dark lost his eyes to Shiny."

"Thank you, Cadence," Twilight smiled.

"You're welcome, Twily, but it was actually their idea."

"Well then, thank you, Princess."

"You're welcome, Twilight," Celestia returned before looking over to the kitchen clock. "By the way, what time were you heading back to Ponyville?"

"Noon."

"In that case, would you be alright if I stayed and enjoyed your company and that of your friends before you leave?"

"Of course you can. You don't need to ask me permission to hang around us."

"Thank you. Plus, this will also allow me to spend some time with little Skyla."

"Good luck with that," Twilight giggle. "Dark's been trying to hog her as much as he can."

Dark sighed dramatically. "I suppose I could share her. Besides, I'm sure that she'll love the extra attention."

Taking the crystal into her magic, Twilight teleported it up into her bag before the four made their way into the living room to hang out before leaving. While the ponies and Spike were surprised to see Celestia at first, they quickly calmed back down. Once seated down, Skyla wasted no time in scampering over to Celestia for some attention, of which Celestia gave her in full. Time, however, wasn't ao kind to them as the hours quickly rolled by, having them to get ready to leave. Or, so they would if Celestia didn't tell them that she had some of her guards already move their luggage over to the train station. With happy thanks, they began to file out of the house, which also included Shining, Cadence and Skyla, Night, Velvet, and Celestia, who would see them off at the train station.

During their walk, they talked about what plans they would be having. Eventually, this also lead up to plans for the holidays, which the entire family would be spending together after the Hearth's Warming Ball. As they continued down the road, Spike and Dark began having sneezing fits which would have them occasionally sneeze fire. Looking up around them, Spike saw the problem.

"What are those things still doing here?" he asked.

"Sorry, Spike," Celestia apologized. "I know that you don't like them, but they are rather decorative trees, and the ponies all like them."

"What are they?" Dark nasally asked. "They're making my nose all stuffy and causing us to sneeze."

"They're called Dragon Sneeze Trees."

"You can feel their affects on you?" Twilight asked Dark.

"Seems so," he answered before sneezing again.

"Don't worry too much," Celestia told them. "Once winter comes around, they'll lose their leaves and their sneezing effect so you can walk past them peacefully."

"Good to know," Spike grumbled. "Though I'd be much happier if I never had to see them again after what happened last time."

Not long after, they finally made it down to the train station where their luggage was being loaded by the guards. Stopping on the loading dock, Spike and their friends thanked Celestia and Twilight's parents for letting them stay before they began to board. With Twilight and Dark alone with her family and Celestia, she went over and began giving them goodbye hugs, and kisses for her parents and niece, while Dark was just standing there, shifting from one side to the other unsure of how to go about this. Thankfully for him, he didn't have to as Night an Velvet approached him while Twilight was saying goodbye to Celestia.

"So, I take it that we'll be seeing you again during Hearth's Warming?" Velvet asked.

"I guess?" Dark unsurely replied.

"You don't sound very convincing there," Night said to him. "You don't have other plans made, do you?"

"No, I don't."

"Then why do you sound so unsure?"

"Well..." Dark hesitantly began. "It's suppose to be the time of year for family to spend time together and... well, I'm not that."

"Maybe not," Velvet began saying, "but that doesn't mean that you're not welcome to spend it with us. I know that it would mean a lot to our Twilight if you did."

"Probably, but would the rest of you be alright with it? I get the feeling that Cadence would be happy with it, but I'm not so sure about Shining just yet and..."

Getting what he was getting at, Night shook his head and sighed. "While I was cautious about you at first, after getting to know you a little bit, I wouldn't mind it that much. Just remember that while you're in my house, you'll be following my rules, got it?"

"Yes, Night."

"Good," he smiled, holding out a hoof for a shake.

Returning the smile, Dark extended a claw and shook Night's hoof. Letting go, he turned to Velvet to give her one, but was surprised when she shook her head at him. However, what surprised him even more was when Velvet drew him into a hug, causing his body to tense up. Feeling his muscles stiffen, Velvet spoke to him in a motherly voice.

"It's alright," she softly told him.

Looking over to Night, Dark saw him giving him a small nod accompanied with a smile. Letting himself relax, Dark then began to remember how his own mother would hug him like this when he would go out to fight off an attacking dragon or two. While those memories continued to flood him, he found himself returning the hug, much like he did with his mom. Feeling fully relaxed, Dark allowed himself to melt into the motherly embrace he was in. As he began to close his eyes with how relaxed he was feeling, a soft giggle caused him to turn his attention over towards Twilight, which in turn caused him to start breaking the hug.

"T-Thank you," he nervously thanked.

"It's alright, dear," Velvet smiled. "So, we'll be seeing you during Hearth's Warming then?"

"Yes, Miss Velvet."

"'Miss'?"

"Sorry, force of habit."

Giving an understanding nod, Velvet walked over to Night before Dark was approached by Shining, Cadence, and Skyla.

"I guess I'll see you around," Shining spoke.

"Guess so."

Leaving it at that, they gave the other a farewell nod before Cadence took his place.

"You'll be good to my sister-in-law, right?" she asked.

"Of course I will. Why would you even ask that?""

"I know, I know, I'm just pulling your leg," Cadence giggled, causing her daughter on her back to giggle too. "Until then I guess. Oh, and somepony wanted to see you before you left."

Gesturing over to her back, Dark walked over to see Skyla holding out her forelegs to him while making baby noises. Chuckling, Dark lowered his muzzle over to her and began to nuzzle her, which also allowed for her to grab ahold of his muzzle as he did.

"See you later," Dark softly spoke to her, earning him more baby sounds and a laugh.

After getting the foal let go of his face, Dark turned to Celestia. "Thank you for letting us stay at the castle, Princess."

"It was of no trouble, Dark," Celestia smiled. "Besides, we did request for you to attend that meeting, so it would only be fair that we'd accommodate you."

"I still thank you for doing that, though. You could've had me stay at a hotel, but instead allowed me to stay at the castle."

"I know, but I didn't and wouldn't allow for it."

Hearing this caused Dark to chuckle a little bit. "You know, that's almost similar to what Twilight said to me during my first night in Ponyville. You two may not be related, but I can see that she's picked up a few things from you."

"She might as well may be," Velvet chimed. "After all, she did help in raising Twilight into the young mare that she is today."

"You know that I never intended to take your place as her mother, right, Velvet?"

"I know. I'm just happy that she had such a good role model growing up, and somepony else that she could go to when she felt upset or had questions about something."

Dark was about to open his mouth to speak until the sound of the train whistle blew, reminding him and Twilight that they had a train to catch. With his last thanks and a bow to Celestia, Dark and Twilight made their way into the train car and took their seat along the window. Feeling the train starting to pull them away, the two waved her family and Celestia off until they were out of sight. Laying down on the cushion, Dark smiled to himself before he felt Twilight brushing against his side as she settled herself down against him.

"So," Twilight began with a smile, "I'd say that my parents like you."

"Yeah, but I'm still a little unsure of if your dad really likes me or not. Right now he seems to accept me, but not completely."

"Well, he's my dad, so it's his job to be suspicious."

Dark sighed. "I guess. Suppose I would be too if I were in his horseshoes."

"Though my mom seems to approve of you a lot, judging by how she saw you off like that. Speaking of which, why did you act like that? It almost looked like you weren't welcoming it at first, but eventually let yourself relax and go with it."

"Pretty much. At first I was hesitant about it, but it soon began reminding me of how my mom used to do that." He paused as he thought back to it. "I guess I just forgot what it was like to be hugged like that."

"You mean being hugged by a mother?"

"Yeah."

Twilight smiled as she leaned her head over against Dark's. "Well, I'm sure that next time we visit that she'll start to treat you more like one, so you better be ready."

With a slight chuckle, Dark turned his head over to kiss Twilight. It didn't last very long, though, as the sound of somepony clearing their throats caused them to separate.

"As nice as it is to see you two together, I hardly believe that this is an appropriate time or place to be doing that," Rarity chided.

"Fine," Dark sighed, "we'll wait."

Seeming to be content with it, Rarity let it drop while Pinkie jumped up on the seat opposite of Twilight and Dark.

"So, Darky," she began, "me and the girls were talking last night and it got me wondering on what you're going to be wearing for Nightmare Night?"

"Huh?" he questioned.

"You know, your Nightmare Night costume."

Dark blinked. "I didn't plan on wearing one."

Pinkie loudly gasped, catching the attention of their friends.

"WHAT?!" she practically screamed. "Why aren't you planning on wearing a Nightmare Night costume on Nightmare Night?!"

"Because the dragons figured out our holidays and would deliberately target us on them, so I didn't exactly have the luxury of wearing one before. Especially when they would burn all of the decorations and have everypony hiding indoors."

".. oh... right." She frowned briefly before her smile returned. "Well, now you can! Soooooo, what are you going to go as?"

Dark brought a claw up to his chin in thought for a while to think about it, but when he was unable to come up with anything, he shrugged.

"I don't know right now, but I'll think of something."

Seemingly alright with his answer for now, Pinkie happily nodded before bringing out a few games for them to play during the rest of their trip back.

---

Everyone grabbed their luggage as they waited by the doors to be let off the train. Once they did, Big Mac and the Crusaders were there to greet their family members. Of course, once Sweetie Belle was done welcoming Rarity home, she went straight for Spike and knocked him over. But, as nice as it was to see them like that again, things needed to be taken care of, namely getting everyone unpacked and settled back home. While it would've been quick, Rarity had gone on a small shopping spree and had far more luggage than the others... again. It wasn't until after an hour of helping her unpack that Dark finally returned to the castle. He would've began to unpack himself, but only had enough time for a quick bite before heading down to Ghastly Gorge to train with his new sword.

Their session was fair as Nocturne managed to teach Dark how to properly channel his magic into the sword, but his training with the weapon's abilities were rather difficult for Dark. Although he did manage to get one of the three moves down, it still took him a while learn. Needless to say that Nocturne wasn't very pleased with the progress, but he also knew that it was also partially because Dark wasn't used to the power that the weapon contained yet. While he could wield it perfectly fine, using too much magic from it so soon into his training could be dangerous to him.

Noticing that the sun was setting, Nocturne decided to let their session end for now, allowing Dark to return home with a quick Shadowport. Grabbing himself a shower and cleaning himself up, he then went down and sat down with Spike and Twilight for dinner. With how tired everyone was from today, their meal was quick and simple. Once their meal done, the three went over to the lounge where Twilight was going over Nightmare Night costume suggestions for him while Spike was sitting on one of the couches reading a new comic book.

"So that's four possibilities and ten declined," Twilight spoke up.

"Sorry, Twilight," Dark apologized. "While some of them I might consider like the ninja and maybe a vampony, I just don't think that a mad scientist, teacher, or astronaut are really my thing. Unless of course we're going in matching costumes."

"I know, but the girls and I had already made plans for our costumes. Although, if you want me to, I can-"

"It's alright, I'll think of something. You don't need to change your costume just for my benefit."

"Well, at least you have until next week," Spike chimed as he flipped to the next page. "Maybe you can go as a dragon like me?"

"Thanks, Spike, but I don't think that-" Dark paused as he saw the cover for Spike's comic. "Hey, Spike, what's that?"

"You mean the new comic book I got from Canterlot?"

"Yeah. Who's that on the front there?"

Turning the pages to look at the cover, Spike saw who Dark was referring to and smiled proudly.

"This is the newest series of the World of Marecraft, and the guy on the cover is Killidan, the Traitor. He's this really cool Devil Hunter who was a pony, but later was turned into a half-devil."

"... kinda sounds like me in a way, minus the whole 'traitor' part." Dark paused briefly as a lightbulb went off in his head. "Hey, Twilight? I think I know what my Nightmare Night costume's gonna be."

Comments

[BrotallySwagical]

Ooo nightmare night is next :DDDDD

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

World of...

I see what you did there!

[Gobeman]

World of Marecraft,

......CAUSE STAILLIONS ARE A RARITY THERE!

[StormLash99]

6901216
All the stallions are Rarity?

[scootalooftw]

The references, jokes, and puns in this thing.... there have been multiple times throughout this story where I have been reading while silently, and sometimes not so silently, repeatedly chanting "No, No, No, No, No, No" I love it

[Midnight V]

*HEAVY BREATHING* MUST... RESIST... PUNS!!!!!!

[stardust flare]

haha he could always dress up as nocturn hes already got the wings and tail xD i mean hell if hes sneak about it he can figure out a way for him to speak would ahve made it a very convincing costume haha.

[Oblivionwalker]

Do I sense a reference to DMC(Devil May Cry) in this chapter? Or is it just me?

[Jonny Bench]

WOW reference, nice

[crossed]

6918481
you mean all the fat neckbeards are pretending to be rarity?

[stephen51991]

img10.deviantart.net/3176/i/2013/101/0/0/stormrage__he_s_a_pony_again__by_0riane0-d61am6j.png

YOU ARE NOT PREPARED!

[Akira Dragonborne]

World of Marecraft? ...Alright, the references decided to go ape-s&>/ on me. But at this point I'm innured, I'm ready for anything.

8537636

https://youtu.be/0b4d_36AkcE?t=7s