Day One: Problems

Pre-story Author's notes: Hello everyone! The "Grand Condensing" is here!

All that means is that you can mark this as read, if you have read it that is. It's all more or less the same. Just longer chapters and kinda edited.

Either way, enjoy!

~Day One: Problems AKA An Eventful Day~

"You fuck with me on a bad day, you made yourself one hell of an enemy."- Me

I don't know what it was, but something woke me up. Which was surprising considering I thought I was dead. I slowly opened my eyes and everything was blurry. I blinked a few times but it didn't help. I closed my eyes for a minute and opened them again. This time the blurriness slowly went away and my eyes adjusted to my surroundings. I saw that everything was a tad too colorful for my liking, but it wasn't my house so I couldn't complain. I looked at the shelves and books lining the wall on my left. I also noted that the bed I was on was a bit to short. Why am I not in a hospital? I heard talking from another room and slowly sat up. I looked around and noted that I must be in a guest room or something. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense..."

"I'm going to check on him." I heard a female voice say from the other room. I thought I heard another voice but I wasn't sure. I sat up on the bed and waited for the person to walk in. I looked out of the window and cringed at how bright it was outside. I also thought I saw colorful animals of some kind walking around, but surely not. I heard the door open. "Oh you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"Not too bad I guess. Trying not ta move my neck too much."

"That was a pretty nasty fall," Fall? What? "And that is a good idea. But, I already scanned you. Somehow you're perfectly fine."

"Really?" I asked, standing up.

"Well....as far as I could tell at least."

I turned around with a raised eyebrow. "What do you-" My annoyance was replace by three other emotions: Confusion, interest, and fear. But fear and confusion were more prominent and I did the first thing I thought of. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!?!?!" I yelled and back peddled into the windowsill. And hit my head on it. " Ow sonovabitch!" I said while rapidly rubbing the back of my head.

The strange creature recovered from my yelling and started walking over to me. "C-calm down! I'm not going to hurt you!"

"Likely story!" I stood up and ran out of the door.

"Wait!" she yelled after me but I gave no response. I went down the flight of stairs that lead into the main part. Which strangely enough was a library. I saw another staircase leading down and the front door. I started to think about what course of action would be better. I could run outside but there were bound to be more of them out there, and they would be sure to capture me. Or I could hide in the basement, where I'd have more time to think of a way to go about this. I heard her following me and quickly made a beeline for the basement.

Once down in the basement I saw a bunch of weird machines and other equipment. "What was she planning on doing with me?" I wondered when I heard her calling for me. I ignored her and looked for somewhere to hide. I heard her start to walk down the stairs, and I looked toward the door. "You would do well to stay away from me!" I heard her 'eep' in response and she walked back up the stairs. I looked at the machines and wondered if I could re-purpose anything in my favor. She called down the stairs.

"I think I know somepony who can help you! Just stay calm and wait till I get back!"

I thought about what she said and began to go through drawers and chests looking for things to make into weapons. "I don't need any of your god damn help!" I grumbled. "Oh hey some twine. Now to find scissors or a knife..."

I managed to fashion together a couple a things. One being the equivalent of a roped kunai using the twine I found, but instead of a knife, it was a pair of scissors. The other being a 4x4 with nails through it as a heavy weapon (if I need it). My main weapon is a baseball bat with a chain wrapped around it. Since I was short on time I couldn't make much else. That, and I had no idea what I was doing. I found a darkened area and hid in it and waited. After awhile I heard talking. I prepared my weapons and stared intensely at the stairs. I heard them come down the stairs and readied the scissors.

"Hello?" The same voice from before said. "Are you still there? I hid behind something but didn't speak. "I brought my friend Fluttershy, She might be able to help you." She waited for a response, but didn't get one. "Ugh, okay Fluttershy, see if you have better luck."

I watched as a winged yellow creature slowly walked down the stairs. It got to the bottom and I threw the scissors. They stuck into the wall just in front of her. She 'eeped' and took a few steps back up the stairs, as I pulled the scissors back to me.

"Fluttershy!" I heard the other one say.

"I-I-I'm o-okay Twilight." She said shakily. Her voice was sweet sounding but I mostly ignored that. I just watched as she took a few steps forwards and prepared to throw it again. This time aiming for her head. "I-it's okay." 'Fluttershy' said in a somewhat soothing voice. "Nopony is going to hurt you."

"I don't believe you." I growled and was about to throw the scissors again. She looked shocked that I actually responded. Then I heard a third set of...hooves?

"Whatchy'all doin' down here?" I heard a country voice ask. 'Not good' I thought. 'The odds are stacking up against me."

"Shh! Quiet A.J.! You might spook him even more."

"Sorry?" 'A.J.' whispered.

Fluttershy shook her head lightly and looked toward me. "Don't worry about her she's a friend of mine, she won't hurt you."

"I still don't believe you." I growled again. "Why don't you just go back up those stairs and leave me alone."

"Oh...okay." She looked at the ground and turned around. It almost made me feel bad but it might be a trap.

"This is mighty ridiculous." I heard her start to move towards the door.

"Applejack, you really shouldn't-"

"Nonsense." She said sternly. "A grown pony shouldn't be acting like that."

"But-!"

"No buts. Ah'm putting a stop to this!"

"But he's not-"

"Ah said no buts!" She trotted down the stairs. "Now where is he, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy pointed towards me. "Over there. But I don't think-"

"Ugh, not you too?" She walked over to where I was and stopped. Unbeknownst to her I was right beside her. "Come on now partner. Where are ya?" I said nothing and hit her in the head with the bat, knocking her out. She hit the ground with a low thud.

"Applejack!!" Fluttershy screamed, causing Twilight to run down the stairs.

"What happened?!" She asked Fluttershy, but I answered.

"She got too close." I threw the scissors at her and they stuck into her leg. She yelled in pain, making Fluttershy cower back. That made me believe that maybe she didn't mean me any harm. But who knows about the others. I ran towards Twilight before she recovered, and swung with the bat again. Aiming for her side. It connected and send her flying into Fluttershy. I slowly walked up to the two. Swinging my bat in a circle. When I was hit with something. It sent me flying back to where I was hiding. My weapons gone, and the sudden shock caused me to scramble back an cower in the corner. I saw Applejack wrapped in a purple glow and dragged out of the way. I saw Twilight's silhouette walking toward me, then I heard her voice. "Sleep." And then everything went black.

~Fifteen Minutes Later.~

"I don't scare easily, but this shit is freaking me out!"-Me

I awoke strapped down to one of the machines in the basement. There was no one else around and I began to panic. Obviously it wasn't a dream, because if it was I wouldn't be here. I could yell for help but that would just alert them that I'm awake. Which of course isn't beneficial for me. Or maybe the one called Fluttershy has talked to them? But then why am I in the situation I am in now?

They're out to get you and you know it! You had to go and attack them. Fucking idiot.

Don't be so harsh with him. He was trying to defend himself.

Yeah, and look where it got him.

"Guys, can you shut up please?" I whispered, and no response came. "Thank you." I looked at my bindings and noticed that the ones around my hands were loose. "Hmm... I wonder." I relaxed my right hand and pulled it out with little difficulty. I smiled and pulled out my left hand. "Sweet." I heard movement from upstairs and quickly tried to undo my neck binding. I almost had it when I heard the door open. "No no no." I tried with all of my strength but Twilight came down the stairs and was looking at me.

"I thought it might not work." She said. "Though I am impressed that you were able open that."

"You must be very weak then." I spat.

She sighed. "Why so much hostility?"

I glared at her. "Do I really have to answer that?"

She just looked at me for a moment and then shook her head. "We aren't getting anywhere."

I calmed down a little bit. "It seems that way."

"Here, let me help you." She release me from the machine.

"Are you sure that was a good idea?" I asked while slowly walking over to where the bat is.

She watched me carefully. "No. But it was to show you I mean no harm."

I picked up the bat. "A show of trust. Clever, but how do I know that this isn't a trick? You might be waiting for me to let my guard down."

She raised an eyebrow. "Why would I do that?"

"Beats me but still. Your not going to trick me. Now, I have a few basic questions."

"Okay?"

"What are you, and where am I?"

"I am a unicorn, and you are in Ponyville, Equestria."

"Unicorn?" Now that I had a chance to really look at her I finally saw her horn. "Interesting. Hmm...Equestria huh? Okay then. What are you planning?"

"What do you mean? I'm not planning anything!"

"Then whats with all this then?!" I yelled while gesturing behind me.

"That's just science equipment!"

"That doesn't exactly rule in your favor." I said while twirling the bat around.

"Ugh! What will it take for you to trust me a little bit!?"

I thought about this for a moment. And dropped to my knees with my eyes closed. "I surrender. Do with me what you will." I still had a tight hold on the bat just in case. I opened an eye after a few minutes and looked at her. She hadn't moved. I stood up and opened both eyes. "Well that's a start. So you really mean it huh?"

She sighed in relief. "Finally. Yes, nopony here wants to harm you."

"Nopony?" I shook my head. "Anyway, the case may be different for the orange one, but am I right too believe the yellow one means no harm as well?"

"Fluttershy?" She started to laugh. "She wouldn't hurt a fly! And you scared her."

"I see. Where are they now?"

"Upstairs. Applejack is still out cold, and Fluttershy is right up stairs."

"Okay. Wait, Applejack's alright, isn't she?"

"Yeah, you didn't hit her hard enough to do any lasting damage. She might have a concussion for a day or two but that's about it."

"Good. Guess I should say hi, huh?" Twilight nodded and turned to walk up the stairs. I sighed and followed her.

"Well, that could have gone better..." As soon as walked the stairs, Fluttershy freaked out and ran into the room where Applejack was. "What do you suggest now?"

"Let me go talk to her." She said and started to walk towards the door but stopped. "And no, you can't escaped."

"What makes you think I was going to try?"

"Really?" She deadpanned. "The library is on lock down. There is a couch right behind you. Feel free to wait there."

I sighed. "Okay, fine." She continued walking and I went over to the couch and sat on it. "Well who knows how long this will take..." I looked around, but there were nothing but books. "Nothing better to do." I thought and went over to one of the book shelves. I can't say that I was surprised the books were in another language. But I did think it strange that our spoken language is the same. Very....interesting. I put the book back and sat back down.

It's been a few minutes now and still nothing. I sneaked over to the door and tried to open it, but was electrocuted and was sent flying back into the couch. "Well that was fun..."

It was stupid if you ask me! We can feel it too ya know!?

Yeah... Not your best plan.

"I know I know. Shush."

"Who are you talking too?" I heard Twilight say from behind me. I jumped a little causing Fluttershy to lightly chuckle.

"Me. Sorry about that." I stood up. "So, I see you had some luck?"

"Yes. Say hi Fluttershy."

Now in the 'spotlight' she hid behind her mane "Um....hi..."

"Hi. Uh...sorry about earlier. I was stuck in survival mode."

"It's...okay." Her voice said other wise but I decided to roll with it.

"Good." I said with as much of a smile I could muster. "How's Applejack?"

"She's starting to wake up. And she didn't look too happy." Twilight said, with a hint of worry in her voice.

"Well good thing I still have the bat then..." I sighed and then shrugged. "Let's just hope I don't have to use it."

"Agreed." Twilight said while Fluttershy merely nodded. After a minute or two Twilight spoke up again. "You're a human, aren't you?"

I was shocked. "Why? Are there other humans out there?" I asked but didn't get my hopes up.

"Well..." I didn't like her hesitation. "Not...anymore..." I frowned and quickly grabbed the bat. "No! Wait! Let me explain!"

I glared at her. "I'll be nice and give you one minute."

"H-humans are a legend. At least in Equestria. It is said that humans lived here before the princesses were even born. And that was over a thousand years ago." She was about to go over to a bookshelf but I stopped her.

"No. don't bother, I can't read your language. I already tried." I tapped the bat on the couch a few times. "Hmm... So if what you're saying is true. Then I'm a living legend." She nodded. "Well in a sense, but still. I've been many things but never that."

"What have you been?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well nothing good, but nothing bad either." I shrugged. "Hey when's Applejack going to show?"

"She still resting, so she will a few more minutes."

"Okay then. Twilight."

Her ears perked up. "Y-yes?"

"You seem knowledgeable. How about you give me the run down on how things work here?"

She nodded. "Certainly."

~Some Odd Hours Later~

"...And that's why the pistol case is still open. Because it's always an option..."-Me

Why? Why did I have to ask? No, why did she have to tell me everything about Equestria? Did I, or did I not ask for a basic run down? Well.... Okay I said "Run down" not "Basic run down" But still! Ow my brain. She is still talking, but zoned out somewhere around 'Advanced Equestrian Politics". Which took her maybe two hours to get to. And here I thought I was lucky when she stopped telling me about the economy here. I rubbed my temples and just waited for her to stop talking. I looked at the baby dragon. Poor guy, walked in in the middle of it and Twilight made him stay. Did I freak out over seeing Spike? At first I was a little surprised, but Twilight had most of attention. And she told me that if I hurt him in any way, she'd give me the runs for a week and considering her magic. I believed her.

"And that's just about it." She said with a smile, which quickly faded. "You weren't paying any attention, were you?" She said with an agitated tone.

"Oh, no I was. Just don't expect me to remember half of it." I said with a shrug. "That and you lost me."

"Where did I lose you at?" She asked slowly.

"Somewhere around A.E.P. I think? Yeah, Everything else I kinda remember."

"Well, how about a test? To see what you remember?"

Oh god damn it. "If you must..."

"Okay. Hmm.... What is Equestria's currency?"

"Bits."

"Good. What are the three pony types?"

I had to think back for a second. Oh, duh! "Earth, Unicorn, and Pegasus."

"Very good. What is our government?"

"A monarchy?"

"Well...sort of, but let's keep it simple. What makes this monarchy unique?"

"Being ruled by a princess instead a queen or king?"

"Well yes, but we're ruled by two princesses."

I sighed. "Anything else?"

She was about to say something but then the guest room door opened. "Maybe later." She went over to Applejack and asked her how she was feeling. I, on the other hand, was looking for a way out. Lest I face the fury of the orange one.

"Ah'm feeling a might bit better, Thank ya Twi." She looked at me with an unreadable expression, and looked at Twilight. She whispered something to her and they both looked at me. "Ah suppose Ah should apologize fer not listening ta Twilight earlier." She said as she slowly walked toward me.

I considered her. I crossed my arms and just looked at her. "Huh, where's your hat gone?"

"My...hat?" She blinked a few times in confusion.

"Yeah, yer hat. Oh, never mind it's probably in the room." I stopped and thought for a moment and my mind switched tracks. "Oh, uh yeah we're cool by the way. I really don't see it happening again." I held out my hand for a handshake and oddly enough those were a thing here. "So Twilight, what now?"

She had this look on her face like she just remembered something, and then looked at me sheepishly. "I have to stay and wait for the princess to arrive."

I give her a blank stare. "What?" She just just chuckled nervously. "You didn't think to tell about this?! Ah'm not ready to see royalty!" I think I had bit of an accent there. Oh well. "You know what? No." They both looked at me. with raised eyebrows. "I'm going for a walk to calm down." I walked to the door and it actually opened, which was a surprise.

I heard hoofbeats and Twilight call out but I already closed the door. Now to find a park or something.

As I walked through the town, I could feel the stares of all the ponies. It was unnerving, and it made my social anxiety act up. So I did what I always do. I whistled. But that normally turned into me singing. What was whistling/singing? Sonne by Rammstein, and I felt sorry for them. I have never studied German, so my accent has to be horrible. That and I can tell I constantly screw up the words. Besides all that though, I can't sing worth a crap. But I try, and that's all I can do I suppose. Despite all of this, I was fortunate enough too find a park after a few minutes. Ignoring the stares, I found a bench and sat down.

I closed my eyes, which made wonder. "Now that I think about it, the stares could be because my eyes are squinted. Damn bright sun." That caused a couple walking by to stop.

"What did you say?" The male pony asked. Crap, I was thinking out loud.

My eyes shot open, which made my eyes feel the they caught fire for a brief moment. "That I...don't like the sun because of my sensitive eyes?"

He looked at me suspiciously before walking off. I heard something about how brave he was for 'standing up' to such a 'strange creature'. I rolled my eyes and ducked into a nearby bush and yelled. "I heard that! You know he just wants to get laid right?!" I made a peep hole and watched as glared in my direction. Which was replaced by confusion. Until he was smacked and left standing there. After a second, he took of after her. I climbed out of the bush with a chuckle. "Chaos." I then shook my head and sat back down.

You shouldn't do that, you know.

Shut up. It was funny!

"I just hope it doesn't result in confrontation." I shrugged. I closed and rubbed my eyes. That was something, wasn't it? I could have ended a relationship! I don't know why but I smiled at that thought. I smacked myself to quickly get rid of the thought. I shouldn't be thinking like that. I don't need any more bad karma. "All I did was unveil his true motive. That mare should thank me." I sighed. "But I guess I did-"

"HI!"

I jumped up off of the bench and a couple feet away from it. My heart was pounding and I'm sure I about had a heart attack. I turned around slowly to see mint green unicorn smiling as widely as she can. "Oops didn't mean to scare you. I was just passing by and wanted to say hi!"

A growing look of concern appeared on my face. "H-hi?"

"You're a human, right!?" I slowly nodded my head. "I knew it! I knew humans were real!" I slowly backed away. "No no wait! I have a bunch of questions!" I shook my head and backed away. And then took off. "WAAIIT!!" She called. I looked over my shoulder and she was running after me. I started running faster. I saw Twilight but I couldn't stop. She must have saw what was going on, because she was chasing me too, or rather the crazy unicorn that was chasing me.

Soon enough I heard a few other ponies join in. Some where even shouting something. Apparently some thought that this was an angry mob. I would've rolled my eyes, but I was too concentrated on running. I was starting to run out of energy. I dove into an alleyway. It was opened on the other side and I quickly walked over. I flattened myself on the wall on the other side of the alley. I tried to catch my breath but a blue pegasus flew overhead. "I found him!!" Shit! I took off running again.

Weaving in and out of side roads and alleys was just about pointless now. I was being predictable and I knew they would catch on eventually. I was trying to think about what to do, but I was drawing a blank. All of this running ended in a cliff. I skidded to a halt as did the ponies. I looked over the edge, but quickly turned around and looked at the crowd. Twilight made her way out of the crowd, looked at me with an apologetic stare, and then turned to look at them. "What is the matter with you all!" There were murmurs of confusion. "No, I think I know what happened. LYRA!!" She yelled. There was a startled yelp from somewhere in the crowd. All of the ponies fanned out and in the middle was the unicorn that started it all. "Step forward please." She slowly did. After she got closer, I took a step back.

"I'm really sorry Twilight."

"You shouldn't be apologizing to me, Lyra."

She looked at the ground. "Oh right." She looked up. "I'm real- What are you doing!"

Twilight turned around and looked at me with a shocked expression. I've backed up closer to the edge and had my arms spread like I had wings. "Don't-!" She was too late. I took one last step back and fell. "Rainbow!"

"On it!"

But she wasn't fast enough. I hit something solid and it all went black.

Is this really how it all ends?

"No..."

~Two Hours Later~

"I've always wondered what it would feel like to be dead for awhile and come back."-Me

I woke up gasping for breath. It was like I haven't been breathing the whole time I was asleep. "Wait a minute." Memories of what happened came back to me. I started panicking and looked around. I looked myself over and calmed down once I saw everything was where it needed to be. I'm in a hospital of some kind. I couldn't tell if it was on Earth or Equestria. I guess I would have to wait until a doctor came in to check on me. Which wouldn't be long I'd imagine, but we'll see. I laid back down and waited.

Sure enough after a minute or two, a doctor and nurse came in to check on me. They were ponies. I sighed, and looked at them. "I guess I'm staying here for awhile longer huh?"

The doctor looked at me with furrowed brows, while the nurse looked at me with sympathetic look. "Yes, it would seem so." The doctor spoke. "I have to ask: Was that why you did it?" He didn't sound so happy.

"Well, yes and no. There was a ledge about twenty...heads(?) down I think. That's what I was aiming for." I scratched my head. "Not so sure I made it though."

"Hmph, no. Princess Celestia save your idiotic flank before you got anywhere close." Sheesh dude chill.

"The Princess?!" I asked. What a surprising turn of events.

"Yes. She want to see A.S.A.P. I'll go tell her you are awake." He turned around. "Nurse look after him until the Princess arrives."

"Yes doctor." The doctor left and she turned to me. "We don't get many suicide cases in Equestria." She had a sad tone of voice. "Why would even think about such a thing?"

"It was the only thing I could think of." I sat sitting up. "I felt cornered."

"But Ms. Heartstrings was apologizing! Couldn't have heard her out?"

I frowned and looked at her. "isn't getting this upset with a patient unprofessional? Think before-" I stopped when I saw her face. She was on the verge of crying. "Sorry."

"Me too." She said with a small catch in her throat. She began checking the medical equipment. Which took her about two minutes considering there was only one thing. I was just sitting there looking at her. I think it was making her uncomfortable, because she was fidgeting an awful lot. I stopped looking at her and looked out of the window. It was dusk, which meant I've been out for a few hours. And if I remember right, Celestia is supposed to lower the sun around this time.

The sun started to go down. "Speak of the devil."

"What!?" The nurse asked in a shocked tone.

I rolled my eyes. "Never mind."

The door opened after awhile and a horse with a multi-colored mane walked in. She told the nurse to leave and dismissed the doctor. Twilight, 'Lyra', and the blue pegasus followed her in. The door closed and she looked at me with an unreadable face. "I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria. What is your name, human?"

"Zane, your highness." Best to be respectful to the one who saved me.

She raised an eyebrow. "Hmm...More respectful than the last human I have met."

"Princess?" Twilight spoke up.

"It was a very long time ago My Dear Student. Lyra, I think you have something to say?"

I looked at the mint green unicorn. She looked back at me. "I'm so so sorry!" She had tears forming in her eyes. "I didn't mean to make you resort to jumping off a cliff! I just want to ask some questions! Can you forgive me?" Some tears were streaming from her face. But I wasn't impressed.

I looked out the window. "No." I said maybe a little too harshly. I heard her whimper and leave the room. Fuck...

"Zane!" Twilight yelled.

"What!?" I yelled back, shocking everyone except the Princess. "I don't know how it works here, but in my world you can't forgive or be forgiven that easily. She'll have to work for it!"

"I'm- I thought you were nicer than this!"

Even after everything that's happened? I just looked out of the window. "Calm down Twilight." Celestia told her student. "Try to see things from his perspective."

"Thank you." I said in a flat tone.

"That doesn't excuse you though." She said turning to me.

"I know." I said then looked at her. "I understand that you are the one who caught me?"

"Yes. I knew you were aiming for the ledge, but with the way you were falling, you would have missed."

"I see. Thank you."

"But what would you have done if I didn't catch you?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Honestly?"

She nodded her head. "Yes."

"Probably been a lot better off..."

"And what if you died in your world as well?" She asked slowly.

"Same thing."

"Y-you can't mean that!" Said the pegasus said.

"And you are?"

"Rainbow Dash! Fast-" The Princess cut her off, shaking her head. "Right sorry. But you don't mean that. You can't."

"Maybe, maybe not. It's hard to tell right now." I sighed. This is pointless "I'm sorry guys."

"No" The princess said. "You are alone and confused. I know how you feel." She walked up and put a wing around me.

"Thanks. Could some one get Lyra please?"

"Sure!" Said Rainbow.

After a few minutes of idle chat and awkward silence, Lyra and Rainbow came back into the room. Lyra was unsure but Rainbow told her that it was okay. She slowly walked over to the bed with an unsure look on her face. From here I can see that she has been crying. Shit.

"Lyra?"

"Y-yeah?"

"I called you back to apologize for being so harsh. I'm upset and I wasn't thinking right." She started to get an angry face. "I'm not asking for forgiveness. I'm apologizing, there's a difference."

She calmed down a little. "Okay?"

"I also want to say yes. I do forgive you. You didn't mean to freak me out that much, and I realize that now." I patted the side of the bed. "Come on." She looked confused for a moment but got the message. She jumped onto the bed and we hugged. When the hug broke, Celestia told Twilight and Rainbow to stay and watch over me. Lyra had to go home though. She was about to leave the room when I called out to her. "Lyra?

"Yes?"

"You can asked me those questions next time you're free okay?"

She smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem." Lyra left the room and I looked at the others. "Sleepy time?"

Twilight nodded and Rainbow was already nodding off. "Yep. Goodnight Zane."

"Good night Twilight, Rainbow." Rainbow mumbled in response. I chuckled and laid down. I wasn't really tired but I didn't want to keep the others awake. I needed to get back home. "Maybe I could ask the Princess? Or maybe Twilight?" I thought. "I needed to think of something," I whispered to no one. "But I guess it can wait for awhile. No sense worrying about it..." I yawned but still didn't feel tired. Oh well just close your eyes and wait. Seems to work most of the time.

And so it did.

Day Two: Ohne Dich, Moy Mir

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~Day Two: Ohne Dich, Moy Mir AKA Without You, My World~

"I always wanted to go to another dimension. But, as they say, be careful what you wish for."-Me

I slowly opened my eyes. I noticed the white walls and briefly thought that I was at home. The only thing that kept me from holding on to that was the pony monitoring the medical equipment. She glanced over at me and noticed I was awake. "Oh, good morning!" She put on a nervous smile.

I gave her a tired deadpan look. "Yeah..." She gave me a strange look and I sighed. "Excuse me for not being all 'sunshine and bright rainbows' but I thought this nightmare was over."

She raised an eyebrow at that. "Nightmare? What do you mean?"

I looked at her with annoyance. "As much as I would love to have this talk, it's still too early."

She shot me her own annoyed look. "Very well, I will go get Miss Sparkle." she turned and faced the door

"And the Princess?"

"She has better things to do." And she trotted out of the door.

I scowled at the ceiling. "Well then." I wonder what I did to make her angry with me? I got up and sat at the edge of the bed. I considered leaving the room and meeting Twilight in the hallway or the lobby, but decided against it. I let out a yawn and got out of bed. I turned towards the window and shielded my eyes from the brightness. "Damn sun! Why couldn't my glasses have come with me?" I stretched and yawned again. I must be in one of the farther away rooms in the hospital. Otherwise it wouldn't take this long for them to get to me.

After a few more minutes, Twilight finally walked in. She didn't knock or anything either, just walked in. "Good morning Zane. How are you?"

"Tired."

"Didn't sleep well?"

"Oh, no, I slept fine. It's just too damn early. Where's Dash?"

"She's at her job." I simply nodded. When she realized I wasn't going to say anything she continued. "Nurse Redheart said you can leave today. And I'm here to take you back to the library."

I thought about that for a little bit. "Am I right to assume that, the only reason I'm released today is because they wouldn't know even if anything was wrong?" She looked uncomfortable and fidgeted slightly. "I thought so." I said in a low voice. "For they know I could have a broken back or something."

"But you don't, right?"

"Thankfully no, but the point stands. Never did like hospitals..."

"Well, good thing you can leave!"

"Yeah. I guess you're right." I sighed. "How much paperwork is there?"

"None."

"None? Really?"

"Well, there was some debate about that but they figured you had no way of paying for it. So..."

I rolled my eyes. "That explains why that nurse was so unhappy. It's always about the fucking money! I'm sick of this place! Let's get out of here." I said as I stomped out of the doorway. I could hear Twilight follow me, and she soon run in front of me.

"Wait! You have to give the gown back."

"And I will as soon as I get my things back."

We are now back at Twilight's library. I had all of my clothes back and I am sitting on her couch with my eyes closed. I heard hoof beats (or steps) and they suddenly stopped in front of me. Since the table was in front of me I paid it no mind. That was until they started to slowly get closer and closer and closer. I raised eyebrow and spoke. "Yes, I'm awake." I said in an annoyed tone. What followed was what I could describe as a heart attack or something. I don't know but everything in my chest ceased up.

I quickly opened my eyes and frantically tried to breath, but no air would enter my lungs. I don't even think my heart was beating either. I got a good look at what did this to me, and saw a pony sized bug like creature. I glared at it and grabbed the bat next to me and swung. I hit it and it flew across the room, I stood up and slowly walked over to it. Half way to it I dropped the bat and took a few more steps before collapsing. I could see it cowering and nursing it's leg. The commotion must have alerted Twilight, because she ran down the stairs.

"What happened!?" At this point I could barely move, and everything was starting to go black. The creature moved away as Twilight glared at it. She then flipped me over with her magic. "Hold on! I'm doing a medical scan on you!" But her voice was distant. She must have found what was wrong, because I started to breath again.

"What....was....that?"

"You were hit with a paralysis spell."

"And the thing that cast it on me?"

"A changeling. That just so happens to not have very good control of her magic." She sighed. "Sorry about that."

I just lay there, trying not to pay attention to my burning chest. I shook my head and she went to go get the "changeling". I could hear their conversation in the other room.

"Go out there and apologize!"

"B-but he scared me! It was an accident!"

"That doesn't matter, you could have killed him! Now go! Don't make me tell the princess that you non-reformable!"

The changeling make a noise at that, and slowly walked into room where I was. As much as I'm pissed at it, it is slightly refreshing to see something that's not all bright and colorful. But still, fuck that thing. It looked at me with those freaky eyes, and slowly walked towards me. I glared at it, which made it flinch but Twilight nudged it and got it going again. I sat up as soon as it was in front of me.

"I-I'm really sorry." It voice had a feminine touch to it, and now that it was closer I could tell her voice had a buzz to it as well.

Beat it! It almost killed us!

No! Let's hear HER out. She seems sincere.

She looked back at Twilight, who urged her to continue. "I um... I acted without thinking. I didn't mean to hurt you..."

Kill it kill it kill it KILL IT!!

NO! Zane, don't do anything rash!! Think!

But I didn't. I grabbed the changeling by the neck and began to strangle her. The look of fear and agony on her face was beautiful but made my feel like I was doing something horrible. But I couldn't stop. The changeling started gasping for air and I felt a single tear run down my face. I wasn't seeing red any longer and I had to stop, lest I end her life.

"Twilight, I can't stop this. Help! I don't want to kill her." Twilight didn't even wait a nano second. I was on the other side of the room before I even realized I had moved. I could hear coughing and whimpering from the other side. I felt two things: Relief, because she was alive. And fear, because of the consequences. I guess I'll find out.

Twilight stormed up to me like I don't know what. Either I was seeing things, or her mane was on fire. I would have backed up if I wasn't in so much pain right now. "ZANE! I cannot believe you!" She shouted mere inches from my face. "She tried apologize and you try to KILL HER!!"

"Twilight I-"

"NO! I don't care who or what you are, but that's not how things work here!" She stamped on the floor to emphasize her words. "You two aren't to be around each other unless I'm supervising. I don't need you killing each other. Am I understood!"

"Yes." I squeaked out.

"Good." She calmed down a little. "Now, Aura go back to your room while I write the Princess a letter." 'Aura" nodded and left. "Zane, stay here. Do. Not. Move." I nodded as well and continued to lay on the floor. Twilight stomped off to somewhere and I was left alone. Well save for the owl in the room but I don't think he counts.

"I'm a twenty year old guy, and I'm afraid of a purple talking pony." I shook my head at the thought. "Sheesh." I sighed. "So, first things on the mental check list is to explain to Twilight, and possibly the Princess, how (some) humans are and try to apologize to Aura." I rubbed my eyes. "How am I going to do this?"

~Ten Minutes Later~

"Sometimes, I see things differently. Like one day there were two of me in the mirror. Shit was trippy."-Me.

I don't know what brought it on, but I started to get really negative and down on myself. Maybe it was the situation or something but yeah, not good. I have seen Twilight since then, but I was avoiding her. She had a hurt look on her face but I couldn't stare at her too long. The one time I did, her face started to contort and form into a monster's face. Don't tell my parents... It went away after I blinked but ever since then I've been increasingly distant towards her. And considering it's only been about two hours, that's saying a lot. Poor Aura though. She's gotten worse, she already looks like a monster to me. I haven't been violent towards her or anything. I would just literally run away to a different room. According to Twilight, she was just trying apologize again. I couldn't look at her that time either.

"I should stop avoiding it."

Yes you should.

"What's the worst that could happen?"

They could turn on you and arrest you.

"No, they would have by now if that was the case." I sighed. "Why am I such an idiot?"

You're not.

He kind of is, actually

"But I do wonder if she told Celestia. How much trouble would I be in then?"

Alot

"Nice see you two agree on something." I said flatly. "I guess I should stop procrastinating." I got up from my seat and started to look for Twilight. She would most likely be in her room or maybe she's out? I went upstairs and knocked on her bedroom door and didn't get a response. "Maybe she is out. Hmm..." I went back downstairs and checked the basement. She wasn't there either. "Spike! Are you here?!"

I heard Twilight's door open and Spike appeared at the top of the stairs. "Yes?"

"I didn't wake you up, did I?"

"Yeah, but I was just taking a nap." He shrugged. "What do you need?"

"I was wondering where Twilight is."

"Oh. She in her room, studying." He said matter of factly

I raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"Well nothing really. At least I don't think so." He scratched the back of his head. "She gets like that sometimes"

"I see." I shook my head. "Well when you can, tell her I want to talk to her and Aura."

"Got it!" He turned around but I stopped him.

"Do you guys have anything to eat, I'm getting kinda hungry."

"Just check the kitchen."

"O...kay?" And he went back into Twilight's room. I went and found the kitchen. It was just my luck that Aura was in there. I stopped in the middle of the door way and she froze as well. We stared at each other for what felt like hours. She gave a nervous smile, which showed off her fangs and I began to back up slowly.

You're a coward! How will you talk to her if you cant be in the same room!? He had a point.

"H-hi?" Said Aura. I stopped and looked at her. She was eating a sandwich. I shook my head and slowly walked forward.

"She wouldn't like us talking without her here."

She looked down at her plate. "Yeah... You're probably right."

"Unfortunately." I sighed. I looked in the fridge but couldn't find anything. I didn't want to look through the cabinets, so I just sat at the table. And looked out of the window. I could see Aura was watching me closely out of the corner of my eye. I couldn't blame her, I would do the same thing. Not long after that Twilight walked into the room. She had the look of annoyance at seeing Aura and I in the same room without her knowing, but got over it.

She looked between the two of us, but settled on me. "Spike said you wanted to talk?"

"Yeah. I think I'm ready to apologize."

"Excellent! Aura?"

"M-me too."

Twilight nodded and looked at me. I got up and turned to Aura. "I'm not good with things like this but, uh, I shouldn't went after you like that. It's just that everything came flooding back to me. I'm confused as to how I got here and that added to the anger towards you, and threw me over the edge. I'm sorry Aura. I really am."

"I'm sorry as well." She said, looking me straight in the eye. "I got startled and didn't take the effects that the spell would have on you into account. I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen." She got out of her seat. She fidgeted and looked up at me. I knelt down to see what she wanted and she wrapped her fore legs around me. Confused, I put my arms around her with a weird look on my face. Her (what is it called? Oh right) chitin felt weird. Hard but not like a rock. Warm as well, which threw me off, but I didn't let it show.

The embrace broke and I stood up, subconsciously wiping my hand on my clothes. "I know," She looked at the ground. "My chitin must feel weird to you."

"Huh?" I looked at her and realized what I was doing. "Oh, no, no it's not you. That's just something I do after shaking hands with someone or something, it's nothing personal." She nodded, but I feel that she didn't believe me. I looked at Twilight. "Did you tell the Princess?"

"I did." She nodded.

I slowly closed my eyes. "Shit. And?"

"She wanted me to handle it. And I think it went well." She then looked at me sternly. "But, I want you to explain why you acted like that."

Great.

Don't stress it.

You did this to yourself.

"Well um. Hmm... I really don't know how to, to be honest." I was being half honest. I really didn't know how to and I didn't want to. But I knew she wouldn't let it go. She had that universal look of 'you better talk.' "Well like I told her. All of the confusion added with the anger made me lash out."

"I don't think your telling me everything, but I guess it will do."

Aura flew up to my eye level. "Actually, I think I know what the other thing is." Twilight tilted her head and I gave her a hard stare. "He's lonely." I nodded with an annoyed look on my face.

Twilight tapped her hoof to her chin. "Confusion, loneliness would be enough, but add anger to it..." She nodded. "I think that explains it. For the most part."

"I don't like to be read so easily." I gave Aura an annoyed look, but patted her on the head. "But thank you. I think." She flew back down to the floor. She left and I sat down. "Oh my god." I groaned. "I hate this shit."

"Yeah. That's another thing we have to talk about." I raised an eye brow. "Ponies really don't like cursing. Can you try to tone it down?"

"Oh, right sorry. I wasn't aware."

"It's fine. You didn't know before now. Spike said you were hungry?"

"Yeah a little bit. I can go without lunch though."

"Oh no, I couldn't have that." She seemed to think for a bit. "I know! How about I take you on a tour of the town? We could get something to eat then."

I shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

"When shall we get going?"

"Whenever really. I would like some new clothes though."

She gasped. "I know just the place!"

"You have human clothes here?"

"Not yet."

"Okay?"

"Follow me!" And she almost ran out of the door.

This will be fun. I hope.

~Five Minutes Later~

"I'm not as shy as I used to be. I'm just silent, always have been. Don't mistake that unkindness."-Me

Instead of taking me directly to get more clothes, Twilight decided to give me the tour now. Which was fine and all. It just threw me off a tad. To my surprise, Ponyville was just like a village on earth. Except for, you know, obvious reasons. And the buildings were smaller. But that should be expected. While walking through town, I saw a music store and made a mental note to visit it sometime. Twilight was silently and happily leading me, and I had nothing to talk about. So far, this was a boring walk.

I thought struck me out of nowhere. 'I wonder if some of my stuff came with me?' I thought. 'I'll ask Twilight.' "Hey Twilight?" I said. "You were the one that found me, right?"

"Yep, why?" She said without stopping.

"I was wondering if you found anything that might belong to me."

She stopped and turned around. "Actually yes. I found a strange rectangular device."

I nodded. "That would be my iPod. Was it broken?"

"It has a small crack in it, but other then that, it seemed fine."

I gave a sigh of relief. "Good. Where is it?"

"In my room."

"Was that what you were studying? Spike didn't say."

She nodded. "Yes." She turned around and continued walking. "I was trying to figure out how it worked."

"As long as you don't take it apart." I shrugged. She gave a nervous chuckle and my face fell. "You did, didn't you?"

"Maybe a little..." She glanced over and saw me glaring at her. "B-but I put it together! And it works!"

"It had better." I said in a harsh tone.

The walk turned silent. But with this new information about my iPod, I started to wonder if they had electricity. I would ask Ms. Genius here, but I was kinda mad at her at the moment. After a couple of more minutes, I got tired of the silence and started to sing in very low volume. I saw Twilight's ears twitch.

She suddenly stopped. "You know Germane?"

The question caught me off guard. "If you mean German, then no. I only know certain words because of a band I like. Like zwitter. That's a German word."

Her face turned red, and I laughed. "Yes. Well," She cleared her throat. "Could you sing that song again?" She began moving again.

"I'm...not really a good singer..." I said, following her. Obviously, idiot.

"Oh come on. You don't have to sing it loudly, just loud enough where I can hear you."

I sighed. "Fine. But consider yourself lucky. I normally wouldn't do this." I took a deep breath. "I only remember the chorus."

"That's fine."

I nodded and began to sing again:

"Ohne dich kann ich nicht sein,
Ohne dich.
Mit dir bin ich auch allein,
Ohne dich.
Ohne dich zähl ich die Stunden, ohne dich.
Mit dir stehen die Sekunden,
Lohnen nicht."

She tapped her chin, and after a few seconds, put on a sad expression. "I wonder what would make somepony want to write a song like that?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"I mean the first line is kind of sweet, but the the second line..."

"Mind translating?"

"Well, ohne dich means 'without you'."

I rolled my eyes. "I know that much. I meant translate the whole chorus, not word for word."

"Oh, okay:

"Without you I cannot be,
Without you.
With you I am alone too,
Without you.
Without you I count the hours, without you.
With you the seconds stand still,
They aren't worth it."

"Yeah, I see what you mean." I shrugged. "But, you know." I looked around. "So anyway, where are we going?" She stopped and looked around.

"Well, that's on of the roads to Sweet Apple Acres," she pointed to the right. She then pointed left. "And over there is the market place. And ahead of us is Sugar Cube Corner."

Really? "It looks like it's made of ginger bread..."

"Well it is a bakery."

"Yeah. Makes a lot of sense." I said sarcastically. "Well, I guess we could go there for a snack."

"Well..."

I raised an eye brow. "What?"

"Maybe we shouldn't go there yet."

"Why not?" I asked slowly.

"My friend Pinkie Pie works there. She's a bit...hyper."

I nodded. "I see. What do you suggest?"

"Well, I don't know about you but I suggest a party!!" Said a voice from behind us. Making us both jump about ten feet in the air. And then the owner of the voice gasped. "Twilight! Who's your friend!? No no whats your friend!?" She then bounced to me. "I haven't seen you around, and that must mean that you're new in town!"

"Well um..."

"Wait." Twilight interrupted. "Pinkie, I saw you in that mob yesterday."

"Yep!"

"Surely you saw him then?"

"Nope!" That confused me. It seemed like every pony in town was there. "I was behind some mean ponies. They didn't let me go in front of them! And when the crowd went away, you were gone." I guess that made sense.

"Why didn't you check the hospital?"

"You went to the hospital!?!?"

Twilight groaned in frustration. "Never mind, I'll explain it later. We were on our way to Sugar Cube Corner. Care to join us?"

"Okie doki loki!"

She is a strange one, that's for sure. I did have to wonder why she was smiling a lot though. But even back on Earth, there are people like that. Twilight must have noticed that I was feeling uncomfortable, because she took the liberty of explaining everything to Pinkie. However little that may be.

"...And that's all I know at the moment. He won't tell me anything." 'Well you really haven't asked.'

"Silly Twilight, you need to ask him first!" I stopped in my tracks and looked at her. Twilight did the same.

"H-how did you know I haven't asked him yet?" She then shook her head. "Never mind." She looked back at me. "Don't worry, it's just Pinkie being Pinkie."

"Uh huh, sure. If you say so..." I said, as I continued to walk with them. I think I had a friend like Pinkie once. I can't really remember though...

We walked into the bakery, and some ponies stared at me. Twilight gave them a stern glance and they all went back to what they were doing. We walked up to the counter, Twilight ordered a cupcake and so did Pinkie. And I saw several things that looked good. Cookies, brownies, slices of pie and cake. God damn they looked delicious. And then I realized I don't have any money. Well I do but I don't think they'd accept U.S. dollars. Inwardly cursing, I turned around and sat down at the table Twilight and Pinkie were at.

"Why didn't you get anything?" Asked Pinkie.

"I don't have any money..."

Twilight look at me. "I could buy-" I stopped her.

"You're already going to buy me lunch, I don't want you spending money on me anymore that you have to."

"But it's no trouble really."

I thought about it and sighed. "If you really insist I guess...I don't care what you get me." She nodded and went to the counter, leaving Pinkie and I alone together. She was staring at me without saying a word, which was unnerving.

Until, "Gee, you really don't talk much do you? Well that's okay! I can talk for the both of us!" I shook my head. "Oh! That could work too! I ask a question and you nod and shake your head!" I shrugged. "Okay! Do you like parties?" I shook my head. "No? Not even a little bit?"

That required a vocal answer. "It really depends on the type of party. If it's a small party then it's fine, but I hate huge parties."

"Okie doki loki Zane. I think I can work with that." She gasped. "I'll invite all of my friends! Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack! Maybe a couple others?"

"I'm sure you'll figure it out." How did she know my name? Twillight must have told her. Speaking of Twilight, she came back to the table. She got me a chocolate chip cookie. She sat it in front of me and sat next to Pinkie. "What are we doing after this?" I asked.

"I think we should go see Rarity next, and then we find something to eat."

"Sounds good to me, I suppose." I finished the cookie and asked if they were ready to go. Pinkie said she was on her break and had to get back to work. Twilight said she wanted to sit for awhile. I didn't mind all that much I hope she didn't expect a long conversation.

~Twenty Minutes Later~

"I don't have a good quote for this one..."-Me

We are now at the clothing shop, and Rarity has agree to outfit me with some new clothes. After freaking out....for an hour.....and a half. She even threw her cat at me! But Twilight caught it. Thank god for that. Lesson here is: Always let Twilight go first. Lesson learned. So, after that initial breakdown, I am now stood on a pedestal. This is one of the most boring things I have done in my life. And we just started! It could be because she was nervous, or maybe she was being careful? Either way I wanted this to be over.

"Now that I have the measurements out of the way, what colors and fabrics do you want?"

"Denim for the pants, if you have it. And maybe cotton for the shirt." I thought about that for a second. "I don't know actually." I shrugged. "Something that wont shrink."

She nodded and wrote it down. "Mmhmm, now for the color."

"Blue for the pants and black for the shirt."

She looked at me with concern. "Black? What ever for? Are you feeling okay?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I feel fine. Why do you ask?"

"Black isn't....how should I put this?" She tapped her chin. "Well, frankly It isn't a good color..."

"Black is a negative color. The color of depression, sadness, pain, evil, and death. Right, Miss Rarity?" I looked out of the window.

"Well...yes." She said cautiously.

"It is for those reasons that it is my favorite color." I slowly and creepily turned my head and looked at her "I want black."

She backed up a bit. "Uh....okay..."

After about an hour or so of standing still, fitting, and refitting, she was finally done. "There we go Darling, you can move now. Though I am still not sure why you wanted....black."

I moved around a bit to get used to the fabric.'Feels kinda different' I thought. "When you've seen what I have, you'll understand." I sighed and shook my head as the awful memory tried to surface. "Thanks Rarity." I pulled out my wallet and gave her two dollars. "Here's some currency from the country I come from. I don't think it's any good here but, think of it as a gift."

"I can't accept this."

"Why not?" I asked still holding the money out.

"This was a favor. I can not and will not accept money for simply helping somepony out."

"Not even as a gift? I see the generosity you've shown me, don't deny me returning the favor."

She grabbed in her magic and looked at it. "Well it is quite unique."

"See? Once in a life time opportunity." I smiled.

"Thank you oh so much."

"Not a problem." Just then an idea struck me. "Hey, do you have any fabric paint?"

She blinked a couple times. "I think so? Why do you ask?"

"Why else?"

Her eyes widened in realization. "I see, what colors do you want?"

"Just red would be fine."

"Any bit of color would be an improvement. I will back momentarily."

I chuckled as she left. 'She really doesn't like black.' I thought. Having that memory flash in my head made me think of home. "I wonder if I'm dead there." I thought out loud. "Or I'm in a coma and this is just a world my mind made to cope with it..." I sighed. "Might never find out."

"Find out what mister?" I heard from my right. Slightly startled, I looked over to see a filly walking down the stairs that Rarity went up. "Are you looking for your cutie mark?"

I scanned my brain for what a "cutie mark" is. I thought back to when Twilight was telling me about this place. 'That's right. The mark on their flanks when they find what they're good at' "No, no. I don't think I can get one of those." I chuckled. "I was just wondering if I could get home."

"Are you lost?"

"Well, you could say that." Knowing what the next question might be, I spoke before her. "But while I'm figuring everything out, I'm staying with Twilight."

She smiled. "It was nice meeting you, but I have some crusading to do! Bye!" And she walked out of the door. I just waved. 'Crusading? Surely not.' No, it had to be a game.

"There! What do you think?" Rarity had gotten back with the paint a few minutes ago, and I just finished painting my new shirt.

"Hmm...well, it's better than plain black."

"What? You don't like it?"

"It's not that, darling. I am merely trying to figure out why you chose something that resembles a pie chart."

"Pie chart? What the...? It's a peace sign! What are you talking about?" I knew she wouldn't know what is was, but I had to mess with her. Damn richies. At least she's nice. I put the peace sign on the upper left of the shirt. Right above where a pocket would be.

"I didn't mean to offend."

I laughed. "Naw, you're good. I was just kiddin'." I looked around and noticed a lack of the purple one. "Where did Twilight go?"

"You don't remember?"

"Not really. If she told me, then I guess I spaced out."

She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "She said she was going to look for a restaurant you might like."

"Oh. That's nice of her." Great, now for idle conversation... I tried to think about things to talk about. "So... I met your...sister."

"Oh?" She raised her eyebrow. "I didn't even know she was here! She didn't give you any trouble, did she?"

I shook my head. "No, she didn't. We said, what? Like four, five words? And then she went out 'crusading'."

She had an almost defeated look on her face. "Oh, I do hope she keeps out of trouble."

"I'm sure she'll be fine." There was a pause. I looked around for a bit, waiting for her to say something else. She didn't say anything else, so I felt that I had to. Thankfully I just thought of something. "So what is 'crusading'? In my world it probably has a different meaning."

"They are just looking for their special talent. They gave it a nickname is all." She stated. "What does it mean in your world?"

Shit. How to dodge this question. As if on cue, Twilight walked in. "Hello! Sorry I stepped out, but I think I found a good place to eat."

"Cool. Mind if we get going?"

"Not at all! Thanks Rarity."

"N-not a problem Dear. Bye!"

We both walked out of the store. Twilight happily leading me. "I hope everything between the two of you blew over."

"Oh yeah, everything went fine."

She smiled. "Good! It's just over here."

"Can't wait. I'm starving!"

~A Few Minutes Later~

"Sometimes, I just don’t want to talk about my problems. Must people don’t want to hear them anyway..."-Me

"The Daisy Chain?" I asked. We just arrive at the restaurant she hyped me up for.

"Yes." She nodded. "It's fairly new. I thought this was a good opportunity to check it out."

"Oookay. Am I right too assume that its going mostly vegetarian?"

"Yes," She tilted her head. "Why wouldn't it be."

"Well then.... I might be hungry later." We walked into the restaurant. It was pretty much what you would expect. Which was slightly surprising, considering it look kinda like a T.G.I. Friday's.

Twilight walked up to the waitress station. "Hello, table for two?" She asked with a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"Yes please." Twilight happily replied. The waitress asked us to follow her and we did. I was looking around at all of the random shit that was strewn across the walls. I shook my head and rolled my eyes. 'Why do they do that' I wondered. She showed us our table and said some one would be with us shortly, and handed us two menus. We both nodded in response and started to look at said menus.

I looked at the drinks and sighed. Apple juice, some weird fuckin' juice drink, and two other drinks that didn't sound good. Dammit. I flipped the menus and looked at the food. And guess what! There's a salad, here's a salad, everywhere's a freakin' salad. Or at least that's what it seemed like. Everything had lettuce in it, and if it didn't, it was fucking daffodils or, well, daisies. Like this! "What the fuck is a Daisy Milkshake!?" I thought out loud. Shit.

"Zane! Language!" Twilight scolded.

"S-sorry." I hid behind my menu. I heard a set of hooves hesitantly walk up to the table.

"T-the Daisy Milkshake is our f-famous milk s-shake." She said. She took a deep, calming breath. "My name's Sunflower, I'll be your waitress today." Sun flower? Really? "Are you ready to order?"

"No, not yet. Actually you can skip me. I'm not hungry anymore..." I handed her my menu.

"Zane-?" Twilight tried to ask but I stopped her. "Um...okay then? I'll have the..." I stopped paying attention. I guess thought's of home invaded my head. Or it could be a mood swing? No idea, but what ever. "Are...are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah why?"

"Well, you were going on about how hungry you were, and all of a sudden you're not hungry. What going on?" She looked at me with concern plain on her face.

"Nothing looked good." I said as I looked away from her.

"Not even a drink?" I just shook my head. "I don't think you're being honest with me."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Can we please drop it? We don't need a replay of what happened when I first got here do we?" I said calmly. I glanced at her and she looked shock I would threaten her like that. I sighed and looked at the ceiling. "Sorry...I went overboard there..."

She didn't give a proper response. Yep, I definitely shouldn't have said that...

The walk back to the library was a quiet one. Even though I apologized a few times, she didn't seem to care. We walk into the door and she cast a spell. "What is wrong with you! You scare our waitress, pretty much everypony in the restaurant, and threaten me!"

"I said I was sorry!"

"Sorry doesn't cut it. You went over the line and-"

"I acknowledge that!!" She stopped and looked at me, scared. "I was apologizing for both things, you stupid unicorn!"

"There's no reason for name calling!"

"I wasn't name calling!"

"What the hay is wrong with you!!"

"FINE!!" I shouted. She scooted back a couple of feet. "You want to know what's wrong with me? I miss home! Can you blame me for acting out of sorts?" I waited for her to say anything, but she didn't. "It normally isn't this big a deal, but I could be dead dammit!" I sighed. "Do you know what happened before I came here?" She shook her head. "I was hit by an S.U.V.!" She gave me a weird look. "I'll tell you later." I then sighed. "And like Aura said, I'm lonely. But that was before I came here." I walked over to the couch. Twilight walked over to me and sat down. "I know all that doesn't really excuse me, but..." I trailed off.

"No, it doesn't excuse you from anything. But I understand." I looked over at her. She was smiling. "You shouldn't bottle everything up inside, Zane. It isn't healthy."

"I know it isn't. It's just my way of dealing with things, you know?"

She nodded her head. "Yes but you need to find another way." She then seemed to be thinking about something. "You haven't told me about your world yet." Mild subject change at best...

"You don't want to hear about it. At least not today."

"If it's a 'long story' then I've got time."

I sighed. I hate when people do that. "Okay." She pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill. "The planet I'm from is called Earth. The country I'm from is the United States of America."

She wrote that down. "What state are you from?"

"Indiana. As for the town, I'm not saying."

"Okay?" She wrote that down. "What is your government like?"

I laughed. "Oh sorry, I really don't want to get into that." She gave me a puzzled look. "Trust me on this." I spent a good amount of time telling her little odd facts about Earth, while she was writing everything down.

After maybe an hour, she set the parchment down. "Thank you."

"No problem." I shrugged. "Hey, now that that's out of the way, wanna listen to some human music?"

"I don't know. It's getting kinda late."

I looked outside, and then at my watch. It was only nine at night. "Maybe one or two songs?"

She rolled her eyes playfully. "Fine. I'll go get it." She went up stairs. I tried to think of a song. It had to be a relaxing song, to calm everything down. Problem is I don't have many relaxing songs...

She returned with it and hovered it over to me. I took it and looked it over. She wasn't kidding when she said she fixed it. The supposed crack was gone and everything. It was even charged! "Sweet! Thanks. Now, to listen too?" I searched the music library. "Hmm... I'm not sure." Maybe Seether? I looked through their songs and settle on Plastic Man. "Here we go. It's a little sad but I find it relaxing." I pressed play

After it was over, she looked at me. "Well..."

"Yes?"

"I'm conflicted. The song sounds sad, but the message is more or less positive. Well to a certain point at least."

I nodded. "I felt the same when I first it." I searched for another song. One maybe a little better. "Ah, this a good one." I chose Tiptoe by Imagine Dragons. "This one's more upbeat." I pressed play and closed my eyes.

After the song ended she nodded. "I like that better than the other one."

I chuckled. "I thought so. If you ever want to listen to another one, just let me know."

"Oh I definitely will." She looked at the clock on the wall. "Well it's nine o' seven. I'm going to bed."

"Oh okay. See you tomorrow."

"Good night." And she headed up stairs. I laid down on the couch and closed my eyes. I had my music going but it might not help. I have a lot to think about tonight.

Day Three: Happy Birthday

View Online

~Day Three: Happy Birthday AKA What A Day~

"I don't like some of the dreams I have. They're really weird."-Me

I was in a dark room, no, hallway. I had my rifle in my hands, and ammo strapped to my belt. It also had a scope on it. I looked at my side and had my revolver in it's holster. There was ammo in the pouch on the holster as well. I looked at my clothes, and I was wearing my normal clothes. Blue jeans and a black T-shirt. I felt another weapon on my back. I shouldered the rifle and got the weapon that was on my back. It was an AK-47. I took a closer look at my belt and I had ammo for it too. I kept the AK in hand and began walking.

"This isn't lookin' too good for me is it?" I thought. Looking around, I saw a few doors along the walls. I went over to one and tried to open it, but it was locked. I heard a noise come from in front of me, and froze. It almost sounded like gun shots. I aimed down the sights and slowly walked towards the noise. As I got closer I could hear everything more clearly. I heard commands being shouted, primal shouts and groans, and explosions.

"Where is he!?! He should've been here by now!" I heard a voice yell.

"I don't know Sir. He was right behind us." Another one said more calmly.

I saw a door way with no door and slowly walked out, no longer looking down the sights. There was a squad of people firing out of a window and two people doing nothing. Well it seemed that way. They both looked at me. "There you are! We have people fighting, and take your sweet time!?"

"No...um..Sir. Just wasn't feeling right." I said.

He gave me a strange look. "Sir? You're the founding member of this group." I raised an eyebrow. "Whatever. We need you to go up that ladder and take a sniping position. Warn us if anything big comes our way."

"G-got it." I looked around and found the ladder. I propped the AK against the wall and went up.

"What are you doing!?" I heard the commander shouted at me. "They can crawl up the walls!"

I tried to think of something. "L-less weight! Don't need a lot of weight while trying to get up here! Toss 'er up!" He did and I caught it. I sat it beside me, took my rifle off of my back, and laid down.

"Now, lets see we're up against." I looked through the scope. The carnage I saw was unspeakable. Dead bodies, burning building, and amonst it all, I saw... "Zombies?" Legions of them too! there had to be a thousand of them walking toward us. In the very back of them all, I could barely see a huge monstrosity. And it wasn't waiting for the ones in front of him. "Shit!"

"Don't say that! What is it?!" He called from below.

"Get your binos!" I told him. "We have a big mofo comin'." There was a pause in communication for a few minutes. "You see him?"

"Yes, I really wish I haven't though!"

"Do we have anything that can take it out!?"

"No! Get down here! We're leaving!"

"Sir?" I heard some one else say.

"Retreat! Get the fuck out of here!!" I grabbed my AK and slid down the ladder. "The Commander and I will cover you all! Go go go!"

I guess I'm the commander. I briefly looked around, while he opened up on some zombies, and saw some boards and nails laying around. "Try to hold them off! I'll board up some of the windows!"

"Not going to work, we tried! And with that thing coming there's no way!" He had a point. I blasted some zombies while trying to think.

"There's no point in staying! Go, I'll cover you!" He nodded and ran. I reloaded and continued to fire at the zombies. Just then I heard a loud and feral grunt. And the wall in front exploded. I was blown a few feet away, and I had somehow avoided being crushed by bigger pieces of debris. I saw the biggin' standing there. I sensed some crawling towards me....

...And grabbed the bat and swung. I blinked a couple times, noticing that it was Aura I swung at. "Shit, I didn't hit you did I?"

"N-no..."

"Good." I sat up. "What time is it?"

"Noon, Twilight asked me to wake you up."

"I see." I stretched. "God damn that was a weird dream."

"Dream?" Twilight walked into the room.

"Yeah. Damn lucid dreams." I normally like them. It's just one like that I don't really like.

"I might be able to help you." I raised an eyebrow. "I may have a spell that can take me into your mind and find the source."

"It wasn't exactly a nightmare. And I don't about that plan. You probably wouldn't like it in there."

"Nonsense! I've been through more than you think."

"Okay then, how about this? Ask me later. I just woke up." I stood up. "Any left overs from breakfast?"

Aura nodded. "There are some pancakes from earlier in the ice box."

"Cool." I put on a goofy smile. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She smiled as well and walked away.

I stretched my legs and headed into the kitchen. I found the ice box with little issue, and got the pancakes out. I sat the plate down on the table and sat myself down on a seat. Twilight levitated the knife and fork over I forgotten over to me. She also used a heating spell on the pancakes. I thanked her and started eating.

After I was done eating, I took the plate to the sink and rinsed it off. I walked into the main room and saw Twilight looking at my iPod. "I rinsed off the plate."

"Thank you."

"Where are the clothes Rarity made me?"

"Oh sorry. I put them on the table over there." She pointed at the table.

"Oh, okay." I went over to the table, and grabbed the clothes. "Thanks." I looked around. "You...have a bathroom?" She told me, and I thanked her. I went into the bathroom and changed. I walked back into the main room and saw Lyra talking with Twilight.

She looked at me and waved. "Hello!"

"Hi."

"I came here to ask some questions, but Twilight answered some of them."

I shrugged. "Okay." Yeah, it was a little irradiating, but what could you do?

"But, I have a few non species specific questions."

"Okay, shoot."

"Do you play any instruments?"

I nodded. "I play the bass guitar."

"Really?!" She said excitingly. "What music do you play?"

"Anything really." I shrugged.

And so went on the interview.

~An Hour Later~

"I feel sorry for the one who goes inside my head. They'd better have an escape planned out."-Me

The little interview with Lyra went good. I found out about two more musicians in town. Apparently one of them was from an orchestra and just recently moved here. The other was a famous DJ I guess. What was the name...? Oh right Pon-3. What a weird name. Is it pon-three? Or just another way to say pony? No idea. Octavia is a good name though. I like that name. If I have a daughter, I may name her that. Maybe not... Not important.

Lyra left not too long ago, and Twilight has been looking at me weird ever since. I wanted to ask her what she wanted, but figured I would regret doing so if I did. So I scratched my head and sat down on my couch, idly going through my iPod. I would ask about my cell phone, but honestly? Fuck that thing. It wouldn't work here anyway, so it didn't matter either way. I heard an aggravated sound come from the unicorn, and looked up from the music device. "What?"

"Have you thought about that spell?" Oh damn it. I was hoping she would forget.

"Not a whole lot, Twi. I really don't think it's a good idea."

"I've done it before, and nothing went wrong then."

I sighed. "Is there any way I could come with you?"

She tapped her chin. "I think I saw a similar spell that would allow that." She said with a perplexed look on her face. "Let me go check." She walked up to a book shelf and got a book. I saw her speed read through it and stop suddenly. "Ah! Here it is!" She exclaimed. "Yep, this one will let you remain conscious while in your mind."

I tilted my head. "Um...w-what?"

"In other words, it would let you come with me..."

"Oh okay." I thought about it some more. "I still don't know about this, but, fine."

"Yay!" I jumped a little and she cleared her throat. "Um...yes. sit down on the floor." I did so. "Now, I have no idea what will happen, but I'm sure it wont be anything bad."

"Just get on with it before I change my mind..."

"Okay, okay, sorry." Her horn lit up. "Here we go."

We are now in a long hallway. There was water leaking from the ceiling. And everything was in grayscale.

“Hmm…”

“What?” She asked, looking around at her odd surroundings.

“Looks a little different from last time.” I shrugged.

She chuckled suddenly. “I don’t see what you were talking about. Everything is…well…odd, but more normal then you were telling me.”

“Oh this isn’t it. Just wait till we reach the end of the hallway.”

“Okay?”

We walked toward the end of the hallway. On the way we heard various noises. Relaxing music, rattling chains, and the occasional scream. It was funny because Twilight would flinch every noise. I chuckled and told her 'welcome'. The was sound coming from a door to the left of us. Twilight started to walk towards it, but I stopped her. "You might not want to go that way." She didn't question, and continued forward.

We reached the end of the hallway, and there were two doors. The one on the left was black, and the one on the right was white. She looked at the two doors curiously, and looked at me. I raised an eyebrow at her and she tilted her head. I looked ahead and she followed my gaze. The was a sign on the wall in front of us reading: Choose Wisely. She looked at me again and I shrugged. "Would you like an explanation?"

She nodded. "Please."

"Okay. It's pretty simple. The door on the right leads to the good part of my mind, and the left one leads to the evil side. There is a room on each one but they are different. You...may not like you see. So," I took a deep breath and exhaled. "Choose wisely."

"Well if you're having nightmares, then we should probably go into that one." She pointed at the left one.

"If you're sure." I said hesitantly. "Just keep in mind, that, I may not be able to protect you from much over there."

"I'm sure it will be fine." She said confidently.

"Oookaaay. If you're really sure, go ahead."

-Step Into the Darkness-

She opened the door, and the first thing we noticed was the smell. If I had to guess I would say it was rotten flesh. But I guess we’ll find out soon enough. Why would rotting flesh be in my mind? Mostly zombie related dreams, really. Anyway, we were before another, more dimly lit, hallway.

“I thought you said there was a room behind the door?”

I nodded my head. “Yeah, don’t worry, it’s a small hallway.” She nodded.

“It’s pretty dark.” She said. I just shrugged, and she began to light up her horn.

“No, no wait!” But it was too late. She gasped and gagged. “I tried to warn you.” I shook my head. “And watch it! I don’t need your vomit in my head.” The hallway we were in was more or less covered in blood. Intestines were hung near the ceiling like Christmas garland. Severed heads hung on the walls like decorations as well, with the bodies they belonged too right under them.

“S-sorry but what in Tartarus!?! Zane? This…th-this…”

I knelt down and patted her head. “I know Twi.” I closed my eyes, only to open them back up. “This isn’t even the best part!” I said with a smile on my face. “Just wait till you see the actual room!”

“But…” She looked at me with a worried look on her face. “How can this not bother you!?” She gestured to the bodies on the right.

“Because they aren't real.” I shrugged. “They’re from the dream I had last night.” I scratched the back of my head. “At least these ones are…not sure about the others ones over there.” I pointed to the left of us.

“What do you mean ‘not sure about those’!?” She yelled. “This is your mind! How can you not know?!”

“Shh, you’ll wake the baby.”

“What. Are. You talking about?! This makes no sense!” She stamped the ground. “This isn’t right. You shouldn’t be used to this-this…” She trailed off.

“Well I made this.” I said with a shrug. She looked at me with a strange expression. There was then a roar so loud, that it had my ears ringing in seconds. “For him.” I pointed in the direction of the noise. There was then stomping from behind me. I turned around, and saw a monster like creature walking this way. “I told you, you'd wake the baby.” I said in an exasperated tone. “And now he’s grumpy…” I shook my head.

I turned and looked at Twilight, to tell her not to run, but… She was already gone. The creature roared and ran after her. “NO! Wait up a sec!!” I yelled as I took off after them. Twilight ran into the door and frantically tried to get it opened.

“Come on! Please open!!” She rattled the door. She sounded like she was starting to cry. “Open, open, open, OPEN!!”

It was then the creature grabbed her, and held her up to it’s face. It growled a low, menacing growl that, even I wasn’t used to. “Okay Zeke! That’s enough!” He stared straight into her eyes and opened his mouth.

“Why do you have to be so LOUD!!” He shouted at her. “Stop SCREAMING and SHUT! UP!!” And then he threw her at me. I was barely able to catch her. “Zane,” He looked at me from over his shoulder. “Control your bitch!” He said hatefully. He then opened the door. “Get out, the both of you. Lest ye seal thine fate.”

Twilight wasted no time running out. I stood there rubbing my temples. “Sorry Zeke. We’ll come by some other time, when you aren't ‘sleeping’.” He grunted in response, and started walking back to the room. I slipped out into the hallway, and saw her hyperventilating. I just shook my head. “Shouldn't have woke the baby…”

She glared at me and huffed. “Worst. Idea. Ever.”

I chuckled. “Did I not warn you?” She didn’t respond to that.

"You have the THING in your mind, and you're laughing?!?! This is serious!"

I kept chuckling. "Well I made him. At least to a point."

She shook her head at me. "What do you mean by that?"

I shrugged. "Just what I said. You see, during my early teens, I had a lot of anger. I hated everything, and everyone. And I mean that. I bottled it up so much that, sooner or later, I started hearing a voice." She raised an eyebrow. "I don't like disembodied voices, so I 'made' him a body so-to-speak."

"And you chose that!?"

"No." I shook my head. "That's his 'transformed' state. We did wake him up, and since he's the embodiment of my anger, it doesn't take much to set him off."

"Oh really? So what does he normally look like?"

"Kinda like me." Her mouth opened, but she closed it. "With a few differences. Of course." She gave the "go on" motion with her hoof. "He has a red tint to his skin, because his always angry. facial structure's kinda different. His hair is short and black, eyes are red, has a different voice. Also wears black clothes a lot. Pretty basic, actually." I shrugged again.

She looked at the door across the hall. "So... What is he like." She asked slowly.

"Let's go meet him! Follow me." We walked over the door. I nodded at Twilight and she gulped.

~Walk Into the Light~

I knocked on the door and reached for the door knob, but Twilight stopped me.

“Any warnings for him?”

I thought for a moment, and shook my head. “Nope.”

“What does he look like?”

“Like me. Pretty much the same deal, except his hair is white and ends at his shoulder blades. Wears white clothes mostly, has different voice as well. Paler skin than me, blue eyes… I think that’s it.” I grabbed the knob and opened the door. I let Twilight go in first. She was reluctant at first but relaxed after a little bit.

Inside the door was an actual room, not a hallway. The walls were white, the carpet was light gray, and there was a window. Outside was a nice sunny day, with barely a cloud in the sky. The room smelled nice, like someone was just burning a candle. He was standing in front of the window, looking out of it.

Twilight looked around. “This is…nice.” She looked at him. “Is that him?” She whispered to me.

“Yep.” I nodded with a smile. “Hello, Zac.”

He turned around. “Hello! How are you two doing?”

I motioned for Twilight to reply. She smiled sheepishly. “A little shaken, actually.”

He smiled. “He does have that effect, doesn’t he?” He walked over to her and looked her over. “You seem to be alright though, I wouldn’t worry.”

“Thanks?”

He gave a polite laugh. “I understand how you feel, Twilight.” He nodded. “He scares me as well.”

“Yeah, but he was in his… Different state…”

He looked shocked. “Oh my… So sorry you had to see that. Now I’m glad I check you over!”

“Yeah…” I cleared my throat. “We kinda woke him up. Well, Twi here did. She likes to yell.”

Zac shook his head. “That explains it all.” He sighed. Be it relief or something else, I couldn’t tell. “We don’t have to stay standing. Why don’t we have a seat?” A table then appeared by the window. It had a clean white table cloth on it. I don’t know what the wood is.

We all sat down at the table. I looked at Twilight, and it looked like she was conflicted. “What’s up Twilight?”

“I just don’t…understand. How could you make that,” She thought of a good word to use. “Thing. And then make him?”

“The human mind is complex thing, Ms. Sparkle. Humans don’t even understand it.” Zac said. Twilight looked at me, and I was just nodding sagely.

“Don’t think about it too hard.” I said. “You’ll just get a headache, believe me.”

“Can I offer you something to drink, Twilight?”

“Hey, what about me?” I asked.

“It is rude not to offer a drink to our guest.”

“I guess this is my head, huh? Well, I’m not thirsty.”

“Neither am I.” Twilight said. “Thank you though.”

Zac smiled again. “It’s no issue.”

“So,” I said getting Twilight’s attention. “What do you think?”

“What do you mean?”

“About this side of my mind. What do you think.”

“Oh, I like it a lot better than over there.”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Zeke can be a bit of a prick sometimes.” I stood up. “Well, I want to get out of here.” Twilight nodded her head. “Thank you Zac, for letting us in.”

He stood up as well. “No problem. I love when you visit. I’ll see you later, Twilight.” He held out a hand. Twilight held out a hoof. Zac took it, and the shook. “It was nice meeting you.”

“You too Zac.” I walked over to the door and opened it. Twilight walked out, and I was right behind her. She stopped and held out her hoof again. “My hoof feels weird.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Really? Hmm…” I tried to think of what it could be, but I had nothing. “it’s probably nothing.”

“Probably not. You ready?” I nodded. “Okay. I’m going to end the spell now.” Her horn lit up and she vanished.

It took a few minutes, but after that I exited my mind and returned the normal world. Twilight was looking at me with a weird expression on her face. “I’m back.” I said groggily. “You okay?”

"Yes, just tired. That spell used a lot of magic."

"I can imagine." I rubbed my eyes. "Sorry you couldn't 'find the source' of my nightmares."

She shook her head. "Don't be." That's all she said before going up to her room and closing the door.

"Okay?" I just stared in the direction of the stairs. "Well then, I'm taking a nap."

~Half An Hour Later~

"I dislike birthdays"-Me

The nap was nice. I managed to get rid of the effects that Twilight's spell had on me. I found out why she went to her room as well. Apparently she sent a letter to the Princess. Since it really didn't matter to me, I shrugged it off and told her I was going to stop by the music shop. Sure it was basically pointless, but I needed something to do.

But before that. "Hey Twilight? What day is it?" I asked.

"October twelfth I think."

"Oh... Okay." I waved her a goodbye, and left. I heard her ask if something was wrong, but I closed the door and continued on. "Hmm... The dates seem to be parallel to where I'm from." I thought on this some more. "Weird." I looked around to make sure I was going the right way. I was. I think. "Where was it again?" I wondered out loud. "If I remember right, it should be in this direction."

"Look honey." I heard from somewhere. "It's the talking ape." Ouch, is that how view me? I'm just some animal to them? I guess I can't blame them, but still.

"Don't look at him babe, he might see you." I shook my head and allowed my hair to stay in front of my eyes, and quickened my pace.

"Mommy, can I talk to it?" A young colt asked.

"No! Nopony knows what it's capable of." I heard the mother say.

It, it, it! What the hell!

They view you as an animal, then why not act like one?

To prove them wrong.

I shook my head again, and just kept walking. The music store was farther away than I thought. That, or I did indeed go the wrong way. Thinking back on it. "Dammit..." I turned around and went back towards the library. From there I went left instead of right and found the music place with little issue.

I walked in. "W-welcome!" The shopkeeper said in a nervous voice. I just smiled and waved to show I acknowledged him. I looked around for the bass guitars. I found them and walked over, and picked one up. And it was yanked out of my hands.

"What the hell!" I yelped in surprise. I looked over at who yanked it away from me, it was the shopkeeper.

"I-I think you're looking for something else." He said in a harsh tone.

I sighed. "Unless you have drums, I really don't think I am." I looked him in the eye. "I'm a musician in my world, I'll be careful."

He looked at me. "I don't care. I would like it if you left." He gestured towards the door.

I nodded my head. "Okay. Okay, sure." Well there's something I can add to the mental blacklist.

I began walking up to the door when I heard some one trot behind me. "Sir?" It was a mare's voice. Not thinking she was talking to me, I just kept walking. I heard a different mare sigh "Hey! You with the two legs!" I perked up and turned around. I saw a smug looking white unicorn and a grey earth pony.

I just raised an eyebrow, and the grey one cleared her throat. "I'm terribly sorry for disturbing you," She said in a…posh(?) voice. “But, would you happen to be Zane?”

I glared at her. “How do you know my name?”

“Whoa,” The blue maned unicorn said. “Chill out bubz, Lyra told us.”

The grey one stepped forward. “My name is Octavia Philharmonica, and my friend here is Vinyl Scratch.”

“What’s up? We heard you were a musician, that true?”

“Well, sort of. I can play bass, but I’m not that good.”

Octavia nodded. “I would still like to hear you play.” She turned to the shopkeeper. “Would you be so kind as to give our friend here the guitar?”

“U-uh sure thing.” And he gave it back to me. I chuckled, he almost sounded panicked. I grabbed a cord and plugged it in to a nearby amp. I sat down and started out by checking to see if it was in-tune. It wasn’t, and I looked at the jerk-of-a-unicorn. “What?”

“It’s not in-tune.”

He almost looked offended. “Of course it is! I check them all daily.”

“Then you’re an idiot.” I deadpanned.

“Excuse me!?”

I plucked the fourth string. “This is D, when it’s supposed to be E.” I plucked the next string down. “This is also a half step too flat.” I plucked the next one. “This is a full step too sharp.” I plucked the last one. “And this is a half-step too high as well.” I held my chin in thought “So, if I’m right, It’s D, G ,E ,G#. When standard tuning is E, A, D, G. Assuming it’s the same here.” I looked over to the two ponies, and the nodded, confirming that it was.

The shopkeeper looked dumbfounded. “Hey, I told you, I’m a musician.” I shrugged. He just walked back over to the counter, and waited behind it.

“My my, you certainly do know the basics.” Octavia praised.

“Well, kinda, but after that I don’t know that much.” I began tuning the bass up.

“You showed him!” Vinyl said.

“He pissed me off.” I shrugged. “I would have been nicer if he didn't.” E-string and A-string tuned.

“Yes, well,” Octavia cleared her throat. “Do you only play the bass guitar?”

“That’s what I’m ‘best’ at. I tried to play a few others. Guitar, keyboard, piano, viola, and a few others I’m sure, but I just couldn't learn. So, I stuck with bass.” D-string and G-string tuned.

“Are there any instruments that you want to play?”

“Oh, sure. The contrabass, the six-string bass, baritone guitar, the eight-string bass, the cello.” Octavia quickly perked up. I tried to think of any more. “Wouldn't mind giving the harp a try either. Or maybe the lyre.”

Octavia tapped her chin. “I’m not sure I can help you with the guitars,” She looked at me. “But, this shop does have those classical instruments. Would you like to give them a try? I could help with the cello.”

"Yeah!" Vinyl said. "They have keyboards too. I could give you a hoof with that!"

I sighed. “Maybe some other time. I’m not really in the mood for it anymore.” They looked at the stallion behind the counter. “But I will play a bit, I guess I owe you that much.” I played a couple measures of blues, and then messed around for a bit. Lastly I played one of the songs I wrote. “What did you think?”

“I've heard better.”

“Vinyl!”

“It’s fine.” I shrugged it off. “She was just being honest.” But it still hurt slightly. “I guess I’ll be going now. It was nice meeting you.” And I left. As I was walking, I tried to think of somewhere else to go. “I have no money, so Sugar-Cube Corner is out…” I couldn't think of anything, so I just walked.

After quite a while of walking, I found myself at the ledge from a couple days ago. I looked down at the small neighborhood below. Maybe I’ll wake up? I thought. I shook those thoughts away and sat down. I looked at my watch, it was about two in the afternoon. I sighed. “Why do I have to be in another world on my fucking birthday? Hell, I could be in a coma. Or dead! Fuck…” I put my hands over my eyes. “I can’t believe this…” I started thinking of how my parents and grandparents were doing right now. Which was a bad idea, because I felt tears start to form. I took a few deep breaths to control myself.

I kept thinking about the likeliness of waking up if I jumped. I looked over the edge again, but shook my head, and leaned back. “Oh my…” I heard from behind me. I heard hoof-steps getting closer, and then stop. “Are you okay?” The voice was unmistakable.

“Hello, Fluttershy. Yeah. I’m fine thanks though.” I said without turning around.

“Then what are you doing all by yourself? If you don’t mind me asking…”

“Just… Thinking I guess. I don’t know.” She was silent. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“S-sure.” She sounded unsure.

I looked at hands. “What am I to you? The rest of the ponies haven’t been so nice…”

“Oh um…” She seemed to be struggling for an answer.

I sighed. “Never mind. Guess I’ll go back to Twilight’s.” I stood up and brushed myself off.

“How haven’t they been nice?” She finally asked.

I couldn’t help but clench a fist. “They keep calling me an ‘it’. I’m not a damn animal! Fucking ‘talking ape’ bullshit…”

“Did they really say that?” She asked in a shocked voice. “Oh my goodness! How could they?”

“Seems they just don’t like me.” I shrugged. “It’s okay though. I’m used to it.” But it still hurts. “I guess I’ll go.”

“If it isn’t any trouble, could come with you?”

“If you want.” I turned around. If I had to guess from the look on her face, I wasn’t fooling her with trying to hide that it was bothering me. Neither of us said anything to each other for a couple minutes after we left the ledge.

As we were our way through town, we could hear the ponies call out various things like: “Look, Fluttershy tamed it.” And. “Look at how brave Fluttershy is.” A pony’s response to that was. “Her is special talent is dealing with animals.”

I looked at Fluttershy. “See what I mean?” She looked…I guess appalled is the word. “Don’t say anything, they’ll learn when they crossed the line.”

“I’m surprised they haven’t already.” She said looking around at the offending ponies.

“I can tolerate a lot. I just hope, for their sake, they don’t overdo it. ‘Cause then shit gets broken.” She ‘eeped’ at that. “Sorry…”

“It’s…fine.” I just sighed and kept walking. I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I tried to dodge it, but I wasn’t fast enough. It was a milkshake. In a glass cup. And it hit my face.

It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay. I looked at Fluttershy and she had a shocked on her face.

Zane, let it go. Just walk away!

Screw that! They threw the first punch! Retaliate!!

I looked at the unicorn that threw the milkshake at me, and he was laughing. I smiled a smile the felt filthy, evil even, and walked over laughing as well. I even clapped on the way over. “Good one!” I said as I got close to him. “It was even my favorite flavor. Thank you.” He looked confused for a moment. All of sudden my smile fell and turned into a fierce scowl. “Don’t do it again.” I growled. I turned around, and began to walk away.

“What if I do?” I stopped dead and slowly turned around.

“Good point.” I grabbed his horn and started tugging on it. “Imma break it off. Simple as that. And then stab you with it.” The creepy smile returned. “And stab, and stab, and stab. And then keep it as a souvenir. So I can do all sorts of things with it. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes.” He squealed.

“Good.” I let go of his horn and turned around. As I was walking back to Fluttershy, I wiped some the milkshake off of my face. “Mmm. Chocolate. And…” I got some more and tasted it again. “Great. Blood. Time to go!” I was off.

O-oh my..." I heard Fluttershy squeak from behind me.

Day Four: Disturbing Events

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Pre-chapter author's notes: Hey guys. This one is mostly the same, except I did add some more to the end of what would have been chapter sixteen.

That's about it. Enjoy.

Day Four: Disturbing Events AKA Zane's Angry Day
"I don't believe and racism, It's wrong and divides us as a race. But it's there..."-Me

Not much else happened yesterday. I went straight to the library after the jackass, and cleaned up. I had a few small cuts from the glass, but nothing major. Fluttershy stayed the night and told Twilight what happened. Her reaction was...expected but, also unexpected. What I mean by that is, I expected her to get angry, which she did, but I didn't expect her to get saddened about it. She went up into her room. No idea why, but I get like that sometimes so I'll leave her alone. Fluttershy was making lunch and I didn't know where Aura went. Spike was out on errands, and I was sitting on the couch. Reflecting on what happened yesterday. I had never been a victim of racism before. It hurt, it really did. This situation pisses me off, confuses me, and makes me want to get revenge. And I'm not normally vindictive.

I briefly wondered who else may have felt like this. It didn't take me long. I called for Aura. She called back and poked her head out of the basement doorway. "Hey, can we talk for a bit?" I asked. She tilted her head, but walked over to me.

"What...do you want to...talk about?" She asked slowly. I couldn't blame her though. We don't usually talk.

"I was wondering how you were treated when you first got here."

Her ears flattened and she looked down at the floor. "Oh..." She sighed.

"I know. Our first real conversation and its about that." I scratched my growing beard. "Sorry." Damn I need to shave. "I guess I wanted to compare."

She looked back at me. "I wasn't....treated good..." She cleared her throat. "After the 'Invasion of Canterlot' I was launched and landed into the Everfree Forest. I wandered around for awhile and found this village. I knew it was a pony village but I needed help."

I furrowed my brows. "What happened?"

"I had a broken leg, a cracked horn, and a wounded wing. And when I got into town..."

"They made it worse?"

"...Yes." She said with a catch in her voice. "So much worse. They beat me, kicked dirt in my eyes, took advantage of my broken leg and cornered me and made it worse. Broke it in two more places and left me to starve in the alley they beat me in." Her voice was strange. It was calm yet filled with sadness. She was trying to mask what she was feeling. "Twilight found me. I was scared that she was like the other ones, but I saw the sadness and faint fury in her eyes, I knew she was different. Then she took me in."

"...And?"

"Things got better, but not by much... The ponies formed a mob, and surrounded the building. Twilight had to 'pull rank' to calm them down." She looked out the window. "What happened to you?" I heard the question but I was caught up in an internal conversation.

We need to plan something against these...creatures.

Let's not do anything yet. She did say something about an invasion.

it's still not right. It's too...human. That's something humans would do.

What do you suggest?

We plan something. But not go through with it just yet. We wait, and hopefully we won't need to do anything.

Okay.

"Zane?" Aura asked, snapping me back to reality.

Maybe I can get her in on it. "Uh...I didn't get it as bad as you did. I was yelled at, laughed at, and assaulted with a milkshake. I hope they know better, but if they don't..." I trailed off. "Anyway, we should plan a way to get back at them. I don't have details worked out but, if you're in, I'll let you know."

"Okay?" She seemed unsure, but that's okay.

Fluttershy poked her head out of the kitchen. "Lunch is ready."

"Thank you." I stood up and Aura went to get Twilight. Poor girl. She didn't need my bullshit earlier on...

After lunch, Twilight went back into her room, Fluttershy went home to take care of her animals, and Aura and I stayed sitting at the kitchen table. The way these ponies treated her is disgusting. It may be my bad mood, but they need to pay. I have a baseball bat with their names on it. I wont go through with anything but still, the feeling is there.

"Aura, how the hell aren't you more upset about this shit?"

"Well they just kind of...broke me..." She said in the same voice she had earlier.

"Fuck that! Come on we're going to show them something."

"W-what?"

"I said let's go knock some teeth in."

"I really don't think we should..."

I shook my head. "Probably not the best idea, no, but I.D.G.A.F. Come on." I left the kitchen and found the bat. "Waiting on you."

"B-but..."

"It'll be fine." She didn't say anything and followed me. As we walked, I was twirling my bat around and she was looking around nervously. I heard names like "Animal" and "Freak" being called but mostly ignored them.

"I-I think we should go back." Aura said with a shaky voice.

"Just wait. We shouldn't give up on this."

We were getting stares all through our way to the town hall. Some ponies even followed. I looked back every once in awhile to make them keep their distance. At this point Aura was almost hugging my leg. I told her to just fly onto my shoulders. She did, and she was heavier then I thought. This got some murmurs from the ponies following us. I couldn't help but smile.

We reached the town hall and climbed up onto the little stage they have for announcements and such. Aura still looked unsure, but we needed to go through with this.

"Are you sure about this?" She whispered.

"No." She was really nervous now. "I have no idea what I'm doing and I am as nervous as you are. In fact I would be shaking if not for the rage I have at the moment." She climbed off of my shoulders and I turn my attention to the small crowd. "Alright!"

"Hey look everypony! It's the animal and the thing!" One pony called out. "Why are you walking around with it!?"

"It's 'she'. And she has a name." I glared at the pony. "And why not?"

"It's only fitting!" Another pony called out. "The two misfits of Ponyville sticking together!"

"Well no one else will. And she's too scared to go out by herself. But, back onto why we're here! This is a changeling, as you all know, and her name is-!" I felt a tug on my pants and looked down. Aura was shaking her head. "Right, uh anyway! The main point is, she's under mine and Twilight's protection. You will not touch her."

"Oh no, we're so scared." A male pony scoffed. "What are you going to do? Pull rank like her?" A few ponies laughed at that.

"No actually! I've heard about the recent changeling invasion-"

"And you're still hanging around that thing!!??"

I took a deep breath and let that slide. "And if any of you harm her, I'll make that look like a kindergarten school play. I don't know how, but it will happen." I practically growled those words. "Do I make myself clear?"

"We aren't scared of you!" Bullshit.

"You know what? That's a good thing!" They all looked each other and then back to me. "That makes it easier! Sleep well tonight." I began to leave the stage. Until I thought of something. "Oh, and please note: I have no restrictions when it comes to age." That was an outright lie but it seemed to get the point across. "But that's only if you harm her. We'll all be happy and safe if you don't."

I walked away from the stage and stopped when I was in the middle of the crowd. Aura wasn't happy about it. I managed to calm down and sighed. "The real point here everyone is: Acceptance is key. Okay? I didn't mean to scare anyone but I had to get the point across, alright? Keep the peace and be kind to those that are different from you. It's not hard. And I'm sure the Princesses would be disappointed in your actions. But enough of this. Think about it for the rest of the day." I then walked away from them. I knew I wouldn't change all of their minds but I hoped a few would.

"Wow," Aura began. "Thanks for that."

I shook my head. "You don't have to thank me. I'm just so tired of that shit back in my world, I guess something just snapped." The nervousness started to catch up to me. "But right now, I need to go lay down or something before legs give out." She raised an eyebrow, but then saw my knees were shaking. I think she understands now.

~Later in the Day~
"I cannot stand these...things. They aren't human! They're scum! The lowest forms on the planet!"-Me.

Aura and I arrived back at the library about ten minutes ago. I immediately went over to the couch and laid down. And Aura went to her room. Twilight was reading a book in the main room when we got back. Now, she was looking at me with a raised eyebrow. I opened an eye. "What?"

"Are you okay?" She asked with concern in her voice.

"Well..." I opened my other eye and sat up. "Yes and no."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, yes as in: I did the right thing. And no as in: I'm worried about what might happen, because of said right thing."

"What did you do now?" She asked in an exasperated voice.

"Don't you take that tone with me." I said in an annoyed voice.

She blinked a few times. "Sorry?" She shook her head. "What happened?"

"I went into town. With Aura..." I trailed off.

"And?"

"Told the townsfolk not to harm her again."

"Oh, is that all?" She said with a slight chuckle. "I did the same thing."

"Well...I may have used intimidation..." She sighed and lowed her head. "Now, it was more subconsciously than on-purpose but...I doubt they know that." I sighed. "Why am I an idiot?"

"What am I going to do with you?"

"Not let me out of the house? I don't know. But I will say this, though. I was planning on something a little more violent. But..." She said nothing and just stared at me. "The colors of all the ponies calmed me down..." I looked at the floor.

She almost snorted with laughter, but recovered fairly quickly. "You were calmed by the colors of their coats?" She shook her head again. "Like I said before: What am I going to do with you?"

I tried to think of another subject. "Umm...so... What were you doing in your room?"

She tilted her head a bit, but perked up after a couple seconds. "Oh, you mean earlier?" I nodded my head. "I was writing a letter to the princesses. But, I see the problem has been solved."

"Maybe not so much. I mean, at the end of it all, I used a nicer way of going about things, but, I'm not...sure it helped any..." I held my head in my hand. "Who knows though, right? Maybe the princess could help me."

She didn't look so sure, but I could be wrong. Her face was hard to read. Anyway, she had another question for me. "So, would you mind telling me why you did that?"

"I was angry." I shrugged. "I mean, you told me about how nice this place is," I felt some of the anger return. "Not just the town, mind you, but the whole country!" Yep I'm getting worked up again. "And here we are, being mistreated! And why!? Because we're different!" Down the rabbit hole. "I fucking hate that! How about this?! You're different from me, right?" Rhetorical or not, she nodded. "So, why don't I do everything they," I angerly pointed toward the window. "Did to Aura!?" You should stop. "To me, you are the animals! To me, you are the freaks!" Please stop. "Does that mean I should just, I don't know, beat you to within an inch of your life!?" Zane? "I mean what the FUCK!?

And you!" I pointed at the unicorn, who looked unsure as to what to do. "Ms. Sparkle lied to me!"

"W-what?!"

"Saying this was a peaceful land." I scoffed. "Bullshit. The amount of racism in this town is appalling. You should be ashamed of your kind! Disgusting!" I growled and grabbed the bat from its resting place. "Whats stopping me from going out their and doing what I originally planned?!"

"That would be us!" I heard from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Seconds afterwards, there was a ball of light form in front of me and dispersed just as quickly as it came. Standing there now, was a horse sized pony, just a little smaller than Celestia. Her mane was flowing in invisible wind, and looked like it had stars in it. Her coat was midnight blue, and her 'cutie mark' was a crescent moon surrounded by a black patch of fur. "Thou would by wise to calm thineself, Human!"

"Princess Luna!" Twilight exclaimed happily. "What brings you here?"

She looked at Twilight. "Hello again, Twilight Sparkle. We are here because of the letter you've sent. My sister is busy and sent me to check on it." She looked back to me. I wasn't bowing, and she was annoyed at that, but she seemed to understand. "Now, Zane the Human. I have seen the way you 'solved' this issue." I looked at the ground. "Oh, fret not, it was effective. And I thank you for not using your first plan. But, while I approve of the method, it is not how my country works...anymore." She almost seemed saddened by that. "This is your only warning. Don't let it happen again."

"U-understood." I said nervously. All of the anger from earlier was gone. Thank god.

"Good." She sighed. "Now, with that out of the way." She turned back to Twilight. "We-I will investigate the situation. I understand you are harboring a changeling?" Twilight nodded. "Okay, I shall start with her."

I furrowed my brow. "Why?"

Luna's perked up and she craned her neck to look at me. She was shocked at first, but then had the look of understanding. "Fear not, I will only question her."

"I-I mean no disrespect princess," I started nervously. "But, I'm coming with you."

She raised her eyebrow. "And why is that?"

"I...um...p-promised I would protect her. I don't plan on going back on that."

She smiled. "Very well. You shall join me."

"Thank you, your highness."

She rolled her eyes. "I appreciate the respect, but please, call me Princess Luna or just Luna. I am not my sister."

I just nodded.

We found Aura in the basement. I thought I heard rustling to the left of me, but I could be hearing things. "Hello, Changeling." Luna said. "Are you well?"

"Y-yes princess."

Luna smiled. "I am glad to hear that. Now, I have a few questions for you."

That seemed to make Aura really nervous. I walked up to her. "Don't worry I'm here. She wont hurt you, she promised."

"He speaks the truth." She cleared her throat. "I am here investigating an apparent racism issue. But, before we go on with it, I want to know if you are ready to recount those events."

Aura nodded. "I am."

"Good." Luna said. "That will make things go smoother." I nodded in agreement. "Alright. let's begin."

Aura answered the questions without issue. It probably helped that I was there as moral support. The only issue was when she was asked to recount everything those scum-ponies did to her. During the end of it, I swore I saw a brief green flash or flicker out of the corner of my eye. I shrugged it off though.

I imagine she'd be tearing up at this point, if she could. I don't think she'll ever get used to it. But, there was one more question. "And this was all unprovoked?" That question kinda pissed me off. Aura had a look of...shock that the question had even been asked.

I opened my mouth. "What!? Of course it wasn't!!" But the voice wasn't mine. I closed my mouth and looked over to where I thought the voice came from. "Such an idiotic question!" Out came a bigger changeling. This one was about as tall as Celestia. She had a mane as well. It was blueish-green in color, and was very long. Actually, It was probably the same length as the two princesses' manes. The only difference is that it's straight, not flowing in the unseen winds. She also had a more crooked horn and bigger wings than Aura.

"You!" Luna exclaimed. "What are you doing here?!"

"I was hiding. But it would seem that my cover is blown." She said in a weird tone. I was just looking at the two of them, not knowing who this new changeling is. "Hmm? I taste confusion and fear." She looked at me. "You there! Do you not know who I am?" I slowly shook my head and backed away. "No? I am Queen Chrysalis! Queen of the Changelings."

"Now that the pleasantries are through." Luna said. "What. Are. You. Doing here?!"

"Hiding! That is all I am doing. What else can I do?"

Luna glared at her. "What do you mean?"

She looked at her hoof idly. "News spreads fast in the Bad Lands. Those creatures now think of me as weak!" She yelled. "The nerve of those ingrates! But, I digress. I'm here in hiding. Not to invade." She looked at the ground. "There...isn't a reason to anymore." I don't know about Luna but I sensed sadness in her voice.

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Why not?" She asked in a kinder voice.

Her head shot up. "Why do you think?" Chrysalis said bitterly. "Do you not remember the outcome of the invasion?!"

"I wasn't there." Luna said. "I only know of you from what witnesses and Celestia told me."

"Oh yes, that's right. I don't remember seeing you there..." Chrysalis paused in thought. "Well, then why don't you inform your precious sister the fate of my subjects?" Luna didn't say anything. "All but a hundred perished." Luna looked shocked, and Chrysalis' face took on a sad expression. "A hundred of one thousand. Gone." She said coldly. I could definitely say I was shock as well. That's an effin' big loss.

"S-surely more survived." Luna said, her eyes still widened in disbelief.

Chrysalis nodded. "At first. But then I find my hive destroyed when I returned. Not a living changeling in sight. So I searched for more of my subjects." She looked at Luna. "I had found a hundred. Some were too injured and didn't survive long afterwards. The others, I caught news of being found by villagers and townsfolk."

I knew where this was going, but I had to ask. "W-what h-happened to them?"

She looked at me. "Some where chased out of town, some were hung or beaten to death. And in a couple cases two of the surviving females were..." She looked down at the ground. "...raped repeatedly and then murdered...."

Right then, for me at least, everything was going in slow motion. Chrysalis looked at me with a surprised look on her face. If I could only describe the rage I am feeling right now. It would melt your eyeballs. "Disgusting!" I growled. "That's even worse then most humans!" I looked at Luna. "What are you going to do about this?"

She was utterly shocked. She could barely speak. "T-the lie detector spell says she's speaking the truth..." She shook her head in disbelief. "I...cannot believe this..."

"You see now? Not only can I not attempt another invasion. I no longer want to." Chrysalis said harshly. "Land of Love and Acceptance' my bucking plot."

Luna turned around. "This investigation is complete." She said in an emotionless voice. "Celestia will be inform of these heinous acts, and justice will be dealt." Her horned started to glow.

"Before you leave." I said, and her horn's glow dimmed. "Tell me when you find these...creatures that call themselves ponies. I want to exterminate the filth." She nodded and in a flash of light, she was gone. "I'm going for a walk." I told anyone who was listening. "Tell Twilight not to find me. I don't want to see any ponies right now. " I turned around. "Fucking filth."

"Wow." I heard Chrysalis say. "The anger in him is...quite exotic." I ignored her and went upstairs. I went over to the bat and grabbed it.

"Whoa," Twilight started. "What hap-"

I stopped her by pointing the bat at her. "Not the time." Was all I said before I left. This was disturbing news indeed. It's all too...human, as I said before. I don't like it.

About half way to the park I heard a pony. "Hey look it's-" I turned my head slowly towards him. He shut up immediately. My sight filled with red as I began to walk toward him. He swallowed his words and took off.

Now is definitely not the time to fuck with me. From now on, I'll view them as humans instead of animals. That way it makes things easier.

A Few Hours Later
"Sometimes, it's not what you are. It's who you are. Keep that in mind."-Me

As I was walking around town. I was reminded that it would be one of my most hated holidays. Halloween. I have been informed that the racism situation was being handled. I doubt it, but I guess it would have to do. It was a quick response though. And that surprised me. It did still irritate me a bit, but what could I do? Go to, I don't know, Manehattan, by myself? Screw that. Because of that little bit of news, I took to sitting on the couch, or hanging out with Aura. But, as much as I feel sorry for Chrysalis, she kinda gives me a weird feeling. Also, I barely ate, and Twilight was growing concerned. She offered to make me breakfast and lunch. Both of which, I refused. I wanted little to do with the ponies, but in this case I was being a bit harsh. She didn't do anything. Hell, she took Aura in and took care of her! I had no right to be pissed at her for what what those things did.

As for right now, though. I'm laying down on the couch. Thinking about everything. Am I dead back home? If not, then how am I getting back home? How is everyone at home doing? How long have I been here in earth time? There were a few more thoughts but oh well. Back to what has been going on recently. Apparently there's a Halloween here. They call it Nightmare Night, but from what I hear, it's the same thing. The decorating is what reminded me that Halloween was coming up.

I heard Twilight walk out of the kitchen with a plate that had a sandwich on it. She sat down at the table in front of me. "I don't like Halloween." I said suddenly.

She blinked a few times. "I'm sorry?"

I don't like Halloween." I repeated. "I don't like it for more or less the same reason I don't like Thanksgiving. Anymore it's used as an excuse for over-advertising and for candy companies to make an extra thousand, or so, dollars from people. An excuse to eat copious amounts of candy. At least for children. For some adults it's an excuse to dress up like, well quite frankly, whores and get drunk and act like whores." I paused. It seems I forgot a holiday. "Don't get me started on Christmas."

"Okay, I wont. But more about this 'Halloween'. Surely you're exaggerating."

I sat up and looked at her. "Not really, in all honesty. Some people in my world use every excuse they can to 'party' and act like fuckwits." I shook my head. "But what really pisses me off about Halloween, is the sexualization of the costumes. I mean, I get lingerie," Her face got a red tint to it. "But why do some women feel the need to buy a 'Halloween version' of what they have in the fucking closet, and wear it out to show off!?"

"Zane?" She asked with concern.

"And what really sickens me is their doing it to kids costumes as well! Hey government! You want to know why child molestation happens?! STOP THE CLOTHING COMPANIES FROM MAKING THEM DRESS LIKE WHORES!!!" I finished with slamming a fist on my thigh. "The human race is so fucking stupid sometimes, I swear I have no idea how we're still alive..."

"Are you done?"

I smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of my head. "Yeah...sorry."

"All of the yelling aside. Is it really like that, though? Surly that's not the case all of the time?"

I shook my head and sighed. "Thankfully no. Not everyone is like that. I guess I was generalizing. But still, holidays, fuck 'em." I chuckled. "I don't even like my birthday."

Twilight acted shocked. "Really?"

"People spending money on me for shi-sorry, stuff I may or may not forget about in a week or two. Yeah not in big favor of that." I raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised you didn't pick up on that."

"Oh, right, the twelfth. Sorry we didn't celebrate your birthday."

"Were you not listening?" I said in an annoyed tone. "I'm glad you didn't."

"Oh okay. I still feel bad about it."

I know what she is trying to do. "Don't." Was all I said. She looked at her plate and continued to eat her sandwich. I laid back down and closed my eyes. None of us said another word to each other.

I am still laying on the couch. The main difference is that I'm listening to music. Twilight, interested in learning about human music, was sitting next to me. I had Gotye's Somebody That I Used To Know playing through my iPod. Twilight seemed to be enjoying it. At least, I think she was. She had questions, sure, but they practically answered themselves.

The song ended and I asked her what she thought. She said she liked it and asked if she could see the iPod. I shrugged and handed it to her. After a couple seconds of going through the music library, she had a question for me. "What's 'Insane Clown Posse'?"

I quickly sat up and took the iPod from her magic. "D-don't play that. You won't like it. Find something else..."

"Okay?" She said as I handed it back to her. "How about this?" And she put Tomorrow Comes Today by the Gorillaz on.

"Yeah, that's fine. One of my favorite songs, actually. Good choice." I sat up and looked out of the window. "Hey, what do you think about going out for a bit? Normally I'm good chillin' here, but, I'm curious as to what is going on out there. And don't say 'decorating'. I will smack you."

She decided to take the chance. "Decorating." She said playfully. I slowly reached over to her, and reared back my hand. She looked like she was regretting her decision. I swung forward as fast as I could and she flinched. I stopped a few inches away from her face though. "Wha-?" And then I cut her off by lightly slapping her cheek.

The look on her face was priceless. "What?" I said. "You actually thought I was going to do it?"

She looked uncertain(I think). "Well...yes I-I did."

Wait what really? Wow. Ouch. "Have I really been that bad?"

"You...have been angry a lot lately. That rant earlier doesn't help your case either."

"Oh...I'll um...try to calm down then..." I stood up. "Sorry I didn't notice sooner." And then I walked to the front door and exited the library. I should've picked up on that. That's not who I am... Is it?

I went to the park despite the stares of the creatures I got on the way there. I sat down on a bench and closed my eyes. And would most likely stay like this, if undisturbed. I could hear the whispers of the ponies and feel their stares, I had better things to concentrate on though. I needed to re-evaluate how I've been acting. Possibly "re-invent" myself while here. All I know is I have to do something to "fix my shit".

After what had to be fifteen minutes, I heard hoovesteps stop in front of me. "I'm in no mood to talk right now. Please leave me alone."

"Now, is that anyway ta speak to a friend?" A country voice asked.

My eyes snapped opened. "Oh, hi Applejack. Sorry, didn't know it was you." I stretched. "So what are you doing here?"

"Ah was just walking my dog Winona, and saw you sitting there. Thought Ah'd be neighborly and say hi."

I looked at the dog. "Is she friendly?" I asked.

"Sure is! Aren't ya Winona?" The dog barked in response. I held my hand out and let her sniff it. Her tail stopped wagging for a moment back continued as she barked again. "See? She's not gonna bite ya." Applejack said, sounding proud of her dog. "You can pet her, if you want."

I pet her head and then scratched behind her ear. Her hind leg started going. I laughed and petted her head again. "Good dog." I looked back at Applejack. "What's been goin' on at the farm?"

"Oh ya know, same stuff as always. Workin' hard and such." She suddenly perked up. "Hey! You should come by sometime."

I shrugged. "Sure, as long as I wont be attacked."

She raised an eyebrow at that. "Now why would-" She stopped. "Oh...right. Ah wish they change their minds about you. T'aint right how they've been treatin' ya."

"It's not just me I'm worried about."

"That's right. I heard that changeling hasn't been treated much better."

"She has a name, you know?" I said with a raised eyebrow and an annoyed voice.

"Ah know that. Ah just never learned it." She said in an irritated tone.

There was a pause. Winona was looking at the both of us. "Aura." I broke the silence.

"What?"

"Her name. The...changeling's name, it's Aura."

She nodded. "Thank ya." I nodded. Things turned silent again. Applejack was searching for stuff to talk about. "It's a nice day isn't it?"

I looked around. "I guess. I mean, the temperature is fine and all. I just prefer cloudy days."

She shrugged. "Cloudy days can be nice too. Especially when you have to work outside a lot."

I nodded. "I hear ya there." I petted Winona again, and smiled. I thought of something. "Hey A.J.?"

"Yeah?"

"I do have to thank you for forgiving me for attacking you."

"Aw think nothin' of it, partner. Ah shouldn't have acted as rash as Ah did."

"Still, thank you."

"Water under the bridge." She patted her dog on the head. "Ah gotta get back. You coming along?"

"Not today. I have a lot to think about."

"Okay partner. Be seein' ya later!" She said as she turned and walked away. I just waved and laid back down on the bench.

A few minutes and maybe a small nap went by. I sat up rubbed my eyes. "What am I going to do?"

"Gettin' outta town would be a good idea." I jumped, and the pony chuckled. "Would say I didn't mean to scare you, but, I kinda did." He was a pegasus pony. And his friends were just behind him. "Name's Xavier, not that you need to know. 'Cause, you know, we're not gonna be friends or nothin'." I scooted further back into the bench. "Me and the rest of the town have been thinking of how to get rid of you. But we'd figure we'd just ask."

"But I-I don't anywhere else to go."

He and his friends shrugged. "Not our problem." He said dismissively. "We'd be happy if you just left. Now, the changeling..."

I didn't like the way he said that. I tried to think of something. "How about she come with me? T-that way she's out of your hair too."

He looked at his friends. They nodded and he shrugged. "That's a better idea then what we had. That way would be more peaceful, for sure."

"O-okay. Um...just let me go and uh...get a few of my things." I said shakily standing up.

He looked up at me. "You know, you were more cooperative then I thought." I didn't say anything. "Makes me kinda wonder why they want ya out so bad."

Because I'm different?

Kill them! You can take them! Let me take over!

Just go along with it. Think of something at Twilight's.

"Oh well." The pony said. "I'm just doing my job. Come along now. We'll take you to Golden Oaks." They turned around and began walking. I followed them without question. Though I was trying to plan something.

Those fuckers paraded me throughout the whole town. Like they're hot shit and a bag of chips. Oh the rage I'm feeling right now. Soon, they may feel the price of humiliating me like that! But first, plan A. No need to act rashly. We finally arrived at the library. I opened the door, and the tried to follow me. "No. Just me."

"And why's that?"

"I can explain everything to her. You don't want her to attack do you?"

They seemed to think. "Suppose not." The one on the left said. "Though it would suit me just fine."

I turned and looked at him. "Really?" He nodded. "Because she knows a damn powerful paralysis spell."

"Nah, you're bluffing."

I shook me head. "Nope, almost killed me." I turned back around. "Wait here." I entered and almost slammed the door.

Twilight came running down the stairs. "You okay?"

"Sound proofing spell. Now." I whispered. She cast it and nodded, confirming it was in place. "I AM SO FUCKING TIRED OF THIS SHIT!!!" I roared.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What happened?!" Twilight yelled. Aura ran up from the basement.

"I was 'captured' while I was at the park." Twilight had a confused look on her face. Aura looked worried. "I cut a deal with them, though. If I take aura here to the outskirts of town, they would let us go peacefully. Instead of killing her, or whatever they were planning on."

"WHAT?!" They both yelled.

"I know! I can't believe this shit. They will pay. I promise. And I swear, Twilight if you say anything, you're on the list." I looked over at Aura. "Gather a few things, we leave in a few minutes."

"You can't!" Twilight yelled. "I'll explain everything and-"

"No offence Twi, but that wont work. You even pulled rank and that didn't work. Anyway, Aura tell the queen Plan A is on stand by." Twilight looked at me weird, and Aura nodded, running back downstairs. "Make sure you're connection is working!" I called after her, and looked back at Twilight. "You better think of something! I don't want Plan A to have to happen. You understand? Just never mention Plan A, got it?" I didn't wait for a response.

I grabbed a blanket, my change of clothes, my iPod, and a couple of pillows. "I'm set. Aura?! You ready?!" She walked up with her things and nodded. I turned towards the door.

"Hold on." I heard Twilight say. "You said 'Queen'. What did you mean."

I gave an exasperated sigh. "He meant me." I turned around to see Chrysalis right behind Twilight. Who was frozen.

"W-w-what are you d-doing here?" She said without turning around.

"Hiding. But now, Be safe Aura. The element of magic and I will think of something." Aura nodded.

Twilight was growing pale. "Hey, hey! Breath Twi!" I said, concerned. "It's fine, Luna knows she's here. BREATH!" Then she passed out. I shook my head and turned around. "You'll be fine. As well as us. Be nice to Twilight, Chrysalis."

"Of course." She said. "We are no longer enemies."

"Good, Plan A is still on stand by. Don't do anything yet."

"You needn't worry, human."

"Very well, changeling." I reach for the door knob and opened it. I signaled that we were ready to go. The ponies nodded, and began walking. Aura had a worried look on her face. I reached down and patted her head.

These fuckers, though. Augh! Dammit!

Day Five: A Break From The Hatred

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~Day Five: A Break From The Hatred AKA Not A Bad Day~
"Sometimes, I get a bit strange. Not mad, but not calm either."-Me

We couldn't find a good place to to sleep last night. We made camp by the nearby forest. Since we had no tents, or anything similar, we ended up using Aura's blanket as a mattress and slept together to stay warm. The pillows were nice though. And no we didn't "get closer". The food we packed is pretty much gone. We weren't able to take much. And I don't know about Aura, but, I've never hunted. Not sure I could. Guess we'll find out. I sighed and sat up for the third time. I haven't been able to get much sleep last night. Aura woke up awhile ago. Not sure where she is, though.

Luckily, where chose to lay down for the night was currently under the shade of the trees. I looked around for the food rationed out to me, but it was gone. I scowled at the empty "cocoon". Yeah I wasn't sure about it either, but it's surprisingly sterile. At least the day was nice. That's really not a consolation, but, it's something. I guess. I stood up and stretched. "What to do today?" I thought out loud. "We could try to build a shelter? Maybe devote this day to food gathering?" I yawned. "Not a damn clue..." I heard rustling from the bushes, and looked over. I could see the tip of insectiod wings. Knowing what and who it was, I sat back down. "What were you doing?"

Aura emerged from the bushes. "Trying to find food."

"No luck?" I asked.

"Well... Unless you want fungi, tree bark, and grass. No."

"Dammit." I said, looking at the ground. "We need to find something soon. I've ate like, once yesterday."

"I know. I'm trying..."

"Oh, I know. I'm not mad. At you at least. I just know that, if they want us out, then, they stay the hell away. I ain't afraid to kill a fucker."

"Calm down. I'll go again soon."

"I'll go too. No sense in you doing all of the work."

"Works for me." She shrugged.

"Hey I was wondering, you were staying upstairs, right?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Yes."

"How did your things end up in the basement?" I asked slowly.

"Teleportation spell." She said as if it was a common fact.

"Okay, then why did you go into the basement in the first place?"

"I wanted to tell the Queen what was going on in person."

"Ah, okay." I said nodded my head. "More respectful that way."

"Yep, and as one...of the...last changelings, I want as much time to connect with Mother as I can."

"Wait wait wait, what!?" I exclaimed in shock.

"She's my mother. I didn't know until yesterday."

"So... You're royalty?"

"I guess so." She said with a shrug. "I won't change though. I'll make sure of it."

I nodded. "That's good. As long as I don't have to start bowing to you." She shook her head. I stretched and stood up. "Should we get going? I know it's only been a minute or two but..."

She nodded. "Yeah, we might be in there awhile."

"Okay. Following you." I gestured her to lead. She started toward the forest, and I followed.

I sighed. "This is pointless. We've been looking for an hour!" My stomach growled. "Oh, shut up you fuckin'....ugh!"

"So you can still speak!" Aura said. "I thought you've gone mute."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I get quiet when I'm concentrating on stuff." I grumbled. "Still nothing on your end?"

She sighed. "No..."

I shook my head. "Fuck it then. Let's just go back."

"...okay." She started walking and I followed her again. I have a feeling we took a wrong turn at some point, but I'm choosing to be optimistic. May have been a mistake though. Oh well, I guess.

Turns out, I was right about taking a wrong turn. But I think we're getting closer to camp. After a few minutes, we heard some noise coming from our right. It sounded like voices. "Ponies..." Then I remembered something. "Shit! My iPod!" Since we didn't have any food, that was my main concern at the moment. Then I took the possibility of them taking our bedding into consideration, and took off. I could hear Aura close behind me. I reached the treeline, and burst out from it. "What are you doing here!?"

Instead of a group of grown ponies messing up our stuff, there were three young foals. Scared out of they're minds. There is a white unicorn, an orange pegasus, and a yellow-ish earth pony. The unicorn was crying. Her friends recovered from their scared states and were now standing in front of her in a defensive pose. The unicorn looked familiar and it didn't take long to remember why. "Oh man, sorry! Um... I don't remember your name, but uh don't cry. Please?" She started to sniffle and after a few seconds, she stopped.

Her earth pony friend glared at me. "That was mean!" What a cute little accent.

"Yeah! Why are you hiding in the bushes!" The pegasus spoke up.

I held me hands up. "I wasn't hiding in the bushes."

"Guys?" Rarity's sister said. They looked at her with raised eyebrows. "It's okay."

"What do you mean 'it's okay'. He scared us!"

"Well I didn't mean to." I said

"Uh-huh." The country pony said. "Sure ya didn't."

"Really, I didn't. I thought you were grown up ponies that were messing with our stuff."

"Our?" They all said in unison. I raised an eyebrow and looked around. Aura was nowhere to be seen.

Probably still in the bushes. "Yeah." I nodded. "Come out Aura. It's fine." I heard rustling behind me.

The trio gasped. "Hi?" Aura said.

"A changeling!" They all yelled.

"Shh! don't be so loud! She wont hurt you." Aura shook her head. "I'm Zane by the way. What are your names?"

"Applebloom."

"Scootaloo."

Sweetie Belle!" The unicorn smiled and walked up to me. Her friends didn't seem to like that. "Are you wearing the clothes my sister made?"

I sat down and patted her head. "Yep. She did a fine job too! Though...I was kicked out of town before I could wash my other clothes..."

"Kicked out?" Applebloom said. "Why?"

I shrugged. "It's complicated."

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Ugh, you grown ups always say that! Just because we're young, doesn't mean we wont understand!"

I smiled and shook my head. "It isn't because you three are young. I just don't want to explain everything." They all raised an eyebrow. I chuckled at that. "Hey, why don't you talk to Aura for a bit? I'll by right back." I stood up and looked them all. All four of them looked unsure. "Unless that's not okay with everyone."

"No it's fine." Aura said. "You just caught me off guard."

"Okay then. I'll only be a minute anyway." And then I walked into the forest to take a piss. You don't need details.

~Two hours later~
"When I was younger, I went through a hippie phase. Some of it stuck with me."-Me

Aura said that the conversation with the girls went well. After the initial nervousness, that is. She said that it got a little easier after they realized that neither had no ill intent, and that they were all unsure about the respective opposite party. I was glad to hear that. At least we have someone on our side. The only downfall to that, was that they were children. I mean I know we're in Twilight's and friends favor, but obviously that doesn't mean anything. I should really stop dwelling on this...

We were out looking for food again. We've been at for maybe twenty minutes. Or that's what it feels like, at least. Either way, we weren't having any luck. But it was different in here. Not really a good thing though. We seemed to have gained the interest of the wild life. If there were wolves in here that would be bad.

"I think I found something we can eat!" Yelled Aura. We split up to cover more ground. It's really what we should have done in the first place, but you know, hindsight.

I rushed over to her. "Really!?" I said excitedly. "Whatcha find?"

"Not much," My smile dropped. "But I think these mushrooms are safe to eat."

I sighed. "At least it's something... Find anything else?"

"Some onions, a few berries and a small carrot patch. If we get thirsty, there's a creek near by."

"Really?" She nodded. "Wow. Not bad."

She smiled. "Thank you." She levitated the "cocoons" up and began walking to our little "camp site". "Now, we will have to rations these." She said in a serious tone. "If we do it right, we have enough for lunch and dinner tonight. And maybe breakfast tomorrow."

"Okay, so, basically Don't eat like pigs?" I asked while following her. She nodded again. "Got it." It was relatively quiet on the way back. I did notice the feeling of being watched. We might have to keep an eye out for the rest our stay. Now that I think about it, having my iPod playing music probably didn't help.

Now back at where we're staying, Aura rationed the food, and I gathered firewood. Not for right now, of course, but we might need it for dinner. And obviously for keeping warm. I laid back and just looked up at the sky. Despite everything that's happened. I smiled. It was just peaceful. Kinda like a calm before the storm feeling, actually. I just hope there wasn't a reason for a storm to happen. Unless it's nature, then there doesn't have to be one. It just sort of happens. I swear, I don't do drugs.

All of a sudden Aura's face blocked the sky. "What up?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay?" She asked slowly.

"Yes I am. Just having a peaceful moment, care to join?"

She looked around. "S-sure." She laid down next to me. "What now?"

I chuckled. "Just relax. That's all." She laid out on her back to look up at the sky with me. "Feels nice, doesn't it?"

"It's...different."

"That it is." I nodded. "I had an epiphany shortly before I came to this world. Care to hear me out?"

"Okay?"

"Everything is amazing."

She turned her head and looked at me. "What?" She said flatly.

"Everything is amazing. Wonderful even. Be it the sky, what's in it, or anything on the ground. Your species, the ponies, magic, animals, and lights."

She furrowed her brows. "Lights?"

"Oh, especially lights." I nodded sagely. "Lights are fucking awesome." She just kept staring. "Be it the technology, the bulb, or the light it self. It's amazing. You want to see in the dark? Light switch," I did the motion of turning a light switch on. "Ping! Lights on. I mean, how did they see in the dark before light was properly utilized? They didn't. People don't think about it these days."

"I think those mushrooms were bad..." She chuckled and shook her head.

"I haven't eaten any yet." I shook my head. "This is me. More or less the real me. Not the constantly angry prick that I've shown myself to be. Yes, I'm a bit of a cynic. But I'm not out right hateful and violent. They just pushed me to that point. And To be honest, I hate being like that."

"So, you want me to believe that you're relaxed all of the time?"

"No. I'm not relaxed all the time, believe you, me. This is just what happens when I am. But anyway, back to what I was saying."

"Hold on." I stopped. "You said my species was amazing?"

My smile fell slightly. "Yes?" I said.

"How so?"

I smiled again. "Well, think about from my perspective. At first, in my eyes you were a bug-like thing shaped like a pony. With the scary fangs and everything. I assume that's what the ponies see as well. But the difference here is: I tried to look passed it. And succeeded, which doesn't always happen." She looked like she was trying to understand. "You might think this is creepy, but, I studied you. N-nothing intrusive, of course." I added quickly. "When you thought I was ignoring you, I was actually watching you." She had a slightly creeped out look on her face. "Nothing stalker-ish, no. Just when we were in the same room. I watched your mannerisms, the way you interacted with Spike and Twilight, the way you carry yourself. And you know what I saw?"

"What?"

"Someone as scared as I am. I mean, we're in a town that hates us, can't get home, and are stuck. Except in your case, your mom is here, but I'm alone."

"What does this have to do with changelings being amazing?"

I scratched the side of my head. "Sorry, I was following a different train of thought." I cleared my throat. "Changelings are amazing, to me, because they can change their form. Yes, It's kinda weird, and you may not be able to tell if a pony is one or not. But looking past that and any other concern, It's pretty cool. I bet a normal unicorn would have to spend years to master a spell like that. You guys, no problem, you just do it. Like it's nothing. And that, to me, is amazing."

She seemed to think about that. "Y-yeah. I think I see your point."

I looked at her with a big grin on my face. "But you know what?" She slowly shook her head. "It still doesn't beat lights."

She snorted with laughter. Mission accomplished!

I spent a few more minutes explaining the wonders of my universe. She didn't seem to fully understand, but no one really does. I don't blame her, though. Sometimes I don't understand either. Right now though, we were eating. Carrots, mushrooms, and berries don't really do much for the human body. And then there's the onions. Never had a raw onion before, never want to again either.

Our lunch was interrupted by the sound of hoof steps. I looked at Aura, and she nodded. We went on like we didn't hear anything, it would help to catch them off guard. The hoof steps stopped suddenly. Which concerned me, because that meant it was either a unicorn or an pegasus. From my understanding, unicorns have range. And from experience, pegasi have stealth. I didn't feel like getting sniped, or snuck up on. Again.

The hoof steps started again, and I relaxed a bit. The pony was getting closer and Aura began to light up her horn. The pony started walking slower and that's when Aura cast the spell. There was a squeak from the pony and Aura and I turned around. The pony was in a cocoon, much like the ones the held our food. And the pony happened to be one of the ponies that "captured" me.

I looked the pony over. It seemed to be a earth stallion. I glared at him. "You are either brave or stupid to come here. What do you want?" I said in a low voice.

The looked to be panicking. I told Aura to let him go, and she did. She kept his hooves secured I noticed. Clever girl. "I-I-I um..."

"We're listening."

"I-I came here to tell you something."

I rolled my eyes. "And that would be?"

"Some of the ponies in town didn't like the uh...display, Xavier put on. I didn't either, he got carried away..." He shook his head. "An-anyway, a few ponies and I are starting a group."

"Ha! Okay, what's the goal? To have us be the 'whipping boys' for the town? Fuck outta here with that!"

"N-no! N-nothing like that! Wait...'us'?"

I glared at him intensely. "You've said enough. Leave."

"B-but-"

"You came here to tell me good news. Me. Which is great, don't get me wrong. But you think I'm just going to leave Aura behind? You guys are idiots."

"W-well we just thought..."

"Well what thought was, it was wrong." I sighed. "You can have your group, it'd be nice to have some allies. But first," I looked at Aura. "What the lie detector spell say?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I don't know that spell. But judging by his emotions, he's telling the truth."

"Well then," I looked back at the pony. "I believe we're good now. Just don't forget: Aura is to be included into whatever protests you guys make. We clear?"

"Y-yes."

"Good." I stretched and yawned. "Let 'em go, and we can continue with lunch." Aura let his feet go. "Oh, one more thing before you leave. Do not fuck us over on this. Or I will make good on my promise. Got it?" He nodded rapidly. "Good. Thanks for the good news bud. See ya around." His face gained a confused look on the sudden politeness in my tone and left. I shook my head. "Well, that could have been worse."

"Did you really have to be so mean to him?" Aura asked with concern in her voice.

"Probably not." I shrugged. We both turned back to our food and continued to eat.

~A Few Hours Later~
"I don't know. Why are you asking me?"-Me

The day was nearing the end, but we still a few more good hours of sunlight. We've had a few visits from the members of that one group. They still didn't have a name, though. Actually, that was one of the visits purpose. I suggested "The group for the fair treatment of the freaks." But Aura didn't seem so sure about the name. Not sure why, though.

Speaking of ponies from the group. Here comes another one. I just stood there with my arms crossed and tapping my foot with an annoyed look on my face. This was a new pony. It looked to be a stallion. A unicorn with a short black mane. He had sun glasses on, so I couldn't see his eye color. I didn't see what his cutie mark was. He looked apprehensive for a few seconds but shook his head and continued on. "So, what do you want?" I asked when he got close enough.

"I-I-uh," He regained his composer. "Me or the group?"

"Well, you. But if the group has something then, I want to hear that as well."

"Ah well, I don't want anything from you in particular. The group, however, sent me with news."

"Okay." I nodded my head. "Go on then."

"We have the mayor's backing." I gestured him to go on. "And some of the townsponies are willing to change their minds."

I sighed. From the way he said it, I knew there was a catch. "What do they want us to do for them?"

He glanced to the side for a moment. He doesn't want to tell me, I can see it. "Well... They want you two to go into the forest and-" I stopped him.

"No. I am not going into there, and neither is she." Ugh, they are not smart, are they?

"But I haven't told you what they wanted."

I shook my head and shrugged. "Doesn't matter. She told me whats in there! Timber wolves, normal wolves, manticores, and other things. Not going to happen."

"But-"

That's it. I bent down to eye level and look him straight in the eye. "Alright look. They obviously want us to go on a suicide mission. I'd much rather take my bat and hit myself in the shin until it breaks. We're not going in there and you can tell them to think of something else or get fucked. " I growled. He rapidly nodded and ran away. I looked back at Aura and even she was scared. Great. "I'm fine now, Aura. I'm sorry."

"O-o-okay." She said hesitantly. Fuck me...

I sat down and rubbed my temples. "Was it that bad?" She nodded. " Sheesh, I didn't mean to scare you, or him. Dammit." I sighed. "I just feel like I'm their leader or something, with the way these ponies are walking out here and everything. I hate that. I'm not a leader, it's just too...stressful I guess. I mean, I feel like, at some point, I'll have to be telling them what to do, and I don't want that, ya know?"

Aura nodded. "I do know, actually. I was a platoon sergeant during the invasion."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, no one wanted to be charged with that."

"I have an idea of how it can be with our military. How bad was it for you?" She just kinda looked at me like I asked the stupidest question ever. "Okay, never mind." She didn't say anything back...

A few minutes passed and, to my surprise the stallion came back. I held out my hand for hand/hoof bump. He looked at my hand and looked at me with a cautious expression. "Really?" Was all he said.

I took back my hand and scratched the back of my head. "Yeeeaaah I'm really sorry, man. I didn't mean to yell at you, I just don't know what to think about everything, ya know?"

"Whatever, we can deal with that later. Right now, we need to address that problem of yours." He waited for a response, but a stayed quiet. "I know some ways to help relieve you of your anger." He paused in thought. "Healthy and productive ways, I should say. I know it wasn't anything personal but you should watch it. If we want the town to let you back in, you need to cool it down a little."

"I getcha." He nodded. "Still though, I am sorry."

"I'm willing to let it slide. But please watch your temper."

"No problem uh... What's your name?"

"Spooky Venture. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Likewise."

He turned around. "Oh, and don't worry about leading us. That's my job."

Aura and looked at each other, and slowly back to him. "H-how...did...?"

"I have good hearing is all. I'll see you two later. Til then." He said politely.

I just watched him leave. Blinking every few seconds with a confused look on my face. "What?"

Aura shook her head. "I don't know. I just don't even..." She trailed off.

"Hey did he give you a weird feeling?" She slowly nodded her head. "Yeah... Glad he's on our side."

"Me too..."

"What do you think about the group?" Aura asked before taking a bite of a carrot. It was dinner time and we were having roasted carrots and onions. We decided to save the mushrooms for later.

"I thought I already told you?" I said as I put an onion on a stick.

"Now that you aren't worried about being the leader."

"Well, other than relieved, I think it can be a good thing." I answered, putting the onion over the fire. "If everything goes right, we can move back into town and hopefully the ponies won't be as bad. That might be looking at it a bit too optimistically, but that's what it could turn out like."

"What about for me?"

I had to think about that for a bit. They have more reason to hate her because of the invasion. And then there's what Chrysalis told us. The burning onion took me back to reality before I could think about it. "Uh well... Not real sure." I rotated the onion.

"Oh..." She looked at the ground.

I took the onion of a fire, and looked at her. "Hey, don't worry about it. I got you, and so does Twilight. We might even be in the princess' favor as well. There's not a damn thing they can do."

"I don't believe that." She said with sadness in her voice.

"Well, without horrible consequences, that is." I added before taking a bite. "They hurt you, they have a shit storm headed their way. There's me, the Twilight, and god forbid they hurt her but if they do, they have the Rulers coming down on their asses." I scooted closer to her and smiled. "We may not be untouchable, but we have allies. Powerful ones. We'll be fine."

She faintly smiled and leaned her head against me. "And if they hurt you, they will see what a changeling is really capable of." I froze. She doesn't think there's something weird going on does she? "We have to protect each other if we're going to survive." Doesn't look like it.

"Yes we do." I stretched. "But enough about that. What are we going to do after we finish dinner?"

"Well we can't go into the forest. And the town is a definite no."

I nodded. "Obviously."

"Not much, really. Finish eating and go to sleep."

"Boring." I then yawned. "Okay maybe not so much, but still." I grabbed a mushroom and ate it.

"Those are for tomorrow!"

"But I wanted a mushroom." I said innocently. She shook her head and levitated an onion of her own over the fire. Not wanting to get yelled at again, I grabbed a carrot. Unfortunately, we reached our cut off point for today. If we wanted to eat tomorrow this was it. Two carrots and an onion. Minus a mushroom for me tomorrow. Damn.

"Hey Zane?"

"Yeah?"

"I haven't been able to figure you out yet..."

I snorted in laughter. It was odd, yes, but it was still funny to me. "Not many people can, but how do you mean?"

She tried to think of a way to explain it. "You're like a reversed pony." I raised an eyebrow but let her continue. "And your emotions are all over the place. It's like one minute you're happy, then you're sad, then you're angry. I can't lock on. The only thing I can lock on to, is loneliness. And that's slowly fading away. I know you are human, but, what are you? Who are you?"

"My name is Viktor Reznov! And I shall have. My. Revenge!!"

She shook her head and blinked. "What?"

I shrugged. "No idea, anyway. I am Zane. I have many nicknames, and can't be bothered to tell you any of them. I am a human. That's about it." I shrugged. "The only special thing about me, is the fact that I'm here."

"I'm...not sure that answered my question." She had a weird look on face. "But I think I should take it." I just nodded my head. After a few seconds she spoke up again. "I have another question."

"Shoot."

"Why did you chose to be here for me."

That threw me off guard. "Not sure I'm tracking?"

"Even after Twilight rescued me, she still didn't trust me. You, however, had little hesitation with trusting me. Why?"

"Oh, no, you have it wrong." She raised an eyebrow. "I didn't trust you at first, I felt sorry for you." She seemed taken back by that. "I know it sounds bad, but that's what I saw at first. Then I saw how the ponies treated you. They treated you a lot like me. And I didn't like seeing it. And then you told me your story."

"And that made you trust me?"

I shook my head. "No. I haven't started trusting you til earlier today."

"What? Then why did you bring me a long?"

"They were planning on doing something with you, and it wouldn't be good. Twilight probably couldn't stop them. That, and you looked like you needed someone in the same situation. And with your Queen wanting to remain incognito, I was the other option." She remained silent. "What's wrong?"

"Am I to believe you took me along to protect me, even if you didn't trust me?"

I held my chin in thought. "I...guess so? Is that a problem?"

"No. It's just...not heard of often in the hive."

"I see. So you're confused." She nodded her head. "Well don't think about it to much. It happened and here we are." I looked at the fire. "Do not question the form, what's important is the soul."

"What does that mean?"

"Don't think about what someone looks like, concentrate on what kind of person they are."

"That's...pretty good. Who came up with that?"

"I did. Just now. Didn't expect it, didja?" She shook her head. "Are you finished eating?"

"Yes."

"Okay." I laid down and watched the fire.

"Today was nice, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. A few things happened but overall, it wasn't bad." Aura laid down underneath the blanket, and soon after fell asleep. I joined her under the blanket but sleep did not come easily for me. About about an hour, the fire died down and sleep finally found me.

Day Six: Tuesday

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~Day Six: Tuesday AKA They Done Goof'd~
"Remember that thing I said about good days? Yeah, today started nice..."-Me

Something strange happened earlier. Aura's appearance changed. She looks a little like Chrysalis now. I don't know if that's because of her being the Queen's daughter or what, but it was weird. Her mane is starting to come in. Her tail was starting to change color and was more like a pony's. I haven't seen her eyes yet. She's still asleep. I wonder if they'll be like Chrysalis'?

What am I doing? Playing apps on my iPod, of course. Shouldn't be, because the battery might die, but I'm really bored. Scavenge for food? It's too dangerous to go alone, and I don't have a sword. I highly doubt there's an old man in a cave somewhere to give me one. Heh, get it? No? ...oh well. My iPod clock says it's about ten in the morning. Aura should be awake by now. Or am I just up early? Doubt it.

There was a stirring from under the covers. "About time." I thought. She tossed the covers off of her and stood up. "Wakey, wakey. You're ten minutes off."

"Of what?" She asked groggily, with her eyes still closed.

"Your usual wake up time." I said. "It's ten, ten. I should still be asleep, not you."

Why aren't you then?" She asked while opening her eyes.

"I have no-wow." I said with a hint of shock in my voice.

She raised an eyebrow. "Wow what? Did something happen to me?"

A cleared my throat. "Well, not...anything bad....I think." Those eyes.

"What do you mean? Is there something on my face?"

"You...could say that..." She started to get a concerned look on her face. I tried to think of something. "Uh...here." I tapped the camera app on my iPod, and switched it to where it was looking at you aka "selfie mode." And handed it to her. "See nothing bad."

She took the iPod in her her magic and looked at herself. "My...eyes..." She looked...well I'm not sure. She blinked a few times to make sure she was seeing right. "They're...like mother's. Except blue." She brought a hoof to her face. "And I'm...growing a mane?!" She said in a shocked but happy tone. I think. "Zane!? Do you know what this means?!" She asked with a smile on her face. I slowly shook my head. "It means I am the Queens daughter!" She "glomped" me. Taken off guard, we fell backwards. Good thing I was sitting.

Then I noticed the position we were in. It looked rather...shall we say, intimate. "Okay," I said, trying to not let my face turn red. "Calm down and get off me."

"I'm a princess though!"

My face started to turn red and I pushed her off of me. "Yes, yes, very exciting." I sat up. She sat on my lap, and again the position was...you know.

"Are you not...happy for me?" She said in a hurt tone. I responded by hugging her. She gave a sigh of relief and hugged me back. "This is glorious news!"

"It must be, to have you this excited." I smiled. I felt something wet on my shoulder. Was she crying? I ended the hug and looked at her. She was. Tears of happiness. I smiled a little bigger. "Very happy, indeed." She hugged me again.

"Very very happy."

I stretched and yawned. After that bout of happiness, it had grown boring. Aura was indulging in vanity, (which I wasn't happy about) she wouldn't give me back my iPod. And I was just enjoying the peace, occasionally looking over at the changeling. I would shake my head each time and frown. I don't appreciate vain people. Dated a girl that was vain. Didn't end well.

Out of nowhere, my iPod found it's way in front of my face. "Sorry..." Aura said sheepishly. "I got a little too caught up in myself."

"I noticed." I said in a flat tone. She winced at that. I raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong? It happens sometimes, no big deal." I shrugged. "You're fine kid."

"Thanks for not being mad."

I chuckled. "No problem." I patted her on the head. "How's our food looking like?"

She did a quick search. "We can hold off searching until after lunch."

"Cool." I looked at the sky and sighed. "What now? We've eaten breakfast." I thought for a moment. "Firewood?" I looked over at the pile. "No, we're still good there. Well maybe." I looked at Aura. "What do you think?"

She hummed while she thought. "Maybe we should get a little more. We're getting low on fire starter."

I nodded. "Okay. You can stay here. I got it." I grabbed the blanket.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep. They're just twigs after all."

"Okay." She said. "Can I listen to some human music while I'm waiting?"

"Sure." I shrugged and tossed her the iPod. She caught it in her magic and nodded her thanks. "I'll try not to be too long."

"Okay. I'll be here."

I waved and entered the forest. Yes I know it goes against what I said earlier, but it's only kindling. I don't need to go that far into the forest to find it. The forest in the day isn't that bad. It's at a nice temperature. Not too cold, not too warm. I liked being able to see the sun rays come it through the trees. It makes me feel happy. I smiled and started collecting fire starter.

I took a little longer than I should have but I have a nice amount of twigs, sticks, and tree bark. It was a good haul for sure. I got to the kindling pile and dropped the twigs and stuff off. I shook the blanket free of debris and set it down on the "mattress" and looked around. "Wait a minute..." Where's Aura? "Aura? Y-you here?" No answer. "Aura?" I called a bit louder. Still nothing. "Aw shit!" One tirade of cussing later. "Imma fuckin' idiot!"

~Fifteen Minutes Later~
"I can get...scary when my rage reaches a certain point. It even scares me."-Me

I was sitting down, beating myself up over my stupidity, when I heard the sound of hooves walking through grass. I grabbed the bat and stood up. The hoof steps stopped and a pony spoke. "Human."

I should've known. "I have a name you know, Xavier."

"Figured ya did but I don't care enough ta know it. Now," He started and I turned toward him. "We have yer freaky bug friend, and now we're here for you."

"We are under the protection of both princesses and Twilight. What are you thinking?"

"Well, we're thinkin' that Ms. Sparkle is outta town and the Princesses have better things to pay attention to."

I thought about that for a moment. "Can't fault you for that way of thinking, but, I am the only human here. A new species. Celestia would want to keep me around. Luna as well." I tapped the ground with the bat. "You hurt me, this town is screwed. Do you want that?" I asked in a calm voice. Not the good type of calm either. The ticking time bomb type. "Now," I said before they could answer. "Where is she?"

"Oh come on now! You were much more cooperative a couple days ago."

"And you broke yer end of the bargain. I'm not going to be nice about this. What did you do with her?"

"And why should we tell you?!" One of the cronies asked.

I slowly turned to him and walked over. I started laughing halfway to him, and when I reached him I grabbed his neck. "'Cause if you don't, I'm going to get very familiar with pony anatomy. You don't want that."

Xavier snorted. "You won't kill us! You can't!"

"Oh no." I turned my head to him, laughing. "I won't kill you. Oh heavens no." I tightened my grip on the pony's neck. Red beginning to swirl around in front of my eyes "I'll torture you." I nodded, with a wicked grin on my face. "Oh yes, will I ever. I will bleed you, then heal you, and then bleed you again. I will cut you a thousand times and then let them heal, only to start over." I laughed again. At this point the all looked scared. Even Xavier. " And if I get hungry, I will rend your flesh and eat it in front of you." My vision was now fully red, and I started to strangle the pony I had a hold of. "I will torture you. To the point you wish for death." I hit the pony with the hilt of the bat, knocking him out. "WHERE IS SHE!?!?"

"W-whoa there big guy," Xavier started. "What if we told you we didn't hurt her?"

I calmed down a little. "That'd be in your favor. Is this true?" I asked staring dead into his eyes.

He rapidly nodded his head. "Y-y-yes! Well...for the most part..." I started to walk towards him. "W-w-what I m-mean by that is, u-uh she fought us the entire way there. We had to do something!"

"Was it you?" He shook his head. I pointed to the other pony. "Him?" There was no response from either of them. I have my answer. I spun around and threw the bat at him. Catching him square in the face and knocking him out. I ran over and got the bat. I turned around and saw Xavier trying to get away. I ran after him and jumped. I tried catching his leg but that wasn't happening. So I did the next best thing. I swung and hit his wing.

He screamed in pain as he crashed to the ground. How did I catch him? Well number one: adrenaline. Two: He kinda sucks at flying. That grey, cross-eyed mare I've seen around flies better than him. "My wing! I think ya broke it!" He yelled.

"To be honest with you. I didn't mean to. That is if I did break it, I doubt it though. Get up." I said grabbing his neck and lifting him up. "You're going to show me where you put her."

"A-and I-if I do?"

"I'll spare you." I gave him a creepy smile. "We have a deal?"

"Yes!" He squeaked and I let him go. He tried to get into the air, but yelped in pain. He nervously chuckled. "Walkin' it is then..."

I nodded. "Lead the way."

I don't know how close to town we are now. It's times like these I really hate that they put us so far out of Ponyville. I directed my attention to my escort, Xavier. I had to wonder, is he behind all of this? or is he really doing his job? I then looked at his wing. Apparently I hit the joint where it connects to his body. How could I tell? Well the bruise for one. And it looked dislocated. I actually felt bad, to be honest. I really didn't mean to hurt him that badly.

I twirled the bat and looked forward. I would say we were half way to town hall from here. Outskirts? Yes, they did take us to the outskirts, but Ponyville is bigger than it looks. And we were taken farther away from everything. Basically on the "poor" side of Ponyville. The reason I say poor, is because there's not much over here. And there's even an abandoned house. I found that very odd. Xavier said it was due to be torn down within the week. I was confused as to why he was talking to me.

It had been fairly boring, to be honest. Which is good, all things considered, but still. I had my iPod on me but I didn't want Xavier to think it was some "evil human magic". I shook my head at the thought. Mad? Yeah, but not at Xavier. Not directly at least. I'm mad at the fact that they took her and I didn't hear her make any sounds of struggling. I know she wouldn't have gone quietly. I couldn't help but wonder why they captured her in the first place. He might tell me. "Xavier?"

"Human." I glared at him but mostly ignored that.

"Why were you after Aura? And what do you want from me?"

"Well," He started. "There was a break in at Barnyard Bargains. We were just rounding up suspects."

"So you go after the ones who are different? That's fucking great."

"Now hold on there. We rounded up Vinyl Scratch, Rainbow Dash, and Thunder Lane prior to the changeling." He shook his head. "We didn't single you out."

I found that surprising. That is, if he's telling the truth. "Alright. Where are you taking me?"

"To where we took Aura."

"I know that." I said in a flat tone. "But where?"

"Where else?"

I thought about that for a little bit. "I didn't know Ponyville had a prison."

"Sure do. We just lack the proper police force is all." I was going to ask, but decided against it.

"How much farther?"

"We're almost there." I just nodded.

~Fifteen Minutes Later~
"I don't understand people."-Me

We were now standing in front of the prison. "Here we are." Said Xavier. "Now we can continue with this, and get it done." He opened the door and we walked in. It was a small prison with only four cells. I saw the three arrested ponies staring at me with weird looks on they're faces.

"I bet it was him!" A black stallion with a light blue mane said, pointing at me.

"Oh man this isn't good..." I heard Vinyl say. I raised an eyebrow at that.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Rainbow Dash said, with an almost panicky sound to her voice.

"Some break in, apparently." I shrugged.

We stopped. "And this is your cell. I made sure you were with her. I hope-" He suddenly stopped. "W-what the buck!?"

I looked in the cell, and there she was. Aura had been beaten. Her horn was broken off, her wings were broken, as well as a leg or two. And who knows what else had been done, but I can see that her muzzle is bleeding. I felt rage like I haven't felt in awhile bubble up to the surface. "Xavier. What is this?" I growled.

He opened the cell quickly and ran in. "Oh no oh no oh no."

I grabbed him by the shoulders. "Answer me!!" He, as well as the other ponies, flinched at the volume of my voice.

"I-I-I don't know! This wasn't me! I didn't tell them to do this!"

Red swam into my vision once more. It was hard to remain in control. "Who?! The one's that were with you!?"

"N-no, not them! They wouldn't do this!"

"Then who!?" I yelled in his face. "Who would have the fucked mind to do such a thing!?!?!"

"That'd be us." I turned around. There was three ponies standing there with smiles on their faces. Two were earth ponies and one was a unicorn. "What do you think Xavier? Did we do good?"

"What?! I didn't tell you to do this!"

The unicorn shook his head. "No you didn't. We just thought we would take the initiative to interrogate her. She didn't confess, so we kept going."

"She didn't confess, because she didn't DO ANYTHING!!!" I shouted and ran up to him. "She was with me for the whole of yesterday, she couldn't have done anything!"

"And why should we believe you?" He asked with a snort of laughter.

"You should, but it doesn't matter now. She was under my, Twilight's, and the princess' protection. Not to mention the Queen. Congrats, you just fucked this whole town."

"Ha! We can take you down right here!"

"Sure, you can. But then you have Twilight Sparkle. If you hurt her, you have Celestia and Luna to worry about. And the Queen. She had a direct link to The changeling queen Chrysalis. She knows everything. What you did, where we are. All of it. And Luna knows she in the country." I spit in his face. "You fucked up." He laughed and pushed me away. Then, "AUGH!!" I lost it.

I rushed forward and grabbed his horn. Snapping it off was easy with the right leverage. He screamed in pain and I punched his face, knocking him out. The two earth ponies recovered from being surprised and went after me. I kicked one in the neck and turned around. The other one kicked, I tried to dodge it but I was too slow. I flew backward into a wall. The pony helped the other one up and the two began to walk towards me.

They smiled down on me with wicked faces. The beating was going on for I don't know how long. Every time I tried to grab at them, one of them would smack my hand away.

"Stop!" Xavier yelled for the hundredth time. "We were employed to arrest them and bring them here! Not this!!" They weren't listening though. Suddenly there was a flash of light behind them.

What appeared when the light dissipated was a dark figure with a slimy looking green mane and fangs. She use a spell on them, and they froze. Paralysis spell, nice. "That will be quite enough of that!" She looked into the cell and made a noise that almost sounded like a quick sob. "I have the perfect punishment for you," She licked her fangs. "Since you seem to hate us so much!" She hissed those words. It was kinda scary. "I will change you both into changelings." The ponies eyes shrunk and they looked at each other. "It is a long, painful process. You may not even live through it." She said with a hint of happiness in her voice.

"First, I inject a DNA altering poison into the neck. Like so." She walked up to one of them, smiled and the bit down on his neck as hard as she could. She did the same to the other one. "Then, I shall do the same to the legs." And she did so. Taking small bits of flesh along the way. "Now, the option of gender arises. What do you think, Zane? Mare or stallion?"

I looked at them. "Keep the stallions, just geld them. And make sure they feel every bit of it." I said as coldly as I could. She did so, using her jagged horn. They would have cried in pain if they could.

"And lastly," She said. "Sleep." And then they dropped like a sack of potatoes. I stayed slumped up against the wall. Losing it took almost all of my energy. And then the beating those two gave me. I felt my eyes start to close. "Is this him?"

My eyes shot opened. "What?"

"The ring leader. Is this him?" She pointed at the unicorn. I nodded. "Excellent." She levitated him into the cell where Xavier and Aura were. I'm surprised he's still here. Chrysalis looked at him and curtly told him to leave. He nodded. and left the cell. "Now, how about some black magic?"

"What are you planning?"

"Transferring Aura's injuries to him. That would heal her in the process. She'd still need rest though. You seem like you need rest as well."

"I'll be fine. Do the spell."

She smiled. "Gladly." She kicked him and woke him up. He groaned in pain and then saw her. Her smiled turned evil. "You thought you could get away with it, didn't you?" She asked with calm fury. He didn’t say anything. He couldn’t. He was in so much fear of her. “Aw not so brave against the Changeling Queen now are you?”

“I’m not afraid of you!” He yelled in a shaky voice.

She laughed. “Have you grown arrogant in fear? I can sense your emotions.” No more words were exchanged. Her horn shone a sickly green light. The same light traveled off of her horn in an orb and flew in between them. The orb stretched out into small tendrils, connecting them.

“What is this?!”

“You’re going to feel the pain that you inflicted on my daughter.” Chrysalis said in a wicked tone. “You will scream and writhe in agony. And I will relish all of it. Every emotion, every drop of blood I see. I will love it!” Sheesh. Good thing I’m on her good side. I don’t want to be on the receiving end of that.

The spell started to take effect on him. Bruises started to form, cuts started to tear into his flesh. And I grew strangely hungry. He was screaming in absolute misery and pain. Chrysalis was drinking it in. She enjoyed this a little too much. But then again, what would I do in her position? I frowned when she started laughed. Black magic indeed. The users are often…off.

The screaming stopped and I looked over. The unicorn look worse than Aura had. That might have been Chrysalis’ added flavor, or what I did to him. I’m not sure, but I’ll chose to not question it. “Is it done?” I asked.

She licked her lips. “Yes. And it was delicious.”

“Uh you might have went too far there, Queen.”

“Oh?” She looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “What would you do?” I didn't say anything. She took my silence as an answer. “That’s what I thought.” She walked over to me. I tried to scoot away. “Why are you scared?” She asked with genuine confusion. “We are allies, are we not? You don’t need to worry about me hurting you.” She said with a kind smile. “Now, hold still. I will heal your wounds.”

Her horn glowed with the same sickly green but I didn’t feel pain like I thought I would. I felt a warm sensation flow throughout my body. Before my eyes the bruises faded away, the blood evaporated. The numbness went away and, I was amazed. I sat up, moved my fingers, and moved my arms. No pain, at all. She must have sensed my amazement because she laughed. “Never been healed before?”

“Not with magic, no. Thanks.”

“Think nothing of it, human. You have gained my favor.”

“I mean no disrespect, Queen. But how?”

“Really?” She asked, confused. “It should be obvious.”

I nodded. “It is. I was just making sure. She was afraid.”

She smiled. “She was. I thank you for being there for her. If I could, I would make you an honorary changeling.”

I chuckled nervously. “If the process is the same as what you did to those two, no thanks.”

She laughed. “You would not live through it. If only you were a pony. I would have gained three new subjects instead of only two.”

I did help the right side. Didn’t I?

~Twenty Minutes Later~
"I'm chill on most days. Unless I'm stressed.”-Me

“So,” I said. “Is everything gonna go back to normal?” I yawned. “I wore myself out being pissed for that long.”

Xavier looked at me. “Depends, we still need ta figure out who broke in to Barnyard Bargains.”

“Oh yeah… I forgot about that.” I looked over to the other ponies. “And… them…” I said. “Sorry guys.” Rainbow Dash looked at me with a raised eyebrow. Vinyl Scratch shrugged. And Thunder Lane…is being a dick. I shook my head. “You can let them go now.”

“Well I suppose I can. Just block the door so they can’t get away.”

“Okay?” I walked over to the door. Oddly enough Chrysalis followed me. I didn’t think about it, and watched Xavier unlock everyone. “Hey, how is will this be solved?”

“Mister Rich will stop by with the investigators soon. They’ll go through evidence, and we’ll see if the culprit is here.”

“Well that’s…weird.” I scratched the back of my head. “But okay. Sure.” Bastard’s probably going to try to lock me and Aura up. “How soon will they be here?”

He shrugged. “Oh I don’t know. Should be any minute now.I thought they'd be her by now.”

Chrysalis looked at me. “Are we still going through with the plan?” she whispered.

I looked around. Rainbow Dash and Thunder Lane were talking. Apparently they know each other. Vinyl was talking with Xavier. For some reason I didn’t find it odd. “Nah.” I whispered back. “We’ll keep that on stand by still.” She harrumphed. “Wait till they really screw up.”

“Will that ever happen?” She asked hopefully.

“Hopefully not.”

She sighed. “I shall take my leave. If you are not locked up, I will be at the library.”

“See ya there.” I waved. The others were looking at me. “What?”

“I can’t believe she’s back in Equestria!” Rainbow exclaimed. “You’d think the princess would arrest her!”

“If you knew what we do, you wouldn’t think that.”

“What do you mean ‘we’.” Thunder Lane asked.

“Princess Luna, Aura, and I. Chrysalis told us of what happened to the rest of the changelings.”

“And?” He asked.

“Well, they’re almost extinct.” Everyone gasped. “Luna did a lie detector spell and everything. She’s telling the truth.”

“That’s…some heavy stuff.” Vinyl said, with a sad expression on her face.

“Yeah. Speaking of,” I looked over at the cell I had left my changeling friend. “How is Aura doing?”

Xavier looked at her and shrugged. “She’s still sleepin’.” Restraining myself from being a smartass, I just nodded.

“I don’t even know why I’m a suspect. I’ve been working all week!” Thunder Lane yelled.

“Same here!” Rainbow Dash said.

Vinyl shrugged. “I get blamed for this stuff all the time. I’m used to it.”

“God knows why Aura and I are here.” Bullshit, I know why we’re here. “But let’s just chill until they get here.” Who knows how long that will be.

Xavier nodded. “That would be a good idea.”

So we sat there, using idle chatting to eat up time. No one really had anything good to talk about. Except for one pony. Rainbow talked about her flying tricks, Thunder talked about the weather control. Apparently Xavier works for the town. That would explain why he kept saying he was “just doing his job”. Vinyl was talking about music. She was the only one who had something good to talk about.

I can talk about music for a good while. “So, What do you listen to Zane?”

“Oh, pretty much anything, except for mainstream rap and country.” I shrugged. “Mostly Metal though. Some Pop. How about you all?”

“Rock!” Rainbow Dash answered.

“Electronic.” Vinyl said.

“Country and Pop.” Thunder Lane said.

“Mostly country for me.” Xavier said. Not really surprising.

“Nice. Sounds like we have a well-rounded group here, huh?” I nodded while wearing the “not bad” expression on my face. “Electronic stuff ain’t bad. Ever heard of ‘chill-step’, Vinyl?”

“Hay Yeah! I’ve made a few songs like that!”

“Awesome. I’d like to hear them sometime.”

“How about after this is over?”

“Sounds fine to me.”

“That is, if it wasn’t you who broke into the store!”

“Why are you so mean to him?!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “He and Aura have been out of town all day yesterday!” Rainbow Dash. Thunder recoiled.

“Yeah! Just because he’s different, means you get to pick on him? What the buck, man!?”

He was speechless. I guess he hasn’t been ganged up on before. “Thanks guys.” I said. “But you didn’t need to do that. You scared him.”

Rainbow laughed. “We aren't members of 'Equality' for nothing!”

I raised an eyebrow. “They have a name now?”

“Came up with it yesterday.” Vinyl said.

"Nice and simple too."

“Is this thing happening or not?” I asked with a sigh.

“Well, uh they should have been here by now.”

Just then, the door opened. I was sitting with my back against the door. And the door opened towards the outside. I fell backwards and startled a light brown pony stallion. He had two other ponies with him. One was Twilight. The other one wasn’t familiar, they both chuckled. “Uh hi guys… What’s up?”

“Yes well,” The brown earth pony cleared his throat. “I trust everpony is here.”

“Pretty much, Mr. Rich.” Xavier said.

“Good, good.” He looked down at me. “My name is Filthy Rich. What is your name, Human?”

I sat up and looked at him. “Zane, nice to meet you Mr. Rich.”

“Well depending on how this goes, likewise.” He said in a bored tone. “Well let’s get on with this.”

“Right.” Twilight and the other pony nodded.

“We’ve spent an hour and a half investigating Barnyard Bargains.” The other pony said. “There wasn’t much evidence, unfortunately, just some broken glass.”

“That’s not really evidence…” Twilight said. “But it’s all we have to work with.”

“So then, how do we figure this out?” Xavier asked.

“Old fashion detective work!” The other pony said. “Upon further investigation, we found fur on the shards of glass.”

“I thought you said there was no other evidence?” Filthy Rich said.

“I did? Well, never mind that. The fur was orange.”

“Alright hold up.” I said. “No one here has orange fur. Hell, Aura and I don’t even have fur! Why are we here?”

The pony interrupted Twilight. “Honestly, I have no idea.”

“Seriously?” The pony nodded. “So Aura was kidnapped for no reason?”

“Yup.”

“And I got pissed for no reason?”

“Seems that way.”

Just my luck… “Twilight.” Twilight looked at me. I’m going back to my campsite. Bring Aura along when you’re done here. Okay?”

“Why don’t you just go back to the library?”

“Oh you know, the whole banned from Ponyville thing.”

“Oh. Right.”

“I’ll make sure your friends are okay, Xavier.” He nodded. “Well, this was fun. But I’m out of here. Twilight, tell me how it goes when you drop her off. See y’all later.” I stood up and walked out of the door.

Of all the things that could happen…

How are you not more upset about this?

Used up all of my anger. I shrugged.

Walking back to the campsite, I walked by the town hall. It was an interesting looking building. At least too me. There was a mare with a grey mane outside. And now she’s walking towards me. “H-hello?” She said with a sheepish smile. “Are you Zane?”

“I’m the only human here right?”

“Uh well, um yes…”

I sighed. “Sorry, just not in good mood today.”

“That’s okay. I’m Mayor Mare. Co-founder of ‘Equality’.” She stated proudly.

“Okay.” I said in a slightly unimpressed tone. “What do you want?”

“Yes well, I wanted to tell you that our numbers are growing.”

“Okay?”

“And that you are allowed back in town. I don't agree with what Mr. Rich had his employees do.”

I nodded. “That’s good news. How about Aura?”

“Oh, yes, the changeling…” She looked at the ground. “More ponies are in favor of you coming back over her.”

“Okay, do these ponies know that she goes where I go?”

“Well…”

“Exactly. Aura is here because she was seeking help. Then your precious townsfolk beat her and left her to die. Did you know that? I doubt you did. Twilight found her, and took her in. Sometime later I showed up. And you know what I found out?” She shook her head. “I found out that Twilight is under orders from Princess Celestia, to reform my changeling friend. How can Twilight do this, without Aura in town?”

The Mayor nodded. “I see your point. I will allow her in town as well.”

“Thank you. And look, I know what the changelings did. But you ponies don’t need to be so harsh on her, okay? She’s been giving me the impression that she didn’t want to be apart of the invasion. Chill out on her, she’s not much different from you.” She looked shocked. “And thank you by the way. I appreciate having allies that are willing to fight for me.”

“N-not a problem.”

“I will be staying at the library with Twilight. Just in case you need me for something group related. Good bye.” I walked off toward the campsite.

Things might be looking up.

Day Seven: Royalty Visits

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~Day Seven: Royalty Visits AKA Nothing Got Done~
"I is bad quote. Pay no mind to me."

I ended up staying at the campsite until Aura showed up yesterday, and we stayed the night there. She said she doesn't remember much, but I filled her in on some of the details. I left out Chrysalis'...enjoyment. Figured she wouldn't want to know that her mom was a psychopath. Nothing worthy of mention happened last night though. Right now, though, we were both sitting in the main room of the library.

Apparently my iPod is now magic powered, and has infinite battery life because of that. Pretty cool, if you ask me. My iPod says the time is about noon. Twilight is making lunch and Aura is sitting next to me. Well...snuggled up next to me would be more accurate. Not sure how I feel about this. Her mane is coming in nicely though, and her tail has fully changed. It's a weird pinkish color. I imagine her mane will be the same color.

What I'm doing right now is listening to music. I let Aura pick the song. She happened to choose Every Night by Imagine Dragons. It's kinda a love song, or similar to one. I really hope she hasn't developed feelings for me. That would be awkward. Annd she just got closer to me. She must be asleep, poor thing didn't sleep at all last night.

Twilight walked in with our lunch. From what I could see, she made sandwiches. I like sandwiches, not too sound simple or anything... I gestured for Twilight to be quiet, she smiled and nodded. She sat the plate on the table and walked over to me. She asked if we could talk for a moment. I nodded and carefully slid out of Aura's grasp, and followed Twilight into the kitchen.

"What's going on?" I asked.

She took a deep breath. "Alright. What you did was wrong."

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Or should I say: The way you handled it. I disagree with what they did to Aura, but hurting ponies wasn't the right solution."

"Oh. That." I sighed and scratched the back of my head. "Yeah... I know. I don't know why I did that shit. And before you say any thing, yes I know. I have a lot to make up for. But they didn't need to kidnap her."

"I'm not saying they were right either. But as long as you realize your mistake..." She shook her head. "We can pick on this later."

"A change in subject would be nice."

She thought a bit and giggled. "Aura seems to have grown close to you."

"Well, when you're the only one that will actually protect her. That tends to happen." She looked at the floor. "Not that I'm attacking anyone or anything. You were out of town."

"But I could have done something before it got out of hoof."

"You let the princesses know, right?"

"Initially, yes."

"There you go. It's not your fault they're busy. You did all you could do."

"I suppose. But I feel like I could have done something."

I shrugged. "Nothing you can do about it now." I tried to think of something. "Uh, what do you think of Aura changing?"

She smiled at the slight change in subject. "I think it's absolutely fascinating!" She said excitedly. I smiled at the current expression on her face. It's adorable, in all honesty. "I would love to learn about how it's possible. But..." She trailed off.

I raised an eyebrow in thought. "Chrysalis?"

She sighed. "Yes..."

I chuckled. "Yeah. She's a bit intimatating, huh?" She nodded. " but you know? Maybe you could 'reform' her as well?" She perked up at that. "Maybe Celestia will be in favor of that? Not only would you have reformed a normal changeling..." I gestured for her to continue.

"I don't know. That doesn't seem like a good idea..."

I sighed. "Worth a shot, right? She's really not that bad."

She chuckled nervously. "Maybe later, I think I heard Aura wake up."

I knew it was just an excuse, but I let it go. "Yeah, I suppose we should eat those sandwiches, huh? Wouldn't want to waste it."

So... It wasn't an excuse. Aura really did wake up, and we're having lunch. This sandwich is different, though I don't know. I can't place the taste. Aura said hers was fine, so I shrugged it off. We're all sitting around the table in the main room. Admitively boring, but hey. Beats everything that's happened from earlier this week. That's for sure.

I finished my first sandwich. "What's on the agenda today?"

"I think you two might need to stay here for awhile." Twilight said.

"Why?" Asked Aura.

"The townsponies aren't really ready to see you again yet."

"What do you mean?" I asked while grabbing another sandwich.

"News travels fast here." She said with a nervous look on her face. "Everypony knows what happened at the jailhouse."

"Do they know about Chrysalis then?" I asked with slight concern.

"Chrysalis was there?" I looked around innocently. She sighed. "Anyway, no. They think you did it. Equality and I are trying to convince the town that it wasn't you, but there isn't a lot to work with..."

"And you can't reveal Chrysalis' presence either." She shook her head and I sighed. "Why is my luck so bad? Okay, so we just stay here til how long?"

"Actually, the princesses are visiting later." She sheepishly smiled.

Aw shit. "Great... Anything I need to worry about?"

"Not really. They want to investigate the recent problems in town."

I sighed in relief. "Okay good."

"Annnd Celestia want's meet you."

"Dammit." I closed my eyes and massaged my temples. "When's this happening?"

She teleported a scroll and read it. "At five. Unfortunately I'll be at a meeting with the mayor. So..."

I looked at Aura. She looked nervous. "We're on our own? Great." I said finishing my second sandwich.

"Oh you'll be fine!"

Aura nodded. "We'll handle it Twilight. When is your meeting?" She said, trying to shake off her nervousness.

Twilight gave her a weird look and nodded her head. "The meeting is at three and it lasts til six. I should be getting back before Celestia and Luna leave."

"Sounds fine." Aura said confidently. I looked at her, and she just shrugged.

"Okay, so we have about an hour?" I said looking at my watch. "Maybe two, before your meeting? What are we going to do until you leave?"

"I'm not sure." Twilight said with a shrug.

"Aura?"

"Hmm?" She said through a mouthful of sandwich.

"Do you have any ideas?"

She swallowed and held her chin in thought. "We could see if mom needs anything."

Twilight didn't seem to like that idea. She opened and closed her mouth several times. But didn't actually say anything. "Doesn't seem she's ready to see her yet." I said.

"Okay," She tapped her chin in thought once more. "Well there might be stuff to do around the library?"

"No, Spike did all of the chores."

I tried to think of something, but couldn't. "I guess we just sit here..." And sit we did. After a while, I turned on some music. We were listening to Love Her by Seether. Twilight didn't seem to like the song. And toward the end of the song, she shook her head and told me to put on a more uplifting song. So, I put on Tonight by Seether. She seemed to like that one a little more.

"Have I said how interesting human music is?" Twilight said.

"You may have. But is it really that different from pony music?"

She shook her head. "No, but that is what interests me. We're worlds apart, yet, we're practically the same."

"How do you mean?" I asked.

"The emotion, the subjects, they're almost the same. The difference being our songs are generally more positive."

"There are bound to be differences." I nodded. "It interests me as well, you know. But then again. What have I been saying? Though you've understood, I wish they would get it."

"Equality and I are doing our best." She reassured.

"Oh, I know. And I'm grateful." Aura scooted closer and I chuckled. "We're grateful."

Twilight smiled and we fell silent again.

~One and a Half Hours Later~
"I am...slightly clueless when it comes to 'romance'."-Me

Twilight left about a minute or two ago, and Aura and I were now sitting on the couch. We still had a couple of hours before the princesses arrive, and we have absolutely no idea how to spend it. I've noticed the battery has gone down a little bit. Actually Aura pointed my attention to it. It was barely noticeable to me, though. Anyway, she asked me what it meant and I told her. She at least seemed to understand.

If you're wondering about Spike, he's still here. Just got done with his nap. He asked me where Twilight was and then asked if we've eaten. After I answered him, he nodded and got himself something to eat. He came trotting out of the kitchen with a plate of gem incrusted sandwich. That seems to be the meal of the day, huh?

Aura seems to be enjoying human music. She hardly lets my iPod go! It is kinda funny to see her bob her head along with the music, though. She even tried to play the few apps that I have on there. The couple of times she did, she got frustrated and set it down. Can't say I blame her. Some of them are a pain.

Ya know, it's slow days like this where I can sit back and think about stuff. Not always a good thing, but I'll try to be optimistic. That might be difficult all things considered. Like earlier in the week. Maybe like, Tuesday? I was a major ass. Well, okay, I've been an ass off and on. But I really don't remember the day when I was really bad. I can't believe I let my anger get control over me like that... I wonder Celestia knows? Probably...

Then there's the question of what happened to me on earth. Maybe one of the princesses would know? Hopefully, though, I'm not sure I really want to know... I feel a sense of worry and fear as I think about this. Aura looked over at my with a concerned look on her face. I shook my head and patted hers. There'd be time to think about this later.

She shook her head. "You always do this, you know?" Aura said.

"What?"

"There's something bothering you, but you don't say anything."

"I just don't want to repeat myself is all. I've already talked with Twilight about it. She's looking into it."

She gave me a skeptical look. "Okay then."

"It's depressing. Don't worry about." She looked unsure, but nodded anyway. "We have another two hours before the princesses arrive. What do you want to do?"

"Well, I haven't seen mother all day. Want to check the basement and see if she's in there?"

"I don't know. I kinda want to do something outside."

"But Twilight told us to not go out there."

"To me, it was more of a suggestion." I smiled. "But, I think I'm just going to sit on the balcony. Wanna join?"

She nodded. "Some fresh air would be nice."

"We'll visit your mother in alittle bit, as well." She just nodded. It would be nice to see the big ole bug queen. Even though she's nuts. Friends? Not excactly. There's a possibility, but I'm not really sure. ...Yes, I am scared of her. But only a little... You don't believe me do you? Didn't think so.

"I just thought of something." I heard Aura say.

"What's that?"

"What if the ponies see us?"

I thought about that for a moment. "We're still going to be on Twilight's property." I shrugged. "I wouldn't worry about it. If the ponies do anything, Twilight could take legal action." I thought some more. "Unless the laws are different here?"

Aura shrugged. "I wouldn't know."

Oh right, she wouldn't without knowing US law...

No shit. Aren't you smart?

Calm down Zeke. Why are you so mean all of the time?

There was no answer. I shook my head. "Anyway, let's go. Or do you want to see Chrysalis first?"

She lightly shook her head. "Let's go out on the balcony."

"This is kinda nice." Said Aura.

"Yeah see? What I was talking about? Isn't it nice to relax and feel the sun's rays? Been awhile since I felt this way." I said while stretching.

"What about yesterday? And the day before that?"

"No, see that was different. While I could relax, I never fully let my guard down."

She snorted. "And you think I did? A changeling is always on guard."

"Hey, I never said you did. What I meant was: Here, we can actually relax. Without the need to be vigilant. You know?"

She nodded. "Yes, I see your point." She let out a satisfied sigh. "This is nice."

"I thought it was only kinda nice?" I chuckled.

She scooted closer to me. "I retract my statement." Still not sure about this. But regardless, I stroked her mane. She kinda made purring noise. I took my hand away and rubbed it on my pants. Bad habit, I know. She looked up at me. "What's wrong?"

I sighed. I guess I've put this off for long enough. "Uh hey, not to ruin the good mood. But um... Do you...have feelings towards me?" She scooted away from me. I looked at her, and she had a mixture of emotions flashing across her face, and she was getting panicky. "Whoa, calm down. Nothing to freak out about." I have my answer. "Just nod or shake your head."

She stood up. "I-I-I think I'll go find Mother now." And then she left. Well, that was kind of abrupt...

Yeah, what the hell?

Maybe you should have handled it differently.

I thought I was doing pretty good... Maybe it's a changeling thing?

Changelings seem to be rather sensitive and empathetic creatures. Maybe her reaction to your question has something to do with it?

I didn't have to think about that for very long for it to make sense. Dammit... Should I go talk to her?

Do you want to get zapped with a spell?

Well, no not really. But what should I do?

Be patient. Maybe Chrysalis will talk to her.

Maybe... I looked around at the town. It truly is a beautiful day. Pegasi are moving clouds around, and townsfolk are wandering around. It is really nice. "But, we'll just have to wait and see." Did I say that out loud? Oh well. I can't say that I'm not worried though.

"HUMAN!!! YOU MUST SEE ME AT ONCE!!" And that's why. A few ponies that were passing by flinched and looked up. They must have seen the nervousness on my face because the gave my a nervous smile and hurried along. I know some of them might question whose voice that was, but that's not my problem. An angry bug Queen in the basement, however, is. Well, maybe not my problem, but still. "I AM WAITING!!"

You're screwed.

No, he's not.

There was anger in her voice. that's not a good sign.

You aren't helping! I shook my head, stood up and went inside. I reluctantly made my way through the library. I stopped in the main room and looked around. There was no one there. I knew Twilight was in a meeting, but what about Spike? I turned toward the basement's doorway and reluctantly made my way over to it and downstairs. I stopped about halfway down, when I noticed a green glow. I shrugged it off and continued to make my way down. I peeked around the corner. "Y-yes, Queen?"

"Ah there you are." She looked off to the side. "You may leave now, Daughter. Leave the human and I to speak in peace." I couldn't see anything but I heard the door close. Chrysalis' horn glowed and everything fell silent. She sighed. "I should not be angry with you, for you do not know our culture. But, you made a mistake." I opened my mouth, but closed it. "So I present to you a learning opportunity." She smiled. "And we will start with courtship. Seeing how you mostly need help with that subject."

~Two Hours Later~
"Politics. Keep me out of it."-Me

Okay, so, Chysalis went into a little too much detail about changeling culture. I was fine until she went into mating habits and rituals. I really didn't need to know that most drones are dual-gendered. And I certainly didn't need to know the...shall we say, more intimate details about changeling anatomy. She painted a very vivid picture. And I wanted to vomit. She took joy in that... I did ask about Aura though. Chrysalis said she was definitely female because of her being a princess. She quizzed me afterward too. I got an A+...

I looked at my watch. "Hmm... Celestia and Luna are supposed to be here any minute now." I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. Aura is as well, more so than me. She's practically shitting herself actually. At least that's what I'm assuming, she's hiding behind the couch. I tried to talk to her, but had little success. And she's the one that was confident. Is funny to me, but oh well. It will be interesting to see how this goes.

There was a knock at the door. I froze and I imagine Aura did the same. Well, actually, she a weird noise. Not sure how to describe it. The knock sounded again and I stood up. I walked over to the window, and looked to see who it was. "They're here." I said. "Okay. Calm down." I stepped over to the door. Steeled my nerves and opened it. In front of me, was a tall white 'Alicorn' with tricolored mane. "H-hello."

"Hello." She said. "I am Princess Celestia. Am I right to assume that you are Zane the Human?"

"Y-you would right. Err...I mean..."

She politely chuckled. "There is no need to be nervous. Try to relax."

"Okay." I took a deep breath to calm myself. "Your highness."

She smiled. "My sister has informed me there is a Changeling staying here?"

I raised an eyebrow despite myself. "Forgive me Your highness but, I was under the impression that you already knew about Aura?"

"Aura? Luna told me that there was another Changeling staying here. Speaking of," She started looking around. "Where is Aura?"

"Hiding, your highness. Shall I get her?" I asked.

She gave another polite chuckle. "You may." She nodded. "And could you fetch the other one?"

"Umm...well." I tried to think of something.

"Worry not." I heard a familiar voice say, and Luna walked in. "I shall explain it to her. Go fetch them both." I nodded and headed towards the basement. I looked behind the couch to see if Aura was still there. She was, but she didn't seem to want to move. I nodded and continued on to the basement.

When I was about halfway down, Chrysalis called. "I know they are here, Human. I am on my way."

"Good, Changeling. They were asking about you." I turned around and went back up the stairs. If you're curious as to why Chrysalis and I call each other by our species, it's pretty much the same reason some people call each other by their last names. There's a certain camaraderie there. Not everyone gets it, but when you grew up in a military family, you kind of get it early on.

I made my way to the top of the stairs, and peeked around the corner. I saw that Aura was bowing in front of the princesses. Luna was looking at her with sympathy in her eyes. Celestia seemed indifferent, but it was hard to tell. It could be that she wasn't pleased about Chrysalis being in country again. That could be it, but your guess is as good as mine. Celestia told Aura to rise and I stepped out from the corner. I was kinda funny to hear her say "My little Changeling". It was like the words themselves tasted bad. I wonder if the Queen has any issues with that.

I have never pinned myself as someone with dual alliances, but I guess now I could be considered to be. I am aligned with the Equestrian Empire and the Changeling Swarm. Okay... I'm making the names up, but still I'm an ally of both. Anyway, after a few minutes of uneasy silence, Celestia finally cleared her throat. "Yes, well," She's uncomfortable? How funny. "Let me just say how sorry I am that my little ponies have treated you three."

"Yes," Luna said. "I still cannot believe what the two of you have told me."

"I trust that action has already been put in motion?" Chrysalis said bitterly. "Though no action taken will bring my subjects back."

Celestia nodded. "There have been several arrests already. I'm surprised how many of my subjects are proud of what they have done."

Chrysalis gave her a blank stare. "Quite. What actions are being taken? Anything sufficient?"

"We are looking into the possibility of there being any dark magic at work here." Luna stated.

Chrysalis scoffed. "You can't seriously think that such a large scale spell is possible?"

"What other explanation is there?" Celestia asked. "There is no way my little ponies have that much hatred in them."

I silently rolled my eyes. "You'd be surprised." I said quietly.

Celestia's ear twitched. "What was that, Zane?"

Not quietly enough, apparently. "Oh, um..." I scratched the back of my head. "If I may, Princess. Ponies seem to be a lot like humans. If that's true, then they hold a vast capacity for spite."

"But enough to be proud of something so..." She looked like she was searching for a word.

"Evil?" Chrysalis asked.

"Well... yes."

Chrysalis and I scoffed. Though I made it look like I coughed. "You are over one thousand years old," Chrysalis started. "And you are surprised by something so simple? I am younger than you, And I understand it! Are you so blind to things that you can not even see the obvious?"

Celestia glared at her. "Who do you think you are, to be able to talk to me like that?!"

"Well, pardon me for trying to help you see what's in front of you."

Luna and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows and then back the other two. "Need I remind you that you are an enemy of Equestria?!"

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "Oh please, former enemy! I realize and accept that I have been defeated!"

"Then why have you infiltrated my country?!"

"To find a safe haven!!!" She shouted. All went silent and Celestia's face gained a confused and curious expression. "Do you have any idea what it's like in the Badlands? How bad it is when the other beings there view as weak? To have your entire race be destroyed!?"

Celestia's eyes grew wide. "W-what?"

"You didn't know?" She raised an eyebrow, but then her face fell. "Then again why would you even bother?" She asked coldly. Aura scooted close enough to me to be touching my leg.

She was about to continue, but then I cleared my throat. Everyone looked at me. "Enough, please. You two are stressing poor Aura and I out. Luna?" She raised an eyebrow. "I thought you filled your sister in? It seems you missed some vital details." I said with an annoyed voice. "Now, I don't mean to speak out of term, but, we're getting nowhere. And fast." I sighed. "How about we get back to the main reason for this meeting? Or do we not remember what that is?"

"This is why I like you Zane. I am glad we are allies."

"You are allied with her?" Celestia asked with a shocked voice.

I looked at Chrysalis with a furrowed brows for a long while before looking at Celestia. "I am allied to you both." I said quickly. "Just stop it you two. I swear...."

"I'm afraid I have to agree, sister." Luna said. "We have wasted too much time with this petty squabble. Perhaps it is wise for you to go into town and investigate."

"I have names, in case you need them." I said, glad the air wasn't as tense.

"Names?" Celestia asked.

"They are witnesses to the horror that happened to Aura and I. Do you want them?"

She nodded. "Yes." I nodded and told her. "Thank you." She looked at Chrysalis. "This is not over." She said grimly.

Chrysalis gave a fake smile. "Love you too, Sweetie." Celestia scowled, glared and left. The rest of us just shook our heads. "What?" She asked innocently.

~End of Arrival Ark~

Day Twenty Six: Growing Suspicions

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~Day Twenty Six: Growing Suspicions~

Time skip ahead to the fourth of November. Why? Because the rest of October was pretty boring. I didn't partake in "Nightmare Night", not that anyone would have wanted me there. Save for Twilight and her friends, but still. So it was just me, Chrysalis, Aura and Luna at the library. Celestia asked Luna to stay in Ponyville, which she accepted. The only condition, if you want to call it that, is she has to be here in secret. Which is fine with all of us. Especially Twilight. There was an awkward moment between me and Luna though.

I was taking a shower and I had my iPod playing some Seether, so I didn't hear the door open. I was singing too...

"This is a most interesting song!"

"GAH! What the ffff... The hell?! Luna! Why are you in here?!" I am so glad there are shower curtains.

"I am merely trying to get to know you."

"While I'm in the shower?!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know privacy meant so much to you."

"Well then you learned something."

I heard her step closer to the shower. "Please accept my apologies."

"I do, I do, just... Please get out." I said in an exasperated voice.

"But I wish to know more about the song."

"Oh my god, we can talk about it when I'm done! Just leave!" The last thing I heard was the door closing.

Yeah, I might have been a little harsh on her. But it was a little embarrassing, and annoying. I apologized after I was done though. It's kind of funny to me in an ironic way. She's powerful enough to move the moon and paint the night sky with stars, but she acted almost like a kid when I apologized to her. She promised me that it would not happen again. I watched her raise the moon that night. It was pretty cool.

I'm not saying that I didn't make things awkward. A couple nights before the shower "incident", I asked her about Nightmare Moon. She looked away from me, said she didn't want to talk about it, and walked away. Leaving me to feel like the biggest idiot in Equestria. We kind of avoided each other after that. I think the shower thing was her way of trying to make up for just walking off. And before you ask why I didn't lock the door, there was no lock.

Now, however, it was one o'clock in the afternoon. Luna was asleep and Twilight just served lunch. Which reminded me of something. " Hey do you guys have Thanksgiving?"

She shook her head. "No, what's that?"

"It's a holiday where I'm from." I sighed. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"Is it a major holiday?"

I shook my head. "Not really. At least to me. It's a false holiday really. So," I shrugged. "Whatever."

"Why did you sigh then?"

"Because it makes me feel a little more distant from my world. I can deal with the main populous being ponies because I pretty much see you as people now."

She raised an eyebrow. "You see us as other Humans?"

I nodded. "Call it a survival instinct or a coping mechanism, maybe loss of sanity. That could definitely be a factor. Oh, and of course the whole racism last month helped." I flashed a fake smile. It still hasn't been solve but it probably never will. Me barely leaving the house might not help with that. I've heard from Twilight there's a few rumors floating around. But I don't care, they can say what they want. It matters not too me.

"Yeah..." She scratched the back of her head. "We're really trying to-"

"I know you and Equality are trying your best, but I don't want you to try to force them to change their views."

She chuckled. "Oh, we're not forcing anything on anypony. We join for meetings and try to spread our views. Whether or not the ponies change their own is entirely up to them."

"Good." I looked around. "Wait, hold on."

"What?"

"Where's Aura?"

Twilight thought for a moment. "I think she's in the basement with Chrysalis."

"I see."

Speaking of Aura, she is fully transformed. And I have to say is, for a giant pony-bug, she looks amazing. She's also growing. I'm not sure how tall she's going to get, but that doesn't matter. Celestia gave Chrysalis an official royal pardon. From what I've heard, not a lot of ponies are happy about it. But it did largely sway the opinion on the racism issue. The group, Equality, isn't really even needed anymore. It's unfortunate really. A lot of effort went into founding the group. They've been trying to get me to join for awhile. I've been rejecting them repeatedly.

I absentmindedly stroked my new beard in thought. "Equality's not really needed anymore, right?"

"Well... pretty much." she said in a sad tone.

"Then why not repurpose it?" I asked still stroking my beard.

She tilted her head in thought. "I haven't thought of that. That's a good idea!" She smiled. "But to what?"

"That I haven't figured out yet. You could bring it up at the next meeting."

"Or you could."

I thought about it, but didn't come up with an actual decision. "I'll think about it. No promises."

She nodded. "At least you didn't just say no this time." We both chuckled at that and started to actually eat.

I was sitting on the couch alone. Aura was down downstairs, with the Queen. Twilight was at another one of those damn meetings. And Spike was taking a nap. At three in the afternoon. I don't get it, but I guess he is a baby dragon. So, I was just sitting there, with nothing to do.... But think and reflect. The violence that took place both towards me and from me, thinking back on it, felt off. I suppose I felt threatened, but I jumped the gun on the one occasion. I mean they're fine, but I could have just went with them instead of freaking out on them. They said we're cool, but I don't believe them.

Then there's what Chrysalis said about the fate of her subjects. I'm starting to doubt her. I should really ask her what cities she went to. I've been analyzing what she said for awhile. It doesn't really add up. Yes, I know most of the suspects admitted to it but, according to Twilight, the hatred hasn't always been there. And really thinking about it, that mob wasn't an angry mob. They were just curious. Well, at first anyway. Something's up, I'll.... I just had an idea. Where's the meeting again? Oh, right. Town Hall, pretty obvious, huh? Like I said, I am aligned to both sides. And I'm started to feel lied too.

I stood up and walked over to the entryway to the basement. "Hey guys, I'm going to brave the outside world. I'll be back soon!" There was no answer. But they're down there, I know it. "Um...well. See ya! I guess." That's a bit weird. I turned around and walked over to the door. I looked through the window, to see if there was any ponies outside.

Of course there are going to be ponies outside, you idiot! Just go!

He has a point. I opened the door and stepped outside. A few ponies stopped and looked at me. I stopped and looked at them. They awkwardly smiled, so did I. They awkwardly waved, and I did too. I scratched the back of my head, they looked at each other. "Okay then." I said before fast walking away. Oh man, that was awkward. I shook my head and continued on.

Through the town I was being stared at and turned away from. Not all of the ponies, mind you, but most of them. It's like they're shunning me. It's like the stories Luna was telling Aura and I about when she first came back. I have a feeling she felt a lot like I do right now. Maybe there's more to why she want's to get to know me. We have something more in common. Great... Not all of the ponies were mean though. That grey cross-eyed Pegasus mare was pretty nice. Her name was Ditzy. Interesting name, really.

If I'm right, I should be close to the Town Hall by now. I just passed Rarity's shop, so Sugar-Cube Corner should be just ahead. And then another block or so is the Town Hall.... I think. I hope I'm right. It's nice to go on a walk regardless if I find the destination. I was going crazy staying in the library all the time. Well, crazier I should say. The children have been increasingly curious about me. But their parents haven't let them approach me. Which is fine, I'm not really good with kids.

I arrive at the Town Hall. I walked in and asked where the meeting was being held. The secretary escorted me to the room and knocked on the door. Twilight opened the door. "Oh, hello Zane! What are you doing here?"

"I had a thought, but first, scan the room for changelings." I whispered. " Don't ask why, just do it." She nodded, and her horn lit up.

"We're clear."

"You sure?" She nodded again. "Okay." I thanked the secretary and walked into the room. "Do a sound proofing spell too."

She gave me a funny look. "Why?"

"I'll tell in a little bit." Her horn lit up again.

"Okay, start talking. We're listening."

I looked around the room, and my eye widened slightly. "Wow, okay there's a lot of you." I shook my head, to rid myself of the building anxiety. "But anyway this is important. I've thought a bit about what Chrysalis told us. I believe she might have been lying."

"Why would she be lying?" Twilight asked.

"Not a clue. But depending on what cities she went to, her story would make sense. So, I want some of you to look into that possibility."

"Why can't you just ask her?" Asked another pony.

"I will. I'll ask her what cities she traced her subjects to. But I want some of you guys to look into how truthful she's been. Now, I believe her as far as the fate of her race, but according to Miss Sparkle here, violence doesn't really exist here."

"It does in Manehattan." A pony from the front said.

"And Fillydelphia." I heard another pony in the front say.

"Don't forget about Detrot." A pony called out from the back

"Yeah see?" I said. "I need you guys to research the violent tendencies on ponykind. I'll ask Chrysalis what I need to ask her."

"So," Twilight raised an eyebrow. "You want us to repurpose the group into a investigative group?"

I shook my head. "Not all of you. Only a small few. How many are in the group?"

Twilight looked at her clipboard and turned a couple pages. "Sixteen."

"Okay, how about we have six investigators? That would leave ten to continue on with the founding cause."

"We would have to take their occupation into account." Said a familiar voice. I looked at the pony that spoke up. It was Co-Founder Spooky Venture. I say co-founder because I have been led to believe that Twilight got the ball rolling.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." I said stroking my beard. "Can I see the roster?" Twilight levitated the clipboard over to me. My eyes widened. "Uh Twilight? I meant how many ponies total were in the group, not how many showed up...." There were over fifty ponies on the roster! I noticed Ditzy's name on there. Doesn't surprise me. "Hey, who's Zecora?"

"She's the zebra that lives in the Everfree Forest."

"Oh, I like zebras." That got some odd glances. "Anyway, this might take awhile."

~An Hour And a Half Later~

"Aaannnd, done." Sheesh, I didn't expect it to take this long. But I guess with fifty two members, I should have. Spooky Venture, Twilight and I decided to give twelve members the investigator jobs. That leaves forty normal members. To be honest, we probably don't need twelve investigators, but oh well. It'll get done quicker that way. "When should we put this into effect?"

"Next meeting should be fine." Spooky said. "Does that work for everypony?" The ponies that were there nodded. "Splendid."

"Well," I stood up from the chair I was sitting on. "I'll let you get on with the meeting."

"Okay," Twilight smiled. "I think it's nice that you're getting active in the group."

"Don't get used to it." I smiled. "But you may see me again."

"Why don't you stay for the rest of the meeting?"

I thought a bit about it, and shrugged. "I guess I could. There's really nothing else going on."

"Alright." He smiled. "Have a seat anywhere and we will continue." I looked around for an empty seat, and found one toward the back. "Okay, where were we?"

"The possibility of continuing the research of Changelings?"

"Ah yes. I have the suspicion that most of what we know about them is wrong. What has been confirmed is that they do feed on love, but don't drain the victim completely like we originally thought." A pony raised a hoof. "Yes, Octavia?"

"How has this information been confirmed?"

"Excellent question! Miss Sparkle here has been studying the interactions between our human friend and the changeling, Aura." I glanced over at Twilight, who sheepishly smiled. "She used a spell that made her see the connection and transfer of the emotion." This gained murmurs from the ponies. "It turns out that the amount of the emotion that is taken is so little, that it would take ten years of continuous feeding to completely drain the victim." Another pony raised a hoof. "Yes?"

"What about their capacity for empathy?"

"You mean outside of feeding?" The pony nodded. "Miss Sparkle?"

"Thank you Spooky." She turned her attention to the class. "Their capacity for empathy is bigger that we initially thought. Through my observations, I have seen a great amount of caring from Aura."

"Caring for who?" Twilight glanced over to me a few times and smiled. "Oh..."

"It seems Changeling are capable of feeling the same emotions as we can." There were a few surprised murmurs. I wanted to get irritated, but I couldn't. I don't think they should so surprised by this fact but, what can you do?

"What about personality traits?"

"A very good question! Aura shows a variety of traits. She's kind, considerate, and shy, among other traits. Unfortunately, any other information we have is unconfirmed as true." Some of the ponies finished writing notes and Twilight nodded to Spooky, who nodded back.

"What else should we discuss?" He asked the others. A few ponies looked at each other. I saw a pony look back at me.

"What about Zane?" I perked up at mention of my name.

"What about him?" I asked with a smile on my face.

"Uh...never mind..."

"Oh no, go ahead. Don't let me stop you." I stood up. "I'll even leave. So talk about me all you want." I walked up to the front of the room and looked at Twilight. "I'll see you back at the library."

She looked at me with concern. "Is everything okay?" She whispered.

"Yeah." I whispered back. "I'm just messing with everyone. Make sure they know that, okay?" She smiled and nodded. I waved and left the room with a smiled on my face. I walked into the lobby and sat down on one of the chairs. I don't want to be apart of the group if that's all they talk about.

It seems logical to me. The more information they have, the better.

No, I get that. But... something feels off. I don't know why though. Maybe it's nothing. Hopefully it's nothing.

You get bad feeling like this a lot. Don't be a baby.

Thank you for your meaningful words of encouragement.

"Hello there." I heard a female pony said from in front of me say.

Startled out of my thoughts, I quickly looked up. "Goddammit!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." I was a Pegasus pony.

"I know I know. What do you want?"

"I want you to come with me."

Oh boy. "What I do?"

She chuckled. "You didn't do anything."

"Well, that's good to know." I noticed a green glint in the pony's eyes. "Uh-huh. I'll see you back at the library."

"Excuse me?" The pony nodded to a group of ponies looking at us.

I tried to think of something. "Uh... Dinner plans remember. That was tonight."

The changeling raised an eyebrow, but caught on. "Oh right, I had forgotten. I'll see you then." She speaks kind of strange.

"Okay see you then... I'm sorry I seemed to have forgotten your name."

The pony frowned. "I'm... Umm..."

I shook my head. "Nice try, but you did hold up to standards."

"Huh?"

"Nothin'. Come with me."

"But I'm Au-"

"No you're not. Aura never uses her powers to change into a pony. Follow me." The changeling sighed and followed me. I made sure she was in front of me the whole time. We stopped at the door to the meeting room. "In here." She grumbled and opened the door.

"...is pretty clever but has a bad temper-" I cut her off by clearing my throat. "Oh...I didn't expect you to come back..."

"What about bad tempers??" I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She smiled sheepishly. "Anyway, look who I found!"

"Who is this?"

"A changeling." The pony's eyes darted back and forth. "I'll show you." I knelt down and felt around her head.

"I thought you were our ally!" She hissed.

"I am." I felt her horn and flicked it. "And so are they."

The brief shock of pain caused her disguise to vanish. It was kind of cool lookin' to be honest. Once she was back in her normal state, she started to cower toward the desk. She looked like Aura did before she transformed. Twilight slowly walked over to her. "Hello, I am Twilight Sparkle. Who are you?" The changeling didn't say anything. "We won't hurt you." She tried reassuring her. "This is Equality. We're on your side. You can tell us who you are."

There was a code phrase the Aura and Chrysalis told me to identify any changelings. But I don't really remember it. "Uh hold on guys. Give her space." What was it? Oh man, come on. "Stay calm, we're all friends here." Ah, there it is. "And I'll prove it: Who do we thank for this glorious silk?"

The changeling perked up and looked at me. "All hail Queen Chrysalis..." The changeling looked me up and down. "But only Hive members know that phrase."

"I guess I'm an exception. So, what's your name?"

"Wisp."

"Hello Wisp, pleasure to meet you. Now, do you want to stay here with Twilight? She'll bring you up to speed on everything."

"I want to see my Queen."

"Understandable, but I really think you should stay here." Wisp changed back into pony form. I shrugged. "Whatever, it's your decision."

I escorted Wisp back to the library. She asked where her Queen was, and I pointed her to the basement. That's when she disappeared. So I assumed they were welcoming her. I had a strange feeling though, but I shrugged it off for the most part. Actually, I think I'll say hi.

I walked down the stairs and knocked on the door. Everything on the other side went quiet. I heard someone trot up to the door and then they opened it.

"Hey, Aura. Haven't seen you all day. What's going on down here?"

"Uh hold on." She said and closed the door. I stared at said door with a raised eyebrow.

What do you suppose that was about?

They're up to something...

Hmm... The door knob glowed with a familiar green, and opened. "I...can come in now right?" All of a sudden my hand glowed green and I was pulled passed the door. Which slammed behind me. "I guess that's a yes..." I stared down towards where the science-y stuff is. Aura was staring up at me.

"Sorry about that. Mother is talking with that changeling you brought home."

"And that's a private matter?"

"Well, the subject is."

I nodded. "I see. So, what's up?"

"Keeping watch."

"Was that you that pulled me in here then?"

"No, that was mom." What's with the short answers?

I rolled my eyes. "Alright, what's going on? And don't say nothing." She looked around innocently. "Aura."

"I don't what you're talking about."

"Really?" I said with a raised eyebrow. "So if I walk over there," I pointed to where there was chittering. "There's not going to be any problems?" She dashed in front of me. "I thought so. What is going on." I said in a harsh tone.

"I-I can't though!"

"And why not?" I said in a slightly annoyed. Her eyes darted back and forth, and she smiled sheepishly. "Ugh, fine..." I sat down on the floor. "So nothing new? Like with you, not this," I waved my hands around. "You know."

She tapped her chin in thought, and then blushed. "N-nothing new. No..."

"Why are you-?" I sighed. "Oh... She finally told you, huh?" She just nodded. "That's great.... Well, on that note." I stood up and walked back toward the stairs. I told me to wait, but I just shook my head and kept walking. I stopped when I reached the top. "Tell Chrysalis I want to ask her a couple questions when you have the chance." And then I kept going. There was a high risk of awkward there. Wouldn't you say?

I saw Fluttershy walk in when I reached the main room. She saw me and weakly smiled. I waved and went into the kitchen. "Oh, no. You don't have to get me anything. Thank you though." I wasn't, but okay then. She peeked into the kitchen. "I'm just looking for Twilight. Do you um...know where she is?"

I nodded while rummaging through the cabinets. "She's at a meeting with Equality. I think she'll be another hour or so."

"Oh."

"Yeah." There was a few moments of silence with Fluttershy standing in the doorway, before I thought to ask. "What did you need her for?"

"Oh, I need help hanging some new bird houses. But, if she's busy, it can wait."

"I've got nothing goin' on, I can help."

"I wouldn't want to be a bother. I'll just go..."

"Really?" I couldn't find anything, so I stopped going through the cabinets and looked at her. "I mean it's no trouble."

"But what about Aura?"

"She's... Sleeping."

"And Spike?"

That got me thinking. "Ya know, I haven't seen him since this morning." I tried to think of where he'd be. Maybe taking a nap? No, I think I already checked... "Could be running errands for Twilight." I shrugged.

She held her chin in thought, then smiled. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

I nodded. "Yeah, he's a big boy." I stretched and yawned. "Are you sure you don't want any help?"

"Oh, it can wait. Sorry to bother you."

"No trouble at all, Fluttershy. Let me walk you to the door."

"Thank you."

"Not a problem." I walked her over to the door, and waved goodbye when she was leaving. I closed the door and went over to the couch. Aura's been playing with my iPod again. "Let's see what she was listening to this time." I unlocked it, and saw she last listened to Mudvayne's Death Blooms. "I'll have to ask her if she liked it or not." All of a sudden I heard running water of a shower. I checked my watch, and it said it's four thirty. "I guess it is about that time, huh?" I checked the room where Luna was staying, and the bed was empty. "Guess it is her after all."

I walked over to the bathroom door, and knocked. "Good afternoon, Your Highness!"

"Thank you, Zane!" I heard from over the water. I was going to walk back to the couch until I heard her say something. "Would you like to come in?" And the door opened slightly.

I blushed a little bit. "N-no that's fine. Thank you!"

"Oh right, the privacy issue. Sorry I asked."

"You're fine, Luna. I'll be in the main room if you need anything." She responded by humming Walk Away From The Sun by Seether. Which is the song I was playing when she walked in on me. Thinking about it, it kinda makes sense that she would be curious about it. Seems fitting though, huh? I went into the main room, grabbed the iPod, and went back. I noticed the door was still slightly opened, but knocked still.

"Yes, Human?"

"Wha- Never mind. I brought the 'Music Maker'. And I know just the song to play."

"Oh excellent!" She said excitedly. "Please come in."

I opened the door, and selected the song she was humming. "Bring it out when you're finished please."

"Certainly. I love this song!" I chuckled and closed the door. Then there, starring me in the face, was..... "Spike! Where were ya buddy?"

"Napping." He said, then raised an eyebrow "Getting fresh with the princess, huh?" He said and smiled.

I gave him a deadpan expression and shook my head. "Shut up, Spike..."

~Three Hours Later~

Awhile little ago, I call everyone into the main room for "family time". And by that I mean I asked everyone who doesn't spend time in the main room to join the rest of us. So, that pretty much mean Chrysalis, Aura, and now, Wisp. Now that everyone was up here, it was a little crowded. Poor Wisp, he look very nervous. Yes I said "he". Apparently, I was very wrong in my gender recognition. Which made him angry at me, and I am too embarrassed to talk to him. I told Luna and Chrys to play nice, and Twilight, Spike, and Aura were talking. Which was pretty normal, except Wisp was by her side. Again, poor guy. I, however, was just looking over everything from upstairs. And it was nice. I like a relative sense of peace, ya know? No conflicts, no arguments, nothing.

I looked at my watch and it said the time was about eight O'clock. I looked outside and the sun was still up. There was to much chatter for me to be heard, so I walked downstairs and showed Luna the time. She nodded and walked upstairs, and I followed. She must have noticed, because she left the balcony door opened for me. This is the third time I'll be watching her. She sat on her haunches. and I sat down next to her. Her eye closed and her horn glowed. Before my eyes the sun started to go down, and the moon started to rise. The only reason it was so amazing to me, was because two being were making it happen. Not the universe.

I heard a sigh from the moon goddess. "Something the matter Your Highness?" I asked.

I gently shook her head and smiled "Twas a contented sigh, Human."

"I see. That's a good thing."

She nodded and opened her eyes, looking at the stars. "May I ask you a question?"

I shrugged. "Go ahead."

"Why do you insist on watching me raise the moon?"

"I just find it fascinating. On my world it happens on its own. Here though you do it." I saw her look at me in my peripheral. "And the moon looks different. Beautiful, even more so than on earth. Same with the stars as well. But if it's an issue, then I can stop."

She looked away. "It doesn't bother me. Don't wory. And is that statement sincere?" I nodded. "Hmm... It has be a long time since I heard somepony say that. It seems that everypony prefers my sister's day."

I shook my head. "The sun is too bright. I usually need sun glasses to see in the day time. I don't have that problem at night. Plus, the sky is more pleasant to look at." She didn't say anything else, so I added. "I'm sure there are more like me." I looked at her and she was smiling.

"Thank you. It is nice to be appreciated."

"Not a problem at all Luna." I stood up and stretched. "I know the feeling." She looked at me again. "I was wondering something as well."

"What would that be?"

"You seem more laid back than your sister."

She tapped her chin in thought. "Yes, it would seem so, wouldn't it?" Her brows furrowed. "I don't know why that is."

"Well, it makes you more approachable at least." I said.

"Maybe to you. The ponies still seem to view me as Nightmare Moon." She looked annoyed, but I'm not sure that's the right word.

"I'm sure they all don't." I tried to assure her.

"That may be true. But they don't show me the admiration that they show my sister. The faces they show when they see me is akin to fear." She looked at the floor.

"I don't think they are scared of you, so much that they are intimidated by you." I said, though it did little to reassure her.

"How do I change that?"

"That I don't know. But it will get better, it always does." I thought for a bit. "Maybe Twilight will know. I'm sure she would be glad to help."

She nodded and stood up. "Perhaps we should get back inside."

"Okay. Works for me."

"Well, that was nice." Twilight said. Almost everyone is in their separate corners of the library. The little get together ended a few minutes, and now its just Twilight, Luna, and I in the main room.

"Yeah. It was really and effort to get the Changelings out of the basement..."

"It worked."

"For a little bit, sure. But they went back down one by one. Chrysalis, Wisp, and then Aura." What are they up to down there?

"At least Aura stayed longer." Luna said, trying to reassure me.

"I guess. Oh well, I'm not going to try again if this is the result. I mean I know they're family... Maybe I'm being selfish. I'll just leave them be for now." I sighed, but then had a thought. "Ya know what it could be? Chrysalis could be teaching Aura the ways of Changeling Royalty."

"That would make sense." Twilight nodded.

"And if that is the case, you should not disturb them any longer."

"Yeah you're probably right." I looked at my watch. "Well, it's almost nine. So, what's the plan now?"

Twilight yawned. "I think I'm going to go to bed. if that's okay with you two."

"That is fine Twilight Sparkle. Do not deprive yourself of sleep for our sake." Luna said, nodding.

"Yeah, it's fine. Good night, Twilight." I nodded.

"Yes. Sweet dreams." Luna said once more.

"Good night, Princess, and Zane." Twilight said, walking upstairs to her room.

"Well, what now?" I asked.

Luna looked at me. "I need to go back to Canterlot to report to my sister. You could join me, if you aren't tired."

"Sounds good to me." I shrugged. "How would we be getting there?"

"I called for a chariot to land on the outskirts of town. It will take us to Canterlot."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "I thought Canterlot was on the side of a mountain?"

"It is. We will be taking a sky chariot."

"A sky chariot? What?"

"It's a chariot that is pulled by pegasi."

My face fell. "So we're...flying then?"

She nodded. "Yes, is that a problem?"

"Well... Kind of. I'm afraid of heights."

"It is a quick trip. It won't last but twenty minutes."

"Okay. When does it land?"

"A few minutes from now. We should meet them there. I shall lead the way."

"Yes, your Highness." She just shook her head. She has told me many times that I don't need to call her that. I do it just to mess with her. She opened the door with her magic and we walked out. I heard the lock click behind me. She must be expecting to be gone awhile. We began walking in silence. A few minutes out and I had a thought. "You're supposed to be here in secret, right?"

"That is correct." She said with a nod.

"Then why are we walking?"

"Because it's night. All of the ponies here are in their homes asleep."

"There are ponies that stay awake at night. You know that, right?"

"If that is true, then the number is small. Most of Equestria sleeps at night. It has always been like that. And I do not foresee that changing."

"Sore subject?"

"....Yes..."

"Noted." A few more moments of silence. "What if we come across a pony that's awake?"

"And walking the streets?" She asked skeptically.

"Yeah." I said simply.

"Nothing."

"Nothing? really?"

"If it does happen, then I will simply greet them."

I chuckled. She's so sure that it's not going to happen. "Okay then."

The rest of the walk was silent, save for the normal night-time noises. There were no encounters with the few late-nighter ponies I've seen around, and we are currently waiting at the pick up site. And Luna was looking around. "Hmm...they are late."

"I take it that doesn't happen often?"

"It doesn't happen period. I wonder what's keeping them?"

I looked around. "When they get here, do a scan for changelings." I whispered.

She looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "I thought you aligned yourself with them?" She whispered back.

"I am neutral." She gave me the "really?" look. "Well, actually, fine. I'm an ally to you and them. But I am starting to have doubts about their plight." She nodded. "I was going to ask Chrysalis some questions earlier, but she went down into that damn basement." I said with an annoyed tone. "I never got the chance."

"I see."

"Yep. Maybe I'm just being paranoid." I shrugged. "But still, better safe than sorry."

She looked at the sky, scanning it for our escorts. "Do you have any doubts Aura?"

I didn't even have to think about it. "No. I don't think she would try to deceive anyone. Me of all people."

"So why do you doubt what Chrysalis said?"

"Like I said: Maybe I'm just being paranoid. I still think you should scan the pegasi."

"You really think I would be stupid enough to trifle with the Lunar Guard?" I heard from behind me and froze. "Honestly, Human, what do you take me for? Oh, right, a liar and a deceiver! I thought you were our ally! I thought we had a friend, but I guess I was wrong..."

I turned around and she looked angry. "Chrysalis, I-"

"No. Don't speak. You've said enough." I looked at the ground.

"How long have you been listening to us?" Luna asked.

"Ever since you left the library. I thought I would learn about how you interact with each other. But instead I learn of the distrust the Human has towards me and my subjects!?" She stomped a hoof on the ground. "I cannot believe this!"

"The only reason he has those feelings is because of how often you and your subjects are in the basement. Can you not see how that could raise suspicion?"

She opened her mouth, but closed it. The angry expression slowly went away, and she nodded. "Yes. I can see how that would." She said in a saddened voice. "But, that does not excuse him. Zane." I looked up at her. "While I thank you for bringing Wisp to us, I revoke your right to marry Aura."

What? "I understand."

"You are still an honorary Hive member, but you have to make it up to us somehow."

"Yes, Queen. Just let me know."

"Within reason, please." Luna added. "Nothing.... Bad."

"I will inform you when I think of something." Chrysalis said seemingly ignoring Luna. "Now, go play in Canterlot. And tell Celestia I said hello." And she left.

Luna sighed. "I was wondering when she would show herself."

"You knew she was following us?!"

"Yes, didn't you?"

"No! My hearing isn't as good as you ponies!" Now I was looking for that sky chariot. I can't believe this...

Day Eighty Three: Happy New Year

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Day Eighty Three: Happy New Year

Family.

The one word that has brought me so much pain recently. No Thanksgiving. No Christmas. Well, I mean, Hearths Warming was okay, but I had to excuse myself for pretty much the whole day. They tried to cheer me up. Tried being the key word. They didn't succeed. Even the changelings tried! Aura made more of an effort, though. What made it better, however, was that Hearths Warming wasn't on the same day as Christmas like I thought it was. But still. Point is: I haven't been very happy for awhile. What surprised me, is that New Year's day is on the same day. Which is today... And how am I celebrating? By standing on the edge of my favorite cliff. Jumping? No, just thinking. I miss my family but, I'm not doing that. I am desperate to see them, though. It's almost funny, ya know? You see them every day. At least I do. Yet, you miss them when you go a prolonged period of time without seeing them. So, here I am... Two minutes till midnight, counting down the seconds atop a cliff-face, staring at the lights of the houses below. "I bet they're happy with their families." I sighed. "I hate this so much."

"Something the matter?" I heard from behind me. It was Luna and she startled me. She caught me in her magic so I wouldn't fall. Good thing to, because I almost did.

I stepped away from the edge and turned around. "Oh boy, that was close!"

She smiled slightly. "You should not stand so close to the edge." She then frowned. "I know there is something on your mind. Do not lock your feelings away, that only worsens the problems. Speak."

I sighed and turned around, looking out at the village below, again. "I miss my world."

"Just your world?" She said in a skeptical tone.

"My family, my friends. You know."

She nodded. "I do, and all too well. You are right to feel that way."

"I know, but how do I deal with it?"

"By talking about it and allowing others to help you." I saw her walk up beside me. "I have not known you long, Human, but I can see that you have bottled things up for awhile. You should break that habit. It leads only to self destruction. I should know." I looked over at her, and she had a dead serious expression on her face. But her expression softened soon after I turned to her. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to lecture you."

"No. No, your right. But I'm afraid the damage is done. I've bottled my emotions up for most of my life..." I shook my head. "But, anyway. What are the others doing?" I asked trying to change the subject.

"Wondering what's bothering you." Damn. "Every holiday you have been here. You have excused yourself. They are worried about you, Zane... And so am I." She said in a worried tone.

"Sorry. Tell them the same. I'm staying here."

"You're not coming with me?"

I shook my head. "No. I'll be along in a bit, don't worry."

She nodded. "This discussion is not over. But we shall leave it for now." I nodded. "I will see you shortly then?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Don't keep us waiting. Twilight has a surprise for you." I just nodded in response.

I looked at my watch again, and sighed. "Three... Two... One... Happy freakin' New Year." I stood around for a few more minutes before I decided to head back. It was a chilly night, but thanks to Rarity, I have a coat. She made several attempts at a human coat. Her first attempt...wasn't very good to say the least. But she got it, and I am grateful for her generosity. Her being the element of said generosity is up for debate, however, because I am not convinced.

As I make my way through town, I noticed some partying going on. I laughed and shook my head at the drunken shouts of a for ponies. I would say what the said, but the only thing I could make out was, and I quote: "WHOOO!!!!" ...Yeah I just hope they stay safe. No one needs to fall into a fire place, ya know? I'm sure there are a few sober ponies watching the 'festivities'. If not... Oh well. I am surprised that Sugar-Cube Corner is some what tame tonight. Pinkie Pie must be at Twilight's.

Don't keep them waiting.

Yeah, speed up! Stop trudging along.

I don't want to go.

FEAR if for the weak! Are you weak?

Quit teasing him.

"Shut up, the both of you." I whispered. "They'll wait for me. Whether they like it or not. I'm almost there anyway." I heard the pony equivalent of dub-step from my left. "I wonder how Octavia is liking the music?" I chuckled a bit. "Poor Tavi. She'd kill me if she heard me say that."

"Not so much as kill," I heard the refined voice of the cellist, and jumped. "Berate? Maybe." She smiled. "But I'll spare you tonight."

"Well thank you milady."

She chuckled. "Always quite the gentle...man?" Not really... I was kinda making fun of the accent... "Why aren't you celebrating with your friends?"

I thought about telling her, but... "Personal reasons. I don't want to bother you with them."

"Nor will I pry. But it is rather cold out..."

"Then why are you out here?"

"Ha! Really? Can you not hear that racket?" She asked rhetorically. "I came out to get away from the noise." Understandable. "I'll go back inside to yell at her in a moment."

"Yes, well. I should get going surely they're waiting for me."

She nodded. "Indeed. Have a good evening." I waved to her as she went inside. I vaguely heard her yelling at Vinyl turn the music down and laughed.

I arrived at the library and opened the door. It was completely black. Pitch freaking black."Twilight!?" No answer. "I hate surprises... Aura!?" Still no response. "Turn the lights on or I'm going somewhere else!" The lights came on but there was no one there. I don't like this.

Neither do I.

They might be in the basement.

"I'm not going in that basement. You kidding me?" I looked around. Owlowiscious was still on his perch. Not that he could help me. I tried to concentrate on my hearing to see if I could hear anything. Sure enough something from the basement made a noise. "Oh my god, they're baiting me." I sighed. "They want to make this a game. Might as well get it over with."

I make my way to the basement entrance. There was a faint green-blue glow down there. "Great." I slowly made my way down the stairs, and saw what the glow was coming from. They were gelatinous 'pods' filled with some kind of liquid. I gently poked it and it jiggled. It had a weird texture, and decided not to touch it, or any others. I came to the second doorway, and listened to see if I could hear anything on the other side. I heard whispering and reluctantly reached for the doorknob.

I turned the knob and opened the door. The first thing to hit me was the smell. It wasn't unpleasant, it was just odd. The second was that it was empty as well. Now I know I heard somebody in here. "Okay, come on out!" Still nothing. I turned around to walk out of the door. But it slammed shut, and there was no magic aura covering it. I had no indication of who slammed the door. "U-um..." So much nope is happening right now. "D-did I do something to upset you?" I asked without turning around, fear starting to grow. There was no answer. I grabbed the doorknob and tried to open it, but it was stuck. Now I was starting to panic. Oh no...

We need to get outta here!

They finally betrayed us!! I knew it would happen!!

"Shut up. Shh just...quiet."

Zane, we need to go. Now!

"I know I know I know." I whispered, still jingling the doorknob.

"Zane." Said a ghostly sounding voice. I froze in place. "Why so scared?" I somehow managed to turn around. And immediately regretted it. There just inches away from me was a "ghost pony". It wouldn't be so bad, but the wispy cloud that was surrounding it kinda added to the fear factor. That and the empty eye sockets with red glowing lights. "Why so scared, Zane?"

I didn't say anything. I couldn't. I turned around, kicked the door opened, and booked it. Ran up the stairs so fast, I swear I didn't even touch them. I reached to front door in no time, and almost ripped it off of the hinges. I left it wide open and just ran. "Nope! Nope! Nope!" I said over and over again. I had no idea where I was going, and I didn't care. I just needed to get away. Anywhere would do.

I looked over my shoulder for a brief moment. It wasn't following me. I sighed with relief and looked forward again. And ran right into a lamp post. Knocking me out cleanly.

Nice going, idiot. Never. NEVER look back...

~Some Time Later~

I woke up and everything was blurry, and I had a monster headache. Nothing around me looked familiar. The only thing I was certain of was that I was on a couch and that it was now day time. "Ugh my head." I rubbed my temples. "Where am I?"

"At our house dear." I heard a certain refined mares voice say. "What had you so scared to run like that?"

I looked around and saw that I was in their living room. I blinked a few times to get rid of the blurriness. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Really? You seemed absolutely terrified! Surely it is believable."

I sighed. "I saw a ghost..."

"A ghost?"

"I-it was all wispy and had glowing red eyes! And... I ran." I shook my head. "I will never go into her basement again."

"This was all in Twilight's basement?"

"Yes."

"Hmm... Can I get you anything? A drink? Perhaps breakfast?"

"You don't believe me, do you?"

She nodded. "I believe you."

"Sure you do. Um... Maybe a drink? A um.., glass of milk, please. And something for the headache, if it's no trouble."

"No trouble at all," She said politely. "I'll be right back."

I nodded and laid back down and closed my eyes. What was the deal with that? That was freaky. I'll have to ask Twilight about that. After all, it was her surprise. And I am none to pleased with her. I heard hoof-steps come from where Octavia was before, and heard place something down on the table in front of the couch. "Here's your milk, and some medicine to help with your headache."

"Thank you." I sat up, popped the pill ,and took a sip. "Vinyl asleep?" She had an annoyed look on her face. "I take that as a yes. All that late night partying takes it's toll, huh?"

"Indeed." She said flatly, then sighed. "Well I suppose this is normal for her. She is a 'DJ' after all."

I chuckled and took another sip. "How's that been going by the way?"

"Very well, actually. She's getting more popular around the local clubs."

"That's good news."

"There's even better news."

"Really?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh yes. She's even getting requests from Canterlot!" She said excitedly.

"Awesome. What's that mean for her?" I asked with genuine interest.

"More money, better venues, and bigger crowds." We heard from the hallway.

"Good morning Vinyl." Octavia said with a hint of surprise. "Why are you up so early?"

"Yeah, we didn't expect you for awhile."

She shrugged. "Heard talking. Figured I'd see if you were awake."

"Yep alive and well. Mostly."

She nodded her head sleepily. "Your welcome by the way." I just looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I used a low-level healing spell, to stop the swelling." I had a look of surprise on my face. "Oh, and you broke your nose. We fixed it."

"Well alrighty then. Thank you. Any other fixes I should know about?" I asked with widened eyes.

She tapped her chin in thought. "Naw, we fixed you up good." She turned to Octavia. "So, Tavi, what's for breakfast?"

"Excellent question Vinyl." Octavia said, tapping her chin. She walked into the kitchen, over to the cabinets, and started rummaging through them. We followed. "Pancakes?"

"We had pancakes yesterday." Said Vinyl. "Any other options?"

"Well...uh Prench toast?"

"Prench?" I said, confusion plain in my voice. "What?"

Octavia stopped looking through the cabinets, and turned around to look at me with a raised eyebrow. "I thought Ms. Sparkle was teaching you about our world?"

"We haven't been doing lessons recently." I scratched the back of my head. "So, what's Prench? Or Am I going to have to guess?"

"Well, um... How would be a good way to explain it?" Octavia tapped her chin. I saw Vinyl roll her eyes playfully.

"Don't over complicate it, Octavia."

"Yes, well..." She cleared her throat. "Have you gone over countries and continents yet?"

"No."

"Prance is a country." Vinyl chimed in. "Things that come from Prance are Prench. So, Prance equals Prench."

Octavia looked at her with a slightly annoyed look on her face. "That's a rather...simple explanation, Vinyl, but yes."

"Oh." I said flatly. Man, I feel stupid.

Octavia looked concerned. "Something the matter?"

"Prance, France. Prench, French." I sighed. "It makes sense now." I then face-palmed. "Detrot, Detroit. Manehattan, Manhattan. Stalliongrad, Stalingrad. I should have put the pieces together sooner." The two mares had confused looks on there faces. "It seems there are more similarities between pony and human kind than I thought."

"That's strange..." Said Vinyl.

"It is odd, isn't it?"

"No, I mean it's strange that breakfast ready yet." Both Vinyl and I looked at her with different expressions. Mine with slight amusement. Octavia's with annoyance.

"Really? Well, if that's your attitude, then you can make something yourself." Octavia said with a huff.

"I was just kidding."

"No, no. You're on your own. I, on the other hand, am making Prench toast. You may not have any." She turned away from Vinyl and started to get the ingredients for her breakfast.

"Aw come on Tavi!" Vinyl said desperately. "It was a joke!"

"Even so, it was of bad taste. There is cereal in the pantry."

"But Octavia!"

"Not another word." She said sternly. Then looked at me. "Zane, would you like any?"

I looked between the two of them. The term 'lover's quarrel' kept repeating in my head. Surely not. "Umm... I think I'll go to Sugar-Cube Corner for a muffin or something. How much is a muffin again?"

"Two Bits, I think."

I checked my pockets, and only had one Bit. "Never mind. Yeah, I'll have some toast..."

We decided to sit down in the living room to eat breakfast. I don't usually like French toast but Octavia did a pretty good job. Maybe it's the ingredients, but this is really good. "So," Vinyl said. Her and Octavia made up. Which made things less awkward, and I am grateful for that. "I heard that you went to Canterlot recently."

Octavia's eyebrow raised as she dabbed her lips with her napkin. "He did?" She turned her head to me. "How was it?"

"It was pretty cool actually."

"It is a nice city isn't it?" I nodded. "What did you do during your visit? How long did you stay?"

"I stayed for about two days, and I didn't do much. Just sight seeing mostly. I did attend royal court though."

"Really?"

"Yeah," I nodded and took a bite of the Prench toast. "It was interesting."

"Wait, where did you stay? The hotels are expensive!" Vinyl asked.

"The castle. The princess were nice enough to let me stay in one of the guest rooms. A bit too fancy for me, but hey, it was nice. Even actually hung out with the princesses." They were staring, slack jawed. I chuckled. "I got to know them a fair bit. Though I already know Luna." I shrugged. They were still staring at like that. "Might want to close your mouths. Ya don't want to catch flies."

They tried to recover from their momentary stupor, and I just shook my head and smiled. "You actually hung out with them?!" Vinyl asked, I nodded. "Like hung out, hung out. Not what Twilight did that one Grand Galloping Gala?" I nodded again. "Whoa."

"Do you know how many ponies would pay for the opportunity?" Octavia said.

"And do you know that those same ponies would have an ulterior motives for getting close to royalty?"

"You...do have a point." Octavia reluctantly admitted.

"Do I, really?" I asked, surprised. "I was just being an ass."

"Well, Canterlot ponies are..." Vinyl started, but stopped and looked at Octavia.

"Not too kind." Octavia finished for her. "That's one of the reasons I moved to Ponyville. But yes, you have a point. Many Canterlot ponies would try to gain special favors from the princesses. But enough about that, what did you do while 'hanging out' with them."

I sighed. "Answered a lot of questions. I almost feel bad, I didn't have a proper answer for a lot of the questions Celestia had."

"Did you find out anything interesting about them?" Vinyl said, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Vinyl!"

I chuckled. "They have pet names for each other."

"Really!? Oh man, you have to tell us!"

"I can't."

"Aw why not?"

"I was sworn to secrecy. Too bad to, it's pretty funny." I added with a sly smile. Which slowly faded. "Speaking of which: I need to have a talk with Luna." I looked at my watch. It was only eleven O'clock. "But not yet. Twilight should be awake though." I said in a low tone. Octavia and Vinyl exchanged looks. "I think I should be going now. Thank you for the food." I stood up.

"Don't do anything rash."

"Don't worry, I wont." I took my plate into the kitchen, and rinsed it off. I walked to the door and opened it. "See ya later guys."

"Goodbye"

"Bye."

I left and closed the door behind me. Twilight has some explaining to do.

No kidding. Make her pay!

No just talk to her. See what was up with that.

"Either way, I'll make her explain." I said with a scowl. I look ahead and see the library. Octavia and Vinyl don't live far from Twilight's. Pretty much a straight shot down the street. So, about two minutes walking time. Maybe more. "Because that wasn't cool."

I arrive at the library and opened the door. Twilight was in the main room, talking with a pinkish purple unicorn mare with a two tone mane. They both looked at me when I walked in. Twilight said something to the mare, and walked over to me. "I thought you back to Canterlot?"

My brows furrowed with confusion. "What do you mean?" I asked slowly.

"Princess Luna went back to Canterlot last night. I thought you went with her?"

"No," I slowly shook my head. "I was being my 'usual cheery holiday' self out by that cliff. What time did Luna leave?"

"Around ten. Why?"

"That doesn't make sense. She visited me at the cliff around eleven-thirty."

"That's strange." She tapped her chin in thought. "Maybe it was a quick visit?"

"Doubt it. Also, she said you had a surprise for me. Hell of a one if you ask me."

"A surprise?" Her eyebrows furrowed as well. "That's not possible. I was at Sugar-Cube Corner with the girls. I asked Chrysalis to find..."

I curtly nodded head. "Thank you, I think I know who to yell at now. Take care of your costumer. I'm going to brave the changeling habitat." I walked over to the entry way to the basement, and walked down the stairs. Passing the luminescent blob/bubble thing on the wall. I reached the door and reluctantly reached for the door knob. I opened the door and slowly stepped into the basement proper. I looked down and saw Aura and Wisp looking up at me with concern obvious on their faces.

"Hi?" Aura said, with a suspicious smile on her face. Wisp tried to leave.

"Oh, your not going anywhere. Neither of you are." I said as I walked down the stairs. "You're going to tell me what was with last night. And where is Chrysalis?"

"L-last night?" Aura said. "I don't know what you're talking about." Wisp remained silent.

"Aura don't play dumb. I know you know what I'm talking about. Whether you were apart of it, or not." Wisp gave Aura a look. "Oh come on! Just tell me!" They still silent. "Okay, fine. Where's Chrysalis?"

"Mom's asleep."

"Is she now?" I sighed. "Didn't think I'd be lied to." That got a reaction from Aura. "I'll just leave then. Cause I'm obviously not getting anywhere." I turned to leave. "Tell Chrysalis I was looking for her."

Wisp relaxed, while Aura looked hurt. I took a step toward the stairs. "Wait." Aura said and I stopped. " Mom is asleep, but it was her doing. Wisp was in on it."

"What about you?" I asked without turning around.

"I was with Twilight and the others. You can ask her if you don't believe me."

I turned around. "Do you know why they chose to scare me like that?"

Wisp, who was glaring at Aura, spoke. "It was supposed to be a harmless prank."

I looked at her. "Supposed to be. But aren't all pranks?"

"What?"

"I ended up running out of here so fast that I hit a lamp post. And apparently broke my nose."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but it was hardly our fault."

"Well, yes and no. It was indirectly your fault." I sighed. "I gotta admit, though. It was pretty good."

"You're not mad?" Aura asked.

"Not really, anymore at least. Once I found out it had to do with Chrysalis, it made sense."

"Huh?" Both Aura and Wisp said.

"At first I thought it was Twilight. But she said she was out celebrating the new year. Seeing how she has no reason to lie, I let it go. But if she didn't have a costumer, there would have been yelling." I shook my head. "But, whatever, I'm going now." I turned around again.

"Are we..." Aura trailed off.

"Yeah we're still friends."

"What about me?" Wisp asked.

"What do you think?" Was the only thing I said before I walked up the stairs. "The answer is yes by the way!" I yelled down before closed the door. Might have been a little dramatic. I don't know.

~Three Hours Later~

That pony was still here when I came back up from the basement. Apparently she was a good friend of Twilight's, by the name of Amethyst Star. She told me that she was neutral on the whole racist thing, even though it's mostly over with now. She's pretty nice, was kinda in a hurry though. After she left, Twilight turned to me. She asked if I figured everything out. I said yes and told everything that had happened. Despite my protests, she told Luna as soon as she came back. Little Lulu wasn't too happy about Chrysalis using her appearance. Luna asked if I was alright and I told her what happened. She said she will have to personally thank the kind ponies that helped her friend.

Since she returned recently, I offered to take her to Vinyl and Octavia's house. She nodded. "That sounds fine. Lead the way."

I reached for the doorknob, but then stopped. "Is transformation magic possible?"

"Yes. And it is within my skill level." She said matter-of-factly.

"You might want change form before we leave."

She blinked, then looked herself over. "I suppose that would be a good idea." Her horn glowed for a moment and there was a flash. Stood her place, was a normal pony size version of her. "Better?"

I looked her over. "Cutie mark is still the same. Mane and tail are different, good job there. You still have wings and a horn, though."

She nodded and her horn glowed again. Another flash of light of the stood a normal pegasus. "How about now?"

"Yep. You're good." I reached for the doorknob again. "Hopefully we wont run into Pinkie Pie." I knocked on entryway. "Knock on wood." I opened the door and stepped out, leaving it opened for Luna. Who thanked me as I was closing the door.

"Where do they live?"

I pointed in the general direction. "I few minutes that way. I know the house." We started to walk. As we were walking, I kept an eye out for the overactive party pony. But so far it was going like it always does. Some waved, some turned their heads, some of them smiled. I shrugged the negative glances and turned heads off. I learned that the initial hatred was mostly gone. Only fear remained. And having learned that Ponyville has been the chaotic hot spot for the last few years, I think I understand why they acted like that. They're tired of it. Makes sense to me, at least. I still think they went a little overboard. I shook my head to focus on finding the house. I have a habit of going one house too far. Good thing too, because they're house was just ahead. The loud dubstep helped with the realization. "And here we are."

Luna was covering her ears, but nodded. I knocked on the door, but didn't get a response. So, I banged on the door. I heard Octavia yell at Vinyl to turn it down and laughed. She did and I faintly heard hoof-steps go up to the door on the other side. The door opened when I was still laughing. "Oh, hello. I didn't expect you to come back today."

I stopped myself from laughing, and looked at Octavia. She looked like she was getting ready to go out. "Is this a bad time?"

"I was about to go to the market, but that can wait for a little while." She said politely and noticed the disguised Luna. "Please, come in."

"Thank you." Luna said.

We sat down in the living room and Octavia fetched Vinyl. "Hey, sup." Vinyl said sitting down.

"Not a whole lot. Just thought I'd introduce you two to a friend of mine." I gestured to Luna. "Octavia, Vinyl, this is..." My face grew a mischievous smile. "Lulu." I felt Luna hit me. I looked over at her and she was glaring at me. "Sorry your highness." I said laughing. "It was too good to pass up."

"Thou was sworn to secrecy!"

"Oh come now. It's just a nickname!" I heard one of them clear their throat, and looked back over to the other two ponies in the room.

"Excuse me, but what's going on?"

"I don't know what you are talking about." I said innocently.

"Zane, who is this. Like, who is this really?" Vinyl asked.

"I already told you."

"I think I should reveal myself. Lest your game go on for a while." And with that, Luna's horn glowed and she stood in her true form. "Hello Octavia Melody and Vinyl Scratch. I am Princess Luna." A couple things happened at the same time. Octavia fainted and Vinyl's mouth fell opened. She was stunned.

"Surprise!"

Day Unknown: The Conference

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~Day Unknown: The Conference AKA Counting Days No Longer Matter.~

January and February flew by in a flurry of absolutely nothing. The only "interesting" thing that's happened, is I now have a job here in Ponyville. Seeing as I have retail experience, I work at "Barnyard Bargains". Which is basically a pony Walmart. Just a bit smaller, and the building is shaped like a barn. No big surprise there. What's funny, in an ironic way, is the manager that trained me is none other than Xavier. We remember him, don't we? Apparently Mister, uh, Filthy, the owner of the store, arranged the whole ordeal of throwing Aura and I out of town. Xavier's lackeys were employees of Barnyard Bargains as well. Imagine my... Displeasure seeing them again.

They're afraid of me, and Xavier pleaded to Mister Filthy to not train me and have one of the other managers do it. But, he was the only one working that day. I just smiled at him the rest of the day we spent working together. It was fun watching him practically squirm under my gaze. Though I was paying attention to what he was trying to teach me. I had to tell him to calm down a few times. It was amusing.

We had our lunch break at the same time, and I asked him to join me outside. He seemed worried but joined me anyway. "You seem jumpy today." I said. "Any reason why?"

His mouth opened and closed multiple times, before he finally sighed and said. "Listen colt, I'm..." He paused.

"A pony. I know this. That's not surprising news to me." I gave a mischievous smile.

"Naw, I'm..." He paused again.

"A pegasus. This I know as well." I smiled wider. "This is a fun game." He shook his head and started to turn toward the entrance to the store. It was I that sighed this time. "Listen dude, don't sweat it." He stopped. "You're sorry for trying to kick us out of town. I know this." He turned around, but remained silent. "We're cool man."

"Really?" He hesitantly asked.

I briefly flashed back to what he and his friends did to Aura and I. "Not exactly friends. Obviously." He nodded and looked down at the ground. "But," He looked back up at me. "There may be a possibility of it in the future." He had this look on his face. Like he was surprised that I actually said that. "So," I said trying to change the subject.

"So?"

"So, how long have you been working here?"

But, on to current times. Not a whole lot is going on right now. Just some thinking. I do that a lot, ya know. Especially now-a-days. Working makes the weeks go by faster. Not sure I like it too much. And then there's the waiting. Waiting for your shift to end, waiting for your shift to start, just wears me down. Like right now, I'm supposed to go in at three and work til close. Luckily closing time is eight. It's eleven now, so I have some time before work.

Stop complaining! It's your fault you got the damn job.

No I just applied for S&G's. I didn't think I'd actually get hired. Plus It'll be nice to have some money.

It was stupid.

I think it was a wise decision.

You would agree with him!

Of course. It was a wise choice.

Really? How so?

Guys...

Stop fighting!

NO!

Don't yell Zeke.

This went on for a little while longer. And I've had it. "Augh, shut up! I call Conference!" I yelled out loud without meaning to.

"Zane?" I heard Twilight from the top of the stairs. "Are you okay?"

"Twilight!" I clapped my hands together and smiled. "You have just been presented with a unique opportunity!"

She stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "Umm...okay." She said blinking. She was clearly caught off guard. "W-what is it?"

"The Conference." I said matter-of-factly.

"What is this...conference?" She asked slowly with a raised eyebrow.

"It's where all of the different parts of my mind come together to solve what ever problems they have with each other, and discuss current issues."

She looked unsure. "Will 'he' be there?"

"Who?" I thought for a moment. "Oh you mean Zeke. Yeah, but so will Zac. And 'everyone' else. It will be safe."

"Do these conferences happen often?" She asked cautiously.

"Nope. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity." I paused. "Well, maybe not that rare, but still."

She still didn't look too excited. "Can I think about it?"

"Sure. But don't take too long. If this is happening, it needs to happen soon."

She just nodded and went into the kitchen.

After a few minutes Twilight walked out with a determined look on her face. "I'll do it!"

"Well, well. You seem excited." I said with a raised eyebrow.

"You're right. This is quite possibly a very unique opportunity. Not only are different species, but you also the only one in town that invites me into their mind." That's true, we've met with Zeke and Zac a couple more times last month. Zeke still doesn't like her.

"You should know how my mind works by now." I said a playful tone. She gave me a blank star in response. "What?"

"Nopony can figure it out! Not when one moment there's these 'zombies' you like thinking about, and then it suddenly switches little kittens!"

"There are many dimensions to my mind, dear TwiSpark." I said in a really bad Chinese accent. "It is hard to settle on just one." She just shook her head. "Well, anyway. If you would do the spell, we could make this happen."

She nodded her head. "Right." I sat down on the floor and closed my eyes. I heard the sound of magic starting up, and the faint tingling sensation as Twilight touched her horn to my head.

The Conference Room.

"Okay, now." I looked around and saw everyone was in attendance. "Everyone, this is Twilight."

"H-hi?" She received a multitude of responses. The only one that said anything was Zac.

"Twilight, this is Terrance." I gestured to this miserable looking guy. It looked like he hasn't gotten good sleep in several days. His green eyes were bloodshot with heavy bags under them. His hair was black and greasy, and he was shaking slightly.

"What does he represent? I've never seen him before."

"He represents my fear and worries, hence his appearance."

"Oh..."

"This is Sergei." I gestured toward a somewhat muscular man, wearing an olive drab Jacket of some kind. He had light brown-ish hair that was in a military type hair cut. He had brown eyes and a very stoic expression.

"Привет purple equine." He said monotonous voice.

"And..." I stood there staring, and after a minute or so I sighed. "Why is he here?" I pointed to a rather odd looking individual. His hair was done up in braids, and he was wearing all black clothes. Well...except for the tie-dye shirt he was wearing. He was wearing a fishnet under-shirt as well. His eyes were strange also. His left eye had a red iris with the rest of his eye blacked out. The other one was pretty much the same except the iris was light blue. He also had a collar with a leash attached.

Terrance shook his head rapidly, Zeke rolled his eyes, Sergei sat down, and Zac shrugged. "We don't know." He said.

"H-h-he just kinda showed up." Terrance said, scratching his face rapidly.

"Who is he?" Twilight asked.

I sighed. "Twilight, this is..." I rubbed my eyes. "Freak."

He looked at Twilight and smiled. "COME HERE AND LET ME TASTE YOU!!" He said before Zeke smacked him. "I just wanted to see if she TASTED LIKE GRAPE juice!"

"What!?" She yelled.

"Yeah..." I said sighing and everyone else shook their heads. Except Terrance, he nearly ran away at the outburst. "We don't like him very much."

"Why not?"

"He was a mistake,"

"Born from a nightmare."

"Y-y-you know the saying 'I am my own worst enemy'?"

Twilight nodded her head.

"Zane had a nightmare like that."

"And he just kinda stayed."

"What does he represent? If anything?" Twilight asked.

I shook my head and shrugged. "Not really sure." Twilight looked confused. I patted her on the head. "It's okay Twi, it's okay."

"Is meeting going to happen? Or should I go back to bed?"

"Oh right." I scratched the back of my head. "Why are you all arguing so much lately?"

They all looked at each other. "We don't really know."

"What?" I deadpanned. "So there's no reason for it?"

Zeke nodded. "Pretty much."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I clenched my fists. "I get these massive headaches because of it, and there's no reason?!"

"P-please calm down.

"NO! I like this. It's fun!

Sergei just sat down and sipped on his vodka. Did he always have that? Zeke and Zac just shook their heads and sat down. Terrance was staying away from everyone. I rubbed my temples and looked at Twilight. "Can you believe what I put up with?"

"Not always, right?" Twilight asked.

"No. Not always. But it's been happening more often lately, and I'm tired of it." I took a deep breath and turned to the others. "Okay, we are going to stop this meaningless quarreling, and get along! You're all sharing the same space, so why not?" They just kinda looked at each other. "I not saying live in harmony, just shut the fuck up every once in awhile!" There was silence. "Are we agreed then?"

"Could have said it differently, but I agree."

"I was getting tired of the bickering anyway."

"Da! Agreed!"

"I just want it to stop!"

"Aw but it's FUN!! WHY MUST THE FIGHTING END!!"

I waiting until he was done before continuing. "Okay, now that that's over with." I shook my head. "What other problems do we have, and how high priority are they?" While they were discussing it, I turned to Twilight. "Pretty interesting, huh?"

"That's one way to say it." She said with a raised eyebrow. "Do all humans have... "She gestured to the room and occupants. "This?"

"Nope." I said with a shrug. "I'm sure I'm not the only one. But not a lot of people personify their emotions. At least I don't think so." She shook her head. "I guess I'm just special." I shrugged my shoulders again, and turned back to the group.

They nodded to each other. "The Changelings" They said at the same time. Except for Freak and Sergei, but they were nodding their heads.

"All of them or what?" I asked.

"Mostly the Queen."

"Maybe Wisp as well.

"But mainly Chrysalis. We can trust Aura.

"I hope..."

I nodded. "Alright, so we all share concerns about her motives here in town. What do you suggest we do?"

"We could talk to her?" Twilight suggested.

"Well, one of two things will happen." I said. "She'll either say that there is no reason to worry, which could be a lie, or, she'll attack. But that's if she is planning something."

"There's really no way of telling."

"So, what do we do?"

"KILL EM ALL?!"

Sergei punched Freak in the chest and shook his head. "Well, we could utilize Equality, or we can investigate this ourselves."

"But if we're caught, she will most likely start what ever she's planning earlier."

"Despite this, it's probably our best option."

"We'll have to play double agent." Everyone, including me, looked at Freak with a surprised expression. "Should be easy. Just hang out with them long enough. You have their trust already. Report to Grape Juice your findings. I go to bed." And he vanished.

I thought about what he said, and he had good plan. They already trust me, all have to do is act more like I did when I first came here. Then, Chrysalis might share her plans (if she has any, that is). "Gentleman. I think we were over-thinking this. This plan much more simple and may be the best way to get what we're looking for. There is no dead-line, so time isn't a concern. All in favor of..." I paused briefly. "Freak's plan?"

"It does seem to be best option." The others nodded, Twilight included.

"Okay. I'll start on this when I'm off work later." I stretched. "Anymore problems that need addressing?" They shook their heads. "Alright. We good to end this thing then?"

"Yes.

"Okay, meeting adjourned." They all vanished and I turned to Twilight. "So, did you learn anything?"

"I learned that you are even crazier than I thought." She shook her head and ended the spell.

I saw her walking towards the stairs when I woke up from the spell. "No letters to the Princess!" She stopped for a moment, but continued to walk. I shook my head and laid down. "My head hurts..."

Nightmare During Day Time

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~Nightmare During Day Time~

I woke up and checked my iPod for the time, and nearly jump off of the couch. "How the hell am I an hour late!?" I ran over to the table where I left my uniform (special order from Rarity) and ran towards the bathroom upstairs. "Ugh, I shouldn't have laid down! I'm such an idiot." The bathroom door was closed, so I frantically knocked on it. "Come on, come on! I need to get ready for work! I'm late!"

"Work?" I heard from the other side of the door.

"Yes! How could you let me sleep in! What is wrong with you, Twi!?"

The door opened, and steam rolled out of the doorway. Kind of an odd time to be taking a shower. "I thought you weren't feeling well, so I informed you boss."

I calmed down slightly. "And?"

"He said take the day off." She shrugged. "Now, you have the rest of the day to yourself!"

"Yeah. Not much a day when it's pretty much over..."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Who is at fault there, huh?" I bowed my head and slowly raised my hand, she giggled. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. Maybe go to the park? Not much else to do, seeing how Luna's in Canterlot at the moment and I don't really have any other friends other than you and her..." She had a weird expression after I said that. "What about you?"

"Equality."

I raised an eyebrow. "It's been awhile since you all got together. What's the occasion?"

"It's classified. At least for now."

"Princess' orders?" She nodded. "Damn... Well, have fun I guess." I left her so she could finish getting ready for her meeting, and went downstairs. I threw my work clothes on the table and sat down on the couch. I could sit here and listen to music, but I don't know. I could read, but I don't know how to read Equestrian. I held my chin in thought for a few more minutes. "Hmm...I guess it's the park then."

Twilight trotted down the stairs. "Sounds like a good idea. It is a beautiful day."

Wow, that was quick. "I suppose it is." I looked out of the window. Yep, normal sunny day. "I could walk you to the half-way point like normal?"

She smile and nodded. "Sounds good to me." I stood up and walked to the door. Holding it open for her. She nodded her thanks and left the library.

"What time are you going to be back?" I asked Twilight.

"I'm going to try to be back by ten. But who knows how long this will take."

"True." There was a pause in the conversation, and we were nearing the half way point. "Well, I may be back before then. Not sure though." I thought for a moment. "Probably will." She just chuckled and then went silent. She still hasn't said anything about what the meeting is about, and it was irritating me. There has to be a good reason for the secretiveness though. Maybe.

"Here we are." Twilight said, breaking me away from my thoughts. "I'll see you later then?"

I nodded. "Most likely, yeah."

"Okay. See you later."

"See ya." I waved. She continued on ahead, and I turned to the right and started walking. The park is about maybe ten minutes away, if that. I'm not really sure to be honest but, that's not really important. As I was walking I passed "Quills & Sofas". I still can get over how weird that is. A store that sell two things that have no relation to each other. It's just a strange concept to me. I also passed the music shop that narrowly avoided getting a brick through the front window. I tend to avoid the place now.

I saw Lyra talking with Bon Bon (at least I think that's her name) and waved. She didn't seem to notice, so I stuck my hand in my pocket and continued on. They were in front of a candy shop. Maybe I should stop by sometime? Seems like a good idea. Passing the candy store, I saw what seemed to be a whole store dedicated to fans. I shook my head. This place is freakin' weird.

Getting passed the stores, I entered the marketplace. It seemed to be a slow day, which was odd. I saw the Apple's cart. Big Mac was working today. I considered waving at him, but decided against it. Instead I decided to be friendly and walked over to the cart. He raised an eyebrow when he saw me. "Hey Big Mac. Slow day?"

"Eeyup."

"Down on profits for today?"

"Eeyup."

"Well, I don't mind apples so much anymore. I suppose I could help out." He shrugged. "How much for two apples?"

"Two bits."

"Here's four. That should help profits a bit." I took two apples from the baskets. "Have a good day Big Mac." I said as took a bite of an apple.

"E-eeyup!"

I continued to walk towards the park. It shouldn't be that far away from here. But I could be wrong.

I was wrong, but only just. It was just a little further than I thought. Not a big problem, though. I decided to walk on one of the paths that were running through the park, instead of sitting on a bench. I have never really walked on the paths before. I always on the bench. What's wrong with me? I used to love walking on paths! Anyway, as I was walking, I saw a few familiar faces and coat colors. No one actually came up to me or said hi, but they were with their families. So I don't really mind.

So I walk alone on the path. On my left, there were trees. The more open part of the park was on the right. I noticed a few ponies looking at me, but ignored them for the most part and minded my own business. A little ways down the path I noticed something off. It was an energy more or less. And it was in the trees. It didn't follow me, did it? I stopped and looked into the woods. "No, energy's different." I looked around, and there were no ponies in the immediate area. "Show yourself." Suddenly the energy went away. Strange...

I had a lapse in judgement and walked into the woods. I had a feeling that, whatever it was, it wanted me to follow it. Or at least walk into the woods. This is a trap, you know?

"I know."

T-then why are you following into it?"

"I don't know."

All of a sudden, my vision darkened. Finally!

"What?!"

Thou art foalish to fall for such an obvious trap! And then everything went black.

The Hallway.

I was in the hallway, but something was off. Well, the maniacal laugh wasn't normal, so there's that. And it felt like something was trying to take over. Something started to materialize in front me and the laughter became louder. Then a solid body finally formed. "L-Luna?" I was barely able to speak.

The form laughed. "You could say that." she said smiling

No, wait. Her coat is almost black, she has... Are those fangs! Those eyes! "Nightmare Moon!?"

Her smile grew. "You know the story? Did Twilight tell you?" I couldn't speak, something wasn't letting me. "What's wrong?" She laughed. "You look terrified!"

"So much hatred I feel from you." I said holding my head.

She stopped laughing and frowned. "You can feel it?" I nodded. "What else can you feel?"

I had to struggle to speak. "Sadness, wanting to harm..."

"Hmm... You feel, but do you understand?" She starting to walk closer to me. "No, I think not. It would be impossible for you." I fell to me knees. "How could you?" She knelt down and stared into my eyes. "You are nothing but a mere animal." She stood up and put a hoof to my chest. She pushed hard, making me fall over. "And how can an animal possibly understand?" I looked up when she paused. She looked like she was thinking. "I wonder if you could of use to me though." She looked at me with a quizzical expression.

Just then I saw a pair of glowing red eyes behind her. "Not very wise of you." Nightmare spun around, and Zeke grabbed her by the neck. The pressure slowly lifting. "He is already 'possessed'. So trying is futile."

"You have no power over me!!"

Zeke smiled and tightened his grip. It was a wide and sadistic smile, that creeped me out. "Not by magic, no. But you are in my domain. Let me show you something." He looked at me. "Care to join us?"

I shook my head. "Just keep her here. Twilight has to know about this." He nodded and disappeared. "Just got to figure out how to get out of here first."

~One Hour Later~

It took me awhile, but I got it. I woke up leaning against a tree. It took me a few minutes to get my bearings but I was able to make my way out of the woods. It was still light out, which was good. But I noticed there were fewer ponies in the park than before. Since that wasn't at the top of my list of priorities, it didn't really matter. I had to get to Twilight. And soon. She would still be at the meeting, but this is very important. The meeting... Well, I'm repeating myself. Sort of.

Anyway, I ran for the Town Hall, the few ponies that were on the path, got out of my way. One even dove to the side. I looked back at him with a raised eyebrow, and he smiled sheepishly and shrugged. I shook my head and continued on. Apparently I was running faster then I thought I was, because I'm already out of the park. I got a few odd stares, but again, not important.

And then all of a sudden, I here Zeke yell. Quit bein' such a pain in the ass!!

Nay! Stay away from me, foul demon!

I'm the demon? You tried to posses him!

Keep back I say!

Zeke?! What are you doing?

Trying to strap her to a table! QUIT MOVING!!

Stop! Your giving me a headache!

How else am I supposed to keep her here!?

Surely we can talk about this!

SHUT UP AND LAY DOWN!!

"For fuck's sake..." I whispered.

How does it feel to be powerless? Does it feel good?

I sighed. Finally get her?

Yes. He said excitedly. It gave goosebumps.

Untie me this instant!!

He laughed evilly. I'm going to have with you. Now, spread those pretty legs of yours!

Okay, that crossed the line. Alright, stop! You have her trapped just... No. Don't...don't do that.

Ugh! You're not fun!

There's a difference between fun and vile! Don't be disgusting. You're better than that!

Oh, thank you kind savoir!

STOP TALKING!!

I agree. Shut. Up.

You can probably imagine the headache I have right now.

I arrive at the Town Hall, and quickly made my way inside. It took me no time at all to find the room Equality was in. I burst in the room, surprising everyone one in it. I was breathing heavily by this point, and it seemed to scare some of them. I look around and didn't see Twilight. "Where is she?" I said in between breaths.

"Restroom!"

"How long?"

"Not long." I heard from behind me. I turned around and saw Twilight staring at me with an annoyed look. Which went away when she saw how out of breath I was. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay?!" I shook my head. "What happened?!"

I took a few deep breaths. "Nightmare," I took another deep breath.

"You had a nightmare? Really?" She deadpanned.

I propped my self against the wall. "No, no. Nightmare Moon. She tried to posses me."

"WHAT!?" She all but screamed.

"We need to tell the Princesses. A.S.A.P."

"But, how?!"

"Details later, okay! We need to get to the Library." I said making my way toward the door. She drew the meeting to a close, apologizing for the short meeting. She walked up next to me and her horn glowed. There was a flash of light and we were in the library. I shook my head and sat down. "Ugh, I'll never get used to that."

I looked for Twilight and she was already at her writing desk. She turned toward me with a scroll held in her magic. "Where did you find her?"

"Straight to questions, I see. Alright. I found her in the park, but she isn't there anymore."

"We'll worry about that later." She said with determination. "Right now, we just need to inform the princesses." She took a calming breath. "Okay. Was it really Nightmare Moon?"

"Well, it was more like a spirit or essence or something. I don't know."

Her eyes widened slightly. "Her essence? Interesting."

"Interesting?" I said with a raised eyebrow.

She stopped writing. "In a way, yes. It's been awhile since our fight with Nightmare Moon. We thought we defeated her."

"Guess not."

"Anyway, you said you lost track of her?"

"No. I said she isn't in the woods anymore. I know where she is."

"You do!? Where?! Where is she?!?!"

"Let's just say Zeke is keeping an eye on her." She didn't even wait for permission, she just ran up to me and touched her horn to my head.

Zeke's Room

"Whoa..." I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and neither could Twilight. "Zeke, you've done some uh.... Redecorating."

"Do you like it? I think the intestines really bring out the color of the blood on the wall."

"H-he killed Nightmare Moon?"

Zeke turned his head to Twilight. "Of course not! Why would I kill her?! She's in the closet." He gestured toward said closet. Which suddenly burst open, revealing a very happy Freak. "Oh great..."

"I LIKE HER! I LIKE HER A LOT!!

"You didn't do anything, did you?" He smiled wider and took a deep breath. But then looked around and walked up to me. He got really close and whispered into my ear. And I wish he didn't. After he pulled away, I slowly face-palmed.

"What did he say?" Twilight asked.

I scratched the back of my head, and sighed. "Guess who has a pony fetish..."

Zeke went over to Freak, grabbed him by the back of the shirt, and escorted him out of the room. "Keep that nasty shit away from me!"

"LOVE ISN'T DEFINED BY SPECIES! YOU HAVE NO SAY!!" He yelled while walking away. And then disappeared.

There was a long silence with us all staring at the open door. Zeke closed it while shaking his head. "Anyway," I said. "Twilight, do you know a spell that can get her out?"

She nodded her head. "I think so. I want to see her first." I shrugged and walked over to the closet with her. Twilight peeked into the closet. "Oh my..."

"What?" I peeked in as well. And immediately recoiled. Zeke looked at me with furrowed brows. "I think she enjoyed it..."

If I have to guess how Zeke is feeling right now. I'd say he's pissed. "Get her the fuck out of my room!!!" I guess I was right.

"It's really her..." Twilight said, seemingly not noticing the position Nightmare is in. Or hearing Zeke. That could be why he was behind her, with his leg raised up like he was about to kick her, and...there it is! "Ahh! What? Oh!" A blush quickly spread across her face. "Oh my gosh!"

"And yet she continues to stare...

"PERVY NERD!!"

I shook my head. "Twilight, get her into a better position and get her outta here. This is starting to be stupid..." She nodded, and stepped into the closet. While she was dealing with that, I turned to Zeke. "Why'd you kick Freak out? You about to... Well you know..."

He laughed. "Don't be ridiculous. It was just to scare her.

"A bit over the line, you know?"

He seemed to think about this. Before shaking his head. "Nah.

I could do nothing but roll my eyes. "Twi, let's go!"

"Okay!"

And then everything started to blur, before completely going black.

Busy Day

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~Busy Day~

I came back from the after effects of the spell, but couldn't open my eyes or move. It was slightly worrying, or would have been if it hadn't happened to me before. I must have stayed like that for a few minutes before I heard a voice. "Zane? Zane! Wake up!! We have a problem!!" And then I heard another.

"A small problem if you ask me."

It wasn't hard to tell who it was. Shh Zeke, I have a headache.

"You call this small? We're not supposed to be out here! Though this does present a rare opportunity..."

What do you mean 'out'? I waited a few seconds for a reply, but didn't get one. Why aren't you answering me?

"I agree. Do you know how long I've been waiting to be out? I'm going to love this!" He said with an concerning tone.

I felt someone shake me as I was trying to think of what was going on. Then I heard someone run up to me, and push something near me out of the way. I'm assuming that what got pushed was Twilight, because I heard her yell. But that was drowned out by... "WAKE UP CANDY MAN!! THE STARSHINE IS FLAVORED LEMONAIDE TODAY!!!"

My eyes snapped open at Freak shouting in my ear. It took me a moment to take in the scene before me. But when I did, I sat up and nearly lost my shit. "Twilight, what did you do!?!"

"I-I don't-"

I turned my attention to the other three. "You're not supposed to be out of my head! Why, no, how are you out?! How is this possible?!"

Zac walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Calm down, Zane."

Zeke gave a short laugh. "Are you sure he isn't Terrance? He's acting all panicky."

I glared at him before a sense of nausea washed over me. "Everything's wrong. Imbalanced. Insides feel weird." I burped and looked at the purple unicorn again. "Ugh! Twi, what did you do?"

"I-I have no idea!" Twilight said. "I don't know how we brought them with us! B-but it can't be all that bad, right?" She asked hopefully.

"Twilight," I said flatly. "We have one chaotic evil and..." I thought for a moment. "I guess lawful evil, I don't know what Nightmare Moon is." I looked the weirder one of the group. "And then Freak. They could all team up. Do you know what that would mean?"

She thought about that for a moment, then gasped. "It would be worse then Discord!"

Zeke lifted a hand, interrupting Twilight before she could go on. "I wouldn't worry. My quarrel is with humanity. Not...Ponydom?"

All of a sudden Freak smiled. So big, in fact, I'm surprised his cheeks didn't rip open. "IMPREGNATE ALL THE PONIES!!" He then stopped. "NO, IMMA EXPLORE THE WORLD!! WHERE IS THE WHITE WING-ED HORSE, SO I CAN SHOW HER THE WAYS OF FRIENDSHIP!!!"

"Oh great. Now he's excited."

"Oh my god." I rubbed my temples. "Twilight, there has to be away to keep them occupied. Any ideas before this gets out of hand?"

I noticed Zac was holding his chin in thought. "I might have one." We all looked at him. Except for Freak. He was jumping up and down. Like literally. "Twilight? Write down the names of your friends and the Princesses, and put them in a bowl or something similar."

"I think I see where you're going with this." I said. Twilight nodded in agreement..

"Right. Now, of course, if one of the Princesses names is drawn, we will need them to agree to it."

"I'll send both of the Princesses a letter when we're done." Twilight said.

"And we can get started on this when we get a reply." I said with a nod. Then looked at Twilight with furrowed brows. "I thought Luna was coming back?"

She looked at me with a confused look on her face. "Is she?" I scratched the back of my head and shrugged. "I'll send her a letter just in case."

"Fair enough. Everyone in agreement?" We all nodded. "Great. Now, we have a plan."

"Always good to have a plan." I said. Twilight voiced her agreement before going to a writing desk to write the letters.

Twilight got a reply from Celestia, maybe about half an hour later. The letter said that both Celestia and Luna were coming to Ponyville. Celestia seemed quite curious about what happened in the letter. I just hope she isn’t disappointed.

Meanwhile, Twilight was freaking out about it. She was going over every nook and cranny. Literally, every nook and cranny. She even levitated me up the bathroom and forced me to take a bath! A freakin’ bath! I bet you can imagine my feelings at the time.

After my impromptu bath, I walked back down to the main room. Twilight seemed to have calmed down a little bit, and smiled sheepishly at me. I just shook my head and sat down. Zeke was laughing at me, Zac was trying not to, and Freak was surprisingly silent. That worried me.

Zac asked if there was a time the Princesses were supposed to arrive. Twilight couldn’t recall any specific time, so she just looked toward Canterlot. I followed her to the window. “What’s that tiny dot?” I asked.

“That must be them! They’re going to be here soon!”

“Twilight, calm down.” He said with a reassuring smile. “It’s going to be fine.”

“Exactly,” I said. “I don’t think Celestia would mind a relaxed visit at least once in a while.”

“I…” She took a deep breath. “I suppose you’re right.”

Well… I might be… “Hey, have you written down the names yet?”

“Yes,” She said with a more relaxed tone. “I wrote them down after I sent the letters. And put them in Spike’s bowler hat.”

“Okay, so now all we have to do is wait?” I then had a thought. “Twi? Not to make matters more difficult than they already are, but did you tell your friends about our arrangement?”

She shook her head. “No,” She said a surprisingly calm voice. “They should be any minute now. I’ll explain it to them when they get here.” There was a knock on the door. “That must be them.”

”It’s weird how that almost always happens.” I thought. “Must be a pony thing? I’ve been here for how long? And I still haven’t figured them out…”

Twilight opened the door, and welcomed her friends in. “Hello girls! I’m glad you could make it.”

“Not a problem sugar-cube.” AppleJack said.

“What’s so important to pull me away from stunt practice?” Said Rainbow Dash.

“It’s quite obvious actually.” Zeke said, chuckling slightly. The other five snapped they’re heads towards the other three. “You should pay more attention.”

One mini freak out and explanation later, the princesses arrived. They weren’t subtle about it either, but I blame Celestia for that. They’re appearance did not go unnoticed by the town, either. But they were quick to get into the library.

I noticed Freak looking between Celestia and Luna, before finally yelling. “SO. MUCH. SADDNESS!!" Twilight and I looked each other with confused expressions and then looked at him “I CAN SEE THROUGH YOUR FEEBLE MISTELLINGS, OF RATIONAL FATE!”

“Whatever is he talking about?” Rarity said, with a raised eyebrow.

“SHUSH GEM FINDER. THEY STRUGGLE TO ACCEPT THE PAST!!” He looked at back at the Princesses. “I’M SORRY FOR YOUR MIS-fortunes.”

The room was silent for a few minutes. Before I cleared my throat. “Right,” Twilight said. “Your Majesties.”

“Yes, hello Twilight.” Celestia said, trying to shake off being shouted at within a few seconds of entering the building.

Luna nodded. “Hello again, Miss Sparkle.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You’re being awfully formal, Luna.”

She gave me a slight glare, and I noticed Celestia give a tiny smile. “We are here on Royal business, after all. What did we talk about, Zane?”

“Addressing you properly during visits such as this.” I bowed. “My apologies, Princess.”

Celestia chuckled. “It is good to see my sister getting along with someone.” She looked at Twilight. “But now, on to why we are here.” She said in a serious tone. “Where is she?”

“She is restrained in the basement, Princess.”

“Good. Take us to her.” Twilight nodded, and started to escort everyone.

“Why have you returned?!” Luna all but yelled. “Is it to torture us further!? TELL ME!!”

“Calm down sister! You haven’t given her a chance to speak!” Which is true. Upon seeing Nightmare, Luna went into a raging frenzy. I have never seen a glare so fierce in my whole life. Celestia had to hold her back, which hardly worked. Twilight and Rarity had to help hold her back and calm her down. I would have but… Damn, I was scared.

Luna glared at Nightmare for a few more moments, before turning away. “Perhaps you were right, Celestia. It was a mistake for us to come back here.” She gave me a quick glance. “We-I am going back to the common room. Summon me when you are done with… It.” And with that, Luna left. I watched her leave, and couldn’t help but feel bad for her. I couldn’t imagine what it’s like. Seeing your torturer of a thousand years again.

“I am NOT an ‘It’.” Nightmare said. Catching my attention, I turned toward her.

“You’re not helping.” I said. Celestia lifted a wing in my direction. It took me a little bit, but I understood it as a “keep quiet” gesture.

“Will you tell us now, Nightmare Moon?” Celestia said in a serious tone.

Nightmare huffed. “As we were trying to say before: I have never left.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

Nightmare looked at her. “If you can recall, you didn't destroy me.” That earned some confused looks. “The Elements of Harmony do not destroy. No, they merely stripped me away. Not unlike one would strip the flesh from a corpse.” Everyone but Celestia and I winced. “I just escaped and went into hiding.”

“Do you still have magic?” Celestia asked.

Nightmare nodded. “Yes,” Everyone tensed up. “But it isn’t as strong as it was when I possessed Luna.”

“So you’re just a parasite?” Chrysalis asked. Right, I forgot she was here…

“Look who’s talking!”

“Rainbow.” I said sternly. She crossed her forehooves and muttered something. I shook my head and returned my attention to Nightmare.

“Not a parasite, you insolent cur. I am cursed. To have no body for such a long time plays ill on the mind.”

“But… don’t you have a body now?” Rarity asked.

“Nay, what you see now is merely an illusion. My true form is that of a visible gas cloud.”

“What will it take to get your body back?” I asked.

She laughed. “Oh creature, my body is long since decayed. Not much was known of preservation magic in those times. And what was, was seen as dark magic.”

“Preservation magic was declassified as dark magic years before my sister and I took the throne.” Celestia said shock. “How long ago were you cursed?”

“The Settler’s Era, as you call it now-a-days.” Everyone gasped. “I was cursed thirty years after the founding of Equestria. And before you ask, it was Clover the Clever who cursed me.”

“But curses don’t exist. And Clover the Clever wouldn’t do something like that.” Twilight said.

“Fine. Dark Magic, if you please, but the turnout was all the same!” She yelled. “And did you know him?” Twilight couldn’t answer that. “Ever hear of Princess Platinum being overthrown?” She chuckled. “Judging by the expression, I assume ‘no’. Why else is there a huge gap in history? Clover destroyed all traces of violent history to save his image.”

“But-“

“And then the disappearance of Platinum? Heard of that either? How about Clover’s transformation? Oh, that would make your head spin!”

“Enough!” Celestia said. “I’m sure we could learn a lot from you, but I would appreciate it if you stop antagonizing my student!”

“Fine.” She said with a huff.

There was a tense silence. “Umm…I feel as though I can’t help.” I said. “So, I’m just going to check on Luna. I’ll see you all when you’re done.”

Celestia nodded. “I will summon for you and Luna.” I just nodded and left.

~One hour later~

Luna and I were sitting on the balcony. The sun was starting to go down. Or it could be stuck, because Celestia’s attention is elsewhere. Luna and I have barely even spoke. But I think my presence here is enough for now. I tried, but she’ll open up when she’s ready, she always does. “Thank you for being here for me.” She said with her head bowed.

Speak of the devil “It’s what friends would do, right?”

“Indeed it is.” She sighed. “And unfortunately this is the only instance it has happened.”

“Oh, that can’t be true. Surely not.”

She looked up. “No. It isn’t. With the exception of Tia, the last real friend I had was over a thousand years ago.”

“What about Twilight? And the other Element bearers?”

“Alas, I have tried. But they treat me like they treat my sister. It is nice to get the respect my title deserves but…” She sighed.

“The fear was not asked for?”

I jumped slightly. “Hello Zac. You startled me.”

He chuckled. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

I gestured him to sit down with us. “If you were Zeke, you would have.”

She looked over at him. “Ah yes, Twilight mentioned something about this. You are Zane’s Kindness?”

“Pretty close, Princess. I am the embodiment of the Good within him. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You as well.” She looked back off into the distance. “And no, the fear was not asked for, nor is it welcome.”

“We remember you telling us about the first Nightmare Night you attended in Ponyville. It’s a natural fear, I think, with things associated with darkness or the night.”

“Or they still see Nightmare Moon when they see me.” She said with a bitter tone.

“Unfortunately, that wouldn’t surprise me if it were true.” I said. “It’ll change though. Just you wait, Luna.”

She looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “Forgive me if I don’t believe you.”

I smiled. “I don’t expect you too. I just have a feeling.”

“Luna?” I said with a hint of worry and amusement.

“Yes?”

“The sun is still stuck…”

She looked up. “So it is.”

“Should we… tell Celestia?”

“No. She will notice soon.”

I paused for a few moments, to see if Celestia would run up to the balcony. When she didn’t, I spoke again. “You’re sure?”

She smiled. “Yes, this has happened before. Don’t worry.”

“Okay then…” I paused for a few more moments. “Hey, now that you’re calmed down, what are you going to do about Nightmare?”

“I was hoping you wouldn’t ask.” She sighed. “I haven’t really thought about it. I suppose my sister and I are just going to take…her…back to Canterlot.”

“And then what?”

“Throw her in the dungeon perhaps?”

I hummed in thought. “Not sure how practical that would be.” She raised an eyebrow. “She’s just magical essence. She has no real body, at least not anymore.”

“Yes, we know this. But tell me: Do you believe her?”

“Can’t say that I do, can’t say that I don’t. But what I do know, is that she is weak. Otherwise, she would have tried something.”

“I wonder if I should go back down there?” Just then, the sun began to finish lowering and Celestia joined us.

“That is not needed, Luna. We are done.”

“And what of Nightmare Moon?” Luna asked coldly.

Celestia frowned at her sister’s tone. “She is still restrained. Chrysalis and the other changelings are keeping watch over her.” Luna nodded and looked away. “Do you not agree with this?

“I do not. I would much rather have her sealed away, or her essence destroyed. Why do you spare her, sister?”

Celestia shook her head. “Oh Luna…”

Luna glared at her sister. “I am sorry that I am not feeling merciful toward the one responsible for my imprisonment! What would have me do? Welcome her to possess me again, with open hooves? Or perhaps throw a bucking party for her?!” Luna yelled. “You do not understand the way it pains me to see that parasite again!”

Celestia gave Luna a disapproving look. “No, I can’t say that I do.” She briefly glanced toward the sky. “The sun is down now, dear sister. The moon and stars await.”

Luna nodded. “Indeed they do. Leave me, so I can concentrate.” I stood up and Celestia and I turned around. I paused for a few seconds to see if she would tell me stay. She didn’t.

I walked inside with Celestia, and went down to the main room, where everyone except Chrysalis and Wisp were gathered. They stopped talking when they noticed us. Twilight and Aura walk over to us once we reached the bottom of the stairs. “How is she?” Twilight asked.

“Not very good.” I said. “She’s very upset and wants Nightmare terminated.”

“We were actually just talking about that.” Aura said.

“Have you come up with anything?” Celestia asked. There was a collective of shaking heads. “I see…”

“We’ve thought of everything!” Rainbow Dash said, throwing her hooves up.

“Well… We could try to reform her.”

“Already thought about it.” Applejack said.

Twilight nodded. “Yes, and I don’t think that it would work.”

“So, killing her the only option then?” I asked. There were a few nods. “Hmm… How about we do some more thinking on it? There has to be another way.”

Celestia nodded. “I agree.” She tapped her chin. “In the meantime, Twilight? Didn’t you have another issue that needed addressed?”

She raised an eyebrow, before remembering. “Oh right! Spike, can you go get the hat with the names in it?”

“Sure thing, Twilight!”

“Hats with names?” Rarity asked. Twilight nodded and then began explaining everything.

After Twilight was done explaining everything, Celestia went to get her sister. Luna didn’t seem too happy to be disturbed, but she was curious as to what this was about. Spike returned with the hat and Twilight arranged every possible candidate in a circle, which was everyone except Twilight, the three other variations of me and myself, and put the hat in the middle of the circle.

“Are we all clear on the rules?” Twilight asked as she placed herself beside the hat, and everyone nodded. “Okay. Here we go.” She shook the hat a bit, and drew a name. Her face went pale.

“Uh…what came up Twi?” Applejack asked.

“C-can I redraw?”

“Nope” I said. “That would be against the rules.”

She sighed. “Ugh, fine. Freak is to be sent with… Celestia.” Everyone gasped. Including him.

“I WISHED IT AND IT CAME TRUE?!?! IMMA FREAKIN GENIE!!!” Celestia removed herself from the circle and stood by Freak with an uneasy look on her face. Which was funny.

Twilight cleared her throat. “Alright, that’s the worst out of the way.” She put on a wary smile and shook the hat again, and drew a name. Her face fell. “Zeke is to be sent with Rainbow Dash.”

“Oh come on!” Rainbow shouted. She removed herself from the circle and went over by Zeke, glaring all the way.

“Great…”

“And Zac will go with,” She shook the hat once more. “Fluttershy.”

Pinkie Pie voiced her dismay at not being picked, but Applejack kept her quiet for the most part. Meanwhile, Fluttershy was hiding behind her mane. “Oh my.” She said. “Why did I have to be picked?” She slowly made her way over to Zac. Who just smiled and waved at her.

“Okay, this should kept them occupied until we find a way to put them back. I hope.”

Celestia smiled. “I’m sure it will be fine, Twilight.” Her smile faltered a bit, and she look toward the basement. “I am going to take Chrysalis with me to Canterlot. She has agreed to help oversee Nightmare Moon’s containment.”

“Alright.” I said, and everyone else nodded.

“What will you do, sister?”

“I will help escort Nightmare Moon to Canterlot. Afterwards, however, I am coming back. If there is nothing for me to do, that is.”

Celestia tapped her chin in thought. “We may need help with the containment spell, but other than that, I don’t think there is anything that requires your attention.” Luna nodded and Celestia turned to Freak. “Are you ready to go?”

“I AM MORE READY, THAN I HAVE BEEN EVER!!!”

Celestia nodded. “I’m going to tell Chrysalis it is time to leave.”

“And I will be here, MI LADY!!”

Celestia nodded and walked off toward the basement. Luna walk over to me. “I will return shortly.”

“By later tonight? Or sometime tomorrow?”

She nodded. “That is a possibility.”

“Alright, I may still be awake when we get back.” She nodded.

“Thank you again for being there for me. Even though we barely spoke.”

I shrugged. “It’s what friends do, Luna.”

“And I am glad I can call you a friend.” She smiled and I smiled back.

Celestia and Chrysalis came up from the basement with a jar. It was a larger jar with the same blue smoke that I saw at the park. “Come along Luna,” Chrysalis said. “We are leaving.”

“Do not tell me what to do, changeling.”

“She was just doing what I asked, sister.” Celestia said.

Chrysalis nodded. “If we are to be allies, we need to play nice. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Luna merely nodded. Freak jumped onto Celestia’s back, much to her disapproval. “I guess we’re leaving now.”

I chuckled. “Okay, have a good evening, Princess. And Chryssy?”

Chyrsalis turned to me. “I do not like that alias. What do you want?”

I frowned. “Behave yourself.”

She laughed. “You needn’t tell me to behave!”

“Just… okay. See you soon.”

She walked over to me. “You needn’t worry about me, either.” She smiled. “I know the risk of going, but it is sweet of you to worry. I will be fine.”

“Yes, my Queen.”

She turned away, and started to walk towards the door. “Look over Aura for me, will you? Wisp will be here to help.”

“Got it.”

“I guess we should going too.” Rainbow said, hovering in the air.

“Actually,” Twilight said. “Could you two stay here for a little while? I need to use the cloud walking spell on Zeke, so he can actually go into your house.”

Rainbow slumped to the ground. “Fine.”

“I think I’m going to go too.” Fluttershy said. “My animal friends need fed.”

“I can help with that.”

“That would be nice,” Twilight said. “I’m sure she would appreciate that.”

“I would. Thank you.”

“See you later, guys. Have a good evening.” I said opening the door.

“You as well.” Fluttershy said.

“Ah think we’ll follow her out.” Applejack said. “Applebloom’s got school tomorrow.”

“I too have to be awake early. Sweetie Belle is staying with me this week.”

“Alright, see y’all later then.”

“Later, sugar cube.”

“Good bye, dear. Good evening, Twilight.”

I smiled and waved before I closed the door. After I did, I looked at Rainbow and Zeke. Rainbow sat there with her forehooves crossed. Then suddenly there was a bright flash from where Zeke stood.

“Whoa.” Twilight said. “That was unexpected.”

Zeke now had black demonic bat wings. “Should that have happened?”

“No…” Twilight said. I looked at Rainbow Dash, and she was just staring. Zeke however looked unamused. “Despite the odd side effect,” Twilight said. “The spell still should have worked.

“So, we can leave now?”

“Yep.”

He nodded and walked toward the door. Rainbow began to follow him, when I stopped her. “Hey, I just wanted to warn you about Zeke.”

“What about him?”

“Everything should be fine, just don’t anger him. And If something does set him off, run. Just run and tell everyone nearby to hide.”

She chuckled nervously. “Why all the caution? It can’t be that bad.”

“I doubt it will happen, but just… Keep that in mind. Just run. Don’t try to calm him dow-“

“Yeah, yeah. I get it. See ya around!” Zeke opened the door, and they left.

I looked at Twilight. “Do you think they’ll be fine?”

“To be honest? I’m more concerned for Celestia and Canterlot.”

“At least Freak is more chaos than evil. Zeke is chaotic/Lawful Evil, Freak doesn't have an affiliation.”

“Chaotic/Lawful?”

“Yeah. When he’s really mad, he wouldn't care who he kills, hence the ‘Chaotic’. That’s why I told Rainbow. I don’t think she would want to watch her intestines being eaten.” I sighed. “And before you ask, no. He’d cut out her eyelids and force her to watch.”

Her face went pale, as well as Spike’s. He just walked in after putting the hat away. “What did I bring to Equestria…”

“Human evil, my dear Twilight, Human evil.”

“D-do I we need to worry about Freak?”

I shook my head. “If anything, he’d just scare the ponies of Canterlot.” I paused. “I think, I’ve never ‘seen’ him mad before.” Twilight looked concerned. “Just think of him as a human male version of Pinkie Pie, more or less. ‘It’s all in good fun, as long as no one gets hurt’.”

“If you say so.” She yawned. “It’s getting late, I’m going to bed.”

“Good night, Twilight. Goodnight Spike.”

“Good night.” They said in unison, and went upstairs.

I sat on the couch and looked at my iPod. “Hey look at that. Battery’s finally down to seventy-five percent.”

Bonus: The Psycho and The Sun Goddess

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~Bonus: The Psycho and The Sun Goddess~

Day One

The sky-chariot ride was peaceful...for maybe ten minutes. Almost as soon as the chariot left the ground, Freak was bouncing in his seat. Celestia had to use her magic to hold him still. And Freak retaliated by pulling off the skin on his face. It didn't hurt him. In fact, it was like peeling latex. The Princess could have dealt with it, if it wasn't for the fact that Freak was eating the skin he pulled off, and throwing what he didn't eat at the Pegasus guards that were pulling the chariot. Needless to say it wasn't very long until Celestia restrained his arms and hands.

He protested that he was just having fun, but Celestia told him it wasn't very good behavior. "IT'S NOT LIKE I'M EATING YOUR SKIN!!!" He laughed after saying that, and Celestia just shook her head.

"Yes, but it is unhealthy to do that."

"DON'T FORGET STRANGE!! HOW ABOUT YOU HAIR?! HOW DOES IT TASTE?!?! CAN I TASTE THE RAINBOW OF SHERBERT DELIGHT?!?"

"No, You may not." Freak didn't say anything after that and presumably went to sleep. Celestia looked at him with an unsure expression. "I know I told Twilight that it's going to be okay," She thought. "But I'm beginning to question my statement." Freak then mumbled something about frozen dairy treats in his 'sleep'. "Perhaps sherbert might calm him down?"

"Your highness?" One of the guards said.

"Can one of you bring my guest a sherbert cone when we land?"

"Of course, your highness. We are almost to the castle."

"Thank you."

"YES, THANK YOU WITH A THOUSAND CUPS OF MOONJUICE!!" Freak suddenly shouted, scaring the two guards and the Princess. "SORRY! DIDN'T MEAN TO FRIGHTEN YOU!!"

Celestia just shook her head. "Really beginning to question it..."

Day Two.

Canterlot Castle, AKA Freak's new playground. Though Celestia expected worst, she still wasn't too happy about the state of his guest room and hallway. "There weren't even any clothes in the room!" One of the servants complained. "How could this have happened?"

Celestia sighed. "I will go speak with him. Which direction did he go?"

"Oh," The other servant said. "You don't need to trouble yourself over it. We'll find him."

Celestia put on a polite smile. "It is no trouble. He is my guest, after all."

The servants nodded. "Very well, you highness. He went towards the courtyard."

Celestia nodded. "Thank you." Celestia turned away. But all of a sudden.

"TINY PROBLEM!! I'M NOT IN THE YARD OF COURTING, I WAS HIDING BEHIND THE DOOR!! THE WHOLE TIME!!!"

One of the servants kicked him out of reflex, sending Freak back into the room. It didn't take long for the servant to realize what she did. "O-oh my gosh! I d-d-didn't mean to-"

"FRISKY!!" He then ran up to the servant and picked her up. "YOU'RE COMING WITH ME!!" And then he slammed the door.

It happened so fast, that not even Celestia could react in time. "Freak!" Celestia yelled over the cries for help. "Freak, let her go!!"

"CAN'T HEAR YOU!! WINDS-A-BLOWIN'!"

Celestia lit up her horn, prepared to blow the doors open, when a sound stop her and the other servant in their tracks. "Oh~." Celestia and the servant looked at each other. "Oh yes~."

After the situation sunk in, the servant spoke up. "Uh you highness?" The servant said, hiding her beet red face. "I don't think she needs help..."

"Agreed." Celestia said, the shocked expression still on her face. "Let's...give them some privacy."

"Right there! Oh my goddess yes!" And that was all she could take. Celestia teleported her and the servant away from the door.

Five Minutes Later

The door opened and the servant(Cherry Blossom Freak found out) and Freak walked out of the room. "That was lovely." Cherry cooed. "I didn't think you would be such a good masseuse."

"Me neither," Freak said in an actual normal tone. "You just seemed so tense! You had more knots then my brain has problems!" Cherry didn't know what to make of that, so she just thanked him and went on to continue with her chores. "The offer still stands, ya know?"

Cherry stopped and giggled. "I'm flattered, Freak, I really am. But I'm a married mare."

Freak shrugged. "It's a good thing we didn't do anything then. Because then I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU!! CHEATING. IS. WRONG!!!"

Cherry smiled. "I agree." She turned away. "Thanks again for the massage!" And then she went to find her friend/co-worker. Freak just smiled and waved, before disappearing.

Later That Day

Freak was wandering the corridors of the castle, looking for Cherry's friend. So far his luck at finding her hasn't been great. "MOONLIGHT!? YOUR FRIEND SAID YOU NEED TO RELAX!!" But that could be because he was yelling. That, and the castle staff's just generally avoiding him. Especially Cherry Blossom's friend, Moonlight Star. "WHERE ARE YOU!?!?"

Meanwhile, in a nearby supply closet. "You told him my name!?"

Cherry raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, what's wrong with that?"

"I can't believe it! First you cheat on your husband with that...thing, and now he's looking for me!"

"Moonlight." Cherry said, interrupting her friend. "I did not cheat on my husband."

Moonlight scoffed. "It certainly didn't sound like it!"

"It was just a massage!"

"Yeah, I'm sure!" Moonlight glared at her friend. "There is absolutely no way one can enjoy a massage that much."

"Maybe not a hoof massage." Cherry sighed. "Why don't you believe me? We've been friends since middle school..."

Before anything else could be said, Freak opened the door. "GOTCHA!! I'LL MAKE A BELIEVER OUT OF YOU!!!" He looked over at Cherry. "HOLD HER DOWN!! SHE'LL STRUGGLE FOR THE FIRST MINUTE!!" Cherry nodded, and held Moonlight down.

Moonlight looked terrified. "Why are you helping him!? I thought we were friends!?" Cherry just rolled her eyes. Freak walked over to her. "Please be gentle." She cried, and closed her eyes. He just stood there, looking over her form as if he was looking for something.

Moonlight was shaking. "Just relax Star," Cherry said. "It will go by a lot quicker if you do." Moonlight nodded, with tears starting to form.

She relaxed, and Freak snapped his fingers. "Roll her onto her stomach." Cherry did as told. "Perfect! He knelt down, and placed his hands on both of Moonlight's shoulder's. She tensed up at his touch. Freak placed his thumbs on Moonlight's withers, and applied a little pressure. He then began moving his thumbs in a circular motion, eliciting a surprised moan from her. He then moved to the neck, even though there wasn't much he could do. Same with the back, but he knows a couple tricks.

After that, he asked her to turn on her left side. She did so with minimal help from Cherry. "Is-is this it? This is all your going to do to me?"

Cherry gave her a deadpan look. "Did you really think he was going to do... that?"

"Well...yes. Yes I did..."

"Not unless you want a happy ending, which I'm assuming you don't." Her cheeks got a tint of red and Freak motioned for her to roll over onto her other side, which she did. "Plus, that's freakin' disgusting that you think I would do that."

Moonlight had nothing to say to that and just let Freak continue with the massage.

Day Three

Princess Celestia woke up in her chambers. The moon has yet to go down, signifying that she woke up on time. She went into her bathroom to take her morning shower. As she normally does before breakfast and day court. Her shampoo was a nice but strange mix of lavender with coconut, and her body wash/coat conditioner was plain lavender. Her shower was a short one, and did little to prepare her for the boring task that awaits her. But, before that, it's breakfast with her... "Oh right, she's in Ponyville." Celestia sighed. "I suppose it's breakfast alone, once again." She opened the bathroom door. "Though I guess I can't blame her." She gave another, though smaller sigh.

Suddenly a small laugh echoed in her chamber. "Discord?" Another small laugh. "No, the laugh isn't right." A low chuckle sounded this time. "Who's there!? How did you get into my room?!"

Suddenly something dropped from the ceiling, right next to Celestia, "WAKEY WAKEY!! I MADE BREAKFAST!!"

Celestia facehoofed and shook her head. "Freak? How did you get in here?"

"It was surprisingly easy to slip in during the shift change." He said in his 'normal' voice. "You might want to check on that. Oh, and Chryssy will be joining us for breakfast."

"Yes, I will have to address that." Celestia nodded. "What is for breakfast?"

Freak smiled. "GREEN EGGS AND HAM!!"

"Green eggs? And... Ham?"

"YEP! FOUND IT IN THE BACK OF THE FRIDGE. WE EAT LIKE KINGS TODAY!!"

In The Dining Room

Celestia sat down at the table. She looked at the plate in front of her. It had the green eggs, hay bacon strips, and hash browns. Celestia looked at the other two plates. Freak's had a slice of ham with hash browns and the eggs. And Chrysalis' plate had the rest of the ham on it, with a side plate of hay bacon. Freak sat down across from Chrysalis, and noticed the expression on Celestia's face.

"Something wrong Celestia?"

"No, no. Everything looks fine!" Freak didn't look convinced. "Well, I will admit I am concerned about having spoiled eggs served to me."

"Spoiled?" Freak laughed. "They're not spoiled! it's food coloring! I just injected a little into the yoke. Other than that they're normal eggs."

"I see. That is a relief." And then everyone started eating.

Later that day

"And that concludes todays day court. Thank you all for your concerns. I will see what I can do." There were groans and bows and ponies that gave no response at all. Freak wasn't sure what to make of it. At first he was interested by the idea. That quickly changed after he found out how boring it was. And most of the requests were so stupid that, if it wasn't for the spell Celestia used, he would have voiced his disapproval.

Needless to say, it wasn't a pleasant experience for him. He silently vowed to find those ponies and personally tell them how idiotic they are. Most of problems could be fixed by the ponies themselves! Utterly ridiculous! As soon as the ponies were gone, Celestia undid the spell on Freak. The out burst was imminent. "HOW CAN YOU STAND THAT!! NO ONE SHOULD BE FORCED TO DO SOMETHING SO BORING!!! AND THE REQEUSTS!! AURGH!!! YOU DON'T NEED ROYAL BACKING TO BUY A NEW PLOT OF LAND!!!! YOU DON'T NEED ROYAL BACKING TO BUY A NEW MANSION YOU'LL NEVER USE!!! AND THAT STUPID PONY THAT ASKED FOR THE KEY TO THE TREASURY, AND THEN ARGUED WHEN YOU TOLD HIM NO!?!? HOW FFFUCKIN' STUPID CAN YOU BE!?!?!?" Freak was holding the sides of his head.

"ARE YOU SURE THEY'RE NOT IMBRED?!?! HOW ARE THEY EVEN PERMITED TO LIVE!?!?! AURGH, I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!!!!!" Freak looked at celestia and his face was actually red, telling Celestia, and the guards, that this wasn't his normal yelling. He was actually angry. His eyes glowed and he disappeared before anyone could say or do anything.

Celestia was actually concerned. "Guards, I want you to sweep the town. Find him before he does anything!"

"Yes, your majesty!"

Meanwhile in Ponyville

"I feel a disturbance in the force." Luna looked at me. "Something is very wrong." I looked towards Canterlot. "Luna, I think we might need to help your sister..."

Bonus: The Demon and The Daredevil

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~Bonus: The Demon and The Daredevil~

Day One

Zeke was looking up at the cloud house with an unamused look on his face. He looked at Rainbow Dash. “How are we supposed to get up there?” He asked with a scowl.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Don’t know about you, but I’m flyin’ up.”

Zeke glared at her. “If I’m staying with you till god knows how long, you best not push my buttons.”

“Oh relax.” She sighed and bent down. “Here, climb on.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

She glared at him. “This isn’t exactly easy for me you know!?” Zeke crossed his arms. “Do you realize what position this is?! Come on already!”

“I guess you have a point.” He walked over and climbed onto her back. With some effort Rainbow took off, and soon landed near the entrance to the house. Zeke got off of Rainbow’s back, and tapped the cloud with his foot. “Looks like the spell worked. Good.”

Rainbow opened the door, and walked inside. Zeke followed. He looked around, and had only one thing to say. “What do you think?” Rainbow asked while flopping down on the couch.

“Hmm.”

“Is that all?” She deadpanned. “Really?”

“The only thing extraordinary about this house, is that it’s made of clouds. And has rainbow fountains in the yards.”

“And you’ve seen rainbow fountains before?”

“No. Do I look like someone who would be impressed by that?”

“I guess not.” She sighed. “This is going to be a long week…”

Day Two

“You have a turtle for a pet?” Zeke said with his arms crossed.

“Actually he’s a tortoise. I got it wrong at first too, so don’t worry about it.”

Zeke raised an eyebrow. “Does it look like I am?”

Rainbow sighed. “No…”

“I find it odd, though.”

“What?” Rainbow asked with a raised brow.

“Animals having other animals as pets. Why you ponies get the talk and not them? What’s fair about that?”

“Hey!” Rainbow yelled. “We are not animals! We have thoughts and emotion and stuff!”

“And they don’t!” Zeke yelled back, silencing her. “You fucking ponies are too similar to humans, it sickening! How is it so hard to grasp the concept that if it’s alive, it has feeling too!!”

“Even plants?” She asked cautiously.

“YES!!” He stopped and thought about. “Well, maybe. It depends on the plant. Speaking of plants, I’m hungry. Where’s the meat!?”

“Why would I have meat!?”

“I don’t know! You seem like the cannibal type to me, I guess.”

“Why would I be a cannibal?!”

“Why would anybody?! Now find me something to eat, before I sacrifice Tank!”

“You. Wouldn’t. Dare.” Rainbow said in a dead serious voice.

“I just might. Don’t push me!”

Rainbow Dash glared at him, and got in his face. “Why you good-for-nothing insensitive jerk!!”

“Get. Out Of. My. Face.”

“And why should I!?”

“Remember that warning Zane gave you before we left the library?”

“What warning?”

“Wrong answer!” Zeke yelled as he grabbed Rainbow’s left fore leg, bit down hard on it, and tore a small bit a flesh off, chewed and swallowed.

“OW! You son of a bitch!!”

“Now get me food, or I’ll take another chunk out of your leg!!”

“You sexist bucking-“

“Sexist? This has nothing to do with being sexist! You’re not being a good host. You’re supposed to be taking care of me!! So far I’m not impressed!”

“Whatever! Just GET OUT!!” She turned around and bucked him. He promptly flew through the door, and through the air.

Ten Minutes Later

Zeke knocked on the library’s door. “Coming!” ‘It’s probably Spike…’ He thought. And then the door opened, and it was… “I knew it.” Zeke didn’t give a greeting, he just walked in. I was laying on the couch.

“Hey, didn’t expect to see you so soon.”

Zeke growled. “That repressed lesbian psycho isn’t worth my company.”

I sighed. “What happened?”

“She pushed me.” He shrugged.

“I told her not to do that.” I said in an exasperated tone.

“She wasn’t even paying attention! She didn’t know you warned her about anything!” He yelled. “And then she kicks me out after being a poor host! The nerve of her!!”

And then I noticed his face was redder than usual. “Is that blood?”

“Yes!”

“What did you do?!”

“I tore out a chunk of her flesh and ate it! It wasn’t even that good!!”

I shook my head. “God dammit. Twilight! Watch him, I’m goning to see if Rainbows okay!”

“Wait, what?!”

“Zeke will explain everything! I gotta go.”

Day Three

Zeke perked up. “Well, look at that! He’s finally growing up! Spread some chaos for me up there. I never liked them.”

I ran down the stairs. “Zeke, you feel it too?”

“Yes I do. I’m actually proud of him.”

“Whatever. It’s going to take all three of us, plus Twilight and her friends to at least find him. Get ready, we leave in an hour.”

Bonus: The Two Kind Souls

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The Two Kind Souls

Day One

Zac and Fluttershy were walking to her cottage. Zac was looking around, just taking in the surroundings. He could tell how nervous Fluttershy was by... Well it wasn't hard to tell.

Every once in a while Fluttershy would chance to take a quick glance at Zac. He would look down at her to smiled, but she always turned away and hide behind her mane.

"So," Zac said. "I hear you have cats." Fluttershy nodded her head. "Cats are my favorite animal you know?"

"They are?" Said Fluttershy, still hiding behind her mane.

"Yes." Zac said with a smile. "I think I get that from Zane." Fluttershy didn't respond. "Do you have a favorite animal?" He said, still smiling.

"No," she said, coming out from behind her mane a little bit. "I like all of my animal friends."

"I see." He said, holding his chin. "Can you tell me about them? If you don't mind."

Fluttershy shook her head. "I don't mind at all." She said kindly. She held her head up and seemed to think. "But I think it might be easier to show you, if that's okay."

Zac nodded. "That is perfectly fine." The conversation stopped there. Realizing this, Zac looked around at the town. It was cartoony, that much was certain, but he was glad that he had this world to experience. He did a full three-sixty turn, similar to what a twirl is, and took a deep breath. "Yes," He said with a smile. "This world is much better."

Fluttershy wasn't sure what to make of him. Zane was nice, she didn't doubt that. But he was prone to, if she was honest, mild psychotic episodes. She knew he would never hurt anypony, he's not like that. But, those episodes made her kinda scared of him. 'Maybe not scared.' She thought. 'Maybe intimidating would be a better word.'

Fluttershy looked at Zac. The smile seemingly would never leave his face. She wondered why he was so happy, but was glad all the same. At least he wasn't scary like Zeke was. She didn't know what she would do if she was paired with him. She practically refused to think about Freak. She shuddered at the thought of him.

Zac noticed. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Oh! Yes, I'm fine. I was just um..." She trailed off. Zac didn't seem to mind, though. He merely nodded and continued to take in his surroundings.

Zac saw a cottage resting on a hill. 'Must be Fluttershy's house.' He thought. It was interesting to him, and he wondered if the roof was made of moss or if it was just grass that somehow is able to stay green. It looked like a cozy place to him. He also took note of the many bird houses on the outside of the cottage. And the many birds that were flying in and out of them.

Then he looked to the left and saw the Everfree. That was the only time he frowned today. He could feel something off about that forest. Not unlike the woods back at Zane's grandparent's property. But much more...wrong. It wasn't evil, by any means, just... It's difficult to discern. He decided to put it out of him head for the moment, but his smile had a hard time returning.

Fluttershy noticed. "Is something wrong?" She asked with concern.

Zac shook his head. "Nothing to important." He said.

Fluttershy nodded. "We're here." She said gesturing toward her home.

"It seems nice. You must take care of many more animals then I had originally thought."

Fluttershy gave a slight smile. She lead him to the door and opened it. And a bear was on the other side. Zac took cautionary step back while Fluttershy strolled in. Noticing her guest was no longer following her, she turned around. She saw the bear standing in the doorway and trotted over. She patted the bear on the head and told it that it was okay to let Zac in. The bear nodded and stepped to the side. Zac cautiously took a few steps further. Seeing that the bear didn't make any acts of hostility, he stepped inside. The bear looked him over and shrugged, and then opened the door and went outside.

"I hope he didn't frighten you." Fluttershy said in an apologetic tone.

"Only a little. I'll be fine, thank you for your concern." He said with a smile. He then asked if there was anything he could help with. Fluttershy said there wasn't, so Zac focused on getting settled in.

Day Two

Zac awoke to find a cat laying on his chest. The cat was white with a blue bow on it's head. Zac smiled and gently pet the cat, making it purr in it's sleep. He looked out of a nearby window and saw it was still dark out. 'Couldn't hurt to sleep awhile longer, could it?' He thought. He closed his eyes and laid there, still gently petting the cat. The he felt the cat wake up. It walk up to his head, and licked his cheek a couple of times. Then it jumped off of him and went somewhere else. Zac simply smiled and dozed off.

When he woke up again, the lovely scent of pancakes and hash browns was filling the air. He smiled, seeing that the cat had returned at some point during the night. He sat up, cradling the cat in his arms, and moved to stand. The cat woke up and jumped into to the couch. It looked at Zac with tired eyes and laid down. Zac crouched next to the cat and petted it. "I was trying not to wake you." He said apologetically. The cat mewed in response and curled up on the cushion. Zac stood up and went into the kitchen.

"Oh, you're awake." Fluttershy said, turning away from the skillet.

"I am indeed," Zac smiled. "Good morning."

"Good morning to you too. Did you sleep well?"

"I did, thanks for asking." He looked around the kitchen. "Is there anything I can help with?"

Fluttershy smile at the offer. "No, it's almost ready. You can sit at the table, if you want."

Zac nodded and made his way over to the table. He sat down on one of the chairs, careful to not sit on any of Fluttershy's animals. He patiently waited for Fluttershy to serve breakfast, when he heard a crash come from the kitchen. He quickly stood up and rushed over. He found a few broken plates full of food on the floor.

"Oh my..."

Zac looked at her with concern. "Are you okay, Fluttershy?"

"Yes. I-I think so..."

"I'll clean it up, okay?"

"Oh, but you don't have to do that!"

"No Fluttershy, I insist. Could you make sure the animals don't step on any glass?" She nodded. "I'll have this cleaned up in no time, don't you worry."

Zac had the mess cleaned up in five minutes. And, in an effort to salvage breakfast, suggested that they go to the cafe. Fluttershy wasn't sure at first, but Zac told her that it would save the stress of cooking again. After that, she gladly accepted.

After feeding the animals their breakfast, which Zac offered to and fed half of them, they left the house. Fluttershy told Zac that he didn't half to help her out, but was grateful he did.

"It's no trouble. I'm just trying to be a good guest."

"I appreciate it, I really do."

"Don't worry about it." Zac kindly waved her off. "Do you think you will be able to get more plates while we're out?"

Fluttershy hummed in thought. "I think I'm fine. I have more plates in the cupboard, thank you for your concern."

Zac smiled in response, and the walked mostly in silence on the way to the cafe.

The waiter had come for there order. Zac ordered hash browns and pancakes. And Fluttershy ordered the same. They sat in silence while waiting for their order. Zac looked out in the direction of the marketplace. He wasn't sure, but he thought he could see a orange pony with a cowboy hat, manning a stall. He didn't know why, but he was surprised that even ponies lead similar lives to humans. 'Maybe Zane is right,' he thought. 'They are kind of like humans..." He looked around and saw Zane walking toward them, with Luna by his side. Zac waved them over and Zane noticed. He seemed to speak to Luna and then continued to walk towards them, though at a quicker pace.

When the two walked up, Zac was the first to greet them. "Hello, I didn't think you would be up so early. What's the occasion?"

Zane grumbled a bit and rolled his eyes. "Twilight thought that it would be a good idea to have run her errands today. Why she sent me out so early in the fuckin' morning is beyond me."

Zac nodded sagely. "You had to close last night, didn't you?"

"Is it that obvious?" Zac nodded. "I was kept late too, which is part of my mood. Something went wrong with the register, then they needed me to lift a heavy box, because the unicorns and earth ponies already left. So, since I was the closest thing to an earth pony, my manager had me do the lifting! That damned thing had to be a hundred fucking pounds!"

Zac hummed in thought. "And what of you princess? I thought you were in control of the night?"

Luna nodded. "I am. I decided to join him on his errands, to cheer him up. It appears not to have worked though."

Zane turned to her. "You should have just stayed there, and got some sleep..."

"And I told you that I would be fine. This isn't the first time I have been out during the day."

Zane didn't give her a response, he just turned toward Zac and Fluttershy. "So, why are you two here?"

"Breakfast." Said Zac, slightly frowning at Zane's attitude.

"Care if we join you?"

"Well um..." Fluttershy started. "I-I'm not sure I have enough money for all of us..."

Zane furrowed his brows. "No, no we already ate. I meant is it okay if we sit down."

"Oh! That's fine with me."

"I have no problem with it either, please join us." Zane found two more chairs, and placed them at the table, holding one out for Luna before taking his own. Shortly after that, the waiter showed up with the food.

She looked at the other two, and bowed when she saw Luna. "You may rise, we have just sat down to talk."

"O-o-okay, your highness." And she quickly ran back inside. Zac looked at Luna.

"Do they always act so scared of you?"

"Almost all of the time. They are the same around my sister as well, though they seem more accepted of her..."

"Fuck 'em." Zane said bluntly. "If they're still hung up on 'Nightmare Moon', then fuck 'em. They aren't worth the time."

Zac cleared his throat. "While I would have put it In a different way, I agree. They are scared of what they don't understand."

"Just like some humans." Zane said bitterly. "Some are cool though, but most..." He just shook his head.

Zac shook his head as well, but in a more disappointed manner. "I have a feeling you are wrong, but let us save more...heated discussions for a later time."

Zane sighed. "I suppose that's a good idea." Zane looked at his watch. "Well, I better get these errands over with. Luna, if you want, you can stay here."

"I will continue to accompany you."

"One more thing." Zac said.

"Yeah?"

"What time do you work?"

"Oh... I close again, so hopefully I can get a nap in before work."

Zac nodded. "I hope so too. See you later."

"Yeah, see ya." And Zane and Luna left. As they were leaving, Zac caught a bit of a conversation and chuckled.

"Oh, I really hope his memory gets better."

"Whose?"

"Zane's. He has short term memory loss. It's getting better, but sometimes it's not so good. He was an accident prone child, you see."

"Really? He seems so careful."

"He is, but that's because of all of the accidents he had."

"What kind of accidents? If you don't mind me asking?"

Zac held his chin in thought. "Well, to name a few: He got a foot caught in a fence and struggle to get his foot out, possibly breaking it in the process."

"Oh my." Fluttershy said with concern.

"Then he had a boulder crush his foot. Didn't break it somehow, but tore off a few toenails." Fluttershy held a hoof to her mouth. "But the biggest that either of us remember is, he got hit in the head with a baseball bat. Threw him back five feet right into a tree. He had to go to the hospital."

"Oh my goodness!"

"It was quite the ordeal, as you can imagine."

Fluttershy was speechless. She wondered what other things happened to her human friend, but kept those thoughts to herself. She would just ask Zane if she really wanted to know.

Day Three

"Hmm... Well I better leave."

"What?"

"There is a complication. I believe you may be needed as well. Care to join me?"

They walked over to the library. Twilight opened the door. "Oh good. Fluttershy, you're here. I was just on my way to get the girls."

"I can help you."

"Thank you, I appreciate it."

"No trouble at all." And they left.

Zac walked in, and looked at the other two. "So what's wrong?"

"I'll miss another day of work. At this rate I'll get fired..."

"No, I meant the more urgent matter."

Zeke spoke up. "Freak seems to have gone off. I'm proud of him, but we need stop him before he does anything."

"We'll talk about more when everyone's here. A proper briefing would be a good idea." The others agreed, and they waited. Zane took glimpses toward at Canterlot everyone in awhile. 'At least it's not on fire' He thought. He sat down and continued to wait.

The End

View Online

The End

Zeke growled. "They are taking too long!

"Calm down." I said looking annoyed. "They're probably trying to track down Rainbow." Zeke just turned towards the window. "She's probably running away from them because she knows you're here. If you didn't bite her, they would be back by now."

"Well she pissed me off. What else was there to do?"

"Not biting her maybe? I mean really, I know you're the evil one but you could have stepped outside."

Just then, the door opened. Five of the six ponies we were waiting for entered. 'Yep, Rainbow bailed.' I thought. I looked at the ponies. "So, will RD be joining us in Caterlot, or what?"

"That's what she said, she also told us what Zeke did to her." Twilight said. "Right now she's in the hospital."

I sighed. "Great. Alright, does anybody know what we might dealing with?" All but Twilight looked at each other and shrugged. "Okay. Twilight, would you know?"

She looked around, everyone was staring at her. "Even though I've been in Zane's mind, it's still hard to tell. I have only met Freak once, and I wasn't able to learn that much about him. All I know about Freak, is that he is really unpredictable. I don't know what he's capable of, or how dangerous he is. He does, however, fear Zeke. So hopefully he can settle him down if he is on a rampage."

"So what yer sayin' is, our best bet of success with this mission is to rely on an evil being?" Applejack said in disbelief.

Twilight nodded. "It would seem so."

"I will straighten him out. Don't worry your pretty little heads, he will be my only target."

"Calm down. You'll scare everyone."

"Save the rage for Freak, got it."

I just rolled my eyes. "Just take it easy on him, okay?" He nodded, but I can't be sure he was being sincere.

We decided to take the train, and man was it boring. I even fell asleep at some point. Twilight woke me up when we reached Canterlot. We left the train and headed for the castle. To be honest, I didn't think Celestia would know where he went. Because, unlike Twilight and most of the other ponies, I know that she isn't all knowing. She's not even a god! She's even told me that she doesn't know why her subjects think so. I told her that its because she's immortal, she chuckled and said that she isn't, and said that she will die one day. Just like all living things. But anyway.

The guards in front of the castle let us in with no problems. They nodded to me and the others as we passed. They did seem confused when they saw Zeke and Zac. But they let it go. Surprisingly, Celestia met us in the courtyard. There was a concerned look on her on her face.

"I'm glad you are all here." She said. "We need to act quickly."

"They've been briefed. Maybe not properly, but...I think we know what we're dealing with."

Celestia nodded, but then raised an eyebrow. "Wait, where's Rainbow Dash?"

Zac and I sighed, while Zeke smiled. Twilight and the others looked at each other. "She will be joining us later." Twilight said with a nervous smile. Celestia didn't look convinced, but nodded anyway.

Zac walked over to Celestia. "Do you know where Freak went?"

She shook her head. "I was hoping you would."

"What? You think we have some kind of telepathic link?" Zeke chuckled.

"She wouldn't be completely wrong." Zeke stopped chuckling. "We are connected, but with Freak, it's going to be difficult."

"Can we track him?" I ask. Zac nodded. "Well alright. Lets get started."

We decided to split up, after Rainbow Dash showed up. Twilight took Zeke, Applejack and Fluttershy. Rainbow took Rarity, Zac, and Pinkie. Celestia and I were on our own.

"So, can you track him?" Celestia asked.

"I don't think I have the same telepathic link that the other two do."

She nodded. "We do this the old fashion way then."

"Yep," I nod my head. "Classic Sweep and Clear. At least I think that's the term." She said nothing and we began asking around. None of the ponies knew where Freak was, or had no idea what we were talking about. We've only been searching for ten minutes, but this wasn't looking good.

I do have to admire Canterlot's architecture. The ponies here could suck a dick, but pristine...quarts? I don't know what stone they used, but it was beautiful. Celestia saw me running a hand along a building. "Admiring the stone work?" She asked with a smile.

i nodded. "I am. How did you get it so smooth?"

"Highly skilled masons."

"No magic?"

She shook her head. "Not during the founding of Canterlot. The unicorns..." She trailed off.

"Thought that they better than everyone else?"

She nodded her head. "Yes, unfortunately. The masonry on this house was done by Earth ponies and Pegasi."

"Why am I not surprised? Well, at least Twilight turned out great."

Celestia smiled and nodded. "I am very proud of my student. She has come a very long way."

"From what I've heard, yes. It's strange to think she came from a place like this."

"Her parents were never like the rest of the residents of my city. They are always being harnessed. Being called commoners, and being told they don't belong here and such."

I frowned. "Sounds like they're too rich for their own good."

She sighed. "Sometimes I think the same as well. But as long as they don't do anything, there's nothing I can do." I just hummed as we continued walking. "Something wrong?"

"I have some ideas, but you wouldn't agree with them."

"But I will hear them."

I sighed. "Knock them down a peg. Make it so they aren't so rich. Make so that everyone is equal. I mean, that's leaving out a lot of details but, that's for the better."

Celestia hummed in thought. "Am I right to assume that you hate the rich ponies?"

I paused. How to reply without making her upset? "Well..."

She chuckled. "It's okay to be honest."

"Okay then, yes. But not just the ponies, I hate the rich in my world as well. And maybe hate is the wrong word. I'd say dislike would be better."

"It would. Hate is a strong word." There was a pause in conversation. A few minutes passed before she spoke again. "May ask you something?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

"Do you agree with Freak's actions?"

"No, not entirely. I mean, it's one thing to be angry at the rich. But to outright explode and go after them." I shook my head. "That's not cool with me. Maybe if he was provoked, I would be on his side."

"I see."

"Yep. The quicker we find him, the better." Celestia nodded her agreement, and we continued our search.

It's been another hour and we still don't have any leads. We've asked what seemed to be the whole populous of Canterlot. And, to be honest, I was starting to lose hope. That pony was probably dead, and Freak was probably somewhere else by now. Celestia looked concerned. I don't know if its because she's losing hope as well or what.

Rainbow Dash came flying over head, suddenly. She was looking around for something. Then she looked down at us and soared down. "There you guys are!" She landed and bowed to the princess.

"Hello Rainbow. Any luck on the search?"

"That's why I was looking for you two! We found him! Come on follow me!" And she raced off.

"Kinda hard to follow you when you go that fast..." I sighed and turned to Celestia. "Did you see where she went?"

"Yes, follow me." And so I did. It was a twenty minute walk to what I assumed to be the pony's house. There was no sound coming from the house. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. The group was in front of the front door. I walked over to Twilight.

"Do we know what's going on in there?"

"No, we don't know if the pony is still alive, or if Freak is still in there."

"Well, I guess there's only one way to find out."

Twilight nodded and turned toward the door. Her horn started glowing and the door opened. Zeke, Zac, and I went into the house first. The house was dark and silent. The rest of the group entered and we began to sweep the house. I chose to search the living room while everyone else searched the other rooms. The trouble was finding the damn room. I know I've called it a house, but dis be a damned mansion!

I heard several calls of "clear" signifying that the others have already checked the other rooms. 'Where is the damn living room!' I thought. Then I heard a noise come from my left. I turned my head and saw a door. I walked over to the door and slowly opened it. And what I saw shocked me. I could only stand there as the scene played out in front me.

There was a stallion, dressed in a Prench maid's outfit. And Freak was in a suit. They were re-enacting the elevator scene in the Gangnam Style music video. You can probably guess who's who. To top it off, there was even music.

"What the fuck is going on here." I ask in utter confusion.

The music stopped and they looked at me. The stallion's face turn bright red, while Freak smiled and waved. "HI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN BROADWAY?!?!"

I shook my head and tried to make sense of this, but couldn't. "Freak, why is he in a maid's outfit?"

"IT MADE THE SHOW COMPLETE! AND HE ENJOYED IT!!!"

"W-what ever." I turned toward the hallway. "Guys! I've found them!" I turned towards the stallion. "You might want to change. The princess is here." He went wide eyed and rushed to a nearby closet. The was some rustling around and he came out in a nice business suit. Just in time too, because the group came running in.

"Is he okay?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, I am fine." The stallion said.

Celestia strolled up to him. "He didn't hurt you did he?"

The stallion bowed. "No your highness. He only startled me."

Freak snapped his fingers and his suit disappeared. Now he was in his normal attire "WHY WOULD I HURT MY NEW FRIEND?!?!"

"Never mind. We're going back to castle." Celestia said before turning to the stallion. "I'm sorry for the intrusion."

He bowed again. "I-it's no trouble, your highness. Have a good day."

"You as well." She said as she led us all back to the castle.

We were all standing in the throne room. Celestia canceled day court so she could deal with Freak. She sent for a unicorn that was, supposedly, very skilled in magic. So now we are all standing, and waiting for this specially skilled mage. I asked Twilight if she knew who it was. She had no idea.

Silence seemed to be the only thing in the room. I don't know if it was because of my declining sanity or what, but the faces of the ponies in the room melted away as I spaced out.

It could have been an hour, or maybe just a few minutes of being lost in my own thoughts. It was hard to tell, but when I came back to reality, they were all looking at me with concerned expressions. Well, except for Zeke, he just stood with his arms crossed. "Sorry, something felt...off..."

"Are you okay, dearie?" Rarity asked.

"Yeah, I think so." I shook my head. "Sorry if I worried you guys." I closed my eyes and rubbed them. "I guess I'm just tired."

"Did you not sleep well last night?" Celestia asked.

"Not really. I did sleep, but only for two hours. I was watching Luna raise the moon and paint the sky with stars."

I smile formed on both Celestia's and Twilight's faces. "He's been watching her do that ever sense she started staying in Ponyville." Twilight said before giggling.

"It's fascinating to me, that a living creature can do that. And I've always loved the moon, full moons especially. They are beautiful to me." I said matter of factly.

Celestia smiled slightly wider. "I'm sure she appreciates the company while she works."

"She's said as much." I nodded. "Hell, the first night I told her how beautiful her nights were, I saw tears in her eyes. And she hugged me, saying how she wishes that more ponies are like me." I paused for a few minutes. "She also told me how lonely she's been... I can't help but feel for her."

Before any more sappy moments could happen, the pony we've been waiting on showed up. Twilight's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Starswirl The Bearded?!? H-how?!"

The pony chuckled. "I get that a lot. No, I am not Starswirl. Though I am related to him, and share his likeness. My name is Wind Catcher The Wise. It is a pleasure to meet you all." I looked around at all the reactions of my pony friends. They ranged from 'didn't really care' to 'interested'. Twilight was the only exception to that, though. She looked like she could explode. "When the princess told me about a human, I immediately volunteered. I simply could not pass up the opportunity to see such a legendary creature!" He said excitedly.

"Just don't treat me like a lab rat please, okay?"

He looked at me. "Oh my dear boy, I wouldn't dream of it!" He cleared his throat. "I have been commissioned to perform a spell on you." I raised an eyebrow. "Her highness informed me about your escaped personalities, so I went looking threw my great-great grandfather's spell books. And I believe I may have found a spell. For the passed week, I have been modernizing it to the current standards of Spellworking. And it should be ready."

"Intriguing!" Twilight said, clapping her front hooves together.

"Isn't it though!" Wind Catcher agreed. "But, I am unsure of the outcome."

"Is it safe?" Celestia asked.

He nodded his head. "It is very safe, after the adjustments I made. However, it may not work on a non-equine."

I thought about that for awhile, then shrugged. "One way to find out, I guess."

"Indeed. If you will, move to the center of the room. I will began casting the spell." I nodded and moved to the center of the throne room. His horn started glowing, and so did the floor. I looked down, and saw a circle. It was like something you would see in an anime, or something! I was a little scared, I admit. But at the same time, the slight warm feeling that was running through me was comforting. I close my eyes for a while, and looked up when I heard him saying an incantation.

I looked over at where Zeke and Zac were standing, and they were slowly fading away! I was surprised it was working, quite frankly. I suddenly I began feeling drowsy. The glowing of his horn stopped, but the circle was still glowing. Brighter and brighter it became, until I had to close my eyes. I felt myself fall to the floor, but didn't feel any pain.

Then I couldn't feel anything. I pleasant numbness washed over me.

I slowly opened my eyes. "He waking up." I hear from somewhere. I stare at the ceiling for awhile, before the face of a doctor filled my blurred vision. "Mr. Coakley?" I blink to get rid of the blurriness. "Mr. Coakley? How are you feeling?"

The beeping of the heart monitor finally registered, and I try to talk. After a couple attempts, I was finally able to speak. "W-what happened?"

"You were in a car accident. We had to put you into a medically induced coma."

"I was in a coma? How bad was the accident?"

"At first glance it didn't seem bad, but when we got you here, we found that most of the damage was internal."

"And you put me in a coma to give you time to work on me?"

"That would be correct. When you climbed out of your car, you landed on some broken glass. The glass imbedded itself in various areas of your body. I haven't seen anything like it."

"Just my shitty luck, I guess." I said in a scratchy voice.

He chuckled. "Enough about that. I have a few questions for you." I just stare at the ceiling and nod. "What year is it?"

"Two thousand fourteen? I'm twenty two, right?" I asked with a furrowed brow.

He looked surprised, but nodded. "That's right. Very impressive." He cleared his throat, and asked his second question. "Do you remember anything before the accident?"

"I had just gotten off of work and was on my way home."

"Good, good. It doesn't looked you've suffered any lasting brain damage. Would you like to see you family? They're out in the lobby."

"Please. I'm sure they're all worried."

"They are. I'll be right back." While he was gone, I thought about what happened what felt like seconds ago. Was it all just a dream? Or did it really happen? It all seemed so real...

He came back with my family. There was my mom, dad, sister, and brother. His wife, my supervisor that I closed with that night, and my best friend. Hugs were given out, and tears were shed. They were all so glad I was alive and relatively well.

So, why did I feel an emptiness in my heart?

What Would Really Happen

by Z-A-C

Prologue: Before the New Land

Day One: Problems

Day Two: Ohne Dich, Moy Mir

Day Three: Happy Birthday

Day Four: Disturbing Events

Day Five: A Break From The Hatred

Day Six: Tuesday

Day Seven: Royalty Visits

Day Twenty Six: Growing Suspicions

Day Eighty Three: Happy New Year

Day Unknown: The Conference

Nightmare During Day Time

Busy Day

Bonus: The Psycho and The Sun Goddess

Bonus: The Demon and The Daredevil

Bonus: The Two Kind Souls

The End

Bonus: Luna's Dream